Elphaba pushed off the cool tile wall. "Let's go." She welcomed the fresh air, if nothing else. Hiding in a men's room might be practical, but it wasn't pleasant.
"Sooner we get out of here-" Avaric hefted the box with a suppressed groan. "Sooner I get a drink."
She shot him a look. The liquor would serve better as a disinfectant, if his face was anything to go by. She tugged the Goat's arm. "Come on, Maximus. Time to go."
Its wide eyes flicked restlessly, but it followed. The four sneaked from the men's room like criminals, beyond conspicuous.
Some professionals.
Lucky for them, people were egocentric by nature. No one looked at them askance. Zephyr scouted ahead for an ambush, and then waved them forward. She towed the Goat across the hall, while Avaric lumbered after with his box.
"Ugh."
His grunt caught her attention, and she swung back. The box tipped dangerously. If it fell, ego or not, everyone's eyes would lock on them. She darted back and grasped the edge.
The Goat spooked, and without her grip, it skittered down the cross hall.
She cursed, and turned after it. Avaric fumbled with the again off-balance box, but she didn't hear it crash.
Maximus was already halfway to the next corridor, and she sprinted in chase. It dashed left into the parallel hallway. Busier here, the bustling crowd confused it. It jolted back and forth without progress.
She forced a burst of speed. Another twenty feet, and she'd have it.
It stopped in the dead middle, breathing hard in panicky bursts. A businessman buried in his newspaper collided with the poor Animal. It skidded back with a "Baaaa," and the man glanced up with a frown.
"Look where you're going," he snapped.
She leapt for it, but it bolted. "Sorry," she offered at the man's pointed stare.
"No need. You know how those kind are," he returned, and only her need to catch the Goat kept him from a sharp pop on the nose.
Her renegade rescue reached a cross hallway, and she pumped her arms and legs. It was frightened, she knew, but she couldn't help flinging a slew of curses at it like rice at a wedding.
It hesitated at the next juncture, and she sprinted forward. She launched herself into it and slammed it to the ground. It bleated franticly, its hooves spiking pain in her shins.
"I'm not going to hurt you," she ground out as she wrestled them to their feet. "Could you cut it out?!"
She hauled Maximus to the main hallway, only to snap back out of sight. Their pursuers. And little chance they'd be convinced she was some other green girl with a Goat.
The collision must have drawn their attention. Damn. Zephyr was going to skin her alive for this.
She turned right at the cross hallway, parallel with the others, now. But this one dead-ended. She doubled back, and tried the next. It forced a left at its end, and she fought a growl.
"Yeah, sure, I know."
The voice came from in front of her, heading her way. She tugged the Goat with her into a narrow alcove.
"But Falcon's said-"
"Falcon is a liar," a gruff voice replied. "You can believe all that bluster and façade if you'd like. But I measure a man by what he produces."
"He's brought his share."
"Faulty, at best." The voices reached the alcove, and she shrunk against the wall. The Goat shuffled nervously, and she threatened it with her eyes.
"That ain't true," a tall, skinny man said. Guards, both of them, though she'd much rather tangle with this one than the solid wall of muscle beside him.
"Naivety does not become you, Lenny."
"Yeah, well, that's not what your mama said last night."
The gruff voice let out a longsuffering sigh. "If you'd read a book, you might know how little that made sense."
The bickering faded as they turned the corner. She slipped from the alcove, determined to get the hell out of here before this ridiculous mess got worse. But more footsteps came from the hallway in front of her.
She doubled back, checking around corners for more guards. No one stood in her way until she reached the main hallway.
Men waited scattered along its length there in each direction, scanning for them. She searched for any means of cover, anything, but it seemed she'd have to fight her way through a public train stop. With a Goat.
"Don't freak out again." Her hand tightened on the Animal. "This won't be pretty."
They scurried across, blending with traffic enough to escape notice. She allowed herself the foolish hope they'd make it.
Then the Goat bleated.
The nearest man gave a shout and barreled toward them. "Ugh, I hate you, Goat, you know that?" It had no reply.
She hauled them out of sight, but the slap of footsteps pounded after her.
Hide or run? Hide or run? Hide or run?
She couldn't fight. That Oz-damned Goat would bolt, and she'd be in twice the trouble, for nothing. So she ran. Maximus dragged behind her like an anchor. Its hooves stumbled at her insistent speed, skidding into a fall. It let loose a terrified bleat.
"Shut up, or so help me-!"
She'd run without notice of where she was, and now she had no idea which direction the others might have gone.
Hide. She should hide. Regroup. But it didn't seem feasible considering her companion.
So she ran. She slid into a cross hallway, and someone rushed toward her. She spun back. Her pursuers pressed a stone's throw behind.
Nowhere to run now, or hide. She'd have to fight, and pray she could catch the damn Goat again.
"Fae!"
She whirled around. Avaric waved her down.
"Come on!"
She fled past him into a small, shadowed hallway. He led her right, and they barreled through an abandoned service entrance at the rear of the station. A carriage waited, the driver looking determinedly in the opposite direction.
The box rested on the floor at Zephyr's feet, and they crowded in around it.
She waited for her pursuers to burst out in chase, but they hadn't found the hidden exit. The horses shuffled and snorted. The carriage jolted forward. It rolled along the path, and past the corner, and to the road.
Still, she didn't relax until the train stop was well out of view.
They rattled along in silence until Zephyr thumped the wall behind the driver. The carriage stopped at the outskirts of town in a warehouse district.
No one wandered the streets here. Empty and broken windows stared unseeing. The silence felt oppressive. Elphaba shifted her grip on the Goat. No way she'd want to chase it in this ghostyard.
Zephyr paid the driver with more to spare, and the horses pattered back toward town. The commander led them forward, winding between abandoned buildings. "Here."
A blue guiderail helped her pull the Goat up the short staircase to the door. "Locked."
Zephyr circled to a high, narrow window. It slid up, and he eyed her. "You're good at entries." He took Maximus's arm. "Key should be inside."
Avaric boosted her up, and she slid through easily.
The warehouse beyond lurked in shadows. A weak stab of daylight fell from the open window, but the windows beside filtered light through too many layers of dirt to be useful.
She squinted at the dark. Where was the key?
Clutter choked every surface, including the floor. Had the warehouse been ransacked? She shuffled through the debris, inhaling the must and dust of neglect. Her fingers fell on something sticky, and she yanked them back. What was that? She swiped at the tacky residue. Perhaps it was better not to know.
This was hopeless. Every minute spent searching, the others waited without cover. Easy targets.
She tried the lock instead. Old and rusted, it resisted her attempts to pick it.
She blew the hair out of her eyes, and caught a glint of metal. The damned key. She unhooked it and pushed the door open with a creak.
"What took so long?" Avaric asked, muscling in the box.
She eyed the mess, and lifted an eyebrow.
"Fair enough."
Zephyr led the Goat in as she searched for some sort of illumination.
She flipped the light switch. Nothing. No fireplace, of course, or candles. In a moment of desperation, she considered lighting the rubbish on fire, but that would spark an inferno in this disaster.
Her blind fumbling found a doorway on the far side. She stumbled over something there, and it clunked glass on metal. She reached for it. Smooth glass and…oil?
"Hang on," she called. She lit a match, and sure enough, it was a lantern. The oil inside was scant, but she lit it anyway. There might be more in the debris.
But Zephyr snatched away the lantern and led the Goat through the doorway. Before she could follow, Avaric caught her arm.
"Why don't we leave them to it?" He moved closer. "We could play doctor again."
"Meaning you need some doctoring?"
His fingers slid down her arm and twined with hers. "Desperately. Would you help me?"
"If you'll drop the flirtatious act."
"Sure, if you'll kiss and make it better." She pulled away, and he tugged her back. "Okay, fine. If you'll make me beg, I guess I'm not above it."
"That certainly sounds appealing." She led him toward the light. "Take off your shirt."
"But you accuse me of propositioning." They looked at his chest. "Anything bleeding?"
"I don't think so." The red marks decorating his trim sides and back heralded a future of dark bruises, but nothing dire. She set a hand on his ribs, testing for fractures, and he drew in a sharp breath. "Take a deep breath."
He complied. "Do I pass?"
She tilted his face toward the light, and eyed the swelling. "You pass."
He grinned at her, and his hand covered hers. "Thanks, doc."
"Finished?" Zephyr stared from the doorway. The lantern lit his face from below. It wasn't pleased.
She cocked her head. "Where's Maximus?"
"Resting." He looked between them, and she stepped back. "I asked you both if I should be worried. You said no."
"You shouldn't be."
His narrowed eyes and long, sharp nose combined in a ferret-like expression. "Oh?"
She couldn't fault him. Avaric was good-looking, and despite her skin, she'd never found men unwilling to consider sex. Still. "Nothing's going on. I was making sure he'd live after being sacrificed for a punching bag."
Zephyr's nostrils flared. "You mean his mission. If the two of you weren't so blinded by your interest-"
"So I should've let them beat him to death?"
"His safety is not your concern. He's a grown man, and a fully capable operative." He approached them with a steady glare. "This is why the organization favors fragmenting. For your own safety."
She scoffed.
"Playing hero jeopardizes the mission. And the mission supersedes all else. Or if not, why are you an operative? I thought you believed in the work? Or do you only care for your boy wonder, here?"
"Hey!"
Elphaba vibrated, fists drawn tight. "Yes, because Oz forbid we try to all survive the mission."
"Oh, you believe your actions so noble? Would you have risked it for another operative? One you've never met? Me?" She snapped a nod, but he'd wormed in a seed of uncertainty. Avaric felt different somehow.
"She would," he returned confidently. "And I doubt we would have gotten out of there without having each other's backs."
Zephyr turned on him. "Is that so? And you find yourself unaffected by her?"
He gave her a steady stare, and boldly lied.
"I've known her a week. How attached could we be?" Zephyr opened his mouth, but Avaric barreled on. "And even if I had slept with her, which I haven't, I'm not exactly hurting for women. Do I seem the type to be cuckolded by a nice ass?"
"Regardless," Zephyr conceded, "I'd separate you if the next mission didn't need you specifically. I'll be watching you. Closely."
She huffed. "There's a surprise."
"I'd advise you to drop this affair at once." He retreated to the doorway. "For each other's sake if not your own."
"That'll be easy. There's no affair to drop," she countered, but he'd already gone.
"Looks like you're stuck with me a little longer, Thropp," Avaric teased, but Elphaba rounded on him.
"Hush," she hissed. "Are you trying to get us killed? And after you just told him we didn't know each other?"
She stalked off, ignoring his entreaty, and though it couldn't have been more than early evening, she found herself a suitable bed of moth-eaten cushions.
The darkness soothed her, but she didn't find sleep.
"You up?"
She shot up at the voice beside her ear, heart racing. "Avaric? What the hell?"
"Peace offering?"
As he sat, liquid sloshed in its container. She lifted an eyebrow he couldn't see. "Is it whiskey, or are you leaving?"
He chuckled. "I knew I liked you." He handed her a glass.
"You have your moments, too." She swirled the glass to get a feel for how full it was. "Trying to liquor me up?"
"Something tells me that'd be like bribing a bear by covering myself in honey. Might work, but definitely not for my good."
She reached out, and he clinked his glass against hers. They tossed the shot back, and she breathed a sigh. It had been too long since she'd had good whiskey, and it seemed it'd be a while longer yet. But the pleasant burn down her throat had her bringing her glass for more.
They spent the next few hours mixing shots and conversation.
Avaric's words started to slur, and her head felt stuffed with cotton. She rested it back on the wall. "Thanks. I needed this."
"Ditto." He sounded closer.
The liquor made her eyelids heavy, not that she could see much anyway. The darkness pressed close, drawing an aura of intimacy between them.
She became vividly aware of his arm a hand's breadth from her, of the leathery scent of his coat, the soft waft of whiskey on his breath. She felt the warmth radiating from him, remembered the calloused feel of his fingers. The dim shape of him hovered beside her elbow. "Av?"
"I thought we were code names only, now?"
She blamed the whiskey for the rush of adrenaline at the tenor of his voice. "I suppose. Why Rho?"
"Why not?"
Both of them nodded sagely with their drunken wisdom.
He squeezed her shoulder. "Time for bed, little girl."
"Surprised you're leaving," she teased, if only to keep him a moment longer. "Not going to seduce me then?"
"You think I would when you're drunk?"
Her head tipped back to expose her neck. "I might."
He sucked in a breath. "No need. I'm always intoxicated around you."
His nose found her temple, and she leaned into him. The memory of his kiss pressed to the front of her mind. How would that kiss be without the forced urgency? With the time to explore each other languidly, completely?
"Tempting as you are-" His lips pressed a kiss, but to her scalp. "I won't have you regret this in the morning." His thumb swiped over her lips. "Though I probably will."
In a brazen rush of need, she grasped his collar. "And if I want to regret this?"
"Not fair." His fingers trailed down her arms.
"I don't play fair." She slid into his lap and curled her arms around his neck. "I play to win."
He gripped her hips, shifting her back. "No dice, love."
"Not all that drunk," she pouted, her words at odds with the way she fumbled them.
"You might hold your liquor okay-" He nudged his nose along her jawline. "But I doubt my heart would fare as well."
"Sure you don't want to find out?"
"More than you can imagine." He dipped in a soft, slow kiss. It set fire to the crackling energy between them, and she returned it eagerly. She tried to deepen it, but he resisted.
She climbed off to sulk. "Fine. Go on. I'd like some sleep."
"Fae…"
"Go."
He moved to the door. "If you're game tomorrow, I'm up for it. Hell, give it half an hour…"
She curled into herself and considered a snappy retort. But the liquor had peaked, and now she just wanted sleep. Honestly, she'd be grateful to him tomorrow. Even drunk she knew that. But at the moment, she only felt the rejection.
He sighed. "I figured. Night, Fae."
She didn't answer. After a few moments of silence, she peeked over her shoulder. The empty shadows were expected, but still a disappointment.
When she woke from her restless sleep in the morning, she found Zephyr in the dim sunlight lent by their window. Beside him were three coffees, and she took one eagerly. "Others up yet?"
"No, Rho is still asleep."
"Maximus?"
Zephyr handed her bread with jam. "Already deposited to safety."
She peeked at the sun. Was it that late? No, the sun flashed blindingly at the horizon. "And our mission today?"
He chewed his breakfast slowly. "We'll wait for Rho. I dislike repeating myself."
She stamped down the curiosity of what would necessitate them specifically. "Should I wake him?" Zephyr lifted an eyebrow, and she rolled her eyes. "Not with sex or anything."
"Eat your breakfast."
She did, and they fell into a comfortable silence. He studied her.
"You've been in the organization a while now. Are you still committed?"
She sipped her coffee. "If I weren't, would it matter? This isn't a summer camp to go home early."
He smiled. "I suppose not."
"But, yes, I am."
"Enough to-"
She held up a hand. "If you're harping on this ridiculous obsession you have with me and Rho again, you're waiting your breath."
He flattened his lips, annoyed at her interruption. "To consider becoming command?"
She jerked back. Her? "I…I suppose. I haven't given that any thought."
"You might." He took another infuriatingly slow sip of coffee. "Though your attitude might be a deterrent, your work is good. Aside from this recent slip."
Her gaze hardened. "You needn't appeal to my ambition." She stood. "As for my attitude, that's unlikely to change."
She stalked to the back where Avaric slept. "Wake up."
No answer.
She knocked into his shoulder. Eyes still closed, he swung toward her, pinning her to him around the waist. Instinctively, she lashed out, pressing against his bruised ribs. He groaned and recoiled.
She took the opening to scramble back. Grimacing, he blinked his way awake. "Wazzat for?" he slurred drowsily, and she fought the apology on the tip of her tongue.
"Manhandling me instead of waking up."
He pushed to a sitting position, rubbing his eyes with a heavy hand. "If you wanted to wake me up, there are more pleasant ways for both of us."
"Come on. Zephyr won't tell me about the mission without you, and if I have to make small talk with him, one of us is going to die."
Avaric levered himself up with a chuckle. "My bets are on his funeral." He slumped to find his shirt, and she tossed him his pants. Her eyes wandered over him as he dressed, simply to assess his bruises, of course.
He didn't comment, but she caught the smile he thought was hidden.
"Oz, you take forever to get ready."
"Only for an audience."
She crossed her arms and stalked out. His laugh followed her. If Zephyr wanted to comment on their return together, he controlled himself.
Avaric fell to the coffee and bread with gusto as Elphaba perched on a nearby desk. "So, what's on for today?"
Zephyr let him finish the bite. "The Halosphere."
The color drained from Avaric's face, and he abandoned his bread. Elphaba shifted at his reaction. That didn't bode well. "What's that?" she asked, but neither man responded.
Avaric swore under his breath, "So that's why me." His eyes met hers though he kept his address to Zephyr. "Why her? Has she-"
"Not yet. But Fae excels with geometric challenges. Look at her lock picking."
"It's a far cry from picking a lock to the Halosphere."
"That's where you come in." He tossed her a snide look. "It seems she excels at getting in your head, as well."
"I told you everything he told me."
"Is anyone going to tell me anything?" she asked, only to be ignored.
"But there might be subtleties he told you before-," he took in Avaric's expression, "Well, it's all there in your head."
"Yeah, mine. Not Fae's. So why don't I-?"
"You're not gifted that way, and you know it. She'll be fine. She's calm under pressure."
He barked a laugh.
"That kind of pressure."
"Or so you assume."
She rolled her eyes and hopped off her desk. "Should you boys ever feel the need to tell me what's going on, I'll be in the back."
"A bomb."
She spun back to Avaric. "What?"
His lips pressed white. Zephyr frowned, but Avaric's eyes bored into the table. "The Halosphere is a bomb."
She leaned back in shock. A bomb? He wanted them to steal a bomb?
"This is precisely why I was telling you-"
"Lecturing us."
"You're too involved. Fae's an operative. She is perfectly capable. It's not your job to decide-."
"Sorry if I don't want to get blown up with her!"
Elphaba made a face. "Thanks for all the confidence."
"You don't feel the same?"
She shrugged. "It's the mission."
Zephyr sent her a smile of approval, too smug for her liking, but Avaric pressed on, "Surely you have operatives with more experience making bombs."
"Making?"
He furrowed his brow. "What did you think?" He turned back to Zephyr. "All them already die? Because that would inspire confidence."
"The Halospere isn't a normal bomb, if your information is correct. It'll take some…creativity."
She'd always been good with gears and such. And improvising. "What is the bomb for?"
Zephyr scowled. "That's not for-"
"If you want me to make it, you'd better tell me what you plan to do with it."
"Kill the Wizard."
AN: Sorry it's so late, but it was a bit of a beast to edit. Thank you for reading.