Nightmares plagued him. They never stopped. All he could dream about was clouds of terrifying darkness intermixed with scenes of otherworldly violence and battle. It was too much for a ten year old to take. He woke up, tears streaming from his eyes, sweat completely soaking his pajamas and his hair. There were no covers on him; he must have thrashed them off again. He looked frantically around the room, his inborn fight or flight instincts screaming at him to find the threat so he could run away from it. He couldn't do anything to quell the panic that gripped him so tightly he couldn't breathe; desperately fighting for control he gripped the sheets and bent his will towards slowing his heart rate and frantic breathing. After a few moments his efforts began to show results as his heart stopped thudding against his chest quite so hard and his breathing changed from ragged, painful gasps to ragged, non painful gasps; seeing as he wasn't going to gain any more ground there he decided to work on relaxing his taught body. The fact that he could actually exercise the free will necessary to make the decision proved that he was already worlds better than when he had first woke up.

'It's okay. It's over. It was just a dream, just a dream.'

He repeated the phrase over and over, It was his mantra, it had been since he started having these nightmares...no, night terrors if he wanted to get technical, months ago.

His friends had noticed that he wasn't quite his normal self: he was a little more listless, he didn't have quite as much energy as he normally did. He told them he was just having a little trouble sleeping lately; it wasn't exactly a lie anyway. At first they had accepted his insomnia excuse, but when it began to get worse they started to worry more. It had gotten to the point that Mark Chang. Mark freaking Chang. Had noticed and commented on his behavior. He figured it really was bad if the Yugopatamian noticed. A.J. pestered him until he finally went to see the school counselor. He didn't blame the woman for grilling him for nearly an hour; it was her job after all. No reason to hate her for it. He just stuck to his story and acted like nothing was seriously wrong. Eventually she let him go with the offer to come see her again if he needed to get anything of his chest. Heh, right, like he could do that. If he spilled the beans there would be one of two outcomes. One: he'd get his fairy god parents taken away, and two: he'd get his fairy god parents taken away and sent to an institution. Gotta love those choices.

Speaking of his faeries, they had noticed something off. He'd caught Wanda giving him concerned looks when she thought he wouldn't notice, and Cosmo had been more vigilant...wow. Cosmo, vigilant? He never thought he'd have occasion to use those words in a sentence together without the words 'is not' between them. Even baby Poof seemed to see something was wrong. He didn't understand it, he was too young after all, but nowadays he was always ready to give his god brother a big hug, and did so quite often. It never failed to make Timmy smile. He loved the little orb of childish innocence.

His biological parents? They didn't even notice. Which, he had to admit, was sort of par for the course. They couldn't even remember his name sometimes. His freaking name! They kept acting the way they always did: childish, immature...neglectful. Even at his young age, he was beginning to realize that his parents were...different...than his friend's parents.

While his friend's parents seemed to be a source of comfort and security for Chester and A.J., his parents were more like children than he was sometimes. His mom could barely cook; they said that diet and exercise were the keys to being thin. In his case it was certainly the former that kept him slightly underweight. His father barely eked out a living as a pencil pusher at...come to think of it, he didn't really know exactly where his father worked, just that it had something to do with pencils. Well...he also happened to know that his father apparently had a nearly perfect track record, but that was about it. His mother was the the one who brought home the bacon in their family. For all her other flaws she was quite the realtor, and realtors don't exactly work for minimum wage after all. But no matter how good they may be at their respective jobs, he still couldn't understand how they managed to be so obscenely, mind bogglingly, incomprehensibly, stupid sometimes. He had to bail them out of predicaments of various levels of dangerous and moronic on a near-daily basis. Granted, some of the problems were caused by one of his wishes, but still, his father forgot to put pants on a few times a month. If it were only that, he probably could have dealt with it and been fairly amused by it. But it wasn't just that. They were so selfish it was sickening, almost every night they were off to a restaurant, going to a movie, or attending a concert or some such. Him? He was stuck with Vicky.

He cringed at the thought of the red haired witch. Fear surged up as he saw them leave in his mind's eye. He squeezed his eyes shut as memories came flooding back against his will. All the times Vicky had smiled as his parents left and she turned to him with that look in her eyes. For years he had endured screaming, threats, and occasional beatings. He clutched his stomach as a surge of nausea washed over him. Vicky was smart about the pain she loved to inflict upon him, always careful not to break bones or leave bruises that were too dark or in places that would look odd. The worst part was that his parents never even noticed! He had long ago stopped counting the nights he had cried himself to sleep after Vicky had sent him to bed, almost always hungry. Not that he would have eaten anything she had given him anyway. One particular memory sunk its claws into him savagely, the one time he had tried to tell his parents about what had happened the previous night.

*flashback*

"But mommy!" He cried, desperate. "She-she hit me! Lots of times! See!" he held up his small arm, an assortment of bruises marked it from wrist to shoulder.

"Now, now honey. It's not nice to say things like that about your babysitter! You just need to be a bit more careful when you play." He couldn't believe his ears! She didn't believe him!

"Daddy!-"

"No, your mother is right son. Just be a little more careful and you wouldn't get hurt like that." His father said dismissively. "Now be a good boy while your mother and I are out tonight."

"You're going out?! But-but she'll-"

"That's enough young man, we have to go soon or we'll be late. Go wait in your room until Vicky gets here, and when she does you will apologize to her for what you said understand?" The tone in his mother's voice was adamant. He slowly walked to his room, his stomach twisting nearly inside out as he waited for what he knew was coming. Sure enough, within five minutes of his parents' departure he heard stomping footsteps on the stairs. He began crying uncontrollably.

"I hit you huh?! Lots of times huh?!" The furious adolescent screamed, she didn't give him a chance to open his mouth to defend himself. What followed was without a doubt the longest, most vicious, agonizing beating he had ever endured. He had no idea how long it lasted. Only that it seemed like an eternity. By the time she finally stopped he had ceased even pretending to resist, he just lay there like a ragdoll, whimpering occasionally. She stood over him for about a minute, her voice rough and her face red. Much like him, only she wasn't in gratuitous amounts of pain. That part he could handle, it was the smile on her face that scared him to this day. She looked beatific. Like she had just shot up or something.

"Next time you do something like that it'll be much worse...do you understand?" That was the first time he had ever truly feared for his life.

"Y-yes." He rasped out.

"Good" She stayed and leered at him for a few seconds longer and then she walked out and closed the door behind her. He didn't leave his room until the next morning; he just laid there until he felt strong enough to crawl painfully under the covers. He was too scared to turn the light off.

He fell asleep shortly thereafter and didn't wake up until his parents came home. He woke up hearing loud, cheerful voices coming from the hallway accompanied by quick, loud footsteps. He rolled over quickly, so his back was towards his mother when she came into the room briefly. She only stayed in long enough to glance at him and then turn off the light, increasing the terror that had returned once he woke up by an order of magnitude. He never told them, or anyone else about what had happened. Not even Cosmo and Wanda.

It had changed him, for a long time he refused to wear short sleeved shirts for fear of the marks being discovered and getting another beating. Ever since then Vicky had always asked him if he had told anyone about what she did, his answer was invariably a fearful 'no'. This went on for a long time, long enough for him to get used to it and become very good at hiding the marks. Then something strange and wonderful happened. Vicky got a baby sister she could abuse. Throughout the years he had noticed that although Vicky remained as sadistic as ever, the physical beatings had never reached that level of intensity ever again and had eventually stopped all together. Now she seemed content to terrify him with threats and verbal abuse instead of getting her hands dirty like that one horrible night so long ago. Now that he thought about it, that night was the beginning of a change in the relationship between him and his parents. After that he had never trusted them quite as much, never enjoyed their presence like he used to. As time went on and his hope of rescue was slowly ground into the dirt the trend had continued until it got to the point it was today.

'Honestly!' he thought 'What's the point of having a kid if you don't get involved with their life and be a real parent! Did they have me out of some sick sense of...duty?! Making sure that they meet the white picket fence dream and 2.5 kid statistic or something?!'

The fear was gone, and as always the despair came right on its heels.

'They...they barely even see me. They see me at breakfast...for five minutes. Then when I get home...for ten minutes if I'm lucky, and then they foist me off on Vicky. I wish...'

He stopped mid-thought...as far as he knew the rules didn't forbid...no, now that he thought about it they weren't allowed to mess with love, which by extension would mean an acute lack thereof. The more he thought about it the more he realized there was nothing he could do. Running away was stupid, he'd tried that once and learned his lesson; he couldn't use magic to make them care. He could make them not care, but one close brush with crocodilian death was enough for him. No, he decided, there was no alternate route.

'At least I'm rational enough to take care of the bedding now.'

He looked down to examine the damage, it wasn't as bad as some times but the bedding still warranted a trip through the laundry. There was a huge dark circle from what he hoped was just sweat, a few sniffs confirmed this. The few times it hadn't been just sweat...well, it wasn't pleasant. He sighed and hopped down to the floor

and began pulling the sheets and blanket off his bed, the pillowcase needed to come off too, he could actually see the outline of his head, or something close to it anyway. After he tossed the soiled bedding into a heap on his floor he walked across the room to his closet and pulled out a fresh set, he had plenty. A few minutes later his bed looked the same as it always did, if a little neater, then he picked up the wet sheets and blanket which were already beginning to smell and silently made his way to the laundry room and tossing them into the pile of clothes. Making his way past his room he passed by his parents' room and on an impulse peeked through the cracked door. His parents were sound asleep judging by the prodigious snoring. No one could out snore his dad. As he stood there he waited for a sudden urge to go climb into bed with them and find respite from his worries and drown in his parent's love and concerned affection. When the urge didn't come the first emotion his traumatized mind spat out was guilt

'Every child wants to be loved by their parents. Every child longs and yearns for their father's strong presence and their mother's soothing embrace. This detachment is abnormal...just like you. An anomaly, an anomaly that shouldn't be allowed to-

He severed the train of thought before his thoughts could turn suicidal...again. He moved on and back to his own room, when he got there an aftershock of panic and fear clenched at his chest and he froze in the doorway. It passed a few seconds later and as he remained still and caught his breath his gaze meandered around and finally landed on the fishbowl on the small nightstand next to his bed. For some reason he had never blamed his fairy godparents for not prying at him until he told them about his nightmares. Probably because they paid him worlds more attention than his biological parents and they had always genuinely cared, granted it was in their own...eccentric way. Not to mention the fact that they had always been willing to dish out some revenge on Vicky on his behalf and they were always the first ones to cheer him up after a bad day. The thought brought a small smile to his face as he imagined the two lighthearted, 'mature' faeries and the oddly spherical baby. Honestly, sometimes he thought that Poof was the mature one.

What time was it anyway? After a brief consultation with the clock he learned that it was just after two in the morning. Perfect. He walked over to his bed and was about to climb on when he realized he was still in his soaked pajamas. He mentally cursed himself for being stupid and padded over to his dresser to look for a replacement pair, only to find none at all. Great, just great. He dug through his other drawers fruitlessly; it was laundry day tomorrow, so his wardrobe was essentially depleted. All he had was his favorite outfit, simple jeans and a dark pink t-shirt. People may mock him for the pink once in a while, but it was worth it. They were the most comfortable clothes he had. He stripped down to his boxers and laid the rest of the clothes on the floor next to the vent in his room so they would dry faster and crawled onto his small bed and peeked out his window. As he expected, there was nothing out there. He pulled the curtains aside and pushed his window open to its fullest extent. A slight breeze wafted in. He shivered subtly, not from cold; it was getting towards late spring, his favorite time of year, so the temperature was just right. He leaned on the window sill and engaged in his favorite hobby, staring at the sky.

Most people, those who enjoy gazing up at the sky anyway, enjoy clear full-moon nights when everything is magical and bright. He enjoyed those, he enjoyed them a lot. But his favorite sky to look at, without a doubt, was one like this. He smiled as he looked up at the pure unbroken ceiling of clouds that were just now starting to release its pent up rain. It was going to be a long soaker. For some reason looking up at the melancholy sky always calmed him. He loved they way the clouds reflected the glow of the streetlights and turned that beautiful peach color, he loved the way they seemed to make the sky look...lower somehow; he especially loved the snug feeling it gave him. Like the world wasn't quite so big and scary. As he savored the sound of the rain falling, the smell of the storm and the sight of the drops falling he almost sank into sleep again but caught himself at the last minute. He didn't want to fall back into his nightmares. He shivered again, out of fear this time, and was just about to go and check if his pajamas were dry yet (he knew they weren't but he would do anything to keep his mind off his memories) when a telltale 'poof' sounded behind him, nearly causing him to jump out of his skin.

"Sweetie? What's wrong...what happened to your pajamas?"

Timmy quickly hid behind his bed and poked his head out, trying to conserve his modesty

"Nothing! I, uh, I just c-couldn't sleep is all." Wanda Frowned, something was wrong, she knew it. He had been acting odd ever since the whole adventure with the Darkness. She had tried to observe him unobtrusively and figure things out but between dealing with Poof and Cosmo, not to mention the insane predicaments that seemed to crop up on a daily basis she hadn't been successful. Now she regretted not being more active in her efforts.

"Are you sure sport?" She asked as she raised her arm and poofed him a new pair of pajamas. In the brief second her wand flashed he could see that she was dressed in her fluffy pink bathrobe and looked concerned. He quickly put the fresh nightwear on and tried to reassure her that he was alright.

"Yeah! Yeah, I'm fine just...couldn't sleep." It sounded lame, even to him. He could tell she wouldn't buy it. He looked down, trying to hide his face from her. He could practically feel the concern washing off her, it was...sort of nice, knowing that someone cared enough to feel like that.

"Does this have something to do with the incident with the Darkness?" Wanda asked, displaying the extra sensory perception available to almost all mothers. "When you were captured?" She ventured gently. The way he jerked when she said 'Darkness' proved her right. For a split second he wanted to resist further but his will to fight faded before he could even try. A few tears slipped down his cheeks, followed by a few choked breaths. He refused to meet her gaze, he just stood there unable to move or speak, the emotion that he had been smothering the whole night welling up again. He suddenly felt a pair of arms encircle him gently.

"What's wrong sweetheart?" Asked Wanda, she had a good idea, but she wanted to be sure. Besides, he needed to get this out, if he didn't the scars would never heal. She hated seeing him go through this, she hated the fact that the healing process had to hurt this much but she knew this was the only way. She had seen him go through it to a lesser extent when she and Cosmo had first been assigned to him. His fear of Vicky had left a number of not-insignificant emotional scars, and a few physical ones that Timmy didn't know she knew about.

"I....I...I just had a bad dream." His voice cracked as he made one last futile attempt to resist.

"It doesn't sound like it was just a bad dream." Wanda said, trying to get him to open up. She needn't have tried, a few seconds after he said it he couldn't take it anymore. He broke down sobbing. He buried his face in her shoulder and cried. Painful, heaving sobs wracked his small frame as he gripped her like a drowning man to a life raft.

She didn't say anything, instead she teleported them both into the castle where she lived along with Cosmo. His emotional turmoil was so great he didn't even notice as she carried him through the corridors of the castle and into the bedroom she shared with her husband. Cosmo sat up quickly as he heard the frantic sobs coming from his godson and looked at Wanda. She gave him a 'talk later' look and moved into bed, still holding Timmy. Cosmo joined her as she settled onto the bed and began rocking back and forth. For a long time they stayed like that, until the sobs quieted into cries, the cries into moans, and the moans to weak and fearful whimpers.

When she saw that Timmy was still awake Wanda stopped rocking and met his bloodshot eyes and held his gaze as Cosmo moved next to his wife and put a concerned hand on his godson's violently trembling shoulder.

"It's okay...it's okay, nothing can get you here, you're safe with us sweetheart. You're safe here with us." She cradled him close to her as Cosmo wiped the tears off Timmy's cheeks. The grief worn child hiccupped once and a glass of water instantaneously appeared in front of him. He reached for it and tried to grasp it, but his hand shook so badly that Cosmo took it for him and helped him drink a little.

Easy, if you drink too much or too fast you could get sick. The green haired fairy cautioned as he slowly poured small amounts of water into his child's mouth. "Shh, shh, it's alright."

Wanda placed a hand on his forehead and began petting him gently.

"I...I'm sorry-" Timmy began, only to be interrupted by Cosmo.

"You have nothing to be sorry about. Nothing at all." He stated gently, but assuredly. "You don't have to talk about it now, you're exhausted. Try and get some sleep and-"

"No!" Timmy rasped hoarsely, terror gripping him so hard he nearly vomited. "I...t-they'll come back! I can't sleep! I can't!" The terrified outburst drew fresh concern from the faeries holding him and they both consoled him until he calmed down again.

"Okay, little one, you don't have to sleep if you don't want to. You can lay in bed with us okay?" Suggested Wanda soothingly, Timmy nodded. "Okay, just try to relax. If you get scared again tell us. We won't leave your sight alright?"

Timmy nodded again and the fairies lay down. Neither Cosmo nor Wanda could sleep with their ward in such a distraught state and both curled up around Timmy, surrounding him and wrapping their arms around him until he was sandwiched between them, Wanda in front, Cosmo behind. Timmy buried his face in Wanda's shoulder and took deep breaths through his nose to try and calm down. Each time he inhaled he could smell the shampoo Wanda used, a magical blend that smelled like a forest after a storm. He could also smell Cosmo. His godfather smelled like the wind off of a lake, due to the magical cologne he wore. The combined scents went a long way towards easing his fear and relaxing him. The soft circles Cosmo was tracing along his back also helped. He suddenly felt bone-weary, as though he had just run the circumference of the earth and back. He realized he was about to fall asleep and fought it for a short while before he gave up and prepared to surrender to the inevitable. Before he succumbed to the blackness to come he used the last of his energy to say what was on his incohesive mind.

"Tell you...'bout it t'morrow...love...you...please...don' stop." Though his words were barely comprehensible due to his fatigue, his intention was clear as day.

"Its okay honey, get some rest."

"You're safe."

The responses fell on deaf ears as Timmy Turner fell into his first dreamless sleep in months.

When Timmy didn't wake up the next morning, neither Cosmo nor Wanda were surprised. Eventually though, things had to be done. Cosmo left to take care of Poof and create a cover for Timmy. Wanda stayed in the same position she had been in all night and watched in case her godchild should have a nightmare. Her fears were proved groundless however, as he didn't so much as twitch the whole day. When he finally did wake up, it was well after dusk the next day. He tried to sit up but found himself too disoriented and stiff from his prolonged slumber. Wanda helped him up and held him close. They sat there a few minutes as Timmy slowly woke up. Neither one broke the silence that had settled in the room hours ago. Only when Cosmo came in did Timmy stir again. He looked at his godfather with bloodshot eyes and red cheeks; he opened his mouth to say something and ended up coughing. His mouth and throat were so dry they felt like sandpaper.

Wanda reached for the glass of water and helped him drink the last of it as Cosmo crawled back into bed and snuggled up with the two.

"I made sure you won't have to go to school for a while." Said Cosmo, surprising the two. When Wanda gave him a questioning look he grinned and explained. "The water and sewage pipes above Mr. Crocker's room and the Principal's office kind of...well, they exploded." Wanda looked shocked for a moment before returning her attention to Timmy.

"How are you feeling little one?" Asked Wanda softly, Timmy sniffled a few times before answering.

"Awful...but a bit better" he said in a very small voice. "Thank you."

"It's alright sport. Do you think you're up to telling us what's wrong?" Asked Cosmo as he slowly stroked Timmy's hair. Timmy nodded a bit and opened his mouth to talk but paused before saying anything. Both godparents waited patiently. Wanda started running her hand up and down Timmy's back and the child silently absorbed the much needed reassurance for a moment before beginning his painful (but thankfully short) explanation.

"It...It started after the...the u-uh..." Another pause and both faeries nodded their understanding, seeing that even speaking its name was too hard for him. "After the whole thing was over and done with...I...I never told anyone but...when it had me...it...I...I saw it I saw it for what it truly was, I saw it's memories, the battle against the fairy warriors...for a while I thought we had become the same being. I know why it does what it does; I know why it acts like that. Every second I was merged with it was unbearable, and I can't stop thinking about it and now I can't sleep without having nightmares so bad I'd do anything rather that have them! It's so bad it actually hurts!" His voice cracked and his fragile emotional control dissolved and he started crying again. Wanda sighed and locked eyes with Cosmo, who looked like he was being stabbed. She felt the same way. The pain and fear in her child's voice made her sick. They huddled together, providing their godchild the care and love he needed. After a while his composure returned.

"I...I just want it to go away!" His voice was thick with pain. "I just want to be able to sleep! I...I can't stop thinking about it...every time I think I'll be okay, I have another panic attack. I hate going to school. Whenever I go the memories hit me like a hammer. It always feels like I'm having a heart attack. I can't breathe and my chest clenches up. I...I hid it because I was so afraid. I'm so sorry I didn't tell you."

"It's okay, we understand sweetheart, we understand." Stated Wanda, gently, "we'll help you get over this."

Timmy looked up at her and looked at her with confusion and a painfully tiny amount of hope in his eyes. "Really...how?"

"You can stay here with us as long as you need. We'll take make sure that no one notices that you're gone. When you feel up to it, we can take you to Fairy world and talk to a few faeries I know who can help you some more."

Timmy thought about that for a long time, snug and safe in his godparent's embrace. So what, he'd miss some school, not like he learned much anyway. The thought of spending all his time with his god family was very comforting, and the prospect of being able to sleep again was almost like a drug. He smiled a bit and felt a weight he hadn't even been aware of lift off his shoulders.

"Thank you. Thank you so much." His voice was stronger now, oddly enough. His godparents smiled back at him. For a long time none of them moved, then Poof started making plaintive noises in the next room. "Go on, he needs you too." Said Timmy softly. Cosmo and Wanda looked at each other for a moment Before Cosmo got up and went to get the baby. A few seconds later he re-appeared with Poof with him. The infant instantly brightened upon seeing his god brother and started babbling excitedly as he expertly escaped his father's arms and flew over to Timmy, who embraced him with a grin. Poof returned the embrace as much as he could; it wasn't exactly easy to hug someone when you're spherical after all. After a few seconds Poof settled down and let himself be picked up by Cosmo when everyone detected a bad smell. Cosmo took him out of the room to take care of the issue with his face scrunched up and gagging all the way. Timmy snuggled closer to Wanda and yawned before he could control himself.

"Tired sweetie?"

"Yeah....um...do you think you could...uh..." The tentative tone returned to his voice

"Yes little one?"

"Um...could you, uh, rock me to sleep...like you do with Poof?" Wanda smiled at him.

"Of course, little one." She began rocking back and forth and after a few seconds she started to sing a soft lullaby. Timmy tried to stay awake as long as he could to savor the moment but he didn't stand a chance. Cosmo walked back into the room with Poof just as Timmy was beginning to close his eyes.

"Thank you."