for Bitty

[sidestepdestiny]

I hate that I've only just gotten this job, and I already need to ask for time off; possibly to quit. But I can't worry about dishes when Simon's missing. Kidnapped is the current theory, though none of us know yet by who.

It turns out that Derek's boyfriend, Barry, has also gone missing. He's sympathetic, already re-working the schedule for those who are unaffected, and gives me the time off. I thank him and head out, already trying to figure out where to look next.

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[puckandpie]

Things have been tense for days. Derek's barely been at work, only popping in here and there to check up on things, his face drawn and pale every time. And, unless I'm mistaken, I feel like a lot of our regulars in the bar have been noticeably absent.

I didn't really get what was going on until yesterday when I'd poked in to use the oven for a few hours before opening. I've barely been able to stop thinking about it since.

I'm just getting in when I notice Baz already heading out, the look on his face a lot like the one Derek's been sporting here recently.

Oh no..

"Baz." I catch him just before he sneak out and I can't quite keep the worry out of my voice. "Baz, wait, is it..."

I can't finish the question, too worried it might be true.

[sidestepdestiny]

I stop short when Eric says my name. I hadn't even heard him coming, I'm so distracted. I turn as his sentence dies off, and I don't understand why at first. And then I remember, he cares about Simon, too. I may not like it, but I find myself too exhausted to care.

"He hasn't disappeared," I tell Eric, not sure which, exactly, conclusion he'd jumped to. I pause, sucking on my lower lip a moment. "But I can't find him."

[puckandpie]

I feel a very brief rush of relief, but it's immediately crushed half a second later.

"How long?" I ask him, stomach still churning. I know there's nothing at all I can really do to help, but that doesn't seem to stop me from wanting to. "Is... Do you need help to keep looking?"

[sidestepdestiny]

I have to think about that a moment. "A few days," I tell him, but Crowley it's felt like more. Minutes have felt like weeks, days like years. It always felt impossible to me that anything could happen to Simon, but now I realize that even though the Humdrum isn't here that doesn't mean we're safe.

"If you want," I say, though I can't think of how looking without magic can be better than with. But what do I know? I'm sure Normals go missing too, and their people find them. "I've been asking around. He isn't the only one to go missing. Alec and Isabelle found out he's in a cell somewhere, we think he's been kidnapped."

[puckandpie]

"Oh," I breathe, a heavy weight dropping immediately in my belly. "Oh, no."

I suddenly have no idea what to do. What could I possibly do when Baz himself is a wizard and he has both Alec and Isabelle helping, too? All I can do is bake pies and skate really fast. But it's Simon.

"Is there--" I stop, shaking my head at myself. "I want to do something. I know I'm not-- I have a friend who's a policeman," I manage even if it's maybe not technically true. I've only know met Ray once, but I have a feeling he'd help if I asked him. "I could ask him, maybe. I think the cops are already on it, of course, but maybe I could see what he knows."

[sidestepdestiny]

I'm not great at comforting other people. I'm even worse at comforting my boyfriend's ex-boyfriend, but I fight through my own anxiety to awkwardly pat his back a moment.

"Sure. Thank you," I say, my words clipped. I'm so wound up over this that functioning normally, or pretending to, is becoming increasingly more difficult. I run a hand through my hair, absently hoping it isn't shaking. "Honestly, I'll take any help I can get. I'm at a fucking loss. I'm about to walk the entire city on foot until I can sent him out." I swallow hard. "I don't know what to do."

[puckandpie]

It's a strange realization, knowing that Baz's hand is on my back because he's trying to comfort me. Me. When he's the one who's boyfriend is missing.

Carefully, I shake my head again, pulling away so I can squeeze his arm lightly. "What can I do?" I ask him though I have the feeling he doesn't have any idea either. "I can walk with you maybe. I won't be able to scent him, obviously, but... I could be a look-out. Or maybe I could, uhm. I can bring over a couple casseroles for y'all. I know it's easy to forget to eat in a crisis."