(no subject)

[soulfulsin]

Fandom: Fairly Oddparents
Canon or AU: AU of an AU
A/N: This is based on a one-shot where Asmodeus rendered Wanda mute. I might or might not continue it--we shall see.

I also have stuff to do around the house, so as soon as this is posted, I need to take out the garbage, start the laundry, and change the cat litter. Yay. -_-

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Cosmo had fallen asleep before her, which was typical. Then again, after having nightmares for months, Wanda avoided sleep when she didn’t have her wand. Squeezing it against her palm to verify its presence, she changed into her old, normal clothes and went to check on Timmy. He was spread out on the couch with Poof in his lap; the twins floated above them.

“Mama!” they cried.

Timmy glanced up from his cell phone. “Wanda!”

“Hey, sport,” she said weakly. She sounded gravelly, but since it was an improvement over not being able to utter a sound, she’d take what she could get. She drifted toward him, and he hugged her tightly. She smiled, hugging him back.

“I’ve missed you so much,” Timmy said, and her smile broadened. She tousled his hair affectionately.

“Me too, hon,” she said. Timmy straightened up on the couch so she could join him. Poof and the twins descended upon her to embrace her. Wanda wasn’t certain how long she’d be capable of speech, so she didn’t intend to squander her time being silent.

“I can’t believe that bastard made you mute,” Timmy snapped, and she sighed.

“Language,” she said. Her heart clenched; it was almost overwhelming to be sitting here, safe and surrounded by her family. Tears pricked her eyes again. While she knew Timmy had been well-intentioned, he’d reminded her of when she’d lost that ability. She wanted to curl into a ball, but the babies made that impossible.

Wailing emanated from the nursery, and Timmy groaned.

“Oh, c’mon, man. I just put you down for a nap. Why can’t you stay asleep?” he groused. Groaning, Timmy stood up, and Wanda moved the babies aside to poof them into the nursery. Leander was awake, flailing his little limbs, and looked positively miserable. The smell from his diaper explained why.

“Is that all they do? Eat and poop?” Timmy said.

“For a while, that’s pretty much it, hon,” Wanda said. She knew she should probably change Leander the old fashioned way, as she had with Poof, but she felt lazy. Squeezing her wand, she cleaned him up, swapped diapers, and then dumped the dirty one into a nearby garbage can. Leander cooed and grinned, raising his little arms and demanding to be picked up.

“He likes being held,” Timmy said. “You’d think no one ever held him before.”

“It’s possible they didn’t,” she reminded him. She opened her arms, and Leander floated into them. Despite her misgivings about her forced pregnancies, she couldn’t hold it against the children for their circumstances. Once she lifted Leander, he yawned and rested his head on her shoulder.

It was almost enough to make her forget Abraxas’s words earlier, but not quite. She shivered, hoping she wasn’t that far along. Five children were enough to look after.

“Where’s Cosmo?” Timmy asked, and she snorted.

“Sleeping,” she said and then winced. Her voice was weakening. Timmy’s eyes widened, and she shook her head.

“It was fun while it lasted, sport,” she said.

“I wish you could still talk!” Timmy said. Poof granted the wish before Wanda had a chance to tell him that it was pointless. Poof’s rattle wouldn’t light up. Frustrated, her son shook the rattle so hard that it flew out of his hands. He groaned.

“It was a nice thought,” she said, head in her hands. Her voice was rapidly devolving to a whisper. Soon, it’d fade away entirely, like it had before. Tears slipped down her cheeks; she didn’t want to be mute again. The geas had left her powerless, and this new curse took away what little autonomy she might’ve had left. Before she knew it, she was sobbing hysterically.

The babies joined in, except for Poof, who looked concerned but not bereft like the younger babies were.

“There has to be a way to fix this,” Timmy snapped. “I’m not taking ‘no’ for an answer.”

She smiled faintly. “That sounds--” she coughed, trying unsuccessfully to increase her volume, “--familiar.”

Timmy bared his teeth and hugged her and Leander.

“I’m not giving up,” he vowed. “I’ll figure out a way to help you. I swear.”

“I believe you, sweetie,” she croaked. “I love you.”

“I love you, too,” Timmy said, but she could tell his mind had already shifted to how to fix this. It was pretty obvious when his ADHD kicked in. She hadn’t thought she’d miss it, but then again, she’d missed everything about her family.

It was good to be home, but surreal, too. She didn’t know how long she could trust her good luck to hold out.

“Abraxas said that the curse was separate from this, right?”

She nodded, wondering if she could save her voice or if time was stealing it away.

“And the only one who knows how to reverse that is Asmodeus, right?”

”Yes,” she croaked. She rubbed her throat. It was scratchy and burned like it had earlier when she’d-she looked away and shuddered uncontrollably. She was trying hard to keep the memories at bay and not be swept away. Timmy needed his godmother, especially if Cosmo was all he had.

Ozymandias loved to torture her. It wasn’t enough to mutilate and rape her-no, he had to add a new spin. This last time, he’d used her wand to generate thorns that tore up her mouth and throat. Wanda leaned over the mattress side and coughed up blood. There was a disturbing amount; it felt like she was trying to expel all the blood from her body.

Ozymandias sneered, turning back to his lover, Asmodeus. Asmodeus, however, was more concerned with her.

“I love your style, Ozy, but…” Asmodeus winced.

”But what?” Ozy demanded. “Look at that tableau of blood. It’s a work of art.”

”I’m going to have to heal her,” Asmodeus said like it was an arduous task that didn’t involve simply pointing her wand at her. “She’s in danger of bleeding out.”

Wanda’s head spun, and when she leaned over further to vomit, she fell off the bed. Asmodeus sighed. Grabbing her by her wrists, he flung her onto the bed again. She vomited onto him; it wasn’t like she could control it, but it induced a small, vindictive smile.

Asmodeus growled, cleaning himself up, and then slapped her across the face. Scowling, he healed her and then straddled her.

”You know better, Wanda,” Asmodeus sneered. She flinched. He always used her name as a pejorative when he bothered to say it. Before she knew it, she was scrambling backward on the silk sheets to escape him. Her hands slipped, and Amodeus snickered.

”I love when you do that,” he said. He laughed in her face. “You know it’s hopeless.”

He yanked her forward by her hair. She whimpered; that was what the curse had reduced her to. She could only make noises like an animal. Their eyes met; Ozy and Asmodeus were both aroused and stroking themselves. Wanda couldn’t turn away, but she was filled with revulsion.

”I can see your daydreams and your nightmares,” he said. Wanda froze. She hadn’t imagined his voice intruding earlier. Asmodeus had invaded her private moments when she’d done her utmost to remember the good times with Cosmo. Tears filled her eyes, and she fought against the geas. Her hand trembled as she struggled to lift it off the sheets and slap him.

“I’m amused at how vanilla your love life was,” he continued. “Neither Cosmo nor Juandissimo treated you the way you deserve. Like the dirty whore you are.”

She glowered, wanting to ball her hands into fists. Filling her mouth with saliva, she prepared to spit in his face. Asmodeus knocked her backward, so she was looking up at him. Loathing consumed her, but beneath that was terror. She was completely under his sway, and there was nothing she could do to defend herself.

Moreover, the only people who claimed to love her were millions of miles away, probably living it up in Fairy World.

She choked back a sob. Asmodeus smoothed her hair back and then yanked out a large chunk. She yelped, and Ozy and Asmodeus snickered.

“Face it, Seelie bitch. They went looking for someone better,” Asmodeus said, then slid a steel dagger along her neck. It wasn’t hard enough to slice her throat open, but it left a burning sensation behind. It wouldn’t be the first time he’d coated a blade with something.

“It's a hallucinogenic powder on the knife,” he said, sitting on her thighs. “I know you smoked pot in the 70s, so you know what’s coming. Except you don’t. Because you Seelie fairies had the untainted shit.

“You’re about to have a bad trip,” Asmodeus said, sneering. “The worst one of your life.”

“Wanda!”

Timmy’s voice intruded, and she thought at first it was part of her unreliable memory. Once the drug had hit, things had snowballed. She couldn’t separate fact from fiction, and she knew the Unseelie Court had loved it. Even while she fought against the demons in her mind, they’d been using and abusing her.

Clenching her eyes shut, she pressed a fist to her mouth to suppress a sob.

“Wanda!” Timmy screamed, snapping his fingers on either side of her head. It wasn’t he who had finally broken the spell-it was Cosmo floating above her.

“What’s going on?” Cosmo asked and drifted down to sit with his family.

“Mama must’ve had a flashback,” Poof said.

“How do you know stuff like that?” Timmy said. “They can’t teach you that in Spellementary.”

“I’m taking advanced classes to become a godparent someday,” Poof said proudly.

“I don’t think you should be handling material like that at your age,” Wanda said weakly. Her words were barely audible. The others had to lean in to hear her.

”You’re losing your voice again?” Cosmo exclaimed, and she nodded, feeling oddly guilty though it wasn’t her fault.

”That didn’t take long,” Timmy grumbled.

“I know! Let’s have more-“ Cosmo didn’t finish before she jabbed him in the ribs. She glared, hoping that conveyed her point better than attempting speech.

”More what?” Timmy asked, and she jerked her head as if to say, “Look what you started.”

”Your flashback woke me up,” Cosmo said, and she winced.

“Sorry, sweetie,” she said. Her voice was so soft this time that she only thought she’d spoken. She couldn’t be certain.

She wanted to ask how much he’d seen, but clearing her throat produced no sound. Shuddering, she hugged herself and felt tears slip down her cheeks. She wanted to be alone, but she simultaneously never wanted to be left alone again.

Without trying, she knew telepathy would be a bust.

“Was it really like that?” Cosmo asked, and she nodded. Her throat tightened, and she pressed her face into his neck. Cosmo stroked her hair, and she flinched, thinking of Asmodeus yanking it out. Cosmo must’ve seen that, too, because he kissed the crown of her head. Slowly, she turned her face towards his and kissed him.

I love you…

The words remained trapped. Cosmo hugged her to his chest, and she sighed. Her tears had abated, but only because she was too depressed to cry. It was like the temperature being too cold to snow.

“Would chocolate make you feel better?” Timmy asked, and she shrugged. While the power of chocolate was indisputable, she doubted it was a panacea. Not for a hurt this deep.

”Oh, right,” Timmy said, shaking his head like a dog would shake off water. “We were discussing how to undo the sh-what Asmodeus did.”

She smiled and inclined her head. Timmy had caught himself in time.

“I know you said you have no idea how to remove it,” Timmy said, and she stared. She didn’t know how to answer a negative question.

He facepalmed. “I bet you’d want us to do something like ‘look in the library.’”

She smirked and nodded. He groaned.

”I’m allergic to libraries. You know that.”

She would have snorted if she could have. Instead, she shook her head with a rueful smile. She leaned against Cosmo; he wasn’t the biggest or the strongest fairy in the universe, but he was hers. Right now, he was a bulwark of safety in a world-turned topsy-turvy.

“I guess we can give it a shot,” Timmy said, rolling his eyes. “We won’t find anything, but we might as well look.”

They wouldn’t find anything with that attitude. She rolled her eyes back.

“I’m glad you’re here, in Fairy World, with us,” he said, and she nodded. She wished she could say what she thought out loud instead of being stuck in her head.

The library might not have what they needed, but it was worth a shot. If that didn’t work, they might have to resort to less pleasant measures, like hunting down whatever Unseelie artifacts Fairy World was keeping under wraps.

They owed her big time, especially the Council. She leaned her head against Cosmo’s.

“Are you sure you don’t wanna try having-“ Cosmo started, and she elbowed him hard again.

Don’t press your luck.

He huffed and then grinned. “Twice in a day is good enough for now.”

She laughed silently. Was Cosmo turning into a nympho? She doubted it, though he was a guy.

”I don’t want to know,” Timmy said, shaking his head and then repeating it like a mantra. “I don’t want to know. I don’t want to know.”

”Sure you do!” Cosmo said brightly. “Come on, let me teach you about the wands and the wings!”

Wanda facepalmed. This could be a long afternoon.

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At around five thirty pm, the doorbell rang, and Timmy, eager for any interruption, rushed to answer it. Cosmo’s descriptions left a lot to be desired, not to mention that they conflicted with everything his parents had told him. Timmy also didn’t want to think about his godparents having sex; it was akin to thinking about his parents doing that.

Tootie, Magdalene, and Juandissimo were on the other side of the door.

“I wanted to check on Wanda,” Tootie blurted. Without waiting to see whether Timmy would admit them, she rushed through the foyer and into the living room. Magdalene and Juandissimo followed, the latter closing the door behind him.

“Hi, Wanda!” Tootie said brightly. Wanda inclined her head, and Tootie’s enthusiasm waned.

“What’s wrong?” Tootie said.

“She can’t talk anymore,” Cosmo said quietly. Wanda nodded. Timmy, when he wasn’t being disturbed by Cosmo’s descriptions, had noticed Wanda withdrawing. Being robbed of speech had done more than render her mute. It had worked to destroy her spirit. Timmy’s heart lurched.

Tootie tackled Wanda in midair, and they slammed into the couch.

“Tootie!” Magdalene scolded. “You need to work on that exuberance. You’re going to hurt someone.”

“I’m sorry,” Tootie said sheepishly. “She had a distant look in her eyes.”

“I know,” Timmy said, rubbing his arms. “Ever since she lost her voice, she’s been impossible to reach.”

“I’m scared,” Cosmo said. “I don’t like when she yells or lectures me…but I don’t like seeing her withdrawn, either.”

Wanda hugged Tootie back, but it looked perfunctory. Despite seemingly being present, Wanda’s gaze remained unfocused. Timmy hoped she wasn’t reliving a painful memory. He wanted to ask but wasn’t sure he’d receive a response.

“There has to be a way to reverse this,” Timmy said, scowling. “Or at least a way for Wanda to communicate beyond moving her head.”

Wanda rolled her eyes, which relieved him slightly. She wasn’t as far gone as he’d feared.

“We’re going to help you,” Tootie vowed. “Somehow.”

Magdalene raised her wand and studied the pink and green magical lines intertwined near Cosmo and Wanda. Timmy saw the taint again; it hadn’t spread, but he doubted Wanda had derived much comfort.

Tootie released Wanda, albeit reluctantly. Once she stepped back, Cosmo swooped in and hugged Wanda. His lips brushed hers, and she kissed him back. It would’ve been a sweeter moment if Wanda weren’t shaking so badly. Timmy’s heart lurched.

Wanda had barely been back a day, and Timmy was worried that Asmodeus had ripped away almost all of what made his godmother who she was. Cosmo stroked Wanda’s hair and then broke the kiss to look into her eyes.

If true love fairies shared telepathy and usually knew what the other was thinking and feeling, being cut off must’ve been heartbreaking. It certainly didn’t help Wanda’s likely feelings of isolation.

Juandissimo scowled at Cosmo, who thankfully wasn’t paying attention. Cosmo looked desperate to restore Wanda’s speech while not having the slightest idea how. Timmy and Tootie were in a similar boat.

Timmy knew that Juandissimo blamed him and Cosmo for letting Wanda slip through their fingers. Honestly, Timmy blamed himself sometimes, too. Watching Wanda dissociate while surrounded by people who loved her was unsettling. It’d probably stoked the flames of Juandissimo’s resentment and frustration.

“Wandita,” Juandissimo said. He couldn’t get within a foot of Wanda without Cosmo growling and poofing them away. Wanda rolled her eyes; Cosmo was probably trying to overcompensate by being overprotective. Timmy wouldn’t put it past his godfather.

“Now you decide to care,” Juandissimo snapped. “Yet when she needed you, you were desaparecido.”

“I wasn’t…whatever you just said,” Cosmo protested. “Besides, Wanda knows Timmy, and I would’ve rescued her sooner if we could have. Right, Wanda?”

Wanda turned her head away; Timmy knew it had to vex her to remain silent. Juandissimo growled, advancing on Cosmo.

“As you can see, not all of her returned,” Juandissimo snapped. Timmy wondered if he’d been waiting for an opportunity to hash this out and wanted a suitable audience. Timmy balled his fists and then glanced at Tootie, who looked torn.

“She is a shell because you chose to ignore her,” Juandissimo continued, snarling. “You do not deserve a woman like her.”

Wanda shook her head, but Timmy didn’t know what she meant. Then, without warning, she poofed away, and his stomach twisted.

“Wanda?” Cosmo said, baffled and concerned.

“I wish we were wherever she went!” Timmy said, hoping they could intercept her before she decided to jump to another location to avoid them.

They appeared in front of the Fairy World sign, which marked the boundary between Earth and Fairy World. That raised more questions than answers. Wanda squeezed her wand, but it failed to light up. Her head drooped.

“What are you trying to do?” Timmy asked, and she shook her head. She almost threw her wand away and then stopped in time. Tears filled her eyes and spilled down her cheeks. Worse, Timmy had no clue what was happening nor why Wanda should be so adamant.

“The geas is gone, yes?” Juandissimo said, glaring at Cosmo.

“Abraxas removed it, but…” Cosmo gestured to Wanda, who flew at the barrier and blasted it to no avail. The barrier absorbed her attacks effortlessly. Her shoulders hunched inward, and her face reddened. If he didn’t know any better, Timmy would’ve said Wanda was trying to bring down the magical shield. To what end, he didn’t know.

Cosmo looked as confused as Timmy felt.

“Why would she be attacking the barrier?” Timmy said. “She’s acting like she wants the rainbow bridge open.”

“Or like she wants to return to Earth,” Tootie said, horrified. “But that’s insane.”

“Si, unless she has been brainwashed,” Juandissimo snapped. “Wandita, calm down.”

Wanda’s eyes flashed. If anything, her ex-boyfriend had made things deteriorate further. Wanda’s renewed magical assault had grown fiercer. Timmy grabbed her arm before she hurt herself, and she whirled around. Something in her expression softened when she looked at him, and she shook her head.

“The geas is gone,” Timmy said flatly. “There’s no way she’d want to return to the hotel. That’s batshit.”

The affection in her gaze faded, and hopelessness replaced it. Hanging her head, her shoulders scrunched into her chest, and she shrank in on herself. Black sleeve gloves covered her arms; she squeezed her wand to turn them pink, and then she shook her head and restored the black. Timmy noticed that she wasn’t wearing her customary yellow shirt; instead, she’d donned a black t-shirt.

“Guys,” Tootie said quietly, “I don’t know if there’s a way to figure out what she wants if she can’t communicate with us beyond head shakes and nods.”

“There is,” Magdalene said, scowling. “We just have to stick to yes, no, and number questions.”

“Like what?” Timmy said skeptically.

“How long have you been like this?” Magdalene asked. “Days?”

Wanda shook her head. A flicker of dark amusement flashed in her eyes before vanishing.

“Weeks?”

Wanda shook her head again.

“Months?”

This time, his godmother nodded, held up her left hand, and stuck her thumb out on her right.

“Six months?” the others exclaimed in unison.

“That’s almost your entire time in the hotel!” Tootie said, aghast. Wanda nodded and bit her lower lip. Timmy groaned--it was like putting three sandbags in front of a surging ocean wave and hoping it’d stop the flood. There wasn’t enough information, damn it, and the water was pouring in all around them.

“He really wanted you miserable,” Cosmo said, and she swallowed hard and nodded. Cosmo drifted closer to her, and she moved away. It wasn’t much, but it was enough to tell Timmy she wanted to be left alone.

“You have no one to blame but yourselves,” Juandissimo snapped. “If you had taken her seriously, she would not have been in that situación.”

Wanda bared her teeth as if to growl. She opened her mouth, perhaps to tell someone off, but the anger drained when she remembered she couldn’t speak. Looking bereft, she lowered herself to Timmy’s level but didn’t look at him. He felt like he was losing her while she was still there.

His parents said his Grandpappy was like that, too, losing himself while being physically present. Timmy didn’t know about that, but he knew that he didn’t like what was happening. She was quick to avoid eye contact.

“Wanda forgives us. Right, Wanda?” Cosmo said, taking her hands.

Wanda neither confirmed nor denied Cosmo’s assumption. Instead, she looked across the rainbow bridge and toward Earth. Timmy wished he knew what she was trying to say, but wishing hadn’t worked before.

“Wanda?” Cosmo prompted when she didn’t respond.

“That is a ‘no,’” Juandissimo scoffed. Wanda pivoted in midair and glared at Juandissimo. When it dawned on her again that she couldn’t retort, she made herself small. If Timmy hadn’t known the reason, he would’ve been outraged. As it was, he was sick with worry.

“Wanda,” Tootie pleaded. “Look at us.”

Wanda glanced at them briefly before staring at Earth. Timmy huffed.

“I don’t get it,” he said. “Why would you want to return to the place where you were in hell?”

Magdalene frowned. “She’s acting like I did…like she thinks her only worth is with her abuser.”

“That’s ridiculous!” Nathaniel said. “You can’t be serious, Mags. No one in their right mind would want to run back to being tortured and molested every day.”

“You might so if you think there’s no other option or if you think no one else would want you,” Magdalene said softly. “I’m sure Asmodeus hammered that into her head beyond anything else.”

Wanda nodded, but Timmy could tell they were losing her. She was staring vacantly; her hand was so tight on her wand that her knuckles stood out. Timmy had the strangest thought that maybe Wanda hadn’t wanted them to pursue her. Maybe she wanted to be alone, but that made no sense. All of the worst things that had happened to her had been when they were absent and couldn’t present a unified resistance.

“Okay…you don’t wanna go back to Asmodeus, do you?” Cosmo asked, and Wanda shuddered. She glanced at Cosmo and, for a few seconds, Timmy swore she saw them before her gaze turned inward again. He growled.

“I wish you’d stay here and talk to us!” Timmy snapped without thinking.

Wanda glared, folding her arms across her chest. She mouthed her next sentence, shook her head, and then looked thoughtful. Instead of a dry-erase board, she created a Pictionary page in mid-air.

“Oh, word puzzles! I’m good at those!” Cosmo said, and Wanda rolled her eyes.

Juandissimo seized Wanda’s hand to kiss it, and she wrenched it out of his grasp. She stared into the distance without seeing any of them.

“I wish you could talk to us like normal,” Timmy grumbled.

Wanda nodded absently. He didn’t like how often she slipped in and out of reality. There had to be something they could do about it, a way to keep her tethered to the present. Plus, whenever he looked at the rainbow bridge, his stomach flip-flopped. The last thing he wanted was for Wanda to return to that hell.

“We should return to the house,” Magdalene said uneasily. The others nodded; Wanda stared blankly at Earth. Timmy worried that Wanda might try to make a break for it again, although he knew that it had taken more than just one fairy to break through the barrier.

They poofed back to the house, and Timmy growled. If Wanda hadn’t been off in her own little world before, she sure was now. Cosmo latched onto her; perhaps, even if they couldn’t speak, he could sense that she was avoiding them.

Wanda flinched at the sudden physical contact, but it had the desired result. Her gaze focused, and she was aware of her surroundings again. Once she realized who had grabbed her, she relaxed and brushed her lips against Cosmo’s. She was shaking again, and Timmy was pissed off that they couldn’t communicate properly.

“Mama!” The twins cried, and Wanda shook her head. Her expression was pained, and she rested against Cosmo.

“I still do not think he deserves your forgiveness,” Juandissimo said sharply to Wanda. “If he had listened to you before, you would not be like this.”

Wanda glared. She opened her mouth to snap and then remembered she couldn’t speak. Almost too quick for him to see, she made a rude gesture in Juandissimo’s direction. Timmy had never seen her flip anyone off before; he would’ve laughed if she hadn’t immediately glared at him, too.

“What did I do?” Timmy huffed.

“It is what you did not do,” Juandissimo said waspishly.

“I wish you’d go away,” Timmy grumbled. Cosmo held up his wand and sent Juandissimo off. Magdalene laughed, raising her wand, too, and she, Nathaniel, and Tootie disappeared. Timmy breathed easier, knowing they no longer had an audience. Wanda relaxed slightly.

“Good,” Timmy said, folding his arms across his chest. “It’s not like we need more people poking their noses into this.”

“I beg to differ,” a stentorian voice said, and Timmy groaned. A Council member floated behind them, and Wanda flinched against Cosmo. Timmy and Cosmo were confused, but Wanda’s eyes narrowed. She opened her mouth and then shut it--Timmy wondered how many times she’d done that over the past six months.

“You were seen trying to break through the Fairy World barrier and return to Earth,” the Council member snapped, flinging their hood back. A severe-looking older blonde woman glared at Wanda. She had light blue, almost white eyes, and if Wanda had looked starved, this woman had endured a famine.

“I’d ask you why, but you can’t tell me,” the woman sniffed.

“She didn’t know what she was doing,” Cosmo said quickly.

“Oh, she very much did,” the Councilwoman asserted. “Is that what you want, Wanda? Do you want to be sent back?”

Wanda blanched, shaking her head frantically. Timmy and Cosmo added their emphatic “no!” aloud.

“After all, there’s not much you can tell us,” the Councilwoman said. Wanda gulped, and Cosmo wrapped his arms around her waist. Timmy didn’t like the woman’s tone. It reeked of condescension and worse like she intended to punish Wanda for something that the Council hadn’t done. Timmy glared at the taller fairy woman--she was about adult human height, which was unusual in Fairy World and usually involved older fairies with prime positions, as far as he knew.

“That’s right; there isn’t,” Timmy snapped. “So leave her alone.”

“I’m not sure that’s wise. If she’s that determined to return to Earth, she may hurt someone in a desperate attempt to reach it. Abraxas removed the geas, but perhaps there’s something else driving her. For all we know, she misses it.”

If looks could kill, that Councilwoman would’ve fallen out of the sky and crashed to Earth in a second. Wanda’s eyes burned with resentment and loathing before she averted her gaze. Unlike Juandissimo, Wanda could not afford to flip off a Council member, no matter how tempting. Wanda wasn’t normally vulgar, but her emotions were probably running high.

“Why would she miss being somewhere where she was tortured daily?” Timmy countered. He felt honor-bound to defend Wanda since she couldn’t defend herself.

“It’s possible that those six months in custody gave her Stockholm Syndrome.”

Wanda went scarlet with what Timmy could only imagine was suppressed fury. Her hair burned, and her eyes flashed warningly. She mouthed “no!” slowly and repeatedly in case the Councilwoman somehow missed it. Wanda’s fists balled, and she looked murderous.

“The only way to know for sure is to take her into custody,” the Councilwoman continued blithely.

“She doesn’t have it!” Timmy snapped. “You’re making up excuses to lock her up!”

Wanda’s anger drained so rapidly that Timmy wondered if he’d imagined it. The color vanished in her cheeks, and she stowed her wand before she dropped it. Her lips trembled, and she shook her head so hard that she had to be giving herself a headache.

Wanda was mouthing words, but the Councilwoman turned her head to avoid looking at her. Instead, the Councilwoman fixed Cosmo and Timmy with an imperious look, raised her wand, and hied herself and Wanda away. Yelping, Timmy ordered Cosmo to follow them.

They bounced off another magical barrier and into the street in front of a detention center. Chills went down Timmy’s spine. Aghast, he looked at Cosmo, who tried poofing into the center to no avail. It was the equivalent of throwing oneself against a locked door until it gave way, except the magical barrier wasn’t about to break down, no matter how much Cosmo shoved it.

“They can’t…they can’t do that to her,” Timmy said. He was too stunned to be angry. His lips trembled. “She just spent a little over half a year trapped in that hotel. Now they’re going to put her in solitary?”

“They can’t,” Cosmo said. “I didn’t see everything that was happening to her, but I saw enough. She’s having enough problems pushing away the flashbacks.”

Grabbing Timmy by the collar, he shook him. “We have to get to her before it’s too late.”

“I’m not arguing with you,” Timmy said, trying to push Cosmo off. Cosmo shook him harder, and Timmy’s bucktooth scraped against his lip. “I agree.”

Timmy scowled. “We’re going to need help. It took more than just one fairy to rescue her before. It’ll probably take more than one now.”

He groaned, facepalming. “We’re going to have to call Tootie and the others back. Yay.”

On the plus side, they’d be outraged, too. On the other, it was more kindle for Juandissimo’s ire. They couldn’t win.

Things could be worse. He just wasn’t sure how yet.

------------------------------------------

She wished she hadn’t contemplated returning to Earth. One of Juandissimo’s comments had hit a sore spot, and it reminded her of how little Asmodeus and the Unseelie Court valued her. Their insidious remarks had nested inside and then blossomed into full-scale self-loathing and doubt. Asmodeus had warned her multiple times that she was too broken and used to be desirable anymore. Juandissimo had probably meant to defend Wanda and hurt Cosmo, but it had only depressed Wanda, especially since she couldn’t refute the remarks.

She couldn’t refute anything. When she’d mouthed frantically earlier, the Councilwoman feigned ignorance. To that end, the Council had confiscated her wand and threw her into solitary confinement as Timmy had predicted. Her chest tightened, and she curled into a ball against the wall.

Solitary was the last place in the universe she wanted to be. After what she’d endured, she never wanted to be alone again, especially not at someone else’s mercy and weaponless. Her vision broke up into red spots, and she gasped for air. A panic attack was forthcoming, something with which she had also grown familiar over the past half of a year.

While she knew it wasn’t a heart attack, there wasn’t much difference. Panic attacks usually lasted only ten to fifteen minutes, but they felt like an eternity, especially if someone was using them against her.

She knew it was unlikely to faint from a panic attack, but she felt like she was on the cusp of it anyway.

“Well, well, what do we have here?” Asmodeus sneered. Wanda could barely hear him over the blood pounding in her head. He stroked her cheek with the back of his hand; he’d been absent all day, and she’d been under the mistaken impression that he might be too busy to visit her. It was ten p.m., and after discovering she was pregnant again, she’d had a meltdown.

“Oh, that’s right,” he said. “You can’t speak.”

He trailed her wand through the air, and she followed its progress with her gaze. Laughing, he brought more air into her lungs and forced her to calm down. She knew this wasn’t a selfless act. He needed her for something disturbing. She glared defiantly, but it didn’t last long.

It was hard to maintain defiance when she hadn’t seen Cosmo in four months. Tears welled in her eyes. She missed him so badly that it was like a constant heartache.

Asmodeus flung the sheets back and then growled upon seeing her long black nightgown. It had reminded her of Morticia Adams, and it’d appealed to her macabre mood. Asmodeus used her wand to generate claws and then tore the dress off, along with gouging out flesh. Wanda gasped, touching her wounded stomach. If it hadn’t been for whatever intervention Asmodeus had performed, she would have resumed panicking

He threw her onto the floor.

“On your hands and knees, bitch,” he ordered. Hot tears streaked her face. Movement behind her caught her attention as Ozy slipped into the room and then locked the door. Her throat tightened, especially when the two men disrobed. It was always worse when they joined forces.

She had no choice but to comply and hate herself for it. It must’ve been something the two men had worked out beforehand because no sooner had she assumed the position than Ozy fingered her from behind. Wanda shuddered; he caught her wand, lubed his fingers up to widen her out, and then penetrated her.

The wand had done more than provide lube. It had increased his size and added spikes that dragged at her as he thrust in and out. She knew some of the Unseelie men preferred taking her that way because it was tighter and much easier to hurt her. Wanda clenched her jaw shut on a scream; Asmodeus wrenched it open and then, shuffling forward on his knees, thrust his penis into her mouth.

The two men worked on her; every time he thrust into her, Ozy smacked her. He grabbed her breasts and yanked on them. She couldn’t scream now because her tongue was sliding up and down Asmodeus’s length. It was a nightmare, and all she could do was endure it.

Sometimes, when they double-teamed her, she dissociated. She’d stare at a patch on the ceiling until her gaze unfocused, and she let her mind drift until they finished. It was almost impossible when they were as malicious as Ozymandias. Whenever he sensed her attention shifting, he brought her back by snarling and ripping her open further.

She’d lost enough blood now that only magic compelled her to remain in position. The spell held her knees in place because they’d started to buckle. Asmodeus held her head and encouraged her as Ozy insulted her, groaning and grunting.

He was rutting her like a dog. She wanted to panic, couldn’t control herself enough to freak out, and whimpered. The geas forced her to do whatever they wanted, however they wanted.

Tears slipped down her cheeks. She had a half-thought of Cosmo thumbing them away, which only prompted her to cry harder.

“That’s right,” Asmodeus groaned. “Good whore.”

She wanted to kill them both, but she’d start with Asmodeus. He was the instigator, even if Ozy built on his cruelty.

Ozy was, unfortunately, quite good at prolonging sex, as she’d learned the hard way. Asmodeus finished before him and then ejaculated into her mouth. She swallowed it--she had no choice.

Not to be outdone, Ozy came inside of her and then flipped her over onto the bed. He dragged her legs up and forced her into an awkward position so that he could take her again. It was disturbing how quickly the two of them could rise to attention.

She wanted to shut her eyes and couldn’t. Instead, she watched Asmodeus move and then kiss Ozy. The two made out as Ozy raped her; Asmodeus groped her, and she could see his attention rising. She prayed to whatever divinities might listen to fairies that this would end soon. This wasn’t the worst pain she’d endured lately, but it wasn’t exactly the least amount, either.

“Fuck, man, I’m so glad you grabbed her,” Ozy groaned as he hilted himself in her. “Best fucking fairy godmother you’ve ever kidnapped.”

Asmodeus laughed. “I don’t think she’s quite broken in yet. Don’t worry. We’ll crush her spirit soon enough.”

“Ah, but breaking her in is the best part,” Ozy said, grinning wickedly. “Don’t you agree, Seelie whore?”

She was shaking; that, it seemed, the curse couldn’t eradicate. As Ozy thrust in and out, blood gushed down her backside and coated the bed and floor. She was woozy and wondered if she’d finally pass out. From sad experience, she knew that was not a deterrent. They’d take their pleasures no matter what state she was in.

((Wanda?))

Cosmo? No, that made no sense. He wasn’t in this flashback. No matter his many faults, he never would’ve sat back and let two men treat her like this. She was lost in the moment, feeling them attack her from both sides. They stood her up, pushed her legs apart, and resumed violating her. She sobbed, wishing they’d finally get tired enough to stop. How much was enough?

((Wanda!))  His mental voice was urgent, which baffled her. Not only wasn’t he present in the hotel, but he shouldn’t have been able to speak with her at all. The barrier between Fairy World and Earth prevented telepathy from reaching her. It had to have done so, or surely, by now, Cosmo would’ve reached out.

Cosmo whimpered. ((You’re scaring me again. I can feel them in your head, and…))

He trailed off. The past felt foggy, but the present felt no better.

They threw her onto the bed and laughed when they'd finally been sated. Her midsection burned, and only the curse had kept her conscious after this last round. The blood loss had doubled; they’d been edging each other on with new ways to inflict pain. Claws scraped the side of her face, and Ozy yanked out more hair like it was a trophy.

“I don’t know what’s better--sticking it to the Seelie Court or watching her take it without complaint,” Ozy said, snickering.

“Oh, now, that’s not fair,” Asmodeus said, grinning wickedly. “I’m sure she'd tell me to stop if she didn’t want it. Wouldn’t you, slut?”

Wanda was too out of it to glare. Their words washed over her. She reached absently for her wand, and it took far too long for her to remember Asmodeus had it. It also took her a minute to realize Cosmo wasn’t nearby to heal or at least comfort her. He and Timmy had abandoned her. She was too wiped to cry; she felt a bone-deep weariness and wanted to die. No one would grant her that mercy.

((WANDA!)) Cosmo yelped. ((Stop! Stop it; I can’t take it! Timmy and I are going to get you out! I swear!))

Wanda smiled bitterly. She closed her eyes and drifted away, trapped in the hotel, waking and sleeping again. There was no escape; she’d deluded herself otherwise.

((I love you. Stop,)) Cosmo begged.

Her eyes opened. Asmodeus had always thrown Cosmo’s feelings for her in her face; he knew Cosmo was a weak spot and loved stabbing it. However, Asmodeus had never comprehended how Cosmo could love her, so he’d never pretended to say it. The words repulsed him.

Her tension eased. It was Cosmo, then. Not her desperate imagination seizing onto anything that might help.

I love you, too, hon.

There was a muffled explosion somewhere in the distance. She paid it little mind; it probably had nothing to do with her.

“I told you this was a bad idea!” Cosmo huffed from outside the door to her cell.

“Was your idea any better?” Timmy shot back. “You wanted to turn into a tank and demolish the building! It’s not exactly subtle!

“At least I provided a great distraction.”

Wanda floated up to the bars, and she felt faint with relief. She hadn’t hallucinated those voices--they were outside the door and waiting for her. Tears slipped down her cheeks.

“No,” the Councilwoman snapped, materializing beside Timmy and Cosmo. Just like that, Wanda’s bubble burst. She shook the bars, and Timmy and Cosmo glanced at her.

She wasn’t a wild animal, damn it. She didn’t belong in an enclosure. Moreover, she hadn’t done anything wrong. Her own people were torturing her now.

“She needs us!” Timmy cried. “You can’t leave her alone! She can’t even talk!”

The Councilwoman glanced at Wanda, and her glare was so harsh that Wanda dropped out of the air. The woman’s next few words put a chill down her spine.

“She doesn’t need to be able to speak for what we have in mind.”

Wanda had heard too many variations of that over the past six months. Hugging her knees, she rocked back and forth as tears choked her. She heard a faint ‘pop!’ and was vaguely aware of movement.

Cosmo had popped into her cell. He swept her into his arms, and she hugged him tightly. The relief was profound, but she doubted it’d last.

She was proven correct when Cosmo vanished from her arms.

“I told you two to leave,” the Councilwoman said. “Are you going to make things difficult?”

“Yes, we are,” Timmy snapped. “I know she doesn’t want to stay in confinement, and we want her home. With us.”

The Councilwoman smirked. “You want to stay here, don’t you, Wanda?”

“NO!” Wanda screamed, the word so emphatic and its expulsion so powerful that she slammed into the opposite wall from sheer force. Dazed, she slid down to the floor. That had felt like every refusal she’d struggled to utter over the past six months tied up in one.

“Holy shit,” Timmy said, sounding impressed. “Wanda, are you okay?”

Wanda had no idea. She opened her mouth to speak only to discover, again, that she was mute. She growled silently; her vocal cords vibrated, but no sound came out.

“Interesting…” the Councilwoman said as if Wanda was a specimen being examined under a microscope. “I need to report this.”

She poofed, though Wanda doubted Cosmo would be able to flit into the cell again. Wanda floated up so she was at eye level with Cosmo. He reached through the bars and stroked her face. She moved closer so she could hold his hand against her cheek.

“We’re going to get you out,” Timmy vowed. She nodded; she wanted to pull Cosmo into her and prevent him from leaving ever again, but their current situation rendered that impossible. They tried to kiss through the bars but couldn’t quite line up properly.

In an undertone, Timmy added, “Note to self. No more explosions.”

Wanda snorted. It’d been a decent try for a half-assed plan. She moved her head and pressed her lips into Cosmo’s palm.

“You made a sound!” Cosmo exclaimed, and she blinked. She couldn’t have; she’d tried to growl earlier, and nothing had happened.

“He’s right,” Timmy said. “You did. You snorted at us.”

She snorted and then almost lost her balance in mid-air. Cosmo was right. She had made a sound unintentionally.

It would’ve been more amusing if it meant she could stay with her family. She wanted to grab Cosmo and never let go. She also wanted a repeat of this afternoon; her cheeks reddened as she relished the memory of that encounter. Cosmo grinned.

“Uh, what’s going on?” Timmy said. “Or do I not want to know?”

“It has to do with the wands and the wings,” Cosmo said.

“Got it. Don’t want to know.”

((I wanna hold you again,)) Cosmo murmured.

She nodded; she wanted to go home, stay with Cosmo, and Timmy, and then fall asleep beside Cosmo. No more worrying about who might come in to attack her in the middle of the night. No more worrying about how bad a physical shape she’d be in when she woke up the next morning. And safety. Safety was such an alien concept after six and a half months of torture.

The Councilwoman reappeared, looking furious.

“Apparently, I can’t hold you without formally charging you,” the woman said. “Jorgen and the other members seem to think that forcing you to comply will backfire. Jorgen especially thinks you might be liable to dig in your heels.”

She huffed. “I have to release you, no matter how little I want to.

“As soon as I can construct a good case for solitary confinement, I will,” the woman vowed, raising her wand, and the trio reappeared in Cosmo and Wanda’s living room. Thankfully, the woman didn’t follow them.

Wanda collapsed onto the couch, shaking badly. Cosmo enveloped her in his arms, and she tried to kiss him on the lips but missed. She was that discombobulated.

“What is that woman’s problem with you?” Timmy snapped. It must’ve been a rhetorical question because Wanda could not answer.

The twins and Poof clustered around her, and she offered them a feeble smile before sending them to bed. Cosmo held her tightly, and she worked on calming down. He kissed her neck and then nipped it. Blood rushed to her face and in other, more southerly directions. His hickey was turning her on far more than normal, perhaps because of the close call.

“Oh, hey, look, it’s your bedtime!” Cosmo said, and Timmy spun to look at the clock. It was nine-thirty pm.

“I can stay up,” Timmy said, yawning thirty seconds later. “All right, all right. Fine. But I’m onto you two.”

He pointed at them accusingly and then headed toward his room. Wanda turned in Cosmo’s arms, and their lips met for a blistering kiss. For once, she was more aroused than he was this early on.

She shut her eyes. When it came to remembering the past, she much preferred to remember Cosmo making love to her than anything else from her recent history.

She poofed them to the bedroom and then straddled him in midair. The air was comfortable enough for what she wanted. Besides, she wasn’t feeling particularly patient.

She wanted him, and she wanted him now. Anything else could wait until later.

---------------------------------------------------

For the first night in months, she had no nightmares. When she woke up the next morning, she found the others in the kitchen. Timmy was eating a cereal that looked more sugar than substance; the twins and Leander had their bottles, and Cosmo was eating churros. Wanda rolled her eyes at Cosmo’s choice and was about to conjure her own breakfast when she saw a large envelope on the table.

She shook it questioningly.

Timmy scowled. “The Council wants to meet with you again. They voted to lower their barrier, but they think you might still be connected to Asmodeus mentally, even without the geas. That’s why they think you can’t speak.”

The blood drained from her face. While it might go a long way to explaining things, the last thing she wanted was for Asmodeus to have open access to her mind. He’d had it on Earth, and she’d thought she'd be protected with the barrier in place. But if the Council was removing it to attack the Unseelie Court…

“Why do you look like someone just canceled Christmas?” Cosmo said, eying her warily.

“There’s no way that’s true,” Timmy said, shaking his head. “If it were true, you would’ve told us already.”

Wanda glared. Tell you how, exactly?

“We might as well go to the Council,” Timmy said, rolling his eyes. “They’re totally off base.”

She shook her head. Unfortunately, she feared the Council might be right. The thought of Asmodeus poking around in her mind, especially when she had returned to Fairy World and her family, made her gorge rise. Nowhere was safe from that monster.

She sighed soundlessly. They might as well get this over with.