A/N: Timmy was going to suggest Chloe watch Danny Phantom…until I realized how insensitive that was. I'd like to think even he has a threshold.

Also, I realize this chapter is short. I wanted to do something with Chloe and company, which precludes my writing this. -_-

Chapter Seventeen: Happily Never After

She didn't feel like doing her homework. Morose, Chloe stared at it. Her mother hadn't called, supposedly being too busy arranging affairs in Ecuador. Cosmo and Wanda were with Timmy for the time being, and Chloe didn't want to call them back. She just wanted to close her eyes and sleep for a while. Perhaps if she slept long enough, this would all be over, and her father would be alive again.

Could she wish for that? Or was that too macabre? She shrugged, pushed her homework away, and curled into a ball. With her eyes shut, she only sensed the fairy dust settling and smelled cake and bacon. Frowning, her nose wrinkling, she opened her eyes to discover Timmy with a cake and Cosmo and Wanda hovering near him. She wasn't feeling kindly toward him. Hell, she wasn't feeling kindly toward anyone right now.

"I brought you a cake with bacon in it," he told her. "I thought you might like it. It's pretty awesome."

She said nothing but stared at the floor. It did smell appealing, but she wasn't hungry. She was back to feeling empty and numb again. If she didn't do her homework, she'd ruin her grades, but at the same time, she couldn't bring herself to care. Her stomach clenched and tears pricked the corners of her eyes.

"Chloe?" Timmy asked.

"Go away," she mumbled. "I wanna be left alone."

"Sweetie, I don't think that's a good idea," Wanda said. "It might be dangerous."

Chloe shrugged. She didn't see how it was dangerous if she just slept until tomorrow morning or later. Maybe she wouldn't go to school again. It wasn't like her parents were around to enforce their rules. And her mother clearly didn't care that much if she hadn't cut short her trip to see her daughter.

"If you don't do your homework, Timmy won't have anyone to cheat off!" Cosmo said. She supposed he meant it as a joke, but not even her lips twitched.

"C'mon, talk to us," Wanda soothed. She stroked Chloe's hair like a mother and her throat tightened. They were here for more than granting wishes, right? They were here to stand in for her parents and did Chloe need parental comfort right now. She latched onto Wanda and Cosmo and hugged them. A sob clawed its way through her throat.

"I wish my dad was still alive…" she whispered, her voice catching on the words. "Can't you guys just give me that?"

There was silence and she realized that, no, they couldn't. It probably went against their rules. She buried her face in Wanda's neck and sobbed. Wanda was stroking her back and Cosmo her hair. She was aware of Timmy nearby, probably feeling awkward.

"I'm sorry, sweetie," Wanda murmured. "But it's against Da Rules."

"Of course it is," she mumbled.

"But you can wish for almost anything else!" Cosmo said. "Wanna go to an amusement park? Or ride a unicorn? Or hang out with elves? Or live in your favorite TV show? We can totally do that."

None of those options sounded appealing. Throat tight, she shook her head. Timmy was patting her back.

"Should I go?" he asked his godparents.

"You don't have to stay," she said. She knew she wasn't exactly great company right now. She huddled in on herself and almost wished her godparents away too. They didn't need to see her this wretched. However, she needed them too much to wish them away, regardless of how selfish that was.

"Maybe there's something we can watch…" he said and then grimaced. "The Care Bears? Pass. Don't you have anything like the Crimson Chin? Or Crash Nebula? Or Bunsen is a Beast? T.U.F.F. Puppy?"

"What's Crash Nebula?" she asked, wondering if she was going to regret it. Timmy wished for his laptop and started scrolling through pages and pages worth of material until he found a website with it streaming. A hunky muscle bound man appeared and she grimaced. She'd been hoping for something else.

"Never mind," she said. "Don't you have anything with girl power?"

"Young Justice?" he suggested. "The original Teen Titans?"

Hmm. She'd never heard of Young Justice, either. "Do you watch a lot of superhero stuff?"

"Yep," he said, smirking. "C'mon, let's watch something. It'll take your mind off things. And then, when you're feeling better, you can do my homework for me."

"Don't count on it," she said, rolling her eyes. But she was feeling a little better. She let Timmy pick the show and worked on stifling her sobs. They cuddled together, the fairies and Timmy. While she had no intention of doing his homework for him…maybe TV would be a distraction. Normally she'd read, but reading meant she'd have to think and thinking would invariably lead to recalling her parents.

Timmy was singing along with the theme song, which was ridiculously catchy. She wasn't sure why the chorus was in English while the rest was in Japanese, though. It was clearly an American show, to boot. Oh well. At least if she was thinking about this, she wasn't wondering about other things, like when her mother might call. If she'd call.

And she had to give him credit. While Teen Titans walked the line between light-hearted and dark, it managed it well (unlike its new iteration). She found herself drawn to the characters, especially Starfire and Beast Boy. It was easier to forget what was bothering her when the TV was on, which was probably what Timmy had intended. She even forgot she wasn't eating and they pigged out on the cake Timmy had brought. All four of them were licking their lips and Wanda was in heaven, because the cake had chocolate in it.

They watched about four episodes back to back before she felt guilty enough to start working on her homework. Timmy, of course, immediately started playing a video game. She ignored him. It wasn't that much homework—Crocker was taking pity on her, which was remarkable considering he never took pity on anyone. Then again, she was his best student and she was single-handedly responsible for raising his test averages, as well as netting him better teacher evaluations.

Since he'd taken pity on her, that meant he had to reduce everyone's workload, which had gone towards improving Chloe's reputation amongst their classmates. It somehow hadn't decreased Tootie's ire toward her, but she wasn't thinking about that right now. No one besides Jorgen, Cosmo, Wanda, and Timmy knew about her father's demise and she intended to keep it that way.

The homework questions were easier, too, so that there was a chance Timmy might not fail without copying off her. She was pleasantly surprised, though she knew Crocker had it in him. Everyone had the propensity to be kind and decent, if given the right opportunity. It was just that this kindness was buried very deeply in Crocker, beneath a lot of darkness, resentment, misery, and bitterness.

Timmy reluctantly went back to his homework when he saw Chloe doing hers, though he wasn't happy she refused to share. That would be cheating, after all. And even though she'd distracted herself and wasn't as miserable, her heart remained heavy. Part of her still wanted to sleep until this passed and skip school again.

"It's not going to get better all at once," Wanda said. "It'll take time. Just hang in there, okay, sweetie?"

Chloe looked at her. She wanted to believe her. Throat tight, she nodded, not trusting herself to speak. Only a few days had passed since her father's death. It was still too raw, too fresh for her to be able to process everything. She also hadn't gone through the five stages of grief, though she'd heard that sometimes people didn't or they ended up stuck on one.

Bargaining was useless—she'd made a sad attempt at it with Cosmo and Wanda to no avail. Denial was equally pointless, when she'd seen her father perish before her eyes. She seemed to be stuck in depression. It was the first stage she'd encountered and although she could diagnose it, she couldn't wrestle herself out of it.

"Don't expect too much right now," Wanda murmured. "You don't have to take the weight of the world on. Do whatever you can manage."

That sounded like great advice, if Chloe could take it. Unfortunately, she spent a lot of time championing for the underdog and trying to protect people or teach them to protect themselves. She'd missed the defense classes she taught again. She was starting to wonder if maybe she ought to cancel them indefinitely, even if it was inconveniencing others.

"Just be a kid for a while," Cosmo advised. "Or be like us and never grow up no matter how old you are!"

Chloe's lips twitched. She could give that a shot, she supposed. It wasn't like she had any better ideas.

"You know what takes my mind off things?" Timmy proclaimed while struggling to do his math homework. "Video games!"

"Yeah, it helps to take your mind off the F you're gonna get because you didn't do your homework!" Cosmo replied.

"I'm not going to get an F," he protested. "There's partial credit for a reason."

Chloe surveyed Timmy's paper. "I don't think you did enough to qualify for partial credit."

"That's why I have you," he said and beamed at her. "You'll help me, right? Then we can play video games."

She sighed, though her lips twisted toward a smile. Timmy was frustrating and selfish, but his heart was in the right place. And Cosmo and Wanda genuinely seemed to care about her. She was grateful to have them, regardless of how she'd gotten them.

She just wished Timmy would do his own homework for once.

"All right, students," Mr. Schade announced after everyone had filed in and he'd closed the door behind them. "We're having notebook inspections. Hand in your notes and I'll check them over while you work on this pop quiz."

The class groaned in unison. Tootie clutched Magdalene the notebook and glanced at Deborvak, posing as her pencil. His attention seemed torn between Chloe and Mr. Schade. Tootie seethed. One of them was muscling in on her territory and the other seemed to be torturing her relative. What was the point of either of them?

"Did I mention you receive 10 points on the quiz just for putting your name on it?" he said.

That'd probably be the only ten points Timmy would get, Tootie thought darkly. She joined the others in handing in her notebook, despite her reluctance to deliver Magdalene into Mr. Schade's hands. Chloe and Timmy lined up behind her and she bristled, wondering what had made Chloe so very miserable. What had Timmy been about to say to her before he'd been interrupted?

"Thank you," he said. They all returned to their seats and he handed out their quiz. Tootie frowned at it. Although the questions were easy, they required lengthy answers. It almost seemed to her like Mr. Schade was buying time for some reason. Was he going to use this opportunity to corner Magdalene?

"You know, it's weird to be an inanimate object," Deb commented as Tootie started writing with him. "It's only thanks to Jorgen that I can turn into them. Otherwise, it's only animals. You're writing with my head, by the way. My hair, to be exact. See? I write in purple!"

"You're not being very inconspicuous," Tootie muttered.

"Don't know the meaning of the word," he shot back, grinning.

She stifled a groan and continued writing. At least he'd silenced and she could concentrate in peace. She glanced over at Timmy, who was scribbling madly but looked more like he was doodling than writing an answer. Wanda sighed, thus cementing Tootie's opinion. Timmy was hopeless.

She couldn't see Chloe from where she was, but she bet Miss Smarty Pants had it in the bag. Distracted, Tootie glanced up to see Mr. Schade writing in her notebook. She fought the urge to jump to her feet and reclaim Magdalene. For god's sake, he was writing on her. Did he think she was a magical diary?

If she wasn't careful, she'd end up getting lower scores than Timmy. It was odd, too, because he'd confiscated her notebook yesterday too; was he hoping to get different answers this time? Would writing in Magdalene permit her to reply and possibly tell him off? She hoped so. Magdalene needed a chance to assert herself.

She barely paid attention to what she wrote. Mr. Schade had moved on from writing in Magdalene's notebook, though he had kept it to the side. Tootie doubted she'd be getting her back any time soon. Still, Mr. Schade took almost a cursory glance at the other notebooks, his interest on Magdalene.

"Tootie? Is there a problem?" Mr. Schade said and she flushed, returning to her test.

"No, no problem," she mumbled. She stared at her paper and imagined it catching fire. The edges smoked and she yelped; Deborvak put out the sparks before they became a conflagration. He frowned at her, as did Wanda. She flushed, embarrassed.

"I don't recall making my paper combustible," Mr. Schade mused. "I must've gotten it from Mr. Crocker. He's supposed to be a real firecracker."

At least he'd shifted the blame off her, to make her magic less obvious. She was begrudgingly grateful, but remained suspicious. Chloe had finished and had put her head down on her desk with her eyes closed. Timmy shot her a worried glance and then, when his eyes met Tootie's, he shook his head at Tootie. What? What was that about?

After another five minutes, in which Tootie had no idea what she'd written but knew it probably was insufficient, Mr. Schade called time. He looked up when the door opened and Mr. Crocker appeared on the other side.

"What are you doing here?" Timmy and Mr. Schade said, the former accusingly, the latter perplexed. Mr. Schade indicated that Timmy should be silent.

"Can I help you?" he asked. Tootie noticed he splayed his fingers atop Magdalene and Mr. Crocker glanced at the notebook. Tootie's heart was in her throat and Deborvak twitched in her fingers. Cosmo and Wanda had frozen too. There were too many fairies in this room; Crocker was bound to sniff someone out.

"I wanted to ensure you were following my instructions," Crocker said and shifted forward, glancing at Magdalene. "Does that notebook have a face?"

"Absolutely not," Mr. Schade said, sounding tense. He flipped her over so that she was face down on the desk. His fingers curled around her spirals as though Crocker were threatening her. Why would Mr. Schade be so protective over Magdalene if he were here as Jorgen's envoy? Tootie frowned.

"Could I just take a look?" Crocker asked.

Something exploded in the hallway and everyone jumped. Deborvak smiled innocently. Wanda shot him a querying look. Crocker turned, distracted by the noise. Mr. Schade took advantage of the distraction to push him out the door and close it behind him. He couldn't lock it, but Crocker scurried away anyway. Tootie could see him running away from behind the glass in the door.

"This place is just full of surprises," Mr. Schade remarked, but Tootie could've sworn he mouthed 'thank you' at Deb. "Pencils down. Time to hand in your tests."

Chloe straightened and turned around so that the row behind her could pass their tests up to her. Timmy did likewise; Tootie could tell half of his paper wasn't filled out. They handed their papers in to Mr. Schade, who shuffled them.

"I'll hand back your notebooks now," he continued. "Except for yours, Tootie. I'll give you some paper to write with. I want to spend some more time looking over your notes. I think you've missed something."

Tootie grimaced. She couldn't argue, because then she'd look weird for asking for her notebook back when it was supposed to be an inanimate object. Was it her, or were Mr. Schade's hands shaking? He kept brushing up against Magdalene, too, which was weird.

Perhaps she ought to ignore it for the time being. There wasn't much to be done, after all. Whatever trouble Magdalene was undergoing, she was on her own. Tootie had to assume she could handle herself.

Something was odd about Mr. Schade. When he touched her, she could have sworn it was Nathaniel. That was impossible. She'd seen him die. Her heart lurched and she didn't dare hope. This was just another of Jorgen's tricks, designed to catch her unawares and ruin her. She despaired of ever being free of Fairy World.

It was weird, too, because whatever he wrote, it felt like he had to self-censor himself. Why would he need to do that, as Jorgen's emissary? Although Mr. Schade had to leave her alone to teach, she felt his gaze straying to her. This was like yesterday and, like yesterday, she had that strange feeling she knew him.

It was impossible. When Mr. Schade dismissed everyone, telling Tootie that he'd need to look over the notebook at lunch, he locked the door behind the students.

"Magdalene, who do you think I am?" he asked. He removed his wand from the desk and tapped it against the wood. Magdalene, quite against her will, was transformed back into her normal form. She used her wand to wipe the pen marks off her face.

"You're not who I think you are," she said flatly. "You can't be. You're another one of Jorgen's tricks."

"I'm wearing glamour," he said. "But if I weren't being censured, I'd tell you exactly who I am. And Jorgen isn't trying to trick you. Cupid got himself involved now too and the situation is much more complicated than you think."

"Why should it matter if Cupid got involved?" she spat. "Nathaniel is dead."

"What if he wasn't?"

"I saw him die!" she hissed. "Don't try to trick me. You have no idea how much I loathe Fairy World and Jorgen von Strangle."

"I know how much you do, because I hate them too," he said. "Mags— "

"Don't you call me that," she snarled. She folded her arms across her chest.

"Magdalene," he pressed. "I know you have a sister who repudiated you after the trial."

"Big deal. So does three quarters of Fairy World," she sneered. "That proves nothing."

It had hit a sore spot. Who was he to remind her of how far she'd fallen? Her whole family had thrown her under the bus when the trial arrived. The trial had been needless, too, just an excuse to publicly humiliate her. It only cemented her opinion that Mr. Schade, whoever he really was, had just engineered this to torment her.

Mr. Schade looked like he wanted to stomp about the room like a child. "I can't tell you who I am. Jorgen jinxed me. The best I can do is lead you to the answer."

"How convenient," she snorted. "He just wants me to trust you so he can punish me further. I'm not falling for it."

"Cupid sanctioned the relationship, Magdalene," he said. He was desperate, that much was clear. "Why would he do that posthumously?"

"I don't know and I don't care," she snarled.

Mr. Schade whirled and clenched and unclenched his fists. He appeared to be trying to master himself. "Who does your heart tell you I am?"

"It doesn't matter, because Nathaniel Bernhardt is dead," she retorted. "And you're tormenting me for the hell of it. Eight hundred years of exile wasn't enough for Jorgen von Strangle, oh, no. I have to know I'm filth."

Frustrated, Mr. Schade slammed the wand down on the table. To her consternation, Fairy World's enforcer appeared. She yelped and then produced her wand, holding it out defensively in front of her. Like hell he was catching her unaware again. He'd claimed to be giving her a chance, but she'd never believed him, not after she'd been ripped from Nathaniel's arms. She hadn't passed whatever test Jorgen had put before her and now she was going to be imprisoned in Abracatraz.

"You have to take the glamour off," Mr. Schade begged. "You have to let her see me."

Jorgen glanced from one fairy to the other. To her consternation, Mr. Schade fell to his knees and pleaded, hands clasped together. She was moved toward pity despite herself. These were not the actions of a man who was willingly colluding with Jorgen.

"She's never going to trust me enough to see who I am with the glamour on," he continued.

Magdalene folded her arms across her chest. "Why does he have glamour on anyway? What does it matter who he is? He's just one of your stooges."

"I swear on my life I'm not," he said. "Jorgen, please."

"This places me in a very uncomfortable position," Jorgen said.

Magdalene found herself unsympathetic. She'd spent the last eight hundred years in an uncomfortable position, exiled from every other fairy, her own family, and her beloved. If she'd been a dragon, her tail would've been lashing and she might've been tempted to dive at Jorgen's throat. She balled her fists and clenched her wand.

"The Fairy Council has tied my hands in this," Jorgen said after a pause. His expression was pained. "However, I can give you a clue."

"A clue?" Mr. Schade spat. "What good does that do? Damn you, you've made her suffer enough. Let my Magdalene have some peace."

"I'm not your Magdalene," she shot back.

"Technically, he is," Jorgen sighed. He rubbed his temples. "You are both related to Tootie DeLisle. That is all I can say. Do not summon me again unless it is important!"

With that, he disappeared. Magdalene bristled and stared at Mr. Schade. His Magdalene? And how was he related to Tootie? Magdalene was unfamiliar with anyone else, save Juandissimo, sharing Tootie's magical lineage. The only possible person had to be…

It couldn't be. He'd died, for god's sake. She staggered and collapsed into the teacher's chair. Mr. Schade moved forward, still on his knees, and kissed her hands.

"I swear it is me," he said. "I'll swear on anything you want. You have to believe me."

She wanted to, badly. Jorgen had seemed strained earlier.

"Let's say I assume you're who I think you are," she countered. "How do I account for all the time you've been missing? Or the fact you're still alive? It doesn't add up."

Mr. Schade sighed. He looked like he wanted to say something, but he was being restrained. "Let's just say that Fairy World's curiosity runs to specific last wishes."

Magdalene's brow furrowed. She knew what Nathaniel's last wish had been. It was the wish that had brought Fairy World down upon them and obliterated their happiness. Yet she'd seen Nathaniel die. That was part of why she'd avoided Fairy World for so long. She hadn't wanted the reminder and fairies had long memories.

"But I saw you die!" she protested, unable to relinquish that train of reasoning.

"You thought you did," he responded. She gritted her teeth and fought a frustrated howl.

"I know I did!" she countered, growling at him. She prodded him in the chest hard and as she did, a spark leapt from her to him. Cradling her finger, she shot him a dirty look as though accusing him of doing this on purpose.

"Is there anything I can do to prove to you that I'm who I say I am?" he asked, desperate.

She surveyed him. Was there? She wasn't sure. The worst part was between the spark and the uncertainty…she wanted to believe him. More than anything, she wanted to believe he was telling the truth. Should she cave? Should she think that Jorgen had had a change of heart? When had he ever? But…Cosmo and Wanda were friendly with him and they wouldn't be if he were a despot…

"Say…say I believe you," she said, her lips trembling. "Then why were you gone for so long? What happened?"

Nathaniel smiled. "I have a story to tell you."