Chapter 13: Shiz, The Next Month

"Oh, Elphie, you really must have a dress for the formal." Galinda pouted, flipping through advertisements for dressmakers in the weekly paper.

"It's still a ways away. I'm not concerned." She intended to put off purchasing a dress for as long as she could. Perhaps she was hoping the slightest bit that somehow the dance would be called off or canceled.

"I highly doubt that Boq would appreciate you going in your school clothes."

"You've spoken maybe three sentences to that boy. You know nothing. Besides, what do I care? I don't care what he thinks."

"But you want people to think you do, don't you?" Galinda pressed. "And Fiyero will still be there, even if he can't take you. I'm sure he'd want to see you in a pretty dress."

"I'm sure Fiyero would much rather see me naked than in any dress." Elphaba quipped. "I will deal with it later, Galinda." She ran her finger along her notes, feeling the indent of her pen on the paper, her skin sliding along the waxy texture of the ink. Despite her trying, she hadn't been able to study this afternoon. There was this odd sense within her, like something must be off. Perhaps she was coming down ill.

She shuddered, and looked down at the notebook in her lap. Her slanted handwriting filled the pages, even the margins. There wasn't a blank space to be found. One or two diagrams or drawings (always academic, of course) were drawn neatly to the side of the page with labels beneath them. Once, in the lab, Fiyero had teased her that she'd write down each time she took a breath if it were feasible. She had snubbed her nose at him and replied that, unless taking a breath could be critical to research, she would do no such thing. Of course, at that point, Dr. Dillamond had intervened and told them to stop arguing like a pair of newlyweds. That had gotten both of them to shut up.

Elphaba looked over at the clock. She didn't have to leave to head to the lab for fifteen minutes more, but she might as well. After all, she wasn't getting anything done here with her thoughts escaping her and Galinda interrogating her about dresses. Maybe getting distracted in her work would shake this sinking in the pit of her stomach, too. She hurled herself up and grabbed for her cloak.

"Where are you going?"

"The lab." She shoved her notebook into her bag hastily and flung it over her shoulder.

"Tell Fiyero you haven't got a dress yet. See what he says."

Elphaba rolled her eyes and merely walked out the door. The sky was grey, but not cloudy. Ice and snow from the winter had finally begun to thaw and it was much less slippery walking about campus. She'd always hated the winter. Snow was the same as water, but at least water sank into the ground or evaporated. Snow sat there, growing ever-taller and threatening pain if she took one wrong step. She'd always be grateful when she saw spring, even if it meant rainshowers. Umbrellas, cloaks and boots could protect her from that much better.

She stilled another shudder as she passed Suicide Canal. It wasn't cold - she barely needed her cloak. But she had shuddered nonetheless. Some students avoided the canal for its name, believing it haunted. Elphaba had always laughed and dismissed that theory. She doubted anyone had even died there. It was probably a myth that some upper-level student started one year to scare the incoming students and it had grown from there.

Elphaba flung open the door to the building and walked inside, lost in thought about the origins of the Suicide Canal story. She didn't notice the ticking, or the odd silence that oozed eerily through the halls. It wasn't until she saw the body that it even registered that things were not as they should be.

Dr. Dillamond was on his side, blood pooled, still wet, on the floor in a puddle beneath his neck. His eyes were glazed over, his mouth open as though he had been trying to speak. Broken crystals of glass littered the floor around him and stuck to his clothing. One hoof was outstretched as though he'd been reaching for something.

Elphaba gasped and dropped her bag in the doorway. Even as she moved towards the body, she knew he was gone, but she held out hope that maybe she could save him. But as she kneeled beside him, that hope was gone. His body had already begun to grow cold.

"Good afternoon, Dr…." Fiyero froze at the sight. "Elphaba?"

"I just found him like this," she murmured helplessly. "He was just lying there."

Fiyero sprang into action and grabbed her, tugging her to her feet and towards the door. "Come away from there. Sweet Oz, if anyone else had come in on that sight, they'd have thought you'd done it! We need to tell someone."

"No!" She didn't know when the small shudders had turned into violent tremors that shook her whole body. "Fiyero, he's… he can't be…" Her eyes got wide and she looked from Fiyero to Dr. Dillamond before covering her face as a sob wracked her body.

He wrapped her in a hug, holding her close against his chest. "I know, Fae. I'm sorry." He kissed the top of her head gently, and then stepped back. "But we have to deal with this before someone else walks in, or we're going to have a problem. We can't be in here alone together."

She took one last ragged breath and straightened herself back out. "You're right."

"Wait," he whispered, pulling her into a corner out of view of the doorway just as she heard the strange ticking getting louder. He stayed near her, his wide eyes on hers. His fingers grasped her own tightly, his other hand on the back of her head keeping her pressed against him.

The ticking got louder and passed the doorway, then began to fade. Elphaba thought she knew what it was, but Fiyero wasn't going to let her check - she didn't even have to ask. And it was a risky thing to do, after all. So she simply focused on her breathing as the ticking quieted down the hall.

Before letting her go, he loosened his grip, put a finger under her chin and kissed her. "I'm sorry. I know this is hard. If we could just stay here and process, I would. But because we are who we are and we're alone here, we need to go."

She nodded and grabbed her bag, following him out of the room. They went towards the back exit of the building that opened closer to the administrative offices. "Who do we tell?"

"Morrible," Fiyero said simply. "I don't believe their are any Gale Force officers stationed on campus, so she's the authority here."

As soon as he'd said her name, she knew without a doubt what that terrible ticking was. "She already knows."

"Elphaba?"

"That noise was her stupid little robot clock, Fiyero! It runs her errands all the time. It was probably checking to make certain the crime scene was clear." She had moved on from her grief for a moment, and her anger fueled her.

"That's… she wouldn't." But she could hear the doubt in his voice. "Would she?"

"If she thought he was a threat for some reason or another, yes. His research was a threat, Fiyero."

He was quiet for a moment before he spoke. "If that's the case, then all the more reason for us to be careful and get our stories straight."

"Stories?"

"Well, I'm certainly not going to tell her I walked in on you on the floor with his body! She'd pin it on you somehow."

"She certainly doesn't like me." Elphaba agreed. "Then what do we tell her?"

"I got there first. I heard a strange crashing noise, and when I got to the lab I saw the body on the floor. Just then, you arrived. I stopped you before you could see anything and we went to tell her straight away."

"Why you?"

"Because she doesn't care one bit about me one way or the other. Something about you bothers her. I'd rather she be suspicious of me, not you. That way, she'll question me and probably just let you go."

She knew he was trying to protect her. She also knew she didn't need protection. But it was clear from his tone that there would be no arguing about it. The decision was made. And, whether she liked it or not, he had a point.

"Do you need to contact your father and have him take you to the inn or the church for the afternoon? It might be less upsetting there."

She huffed. "Excuse me? I think I can take care of myself. I don't need to be whisked away because I saw something unpleasant. Who do you think I am?"

"Certainly not my wife," he muttered. "I was just trying to help. He was your friend. He was your mentor."

"You worked there, too!"

"And I am actually quite upset by the whole thing. But you were closer to him. That's why I was asking." Fiyero insisted. "Besides that… I've never seen you cry before, Elphaba. I've never seen you be vulnerable in front of me. I know you are strong, but everyone has a breaking point."

"I haven't seen mine, yet, Fiyero." But she added, "Thank you, though."

Morrible's office door was open, and she sat at her desk examining a roster of some sort. Fiyero knocked on the wall near the doorway and she looked up. She didn't seem alarmed to see them, merely amused. "Yes?"

"Madame Morrible, we've just been in Dr. Dillamond's lab in the Sciences building. There's quite a gruesome scene, and we thought it best to report it to you. Something has happened, and Dr. Dillamond appears to be dead." Fiyero's voice sounded strange as she said it - as though it wasn't his voice, but someone else's.

"Dead?" At this, a look of surprise came over the woman's face, though Elphaba wondered if it was practiced. "And you two saw this?"

"Just me, Ma'am. Elphaba was on her way down the hall as I left and I decided it best to bring her with me so she wouldn't have to set eyes on the body. We're his lab assistants."

"Oh, yes I know." The woman's eyebrow twitched.

She didn't like the way Madame Morrible had said that. "Fiyero insisted we report this right away. It's obviously quite traumatic, and I wouldn't want other students to come upon such a terrible sight. I'm glad Fiyero caught me when he did."

Madame Morrible closed her ledger and stood. "Miss Elphaba, would you please return to your room? Master Fiyero, I know it must've been unpleasant, but would you join me in looking once more at the lab? I have several questions for you." She waved Elphaba off quickly.

Elphaba did as she was told, knowing that even the wrong look at Fiyero might get her in trouble. She let out a deep breath as she walked towards Crage Hall, hugging herself as she wrapped her cloak tightly around her. The temperature seemed to have dropped ten degrees from when she'd set out for the lab. That couldn't have been more than an hour ago, could it?

She was in a daze when she returned to her dorm. Neither Galinda nor Ama Clutch were there. Perhaps they'd gone out for an early dinner. Elphaba, however, had lost her appetite. She took her cloak off, leaving it on the floor instead of hanging it up, and dropped her bag beside her bed before kicking off her shoes and climbing onto it. She drew her knees up to her chest and wrapped her arms around them, looking out the small window beside her.

She was just like that when Galinda finally returned hours later, without Ama Clutch. Elphaba didn't even flinch when the door shut behind Galinda, or when she opened the door to Ama Clutch's quarters. She only responded when Galinda asked, "Where's Ama Clutch?"

"I thought she was with you. She wasn't here when I got back." She didn't even turn to look at Galinda.

"No. I was with Pfanee and Shen-Shen, and I was with their Ama. She knew that. Where could she have gone?"

Elphaba didn't much care, though she was wondering how Fiyero's conversation with Madame Morrible had gone, not that she could ask. "Kumbrica if I know."

"Ah, well, she probably forgot something again and went out to fetch it." Galinda plopped down on her bed in a ruffle of lace. There was silence for a moment, and she studied Elphaba's face. "What happened?"

"What do you mean?"

"You look as though you've seen a ghost, Elphie. And you're back early. You shouldn't have been back yet."

"Well, I suppose you'll hear about it later tonight or tomorrow, but…" She didn't want to say the words. That would mean they were true. "There was an incident at the lab."

"What kind of incident?"

Growing frustrated with her roommate's questions, she snapped, "I don't know, exactly. I wasn't there. All I know is Dr. Dillamond is dead."

Galinda gasped. "What? How?"

Did she tell her the truth or did she tell her the story she and Fiyero had come up with when they reported it to Morrible? It didn't matter, did it? Galinda already knew her deepest secret, the one that could get her executed or thrown in Southstairs. "I got there and he was on the floor. There was a cut on his neck and there was blood." She didn't want to describe the way the blood had pooled on the floor in thick puddles, the drops on the broken glass. She didn't want to talk about the empty, foggy look in Dr. Dillamond's eyes.

"Sweet Oz! Does Morrible know?"

"We went and reported it immediately."

"We? You and Fiyero?"

"He walked in a moment or two after me. Fiyero told Morrible he's the one who found the body, and that I never saw it. He didn't want me to have to deal with questions or suspicion. We also wanted to avoid admitting to being in the same room together unsupervised, even if it was an accident." Elphaba looked over at her roommate, finally. "I don't know what to do, Galinda."

Galinda got up and sat down beside Elphaba. "I know." She took her hand for a moment and squeezed it. "You lost someone you cared about today, Elphie. You can be sad."

"I'm too shocked and oddly empty to be sad about anything just yet." Elphaba eyed their hands. "Are you seeing anything?"

"I've been working on controlling it. It seems to be working right now."

"But if you wanted to use it, you could?"

"Yes."

"Good. I want you to use it on Madame Morrible."

"You want me to WHAT?"