Title: Pixie Sticks

Authors: Buffybot76 and FeistyFox
Characters/Pairing: Cain, DG, Glitch, Raw and Toto, eventual Cain/DG

Summary: DG discovers that pretty flowers can lead to a fate worse than death in the O.Z. Comedy ensues…
Rating: R to be safe
Disclaimer: We don't own Tin Man. All the characters herein are owned by the SciFi network. We're just playing in their sandbox.
Word Count: 1,712

Author's Note 1: Hi, everyone! Well, this is my very first Tin Man fic that I've co-written with FeistyFox, whom I met when I offered to beta her Cain/DG fic Path Less Chosen. We got along well and I had this idea but wasn't comfortable enough to write it on my own, so we decided to work on it together. I hope you all enjoy it so far. Next part will be up as soon as we're done writing it.

Author's Note 2: Hope everyone enjoys this one seeing as it was so much fun to write. Apparently Rose and I share half of the same brain so we had a good time. Stay tuned for the next exciting installment of Pixie Sticks!

- Part 1 -

It had started out as such a nice trip. All DG had wanted was a week for herself and her friends at Finaqua before she had to start running the country. Before Glitch got his brain - and possibly - his old personality restored, before Raw left and Cain went to visit with his son. But alas, things rarely went as planned. As it was, DG knew she was screwed the moment the sparkly cloud around her had dissipated enough so that she take in her surroundings.

"Oh, you have got to be kidding me!" she shouted in disbelief.

She was… tiny! All around her, shrubs towered above her like trees whereas only seconds before they'd barely reached her ankles. She could hear the sounds of her friend's thunderous voices shouting for her overhead. They were only a few feet away from where she'd been standing when she'd happened upon the unusual looking flower that had emitted the cloud resulting in her current predicament.

She really needed to learn that looking was safer than touching in the O.Z.

"Well," the now five-inch tall DG shouted from somewhere amongst the exotic foliage, "Isn't this a happy development. Not!"

Cain, Glitch and Raw looked around themselves as they attempted to keep from stepping on the tiny princess.

"DG," Glitch called out as he made a tight circle while scouring the ground around his feet. "Where are you?"

"I'm over here," came the tiny response, accompanied by the sound of rusting grass.

"Just stay put and keep talking, kiddo," Cain added, his brow furrowed in worry. "We'll find you."

"'Stay put' he says," DG grumbled as she kicked the ground, annoyed, before yelling into the air. "Attention all ants and scorpions! If you're plannin' on havin' a royal smackdown, do it SOMEWHERE ELSE!" Rolling her eyes, she scanned the space above her, half expecting to see Glitch come into view wearing a bicycle helmet with an attached magnifying glass.

Gazing up from the grain of sand she had been pummeling she came face to face with a giant moist wall. 'What the hell?' was all she had time to think before it tried to inhale her.

"Whoa!" she shouted, clinging to the nearest blade of grass to keep from getting sucked into the dual portals of DOOM. "Toto, no! Bad dog! No sniffing the princess!"

Before the overeager vacuum could inhale her she found herself partially engulfed by a large blond colored paw. She was treated to a nice dose of vertigo as she was lifted up through the air at great speed, resulting in her losing her footing on Raw's uneven palm and landing hard on her back. That's when she felt something poking at her shoulder blades. Raw really needed to lose the gloves big time.

When the wild ascent ceased, she was looking into Raw's kind, warm, - and at the moment – giant gaze. He appeared to be worried. To say this was not comforting would have been the understatement of the year. Hoisting herself up, she grabbed his thumb for balance but remained kneeling on his open palm. "Thanks, Raw."

"DG very tiny, but Raw still feel very strongly." The Viewer said this proudly and DG guessed it was a good thing. Before she could congratulate him, two more giants surrounded her. Glitch's nose was suddenly so close that she squawked and punched it with her tiny fist.

"Back off, Glitch! I'm going to get a phobia!" The poor man was so surprised; he tripped over backwards, hitting the ground. 'Great,' she thought, now she was small andfelt bad. "Sorry!" She called to her fallen friend as she heard Cain's amused snort. The Tin Man leaned a bit closer to her, but made sure to stay out of her very short reach.

"How do you manage to get yourself into these situations, Princess?"

"What?!" She jumped to her feet and, stalking as close to Cain as she could on Raw's fingertips, started waving her arms about wildly. "Look at me, Cain! I don't even know what happened! I was just walking along, minding my own business when suddenly this flower exploded on me! Next thing I know, I'm in miniature! And… why do you always assume I did something? That's so unfair! I'm totally innocent here!"

By this time, Glitch had gotten back to his feet and was dusting himself off. "Well, technically, Doll, you did do something." He confessed, interrupting DG's tirade.

Why? Why would no one help her? The mini-Princess huffed as she crossed her arms and glared at the scientist. "What did I do, then?"

"Oh, you set off a pixie trap!" He stated happily.

"No freaking way! How can you tell?" DG exclaimed loudly, her arms falling limply to her sides before her face scrunched up in puzzlement. "Wait, pixies exist?"

All three men gave her the look she usually got when she'd said something completely Other Side-ish. Cain shot a glance at Raw and Glitch smiled brightly, delighted he had the answer to her questions.

"You have wings, of course!"

DG twisted her neck so fast it cracked. She sucked in a breath. Son of a… she did have wings! They strongly resembled dragonfly wings but were placed at a different angle on her back. They were classic, freaking fairy, wings! They were all shimmery and shiny. And worst of all, they were pink. For crying out loud, why pink of all things! She wailed in despair as she sat on Raw's fingers with a tiny thump, burying her face in her hands.

'This is so fucked up.' She thought miserably.

Raw rumbled. "DG no be sad. Cain can fix."

Her head snapped up and she gazed adoringly at two giant, ice blue eyes, hope filling her chest. "Really? You can make me normal sized again!"

Cain's head reared back in sudden alarm. He looked as if Raw had just punched him in the gut. "What? I don't think so."

DG's heart sank again. She pushed her hair out of her face and her hands bumped her ears. Wait. She explored them more closely. They were delicately pointed. 'Oh, hell no!' Well, she could safely say that she'd found something even more humiliating than being a princess. Being a pixie had that beat, hands down.

This was absolutely horrid and definitely called for desperate measures. Crawling back up on her knees, DG put on her saddest, most pathetically hopeless expression and gazed at Cain. "Please, Mister Cain. I have pointy ears." She drew her hair back with one hand and pointed with the other. "Pointy! And pink wings? I haven't owned anything pink, in like, ever. Please fix me!"

Cain gave an exaggerated sigh and rolled his eyes. "I'm no magic user, Kid. Just what do you expect me to do?"

"Oh, well that's easy! You just have to..." Glitch's voice trailed off and a blank expression overcame his face. "Uh... well... hmm." Both Cain and Raw groaned as DG slapped a hand over her eyes in frustration. Toto whined. 'Damn,' he never should have let his guard down during lessons. They could really use him in human form at the moment but DG had accidentally hit him with that stasis spell and it would take days to wear off!

Cain tugged at the brim of his fedora, thinking. He gazed from the road to DG and then back down the road. He sighed. She thought he was being melodramatic. "Well, we might as well keep going while we try to figure this out. All we're doing is losing daylight."

With that he turned from her and started to walk off. Still on her knees in the 'you have got to help me' pose, she became indignant. He had totally just snubbed her in her most desperate hour. Dropping her hair back to cover her newly pointy ears, she leapt up. "Hey! Get back here this instant! Do you think I would just leave you if you were suddenly pixiefied?" Toto had started barking like mad and Glitch was making little happy noises. Cain had paused mid-stride to comment but stopped once he was facing her.

"What is it now?"

Raw rumbled contentedly behind her. "DG learn very fast. Flying already."

DG glanced down and realized with a gasp that she'd inadvertently taken flight and was now hovering at least five feet in the air. She panicked, and then fell with a screech. Luckily, she was snatched up before she could hit the ground. She gripped her warm safety net, refusing to let go or open her eyes.

She felt a large thin finger pat her head gently. "You should never question your rhythm, Doll." Glitch said, humming happily, the vibration of it running through her body. She cracked an eye open and whimpered when she found herself clinging to Glitch, her arms wrapped tightly around his wrist. Her feet were being supported by the last joints of his fingers while her cheek pressed against the base of his palm. Apparently her wings were like an anxiety meter because they were fluttering sporadically.

"This is so humiliating!" DG moaned pitifully as she released Glitch's wrist and crawled back up to her feet again.

With a sigh of exasperation Cain walked over to Glitch and held out his hand. "Give her to me. The last thing we need is for her to flutter off and get eaten by a mobat."

Carefully, Glitch passed the still grumbling DG over to the Tin Man. "Hey there is no way I'm letting you manhandle me all the way to Finaqua!" He glared down at her with icy eyes as if she were purposely making things more difficult. After a moment's thought he reached up to deposit her onto the brim of his hat.

Well, this was kinda cool. She felt like she was on a plateau. One that swayed a lot. But, hey, the view was pretty wicked. She thought she could enjoy this. "Just don't wander off up there, Princess." It was not a request. She crossed her arms and pouted at him before realizing the futility of the action, as he couldn't see her. She finally settled on kicking the brim of his hat.

Cain ignored her.