Disclaimer: I'm setting traps for Tin Man…
His eyes snapped open, his body on full alert in an instant. Repressing the urge to curse his hand snapped out and scooped up his gun from its resting place on the nightstand next to him. Whoever this was, they were either damn brave or downright stupid to be sneaking into his living quarters in the dead of night. He wasn't sure what noise they had made on the other side of his door or if it was the fact that he could simply feel someone, but something was off in the small room between his bedroom and the hallway.
Pulling the hammer back he got out of the bed as noiselessly as possible. This was all he needed, a suicidal assassin. Because coming after him gave them about the same odds of living as hurling themselves off the top of the Tower. Moving closer to the door he made a slow silent arch to the wall, his feet sinking into the carpet, intending to shoot the stupid bastard the second they opened the door. No point in beating around the bush when it came to sneak attacks.
He managed to keep his breathing even as he watched the crack between the floor and the door. A shadow on the darkness passed under it and his eyes narrowed. And Jeb said he was getting old. Now all he had to do was get rid of this guy and get to-
"Cain?" DG's hesitant whisper was so soft he doubted he would have heard it if he hadn't been hugging the wall. He dropped his arm to his side and looked up at the ceiling asking briefly for patience. He had nearly shot her. He would love to know how to begin to explain that in the morning.
With a soft sigh he took two steps to the left and opened the door. The princess jumped back at the swift response to a request he was pretty sure she hadn't thought he would hear. It took him all of a second to work out why she was here. Clad in those Otherside pants she liked so much and a cream colored camisole that she should not have left her room in, she was wringing her hands and trembling from head to foot. Her eyes ran from his bare chest to the gun in his hand and she looked away quickly. "I'm sorry." Her voice shook with barely controlled fear. "You said I should come if… I didn't mean to bother you."
She started backing up, shame flashing across her face, before he reached out and took hold of her upper arm. He had forgotten what he had told her when the adrenaline had hit him. After he had led her back to her room from the rooftop garden the last time, he had told her to come to him next time she felt trapped. He would rather handle this with her than have her vanish on him again. It wasn't safe for her to try to escape the guards or the safety of the palace walls when she had these nightmares.
But she hadn't as much as mentioned that night in almost four months. She hadn't come looking for him and she and she made no indication that anything at all had happened. He had tried to bring it up once when they were alone and she had shut down on him so fast it set his head spinning. He had half hoped that what happened on the roof was going to be a one time incident but he had known better than that. So he'd kept his mouth shut and decided to wait her out. Seemed his patience had won out over her stubborn streak in the end.
He tugged her carefully back toward him. "I remember what I said. It's fine that you're here. You startled me is all." His eyes flicked to the closed hallway door. It was still firmly locked and he knew he hadn't heard it open. DG wasn't stealthy enough to have gotten through without it making noise and he was almost positive she couldn't pick a lock. Although that one was a fifty fifty with this young woman. "How'd you get in?"
"Oh." She fidgeted. "The hallways were too narrow so I shimmered."
His eyebrows came together. "You what?" He needed to sit her down so they could go over her vocabulary. Piecing it together a little at a time was starting to make him feel idiotic. Then again he liked it when her eyes lit up knowing she was about to teach him something.
"I shimmered." She was still shaking as she tried to explain it to him, no sparkle present in her eyes. "Like what a travel storm does but with only me and no wind."
He grunted impressed. He'd seen her sister do that once. He hadn't known she'd made it that far in her magic lessons. "Ok. You shimmered."
Her eyes were firmly planted at her feet. "You're not angry?"
He glanced at her sharply. "Angry? Why would I be angry?" The princess shrugged her shoulders. He rubbed his thumb over her chilled skin. "Kid?"
"I wasn't sure you meant it." Is that what the problem here was? As if night terrors weren't bad enough she thought he had been lying to her? Glinda's sparkling wand… This was the problem with having people lie to you your whole life. DG was so insecure she didn't know who to believe about anything. He couldn't blame her for it either.
Pulling her against him he held her close with his one free arm and kissed the top of her head. DG let out a shuddering sigh and wrapped her slender arms around his waist. Stroking her back he knew he was treading in dangerous territory. If he wasn't so worried about her he was sure he'd already be lost in her. It had become a habit recently, finding ways to touch her, it seemed all he could do was to keep it as minimal as possible and even that was becoming difficult. The thing was she never so much as batted an eye at the contact, as if it were a perfectly natural way for a person to act. It was throwing him so badly he didn't know what to do with her.
"Of course I meant it, Darlin'." He winced over her head as soon as the words left his mouth. That should not have slipped out. He knew better than that. But the princess didn't seem to notice in her state and nodded against his bare shoulder. Turning his head he cursed at the fact that his sitting room didn't have any windows and began to back up, slowly ushering her into his bedroom with him. He needed to get air circulating near her before she tried to stop breathing again.
Glancing up she let her arms loosen but he held her to him as he made his way backward. "We're going to sit by the window." She didn't try to get away after that. Instead she pushed into him to hurry him along as she tried to concentrate on her breathing. "Calm down." He soothed her as he stumbled into the sill, hitting his hip painfully. "Remember what I said last time?"
Her hands tightened on the fabric around his hips as he let her go long enough to unlatch the window and push it outward a few inches. He didn't want to open it all the way. She needed to get used to closed up rooms a little at a time. "I'm not trapped." She mumbled distractedly. Her breathing was starting to waver and his hand returned to her ribcage. He grunted an affirmative and eased them down to the floor so she was settled between his legs. Setting his gun next to them he turned her while catching her under her knees. He quickly threw them over one of his legs and tucked her body against his.
"What else?" The princess didn't answer she just started shaking harder. Damn it. "DG? What else did I say?"
She sucked in air and answered. "I'm not trapped and I have plenty of space. There's nothing stopping me from moving or leaving the building if I need to. And if things get to bad you'll take me outside yourself."
"That's right." He buried his hand in her hair and tilted her head gently up so she could feel the breeze coming through the window on her face. "Do you feel better now?"
Instead of aiming her face toward the window she hid it under his chin. "No." He had to suppress a moan when her lips brushed his skin as she continued to talk. "I'm so petrified of my own room that I had to come wake you up. I feel stupid and small and needy. I don't like not being able to handle this by myself."
The way she said that made him feel sad for her suddenly. "You're not used to anyone taking care of you are you?"
"Momster and Popsicle always took care of me." She mumbled.
He tended to doubt they took care of her the way she needed it. "They betrayed you." He stated bluntly. "They lied to you."
He felt moisture on his neck although the tone of her voice never wavered. "Everyone lies to me." Her voice dropped again. "Except for you." She conceded quietly.
He sighed wishing that wasn't true and knowing it was. "I'm sorry, Kid."
"For what?" He heard genuine confusion in her voice as her tremors slowly eased off. At least she was calming down for him.
"That they made this so hard for you."
She was quiet for a long time as his hand ran over her. "Is it supposed to be easy? Just letting someone know what terrifies you? Exposing yourself?" She shook her head. "You act as if you walk around telling people your greatest fear."
He wondered if his princess had ever had a real friend in her life. "Depends on who you're talking to. Trust is a valuable thing." She was too close and too warm. He gambled his future on his next few words. "I figure sharing your burden with someone that loves you makes things easier."
"I'll take you're word for it, Cain."
He rolled his eyes. Of course he would need to spell it out. "You don't have to take my word for it, DG. I'm not about to go anywhere."
Her head jerked away from its resting place on his shoulder. Her eyes came up to his sparking with uncertainty. "What?"
He moved his hand slowly from her side to her face caressing it lovingly, his eyes never leaving hers. It didn't matter if she didn't feel the same way. He'd known it was over for him for a while now. He was tired of fighting it and he wanted to tell her what she'd done to him. "Didn't you know, DG? Didn't you guess?" She stared at him her eyes whirling. "After everything we've been through? The way I watch you? The way I can't seem to keep my hands off of you?"
The fact that she didn't pull away immediately was encouraging. "I thought…" He began to stroke her cheek slowly as she stuttered. "I thought you were looking out for me." Her eyebrows came together. "That, that we were friends."
"We are friends, Kiddo. Nothing's going to change that." He saw relief flash across her face and smiled softly. "But I've been looking out for you in ways a friend doesn't for a while now."
The princess closed her eyes and he thought he'd lost her. His heart ached in way he would have denied was possible a little over a year ago and he brushed her cheek one last time. He should have known better than to have told her. He hadn't thought it would hurt this much when she turned him down. Before he could decided on the best way to get away from her without making her feel uncomfortable or bring back the fear from her nightmare she nuzzled her face against his hand.
He sucked in a sharp breath and she raised one of her own hands to cover his. "I won't be able to stop this if we start, Tin Man."
Leaning forward he rested his forehead against hers and waited for her to open her eyes. When she did he saw her uncertainty. It was a strange thing to see that in her. She usually didn't take the time to think about anything long enough to be uncertain about it. His lip twitched up at the corner. "You've thought about this."
She huffed and tried to twist away but he held her in place. "Don't make fun of me." She whispered and he felt the twitch turn into a full out smile.
"Turn about's fair play, Princess." The tension that had built up in his shoulders had begun to release the moment she had taken hold of his hand.
"Caiiiin." DG whined softly bumping against his hand.
Moving his hand around her neck he pulled her closer against him. "Come here, Darlin'." Her eyes fluttered closed again as she leaned into his kiss without hesitation. He brushed his lips over hers softly taking the time to learn how she felt, how she tasted. He'd been waiting for this for so long he didn't want to rush this, didn't want to rush her, and he certainly didn't want to go much farther with her tonight. Not after the fright she'd had. And by Ozma she was sweet.
He felt DG's arms wrap around his neck and for once indulged himself. Tilting her head farther back he deepened the kiss dragging a low moan from the back of her throat. His heart was beating hard in his chest as his body temperature rose, and he knew he needed to break this off while he still could. Drawing back slowly he took the time to kiss the side of her mouth, her nose, her cheeks, and her eyelids as he dragged his fingers through her hair.
He could sense her confusion when he pulled away from her. "Cain?" Those inquisitive eyes of hers were back on his.
"Not tonight, DG." He repositioned her so she was leaning her back against his chest. He kissed her temple as he wrapped his arm around her waist. "Don't think I don't want you." That was an understatement. He had to kiss her again at the thought of letting her go. "We can talk about this tomorrow when we're both thinking clearly."
The princess gave a breathy laugh. "You want to talk? About our feelings and stuff? Watch out, I think the Ice Palace just melted."
"Hey now!" He poked her ribs and she let out a squeal. "None of that!"
"Stop it! That tickles!" She thrashed back against him batting at his hand. A chuckle burst from him as his hand fell away from her. She twisted around her eyes sparkling. "You think that was funny?" He grinned at her and she pounced in retribution. He caught her arms as she went for his ribs and pulled them up until her hands were on his shoulders.
He caught her lips a second time and she melted against him with a sigh. Sucking on her lower lip he cupped the back of her leg urging her closer. She complied quickly, hooking her leg around his hip and arching up until her face was level with his. He splayed his hand out over her as he groaned and she broke the kiss with a gasp. "Thought you wanted to wait?"
Damn, he did. They needed to talk when they were both less tightly wound. "Right." He cleared his throat. "We need to talk. Tomorrow." His princess began to toy with his hair simply to torment him he was sure. "Now we should sleep." She frowned and her eyes went to the door and then the window above their heads. And she was still frightened even if she wasn't near as bad as she was when she woke him up.
He wondered if he could handle having her close all night without losing his mind. "If you stay with me can you shimmer back to your room when I wake you up?" He'd have to get her up in a few hours, before dawn but some sleep was better than none at all. They didn't need any gossip starting when someone went in to wake her and she was missing.
"I thought-"
"Only to sleep. You need to be back before anyone else wakes up." She nodded her understanding and he pushed her to her feet. After helping him up she turned and headed to his bed crawling under the blankets he had tossed to the side. He got in after her and bit his tongue when she curled up against him. It was going to be a long night.
Author Note: So Fred decided this was not a one shot. Oh how he lies to me! But seriously, I know I keep bouncing around on my fics and I apologize for that but my muse is restless. I hope you guys understand and I'm not abandoning any of them. It's just some are getting out before others. So stay tuned and tell me how you're feeling. ;)