Chapter twenty-two-Sad Smiles

Sandy couldn't believe it. He didn't want to jump to conclusions so he took a second to locate a spell he had heard of. It was mostly used in cases of incubus possession but it would do nicely. As he thought about it, Boogey would fit nicely under that particular umbrella. That clicked another idea, and another, and another until he had a couple dozen outcomes in his mind and a thousand spells to try. He started to scribble excitedly, not wanting even a hint of his meaning to be lost in the fray.

He floated over to Jack and tapped his shoulder, handing him the notebook.

"Hey, what is it?" He asked, noting the happy excitement as opposed to other possible emotions and silently thanked moon for the good news, they needed it.

He motioned to the pad.

I think I have an idea! If a dark spirit can possess a person it means they need an element to survive! Without fear, Boogey is quite literally fading to nothing!

Under his note there were several spells and a dash, then their use. Several for containment until death, several for exorcism, and several for the sucking of a particular emotion. There was one for a fear-based incubus that was a slightly different spirit than Boogey, but could strengthen the others. Jack looked to James and Tooth in utter shock.

"He's got it!" Jack whooped, throwing the golden man into the air.

"I'll get North." Tooth offered, flitting off excitedly as she could, setting down her own coffee in the process. At some point Phil had brought a whole pot in and left it, plus a little sugar and powder creamer that would turn it into cocoa. James had been sipping it for hours and while he hadn't gone down-hill he was probably going to go comatose when he was done with all of this. In fact all of them would.

Mrs. Bennett had taken the bitter liquid from both Jack and Jamie several times, only succeeding with Jamie when Jack reminded her that he was pretty much as immune to the stuff as she or James were because he had been a college student while working nights. However brief the experience was it had left his caffeine tolerance through the roof. He found that he enjoyed the drink and swore up and down he would slip decaf in every once and a while. It wasn't as if he had many reasons to drink the stuff anyway.

"What is it?" James asked, shaking his head in an attempt to wake himself up a bit more.

Sandy flashed some symbols, indicating for Jack to hand him the notepad. James looked it over quickly and laughed happily.

"How did we never think of this?! Sandy you're a genious!" He cheered lethargically. Sandy chuckled and a boisterous North came thundering in beaming ear-to-ear.

"Well done Sandy!" He boomed.

"Wha-?" Jamie jerked awake from where he had curled up beside Jack.

"Sandy figured it out, sweetie." Mrs. Bennett informed the sleepy boy with a chuckle.

"Cool!" He whooped, yawning fiercely as he did. She laughed.

"Okay, we really need to take him home." She chuckled. He didn't protest when she scooped him up. Sandy made a motion to her through his chuckling, remembering that she knew sign language. She nodded.

"Thank you, say goodby Jamie." She shook her head when all the boy did was mumble 'bye' into her shoulder. Sandy gathered them up and sped off toward Burgess. Sandy noted a bit of discomfort coming through and remembered the little house she use to live in, and the fact that while Jack had been taking care of them she had lived in an apartment above them. Not knowing how to ask, he decided to just 'spit it out'.

(How long have you lived in that building?) He asked, adding a sweet and curious little smile that widened her own grin.

"Not long, about a year and a half now." She offered.

(Why did you move?) He asked. She could imagine how his voice might have sounded then, sweet and innocent, but knowing. She sighed.

"Family got a little smaller recently." She offered. Sandy's trademark bouncy question mark was a bit less bouncy and ornamented this time. She sighed again, letting out a breath she hadn't known she was holding and looking down at Jamie in concern.

(He won't wake up yet.) Sandy assured her. She took a breath.

"Okay…well he's dealing with it but I don't know how well…but when Jack met him everything was fine." She offered, knowing Jack hadn't mentioned anything and Sandy was bound to be confused. "He hadn't come around for a while, which was why when he met Jack as a human he was so stunned." She chuckled at the memory.

(What happened?) He asked, knowing no one had heard this and it was likely she needed it off her chest. As usual he was right.

"My husband was taking her to the zoo…" She took a ragged breath. "…they never made it." She didn't need to elaborate. Sandy's thoughts turned back to that little blonde girl that had invaded the Warren so long ago and smiled.

(She was in Bunny's home once, you know.) He informed.

"What?" She asked, eyes wide. "How did that happen?" Sandy chuckled.

(Snow globe incident. It may have involved stray dream-sand and a greyhound named Abby…) He shifted nervously.

"That's what all that was…thought it was a dream…" She muttered.

(Wait…you heard all that?) He asked, almost more shocked than she was.

"Well yeah. I'm just surprised it was real." She grinned. He could see the ghost of what she was remembering of them marring the laughter though, and he had to put it to rest. She was a mother, and she was doing one hell of a wonderful job keeping Jamie happy if he did say so himself, but she needed some help too.

He made a small figurine on a small golden necklace chain out of sand and handed it to her.

"Hmm? What's this?" She asked, examining it carefully.

(It will emit calming magic to help you relax any time you need it to.) He explained. She wasn't sure how to react for a moment until his reasoning clicked.

"Oh…OH! Thank you, so much." She smiled, having nothing more she could do.

(You're welcome, any time. Please, don't hesitate to call us if you need us. You've really helped us out here.) He offered.

"Well of course, but I hate to call for a reason all the time." She teased.

(Of course, that necklace will let me know when you're in trouble, or if you are alright with a visit from one of us.) He smiled, looking down at Jamie. (Him too.)

"Thanks so much. You were so much fun as a kid, by the way." She teased.

(Really? I figured we'd be a handful.) He offered, shock tilting his head and widening his eyes. She couldn't help chuckling.

"Oh no! Well…North was, but you weren't. You almost took care of yourself." She managed through giggling. Sandy sat her down in her living room. Sandy made sure Jamie was having the best dreams of his life before popping back out the window and grinning as he shot back to the pole. She decided to check downstairs and found the place empty of almost any sign that they had ever been there. She went back to her home and curled up on the sofa, watching out the window as golden tendrils of light bounced around the city, putting wonderful dreams and ideas in the minds of sleeping children everywhere.

She didn't see the one that slipped over her head as she drifted off though, but she felt the warmth emanating from the necklace and the light blanket that formed over her. As she drifted through the dreamscape bits and flashes of darkness would form horrible images she had hoped to banish forever before golden light would banish it.

As he sped back to the Pole he felt magic flowing from the necklace he had given her. Jessica Bennett would be alright. He hadn't told her, and he really didn't know if he had been right in that, but he figured he could always explain later. A strong worry bubbled up in his chest as he thought of what might happen to her left alone but it vanished as a strong current of his magic flooded the charm. He was right, it worked on her dreams! Satisfied, he turned his attention to the problem at hand.

He hoped he was right about Boogey dying out, but he couldn't be sure, and there was only one way to find out. Hopefully it wasn't too late. He didn't want to think about what would happen if James didn't get some sleep soon.

When he entered he saw North finalizing the transcriptions of a few of the spells to try first and double checking his notes. Sandy floated down to help him as James, Jack and Bunny all sipped their coffee and tea respectively. Tooth was watching North with a mix of confusion and awe. He had as much magical and technical knowledge as she did about teeth, it seemed.

Jack and Bunny had seen North work, and James had been a sorcerer himself so they were just talking until he came in. James looked a bit frustrated but otherwise was fine. He was relieved but something felt off. He watched a formless slithering tendril slink away and out the window. No one else caught it, and it was too small to do anything, but he still followed it.

"Sandy?" Jack called, snatching up his staff and racing to catch up with him.

Sandy indicated the small form which then lunged at him. Jack froze it and Sandy caught the vile thing but his hand started to turn black, dripping like they were covered in oil. He dropped it and Jack caught it. They exchanged a look.

Here we go. Sandy thought wryly as he and Jack took it back to the pole. Granted there were several ways this could go wrong, but there was always some backdoor way for things to blow up in their faces. It was an occupational hazard.

Well this just keeps getting bigger and bigger! I'm thinking this is just a semi-infinite story-line that'll end when there's nothing else interesting to possibly be said about it which will then turn it into a collection of one-shots in this universe. Please let me know what you think and if there's an issue please let me know. Feel free to inbox me! Y'all are wonderful people! :)

PS-I really am not planning any pairings, I swear! If they happen it'll be because the personalities click and there's no way to write around it. Just warning you that as of right now there are no intentions of going out of my way to pair! Kay thanks, bye! ^.^