Author's Note: Happy March 15th! I'm really tired, thanks to various personal problems, but it's been over a month since I updated this and today would be the day. I hope you enjoy it. It is indeed a long one.

Also, this took some interesting twists for not having been written in a month.

Chapter Twenty-Four: Tempus Fugit

Tempus fugit. Latin for "time is fleeting". Time, in Tootie's case, was most definitely not fleeting. Rather than begin questioning her about a murder that she knew nothing about, Isaac Provanzano had flung her into a cell and left her to rot, sans the butcher knife and drenched in, presumably, her sister's blood. Timmy and his fairies were nowhere to be seen, neither was Doombringer's prison, and Tootie shivered, drawing her knees to her chest. To make matters worse, they had put her in a cell at the end of a long, empty block, so screams echoed but she had no one to talk to. Every once in a while, Provanzano would appear at the edge of the hallway, smirk, and then disappear. Tootie moaned.

How could anyone think she'd murdered Vicky? Vicky tormented her daily, ruined her life, and sometimes made Tootie cry for hours. But it took a certain type of person to kill someone and Tootie didn't have it in her. Unless Vicky had been threatening Timmy…but even then, Timmy had Cosmo and Wanda. Although, the last time, he hadn't had either. She groaned, rubbing her temples. If she wasn't careful, she'd give herself a headache.

Assuming this situation was more than it seemed, and the remote possibility it might be a test, what did Doombringer expect her to do? Knock down everyone in her path? Think of a way out? She wasn't like a certain boy genius that could summon a colossal thought pattern by stretching his brain. She had nothing. She had had Cosmo and Wanda once…and then lost them.

Was she supposed to remember having them? No, that was stupid.

"Wanna drop a hint?" she muttered, exasperated. On the other side of the bars, the arresting officer appeared and stared. She scowled.

"Don't you have other people to bother?" she grumbled.

"She really left you without any tools?" the man said derisively.

"So this is a test," she said, seizing upon the information. "Do you know what I should do? Then again…you're the one who arrested me. I guess you wouldn't know, but could you give me a hint? Anything?"

"You talk too much," he said. Looking at the bars and judging distances, he swung his arm and tossed an item into her lap.

"In for a penny, in for a pound," he said. "You'd better figure out how to use that soon."

She stared at the small package, neatly wrapped, on her lap. Fingering the bow, she moved to unwrap it and he cleared his throat.

"When I'm here, I'm surveillance," he said and then smiled. It was a cocky, somehow reassuring smile that reminded her of someone. Not Timmy…she blinked away the association, because it was dim and she wasn't sure she had all her facts.

"Then what am I-"

"You talk too much," he said. They stared at each other for a moment and then he gazed at a strange watch on his wrist. He popped open the top and scrolled through menus. It didn't look like standard issue for a police officer; it was too high tech. And the way he held himself...

Silence descended and she turned the package over. He continued ignoring her. After a lengthy intermission, the man sighed, shut the watch, and walked away. She waited until his footsteps had receded before launching herself at the package.

It looked like a GPS, but when she turned it on, after waiting for its start up procedure, it yielded an analysis of the surrounding walls and floor. There appeared to be an option for more information and she selected it. It looked mildly interesting, though what its possible use could be, she wasn't sure. Holding it up, she walked around her cell and it buzzed. It was then she realized that she didn't have a security camera. Weren't security cameras standard issue in holding cells?

By reflex, she looked over her shoulder, but the man wasn't there. Frowning, she brought the device closer to the wall. It didn't react and she shifted an inch. It buzzed again. Taking a chance, she rapped on the wall with her knuckles and it echoed. Tootie jumped. It was hollow!

The machine didn't have a way for her to move aside the wall and here, she presumed, was where she was supposed to use the magic she doubted she had. Frowning, she tucked the machine into her overalls (when was the last time she'd worn overalls?) and concentrated. This felt ridiculous, but she had no recourse. And if Provanzano were her aide, who knew how long he'd hold them off? She had the sinking sensation he wasn't looking out for her. The man gave off creepy vibes.

She imagined her hands covered in a shimmering, purple protective aura and then shoved. The wall crumpled instantly, with only a minor temperature hike. She stepped over the broken pieces…and then heard dogs and policemen. The wall sprang back into place, like it had never fallen.

"The wall's hollow in her cell!" she heard Provanzano shout. "She might have attempted escape."

Nope, she definitely couldn't trust him. She patted her bloody, now awkwardly wet and sticky, overall front pocket and raced down a blind alley. There didn't appear to be any obstructions in her path, which was good because the machine didn't provide any light. Her hands were still faintly glowing, which, although pretty cool, wasn't very helpful.

Heart pounding, she hoped Provanzano wouldn't send the hounds of hell after her immediately. What was the point in escaping? Was she supposed to solve the whodunit? He clearly had wanted to give her a fighting chance, hadn't he?

She thought too much. Shutting off errant thoughts, she pelted down the path and hoped for the best. She also hoped the path didn't end up in the mayor's office or the sewage system.

After a while, she realized the walls were luminous and kept her from bouncing into them. In the distance, the dogs echoed and she could hear angry boots pounding. Heart in her throat, she ignored her chest burning and the panic that all but overwhelmed her. What part of the test was this? The part where Doombringer saw whether she tripped and fell? Tootie gritted her teeth, resentment mounting. It was bad enough Vicky subjected her to this crap. Doombringer didn't have to add to it.

Unless she was doing it on purpose. Unless the magic they might have accumulated from their godparents was only unlocked a certain way. But surely, Doombringer couldn't have thought that far.

Eventually, this tunnel had to end. And, to Tootie's unhappily wrinkling nose, she realized where. The smell was distant, but it, like the dogs and the boots, threatened to approach faster than she was comfortable with. Shudders wracked her. Did every great escape culminate in a maze through the sewage tunnels? She was already covered in blood. How much more gruesome was she going to get? Gross!

"Just keep swimming," she muttered. Then she thought of what she might be swimming in and shuddered deeply. "Never mind."

Timmy Turner was lost, scratched up, petrified, and increasingly frustrated. Even at his worst moments, he had had Cosmo and Wanda. He tripped over something and cursed bitterly. The strange part was that the thing he had tripped over was soft, smelled faintly like baby powder, and had a random purple hair. Grumbling, he righted himself. That was the fifth thing he'd tripped over today.

"Stupid rain forest," he snapped. "They should clean it up."

"Poof?"

Timmy jumped and tripped backward, landing in the mud. "Poof?"

"Poof, poof!" The ball he had tripped over rose and had a note pinned to its chest. Timmy couldn't determine whether it was a boy or girl, its jumper matched its hair and eyes, and it had a crown above its head. Timmy staggered. A crown. But there were no fairy children.

Hands shaking, he ripped the note off (the baby whacked him on the head with its rattle). He read the note slowly.

"This is Poof," he said. "In the future, Poof will be your fairy god-brother. He's on loan in the time space continuum, so you'd better take good care of him. Also, he can't use magic unless you help him."

"What kinda name is Poof?" Timmy said.

"Timmy!" Poof said happily.

"Okay…" Timmy said. "So, you're Poof. And you already know who I am."

Poof nodded assertively and Timmy looked at the path before them. Or lack thereof. He groaned.

"I wish the path were clear!" he called. The letter, propelled by an unknown wind, smacked him in the face and the line "in the future" was underlined. He groaned again.

"You know, if you were gonna give me a fairy, you could have given me one that could grant wishes!" he snapped to the heavens. The heavens, naturally, didn't answer.

"Poof?" the baby said in what Timmy took to be an inquiring manner.

"Um…open sesame!" Timmy shouted and flung his arms out. Nothing happened. Poof floated by his head. Timmy tried again.

"Allee-allee oxen free!" Now he was beginning to feel rather foolish. Water dripped nearby and the heat rose. Grimacing, he wiped his forehead and stared at Poof.

"You can't, you know, just do something without my wishing, could you?" he said. Poof stared blankly. He had almost expected the baby to conjure up a copy of Da Rules and recite it to him.

"Darn it!" he snapped and kicked a rock. It hurt and he howled. Poof watched, bemused.

"Okay, so…" He imagined fire whipping through the rain forest. And then he remembered watching a special on devastation in forests and fire was among the worst. That wouldn't work. And thinking made his brain hurt. How could anyone expect him to think his way out?

Okay, well, that wasn't strictly true. Thinking only made his brain hurt when he was being lazy and it was a particularly complicated subject matter. He could be clever, if he wanted to be.

Maybe…maybe Poof was like a channel? The note had said Poof couldn't use magic unless Timmy helped him. Maybe Poof…had to shoot his magic through Timmy? Poof shook his rattle and a rabbit appeared. No, that wasn't right. Was it…the other way around? Maybe Timmy had to power up with Poof?

"Wishing would be easier," he grumbled. He imagined himself as a swashbuckling adventurer and pictured himself with a bayonet to sweep aside this pesky wildlife. He considered giving himself a gun too, but he wasn't sure he could handle it. And he was only ten. The bayonet would be sufficient.

He held the image in his mind. The steel would be bright and flashy, the handle plain brown, but firm in his grasp. It'd fit within a sword case on his waist, also brown and plain, scuffed from his many bayonet battles. Yeah, that made perfect sense. He'd also be wearing a safari hat, with tan khakis and a tan t-shirt, along with brick hiking boots. There would be a canteen full of water slung across his chest. It'd have beads of condensation and the silver container would be cool to the touch.

Around him, birds chirped, water dripped, and the mud squished under foot. The temperature grew uncomfortable, in the mid to high 80s, and a toucan squawked indignantly. His mouth was drying out and sweat trickled down his neck.

"Poof?"

Timmy opened his eyes. His regular outfit had vanished; everything he had pictured he now wore and Poof had a miniature version. Timmy smiled, growing fond of the baby already.

"So…how old am I when I wish for you?" Timmy asked.

Poof stared. Timmy wasn't sure if he didn't know or he didn't know how to answer. He shrugged. Not important.

Although there was a horrifying scene awaiting him, his spirits had lifted. Having any fairy at his side, particularly one related to Cosmo and Wanda, made him feel a teensy bit protected.

He tried to shove the disgusting image out of his mind and focused on the small bundle floating over his shoulder. He was the chubbiest baby Timmy had ever seen and the fairy dust seemed thickest on his pacifier. Timmy shuddered again. Fairy dust had drawn Doombringer to him. Best not to think about that either.

"So…" he said. "Ugh, what am I doing? I can't have a conversation with a baby."

He paused. "Maybe if I wished for- that's right. Can't wish for anything."

He wiped aside foliage with his bayonet. Poof was quiet, unlike his parents. If Cosmo and Wanda were here, they'd be offering him running commentary. His lips twitched. It was amazing how much he missed them. He knew he hadn't been treating them right, even though he hadn't felt like it mattered, and his heart ached. Once they got out of this mess, even if he wished everything were back to normal, he'd treat them better. He vowed it.

He had no idea how much further it was to his parents. The next swash brought him to wooden stairs descending from the forest floor. Timmy looked at Poof.

"What do you think, Poof?"

Poof looked dubiously at the stairs.

"What's the worst that could happen?" he reasoned.

Poof gave him a Wanda look of disapproval. It was so much like her, albeit on a much younger face, that it startled him. Then he smirked.

"I didn't listen to Wanda and I'm sure as heck not gonna listen to you," he said. "Or take your stare. Whatever."

He forced a laugh. "Besides, it beats walking around getting bitten and dripped on."

"Poof," Poof sighed.

"Don't look at me like that."

Low on magic, Jorgen was forced to glower through the invisible magical curtain into the city. No one could see them, apparently, but that didn't alleviate Jorgen's nerves. Then he looked around for Juandissimo. He slammed his powerless wand into the ground and kicked the barrier, only to be sent sprawling back a couple feet. This was preposterous. Would he have to be tainted to get in?

The growing suspicion things were far worse than he had anticipated mounted his frustration. There was nothing to be gained prowling the perimeter and now that Juandissimo had deserted him, he had no leads. Anything within the perimeter was a magical null zone- he could tell without his wand. Nothing involving fairy godparents was going on. Damn it, he had to find out what it was.

Brute force didn't work. Jorgen wasn't very good at subterfuge, which was probably why he couldn't, for the life of him, contemplate anything involving spying. Besides, that'd involve speaking with someone on the inside. And Juandissimo…when he got his hands on that puny little fairy, his looks would be the last thing he'd be worried about.

Not that threatening or posturing would do any good. Maybe he should try digging? Except there was asphalt here…he shook his wand and a couple sparks shot off. He sensed faint power, emanating from a source he wouldn't normally consider. He didn't associate with half faeries on general principle, but they were the only creatures, aside from the tainted ones, able to escape. He had enough magic to detect them.

He would have to wait until one of them appeared and plan accordingly. He had to throttle his urge to kick and scream until something gave. He also had to throttle his urge to track down Juandissimo and strangle him to within an inch of his life. One didn't become ruler of Fairy World by knocking down everyone in his path…although it was a very tempting option most days.

For an indeterminate amount of time, Wanda simply rested on her pad and waited. She tried to send messages to Cosmo, who hadn't received in months, and she wished she could move. There was no strength left, only whispers of magic. Tossing her head from side to side, she kept her eyes shut and wished she could fade away. She hadn't felt this wretched in thousands of years. And even then, she'd been with Cosmo.

There was nothing to do but wait, either. She wasn't strong enough to move or call out. There was a solution for that too…one that she was still too terrified to utilize. The last time a liosalfar had used the ley lines Overhill things had not gone well. And while she knew fairies had more magic than elves, it wasn't worth the risk. Ley lines were linked to dark magic and dark magic…

But she could refill herself with the ley lines if she chose. And then maybe she could get the hell out of here and find help.

She shuddered and groped. At first, nothing happened. It was like breaking through thick ice. Then a small crack appeared.

Breaths coming in little spurts, she focused on widening the gap. The ley lines might have tainted her already in attempting to flee and Jorgen wouldn't be pleased, but she had no choice. She sent a questing magical lure into the ley lines and power slowly filtered into her body. The whispers gradually increased in pitch.

No. She was wrong. She shouldn't use the magic to escape. She should use to find Timmy, Tootie, and Remy. Then she would escape. It wasn't fair to abandon children to this monster.

She exhaled shakily. Once she opened herself up to the ley lines, she should be able to access them at leisure. The warehouse stood on a massive well and her head cleared. It was a matter of escaping Doombringer's trap. There was a chance this might be part of her plan too, in which case Wanda was playing right into her hands. She'd have to hope for the best.

Once she felt almost back to normal, albeit with a headache and a trifle sluggish, she shifted into a bird and flew straight up into the air duct that had nearly killed her. She shoved aside the blower and dashed headlong in the passage. Although air ruffled her feathers, it was nothing like the previous blast. She felt raw, nerves on fire, and missed her wand fiercely. Drinking in the ley lines was like absorbing whiskey. In the end, she'd wind up with severe side effects, but what they were, she didn't know. The knowledge she had of the ley lines derived from books her father had 'borrowed' and talking about it was discouraged.

She'd need to draw in more power to tell where the children were. Dare she? Did she have a choice? Shaking nervously, she opened herself up completely. The hounds of hell were already at her gate. What did it matter if she let them in? All hell had broken loose.

She sent up a brief prayer to Oberon and Titania she wasn't playing right into Doombringer's hands.

Of all the insipid, putrescent things that could have possibly happened to her, Doombringer was now trapped in traffic. It was bumper to bumper, as if the humans had somehow scented the magical predicament and were attempting to leave the city. She sensed a fairy near the bridge and it set her teeth on edge. The barrier the half-breeds had put in place wouldn't stand against him and he shouldn't be here. She exhaled in a short burst.

"Shit."

The last thing she wanted right now was Jorgen's attention. She wanted Fairy World to notice after things had gone too far. She hadn't even used the children to her advantage yet. Plus, with this godforsaken traffic, she might as well run for all the good sitting in her car did.

But she didn't dare abandon the car. Jorgen's powers were regenerating, despite the shield, and she knew he derived his powers from something far more extensive than her own store. If she could tap into the ley lines, that wouldn't be a problem. But she wasn't even a half-breed; she had fey blood somewhere in her ancestry, enough to detect them and know more than she should, but not enough to help. She banged her fists on the steering wheel. Should Jorgen find her right now, she'd be screwed.

The line moved slowly, at a snail's pace, and a figure within the supposedly locked security stations looked out. It was a giant of a man, at least ten feet tall, with grey hair in a crew cut. His gaze sent chills down her spine.

To make matters worse, as if this were possible, she thought she heard raving.

Craning her neck, she turned. Crocker was to her rear.

"March 15th!" he screamed. "The worst day ever! FAIRY GODPARENTS! Fairies are real! They exist and they're chock full of magic! FAIRIES!"

The figure within the security station had his eyes trained on Crocker, not her anymore, and she heaved a jagged sigh. Fairy World already knew about Crocker. He posed no threat to her mission and all the more gain if he were arrested for disturbing the peace.

"Fairies!" he screamed and then launched himself at her front door. "You look like you believe in fairies. Ooh, are those butterfly nets?"

In her backseat, indeed there were butterfly nets. Crocker flung his arm in through her open front window and Doombringer hastily shut the window on his arm. Yelping in pain, he yanked his arm back and stared mournfully at the nets. She could almost see his lower lip quivering.

The figure in the security station had vanished. A horrible feeling began in the pit of her stomach. She could be wrong, since fairies dealt mainly with children and the occasionally greedy adult, but when plans started to go sour, she usually knew.

Shutting her eyes and bracing herself, she waited until Crocker went back to his insanity van and listened to the traffic, along with people screaming and ranting and raving. She shouldn't have taken the bridge to get back to the warehouses, which were on the outskirts of town. People fey touched always knew when there was trouble and Dimmsdale had had too many fairy godparents over the years not to get a whiff of it. Either that, or something was going on in Brightsburg she didn't know about. In either case, she was hemmed in.

She reached for her mp3 player and felt a strange indentation on the back. The white front had been untouched, but the back had a dent near the bottom. There were no other abrasions, nothing to indicate abuse, and she certainly couldn't say the thing had been bugged. Still, it, along with Crocker linking her to him and Jorgen's untimely appearance, made her very wary. If she weren't so attached to the damn mp3 player, she might have pitched it over the side of the bridge…

She almost wished people would pitch their cars over there and that way, the traffic would move. This was ridiculous. She didn't know what was going on with any of her test subjects and she wouldn't know until she reached the warehouse. For all she knew, she had new tests to set and record. And half-breeds weren't entirely reliable. They were all self-serving smug bastards.

Frustrated to no end, she leaned on the horn and honked. No less than ten people retaliated. It didn't make her feel much better, but the irritation she caused people amused her.

They found out about one of the warehouse's occupants in an interesting way when she fell out of an air duct and in front of them.

Covered in dust, her hair with black streaks, Wanda panted. Anti Cosmo and Anti Wanda raced to her.

"What happened to you?" Anti Wanda said.

Anti Cosmo propped Wanda up and her skin was hot to the touch. She grabbed Anti Cosmo's wand and held it up. It glowed and her appearance stayed the same, although the dust vanished. She was shaking so badly, she couldn't have stood at all without Anti Cosmo's help. And yet, he could feel her brimming with magic.

"What are you doing here?" Wanda replied.

"We got bored and decided to find out what you, Timothy, and Cosmo were doing," Anti Cosmo said. "I don't suppose they're about."

"They're around," Wanda said vaguely. She had a haunted look, like someone was following her, and Anti Cosmo looked up at the air duct. There was nothing to suggest she was a fugitive, but there was no evidence to the contrary, either.

"Shall you give us a tour?" Anti Cosmo asked. Wanda slumped in his arms.

"Maybe we should find her a bed," Anti Wanda said.

Wanda grabbed Anti Cosmo by the collar. A fierce strength lit up her pink eyes. "Find Timmy. He's with Tootie. I don't know where Juandissimo is, but his godchild is trapped in here."

"Trapped?" Anti Cosmo repeated.

"In butterfly nets?" Anti Wanda said blankly.

"No," Wanda said. Anti Cosmo could feel darkness within her and it made him smile. Finally, he'd have the intelligent counterpart he'd wanted all along.

"Lead us to them," Anti Cosmo said.

"I don't know where they are," she said. "Something's blocking them."

"This place grows more interesting by the minute," Anti Cosmo said. He wrapped his arms around Wanda's shoulders; Anti Wanda hadn't noticed. "Shall we see what wonders this place has in store?"