A/N: you'd think it being summer vacay, I'd be able to update more. But naturally, my family is all 'Oh lets do fun stuff in the sweltering heat! What larks!' and also I have to get a job or I'm forced to go to Kentucky to visit family. And I have to look at colleges. But you prolly don't wanna hear about that. So, let's get on with the story, of which I own nothing but the few OCs. Oh, and big mucho thanks to all who review. You're awesome
"How come you didn't tell me?" Wes demanded for about the millionth time, watching as his parents packing. "We didn't want you to worry," Cain sighed, resisting the urge to snap at his son. He could have gotten a lot more done if Wes would accept that and leave.
"I wouldn't have worried. You could have told me. I'm not a kid anymore," Wes crossed his arms, glaring petulantly at them. "We know Wesley. But I wasn't even sure about this until earlier," Glitch thumbed through his notes, trying to determine what he might need when they got to the Other Side.
"Should I go pack then?" Glitch and Cain looked at their son. "What?" "Should I go pack?" "What makes you think you're coming?" "I'm not?" Wes looked distressed. "No. It'll be too dangerous, Wes," Cain finished packing his bag. "Then why're you going? Don't we have guards or heroes to do this sort of thing?" "Yes, and you're looking at them. Us, and DG, and Raw are used to this sort of thing," Glitch grinned slightly.
Wes wasn't amused though, and stormed off, muttering about how unfair it was that he couldn't go. He could help if they would let him. He found Wren in the library with Kalm and Victoria; all of them with identical sour looks on their faces. "Let me guess, you were just told you couldn't go either right?" Wes pulled up a chair next to Wren. "Yea," Victoria sighed. "It's completely unfair. I mean, true they aren't old, really, but they aren't young either, and could use our help, being magically, or with some invention, or healing." "And it's just the five of them," Wren added. "My parents, Wes's parents and Raw. We could tip the balance in their favor." "But no, we're too young," Kalm growled.
"I hope they're all right," DG said worriedly, looking out the window as she packed. The kids had moved outdoors, and were lying dejectedly on the grass under the shade of the trees. "They'll be fine. I mean, we raised them right. Now c'mon DG, we have to be ready to go soon," Blake gently lead her away from the window.
"You'll send word when you get there safely?" the Queen asked, frowning the slightest bit. "Of course mom," DG hugged her, then her father and Az. "Sweetie, cheer up. I know you want to come, but it's really not such an adventure. It will be trouble," she said to her daughter. "But I could help mummy," Wren persisted, a few tears welling in her eyes. She was worried, scared. They all were. What if they didn't make it back? "Don't worry Wren, I'll see to it we all get back," Cain said kindly to her.
"Where exactly are we going, and how are we getting there?" Glitch asked, shifting his bag on his shoulders. It was starting to dig in, and make his arms ache. "The second question is easier to answer. By travel storm of course," Lord Ahamo answered. "So where are we going dad?" DG asked. "Thought we'd leave that a surprise," he grinned at his daughter, who sighed, knowing her dad and his tricks. "Fine, fine, have your fun," she waved it off, lifting her bag.
"This isn't going to be painful is it?" Cain asked. The Tin Man had never traveled by travel storm. He preferred horses or good old fashioned walking, where he controlled where he went, and knew he was going to get there. "No, it doesn't hurt. Not even when you're being chased by Long Coats. Landing sometimes hurts though," DG said thoughtfully. "Thanks kid, I feel so much better," Cain grumbled. "Happy to be of help."
The Queen summoned the storm out in the gardens, where it wouldn't make such a mess. "We'll be back soon, hopefully," DG called. "Bye son!" Cain and Glitch waved, and Wes actually waved back. They watched as DG, Blake, Raw, Cain, and Glitch stepped into the storm and were swept away.
A loud, painful sounding thud reverberated in the air as the five crashed into the hard, unforgiving soil of the Other Side.
"Owwww!"
"Ok, whose hand is on my ass!"
"Sorry kiddo."
"Cain keep your hand on Glitch's ass, not mine."
"Someone's foot is on my hand!"
"My bad Glitch. But Raw is standing on my back."
They painfully untangled themselves, and slowly got to their feet, looking around at their surroundings. Which wasn't such a good idea.
The ground was nothing but dirt with a few sparse patches of half dead grass. It looked like it might once had supported a flourishing crop field. But now it was dead. The sky above was thick with clouds the color of steel and iron and tin, and thunder rumbled in the distance. Dotting the ground were broken bits of what appeared to be rusted farm machinery, half buried in the soil. And in the middle of it all, looking incredibly out of place in the wasteland was DG's farmhouse, where she'd grown up.
"It's my home. I lived here for 15 years," DG said softly. "Here?" Glitch said, his tone incredulous. "It looked nicer when I was living here. Do you…do you think the whole of this world is like this, a wasteland?" Her voice caught, showing how it upset her to see her home in such a state. "I'm inclined to think so," Blake softened the blow of his words by wrapping his arm around her shoulders. She leaned into him, determined not to cry.
"So, should we go in? Your mother wants us to send word we reached here safely," Cain said, striding up to the house. He hated to be the one to sound cold and uncaring about DG's plight, but he knew standing outside mourning for dead soil wouldn't bring it back to live, and it wouldn't save the O.Z. "Yea, sure," the crown princess of the O.Z. shook herself out of her reverie, putting on a brave face. She felt at the top of the door for the key that was still there even after all the years, and opened the door.
For the second time, she caught her breath. It was exactly the same as it had been when she was a child, and she got the feeling her mother had seen to that, so they would have a safe place to use as a base.
"You can just drop your bags, I'll call mom," DG said, pulling a small, perfectly circular mirror from her pocket. Much like Raw could show memories of the past using a mirror, so could she use her mirror and a tiny bit of magic to contact her mother on the twin of the mirror she possessed.
""Mom?" "DG, you made it safely then?" "Well minus the hard landing and the getting tangled up, yea." Relief was evident in the Queen's expression and voice. "Mom, it's really bad here. It looks nothing like it did when I was raised here," almost to prove it, thunder boomed even closer to the house, seconds after they were blinded by lightning. "I know DG. But that's why you're there." "I know. Did you make it so the house was here?" "I did. It was your father's idea. He said it beat sleeping on the ground, and was a far sight safer." "True. Very true. Thank him for me, please? Are Wren, Wes, Kalm and 'Toria being good so far?" "Besides sulking, yes. Be safe DG. Contact us if you need anything," the Queen said. "I will mom. Don't worry. G'bye." The mirror went blank, and DG slipped it into her pocket.
"Alright, we've got plenty of room here. Blake and I will take my old room. Glitch, you and Wyatt can take my parents' room, and Raw, you can have the guest room. We'll go from there," DG picked up her bag and lead them upstairs to their rooms.
At once, Glitch set up a miniature lab on one side of the room. As he bustled around, Cain double-checked all of their belongings, making sure nothing had broken during their rather rough landing. "I'm going outside," Glitch called, a small bundle under his arms. "Wait a second zipper head," Cain snagged the back of his coat. "Why are you going out there?" Glitch gave him a pitying look. "Obviously Wyatt, to take samples and make notes on everything out there. Plus I might never get a chance like this again, to examine the Other Side! It could be important for stopping the Witch!" Cain didn't see how knowing what the dirt was made of here could help stop a magical being, but he knew better than to argue.
Glitch stopped by the door, and glanced at Cain over his shoulder. "Besides Wyatt, you know you like it when I get dirty," he winked, and with a flirtatious grin that showed off his dimples, was out the door.
And dirty he did get. While DG, Blake, Raw and Cain were making sure the house was completely safe, and brainstorming ideas, Glitch was out wandering in a way that only he understood, making notes that would only make sense to some one fluent in head case inventor/advisor. Which was basically just himself and Wyatt.
"Sweet Gayle Glitch! Did you roll around in the soil?" Cain asked, looking at Glitch. His pale skin was covered in the soft reddish dirt, and it also speckled his hair. His dark curls were also sporting a few twigs twined in them, and one of his pants legs was covered up to the knee in dark red, clay like mud. However, he was grinning broadly.
"It was fantastic Wyatt. Really! I collected a lot of samples of soil, mud, bark from the few remaining trees…I have to bring them upstairs," he nearly galloped up before Cain stopped him. "Why're are you covered in mud and dirt though?" "Oh, that," it was hard to tell under the dirt, but Glitch was blushing. "Well, I may have gotten a little over excited, reaching for a bit of branch from a pine tree, and I fell out of the tree and rolled down a hill into the very stick clay, as you can see on my pants there," Glitch gestured to the clinging mud on his pants.
Cain sighed, as he was prone to do when Glitch acted like a complete head case. "I know, sweet heart, that you want to go look at all the interesting things you found, but right now, you need a bath, and some clean clothes. And we're making dinner, as it's getting late." Glitch pouted, "But Wyyyyaaattt, I really want toooo." "No buts Glitch. Go to the bathroom and get clean. You can look at them after dinner." Glitch stalked upstairs, muttering under his breath about bull headed Tin Men.
DG snickered, watching the pair. "Got to keep him in line, eh Wyatt?" she grinned. "It's a tough job, but someone has to do it, and I'm that someone," he shrugged. "It can't be that hard, can it?" "You have no idea kid."
Glitch slumped down on the couch with his plate in his lap, changed into a clean t-shirt and loose cotton pants. He was intent on ignoring Wyatt like he was forced to ignore his research. But something caught his eye.
"DG, what's this?"
"That's the television Glitch. Or TV as it's called." DG turned it on with the remote.
Glitch leapt up to examine it, and only quick thinking and reflexes on Cain's part saved Glitch's plate of food. The inventor looked around the whole TV, entranced by the moving picture, and the sound. "Why did I never invent anything like this? It would have been fantastic!" "I don't know. Why didn't you?" Cain teased him lightly. "How does it work? Can I look inside?" "No Glitch, not now. Maybe after we've saved the world…again," DG sighed, as Cain pulled Glitch back to the couch to eat and discover the wonders that HDTV had to offer.
The TV wasn't the only thing to capture Glitch's curious scientific eye.
"Hey it's my I-pod," DG said excitedly. "I-pod?" Glitch peered over her shoulder at the small pink flat rectangle with a screen and a white circle in the middle, with a thin white cord that split into two attached at one end. "What's an I-pod?" "It's this little thing, where you can store music, and listen to it whenever you want. It's awesome. I thought I'd lost it," she put in the headphones and listened to it, sitting down on the floor by Cain. "Can I listen?" Glitch asked. "Sure, here," DG handed him one of the headphones, and let him listen in.
"Oh, oh my," he flushed slightly, listening to 'Save a Horse, Ride a Cowboy'. "You know," he said, glancing up at Wyatt, "I'm inclined to agree with that." "Glitch, get your mind out of the gutter, now," DG shoved him lightly. "What?" Cain leaned down; intent on finding out what was so funny. "Here," DG grinned deviously at Glitch, and handed Cain a headphone. He turned as red as Glitch, and stopped listening, rolling his eyes.
"I'm just going to pretend that I didn't hear that."
"Oh but Wyatt you know that was funny!"
"Shouldn't we be figuring out how to stop the Witch, or finding out where she is, instead of listening to innuendo laced songs?"
"I'm going to agree with him on this. DG, maybe you should put the…umm…I-pod? Yea, I-pod away, and we can plan. We've been here a whole day now, and, we haven't exactly done anything," Blake trailed off, as they looked at him expectantly, like he was supposed to come up with the plan.
"Fine, fine," DG handed it to Glitch, with the threat that if he tried to pry it open and see how it worked, she'd lock him in the bathroom. He agreed reluctantly, and sat listening to it. Within about ten minutes, he had figured out all about how to work it. He just didn't know how the music got there in the first place. But he could always ask DG later.
"The only thing I can think of so far," DG said after an hour and a half of deliberation, "is a scouting mission. But it would have to be secret, and probably at night. That way, we can find out what exactly is going on in this world, and maybe find out where the Witch is, who her followers are, their plans, things like that." "That sounds good kid, but who's going to go on this little adventure?" Cain asked. "Well, clearly, I thought it would be you and me. I'm pretty much an expert on this place, and you can come and look menacing so no creeps try to mess with us."
"Sounds good to me," Raw agreed. "Me too," Blake added. Cain agreed a little reluctantly. All eyes turned to Glitch, who was listening to the music, eyes closed, a pleased smile on his face. He got the strangest feeling he was being watched, and opened his eyes suddenly. Everyone was looking at him. "Yes?"
"We just made huge plans Glitch, about what we're doing tomorrow, and you weren't even paying attention. Too busy listening to…what are you listening to?" Cain wondered if he should even bother asking. "Oh it's this catchy tune by some band called…Lustra, yea. The song's called 'Scotty Doesn't Know.'"
DG giggled, covering her mouth. Cain looked at her sharply. "I'd forgotten I'd put that on there. Are you really listening to the lyrics Glitch, or just the music itself?" "I didn't really listen that much," Glitch admitted, and listened in closer. Yet again, heat crept up his neck. "Where do you find these songs DG?" This time, Cain figured it was wiser not to listen in.
Glitch was allowed to listen to the I-pod that night, until Cain tugged it out of his ears, with a bit too much force. "Ow! Wyatt! That was hardly necessary," he complained. "No, sweetheart, I think it was. You were paying too much attention to that little stick thing, than you were to me," Wyatt leaned over Glitch. "Well, aren't we selfish Tin Man?" Glitch smirked, and let the I-pod fall to the floor. "You complain if I don't pay attention to you, it's only fair I get to return the favor. Besides, I'm not gonna lose you to some piece of technology." "You never will Wyatt. Science and technology may be nice, but they aren't you," Glitch pulled Wyatt close to him, kissing him with all he had, running his tongue over the roof of his mouth, feeling the rumble of pleasure come rising up in Wyatt's chest.
He meant it too. Technology couldn't wrap him in warm muscled arms, couldn't nip at his bottom lip or look at him with that intense blue gaze from inches away, foreheads pressed together, while thrusting up into him and making him bite his lip not cry out and wake the others. Science wouldn't hold him afterwards in that blissful, sticky, sweaty, fuzzy embrace, and murmur sweet nothings into his ear until he fell asleep snuggled against a broad chest that was all his. In the battle for Glitch's heart, Wyatt Cain would always win, hands down.
Cain woke slowly, not used to there only being one sun filtering through the strange blinds to strike across his face. His muscles ached slightly as he sat up, in a way that only comes after good sex, and rode across his limbs like a silken bruise. Which he enjoyed, quite a lot. Except the head case that was the cause of it all wasn't curled up next to him where he belonged, and the lab was right next to him, so clearly he wasn't there.
A low, soft humming wound its way up the stairs to float around Wyatt. It was a perfect sound to complement the early morning, and it brought a slight smile to his face. That would be Glitch. True, he'd never heard him sing before, but he instinctively knew it was him. Besides, who else would be awake at this hour and be singing?
One of the first things DG had shown them was how to work the shower, and Cain was pleased that on his first try, he could get the spray to function without going everywhere and have it at an acceptable temperature. He showered quickly, and changed into a blue button up shirt, that coincidentally was the same shade as his eyes, and a pair of white pants that were, as typical, rather on the tight side. As he had hoped, the singing still filled the house, and he crept down stairs.
Glitch stood in the kitchen, still in his pajamas, peering into a small metal box with a cord, plugged into the wall. The pleasant smell of something cooking filled the room. But what was more intriguing was Glitch singing, slowly swaying to the sound.
'Let me take you down, 'cause I'm going to…Strawberry fields, nothing is real, and nothing to get hung about. Strawberry fields forever…'
"You would be the one to sing about strawberries this early," Cain murmured in Glitch's ear, sneaking up behind him and making him squeak and jump. "Wyatt! Did you have to startle me? I didn't wake you did I?" "No, I was already awake when I heard you singing. I didn't know you sang so well," Cain sat down at the table. Glitch blushed, a pretty pink tinge to his cheeks. "Neither did I. But I figured out how to put DG's I-pod into that dock thing, and make it work, and I was listening, and the songs were so good, and before I knew it, I was singing along. Not too loud, I didn't want to wake everyone, but enough I could hear. She's got a lot by this one group, the Beatles, which I really like. That's who I was listening to when you walked in, their song 'Strawberry Fields.'"
Silence enveloped them, as the song ended, and Glitch turned it off. A sudden pop startled them both, and Glitch turned around. "What is that?" Cain asked. "Well, I was hungry when I woke up, but I wasn't too sure on most of this Other Side food. It's so different than at the Palace. But, being as smart as I am, I figured it out," Glitch said proudly. Cain grinned, letting his zipper head preen a bit. "Anyway, I found these, waffles, in what's sort of like my cold cabinet there," Glitch gestured to the big hulking thing. "And it said they should be cooked in the toaster, and it had a little picture, that looked like that," he now pointed to the toaster. "So, it made sense. Now I just need butter and syrup. Which I think are in the cold cabinet, and pantry."
His search was successful, and soon he was sitting down to eat, managing to cut the waffles into bite size pieces with the fork and knife Cain found him. Occasionally Cain would steal a bite as well, which was what he was doing when DG, Blake and Raw joined them.
"I thought I smelled waffles. Did you make them Glitch?" "I did. All by myself. I'm pretty happy with how they turned out," he answered. "Anyone else want some?" DG offered. Blake and Raw both agreed to it, and all five of them had a companionable breakfast. Until DG brought up their plans for the evening. It had seemed like a good idea, but now they realized it could turn very bad potentially.
"Well that's why we're going later this evening, so we have a better chance of hiding. It's not like we're going out there screaming 'Hey we're the sworn enemy of the one you're all following!' Seriously. We'll be perfectly safe," DG insisted. But then, it was her plan, and she wasn't one to give up, or back down. She would see it through. The others slowly agreed, and, pleased she'd gotten her way, DG spent the rest of the day teaching them about the Other Side, while they waited for darkness to fall.
A/N: well, there you go. Chapter 8 done. Hopefully chapter 9 will be up soon. And, reviews are appreciated. Thanks