Chapter Text
He never saw it coming.
Alec would hate himself for that later. He’d been so distracted, so pissed off from conversations with his parabatai and sister about everything that had been happening while he’d been gone, that he hadn’t noticed the threat until it was too late. It was inexcusable. That he should be so distracted as to allow himself to be captured – the Clave wouldn’t look kindly on that.
The ones who grabbed him taunted him with it as they dragged him through the portal conjured by a dejected looking warlock. Alec struggled against their hold, only to get lifted and thrown against something hard and metal on the other side of the portal. A quick blow to the head kept him disoriented long enough for them to strap him down.
Through the ache in his head and the growing panic building up inside him, Alec did his best to try and look around the dimly lit room. It felt like everything was sort of swaying, or maybe that was just him. Shadows danced on the walls as Alec's eyes struggled to focus. His head throbbed from where he’d been struck, but his mind raced, trying to piece together where he was.
He didn’t have to think about who’d captured him. The circle runes on their necks made that clear.
None of the ones who’d grabbed him said anything now that he was here. The two that had strapped him down moved back behind him, which immediately set his nerves on edge. Alec twitched with the urge to twist and see what they were doing, only to have that question answered a second later when the table he lay on began to move. The whole thing tilted up until he was held almost upright. It gave him a view of his guard as well as a wall and a door, but nothing else.
The sound of footsteps broke the silence that had fallen over the room.
Alec held his tongue; there wasn’t any point in demanding to be set free or trying to bargain with his captors. Not when it was abundantly clear that they were just grunts doing what they were told. Why bother dealing with the sycophants when the leader was coming? He held back the panic and the anger and bit his tongue as he listened to those footsteps getting closer and closer.
When the door opened a second later, Alec couldn’t say he was surprised when Valentine Morgenstern walked in. Though knowing it was him did nothing to stop the jolt of fear that ripped its way through him.
“Well now,” Valentine said, smiling coldly down at Alec as he strolled into the room. He didn’t even reach out to shut the door behind him; one of the assholes with him did it for him. It left Valentine free to walk toward Alec like he didn’t have a care in the world. “A shadowhunter, caught off guard. Maryse really has grown lax in her training since I knew her. How disappointed she’d be to see a child of hers caught unawares, alone, in the streets of his own city.”
Alec ignored the pang that shot through his heart with practiced ease. He’d been dealing with his mother’s disappointment far too long for someone to use it as a weapon against him. His mind instead latched on to the fact that Valentine knew exactly who he was. That meant this was more likely a planned capture than a crime of opportunity. Which meant there was more planned for him than just death.
Don’t show weakness, he reminded himself, doing his best to ignore the pounding of his head and the metal holding his body in place. His mother’s voice echoed in his head. Never let them see your fear. They’ll use it against you. Sometimes all you have is your confidence. Whether you believe it or not, you have to make them believe it. She’d been speaking on dealing with Clave members, other Institutes, other shadowhunters. But Alec figured the same theory applied here. “What do you want with me?”
Valentine’s lips curved up into a smile that chilled Alec to his core. He started to circle the table, pacing out of Alec’s sight. “So demanding for someone in your position,” he said, moving behind Alec now. Alec’s muscles tightened instinctively in an effort not to strain to try and see him. Valentine must’ve noticed because he chuckled as he came out the other side. “Relax, my boy. There’s no need to be so tense. What I want is quite simple, really, but vastly important. Not just to myself but to the future of the shadow world.”
Raziel, did the man always sound this pretentious? Lip curling, Alec turned his head to sneer at him. “I won’t give you anything.” As if he would do anything to help a man like this. “You’re everything a shadowhunter shouldn’t be.”
Valentine chuckled again, and the sound seemed to echo in the room, amplified by the metal walls until it wrapped all around him, terrifyingly cold and not entirely sane. “And you’re what they want, are you?” he asked, tone mocking. “A perfect soldier who follows the rules. A perfect record, parabatai to the strongest shadowhunter of this generation, and yet you’re still only Acting Head of your Institute, isn’t that right?”
“Better than being a genocidal psychopath.”
The blow to his head wasn’t entirely unexpected. Alec rolled with the punch, face tilted toward the ground for a moment. He ran his tongue over his teeth to make sure they were all still intact. Thankfully, they were, though the copper taste on his tongue had him wanting to gag. He spit it out instead, right next to Valentine’s shoes.
When a hand grabbed his hair and yanked his head back, forcing him to once more look at the monster in front of him, Alec met his gaze calmly.
His goons clearly hadn’t liked Alec’s response. Valentine, however, didn’t seem all that upset. If anything he looked amused.
“I’d remind you to watch yourself, unless you want to make things more difficult than they’re already going to be, but…” Pausing, Valentine shrugged. His smile never wavered. “Pain is sort of the name of the game here. It’s nothing against you, Lightwood, but you’re not the one I want. Not really. Don’t get me wrong – I’ll happily take every secret in that head of yours, and I’m sure there’s plenty. But I’ve got a bigger prize in mind. One you’re uniquely suited to help me gain.”
Alec blinked a few times in the only outward show of surprise he allowed himself. He ignored the pain for the moment and let his mind spin with the implications of those words. If it wasn’t him that Valentine was after, then who? His family? His parents?
Jace.
Horror filled Alec, followed swiftly by determination. The only person he could be uniquely suited to help Valentine get was Jace. Others could be used against his parents or even his sister. But there was only one person that Alec was connected to in ways no one else was. One person that would feel absolutely everything Valentine was about to do to him. Pain is sort of the name of the game here.
For some reason, Valentine wanted Jace, and he’d found the perfect person to use to get him.
Alec forced his body to straighten up as best as he could in his bonds, and he tipped his chin up, glaring at him. “Whatever you want with my parabatai, I won’t let you have him.”
“That implies that you have a choice in the matter.”
That was the last thing Alec heard before the fists started flying. Through a haze of pain he watched as Valentine leaned back against the far wall and watched, a smile on his face while his people did their level best to cover Alec’s body in bruises. Marks that Jace would feel and panic over. Clamping down tight on the bond, Alec fought to do his level best to make sure his parabatai wouldn’t feel a thing.
Time bled together after that. Alec’s world narrowed down to pain.
It wasn’t the type of pain he was familiar with. This wasn’t the kind of pain a demon caused when they tried to kill you. It wasn’t the pain that came from sparring, even with the assholes who liked to think that beating a teenager into a pulp somehow proved they were better. The closest Alec could come to describing it was the punishments he’d received over the years. Even then, that wasn’t enough.
All of those instances Alec had gone through a pain he knew would end. There’d been a purpose to it, just as this beating had purpose. But in those other instances he’d always been able to endure it because he knew the ending would come and he would be able to move on to something else. He’d be able to rest, heal, use an iratze to take it all away at some point, and then move on with whatever else needed done. This didn’t have that guarantee.
The only things Alec could cling to here were his desire to protect his people, the promise that one day he’d figure out a way to get out of here, and an all-encompassing need to keep his parabatai safe.
As they hurt him, breaking his body down, Alec clenched his teeth and did his best to cling to every scrap of strength he had. Every lesson his mother had taught him, every one learned at the hands of instructors who believed a fist worked as a perfect deterrent for misbehavior. All those countless hours of shooting his bow until his fingers bled simply to get better. Alec held on to what he’d learned from all those and used it to keep himself strong.
Whatever Valentine wanted with his parabatai, Alec wouldn’t let him get it. He’d protect Jace with everything he had and everything he was. Just the same as he knew Jace would do for him.
“You know, we could make your stay here so much easier on you,” Valentine said at some point. He moved between his people, giving Alec a tiny little reprieve. One hand reached up to brush a bit of bloodied hair back from Alec’s forehead. When Alec jerked back, Valentine made a small clicking sound with his tongue and kept on reaching.
There wasn’t anywhere for Alec to go. He had to stay there and fight against his anger as Valentine brushed a bit of hair back.
When Valentine drew his hand back, still smiling, Alec scowled at him. “I won’t give you anything. Not information, and sure as hell not my parabatai.”
“Not even to save yourself a little pain?”
Alec narrowed his eyes. “No.”
To his surprise, another smile lit up Valentine’s face. One that spoke of pride. “Spoken like a true shadowhunter.”
The thought of being anything like what Valentine thought a shadowhunter should be left Alec feeling sick. “I’m nothing like you,” he spat out. “You’re not a real shadowhunter. You’re an asshole pretending…”
His words cut off with a sharp backhand. Alec’s head snapped to the side and he spat blood, again. When he looked up Valentine was once more standing still, hands clasped together behind him. He watched Alec with that same calm, sure look on his face. “I’m trying to make the world a better place. Something I’d think you would understand.”
“You’re murdering innocent people.”
For the first time the friendliness on Valentine’s face broke. His lip curled up with a sneer that was echoed in the sharp snap of temper that flashed through his eyes. “Innocent? Don’t let them fool you, Alec. They’re monsters. They carry the taint of demons on them.”
Alec lifted both eyebrows and tried for his best incredulous look, the one that always made his parabatai scowl at him. “As opposed to murdering people who haven’t done anything wrong on the off chance they might one day do something?”
For a brief moment the anger in Valentine’s eyes sharpened into something darker, something so much more dangerous. A hatred that left Alec chilled. It wasn’t the look of someone sane. Then, abruptly, it washed away to something colder, and infinitely more dangerous. “Maybe if you get a chance to see the beings you’re so sure are innocent, you’ll understand.” Turning to the others, Valentine told them, “Toss him down by the pit. Make sure he’s got a good view of the scenery.”
Hands reached for him while Valentine turned and walked away. Alec wished he could say that he did something. That he fought back somehow. But they’d been very careful and deliberate about his beating. Though nothing felt broken, his body still screamed as they yanked him down and braced him up between them. Alec tried to get his legs under him, even just to walk not to run away, but he was met with a “Stay down!” and a sharp kick to the back of one knee.
The world whited out for a moment while Alec bit his tongue hard enough to bleed.
They dragged his body across a strange metal floor, sending sharp pains through every inch of him. Still, he tried to take in his surroundings and maybe figure out where the hell he was, but he could barely focus. All he could catch were hints of cold metal walls and the occasional flicker of dim lights swaying around them. The smell of salt and iron filled his nostrils, mixing with the metallic tang of it on the back of his tongue.
Sounds grew louder around them. Alec heard screams and the murmur of voices. But the smell was what got to him. That rusty, metallic scent grew stronger, blood and salt, and it left him gagging.
Someone nearby said something – one of the people holding him? He didn’t have time to wonder on it. They threw him forward and Alec had no time to brace before he hit the ground, jolting every one of his injuries. Sharp pain arrowed through him hard and hot enough to have him gasping.
“Enjoy your new home,” one of his guards said, the sneer in their voice easy to hear. The sharp clang of metal echoed after him.
Alec kept his eyes closed and his body tightly curled, ignoring everything in favor of keeping absolutely still until the pain finally faded enough for him to feel like he could breathe without swearing. Little by little his breathing gradually slowed down until the pounding in his head was at a more manageable level.
Once he felt like he could think again, he did his best to take a quick mental inventory of his injuries. His left knee was swollen, not broken, he hoped. Though he was pretty sure a rib or two might be. Nothing else felt broken, just pretty damn bruised. His face especially. They’d gone for bruising and pain over any serious damage. Which made sense, if Jace was who they were trying to reach with this.
Alec blinked his eyes open to try and take stock of his space next. What he found was pretty much what he expected.
The room was small, with no bed, no blankets, and a bucket in the corner that he avoided thinking about. With any luck he’d be gone before he had to use it.
No windows and no real door – just a set of bars like some sort of mundane prison. All done in the same metal that he’d been noticing. Only now, without pain and other people as a distraction, Alec got enough of a chance to look a little more closely, to pay attention to the small details he’d been logging away but hadn’t been able to quite recognize. Metal, salt, movement. Ship. I’m on a ship.
The bit of hope he’d been holding on to that his parabatai might be able to track him faded away. Not even parabatai tracking would be strong enough to go out over water.
Closing his eyes, Alec took a second to breathe through that fear, to let it wash over him before he pushed it down. Far, far down.
Fear had no place here. Not if he wanted to be able to get out. To figure out some sort of escape from this place Alec would need to hang on to whatever hope he could give himself, and whatever strength he could find.
So his parabatai couldn’t track him here, and neither could any warlock. That didn’t mean he curled up in the corner and gave up. If they couldn’t come to him, that just meant Alec was going to have to find a way to get to them. And that meant surviving long enough to make some sort of plan.
He was going to get out of here.
He was.
No matter what it took.
Chapter Text
At some point Alec fell asleep. He wasn't sure when – time wasn't exactly easy to keep track of in that windowless room. There was nothing for him to see to help, no windows or clocks. Just the wavering light of his cell and the empty one across from him, and the view further on. One he did his level best to ignore.
It hadn’t taken long for Alec to see why they'd dumped him in this cell specifically. Valentine’s words about a view suddenly made a whole lot more sense once Alec’s head cleared enough for him to move up to the bars and take his first look around.
To the right of Alec’s prison was the hallway they’d dragged him down to bring him here. But to the left…
To the left Alec could see rows upon rows of cages. Cages that were full of downworlders.
At first glance Alec easily caught sight of a few vampires, at least two wolves, one or two of the fae, and a few that he was pretty sure were warlocks. Some had their marks out, making it easy to guess, while others were close enough for Alec to see the magic-canceling cuffs around their wrists. Most of those ones had strange black lines all over their skin unlike anything he’d ever seen before.
Some of the downworlders were quiet, curled up in their cages, while others were almost rabid, thrashing at the bars and snarling at one another.
This was what Valentine wanted him to see? This? Downworlders broken and tortured, reduced to grief or pain or anger?
What the hell did he think it would make Alec believe?
When it became too much, when nothing in his cell showed any chance of getting free, Alec gave in and curled himself up in the corner. The similarity between his pose and some of the others out there wasn’t lost on him. But he pushed that back the same as he pushed back everything else, until his mind went as blank as he could make it. He reached down and curled one hand over his parabatai rune and tried to make himself plan.
He didn’t even realize he’d gone to sleep until something pinged at the edge of his senses just seconds before the door to his cell opened. Two Circle members stepped in, and the smiles they wore set Alec instantly on edge.
One of them carried a set of shackles. The other, a long rod.
“Get on your feet and give us your hands, and we won’t have to use this,” the one carrying the rod said. His tone said the opposite, though. Alec had no doubt they’d happily use whatever that rod was against him.
After a short debate, Alec carefully rose to his feet. He ignored the aches that sprang to life, both from the beating earlier and from sleeping curled up. Once on his feet, he held his wrists out in front of him and watched as the one with the rod sneered. The other one stepped forward, shackles out, and smirked. “Good little bitch,” he said snidely, moving to snap one shackle over Alec’s wrist.
That overconfidence was his downfall.
Before the shackle could close around his wrist Alec twisted his hand and snagged the chain. He gripped tight and then yanked, pulling the chains and the man both closer. At the same time, he twisted his body and reached up, catching the man’s head so he could use the moment of his twist to slam the man face first into the wall.
He let go of the chains with his other hand and pivoted on his heel so he could kick out with his other leg, sending the one with the rod back.
If it’d been just the two of them, Alec might’ve been okay. He might’ve been able to make it. But he barely made it halfway through his cell before people came flooding in. Other guards who’d clearly been waiting in the hallway.
There wasn’t any hope of getting past them, but like hell if Alec would let that stop him from trying. He swung and kicked and did his level best to break through, right up until the moment that rod pressed into his back and electricity jolted through him, dropping him down to the ground.
It came back twice more. Sharp stabs of electricity that he couldn’t hope to hold back his screams on.
When the current faded and the world came racing back in, it was to the feel of the shackles closing around his wrists.
They didn’t bother picking him up. Someone grabbed the chains and dragged him out of his cell and down the hall. He found himself pulled through the dark hallway, his body protesting every rough jolt, giving him no chance to even attempt to stand.
Eventually they stopped, and Alec found himself once more dragged up and strapped down to the very same table as before.
Valentine’s smiling face was the first thing he saw as soon as the others backed away. “It’s good to see you’ve still got some fight in you,” he said, and it made something in Alec’s guts twist unhappily when he realized that smile looked proud. “I’d hate to think we’d broken you already.”
“Go to hell,” Alec spat at him.
Valentine laughed. “I’ve been to hell, boy. It has nothing on the things I could show you.”
For a moment Alec swore he could hear his parabatai in his head, full of sarcasm. Yeah, cause that’s not ominous at all. The words had Alec fighting not to smirk. He gave a mental shut up to the thought of his parabatai and focused back on Valentine. This wasn’t the time to be drifting.
“What do you want with Jace?” he asked. The question had plagued him right from the start. So far, Valentine seemed surprisingly willing to talk to him. Alec had to risk it and see just how far he could push that willingness. “Why is he so important to you?”
Valentine's smile widened, a glint of malice in his cold eyes as he circled around Alec. “Your parabatai is more than just important. He’s everything to my plan. Him and my daughter. The two of them are the key to unlocking the true potential of our kind, a link to power beyond your wildest dreams. With them, we’ll be able to put a stop to demons everywhere.”
“He won’t help you.”
“Not even if it means saving his parabatai’s life?”
There was nothing Alec could say to that. They both knew the truth. Jace would come if it meant saving Alec. It wasn’t hard to see the plan Valentine had and the shape it would take. By making Jace feel Alec’s pain, even the tiny bits that squeezed past as Alec did his best to lock down his side of the bond, they would make Jace desperate. Panicked. They’d push him right up to his breaking point, convince him that Alec was somewhere dying, and then Valentine could swoop in and either send a message directly to Jace to get him to come, or use Alec as some sort of bait in what could be a fake rescue that they’d use to capture him.
Alec could see it, and it left him sick. It also strengthened his resolve. “I won’t let you have him.”
“My boy, he’s already mine,” were Valentine’s parting words before he gestured with one hand, signaling someone forward. He didn’t look at Alec for the next part. His words were directed to the woman who came up to stand at Alec’s side. “Heal him, and then let the boys at him again. I want nothing broken, but let’s make sure his parabatai can really feel it.” He turned his head enough to look Alec over, his eyes cold and calculating. “Before you send him back, give him the first injections. The new ones. Half dose, though. We don’t want him to die before he serves his purpose. An who knows? Maybe the slow route will get us better results.”
“Of course,” the woman said, nodding.
Alec straightened up as best he could, eyes darting between the woman coming toward him and Valentine’s retreating back. “What injections?” he demanded. He watched Valentine leave like he hadn’t even spoken, and his eyes darted back to the woman. “What injections?”
The woman tutted at him. Lifting her stele, she lifted his shirt and drew a quick iratze. Alec felt the rush of healing power spread over him and remove the aches and pains that had been plaguing him.
As the woman stepped back, satisfied with her work, Alec glared at her. “What injections?” he repeated sharply, packing in every ounce of power that he could, using his best I’m the Head and you damn well better listen voice.
The woman smiled at him, her expression entirely devoid of any hint of compassion. “Our new serum we’ve been working on,” she said easily. “Valentine’s latest invention. Usually we test them on the downworlders, but he has some he’s saved just for traitors like you.”
A chill ran down Alec’s spine at her words. He’d heard about Valentine’s experiments. The ones he used on downworlders to try and bend them to his will – and the ones he used on shadowhunters to try and make them better, to come up with some sort of new breed of shadowhunter. Ones that carried the power of demons and angels.
Alec had never understood that. Didn’t Valentine want to eradicate anything with demon blood? Why then was he injecting his followers with it in a bid to make them better? Wouldn’t that just make them into the very thing he wanted to destroy?
“You should be honored,” the woman went on to say as she stepped back, allowing the others close. “You’ll be helping Valentine to perfect his serum and bring about a new breed of nephilim.”
“Ones with demon blood in them,” Alec pointed out. He looked at the others who were still waiting on the sidelines for their part, and then back at the woman in front of him. She’d frozen at Alec’s words, a subtle stillness that let him know he’d gotten to her. Even just a little.
She recovered quickly, though, and shook her head. “Sacrifices need to be made for the greater good.”
“So you’re okay with that, then? You’re okay with Valentine taking perfectly good shadowhunters and filling them full of demon blood to… what? Act as cannon fodder in his war?”
If he’d hoped to get her to flinch, he failed. The woman smiled at him, eyes cold and hard. “If that’s the path to victory, so be it. Sacrifices have to made to ensure our survival. And our victory.”
Without another word she turned her back on him and gestured to the others. Alec clenched his teeth and, despite his best efforts, jerked against the bonds that held him strapped down for what was about to come. Judging by the grins the others wore this wasn’t going to be pleasant.
With one last deep breath, Alec clamped as tight as he could on his parabatai bond until he felt nothing from his brother and, hopefully, his brother felt nothing from him. I’m sorry, Jace.
He held tight through every hit, every kick, every blow designed to maximize pain while minimizing damage.
Alec had to give them credit; they knew what they were doing. They were skilled at what Valentine demanded of them. Everything hurt but even he could tell nothing was seriously damaged.
By the time they stepped away, he’d almost forgotten about what came next.
Almost.
Then the woman stepped back into view, and Alec’s eyes immediately focused on the syringe she held. Despite himself he started to struggle. Whatever was in there, he didn’t want it. He’d heard horrible things about what Valentine put in his serums. Not just demon blood, but other things. Other substances that no one could be absolutely sure on. He’d read about it when he’d been a teenager, devouring any literature he could on Valentine. It’d been a part of his Headship studies the Clave insisted on. They wanted to make absolutely sure nothing like Valentine ever happened again and they’d insisted all potential leaders learn about him, his crimes, and what he had done.
Thinking about that now kicked Alec’s panic even higher. “No,” he growled out, unable to keep the words locked away. “Get that away from me!”
“Hold him down,” the woman said calmly.
Hands gripped at Alec and forcibly pinned him down to the bed. There was nothing he could do but watch and curse as the woman brought the needle to his arm and expertly slid it into his vein.
The woman pulled the needle out and for one split second the world stayed still.
Then Alec felt it – a small spasm in his fingers, a faint heat in his arm.
Seconds later his whole body spasmed and the world went black.
When Alec finally came to once more it was to a stinging under his skin and the coolness of metal underneath him. Not the table, he knew. Already he could recognize the difference between that table and the ground of his cell. A thought that left him feeling even more nauseous.
Slowly, he blinked his eyes open, wincing when the light hit them.
Once he could open them again without risking burning his eyes out of his head, a quick look told him he was right. He was back in his cell. One bonus at least was that he could feel the cuffs were gone.
Slowly, carefully, he drew himself over to the nearest wall and dragged himself up until he could prop his body up against it. Even that took a lot of effort. By the time he slumped down, he was panting slightly, and the aches he’d barely noticed underneath that strange itching were now making themselves known.
The bruises didn’t concern him, though. Valentine had ordered them not to break him. Anything else could be managed. What worried him was that itching.
Just what had been in that injection? What the hell had that woman given him?
Whatever it was, he couldn’t fight it. He didn’t even know if he could heal it. Not that he had his stele to try. He was trapped here without his stele or any sort of plan to leave, getting beaten in the hopes of softening up his parabatai, and now he’d been given something that had knocked him unconscious and done angel-knew-what to his body.
Alec tilted his head and stared dejectedly at the bars of his cell door. What was he going to do?
He wished desperately that he could risk opening up the bond to feel Jace. Just sensing his parabatai would be enough of a comfort. Unfortunately, sensing Jace would mean that Jace could also sense him, and that was the last thing Alec wanted.
It was as he stared that he noticed something different – something that hadn’t been there before. Whether it was the beating or the drugs or something else entirely, he didn’t know, but he mentally cursed just how slow his brain was functioning. Because this was a pretty big thing to miss.
The other cell was no longer empty.
Alec blinked his eyes a few times to make sure he wasn’t simply seeing things. When he did, he was surprised to see the shape of someone sitting in the back corner of the cell. He couldn’t tell a lot at first. Not with the curled up posture and shadows. But what he could see as clear as day were the most unique golden cat eyes glowing ever so slightly in the dark.
As if the person sensed Alec staring at them, they lifted their head, giving a hint of cheekbones. Alec couldn’t see anything of their face, but he could clearly hear the sneer as the person snapped out, “What are you staring at?”
“N-Nothing,” Alec stammered out. He mentally cursed himself for that and quickly tried to strengthen his voice. “I’m sorry, I wasn’t staring. I just – you weren’t there, earlier.”
“Is that so?”
Slowly, the figure pushed up to their feet, and then they stepped forward into the main light of their cell and even like this, Alec felt his breath catch. The man had to be the single most gorgeous being Alec had ever seen. Such an incongruous thought for the place they were in. Alec immediately shoved it down and cursed himself for even thinking it. There was something familiar about him, though…
It only took a second for him to place the other man. Disheveled though he may be, his hair limp and his makeup far from perfect, as soon as he moved fully into the light Alec easily recognized the man as the one he’d seen in pictures when he’d been reviewing his file along with everything his siblings had done with the man while he was gone – Magnus Bane. This was Magnus Bane, the High Warlock of Brooklyn.
The sneer Alec had heard before was now clearly visible on Magnus’ lips. “Aren’t I a lucky one?” he said snidely. “A pretty little shadowhunter to look at while I’m trapped here. As if I don’t see enough of you all already.”
The sheer amount of venom in his voice threw Alec for a moment. Then again, it wasn’t like he could really blame him for feeling like that considering where they were. Anyone in their right mind would be pissed off and suspicious of anyone with runes. But he needed to figure out a way to deescalate things if he wanted to have any chance of getting any information out of him. And right now, information was exactly what Alec needed.
Lifting his chin, Alec met the other man’s eyes directly, and he tried to pack sincerity into his tone. “I’m not your enemy. I’m not one of them.”
Magnus let out a laugh too broken at the edges to come anywhere close to sincere. “Right. You honestly expect me to believe that Valentine just so happened to casually put a beat up shadowhunter in a cell with a perfect view into mine, without any ulterior motives?” Magnus snorted at him like he thought he was stupid. Even with the dark around them Alec could still see the way the other man rolled his eyes. “I’m actually a little insulted he believes I’m honestly this stupid. You let your boss know his tricks aren’t going to work. He isn’t going to get me to spill any secrets just because he happens to send a pretty face and those big sad eyes down here for me to stare at.”
Alec very much did not blush at those last words. Whatever color it put in his cheeks was no doubt due to anger and nothing else. “I’m not Valentine’s spy,” he snapped sharply.
The sound Magnus let out made his doubt clear without him having to say a word. “Is that so? What did you do, then, to deserve being sent down here with the filth?”
The way he said that, the derision on the last word, had Alec flinching again.
He’d never exactly been what one would call fond of downworlders. That was more his sister. But he didn’t actively hate them. Nor did he believe anything Valentine said about them was right. As Jace had phrased it before – ‘Alec doesn’t really like anyone. Not even other shadowhunters.’ To hear the way Magnus said that, knowing that it was only a mockery of the way the circle members here no doubt spoke, left a foul taste in his mouth.
He tried to ignore that and focus instead on answering him. “I have something he wants.”
Magnus’ eyes narrowed as he stared at Alec. The sharpness of that cat-like gaze was slightly unsettling in the flickering light of their cells. “And what might that be? What could you have that Valentine could possibly want, and that he wouldn’t care about risking it by you telling me?”
“My parabatai.”
Of all the things Alec could’ve said, that clearly wasn’t the answer Magnus was expecting.
Whatever he thought of it, he didn’t say. Nor did he say anything else. He drew back a little, those eyes locked on Alec for a long moment, narrowed and assessing. After a long pause Magnus turned away from him and retreated back to the edge of his cell and once more sank down to the floor. He didn’t say a word, and as much as Alec wanted to, he didn’t push. He recognized a clear dismissal when he saw one.
Much as he might want to gather information, now clearly wasn’t the time, and he couldn’t afford to push and alienate the person who might end up being his very best ally here. Everything Alec knew about Magnus Bane said he was one of the most powerful warlocks in North America. At least. If they could work together…
He just had to wait. Push too hard and he’d only make Magnus even more suspicious than he already was.
Luckily, Alec had a hell of a lot of practice at waiting. He just hoped he’d still be capable of doing something by the time he got through to him.
Chapter 3
Notes:
Small Jace POV - I'll add another chapter to make up for the smallness of this one :) But here, have some Jace feelings!
Chapter Text
Having a parabatai was said to be one of the most intimate magics shadowhunters had. Kind of like the soul bonds that magic could create, only, different. In the eyes of shadowhunters, purer.
Soul bonds were often described as a metaphysical thread. Something that tied together two souls. They could share strength, magic, even lifespans. The deepest of soul bonds were said to completely tie the life force of two beings together so that, when one died, so did the other. Being parabatai was like that and yet not.
Parabatai weren’t just tied together with some magic string between their souls. The belief was that the rune they used and the ceremony itself actually took pieces of their souls from each one and gave it to the other. That way the two would always carry that part of the other with them. Which was why when one of them died the other often found a way to follow. Not because their life forces were tied together but because a literal piece of their soul died, and the piece they carried with them was lost, leaving an aching wound that couldn’t easily be healed.
The bond between parabatai was one of the shadowhunters most sacred things. Their vows to one another were taken and given before the angel. Parabatai were battle-brothers, with more rights than even blood family, and the bond considered one of the highest honors for so many shadowhunters.
For Jace, it’d always been more than that.
His bond with Alec was an honor. Alec was his battle-brother, his best friend, his big brother. Someone he looked up to. He was occasionally a bit of a dick, he seemed to be allergic to doing things that were fun, and far too worried about doing what was right. ‘The law is hard, but it is the law’. He’d parroted that line more than once. But he was also smart, brave, loyal to a fault, and he had the biggest, kindest heart of anyone Jace had ever met.
While they might butt heads now and again there wasn’t anyone that Jace loved or respected more.
Which made fighting with him all the harder.
He’d known from the moment he met Clary that Alec wasn’t going to like anything that happened. Not bringing her to the Institute, not giving her a rune, especially not taking her to the Silent Brothers. Everything they’d done after that – rescuing Simon from the vamps, running to Magnus Bane and making a deal to summon a memory demon and get her memories back, getting involved in werewolf pack politics by helping Clary’s surrogate dad/new alpha, those were just icing on the cake.
Jace had expected Alec to be pissed off. Which was why he shut his end of the bond after his brother stormed out of the Institute to go cool off.
Alec would stomp around the city for a while, he knew. Probably go find somewhere high so he could perch like the ridiculous bird they teased him for being. Then, eventually he’d come back to them and, though he’d grumble and gripe about it, he’d see things their way. Just like he always did.
Angel, how Jace would hate himself for that thought later. How stupid he’d been. If only he’d paid any attention to the bond. If only he hadn’t been so damn sure that anything he felt was Alec just letting off steam the way he did sometimes. Not that Jace approved of how Alec let off that steam. But – they all had their vices. Even if they weren't exactly healthy.
If only he’d realized something was wrong sooner, had noticed the pain he felt slipping through was more than just Alec venting against demons or against himself with a few hours of shooting arrows into the dark.
But he hadn't. And by the time Jace opened up the bond again, it was too late. Word had already come in.
Someone had taken Alec.
Someone had taken his parabatai and Jace hadn't even realized it. Hadn’t known anything was wrong until a patrol came back with Alec’s bow in hand and reports of scorch marks in the alleyway and a ‘trusted source’ who claimed to have seen someone dragging a barely-conscious shadowhunter through a portal.
Jace's whole world felt like it stopped the instant Adrian and Nathan held the bow out to Jace with such looks of sympathy and grief on their faces. He didn't think he'd ever forget how still everything became. Or the feeling of that great wall of nothingness that met him when he yanked open the bond he'd been deliberately keeping shut on his end ever since he and Alec had fought and he'd stormed out of the Institute. He'd been so – so righteous. So fucking sure that he was the one in the right.
Snarling, Jace gripped tight to his seraph blade and swung through another form, pushing his body despite the growing ache. He'd been training by himself for hours now, trying to shut out the feeling of nothingness that still filled a bond that meant so much to him. Alec was alive, he knew that much. The bond hadn’t broken, a fact that Jace clung to. But nor had it opened on Alec's side.
Part of him wanted to think that maybe Alec was still out there somewhere just mad at him.
The rest of him knew better. Alec wouldn't leave their bond shut this long without good reason. Even if he were hurt or stuck in the worst sort of Clave meeting, he still had gaps of time that he let Jace in, reminded him that he wasn't alone. But the bond had been clenched firmly shut ever since Jace opened it back up four days ago.
He couldn’t stand it. He couldn’t stand this not knowing, this not feeling, this – this inability to do anything.
He wanted to track Alec. He wanted to tear apart everything in his path until he found his parabatai and brought him home where he belonged. Instead, he was stuck here in this stupid training room running forms and demolishing training simulations while his parabatai was out there somewhere being hurt bad enough he didn't dare let Jace in to feel it.
By the time Izzy and Clary came to find him in the training room, he was sweaty, exhausted, and no better off than he'd been when he first came in.
It was Clary who reached out to him, her voice soft and sympathetic as she said, “We're going to find him, Jace.”
“We will,” Isabelle echoed firmly. While Clary was gentle in her support, Izzy was fierce. As bright and sharp as their seraph blades and just as deadly. Her words weren’t meant as a reassurance. They were a promise drenched in threat, one that promised to do anything they had to if it meant bringing their big brother home.
Hearing it eased some of the sharp ache in Jace's chest. But it didn’t take away from the panic clawing at his insides. Nor did it dim the voice insisting sharply this is your fault. You’re the one that pushed him away. You pissed him off by breaking all those rules, and you knew it, you just didn’t care. You pushed him away just like you always do and it was finally too much and he ran just so he wouldn’t have to deal with you, and now he's gone, someone’s taken him, and it’s your fault.
Jace closed his eyes against the wave of self-loathing that almost sucked him under.
Normally, this was when Alec would come and find him. He’d feel what Jace felt in the bond and he’d seek him out and invite him to spar, or take him out to lunch somewhere, or flop down on his bed and bitch about the Clave and anyone else they knew until Jace started sniping with him and they’d picked apart all the idiots around them, and they’d both be grinning and Jace would feel lighter because he’d know, he’d hear the love his brother had for him. That silent promise of I’m here and I love you and you’re not too much for me that underscored everything Alec did. Everything he’d done since Jace had first come to them broken, battered, and mostly feral.
Alec had taken the time to help him get comfortable here.
Alec had been the one to slowly but surely batter his way past Jace’s walls and became his friend first, and then his brother.
Alec took care of him. He was the one who came to Jace’s room after nightmares and sat up with him, sharpening and redoing the runes on his arrows as a silent guard.
Alec stepped in between Jace and his parents, Jace and the Clave, and kept him safe.
And Jace… Jace kept pushing, kept waiting for the thing he’d do that would chase Alec away. The thing that might finally be too much. Only, that hadn’t happened this time. No, what had happened was so much worse. Alec hadn’t said Jace was too much, he’d simply taken a break, walked away to go sulk around the city and cool off, and someone had taken him. All because Jace couldn’t keep himself from pushing and pushing and pushing until things finally just broke…
A hand on his arm snapped Jace out of the downward spiral of his thoughts. He fought not to shove that hand off – it wasn’t the one he wanted right now – and turned his head to meet Isabelle’s eyes. She squeezed his arm gently and tugged him toward the door. “Come on, Jace. Let's go talk to mom and see where we are.”
Talk to Maryse. Right. Maryse, who was no doubt already planning some sort of something against the warlocks, because she heard 'portal' and thought that meant the warlocks or even Magnus Bane himself had somehow kidnapped Alec and taken him from them. Not, you know, the genocidal madman who was already known for having downworlders under his control.
“He’ll be okay,” Clary said, trying to reassure him. She slipped her small hand into his, and a part of Jace wanted to smile at that. The Jace of four days ago would have.
Now? Now he clung tightly to that hand, leaned into the pressure of Isabelle’s hand on his arm, and prayed to any angel that would listen that they didn’t lose Alec. That they got him back soon, and that whatever was happening to him wasn't... that he’d be okay. Because if something serious happened, if they lost him, Jace honestly didn’t know what he would do.
Chapter 4
Notes:
Annnnnd now back to our regularly scheduled programming. I'd say enjoy, but, we're back with Valentine, soooo.... But we get to see more Magnus!
Chapter Text
Those first cycles of his captivity set the tone for Alec’s time under Valentine’s care. Life went in cycles of pain and not-pain, torture and rest. Occasionally food was thrown in. Bread slices, a protein bar once, a bottle of water. There wasn’t any rhyme or reason or time between when they’d come to drag him out of his cell and take him back down to that little room. Only the certainty that they would come.
They’d come back for him three times since that visit with the injection. Each time they healed him before they beat on him, and once they’d used his nourishment rune. Thankfully he didn’t get another injection until the last one.
In that one they’d started asking him questions, too.
Those, he’d expected, and they were easy to ignore. He wasn’t going to betray his people or his Institute. No matter what they did. Alec would let them kill him first.
Magnus hadn’t spoken to him since that initial conversation. He’d watched, though. Alec had felt the man’s eyes on him each time he was taken out, and each time he was brought back. But the two times Alec attempted to talk to him, he acted as if he couldn’t hear a thing.
They only came for Magnus once during that time. Only once that Alec had seen, at least, had they dragged the other man out for whatever it was they did with him. Magnus didn’t struggle and he didn’t fight, though that likely had more to do with the magic-canceling cuffs he wore than anything. But he didn’t come back bruised the way Alec did. Instead, he came back and curled up as far back in his cell as he could go, out of Alec’s line of sight.
Alec hadn’t bothered him.
It wasn’t until what Alec mentally guessed was day four of his captivity that finally Magnus spoke to him again.
Alec wasn’t sure what time of day it was, or even if it really had been four days, but he was mentally calling it the morning of his fifth day in some semblance of keeping track. It gave him a strange sense of comfort to do it. He’d just woken up and relieved himself in the bucket – a humiliation he added to the mental tally of reasons he was going to kill Valentine when he got the chance.
After that, his choices were to sit move around and make his body hurt more, sit against the right wall and stare at the prisoners further out, or sit against the left wall and watch Magnus.
He dragged himself to the left wall. While he didn’t think staring at the other man would get him anywhere, looking at him was far better than looking at everyone else.
Carefully, he lowered himself to the ground, stretching his aching legs out in front of him. What he wouldn’t give for a blanket. Or a pillow. Anything, really, to warm this place up or make it at least marginally comfortable.
Once he settled in, he laid his head back against the wall with a sigh and prepared to once more start running over everything he knew about this place, every scrap of information he’d gathered, so he could try and find a way out of here.
Only, to his surprise, he found Magnus standing at his bars watching him.
Alec twitched in surprise before he yanked his body back under control. It’d been days and Magnus hadn’t said anything or even shown any signs of wanting to talk. If he was ready now, Alec didn’t want to scare him off. So he stayed quiet and just watched, waiting.
After a small pause, he caught a faint hint of a twitch to Magnus’ lips. A smile, maybe? It wiped away a second later. Then he opened his mouth and surprised Alec completely. “You’re looking a little rough there, shadowhunter.”
Of all the things for him to break his silence for – Alec’s eyebrows went up in silent surprise. “I’m fine.”
Magnus snorted, only furthering Alec’s surprise. The sound was so very inelegant for someone who managed to still look elegant even in this hellhole. “Ah, that infamous shadowhunter stubbornness. One mustn’t appear weak in front of the filthy warlock.”
“Right,” Alec drawled out, unable to hold back the sarcasm. “Wouldn’t want to do anything to jeopardize this game.”
This time Magnus didn’t try to stop the faint curve of his lips. “Your secret’s safe with me.”
“And every single camera Valentine has pointed toward us.”
“Mm, not just a pretty face, hm?”
Rolling his eyes, Alec settled his head back against the wall. He should be a little more patient, he knew. He still needed information from Magnus. Any information. But, angels, he was tired, and the itch under his skin was growing. What did they give me, what’s happening to me, what is this?
“Did you want something, or is this just another round of taunts?” Alec asked, eyes closed. “Because if it’s the second one, I’d rather get some sleep before they come back.”
Silence fell through their cells. Or, as much silence as they could get in this place.
He could feel Magnus’ eyes on him; he knew the warlock was watching him. But anything Alec could think of to say wouldn’t do anything to convince Magnus that he wasn’t any sort of threat or spy or something like that. He had no idea what to do here.
“You said Valentine wants your parabatai,” Magnus said, breaking the quiet that had fallen.
Alec didn’t bother opening his eyes. “Yes.”
“Why?”
Though he knew Magnus probably wouldn’t like the answer, he gave the only one he could. “I don’t know.”
“He hasn’t said anything?”
The skepticism in Magnus’ voice wasn’t hard to hear. Alec didn’t take it personally. He contemplated keeping quiet about what Valentine had said for a heartbeat before dismissing it. Magnus wasn’t a spy; of that, Alec had no doubt. Everything he’d heard about the man said he wouldn’t ever work with Valentine willingly. “He mentioned something about Jace being the key to something, but nothing more than that.”
“Jace?” Magnus’ voice was sharp enough to have Alec’s eyes snapping open. He found Magnus staring intently at him. “Jace Wayland is your parabatai?”
“Yes?” Alec said slowly. Realization dawned on him a second later. Hadn’t Jace’s visit with Magnus been one of the things Alec had been so furious about when he’d gone out for the walk that led him here? Jace, Clary, their insane mission to Magnus’ loft, the summoning of the memory demon, the interference with pack politics that they’d dragged to Magnus’ home – a whole list of things that went on and on, tallying up the debt between Magnus and the Institute.
He should’ve realized Magnus would recognize Jace’s name.
“That would make you Alexander Lightwood. Acting Head of the New York Institute,” Magnus stated.
Smothering a sigh, Alec nodded. He didn’t bother correcting him on the title. Right now he wasn’t exactly displaying a good show of Headship. “Yeah.” Pushing against the wall, Alec held in a grimace and straightened himself up a little more. “I was in Alicante on business when I hear you met Jace. I was actually on my way to see you to discuss things when they grabbed me.”
Magnus’ eyes narrowed on Alec. The way he watched him, it left Alec feeling analyzed in a way that was similar and yet so very different from how he felt when Valentine stared at him. The both of them made Alec feel like they could see so much more than what was on the surface. But whereas Valentine’s look left Alec with the urge to bathe afterward, Magnus’ left him feeling… not uncomfortable, but not exactly relaxed, either.
“What were you coming to see me for?” Magnus asked, a hint of curiosity in his voice.
He didn’t sound suspicious, at least. Alec would take that win. “I was coming to offer payment for services rendered, and try to smooth over whatever I could.” Despite himself, Alec felt his lips quirk up into a wry smile. One hand came up to curl over his parabatai rune in a gesture he didn’t notice, though Magnus’ eyes tracked it. “Jace tends to sort of… bulldoze his way through things when he’s got something in his sights.”
“That would be one way of describing it.”
Alec wanted to say something more, to maybe try and keep this conversation going. So far Magnus was the only potential ally he’d found in this hellhole. While Valentine had set him up to see and hear everyone else, to supposedly witness the truth of downworlders as if seeing their responses to torture might somehow turn Alec against them, he’d also put Alec near Magnus. Something which Alec both planned to take advantage of and yet couldn’t help but be suspicious of at the same time.
The air around them shifted suddenly with a faint breeze. Alec froze instantly; he’d come to recognize that feeling. Someone had opened the door at the end of the hall. It let in a faint salty breeze from outside every time they did.
Alec and Magnus both went silent, their eyes turning toward the direction of the door.
Footsteps echoed down the hall. Alec tensed even more when he realized there were two sets. Sure enough, a moment later two familiar faces came out of the shadows, their eyes right on him. These two had come for him more than once so far. He didn't know the name of the one carrying that damned rod in their hand, but he'd heard the other one's name. Marcus.
Alec drew in a breath and forced himself to rise to his feet. He refused to stay on the ground when they came for him.
Marcus came in first, cuffs in hand, while the other stayed to the side with the rod held at the ready. They didn't underestimate Alec anymore. Not after his attack the first day. He wondered sometimes if that might be part of why they left him in here injured each time. If they hoped that maybe it'd make him less likely to attack them. If only they knew.
“What's it's gonna be, kid?” Marcus demanded, holding the cuffs out.
Though it burned at him, Alec silently lifted his hands for them to cuff.
He caught sight of Magnus' gaze over Marcus' shoulder. Though Magnus had retreated slightly from the bars, the glow of his cat eyes was easy to see in the darkness. He watched without blinking as the cuffs were snapped onto Alec's wrists and the chain between them was used to drag him out of the cell. Alec wasn't sure if it was a trick of the light or something else, but it looked to him like there was a little less suspicion in that gaze.
Then they dragged Alec away once more, cutting off his view of anything but the hallway and the stairs ahead. Still, Alec held that look with him, taking comfort from the only hint of sympathy he'd found since he'd first been brought here.
When they strapped him down to the table once more in that cursed room that Alec had grown to hate, he fully expected this trip to follow the same pattern as every other one so far. They’d strap him down, heal him, beat on him a while, and then maybe give him an injection before dragging him back to his cell. Wash, rinse, repeat.
He should’ve known better than to believe Valentine would continue to stick to any sort of pattern.
They strapped Alec to the table, same as always, only this time the two stepped back and stood at the far wall, watching and waiting without saying a word.
Valentine joined them just moments later.
The man walked into the room with a confidence that spoke of someone who knew their own power. While Valentine might be the greatest enemy the shadow world had, here he wasn’t the monster they all hunted. He wasn’t a dark stain on shadowhunter history. Here, on this ship, with these people, Valentine was as powerful as the angel Raziel. He was their leader, their god, worshiped by beings who treated him like his very word was scripture. It showed in the way he carried himself. How he moved, how he spoke, how he acted. The faith of his people gave Valentine a strength and confidence he wouldn’t have had anywhere else.
Alec ached to do anything he could to destroy that confidence. He dreamed of putting this man in a cell of his own and watching that look fade off his face. Or, in his lesser moments, of putting an arrow right between his eyes and ending that look forever.
Valentine’s smile grew. Whatever Alec’s thoughts put on his face clearly amused the other man.
“I have to say, you have more spirit than I’d expected,” Valentine said by way of greeting. He walked right up to Alec and stood just a foot in front of him, that damned smirk in place. “I honestly thought for sure you’d have broken already. But maybe there’s a bit of Maryse in you after all.”
The continued mention of his mother cut at Alec. He refused to ask why – refused to give voice to the worries and questions that built in the back of his mind each time. “Let me go and I’ll show you just how much of my mother is in me,” he snapped back.
Valentine laughed. “Like I said – spirit. I’m surprised, but I can’t say I’m disappointed.” He shook his head, his smile never fading away. “You know, when I first brought you here it was a sort of impulsive decision. I’d thought about it, of course. With you on my side it’d be so easy to draw Jace to me. But the more I learned about you, the more I realized that you were far too weak for what I have planned. You’d never be anything I could use.”
“Yet I’m still here,” Alec said dryly.
“When opportunity presents itself…” Training off, Valentine lifted a hand a little and shrugged. Then he dropped his hand back down and slipped it into his pocket. “I figured I could at least use you to bring my boy to me. Or, at least, soften him up a little. I could hurt you, inject you with enough strange substances to get a few results for me and change your body around a little. Then I’d throw you in the pit with the others and let them make of you what they would before leaving your body in the streets for Jace to find. They’d see the claw marks or the fang prints and maybe they’d finally realize just what monsters they’ve been protecting.”
A cold horror gripped at Alec. Not just at what Valentine had planned, but at how casually he spoke of it. The way he acted like Alec were just some sort of thing to be used and discarded without any care in the world. How casually he spoke of all the lives that would be lost in this insane war.
Valentine moved away from Alec for a moment, heading toward the nearby table. One that held something Alec had grown far too familiar with in these past however many days he'd been here.
“Did you know they think the warlocks took you?” Valentine asked casually.
Alec’s eyebrows shot up in surprise. “What?”
“Someone saw you being taken through a portal. Your mother took that to mean that warlocks kidnapped you, and the Clave is backing her.” A smile curved Valentine’s lips. He picked up the syringe on the table and eyed it, twisting it this way and that in his hand like he was studying what was inside. “Your mother always was practical like that. A good tactician, if a little short-sighted sometimes. And her hatred for warlocks rivals just about anything I’ve ever seen. In that she was always a true believer.”
A slow growing horror built in Alec’s chest. He could see it, easily, how his mother would believe that. How she’d react to it. Valentine wasn’t wrong in saying that Maryse hated warlocks. Out of all the downworlders out there she seemed to dislike warlocks the most. He’d never known why.
Looking at Valentine now, hearing how easily he spoke of it, how confidently, like he had first-hand knowledge of what he was saying… Alec thought he might be sick.
Valentine’s smile grew. He walked back over to Alec, the syringe held in his hand for Alec to see. Ready for him.
“I won’t even have to kill you now, not really. Not if I don’t want to. Your mother is doing my job for me.” He stepped in closer to Alec’s side and chuckled. “Everything I want, and all without having to waste a life that could be put to better use. The minute your bond is gone she’s going to wage war with the New York Downworld.”
A jolt shot through Alec that rattled his chains. He yanked against his bonds without thinking, without caring about the bruises it’d put on his skin. He’d rip his own hands off if it kept Valentine away from his bond.
The other man laughed at him. “Oh don’t worry, we’re not ready for that yet. It’ll do everyone some good to stew a little bit longer. Really get things stirred up.” Tilting his head, he looked down at the syringe he held and then back up at Alec’s face. “Then again, I’m slightly curious about what might happen if I…”
To Alec’s growing panic, Valentine set the tip of the syringe right above his parabatai rune. He felt the bite of it pressing into his skin, almost breaking through, and he cursed. “Don’t,” he snapped out. He was aiming for furious, but there was a hint too much pleading in his voice. “Leave it alone!”
Valentine acted as if he didn’t hear him. He stared down at his syringe and watched with a fascination that was sickening as he pressed the needle right into the center of the parabatai rune. Alec wanted to jerk away, only there was nowhere for him to go, no way to draw back without risking a whole lot more damage. All he could do was lie there and swear as one of the most important parts of himself was violated by a poison he didn't know at the hands of a madman.
When Valentine pulled the needle back out, he didn’t move away immediately. Instead, he kept his eyes on Alec with that same fascination, waiting and watching as if expecting something to happen.
It didn’t take long.
If Alec had thought the fire he’d felt with the last injections was bad, this proved him wrong. He’d take that pain over the agony that flooded its way through him any day of the week. That had been a small fire – this was an uncontrolled blaze that ripped its way through every inch of him. It licked at his runes, sizzled under his skin, boiling his blood and singeing at the very edges of his soul in a way Alec hadn’t known was possible.
He couldn’t stop the scream that tore its way from his throat. His body bowed, arching up against the bonds until blood dripped down his wrists.
Somewhere in the distance he swore he heard another scream echoing with his own.
Chapter Text
By the time Alec was dragged back to his cell, he was barely conscious. They left him lying on the ground, curled up in a loose ball against the far wall, the cuffs still held tight around his wrists. He couldn’t bring himself to care about that. Not when his whole body still felt like it was burning, and his very skin itched bad enough he had to fight not to claw it off.
But, most importantly, he could still feel the bond there. Throbbing, leaking worry, but there.
The world went a little hazy around the edges for a while. Alec drifted on the pain and itching and the grip of the bond. He clutched at that like a lifeline. Trying desperately to keep some of the pain out of there, to block Jace off as he’d been doing so far, and to keep hold of it.
He knew some pain slipped through, that Jace no doubt had to be feeling something, but he couldn’t help it. If Alec’s grip to keep it in place meant that pain got through, he knew Jace would take it happily. They both would.
Alec gripped so tightly to the bond, put so much focus on holding it in place, nothing else registered. His whole world felt like it was made up of the bond and pain.
It wasn’t until some of that pain started to fade and the bond felt a little more solid that he finally registered anything outside his body.
The first thing he heard was the sharp call of his name. “Alexander!”
Hearing his full name in a voice sharp with command snapped Alec to attention better than anything else could. He’d been trained to respond to that tone from his parents, his teachers, his instructors, his patrol lead. Hearing it in a voice he somewhat recognized, even through the pain, had his body jerking into a semblance of an at attention stance.
Only, the cuffs on his wrists and the pain and itching that grew worse the instant he moved only served to have him crashing back down to the ground. A sharp gasp hitched through his throat and got caught, turning into a cough.
“Careful,” that voice came back again, lower this time yet no less firm. “Don’t try and force it. Try to breathe through your nose. Slow, careful, there we go. That's it.”
Little by little Alec's breathing slowed until finally he could draw in a breath without a single cough. His chest still hurt, and he was pretty sure if he brought his hands anywhere near his skin he might actually claw it off, but the coughing had stopped and the burning had at least gone down to a manageable level. Slowly, more hesitant this time, he shifted his body around until he could brace his forearms on the cold ground. It felt so good he had to force himself not to plaster his whole body down against it.
Little by little he dragged his body upward. Onto his knees first, and then, with the voice offering encouragement nearby, he managed to shift forward, to crawl, until he almost crashed into the bars.
“There we go,” that voice said - and Alec's brain felt awake enough to finally put a name to the sound. Magnus. “Scoot yourself a little to your left, that'll put you right in the corner. That's it.”
Alec followed Magnus’ instructions blindly, not bothering to open his eyes at all. He trusted the other man with an intensity that shouldn’t have been possible. Not with how little they knew one another. Not with the differences in who they were. And definitely not with where they were. Yet, for some reason, he did.
When Alec finally got settled into the corner, he finally forced himself to open his eyes and he looked across the hall.
Magnus sat at the bars of his own cell. Far closer than they’d sat to one another before. He looked just the same as when he’d last seen him. Though, the bags under his eyes might’ve been a little darker, a little more bruised. It didn’t diminish the glow of those golden eyes, though, as they stayed locked right on him. Magnus leaned against the bars, one hand slid through like he was trying to reach for Alec even if it wasn’t possible. As if he couldn’t quite help himself.
Alec briefly wished he could reach back.
He cursed himself for that thought even as he had it. Now was not the time for that sort of weakness. It was just… I’m so tired.
They didn’t have time for tired, though. Alec couldn’t afford that. Not here. Not with all this.
It took a second for him to wet his throat enough to speak. Even then, all he managed to get out was a low “Hey.”
One corner of Magnus’ mouth quirked up. “Hello.”
They fell silent for a long moment. The only sounds were those from the pit – the snapping, snarling, moaning that had become so commonplace. Sounds of pain and agony that Alec had been forced to learn how to ignore. Sounds that he knew would haunt his nightmares for a long time to come.
Magnus was the one to finally break the silence. When he did, it was with the last thing Alec expected. “Do you know what he gave you?”
Instantly, Alec tensed. It was on the tip of his tongue to deny being given anything. If word got out that Valentine gave him something while in his care, Alec’s time as a shadowhunter would be over. The Clave would never trust him again. How could they, when they couldn’t be sure that Valentine wasn’t somehow controlling him? They’d send him to Idris, or to the Silent Brothers. They’d test him and his blood and turn him into some sort of experiment. Everything he had, everything he’d worked for, it would all be gone.
If Valentine didn’t manage to take the parabatai bond away before Alec got free, then the Clave would. They wouldn’t risk whatever Valentine did to Alec somehow tainting Jace.
They’d destroy him just as surely as Valentine would.
Even knowing that it was pointless to deny anything, a part of Alec still wanted to.
One look at the other man and Alec felt any of those protests die on his tongue. What was the point? Magnus knew the truth. He made that clear by asking do you know what he gave you, not did he give you anything?
“I don’t know,” he said quietly. The words burned to say. He shifted himself a little more upright, though he kept his back pressed against the wall like a lifeline. The metal wall felt almost as good as the floors against his itchy skin. Far better than the bars. But at the moment those two combined were the only things keeping him upright. “He didn’t tell me what it was. Just that it was new.”
Magnus nodded slowly. He didn’t look like Alec’s words surprised him. “Valentine’s been working on a few serums. Some to help make his shadowhunters better.” A wealth of scorn was packed onto that word. Then Magnus’ tone darkened. “Others that allow him to control warlocks.”
It only took a second for Alec to piece together that with the little information he knew before coming here, and what he’d learned since being here. “The black veins.”
“Mm.”
No wonder the warlock who’d helped bring him here had looked so reluctant. It hadn’t been because they simply didn’t want to do it, or because they didn’t want to be around a shadowhunter. They literally had no choice in what they were doing.
Looking at Magnus, Alec’s eyes swept over the man, taking in the distinct lack of black lines over the man’s tanned skin. “But you’re not…” Alec trailed off, wincing slightly at his own bluntness.
Thankfully, Magnus didn’t seem offended. “No. So far, his serums haven’t worked on me. Sooner or later I imagine something will. But for now, I remain outside his control. A fact which infuriates him.”
“Then why keep you alive?”
“Why indeed,” Magnus agreed. He sighed and shrugged. “Why keep me alive? Why is he injecting you? Why did he put us together? It makes no sense. And yet…” He trailed off, leaving the rest unsaid.
Another wave of pain stole Alec’s breath away. He had to go very still and clench his hand on the bar in front of him to keep himself from making a sound. When it passed, he blinked his eyes open to find Magnus watching him with that same sad look on his face, brows down and lip caught between his teeth, and Alec ignored it now the same as he had before. “Does any of this make sense?” Alec asked, voice tight with pain.
It took a second for Magnus to seem to decide to ignore Alec’s pain. A second more for his expression of concern to turn into one that was somehow simultaneously chiding and pitying. “One thing I’ve learned over my years is to never underestimate crazy. And while Valentine may be a prime example of crazy, he is also smart. There is very little that man does without reason. Whether we see it or not, there is some sort of purpose here. I just… don’t know what it is.”
Something tickled at the edges of Alec’s mind. The hints of a plan, maybe. He could see some of the pieces of what Valentine was doing. If his brain would just clear he might be able to put them together into some semblance of order. The fact that he couldn’t only pissed him off.
“I don’t know what his plans are for this,” Alec said, though he hated to admit it out loud. They couldn’t afford pride in here, though. Not if they hoped to figure out some way out of this. They both needed all the information they could get. “But I do know some of his for me. And they’re not…” He paused, sucking in a breath on a wave of pain. He had to ride it out before he could force his voice back again. “I don’t know what he wants with Jace so badly. But my death will do more than break Jace. It’s going to start a war.”
“War?” Magnus repeated sharply.
Alec closed his eyes. He was sore, and tired, and so furious he could barely see straight. “He said there was a witness that saw me get taken through a portal. My mother took that to mean I was kidnapped by warlocks.”
He heard a low huff of breath. “Of course she did.” Bitterness traced through every single word. “It wouldn’t take much for Maryse to assume the worst of a downworlder in lieu of her own people.”
Ignoring Magnus words – how he said that with the same certainty of information, just like Valentine, as if he knew – wasn’t easy. But Alec forced himself to focus on the problem at hand. His parents… his parents could be thought about later. Once he was away from here.
“Valentine plans to break the parabatai bond and let them think I’m dead.” Alec was proud of the way his voice didn’t tremble on that. It didn’t show the fear that gripped him at just the idea of Valentine taking his bond from him. Unconsciously, he curled his hand over his rune once more, basking in the little glimpses of warm love grief pain love that slipped through the cracks he couldn’t quite stop. “As soon as he does that, it’s going to be war in New York.”
“Effectively crippling New York and paving the way for Valentine to take control there without having to expend too much effort. He'll be able to easily slip his own people in to help sow further discord and spread his own rhetoric while he's at it. Clever bastard.”
Alec hated that it made sense. He hated that he could see just how easy it would be for Valentine to do. He’d have his war, the shadowhunters of the NYI going after the warlocks, who would be forced to either retreat or fight. With Magnus trapped here, they’d be without their High Warlock. What would that mean for the battle?
Meanwhile, Valentine could slip some people in to the Institute who would help fan that war. Well, slip more people, because one thing had become clear while Valentine spoke – he already had someone there. Someone who was feeding him information.
Groaning, Alec pressed his face against the bar in front of him. This was too much. Too many things happening. Too many balls in the air. Valentine had plans upon plans and each piece he revealed to Alec only made the rest all the more confusing.
He knew that Valentine wanted Jace, just not why. He knew the man was going to use him to start a war and likely infiltrate the NYI further, but not why. Just as he knew that Valentine had stuck him here by Magnus for a reason – but not why.
Those whys were the important part. They were what mattered. Nothing was going to make sense until he had those.
He only had a little time left to try and figure it out, too. Alec had no idea what this experiment was that Valentine was performing on him, or what it would do to him, but whether it be from the serum or from Valentine the time Alec had left to save his bond was getting smaller. If he wanted to keep New York safe, he had to do something before then.
Blinking his eyes open, Alec stared across the space between their cells that seemed both so close and yet so far.
Magnus was still leaning against the bars of his own cell, watching him, waiting. He’d stayed quiet while Alec drifted along in his thoughts. Whatever his own thoughts, they’d clearly been heavy, too. It showed in the shadows in his eyes. The dark, downward turn to his lips.
Their eyes met and Alec knew where their thoughts both went without either one of them having to say it.
They had to get out of here.
Somehow, some way, they had to get out of here.
Before a war started that they might not be able to come back from. Before Valentine killed them. Before he took the parabatai bond from Alec. Before he found a way to control one of the most powerful warlocks the Clave knew about.
They had to get out of here.
Chapter 6
Notes:
Double update! :D
Chapter Text
When Alec woke up the next morning – if it was morning - he was ready to fight.
The pain from Valentine’s experiments was still there. It lingered underneath his skin in a steady ache that came when he moved and the itching that hadn’t quite gone away. But Alec was used to ignoring pain. He was a shadowhunter. Even though his limbs felt shaky when he pushed himself up to go use his bucket, his mind felt focused.
They had to get out of here. Now. Today. Waiting around any longer wasn’t going to be possible. If he already felt this weak now, there was no telling how he’d feel after the next injection, or the next. He had no idea when Valentine would consider it the right moment to take his rune away, either, and the instant he did that…
War.
Whatever Alec was going to do, he had to do it soon.
As soon as he finished with the bucket he started to slowly pace around the cell. Slow, because he didn't want anyone watching to think he felt better than he did. He didn't need them seeing the way his joints loosened with each step. Or how much easier movement became.
He wasn't at full strength. Wasn't anywhere near, really. But he was determined. And motivated. And he had a goal.
That would have to be enough.
Alec threw in a deliberate stumble in his pacing. Not enough to trip him but enough to make him stop by the wall and brace himself for a moment.
“Why don’t you sit before you fall?” Magnus called out, drawing Alec’s attention to the fact that he was awake and watching.
The last time Alec had glanced over there it’d looked like Magnus was asleep. Now he stood at the bars watching Alec with barely concealed concern.
It took a little effort to battle back the faint smile that wanted to grow. If his act convinced Magnus it stood to reason anyone watching on might be convinced, too.
Alec straightened up and rolled his shoulders back, carefully settling himself against the wall. He let most of his weight rest there, as if he truly needed the help staying upright. “I’m fine.”
The arch of Magnus’ eyebrow made his doubt on that clear. “Of course,” he said dryly. “You’re just helping to hold the wall up so it doesn’t collapse on you, I’m sure.”
Alec couldn’t quite hold back his snort. “Someone has to.”
“Ah, the noble cause of the shadowhunter. Propping up architecture.”
The teasing lilt to Magnus’ voice had Alec biting back a grin. He forced himself to duck his head and hide it, though he was pretty sure Magnus still saw it.
The banter was a welcome distraction. Isabelle had teased him once that his and Jace's love language was banter. She'd followed it up with an eye roll and a low “Boys” that sounded equal parts frustrated and amused. Alec had laughed it off then. He missed his sister fiercely now.
He ignored the implications of putting 'love language' and 'Magnus' anywhere together in his thoughts.
“What can I say?” he said instead, falling back on the sarcasm that came so naturally for him. “We nephilim love our noble causes.”
Magnus huffed out a soft laugh. “Of course.”
Silence fell over them once more. Only this time it was a lot more comfortable. Alec didn’t feel the need to fill it. He let himself lean there against the wall, let his body sag a little in a continued show for their captors, while inside his mind raced over so much. Part of him constantly checked over the bond, frantic for any signs of things not being right, anything slipping through where it shouldn’t. Now that he was more coherent and the pain was less, he had a tighter grip on things, allowing him to block Jace out once more. I’m sorry, parabatai. It’s better this way.
Another part of him was paying attention to his body. He catalogued all the pains and aches, the itching that had gotten worse in some spots than others, the way his fingers twitched with the urge to reach up and scratch.
The biggest part of him, however, focused on planning. Coming up with scenario after scenario, thinking and discarding over and over again.
He’d been prepared to play the long game. Put on as much of a show as possible and try to plan. But somewhere deep inside he’d known he wouldn’t have to wait too long. Valentine would want to see his handiwork, after all.
Alec guessed about an hour had gone by before the doors at the end of the hall opened.
He did his level best not to tense. However, he saw as Magnus shifted against his bars, leaning back ever so slightly before forcing himself to lean forward. A sneer curled his lips at whatever he saw coming down the hallway.
It didn’t take long for their visitors to make it to them. Two men again, though not the same as last time. These two, Alec knew the names of, at least. He’d been able to pick that up listening to them talk and banter while they’d beat on him. Archie and Don. They were two of the ones who’d enjoyed hurting him the most. Not just because Valentine had told them to, either. They’d enjoyed having Alec at their mercy, unable to fight back.
Alec forced himself not to react to the sight of them. He forced himself to stay still, to let his eyes go heavy and his blinks a little slower.
Archie grinned at the sight of him. “Well, well, look who’s standing.”
“Not well,” Don chimed in with a smirk.
Neither one of them carried anything with them. Their blades were at their waists, unlit. They didn’t even need to bring cuffs; not with the ones still on Alec’s wrists.
In a truly idiotic move, they unlocked his cell and came in entirely unarmed, so very confident in themselves and their perceived power here.
Alec was going to enjoy showing them their mistake.
He let Archie come in and grab at the chain between his wrists, only mumbling and stumbling away from the wall with the first tug. Though it went against the grain, Alec played it up as best he could. He let himself slump and fall like his legs were too weak to hold him. The crack of his knees against the ground echoed around them and sent pain up his legs. But Alec didn’t let it distract him. Focus.
Archie tugged on the cuffs, demanding “Up!” at the same time that Don bent down to grab him, and Alec struck.
He dropped his weight into Archie’s hold and rolled his body, falling back enough that he could get one leg up and kick Don square in the stomach, sending him flying back against the far wall.
Alec gave Archie no time to react at all. He sank further down onto the ground and yanked, forcing Archie down at the same time that Alec brought his legs up in a move Jace had taught him a long time ago, catching Archie’s head between his knees. The grip allowed Alec to follow the momentum of Archie’s fall and roll forward, flinging the man up and over.
He let go mid-roll and used the rest of the movement to push himself up to his feet. He had to brace against the bars to do it, but he got himself up and steady on his feet just in time to watch Don rise from the ground.
Don, already scrambling to get up, froze at the sight of Alec there. The fear that flashed in his eyes had Alec grinning.
He took one second to savor that, and then lunged.
Don managed to get his blade out, but Alec was faster. He grabbed Don's wrist, squeezing hard enough to force Don to drop the blade, and then twisted his arm, bringing it up and back until he felt the elbow pop. As Don cried out, Alec shoved him into Archie, who’d just started to scramble up to his feet.
In the moment of chaos that created, Alec dove down and swept the blade up off the ground.
The light as he activated it filled his cell. It lit their faces and gave him a clear glimpse of the shock and horror there; their deaths were written all over their faces. Alec saw no reason to make them wait for it.
It took only moments after that before the two lay on the ground. Alec stood over them, seraph blade still clutched between his hands, and he took a second to draw in one shaky breath. So many of his muscles were screaming at him, aching with what he’d put them through, but he couldn’t stop. Couldn’t afford to stop.
A quick search brought him two steles. One, he tucked down into his boot just in case of emergency. The other he managed to twist just enough to scrawl a messy unlocking rune against one cuff. He didn’t waste time doing the other.
When Alec looked up he found Magnus still standing at the bars, staring at him with a mixture of awe and something else Alec wasn’t quite sure of. He didn’t flinch from Alec’s gaze, though Alec no doubt looked like everything Magnus had ever heard about shadowhunters in that moment – dangerous, ruthless, vicious.
Alec marched forward and used the stele to unlock Magnus’ cell. The fact that the other man didn’t flinch from him was a small blessing.
“Can you make us a portal out of here?” Alec demanded, already reaching for the magic canceling cuffs that Magnus wore.
Grimacing, Magnus held his wrists still and shook his head. “There’s anti-portal wards around here. Only those keyed in are allowed to portal in and out. And Valentine’s had too many of his warlocks in here drawing at my energy.”
That – wasn’t a good start. “Can you fight?”
The cuffs fell away and Magnus stretched his hands out, opening and closing his fingers a few times. Sparks danced around his fingertips. When he looked up at Alec, his grin was wide and so very dangerous. “Absolutely.”
Alec grinned back at him. Good enough.
They stepped out of the cell only for Magnus to surprise him by quickly going into Alec’s cell. He didn’t bother checking either body – he’d clearly seen Alec kill them. No, he bent down instead and rolled them both until he could grab the last seraph blade.
To Alec’s shock, the blade lit in his hand, glowing red. It cast Magnus’ face in a wicked light only made all the worse by the shark’s grin he wore.
“How…?”
“Do you want to debate reasons, or do you want to get out of here?”
Magnus gave him no time to answer. He set off out of the cell and down the hall, leaving Alec with no choice but to follow after him.
The two moved as quietly and quickly as they possibly could. Magnus led them, not in the direction of the pit, but in the direction they normally took Alec when they dragged him from his cell. “Our best bet is going to be to get up there and find a weak spot in the wards. I can borrow strength from you and break a hole through just long enough for us to jump. From there, our options are much greater.”
Alec nodded, trusting the plan. It was far better than anything he might’ve come up with.
They encountered three more Circle members on their path up to the deck. Magnus killed two of them quickly and efficiently while Alec took care of the other.
Magnus fought with a speed and grace that should’ve been surprising but somehow wasn’t. Alec had known that Magnus was powerful. He’d also known the man was dangerous. Though Alec hadn’t gone in-depth on his file, he’d given it a look after everything Jace had told him, and he'd heard some things before that. Knowing the leaders of the area was always smart.
Nothing he’d read mentioned this. The determination, the deadliness, the seraph blade in his hand.
Alec tried not to think too much about it. He focused on what he could – keeping his own blade up, watching Magnus’ back, pushing them both to keep going up the stairs, quietly down another hall, and then up one more. One last set of stairs between them and freedom.
He should’ve known it was too easy.
By the time they reached the deck, Alec was starting to feel weak again. His muscles trembled with exhaustion, his breaths came in sharp pants that hurt his chest, but he kept going. They couldn't stop. They had to get out of here.
The instant they pushed through the door Alec saw Valentine standing there waiting for them.
He stood in the center of the deck, arms folded behind his back, smiling at them like he was proud. Rows of Circle members stood on either side, blades in hand, waiting.
“You're inventive, my boy, I'll give you that,” Valentine called out. He smiled at Alec, ignoring Magnus entirely.
Alec’s hand tightened around the hilt of his stolen blade. They were wildly, drastically outnumbered, with little chance of getting out of here. Yet, when Alec looked at Magnus, he saw the same determination written all over the man’s face that he felt in his own bones.
They weren’t going back to their cells. Not willingly.
The fire burning and itching at Alec’s insides seemed to flare hotter in agreement.
Adjusting his stance into a battle-ready one he knew the others would recognize, Alec shifted his hold on his blade and let himself sink into the mindset that had been drilled into him from the moment he was old enough to stand on his own two feet and run forms. At his side, Magnus did the same.
When Valentine gestured the others forward, the Circle members rushed toward them, and Alec gave himself over to the warrior inside.
He lost track of how long they fought. It felt like hours – it felt like seconds. Time didn't hold any meaning. Alec fought with the passion and strength of someone who knew their life depended on it. He blocked, he kicked, he sliced through flesh and bone without hesitation. He didn't stop to wonder if these were men or women he knew. They were the enemy. Nothing else mattered.
At his side, Magnus fought with the same lethality, sparing not a soul under his blade.
Together, the two of them might've stood a chance of getting free – if it were simply shadowhunters they were up against.
They'd forgotten about the captured warlocks.
Magic slammed into the center of things like a giant fist. The shockwaves sent them all flying backward. Alec's body flew through the air to crash against something hot and cold and invisible. He jolted under the force of it, all the pain he'd been ignoring roaring to life as he slid down to the ground. Still, he fought to push himself up, to get up off the ground and move, fight. Anything but surrender. Only, something pressed down on him even as he tried to rise.
Alec blinked his eyes open to see Magnus on his knees nearby. He looked as battered and bruised as Alec felt. Blood trickled from a cut on his forehead, and his hair looked wild, his clothes torn. He was pinned down just as surely as Alec was.
Hands caught Alec, forcing him down on his belly, yanking his hands behind his back. The magic around him meant he couldn't even struggle. It forced him still, leaving him pinned in place as the crowd in front of him parted and revealed Valentine walking slowly but surely to where Magnus was being held down on his knees. Magic burned like fire around Magnus' wrists; magic-dampening, Alec had no doubt. Between that and the hands on him it meant that Magnus was helpless to do anything but glare as Valentine came to a stop in front of him.
“I had such high hopes for you,” Valentine said, shaking his head. He looked at Magnus with a mixture of pity and disgust. “We could've accomplished great things, you and I. With your power we could've made the Clave kneel.”
“I will never help you,” Magnus snarled at him.
Sighing, Valentine shook his head. He didn't argue with Magnus. Didn't try to sway him. He simply turned away with a casual “Kill him” to the guards.
Horror filled Alec. It burned in his chest and fought to tear out of his throat in a wordless cry, a demand that he knew would fall on deaf ears. They were going to kill Magnus right here in front of him. All because Alec had pushed to run before they'd had time to build any sort of proper plan. He'd rushed ahead, thinking that he knew best, and it was going to cost Magnus his life.
Time slowed down. Alec watched as the guard raised his blade, and he fought and fought and fought to get up off the ground, to do something, anything, to save the man who had done nothing but try to help him. Who'd offered him comforting words even when he'd been half sure that Alec was some sort of spy.
The fire in Alec's chest burned hotter.
It spread – burning, itching, tearing its way through him until he thought his skin would shred apart. He watched the blade lift higher, saw it swing down, and the fire screamed, he screamed –
– and the world erupted in flames.
Chapter 7
Notes:
So glad you enjoyed the cliffhanger :D
Chapter Text
Alec woke up slowly, drifting up through a sea of pain and confusion to wakefulness.
The first thing he noticed was the silence. Not true silence, but not the silence he’d come to know on the ship. There were no gasps or moans, no snapping sounds of jaws trying to break bars, no furious hisses, no snap of bones from bodies flinging themselves at bars they couldn’t hope to break. This was… this was silence of the softest kind. The breeze blowing nearby, the whisper of branches, the faint laughter of a child in the distance.
Pain kept Alec still in that silence for a long time. He didn’t move, didn’t do anything but lie on what felt like the softest bed he’d ever known and let that silence wrap around him. He didn’t want to open his eyes. Didn’t want to find out that this was some sort of dream. If he opened his eyes and found himself back in his cell he wasn’t sure what it would do to him.
Instead, he lay there and let the silence soothe him, and he took stock of the various aches and pains that covered his body.
There didn’t seem to be any new damage. A general soreness, but nothing broken, nothing that felt dislocated or damaged. He felt… honestly, he felt better than he had since he’d been captured. His body was heavy with what he was pretty sure was exhaustion, and this bed was delightfully warm. It reminded Alec of lying under the summer sun when they’d visited their Nana at her home in Spain.
Nothing burned. Nothing itched.
Alec didn’t want to move for fear of disturbing whatever peace his body had managed to find here. As if moving would reawaken all the things he’d been feeling before.
He had no idea how long he laid there. The warmth of the bed and the calmness around him combined with his exhaustion had Alec slowly sinking back down to that soft, cushy place where sleep lay over him like a heavy blanket just waiting to drag him under. It felt so good lying there. Nice. Safe.
Not even being mostly asleep was enough to dim his senses, though. Something prickled at the edge of Alec’s mind; drew him up a little from his sleep. A moment later the sound of a door opening drew him the rest of the way up.
He blinked his eyes open for the first time since he’d woken up.
It took a couple more blinks for the room to come into focus around him. One good look was all it took to banish the fear that this was a dream. He wasn’t in his cell anymore. The bed was real, as was the room around him. The space was the exact opposite of his cell. It felt warm and cozy, with sunshine yellow walls that were lit up with actual sunlight from windows. Windows!
Alec’s sweep took in the walls, the warm wooden furniture that made it clear this was someone’s bedroom, and then his focus was caught entirely on the man standing in the open doorway smiling at him.
A soft sigh slid past Alec’s lips and he slumped down into the bed. “Magnus.”
Relief flooded him so fast it left Alec dizzy. He didn’t stop to question why he felt so relieved – why Magnus’ presence was so important to him. They’d known one another for days. (Days, weeks? The time there blended together, who knew how long it had been) There shouldn’t be this connection. Yet that was exactly what Alec felt when he looked up at Magnus and drank in the sight of him, whole and healthy.
Magnus looked like he’d just stepped out of a club as opposed to spending time held captive on a ship. His pants looked to be leather and almost painted on him, while his purple silk shirt hung open to his navel. Necklaces glittered in the open space, matching the rings on his fingers, and his hair was spiked and streaked in purple. Glitter marked his cheeks under eyes that were no longer golden but a strange, unassuming brown.
He looked beautiful.
“Good to see you finally awake, sleeping beauty,” Magnus said, his smile growing. He pushed off the door frame and stepped in, letting the door slide shut behind him. “I’ve been wondering when you’d wake up.”
Alec swallowed down the lump that built in his throat. “How…” he had to pause there and clear his throat, the dryness making it scratch until he wheezed his next breath.
He heard Magnus move quickly moments before the bed dipped. A hand cupped the back of his head and Alec found himself lifted and something cool pressed to his lips. “Drink,” Magnus murmured. “That’s it, small sips, Alexander.”
Alec did as he was told, sipping down the water until he felt less like he'd swallowed sandpaper. Magnus lowered him back down once he was finished and took the cup away.
“There we are. Better?”
Hesitantly, Alec nodded. He did feel a little better. Unfortunately, sitting up like that to sip the water only served to wake him up a little more. Enough that his brain started to function again. Alec swallowed and asked the question he was dreading. “Where am I? What... what happened?” What did I do?
Magnus settled himself on the edge of the bed near Alec's hip. Having him so close felt strange, and yet Alec didn’t try to move away. Nor did he try and stop it when Magnus reached down to curl his hand over Alec’s. It felt so strange and right and overwhelming in a strange sort of way Alec didn’t have words for.
The fire that had been so calm moments ago gave a happy little rumble in his chest, drawing Alec’s attention to it.
Before he could get a chance to truly start to panic about it, Magnus squeezed his hand and then reached out with his other one to press his palm flat right over that spot where the fire burned warmest. “Deep breath, shadowhunter. Stay calm.”
If he thought that would help Alec calm down, he was wrong. Every muscle in Alec’s body locked down a little tighter. Whatever was going on, it had to be bad if Magnus was hesitating to tell him. He hadn’t hesitated once with any blunt truths on the ship. “What happened?”
Magnus stayed quiet for a moment more, looking down at Alec with a mixture of worry and something else Alec couldn’t quite name though it made his stomach twist. Suspicion, maybe? Disbelief? “You saved us,” he said. Another brief hint of hesitation, and then, “When the guard went to kill me you… exploded.”
Those words had Alec’s body going still for a split second. Then, it was like something in him unlocked, and images of fire rolled through Alec’s mind. The building, burning pressure inside him, tearing its way through his body. The glint of the seraph blade as it lifted in the air, so close to coming down on Magnus…
The hand on Alec’s chest pressed down and rubbed in a slow, steady circle. “I’m okay,” Magnus reassured him. He kept up the steady stroking on Alec’s chest that felt far more soothing than it had any right to. “We both are. As well as quite a few of the other captives. The power explosion you let out took out the guards and quite a few others and sent them flying into the water. It also blasted down the wards around the ship. With those gone, people who had been trying to track me were able to finally get a signal through. They portaled in and helped get out everyone we could.”
Alec blinked up at him. That sounded… impossible. And yet, he remembered fire roaring out of him, flames pouring out to take down anyone standing in his way. It was hazy, but Alec remembered it. The idea of him exploding power, though – he couldn't wrap his brain around it even though he could clearly remember it. Could still feel that power in him now, settled in his chest under Magnus' hand like a cat purring under the stroke of his palm.
Slowly, carefully, Alec shifted himself so he could look down to where Magnus’ hand sat. He drew himself up on one elbow and then the other. Then he looked down at his body.
Nothing seemed all that different. Not really. A wave of relief washed over Alec at the sight of his runes. Alec’s gaze darted lower, and this time his relief was even stronger when he saw the parabatai rune still there. Though…
Alec furrowed his brow and stared closer at the rune. It looked… different. Were the edges a little more… swirled? The edges carried a faint flare to them that he didn’t remember being there. Runes were beautiful; Alec had always thought so. But they were as utilitarian as Alec himself. As they were all trained to be.
This wasn't utilitarian. This was art.
He barely resisted the urge to reach down and trace his fingers over it. Instead, he let his eyes travel over all his other visible runes, taking in the same swirling edges. They reminded him a little of something. What, he wasn’t sure.
“That mind of yours never stops going, does it?”
Alec tore his gaze away from his runes to once more look up at the man above him. Magnus still sat there watching him, one hand no longer clasped in Alec’s but the other still pressed flat over his chest. Something which Alec should’ve found uncomfortable. He wasn’t exactly known for letting people touch him. Yet the touch was steadying. Calming. He wanted to lean into it.
Instead, he pressed against it for a moment while he pushed his body up more, ignoring the little furrow that built between Magnus’ brows as he did. Alec carefully leveraged himself up and then scooted back until he could lean back against the wall at the head of the bed. It put deliberate distance between them and drew him away from Magnus’ touch. He tried not to let it show how uncomfortable that made him.
The fire in his chest burned a little hotter.
Alec licked his lips and lifted his chin in a gesture his siblings and anyone at his Institute would’ve recognized as Alec setting his heels in about something. It was a look he took when he was done playing around and ready for answers. That busy mind that Magnus had commented on was already racing with all the new information, and what he was coming up with wasn’t exactly good.
He wanted to insist that he couldn’t have had some power explosion. That Magnus had to have been the one to make all that fire. Alec was a shadowhunter – a nephilim! He wasn’t a… he wasn’t anything else.
But the burning in his chest, the slow-growing itch under his skin that seemed to be coming back the longer he was awake, the swirls on his runes, and everything Valentine had done to him… Alec didn’t have the luxury of ignorance. He’d never been able to afford to be blind about his own flaws. “Valentine’s serum.” Pausing, Alec tried to find the next words, tried to figure out how to ask the myriad of questions he had. Words felt so hard.
Magnus was kind enough not to make him. “We don’t know what exactly was in it. Not entirely. But, judging by some things we have a pretty good guess.”
“We?”
It was easier to focus on that for the moment than anything else.
“Me and my friends,” Magnus supplied quickly. He shifted around until he could draw both legs up on the bed. It left him sitting cross legged in front of Alec. Hands folded in his lap, eyes focused right on Alec’s. “The place we brought you to belongs to a few friends of mine. It’s well hidden away from the shadow world, and the mundane world, really. We used to bring Valentine’s experiments here back when he was in his prime. It’s a safe place for us to check over and help anyone who’s been harmed by that bastard.”
“Why did you bring me here?” Alec asked bluntly.
They both knew what Magnus meant when he said ‘anyone’ – and that ‘anyone’ definitely didn’t include shadowhunters. This no doubt had to be a place for downworlders to come and recover from Valentine’s experimentation, but not shadowhunters. With good reason, too.
There’d been rumors of places like this. Nothing concrete, nothing that even really confirmed this place existed. Just a whispered knowledge. The Clave desperately wanted to know where it was at.
Magnus didn’t bat an eye or look away from Alec’s face. “Because you’ve been just as affected by Valentine’s experiments as anyone else. You deserved a safe place to figure it out, and to recover.”
“I’m not a downworlder.”
The speed with which Alec said that no doubt made the words sound far more offensive than he meant them to. As did the defensive edge even he could hear in his voice. Thankfully, Magnus didn’t seem too bothered by it. “Not entirely,” he said, giving a small nod. “But you’re not entirely a nephilim anymore either.”
Those blunt words had Alec flinching. He turned his head away, unable to bear looking at Magnus for a moment, and let his gaze drift to the window and the sunlight streaming in. Alec stared blankly at the green trees in the distance.
For all the bluntness with which Magnus had said that he wasn’t exactly lying, was he? Alec wasn’t entirely nephilim anymore. He’d known that from the moment that first needle had pierced his skin. Alec had been prepared for death then – even if he'd planned to survive, had wanted desperately to live and to get back home, telling himself the whole time that it was to stop Valentine's war, a part of him had been prepared for death. Whether it be by Valentine's hand or by that of his own people. He'd pushed that worry away, figuring that he'd have time enough to do that later once he got away, once he broke the others free, once he stopped his mother from staging an unnecessary war. Alec had worked toward those goals with a single-mindedness born of the understanding that, when it was all said and done, life as he'd known it was over.
Now he sat here with Magnus Bane – High Warlock of Brooklyn and someone Alec knew all about from stories and whispers and reports – saying blunt words that shouldn't hurt as much as they did. Words that rang with truth. Alec was something else now. Something… something Valentine had spent weeks molding.
He was a test subject. A failed one.
Alec didn't know what to do with that. He couldn't process it. Not now, not sitting here in this strange bed, in this sunny bedroom surrounded by the scent of sandalwood and magic and something he didn’t have a name for. Not with Magnus sitting there watching him with sympathy in his eyes and warmth radiating off his skin.
“Alexander?” Magnus said softly, reaching out to lay his hand over Alec's again.
The kindness in that gesture had Alec wanting to draw in on himself. He didn't want that kind of comfort; not when he knew what he had to do. The only real option that waited for him.
Alec pulled his hand away before Magnus could clasp it. Out of the corner of his eye he saw the frown that flitted over Magnus’ lips. He didn’t let it stop him, though. He didn’t let himself feel bad. Duty above all else. A motto that shadowhunters lived and bled and died by.
“I should go,” Alec said flatly.
He didn’t have to look at Magnus to feel the other man’s surprise. It was like a static tingle against his skin. “Go? Where – why?”
Slowly, without ever looking over at Magnus, Alec twisted his body and slid his legs off the bed. He was pleased to find they only trembled for a moment before they firmed. Looking down, he took note of the fact that he was in sweatpants and little else. He’d have to find clothes, shoes, anything really to cover up with.
A faint hint of something white on his arm drew his focus to a bandage he hadn’t even realized was there before. If that wasn’t a sign of how out of it he still felt, than he didn’t know what was. The bandage wrapped around almost his whole bicep.
“Alexander?”
“Are my clothes here somewhere?” Alec asked, ignoring the question in Magnus’ voice. With one hand braced on the wall, Alec pushed himself up to his feet.
He felt it as Magnus rose with him, hands out, ready to catch him if Alec stumbled. He didn’t. “The last thing you need to be doing is going anywhere…”
“It’s exactly what I need to do,” Alec argued immediately. “I need to get back home before a war breaks out that New York won’t be able to come back from.”
He turned toward Magnus to say something else – to demand clothes, maybe – and being on his feet like this should’ve made him feel a little better, a little more himself. Yet looking down at Magnus only made him feel all the more off-kilter. A feeling of wrongness fluttered through the fire in Alec’s chest. His body tingled, and the itching pressed against his skin once more, almost stealing his breath away with the ferocity of it.
Magnus’ eyes went wide. He stepped in closer and brought his hand up like he was going to reach for Alec's chest again. To do what, Alec didn't know. Use magic somehow, clearly. Alec could already feel the waves of calm that seemed to be pouring off the other man. It had Alec taking a full step backward just to get away from it.
The sudden movement seemed to startle Magnus out of whatever spell he was weaving. His hand froze in the air between them for a long moment before it curled back into a fist and dropped down to his side.
The itching eased a little. Not much, though. But enough to at least push it to the back of his mind.
“Alexander.” Magnus' tone took on a softer edge. He didn't come closer anymore, yet it felt like he was still trying to reach for Alec with his voice instead. The gentleness was such a far cry from the sarcasm they'd spent most of their time there talking with. “I understand how desperately you want to go home. I do. And you're not wrong – we need to do something to keep war from breaking out in the Downworld. But... you have to know you can't go back there. Not right now. Whatever Valentine gave you has changed you. We don't know how drastically, or how to reverse it, but we do know that the Clave won't see anything but those differences. Going back like this is just as likely to start the war as staying away.”
The truth of those words struck out at Alec like blows. He had to fight not to stagger under the force of them. Magnus had laid it out bluntly and honestly, and Alec knew he was right. He couldn’t go back like this. Not until he knew how to reverse it, or if he even could.
It felt like Alec's world rocked with that revelation. It took a second for him to realize that it wasn't just metaphorical – the room around them was actually shaking. The bed, the dresser, the windows, even the door rattled.
Alec's eyes shot open as soon as he realized what was happening. in a panic, he looked from one place to the next, taking in the way everything shook like some mini earthquake. If Alec had needed any proof of Magnus' words this would've been it. He couldn't even deny that he was the one doing it. Not when the fire in his chest grew and the itch intensified and his insides felt like they were vibrating the same as the world around him. Alec gasped in a breath and felt the world gasp with him.
Something outside the room thudded, getting louder and closer.
Magnus didn't seem to pay any attention to that. He took a step forward, the worry on his face transforming into determination. “Look at me,” he said, lifting his hand and ignoring Alec's flinch to once more press it over Alec's heart. “Focus right here, Alexander. I need you to take a deep breath for me.”
The door flew open. Two men stood there, a slender dark-haired man and another man who stood out a little more with green skin and two prominent horns.
Alec only got a glimpse before Magnus pressed down harder. The force of his hand backed Alec up a step and put his back up against the wall. Magnus didn't hesitate to crowd in with him. He kept the one hand on Alec's chest, and he waved the other at the two who'd come in. His eyes stayed locked on Alec. “Ignore them for now. Take a deep breath for me, that's good. Now another one. Just keep breathing for me.”
Alec obeyed, doing as Magnus said. He focused on the pressure of that hand on his chest and let Magnus guide him through each breath. In, out. In, out. It was hard to ignore the other two in the doorway – especially when Alec could feel their gazes locked on him like they expected him to explode any moment – but Magnus kept talking and Alec lost himself in the smooth cadence of his voice.
He lost track of time as they stood there. He breathed, Magnus kept pressing down on his chest, and Alec finally felt the itching ease once more. Magnus seemed to sense it just as much as Alec did. He smiled, a tension Alec hadn't noticed until now melting away from his shoulders. “There we go. Better?”
“What the hell was that?” Alec demanded. He tried to sound sharp, yet he was pretty sure the words came out with more of a gasp to them than he'd wanted.
Magnus' smile dimmed a little, though it didn't disappear entirely. “That was you losing control of your new powers. It's common for new warlocks to lose control a little when their emotions get high and affect the area around them.”
Those words – new warlocks – had Alec flinching. “I'm not warlock.” He said that with the same conviction that he'd said he wasn't a Downworlder earlier.
“Not entirely,” another voice said. When Alec's eyes darted over Magnus' shoulder, he found the dark-haired man gone, and the man with the green skin had stepped a little closer. He watched Alec with narrowed eyes that spoke of distrust – whether that was for Alec being a shadowhunter, or for what his magic might do, or both.
A twitch crossed Magnus' face that he quickly controlled. “Ragnor...”
The other man – Ragnor, apparently – scoffed at him and cut off his words. “If we left this to you, you'd be coddling the boy for the next year.”
“And you think insulting him will help?” Magnus snapped back. He sounded offended on Alec's behalf.
The itching started back up again.
“I think giving him truth right up front will go over far better than drawing it out and making him suffer,” Ragnor fired right back. Then he proceeded to ignore Magnus entirely, and the huffed sound of annoyance he made, and he turned his focus to Alec. “Valentine's serum changed you. I'm pretty sure you've figured that part out for yourself already. We can't know exactly what was in there unless he told you and you didn't share that with Magnus...”
When Ragnor paused, Alec realized it was a deliberate gap for him to fill in. He hesitated for a moment before answering. “He didn't tell me everything. Valentine kept a lot of things to himself. He just said it was something new.”
It didn't look like Ragnor was all that surprised by Alec's answer. “Without analyzing your blood, we only have guesses. But going by what we do know about Valentine and his experiments, we're positive he had some sort of fae blood in there. The way your runes have changed gives proof to that. They're taking on the stylized edge of...”
“...fae tattoos,” Alec finished for him, finally connecting the pieces of where he'd seen something like that before. His runes weren't exactly like the tattoos he'd seen on the seelie or the unseelie. But they were close enough.
Ragnor nodded. He reached out, nudging Magnus back a little so that the two stood side by side. Magnus let go of Alec reluctantly, watching as he did as if Alec might explode simply because Magnus let go of him.
He deliberately didn't think about how off kilter he felt at the loss of contact.
“You think there was some sort of warlock or demon blood in there, too,” Alec guessed, filling in the blanks again.
Another nod. This time Ragnor's gaze drifted to Magnus. “Not just any warlock blood.”
“Mine,” Magnus said, his voice a bit flat. The fire in Alec's chest fluttered. Lifting his chin, Magnus met Alec's gaze again, and that look reminded Alec of the early days of seeing one another. When Magnus had still been cautious around him, but no longer outright suspicious. “It would explain why your magic responded to me being in danger, why it feels a little like mine – it grew from a seed of my own power.”
“By using Magnus' blood in the serum, and how well your body has taken it, Valentine inadvertently created a bond between the two of you,” Ragnor said. He sounded almost clinical about it.
Alec's brain stalled on one word in that, though. A word he knew meant quite a lot to his people, and, if what little he knew of warlocks was true, would also mean a hell of a lot to warlocks, too. Far more than the simplicity of the word might suggest. “What kind of bond?”
Ragnor and Magnus exchanged a look. One of those ones that only two people who knew one another so well would be able to share. The kind that said a thousand words without ever making a sound. Magnus looked back at Alec, and there was a hesitation to his voice that Alec hated hearing. “The kind that means that you and I are tied together now. Our magic recognizes one another – responds to one another. If one of us is in danger, it's likely that the other will feel it.”
The huff Ragnor let out managed to sound amused, exasperated, and worried all at the same time. “In layman's terms – meet your newly soul-bonded husband, shadowhunter.”
Chapter Text
Alec stared at the two of them with what he was sure was a completely dumbfounded expression on his face. Soul-bonded? He was soul-bonded? To Magnus Bane?
The words repeated over and over in Alec’s mind. Yet they didn’t seem to make any more sense no matter which way he looked at them.
“Ragnor!” Magnus hissed sharply.
“What?” Ragnor fired back. He didn’t sound the least bit contrite. “He deserves to know. You’d sugarcoat things and let him walk all over you. Pardon me for not wanting that to happen.”
Their argument flowed over Alec like water. He barely paid it any attention, his mind already drowning in all the other information he’d been given. There was so much to process. He was changing, his body and soul shifting into something he wasn’t going to be able to change back from – some sort of mix of a nephilim, a fae, and a warlock – and as icing on the cake it somehow ended up with his soul being bonded to the freaking High Warlock of Brooklyn.
Any semblance of going back to his old life faded away.
He hadn’t realized he’d still held some small speck of hope until it was suddenly gone.
“Alexander?”
Alec blinked, dragging himself out of his thoughts to once more look up at the two men standing in front of him. They stared back at him with twin looks of worry. Alec couldn’t blame them. He felt like he was about to crack right open. This can't be happening. “Is there any way to get rid of it?”
He ignored the way the two in front of him flinched. It was harder to ignore how the fire in his chest flinched, though.
“No,” Ragnor said simply. Magnus elbowed him, which earned him a glare. Ragnor didn’t back down. “It's true. No warlock magic we know of can break a soul bond once it's formed. Not even something like this.” His words were firm, though he looked at least a little apologetic. “A soul-bond created with blood and magic isn't something you can just cut away. It's a mingling of souls in one of our most sacred rituals.”
Alec felt his stomach twist. “There's got to be something.” Anything. He couldn't – this was his life. If they couldn't figure out some way to fix it, it would mean Alec's life as he knew it would be over. He wouldn't be allowed back among the nephilim. He wouldn't even be able to show his face to his family, not like this.
Just the thought of what Maryse might do to him was enough to have Alec's stomach giving a sick roll.
He missed the way that Magnus twitched a little, but his attention snapped up when he saw the man come forward, moving back toward his side. He lifted a hand as he did like he was going to touch Alec again, an “I'm sorry” already on his lips.
Alec jerked back before Magnus could touch him. He had to ignore the hurt that flickered over Magnus' face at that. Alec didn't have time to deal with that. He didn't have time to feel guilty, or to feel anything else. He needed to focus. “So you're telling me there's no way to reverse this – any of this? I'm just... I'm just stuck like this, with powers I don't want?” And a husband he didn't want either. He didn't say that last part but he was pretty sure they heard the words anyway.
Something flickered over Magnus' face before he drew it back behind his masks. The cool look of the High Warlock hid any feelings he might've been letting through. More than Alec had realized, honestly. He'd barely noticed what he was seeing – or what he was feeling in his chest, this strange echo that was like the parabatai bond only so much stronger – until suddenly it was gone. Abruptly, Alec felt so very alone.
“It seems we're both stuck with things,” Magnus said sharply, with that hint of derision he'd had when he first met Alec. The one that said 'shadowhunter' and a thousand other words at once. All of them bad.
Alec straightened his spine and forced himself not to back down. Not from Magnus, not from this. Not from any of it. He'd never been the type to back down, not when it was important. And what was more important than this? “We'll figure something out.”
Magnus lifted his chin, that cool look still in his eyes. “If you think you can figure out some way to fix this that none of the countless beings before you have been able to come up with, without destroying both our souls, be my guest.” His tone made it clear what he thought of that – and what he thought of Alec. “In the meantime, I have far better things to do. There are people downstairs who I can actually help who have it far worse than either of us.”
Without another word, Magnus spun on his heel and swept out of the room. Ragnor followed after him, throwing Alec a look over his shoulder that Alec couldn't quite read. It didn't really matter. Not when his heart was pounding so hard and his body ached from head to toe with whatever the hell Valentine had done to him.
As soon as the door snapped shut behind them it felt like every ounce of oomph Alec had built up suddenly faded away. He managed to step toward the bed but that was about it before his legs gave way. Thank the angel no one was around to see the graceless way he practically fell down onto the edge of the bed.
The fire in his chest burned hotter, almost as if it were as frustrated as Magnus had been. Alec tried not to think about the implications of that.
Closing his eyes, he clenched his hands into the side of the mattress and tried to force his racing brain to think. There was just too much to think about – he couldn’t seem to figure out what the hell to focus on first.
No, that was a lie. He knew what he should focus on: how to get back home, how to stop the war between Maryse and the warlocks, how to use what little he could remember about Valentine to help them stop him somehow.
Instead, Alec’s thoughts kept looping over everything he’d just learned. About himself, Magnus, their bond, their marriage. No, not a marriage. Not by his laws. Maybe the warlocks considered them some sort of warlock-married. That didn’t mean that they were, though. They hadn’t stood in front of their people in white and gold. They hadn’t said their vows with a Silent Brother presiding over them. Nor did they share runes.
Does it matter? It’s not like you’re a shadowhunter anymore anyway. You’re never going to have that kind of ceremony.
Those thoughts had Alec flinching. He forcibly shoved them down the same way he’d been shoving down quite a few other thoughts for a very long time now.
He needed to focus. His life, his future, this bond, all of that could wait. There was another bond that was far more important that Alec needed to think about.
Jace.
Alec lifted a hand from the edge of the bed to bring it up and curl it once more over his parabatai rune. He reached out to the bond at the same time and, for the first time since this whole mess had started Alec allowed himself to relax that tight hold on the bond. To deliberately open it up and let himself feel the wash of his parabatai’s feelings. Worry. Determination. Fear. Love. Joy, flaring bright as Jace no doubt felt the bond open up on his end. Even stronger worry, followed by a wash of protectiveness that stole Alec’s breath away.
He had to close his eyes as he leaned into the feelings that felt so much stronger than they ever had. Had everything he’d been through changed this, too? Made it stronger somehow? Alec didn’t know, but he knew he could feel more of Jace than ever before, and he soaked it in, needing the comfort of it in a way he hadn’t before now.
The fire in his chest seemed to settle, easing back to something far more comfortable.
This wasn’t as good as a phone call. Something which Alec would have to do eventually. A phone call, a fire message, something. He had to reach out to Jace somehow. But for now, for a moment, Alec let himself get lost in just sitting there feeling the comfort of the soul he’d willingly bonded himself to.
As much as Alec wanted to lose himself in freely being able to open the bond and feel his parabatai, reassuring both of them that he was okay – or as okay as he would get – Alec couldn’t afford that luxury right now. Not when so much was still at stake here. So many things he couldn’t keep putting off.
He had to figure out how to get out of here. How to get back to New York and stop what his mother was trying to do. Or, at the very least, reach out and properly speak to his brother and sister to try and get a feel for what was happening at his Institute and in his city.
Alec’s mind raced through all of that, trying to build some sort of plan, figure out something.
He barely got going in those plans when a little tug in his chest drew his focus outward. That fire shifted, nudging at him, and Alec followed it without thought, twisting himself on the bed in just enough time to watch as the door opened and Ragnor came walking in.
The man had a tray balanced on one hip, and he watched Alec with a serious sort of look on his face. One that left Alec feeling like he was being analyzed and weighed.
Alec didn’t back down from that look. It was one he was far too used to getting – and to not being able to measure up against whatever standard that person was using. He didn’t let it bother him. Straightening his spine, he deliberately stayed on the bed, though he twisted himself to draw one leg up until he could face Ragnor head on.
Whatever Ragnor saw in that gesture had his lips twitching ever so slightly. That was the only outward sign he gave, though. He came right in and set the tray down on the nightstand with a casual ease that Alec was pretty sure was a farce. “I brought you food,” he said, gesturing to the tray.
“I’m not hungry,” Alec said flatly. He knew the other man could hear the lie in his words just as easily as he could. He just didn’t care.
Amusement grew on Ragnor’s face. He didn’t even bother to try and hide it this time. “You need to eat.” The words were said bluntly, with that same lack of… not care. More like, lack of fear? Suspicion? There was none of the antagonism that Magnus had shown when he’d first met Alec. Nor the scorn Alec had heard in the voice of quite a few downworlders when they spoke to him. Instead, Ragnor’s attitude reminded him a little of himself – a low tolerance for people in general.
For a single moment Alec hesitated, watching him. Then he reached out and picked up a sandwich. While he didn’t feel particularly hungry, he knew Ragnor was right. He needed to eat.
“It's not poisoned,” Ragnor said dryly. He crossed his arms over his chest and lifted an eyebrow, looking down at Alec with amusement still written so blatantly on his face. A kind of amusement that tried to make Alec feel like a ridiculous child throwing some sort of tantrum.
Unfortunately for him, Alec was far too used to that sort of look to let himself be visibly bothered by it. “Good to know.”
“Not a fan of starting your day off with a bit of poison?”
Despite himself, Alec huffed out a sound that was half snort, half laugh. “Not typically, no.”
Ragnor rolled his eyes. “Shadowhunters.”
A flick of Ragnor’s wrist and a weird little tingle against Alec’s skin warned him right as a chair came into existence right by the corner of the bed. Alec raised his eyebrows and watched Ragnor sink down into the seat. “No, please, make yourself at home,” Alec said dryly.
Grinning outright, Ragnor tipped his head. “Thank you, I think I will.” He gestured to the tray. “Eat. Magnus may be a little afraid to push you too hard right now, but I have no such qualms.”
Considering what he'd seen of the man so far Alec had no doubt about that. He took a bite of his sandwich simply to prove that point. Ragnor watched him for a long moment before he nodded. Then he settled back in his chair, crossing one ankle over the other knee, and proceeded to lounge there like he planned to sit and watch Alec eat every bite.
Alec tried not to let it bother him. He looked at Ragnor while he chewed, and it only took a moment for him to think about how he wanted to play what could be a very important conversation. So far, bluntness and sarcasm seemed to be the way Ragnor communicated, and what he responded to best. Luckily, Alec was quite fluent in that. “Was there something you wanted?” he asked him between bites. “Or did you just want to watch me eat?”
“Trust me, I have far better things to do than sit and witness another bout of nephilim manners.” The words were sharp and just a bit biting, yet they still held that edge of humor to them. Alec found himself grinning at Ragnor before he realized it.
That seemed to amuse Ragnor more than anything else. He didn't hesitate to grin right back. “I have known Magnus for a very, very long time. Long enough to know that he tends to take on things – and people – without thinking them through entirely. He's always been someone who sees a problem and wants to solve it immediately. And, unfortunately, he has a soft spot for shadowhunters.”
A soft spot wasn't exactly how Alec would've described Magnus' opinion of shadowhunters. At least not him.
“That soft spot is why I’m here. I’m not blinded by a sob story or a pretty face.” Those words were said with a bit more seriousness than the others. Ragnor’s gaze sharpened a little as he watched Alec. “Whether or not you are ready to accept it, you’re bonded to one of my closest friends. Someone who is very dear to my heart, and to the hearts of many. I’d be remiss in my duties to him if I didn’t ensure that his newly bonded husband was going to treat him with the respect that he deserves.”
“He’s not my husband,” Alec shot back instinctively.
Ragnor scoffed at him and waved a hand dismissively through the hair. “By your standards, no. But that doesn’t make the title any less true. Nor any less binding.”
Alec didn't argue that. He couldn't. Not when he knew Ragnor was right. By warlock laws, he and Magnus were married. It didn't matter that not a single one of Alec's cultural rituals had been included. No vows had been said. By magical laws Alec wasn’t even aware of, he now had a husband. One it seemed he couldn’t just shrug off.
Still, that didn't stop him from trying to argue it. “A madman gave me a serum that changed my body against my will. Just because it happened to contain your friend’s blood and magic doesn't mean I'm his now.”
“You're not his property, Lightwood. You're who fate and magic chose as his partner.” Ragnor leaned forward in his chair, that serious look coming back over his face. “Soul bonds are powerful. They don't just happen because a madman gave you a serum that happened to carry blood. They’re formed by the power of two souls that are meant to be together – and your bond with Magnus is just as true as any marriage bond.”
Alec fought back the urge to scoff. He didn’t believe in fate. Not like that. Fate didn’t magically choose two people to be together. It sure as hell didn’t choose to put him with Magnus Bane.
Ragnor saw the disbelief written all over Alec's face and shook his head. “It's true. Whether you feel comfortable admitting it or not won't change things. The sooner you come to accept that, the easier things will be going forward.” All at once, Ragnor softened a little. He looked almost... friendly. Definitely more understanding than he'd been a moment ago. “I'm not saying it's fair, or it's right. Nor am I saying you have to fall madly in love with him. What I am saying is that there's no point in making both you and Magnus miserable by being enemies. You clearly made some sort of friendship in your time as captives. Don't throw it away now. You're tied to him for the rest of your life.”
Alec didn’t answer. He didn’t know what to say to that. No part of him wanted to be Magnus' enemy. He didn’t want to be his friend, either. He just wanted to go back to his old life and forget any of this had ever happened.
Unfortunately, while Alec could delude himself on some things, he couldn't ignore something this big.
“Just think about it,” Ragnor said quietly. He pushed up from his chair and vanished it with a wave of his hand. At the same time, he summoned something to the end of Alec’s bed. A glance showed a stack of clothes. “In the meantime, finish your meal, help yourself to the shower. When you’re ready to talk we’ll be downstairs trying to put together a plan on what to do next before your mother starts a war we don’t want to have to finish.”
Without giving Alec time to say anything to that, he turned around and left the room, shutting the door behind him.
Chapter 9
Notes:
You guys get both 9&10 today cause I wanted to catch up to where I'm at with editing. So, enjoy! :D
Chapter Text
Alec took Ragnor’s advice and showered and dressed in the clothes he’d left him after he finished eating. He avoided looking over his own body as he did. The last thing he wanted was to see more of the strange runes that would only remind him of just how different he was. As if the burning in his chest would ever let him forget.
Once he’d dressed, he felt steady enough and calm enough to finally head downstairs.
He still wasn’t entirely sure what to think about everything Ragnor had said to him. Nor about the stuff he’d learned before that. But sitting up in his room hiding wasn’t an option. He couldn’t stay up there forever.
The itch in his chest agreed. It burned hotter the closer Alec got to the door, urging him downstairs, and Alec didn’t fight it. He let it lead him down the stairs of what looked to be some sort of cozy wood and stone home – not a cottage, no, it felt much bigger than that. The hall was wider than most, the ceilings a bit higher than a standard mundane home. It reminded Alec a little of the Institute, honestly, only warmer. The wood gave it a cozier edge than simply stone would.
That tug in his chest drew Alec through the hall and down to a tall wooden door. He lifted a hand to knock but didn’t even get the chance before the door magically swung open. Alec watched it with raised eyebrows. Then, with a mental shrug, he stepped inside.
The room beyond was much like the hallway – warm and cozy, with dark wood everywhere. Alec barely got a chance to take it in before his eyes landed on the group of people gathered around a table in the middle of the room.
Magnus sat at one end of the table with a cup of coffee in front of him. Ragnor stood beside him, leaning back against the wall, and they seemed to be deep in conversation. On the opposite end of the table were two women Alec didn't recognize. One with blue skin and white hair who seemed caught up in conversation with the other woman, who was clearly also a warlock, judging by green hair that resembled ivy or moss or some sort of plant that looked like it grew from her head down to the ground.
All four of them stopped talking as Alec entered the room. Magnus straightened a little, his eyes widening a bit, and that place inside where he seemed to carry this strange fire in his chest, the place he couldn't deny the bond seemed to anchor in, gave a little pulse of what Alec thought might be surprise. He didn't say anything – he didn't have to. Ragnor spoke up for him. “About time you joined us, Lightwood. I was beginning to wonder if you planned on drowning yourself up there before coming down.”
Ragnor's blatant sarcasm was far easier for Alec to deal with than the suspicious and incredulous stares from the others. “Sorry to disappoint you.”
“There’s always later,” Ragnor said easily, shrugging as he did.
The blue-skinned woman snorted, not even trying to hide it. Alec ignored her, and the glare of the other woman, and made his way toward the table. He deliberately chose to bypass all the other seats and take the one directly at Magnus’ side. Magnus didn’t bat an eye at that, though the bond gave a little twinge.
Alec had had plenty of time to think while in the shower. While he might not agree with everything Ragnor said – he still didn’t believe in some sort of fate bringing them together, or whatever perfect, picturesque future Ragnor seemed to be painting for them – and he still planned on doing whatever research he could to find a way to break this, he had to admit the man was right about one thing. Being enemies with Magnus wouldn’t get him anywhere.
They’d formed a sort of alliance before, back in Valentine’s cells. There wasn’t any reason they couldn’t do the same here.
Magnus tilted his head so he could look at Alec, his expression hooded, and watched as he sank down into the seat.
All eyes were on him. Alec did his level best not to sink down under those sharp gazes. He sat comfortably, posture firm, and lifted his chin. “So, where do we start?”
It didn’t surprise him to see the way the others all exchanged looks. The two people he didn’t know seemed to be sizing him up, the same as Ragnor had earlier, and Alec stayed still under those stares. He wasn’t going to back down on this no matter what they felt or what they thought. This was his life they were discussing. His life, his people, his home. While he might not currently be at the Institute himself, he was still the official Head. Until the day the Clave took that from him, he had a duty to his people. One he wouldn’t shirk.
“Why don’t we take care of some introductions first?” Magnus suggested into the silence that had fallen over the table. A wave of his hand sent magic toward the door, shutting and locking it once more. Another snap, and a cup appeared in front of Alec, filled with steaming hot coffee.
As he sank back into his seat, Magnus gestured to the blue-skinned woman. “This is Catarina. She's one of the best healers I've ever known, and she's in charge of the care of all the survivors brought here.”
“Yourself included,” Catarina said brightly, smirking slightly at him. “After everything's said and done, I'd like a chance to look you over and talk to you a little.”
“The woman next to her is Seri, who is in charge of this sanctuary and all the people in it, as well as its protection.”
Seri nodded at Alec with a smile that managed to be both welcoming and yet cautious at the same time. Alec smiled back at her and inclined his head. “It's nice to meet you both,” he said politely.
“A shadowhunter with manners. How surprising,” Catarina said. Her smile took the sharper edge of the sting from her words.
Alec knew better than to let himself bristle. He'd heard far worse said to him with far less polite smiles. He knew how to play the game when he needed to. “I do my best,” he said, dipping his head in a faint nod.
Seri hid her own smile behind her hand. She nodded at Alec, but that was all the greeting he got. All that they had time for, apparently. She kept her stare on him and dove right in without hesitation. “We’re running out of time,” she said in a surprisingly smooth, deep voice. “We need to figure out something to do and soon. According to Catarina’s information, the nephilim in New York are starting to mobilize. No outright war has been declared, not yet, but tensions are running high.”
“I’ve sent out orders for all my people to get off the streets,” Magnus chimed in. He didn’t sound happy about it. Probably because he knew just as well as Alec did that it would only serve as further proof to Maryse that the warlocks had done something wrong. She’d take it as hiding from wrong-doing.
Catarina huffed out a breath. She looked between Magnus and Seri, shaking her head. “If we're lucky, that'll keep some of our people safe for a little longer. But it won't do a damn bit of good in stopping this.”
Luckily, Alec had been thinking about how to do exactly that the whole time he'd been showering. No matter that he knew they weren't going to like his answer, it was still the only answer they had. “We need to reach out to the Institute.”
Instant fear hit the bond. Magnus' sharp “No!” was almost instantaneous.
Ragnor spoke up before Alec could argue back. “Turning you over to the Clave isn't exactly going to solve anything, Lightwood. It might actually make it worse depending on how much they want to believe your story, and how much they'll want to still blame warlocks for your capture.”
“Only if I go by myself.”
The whole room went silent.
Alec tried to ignore all the eyes locked on him. There was only one person he needed to speak to right now – one person he had to convince. And it was the one person who looked actively horrified at Alec's plan. Magnus stared at him with wide eyes and a pale face. He shook his head sharply. “Walking in there would be tantamount to suicide. For both of us,” Magnus said.
“If we relied solely on my mother, yes, it would be.” As much as it hurt Alec to admit that, he couldn't deny it. No matter how much he might want to think that there was enough of the soft mother he'd once known hidden underneath the commander she'd become, he couldn't bet his life on it. Or Magnus'. Not on the tail of everything he'd learned about his mother recently. “I'm not proposing to leave this entirely in my mother's hands, though.”
“What are you planning, then?” Catarina asked him.
Alec kept his eyes on Magnus as he answered. “The day I was taken, I'd just returned from Idris where I'd been granted Headship over the New York Institute. It and its people are mine to protect and to command, under the eyes of the angels. But I've been running the Institute since I was fourteen. The people in it, save for a few I haven't been able to transfer out yet, are loyal to me. I'm suggesting that we reach out to a few that I trust, my parabatai included, and arrange a meeting somewhere away from the Institute. Not here...” This was clearly a sanctuary. A safe place that Alec would not risk by bringing shadowhunters to. “Somewhere neutral, where we could give our testimony in front of trusted witnesses.”
His plan wasn't perfect, Alec knew that. There were so many ways it could go wrong. He just couldn't see any other way around it. There were too many variables that Alec didn't know – couldn't know – until he had a chance to sit down and talk to those he trusted. He needed to know what was happening back home, with his Institute, with his family, with Valentine. Then he'd be able to figure out his next steps.
Magnus stared at him like he was trying to read Alec's mind. “They're going to question why we didn't come straight to the Institute.”
“To which I can recite back some of the things Valentine said to me that make it clear that he has a spy within the walls of my Institute.”
The horror still sat in the back of Magnus' gaze – coloring the edges of their bond – but something else seemed to be taking its place. A sharpness that Alec had no doubt helped to earn the man the reputation he had. Something calculating that had Alec straightening his spine and lifting his chin.
“You're asking a lot of people you've never met to take a lot of risks based off of your word alone.” Magnus was quiet as he said that, though the words were pointed.
Alec refused to flinch. “Seeing as how the risks are mine, I'm okay with that.”
“You think they won't accuse us of doing something to you? Tampering with your memory?”
“Not if you bring along a warlock the Clave will trust to perform a truth spell as we give our testimony,” Alec said firmly. He lifted his eyes from Magnus and let them drift up, over his shoulder, to where Ragnor was staring at him. “Someone the Clave knows, who they keep on file as a somewhat trusted warlock. Someone who used to work for our Academy and is known by quite a few high-ranking Clave officials.”
Ragnor raised an eyebrow. He didn't look particularly surprised by Alec's suggestion. If anything, he looked amused. “I was wondering when you'd turn those keen observation skills of yours on me, Lightwood.”
Alec didn't say anything to that. He didn't need to.
The room once more fell silent while everyone processed Alec’s words. His plan was risky, dangerously so. But… it was all they had. Nothing that Alec had been able to think of so far gave them any better opportunity at stopping the war. Alec might not be able to do anything else once this was all said and done, but he could do this. He could keep his mother from waging war on the warlocks as well as lay the groundwork for everyone after him to help keep Jace and the city safe.
Alec watched Magnus silently. He waited, and prayed that the warlock would understand why he needed to do this. Why he needed to take this risk.
For a long moment, Magnus simply stared right back at him. The tug in his chest clued Alec in on the maelstrom of feelings that were running through Magnus, and for the first time Alec found himself wondering if Magnus felt the same from him. Could he pick up on Alec's emotions, too? Could he feel his fear, his determination?
The thought had Alec wanting to duck his head to hide. He'd always been a private person; even with Jace, he still managed to keep parts of himself private. But feeling Magnus in his chest and seeing the way those eyes stared at him – those odd brown eyes, where Alec had grown used to gold – left the young shadowhunter feeling oddly bare.
Abruptly, Magnus let out a sigh that seemed to carry such a heavy weight to it that Alec found himself straightening. Everything felt like it held its breath waiting on whatever decision Magnus had made.
Then that feeling in Alec's chest seemed to firm and he knew. He knew what choice Magnus had made.
“Who were you thinking of asking to come?”
The next two hours were spent hammering out the details of their upcoming meeting. Not just who was coming, but where. Magnus and Alec butted heads on a few different points. Magnus wasn't entirely fond of the idea of bringing Alec's parabatai out into the field – a valid concern, considering how desperately Valentine wanted him and how Alec had been taken off the streets not too far from Magnus' home. A point that Alec also brought up when Magnus tried to suggest his own loft as a meeting place.
“You said how dangerous it'd be to have Jace walking in the streets there because of us being taken,” Alec pointed out sharply. “How is it any better to actually go into your loft?”
“Because my home is one of the single most protected places on the planet that doesn't house innocent people,” Magnus fired back.
Alec raised an eyebrow. “Right, so of course there's no chance at all of Valentine breaking in and snatching whoever came to meet with us from the comfort of your living room.”
Magnus glared at him. “Why do you think he attacked me outside my home? Because he felt too lazy to break in that day?”
“Maybe he wasn't as motivated as he is now to try and capture you!”
A low “Children” from Catarina cut them off before they could get any further in their argument. She shot them both an exasperated look that left Alec feeling slightly like a scolded child. “Can you two stop bickering long enough for us actually pick a place? Preferably before Maryse grows impatient and starts staging attacks on warlock homes within the city.”
In the end, there wasn’t really anywhere else they could come up with to go, and Alec couldn’t continue to argue simply for the sake of arguing. “Fine,” he gave in, albeit not well.
The smug smirk that curled Magnus’ lips shouldn’t have been half as attractive as it was.
Once that was settled, they moved on to firming up the guest list. That was actually a little easier than Alec had expected, once Alec made it clear Jace was coming no matter what he said.
“We shouldn't bring too many,” Alec said. He sat back in his seat now that he wasn't arguing with Magnus any longer, a fresh cup of coffee in his hands. It helped to fiddle with it while he ran through a mental list of all the people at the Institute. “Just enough to fit the customary witnesses for an event like this, but not so many that we risk drawing too much attention to ourselves.”
“Ragnor and Catarina can act as witnesses on my side,” Magnus said. At Alec's curious look, his lips twitched. “You're not the only one who has to report to superiors, darling. I have people I'll have to reach out to once we're done. They're going to need to know about our bonding, as well as everything we've learned about Valentine and what he's doing to my people.”
Just barely did Alec smother his grimace. He had no desire to speak to anyone about his bonding. Especially not to a group of people who would likely view it far differently than Alec did.
Magnus saw that grimace and let out a faint snort. He shook his head and sipped at his own drink. “Not exactly my idea of a proper wedding party either, but needs must. Luckily, we'll be able to put that one off for a little bit at least. Having Ragnor and Catarina witness our statements will make that easier.”
Okay, so, important but not immediate. Alec could work with that. Or at least ignore it until it came time to think about it later.
With Catarina and Ragnor to act on Magnus’ side, and Ragnor to perform some sort of truth spell on them to verify the words, the only people left to figure out were on Alec’s side.
Resting his elbows on the table, Alec brought his mug up to his mouth and took a sip, not paying much attention to what it was he was drinking. “I need at least three people, minimum, not including my parabatai. Two witnesses and someone to take minutes for the record, ideally.” And he knew just who those people had to be.
Andrew Underhill, his head of security, someone that Alec trusted implicitly and who also had nothing negative on his record whatsoever for the Clave to look down on. Benji Sunkeep, his secretary, a man who'd been with him almost his entire career as Acting Head. And Cameron Spiritstride, the head of his Intelligence Division. Those three would work perfectly as witnesses, but they'd also be the exact people Alec needed to put forth a few other plans. Namely, starting to track down Valentine, and rooting out whoever the hell he'd sent to infiltrate the New York Institute.
Once they had those figured out, all that was left was when.
Seri, Magnus, and Catarina were in agreement that the sooner they did this, the better. Which meant Alec only had a few hours to get ready to go home. Some of which Catarina still insisted be spent with her checking him over. After that...
After that, Alec had to prepare himself to start his own sort of war. One that wouldn't end until Valentine was dead.
Chapter Text
It took them another hour to finish things up. Magnus was the one who finally called it done, rising to his feet with a suddenness that had Alec jerking upright as well, his nerves on edge. The warlock had been tense through most of their discussion. Though Alec had to give him credit for the fact that he didn't show it. The only way Alec knew was because of this bond between them. It gave away a tension that Magnus clearly didn’t want anyone else to see.
“I'll start to get things ready,” he told them. His eyes drifted over the others and then briefly locked on Alec, the look there unreadable. “Come find me once you and Catarina are done.”
Alec nodded sharply. “Will do.”
Without another word Magnus swept from the room. Alec watched him go, feeling something strange settle in his chest. The feeling stayed with him as Catarina finished up with Seri, and both Seri and Ragnor left to follow Magnus. Alec watched as the two shut the door behind them. A faint sense of something pulsed around them and then the room fell quiet.
Turning to face Catarina, Alec found her watching him with a soft smile. There was something warm and yet sad in her eyes. “What?” he asked curiously.
Catarina shook her head. “You're not quite what I expected of you.”
“Should I be insulted by that?”
His dry reply had her grinning at him. It warmed her face and brightened it at the same time, reminding him suddenly of Isabelle. It sent a pang of longing for his family through him. “Depends,” Catarina said, her laughter easy to hear in her voice. “By what I thought of you before? Most likely. Now...? Maybe.”
Rolling his eyes, and not even bothering to hide it, Alec shook his head. At least she was honest. He could appreciate that. But, they weren’t here to snark at one another, no matter how fun that might prove to be. They had things to do. Important things. The sooner they got done with this, the sooner they could focus on the rest – and the sooner he’d be able to get home. “So, what do you need from me?”
The amusement faded from Catarina's face. She studied Alec for a moment and then gestured toward the chair Seri had been in. “Why don't you come down here and join me? There are a few things I want to check on with you, and I'd prefer to do it while we talk.”
With only a small hesitation, Alec pushed himself up out of his chair and came down to join her at her end of the table. He couldn’t quite erase the reluctance that she was no doubt able to see. But the idea of being looked at this way, even if it was for healing, was a little too reminiscent of the doctors who’d looked him over on that ship.
The smile she gave him held a lot more reassurance than the last one. To his surprise she reached out and patted his arm. “Take a deep breath, Lightwood. This won't hurt.”
Smothering a grimace, he shot her an apologetic look. “Sorry.”
“No need to apologize. Considering what you've been through, a little caution is understandable. I'm not going to do anything you don't want, though, and I promise I'll explain what I'm doing every step of the way. You have the right to say no to any of it, so if you don’t want something or you feel uncomfortable, just tell me to stop and I will.”
The honesty on her face was undeniable. As was the warmth in the fire in Alec’s chest. Was that this power they’d spoken of? Or the bond? Either option left him uncomfortable. Whatever it was, that warmth felt like it was urging him to trust her. Insisting she was safe. Though it went against the grain of everything he knew, everything he'd been taught, Alec couldn’t quite help relaxing. “Okay.”
Her smile widened a little bit. She gave his arm a quick squeeze before pulling her hand back and waving it toward the empty air between them. Her magic swirled around her fingertips as she spoke. “Let's start with a basic physical checkup, hmm? All I'll need to do is let my magic wash over you in a diagnostic spell. That'll let us know your general health – height, weight, blood pressure, heart rate, that sort of thing. It'll also show us any remaining physical injuries both internal and external. Once we have those, we can go from there.”
The first press of her magic was almost a surprise. Not because he hadn’t expected it – he could see what she was doing – but because it felt unlike any other magic he’d felt so far. Instead of the heat that he associated with magic, with Magnus’ magic, hers felt almost like warm water lapping against him.
It started at his head and worked its way down to his toes before rising once more. While it did, Catarina hummed. “Nothing seems to be amiss,” she told him, her eyes watching him in an unfocused way that told Alec she was seeing more than just him right then. “All your physical injuries are almost completely healed. What you've got is likely some residual soreness, but that should fade in a day or two. Everything else looks good. Your vitals are within normal range for a nephilim.”
Thank the angel. That at least was one step in the right direction. Alec had been worrying since he woke up (since that first needle pierced his skin) that whatever Valentine was doing to him would kill him, no matter his determination to survive. “And the... the rest?”
Thankfully, Catarina didn't make him say what they both knew he was talking about. Nor did she try and beat around the bush or otherwise attempt to soften the blow. She spoke calmly and normally and gave him the answers he needed without making him beg for them.
“Whatever Valentine gave you seems to have settled into your body,” she said. “Your cells are still changing slightly, still processing what was done now that you're free of the suppression cuffs he had you in.” Pausing, she gave him another searching look, once more looking at things Alec couldn’t see. But then she shook her head, and her eyes cleared once more. “But honestly, if I didn't know any better, I wouldn't have any clue that anything in there wasn't yours. There’s no trace of something foreign about it. Not even what I’d pick up on a mundane who got a blood transfusion.”
That… Alec swallowed down a swell of bitter nausea. “You can’t feel… pieces of whatever he gave me?”
The shrewd look she gave him left Alec once more feeling like she’d heard his unasked question. Her answer only proved it. “I don't sense anything of Magnus except your bond to him – and I've known him a long time. I'm well acquainted with him and his powers.” She hesitated for just a second and then seemed to decide to soldier on. “I can feel your magic. It's hot, like his. But it doesn't feel like him anymore. Not like it did when they first dragged you in here.”
Meaning his body was acclimating to this. That the changes were continuing whether Alec liked it or not. “Will it fade?”
Even before Catarina shook her head, Alec knew the answer. He'd known before he asked. “I'm sorry, but no. The power in you has bonded to your soul. You're generating your own magic now, the same as any other warlock.” Catarina honestly looked sorry about that. Reaching out, she curled her hand over Alec’s arm and gave a light squeeze. “That magic isn't Magnus'. Not anymore. It's yours. Whether you like it or not, this change is permanent. Magnus' blood, and whatever Valentine gave you with it, it didn’t give you some magic that’ll fade with time. It made your soul capable of generating magic on its own.”
Meaning he would never be rid of it. Alec couldn’t wait it out, or burn it out, or do any of the frantic things he’d been thinking of. He was going to have to find a way to live with this.
Forever.
It hurt. That confirmation hurt. Far more than Alec had thought it would. Closing his eyes, he took a deep breath, trying to clutch together the ragged edges of his control. It felt like it'd been one blow after another since he woke up. No, since he’d first been yanked through that portal. It was just new thing after new thing after new thing and none of them were good. Or easy. He hated it – hated how it made him feel. Hated this loss of control over his life, over himself. Over who he was and who he'd become. He wanted his life back!
The fire inside pushed against its bonds, doing its best to spread out from where it’d been curled up in his chest, aching to get free and burn down whatever was hurting him. Alec had to draw in a deep breath and forcibly pull it back until he once more had it locked away under control. A control he clearly couldn't afford to let waver.
Oddly enough, holding it like that centered him in ways that very little else had since waking up in Valentine's clutches. Though that fire railed a little against being contained, and the itch on his skin briefly grew stronger before settling once more, getting it all calm helped him feel calmer.
“Alec?” Catarina called out to him gently. “Are you okay?”
Opening his eyes, Alec nodded. You're a Lightwood. You break noses and accept the consequences. Not sit and cower. “Is there anything else I need to know?” he asked her, ignoring her question. “Ragnor and Magnus said I also have fae blood mixed in. That that's why my runes... why they look the way they do. Is there anything else about that I should look out for?”
He didn't actually answer her question, and he could see the way her lips thinned in displeasure at that, but she didn't fight him on it. “I'm actually not too sure about that one,” she admitted. “Fae have magic of their own that's dependent on the type of fae they are. Without knowing which type, we can't guess too much about what you might experience. Though, if we go by the tattoos and assume seelie...”
“Or unseelie,” Alec interjected.
Catarina's eyebrows went up in surprise. Then they drew down and her eyes narrowed. “I wasn't aware the unseelie had tattoos the way the seelie do.”
“Seelie and unseelie are titles, not species. They’re both sidhe. One of the unseelie I spoke with once described them as … more like subspecies. Parts of the same whole. There's a lot they have in common – tattoos being one of them. They're just not as easy to see on the unseelie.” Whereas seelie were often lighter in skin color, or tanned, most of the unseelie were darker, ranging from grey to black skin. Not black in the way of humans, but black like the shade. One of the unseelie Alec had known described them as existing in grayscale.
His words only seemed to make Catarina's surprise grow. “I wasn't aware of that. The unseelie don't typically speak with... anyone.”
Alec shrugged one shoulder. “I've met a couple in the field.” After saving the life of one, he'd gained a strange sort of occasional contact. Not a friend – they didn't go out and do the types of things Isabelle or Jace did with their friends. Alec didn't have friends. More like – informant, maybe. Contact, certainly.
He didn't bother telling Catarina about them, though. If the Clave knew Alec occasionally received messages from one of the unseelie, he was fairly certain it would end with his deruning and potentially some sort of war they weren’t equipped to handle. Especially if they found out which one. Better to keep it to himself for now.
Instead, he turned his attention back to what they could focus on right now. “Do you think I’ll have any other fae traits show up?” Was his body going to change any more than it already had?
To her credit, Catarina looked apologetic as she answered him. “Potentially. I can't be sure. If the blood he used was from a seelie or unseelie, more likely you'll end up with some other sidhe traits.” She paused, and then surprised him when one corner of her mouth quirked up. “Have you tried to lie yet?”
Alec's brows furrowed as he thought over everything he'd said so far. “Not that I remember.” The implications of her question hit him abruptly, and he fought the urge to swear. Fuck. Opening his mouth, he tried to say something stupid, the very first thing that came to mind that wasn't true. The sky is purple, he thought, desperately doing his best to try and force the words past his lips.
Her smile grew a bit wider when Alec said nothing. She gave him a little pat on the arm. “I think that answers that.”
Oh fuck. The uncharacteristic curse drifted across Alec’s mind. This was… this was just great. They were about to set off any time now to go back home and try and find a way to keep war from starting, the Clave or his mother from going insane against the Downworld, and attempt to find a way to maybe keep Alec in his job – and now he had to somehow figure out how to do it without lying?
Every time Alec thought he got everything strangled down and pushed back so that he could focus where he needed to focus, it seemed like something else got added to the pile. When would it end? How much would he be expected to bear before it became acceptable for him to finally break, just a little? Just enough to let go of some of the pressure sitting in his chest. Five minutes without something new falling down on him.
Unfortunately, he knew better than to think that would happen. It definitely wasn’t going to happen anytime soon.
There’d be time later to break down. Hopefully. For now, he forced himself to take a deep breath and push again, shove everything deep down underneath the fire in his chest. He drew on the steadiness of both the bonds that sat on his soul; both of them so very strong, and so very clearly there.
Jace felt like strength and comfort, hope and love. A chaotic whirlwind that worked to buffer Alec against the world just as much as it tossed him around now and again.
Magnus… Alec hadn’t let himself focus too hard on that before now, unsure about what he was picking up and what it might mean that Magnus could read, but so far what he got from Magnus felt like danger, like comfort, like worry and safety and the promise of something so much more.
Feeling the two of them helped Alec draw in another deep breath. Helped center him, too. The fire in his chest settled down until it felt like the comfortable heat from his office fireplace in the middle of winter.
That comfort gave him the strength to keep on going, despite how much he wished all of this could just be over.
It also helped him to ask the most important question of all.
“Do you know if any of this will change my ability to use my runes?” he asked her. It was the last thing he wanted – needed – to know. The most important one. Not just for himself but for their plans going forward. If Alec was well and truly a Downworlder now, if his chance at being a shadowhunter was gone, everything they hoped to do today would fall through.
He’d used a stele and a blade before, back on the ship. The Circle members who’d dragged him to and from his cell had healed him time and time again, too. As had the doctor. So far Alec had clung to the hope that gave him. He just… in lieu of all this new information, he needed more than just hope. He needed to know that at least some part of him was still his own.
“I can’t say for sure,” Catarina said slowly, her words sending a chill down Alec’s spine. She must’ve saw that because she hurried to add on, “I believe so, though. The sidhe are both angelic and demonic in origin. Having that in the serum he gave you is likely what allowed your body to accept something with warlock blood in it. But, for that to work it’d have to balance with your nephilim blood. Adding in that bit of fae helped to bind those two together instead of one trying to burn the other out. From what I could sense in your scans, your body seems to be a balance of all three – fae, nephilim, and warlock. Angelic, demonic, and human.”
She went on a little more in detail that kind of went above Alec’s head. But he didn’t bother trying to pay attention to it. Not when he was so overwhelmed with the relief her words brought.
However it happened, however this worked, he could focus on all that later. Isabelle would be far more interested than he would, he knew. All Alec cared about was the knowledge that he still had this piece of himself. He was still him. In the midst of everything else that was one solid point Alec could cling to. Something that might make the rest of this a little more bearable.
Catarina stayed with Alec a while longer after that, doing another quick check over his vitals to verify everything was stable, as well as doing another pass of her diagnostic magic just to make sure nothing new popped up that she needed to worry about. However, they were both keenly aware of how little time they had. Too much had to be done, and done quickly, for Alec to waste time getting more than the cursory checkup. Once she declared him good to go, Alec didn’t waste any time heading out to track down Magnus once more.
As his feet moved, most of Alec's focus turned inward, carefully planning out what he needed to do for his part in this. He knew what to do once everyone was there – oddly enough, the truth would be best suited for this, even if it was a carefully curated version of it. But to get the others there... that might be a bit trickier.
He knew he could get Jace to come to him without giving anything away. His parabatai wasn't against sneaking out. But people might notice if Andrew, Benji, and Cameron all slipped out at the same time. They'd have to do this very, very carefully.
Caught up in his thoughts, Alec barely paid attention to where his feet were carrying him, half-heartedly wandering in the hopes of finding Magnus, only to step out of the back door and find that somehow, his feet had led him exactly where he needed to be. Magnus was right outside the back door pacing back and forth with a cell phone in hand.
Alec paused for just a moment, caught off guard at finding him so abruptly. He did a double-take, and then froze again when he caught sight of what Magnus was wearing.
At some point during their time apart it would seem Magnus had decided to change. He'd swapped out his earlier clothes for something new, and the change had Alec stopping short and just staring at him for a moment. Magnus looked… stunning. And dangerous.
Black jeans clung tightly to his legs and dark combat boots with buckles wrapped halfway up his calves. On top he wore a thin tank that seemed to hug his upper body in all the right ways, showcasing muscle underneath. A fitted black leather jacket hung open at the front, flaring out around his waist, showing flashes of color underneath whenever Magnus paced and turned just right. Little glimpses of something almost electrically pink, which was matched by the streaks he'd put in his spiked hair.
Rings covered each finger, necklaces hung down his front, and silver glinted at his ears. He'd lined his eyes with black kohl, giving them an even sharper edge than they normally had, and added something that looked almost metallic around the corners that made them shine.
Looking at him, Alec could clearly see the High Warlock of Brooklyn.
That power had still been evident even in Valentine's cells. But it was nothing compared to seeing it now. It was written all over Magnus as he paced, furiously snapping at someone on his phone in what sounded like... Egyptian? The energy practically radiated off of Magnus, shimmering in the air around him and brushing lightly against Alec. Even his glamour had faded. Brown eyes were gone, replaced with gold once more.
Strangely enough, it was those eyes that helped Alec move past the tension that had built in him when he'd stepped out to find such a clearly pissed off threat in front of him. Eyes that would’ve likely scared any other shadowhunter had Alec relaxing. They were the eyes he’d looked at each and every day of his captivity. Ones that had watched him first with distrust and hostility, and then with a slowly growing understanding and sympathy.
Those eyes cut his way, though Magnus never stopped moving and talking, and Alec was abruptly aware of the fact that he’d been standing there frozen in the doorway, staring at him. He flushed slightly and quickly shut the door behind him, trying to pretend that he hadn't just been standing there like an idiot.
It took only a moment after that for Magnus to end his call. His eyes stayed on Alec the entire time. The instant the call was over he turned to fully face Alec. Surprisingly, that edge of power and temper faded away. He actually looked like he relaxed a little, and he even left his glamour down. “Catarina cleared you, I take it?”
The words didn't hold any hostile edge to them. None of the anger Magnus had shown back in the bedroom, or even he coolness he'd shown during their meeting. Alec felt his own shoulders loosen up as he nodded. He loosely clasped his hands behind his back in the parade rest that came so naturally to him. “She did.” For now, at least. She had plans for later that Alec chose not to think about. Hopefully he'd be back with his own people later and it wouldn't be an issue. “What about you? Are we ready to go?”
Magnus' lips curved into a small smirk, one perfectly sculpted eyebrow arched up high. “You doubt me? I'm offended, Alexander.” In contrast to his words, his smirk grew a little more. “What about you, shadowhunter? You think you're ready for this?”
Was he? Was he honestly ready to stand in front of his brother, his people, and admit to everything that happened? Admit to the experiments, the changes, the magic?
A thousand doubts and worries ran through Alec's mind. All the ways that this could go wrong. Yet there was one answer he could give that drowned out the rest.
Alec nodded firmly. There was no hesitation. “Yes.”
Whatever plans Valentine had for Jace, whatever Maryse was going to do to the warlocks who were only guilty of existing, all of it stopped now. Whatever Alec had to do to accomplish that goal, whatever personal sacrifice he had to make to do it, it would be worth it. He was ready.
Chapter 11
Notes:
I am so sorry, life got away from me! Here's the update I had thought I'd posted, and sometime in the next hour you'll get a second one as well to make up for it :)
Chapter Text
No matter how many years Magnus lived for, he didn't think he would ever get used to the cruelty of humanity.
Part of him wanted to amend that thought. To say that it was the cruelty of the nephilim he wouldn't ever get used to. But unfortunately, despite the fact that they possessed this certain trait in abundance, it wasn’t one that one could attribute solely to the angel-blooded. Though they took the practice to new heights sometimes. But every race out there had the capability to be cruel. Magnus knew better than to lay blame on a single race. It wasn't that simple.
That said, watching Valentine work had given Magnus a new appreciation for how some nephilim seemed to revel in the cruelty they perpetrated.
He'd seen shadowhunters who would just as soon slaughter a child as they would a demon just because of their genetics. He'd watched them throw out dishes solely because he'd dared touch them. He'd listened to them rant and rage against his people as if they had any right to dictate who was safe and who was dangerous simply based on the amount of power one held.
And then there was Alec.
Alec, well... Alec had surprised him. Not only had he managed to withstand Valentine's tests and torture with a surprising strength and stubbornness, but he'd done it all without ever turning on Magnus and treating him like he was the enemy. He'd been kind, even if that kindness had likely been a cover to get them to work as a team to get out of there. Still, it'd made the weeks of hell Magnus had been stuck with a little more bearable. Alec's dry sense of humor, his snarky remarks, they'd made things a little easier to handle.
He couldn't quite decide how to feel about the nephilim now.
They'd worked together to get out of that hellhole, and what Alec had done at the end, in defense of Magnus... it was unbelievable.
Still, Magnus had mostly expected Alec to spurn him as soon as he woke up here. Yet he hadn't. Not really. He'd panicked, sure, and he'd been a bit of an ass once Ragnor blurted everything out, but, as Ragnor pointed out afterwards, the man had been fresh off torture and genetic experimentation with no real time to process. A little temper was kind of to be expected. Especially considering how badly Magnus himself had freaked out at the idea of being bonded for life to a nephilim. A Lightwood at that. He’d just had the luxury of doing it while alone.
It wasn't exactly fair to hold Alec's reaction against him.
Yet, Magnus couldn't quite stop the instinctive wall that he put up whenever he found himself near the nephilim. Even with as strangely decent as Alec seemed to be. Magnus couldn't shake it off completely. Not even for his husband.
From the corner of his eye Magnus watched as Alec finished off the fire message he planned to send to the leader of his Intelligence Division. A small furrow sat in his brow, and his focus was laser sharp on his words.
The bond in Magnus' chest gave a faint little throb of something the longer Magnus stared.
Shaking himself, Magnus pushed the bond back and forced himself to look away. This whole marriage thing was still weird enough without adding that to the mix. The last thing he wanted was to pick up on all of Alec's emotions. Though, thankfully, it seemed like Alec was damn good at muting his end of it. Having a parabatai probably gave him a lot more practice at that than Magnus had.
“Done,” Alec said a second later.
Magnus turned back in just enough time to see Alec put stele to paper and send off the fire message. When he straightened back up, that serious look only seemed to deepen. He tucked the stele back away in one of his pockets, and his hand lingered for a moment in the space where Magnus knew a holster probably normally sat. One that would hold both stele and seraph blade. A brief hint to the nerves inside lit up the bond before Alec clamped down tight on it once more. His end of the bond cooled, his emotions back to being muted, and his body shifted into a parade rest stance.
Forcing a lightness he didn't feel, Magnus quirked a grin Alec's way. “Perfect!” Then, because he'd never been able to resist riling up shadowhunters, especially ones who managed to even scowl adorably, Magnus took a moment to conjure a portal and then crooked his arm and added on, “If you're ready then, why don't we head home, husband-mine?”
If Ragnor had been there he would've no doubt scowled at Magnus for being so deliberately provoking. Catarina would've likely smacked him for it. Especially when Alec visibly flinched at his words. Yet, they had to both get used to the idea soon enough.
Whether either one of them wanted to admit it, magic had apparently deemed the two of them perfect for one another. So much so that simply getting some of Magnus' blood – not even exchanging it, let alone any of the other rituals that usually went along with a bond like this – was enough to tie them together. Ignoring it wouldn't make it go away.
Instead of taking the bait like Magnus hoped, Alec drew in a deep breath and straightened up. He shot a scowl at Magnus' crooked arm as if the gesture or the limb itself had personally offended him. Then he surprised Magnus by actually reaching out and clasping hold of it. He very clearly didn't look at Magnus as he did. He turned his scowl to the portal instead. “Let's go.”
Magnus blinked a few times at the gesture. Then, with a quick mental shake, he led Alec forward.
A step through the portal took them out of the backyard of the safehouse straight into the heart of Magnus' loft in Brooklyn. As soon as they were through, Alec immediately let go of Magnus' arm and took several quick steps back, putting some distance between them.
Magnus banished the portal and spun to walk toward his drink cart – in the opposite direction of Alec. As he went, he called out, “Calm down. I promise, I don't plan on attacking you the instant we're behind my wards.” Casting a look over his shoulder, he winked at Alec. “I usually try and save that for after the first date, at least.”
He turned back to his drink cart before he could see Alec's expression. Still, he was a bit pleased when Alec seemed to recover quickly. His “I'll keep that in mind” was only slightly awkward. Mostly, it sounded dry and deadpan. Which Magnus had discovered during their captivity was Alec's default for humor. The boy had a wicked, deadly sense of humor if you knew how to listen for it.
Humming to himself, Magnus quickly went through the motions to make a couple simple cocktails. “The wards are already up, and everything here should be ready,” he reassured Alec. A quick flick of his wrist sent a splash of magic through the two drinks, adding a lovely pink finish to them. With a glass in each hand, Magnus turned around to face his guest. “Care to join me for a drink while we wait?”
The way Alec eyed the cocktail was a look usually reserved for something poisoned. There was caution, as well as a faint wrinkle to his nose, but none of the outright disgust that Magnus was used to seeing from shadowhunters. To his pleased surprise, the man actually reached out and took the glass. He even let Magnus clink theirs together with a “Cheers” before taking a drink.
His reaction was even better. Watching him, Magnus had to smother his smile in his own drink. That wrinkle in Alec’s nose grew, and his lips briefly twisted as he drew the glass away, yet he still swallowed.
To Alec’s credit, that brief look was all he showed. He smoothed his expression quickly into something neutral, and his stance shifted a little into what was clearly a practiced pose. Glass up, spine straight. Alec might not be much of a drinker but he’d clearly been trained on party etiquette. No doubt for all those formal Clave gatherings. Magic, Magnus could just imagine those stuffy events.
Twisting, he moved toward the couch, gesturing for Alec to follow him. “Come on, let’s sit down while we drink. There are a few things I’d like to talk to you about before the others get here.”
His words did nothing to set Alec at ease. If anything, the boy tensed even more. He was going to snap something if he didn’t relax.
A small trickle of orange around Alec’s fingers kept any of Magnus’ teasing remarks inside. It also served to reinforce what he wanted to do here. They needed to have this conversation and, as fun as sniping with Alec had proven to be, they needed to buckle down and get this dealt with before anyone started to arrive.
Magnus waited until Alec was seated on the couch with him, the two at opposite ends, before he spoke. “When you spoke with Catarina, I assume she broke things down for you, physically at least?”
“She did,” Alec said slowly. His eyes lowered to his drink once more, and something in Magnus ached to reach out and smooth away the lines in his brow, that little bit of tension he couldn’t quite hide.
Mentally chiding himself for that thought, Magnus deliberately kept his hands where they were and his body relaxed. The last thing Alec no doubt wanted right now was for anyone to touch him.
“Good,” Magnus said, before the pause between their words could get too long. “So, you understand that your biology is something unique now. You’re an amalgamation of races inside of one body now. Something which seems to have granted you abilities from each. I have no doubt Catarina touched on what that could mean for you, and I won’t press. That’s none of my business. But I asked her to allow me to explain some aspects of it.”
The feeling of the bond in Magnus’ chest went suddenly tight and closed off. What little bits had been slipping through before were now yanked behind an impenetrable wall that gave away about as much as Alec’s blank expression.
Magnus quickly held up a hand and hurried to reassure him. “Nothing terrible, Alexander. I just wanted to talk about your magic.”
He’d meant those words to help relax him, a promise that this wasn’t some terrible talk about yet another thing gone wrong, yet he wasn’t all that surprised when Alec didn’t relax in the slightest. If anything, he tensed even more. “Do we really need to talk about this right now?”
“Yes. We can talk about some things later, but there are a few important things we need to discuss now,” Magnus said firmly. “For all that you’re an adult by nephilim standards, in terms of warlocks and power, your magic is very new. Very young. As is your control of it.”
Images flashed through Magnus’ mind – flashes of Alec kneeling there on the ship, the fire roaring around him, taking out Circle members and ship parts alike. People had been screaming, some had been trapped up against the wards until those shattered and they’d begun to jump, one after another, all desperate to escape the flames.
It brought to mind another time, another terrified boy about to die, and the wave of power that had saved him.
Magnus shoved those memories as far down into their box as he could make it, and then snapped the lid shut tight.
“Magic is a part of warlocks,” Magnus explained, watching Alec as he did. He needed him to understand this, so that he’d better understand where Magnus was going with it. “Something that lives in us and in the world around us. I could get into magical theory, its origins and how we use and harness it all, but none of that is important at the moment. What is important is that you have the same magical core as any other warlock. Meaning that, while you might not know how use it, you have access to a great amount of power. Far more than quite a few warlocks out there.”
“I don’t plan on using it,” Alec protested immediately.
Magnus’ expression softened, as did his voice. “You won’t have a choice.” Though he said the words as kindly as he could, he watched as Alec still flinched from them. “I’m sorry, my dear, but you won’t. Our magic first and foremost responds to our needs. Before we learn to control it or to use it, it acts almost instinctively to what we want or need.”
He watched Alec’s eyes drop down to his hands; they both took in the way the orange there had grown, crackling and sparking with the need to do something, to fix whatever was making Alec feel this way. Alec stared at it with an aching quality that made Magnus’ chest throb. “Like taking down the Circle members,” he said quietly.
Swallowing back the lump in his throat, Magnus nodded. “Yes.”
Neither said anything else right away after that. Magnus gave a moment for his words to really sink in and for Alec to process them. They didn't have a lot of time, but he could spare this.
In the end, Alec was the one to break the silence. Though he kept staring at his hands, the magic still there though slightly calmer now, his voice was steady enough. “Am I going to be able to go back to the Institute?”
Though Magnus wasn't surprised by the question – it was, in fact, one of the reasons he'd brought this up at all right now – a part of him wished he could've put it off a little longer. He had a feeling his answer wasn't going to go over all that well. But Alec deserved the truth. Magnus downed half his cocktail in one go before answering. “Yes and no.”
Sharp eyes cut up to him, and Magnus waved his hand again. “I'm not trying to be cryptic. The answer just… it isn't as simple as you might think. A lot of it is going to depend on how your magic reacts to certain things.”
“Like what?”
“There are wards that can be put on younger warlocks that help block off some of their power. Not take it away,” he tacked that part on quickly when he saw the clear interest in Alec's eyes. “They act like a protective layer between the warlock and their magic. They're usually only done in emergencies where a teacher can't be found to stay with the child, or their power proves too strong or too volatile. But very few warlocks like to use them because it leaves the child at risk of being hurt or captured without access to their power to protect them.”
The frown Alec wore was small, but still clear, his eyes clouded as he looked down into his drink once more. “But they might help with some of the power, if that's needed? To keep it inside and give me a little more time?”
“Yes. It would allow you to spend time at the Institute without worrying that your magic would explode out of you the first time someone pisses you off or startles you. I could even set it up to alert me if something happens that truly sets off your magic, just in case. But there's a caveat to this, Alexander.”
“Of course there is,” Alec mumbled dryly. He didn't flinch away, though. With a steadying breath, he lifted his eyes to lock on Magnus' and held his stare with the same bravery Magnus had first seen in him. The one that said he'd meet a situation head on and shoulder the consequences no matter what they were. It was a trait Magnus could admire.
“You can't live with the ward on you at all times. It's not healthy to keep it on long term. Eventually, your magic is going to learn how to break free and if you haven't learned any control by that point you're going to be right back where you started.”
“You want to train me.”
Alec said the words like they were already a foregone conclusion. Something he'd already thought about and accepted. And he didn't exactly look all that thrilled over the idea. Magnus arched an eyebrow at that and forced his smile to stay lighthearted even as his insides twinged. “While I would gladly help train you, I won't be your main teacher. That responsibility would go to someone else.” Ragnor, maybe, judging by what he'd seen off his friend so far. There were few other warlocks Magnus might trust with his husband right now, anyway.
He watched Alec carefully for his reactions. Not just the visible ones, like the flush that sometimes showed on his cheeks or the occasional eye roll, but also the ones that might shine through their bond or even show on in the twitches of his magic he hadn't learned to hide yet, giving away things Alec probably didn't intend.
Maybe it was a little underhanded, trying to use all those things to read him. But right now Magnus would use what he had. This subject was a serious one and he needed Alec to understand that. He needed to make sure he knew just how important this training was.
Only, Alec surprised him once again. Though his magic sparked like he was upset, and that ever present furrow seemed to have deepened, when he opened his mouth the question he asked wasn’t what Magnus expected. “Why can’t you teach me?”
Magnus’ magic gave a happy little trill at the idea that Alec apparently wanted him as a teacher.
He’d thought he’d have to fight with Alec over training him at all. He hadn’t expected Alec to have already accepted that and to have expectations about who his teacher would be.
“As I said, I’ll gladly help train you,” Magnus said, smiling a little as he did. “However, the Elders are going to want to make sure that you’re established with another warlock. One who will have your protection and your best interests in mind. Someone who could protect you from me, if need be.”
Alec’s brows drew down tighter over his eyes. The scowl was in no way meant to be adorable, and yet Magnus couldn’t help but find it so. “Why?” the other man demanded.
“Because everyone should have someone to look out for them. Usually, that job falls to the local High Warlock,” Magnus gestured with his free hand toward his chest. “In normal circumstances, a newly born or discovered warlock is introduced to the High Warlock of the area, and their care and well-being becomes their responsibility. Just like I’m sure is done with any new recruits who come to your Institute. You’d know them, their names, all the important information, and you’d be the person they’d run to if something was wrong.”
“But you’re the High Warlock here,” Alec said, understanding dawning.
Magnus nodded. “Exactly. And just like you couldn’t have married a subordinate, neither can I. Meaning that you have to fall under the jurisdiction of someone else. Especially with how volatile this whole situation has the potential to be.”
As much as Magnus wanted to tell Alec that yes, he’d teach him, and he’d look out for him, this was the right way to do things. For the moment Magnus had to force himself to think as High Warlock. He had to treat the situation the same way he’d expect another High Warlock to do in their area. If this were anyone else, he’d be advising the exact same thing for the safety of the warlock in question.
Alec deserved to have someone in the warlock community, outside of Magnus, to look after him. Someone who could see to his magical education and his introduction and integration into their community. Someone who would be able to stand up for him against even Magnus if need be.
“All of that is something we can take care of later, though,” Magnus said, once the silence had gone one for long enough. While it was important they talk about this, it’d drifted slightly away from the main point he’d been trying to make. “I simply needed you to understand what was at stake here, so you can understand why I’m asking you to do this. I want your permission to put the ward over you today, but I wanted you to understand before I do I won’t keep it up permanently. It’ll need to be removed for training at least once every twenty-four hours.”
A sharp nod was the answer he got to that. Alec didn't look happy, but he didn't look like he was going to argue, either. Whether that was because he agreed with Magnus or because he, like Magnus, recognized they didn't have time to debate this.
“If you put the ward up, can anyone take it down?” Alec asked.
“Typically, yes. Considering your situation, however, it might be prudent to restrict who has permission to take it down.” The last thing they wanted was for the Clave to hire someone to rip it away and force Alec into some sort of incident. Or for Valentine to get hold of Alec again and have one of his warlocks do it.
Alec's power came from a seed of Magnus' – meaning that, while he'd never get as strong as Magnus was, he would still be strong one day once he learned control. Whether that strength would translate to the same immunity against Valentine's control serum that Magnus had was something he didn't want to test.
He didn’t say any of that, but the shadows he saw in Alec’s eyes said that the other man recognized that need without being told.
Lifting his chin, Alec gave another nod. “Do it.”
Magnus bit back the teasing remark about manners that almost slipped free. He could excuse a little rudeness considering their situation.
He set aside his glass and sat forward, scooting closer to Alec as he did. It brought them close enough that their knees brushed against one another from where they’d both turned to face each other. Lifting one hand, he let his magic tingle around his fingertips, ready for his command. “This is going to feel strange,” he warned Alec. “Magic wants to be free. It’s going to be a little unhappy at being restrained this way.”
Alec said nothing, just kept watching him, and Magnus couldn’t afford to put this off any longer. He closed that last bit of distance between them and pressed his fingers to the center of Alec’s forehead, and he summoned up the warding spell he’d only had to use a few times over the years.
He’d expected some of Alec’s magic to react to this. To struggle against being confined. What he hadn’t expected was for their magics to rush toward one another like two long-lost-lovers.
It wasn’t like pieces of his magic coming together. No, he could clearly see what Ragnor had mentioned; this part of his magic wasn’t his anymore. It was definitely Alec’s. Transformed when given to him, bonded to his soul, it didn’t feel like a part of Magnus anymore. But it apparently recognized his, or at least recognized the bond between them, because their magics meshed together with the kind of skill that normally came from decades of working together.
All that passed by in the blink of an eye. Magnus barely had time to draw in a breath and let it back out while everything ran through his mind. Then he shoved it back with a skill born of practice and turned his focus to what he was supposed to be doing here.
It took just a moment to cast the ward over Alec that bound his magic down. Though Alec’s magic pressed up against it, instinctively testing for a way to get free, it didn’t fight. A fact which he was grateful for.
When Magnus drew his power back, it was with a sense of both loss and relief.
“There,” he said, forcing his voice into a semblance of its usual cheer. “Ward perfectly in place. You’ll be protected from any unwarranted magical outbursts.” Something pinged against the edge of Magnus’ senses, drawing his focus and attention out, and it only took him a second to realize why. “Just in time, too. It would appear our first guests are about to arrive.”
Shadowhunters had made it through the wards at the building’s entrance. Any moment now they’d be here.
Alec's head snapped up, gaze going unerringly toward the front door despite being unable to see it.
Magnus took that moment that Alec's attention was turned away to bring himself under control. He pulled on the masks of High Warlock that would help him get through the next few hours. None of it was going to be pleasant. Dealing with shadowhunters never was even in normal circumstances, and these were anything but.
The door to his loft opened, and Magnus settled back into his seat.
Time to start the show.
Chapter 12
Notes:
annnnnnnnd, second update of the day! :) (if you missed the first while AO3 was being wonky, I've posted chapters 11 and 12 today!)
Chapter Text
Alec would later blame his inattention on the fact that Magnus’ magic was just slightly overwhelming. Feeling it all over and around him, folding his own magic up into a hold that felt far more comforting than he’d expected it to, was distracting enough that he didn’t even notice it as his parabatai went from far away to close. Not until Magnus mentioned their arrival and Alec’s attention snapped back to the present.
As soon as it did, he felt it. Felt Jace so very close. It took everything Alec had not to launch up off the couch and race for him.
Nothing could stop him once the door to the loft slammed open, though. In the blink of an eye Alec was on his feet. Jace came tearing around the corner at the same time that Alec took his first step and the rest of the world fell away. Alec crashed right into Jace, throwing his arms around him, and not even the tingle of magic against his skin registered as he held on to his brother and parabatai like the lifeline that he was.
For the first time since Alec had woken up in that hellhole he felt like he could breathe. The fear that had clenched in his gut from the very moment Valentine had first mentioned Jace's name finally quieted down from the furious roar that had been screaming at him, nipping at his heels through everything he'd done, encouraging to go faster, be stronger, get to Jace before Valentine could. With him here in Alec's arms he was safe.
They held tightly to one another and the bond sang with their closeness. Strong arms locked around him and squeezed him, and all the while there was this sort of furious shaking that he couldn't decide whether it was from him or Jace. Not that it mattered.
Alec was the first one to draw back, to break that tight hold they'd wrapped one another in. As soon as he drew back, Jace's hand was there against the back of his neck, keeping him close.
“You little shit,” Jace said, affection there in every single word for anyone to hear, out in the open in a way Jace didn't usually allow. His smile was wide and only a little shaky at the edges, but his eyes were frantic as they ran over Alec in a check for injuries he'd no doubt been able to feel but couldn't see. “You don't get to talk about me giving you heart attacks for at least a year.” Underneath that, clear as day, Alec could pick up what Jace was really saying. I was worried about you.
A wide grin lit up Alec's face. “You wish. This gets you a week, maybe.”
When Jace found no visible injuries, his eyes snapped back up to Alec’s, a thousand questions written there. Alec reached up and curled his hand over Jace’s forearm where it hung between them, Jace still holding on to him. He gave a small squeeze and a burst of comfortrelaxlovesafe that he hoped Jace understood as a silent I’m okay, I’ll explain.
Another voice interrupted their moment, drawing Alec’s attention up to the other shadowhunters who’d come in on Jace’s heels.
“You’re both as bad as each other,” Cameron Spiritstride said, smirking brightly as he walked up to the two of them without a single ounce of the hesitation others might've shown. Then again, Cameron never looked to be afraid of anything. Alec had seen him smile in the middle of a swarm of demons that would’ve had even some of the most hardened shadowhunters panicking.
With a bright personality and a ready smile, Cameron seemed at ease in any situation, with any people. It was part of what made him so perfect for the Intelligence Division. He tended to get people to open up without even trying. He could also blend in to almost any crowd if need be – he wasn’t too tall, and his black hair and green eyes were pretty non-descript. He even kept most of his runes under his clothes, making it hard to pick him out as a shadowhunter if someone didn’t already know he was one.
He held out a hand as soon as he was close enough, his smirk growing into a grin when Alec reached out and shook it. “It’s good to see you back, sir.”
“It is,” agreed Andrew Underhill, coming up behind him.
Benjamin Sunkeep brought up the rear, and his smile was brighter than everyone’s combined, part of what earned him the nickname of Sunshine by a majority of the Institute. “It really is, sir. Thank the angel you’re okay.”
Alec shook each of their hands without ever moving fully away from Jace. Though he let go of his parabatai’s arm, he didn’t pull out from under Jace’s hand, allowing it to shift and linger on his shoulder while he greeted the others. Jace would stick close for a while, he knew, everything in him screaming to keep his parabatai close and safe. Which was good, because Alec felt the same.
“Thank you, all of you,” Alec replied, smiling from one to the next. Then he drew in a breath and his smile dropped down into his serious expression. The one that tended to make others listen to him and take him seriously. He needed that now, for what he was about to do.
Because… it was one thing to have the other three agree to what he asked. To come here without any real explanation as to why. Now he had to start the process of giving them the explanations they deserved. And to do that he needed to be the Head of the Institute. Not Alec, Jace's parabatai, and certainly not Alec, Valentine's captive.
Though his shoulders wanted to tense, Alec forced himself to keep them loose and relaxed, and he turned himself a little to gesture and include Magnus in their little group. “Before we get started, let me introduce you all to Magnus Bane, the High Warlock of Brooklyn, who's graciously allowed us the use of his home to do this.”
“Gracious is a bit of an overstatement,” Magnus said, his voice just a touch too sweet as he smiled at Alec. It was a shark's smile, full of sharp teeth and a promise of trouble.
Alec rolled his eyes, not the least bit bothered, though the way Jace's hand tensed suggested that he was. “He was also with me, and a major reason behind why I was able to come home at all.” So be nice. He slanted a look at Jace, hoping he got the message.
His parabatai's eyes were narrowed on Magnus.
Cameron, thankfully, stepped forward, drawing everyone's attention to him. He was smiling once more as he held out a hand toward Magnus, offering him a greeting. “May the angel shine on you, High Warlock. We owe you a debt for bringing our Head back to us.” He clasped Magnus' hand with his own as he spoke.
Alec couldn't see what else might be happening, but he saw the way Magnus' expression changed. The way his eyes went from the others to Cameron. And Alec was intimately familiar with that kind of calculating look on Magnus' face. Only this time, it was backed by a sensation in their bond that felt sharp without being dangerous, and… interested?
A debt wasn’t something that anyone in the shadow world took lightly. Especially not when spoken to someone with magic. While shadowhunters might preach against magic use, there were a lot of ways they’d learned to respect it. Telling someone with magic that you owed them a debt? That wasn’t something you did unless you meant it.
Andrew and Benji both stepped up to shake his hand as well, introducing themselves as they went, and that calculating look on Magnus' face grew a little sharper – or maybe Alec just felt it in that place he'd already labeled as Magnus. The same way he'd labeled the place the parabatai bond sat as Jace. From Magnus, Alec could feel his surprise and curiosity mixed together with a caution that Alec couldn't even try to claim was unwarranted. He doubted many shadowhunters had been this kind to Magnus before.
Jace didn't join them to introduce himself. Or even to shake Magnus' hand. Not that he needed to; they’d met before this whole mess. Instead, he stayed at Alec's side and barely managed to wait for the others to get through their introductions before he demanded, “Okay, everyone knows everyone, great. Now, what the hell is going on? What happened to you?”
The fact that Jace had been willing to wait this long for answers was kind of impressive. Alec could see the need-to-know written all over him. The tense way he held himself as if ready to hunt the instant Alec told him who took him.
Only, magic filled the air in a strange tingle that stole Alec’s focus just seconds before a portal opened up on the far side of the room.
Part of Alec took note of the way that the others tensed but didn’t even reach for their weapons. A good move, considering they were in the home of the local High Warlock. Any move toward their weapon could be construed as a threat against Magnus or his friends. Or an insult.
And friends it proved to be. It wasn’t Valentine or any of his warlocks that stepped through the portal, though for a brief moment Alec’s heart had clenched in worry that it might be. It was Catarina and Ragnor who walked out side by side, though it took Alec a second to recognize them. Both had their glamours pulled up. Ragnor’s pale skin hid his normal green, though he left the horns free, while dark skin and darker hair covered up Catarina’s previous blue and white.
“Looks like we’re right on time,” Catarina said brightly, while Ragnor sniffed and ignored them all, focusing right on Magnus.
The arrival of these two meant the last of their guests were here. It was time.
Alec slanted a look over at Magnus and found the other man's eyes already on him. Their bond warmed for a moment, and the fire in Alec's chest warmed with it.
Another round of greetings followed. By the time everyone had the chance to shake hands and exchange names – Alec took note of just how shocked Catarina and Ragnor were, openly, when the shadowhunters shook their hands, and he resolved to think about that later – the tension in the room had risen quite a bit.
“Let's all have a seat,” Magnus said, waving his hand in a gesture toward the various bits of furniture. He adjusted his seat on the couch, freeing up the middle cushion a bit more, and after a moment's hesitation Alec moved forward to sink down into that seat.
It wasn’t surprising when Jace followed with Alec and dropped down on his left, sitting close enough that their shoulders brushed. He clearly wasn't going to let Alec away from him quite yet. Something Alec wasn't going to protest. They always got a little weird – according to Isabelle, at least – when they were apart from one another. For something like this? Yeah, they’d likely spend the next couple hours either glued to one another or checking in almost constantly.
With them on the couch it left the other shadowhunters to take the loveseat and chair that put them nearest Jace and Alec, while Catarina took the chair, the one closest to Magnus. Ragnor bypassed the last chair and chose to sit on the arm of Catarina's, one leg crossed loosely over the other.
It wasn't until everyone was settled that Alec spoke. He took a second to clear his throat and swallow, giving himself that moment to collect his thoughts and make sure that when he spoke it was to say what he meant. He'd been doing his best to rehearse what he wanted to say and how he wanted to say it. Now it was time to put that into action.
“I'll get right to it,” he started out, not bothering to waste time with niceties. They weren't here for that, and there wasn't time for it anyway. “I want to present my official statement for what happened to me. I wanted to do it here, because we have at least one spy in our Institute. And, as one of the few warlocks the Clave might trust, I asked Ragnor Fell to be here to cast a truth spell so you know my words to be true.”
Almost instantly the tension in the room grew. Alec had known what kind of reaction his words would get. Yet he still had to work not to flinch under their stares. Even Jace’s – especially Jace’s – whose head snapped toward him so quickly it was a wonderful he didn’t pull something.
Alec lifted his chin. He turned to look toward Ragnor. “Mr. Fell, if you wouldn’t mind…?”
Ragnor gave a small nod, one that Alec thought was likely more for Magnus than for him, and then he held up his hands. The air shimmered, a light blue with flecks that fell down around them like rain. It felt strangely warm wherever they landed on his body. Through his clothes or not.
“There,” Ragnor said once the bits of blue faded away. “The spell is active.”
Alec dipped his head and nodded in return. “Thank you.” He turned his focus back to the others once more. Gone were any of the signs of levity that they'd shown when they'd first come in. The joy they'd felt at seeing Alec alive and well hadn't vanished. But there was a reason Alec had chosen these people to come. Cameron, Andrew, Benji, they were here for more than just friendly reasons. Alec had chosen them specifically. They, like him, knew what it meant to put aside their personal feelings and get things done.
For the moment, Benji and Cameron stayed quiet, allowing Alec the space to gather himself before speaking. It was Andrew who spoke up. As Head of Security, taking statements was a part of his duties.
“Let's start from the beginning,” Andrew said, his voice kind and steady. “What can you remember?”
With one last deep breath, Alec sat up straighter. Time to get started. “I was walking in Brooklyn...”
It took Alec nearly half an hour to give his statement.
By the time he was finished, his throat hurt from talking so much. His mouth felt dry and his tongue too large. He was also ready to go hide in bed and pretend the rest of the world didn't exist.
He'd started from the instant he left the Institute, doing his level best to be as vague as possible about why he left – it didn't need to be on any official record, how he'd felt about his parabatai and the new spot of trouble he'd found, or the arguments they'd had – and he'd worked his way forward from there. Alec detailed everything he could remember about his time on Valentine's ship. He didn't spare details. Not about his capture, the torture, the experiments.
Alec wasn’t sure what about it was harder. Saying the words, relieving those memories, or watching the reactions of those around him.
He could see the flicker of emotions in Benji’s eyes, the tightness around Andrew’s. Even Cameron’s usually firm control wavered a little for those who knew how to look. His eyes darkened and his fingers twitched like he was searching for a blade.
Catarina and Ragnor both looked visibly pained by what they heard, and yet, unsurprised. Likely they’d heard similar stories before. Their reactions were stronger when Magnus spoke up, adding in pieces to help fill in the gaps that Alec had been too out of it at the time to remember. But that was to be expected. They knew him. He was their friend.
The worst by far was feeling Jace’s reaction to everything. The way his parabatai went tighter and tighter with each mention of pain, each time Alec repeated Valentine’s words about him. He stayed by Alec's side, shoulder to shoulder with him, but the bond spoke of just how desperately he fought to keep from running – either away, or out after Valentine.
It was when they got to the end of things that Alec’s steadfast control almost faltered.
He spoke of being forced down on his knees, of being surrounded, without letting any of the terror he’d felt slip into his voice, somehow managing to stay steady. Right up until he told them, “They were going to kill Magnus.” The bond felt like it shook a little in remembered fear. Alec tried to swallow against the nausea that came with it. “I couldn’t…”
When he trailed off, the silence felt heavy. Weighted. None of the shadowhunters in front of him said anything. Jace was a statue at his left – or a barely leashed tornado, waiting desperately to be set free on something it could destroy.
But on Alec’s right, Magnus shifted just enough that he could press in a little closer, his thigh a solid line of warmth up against Alec’s. He offered that silent show of support, of comfort, while smoothly slipping into the silence Alec had left hanging like it was what they’d intended to do all along.
“Up until that point, the chains they’d kept Alec in had worked to hold back some of the effects of Valentine’s serum,” Magnus said, his voice quiet yet oh-so-clear in the heavy silence that had fallen over the loft. “But the runes on there were meant to contain a warlock’s power. Not one who contains the blood of angels in them. That, combined with the stress of the moment, were enough to break them. Once that happened, the changes that serum caused kicked in and the buildup of power exploded out in a shockwave of fire.”
A hand settled on Alec's right knee. He didn't need to look down to recognize it as Jace's.
Magnus continued, his voice almost soothing despite the way it was currently destroying any chance Alec had at having a normal life. “The fire spread outward and consumed everything in its path. We used the ensuing chaos to escape through the broken wards. I brought Alec to a safe place owned by a friend of mine, where Catarina was able to heal our injuries. From there, he contacted all of you.”
The silence that briefly fell over the loft felt heavy with the weight of everything they'd just heard.
“Is Valentine dead?” Andrew asked, looking from Alec to Magnus and back again.
Alec and Magnus shared a brief, silent look. “We don't know,” Magnus finally answered. He turned to look at Andrew once more, and his mask was both sharp and cold. Dangerous. “Quite a few Circle members died, but, though I wish I could, I can't say for certain if Valentine was one of them.”
“Knowing him, you can most likely bet on no,” Ragnor chimed in dryly. A look of disgust twisted his features. “Somehow he always manages to survive, even when we think he won't.”
“If he isn't dead, that means he'll be coming after Alec,” Jace said, voice a low growl.
The look Catarina gave him was one of pure sympathy. “Unfortunately, you're probably right.”
The fact that that's what Jace was focusing on – that, and not everything else they'd learned, all the ways that Alec had changed – warmed some of the places inside where Alec hadn't quite been able to quiet all his fears. He leaned into the parabatai bond and felt as Jace immediately leaned back, a swell of protectiveness following with him. It matched with what Magnus was giving him as well, the two of them solid lines of protection and care on either side of him, leaving Alec feeling safer than he had since... he didn't know when.
Unfortunately, that sense of peace couldn't last. There was too much that still needed to be done. Too many things left to talk about. None of which were things Alec wanted to say.
Cameron was the one to speak up next. He took over for Andrew in a smooth switch that Alec was more than a little grateful for. While Andrew knew what he was doing, the next bit was going to have to be carefully shared, especially with the truth spell still on them, and there was no one out there who knew better how to navigate that sort of tricky situation than Cameron. He’d be the one Alec could trust to pick up on what he wasn’t saying just as much as what he was, and to likely even predict the way Alec wanted to play things. Which would mean he’d be more likely to ask the right kind of questions.
“Is there anything else you remember that might help us track Valentine down?” Cameron asked.
Alec looked down at where Jace's hand still rested on his knee, and he shook his head. “Not that I can think of.” He'd given every detail he could on the boat, but they all knew it was likely futile. Especially considering the end of Alec's story. While they might've been able to salvage something from it, the way Magnus had made it sound to Alec back when he'd first explained it, there likely wasn't a whole lot worth salvaging.
Cameron nodded, clearly unsurprised by Alec's answer. He didn't press for anything more there the way others would have. Instead, he moved on, carefully navigating forward. “Were you able to analyze what was in his blood?” he asked Catarina, tilting to look at her while still keeping Alec in his sight.
There was only a brief pause before Catarina answered, her eyes darting over to Magnus and Alec. Whatever she saw on their faces, whatever Magnus gave away with the language of bodies that those who've known one another for long enough are capable of, it gave her the confidence to answer Cameron calmly. “Yes.” She expanded on it without him prompting her. “I was able to analyze Alec when he first arrived, in a quick battlefield assessment, and then again later once he was awake and able to give consent.”
“Would you mind telling us what you found?” Cameron asked.
“Of course not.”
Once again Catarina launched into a detailed explanation of the results she'd gotten when she'd run the tests. Though Alec already knew the results, it wasn't any easier hearing it for a second time. She told them what she'd seen the first time, and then what she'd seen the last.
“There's no longer a separation between them, no saying that this is the serum and this is Alec,” she said. “His body has assimilated the serum and bonded with it. It's changed his DNA to incorporate parts of both warlock and shadowhunter genetics, as well as parts of fae. He carries all three things within him as if he'd been born that way.” She cast a quick, apologetic look Alec's way. “I don't see any way of separating them that wouldn't kill him in the attempt.”
It made something in Alec ache even more to hear those words again. The truth spell still active on the room made those words all the more real. There was no way he could doubt that this was happening to him now.
Jace's hand squeezed down on Alec's knee, offering the silent support he knew Alec wouldn't ask for.
Cameron leaned forward in his seat. His eyes were locked on Alec in a way that made him want to squirm, though he forced himself to hold still. “When we return to the Institute, you're going to need to go through a full physical. We need to document your current state so that we can best protect you and those around you.”
“Of course,” Alec agreed easily. He'd expected that.
They could've left it here – there was plenty enough to go on. More than enough to make him officially an enemy of the Clave if they wanted to view it that way. They'd have a fight ahead of them with just this information alone.
But there was one more bit of information that needed to be shared. Because if it came out later, if it came out without him being the one to tell them, any chance that he had at working with the Clave going forward would be lost. They'd consider it a betrayal and a confirmation of every dark, dangerous thing they were going to think about him.
“There's one last thing,” Alec said. He waited until he was sure he had everyone's attention, and then he drew in a breath, and said the words he wouldn't be able to take back. Words of a ritual so old, few likely even remembered it. But when the Clave heard this accounting, if they ever had a warlock pull the memory for them to see, they'd be able to see Alec's confidence and strength, and they'd hear the binding words none of them had the power to tear apart. “I have taken the High Warlock as my soul-bonded husband. By blood and magic our souls are one.”
The words fell over the loft like a tidal wave. The tension there skyrocketed and everything inside of Alec braced himself for the inevitable explosion that came with it.
Andrew's eyes were wide where he stared at Alec in shock. His jaw had fallen open just a little, and he looked like he didn't know how to process what he was hearing. Benji's expression went to the carefully blank one he reserved for the many political meetings he'd stood behind Alec for, the one that gave nothing away. Even Cameron reacted slightly – a twitch of the eyebrow, a faint edge of something at the corner of his smile.
But it was Jace's reaction that Alec braced himself for the most; his the one that Alec had known would be bad.
Only the bond and Alec's reflexes were enough to save Magnus from whatever Jace planned. When his parabatai launched up with a furious roar, Alec moved with him, shoving himself up off the couch to catch Jace with his shoulder. It sent Jace back and Alec moved with him. He lashed out with a quick kick and shove that got Jace back several steps away from where Magnus was still sitting, giving Alec just enough space to fully place himself between Jace and the rest of the room.
“Don't,” Alec warned him, holding his arms out to keep Jace back. Behind him, he felt the crackle of power from the warlocks, but he ignored that the same as he ignored everything else. At the moment all his focus was on the man in front of him. The only being Alec had ever willingly bonded his soul to.
Jace snarled back at him. “Get out of the way, Alec! I'm going to kill him.”
“No, you're not,” Alec said firmly. He held strong, doing his best to keep up the pose of a strong, steady leader, even as both bonds churned inside him and his fire lashed furiously at the wards that kept it held down and in place. There was so much rage in his parabatai's eyes. So much pain, fear, and anger. So much love and desperation.
Part of Alec hated himself for doing this. For having to be the one to hurt his parabatai this way. But there was no other way. “You can't kill my husband, Jace.” Somehow, he made himself say the word without flinching.
Jace snarled again. “He tricked you!”
“No, he didn't, and this isn't the place to argue about this.” Alec took a step forward and, when Jace did nothing, another, until he was close enough to reach out and grasp the back of Jace's neck. He drew him in, relishing in the way their bond warmed. “There's no battle to fight here, parabatai.”
It seemed to take forever for the words to sink in. For Jace to go from growling and ready to fight, to slowly calming down. Alec drew him in, pulled him close, and held on tight, using the bond to reassure Jace, to calm him. Without the ability to talk freely, it was all they had. Later, he'd talk to Jace and explain a little more. But for now he begged silently for Jace to trust him.
Slowly, he felt that anger that had been in Jace cool. It didn't go away entirely. But it was enough.
When Jace finally nodded at him, Alec relaxed. He gave him one last squeeze and then he stepped back. His hand trailed over Jace's shoulder, arm, and wrist before falling away. This wasn't over – not by a long shot. But for once it seemed Jace was willing to listen to him. Something Alec wasn't going to question.
He found the others watching when he turned back toward them. Magnus sat in the same spot as before, looking like he hadn't even moved despite the fact that Alec could feel the tension in him. It was Cameron who held Alec's attention the most, though. Cameron who he knew would catch on the most out of everyone. Their eyes met, and Alec saw the understanding there, as well as the calculation that made him perfect for the role of head of their intelligence department.
“Congratulations, sir,” Cameron said, with all the warmth anyone would expect. His tone was perfectly curated to show happiness and respect both.
“Thank you,” Alec said, just as warm. The weight on his shoulders grew just a little bit more.
This was just the first steps in what was going to become a long, arduous journey. This had been the first piece – laying out his captivity, his actions, and, in the eyes of the Clave, his sins. He couldn't help but wonder what they'd consider the greater sin here. Allowing Valentine to change his very DNA and not having the grace to die afterward, or his marriage to Magnus. Both were things he knew would make him so much less in their eyes. Less of a nephilim, less of a shadowhunter, less of a warrior, less of a man. Just, less.
But, they were things Alec couldn't change, and he'd been taught from the cradle how to take the blows for those things and keep on moving.
With his testimony given, and given to those he knew he could trust to pass it on to all the right places, the first steps toward stopping Maryse were in place. Meaning that the warlocks were about to be much safer than they'd been just an hour ago.
He wished what came next would go just as easily.
He'd faced giving his testimony, put in place the things that would stop war between Maryse and the Downworld. Now he had to go plead his case to the Clave and hope like hell they saw fit to leave him with some sort of position when this was all said and done.
Because he still had a war to fight. Valentine was still out there. And Alec wasn't going to stop until the man was dead.
Chapter 13
Notes:
I'm so sorry, I haven't forgotten about you all! Life just got in the way. Here, enjoy the chapter - and hopefully one more before my day is done!
Chapter Text
The walk back to the Institute was both exceedingly long and yet so very short.
None of them talked on their way there. Not even Jace – though Alec could feel his parabatai practically bursting with questions. Ones that Alec knew he might not be able to answer. He loved Jace; angel, did he love him. But Jace had no head for politics, an inability to keep secrets, and a hot-headedness that Alec couldn’t afford. Not with something like this.
One wrong move here could end in deruning. Or worse. Alec couldn’t afford any mistakes.
Whether Jace recognized that, or he simply recognized that Alec had been pushed as far as he could at the moment – the second was far more likely than the first, he’d always been so good at reading when Alec really reached that point – he said not a word to him throughout their walk back. Still, even without speaking the two parabatai stayed close to one another without even consciously choosing to do so. Every so often Jace’s arm brushed against his in a move that could’ve been considered accidental yet wasn’t, and it soothed something in them. Something that had been broken and bleeding from the very first moment Alec had woken up in that hellhole and had to shut down their bond to keep his brother from feeling his pain.
Their companions were just as quiet. Andrew and Cameron walked along either side of them as silent guards, while Benji took his customary spot at Alec’s left. They were a silent, somber procession, and Alec found himself briefly missing the way Magnus seemed to light up pretty much every situation he was a part of. Even when silent he still brought a sense of something to the air around him.
The bond in his chest gave a little pulse, one that felt distinctly displeased at the reminder that Magnus wasn’t here with them.
Alec reached up to rub his sternum. He ignored the curious look it earned him from Benji and Jace, though he tried to send a wave of reassurance to Jace. Then he forced his thoughts back to where they should be – what lay ahead. Now wasn't the time to focus on Magnus or magic or any of that other stuff he'd left behind at the loft. Later, if everything went well, then he'd be free to focus.
Magnus had been surprisingly unhappy about being left behind. Something which Alec hadn't expected. Still, he hadn't argued much. Though he'd extracted a promise from Alec to return in no more than forty-eight hours for ward-release and his very first lesson in control. He'd wanted twenty-four, but Alec had managed to talk him around. This first meeting with the Clave could take a while and Alec had no guarantees he'd be out within a day. Two was the very best he could promise, and even that might not be enough depending on how they took things. Though, if they hadn’t let him go by that point, it’d likely mean they had a lot worse problems to think about than Magnus taking off Alec’s warding.
The Institute suddenly appeared in the distance, drawing Alec back to the present once more. There was a flicker of movement that he spotted just ahead, a sign of someone moving. He didn’t get much of a chance to see what it was; Andrew, Benji, and Cameron had already shifted into a proper protective guard around them as opposed to the relaxed one they’d been just a moment ago.
The fact that they felt the need to protect Alec against what lay ahead only made the burning in his chest – his magic – worse. At the same time, that itch he’d been fighting seemed to spread over his hands and arms, even his back, flaring up and then gone again. Alec had to work hard not to scratch at it. He curled his fingers down into a fist in his pocket and focused on ignoring the urge. The rest of him focused on what lay ahead.
They were almost there.
Over the years the Institute had come to mean so many different things to him in so many different ways. Yet, at its core it had always been home. Even now with what Alec knew waited for him within those walls, he still felt something in him settle at the sight of his home. The place where his family lived. His mother was in there, and Isabelle.
For a brief moment, Alec let himself think about Max. His little brother wouldn't be there. He'd still be off with their dad at the Mumbai Institute, most likely, unless they pulled him home after Alec's disappearance. Something which he highly doubted, and sincerely hoped they hadn’t done. Max didn’t need to be here to see whatever happened next. Especially if things went south. Better that his little brother came around if – when – things finally settled down.
Alec’s somber mood bled into the group around him. Their procession kept up their silent walk the whole way up to the Institute’s front doors. Benji was the one to break rank, to move ahead and open the doors for them, allowing Alec and Jace to walk together into the Institute, with Andrew and Cameron bringing up the rear. Instinctively, Alec straightened himself up even more until he had the iron spine his mother had taught him. One that spoke of confidence and leadership and a refusal to cow before anyone. What came next wasn’t going to be easy – like hell if he’d let them see him cower from it.
Cameron melted away once they were inside, and Benji stayed behind, but Andrew walked up to take Alec's free side so that he was flanked by him and Jace as he headed down the hall toward the Ops Center.
Though Alec’s eyes went everywhere, taking it all in with one fell sweep, there was one thing, one person, that stood out the most to him. One he’d been just as desperate to see as he’d been for his parabatai.
Isabelle.
There were other people around, sure. Plenty of them. All of whom Alec took note of in an absent way, just as he'd been trained. But his gaze snapped to his sister in an instant. She was standing on the landing above the Ops Center in the middle of what looked to be an argument with their mother. The two were facing each other, a tightness to their eyes that Alec was more than familiar with, and a tension that seemed worse than he’d seen it be in a long time. Maryse looked like a statute, her face carved from marble, while Isabelle had her feet planted like she was ready for battle.
Whether it was the sudden silence that fell over the room or just a natural shadowhunter awareness of the room around them, Alec saw as Isabelle and Maryse both glanced their way to clock who came in.
It was Maryse registered them first. A small burst of hope built in Alec's chest when he saw the way his mother stalled and actually did a doubletake, like she couldn't quite believe her eyes. The mask of cold composure she’d been holding seemed to just melt away. Her lips parted on what he thought might be his name.
In comparison to her stunned shock, Isabelle's reaction was so much bolder, so much brighter. Just like her.
She didn't care that they were in the middle of the Ops Center, in front of everyone. Isabelle didn't even try to hide her joy. A cry of “Alec!” tore across the room just seconds ahead of her as Isabelle practically flung herself down the stairs. She didn't care for anyone who might be in her way; not that anyone was stupid enough to stay there. They all cleared a path for Isabelle straight to Alec.
Jace moved out of the way just enough to avoid being run over by their sister. She threw herself straight into Alec's arms, and he caught her without hesitation, yanking her in close and holding her against him. Her arms went tight around his neck and her laughter rang like music in his ears. The press of her body against him settled another of those broken pieces inside of Alec. Closing his eyes, he buried his face against her hair and took a second, let himself breathe her in.
“You're okay,” Isabelle breathed out against his shoulder. “Thank the Angel. You’re okay.”
He didn’t argue those words, even if they felt like such a lie. Alec just held her a little tighter.
A warm hand on his arm had his eyes opening once more. He didn’t have to look to know who it was; he’d always recognize his mother’s touch. Opening his eyes, Alec looked up to find Maryse right there next to him. Some of her mask had slipped back into place; she was too well trained to let it stay gone for so long out here where everyone could see. But the look in her eyes held enough love to put a lump in his throat. “Alec.”
“Mom.”
Slowly, carefully, Alec shifted his hold on Isabelle, drawing back just a little from her and instinctively straightening himself back up.
Isabelle paid them no attention. She’d never cared for protocol the way they did. Nor did she let it stop her when she wanted to know something. It didn’t surprise Alec at all that she pulled back and immediately demanded, “What happened to you? Where have you been?”
The whole room seemed to go quiet around them. Alec could feel Jace shifting closer to him in silent support that far too many sharp eyes would see. He’d suggested earlier that they bring Alec in as quietly as possible, get things taken care of in a discreet way, but Alec had nixed it. He’d known walking in like this would mean a confrontation. Having Isabelle be the one to lead it helped, but whether it’d been her or someone else, Alec had planned on saying this part out where everyone could hear. It needed to be said where everyone could hear. He wanted this information out there before the Clave even thought about trying to silence him.
Once he said these words, there was no taking them back. No burying this. Alec’s people were watching on as he deliberately looked at his mother and firmly, clearly, said, “I was kidnapped by Circle members and taken to Valentine's ship.”
A low murmur ran around the room. Alec thought he heard someone gasp; someone else sounded like they cursed.
Isabelle’s hand clenched down where it’d settled on his arm, and her eyes went wide. “Raziel.”
“Valentine was there,” Alec said, still watching his mother – the woman who had been so ready to start a war with warlocks because of a prejudice she couldn’t get rid of. One that he hadn’t realized ran as deep as it did. He let the knowledge of it sit in his eyes, in his voice, as he told her, “He’s alive.”
The room fell silent at that. Even the ones who’d already heard this went tense. This wasn’t easy news to hear or share. Valentine was a nightmare that the shadow world had prayed was in their past. One that they barely spoke of to the newer generations. To have his name stated so boldly, and in correlation with one of their own, was terrifying. Word would spread quickly – just the way Alec wanted.
Maryse's face had gone pale, yet she stayed steady. “Reports said that warlocks captured you.”
“A warlock did help,” Alec said, nodding. He didn't give her time to say anything to that before adding on, “But not by choice. Valentine's perfected a serum to control warlocks.”
The murmurs grew even louder around them. Alec took note of a few who looked at their companions; he tried to pay enough attention to notice the ones who scoffed, the ones who didn’t seem to believe. Maryse was definitely one of them. Her masks had cracked slightly at his news, but she was already recovering, already scrambling to think her way through this.
“Are you sure?” she asked.
Narrowing his eyes, Alec didn't try to fight his glare or the coldness of his tone. He didn’t know if she really doubted it, or if she was trying to save face, or what. Whatever it was, he wasn’t about it let it happen. Even if the warlock community wasn’t one that he’d suddenly found himself a part of, he wouldn’t have stood by to let her persecute the group of them just because she wanted to believe her prejudice was right, or because she wanted to deny the idea that Valentine might actually be back. “Yes. He was quite proud of it. Whatever it is he gives them, it turns their veins black, and it strips away any chance they might have of disobeying him.”
The way that Maryse stiffened told him he'd struck a blow. Isabelle, on the other hand, was looking at him with a mix of horror and shock. “By the angel. That's horrible.”
It was. In ways that Alec didn't think they could understand. Not without having seen what he'd seen. They wouldn't know the horror of hearing warlocks weep in their cages after whatever Valentine had forced them to do. Of knowing they were suffering yet being unable to do anything to stop it. They wouldn’t understand what it was like to watch them obey while their eyes screamed against it and their bodies suffered.
Alec forcibly shoved those thoughts away and focused once more on Maryse. “He had dozens of warlocks on his ship, and he's got an army of Circle members behind him.”
“Did he...” Maryse trailed off, seemingly unable to bring herself to ask the one question she was no doubt desperate for an answer on, whether that was because she couldn’t take asking it or she didn’t want to do so in front of an audience was a tossup. The fact that she hadn’t moved them somewhere more private yet was surprising. Yet, she stayed where they were as she changed tracks and asked, “What did he want with you?”
A brief flare of something in Maryse's gaze tugged at one of the cracks in Alec’s heart. One he hadn't realized he'd been trying to ignore until now. He'd thought that he'd made peace with the idea of his parents and what they'd used to be. He hadn't realized he'd been holding out a quiet hope that he was wrong. That look? That one that his mother wore right now? Any hope Alec might’ve had left was gone.
“He wanted me as a test subject,” Alec said, keeping his voice cold and his face blank. He deliberately didn't say anything about Jace.
He watched the way that Maryse flinched ever-so-slightly at his words. Saw the way her eyes widened, and her jaw tightened just a little bit. “We should get you to medical...”
“No,” Alec interjected. Ignoring the soft protest from his sister, and the way the parabatai bond had gone tight, Alec stayed focused on his mother. “First, I need to reach out to the Clave and make my report. From there, they can decide what needs done. But I won't be doing anything until that's taken care of.”
Without giving her a chance to argue, Alec adjusted his hold on his sister, and then he moved right past Maryse, heading toward his office.
The crowd parted for him, allowing Alec and his procession the space to make their way to the Head’s Hall. More than a few people smiled at him. Some saluted as he went past, bringing their sword hand up to their shoulders in a sign of respect that had Alec standing a little taller.
He wasn’t surprised to find that his mother had followed after him. By the time Alec reached his office, she’d already caught up once more, calling his name. He ignored it as he pushed his way through the doors.
“Start contacting the proper people for me, get them on a video call,” he said to Benji, who immediately nodded and turned to slip out of the office door. With that set in motion, Alec turned back to his mother and sister. “I need the two of you to head to the medical wing and get things prepped and ready there. I’ll be there shortly once I’m finished here.”
It didn't feel good to dismiss his own family this way. But Alec couldn't afford to be soft. Not now. Not yet. There were too many things riding on his ability to keep a clear head and follow protocol.
Isabelle looked unhappy, and Maryse looked stricken. He thought for a moment his mother would argue with him. Whatever she saw on his face cut her words short. She gave a firm nod and slowly straightened back up, her masks firmly sliding back into place. Isabelle tried to speak up, to protest, only to get cut off when Maryse caught hold of her arm. “Come on, Isabelle.”
“Hermano?” Isabelle asked, tugging against their mother's hold.
For a second Alec let himself soften, just a little. Just enough to smile at Isabelle. “I'll be down there as soon as I can,” he promised her.
That was enough for her. At least, for now. Alec had no doubt he'd be answering so many more questions later. “Okay.”
Neither one of them tried to convince Jace to go with them. They slipped out, leaving him behind. When Alec turned to look at his parabatai it was to find Jace already glaring at him. “Don't even think about it,” he warned sharply. “You're not leaving my sight, parabatai.”
Alec's lips twitched in a faint smile. “Of course not.”
Before they could say anything else, the door to the office opened again. Benji poked his head inside. “They're ready whenever you are, sir.”
“Thank you, Benji,” Alec said. He looked over to Andrew and gestured him forward. Time to get this started.
With Jace to one side, and Andrew to the other, Alec sank down into the large chair behind his desk. A chair that, up until recently, had been his parents. Settling himself in, he brought up the screen hologram built into his desk and summoned up the video call waiting there for him. He kept his head up and his shoulders back – a leader, ready to make his report.
The Clave representatives who'd answered the call were those he'd expected to see. High Inquisitor Imogen Herondale was front and center, with a group of three others clustered around her, all of whom looked like they were in their own offices. And all of them were focused on him.
“Commander Lightwood,” Imogen greeted him with a sharp nod. “We're glad to see you've safely returned home. I hope you have a good reason for having been absent for so long.”
Just barely did Alec resist the urge to snort. That was Clave caring right there – you’ve been gone, but we’re not going to ask how you are, just demand an explanation with a vague hint of threat behind it.
“Thank you, High Inquisitor.” Alec said, nodding back at her, his own tone just as serious and just as formal. “I'm happy to be home. I wish I was calling with better news.” He didn't beat around the bush, didn't waste time trying to draw this out. Alec looked at them and took the next step forward in the plan. “Valentine Morgenstern is alive. I've seen him with my own eyes. And he is building himself an army.”
The outcry from his own people had been shocked and scared, with bits of disbelief mixed in. What he got now was a lot more like what he’d expected. There were shocked voices, and a loud denial, the other members of the Clave stunned and disbelieving. But it was Imogen who Alec stayed focused on. Her eyes went sharp with the hatred of someone who'd been personally hurt by Valentine in the past. There were few out there in the shadowhunter community who hated the man as much as Imogen did. “Report,” she snapped at him.
With one last, deep breath, Alec began his story once more.
The debriefing with the Clave took hours. Hours in which Alec was forced to recite, over and over, everything that had happened to him, everything he'd seen, everything he'd heard.
Andrew's presence, as well as Jace beside him, were likely the only things that kept them going long enough for them to hear the entirety of his story. As soon as they heard about Valentine's injections, protests had built, and Alec had thought for a moment that they were going to send someone over to arrest him right then and there. But Andrew spoke up in his defense, and his promise of Ragnor's presence and the truth spell he'd cast over them, and his absolute belief in Alec and his faith in Alec's leadership, stayed their hand.
Not that it meant they weren't going to arrest him or ship him off to Idris. Just that they weren't going to do it yet.
“I'm sending people ahead of me to secure the Institute and to complete your medical scans,” Imogen told him sharply. “I'll be following behind myself with the Silent Brothers as well as the Soul Sword. You are not to leave the Institute until you've been cleared by my medical staff as well as a Silent Brother, and your testimony given on the Soul Sword. Nor are you to be left alone.”
“Yes, High Inquisitor.”
They ended the call and Alec slumped back in his chair, rubbing at his chest and willing the ache that had been steadily building there to go away.
“Alec?”
The concern in Jace's voice pulled Alec up. He looked up at his parabatai's face and found Jace watching him with worry etched into his features. Alec did his best to smother down the sigh that almost slipped free. “Andrew, would you excuse us?”
Andrew briefly brushed his fingers against Alec's shoulder. “Of course, sir. I'll start prepping for our guests, and I’ll let Benji know once they arrive.”
The sound of the office door opening and shutting told Alec when they were finally alone. With only Jace there to see him, Alec let his guard drop just a little bit, let a touch more of that weight come crashing down on him. He rubbed a hand over his chest again and let out a slow breath.
Alec didn't resist when Jace took his seat on the edge of the desk, or when his parabatai reached out to cover Alec's hand with his own. “You're not okay,” Jace said bluntly.
The words weren't a question, and Alec didn't try to pretend they were. “I will be.”
Jace scoffed. He leaned down just a little bit closer, his mismatched eyes locked on Alec's, and the bond between them pulsed with that quiver of rage wrapped tight around grief. Neither of which Alec should've been able to feel as strongly as he did. Yet every single emotion Jace had came across loud and clear. “How can you even say that?” Jace demanded, his voice low and thick with just a hint of a growl that promised so much trouble. “After everything that asshole did to you, after all of that, how can you sit there and tell me that you're going to be okay?”
“Because I can't afford to be anything else,” Alec said flatly. The worst part was, it was absolutely true. He couldn't afford to be anything less than okay. “What about you? How are you doing?”
The sudden change of topic surprised Jace enough that he blinked at Alec for a moment. Then he scowled. “Don't change the subject. We're talking about you.”
“No, we've been talking about me. Now we're talking about you.”
Jace growled at him. “I don't need to talk about me.”
“So you're saying you're fine with knowing I was kidnapped by Valentine so he could use me to draw you to him for some reason or other that's undoubtedly shit.”
The bluntness of Alec's words had Jace flinching. He straightened up and sat back, arms crossed over his chest. Like putting some distance between him and Alec's words would make everything better. Their bond churned with the mess of emotions he couldn't quite suppress. “No, I'm not okay with that,” Jace said sharply. “But what I am okay with is killing that asshole for hurting you.”
Alec sighed. He lifted his hand from his chest and dropped it down to settle in his lap, his pose as calm as he could make it. He wouldn't force Jace to talk about this, but he was going to make something very clear here – something that would no doubt infuriate his parabatai. “Unfortunately, that job is going to go to someone else. You're not getting anywhere near Valentine.”
Instant outrage hit Jace's face. His head shot up and his eyes were like fire when he glared at Alec. “What?”
Alec refused to cow under that look. He'd given in so many times in the past when his siblings demanded something from him. But not when it came to their safety. And especially not for something like this. “You heard me. Until further notice, you're confined to the Institute.”
“You can't do that!”
“I can and I will. Until the day they take this Institute from me, I am the Commander here,” Alec reminded him sharply, exercising his power in a way he almost never did with family. “As such, I decide who is or isn't allowed out on missions.” Ever so slightly, Alec let his voice soften, let a note of pleading enter his tone. “Valentine is actively hunting you for reasons we can't begin to understand. But there's no way it's for anything good. Unless you want to end up like me, or worse, you'll stay within the Institute's walls, Jace. I mean it. Don't test me on this.”
He watched the battle go across Jace's face. One that was matched by the emotions in their bond rising up and swirling around, faster and faster, until Alec felt nauseous from it all. He opened his mouth to say something, no doubt something that would only fan this fire even more, only for a tap at the door to interrupt them.
The two froze for a beat and stared at each other. Alec didn't back down, and he didn't look away. Not even as he called out a “Yes?”
There was the sound of the door opening and then Benji's voice, low and only a little hesitant. “I'm sorry to interrupt, sir, but Andrew's sent someone ahead to say the Inquisitor and her people are here. They're expecting you down in the infirmary.”
“Thank you, Benji. I’ll be right out.”
Alec kept staring at his brother despite Benji’s warning. While he needed to move, he needed to make his point here more. Especially if things went wrong. If he went down there and they ended up trying to arrest him, or take him away, or angel-forbid, derune him, he needed to do his level best now to make sure Jace was safe.
He watched something flash over Jace’s face – there and gone again in the bond too fast for him to really catch it. “I won’t just hide here,” Jace said bluntly, straight right back at Alec.
“You don’t have a choice,” Alec fired back. He pushed up to his feet and looked down at Jace. In that moment he saw nothing more than the young boy he’d been when he first came to them. The one who’d been so angry, so stubbornly defiant, practically daring them to do something to him with every action, every word, all the while pretending it didn’t matter to him in the least.
Those memories should’ve softened something in him, and he hoped that maybe they did, a little. That maybe Jace could feel that hint of softness in the bond. But at the same time, he refused to let it soften his voice. Or his conviction.
Well aware of Benji still standing there, Alec made sure he spoke firmly and clearly so that there would be no mistaking what he meant. He wasn’t going to allow Jace to ignore this order the way he so often ignored Alec’s other orders. “You don’t have to like it, but I stand by it. Until further notice you’re confined to the Institute, Jace. If you can’t agree to that, I’ll speak with the Inquisitor and see about arranging protective custody.”
“What?” Jace blurted out. His eyebrows shot up with surprise, and he tilted his head back to meet Alec’s eyes. “Are you serious? Alec…”
Alec raised his own eyebrows in return. “Yes. Now, I’m due down in the infirmary. You can come with me, or you can stay here, the choice is yours.” Then he spun on his heel and marched out of his office.
A few steps later he caught the faint sound of his furious parabatai trailing after him. Watching his back, even when he'd probably like nothing more than to punch him.
They made it down to medical without anyone jumping Alec along the way. Something that surprised him more than a little bit. He'd been half expecting someone to try and take him into custody before he'd even had a chance to go down there. Or to maybe be accosted by his sister along the way, even. But no one stepped out and stopped them. No members of the Gard materialized to surround them and 'escort' them to the infirmary. Alec made it there under his own steam.
Once they stepped inside, it was an entirely different story.
Imogen herself stood to the right side of the room, with a handful of Gard members and two Silent Brothers. The rest of the infirmary seemed to have been cleared, save for two of their medical staff, and two others that Alec assumed were the medics Imogen brought with her.
His Chief of Medicine, Lesley Stillwater, stood calmly with her hands folded in front of her and a serene look on her face. Lesley was one of his older staff members, though he wasn't dumb enough to ask how old – he didn't exactly enjoy the idea of being thumped with something for impertinence the way she had no qualms about doing to any of them – and she'd seen far too much to be flustered by things. Not even by the arrival of the High Inquisitor within her domain.
At her side, one of the newer medics wasn't quite so lucky. Jaime Riverlace had only been a medic for a couple of years, and he was good at what he did, but he'd also clearly never had to face anything like this. He kept darting looks at the other side of the room only to look at Lesley once more and then visibly try to calm himself, just to start the cycle again a few seconds later.
Alec looked them all over before he settled his gaze on Imogen. “High Inquisitor.”
“Commander Lightwood,” Imogen said. Her eyes traveled over him, sharp and assessing. She didn't hesitate to step forward toward him. “Let's get this started.”
Her no-nonsense manner felt sort of refreshing. It made it easier for Alec to nod at her. But it was the presence of his parabatai – something which he was grateful no one here protested – that gave Alec the courage and the strength to step toward the nearest exam table. Memories of being strapped down, of needles and pain, tried to push their way forward, only for him to ruthlessly shove them back.
He was not helpless here. Nor was he alone. Alec could feel Jace close behind him and he drew strength from it. From his parabatai.
As Alec climbed up onto the exam bed, Jace settled in at his right in a stance that practically dared anyone to come over and try anything, while Lesley came over to Alec's left side. She put her hand on his arm in a move that was both soothing and reassuring. Green eyes twinkled up at him from a lined face that had seen so much and bore the marks to prove it. “Alright there, Commander?” she asked softly.
“I am.” Alec offered her what he hoped was a smile.
“Good.” Lesley patted his arm. She turned to look at Imogen and arched one eyebrow, somehow managing to make that simple expression say so very much without saying a word. Then she slid her gaze over to the Silent Brothers standing with her, and her look turned respectful once more. “Please, come join us. If we work at the same time we should be able to get this done quicker.”
Alec was pretty sure that Lesley actually had no real idea how long this would take. Whether it took ten minutes or ten hours, he knew she'd stand steady through it all.
With Jace on one side and Lesley on the other, both of them so clearly standing strong and in his corner, he might actually be able to make it through this without making a fool of himself.
Chapter Text
Almost the full two days Alec had asked for passed by before he finally managed to break free from the Institute.
It'd been one thing after another ever since he walked through those doors. Medical tests, meetings with the Clave representatives Imogen brought with her, endless debriefings that drained Alec almost as badly as being held captive, not to mention testifying on the Soul Sword. Something which took a whole hell of a lot out of a person. Even one who hadn't been through what Alec had.
He'd been poked, prodded, questioned, and accused – both covertly and blatantly – all for them to finally come to the conclusion Alec had so desperately hoped for: despite what they’d assumed, there were no visible signs that he was under Valentine’s control. Nor could they find any evidence that he had given away any secrets they could persecute him for while there. The Silent Brothers had been the ones to come to that conclusion, and though Imogen might not like it, she couldn’t argue with their pronouncement and the Soul Sword testimony. To do so would’ve been a step too close to sacrilege. Something not even Imogen would dare.
Oh, sure, they were going to monitor him for a while. Quite a long while, most likely. But Alec wasn't the only half-shadowhunter out there, which set just enough of a precedent for him to use it, and he came from two of the oldest families in their records, which gave him a place from which to leverage from. Even his marriage, which had caused an outcry almost as big as everything else, afforded him a slight sense of protection. Very few in the Clave seemed to like Magnus, but even fewer seemed willing to risk going up against the man by outright persecuting his husband.
All those things combined worked in Alec’s favor. Without even just one of them, he had no doubt he would’ve been at the very least demoted down. But as it was, all those pieces put together meant that there just wasn’t enough wiggle room for the Council to vote for anything except allowing him to stay in his role of Headship. Of course, a bigger part of that probably had something to do with the fact that they had very specific rules as to why someone might be removed from that role once the Head was fully vested, as Alec was. Apparently kidnapping and experimentation didn't make the list. Nor did marrying a Downworlder. Something which clearly chafed for the lot of them.
Not that it meant he was out of the woods. Alec had no doubt they’d be keeping a close eye on him, ready for anything that they might be able to use against him to take back the Institute and, with it, his power.
Whatever they planned to do to watch him, Alec could handle it. Just so long as it meant his Institute was still his own, he'd put up with a lot.
A few good things had come of it all, at least. Or as good as could be expected. One of which he carried with him as he made his way up the stairs of the apartment building he'd left behind just a few days (a lifetime) ago.
Alec knocked on the door with one hand while he kept a tight grip on the bag he carried slung over his shoulder with the other.
It didn’t take long for the door to swing open. Though Alec was surprised by the fact that Magnus wasn’t there. A second later his voice called out from inside the loft, “Come in! I’ve got my hands in the middle of something right now and I’d rather not leave it.”
Surprise had Alec blinking a few times. Then, despite himself, he felt a small smile curve his lips. Maybe a statement like that should’ve made him feel more nervous than amused; they barely knew one another, after all. Not really. But Alec found his smile growing as he moved inside, shutting the door behind him. “Should I be concerned?”
“Only if you don’t know how to keep your hands to yourself,” Magnus called back. Then, after a short pause, he added on, “With this, at least.”
Alec swore he could hear the wink that went with that.
It felt odd to step back into Magnus' loft. Yet, surprisingly easy at the same time. Alec shed his bow and quiver and put them on the rack in the foyer, along with his coat. Then, still carrying the bag he'd brought with him, he stepped further into the loft. Magnus wasn't anywhere in sight. Looking around curiously, Alec lifted his voice once more. “Is now a bad time? I can come back later.”
“Nonsense!” Magnus said, his voice a little clearer. It seemed to be coming from the opposite side of the living room, where a set of double doors were open wide. “I just need about ten minutes to finish this up, that's all. Make yourself at home, darling.”
Alec flushed at the endearment. He ducked his head down and contemplated heading for the couch. But, curiosity won out, and Alec found himself making his way over to the open doors. He'd never been inside a warlock apothecary before.
What he found on the other side of those doors was everything and nothing like he'd imagined it would be.
The walls were covered in shelves, with another shelf free standing off to the side, all of them full of glasses and vials, bowls and glass containers, each one holding ingredients that looked both mundane and not. There were cauldrons stacked against a wall and hanging from hooks on the ceiling. Bookshelves stood in the corner, these ones packed with books rather than ingredients.
A large desk was positioned off to Alec's left, and it was here that Magnus was working. He stood in front of it, elbow deep in a massive cauldron. Whatever he was working on gave off a faintly glowing purple light that made him look almost otherworldly.
He was dressed down compared to the last time Alec had seen him. A white tank top that, when he shifted a little, proclaimed LOVE IS LOVE in bright rainbow colors, with a series of symbols next to it. The top hung loose, the armpits dangling a little lower than most, and it was partially tucked in to the skintight dark purple pants he wore with it. A large black and silver belt kept everything in place.
Alec's throat went a little dry as he took in the sight that Magnus made.
Magnus looked up through his lashes and caught Alec's eye. The way his lips curved up told Alec he knew exactly what kind of effect he was having on him. Judging by how warm their bond suddenly felt, he enjoyed it, too. He didn't call Alec out on it, though. Just greeted him with a “Hello, Alexander.”
“Hey,” Alec said back. For the moment it was all he really could get out.
The smile Magnus wore grew a little wider, with a slightly mischievous edge to it. “Good to see you're still alive and well. I was beginning to think I'd have to storm the Institute to rescue you.”
It took just a beat too long for Alec to collect himself. When he did, Magnus hadn’t moved, and his smile hadn’t faded.
Ignoring the way it made him want to smile back, Alec leaned sideways and propped himself up on his shoulder against the door frame, trying to play off a casual feeling he didn’t actually feel. It allowed him to cross his arms and continue to watch Magnus, who seemed to be digging around inside the cauldron still, and stay comfortably out of the way. “You already rescued me once.” Something which he didn't think he'd thanked Magnus properly for. If it hadn't been for him... well, Alec didn't want to think about what might've happened to him if he passed out on that ship with everything around him on fire.
Magnus shrugged a shoulder, dismissing Alec's words. “Only after you saved me first. I'm pretty sure that makes us even.”
“Maybe,” Alec agreed easily. Though he was pretty damn sure this wasn't even at all.
A few days away from Magnus, days he'd spent recounting his ordeal over and over and over again, had brought a different sort of perspective. One that made Alec feel kind of like an asshole for how he'd treated Magnus when he'd first found out about everything. None of this was Magnus' fault. He'd been caught up in Valentine's games, the same as Alec.
Alec had resolved to do his best to be kind, and to remember that Magnus was just as much a victim here as he was. There wasn't any reason they couldn't be friends, was there? They'd built the beginnings of friendship while they'd been captive. Nothing said they couldn't continue that now. Especially considering they were blood-bound and, in the eyes of both their people now, married.
However, in all his plans on how to deal with this, with them, Alec had forgotten a few important things. Namely, the effects of the bond.
For the past two days he'd been able to keep Magnus' emotions muted. Either distance or time itself had settled the bond into something just slightly stronger than the parabatai bond had once been – and Alec had plenty of skill at pushing down or ignoring that, if need be. He'd hoped that maybe this bond would be like that one had been. Strong at the start and then mellow as time went on.
Just a few minutes here and Alec could see that wasn't going to be the case. While distance might dull things, time definitely hadn't. He'd been riding the high of his good mood and his freedom the whole way over here, not really paying attention to the bond. But now that he stood in front of Magnus, he couldn't ignore it. The feelings he picked up felt just as strong as they had last time.
“Those feel like some deep thoughts.”
Alec snapped out of his reverie and focused on Magnus once more. He found the other man watching him, a little furrow between his brows and a warm swell of something that felt like concern in their bond.
It took a second for his words to sink in. When they did, Alec flushed slightly. He lifted a hand to rub awkwardly at the back of his neck. “Sorry.”
“No need to apologize,” Magnus reassured him, flashing a smile his way. Then he let out a pleased sound and pulled his hands free of the cauldron. Surprisingly, there didn't seem to be anything on them despite whatever it was he'd just been doing. That must've been a good sign because Magnus gave a nod, threw a lid on top and then spun around to face Alec. “All right, why don't we take this to the living room? We can get comfortable while you tell me all about what happened.”
Alec straightened up, feeling a little awkward as he moved out of the way so that Magnus could exit the apothecary. He fell in step behind him and followed Magnus over to the couches. He tried not to watch the way his boots made his hips sway, or how he managed to make sinking down onto the couch look graceful.
With a snap of his fingers Magnus summoned a drink to his hand, and one to Alec's as well. At the dry look Alec shot him, the other man just grinned. “So! I'm assuming everything went at least somewhat well, seeing as how they let you leave the Institute.” Lifting his glass, he hid his smirk behind the lip of it. “Or should I be battening down the hatches to prepare for a full Clave assault?”
The teasing tone in Magnus' voice had Alec rolling his eyes. This, at least, he knew how to deal with. He'd gotten used to Magnus' sarcasm during their captivity. He found it easier to respond to that or even his anger than the softer, almost flirty side he showed sometimes.
Sinking down onto the other end of the couch, Alec set his bag down next to him before settling back into the corner. “No one's coming here after us,” he said, though he grimaced and added on, “At least not right now.”
Magnus arched an eyebrow at that, and his lips quirked, his smile taking on a slightly bitter edge. “So very reassuring.”
Yeah, he wasn’t wrong. But Alec wasn’t going to sugarcoat it for either of them. They both knew the truth. “They don't have a reason to come after us yet. I was cleared by three medics, the Soul Sword, and two Silent Brothers. Any qualms they might still have don’t hold weight against those.”
Surprise and concern burst to life in Alec's chest. It was a strange contradiction to the almost blank expression Magnus' wore. “That's quite... thorough.”
Alec made a low sound of agreement but didn't say anything else on it. He couldn't, not really. What he wanted to say, the reassurances he wanted to offer, the defense he wanted to make for the Clave... he'd learned these past few days just how far the cannot lie ability he’d gained could be stretched. It didn't just cover lying to others, but to himself as well, at least out loud. Alec could think what he wanted inside his own head but he couldn't make it go past his lips. Not if even the smallest scrap of him believed it not to be true.
Much as he might instinctively want to defend the Clave right now, he couldn't. Not when he didn't really believe they deserved it.
“They're going to keep an eye on me, and by extension, you,” he said instead, moving forward before the silence stretched too long between them. “The plan is to send out an envoy to keep an eye on things for the next six months, to make sure nothing bad happens from the experimentation, or anything else.”
Alec wasn't about to go into detail about what anything else meant. He was pretty sure Magnus could read between the lines enough to figure some of it out, and there was no reason for Alec to talk about how they suspected Magnus of manipulating Alec into becoming more sympathetic to warlocks or Alec becoming some sort of spy for the Downworld.
Their marriage hadn't done him any good through all this. But their reaction only proved to Alec that he’d made the right choice in telling them right from the start. If he’d held it back? Just thinking of what might happen if or when it came out later was enough to make him shudder.
“Six months, huh?” Magnus echoed thoughtfully. He took a sip from his glass, and Alec tried not to track the movement of his throat as he swallowed. “Well, I suppose I can manage to deal with someone checking up on us for six months.”
The casual way he said 'us' had the fire in Alec's chest giving a soft flutter. It was the first positive feeling it'd given him since he left Magnus two days ago.
While they were apart the bond had seemed to feel just as on edge as he had, flaring up with every thinly veiled accusation, every hint of a sneer. Every single time someone looked at him and saw Valentine's experiment first, and Alec second. Every time they looked at him and saw a threat, a potential rabid animal they’d have to put down, or a leash they might be able to tug – one connected to the single most powerful warlock on record. Or, worse yet, when they looked at him and saw nothing at all, like he was so beneath them that he might as well not even exist.
Now, sitting here with Magnus, curled up behind his wards, with no one glaring or sneering or watching him with suspicion, Alec could finally relax, and with him, his magic. Which was weird to think. Especially considering that, while they’d ended on the same page the last time they’d been together, they’d also still been slightly on edge with each other as well. They’d both been hesitant to trust the other. Yet here they were, relaxing in one another’s company.
It was…nice.
Alec realized belatedly that he was staring at Magnus, and that the other man had stopped talking. His eyes were locked on Alec's face, that frown back on his lips. Concern warred with curiosity in the bond and Alec felt a flush creeping up his cheeks.
“I've got a couple things for you,” Alec blurted out. Anything to distract from his staring. He reached down for the bag he'd brought and drew it up into his lap. Anything to distract Magnus from his embarrassment. Or the way his blush only seemed to be growing stronger under the other man's gaze.
He was half afraid that Magnus was going to call him out on it. But the other man simply tilted his head, his eyes sharp as he watched Alec pull the box from his bag.
For this, at least, Alec didn't feel embarrassed. “I know you didn't ask for anything, and they didn't offer. Something which I'm going to speak with them about. But uh, here...” He held the box out to Magnus, who started to take it with one hand only to give him a surprised look at just how heavy it was. Alec smiled. “Payment based off your usual fees, for what you did for Jace and Clary.”
Magnus blinked down at the box and then up at Alec. He didn't argue, though, for which Alec was grateful. Nor did he even glance at what was inside. He simply banished the box somewhere and said, “Thank you.”
“You earned it, by my understanding. More than.”
A soft smile warmed Magnus face, softening it a little. “Not many shadowhunters would have thought of that.”
Alec shrugged. He wasn’t wrong, even if that thought rankled. “They should.”
“Yes, they should,” Magnus agreed. He shifted in his seat, turning his body a little more toward Alec, and a tightness that Alec hadn't even really noticed faded out of their bond. “Somehow, you keep surprising me, Alexander. Every time I think I have you figured out… you’re nothing like what I would expect from someone born and raised inside the Clave. Let alone a Lightwood.”
While the words were blunt, and a bit hurtful, they weren’t exactly wrong. Alec hated that that was something Magnus had to worry about, but it was the reminder of his parents – something else he'd been doing his level best not to think of – that had Alec grimacing. He didn't want to think about what they'd clearly been a part of. Yet he couldn't exactly ignore it. Not when his... his husband clearly had a history with them. One that Alec had no doubt was more than just unpleasant.
Licking suddenly dry lips, Alec drew a in a breath and tried to square his shoulders a little, physically and mentally bracing himself. No matter what he’d prefer this wasn’t something he could avoid. Not here, not with someone his very soul was tied to. Better to get it out in the open right now. “I take it you have a history with them.”
“A bit of one,” Magnus said lightly, his lips twitching up into a humorless smile. Then he shook his head. “But, I more than most understand that a person isn't the sum of their parents mistakes. Whatever they did was on them, not you, my dear. You've proven yourself to be more than different from them. You've been remarkably... open-minded about things. Something which I imagine they were not.”
Unable to help himself, Alec snorted. “Which part? The whole 'turning into a warlock' bit, or the 'married to one'?”
“Either, really.” For a second Magnus paused, seemingly hesitating on his next words. He watched Alec for a moment and then shook his head, and the feelings in the bond solidified, like he'd come to some sort of decision. He angled his chin up and his tone took on a casual edge that didn't at all match his emotions. “I was honestly a little surprised you were so willing to speak up and share our marriage at all, considering the shadowhunter view of warlocks. Not to mention their feelings on same-sex pairings.”
Alec very much did not want to touch on any of that – not the Clave's views on warlocks in general or on same-sex pairings. Neither was a pleasant topic. That didn't mean he could avoid it entirely, though.
“Hiding it wouldn't have done either of us any good, not in the long run,” Alec admitted. He looked a little over Magnus' shoulder, not quite able to meet his eyes here. Just because he recognized the need behind this didn't make it any easier to face head-on a part of himself he'd spent over half his life hiding from. “It would've come out eventually. If they discovered it later on they'd be able to turn it against us and claim that you were clearly influencing me.”
“And you don't think I am?”
Surprise had Alec's eyes shooting over to connect with Magnus'. He found the other man watching him with a guarded, carefully concealed expression. Even the bond went a little quiet. Alec's magic felt frozen in his chest. Instead of the familiar heat he'd gotten used to, it drew back a little as if repelled by just the idea of it. “No, I don't. Of course not.”
Magnus shrugged. He held his glass in his hands but didn't seem to be drinking from it. “You've known me for a few weeks, and in captivity at that. How would you know I wasn't influencing you?”
“Because I know what bonds feel like, and I know what it feels like to have someone try to manipulate me with one.” How many times had Jace tried to use their bond to encourage Alec into doing something he didn't want to do? Shadowhunters were teenagers when they first bonded, after all. What teenager wouldn't use any tool at their disposal to convince their sibling to do something? “Besides, I... I trust you. I don't know why, and maybe I'm stupid for it, but I do.”
Alec forced himself to hold Magnus' gaze. He could feel his cheeks heating up at his admission. All of this was a little too honest for him. Yet at the same time it felt necessary. Especially if they were going to be stuck with one another.
A flash of surprise went through their bond.
Silence fell over them. Neither seemed to know what to say. It felt sort of awkward, like maybe he should fill the silence with something, but at the same time he didn't think he actually had to. He and Magnus had already spent plenty of time together saying nothing at all. Just taking comfort from being with someone safe, someone who understood. That feeling seemingly hadn't changed.
Their moment was broken when Alec's magic apparently decided it didn't want to sit around restrained anymore. It pushed up against the wards still sitting over him, and Magnus jolted just the same as Alec did at the feel of it.
“Oh!” Magnus sat up, and to Alec's surprise, a hint of color dusted over his cheeks. “I'm so sorry, Alexander. I didn't even think – you're likely more than ready to have that off of you.”
It only took a second and a little hand waving – “Brace yourself, darling,” – before Alec felt that wash of magic suddenly leave his skin. The absence of it was strange enough that Alec didn't know what to do for a second.
His magic didn't have that issue.
As soon as it was free, it came racing to the forefront, pushing out of him. Alec almost panicked, almost tried to grab hold and strangle it back while visions of the last time it raced away from him danced before his eyes, only to get stopped by Magnus. Warm hands caught hold of his and held on tight, anchoring Alec. “Careful,” Magnus warned him. He kept hold of Alec's hands in a firm grip, yet his voice stayed easy and gentle. “It's a bit of a rush, having that taken off. You'll be fine in a second, just breathe with me.”
The soothing tone helped to ease Alec's panic. He listened to Magnus and drew in a slow, deep breath. Then another. Gradually he began to relax. Once he did, he was able to realize that his magic wasn't pulsing out dangerously the way he'd immediately feared. It was simply... dancing around him. Not in flames but in swirling sparks of blue that seemed oddly beautiful.
Alec watched, mesmerized, as the blue lights swirled around him. They didn't burn anything, nor did they flare out in any way. They just danced along and around him like a child playing after being cooped up inside all day.
“It won't hurt you,” Magnus said quietly, drawing Alec's attention back to him. He found Magnus watching their joined hands. When Alec looked down, he saw why. The blue was there as well, twisting and twining over their joined fingers. “It won't hurt me, either. Not unless it or you perceives me as a threat. Your magic attacked the last time because you were in danger, and so was I, and it sought to protect us. But it knows you're not in danger here. This is just... a celebration.”
“You talk about magic like it's alive.”
“Isn't it?”
Lifting their hands, Magnus turned them until they sat palm-up, their fingers still loosely linked. A little ball of what was clearly Magnus' magic grew in his palm, just as blue as Alec's. Alec's magic didn't hesitate to surge forward and wrap around it, the two mixing and mingling just as much as Alec and Magnus' hands were, clasping each other on a whole other level Alec hadn't ever even known existed.
When he snuck a look up at Magnus, the other man was smiling. Whether at their magic or at him, Alec didn't quite know.
“Magic is just as alive as we are, in its own way. Warlocks are born with some in us. A core of power that, if we're not careful, can be depleted and burn us out entirely. But that takes a lot to do. Normally, if a warlock pushes themselves too far and depletes what's in them, it takes time and rest, maybe a potion or two to help things along, before they rebuild what they lost. Though usually, even without those potions, their magic builds back up on its own fairly quickly.” Magnus gave Alec's fingers a light squeeze. “Whatever Valentine did to you, it changed your body enough that a spark of my magic was able to kickstart a core in you. One that now generates magic entirely your own.”
Alec wasn't sure what to say to that. He watched as their magic twisted and danced around one another. That they were able to mix together like this made him wonder if it was just because they were both warlocks – fuck, that was still so terrifying to think, so wrong – or if it was something else. “That sounds more like a thing, like my runes. A power you can access and use.”
“It is and it isn't. Yes, it's something you can use, that you can train and shape to your will with words, actions, intent. But that doesn't make it any less alive. Magic lives and breathes just as we do. It reacts to things in different ways. You can use it to fight, or heal, or protect yourself and others. You can use it to build things up...” There, in their joined hands, a tower of magic grew until it resembled one of the castles of old. “...or destroy them.”
A blink and the castle crumbled, falling brick by brick into their palms where it was absorbed a moment later, the light gathering back with the rest until it once more danced around their fingers.
“The magic we make, the magic we use, it's as alive as we are. That's how it knows to leap out in your defense when Circle members are trying to kill you. Or summon a blanket to a cold child who doesn't know yet what they're doing.” Magnus smiled, but there was a sadness in his eyes when he looked at Alec. Sadness and sympathy. “Magic always reacts to our intentions, and our needs. At least, the magic we create.”
“Are there other kinds?” Alec asked curiously.
Magnus nodded at him. “Absolutely. So many different kinds. Some you'll come across in your studies, most likely, and some you can talk about with your teacher. Others still that I think you're going to have to learn about a little quicker than most,” he said. At Alec's curious look, he smiled again and gave Alec's hands another squeeze. “You're part fae now, my dear, meaning you have access to a type of magic warlocks don't. What's more, you have the potential to be able to access the magic around us the way that the fae do. We'll need to see about reaching out to someone who can help you discover and understand what you can do.”
“Someone who can teach me?” Alec clarified.
“Teach you, yes, and guide you. Fae magic is... tricky. It's not something you should play around with until you know what you're doing. Nor is it something I'd feel comfortable attempting to teach you. I wouldn't know what to do if something went wrong.”
That made sense. Alec nodded, his mind already racing ahead. He'd planned on reaching out to a contact already; this only made it even more important. “I might know someone who can help. Or who can at least refer me to someone who can help.”
“Who?”
Alec didn't take offense to the incredulous tone. He knew the idea of him having someone he could contact was a surprising one. If he hadn't already realized that on his own, Catarina's reaction when she'd found out the same thing would've clued him in to that.
He hadn’t told Catarina who exactly it was that he could reach out to. Considering she’d been shocked at his knowledge of unseelie, he hadn’t been entirely sure he was comfortable telling her the rest. But Magnus… Magnus was going to be there for his training. He’d likely be a big part of it. Even in the parts he didn’t quite know yet.
Alec looked up and found Magnus watching him curiously. He'd pulled his hands back a bit ago, letting Alec have a chance to gather himself from his magic's enthusiastic greeting. Yet he was still close enough that it made this easier, somehow. “Their names are Pyrr and Alva. They're a set of twin mages I met a while ago.” They were also part of the royal guard. Alec didn't quite know how to explain that to Magnus right now. Nor did he want to. Not when he was nervous about what Magnus might think about any of this. “I'm pretty sure they'll be willing to help. Even if it's just to point me to someone else.”
“You...” Magnus stopped and shook his head. He didn't quite seem to know what to say. Shaking his head again, he flashed Alec a smile. “Okay, shadowhunter. You reach out to your friends, and I'll reach out to mine, and we'll see if we can set up something for the next few days. For now, it's been a long day and your magic seems content to run free a little without trouble. Why don't I get us some food and we can talk a little. About what you'd like to do going forward.”
The relief Alec felt at hearing that was strong enough he didn't doubt Magnus could pick up on it through the bond. He was a planner; that was what he did. Often to the frustration of his siblings. But strategic planning was part of what had enabled him to get this far in his career so young. It had helped him to become one of the youngest Heads to be fully vested in over a century. And now it was what would help him navigate this new life of his.
“Food sounds good,” Alec agreed. He drew in a breath and then slowly let it out, relaxing down into the couch.
They had so much ahead of them that they needed to think about and prepare for. Not just when it came to Alec and his powers, but their own futures, dealing with the Clave, the Spiral Labyrinth, Valentine. Plans upon plans that needed to be made.
For the first time, maybe Alec wouldn't be making those plans alone.
Chapter 15
Notes:
whaaaaaat? Another chapter, so soon? le gasp!
Chapter Text
Alec woke slowly, slipping from sleep into wakefulness with a yawn that cracked his jaw.
Sunlight warmed his body, leaving him content to drift in that space between sleep and wakefulness. He didn’t bother opening his eyes yet. Not when everything felt so nice and comfortable. His body was warm – a feeling he’d been fighting to find since he first woke up on that icy cold ship – and whatever he was laying on felt soft.
Even his magic felt at peace. It twisted and swirled happily through him without any real intent. Just a quiet sense of joy.
The sound of someone puttering nearby broke through Alec's sleepy daze. There was the faint sound of almost-silent footsteps brushing over the floor, the hum and drip of a coffee maker, and the clink of what he was sure were cups.
It only took a second for Alec to put those sounds together, pairing them with the warm sunshine and the softness of what he was lying on, and realize where he was. Once he did, he turned his head to bury his blush against the pillow.
The loft. He was at Magnus' loft, where he'd clearly fallen asleep on the couch.
Judging by the pillow under his head and the blanket he could feel draped over his lower half, he'd fallen asleep here and Magnus had apparently tucked him in.
Alec bit back a groan and tried not to let his embarrassment grow. He hadn't planned on falling asleep here. He'd just... gotten caught up in their conversation and the plans they’d made. Magnus had a sharp mind and an eye for detail that Alec had found himself enjoying. They'd started out talking about the simple things, what they could do to set up lessons for Alec and what that might mean for his future, which had led to them talking a bit about Valentine and what kind of efforts they could both put forth with their respective people, which further led to Alec animatedly discussing the Cabinet he'd been thinking about starting.
He'd been a few cups in by that point, the alcohol loosening his tongue enough for him to wax poetic about a plan that he'd been secretly building. The fact that Magnus had seemed interested had only served to fuel Alec on.
Apparently, alcohol and a captive audience were Alec's worst combination.
His cheeks felt a little warm just remembering the way he'd thrown his hands up and put his body into his explanation in a way he’d been trained out of doing. By the angel. He’d made a hell-damned fool out of himself! He was lucky Magnus hadn't kicked him out. No one ever wanted to listen to Alec when he got going like that. Usually their eyes started to glaze over and they stared off into space, if they didn't find a convenient excuse to simply leave.
But, Magnus had done more than just listen. He'd paid attention to what Alec was saying, and he'd asked questions. He'd added his own opinions, his own suggestions, and even a few contacts that he'd said might be willing to help Alec set things up.
It'd been a wonderful night. Even if it was embarrassing to think of in the light of morning.
“Would it help if I told you I slept in my bedroom last night?”
The sudden question startled Alec enough that his eyes shot open and his body went tense in an instinctive fight response. He relaxed just a second later when it kicked in just who was there. Though that did nothing to stop the heat that flooded his cheeks at being caught out.
A second later Magnus’ words sank in and Alec tried not to groan once more. “I wasn’t worried about that,” he said honestly. He didn’t want Magnus thinking that he doubted him. The thought of being worried about where Magnus slept hadn’t even crossed his mind. Though a small part of him said that maybe it should have. He ignored that part and, slowly, silently bemoaning his peaceful comfort, Alec drew his face out of the pillow and pushed himself upright. When he looked up, ready to try and give some sort of explanation that might help Magnus believe him, any words he might’ve said all washed away.
Magnus stood nearby, leaning against one of the brick pillars that helped break up the openness of the loft, two mugs of coffee in hand. He wore a pair of dark blue pajama pants, a smirk, and absolutely nothing else.
Alec couldn’t help it. His eyes trailed over that bare chest, the toned lines of his stomach, and his arms.
When he finally managed to drag his eyes back up to Magnus', the other man's smirk had only grown. It made the gold of those familiar cat eyes shine a little more than normal. When Alec's blush came back even stronger than before, Magnus let out a light laugh. “Oh, you're going to be so good for my ego, darling.”
Though Alec's face felt like it was burning – and a part of his stomach twisted nauseously at the idea of someone being able to feel the very thing Alec had spent a lifetime hiding – he still managed to summon up a scowl. “Something tells me you don't need any help with that.”
Magnus laughed again, not the least bit bothered by Alec's snark. “My friends would likely agree with you on that.” Pushing off the post, he strolled forward and held one mug out to Alec, waiting for him to take it before he moved to sink down onto the chair nearest the couch. He lounged back in his seat and loosely crossed one leg over the other, looking for all the world like a king on his throne.
The sudden buzz of his phone saved Alec from whatever Magnus might’ve said next.
Alec shifted his mug to one hand and reached into his pocket with the other to pull out his phone. One look at the screen had him swearing. Three messages showed, each one sent right after the other. Two of them were from Benji and another from Andrew. None of them looked good.
“I take it you need to be somewhere,” Magnus said, lifting his own mug of coffee up to sip at it. There wasn't any accusation in his voice, just a hint of curiosity. He tilted his head, and Alec wondered if he was checking the bond, trying to feel him out.
Pushing aside the strange feeling that gave him as something for later, Alec grimaced and nodded, lowering his eyes back to the words on the screen. “Yeah. Apparently, there are a couple of security issues that need addressed. Some people are struggling with the new restrictions I put in place.” Namely, the two who needed to stay safely inside the Institute the most.
Alec lifted his cup and swallowed back the coffee like a shot, ignoring the burn of the heat and the cooling tingle that followed immediately afterward. He had a feeling he'd need the extra boost. Judging by Andrew's text, Jace was not happy. Something which Alec could feel in the parabatai bond now that he paid a bit more attention to it. He'd been trying to both ignore it and keep himself wrapped up in it. A reassurance that Jace was still there while blocking out the pissed off feelings that had been circulating through there ever since Jace had realized that Alec honestly meant to keep him locked inside the Institute for the foreseeable future.
“Well, it sounds like you've got a fun day ahead of you,” Magnus said cheerfully. With one more sip off his own mug, he set it aside and rose smoothly to his feet. “Let's get your wards back on you before you go.”
“Thank you,” Alec said.
Magnus gave a soft 'hmm' as he called up his magic. “It's no trouble, just so long as you remember to come back so I can take it off again.” He hovered his hand over Alec and smiled up at him, the glow of his magic sparkling over his face like fairy lights. “This time we'll make sure you actually get a lesson to go with it, without getting distracted by...” His eyes dropped down, running over Alec's neck, his chest, and back up again. “...other things.”
For what felt like the thousandth time since Alec had woken, his cheeks heated up with a blush. Only this time, he had a feeling his chest joined in the party, as well as other areas of his body that he had not needed to be thinking of just then. “I'll uh,” He paused to clear his throat, trying to push back the stammer that gave him away. “I'll let you know when I think I'll be able to get free. It'll probably be late.” Or, well, closer to early, depending on what kind of schedule Magnus kept.
Most of the shadow world ran on a nighttime schedule opposite of mundanes. Shadowhunters and vampires especially. One because their duty was to fight demons and demons only came out at night, and the other because their transformation had left them confined to the nighttime hours. Warlocks weren't bound by any of that. Though they seemed to have a bit of a split as well. From what Alec had read in various Institute files, some warlocks kept more regular schedules, like mundanes. Others stuck more to the night schedule as well.
It seemed Magnus might fall into the second category. He hummed and shrugged off Alec’s concerns. “I'll be checking in with my own people at the club tonight, and that can run close to morning. You're more than welcome to come find me there if you’d like.”
“Be careful,” Alec blurted out.
Magnus waved his hand down Alec's body, the magic of the wards settling once more over his skin. He drew his hand back when he was done and dismissed the last of the sparks from his hand. “I will. Trust me, I don't plan on wandering the streets of Brooklyn unaware for a while. I've got portals to take me where I need to go, and I'll be beefing up the wards at Pandemonium to make it as much of a safe haven as possible. But, speaking of portals...”
With a twist of power that Alec actually felt, Magnus summoned a portal off to the right. He also summoned a to-go cup into Alec's hand. “There. So you're safe, too.”
That warm feeling spread out through Alec's chest once more.
It stayed there as he stepped through the portal and onto the front sidewalk at the Institute, only dimming slightly when he stepped through the front doors of the Institute and almost immediately found himself bombarded with chaos. Jace, Andrew, Isabelle, and Clary were standing there in the front hall, with Andrew and Jace arguing loudly with one another. Isabelle had a hand on Clary's shoulder, the both of them off to the side. It looked like Clary kept trying to interject, or at least add in her two cents, only the other two were too loud for her to break through.
Four guards instead of the two Alec had ordered were posted near the doors. The way they were stationed, two of them watching the doors and the other two focused inward on the argument happening, made it clear what they were all there for.
This was ridiculous, and more than unprofessional, and open enough that Alec wasn't going to be able to just brush it off the way he usually did with his siblings’ insubordination. They’d made this too public. Which meant the way Alec handled it was going to have to be slightly public, and more than just a simple reprimand.
Great. Here we go. Before anyone even saw him there, Alec called out a sharp “Enough!” that easily cut through their argument; he knew how to project his voice to command a room. Three and a half shadowhunters was easy.
Everyone's head spun his way. All of them wore different expressions once they caught sight of him. Andrew looked relieved, Jace felt relieved for an instant before hurt and anger slipped in, Clary flinched and glared, and Isabelle lit up.
“Alec!” His sister hurried towards him and, not giving him time to stop her, pulled him into a tight hug. Her arms went around his waist, and he couldn't help but hug her back. Then she surprised him by drawing back and punching his arm. “That's for running off and making me worry again,” she snapped at him, glaring even as she smiled. “If it weren't for Jace I wouldn't have known you were okay!”
“Sorry,” Alec apologized. He meant it, too. He hadn't really stopped to think about how anyone else might feel about him being gone, he'd just informed Benji and Andrew both and he'd taken off, desperate to get away from the looks and the tests and the whispers.
Privately, he vowed to make it up to her later. For now he gave her one last squeeze and then stepped forward, glancing past his parabatai to look right to Andrew. His voice firmed from the big brother tone to his Head of the Institute voice. “What's going on here?”
“We've been trying to convince Andrew that Jace shouldn't have to stay locked up here like some common criminal,” Clary burst out, drawing Alec's gaze to her. To her credit, she didn't flinch under his glare, which wasn't something many could claim. Instead, she folded her arms over her chest and glared right back at him. “We have a lead on my mom and we need to go check it out. Now.”
If she thought her words were going to have any sort of intimidating effect, she was going to be sorely disappointed. “No,” Alec said plainly. That was all he said to her. He turned to Jace next, and though he could feel his parabatai bond practically buzzing with Jace's anger, he didn't let himself falter. “You know exactly what I said. Standing in the front hall shouting at Underhill for following my orders isn't going to change anything.”
“This could be a huge lead for us,” Jace argued immediately. He twisted toward Alec, with Clary at his side, and though he still felt frustrated he looked more exasperated than anything. Like Alec was just being a giant pain in the ass for no good reason. “If we can find Clary's mom, we can get her home and find out what she knows. She might be able to tell us where Valentine is, or where the Cup is.”
Alec didn't even bat an eye. “Good. Let's go to my office and discuss it there.” Instead of out in the open where everyone could hear them.
He could tell by the wave of relief in the bond just what Jace thought this meant. No doubt he expected to go in there with Alec, tell him all about it, and talk his way around being able to leave and follow the lead. He was going to be more than a little pissed off when he realized Alec had no intention of letting him go.
They'd deal with that in a minute, though. For now, he turned to Andrew. “Can you send someone to let Benji know that I'm back and I'd like to meet with him to discuss the issues going on, please? And have Cordelia come and join us. I want her input. Yours too.”
“On it,” Andrew said, almost immediately ducking away to go and do exactly as Alec asked him to. He didn't even hesitate. It was kind of refreshing.
With that taken care of, Alec gestured toward Clary and his siblings with one hand. “Follow me.”
He set off at a brisk pace for his office, making sure to stand tall all the way through the Ops Center, nodding at people as he went. Not all of them looked all that happy. There were a few he took note of to keep an eye on. Word would've spread by now about him. He'd have to make an official statement at some point and address the rumors and let people know the truth. But for now, he committed to memory the few faces that watched him with suspicion or disdain.
No one said anything until they were in his office and the door shut once more. Jace and Clary stood side-by-side with twin stubborn expressions on their faces. Alec continued to ignore it as he made his way around the desk and sat down. It was a power move – one he'd learned from being scolded by his mother. Having someone sit down without a care in the world for those standing in front of them – deliberately not offering chairs – and acting so calm, was a good way to throw someone off balance. Make them feel like they were already being scolded.
Isabelle raised her eyebrows at him yet said nothing. She no doubt recognized the move. She'd been brought in here to be scolded by their mom just as many times as Alec had.
Time to get this started. Alec lifted his cup and took a sip, hiding the pleased hum that wanted to break through at the rich yet sweet flavor that exploded across his tongue. “All right, now that we're not out in the middle of the hall where everyone can hear us,” Alec said dryly. “Why don't you tell me what lead it is you think you have, and what your plan was going forward.”
If the others hadn’t noticed Alec’s power play in sitting like that, Jace and Isabelle at least took note of the one Alec used now. The fact that he didn’t even offer them a seat was something that had them both straightening up a little. An arrow of hurt wormed its way through the parabatai bond, along with a hint of worry.
“We got word on a place my mom might be being held,” Clary said, looking over to Jace and then back to Alec. Her expression was pleading, and there was a desperation in her eyes, in the way her hands twisted in front of her. She covered it with bravado that didn’t entirely hide it all. “There’s no telling how long she’ll be there, or how much time we have. Jace and I were going to go take a look before it’s too late.”
Alec arched an eyebrow at that last bit but chose not to comment on it yet. Instead, he focused on the facts. “Where is it you think your mom is being held?”
“A storage container down by the docks.”
Close to the water; that made sense. Alec nodded, his mind running over what that could mean.
A knock at the door of his office cut off whatever Clary was about to say next. Alec kept his eyes on her as he called out a sharp “Come in!” He waited, never looking away from Clary and Jace while his door opened and Andrew, Benji, and Cordelia all came in. Only when they were inside and the door shut did Alec speak again. “So, some unnamed source told you that your mom is being held in a random shipping container down by an unspecified dock somewhere in New York.”
He caught the faint hint of surprise on Andrew’s face. He stepped up near Isabelle’s side, with Cordelia next to him. Neither one said anything but their attention sharpened.
Benji slipped around the desk to move to stand at Alec’s left side.
Their presence seemed to set Clary off a little. She shifted from foot to foot, eyes darting around the room from one person to the next in a way that only made her nerves visibly grow. She shot Jace a questioning look, and Alec had to fight back the urge to snort at the small nod Jace gave her. Oh, now they’re willing to show some caution?
“Who’s your source?” Alec asked.
Clary’s eyes snapped back over to Alec. At the same time, she made an aborted gesture, hand coming halfway up before she forcibly dropped it again. Alec’s eyes narrowed on her. Then he shifted his gaze over to his parabatai.
No one who didn’t know Jace as well as Alec and Isabelle did would’ve been able to see the way he tensed. The bond lit up with discomfort, uncertainty, resignation, desperation. A whole cocktail of things that were almost enough to have Alec banishing everyone from the room so he could find out what the hell was going on with his parabatai.
Then Jace opened his mouth, and all thoughts of sending people away vanished. “Clary has a portal shard on her necklace that connects her to the one her mom wears. It lets her see her sometimes while she’s asleep.” Jace straightened himself up a little more, clearly able to see the stunned looks of almost everyone around him, yet ignoring them nonetheless.
“A portal shard?” Cordelia blurted out, her low voice sharper than normal. “You’re allowing her to walk around the Institute wearing a portal shard? One that clearly works like a gateway?”
Clary opened her mouth to argue, only to get cut off by Alec. “Where is it?”
“It’s her only link to her mom, Alec,” Jace tried.
A sharp gesture of Alec’s hand cut him off. He kept his hand held up, palm out, and shifted his glare from Jace to Clary. “Where is it?”
Another look was exchanged between Jace and Clary, and then one between Clary and Isabelle. At their nods – Jace’s a bit more reluctant, Isabelle’s immediate – the young girl reached up and drew a necklace up over her head.
As soon as she had it off, Alec used his raised hand to gesture toward her. Andrew moved forward immediately to take the shard out of her hand. Ignoring her cry of “Hey!” he brought it around the desk to Alec, who took one look at it and scowled. Fuck. Maybe it hadn’t just been a spy here in the Institute. Maybe someone else had been sharing information, albeit unwittingly.
Cordelia’s blue eyes narrowed on the necklace, tugging on the scar that ran over her eyebrow, up her forehead, and into her close shaved hair. It gave her an intimidating look that not many could stand up against. “That is a massive breach in security protocols. One we should’ve been told about immediately.”
“It gave us a lead on my mom…” Clary started to say.
She cut off when Alec abruptly rose to his feet. He ignored the others and looked to Cordelia and Andrew. “Keep them here.”
“Yes, sir,” Andrew said easily, while Cordelia nodded and chimed in with her own “Of course.”
Even as Alec made his way to the door he heard them scrambling behind him, voices already lifting in argument. He ignored it entirely and simply strode out, shutting the door behind him.
The walk to his quarters felt like it took ages. Alec was on alert the whole way, conscious of what he held in his hands and what it could mean. The only safe place he could think of to put it right now was the hidden safe inside his room. Yet even still, even as he unlocked the safe and put the portal shard inside, he resolved to speak to Magnus tonight about hiring him to make a protected box for the Institute to store this in. Something that would guarantee it wouldn’t be able to be used against them.
He also resolved to sleep somewhere else for a while. He’d rather the couch in his office than to sleep in the same room as something that might connect him to Valentine.
A cold shiver ran down his spine. For a second he swore he felt the press of metal on his wrists, the chill of it seeping up through the floor. He tasted the tang of salt and metal on his tongue.
Then he shook his head, and the sense memory pushed back, chased away by the warmth in his chest and the solid reminder that he was here.
By the time Alec made it back to his office, he had himself under control once more. Which was a good thing. As soon as he opened the door he found himself bombarded by loud voices and a one very pissed off redhead.
“You can't just lock the shard away!” Clary was snapping, her arms folded over her chest.
Alec lifted an eyebrow at that. “Actually, I can. And that's exactly what I did,” he said, stepping inside and shutting the door once more. He didn't give her time to continue her argument. “This is my Institute, and every shadowhunter in here is my responsibility – you included. Whatever information we might gain from that shard isn't worth compromising the safety of every single one of my people.”
“And what about my mom?” Clary demanded. She had her hands on her hips now and a sharp scowl on her face. It took a closer look to see the desperation in the way her hands clenched or the faint wobble to her lip that betrayed the true emotions fueling her anger. “What about her safety?”
Alec didn’t exactly think it’d go over all that well if he told Clary what he honestly thought about that. So he schooled his expression to keep it as blank as he could, and he kept his tone just as steady. “I will do everything in my power to bring your mother home to you. But not at the expense of my people. Now…”
Moving back around the desk, Alec once more sank down into his chair, only this time he unbent enough to gesture for the others to all take a seat. He kept his eyes locked on Clary as she did.
“Tell me everything you saw,” he said. “Every single detail. Don't leave anything out.”
Forty minutes, seven arguments, and one massive headache later, Alec finally had a plan in place. They weren’t going to rush straight out there, much to Clary’s consternation, and they sure as hell weren’t going to send Jace, Clary, and Isabelle out to do it.
Instead, Alec assigned Cordelia and a specialized stealth infiltration team to go and scope out the area they'd narrowed things down to. If the shipping container Clary had described was there, they were to call it in and wait for backup. If she wasn’t there, they were to report back and let Alec know so they could make a new plan. It was the smartest thing for them to do that kept everyone as safe as possible.
They couldn't hide out entirely here at the Institute no matter how much a part of Alec clenched tight at the idea of letting his people out there to be taken. Shadowhunters were born and bred to fight and then, eventually, die. All he could do was do his best to make sure his people stayed alive for as long as possible.
With Cordelia gone, it left Benji and Andrew still there with him them, as well as his siblings and Clary.
Alec mentally braced himself for what came next. No one was going to like it. “Underhill.”
“Sir,” Andrew said immediately.
Taking a deep breath, Alec braced himself. “Summon a few guards. I want Miss Fairchild escorted to her room, where she's to stay until the patrol team returns and things have bene reassessed.”
Clary immediately surged forward, her eyes wide. “What? No! You can't lock me away like some prisoner!”
“Have meals brought to her,” Alec went on, speaking overtop her. He swallowed the lump in his throat that came with the rising heartache in the bond and he committed himself to the next course of action. The only one he could take. “The same goes for Jace.”
The look of betrayal on Jace's face was one Alec had never wanted to see there. He felt it like a blow against his heart, a knot of something sharp and stabbing deep down inside him where the parabatai bond sat. It stole his breath and put a crack in his heart. Yet he refused to allow it to weaken his resolve.
“Tell me honestly that you'd stay here if I asked you to,” Alec said quietly. He watched Jace while Andrew stepped close to the door in a move that blocked the exit while simultaneously giving him privacy to call for a team. The pain in Jace's eyes only added to the heartache that circled back and forth in their bond in a sickening loop neither one of them could break. “Swear to me on our bond that you wouldn't try to leave, that you wouldn't help Clary to leave, and I'll trust you.”
“Alec...” Jace's voice trailed off, low and quiet. He couldn't swear something like that and they both knew it. No matter how strained things between them were at the moment, this wasn’t something that Jace would do. Alec had faith in that. Jace wouldn’t swear on their bond and lie.
With the limited people in the office, Alec had no qualms about letting himself soften a little. He dropped a hand down and curled it over his parabatai rune, and he hoped Jace could feel the love he had for him. But just in case he couldn't, just in case his own pain was too strong, Alec didn't hesitate to say the words. He never had when it came to his family. “I love you, Jace,” he said plainly. “I do. And I can't risk Valentine getting his hands on you. I can't.”
Alec had never seen Jace look as lost as he did in that moment.
Clary broke through the silence. Her voice was sharp, yet when Alec dragged his eyes over toward her, he could see the faint shimmers of tears. “This is because of what happened, isn't it?” Her hands clenched down by her sides and she stared at him, green eyes shining bright. “Because of what Valentine did to you.”
“Clary…” Jace said warningly, softly.
Ignoring him, Clary stared right at Alec, and though her tone was soft there was a hint of steel to it, a hint of bitterness that curled against the edges of her words. “I know he did terrible things to you, but you can’t make us hide out here just because you're afraid.”
The soft sound of surprise from Andrew was covered up by the “Enough” that Alec snapped out, his voice loud and edged in the sharp edge of command he wasn’t afraid to wield.
To his surprise, Jace reached out at the same time and put a hand on her arm, cutting her off. “Clary, no.”
“But...”
“No, Clary.” Jace kept his hand on her arm and his eyes locked on Alec. Something sad, regretful, and guilty sat there. “We'll go.”
A little of the tension in Alec’s shoulders faded away at that simple declaration. No qualifiers, no hidden bitterness, just a simple statement packed with the kind of honesty Alec hoped he could still trust. Hearing it, feeling it, Alec nodded, and he let himself soften as well. “Thank you. I'll be by personally as soon as we know anything. I promise.”
The bond still felt like it was bleeding between them. Alec was sure Jace could feel the echo of his own emotions there. But for the first time since this argument had started he felt a hint of what might be healing building around the edges. Or, at the very least, understanding.
As Alec watched the guards escort Clary and Jace both from the office, he hoped it would last the coming days.
Chapter 16
Notes:
To all those that celebrate I hope you had a wonderful holiday! Enjoy a surprise update I hadn't planned on doing yet :)
Chapter Text
“So, how're things going?”
Magnus reclined back in his seat on the couch and tried not to wrinkle his nose at that question. It wasn't the first time he'd heard it tonight, nor would it be the last. Reassuring people was part of the reason Magnus had come out to Pandemonium at all. His people, as well as others in the Downworld who'd come to count on him in various ways, needed a chance to see him and check in with him. They needed to know he was okay. Even if that meant dealing with countless variations of how are you?
But whereas Magnus had to do his best to be polite with all the others who asked him, it wasn't necessary with Ragnor. Meaning that, while Magnus kept his expression schooled for the countless people watching them from the dance floor, he didn't hesitate to answer one of his oldest friends with his driest tone. “We haven't tried to kill one another yet, if that's what you're worrying about.”
“Oh good,” Ragnor said, just as dry as him. “Cleaning up nephilim stains is tedious work.”
Despite himself, Magnus felt his lips twitch into a smile. “They do like to make a mess, don't they?”
“Quite. And you are aware, I hope, that the longer you stay cooped up with one in your loft, the more likely the messes will happen?”
Magnus arched an eyebrow at the thinly veiled warning, one he’d thought about himself a time or two or twelve, and then took a sip off his drink. “I'm not exactly holding him hostage there, my dear. Alexander’s free to come and go as he pleases. He's at work now, in fact.” Not that that would remove the possibility for any future messes. They both knew the type of mess Ragnor was referring to wasn’t the physical kind.
Something told Magnus that, while he didn’t think Alec would be the type to leave an actual physical mess around him – the boy looked like he spent too much time trying to not take up space to do that – the likelihood of him getting mixed up in other, metaphorical messes was rather high just by nature of him being the Head of the Institute. Recent events only made that possibility even higher. Which meant that Magnus, by nature of being the man’s husband, would end up at least somewhat entangled in quite a few of those messes whether he wanted to be or not.
Sighing, Magnus took another drink, almost emptying his glass. What the hell have I gotten myself into?
Ragnor snorted into his own drink. “I'd say I'm sorry, but considering you're the one who went and got yourself attached to him in the first place, I'm not going to lie to you. You only have yourself to blame.”
“You act like it was my plan,” Magnus shot back. The only thing that allowed him to be that blunt were the privacy wards he kept around his area. With most of the club spread out around him, the area where Magnus sat was raised up slightly, allowing him a perfect view of the whole of Pandemonium, with a staircase behind him that led down to his own private hallway that took him straight to his office. He kept standard wards here, to keep things private, but he'd pulled up stronger, more subtle ones for tonight.
The last thing he needed was for anyone to hear things they weren't supposed to tonight. Or any future nights. Magnus' life had become suddenly much more complicated. Between the return of Valentine, Magnus' kidnapping, the experimentations, his new nephilim husband and everything that stemmed from that, so much of Magnus' life had become off limits.
“Plan or no, it is what it is,” Ragnor said, drawing Magnus' focus back to the present. “How are you both holding up under all that?”
Concern was carefully hidden in an expression of boredom that those who didn’t know him well wouldn’t be able to see through. Not that he really needed to let it show, anyway. Magnus knew it was there simply by the fact that Ragnor was here, considering that being out and social and in a club of all things was so far outside his comfort zone. Especially in these current times.
Yet here he was, and Magnus loved him for it.
Sighing, Magnus focused back on the question at hand. “We're coping.” That was the best word he could think of for now. One that surprisingly fit the both of them. “For the most part it seems to be going well. He hasn't tried to kill me or himself to avoid the shame of being bonded, so he's already a step above most shadowhunters.”
The words were said with a wry sort of humor that didn’t make them any less true. It was a sad yet harsh reality. The possibility of murder or suicide had lingered in Magnus' mind as things to watch carefully for. Maybe not an entirely fair assumption to make about Alec, but... Magnus had known far too many shadowhunters who, after being turned into a vampire or a werewolf, had killed as many around them as they could and then taken their own lives to avoid the shame.
“Have you two discussed training?”
Ragnor's question neatly brought them around to the subject Magnus had been trying to think of how to broach. “Actually, yes. Apparently Alexander has connections in the shadow world to obtain his own fae tutor for whatever powers might crop up there. As for the rest...”
When Magnus slanted a look over at his friend, he found Ragnor staring at him. His expression wasn't quite a glare, but it wasn't exactly open and friendly either. “You want me to teach him.”
The words weren't phrased like a question, nor were they an offer, and yet Magnus beamed at him and answered them like they were. “What a wonderful idea! You are uniquely suited. Very few warlocks can claim they’ve taught a shadowhunter before.”
Ragnor snorted and rolled his eyes, but Magnus could see the faint hint of a smile at the corners of his lips. “You're ridiculous.”
“And yet you still love me.”
“Such is my burden,” Ragnor shot back dryly, drawing a real, true laugh from Magnus. The first one all evening. Judging by the proud smirk on Ragnor's lips, that had been exactly what he'd been going for. He also didn't make Magnus wait long before giving him an honest answer. “You know I'll help in any way I can, Magnus. Your boy doesn't seem like he'd be the bad sort. You have him under some type of warding, I assume?”
“Yes, of course. With a caveat to come to the loft for a while each night so I can take it off.”
“Smart. That should keep him from trying to hide under it and pretend the magic doesn’t even exist. Not that it’ll let him.”
They both knew the truth of that. Magnus had done his best to make it clear to Alec that his magic wasn’t something he could just ignore. It’d make itself known somehow if he tried to. Magic didn’t like to be contained. It had a mind and a life of its own. The fact that Alec’s magic had grown from a seed of Magnus’ magic, his blood – the blood of a fallen angel, one who ruled his own realm whose power fueled Magnus’ own?
Well, let’s just say training wasn’t something Alec could afford to skip over.
His thoughts about training and Alec and everything else were abruptly cut off by a fire message flying toward him. Magnus caught it, mentally bracing for any sort of trouble, only to go still at the words on the paper. As soon as he read it through – twice – he incinerated it. Those words weren’t meant for anyone else’s eyes.
“Trouble?”
Magnus looked up to find Ragnor watching him with a sharp, searching look. He smiled in the hopes of alleviating that worry, even just a little. “Perhaps. It seems the shadowhunters have managed to accomplish something. They’ve found a warehouse with a few of Valentine’s things. One of which seems to be his wife. Unfortunately, she appears to be in some sort of magically induced coma, and the Institute is requesting my official help in trying to wake her.”
Their other plans, the ones he and Alec had only just started to build concerning the Mortal Cup and how Jocelyn might help to find that – those were things Magnus didn’t plan on mentioning. Not even to his closest friend. The less who knew about those plans right now the better.
He hadn’t really expected Ragnor to react to the news about Jocelyn beyond a grimace at the mention of the woman. She wasn’t exactly someone well liked in the Downworld. Not just because of her husband’s name, though that was enough for plenty, but because there were quite a few in the Downworld who remembered Jocelyn and the things she’d done, the things she’d been a part of, before she’d run away. Those weren’t crimes easily forgotten.
Only, Ragnor didn’t grimace, didn’t roll his eyes or make any sort of snide remark the way Magnus expected.
Instead, he suddenly looked shifty.
Magnus narrowed his eyes at his oldest, dearest friend, and watched with growing suspicion as Ragnor shifted slightly in his seat. The move wasn’t one anyone else might’ve noticed. But Magnus had learned Ragnor’s tells a long time ago. “Ragnor?”
“Perhaps I should come with you,” Ragnor said, aiming for casual and missing by a long shot. He lifted his chin and dusted an imaginary piece of lint off the knee of his pants. “Magical sleeping potions are often difficult to undo.”
Oh, you little… “No one said it was a potion.”
“A potion seems far more likely than some sort of spell,” Ragnor countered without missing a beat. “A spell would require a warlock to cast it on her, and one of the warlocks Valentine has might’ve been able to break it. For her to be in an enchanted sleep while with him makes it likely she took a potion of some sort.”
The logic was sound. On anyone else, Magnus might not have doubted it. On Ragnor? He wasn't buying it for a second. His suspicions were confirmed by the way Ragnor refused to meet his eyes.
Magnus stared hard at his old friend and leaned forward, lowering his voice despite the fact that his wards would prevent anyone in the club from hearing a thing either one of them said. “Seriously?” he practically hissed at him. “After all the trouble you gave me for helping her, yelling at me for involving myself in their lives, you helped make her a sleeping potion strong enough not even a one of the warlocks with Valentine could break it?”
That kind of magic wouldn't have been easy. Most potions for a deep sleep like this, one that seemingly kept the person alive and healthy for the weeks Valentine had had Jocelyn, those wouldn't have been easy to break per se, but any warlock with any sort of strength could've done it. For her to still be under it meant that the potion used was strong. Something not many would know – or that not many could make.
“It wasn't for her,” Ragnor argued. His tone was sharp, yet Magnus knew him well enough to pick up on the faint hint of embarrassment there. Not that Ragnor was ashamed of what he'd done. Simply flustered at being caught out, most likely. Or dressed down by someone he was usually scolding for one reason or another.
Not that Magnus could continue to scold him. Not when Ragnor's argument for helping her clearly lined up with the same ones Magnus had used to justify helping the woman.
He hadn't done it out of any real care for Jocelyn. He'd helped her because, in quite a few ways, helping her helped the Downworld. Keeping her and her secrets hidden had protected them all. Without his wife, his daughter, and without the things Jocelyn had stolen from him, Valentine had so much less power.
Much as Magnus wanted to poke and prod and pull the whole story from Ragnor about this, they didn't have time. Still... “You owe me a story about this,” Magnus warned him, pointing a finger his way.
Gratitude briefly lit Ragnor's eyes before he masked it under an aloof expression. “I don't have to explain myself to you, my boy. Now...” Without giving Magnus time to argue back, he pushed himself up to his feet and glared down at him. “Are we going, or did you plan to sit here all night?”
Rolling his eyes, Magnus pushed up to his feet. “Let's go. The sooner we get this done, the sooner we can go back to my place and you can share how it is you managed to get caught up in this.”
“Just keep telling yourself that, duck.”
Heading to the Institute wasn’t something Magnus could say he’d ever enjoyed. The New York Institute didn’t exactly hold very good memories for him. He couldn’t think of a single positive moment that had happened in there for him.
Yet today, he found himself feeling both oddly excited and yet also even more cautious than normal.
He’d get to see Alec – something which had become the norm for him these past few weeks, and which he found himself missing ever so slightly today. But he’d also have to see plenty of shadowhunters who already didn’t like him based solely on his heritage. If news had already spread about their marriage – something Magnus was still stunned Alec had so openly shared – he had no doubt his reception would astronomically worse.
The fact that he had Ragnor with him was a blessing. Going into volatile situations with shadowhunters always went smoother if you had backup.
The two were braced for just about anything. Anger, shouting, alarms, weapons drawn. Which made it even more surprising when the front doors opened before they even reached them and they were greeted with two shadowhunters who, instead of reaching for weapons, put a fist over their heart in a greeting Magnus had only ever seen employed toward battlefield leaders – and never toward Maryse and Robert, something which Magnus had taken great glee in noticing.
“High Warlock Bane,” the woman on the right greeted him. She stood tall, her light blonde hair pulled back in a braid, every inch a shadowhunter. Yet not a hint of her body language was threatening. “Welcome, sir.”
The man at her side, a slightly shorter man with dark skin, nodded respectfully. “And High Warlock Fell. Thank you both for coming.” Dropping his hand from his salute, he stepped back and gestured inside. “If you'll follow me, the Commander requested you be brought to him as soon as you arrived.”
Exchanging a quick look with Ragnor, who tilted his head in a silent 'who knows' sort of gesture, Magnus drew himself up and nodded at the two. “Of course.”
It felt so strange to fall into step with these two shadowhunters. They walked on either side of him and Ragnor, same as any other shadowhunters might've done if they'd been escorting them. Only, this felt less like a prisoner walk and more like a proper escort.
Magnus found himself studying the shadowhunters out of the corner of his eye as they were led through the Institute. Neither one seemed uneasy having them there. They certainly didn't treat him or Ragnor like any enemy, or like they were dangerous. If they hadn't greeted him with his title, he would've wondered if they were even aware he was a warlock at all. Though the 'sir' threw him even more.
The two led them through the Institute, only they didn't head toward where Magnus knew the infirmary lay. Instead, they were led down another hall, and then another. Just when Magnus was about to ask where exactly it was they were going, the woman stopped them alongside a random door and opened it, gesturing him inside. “Here, sir.”
A quick look inside showed Alexander standing there, with his siblings in front of him as well as Clarissa, a young vampire Magnus didn't recognize, and Lucian Greymark. Luke Garroway, as he preferred to go by now.
It looked like Alexander had been in the middle of an argument with Clarissa, who stood over what Magnus was finally able to see was a glowing green form of her mother levitating in the air next to her.
Magnus didn’t pay them much attention yet. Not beyond taking them in as he stepped into the room. Most of his focus turned toward his husband, who almost immediately stopped paying attention to Clary to turn Magnus’ way.
Their bond warmed all of a sudden with a rush of emotions that managed to make it past whatever blocks Alec managed to put up. (Once again, Magnus resolved to try and learn how to do the same) He got a swell of something warm and wonderful, like the sun peeking out from behind the clouds on a rainy day, broken up by hints of other emotions Magnus could barely name. Excitement? Embarrassment? Fear? Joy? Attraction, definitely. Shame. There were so many he couldn’t put a name to them.
Then Alec yanked his control back into place, and Magnus was left with a softer warm feeling and a small sense of nerves, and the equally warm smile Alec wore. “Magnus. Hey.”
“Hello, darling,” Magnus said, unable to keep from smiling back at him. He wondered for a moment what it’d be like to be able to walk up and steal a quick kiss as a greeting. If he did that now, he had a feeling Alec might combust. Or set himself on fire with his blush. Not that he wasn’t blushing beautifully right now.
Off to his side came a low huff of Ragnor. One that somehow managed to convey both amusement and disgust in equal measure. “Right then, if we’re done with that,” the other man said dryly, He nudged past Magnus to move further into the room, shutting the door behind him as he did. “I hear you need some help, Lightwood.”
Alec recovered quickly, the smile on his face wiping away to something more serious. “I do, yes. Thank you both so much for coming.” He easily included Ragnor in that, though he hadn’t asked for the man and Magnus hadn’t warned him that he was coming.
“Can you help my mom?” Clary blurted out, pushing her way forward. Luke’s hand on her shoulder kept her from barging straight up to them.
Magnus dragged his eyes away from Alec to finally focus back on Clary. The desperate panic and pleading written all over her was a solid reminder as to the reason they were here. It sobered Magnus up and had him gentling slightly despite himself. “That’s what we’re here to find out, biscuit,” he reassured her.
Together, he and Ragnor moved past Clary toward Jocelyn. That one look was clearly enough for Ragnor to make the confirmation that, yes, the magic keeping Jocelyn in place was the potion he'd made her. He slanted a look to Magnus and nodded almost imperceptibly.
They'd already discussed on their way over here how they wanted to handle this. While Ragnor seemed unworried about how the Institute or the Clave might react to finding out he'd been the one to make the potion, Magnus didn't intend on putting that to the test. This wouldn't be the first time he'd taken the claim for something a warlock had done when it came to the Clave's records. He got a lot more leeway than others did considering his history. The Clave wasn’t exactly eager to make an enemy out of him.
Stepping up, Magnus ran his magic over the green form floating there, careful not to touch her. He didn't want to disrupt whatever it was keeping her like this. Ragnor had made the potion, but it wasn't like he'd tested it. He'd simply followed Jocelyn's insistence that this was what she needed. Meaning they had no idea how the magic around her would react to his. Hopefully, he'd be able to take it down without getting the proper antidote or counter-spell. Ragnor hadn't volunteered where he'd gotten the potion from.
While Magnus worked, he could feel Alec move in closer. Magnus didn't dare look over at him, not with his focus where it was, but he felt it as Alec settled in shoulder to shoulder with him like he'd been drawn there. He stayed there for a moment before shifting, their shoulders actually brushing together this time. At that simple touch Magnus felt it as Alec relaxed slightly, tension falling away even if it hadn't entirely disappeared. The swell of magic under the wards Magnus could easily sense settled as well. He very deliberately didn't think about why.
“What do you think?” Alec asked, a quick glance over showing that his gaze was on the magic Magnus had running over Jocelyn.
What Magnus sensed was exactly what he'd expected. “This isn't any ordinary sleep-spell keeping Jocelyn under. She's not asleep, she's in perfect stasis, her body completely healthy.” He gave one last sweep with his magic and then drew it back, settling it under his skin once more. Turning his head, he looked up at Alec. “It'd take a powerful potion to accomplish something like this.”
“Yes.” Ragnor stepped up on Magnus' other side and peered at the magic curiously. “It's perfectly preserved. She could stay like this for days, months, even, without any ill effects. It's quite well done, really.”
Oh, Magnus was going to enjoy telling Catarina about this. He’d heard her lecture about performing magic without knowing everything about it – without counter-potions or counter-spells ready and on hand. Listening to her tear Ragnor a new one for doing the exact same thing was going to be wonderful. Magnus contemplated recording it just so he could whip it out at parties. Or the next time Ragnor tried to scold him for getting involved in something. He was going to hold this over his head for centuries.
For now, Magnus managed to keep his eye roll to himself, and to keep his tone professional. “It's well done, yes, and complicated magic. It's not something that I'll be able to undo easily.”
“But you can undo it?” Clary interjected.
Turning back to look at her once more, Magnus smothered a wince. If she’d looked desperate before it was nothing compared to how she looked now. Every inch of her seemed to be clenched up tight, like a violin string pulled far too taut, ready to snap at a moment with just the wrong word, the wrong touch.
Luckily, there was somewhere there who knew her well enough to step in and help. Lucian wrapped an arm around her shoulders and drew her in close against his side in a move that was clearly familiar. “Deep breath, kiddo. They're here to help,” he reminded her, tugging her in closer as he did. She huffed slightly but settled, and Luke nodded. Then he looked back up at Magnus and, though his tone was more respectful than hers, the panic and worry he felt couldn't be entirely hidden as he asked, “What do you think, Magnus. Can you help her?”
“I don't know,” Magnus answered honestly. He didn't look over at Ragnor, didn't do anything to give away any of it. They were still in the very heart of shadowhunter territory here and Magnus wouldn't do anything to put his friend at risk. Not from shadowhunters here, not from the Clave, and definitely not from Valentine.
The thought of whatever spy was here going to Valentine and telling him that Ragnor Fell was responsible for Jocelyn's potion... Magnus didn't even want to think about it.
Pushing that aside, Magnus drew on a professional smile. One that he gave to every client. It was what Catarina jokingly called his trust me I’m a High Warlock, I know what I’m doing smile. Though Ragnor often followed that up with a snort and a story or two meant to remind Magnus of any past mistakes. “She'll be safe while we figure it out, though. She's lasted this long and is still perfectly healthy. She'll make it a little longer, biscuit.”
That wasn't the answer that Clary wanted, he knew. Nor could he really blame her for that train of thought. So many looked at magic as an 'instant fix' sort of thing. Like all it took was asking (demanding) something, and the warlock in question would just wave their hand and take care of whatever it was. Very few took the time to understand anything beyond that. Especially mundanes, who'd grown up on stories of magic and all the things it could do, but only in movies and stories where that immediate fix furthered the plot.
“Why don't we go down to my office to talk about this?” Alec suggested, his voice cutting through the disappointed silence that had fallen after Magnus' words. The look he gave Clary wasn't sympathetic, exactly, though Magnus could feel hints of that seeping through the bond. But it firmed into something more serious while still being slightly warm when he looked up at Lucian. “You're more than welcome to stay in here with them. As soon as we know anything, I'll come down and let you know.”
Lucian nodded gratefully at him. “Thank you.”
A gesture from Alec had Magnus and Ragnor moving toward the door, with Alec right on their heels. As he passed his siblings, Alec reached out and laid a hand on each of their arms, squeezing gently, eyes locked on his parabatai. He said something so low only they could hear it. Magnus wished he was close enough to do so as well. Whatever it was, Jace nodded and then moved up to Clary's side, cutting her off before she could say anything to Alec. A fact which no doubt frustrated her, judging by the downward turn of her lips and the furrow in her brow.
Jace's distraction gave them just enough time to leave the room and shut the door behind them.
As soon as it closed, Alec took a step forward. “If you'll both follow me, my office is this way. We can talk in there.”
Magnus moved to his side automatically and smiled faintly when, a second later, he felt Ragnor claim the spot on his other side. The three of them walked side by side to Alec's office, and all Magnus could think was how strange it was to be here like this. To walk easily with a shadowhunter instead of being led by them.
It only took a few minutes for them to reach the office. As soon as they were inside, Alec directed them to the couch like they were actually important guests, leaving the large armchair next to it for himself. Something that he actually took instead of trying to stand there towering over them the way others might’ve.
“Thank you both for coming,” he said as he sank into his seat. He sat with his back straight, his hands loosely clasped in his lap, and his gaze steady and straightforward, locked right on them with that same laser focus Magnus had seen on him from they’d first met in those cells. Seeing it here, now, was both endearing, and oddly settling. A reminder that the person Magnus had gotten to know in there still existed out here. “I know you probably weren't expecting to be called on like this, especially so late.”
“It's not a problem at all, Alexander,” Magnus reassured him.
Ragnor snorted and slouched back in his seat like he owned it. “Speak for yourself, duck. Some of us were enjoying ourselves tonight.”
Some of the professionalism faded off of Alec's face, replaced with something drier. Magnus was pretty sure Alec had to fight not to roll his eyes. “My apologies for infringing on your active social life.”
The way in which Alec said that, the sarcasm he didn't try and hide, the clear implications of his doubt at any active social life Ragnor might had, and the way that Ragnor grinned so broadly in response – Magnus suddenly felt a whole lot better about his choice in teacher for Alec. They’d seemed to get along before, but that could’ve been due to circumstances and Alec trying to be on his best behavior until he got home. Seeing it now relaxed a little of Magnus’ tension.
Ragnor, however, rolled his eyes and put on his most mocking tone. “Mannerly and capable of an apology? My, my, how shadowhunters have changed.”
The look on Alec's face, as well as the light in Ragnor's smirk, made it clear these two could easily go on bantering with one another. Any other time and Magnus might've encouraged it just to see how it would go. But for the moment they had an important reason they were here. “Judging by what we saw, we should be able to help Jocelyn,” Magnus said, drawing their focus back to where it should be.
Alec immediately straightened up and refocused on Magnus. “What do you need?”
That was it – no questions about how, about how long it would take. No demands that it happen right now. Just a simple question. What do you need? Magnus found himself charmed all over again by this shadowhunter.
“Time,” Magnus answered honestly, smiling ever so slightly. “I'm not sure how much. It'll depend on what we come up with.”
Alec nodded immediately. “Take all the time you need.” At their surprised looks, he shrugged. “Jocelyn's here in the Institute, under armed guard at all times. Guards that I know specifically I can trust. She's safe here. You two are the experts when it comes to magic. If you need time to figure it out, then that's what we'll do.”
Magnus wasn't sure anyone else would've agreed to that so easily. Honestly, he hadn't expected Alec to either, no matter how decent he'd shown himself to be so far.
Ragnor, on the other hand, looked slightly amused. “You don't share their eagerness to wake her?”
“You mean, do I magically believe she's going to be the answer to all of our problems?” Alec shot back. He seemed to think better of his words a second later, judging by the small grimace that quickly smoothed over into a more professional mask. One that did nothing to hide the slight furrow to his brow. “While I might not believe Jocelyn can provide us with the information everyone else seems to think she will, finding a way to wake her is still my duty. As is the care of everyone else in my Institute.”
“And after, once she's awake?” Magnus asked curiously. He knew what he wished to happen – what no doubt most of the Downworld would wish – and he knew what most shadowhunters would likely think. But he couldn't help but be curious, and a little bit hopeful, about what Alec might want to do.
Alec didn't even hesitate in his answer. “Once she's awake, she'll be placed under arrest and held under secure guard in the medical wing until she's been cleared to be transferred to the cells, and then, to Idris.” Pausing, Alec grimaced again. The next look he shot Magnus carried a hint of an apology to it. “Whether they'll continue to detain her, or they decide whatever information she's got is enough to earn her a pardon, that's up to them.”
His words had Magnus and Ragnor exchanging a look with one another. That… hadn’t been the answer they’d expected. Though, the more Magnus learned about Alec, the more he realized that maybe it should’ve been.
Alec had proved himself time and again, showing Magnus in ways both big and small that he wasn’t anything like any other shadowhunter he’d known. He… cared. About his people. About the Downworld. Whether that was just who he was, or because he suddenly found himself a part of both worlds, Alec still cared. For the first time in a very long time the Downworld might actually have themselves an ally in an Institute Head.
“Well then,” Ragnor said, breaking the silence that had fallen. He pushed himself up to his feet and shook his jacket out with a flourish. “If that's settled, Magnus and I should get to work. We’ll let you know when we have something.”
“Thank you,” Alec said, rising as well. He reached out to shake Ragnor’s hand, and then turned to Magnus to instinctively do the same.
Magnus couldn’t help himself. He curled his hand around Alec’s and smiled up at him. “Hopefully it shouldn't take too long. I'll keep you updated.” Twisting his hand as he drew it back, Magnus let his fingers trail over Alec's pulse point, making the handshake something just a little more sensual. A teasing flirt he couldn't resist.
He was rewarded by a warm flush flooding Alec's cheeks. His eyes widened, pupils dilating slightly, and Magnus swore he felt Alec's fingers tighten a little as if to keep Magnus there, before he caught himself and abruptly let go. Then Alec swallowed hard, cleared his throat, and nodded. “Let me know if you need anything.”
“I will.”
The two left the office – their lack of escort out just another thing to take note of.
Neither one said anything as they made their way out of the Institute. It wasn't until they were down the street and Magnus was building the portal that Ragnor finally spoke up. Even then, it was a simple “You know...” that Magnus quickly shot down, grabbing the fully formed portal and drawing it over them.
The sound of Ragnor's laughter echoed along the street even as the portal closed and the flash of light faded into the night.
Chapter Text
Alec found himself standing in front of Jocelyn's bedside for what felt like the hundredth time in the past week. He'd come down here at least once a day to check in on her progress since she’d been brought into his Institute. Sometimes Luke was there, sometimes Clary, sometimes both. They didn't talk much, and Alec kept himself back more often than not if he saw Clary by herself in there. He hated not being able to answer her questions. And every time he came in, she had the same set of questions.
Have they found anything yet?
What's taking so long?
Is the potion ready yet?
Much as Alec often ended up butting heads with Clary, he couldn't fault her on her worry for her mother. Or her frantic desire to wake her. He knew he'd be exactly the same in her shoes.
Unfortunately, though Magnus and Ragnor had found the necessary potion to wake her – and that was something that he still had so many questions about, right alongside an overwhelmingly strong feeling that said they weren't telling him everything – actually making it seemed to take some time thanks to some rather unique ingredients they had to gather.
It'd taken almost three days for them to find the potion itself, or the book that held it at least, and then another four days to gather all the ingredients necessary. Just last night Ragnor had told him they'd finally gathered everything and were starting the process of brewing the potion. Something which should only take another twenty-four hours to complete. Once they had that ready, they'd be able to come here and wake Jocelyn from her enchanted sleep, and Alec... well, Alec wasn't really looking forward to what came next.
With each passing day Alec had watched as his parabatai and Clary grew closer and closer. He’d heard Jace reassuring her that they’d get this fixed, that Jocelyn would be back with her soon and everything would be okay.
He didn’t have the heart to correct them.
Things between him and Jace were strained, but they didn’t feel as broken as they’d been. Alec didn’t feel like he was slowly but surely being replaced by someone new and better in Jace’s life. They might not talk like they should – they were so good at talking when it was about something other than them, but they were both as bad as the other at talking about any of the important stuff that involved them and their bond – but they’d spent time together, they’d sparred, and for the first time in a long time Alec honestly felt like Jace was trying. That maybe he was listening to Alec not just as his brother but as his parabatai. Maybe even as his Head.
How long would that last once Jocelyn woke up? How would their bond stand up against the hurt and pain Clary would no doubt feel when Alec did the only thing he could do and closed the cell door on her mother?
Alec didn't know. But he couldn't focus on that now. Not yet. Right now, he had to focus on getting Jocelyn woken up so that they could figure out what she knew. If she knew anything at all. The rest would have to work itself out.
Sighing, Alec brought himself back out of his thoughts and made himself pay attention to Jocelyn instead. Nothing had changed since yesterday. She was still there, floating peacefully in midair, and none the worse for wear. The report Andrew had given him before he'd come in said that no one had tried to come into the room that wasn't authorized. They were keeping Jocelyn locked up as tight as they could in the hopes that whoever their spy was here didn't try and slip in and do anything.
Something told Alec they wouldn't. That, whoever this was, they weren't going to try anything yet. Not until Jocelyn was awake.
They had time. Not much, but some. Alec just had to come up with some sort of plan before that time ran out.
Hours later found Alec wishing desperately for the brief moment of quiet he'd found while standing over Jocelyn.
Being here at work was a wonderful thing. After being without it, and being so afraid that he'd lose it, knowing that he still had his role as Head was a comforting thing. Alec loved his job, and he loved his people. He'd spent his life training for this.
That didn't mean that sometimes the whole thing didn't just drive him crazy.
Every single day since he'd come back had been jam-packed with so many different things. Backlogs of reports, requests, meetings. Current reports and requests that kept coming in. Strategy meetings with Cordelia and Cameron to discuss their hunt for Valentine and the protections in this city. Meetings with Andrew about security. Meetings with Rowan, the Institute Seneschal, about where to put their new people, the rooms that were emptied as others left, where to house their trainees, and any other Institute maintenance issues that had cropped up or been neglected while he was gone. Meetings with the Clave.
Alec could've done without those last ones, especially. But they were the price he paid for being allowed back. The Clave wasn't going to trust him anytime soon. Alec had become part of a group of people they all hated, even if they pretended they didn't. While there was precedent set for half shadowhunters – he knew a few half-fae nephilim out there – it didn't mean they were happy with the idea of him being there. Or being in a position of power. They just hadn't found a way to legally remove him yet.
Dealing with those meetings alone would've been enough to keep him busy. But Alec also had all the other day-to-day stuff to deal with. Plus, he had to make time each day to slip out to Magnus'. He'd thought that maybe while Magnus was working so hard on the potion with Ragnor it might just be easier for Alec to stay here and sleep in his own room. It wasn’t like Magnus had time to teach him anything right now. But Magnus had quickly squashed that idea.
“Absolutely not,” he'd scolded Alec as soon as he suggested it. The stern look in his eyes had made it clear he wasn't going to back down on this. “I told you, the warding I'm putting on you needs to come off once a day if possible. Unless an emergency keeps you away, there's no reason why you shouldn't come here.”
“You and Ragnor...”
“Will be working in my apothecary. You won't disturb us.” Then, as if he'd sensed Alec's discomfort at the idea of being left alone in the loft while Magnus did work, the man had softened and smiled at him, his voice gentling just a little. “It'll be fine, Alexander. The guest room is yours. You can bring work with you if you need, but it's important for your magic to have time off from being under the wards so much. It needs a chance to be free, and you both need a chance to learn one another so that you’ll one day be able to work together. And there’s nowhere safer for that than here. Even if Ragnor or I aren’t in the room, we’ll still be in the loft. We’ll still be able to respond if something goes wrong.”
Alec had nodded, not quite able to argue Magnus' point. Nor did he really want to if he was being honest with himself. Alec liked spending time in Magnus' loft. He liked the peace he found there, that never happened at the Institute, and he liked spending time with the other man in the gaps that Magnus came up from research and sat with him to eat. It was so easy to talk to him. Or to just sit with him quietly and enjoy the company. Ragnor, too. Listening to the two of them talk had made Alec laugh more than once.
Maybe that would change, once real life let up a little, once the potion was done and some of their problems were a bit less. Maybe Magnus would get to know Alec and realize the same thing everyone else seemed to realize about him that turned their smiles fake and polite instead of honest, turned the indulgent looks into barely hidden sighs of exasperation and eye rolling. But until then, Alec was... he was enjoying it.
Part of him couldn't help but wonder what it would be like to be visiting Magnus like this without all this... everything... going on around them and between them. Sometimes, in the quiet of the guest room that Magnus had given him, Alec wondered what it'd be like if he were here simply because he wanted to be, and Magnus wanted it, and not because of a bond accidentally forced on them by a madman.
Alec shoved those thoughts aside before they could form any further than that. Daydreaming about things that were never going to happen wasn't going to help anyone. He had enough to do today.
As if in agreement with that, a brief flare of the rune on his desk caught Alec’s attention. His focus sharpened when he realized which one it was, and he instinctively straightened up before pushing to his feet.
There were various communication runes that had been designed at a time when technology wasn’t anywhere near what it was today. Raziel had granted them so much when he’d blessed them with their runes. He’d offered them ones to strengthen their bodies, but also ones to help them communicate in a time where cell phones weren’t a thing and fire messages weren’t always possible.
This one in particular was one whose use Alec hadn’t really seen anywhere. Not until Cameron brought it to him. It came in two parts – one that Alec had drawn on his desk, a simple rune that had immediately glamoured itself to every eye but his own, and one that Cameron could draw to warn of his coming, lighting up the first and alerting Alec and no one else.
Alec took the time to activate the other runes hidden in his office. The ones that would keep anyone from seeing or hearing what was said within, as well as the locking rune on the door that would keep everyone else out. Then he went back to his desk and used his stele to light up the rune and send the all clear.
Seconds later the panel near the fireplace slid open and Cameron slipped out.
As soon as Cameron saw him, he grinned and lifted his hands, showing off the two paper bags he’d brought with him. “Got time for a little lunch?”
A small smile curved Alec’s lips that he couldn’t quite banish. He deliberately looked toward the window and the slowly darkening sky and then back toward Cameron. “A late lunch.”
“Or early, depending on who you ask.”
The two settled in easily together on either side of Alec's desk. While sometimes they took to the couch for their conversations, today Cameron led them over toward the desk and Alec followed. It only took a second for Alec to sweep up his paperwork and set it and his tablet aside. When he straightened up from putting them away he saw for the first time the food Cameron was unloading, and he instantly grimaced.
Those weren’t restaurant to-go containers. They were Institute containers. Meaning, the food inside…
Cameron took the lid off of one container and Alec’s mouth watered even as his stomach dropped. “Etienne’s gumbo.” Lifting his eyes, he caught Cameron’s gaze. “What happened?”
For most of Alec’s life he’d eaten Institute food which hadn’t ever been… flavorful. Once they had their own money, he and his siblings snuck out sometimes and ate in various places around New York when they wanted something that tasted better. And when Alec had started stepping up more and more around the Institute he’d done his best to find them a better cook. Their food had so much more flavor now, but it didn’t often have enough spice, something Jace and Izzy liked to tease him about.
However, once Etienne had come to them, back in the early days when he’d been so sure he was going to be sent back home if he did something wrong, he’d liked to push a lot of buttons the way Jace once had, just to see what Alec would do. It’d all culminated in one night where Alec went to get something to eat and found that Etienne had helped himself to the kitchens and made a pot of gumbo with ingredients he’d secreted in.
The kid had been dead convinced that Alec would kick him out for something like that. Instead, they’d ate it together while they talked, and not only had Alec earned the loyalty of that young man that night, he’d also found one of his new favorite comfort foods.
For Cameron to have gone to the trouble of having Etienne make it for him, it didn’t mean anything good.
Sure enough, Cameron sighed softly as he pushed one container toward Alec and opened his own. He dug into his food for a second before answering. “We haven't found anything yet.”
That was… disappointing. Alec had hoped that Cameron might be able to find something by now. Anything that might help them track Valentine down. Since Alec had come back he'd been putting Cameron on that, trying to utilize him in the best way possible to get what they needed. Still, Alec kept watching Cameron while he sank into his own seat and reached out for his food. “That's not good news, but it's not 'special gumbo' bad news.”
“No, it’s not.”
Spoon in hand, Alec braced his elbows on his desk and tried to brace the rest of himself as well. Tried to prepare for whatever it was Cameron had brought him. He should’ve realized he’d never be able to.
“I’m almost positive I’ve uncovered two spies,” Cameron said bluntly. “And enough information to suggest the presence of three more.”
The words hit Alec like a blow to the chest. Five. He had five spies in his Institute. “Who?”
Cameron’s face was blank, almost devoid of any emotion at all, which for him usually meant Alec wasn’t going to like what he had to say next. This time wasn’t any different. “One of the kids from the last batch of recruits, Lyle Whitestream. And Hodge.”
If Cameron's previous words had been a blow, then this was like a stab. Alec couldn't hold back the small flinch at the name. He couldn't believe it. Not Hodge. Anyone else, maybe, but not Hodge. “Hodge? Are you sure?”
Even as he asked the question, he already knew the answer. Cameron wouldn't have brought this to him if he wasn't sure. Nor had any information he'd ever brought Alec been wrong.
Thankfully, Cameron didn’t take any sort of offense to Alec’s question. “I'm positive,” he answered immediately. “He's been sending and receiving interestingly coded fire messages from someone with no signature that anyone's been able to see, and he was spotted talking to himself once, only to brush it off. But when I watched him, I realized it's not himself that he's talking to.”
“It's Valentine,” Alec said slowly, his voice empty and cold. The only defense he had against the rage and heartache swirling through his chest. Absently, he thought to himself how grateful he was for the ward Magnus had put over him. If it weren't there he wasn't entirely sure what his magic would be doing. At the moment it felt like a storm in his chest. One that was battling against him in an effort to get free and seek out the person who'd betrayed them.
Cameron nodded. “Yeah. Using a seelie ring, I'm guessing. Most likely given to him by Valentine before we came back from Idris. It'd explain how he got a hold of you so fast to take you to Valentine that night, too. And why he was able to get to you without anyone realizing anything.”
Oh. Alec battled back a wince and tried to lock it all under as tight a mask as the one Cameron was wearing. He just… wasn’t sure if he was managing it. The betrayals here just kept adding up. Not only was Hodge a spy, he had to be the one who'd sold Alec out to Valentine, too. The one who'd almost cost Alec his life. All of this, all the things he'd gone through, all the changes Valentine had forced on him, those had only been possible because someone Alec trusted had set him up to be taken.
Alec had known betrayal before. He'd felt it more than once through his life. In some ways, he'd come to expect it from certain people. But this... this was different. This was deeper. Far more personal. And far more painful.
Taking a deep breath, Alec shoved down as much of that pain as he could, burying it deep so that he didn't have to feel the sting of it with each breath he took. Later, once he was alone, he could let himself feel it, let himself grieve. For now, he needed to focus. Now that they knew who their spies were, they had to figure out what exactly to do with them. And how they could use them.
Alec took another deep breath. Focus. “Do we have any clue what else they might've shared with him?”
“Nothing beyond what we've already expected,” Cameron said, shaking his head. “We can assume they've sent along the basics any spy might pick up. Security, personnel lists, patrol rotations, things like that. Information about you.” All stuff they’d already thought about and done their best to plan for. Though Alec was going to double check all of that as soon as possible.
Filing that away for later, Alec pressed on to the next thing he needed to know. “Are any of them aware that we know about them?”
“Not that I can tell.”
Well, there was one plus there. At least Alec still had that advantage. They knew about these spies, and they'd be able to do something with that, so long as they didn't do anything to give away that they knew. “Keep monitoring them, and make sure your team knows to keep an eye on them. Carefully.”
This time Cameron did look offended. “Of course, sir.”
“I know, Cameron.” Alec quickly held a hand out to try and ease the offense before it could grow any further. “I know you know what you're doing. I just... I have to make sure I'm being careful here. We don't need anyone else...” The words trailed off, but Alec knew that Cameron could hear the ending up like me that would've come next. Or the thousand other, worse options, that might happen instead.
Cameron seemed to understand. He softened, just a little, and nodded. “We'll be careful,” he promised Alec.
At the moment, that was the best Alec could ask for.
The two fell into an easy sort of quiet, both of them processing this information and what it would mean for their plans. At least, Alec assumed Cameron was doing the same thing as he was. He should’ve known his spymaster was already quite a few steps ahead of him on that.
“Have you started training your magic yet?”
The sudden question had Alec fumbling his last bite of gumbo so badly it almost ended up down his chin. He shot a glare up at the other man while he swallowed his bite, only to be met with a broad grin. Rolling his eyes, Alec set his spoon into the empty container and reached for a napkin to wipe up any mess. “No,” he said once his face was clean.
Cameron arched an eyebrow at him. It was a familiar look. One that Alec was pretty sure he got from Cordelia. It was the one they both pulled out when they were disappointed in his choices, or thought he was making a mistake, and they were about to tell him as much. Not many people in Alec's life could get away with giving him that look. His mother was one – and she wore that look frequently, with increasing disdain each and every time – but Cameron came in a close second, with Cordelia right after. They got the privilege mostly because that look wasn't ever delivered as a deliberate way to hurt him.
“Alec...” Cameron started, only for Alec to cut him right off.
“I'm not exactly rolling in free time, Cameron. My days are pretty booked.”
“And all that time at Magnus'?” he asked. When Alec said nothing, deliberately doing his best to not think about the quiet evenings he'd spent at the loft, the peace he'd felt at just that slight release of pressure and stress of his day-to-day life, Cameron sighed. The way he looked at Alec made it clear he'd read some of those things off his face. It softened him a little, though it didn't take away the serious edge to his voice, or the steadiness with which he met Alec's gaze as he told him things no one else would have the courage to say outright. “I know you don't want to deal with this part of you, but right now your magic is going to be the best weapon if Valentine comes after you again.”
“And if training it is exactly what he wants me to do?” Alec asked. It was his own, quiet fear, one he hadn't been able to help thinking about in the long moments he lay in his silent bed. One of the worries he wasn't able to fully banish. If Valentine came after him again, and Alec had been trained to do things with his magic... what could the man make him do?
He saw the same knowledge reflected back at him in Cameron's calm, steady gaze. “Better trained with a chance to defend yourself than caught unawares because you refused to learn the one weapon that might save your ass as well as everyone else's.”
The bluntness of those words had Alec's lips twitching up. Cameron didn't mince words. Ever. Something that Alec had always appreciated about him. He'd always spoken to Alec as an equal, never treating him like a kid or someone who couldn't handle the truth. Something which he was grateful for at the moment, even if the man was saying something he knew Alec didn’t want to hear.
As much as Alec wanted to pretend it didn’t exist, he had magic now and it wasn’t something he could ignore. He’d only gotten away with it so far because Magnus didn’t have time to do anything with him. But as soon as the potion was done, Alec had a feeling his leniency period would be done with.
“As soon as Magnus and Ragnor finish the potion for Jocelyn, we'll start,” he said quietly. He raised his eyes and met Cameron's gaze, making sure the other man could see the truth on his face. Not that he needed it. They both knew his words were true; he wouldn't have been able to say them otherwise. While Alec might not have shared that tidbit with anyone else – he didn't need the people around him knowing he couldn't lie to them – he hadn't hid it from Cameron. Nor from Benji. Those two more than anything else needed to be aware of the potential security risk Alec was now that he couldn’t lie anymore.
Cameron's nod was just as solemn as Alec’s words. He smiled and settled back in his seat, relaxing a little. “Good.”
Someone must’ve been listening to their conversation. Some being in the universe who decided that Alec wasn’t going to get away with not keeping his word, maybe. Or someone who decided his life hadn’t been screwed with enough. Either way, not even an hour after Cameron finally left his office – a few more of their plans finalized, and some other things ready to be put into play – a message came through from Magnus.
The potion was ready.
It was ready, and Alec was trying desperately not to show just how relieved he was. Or how nervous. The whole situation had the potential to blow up in so many different ways.
Alec made sure to clear his schedule for the rest of the evening. He divided up his duties as best as he could, called Andrew to arrange the security details necessary, had Benji start on prepping everything else, and then he did the one thing that everyone else likely wouldn't expect. Something he'd been avoiding doing with every possible trick he could implement. He summoned his mother to the room where Jocelyn lay.
No one else was in there when Alec went in, not once he sent Benji away. Meaning that no one was there to witness it when Maryse walked in. Her eyes sought him out almost instantly, and though her mask stayed in place Alec didn't miss the way her eyes ran over him from head to toe before settling on his face. She'd given him the same look plenty of times. It was the look that reminded Alec of the mother that existed underneath the commander.
“Alexander,” she greeted coolly, reminding him that, while his mother was still in there, she’d been covered for years by his commander. Someone who didn’t have time for things like feelings.
She hadn’t yet seemed to realize that the role was no longer hers. Reluctant though the Clave was about it, Alec was the Head of this Institute. That meant that even his mother fell under his command now while she was here. Something he’d never thought to push – until now. “Mom,” he said back, his tone just as cool as hers. “Thanks for coming.”
One dark eyebrow arched up in a look of censure. “I figured it must be important, after the effort you’ve put in avoiding me since your… return.”
It took all of Alec’s control not to give in to the urge to flinch at being so blatantly called out on something they’d both known was happening. You prepared for this, he reminded himself. He’d known from the instant he’d started avoiding her, when he’d signed requests and scheduled meetings that would keep them as far from one another as possible, that he’d have to face her at some point.
“I’ve been busy,” he said, which wasn’t a lie. He had been busy. Not so busy that he couldn’t have made time for her, but, well, Alec had known how to twist his words long before he’d gained this ability to be unable to lie. Just as he knew how to make sure his words had as much impact as possible, something he kept in mind as he lifted his chin and squared his shoulders, meeting her gaze head on before saying “I’ve had a big mess to clean up, a war to prepare for, and another one to prevent.”
The slight twitch to her lips told Alec his words had hit home. She recovered quickly, though, eyes going sharp. “I won’t apologize for trying to protect my family.”
“Was that what you were doing?” Alec fired back. “Or were you letting your fear and prejudices do the talking for you?”
The first cracks in his mother’s masks showed through. Her eyebrows shot up, and underneath the hardness of her temper he thought he caught the faintest hint of a flinch. Nothing but anger showed in her tone, though. “How dare you speak to me that way?”
If she thought to cow him, she was going to quickly be proven wrong. “I’ll dare a lot if it keeps my people safe. Not just mine, but my husband’s as well.” He threw that out there knowing it would get a reaction out of her – wanting to throw her off-kilter. That was half the point of this first part of their conversation. He watched the way she flinched from it and hated himself a little. Not enough to stop his next words, though. Not when her face showed more anger than grief still. Alec lowered his voice, yet kept it steady, making absolutely sure his next words struck home with all the accuracy of one of his arrows. “Valentine would be proud.”
This time Maryse’s flinch was much more pronounced. She looked like Alec had reached out and struck her. He didn’t give her any time to recover, though. Not when their time was already limited and these words were important.
“We don’t have time to get into what you did, or what it was that made you turn your back on it all,” he said, shifting his weight around. He settled his hands behind his back and clasped them together, straightening his posture as he did. Not once did he look away from her. “As sick as it makes me to think about what you did… I have to believe that you’re not that person anymore.” Even if recent events had proved that that part of his mother wasn’t too far under the surface.
To his surprise, Maryse didn’t stay quiet, nor did she argue with him. His words seemed to have struck harder than he’d anticipated. She looked at him with a hint of openness he hadn’t expected and quickly said “I’m not. Your father and I, who we were then… that’s not who we are now, Alec. It was never who I wanted to be. Not when it all started.”
Though she sounded sincere, Alec wasn’t sure he could stand there and listen to her excuses. Her justifications as to why she’d done what she’d done. Maybe one day he’d be able to hear her side of the story without throwing up. For now, he cut her off as quickly as he could. They needed to keep the conversation on track. “Then prove it,” he said bluntly. “You want to claim that you’re not that person anymore, mom – prove it.”
She nodded sharply and took another small, seemingly unconscious step forward. “Of course. What do you need from me?”
Here it was; the point he’d been ushering them toward since this whole conversation started. Alec took a deep breath and set himself down the path he’d planned out so carefully. “I wasn’t lying when I said I’d do anything to keep my people safe – all my people. Releasing Jocelyn on the general public wouldn’t do anything for their safety, or for any future peaceful relations between us and the Downworld – something which I firmly believe is going to be not only important but vital to the future of the Shadow World. Which means I need someone who can escort her back to Idris, where she can stand trial for her crimes. Someone I can count on to not betray me and send her right back to Valentine.”
No one could claim that Maryse was slow. She nodded at him, eyes betraying nothing. Her masks were firmly back in place once more. “Of course. And after?”
“I doubt people would be surprised if you chose to stay there once she’s been delivered. Or that you might want to distance yourself from the shame of your eldest.”
One corner of Maryse’s mouth twitched up in a smile that looked both proud and slightly bitter. “Putting me in a perfect place to hear the whispers others might not.”
Alec nodded at her. “Exactly. Your ties to the Circle and the Lightwood name might put you in a place where people could easily turn to you for information, and where you could find information yourself.”
To Alec's surprise, a soft, almost sad sort of smile twisted over his mother's lips. Her masks slipped, and he caught a glimpse of something in her look that reminded him a little of Magnus – something old, and sad. “I've taught you too well,” she said quietly. Before Alec could ask what she meant, his brow furrowing a little while he tried to parse through those words, she shook her head and straightened up once more. “You can count on me, Alec.”
Any further conversation was cut off by a sudden knock at the door. Alec waited only a second, eyes on his mother while she pulled her masks back into place, before he called out “Come in.”
The door opened wide, and the bond pulsed in Alec, warning him just seconds before Magnus strolled into the room with Ragnor at his side. On their heels came Andrew, four of their guards, Clary, Jace, and Isabelle. Everyone Alec had asked Andrew to bring, except for Luke.
When Magnus spotted Maryse, a small smirk tilted his lips upward. “Hello, Maryse. It's wonderful to see you again.”
Even a child could've understood the sarcasm on those words. Maryse ignored it, though Alec saw her jaw tick, and she stiffened a little. “Magnus,” she greeted, her tone perfectly polite, even if it wasn't warm.
Ignoring the two of them, Ragnor was the first to approach Jocelyn's bed. “If you don't mind, Commander Lightwood – some of us have plans after this,” he said, twisting to look over his shoulder at Alec, one eyebrow arched.
Alec fought back the smile he could feel tugging at his lips. He gestured toward the woman floating in front of them. “By all means. Please.” The sooner they did this, the sooner they could get her out of here.
Fondness rolled through the bond that was in contrast with the way Magnus looked so very exasperated by his friend. “You have no patience,” he chided, moving to stand at Ragnor's side.
“I've plenty enough, thank you. One has to when dealing with you, my boy.”
Their banter had become far too familiar to Alec over the recent days. He ignored it as he took a step back and gestured for the others to do the same. Maryse stood to Alec's left, his parabatai to his right, with Clary next to Jace, followed by Isabelle. Andrew took up stance at the door while, with a small gesture, the four guards split to stand at either end of Jocelyn. Ready and waiting.
The actual magic part of things felt almost anticlimactic. Alec felt the gathering of power in the air. A steady thrum that felt like it vibrated under his skin. But if he hadn’t had magic of his own he likely wouldn’t have known anything was going on. Magnus and Ragnor stood at Jocelyn’s head and recited a spell in a language Alec didn’t know. They spoke the words together at first, and then Magnus alone, while Ragnor dripped the potion into Jocelyn’s mouth.
Once it was done, Magnus and Ragnor stepped back, the guards closing in to catch Jocelyn as the magic released and let her fall. The whole room was on alert, everyone frozen and watching. Alec felt it before he saw it – felt the pressure of the magic in the room give a small pulse before it spread outward, and Jocelyn drew in a deep breath.
The room filled with the sound of people moving, Clary's voice echoing in a sharp “Mom!” while she scrambled forward.
For a few minutes the room dissolved into controlled chaos. Clary was ecstatic, reaching out to touch her mom even as either Ragnor or Magnus summoned a full-fledged hospital bed for her to lie on, and Magnus moved in to run what Alec was betting was some sort of healing or diagnostic spell. The guards set themselves up discreetly around the bed now that Jocelyn was on it, and through the gaps between everyone Alec caught a glimpse of her face. Though she looked sleepy, her eyes were open and she was looking right at Clary.
Alec let out a breath he hadn’t realized he was holding. That was it. They'd done it.
Now it was time to move on to the next part.
Alec made a subtle motion toward his mother, catching her eye and giving her a nod. Maryse didn’t hesitate. She moved forward smoothly, bypassing the others and moving around the bed so that she was in Jocelyn's line of sight. Alec didn't have to be in front of her to know the look that would be on her face. “How is she, High Warlock?” Maryse asked. Despite the sharpness of her tone, the words were, perhaps, the kindest Alec had ever heard his mother address a warlock. Which... said a lot, honestly.
If Magnus seemed bothered by her tone or her address, he didn't show it. Not even in the bond. He simply straightened up and drew his magic back. “Everything seems to be in working order,” he answered, eyes darting for a moment over to Alec before he focused back on Maryse. “I'd have your healers check her over, just to be sure. But as far as I can tell she's in good health.”
“Good.” Without looking away from Jocelyn, Maryse called out “Guards” and gestured with one hand toward the woman on the bed. “Take her into custody and prepare to escort her to the portal room.”
Clary straightened up instantly, chin up and spine straight, a defensive fire already burning bright in her eyes. “Wait a second, what...?”
“Clary,” Jocelyn cut in, her voice low and yet still somewhat strong. She lifted a hand that didn't shake and curled it over her daughter's arm. Meanwhile, her eyes stayed locked on Maryse, and Alec could see the knowledge of what this was already building in surprisingly alert eyes.
The eyes of the guards drifted over to Alec, along with a few others. Alec ignored most of them to give the guards the nod they needed. Then he crossed his arms over his chest and waited for the fallout.
To no surprise, Clary protested as soon as the guards moved forward. Jace's voice was right there with hers, though it surprised Alec to hear that he didn't sound as pissed off as he'd expected, nor did their bond get that tight, twisting feeling that came with anger or being shut down. He stayed at Clary's side and did his best to speak on her behalf, but he didn't actually and stop them all the way Alec had expected – the way he'd planned for.
In the commotion, no one seemed to pay any real attention to Magnus and Ragnor backing away. The two came to stand with Alec, one on either side of him, and they watched the scene unfold together. The bond warmed with something didn't have a name for; whatever it was, it felt... good. Different. It gave him the strength to stand a little straighter and not flinch under the glare Clary sent his way, or the protests that she shouted as her mother was bundled up between the guards and escorted out of the room, with Maryse at the front and Andrew at the back.
Seeing the lit seraph blade in his mother's hand as she left – a clear statement to anyone and everyone they would pass – made Alec feel so much better about his choice. Maryse wouldn't let anyone get between her and her appointed duty. She never had in the past. Duty first, always.
Clary and Jace followed after them, Clary arguing loudly the whole way. Jace paused only long enough to cast a brief glance Alec's direction, one loaded with words neither one of them had the time to say, and then he was gone after her, leaving just Isabelle lingering behind.
His little sister looked at him with a furrowed brow. Alec didn't have a bond with her that could tell him what she was feeling the way he did with Jace. But he'd known his sister longer – he’d raised her. It wasn't hard for him to read the emotions that she tried so hard to keep hidden from others. Worry, curiosity, confusion. No doubt she wanted some sort of explanation for all that, and he didn't have the time nor the energy to give one to her.
With a tired sigh, Alec uncrossed his arms and motioned toward the door. “Go with them and keep an eye on things for me, Iz. Make sure Mom has backup until they're through the portal.”
Her eyes widened, just a little, and then narrowed. Her chin tilted up – a move she'd picked up from him. But she didn't say anything. She wouldn't, not with an audience. That had always been Jace, with Isabelle adding in her own teasing that never crossed her carefully drawn lines in the sand. But like this, with two people she didn't know and didn't trust, Isabelle had always been good at keeping Alec's secrets. She'd save the questions for later, when she'd find him in his office or in his room and there wasn't anyone around to hear her pester him.
Isabelle gave him one, short nod. Then, with a smile that didn't reach her eyes, she turned to Magnus and Ragnor and dipped her head in a respectful move Alec had taught her. “High Warlocks.”
Magnus gave her a nod and a smile back, while Ragnor simply sniffed and stayed where he was.
No one said anything until Isabelle was gone and the door shut behind her. Once it did, Alec turned toward the two warlocks, exhaustion starting to creep in. And today still wasn't done. “Thank you, both of you. For everything.”
“It's the least we could do,” Magnus said, slanting a telling look over at Ragnor. So far, neither of them had come outright and said anything, but Alec wasn't blind to the looks and little digs. He had a feeling he could guess at least part of it. Enough to know that he didn't need to know anymore.
Ragnor didn't seem any more eager than Magnus to say anything more on the subject. In fact, he turned toward Alec and bluntly said, “While we're waiting to see if your spies manage to stop this or not, we should probably discuss something else important.”
A low “For magic's sake” came from Magnus and was promptly ignored by the two other men. Alec arched an eyebrow and twisted himself a little to better face Ragnor. “Oh?”
“Your training. I know Magnus spoke with you about finding a trainer before, and circumstances have certainly gotten in the way of things since then. But now that we've dealt with the potion, and Jocelyn, hopefully, you can't afford to put this off any longer. You need to start some sort of training. Before your magic decides to do something you're not expecting.”
Alec had been dreading this. Yet at the same time he knew Ragnor was right. Still... “Can it wait until later? Once I'm sure things are taken care of here.”
“So long as later happens within the next twelve hours, yes,” Ragnor said easily. The look on his face spoke just as loudly, letting Alec know that he wasn't going to allow him to get away with whatever excuse he might've come up with to stay away from the loft.
Just barely did Alec manage to hold in a wince. “Fine,” he finally said, nodding once. If that were the case, though, he had a few things he needed to take care of – once he was sure Jocelyn's transfer had gone off without a hitch. “I'll come by the loft once things are settled here.”
“I look forward to it,” Magnus said, speaking up before Ragnor could. The bond warmed a little again, and for one second Magnus seemed to hesitate before reaching up and brushing his fingers over Alec's shoulder as if smoothing out a wrinkle there. “I'll see you tonight, Alexander.”
Alec felt his cheeks warm and his magic practically purred in response to the touch. He cleared his throat, not daring to look anywhere near Ragnor. “Yeah.”
The warmth of that touch lingered on his skin long after the two warlocks had left. Alec tried to ignore it and the tingle of his magic as best as he could. Right now he needed to focus on making sure Jocelyn made it through the portal. And, more importantly, making sure he had the rest of his Institute carefully locked down. Valentine wasn't going to be happy if they managed to get Jocelyn away from him now that she was awake.
What kind of retaliation he'd give, Alec didn't know, but they had to be ready for it. They would be ready for it. He’d make damn sure of that.
Chapter Text
By the time Alec left the Institute, it was well past midnight. He'd checked and rechecked every single security measure he could think of, and he’d done his best to make sure everyone was aware of the potential dangers currently threatening them. His Institute was essentially on 'standby' with a formal declaration of war. It wasn't exactly the most ideal time for Alec to slip away. But, there wouldn’t be an ideal time for the next who-knew-how-long, and he'd made a promise. One he was pretty sure Ragnor would force him to keep if he tried to squirm out of it.
After making sure both Andrew and Benji knew where to find him – he knew better than to leave the Institute without notifying someone, especially after everything lately – Alec ducked out the front door, glamoured himself, and made his way to the loft.
The whole way there, he tried to pretend that he wasn’t nervous. But the churning in his gut, and his magic, made that lie clear.
He’d tried to put this off for as long as possible. (Not just tonight, but the past few nights, the past every night since all this had started) But it’d taken less time than he’d thought to get everything taken care of and find himself a gap of time where he could afford to leave.
Unfortunately, he’d put his mother in charge of things, and that meant that they got done quickly and efficiently.
Under Maryse’s watch, Jocelyn had been successfully transferred to Idris and was currently under protective guard in the Fairchild family home while awaiting formal charges and their subsequent trial. According to his mother’s message, carefully coded for his eyes only, they’d thought about putting her in the Morgenstern home as she was still married, but they didn’t want to risk any traps Valentine might’ve left there, or any secrets that might allow him to sneak in and get her.
Not that they’d said that outright, no doubt. Alec couldn’t picture anyone in Idris admitting that Valentine might be able to sneak into their homeland right under their noses.
However, willing to admit it or not, they were at least treating it like it was a possibility. They weren’t taking any risks. Something that Alec appreciated even if he didn’t quite trust it.
All of the risks, everything they’d done and everything they still had to do, played over and over in Alec’s mind as he made his way to Magnus’. By the time he reached the loft he hadn’t come up with any new sort of answers. Nor had he managed to do what he’d truly wanted to do – distract himself.
As soon as he reached the open door and found Magnus standing there waiting for him – shoulder pressed against the door frame, arms crossed over his chest, and a smile as warm as their bond – all the worries and things Alec had been doing his best to avoid thinking about came rushing back in. Worries about tonight and what this all might mean, what sort of training Ragnor might implement. Worries about using the magic that he wished nothing more than to be able to forget about. Worries about… about Magnus.
Magnus was smiling at him, and the bond was warm, and Alec couldn't help but think about the bond and all the things they hadn't said to one another. About it, about their marriage, about them. About everything that he’d done his level best not to think about now that he was back in his home.
Not that Alec really had the time or the energy to think about any of it. Too much was happening at the Institute for Alec to even start to think about Magnus and everything that surrounded him and them. Yet, here Alec was, coming to train his magic in the home of a man who had gone from co-prisoner to reluctant ally to husband to friend over the past few weeks. Someone Alec had learned more about in a shorter amount of time than anyone else he'd ever known.
Magnus' smile gentled a little as he straightened up. There was something understanding on his face that didn't help to settle Alec's nerves. Whatever he was picking up in their bond had him sending a wave of warmth Alec's way, almost like a hug. “I'm glad you could make it,” he greeted him, his smile giving away the honesty of his words.
Despite his inner thoughts, a faint smile tugged at the corner of Alec’s mouth. Somehow, the sight of Magnus seemed to have that effect on him. Something else to add to the pile of things Alec tried his best not to think about. “I told Ragnor I’d come.”
“So you did.” Smile growing, Magnus took a step back and gestured Alec into the apartment. “Come in, darling. Would you like a drink? Ragnor went back to his place to fetch a few things for you. Hopefully it won’t take him too long.”
It felt easy to let Magnus sweep him inside. Alec didn’t stumble or stutter the way he had when he’d first started coming here. Instead, he followed Magnus easily, slipping his jacket off as he went and hanging it up on the rack, along with his bow, quiver, and seraph blade. All of which had a special spot just for them, something which had appeared on Alec’s second night coming here.
Seeing it now gave him the same strange thrill it'd given him the first few times.
Those spots were so clearly made for Alec. He highly doubted Magnus had any real need to hang up a bow and quiver. Nor had they been there the first night, meaning they weren’t something he’d had up for other friends.
Alec didn’t quite know what to think about that. No one… no one had ever made an effort to make space for him before.
Pushing back the feelings that it gave him, Alec turned himself away from the rack and made his way along the familiar path to the living room. He found Magnus waiting in there for him with a drink in hand.
Though Alec was honestly tempted after a day like today, he shook his head. “I should probably keep a level head tonight. But, thank you.”
Magnus gave the glass a little shake that should’ve spilled it and yet somehow didn’t, not even bothering to lower it. “You absolutely should. Magic while drinking is its own special brand of trouble we won’t even get into tonight. Luckily, this is juice, with just a hint of a magical pick-me-up to keep you going. Perfectly safe, nonalcoholic, and far healthier than the coffee you like to guzzle.”
Oh. Alec blinked, cheeks warming a little. “Oh. Um, thank you.”
Winking, Magnus passed him the glass. “You’re quite welcome” He swirled his hand again and summoned his own glass, using it to hide his grin. “One should always go into encounters with Ragnor with all their faculties intact. Giving you a little boost is the least I can do.”
Yeah, that didn’t help Alec’s nerves at all. He tried to push those down under the familiar masks of indifference and sarcasm, but he had a feeling Magnus could see right through that. “I appreciate that.”
Together, the two sank down onto the couch in a position that had become almost as familiar as the place itself. They each took an end of the couch yet twisted to face one another. It felt both comfortable and slightly intimate in a way Alec wasn't familiar with. Nor was he familiar with the urge to reach out and close that distance.
Sure, he'd always been a bit tactile with his siblings, offering up hugs and touches whenever they wanted. But he rarely felt the urge with anyone else.
Until Magnus.
Alec swallowed that urge, yet let his body relax a little more than it usually did. It was so much easier here, with Magnus. Easier to breathe, to relax. To just be. Here, in the home of one of the most dangerous Downworlders the Clave had on file, who let Alec into his home and smiled at him like he actually meant something.
He hadn't even realized he'd let his eyes drift closed until a gentle “Alexander” had them flying back open. Alec was met with the sight of Magnus looking at him with that soft expression Alec still hadn't figured out the meaning of. “Tired, darling?”
The answer to that was far too complicated to try and parse out. Especially around this new part of him that wouldn’t let anything resembling a lie past his lips. Instead, he had to settle for shrugging one shoulder. “It’s been a busy day.”
“Longer than that, really. But I’d say you’ve definitely had a long one today.”
Wasn’t that the truth? Alec smothered down a sigh as his brain tried to yet again go down all the different routes that today could’ve taken. His ability to do that was a great benefit when it came to being a leader – it came naturally to him, to think through all the different paths and try to plan for them all.
It wasn’t quite so useful after the fact. When all he wanted, all he needed, was to find a little bit of peace.
Still, thinking of all those different paths reminded him once again of just how screwed they would’ve all been without Magnus and Ragnor. “I know I already said it, but, thank you for your help. You and Ragnor both. We wouldn’t…”
His words were cut off when Magnus lifted his free hand and waved it through the air. “You’ve already thanked us plenty enough. And paid us quite handsomely.”
Alec had made sure to take care of payment promptly. He wasn’t going to simply use the two of them and not see them compensated for it. He’d made sure that was taken care of even before he text Magnus to let him know the transport had gone off without a hitch.
Something Magnus seemed to read easily on Alec’s face now. He gave a little laugh and shook his head. “You continue to surprise me, Alexander.”
“In good ways, I hope.”
The smile that lit up Magnus' face brought an answering one to Alec. He felt his lips curve and didn't even try and stop it. All the reasons his brain continued to come up with to stop himself from even thinking about any of this, they didn't seem like good reasons when he was sitting here with Magnus. He'd been afraid for so long – afraid of this part of himself, of any of the things he felt that he knew his people didn't agree with. Afraid of letting people know and losing everything.
Everyone knew now, though. The whole of the shadowhunter community was abuzz with his marriage.
They’d done their best to keep some of it quiet. Alec was pretty sure the Clave had hoped to keep it all under wraps so that they’d have an easier time dissolving it later, once they figured out how. Or maybe they just wanted to keep others from getting ideas. Alec’s marriage set a dangerous precedent in a culture like theirs.
But that hadn’t worked. Whether that was Benji’s private campaign to make Alec’s life easier – so many things he did that Alec rarely ever got to know about, and often when he did it was after the fact – or just the sheer nephilim love for gossip, Alec didn’t know. But both Cameron and Benji had brought him enough information to let him know just how far spread this was. Very few people out there didn’t know that Alec Lightwood was married to the High Warlock of Brooklyn.
The number of people who knew seemed to be growing by the day. The general populace was learning about it, and sharing it with new people more and more. They'd told the Council for the Clave, and Magnus had spoken before about making his report to the Elders at the Spiral Labyrinth. Everyone knew now. So why should he even try to make himself ignore this – whatever this was?
He didn't have to pretend that Magnus' smile didn't make his heart beat a little faster. He didn't have to pretend that he didn't look forward to his nights here at the loft, simply because it meant he got to spend a little more time with Magnus. People would expect that from a married couple. Even if maybe they wouldn’t expect it from him.
“Would you like to grab dinner?” Alec blurted out. The words came out a little too fast, and no doubt full of the awkwardness he couldn't quite get rid of, but they were steady. Though he did blush a little. “After, I mean. When Ragnor and I are done. It’d, uh, it’d probably have to be kind of short, cause I have to get back to work, but, I mean… we could eat. Together.”
The smile Magnus had already been wearing grew a little wider, putting tiny crinkles at the corners of his eyes. “Are you asking me on a date, Alexander?”
Alec's blush grew hotter. Yet he refused to let himself shy away from this. He'd made the offer. Now he had to stand by it. “I am.”
There wasn't a single ounce of hesitation in Magnus' reply. “Then I'd be delighted.”
That warmth that Alec had begun to feel in their bond, the one that he could never quite tell if it came from him or Magnus, seemed to grow a little more. It wrapped around him in a way Alec had no words for. Not yet. But it gave him the strength to smile a little and nod. “Good. I, uh... good.”
Before the moment could grow any more awkward, the sound of a portal opening followed instantly by footsteps saved Alec from having to try and figure out what to say or do next.
Ragnor walked in, entirely oblivious to the mood of the room, carrying a stack of books. His eyes found Alec quicky and he gave a sharp nod. “Ah, good, you're here already. Good to see you decided to show up.”
Magnus straightened up, that warmth seeming to disappear with his shift in attention. He eyed the books and then arched a single eyebrow at his friend, even as his lips curved up with clear humor. “Planning on torturing my husband by making him listen to your lectures all night, my darling cabbage?”
The scoff and glare that Ragnor sent Magnus' way should've been intimidating. He clearly meant them to be. Instead, Alec found his lips twitching with the urge to smile.
“Hardly.” Ragnor didn't bother setting the books down or anything before he looked over at Alec and bluntly said “Come on, Lightwood. We've got a few things to go over, and I get the feeling any lessons with you are going to be a fight to get done without you being called away.”
That said, Ragnor turned and walked away, clearly expecting Alec to follow.
When Alec sent him a surprised look, not quite sure what to make of this, Magnus shot him a grin and waved. “Don't have too much fun, darling. And don't let him run you into the ground. I’m looking forward to our date after you’re done.”
He waited to add that last bit until Alec had already started to rise. It made him stumble ever so slightly, which in turn had Magnus letting out a soft laugh, one that followed after Alec as he hurried out of the room.
The room Ragnor took them took was a surprisingly large one. It also happened to be almost completely empty. The only things in it were a large skylight that looked up at a sky far clearer than they should've been able to see here in the city, and two large, comfy looking wingback chairs with an old wood table between them.
Alec let his eyes run curiously over the room around him. “What is this room?”
“It's Magnus' spell room,” Ragnor said. He set the stack of books down onto the table and gestured Alec toward one of the chairs, while he took the other. “I thought about taking us back to the sanctuary. There's plenty of warding there for keeping uncontrolled magic contained. But I figured it'd be safer and more comfortable for you if we did things here.”
That was... kind. The idea of going far away from here to work on things doesn't sound in the least bit appealing. Being here at the loft, a place Alec was surprised to find had come to mean comfort in some ways, felt... safer.
He deliberately didn't think about why that was. Just pushed it back and sank down into the chair.
“First things first,” Ragnor began, opening the top book and flipping a few pages. “Magnus told me that he explained a bit to you about how your magic works. At least, the parts we understand. Did his explanation make sense to you?”
The question surprised Alec a little, though he wasn’t quite sure why. He’d sort of expected Ragnor would talk and Alec would listen. Lots of shadowhunter training happened that way. When you were told to do something, you did it. When you were told to listen, you did. Questions had a time and place, and often in the middle of lessons wasn’t it.
Alec took a second to think, to go back over all that Magnus had said to him. “Yes and no,” he finally settled on. “I get what he’s saying, mostly, about how magic reacts to feelings. Or how alive it is. I just…”
When he trailed off, not quite sure how to put it into words without accidentally sounding offensive, Ragnor easily picked his sentence up for him. “You just don’t understand how it’s possible for some strange mystical force to be alive.”
There was a lot he didn’t get, but that one definitely sat at the heart of things. “Yeah.”
One corner of Ragnor’s mouth curved up into a faint smile. “I thought that might be something you struggled with. Warlocks grow up with our magic – it’s a part of us throughout our lives. We feel it, grow with it, learn with it. For us it isn’t difficult to comprehend just how alive magic is. We’re aware of that from such a young age that, by the time we think to question it, it’s already become one of those facts that defies explanation. Not to say that some don’t try. There are plenty of warlocks who’ve devoted their lives to trying to study and understand magic. I can recommend a few books, if you’d like. But the short and simple of it is – we don’t know. Magic on its own is a force that defies reason or explanation.”
Alec couldn’t help but wrinkle his nose at that. The idea that something couldn’t be explained didn’t sit well with him. All things had an explanation to them. Even in their world, where it might all seem so magical and mystical to those who didn’t know, there were explanations for everything. Just because someone didn’t know the answer didn’t mean it wasn’t there.
“You know, each time we talk I see a little more why exactly magic paired you and Magnus together.”
Surprised, Alec looked up from where he’d been staring at the spines of the books between them, wondering if perhaps they were some of the books Ragnor mentioned that might offer some studies or explanations. He found the other man watching him with a look that might’ve been considered fond if it weren’t for the slightly scornful twist to his lips. Then again, maybe that was fond. For Ragnor, at least. “What?”
“You and Magnus. He gets that same look in his eye when he doesn’t understand something. The one that says he’ll either find the answer or make one himself. It’s the reason he’s pioneered so much new magic in his lifetime – his inability to take ‘no’ for an answer.”
He didn't give Alec a chance to form any kind of response to that. Before he could decide whether to be complimented or insulted, Ragnor pushed on.
“Now, to focus on the matter at hand. Whether we understand the reasons or not, magic is a force unto itself, and it is very much alive inside of us. Which means that, if you ever hope to gain control, you’re going to have to learn how to work with it. To do that, we’ll start with a few meditation exercises that should help you connect on a deeper level with yourself and your power, after which we’ll set you up with some reading to take home with you…”
Chapter Text
Alec was exhausted by the time he and Ragnor were done for the night.
He wasn’t sure how long they were in that spell room. Time seemed to go by so differently in there. Alec could swear they were only there for a short time, maybe an hour or two, but he also felt like he'd been through hours upon hours of training exercises back home. Only, the ache felt more internal than external, in a way he didn't exactly have words for.
Magnus took one look at them when they came out and gave a sympathetic wince. “You look exhausted, darling.”
“Thanks,” Alec said dryly, though the tiredness in his tone took any real edge away from his words. He followed Ragnor over to the table where Magnus had spread out a bunch of books and papers. When one of the chairs nearest him drew back without anyone touching it, he happily sank down into it with a sigh. He wasn't sure if his own magic had responded to his need or if one of the other two had done it for him, and he didn't care. All he cared about was being able to relax down into it.
He knew he should probably get up and head back to the Institute soon. They'd had to pause more than once tonight as reports came in from his mother back in Idris and various members of his team here in New York. Thankfully, Ragnor had been understanding about it, though he'd grumbled about how Alec wasn't going to be able to achieve true relaxation this way. He at least seemed to recognize that Alec wasn't going to be able to change it. He couldn't afford to go incommunicado during these times.
Magnus, however, didn't seem to share the same understanding. He waved off Alec's thanks and watched him, brows furrowed down in concern. “Perhaps we should reschedule tonight, Alexander. You look like you need sleep more than anything else.”
“No!” Alec's eyes shot open - he hadn't even realized he'd closed them - and his magic gave a little leap inside his chest. At the surprised looks from the two in front of him, Alec blushed. He hadn't quite meant to be so loud. “No,” he said again, calmer this time. “I don't... I mean I...”
The surprise on Magnus' face gave way to something softer. His magic reached out, brushing against their bond in a way that made Alec's tired magic sit up and purr. “Then again, I get the feeling if I send you back now you won't eat, or sleep,” he said, just a hint of teasing coloring his words. He smiled until it brought to life the little crinkles around his eyes that Alec had come to realize meant the smile was a real one. “I suppose it's my duty as your husband to see you fed first, then.”
“Oh, good lord,” Ragnor murmured dryly.
Alec ignored him and smiled back at Magnus. Softer, a bit more hesitant, but no less real. He reached out with just the slightest bit of his magic in an equally hesitant touch. One that was met almost instantly by Magnus' own. The two clasped together like holding hands, threading through and around one another.
It felt nice. Comforting. Like Alec had somehow found a piece of himself he hadn't even known he needed.
The sound of a throat clearing cut through the intimacy of the moment and snapped both of them back to the present. Alec turned to look, only to find Ragnor with his arms crossed over his chest and a disgusted look on his face. “I don't need to see this,” he told them bluntly.
Magnus hummed, pressing his magic a little more firmly against Alec. “No one said you had to stay.”
If Ragnor was offended by the clear dismissal in Magnus' words, he didn't show it. “Trust me, I'll be out of here shortly. Lightwood, I sent your books to your bedroom here. I highly doubt they're the type of reading you should be carrying around the Institute. I expect to see that you've made a dent in them by the time we meet again. Also, I want you practicing the meditation techniques at least twice a day – once with the wards on, and once with them off. Let me know when you have time free again. Ideally, I'd like to meet twice a week.”
“I'll see about getting my secretary to schedule something in,” Alec promised him.
With a nod and a “Try to stay out of trouble, both of you,” Ragnor turned and left, already calling up a portal as he went.
Alec watched him go with a faintly bemused smile on his lips. He was never quite sure what to make of the other man. He was brash, rude, with a humor dryer than Alec's and a sharp wit. He could be absolutely frustrating to deal with – they seemed to spend just as much time arguing as talking with each other. And yet... Alec liked him. He couldn't quite pinpoint why. He just did.
Magnus let out a little sigh that sounded fond. “You have to admit, he's rather charming once you get to know him.”
Charming. That wasn't a word Alec would've used for Ragnor. “He's something.”
When he looked back at Magnus, the other man was grinning. “Still feeling hungry, darling?”
“Starving.”
Magnus gave a nod and rose gracefully to his feet. Once up, he held a hand out to Alec. “Well then, let's see about getting you fed, hm?”
It felt like something bigger than it was to reach up and place his hand in Magnus'. Like he was reaching out for more than just help to his feet, or a dinner date. More than even this easy friendship that they'd been building up. If Alec did this, if he went with Magnus, they'd be moving forward with whatever this was between them. Bond or no bond, this moment was Alec's choice. He could choose to reach out and put his hand in Magnus', and, at the same time, reach out for something that could be so good. Or he could stay here and let go of any hope of finding happiness outside of duty.
Alec had spent most of his life doing nothing but what he had to. He'd been so good at it that he'd become one of the youngest shadowhunters to ever be promoted to Head of the Institute. He'd kept that title, too, despite everything currently going on partially because he'd tied them up neatly in their own regulations but also because he was that damn good at what he did. But... being Head of the Institute couldn't be everything he was. Not when his life suddenly had the potential to be even longer than he'd ever imagined. He couldn't make the whole of his existence about duty.
In the end, it really wasn't a choice. Alec lifted his hand and laid it in Magnus', staring up at him as he did. When Magnus' fingers closed around his, it felt like something heavy had been lifted from his shoulders as soon as he did it. A burden he hadn't even realized he was carrying. Alec felt lighter than ever before as he rose to his feet and stood at Magnus' side.
Something in the other man's face told Alec that he might not be the only one who felt that way. The two shared a smile, and it felt easy. Natural.
“Any preferences where we go?” Magnus asked him, his smile never fading.
Alec shook his head. “No.”
“Dealer's choice then – perfect.” With that, Magnus lifted his free hand and gestured in front of him, calling up a portal. He never once let go of Alec's hand. In fact, when Alec turned to walk through the portal with him, Magnus adjusted his grip so that their fingers laced together, keeping a tight hold on him as the magic washed over them, carrying them away from the loft.
Alec hadn’t given too much thought about where they’d go for their dinner date. He wasn’t particularly picky about food so he wasn’t too worried. But of all the places he could’ve thought of, this never would’ve made the list.
The place Magnus brought them to was a rooftop restaurant with an array of tables spread out just enough to guarantee privacy for each of them. The whole space was open to the evening air, with no roof to shield them from the stars and moon above, and only a wrought iron railing to keep them anyone from going over the edge. At the very center of the rooftop stood a smaller square building with doors that Alec was pretty sure were elevators, or perhaps they led to the kitchens.
It was clearly a Downworlder establishment, judging by the fact that no one batted an eye at their portal appearing or the two of them stepping out of it. Not that Alec doubted Magnus’ ability to keep them hidden if he so chose. Magic lay heavy in the air, though, in a way Alec had come to recognize as wards.
A few of the tables around them had people at them, and if Alec hadn’t already realized this was a Downworlder place the sight of a vampire drinking a glass of blood while leaning forward toward their date who was clearly some type of water elf would’ve given it away.
Before the portal even finished closing a waiter appeared in front of them, a welcoming smile on their face. “Elder Bane, welcome,” he greeted formally, giving a small bow. His eyes drifted over Alec and, judging by the way they tightened a little as they caught sight of his runes, he clearly hadn’t expected a shadowhunter to be here. Nor did he seem all that inclined to greet him.
Magnus gave Alec’s hand a small squeeze and plastered on that smile of his that was both charming and threatening at the same time. “My husband and I were hoping you’d have a table open for us tonight,” he said, just a hint of a bite underscoring those words. One that suggested that there would be a table – and if there wasn’t, there better be one made available.
A little tendril of warmth curled through Alec’s stomach. One that he probably shouldn’t have felt at such a display.
The waiter gave another bow, deeper this time. Any sign of his distaste at seeing Alec had vanished in an instant as soon as he heard the word husband. “Of course, sirs. This way, please. We’ve got a lovely table over here in the corner with one of the best views.”
Alec and Magnus followed the man over to the corner seat. They held hands the whole way there, up until they reached the chairs. Then Magnus broke away from him, though he waited until the last moment to do so. As soon as he let go, he reached out for Alec’s chair, drawing it back for him.
Whatever look that put on Alec’s face – and he could feel the heat in his cheeks – had Magnus grinning. “After you, Alexander.”
Alec took his seat, allowing Magnus to push the chair in for him as he went. He waited until the other man came around the table to his own chair to shoot him a baleful look. “You’re enjoying this.”
“Charming my gorgeous husband?” Magnus asked, arching an eyebrow. He grinned shamelessly. “Absolutely.”
The easy way Magnus kept saying that word – husband – left Alec almost as flustered as his use of the word gorgeous. Neither one were something he’d ever thought he’d apply to himself. He hadn’t ever pictured being someone’s husband. Hadn’t let himself, really, because a part of him had always known that if he was a husband, it’d mean he had a wife.
This? Magnus?
This was so much better.
It only took them a few minutes to place their orders for food and drink. Alec deferred to Magnus, not even bothering to pay attention to the menu, though he did order himself a coffee. That was likely the only way he was going to get through this. He didn’t want to end up doing something stupid like falling asleep in the middle of their first actual date.
While Magnus placed their orders, Alec took a minute to look out over the view around them and really take it in.
The view was… it was spectacular.
He hadn’t quite realized just how high up they were when they’d first stepped out. He’d noted that it was a rooftop, of course, and vaguely took in some of the buildings he could see out there. But now that he was able to sit there and actually take it all in, he could see just how high up they were.
Almost every single building he saw was shorter than theirs. Even the tall spires of a church in the distance were below them, and the church itself looked like it was more castle than church. The rest of the buildings… so many of them were small, just little dots down in the distance, visible through a faint cloud cover they sat above.
Patches of trees broke through the buildings here and there, and a large forest was off in the distance on their left. Alec let his eyes run over it all and, though he didn’t realize it, he sank a little more into his seat, some of his tension fading away. He’d always loved being high up. There was something so wonderfully freeing about it.
“I took a wild guess and assumed heights wouldn’t be a problem for you,” Magnus said, the low murmur of his voice sliding through Alec’s thoughts.
Alec didn’t even startle at it. He hummed, letting his eyes run over everything once more. “They’re not. I love being up high.” Being on the rooftops with his bow had always been Alec’s version of a safe place. Even around the Institute it was the rooftop he retreated to when he needed space.
When he looked back over at Magnus he found the othe man resting back in his seat, his drink in hand and that softer smile on his lips. His eyes were right on Alec instead of the scenery around them or anything else. The look there had Alec wanting to duck his head and blush. Somehow, he kept himself from doing it, though the tug at one corner of Magnus’ smile said he’d likely noticed the urge.
Instead of saying anything, Magnus lifted his drink and took a sip. It gave Alec a few seconds to try and catch his breath and settle the part of himself that still couldn't quite believe he was here.
He busied his hands with reaching out for the coffee the waiter had brought over while he'd been checking out the scenery. Adding a little cream and sugar – though nowhere near his usual preference – he lifted the cup and mimicked Magnus by sitting back in his seat to enjoy it. “This is a nice place,” he said, mentally wincing a second later at just how stupid that sounded.
Magnus didn't seem to think so, though. His smile grew just a little bit. “It is. I discovered this place a few decades ago. Ragnor and Catarina introduced me to it, actually.”
He could picture that, sort of. This place seemed the type of thing Ragnor would like. Though the impression he'd gotten from Catarina made him think she was more the type for something relaxed instead of something fancy. “So the three of you have been friends for a while, then.”
“Oh, ages,” Magnus agreed easily. “I met Ragnor first when I was still quite young, and Catarina a little while after that. The three of us... we've seen each other through a great deal over the years. Ragnor's like the stuffy older brother I never wanted, and Catarina's the sister I did.” He paused to laugh at that, drawing a faint smile to Alec's lips. Then his expression turned mischievous and he leaned forward, one arm coming to rest on the tabletop where he balanced his weight, bringing him a little closer to Alec. “Don't let that stuffy demeanor fool you though, darling. Ragnor likes to pretend he's the sensible one of the group but he's just as bad as the rest of us. This one time…”
It was so easy to fall into Magnus’ words. To sit there and let the man tell him stories about the exploits he and his friends had gotten into over the years until Alec was laughing more than he’d ever laughed with someone before.
Magnus did his best to draw just as many stories out of Alec, too, even if those weren't anywhere near as adventurous as Magnus' tales. Still, Alec found himself telling Magnus about things like sneaking Jace in through the window of the Institute when they were kids, or the time the two of them decided they were going to climb to the rafters in the top of the Prayer Hall and got stuck up there for over five hours before someone found them. He even told him about the pranks Isabelle liked to play on everyone, including the time she'd somehow managed to sneak dye into his shampoo and he'd ended up with emerald green hair.
Their food came and went as they talked, Magnus snapping his fingers to conjure more drinks for both of them whenever Alec's ran empty. Alec found himself relaxing more and more throughout their dinner. It was easy to forget that they were out here in public like this.
If someone asked him later what it was he ate, he wasn't sure he'd be able to tell them. Whether that was because he was far more tired than he wanted to admit to, or Magnus was simply that captivating, or perhaps a mixture of the two.
Either way, the only things Alec would remember later on when he looked back at that night were flashes of moments. The view around them, and the way Magnus smiled at him. He’d remember how warm their bond felt, like settling down on the stones in front of the fire after a winter patrol. He’d remember the way it felt when Magnus reached across the table while Alec was talking and caught his hand, how it made him stutter for just a second before he steadied himself. And he’d remember how it felt to curl his own fingers into that hold, and the smile it got him.
Later, he would think to himself about how much he’d grown to like Magnus recently, but it was that night that he started that slow, sweet slide from a hesitant friendship into something more.
Chapter 20
Notes:
Here we go, another chapter (that didn't take months to post!)
I've been busting my ass on writing this week, so I have maybe a chapter/chapter and a half left on the whole story. Which means I'll only have to edit and post. Woo!!! We're in the home stretch. Unless something crops up to make this take longer, the story shouldn't have more than 30 chapters. I hope you all enjoy it - let me know what you think!
Chapter Text
When Alec woke up the next morning it took him a long moment of lying there for his brain to fully click on. Normally he was the type to wake in an instant, but today… the exhaustion he’d felt last night was no joke. The fact that he could still feel the shadow of it clinging to him this morning made that clear.
His memories of last night slowly filtered in as he lay there. Memories of laughter, and smiles, and… Magnus. Their date. Alec let out a soft sigh as he remembered just how good that date had gone. Sitting there with Magnus, talking to him, listening to his stories - Alec couldn't remember the last time he'd had so much fun with someone. Even his magic had enjoyed it.
They hadn't put the wrap on before they'd left. Magnus had explained later that Alec's magic needed a chance to be free and relax after he'd worked it out with Ragnor. Which meant that it'd been free to flutter and spark and reach out for Magnus without any permission from him. A fact which had only seemed to delight Magnus, who'd reached his own magic back to curl gently and protectively around Alec's.
His magic gave a little flutter now at the reminder of that hold.
Alec wasn't sure he had words to describe how it felt when Magnus' magic wrapped around him. He knew their bond likely went gooey-soft each and every time. Something he had to fight not to be embarrassed over.
It was just... Magnus' magic felt warm, and safe, and protective without smothering him. It never stopped Alec's magic from pulling and prodding and running all over it. Magnus let him. He let the wayward bits of Alec's magic brush against his hair or over the curve of his cheek. He didn't flinch when it curled around his fingers or made little sparks dance across his skin. If anything, Magnus seemed to enjoy it. He let Alec do whatever, all the while giving soft or firm touches with his own magic. The only time he did anything that might be construed as 'stopping' Alec, it was only to carefully contain him so that his magic couldn't go anywhere beyond them.
Alec wasn't sure he'd ever been around someone who was so okay with letting him just explore and be who he wanted to be. Whether that was with this magic, or in any other aspect. Magnus never seemed to try to contain him in any way. He didn't argue with him or try to push Alec to act or be a certain way. He just... he let Alec be Alec, and for some reason or another, he seemed to like him that way.
Alec honestly wasn't sure what to make of that. Or of the man behind it.
If he was honest with himself, he knew he liked Magnus. Quite a lot. Probably more than he should, considering how little they actually knew one another. Then again... they were getting to know one another now, weren't they? Each time he came over, each conversation they had, and now their date...
A tiny part of him worried that it was the bond making him feel this way. But that part was drowned out by another. One that insisted that it wasn't like that, the warlocks all around him had reassured him the bond didn't work like that – and even if it did, it wasn't going to go away, was it? Why should he fight it? Why not enjoy what seemed to be the best thing to come out of the hellscape the two of them had lived through?
Alec’s magic gave a faint little buzz of agreement. One that had his lips curving into a soft smile.
When he eased himself out of bed a few moments later it was with a lightness that he hadn’t felt in, well, ever. Alec went through his morning routine and for once didn’t feel any sort of tension at being here. No worries about what he should or shouldn’t be feeling. No lingering anything. Just, an easy, happy feeling that he could feel echoing pleasantly through the bond, telling him that Magnus was awake as well and feeling just as relaxed.
Alec followed that feeling a few minutes later and let it lead him out of the bedroom and toward the main part of the loft. It was like a beacon inside of him that said this way, right over here. He let it draw him straight toward the one person he wanted to see.
He found Magnus standing out on the balcony overlooking the city. The weather outside looked like a cool one, yet Magnus didn’t seem to notice. He was in a pair of what looked to be blue silk pajama pants and nothing else.
For a second Alec stood there and let himself admire the view without any of the usual guilt or anything else to mar it. He let his eyes run over the length of his legs, up over the sharp cut of his hips that showed at the top of those pants, and the strong play of muscles across his back and shoulders. Far more muscle than one might expect when looking at him.
The way their bond heated a little let Alec know that Magnus was aware of being watched. Just as it let him know how much the other man was enjoying it.
Though Alec could feel the blush warming his cheeks, he didn’t try and run away. He gathered himself and went to join Magnus out on the surprisingly warm balcony. “Good morning.”
“Morning, darling.” Magnus twisted a little to smile at him as Alec came to join him.
A faint tingle in the air warned Alec of magic seconds before Magnus held a hand up toward him, offering him the coffee cup that had appeared there.
Alec couldn’t quite hold back the snort that broke free at the sight of the purple monstrosity of a cup. It was large, with a bigger handle that suited his grip better than most mugs did, and it looked like someone had thrown glitter at it in chunks and hoped for the best. “Thanks.”
“Consider yourself special,” Magnus warned him teasingly, curling both hands around his own mug once Alec took the other. His glamour-free eyes sparkled with good humor. “One of the children at the shelter made that for me. She worked very hard at it, and it’s very special to me.”
Alec’s smile grew a little more. “I’ll be gentle.” He lifted the mug to take a drink, surprised and pleased by the sweet flavor that hit his tongue. Apparently Magnus had taken note of how sweet Alec liked his drinks despite his best efforts to hide it.
The edges of Magnus’ smile turned a little bit wicked. “Oh, now, no need for that. Not all the time, at least.” He added a wink at the end that made his meaning more than clear. When Alec blushed again, brighter than ever, Magnus laughed.
He didn’t tease him anymore, though. Instead, he turned to look out over the city once more and sipped from his own coffee. It felt so easy and so natural for Alec to lean against the wall next to him. Their arms brushed together like this, and it felt natural. Easy.
For a little bit neither of them spoke. They just stayed there together enjoying their coffee and one another’s presence. It was surprisingly peaceful. Alec couldn’t remember a time he’d been able to take a nice, slow wake-up like this. Or that he’d been able to do it with someone other than himself.
When Magnus broke the silence a little later, about halfway through their cups, it didn’t feel weird or abrupt. It felt just as easy as everything else. “Any big plans for today?”
“Not really.” Alec shrugged one shoulder, brushing their arms together a little as he did. “I need to check in with mom today and see how things are going with Jocelyn, and with Clary.” As well as see what other sorts of things she might’ve picked up on while in Idris.
“Is she staying with her mother?” Magnus asked.
“For now. I don’t think it’ll last. She’s a freshly runed shadowhunter with zero training. They’re not going to let her just sit around and do nothing. Especially not with who her father is. They’re going to want to offer her some kind of training and work to make sure that she’s going to be loyal. With the legacy her parents left her, it won’t be easy.”
That was an understatement. The road Clary had ahead of her wouldn’t be the least bit easy. Something Alec had a bit of experience with, even if he hadn’t realized why back then. But, if this was what she wanted, something told him she’d find a way to make it. She seemed stubborn enough.
Magnus hummed a sound that could’ve been agreement or could’ve been just simple acknowledgement. “Where do you think they’ll send her?”
That was something Alec had been thinking on for a while now. Ever since Clary had followed after her mother and left his care, he’d been tossing things around in his head, trying to think and plan for the future. In the end only one option seemed likely. “Honestly? They’ll probably send her back to me.” His lips twisted a little in a faint grimace he couldn’t quite control. The idea of having Fray back in his Institute wasn’t a pleasant one. “She might’ve shown up while I was gone, but she came to my Institute and got her first runes there. She found sanctuary with us while we dealt with her mom. I get the feeling that means they’ll send her back to me after her mom’s trial is done and over with.”
“Any word on when that might be?”
“Not yet. That’s one of the things I’ll check on today.” Something told him the Clave wouldn’t sit long on Jocelyn’s trial. They were going to want to strike hard and fast and make an example of her. In these current times they couldn’t afford to look soft.
Thinking of Jocelyn and Clary and all he had to do there, and all the things connected to them, banished a little of the easy peace Alec had found here. He could feel the heavy weight of all his responsibilities slowly settling on his shoulders once more. So much waited for him back at the Institute. Little of it was good.
Magnus pressed in against his arm, his magic brushing over Alec’s skin. When Alec turned to look at him, one brow up, the other man surprised him by ducking his head down just enough that he could sneak in and steal a kiss.
The only thing that saved a poor pedestrian down on the street from being covered in coffee – or brained by a mug – was the fact that Magnus was quick enough to send out a little wave of magic to catch it. Not that Alec even noticed right away. All his thoughts seemed to slip away with the first press of Magnus’ lips against his.
For a split second Alec froze, and then, without even thinking about it, everything in him melted. He sank against the wall and into the kiss with a soft sigh that Magnus took full advantage of by deepening their kiss even more, teasing over Alec’s lips with his tongue.
By the time he pulled back, Alec’s mind was wonderfully, blessedly empty of everything except Magnus.
He blinked his eyes open and found himself caught once more by the warmth of Magnus’ unglamoured eyes. His face was only a few inches from Alec’s and he was watching him with a look of so much affection it took his breath away. “There,” Magnus murmured. He brought a free hand up to brush his knuckle softly over Alec’s cheek. “That’s a much better look for you. A face as beautiful as yours shouldn’t look so stressed.”
Color flooded Alec’s cheeks. He’d barely – this was something that was still so new to him, even the idea of something like this. He had no defenses against the other man when he pulled out lines like that. “Magnus.” Alec wasn’t sure what the hell else to say. The only thing that came to mind was the other man’s name, and nothing more.
Not that it seemed to matter to Magnus at all. He smiled like Alec had said the sweetest words and then leaned in to press a soft kiss against the corner of his mouth. “It’ll get figured out, darling.”
The soft certainty in his voice was something Alec would carry with him for the rest of the day. It was the first time he could honestly remember someone expressing so much faith and confidence in him.
Alec was scheduled to meet with Maryse later that afternoon, so after breakfast – and a few more kisses – he had to finally give in and head back to work. He let himself linger in the loft for just a few extra moments, taking advantage of the chance to spend a few minutes with Magnus. But eventually he couldn't put it off any longer. With one last kiss, and the ward in place around his magic, Alec stepped out of a portal onto the front steps of the Institute.
The man that stepped through the portal and the one that walked through the front doors of the Institute were two entirely different people. Gone was the softness that Magnus seemed so skilled at bringing out in him. In its place was the strength and firmness of the leader he’d been trained to be.
Benji met him as soon has he came in through the front doors. With his ever present tablet in hand, he’d clearly been waiting for Alec to show, and he greeted him with a smile. “Morning, sir.”
“Morning, Benji. How’re things going here?”
“Well enough,” Benji answered easily. He ran through the night’s reports while the two of them made their way to the Ops Center in a familiar morning routine. Alec always tried to walk his Institute at least once a day – usually first thing in the morning so he could check in everywhere. Especially if he’d been gone.
They dealt with patrol reports while in the Ops Center, interrupted only now and again by the few others there that he spoke with. Only one injury had been reported, meaning no stops to the infirmary. A quick check-in with Andrew let him know that everywhere there had gone well, too.
By the time they made it to Alec’s office, Benji had moved on to preparing him for his day.
“You’ve got two meetings this morning – one at nine and another at eleven,” Benji told him, sliding into the office after Alec and shutting the door behind him. “The first one is your check-in with the Inquisitor, and the other is with Rowan.”
The first meeting had Alec grimacing. He wasn’t fond of these check-ins with the Inquisitor, but if that was really all they were pushing for right now he’d count himself lucky and deal with it. He’d deal with a lot if it meant keeping his Institute.
The second meeting would be a lot easier. Rowan Lightfleur was the Seneschal of the New York Institute. He was the one in charge of so many different things they couldn’t live without. He worked with the financial department to make sure they all got paid, and paid the correct amount. Any lodging arrangements were done through him – assigning rooms to new shadowhunters or switching them as need be – and he was in charge of all the support staff.
Though some might not agree, Alec had always believed the Seneschal was one of the most important people in the entire Institute. The man also had the ability to make just about anyone’s life a living nightmare in countless tiny ways no one would be able to directly accuse him of. Staying on his good side was a smart plan.
“After that you’ve got a brief break before your check-in with Maryse this afternoon at one,” Benji went on, following toward the desk while Alec went around to take his seat. “From there, you don't have any appointments scheduled until the patrol briefing right before sunset. There are some papers that need your signature, though...”
Alec rolled his eyes. “Aren't there always?”
He looked up in just enough time to see Benji flash him a wide grin. “Pretty much. I've organized them, at least, so the most important ones are at the top, and I've flagged your emails so you know what to go over first.”
“You're a blessing from Raziel himself,” Alec said gratefully. He had no idea how he'd run this place if it weren't for Benji and his organizational skills.
The grin Benji sent his way was warm and easy. “If you say so, sir.”
Alec shook his head wryly at that, but he let it go without comment. He settled in at his desk and set to work.
Holding on to the good feeling the morning had created in him proved difficult as the day went on. The meeting with Imogen left Alec annoyed, the same as always. The one with Rowan was a lot easier. They went through all the recent changes, discussed any upcoming ones they were aware of, and worked through a few Institute issues that the support staff had brought to him. By the time Alec broke for lunch, he'd even managed to get a little paperwork done.
Finding a text from Magnus 'just checking in' on his lunch helped him extend that good mood. For the first time in a long time, Alec found himself taking a proper lunch break. He actually sat at his desk and ate some food without doing paperwork at the same time. Instead, he used one hand to eat his food and the other to text back and forth with Magnus, who was seemingly up and attending a boring meeting with a few other warlocks to discuss current events.
Alec had no sympathy for the other man. He found humor in Magnus' gripes, right up until the moment Magnus sent him a message saying:
Laugh all you want, Alexander. Just wait till it's your turn.
That reminder was enough to wipe the smile off Alec’s face. He’d… not forgotten but just sort of, pushed aside the thought of meeting with the Elders of the Spiral Labyrinth. So far they’d mostly been able to focus on the Clave and Valentine and all of that. Magnus had been the one to deal with the Spiral Labyrinth. Meaning, Alec could mostly forget what Magnus had told him early on – that they’d have to meet together at some point. Not just because of their marriage, either, but because of him.
Before Alec could fall down that particular rabbit hole, which he’d done his level best to avoid so far, another text from Magnus came in. Only this one seemed to be made up entirely of knife emojis, a crying something – was that a cow?? – lying on the ground, a few angry faces, a devil face, another couple knife emojis followed by what looked to be either fireworks or some sort of magic.
Alec blinked down at his phone a few times as he tried to parse through whatever the hell that all meant. In the end he gave up even trying to figure it out and he chalked it up to Magnus being Magnus.
He didn’t get a chance to worry about any sort of response. A knock sounded on his door a second later, and Alec was left once more to turn his attention away from pretty warlocks he had no idea how to deal with and back to the familiarity of his Institute and all its issues.
While Alec was busy dealing with his meetings and running slightly off the high of his first date, Magnus wasn’t faring quite so well in his own meetings.
Any meeting at the Spiral Labyrinth had the potential to run overlong and often devolve into some sort of fight. That was just the risk taken when bringing so many personalities into one space – especially ones as long lived as warlocks could be. Grudges weren’t a matter of a few paltry years here. They could span centuries. During which plenty of animosity and bitterness could build up.
Things were easier when it was only the elders of the Shadow Council meeting together. They weren’t immune to arguments and pettiness, of course, but they’d all earned their title as ‘Elder’ for a reason. They had the ability to put aside most of those grudges for the greater good.
But it wasn’t just the Elders meeting together at the moment. No, the topic of Valentine was a bit more widespread than just them, meaning that a lot of these meetings involved a bunch of High Warlocks as well. Many of whom were far less willing to put aside their differences when they came together this way. Meaning that any meeting of more than five High Warlocks ran the risk of devolving into an argument.
Currently, there were fifteen of them packed into this meeting room.
Hence the reason Magnus had spent a good chunk of the meeting texting various people. Ragnor, Catarina, Alec. Even Raphael got a few, though Magnus knew the man would be in bed at the moment. Hell, Ragnor was right next to him and Magnus still sent him texts he knew would amuse him later and aggravate him now with each buzz of his pocket.
The texts he’d sent to Alec had been part to entertain himself, part to keep Alec a little distracted. But mostly they’d been a way to keep him from losing his mind and his patience when it came to dealing with a room full of idiots who, for some reason or another, seemed to think his personal life mattered more than the literal war they were all currently fighting.
They’d spent barely any time at all checking in about new on Valentine. Though, that mostly had something to do with the fact that they had no real new information.
The topic had quickly switched after that to Alexander.
Orion, the High Warlock of Atlanta and an all-around pain in the ass, was the one to lead the subject. “How is his training coming along?” he demanded. The words were clearly a demand, too, not a request. Dark eyebrows drawn down, he glared at Magnus as if already anticipating something he wasn’t going to like. Though, to be fair, he tended to look at everything that way.
Reclining back in his seat, Magnus met his glare with a look of amusement. He let Ragnor field that question.
“Seeing as how we’ve barely started, I’d say he’s coming along well,” Ragnor said, his voice drier than the desert. Ragnor wasn’t one to suffer fools lightly. “I feel safe in saying that he’s not liable to accidentally blow up the city or set everyone on fire if they irritate him. Which is good, considering the general populace as a rule seems to irritate him.”
An amused sound off to the left had Magnus looking down toward one of the few High Warlocks in here he actually got along with. Amaryllis Frost, the High Warlock of Seattle, had a wide grin on her face as she looked over at Ragnor. “You two must get along fantastically,” she said, her humor curling through the lighter sounds of old Paris that still clung to her words.
Ragnor huffed and rolled his eyes, which for him was a compliment, considering he didn't follow it up with any sharp words. He and Amaryllis got along rather well most of the time. Most people liked her, really. She was a bright, easy-going woman with a light sense of humor and a sweet sort of grace that charmed all those around her.
It also helped that she wasn’t stupid, no matter what people thought when they looked at her. Most people saw a tall, leggy redhead who could easily make her way to the cover of any magazine out there, and they still made that stupid assumption that her looks were all she was good for. Magnus knew she kind of liked it like that. It made it easier for her to smile sweetly at them while coming out on top of whatever she put her mind toward.
The warlock sitting next to her, however, was more than a little stupid, at least in Magnus’ opinion – one he only further proved a moment later as he leaned back and sneered at her a little. “So what you’re saying is we have to worry about him doing it on purpose instead of on accident?” Allard asked, his lip curled up and a crinkle between his brows. With the thin, sharp lines of his face and the bit of dark hair that hung down, it made him look like a particularly pissed off bird of some sort.
It took a lot of effort for Magnus not to grin at that mental comparison. The small glare Ragnor sent his way made it clear he knew that, too. Then again, he’d heard Magnus’ complaints about the others enough times to no doubt guess what he was thinking about.
“Isn't that the same worry we have with any of us?” asked Gabriel, the High Warlock of Los Angeles. The man grinned and held out his hands on either side of him in a sort of what can you do gesture. Out of all of them here, he was the most relaxed while simultaneously the very last one any of them wanted to piss off. “I mean, we're all capable of blowing shit up or causing trouble. Some more than others...” He paused there to throw a wink Magnus' way. “But we've all got the potential.”
“Yes, but none of us are shadowhunters,” Eiran said sharply. They were normally one of the more coolheaded warlocks in these meetings, but when it came to shadowhunters they had a tendency to be a bit tense. Considering their history with them, Magnus couldn’t blame them.
Gabriel didn’t seem the least bit bothered by it, though. He lifted a hand and waved it Eiran’s way. “You say that like shadowhunters corner the market on being dicks. I mean, sure, they’ve got a higher dick-to-human ratio, but like, that doesn’t mean we’re exempt.”
A few annoyed voices rose up around the room. One of them, Orion’s, rose up above the others. “You’re telling me you’re not the least bit worried about this? That a fucking Lightwood has the ability to incinerate us all if we piss him off enough?”
Lavinia scoffed at them. “If we haven’t incinerated you for pissing us off yet, I really don’t think you’ve got anything to worry about with Lightwood,” she said dryly.
The whole thing devolved once more into the same argument they’d had three separate times now since Magnus had first made his reports about Alec and their bond. Every time they got together to talk about things it all fell apart until they were back to this. Arguing about what Alec might do, what might happen, was he trained yet, was he going to go on some sort of murder spree.
“You know,” Gabriel interjected, his voice rising above them all for a moment, cutting through the noise. “You’re all so worried about threats, but you’re missing the most obvious one. An it’s pretty fucking stupid of you.”
A few scowls and a couple grumbles went around the table. Magnus, on the other hand, grinned. He loved when Gabriel was able to make it to these meetings. The man was loud, blunt, crass, and openly proclaimed himself as kind of an asshole, but he also had the best sense of humor, and a way of cutting through all the bullshit.
“What do you mean?” asked Odessa, the High Warlock of Naples. She got along with most of them, but the history between her and Gabriel wasn’t a pleasant one and it made her prone to arguing anything he had to say.
Gabriel beamed at her and sat back in his chair like he didn't have a care in the world. “You guys keep insulting the kid and I’m pretty sure it won’t be him you’ll have to worry about.”
All eyes in the room turned toward Magnus. He didn’t say a word – just sat there in his chair and met their stares with a smile that was all fake-innocence in a way that he’d found was almost as threatening as an outright glower, if not more so.
More than a few ended up quickly looking away.
Beside him, Ragnor gave a low “Good lord” that Magnus swore he could hear the eye-roll in.
“Right,” Eline de Meer’s voice echoed through the room, drawing everyone’s attention away from Magnus. She sat up straight in her chair, her face giving away none of the amusement Magnus knew she was feeling. “If that’s all, I do think it be time for us to adjourn. Elder Bane, stay here, if it pleases you.”
That gentle ending was all it took to send everyone off in their own directions. While Eline might be nice, she was another who had no patience for fools or idiots, and she wasn’t afraid of putting someone in their place.
Ragnor gave Magnus a curious look, brow lifted in silent question. Only when Magnus gave a small shake of his head did he rise and leave. “I’ll see you at the loft tonight,” he said. Furrowing his brow, he pointed a finger down at Magnus. “Make sure your husband is there. And not distracted.”
“I’ll make sure he’s there if at all possible, but I make no promises on his level of distraction,” Magnus shot back cheekily.
It got him a sigh and a roll of Ragnor’s eyes. Which was a win in his books.
Eventually, the room emptied out all except for Magnus and Eline. The distance between them was a whole lot more noticeable without anyone else in the room. There were quite a few chairs between her and him. Yet she didn’t rise to come over and close the distance, and neither did he. They both stayed where they were, staring at one another.
Finally, it was Eline who broke the silence. Her head tilted a little to the side, a single brow arching as she watched him. “The rest of the Council do be starting to get restless,” she said. Her tone wasn’t cold, though it wasn't warm, either. “You've put off bringing your husband in for weeks now.”
He wasn't surprised by the topic at hand. Magnus had no doubt all the other Elders had been talking together about this. About him. There were a few on the Council he got along with, some he respected more than others. He'd thought for sure they'd send Nikola or Gabriel to talk to him. But it made sense that they'd chosen Eline. She was someone that Magnus might not call friend, but she was definitely someone he respected.
“Bringing a shadowhunter into the heart of the Spiral doesn't seem like something to be taken lightly,” Magnus said. He'd been thinking about it plenty. Ever since the first moment when he realized what had happened to them. He'd been a bit more scared then. Unsure about Alec and their bond and what might happen if he brought the other man here. He'd worried about whether or not he'd misjudged Alec, if he was going to finally do something to prove to Magnus that he was just like any other shadowhunter out there.
Then time went on, and Magnus had realized that, no, he hadn't been wrong. Not in that sense, at least. Alec far surpassed any hopes he might've harbored for the man. And with that realization, Magnus' worries shifted. Now he worried less about what Alec might do if brought here, and more about what others might do to him.
“You can't keep him hidden forever,” Eline pointed out quietly. “Sooner or later he'll be needing to come here. We do be his people now, just as much as the shadowhunters. Keeping him away don't do him any favors.”
Magnus fought back a grimace. She wasn't wrong. But it wasn't that simple, either. “He's just barely starting to accept this part of himself, Eline. I don’t want to risk pushing too much on him too quickly. Right now, he’s working on accepting himself the same way any of us have had to do, with a few extra hurdles in the way. Give him time to figure it out. He knows he’ll have to come see you guys eventually.”
Pushing him to do it, though, might set Alec back quite a ways. Something Magnus wanted desperately to avoid.
Though Eline didn’t look happy about it, she nodded at him nonetheless, and Magnus let go of the breath he hadn’t realized he’d been holding. If she’d wanted to, she could’ve pushed it. The fact that Magnus was also on the Council didn’t mean that he couldn’t be commanded by them. Not for something as important as this.
With that settled, Eline let out a heavy breath and sent him a quick smile that looked tired more than anything else. She sat up and then rose fluidly to her feet. “Let us know when you do be ready,” she said as she began to walk toward the door. “Just, don't take too long, Magnus. People do need a chance to get to know him before they build up any more stories about him in their heads.”
Magnus sighed quietly as she left. Much as he didn't like it, she had a point. Giving Alec time to settle into his own skin would also give all the other warlocks time to further build their preconceived notions about the type of person Alec was. Magnus needed to find some sort of balance between them.
Otherwise, they ran the risk of everything blowing up in their faces when they finally did bring him.
Chapter Text
As much as the two men might’ve wanted to take the time to settle into this new dynamic slowly building between them, and all the other wonderful things that came with it, they were both quickly reminded that the world wasn’t exactly going to wait around for them. The fact that things had been so calm for so long was honestly far stranger than the sudden dive back into war.
Everything seemed to start to happen at once. Downworlders went missing while others were dumped in Central Park in a brazen display of you can’t stop me, look what I did that rocked through the Downworld. At the same time, demonic activity spiked to a terrifying degree worldwide. Meaning that any help Alec might’ve tried to call out for his city was just as busy as he was.
The future dates that Alec had been quietly hoping for became quick breakfasts at the loft, maybe the occasional dinner, and then magic training and distress calls and demon sightings. Alec saw more of Ragnor over the next week than he did his own husband.
Hell, he saw more Clary than he did Magnus.
The presence of Clary in his Institute wasn’t exactly one Alec was happy about. But it wasn’t one he could protest, either. Not with everything going on. He’d sent a request to the Clave for help, same as every other Institute out there dealing with the influx of demons, and they’d responded in a way that went against everything Alec believed in.
When he got the command, he was damn lucky he was still at the loft. As good as the wards were that Magnus put around him each day, Ragnor had been warning that they might not work as well the more control Alec learned. They were the type of wards meant to contain the power of children, after all, not an adult with training under their belt. And if there were anything that might test them, the absolute rage that washed over Alec as he read the urgent email that pinged his phone would’ve been enough to do it.
As it was, the only thing that saved them from things exploding was Magnus’ quick reaction time. He went from calmly sipping his tea to a sharp “Woah!” in an instant. His magic flared out even faster, reaching out to cut off Alec’s at the pass.
Even still, Alec swore he heard a few things nearby tinkle as they landed in broken pieces on the ground.
Any other time and he would’ve felt horrible about it. As it was, all he could do was sit there and stare at his phone. This had to be wrong. It had to be. There was no way in hell the Clave would do this!
Wouldn’t they? a voice in the back of his mind whispered. One that had been getting louder and louder these past few weeks. This isn’t exactly anything new. It’s not like they’ve ever really cared before, have they?
Pain and rage swirled through Alec, so thick and black that it had his magic beating at the edges of his control. All it would take was one push – one snap of his magic – and he could lay waste to the entire room around him.
Luckily, there was someone here who would never let that happen.
The feel of a warm hand curling around his wrist snapped Alec's attention up from his phone. Alec looked up, only to find himself blinking in surprise as Magnus smoothly moved right into the gap between Alec's phone and his body. The fact that he had the space to smoothly slip in and straddle Alec's lap brought his attention to the fact that he'd somehow ended up pulled away from the table. Then Alec couldn't focus on anything but Magnus' face right there in front of him.
“There we are,” Magnus said as soon as Alec locked eyes with him. “Focus right here for me, Alexander. We’re going to take some deep breaths together. Can you do that for me?”
Breathe. He could do that. He could.
The sound of a portal opening nearby almost had Alec spinning, only Magnus shifted himself in even closer and grabbed hold of his other wrist, pinning both his hands to Magnus’ knees. “No, don’t focus there. That’s just Ragnor reacting to the wards. Focus here on me, husband-mine. Right here.” He waited for Alec’s eyes to find his unglmaoured ones before nodding. “That’s it. Now – deep breath in through your nose for one, two, three, four, and hold for one, two, three, four, five, six seven. Now blow it out for one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight. That’s it. Now, again. In for one…”
Bit by bit Alec let himself get slowly coaxed down from an anger that – with a clearer mind – he could see had been a bit much, sighing as he felt Magnus slip the familiar warding carefully around his skin, cutting off his magic from lashing out anymore the calmer he got. Once he no longer felt like he was going to start shouting or panicking, Alec couldn’t help the mental what the hell. While he might have a temper on him, it’d never been anything like that. It’d never consumed him so quickly and so easily before. Though just thinking about what had set him off was enough to send his temper spiking once more. It took another few rounds of breathing before he finally got a lid on it.
“Sorry,” he mumbled, embarrassment kicking in just a little now that the rage had retreated far enough for him to feel anything else.
Magnus murmured a shushing sound, leaning in toward Alec at the same time that Alec tipped his head in. It ended with Alec’s forehead against Magnus’ collarbone, and Magnus’ lips pressed against his hair. “You’re all right, darling,” he said softly.
“It’s to be expected,” Ragnor said, speaking up for the first time since he’d arrived. His footsteps let Alec know that he was finally making his way over to them instead of lingering on the sidelines. “Hence why we had the wards up here. Magic, especially such young magic as yours, can magnify emotions. So far the warding Magnus puts on you has kept it tampered down while you’re outside the loft. With it off here, your magic and your emotions both are free to express themselves. Albeit it a little… violently.”
Alec couldn’t help his wince at that. Before he could apologize again, Magnus shushed him, murmuring more soft words against his hair. He pressed a kiss there that left Alec feeling warm in both body and magic. The gentle stroke of his thumbs over Alec’s wrists brought his focus to the fact that Magnus still had his wrists pinned down. A good idea, he realized a second later, when Magnus quietly asked him “Can you tell us what happened, sayang?”
Though his body clenched up, and his magic seethed, the press of Magnus’ hands against his wrists and the feel of his magic wrapped all around Alec’s own were apparently enough to keep his temper in check. At least enough that his magic didn’t try lashing out again, and he could think clearly beyond it. Enough to see why the Clave was doing what they were doing even if he didn’t agree with it – and enough to start trying to think of ways around it.
Alec had to focus on the feel of Magnus’ thumbs brushing over his skin, the hard press of his rings, to ground himself in the moment. “I reached out to the Clave about the influx of demons,” he said slowly. He stared at Magnus’ shirt in front of him, not bothering to lift his forehead from the hard press of Magnus’ collarbone. If anything, he pushed in a little more, needing the pressure, the feedback. It made it a little easier to keep speaking. “Since this is happening worldwide, our reserve of spare shadowhunters is running low. The threat to the world right now is too strong for them to do nothing, though. Or we run the risk of being overrun.”
He heard a faint sigh from the sidelines. “They’re dipping into the recruits, aren’t they?” Ragnor asked. His tone of voice made it clear he already knew the answer.
Alec’s magic seethed furiously under his skin. If only it were that simple. “Yes. And temporarily lowering the age restrictions for field patrols. By two years.”
Though it was clear Magnus didn’t understand – his slight tension made that clear – the sharp sound from next to them made it equally clear that Ragnor did. “Please tell me they’ve raised the age restrictions sometime since I left the Academy,” the other man demanded sharply.
Alec’s silence was answer enough.
To his surprise, Ragnor let out a string of French curses.
The grip on Alec’s wrists shifted a little, and their bond pumped through worry even as Magnus tried to continue offering comfort. “I almost don’t want to ask.”
Drawing in a deep breath, Alec fought to tamp down on his magic as he blew that breath back out and watched it ruffle against Magnus’ shirt. “Legally, a recruit is allowed to begin their first field missions at the age of thirteen under direct supervision of two senior field agents. They maintain that ratio through their training until they’re sixteen, at which point they need only one senior field agent with them for the next year. By seventeen, they can achieve full shadowhunter status and start attending regular, unsupervised patrols.”
At least, that was the way it was in any other Institute. Alec tended to try and do things a little differently in his. But there was only so much he could hold his people back from.
The bond in his chest went startlingly blank for a moment. Enough that it drew Alec’s focus away from his own feelings and towards the ones of the man in his lap. “They want you to send out… eleven-year-olds. To fight demons.” Magnus said the words slowly, as if that would make them make more sense. When Alec just looked up at him, his own chest aching at the idea, he felt the jolt race through their bond. One that echoed his own fury.
“I have twenty-seven recruits in my Institute right now,” Alec said, the anger and worry he felt heavy in each and every word. “Only eight of them are under eleven.” How the hell was he going to keep nineteen kids out of the field? Some of them, sure, he wasn’t going to be able to get around sending out. And some of them he wouldn’t worry about as much as the others. They were close enough in age for him to feel at least a little okay with it. But the rest?
His stomach rolled just thinking about it. There had to be something he could do, some sort of plan he could come up with in the next ten hours before they had to start preparing for evening patrols once more.
Magnus took a deep breath, drawing back ever so slightly as he did. The movement caused Alec to tip his head back a little more so that he could look up at the other man. The anger he could so clearly feel in their bond was present in the sharp snap of magic in Magnus' eyes. With it came something Alec wasn't quite sure of. Disgust, maybe. Disappointment. Both of which had Alec wanting to curl in on himself a little even as he squared his shoulders and lifted his chin. The look Magnus wore was so similar to the one he'd worn when they first met – back when his disgust with shadowhunters in general had been so blatantly clear.
“Just when I begin to think that things might be changing, somehow your people find a way to make my opinions of them so much worse,” Magnus said flatly.
Alec did his level best not to flinch. He couldn't exactly say Magnus was wrong. He knew how awful his people were capable of being. But he didn't think he could listen to the vitriol in Magnus' tone as he spoke about his people while the man sat here on his lap. Slowly, deliberately, he twisted his hands slightly in Magnus' grip to break them free. After a second, Magnus let him, though his eyes darted back down toward Alec's face.
“I need to get back to my Institute and handle this,” Alec said. After a moment's pause, he shifted his hands over to Magnus’ hips and carefully lifted. It only took a second for Magnus to get what he wanted and start to push up to his feet, giving Alec some space to rise as well.
“What are you going to do?”
The sharp edge to Magnus' words cut. Though it was nowhere near as sharp as the emotions Alec picked up in the bond. He carefully tugged on his end, wrapping it up and blocking things as best he could the way he'd learned to do with Jace when they were both feeling things too strong. It made his voice noticeably cooler when he spoke. “I'm going to take care of my people.”
Though there was a part of him that wanted to stay and talk this out – it wasn't like he had many people in his life he could be truly honest with like this, and Magnus was rapidly becoming one of them – Alec knew he had other things that had to come first. Besides which, there was a part of him that didn't want to stick around and hear whatever it was Magnus might have to say. Whatever judgements he might pass on not just Alec's people but Alec himself. He wasn't sure if he could take hearing whatever words might go with the suspicion he could read all over the other man's face.
Help came from a surprising corner. “Here,” Ragnor said, and with a few gestures he summoned a portal just a few feet away. The look he gave Alec was surprisingly understanding.
Much as Alec wanted to look back at Magnus, to maybe reach out and take some of the comfort that had been there just a moment ago, their bond still felt so very sharp and tight even with the way Alec was blocking it. It was a reminder of the suspicion that had once existed between them, one that he’d thought they were finally starting to lose after everything, and feeling it again left his stomach twisting.
Without another word to either man with him, Alec turned and walked through the portal.
He’d handle Magnus and whatever that was later. For now, he had an Institute to take care of and plans to make.
The silence in the loft felt heavy. Leftover traces of Alec’s magic still lingered in the air and against the wards, slowly dissipating. Magnus could feel it crackling against his skin like embers of a dying fire, sparking and popping as it faded away. He wasn’t sure what made him want to flinch more – feeling it, feeling the echoes of Alec’s rage and pain, or seeing the sharp look on his best friend’s face as the last of the portal glow faded away.
“Well,” Ragnor said dryly. “That was a mess.”
Magnus couldn’t hold back his flinch that time. Though he quickly tried to cover it up. “At least we know the warding worked.”
With a sigh, Ragnor turned toward him. Even though it was clear he wasn’t happy, his expression still held a healthy dose of sympathy to it. Too much sympathy. That was the thing about his best friend, he had a tendency to know him a little too well. Which meant that a single look and he could probably already guess what Magnus was thinking, and what the look on his face might mean. “Alec isn't his people,” Ragnor said bluntly, albeit kinder than he would’ve done for anyone else. “You can't blame him for what they do any more than he can blame you for what your father does.”
“I don't follow my father's orders,” Magnus snapped back defensively.
Ragnor shot him a look that was so full of pity, yet he didn't let that pity temper his words. He never had. His “Not anymore” wasn't shy or hesitant, though it wasn't as sharp as it could've been. He didn't give Magnus time to respond to it, either, though there was already a scathing reply on Magnus' lips. “You of all people know better than to think it's a matter of simply disobeying orders. Especially with the situation he's currently in. Just like you had to bide your time until you could get free, Alec has to bide his time as well. He can't just blatantly disobey the Clave and hope for the best. Not unless he wishes to end up in the Gard. Which you know they're aching to find an excuse to do. Once they get him there, how long do you actually think he’d survive?”
The reminder of what could happen to Alec if he stepped out of line too far had Magnus' stomach twisting. He'd seen firsthand what the Clave did to those who went against them. He knew the sorts of things they were capable of doing. The idea of Alec being subjected to any of that made him sick.
He'd known from the start that this was going to be hard. It was one of the things he'd weighed in his head as he'd thought about him and Alec and their future. Not just as husbands, but as bonded. Hell, as friends. Alec seemed so ready to try and change the system, yes, but at the start Magnus hadn't been sure whether that was solely for his own benefit – an attempt to make things safer for himself – or if it were as honest and altruistic as it seemed.
Either way, Magnus had seen the countless ways that Alec cared about his people, about everyone. He'd watched him do his best to start changing a system not built for someone like him. One that hated anything different. And he'd known it would be an uphill battle. Groups like the Clave didn't change overnight. They didn't simply give up absolute power – not without some sort of revolution. Which meant that, if Alec wanted to make any sort of change he had to straddle the line between progressive and obedient. He had to work within their systems. It was the best way he could gradually start some real change. Changes that would be for the better.
But... to stand idly by as they were ordered to send children, eleven-year-old children, out to fight in their war...
Magnus couldn't do it.
“I need to go,” Magnus said abruptly. He turned toward the door, only to be stopped by Ragnor's hand on his arm.
Something dark passed through Ragnor’s eyes. “Don't do something you'll regret.”
The warning in that was clear, yet Magnus couldn’t bring himself to listen. Not in something like this – not when there was something he could do about it. “I can't just sit here and do nothing.”
“And I'm not asking you to.” Ragnor's grip tightened. “But I am asking you to think this through before you do anything rash. You're not the only one with something to lose here, Magnus.”
The reminder had Magnus' shoulders slumping. He knew what Ragnor meant. He knew what was at stake here. But he couldn't just sit back and watch as they sent kids out to fight. “There has to be something we can do. I won't let children die, my darling cabbage. Not if it's within my power to prevent.”
He just hoped that, at the end of this, the cost of their lives wouldn't end up being everything.
Chapter 22
Notes:
Here's a second update today, and a long one, to make up for how long it's been. Enjoy?
Chapter Text
It took a lot of effort for Alec to push aside the emotions he was feeling and focus on what he needed to do. He didn’t have the luxury of letting himself fall apart right now. There were too many people relying on him. Too many who were counting on him to keep them safe. That was his job. His responsibility. One that he took seriously.
By the time he made it to his office, Alec had managed to shove most of his feelings down deep enough that he could function again. He had no idea how long it would last, but for now it was enough. (It had to be enough, there was no other choice)
As soon as he stepped into his office, he found himself greeted by a very worried-looking Benji who clearly already knew what was going on. Alec didn't give the man time to start voicing any of his concerns. As soon as he saw him, he started speaking, preparing himself for the only plan he'd been able to come up with in a short time. “I need you to gather together all the department heads for me, Benji. I want everyone in the Council room in two hours, no excuses.”
“Of course, sir,” Benji said immediately.
Alec nodded and headed toward his chair. “Once you’ve sent that out, have Rowan come meet me here with personnel files, as well as the information on who’s coming in. We’re going to have a group of shadowhunters arriving soon and I want to make sure we’ve got the space for them. I’ll also need to see a list of all the trainees of all ages…”
The more Alec spoke, the straighter Benji stood. Whatever nerves he’d shown before Alec had come in seemed to wash away under the steady calm of Alec’s voice as he handed out order after order.
As his parents had taught him, people were always calmer when the person in command was calm and in control. So long as he made it seem like he had a plan, one that he was confident in, his people would be confident in it as well.
He could do that. He could keep calm for his people.
Once Benji was off with his orders, Alec gave himself just a few minutes to pause and breathe. To let the walls he held around himself crack a little. He closed his eyes and sank down into his chair and tried to breathe as he’d done while Magnus was on his lap. The ache he felt in his chest, and in their bond, didn’t help, but little by little he managed to drag his control back over himself.
This wasn’t right, and it wasn’t fair. What the Clave was doing, what he had to do, the argument he’d left behind with Magnus – none of it was okay. But he couldn't change it. Not yet. Not unless he wanted to risk everything.
So he'd bide his time. He'd play the game. And he'd keep his people safe no matter the cost.
It was all he could do.
By the time Rowan showed up, Alec had managed to center himself enough to finally focus on what he needed to do. He was ready when the Seneschal brought his tablet and files and notebooks in and set them down on his desk, clearly ready to settle in for the long haul. Together, the two spent a good hour going through each and every underage personnel trying to figure out the best plan for each and every one of them, as well as planning for all the ones the Clave was sending over.
It wasn’t easy to find just the right place for everyone. But then again, he hadn't expected it to be.
By the time Alec finally made it to the meeting with his department heads, he felt like he had a plan at least. One that he hoped would work.
His department heads were already waiting for him when he walked into the Council Room. He could tell by the way they all straightened up as he walked in that they knew something was up. The fact that they'd all been called here without any explanation probably had them all worried. Very rarely did Alec call any sort of mass meeting like this. That he was doing so in the middle of a demon influx, when word was already spreading about what the Clave might do, had them all on edge.
Alec walked right up to the edge of the table in one of the few empty spots and he set his tablet down, with the pad of paper right after it. “Thanks for coming on such short notice,” he told them all. His eyes went from person to person, taking them all in even as he stood there, one hand resting on the back of his chair. “I know things are chaos right now, and I know you’ve all got things to do. But I wouldn’t have called for you all if it wasn’t important.”
“What’s going on, Commander?” asked Alicia Kingsgem, the head of their technical department. It was her job to keep all the technology in their Institute up and running, and it was a job she took very seriously.
Every eye looked up toward Alec as he stood straight behind his chair. He clenched one hand down on the back of it, the only outward sign of his stress, and he forced his magic as calm as he could make it in his chest. In an even voice, he bluntly told them “The Clave sent out an email this morning in response to our pleas. They’re going to lower the age for recruits to enter the field by two years to help fill in the gaps as we fight this demonic influx.”
Silence fell over the room. Alec could see the stunned horror on all their faces; one that reflected what he’d felt when he’d first read the news. But it was quickly washed away under anger and panic.
Before those could take root, Alec pulled his chair out and sank down into it. Then he lifted his hands and turned on his tablet with one hand, and adjusted his notebook before grabbing a pen with his other. “I’ve got a few ideas on how we can better put these kids to use, so that we can free up more senior shadowhunters to send out into the field. But it’s going to take some rearranging. Benji’s got tablets for everyone…” He nodded to Benji, who was already moving to pass them around. “…if all of you can sign in, we’ll see about getting everything arranged and the new roster issued before dinner rolls around.”
It took a few minutes for everyone to get settled and logged into their tablets. The whole time, Alec kept his eyes on them, watching their reactions. He could feel the worry in the bond in his chest, but he pushed it aside. Now wasn't the time to be thinking about Magnus or how he was feeling. Right now, Alec had to focus on his people.
“Are we ready?” he asked, once everyone had their tablets. At the round of nods he received, Alec nodded as well. “Good. Let's start with the kitchen staff...”
The meeting lasted almost four hours. It was long enough that Alec had to order in lunch for everyone. By the time it was done, Alec felt like he'd gone ten rounds with a demon. His head was pounding, his magic was thrumming under his skin, and he was pretty sure if he didn't get the chance to hit something and work out some of his simmering aggression, he'd end up snapping at someone.
But, he'd gotten it all done.
The new rosters were issued, the new schedules were made, and Alec had managed to get a good portion of the younger kids out of the field. They weren't all out – there was only so much he could do without raising suspicion – but he'd managed to get the youngest kids on Institute duty in a variety of ways. Anywhere there was a position that they could help in, they'd swapped the children out for someone else. It meant sending people out into the field who might not otherwise be out there. Some of their older veterans, some who preferred not to fight if they didn't have to, and some who hadn't been in the field in years for one reason or another. But, not a single child under thirteen would be out in the field.
A few of the thirteen-year-olds would be, unfortunately, and Alec hated it. He hated it. But he'd paired them up as best he could the same way he always did and prayed to the angel that he wouldn't regret it come morning.
Their plan might not work forever. Hell, it might not work beyond tonight. But that was a problem for the next day. For now, he'd focus on tonight.
It took Alec the rest of the afternoon and well toward sunset to get everything fully in place and all orders out. He barely had any time to think beyond what had to be done – a blessing in disguise. The very last thing he wanted was the freedom to stop and think about this morning at Magnus’ and the doubt the other man had clearly felt. Doubt in Alec.
He couldn't let himself focus on that. Not right now. Not when he had so much else going on.
By the time Alec made it back to his office, he felt like he was running on fumes. He wasn't sure how much longer he could keep going. He needed to sleep. Or eat. Or something. But there was still so much left to do. Nightfall was coming in one hour. He couldn't focus on everything else.
Of course, almost as soon as he had that thought he felt a swell of something in the bond – a sort of alert that told him that Magnus had gone from somewhere in the north/northeast direction to right here.
Alec was up and moving before he'd even thought about it. He let the tug of the bond pull him out of his office and down Head's Hall toward the Ops Center. He didn't find Magnus waiting there as he'd half expected. Instead, he didn't find his husband until he stepped out the front door of the Institute. There, he found Magnus standing on the front lawn speaking with Andrew. And he wasn't alone. Ten other people stood behind Magnus, some of them whispering to one another, and all of them looking curiously around.
It only took a glance at them for Alec to realize that these weren't random people. The hints of feathers and colors and claws that he glimpsed made it clear – these were warlocks. Ones who weren't even bothering to try and hide it as they stood in front of the New York Institute, a place that Alec hated to admit had likely been a cause for great fear for a majority of the Downworld population for far too long. This group didn't seem that stressed. If anything, they looked... ready. Almost like a group of shadowhunters about to set out on patrol. Amused, alert, and with an air of something that promised trouble in the blink of an eye if needed.
Magnus was the first one to notice him. His eyes snapped up toward Alec and he smiled. It was a small smile, one that didn't quite reach his eyes, but it was a smile nonetheless. “Alexander,” he said warmly. “I hope you don't mind me dropping in.”
“Of course not.” Alec shook his head and moved forward, his eyes darting from Magnus to the others and back again. He came to a stop right beside his husband. “Is everything okay?”
“Of course.” Magnus reached out and put a hand on Alec's arm. The touch was light, but it sent a jolt through Alec that had nothing to do with magic or bonds. It was all just Magnus. “After our talk this morning, I did a little thinking, and then I reached out to some friends of mine. When I explained the situation to them, well, they were more than happy to come lend a hand.” He paused, and then the corner of his mouth quirked up a little more, giving an edge to his smile that left Alec wanting to flinch. “That is, if you and your people don’t mind a little extra help tonight.”
There was an implication to those words that Alec hated. Not just because of the slight against him hiding under those words – his parents both had always been experts at hiding censure underneath the mildest of words, he’d learned how to pick it out a long time ago – but because Alec knew that Magnus wasn’t wrong. Quite a few shadowhunters would far rather go out and be killed than accept help from a warlock. Unless they sought them out and hired them first.
The fact that Magnus had done this without asking Alec first, that he hadn't even bothered to warn him, was a bit of a blow. It made it clear just how little Magnus thought of him. Despite just how much Alec had begun to believe they’d moved beyond that.
Alec pushed that aside as best he could. He didn't have time for that right now. He had bigger things to worry about.
Like the fact that there were ten warlocks standing on the front lawn of his Institute.
“We can always use the extra help,” Alec said. He turned his attention to the others and offered them a small smile. Facing them was easier than facing Magnus at the moment. “Thank you for coming. We appreciate any help we can get with this.”
Though Alec’s tone was both professional and honest, there must’ve been something for Magnus to pick up on. Something in his voice or in their bond that gave away a hint of what was going on underneath. Alec felt it as the other man’s attention sharpened a little; as some of that smooth mask melted under what felt like concern, and a tiny thread of something else Alec had no name for.
The other warlocks saved Alec from Magnus pushing on it, though. Which, judging by the little furrow between his brows, he might’ve done.
“Mass demon sightings like this are everyone’s problem,” one of the warlocks said boldly, not sounding the least bit intimidated by who he was speaking to.
Another one snorted, loudly. “Plus, we’re a hell of a lot better equipped than a bunch of toddlers who got no business going out in the field.”
Alec drew in a slow breath and absorbed the blow of those words without flinching. He ignored the sharp reprimand Magnus delivered almost instantly, too, as well as the quick look of golden eyes briefly flashing his way, and he held tight to the masks that had gotten him through so many Clave meetings. “As I said, we appreciate any help you’re willing to give. We were just about to gather together and head out so that we can have boots on the ground before the sun is fully down. If you’re willing, my Head of Security here, Andrew Underhill, will see about getting you assigned to a team.”
Andrew nodded at them. He didn't seem the least bit bothered by the sudden influx of warlocks. Then again, he'd always been pretty good at rolling with the punches. “If you'll follow me?” he asked politely.
The group started to move, only to pause when Magnus lifted a hand. His eyes were on Alec. “I was hoping I could speak with you first, Alexander.”
Alec's heart thumped hard in his chest. He wanted to say yes. To pull Magnus aside and talk to him and talk about this tension between them. But he couldn't. Not now. There wasn't time.
“Unfortunately, I have a few things I need to get finished before dark fully hits,” he said, hating the way his voice sounded so cold. Hating even more the way it made Magnus startle, like he hadn't even thought of Alec refusing him. Alec drew himself up a little more and tipped his head toward them all. “Thank you again.”
Without giving anyone else time to speak up, Alec spun on his heel and marched off back inside his Institute – back to his people. They were what mattered right now. Not his own feelings, not the tension in the bond, not anything else. Alec had to look out for his people in whatever way he could. Even if it left his magic rolling sickly through his stomach. He didn't let himself think about it. He didn't let himself focus on it. Instead, he threw himself into work once more and tried not to notice the thrumming of the bond so close and yet so very far away.
By the time the sun went down, Alec had managed to get everything organized and ready for the night. He'd spoke with various patrol leads about the changes he’d made, his plans, and the new additions of the warlocks, he'd made sure that everyone knew their assignments. He’d even managed to avoid both his sister and his parabatai, both of whom had been trying to corner him for quite a while now. He did, however, take a moment to make sure that their team was the one Magnus was assigned to. Just to make sure they could look after one another.
Ideally, Alec would’ve been on the same team as them, able to watch over them all himself. But that wasn’t what was best. Not right now. Right now, Alec needed to be here with his recruits, ready to step out with the second patrol wave. They couldn’t send all their able-bodied shadowhunters out on the first run. They’d never survive the night that way. So they were staggered out. Normally the first patrols went out when the sun was just setting, and they stayed out until midnight. Then the second patrols went out, and they stayed out until four in the morning. After that, the third patrols went out, and they stayed out until seven in the morning. Tonight, they'd split into two: sunset to one, and one to seven.
It meant that Alec had to stand there in the Ops Center and watch as his people made their way out without him.
He felt it when Magnus realized that he wasn’t coming with them; that he was, in fact, staying behind while the others went out. The look he shot across the Ops Center was full of something Alec didn’t dare take the time to decipher. Yet he couldn't bring himself to look away even as Isabelle hooked her arm through Magnus' and tugged him forward, pulling him toward the front doors of the Institute.
Alec stood there and watched as they all filed out, his eyes on Magnus the whole time. He didn't let himself think about anything else. Didn't let himself focus on the bond in his chest or the worry in his stomach. He just watched.
Then they were gone, and Alec turned back toward his current team. There was work to do.
The night passed by in a blur. Alec spent most of it in the Ops Center, coordinating things, helping the roomful of children who barely knew how to do this job, and keeping an eye on the various teams. It was a job that was both exhausting and nerve-wracking. One that had him on edge and left him feeling like he was going to vibrate right out of his skin.
He was halfway through the first patrol shift when one of the problems he’d been anticipating finally came and found him.
When Alec built his patrol roster, he’d been very deliberate in who he put where – and who he’d kept back. One of the people he’d kept back here had been a recruit he knew wasn’t going to be happy with her posting. Drusilla Silverland was only twelve years old, but she reminded him so much of himself at that age. She carried a weight on her shoulders no child her age should, and she carried it around with a stoic air that made her come off as cold to a lot of her peers. She was sharp, to the point, and her mouth often got her in trouble.
She also hated fighting, and she possessed one of the sharpest minds Alec had seen in a while. One that could easily be nurtured toward the intelligence division if her guardian wasn’t fighting so hard to push her toward becoming a leader. A role she didn’t actually want to have.
Alec had kept her here because he needed a mind like hers working here as opposed to being wasted out there. No matter how little she might like it.
Alec had fully expected Dru to find him before now and demand to be sent out. Or for her to try and sneak out with one of the teams. The fact that she hadn’t was surprising.
What was even more surprising was that, though Alec could tell she wasn’t happy, she didn’t come up to him pissed off and demanding to be let out.
Instead, she came to him with a tablet in her hands and a determined look on her face.
Alec looked up from where he was talking with one of the younger recruits, an eleven-year-old named Glaya. He'd been trying to help her track some of their most recent sightings and input it into their alert system. So far, she seemed to be getting the hang of it. “I'll be right back,” he said to her. Then he turned and moved toward Dru, who waited neatly off to the side, away from everyone else. “What can I do for you?”
“I've got something I want to show you.”
Alec arched an eyebrow at the startingly serious tone to Dru’s voice. This wasn’t a pissed off kid looking to get out in the field like he’d expected. This was something else, and Alec felt himself still slightly in both body and magic. A faint humming built under his skin. “Oh?”
Dru nodded. She held out the tablet to him, and Alec took it. When he looked down, he found himself blinking in surprise.
The screen showed a map of New York City. It was marked with various points, each of which had a little tag next to it with a date and time. “What am I looking at?” he asked curiously.
“The locations of the demon attacks,” Dru said promptly. Her eyes were bright and sharp, and she stood straight as she spoke. “I've been tracking them since the first one happened. I figured that if we could find some sort of pattern, then maybe we could figure out what's causing them.”
Alec gave an absent nod; he had teams dedicated to doing the same thing during the daylight hours. “Have you found anything?”
“I wasn't sure at first, but...” Dru reached out and tapped the tablet. “...the more I looked, the more I realized there might be a pattern.” She pointed to three different dots on the map. “Every group of attacks seems to be growing. They might dip down in the first half of the night and be somewhat less, but for the second half it’s always a little more. And when compared with the numbers of other Institutes…their numbers change in size each time, but they always stay within a certain range. Except here.”
Alec ran his eyes over the data she was showing him, taking it all in and mentally cursing at the same time. How the hell had they missed this? “Meaning New York is their target.”
“And the rest are just coverups to draw us off the trail,” Dru said, nodding. The look on her face was solemn, yet her eyes – those were afraid.
Reaching out, Alec clapped a hand on her shoulder. It wasn’t much comfort but it was all he could offer at the moment. Then he turned toward the nearest computer and pulled up a new screen. Then he plugged in the data from Dru and started running it through some of the programs he'd created for just such an occasion. It didn't take long before he had a map up of all the demon attacks, and he could see what Dru meant.
The first attack had been small, just a few demons here and there. Nothing major. But each attack after that had been bigger, and they'd gotten steadily larger until the last one, which had been huge. The numbers for tonight weren't shaping up to be any better so far. If anything, with things going the way they were they stood every chance of being even worse before the night was done.
He pushed back his fear and worry and forced himself to look at the data not as the Commander, but as the attacker. If he were the one doing this, sending out demons and directing his attack at New York – assuming it was the Institute at the heart of it all – what would be the reason? What would he gain?
It only took a second for Alec’s mind to click, and his body and magic went cold.
If things followed the same pattern, there was every chance Alec might have to send out the second set of patrol groups early. Essentially emptying out the Institute of everyone except only the most essential of staff. Leaving it open and not entirely defenseless, but mostly undefended.
A perfect time to strike. Fuck.
If someone could take over an Institute, it’d set them up to have access to the whole of the shadowhunter network. Everything they knew, the person coming in could know. They’d have access to a stronghold defended against demons, protect from outside attacks, connected to Idris, and powered by an angelic core – something that could be used to devastating effect if a person put their mind to it. In the last war, Valentine had done everything he could to try and take an Institute. If he’d ever managed it, their hopes for defeating him would’ve been next to nothing.
Alec forced himself not to panic as he straightened up and twisted around to look at Dru once more. “Good work, Dru,” he said, making sure to keep his voice low. “I'm going to keep an eye on things here, so I need you to do a few things for me. I want you to go find Benji and tell him I need to see him. Then I want you to go to the kitchen and infirmary and start gathering everyone you can under the age of thirteen and get them to my office, then wait for me there.”
He did his best not to let his panic show in his voice, but something of it must've slipped through. Either that or Dru's mind had already followed along the same pathways as Alec's. Her eyes were even wider than before, and the fear she'd shown before had grown. “Someone's coming after the Institute.”
Alec didn't bother answering. There wasn't time. “Now, Dru.”
In a flash the girl spun on her heel and took off like a shot down the hall. Alec watched her go, and then he turned back toward the computer. A few keystrokes sent out the warning to every shadowhunter out there to stay away from the Institute and put them on secondary reporting systems – meaning the only information they were going to get was from one another. Another command recalled all active-duty shadowhunters within the Institute into the main hall. One last one sent the alert to Idris to classify them as an under-siege Institute. It would close down the portals from there to here, effectively abandoning them without the ready aid of Idris at their disposal – something they had to do to make sure no one could use them for access.
As soon as those commands went out, Alec twisted to look around the Ops Center. Already, heads were looking up and twisting toward him. Alec met each of their stares with a calm look. “All right everyone, listen up. I want everybody who is under the age of twelve to head to the Head's Office right now, no arguments, no stopping off to grab anything or anyone else. Dru's gathering the other recruits, and she's going to be in charge once you're all together. Under no circumstances are you to exit that office without the approval of myself or a Team Lead. The rest of you, arm up and report back here. Move!”
The sharp snap of that last word had a rush of bodies heading toward the Head's Hall. Not all of them looked happy about it, and Alec was well aware these kids would want to fight, but they were also well trained to respond to authority. Here, in this Institute, he was the authority.
They’d barely cleared the room when something blasted against Alec’s senses like a bomb going off. It tore through him, pushing at all those places inside where his magic sat. A split second later the alarms sounded and red lights flashed all through the Ops Center.
Alec didn't need to look at the screens to know what was happening. He could feel it.
The wards around the Institute had been breached.
His heart pounded in his chest. His magic rose up inside of him, crackling under his skin, ready for a fight, only to be held back by the strength of Magnus' wards on his skin. It left him feeling like he’d been wrapped in something too hot, too tight, wrong, wrong.
Benji came tearing into the room, a group of shadowhunters on his heel, and Alec blessed his people once more as not a single one of them questioned what was going on. Benji threw a sword at him even as he brought his bow and quiver over, and Alec quickly slipped them on while the others formed a line around him. The room lit with the bright red of the alarm and the glowing blue-white of their seraph blades.
The front doors slammed open hard enough to snap on either side of the frame.
A blast of power, thick and heavy with magic, rushed through the doorway and into the Ops Center. It felt like being hit with a sledgehammer. Even though the wards on him protected him from most of the attack, Alec still felt himself stagger back a step before he forced himself to straighten up. He drew an arrow and nocked it, his eyes narrowing on the group of warlocks that came in. They looked like wraiths, with pale skin and black veins, and Alec's stomach twisted at the realization of just who was coming for them. The person a part of him had known would come.
Valentine Morgenstern stepped in behind them, his circle members spilling out on either side. He smiled, and his eyes seemed to move straight to Alec.
Alec didn't let himself hesitate. He lifted his bow and fired, even knowing it would get stopped. Then he grabbed his sword and charged.
Magnus was in the middle of tracking their nearby shax demon when the call came through. He heard the blare-buzz of their phones, a shockingly loud sound in the quiet of the alley. He twisted his head to look over at the shadowhunters behind him – Isabelle, Jace, an older teen by the name of Darius, and two younger teens called Michelle and Luther. Each one of them looked down at their phones, three of them in confusion and two of them with a look of panic that cut off any snarky reply Magnus had been planning on making about noisy shadowhunters.
Isabelle got her phone open first, and Magnus watched her face drain of color at the same time that Jace started to swear.
Panic welled up inside of Magnus strong enough to choke him.
It took a second for him to realize that not all that panic came from him.
“Lockout activated,” Darius read, his voice just slightly stunned, slightly confused. “All shadowhunters to fall back to secondary reporting systems.”
The words ran over Magnus like a jolt. He heard them, yet he couldn’t quite focus on them. Not when his insides were still alight with panic and the type of determination he’d only ever felt mid-battle – a combination that left him both alert and nauseous at the same time. His magic grew taut with the need to strike out, protect, defend, only there wasn’t anything here to fight against. The fight wasn’t here.
Vaguely he heard Michelle ask, “What does that mean?” Next to her, Luther leaned in to look at her phone as well.
Though he heard them, Magnus paid them little attention. All his focus turned to Isabelle and Jace, who looked at one another with their panic right out there in the open, so easy to see. Magnus knew the answer to the question before either of htem spoke. Only one thing made sense with the feelings inside of him. “It means the Institute is under attack,” Isabelle said slowly. “These are the siege protocols for when there's an active threat outside the Institute as well as inside.”
“Alec's ordering us to keep fighting the demons, and to expect no backup from them,” Jace filled in.
Alexander.
A faint echo of their argument this morning built in the back of Magnus’ mind. He closed his eyes and easily pictured the way Alec had looked when he’d gotten that email, the one that had started everything. And he could still see the mask that settled over his features later when Magnus stood on the front lawn of the Institute and proved that, despite everything, despite how close they were getting, a part of him hadn’t trusted his husband.
The recruits all looked at one another and then at the other two, and their panic was easy to see. “We're going to go help him though, right?” Luther demanded. “We can't let someone take our home!”
Magnus wanted to cry out his own agreement, demand that they go back and help Alec, help the people inside the Institute. The children that had been left behind. Every inch of Magnus’ magic was stretching out along the bond, desperate to seek out Alec, to make sure he was okay. But the leader in him knew better. That part knew what they should do. Even if the rest of him didn’t agree.
It was Darius who quietly pointed out what the adults here knew, even if they didn’t want to say it. “We can't let our city become overrun by demons, either. Alec always says our job is to protect our city, first and foremost.”
Isabelle nodded slowly, though it was clear she didn't want to.
Next to her, Jace practically vibrated, and the look on his face echoed the tension that had frozen inside Magnus, threatening to break free at any moment. “Iz...”
A pained look flashed over Isabelle's features. She looked to the recruits, and then back to Jace. “I know. I want...”
“You can't,” Jace interjected, cutting her off in a tone that was no less kind for its harshness. “But Magnus and I can. You take the kids and go meet up with Marcel, they're just a few blocks south of here. Pair up and work together. Magnus and I will go after Alec.”
The fear that had been building in Magnus, the bone-chilling terror mixed together with the burning need to go out there and find his husband, soothed slightly at those words. At the promise that someone was going to come with him, wasn't going to just stand aside and let whatever was happening to Alec just happen. He nodded sharply at Jace and moved forward to join him.
Isabelle didn't argue about it. She looked like she wanted to, but she didn't. She was too much a soldier to argue these kinds of orders. Instead, she turned toward the kids and gestured for them to follow her. But her eyes were sharp and fierce when they ran over Jace. “You reach out if you need anything, and you let me know the second you're all safe.”
“Got it,” Jace said easily.
Then Isabelle took off running, the three teenagers hot on her heels.
Jace didn't give them time to hesitate or think too hard about what was going on. As soon as they were gone, he turned and started running in the opposite direction. “Let's go,” he called back to Magnus. “We've got a fallback location near the Institute. We can go there and figure out what the hell we're up against.”
Without hesitation, Magnus took off after his husband's parabatai, clutching tight to the bond inside him as he did. He held on to the panic that Alec felt, the determination that quickly overtook it, and tried his best to send as much care and support down the line as he could. I'm coming, he silently promised him. I'm coming, Alexander, just hold on.
They were just climbing up onto a nearby rooftop, sheltered by the awkward build of the building next to them, when Magnus felt something hit him hard enough to make him stumble. He might’ve toppled right down to the ground if Jace hadn’t responded as quickly as he had. In a flash the other man’s hands were there, catching Magnus with a soft “Woah!” and bracing him up.
Magnus couldn’t focus on it. He couldn’t focus on anything outside of the sudden fear and grief that hit him like a blast of magic straight to the chest. Horror gripped him, and Magnus stared at the Institute in front of him. There were no lights going off, no broken walls or running bodies. Nothing to show that anything had happened. And yet, Magnus knew…
“They lost,” he said quietly. The grief grew stronger in that place near his heart where everything Alec lay, followed by a swell of rage that Magnus’ echoed in his own heart. He didn’t need to see inside the Institute to know who was there, or what had happened. Those feelings made it clear enough.
“Valentine has him.”
Chapter Text
In all the times that Magnus had ever pictured breaking into the Institute – something that he’d done more than he’d ever admit to out loud, to anyone – he’d always imagined that it wouldn’t be easy, but not difficult either. Though he’d attributed that to the fact that he was the one who’d made the wards. Picturing anyone else trying, though, a necessary component of warding a place, well, he’d imagined it’d be difficult if not impossible. He took pride in his wards, after all.
Which made it all the more surprising for him when Jace didn’t even hesitate. Nor did he even have to think about what to do. The two set off together, moving through the shadows of a building two streets down from the Institute that Jace insisted had the best access point for them.
The only thing Jace paused for was when he stopped at the end of an alley and asked “Can you glamour yourself so no one sees you?”
That wasn’t a question worthy of an answer, and Jace didn’t bother waiting for one. He just kept on walking and trusted Magnus to pull on a glamour as they stepped out onto the street and headed for the door of the coffee shop. Magnus hurried to discreetly wrap one around himself as he stepped out of the dark and onto the street.
He caught up to Jace right at the entrance. The other man had stopped outside the door, frozen. Magnus realized why a second later when two girls came out and Jace took advantage of the door being open and slipped in behind them with the skill of someone who’d been trained to move unseen amongst mundanes.
Magnus had a thousand questions, none of which he could ask right then. All he could do was move as silently as possible – a glamour didn’t work very well if you gave yourself away with noise – and follow Jace through the busy coffee shop, behind the counter, around two baristas, and into a back hallway. They had to pause there for a minute to allow the one person back there to carry out a load of what looked like new to-go cups and lids, and then Jace gestured Magnus forward and the two went into the small storage room at the back end of the hall.
As soon as they were in the room with the door shut, Jace strode straight back to the far right corner where a gap of wall sat between two shelves, with just enough space for a person to fit through. The only things in the way were two milk crates holding shelf-stable containers of oat milk.
When Jace lifted his stele to draw on the wall, Magnus made a small sound of surprise. Though he managed to keep his questions behind his teeth until after the wall swung open on silent hinges and the two were safely on the other side. The door swung closed with the same silence it opened, leaving them in the pitch black.
Magnus called up a faint ball of magic and raised it up over their heads. In the low orangish-red light he shot Jace an incredulous look. “You have what I'm assuming is a secret entrance to the Institute in a coffee shop?”
“It's a bit more than that,” Jace said, his tone casual as he drew out his seraph blade and lit it up. Then, before Magnus could demand for him to expand on that, the other man was moving off down the hall, leaving Magnus with no choice but to hurry and catch up. Asshole.
“What do you mean, it's more?” Magnus demanded. He strode after Jace, his magic in his hands. If Jace was going to have a weapon at the ready, Magnus would do the same. He was flying blind here and he hated that.
The bond lit up with a sense of rage, and a steely determination that had Magnus wanting to grin. Keep on fighting, Alexander, he silently told his husband, wishing as he did that the bond worked like that. That Alec could hear him. We're coming. Just hang on until we get there.
Now that they were off the streets, and out of sight of anyone and anything, Jace didn't hesitate to answer. Nor did he bother lowering his voice. “This isn't just a passageway into the Institute. It's one that'll take us straight through the Institute and to Alec's office. He told me about it once, as an 'in case of extreme emergency' sort of thing. It's only accessible through his office. A sort of last resort escape for Institute Heads or something like that.”
That was a lot of information to take in at once. Magnus filed away most of it for later, focusing instead on the part that mattered most to him right then. “You're sure it leads to his office?”
“Oh yeah,” another voice answered. “Leads right on in.”
Quick reflexes were the only thing that saved the owner of that voice from being blasted back into the nearest wall and stabbed. As it was, the blast of magic Magnus sent out barely missed him, and Jace's seraph blade came within a hair's breadth of his throat before he threw himself backward. Magnus didn't stop moving, though, more magic already flying from his hands, while Jace rushed forward and ducked underneath that magic to strike out as well. He took advantage of one of the bits of magic flying past to dart up and use his shoulder to slam the other body up against the wall.
Before they could move, Jace's seraph blade was pressed right up against their throat, and bands of magic pinned them up against the cold stone wall.
Magnus stepped up to Jace's side, and he brightened the light just a little until he could clearly see the body held against the wall. It let him see that it was, in fact, a shadowhunter. One who was lacking the telltale Circle rune on their neck. It also allowed Magnus to clearly see the grin lighting up the young man's face. Young being the operative word here. Magnus estimated the shadowhunter to be in their late teens, maybe early twenties at most.
While Magnus didn't recognize him, it was clear Jace did. “What the hell are you doing here, Etienne?”
The young shadowhunter's grin grew. “Tryin' to find you,” he drawled out, his words thick with the sounds of New Orleans. Then some of the smile faded off Etienne's face, giving him a serious look that aged him just a little. “Alec had Dru gather up all the recruits and get them to his office. I helped ‘em get there, only the whole place went on lockdown once we was inside and we couldn't get back out.”
“How'd you end up here?” Magnus asked. According to what he’d just learned, these tunnels were secret. So how on earth did a young shadowhunter know about them?
Green eyes darted over to Magnus, who braced himself for any hint of trouble, any sign of tension that most shadowhunters got around him. Only, to his surprise, Etienne seemed to relax a little more. Like he somehow found the sight of Magnus reassuring. “I hunted around the office till I found the exit,” the boy answered. He gave a half-shrug, heedless of the blade still against his throat. “Spent m' life breakin' into places. People usually guard against someone comin’ in, but they rarely guard against someone gettin’ out.”
There was a truth to the boys words that had Magnus inclined to believe him. Still, he looked to Jace to see what he thought, only to find Jace slowly drawing backward and lowering his blade.
“Jace?”
Magnus' voice carried a wealth of questions that he didn't even try and hide. Thankfully, Jace caught on to them. “Alec trusts him,” he said, as if that were answer enough. In a way, it was. Alec wasn’t exactly the trusting type. “And we can't waste any more time.”
The subtle way that Etienne straightened up at that, the way his shoulders went back and his chin lifted in a display of pride so small it might've gone unnoticed if Magnus hadn't been watching so closely, made it clear just how much that trust meant to the boy. Something which had Magnus relaxing a little. Anyone who reacted like that to hearing they had Alec's trust wasn't likely to betray him.
When the magic finally let Etienne go, the boy sank down smoothly to his feet. It left him taller than Jace – close to Magnus in height. Though he had a build that was leaner than Alec's, and he moved even more grace than most adult shadowhunters Magnus had met. “Good,” the boy said, taking a step forward. “Let’s get movin’ then. It aint far.”
Putting action to words, Etienne pivoted on his heel and shot off into the dark, leaving Jace and Magnus to take off after him.
We’re coming, Alexander. Just a little longer. We’re coming!
Though Alec had come a long way since his captivity at Valentine's hands, he hadn't forgotten what it felt like to be a prisoner. He put on a brave face during the day, and for the most part, he liked to think he was starting to work past it. To heal a little from what the monster had done to him. Yeah, it still haunted his dreams at night, and he wasn't fond of being touched in certain places unless it was someone he trusted doing it. But he'd started to move forward. To move on.
Maybe it was the magic in his veins, even if he still struggled to admit to it sometimes. Something about knowing that he had this new part of him – a part that, though he couldn’t quite control it, had already proved it’d react in his defense. It gave him a sense of false courage. A shield to hide behind and pretend everything was okay.
As Alec sat shackled in the middle of his own Institute, a familiar cold metal tight around his wrists and a ward laid over his skin, forcing that magic deep down inside, he realized just how wrong he'd been. How stupid he'd been to let himself forget what it was like to be trapped.
Panic licked at his insides like a fire. No, not a fire. That would’ve been a comforting sensation. One that had become steadily more familiar the more he got to know his magic and the more time he spent around Magnus. The heat those two brought him had become a comfort to Alec. This? This was more like… like ichor, slowly seeping through him, poisoning everything it touched.
Alec took in a slow breath and forced himself to calm down. He couldn't panic. Not here. Not now.
They hadn’t bothered dragging him away to the cells the way they had the rest of his people. The ones that survived, that is. Alec grit his teeth and forced himself not to think of that. Not to react. He wouldn’t give any of the people watching the satisfaction of seeing his grief at the people he’d lost today.
He could grieve about them later. Right now, Alec had to focus. He needed to plan.
Valentine’s people had forced Alec to his knees in the middle of the Ops Center while one of the controlled warlocks summoned up a metal loop on the floor and another brought over a familiar set of chains. One that Alec had done his best not to flinch at the sight of.
There’d been nothing he could do to stop it as they shackled his wrists together and hooked them to the newly summoned anchor on the ground.
Alec barely waited until they moved away before he shifted. He wasn’t going to kneel before this man. Nor any of these other people. The length of the chain wasn’t enough for him to stand – it definitely wasn’t enough for him to get any real sort of leverage to try and work against them. Yet it was enough for him to shift around and sit down with his legs crossed and his hands in his lap, spine straight and shoulders back. Enough that he could sit there and look up into the eyes of the monster that haunted his nightmares.
The ring of guards around him stood up a little bit straighter. But Valentine, who stood at the base of the stairs in front of him, smiled.
“Alexander,” Valentine said, that smile growing. “It’s so good to see you again, alive and well.”
Alec lifted his chin a little higher and let his expression chill until it was cold enough to make his mother proud. “I can’t say the same.”
Someone nearby made a low scoffing sound, and Alec mentally braced for the kick or hit he was sure would come from someone defending their master. No one moved, though. Not even Valentine. He stayed where he was and watched Alec with a look that seemed almost fond and yet annoyed at the same time, like he was… like he was some sort of naughty child. Or a pet. A disobedient pet that needed to be brought to heel.
For the moment Alec ignored that. There was something else he had to do, had to ask, first. Something that he couldn’t ignore. “What did you do with my people?”
His thoughts ran over the people he’d seen fighting in here with him, the bodies carelessly tugged to the sides and left to lie there, and the ones he’d seen dragged away still fighting. He thought of the recruits hiding in his office and prayed with everything he had that they hadn’t been found before the lockdown had activated. Please, Raziel, don’t let him have found them.
If Valentine was bothered by Alec’s tone, he didn’t show it. Then again, he hadn’t shown it last time, either. Not until Alec hit whatever invisible line existed within the madman’s head and he decided to go from amused to offended in a furious blink. He obviously hadn’t hit that yet, though. For the moment, Valentine looked amused. “So much concern for a group of people who would no doubt turn their back on you as soon as the opportunity presented itself.”
Alec opened his mouth to protest, the words already building on his tongue. Only, they froze as soon as he tried to make them pass his lips. My people wouldn’t betray me, he wanted to insist. But… that wasn’t true, was it?
(“I’m almost positive I’ve uncovered two spies,” Cameron said bluntly. “And enough information to suggest the presence of three more.”
The words hit Alec like a blow to the chest. Five. He had five spies in his Institute. “Who?”
Cameron’s face was blank, almost devoid of any emotion at all, which for him usually meant Alec wasn’t going to like what he had to say next. This time wasn’t any different. “One of the kids from the last batch of recruits, Lyle Whitestream. And Hodge.”)
The amusement on Valentine’s face grew a little, as if he could read that memory on Alec’s face.
“It doesn’t matter what they think of me,” Alec said – and this was true. It didn’t matter what any of his people thought about him when it came to their safety. “It’s my duty to keep them safe.”
“And you’re doing such a great job of that right now, aren’t you?” Valentine asked him, though the words held no real hint of question to them. He obviously didn’t expect Alec to answer. Instead, he turned his focus towards the nearby computers where some of his people were working, and he watched them as he slowly started to come forward. “You put the building on lockdown, told your people to stay away. Clever.”
Alec bit back the sharp retort that wanted to slip free. It would do him no good here. He’d learned that last time. The only thing it would get him was pain, and while he could take that, the longer he could go without the better it’d be.
The humming of both the bonds inside him reminded Alec as to why he needed to keep calm. He could feel both Magnus and Jace – their panic, their determination, their anger. They knew he was here, knew what had happened, and Alec had no doubt they were coming for him despite orders otherwise. His parabatai wouldn’t leave him here even if Alec prayed with everything he had for the other man to stay away. And Magnus… Well, even with what happened this morning and the tension between them, Alec knew the other man would still come for him. Magnus wouldn’t abandon him to their nightmares.
All of that meant that Alec had to do his best to hold on and stay alive. Whatever those two did, he needed to be ready for whatever part he might be able to play in it. And if they couldn’t get in, if they were trapped out there… Alec would still need to be ready and able to take whatever opportunity presented itself.
So, he bit back his retorts and kept his face blank as Valentine moved closer and closer, stopping just in front of him – just out of reach. “Very clever,” he repeated himself, nodding a little as he did. “I really underestimated you before, Alec. You had, what? A minute at most to realize what was happening? Yet you still managed to lock us out of at least a good ninety percent of the Institute. That’s impressive.”
The magic under Alec’s skin rolled sickeningly in response to the tone in Valentine’s voice. He sounded almost proud. “I didn’t do it to impress you,” Alec snapped before he could stop himself.
“No, I imagine not,” Valentine agreed easily. “You did it to protect your people. A noble cause.” He paused and looked around at the Ops Center. “A futile one, but noble nonetheless. It's good to see some things haven't changed since the last time we spoke. It's going to make things so much easier.”
Those words sent a cold chill down Alec's spine. Even his magic felt abruptly cold where it froze, waiting just the same as the rest of him for whatever Valentine was about to do.
Valentine turned and gestured to someone nearby. Alec watched as one of the Circle members immediately stepped forward. Without taking his eyes off Alec, Valentine told the man “Go down to the cells and fetch me one of the prisoners.” He paused, and one corner of his mouth quirked up. “One of the younger ones.”
Horror gripped Alec in icy fingers that wrapped tight around his lungs and spread through the rest of him as the Circle member took off immediately to follow Valentine’s orders.
Still smirking, Valentine moved until he could lean against the nearest computer console. There were still several Circle members and warlocks nearby. A few of them had drawn out seraph blades and held them as if ready to fight. The others stood still, eyes focused on their captive, waiting and ready for whatever they were called upon to do. “Your desire to protect your people really is admirable,” Valentine said, folding his arms over his chest while he settled in. “It's also going to be your downfall. You focus too hard on protecting the individuals – it blinds you to the bigger picture. Sometimes, sacrifices have to be made for the greater good.”
“Genocide isn't a part of any greater good,” Alec snapped at him. Even as he did, his mind raced, trying desperately to figure out a way around what Valentine so obviously had planned. There had to be something he could do. Anything. He couldn’t let Valentine do this.
The other man gave a sad shake of his head, as if Alec had disappointed him. “It is when the ones we're killing are monsters.”
“They're not monsters!”
“Aren't they?” Valentine lifted a brow at him, looking curious as he regarded him. “Tell me, Alexander, how many shadowhunters has your precious husband killed?”
A scowl twisted Alec's face for one moment. A second later he had to fight to keep that scowl in place. Deep down inside he felt something in the bond come to life, the determination shifting, sharpening. From Jace, he knew what that meant. He'd felt it a million times before when the two of them would head into the most dangerous part of their mission. Jace was in battle-mode. At the same time, Magnus' emotions were coming in even clearer than before, and Alec felt a wash of fierce protectiveness seep through the faint clamp he had over their bond. He was doing his best to keep his own feelings from slipping through, but he couldn't deny how good it felt to feel them.
The scowl slowly faded off Alec’s face while his magic practically sang under his skin. Maybe it was stupid, and maybe it’d end up with him hurt. But part of him just couldn’t resist. Lifting his chin a little more, Alec met Valentine's eyes and let his own smile curve his lips, just as sharp and just as dark as Valentine's own had been. “I don't know, but I imagine that number's going to grow before the night is over.”
The smile dropped right off Valentine's face. Alec saw the exact moment the words hit home and anger flashed through Valentine. When he pushed to his feet, Alec lifted his chin and held himself in place, refusing to flinch back as the man’s fist came flying out and connected with the side of his face. The force of it almost sent him sideways. Just barely did Alec manage to catch himself and keep his seat. Still, he tasted blood where his cheek cut against his teeth, and pain bloomed on his face strong enough his ears rang from it.
Rage flared inside the bond, telling Alec that something of the pain he felt must’ve slipped through.
Straightening up, Alec did his best to ignore it as he wiggled his jaw, testing to make sure nothing was broken.
A hand caught him under his chin and slid down to grip tightly at his throat, forcing his chin up until he found himself staring up directly into Valentine’s furious face. The rage in him had sharpened to a point, one that wouldn't hesitate to cut him open at the slightest provocation. “Don't push your luck with me, boy.” Valentine growled down at him. His fingers tightened on Alec's throat for just a second, long enough to cut off his air, before he let go and stepped back once more. “I should have you killed where you kneel right now. You had so much potential for greatness, but you're just like every other failed experiment – a waste of time and a waste of potential.”
Alec stayed still and kept quiet, not willing to push it too far, not while there was a chance he might end up giving Magnus and Jace time they needed.
Some of the rage on Valentine’s face faded a little, cooling into something even more dangerous. Something with a calculating edge that scared Alec far more than anything else the man had done so far.
“When our prisoner gets here, you’re going to give me everything I want,” the man said calmly, coldly. “And then I’m going to enjoy killing you and leaving your body outside for your warlock and family to find.”
The trio moved quickly through the underground halls, silent and careful even as they ran. The hallways were dark, with only the faint glow of Magnus' magic to light their way. There wasn't a single sound around them aside from their own footfalls and their breathing. No sign of life anywhere. It was like being in a tomb. One that had Magnus' skin crawling with nerves and fear.
Despite the fact that Magnus had been warding the Institute for years he'd never really paid any sort of attention to these sorts of secret entrances. The type of warding he'd put up had been more of a generalized shell around the Institute itself, tied in to the property borders.
The commands he’d put into it had protected those entrances without him needing to know all of them – a trick he’d perfected years and years ago when castles were still a thing, and secret entrances had been common and so very well hidden. No one would give those up when hiring someone to ward their home. That held too big a risk of them selling those secrets to someone else. Instead, warlocks adapted and made broader versions of their own personal wards.
What that meant for now was Magnus was essentially flying blind while he followed Jace and Etienne through these dark halls until they reached another door that swung open to reveal the stairwell behind it. It looked to be a service stairwell of some sort, narrow, and without a great deal of lighting. It would make them an easy target if there were any guards waiting up at the top, but there was little else they could do.
Jace took the lead, nudging Etienne back behind him, with Magnus bringing up the rear. Together they carefully climbed the stairs, all three of them on alert for any signs of trouble. They moved as silently as they could, as fast as they could. Magnus had to fight not to force them to go faster. The bond was getting louder the closer that he got, and though he could feel the way Alec held on to it, trying to clamp it at least somewhat closed, some of what he was feeling still got through. Pain, fear, determination, guilt, anger – so much anger.
When they finally reached the top, they came to a section of hall that split off into two. Etienne slipped easily around Jace and gestured for them to follow him. Only, he didn't go into either hall. He moved toward a section of wall near the left-hand side, and he squatted down low. There, he reached out with his stele and drew a couple runes into the ground. They were small enough, and his body curved just right, that Magnus couldn't see them.
A second later he straightened up, just in time for the section of wall in front of them to shift into a door. One that Etienne quickly opened and slipped inside.
“You better be right about him,” Magnus murmured.
Jace didn't say anything, he simply followed right after Etienne, leaving Magnus to once more take up the rear, sliding in after him and shutting the door behind them. It faded away as soon as he did, leaving him trapped. Wherever they were, whatever was waiting ahead, there was no going back now. All he could do was go forward.
Five steps forward and the low light that barely lit this passageway gave way to something warmer and brighter. Magnus stepped out into the light, magic held at the ready in his hands just in case, and found himself standing in a space he'd been in only a few times before – the Head's Office.
He wasn't alone, either. Noise suddenly filled the room as Jace stepped forward into a group of children and teenagers, all of them swarming around him as soon as they caught sight of him. It left Jace in the middle of the group of clearly panicked children desperately seeking some sort of reassurance from the only adult in the group.
The sight tugged at something in Magnus’ chest. His emotions, or maybe an echo of Alec’s, who knew. But he looked at this group of kids and teenagers, all of whom should’ve been out tonight by the Clave’s order, and it felt like something wrapped around his heart even as his stomach clenched at the proof he shouldn’t have needed at the proof of just how much Alec cared about not just his people, but the children in his charge. It showed clear as day not just in the fact that they weren’t out on patrol tonight, but that they hadn’t been out fighting when the Institute was attacked, either. Instead they were here. Shut away in what was undoubtedly the safest place inside the whole of the Institute.
“When can we leave?” one of the kids asked, breaking through Magnus’ guilt spiral.
“What happened?” a young girl with big blue eyes wanted to know. She was clutching to one of the teenage boy's arms like a lifeline, looking scared out of her mind, her gaze darting back and forth. The teen with his arm wrapped around her tried to shush her a little, but she wasn't paying attention.
A few more voices echoed those questions, with some asking about others, about “James” or “Thedore” or even “Alec.” All wanting to know whether they were okay.
Another of the kids, a younger teen with dark hair and glasses, was the one to catch sight of Magnus still standing at the sidelines. All the others had been too caught up in questioning Jace. His eyes went a little wide as he saw him, and his body tensed. Yet, surprisingly, he didn’t reach for the weapon on his hip. Instead, the kid loudly demanded to know, “Who are you?”
Jace didn’t even bother to turn and look over at him. “That's Alec’s husband, Magnus.”
So many eyes shot Magnus' way. It felt a little like a physical weight hitting him, and for the briefest second, he was tempted to put his glamour on over his eyes so as not to frighten them. But he wasn't ashamed of who or what he was, and he wouldn’t hide in front of a bunch of children. So instead of glamouring himself, he simply smiled politely and did his best to pretend he was comfortable here while the others all looked at him like he was some sort of curiosity.
He didn't recognize any of these kids. Alec hadn't really gone into any specifics with him about how many new recruits came through here in any given time period, or who exactly they were. Just the barest basics about his people. They hadn't really had a chance to get comfortable enough for something like that. While Alec was surprisingly open about his Institute and his people – especially considering it was a Downworlder he was telling that information to – he'd still kept some of it back.
Surprisingly, their interest in Magnus lasted only for a second. Then they all turned back to Jace, and once more the room filled with demands of what they were going to do, how were they getting out of here, could they help get Alec, was backup coming? The questions went on and on and on.
Etienne slipped up to Magnus' side in the chaos, and though he offered him a smile it was the kind of smile that held weight to it. One that spoke of someone who'd seen and done far too much for their too-short years. “We’ll get him back.”
“Yes, we will,” Magnus agreed. He held on to the rage, and to the fear, and to the determination he was getting from the bond, using it to buoy up his own strength and push him forward. They would get Alec back. There was no other choice.
But, if they wanted to do that, first they needed to know what they were working with. And that meant Magnus had to stop standing back and waiting for other people to speak up. “Alright,” he called, letting just enough of his power trickle into his voice to be able to capture the attention of the room without having to shout. It was time to get them back on track. He waited as the others all stopped mid-sentence, every eye in the room turning his way. Only then did he speak again. “We need to know what we're up against out there, and then we need to get some of you out of here.”
“Magnus is right,” Jace said, cutting off the few protests that had started. “Dru, Madge, Hector, I want you three to stay here so I can get your reports. Etienne, I want you to escort the others out of here, get them to a fallback point and then reach out to Iz. She'll be able to get you somewhere safe...”
The outcry those words caused was loud enough that Magnus would've worried if it weren't for the fact he knew the Head's Office had silencing charms on it so no one outside would be able to eavesdrop on what was happening inside. Still, he flinched slightly at the amount of noise that filled the space.
“We're not leaving!” a young girl insisted, hands on her hips and her foot stomping the ground. Lilith, she looked no older than ten or eleven. Yet she stood as tall as she could and glared up at Jace with a ferocity Alec would've been proud of.
A few voices echoed her sentiment. Even Etienne looked pissed off at the plan.
Jace scowled at them. “I'm not having you all stay here. Alec wanted you out of the fight...”
“You can't afford to lose any advantage you've got,” one of the older kids interjected sharply. “The place is crawling with Circle members. You two can't take 'em all out on your own, and we're the only backup you got.”
“Besides,” Etienne interjected, drawing all eyes his way. He shifted a little, just enough to cross his arms over his chest. Then he looked from Jace to Magnus and back again with an insolent smirk that somehow managed to beat out the one Magnus had seen Jace use when he wanted to piss people off. “You need me. I'm the only one in here who knows the passageways. I can get you from here down to the cells where they put the adults.”
A young girl pushed her way through the crowd, moving to stand at Etienne's side, mirroring his crossed-arms pose as she glared at them all. “And you need me to get into the cameras. I'm the only one here who can get you eyes out there with the system locked down the way it is.”
As much as Magnus hated it, and he really, really did, the two made compelling points. Being able to get eyes on the scene would help. As would getting down to where the adults were to get themselves some real backup without alerting the whole of the Institute to what they were doing. Not that that made it any easier to think about taking these kids out with them. Etienne, at least, looked close to old enough. The girl, though…
Magnus slanted a look over at Jace, who was still scowling at them. Though it seemed like his scowl was wavering a little. He didn't argue with either one, but he wasn't completely agreeing to their demands, either. Instead, he actually turned and caught Magnus’ eye, and he raised a brow, the question silent but clear: What do you think?
There was a lot about all this Magnus wasn't sure of, or that he liked. He wanted all these kids as far away from this fight as he could get them. Yet, he could also understand what they were saying.
Unfortunately, the choice was taken out of their hands a second later. Magnus felt the rush of magic that suddenly flared up around them. It ran over the stones where his own magic had once sat, washing away the last traces of his shield and replacing it with a new one. When Magnus closed his eyes, he could see it – a sickly sort of yellow color that Magnus swore he could both see and taste. He had to fight to breathe through the wrongness of it all.
When he opened his eyes again, he found everyone in the room watching him. Waiting, silently, for something they could tell was happening, even if they couldn't sense it themselves.
“No one's going anywhere,” Magnus said, looking from one face to the next before he settled on Jace once more. “Whatever warlocks he brought with him to tear down my wards just put new ones up. We're trapped in here.” Until he could take the time to rip those wards down – something he couldn't risk right now, not without making himself weaker than he'd like right before a battle, and giving away their presence entirely – or he could go after the warlocks themselves and break Valentine's hold on them. Or their own hold on their magic.
What that might require of him had Magnus feeling even more sick than before. Sick, and furious.
The children didn't look frightened of this news. If anything, they all just seemed to straighten up and look at each other, determined. Determined, but not surprised. Jace didn't look surprised, either. If anything, he looked resigned, his shoulders slumping slightly as he took in the group of children around them. It was a look reminiscent of the one Alec had worn at the end of their talk, before Magnus... before they...
Magnus shut that thought off as quick as it came. He couldn't afford to think about that argument right now. Couldn't afford to let himself get distracted. Alec needed him. The whole of the shadow world needed him. They couldn't let Valentine get a foothold here. If they didn't stop him now – what he could do with an Institute to hide out in, one protected by his captured warlocks, with a few mortal instruments already in his possession and an angelic core to magnify whatever he might want to do – it put the whole of the world at risk.
Jace and Magnus met eyes once more, and the both of them nodded. Though they barely knew one another, weren't close save for their connection to Alec, they were united in this. As the two adults here it was their duty to keep these children safe, and to do what they could to save everyone else, too.
“Alright Dru,” Jace said, turning to look at the girl standing at Etienne’s side. “How do we get eyes on them without them seeing?”
Chapter 24
Notes:
Violence in this chapter, folks. Allllllllll the violence :P
Chapter Text
Magnus had never realized just how much comfort he took from feeling his own wards whenever he had to be inside the New York Institute, until he was forced to move through it without them. The Institute itself had always felt cold to him with the echo of angelic power, and dangerous. All Institutes did. Though that could be because very rarely had any of his people found safety within their walls. Yet Magnus had always felt just a little safer here in New York, knowing that the wards keeping everything safe were his. That, if he wanted, he could portal in and out of them wherever he liked without worry, because no ward he made was ever built to keep him contained.
Now? Now, he snuck through the secret passageways of the New York Institute and had to fight not to shiver at the knowledge that the wards keeping them in here weren’t his own, ready to let him out in a moment’s notice. The might contain him, even for just a bit. Enough that he wouldn’t be able to get himself and everyone else out safely without others knowing.
He was trapped inside an Institute, the very last place any Downworlder wanted to be, with a genocidal madman intent on destroying everything.
Magnus shoved down the crackle of his magic so as not to give them away, and he followed silently on Etienne's heels through the labyrinth of passageways he hadn't even realized were here.
He could hear the sounds of Jace's breathing in his ear where the shadowhunter trailed a few steps behind him, and the faint rustle of the others behind him. They'd taken a team of five down here, aside from him and Jace. The rest were up in the office on the other part of their plan, with Dru in charge. She seemed competent, and Jace trusted her, which meant for now Magnus would as well.
He just wished so much of their plans didn't require them trusting shadowhunters.
Etienne slowed to a stop, holding one hand out behind him as he did. It had the rest of them going still. He looked over the wall for a moment, feeling a few spots, before he stopped and nodded to himself. Then he turned back toward them and gestured them forward. They huddled up together, getting close enough to be able to hear without having to raise their voices beyond a whisper.
“The cells are on the other side,” Etienne said softly, barely breathing out the words. He pressed in closer, one hand coming up to rest on Magnus' shoulder like a brace so he could turn and point toward the wall he'd just been feeling at. He did it without hesitation, without flinching, like it was no big deal to touch a warlock. Especially one who was so clearly pissed off. “This should take us out to the alcove right near the hallway. We have no way of knowing how many guards are in there without alerting someone, so we’ll need to go in ready.”
A slow smile curved over Magnus’ lips. “Oh, I wouldn’t worry too much about that.”
Even as Magnus straightened himself up and stepped away from the group, his magic was already pushing toward his hands, just as eager as he was for the chance to lash out at someone, anyone. More than that, he was ready to finally do something. Sneaking through hidden passageways while people he loved were in trouble wasn’t the kind of thing he ever handled well. But they were so close now – to getting to Alec, taking down Valentine, and putting an end to this whole nightmare.
Magnus turned his back on the group and let his magic free, just a little, just enough that the glow of it could illuminate the passageway. It wouldn’t take much for what he wanted, and a subtle twist allowed him to shield it, almost inverting the weaves of magic back in on themselves so no one above would be able to sense them. Not something sustainable. But, then again, he didn’t need to sustain it. He just needed to hide it long enough to strike.
Behind him, he heard Jace murmur “Open the door for him, then get the hell out of his way.”
No one else said anything as Etienne darted forward and put in the right runes to open the door. Unlike the others, this seemed to simply shift the stones slightly, just enough for a body to slip through.
That was fine. Magnus didn’t need anything more. On silent feet he moved forward and slid easily through the opening.
His eyes were already scanning around him even as he moved into the hall, magic reaching out to feel for the presence of anyone ahead of him.
This hallway was empty – at least as far as he could see – with the cell doors all closed off and only six Circle members visible, standing guard with four at the cells and two over by the elevator. Far less than he'd expected, and nowhere near enough to be any sort of real challenge. Not with what Magnus had in mind.
One of the ones by the elevator caught sight of him as Magnus drew on his magic, but they didn't have time for more than a quick “Hey!” before bands of magic wrapped around him and his companion and lifted them. With a flick of his wrists Magnus flung them down the hall and sent them crashing towards their companions. Magnus took advantage of the instant confusion to twist himself around and slam a foot down on the ground, anchoring himself in place while he threw a wave of magic after them. All six Circle members went flying backward, slamming hard against the wall.
Two of them slumped down to the ground, unconscious, but the other four were pushing up to their feet, hands on their weapons. Magnus didn't give them a chance to move more than that. He flung another bit of magic, a solid ball this time, taking out two of them, while he felt Jace rush by on the other side, with Etienne and the others on his heels.
In what felt like no time at all the group of Circle members were either subdued, unconscious, or dead. Magnus didn't exactly care about which. The only concession he gave to those alive was to conjure chains and a silencing spell so they wouldn't be able to run or alert anyone else. Then he threw them all, dead and alive, into the first empty cell he found.
As he did that, the others had already moved to open up the remaining cells and start removing cuffs.
“Remind me not to piss you off,” Jace said, coming over to stand next to Magnus. Despite his teasing words, his eyes were hard as he stared in at the circle members in front of them. The way he held his blade made it clear what he’d like to do. And honestly, Magnus was having a hard time remembering why he shouldn’t let him.
Footsteps warned them before another, slightly familiar voice spoke up. “That’s something you shouldn’t need reminding of.”
Magnus turned his head just enough to watch as Cameron came walking toward them. He was one of the few shadowhunters Magnus knew; the man had been in his house, after all. Along with the two coming up behind him – Benji and Andrew, he was pretty sure.
Not a one of them looked the least bit bothered by what they’d been through, though they all sported the marks from it. Benji had a slight limp, and Andrew held himself with a stiffness that part of Magnus logged away as likely cracked or broken ribs. But Cameron came up to them without a single outward sign of whatever injuries he might have, aside from the spectacular bruise on his face.
He flashed a grin Jace’s way before turning his focus to Magnus. “I don’t know what plan you have, but whatever it is we don’t have much time to do it.” Any sign of humor faded off his face, leaving the serious look of a soldier. He twisted just enough to gesture toward one of the occupants of the cell. One of the dead occupants. “That one just came down a minute ago to grab one of us and bring us upstairs. Valentine told him to grab one of the youngest ones in here and bring them up. Likely as some sort of bargaining chip for Alec. My guess – he wants to hurt someone in an effort to force Alec to lift the lockdown, since he’s the only one here who can do it.”
Magnus’ stomach churned with nausea. Not just as what Cameron was saying, but at how easily he could see it happening. Valentine would have zero compunctions about hurting someone to get what he wanted – adult or child. But Alec? Alec would struggle if it were an adult, but Magnus could see him staying strong. Shadowhunters, after all, embraced death in a way so few others out there did. However, he would never be able to stand back and allow a child to be hurt if there was any way for him to stop it.
A fact Magnus had forgotten about this morning. In his rage at the shadowhunters of the past, he’d lumped Alec in with them.
Alec’s face flashed in his mind’s eye, aching and pained at just the thought of what the Clave wanted him to do.
“They’ll be expecting them back up, then,” Jace said, grimacing as he did.
Magnus looked at the group of shadowhunters on the ground, and then back up at the ones standing around him. People who had fought to save their home, been captured and locked up most likely with the belief that they were going to die in here, and who still stood there so ready and willing to go to war for their home once more.
The seed of an idea built in the back of Magnus’ mind. He froze for a moment before a slow smile curved over his lips. “Then that’s what we’ll give them,” he told Jace. His eyes drifted over to Cameron, who must’ve been following along on the same line of thought as him judging by the smile on his lips.
The rest of their plan could go on as they’d talked about, but this? This might just give them the in they needed to get in that room.
Alec ran his tongue over his teeth to wipe away the blood that had built there and fought not to glare at the man paying him no attention just a few feet away. His blood was starting to taste coppery in his mouth, and the tang of it was heavy on his tongue. A low throb that was already threatening to turn into a headache beat in the side of his head in time with his heart, and his ribs were protesting the kick he’d earned the last time he’d tried to open his mouth to say something.
He did his best to ignore most of that. So long as he stayed still, stayed in the meditative pose that he’d adopted, most of the injuries didn’t hurt that much.
The biggest part of Alec’s focus stayed on the room around him – the Circle members guarding him, the ones working on the computers, the warlocks kept guarded against the far wall, and Valentine right there in front of him. But another part of him couldn’t help but reach down inside and curl up around the bonds there. The ones that told him Magnus and Jace were close.
Please, don’t do anything stupid, he wanted to beg them. Don’t worry about me, please, please. Just get the kids out. Get everyone out first, please.
The fear and anger in them had only gotten stronger the more time went by. Yet their determination grew with it. Alec could tell that Jace was eager to for something – a fight, most likely – and there was a hint of hope that had Alec wanting to hope, too.
Magnus wasn't quite as easy to decipher. Alec didn't have the years of experience with him the way he did with Jace. Yet there was no denying the ferocity that was in the bond, the determination, or the way that thread of something that had been growing between them seemed to be burning brighter than ever. Just feeling it helped soothe some of the ache in Alec's magic, the one that came from just how desperately his magic seemed to be fighting to get free. No matter how many times Alec tried to push it against the shields, both the one Magnus had on him and the one that came from the cuffs, nothing happened. Which only served to make his own panic grow a little more.
He needed to get out of here.
Valentine hadn't come back to taunt him again. Instead, he was on his computer, doing who knew what while his people swarmed around him, making calls and working on something Alec couldn't see from where he was. Whatever it was had him looking more and more annoyed.
There wasn’t long for Alec to wonder what it was that was frustrating him. The sound of elevator doors opening drew the attention of almost the entire room. Valentine’s face lit up as soon as he looked up, and Alec felt his dread grow as he slowly turned to look that way.
As soon as he saw who was coming, that dread turned to horror.
The guy that Valentine had sent downstairs earlier walked toward them with a half-smirk on his lips, dragging forward one of the younger shadowhunters, one whom Alec recognized instantly.
Etienne.
The teen wasn't struggling, wasn't even fighting as much as he probably could be. In fact, his focus was solely on Valentine and the smile that curled Valentine's lips. His shoulders were thrown back, head held high, and there was a fire burning in his eyes as he marched forward in the grip of someone twice his size, acting as if he weren’t cuffed and being dragged to his potential death.
That fire dimmed only the slightest bit as the man jerked Etienne to a stop in front of Valentine. Yet he didn’t cow. Not even when Valentine looked him over and gave a nod. He lifted his eyes to look right at Etienne, and his smile was startingly warm. “What’s your name, son?”
Even as Etienne opened his mouth Alec knew that what was about to come out wasn’t going to be good. He couldn’t stop him, though, couldn’t do anything to warn him away as the teenager sneered at Valentine and practically spat out “I aint your son, homme.” Then his lip curled up, and he was the one giving the once-over this time. His expression made it clear he found the other man lacking. “Then again, y’ might just fit right in with m’old man. He was a rat fuckin’ basta…”
Alec’s sharp “No!” was cut off by the sound of Valentine’s fist hitting Etienne’s face.
The teen stumbled yet somehow managed to keep his feet. His body rolled with the punch in a way that had always spoke to Alec of a different kind of training, one that didn’t come from being a shadowhunter.
“And I thought your mother was soft with you,” Valentine said, turning to look at Alec. He didn’t seem the least bit bothered by Etienne’s glare, or really by the boy at all. Instead, all his focus was on Alec. “I thought Lightwoods were stronger than this. Yet you seem to raise them weaker and weaker each generation. What kind of leader did you hope to be, training shadowhunters like this?”
Etienne snarled lowly. “He’s a damn good leader! Better’n anything you could hope to be, y’ connard.”
Panic fluttered hot and bright in Alec’s chest when Valentine backhanded him hard enough to send the boy crashing into the nearby bank of monitors. “Etienne!” Despite knowing that he couldn’t go anywhere, that he was trapped here, Alec still found himself pushing up in a desperate attempt to do something. Anything other than just sit here and watch one of his people be hurt.
The glee in Valentine’s eyes as he watched Alec’s struggles only made the sick feeling in his gut grow. “Stand him up,” he told the guard. Immediately, the man reached out for Etienne and hauled him up on his feet. The teen swayed there, but he didn't fall, and he didn't look away from Valentine, either. He glared at the man with a look so fierce it had to hurt.
Valentine smiled at him. “You have spirit. I like that.” He turned his head and looked at Alec. “I think you'll like this next part even better.”
“Don't!” Alec begged, not caring about the desperation in his voice. He didn't care what he looked like, or how much it hurt, he couldn’t stop from tugging at his chains in a desperate bid to get free. All he cared about was getting Valentine's attention off Etienne. “Don't touch him. Please, don't hurt him.”
“Hurt him?” Valentine laughed. He looked back at Etienne, who was still glaring at him. “I'm not the one hurting him here, Alec. That choice is on you. If you just give me what I want, none of this has to happen.”
The magic inside Alec roared hotter and brighter than ever before as he watched Valentine lift his hand once more to strike out at a kid who’d done nothing but be loyal to Alec. Someone who, he knew, would stand there and take it and mouth off the whole time, never once backing down from the monster in front of him or any of his threats.
Alec had known from the moment Valentine sent a guard off to fetch a prisoner just how this whole thing was going to go. If the man had brought up an adult, maybe he could’ve stood a chance at holding back. An adult at least would understand the sacrifice Alec had to make. But a teenager? A child? There was no way in hell Alec could kneel here and watch as Valentine beat and tortured a child to death when he had the power to stop it. Especially not this one; one he had already saved once before.
His magic flared hotter, burning at his skin as it sought to find some way free, and Alec called out a desperate “Stop!” as Valentine’s hand swung.
Only for Etienne to dart a hand up and catch it before the blow could land.
“I don’t think so,” Etienne said flatly, only, that wasn’t Etienne’s voice. There were no signs of that familiar New Orleans drawl on his words. Instead, they came out cold and sharp and oh-so-familiar. Alec found himself wanting to slump down in relief at the same time that he wanted to start cursing at his stupid, reckless parabatai.
With the hand that wasn’t holding on to Valentine, the boy reached up with a stele that no one had seen and ran it over the rune on his arm. The glamour rune.
Jace’s grin was somehow even cockier as his body transformed back to its normal look and their bond flared open wide. “I’m gonna enjoy this.”
Surprise and joy lit Valentine’s face in that split second before Jace balled up his fist around his stele and threw a punch of his own. It hit Valentine square in the jaw and sent him stumbling backward.
The Circle members around them didn't hesitate. As soon as Valentine stumbled, they rushed forward, only for the guard who'd brought Jace up here to spin around and lash out with their own blade, cutting down two of them.
All at once the room around them seemed to erupt in chaos. Alec was watching and yet he still couldn't quite tell where his people came in from. Only that, one minute it was Jace and – was that Underhill he saw, the glamour fading away now? – and the next the whole of the Ops Center was filled with fighting. Somewhere near the far side of the room, magic flashed, and Alec felt his heart in his throat the realization that it could be Magnus, or it could be the other warlocks.
Alec couldn't see anything through the crowd. Couldn't do more than watch as the fight moved all around him. The cuffs kept him trapped in place, unable to move more than a few inches in any direction.
As if the angel had finally heard his prayers, someone broke through the crowd, darting past two fighting shadowhunters, and slid over the last bit of floor to come to a stop right in front of him. Alec looked down in surprise, body already tensed to try and help, only to find Etienne in front of him. The actual Etienne.
“Hey,” Etienne said, grinning up at him. He had his stele in hand, already reaching for Alec’s cuffs. “Y’ looked like you could use a hand, yeah?”
Alec wanted to laugh. He settled for a smile, one that was so wide it hurt. “Yeah, I could.”
“Then let's get y’ outta here.”
The cuffs fell off with a soft click. As soon as they were gone, Alec felt the magic inside him surge up, only barely restrained once more by the ward Magnus had placed over him. Unlike the cuffs, this one didn't hurt. It stroked soothingly over Alec's own magic, calming it only slightly. The rush of the bonds in his chest – so much brighter all of a sudden, not as muted as they'd been with the cuffs on – calmed his magic even more.
Etienne met him grin for grin as he handed over a seraph blade. “Sorry it aint a bow. Figured beggars can't be choosers.”
“It'll do,” Alec fired back. He reached out and took the blade – just in time to twist and parry the blow that had been coming for the back of them.
He didn't have to finish it. Benji was suddenly right there, and his blade smoothly cut across the man's Circle rune before he kicked and sent him down to the ground. He flashed a smirk Alec's way. “Good to see you back on your feet, Commander.”
“Good to be back on my feet,” Alec said. He straightened himself up and ignored the ache that came from being curled up for so long to take stock of the room around him. There were still far too many Circle members here. Though he could see that most of them were focused on the fight in the center of the room. The other side of the room was chaos. Magic flew everywhere, flashes of red and blue and green, all of it aimed at the Circle members who were trying to take out the warlocks.
Most of the battle here seemed to be handled, with a surprising amount of his own people rushing in to help, and – were those more warlocks?
Alec pushed that aside for the moment and tried to find where the real threat was at. It only took him one quick sweep.
There, up the walkway above the Ops Center, were Valentine and Jace. The two were locked in a fierce fight, blades clashing together as they fought. But Alec could tell just by looking that Valentine had the upper hand.
“Go,” Benji said, sliding forward to take down another Circle member who got close. Etienne moved with him, the two blocking anyone from getting to Alec. “We got this. You go take care of him.”
“Stab him extra hard for me,” Etienne chimed in brightly.
The sound of his laughter echoed through the battle around him. Alec grinned at both of them and nodded. Then he turned and raced toward the stairs.
Part Twenty-Five:
Chapter Text
Alec made his way up the stairs as quickly as he could, dodging past the one Circle member who'd managed to break free of the fight and actually get close. It only took a second for Alec to take him out, and then he was up the last bit of stairs.
The only people up here were Jace and Valentine, who seemed to be coming together and then breaking apart over and over, neither one quite able to get one up on the other. Alec could tell they were talking, but whatever they were saying to each other was lost amidst the sounds of battle happening below. But, judging by the look on Jace's face, it wasn't anything good.
Alec didn't let himself hesitate any more. When he saw an opening, the two twisting just slightly to the side, Alec took advantage and darted in, his own blade coming up to block Valentine's blow. His body moved almost automatically, following the motions that were as familiar as breathing, until his parry sent Valentine's blade sliding just slightly off-line, and he could send him crashing into the wall.
The snarled out “You!” was far more satisfying than it should've been. Alec grinned in the face of the other man's fury.
“Bout time you got up here,” Jace said easily, his body already automatically shifting to adjust for Alec's presence at his side. Their parabatai bond sang as they fell into the familiar battle formations they'd practiced and trained on countless times over the years. “I thought I was gonna have to do this all by myself while you laid there like some damsel in distress.”
“Jealous I might steal your spotlight?” Alec fired back.
Jace lunged forward, grinning brightly as he swung his blade, and Alec easily fell in step beside him.
The fight had clearly been evenly matched before Alec joined in. Whether Valentine simply kept in good shape, or he’d done experiments on more than just the people around him, he had the speed, skill, and strength of someone half his age. However, it didn't escape Alec's notice that the man seemed to be pulling his blows even now. No matter how they attacked, no matter how they forced Valentine back, he seemed to be battling to disable, or stall – not to kill.
A solid blow from Jace sent the man stumbling back a few steps. He kept his blade up, defending from the blow that could've easily taken him out if he'd been a hair slower, or Jace just that slightest bit faster, yet he grinned as well. “You've improved,” he complimented Jace, and there was a hint of something akin to pride in his voice that made the parabatai bond go tight and slightly sick. “Good to see you haven't lost everything I've taught you.”
“You taught me?” Jace snapped incredulously.
Valentine's grin grew.. “You haven't figured it out yet?” He shook his head and made a low 'tsk' sound. “I would've thought you'd put the pieces together. You or that parabatai of yours. He's supposed to be a smart one, isn't he? I researched him plenty before I sent you here. I wanted you to go somewhere that would make you stronger. Though...” he parried another blow and shot a scowl Alec's way. “...I wasn't expecting Maryse to have gotten so soft. I'd hoped she'd raised a proper warrior. Just like I raised you.”
Jace froze at Valentine's words, and Alec saw him go pale even as Alec himself felt the rush of emotions down the bond – horror, pain, shock. All of it too fast, too intense to pin down, but he felt it like it was his own.
“What?” Jace whispered, his eyes wide as he stared at Valentine, his blade lowering the smallest amount. It was all the opening Valentine needed to push in, and his own blade was there before Alec could even call out a warning. He tried, though. “Jace, no!”
His shout seemed to pull Jace back into himself, at least a little. Enough that the blow that should've sunk into his stomach caught his hip instead. The bond flared to life with a burst of pain that was almost enough to make Alec stumble, if rage hadn't burned out everything else. Alec moved on quick feet and pushed his brother back at the same time that he shoved himself forward, blade up to come between Jace and Valentine.
Valentine's blade was there to meet it. Alec met Valentine's eyes, and he felt his fury and rage burn all the hotter as he stared at the man. “Leave him the hell alone.”
A dark, smug sort of pleasure was visible on Valentine's face as he watched Alec. “He was mine, long before he was yours. Just as he'll be mine again.”
“I will never let you have him.”
Alec twisted to the side and ducked under the swing of Valentine's blade. He pushed off his feet, and it was a rush of training that had him on automatic - twisting to avoid Valentine's attack and turning to face him again. His blade clashed hard against the man's own.
“You want him,” he hissed, “you're gonna have to go through me to get him. And I am not gonna let that happen.”
What came next was a flurry of blows that quickly wiped the smile off of Valentine's face. He went on the defensive, doing everything he could to keep Alec from connecting.
If Valentine had wanted to hand Alec a weapon to help him fight, he could've done nothing better than threatening someone Alec cared about. Magnus, the Institute, the kids, Jace. These were Alec's people. His family. And there wasn't anything he wouldn't do to protect his family. That drive and need, and the burning power inside of him, had Alec pushing forward harder and harder, never backing down, never stopping, even as magic sang and burned inside him.
When Jace joined him again, the two of them fell into the type of synchronized movements that made parabatai so effective. They stopped talking, stopped bantering, stopped listening to anything the monster in front of them had to say. It wasn't important. The only thing that was important was taking him down.
Alec didn't know how long they fought. Time lost all meaning. There was only him and Jace and Valentine and the magic inside of him, pushing and roaring to get out. But it was Jace who, as they were pushing Valentine toward the far wall, got in close enough for an attack to finally strike home. With one foot planted firmly, he pivoted his body and swung his leg in a kick that was clearly intended for Valentine's chest. It caught his shoulder instead, throwing the man off balance – just in time for Alec's blade to sink home.
The whole of the world seemed to hold still in that moment as Alec's blade sank deep in Valentine's chest. Valentine looked down at it in shock, one hand already coming up to wrap around it in a weak effort to pull it out, while his other hand lashed out in a blow that Jace easily disarmed. Together, the parabatai pushed him back until he slammed against the wall, the blade digging in even deeper.
When Valentine looked back up at them, Alec was struck by the confusion in his eyes – almost like he wasn't sure what had just happened to him, or how. Like he'd never expected his fight with them to go the way it had. There was no sign of anger or fear, just that shock that came with the realization of what just happened.
Those eyes lifted to him, and Alec glared. “I told you, I wouldn't let you touch him.”
He didn't give the man time for any deathbed confessions or anymore taunts. He was done listening to anything this man had to say. Done letting him seep his poison into the world.
With one final thrust up, Alec pushed his blade through Valentine's heart and watched as the life left the eyes of a monster worse than any demon the shadow world had dealt with in a long, long time.
There was a heavy sort of silence that descended in the aftermath of it. It felt almost as if the whole of the battle below them had come to a stop in that moment, all attention turning up toward where he and Jace were. Everyone watched as Alec pulled his blade free and Valentine dropped to the ground.
Alec turned to face the Ops Center below him and found so many sets of eyes on him. He took a look around the room, taking note of the bodies on the ground, the ones on their knees, and the ones who were still standing. He looked at the warlocks peppered here and there throughout the room – some he recognized and some he didn't – and the... were those unseelie warriors there? Alec felt his eyebrows go up in surprise.
One person, however, stood out amongst all the rest. Following the bond, Alec let himself seek out Magnus, only to find the other man standing so very close, near the bottom of the stairs. Their bond sang with relief, joy, worry, determination – so many different things. A cocktail that Alec couldn't even begin to decipher.
Alec held his hand out, and it warmed something in him to see the surprise on Magnus' face quickly gave way to a warm sort of joy. One that lit him up.
He met Alec at the top of the steps and let his own magic push out, mingling with Alec's for that brief moment that their hands connected. It was clear he'd intended for that to be all he did, but Alec let himself follow his heart for once, not his head, and he used that hold on Magnus to draw him in. The seraph blade in his other hand would've hit the floor if Jace hadn't anticipated it and reached out to take it before Alec could drop it, leaving him free to bring that hand up and cup the side of Magnus' face so he could draw him in for a kiss.
There was a low sort of rumbling cheer that rose up around them, but Alec couldn't hear it past the sound of their heartbeats and the hum of magic against his lips.
He felt Magnus melt against him, all tension in him seeming to just fade away. One of his own hands came up and tangled in the back of Alec's hair while the other hand was flat against the center of Alec's chest. Not pushing him away, or even keeping him at bay. More, it seemed like an effort to feel him there – to touch and know he was alive and okay.
When they broke apart, Alec couldn’t keep the smile off his lips.
Magnus wore one that was just as big, and just as bright. “You continue to surprise me, Alexander.”
Alec’s smile grew a little more. “I have to keep you on your toes somehow.”
The sound of Magnus’ laughter was the sweetest thing Alec had heard in a long time.
As much as the two of them might’ve wanted to stand there and bask in being back around one another, at knowing they were both alive and safe, too much else needed to be done. Things didn’t stop the instant the battle was done. So much work remained for them, albeit it a different kind. The injured needed cared for, their dead removed and cared for as well. Reports had to be made to the Clave, to the Spiral Labyrinth, to everyone really. Right alongside the notification that Valentine himself was dead.
Through it all Alec and Magnus never once separated. Jace stayed with them as well, a bodyguard at their side in case someone got too close or too pushy. He seemed content to push people back while also poking at the both of them now and again.
Only a few people were allowed close to them. The first being Isabelle, who came tearing through the crowd to tackle him and Jace both in a strangling hug as she laughed and cried.
When she drew back, she slapped him in the chest. “Don't you ever do that to me again!”
“I won't,” Alec promised her.
His words only seemed to make Isabelle cry more. She turned and launched herself at Magnus as well, much to Magnus' clear surprise. “Thank you,” she breathed out to Magnus, so very sincere it was hard to ignore. “Thank you for coming to save him, and thank you for giving me my big brother back.”
Magnus hugged her back with a little smile. “Of course, my dear.”
“What, I don't get a thanks?” Jace demanded playfully. He snorted at her and shook his head. “Some sister you are.”
The familiar bickering that came after helped bleed away a little more of Alec's tension. Though not as much as when a hoard of footsteps came echoing down the hall moments before a familiar group tore into the room.
Everyone gave way as the recruits came tearing into the room, finally allowed out of his office now that the wards had been taken down and the lockdown lifted. They converged on Alec in a swarm of bodies he didn't even try and fight off. It was the only time he willingly let go of Magnus. He let them slam into him and let them wrap him up in hugs and well wishes.
Most of the ones left in the Ops Center watched on with smiles as Alec hugged each and every child with a care that shadowhunters didn’t often show to the public like this. But these kids had had a hellacious day, and Alec wasn’t going to deny them comfort.
There were two notable absences from the kids – both of the older teens. Alec looked up, seeking them out, only to find that Dru stood nearby talking with Andrew, while Etienne seemed to be in the middle of an animated debate with one of the unseelie, who looked slightly bemused at the energetic shadowhunter practically clinging to them.
The crowd parted slightly around them to allow the unseelie room to come forward. Though Alec’s people were better than most shadowhunters at respecting downworlders, as well as treating them like they were people, quite a few of them drew back almost instinctively at the small band of warriors that came forward.
Once, Alec might’ve done the same. But he recognized the two standing at the front; two that he privately called friends.
“You know, when you reached out about help, this wasn’t exactly what I had in mind,” said the figure on the left. Pyrravyn, known more commonly by Pyrr, was grinning broadly despite his words. As was his twin sister Alva at his side.
The three behind them had varying looks of amusement and exasperation on their faces. It told Alec they were clearly used to Pyrr and his irreverent way of speaking to just about anyone, and weren’t bothered by it. Friends, most likely. Or the team that he often spoke so fondly of.
Alec straightened up from the hold the kids had on him, though they didn’t all move away, leaving him to stand in their midst like it was normal. “Thank you for coming.”
“It’s no problem,” Alva said easily. “We got word you had a little trouble here, and it’s never an issue to take down a few Circle members.”
Pyrr’ smirked up at him. “You might even say it was our pleasure.”
A few people around them chuckled, someone coughing to cover up a bigger laugh. Etienne beamed up at Pyrr even brighter than before – Alec made a mental note to keep an eye on that. He’d seen that look on Jace’s face one too many times when they were out to not recognize it for what it was, and the trouble it could bring.
For now, Alec ignored that, as well as the slightly bloodthirsty grins of those in front of him, and focused on what was important. “Either way, we appreciate your help.” Lifting his head, Alec looked around the room at everyone left standing, shadowhunters and warlocks alike. “We appreciate all your help. Today wouldn’t have been possible without the joint efforts of everyone here. Together, we managed to take down the tyrant who has been terrorizing the shadow world for far too long.”
A cheer went up from the crowd around them. Shadowhunters stomped their feet as they did, the thud of boots echoing loudly through the Ops Center.
Alec waited for the noise to die down before he went on. “For too long we’ve been divided by bigotry, and by hate. It’s what allowed someone like Valentine to exist. Shadowhunters let themselves be blinded by their idea of superiority, and it’s time for that to change. We’ve seen here today what can happen when the people of the shadow world come together instead of standing apart. It’s the only way to make sure that something like this doesn’t happen again. Which is why I’m going to be reaching out to the people of the Downworld over the next few weeks about starting a Shadow World Cabinet. A place where the leaders of every group out there can come together to try and solve problems before they come to this. A place where everyone is going to have an equal say, and an equal vote.”
That earned him a few whispers from those gathered, some of them not sounding as pleased with the idea. But there was a spark of hope, too, a glimmer of something that might be able to grow into something good. He saw it, in the warlocks, unseelie, and shadowhunters alike, who had fought together today and won a battle that, as individuals, they had lost time and again.
He saw it, and he let himself hope that maybe, just maybe, this would work out for them after all. That they would come out the other side stronger and better than they had been going in.
“For now, everyone tend to your people, take care of yourselves, and thank you. All of you.”
The crowd around them cheered, even louder than before, and Alec couldn’t help the smile that lit up his face at seeing his people cheering and stomping beside people they’d been raised up to hate. Seeing everyone standing there as a group filled Alec with a strong sense of pride in his people, his Institute.
He didn’t fight it when the kids started jumping on him and laughing, their voices all overlapping as they tried to talk to him. Alec let himself get pulled in, though he turned his head to look at his husband still standing there beside him. Magnus had a soft, fond smile on his face, and their bond sang with warmth and affection and pride.
There was still so much for them to do and deal with, Alec knew. Not just here and now, but in the coming months as well. There would be mess after mess to clean up as they sought out the remaining Circle members out there, as well as all of Valentine’s bases. Things with the Downworld weren’t going to be easy either. There was too much history between them all. Too many years, decades, of hatred and prejudice they all had to work through.
They weren't going to have any easy answers. There was no instant cure-all that would fix everything overnight.
But for the first time, Alec found himself thinking that it might just be possible. They had people willing to talk, now. To fight together, if it came to it. People willing to push past centuries worth of history and bigotry to reach out and offer a hand to someone they would've called an enemy yesterday.
In the midst of all this death and pain and hatred, he was finding hope. And that? That made everything Alec had gone through feel like maybe, it just might be worth it.
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