Fic: Redemption & Reconstruction (13/?) (DG/Cain UST) (PG-13)
Title: Redemption & Reconstruction (13/?)
Author: caroly_214
Characters/Pairings: Pretty much everybody, DG/Cain UST (eventual overt DG/Cain)
Rating: PG-13
Word Count: 5,259
Disclaimer: I may share the same name as someone on the show, but that still doesn’t mean I own anything (shame, that). Owen and Telyn ("Telly") Northway, however, are the joint property of myself and queenof1000days.
Spoilers: Set immediately after the end of the miniseries.
Summary: The healer comes and deals with annoyed!Lavender and doting!Ahamo, group meeting in the hallway (and we have another confrontation between Cain and Jeb), and DG and Cain finally have the meltdowns they're both overdue for. Remember, the couple that melts down together, stays together.
Comments: As always, many, many thanks to my brilliant betas daisycm83 and jennukes. And thanks to queenof1000days for her brainstorming, encouragement, and general awesomeness.
Author's Note: Further proof that I'm a horrible WIP author. Sorry. But the chapter's extra long and I already have 1200 words of the next chapter written. Also, now that I'm finally introducing Telyn Northway, you can look forward to queenof1000days's missing moments scenes with Jeb and Telly. So go pester her about it! :-)
Cross-posted to my journal, tinman_fic, and dg_cain
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
DG leaned against the doorframe, looking into the room her parents had claimed as theirs. Ahamo was settling her mother on a bed, tucking her in, and generally acting like a doting husband. Lavender, however, was having trouble concealing her annoyance at being treated like an invalid. But his wife’s annoyance didn’t seem to affect Ahamo at all; oblivious to her glare, he continued fluffing her pillow, bringing her water to drink, and piling more blankets on her. If the situation weren’t so serious, and if DG wasn’t still recovering from her outburst just a few minutes earlier, she’d have been amused at her parents’ behavior. As it was, she could only note the tension that surrounded them all.
This was actually the first time she had visited her parents’ room. It wasn’t too bad, mostly as a result of the changes that had undoubtedly recently been made: most of the room’s decorations and furnishings were piled in a heap at the far end of the room. But DG could still feel the evil of the witch’s Tower all around them, and it just reinforced how much DG wanted to get out of the Tower. She had no idea where they could go instead, but she doubted they would ever be able to remove the taint from these rooms.
Footsteps echoing in the hallway caught her attention, and she turned towards them in time to see Cain, who was standing behind her, tense and move his hand to his gun. Before she could reach out with her empathy to see who it was, their visitor came into view: a tall, lean man of about 25 with a mop of dark brown hair and equally dark brown eyes. She immediately recognized him and rested her hand on Cain’s arm, reassuring him that it was safe.
Stepping forward, she said, “Thanks for coming, Owen. You know Cain, don’t you?” she asked, stalling, suddenly reluctant to tell the healer about her mother’s collapse.
Owen nodded to the other man, but quickly looked back to the Princess, his eyes narrowing. “You wanted to see me, your Highness?”
Okay, no small talk. Down to business. DG sighed. “Yeah.” She took a quick glance down the hall to make sure no one was nearby. Though she was sure that those who had been on the floor earlier probably knew exactly what was going on, DG didn’t want to take any chances of letting the news become widespread. “My mother collapsed a little while ago. She was unconscious for several minutes. Tutor and I couldn’t detect anything magical that could have caused her collapse, so we figure it had to be health related,” she finished in a quiet voice.
The healer nodded, more thoughtfully this time. “Is she in there?” he asked, pointing to the open doorway.
DG nodded, beckoning Owen and Cain to follow her as she entered the room. “Mom, Dad, this is Owen Northway, the healer I told you about,” she announced when her parents looked up.
Beside her, Owen bowed. “I understand your Majesty collapsed and was unconscious for several minutes,” he stated calmly.
The Queen merely pursed her lips in displeasure, not answering, so Ahamo spoke up. “That’s right. She said she was dizzy before she collapsed and she was a little disoriented when she woke up.”
Owen nodded again, then asked, “Have you ever collapsed before, your Majesty?”
Lavender shook her head. “No,” she said. She paused a moment before continuing, “I appreciate that you came up here, Healer Northway, but I assure you that I am fine.”
The healer cocked an eyebrow at her as he reached into his healer’s bag. “With respect, your Majesty, I believe I should be the one to determine whether you’re fine,” he stated, utterly nonplussed. The Queen, however, seemed surprised and exasperated at his response. DG caught her father’s eye, and she could see that he, too, was having trouble not smiling. It seemed being Queen wasn’t enough to get out of an examination.
Owen began his examination, asking occasional questions, mainly about the Queen’s captivity. DG hadn’t realized that her mother had been kept in isolation in a magical prison, shrunk down to a tiny size, just like the witch had done to Ahamo.
Finally, Owen stepped back. “I can’t be entirely sure, because of the magical aspects to your captivity, your Majesty, but it seems you are suffering from exhaustion.”
DG sighed in relief. Exhaustion wasn’t great, but it could have been a lot worse. “So what’s the treatment?” she asked.
The healer smiled slightly, the first time he’d smiled since coming upstairs. “It’s a fairly simple treatment: a lot of rest. Her Majesty should stay in bed the rest of the day and probably most of tomorrow, at the very least. I shall return tomorrow at this time to reevaluate her condition.”
Everyone nodded agreement except for the Queen. “I cannot stay in bed for the next two days. There is too much that I must do.”
Owen cocked an eyebrow again. “If the Princess has told you about me, then you are already aware that your royal status will not influence my treatment. You collapsed and that is very serious. You must rest or you will get worse. And I am sure I am not the only one here who thinks you need to rest,” he finished with a slight smirk, glancing at Ahamo and DG, who both nodded emphatically. Lavender met their stares, but neither the Consort nor the Princess backed down. DG was determined to out-stubborn her mother, and she was sure her father felt the same. It took several moments, but Lavender dropped her gaze first.
Defeated, the Queen sighed. “Fine,” she bit out. “If it will make everyone happy, I’ll rest.”
It was all DG could do to keep from saying that she was happy, but she decided that such snarkiness wouldn’t help the situation.
Owen drew a packet from his bag, refilled the Queen’s glass of water, then dumped the contents of the packet into the glass. The green powder dissolved instantly in the water, and Owen handed the glass to the Queen. “Drink,” he said in a tone that brooked no argument.
Lavender stared at the glass a moment before reluctantly taking it and drinking the concoction. When she finished, she made a face, presumably from the taste, and DG had to bite her lip to keep from giggling. Every moment she spent with her mother showed her another way they were similar. DG knew she’d made that exact same face every time she’d had to take bad tasting medicine.
It didn’t take long for the Queen to begin to drift off to sleep. Owen motioned to the others to follow him into the hall, which they did, closing the door behind them so as not to disturb the sleeping Queen. At that moment, Glitch walked up to their little party; DG wondered if he’d gotten lost, because it had taken him a long time to join them.
“The sleeping draught should help her sleep for several hours,” the healer told the group. “She should rest for the remainder of the day. I don’t want her working at all. She also needs to eat full meals. I know the Queen ordered that the best food was to go to the sick and injured and that the royal family would eat the same as everyone else, but right now, she is one of the sick and injured.”
Ahamo frowned. “While I agree with you, we don’t want it to get out that the Queen is ill. If people know she’s getting the same rations as the sick and injured, they’ll figure it out.”
Owen nodded. “I understand. I’ll have my brother, or maybe my sister, if she returns from her mission, bring meals to the Queen. Neither of them would dare defy their older brother,” he smirked.
Ahamo glanced at DG and she nodded her agreement. She hadn’t met Owen’s sister, who was a courier and intelligence agent for the Resistance, but she had met Owen’s younger brother, Carter, and she thought he was trustworthy, if a bit of a clown.
The Consort turned his attention back to the healer. “All right. But please have them keep a low profile. The Queen’s already unhappy with the state of affairs and having this become common knowledge would make her even more unhappy.” He sighed before continuing to DG, “Let’s see how much we can get done while your mother is asleep. The more we get done, the easier it will be to get her to rest.”
DG nodded. “Okay, but you’re staying with her. We’ll take care of it.”
Her father frowned. “DG, I appreciate the offer, but we all have jobs to do.”
“And your job is to stay with her.” Ahamo started talking again, but she cut him off. “Dad, you’re just as exhausted as she is. And you’ve spent so long apart. She needs someone to take care of her right now and you need to know that’s she’s okay. So stay with her.”
Ahamo sighed and ran a hand through his hair. “You’re just as tired as we are, baby girl. I can’t let you do this alone.”
She smirked. “If you think those two,” she said while pointing at Cain and Glitch, “are going to let me do anything alone, then you haven’t spent much time around them. The three of us can take care of what needs to be done, and we can bring in others to help us if we need it.”
DG used her empathy and felt her father’s resolve weakening. It would only take a little more to convince him. Though she felt a little bad at using her empathy to manipulate him, it was for his own good - and her mother’s. Ahamo’s panic at Lavender’s illness - at the possibility of losing his wife again - showed DG how fragile their newfound relationship was. And her mother was not a happy camper, so if she was really going to rest, someone was going to have to make her. The best thing for everyone would be for Ahamo to stay with her mother.
“Dad,” she started more softly, “you know as well as I do that if we don’t make sure Mom stays in bed, she won’t. Someone needs to stay with her or she’s not going to get better, and you’re the best candidate.”
And there it was: her father’s resolve broke. He nodded reluctantly before pulling her into a hug. “Thank you, Spitfire,” he whispered in her ear and she realized he knew she had manipulated him. Thankfully, he didn’t seem upset by it; instead, he seemed relieved that he had a reason to stay with his wife.
Ahamo pulled away and placed a kiss on DG’s forehead. He smiled down at her, saying softly, “I’m so proud of you, DG. I know your mother is, too.” She blushed with embarrassment and happiness, but her father didn’t see because he was looking over at Cain and Glitch. He said to the other two men, “Make sure she doesn’t work too hard.” Her friends nodded at him and, with a smile, the Consort went back into the bedroom, closing the door behind him.
Her parents safely in their room, DG turned to the men surrounding her, ready to start giving instructions. But before she could do so, footsteps started echoing down the hall and all four of them tensed, Cain pushing DG behind him while reaching for his gun. Idly, DG wondered how long it would be before they could stop worrying about the danger with every person who approached.
The footsteps drew closer and DG felt the men around her relax. Peering around Cain’s shoulder, she saw that the new arrivals were Jeb Cain and a tall young woman with dark hair. Stepping out from behind her self-appointed guardian, she smiled at the two while trying to ignore the tension she could feel between Cain and Jeb.
The two finally stopped before her, bowing. DG was really getting sick of all the bowing, but she doubted she’d be able to stop them. Instead, she decided to counteract their formality by adding some flippancy into the conversation. “So what brings you two to our little party?”
Jeb frowned at her, confused, while the young woman watched the princess closely, her expression inscrutable. DG sighed. She’d been hoping for more of a reaction, but it was apparently going to take a while to introduce irreverence to the OZ.
When it became clear Jeb wasn’t sure how to answer, Owen stepped in. “Your Highness, may I present my sister, Telyn? We usually call her Telly,” he added with a smirk while the young woman glared at him.
DG choked back a laugh and feigned a coughing fit. Telly? Really? She waved away Owen and Cain, both of whom were hovering over her because of the coughing. “I’m fine,” she forced out, trying to keep her composure.
“Are you sure, Princess?” Cain asked.
“Oh, yeah, I’m sure.” There was no way she was going to try to explain Sesame Street and the purple muppet named Telly she remembered seeing during all her hours babysitting the Rogers twins. She was just going to have to keep a straight face, though the difference between the worrywart muppet and the serious young woman in front of her was going to make that hard. “It’s nice to meet you, Telly.”
Telly looked like she wanted to hurt her brother, but she directed her attention to DG and bowed again, causing the Princess to sigh again. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, your Highness.”
DG smiled before turning her attention to Jeb, who was brooding. It was actually almost frightening how like Cain he was, because she didn’t even need to be an empath to know that Cain was brooding, too. Why do they both have to be so stubborn?
She plastered a pleasant but professional smile on her face. “Did you need something, Captain Cain?”
Jeb snapped to attention before her, which had DG forcing back a laugh for the second time in as many minutes. The idea that people would come to attention for her was ludicrous, but there it was.
“Yes, your Highness. There are a lot of rumors going around among the troops, but the fact that Healer Northway was summoned has started even more. I was hoping to find out what was going on.”
DG glanced at Cain while holding back a sigh. She’d known it would be hard to keep this secret, but she had been hoping for a little more time. As much as she wanted to keep her mother’s illness a secret, Jeb, as a Captain in the Royal Army, needed to know what was going on. She nodded at Cain to let him know her decision, and he nodded back.
“Captain, my mother collapsed from exhaustion earlier this morning. Healer Northway has prescribed that she rest for the next couple of days. We don’t want this to get out, so please keep it to yourselves.”
Jeb nodded thoughtfully, then asked, “What are we going to do without the Queen? There’s a lot of work to be done.”
“The work will still be done. The rest of the Inner Council and I will take care of it until my mother has recovered.”
At DG’s words, Jeb’s gaze moved from the Princess to his father, and the disapproval in the younger man’s eyes was easy to see. “Of course you’d take on this responsibility, Father,” he bit out in a tone was anything but respectful.
DG felt Cain stiffen beside her and without thought, she reached out and grabbed his arm. She could feel the anger and hurt growing in him, only to be ruthlessly suppressed. The man had a will of iron. But she didn’t, and her anger and hurt on Cain’s behalf threatened to burst out of her, even though she knew this wasn’t her fight. Before she or Cain could say anything, however, another voice spoke up.
“Captain Cain?” Telly broke in, her voice quiet but firm. “I’m sorry to interrupt, but the reports I brought back do need to be looked at immediately. Lewis informed me that there’s vital information in them.”
DG looked over at the young woman, who glanced away from Jeb long enough to lock eyes with the Princess. Instantly, DG realized Telly was on her side and would be an important ally in keeping the two Cain men from killing each other. The Princess also saw enough of Telly’s emotions to know there would be plenty of teasing material at a less stressful time. She really couldn’t blame the girl; despite their stubborn natures, the Cain men were very attractive (although DG had to admit to herself that she was partial to the older one).
After a long moment, Jeb stopped glaring at his father and turned his attention to the intelligence officer and courier. “Of course,” he said stiffly. He turned back to DG. “If you’ll excuse us, your Highness.”
“You’re excused, Captain.” She watched silently as the two bowed - enough with the bowing already! - and then as they walked away, Telly’s hand discreetly on Jeb’s arm, firmly leading him away.
The four stood in awkward silence a moment before Owen also bowed. “I need to return to my patients, your Highness.”
DG smiled gratefully at the healer. “Of course, Owen. Thank you for your help. We’ll summon you if we need you.”
As the healer walked away, it was all DG could do not to sag against Cain. She was exhausted. Looking over at her two friends, she gave them a weary smile. “I don’t know about you two, but I need food.”
Cain didn’t respond, but Glitch reacted to her suggestion with a wide smile. “Me, too, doll. Let’s go eat.” As the Chief Advisor began moving down the hall, practically skipping in enthusiasm, DG shared an amused look with Cain. Grabbing Cain’s hand, she pulled him along after Glitch. Food awaited.
****************
DG sat on the couch Cain had assigned as her bed, playing with the tasteless crackers she hadn’t been able to force herself to eat. Nothing could kill an appetite quite like rations, and after just a few days, she was really getting sick of them. What she wouldn’t give for Momster’s home cooked fried chicken and potato salad, or her baked spaghetti, or her pumpkin pie…. She fought back tears as her stomach growled and her mouth watered. Every time she thought she was handling her robo-parents’ death and being cut off from the Other Side, a memory popped up and made her miss it all even more.
Blinking back tears, she looked at her companions. Raw must still be busy, because he hadn’t come up to join them, so it was just her, Cain, and Glitch. Normally, spending time with two of the closest friends she’d ever had wouldn’t be a problem, but today, they’d eaten lunch in awkward silence. The tension was rolling off Cain in waves and it was giving DG a headache; she wondered if Raw had felt the tension from far away and had decided to stay as far away as he could - not that she’d blame him. The tension seemed to be rubbing off on Glitch, too, because every time he started to speak, he ended up glitching.
Poor Glitch looked absolutely miserable. Taking pity on him, she said, “Glitch, why don’t you go figure out all the things we’re going to have to do while my Mother is ill.”
Her friend looked at her gratefully. “Right away, doll.” Rising quickly, Glitch was out of the room seconds later. DG wasn’t sure whether she should be insulted at how quickly he abandoned them or if she should follow him.
Several minutes passed in silence, during which DG hoped that Cain would snap out of his funk and talk to her, because she had no idea how to help. It didn’t help that most of the times during their journey when they had tried to help Cain, he brushed them off or ignored them.
Finally, she couldn’t stand it anymore. “So, Cain, how did your review of the security plans go?”
He glanced at her, his eyes much colder than usual, before saying gruffly, “Fine.”
Fine? That was all she was going to get? Fine? Okay, time for plan B. “I know security isn’t one of my responsibilities, but I’d like to look at them, see if there’s anything we can do to make sure my Dad doesn’t have to work for a couple days.”
A nod. “Fine.”
Okay, that was it. No more Ms. Nice Princess. “‘Fine’? Is that all you’re going to say? I’m asking about security of this Tower and everyone in it and all you can say is ‘fine’? I know you’re upset over your fight with Jeb, but snap out of it! We have a lot to do and you’re not helping anyone. And if you keep bottling this up and brooding, you’re just going to burst and be no good to anyone.”
Apparently, she’d managed to break through his reserve because he stood up to face her, his expression so furious she didn’t need the empathy to tell how angry he was.
“Look who’s talking, Princess. You’re one to lecture me on bottling my emotions when I’ve been watching you do it for days.”
She was on her feet and stalking over to get in his face before she knew what was happening and she was too livid to care. “Yeah, I’ve been bottling things up, but I’m just trying to not have a nervous breakdown after finding out that my whole life was a lie, being thrown into a world where there are things I could only see in movies, and where I’m a princess and have to save the world after my sister was possessed by an evil witch.”
Cain sneered. “I’m sure it’s been hard for you, coming from your perfect Other Side to here. While you were living in safety, we were all suffering under the witch’s rule.”
DG’s jaw dropped. She could not believe he’d just said that. Enraged, she bit out, “You think my life was perfect on the Other Side? That there isn’t suffering over there? We may not have had an evil witch, but there was plenty of evil, crime, and violence. And I didn’t have a privileged life. I worked every day. I worked with my Dad in the fields and with my Mom in the house and I had a job at a diner and had to deal with ass-grabbing truckers and I went to school. And the Long Coats found us over there. So don’t try to tell me it was perfect.”
She’d locked eyes with him and watched as his eyes turned from icy to blazing with anger. “So it wasn’t perfect. But you didn’t watch as everything you knew was destroyed, as good people were killed. You didn’t have to choose between fighting for what was right and the safety of your family. You didn’t have to be dragged fighting away from your family and then spend annuals not knowing what had happened to them.”
If she hadn’t been so angry, DG probably would have backed down at the reminder of what Cain had gone through. But he didn’t have a monopoly on pain.
“Yeah, I didn’t. Instead, I was thrown off a roof into a storm into a different world with no idea what was happening. I lost everything I had ever known. And then I find my parents just to find out they weren’t really my parents. The next time I see them, the witch programmed them into thinking they were her parents, and when she had no more use for them, she destroyed them.” She paused a moment but couldn’t leave it at that. Something was forcing her to throw the gauntlet back down at Cain’s feet. “At least you found your son alive after thinking he was dead.” Saying that only enraged Cain more, but she was past caring.
“I found him but it doesn’t change that I wasn’t there to see him grow up - and that I couldn’t protect him from what was happening in the OZ or from becoming hard and bitter. It doesn’t change that I couldn’t save Adora. And now my boy can’t stand to look at me because he thinks I’m betraying him and his mother. So even though he is alive, I still lost my family. But you found a new one: parents, a sister, and even cousins.”
So this is how it was going to be: throwing accusations back and forth. Well, she could handle that. Laughing bitterly, she yelled, “Oh, yeah, my new family. A sister who’s catatonic and parents I don’t know. And to top that off, I feel guilty every time I treat my real parents as my parents because I feel like I’m betraying my robo-parents. I was terrified when my mother collapsed because I thought I was losing my parents all over again but then I felt like I was just replacing Momster.” She stopped and looked away, choking back tears. She hadn’t even realized she’d been feeling guilty until just now.
Cain yelled right back, “Well, I feel guilty about moving onto a new life without Adora, so you’re not the only one, Princess.”
She turned wide eyes back to face Cain and saw her pain echoed in his eyes. And with just that, the anger drained out of both of them. Cain raised his hand to his face, shielding his eyes from view. Drained, DG sank down, luckily managing to sit on the couch.
“Aren’t we a pair?” she muttered. “Arguing about whose life sucks more.” She looked up at Cain, her cheeks burning with shame. “I guess I forgot that the lives of everyone in the OZ have sucked for a long time.”
Cain sighed before turning to face her. “If ‘sucked’ means what I think it does, then yes, everyone’s lives, including yours and mine, have ‘sucked’ for a long time.”
“Yeah,” DG said, turning away from her friend, hoping he wouldn’t see the guilt in her eyes - as if it was possible to hide anything from the hyper-perceptive Tin Man.
“What?” Cain asked.
“Nothing,” she replied, but even she wasn’t convinced.
“You wanna try that again, Princess?” Cain asked, coming to stand in front of her.
DG glared at him a moment before finally conceding defeat. “It’s just that I’ve been trying not to focus on how much my life sucks because everyone else’s lives suck so much more. I need to focus on fixing things for everyone, not having a pity party for myself.” It wasn’t the whole truth, but hopefully it was enough to fool her Tin Man.
No such luck. “And?” he asked as he sat next to her on the couch.
She stared at the floor, not answering. When Cain nudged her with his elbow while saying her name in a tone that did not bode well for her, she gave in. “I didn’t think I had the right to complain because it’s all my fault.”
Empathy really was a handy ability, she decided. She could tell exactly what Cain was feeling, but she didn’t have to look at him, which was good, because she didn’t think she could face his incredulous expression right now.
“DG,” he began in a tone she couldn’t quite describe, “I already told you that you can’t blame yourself. You were just a kid.”
“But if it wasn’t for my curiosity, my tendency to go on adventures and get into trouble, none of this would have ever happened,” she said in a small voice.
Out of the corner of her eye, she could see that he was shaking his head. “That’s not what happened, kid. You forget: I’ve seen your memories. You heard a child crying for help. You were tricked, DG. You had no way of knowing what was going to happen.”
“I suppose,” she muttered, though she didn’t feel any less guilty. So what if she’d had good intentions - the road to hell was paved with those.
“I mean it, DG,” Cain said firmly as he grabbed her shoulders and turned her to face him. “The person who’s to blame for all of this is the witch. She tricked you, she possessed your sister, and she’s the one who did all those horrible things. If it hadn’t been you, she’d have tricked some other child and these things still would have happened. You have to let go of the guilt, DG.”
She could see his point, she really could, but it was one thing to know something intellectually, and another thing entirely to believe it deep down. But she knew he wouldn’t accept anything less than her agreeing to try and she didn’t want to find out how persistent he could be in this. She nodded. “I’ll try.” He stared into her eyes and, apparently satisfied with what he saw, squeezed her shoulders before letting go. But she wasn’t about to let him off so easy. “You have to try, too, Cain.”
He looked back at her, startled. “Try what?” he asked cautiously.
DG fought the urge to roll her eyes. Now he was deliberately being dense. “You have to try to let go of the guilt, too. You did what you thought was right and it turned out badly. You can’t change any of that and it wasn’t your fault. It was the witch’s fault, not yours. You have nothing to be guilty about.”
Cain frowned and DG could tell that another fight was brewing. He wasn’t ready to hear that yet. Well, there was time to work on it later. Before he could speak, she said, “Why don’t we make a deal?”
He looked at her suspiciously. “What sort of deal?”
She smirked slightly. “I think we just proved that if we bottle things up, we’re going to explode, and I really don’t want to go through this again. So let’s make a deal: we watch out for each other and don’t let each other bottle things up too much.” She stuck out her hand. “Deal?”
He stared thoughtfully at her hand a moment before clasping it within his. “Deal,” he said.
DG sighed in relief. “Good.” He started to let go of her hand, but she tightened her grip, causing him to look at her quizzically. Taking a deep breath, she forced herself to meet his eyes. “I’m sorry for all those things I said, Cain. I didn’t mean them.”
Cain squeezed her hand gently as his expression softened. He said, “I’m sorry, too, DG. I….” he trailed off, but it was enough for DG. Smiling for what felt like the first time in ages, she let go of his hand and threw her arms around him in a relieved hug, not even trying to suppress the happiness she felt when he tightened his arms around her. They really were okay.
He pulled back and smirked at her. “Come on, kid. Let’s go see what trouble the Zipperhead’s going to get us into.”
She laughed, letting him pull her off the couch and out of the room. Time to deal with the next crisis.
TBC
Author: caroly_214
Characters/Pairings: Pretty much everybody, DG/Cain UST (eventual overt DG/Cain)
Rating: PG-13
Word Count: 5,259
Disclaimer: I may share the same name as someone on the show, but that still doesn’t mean I own anything (shame, that). Owen and Telyn ("Telly") Northway, however, are the joint property of myself and queenof1000days.
Spoilers: Set immediately after the end of the miniseries.
Summary: The healer comes and deals with annoyed!Lavender and doting!Ahamo, group meeting in the hallway (and we have another confrontation between Cain and Jeb), and DG and Cain finally have the meltdowns they're both overdue for. Remember, the couple that melts down together, stays together.
Comments: As always, many, many thanks to my brilliant betas daisycm83 and jennukes. And thanks to queenof1000days for her brainstorming, encouragement, and general awesomeness.
Author's Note: Further proof that I'm a horrible WIP author. Sorry. But the chapter's extra long and I already have 1200 words of the next chapter written. Also, now that I'm finally introducing Telyn Northway, you can look forward to queenof1000days's missing moments scenes with Jeb and Telly. So go pester her about it! :-)
Cross-posted to my journal, tinman_fic, and dg_cain
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
DG leaned against the doorframe, looking into the room her parents had claimed as theirs. Ahamo was settling her mother on a bed, tucking her in, and generally acting like a doting husband. Lavender, however, was having trouble concealing her annoyance at being treated like an invalid. But his wife’s annoyance didn’t seem to affect Ahamo at all; oblivious to her glare, he continued fluffing her pillow, bringing her water to drink, and piling more blankets on her. If the situation weren’t so serious, and if DG wasn’t still recovering from her outburst just a few minutes earlier, she’d have been amused at her parents’ behavior. As it was, she could only note the tension that surrounded them all.
This was actually the first time she had visited her parents’ room. It wasn’t too bad, mostly as a result of the changes that had undoubtedly recently been made: most of the room’s decorations and furnishings were piled in a heap at the far end of the room. But DG could still feel the evil of the witch’s Tower all around them, and it just reinforced how much DG wanted to get out of the Tower. She had no idea where they could go instead, but she doubted they would ever be able to remove the taint from these rooms.
Footsteps echoing in the hallway caught her attention, and she turned towards them in time to see Cain, who was standing behind her, tense and move his hand to his gun. Before she could reach out with her empathy to see who it was, their visitor came into view: a tall, lean man of about 25 with a mop of dark brown hair and equally dark brown eyes. She immediately recognized him and rested her hand on Cain’s arm, reassuring him that it was safe.
Stepping forward, she said, “Thanks for coming, Owen. You know Cain, don’t you?” she asked, stalling, suddenly reluctant to tell the healer about her mother’s collapse.
Owen nodded to the other man, but quickly looked back to the Princess, his eyes narrowing. “You wanted to see me, your Highness?”
Okay, no small talk. Down to business. DG sighed. “Yeah.” She took a quick glance down the hall to make sure no one was nearby. Though she was sure that those who had been on the floor earlier probably knew exactly what was going on, DG didn’t want to take any chances of letting the news become widespread. “My mother collapsed a little while ago. She was unconscious for several minutes. Tutor and I couldn’t detect anything magical that could have caused her collapse, so we figure it had to be health related,” she finished in a quiet voice.
The healer nodded, more thoughtfully this time. “Is she in there?” he asked, pointing to the open doorway.
DG nodded, beckoning Owen and Cain to follow her as she entered the room. “Mom, Dad, this is Owen Northway, the healer I told you about,” she announced when her parents looked up.
Beside her, Owen bowed. “I understand your Majesty collapsed and was unconscious for several minutes,” he stated calmly.
The Queen merely pursed her lips in displeasure, not answering, so Ahamo spoke up. “That’s right. She said she was dizzy before she collapsed and she was a little disoriented when she woke up.”
Owen nodded again, then asked, “Have you ever collapsed before, your Majesty?”
Lavender shook her head. “No,” she said. She paused a moment before continuing, “I appreciate that you came up here, Healer Northway, but I assure you that I am fine.”
The healer cocked an eyebrow at her as he reached into his healer’s bag. “With respect, your Majesty, I believe I should be the one to determine whether you’re fine,” he stated, utterly nonplussed. The Queen, however, seemed surprised and exasperated at his response. DG caught her father’s eye, and she could see that he, too, was having trouble not smiling. It seemed being Queen wasn’t enough to get out of an examination.
Owen began his examination, asking occasional questions, mainly about the Queen’s captivity. DG hadn’t realized that her mother had been kept in isolation in a magical prison, shrunk down to a tiny size, just like the witch had done to Ahamo.
Finally, Owen stepped back. “I can’t be entirely sure, because of the magical aspects to your captivity, your Majesty, but it seems you are suffering from exhaustion.”
DG sighed in relief. Exhaustion wasn’t great, but it could have been a lot worse. “So what’s the treatment?” she asked.
The healer smiled slightly, the first time he’d smiled since coming upstairs. “It’s a fairly simple treatment: a lot of rest. Her Majesty should stay in bed the rest of the day and probably most of tomorrow, at the very least. I shall return tomorrow at this time to reevaluate her condition.”
Everyone nodded agreement except for the Queen. “I cannot stay in bed for the next two days. There is too much that I must do.”
Owen cocked an eyebrow again. “If the Princess has told you about me, then you are already aware that your royal status will not influence my treatment. You collapsed and that is very serious. You must rest or you will get worse. And I am sure I am not the only one here who thinks you need to rest,” he finished with a slight smirk, glancing at Ahamo and DG, who both nodded emphatically. Lavender met their stares, but neither the Consort nor the Princess backed down. DG was determined to out-stubborn her mother, and she was sure her father felt the same. It took several moments, but Lavender dropped her gaze first.
Defeated, the Queen sighed. “Fine,” she bit out. “If it will make everyone happy, I’ll rest.”
It was all DG could do to keep from saying that she was happy, but she decided that such snarkiness wouldn’t help the situation.
Owen drew a packet from his bag, refilled the Queen’s glass of water, then dumped the contents of the packet into the glass. The green powder dissolved instantly in the water, and Owen handed the glass to the Queen. “Drink,” he said in a tone that brooked no argument.
Lavender stared at the glass a moment before reluctantly taking it and drinking the concoction. When she finished, she made a face, presumably from the taste, and DG had to bite her lip to keep from giggling. Every moment she spent with her mother showed her another way they were similar. DG knew she’d made that exact same face every time she’d had to take bad tasting medicine.
It didn’t take long for the Queen to begin to drift off to sleep. Owen motioned to the others to follow him into the hall, which they did, closing the door behind them so as not to disturb the sleeping Queen. At that moment, Glitch walked up to their little party; DG wondered if he’d gotten lost, because it had taken him a long time to join them.
“The sleeping draught should help her sleep for several hours,” the healer told the group. “She should rest for the remainder of the day. I don’t want her working at all. She also needs to eat full meals. I know the Queen ordered that the best food was to go to the sick and injured and that the royal family would eat the same as everyone else, but right now, she is one of the sick and injured.”
Ahamo frowned. “While I agree with you, we don’t want it to get out that the Queen is ill. If people know she’s getting the same rations as the sick and injured, they’ll figure it out.”
Owen nodded. “I understand. I’ll have my brother, or maybe my sister, if she returns from her mission, bring meals to the Queen. Neither of them would dare defy their older brother,” he smirked.
Ahamo glanced at DG and she nodded her agreement. She hadn’t met Owen’s sister, who was a courier and intelligence agent for the Resistance, but she had met Owen’s younger brother, Carter, and she thought he was trustworthy, if a bit of a clown.
The Consort turned his attention back to the healer. “All right. But please have them keep a low profile. The Queen’s already unhappy with the state of affairs and having this become common knowledge would make her even more unhappy.” He sighed before continuing to DG, “Let’s see how much we can get done while your mother is asleep. The more we get done, the easier it will be to get her to rest.”
DG nodded. “Okay, but you’re staying with her. We’ll take care of it.”
Her father frowned. “DG, I appreciate the offer, but we all have jobs to do.”
“And your job is to stay with her.” Ahamo started talking again, but she cut him off. “Dad, you’re just as exhausted as she is. And you’ve spent so long apart. She needs someone to take care of her right now and you need to know that’s she’s okay. So stay with her.”
Ahamo sighed and ran a hand through his hair. “You’re just as tired as we are, baby girl. I can’t let you do this alone.”
She smirked. “If you think those two,” she said while pointing at Cain and Glitch, “are going to let me do anything alone, then you haven’t spent much time around them. The three of us can take care of what needs to be done, and we can bring in others to help us if we need it.”
DG used her empathy and felt her father’s resolve weakening. It would only take a little more to convince him. Though she felt a little bad at using her empathy to manipulate him, it was for his own good - and her mother’s. Ahamo’s panic at Lavender’s illness - at the possibility of losing his wife again - showed DG how fragile their newfound relationship was. And her mother was not a happy camper, so if she was really going to rest, someone was going to have to make her. The best thing for everyone would be for Ahamo to stay with her mother.
“Dad,” she started more softly, “you know as well as I do that if we don’t make sure Mom stays in bed, she won’t. Someone needs to stay with her or she’s not going to get better, and you’re the best candidate.”
And there it was: her father’s resolve broke. He nodded reluctantly before pulling her into a hug. “Thank you, Spitfire,” he whispered in her ear and she realized he knew she had manipulated him. Thankfully, he didn’t seem upset by it; instead, he seemed relieved that he had a reason to stay with his wife.
Ahamo pulled away and placed a kiss on DG’s forehead. He smiled down at her, saying softly, “I’m so proud of you, DG. I know your mother is, too.” She blushed with embarrassment and happiness, but her father didn’t see because he was looking over at Cain and Glitch. He said to the other two men, “Make sure she doesn’t work too hard.” Her friends nodded at him and, with a smile, the Consort went back into the bedroom, closing the door behind him.
Her parents safely in their room, DG turned to the men surrounding her, ready to start giving instructions. But before she could do so, footsteps started echoing down the hall and all four of them tensed, Cain pushing DG behind him while reaching for his gun. Idly, DG wondered how long it would be before they could stop worrying about the danger with every person who approached.
The footsteps drew closer and DG felt the men around her relax. Peering around Cain’s shoulder, she saw that the new arrivals were Jeb Cain and a tall young woman with dark hair. Stepping out from behind her self-appointed guardian, she smiled at the two while trying to ignore the tension she could feel between Cain and Jeb.
The two finally stopped before her, bowing. DG was really getting sick of all the bowing, but she doubted she’d be able to stop them. Instead, she decided to counteract their formality by adding some flippancy into the conversation. “So what brings you two to our little party?”
Jeb frowned at her, confused, while the young woman watched the princess closely, her expression inscrutable. DG sighed. She’d been hoping for more of a reaction, but it was apparently going to take a while to introduce irreverence to the OZ.
When it became clear Jeb wasn’t sure how to answer, Owen stepped in. “Your Highness, may I present my sister, Telyn? We usually call her Telly,” he added with a smirk while the young woman glared at him.
DG choked back a laugh and feigned a coughing fit. Telly? Really? She waved away Owen and Cain, both of whom were hovering over her because of the coughing. “I’m fine,” she forced out, trying to keep her composure.
“Are you sure, Princess?” Cain asked.
“Oh, yeah, I’m sure.” There was no way she was going to try to explain Sesame Street and the purple muppet named Telly she remembered seeing during all her hours babysitting the Rogers twins. She was just going to have to keep a straight face, though the difference between the worrywart muppet and the serious young woman in front of her was going to make that hard. “It’s nice to meet you, Telly.”
Telly looked like she wanted to hurt her brother, but she directed her attention to DG and bowed again, causing the Princess to sigh again. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, your Highness.”
DG smiled before turning her attention to Jeb, who was brooding. It was actually almost frightening how like Cain he was, because she didn’t even need to be an empath to know that Cain was brooding, too. Why do they both have to be so stubborn?
She plastered a pleasant but professional smile on her face. “Did you need something, Captain Cain?”
Jeb snapped to attention before her, which had DG forcing back a laugh for the second time in as many minutes. The idea that people would come to attention for her was ludicrous, but there it was.
“Yes, your Highness. There are a lot of rumors going around among the troops, but the fact that Healer Northway was summoned has started even more. I was hoping to find out what was going on.”
DG glanced at Cain while holding back a sigh. She’d known it would be hard to keep this secret, but she had been hoping for a little more time. As much as she wanted to keep her mother’s illness a secret, Jeb, as a Captain in the Royal Army, needed to know what was going on. She nodded at Cain to let him know her decision, and he nodded back.
“Captain, my mother collapsed from exhaustion earlier this morning. Healer Northway has prescribed that she rest for the next couple of days. We don’t want this to get out, so please keep it to yourselves.”
Jeb nodded thoughtfully, then asked, “What are we going to do without the Queen? There’s a lot of work to be done.”
“The work will still be done. The rest of the Inner Council and I will take care of it until my mother has recovered.”
At DG’s words, Jeb’s gaze moved from the Princess to his father, and the disapproval in the younger man’s eyes was easy to see. “Of course you’d take on this responsibility, Father,” he bit out in a tone was anything but respectful.
DG felt Cain stiffen beside her and without thought, she reached out and grabbed his arm. She could feel the anger and hurt growing in him, only to be ruthlessly suppressed. The man had a will of iron. But she didn’t, and her anger and hurt on Cain’s behalf threatened to burst out of her, even though she knew this wasn’t her fight. Before she or Cain could say anything, however, another voice spoke up.
“Captain Cain?” Telly broke in, her voice quiet but firm. “I’m sorry to interrupt, but the reports I brought back do need to be looked at immediately. Lewis informed me that there’s vital information in them.”
DG looked over at the young woman, who glanced away from Jeb long enough to lock eyes with the Princess. Instantly, DG realized Telly was on her side and would be an important ally in keeping the two Cain men from killing each other. The Princess also saw enough of Telly’s emotions to know there would be plenty of teasing material at a less stressful time. She really couldn’t blame the girl; despite their stubborn natures, the Cain men were very attractive (although DG had to admit to herself that she was partial to the older one).
After a long moment, Jeb stopped glaring at his father and turned his attention to the intelligence officer and courier. “Of course,” he said stiffly. He turned back to DG. “If you’ll excuse us, your Highness.”
“You’re excused, Captain.” She watched silently as the two bowed - enough with the bowing already! - and then as they walked away, Telly’s hand discreetly on Jeb’s arm, firmly leading him away.
The four stood in awkward silence a moment before Owen also bowed. “I need to return to my patients, your Highness.”
DG smiled gratefully at the healer. “Of course, Owen. Thank you for your help. We’ll summon you if we need you.”
As the healer walked away, it was all DG could do not to sag against Cain. She was exhausted. Looking over at her two friends, she gave them a weary smile. “I don’t know about you two, but I need food.”
Cain didn’t respond, but Glitch reacted to her suggestion with a wide smile. “Me, too, doll. Let’s go eat.” As the Chief Advisor began moving down the hall, practically skipping in enthusiasm, DG shared an amused look with Cain. Grabbing Cain’s hand, she pulled him along after Glitch. Food awaited.
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DG sat on the couch Cain had assigned as her bed, playing with the tasteless crackers she hadn’t been able to force herself to eat. Nothing could kill an appetite quite like rations, and after just a few days, she was really getting sick of them. What she wouldn’t give for Momster’s home cooked fried chicken and potato salad, or her baked spaghetti, or her pumpkin pie…. She fought back tears as her stomach growled and her mouth watered. Every time she thought she was handling her robo-parents’ death and being cut off from the Other Side, a memory popped up and made her miss it all even more.
Blinking back tears, she looked at her companions. Raw must still be busy, because he hadn’t come up to join them, so it was just her, Cain, and Glitch. Normally, spending time with two of the closest friends she’d ever had wouldn’t be a problem, but today, they’d eaten lunch in awkward silence. The tension was rolling off Cain in waves and it was giving DG a headache; she wondered if Raw had felt the tension from far away and had decided to stay as far away as he could - not that she’d blame him. The tension seemed to be rubbing off on Glitch, too, because every time he started to speak, he ended up glitching.
Poor Glitch looked absolutely miserable. Taking pity on him, she said, “Glitch, why don’t you go figure out all the things we’re going to have to do while my Mother is ill.”
Her friend looked at her gratefully. “Right away, doll.” Rising quickly, Glitch was out of the room seconds later. DG wasn’t sure whether she should be insulted at how quickly he abandoned them or if she should follow him.
Several minutes passed in silence, during which DG hoped that Cain would snap out of his funk and talk to her, because she had no idea how to help. It didn’t help that most of the times during their journey when they had tried to help Cain, he brushed them off or ignored them.
Finally, she couldn’t stand it anymore. “So, Cain, how did your review of the security plans go?”
He glanced at her, his eyes much colder than usual, before saying gruffly, “Fine.”
Fine? That was all she was going to get? Fine? Okay, time for plan B. “I know security isn’t one of my responsibilities, but I’d like to look at them, see if there’s anything we can do to make sure my Dad doesn’t have to work for a couple days.”
A nod. “Fine.”
Okay, that was it. No more Ms. Nice Princess. “‘Fine’? Is that all you’re going to say? I’m asking about security of this Tower and everyone in it and all you can say is ‘fine’? I know you’re upset over your fight with Jeb, but snap out of it! We have a lot to do and you’re not helping anyone. And if you keep bottling this up and brooding, you’re just going to burst and be no good to anyone.”
Apparently, she’d managed to break through his reserve because he stood up to face her, his expression so furious she didn’t need the empathy to tell how angry he was.
“Look who’s talking, Princess. You’re one to lecture me on bottling my emotions when I’ve been watching you do it for days.”
She was on her feet and stalking over to get in his face before she knew what was happening and she was too livid to care. “Yeah, I’ve been bottling things up, but I’m just trying to not have a nervous breakdown after finding out that my whole life was a lie, being thrown into a world where there are things I could only see in movies, and where I’m a princess and have to save the world after my sister was possessed by an evil witch.”
Cain sneered. “I’m sure it’s been hard for you, coming from your perfect Other Side to here. While you were living in safety, we were all suffering under the witch’s rule.”
DG’s jaw dropped. She could not believe he’d just said that. Enraged, she bit out, “You think my life was perfect on the Other Side? That there isn’t suffering over there? We may not have had an evil witch, but there was plenty of evil, crime, and violence. And I didn’t have a privileged life. I worked every day. I worked with my Dad in the fields and with my Mom in the house and I had a job at a diner and had to deal with ass-grabbing truckers and I went to school. And the Long Coats found us over there. So don’t try to tell me it was perfect.”
She’d locked eyes with him and watched as his eyes turned from icy to blazing with anger. “So it wasn’t perfect. But you didn’t watch as everything you knew was destroyed, as good people were killed. You didn’t have to choose between fighting for what was right and the safety of your family. You didn’t have to be dragged fighting away from your family and then spend annuals not knowing what had happened to them.”
If she hadn’t been so angry, DG probably would have backed down at the reminder of what Cain had gone through. But he didn’t have a monopoly on pain.
“Yeah, I didn’t. Instead, I was thrown off a roof into a storm into a different world with no idea what was happening. I lost everything I had ever known. And then I find my parents just to find out they weren’t really my parents. The next time I see them, the witch programmed them into thinking they were her parents, and when she had no more use for them, she destroyed them.” She paused a moment but couldn’t leave it at that. Something was forcing her to throw the gauntlet back down at Cain’s feet. “At least you found your son alive after thinking he was dead.” Saying that only enraged Cain more, but she was past caring.
“I found him but it doesn’t change that I wasn’t there to see him grow up - and that I couldn’t protect him from what was happening in the OZ or from becoming hard and bitter. It doesn’t change that I couldn’t save Adora. And now my boy can’t stand to look at me because he thinks I’m betraying him and his mother. So even though he is alive, I still lost my family. But you found a new one: parents, a sister, and even cousins.”
So this is how it was going to be: throwing accusations back and forth. Well, she could handle that. Laughing bitterly, she yelled, “Oh, yeah, my new family. A sister who’s catatonic and parents I don’t know. And to top that off, I feel guilty every time I treat my real parents as my parents because I feel like I’m betraying my robo-parents. I was terrified when my mother collapsed because I thought I was losing my parents all over again but then I felt like I was just replacing Momster.” She stopped and looked away, choking back tears. She hadn’t even realized she’d been feeling guilty until just now.
Cain yelled right back, “Well, I feel guilty about moving onto a new life without Adora, so you’re not the only one, Princess.”
She turned wide eyes back to face Cain and saw her pain echoed in his eyes. And with just that, the anger drained out of both of them. Cain raised his hand to his face, shielding his eyes from view. Drained, DG sank down, luckily managing to sit on the couch.
“Aren’t we a pair?” she muttered. “Arguing about whose life sucks more.” She looked up at Cain, her cheeks burning with shame. “I guess I forgot that the lives of everyone in the OZ have sucked for a long time.”
Cain sighed before turning to face her. “If ‘sucked’ means what I think it does, then yes, everyone’s lives, including yours and mine, have ‘sucked’ for a long time.”
“Yeah,” DG said, turning away from her friend, hoping he wouldn’t see the guilt in her eyes - as if it was possible to hide anything from the hyper-perceptive Tin Man.
“What?” Cain asked.
“Nothing,” she replied, but even she wasn’t convinced.
“You wanna try that again, Princess?” Cain asked, coming to stand in front of her.
DG glared at him a moment before finally conceding defeat. “It’s just that I’ve been trying not to focus on how much my life sucks because everyone else’s lives suck so much more. I need to focus on fixing things for everyone, not having a pity party for myself.” It wasn’t the whole truth, but hopefully it was enough to fool her Tin Man.
No such luck. “And?” he asked as he sat next to her on the couch.
She stared at the floor, not answering. When Cain nudged her with his elbow while saying her name in a tone that did not bode well for her, she gave in. “I didn’t think I had the right to complain because it’s all my fault.”
Empathy really was a handy ability, she decided. She could tell exactly what Cain was feeling, but she didn’t have to look at him, which was good, because she didn’t think she could face his incredulous expression right now.
“DG,” he began in a tone she couldn’t quite describe, “I already told you that you can’t blame yourself. You were just a kid.”
“But if it wasn’t for my curiosity, my tendency to go on adventures and get into trouble, none of this would have ever happened,” she said in a small voice.
Out of the corner of her eye, she could see that he was shaking his head. “That’s not what happened, kid. You forget: I’ve seen your memories. You heard a child crying for help. You were tricked, DG. You had no way of knowing what was going to happen.”
“I suppose,” she muttered, though she didn’t feel any less guilty. So what if she’d had good intentions - the road to hell was paved with those.
“I mean it, DG,” Cain said firmly as he grabbed her shoulders and turned her to face him. “The person who’s to blame for all of this is the witch. She tricked you, she possessed your sister, and she’s the one who did all those horrible things. If it hadn’t been you, she’d have tricked some other child and these things still would have happened. You have to let go of the guilt, DG.”
She could see his point, she really could, but it was one thing to know something intellectually, and another thing entirely to believe it deep down. But she knew he wouldn’t accept anything less than her agreeing to try and she didn’t want to find out how persistent he could be in this. She nodded. “I’ll try.” He stared into her eyes and, apparently satisfied with what he saw, squeezed her shoulders before letting go. But she wasn’t about to let him off so easy. “You have to try, too, Cain.”
He looked back at her, startled. “Try what?” he asked cautiously.
DG fought the urge to roll her eyes. Now he was deliberately being dense. “You have to try to let go of the guilt, too. You did what you thought was right and it turned out badly. You can’t change any of that and it wasn’t your fault. It was the witch’s fault, not yours. You have nothing to be guilty about.”
Cain frowned and DG could tell that another fight was brewing. He wasn’t ready to hear that yet. Well, there was time to work on it later. Before he could speak, she said, “Why don’t we make a deal?”
He looked at her suspiciously. “What sort of deal?”
She smirked slightly. “I think we just proved that if we bottle things up, we’re going to explode, and I really don’t want to go through this again. So let’s make a deal: we watch out for each other and don’t let each other bottle things up too much.” She stuck out her hand. “Deal?”
He stared thoughtfully at her hand a moment before clasping it within his. “Deal,” he said.
DG sighed in relief. “Good.” He started to let go of her hand, but she tightened her grip, causing him to look at her quizzically. Taking a deep breath, she forced herself to meet his eyes. “I’m sorry for all those things I said, Cain. I didn’t mean them.”
Cain squeezed her hand gently as his expression softened. He said, “I’m sorry, too, DG. I….” he trailed off, but it was enough for DG. Smiling for what felt like the first time in ages, she let go of his hand and threw her arms around him in a relieved hug, not even trying to suppress the happiness she felt when he tightened his arms around her. They really were okay.
He pulled back and smirked at her. “Come on, kid. Let’s go see what trouble the Zipperhead’s going to get us into.”
She laughed, letting him pull her off the couch and out of the room. Time to deal with the next crisis.
TBC