Second Chances
Title: Second Chances
Author: AmericanFairy
Rating: PG
Characters: Pretty much everyone from the show including a few OC’s
Pairings: Cain/DG UST, Ahamo/Lavender
Warnings: A little bit angst for now but hopefully it will get better.
Disclaimer: I do not own Tin Man or The Wizard of Oz. Just a fangirl throwing in my thoughts from the peanut gallery. little_swirl was actually the first person to have the Tin Men call each other “Tin Man so-and-so” so credit for that goes to her. Also, I would like to thank modelbehavior2u for encouraging me to keep writing even when I chickened out. I read more fanfiction than a person should be allowed to so if I accidently borrowed something from you and didn’t credit please let me know so I can fix it.
Author's Note: I’m probably going to be the world’s worst WIP author so please bear with me. I promise that I will never stop working on this and if you feel that it’s been too long between chapters feel free to let me know.
DG sat underneath the gazebo at Finaqua open sketchbook in hand. She gazed out over the crystal waters of the lake lost in thought. She had meant to draw a picture, but instead she found herself once again contemplating her current position and how she got there.
Everything she thought she knew had turned out to be a lie. And things she hadn’t believed in before were becoming part of a long list of new truths in her life. Within the past six months she had gone from being a farm girl/waitress/student to a criminal/fighter/wanderer to a princess and hero. Really, she was beginning to think that life couldn’t get any stranger that that.
Her mind wandered over to her friends. If it hadn’t been for them she would have died shortly after her return to the OZ, of this she had no doubt. They were all so very different yet each one brought a unique quality with them that had added to their little group.
DG sighed. The group had been separated for months now. Raw had left shortly after the eclipse to take Kalm back to their people. That was good for them. Before he left he had promised to return to Finaqua after Kalm was settled. DG found herself at a loss for words unable to tell him what that promise meant to her. But from the look in the Viewer’s eyes she knew that he knew. DG missed his calm, soothing, presence.
Glitch had his brain successfully returned and was once again the queen’s advisor. Her family and tutor still called him Ambrose but to DG he would always be Glitch. She had to admit that she was worried that he would get too stuffy and proper for her, but he soon proved her wrong. It was a relief to know that underneath Ambrose Glitch was still there.
She felt tears prick the backs of her eyes as she let her thoughts wander to the person she missed the most: Cain. He had been her rock amongst all the confusion. His steady presence never failed to make her feel safe even in the most dangerous situations.
About a month after the eclipse word reached them that other Tin Men and survived as well. Cain joined with Jeb and his fighters to gather up the Tin Men before heading over to Central City. At least he got to spend some quality time with his son, DG thought.
She remembered when they said their goodbyes. She struggled to keep the tears at bay and while outwardly he appeared calm she could see the emotion in his eyes.
“We’ll meet again soon,” he spoke softly to her.
“How soon is soon?” She needed to know the truth no matter how much it hurt.
He sighed and looked away for a moment. When he looked back she could have sworn there were tears in his eyes.
“It won’t be forever. I promise”
She looked him straight in the eye. “I believe you.” Forcing herself to smile brightly she added, “Hey, and now you get to spend some father/son time with Jeb!”
He laughed. Then, suddenly, he drew her into his embrace. Once again they held onto each other taking in the comfort and strength that they would need. Then he was gone.
“DG! DG where are you?” The queen’s voice cut through her thoughts. She gathered her art supplies and raced off towards the voice.
“I’m here Mother!”
The queen crossed her arms and frowned slightly. “Did you forget about your lesson with Tutor?”
“Lesson with-oh!” Shit. “Uh yeah, I guess I did. Sorry.”
Lavender’s gaze softened. “Are you all right, my Angel? You’ve seemed out of sorts recently.”
DG shrugged. “I’m fine. I just had a lot to think about recently.”
Lavender reached out to caress her daughter’s cheek. For a moment she looked like she wanted to continue the conversation then changed her mind abruptly. “Go on and find Tutor, then. He’s waiting for you.”
DG gave her mother a quick smile, thankful that she was not pursuing the subject, and hurried off. She felt bad about not telling her mother the complete truth. Honestly, she didn’t even know where to begin. It wasn’t that she didn’t want to trust her parents, it was that she didn’t know how.
She spotted Tutor pacing the lawn near the palace. “Hi Toto!”
Tutor sighed and shook his head. “It’s Tutor. And you’re late again.”
“I’m sorry Tutor. I lost track of time.” She was sorry. She knew her magic lessons were important and that she had a lot of catching up to do. She didn’t like missing more that she had to. Besides, it kept her busy and goodness knows she needed to keep busy to keep from dwelling on her thoughts.
Tutor sighed again and slowly shook his head. “You seem to do that a lot, DG.” His words were not unkind. “Come now, it’s time for lessons.”
***
Wyatt Cain sighed as another cuffed criminal was brought in. The situation in Central City was worse than he had originally thought. There were just too many criminals and too few Tin Men to keep them in line.
His thoughts wandered to DG. Not for the first time he wondered how she was adjusting to royal life and what she was doing at that very moment. Leaving her had been one of the hardest things he had ever had to do. But he had a job to do and by Gods he’d see it through.
The Tin Man who had brought in the criminal returned interrupting Cain’s thoughts. “Tin Man Cain,” he nodded towards Cain.
“Tin Man Davis,” Cain nodded towards him.
Jonathan Davis was a tall, lean, man with a piercing gaze and skin the color of dark chocolate. He and Cain met while working together on the Mystic Man’s protection detail and had fought together at the Last Stand in Central City. A Resistance fighter during the war Davis was one of the first Tin Men to return to Central City.
“What’s this one in for?” Cain asked as Davis settled into one of the desks to write his report.
“Possession and marketing of contraband,” he paused and looked up. “Cain, I don’t think we’ll be able to make seventy-five percent by the time the Royals get here. We’ll be lucky of we make fifty percent.”
“I know,” Cain growled. His goal had been to reduce the crime rate in Central City by seventy-five percent in time for the royal family to hold the first Council meeting. Even with all available Tin Men working around the clock their progress had been slow. “With the Council in two weeks we better make fifty percent.”
Davis just nodded and went back to his report. “Go home and get some rest, Cain. You’ve been here for nearly twenty-four hours.”
Cain sighed and rubbed his face. “Alright then, good luck hunting.”
The only response from Davis was a quick grin as the blond walked out.
It didn’t take Cain long to get to his apartment. He sighed as he leaned against the door and looked over the sparse furniture. His gaze fell over the table where a stack of opened letters lay. Sitting down he picked up the top letter to read again.
It was from Jeb. His son spoke about training exercises, his new girlfriend, and amusing things that he had observed around the palace. Cain couldn’t help but smile. Like his father, Jeb Cain had risen quickly through the ranks. When the Royal Army was being re-established the queen had promoted Jeb and placed an entire company of soldiers under him.
With a sigh Cain reached for the next letter. This one was from the queen herself offering him the position as head of the Royal Guard which would put him in charge of security. To argue her point, the queen cited that his time on the Mystic Man’s Protection Detail, combined with his work in the Resistance and the aide that he had given to DG, made him more than qualified for the job. Cain had to admit that it was a tempting offer. And there was one member of the royal family whose safety he was particularly concerned about.
Sleep, he decided, was what he needed. He’d think about it some more once he had some rest.