In the several weeks that followed, a few things happened, some good and some bad.

The family of fairies had returned, which meant the toddler had to be taught not to let the new tenant see him. A task that proved difficult. Poof had no fear of humans and, despite his mother's best efforts, couldn't be convinced that humans were terrible creatures that would imprison him if they ever got the chance. Being brought up around Timmy, his parents, and friends, it made the purple fairy comfortable around humans. Never before had a fairy child been raised alongside humans, it made teaching them to fear humans so much easier when they'd never seen one. As young as he was, Poof had figured out that most humans wouldn't hurt a fairy even if they knew fairies existed. Sure there would be a handful that were terrible but there would also be some like his brother. Speaking of his brother, Timmy shared some of the blame in the child's lack of fear around humans. The brunette often took him to the park to play, let him play with Hope, and took him to a local toy store. Not to mention the toddler's fascination with human toys and gadgets, really anything he could get his hands on.

During their first week back Poof had somehow snuck into the guest room, took a CD player from a box in the closet, and kept it hidden in Timmy's room for a few days. No one would have even known it was missing had the redhead not noticed a couple of CDs lying on the floor of the closet. She'd asked her roommate if he'd seen the player, thinking she'd accidentally dragged it out and dropped it somewhere. Later that night while she was at work Timmy made his godbrother put it back in her room. Unfortunately the little fairy had managed to figure out how the device worked and learned the words to every song, none of which were appropriate for a four year old to sing. In fact he'd learned a handful of colorful new words and phrases, most of which he used correctly. Wanda was still trying to get him to stop.

Shortly after that the child started showing interest in the redhead. His love for human toys and such was harmless but wanting to learn about a human, an adult, was dangerous. Now if this fascination had been for another child with fairies no one would mind. Poof was an extremely curious fairy who liked to know how things worked, or in this case, how a person worked. More than once Timmy had, had to drag his brother away from a corner the toddler was peering around to watch Vicky. When Wanda asked her son why he was always watching Vicky, the toddler said it was because she was playing pretend. An explanation that confused his parents who were worried that maybe he was using magic to mess with the woman but made the teenager sick to his stomach. Over the past year Poof often said the brunette was 'playing pretend', something that started around the same time Timmy began to really shut people out and started hiding the worst of his pain from everyone. It made him wonder what had happened to the redhead, she had to be hiding something bad if she was going to such lengths to hide it. Whatever it was, the fairy would now do for her what he was doing for Timmy, what he'd been doing for a year, finding little things he could use his magic to make better. Things that weren't noticeable, unless you knew how fairy magic worked.

Luckily there was only one thing Timmy suspected his brother had done. The fairy had fixed Vicky's car, not like brand new but it was reliably functional. One day she'd walked the last few miles back to the house in the rain after her car broke down. It was a piece of junk that had been acting up but it got her to and from work. Mr. Turner had taken his son out with him the next morning, fairies riding along as a trio of fuzzy dice hanging from the rearview, to tinker with it. After a couple of hours they were about to give up since the redhead needed a ride to work soon but finally the car started. That final time his father tried to crank the car before it started the teen swore he heard a soft 'poof' coming from under the hood.

However there wasn't much he could do to stop the purple haired fairy. He'd tried once he realized the child was using his magic to help him but it hadn't worked. All he could do was hope the toddler would be careful with his magic. It was a lot to hope for considering the older fairies sometimes misused their magic. At least Vicky was at work or out of the house a lot.

She found a job at the edge of town at a grocery store. Normally she worked nights, so they didn't run into each other much. The few times they had the pair were civil to one another, after all Timmy could easily have the older woman thrown out of the house and she knew it. That was why she kept to herself. It was strange having her act so different from when she babysat him but the scare with his dad almost kicking her out and whatever she'd gone through since leaving were probably the only reason she was acting so different. Hell she hadn't even teased him since the day her sister crashed the party. Which was fine by him, he was getting enough of that from a pair of blondes.

Chester had quickly become friends with Seth, Ryan's older brother, and the group of misfits regularly found themselves invited to parties and beach day trips. The first few times it'd just been them and the new graduates but as the summer wore on Ryan and her friends started joining in. And once that happened Timmy was no longer able to hide at the edge of a group where he didn't have to speak. Instead the tiny blonde and his best friend began to gang up on him, making him join in games, conversations, and go swimming. At first he'd hated his friend for it but eventually he started to enjoy himself.

The change in his personality when he was around the girl wasn't as drastic as the first night they met but it was clear he was slowly opening up. Of course Chester was always teasing his best friend about the affect she had on him. Not to mention the two blondes tended to gang up on him just to get him flustered or to push him out of his comfort zone a bit. They did everything they could to keep him from closing himself up.

One day on the way to the beach Chester asked his friend when he was going to ask the tiny blonde out. Confused Timmy wondered how his friend could think that. Ever since Tootie he hadn't really been interested in dating again, sure he thought some girls were cute but dating wasn't something he thought about a lot. Maybe kissing Ryan that night hadn't been the best idea now that he thought about it. But if he was honest with himself he did think of her as more than a friend, he just wasn't sure if it was in a romantic way. He'd spent the rest of the drive tuning out his friend's rambling and thinking about the petite blonde. His feelings for her were confused but he did know a few things; her smiles were contagious, seeing her lifted his spirits, and seeing a text from her never failed to bring a small smile to his face.

Once they arrived, Seth immediately dragged Chester over to play volleyball, leaving Timmy to wander around saying hello to the others since the rest of his group had opted to stay home due to sunburns and a desire to read some new science journals. Someone tackled-hugged him from behind, that someone being a certain green eyed blonde, while he was talking to a couple of Seth's friends. She asked him to go with her to buy some drinks at a store down the beach because her brother forgot it was his turn to bring them.

The store wasn't too far away. They quickly found something to talk about which soon turned into teasing one another.

"So, Turner, was that kiss you gave me the first night we met the only one I'll get?"

"Maybe."

" 'Maybe.' He says."

They'd bought the drinks and were headed back to the part of the beach their friends were at.

"It's not polite to keep a lady waiting you know." She teased.

"Sorry."

Stopping in front of him, Ryan looked up at him with a frown on her face. Her skin had tanned a little so her freckles were darker than the first time they'd met. The darkest ran under both her eyes and over the bridge of her nose but there were also some lighter ones on the rest of her face. Not to mention the ones on her shoulders. With a snap of her fingers the tiny blonde regained his attention.

"I'm not very patient."

"I haven't noticed." He couldn't help but smile a little.

Timmy was the kind of person who wore a t-shirt on the beach sometimes, just a plain white shirt to keep him from burning too much. Grabbing the front of his shirt, the petite blonde pulled him down to her eye level.

"Really?"

Feeling his smile grow a little, "well, maybe."

Returning his smile, she leaned towards him, leaving just the tiniest space between them. Impatient as she was, she also knew letting him make the next move was the only way to know where this was heading.

Not sure what to do, the brunette felt his smile disappear. Could his heart go through with this? Could he mentally handle what he was potentially getting himself into?

Only one way to find out, right?

Some part of him, a part that he could barely hear, begged him not to. That he still needed time to get better. But his heart wanted to try. Wasn't that the best way to see what he could handle?

Ryan had started to pull back, disappointed that the other wasn't interested. Her hand let go of his shirt, only to be pulled back over his heart by his free hand as his lips found her's.

They'd walked back to the spot their friends were at hand in hand. Before leaving, Timmy asked if they could hang out, just the two of them.

To date they hadn't actually spent time alone, but they'd finally set a date to hang out. Only a few more days until then. His heart raced just thinking about it.

None of the recent changes in his life seemed to have affected his dreams. Most nights he was running down the long hallway being chased by one of the new creatures. Try as he might, he could never find another opening along the wall. In fact the only change since the first night he ran down the hall were a number of dried blood smears along the walls and floor. They were from when the creatures caught up with him while he was feeling along the walls for another hidden opening. Only one blood smear, his handprint from the first run, hadn't dried. And he was never able to run further down the hallway once he reached it. One of the dragons was waiting for him, usually it chased him back up the hall where he was mauled by the mutant creature but sometimes he was able to run into the mirror room.

That room was nothing like the classroom he was used to seeing in his nightmares.

For the sake of not having to call both alternate versions of himself 'it', his sleep deprived mind started referring to them as Cell and Cat. Cell hadn't come back out of the shadows of his cage or tried to communicate with Timmy again. Once in a while chains would clank or a cough could be heard from somewhere behind the bars but other than that, Cell was quiet. It was the other one that made Timmy's skin crawl. On the rare nights he ran into the room or found himself already inside, he never knew what to expect. There were nights when he repeated hurtful words his mother had said, carried on one sided conversations with the captive version, and then there were the times he never said a word. Those were the worst times. Silently the predator-like version would walk around the room. The brunette felt like he was being stalked by some dangerous predator, that he would turn around and find it behind him. Never did it take its eyes off of him as it strolled around the room, not even when it disappeared for a moment when walking from the mirror on one side of the cell to the other. Even though Timmy couldn't see it, he could still feel those cruel eyes staring him down.

It drove him mad knowing those eyes were always staring at him.

And tonight was no different. He found himself in the room from the very start of his dream. There was no sign of Cat in any of the mirrors nor did a single sound come from the cage. Still he could hear those eyes on him, from every angle. In a panic Timmy found himself turning around searching for those eyes. For several minutes he did this until the same cruel laugh could be heard from behind him. When he turned there was Cat, looking as if he could walk through the glass and into the room. Then the voices started. Just like the first night in the room, only louder, and this time he could hear its voice added to the mix.

Hands over his ears, the teen yelled at the top of his lungs, trying to drown out the voices with his own. However they just got louder, and his own gave out when a pair of hands wrapped around his throat. A pair of cat like eyes looked back at him as he heard it laugh, a wide grin on its face showing rows of sharp teeth.

Then all at once it all stopped. There was nothing, no sound, he couldn't see, couldn't feel, or think, or even breathe.