There once was a couch of denial; Big and comfy, an author sat there in style.

She spent all her days, always thinking of ways,

To bring joy to her FOP files.

(You have no clue how long it took me to come up with that! Lol.)

(…) means twin's telepathy and ((…)) means Cosmo and Wanda telepathy.

No, I don't own FOP or any reference to its varied characters mentioned herein, and unless the new episodes that follow 'School's Out' begin showing the love again, I wouldn't want to. So, for now, Butch Hartman can keep his name tacked on…even if it is for nothing more than the royalties at this point.

Oh…and I don't own The Big Comfy Couch either. That belongs to some broadcasting company in Tennessee I think. : )

Fairly OddParents : The Next Generation

Chapter 13. Sneaking Around

Tammy and Tommy watched quietly as Wanda silently sat on the chair by Tammy's desk. Her arms hugged to her chest, her eyes closed, her head tilted slightly down, the fairy gave every indication of being as lost as one could possibly be.

She'd told them she just needed a few minutes to adjust to not having any magic, but Tommy and Tammy had their doubts. Especially after the first half an hour. The twins however did not question her. They let her have her time to sit in quiet. They knew completely that they could not even begin to truly fathom what was going through her head just then. And truthfully, a part of both didn't want to know.

Knowing meant they would have to see she was just as affected as anyone else might be, maybe more, and that clearly meant they would forever see their godmother in a vastly different way. A way that might not have been quite as strong or reliable or confident as before…

Neither wanted to take that chance of seeing their godmother in any way other than superbly capable and unrelentingly dedicated. After all, what child would want to see their favorite superhero cry or know that someone entrusted with their care was truly not able to do the job?

But even children as respectful and intelligent as these two could only remain quiet for so long, and some curiosities did still warrant discussion, even if only half spoken.

(What do you think its like for her?) asked Tommy of Tammy.

Tammy looked at her brother briefly.

(I don't know. Worried I guess.)

The boy continued to look at the unhappy fairy.

(I think she's scared.)

(Scared? That something bad has happened to Cosmo?)

Tommy nodded.

(Partially. But they've never really been without each other before. Like this anyway. She's all alone and there's no way for her to know if Cosmo's even alive or not. She can't talk to him, feel him, sense him… What do you do when something that big changes so suddenly? No way of knowing… No clues… What if she doesn't know any other way to be? I know I'd be scared if I was her and nothing was the way it should be.)

Tammy looked over at Tommy curiously.

(You think we would be like that if something ever happened to us or we ever lost our ability to talk to each other?)

Tommy nodded as he gazed back at his sister sadly.

(Yeah.)

(She can't stay like that forever though.) added Tammy.

(True. It'll be bedtime soon) said the boy right before his eyes went wide. (Wait! How is she going to hide from Mom and Daddy?)

Tammy returned the startled look.

(I don't know. I didn't think of that!)

(What? But you're the smart one! You always think of everything.)

(Well, not this time. I guess I was too worried about Cosmo.)

(You're worried about Cosmo?) asked Tommy incredulously.

(Sure. Why wouldn't I be?)

(Maybe because last I checked, you really don't have anything to do with him much?) replied Tommy with light sarcasm.

(Well, people can change, right? Besides…its not like I never liked him. I just didn't know how to deal with him. That's all. He's not a bad guy. I just needed to get used to him a little.)

Tommy gave his sister a joking gaze that plainly said "yeah right!" and Tammy answered by sticking her tongue out at him before looking back at her fairy godmother.

"Wanda?" she asked quietly.

Wanda's head snapped up and Tammy fought the urge to give over to the pity that threatened to fill her for Wanda's situation and the empty look in the fairy's eyes. Pity would be no help to anyone right now.

"Yes?" asked the fairy softly.

"We were just wondering if you had any ideas about where you might be able to hide so our parents don't see you."

The kids watched as she looked longingly at the fishbowl before sighing. Without her magic to alter her shape or size, she couldn't even sleep in her own home. How awful that such a little comfort would be denied someone normally so selfless.

"I don't know really. I suppose I could fit under the bed or in a closet."

Tammy nodded.

"My closet might be better. Its cleaner and has more room. That and our parents don't normally go through it too often, so you should be able to hide pretty safely."

Tammy walked over and opened the closet door to reveal that it was indeed clean and well kept with a little three drawer stand set in the back corner and several pairs of shoes and sneakers carefully lined up across the front.

The shoes were pushed away to the sides of the closet to open an area large enough for the fairy to lay down in reasonably.

"Hey Tommy, could you bring my other pillow here," the girl asked as she pulled out an extra sheet from one of the small drawers and opened it up. She set it on the floor so that half would lay beneath while the other half would be able to fold over the fairy for a cover. Her brother added the pillow.

Tommy looked at make shift bed with a woebegone expression.

"Not exactly the Ritz, is it?" he asked glumly.

Wanda looked in with a sad smile.

"Oh, don't worry about that. It'll be just fine. Thank you Tammy."

"Well, we have to get ready for bed so, you might want to get settled in there…just in case Mom or Daddy come walking in."

Wanda nodded before stepping into the closet and pulling the door closed enough to warrant little suspicion from the kid's parents.

Tommy and Tammy gave a last quiet look to each other before they moved off to get ready for bed. When the twins were dressed in their pajamas, they met up in the bathroom to brush their teeth. Even though they were both still worried over Cosmo, somehow the greater concern was placed onto Wanda.

(She's not taking this well at all.) said Tommy after a long moment as he spit the foaming tooth paste out and proceeded to rinse.

(I know. But there's not a lot we can do right now. Until we find some kind of clue or something happens, we're stuck. First off, we have to go to bed and second, the only thing we could possibly do tomorrow is go wandering aimlessly hoping we stumble onto something.)

(That doesn't sound like the way to go to me.)

(Me neither. But that's all we have.)

(But what about Wanda? She won't be able to go outside with wings sticking out her back and pink hair.)

(Not to mention a crown on her head) Tammy added grimly as she tossed a piece of floss away. (I guess we can figure that out tomorrow though.)

Tammy looked in the mirror absently.

(Come on. Lets go tell Daddy we're ready for bed.)

The kids moved out of the bathroom and down the stairs, but once at the bottom, Tammy quickly put her arm out, catching her brother in the stomach.

(Hey! What did you do that for?)

(Shhh.) admonished Tammy quickly. (Listen.)

Tommy did.

From the living room the two kids could make out the sound of their parents talking.

Mom: "So you'll be late tomorrow again too?"

Daddy: "Yep. Can't be helped though. Look at this…I've got a mile long list of people reporting that these things have just taken off or not shown up at all. The chief is pretty set on getting this one done quickly."

Mom: "Well I would say so. Half the town is using those things now. Janie was saying just the other day…oh, you know Janie dear…down the street with the in home daycare?…she was just telling me that all her regular clients with older kids have started using them. She's down to half her normal amount of kids."

Daddy: "Well, if anymore of these things go missing, she may be getting them all back and pretty quickly."

Mom: "Plus a few extras. I'm thinking of maybe putting Tommy and Tammy in there instead of leaving them with that machine. I mean really, dear. The idea of leaving kids with a machine…sometimes it just doesn't seem right."

Daddy: "I know. But it is easier than running to get them dressed and out the door before I have to go to work. And just look how clean the house has been since we hired it!"

Mom: "Hmm, I suppose it is perk. But what if the one that comes to watch our kids goes missing or no shows on us suddenly?"

Daddy: "I don't think we'll have anything to worry about. But if it helps you any, I'm going to be checking the sitting services that hire these things out tomorrow. I'll even go to the one we've been using first."

There was the sound of several sheets of paper being waved as he said the last before it stopped and the audible double click of their father's brief case closing was heard.

Mom: "That does make me feel a little better Timmy. But just in case, I'm going to call home a few times throughout the day just to make sure its still here."

Daddy: "Sounds good."

(Head back up) ordered Tammy hurriedly.

Tommy didn't question the urging tone in his sister's thought. Instead he whirled around on the steps and almost ran back to her room, Tammy right on his heels.

"Wanda!" called Tammy quickly.

There was a pause before the fairy stuck her head out of the closet.

"Listen, we only have a minute until Mom and Daddy come up to tuck us in, but we overheard Daddy telling Mom that those mechanical baby sitters have been having problems lately and have been going missing all over town."

"You think it may be connected somehow?"

"I don't know, but think about how weird ours has been lately. Always popping in six and seven times in one hour…I didn't want to say anything earlier, but it always looked to me like it was trying…"

"…Trying to catch you at something?" finished Wanda with a troubled gaze.

"Yeah!"

Wanda gripped the door of the closet as her brow creased slightly.

"You know, I could be wrong, but ours did seem a little quick to get out of the house right before you guys got home," said Tommy. "Do you think that maybe…it took him? Maybe it was looking for him and just finally caught him?"

"Why would it do that?" asked Tammy skeptically of her brother.

"You're the smart one. You tell me." Tommy retorted.

"Oh, like it really would be out looking just for Cosmo…"

"It could have been looking for any fairy…"

"And who would be looking for fairies?"

Wanda gave the kids a slightly annoyed look.

"Okay you two. Just settle down. It may just be nothing really. Just coincidence."

Tammy stuck her tongue out at Tommy.

"But it could just as easily also mean something…" continued Wanda.

Tommy returned the favor and Tammy made a scrunched up face in retaliation.

"…and if you two don't stop making faces at each other, I'm going to freeze you both to look like that for a week when I get my magic back."

Tommy and Tammy quickly stopped their childish antics and looked back at a serious Wanda.

"The point is, its more than what we had before and it gives us a place to start."

"So what do we do next?" asked Tommy.

Wanda thought for a moment.

"Maybe try to see if any of those missing robots coincides with any fairy occupied houses."

"If they do, than its a sure bet, that those robots are involved," added Tammy.

"Right. For now though, you two have to get some sleep and I need to get back to hiding because your parents are coming up."

With that Wanda, ducked back into the closet as the twins moved to sit on Tammy's bed quickly, reaching it just before their parents walked in.

xxxxxxxxx

Silence pressed in around her. On every side, from every direction. Inside and outside… So silent was the world in and about her, that her thoughts practically screamed through her mind.

She just wasn't used to this. And she certainly did not see herself as ever being able to be used to it. She most definitely did not ever want to be.

Wanda lay on her back as she stared up at the clothes hanging above her on the rack. She'd waited almost three hours now in the bottom of the stifling closet on her little provisional bed and she found herself sorely hoping that this did not have to go on for a second night. Not only could she not stand the thought of being without Cosmo any longer than was unavoidable, but she just couldn't sleep like this. She completely knew that if she even tried, her back was going to kill by morning.

Wanda heard the grandfather clock downstairs toll twelve and she blinked.

'Well, I better get this done now,' she thought to herself as she stood.

She pulled a light wind breaker off of a hanger and proceeded to peer out of the closet carefully. Tammy lay in bed sleeping quietly, her steady rhythmic breathing lifting the light sheet that covered her ever so slightly. Seeing the girl was completely asleep, Wanda slipped out of the closet and walked slowly to the partially closed bedroom door where she paused to listen.

There was not a sound to be heard.

Wanda opened the door carefully only enough to let herself pass through and into the darkened hall before pulling the door closed behind her. She made her way down the steps, skipping the seventh step gingerly. The step in question was a squeaker. Loud enough even with the noises of the day to warn her of the approach of the twin's parents, it would have had all the seeming of a bomb in the still of night and Wanda wanted to take no chances.

As she made her way though the dark house, she couldn't help but feel a little guilty for both what she was doing and what she was going to do. But it just couldn't be helped. She had to get this going now. It could all too easily be that every second wasted was a second too late to help Cosmo and she could not stand the thought of it. That and every second left to pass with inaction, was a second more that hopeless fear overtook her.

Not a good thing either way.

Having finally reached the kitchen, Wanda paused at the arch way leading in to let her normally wide eyes scan the dark recess. Most humans would have had to wait minutes before their eyes adjusted enough to the depth of the darkness that filled the room to even be sure that this was indeed an open room with 'something' in it. But not Wanda.

Fairies, being a creature both of magic and ancient historical lore, had a foot in both the natural and the supernatural realms. While their magical properties gave them abilities outside the range of mortal life, their physical beings, being of a base corporeal nature, had ties with that which allowed them to live even if no magic were available to them. One of those most basic of necessities for survival was the ability to utilize their eyes to see.

Fairies, by nature's gift, had slightly better night vision than humans. This was due not just because of a larger eye in general, but it was mostly because of the larger pupil fairy eyes held in their center. As with any other creature dependant on visual acuity, the black center of their eyes dilated and contracted with the change of the light available. With a greater range of dilation, the fairy eye could thus let in more ambient light for clearer use. They were by no means cats, but for a race of creatures that at one time had to survive as best as they could like any other, it was still an immeasurable help even in their presently evolved state. It was a trait that even now, Wanda was very happy to have at her disposal. Especially being one of the few useful things that they possessed outside of magic.

Using her well adapted eyes, it was only seconds before she saw what she was looking for. On top of the counter by the door lay Timmy's briefcase.

She took a deep breath as she crossed the threshold of the kitchen and without a second thought, she clamored up onto the countertop as though she were climbing a tree. In a half rational thought, Wanda found herself absently considering how long it had been since any fairy had had to climb a tree. Once before the briefcase though, she shook the thought away and turned the black case to face her.

She ran her hands over the gold toned locks on either side.

'I wonder if…'

She tried the lock releases, but neither latch popped up. Timmy had locked it. Wanda huffed in irritation before forcing her annoyance to slip away quickly.

'I can't blame him,' she thought. 'He's just doing his job for his family by making sure his work is secure.'

Wanda rolled the numbers on the combination locks for a thoughtful moment. Four little numbers for each side was all that was needed, but with four choices, each from 0-9, the possibilities were practically endless.

"Okay Timmy. What would you use to unlock this," she murmured softly.

She shook her head.

'No better place to begin, then the beginning I guess.'

She tried his birth date.

There was no luck on either side.

She tried his wedding date.

Again, no luck.

She tried Tootie's birthday.

Nothing.

She tried both his parent's birthdays, as well as their wedding day.

Nope, nada and zip.

She then tried the twin's birthday.

The first lock remained as tightly sealed as a tomb. The second however, opened with a metallic 'click' and a spring loaded 'pop'.

Wanda swallowed her rising excitement down quickly. Remembering why she was doing this in the first place reminded her that it was nothing more than a single step towards a far larger goal. She couldn't let herself get worked up over what could potentially be no help at all.

Besides, it was only one lock. There was still another to go.

Wanda tried several more dates she was sure she knew, thanks to the open sharing of fairies who had been in Dimmsdale when those events in Timmy's life had occurred, but she had no more success than if she had just picked random numbers out of the air.

She sat for a moment as she stared at the locks in hard concentration. Maybe there was one she had missed. Some other particularly 'Timmy important' date that hadn't made its way to her. Of course maybe it wasn't a date at all. Maybe the other set would be nothing more than a specific set of numbers only he had association with.

But that just didn't seem like Timmy. Not the Timmy she had known at any rate. He'd never been completely random like some kids. Some of his wishes may have been, but when he needed a password, or code or key, he always went with the familiar and easily recalled.

It was then, on a whim, that she did it. She wasn't even sure why she had, but she did. She reached over to the lock and dialed in another date. A date she hadn't tried before. One she technically should never have had cause to even consider.

She pushed at the little release button.

'Click…Pop.'

""Hi Timmy!""

"I'm Cosmo!"

"And I'm Wanda!"

""And we're you're Fairy Godparents!""

For an instant, the voices of the past echoed in her ears as her mind reeled at the impossibility of it.

It was the date that she and Cosmo had first met Timmy.

Wanda blinked.

Then again.

It wasn't possible. It just wasn't possible.

There was no way that Timmy should have remembered that date as being anything other than just a date. But if that was the case, then why had he chosen it? What could possibly have brought his hand to set it in as the first combination?

She stared at the now unlocked case, finding herself quite unable to touch it.

Could he have remembered…something…

But that wasn't possible. After the mix ups with Denzel Crocker and a few others along the way, Fairy World had been especially careful when erasing the memories of the children when their godparent's time with them was complete. They now had specially trained fairies who came to do the job rather then risk the godparents themselves making a mistake or even intentionally not doing a complete memory erasure. Timmy in fact, had been among the first hundred to have an outside fairy perform the magic. One because of the length of time he had had Cosmo and Wanda and the bond that had been forged was particularly strong, and two, because Crocker had been Cosmo and Wanda's past godchild. No one wanted to chance that Timmy would remember on his own either because of the bond or risk the inability on Cosmo and Wanda's part to effectively erase his memory properly.

Wanda had not fought it. She fully admitted that the joint turmoil she and Cosmo had gone through at that separation could very easily have affected the spell. Had it been any other child, she would have been highly indignant over the idea that her superiors thought that SHE was incapable of doing the magic correctly. But with Timmy…

The fairy shook her head again before looking at the locks once more, and then paused.

Her brows creased.

She looked from the left lock to the right, then back again. She repeated the action…then gave a smirking half smile.

What an air headed, egocentric fool she'd been. She should have seen it right away.

It wasn't the date of the first day Timmy had received his god parents that had been put on the lock.

It was merely the twins birthday…in reverse.

She should have seen it all along. He had just been trying to be clever and keep at least one of the combinations from being easily discernable. It was only sheer luck that the numbers would have matched. Still, a part of her could not help but wonder. And secretly… to hope…

The contrived spell over the briefcase was broken and it was once again just that. A briefcase. Though one with information that she needed to get.

Wanda opened the lid of the case up and peered in. There were numerous folders inside, but where as luck had been a little hard to come by with the combinations, it glared out at her now with the file she needed sitting right on top. She quickly scooped it up and opening it, found a stapled list of names and addresses. Eight pages to be exact.

This had to be it. It had to be the list Tammy told her about after the lights had been turned out.

Wanda took a quick apologetic glance back in the direction of the stairs.

'I'm sorry to do this Timmy. But I really need this. I know you would have understood.'

Wanda closed the case, but did not lock it so she could return the list easily later, and after pulling the slightly over sized windbreaker on to cover her wings, she rolled the list of addresses and slipped it into a pocket.

The back door was opened, then closed, and without a sound, Wanda went out into the night.

Wow! The longest chapter to date. I originally had everything below the line…"For an instant, the voices of the past echoed in her ears as her mind reeled at the impossibility of it." in chapter 14 just to mess with you all and see who figured it out. But then I decided, 'Nah. You readers are too smart for that. You'll get it in a second.' So I added it to chapter 13 and, well, here it is.

Cool! Another 7 reviews. You guys are AWESOME! Thank you's this week include…

The-3-Amigos - Glad to see you're back and thrilled you liked the chapter. I know. I do torture Cosmo don't I? I still love him though! I hope your joint writing venture is going well. I look forward to reading whatever you three come up with. Good luck in Spanish!

Band Geek 727 - Coo-ell! A Wanda fan listing! I am so a new member! Thank you so much for finding that for me! Special cyber cookies for you for that!

Wanda Wish - You know I just can't leave Cosmo sitting in there with nothing going on! Have to have a little fun with him after all. That and I wanted keep building Wandissimo's part up a bit more. Wandissimo is such a self-centered, self deluded, ego maniac. Honestly, I think he's even more of a moron than Cosmo could ever be since he just can't see that his attempts to separate C&W just are not going to work. He's really just has got to give it up!

Aerinsoul - Sic'ing Vicky on me is probably the best threat yet! That girl is just creepy and wrong. And a bug up the butt? EWWWWWW! Lol. I'm really surprised how much people are remarking on the emotion that this story seems to be evoking from them. I really had no clue it would turn out to be so (or intention of making it so) striking. I've even managed to make a few who normally hate Wandissimo feel bad for him! All that and its not even half way done yet! Although I would venture to say that Wandissimo isn't really being nice to Cosmo. He's just getting info on Wanda right now. That and he was a little surprised by the depth of the relationship. But you'll get to read more on that later.

Kraven the Hunter - Yes, it will only continue to get worse for Cosmo. At least for a few more chapters! Oooo…I found out that the name of the magic eating creature from the animated Aladdin series was the Thirdak. Mozenrath, that rare good looking evil sorcerer (how many of those are out there?), needed someone to catch it. So, he picked Aladdin, and used Genie as the bait.

Commander - Torture? It wasn't intentional! I swear! Lol. You'll find out who it is eventually (of course) and no, it won't be at the very last chapter. I promise you'll know before that! ""Of course, even if you did tell us I'd continue to read this anyway, because the plot is tense, the fluffiness is "aaw-inducing", and your style of writing paints such a vivid picture in my mind!"" Wow! You are way too flattering. I like it! Lol. Glad you're continuing to like! Neat thing is, it isn't close to being finished yet and its already been entered into a C&W community! Cool huh?

Lilylynn - I'm glad you enjoyed the exchange between Cosmo and Wandissimo. It took a little while to get it feeling right since I haven't seen all the episodes with Wandissimo as of yet. I'm so pleased you think it came off well.

Trixie21