There's a side of me that needs to be afraid/
There's a side of you that makes it all okay
~o0o~
It was a huge relief not to be alone anymore. The following cycle after she learned Fiyero was in the loop, Elphaba was so afraid he'd be out of it again. She had waited until Av woke him up. And then he smiled at her and asked her what she wanted to do that day. She broke down into tears then and there and launched herself into the backseat of the carriage, much to the confusion of Av and all the other witnesses.
Elphaba promised Fiyero she wouldn't put herself in danger anymore, but they both knew she couldn't let go of the Wizard thing forever.
Though they couldn't move forward, that didn't stop them from making plans. With the portal in Elphaba's hair and her ability to transport them anywhere, they'd never grow bored.
So, they had their lists. Fiyero wanted to try every restaurant and food cart in Oz, even the 0 star places that would probably kill them. Elphaba wanted to keep reading through every book she could get her hands on. They went to dance halls, performances, museums, libraries, sights from everywhere.
It was enough to fill an eternity. They both agreed however to avoid going back in time after one disastrous trip where they were both killed by a mob that hated Vinkuns and thought Elphaba was a demon. Even trying to see past plays was difficult.
Fiyero was inconsolable for days when they were barred entry from a theater due to them refusing service to Vinkuns. Elphaba turned the manager into a frog and they snuck in anyway, but the whole thing was marred.
There was plenty to do in the present. They just couldn't move forward or make lasting change.
It wasn't too bad a deal, but they had to deal with the annoyance that people wanted an explanation from the odd couple. There were future events that looked exciting, but would never come to pass. They'd never graduate college, they'd never grow old, they'd never be able to make new friends, and Fiyero didn't exactly have a lot of old ones to share things with. His friends were just people to pass the time with. A shallow attachment.
It wasn't the worst thing in the world, but five hundred years in, Elphaba was feeling listless.
"You've been sighing," Fiyero said. "Do you need to rest?"
"Maybe just a moment," she said and sat down on a fallen log.
One of Fiyero's choices was to go to places people notoriously never returned from to see what was there. So they were hiking to get to Dead Man's Cavern. It was a little off the beaten path, but there was a clear trail even though it was a little overgrown.
All of their adventures were recorded in journals and photo albums kept safe in her hair. Some of them had started looking pretty aged and she'd had to replace the cameras several times.
Fiyero sat next to her and waited for her to tap him with her cheek before he rested his head on her shoulder. As touch-starved as she was, there were still times where it was better to let her initiate.
Five hundred years and they knew each other more intimately than anyone probably could. What amazed her was that Fiyero wasn't bored of her.
Every day, he greeted her with a loving smile and a kiss, even if it had only been seconds since the previous cycle ended.
Which wasn't to say they never argued. Elphaba could be prickly, Fiyero could be thoughtless, but they only had each other in this frozen world.
"If you're bored, you can turn into a bird and I can carry you on my shoulder," he suggested.
Elphaba shook her head and sighed heavily.
"I just… I wish we could move forward," she said. "I want to graduate. I want to worry about showering and laundry and taxes. I love the freedom we have, but…"
"But?"
"We can never grow old together," she said. "We can never… start a family."
"When this loop breaks—"
"If it breaks," she interrupted.
"When it breaks," he insisted and took her hand, "we won't grow old anyway. Cause you'll never grow old to me, duchess. And we are a family."
Elphaba smiled and kissed the back of his hand.
"Now, let's go find out why they call it Dead Man's Caverns," he said, jumping to his feet.
"Alright," she agreed.
He took her hands, but didn't bring her to her feet right away.
Instead, he stooped down and kissed her twice. He liked to kiss twice. 'Once like the first time and again like it would be the last time,' he said. The first was short and sweet, while the second left her breathless.
They found the mouth of the cave, which was fairly large, able to be seen. There were warning signs, but other than that nothing barred them entry. The actual cavern entrance was a hole within the cave. They needed to use equipment to lower themselves down and immediately switch on their headlamps.
Even after hundreds of camping trips, Fiyero was still better at the outdoors thing than Elphaba and while she had to admit it wasn't her favorite activity, they did see some pretty great sights and there was something nice about sleeping under the stars.
Fiyero was a firm believer in "leaving a place as you found it" but Elphaba insisted it was fine they took souvenirs, because after the loop reset it would be like they were never there.
He never took anything but pictures, and he didn't say a word when Elphaba took a rock or shell, but he did have a look.
After five hundred years, she still hadn't filled up the portal in her hair.
The cave itself sparkled with some sort of mineral. Fiyero chattered on about how caves were formed over millions of years and interjected with legends of how they were formed.
"I think it'd be interesting if both were true," he said.
"Who's calling you stupid?" she asked. "I just want to talk."
"And I've told you, I really am stupid," he countered.
"Darling, we've been together for five hundred and thirty-five years—"
"And three months," he interjected.
"—and three months," she included, smiling softly. "I know you're not an idiot. You just have a different form of intelligence. If we were graded on our ability to survive in the wilderness, you'd be top of the class."
Fiyero squeezed her hand and kissed her shoulder.
The cave was really dark, even with their headlamps. Elphaba was glad she wasn't exploring it by herself, though it was beautiful and cold. She brought out a sweater, but Fiyero claimed he was fine until ten minutes later when he asked for his.
The tunnels steadily moved downwards. There were signs of previous spelunkers, but all looked pretty old. The animal dropping smell at the beginning of the cave faded into something almost as musty, but different somehow. There was a tang to the air that seemed familiar to Elphaba, but she couldn't quite place it.
She and Fiyero maneuvered down narrow, glittering tunnels. Some so tight they had to crawl on their stomachs like snakes. It was uncomfortable and could be dangerous, but Fiyero said it seemed more like it would only warrant a mark that only experienced spelunkers are recommended to explore it.
"I have a weird feeling," said Elphaba. "I don't know if it's claustrophobia or something else."
"Do you think turning into a cat might help?" Fiyero asked.
"Maybe just for a bit," she said and shrank down to her cat form.
Her eyes adjusted with Fiyero's light. The cave did feel bigger, but her fur puffed up and a low whine echoed in her throat. Something was wrong.
"Mystery be damned," he said. "Let's just turn back."
Elphaba nodded and started back up the tunnel. Her ear twitched and a shiver ran through her whole body. The ground was unstable. She hissed and darted back, shoving herself into Fiyero, urging him forward.
Hurry! Move!
Fiyero cursed and inched forward as the tunnel began to quake. Elphaba remained close, her tail just narrowly avoiding getting caught in the tunnel.
She returned to human form and Fiyero hugged her tightly.
"Are you okay?" he asked.
"I'm okay," she assured him. "Maybe we should find a place to set up camp."
"Good idea," he agreed. "Make a small fire. About the size from a match."
Elphaba took out a matchbook and struck one, making sure she was facing away from Fiyero as she lit it. She held it up and he watched the flame carefully.
"I thought you'd just…" he snapped his fingers.
"I could do that," she agreed. "But I don't want to waste the energy."
He hummed and studied the flame.
"Well, there's air flow," he said. "So we should be alright."
They pushed forward.
The cave narrowed and widened, like it was some massive creature that was trying to swallow them. It finally opened up again to a wide space with rows and rows of stalactites and stalagmites like teeth. A river trickled through the space, weaving around flat surfaces.
The flat areas were a little damp, so Elphaba laid out a tarp for them to rest on.
"Hey, duchess! Come look at this!"
Elphaba eased over to where Fiyero stood.
"Oh, wow!" she gasped.
The walls were painted with hand prints and figures. She took out the camera and snapped photos.
"I wonder how old they are," Fiyero mused, hovering his hand over them.
"Hard to say," said Elphaba. "Thousands of years?"
Fiyero waggled his flashlight back and forth to watch the paintings flicker and shift.
"Look at those," he said, pointing it up higher. "They're so small. I bet someone held their child up so they could paint like the grownups. And they did it all by torch light. Can you imagine traipsing through a cave and just turning it into one huge canvas? All this water might be recent, so this entire area probably had paintings."
Elphaba slipped her arms around his shoulders and kissed the crook of his neck. She loved when he got excited about a topic.
"Since these are here, I bet an exit isn't too far away," he said.
"Must be called Dead Man's Caverns because the ground is so unstable it's too dangerous to explore," she said.
"Not as interesting as that whirlpool that spat us up ten miles away," he said. "But hey, they can't all be profound."
She nuzzled him and he leaned into her.
"The handprints look a little funny, don't they," he said.
They did seem a bit thicker than human hands. Maybe they were Ape? Some sort of primate.
"Maybe they just look off because they're old," she suggested.
"Hm… maybe."
She kissed his cheek. "We should rest and eat."
They set up camp on the tarp and lit a lantern so they could turn off their headlamps and flashlights.
They ate their sandwiches in silence, taking in the cavern.
After that collapse, things were pretty quiet.
After all these years, Elphaba still wasn't fond of the dark, but she managed it better with someone with her.
Fiyero rested a hand on her shaking knee.
"We don't have to go into caves if you don't like them," he said.
"I like them just fine," she sighed. "I'm just not a big fan of the dark and using my light spell might use too much energy. I need to be able to save us in the event of a full collapse. Besides, you enjoy this sort of thing and where you go, I'll follow."
He smiled and kissed her softly.
After eating, Elphaba brought out their sleeping bag. They stacked their gear and hiking boots off to the side before climbing in.
Fiyero started kissing on her neck and ran his hand up her thigh.
"You still have energy?" she asked exasperatedly.
He grinned unashamedly and quirked an eyebrow.
"Not up for it?" he asked.
Maybe if they had stopped to rest before the collapse, but she was still on edge about that.
"No," she said.
"To sex or intimacy in general?"
"Sex. Ask me again later. Anything else you want is fine."
He nodded and adjusted so they were spooning. He pressed gentle kisses to her neck and shoulder. She threaded her fingers with his and kept her eyes on the lantern.
She kept thinking she heard noises and mentioned as such.
"It could be animals," Fiyero suggested. "Bats. An exit shouldn't be too far out of reach. Do you want to try and find it?"
"I don't know." She looked at his watch. "We still have thirteen hours left in this cycle. Ask me again after a nap."
"My second favorite thing to do," he said. "First being you."
He kissed the sensitive spot below her ear. She tittered and kissed his fingers.
She hadn't expected to fall asleep, but next thing she knew she was startled awake. She sniffed and frowned.
Did she sweat? Sometimes, in her old life, her room got so cold she'd shiver while she slept and would wake up sweating.
Oh, Oz, she didn't pee her pants did she? That'd be so embarrassing.
Elphaba sat up and inhaled sharply, turning to shake Fiyero awake.
"Yero! Wake up! Fiyero!"
He snorted and opened his eyes.
"Yero! The cave is flooding!"
"Oh, shit!"
They tore out of the sleeping bag, and by the time they hitched up their gear, the water was rising to their ankles.
Elphaba spread her arms and baubles floated to the ceiling, lighting all pathways. Most of the ones sloping downward were already flooding, so they had to take a chance up high.
"If we need to I can use the gill spell," she said.
"I'd rather not try to find my way down a dark, flooded cavern," he said. "And that spell only lasts an hour."
It did as they learned the hard way.
Thankfully, they found a tunnel with a narrow opening.
"I'll go first," said Fiyero, handing over his gear.
She held it and watched him squeeze through the crevice. He got stuck once and scraped his arm when forcing himself through.
"It widens up," he said.
She passed their gear through the crevice and eased through the opening. She tripped on the way in, but Fiyero was there to keep her from face planting.
"Don't sit up too fast," he said.
The tunnel was wider than the crevice, but they still had to crawl on hands and knees.
Elphaba's heart pounded in her throat. It was dark and slippery. The walls could collapse around them at any moment.
"This doesn't make any sense," said Fiyero. "It wasn't raining when we came in and that kind of flooding could take days of rain. Maybe weeks."
The tunnel fed into another network that they were able to stand in. Elphaba struck another match and Fiyero watched the flame and smoke.
"This way," he said, his voice flooding with relief.
There had to be an exit.
Fiyero was just as desperate as Elphaba was to escape to the surface.
Several chitters and clicks echoed their way, giving them pause.
Claws scraped and clattered against stone. Elphaba turned back and threw another wave of light, revealing a hoard of creatures rounding the bend. They were smaller and humanoid, ghostly pale with massive bat-like ears and no eyes.
Fiyero and Elphaba screamed and the creatures shrieked in response.
The pair took off at a sprint. In order to concentrate, Elphaba couldn't keep throwing up light spells so they had to rely on their headlamps.
Which meant they couldn't see where the ground suddenly went away. One moment, they were running for their lives, the next Fiyero dropped.
Elphaba scrambled and grabbed hold of his backpack. She hit the ground hard, her chin collided with the stone, sending a surge of pain through her jaw. She thought she might have chipped a tooth, but she could only focus on holding onto Fiyero.
He twisted around, grabbing onto her arm. His feet scrambled against the slick stone, the gap was too wide for him to brace against the other side without first finding a secure purchase on their side.
Elphaba was able to hook her feet against a few stalagmites to prevent both of them from falling into the dark. She eased so she was holding onto his arm. If he could just find a bit of steady ground to put his foot he could haul himself back over the side.
Fiyero clung to her arm for dear life, his eyes wide in terror.
The cave creatures raced over them, using Elphaba's head to launch themselves over the gap or just crawling along the sides of the tunnel walls. Their claws cut her skin and caught her hair, but they quickly passed, not even acknowledging the pair.
What had they been running from?
"Fae!"
Fiyero was slipping. Elphaba struggled to hold onto his arm. He had bled a lot more than they realized and his skin was slick. She didn't have the leverage to pull him over the edge. He didn't have a place to put his feet.
She heard the rush of water behind her. She had to pull him up now.
A shriek cut the air and a lagging cave creature caught her upside the head in its race to join the others.
Elphaba blinked back the stars and screamed as Fiyero dropped into the darkness.
"FAE!" he screamed.
She scrambled to set up a line to lower herself into the pit. She could turn him into a mouse and carry him out. He was okay. He was going to be okay.
Water was already pouring into the pit. Elphaba hurriedly lowered herself down.
"Fiyero! Answer me! Please!" she begged.
Down. Down. Down she went.
Finally, she found him crumpled at the bottom, his limbs bent in directions they shouldn't have been able to bend and the blood from his head mixed into the water. His brown skin had gone grey and he was so very, very still.
Elphaba cradled him in her arms and wailed, pressing her forehead to his. She rocked back and forth, holding him close. He would get better. She always was, so the same would be said for him. He had to be. She never had to watch him die before, the last few times they had died within seconds of each other.
She didn't want to finish this cycle without him.
The water rose to her waist, then her chest, then her chin. She died like this before. It'd be uncomfortable, but it wouldn't last.
She kissed Fiyero and overrode all instincts, inhaling deeply.
Minutes later, she stepped back from the carriage careening towards her.
Fiyero shrieked, sitting up so fast his sunglasses slid off his nose, barely hanging on by his ears.
"You dropped me!" he shouted in disbelief.
"I'm sorry," Elphaba croaked, shrinking in on herself.
She really messed up this time, hadn't she? He was going to resent her for this, resent that she pulled him into this time loop, why couldn't she have moved faster? Why hadn't she watched the ground? Why had she insisted on resting instead of finding a way out of that cave?
"Uh, Yero, what are you talking about?" Av asked. "Do you know this chick?"
Fiyero climbed out of the carriage and was immediately surrounded by Galinda and her crew. Elphaba was shunted aside.
"Poor thing," Galinda cooed. "Your first day and you encounter the Artichoke." She flicked her nails at Elphaba. "You can go now."
"Yeah, nobody wants you here," Pfannee chimed. "You should drop off the face of the earth."
Elphaba stepped away and coughed hard, feeling as if she still had water in her lungs.
"Ugh, she is such a freak, she makes us all look bad," said Shen-Shen.
"You don't need her help," Fiyero snipped and went around them to Elphaba's side. "Fae… you didn't run, did you?"
"You were at the bottom of that pit," she croaked. "I couldn't just leave you there. I'm sorry, Yero."
His expression tightened.
"No. I'm sorry." He cupped her cheek. "I shouldn't have yelled."
"You have every right to be upset! I dropped you, you were all broken and I didn't save you!"
"I'm okay," he said and moved her hand to his chest so she could feel his heart. "See? I'm alive."
Elphaba hiccuped and pressed her forehead to his. Fiyero squeezed the hand that was still on his chest, then drew her in.
"What is going on here?" Galinda whispered loudly to no one in particular.
"Beats me," said Av.
"Let's go to our place," Fiyero murmured.
"Your Highness!" Madame Morrible boomed. "Allow me to welcome you to Shiz University. Ah, I see you're already acquainted with Miss Thropp!"
Elphaba sent her a withering scowl and wrapped her arms around Fiyero. Red smoke billowed around them and they appeared outside of Kiamo Ko.
Though the small staff present was surprised at Fiyero's impromptu arrival (and with a woman at that), they made no comment and the head of staff just asked how long they planned to stay and to send in a menu if they had any special requests for meals.
They went to the King's Chambers and sat on the couch while the bed was made up.
Elphaba brought out her journal and documented what they learned about the cave. She tried to summon the camera, but realized she forgot to put it back in her hair.
"Five hundred years, you'd think I'd be in the habit of putting things in my hair," she hissed.
"What's wrong?" Fiyero asked.
"I lost the photos."
"Well, we know where we've been since we last added film to the camera," he said. "And I think it's only been a week. We lost our candids, but we can still go back for the documenting shots."
"I know, but I lost the photo of the butterfly on your nose," she sighed. "Recreating that won't be the same, if we even can."
Fiyero hummed in agreement.
"Anything else, Your Highness?" Mita the Maid asked.
"No, thank you," said Fiyero.
She and the others curtseyed and left them alone.
"I'm sorry," Elphaba mumbled.
"Hey, no, I was just surprised," he said. "It wasn't your fault."
"Why can I never use my magic when it's really important?" she huffed. "My blood starts pumping and then it's like I'm useless."
"You use your magic plenty of times to save us," Fiyero insisted. "So you freeze up sometimes. It's not like you could have teleported us out of there."
She couldn't have safely. She had no clue how deep they were and teleporting from enclosed spaces to open spaces rarely worked out well.
Elphaba finished writing down the entry and put the journal away in her hair.
"All done?" he asked.
"Yes."
"Good." He scooped her up and carried her to bed.
Elphaba knew all really was forgiven, but that didn't stop the guilt that had set in. Yes, they knew the risks going into these areas nobody returned from, but it was another thing entirely to find out why.
"Are you sure you're okay?" she asked.
"I'm a goner," he said. "They're going to have to amputate everything and replace my entire body with tin."
Elphaba chuckled and showered his face with kisses.
Despite his joke, she knew he was shaken. He held her just a little too tightly. When she pulled away for air he immediately pressed his lips to her neck.
They burrowed into the silken sheets and downy comforter, losing themselves in each other. The sun through the balcony doors gave them plenty of light to see by and chased away any shadows that could frighten them.
Elphaba was less scared when she had Fiyero with her, but some fears were just too strong.
"Why don't we spend a decade in bed?" he suggested. "A decade in bed sounds nice."
It did sound nice.
"I want to go back and find out what's causing the flooding," she said. "Those cave creatures were terrified and don't they deserve to live, too?"
"Of course they do," he said. "But then a decade in bed, yeah?"
Elphaba smiled and kissed him twice, signaling her agreement.
"I wish we didn't have to deal with a whole circus just to get back into it," she sighed.
"Someday," he promised. "We'll spend a whole week just away from it all."
Fiyero. Ever the optimist. Not because he actually was one, but because lying to himself distracted him enough to keep him from falling into despair.
"Tell me a story," she said.
He hummed and thought for a moment.
"Once there was a prince," he said. "He was dashingly handsome, suave, and he had everything he could ever want at the snap of his fingers. However, he was also aimless, brainless, and unhappy, but he didn't know how else to be because no one ever expected anything from him. So, he partied and drank and fooled everyone into believing he was happy, even himself. One fateful day, he was expelled from University for defending a Fox from bullies, probably the only decent thing he'd ever done in his stupid, shallow life."
Elphaba didn't shock him for calling himself stupid, but she did press her lips to the hollow of his throat.
"His parents' next move was to immediately send him to Shiz. He thought his new school would be just like all the others: filled with cookie-cutter people who didn't see the Idiot Prince as anymore than the face he presented and wouldn't have cared to find out if there was something deeper to him. In fairness, he didn't care to find out if there was something deeper to them either. By chance, his driver—"
He poked Elphaba in the side, making her squeak.
"—nearly hit a very smart and beautiful fairy. Instead of apologizing, the prince made a complete ass of himself and completely blew any chance he had with the gorgeous fairy. And then, by chance or by fate they became trapped in a bubble."
Elphaba liked how Fiyero told their story. She nestled against his chest, his heart beating steadily in her ear.
After a week of doing nothing but sleeping, eating, reading, and sex, they went back to the cave and surveyed the area. When they came upon a stripped quarry, Fiyero gasped.
"Oh!"
"What?" Elphaba asked.
"I bet they ran out of minerals to cut here," he said. "But they found more underground and are flushing the area with water to make it easier to mine."
"You need water to mine?"
"Yeah, I learned about it when I learned about our exports," Fiyero said. "Though I've never seen this particular mine, it's too far up north and things weren't all that great with Ugabu until recently."
"So what do we do?" she asked.
"Well, the mine is in Vinkun territory, so we add it to the pile. We'll get more photos of the cave and add them in."
Elphaba nodded and they composed a cease and desist letter that insisted mining stop in the area immediately as it was making the ground too unstable and could cause a collapse of the nearby cave system, which spanned miles underground, even under nearby towns, and could disrupt the natural aquifers and the surrounding ecosystem.
"Now a decade of naps," Fiyero sighed.
~o0o~
"I want to face my murderers."
Fiyero stared at her in shock, the fish dumpling he was taking a bite of falling out of his mouth. The declaration did come out of the blue. After all, they were wandering hawker stalls in Mulgravia and trying all the available foods.
"I need to know if they're hurting someone else in my place," she said.
It had been gnawing at her.
"Will it help?" Fiyero asked. "I just… I worry about you spending eternity fighting them. And I worry about what knowing what it will do to you when you become exhausted."
Elphaba set her jaw and glared at the ground.
"Your nightmares have been getting worse," he commented.
The only thing that could wake him from his sleep was her distress.
"It's been a thousand years," she sighed. "You'd think I'd be over it."
"Duchess, that's not something you can get over," he said gently. "I'm not over it myself and I only saw the aftermath of what they did to you. I can't imagine what it was like to experience it. I'd be lying if I said I haven't thought about going after them myself. They deserve to rot in a pit for the things they've done."
Elphaba sighed softly and poked at her snack of mango sticky rice. She had some stretches of time that were better than others. Some days it was a foggy memory, others she still felt like she could taste the blood in her mouth and feel that dagger in her body.
"It's worth a try," she said. "And you'll be with me this time. I just want to watch them and intervene if possible."
Fiyero worked his jaw and seemed to be thinking up of an argument, before sighing and kissing her on the cheek.
"Okay," he said.
So next cycle, they came up with a plan and when it was time, Elphaba transformed the both of them into animals. Herself a cat and Fiyero a dog. They headed to the Ozdust where the Chaser was waiting for his prey.
Elphaba's fur puffed up at the sight of him and she had to fight every instinct not to run away. She could still smell his breath, hear his cruel laughter.
She needed to run. Hide. Leave. Disappear forever.
She flinched as something touched her, then relaxed when she realized it was Fiyero. He was so much like a puppy, he leaned into the instincts easily. It was also a transformation that came easily to him, just as a cat came easily to her. She could very well turn him into a rabbit or a cat, but when the form was more natural to him, he kept his mind more easily and she couldn't be wrangling him when she needed him to be with her.
Fiyero flopped down, holding her under his arm. Her heart rate eased and she settled down. They couldn't speak in these forms, but they could communicate just fine.
'You're okay,' Fiyero was saying. 'I'm here with you.'
Elphaba breathed deeply and curled into him.
The Chaser stood diligently beneath the street lamp, looking back and forth for a victim.
Galinda and her friends walked by, dressed to go out, but not in the Ozdust clothes they wore for Fiyero's party, still they stopped at the entrance.
"Closed," Galinda murmured.
"But the lights are still on," said Milla.
"Must be an inventory night," Galinda sighed. "Come on, let's go to Rockin' Robin. It's not as swankified, but at least the band is decent."
They trotted along, the Chaser leering at them as they walked away.
People passed, most with another person. The few who were alone, the Chaser seemed to deem would put up too much of a fight. Several employees from the Ozdust were leaving together.
"Jeffica! Trash duty!"
A woman stopped and looked back.
"That's not my job!" she protested.
"Trash!" the manager insisted. "And don't forget to lock up behind yourself."
Jeffica groaned and stomped back inside while the other Ozdust employees left. The Chaser tipped his head and moved his coat out of the way to check that his knife was still at his hip.
Elphaba sat up. This was it, wasn't it?
A few minutes later and Jeffica left, heading in the direction of the Stabber.
"Hey, honey, you lost?" the Chaser asked.
Jeffica put her head down and walked faster.
The Chaser started following her.
Elphaba hurried after, uncertain when she should get involved. She was terrified, she didn't know what to do. It might have been wiser to look at the morning papers or to search the alley she died in in the morning, but she was terrified of seeing someone else suffer her fate.
The Stabber was right where he always was.
Okay. Enough of this, Elphaba had seen enough. She needed to turn back human now. She needed to help.
Jeffica stopped walking and looked back at the Chaser, then forward at the Stabber.
"So," she said. "There are two of you. The Suicide Canal Killer."
"I see our reputation precedes us," said the Stabber. "You can scream all you like, sweetheart. Makes it more fun."
Elphaba shivered and backed up into Fiyero.
Jeffica hummed and clenched her fists so hard her knuckles cracked.
What happened next was like a scene from the comic books Fiyero liked to read.
The two men lunged at her, knives at the ready. She swept and dodged with ease, as if she knew what they were going to do. The Chaser growled and wrapped his arms around her. Before he could cut her with the knife, she kicked his shin, bringing him down to one knee.
Jeffica reached into her belt and whipped out a baton, extending it to full size. She thwacked it against the two men using expert moves, bringing them both down swiftly. No muss, no fuss.
She brought out two pairs of handcuffs and hooked their arms together so neither could run away. Like this they both looked so small, so scared. Sniveling and crying and begging for mercy.
"Bastards," she growled. "I've waited so long for this day! If you're smart, neither of you will say an Oz-damned word!"
Jeffica stomped to a nearby phone booth and called for the police.
Once they arrived and apprehended the men, Elphaba and Fiyero ran off. Elphaba turned them back when they made it to campus.
She cried out and broke down into sobs.
So it was all okay. All this time worrying about someone else facing that fate over and over for all eternity and it was unfounded. That security guard from the Ozdust knew of the murderers and had been waiting for the day they targeted someone else alone.
"Come on, let's go to my room," Fiyero murmured.
He needed to practically carry her there, but he didn't complain. He just collapsed onto his couch and held her while she cried.
"This is good, isn't it?" he asked. "They won't be able to hurt anyone again."
"It is, it really is, but…"
They looked so weak. They cried when Jeffica took them down. How come Elphaba was still so afraid of them? Afraid of what they could do? When she wasn't drunk, they never saw her as a target.
"I know." Fiyero held her tighter. "I know. What can I do? Tell me and it will be done."
"Take away my hurt," she begged.
He situated them so she was nestled against him. He stroked her hair and cleared his throat.
"Once, long ago, there were two people who took money from the rich in Uma Lu market. One a thief by the name of Tooka, who had the strength of a hundred men. The other was a prostitute by the name of Sula. One evening, Sula was looking out of her house…"
Elphaba closed her eyes. On her days to pick, she usually picked reading and Fiyero used that time to find new stories to tell her. She avoided reading those books for that very purpose. She loved the way Fiyero told stories. He had a way of making her care about the characters and what happened to them. The timing of jokes to make her laugh, expressing the sorrows to make her cry.
She could listen to him forever.