Disclaimer: My second Tin Man fic and I still don't own it. What a shame.

She was sitting quietly in an alcove in the Tower pretending to read her book on Ozian history. In fact she was waiting for the hallway to clear out. Glancing up discreetly from the text she watched as a pair of guards walked by her. As they passed by she saw the faint traces of magic glimmer on the opposite wall. Thankfully the guards couldn't see the dark magic that was beckoning to her.

The two smartly dressed guards turned the corner and she set her book down on the bench moving swiftly across the space that separated her from the hidden doorway. It was a good thing security had relaxed in the last few months or she would have never been able to sneak away long enough to do this. It was also lucky that Cain wasn't going to be back for another few days. Because if he knew what she was about to do he'd probably just go ahead and kill her.

Even she had to admit that this was a bad idea. Walking into the recently melted witch's secret study was bound to lead to trouble. Unfortunately she had exhausted all her other options. And the tower was set to be demolished in a week, if she didn't get the book out today she wasn't sure she'd get another chance. It was terribly convenient that Glitch was in recovery and her family thought she needed some space to calm down. While she felt bad about using him as an excuse, well that was just how the cookie crumbled.

Gazing up and down the hall once more to make sure no one was going to witness this she placed a hand flat against the invisible door and let her light flare. It easily overpowered the dark lock and the wall melted away revealing a narrow archway that stood in front of a rickety spiral staircase that plunged down into the darkness. She stepped through the door and considered the stairs. They were rusted and cobwebby. Not creepy at all, oh no.

She sighed and let her light seep into her hands. She was way to stubborn to turn back now. At least her hand was more convenient than a flashlight. Placing her foot on the first step she was very grateful that she could glow like a light bright because the door closed behind her swallowing the sunlight that had been filtering in from the hallway. She grabbed the handrail and cautiously made her way down the stairs.

They weren't nearly as long as she had been afraid they would be. She had reached the bottom after only three rotations feeling a bit dizzy. Directly in front of the stairs she came face to face with a second door. This one was not hidden by magic but had one hell of a formidable lock on it. She was glad she knew about this one as well or she would have been pissed. Reaching into her jacket pocket she pulled out a large bronze key, inserted it into the lock and twisted. She heard the tumblers clank open and grinned.

She pushed the door open and into what could only be describe as a magical mad scientist lab gone wild. She let her light intensify as she took in her surroundings. Even knowing what this place looked like in her mind hadn't prepared her to face it in person. In her mind there had been no smell, no touch, no taste of evil energy in the air. She shuddered when she spotted a shelf full of pieces of people floating in jars on one large shelf.

Turning her eyes away she walked carefully across the room to the far wall. It was dominated by a large wooden bookshelf. It was intricately carved with dark creatures that appeared to be crawling, sliding, or flying over the smooth wood. The witch had had no taste at all. But she had found what she was looking for. Bending down on one knee she reached her hand carefully into the second shelf and removed five thick books sitting them next to her on the dusty floor.

She found what she had come here for behind them. Resting in a hole carved into the shelf she pried out a long thin tome. It was very old and she handled it with the utmost care. Once it was free she studied the book in the light pulsing from her hand. The leather binding was a deep faded green and it was cracking around the edges of the binding. She blew across the surface of it gently and dust rose up off of it in small whirlwinds.

She hoped this would have the answers she was looking for because no other book she had frantically searched through had. She counted herself lucky that the last book she'd read had mentioned this particular volume in passing. Tucking it under her arm she replaced the other books back on the shelf in case anyone else decide to venture down here before this place was destroyed. Good thing she was now the only one that remembered that this book was hidden here.

She left the room quickly before her curiosity could get the best of her. She figured the last thing she needed was to explain to her mother why she was poking around in a magical serial killers workshop, assuming they found her at all. Shutting the door behind her she locked the door tucking the key back into her pocket. She'd need to return it before Ahamo was any the wiser. Good thing she was good at petty theft. It had been fun to learn just to piss off Gulch.

Running up the stairs she pressed her ear against the archway listening intently for any noises before she opened the door. Hearing nothing she let her magic open the door and slipped out. Grabbing her history book she shoved her newly acquired reading material between its pages and headed to her room. Her heart nearly stopped beating when she ran across Tutor one hallway down from her room. She had been so freaking close!

"Good morning Princess. Shouldn't you be with Ambrose?" He gazed at her with only the slightest suspicion.

She put on her best-worried eyes and scuffed a foot on the floor averting her eyes. "I know, but I just needed some air ya know?" She laced guilt into her words. "You don't think Glitch'll be angry do you?"

Toto's eyes softened. Damn she was good, that or he was really bad at reading her. "I'm sure he'll understand Princess. Why don't you go put your book away and we can go wait for him to wake up together."

She let a reluctant and sheepish smile crawl across her face. "Really? That'd be nice, thanks Toto."

She didn't give him a chance to scold her or catch her with the contraband. She dashed off around the corner and into her room shutting the door firmly behind her. She tossed the history book carelessly on her desk after she removed her prize from inside of it. Frustrated that she had no time to read it now she rushed to her wardrobe and hid the book in a battered trunk her Roboparents had managed to retrieve from the Otherside a few weeks ago. She shoved cloths, photo albums, and yearbooks aside and placed the book at the very bottom before concealing it.

She closed the trunk and latched it before she backed away reluctantly. She had to meet Toto or he would come after her. She paused at her vanity to make sure no dust had settled on her. That would be a dead give away for sure. The young woman that gazed back out at her from the mirror was not the same one that had tumbled out of a travel storm a few months back.

Her eyes had dark circles under them and her normally bright blue eyes had dulled. The mischievous light that she was so used to seeing reflected back at her had vanished weeks ago. She'd lost weight as well. She had managed to hide that fact fairly well insisting on wearing men's pants and loose shirts. The only thing she found to be grateful for was that no one seemed to notice.

This was most likely a combination of factors. Her Roboparents had gone to Milltown to help rebuild their hometown a few weeks back. She had wished them well, happy that they had thought to bring her some of her things from home. They had promised to come visit her soon and she figured she'd be out to Milltown sooner rather than latter to heal the Papay Fields at any rate.

Her real parents simply hadn't been around her enough to know that anything about her had changed. That and the fact that they spent so little time around her had helped tremendously. She didn't blame them, they had a country to rebuild and the O.Z. knew she didn't have the knowledge to help with that. When they did meet for meals she had started casting very low-level glamours on her baggy eyes so they wouldn't notice her exhaustion.

Az was so wrapped up in her own troubles that she was mostly unaware of what was going on around her. She supposed slowly draining away Az's nightmares while she was sleeping was helping her sister but it was hardly aiding her already troubled sleep. She figured it was worth it if it meant her sister got to sleep through the night. She figured one of them should be.

Raw had left the same day as her Roborents to take Kalm back with him to the Viewers tribe they came from. He said he'd return before winter. She wished he'd waited a few days more before he left because the nightmares had started a week after that. She though he would at least be able to help her sleep once and a while.

Glitch, while still here, was well Glitching. He had noticed the change in her but just as quickly forgot he noticed. So far he hadn't mentioned anything in front of anyone else. He was so excited about his surgery that he had gotten even worse about remembering things. She hoped that once he was up he would have the good sense to keep his mouth shut about it. After all he was supposed to be the smartest man in the O.Z. Maybe she should just start leaving her glamour on all the time. With that thought she scrunched her nose placing it over her face.

She stood from the chair in front of her mirror. She really hated the thing. It was all spindly and breakable looking. It was just like the rest of the furniture in this place. She would give her left leg for a big overstuffed couch to flop down on. She moved to the door brooding.

She figured she only had about three days left to figure this mystery out. Because once Cain got back the game would be up. She would give him fifteen seconds to realize something was horribly wrong. Damn him and his Tin Man senses. He had been gone for two months to catch up with Jeb. When he told her he was leaving he must have seen the sadness in her eyes. He had rushed to assure her that he would be back in two months and was going to accept the position as her personal bodyguard.

She had perked up at that and he had given her a rare smile when she had squealed happily and thrown her arms around his neck. He had patted her back promising it would be a short trip and that he would do his best not to get shot again. She had punched him on the arm and told him that if he died she hunt him down and kill him. He had brushed her hair behind her ear and nodded seriously.

The promise of the return of her closest friend had gotten her through the first month of her new life. Then she had almost lost track of time when the dreams started. She had no idea what they were only that she no longer felt like she used to. She was beginning to worry about her sanity.

Leaving her room she found Toto waiting outside and they walked down a flight of stairs toward the infirmary. She no longer had to pretend to be worried. She hoped Glitch would be up soon so they could know if the surgery had worked. Rounding the last corner with her teacher she found her family sitting outside the operating room in different states of anxiousness.

Her eyes fell on a figure leaning casually against a wall. Duster falling from his shoulders and hat tilted over his eyes Cain stood waiting with them. She sucked in a breath. His head came up and he smiled at her. For the first time in a month a real smile took over her face and she threw herself across the distance between them wrapping her arms around him.

He laughed softly in her ear before he set her down. His light blue eyes were sparkling when he met hers. "Hey there Princess. Did you miss me?"

Author Note: New Story! New Plot! Woot! Leave me a review.