"A Strange Bond"

Note: On his way to gain permission for Alpha to enter his town, TF runs into a fellow he grew up with and decides to hold off on that. Also, remember Jack Frost and Cupid? Yeah, I didn't forget about their little wager! But for a moment, Robert forgets that he was sworn to secrecy. Alpha and TF discuss what to do about their meddling colleagues.

"Chapter 26: Cat's Out of the Bag"

April 7th

Tooth Fairy had decided on a course of action. Even though Alpha had been gracious about his decision not to ask for permission to bring her to his town, at least for the time being, Tooth Fairy was painfully conscious of how uneven this made things. He had slept at The Hollow twice, and he visited it nearly every day, both to see Alpha and to interact with the other new friends he'd made there. It didn't seem to bother her that he hadn't asked permission yet, since she knew what his reasons were, but he wasn't a mind-reader, and the situation did bother him. Now that he was forced to really think about it, he knew what he had to do. It was time to speak with the mayor.

Spring had finally arrived in Tooth Fairy's hometown, and he removed his light jacket and draped it over his arm as he walked. There was still a bit of a chill in the air, and the buds on the trees had finally begun to open, but he was so used to how cold it was in the North Pole that he felt uncomfortably warm. This place had never really felt like home to him, even when he'd still had his family with him, but he'd always looked forward to Spring here.

As time went on, especially during the twentieth century, the world grew more and more polluted. He knew that it caused Mother Nature tremendous grief, to see her gifts and blessings being squandered as they were, but there were still places on this planet of theirs that stayed relatively untouched. This town, whose people worked with the environment instead of trying to completely erase what had been given them, was one of those places.

He inhaled a lungful of fresh, sweet air as he looked up at the sky. This was one of those Spring days that boasted a sky so bright and blue that it almost seemed to sparkle. Fluffy white clouds drifted here and there over his head, casting large shadows on the vast, grassy hills. He saw a group of Fairy children running barefoot through the grass, trying to outdistance one of the shadows, and if their laughter was anything to go by they were having a grand old time. His eyes grew distant as his mind called up a long-forgotten memory.

'Ooh...Brinna! Are you thinking what I'm thinking?'

'Cloud raciiiing!'

'Yeah!'

Tooth Fairy hastily looked away, then gasped and began to apologize as he nearly bumped into someone. "Oh! Sorry, I didn't-Oh. Hello, Aiden."

The other Fairy was about the same height as Tooth Fairy, but he had a lean build and a rather pointy noise. Aiden wore his red hair in a ponytail at the nape of his neck, and his feet were tucked into a pair of brown leather shoes with silver buckles on them. His green suit was working-class at best, but he carried himself like royalty.

Tooth Fairy's walls immediately went up. Some things never change.

Aiden and Tooth Fairy were the same age, almost down to the exact day, but since Aiden hadn't been aged up by his job he could easily have passed for a human of twenty-five. The two things that gave away his true heritage were on his back. His blue wings were large and striking, with a scalloped edge that Tooth Fairy did not possess (nor did he want to), and he gave them a single flap as if to show them off. "Well, if it isn't girly-wings! It's been a while, hasn't it?"

Not long enough. Tooth Fairy forced his mouth into a tight smile. He knew he had no room to talk when it came to physical features, but he had always privately thought that Aidan looked like a stoat. Now, with Aiden's red hair, green clothes, and wings, Tooth Fairy had a rather uncharitable thought. Look at this guy...He's Peter Pan and Tinker Bell, all rolled into one! "I suppose it has."

"Where've you been keeping yourself lately? We've hardly seen hide or hair of you since last November." Aiden's friendly expression never faltered, but there was still an undercurrent of 'I'm better than you', which had been there since the two of them were boys.

"I've been around," Tooth Fairy shrugged, throwing his shoulders back and unconsciously straightening his spine to stand at his full height of six feet. He normally stood at around five-foot-eleven, but with the amount of flying he did, he had a bit of a slouch when he was relaxed. At that moment, he was most certainly not relaxed.

"Where are you off to?" Aiden made no move to get out of his way.

"Just out for a walk. Good seeing you again." Oberon forgive me for the lie...

Tooth Fairy attempted to sidestep him, but Aiden blocked his way. Tooth Fairy buzzed his wings in irritation and fluttered into the air, but Aiden matched him exactly. "What was it you wanted?"

"Oh, I'm just curious. There's a little rumor going around about you." Aiden clasped his hands disarmingly behind his back.

Most of the rumors going around about me were started by you. Same with this one?

"I don't pay much attention to rumors," Tooth Fairy considered just zipping around Aiden, but decided against it. Running (or flying) away was seen as cowardly, and if he left now he would lose face. "And why are you so interested in my personal life? It's not that shocking, trust me."

"Back in January, William thought he saw you leave your house with a human."

Tooth Fairy kept his expression strictly neutral, but internally his heart sank. William was another male Fairy with small wings (orange, in his case), and even though he usually meant well, he was a bit of a gossip. This could be very bad! "Nope."

Aiden held up a finger and waved it back and forth in a 'no-no' motion that made Tooth Fairy angry. "William is an idiot, but he's not a liar. And after he saw you leave with her, you've been more of a recluse than you usually are. Not breaking the rules, are you?"

Tooth Fairy scowled, his polite veneer beginning to crack.

Aiden went on. "Because if you are, that could be very bad for you. Just because you're a Legendary Figure doesn't mean that you should get preferential treatment. I know you don't have permission to bring an outsider here. What I don't understand is why you wouldn't seek it."

There was a low sound, and Tooth Fairy realized that he had actually growled in response to this. It was a very human sound, and he realized too late that it made him look guilty.

"So, it is true," Aiden nodded, then laughed. "Come on, Tooth Fairy! Bringing a human here is against the rules. And if you're actually seeing this woman, then you need some serious help. I know you haven't had much luck with women, but I didn't realize your standards were that low! I mean, I know beggars can't be choosers, but-"

Tooth Fairy was in Aiden's face before he could stop himself, but he didn't put his hands on the other Fairy, tempting though it was. "I can tell you with one hundred percent certainty that I have never had a human in my house. William doesn't know what he's talking about. And neither do you. Now...are you gonna let me pass, or am I gonna have to knock you out of the air? You know I can do it, Aiden..."

Aiden raised his eyebrows, momentarily surprised, then he fluttered off to the side and gestured with an exaggerated bow for Tooth Fairy to pass.

"Thank you." Tooth Fairy zipped past Aiden, half expecting the other Fairy's foot to collide with his buttocks, but it didn't. They had an immense dislike for each other, but they were no longer children. Aiden could no longer do such things without looking like an immature jackass, and Tooth Fairy was no longer a meek little boy who was afraid to talk back.

Still...on second thought, maybe bringing Alpha here would be a bad idea. He had thought that no one even knew she existed, but apparently they not only knew about her, but had already formed an opinion. Or, at least, one of them had. Unfortunately, this one was a mean-spirited bully. At first glance, Aiden had grown and matured. Tooth Fairy knew better. Some people just learn to be more sneaky about it.

Tooth Fairy headed for the grocery store instead. There was a sale on avocados, after all. His mind turned to thoughts of guacamole.

Back at The Hollow, a City Council meeting had just ended, and Alpha walked with Sarah as the group filed out of Room C. "I might've known there'd be no easy fix for this one."

Alpha was referring to the matter of what was to be done with the land North of the town. It was almost as if the site of the mansion was cursed, because no one seemed to know what to do with it, nor even wanted to entertain the idea of building there. The Witches had burned sage there and said a blessing; in fact, they had done this more than once. The dark energy had long since dissipated, but everyone knew what that place had been before. To build there now had the more superstitious townsfolk up in arms about it. And Alpha was of a similar mind. Still, that was a huge plot of land, and it seemed a shame to waste it.

Sarah shook her head. "We're not gonna solve it today, sister."

"No," Alpha agreed, hooking her thumbs in her pockets as they walked.

"So, when're you gonna bring the boyfriend over to hang out with Gemma and me?" Sarah flashed her fangs in a grin. "Y'know, we could do dinner, play cards, what do you think?"

Alpha looked at the Vampiress and pointed out with a smile, "You don't eat."

"Pf, so? Gemma does, and from what I hear she's a pretty good cook." Sarah adjusted her bandanna. "How's this weekend sound? We wanna get to know the guy who turned our leader's head."

While Alpha suspected it was more Sarah than Gemma who wanted to get to know Roy, she didn't think it was a bad idea. "I'll have to run it by him and see what he wants to do, but it sounds like fun. Just remember, he works nights, so it would have to be during the day and after he's slept."

"Long as he doesn't ask me if I sleep in a coffin, we can work around his schedule," Sarah laughed, and Alpha joined in. Then Sarah did a double-take, and pointed. "Robert, I see you! Hey, Roy."

As soon as Tooth Fairy showed his face at the Theater/Community Center, Robert tossed a crumpled up piece of construction paper at his head. "Hey, it's Wingman!"

The wad of paper bounced off Tooth Fairy's temple, and he looked down at it before picking it up and chucking it back with a smirk. There were no children there at the moment, so he wasn't worried about teaching them bad habits. "Think you lost this."

Robert hopped down off the table (where he knew he wasn't supposed to sit, but no one seemed to care at the moment) and walked over. "Haven't seen you in a dog's age. Doin' good?"

Tooth Fairy was struck by the similarities between Robert's greeting and Aiden's, but in this case he knew it was harmless, and he wasn't offended by it. "Can't complain. You?"

"I can always complain, but nobody gives a crap," Robert grinned. "How's things with you and Alpha? I see you leaving her house a lot. You wouldn't be doing the 'walk of shame', by any chance, would you?"

Walk of shame? Oberon's teeth...

"Why do you need to know that?" Tooth Fairy folded his arms. Robert was a friend at this point, but he was still a twit.

Robert snorted. "Yeah, you're totally not. Well, what're you waiting for? The opportunity is right there, man! Go for it!"

Tooth Fairy lowered his voice to an angry hiss. "Shut up, would you? I don't ask you about your sex life! And don't tell me, 'cause I don't wanna know."

The Vampire held up his hands and took a step back. Tooth Fairy wasn't much taller than he was, but he was a heck of a lot bulkier, and even a gentle person had his limits. "Okay, okay, chill out. I like to tease people, but I can see I hit a nerve. My bad."

"Are you that bored?" Tooth Fairy's ruffled feathers smoothed down somewhat, and he leaned back against a wall, his upper half bent slightly forward to avoid pressure on his wings.

"Yeah," Robert picked up another piece of construction paper and began folding it into a paper airplane. "We don't really go topside unless we need blood. Too easy to get distracted and end up greeting our last sunrise 'cause we went too far from the Ring we took. So, we run out of things to do pretty quick."

Tooth Fairy furrowed his brow. "Sorry, 'last sunrise'?"

Robert rolled his eyes. "Well, you didn't think we sparkled, did ya?"

"Haha!" Tooth Fairy grinned. "No, I didn't. Not a big fan of Twilight, huh?"

"You tell me. Nah, it'd be more like a fatal case of sunburn. Only takes about five seconds to become a crispy critter, and another five seconds to turn into dust. Not a fun way to go, from what I've seen..." Robert sent the airplane sailing across the room. It collided with the side of Harry's head as he emerged from the meeting, and stuck in his fur like a dart. "Ahahaha! Nice look, Harry!"

Harry smiled wide, showing off a set of large, human-like teeth, and sailed the plane back at Robert on his way out. "Watch it, you'll poke someone's eye out."

"With a paper airplane? Gimme a break."

Then Robert stiffened at the sound of laughter coming from further down the hall. "Was that Sarah?"

Tooth Fairy brightened at the sound of Alpha's laughter, and distractedly answered Robert. "Uh-huh."

"Aw man, she scares the crap outta me! I'm out." Robert turned to leave, but froze when Sarah spotted him.

"Robert, I see you! Hey, Roy."

Robert turned back, muttering, "Oh, good."

"Hi," Tooth Fairy greeted her back, watching Robert's reaction with amusement.

"Rob, you still got that overdue book?" Sarah already seemed to know the answer, judging by her expectant look. "Nick's been breathing down my neck about it because you keep dodging him, and he seems to think you'll listen to me. For some reason."

Alpha passed Robert on her way to Tooth Fairy, and ruffled his purple hair. "Didn't know ye could read, bub."

"Oh, ehehehehe," Robert laughed sarcastically and smoothed his hair back down. "Yeah, I got it."

"Well, return that shit. Stop making me be the middle man." Sarah rolled her eyes and approached Tooth Fairy and Alpha, who were speaking in low voices. "Did you ask him?"

Tooth Fairy had merely been exchanging greetings with Alpha, and he was visibly confused. "Ask me what?"

Alpha shook her head. "No, I was getting to that."

Sarah put her fists on her hips and grinned. "I wanted to know if you and Alpha wanted to join Gemma and I for dinner and card games at our place this weekend. You interested?"

Tooth Fairy was pleasantly surprised by this. He knew that Gemma was still unsure about him, since he lived on the surface, and he welcomed the chance to prove himself and make a couple new friends in the process! "Sure, it sounds like fun. Uhh, what night and what time? I can't stay any later than eight, unfortunately."

"Saturday at five sound good?"

He looked at Alpha, who shrugged as if to say it was up to him, and he wrapped an arm around her shoulders and nodded happily. "We'll see you there."

"Great!" Sarah walked off without another word.

Robert smirked at Tooth Fairy and Alpha. "Aw, just look at you two. Looks like Jack was ri-Oop!" He clapped both hands over his mouth and took a step back, already planning his escape.

Alpha was more focused on Robert's sudden guilty behavior than on the name itself, and she narrowed her eyes. "What d'ye mean?"

Tooth Fairy withdrew his arm and took a step forward. "Jack who? You mean Jack Frost?"

"Uhhh, bye!" Robert transformed into a bat and tried to fly off.

Quick as lightning, Tooth Fairy shot out one of his big mitts and caught the bat mid-flight. Robert's screech was one of surprise, not pain; Tooth Fairy simply wanted to get answers, not hurt him. "Ohhh, no you don't. What was Jack 'right' about, and why're you scared to tell us?"

A series of high-pitched squeaks came from the trapped bat, and they could almost make out what Robert was saying.

Alpha snickered in spite of herself. "Well, change back first. Right now, ye sound like a mouse whose parachute won't open!"

Tooth Fairy felt the tiny form in his hand beginning to grow, and he quickly released it. A moment later, Robert stood sheepishly before him. "What's going on?"

Robert shook his head. He didn't give his word very often, but he tried never to break it when he did, and he was disgusted with himself. "Look, I promised not to say anything. I just slipped up. Can't we just pretend that didn't happen?"

Alpha glanced at Tooth Fairy, and stepped in to handle this one. Robert was unlikely to spill his guts to Tooth Fairy after he'd made a promise, but Alpha was another story. "What if we made a promise in turn?"

Tooth Fairy looked over at her and frowned. What was she up to? He kept silent, wanting to know what this was about just as badly as she did.

"Like what?" Robert asked.

Alpha clasped her hands behind her back. "You tell us what Jack Frost said to ye, and we won't let on that ye told us."

Tooth Fairy nodded in agreement. That seemed fair to him!

Robert folded his arms as he thought this over, then nodded back. "Okay. You know how we paired off to look for the Gremlins? I mean, this was before we knew what was eating everything in sight, but yeah. So, anyways, I went off with Jack, and we got to talking, and he said he was trying to fix you two up."

Alpha's expression didn't change much, but Tooth Fairy looked stunned. He shook his head. "Well, he hasn't really said much of anything to us, let alone anything about us getting together, so I don't see how..."

"Cupid..." Alpha muttered.

"Huh?" Tooth Fairy grunted.

"What?" Robert looked at her. "Cupid didn't mention-"

Alpha began to laugh. It was a low, staccato sound that sent a shiver down Tooth Fairy's spine; it was almost sinister. "What's the joke, Alpha?"

"We are, apparently," She folded her arms and thought back on that day when she and Cupid searched one of the warehouses. "That same day, Cupid and I were searching elsewhere, and he was asking me all these leading questions about the two of us. I just sort of wrote it off, because...I mean, he's Cupid. It sort of made sense tae me that he'd be nosy about that, even if his arrows wouldn't work on us. Oh! And I just remembered something else!"

Storm clouds had already begun to gather on Tooth Fairy's face. "What?"

Alpha lowered her voice, remembering where they were. "It was back in January. That day I was first sent to check up on ye, I was told it was Jack's idea for the Council to send me. And at the time, that made sense, too."

She didn't have to explain why. He hadn't been talking to the other Council members at the time, and he really had been in desperate need of a friend. In fact, his Fairy friends back home (yes, he did have a few) hadn't even bothered to swing by and ask him why he hadn't been out and about. Aside from Aiden, no one had even indicated that they'd noticed he was gone when he did start mingling once more. It didn't even hurt, not really. They were busy with family and children; he understood. He was used to it. What he wasn't used to was his friends on the Council conspiring behind his back! "Why would they do something like that?"

"I don't know. Are they the type to play games?" Alpha toned herself down even more when she saw how bewildered he was, and that he was even a little bit hurt.

Robert had figured out that Jack and Cupid didn't have any malicious intent, and he still felt guilty about breaking his promise to Jack, so he cleared his throat and interrupted. "Hey, I think it was coming from a good place. You guys made friends pretty quick, right? And look, you're happy together, right?"

"Yeah, but that's not the point," Tooth Fairy moved off, his back to them and his arms crossed. He was happy with her, for the most part. Neither of them was happy while the other was upset, of course. But just being with Alpha, being able to have fun with her, and being able to talk to her about anything? It was just like having a best friend. An attractive best friend, and one he wouldn't mind...

Cut it out, dummy. Now's not the time.

"The point is, you can't play with people that way." Alpha contained her anger rather well, but she was angry. She'd had her heart broken before, and she knew she could take it. But Roy? Jack and Cupid knew he was vulnerable back then, and if things had gone badly, it wouldn't have been those two dealing with the fallout.

But it had worked out. At least, it had so far.

Tooth Fairy had said something, and Alpha realized she'd spaced out and missed it. "I'm sorry, what was that?"

"I said, 'Cupid actually can play with people that way'. And he frequently does. Jack's the one who surprises me. Then again, I'm still getting used to him being good, and it's been a few years now."

Alpha blinked. "Wait...There was a time when he wasn't?"

Robert was growing antsy, and he edged towards the door. "So yeah, I'm gonna bounce. Later!"

They didn't stop him.

"Yeah...His heart used to be frozen. Literally. It's kind of a long story."

Alpha saw that he wasn't in the mood to tell it at the moment, and made a mental note to ask him about it later. There were more immediate matters at hand. "Well, some might say 'all's well that ends well', but I had enough o' bein' manipulated from behind the scenes long before I met any o' ye."

He nodded, his expression hard. "So, you're as mad about this as I am."

"Hmm..." Alpha frowned at the word 'mad' as a thought came to her. "We still don't know enough. I want to know exactly what they had in mind, and whether or not there was more to it. You said Jack caught you by surprise, and that's got me hackles raised."

"So, whaddaya wanna do?"

"I'm not sure yet," Alpha walked past him and motioned for him to follow. They sat down at one of the tables, and she whispered as he leaned in to hear. "But it can't be somethin' aggressive or drastic."

"Nooo, no way," He shook his head in agreement. "I think Robert's right, and they did mean well. But I'm still ticked off about it."

"Aye," Alpha nodded back. "but this cannae go unanswered, either. Have ye ever heard the phrase, 'don't get mad; get even'?"

Tooth Fairy nodded, and he did have some misgivings now. This wasn't really drastic enough for him to want revenge, but it seemed that she did. "Won't hurt 'em, right?"

"No," Alpha shook her head. "I say we put this in the back of our minds for now. An opportunity will present itself. And when it does, we'll give 'em a bit of a goose."

"Oh, you mean, like a prank?" Tooth Fairy brightened a bit. He had missed out on April Fool's Day with Alpha, not wanting to do anything that would have jolted her back, and this idea appealed to him.

"Exactly that," Alpha smiled. "And we all have good laugh and go home."

Tooth Fairy laughed. "Cupid will probably shoot me in the butt for this, but eh...It's worth it!"