A/N: I wrote too much today. *groans* The heart is willing, but the flesh is soft and spongy.

I'll leave Lorenzo psychologically and emotionally torturing Vicky for tomorrow, since I can't write anymore tonight. It'll be interesting to rewrite the next chapter, seeing as I literally can't envision him having sex with women anymore. I've written him for so long, I know he's not attracted to women, only little boys.

There were a few hours until Lorenzo's date, unfortunately. He had retreated to Timmy's room to fuss over that stupid dark magic book he apparently loved so much. Cosmo was resentful too because it meant he had lost Timmy, not to mention things were weird with him and Wanda as stand-ins for Timmy's biological parents. In a way, though, they'd always been the stand-in parents, because Timmy's parents didn't show up as much as his godparents did.

Cosmo sat on the couch and idly surfed the TV, because he couldn't find anything to watch. ("In the future, there will be five hundred channels!" "Far out!" "But nothing to watch.") It was true. He couldn't find anything to watch; nothing held his attention. Then again, things holding his attention was a problem anyway, with his ADHD. So this wasn't a terrible shock. He wondered where Wanda had gotten off to. Lorenzo had locked Timmy's door again, so they weren't capable of talking to him even if they wanted to. Lorenzo ignored all knocks and pleas through the door.

Cosmo wished he understood more of what was happening and why Timmy was letting Lorenzo walk all over him. That poster Lorenzo had put up gave Cosmo the creeps and he shuddered, wondering who had created such a horrible thing or if it'd just been in Lorenzo's mind when he'd conjured it up. It had been a young boy, around Timmy's age, giving Lorenzo head. Cosmo shuddered. Just the idea was enough to make him sick.

((Wanda?)) he called and didn't hear a response. ((Wanda?))

((I'm talking to Tootie, hon,)) she said and Cosmo did a double take. Tootie? What did Tootie have to do with anything? Sure, he'd noticed the telepathic links between her and Timmy, but he hadn't thought much of it. Kids thought they were in love all the time and it faded quickly. Such was the nature of childhood. Besides, if anything was serious about it, Wanda would know. She must've known now, because she was over there.

((Can I come?)) he asked. He wanted to poof to her side, but it didn't work. Instead, his wand deflated.

((I'm afraid this is just girls' talk,)) Wanda said. ((I'll be back soon, I promise.))

((Okay,)) he said. He disliked being separated from her. For one thing, the world could be scary enough without her; now it was downright horrendous. He didn't know how he'd cope if Lorenzo came out of the room and demanded to talk to him. He might be tempted to run and hide until Wanda showed up.

What on earth could she and Tootie have to talk about? Timmy, he guessed, for one thing. And maybe them too, although Tootie shouldn't have known about himself and Wanda. Then again, he wasn't entirely oblivious to her spying, either, although he'd just ignored it. He ignored a lot of things which sometimes came back to bite him in the ass.

But that wasn't his fault. It was just part of him being an idiot.

"Wanda…" he whined. ((Wanda!))

Wanda sighed. ((I'll be back soon. It'll be okay.))

((Okay,)) he said, deflating. He was hoping by whining, she'd admit that she couldn't stand being without him and return. ((If you're sure.))

((I am,)) she said, though she sounded none too confident herself. It was her lack of confidence that really got to him; if she didn't know what was going on, he sure as hell didn't. He nuzzled her mentally and she reciprocated, but she was distracted. He could tell.

He wished she'd at least told him beforehand where she was going instead of just vanishing out of nowhere. True, they always vanished out of nowhere, but they did it together.

"How long have you known about us?" Wanda said frankly, not bothering to beat around the bush with Cosmo whining in her head like a puppy. Wanda knew Cosmo hated being separated, although he sometimes had a funny way of showing he cared, such as all of those horrible jokes she had reluctantly forgiven him for when he'd begged for her forgiveness.

"Almost since Timmy got you," Tootie admitted. She was cleaning the bathroom and Wanda was helping, since they had to be seen doing something whenever Vicky poked her head in. Vicky seemed to suspect Tootie had extra help besides Wanda, because she seemed rather suspicious. It wasn't like her to constantly check on Tootie's work; normally, she'd just dick around. But maybe she wanted the bathroom to primp for her date.

"That long," Wanda said in awe. "Do you remember having us that one time-?"

Tootie shook her head. "Timmy loaned me you guys?"

Wanda nodded. "But you couldn't keep your mouth shut about us."

"I'm sorry," Tootie said, lowering her head. "I know you felt bad for me and I know I was just so grateful, that it must've all come out. I'm sorry."

"Don't worry about it, hon," Wanda said. "That isn't the real reason I came here, anyway. I wanted to talk to you about Timmy."

"Yeah, he said something strange to me before Vicky showed up," Tootie said, frowning thoughtfully. "He mentioned someone else, another person, but he didn't name them."

"I think I know who he meant," Wanda said, wondering how much she dared tell her. Timmy's telepathy with Tootie might be another key to stopping Lorenzo; true love couldn't be touched by dark magic, despite Lorenzo's altered magic. True love, therefore, stood a chance of beating him. However, that relied on Timmy to recognize it for what it was.

"Do you?" Tootie said. "Does it have to do with Timmy's 'cousin'?"

"You sensed it too?" Wanda asked, frowning contemplatively. "Yes. It has to do with his 'cousin', who isn't really his cousin. He's Timmy's anti-faerie."

Tootie dropped the sponge she was using into the bucket of soap and it splashed over the sides. The bathroom floor was already wet and gleaming, but Tootie was trying to eradicate a particularly stubborn blood stain in Vicky's bathroom. Wanda sincerely hoped that it was period blood, all the while doubting it.

"How can he be Timmy's anti-faerie if Timmy isn't a faerie?" Tootie asked.

"He was, once," Wanda said. "He wished himself to be a faerie godparent like we are and to switch places with us. At the time, we hadn't considered that he needed an anti-faerie, but all godchildren who wish they were faeries have to have anti-faeries. Normally, they're gone after the wish, though. Somehow, Lorenzo stuck around."

"Lorenzo?" Tootie repeated. "Is that his name?"

"Unfortunately," Wanda said, grimacing. "It's the name he chose for himself. He's also Timmy's Other, as in, 'The Other'. If you want to dehumanize him, you can call him that. I guarantee he won't like it."

"There doesn't seem to be much he would like, him or Timmy," Tootie said. "He was like a shell, Timmy."

"He's gone through a tremendous shock," Wanda said. "But I don't need to tell you that. You know."

"I do know," Tootie admitted and hugged herself. Wanda put a hand on her shoulder.

"But…how much do you know about Lorenzo beyond what Timmy mentioned?"

"Nothing," she admitted.

"I can tell you a little more, in case you two ever go toe to toe," Wanda said. "I can't see that happening in the near future, not unless Timmy gets his act together, but it's a possibility. We need to see if Timmy can accept his true relationship with you."

"True relationship?" Tootie repeated, squealing. Wanda winced. Yeah, that behavior right there was why Timmy had such a hard time talking to Tootie. She acted like a fangirl sometimes, to the point where Timmy was lucky he didn't have ruptured eardrums. Tootie was Timmy's biggest fan, except perhaps for Veronica, who was also crazy. Wanda was grateful Tootie wasn't that bad. Besides, age had a way of mellowing people out.

"Yes, but you can't approach him like that," Wanda warned. "Otherwise, you'll scare him off."

"I thought Vicky had already done a good job of that," Tootie said, returning to scrubbing the floor. "She warned me to stay away from Timmy or she'd hurt him."

Wanda laughed humorlessly. "Timmy already hurt himself without realizing it. Since Lorenzo came from him, some of his desires must be Timmy's secret desires."

"Don't you mean all, if he came from him?"

Wanda thought of that poster and shuddered, shaking her head. "No, not all."

"Like what?"

"You don't want to know," Wanda said. She wished she could burn that poster out of her brain. Of course, that would require magic she didn't have. She'd had to walk down the street like a human and had fallen into the bushes a couple of times. Walking as a human was awkward, but at least they'd avoided coffee. Coffee did strange things to faeries.

"How come you didn't poof here, anyway?" Tootie asked, frowning.

"I can't," Wanda said. "Lorenzo wished we didn't have our magic and we have to obey him, since he's technically part of Timmy."

Tootie's scowl deepened. "That sucks."

"Tell me about it."

They lapsed into silence for a minute and Wanda cocked her head, listening to Vicky rushing about. Vicky was snapping at Doidle, who was getting on in years and had drooled onto her favorite dress. Wanda sighed. It wasn't surprising that Vicky had no tolerance for older creatures; she barely had any tolerance for anyone beyond herself.

Wanda wondered whether Vicky secretly loathed herself. She had to be a narcissist, which made Wanda think about her childhood, possibly before Tootie's arrival. Vicky would've been six when Tootie was born; heaven knew how much damage could be done in six years.

"Do you think Timmy will ever like me back?" Tootie asked.

"I certainly hope so," Wanda admitted. "Or else we're going to have a serious problem on our hands. More serious than it already is."

"How bad is it?" Tootie asked and her eyes were bright. "Can I help?"

"I think you can," Wanda said. "But it'll have to wait until after Lorenzo's date with Vicky."

Tootie wrinkled her nose. "Why on earth would he want to do that? No one wants to go out with Vicky. She scares boys away."

"He wants to hurt her," Wanda said. "And he wants to humiliate her for what she's done to Timmy."

Her mind drifted back to that poster and she wondered whether she ought to warn Vicky of Lorenzo's possible intentions. Then she wondered whether Vicky would even listen. Probably not.

Calente was quiet. Then again, Wanda knew next to nothing about him. She couldn't be expected to know all the faeries in Fairy World and besides, Calente was a new godfather. Before this, he'd been a doctor, though not in the same hospital as Doctor Rip Studwell. She groaned. That doctor was such an asshole. And he bore a resemblance to someone who was equally an asshole. No wonder he looked like he belonged on a soap opera.

"You all right down there?" Wanda asked Calente.

"I'm fine," Cal said. "Just taking everything in and trying to come up with a plan."

"If you do, let me know, okay?" Wanda said and smiled faintly. They would need all the help they could get.

Lorenzo was having problems getting this specific spell to work. For one thing, whenever he tried, Timmy's dresser caught fire. For another, he had narrowly avoided catching the book on fire too. He was almost tempted to ask for Wanda's help, except he hated her. Still, she might have a better notion of how this spell worked than he did, assuming she had any propensity for dark magic. He thought she might; after all, she was Big Daddy's daughter.

"Wanda?" he called, forgetting he'd banished the faeries from his room and they couldn't poof in thanks to his stealing their magic.

"Damn," he said after a minute, when it dawned on him he wasn't getting any supernatural help. Maybe he shouldn't have been so quick to alienate her, but what was done was done. He glanced down at the book again.

Someone knocked on the door and Lorenzo warily opened it. Cosmo was standing on the other side. Rather than rip his head off like he wanted, Lorenzo just sighed and pinched his nose bridge.

"I assume you want to speak with Timmy," Lorenzo said. "I'm far too busy to pretend I have the time for you. I have plots in play I need to get back to."

Cosmo frowned, trying to parse what he'd said. Then he bounced up. "Maybe you wanna play video games? Timmy loves video games."

"I'm aware," Lorenzo said tersely. He slammed the door in Cosmo's face and returned to his studies. The knock came again and this time, Lorenzo ignored it. He was frowning in consternation at the book. What he intended to do to Vicky would require finesse; he wanted her to feel as if she'd been psychologically and physically tortured without him having to lay a hand on her. That way, he could enact his revenge without devolving into crudeness. He wanted her to feel violated, but not to do it himself. The idea of having sex with a woman was repulsive to him.

He smiled faintly. Timmy was attracted to females, but Lorenzo was not. (Timmy was probably also attracted to guys, as he seemed to spend an inordinate amount of time around thickly muscled men, but that was also neither here nor there). Lorenzo preferred young boys, as Cosmo and Wanda had doubtlessly discovered when they'd trespassed earlier. Magic they might not have, but they still possessed faerie dust in droves. It was almost as if, without magic, their bodies were trying to compensate somehow.

He planned an intricate dance for Vicky, one in which she'd feel the effects for a lifetime. If he was lucky, she'd never get over it. He smirked. Oh, yes, he was good. He'd found all the ingredients of the spell and now all he needed to do was enact it. Vicky wouldn't know what hit her.