I'm glad you all like the twins, and I love reading about your suspicions! I'm not going to give anything away, though - you'll have to be patient and see for yourselves! ^_^

6. Threats

Fiyero didn't come down for dinner that night, instead opting to have a tray brought up to his room; and Elphaba, for some weird and crazy reason, felt guilty. That was why, the moment they had all finished eating and Fawn and Xalo ran off to play, she made her way down the hallway and knocked on the door to Fiyero's room.

When he opened it, she inadvertently took a step back. His eyes were blood-shot, his normally so carefully styled hair looked messy, and he was dressed in what was clearly his when-at-home-alone-outfit – jogging trousers and an old sweater. She wasn't sure what he had been doing, but he seemed agitated and that only got worse as he laid eyes on her.

"What do you want?" he asked gruffly, running his fingers through his hair. That explained why it was standing in all directions.

She took a breath. "Can I come in?"

He grudgingly let her into his rooms. They were spacious and tastefully decorated; after Elphaba had moved into the Palace and Galinda had come to work for her and Oscar, the blonde had re-decorated most of the rooms in the buildings, including the guest rooms. Like Elphaba's own chambers, Fiyero's rooms consisted of a foyer, bedroom, and bathroom, although these guest rooms were slightly smaller than her own. He'd also been given an office from where he could work as long as he was here, but it was on the fourth floor with the other offices.

Fiyero motioned for her to sit down in one of the comfortable chairs around a side table in the corner of the foyer. She remained standing by the open door, though, glancing out of it for a moment before turning back to him and saying simply, "I'm sorry."

He raised his eyebrows, clearly not having expected that.

She shook her head. "I had no right to say those things to you," she said. "In the library this afternoon, I mean. I don't presume to know you and I should have kept my big mouth shut, so I'm sorry."

"Look at that," he drawled. "I didn't think you were even capable of saying those words."

She bristled. "If you're going to be a jerk about it –"

"No, no, wait!" He held up his hands. "I'm sorry. I just..." He started pacing and she watched him warily, following him with her eyes. She noticed the way his muscles moved underneath his shirt as he strode back and forth, but she forced her gaze back up to his face, feeling warmth creep up her neck to her cheeks.

He stopped pacing and looked at her. "It's true," he said. "You don't know me, and you had no right to say those things." She opened her mouth to make a nasty remark, but he held up one hand to silence her. "The thing is that you... well, you were right. And that just... shook me a little, I guess. No-one ever saw that before," he admitted. "Most people buy the act I give them, so you can imagine I was a little shocked when you didn't. So… yeah. You don't need to apologise. You were right."

She closed her mouth, recognising that this could be considered an apology from him, too. "I know I was right," she said matter-of-factly. "But that doesn't mean I should have said all those things to you – especially since I made it very clear to you that I don't want you prying into my personal life, either. It's none of my business."

"It's not," he agreed and then fell silent, not really knowing what else to say. "Um... I suppose I should apologise for the things I said to you, too," he muttered, not meeting her gaze. "The whole vegetable business, I mean, and... well, everything else. You don't know me, but I don't know you, either. Besides, it was childish of me."

She shook her head. "Well, I of all people should know that reputation isn't everything and I should know better than to base my own opinion on that."

"That goes for me, too." He held out his hand. "Truce?"

She took it and gave it a firm shake. "Truce. But no more inappropriate flirting or prying into my personal life," she warned and he rolled his eyes.

"Fine."

"You won't have to put up with me for much longer, anyway," she said. "These threats usually pass quickly by themselves. I've never experienced anyone actually going through with them. Some people just find intimidation a suitable way to try and discourage someone from publicly giving their opinion or changing things, but I'm fairly sure there's no real danger there, anyway, and they'll give up soon enough."

Fiyero shook his head. "I wouldn't be so sure about that," he told her. "But we'll see. I'll keep an eye on you, anyway. You're paying me to do that, after all."

Her eyes widened. "I am paying you?"

He shrugged, grinning a little. "That's what Galinda said. My payroll comes from your bank account."

"I'm going to kill that girl!" Elphaba swore and turned around, stalking out of the room. Before leaving, she pointed a menacing finger at him. "Remember what I said."

"I will," he said, mockingly pointing his own finger at her as well. Much to his surprise, she actually laughed at his imitation of her before closing the door behind her.

Over the course of the next week or so, Fiyero continued to accompany Elphaba to every meeting and appointment she had outside of the Palace. He preferred the meetings she had at other Emerald City officials' homes, because then he knew she was safe inside and he could stay in the car with the motor still running and turn the volume of the radio up, belting along to the most popular songs of the moment until the green woman's meeting was over. Elphaba caught him doing that once, when a meeting ended early. She spent the entire way back scolding him for not giving a twig about the environment, lecturing him on pollution and the damaging qualities of exhaust fumes.

"Is that why you prefer to walk everywhere if you can help it?" he asked her curiously when she paused for breath in the middle of that lecture. For some reason, Elphaba insisted on walking to her every appointment if it was in a three-kilometre radius of the Palace – much to Fiyero's chagrin. Not only did it mean he had to trudge along behind her; it also meant that when she was invited to some official's home within said three-kilometre radius, there was no way he could stay in the car with his favourite music on. Instead he had to sit or stand in a corner of the room somewhere, being unobtrusive, while Elphaba and whoever discussed some plan or idea for hours.

"Partly," was her curt answer to his question. "It would be hypocritical for me to promote ecological city life and then be seen driving a car to an appointment two blocks away. I also happen to like the fresh air."

"I noticed," he muttered. "Crazy woman. Insisting on keeping a window open even when it's nearly freezing outside."

"It's April," she said snippily. "It's not that cold."

"Temperatures dropped nearly to zero the other night and you still wanted that window open," he pointed out.

She scoffed, but didn't say anything else.

As he stayed longer at the Palace, he also got to know the others a little better. Galinda was around almost twenty-four seven, either working or spending time with Elphaba and her family, often accompanied by Cohvu in the latter case. They came over for dinner on a regular basis and Fiyero found himself liking them both. Galinda, of course, was sunny and cheerful all the time, unhealthily obsessed with shopping and the colour pink, and very talkative; while Cohvu was a lot quieter, but friendly nonetheless.

"How long have they been together?" Fiyero asked Elphaba on Saturday evening, when they were walking to a café nearby. Elphaba was going for a drink with Duran Hunter, an old friend of hers from university; and as usual, Fiyero was trailing along. "Cohvu and Galinda, I mean."

Elphaba thought about that for a moment. "They got together in our final year at Shiz, so about four and a half years ago," she said. "I expect the news of an engagement will be coming soon, but Cohvu told me he wanted to save enough money first so that he was sure he would be able to provide for Glin."

Fiyero grinned. "I can imagine Galinda is rather high-maintenance."

"Galinda is my best friend and the sweetest girl I've ever known," Elphaba said defensively, but then she admitted, "but yes, it takes a lot of effort to keep her happy, I suppose."

Since they were walking, there was no way for Fiyero to be able to stay in the car and so he went inside the pub with Elphaba, taking a seat at the bar and ordering a Vinkun beer as she warmly greeted Duran, a tall man with thick, brown hair and a huge grin on his face, and they sat down together. Over the course of the evening, he watched in mild astonishment as both Elphaba and her companion downed one glass of heavy Gillikin wine after the other. He'd never thought about it before, but if he had, he'd have figured she hated alcohol. Control freak as she was, he'd expected her to never want to lose control by getting drunk, but he must have been wrong about that.

They talked and laughed and got louder as the evening progressed, but by then Fiyero was slightly intoxicated himself from all the Vinkun beers. Elphaba's friend paid for both of them – how chivalrous – and then they left, Fiyero following them. He thought he caught a glimpse of a person in the shadows across the street, but then he blinked and the shape was gone.

Duran kissed Elphaba's cheek in good-bye, then waved at her as he got into a taxi. The green woman waved back and started walking, nearly stumbling over her own feet. Fiyero shot forward to steady her and she grinned at him.

"Thanks," she slurred. "I don't usually drink, but Dur and I had a bit of a tradition at Shiz with Gillikin wine. A game."

"What kind of game?" Fiyero asked in amusement.

She made a face. "It started out as a bet," she confessed. "He always teased me because I showed off to him about being smart – you know, reciting law articles to him from the top of my head, stuff like that."

Fiyero smirked. That did sound like Elphaba.

"And then Duran challenged me," she continued, "saying he didn't think I could still recite the Ozian Convention on Minority Protection after a couple of glasses of Gillikin wine. So I took that bet and recited an article from the convention after every glass. I eventually had to stop at seven glasses because then I toppled off my chair and Galinda had to drag me to the infirmary to have my scraped elbow and mild concussion taken care of, but he was impressed. Tonight was just reliving old times."

"Well, it's nice to see you loosening up a little," he said with a chuckle and she stuck out her tongue at him, grabbing his arm when she threatened to trip again.

She groaned. "Sweet Oz, this is embarrassing."

"I could call a taxi," Fiyero offered, but she shook her head.

"Never mind," she muttered. "We'll walk. It's not that far."

"Can you still recite that convention?" Fiyero asked, half joking and half genuinely curious. "Say... article four?"

Elphaba instantly pulled away from him and spread her arms dramatically. "Article four," she declared dramatically. "The Provinces undertake to guarantee to persons belonging to national minorities the right of equality before the law and of equal protection of the law. In this respect, any discrimination based on belonging –" She cut herself off when she nearly stumbled over her own feet again and Fiyero quickly shot forward to hold her up.

"All right, stop, I believe you," he laughed. "Yeesh. You're crazy, you know that?"

"That's a new one," she muttered. "Usually people stick with 'weird'."

He didn't know what to say to that, so he just kept quiet.

It took them nearly half an hour to get to the Palace. Despite the alcohol coursing through Fiyero's veins, he was still sharp enough to keep an eye out for Elphaba's stalker – he'd made sure of that, obviously, since the job came before the fun – but he didn't see anyone.

Elphaba all but fell through the door into the hall, giggling, which was a very unnerving thing to see the normally stoic deputy mayor do. Fiyero caught her before she hit the floor – it was clear that he had a lot more experience with being drunk than she did. "Careful."

She huffed at him and he watched her swaying over to the staircase.

"Shouldn't you take the lift?" he called after her, but she stubbornly shook her head.

"Just because you're lazy," she muttered, but he heard anyway. He rolled his eyes and joined her, making sure she didn't stumble and fall on the steps. She was holding on to the railing for dear life as she climbed the stairs, but they made it up to the fifth floor somehow and Fiyero dropped Elphaba off at the door to her chambers.

He yawned widely and made his way down the hallway. He went into his own rooms and kicked off his shoes, quickly splashing some water into his face before falling face-first onto his bed and not getting up again.

"Fiyero!" Galinda cried as Fiyero dragged himself past her office the next morning, having gotten lost once again in search of the kitchen for some coffee. Apparently he wasn't just in the wrong part of the building for that – he was actually on the wrong floor. Great. He should have remembered that all the living quarters were up on the fifth floor, but it was hard to remember anything at all right now. "I just tried to call you, but you didn't pick up. Could you please step in here?"

He really didn't want to, hung-over as he was, but she added, "It's important, Fiyero, please," in such a pleading tone that he caved and changed direction. She sighed gratefully as he entered her office. "Thank you."

Oscar was there, too, and he looked up when the younger man entered. He gave a nod. "Fiyero."

"What's going on?" Fiyero asked, rubbing his face, and Oscar handed him a piece of paper with a grim expression on his face.

"Another letter. Galinda got it just now."

Fiyero held it up in the light and read it aloud. "'I saw you last night, Elphaba. I saw you with that other man. Do not test me. You are mine and mine alone.' He's certainly possessive, isn't he?"

Galinda looked like she was going to be sick. "There's more."

"'Soon, I will claim you in every possible way, the way it was always supposed to be. I will finally feel your body against mine and taste your sweet, emerald skin. I will touch you –' Okay. Ew." He read the rest in silence, his eyes growing wide. "Sweet Oz. This must be the most disturbing thing I've ever read." He suppressed a shudder and tossed the letter onto the desk. "Don't you guys think it's time we tell her about this?"

"No," said Galinda firmly, shaking her head. "She can't know, Fiyero. It would only worry and disgust her and we wouldn't achieve anything."

Fiyero frowned. "I won't claim to know her very well, Galinda, but I don't think she'll appreciate being kept in the dark about this. I think she should know. Look at this – 'I warn you, Elphaba. You will be mine or you will face the consequences.' Who knows what this creep is up to? He could come after her – he might even come after the people she loves, like the twins. Do you really want to risk that?"

"I don't think he would do that," said Galinda. "His threats have only been directed at Elphaba herself so far. We have no reason to believe he would harm the twins. Fiyero, please, just trust me on this," she begged. "Telling her would only stir up bad memories."

He perked up at that, always eager to learn something new about the mysterious, prickly and intimidating, yet rather interesting Elphaba Thropp. "What kind of memories?"

"Not my place to tell, Fiyero," Galinda said sternly. "Stop prying."

"This confirms that it was him, though, doesn't it?" asked Oscar. "The man you saw following her a few times, I mean, Fiyero. He was our guy."

Fiyero nodded. "Now all we have to do is catch him. That should be easy." He sighed. "I'll see what I can do, but it would be best if we could lure him out, somehow. Make him show himself."

"How?" Galinda asked practically. "Send Elphaba out into the streets by herself late at night with you trailing her and hoping the guy will follow her, too? She'll know right away that something is up. So would he, probably."

Fiyero chewed the inside of his cheek thoughtfully. "I'll think about this some more. I'm sure I can come up with something. Until then, I'll just... keep an eye on Elphaba." He glanced at Oscar. "And I want to talk to you again about security of the building. We need to strengthen it, just to be sure – more cameras, for one. I'd really like to have Elphaba guarded more closely when she leaves, not just by me, but..."

"...but then she'd know something was up," Oscar finished for him. "We have faith in you, Fiyero. You can keep her safe by yourself."

Fiyero wasn't so sure, but he nodded, switching off his own feelings and turning into the bodyguard he had been trained to be. This was just another job, after all. It didn't matter that he didn't like Elphaba or that he was immensely curious about her past. He didn't care about the fact that his clients had children or other family members that would miss him or her; all those things didn't matter to him. In the end, a client was a client and as long as they paid him, he would do the best he could to protect them from whatever harm they feared might come to them.

"Now that you're here," said Galinda, giving him a radiant smile, "would you mind going over the security details for the twins' birthday party next weekend with me? I think with the recent developments, we shouldn't take any risks."

He sighed. "Fine," he said grumpily. "Under one condition."

Galinda raised her eyebrows. "What?"

"Coffee," he grunted. "Lots of coffee."

She giggled and swept out of the room. "I'm on it. Be right back."

The Ozian Convention on Minority Protection is actually the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities, as studied by me for my Victimology and Criminal Justice master at uni, modified to fit into the Ozian universe. :P

Also, I've been posting a couple of drabbles lately, if you feel like reading some short, light little things!