BAZ

                                    

                                          
On the ride home, Simon is uncharacteristically quiet. He used to be much louder, but the past few weeks have had the same toll on him that the war a few years ago had on him. 
"Are you alright, Snow?" I ask. He's worrying me. I don't want him to fall into the same hole he fell into after the war. 
"Yeah, I am. I need to find out what this is. I can't let myself be torn apart," he responds, determined. Simon's jaw is set, and he has that look that means he's unshakable. 
I pull into our building's lot and turn to face him. "Well, we have a lead that we can follow."
He raises an eyebrow. "We do?"
I roll my eyes. "Sometimes you're exceedingly thick. Lucy had siblings. Her siblings have kids. We can find them."
Simon nods and gets out of the car. He gets a mischievous look on his face. "Race you up the stairs," Simon says, and takes off. I follow him. I'm in much better shape, so I beat him by about fifteen seconds. He laughs when he sees me waiting at the door. I try my hardest to look bored, but by the look on his face, I'm failing. Simon looks at me for a long moment, then I can't hold myself back anymore. I kiss him, and his eyes widen for a moment before he kisses me back. 
Simon Snow, I love you.
***
"Is saying I have a terminal illness and that I would like to spend my remaining time with my family to get out of school not acceptable in the public eye?" Simon calls from the kitchen. 
I snort. "No, but you're doing it anyway."
"Fine. I'm emailing school."
"We have to go into the library at two, so be quick," I respond, forwarding Jason and Alexa the email from our boss telling them to be at the library at two. Our boss is an old man named Damian, who is a book-obsessed mage. He once said he does it for his wife, who died a few years back. She loved books. I hear Simon furiously typing a letter to the school, and it gets me thinking. What if we can't find anything? What if it's dead end after dead end? I refuse to let this happen to Simon. I walk over to the table where the tree is spread out and find where Simon marked Lucy's name. She has a brother and a sister. The brother, Walter, had no kids, but the sister, Caroline, had two. Henry and Philippa. I look at Caroline's husband's last name and stifle a groan. Stainton. 
Simon's first cousin is Phillippa fucking Stainton. That should be a fun visit. I think. Hello, you had a crush on me but I'm your forgotten cousin. Here's my fiancée who magically deleted your voice. 
Simon hangs up his phone and sees me sitting at the table, dread written all over my face. 
"Well, I quit. Why the face?" he asks.  
"I found your first cousin," I respond in a low voice. 
Simon raises an eyebrow. "Should I be worried?"
I pick up my coat. "We'll discuss later. We have to get over the library now."
"Okay, but-," he says, still not giving up the whole cousin business. 
"Come on."
***
It's a short drive to the library today, since there's minimal traffic. We both walk in at 1:58. Jason is late, but Alexa's here. She nods when she sees both of us, though she seems out of it. Simon slips his hand into mine, obviously nervous, though I don't know why. Jason runs in at two, but Damian still isn't here. 
"I'm...not...late," Jason pants, trying to catch his breath. "I...ran...here...from...five...miles...away."
Simon squeezes my hand, and I can feel his magic flare up. Shit. 
"Hey, breathe," I whisper to him. "Calm down. You can do this. It's just like before."
Simon nods and tightens his grip on my hand. I can feel the flare going down, but there's still a bit of magic in the air. His eyes widen fractionally, but neither Jason or Alexa notice. Alexa's staring off into space and Jason's checking his phone. 
The door swings open and Damian strolls in. "Hello, team. Baz, who's this?" He sees Simon's face and nods in recognition. "Simon Snow, I don't believe I've ever met you. I'm Damian Reynolds. It is a pleasure to meet you after all you did for our world. 
Simon nods and looks at his feet. I roll my eyes at him and turn to Damian. "Damian, can Simon work with us? We have a bit of an investigation going, and he is unable to go to school because of it."
Alexa's and Jason's heads snap to Simon and me. Simon flushes. 
Damian nods, delighted. "Of course, Baz. Welcome to the team, Simon."
He looks up. "Thank you."
Damian claps. "What is this situation?"
Simon looks moderately uncomfortable, but Damian leads us to his office and spreads his hands as if to say tell all. Good thing he knows about the vampire business.
I tell Damian, "Well, as you probably know, at the end of the war, Snow gave up his magic to get rid of the Humdrum. Recently, the magic came back to one of the first places which had lost its magic. We talked to the man running most of he tests on the holes, and he said that Simon may gain back his magic if his parents were mages. Snow gained back some of his power in the past few weeks, but in random floods. These floods render him immobile for a few hours. During one of these floods, Snow was clinically dead for forty minutes. In those forty minutes, his mum made contact with him from the other side of the Veil. We found out who she was, but we still have no idea who Snow's dad is."
Damian whistles. "That's a large mystery to figure out. Do you have a lead?"
Simon nods. "We found my first cousin."
I sigh when I remember that. "Well, I did."
Damian says, "Well, I'll leave you two to it! Tell me if you need my help. I must go see if Alexa and Jason figured out the language of that book." Damian strolls out. 
I lead Simon out of his office and down a side corridor. 
"Who is my first cousin anyway?" he asks. 
"Phillipa Stainton."
He sighs. "That'll be a fun visit."