She groped for him in the dark, a pang of fear shooting through her chest as the room was swathed in a deep green light that restored some visibility - the emergency generators had kicked on. Rae twirled around frantically, searching for her husband. This wasn't supposed to happen. This couldn't be happening. Fairy Land had lost power. Something had failed, something had been overlooked and now their home was collapsing.
He found her first, miraculously spotting her through the droves of fairies that were scrambling to right everything. He was scared. Never in all of fairy history had this happened. He rushed to her, embracing her rather violently, heart hammering against his ribs as he looked down at her and saw the fear in her eyes. She knew what this was.
He grabbed her hand and took off, manoeuvring them through the thick sea of people, swimming against the current, the rip tide of movement in the lobby. He had to get her out. There was only one way to do this safely, now: a wand. He couldn't produce the magic field necessary to transport, but a wand could.
She didn't resist his lead until she found them in at the doorway to the basement, to the stockrooms. Tracy knew Jerry would be down there somewhere, but he wasn't here to make small talk. He dragged her through the halls of the stockroom, pausing every so often to re-adjust his grip on her. She knew what was coming, what he was doing, but with his heart in his throat, he couldn't very well explain it to her. He found the spare wands, and let go of her, holding it carefully in front of him and looking down at her. Her struggles stopped, and she panted in exasperation, wide-eyed and terrified. She asked him what he was doing.
Time seemed to stand still down in the cellars. Save for the eerie green light, it was nearly impossible to tell the chaos that was taking place on the upper levels. The feeling of dread in his chest was the only sign of it, and even that began to dissipate, as he moved closer to her, brushing her hair back and taking her face in his hands.
He bent down and planted his mouth against hers, kissing her forcefully, choking back the rising panic and trying to siphon all of his emotion into that one kiss, that one important kiss, to tell her that he loved her so much, to stay safe. He hated to admit it, but he was scared. He was scared that they were going to lose Fairy Land. He was scared that the Disenchantment would start before they could do anything about it. It was funny that way, how you never knew when it would start. You could lose power and it take anywhere from seconds or days for the process to begin. Whether or not you survived it was a matter of luck.
But most of all, he was scared that this was the last time he'd see her. He was scared that he was leaving her, confused and afraid, and that he'd never get to hold her or see her smile again.
When they broke, she seemed as dazed as he felt. They stood there for what felt like an eternity wrapped up in a few spare seconds, and when he finally broke their eye contact, she gave a start, clinging onto him as he fidgeted with the wand, begging him not to, trying to snatch the device away, but his height became an advantage and, as much as it hurt him, reduced her to a terrified, quivering mess.
All it took was a flick of the wand. She tried to cling to him, hoping that perhaps, somehow, it would take him with her. But as the magic - dulled and lethargic - swirled about her, it drove a wedge between them, dragging her away, putting space between them as it obscured him from her view. She could barely make out his shape, trembling, head held in his hands, as she fought the whirlwind around her.
The wind died down, the absence of the rushing magic and his wife's cried leaving a ringing silence in his ears.
Tracy was alone.