Thank you, thank you, thank you, to my beta, Natalia, who taught me about the proper use of commas :)

Disclaimer: All characters belong to SciFi Channel and the ghost of L. Frank Baum

***

The Medicoats were suspicious but did as they were told. One did not argue with the Sorceress, at least not for long. They were reassured when she did not allow the patient to recover in peace but rather sent him to one of the cells where she now kept her family and their sympathizers. Talking amongst themselves they reasoned that she must need the man's brain and body reunited so that he could be forced to invent some new means of depriving the O.Z. of sunlight.

The Medicoats were the last to hear when the cells were discovered empty the following morning. Not only was the royal family gone, but so was every other prisoner in the tower's cells. The Sorceress herself had ridden out after them, ordering all others to stay behind.

***

DG frowned down at Glitch's face in the dim interior of the wagon. She heard the flap open behind her, and the clumping of boots on the wooden floor. She glanced over her shoulder.

"Hey, Mr. Cain," she said, "look at this."

"I don't like this," he said. He walked awkwardly over to her, bent over almost double under the low-hanging canopy.

"What? The wagon?" She frowned up at him in confusion. "We're slow enough with one this small, we can't--"

"Not the wagon," he interrupted, "this whole plan." He squatted across from her, on the other side of Glitch. "Your sister should have joined us by now. How do we know she's not just waiting for us at Fenaqua with an army of Longcoats?"

"She wouldn't do that, not now." Exasperated, DG huffed and threw an arm in the air, letting it slap down on her thigh. "The witch is dead, why can't anyone else get that? She had them put Glitch's brain back, didn't she? She helped us sneak out, and she's bought us this much time, hasn't she?"

"Look, DG, the Resisters don't like this, either." He sighed. "It's been three days and they're getting antsy. There's a Resistance camp southeast of here. They want to meet up with other Resisters, rest up, spread the good news."

"What, they're leaving us?"

"We don't have to separate," he reassured her. "We can go with them. We'll be better defended, and Glitch can recover in safety."

"But Azkadelia won't be able to find us."

"That's kind of the point, Deej," Cain said and avoided her eyes as he took off his hat and ran a hand through his hair.

"No."

"DG--"

"No!" she barked, unwilling to hear any more. They were both silent for a few seconds, and DG kept her eyes on Glitch, afraid of what might be in Cain's face if she looked up. Finally she heard the rustle of his coat as he stood. "Wait," she said. Some acquired Midwestern instinct would not allow her to let friends part on bad terms. Cain turned back to her, pale blue eyes inquisitive. "Uh..." DG's mind cast about for something, anything to say that would not spark an argument. "Oh, look at this." She pointed at Glitch.

He looked pitiful and pale, with a head full of dark stubble just beginning to grow back, and a red scar down the middle of his head where the zipper used to be. Cain leaned over him. After a close inspection, he shook his head. "What am I looking for?" he asked.

DG pointed again, smiling. "His eyes are moving. They weren't doing that before. And look." She pointed at the blanket covering him up to his chin. "He moved his arm. I think he's getting better."

A rare smile lit up Cain's face, and he nodded.