AN: So I managed to agitate all of you? Good. Mission accomplished *evil witch cackle*.

Caricature of a Witch: I LOVE YODA.

You won't like me much more after this chapter, but I promise that I will stick to my earlier promise ^_^. Only a few more chapters to go after this one... two or three, I think.

Chapter 12. Kill the Witch

"There she is!" one of the soldiers yelled, and before Fiyero knew it, they were swarming into the room. One of them tried to grab Elphaba, but Fiyero pulled her towards him, wrapping his arms around her protectively.

"Hand her over now," the soldier growled, "and no-one will get hurt."

"Please," Fiyero pleaded desperately. "She's sick, she has a fever! If you take her to Southstairs, she'll die!"

"Don't worry, son," another soldier said with a smug grin. "She won't be in Southstairs long enough for her to die of her fever – the Witch will be executed before the sun sets tomorrow!" He roared a laugh.

Fiyero's grip on the dark-haired witch tightened.

"Now let go of her," one of the men commanded.

Fiyero shook his head. "Never."

A soldier roughly pushed the back of his rifle into Fiyero's marred back, causing him to scream out in pain. Two other soldiers pried Elphaba from his grip and dragged her out of the bed. They tried to set her down on her feet, but she was too weak to stand; and when they tried to lift her up, she started writhing. Her eyes half-opened. "Fiyero?" she mumbled drowsily.

The soldiers laughed. "You wish," one of them smirked. He gestured towards Fiyero. "Bring him along. He's been helping the Witch – he needs to be punished for his crimes."

Fiyero struggled, but they were stronger and he was outnumbered; and before long, he found himself locked up in a prisoner's carriage, a carriage made of steel with a tiny window blocked by metal bars. Thankfully there was only one of those, so he and Elphaba were locked up in it together.

He cradled her close to his chest, whispering soothing words in her ear. She still didn't wake up, but she calmed down considerably, burrowing into his chest. He felt her forehead. She needed medical attention, and she needed it soon.

He looked out the window. He could already see the Emerald City in the distance. Only a few more hours and they'd reach their destination… he shuddered. Oz, he hoped Galinda could do something. After all, she had some influence now…

His thoughts trailed off when he realised that that wasn't true. The Gale Force had found them in Galinda's dorm room; they must know the blonde was working with them. He panicked a little. Not only could Galinda not help them now; she herself was in grave danger, and she didn't even know it… and he had no way to warn her.

He buried his face in Elphaba's silky hair and prayed for a miracle.

"Galinda?" The blonde was shaken from sleep by a hand on her arm.

She started, then saw it was Marlyn. She rubbed her eyes, stretched, and yawned. "Hey. What time is it?"

"Eight in the morning," Marlyn said. "My shift starts now, but some of the other nurses told me you were waiting for me here." Her hazel eyes were clouded with concern. "Come on, let's talk someplace private."

Galinda agreed and followed the other girl through a few hallways and into an empty room, like last time. Marlyn closed the door behind them and turned around, biting her lip worriedly. "Galinda?"

The blonde sighed, fingering a perfect golden curl. "We managed to save Fiyero," she said. "He was whipped, but he's healing quite well. Elphie's running a high fever, though, and Fiyero and I agreed that we needed to ask you for help… her temperature has been somewhere in between a hundred and two and a hundred and four for the past few days."

Marlyn was eyeing her with a funny look on her face. "Galinda," she whispered. "When did you leave them?"

Galinda furrowed her brow – all her life, she had made a point of never doing that, because Oz forbade she got wrinkles, but some situations just asked for it. "Last night," she said. "I arrived here around eleven, and I spent the night in that chair in the hall – which was very uncomfortable, I might add…"

Marlyn looked pale. "So… you haven't heard yet?"

An uneasy feeling settled in the pit of Galinda's stomach. "Heard what, Marlyn?"

"All of Oz is buzzing with the news, Galinda," Marlyn said, rubbing her forehead tiredly. "The Wicked Witch of the West has been captured. She will be executed tonight at nightfall."

Icy cold shivers ran down Galinda's spine. "What?"

"They say she was found last night in the presence of Prince Fiyero Tiggular of the Vinkus," Marlyn said softly. "He has been marked an accomplice to the Witch. They're both in Southstairs right now."

Galinda suddenly felt very faint. Slowly, she lowered herself into a chair, her entire body shaking.

Marlyn knelt down in front of her. "Galinda," she said urgently, placing her hands on the other blonde's shoulders. "Can they be linked to you in any way? Is there any evidence that you have been helping them? You might be in trouble as well."

Galinda looked at the nurse as if she had gone crazy. "Linked to them in any way?" she echoed flatly. "Marlyn… they were staying in my dorm room at Shiz University. In my bed. Amidst all of my things."

Marlyn looked like she had swallowed something sour.

"I can't go back now," Galinda whispered, burying her face in her hands. "I can't go back to the Emerald Palace – they know who I really am now, they know I'm not on their side… I can't go back to Shiz, because they'll be there, just waiting to capture me. There's no way I can help Elphie and Fiyero now without ending up in Southstairs myself…" She moaned and pulled at her hair. "What in Oz am I going to do?"

Marlyn placed a comforting hand on the blonde's shoulder. "You're welcome to stay here," she said quietly. "If you want to."

Galinda shook her head. "What am I going to do here?" she wanted to know. "Oh, Oz, I need to help them, I have to do… I don't know, something! I can't just let them execute my best friend!"

"Is there anyone you can ask for help?" Marlyn tried to help the blonde's thought process. "Someone who can do magic, or someone with a different kind of power?"

"Power…" Galinda mused. Slowly, her face brightened. "Power… Fiyero's parents!" She jumped to her feet and quickly hugged Marlyn. "Thank you so much for your help," she told her solemnly. Then she rushed out of the room and out of the hospital. She quickly summoned her bubble and within mere minutes, she was flying through the air, on her way to the Vinkus.

"Well, well, well." Morrible smirked maliciously as she laid eyes on the pathetic heap of green skin and black fabric in the corner of the cell. "What do we have here? Not so fiery now, are we, Miss Elphaba?"

"She's unconscious," Fiyero said through gritted teeth. He was in the cell opposite Elphaba's, clutching the bars as he glared at the old fish. "She's sick. She has a fever."

Morrible studied the green girl, smiling smugly when she saw Elphaba's side. "Ah, yes. Infected burn wounds, if I'm not wrong." She tapped her chin and cocked her head, as if she was thinking about something. "Does that by any chance have anything to do with an energy ball?"

Fiyero glowered at her.

Morrible threw her head back and cackled. "Oh, come on, dearie," she said, turning to face Fiyero. "That was her own fault, really. She should have known she couldn't take me out that easily." She directed burning eyes at Elphaba again. "And now she will pay for that. Tell me, Master Fiyero – what do you think would be the best way to execute her? What would be most painful?" She thought about that for a few moments. "Of course I could just let her die because of this fever, but right now she's so dazed she probably won't even notice it. A firing squad would be too quick… the gallows? Maybe…"

"I hope you burn in hell!" Fiyero hissed at the old hag.

"Burn…" Morrible mused. Her face lit up. "Of course… burn. That's a good idea, Master Fiyero." She smirked at him. "We shall burn the Witch!"

Fiyero's eyes widened. Morrible just cackled again. "Men!" she shouted. "Go on and build a stake in the middle of the Emerald Square! The Wicked Witch will burn!"

The Gale Force soldiers all cheered as they hurried out of the dungeons, ready to carry out their task.

"Now, if you will excuse me, Your Royal Highness," Morrible said with a mock bow in Fiyero's direction, "I must speak with His Ozness. We must promote the execution of your little green friend and we have some festivities to plan!" With that and a swish of her skirts, she turned around and followed the Gale Force out of Southstairs and back to the Emerald Palace.

"Fiyero…" she moaned softly. She tried to open her eyes, but they felt strangely heavy. She was vaguely aware of the fact that she was lying on something hard and that it was cold around her, but she found that she could barely move. Where was she? What had happened?

"Fae?" That was one voice that cut through her feverish daze, as it always did.

She tried to blink, but her eyes still wouldn't open. "Fiyero…" she whimpered.

"Shh, it's okay," he tried to reassure her. "You're running a fever, but you'll be fine, Elphaba, don't worry."

She wrinkled her nose. It smelled strange in here… or was that just her? What was Fiyero saying? A fever? She found that she couldn't really focus on anything. She wanted to ask him where she was, what was going on, but her body just wouldn't work with her and she couldn't produce many words.

"Fae? Can you hear me?"

She murmured something unintelligible, which didn't really reassure him. "Fae, please say something."

She managed to open her eyes a little, squinting, then frowning upon seeing the strange things around her. What was her mother doing here? And why were she and Galinda dancing together?

"Daddy…" she whispered when she saw Frex advancing on her, glaring at her. "Daddy, please don't hurt me…"

"You are a disgrace!" he shouted at her, but as he spoke, his face turned to that of her sister. "You are an aberration," Nessa hissed, before her face morphed into that of Madame Morrible, her eyes gleaming maliciously. "You will burn!" she sang out.

"No…" Elphaba tried to crawl back into a corner, writhing and squirming.

Morrible came closer, holding up a torch. "Say goodbye, Miss Elphaba!" She brought the torch closer, ready to set the green girl on fire.

"No!" Elphaba cried out, cowering.

"Elphaba!" Fiyero's voice shouted, and Morrible abruptly disappeared.

Elphaba blinked. Where did that old hag go?

"Fae, it's okay," Fiyero said, trying to make his voice sound soothing, but she could hear the edge of panic to it. It made her frown. Why was he panicking? "It's okay, sweetheart, it's not real. It's not real."

She blinked again. "Yero?"

"I'm here," he said. "I'm right here, Fae. I'm fine, and you're going to be fine, too. Just wait and see."

In a brief moment of clarity, she whispered, "You're lying."

He kept silent, stunned.

"I'm not going to be fine," she whispered, suddenly seeing that clearly. "They're going to kill me, aren't they?"

"Fae…" His voice was almost pleading. She knew he wanted to protect her from the truth, especially now that she was, apparently, sick, but she had never liked being lied to and she could always tell when he was lying. Even now. She may be sick, but she wasn't stupid.

"Southstairs," she whispered, finally recognising her surroundings. "They're going to execute me…"

"Fae, no," he said, clearly trying to sound strong, but his voice was trembling. "I won't let them."

"I don't think you have any say in that, Yero," she whispered, closing her eyes for a moment. She was starting to feel dizzy and disoriented again, her fever catching up with her.

As if that was their cue, the door to the dungeons suddenly opened and four Gale Force soldiers marched into the hallway again.

Fiyero immediately flew up to the bars. "No!" he shouted desperately. "Please don't take her!"

Three of them went to open Elphaba's cell and the fourth turned to Fiyero. "Sorry, son," he said. "We have our orders."

"Please," Fiyero begged them. "She's sick… please don't!"

"Orders are orders," another soldier said brusquely as his colleagues dragged Elphaba out of her cell.

"At least let me say goodbye," he asked pleadingly, and they looked at each other for a moment before one of them nodded.

"Fine," he said. "You have a minute."

They brought her up to the bars of his cell and he reached out to take her hand in his, squeezing it softly. "Fae?" he whispered.

Her eyes fluttered open to look at him. She seemed strangely calm. "Yero…" she murmured. "It's okay."

Tears stung his eyes. "I'm so sorry," he whispered brokenly. "I'm so sorry I couldn't protect you."

She brought her hand up to his face, laying it flat against his cheek. "It's okay," she whispered. "That was never your task to begin with. It'll be okay, Yero…"

"Just stay strong," he told her, his voice breaking. "It'll be over before you know it."

She smiled weakly. "I love you."

The tears fell. "I love you, too."

"That's enough," one of the soldiers said, and the others pulled Elphaba away from the bars. Fiyero clutched them, watching with tears dripping down his face as they took the love of his life away to be executed. The sound of the heavy door slamming shut must be the most awful and final sound he had ever heard.

He punched his fist into the wall and screamed, but there was no-one left to hear him.