Elphaba peeked up at the sky, but darkness hid any threat of rain in the clouds. Maybe she'd misheard. But another peal of thunder came, louder now.
"Damn." Avaric squeezed her waist, his voice edged with worry, "We'll find cover."
A drop fell. Another. One landed on her hand, and she jerked back. The horse startled at the sharp tug. It tossed its head, but Avaric snatched the reigns before they fell.
"Should we get down?"
"And do what?" She tucked her head low, an arm up like a shield. She forced a calming breath. "There's nowhere to hide here." Why hadn't she grabbed her pack? She didn't even have a cloak.
She hissed as a raindrop hit her neck. Another followed on her arm, and a third fast behind.
He stripped off his shirt. "Here."
She wrapped it around as much skin as she could, but that only bought a little time. When the thin fabric got wet? Then what? She might as well be naked. A shiver ran up her spine.
Nothing she could do. Nowhere to go.
She twisted toward the only shelter to be found, Avaric. Burying her face against his neck pulled her half-sideways in her seat. The horse rocked like a ship in a hurricane now. She sacrificed a couple fingers to clutch his belt loop.
"Damn Wizard. Oz-damned rain." He drove them into the forest, muttering curses to the wind. The rain pattered faster now. They didn't have long. Another couple minutes, at best.
Water stung the sliver of skin exposed at her waist, and she yelped. He tightened his arm around her with a fresh set of expletives.
Nothing to be done now, but ride. Hopefully he'd make it close enough to a town that he could find her some burn ointment. Or a doctor.
Moisture seeped through her shirt in fiery tendrils. Relentless, the rain fell faster, until it beat down on them in fat, heavy drops. In seconds, they were drenched.
Each drop lanced a new pain. Overwhelmed, her nerves couldn't process it all. She reeled, lightheaded. Only Avaric's arm kept her from falling. A moan started low in her throat until it shivered through her whole body.
"Hang on." It rang so close to her ear that it felt like her own thought. "Oz, Fae, hang on."
Then she was flying, falling, floating, jumbling through the air. The world jostled around her. Eyes shut, she couldn't muster the will to care. A series of sounds came too disconnected from her suffering for her to process.
And the rain stopped.
Tugging at her clothes. Yes, right. She opened her thick, aching eyelids. Avaric flung off her shirt, undergarments. She chuckled brokenly. "T-trying to-" she scattered the syllables past her chattering teeth, " g-get me n-nak-"
"Come on, Fae, help."
She lifted a thick arm, wrestled a button with heavy fingers.
He ripped the cloth away. She was naked now. A thick cloth plopped over her shoulders, draping her in the smell of sweat and leather. He patted her dry. The skin flared with angry complaint, but the burning dulled.
She pawed at her hair. It swung free, dripping wildly. She couldn't grip it. He caught on, and twisted it up for her in a knot.
"Fae, are you alright? Oz."
She looked down. A wisp of light struggled past the entrance to their cave. It lit up the burns weaving over her. She looked away, unnerved by the number and severity. She nodded. The horse paced at the mouth, its saddle thrown haphazardly on the ground.
This was the saddle blanket, then.
Reluctantly she unwrapped it from around her shoulders. "You'll have to go back. Or find someone. I'll need something for this."
His eyebrows crowded his eyes. "Leave you here?"
A shudder drove her to the ground, and she wrapped her arms around her knees. "I need it. And I can't go."
"But-"
"Soon," she whispered. "Please."
He set to work, and when the horse was readied, he turned back. "Don't try and do anything stupid while I'm gone."
She glanced down at herself. "What could I try?"
"You usually find a way."
"Fair enough. You, too. Don't get killed and leave me naked in a cave."
He smiled. "Yes, ma'am."
She tried to smile back, but a wave of pain doubled her over.
"I'll hurry."
And he was gone.
She huddled against the walls of the cave letting the cool stone soothe the angry skin. In the dark, with nothing to distract, the pain felt larger than reality. It grew beyond her, melting her skin and bones in torment.
She lost track of time. She drifted, aching and alone, too in pain to feel fear. Or self-pity. Only dull agony.
Then she heard hooves pounded over the ground. Thank Oz.
She staggered toward the entrance. The rain had stopped, for now. But puddles still lingered on the ground. She couldn't go out to him.
"About time," she taunted, her voice too weak to carry real threat. "I thought that thick head of yours had gotten lost…"
The silhouette in the entrance was joined by another.
She blinked. A doctor?
"She's here." The man from the forest. She scrambled back, but where could she go? Naked and aching, she might as well be a newborn babe.
Had Avaric betrayed her? Why now? Why to them? Or had they wandered on to her, just more of her bad luck?
She crouched low, eyes down. "Help," she murmured. "I need help."
The woman strode forward, her eyes cold. "We won't be fooled. You're coming with us. The easy way, or the hard."
Her eyes flicked up. "Could I have a cloak, at least?"
The man sighed. "Mira, come on. What could it hurt?" He crouched beside her, slinging off his thick cloak.
She launched herself at him, and the wet fabric burned her hands as she twisted it around his neck. "Back."
The woman complied.
Elphaba loosened the makeshift noose a hair, and the man coughed. His fingers clawed at the fabric. But she held tighter, not through strength as much as desperation. A pang of remorse hit her for taking advantage of his kindness. She couldn't indulge it.
"Move back, or I'll have to strangle him."
Mira eyed her coldly. "Do it, then."
"Oh?" Elphaba tightened the fabric enough to choke him. He slapped at her hands. "I know you care about him. You'd watch him die?"
Mira took a step forward. "I know who you care about, too. You'll come with me if you hope to see that handsome lover of yours."
"He betrayed me," she found the words easily, as she wasn't quite sure of their falsehood. "Did yours?"
His face was red. He had moments, at best, until he passed out. She willed the woman to cave. She didn't want to kill him.
Mira moved back, and she slackened the cloak. The man sputtered a ragged breath. "Now move to-"
He spun on her and slammed her to the cave wall. Caught off-guard, she let go of the cloak, and her back exploded into a wave of pain. She pushed back, vision blurred by involuntary tears. The man snapped her arms behind her, pulling up until she thought her shoulder would dislocate.
Mira wasted no time in tying her, as tight as the rope would allow. It chafed against her burns, and Elphaba grimaced. "Let me go."
"Should gag her, too." He bound her ankles for good measure and scooped her into his arms. She called back threats that she had no ability to follow through as they tied her to the saddle like luggage.
The blood rushed to her head, amplifying the pain. She felt the world spin, black dots creeping forward.
"Should cover her up, at least. In case we meet anyone."
"If we meet anyone, we're in trouble enough, but fine."
A damp cloth settled over her, and she stifled a scream at the fire it poured on her already battered body. The horses's stride bounced her in the saddle. The pounding in her skull shook, shuddered, and swelled. The darkness surrounded her. She couldn't fight it. It flooded her, and she drifted away.
The floor felt warm compared to her cave. Her eyes fluttered open, but tied as she was, she couldn't see more than underneath the desk. She shifted to roll on her back, and stilled. Her skin felt raw.
"She needs it!"
Avaric. He was here? As captive or conspirator?
"Oz, just look at her!"
"She's a witch. It's a ruse."
He growled at the girl. "Your brain is a ruse."
Elphaba choked a laugh at that. A scraping came.
"Fae! Fae, can you hear me? Unlock the door, damn it."
Unlock…no, locked. He'd told them the doors were locked, back in Virincia. Why? They didn't take the bomb. Why tell them if not for that?
"Because I'm not working with them." She must have voiced her thoughts out loud.
He crouched low beside her. "First the Gale Force, now whoever they are…you really are convinced I'm the enemy, aren't you?"
"You lied." Oz, even her lips hurt.
"Yes, you certainly haven't done any of that, plotting with Zephyr to get me killed for spying I haven't done."
Fair enough. She wrestled her way to sitting. At the sight of her skin, she regretted it. Wild, fierce burns traced over her from head to toe. Without her cream, they'd likely get infected. She was surprised the fever hadn't yet set in.
Avaric was back at the door, rattling the knob. "What the hell is the matter with you? At least give her clothes!"
"Made that mistake once," called the man through the door. "Not again."
She flopped back against the wall. "Here I thought you liked me naked."
"And willing, not dying."
"I'm not dying." Though it certainly felt like it. She rested her head back, eyes closed. "Don't be dramatic."
He scoffed. "Yep, you're the picture of health."
The door opened, and Avaric leapt to his feet. Mira threw in the dress and slipped back out. The lock clicked. "There. Get dressed. We're leaving."
"She needs medicine," he argued, but no one responded.
She forced her aching muscles to drag on the garment. She hissed as the cloth slid over her burns, fighting back involuntary tears. The dress hung loose on her thin frame, but the seams still cinched and rubbed on the irritated skin. A small price to pay to finally be clothed.
He slammed a hand on the door, rattling it against the hinges.
"Can you button me?"
He reigned himself in. "Sure."
At her back, he drew in a deep breath. She could only imagine it looked as lovely as it felt. He tugged the material closed, thankfully ignoring her wince.
The door swung open again, and this time the blonde approached with some rope. "Tie her up." She tossed the rope at him. "Do it right, and we'll give you the burn cream."
Elphaba cackled. "Is that so? If we completely incapacitate ourselves, you'll definitely still honor your agreement. It's not as if you'll just kill us anyway."
"I hadn't planned on it. At least not personally." She advanced on them. "But then, that Goat you killed was a friend of mine, so I doubt anyone would fault me. Tie her up."
"What Goat?" Avaric barked.
She snarled at him, "Right. I suppose you've killed so many, you wouldn't know which."
"The only Goat I can recall is my old History teacher. My essays might have torture, but not murder."
Elphaba frowned. "You mean Maximus? He's not dead. Zephyr…" The spy, who actually worked for the Wizard. Was settled a euphemism?
"I'm not a fool." Mira's lip twitched in a hateful snarl. "I'm going to enjoy handing you over."
Damn it, they'd just gotten out of that camp. "I didn't kill your friend."
"I won't listen to your lies. Tie her up."
"You do realize then I can't tie him up." Mira didn't react, and Elphaba frowned. "You think I'm the threat? You're more afraid of a twiggy girl covered in burns than the brawny man ready to rip you limb from limb?" She dissolved into cackles. "Sure, Rho, tie me up."
He shuffled a step toward her, and spun back. "But I see the cream first. And we put it on before we leave."
Mira's partner produced the jar from her pack. He reached out, but she nodded toward Elphaba.
"You sure about this?" he whispered as he bent to her hands.
"No double entrendres? I'm disappointed in you."
"Little distracted. Try me again when we're alone." He pressed a gentle kiss to her scalp as he tied her wrists. An apology that wasn't necessary.
He stretched a hand for the cream, but Mira tipped it back. "But I watch. Nothing funny."
Elphaba snorted. "Or maybe you'd like to do it yourself. Put on a show for the boys."
She slapped it in Avaric's hand with a glare.
He ripped the lid off and hauled up a finger covered in cream. She tried not to sigh as his fingers trailed cooling mercy over her aching skin. He soothed her face, neck, arms. He knelt for her legs, but Mira snatched it out of his hands.
"That's enough."
He flung out a hand. "What about her back?"
"She'll live."
"At least let me take it with us. We can finish there, I guess."
"If she lasts that long." But she handed him the cream. "Turn around." When Mira had Avaric's arms tied as well, she prodded them forward. "Let's go."
"Where?"
She tipped Elphaba's chin back. "To answer for your crimes."
"To who?"
She stuffed in the gag with no little energy. "The Resistance."
She relaxed. The transportation might not be ideal, but once they got to the others, she'd be fine. Viir would stand up for her, if Gau didn't. Mira shoved her inside the wagon bed.
"And if they don't execute you, I'll just have to kill you myself."