"Behind Blue Eyes" by Kitty Rasputin

Disclaimer-I don't own Tin Man, but I'd do anything to own Cain.

Chapter 1-Anxious

Wyatt Cain felt more anxious than he had in a long time. He had given up that feeling, along with so many others, when he had been trapped in that tin hell Zero had stuffed him in. The suit had kept him alive, its magical properties keeping him from aging or wasting away. It was a torturous stasis that would barely let him move at all. His voice broke after the first hour of screaming Adora's name. All he could do after that was watch the scene replay over and over and think about what he could have done to protect his family. It wasn't long before that became too painful. He stopped allowing himself to think or care about anything. The only thought that kept him from going insane was going after Zero and getting his revenge.

Now, though, all of the feelings he thought he had locked away were coming back to haunt him. He didn't let them show because he knew it was a luxury he couldn't afford, but he could tell they were affecting his actions. If he'd been thinking straight, hell, if he'd been thinking at all, he would have been protecting DG. Instead, he had tried to confront Zero. It was the shock from the news he'd been told that caused him to slip. He was preparing himself to beat up all three of the Longcoats when Zero told him something he never could have expected. His family was alive. Being shot and falling through a glass window and a frozen lake had been agonizingly painful, but he'd pushed past it. Just a few days before, he would have been grateful to die. Now, there was a strange emotion forcing him to push on: hope.

Cain didn't remember pulling himself out of the lake. He didn't remember Glitch dragging him back to the safety of the wagon. What Wyatt Cain did remember were the dreams.

In these dreams, Adora and Jeb smiled at him. It was the day that he had joined the resistance. His wife had been so proud of him for standing up for what he believed in. They'd both known that, no matter what happened, it was the right thing to do.

"Don't give up on your friends. They're stronger than you think. They will survive Azkadellia's Longcoats. She can't break everybody." Adora's words to comfort him when the Longcoats had attacked the Tin Men had done little to ease his mind. Now, though, he thought of his recent traveling companions. They had to survive, especially DG. If she didn't, then all hope for the O.Z. was lost.

Abruptly, the dream had changed. The Longcoats had burst through the door of his cabin while they were in the middle of dinner. Cain had managed to reach his gun and shoot two of them before the others pulled it out of his hands. They had dragged the entire family outside where Zero was waiting with a smirk on his face. It was the same scene he had watched for so many annuals and it hurt him again to realize he hadn't been able to protect them.

Then, it was DG he saw in his dreams. He hadn't been able to protect her either. He swore, knowing that he hadn't even tried, despite his promise to the Mystic Man. He could imagine her as she tried to fight off Azkadellia's minions. The girl had spunk, that was for sure, but even that wouldn't be able to save her from the mobats and the Longcoats.

When Cain had finally woken and Glitch told him what had happened, he had to make a quick decision. He could either go after his family or help to rescue DG. In the end, it really wasn't all that hard to decide. He had thought his family dead for the last ten years. A few more days without them wouldn't make much difference. On top of that, he knew that Azkadellia would have no qualms about killing her sister again once she got the information she wanted. It wasn't just that he had promised to look out for her or because he knew she was probably the only one that could stop her deranged sister from taking over the entire O.Z. DG had somehow wormed her way into his heart and Wyatt Cain vowed that he was not going to lose another person he cared about.