Disclaimer: I don't own The Owl House!

Title: Local vet adopts snake, what happens next will warm your heart

Summary: Vee's on edge after being outed, and Camila wants answers for her daughter's disappearance. They get cartoon McDonald's.

Warnings: Brief moment of self-harm.

...

They named her Number Five because she always ate on the fifth day. It wasn't the longest a basilisk could go between meals- a particularly healthy one could last for months, even- but Vee always felt it best to give the rats a schedule. They learned quick. Every five days, she would try to grab one, and every five days they would try and flee. Sometimes, she ate. Sometimes, she didn't. A fitting deal between two caged animals, she thought- they knew when danger would come, and she knew when she would have to be that danger, and together they lived under the thumb of the witches.

The heavy air inside the car as Camila drives isn't much different than that fifth day. She'd quickly decided against cooking dinner; and, cheeks stained with tears, had asked if Vee wanted McReggies. As if Vee would argue the trembling in her lower lip as she clearly battled for a reason to avoid going inside quite yet. As if Vee would complain that the seatbelt didn't feel comfortable against her scales as she coiled in the passenger's seat, knowing better than to shift into Luz's body after watching her cry over the girl in the rain. Vee might not be Camila's real daughter, but she knew how to be a good daughter, and Vee pulled her damp jacket closely around her arms and focused on that.

Tinny music stuttered in and out from the radio. Vee reached her arm out, then faltered, hiding it back beneath the jacket. If Camila wanted constant noise, Camila could change the dial. Vee was just a passenger here.

"So," Camila said, turning into the drive thru. "Nuggets?"

"Okay," Vee said, hunkering down. Hidden under the jacket, she probably looked like a sleepy dog, or a well-wrapped child. It was better to risk being spotted than it was to sit next to Camila Noceda and try and act like Luz Noceda.

(She wore a cloak of witches wool. Camila doesn't know what that is, and Vee is a bit afraid to explain it. Explain how much danger she might be in to casually saunter around in that thing.)

(Vee's heard of the Owl Lady before. Not much, granted, but the guards loved to gossip. They say she coughs up rat bones and steals into other universes for funsies. Someone like that doesn't sound like a good mentor, and she doesn't know how to break that to Camila, either.)

Camila parks off to the side to eat, but Vee can tell she's mostly just going through the motions. Fry, bite of burger, fry, bite of burger, sip of soda, repeat. Vee finds it endearing that she tries to eat both at the same progression. It's sensible. It's a bit odd. It's methodical. It's Camila.

Basilisks don't require food- at least, not in the same way humans or witches do. A good snack before a long hibernation can increase chances of waking up only a little scrawnier, and generally makes magic sucking easier, but it's not a necessity. Vee doesn't mind copying the rigorous intake of food humans must do, but she had quickly grown to prefer certain textures, and Camila had noticed that and adjusted.

Well. That, or Luz was just as enamored with tofu chicken. It really could go either way.

Vee bit into one, chewed, and swallowed. "Camila?"

She startled, as if forgetting she'd been there. "Yes, Vee?"

Vee hesitated, torn between a thank you and I'm sorry. No one had ever called her strong before. She'd never expected someone to care enough to save her before. But it didn't change the trouble she'd caused. "I- if there's ever anything I can do, let me know, 'kay?"

Camila paused, thoughtful. "How good is your sense of smell?"

"...Pretty good?" Vee blinked at her. "I can smell lots of stuff."

"Could you... sniff out the demon realm?"

Vee tightened her grip on her seatbelt. That's what this was about, then. "I... can try?" she offered finally. "The Boiling Isles is pretty smelly."

It's true. The Boiling Isles just reeks of magic. But Earth had plenty of its own strong odors. Skunks and oil and flowers. Calling the feat a needle in a haystack would be giving Vee too much credit. She could at least feel the needle as she rummaged around the hay.

Camila nodded and turned the key. "Where do we start?"

"I guess the newest source- the house I came here from."

Camila squints through the rain as she pulled her sticky shirt away from her skin, eyeing it like a wild animal. "This is a historical site."

"It is?" Vee asked, but she hardly paid attention. She pressed her muzzle low to the ground and inhaled harder than she ever had before. Mud and rain. But there was a tingle of something else too. Witches wool. "I think Luz came through here after I went to camp. Or someone wearing her cloak did."

"Yes. I think the founders built it, or something. No one's taken any real care of it." Vee circled a patch of mud near the steps. "What is it?"

"Something grew here super fast." She clawed at the dirt, finding withered foliage. "Plant magic? No, it's not specific. A binding spell. Something was held here. Something small. Maybe a fight?" Noticing Camila's wide eyes, she quickly added: "I'm just spitballing. The rain gunks stuff up pretty bad, and this was old to begin with."

Camila shuddered against the cold, then seemed to notice the mud clinging to Vee's tummy. "Oh, mija, let's get inside. You'll turn into a popsicle."

Vee's tongue flicked out with surprise. She thought mija was a Luz-only word. Camila had a lot of those.

The meager roof of the dilapidated cabin proved little respite against the downpour. The old wood sagged and squished under their weight. Old newspapers and overturned furniture lay scattered about.

"There's a camera on the wall," Vee warned, though she didn't really mind. The damage had been done. The human in the cage knew everything now.

Camila tsked and pulled out her sandal. "Not for long, there isn't." She stretched awkwardly on her tiptoes to swat at the lens. "This must be new, huh?"

"He didn't seem to have any footage of the Owl Lady," Vee agreed. "From what Luz said, she used to visit a lot."

Camila froze at the reminder of the unknown woman caring for her child. "Can you... Smell her?" She asked. "What does she smell like? Anything bad?"

Vee snorked a little and reluctantly shook her head. "I mostly just smell birds. I think the Owl Lady's palisman was here more than she was." Another owl scent confused her. It wasn't witch in origin- rather, something ancient and long extinct. Perhaps an older relic than even her species. "Magic tends to fade fast in this world. Those cards would've lost their power if he hadn't kept them hidden away."

"So you can't smell it," she said, deadpan. "Can you?"

Vee flinched. "Sorry."

"No, no, it's okay, my little slither-girl. I knew it was a long shot." Camila bit her lip and sucked in a breath. "I just feel so helpless. What kind of mother sits and waits for her baby to find its way through a demon portal?"

She didn't have a satisfactory answer for that. "That doesn't mean I'll stop trying! I'll prove I'm worth having around, I promise."

"Vee-" she started.

"Here, watch! I'll make sure I won't forget it." She dug her claws into the floor and dragged them, slicing bits of wood and drawing the slivers to the surface. "Just gotta... make sure... at least one will stick under my scales..."

"What are you doing?"

"Makin' splinters," she replied. Vee confidently raised the back of her arm, said, "This won't tickle, but it'll be worth the hassle-" and slammed it down upon the wood. She hissed in a breath and looked hopefully towards Camila.

Camila let out a yelp. "Vee, what did you do? Oh, bebe, you arm-"

Vee looked at it and shrugged. She was barely even bleeding. "Now, every time I clean my scales, I'll smell the wood and remember." It'd worked well enough with rat fur and metal. Not even shedding could rid them from her mind. She just had to let them sit for a while.

"Bebe," she repeated, sinking to her knees. Camila took her arm and went after the surface splinters. Vee barely felt the sting. "What if it got infected, mija? This world doesn't have the proper medicine to take care of you."

The Boiling Isles doesn't, either, she thought. Vee couldn't name the multitude of emotions swirling within her as the veterinarian carefully pinched and pulled out splinter after splinter. Pain, fear- those were easy. Guilt was part of her being. This was hot, and sharp, and it made her eyes well up a little. "I'm sorry."

"It's okay."

"But it's not," she insisted. "I've caused you so much trouble, Camila. The least I should be able to do is this."

Camila paused. Vee watched as her eyes drifted to her wet hair, the dirt and grass on her belly, and finally to the wound on her arm. She whimpered and pulled her close. "Oh, Vee, I'm so sorry."

"Camila," Vee whined, gently tugging on her jacket. "You're gonna get all muddy."

She didn't seem to hear her, rocking gently. "You've been through so much today, and here I am, asking more of you." Camila snorked back a line of snot. It wasn't a pretty noise. "I made this all about my problems."

"That's okay."

"No," Camila rebuffed. "It's not okay. You're cold, and wet, and traumatized. I needed to get you home and dry, and here I am, asking you to sniff around an old deathtrap."

Vee tried to think of something to say. Anything. But comforting wasn't something she'd had a lot of practice at- giving, or receiving- so she went with what felt the most obvious. "You just lost your daughter. It's only natural you'd-"

"But that doesn't erase that I have a daughter! Right! Here!" She shook her shoulders at every exclamation. "And I need to take care of her!"

It felt like the air had been punched out of her. But it hurt good this time. It hurt good. "...Really?" she eked out, pupils filling like a cat that spotted a toy.

Camila hesitated, as if sensing the enormity of the situation. "If you want to?" she said, leaving it open-ended.

"Is that even a question?" Vee squeaked, coiling her tail around the woman in an enthusiastic body hug. The pain didn't matter anymore. The mud was nothing. For once in the her life, the end of a discussion held something other than another cage, another rumbling belly, another poor rat left with a beast. It had a house, and it had Camila; and once she got home, it had Luz, too. "I love you, mom."

"I love you, too," Camila said, holding her tighter. "Mi culebrita preciosa. I love you too."

Author's Note: Owl House was really like 'here's a character fleeing from an unimaginably hard past voiced by Michaela Dietz who ends up as Luz's new sister, we know you'll love her' and I stan them for knocking my right in the Favorite Tropes Teeth.

-Mandaree1