Elphaba propped herself against the wagon's slatted side. The cloying smell of ointment clung to her, amplified by the wagon's thick canvas trapping in stale air, but she'd never found any scent as appealing.

Avaric shuffled to her. "You okay?"

"Right as rain."

"Sorry." The wagon lurched forward, and they bumped shoulders. "They caught me coming back. I couldn't get away."

"Turn around." He complied, and she fumbled with the knot. Tight, much more than hers. But what else did they have to do?

"I couldn't just leave you there. What if you died, alone in a cave?"

"Don't be dramatic."

He spun and faced her. "You're kidding, right? You passed out, covered in burns and shaking. You look-" He drew a deep breath. "I wish I could do something to help."

"You could turn around and let me untie that knot. Put that cream in your pocket all over me instead."

"Tempting me with your body? That's below you." He let her move him.

"Not below you? You're off your game. Missing an easy one."

Her flippancy didn't faze him. "I just," he swallowed. "I was afraid I lost you. I couldn't do that again."

"Like the girl that didn't matter?" He jerked toward her, but she slammed a hand against his shoulder. "Hold still, damn it. Zephyr told me."

His voice turned cautious. "Told you what?"

"The girl you were fucking for secrets died when they ran out."

He winced, shoulders curling in on himself. "He's a liar."

She lifted an eyebrow. "He's not alone."

"Me? I didn't do any of that."

"You did sleep with her."

"Not for secrets! And I certainly didn't kill her."

"I know." He tried again to turn, but she shoved him back. "But you didn't tell me the truth, either."

"Fair enough."

After a long pause, she poked his shoulder. "So…"

"You won't like it."

"Stop treating me like a china doll."

"A doll? Right. Oz forbid I treat you like I care for you." She poked him harder. "I was with this girl, another agent, but only for sex. No ulterior motives. No deeper feelings. Just sex."

"I figured. I have met you." He tossed her a glare over his shoulder. "You said as much already."

"She died on a mission. Command found out. Thought I compromised her."

"Did you?"

"Not intentionally."

"Then why not tell me?"

He studied the floor. "It's not that easy." Guilt lined his face, so clear and familiar. How had she missed it before? "I tried to save her. But I don't seem to be a good hero."

"Clearly." His eyes snapped to hers. She leaned against him. "Sorry you're human. It's a reality I had to accept about myself, as well."

"You're a force of nature. Hell, covered in burns, you could probably still take down half the Gale Force."

"Come around then?"

He sighed. "I never thought you were weak. Cut a guy a break for not wanting to see you killed."

"There. Knot's out." He pulled his arms forward and rubbed to get the blood flowing again. "Now do me."

He shot her a look. "Too easy."

"To do me?"

His gaze roamed over her face. "Are you trying to seduce me?" Was she? She'd meant to erase that heartbreaking regret from his face. But she'd missed him. And she could finally trust him.

"You need seducing?"

"We're in a wagon headed to our deaths, and you're covered in burns."

She shrugged. "We almost had sex in a room with a bomb."

"An excellent point." He pulled her closer. "In comparison, this is quite tame."

"Conventional, even."

He pressed a fleeting kiss, and another. "So on board." Another quick kiss. "But let's do your cream first."

"Agreed."

He freed the cream from his pocket, and chuckled to himself. "I'm surprised you let me out of the rope." She grinned. "But glad. I can barely handle you with both hands."

"You do alright."

She licked her lips before she caught herself. Did all life-threatening situations make them so energized? So irresistibly attracted to each other?

"I suppose we should focus on trying to escape."

His hands brushed her skin as he tackled her knot. Those hands. Warm and large. And surprisingly dexterous. Wonderful for buttons, and underneath.

Her knot came free much faster. He reached for the cream, but she caught him in a searing kiss. "I'm impatient."

He kissed her back, and she climbed in his lap. "Cream first. You agreed."

She nibbled his earlobe in response.

"Nope. Off."

She undid her buttons and slid her top around her waist. He pursed his lips. "What? It's coming off anyway." She nosed his jaw, and he groaned.

"I'm trying to be a gentleman here."

She snorted. "You?"

"Wounded." He held a hand over his heart.

"Let me kiss and make it better." He slid her hips forcibly off his lap and opened the jar. She pulled a pout. "Spoilsport."

"Patience." He spun her around and slid a cream-covered hand over her side. It had ached for so long now, she'd forgotten how blissful a lack of pain could feel. Her eyes closed with a long sigh. "See. My way is better."

"Yeah, yeah. Know-it-all."

His fingers glided over her neck and ribs, cool and soothing. "Since when am I the voice of reason anyway, and you're the one too busy thinking with your pants?"

He reached her breasts, and her head fell back.

"No snappy comeback?"

She fought a moan. Oz, he felt good. Smoothing and soothing and warm and cool. His breath fogged by her ear. She wanted more. He slipped back and scooped out more cream, and every nerve in her body screamed for him to come back.

He moved to her back, and hissed. "Lurline."

"Ssh." She settled in his lap, and placed his hands on her back. "Don't look." His eyes softened. His kiss was too soft, now, his touch too gentle. She pulled away. "It's not your fault I'm allergic to water."

"I know."

"You aren't why I was in the storm. I would have been there, with or without you."

"I know."

"And without you, I wouldn't be here."

Guilt flickered in his eyes, and she kissed him again.

"I mean, I'd still be in that damn cave, with no cream and no help."

He cupped her face. "I shouldn't have left you."

She jerked a hand toward the jar. "And I wouldn't have this. Stop feeling guilty, and get to work."

He quirked a smile. "Yes, ma'am."

He drifted lower, over her legs, under her skirt. His fingers kneaded her ass, and she licked the hollow of his throat. His hands slid up her inner thigh. She arched her back, breathless.

"Done."

She scrambled for his zipper, and he laughed. "This is probably a terrible idea. My luck, soon as my pants are down, they'll bust in."

"I like to live dangerously."

He met her in a long kiss. Before they could do more, the wagon slowed. They swayed with the inertia, and she let it send her off his lap. She buttoned her dress.

He cursed.

"Should have done it my way."

He rolled his eyes and pocketed the cream.

She crouched by the door, Avaric beside. Footsteps. Muffled words drifted through. "Camidg….know…you said…" Clearer as they reached closer. Elphaba tensed, poised to spring.

"How was I to know?" The door swung open, and she caught Mira with a quick punch to the gut.

The girl gasped, reeled back. Her uppercut landed, but weakly. Elphaba gave no opening to recover from the shock. She flung her arms around the girl's neck, pinning her in a chokehold.

Mira sputtered, flailed, but couldn't shake free.

She glanced at Avaric. He had the other man prone on the ground, a hand up as Avaric pointed his own gun at him.

"Seriously? You thought we couldn't undo a knot? Novices."

Mira glared. "Let us go."

Elphaba pressed lightly on the girl's windpipe. "Hush. We'll go with you. But no more of this captive business. We work for the Resistance, too."

The woman clawed at her arm, stabbing at the tattoo. She loosened her grip so Mira could talk. "At least have the decency to hide that if you're going to lie."

"What, this? It's the proof we're in the Resistance. Don't you have one?"

She barked a harsh laugh. "Right. I have the Wizard's damn emblem on my arm."

"What are you talking about? It's an R, for the Resistance."

"It's a K, miss." The man stood slowly, both hands up. Avaric kept the gun trained on his head. "For Kansas Sky."

"No." She looked at it. The R didn't connect, but… Now that he said it, the blue letter might be an over-embellished K. "No, it's an R."

"What's Kansas Sky?" Avaric asked.

"This is ridiculous," Mira snarled. "Drop the farce. We're not idiots."

"Debatable."

"Mira," her partner cautioned.

"Why are we even listening to them?"

"Because they have the gun," he snapped. "Besides, look at her face. Do you really think she's that good a liar?"

Elphaba scowled, but Avaric intervened, repeating his question.

"Kansas Sky is the Wizard's underground spy network."

Blue. It had marked all the buildings they'd used. She felt sick. No, they were lying. Had to be. Or else, she'd been working for the Wizard all along.

"Ozdamn Zephyr," Avaric growled. "Oh, Lurline. How long were we-" He swallowed hard. "Everything I've done…for the wrong cause."

Elphaba dragged the girl a step closer. "Stop it. We can worry about that later. After we find that son of a bitch and kill him." She flung Mira to her partner. "Take us to the Resistance, or get the hell out of my way."

The camp bustled at the point of chaos. Animals wove amongst humans, all busy scribing pamplets, cleaning weapons, on and on. No masks. No darkness. No gunshots.

No secrets.

Mira led them up stone steps into a large building. Inside, several men and women ringed a platform. "We got your message." A burly man with grey whiskers shook the tall partner's hand. "Are these your prisoners?"

"Do I look like a prisoner?" Elphaba tilted her chin up. "We came here voluntarily."

"That seems unwise, Gale."

"I'm no Gale Force. My name is Fae."

"Fine. That seems unwise, Fae."

The others chuckled. Mira's partner stepped forward. "I believe them." Mira spun on him, but he shrugged. "I do. She seems like a terrible liar."

"The best ones do, son."

Mira fists balled by her sides. "They killed Maximus," Murmurs wove through the various members observing on the sidelines.

"We didn't kill him." Avaric stepped forward. "Our superior misled us. Manipulated us. For Oz knows how long. We thought we joined the Resistance."

The leader lifted an eyebrow.

"Clearly we were wrong."

Mira crossed her arms. "So you think to get away with what you've done without penalty?"

He whirled on her, surprisingly volatile for his careful demeanor. "Without penalty?" His nostrils flared. "I have to live with that on my conscience knowing it was for nothing. Less than nothing. And that's not a penalty?"

"Help us or don't," Elphaba said, "we're going to find the bastard. And he'll get what's coming to him. The Wizard, too."

"Awfully confident of your freedom, Kansas." Mira stalked to her. "You're in our camp. Planning to fly your way out?"

"You could stop me?"

"That's enough." Her partner stepped between them. "I saw their faces when we told them. I'm telling you. I know a genuine reaction, real shock, when I see it. They didn't know."

Mira turned on him, "Shut up, Gadsden. She's Calypso, and you know it."

A collective gasp came from their audience, and the whiskered leader strode forward. "This young thing?"

"Heard it myself."

Elphaba rolled her eyes. "He wanted to make me that, whatever it is. But he didn't."

"Right."

"We escaped." She flashed a false smile. "Haven't you noticed we're good at that?"

Mira glared, but the leader caught her attention. He edged away subtly, eyes flicking between them. She tensed.

"You don't believe me, fine. Give me a chance to prove it."

"How do you propose to do that?"

"Let me kill the Wizard."

Avaric stepped beside her. "It's been our real mission since we started this."

"And if you betray us?"

She shrugged. "What've you got to lose?"

"Justice," Mira snarled, but the leader stepped back, considering.

"Are we agreed?" The company responded, left to right, and she fought a jolt of surprise that they operated democratically. The grizzled man stepped forward. "Alright. You have your chance."

"Thank you."

"But be clear," he stopped a hands breadth from her, his gaze deep and intense, "someone's going in the ground. If not the Wizard, then you."

The camp settled early for the night. She ducked into the small tent, glad for somewhere private, and shimmied out of her dress. Her muscles ached as she stretched to apply a fresh layer of burn cream, but she'd had worse. And recently.

"Fae?"

She didn't bother to answer.

"You get a tent, and I get a night with the wagons?"

"Complaining?"

He sauntered toward her. "Not if you stay like that. And let me stay, too."

"You're just trying to get a sleeping bag."

"Into your sleeping bag." His kiss fell soft on her lips. "How are your burns?"

"Fine. Do my back."

"Always so bossy."

She swung up her hair. "You like it."

He kissed the nape of her neck. "I do." The cold cream chilled her, raising goosebumps on her arms at his gentle touch. "But I like you pliant, too." He teased her with a slow, feathery touch along the curve of her breast.

"That doesn't sound like me."

His finger moved down her side, the single point of pressure almost hypnotic. "More so than you'd like to admit."

She whirled on him, capturing his lips and digging her fingers in his scalp. His tongue met hers, warm and wet and promising. They picked up right where they'd been interrupted.

She melted into him. She reached for his shirt, and he caught her hands. "Always a hurry."

"So get naked already."

His chuckle rumbled low and deep. "And if I'd like to go more slowly?"

Chin tipped back, she propped a hand to her hip. "Take off your pants, or get out of my tent."

"I'm dismissed?"

"Maybe."

"Maybe not."

She frowned. His eyes caught hers, and she swallowed. They skated down her body. His dilated pupils gave him a wild air that made her pulse race. "Still want slow?"

He hovered an inch away. "Oz, yes." The long, slow kiss pooled warmth in her stomach. She started on his buttons, but he caught her wrists. "No reason to rush. We might be dead tomorrow, regardless."

"Right so-"

"And I want no regrets." His intensity quickened her breath. "And not seeing you come completely undone would be one of the greatest regrets of my life."

She rolled her eyes. "Then take off your clothes already."

"Patience." His fingertips slid over her arms. "We've done it your way, and trust me." He kissed her hard, pressing himself against her. "I like your way."

She arched back, her leg hooking around him. But he guided her away an inch.

"But you haven't tried my way. You might like it, too."

She grumbled wordlessly, which he took as tacit permission. He brushed feather-light kisses over her face, avoiding the cream. Then his fingers continued lower. Light as a butterfly wing. She wanted to scream.

But she'd tolerate him. And he'd realize her way was better. And she'd ride him to within an inch of his life.

The urge to clutch him closer was overpowering. He slid behind her, trailing his hands through her long hair. They wandered over her breasts, hips, sides, arms, never settling in any one spot. Frustration washed through her, but gradually, the smooth motions lulled it away.

As if he sensed the change, he carefully allowed more pressure. She tipped her head back. His way was not without its merits.

The slow burn warmed up her body to the sensations rolling through her, everything somehow more intense. She let her fingers wander his chest in return, edging toward the buttons. When he didn't stop her, she tugged his shirt off.

They trailed fingers and lips over each other languidly. Her heightened awareness soaked in the sensation trailing his touch. He teased her nipple, and her fingers flexed on his ribs. He winced.

"Sorry."

"Sh." The cooing tenor of his voice melted through her. "You mention my ribs, and I'll have to do your burns. Then it'll be all injuries and yelling and why we shouldn't. Can't we skip it?"

She tugged at his belt. "That's exactly what I've been saying."

He pulled her against him, but without the urgency that usually propelled them on. He kissed her so lightly, and yet, her body hummed for his touch. She vibrated with need, and he teased right at the line of offering more.

His fingers dipped between her legs, and she swallowed a moan. He moved behind her. His lips fell to the juncture of her neck and shoulder, nuzzling the tender skin as his fingers traced her lower.

She twisted her hips back against him, thick and hard even through his pants, and he gulped a sharp breath.

"Sh. Close your eyes."

She pouted, but he made it difficult to stay mad at him with those gifted fingers. Finally they drifted where she wanted them, alternating wonderful pressure with slow, delicate caresses. His body felt so warm, so solid behind her. His fingers coaxed waves of sensation through her. She teetered on the brink of desperation from nothing but his warm body and skilled fingers.

A moment longer, so close. Yes, there.

He pulled back, and she growled at the frustration.

His low chuckle rumbled against her neck. "So impatient. Still no trust?"

She started to argue, but his fingers fell back against her. She gasped a shaky breath. His fingers taunted her with how close she was. She clutched at him brazenly now, abandoning all pride to beg for more. She couldn't stand it. She wanted him so badly.

His lips slid over her ear as he built the pressure. More. And more. And higher. And higher. Her entire body coiled like a tense spring. Her head fell back against his shoulder. Her toes curled. She teetered right on the edge.

And tipped over.

The rush was phenomenal. It left her weak-kneed and wobbly. Without his arms around her, she would have crumpled to the floor. She melted into him, muscles loose and sated.

He nuzzled her earlobe. "And?"

"Alright, I concede. You might have something there." She looped a finger in his belt loop. "Now can you take your pants off already?"

He chuckled, low and soft. "Yes, ma'am."

If it was their last night, they certainly wouldn't waste it by sleeping.

AN: Happy Thanksgiving. Thanks for reading.