A/N: This backtracks to what's going on in the Underground while Scratch is being gotten rid of.

Little princess in her tower

Wielding only superficial power

Waiting for friend to save the day

A pain no water will wash away

== Jane: Wait

You've spent your entire life waiting. You never get anything to do; you're supposed to be passive. First, you were a child; be seen, not heard. Then, you were an engaged girl; get married, don't make a fuss. After that, your future husband died and you told your parents you wanted to be a nun; don't make noise, just meditate and pray. You're not actually going to be a nun, of course. But the point still stands. And even now, you're the Maid of Life. What does that even mean? You have some healing powers, but you don't have powerful magic and you have no control over your own life. You're a pawn.

Not to mention your parents have been fussing over you recently. What with Duke Scratch being kidnapped and all, they think you're next on the list. You haven't been out of the castle in weeks. Weeks! You're going stir-crazy.

"Jane!" your twin brother calls. "Jane! I've been looking for you."

"What is it, Jake?" you ask. You wonder why your parents gave the four of you such similar names.

"Roxy said she gave you something for me."

Of course. It's not you, it's what you've been given. "In my room. Come on." Jake is always so excited about everything; you wonder how he manages it. "She brought diagrams." Jake nods and grins excitedly. "I'm about to infil—" He cuts himself off. Good thing, too. He drops his voice and continues. "I'm about to infiltrate the queen's court like the heroes in books!"

"You sure are."

"I can't wait!"

"I bet you can't."

"I wonder what sort of adventures I'll encounter?"

"Yeah."

He finally notices your lack of enthusiasm and cocks his head to the side like a confused little cat. "Jane? Is everything gung-ho with you?" Hell, does he still talk like that? You thought that was a phase.

"Fine," you smile. "I'm great, in fact! Mother and Father are so happy with me being a nun—" No they're not. "—And I've got so many jobs to do— " No you don't. "—I'm just never bored!" Yes you are.

"That's lovely, sister!" His smile nearly splits his face in two. Lucky bastard. He actually gets to do something.

"I said, my room."

"Spiffing!" You could just about punch his lights out right now, the stupid prick. You lead him to the place where you've hidden the schematics and other diagrams for Jake to use. Because he's got a real job, not this useless waiting around and message delivering you're stuck with.

You feel rage building in your gut and you can't stand to be around him much longer. So you run to your room, shove the plans into his hands, and push him out the door. You slam the door shut and try not to scream, because you are not alone in this palace.

But you can't hold it all in and you instead start crying, angry tears. They're unlike the grieving tears you've shed before; this is pure anger and rage and desire to hurt someone or something and since it's not going to be anyone else, it's going to be you.

You bite down hard on your finger in an attempt to silence your tears. No one can know. No one can know how you feel because if they knew, they'd think you're crazy. Isn't this what women are supposed to be? Perpetually waiting for to be free enough to do something? Hysterical when things don't go their way? You're just angry that you're so damn stuck here!

That night, there is a knock on your window. Thrice, once, four times. You thought no one was coming till tomorrow! You sigh and open the window to see Roxy pinned against the wall. "Janey!" she cries, jumping in and hugging you. She pulls off her eyemask and hood to reveal messy hair and a wide grin that tell you she's not here to exchange information.

"Why're you here?" You didn't mean to sound that belligerent.

"To see my best friend, of course!" Roxy says, her smile widening. "I never get to see you anymore! How're things going?"

"Fine," you say.

"Fine? That's less that okay! That's too much less than okay for me to put up with!" Roxy exclaims.

"Don't worry about me," you say, attempting to distract her from attempts to make you feel better. "What about you?"

"Well, I've had to be super careful, but I've been avoiding Scratch like he's a person and I'm one of those flies that just sort of flies around and you can't catch even though you know it's there," she says with a mischievous sort of smile that should scare you, but she's your best friend, so it doesn't. Roxy was even your friend before the Magicals, when all eight of you lived in this castle and it wasn't terrifying when someone knocked on your door. You miss not being afraid. You miss your old life.

You're different to your friends in that respect. They all threw themselves headfirst into this crazy thing. You were far more careful because you are quite happy the way you are. You don't want to end up with your head on a stake as a warning to all who might consider rebellion. You don't want to lay down your life for this. You know it's wrong, but isn't there a less perilous way?

You don't want to see Roxy dangling from a noose. You don't want Jake's head separated from his body. You don't want John set on fire from his feet. You don't want Jade pulled apart by four horses running opposite directions. You don't want to watch your friends die in horrific ways.

How could anyone risk that?

"Look, Roxy, don't risk your life to come see little old me!" you joke.

"Don't be silly, Janey! You're my best friend forever."

Roxy is amazing. She always makes you feel better every time you see her. "Thanks, Roxy. I'm just a little nervous. Cuz it's the middle of the day and all, everyone's out and of course they need to talk to the princess."

"Oh, that's rough, Janey," Roxy says sympathetically. She was a princess once, too. She must remember it.

"Thanks, Roxy," you say. You're about to continue when someone knocks on your door.

"Shit," Roxy hisses. You open a closet door and shove her in. Please, please, please let this not be your mother. She's open your closet to help you pick a dress for some occasion and the game would be up.

Luckily, it's an attendant. "Miss, you've been called to come to the queen's court."

"Oh. Pray I ask, why?"

"She'd like to speak with Miss Jane Crocker."

The queen wants to talk to you! You wonder what this is about and decide you don't care. You're too excited to care. "C-Coming," you stammer, running a brush through your hair. You cut most of it off to maintain the illusion that you wish to be a nun, but what remains is messy and hard to tame. You throw on some nice lace-up shoes and hope your dress doesn't look too bad. You hope Roxy knows to go.

You walk to the antechamber and wait to be called in. You're all alone in here and you're starting to calm down from your initial near-panic. It's just the queen! Who you're both loyal to and rebelling against. This couldn't get much crazier and panic-worthy.

"Miss Jane Crocker," an attendant calls. You take a deep breath, set your shoulders back, and walk into the queen's throne room.

It's huger than you imagined, pink and gold everywhere. Magenta stained glass with gold arches, a ceiling done all in shades of fuchsia and silver, a rose-colored carpet with golden fringe. It makes you nervous to walk on this carpet with your shoes on. The queen lazes in her throne on the opposite end of the room and you force yourself to remain steady in your simple shoes and dress suited to one who's suppose to go to a convent in six months.

"Jane!" the queen exclaims. "Right. Exactly the princess to get the job done. I can rely on you, right?"

"Of course, Your Majesty," you say, curtseying deeply. What does she want from you?

"Great, excellent. You're such a good girl, Jane. You're the best one to get a job done. The others, they're far too headstrong and rebellious to trust with a job this important to the well-being of the kingdom."

"Thank you," you whisper. You can't believe it. The queen is calling you reliable! She's calling you good! The queen! You could faint from excitement. But…

"What job would you like me to do, Your Majesty?"

"It's simple, really. I've heard of this little group of 'revolutionaries' that might include your brothers, though I'm sure you have no part in it." She gives you a piercing gaze.

"N-No, Your Highness," you stammer. "Of course not."

"Right, of course. Anyways, I need you to tell me where they'll all be on a certain day."

Oh. She wants you to give them up.

"Infiltrate them. Make them trust you. And then just tell me where. No names, nothing but what they look like and where they'll be."

"Will anyone get hurt?" Oh shit, did you just say that out loud? You didn't mean to! You just don't want to see anyone hurt.

But she doesn't seem angry with you. "Of course not, dear. No one will get hurt. You do want to help the kingdom, right?"

"Of course, Your Majesty."

"And I can trust you with this task, can I not?"

"Yes, Your Highness."

"Then just tell me where they are."

You consider for a second. This would be betrayal. You would be giving away your friends' locations and possibly placing them in danger. But…this is the queen! And surely it can't do any harm to just tell her where they'll be. She won't even know their names!

And…

You could actually do something! And anyways, the queen can't be all bad. She's the queen, after all. And this kingdom isn't in shambles. It may have its difficulties, but nothing that can't be dealt with. Nothing that can't be dealt with through a few new policies and some reform. You don't need a full on revolution. All you have to do it tell the queen where the rebels will be. All you have to do. You don't need to hurt anyone.

"All you have to do is tell me where they are going to be on the day my nephew gets married. No one gets hurt, and no one dies. That's all you need to do." Right. Eridan's getting married to someone in the Underground in a couple months. You could easily ask around about that, about whoever his bride is and the time and where people will be. You can frame it as curiousity or gathering information. It shouldn't be too hard, even a little bit hard. Really, it ought to be simple. Like she said. Unless your friends start to suspect you...

"But...what if they catch me?" you ask nervously.

"They won't. You're a clever girl. Don't worry about it," the queen assures you with a kind smile.

You think on it a little more, still dithering over this simple and obvious choice. If no one gets hurt, what's the problem? She's the queen; surely she's not plotting anything horrible. It's not like she wants to kill all of you or anything!

"No one has to die."

She's right. No one will die. Your friends won't get hurt. All you're doing is helping out the queen! And maybe you can work it both ways, doing some spying on the queen. Some, anyways. She trusts you and you don't want to ruin that.

No one has to die.

"Yes," you say. "I'll do it."