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Fic: Follow You Home (2/2)
Title: Follow You Home
Author: Erin (erinm_4600)
Characters, Pairing: Cain and DG, but if you saw 'em in the miniseries, they're here or mentioned. Plus some OCs
Rating: PG
Summary: n_e_star wanted a fic where DG goes back to the Other Side and Cain follows her. I'll get a better summary later.
Warning: post-series. This is really just the Teaser. It's in two parts.
Disclaimer: The original characters belong to L. Frank Baum and their respective actors. The current characters belong to Sci-Fi, the movie folks and their respective actors. The rest of 'em are mine. Title comes from song of same name by Nickelback.
Prologue: Part One . Part Two
California Queen | California Tin | California Sun
Five | Waking Up (CaliSun 20.2) | Almost Like Being in Love (CaliSun 24.5) | An Hour and 45 Minutes | Hava Nagila | Unexpected
Cain stuck his head into Glitch's lab and saw Raw watching the scientist fiddling with some mechanical device. He moved in and placed a hand on either man's shoulder and gave them each a smile and nod as they turned to look at him.
"Should have seen-" Raw started with a frown. Cain let go of Glitch and moved his other hand to Raw's other shoulder. Giving the Viewer a slight shake, Cain leaned down slightly to eye-level.
"It's not your fault." Raw nodded, but Cain could tell the man didn't believe it, so while he turned to look at Glitch, Cain continued to hold on to Raw and give him encouragement. "Do you know where she went?" Glitch shook his head.
"I've read everything about travel storms. They require magic to work; usually the person who conjures it has magic in them. However, it's been proven that anyone can conjure a storm, as long as there's someone with magic at the destination. The problem seems to be in the steering. We went to the prison to ask the Longcoats how they managed to control the things, but, as you might expect, they weren't very forthcoming. Azkadellia said that the witch could direct the storms same as you would drive a truck, but she'd had how many annuals of practice?" Glitch asked with a shrug, not really expecting an answer.
"And no one noticed DG playing with travel storms?" Cain asked, finally letting go of Raw as Glitch moved to the other side of his lab. Cain could see stacks of books from the library, as well as some he was sure were not part of the royal collection. Glitch shook his head and glanced back to the item he'd been working on.
"I've been trying to build a device that will detect magic."
"The Other Side isn't the Zone, Glitch. What makes you think that DG's magic even works over there? She didn't even know she had magic until Tutor showed her," Cain pointed out, causing Glitch to turn and raise a finger.
"Because we're having this conversation, Cain." Cain cocked his head slightly and shot a look to Raw, who shrugged. "The Longcoats used a travel storm to go to the other side and find DG, and that same storm brought her back here. Then we all met and had our adventure and here we are," Glitch said with a huff and threw his hands up as if the explanation was obvious.
"If DG's magic didn't work, the storm would never have found her and she would have never saved any of us and we wouldn't be having this conversation. So, it has to work." Glitch nodded at the end for emphasis, not wanting to admit to either of them that he didn't know if a storm would work twice.
Glitch was explaining the basic science behind the travel storm for Cain's benefit when Ahamo arrived with Hank in tow. "How does the storm know it's safe to touch down? DG said that storms like that usually cause a panic." Glitch shrugged, because he really didn't have an answer for that.
"Just make sure you go at night," Hank threw out. "Folks can't see it..." His hands were in his pockets and he rocked slightly on his heels. Ahamo nodded between Hank and Cain.
"Hank, here, has offered to help prepare you for the Other Side." Cain nodded to Hank and watched Glitch dive under the table for a piece of his 'DG-detector' for a moment before looking back to Hank.
"How hard can it be?" he asked with a shrug.
"Without knowing where DG is, exactly," Ahamo started then shook his head. "The state I grew up in is... three times the size of the Zone." Cain took a moment to do the math in his head. "And there are forty-eight states - many smaller and some much larger - not to mention Canada and Mexico."
"And that's assuming she's still in the States," Hank added, turning to Ahamo. Everyone looked at him, causing Hank to stammer slightly. "Well, the day we came over," he waved. "Deej and Em were arguing about her wanting to go to Australia." Ahamo sighed heavily and looked to the ceiling.
"What's the problem?" Cain asked, seeing the shared look between the two men. Ahamo rubbed at his jaw and looked back to Cain.
"Well, it takes a lot more to cross an ocean than it does a river or a lake," he said with a nod toward the window and the view of the lake to the south.
"'course, she had no cash when she went," Hank said with a nod. "So she wouldn't have been able to get a ticket right off."
"Seven cycles," Cain pointed out. Ahamo and Hank looked at each other and nodded.
"What are the chances she went back to the farmhouse?" Ahamo asked Hank. "She didn't take much in the way of clothes, so maybe she stopped there and-" Even Glitch shook his head at that assumption.
"We've been gone too long," Hank said, shaking his head. "She'd have far too much to explain to Gulch and the folks at the Hilltop. If she did go to there, it was long enough to get her bike, assuming it was still there." Cain had tuned the men out and was now considering the ways this could go wrong, aside from finding DG - as he wouldn't stop until he found her and wrung her neck. Even if the storm dropped him within a few yards, he'd still have to grab her and drag her into the storm.
But what if she wasn't right near the touchdown point? Would the storm just sit there and spin until he returned? What if it dissipated before he could find DG? He had no idea how to conjure another one, let alone have the magic required to do so.
"How Cain return?" Raw asked, hearing the thoughts running through Cain's mind. Hank looked to Ahamo and both men looked to Glitch.
"Maybe we're looking at this the wrong way," Ahamo said with a slight smile. "What if it isn't that she doesn't want to come back, but that she can't?" And that opened up a whole new set of possibilities for Cain's overactive imagination. Suddenly, he imagined that DG assumed they had abandoned her there and wouldn’t even give him the time of day.
'What if you get there and find her and neither of you can get back. Then you'll be stuck in a strange land and you won't know how to act or what to say and-' And then everything made sense; Cain knew why DG left and he couldn't be angry with her. Well, he could be angry that she went without telling him, but not for why she went.
Feeling a set of eyes on him, Cain looked up and saw Raw staring at him, understanding written all over the Viewer's face.
'Still,' Cain directed to Raw, unsure if he'd actually heard the thoughts or had just figured it out for himself. 'She should have told me.' Raw cocked his head to one side and gave Cain a look.
Glitch looked back to the device and then jumped. "I need to talk to Azkadellia about this." He breezed past Hank and Ahamo, who nodded to each other and followed him out, leaving Cain and Raw to trail behind. Cain breathed heavily again and had taken one step toward the door when Raw caught his arm.
"Why Cain care?" he asked simply, referring to Cain's last thought. Cain looked away as he wondered the same thing. Why did the fact that DG left without saying anything bother him so much? When he left, he'd given her the courtesy of telling her, not that he needed her permission, of course. She'd wished him well and seen him off, so why did she think he wouldn't give her the same response.
'Because you wouldn't,' his brain answered. 'You would have locked her in her room to keep her from going anywhere.'
Why was he so concerned? He wasn't her father or her brother; she was an adult and surely didn't still need him to keep her out of trouble. Not that he could have kept her out of trouble anyway. Why did he think he was the only one capable of protecting her? She had proven, over and over in the first week they'd met, that she could handle herself in any situation, hadn't she?
He'd made a promise, though. Maybe he was still running off the delusion that he had some duty to fulfill.
Hank and Emily had taken to scouring the city for some clothes that Cain could wear so that he wouldn't stick out like a sore thumb, regardless of where the Travel Storm dropped him. He wasn't too happy about giving up his duster, his vest or his gun. He absolutely drew the line at his fedora. When Emily told him that the hat would make him stand out in a crowd, he rather childishly conceded.
In case someone asked, Hank suggested that Cain stick with the Tin Man-angle and reminded him that the proper Other Side-term was either policeman or sheriff and Emily used her inherent skills to fashion him a passable badge, as long as no one looked too closely.
Glitch had demanded to go along, in case there was a problem conjuring the storm, but Cain convinced him to stay. "From everything they've told us," Cain said, nodding toward the Nurture Units. "Your zipper would be rather difficult to explain." Glitch let his shoulders slump and Cain slapped him on the back in a brotherly-fashion. "'sides, you'd have better luck summoning a storm from this side." Glitch nodded and smiled before he turned back to the table.
"You'll need this, in case DG is farther from the exit point than we assumed," he said, passing a small, rectangular device to Cain. Cain rotated the thing around, not sure which way was up. Glitch pointed to a small bulb and looked back to the table. "When you're getting close, that should light up. Can't get more specific with it, I'm afraid." Glitch motioned to his head and laughed. "Can't remember how."
Cain nodded and gave Glitch a smile. "You don't hear from me in four days..."
Glitch nodded and repeated his instructions for the fourth time in an hour: "Wait another day... then send Hank and Emily."
Cain nodded and secured the device in the pocket of his jacket. "Right. We don't need all of us stuck over there." Taking a deep breath, Cain patted each of his pockets once and looked to his friend. "I'll find her."
Glitch gave him a nod but didn't respond. Instead, he moved to the door and held it open for Cain.
Cain stepped out of the travel storm and had a few seconds of heavy breathing as he watched the storm dissipate. No amount of describing the feeling could accurately reflect the feeling that that particular mode of transportation left in one's stomach, he noted. Hopefully, he would only have to experience it once more in his lifetime, because he wasn't terribly fond of it.
Hank, Emily and Ahamo had given him a crash course, as they called it, in the Other Side, trying to cover as many bases as they could think of. He glanced up and noted that there were stars in the sky, and he could see a glow in the east - sunrise would likely be in a few hours. He remembered that there would only be one sun here, instead of the two he was used to. Looking ahead, Cain could make out average-sized brush, as well as trees off in the distance.
He was on a slight incline and took a moment to breathe deeply. The air was most definitely different, but he could breathe. Turning to his right slightly, Cain's eyes went wide and he did a double-take. Eyes still wide, Cain turned slowly and took in the sight below him. Hank and Emily had suggested that he would cross over into a populated area, but this was impossible.
Below Wyatt Cain, the cities and towns of Greater Los Angeles were preparing for another day.
Author: Erin (erinm_4600)
Characters, Pairing: Cain and DG, but if you saw 'em in the miniseries, they're here or mentioned. Plus some OCs
Rating: PG
Summary: n_e_star wanted a fic where DG goes back to the Other Side and Cain follows her. I'll get a better summary later.
Warning: post-series. This is really just the Teaser. It's in two parts.
Disclaimer: The original characters belong to L. Frank Baum and their respective actors. The current characters belong to Sci-Fi, the movie folks and their respective actors. The rest of 'em are mine. Title comes from song of same name by Nickelback.
Prologue: Part One . Part Two
California Queen | California Tin | California Sun
Five | Waking Up (CaliSun 20.2) | Almost Like Being in Love (CaliSun 24.5) | An Hour and 45 Minutes | Hava Nagila | Unexpected
Cain stuck his head into Glitch's lab and saw Raw watching the scientist fiddling with some mechanical device. He moved in and placed a hand on either man's shoulder and gave them each a smile and nod as they turned to look at him.
"Should have seen-" Raw started with a frown. Cain let go of Glitch and moved his other hand to Raw's other shoulder. Giving the Viewer a slight shake, Cain leaned down slightly to eye-level.
"It's not your fault." Raw nodded, but Cain could tell the man didn't believe it, so while he turned to look at Glitch, Cain continued to hold on to Raw and give him encouragement. "Do you know where she went?" Glitch shook his head.
"I've read everything about travel storms. They require magic to work; usually the person who conjures it has magic in them. However, it's been proven that anyone can conjure a storm, as long as there's someone with magic at the destination. The problem seems to be in the steering. We went to the prison to ask the Longcoats how they managed to control the things, but, as you might expect, they weren't very forthcoming. Azkadellia said that the witch could direct the storms same as you would drive a truck, but she'd had how many annuals of practice?" Glitch asked with a shrug, not really expecting an answer.
"And no one noticed DG playing with travel storms?" Cain asked, finally letting go of Raw as Glitch moved to the other side of his lab. Cain could see stacks of books from the library, as well as some he was sure were not part of the royal collection. Glitch shook his head and glanced back to the item he'd been working on.
"I've been trying to build a device that will detect magic."
"The Other Side isn't the Zone, Glitch. What makes you think that DG's magic even works over there? She didn't even know she had magic until Tutor showed her," Cain pointed out, causing Glitch to turn and raise a finger.
"Because we're having this conversation, Cain." Cain cocked his head slightly and shot a look to Raw, who shrugged. "The Longcoats used a travel storm to go to the other side and find DG, and that same storm brought her back here. Then we all met and had our adventure and here we are," Glitch said with a huff and threw his hands up as if the explanation was obvious.
"If DG's magic didn't work, the storm would never have found her and she would have never saved any of us and we wouldn't be having this conversation. So, it has to work." Glitch nodded at the end for emphasis, not wanting to admit to either of them that he didn't know if a storm would work twice.
Glitch was explaining the basic science behind the travel storm for Cain's benefit when Ahamo arrived with Hank in tow. "How does the storm know it's safe to touch down? DG said that storms like that usually cause a panic." Glitch shrugged, because he really didn't have an answer for that.
"Just make sure you go at night," Hank threw out. "Folks can't see it..." His hands were in his pockets and he rocked slightly on his heels. Ahamo nodded between Hank and Cain.
"Hank, here, has offered to help prepare you for the Other Side." Cain nodded to Hank and watched Glitch dive under the table for a piece of his 'DG-detector' for a moment before looking back to Hank.
"How hard can it be?" he asked with a shrug.
"Without knowing where DG is, exactly," Ahamo started then shook his head. "The state I grew up in is... three times the size of the Zone." Cain took a moment to do the math in his head. "And there are forty-eight states - many smaller and some much larger - not to mention Canada and Mexico."
"And that's assuming she's still in the States," Hank added, turning to Ahamo. Everyone looked at him, causing Hank to stammer slightly. "Well, the day we came over," he waved. "Deej and Em were arguing about her wanting to go to Australia." Ahamo sighed heavily and looked to the ceiling.
"What's the problem?" Cain asked, seeing the shared look between the two men. Ahamo rubbed at his jaw and looked back to Cain.
"Well, it takes a lot more to cross an ocean than it does a river or a lake," he said with a nod toward the window and the view of the lake to the south.
"'course, she had no cash when she went," Hank said with a nod. "So she wouldn't have been able to get a ticket right off."
"Seven cycles," Cain pointed out. Ahamo and Hank looked at each other and nodded.
"What are the chances she went back to the farmhouse?" Ahamo asked Hank. "She didn't take much in the way of clothes, so maybe she stopped there and-" Even Glitch shook his head at that assumption.
"We've been gone too long," Hank said, shaking his head. "She'd have far too much to explain to Gulch and the folks at the Hilltop. If she did go to there, it was long enough to get her bike, assuming it was still there." Cain had tuned the men out and was now considering the ways this could go wrong, aside from finding DG - as he wouldn't stop until he found her and wrung her neck. Even if the storm dropped him within a few yards, he'd still have to grab her and drag her into the storm.
But what if she wasn't right near the touchdown point? Would the storm just sit there and spin until he returned? What if it dissipated before he could find DG? He had no idea how to conjure another one, let alone have the magic required to do so.
"How Cain return?" Raw asked, hearing the thoughts running through Cain's mind. Hank looked to Ahamo and both men looked to Glitch.
"Maybe we're looking at this the wrong way," Ahamo said with a slight smile. "What if it isn't that she doesn't want to come back, but that she can't?" And that opened up a whole new set of possibilities for Cain's overactive imagination. Suddenly, he imagined that DG assumed they had abandoned her there and wouldn’t even give him the time of day.
'What if you get there and find her and neither of you can get back. Then you'll be stuck in a strange land and you won't know how to act or what to say and-' And then everything made sense; Cain knew why DG left and he couldn't be angry with her. Well, he could be angry that she went without telling him, but not for why she went.
Feeling a set of eyes on him, Cain looked up and saw Raw staring at him, understanding written all over the Viewer's face.
'Still,' Cain directed to Raw, unsure if he'd actually heard the thoughts or had just figured it out for himself. 'She should have told me.' Raw cocked his head to one side and gave Cain a look.
Glitch looked back to the device and then jumped. "I need to talk to Azkadellia about this." He breezed past Hank and Ahamo, who nodded to each other and followed him out, leaving Cain and Raw to trail behind. Cain breathed heavily again and had taken one step toward the door when Raw caught his arm.
"Why Cain care?" he asked simply, referring to Cain's last thought. Cain looked away as he wondered the same thing. Why did the fact that DG left without saying anything bother him so much? When he left, he'd given her the courtesy of telling her, not that he needed her permission, of course. She'd wished him well and seen him off, so why did she think he wouldn't give her the same response.
'Because you wouldn't,' his brain answered. 'You would have locked her in her room to keep her from going anywhere.'
Why was he so concerned? He wasn't her father or her brother; she was an adult and surely didn't still need him to keep her out of trouble. Not that he could have kept her out of trouble anyway. Why did he think he was the only one capable of protecting her? She had proven, over and over in the first week they'd met, that she could handle herself in any situation, hadn't she?
He'd made a promise, though. Maybe he was still running off the delusion that he had some duty to fulfill.
Hank and Emily had taken to scouring the city for some clothes that Cain could wear so that he wouldn't stick out like a sore thumb, regardless of where the Travel Storm dropped him. He wasn't too happy about giving up his duster, his vest or his gun. He absolutely drew the line at his fedora. When Emily told him that the hat would make him stand out in a crowd, he rather childishly conceded.
In case someone asked, Hank suggested that Cain stick with the Tin Man-angle and reminded him that the proper Other Side-term was either policeman or sheriff and Emily used her inherent skills to fashion him a passable badge, as long as no one looked too closely.
Glitch had demanded to go along, in case there was a problem conjuring the storm, but Cain convinced him to stay. "From everything they've told us," Cain said, nodding toward the Nurture Units. "Your zipper would be rather difficult to explain." Glitch let his shoulders slump and Cain slapped him on the back in a brotherly-fashion. "'sides, you'd have better luck summoning a storm from this side." Glitch nodded and smiled before he turned back to the table.
"You'll need this, in case DG is farther from the exit point than we assumed," he said, passing a small, rectangular device to Cain. Cain rotated the thing around, not sure which way was up. Glitch pointed to a small bulb and looked back to the table. "When you're getting close, that should light up. Can't get more specific with it, I'm afraid." Glitch motioned to his head and laughed. "Can't remember how."
Cain nodded and gave Glitch a smile. "You don't hear from me in four days..."
Glitch nodded and repeated his instructions for the fourth time in an hour: "Wait another day... then send Hank and Emily."
Cain nodded and secured the device in the pocket of his jacket. "Right. We don't need all of us stuck over there." Taking a deep breath, Cain patted each of his pockets once and looked to his friend. "I'll find her."
Glitch gave him a nod but didn't respond. Instead, he moved to the door and held it open for Cain.
Cain stepped out of the travel storm and had a few seconds of heavy breathing as he watched the storm dissipate. No amount of describing the feeling could accurately reflect the feeling that that particular mode of transportation left in one's stomach, he noted. Hopefully, he would only have to experience it once more in his lifetime, because he wasn't terribly fond of it.
Hank, Emily and Ahamo had given him a crash course, as they called it, in the Other Side, trying to cover as many bases as they could think of. He glanced up and noted that there were stars in the sky, and he could see a glow in the east - sunrise would likely be in a few hours. He remembered that there would only be one sun here, instead of the two he was used to. Looking ahead, Cain could make out average-sized brush, as well as trees off in the distance.
He was on a slight incline and took a moment to breathe deeply. The air was most definitely different, but he could breathe. Turning to his right slightly, Cain's eyes went wide and he did a double-take. Eyes still wide, Cain turned slowly and took in the sight below him. Hank and Emily had suggested that he would cross over into a populated area, but this was impossible.
Below Wyatt Cain, the cities and towns of Greater Los Angeles were preparing for another day.