(no subject)
Fandom: Fairly Oddparents
Canon or AU: ???
Fic: Devil May Care
A/N: Yeah, finishing Lilith isn’t happening today, clearly. Tomorrow is NaNo. Eh. I guess Blue was right--this is turning out to be my primary project. It ate me.
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Wanda couldn’t get Cosmo’s gaze out of her head either. He’d looked haunted. By now, he knew almost exactly what Crocker had subjected her to. Crocker installed the containment chamber and hooked it to another computer before walking away. As if it was an afterthought, he pushed a key, and Wanda’s clothes returned. It felt like a mockery after everything else.
She huddled on the containment floor with her arms around her knees. Crocker might’ve taken them anywhere; she didn’t recognize what she could distinguish from her surroundings. Meanwhile, the man had left her to her own devices again. Resting her head against the wall, she sighed. She was cried out. Crocker hadn’t removed the chocolate bar or milk carton from the chamber, but she had no interest in eating.
Instead, her mind returned to Cosmo’s face. Flirting with her had earned Juandissimo Cosmo’s ire. Hell, he’d sent a dragon after Juandissimo at one point because he was kissing up her arm. Juandissimo would never have attempted this, though. She’d thought Cosmo would be angry at Crocker instead of stunned. Maybe he’d thought Crocker was incapable of such abuse. Yesterday, which already felt a lifetime away, she’d thought the same.
((Cosmo?)) she ventured. She could almost feel her husband in her mind again. Perhaps Crocker hadn’t prepped this area as well as he had the Crocker Cave. She couldn’t tell where Cosmo was, so he couldn’t find her either. Still, simply sensing Cosmo in her mind was a balm to her shattered nerves.
((Wanda?)) Cosmo replied. ((Wanda, where are you?))
((I don’t know,)) she said. ((Are you and the others all right? Crocker didn’t hurt you, did he?))
((He hurt you!)) Cosmo said, and Wanda winced. He tried to send her mental nuzzles; their connection wasn’t strong enough for that, unfortunately. Still, she appreciated the effort. He wanted to comfort her the best he could. He didn’t realize he was making her feel better just by hearing his voice.
((I know, hon,)) she said, subdued. She smiled bitterly. ((I was there, remember?))
((You were bleeding,)) he pressed. She shut her eyes. She wished she could card her fingers through his hair while he held her. If she tried hard, she could almost imagine his heartbeat against her back. This calmed her further.
((Fairies aren’t meant to mate with humans, not when we’re in fairy form,)) she said sadly. ((He tore something open. I can’t even heal myself without a wand. At least I’ve stopped bleeding.))
Unfortunately, she knew exactly what he’d torn open, but she didn’t want to bog Cosmo down with details or upset him further. Wanda lowered her head sadly. Crocker must’ve known he was hurting her again; he’d been determined, though. And maybe oblivious to what, exactly, he’d done to her. She wished he’d let her heal herself. If she bled out, that wouldn’t be pretty either.
((It’s my fault!)) Cosmo sobbed, and she was startled.
((What do you mean, sweetie?)) she said.
((I should’ve woken up when Crocker stole you out of Timmy’s room!)) Cosmo protested. Though she couldn’t feel it directly as she ought to with the Bond, she could still sense Cosmo’s guilt through his words. To think, if they’d stayed in Chloe’s room for once, this would never have happened.
Then again, this was a crime of opportunity. Crocker would’ve waited until they were together in Timmy’s room to snatch her.
((Oh, hon, no,)) she said softly, trying to reassure him. ((It’s not your fault. It was a case of being in the wrong place at the wrong time.))
((I love you,)) he wept. ((I love you, and I let you get hurt.))
((Shoosh,)) she whispered. ((Shoosh. It’s not your fault. I’m not upset with you. On the other hand, if it weren’t against Da Rules, I’d like to drop Crocker into a volcano and watch him burn.))
((I can’t believe a kid we used to godparent could do something like this,)) Cosmo said, and she felt him shake his head. ((I wish I could hold you.))
((I wish you could too.))
They lapsed into silence for a minute.
((He isn’t there now, is he?)) Cosmo asked sharply. ((Hurting you again?))
((No,)) she said. ((He vanished for now. I don’t know when he’ll be back.))
She sighed. ((At least he gave me my clothes back. It doesn’t make me feel any better.))
Washing would’ve been nice. Wanda felt dirty and used--she remembered attending a seminar on abused godchildren. Such emotions weren’t uncommon in abused children, she recalled. At the time, she’d sympathized but thought that it’d never happen to her. For all Cosmo’s missteps, he never would’ve laid a hand on her like that.
((Are you sure you don’t know where you are?))
((Positive,)) she said. ((I wish I could give you better news. Before we vanished from the Crocker Cave, Crocker told me he’d found a place that Chloe and Timmy didn’t know to hole up in once he’d tricked our godchildren.
((He…he tortured and interrogated me for two hours this morning,)) she whispered. ((I let slip a few names here and there, but nothing too crucial.
((And then this afternoon…)) she trailed off as if telling him about it would make it real. As if the pain emanating from her new lacerations down there wasn’t real, either. She’d screamed, and he’d kept going. Then again, she’d screamed herself hoarse this morning, and it hadn’t done a damn thing.
Rape wasn’t about sex. It was about power. Crocker wanted to prove he could dominate her in every way that mattered. Tears burned her eyes again. Fates, she wished Cosmo could hold her right now. She was so horribly alone.
Crocker wandered back into her field of vision, and she froze. Telepathy produced faint electric buzzing, normally inaudible to humans, but Crocker had ensured his machines worked quietly. Anything out of the ordinary would be noticed, so she reluctantly didn’t add anything. Cosmo, for his part, was also silent. It took a lot to render Cosmo speechless, though if anything was going to do it, this would.
Pausing in front of the window, Crocker gestured toward the food and drink he’d given her during lunchtime.
“You should eat,” he said. She glared, but it was weak and pathetic. Worse, she couldn’t maintain eye contact without dropping her head in submission.
“And you should heal me,” Wanda countered. “It’s rare, but if a fairy isn’t healed from an injury like the one you just gave me, it’s possible to bleed out without stitches.”
Crocker frowned, weighing her words. After a moment’s consideration, he nodded and pushed a key on the giant computer’s keyboard. Magic gushed over her, this time warm instead of painful. She sighed as her aches and injuries faded. Crocker had cleaned her up, too, so she almost felt like her normal self.
“You really can’t channel your magic without a wand,” Crocker mused. “Yet humans can.”
“Yes,” she spat. “They can.”
She hadn’t needed the reminder. Cosmo was still silent in her mind; she wondered whether the connection was good enough for him to tell what was happening on her end. Crocker opened the window to stroke her cheek with the back of his hand. This hot-cold business was unsettling. She almost felt like she’d been captured by Harvey Dent.
Maybe he only felt affection toward her for now because he’d taken her against her will. Her chest tightened, and she worried a repeat performance might be in her future.
((Wanda?)) Cosmo nudged her mentally.
((Can’t talk right now,)) she replied.
((Why?)) he whined.
Crocker was back to studying her. Curious, he cocked his head at the faint buzz. She shivered, rubbing her arms. It was warmer here than in the Cave, but she was chilled from the inside out.
((For Pete’s sake, Cosmo!)) she snapped.
“You’re talking to him right now, aren’t you?” Crocker asked quietly, and Wanda froze.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” she lied and winced. Timmy and Cosmo had told her many times that she was an awful liar. Crocker’s eyebrows rose, and she knew he’d seen through her.
“Cosmo.”
Wanda winced again. Hearing her husband’s name coming out of Crocker’s mouth was almost as bad as hearing hers. Tears slid down her cheeks again. The healing must’ve restored her hydration levels, which meant she was free to weep all she wanted for the time being. She didn’t want to show further weakness in front of Crocker, but she couldn’t help herself anymore.
“Why didn’t you take him too?” she asked, though she suspected she knew the answer.
“I have what I want from you.”
He draped a humungous butterfly net over the containment field, and Wanda’s sense of Cosmo vanished entirely. Her lower lip quivered.
“Please, don’t do that.”
She needed Cosmo. Right now, he was her light in the darkness, her way home. Moreover, he was her only connection to her godchildren and Tootie. Everything sprang from her link to Cosmo. She couldn’t afford to lose him.
“This will only prevent you from using any of your powers,” Crocker said. “It won’t prevent me from siphoning off your magic.”
She wouldn’t beg, not again, not because she was too proud, but because it accomplished nothing. Crocker was immune. Wanda wished she’d told Cosmo she loved him before Crocker severed the connection. Without her, Cosmo would probably continue blaming himself.
“Cheer up, little fairy,” Crocker said, smirking. “You and I are going to accomplish great things together once I have all the details I need.”
Wanda didn’t reply. Her stomach churned, and bile burned her throat again. Turning her head, she looked for a place further away from her current location and vomited. When she was finished, she dry-heaved and collapsed to the floor. She lifted her head to look back at the human.
Right now, she was so exhausted she couldn’t think straight. Thankfully, when she crashed backward, she crashed away from the vomit. Shudders wracked her body, and her stomach ached, along with her throat.
“I’ll tell Timmy hello from you at school tomorrow,” Crocker said, and Wanda groaned, giving up the ghost of feigning strength she no longer possessed.
Crocker studied her a minute longer, nodded, and stepped back. “Pleasant dreams, Wanda.”
She was too tired to flip him off like he deserved. She was too tired to do anything but cry herself to sleep once Crocker had left her.
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Cosmo brought them to Fairy World, but it was clear that it’d taxed him. Timmy wasn’t sure how they were going to get home. Tootie had admitted she didn’t possess the same magical strength as Cosmo or Wanda, which might mean they were up shit’s creek without a paddle. Tootie’s magic had bolstered Cosmo’s to get them there; otherwise, it probably would’ve been impossible. Once there, Cosmo collapsed for a minute onto the ground.
Timmy remembered Wanda telling him once that it took a lot of magic to get a human to Fairy World, and when she and Cosmo weren’t in sync, it was almost impossible. Tootie helped Cosmo to his feet, and the two girls turned to face Timmy, who frowned back.
“What?”
“I’ve never been to Jorgen’s office before,” Chloe said.
“And I’ve never been to Fairy World before,” Tootie said. She glanced around. “The air feels cleaner here and charged with magic.”
“Why didn’t you just take us straight to Jorgen’s office?” Timmy asked Cosmo. Cosmo shook his head.
“I only had enough magic to bring us here, not enough to pinpoint a specific location,” Cosmo said. He glanced down. “Wanda normally helps me focus my magic.”
Timmy felt Wanda’s absence like a punch in the gut. The street signs weren’t familiar, which didn’t help. Moreover, he wasn’t sure about Cosmo’s sense of direction. Chloe frowned, gnawing on her lower lip.
“Can you poof us up a map?” she asked.
“I think so…” Cosmo said, frowning and focusing. He waved his wand, and a map fluttered into Chloe’s hands. She, Tootie, and Timmy studied it while Cosmo recovered. Chloe followed their current location to Jorgen’s office. Since they wouldn’t have the benefit of poofing around Fairy World, they’d have to walk. It looked like a long walk, too, although he didn’t know if the map judged distance accurately. The only maps Timmy knew were video game maps. Still, the girls seemed to make sense of it, although Tootie was not happy being close to Chloe.
“You can’t poof us there, can you?” he asked Tootie desperately.
“I don’t know,” she said. “I’ve never tried jumping around magically. I assume it’d take less magic here than it would on Earth to move around because Fairy World is inherently magical.”
Timmy scowled. That wasn’t what he wanted to hear. Tootie was better than nothing, which was what Cosmo was shaping up to be. Timmy tried not to resent that; it wasn’t Cosmo’s fault he and Wanda weren’t in sync. If Wanda were here, they wouldn’t be in this mess. Timmy’s fists balled, and he cursed Crocker under his breath.
Maybe they could summon Jorgen to them. Timmy had never tried before, never wanting to gain Jorgen’s attention. Jorgen seemed to cotton onto them faster than they could get away with whatever Timmy wanted to do. Jorgen had to be aware something was going down with Wanda; he couldn’t believe Fairy World’s enforcer was ignorant of the situation.
Plus, Timmy wasn’t looking forward to what looked like an hour's walk to Jorgen’s office. Chloe probably wanted to see the sights; she was brimming with inappropriate enthusiasm and trying to suppress it. Tootie rolled her eyes; to Timmy’s dismay, she was propping Cosmo up. This trip must’ve taken a lot out of him.
A large fairy dust cloud surrounded them, which put an end to Timmy’s wondering. Jorgen von Strangle, the toughest fairy in the universe, materialized behind them. He glanced at the assembled group, sighed, and brought them to his office. Once there, he conjured enough chairs for them and settled behind his desk.
“You knew about this?” Timmy said. Jorgen grimaced, rubbing his temples. He looked exhausted.
“It has been a long day,” Jorgen said. He scowled. “Contrary to what you may believe, tiny Timmy Turner, there are other fairy godparents on Earth who make trouble for me.”
His gaze roved the group, and he inclined his head toward Tootie. “Tootie Griffin.”
“Jorgen von Strangle,” Tootie said, probably intending to sound nonchalant, but it came out as a squeak. She trembled, rubbing her arms. Cosmo squeezed her hand. She smiled at him, but Cosmo was too morose to smile back.
“But you know about Wanda?” Timmy pressed.
“I am aware,” Jorgen said. “Whenever a fairy is abducted, especially if their power is abused, an alarm goes off in Fairy World.”
He shook his head. “However, I do not know much more than that because Crocker has erected magical barriers around himself and Wanda.”
“She was tortured!” Cosmo blurted, his lips quivering. “She told me! And, and…”
He faltered, and the others couldn’t meet his eyes. A large lump formed in Timmy’s throat, and he glanced at Chloe. Chloe dropped her head. None of them wanted to say it aloud, especially not Cosmo. In the back of Timmy’s mind, Timmy wondered when Wanda had told him she was being tortured or if he’d just inferred it from earlier. Cosmo wasn’t the type to intuit things, though. That begged the question--how had Cosmo and Wanda communicated?
“You spoke with her?” Jorgen asked.
“For a minute before Crocker cut off her magic again,” Cosmo said. At the children’s bewildered looks, he added, “Through telepathy.”
“So, the magical blackout is complete if she cannot even send or receive telepathic messages,” Jorgen said. He scowled. “There is something you’re not telling me, Cosmo.”
“I don’t want to!” Cosmo burst out. Tears pricked his eyes.
“It’s okay,” Tootie said, patting his back. She was oddly sympathetic toward his godfather. “He has to know.”
“Why don’t you want to tell me?” Jorgen asked. His voice was surprisingly gentle, and he leaned forward on his desk. “What else happened to her?”
“She didn’t say it outright,” Cosmo said and burst into loud sobs. He hugged himself, rocking back and forth, and Chloe moved to rub his arm.
“How seriously was she injured?” Jorgen said. Despite his words, there was steel beneath his tone. “I have to know.”
“Crocker attacked her,” Timmy said flatly. There was no emotion in his voice compared to Cosmo’s overt display. Jorgen’s eyes narrowed.
“How? In addition to the torture?”
No one wanted to answer, least of all Cosmo. Cosmo was a basket case again, having flung himself into Tootie’s and Chloe’s arms. Tootie had to put aside her dislike for the greater good, which was keeping Cosmo from having a complete breakdown. It might already be too late for that.
“Cosmo…” Jorgen said, and Timmy could tell his patience was ebbing. “What happened to Wanda?”
“Crocker raped her,” Tootie said in a quiet voice, which set Cosmo off into loud sobbing. Her words fell into the room and rendered everyone silent except for poor Cosmo. Jorgen leaned back in his chair and looked stunned. Making Cosmo speechless was one thing, but Jorgen was at a total loss for words.
For a few minutes, it was relatively quiet. Then Jorgen spoke again, back to the soft voice, perhaps to avoid upsetting Cosmo further.
“How did he get into your room, Timmy?”
“I left the window open,” Timmy admitted, hanging his head. He lifted it again. “But he could’ve taken Cosmo too and didn’t. I don’t know why.”
“I know why,” Jorgen said, sighing. He shook his head. “Although he took the wrong fairy if he thought he would break her quickly.”
Timmy swallowed past the lump in his throat. He didn’t like the sound of that, even if Jorgen had a point. Cosmo would’ve broken much faster. Then again, if what lurked in the back of Timmy’s mind was right, Crocker had taken Wanda specifically because she was a girl.
“You do not know where she is, do you, Cosmo?”
Cosmo shook his head, tears flying off his cheeks. Chloe thumbed them away while Tootie rubbed Cosmo’s back.
“She is probably somewhere in Dimmsdale,” Jorgen said. “Crocker would not have run too far.”
“Yeah, but Dimmsdale’s huge,” Timmy said. “How are we supposed to find her?”
“She could not give you any hints?” Jorgen asked Cosmo. Again, the green-haired fairy shook his head.
“She said she didn’t recognize the place.”
Jorgen grimaced, rubbing his temples again. Timmy wondered what had happened before Wanda’s abduction that had him so frazzled. Then again, he probably didn’t want to know if it’d already set Jorgen off once today.
It was a tense situation, and Timmy shuffled his feet. He felt guilty for leaving the window open; if he hadn’t, Crocker wouldn’t have been able to steal Wanda. If he or Cosmo had woken up when Crocker invaded his room, Wanda would still be safe. He felt like a fool. Why hadn’t he ever considered someone breaking into his house to kidnap his fairies?
“We don’t know if she’s in Dimmsdale or Brightsburg,” Chloe pointed out. Jorgen conjured up a pint of something that smelled fermented and downed it. “Or somewhere else entirely.”
“There is probably no chance of Wanda contacting you again, is there?” Jorgen asked Cosmo. He continued to stare at the floor, but at least his sobs had abated. He was hiccuping.
“Shoosh, there there,” Tootie said.
“We’ll find her,” Chloe promised.
Jorgen rose, moving in front of his desk to pace. Timmy was unpleasantly reminded of Cosmo doing the same earlier in his bedroom.
“We have no leads,” Jorgen said. “With Wanda’s magical supply cut off from Fairy World, there is no way to track her. Our only chance is to have someone stalk him back to his lair and then use non-magical means to contact the rest of us.”
“Tootie said his fairy tracker doesn’t detect half-bloods,” Timmy said, remembering.
Jorgen frowned, scanning Tootie, who dropped her gaze.
“How much has Wanda taught you?” Jorgern asked.
“I can turn myself invisible, although I can’t poof around,” Tootie said. Jorgen waved a hand at the second half of her sentence.
“The latter won’t be necessary,” Jorgen said. “What else?”
“I can shoot to disarm, I can conjure up a few things out of thin air, and, uh…” she faltered, blushing. “I can play mind tricks on Vicky.”
“You have not abused this power, have you?” Jorgen asked sharply. Timmy stifled a snicker. The next words out of Tootie’s mouth were bound to be a lie. If he’d had that kind of power, he’d be abusing it constantly. There was no way Vicky’s little sister would be able to resist, especially since Vicky treated her like crap.
“Of course not,” Tootie said, managing to keep a straight face. Jorgen scowled but let it pass. He probably didn’t believe her either, but there were more serious matters at hand.
“You will have to conceal yourself in his van,” Jorgen said. He had resumed massaging his temples. “Can you turn anyone else invisible?”
“I’ve never tried,” Tootie said. She bit her lower lip. “No one besides you, Cosmo, and Wanda knew about my powers until this afternoon.”
Jorgen nodded. “Try now.”
“Okay…” Tootie said, producing a wand from her hip pocket. The sight of Tootie with a wand was so incongruous that Timmy did a doubletake. Chloe took a step back. While Chloe didn’t share in the enmity, she wasn’t going to take chances, either. A half-trained, half-blooded fairy girl with a grudge was nothing to screw around with.
Tootie waved her wand and pointed it at Timmy. The magic hit him square in the chest, and a strange, warm feeling passed over him. He glanced down; he was invisible. Whooping, he turned around. He was transparent again, too.
“Hey, I’m invisible!” Timmy said.
“Turn him back,” Jorgen instructed, and Tootie pointed the wand at him again. Timmy returned back to the visible spectrum.
“Aw…” Timmy said. He’d enjoyed being invisible. Frowning, he noticed light purple fairy dust at Tootie’s feet. He’d never noticed her producing fairy dust before.
“You two will confront Crocker,” Jorgen said. “You cannot bring Cosmo along--he would set off Crocker’s fairy detector. Therefore, Cosmo and Chloe will remain here, in Fairy World, and send information back to us.”
“Just how big is this operation going to be?” Timmy asked.
“Hopefully, Crocker has not seized too much of Wanda’s magic by now,” Jorgen said.
“He might’ve,” Cosmo said, looking uneasy.
“We will play it by ear,” Jorgen said. He glowered. “Crocker must be brought back to Fairy World to answer for his crimes. We do not take fairy abuse lightly, and Crocker needs to have his mind wiped. Again. Hopefully, this time it will stick.
“I assume that Crocker has probably retired for the evening. This will have to take place tomorrow afternoon.”
“Wanda’s going to be in Crocker’s clutches for another day?” Cosmo said, aghast. “Who knows what he’ll do to her by that time!”
“I know,” Jorgen said, likewise uneasy. “We do not have a choice, Cosmo. There is no way we can rescue Wanda now, not without more information. I assume I am correct that Cosmo is magically tapped out for the moment?”
Timmy and the girls nodded.
Jorgen pointed his wand at Timmy and Tootie. “You two will return to Earth. Cell phones work in Fairy World, so you will contact Chloe when the time is right.”
Timmy and Tootie nodded. Timmy’s throat remained tight.
“Good luck,” he said, and the wand lit up. Timmy’s last glimpse of Fairy World was Cosmo latching onto Chloe and hugging her so tightly she turned blue.
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This was the first night since he’d received his fairies that he knew they wouldn’t respond if called. Cosmo was too weak to leave Fairy World, and wherever Wanda was, she probably wouldn’t hear him, much less be able to help. Timmy was on his own. Moreover, he was on his own with a crazy stalker half-blooded fairy who knew about his fairy godparents and had some sort of relationship with Wanda.
Still, beggars can’t be choosers, and Timmy knew Tootie was probably the only one who could’ve helped him. It’d have to be someone who was familiar with his fairies, who would be able to work magic to keep them invisible, and who wouldn’t activate Crocker’s fairy detector. Tootie was the only one who fit all those criteria. Crocker might be suspicious about Tootie’s involvement after the failed rescue attempt, but he didn’t know about her magic. It was unlikely Wanda would’ve told him about her.
Timmy had no idea what Wanda might’ve said to Crocker by now. He didn’t know how he’d fare under torture like that either. Wanda was far stronger than Cosmo, but everyone had a breaking point. Wanda had looked dangerously close to hers.
Thinking about what Crocker had done enraged and sickened him. Once he and Tootie parted ways, Timmy paced his bedroom and unconsciously imitated Cosmo’s earlier behavior. His fists were balled, and he was irritated he couldn’t do anything for either fairy. Chloe should be able to help Cosmo temporarily, but they couldn’t pursue Wanda until tomorrow afternoon. Like Cosmo, Timmy wondered darkly what Crocker might do to Wanda over the next day. Timmy didn’t even know whether telling Crocker anything would get him to stop, either.
He was just so damned frustrated. He needed a distraction. Of course, his homework could’ve sufficed for that, but he neither had the focus nor the ability to care about it. Stomach churning, he glanced over at his V-Cube. That thing was ancient. Half of the time, it red-ringed on him. He didn’t know why he still had it.
There were newer consoles near the V-Cube, although he doubted video games would distract him for long.
Even if he’d wanted to confide in his parents something about this mess, he couldn’t because they’d gone out for the night. Vicky was downstairs. Timmy wasn’t sure his life could get any worse right now, and then he thought about Wanda. Timmy just wanted to punch something right now. It had to be better to let off steam than deal with this alone in his bedroom.
Vicky had declined to give him dinner and pocketed the money his parents had left. It was adding insult to injury, which pissed him off further. Vicky didn’t have to starve him. She chose to because it amused her, and she wanted the extra cash.
Opening his closet, he looked over everything he’d wished for (and hadn’t unwished) regarding physical objects. There had to be a punching bag in there somewhere. To his horror, he still had Timantha’s old outfit. He wondered why he’d kept it or if it’d been Wanda who’d stowed it in there. For a minute, he was angry remembering Wanda changing him into a girl. Then he remembered why he’d been looking for a punching bag in the first place, and his anger deflated.
Crocker had said they wouldn’t be familiar with his second lair, which meant it couldn’t be in his house. Timmy didn’t know of any other lairs, nor did he understand how Crocker could afford to rent something out on a teacher’s salary. Some of his teachers barely eked out a living, yet Crocker had money to spare on extravagant fairy-catching schemes. Something wasn’t right there.
None of this was helping him find the punching bag. It’d taken his mind off Wanda for a few minutes, but the nagging voice in his head, which bore a remarkable resemblance to his godmother, brought him right back down. His shoulders slumped. It didn’t help that he had found Cosmo’s old Wanda puppet, either. Timmy could’ve given it to him if Cosmo weren’t trapped in Fairy World with Timmy stuck on Earth. He was starting to wonder whether he’d saved anything useful at all.
There was the shrinking suit, there were a few wishes his fairies had taken literally instead of figuratively, and there was a pillow with Trixie’s face on it. Tootie would’ve wanted his head for that. Reddening, Timmy stuffed it way back in the closet, where no one could see it with a cursory look.
He was sure Vicky had a punching bag, probably with his face on it, but he wasn’t about to ask her for it. Hell, he wasn’t about to venture downstairs until she left. She’d made it clear not to bother her tonight, and she was in a worse mood than usual. Tootie had mentioned Vicky’s grades weren’t up to snuff, and although their parents would never dare to punish her for it, the school was threatening to hold her back. Vicky was out for blood, and Tmmy did not need to make a bad day even worse.
So, he chose his battles. He didn’t have fairy backup, which meant anything she did to him was permanent until someone healed him. Vicky was smart enough if she did hit him, to do it beneath his clothes where his parents couldn’t see it. Otherwise, she’d probably rage like a furious dragon and beat him down verbally until he felt like he was two inches tall. Whatever she intended, Timmy didn’t want to find out.
Unable to find anything that could serve as a punching bag (except perhaps the Trixie pillow), he closed the closet door. It was stuffed to the brim with old wishes, and the door wasn’t closing properly. Timmy laughed nervously. It was a good thing his parents didn’t come in here that often because he’d have a hard time explaining all of that junk.
He growled and plopped down in front of the TV. Maybe something on there could make him forget his troubles.
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Wanda awoke in the middle of the night to discover an overhead light on. It cast a gentle glow over the containment chamber. To her surprise, the vomit had disappeared, replaced by a wrapped sandwich (with the store label on), and a soda bottle. Wanda eyed it suspiciously. The chocolate bar was next to the sandwich. Crocker hadn’t given up on that, even if the chocolate milk would’ve spoiled by now.
Her stomach rumbled and then ached like she’d been socked in the gut. Starving herself wasn’t helping matters. She hadn’t eaten anything in the past day when she was disused to fasting in any manner. A few tears fell as she opened the chocolate bar. Might as well start with what she knew wasn't tainted. The sandwich could’ve been opened and re-wrapped.
She made short work of the chocolate bar and opened the bottle. In addition to not eating, she hadn’t drunk anything either, so she was thirsty. She wondered whether Crocker had a plan for when she inevitably needed to use the bathroom. Maybe he’d just use her magic to whisk it away like he had the vomit.
The soda and the candy bar weren’t enough to satisfy her hunger. Reluctantly, she opened the sandwich and sniffed it. There were no obvious signs it’d been tampered with. There was no way of knowing if there were other, subtler ways to alter it. Crocker could’ve stuck a truth serum in it to get her to spill her secrets. Then again, if he had done that, he wouldn’t have left it for her overnight. There was probably a time limit on the efficacy of truth serums, right? She was reaching for straws.
Candy bars and soda were empty calories, though. She needed something more substantial.
She took an experimental bite and pulled a face. It wasn’t tainted, but it was tuna fish salad. Sure, it’d sustain her, but at what cost? He could’ve spread Nutella on bread; her stomach grumbled when she thought about Nutella. Nonetheless, wrinkling her nose, she ate it. That appeased her stomach slightly, although she was used to more substantial meals.
Sighing, she rested her head back against the containment chamber wall once she’d finished with the soda. She pounded on the wall experimentally, but it was solid steel, probably inlaid with iron as a precautionary measure. Somehow, she had enough air in here despite there being no obvious air holes. She touched the back of her neck and pulled on the wire.
Bad move. Electricity shot through her again, like she’d been caught by a lightning strike, and her vision blacked out. When she came to, she was shaking, and she smelled burnt hair. Right. That was staying in place for the time being.
She didn’t know how the others would remove it, provided they discovered where Crocker had stashed her.
Thankfully, she had enough play with the wire to jump, and she reached the window’s rim. She dug her fingernails underneath and gave it a shove. It was locked. Wanda screamed in frustration. Scowling, she dropped down to the floor.
Huddling in on herself, she hugged her legs. The air was stagnant and reeked from the sandwich. Wanda wasn’t tired enough to sleep again, which meant she was stuck smelling this crap.
Casting her gaze down, she kicked at the floor to see if there was any chance the floor wasn’t as well constructed as the walls or window. No dice. She hurt her foot, which throbbed, telling her she’d done something monumentally stupid.
It looked like she’d have to sit here and wait for morning. Crocker was probably fast asleep, and her godchildren should be in bed, too. As for Cosmo, she had a feeling he was having another sleepless night like her. She wished Crocker had at least left her a distraction so she didn’t have to think about her plight. Or about what he’d done to her earlier.
The physical pain was gone, but the emotional pain lingered. She wanted to claw her skin off; she wanted to scream until she was hoarse. Neither of those things would help. More tears slipped down her cheeks.
More than anything, she wanted Cosmo at her side. It wouldn’t undo what Crocker had done to her; it might make her feel better, though. Cosmo’s brand of stupidity, combined with his odd charm, had a way of disarming and relaxing her.
Oh, how she missed Cosmo. She hugged herself tighter and tried to make herself smaller, beneath Crocker’s notice. This was going to be a long--she checked the clock near the chamber--three hours.