Notes: I've had this idea running around in my head for a while and it wouldn't leave me alone, so I decided to give it a try despite how obscure the concept turned out to be. Canon events, while present to some degree, are barely mentioned so the timeline shouldn't be too difficult to catch up with. I'm planning on actually delving deeper into details around the magic and everything surrounding it in the next chapter; this is meant to serve mostly as introduction.
If Jace was honest with himself, he had to admit that he wasn't really surprised by Sebastian's request. Really, it had been a long time coming and while Jace knew that Alec was right and that they had to be extremely careful, it had been months. Sebastian had more than earned their trust already and it didn't feel right to keep him in the dark about something so crucial – not when it could potentially affect him too.
"If you want to keep it between you and Alec, that's fine by me." The lengthy silence had been a clear enough proof of Jace's doubt, he suspected, because Sebastian had spoken up again. "It's something very private, after all. It's just– my father had a parabatai. Things didn't end well between them – his parabatai betrayed him – and he didn't talk about it much, but he studied other bonded pairs sometimes."
"Your father was a scholar?" Jace could count the times Sebastian had mentioned his family on the fingers of one hand and it was almost always used as a justification of some sort. That seemed to be the case now too; even when he was like this, relaxed and still half-asleep, the thought was apparently never far from his mind.
"Not at all." There was a hint of a smile to his voice and, sensing the strain in it, Jace carded his fingers through Sebastian's hair just to remind him that he was there. It was far too easy to get lost in memories; he knew that better than anyone, even if he didn't know that Sebastian knew that he was safe now. He Sebastian had a room at the Institute already, but he still favoured his flat above that and Jace didn't have it in him to complain. It made for a perfect meeting place even if it meant that Alec had to live before dawn sometimes to get to the Institute in time. "But he had his– fixations. And he believed that, if the relationship between parabatai turns into a romantic one – if it's consummated – then it can generate angelic power much stronger than the one used for tracking. I was just wondering if he was right."
There wasn't much that Jace knew about Sebastian's father. He'd left years ago, that much he was sure of, when Sebastian had still been a child, which was enough to explain his endless curiosity about the things the man had been interested in. And really, with that in mind, Jace could imagine turning him away; not for something that still fascinated him and Alec just as much.
Can I see your magic? The question had been accompanied by a casual enough tone for Jace to know that Sebastian was doing his best to remain nonchalant and the thought brought a smile to his face as he raised his hand until it was in his lover's field of vision. With the slightest bit of concentration, he let the power that coursed in his blood – the one that both he and Alec had finally learnt to rein in – crack through his fingers, illuminating the bedroom with its dark red glow.
o.O.o
It hadn't always been like this. If someone had told Jace just a few months ago that he would be comfortable enough with someone to share with them the details of his and Alec's bond, he would have laughed in their face. It wasn't something either of them had even considered discussing before – it was far too intimate and far too dangerous all at the same time, given the nature their relationship had had for quite a while now – and it was best kept behind closed doors.
It was just one of the many reasons why he and Alec had been terrified when Sebastian had first found out about them. It had happened in the most ridiculous way, too; there had been a red alert of some sort in the Institute and they had been nowhere to be found, so the man – who, as Alec had pointed out more than once, took his job very seriously – had tracked them down to the hotel where they'd been staying for the night. He'd told them later on that he'd almost brought a search party, and Jace didn't even want to think of what would have happened then. As it was, he could only be grateful that Sebastian had listened to reason when Alec had asked him (begged, almost, although Jace was the only one who knew him well enough to see the desperation in his eyes) to keep it to himself.
"I think it's cruel," Sebastian had said then, laying a comforting hand on Alec's forearm to keep him in place, "what the Clave is doing to you. To let two people enter such a powerful bond and to force them to stay apart is unthinkable."
"You have a parabatai?" Some of the tension from before had lessened along with the firmness of Alec's grip on Sebastian's arm. The change had been almost imperceptible, but still enough for Jace to notice. Sebastian had shaken his head.
"No, but I've heard the stories. The parabatai bond is one of a kind, and for it to be restrained like this... it's a crime."
Over the next week or so, Alec and Jace had come to the wordless agreement that one of them had to be aware of every step Sebastian made and they'd split this new duty equally between themselves in the silent hope that they were inconspicuous enough. If Sebastian had noticed, he hadn't said anything and, to their relief, he hadn't told anyone anything else either.
Slowly, Jace had started trusting him. He'd appeared to be too passionate about their case to actually do anything to bring their relationship to light and, if anything, he was helping – their lives had become significantly easier since Alec had trusted him with the Institute's security. It had been the first sign that Alec had started to give in too and Jace had been irrationally satisfied by that. It was easier to bear the secret now that they had someone to share it with – someone who had only made things better so far – and without fully realising it, they'd both started confiding in Sebastian much more often.
How Sebastian had become part of their relationship was a whole other story; one complicated enough that sometimes Jace still couldn't tell for sure when it had started. All he knew was that at one point his interest in Sebastian had morphed into something suppressing friendship and when Alec had detected that, he'd cut Jace off in the middle of his frantic apology to admit that he felt the same way. From then on, it had seemed like they only had one course of action to follow.
They'd decided to be as open as possible from the very beginning, the three of them, but even now Sebastian was still a bit of a mystery for both him and Alec. It wasn't especially surprising – he wasn't connected to them the way they were to each other – and so they'd tried to include him in all the changes in their bond as soon as they happened. Or at least, Jace had. It was taking a while longer for Alec and as much as Jace tried to speed up the process, he knew his parabatai well enough to know that he was seeing this as a necessary precaution rather than actual distrust.
That, of course, didn't mean that Sebastian wasn't perceptive enough to notice.
"Alec would be charmed," he muttered as Jace fiddled with the candles on the other end of the room, the fire dancing with every little twitch of his fingers. "What else can you do?"
"He's got magic too," Jace said, distracted by the effort of keeping the flame under his control. "He's better at the mind reading than I am, though."
Sebastian stiffened under his touch. "Mind reading."
"It only works for me and we still don't share every thought," Jace assured him. The edge to Sebastian's voice was exactly what he'd expected given the circumstances. "But if you try and talk to him, he'll probably be able to hear you."
Can you hear me now?
Jace laughed despite himself. While he had to admit that the changes in the bond worried him sometimes, they were worth it just for moments like this. "Yes."
"We can test it sometime, all three of us," Sebastian said. Jace could tell by his tone alone that he was already considering at least fifty ways in which this could be useful. "If we learn how to control it fully, it could be a great advantage. Does anyone else know?"
"No one." They hadn't even told Clary and Izzy yet because they hadn't wanted to worry them too much with these new changes when they were still so absorbed in trying to find Valentine. Sebastian was safe in that regard; while he was excellent at what he did, nothing – not even the war – seemed to really affect him. Jace didn't think he'd ever seen him upset. Most of his reactions were as contained as they could get and Jace had been around Alec long enough to get used to that, but it was still occasionally startling to realise just how little he knew about Sebastian apart from what the man had decided to share with them.
One of the things he did know was that Sebastian was an excellent strategist, though, so he'd already expected to hear his next offer by the time he made it. "We could try it out later in the Institute before we do anything else, then. Only if Alec's willing to, of course."
"Why wouldn't he be?" Retracting his magic from the various light sources around them, Jace disentangled himself from the covers and tried to hunt down his clothes from last night. "He wants to learn more about our magic too, so if anything could help..."
"It's your magic," Sebastian pointed out. His smile was a bit more strained now, but he hadn't moved from his position on the bed, leaning back against the headboard and idly tracking Jace's movement around the room with his eyes. "I don't expect him to trust me with it completely."
"He does trust you."
Sebastian scoffed.
"He does," Jace persisted. "He's trusted you with much more before. Why would this be any different?" He trusted you with me. Jace didn't say it, but it was still all the proof he needed. Alec had taken a leap of faith when he'd first confided in Sebastian about their relationship and things had been getting steadily better since then and Jace knew that he wouldn't change his mind now unless he was given a reason to.
"Maybe you're right." Despite the uncertainty in his voice, Sebastian seemed excited by the prospect. "I'll talk to him later. There's some paperwork I need him to sign anyway."
"I'll be right behind you." Despite having duties much different from Alec's current ones, Jace found himself in his office often enough and he looked forward to getting there even more now that they'd made a decision. "This should be interesting."
"I hope so," Sebastian said before following Jace's example and getting up to get ready for the day and, just by taking one look at him, Jace could already tell that whatever he'd planned wouldn't be just another quick experiment.
He didn't really mind, he realised. He and Alec had danced around the issue long enough; it had just taken Sebastian to bring it to the surface.
o.O.o
In the past few weeks, Alec had got so used to having Jace talk to him in his mind that he barely registered it as something out of the ordinary when he heard Sebastian's voice instead.
It wasn't actually his voice, of course. The feeling wasn't quite the same as when someone was talking to him out loud, but it was close enough; the sound of it richer with undertones that spoken words could never really achieve. Jace's thoughts - the one intended for him - were always quick and barely there; a passing moment that Alec had to concentrate on to grasp before they disappeared. The new presence felt more like a focused effort; sharp and crystal clear in a way that had become unmistakable ever since Sebastian Verlac had turned up in the New York Institute one evening several months ago.
Nevertheless, it felt peculiar; the intimacy of the feeling one that he couldn't quite describe and the sudden intrusion pulled him out of the daze he'd fallen into while looking over the maps of New York and its immediate surroundings that he'd been provided with.
For all we know, he might not even be in the city.
Alec almost jumped in his seat, eyes darting around the office until he found Sebastian leaning against the doorframe. He was smiling, too, clearly conscious of what he'd done, and Alec connected the dots quickly enough.
Jace.
"Yes," Sebastian said and closed the door behind his back, making himself comfortable in the chair on the other side of Alec's desk. He'd heard him, then, and that was a bit of a surprise - it had taken him and Jace quite a while before they'd managed to fully grasp the ability, but then again, they'd had no one to practice with but each other. If Jace had already prepared Sebastian for this, it was no wonder that he'd managed it so easily.
He wasn't sure when he'd noticed Sebastian's unending fascination with the parabatai bond. He had breached the topic with him much later than he had with Jace, which made sense – he and Jace had started getting closer earlier on because they'd clicked together rather quickly after their first meeting. They had too much in common for that not to happen when they'd been given enough time and he'd started asking questions almost as soon as they'd come to the unspoken agreement that they could trust him with their secret.
In retrospect, Alec could see that ending up in their current situation had been almost inevitable – the process, slow as it had been, had started that day and they hadn't looked back ever since.
"We were talking about his magic and he mentioned that you're better at this than he is. And I thought-" Sebastian leant in further over the desk, voice lowering as he continued, "If you could do it on missions, it could work wonders. I don't mean during hunts," he clarified before Alec had had the chance to speak. "If you could communicate with someone else like this during Council meetings-"
Alec didn't need him to finish the suggestion to see the potential. It would be a challenge, that much he was sure of; so far, he and Jace had only attempted it when they were as close to each other as possible and the thought of doing it across the room in the presence of Clave representatives was more than a little unnerving. It wasn't that he thought that someone would suspect anything - the idea of parabatai breaking the law for a long enough time to reach such extremes was unfathomable to most Shadowhunters - but they'd spent so long trying to fly as low under the radar as they could that testing the limits of their bond in a place where everyone could see them made him feel almost greedy; as if they were begging to get caught one way or another.
"You don't have to do it if you don't want to." Despite the reassurement, the enthusiasm in Sebastian's eyes hadn't diminished in the face of Alec's silence. He's too persistent for his own good, that was what Alec had thought of him in the very beginning and while he had yet to be proved wrong, he found that - to his dismay - he'd started finding the quality endearing rather than threatening. "If you think it's too dangerous, then we don't have to even try it. You've had your meetings without telepathy before, after all."
The thing was, the idea was far too appealing for Alec to let it go now that Sebastian had mentioned it. During meetings with Clave officials and even representatives of the Downworld, especially when it came to the Seelies, there wasn't much that he could say to anyone without drawing too much attention to himself. There wasn't much that he could really change about the circumstances, telepathy or no telepathy; Jace was usually absent during meetings unless they were particularly important and more significant than any other assignment he had to deal with and Sebastian preferred to hover around the main entrance rather than to actually participate, but he would be close enough to hear if Alec signalled to him that something was wrong. It worked the other way around, too - Alec was well aware of the fact that the Head of the Institute being occupied usually provided the perfect excuse for all sorts of unsanctioned decisions to be made. The situation with Luke during the first Downworld Cabinet meeting was the perfect example and definitely not something that Alec would forget any time soon and that thought alone was enough for him to come to a decision.
"No one would even notice." Whether he was trying to convince Sebastian or himself, Alec wasn't sure and he didn't need to be; at least not for now. Sebastian's eagerness was about as infectious as Jace's when it came to untried but daring plans and Alec found himself nodding despite his better judgement, Sebastian's widening smile made the worry he'd go through as soon as they put it into action worth it. "But we'll have to work on it first. We have to make sure that it works."
"Of course." Without any preamble whatsoever, Sebastian rose up from his chair and leant in over the desk for a kiss that Alec accepted readily despite their location. Even if they could handle the issue with the security footage – Sebastian had pulled quite a few tricks with it already to cover their tracks – it still wasn't a good idea to start anything in the heart of the Institute and he'd said so enough times, but that didn't seem to stop Sebastian from going through with whatever it was that he wanted to do.
Sometimes Alec wondered if he actually knew what the risks were; if he'd ever considered the dangers of getting involved in the mess that he and Jace had created or if he'd just allowed himself to be swept along without a second thought. It didn't seem likely - he was too clever for that, as Alec had quickly realised - but it was still a possibility and if Alec had been a different person - someone far less selfish than he was - he would have pushed him away a long time ago. Hell, he would have persuaded Jace to do the same before things had had the chance to take a turn for the worse and before they dragged Sebastian down with them if - when - one of them slipped up and they were discovered.
As it was, though, he didn't have the heart to say anything and neither did anyone else. Both him and Jace kept their distance to the best of their abilities while they were in the Institute and at one point, without them even noticing, their attempts to be as inconspicuous as possible had started including Sebastian too. If he seemed far too close to either of them - or, as was the case, both of them - that would be enough to seem just a bit unusual and from then on, it was only a matter of time before the rumours started. Alec had seen it happen more than once; an otherwise respectable Shadowhunter's reputation being ruined because they'd been unable to keep their oddities behind closed door and whether they liked to think of that or not, the crime they were committing was much worse than most minor transgressions that the Clave was inclined to ignore. In that case, they wouldn't be the only ones to be prosecuted if word got out that Sebastian had been aware of what was happening and had actually been involved in it.
Still, pushing the thought away way almost easy by now, made even easier by Sebastian's deepened kiss as his breathing hitched against Alec's lips and he adjusted his weight on top of the desk, fingers toying with the hem of Alec's shirt.
"I see the training's going well."
Sebastian pulled away immediately and sank back into his chair, eyes widening as he noticed Alec's complete lack of reaction at Jace's unceremonious entrance.
"You could feel him coming." It wasn't a question but Alec nodded anyway, oddly proud of the way Sebastian was looking between him and Jace. He seemed torn between his scientific curiosity and his ever present determination to not push further than they wanted him to and it wasn't exactly a surprise that the former won. It usually did with him, and Alec was starting to get used to it.
"I told you, this is incredible." The words were directed at Jace and Alec narrowed his eyes as he watched Jace throw himself into the new direction of the conversation readily. They'd discussed this before, he could tell, and he could see that Jace was being far more understanding than he would have been usually. If it had been anyone else, he would have protested to being used as a guinea pig especially in the light of the more recent discoveries he'd made about himself, but this time around, he was actively encouraging this. He was completely serious about it, too, and Alec could see it in his eyes despite the light-hearted smile he'd given as an answer to Sebastian's surprise. "But I'm not sure you can test it to its limits within the Institute walls."
"Of course we can't." Jace had taken it as a challenge, Alec noticed, and he wasn't as taken aback by this turn of events as he would have been if his bond with Jace had been a fraction weaker than it actually was. If anything, he'd seen it coming and he could feel Jace's excitement resonate within him too until he couldn't quite distinguish it from his own thoughts; all-consuming and yet completely natural. It had been that way for a while now and it hadn't occurred to him just how different things had been before until Sebastian had pointed it out. "But if we're really going to do this..." For a moment, Jace's eyes flickered in Alec's direction and Alec nodded hastily. They couldn't hide from the new developments of their bond forever, and if they had someone to help them control it, it would be all the easier. It had to be. "Then we could probably start from here."
When Jace called his magic to the surface, Alec could almost feel it burning under his skin as well.