Author's Note: I did say I'd be updating this regularly. :P This is my primary NaNoWriMo project this year...and after that, P2, Raven Tootie, and Straight Through Redux.
For a few brief seconds, Timmy was back with them. Wanda didn't know who Lorenzo was, but she had her suspicions based off what the Fairy Council had told them. It reminded her of the wish Timmy had made last year about wanting to be a faerie. He wasn't the first godchild to make such a wish, nor would he be the last. Normally, such wishes were kept under close scrutiny, in case anything went awry as it had a long time ago with Nathaniel and Magdalene. But that was another story entirely.
Now, she watched Timmy and saw how shaky her godson was.
"We were discussing prior wishes," the Fairy Council informed Timmy. "Now, however, we have another matter at hand. As Wanda has informed us, though we already knew because we know all-" they didn't, though they liked to think they did-"your parents have suffered an accident."
It hadn't looked like an accident to her, but Wanda kept her mouth shut. She wasn't about to make a bad situation even worse. Without thinking, she reached for Cosmo mentally and physically. He reached back and she latched onto him.
Timmy nodded, perhaps not trusting himself to speak. Wanda reached for him too. She trusted him, unlike the creature who had spoken with his voice and used his body, but who very much was not her godson. Timmy held onto her and Cosmo and she felt him shaking. All three of them were trembling, as a matter of fact.
"We need a 'yes' or a 'no' answer," the Fairy Council member said, albeit sympathetically. "It's for the records."
"Yes," Timmy choked out, drawing strength from his godparents.
"We're sorry," the Council said, though Wanda doubted the veracity of that statement. She didn't speak still, though she noticed Jorgen had just poofed in.
"Therefore, we must discuss the custody hearing," the Council continued.
"Custody hearing?" Timmy repeated. "What custody hearing?"
"You are an orphan," the Council said, not unkindly. "Your faerie godparents are your only guardians right now. In extenuating circumstances like these, we must decide whether to appoint Cosmo and Wanda as your legal guardians in addition to your faerie godparents."
Timmy groaned. She could tell he didn't want to think about this just now, when his parents' deaths were fresh in his mind. It had literally happened just five minutes ago. He clung to her and sobbed. She stroked his hair, but she could feel that malevolent presence lingering within him. Its hatred toward her was undeniable. Lorenzo, it had named itself. Her lip curled in disdain. Whatever the parasite had named itself, it wasn't getting its hands on her Timmy.
"I assume you want Cosmo and Wanda as your guardians?" the Council asked and Timmy reluctantly looked away from Wanda to face the Council. He drew another deep, bracing breath that dissolved into a sob. She kissed him on the crown of his head.
"Yes," Timmy choked out. "Can't you bring them back?"
"Your parents?" the Council asked, as if there could be any doubt. Timmy's lower lip quivered and he tried to face down the Council without weeping. It didn't work. The poor kid was beside himself and even Cosmo and Wanda's affection wasn't enough to distract him from his misery.
"Yes, my parents!" Timmy sobbed and Wanda shushed him, kissing him on the cheek and smoothing back his hair.
"I'm afraid that was a fixed moment in time," the Council member continued; though Wanda couldn't see it, she sensed that the member was frowning at Timmy. "Fixed moments in time can't be unwished. In this universe, your parents' fates are sealed."
"There are other universes where they aren't?" Timmy said, seizing onto the only hope that sentence offered. Wanda sighed and Timmy glanced at her.
"Sport, we're not allowed to interfere in alternate universes," she said.
"Your godmother is correct," the Council member said. "Interfering in alternate universes is strictly forbidden."
"But...I need my parents," Timmy said, barely able to speak between sobs. "You can't just let them die like that."
"This is out of our hands," the Council member said. "I'm sorry, Timothy."
"This isn't fair!" Timmy said and sounded like a petulant child, which, she reminded herself, he was. She didn't blame him for being upset.
"Sport, not everything is a giant equation that works out to be balanced," Wanda said in a quiet voice. "Sometimes, things just don't equal out."
"I want my parents and my godparents," Timmy said, staring at the Council accusingly.
"I'm sorry."
Timmy froze, listening to a voice only he could ran along the same wavelength as telepathy, but on a different mental channel that Wanda was only dimly aware of. It felt like a radio station tuned to a different frequency, one much further away.
"The question is whether or not you want Cosmo and wanda to be your legal guardians," the Council member said, disregarding Timmy's odd behavior. Timmy tensed in her and Cosmo's arms and she froze too. His eyes glowed fiercely, sending chills down her spine. This was not Timmy inhabiting her godson's body. This was someone else with an agenda.
Her gaze strayed to Timmy's backpack, which he still wore. Cosmo's wand glowed in the back and Wanda removed it. Cosmo's gaze followed hers and he smiled, albeit weakly.
"I wondered where I put that!" Cosmo exclaimed and Wanda groaned.
((Not now, hon,)) she chastised.
"We need an answer, Timmy Turner," Jorgen snapped and Wanda could've bitten his head off for his insensitivity. ("Timmy's learned that chicks dig sensitivity. And if you can fake that, you're in!")
"Yes, I want Cosmo and Wanda as my guardians," Timmy gasped out. "Don't take them from me. Please."
"Of course not," the Council member reassured him. "However, you will be monitored, as all faerie godparents who have become legal guardians are."
"That's fine, whatever," Timmy gasped out. "I don't care."
She had the feeling he was rushing things, but to what end, she didn't know. She sensed it had something to do with the jerk controlling her godson, but she couldn't prove it, not yet. Lorenzo hadn't fully played out his hand. Wanda had a feeling the second shoe would drop as soon as they got home, though. She was not looking forward to it.
The Council seemed taken aback, but only temporarily. One of them pounded a gavel and said gravely, "Then it is agreed upon. Timmy Turner will have Cosmo Cosma and Wanda Cosma as both his legal guardians and his faerie godparents. So it is written, so shall it be entered into the legal record."
The Council member faltered and then they turned, as one, to glare at Cosmo and Wanda. Even without being able to see their eyes, Wanda knew that they were gazing at her.
"If we detect any foul play regarding Timmy's parents' death that corresponds with your magic, we will be in touch," the Council member said gravely. "Your accounting of your wishes will continue at 0900 hours tomorrow."
Cosmo and Wanda groaned and the Council members waved their wands, along with Jorgen, to send them back to Timmy's house. Only about two hours had passed since the tragic accident and Timmy stumbled up the stairs. Given the circumstances, Wanda thought missing school was the least of Timmy's worries.
The reason Timmy was stumbling up the stairs, however, soon became clear. When he whirled around, his eyes glowed and his demeanor changed. Moreover, the projection of a man in his twenties faced them. His cold, cruel gaze raked them and Wanda gritted her teeth.
"You put up a pitiful performance, as to be expected," Lorenzo sneered. She knew it wasn't' Timmy, because his voice was deeper and malicious, full of malevolence. "But the Council bought it, to no one's great surprise. They never dug for anything in their lives, did they? They knew Timmy's parents died due to your magic and they still didn't say anything. Ha!"
"Our magic?" Wanda repeated. "It wasn't your magic."
"Oh, it most certainly was," Lorenzo said. "Your magic birthed me and your magic helped destroy their car. Of course, if you really wanted to discuss semantics, you could say it's your fault his parents died. True, yours wasn't the hand that set the final sequence of events into motion-that was yours truly, waking before you to detonate the bomb in their car-but it might as well have been. How do you feel knowing you murdered your godson's parents? How well will you sleep at night?"
Lorenzo sneered and grinned at her. "Hmm, frach?"
"Bring Timmy back!" Cosmo cried.
"Oh, I don't think so. This is far too much fun," Lorenzo said. "Your godson is so despondent over his parents, he hardly offered up a fight. So, why don't we make things interesting?"
"Who are you really?" Wanda demanded.
"I'd have thought you would've figured it out. You're supposed to be the smart one, aren't you? Or are you just two really just two halves of a whole idiot?"
Wanda glowered, disliking her words parroted back at her.
"I'm Timmy's anti-faerie, of course," Lorenzo said. "The one you created when you granted his wish and then subjugated into the back of his mind along with Gary."
Timmy's body drifted back down the stairs; he was floating a few inches above them. Lorenzo cupped Wanda's face in his hand and then spat in her face. Wanda slapped him, hoping the sudden jolt would bring back Timmy. She wiped her face, incensed and frantic with worry.
Cosmo was still confused, perhaps not expecting such hostility from someone wearing Timmy's body. Wanda hadn't been expecting it either, but this was worse than she'd anticipated when she'd been at the trial.
"Since I'm wearing your godson's body, you have to grant my wishes," Lorenzo said. "You did so when you granted Gary's wishes, because he was a part of Timmy. Thanks to your fouling up the wish, I am too. That means you can't whisk me away because I'm inconvenient for you, either."
Wanda narrowed her eyes. "What do you want?"
"You dead, but I'll settle for a few basic things first," Lorenzo said and though his cheek was still red, he showed no indication that Wanda's slap had done anything. Wanda's throat tightened in fear.
"What did Wanda ever do to you?" Cosmo said. "That's my wife you just spat on!"
Lorenzo rolled his eyes. "Yet again, the idiot astounds me with his sheer stupidity. She goaded Timmy into making that wish, if you recall. Moreover, she is the smart one, which means that any wrong-doing should be laid at her feet, not yours."
He scoffed. "None of the females in Timmy's life have treated him fairly. His mother and father were selfish and threw him away whenever it pleased them. His crush only cared for him when she could gain something from it. The girl who had a crush on him is insane and related to his worst enemy, Icky Vicky. The less said about Vicky, the better."
"And what about me?" Wanda asked dangerously, eyes narrowing. "What have I ever done to Timmy?"
"You stood in the way of his fun," Lorenzo said. "But that will change very soon. Ah, you almost distracted me from my wishes.
"First, I wish for your powers for a week. Whatever powers you claim from Fairy World will be mine. You will be powerless for a week as a consequence and when you regain your powers, things will be very different. Oh, yes."
He smirked. "But don't grant that just yet. I have other wishes that I need done before you lose your magic."
Wanda poofed up a copy of Da Rules. She wasn't even sure she could grant Lorenzo's wish in the first place, because she wasn't sure faeries were allowed to be powerless for that long. Unfortunately, Lorenzo must have looked over Da Rules when everyone was asleep, because there were no direct rules banning it. When she discovered this, she looked up to find him smirking at her. She was tempted to flip him off, except that was rude. And besides, Timmy was probably within him, watching. She gritted her teeth. She needed to bring Timmy back somehow and it looked like however she did it, it'd have to be without magic.
"You two are now my aunt and uncle from out of town. You will grant me a dark magic book from Anti-Fairy World and you will let me read it at my leisure," Lorenzo continued. "While I'm doing this, you'll be planning his parents' funerals. I don't care how you do it; the details are of little concern to me. I just want you out of my hair."
"and we want Timmy back," Wanda countered.
"That's too bad, then, isn't it?" Lroenzo scoffed. "I guess we don't always get what we want."
He snapped his fingers. "Let's get to the wishing. Chop, chop!"
Wanda glared, but he had them over a barrel. She couldn't very well disobey his direct orders, not while he had Timmy's body. Perhaps that was why he hadn't wished for a body of his own, because he knew he'd lose control over them as a result. It was infuriating.
Not to mention more than a little disturbing that he knew Da Rules well enough to exploit the loopholes.
"Timmy," she tried.
"Timmy's not here right now," Lorenzo sneered. "Can I take a message?"
"Yeah!" Cosmo said and glared. "Give us our godson back!"
"Oh, no, I'm afraid the mailbox is all full," Lorenzo said and snickered. "Try your call again later."
"Give us Timmy back," Wanda snapped through clenched teeth.
"Grant my wishes, frach, or I'll make you wish you'd never been born," Lorenzo countered. "Or do I have to call Jorgen in here? How would you explain my existence? Hmm? I'm listening."
Lorenzo was blackmailing them. Wanda couldn't believe it. Oh, well, she could, considering that he was an anti-faerie, but still. She drew a deep, shaky breath.
"Anything you say," she said, wishing she could wring Lorenzo's neck and bring Timmy back.
"That's right," Lorenzo leered. "Anything I say, frach."
It was a good thing the internet was so ubiquitous these days. Otherwise, they would've been completely out of their element. As it was, Wanda had needed a lot of help while Cosmo mostly supervised, a.k.a. ate chips and glanced anxiously at Timmy's door. Lorenzo had been within there for hours now and they were afraid to disturb him any more than he already was. Still, Cosmo's constant glances were grating on her already thin nerves.
"If you want to talk to him, go ahead, but you're not going to get Timmy," Wanda warned. She was on hold with a funeral director while they ran the numbers on a credit card Jorgen had given them. Fairy World, of course, had unlimited credit. The reason the director was hesitant was because he'd never heard of that particular card type, seeing as only faeries used it.
"You sure you'll be okay on your own?" he asked and she nodded. No, she wouldn't be, but he wasn't helpful, anyway, so she might as well be alone. Cosmo poofed out after kissing her on the cheek and she sighed, thinking she probably should've been kinder but at her wit's end.
She went back to working on the funeral arrangements, wishing humans didn't have such complicated death procedures. She'd never had to do this before and she was in way over her head. On the plus side, from the way she'd heard things, most people didn't have to do this or were only doing it for the first time and likewise were out of their depth. That ought to have made her feel better, but she kept thinking of Timmy and felt worse as a result.
She hoped Cosmo could talk some sense into him and bring Timmy back.
Cosmo poofed into Timmy's room, where he found his godson having an argument with himself. Or, at least, that was what it looked like. Timmy was bereft, which was to be expected given the circumstances. Lorenzo was trying to take advantage of him and shunt him to the side. Cosmo could feel Wanda's weariness and worry through the Bond, their telepathic link that conveyed both feelings and mental states. It also shared images and could only be created by people who were each other's true loves.
"No, I won't!" Timmy snapped, hugging himself. His lower lip quivered and he looked utterly miserable. Cosmo hugged him without thinking about it, without thinking that Lorenzo might retaliate. If he'd have thought about it for a second, he might not have been so quick. Then again, Cosmo tended to do things emotionally without thinking of the consequences. He was all heart and no brains.
"Get off me!" Lorenzo growled, rounding on Cosmo. "Who the hell do you think you are? If I wanted you here, I'd have called for you! I'm busy!"
"Cosmo!" Timmy cried and tears swam in his eyes. Cosmo didn't know what to do.
"Wanda?" Cosmo called, hoping his wife might know better.
"Busy!" Wanda called back.
"Even the frach knows what's good for her, but you don't," Lorenzo leered.
"Don't call my wife that!" Cosmo snapped. He looked at the creature inhabiting his godson's body. "Timmy, talk to me."
"I want to," Timmy said. It was eerie, having a conversation with two people sharing a body. "I wish I could think for myself for ten minutes!"
Lorenzo snarled, but he had no choice. Timmy's wishes counted too. Cosmo granted it, though he was aware of how limited ten minutes could be. Then again, they could also be really long, depending on what you were doing. Waiting at the DMV would make those ten minutes feel like an eternity.
"Cosmo?" Timmy said and snapped his fingers in his face. "Hello? Earth to Cosmo? I need to talk to you."
"Sorry...the dancer in my head was going a mile a minute," Cosmo said and Timmy groaned, facepalming.
"Of course he was," Timmy grumbled. Louder, he said, "I'm scared."
"I am too," Cosmo said. Timmy was sprawled out on his bed with the black magic book beside him. The twelve year old boy hugged his knees and rocked back and forth. Cosmo rocked with him and kissed him on the crown of his head.
"Where's Wanda?"
"Making funeral arrangements."
Timmy burst into tears anew. "I don't know what the Fairy Council was trying to imply, but I never would've hurt my parents. You know that."
((They weren't implying that,)) Wanda said, hearing his conversation with Timmy through their mental link. She was tuning into his mind, perhaps to keep it from drifting again.
((They were implying we had something to do with it.))
Cosmo could feel Wanda's resentment in the back of his mind. He knew they would never have done anything to put their godson in jeopardy, much less hurt him like this. It was ridiculous to accuse them of something so heinous.
"I wish Lorenzo would leave me alone!" Timmy said and choked back a sob.
"I don't know how to grant that," Cosmo pointed out. "I don't know how he gets control over you in the first place."
"I wish today had never happened!" Timmy cried. "I wish I was with my parents! I wish-"
Lorenzo cut him off. When Cosmo had granted the wish that Timmy wouldn't have Lorenzo impeding his thoughts for ten minutes, it hadn't extended to taking him over.
"How melodramatic," Lorenzo sneered. "He even wishes he were dead, which I know you can't grant because you can't grant death wishes."
Cosmo froze, his lower lip quivering too. He burst into tears and Lorenzo backhanded him.
"At least the frach has her uses," Lorenzo sneered. "Get out of my face, idiot."
"Timmy..." Cosmo started and all three of them jumped (Timmy's eyes changed to their normal color briefly) when Timmy's phone rang. The tween jumped at it and then, without telling Cosmo who it was, sneered at the caller and hung up on them without an explanation.
"get out of my face, or do I need to make it a wish?" Lorenzo snapped. "Fine. I wish you would leave me the fuck alone. And if your wife has any ideas, tell her I'll kill her if she comes in here in the next few hours."
"You can't do that," Cosmo said, horrified at the words coming out of someone he loved, even if he knew it wasn't Timmy saying them.
"Can't I?" Lorenzo replied, raising his eyebrows. "I can do anything I want, especially when you have no powers of your own to stop me."
He smiled cruelly. "In fact..."
He left Timmy's room and ignored Cosmo questioning him about where he was going. Then he picked up the large magic book Wanda had conjured up and threw it at Wanda's head. Wanda, who had remarkable reflexes, dodged it without even seeing it coming at her. Cosmo was impressed, Lorenzo irritated.
The book went sailing past her and skidded into the fireplace. Wanda snorted.
"I'll show you," Lorenzo snapped, sounding more like a twelve-year old than the twenty-two year old he was pretending to be. "I'll show you all."
Wanda looked up from the phone. Her eyes narrowed. "Bring back our godson."
"Fuck off, frach," Lorenzo snapped. He cast his gaze about and then conjured an angry bobcat that he dropped onto Wanda. Wanda hung just in time for the bobcat to land on her and scratch the daylights out of her.
"Better," he said. He conjured up another bobcat for Cosmo just for shits and giggles.
"Now leave me alone and stop begging for Timmy. It's just pathetic."
By the time they'd finished fending off the beasts, Wanda was exhausted and covered in bites and scratches. Cosmo had fared no better. She slumped against the couch and sighed, glancing back toward Timmy's room again.
"I want to teach that rotten anti-faerie some manners," Wanda growled. "Or introduce him to a bazooka."
Cosmo knew better than to say anything when Wanda was in a mood like this. It wouldn't help; the only thing that would was staying the hell out of her way.
"What about Timmy?" Cosmo asked.
She sighed. "We need to figure out how to get him to fight Lorenzo back. He's so miserable, he isn't thinking about anything but his own sorrow. If he doesn't fight back against Lorenzo, I shudder to imagine what might happen."
"Me too," Cosmo said and leaned against her. She kissed him on the cheek and he kissed her back. Despite Lorenzo's wish, small magic sparks leapt between them. They were inherently magical, whereas Lorenzo didn't seem to be. That was interesting. Perhaps they could exploit that.
"I love you," Cosmo murmured.
"I love you too, hon," Wanda said. Her thoughts were already roving toward how she could use Lorenzo's weaknesses to her advantage and how to draw Timmy out. The alternative was too horrible to contemplate.
She closed her eyes and tried not to cry. Things were bad enough without her succumbing to her misery too.
