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BAZ
I'm starting to think that even when Simon is done with the world of mages, the world of mages isn't done with Simon.
Two years ago, hell maybe even two months ago, I might have expected coming home to an empty bed. He's done it once, he can do it again, right?
But we've worked past that. We go to therapy- individual, as a couple, even as a group- and Simon's even stuck to his promise to himself about getting a job by beginning training for magical counselling.
He's doing fine. We're doing fine.
So coming back to our shared apartment, with its rainbow curtains that Simon picked and throw rugs that Penny made during her knitting phase, and finding it completely and utterly trashed, with Simon nowhere to be found, is jarring.
It's a total nightmare.
"Bunce", I hear myself say into my phone, "Penny. It's Simon"
"Baz", Penny's voice- tinny and mechanical over the phone- is unmistakably tense, "What's happened?"
"I don't know!" I exclaim, trying to avoid looking at the broken coffee table (an actual honest to god coffee table that is now missing a leg) and the rest of the mess, "He- he's gone"
"Gone?" She demands, and I can hear Shepard in the back asking what's wrong.
Everything's wrong.
"What do you mean he's 'gone' Baz?", She asks, voice turning hysterical, "I thought he was getting better. You said he was getting better!"
"He wa- he is!" I shout down the line, "He isn't gone, he's been taken! Someone must have broken in!"
"Oh my god", she breathes, "wait right there and don't touch anything. Give me five and I'll be there"
She says something to Shepard and then hangs up, leaving me alone in the ruins of my home and, as I'm starting to believe, the ruins of my life with Simon.
When we had first called it quits with the magical world, Penny and I had made one last spell, even taking her mother's help.
It was a tracking spell, customized for all the people most important to us. No one besides those we had cast it on knew of its existence, nor did they know of it's strength.
"Where you go, I go" Penelope had cast, face tense and voice wooden.
For so long we had no use of the spell and we had tricked ourselves into believing that we never would. But danger followed Simon closer than his own shadow. Or maybe it was his shadow. With Simon you could never tell the two apart.
The spell had led us on a twisted chase in pursuit of a faceless enemy, and now here we were, nearing our destination.
"Here", Penny said, and Shepard slammed the brakes of our illegally acquired vehicle, "he's definitely up there"
'There' referred to the giant tower in front of us- mammoth and gothic. Its stone walls were covered in thorns and brambles, and whatever bits of the wall itself were visible were darkened beyond belief. It looked like a haunted house straight out of one of those childish cartoons Simon always watched.
Simon...
Just thinking about him made my heart pang with worry. I wanted to rip the world apart for what it kept doing to him, my Simon. We had seen the scale of destruction wrought in our house, and the thought of finding Simon in a similar state felt like a punch in the face.
"He'll be fine", Shepard said, and I started.
Had I said what I was thinking out loud?
"Nah it was written all over your face", Shep said, a small smile on his face, "that last bit was though"
How embarrassing.
"Hey its ok", Shepard reassured me, "I know exactly how you feel. If something happened to Penny I'd be-"
"-Devasted?", I interrupt, maybe a little bit spitefully, "Enraged? Slightly homicidal?"
"-Upset too", Shep finished, "but yeah those work as well"
"Glad to know you won't abandon me if I'm abducted", Penny pipes up from where she had wandered off to inspect the tower, "while you two thought about 'what-if' scenarios I found some stuff out. Firstly, this place is glamoured, which explains why we've never seen it even though we've lived here for so long"
"Can you blame them for glamouring it though?" Shep asks, running a hand through his hair, "This place is an eyesore. I'd be ashamed of my interior decorating skills too if this was what I came up with"
Penny shoots him a fond but exasperated look, the same one I pasted on my face when I looked at Snow, no doubt.
Oh Simon....please be ok...
"He'll be fine", Penny says, rolling her eyes and ignoring that I'd spoken out loud, "anyways, something is very off about this place"
"What gave it away, Bunce?" I ask drily, "The real live bats hanging from the ominous looking balcony perhaps?"
"Shut up Pitch", she says, looking less fond now, which I took full offence from, "I don't think this place is very safe to go into without backup"
"We can't hang around for backup!" I say, even though we haven't exactly been doing anything up till now, "And who's going to help us anyways? The magic police? Wellbelove?"
"Crowley it was just a thought!" Penny snaps, "And you don't get to act all high and mighty on me. You're worried? Guess what genius, so am I! He's my best friend and I'll never be able to forgive myself if he gets killed because of something I did"
"Both of you calm down!" Shepard interjects, hands pushing us apart even though we weren't even face to face, "This isn't helpful. In fact its the opposite of helpful. We can argue all day or we can figure something out. Using our words. Like adults do when their friends are most probably in mortal danger"
"Sorry", Penny says, abashed, "I shouldn't have just blown up on you"
"I shouldn't have lost my temper either", I say ruefully, "or implied that you didn't care about Simon, however inadvertently it may have been"
"May have been?" She asks with a snort, "It better have been! And we panicked over nothing. Simon will be fine, he always is"
Except for the times he isn't, I think silently, and this might just be one of those times.
"Now, what's the plan?" Shep asks, and the three of us restart our race against the clock.
My plan wins. Even though it slices down our odds of success by a bit, its still a better option than depending on someone else.
We walk into the house's decrepit bowels and I promptly get a mouthful of cobwebs. As Shepard tries to control his laughter and I try to control my murderous intent, Penelope approaches the big spiral staircase, whispering locator spells the whole time.
"Up there", she mutters, gesturing to the top, "the spells are going crazy"
"This place gives me the creeps", Shepard mutters at the same time I step forward and onto something that crunches loudly underfoot.
We freeze but there's no response to the sudden noise, so we conclusively strike off ghosts from a list of possible threats.
I look down and gag. The house smelt terrible and I caught every single odor (courtesy of my vampiric abilities). It smells- and there's no way to put this gently- like bile mixed with feces. Looking at what I stepped on I start to understand why. The half-decomposed body of a little boy stares up at me, face unrecognizably destroyed, eyes vacant.
"Oh god", Shepard's own face twists in disgust, fear seeping into his voice, "what the hell happened here?"
"Don't know, don't care", I say, bravely climbing up the stairs as Penelope cast a light spell, "let's just get Simon and then get the heck out of here"
Shepard very kindly does not point out that we might be in over our heads with this and that whoever murdered that child is probably holding Simon hostage, if he's still alive that is.
No! Bad Baz! I reprimand myself.
Whoever- or whatever- killed the child specifically came after Simon and went through the trouble of taking him with it, so it seemed unlikely that it would instantly kill him.
I wonder what it wanted. Money? Power? His magic.
Its always been his magic, I think deprecatingly, even when he doesn't have any- even when he's given it all away, they still want it. They still want more.
Sometimes I ache for Simon so badly that it hurts deep within my bones.
We climb in silence- onwards and upwards, I think wryly- until we reach what looks like the last flight. I have no idea how many stairs we've stepped on, but it feels like its in the thousands. Penny is slightly winded and Shep seems tired too, but my vampire strength keeps me from feeling too fatigued.
Good. That way I can bash in the brains of whatever thing took Simon with ease.
"We can't rush in", Penny whispers, "we have no idea what we're facing. We lie low, try to gather info on what the fuck is going on and then grab Simon and go. Use violence only if necessary"
I nod and we sneak up the stairs and flank what looks like the ugliest door I have ever seen. Its the kind of ugly that only a vast amount of money will get you. Apart from being an aesthetic violation, it is also wide open.
Clearly Simon's kidnappers hadn't factored in his self-appointed protectors' tenacity, foresight and sheer dumb luck.
I peak in and my undead heart almost begins to beat again. Simon is in the middle of a room that looks like its straight out of a horror movie.
Bones litter every inch of the floor and it looks like its never once seen the light of day. He's tied to a chair but his arms and legs are both left unbound. I can't see anything concerningly wrong with him except for a large bruise on his left cheek.
"-spell should take effect", a man says, pacing back and forth in front of him. In my excitement on finding Simon I had somehow managed to miss the actual threat.
I exchange worried glances with Shep- the word 'spell' when applied to Simon Snow doesn't exactly inspire confidence in either of us.
"Feel any more magical Snow?" The man asks. He's barely six feet tall, has the world's most pathetic moustache and his smile is razor sharp.
Dangerous. Every inch of him screams dangerous.
"You have no idea how long it took to track you down", Anton Ego's even uglier twin leers at Simon.
It was taking all my efforts to not blow our cover by charging at him and kicking him in the balls.
"Nothing to say?" He taunts.
Simon, who's head has been down the entire time, looks up slowly, meeting his eyes with a cold look.
"Fuck. You", Snow says, each syllable dripping with deliberate venom.
The smile vanishes off of Dick Dastardly's clone's face.
"What did you say?", he demanded, stepping closer.
"Please, please don't antagonize him", I pray under my breathe and so ofcourse that's exactly what Simon does.
"What the hell did you say to me?" He demands again, and I was hit with a sudden wave of fear.
Apparently Simon doesn't share my feelings because he looks the man square in the eye and spits directly on his face.
Penny gasps as Snow's captor screams bloody murder.
Shep grabs my hand, restraining me with surprising strength as the Waluigi lookalike rears his arm back and slaps Simon with a resounding crack.
Simon's head flies to the side.
"You shouldn't have done that", Simon whispers lowly, and then shoots forward, standing up and spinning so that his chair slams directly into his captor with such force that it splinters in half.
The captor in question falls back with a pained grunt, although he seems more surprised than hurt.
"Come on!" I rip my arm free of Shep's grasp and throw myself into the fray, tackling the man to the ground as he tries to stand up. I pull my arm back and let loose a volley of blows, my own fists hurting with the strength I'm putting into my punches.
"Baz!" Simon cries, "You're here!"
My hands are stained with that stinking piece of shit's blood, and I pull away from the gory mess I'd made of his face.
"You didn't think you could lose us that easy, did you Snow?" I ask, and my still heart gives a fond lurch as I look at his achingly familiar face.
"Holy shit!" Shepard and Penelope crouch over what I assume is the body of Simon's would-be attacker- I can't hear a heartbeat- studying him curiously, "Dude, I think you killed him!"
"Serves him right", Penny says, a look of disgust on her face.
"Penny!" Simon cries joyfully as she throws her arms around him in a hug.
"How come I didn't get a hug?" I pout, crossing my arms.
"I'd rather not get any more blood on this shirt, thanks", Simon snarks as Penny unties his hands.
"Wait, more?", I uncross my arms in alarm, "What the hell did he do to you Simon?"
"He was trying to get to my magic. Its what the spell he cast was for", Simon says, "he thought he could access it through pain so he tried to draw out my blood"
That bastard is lucky he's dead because I want to strangle him for what he's done.
"But you look fine?" Shepard asks with a frown.
"Oh yeah that's because he has healing...", Simon stops halfway through his sentence, "magic..."
"Healing magic?" I echo, my stomach sinking, "Then that means..."
"It means you kids pissed off the wrong guy", I jump and spin around to find the freak sitting up, and I nearly throw up at the sight of his mangled face healing itself. He grabs his broken jaw and snaps it into place as Shep wretches behind me.
"Now, I believe you interrupted me", he says rolling his shoulders and standing up, "you can call me Zion, or your doom. Whichever you like"
"Zee is fine thanks", I say, sarcasm automatically rising even as I try to block Simon from his sights. Unfortunately Simon, like the heroic moron he is- moves forward to stand with me shoulder to shoulder.
"Careful boy", Zee says, waggling a finger, "I could make your death a thousand times more painful than necessary. Now step aside and let me talk to our good friend Mr. Snow"
"Not a chance", Penny and Shep chorus.
"Too bad", Zee shrugs, "but I'll get what I want all the same"
With that he lunges forward and I just barely dodge.
"Ecalp ni mih dnib, swodahs!" Zee yells in what seems like a completely different language.
Instantly I'm rooted to the spot. My wand clatters as it falls to the floor. To my horror, the dark shadows that were previously providing a spooky atmosphere begin creeping up my feet, wrapping around my legs like vines, keeping me stuck in place.
"Baz!" Penelope yells, "Let their be light!"
A dazzling white light envelopes the room. For a second the shadows retreat and I can move. I dart forward, but the shadows follow, grabbing at my ankles as I run around the room. Even my vampire speed is no match for them.
"Uoy dnilb ssenkrad tel!" Zee bawls, pointing at Penny who promptly falls to her knees with a shriek.
"I can't see!" She wails, "Oh my god I can't see!"
"What did you do to her?" Shep demands, placing a protective arm on Penelope's shoulder. I struggle against my restraints but the shadows only crawl over me faster.
"Mih niartser ,swodahs!" Zee says, tone dismissive.
Shepard is torn away from Penny by a mass of writhing shadows and pinned to the back wall.
"Simon get out of here!" All three of us yell in unison as I turn to look at him.
He's standing oddly still, muttering something to himself.
"Now lets do this without interruptions, shall we?" Zee asks.
Simon slowly raises his arm, eyebrows furrowed as he stares at his open palm, seemingly transfixed.
"I swear...", Zee mutters, stepping forward.
My voice and Shep's overlap as we beg Simon to run. Penny pats at the floor vainly, trying to achieve something. Zee moves closer and closer to Simon.
Suddenly, there's a flurry of sparks. I sense magic rolling off of Simon in waves.
My jaw drops in shock.
This is impossible.
But his magic flows over me, more familiar than anything else in the world. I would know his magic anywhere.
A blurry outline forms in Simon's hands and then slowly solidifies.
I watch in awe as he grasps the Sword Of Mages.
"YOU!" Zee roars, "You wasted the last, infinitesimal shred of your powers ON SUMMONING THAT THING?"
"Yep", Simon says casually, swinging the sword this way and that as he tries to reacquaint himself with its weight, "the spell you cast works just fine, by the way. Too bad there isn't any magic left for you"
"Do you think this is a joke?" Zee hisses in rage, face turning purple, "I spent decades- centuries- searching for the Chosen One. That power was supposed to be mine! I was supposed to be immortal! You walked around with the universe in your pocket and I was forced to live off of borrowed time from all these wretched souls"
"You killed them?" Shepard asks, even though we both know the answer to that.
"Ofcourse I did!" Zee snaps, "I had to sustain myself until I could absorb the Chosen One's power"
"Thing is", Simon says, dropping into a crouch, "I'm not the Chosen One"
He dives forward, slashing viciously. Zee leaps back with a curse, stumbling over his own feet, trying to avoid Simon's ferocious attacks.
Simon's beautiful face is twisted with concentration as he ducks Zee's swinging fists, jabbing and striking but never quiet making contact.
"ENOUGH!" Zee roars, "Mih ezies ,ssenkrad!"
Simon drops the sword with a clatter as more shadows peel off of the walls and pin his arms down.
"NO!" I cry, doubling my struggles. I can hear Shepard cursing and Penelope trying to heal herself but my attention is on Simon, Simon, Simon
"You'll pay for robbing me", Zee says, picking up the fallen blade. Simon tries to move but he's frozen in place, just like Shepard and I.
His wings flutter uselessly as Zee pulls the blade back and then thrusts it forward.
I always thought Simon would go out in a blaze. Fire would rain from the heavens as the ground split up, sky turning blood red.
But there isn't any of that.
The blade is quiet except for a sharp, metallic SHING! as it pierces his chest, blood blooming around it like liquid roses.
"SIMON!" I can't quiet tell who's voice screams his name, but I can feel tears dripping down my face.
My throat feels raw. My heart feels like its in tatters.
Simon buckles, eyes wide with surprise. He meets my eyes, his own sky blue ones shocked. He mouths something at me.
"What a mess", Zee grumbles, making a move to remove the sword.
"Stop!" I snarl weakly, even though we all know the damage is done.
Simon, Simon, Simon
Zee's hand freezes on the hilt.
SIMON, SIMON, SIMON
"What?" He whispers, staring at his hands.
SIMONSIMONSIMON
"No. No, no, no, no!" Zee chants and struggles against the blade, as though his hands were stuck to it, "What are you doing?"
Even from this distance I can feel the fiery heat of Simon's magic as it explodes out of him, as sudden and volatile as dynamite.
Zee wails in agony as the flesh of his hands is stripped away, as he's dissolved atom by atom, until all that's left in his place are whisps of smoke.
Burnt inside out.
I wish I was dead. I wish Simon had destroyed me too.
The bones on the floor disappear. The walls melt away and light floods in. I can feel strength coursing through my veins, Simon's magic ramping my own up. My hearing catches whispers of magical folk for miles around, all of them in awe as Snow lights them up inside out, as if he were throwing gasoline into a fire.
His magic dissipates the shadows around us. The second I'm free I'm racing towards him, gathering up his body in my arms.
"Baz", he says, licking his lips, "it hurts"
"Shh", I say, stroking his hair, "For once in your life Snow, shut up"
I'm sorry, I love you, I love you, I'm sorry
"SIMON!" Penny sobs, staring at him, "Simon"
"L-love you", he says, and I don't know if he's talking to Penny, Shep or me. It doesn't matter.
"You'll be fine, love", I say, "so don't you dare say goodbye"
"Hurts", he whimpers, "take it- take it out..."
I recoil like I've been slapped, "NO! Snow its literally the only thing keeping you alive, you imbecile! If I remove it you'll-"
"Please", Simon whispers, eyes closing, "please..."
"You don't get to do this!" I hiss, shaking him, trying to get him to open those damn blue eyes, "Wake up! Simon, wake up!"
Penelope sobs into Shepard's embrace.
Who's going to hug me when I fall apart? No one, that's who. Because I'm cradling the only person I've ever wanted in my arms and he's dying.
"Heal him!" I yell at Penelope.
"Baz...", Shepard says gently, grief staining his voice as surely as Simon's blood is staining my hands.
"Damnit, I'll do it myself!" I get to my feet, searching for my wand.
"Baz..." Simon's voice makes my head snap up.
"Sword", he says brokenly, tail giving a twitch.
"NO!"
"Shep", he implores, but Shepard turns away with a soft cry of pain.
"Baz...."
"FINE!" I snap, "Fine, fine. You want me to kill you? You want me to end you? Fine!"
Simon doesn't answer, his eyes staring vacantly past me.
My head feels clearer now. I'm compartmentalizing and I'm sure the fallout later will be spectacular, but right now I'm more concerned with fulfilling Snow's dying wish.
My heart feels like its shattered glass. Like I'm being cut up from inside.
I wrap my hands around the sword's hilt and yank, pulling its red-stained blade out. I'm gentle ofcourse. I'd never hurt him.
It was always supposed to be Simon who killed me. I never thought that I was the one who'd end up killing him.
"You bastard", I whisper as tears flow down my face. My mind feels like its going in a hundred different directions but ultimately they all lead back to Simon Snow.
He's dead. He's dead, so why does it feel like I'm the one who's six feet under?
I'm struck with the sudden, stupid idea of turning him. That way he'd be alive. He'd be mine forever.
Clearly I'm not adjusting to mourning very well.
I slump over his body, then try to lift him. Shepard is still trying to soothe an inconsolable Penny. Meanwhile, I'm preparing my boyfriend's corpse for his funeral.
I crash to the ground, my feet giving out, vampire strength be damned. I just want Simon to hold me. I'm face to face with the gaping wound in his chest. Its a right mess, all mangled and gory.
There's so many things I want to say. I love you. I miss you. I want you back. Come back to me. Why did you leave me?
"Red doesn't suit you", I choke out, tears making my vision blurry. I watch as a few tears drop onto Simon's torso. They slide down from his ribs to the gash near his heart.
Slowly, the tears turn iridescent. I watch in disbelief as they turn white.
My first thought is that I have magic healing tears. My second is that I'm going crazy. My third is that my magic seems to be draining from me.
"Baz!" Shep says, voice alarmed, "What's happening?"
I say nothing, staring straight ahead as my magic is physically pulled out of me. I still have quiet a bit left but I know some of it is gone.
I watch as whisps of silver pull themselves out of Penny. It merges with mine, hovering over Simon. More and more whisps enter the room, and I can hear the magical folk around town as they also lose bits of their magic.
Simon Snow, you beautiful miracle...
The whisps coil and meld together, a giant silver orb of magic.
Every bit that Simon had ever given, all returning to him.
More and more and more floods in. In front of my eyes, the orb gently descends.
Simon's wound knits itself closed. Flesh healing itself and my ears catch his struggling heartbeat. His wings and tail melt away under my fingers, the magic in them flooding into Simon.
Simon Snow, you fallen angel...
The most gorgeous pair of blue eyes snap open.
I don't even hesitate for a second as I pull him into a passionate kiss.
"Baz?" He gasps as he pulls away, "Baz!"
I can hear Penelope and Shepard sobbing and screaming and celebrating behind me but I focus only on Simon. On his mouth on mine. On the sound of his heartbeat, as strong and steady as ever.
"I- I'm alive?" He asks, sounding shocked.
"Yes!" I say, pressing kisses to his cheek, to his nose, to his forehead, to every inch of him I can reach, "And if you ever try and die on me again, I'm going to kill you"
Simon laughs his beautiful, sunshine-y laugh and all is right in the world.
Later, when Penelope, Shepard, Professor Bunce, all of Penny's siblings and what seems like a few million other people have left, Simon and I sink into bed, holding onto each other as though neither of us could physically let go.
"I swear, I could put you in a room made of bubble wrap and you'd still find a way to almost die", I say with a sigh, kissing his neck.
"Not my fault this time", he points out, "I was just trying to make a sandwich when some psychopath broke in and kidnapped me"
"He killed you", I say, my voice dropping into a whisper, "I felt like I was the one who was dead"
"Technically, you are"
"Arse!" I say, shoving him. He laughs that laugh of his- what I wouldn't give to make him laugh like that forever- and kisses my forehead.
"I'm sorry", he apologizes, "I didn't exactly plan on being killed, but I'm sorry you had to be there for it"
"I'd rather set myself on fire than hear the sound of your heart stopping again", I admit.
"I could hear you a little bit", he admits back, "and I'd also like to commit immolation rather than hear you cry like that again"
"How did you come back?" I can't help but ask.
It feels as though I'm looking a gift horse in the mouth, but this could be valuable knowledge for the next time we're in a life threatening situation. Which, knowing our lives, could be tomorrow.
"Maybe I'm allergic to death", Simon suggests lightly, rubbing circles on my forearms.
"Maybe you're allergic to serious conversations", I say with a glare, though it has no actual force to it.
Crowley, I don't think I can ever get mad at him anymore. I'd be too glad about getting to run my hand through his hair (I swear its as soft as silk) or getting to kiss him (Snow's mouth can do wicked things).
"I don't really know", Simon says, curling closer into my arms, pressing his back against my chest, "I guess when he stabbed me he released a reserve of my magic"
That sounds...plausible, actually. Simon's magic has always been a leaky faucet. If it had been clogged until now, then Zee had done the literal equivalent to smashing the tap to bits, spraying water everywhere.
"I'm glad you're alive", I say quietly.
"You're not getting rid of me that easy"
I press my lips to his in a soft kiss, and I'm blown away by the depth of my feelings for this beautiful boy in front of me.
"Love you", he says, reverently as though its some sort of prayer.
"Love you too, you idiot"