Chapter Text
Alec was pissed off.
Pissed off and tired, actually. His head was pounding by the time he left the Institute to come with Izzy to Magnus’ place. The thought of seeing the warlock had him in brighter spirits and he felt his lips twitch in a secret smile on the way there.
Honestly, all he wanted to do was go to that Ethiopian place Magnus had mentioned just before they’d found Lydia. He wanted to go there and just spend an entire evening listening to Magnus tell him stories about his life. Alec wasn’t stupid, he knew he’d been gone on Magnus the second they’d locked eyes with each other, even though he’d desperately tried to deny that fact when the other man had pushed the subject. Magnus just had this... Strangely comforting effect on him, even when Alec was trying to be angry with him, and that was what Alec really wanted right now.
Which is why, when he stepped into the warlock’s apartment in time to see Camille twist Magnus around and seal their lips together, Alec saw red.
He’d spent the entire evening dealing with his mother trying to break them up before they had even gotten together. He’d listen to her spew her racist shit about Magnus and the fact that he was “a Downworlder” for what felt like hours (it was probably no longer than a couple of minutes, but Alec’s patience wasn’t exactly holding up very well and it felt like he’d spent hours trying to not knock her out for talking about Magnus as if he somehow was beneath her, when the man had done nothing but try and help them this entire time). He’d walked through the Institute and dealt with the disgusted looks and the gossiping from people he’d once called friends. He’d had a long night and he was sick and tired of nobody being capable of just letting him and Magnus be.
Alec felt a low growl start in his throat at the sight before him, and at Camille’s smug smile. Izzy caught his arm just as he was about to launch himself at the vampire and stake her right then and there for daring to touch what was his (and wow, apparently “pissed off and tired”-Alec was also “very possessive”-Alec).
“We need her, big brother” she whispered and then turned her attention back to listen to whatever it was that Camille was talking about. Alec wasn’t really listening, he was too busy taking in the startled and slightly broken look on Magnus’ face. When the warlock finally met Alec’s eyes, he looked almost… pleading. Alec frowned, confused, it was a look he’d never seen on the other man before. Magnus was the High Warlock of Brooklyn, he was the most powerful person in that room. Magnus Bane did not beg. And yet, right now the man was looking at Alec as if he was begging the Shadowhunter to not be angry with him, to forgive him.
Why?
Alec was just about to voice his question when it hit him: Magnus thought that Alec blamed him for the kiss.
By the Angel, he thought and then, as he studied the warlock closer, he noticed how Magnus flinched slightly each time one of Camille’s hands graced his arm, and how his eyes lacked their usual glow and life. Magnus looked like… He looked like an abusive-victim, Alec realized. With that realization, Alec’s anger blossomed again. But not because the vampire-bitch kept touching what was his, but because she was obviously making Magnus uncomfortable. She was obviously trying to hurt him.
“I don’t have time for this”, Alec snapped, now desperate to move on from whatever topic it was that was making Magnus increasingly uncomfortable and, more importantly, desperate to get Magnus away from this poisonous woman. He saw panic fill Magnus’ eyes and wanted nothing more than to gather the other man up in his arms to reassure him that everything was going to be okay, that Alec wasn’t angry at him. But he couldn’t, not as long as Camille was in the same room as them and would only use the warlock’s vulnerability for further mockery (which would inevitably lead to Alec chopping her head off, and apparently that wasn’t allowed just yet) .
Before Alec could give in to the impulse of grabbing Magnus’ hand and dragging him out of there, to try and get the spark that was currently missing back into those beautiful eyes of his, Clary and Simon entered the room. Alec looked between the two as they explained the terms of the contract to Camille. Where Clary looked like a woman on a mission, Simon looked a bit like someone who’d already lost. Alec frowned at that. Why wouldn’t he be happy about the prospect of getting Jocelyn out of her cursed state? From what he’d gathered under the short amount of time he’d known the two, Jocelyn appeared to have been almost like a second mother to Simon. Saving her should be making him happy and, if possible, even more obnoxious than usual. It shouldn’t be turning the boy into this empty shell that was currently standing in front of Camille whilst Clary spoke.
Camille - the thought of the name brought Alec’s focus back to her and, more specifically, the nails she was currently - and absentmindedly it seemed - running up and down Magnus’ arm. The view made Alec’s rage flare up again and he tightened his fists at his sides in an attempt to keep from jumping her.
“Okay then, lead the way to the Book of the White, vampire” Clary said, and Alec saw how Simon flinched at the way she spat the word, as if it was beneath her to even mention it.
He didn’t even like Simon, and still he found himself wanting to reassure him that being a vampire, being a downworlder over all, didn’t make him less important; worth any less than anyone else.
After having spent the night hearing his mother spit out the fact that Magnus was a warlock was a bigger issue than the fact that he was a man (that’s not to say she didn’t find that little fact troublesome as well, of course), Alec had somehow unknowingly taken up the fight against racism towards downworlders. It made his blood boil that so many of his own kind thought themselves better than downworlders, and even mundanes, simply because they had angel-blood in their veins. They thought themselves to have the right to torture, kill and overall disrespect downworlders simply because of how they were born.
That Clary was obviously picking up this trait, albeit probably unknowingly, was actually very worrying. Alec had disliked Clary from the second he’d laid eyes on her, but even he would admit to the fact that she’d at the very least been kind at heart. It appeared the shadowhunter-life was slowly turning her into something she was not.
But that was an issue he’d have to think about at a later date. For now, his focus needed to be on getting Magnus away from the poisonous bitch standing beside him.
Actually, his focus should be on acquiring the Book of the White. But in Alec’s eyes, Magnus took priority at that moment.
Camille walked out of the apartment, letting her eyes roam over Alec’s body and smirking at him as she passed. Clary and Izzy followed her quickly, but Simon seemed to hang back. Alec wanted to ask him to leave, but then the vampire turned to Magnus and spoke.
“I’m so sorry, Magnus. I didn’t know. I wouldn’t have… I would have been in here if I had known”, he said, his face scrunched up in an apologetic frown. Magnus hadn’t moved from his spot, looking at the door where the women had disappeared, but now he looked towards Simon and a small, almost sad, smile grew on his lips. Alec’s heart tightened at the sight.
“I know” he said, and Simon nodded and was about to follow the others out, when Magnus continued:
“He will forgive you, you know. Raphael is stubborn, but he isn’t stupid. He will forgive you”, and Alec saw hope light up Simon’s eyes, before he closed them and shook his head.
“I’m not so sure about that, but thank you”, he whispered and then went out of the door before anyone could say anything else.
Magnus mumbled something under his breath and took a step as if to follow the group, but Alec reached out before he could, stopping him mid-step by grabbing a hold of the warlock’s wrist.
“Magnus”, he began but was cut off by Magnus’ finger on his mouth. The gesture was so familiar from the first night they had actually had a chance to talk, just the two of them, that Alec could have smiled. But the broken look in Magnus’ eyes made his heart hurt too much for that to be possible.
“Don’t. Please don’t say anything, not now. I can’t… I just… I will explain everything to you, I promise. Just… please don’t think it was what it looked like. Please” he said.
Alec had never seen Magnus beg, not even when he was trying to convince the shadowhunter to stop the sham that was his wedding. The warlock wasn’t even looking him in the eyes, and Alec wished he would just look at him. Then he’d see. He’d see that Alec wasn’t angry with him, that he understood. So, grabbing Magnus’ hand and removing the finger from his mouth, he voiced his wish.
“Magnus, look at me”, he said. Hesitantly, as if he was preparing to have his heart broken, Magnus looked up into Alec’s eyes and the shadowhunter let a small, reassuring, smile grace his lips.
“I’m not angry. Well, I am quite pissed off, to be honest. But not at you”, he said and then watched as Magnus’ eyes widened in shock when the words registered.
“You.. But, Camille…?”
Alec couldn’t help but be a little bit proud of the fact that he’d managed to reduce Magnus Bane, High warlock of Brooklyn and magnificently flirtatious at all times, to confused stuttering. Lifting his hand to Magnus’ cheek and letting his thumb caress the warlock’s cheekbone, Alec decided to ease all Magnus’ worries about the kiss Camille had forced him into.
“You risked so much when you stormed my wedding. For some reason I don’t completely understand yet, you’ve been flirting with me and trying to get a date out of me for weeks. I’m pretty sure you wouldn’t do all of that if you were just going to turn around and throw it away for someone like Camille. I know you two dated, I know you loved her once, but I also know that your eyes, your whole body in fact, were screaming with how uncomfortable you were when she was touching you. So no, I’m not angry. Not at you”, he said, and he felt a tear slip from the warlock’s eye as he leaned into Alec’s touch. Magnus opened his eyes from where he’d closed them as the shadowhunter was speaking, and Alec’s heart sang when he saw that the light had returned to them.
“You never cease to amaze me, Alexander” he said, and Alec finally gave in to the urge he’d had earlier, sliding his hand away from Magnus’ cheek and around his neck to cradle the back of his skull as he wrapped the shorter man in his arms, his head held against Alec’s heart. He felt Magnus give a relieved sigh and smiled softly as strong arms circled his own waist. Alec made a promise right then and there, to protect Magnus from any harm, physically or psychologically, that he possibly could.
They stood like that for just a few seconds, each drawing strength from the other, before Magnus sighed and put some distance between them. Alec wasn’t quite ready to let go of him yet and kept his hand on Magnus’ cheek, smiling softly as the warlock leaned into the touch and placed one of his hands above Alec’s with a soft hum.
“As much as I’d like to stay here and preferably avoid any and all interaction with Camille, the others will need our help in finding that book. We should follow them”, Magnus said and stepped away from Alec to follow the others. The shadowhunter watched him walk out of the room, his smile falling slightly. His whole being screamed at him to not let Magnus anywhere near Camille, but there was nothing he could do. They needed her in order to wake Clary’s mother up, and they needed Magnus to make sure she didn’t screw them completely.
Well, just because he needs to be in the room doesn’t mean he needs to let her touch him, Alec thought as he jogged to catch up with the warlock.