Second Chances: Ch. 2
Title: Second Chances
Author: American Fairy
Rating: PG
Characters: Pretty much everyone from the show including a few OC’s
Pairings: Cain/DG UST, Jeb/OC, Ahamo/Lavender
Word Count: 1,108
Warnings: A little bit of drama, but not too bad.
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. Seeing as I read more fanfiction than a person should if I accidently borrowed something from you and didn’t credit please let me know so I can fix it. Any other mistakes are my own.
Author's Note: I would like to thank everyone who has read and reviewed this for their wonderful support. I’m always a bit self conscious when I post so hugs and cookies to all. Also, pictures of my OCs can be found here.
Jeb Cain had just finished dinner with his troops and was walking through the corridors of the palace. He stopped when he spotted DG from the library door. She was reading a large book and occasionally pausing to write down some notes. There were times when he still wasn’t sure what to think about her. She certainly had some odd qualities about her that probably came from growing up on the Other Side. But she also seemed sad.
She glanced up and noticed that he was watching her. He tended to do that a lot and she wasn’t quite sure what to make of it. She made a mental note to ask him about that later as he casually approached her.
“Hey there, Princess.” DG suppressed a mental wince. The familiar greeting just didn’t sound the same coming out of Jeb’s mouth. Somehow Wyatt Cain managed to make it sound more like a nickname than an actual title.
“Hey Jeb, what’s up?”
“Not much. Just finished dinner with the troops. They’re anxious for the guard to get established so they can get back into action.”
She nodded. Jeb Cain’s men were currently acting as the Royal Guard until the official guard could be established.
“What are you reading?” he idly picked up one of her papers and glanced at it.
“Just trying to catch up on 15 ye-annuals worth of lessons.” She plucked the paper from his hand. “Nosy.”
Jeb simply grinned as he leaned against a bookshelf. “I got another letter from Father today.”
“Oh really?” And how is he?” DG tried her best to conceal her interest, but the truth was that for the past few weeks she had gotten into the habit of asking him about his father at least once a day.
Jeb smirked at her thinly veiled impatience. She really was a bad liar. “Well, he finally made a decision about the queen’s offer.”
DG froze at that. Will he be coming back? What if he stays away?
Maybe he doesn’t want to come back?
But he promised!
“And?” she prompted.
“And he decided to accept the position.” Jeb couldn’t help but grin at the way DG’s eyes lit up.
“That’s wonderful!” she exclaimed happily.
Dong!
The clock began to chime the hour cutting off anything else she had to say.
“It’s getting late, Princess. Would you allow me to escort you to your room?” He had learned quickly that while the princess didn’t take orders too well she readily gave in to requests.
“Alright,” she gathered up her papers and marked her page in the book.
They walked to her room in comfortable silence. As they reached her door DG remembered her question and turned to Jeb. “Why is it you always seem to go out of your way to keep an eye on me? You have men who are assigned to do that.”
He shrugged. “You’re friends with my father. I figured that he would particularly upset if anything happened to you. I just thought it might be best to keep an eye on you myself as much as possible until he returns.” He gave her a polite nod. “Good-night, Princess.” And he walked away leaving a surprised princess to stare after him wide eyed and open mouthed.
Jeb couldn’t help but smirk at the expression on her face as he left her. Anyone with half a brain could see that his father and DG cared about each other. Stopping at a window at the end of the corridor he gazed out at the moonlit mountains and sighed.
“Something troubling you?” a voice asked.
He turned and smiled at the owner of the voice. “Miranda,” he greeted her as the red-headed woman approached him.
“It’s a beautiful night,” she commented looking out of the window.
“Yeah,” he answered absently as he followed her gaze.
“I ask again, Captain, what’s wrong?”
Jeb glanced at her. “What makes you think there’s something wrong?”
She smiled at him. “Because I’ve known you long enough to recognize when something is on your mind. You have that look.”
Sighing, he finally turned to her. “I received a letter from Father.”
“That’s good.”
“He’s going to take the job.”
“Well, we guessed correctly then.”
“And I spoke to DG just a few minutes ago.”
“And how’d that go?”
He shrugged. “It went well. We had a nice conversation.”
“And yet, I feel that there’s more you’re not telling me.”
Jeb sighed. “Maybe I’m just being a selfish kid.”
“How so?” Miranda Eckles has seen Jeb Cain act in a lot of ways but never as a selfish kid.
“Just before he left for Central City we had some… words. I basically accused him of seeing DG as more that just a friend.”
That’s understandable. Miranda thought. After all, DG’s only a few annuals older than Jeb. “And what did your father say?”
Jeb blew out another sigh and leaned against the wall. “That they were just friends.”
Miranda smiled and took his hand in hers. “He’s right you know. And maybe you shouldn’t be so hard on them. DG’s the one who saved him after all.”
He returned her smile and kissed her knuckles. “I know. It’s just so-“
“Give it time,” she interrupted gently. “Just give it time. These things have a way of working themselves out. You’ll see.” Raising herself on her toes she kissed him gently. “Now, we should both get some sleep or we’ll be completely useless tomorrow.”
Jeb grinned as he wrapped his arms around her. “When did you become so smart?”
“Well somebody’s got to be the voice of reason around here.” Miranda smirked at him. “Might as well be me.”