"A Strange Bond"

Note: The first week of March is a confusing one for TF, because Alpha seems to be pulling back. Robert gives a bit of insight, and TF decides that he isn't so bad after all. Alpha and TF have words, but not really fighting ones. And there's a surprise at the end of the chapter! I just listened to white noise for this one. 'Space Sounds for Sleep or Studying|White Noise Spaceship Ambience 10 Hours' on YouTube, if anyone's curious. Their misspelling, not mine, lol.

"Chapter 16: Confusion and Clarity"

March 1st

For Tooth Fairy, the last half of February had been great. He and Alpha hadn't put a label on what they were, but he was fine with that. Also, as far as he knew, Sandman hadn't spilled the beans yet, so perhaps the rest of the Council didn't know he got a warning. Thinking back, there should have been a formal meeting to address the issue, but he thought that this might have been skipped because he'd always been on good terms with Mother Nature. Maybe she had spared him a 'public shaming' on purpose. She was strict, but she was also fair, so he wouldn't put it past her.

It wasn't until March rolled around that he realized trouble had flown in under his radar. It all started innocently enough.

Tooth Fairy called Alpha as he loaded his cart with the essentials; eggs, milk, bread, and mouthwash.

"Hey, Roy."

"Hey, Alpha. Listen, I know it's short notice, but do you wanna go see a movie?" His smile faded when he heard her sigh, and he wondered if he was becoming a pest. "Or not...?"

"I do, but I can't. I just settled a pretty heated argument. There was some disagreement as to who should get priority access to the theater tonight, which is something we've never done, so I don't even know where this is coming from. Apparently my telling them to share was 'unreasonable'. Now I'm off to figure out who tried to flush an apple down one o' the toilets." She snorted. "And whether or not there's a correlation between the two incidents."

"Ooh..." Tooth Fairy made a face. He was glad he didn't have to deal with that! Then he felt guilty for thinking that, when she had no choice but to deal with it. "I'm sorry. You need any help?"

"Heh...no, just a wall to bang me head against," She quipped. "How's yer day goin'?"

"S'goin' all right." He considered for a moment, then tossed a few toothbrushes into his cart as well. "If you're busy, I'll let ya go."

"I'm sorry..."

"Nah, it's no biggie. I'll call ya tomorrow." He tried not to sound as disappointed as he felt. Maybe seeing so much of her last month had spoiled him a little.

"Not if I call ye first," she replied.

He had to smile at that.

March 2nd

She didn't call first. In fact, she didn't even answer her phone when he called her. He told himself that she was simply busy, or that she had slept through the phone ringing again. That had happened before. His traitor of a mind called up the image of her running through the woods with a gunshot wound to the shoulder, and he very nearly went straight to The Hollow right then, just to make sure, but his rational brain switched on and he stopped himself.

Okay...If something like that happened, she wouldn't be there, would she? And if she is there, and she's busy, you'll be getting in the way. And since when do you immediately jump to the worst case scenario?

Well, he knew the answer to that one. He wondered if November would end up being a bad month for him, and how far-reaching the damage actually was.

She's fine. And you need to calm down.

Tooth Fairy was on his way out the door to begin his rounds when Alpha finally called him back, and he had his phone out of his pocket in an instant. "Alpha, you okay?"

"I'm fine, and I'm so sorry! I left me phone at home."

He sagged against the wall and heaved a sigh that almost seemed to come up from his toes. "Sorry...I know it's silly, but you had me worried there."

There was the sound of a door being closed. "It's not silly. I always get back to ye, and today I didn't. Guess I don't have me eye on the ball today. You okay?"

"Yeah," he snorted, embarrassed. "I was just on my way out. I have a feeling it'll be a busy night."

"Oh. Roy?"

"Yeah?"

"I...Be safe, all right?"

Tooth Fairy wondered what she almost said, but he was already running late, and she sounded tired. "Always am. Night, Alpha."

"Night."

March 6th

From March third, fourth, and fifth, Alpha grew progressively more distant, and Tooth Fairy didn't understand why. He knew she was busy, but she had been busy since she took over as the leader of The Hollow, and she'd always made time to meet up before. They had a council of sorts, and even though they were still hashing out the details, the town seemed to be chugging along fairly well. It had to be him. What had he done?

Maybe he wasn't all that great at kissing. He certainly hadn't gotten fresh with her, so it couldn't be that. If anything, she was the one who liked a good (or bad, depending on how one looked at it) double entendre.

Whatever it was, he wished she would tell him, because he hadn't had the nerve to ask. They had gotten pretty close, he thought, and up until recently they had been very open and honest with each other. Whether she meant it to or not, this sudden withdrawal was hurting him.

Maybe I'm being too clingy. I needed my space early on. Of course, that was before we were together. At least, I think we're together...We were, at any rate. Maybe she needs her space now. What do I know about running a city?

He decided not to contact her that day, in case he really was becoming a pest and she didn't want to say so, and he was crestfallen when she didn't contact him either.

March 7th

At around three in the afternoon, Tooth Fairy decided that it was time to visit The Hollow and see if he could speak with Alpha face to face. He wasn't angry, but he was confused and a little hurt, and he simply couldn't take it anymore. Even if what she had to say wasn't something he was ready to hear, it just had to be better than trying to guess what was going on inside her head.

Once his eyes had adjusted, which only took a few seconds, Tooth Fairy saw that Alpha's windows were dark. So, he flew to The Pale Horse to see if Alpha was there, or if anyone inside knew where he could find her. He had never been to Punky's bar, but he knew she liked to frequent the place, so that was as good a place to start as any.

At that time of day, the bar only had a few people in it, and Tooth Fairy was a little surprised to note that the place looked like a run-of-the-mill sports bar.

Robert was sitting at the bar, but he wasn't drinking anything; as someone who only consumed blood, it was likely that he was there to socialize instead. He turned in his seat when the bell over the door jingled, and he flashed his fangs in a wide grin. "Hey, it's wingman! S'up, dude?"

Tooth Fairy walked up to the bar, but didn't sit down. "Not much. Have either of you seen Alpha lately?"

Punky, who was sorting the swizzle sticks because there was nothing else to do, looked up. "Yeah, but not in here. You might try the library on West Toadstool Street."

"Thanks," Tooth Fairy nodded and turned to go, but halted when Robert clapped a hand down on his shoulder to stop him. He turned and said peevishly, "What?"

"Since when do you not know what Alpha's up to?" Robert asked, and crossed his fingers. "Thought you two were like this."

Tooth Fairy twisted his shoulder from Robert's grasp, nettled by the nosy Vampire's insight. "Just looking for her, that's all. She's...a little hard to get ahold of these days."

Punky's carved mouth quirked in a frown. "Yeah...I'm wondering if she bit off more than she can chew. These people are running her ragged."

Robert put two and two together fairly quickly, and he folded his arms with a snort. "She's doing it again."

Tooth Fairy frowned and sat down on the bar stool next to Robert. "Spill."

"Can't. I don't have a drink. Okay, okay," Robert held up his hands, seeing that Tooth Fairy wasn't in the mood for jokes. "She's just been under an insane amount of pressure. Personally, I think she's nuts, taking this job, but she did."

Punky chimed in, "Well, to be fair, she's the oldest one here. Not counting Silas and the handful of Elves that chose to stay. She's pretty damn invested, at this point. Plus, no one else really wanted the job, so there ya go."

Tooth Fairy ignored the swearing. He didn't really mind it; he simply chose not to do it himself, for the most part. He turned to Robert. "What did you mean by 'she's doing it again'?"

Robert nodded, taking his Zippo out of his pocket and flicking it on and off. "I think I get what happened. She stopped talkin' to ya as much, and you're not sure if you pissed her off, right?"

Not really trusting Robert not to tease him, but mindful of the good advice he had given in the past, Tooth Fairy simply shrugged.

"Yeah. It's not you, bro. The job has her kinda stressed out. She's changing a few things, and a lot of the people here don't like change. They're not sure what's gonna happen now."

"Ohhh." Tooth Fairy nodded slowly. It made perfect sense, actually.

"Add to that," Robert went on, "we found some journals in the mansion. She's been going through them, and she's been pretty vague about it."

Tooth Fairy's face went blank as Robert's casual statement hit him like a freight train. His mind brought up their first real date, where she had broken down and told him about what The Founders had done, and everything became clear. He had stupidly assumed that she would leave the journals unopened, since they had upset her so badly before, but he had been wrong. "I didn't think she'd keep..."

Robert raised an eyebrow. "You knew? Well, I guess you would..."

Tooth Fairy got up and began to leave, but Robert followed him.

"Hey, wait a minute!"

"What?" Tooth Fairy turned, and Robert almost bumped into him.

Robert showed no signs of teasing now. "Look, I'mma be straight with ya. She's never brought up her past to me, or to Punky. As far as I know, she's never talked about it. Not to anyone. And in spite of all the crap I've pulled, I know she'd give her life for me, if push came to shove. And I'd die for her. Whatever she's learning from those books..." He shook his head and his voice took on a warning tone. "I'm just sayin', don't have a go at her just because she's not talking to you as much as she did before, okay? We get on each other's nerves, but we're still friends. You make her cry, and I'll kick your ass. I don't care how big you are. Got it?"

Tooth Fairy blinked once, then began to chuckle. Robert had insulted him in the past. Robert had annoyed him. Robert was an insufferable pain in the butt! But Robert was also a guy who was willing to throw down for his friend, even if he'd most likely throw it in her face afterwards. Tooth Fairy had never hated Robert...but now he was actually beginning to like him.

Robert frowned. "What's so funny?"

The Fairy shook his head. "Nothing's funny. I just think I might've misjudged you." He clapped Robert on the shoulder. "You're all right."

"Oh. Cool." Robert put his Zippo away and passed Tooth Fairy to go out first. "Gonna go see if I can track Omen down. That cat owes me the 'daily news'. Love, peace, and chicken grease!"

The bell rang twice as Robert opened the door and let it swing closed behind him, and Tooth Fairy scratched his head. "Bicuspids, he's weird..."

Punky laughed as he filled someone's drink order. "If he was still here, he'd take that as a compliment!"

There was some confusion when Tooth Fairy realized that The Hollow had two libraries, and since he'd forgotten the street name, he went to the wrong one first. This one had mostly children's books, and several parents and their children turned to eye him with something akin to suspicion. "Oh...sorry, I was looking for Alpha?"

A Witch who looked a little bit familiar to him approached with a friendly smile, holding a little girl by the hand. He recognized the kid, too. This was little Zoe! He offered a smile, but she hid behind her mother, playing shy. The mother ('Rose', he thought her name was) pointed to her right. "Right idea, wrong library. It's at the other end of town, with a big blue sign above the door. Just head in that direction."

Understanding flashed across his face, and he grinned appreciatively. "Thanks a lot."

"Oh, you're welcome. She might be a little busy, though."

Everyone else went back to their own business when they saw one of their own having a friendly exchange with him. They knew who he was, but they didn't really know him, and they hadn't expected him to show up there right then.

Tooth Fairy said goodbye and went on his way, and before long he found the correct building and went inside. Again, people stopped what they were doing and turned to stare, but as with the parents and children, they simply seemed to be caught off guard. A male Vampire he hadn't met before nodded when they made accidental eye contact, then went back to browsing the shelves.

Okay...awkward...but not so bad. He thought to himself as he approached the librarian, who was sorting books near the back. He wondered if this man was the father of little Cynthia, because he was another one of those Spider monsters, and Tooth Fairy had only spotted a handful of those. The librarian's name tag read 'Nick', which seemed an odd name for what he was, but Tooth Fairy knew that he himself was in no position to judge when it came to names! He cleared his throat. "Uh, excuse me?"

"Yes?" Nick raised his head, squinting his eight eyes in annoyance at having been interrupted.

"Hi, sorry to bother ya, but do you know if Alpha's here?" Tooth Fairy asked in what he thought was a polite and friendly voice, but it seemed Nick was determined to be annoyed.

"She's in the back, but you can't go in," Nick went back to what he was doing.

"Oh," Tooth Fairy folded his arms. He didn't want to make trouble here, and he didn't want to draw any negative attention to himself. "Well...would you mind telling her I stopped by?"

"And you are...?"

Jeez, sorry for being born, by the way... Tooth Fairy behaved himself and simply said, "Roy."

Nick caught on when he saw the Tooth Fairy frown, and he straightened. He realized he was being a jerk. Also, if the rumors were true, Alpha was dating this guy, so he put his 'customer service hat' on. "Yeah. Sorry I'm a little gruff today. The baby kept us up. Wait here, and I'll see if it's okay."

Tooth Fairy nodded, somewhat regretting what he'd thought a moment before, and he was glad he'd kept his irritation to himself. Sleep deprivation was enough to make anyone grumpy! "Don't worry about it. Thanks."

Tooth Fairy looked at the book covers without touching them, not wanting to incur the wrath of the sleepy librarian, and a few moments later someone tapped him on the shoulder. He turned his head to see who it was, but there was no one there, and a hand came from his other side and covered his eyes. "Wh-"

Alpha removed her hand, grinning from ear to ear. "Hi."

"Haha!" He laughed, shaking his head as she gave him a quick hug. "That's the third time you got me with that."

Nick looked like he wanted to shush him, then apparently thought better of it.

Alpha noticed this and motioned for Tooth Fairy to follow her into a back room. Once they were inside with the door shut, Alpha also shut the book that lay on the table. "How was work?"

He couldn't help but notice that she hadn't kissed him, that she wasn't making eye contact, and that there was an old wooden chest sitting under the table. He had some idea of what was in there, and he didn't like that she was shutting herself away in her free time to read that poison. He shrugged his shoulders and went to stand beside her. "Same thing, different night."

"That good or bad?" she smiled.

"Mostly good. The weather could've been better. Don't tell Mother Nature I said that." He added.

"I won't."

There was a long silence, and not the comfortable kind they were used to. He knew something was up, and she knew that he knew. Why was she doing this?

Tooth Fairy casually reached for the book, but she pushed it just out of his reach and finally met his gaze with a little shake of her head. He didn't push it, and instead lowered his voice. "What's going on?"

"You reached for the book, so you know what's going on," she replied, her voice just as quiet.

"Yeah...I do now. Until I came down here, I thought you were mad at me." He drummed his fingers on the table, since he couldn't be bothered to get out his floss for some winding.

Alpha's eyes widened, and she shook her head. "Why would I be mad at you?"

"That's what I was wondering. I wasn't sure if I'd said something, or..." He shook his head, and responded in kind when she hugged him tight.

"No...You didn't do anything. I'd tell you if ye did. I wouldn't leave you to figure it out. I'm sorry." Alpha sighed, taking in the scents she hadn't realized she missed so much; white sage, wintergreen, and him.

"Don't worry about it," He closed his eyes, never wanting to let go. Lord, he had missed her! "I just wish you wouldn't try to deal with this alone. Heh...Jeesh, don't that make me sound like a hypocrite?"

She gave a short, quiet laugh, and then she gave him a long kiss before answering. "Yes."

Then they were both chuckling, and she sat down in her chair. He turned the other chair around and straddled it, resting his arms on the back of it. Alpha was never quite sure why some men liked to do that, but she didn't comment.

"Have you been sleeping?" he propped his chin on his forearms.

"Not well," she admitted, serious again.

He was eyeing the journal again. "That bad, huh?"

Alpha shook her head and moved it further away. "I know what you're thinking. No."

Tooth Fairy raised an eyebrow. "I could've been thinking about The Three Stooges, for all you know."

Alpha knew that reference, at least, and some annoyance was beginning to show on her face. "Okay, then enlighten me."

He clicked his tongue and sat up again. "I was thinking that I wouldn't mind taking a look for myself."

"No."

"You do know I'm just as stubborn as you are, right?" He asked, mildly. When she growled in frustration, a human growl, he shook his head. "And you don't scare me, either."

"I'm not trying to." She retorted, then flinched and rubbed her forehead. "Ow."

"Headache?"

"Mm..." Alpha opened her eyes, and she saw only patience in his. "Roy...I...You don't want to be inside her head, okay? I don't want to be inside her head. Afterwards, I just want to get under a boiling-hot shower and just stay there for the rest of the day, but who has time for that?"

"To say nothing of the hot water bill," he tried for a joke, but she only rolled her eyes. "Sorry, not funny?"

She cracked a tiny smile. "It's a little funny."

"So, what're you afraid I'll see in there?"

No answer.

Tooth Fairy didn't back down. They were past that point, and he knew he could go there with her. "Something about Brinna? That's it, isn't it? You think I can't handle it...right?"

Alpha tried to look away, but he didn't let her. He put out a gentle hand, and kept her from turning her head. She could have easily resisted him, but she didn't. Instead, she nodded. "So far, it's stuff you already know. Just with Viola's personal spin on things. She didn't spare the details, luv..."

Even though it rankled a bit that she hadn't let him make the choice for himself, he could appreciate why; she did it for the same reason he was trying to turn her away from those books. And he'd never heard her call him 'luv' before. "Well...maybe I can't handle it. Then again, maybe I can. I won't know unless I see it for myself. I'd skip that part, though...At least, for now."

Alpha shook her head, but it was more an indecisive move than a denial. "I don't know."

"Okay...so, why're you reading these things?"

"I don't know. Because I have to."

And then she froze. There it was. He simply raised his eyebrows and waited to hear what she'd say.

"There's morbid curiosity, but there's also...Have you ever run a town before?" She suddenly switched gears.

"Nooo?"

"Neither have I. They had a lot of bad ideas, but they had to be doing something right, or this place would've fallen ages ago. If I can just wade through all the narcissism and mayhem, I just might find something useful. Already have, actually. They arranged it so that we had just enough of what we needed to live on, and kept the rest. Heaven knows what they did with most of it...So, we revised our distribution system, and now that's one less thing we have to worry about."

Tooth Fairy nodded, pursing his lips in thought. "Well...instead of locking yourself up in here with 'Cuckoo's' books, maybe we can go through them together."

"Roy, it's not-"

"It involves me, too," he interrupted her, but gently. "You can't pretend that it doesn't. And I'll make you a promise, if you make me one. If I come across something I can't handle, I'll stop for the time being. And I want you to do that, too. That a promise?"

Her heart turned over, and she leaned forward and kissed him on the cheek. "Ye didn't say 'I promise'."

"Heh. I promise. Your turn."

Still, she hesitated. "Ye can't guarantee that you won't accidentally read too far into it and get upset."

Tooth Fairy shrugged his shoulders. "Then I'll get upset. And I'll get through it. Because I did before, and I can again. A real smart lady taught me that."

"Flatterer..." She leaned in to kiss him, and he put a finger to her lips.

"Ah-ah, what did you forget?"

"Oh. Aye, all right...I promise." She said, and he lowered his finger.

"Good. As you were." He grinned and let her kiss him. It started out as their kisses usually did, but by the time someone knocked on the door they realized they were dangerously close to taking things a step further. Neither of them was ready for that, and that snapped them back to reality as they came up for air.

Alpha cleared her throat. "Aye, who is it?"

"Well, well, well..." Robert drawled from the other side of the door, and any lingering desire they had to take things further was instantly squelched. "If you two are finished necking, I got something Wingman's gonna wanna see!"

Tooth Fairy ran a hand down his red face, trying to decide if he should laugh or not. Seems he had a new nickname, and he had a feeling it was going to stick. "This better be good, Robert."

Alpha got up and opened the door, and placed a hand on her hip as she stared the gloating Vampire down. "Wipe that sleazy grin off yer face, ye tosser."

Tooth Fairy snorted in an unsuccessful attempt at suppressing a laugh.

"Look what I got!" Robert sang, then held up a VHS tape with a gasp. "It's the demolition tape! Oooh!"

Tooth Fairy got to his feet and joined them. "Demolition tape?"

Alpha was of two minds. One, he would watch it and get a great deal of vicarious enjoyment out of it. Or two, bad memories would come flooding back. Still, he was right. He was an adult, and he had the right to choose for himself whether to watch it or not. "Over the course of a week or so, we took down the mansion. Someone had a camcorder, and we had some fun with it. Do ye want to see?"

Tooth Fairy didn't even have to think about it. "Does the Easter Bunny hide eggs?"