(no subject)

[soulfulsin]

Fandom: Fairly Oddparents

Canon or AU: AU

Fic: Speak No Evil

A/N: “What are we talking about? Some crack whore who fucked up already? He blew his shot like the cocks in his mouth! This discussion is senseless and petty!

“There’s no question to be posed. He’s unholy, case closed. Did you forget that hell is forever?”

I’d apologize for making this darker than it was, but whatever. I don’t even know if anyone’s reading it.

I’ve been having a lot of issues focusing lately. My grief cranked the ADHD up to 11 and ripped off the knob. FML.

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Cosmo had fallen asleep dreaming about nachos and churros, a strange combination. He awoke not because he sensed something but because he sensed its absence. Since Wanda’s return to Fairy World, he’d always detected her mind, even if he couldn’t always perceive what she was thinking. That was dulled, not entirely gone, but at a low enough ebb that it shot alarm bells through him.

Without thinking, he poofed into Timmy’s room. His godson was sleeping fitfully, tossing, turning, and crying out for his parents. Cosmo didn’t hesitate to wake him by dumping a bucket of icy water on his head. Timmy sputtered, soaking wet, and glowered at his godfather.

“What the hell, Cosmo?” Timmy demanded.

“Wanda’s trying to cut me off in our link!” Cosmo said.

“And that required waking me up like that?” Timmy snapped.

“You were having a nightmare,” Cosmo said defensively.

“You could’ve shaken me awake!” he protested. “You didn’t have to do that!”

Cosmo huffed. Timmy wasn’t getting the point, and he was distracting Cosmo, too. Raising his arm, he dried his godson off and poofed them to where he’d last sensed Wanda--in the bathroom. They arrived beside the shower, and Cosmo flicked the curtain aside. Wanda was curled in a tight ball and whimpering.

Though he dressed her again, he remained baffled. What little he could sense from her was awful, but it was only the slightest hint of whatever was racing through her mind.

Timmy knelt at her side. “Wanda?”

She didn’t respond. Cosmo didn’t think she’d noticed them.

“Wanda, are you okay?” Timmy pressed, trying to straighten her out. She flinched at the sudden touch and curled into a tighter ball. At the center of the ball was her wand. Cosmo tried tugging it out of her hands, but she had a death grip on it. Something about her wand seemed extremely important; he could hear muffled sounds.

“Why does her wand sound like it’s screaming?” Timmy said.

Cosmo didn’t feel better knowing that Timmy could hear it, too. Throat tight, Cosmo yanked at the wand until it pulled free. The resulting force sent him and Timmy rolling backward across the tiles. Cosmo straightened up and stared into the star. At first, he didn’t know what he was seeing.

Timmy knelt beside Cosmo.

“That can’t be Wanda,” Timmy said faintly. The woman within the star was screaming, and he’d know Wanda’s voice anywhere. Cosmo recognized who it must be, knowing it wasn’t his wife. Blonda. Someone was torturing Wanda’s twin.

A figure came into view, and Cosmo’s stomach twisted as he watched a muscular male Unseelie fairy force himself upon Blonda. Cosmo shut the video off, panicking, not wanting Timmy to see something he shouldn’t and not wanting to bear witness to it. Timmy’s teeth chattered, and he hugged himself.

Cosmo was torn between the wand and Wanda. She looked like she wanted the shower floor to open up and swallow her whole. Crawling toward her, he placed her head on his lap. She whimpered, fingers flexing, and he put the wand in her hand. She sobbed and pressed her face into his stomach.

“Was that Blonda?” Timmy asked weakly. Cosmo nodded.

“They were attacking her to hurt Wanda, weren’t they?” Timmy pressed. Again, Cosmo nodded. His fingers shook as he ran them through her curls. Try as he might, he couldn’t push past the mental barrier to see what was running through her mind, and he hated it.

“How do we wake her up?” Cosmo whined.

“Why don’t you dump a bucket of ice-cold water on her head?” Timmy snapped sarcastically. “Since you did that to me five minutes ago.”

Cosmo conjured the bucket, and Timmy yelped.

“I wasn’t serious! I wish the bucket was gone!” he cried before Cosmo could upend it. Timmy knelt at Wanda’s side and squeezed her hand. She flinched, cringed again when she bumped into Cosmo and then scurried away. Cosmo didn’t think she had any idea what was happening outside of her head, which intensified his anxiety.

“Shit…” Timmy breathed. “We can’t even touch her?”

Cosmo whined and followed her across the room. Wanda rocked back and forth, her arms locked around her knees, and mouthed frantically. Cosmo couldn’t figure out what she was trying to say because she’d tucked her head against her knees. It didn’t help that she couldn’t make a sound.

“I wish she’d snap out of it!” Timmy cried.

Nothing happened. Cosmo felt nauseated. Desperate, he wracked his mind for something that could bring her back. Wanda hadn’t flinched when he’d stroked her hair. Maybe there was something in that.

Cosmo shuffled forward, careful not to make sudden movements, like Wanda was a wounded animal, and sat beside her. “Wanda? You know you’re in Fairy World, right? And not the hotel?”

She was hyperventilating. Cosmo gently brushed his fingers against her cheek, and her breathing turned ragged. Carefully, he brushed his lips against hers, and she gasped, grabbing his tie. He was relieved that her gasp was audible, even if he wasn’t sure how she’d regained the power of speech if she had.

“Cosmo?” she mouthed. Her eyes slowly opened, and there was a distance in her gaze. He cupped her cheek, and she leaned into the affection. Timmy sat on her other side and held her hand. Cosmo stroked her hair. Gradually, far too slowly for Cosmo’s comfort, she returned to them, though her grip tightened on Timmy’s hand and Cosmo’s tie. They were grounding her.

“What did you see, anyway?” Timmy asked. Wanda shook her head, and her gaze searched Cosmo’s.

“They’re hurting Blonda because of me.”

“It could be worse,” Cosmo said. Wanda glared.

“How? How could it be worse, you idiot?”

“You could never have left the hotel,” Cosmo said. Wanda huffed.

“Blonda would’ve been safer if I hadn’t.”

She balled her free hand and shuddered uncontrollably. To Cosmo’s dismay, she was cold and clammy. Cosmo kissed her on the lips again, but this time, she pulled away. She didn’t want his affection; she jerked her hand out of Timmy’s grip.

“Who was that guy attacking her?” Timmy said. Wanda shut her eyes briefly, and when she reopened them, she looked haunted.

“That’s Ozymandias. He’s worse than Asmodeus. He won’t stop torturing Blonda until I return to the Unseelie Court. Maybe not even then.”

She buried her face in her hands and trembled. Lifting her head, she mouthed, “What have I done? Blonda is suffering because of me, but I can’t…I can’t return there…I can’t…”

Cosmo brushed her curls away from her face, and she shoved him off. He couldn’t conceal the pain on his face that she was rejecting him. Wanda turned away, raised her wand, and vanished. Cosmo yelped; Timmy wore an identical horrified expression.

“I wish we could follow her!” Timmy said.

“I can’t,” Cosmo whispered, feeling broken and useless. “Not while she’s blocking me out. She doesn’t want me to follow her.”

“You don’t think she’d be crazy enough to poof to Ozymandias, do you?” Timmy said. His heart was in his throat. “In some misguided attempt to spare Blonda?”

Cosmo shook his head but wasn’t sure where Wanda had gone. It’d make sense for her to seek the Council out, but there was no telling whether she could reach them at midnight. In lieu of them, Jorgen might suffice, provided the Tooth Fairy let Wanda anywhere near Jorgen during his off-hours. Cosmo prayed Wanda wasn’t about to hand herself off to the enemy, but he didn’t know. He’d spent six and a half months apart from her, and he felt like she’d turned into a stranger.

“Hey, Cosmo?” Timmy said faintly a few minutes later. Cosmo jerked, startled.

“What?”

“Wanda’s bleeding. Like, really badly.”

Cosmo hadn’t seen it before, perhaps because he hadn’t wanted to. When he’d cleaned and dried Wanda off, not to mention dressing her, he’d thought that was the end. However, there were blood streaks on the floor and an unsettling amount of dark, sparkling blood where Wanda had sat down. He didn’t know what it meant and was afraid to find out.

“I know you didn’t hurt her, and I doubt she hurt herself, so what gives?” Timmy said weakly.

“I don’t know…” Cosmo said, whimpering. “It doesn’t make any sense to me.”

“What would make her bleed so heavily, then?” Timmy said.

“I don’t know…” Cosmo repeated. He raised his wand to propel them to wherever Wanda’s most likely location might be. Maybe he’d get lucky, and they’d stumble upon her before it was too late.

Cosmo sighed, relieved when he discovered Wanda badgering Binky in Jorgen’s office. Binky had fallen asleep on a mountain of paperwork, and Wanda was shaking him violently.

“Wanda!” Timmy called, and she ceased.

“What’s going on?” Binky protested. “She keeps mouthing stuff at me, and I don’t know what she’s trying to say! I can’t reach any of the Council members, and…”

He gestured toward a large computer monitor that took up an entire wall. Cosmo, Timmy, and Wanda drifted closer to read it.

Wanda froze, and Cosmo followed her gaze. For a second, he was just relieved Wanda was no longer frantic. Then, he saw what had prompted her despair.

Over half of the Council was missing in action. Of those six, half were presumed dead.

“Irina was right,” Timmy said weakly. “We’re already too late.”

Wanda pivoted, pressed herself against Cosmo, and sobbed. Cosmo threw his arms around her and cried. Asmodeus was here like Irina had said--and he’d wasted no time eliminating any opposition.

The barrier between Cosmo and Wanda fell. In its place rose utter misery and sorrow. It felt like the war was already over, without a single battle fought between the Courts. Fairy World had lost.

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

The sudden shock of seeing half of the Council presumed dead had almost overridden the pain beneath her waist. She felt faint, and her back and stomach felt like someone had crushed her against the ground. Cosmo’s grip on her firmed, and Timmy asked her something, but the world was growing fuzzy around the edges.

Binky was freaking out; his voice reached her from a distance.

Her last horrible thought was that Blonda was enduring something similar and that Wanda would’ve spared her if she could have.

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

The Tooth Fairy arrived before the three males realized what was happening. Cosmo had never been around an adult human female miscarrying, Binky was rarely around humans in general, and Timmy was too stunned to react appropriately. Growling, the Tooth Fairy propelled them to the ER.

Nathaniel was working a late shift and staggeringly tired. Timmy tried to feel sympathetic, but he mostly felt burned out. At least, between the Tooth Fairy and Nathaniel, they’d managed to stop the bleeding. It turned out that Timmy and Cosmo were, again, useless in a crisis. Timmy ought to be annoyed by that.

He kept thinking about how happy his parents were that he didn’t exist. They had claimed that they wanted him, but that was a lie. Maybe they’d never wanted him. Perhaps that conversation was how things had been between his parents before his birth, and he’d never known because they’d put on a facade.

Cosmo and Wanda disappeared behind a curtain, and after Nathaniel finished conferring with a nurse, he collapsed into a chair beside Timmy in the waiting area. That had taken far too long for Timmy’s liking--at least an hour.

”There’s good news and bad news,” Nathaniel said, covering his face. Straightening up, he groaned.

“Okay…what’s the good news?” Timmy said.

“There were twins,” Nathaniel said, grimacing. “Since twins run in Wanda’s family and Asmodeus, this isn't surprising. Leander was more unusual than Lily and Matilda in being a single birth.”

Timmy wasn’t following him, and he was exhausted, too. He could barely keep his head up. He wasn’t seeing the good news, whatever it was.

”And that means…?”

“From what we can gather by Cosmo and Wanda’s accounts, witnessing Blonda’s rape coupled with the loss of Asmodeus’s protections against miscarriage might have combined unpleasantly.”

”Speak English!” Timmy demanded. He had no patience left.

“The spell protecting Wanda and preventing miscarriage is gone. One of the twins died, and the other…we had to put in the NICU. I’m not sure it would survive if this were a human infant.

“Honestly, I’m not sure being a fairy will help it much. This pregnancy has been rough on Wanda, and without the dark spells shielding those children, the magical combination may prove toxic.”

“How is any of that good news?” Timmy snapped.

“One of the children might survive,” Nathaniel said, shrugging. He frowned, and his expression was pained. “I’m worried about Wanda. Cosmo couldn’t reach her via telepathy again, and she seems to be shutting down.”

Timmy yawned; he’d also wanted to say he was concerned about his godmother, but a wave of exhaustion swept over him. Nathaniel smiled.

“Get some rest,” he advised. “Your godparents aren’t going anywhere, I promise.”

“She’s gonna be okay, right?” Timmy blurted.

Nathaniel’s smile faded. “I don’t know. I’m not going to sugarcoat it. I’m hoping that with you, Cosmo, and Tootie supporting her, things will improve. But I don’t know.”

Timmy grimaced. “Asmodeus is loose in Fairy World.”

“I know,” Nathaniel said, grimacing. “Cosmo told me.”

Timmy frowned. He was reluctant to leave his godparents here, especially given Wanda’s emotional state. Nathaniel studied him.

“I can create a small sleeping area for you if you’d rather stay here than return to your godparents’ house,” Nathaniel suggested. Timmy nodded. His throat was tight.

“I won’t let anything happen to them if I can help it,” Nathaniel said. Timmy nodded again.

Nathaniel raised his wand to bring them to Cosmo and Wanda’s private room. Cosmo had fallen asleep draped over Wanda, but Wanda remained awake. She glanced at Timmy; her face was pale.

“Hey, sport,” she mouthed. Timmy’s eyes filled with tears, and he flung himself at her. Startled, she caught him and hugged him fiercely. She kissed his forehead, and he sobbed. Asmodeus was out there, somewhere, probably waiting to attack Wanda again. Meanwhile, his cronies were hurting Blonda and tormenting Wanda.

“I love you guys,” Timmy whimpered. “I love you so much.”

Wanda stroked his hair.

“Don’t go back to him,” Timmy pleaded. “Stay with us. We’ll figure something out. I can’t lose you again.”

He shuddered, and Wanda rubbed his back. Nathaniel had vanished, hopefully, to sleep, and Timmy clung to his godmother.

“I love you…” Timmy whispered.

Wanda pulled back to look into his eyes.

“I love you, too, hon,” she mouthed. “We both do.”

“Don’t leave me again…” Timmy whimpered.

“I’ll try not to,” she said. Despite her attempt at levity, he glimpsed the agony in her eyes. It made his heart clench. He couldn’t stand the thought of losing her again. Moreover, if she returned to Asmodeus and his cronies, he didn’t know if anything would be left by the time they were through.

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

Due to Asmodeus’s planning, Ozymandias knew when Wanda had entered the hospital. He also knew that many of Asmodeus’s plots had come to fruition. Half of the Council was dead or had been rendered incompetent. The other half would fall soon enough.

However, Asmodeus hadn’t responded to his calls. Their arranged check-in time had come and gone without a text from his king. Using Asmodeus’s tracking feature on his cell phone, which was part of the contingency plan they’d worked up in case either of them ran afoul of someone powerful enough to stop them, he’d located Asmodeus’s last known location.

Big Daddy’s territory. Ozymandias was forced to assume the worst--that Big Daddy had neutralized him. He doubted he’d killed the Unseelie King--capturing him was one thing, but unless Big Daddy had the benefit of numbers and power on his side, Asmodeus would survive. Moreover, Ozymandias had every confidence that unless Big Daddy knew how to keep him subdued, Big Daddy was in for a nasty surprise.

Ozymandias waited until it was the witching hour before striking. Using a stolen wand, he propelled himself to the Fairy World hospital. Since most fairies suffered from easily remedied problems, he didn’t have difficulty locating Wanda within the hospital.

Cosmo was passed out across her lap, and Timmy was curled in a ball in a nearby chair. Ozymandias paused, debating turning the wand into a knife and slashing the child’s throat. It was almost irresistible, the temptation.

Unfortunately, he couldn’t kill Cosmo. Not yet. Not until Asmodeus negated the Bond between Cosmo and Wanda. He was partially there since he’d inserted himself into a light magic connection that normally repelled dark magic.

While it’d be easy to kill Timmy, especially when he was vulnerable, Ozy would instead threaten him and watch the blood drain from Wanda’s face when she realized how powerless she was. Again. That reminded him.

He glanced at the bed, where Wanda locked her wand in a death grip. Ozymandias turned it into a feather, blew wind at it, and it floated away. The sudden gust woke her, and she glanced around before her gaze settled on him. Panic filled her eyes, and he chuckled.

The wand shifted into a sharp knife, and he pressed it to Timmy’s throat.

“I know you can’t scream,” Ozymandias said softly. “Or speak. Don't worry. Blonda can do all the screaming for you.”

Wanda searched for her wand and came up empty. She reached out to shake Cosmo awake, and Ozy pressed the knife into Timmy’s throat until it bit, producing a thin line of blood. Timmy’s eyes flew open, and Ozy wrapped an arm around Timmy to pin him to his side.

“Don’t do anything foolish,” Ozy chided. “It’d be child’s play to slit his throat.”

“Wanda…” Timmy whimpered. He opened his mouth, and Ozy cut in.

“It would be unwise for you to wake Cosmo. Let the idiot sleep. Or else you might find that my knife will slip…” Ozy scraped Timmy’s throat, and before Timmy had a chance to scream and alert his godfather, Ozy slammed his other hand over the child’s mouth. Timmy shuddered, shifting as if to elbow him away, and Ozy sneered, slapping Timmy across the face.

“I see why Lorenzo is so interested in you,” Ozy said with casual disdain. “You need to be taught a lesson. Taken down a few notches like your slut of a godmother.”

Timmy growled. “Don’t talk about her like that.”

“You’re being held at knifepoint with a transformed wand, and you’re still a little shit,” Ozy said, snorting. “I’d applaud your stupidity, but then I’d have to move the knife from your throat. And where would that leave us?”

Wanda pounded her fists on the bed, and Ozy laughed in her face.

“I have a fun idea,” Ozy said. “I’ll magically leave this knife at your throat and then rape your godmother while you sit here. I bet that idiot would sleep through it all. It’s not like she can call for help, is it?”

“You’re wrong,” Timmy said quietly but smugly. “You’re forgetting something that all hospitals have, even fairy ones.”

“What’s that?” Ozy sneered.

Wanda produced a remote control with a nurse call button on it. The light was flashing red. The little bitch had outmaneuvered him. Infuriated, Ozy switched the knife from Timmy’s throat and chose a better position. As a fairy nurse poofed in, Ozy stabbed Timmy in the stomach. Timmy screamed, doubled over in pain, and received a backhand across the face, and Ozy twisted the knife to skewer the brat’s intestines and bowels.

Despite Ozy’s predictions, Cosmo awoke when Timmy screamed. Cosmo was confused, barely conscious, and not cognizant of his surroundings, and Ozy flung Timmy in the nurse’s face. Blood splattered across Cosmo’s and Wanda’s faces. Timmy was bleeding profusely--he’d probably go into septic shock soon, all the better.

The knife became a wand again, and Ozy grabbed Wanda’s left arm.

The nurse was too preoccupied with Timmy possibly bleeding out to notice anything else. The same went for Cosmo, who hurriedly healed his godson. Timmy whimpered, and Ozy took that as his cue. He poofed away, a trick he wished Asmodeus would’ve learned sooner, and returned to his headquarters.

Blonda was where he’d left her, tied to the bed and facedown. Blood and semen covered her body, and Ozy sneered, yanking her head up by her hair.

“I’ve got a surprise for you,” he crooned. Blonda screamed when she awoke (she’d probably passed out at some point, not that he’d noticed), and then her gaze hooked onto Wanda. The blood drained from her face as the twins’ gazes met. Wanda was still covered in Timmy’s blood, and Ozy laughed.

“Human blood is disgusting,” Ozy mused. “I could’ve slashed the human brat’s throat, but this was far more entertaining. The Seelie slut knows she’s the reason her godchild could have died. I could kill him at my leisure, whore. You should be glad I spared him. For now.”

“Is he telling the truth?” Blonda blurted. “Did he try to kill Timmy?”

Wanda nodded, looking ill. Ozy squeezed the stolen wand and created another bed, bound Wanda to it, and then stripped her. Wanda shuddered uncontrollably. She had to know what was coming. Who was coming.

“I may have to check in on our king personally, but…” Ozy’s gaze swept Wanda’s body, and she flinched against the iron manacles around her wrists and ankles. He shoved his fingers in between her legs and laughed when she squirmed.

She spat in his face, which was less entertaining. He backhanded her like he had her godson, and she reared up, slamming her forehead into his face. Damn it. This was why Asmodeus preferred using the geas. The little whore was fighting back.

The angrier Ozymandias grew, the harder he became. Blood streamed down his face, and he stripped, straddling her.

“I’m gonna make you regret that,” he snarled. He briefly considered forcing her into fellatio, but she might try to bite it off. Blonda’s terror had overridden her common sense before, along with dark magic, but Wanda had more experience with abuse. Her pink eyes glowed with hatred.

Instead, pinning her to the bed with his weight, he crashed into her and penetrated her deeply. Wanda tensed, which only increased the pain he was putting her through. Ozy snorted, unbelievably turned on by how angry and desperate she was. She bucked against her restraints, even if the cold iron burned her skin, and Ozy responded by pistoning harder and faster into her. Like Blonda, she was child-size, which meant he was bruising and tearing her insides. He was large, even by Unseelie standards, and he grinned as he felt blood gush around his member. Dark, sparkling blood coated the comforters, and she gasped.

He could batter the shit out of her and then retrieve Asmodeus. Yes, he liked that idea. Panting, he continued moving in and out, thrusting as quickly and painfully as possible. He wouldn’t allow her to faint, not while he was riding her.

There was a faint buzz in the air, which confused Ozy briefly. He ignored it, deciding that molesting her was far more important than any anomalies. He pinched her nipples and then yanked on her breasts. The little whore should’ve known better than to escape the Unseelie Court. She belonged to them, damn it.

“Why aren’t you contacting Cosmo?” Blonda gasped. Ozy used the wand to rotate her so she could watch Wanda’s attack.

Ozy laughed. “The bitch can’t talk, either aloud or in telepathy. She’s completely at my mercy.”

He growled, slamming his hips into her so hard that he knew he’d broken something. Wanda flinched, shuddering, and he responded by grabbing her throat and squeezing tightly. No more gasping for breath anymore, bitch.

Blonda had been fun, but this was much better. He couldn’t believe Asmodeus was missing this. She was so tight and unwilling that he was having problems staving off his climax. Tears trickled down her cheeks and when she tried to draw air, he squeezed until her face went blue. Then he released her, and she fell limp against the bed.

He ejaculated into her and then assessed her. He knew she wanted to crawl away in shame. Her lower torso was awash in blood. He slid off her and admired his work. The hatred was gone, replaced by blind terror. She knew he had all the control.

Blonda was squawking about something. He ignored her. Instead, he studied Wanda and sneered at her left arm. Someone had healed her, which was a waste of time.

He conjured the old iron dagger and contemplated what to do. He could restore the tally marks or write a pejorative on her arm. Decisions, decisions.

It came to him, and he grinned wickedly. He wrote Asmodeus’s name in old fairy on her arm and dug it nice and deep. Maybe it’d scar over. Wanda was too busy recovering her breath to fight him.

He forced her to look into his eyes. Where there’d been rebellion, there was only sorrow and self-loathing. Wanda averted her gaze like the submissive little Seelie whore she was, and Ozy slapped her across the face.

“Once I discover where Asmodeus is, I’ll heal you. Then the real fun can begin,” Ozy said. He thrust his fingers into her bleeding vulva, slipped them inside of her, and then tore viciously at what was already swollen and gushing blood. Blonda screamed; Wanda looked defeated.

“You knew this was coming, bitch,” Ozy snapped. “You knew you couldn’t escape us forever.”

He dug his fingers deeper until she tensed, gasping and sobbing soundlessly. When he pulled out his fingers, they were coated in her blood.

“I’ll be back soon,” he promised.

He wiped his fingers off on her chest and face and then left the room. When he stopped for a second to turn back, Wanda was hyperventilating. Ozymandias laughed at Blonda’s futile attempt to talk to her or possibly calm her down.

All’s fair in love and war, princess. You’re our battle prize, after all. You brought it upon yourself.

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

Ozy had freed her and Blonda from their restraints, probably for shits and giggles. Only one door in the suite was unlocked: the bathroom. The windows had bars and fairy nets on them. Wanda didn’t try to move. Instead, she curled up as best she could and wept silently. When Blonda stroked her hair, she cringed.

“That fucker wrote his name on your arm, didn’t he?” Blonda demanded. Wanda didn’t respond. She felt empty again like nothing mattered. Ozy had taken her wand with him.

She stared blankly at the purple bedspread. She wanted to die; she should’ve known Timmy, and Cosmo would only offer a brief reprieve.

Blonda huffed, moving gingerly to avoid aggravating her injuries, and tilted Wanda back toward her. Wanda mouthed, “Kill me.”

Blonda blanched. Wanda had overly enunciated to ensure that Blonda understood.

“You can’t be serious.”

Wanda nodded. She couldn’t do anything herself, but perhaps Blonda could assist her. Unfortunately, she remembered her sister as squeamish and delicate. She’d never consent to murder-suicide. That was the only way out, as far as Wanda knew.

“I’m not doing that!”

Wanda clasped her hands together to indicate begging. Blonda looked away, and Wanda grabbed her wrists.

“Please.”

“Do you really think Daddy would be okay if I killed you? If I could kill you, which I can’t. You’re his ‘favorite daughter.’”

Wanda rolled her eyes. That meant little to nothing to her now. She sighed, closing her eyes. If Blonda wouldn’t do it, then she would be trapped again. She should’ve known Blonda wouldn’t have the stomach for it. Wanda rocked with silent sobs.

“I wish I could talk to Cosmo or contact someone,” Blonda complained. She hugged Wanda around the waist, and Wanda gritted her teeth. Blonda shifted her arms up to Wanda’s stomach, which was tender but didn’t hurt nearly as much.

Blonda rested her chin on Wanda’s shoulder.

“We’re both screwed.”

Wanda snorted and twisted in Blonda’s arms so she could read her lips.

“An apt description.”

Blonda stroked Wanda’s cheek. Wanda didn’t remember her sister being this loving since they were children. She leaned into the affection and cried harder. Blonda burst into tears, too, and the two wept together.

Wanda shuddered.

“What is it?”

She frowned. It’d felt like a mental probe, the equivalent of a poke in her direction.

“Cosmo? I thought I felt him just now.”

“Then tell him to get his ass over before Daddy tears him to pieces for letting us get trapped here!” Blonda snapped.

Swallowing hard, forcing herself to believe it’d work even while she feared it wouldn’t, she sent back, ((Cosmo?))

((Wanda!))

The distant joy that reached her nestled in her bones. Wanda sighed. The deluge of questions was less welcome.

((What happened? Where are you? Are you with Blonda? Are you okay? Did Asmodeus hurt you? What’s going on?))

Wanda facepalmed.

“He just threw a dozen questions at you, didn’t he?”

Wanda groaned and nodded.

((Which of those did you want me to answer, hon?))

Her mental voice was hoarse, and she grimaced. It wouldn’t last long, then. She’d better say what was necessary and hope her voice held out long enough.

((Never mind. I’m with Blonda--we’re not okay. I don’t know where we are, and no, it was his second in command who hurt--))

Her voice broke.

((We’re not okay.))

Cosmo tried to throw himself at her mentally, but the distance and the curse upon her thwarted him. Wanda cried harder, her shoulders shaking. Cosmo would never find her at this rate.

“All right, fine, fine. Sometimes, you have good ideas,” Timmy snapped as green, dark pink, and brown fairy dust rained on the carpet. Timmy appeared, along with Cosmo, Nathaniel, and Magdalene.

“I told you that it’d make sense to follow the telepathic trail to Wanda’s location,” Tootie said smugly. “The babies helped!”

“Mama!” the distressed twins cried, and Wanda hid her head. It was cowardly and unlike her, but she wanted to be left alone.

Their rattles shook, and her injuries healed. Clothes reappeared, and when she opened her eyes, she saw they’d aided her and Blonda.

“Duh, they wanted to find their mom,” Timmy said, rolling his eyes. He looked away from Tootie, and his lower lip quivered.

“I told you not to go away…” Timmy whimpered.

“It’s not like I had a choice, sport.”

She bolted upright. “Ozymandias is still around. He’ll know you’re here. We need to get out now.”

Cosmo tackled Wanda to the bed and ignored Blonda’s irritated grumbles when he separated the twins. He looked worried, and she kissed him gently. He pulled her into his arms and rocked her.

“I love you,” he murmured. “So much.”

She smiled bitterly. “I didn’t doubt that, hon.”

The suite door opened, and Ozymandias returned. Her blood turned to ice in her veins.

“Oh, look, we have company,” Ozymandias said. His eyes flashed. “Just in time. Bargaining chips. Your father has Asmodeus, but not for long.”

Wanda balled her fists.

“Isn’t Big Daddy having him a good thing?” Timmy asked, seeing Wanda’s expression.

“If he can keep him,” she said. She shuddered in Cosmo’s arms. “Right now, sweetie, I’m having difficulty trusting anything.”

Cosmo shuddered, too. He pushed into her recent memories, and she hissed, too weak to toss him out.

“That’s right,” Ozymandias said. He leaned in the doorway. “I ravished her again. Oh, there was so much blood. You can see it on the comforter. She and her sister bleed like the little bitches they are.”

Timmy growled. Cosmo’s grip on Wanda tightened.

Magdalene and Nathaniel vanished, which struck Wanda as odd and unsettling. They’d taken Tootie and Timmy, too. Cosmo looked clueless, but she said nothing since he usually looked like that.

A giant cloud of fairy dust landed on Cosmo and Wanda. Startled, she looked around and gasped, shocked out of her tears.

Big Daddy and his goons had materialized. Big Daddy was wearing his brass knuckles, and the look he gave Ozymandias promised that the Unseelie fairy would beg for death when her father finished with him. Her heart leaped.

“I know you two aren’t okay, so I’ll spare the questions for now,” Big Daddy said. His pink eyes flashed. “I’m gonna enjoy this.”

“Don’t get too cocky,” Ozy scoffed. “Just because you have our king means nothing. Half of the Fairy World Council is either dead or comatose. The rest will be there soon. You’ve already lost, old man.”

Ozy smiled coldly. “All that’s left is to claim the victory prizes.”

Blonda cringed, and Wanda put a hand on her shoulder. She wished she weren’t so terrified and could provide more comfort to Blonda.

“You’re not touching them again,” Timmy snarled.

“No, you’re not,” Big Daddy snapped. He and his fairies spread out in the suite. “You’re going to give me a detailed account of what you did to her and Blonda. I promise that what I have in store for you will be ten times worse.”

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

Before they knew what was happening, Cosmo found himself, Wanda, Timmy, the twins, and Blonda back at his house.

“Daddy must’ve thought this was better protection than staying there,” Blonda said. She was looking at Wanda strangely, and Wanda averted her gaze. Cosmo frowned. Something was up; he’d sensed something amiss earlier, too.

“We need to talk,” Blonda snapped, grabbing Cosmo’s tie. She poofed them away toward a lavish mansion bedroom with glittering awards and memorabilia from the shows she’d done. Cosmo took that in for a second, baffled again before Blonda pushed Cosmo away. Cosmo’s gaze traveled to the four-poster bed and then back to Blonda, who was furious over something.

“Uh…I don’t think I should be in here…” Cosmo said. “Wanda would totally kill me if she knew I was in your bedroom, and I--”

“Shut up,” Blonda snarled. “That’s not why I brought you here.”

She huffed, slapping her hands together, and then braced herself. “Cosmo. Right after Ozymandias attacked her, an attack I saw and heard, by the way, before you showed up too late to do anything about it, Wanda mouthed something at me. Do you know what that was?”

“No. How could I? I wasn’t there,” Cosmo said, uncomfortable that he was in Blonda’s room. “I really think we should go somewhere else to talk. I’m flattered that you have a thing for me--”

Blonda slapped him.

“Wanda mouthed that she wanted me to kill her. She was serious. She begged me to kill her.”

The color drained from Cosmo’s face. He swayed in midair. Blonda watched him with narrowed eyes.

“You need to talk to her. Or mouth at her. I don’t know how you two communicate, but it’s essential. This type of thing doesn’t go away that easily.

“I also kinda doubt that she hasn’t had those thoughts before. This can’t be the first time.”

She sighed. “I can’t tell the Council or Jorgen--they’d surely take you two away from Timmy.”

“You can’t tell the Council anyway,” Cosmo said softly. “Six out of twelve of them are out of commission.”

“I know,” Blonda said, grimacing. “I’m just saying that I’m worried about Wanda. I’m also worried she’ll consider it outside the hotel now that she has her wand back.”

“Consider what?” Cosmo said, and Blonda pinched her nose bridge.

“Suicide. Please talk to her. You might be able to get through. I sure as hell can’t. Don’t let Timmy or the babies find out. We don’t need them to freak out, too.”

Cosmo nodded. His stomach twisted into knots. “You can count on me.”

“No, I can’t,” Blonda said flatly. “But you’re the only option I have left.”

Cosmo grimaced and then blinked to discover himself in his bedroom with Wanda. Wanda held her wand close to her chest, and briefly, he thought she might be okay or just sleeping. Then he looked into her eyes. They were glazed over and distant, and he had a sudden mental image of Wanda pleading with Blonda to kill her. Cosmo swallowed back bile.

“Wanda?” he said quietly.

She didn’t respond. He had no idea what she was staring at so intently or if she was seeing her surroundings.

“Baby?”

No response. His heart pounded, and he poofed beside her in bed. He reached out to play with her curls, and she flinched, sliding a couple inches away. His heart was in his throat.

“Blonda said we needed to talk,” he said and clarified. “I need to talk to you.”

Wanda shrugged. He could taste his fear in the back of his throat. Wanda wasn’t looking in his direction, and when he poofed in front of her, she averted her gaze. Cosmo gently tilted her head to look at him and forced her to make eye contact. Wanda shuddered, glanced away, and then mouthed, “It’s been a long day, hon. Just go to sleep.”

“No! We need to talk!” Cosmo said. “I’m not tired!”

He yawned and glared, irritated at himself for giving away the lie.

“Please,” he begged. “Blonda said you wanted her to kill you.”

Wanda swallowed hard. Tears brimmed in her eyes, and he thumbed away the ones that slipped down her cheeks. Tears filled his eyes, too, and he sobbed.

“You can’t! We’re a team! You can’t go off and leave me! What would I do without you? I can’t survive without you!”

He had to use his wand to clear his vision enough to read her lips.

“You survived for six and a half months without me. You’ll be fine.”

“That’s not true!” he protested. “Timmy had to keep wishing that I’d be okay! I wasn’t! I missed you so badly, and I knew you were getting hurt, and I couldn’t bring you back to Fairy World!

“Talk to me! When Blonda told me you’re suicidal, it terrified me. I can’t lose you again.”

She didn’t respond, and his heart was in his throat. She’d done this earlier tonight; she was shutting him out. Nathaniel had told Cosmo and Timmy that Wanda was emotionally shutting down. Cosmo sobbed, twirling one of her curls around on his index finger.

“I love you,” he said. “Isn’t that enough to make you stay? Timmy loves you, too! And the twins! And Poof! And Leander!”

She didn’t reply, nor did she meet his gaze. Frantic, Cosmo caressed her cheek.

“Say something! Anything!” he pleaded.

“What’s there to say? I can’t talk, remember?”

“But you can mouth it!” he protested. “I can read your lips! Tell me what’s wrong so I can fix it!”

She smiled bitterly, shook her head, and pushed him away to curl into a tight ball on the bed. Frustrated, confused, and petrified of losing her, he hugged her against his chest. He willed her to feel his heartbeat through her back and know that he was with her, no matter what. He feared it wasn’t enough.

Then, slowly, she uncurled out of her ball and rolled over to face him. She kissed him desperately, and her hands shook when she unbuttoned his shirt.

((Okay…still confused…))

Cosmo broke off the kiss and held her wrists. “Is this what you want?”

She nodded. “I want you.”

“But after what happened…” he winced, and she shook her head.

“I need to feel your love.”

Cosmo flushed, pleased and concerned. She pressed herself tightly against him and rested his hands on her butt. He felt himself growing hard in response.

“Are you sure?”

She nodded, rolling her eyes at his hesitation, and then moaned quietly, barely audible, when he nipped her neck and then squeezed her. He must be doing something right if he could hear her again, albeit only slightly.

“Please,” she whispered. “We can talk about it--”

She choked, and she shook her head at herself. “Talk about the rest later.”

He nodded back. Though he knew what she wanted, he wanted to hold her for a while and feel her heart against his. She smiled fondly and then gasped when he traced the outline of her wing with his index finger.

Their lips met for another kiss, and he vowed he wouldn’t be too late next time. No matter what, he’d keep an eye on her. Timmy had been a distraction so Ozymandias could steal Wanda away. Cosmo’s arms strengthened around her. He loved her so much that this almost obliviated the terror over knowing she was suicidal.

Nonetheless, there it sat, in the back of his mind.

That fear wasn’t going anywhere. It was resting to reappear later.

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

She ought to feel remorseful that she’d tricked Cosmo into something only for him to fall asleep. Instead, she waited until he wrapped his arms around a pillow instead of her and then poofed away. Sleep was the furthest thing from her mind. She didn’t know if she’d ever sleep again.

She wanted to be angrier at Blonda for spilling the beans. Blonda thought she was helping by telling Cosmo, never mind that he’d immediately freaked out. Wanda sighed; she was sitting on the house’s roof and looking up at the stars. Nowhere felt safe anymore.

Big Daddy had sent her a message saying he’d taken Ozymandias into custody, but the bastard wasn’t talking. She wasn’t surprised. Unless Big Daddy had tricks up her sleeves that she’d never seen, Ozy and Asmodeus would be out again in no time. Blonda might feel safe, but Wanda didn’t.

She laughed silently. Cosmo had fallen asleep after unbuttoning his shirt, and she’d accidentally, on purpose, increased his fatigue. He wouldn’t suspect her. He might be confused about why she remained silent in the morning, but she didn’t care.

It was hard to care about anything. Frowning, she glanced at the wand in her lap. The temptation remained, less than earlier tonight, but still present. It felt like it’d never leave her. Maybe it wouldn’t. Perhaps the only way to end this horrible cycle was to find someone bigger and badder than Asmodeus (unlikely) or take herself out of the equation.

She didn’t want to be so despondent. Head on her fist, she stared at the cloudless sky. Anti-fairies were born at the same time as fairies except for Poof and Foop. They were supposed to be the fairies’ counterparts in magic, which they had grown to become after the Unseelie Court and the Seelie Court split. Nonetheless, she couldn’t think of a fairy, anti-fairy or not, capable of combating Asmodeus.

She didn’t know if there was an Anti-Fairy Council. It wasn’t like she’d explored Anti-Fairy World to examine its inner workings.

She had a tiny ember of hope and tried to blow on it and encourage it to grow. Scoffing, she kicked her wand away. There was no point. The Anti-Fairy World Council would be weaker than their fairy counterparts. The anti-fairies had probably murdered them millennia ago, then been betrayed by one of their own and locked away until Timmy let them loose.

Timmy. She hugged her knees and brought her wand back. She hadn’t kicked that far.

If the barrier was gone, then he ought to go home. Fairy World’s spells on his parents ought to be reversed, and he ought to be on Earth, where he was safe. If he could ever forgive his parents for betraying him, that was.

She knew he’d prefer to remain in Fairy World with her. Cosmo might be unable to handle her absence a second time; reassuring him that she was fine wouldn’t help. He’d insist on her being there with him. He hadn’t been exaggerating about not being able to survive without her.

For the first time, Wanda wondered if Cosmo would’ve been better off with someone else, especially after what Asmodeus, Ozymandias, and the Unseelie Court had done to her. She was damaged goods.

Wanda glanced at the roof’s edge and grimaced. She wouldn’t get hurt if she threw herself off, and she doubted Fairy World would let her put herself in mortal peril. Then again, the Council had their own problems.

Problems she’d brought to their doorstep. Wanda sighed, dragging a hand down her face.

She wanted everything to go away. The pain, the exhaustion, the misery, the feeling of being used and tossed away…the emptiness…

Asmodeus and Ozymandias might have lost the battle, but they’d won the war. They’d broken her; she snorted. They already knew that.

She had a crazy idea of creeping around Big Daddy’s warehouse and looking to see what he intended to do with his prisoners. It wouldn’t be healthy in the slightest; without the compulsion, she wouldn’t defend or protect them, but it’d trigger flashbacks.

Cosmo wouldn’t wake. She’d cast a more potent sleeping spell on him than usual-fairies could use sleeping spells with impunity, so long as they didn’t encroach on the Sandman’s territory via wishes.

She raised her wand and lowered it again. There was no point to any of this. Things would never change or improve. Maybe the children would survive and thrive. She wouldn’t.

Despondent, she took herself to the NICU. A nurse had swaddled the child and placed him or her in an incubator. It was impossible to see anything inside, which was fine. They’d had to perform an emergency c-section to deliver the baby lest the magical contradiction kill her and the child. As far as she knew, she’d been the human equivalent of seven, possibly eight months along when she’d lost the first twin.

At least, that was what Nathaniel had told her. Humans didn’t often miscarry so late, as far as she knew. It’d been a late stillbirth. Wanda sighed.

She’d killed the child’s sibling, and its twin was fighting for its life. Wanda rested her head against the incubator’s glass, which was surprisingly warm. She’d expected it to be cold and sterile.

“You’re here early, before visiting hours,” someone called. Wanda whirled, her wand up and ready for the attack. A kindly woman with sparkling aquamarine hair, gold eyes, and a lithe body floated nearby. She wore blue scrubs, and Wanda’s chest loosened.

”You, Cosmo, and Timmy have been granted full access. We still established alarms, however, when anyone came near. You triggered one.”

Her name tag read Margaret. Wanda nodded.

“She’s breathing okay after a brief scare, but nursing is a problem. Then again, from what I’ve read about humans giving birth this early, that’s not unexpected.

”She’s getting better at regulating her own temperature, so she might be able to come home in a week or so.”

Wanda nodded, feeling disconnected from the conversation and her body. Asmodeus wouldn’t care about this child. He only wanted male heirs, which meant Leander was it. It bothered her slightly that he’d be so callous, and she wanted to be indignant. The rage sank below her depression and disappeared.

“Do you want to see her?”

Wanda shook her head. Ignoring the baby would be easier if she didn’t know what it looked like.

“Are you sure?” Margaret asked, raising her eyebrows. “She wants to see you.”

Wanda snorted. She doubted that. Right now, Wanda didn’t want to see herself. Phantom sensations crawled along her skin, and the recent memory of Ozymandias forcing himself on her almost overwhelmed her. If she’d been standing, her legs would’ve crumpled.

Margaret shrugged, and the incubator turned opaque. Beautiful purple eyes stared back at Wanda, and her breath caught. It shouldn’t be possible.

“She looks like Poof, doesn’t she?” Margaret said kindly. “Weird how these things happen. Although…she does have fangs, so you might wanna be careful. Fangs and those batwings the anti-fairies have.”

Margaret shrugged. “You know that the anti-fairies are descended from the Unseelie fairies.

”She was blue when we brought her here, but that faded. See? Normal skin color. And those purple curls…”

Wanda frowned. It sounded like the nurse was fawning over the child.

“If you like her so much, she’s yours,” Wanda said. She felt like giving up.

“But she’s your child!” Margaret objected.

Exhaustion and grief crashed into her simultaneously. Shaking her head, she said softly, “She won’t miss me.”

Holding up her wand, Wanda disappeared into the house’s basement. It was where they stored the junk they didn’t want to keep in the castle but couldn’t bear to part with. Wanda snorted, discarding all her trinkets and creating a small inflatable mattress.

She curled into a ball and wondered how long she had to sleep before the enemy had their hands on her again. Hugging her knees, she cried herself to sleep. The twins might prevent nightmares, or they might not. She no longer cared about that either.

She'd be grateful if she could fall asleep and stay that way forever.