The Edge of Dawn, 2/?. NC-17.

Title: The Edge of Dawn
Author: Eustacia Vye
Author's e-mail: eustacia_vye28@hotmail.com
Disclaimer: The Wizard of Oz belongs to Frank Baum originally and the modifications belong to SciFi.
Rating: NC-17 for language and lovingly rendered sex.
Pairing: DG/Cain, Azkadellia/OMCx2
Warnings: This takes place after the SciFi movie.
Summary: Smoke and mirrors, lost hope and dreams. Some realms are meant to be saved, and others are meant to be destroyed.

The Edge of Dawn

Previous chapters located here.










Wyatt Cain had fallen back into his old life as if he had never left. Oh, he had new men that he worked with regularly, and the neighborhoods have all changed. His son had entered the Academy to ultimately become a Tin Man himself, and Cain couldn't be more proud of his son. Until he could work with his son, Cain had found a handful of good men that he could trust with his life. Paul Della and Benji Callan were the two men he worked with most closely now. The three of them were tracking a thief that had moved through the richer neighborhoods of Central City, leaving behind a wake of victims tied up and left drenched in bathtubs. There was no real rhyme or reason to the homes that were broken into, no clear ties between any of the victims or even any of the items that were stolen. Cain knew that there was something the victims were leaving out, but there was nothing that they confessed to any of the team that helped to solve the mystery. It was bothering him, almost like a nagging feeling between his shoulder blades.

"We should head back," Callan said, shaking his head. He had shaggy black hair that was always cut oddly and light blue eyes that were startling once they were fixed on someone. He was tall, soft spoken and rail thin, which often led the denizens of Central City's underbelly to think that he was easy to push around. It belied his strength, which he used to his advantage. At the station, he was nicknamed Ghost for his pale skin and the way he always seemed to turn up when no one was looking.

Cain let out a frustrated sigh. They had been tracking a lead on the thief, but there seemed to be nothing of importance to be found. "Probably. I hate not knowing what's going on."

"I still think we should go back to the first victim," Della replied. He had dark skin and eyes, and seemed to perpetually scowl when on patrol. He wasn't as tall as Cain, but he was built almost entirely of muscle. He moved like one of the thugs they often caught on the streets, and certainly was intimidating to look at. "I still think she was lying to us."

"They were all lying to us about something," Callan replied, shrugging. "The question is whether or not it's worth it to us to persue."

"We're tin men," Della snapped, shaking his head. "That should mean something."

And that, Cain decided, is exactly why the three of them were all friends. Being tin men meant something to each of them, and they took their oaths as sacred. It wasn't just a piece of tin on their chest, it was a way of life. It was a way of being.

"You probably scare her," Cain said, a smile threatening to form on his face. "I'd go back but she'd make cow eyes at me."

Callan snickered. "She won't talk to me, the old bat. I probably look more like a statue against her wall."

Cain sighed. "Why do they all talk to me?"

"You're a people person," Callan offered. He clapped Cain on the back. "Come on, I think we're done for the night. The old bat can wait until tomorrow. The thief's not here."

Once they all returned to the station, the captain waved Cain over. "There's a message from the palace. Not urgent, but it looks fairly important." The captain handed over a cream colored envelope sealed with green wax and the emblem of the royal family.

Cain walked over to his desk and unloaded his pockets. He sat down heavily and stared at the envelope for a long time. The last formal missive had been an invitation to DG's coming out ball as the Crown Princess, and he hadn't even bothered to answer. He didn't know how to. Tin men and princesses didn't mix, and their roles were formalized now. She wasn't some random girl running about the OZ needing a tin man to guide her. She was the Crown Princess, the one that would someday be crowned the Queen of the OZ. Royalty and working folk just didn't get on that way.

He took his letter opener and slit the seal, almost dreading what it would say. A formal rebuke for not going to the ball? A request to see him again? It wasn't his fault if DG didn't know her place in the order of things, but he sure as hell had to enforce it.

He blinked at the text on the page, and almost dropped it on his desk in disbelief.

DG disappeared during the formal coming out ball that was held in her honor. The Queen of the OZ formally requests your aid to investigate the disappearance, and wishes that you remain discreet in your inquiry. Should you accept this job, all of your current cases will be temporarily suspended to allow you to focus your time appropriately. You will be rewarded handsomely once DG is found.

Well, now. This was certainly news.

He remembered DG's blue eyes, vivid and wide in her face. He remembered how strong she tried to be, even when it looked as though she was going to fall over. He remembered how she had fearlessly charged into the memory display, trying to save him and his family with nothing more than a stick. She was not the type to willingly cooperate in an abduction, so anything along those lines would be loud and messy and likely result in some kind of commotion. While he would certainly take up the job and do it right, he sincerely doubted it was any ordinary abduction or assassination attempt.

She ran, Cain's gut told him. Overwhelmed by everything she couldn't understand, it had become too much for her. The life she had thought was hers, the one she had tried to save, wasn't even hers. While she had seemed overjoyed enough once the danger had passed and the eclipse resolved, there had been an element of sadness about her. Something he didn't quite pin down at the time, but now he wished he had.

Cain folded the short missive back into the envelope and tucked it inside his jacket pocket. He loaded all of his belongings back into his pockets and head straight to his captain. The captain didn't look very surprised to see him. "I'm requested at the palace. I'll need some time."

The captain nodded thoughtfully. "The delivery man suggested it was more urgent than it looked." He looked at Cain. "You take care, now. I don't want to lose you so soon after I got you back on my team."

"I don't plan on it, Captain."

The captain grinned. "Plans sure don't have a way of turning out how you figure, Cain. Life is like that."

Cain nodded. "I'll keep it mind."

"Take as much time as you need. We'll take care of things while you're out and about."

Discomfited by how neatly he had been trapped into this, Cain could only nod. He left, tight lipped and face drawn into a mask. Something's not right. She ran, but why?

He could only hope that he'd find her and she would be able to tell him.

***

Cain strode into the Great Hall of the palace and didn't bother to take in the ornate detailing along the parquet floors, marble columns or painted ceilings. This wasn't his place, and those details wouldn't help him find DG any faster. He was presented to the Queen, only taking off his hat to show respect. The courtiers hissed at him to scrape and bow like some syncophantic admirer, and he fixed them with a glare. He was here at her request, but in an official capacity. He wasn't some mindless courtier. He was a tin man, and he was here to do his damn job. The courtiers could go to hell with their useless concerns.

The Queen's lips quirked somewhat. "Glitch tells me you were a friend of my daughter's."

Past tense. Cain immediately noticed it, and immediately knew where his place was to be. "We traveled together," he replied noncomittally. It was as nonthreatening as he cared to be at the moment. The Queen had wanted his help, not his manners.

"I need you to find her. She's grown up away from the OZ, and in the last fifteen annuals, I've missed much of her life. I wouldn't know where to begin to look." The Queen lost the haughty cast to her features, and they softened in concern. "Find her, please. Any help you can give me will be rewarded."

Cain relaxed his posture a fraction. All right. As long as it wasn't going to be thrown in his place that he wasn't one of them, he didn't mind it so much. "I'll need to interview your staff and go over the timeline of events from the ball. They may not want to associate with one of my station."

The Queen shrugged. "They'll have to accommodate your needs."

A hint of a smile played across Cain's lips. Even better. The haughtiness had been for show. "I appreciate that, your Majesty."

He painstakingly interviewed every servant and guest still staying at the castle. Most were unhelpful. The most helpful to him were Glitch and Azkadellia. Glitch repeated the story he had told to the Queen earlier. Azkadellia answered the questions without elaborating, something at set Cain's inner alarm bells ringing. While he certainly had no love lost for Azkadellia's time as the Sorceress, he couldn't quite put aside his feelings. If she only tried harder... It was likely that she felt the same way, and her grief was palpable. Something was there, something Azkadellia wasn't sure of and would never put forth while unsure.

"What did you see, Azkadellia?" Cain asked, almost abruptly. "What happened?"

"She was worried. She didn't think she fit in around here, and then she went to dance with Lord Rustling."

"And who is he?"

"He's heir apparent to the Ashvale District." Azkadellia shrugged. "Not terribly bright and thinks he's rather important even if he isn't. Ashvale isn't that necessary for the OZ's continued safety. It's a small province."

"Where is he?"

"He would have gone to Ashvale," Azkadellia replied.

Cain paused, pursing his lips slightly. "What aren't you telling me?"

"What? I'm telling you everything I know."

He narrowed his eyes at her. "You're leaving something out."

"I'm telling you the truth."

"What about things you don't know? What about what you suspect?"

Something shifted in Azkadellia's gaze. She looked to the side, noting that they weren't observed. Cain couldn't help but note that as she licked her lips nervously. "Deeg doesn't think she belongs here. And Rustling isn't exactly known for his tact. It's why he's still single, even if Ashvale has wonderful farms and two growth cycles to the annual. Anyone who wanted the land would still have to put up with him. I suspect he said something that made her feel even more out of place. She left the dance in a hurry, and she didn't look too happy about it. She didn't even wait until the song ended."

"You noticed that."

"You notice things when no one wants to talk to you anymore and you sit by yourself all night."

Azkadellia seemed to startle herself with her tart reply, and Cain almost smiled at her. "I think that I need to talk with this Lord Rustling."

"If he's gone to Ashvale, the fastest way there and back would be by storm."

"A travel storm," Cain clarified. Azkadellia nodded. "You don't seem too worried about those."

"I know how they work. I know how a lot of things work at this point." She stood up, her face blank. It was her new default expression, and Cain couldn't decide if it was more unsettling than her prior smug looks when she was the Sorceress. "I can send you there if you'd like."

"I would, thanks," he said with a nod. He caught the flash of surprise in her eyes. People probably just as rarely thanked her for her efforts as they talked to her. It would have been sad if it wasn't so understandable.

Azkadellia pressed her lips together almost nervously. She seemed almost poised to say something, but too hesitant to actually say it.

"What is it?" Cain asked, brows knitting together. He didn't know if there was anything else he should know about this Rustling character, but he doubted there was anything he wouldn't be able to handle.

"I should make you a talisman to get back, too."

"What do you mean?"

"They may not have skilled enough mages or witches."

While her statement was somewhat clipped, Cain understood what she was saying. A backwater area might not have the magical staff to spare for someone their lord didn't care for. And if Cain was going to speak with Rustling about a possible abduction of the Crown Princess, a travel storm back to Central City was about the last thing they were going to be concerned with. Cain nodded his assent, and Azkadellia left to do whatever it was she needed to do in order to craft travel storm talismans. He didn't ordinarily go for this kind of magic, but he understood that time was of the essence in this case. Anyone going missing was likely to stay missing the longer it took to track down any clues. That was simply the way of it. People forgot details that were important, others "forgot" to be on the lookout for clues when a case wasn't as salient, and abductions had this awful way of turning into murders when the abductee proved to be too difficult to maintain. While Cain wasn't convinced that this was an abduction per se, he did know that DG would never be a willing accomplice to one. If she had been abducted, she would put up a fight and annoy the hell out of any captor.

Azkadellia returned with two amulets. They were fairly plain to look at, but it wasn't their physical appearance that was the important part. "The emerald green one will return you to Central City. Use the brown one to get to Ashvale."

"Emerald," Cain commented in a bland tone of voice.

Azkadellia looked stricken, her already pale face going a shade lighter. "It's just a color," she stammered after a moment.

"Of course," he replied, wanting to kick himself. She was helping him, and he didn't need to needle her for the witch's actions. She hadn't been in control of her faculties then. She wasn't the one that ordered his family abducted and his body imprisoned in an iron suit. She wasn't that same Sorceress, even if it was too difficult to remember when looking at her. He should have bitten his tongue better, should have reined himself in better. He was a tin man, for the OZ's sake. He was supposed to be forthright and just, a champion against the evils in the land. It tarnished his tin to be so petty.

"Just... Just find Deeg, all right?"

Cain caught her arm as she was turning to flee the room. "I'm sorry, Princess," he told her sincerely. He hastily dropped her arm, aware of the impropriety in it. "I spoke out of turn, and it isn't fair to you. You've been the most help in this investigation."

A slight flush colored the apples of Azkadellia's cheeks. "She's my sister. She's the important one here."

He could see that she honestly believed that, that she truly counted herself for so little. "She needs your help to guide her way. She's still a stranger here in many ways."

Azkadellia's eyes narrowed ever so slightly. "You're much wiser than anyone gives you credit for."

"I'll take that as a compliment, Princess."

"It was meant to be one," she replied, voice almost tart. "Take care of yourself."

Cain let her sweep out of the room regally, shreds of her pride intact. It was the least he could do for her.

***

Ashvale was a lush, green land in the south, not that far away from Fenaqua. It was a fairly small district, just outside of the main OZ territory, and had mostly gone unaffected by the Sorceress's rule. It lay in the shadow of Masou Mountain, which was the border between the two territories. Its lands were known for its bountiful crops, plentiful orchards and rivers full of fish. The leaders of Ashvale had always been fair and interested in trade, as the land wasn't known for mechanical items or manufactured goods. It was primarily agrarian, a fact that its current Lord Rustling didn't seem to understand. This Lord Rustling was a pompous fool, too full of himself to realize the harm he was doing to his country. He was getting on in years, but no woman wanted to become his bride. His people didn't believe in him or his rule, and kept hoping that someone capable would become Lady Rustling.

Cain was greeted into Lord Rustling's court with a certain amount of pomp that he hadn't expected. It was likely due to the fact that he had come from the royal court by travel storm, rather than his station. People like Lord Rustling would never deign to wait on him or hold court in a main receiving room for a mere tin man.

Lord Rustling knew nothing. That much was evident before Cain even asked a question. It was the way he looked, the blank vacuous gaze he had, the way he automatically thought Cain's presence signified a more important invitation to a more important ball.

"But of course I danced with the Princess," Lord Rustling said, leaning back in his ornate seat. His receiving room was set up to resemble a royal antechamber. Cain found it overly ostentatious and gaudy in its excess. Rustling was trying too hard to impress, and Cain found himself recoiling slightly at the sight of it all. Rustling smiled, and it made Cain's spine crawl. "She is quite a beauty, as you're aware. She needs a strong consort by her side to protect her from all that she doesn't understand in the OZ."

"Did you say as much to her?" Cain asked idly. He stood ramrod straight, as if paying the pompous little man respect. Rustling seemed to like the posture, even if it was Cain's way of expressing his discomfort.

"But of course. I told her the Longcoats would never bother her in my country."

Cain's gaze grew razor sharp. "You mentioned the Lost Time?"

Rustling paled, realizing his error immediately. "I... Uh... I alluded to it. I never actually mentioned any of the forbidden things, Tin Man. You understand how it is."

She ran. Cain was sure of it now. "What else didn't you say?"

Rustling was practically trembling in his seat, afraid that he would be hauled into the royal court and charged with treason. The Queen had overreacted, but it was her right to set the rules and punish as she saw fit. Cain would never complain about the law, as his place was to enforce it. Still, mentioning the Lost Time or Longcoats wasn't something he felt should be treason. It made for an effective questioning technique at this moment, however.

"She came by storm, Tin Man. She doesn't understand how things work. She needs someone to guide her."

Lips pressed tight, Cain placed his hat back on his head. Rustling didn't seem to realize it was his own way to insult the man. "If the royal family wishes to discuss anything with you, you will be contacted. I have what I need."

Stunned at the terse dismissal, Rustling couldn't move as Cain left the room. Cain was now very grateful for the travel storm amulet, and used it exactly as Azkadellia had instructed him to. It returned him to a lesser ballroom in the palace at Central City, just off the main hallway. From there, he summoned a servant to find Azkadellia for him. It was too improper to do on his own, even if he knew where she would be.

She was dressed in a midnight blue dress that covered her from throat to ankle, with formfitting sleeves that went down to her wrists. While it was just as formfitting as her prior dresses as the Sorceress, it was much more demure in cut. The change was startling. It made her eyes that much more blue, and her pale skin that much more pale. Cain could see the resemblance between the sisters right away. He would never admit it, but he missed DG's friendship.

"You found something important," Azkadellia reported right away.

"I suspect something important," Cain replied with a wry twist to his lips, echoing their earlier conversation.

He was startled to see her return the half smile with one of her own. "How can I help?"

"I need more amulets like the ones you made for me." Cain held out the two spent amulets and let Azkadellia take them. "Only, I need the next location to be on the Other Side."

Azkadellia's hand froze around the chains holding the amulets. "You think she went to the Other Side? Why?"

"Where does someone go when they're upset?" Cain returned.

"Somewhere safe," Azkadellia replied immediately. It was almost painful for Cain to hear the surety in her voice and know that she had no such place herself.

"DG wouldn't consider this place home," Cain continued, voice soft. "Not a judgment on us, but a fact of her not growing up here. So I need a set of travel storms to and from her home on the Other Side."

"That will be more difficult," she murmured, clasping the amulets to her chest. "It's... draining," she said after a moment, finally settling on the word.

"I wouldn't ask such a thing of you if I wasn't sure that she is there."

"I know," Azkadellia replied, nodding. "I'll do it. They might be ready for you by late tomorrow or the day after."

"I'll return the day after," Cain decided. "I'll speak with the Queen in the meantime of some of my suspicions."

"She'll think it's a judgment on us."

"I'll choose my words carefully," Cain countered wryly. He didn't think that was going to go well, but it was his responsibility to report to her.

The Queen was not ready to see him until the following afternoon. She saw him in a small chamber off of the formal audience room. She was in a lavender gown to match her eyes, and was setting her coronet down on the table beside her. Her Advisor was in attendance, frowning at her. "I'm merely a mother now," the Queen said, answering Cain's unspoken question.

"Azkadellia was actually very helpful in my investigation so far, such as it is." Cain watched as the Queen's eyes widened a fraction, and merely nodded in response. "There really wasn't anything to go on regarding DG's disappearance. She suspected a few things, but didn't feel comfortable stating them as fact."

"But..."

"And she made travel storm amulets, which allowed me to travel very quickly. If not for these, I would never have been able to come to you today."

"I didn't know such a thing was even possible," the advisor said in disbelief. "That's hardly ordinary magic."

The Queen's discomfort was visible. "Not even in the Old Ways did they do such things."

Cain dismissed their statements as irrelevant. He didn't know how magic worked, didn't care about finding out more about it. "I think DG is on the Other Side."

The Queen's breath caught. "But we're here."

"I think she's very overwhelmed," Cain began slowly. "She knows very few people here, and she has a lot of responsibility now. It could be her way to regroup."

"Did Azkadellia tell you this?"

"No. She merely told me of DG's discomfort." Cain tilted his head somewhat. "It's unfortunate about the past several years with the Sorceress. She does have DG's and the OZ's best interests in heart, even if she doesn't trust her own judgment."

The Queen's expression froze in place. She unconsciously reached out for the coronet, her fingertips resting lightly across the top of the golden circlet. "You need to find DG."

"I will be leaving for the Other Side as soon as the amulets are ready. I merely wished to update you on my progress, due to the need for this to be resolved quickly."

"I thank you," the Queen murmured, her hand closing over the coronet. "I appreciate the effort."

As Cain turned to leave the room, he thought he saw the Queen gesture at him from the corner of his eye. He turned, catching sight of his own startled expression in the mirrored wall's reflection, then faced the Queen. She looked at him expectantly, placing the coronet back upon her head. "The men I work with... I wouldn't imagine that I could do half the job that I'm able to do without them. I trust them with my life. I think DG needs to find advisors she can trust like that."

The Queen's gaze didn't even flick to take in her advisor. "Thank you, tin man."

Cain nodded briskly, then left the room. He couldn't shake the feeling of being watched, of seeing a ghost out of the side of his vision. It was the damn palace, he decided. The very expense and extravagance made his spine itch. He needed to find DG and quickly, before he got sucked into more political bullshit.

***
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