Return to Neverland (snowbaz)

Fly, Simon, Fly!

Simon watches in horror as Baz is raised in his stupid fucking netted prison. He calls out for him, but the estranged captain is suddenly in front of him, hiding Baz from his view.

"I'll make you a deal," the captain says. "Fly up there and touch the outstretched fingers of your frightened boyfriend, and I'll set him free!"

Simon blinks at him. "I can't fly," he laughs nervously. 

The captain, it seems, doesn't give a single shit. "Go on, explode out of there! Stop the charade. Free your boyfriend!"

"Simon!" Baz calls from above. "Help!"

Simon beckons the captain closer. "I have a fear of heights," he whispers, hoping that this will make the man concede and just hand over Baz.

"I beg your pardon?"

Simon whispers it again, vacantly wondering why this idiot can't seem to hear things properly the first time they're said.

"You must be joking," the captain deadpans. He starts to laugh, then. A laugh that mades everything in Simon's stomach churn and turn sour. "Simon Snow has a fucking problem with heights!"

The other pirates start laughing with the captain and Simon feels his cheeks turn red with embarrassment. 

"Simon, help!" Baz calls again.

"It's okay," Simon yells, knowing that he's lying but unable to do anything about it. "Hang on, Baz! I––I'm coming, darling." He turns to the pirates. "Can someone give me a hand?" The pirates just laugh at him again, so Simon growls and starts to climb up the netting that will lead him up the mast and closer to Baz. With each inch, Simon grows more and more afraid. If he falls from such a height, he'll surely die. 

"Save me, Simon," Baz implores.

Below, one of the pirates mocks him.

Simon pushes everything out of his mind and tries to get himself to stop thinking. It used to be so easy for him before. He used to be able to turn his mind off whenever he needed to, like when he got in all those rows at the care homes that ended up giving him such a smattering of scars. 

"You know who you are!" the captain shouts from somewhere below him. "What new game is this, Simon? Fly! Stop pretending."

Simon grits his teeth and swings one leg over the part of the mast that stands at a perpendicular angle to the main post, the part that holds the sails. Trembling, he climbs onto it and manages to get himself onto his stomach, grasping the post firmly beneath him. He starts to crawl towards Baz who's eyes are full of fear. His Baz. God, how long has it been since Simon has really shown him how much he loves him? How much he needs him?

"Simon, love, all you have to do is touch my fingers and we'll be able to go home," Baz reminds him as Simon gets closer. He tries to keep his focus on Baz, but he can't help but look down. It would be quite a fall from here.

"Touch him, Simon, and it's all been just a bad dream," the captain laughs from below. "Just reach out and touch him."

Simon is sweating profusely and it's making his glasses fall. He buries his face in his shoulder to push them back up, making sure to keep two hands around the post. He looks at Baz, makes eye contact with him, and he feels his stomach churn with guilt. Baz looks terrified, to be honest, and the sight of it makes Simon want to cry. He's so close to him, just a few inches away, but it feels like fucking miles. He reaches out for a moment, trying to touch Baz's outstretched hand, but he starts to lose his balance. He clings to the post again, too afraid to move.

He gets a better grip with one arm on the post and tries to reach again, grunting with the effort. His hand shakes.

"Come on, Simon. Reach. You can do it," Baz says softly.

Simon's close, but not close enough. He loses his balance again and almost falls off the post completely. He manages to get a hold again but he knows that he can't touch Baz. His body and mind won't allow it. He presses his cheek against the post and looks at his boyfriend, tears stinging his eyes. 

"Please don't give up," Baz begs. Baz reaches his hand out as far as the netting will allow. "Simon, I want to go home."

But Simon is defeated. He looks at Baz, trying to convey all of his emotions with one, pointed look. Baz seems to register his defeat because it's mirrored in his own eyes. 

Just as Simon opens his mouth to say something, he's falling off the post. His leg is caught in a rope so he doesn't fall to his death, but he hangs upside down.

"He can't fly," one of the pirate says, pushing him, "but he can swing!"

"Kill them," the captain demands. "Kill them both."

Simon yells out for Baz, but the blood is rushing to his head and he can't think. 

"Bring on the plank!" someone shouts.

Someone cuts Simon's foot loose and he falls a foot or two before being pulled to his feet. His hands are pinned behind his back again and he can feel a tight rope digging into his wrists. He hisses in pain, but it's not as great as the pain he feels at the thought of Baz being murdered by these strange people. He's mad at himself for being too cowardly to touch Baz (in every sense, honestly), and he's mad at that fairy, Penny, for bringing him here. He told her that he wasn't Simon Snow, but she didn't believe him. Instead, she brought him to the pirates and insisted that he go and save Baz like it was some sort of regular, normal activity. 

"I never want to hear the name Simon Snow again!" Captain Humdrum shouts.

For a moment, no one moves. The captain seems to be talking to a purple ball of light that Simon recognizes as Penny. He wants to ask her what exactly she's been doing all this time, but he knows that it will do him no good. 

The captain turns back to face his men. "Hear me, men," he shouts. "For reasons of good form, I've decided that the so-called Snow will return in two days to commence the arbitrament of the sword. Mage, translate."

Mr. Mage turns to face the rest of the pirates, his face dawning a gross, mossy smile. "In two days, we're gonna have a war! A battle between good and evil, to the death."

The pirates soak in the information and break out into a cheer. One of them, in his excitement, knocks Simon overboard and into the water.