A/N: Originally I had a gnome enter the story with Neesera, but I didn't know what to do with her so I decided I might bring her in a bit later. And no, I haven't been a teenager for a few years now, though I am happy to hear that I'm pulling the voice off well :3

And :O I forgot about that five dollars.

…-…

Have you ever felt like you're little more than a pawn in a bunch of other people's games? Like, that everyone around you is lying and using you to further some sort of agenda?

It isn't pleasant.

You may be wondering why I would say that. Sure, Brath has been using me from the start, but he was always semi-honest about it, or at least made sure that I knew he was up to something. I'm pretty sure that Maevlen is helping me to ease his own conscience about not being able to stop the Legion, and it's only kind of annoying that he can't just come out and say that.

But Fizz? He didn't deny Brath's comment and he's been acting kind of jumpy, like he expects me to toss him to the vindicators. So what if he's Horde. He's still Fizz, right? Or…is he? Is that like a fake name? Is he a spy? Did he just use coming to see me as an excuse to map out the Exodar for the Horde?

I'm going to get my answers, one way or another. Though I suppose I should figure out how to get out of my house arrest—ship arrest would be more accurate—first.

So, a few things, just to catch you up. Fizz's pyroblast, as it's called, destroyed about half the room—and probably would have burned the inn down, had he not thrown a frost spell on it. Brath's punching the ground basically made it so that we can't stay in that room anymore—no one can—because parts of the floor are on the verge of collapsing.

While Fizz did pay for his part of the damages, we are no longer allowed to stay at the inn. Nor anywhere near the inn. Since the vindicators still think we had something to do with the collapse of the window, we aren't allowed to leave the Exodar, either.

So now I'm crashing at Neesera's and Fizz is at Maevlen's. And Brath?

Heheheheheh.

Turns out he shouldn't have been so cocky. Since he won't even try to fix the damage that was done, he's been locked up temporarily. How I revel in his misfortune. Serves him right, too. Being such a jerk and all.

Turns out Neesera's pretty loaded, though. I guess there are motorcycles in Azeroth—so weird—and she sells quite a few of them. And she said she'll pay for Brath's damages so that he can be free, but I told her to let him stew for a day or two. Maybe he'll learn his lesson…or just come out angry and grumbly. Meh, we'll see.

In the meantime, the four of us who aren't behind bars have been hanging out at Neesera's shop.

And it's been super awkward because I know something is up with Fizz and he knows that I want to ask about Brath's whole comment about the Horde. In fact, he's been avoiding me. Well, being alone with me, anyway. And I may be a bit slow sometimes, but I'm pretty sure if I ask in front of our draenic companions, bad things will happen. I may have lost my world. I don't want to lose my goblin, too. So I need to figure out how to get Fizz alone.

That is one of my main motives for my new life goals, at the moment.

With the window gone and the message sent, all I can really do is wait. And it's miserable. I keep trying to think about ways that I could get home, but I'm just drawing huge blanks. Neesera and I were settling in for the night, the first day after the window's collapse, and she saw that I was probably going to drive myself crazy, so she suggested, very gently, that I look into making a place for myself here in Azeroth.

I just kind of mumbled it off at the time, but…

Waiting is a lot harder than you would think. Or maybe not. Maybe that's another of those common sense things that eludes me. At first, I was convinced—impractical as it was—that any minute we'd get a message from someone. Something like, "Save us, please! We're here, hiding in basements!"

But no.

And it's worse, knowing that there's these underlying tensions that may break up my group. So, when Neesera said that she was going to go pay the fines against Brath so that he could come stay with us—and so he wouldn't get bored and eat a guard or something—I took advantage of the situation to go find Fizz.

So, you know how they were going to replace Maevlen? Since the window's gone, they're letting him continue his review of what information was already gathered, since he already knows what he's looked through and stuff. They probably figure it's more efficient that way.

That meant that Fizz would be by his lonesome. Assuming he wasn't at the auction house or something. And…how does that phrase go? Fortune smiled upon me?

Something like that.

I went over to Maevlen's house and saw Fizz there, reading in what I guess is the draenic equivalent to a living room. So. I figured that if I could sneak up on Mr. Rogue, I could sneak up on Fizz. Keep him from being able to run off and find something to do, you know?

So I slipped into Maevlen's house and snuck up behind Fizz. However, I decided against doing something dumb like grabbing his shoulders, seeing as he can throw fireballs and all. So instead I just plopped down between him and the door, making sure to make enough noise that he'd notice me.

Well, he certainly startled. And looked at me like he was way surprised that it was me. And then he frowned. And looked at the floor.

"So…I guess ya finally got me alone, huh?"

One thing I have always liked about Fizz is that he doesn't beat around the bush. Even as I nodded, he glanced around and then dropped his voice. "I'll be dead within half an hour, if word gets out, okay?"

"So you are Horde," I said, trying to get to the bottom of this mess. When he nodded, I kind of scooted a bit closer to him so that we could talk softer. "But…I thought that the Booty Bay goblins were neutral or something."

"We are—" He paused for a moment and gave a half laugh, shaking his head slowly. "Look, there's a bunch of different cartels, right? Well, only the Bilgewater goblins are members of the Horde. I'm Steamwheedle, but…" He always makes so many hand motions when he talks. As he looked at me, he shrugged, his hands held up, palms out. "A few years ago, I needed a bit of coin and I received a very lucrative business offer. I don't do much…just let the Horde know about any rumors I hear and maybe keep tabs on different 'heroes' who come through my town."

I eyed him for a minute. "And that's why Brath called you a hero?"

Fizz gave me this annoyed look. "That," he drew out the word slowly, "is because the Horde has been getting' a little…it's hard to explain. There's new leadership and attitudes are changin'. I was 'required' to show my loyalty."

It took forever to get Fizz to explain it, but apparently they threatened him and his girl—that goblin chick who didn't like me—if he didn't help them with this dragon lair in some giant mountain. And I guess he's actually a pretty apt fighter? Well, after helping them, Fizz was quick to point out that he couldn't be a spy and a hero and that the Horde seemed to already have plenty of the latter. So they let him go home without, I don't know, dismembering him or something.

"Is your name even really Fizz?" I asked after a short silence had settled over us.

He just stared at me with these wide eyes for a minute and then doubled over laughing.

"I ain't changin' my name for nobody, kid. I am and always will be Fizzit Icesprog."

Even though he seemed amused, that kind of worried me. After all, Nicolas has a tendency to be suspicious, right? And of me for sure. What if he looks into Fizz's past because he's my friend? How hard will it be for him to find connections to the Horde?

Well, even as I wondered if I should tell Fizz to go home—not because I didn't want him around, but because I didn't want him to get hurt—he kind of fidgeted and dropped the book he'd been reading before I came in to bug him. And as it hit the ground, my five dollars slipped out from where it'd been holding his place.

Even as he reached down and picked it up, he caught me staring at it and frowned. "What's the matter?"

"Fizz…how big does something have to be to make a window to my world?"

Even as his eyebrows shot up, I thought about something Brath had said, about proving my innocence to the vindicators. What better way than to give them a new window?