Gwen pushed her way into the gymnasium, only to find her path blocked by a panel of shimmering purple fabric.  She brushed her fingers across it, unsurprised to find a texture rich as satin.  Donna always did good work, even if it was only for a temporary barrier to block sightlines from public space.

When Gwen cleared the fabric maze, she called out to her friend, “Hey Donna, gimme some sug...”  She stopped as a dark-haired man turned toward her and smiled.  “Oh, sorry Duncan.”

Duncan laughed and shrugged.  “Hey, I’m not always certain which I am from day to day.”

“Duncan,” sighed Duncan’s wife Sidney.  “Can we not talk about that in front of the other parents?”

Gwen’s entrance had drawn attention, especially from the fathers of the kids playing in the gym.  She’d worn a conservative dress, but it did little to conceal the magically enlarged breasts that paid so well at the Blue Vixen.  She’d also kept the rainbow-hued hair that Donna had given her on the last full moon.  When she hugged Duncan and Sidney together the worst of the frosty looks from the other mothers faded.

“Hey Gwen, glad you made it back in time.”

“Aww, it wouldn’t be a party without Auntie Gwen now, would it?  Where’s the birthday girl?”

Sidney pointed toward the bouncy castle.  “Having a blast with her friends.  Are you sure we have to do the wing thing?”

“You promised, and Courtney would never forgive us if we bailed on it.  Once the rest of the guests arrive, we’ll start.  Trust me, we can keep it plausibly deniable.  Right, Gwen?”

Gwen nodded.  “Right.  I was thinking if we made the wings self-adhesive over a fairly broad span of their back, they could move them and feel their motion without actually wiring them in.”

Duncan and Gwen put their heads together to discuss just how to get the effect to work.  Sidney shook her head and smiled at them indulgently.  She knew how they got when discussing a project.  Sidney greeted the last few parents to arrive.  Once their kids were out on the gym floor and the parents had moved off to the loos social gaggle off to the side, Sidney called out to her daughter.

Courtney came running up, her friend Raven tagging along behind.  The two girls were alike in personality – inquisitive, artistic, and mostly quiet.  Courtney was anything but quiet as she bounced in front of her father.  “Is it time for wings?  Is it time now?”

Duncan laughed indulgently.  “Yes, it’s time.”

Both girls cheered loudly.  But that was nothing compared to the squeals that emerged when Courtney’s wings came out of the large wooden box sitting on a table.  They were easily wider than her outstretched arms, translucent dragonfly-like wings that shimmered with all the colours of the rainbow.  Courtney turned around, jittering with excitement, and let Duncan set them on her back.  They merged smoothly into her skin, and muscles grew to flex and flutter them.  Courtney bounced in place eagerly, wings flashing in the light.

“Now what kind of wings would you like, Raven?” asked Gwen, crouching before Courtney’s friend.  “A pair of wings with black feathers, to go with your name?”

“If... if you have them,” said Raven shyly.  “That would be nice.”

Gwen winked at Duncan, who pulled a pair of feathered wings out of the box.  Nearly as broad as Courtney’s, these had a wide flesh-toned patch at the wing-roots.  Duncan pressed it in place on Raven’s exposed upper back, and tugged at a toothless zipper-like stripe.  As the tag moved downward, her wings sealed in place, their base covering Raven’s back from shoulder to shoulder.  Raven turned around wide-eyed, and curtsied neatly to Duncan and Gwen.  “Thank you!”

She wiggled her shoulders experimentally, and the wings flapped.  Then she followed Courtney, darting out into the gymnasium to climb the highest slide there.  One after the other they jumped from the top, gliding ten feet to land lightly on a mattress.  

Gwen grinned at Duncan.  “Told you we’d need the structural strength.”

Courtney and Raven’s wings soon caught the attention of all the other children, and when they pointed at Duncan and Gwen, the mob soon swarmed their way.  Duncan muttered, “incoming” under his breath, drawing a giggle from Gwen.

“It’s as bad as that first night at the Blue Vixen.”

Sidney hissed at them.  “No talking about that, either.”

Then the mob was upon them, and Duncan was drawing pairs of wings out of the box as fast as Gwen could apply them.  Even so, each one was exactly what the child in question asked for.  Even little Victor looked happy with his rainbow-coloured bat-wings.

As each child received their wings they dashed out into the gym again to join the growing chaos.  Their parents looked on with amused looks, some shaking their heads in amazement.  Raven’s mother had a more thoughtful look.  Unlike the other parents, who Duncan mostly only knew as so-and-so’s mother or father, Lois was an old school friend of Sidney’s.  When the children all cleared off, she confronted Duncan.

“How on earth did you have so many wings in that box?  It’s not that big.”

Duncan looked to Sidney, one eyebrow quirked.  She looked to Lois then back again, and nodded.  Duncan moved to the box and opened it.  Lois stared inside, her narrow face lit by the glowing marbles within.  “What are they?”

Two marbles popped and the sparks from them swirled into a pair of dark-feathered wings.  Unlike Raven’s wings, these had variegated brown feathers with some white in between, in the pattern of a golden eagle’s wings.  “How...”  She reached out to touch them, stroking fingertips over the feathers before staring at Duncan.  “How could you know?”

“I let the magic answer your desires.  You can have them, if you like.”

Lois lifted the wings out of the box reverently.  “Oh, but they’re child-sized.  I’d have to be...”  She looked back at Duncan once more and he smiled.  “You could do that too?”

“For a family friend, certainly.  Just say the word.”

“Please?”

Duncan smiled.  “Not the only one that works, but my favourite.”  Without a gesture, more marbles vanished.  Their magic licked out at Lois and started her and her clothes dwindling.

Soon Lois was her daughter’s height, looking nearly like her twin.  Her dress had become a child’s party dress in a similar style as well.  She bounced excitedly and held the wings out toward Duncan.  “Wings!  Please?”

Duncan gestured to Sidney, who uncertainly took the wings from Lois’ hands and applied them to her back.  As she did so, Lois’ hair changed colour from its original black to golden brown, better to match the wings.

“Wow,” gushed Lois.  “They feel almost real. They could be, couldn’t they?”

Duncan nodded.  “I’d rather not, just yet.  I don’t think anything but what I’ve done to Courtney counts as visible magic, and I’d rather not tug at the veil too hard here.”

That proved to be a forlorn wish a few minutes later when Courtney dashed back up to him, trailing Raven and Lois.  “I wanna be able to fly for real!”

“When we get home, sweetie.  You can fly inside.”

Courtney shook her head.  “There’s more room here.  Please, Daddy?  Make me fly!”

Duncan closed his eyes in resignation, the change had already started.  He did his best to ignore Sidney’s squawk of protest.  Her indignant queries about just how this was supposed to be keeping a low profile were another matter entirely.

“The more you fuss, the more attention you’ll draw,” said Duncan tiredly.  “You know how hard it is for me to say no to her.”

“And that’s why I didn’t want to do this in the first place!”

Faces were turning toward the argument, eyes widening as they saw Courtney shrinking.  Finally a foot-tall Courtney took to the air on fluttering, flashing wings.  Everyone who hadn’t already turned to look saw that glittering figure rise into the air.

Duncan sighed, then stepped forward to address them.  “Yes, magic is real.  We’d appreciate it if you kept quiet about this.  You won’t have a lot of choice in that, magic doesn’t let you talk about it to people who haven’t already experienced it.  So you can only talk among yourselves.”

As a babble of questions arose, Duncan held up his hands and got at least partial silence.  He amplified his voice to carry over the crowd.  “No, it’s not permanent.  Your kids’ wings are just exceptionally fancy costume pieces crafted by magic.  Courtney will be restored to normal as well, before we leave the gym.”

Courtney buzzed her father at that, and booed.  That got a giggle from the kids, and several asked if they could fly.  Duncan looked to the adults.  “Ask your parents.  If they say it’s okay...”

That bought him time, but not much.  Two girls came forward, tugging their mothers’ hands.  Both had questions, variations on “is it safe”, to which Gwen reassured them that they’d changed people many times before, and anything that was done could be as easily undone.  Once the girls’ mothers were reassured that their daughters would also be extra-durable they nodded.  Soon the two girls were Barbie-sized, flying up and up to join Courtney in her sky-dancing.

Not all the children chose to change, only about half.  And Lois.  And after her, the mother and father of the first girl to approach Duncan.

Gwen grinned as she watched the antics.  “We should release a cloud of butterflies in here, just to confuse the issue more.”

“Oh, don’t,” moaned Duncan, but it was too late.  Dozens of tiny jewel-coloured butterflies flitted up from the box, joining the dance.

“On the plus side, it’ll give people something to talk about when they can’t speak about the magic,” said Gwen with a grin.

Sidney sighed.  “You’re a bad influence.  And right, I hope.  What a mess.”

Soon enough it was time to call the flyers down.  Courtney was the last, and flitted above their heads until Duncan grew her large enough that she had no choice but to spiral down to the ground.  With much chivvying and encouragement the children finally lined up at the side exit.  Duncan demonstrated how to take the wings off, helping Lois and the other two adults with theirs.

As the children filed into the room where they’d have snacks and birthday cake, Lois hung back.  Once the other parents were out of the room, she turned to Duncan.  “Please say this isn’t the only time I’ll see this stuff.”

Duncan smiled.  “I really doubt that.  If you happened to bring Raven over for a visit shortly after the full Moon...”

Gwen piped up with, “Or visit the Blue Vixen on the night of the full Moon.”

Lois frowned, and turned to her husband, James.  “Wasn’t that where you went for your friend’s stag party last year?”

He grinned and nodded.  “And I finally get to tell you about it!  We pooled our money and got him a fantasy.  Something about a mermaid and this latex octopus-woman that had been dancing earlier.  He told us it was incredible.  And the stuff we saw on stage!”

Duncan did his best to hide a blush as James gushed about this one woman who turned into a giantess, and another who’d become an enormous python dancing over her arms.  Once he’d finished he looked over at Gwen and his eyes went wide.  “You!”

Gwen curtsied with a grin.  “Me.  Fancy seeing another giantess?  Perhaps you and your wife could come down to the club, and you can see her as big as you like.”

“You could make me a giantess?” asked Lois, eyes bright with curiosity.

“It’s easier to shrink people down,” said Duncan.  “Same net effect, less property damage.”

Lois turned her speculative look on her husband.  “What do you think, honey?  Would you like to see me towering over you?”  His grin egged her on.  “Big enough that you only come up to my knee?  Bigger?”

“Big enough to scoop you up and tuck you in her bra?” asked Gwen with a saucy grin.

Lois followed James’ gaze, looking down at her flat chest with a sigh.

“Don’t worry.  We can make sure you fill those out much better too,” said Gwen.

“Really?”

Gwen giggled and thrust her own enormous chest forward.  “I didn’t start out with these monsters.  No knives, magic all the way.  Bring an oversized bra along, and we’ll send you home fitting it.”

“Oh, wow...” breathed Lois and James together.  They laughed and smiled at each other then followed Gwen and Duncan to the party room.

There, things were necessarily more sane.  The room was much smaller than the gym, so the parents had helped remove the wings from their children’s backs.  The pouting part was mostly over, as snacks and colouring papers proved sufficient distraction until it was time for the birthday cake.  The singing as the cake was presented was as enthusiastic as it was off-key.

Afterward, Lois and James stayed behind to help clean up the party room and pack things away.  Duncan was glad of the help, and not particularly surprised when Lois softly asked if he was serious about the shrinking thing.

“I’d invite you over to discuss it more privately, but Sidney’s giving me the look...” said Duncan, rolling his eyes at his wife.  “The house isn’t exactly fit for guests right now, we’re doing some work on it.  However if you would like a... private consultation on Friday after moonrise, I could pop by for a bit.  Figure out what you two really want.  Sadly, turning you into a giantess isn’t practical.”

“I didn’t...” protested Lois weakly.

Duncan laughed.  “No worries.  We’ll figure something out.  Perhaps a scale model village for you to rampage through?”

Lois’ eyes sparkled.  “We could work on it together...”

“You have most of a week.  Talk to each other.  And maybe arrange for Raven to stay with a grandparent that night.”

Lois nodded and waved, then everyone headed for home.  Gwen was waiting at Duncan and Sidney’s house when they arrived, and helped them unload the car and carry things through the half-empty kitchen.

“I meant to ask,” said Duncan, “how’s the new place looking?”

“It’s a hole,” said Gwen with a shrug.  “Ray’s renovating the apartments over the restaurant, but they’ve been neglected for years.  With all the noise, they couldn’t rent for much, so...”

Duncan laughed.  “So the owner jumped at ditching the whole lot on Ray.  Did he really buy the whole building?”

Gwen nodded.  “Restaurant’s last day under the old management is the end of next month.  But Ray’s already talking about opening up doors and such.  Especially a passage from the apartments to the Blue Vixen, so those of us who don’t look normal enough to go outside can stay there if we like.”

“That doesn’t sound like much of a life, really,” frowned Duncan.  “Confined to a single building just because you can’t pass for human.”

“Ray’s promised to take them out to his estate whenever they want, too.  And some of the girls that aren’t going for crazy forms like the idea of the super-short commute.  That is, if we can turn the apartments into something nice.  All the plumbing and wiring should be up to code by Friday.  Can you handle the rest?” asked Gwen, hopefully.

Duncan nodded.  “Get me a design, I’ll make it happen.  I just have to deal with the kitchen here, first.”  He waved at the boxes piled in the dining room.  “We’ve unloaded some of the junk in there, but there’s just so much...  I’ve been tempted to cheat and just disappear the rest.  Now that the party’s over and we have some magic left, I might just.”

“Wouldn’t it be easier to turn yourself into some kind of many-tentacled abomination so you can move everything faster?” asked Gwen.

Duncan chuckled.  “Probably.  Sidney might freak out, though.”

Sidney snorted.  “I’ve seen worse.  And if it gets the job done in time... go for it.”

Duncan raised an eyebrow.  “You’d be OK with that?”

“Sure.  Tentacles are fine.  Just don’t turn yourself into a swarm of mice or birds.  Or spiders.”  Sidney’s voice dripped with her hatred of such things.

Duncan laughed out loud.  “No worries there.  Controlling that many bodies at once... right, nevermind.  Tentacles it is.  We could finish up tonight, once the kids are in bed.  Especially if you’re willing to join me...”

Sidney shuddered.  “I’ll think about it.”

That got both eyebrows lifted skyward.  “Seriously?  I was joking, but it’d be such a big help.  You know where you want everything to go, so we wouldn’t be slowed down by me asking about every little thing.”

“You changed a dozen kids and one of my best friends into fairies and bird-people.  Then back again, without any fuss.   You made it look safe.”

“It is safe.  Nothing has gone wrong.”

There was a sharp knocking on the door, turning all their heads that way.  Duncan frowned as his attention swung to the door and past it.  “They’re wearing suits and heavy silver bracers.  Sidney, take the kids downstairs, they can play in the old TV room.”

“But...”

“They’re also armed.  Go.  Now.”

Duncan waited until the rest of his family was safely downstairs, then opened the front door.  “Good afternoon.”

The two men outside the door could not be more different.  One was tall, sharply dressed, with neatly combed dark hair.  His short, stocky partner made the same suit look ill-fitting, and had a head of unruly red hair.  He looked distinctly uncomfortable to be there.  The tall one spoke up.  “I’m Agent Mackie, and this is Agent Armstrong.  We’d like to speak with Donna Faulkner.”

Duncan schooled his expression.  “There’s nobody here by that name.”

“Told you,” muttered the short one. “Let’s go.”

“You know the stakes,” said his partner, sotto voce.  Louder, he turned to Duncan.  “She has been here.”

Duncan crossed his arms over his chest, and surveyed Agent Mackie as calmly as he could manage.  “And what makes you think that?”

“Several lines of evidence.  Her only known associate, Gwen Haywood, is currently residing here.”

Duncan turned to look at Gwen, who was still sitting in the living room.  She shrugged.  “They sniffed around the Blue Vixen, Rowan talked to them.  I didn’t.”

“Gwen is here, yes.  So?”

“The employees of Henderson Recreation Center posted some interesting stories about a party this afternoon.  Interviewed in private, they claimed that a number of the party members had been... this would be a lot easier to discuss inside.”

Duncan sighed.  “Ah.  Agent Mackie... Agent of who, exactly?  May I see some ID?”

Agent Mackie pulled out a laminated ID card.  Duncan’s eyes widened when he realized that a band of actual silver had been worked into the design.  “CSIS.  Argent division.”

“I see.  Tasked with dealing with exactly the sort of thing we physically can’t talk about out in public?”

Agent Mackie nodded, though his partner looked even more concerned.

“Fine.  Come inside.  And tell your twitchy partner to keep his hand off his weapon if he values it.”

“The hand or the weapon?” asked Agent Mackie.  Duncan didn’t answer.   He simply gestured them down the short corridor into the living room, and closed the door behind them.

Duncan sat beside Gwen on the loveseat, Agents Mackie and Armstrong on the couch.  Agent Mackie sat like he’d stood, looking like someone ready to spring into action at a moment’s notice.  Agent Armstrong slouched.

“So.  What does Argent Division do?” asked Duncan.

“We’re supposed to be asking the questions here,” said Agent Armstrong.

“Enough, Chuck.  It’s a fair question.  As you appear to have guessed from the name,”

“And from the numerous pieces of silver on your persons,” muttered Duncan, then waved at Agent Mackie to go on.

Unruffled, he continued.  “We do what we can to gather and coordinate information on the return of magic to the world.  Until recently, it mostly consisted of locating and coordinating among the handful of people in the Canadian government that were aware of magic’s existence, and thus could talk about it at all.  You’re aware of the limitations on that, I believe?”

Duncan snorted.  “Very.  Bloody pain the ass some of the time.”

Agent Mackie’s smile was wry.  “Try doing this job under those restrictions.  We don’t even know for sure that our list is comprehensive, and we can only discuss any of it in face to face meetings.  Memos and phone calls all have to use code phrases and even then we have to change them up from time to time.”

“Fine.  Your job is frustrating.  What does that have to do with me?”

Agent Mackie frowned briefly then his eyes went wide.  “You’re Donna.”  

His partner startled at that.  “What?”

Duncan cursed softly.  “You’re far too observant, Agent Mackie.  And I’m apparently nowhere near as careful as I’d thought.”

“I don’t buy it,” groused Agent Armstrong.  “You could just be saying that.”

“You’re going from accusing me of being Donna to accusing me of faking it now?”

“He has a point,” said Agent Mackie.  “Why the charade?”

“A variety of reasons.  Mostly to keep people like you from snooping around.  Guess that’s out the window.  So... fine.”  Duncan got up from the couch and went around the room, yanking curtains closed.  “Nobody can see.”

Both agents were watching him warily.  When a crystalline woman spun into existence in the middle of the room, only one of them reacted badly.  Before Agent Armstrong’s gun had cleared the holster he was already cursing from the pain.  The trigger assembly was glowing a dull red as he dropped it, clutching his singed hand to his chest.

The gun floated over to Donna’s crystalline form, and she set it on the slate of the fireplace.  “I did warn you.  My apologies to your gunsmith, but I don’t think it’ll be salvageable.”

“What did you do?” wailed Agent Armstrong.  “It had silver bullets in it.  Magic can’t touch it!”

“And some silver in the workings.  Clever that.  But neither prevented me from creating a small thermite charge inside it.”

“I take it the same applies to humans wearing silver?” asked Agent Mackie, calmly.

“I can’t transform you without dealing with the silver first.  But a magic-crafted weapon would still work perfectly well.  Or I could just encapsulate you in an air-proof shell.  Or...”

“Enough.”  Gwen spoke softly, but emphatically.  “Enough with the pissing contest.”

Donna sighed, and returned to sit beside Gwen, leaving the robot Duncan body where it stood.  “Sorry.  I can fix that burn, if you take your bracer off.”

“I’ll live,” grated Agent Armstrong.  “Knew this was a damn fool idea.”

“You were warned.  By her.  By me, before we even set foot in this place.  You’re lucky it’s only a first degree burn.  Now shut up.”

Donna raised an eyebrow, and waited.  Into the ensuing silence she asked, “So.  You had questions for me?”

“Yes.  What can you tell us about the mass casualty event the night of January 19th?”

Donna’s eyes darkened.  “Everything.  Except one for one f...”  She schooled her expression.  “Except for one crucial detail.  If CSIS has a division charged with dealing with magic, where the hell were you?”

Agent Mackie looked away.  “You don’t understand.  We’re an information-gathering organization only.  No enforcement arm.”

“So?  The RCMP or the armed forces, then.”

“Just as screwed as we are.  We’ve got nothing.”

“Don’ jus tell her that!” protested Agent Armstrong.

“Why not.  It’s why we’re here.  You saw what she’s capable of.”

Donna smirked.  “No.  You haven’t.  Let’s get down to it.  Why are you here?”

“We analyzed the pattern of behaviour of whatever the ‘Midnight Arsonist’ was before it became active.”

“The unusual cluster of deaths, specifically the timing.  So?” said Donna.

Agent Mackie looked regretful.  “Victoria’s not exactly the biggest city in the country.  So why here?”

Donna and Gwen’s faces fell almost in unison.  “There are more.  Lots more.”

“And exactly one person that we know of who can deal with them.”