A/N Glad you guys liked the idea!

2. Who died and made you king?

Left, right, left.

"Final set."

Fiyero grunted in response and swung his left arm out whilst trying to keep his right arm close to his chest. His knuckles ached on impact as he pounded against the leather punching bag. The Gale Force trainer braced, and Fiyero pull another set as fast as his aching arms could swing them.

"Alright, we're done for today." The trainer commanded, and Fiyero huffed, trying to catch his breath. "Nice work, Tiggular. A little tough on that last set though. Rough week?"

The vinkun rolled his shoulders, and began some light stretching. Sweat rolled down his cheeks and the heat seemed to be coming off of his body in waves – the autumn did little to cool the musky gym. It didn't help that there were two other GF agents doing sprint sets by the cardio space where they usually did the morning yoga sessions.

He pulled his arm across his chest and groaned, "Rough doesn't even begin to cover this week."

"Oh yeah?" His 6 foot tall, Filaanian trainer grunted as he gestured at Fiyero to remove the gloves from his fists. "Usually I wouldn't give a shit, but you caught me on a good day."

Fiyero laughed stonily and tossed the bulky boxing gloves at the man, moving on to slowly unwind the sport tape from his hands. "You heard about my new assignment?"

"Cherrystone. ECPD Precinct 9. I'm surprised, really. You're usually on RICO cases. Working with the ECPD is as bad as a demotion." He guffawed, the sound of his low baritone was suddenly irritating to Fiyero. "What did you do? Screw up your paperwork on your last case or something?"

Fiyero refused to entertain that comment with a response, and dropped the tape on the ground for the trainer to pick up, not feeling particularly bothered by the glare his trainer was giving him.

"I'm heading for the showers."

"We've got a hit on our Jane." Boq announced as he brisk walked across the office floor. He plonked himself into the chair next to Elphaba's desk and grinned – obviously feeling very proud of himself at the moment. "Moraan from Vice found out from one of their girls. Our victim's name was Candle. Candle von Ferdinand. She's a transient from the Quadling Quarters."

"You do know that it's highly offensive to call it that, right?" Elphaba said with a raised brow. She stopped her typing and turned her focus to Boq.

"Call it what? Quadling Quarters?"

She nodded vaguely. "It's like calling the Diamond district – Gillikin Town."

The munchkin looked genuinely surprised, although it was quickly replaced with worry. "Well damn, I've been calling it Quadling Quarters all damn day. Hopefully Sergeant Miles haven't heard me. Lurline knows he could sit right on top of me and I'll be crushed to death in 5 minutes flat."

"I'm sure the sergeant has better things to do than sit around listening to you blab." Elphaba said nonchalantly and nudged at him. "What else have you got for me?"

It was then that Avaric decided to grace them with his presence, strutting up behind Boq with a wide smirk. "Check it – tyres came back. It's a Wellsvale brand, made for an older series model-T. The good news is that one of the tyre tracks seemed to be a little fucked, so the van's chassis – or at least its drive shaft – must've been fucked too. Makes it easier for us to confirm the vehicle."

"Yeah, that's assuming that the suspect hasn't dumped the van." Boq retorted, which earned him a smack on the back of his head from an embarrassed Avaric. "Oi! The hell did I do?!"

"Ah, children, stop fighting."

Elphaba felt her hairs stand at the sound of that voice. From the edge of her field of vision, Elphaba spotted the man in the black suit. He walked towards them and paused right next to Avaric – who seemed to stand straighter, as if he was trying to dwarf Fiyero.

It would be hard though. Even with his back completely straight and his chest puffed out like an idiot, Avaric still looked like the generic air-headed quarterback standing next to prince charming. There was just something about the way Fiyero was eyeing the rest of the office. Elphaba prided herself on her ability to read the telling signs from a person's behaviour – and Fiyero's general stance in the 2 days that she has known him was that he felt like it was beneath him to be here with them.

Well, it wasn't like they wanted him here anyway.

She could almost feel Chuffery's fatherly glare at the back of her neck even as she thought that. Avaric folded his thick arms across his chest, and suddenly, for the first time, Elphaba noticed that the detective was wearing a tighter cut than he usually wore.

She knew that because his stupid overly developed chest muscles and biceps didn't usually pop out like that when he folded his arms. He must've worn that to upstage Fiyero. Just the thought of that made Elphaba want to burst out laughing.

"We're not your children." Avaric said bitterly.

"If anything, we're Elphaba's." Boq added helpfully. This, again, earned him a smack from a red faced Avaric. Ah, the thing about the pale skins was how easily they flush at a drop of the hat. Much easier to read than Quadlings or Cursed Green people like herself.

"Oi! Enough with that!" the munchkin yelped angrily.

"Then stop saying stupid things!" Avaric growled back.

"For shit's sake," Elphaba rolled her eyes, having lost interest in the two's daily 'banter'. She then turned her attention to the Gale Force agent standing in front of her. She supposed that she was expected to stand when she spoke to him as a general curtesy – Elphaba, of course, decided that she didn't really care all that much for him, so she remained seated.

"What are you doing here?" She asked, knowing full well that he was probably just here to receive a progress report and be on his merry way.

Fiyero was still watching Avaric and Boq bicker at the side, and he had the tiniest of smiles on his lips. He was laughing at them, wasn't he? Making fun private jokes about her people. This only served to make her blood boil, and her eyes narrowed to slits.

"We're here to catch a murderer, aren't we?" He said finally, seemingly having lost interest in Avaric and Boq. "Well, technically my concern is with the Colonel. Murder is more of your domain, isn't it, detective Elphaba – Melana – Thropp?"

The way he said her name was as if he were spelling it out – but what irritated Elphaba was how he knew about her middle name. Nobody knew her middle name, not even Chuffery. She had it removed when she had come of age and joined the academy.

"You've been snooping." She remarked stonily. In her head, she was really just counting back from 10 – an anger management technique that she had picked up from mandatory anger management classes.

Fiyero shrugged lightly, smiling insincerely. "Your family goes way back in Munchkinland, doesn't it? Where was that? Nest Hardings, was it? Beautiful province. I've been there once or twice as a kid. The vine yards are superb. Why would you remove your middle name though? Curious."

"Oh the things I'd love to do to you." She smiled back falsely, feeling her veins popping up from every possible surface on her skin.

"Describe them, please. In detail." He said as he leaned in. He was close enough, now, that she could see the thick lashes that framed his emerald green eyes – she knew a number of women who would've killed to have lashes like his. What a waste of good genetics on a shitbag like him.

Her phone went off, and both their eyes flickered over to the offending machine before flicking back again. This wouldn't be over, she just knew it. Fiyero straightened up while Elphaba took the call – still in disbelief that this partnership had been as disastrous as it has been so far.

"Detective Thropp. This is the Emerald City District Attorney's office… We have a problem."

The call from the District Attorney's office was anything but good news.

Fiyero had the luxury of working without the D.A's office hounding him for most of his cases – if he kept his nose clean. It helped that the Bureau Chief liked him so much – although, not so much after what happened with her.

Even with her gone, she's still being a pain in his ass.

…

Sometimes he missed her.

Shaking off the dangerous thoughts, he chose to focus on the fact that he was now in the same car as a certain green-skinned, headstrong detective. Traffic had been terrible from Precinct 9, all the way to the main road. Elphaba sat quietly in the passenger seat, although if anything were to be said about the look on her face, Fiyero could assume that she wasn't very happy about their current arrangement either.

Boq and Avaric were off investigating another lead regarding Candle, their mysterious dead girl. Fiyero and Elphaba were then off to the D.A's office after receiving a call about a potential bump in the road. They refused to elaborate over the phone, and insisted on them coming down to the office.

A few minutes went by without much interaction in the car.

Fiyero had almost felt like he was going insane. He wasn't used to being so completely ignored by someone. He glanced over to Elphaba, stealthily. Her lips were set in a thin frown and she was watching the people on the sidewalk walking by while they were stuck behind a red light.

He peered over to see what she was watching so intensely and noticed that a young gillikinese man was walking suspiciously close to a pregnant vinkun woman. He looked determined, and nervous – while the woman seemed to be whimpering. They didn't look like a couple, not with the way he seemed to be twitching at every little sound and the way her eyes were glancing around – as if to desperately catch someone's eye.

He noticed Elphaba's hands slowly tightening on her jeans, and knew that she was thinking the same thing as him – something's wrong with over there, and if they didn't stop and at least check on that, they wouldn't be sleeping well tonight.

The traffic began to move again and Fiyero quickly swung the car around, startling his passenger.

"W-What in Oz—?!"

The car came onto the sidewalk a little, but he didn't really care right now. The couple was already beginning to disappear from his line of sight. He yanked his door open, instructing hurriedly, "If we hurry, we can still catch up to them."

Elphaba knew immediately, and said nothing else as she quickly released herself from her seat belt and exited the SUV. He surveyed the situation. There were few people walking around today, which meant that there's a lesser chance of mass panic if it came to him having to pull out his gun. The best course of action was of course to avoid being spotted by the man while approaching the couple.

He stepped up in front of Elphaba, leading the way, while at the same time trying to explain his plan. Elphaba, however, had plans of her own as she quickly sped past him and made a beeline towards the potential suspect.

"What the hell are you doing?!" Fiyero hissed lowly as he hurried to catch up to her. His eyes were trained on the couple walking just a little ahead of them.

Elphaba shot him a look, and ignored him. Instead, she shouted over to the couple, "Hey kid! You dropped your wallet!"

The young gillikinese man quickly glanced behind him, his face suddenly set in panic. The vinkun girl attempted to turn around as well, but he yanked at her and she let out a barely stifled cry. The young man cursed softly and glared at Elphaba before attempting to pick up his pace, pulling the girl with him.

"Look what you've done!" Fiyero growled frustratedly. Elphaba glowered at him and pushed past him again.

"I know what I'm doing, Agent."

"No – No! You've done enough," he said angrily as he pulled out his gun. There were audible gasps of terror from the few people walking by. The suspect heard them and glanced behind again, this time, the realization finally set in.

"Alright, stop right there – I'm Agent Tiggular with the Gale Force, and this is Detective Thropp from the ECPD—"

The young man spun around, yanking the girl in front of him. She cried out in horror as tears begun to stream down her face.

"Please no…!" She screamed.

The young man yanked at her again, growling at her to stop yapping. He then looked up at the Gale Force Agent who was pointing his gun at him. Next to Fiyero, Elphaba cursed under her breath, noticeably ticked off by him as she quickly unholstered her sidearm.

"I've got a gun! I'll kill her!" The young man shouted nervously as he pulled at the girl to emphasize. She could only scream again. "Shut up, you little—"

"—hey, hey! You don't want to finish that sentence." Fiyero narrowed his eyes. His gun was trained on the man's head. The problem was that the man had his weapon hidden behind the pregnant girl – if he attempted anything but a kill shot, the suspect could still let off a few shots into the girl.

Elphaba cocked her weapon, which visibly unnerved the young man. "It doesn't have to be this way." She said coolly. "We've got two guns trained on you – and I don't know about him, but I'm a very good shot. So, if you know what's good for you, you'll let the girl go and drop your weapon."

"You can't shoot at me." The young man laughed shakily as he quickly revealed his gun, placing the barrel squarely against his hostage's temple. "You shoot me, and I'll bring her down with me."

At this, the girl screamed in fear, sniffling and crying loudly.

Fiyero could only think about how he could possibly get her out without getting her killed. It's been some time since he'd been in a situation like this – having spent most of his career on RICO cases and dealing with mobsters and beardy Filaanian crime lords. He rarely had to deal with pregnant women.

"Do I look like I've got the patience to play with you?" Elphaba narrowed her eyes. Her tone was cold, and for a moment, Fiyero really believed that she might actually shoot him right there and then – and it must've been what the suspect felt as well, because it was easy to notice the flinch when she said that.

"Like I said – I'm a very good shot." She said, "So you either put down that Oz damned gun, or I'm going to put one between your eyes."

His breath was caught in his throat as Fiyero spared a glance at her. There was a 50/50 chance that she might actually do that, seeing the type of person she is, and all he could think about was how insane this woman was.

The suspect looked horrified at what Elphaba said and for a few moments – which honestly felt like eternity – he could only glance between the Agent and the Detective. They were the real deal – or at least – they looked like the real deal.

She was green, which didn't register in his brain until right now. Oh sweet Lurline, he was about to be killed by a freak of nature! Grandmomma was right! The demons are real – and she's pointing a gun right at him!

This wasn't worth it!

He swallowed hard, and slowly let his grip on the girl loosen. She was crying incessantly now as she quickly ran away from him, and towards the male agent, who quickly pulled her into a protective hug. The green freak was still pointing her gun right at his head.

"I let her go – "he said, and his voice shook audibly. "y-you have to let me go too."

"Who said anything about that?" she replied coldly. "Gun on the floor. Hands behind your back."

He swallowed hard. There's nothing for him to do but follow her instructions now. It was that, or get shot. So his fingers loosened around the gun, and with a gentle tilt, the small calibre handgun dropped to the ground with a clank.

The detective wasted no time as she stepped over to him and pulled his arms behind his back, slapping on the cold, metallic cuffs. The sound of the clicks assured that he wouldn't be holding anyone hostage for a long while.

The ride down to the D.A's office was quiet.

The suspect from before was taken away by some patrolmen who were the first responders to Elphaba's call, and the pregnant girl was taken away by an ambulance. She'd thanked the both of them profusely.

Aside from that, the two said very little to each other.

Fiyero was still trying to figure out his new partner. The only reason they managed to survive today was because the suspect was a giant ball of nerves, and she managed to intimidate the boy into submission. The way she so coldly assured him that she had no qualms about shooting him dead definitely made the frantic boy piss himself a little.

But there are some people in this world who weren't going to be intimidated by her, and when one day when she would finally come across one of those people, she might very well get herself killed – and it was this fact that made him a little angry.

Fiyero exhaled sharply, which seemed to catch her attention.

He glanced over to her with his lips set in a thin frown. "It's not always going to work, y'know?"

"What are you talking about?" She feigned ignorance – he could tell by the way she refused to meet his eye.

"Threatening a suspect." He said in a harsh tone as his jaw clenched. "What if next time it's not some stupid kid? What if next time, it's someone who isn't afraid of you?"

"You don't get to tell me how to do my job," she narrowed her eyes at him. "Who died and made you king of everything?"

"It's not about how you do your Oz damned job, it's about how you're gonna get yourself – and the hostage – killed because your ego's the size of a blimp!"

There was a small twitch in the corner of her lips, which could either mean that she was amused, or incredibly irked. "Oh HA. Speaking, of egos – if you didn't come guns a blazing and declaring to the whole damn street that we're law enforcement, maybe it didn't even have to come to that!"

"And shouting at the suspect to tell him that he dropped his wallet while he has a possible hostage? Of course THAT didn't contribute to blowing our cover?" Fiyero gritted his teeth as he made a sharp turn. The sound of the tyres skidding across the road was too loud to ignore.

"Wizard's ass—"she nearly screeched as her eyes widened impossibly. "Did they ever teach you how to drive at the oz damned Gale Force?!"

"Well for one thing, we're not supposed to drive angry, now ARE we?" He rolled his eyes dramatically as he took another turn, this time, it was smoother. "MY car, MY rules."

"I'm done. I'm not doing this anymore." She said with finality as she began to yank at the car door. Frantically, Fiyero quickly pushed the button to lock the doors, completely astonished by how insane this woman was.

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?!" He yelled with his eyes wide in horror as he attempted to multi-task.

Elphaba continued to yank at the door, her face scrunched in anger. "GETTING OFF THIS OZ DAMNED DEATH MOBILE."

"YOU'RE GOING TO GET US BOTH KILLED."

"AT LEAST I'M BRINGING YOU DOWN WITH ME."