Disclaimer: I beg you not to sue me because, because, because, because, BECAAAAUSE…because-I-don't-own-any-thing.

AUTHOR'S NOTES: Thank you all so much for the reviews and the sweet encouragement! It truly means a lot to me!

SHOUT OUTS:

LittleMender: HAHA! Thank you for your rush of reviews and kind words. When I decided to continue this story a few days ago, I was quite sure that no one would want to read it since it'd been so long since the end of "Tin Man". You absolutely changed my mind!

scrawn: I'm so happy to see your review! I hope your film/screenwriting is going well (or has gone well? I reckon you're done or almost done at NYU by now, right?)!

bkwrm: - Oh, bkwrm, I'm probably THE WORST person about leaving stories in unfinished oblivion, but I'm DETERMINED not to let this story be one of them! Thank you so much for the review!

TabathaBrewer: -giggles- You are seriously too sweet! Your kind words were just the encouragement I needed to prove to myself that there were people out there that would actually care if I finished this story or not!

Lynda: I'm so glad you're here to finish up this journey with me and the characters. Your review means so much to me! Thanks!

KLCtheBookWorm: OMG, RIGHT? DG will seriously never leave the palace without Raw at her side ever again! HAHA! Thank you for your review!

CHAPTER 8

It took a while for DG to calm down. She had positioned herself so that she was sitting across Cain's lap with her head resting on his broad shoulder and her face nuzzled tightly against the side of his neck. She knew that it was a very childlike position to take up, but she didn't care. She needed it, needed Cain.

He didn't seem to mind either way. Hell, his protective grip hadn't loosened or wavered once since they had been tossed back into the cell. He had one arm wrapped tightly around her while the other was looped up over her front and around her head, cradling it to him as he gently stroked her hair with his fingers.

Every so often, undoubtedly for no other reason than he just felt compelled to, Cain would turn his face into DG's dark locks and press a soft kiss there. He didn't even seem to notice that he was doing it. DG wasn't about to point it out and have him stop.

DG had just begun to relax enough to start to doze off when Cain's soft, but seemingly stricken voice saw to it that she didn't.

"DG…" he began slowly, his eyes drifting down to her mangled finger. He felt her stir against him and tilt her head upward so she could look at him. He met her gaze. "I need to relocate your finger…" he stated solemnly.

She immediately shook her head.

"DG," he sighed against her forehead. "I have to."

"No, Cain," she said hoarsely.

Closing his eyes, Cain inhaled a deep, controlled breath before continuing, "If I don't, it could end up permanently damaged. You might not be able to use it again…"

DG blinked at the tears that were threatening to start falling again. "Raw can fix it when we get back to the palace," she tried to reason.

He shook his head. "He's still going to have to relocate it before he heals it, and by then, there could be damage that he can't fix. It could fuse in the position it's in. You don't want him to have to break it, relocate it, and then set it, do you?"

"No," she hesitatingly whimpered, feeling very much like a terrified child at that moment.

"Right," he said softly, reaching to gently brush away an escaped tear from her bruising cheek. "So, I have to do this now so that doesn't have to happen, ok?"

There was a long, reluctant pause from DG before she finally nodded, unable to actually answer verbally for fear that her voice would fail her.

Cain settled DG with a gentle look, a loving gaze that he'd found himself giving her more and more as time passed. He nodded, more to himself than to her, and then repositioned DG so that he could use both of his hands.

DG whimpered both at the loss of his warm body against hers and anticipation of what was to come. She knew this was really going to hurt and just thinking about it made her nauseous.

Cain dipped his head a bit so that he was at her eye level. "Keep your eyes on me," he told her as he took her injured hand into his.

"Cain…" she choked out, her bottom lip quivering.

"Hey, hey, none of that," he chided. "You're a princess. Suck it up and act like one."

DG's eyes grew wide in shocked incredulity. "Excuse me?" she half breathed, half spat. She couldn't believe he had just said that to her!

And half a second later, she realized why he had.

In her heated moment, while her mind was off of her finger, Cain had taken the opportunity to snap the mangled digit back into its rightful place. An agonized yelp tore itself from DG's throat and bounced off of the rock-face that made up three of the four walls, the floor and the ceiling of the cell, leaving her panting and desperately fighting the urge to throw up.

She ultimately lost the battle with her stomach though and it declared its victory by decorating the ground with what little she had had left in there from breakfast that morning. All that remained afterwards was a shaking shell of a woman.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry," Cain whispered over and over as he pulled her hair up out of the way and rubbed her back in soothing circles. After a few minutes, when he was sure she was finished, he began pulling her back to him.

DG instinctively followed his lead and buried her face in his shoulder, muffling her hiccuped sobs into his shirt.

"Shhh…it's over," he whispered into her hair. "It's all over."

TBC...

(A/N's: Goodness, I have a serious issue with torturing people, haha. Whoops! It's a short chapter, but a chapter nonetheless! More is on its way!)