A/N: Shorter chapter this time. I'm seriously depressed, but at least this helps when my depression lifts long enough to write. Real life is the worst.

Poor Wanda.

They'd flung her into a damp, dank cell to "think about her failures". Wanda curled into a tight ball; she fought against sobs. At least they'd allowed her the luxury of changing her clothes after they had finished with her. However, Wanda didn't think that was a mercy. They wanted to send her out again, she was sure. They'd set their sights on Timmy since he had been the savior of Earth and Fairy World so many times in the past.

Wanda rubbed her fingertips against the amulet. The way the Shadows had described it, it would be easier to just succumb. Other worlds had. The Shadows sucked the light and life out of realms and then moved on to the next one. As for why they'd chosen her, she and Cosmo were the most well-connected faeries in Fairy World.

What chilled her was not that statement, but the one they'd whispered before throwing her into the slammer.

They knew Cosmo was the most powerful faerie in the universe and that Wanda had kept him in line. Without Cosmo, Wanda, or Timmy to save the world, there'd be no one to stop them. Other light-sided faeries had capitulated to them. Why not her?

Wanda gritted her teeth. The aftereffects of pain still rode over her in waves. She felt like she'd been beaten to within an inch of her life with magic. Worse, the creature within the amulet was mocking her again.

"Why protect someone who doesn't deserve it? Cosmo didn't deserve you, and Timmy doesn't either. Timmy just took advantage of you and Cosmo. Worse, he mistreated you, ignored your suffering, and treated you like his personal slaves."

"Timmy is a child," Wanda retorted. "All children get overexcited and forget that their godparents and parents are people too."

There's another world where you have another godchild…and she'd never take advantage of you. It's not that Timmy's a child. It's that Timmy is a selfish brat."

Wanda scowled. She'd had those thoughts herself in less charitable moments, but she never held them against Timmy. For all that Timmy could be selfish and self-serving, he had given them Poof. He'd also cared for them and protected them from Doombringer, Crocker, and everyone else who had tried to hurt them. Sure, Timmy could be a brat at times, but he was only eleven.

"Why do you keep defending him? He probably cares more that Cosmo is gone than that you are. Members of the boys' club."

Wanda hugged herself. She wished, for once, that she had a psychic connection with Timmy to refute what the creature was saying. It was nosing around her insecurities.

"Timmy loves me," she retorted.

"More than he loves Cosmo?"

Wanda squared her jaw. "Timmy loves me, and I'm sure he just wants everything to go back to normal."

Things would go back to normal if she could just get this damn necklace off her chest. It had sunken into the skin, and the links pressed into the back of her neck. To be perfectly honest, it scared the living shit out of her. She reached again for Cosmo, as she had for millennia. She didn't expect an answer, though. She didn't deserve one, not after what had happened.

Cosmo's voice was faint, but audible through their link. ((Wanda? What happened?))

Wanda burst into tears, and the creature slammed a barrier between herself and Cosmo. She felt Cosmo battering at it, but it was solidly in place. She would be alone again, then. Wanda couldn't recall the last time she'd been this scared.

Wanda hugged herself tighter and rocked back and forth.

"That's right. Feel the misery. You caused this. And you'll do far worse before this is over. The more the necklace melds to your skin, the more control over you I have."

Wanda hissed, reaching for her wand. The wand didn't blast the necklace off, however. It didn't work at all. It was as if the magic in her wand was cut off, much like her connection with Cosmo. In a terrible way, it made sense. They wouldn't want her to escape until they let her leave.

"Leave me alone," Wanda growled. This creature delighted in causing her misery. Then again, it'd probably driven the previous wearers insane too. Still, Wanda wouldn't give in. She wouldn't let it have the satisfaction of destroying her.

There had to be part of her she could retreat to, that the creature wouldn't touch. The problem was that it felt like the creature had already tainted so much. Maybe that was by design. Maybe it was supposed to make her feel helpless. She had to remember that no matter what, there would be someone to help her. Someone would break the amulet's hold on her. Somehow.

Even if she didn't have the faintest clue how yet.

"Pathetic that you believe that. No one's coming. You killed your husband, and your godson wants nothing more to do with you."

Wanda squared her jaw. She refused to accept the creature's hostile remarks. After all, its goal was to break her down. She needed to talk to Timmy and prove herself to him. She squeezed her wand and willed herself to her godson's side.

The Shadows relinquished their hold on her. In the back of her mind, she didn't think that was such a good thing.

Timmy was at school, but the sunken eyes and white complexion told her he hadn't slept since she'd absconded with Cosmo. Guilt stabbed at her, and the creature within the necklace laughed. She appeared as a notebook on his desk. Timmy looked down, grabbed her, and immediately blabbed an excuse to Crocker before bolting out of the room.

"Wanda!" Timmy hugged the notebook to him, and she shifted back into faerie form to hug him back. Her heart pounded; the creature was still laughing.

"What…" he stopped, staring at the necklace. "It wasn't like that before. And you look awful."

Not having looked at herself in a mirror lately, she'd have to take Timmy's word for it. Then again, she doubted anyone looked particularly good after being tortured for hours. She was loath to let Timmy go; he was her connection to the past and how things ought to be.

Nonetheless, when Timmy released her, she reluctantly drifted back and away from him. He reached for the necklace, and it zapped him. A black tendril of power had emerged from the necklace; it hadn't done that before, either.

"What the heck is going on?" he said in an undertone. They kept a lookout in case anyone passed in the halls.

"Where's Cosmo? What happened to you?"

Wanda gulped. She should've known Timmy's first question would be about Cosmo.

"I told you…" the creature sneered.

She decided to avoid the question about Cosmo because if she said it aloud, that made it real. Her hands shook, and she reached out toward the wall the creature had erected to see if she could reach her husband's soul. Nothing; the creature had him well blocked off. She sighed, shoulders sagging.

"I've been tortured. I'm not doing what they want," she said. It was oddly difficult to get the words out. It felt like something was actively fighting her now, and didn't want her to tell the truth.

"Tortured?" he repeated, horrified. He grabbed her and hugged her so tightly that he was actually hurting her. But she didn't mind. It was better than what she'd endured before. She hugged him back just as tightly. To her slight surprise, Timmy was shaking.

"Who's 'they'?" he said. "Are 'they' the ones who want you to hurt Cosmo?"

Wanda nodded, her throat tight. There was pressure building up in her head; the creature didn't enjoy her honesty. It wanted her to attack Timmy and end this farce. But Wanda couldn't let him go. She wouldn't, no matter what the Shadows wanted.

Tears slipped down Timmy's cheeks. "I love you guys. Both of you."

"You don't love Cosmo more than me, do you?" she asked.

"What?" he said, staring at her blankly for a second. He held her at arm's length but didn't release her. His lower lip quivered, and she thumbed away his tears. "I love you both. Yeah, maybe Cosmo and I are closer in some ways because we're both guys, but that doesn't mean I love you any less."

Wanda sighed, feeling a weight lifting off her shoulders. She hadn't realized how long she'd been carrying it.

"Are you sure?" she asked.

"Yes, I'm sure!" he said, clinging to her again. "Who's hurting you? Tell me what's going on so I can stop it."

"It's not that easy, sport," she said, reluctantly pushing him away. The necklace sank a little further into her skin, perhaps as a reprimand for her telling the truth. It felt like it was digging invisible claws into her.

"The people that are hurting you, they're using that necklace, aren't they?" he asked. He reached for her hands to hold them. His lower lip was still quivering.

"They're making you do these things," he said, and his tone grew heated. "Tell me what's going on, Wanda."

Pain radiated outward from the pendant, and she crashed out of mid-air. Timmy scooped her up and held her tightly again.

"Let me help," he said. She was whimpering in pain now, but the pain was increasing, reaching a crescendo.

Wanda gritted her teeth and snapped back at the voice, "I won't choose again. I won't. Do your worst."

This time, it was so bad, it would've brought her to her knees if she'd been standing. She fought a scream; she wouldn't give them the satisfaction. For whatever reason, the pendant was focused on her now; it ignored Timmy.

"I can't lose you, too," he breathed.

Wanda cupped his cheek in her hand. "I love you too, sport."

As before, there was a violent yank backward, toward where she'd just left. Timmy held on tightly, prompting him to be poofed back with her toward her cell.

Timmy released her to stare at their new surroundings. "Is that…is that blood?"

Faerie blood sparkled on the floor. "Your blood?"

Wanda nodded weakly, incapable of doing much else. She collapsed to the floor and writhed in agony.

"They won't get away with this," he swore. His voice was distant to her ears; it fell beneath her heart's pounding and the electric shocks coursing through her body.

"We'll have to try something else," a voice said at her cell door. Abruptly, the pain ceased, and she collapsed, feeling boneless, to the floor.

"Timmy is non-negotiable?" the voice continued.

"Yes," Wanda hissed. Her attacking Cosmo had been their doing, not hers. Sure, she'd wanted to punish him for what he'd done to her, but not like that. Never like that.

"Who the hell are you?" Timmy demanded. "What do you want with my godparents?"

"All in good time," the Shadow woman said mockingly. "Pleasant dreams, little faerie."

Wanda's eyelids grew heavy, and she felt herself passing out. The last thing she felt was Timmy scooping her up again and stroking her hair. Timmy…Cosmo…

She'd avoided his question about Cosmo, which meant something horrible must've happened to his godfather. Though that ought to have made him shudder to have anything to do with her, he knew it wasn't her. She might occasionally smack Cosmo, but it was like cartoon violence. This was something else entirely, and it wasn't her fault.

Plus, in some ways, he loved his godparents more than his biological parents. Cosmo and Wanda had been there for him a lot more.

He couldn't believe how much Wanda had endured fighting the villains, whoever they were.

"It's okay," he said, and his eyes blazed. "I'll get them. I'll find Poof, and we won't let them get away with it. I promise."

Tears streaked her cheeks in her sleep, and it was his turn to thumb them away. What other fears were these people preying on? He clutched her tightly to him.

And what had happened to Cosmo? He was scared to know the answer but frightened more that he might never know.

"It's okay," he said again, even though it was far from it. "I won't let them hurt you again."

"Sport," Wanda whispered, eyelids fluttering. "You can't promise that."

A voice spoke in his head. It was hostile and cruel. "After all, you're only a child."

Was this the voice that Wanda heard? Timmy scowled. Just because he was a child didn't mean he was incapable of saving the world. He'd done it before. True, it'd been with his godparents' help, but he'd find others if he had to. He wouldn't let his godparents out of his life, no matter what these villains wanted.

"They won't separate us," he said with more confidence than he felt. Wanda's lips curved toward a faint smile.

"You can't promise that either," she whispered, her voice breaking.

Timmy didn't answer. Instead, he kept stroking her hair and glowered through the cell bars. There had to be something he could do. He wasn't going to give up, not that easily.

"We'll see," he said.

They arrived in Dimmsdale to discover Timmy Turner was missing. Sadly, this was to be expected. Daniela knew they needed to get in contact with Tootie since she was their link to this. Thankfully, Vicky hadn't evinced any magical powers. The last thing they needed was for Vicky to start throwing magic around. That might end the world faster than the Shadows.

They waited until recess to approach Tootie. She was sitting by herself in a corner of the schoolyard. Daniela wasn't surprised Tootie had no friends, but she pitied her. The poor girl needed a godparent. Maybe once this was all over, Daniela would petition Jorgen on Tootie's behalf. Assuming, of course, that the world didn't end.

Daniela smiled bleakly. The Shadows were nothing to scoff at. They'd already devoured other worlds, after all, including hers.

"Tootie," Daniela whispered, disguised as a squirrel. "We need to talk to you."

Tootie ducked behind the tree. She didn't look surprised to see faeries, which made Daniela think she'd spoken with faeries before, one in particular. Wanda had a history with Tootie too.

"Where's Timmy?" Tootie blurted out, scanning the three faeries as if they might be carrying him in their nonexistent pockets.

"We don't know," Cal said gravely. He looked like a normal squirrel, barring the golden crown above his head.

"Presumably, wherever Wanda is," Magdalene said.

"You want me to help Timmy?" Tootie said, and her eyes shone brilliantly. "Finally! I get to help Timmy save the world!"

"This is not a kids' TV show," Magdalene warned. "This is real life. You could get seriously hurt."

"Or die," Cal added. "The Shadows have devoured entire realms before, and they seek to destroy this one too. We have to know you're fully dedicated before we proceed."

"Anything for Timmy," Tootie said fervently.

"Very well…" Cal said, exchanging uneasy looks with Daniela. "Here's what we know…"