I love it when you all go Caps Lock on me. Hope this chapter makes you feel better. An early one, because I'm seeing The Bodyguard for the third time tonight! :D

16. Horrors

Elphaba was screaming.

She had leapt to her feet the moment she'd seen the boat explode, just like Oscar, even as Nessarose clamped both hands over her mouth in absolute horror. Her sister's desperate screams were the most terrible sound she'd ever heard and she knew that she would never forget this moment for the rest of her life. Vaguely, she was aware of the two guards shouting things at one another and dashing off, supposedly going after the person who did this.

On the lake, clouds of black and grey smoke surrounded the spot where the rowboat had been. They slowly lifted, revealing pieces of burning wood floating on the surface; and Elphaba suddenly couldn't hold herself up any longer. Oscar caught her and held her tightly against his chest, trying to shield her from the things she might see. She struggled weakly against him, however, keeping her eyes on the smoky clouds rising from the lake as if she could make her children and Fiyero appear safely if only she stared long and hard enough. When the clouds had dissipated completely, however, there wasn't a sign of any of them to be found.

"Where did they go?" Nessa whispered, her eyes wide and filled with tears. "Did the explosion…?"

She didn't finish her sentence, realising there was no way she could tell the others what she was afraid of without upsetting her sister even more; but obviously Elphaba could fill in the blanks herself. Her face contorted and she stopped struggling, instead slumping against her father's chest as she started crying disconsolately, sobs racking her body. It was the most desperate sound Nessa and Oscar had ever heard and it scared them, but they didn't know what they could do. They were utterly horrified themselves.

Suddenly, the young witch felt Oscar stiffen against her and he said urgently, "Elphaba, look!"

She raised her tear-stained face and glanced around, but then she saw it. In the lake, a safe distance from where the boat had been, was Fiyero – swimming as fast as he could even as he dragged both twins along with him.

With a wail, Elphaba detached herself from her father's arms and ran over to the part of the shore closest to them, running into the water to meet them. Fiyero had reached a shallow part of the lake by then and he swept Fawn up onto his hip, pulling Xalo along with one hand. The boy let go of him to run straight into his mother's arms and she hugged him so tightly she was afraid she'd crush him.

"Thank Oz," she sobbed, clutching Xalo to her. "Oh, thank Oz…"

"We're not there yet, Fae," Fiyero said grimly even as he rushed past her to gently place Fawn onto the sand. "Can you heal her?"

Only then did Elphaba notice that both Fiyero and Xalo were covered in burns. Fawn, however, looked like she was in much worse condition than they were and the dark-haired witch fell down onto her knees next to her daughter, holding her hands above Fawn's small body, but she was shaking so badly that she couldn't manage to direct the magic. Fawn moaned and Elphaba whimpered, desperately trying to get her magic to work.

"Stay with me, sweetie," she begged her daughter, fear gripping her when she realised how bad Fawn's injuries really were. She gave a frustrated cry of fear and terror and then she felt Fiyero placing his hands on her shoulders, squeezing gently.

"You can do it," he told her. "You saved me, too, remember? You can do this. She'll be fine, Fae. Take a deep breath."

She hiccupped a sob. She felt Xalo sliding his hand into hers as he sat down beside her, looking at her with solemn, green-flecked brown eyes. "I'll help you, Mama."

She squeezed his hand gratefully, unable to speak, and she forced herself to follow Fiyero's advice and take a deep breath. She could feel Xalo's concentration as if it was her own and their magic mingled, soon streaming out of their hands easily and enveloping Fawn until it died down and the girl opened her eyes, sitting up groggily. Elphaba started sobbing again as she pulled her daughter into her arms and smothered her with kisses before wrapping her arms around both her children, hugging them close like she was never going to let them go again. She healed Xalo's superficial burns as well and held them for a long time, her eyes squeezed shut as she allowed herself to believe that they were all right. They weren't dead – they were alive and they were going to be okay.

Oscar joined them then, embracing his grandchildren as well, but Fiyero ushered them all away. "We should go back to the house," he said, nervously glancing around. "The guy who did this could still be out here."

He didn't see Benn or Rodger anywhere. They would return to the house soon enough, though, he knew – either with or without a clue about who had done this and why, although they could probably make an educated guess. Somehow, Elphaba's stalker must have followed them here. Fiyero couldn't help but wonder if the bomb had been meant for him; after all, it wouldn't be the first attempt on his life because of his close proximity to Elphaba. It would change things, however, if this stalker now started dragging innocent children into this as well.

Elphaba kept her arms around the twins protectively as Oscar helped Nessa into her chair and they all made their way back to the house, the silence only broken by the quiet sobbing Elphaba just couldn't seem to stop. She'd never been so terrified in her entire life.

Once inside, Nessarose comforted the twins as Oscar heated some milk in the microwave for hot chocolate. Elphaba, meanwhile, surprised Fiyero by suddenly throwing her arms around him and burying her face in his chest.

"Thank you," she cried. "You saved their lives!"

"That wasn't me, actually," he told her with a tired smile even as he hugged her back. "It was Fawn. The moment the explosion went off, her magic reacted to the danger and transported all three of us away from the boat, just in time. She has great reflexes."

Elphaba laughed a little hysterically through her tears, still clinging to Fiyero. "I was always so worried they'd inherit my powers, because they've always felt more like a curse to me. I never thought I'd be happy about it." She looked up at him. "And even if Fawn saved your lives, you got them out of the water," she said, her voice catching. "Xalo could never have saved an injured Fawn without your help. So thank you."

"Not a problem, Fae." He gently patted her back. He could feel her trembling violently against him and, mildly alarmed, he said, "Hey. It's okay – they're okay. They're fine, Fae, really. It's all right."

"I – I thought," she hiccupped, squeezing her eyes shut again with her face still pressed into his shirt. "I thought you were all dead!"

"We're not," he soothed her. "It's all right. The twins are fine, Fae – both of them. Calm down."

She did, eventually, and then pulled away from him. "What about you?" she asked, wiping her nose with the sleeve of her shirt. "Are you all right?"

He shrugged. "Nothing that won't heal on its own," he said, but she would have none of that. After glancing over at Fawn and Xalo again, who were each perched on one of Nessa's knees, she forced herself to steady her breathing and healed Fiyero's burns as well.

She disappeared from the kitchen to help the twins change into some dry clothes and by the time she came back down the stairs, Fiyero was wearing clean clothes as well and he and the others had moved into the living room and started a fire in the old-fashioned fireplace there. Oscar gave each of the children a mug of hot chocolate and Nessa handed one to Fiyero and another to Elphaba.

"You two look like you could use it, too," she said with a small smile and Elphaba chuckled mirthlessly.

"I think I could use something much stronger than this," she said wryly, "but thanks, Ness."

Nessa gave her a disapproving look, but Fiyero just snorted in agreement.

They sat in silence. Elphaba's gaze never left her kids, but her mind was racing. Who was doing this? Why? How had he known they would be here in Munchkinland when they had been so careful to make sure they weren't followed? Who had been his target – the twins, Fiyero, or Elphaba herself? How could they ever figure out what was going on and put a stop to it if they didn't seem to get a step further?

The doorbell rang and everyone tensed. Elphaba made to get up, but Fiyero stopped her, shaking his head at her. He pulled his gun from the waistband of his jeans and moved towards the door.

"Can you still shoot that?" Nessa whispered, her eyes wide. "It got wet, remember?"

Fiyero flashed her a reassuring, though slightly grim, smile. "Trust me," he said. "That doesn't matter."

Nessa looked unsure. "Okay."

"Modern guns can get wet and they'll still work," Oscar told her. "Don't worry, Nessa, Fiyero knows what he's doing."

The wheelchair-bound girl nodded, seeming more convinced now.

The bell rang again and Fiyero went down the hallway, ready to fire his gun as he used one hand to open the door. When he saw who was on the other side, however, he lowered the weapon.

"Don't worry!" he called over his shoulder to the others as he stepped aside to let Benn and Rodger in. He closed the door behind them and the three of them went back to the living room, where everyone relaxed upon seeing the two guards.

"Did you catch him?" Xalo asked enthusiastically. "Did you shoot him and torture and interrogate him and then killed him and dumped his body in the lake?"

Elphaba gave him a bewildered look, eyes narrowed. "Where do you get such ideas?" she demanded.

Xalo flushed and guiltily glanced at Oscar, who tried his best to look inconspicuous. Elphaba's eyes narrowed further as she glared at her father, but she decided to leave this discussion for another time.

Rodger ran his fingers through his hair and shook his head in response to the boy's question. "No," he said tiredly. "We caught sight of him and we tried to shoot him. At some point I thought we hit him, but he was gone so fast, it can't have been more than a graze."

"He was around, then," Oscar concluded, looking a little pale, and both guards nodded.

"We found a detonator in the grass on the far side of the lake shore," Benn told them. "Our guess is that he must have known somehow that you were going to use the rowboat and that he planted a bomb inside of it. He must have been waiting around to press the button and make it explode at a moment when you were all inside of it."

Oscar frowned. "But that doesn't make any sense," he objected. "Why would he wait so long? They'd been rowing around in that thing for at least ten minutes already by the time it exploded. Why would he choose to detonate the bomb when Xalo wasn't even inside the boat?"

"Maybe the bomb was set on a timer and it didn't go off, so he had to improvise," Benn suggested.

Rodger added grimly, "Or maybe the twins were not his target."

They fell silent at that. Elphaba's eyes were wide and she stared at Fiyero, making him shift a little uncomfortably under her gaze.

"They weren't," she said, absolutely certain of that. "Why would anyone want to kill my children, anyway?" She squeezed Fawn closer and ran her hand over Xalo's head. "He wasn't aiming for either of them. They may have been collateral damage and he probably wouldn't have cared, but they weren't his main target. Fiyero was."

Now all eyes were on the bodyguard and he cringed.

"Think about it," the green woman said. "He targeted you before, didn't he? If he somehow knows you survived the stabbing and he still thinks you're with me, or something ridiculous like that…"

Understanding and horror dawned in Fiyero's eyes at the same time, but before he could say anything, Benn cut in.

"That's all nice and well," he said, "but the point is that this guy attacked – again – and we didn't catch him. It started out with letters, but it's grown into far more than that."

"What should we do?" Oscar asked him and he shrugged.

"Return to the Palace as soon as possible," he said. "It's secure now, isn't it? It's probably the safest place for Deputy Mayor Thropp to be – not to mention for Fiyero and the kids."

Elphaba glanced at her children and then at her sister. "What about Nessa?" she asked. "I won't just leave her here for that guy to find."

"Miss Thropp is not his target," Rodger explained patiently to her. "He wouldn't attack her."

"You don't know that," Elphaba countered. "He might attack her to get to me!"

Nessa held up a hand. "Fabala, please," she said, trying for a watery smile. "He doesn't want to hurt you – he wants to be with you and keep other men away from you. I'm not a threat to him. He won't come here again if he knows you've left. I will go and stay with Boq until Father returns and you won't have to worry about me – I'll be perfectly safe."

Elphaba still looked worried and Rodger pulled his phone from his pocket. "I'll give the Palace a call," he told the deputy mayor, "and I'll have them send over some reinforcements. Some extra guy and I will stay here with Miss Nessarose while Benn, Fiyero, and the others return with you to the Emerald City. We'll keep an eye out for anything unusual and we'll protect your sister."

The dark-haired witch slowly let out a breath. "Thank you," she said.

Rodger disappeared into the hallway to make his call, but he returned quickly, carrying a piece of paper. "Miss Nessarose? You've got mail," he said, handing her the letter.

Nessa frowned and accepted the envelope from him. "That's strange. The postman usually comes earlier in the day." She started opening the envelope and pulled out a letter, but Elphaba already knew whom it was from before she saw the strange handwriting that differed with every sentence and before Nessa read it out loud.

Didn't I tell you not to make me angry, Elphaba? If you won't get rid of your boyfriend, I will. I do apologise for dragging your children into it, but you hardly gave me much of a choice. You're supposed to be with me, not him. Consider this a warning.

Nessa gasped, Oscar paled, and the twins gaped first at their aunt and then at their mother, whose face had turned ashen as well.

"He was here," Nessa whispered. "He was close enough to the house to deliver that letter…"

"Maybe he still is," Oscar said, straightening. "Elphaba, can't you cast that spell? Sense his presence the way you did with Xalo when he went missing during the party?"

Elphaba got a distant look in her eyes, her lips moving as she whispered the spell. She closed her eyes for a moment, but then she opened them again and shook her head.

"I can't feel him," she said, feeling like bursting into tears – with fear or frustration, she wasn't sure. "There are too many people out there."

"Can't you distinguish which one's him?" Oscar demanded, but she shook her head.

"That only works with people I know very well," she said, obviously frustrated. "Right now I can sense every villager in the proximity of the house, but there's no-one who stands out all by himself. I don't know who he is, so I can't look for him specifically."

Oscar cursed, which made Nessa gasp again. She gave him a disapproving look just as Elphaba snapped, "Watch your language, Dad. I'd rather not have my children swearing like thugs at age nine."

"Sorry," he muttered, glancing at the twins.

They spent the rest of the day inside, waiting for the reinforcements from the City to arrive. By the time they did, it was late in the evening and Fawn and Xalo were already asleep; Nessarose managed to convince everyone to stay the night and leave in the morning. The guards secured the house and the others all went to bed, although Elphaba was sure no-one really slept. When she turned onto her side for the umpteenth time, only to have the red numbers on her alarm clock inform her it was now almost three in the morning, she gave up and threw the blankets back, pulling on a pair of slippers and wrapping a cardigan around herself before making her way down the hall. She checked on Nessa and the twins and when she was satisfied they were all safely asleep, she moved down the stairs. Maybe a cup of tea would help her sleep… or maybe she could locate her father's bottle of Munchkin whiskey. Yes, that definitely sounded like a good idea.