Chapter Text
Over the many long years that angels had been known on this earth, the archangel Gabriel had been associated with quite a few different things. He went by countless titles, was associated with countless duties. God’s Messenger, the Archangel of Justice, Angel of Revelation, a herald of visions, the Scourge of the Nephilim. But one of the titles he’d been associated with off and on over the millennia, one that rang truer to him than any other save Messenger, was defender of children.
Even before he’d ever had any children to call his own Gabriel had always had a soft spot for them. The fledglings back in Heaven, the baby angels Dad made back when he still made new angels on the regular. The little human kids who were so much fun to watch. (And sometimes sneak down and play with, but shh, no one needed to know about that)
When his trips down to earth became more frequent, that first century he’d stayed down here and left his family behind, Gabriel had learned the joy of adopting a kid as his own, taking them under his wing and keeping them safe.
He’d known that joy with many different children over the years. Even as Loki, his reputation of kindness towards kids continued. He hadn’t exactly been known as kind to anyone else, but kids? Kids were always safe with him. Thor once said it was because they all shared the same sense of humor. (“If that’s the case, you should get along with kids better than me – you share the same IQ,” Loki had shot back. The resulting fight had left the two drenched from the lake, laughing, and with a new cliff face that Odin had grumbled about later)
Having his own, children who were his…
No joy had ever been greater.
Gabriel loved his children with a fervor that rivaled even that which he felt for his Father. Something which, once upon a time, he wouldn’t have believed possible. Angels were built to love Father above and beyond anything else. Even Lucifer at his worst had still loved their Father. He liked to claim that love was part of the reason behind his rebellion.
But the love for his Father love couldn’t compare to the feeling Gabriel got the first time he’d held Fenrir in his arms and got to look down at the magic and soul wrapped up inside that tiny little body. A child born with a combination of magic and grace and soul. Not human nor god nor angel. He’d been a wild mix of the three and the most beautiful being Gabriel had ever seen.
He'd had the same thought when Jörmungandr came along, and again later with Hel, and with the others he’d had and lost.
Gabriel loved his children with every single bit of his grace. It never stopped him from loving those he’d adopted, nor did it make that love any less. Gabriel had cared for plenty of others in his time, and he’d had a few he’d considered just as much his children as those born from flesh and grace. But after the last of his young ones had grown, he’d figured he was mostly done with parenting for a long while. Especially to children born from this flesh, from his grace.
Who knew he’d get to experience that feeling all over again with a barely-grown nephilim of all beings?
When he’d first gone to meet Alec Lightwood – Lightwood-Bane, Alec’s voice mentally corrected him, teasing and chiding at the same time – he hadn’t expected to like the kid quite so much. Nor had he pictured just how close they’d get. Even with the whole giving him grace bit of things there’d been no way Gabriel could anticipate how close their relationship would become. Or how much Alec would come to feel like his.
But he was. Alec was just as much his as any of his other kids. Gabriel’s grace had been used to make him into the wonderful little archangel he was now. It showed in the little hints of gold that twined with the silver in Alec’s grace. The faint dusting of it over the feathers that were slowly forming on his newly-birthed wings.
For the most part Alec’s wings were like black fluff. Cottony little wisps of grace that hadn’t quite formed into the feathers that Gabriel had no doubt would one day be beautiful. The silver of galaxies peeked out through them, and as they shifted Gabriel swore he could see the occasional flash of whiskey-gold. It was… well, adorable, though Alec would hate to hear that.
And it was an absolute contrast to the visage he presented in his vessel. So much so it was laughable.
At first glance Alexander Lightwood-Bane was surly, brooding, grumpy, not exactly the most approachable of people, and a bit of an asshole. Well, to anyone who didn’t take the time to watch him. Gabriel had watched. He’d been watching long before Alec’s death. He’d observed Alec with his people, where he was both firm and caring, inspiring a kind of loyalty that couldn’t be faked. He’d watched him with his husband, where all the walls the kid used to block out the world just fell away. He’d seen him with his siblings, with his people, with the trainees that came through his Institute – the way he cared for them, watched over them, protected them. Loved them.
Underneath that hard exterior lay a heart full of an endless capacity to love. One that only grew with the addition of grace.
Alec was everything a leader should be. He was all the best parts of Michael, back before the War had changed him. Leader, soldier, big brother.
Gabriel loved the kid to pieces. Which was the whole reason he stood here now outside the Great Library of Heaven, ready to beg for help from the only sibling he thought might actually be able to help him, and the only one he knew without hesitation he could trust his nestling’s safety to if anything went wrong.
The other kids would keep Alec safe if the worst happened, he knew. They’d protect him with every scrap of power they had. Whether Alec realized it or not, he’d endeared himself to Jor already, and Fen loved him simply because he was a new younger sibling, though he did seem to like him, too, while Hel would protect anyone that mattered to her brothers and father.
But there were things they wouldn’t be able to do for him. Things that no one would be able to do for Alec, save another angel. An archangel.
And out of the three others, only one would Gabriel trust with something like this.
Do you plan on hovering in front of the doors for eternity, or would you like to come in and talk about whatever it is that has your grace blowing like a hurricane? You are worrying the young ones in their studies.
The deep familiar tones of that voice flowed over Gabriel’s grace, thick and lush like the best parts of Dad’s Creation. He smiled instinctively at the sound of it, the feel. While Gabriel loved all his siblings, from the First Born straight down to the last, the bond he had with the other archangels was strongest, and the bond with this archangel even more so.
Michael had been the first of them – Dad’s first creation, built from his own grace and a need, Gabriel believed, to not be alone. After him had come Lucifer. Heylel, back then. The perfect opposite to Michael. Water, where Michael was fire. The two clashed almost as much as they loved one another, and for the longest time, they’d been inseparable.
After Lucifer had come Raphael, a calm, steady being to balance them out. A Healer. A peacemaker. He was the earth to their elements, before there’d even been an earth.
And then there was Gabriel.
Father had given Gabriel to Raphael, the same as he’d once given Lucifer to Michael. But whereas Father had created the others almost fully formed, Gabriel had been built young. A fledgling, gifted to Raphael to nurture and care for, to help grow into the Messenger he’d been meant to become. Raphael had taken a tiny little being of air and light and laughter, and he’d cared for him, encouraged him. He’d nurtured Gabriel and helped him become who he was with all the care of a big brother.
Sometimes, Gabriel couldn’t help but think that if Heylel had been made like him, and if Michael had been a bit more like Raphael, maybe their lives would’ve turned out differently.
Gabriel pushed his way through the doors of the Great Library and flew forward, wings out and body fluid, twisting this way and that around the siblings he passed until he found the one he’d come looking for.
It wasn’t any surprise to find Raphael surrounded by countless books and scrolls. Nor to see Raziel at his side. The two had clearly been in deep conversation about something judging by the book spread out between them. Both looked up to watch as Gabriel raced toward them. Raziel’s grace glowed faintly with amused affection, while every part of Raphael warmed and softened. His big brother opened up arms and wings and laughed as he caught the bullet that was Gabriel’s true form, letting out those big, deep, rolling laughs as he did.
Gabriel grinned broadly and burrowed right in against his brother’s true form.
Though Gabriel was large compared to other angels, he was the smallest of the archangels, built for speed instead of size. All bright whites and shining gold, ready to dazzle or blind depending on what sort of Message he was meant to deliver.
But Raphael? Raphael was built like great trees of the earth, strong and steady and true. He was a grizzly in angelic form. Not just tall, but wide, and as steady as the mountains. His grace was all deep, dark brows and greens, large and yet so very graceful, with six arms that wrapped all around Gabriel now and held him close and tight like he was still that young fledgling always buzzing around, curiously demanding the answers to everything, so sure his big brother had them all.
“Hello, little brother,” Raphael’s voice rumbled against him, warm and a bit teasing. “I was beginning to wonder when you would return to me.”
Gabriel laughed and burrowed in a little closer, twisting and flopping around until limbs and wings were draped over and around his big brother, forcing Raphael to hold him up. It allowed him to tip back and grin up at him in a way he knew would get him a fond shake of the head. “You speak as if I were gone for so long. I was barely gone a blink.”
A soft huff of a laugh had Gabriel turning his head toward his other brother. Though Raziel’s expression stayed stoic, to those that knew how to look there was humor coloring the edge of his grace. “Done playing with my creations, brother?”
“Can they really be called yours if you mostly abandoned them after you made them?” Gabriel fired back. His grace bristled a little at the idea of Raziel laying any sort of claim to Alec. The others, sure. He didn’t hold any particular care about most of the nephilim. But Alec was his and he didn’t like the idea of anyone else trying to claim him.
Two hands stroked soothingly through Gabriel’s feathers, smoothing them back down where they’d bristled up. “Calm, Gabriel. No one is after your little fledgling.”
The faint twist in Raziel’s grace only made Gabriel even more agitated.
Word about Alec had spread rather quickly through Heaven. Far more quickly than Gabriel had let on to Alec. He didn’t want to scare the kid. But pulling Alec out of his Heaven, resurrecting him, and slamming him full of archangel grace, that sort of thing was bound to draw notice. It’d echoed across what his kids referred to as angel radio – the collective consciousness that all angels shared. They had their own minds and own thoughts, and they could block things from one another if they wanted to, but once upon a time they existed in a sort of hive mind. A link through the grace of their Father that allowed them to share everything. It was like communing, all the time.
Very few did that anymore. But some things traveled through the Host no matter how blocked off they made themselves. The birth of a new angel? A new archangel? That had echoed through all of Creation.
Gabriel sent another prayer of thanks to Dad for the fact that the block he held over Alec’s grace allowed him to keep the kid from connecting with angel radio. The last thing he needed right now was the voices of the entire Host in his head.
Especially since Gabriel knew not all angels were happy with things. Some felt it was blasphemy, for Gabriel to have created an angel. That was Father’s job. Others wanted nothing more than to fly down and grab Alec, bring him up to Heaven where they could keep him safe as he grew. Some, Gabriel knew, wanted to get Alec as far away from his husband as they possibly could.
Raziel didn’t seem to be in any of those camps. But he also didn’t seem happy about things. Gabriel wasn’t sure what to make of it. He didn’t know if Raziel was unhappy with Gabriel touching something he’d considered his – which, if that were the case, the asshole shouldn’t have made them and then mostly ditched them to do their own thing – or if he felt some sort of connection to Alec for some reason or another, or if maybe he felt protective of the champions he’d nurtured during the Mortal War.
Whatever it was, he got that bitter little twist to his grace at the mention of Alec, and Gabriel was just about done dealing with it.
Luckily, Raphael knew him far better than anyone, and he drew Gabriel in close while he excused himself to Raziel, promising to return later. Then, much to the amusement of some of the angels watching on, Raphael rose and hefted Gabriel up in one set of arms and carried him away.
You two are going to have to work this out eventually, Raphael chided him privately.
Huffing, Gabriel shifted around until he could drop his feet down. As soon as Raphael let go, he fell easily into step beside him. He knew already where they were going. If Raphael wasn't in the library or the Healing areas, he often chose the Garden. Many of them did. There, they felt closest to a Father so many of them hadn't seen in a long time.
I am not the one who seems to have a problem, Gabriel pointed out.
Raphael chuckled at him. No? So that was not you back there, bristling like a little porcupine at the idea of Raziel being anywhere near your fledgling?
Nestling, Gabriel corrected, because that was far easier than saying anything about the rest of Raphael’s words.
Two wings curled in and nudged up against Gabriel’s in a teasing touch that made him stumble, only to curl and draw him in close again a moment later. How goes things with your nestling, little brother? I assume that is why you are here, after all. I can imagine little else that would separate you from him.
Gabriel’s wings flinched and his eyes shot up, only to find Raphael smiling at him. It took any sort of sting out of his words and made them into something teasing instead of something judgmental. Still… I did not intend to make you feel like I was avoiding coming home.
Peace, Gabriel. Raphael reached over and ruffled a few of his feathers, though he smoothed them back out a moment later. You have always enjoyed earth and those that live there. So long as you continue to come home now and again, I am content. You have room enough in your grace for both families. The two leaned in together as they stepped out of the halls of Heaven and into the familiar space of the Garden.
In no other place in Heaven could anyone find a greater sense of love or peace than what they found here. The big, sprawling space was like a combination of Heaven and Earth and the vast reaches of the cosmos. It reminded Gabriel so much of a time before everything. Back when it’d been just them and Dad and the whole of Creation being built around them.
Raphael led them down a lush green path to the base of their favorite tree. It stood alone atop a hill whose cliffside overlooked so much of the Garden. Here, Gabriel and Raphael had spent so much time together. Talking, laughing, sharing stories together, grooming each other. Gabriel had told Raphael about Fenrir for the first time while here. He’d grieved the loss of those he’d loved while here, tucked up against his brother. He’d hid here under the shelter of Raphael’s wings when the War was at its worst and Lucifer no longer even resembled the brother who had once been so bright and beautiful and full of love.
The two sat together now and Gabriel wasn’t surprised to find Raphael moving behind him, nudging at his wings as he went. It was instinctive to open them and allow the multitude of fingers in to groom feathers that had been left a little wild for a little too long.
Now, Raphel said, grace brushing against grace, tell me about your nestling and what it is that has your grace buzzing with such joy and fear both.
With their grace so close there was no way Gabriel could lie. He was an expert at dissembling, giving those little half truths that covered up so much more, but he couldn’t outright lie. The I’m not scared that he might’ve tried with anyone else wouldn’t work here. Instead, what came out was Things were not supposed to happen this way. I love Alec, but I did not plan on loving him quite so… much.
How you ever thought you would be able to create a child and not love them is beyond me. Even without looking, Gabriel knew his brother would be shaking his head. You are built to love, Gabriel. As soon as I knew what you had done I knew where it would lead.
It was not supposed to, though.
Why not?
The question had Gabriel grimacing. He’d known it would happen, just as he’d known that Raphael would drag it out of him. Maybe that was why he’d come to his brother at all. Not just for the advice he’d convinced himself he was coming for, but for this was well – this vent and reassurance.
I was supposed to simply grant a nephilim extra power to fight against the coming darkness. That was all this was supposed to be, Raph. A warrior I knew would fight with everything he had anyway, blessed with the strength to stand up to the coming enemy and protect us all from our brother ever getting free. But now…
Now, he is more than a warrior. He is your child. One you love, and fear to lose.
Those words cut right to the heart of it. They laid bare Gabriel’s biggest fears. Yeah.
When he’d started all this, he really had done it with the intent of creating a warrior and offering a little help, but mostly just giving the world the tools to be able to stop Lucifer from getting free and the whole of the world from being destroyed. If Lucifer ever got out, Michael would fight him, they all would, and there was no telling the damage that might happen. Dad was rarely ever around anymore, off doing who knew what – they had no guarantee He’d come home if Lucifer were free. It’d been millennia since Gabriel had last spoke to Him. Would He come and help? Or would He leave them to fight a battle that Gabriel wasn’t sure they could win without Him?
I took him out of his vessel the other night, he sent abruptly. The faintest twitch in Raphael’s hands gave away his surprise, yet he said nothing, only waited, allowing Gabriel the chance to find his words. It only took a minute. He is so… small. A baby. Yet he has already been through much, and he is going to go through so much more. Was I… was I wrong in doing this?
Raphael didn’t even hesitate to say No.
Raph…
You were very careful in your choice, and when the opportunity presented itself, you went after him. All the reasons that you chose Alexander Lightwood…
Lightwood-Bane, Gabriel interjected, grinning a little as he did.
A tug at his feathers had him snickering.
…all the reasons you chose him still stand. He is a good choice. He is strong, confident, and capable, and he will do everything in his power to prevent Lucifer from being released.
I know, I know. It is just… Pausing, Gabriel sighed, and he deflated ever so slightly. I worry, that is all.
I would never have guessed.
The dry remark drew a huff of laughter out of Gabriel. I think you will like him, and he you.
I have no doubt I will love anyone who has clearly come to mean so much to you, Raphael said smoothly. Then, while Gabriel was still blushing, he gave another little tug to his feathers. Now, tell me about my newest family member. Is he as troublesome as you were when you were a fledgling?
Gabriel laughed out loud at that, not noticing the looks that sound drew from any other angels wandering by, nor the fondness that settled over his big brother’s grace. Excuse you! I was a delight!
What little tension he’d held in him faded away as he happily fell into sharing stories of the kid who’d come to mean so much to him.
By the time Gabriel left Heaven the tension he’d been carrying in his wings was so much lighter. Not gone – he didn’t think it would be for a long while. Not until they got rid of this current threat, however long that took. But it’d been lessened. Which had been a big chunk of the reason why he’d gone to Heaven at all. He’d known talking to Raphael would help him feel better. It always did.
He'd gone up there for other reasons, of course. Reasons he knew now he wouldn’t even have to ask for.
Part of Gabriel’s plan had been to make sure that, if worse came to worse in the upcoming war, someone would be around to keep an eye on Alec afterward. One talk with Raphael and Gabriel knew – he didn’t even have to ask. Raphael would keep an eye on Alec if something happened to Gabriel. He’d make sure he was cared for and safe. Right along with everyone else in their lives.
Alec was going to be the single most protected nestling to exist out there. A fact that Gabriel knew would piss Alec off if he learned about it. Almost as much as it would fluster him. The kid did not know how to let anyone care for him.
Well, anyone other than his husband. But Magnus also didn’t really give him all that much choice in the matter. He could also be fantastically sneaky about it.
Gabriel grinned at that as he locked onto his kid’s grace and took off toward him. When he’d left, Magnus had been employing that particular brand of ‘care’ by forcing Alec across the hall to Gabriel’s place to “…relax a little. I promise you, Gabriel won’t mind. He told us to make use of his place anytime we’d like, and he put that wonderfully large tub in your room that we haven’t managed to try out yet. I think him taking a trip home is the perfect time for us to take it for a spin – under wards stronger than any I’ve ever met.”
Anyone with ears would’ve been able to hear the innuendo underneath that. No one could claim Magnus was shy. Or really all that subtle.
Then again, little though Magnus might like to admit it, the kid was Asmodeus’ son, and Asmodeus hadn’t earned the title of ‘demon of lust’ in various lore books for no reason. It’d stand to reason Magnus inherited some of that. More, even, once he’d ripped apart and absorbed the power of Edom – a power already closely tied to his, that recognized him as its prince. All the power Asmodeus had poured out into that thing had been absorbed by Magnus. Which didn’t just give him a power boost, it would’ve amplified his own natural born abilities. One of which was very closely tied to lust.
A quick look ahead made sure that the two weren’t still enjoying the bathtub together. They weren’t, but, to his surprise, they were still at the house – and they weren’t alone.
Gabriel landed right at the back door of his home. He put himself where he could lean back against the wall next to the door, with a perfect, unobstructed view of the beings hanging out further down the yard. The sight of the group there – a far larger one than when he left – only had his smile growing. Apparently his slowly growing family had decided to hang out and make themselves at home while he was gone.
Alec and Fenrir were center stage of everyone, clearly in the middle a friendly spar of some sort if the way they were circling each other were any indicator. Both had their shirts and shoes off and bits of dirt showed where one or the other had likely hit the ground at some point in time. Gabriel scanned the ground and saw a groove or two that he made a mental note to fix later.
Fenrir had a bright, toothy grin that made him look so dangerous to most people, and a hint of his other form peeking through in the claws and the wildness to his eyes. At the same time, Alec seemed to be just as relaxed, little hints of his true form slipping past the normally tight shielding he kept around himself. Little glimpses of his true self were leaking out. But it was the six wings – young and still growing, with the feathers still more fluff than actual feathers yet – that stood out the most.
The other members of their family spread out on the sidelines watching them. Jace and Clary were sitting on the grass together, with Clary tucked up under Jace’s arm and again his chest. Jace was calling out taunts that had the others laughing. Not too far from them were Isabelle and Magnus. Those two were sitting on a blanket with a basket between them and glasses in their hand, drinking and laughing, with Isabelle shamelessly ogling Fenrir almost as much as Magnus was clearly enjoying watching Alec.
Gabriel’s grace grew a little warmer and a little happier at the sight of his family all getting along.
They were bonding together so quick, this group. Though that seemed to track, considering how fast the other bonds in this group had grown. Whether that was a human thing – connecting quickly before their short lives were over – or maybe a shadowhunter, shadow world sort of thing – with shadowhunter lives being even shorter than the standard human – he wasn’t really sure. Nor was he sure it mattered. Whatever spawned it, Gabriel could see the bonds building with each passing day.
Fenrir and Jor both had easily accepted Alec as ‘the new baby’ – a term he knew would piss Alec off if he heard them use it. While Gabriel might get away with teasing him about being a baby angel, he knew Alec didn’t really see himself that way. Nor would he appreciate just how young Fenrir and Jor viewed him as. The two were thrilled with being big brothers, though, and Alec seemed to be slowly opening himself up to them as well. Not as a little brother, not yet. Gabriel wasn’t sure Alec knew how to be a little brother. How to let anyone aside from his husband care for him. But he sought them out, spent time with them, and he seemed to enjoy that time. To enjoy them.
Now they just needed to get Hel up here soon so that she and Alec could meet.
Alec called out something that had the others laughing, snapping Gabriel out of his thoughts. He’d missed whatever it was, but the others seemed to enjoy it.
Or, well, most of them.
To his surprise he saw that Magnus was no longer sitting on the blanket with Isabelle. Jace and Clary were with her now, all of them picking food out of the basket, and Magnus was… making his way up the lawn toward Gabriel.
He called out a “Welcome home,” when he got close, but even with the shields he put up his mind was giving Gabriel enough of a ‘we need to talk’ vibe that the archangel twisted toward the back door and opened it.
Gabriel barely let them both get inside before asking “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing’s wrong,” Magnus assured him immediately. He twisted around now that they were both in, his movements a little more fluid than normal. The smile on his face was real, which relaxed Gabriel a little, though a sense of tension still sat in the tightness of his shoulders and the fluidity of the rest of him. “I was just hoping I could speak with you for a moment before we go back to the others.”
“Yeah, cause that’s not worrisome at all,” Gabriel snarked back. Still, he shut the door and made sure no one outside would be able to hear their conversation inside. Clearly this was something private.
Instead of snarking back, Gabriel caught the faintest twitch to Magnus’ mouth, a drawing in of his magic, Gabriel couldn’t help but raise his eyebrows. Something was definitely going on here. “What is it?” he asked. What the hell happened while he was gone??
“Alexander doesn’t know I’m asking this,” Magnus said, surprising him. He didn’t seem the least bit uncomfortable with his words, though he stood a little taller with them, his chin up a little more. Bracing himself. “I wanted to ask if you’d like to come join us for dinner tonight.”
Gabriel raised his eyebrows slowly and waited for the rest of it. That’s it? Seriously? He stared, sure there had to be more. When nothing else came, he raised his eyebrows even more. “Okay? Since when is it a big deal for me to come for dinner? Are you hoping I’ll come and cook it all or something?”
“No, no. It’s, well…” For the first time since Gabriel had met him, he got a chance to see Magnus honestly flustered. Or, uncomfortable really. He’d seen him upset when they first met and Alec was lying on the floor freshly revived. He’d seen him unsure and worried while they discussed the changes Alec went through, or the Big Bad they were hunting after. But now – now, Magnus looked one breath away from twisting his hands and shuffling his feet.
Biting back his usual sarcasm, Gabriel twisted himself to better focus on Magnus. “What’s going on, kiddo?”
For just a second more Magnus debated his words. His eyes darted to the nearby windows and the view of the others still playing around outside. Whatever he saw as he watched his husband clearly gave him strength. He sighed and met Gabriel stare for stare. “Alexander’s mother has been on vacation the past month with her new partner. She’s returned back home and is eager to have a family dinner with her children and their partners. I was hoping you might find the time to join us.”
Ohhh. The nerves suddenly made a whole lot more sense. Gabriel had seen a lot in the various times he and Alec shared grace together. Communing didn’t leave room for any sort of secrets. Especially not big ones. Little things might slip by, sure, but the more often two communed, the more time they spent together, the more that came through. Gabriel had seen a whole lot about Maryse – who she’d been before, who she was now. But all of those thoughts and memories were filtered through Alec’s perspective. Gabriel tilted his head and studied someone who might have a bit more of an unbiased perspective on the situation. “Do we like her?” he asked simply.
Magnus let out a sound that was likely as close to a snort as the dignified man would allow himself. “That depends. Are you asking as in a general consensus, as those who support Alexander’s mental health, or me personally?”
“All three, preferably.”
One corner of Magnus’ mouth quirked up. He gave a small shrug. “Mostly, only recently though still hesitantly, and not particularly.”
Well then. Gabriel rocked back a little, his wings shuffling and resettling behind him where no one could see. He already had his own opinions about the Lightwood parents – very few of which were good, though from what he’d gotten from Alec it seemed that Maryse was far better out of the two. But he trusted Magnus’ view of things a little more than he did Alec’s.
If Magnus was this worried about things that he felt the need to ask Gabriel there as backup, he could do that. He could happily do that. “I’d be delighted to come,” he said, letting his lips curve into a smirk he knew promised trouble. He’d heard Alec refer to it as his Loki-look. The kid wasn’t exactly wrong, either.
Everything about Magnus relaxed. It showed just how tense he’d actually been. Something which Gabriel would have to work on. He didn’t want his kids to ever feel like they couldn’t come ask him for things – and that included his son-in-law.
“Dinner will be at seven,” Magnus said, and he even sounded more relaxed now. “We’re having Maryse and Luke over a little earlier than that so that Alexander can explain things to them before anyone comes over. But I believe he would appreciate your care and support afterward.”
“Oh, goody. That means I won’t have to bother hiding who I am.” Mentally, Gabriel rubbed his hands together. If he didn’t have to hide it’d make things a whole lot more fun.
Magnus looked like he wanted to say something to that, maybe some sort of warning or request, who knew. They were interrupted by a loud cry from the backyard that made it in through the closed door.
Immediately twisting to look out the window, it only took a second for Gabriel to realize what had happened, and then a second more for him to start to laugh.
Fenrir must’ve decided that he was done hanging out in human form today, because he stood there now as a wolf. Not his usual size, which would’ve intimidated the hell out of everyone. Still, he’d picked a large enough size that had clearly still startled someone into shouting. His head had to be level with Alec’s, if not a little above.
The why became clear a second later when he leapt forward and pounced on Alec, sending the both of them rolling across the grass. Someone – Gabriel was pretty sure it was Clary – shouted out at them, but she didn’t try going forward to stop. That likely had something to do with the fact that Jace was practically rolling on the ground in laughter, and even Isabelle sported a wide grin.
That laughter spread a moment later when Fenrir clearly got what he’d been aiming for. He’d managed to pin Alec down, one law firmly holding him in place while he used his tongue to start grooming Alec's fluffy feathers into place.
The sound Magnus made next to him had Gabriel's grin growing. It was somewhere between a coo and a laugh. “Alexander is going to murder him for that whenever he gets free.”
Sure enough, Alec looked ready to murder him now. All his limbs free or not. The laughter of the others only increased the scowl on his face. At the same time, Gabriel could actually see the blush in his cheeks from here.
“I suppose we should probably go save him,” Magnus said. The laughter was easy to hear in his voice.
Gabriel didn’t bother hiding his own grin. “Are you kidding me?” With a snap of his fingers a camera was summoned to his hands. “This is perfect blackmail material.”
Without hesitation he made his way out of the house and down the yard, snapping pictures before he even got close. He saw the exact instant that Alec realized he was coming, and oh, the glare the kid sent his way had Gabriel laughing and snapping another picture.
“Gabriel!” Alec snapped out.
“That one’s going in the family album!” Gabriel called back cheerfully. “Baby’s first grooming. It’s adorable.” Shifting the camera to one hand, he brought his other up to fan at his face, and he faked a sniffle. “It’s so sweet, you two are gonna make me cry.”
The laughter from the others only had Alec’s scowl deepening. Gabriel didn’t miss the shuffle of his wings, though, or the fact that, despite the wriggles of his body his wings were actually staying still. The stubbornly defiant kid might not want to admit it out loud, or where anyone else might be able to hear, but a part of him was clearly soaking up Fenrir’s affection, the same way he always soaked up any affection Gabriel sent his way, or Magnus, or anyone else, really. Even if he blustered and bitched on the outside, inside, he craved it.
Gabriel felt a surge of glee at the idea of dinner tonight. He had some things he was more than looking forward to saying to Maryse Lightwood.
Whether Maryse really had grown and changed this past year, become a better person after her deruning, well, that remained to be seen. For her sake, she’d better hope it was real. While Alec was her son, he was also Gabriel’s kid now, the brand-new baby of the family, and Gabriel had no issue laying down some ground rules for their joint parenting.