AN:

LifelongLeahstar: Sorry...Kind of :P

Here's the next chapter!

Elphaba was breathing heavily as she removed her hand from his neck, her magic creating ripples in the air. The feeling of static flowing through her as the guard fell like a sack to the floor. She panicked for a moment thinking he may have hit his head too hard. Kneeling down she placed her hand on his chest and felt the steady beating of his heart. She sighed in relief as she grabbed his arm and gently pulled him to the side. Hiding him in the shadow's of the dimly lit corridor of the chamber. Once hidden she patted his body, pulling out a set of keys. With a smirk she went back to the door and unlocked it, pushing it open and walking inside.

Her arms crossed across her chest and she smirked at the figure with his hands tied over his head and a rag covering his mouth.

"You know, when I say distract them I don't mean get caught and tortured?" Elphaba playfully joked, hiding the worry she was feeling at seeing him tied up.

He told her everything he wanted to say in the glare he gave her. Elphaba chuckled as she came closer muttering a quick spell she had learned recently, and in an instant the rope cutting into his skin fell off. She helped him remove the rag from his mouth and he coughed out, a few drops of blood appearing on his arm.

"Next time you can be the one to get caught." Avaric said hoarsely wincing from the pain that must have shot through him as he stood. He flexed and rubbed at his wrists. "Did you get what we came for?" He asked her.

Elphaba grinned pulling something out of her cloak and waving it in his face before putting it back.

Avaric grinned as she helped him balance on his legs. "Something's going right for one of us at least." He huffed and she scoffed. "If you shut up maybe our luck won't end."

Avaric simply made a noise at the back of his throat.

"So what happened with the reason you were here for?" Elphaba asked watching him stagger forward. She put a hand around his arm steadying him but he waved her away. "I'm fine, just some slight bruising in the legs," He told her, "And the idiot left it on the table just over there." He pointed at a table nestled in the edge of the candlelit room. Elphaba scrunched her eyes together to make it out, her eyes not as accustomed to the dark as he had been for the past half hour. Elphaba walked over to it, grabbing the documents from the table and also taking the small flask that had been left behind when the guard had gone out to check on the noise she had made.

Elphaba looked at the paper in her hand and raised an eyebrow at Avaric. "There is only one here?"

"Yeah, well that's all I was able to get before I got rammed into the ground."

"Well, it's better than nothing," She admitted as she handed him the flask. "Here, for the pain."

He grumbled a quick thanks before bringing the small flask towards his lips and taking a quick sip of the alcohol immediately coughing as he felt the burn in his chest.

Elphaba chuckled walking past him and heading for the door. "Now let's go before you find a way to get caught again."

"Screw you."

She laughed quietly as she made her way out of the room and back into the chamber.

Avaric followed, albeit a little slower, as they made their way to the stairs climbing up the creaking steps and into another hall.

Elphaba suddenly stopped, waiting for Avaric to catch up. She looked up lifting an eyebrow but he shook his head.

"I'm fine." He repeated catching his breath and taking another small drink from the flask before closing the lid and shoving it into his pants pocket.

Elphaba watched him shiver as the liquid ran down his throat almost laughing at how he reacted to it.

He nodded once before she began to walk again pulling the edges of her hood on her cloak to hide her face as they came to the exit of the large house.

She waited for a few moments at the exit, her eyes glancing at the guards standing on either side of the large yard illuminating brightly by torches.

She held up a hand telling Avaric how many soldiers were there.

Six. Six guards guarding this side of the house as far as she could see. Two were patrolling the far left of the grounds, where the garden of the doctor's various rose's were planted, and two more to the right, chatting amongst themselves. The other two stood at the gates staring out into the dark wooded forest; where a horse waited for them.

Unless she was able to get extremely angry, the only way to knock them out would be to get near them and be able to touch them.

Avaric tapped her shoulder and she turned. "We run?" He said under his breath and she shook her head looking at him as if he had gone insane.

"That would be stupid." She told him and he stuck his tongue out at her going back to doing whatever he was doing.

Elphaba rolled her eyes and turned back to looking out at the guards, wondering if she should try and sneak towards them or find another way out.

"This would be so much easier if you hadn't decided to get caught." Elphaba complained under her breath. Avaric frowned and pinched her arm and she hissed elbowing him in the stomach.

He grumbled a few choice words under his breath and Elphaba ignored him turning her attention back to the guards. Her lips turned upwards when the guards patrolling the garden moved to talk to each other. The other two in the far right making their way to the side of the house giving them a chance to leave.

She gestured with her finger to Avaric and she silently slipped out of the door keeping low as she watched the guards to make sure they did not turn. She took quicker steps forward, standing on the tip of her toes in the grass to be as silent as possible, the last thing she needed was the guards at the gate to turn their heads now. Taking a cautious step she pressed herself to the walls surrounding the house, her eyes widening as she watched Avaric take his sweet time to walk over to where she was. She looked around him to make sure the guards hadn't noticed them and she took a shaky breath when she realized they hadn't.

"Would you like to take a stroll through the gardens now?" she asked him in annoyance and he flashed her a grin putting one finger to his lips to silence her.

She growled under her breath and he looked smugly at her. Paying him no more attention she edged herself further away from the gate to the spot that they had first entered in, a tree nearby giving them an advantage. She tentatively climbed it trying to be as silent as possible so she wouldn't alarm the two guards at the gate.

Once high enough she leapt onto the wall barely making it as she threw herself into her stomach as quick as she could so she wouldn't be seen. She felt the pain radiate throughout her body as she did so but she shook it off throwing her legs over to the side and dropping to the ground silently. She bit her lip looking at the two guards before whispering," Hurry up. "

She could faintly hear him grunting as he climbed the tree but she kept her eyes on the guards who stilled in their spot hearing the noise. One of them said something to the other before pulling his rifle up and heading into the forest, the other guard staying behind.

She cursed again as her heart began to beat faster.

Avaric had just jumped onto the wall and started to ease himself over it, one of his legs dangled too far and he fell to the floor.

"Fuck. "

The guard had heard. Elphaba pulled on Avaric's hand as he scrambled to stand up. Both flinching as they heard a couple of shots whiz past them as they raced into the trees. She could hear the guards yelling out as she ran breathlessly to the horse, dodging a tree branch as she grasped onto Avaric's hand to pull him when he dragged behind her. 'What the hell is he thinking.'

She heard more yelling and she pushed herself, holding tightly to Avaric as they found the black horse tied to a tree.

She let go of Avaric's sweaty hand and untied the horse who fought against her when it heard the loud crack of a bullet hitting the tree beside it.

"It's okay!" She held her hands up trying to calm the horse who calmed down enough for her to mount him. She grabbed the horse by the reins to stop herself from being thrown off and waited for Avaric to get on.

"Well, hurry!" She yelled at him turning her head around to see what he was doing to take forever to get on.

She felt the blood drain from her face as her eyes took in his shoulder, the red liquid soaking through the grey fabric of his shirt.

"Huh…I think I've been shot." He chuckled touching at his shoulder and staining his fingers.

Elphaba gave him an incredulous look before he jumped onto the horse behind her.

"Well go, before the adrenaline and shock wear off." He told her quickly wrapping his hands around her waist.

Hearing someone shout nearby, she listened, prodding the horse forward and further away from the scene.

"You ok? " She asked, worried when she felt him sag into her.

"Still alive." He said trying to joke, but she could hear the pain in his voice.

"Stay that way. " She told him, her voice wavering when she felt his face pressed against her back.

"Okay." He answered quietly.

Ever since Elphaba found him wandering about near the Emerald City over a month ago the two had grown close. It wasn't a romantic relationship - no matter how much fun Avaric suggested they would have - It was more of a you have my back and I'll have yours sort of thing.

The two of them had found a small group of outcasts in the shadier side of the Emerald City, in a beaten down wooden shelter that looked as if it could fall at any second - mainly because of the vegetation growing on the roof.

They had found a place to live and a place to start a resistance because every life that was there, and every other life they hadn't met yet, deserved the right to pursue what they wanted. To be who they wanted. Nobody had any right to throw them out and make them outcasts. Nobody had a right to try and change them or erase them. They had been wary at first, the small group only wanted to get through their daily life, but once she and Avaric had explained what was going on in Oz, they accepted what had to be done. Within two weeks they had scouted the city looking for those that would be willing to join with no avail, and then they looked for information from those that worked for the wizard, those who knew more than the others. Which is how they came to find out that a doctor lived just outside of the Emerald City, in his own personal estate seated in the middle of a forest. The doctor in question was one of the men that appeared to explain the effects of entering people's heads and changing things. The two of them had planned a way in. It had been really simple. Distract them long enough to go over a wall and steal the documents with the written explanation and the names attached to the whole thing. All she had to do was take those and replace them with meaningless papers and all Avaric had to do was mess a room up and make it appear it had been an ordinary robbery, which it was, because another part of the plan was getting tickets to an event in fews days that called for representatives from all over Oz.

And it had been going well until Avaric had gotten caught; but they hadn't failed as she carried those documents and he had a ticket to the event.

If he hadn't bled all over it already.

She felt his grip loosen for he waist and she had to hold the reigns with her left hand just to keep him from slipping. "Still with me? "

He grumbled a few incoherent words as a response which only served to worry her more. Holding onto his arms around her waist she gently prodded the horse to go quicker.

It wasn't a long ride, within half an hour she could see that run down house. She had asked him numerous times if he hadn't died and he had replied sarcastically when he could but she could feel his grip weaken as they came to the door.

"I need some help!" She called out frantically when Avaric's body completely slunk into hers, making it impossible to get off without throwing them both down.

Not a moment later a young blonde man came running out, a Fox came out afterwards taking a peek before running back inside. "I'll clear the bed!" Errin, the Fox, yelled out over his shoulder.

"Shit, is he okay?" The blonde boy said in panic as he helped Avaric ease off of her.

Elphaba ignored him, scrambling off and bunching Avaric's shirt up, pressing it on his shoulder hoping to stop some of the blood still coming out.

"Help me get him inside, Tibbet, he's lost a lot of blood, I don't want him to bleed out right here."

Tibbet took a moment admiring Avaric's physique something that made Elphaba want to punch him.

"Tibbet?" She growled startling him, he nodded taking Avaric's left arm and throwing him over his shoulder.

Elphaba would have admired his strength but she was more preoccupied with having to hide the horse. She led the horse as quickly as she could to the handmade stable beside the house before rushing inside. The Animals all stared in shock, none of them had put themselves in that much of a risk before. She pushed a Wolve aside and barged into her room, where she witnessed Tibbet lay Avaric into the bed as carefully as he could with the help of Errin.

"Bring me a clean shirt or something." Elphaba told Tibbet who nodded and ran out of the shabby room. While she waited for him to return she stripped Avaric's shirt off making him wince when it grazed his shoulder.

Avaric was biting down on his lip as she pressed it against his shoulder. Tibbet returned with a towel a moment later.

"My hands are shaking, I can't do it." Tibbet said shakily, the towel in his hand moving violently.

Elphaba nodded taking the towel and switching it with the blood-filled shirt.

Tibbet paled when he saw the entrance wound. Avaric winced when she applied more pressure, yelling out obscenities when she slipped and bumped his shoulder with her elbow.

Elphaba's hand began to slightly tremble but she controlled it by focusing on stopping the blood.

Avaric was no longer screaming and when she took a quick glance up her heart stopped momentarily. His eyes were wet but closed and his ashen face had fallen to the side.

"Check his pulse." Elphaba ordered resuming her work.

Tibbet did so immediately, checking his neck and pressing his head to Avaric's chest, he sighed in relief. "He's just fainted."

She gave a quick nod as she continued to press his shoulder firmly.

"Do we have anything to wrap his shoulder with?" Elphaba asked ten minutes later when the blood began to clot.

Tibbet was shaking uncontrollably as he looked at her but he answered. "I-I may h-have something."

"Bring it, and bring me plenty of water, I need to flush the dirt out."

Tibbet's head snapped up at her, his eyes wide in confusion."You aren't going to take the bullet out?"

Elphaba shook her head."I think that would only make it worse, sticking tweezers in there and trying to fish it out is going to damage him more than if we just let it stay."

Tibbet wasn't sure what to think but he hurried out of that room - hopefully to get what she had asked for.

Elphaba let herself exhale heavily as she leaned back and rested for a minute. Letting herself listen to Avaric's soft breathing.

It had been at least six hours later that Avaric woke up asking for water. Tibbet almost rushed out of the room to get him some as Elphaba set aside the papers she had been reading.

"There you are." She said with a weary smile. Avaric's lips slightly turned upwards before he grimaced moving his head to look at his shoulder.

"All patched up am I?" He blinked hazily for a few seconds before turning back to her.

"Sort of."

He made a noise at the back of his throat resting his head back.

"I read the documents." She told him quietly and he lifted his head, his eyes eagerly awaiting the answer he had been wanting.

"And—

"I brought you your water!" Tibbet interrupted rushing to his side. Avaric nodded gratefully attempting to grab the cup but Tibbet had other plans, instead of simply handing him the cup Tibbet helped Avaric lift his head, placing the cup carefully to his lips.

Avaric frowned but when the cold liquid touched his lips he didn't protest, downing the water as quick as he could.

"All better now?" Elphaba asked and Avaric's smirked slightly at her. "A kiss would make it much better."

Before she had a chance to retort Tibbet leaned over and quickly kissed Avaric, pulling away with a proud smile on his face.

Avaric's mouth fell slightly opened and he appeared to be in a state of shock. Elphaba couldn't help herself when she began to laugh.

"You didn't say whose kiss." Tibbet pointed out with an enormous grin as he left the room satisfied.