Chapter Text
TWO WEEKS LATER
Alec is lost in thought when Magnus finds him. The warlock is nervous and excited in a way he hasn’t been for centuries. In his pocket he’s stashed Clary’s sketch of a rune, her apology present for the two of them. He’ll ask him tonight, not right now.
“Anything of interest going on in that head of yours?” Magnus asks.
Alec’s head snaps up to look over at Magnus and an automatic smile forms at the sight of his official boyfriend. Alec stands up from the desk in the New York Institute and sighs heavily as he does so. “No. It just feels weird to leave. I grew up here, I learned everything I know here. It’s my home and after today….”
Magnus steps closer and is startled to notice Alec’s eyes are teared up. “You want to change your mind, honey? You don’t have to leave it all behind.”
Alec shakes his head harshly. “No. I want to. Imogen and the Clave aren’t going to be changing their minds anytime soon. She can’t punish me anymore, since we stopped Valentine and everything, but I can’t continue to work with people who hate the Downworld. Hate me and all that I believe.” He takes a steadying breath and presses his hands down flat on the top of the desk in front of him. “No, this is the right decision. It’s just hard, you know?”
Magnus doesn’t. Not really. He’s never given up something this massive, and he doesn’t think he could. Alexander Lightwood continues to prove his strength over and over again in a way that stuns Magnus. “Well, you’re not alone.”
Alec lets out a rough chuckle and nods his head. “Yeah, I know. Izzy and Jace have been constantly checking in on me, this is the first time in like a week that I’ve managed to get away from them for more than an hour at a time.”
“And where’s your second in command?”
“In Idris. Giving Imogen our ultimatum. We’re cutting all ties to the Clave and creating our own Institute, this one to be open to any shadowhunter and downworlder that wants to train with us. We won’t be revealing our location to the Clave and we won’t allow any of the more conservative shadowhunters to bully us into submission.” The words slip off his tongue easily. He rehearsed with Lydia for the past couple of weeks as they ironed out the details. The Clave won’t be happy and Imogen most of all. He grins at the thought, happy to finally get to push back against her close mindedness.
“And how many here will be following you, do you know yet?” Magnus asks with genuine curiousity. “I’ve got scores of downworlders that are interested though still very wary.”
Alec grins with delight at the news. “Good, good!” His eyes flicker to the left as he thinks and Magnus can’t help but find it endearing. “Quite a few. All the survivors from the battle are coming with us. Izzy, Jace, and Lydia of course. Professor Midson is taking Clary to Idris to study runes, but they’re official in support of us. A lot of the men and women I’ve trained are following me.” Alec’s skin tints pink in embarrassment and Magnus leans forward to place a kiss to one warm cheek.
“You’re worth following, sweetness.” Magnus holds up the small set of keys in his hands and jangles them in front of his boyfriend. “And here you go, Director. The keys to your new palace.” Magnus savors every moment of the awed smile Alec gives him as he reverently takes the keys from the warlock.
“Again, I can’t thank you enough for backing me like this. We wouldn’t have the resources without you.”
Magnus smiles and waves him off, more than happy to have such a valiant cause to spend his many fortunes on. “It’s my pleasure, Alexander. Besides, it’s not like I’m any less invested in this than you. You’re looking at the official warlock in residence of the new Institute as well as the warlock representative of the Downworld Cabinet.”
Magnus isn’t prepared for the heavy kiss Alec places on his lips. Magnus’ knees buckle a little when Alec pushes further into the kiss instead of pulling back like he expected. The desk is still between them but Magnus can only focus on the warm tingle emanating from the kiss. When Alec pulls away he’s smirking with obvious pleasure at surprising his older warlock boyfriend.
“We could call you the Director of Magic or something,” Alec offers through that smirk.
Magnus groans and pretends his hands aren’t shaking. “Please don’t, this isn’t Harry Potter.” The warlock pushes a small curl out of Alec’s eyes and places his own, more chaste, kiss upon those full lips.
“Are you ready?”
Both Magnus and Alec turn to look at the door to the office to find Jace and Izzy waiting there with smirks on their faces. “How long have you been there?” Magnus asks in amusement even as he watches that cute pink spread across Alec’s face once again.
“Long enough, come on you two,” Izzy replies. “It’s time.”
Alec’s face grows serious and he nods decisively. He takes one last look around the office, his eyes snagging on the beautiful stain glass of the windows. He pats the desk in front of him and walks out of the room with his family.
Maryse is waiting for them in the main room. Alec stops in front of her and gives her the opportunity to speak first. She does so, “I still don’t approve of your decisions, Alec. You’re pulling your siblings into your messes.” Her face is pinched with suppressed anger and loss. “But, I understand that things are changing, and I understand that you won’t be listening to me anymore.” Maryse’s anger falls away for a moment and her face is full of regret and love. “I wish you the best, Alec. Look out for Izzy, make sure Jace doesn’t get himself killed.”
“Hey!” Jace and Izzy exclaim in unison.
Alec doesn’t smile but his own expression is soft and open as he replies, “Thank you, mother. You understand the terms of our agreement?”
Maryse’s terse countenance returns as she nods her head. “No official contact. I will send questioning shadowhunters in your direction. That would be easier if I knew where you were going, Alec.”
Alec shakes his head and firmly says, “Absolutely not. I need to protect my people.”
His mother’s shoulders fall in resignation but she accepts the words. “You three better be at the family dinners at Sunday still. Max will be inconsolable if you don’t.”
Izzy steps forward and gives her stiff mother a big hug. “We’ll be there.” Jace gives Maryse a handshake with a similar promise.
Then the three of them, with Magnus, walk out of the Institute for the last time. Izzy and Jace both stop and look back at the grandiose building, but Alec doesn’t pause as he continues walking to the sidewalk.
Simon and Gretel look up from their apparent argument and smile at the approaching group of shadowhunters. “Took you long enough!” Gretel gripes. Simon elbows her in the side but she doesn’t look regretful. Jace just smirks as he pulls the werewolf into his side.
Hurried footsteps approach them from the left and Alec is annoyed to find Clary Fairchild running over to them. She stops several feet away from them and looks so very unsure of herself. Simon steps forward first and envelops her in a hug. She sinks into it with a sigh and Alec can see the tears dampening the vampire’s shirt.
“I’ll see you again, right?” Clary asks her long time friend.
“You have a lot to answer for and we have a lot to heal, Clary.” Simon looks near tears himself now and Izzy grabs his hand to offer her support.
Clary looks crestfallen as she nods. Her eyes move to Jace and she asks, “You could come with me? Idris would love you to come back.”
Jace says frankly, “Just because we’re not related doesn’t mean I’m going to start following you around again, Fray.”
Clary drops her head and stares at the sidewalk for a long time. When she finally looks up her tears have stopped and there’s a small fire burning in her eyes. “I wish you all the best then.” She lays her hand on Simon’s shoulder one last time before she slowly strides away from them with her shoulders hunched together in sorrow.
“Good riddance,” Alec mumbles. His heart reaches out for Simon though. The vampire has gone through so much since he stumbled into this world behind Clary.
For Magnus the only thing he can think about is the rune Clary gave him, and how it’s burning a hole in his pocket. “Come along then, you youths!” Magnus says with only half faked cheer. “I’ve spent the last week getting this place set up for you! The least you could do is show up on time.”
Alec rolls his eyes but begins loping in the general direction the new building is located. Magnus clears his throat and Alec stops, looking back over his shoulder. “Why walk when you can portal in style?” Magnus asks. He makes a show of waving his hands in a silent dance and a portal shimmers into existence. The warlock finds it unfair how pretty Alec’s skin is in the dim purple light.
Izzy giggles and steps through first, dragging Simon behind her. Gretel and Jace follow shortly after, leaving only Alec and Magnus. The shadowhunter pulls Magnus into a tight hug and whispers his thanks into his hair.
With Alec’s tall strong body wrapped around him, Magnus feels incredibly...safe. And appreciated. “Anything for you, Alexander.” Alec’s arms tighten around him even further until he pulls back all of a sudden.
Magnus blinks at the change and doesn’t notice the hand Alec is holding out to him for a long moment. “Well?” Alec prompts with a smile.
“What?” Magnus looks at the hand offered to him.
“Did you want to show me around or not?”
Magnus rolls his eyes and gracefully grabs his shadowhunter’s hand and pulls him through the portal.
Simon stumbles through the large front doors of the DuMort at three in the afternoon, fresh back from the tour of the new campus with Magnus and the others. He lets the doors fall shut behind him and then slides down to sit on the floor with his back pressed against the wood. He’s beyond exhausted. He’s barely slept for the last couple of weeks what with helping Raphael at night and the shadowhunters during the day. The funerals, the wakes, the celebrations of victory. The meeting with Luke’s pack and the seelie court and the Clave.
Simon sighs and lets his eyes drop closed. Maybe he’ll sleep right here today, it seems like a Herculan amount of effort to drag himself through the hotel to his room. Or even Raphael’s. The fledgling’s lips curl up at the thought of Raphael, his leader and significant other. It feels weird to call Raphael his boyfriend. Raphael is too stoic for that, too upkept. Simon mentally shrugs and thinks he’ll probably figure it out later. Probably.
“What are you doing, conejito?”
Simon starts and looks up at Raphael’s sleepy irritated face.
“I can feel you thinking from three floors away, Si.” Which is patently ridiculous, but he did hear the doors open and close, and since it’s three in the afternoon with the sun high in the sky, he knew it had to be Simon. He can see the weariness that clings to Simon’s frame like a mist and his heart reaches out to his fledgling. Simon’s been working himself into the ground.
“I can’t move,” Simon pouts from the ground.
Raphael rolls his eyes but stoops to pick the young man up and carry him up the stairs. He makes a show of groaning at Simon’s childishness, but in all seriousness it feels amazing to hold Simon so close to him. For far too long it felt like the universe was conspiring to take Simon away from him. To finally be clear of the danger is like quenching the thirst after weeks without nourishment.
All that said, he’s worried about Simon. The fledgling has nightmares near every night and sometimes Simon will just space out in the middle of doing something. Raphael recognizes unwanted memories when he sees them and he wants nothing more than to spare Simon of that.
Simon giggles gleefully as Raphael carries him, more than a little punchdrunk on exhaustion. Raphael smiles at the sound of it and vows to make sure Simon always has reason to smile and laugh.
Raphael dumps Simon into his bed without any preamble and delights in the faux offended look Simon gives him. The fledgling is so light and wonderful and Raphael doesn’t know what he did to be worthy of keeping the fledgling close, but he’s eternally grateful. He crawls up into the bed and pulls Simon into his side and says, “Sleep, fledgling.”
Simon, surprisingly, doesn’t respond, but his body does relax into Raphael’s. After a long couple moments of comfort Simon finally says, “Hey, Rafa?”
“Hmm?” Raphael hums his acknowledgement.
“I was talking to Professor Midson the other day, you know, the lady Clary’s going to be working for now…”
Raphael’s lip pulls up into an involuntary sneer at the redhead’s name but he hums his understanding once again. He knows where this conversation is going, he’s been waiting for it.
“She’s been studying the Sword and trying to figure out why it would respond to Clary, and most likely Jace, considering how hard Valentine tried to get him to take it. She seems to think it’s something to do with their blood. I mean, Valentine loves experimenting with that kind of thing, right? Look at Alec.
“So, I was thinking, and I know I haven’t always been able to be in the sun. We both know that. But, remember the dina thing?”
“The daenea.”
“Yeah, that. When Magnus was doing his thing, you mentioned that Jace gave me a transfusion. What if that’s it, Rafa?”
“What of it?” Raphael says very carefully keeping his tone even.
“What do you mean ‘what of it’?! We could get Jace to give you a transfusion and you could walk in the daytime.”
Raphael turns Simon around to face him and makes sure the Fledgling is paying attention before he says, “No.”
“No, you don’t think it’ll work? I mean it’s just a transfusion, it wouldn’t hurt to try and--”
“Simon.” Raphael’s tone is laced with conviction and Simon shuts his mouth with a click of teeth. “No. The professor already talked to me about it, and I had my suspicions before that. We can’t do it.”
“Jace would--”
“I’m sure he would, but if we do that then when does it end? Would you be able to look Lily in the eyes and tell her no? Stan? Anyone?” Raphael clears his throat and tries to stay on track. “And then we have to think about Jace. If word got out about this then he could be hunted down or coerced into giving blood. Clary too, not that I care about her, but Jace has helped us again and again. He’s proven to be a great ally, and for you at least, a friend. Right?”
Simon nods his head slowly. “But, Rafa, don’t you want to?”
Raphael smiles at his fledgling, placing a kiss to Simon’s forehead. “Of course I do. I’d love to be able to take you to the zoo on a Sunday afternoon or the docks during the summer with the light shining off the lake. But I’ve come to terms with never seeing the sun again. I’ve mourned and grieved already.”
“We can just keep it a secret from the others!” Simon offers hopefully. “I won’t tell anyone, we won’t say anything about Jace or Clary…”
“That wouldn’t work and we both know it.” Raphael cups the side of Simon’s face with one hand, “Conejito, it’s okay. I’m glad that you’ve been blessed with this ability but I won’t risk so much just to get back something I thought lost forever. I won’t make a target of you, the clan, or the shadowhunters.”
“But, Rafa…”
“I know. It’s okay. We’ll figure it out.”
Simon stares at his leader for a long time trying to think of a way around the problems. Surely there’s a loophole somewhere. His head hurts though and his eyelids are incredibly heavy. He sighs and lays back down, humming in contentment when Raphael’s arms slide around him. “We’ll figure it out.” Simon falls asleep in a matter of moments.
Raphael stays awake a while longer thinking. He knows he’s made the right decision, and he’ll stand by it, but the taste of what ifs is strong on his tongue and he wishes to see the sunlight reflect off Simon’s eyes.
But no. He’s fully accepted his vampirism and he has a responsibility to his clan. He falls asleep with a small smile on his face, though no one is there to see it.
Alec wants nothing more than to fall into Magnus’ ridiculously sized bed and sleep. Despite the excitement of the new Institute, he can’t stay upright for much longer. There’s one thing stopping him though, or rather one being. Alec knows Magnus is just as tired as him. The warlock has been pouring his heart and energy into the new Institute they’re building as well as constantly siphoning magic into Alec.
Alec itches at the flaky skin on his bicep where the bone rune from the battle has been drawn again and again. The bond keeps magic running through Alec, which stops the pain, but it obviously weakens Magnus. Alec feels sick every time he has to burn that rune into Magnus’ skin anew. He’s also scared, because this is only a short term solution, and what if…
The shadowhunter freezes his thoughts there and steps out into the larger living area. “Mags?” Alec calls out.
Magnus steps into sight with a flourish and a smile. He’s wearing a silvery tunic that matches his eyeliner perfectly and Alec is once again stunned by how beautiful Magnus is. He clears his throat and pretends he didn’t just miss what Magnus said. “What are you doing?” Alec asks lamely.
“Are you daydreaming about me again?” Magnus asks with obvious glee. “Come on, come now, you silly Nephilim.” Magnus moves to sit on the largest sofa and pats the spot next to him. Alec acquieses and slumps into the comfortable piece of furniture.
“What’s on your mind?” Alec asks, belatedly understanding the latent energy humming around his warlock.
“We’ve been avoiding talking about you, dearest.”
“There’ve been more important things.”
“False. You are the most important.”
Alec sighs and drags a hand over the back of his neck. “I know I’m draining you and if you want to stop with the rune then I completely understand, we can find something else and--”
“Alexander Gideon Lightwood!” Magnus exclaims. “I did not go through all that trouble of finding you and wooing you just to let you die to blood poisoning.” Magnus sighs and his frame deflates further into the cushions around them. He pulls a small piece of paper from his pocket and hands it to Alec.
Alec takes the paper slowly without breaking eye contact with Magnus. “What is this?” he asks, still not looking at it.
“Clary gave it to me. As a farewell present.”
“What--”
“Just open it, dearest.”
Alec sighs but does as he’s told. The paper holds a sketch of a rune. It looks very similar to the one she created at the battle to link the downworlders and shadowhunters. But this one is slightly bolder and has a few extra details added to it. Alec’s breath gets stuck in his throat as realization washes over him.
“She says it’ll be permanent.”
“But, your magic--”
“Will be bound to you and will keep your blood sated. Permanently.”
Alec’s hand begins to shake and the rune blurs as he tries to look down at it again. “How is this possible?” Alec breathes out.
“How is anything about that girl possible?”
Alec closes his eyes and wills his mind to calm. “I can’t ask you to do this, Magnus. I know you’re weaker with me pulling on your magical reserves.” Alec looks down at the few runes he can see on his body. They’re still all scarred and when he tried to add a rune last week the stele nearly killed him. Some of the runes are still acting on him, the ones that are constant like endurance and agility. But others, like the iratze, that you have to activate, they don’t respond to a stele. No new runes and he’s handicapping Magnus. He’s worthless.
“I know what you’re thinking and it’s completely wrong. It would be a blessing to be linked to you, Alexander. Being a warlock means living a lonely life, you’re giving me the opportunity to have both.”
A thought hits Alec and it’s out of his mouth before he can stop it, “Will I die? I mean, like naturally, will I die?”
Magnus becomes hesitant and the nerves unfurl into anxiety in his stomach. “We don’t know. Clary’s new to this and while I trust her ability to make these runes, she has little to no idea about all the possible ramifications of doing something like this.”
“What do you mean?”
Magnus shrugs and the shimmering of the silver around his cat eyes distracts Alec for a moment. “Your life force will effectively be tied to mine. The possibility of you becoming immortal is highly likely. I’ll be able to feel your runes, the ones that you still have, and you’ll have limited access to my magic. There will be no more you and me, everything will become ‘us’.”
The idea of allowing someone such power over him is both exciting and terrifying to Magnus. On one hand it’s something he’s always wanted, a partner in all things. But on the other hand it could backfire on them horribly. They don’t even know if it’ll work.
“I don’t want to tie you down, Magnus.”
“You wouldn’t be, you’d be holding me together.” Magnus knows the doubts flowing through Alec’s mind right now and he wishes he could just… make the man understand. “Will I be weaker? Yes, technically I will, as some of my energy will be constantly funnelled into you. Your runes may be diluted as some of the effects bleed into me. But I’m happy to give up a little power to keep you here with me. It’s not a cost, Alexander, it’s a blessing.”
“What if we don’t work out, though?”
“Romantically?” Magnus asks, knowing the answer. “Then we don’t work out, but that doesn’t have anything to do with this . I trust you, Alexander, as an individual and a leader. Don’t feel obligated to stay with me out of duty or debt. Don’t go into this if you don’t want to be connected to me, I’ll draw this rune on my arm every day for as long as it’s needed, I promise.”
Alec doesn’t doubt the warlock, the conviction in his eyes is nearly burning through Alec. But Alec can’t imagine outliving his siblings, the thought brings a coldness to his body that scares him. He also can’t imagine either of them not supporting this bond, they’d undoubtedly be angry if he turned it down. They’d drag him back to Magnus and apologize for him, beg the warlock to take him back.
Immortality isn’t a known factor, but Magnus is rarely wrong… Choices and options are spinning through his head but his gut has calmed to a pleasant buzz. He knows his decision, and maybe this is going to bite them in the butt later, but they’ll figure it out. Together.
“Do you want to draw my rune?” Alec asks with a blinding smile.
Magnus gasps in pure glee and relief, he tackles Alec onto his back on the couch, and hovers over the larger body. “I’m so glad that Clary dragged you to that party, Alexander.” Then he swoops down and cuts off any reply Alec might have had with a deep kiss.
ONE YEAR LATER
Izzy watches Lydia scold an oblivious young shadowhunter and smiles to herself. She continues the mindless chore of cleaning the weapons and lets her mind drift over the last year. A lot has changed and the thought only makes her smile more.
She remembers when Alec had crawled into her bed at night and told her what he and Magnus had done. He showed her the new rune, sitting proudly above his heart and said, “I can feel him, Izzy. All the time.” His eyes were round in awe and a small amount of anxiety.
She listened to all his self doubts and comforted him when he ran out of words. Several hours later he finally returned to Magnus’ loft and Izzy got a thank you text from the warlock. She rolled her eyes but couldn’t, and can’t, deny how proud and happy she is for her brother.
Of all people, she thinks Alec deserves the most. He’s given so much, never expecting anything in return and Izzy is so immensely relieved that the world is finally returning the favor. Alec walks tall now and he’s left behind the constant fear of his veins burning up in his sleep. He’s confident and comfortable around Magnus and seemingly in his own skin. She has the warlock to thank for that.
They’re good for each other, Magnus and Alec, they stabilize each other and Izzy’s heart warms every time one of them helps the other.
“Simon, stop helping!” come the distant cries of both Gretel and Raphael. Izzy huffs in amusement and can picture them easily, training some of the Downworld recruits in the second atrium, Simon trying to give tips that don’t work. Just making the others’ lives more difficult.
She also knows Raphael won’t stop the fledgling from doing it, because he knows Simon feels out of place sometimes during the trainings. Simon is the best with mental control though, and he helps where he can, counseling other young people through the worst stages.
“You’ve got that smile on your face like you’re thinking about chocolate cake or something.” Izzy looks up at Lydia and smiles fully at the other woman. Lydia makes her stomach swoop when she walks into a room. Lydia makes Izzy happy.
“Just thinking about how everything’s changed,” Izzy replies.
“I know. I mean Jace learning how to interact with people like a normal person? Didn’t think the day would come.” Lydia teases and pulls gently on the end of the other woman’s ponytail.
In Izzy’s opinion, Jace and Gretel are still terrible at socializing, but at least they know when to keep their mouths shut now. Those two are a nightmare to keep away from trouble. She didn’t think that Jace would be able to find someone who’s as much of a trouble magnet as he is. It’s just a good thing that they’re almost as good at getting themselves back out of tough situations.
“Wanna go get lunch?” Lydia asks.
Izzy nods, puts the weapon in her hand down, and slips her own hand into Lydia’s without a second thought. “What’d the kid do?” Izzy asks.
“A stupid prank that almost ended very badly. Honestly, I don’t understand some of the people Maryse sends our way, she knows that we aren’t just here for her rejects, right?....”
They disappear down the hallway of the second New York Institute, talking happily and both endlessly grateful for things working out the way they have.
The Clave continues to lose power as more and more people transfer to Alec’s control, where the Accords are rewritten to be just to every species and individual, and the Downworld Cabinet meets every week. The Silent Brothers haven’t outright claimed a side, but they answer all questions that come their way, and they hold a soft a spot for Alexander Gideon Lightwood: the man the Angels deemed pure.