The worker girl lead Dorothy back to her bedroom. Dorothy expected her to leave immediately once they had gotten there like most of the other workers would have, but instead, the girl entered the room and closed the door behind her.

She grabbed Dorothy's hand and pulled her into the adjoined bathroom. She locked the door behind her with a click.

Dorothy knitted her eyebrows together and looked at the girl in confusion. "What... what are you doing?"

"Shh," the girl whispered. Her eyes were wide and they shifted over Dorothy's face a little. "I have a message for you, Miss Dorothy. You have to shred it into as tiny pieces of pieces as you can get it and flush it when you're done reading it. I'll pass your reply to the others, later."

Dorothy narrowed her eyes at the girl slightly. "Where was their last headquarters situated?" she asked suspiciously.

"A mile past the deadly poppies that put you and the Lion to sleep," the girl whispered in reply.

Dorothy nodded quietly as the girl pulled out a folded piece of paper from her apron pocket. Dorothy took it from her and clutched it tightly.

"Don't forget to do what you have to do with it when you're done. I will be back later this evening with fresh towels... if you know what I mean," the girl told Dorothy quietly.

"Thank you," Dorothy said with a slight smile.

The girl gave a nod and scurried out of the bathroom, and then out of the bedroom.

Dorothy locked the bathroom door again once the worker girl was gone, then closed the lid of the toilet seat and sat down on it.

Taking a deep breath and giving a nervous glance around despite the fact that she was alone and the door was locked, Dorothy began to unfold the piece of paper as quietly as she could manage, though it still made a somewhat loud, crisp crinkling sound.

She took another deep breath and let her gaze fall to the page.

Dorothy,

None of us could believe our own eyes or ears about the speech you delivered earlier today. But, we had a discussion in regards to that and the message Glinda had given us from you.
With all that taken into consideration, we decided, by popular vote, we would take the risk of listening and responding to your urgent message earlier this morning and take the chance of believing you and trusting you, despite that horrible speech you delivered this afternoon.

Dorothy let out a huge sigh of relief at that and continued to read the letter.

We're coming. To start this revolution and get you and Bo out of the Emerald Palace, and the hell out of the Emerald City. We need our cyborg and our Witch killer, more than anything.

--Aras and the rest of the group.

P.S. We're working on preparing Effigy to send in case you're in need of any backup. Also, Toto is perfectly fine, and he's been helpful while we've moved HQ.

Dorothy let out another sigh of relief, this time more quietly, and stood up from her seat on the toilet lid. She opened the lid and began to the rip the paper into several long strips. She then shredded those strips into tiny pieces, and then dropped them into the toilet.

She then pushed the flush button down and watched as the shreds as the letter from Aras and the Munchkins Incognito Coup of the East swirled down the drain.

The letter had given Dorothy new hope.
Dorothy couldn't help but look in the mirror and watch as a genuine grin spread across the reflection of her face.

                    ***

Dorothy wrote down her response in a fury, making sure she did not give away any specific names, dates, numbers, etcetera. If the letter was found, it would be indecipherable and too difficult for anyone outside of the Munchkins Incognito Coup of the East to understand. It had taken her about ten minutes to think of which way she should respond to their message, but once she had some sort of idea what to write it was as simple as breathing.

It went as follows,

Thank you for your letter. My response, though short, will hopefully convey the necessary information to you all:

He and I are both safe for longer than three days, but he is in need of a few parts.

Be here as soon as possible, with as many as you can bring.

We will  join you when you arrive.
Sincerely.

But somehow, Dorothy understood that getting the letter back to Aras and the rest of the Munchkin Incognito Coup of the East would not be as simple as breathing.

Dorothy quickly set down the pen on the dresser and then hurried over to the bed. She lifted the mattress and stuck it under there quickly.

There was a knock on her door just after the mattress fell back onto the bed frame, making Dorothy nearly jump.

"Come in," she called as she skidded over to towards the door.

It was one of the workers-- a short boy who was skinny and had a very thin face, the hollows of his cheekbones visible by the shadows.

"The Wizard requests your presence in the dining room, Miss Dorothy Gale, ma'am," the boy said. "He wishes for you to be there in about ten minutes, miss."

"Thank you," Dorothy replied, "I'll be there, shortly."

The boy gave a nod and hurried out of her room and down the hall, as if he was being chased by something. Dorothy frowned slightly. He seemed too young to be working at the Palace. In fact, he was even younger than the girl who had given her the note from Aras and the Munchkins' Incognito Coup of the East.

She decided, in her head, that she was going to help them in any and every way she could once the revolution was over and the planet of Oz had been liberated.

Dorothy quickly brushed through her hair with her fingers, then exited the room and headed down the hall towards the dining room.

A cold burst of air hit her as she sped down the hall. She wrapped her arms around herself with a slight shiver. She stopped at the doors to the dining room, and the guards at them opened them for her.

The closed the doors behind her, the thud of them hitting each other echoing through the large room.

Oz was sitting at the end of small table, his hands folded together in front of him, propped up by his elbows. Dorothy headed towards the table without a word and sat down in front of him.

"Dorothy," Oz said quietly, "You shouldn't have done that. Now you have put more people at risk. I won't have any of it."

"What do you mean?" Dorothy asked as she knitted her eyebrows in confusion.

"Enough with this 'revolution' foolishness. You are just going to have innocent people killed," Oz hissed.

Dorothy glared at him. "I have no idea what you're talking about," she lied.

He let out a heavy sigh. "I want to believe you, I really do. I wish I did not have this... feeling, this hunch, this suspicion that you are lying to me."

"I'm not lying to you," Dorothy told him, "You don't have to worry about me lying to you."

"I hope not," Oz said with another sigh. He picked up his glass and took a single sip, then set it back down on the table.

Dorothy watched silently.

"Once upon a time, Dorothy, I woke up. After I woke up, I landed on this planet, desperate to see you. To find you. But, instead, imbeciles had been watching, as I had descended from the atmosphere of this planet, and decided to make me their ruler. I suppose it isn't very kind of me to call them imbeciles, since they were intelligent enough to make me their leader, but it is simply the truth. No Ozian would be able to handle a revolution, much less the aftermath of one. All the people here are good for are building yellow brick roads and green cities, when they're directed to do so."

Dorothy was silent at the Wizard's statements. She didn't really care for what he had to say, because she knew that it would not change her mind about the revolution.

"We have no Earth to return to," Oz continued, "We can't just leave the planet, or the people to sort out the absence of their leader."

"What do you mean, there's 'no Earth to return to?'" Dorothy asked.

Oz let out a single sigh and unfolded his hands, setting his arms down on the table in front of him. "The storms had destroyed nearly all life forms, and probes that my old ship is still connected to have brought back reports that the atmosphere is now poisonous to humans."

Dorothy's eyes were wide.

"But, that does not matter. If we could return to Earth, I wouldn't let us. There is simply too much at stake. There is also too much at stake if a revolution breaks out, Dorothy. I hope you understand this."

Dorothy nodded silently.

"After you landed on the Wicked Witch of the East, did the Munchkins tell you about the pain and suffering she had inflicted upon them by forcing them to play her games?" Oz asked. "That is how painfully stupid nearly all citizens of Oz are. They cannot take care of themselves, or defend themselves. That's why they need us."

Dorothy did not respond. She could list a few groups she knew to not be defenseless, such as the Wizard's soldiers or the Munchkins Incognito Coup of the East, but she knew that Oz definitely wouldn't listen to her. She didn't want to waste her breath by telling him, anyway.

"They need their Wizard and their Witch killer. I really, really hope you see that," Oz told her.

Dorothy gave a shrug.

"If you are going to continue your correspondence with the Munchkins Incognito Coup of the East, I am going to have to do unspeakable things, Dorothy Gale," the Wizard told her quietly, "And I do not want to be forced to do those things."

Dorothy looked up and nodded at him silently.

The Wizard clasped his hands over Dorothy's. "Good. I'm glad that we could reach an understanding."

His hands were so cold that they nearly burned the skin on her own hands. She forced herself with all of her willpower not to squirm in her seat as he held her hands in his.

"How... how often do you go into the cryogenic chamber?" Dorothy asked, looking up at him nervously.

Oz blinked at her. "Why do you ask?"

"Your skin is so... cold," she replied. "Were you just in there?"

He nodded, his expression solemn.

"That's really not good for you. You know that, right?" Dorothy asked with a quick shake of her head.

"But it's so nice... sleeping like that, with all of the footage from the cameras in the City playing straight to my brain," Oz said, his voice silky. He brought Dorothy's hands to his mouth and pressed his cold, cold lips to them.

Dorothy shook your head. "That's no way to live."

Oz let go of her hands, his green eyes flashing slightly. "Oh, Dorothy, there is no wrong or right way to live. The way of my life is strictly my own, and I can choose to live if any way I please. But thank you, my dear, for your concern."

She blinked at him a little, then looked down at her food-- some sort of meat dish with a vegetable on the side, and they both had some sort of green sauce artfully drizzled on them. Then she looked back at Oz, who was staring at her.

"I love you, Dorothy. I do not want you to cause any harm to the people who do not deserve it."
With that, he took a bite of his food, and they both fell silent for the rest of the meal.

                    ***

Dorothy returned to her room as soon as she had finished her meal, and closed the door behind her. She panted slightly, needing to catch her breath even though she had not ran down the hall to her room.

She knew that the girl would be back soon with a response from Aras and the group. She hoped and prayed that she wouldn't be caught.
Dorothy also thought about what the Wizard had told her. He had seemed genuinely concerned about the lives of the people of Oz, surprisingly. While it was true that she had no evidence of the true intentions of either Oz or the Munchkins Incognito Coup of the East, she was certainly more inclined towards trusting the M.I.C.E.

But then again, they did not talk about the welfare of the people of Oz. They had, from what she had heard the two times she had been in their presence at their headquarters, that they wanted action to rid the planet of Oz of those who were in power and chose to abuse their power. She could not recall any of them saying anything about the welfare of the people or what they would do to improve that once they had reached their goals.

There was a knock on her door.

"Who is it?" Dorothy asked, startled out of her thoughts.

"It's me again. I've got the towels, miss," the girl from earlier said from the other side of the door.

Dorothy pulled the door open. The girl had a stack of towels in her arms and she stretched her neck a bit so that Dorothy could see her face peeking out from behind them.

"Thank you," Dorothy said, "Is there anything else?" She grabbed the stack of towels from the girl carefully.

"Yes, it's with the towels, Miss Dorothy," the girl said with a smile. "Don't forget to do the same with that, Miss. I'll be back with your clean clothes in a couple of hours."

"Thank you, again," Dorothy said quickly as the girl walked off. She closed the door and went to the bathroom.

She put the towels on the rack, finding a piece of neatly folded paper in between them. She sat down on the lid of the toilet seat and opened it.

It's about to begin. Be ready, was all the letter said.