Disclaimer: Much to my regret I don't own it...

Chapter One: What Fears Lie In The Dark

Royal Palace, Central City

A chilling shiver rippled its way down her spine, the slender woman stirring slightly as she tugged the heavy blankets more firmly around her, pulling them securely into place, yet the freezing touch of ice slipped down into the warmth of her bed lingering against her skin. Tired vivid blue eyes flickered open slightly, dark circles smudged across the wan skin, brows suddenly knitting in confusion over the icy brush. Burying herself deeper into the blankets in a futile attempt to warm herself, DG pressed her face into the pillow, a low sound echoing from her lips frustrated and lost. Black locks twisted and knotted around her pale features, while her eyes drifted closed for a moment.

DG. A whisper quiet voice echoed in the darkness, jolting her firmly back awake, sitting up instantly her exhausted features were distorted by the heavy mark of confusion. A sudden wave of chills scored their way across her skin, bringing goosebumps to the pale white flesh even though the night was positively balmy, hot days having hovered over Central City for weeks.

"Cain?" Her voice cracked dryly, forehead dropping against her hand as a swarm of shivers skittered up her spine, making her yelp helplessly against them. The blankets offering her trembling body against the strange almost magical chills. The young woman swore the voice had been the Tin Man's… yet that was impossible… had he not left weeks ago?

DG? Again the husky tone, deep and resonate, but this time marked with a hint of… frustration… DG… No… it wasn't frustration, for the first time, that voice held a note of apprehension. The freezing chill that had been seeping into her flesh melted down into her very bones, hands instantly clutching the sheets, certain that it was definitely the Tin Man speaking her name…

Yet, in the dimness of her room, the firelight revealed the emptiness of it, aside from furniture and a few scattered belongings it was empty and lifeless. "This isn't funny, Tin Man." She hissed softly, head turning around, eyes narrowing in the sheltering darkness, remembering the last words they had shared… hers angry and stubborn… his cold… cold and so very calm. "Where are you?"

No answer, only silence responded to her words, and the soft chattering of her own teeth. Was it her mind playing tricks on her? Dragging up his voice to torment her further? Was his leaving not enough to hurt her?

DG!

A sudden wave of terror gripped her heart, tearing it from her chest at the cry of her name, the voice strained and tinged with a terrible pain and fear… yes… a deep overwhelming fear that suddenly twisted its way into her heart as she sprang from the bed, blood pounding through her ready to fight or flee… "CAIN?" His name was called through the darkness, her bare feet skittering across the floor as she was chasing after the wisps of his presence, the cold that had come suddenly cocooned her in its harsh embrace, yet she resisted its heavy pull, her magic sending the doors of her room crashing open onto the main corridor.

I'm sorry… The guilty and regretful tone rippled through her already pounding heart, twisting it painfully tight to hear such words in that husky rough voice… one that was fading quickly as if it were being carried away swiftly by the wind. …Forgive me…

"Cain?" She breathed out, skidding to a bodily stop as she crashed against the far wall, her bare feet sliding on the smooth polished marble stone of the corridor just outside her bedroom. "Stop it… Tin Man… Why are you apologising?" The Princess cried out, hearing her own voice reverberate down the long corridor. "Cain! Answer me!"

…So very sorry…

A storm of pain roared through her, as if tearing her literally limb from limb, a shriek of terror scorching through her and making it out from her lips, but it was not her pain… it was his… the deafening thud of her pounding heart in her ears as she sprinted down the corridor, knocking over things as she crashed through the darkness, clawing her way after that voice that was fading faster than she could get to it… "CAIN!" Her body suddenly crashed full force through a decorative window, sending shards of rainbow hued glass spraying out in a cloud around her, the sharp pieces slashing at her and cutting deeply into her feet… Her momentum carried her the last few steps to the railing of the balcony and almost over the edge… yet she did not care.

The distant sounds of guards and waking people were drowned out as she suddenly crumpled as her eyes flared wide, the assault of images crashed through her like she had the window, piercing into her mind… So much blood, pools sprayed across snow, the white dyed a brilliant scarlet, a face flashing before her eyes, bruised and battered, Wyatt Cain stared straight at her… straight there her, his features twisted into a grimace…

"…Wyatt…" DG's hands clutched at thin air, attempting to stretch out and reach him, tears suddenly stinging her glass-slashed cheeks, grasping to reach out for the man. Before the sound of a single gunshot snapped through her like a bolt of lightning, searing into her flesh, her hand pressing against her chest, feeling the blow as if it were real… but it was not her…

For a moment his icy blue eyes turned upwards slightly and met hers, her name being whispered soundlessly from his lips before his entire body went limp, expression lifeless and unchanged as she stared at a scene of ice cold stone and mountains and the man sprawled in the snow before her, for all the world quite dead… those eyes staring into hers unblinkingly now. A blossom of red slowly seeped across his shirt from a single small hole in the centre, spreading like a disease across his chest marking the small wound of a bullet that had killed the man.

"No…" This was a dream… a hellish nightmare her body had suddenly stopped feeling so cold… the lifeless feeling replacing it… This could not be true. It was just a nightmare… "Wyatt?"

Yet, this time there truly was no answer. Her magic spun out around her, stretching to touch the strange invisible link that had bound them for only a few moments… and touched the last wisps of it before it faded from her grasp, escaping through her fingers like a ghost.

"WYATT!" His name was a howling wail of pain and horror as she sank to her knees, her bruised skin being slashed by the piles of broken glass, yet it did not matter to her… her world came crashing down upon her, a wave of regrets and a deep felt guilt… Before the world seemed to spin madly around her, the hot warmth fluttering down over her skin, slowly pooling around her amongst the shards of glass was her own blood…

The faces of her family and the terrified expression of her friends greeted her as they suddenly found her, her lips mouthing the dead man's name over and over as tears streaked down her cheeks. Yet, somewhere in her heart… she couldn't believe it was true… he couldn't be dead… he couldn't leave her… alone… And the faces blurred harshly, just as the night swallowed her up in its powerful grip, sweeping her away into unconsciousness as she collapsed limply amongst the remains of the beautiful window torn asunder…

Three Months Earlier

"You can't." Her voice was whisper soft as she stood in the doorway, watching as the Tin Man was packing up his things into a simple leather satchel, it didn't take him long… there was barely anything in these rooms that he had been given after the Eclipse. Her blue eyes stared hard into his back, wishing desperately in her heart…

"I can and I am, Princess." He replied steely, back stiff and straight like a board, giving rise to the impression of a policeman standing tall and steady on duty, the cool and calculating presence of a Tin Man. "I have my reasons and they are none of your concern." The last of the things suddenly finding their way into the bag that was slung up over one shoulder, his hat shielding his eyes and his expression remained so very cold…

That made that azure gaze narrow sharply on his back, before a small hand was reaching out to lightly touch his hand, moving forwards and staring upwards to try to catch a glimpse of his face. But his hand stayed at his side, avoiding any contact with her, taking a step towards the door moving around her as he did so, yet small fingers did catch it, gripping it tight to keep him in place. "What if I asked you not to go?"

"I got orders, Kid. I got duties just like you do." His husky voice hid within it all the emotions that lurked beneath the stiff shell that had returned only a few days before, the one that was identical to the personality that had emerged from the iron maiden… driven and aloof… detached from everything around him.

"Duties?" That gaze was firmly on his pale ice blue eyes, her grip tightening on his arm, holding him in place as she put herself between him and the door. "Duties? That I become some kind of puppet on strings for my Mother? That I become something I know I am not."

For the first time he looked down at her, his expression remaining stiff and unmoved by her words. Where there had been for a few blissful days a welcoming half smile… a hint of concern or happiness… now there was nothing left for her in his eyes. Nothing but a field of frozen ice and a lifelessness that sent a frozen chill right the way through her. "You belong here, Kid. I'm certain it only seems uncomfortable for now, you will be happy here. I know it, so I am finished look after you."

"Liar." She snapped sharply, his words stinging her as if he had slapped her in the face. Yet she didn't catch the pain that flared in those pale eyes for only an instant, before her hand shoved him slightly in the middle of his chest, forcing him backwards a step. "Liar."

"You are an inconvenience." The words were said so simply, so… honestly, it jolted her backwards and her hand fell from his arm, her fingers curling into a tight fist. He couldn't mean that… it was impossible… He would never say that to her. "I have duties to attend to and you are in my way. Excuse me Princess."

"Cain?" Her voice quivered for a moment, luminous eyes staring upwards at him disbelieve crossing her features as he watched him. Where had the man she knew gone? The man that had come to her rescue… had made her feel… needed in some small way.

"You cannot expect me to remain here, while people out there have need of my services, your mother has given me a mission, one that is an honour to have received." Again he was avoiding her question with the words of duty and discipline, a Tin Man to the core… where there was no heart at all. "Do I have your leave to be dismissed, Princess?"

"Cain… please…" Questioning, searching for anything to grasp onto, to find a way to make him stay… he couldn't leave… Raw… Glitch… Azkadelia too had been sent away… each having a new life… without her in it. Leaving her to her lessons, to the swarms of suitors and nobles that were all wishing to use her for their own ends… also leaving her to her mother's expectations and rules, and her father's inability to ever see passed his wife to the daughter that had tried to gain even a little attention… a little affection in a world of etiquette and frills where no one cared. She had tried… she had honestly tried to do what she felt was expected of her… but as each thing was stripped away from her. All the things that made her… DG of Kansas, the quirky and stubborn woman that had a knack for finding trouble were stripped away leaving the lonely and despairing young woman behind. "Don't go."

"Am I dismissed, your highness?" He questioned again, his eyes not meeting hers, remaining stiff and formal.

"Then go!" She hissed at him, tears prickling their way to her eyes, her glare turning venomous towards him, "Get out of my sight. Get out! GET OUT!" And the moment those words left her lips, her heart that was clinging to the fragile affection she held for him were torn into tiny pieces. And her fall slowly into that pit of absolute despair was paved by her own makings…

And without another word… he vanished out of her life…

The first hints of consciousness hit her like a wave of bricks that were slowly crushing the life out of her, the sheer weight of them leaving her breathless and impossibly heavy. For long moments, her face twisted slightly in a grimace, each bone and sinew aching with a new spark of pain each time she shifted weakly. The darkness outside was hinting slowly towards dawn, the first fingers of light springing up across the sill of the window, but that was when she realised unlike other mornings she was far from being alone.

Whispered voices passed over her like a wet blanket, neither of the speakers even seeming to notice she was awake… the raw emotions of the nightmare stabbed through her soul, unlike the others that had plagued her, this one had felt so real… so believable that her heart twisted like a knife within her chest. Keeping her eyes closed, her mind was drifting struggling to bring the words into focus above her.

"… You are certain he's dead?" Came the soft voice of Lavender Eyes, the woman hovering in the dawning light, her vivid gaze turned towards the Royal Adviser that sat beside the bed, one hand lightly reaching out towards the cold one of the Princess, who kept herself deadly still at the light touch against her fingers.

"Yes." The word was squeezed out of Glitch as if rung from dry washing, "Yes… the news… came only moments ago." The hitch of pain in those words, the silent whisper of anguish marked each and every letter, for even though sometimes Glitch and the Tin Man had had their differences, they had become good friends in a way, and the news of the man's death had struck him hard. His pale hand clutched at DG's, clenching it so tight, his knuckles were a stark white against the dark sheets. "They found no body… but they were positive no one could have survived that… what was done…" A dry gasp for air, and a sharp tightening of the grip on her hand reflected the words that had been spoken by the resistance fighters that had arrived.

"I'm sorry to hear of this." The Queen's voice was still, calm… and so very collected, the woman retaining the regal bearing even though a man who had been one of the people that saved the Kingdom from destruction was now dead… somewhere lost amongst the mountains of that cold… cold… wasteland. "I will do all I can for his family… he was a loyal man. It is a regret to see such a life pass away."

Every word she spoke was like a hammer driving the nail deeper and deeper into DG's heart, even though Cain had left… even though months had passed… without a single word… hearing her speak so… so formally about Cain as if he were nothing more than another soldier that had lost his life sent her emotions spinning out onto thin ice. How could she say it so… so calmly?

"I'm afraid, this was all they found…" A third voice added, nervous and twittery, a soldier who had been one of those who had brought the news as he stepped through the doorway, his eyes flickering between the three people, depositing the item onto the edge of the bed, before he lost his nerve and retreated out the doorway.

"No." A sharp sound came from the usually infinitely cheerful Glitch, his voice unusually marked by the rough sound of unshed and hidden tears. "So… it is true… he is dead."

The faint scent of gunpowder filled her nose, the metallic tang of cleaned metal and cleaning grease assaulted her nose… She knew that scent… and the distinct hint of leather… Her eyes flared open, startling both occupants of the room, before she lunged for the battered and blood stained duster resting on the edge of the bed, the material dragging slightly with the weight of the gun tucked into its folds.

"No." Her brilliant blue eyes were wide and staring into Glitch's, the fabric suddenly being tugged sharply into her arms, her face burying against the time worn leather, one hand closing around the cold metal of the pistol, feeling a thin thread of hope weave its way through her. "He can't be!" Her arms tightened around the prized objects that had once belonged to the Tin Man, her blue eyes narrowed and a sudden jolt of magic sizzled through the air, forcefully shoving back both her friend and the person she was meant to call mother… "He is alive."

The once cheerful and quirky girl who had arrived in the O.Z as a strange traveller, who had battled a witch… survived countless dangers had been turned into a lonely, despairing soul that had lost so much as her parents had slowly stripped away everything of meaning from her life… in the name of doing what was right for her. They had driven him away… and he had followed their orders… leaving her behind leaving her alone in this place… This world that had held so much charm now cast another darker spell upon her, it had taken away the one thing she had clung to in the dark sleepless nights where only nightmare would keep her company. Cain.

"My Angel?" The Queen's wide lavender eyes stared down at what had become of her daughter, one marred by tiny scarred cuts, who's eyes made her take a physical step back. "Please… I know he was your… friend… But you must understand that he…"

"My friend?" DG snapped sharply cutting her mother off, those blue eyes staring at the woman, forgetting that there was another person in the room. "My friend?" The grip on the items was tightened, having seen that the queen was quite intent on removing them from the younger woman's possession. "What do you know about my friends? What do you know about anything?!"

"Enough!" The woman snapped, those bright violet eyes narrowing sharply at her younger daughter, enraged at being spoken too in such a manner. "What right do you have to speak to me in that manner, I am your mother."

"My mother?" The haunting nightmare of the night was real… the long slashing scars that peppered her hands showed all too well… that it had been real. Was Cain really dead? He couldn't be… a part of her screamed it, no matter what she had seen… she knew he was out there… somewhere… hurting… "You are not my mother… I don't even know you. You treat me as if I am nothing… Nothing but a child... Someone that will take each of your instructions without question."

Suddenly the mirror in the bathroom shattered with a deafening crash, the magic coiling around her like a snake, spitting and hissing madly, rising alongside her anger, her anguish and pain… The tinkle of glass floating across the tiles, before another mirror followed close behind, spraying a wall of glass out into the room just behind the Queen.

"I give that you might be grieving right now, DG…"

A hand reached out to lightly touch her shoulder, snapping her around to stare into Glitch's startled and anguished features, his worry and deep concern marking deep lines along his pale face. "DG…"

"Shut up!" She screamed at both of them, pushing away the concerned hand of her friend, bolting from the bed, her legs almost giving out under her as the Queen took several steps after her as she fled into the bathroom, unable to stand there and take any more of their words… the door slamming hard behind her and the lock clicked hard into place. The woman slowly slide down the inside of the door, her entire body shuddering with heavy sobs thick tears sliding out from beneath her lashes, while she could hear her mother knocking on the door, the vibrations running down through the wood.

"Come out here now, young lady."

"Never." DG growled back, her face buried against the collar of the leather duster, the deep brown leather stained dark with the touches of blood, yet there was a faint scent still clinging to the material.

"Now." The Queen commanded, that tone used on the most stubborn of underlings, usually would make anyone instantly obey without question, yet had no affect on DG… "That is not a request."

"GO TO HELL!"

"Than stay in there, if you are going to act like a child. See what trouble it brings you."

Before she could hear the faint click of the woman's shoes making their way across the polished marble floor. However, there was a long pause of silence before there was a slight sound of scuffed boots slowly making their way to the door. Another long hush made her lift her head ever so slightly, knowing it was Glitch who hovered on the other side of the door, the braincase dropping down to his knees and resting a palm against the door as if trying to reach through it to find her.

"DG? Please… I…" Hesitation, the man's voice faltered obviously realising the true gravity of the situation that he had found himself in. "Please open the door."

"Go away." Came the whispered reply, one that Glitch struggled to make out as he leaned forwards against the door, trying the knob carefully but found after a few moments that it was firmly locked against him. "Just… leave me alone…"

"Please…" He murmured softly, both hands pressing against the door, dark brown eyes filled with a deep aching sadness, while long stringy strands of hair wafted down over his face, clinging to his clammy icy pale skin. "I only want to help… you know she didn't mean that DG… she's just…"

"Just what?" The sharp prickly defences flared upwards into place, her hand suddenly finding the hilt of the gun, fingers coiling around the cold metal, pressing it upwards against her chest protectively. Fingers touching the slightly dented and scratched mental with infinite care… Cain would never loose this… "What would you suggest she would do?"

"I…" The man suddenly realised that he didn't have an answer, and it was definitely not his brain's fault… he simply… didn't know…

"Go away." And soon she was left… in silence… A deafening quiet that swallowed her up completely within its grasp, leaving her to the agony of her own mind and twisted wreck of a heart.

The door slowly creaked open, deep blue eyes peering out into the rooms beyond the bathroom, each and every part of it was scanned slowly, to make sure no one was there before she slipped through the gap, the long duster bundled around the gun held tightly to her chest. Her eyes flickered towards the main doorway, catching sight that there was no one outside she carefully moved across the room, dipping down onto her knees and carefully settling the items in the hidden compartment she had accidentally found in the heavy wardrobe of heavy lacquered wood, the small draw being pushed back into place, sealing the two items into the dark niche in the side of it. There was no way she would give it up… no to anyone…

When she stood there, eyes staring out the window at the distant mountains that hovered across the edge of the horizon and her fingers rubbed harshly at the long salty trails that stained across her reddened cheeks, the long hours of tears still not being enough to ever drive out the horror of the vision… the nightmare of those lifeless pale blue eyes… of Cain's voice whispering her name before his death.

They said he was dead… in her nightmare… he was dead… yet… yet there were questions that were not answered… Where was his body? And who… who had killed him… And why part of her refused to accept that he was truly gone.

And for the first time since he had left, since he had taken a part of her with him as he had walked out of the palace and out of her life… she felt a strange clarity. A sharp clear thought, one that she clung to with all the strength she had, she would not give up… not on him… Not until she saw his body, felt the lifelessness of it would she accept it. The stubborn and brilliant spark flashed for a moment in her eyes, she would not give up.

But first… she needed a plan… and information if she was ever going to find him… Her tears and shivers had stopped, the anguish she felt in her heart was bottled up tightly, pushed to the furthest darkest part of her mind, and steeling herself.

OOC Okay people, its been a long time since I attempted my hand at Fan Fiction... but here we are. Hope you enjoyed it. Please Review. But trust me it will have a happy ending! Well it will if I get enough motivation to write reviewing helps would love comments on what you would like to see in the story! Also looking for a beta willing to put up with me .