Notes: The first fic out of two for dadariios over on tumblr for the Jalec Gift Exchange. One of the prompts was a Seelie Court AU and this is what I came up with for it, even if it made me question a lot of things (about Alec specifically, since his backstory is so different here). Other than the obvious differences from canon, everything has gone as usual up to about the finale of 2a, maybe a little ahead of that. Hope you enjoy it and feedback is always welcome!
Jace had always had a way with the Seelies. It was what Maryse always said and, despite the look Isabelle gave him every time (like she could talk), he was rather proud of that. He was the one usually sent on diplomatic missions in the Court as he knew everything there was to know about their customs and he hadn't been surprised to learn that the latest visit in their realm had been assigned to him too.
There had been disappearances in the mundane world; frequent and unusual enough for the Clave to decide that it was time to get involved. All other races had denied any involvement – or at least, their leaders had and for now Maryse had decided to take their word for it – and the victims hadn't looked like they'd been subjected to any of said races anyway. They had all been found on beaches all around the city and, while Jace had thought it was just a rumour first, he'd seen it for himself; all of them had been smiling in the moment of their death.
All in all, everything about the situation had screamed sirens. And since they were technically part of the Fair Folk, the Institute had been forced to investigate.
Even Jace wasn't entirely sure how to breach the subject with the Queen this time. Questioning her directly was not a wise move even at the best of times and blaming her subjects for senseless murder was far worse; given the circumstances, the last thing the Clave wanted was to make them even more hostile.
So here Jace was, after almost a week of careful planning, finally standing in front of the Queen's palace, only to be stopped at the entrance.
"Have you requested an audience?"
The knight by the door had very clearly been assigned as security with the sole purpose of sending away unwanted visitors, Jace thought; there wasn't even a trace of the usual sugar-coated pleasantness that the Seelies tended to display. The man was tall, surprisingly so for someone from Fayland, with a formidable expression that looked far too permanent for Jace's liking. While he had all the markings of a knight – the symbols trailing along the side of his face, the armour and even the pointed ears – he looked too human to truly be one of them and Jace found himself standing on edge. The only reason for him to trust anyone in the Seelie realm was the Seelies's inability to lie; if the Queen had chosen a changeling to guard her palace, he would have no reason to believe a word he said.
It wouldn't do to mention that, of course. If there was one thing that the Seelies despised more than being questioned, it was being compared to mortals. So Jace stepped closer, divesting himself of his weapons and his stele and carefully putting them on the ground in front of the knight. It was a necessary gesture meant to show his nonexistent trust in the Queen's hospitality and he straightened up again with a quick nod.
"The Head of the New York Institute sent a firemessage last week." He faltered for a moment. "Was it not received?"
"A firemessage is not an invitation." If the knight had appreciated Jace's pleasantries at all, it didn't show. "You need to leave, Shadowhunter."
"Does Her Majesty the Queen know why we requested an audience?" Being persistent with the Seelies was never a good idea, but Jace could feel that he was running out of options. In fact, he seemed to have run out of them already – the knight's eyes narrowed and Jace saw his hand twitch, almost reaching for the blade at his side before someone appeared in the doorway behind them.
The newcomer was a woman, her blonde hair contrasting sharply with the knight's dark curls, silver and onyx mixing into one, and Jace abandoned any thought of resemblance to humanity. They talked to each other quietly in a language he couldn't understand and when the woman pulled away, the knight gave a long-suffering sigh.
"Our Queen will only receive news from the Head of the Institute who has made the complaint," he said, stepping down from his post by the door. A different guard shouldered past him moments later and took his place. "As she can't leave the palace on such a short notice, she's sending me to accompany you. You'll show me the way."
It sounded like an order rather than information delivery and Jace grit his teeth but nodded nevertheless. They didn't have the time to argue, Maryse had stressed upon that enough times and he was pleased to see the knight falling into step with him as they headed for the nearest portal.
"Where are we going?" The question was posed as soon as they'd left the hearing range of everyone surrounding the palace, Jace couldn't help but notice.
"New York City. Long Island is where the murders took place, but you might want–"
"Take me there first," the Seelie interrupted. "Her Majesty wants me to see for myself."
"That's– reasonable." He'd made a compromise twice already and it was only fair to get something in return, Jace figured; a name, if nothing else. What's your name? never worked too well with Seelies; they trusted next to no one with their real names and the answer he usually got was just a disbelieving glance. "What do they call you?" he tried instead.
"Alec." It was a simple enough answer and while the name was far too human to be his real one, it was enough for Jace. "Shall we?"
He stepped through the portal without waiting for a response, clearly assuming his invitation would be followed. Much to Jace's dismay, even after such a short time, it was already becoming a pattern.
o.O.o
"Where are the bodies?"
When the world settled back into place on the other side of the portal, Jace saw Alec standing at the foot of the nearest cliff, his eyes wandering around the beach as if he expected to find something there now. And perhaps he did – the message had been specified as urgent, after all – but the frankness of the Fair Folk never ceased to be a surprise.
"We took them back to the Institute. The ones we found, that is; the rest are still with the mundane police. You'll be allowed to see them once we get to the Institute, of course."
"Of course." Alec's voice was unreadable.
"In the meantime, we can take a look around if you want," Jace ventured, more than eager to deal with the situation as smoothly as possible. "There are already plenty of urban legends about it; you can hear for yourself."
"I would like that." Alec didn't sound too sure, but he still followed Jace as he led them to the nearest diner; the first place where a victim had been found. Jace was familiar enough with the Seelies's customs to be able to predict just about any otherwise unexpected reaction, but the feeling was still surreal – he was taking a knight to a mundane establishment to get information that they both needed from the otherwise clueless human beings. The knight in question had magicked his armour away in the meantime and had replaced it with something resembling Jace's gear too much to not be an imitation. It did suit him, which came as a surprise, and Jace found himself thinking that if he brought him back to the Institute unannounced, no one would question the newcomer too much – the resemblance with a Shadowhunter was uncanny despite the distinctive signs of his allegiance.
He had to talk Alec out of using his powers on the nearest waitress to get her to bring them something without asking for money – no point in attracting even more attention, he'd reasoned – and once he did, it was almost easy to start an actual conversation; as easy as it ever got with Seelies.
"I ordered you a salad," he said, pushing the plate in his companion's direction as it was brought to them. "I've heard that Seelies don't like meat."
"Some of us do," Alec objected. He was inspecting the food as if he was already sure that it would poison him. "I am not eating mundane food."
"Suit yourself," Jace shrugged. It was common knowledge that mortals in Fayland were better off not touching the food and drinks offered to them unless they wanted to stay trapped there forever and he wouldn't put believing that the opposite was also true past the Seelies. "But we need to be as inconspicuous as we can. Just let me do all the talking," he added as an afterthought. Seelies weren't too good with disguises given their helplessness when it came to lying, so it would probably be for the best if he handled things instead.
Alec gave him a nod in response and returned his attention to the food in front of him, clearly taking the advice to be inconspicuous to heart. He still wasn't eating, but he was doing a convincing enough job of pretending and despite the fact that he hadn't moved by an inch, Jace could still feel the impatient restlessness that came out of him in waves. He hadn't anticipated the possibility of sitting and waiting and while small talk wasn't a popular choice with the Fair Folk either, Jace wasn't sure how else he was supposed to pacify him.
"Maryse should be back from Idris by tomorrow," he said as he took a bite from his own meal. It wasn't very likely as she'd told him that the Council would need her for a while, but it was the only thing he could think of to say. "She can talk to you – and to your Queen, if she chooses to visit – but I can give you most of the details until then. She filled me in before I left."
Alec's fork clanked against his plate when it slipped from his hold. He'd abandoned all pretence of eating and his expression was far more open than it had been at any point until now, his face pale and frozen.
"Maryse Trueblood is the Head of the New York Institute?"
"Trueblood?" Jace echoed, not entirely capable of hiding the bemusement in his tone. "When did you see her last?"
Alec was shaking his head furiously before Jace had even finished the question. "I've never met her. I was just– I thought– is she married now?"
All of a sudden, Jace wondered just how old the knight in front of him was. The name Maryse Trueblood was likely one he connected with the Circle and Seelies aged far more slowly than humans – if at all – and it would only make sense for him to recognise it if he'd lost loved ones during the rebellion.
"Yes, to Robert Lightwood." He said, voice already cautious. Another familiar name, likely, but Alec didn't react as strongly to it.
"Of course," he said, much quieter now. "The local Institute has been in Lightwood command for generations now."
"It'll stay that way, if they have any say in it," Jace pointed out. If Alec had anything against the Lightwoods, he could at least try and ease him into the situation. "Both Izzy and Max are being trained to take over the post at any point, although it's looking like it's going to be Max. He's too young now," he clarified at Alec's raised eyebrow. "But they think he's more suited for it."
"That seems– fair."
It wasn't, really. Jace couldn't explain that to a Seelie – and he didn't have to, come to think of it, and the fact that he'd already told this man so much was unusual enough already – because there was no way he would ever understand. In their world, the firstborn child inherited the bulk of what their parents had to give regardless of their gender and telling him that Nephilim society hadn't quite reached that point yet would only make him even more condescending than he likely already was.
He needn't have bothered trying to find an explanation – Alec seemed a thousand miles away from the small booth they'd picked for themselves and he only snapped out of it when he realised that he was being watched.
"Do you want me to charm the girl?" He asked and this time, his annoyance shone through, tone snappish even as he made his suggestion. "Or can you do it on your own?"
"I can handle it," Jace said, trying to keep his own voice as level as possible. He hadn't figured out what had upset the knight so much – and he would have to find out, sooner rather than later – but they had more pressing issues to deal with. "Just give me a minute."
He hadn't expected a response and he didn't get one, so he got up and approached their waitress, already figuring out the story that would get her to talk about the recent tragedies in the area. It wouldn't be difficult – if there was one thing that he agreed on with the Seelie Court's inhabitants, it was that mundanes tended to be predictable.
o.O.o
"There's been another victim."
Alec, who had been staring at the waves that lapped at his feet as if they would answer his every question, turned around. "How do you know?"
"The waitress told me. It was just a few hours ago, but the police took care of it already."
"And there are no pictures?"
"Not ones we can access from here, that's for sure," Jace said. "But maybe Izzy's found something by now; the Institute has access to almost every database in the city. I'll call us a taxi."
"You mean a car." Alec was eyeing one of the aforementioned vehicles with obvious doubt. Jace stopped in his tracks.
"It's the quickest way to get there."
"There's too much iron," Alec said, turning away from his inspection. "We could walk."
"All the way to Manhattan?" Seelies had no sense of humour – and if they did, it wasn't really compatible with anyone but themselves – but that was the only thing stopping Jace from asking the knight if he was joking. "It'll take hours. We'll have to walk all night."
"We can stop somewhere to rest," Alec pointed out. "There are accommodations for that in this city, I presume."
"Of course there are. But–" A third compromise was on the way, Jace could feel it, and he could see that it was going to be a necessary one. He didn't have much to lose anyway – it was likely that Maryse and Robert weren't home yet and they were the only ones who had the clearance necessary to allow Alec into the research labs. "Fine. If that's what you want."
He got a brief, tight-lipped smile in return, showing more satisfaction than gratitude. "Thank you, Shadowhunter."
"My name is Jace," Jace stressed, agitation seeping through his pleasantries. "After everything I've done to accommodate you and your Queen's desires, you could at least remember that much."
"Me and my Queen?" Alec echoed. He seemed amused; as if Jace's anger only made this more entertaining. "You're the one who came asking for help. Water faeries are difficult to control; you should be grateful that Her Majesty agreed to assist you."
Really, Jace thought, most Seelies never managed to achieve this level of infuriating.
"Let's go," he said, hoping that he sounded forceful enough to make his point. "If you want to stop somewhere for the night, we need to get moving."
The knight fell into step with him without uttering a word. He'd let Jace lead the way just like he'd said he would back at the palace, but Jace knew better than to consider that a good sign. If anything, things were about to get as difficult as they possibly could.
He would have to get Alec into a mundane hotel.
o.O.o
They ended up glamouring themselves right in front of the main entrance, both of them far too aware of the impression they made to go through the hassle of dealing with the staff. It would look as suspicious as it could get; paying for a room for just one night, especially with the way they looked. Jace wasn't too familiar with the mundies's opinion on things, but even he knew that strange men you couldn't find in any registry who also happened to be covered in leather and tattoos were rarely accepted well.
They picked a room on the first floor, one far away enough from the receptionist for her not to notice the door opening and yet close enough to the exit for them to make their escape in the morning. It had a double bed and if Alec had been just about any other species, it would have been a problem. As it was, he took off his clothes and slipped under the covers, clearly unperturbed by Jace's presence in the room.
And it wasn't like he had anything to be embarrassed about, really. He was a vision under the city lights coming from outside the window, the yellowish glow of the streetlamps making him look even more ridiculously out of place than he already had. It was almost captivating and Jace only realised that he was staring when the knight gave him a broad smile in return and raised an eyebrow in something that looked far too much like a challenge to be anything else.
"You must be tired, Shadowhunter," he said. Jace was just about to correct him again when he realised that he was being mocked; the glint in Alec's eyes one meant to be teasing rather than menacing. "We've got a long day to go tomorrow."
It didn't seem to be a trap. The man had assured him that his Queen's intentions were nothing but benevolent and, everything else aside, it would be reckless to try and lure a Shadowhunter into a trap with the Accords still firmly in place.
And even if that was his intention, it wouldn't really work. Jace could call for backup at any point and he'd spent far too much time around Seelies – the majority of which in bed – to not know most of their dirty tricks.
With that in mind, he undressed quickly and followed Alec's example, keeping the distance between them reasonable but not glaringly obvious. He had never asked what Alec was exactly; for all Jace knew, he could be one of the Seelies who'd been killing mundanes and if that was the case, Jace knew perfectly well that sirens could affect him with their voice regardless of their gender and usually, the sirens themselves could sense that. It was better to be safe than sorry.
If Alec had noticed his inner turmoil, he didn't react to it at all. "I'll wake you at dawn," he informed him, turned to the other side and promptly fell asleep, leaving Jace alone with his thoughts.
o.O.o
True to his word, Alec woke him up rather abruptly at five o'clock in the morning after and told him to get ready. He was determined to get to the Institute as soon as possible and no grumbling on Jace's part had convinced him that public transport – or any transport, really; he was ready to call a Warlock to open them a portal if that was what it took – was a much preferable option when compared to making their way through New York on foot.
It only made sense that he wouldn't understand. Seelies didn't get tired easily, as evinced by Jace's past experiences, and they despised anything even remotely human. It wasn't really a surprise that Alec genuinely considered this the best way to the Institute that they could find.
"Tell me about the victims," he spoke all of a sudden as they crossed the street. Jace sent him a questioning glance. "You said that only the Head of the Institute can give me permission to enter the morgue, but you must remember something."
"I do." If Jace was being honest, it wasn't a sight that he would likely forget anytime soon. "They were all sailors, some of them fishermen, most of them young. All of them smiling in their final moments. That's why we assumed that sirens were to blame."
"They could be mermaids too," Alec offered helpfully. "Is that all the information you have on them? What kind of lives did they live?"
The question threw Jace off for long enough for him to falter. "We haven't had people investigate that," he admitted. Fishing his phone out of his pocket, he searched what he needed and handed it to Alec. "There might be something in the mundanes's news reports, though."
Alec visibly struggled with the phone, but got what he wanted eventually and Jace was reluctantly impressed. Seelies adapted to everything they faced rather easily and letting one into the Institute so readily seemed like less and less of a good idea the more time he spent with this particular one.
"Any ideas?" he asked as the knight gave it back to him without a word. The screen still displayed the last news website he'd opened; the story of Martin Reynolds – the supposed serial killer's latest victim – and the family he'd left behind. He'd gone fishing just in his free time, apparently, and had been a full time art teacher in the high school near his home. Jace filed the information away for later use.
"A few," Alec said. "There are too many water faeries for me to narrow it down quickly. I need your reports too."
The answer, and the way it gave him the smallest sliver of information possible while giving nothing else away, was a familiar one. Alec had likely narrowed down his options to about three already but had no intention of sharing his theories yet.
"You seem to know a lot about those of your species inhabiting the ocean," Jace pointed out carefully.
"And the rivers, the streams, and the lakes," Alec said. "Sometimes even the moors. You have nothing to worry about," he added with an easy smile. "I'm not going to lure you into the depths of the nearest water body, Shadowhunter. My father is of the Wild Hunt. If I ever attack you, you'll know."
The words were straightforward enough for Jace to know that they weren't a lie and while that helped to some degree, it only made things worse on another level. Someone with the blood of a rider of the Wild Hunt turned into a knight devoted to the Queen was a dangerous enough combination; one that Jace couldn't quite understand. And the fact that the Queen had sent him – him, out of all the possible choices in the palace – was even more puzzling. She loved playing games, especially at the expense of Nephilim, and Jace wouldn't be surprised if this was just one more of them.
"Duly noted," was all he said in response. He picked up his pace as they rounded another corner. "Listen, I know a shortcut from here. We can at least try to get to the Institute before everyone important goes to sleep."
"You know the city better than I do," Alec conceded and followed him into the glamoured alley Jace had just entered. "But I can smell magic here. If you try–"
"I'm not going to try anything," Jace cut him off, already on the verge of losing his patience. "Angel, you're the most uncooperative soldier I've ever met."
There was a moment of silence. "I had assumed that this honour would go to Kaelie."
Jace froze in place, suddenly unable to force himself to make even one more step. Out of all the things he'd expected Alec to say, this had to be the worst possible option. "Did you know her?"
"She had the same position as me." Alec's voice was dispassionate. "Sometimes we talked between shifts. She didn't take her brother's death well."
She really hadn't. Her brother had been innocent; one of the many victims of the activated Soul Sword, and while everyone admitted easily that Valentine was to blame, that hadn't been able to take the focus off of Jace entirely. "I noticed that. I tried to help, but she shouldn't have–"
"You killed her brother," Alec interrupted. "No, you never meant to. But you did. Didn't you, Shadowhunter? That's why she only targeted your kind. That little boy, Max– he's close to you, isn't he?"
"He's twelve." Jace could hear the incredulity in his own voice and he knew that he'd abandoned propriety a long time ago, but he couldn't help himself. "He's just a child. Someone from your Court – his name's Meliorn – was there too; he saw it happen. Do you really think she should have been allowed to go through with it?"
"No." The answer was quick and passionate enough to throw Jace off a bit. "No, that would have solved nothing. But– you are all children at one point, Shadowhunter. And even with the Accords keeping our peace, the Clave still teaches you how to kill us should the need arise. And you never stop."
It should have been just a complaint; a comment and nothing more. But something in the wording made Jace suspicious enough for him to put a hand on the knight's shoulder and turn him towards himself despite his protests. "Is this what everyone in the Seelie Court thinks?" Being straightforward was for the best, he figured; even with the Fair Folk, it usually got him a decent answer. "Does everyone blame me for what happened with the Sword?"
Alec's eyes widened almost imperceptibly, clearly overwhelmed by the emotion in the question he'd been posed with. He thought about it for a moment and then shook his head.
"Not everyone in the Court thinks the same way," he said. "Not just about this; about anything. But– most of us talk about Valentine Morgenstern when we mention it. Even the Queen– it's nothing important. What I mean is, everyone knows that your blood was the one activating the Sword, but it's rare that someone holds you accountable for it. Humans lie too much and it was stupid of you to trust him, but he remains your father."
"He's not really my father," Jace hurried to say. "You know that, right?"
"I do," Alec nodded. "But you still speak of him as if he is. You keep carrying his sins on your shoulders. And yes, he can't touch you anymore, but you haven't let go of him. You probably never will unless you make an effort to."
The words were cruel, each sentence digging deeper into an already open wound, but they didn't really hurt. It felt cleansing to have someone spit the truth in his face like that, especially when compared to the looks of pity and understanding shoulder pats and reprimanding speeches he'd received over the last few weeks. The people around him were either trying to make him feel better or looking for any reason to undermine him and now here he was with this knight who wanted neither of those things; who just wanted to tell Jace the truth like he'd been asked to. His words did raise some questions – how he'd managed t sense what exactly Jace was feeling without even a hint being the biggest one of them and his slip up about the Queen a close second – but Jace felt too shaken to try and ask him now. He likely wouldn't deign to answer him anyway, because why would he, and the thought of that was almost comforting.
"We need to go." He kept his voice as even as he could, not wanting to give the Seelie the satisfaction of being right, but there was none of that to be had; none that he could see, anyway. "Or we'll never get there in time."
"Lead the way, Jace Herondale." Just like that, the moment had passed, but Jace could still feel the change in the man's demeanour. Jace Herondale. He'd used his full name, his real one, and while it didn't carry the same significance for Shadowhunters as it did for his own kind, it was still telling for someone who knew their customs as well as Jace did. It was a sign of respect, sometimes. And a step up from Shadowhunter, definitely.
o.O.o
"Izzy, this is Alec. Alec, meet Izzy." Jace's eyes wandered between the two of them and he smothered a laugh at the look Isabelle was giving him. Fortunately, Alec missed that little detail, too busy taking in the main hall and all the Shadowhunters wandering around in it. "Alec's here to help us with our mystery killer," he said pointedly, trying to avoid any insinuations on her part that he could feel coming. "The Queen trusted him to bring back whatever information we have on site and if it's not solved by then, she'll make a visit to the Institute herself."
"Sounds practical." Something was wrong; Jace could tell by Izzy's expression alone and his fears were justified far too soon for his liking. "But Mom hasn't come back from Idris yet. We'll arrange a room for you in the guest wing," she added, the words directed at Alec this time. "But you'll have to wait until tomorrow morning."
"I can wait." Despite the reassurance, there was something impatient in Alec's tone that Jace couldn't fully understand. He'd been the one to slow their journey down with his unreasonable demands; why would he suddenly be in a hurry? "It's been lovely meeting you, Isabelle. If you could give me the directions to my room, I could find it on my own."
As Izzy explained the Institute's inner workings to the knight, Jace found himself spacing out and staring at the two of them instead. They would make a good team, he suspected. Alec's efficiency and Isabelle's resourcefulness would only need a little push before they found their way around one other. This way, they looked rather similar, too; something in the shape of their eyes and the hue of their hair making them look eerily alike.
He was shaken out of his stupor when Alec took his leave in search of his temporary bedroom. Once he was out of sight, Isabelle grimaced.
"He's–"
"I know."
"And I was wondering why it took you so long to get here He must've been driving you nuts."
"He's not that bad, really," Jace said. "Difficult to talk to, though. And there's something off about him, but I haven't figured it out yet."
"Because the Queen sent him?" Despite her own preferences towards the Seelie Court, Isabelle's deep seated distrust towards their Queen hadn't abated over the years. She was well known for her schemes and tricks and everything she did, no matter how insignificant at a first glance, served its purpose at one point or another.
"Partially," Jace admitted "But it's not just that."
"Well, you can talk to him and learn as much as you can, then," Izzy said with an encouraging pat to his shoulder. "I'm sure Mom will appreciate it when she comes back. And plus, he seems to like you, which means he'll open up more easily."
"He tolerates me," Jace corrected, "that's all." But Alec had been honest with him; more honest than almost everyone he knew had been, so maybe it was worth a shot. "I'll try. He's not here to give us that kind of information, but I'll try."
"You could show him those while you're at it." Jace's phone buzzed in his hand as Isabelle's photos arrived. "I don't have the clearance to open the morgue, but I did take pictures, so maybe that could speed things up a bit."
"You're a lifesaver, Izzy." The sooner they solved this, the better and Jace appreciated the effort more than he could express. "Wish me luck."
Izzy gave him the thumbs up as he left and Jace headed for the guest wing with the air of someone going into battle. For all he knew, that was exactly what he was doing.
o.O.o
Alec answered the door on the second knock, looking altogether too unruffled by the situation he was in to fit the usual profile of a Downworlder forced to spend the night in the midst of a Nephilim base. The guests at the Institute usually displayed all the expected signs of nervousness or even guilt, but Seelies tended to act like they owned the place no matter where they found themselves to the point where Jace nearly felt like an intruder.
"Has your leader returned?" He asked and moved away from the door, sitting back on the bed behind him when Jace shook his head. He was back in his armour, clearly too tired of his mundane clothing to keep up the pretence. "Then what is it?"
"Isabelle sent me something you might want to see. The faces of the victims." It was the best reason he could come up with and it was a pressing matter anyway, so he showed them to the knight and watched him go through the photos with the same lack of interest he'd graced everything with so far. Well, everything except him and Jace had yet to decide whether that was a good thing or not.
"This is very helpful, thank you." He didn't seem to try and be condescending, but Jace scowled at him for good measure as he got his phone back. "Isabelle– is she a scientist?"
"She's our forensic pathologist, one of the best ones in the Shadow world," Jace nodded, not even trying to hide his pride. "She's a fighter first and foremost for now, but in the long run–"
"That's good to hear. That she's found her calling," Alec clarified at Jace's surprised glance and it wasn't like that explained anything – he had been mocking the Clave and their entire hierarchy not a day ago while Jace had described to him the proceedings around Valentine's eventual execution – but it was still enough to make Jace relax by a fraction.
"It is," he agreed. "But I'm not here to talk about Isabelle."
"No?" And there it was again; the edge to Alec's voice that challenged Jace to do things he hadn't really thought through. "Why are you here, then?"
He couldn't put it into words. This was all unfamiliar territory – Jace always knew what to say, that was why he always got picked for missions like this one – but he had no idea how to start now without seeming far too forward for their guest's tastes. With Seelies, every word was a minefield and it went both ways; one wrong step and everything could fall apart.
"The Queen sent you here for a reason," he started slowly. He was already threading on fragile ground; he knew it by the look in Alec's eyes alone, as guarded as his posture. "Something different from what we already discussed. Why did she pick you?"
"I couldn't say." Not entirely a lie, Jace supposed; he'd doubtlessly been instructed to keep his mouth shut before he'd left the palace. "Her Majesty needed someone trustworthy for such a delicate issue and she sent me."
"Yes, because she keeps all her knights on a tight leash," Jace scoffed, voice dripping with venom. "Did she find Kaelie trustworthy too?"
"Yes." Alec didn't even blink at the thinly veiled accusation. "This might come as a surprise to you, Shadowhunter, but not many Seelies would concern themselves with a few lost soldiers in your ranks. Not many would blame her for what she did."
"But you do." Jace wasn't quite sure when the conversation had become as personal as it had, but he wasn't about to censor himself now. "You do blame her. You said it yourself; what she did solved nothing. And you still defend her."
"She was my friend," Alec snapped and for a moment, the mask he'd been hiding behind for the last two days cracked, his carefully adopted nonchalance giving way to fury. "And she's dead now. And I was only–"
"What?" Jace pressed, desperate for something, anything. "If you didn't care before, what changed your mind?"
"It's–" Alec visibly struggled with his response and the sight was almost bewildering. Jace had always thought that all Seelies accepted their inability to lie as a given and this was the first time he'd actually seen one of them making an attempt to do it. "It's nothing of importance. Nothing related to my mission here."
"Really? Because, you see, while you've been very cooperative until now, I'm sure the Clave would be charmed by the thought of the Queen's representative defending someone who carved out Shadowhunters's runes with a knife and left them to die. Especially since you're here because we're investigating a long list of murders."
"You can't really be stupid enough to consider me as a possibility here." Whatever anger Alec had held back, it had bled out of him by now, replaced by a detached sort of disbelief. "Her Majesty does like– surprising you, but she also protects her subjects. The same can't be said about your leaders, if my sources are to be believed."
"She could have thought that the easiest way to hide you was in plain sight," Jace shrugged. He was not going to respond to the knight's provocation, even if the most frustrating part of it was the fact that he wasn't wrong. "Or a million other things I would never even think of. That doesn't really prove me wrong."
"You have to prove that you're right to accuse me of anything," Alec pointed out and once again, Jace found himself wishing he could punch the smug confidence off of his face without breaking the tentative peace they'd achieved. "I told you, my father is of the Wild Hunt. I don't–"
"And what about your mother?" It wasn't an interrogation, not quite, but Jace still had to ignore the pang of guilt at his own persistence. Many Seelies died in tragedy or not at all, and the fact that Alec was evading the subject was enough of a tell. "What was she?"
"Not a water faerie, you can be sure of that." Alec didn't look upset, but definitely uncomfortable, which was new and, frankly, not as rewarding as Jace had expected it to be. "You don't really understand how this works, do you? Last night, you were sleeping right next to me. If I had wanted to – and if I had had the power – I could have charmed you in your dreams to tell everyone that Her Majesty has found the killer and that the issue has been dealt with and you would have never guessed. No one would have ever guessed. The only orders you would be obliged to respond to would have been mine and you would have let me ruin you if that was what I wanted." Alec took a deep breath as if he wanted to compose himself. "But I didn't want to. And even if I had, I don't posses this kind of magic. I never have." His expression shifted again, this time from intensely concentrated to almost sly. "You're free to try if you wish to. I don't doubt that one of the guards at the end of the corridor would come to your aid in the matter of moments." He took a look at the corners of the room. "And I suspect that I'm being carefully watched regardless of my hypothetical bloodlust."
"There are no cameras here, if that's what you're asking," Jace said. The Seelies's flowery language and their inability to be straightforward could be so tiring sometimes.
"And if it isn't?" Are you here to spy on me? He could have just as easily said it; but he never would.
"I couldn't say," Jace responded in an echo of Alec's earlier excuse. "But yes, I'll accept your test if that's what it takes. There's only one way to make sure without listening to you sing." He didn't wait for a confirmation – or a denial – and leant in instead, bracing himself against Alec's shoulder while he kissed him.
If there was any magic in Alec's kiss beyond his touch, firm and determined without being too harsh, then it wasn't easy to detect. He let Jace take the lead and let himself be pushed backwards slightly as Jace tried to get even closer, climbing up on the bed and between Alec's spread legs. They ended up plastered against each other with no space left between them and it was about as good as Jace had expected, better, even, because he'd finally found a way to shut Alec up effectively and he wanted to check for how long it could go on; how far Alec would let him get before he protested.
A lot farther than a kiss, definitely. Alec wasn't blind and he wasn't clueless, either. He must have noticed that Jace was attracted to him, even if it was on a mostly superficial level and they were both soldiers, trained to use their bodies in every way possible to achieve what they wanted. No one had said that it couldn't be pleasurable, after all, and Jace intended to make use of that little loophole now.
"What's the verdict?" Alec asked as he pulled away, his face pleasantly flushed and his breathing quick and shallow. "Are you feeling tempted to obey my every word?"
"You wish." It was a heady feeling for Jace to be able to bring this out with nothing but a kiss; for Alec to shift from his mockery to something that resembled genuine amusement. "No, I wouldn't say that you could have convinced someone to happily drown with a single touch." It was close enough, really, and Jace suspected that Alec didn't need magic to get people to do what he wanted them to. He'd suspected it even last night when he'd first seen Alec on the cheap hotel bed, smiling at him and challenging him to follow his lead against his better judgement. "But I should probably check more thoroughly, just in case."
He couldn't see the harm, really. Tomorrow, Maryse would be back and the Queen would arrive to see everything for herself once she got Alec's report and the chance of the two of them meeting ever again was miniscule. There was no professional relationship to be ruined and Alec wanted him; Jace could see his own desire reflected in the other man's eyes.
"Just in case," Alec echoed, nodding and licking his lips, and Jace was officially lost.
o.O.o
Jace couldn't remember the last time he'd woken up from the sunlight streaming through his windows instead of his alarm, but it had happened somehow and he wasn't about to complain. He stretched out in his bed, smile morphing into a frown as he realised that he wasn't in his own bed; the room far too empty and cold to be the one he inhabited.
The memories from the night before came to him slowly, fitting together like puzzle pieces and Jace groaned as he tried to hunt down his phone to check the time.
Ten in the morning. Maryse would be thrilled.
For the first time in what felt like forever, Jace had slept in. He didn't feel too guilty – it had been worth it, wasting an hour or two on Alec instead of on their time sensitive mission, and he looked to his right, smile widening at the slight of the Seelie knight, still fast asleep. He looked relaxed that way; the harsh lines of his usual expression softened as he dreamed and Jace almost felt bad for having to wake him up. The night before felt like a hallucination of sorts; images and emotions mixed up in a way he couldn't decipher now because Alec had been just so intense in every way imaginable.
"Come on, soldier," Jace nudged him gently. If the knight was anything like him training-wise, he'd jump awake the moment someone spoke to him. "Time to get back to work."
Alec didn't move; the only sign that he'd noticed Jace's presence at all being a barely noticeable twitch as he pulled away from his cold touch. With a sigh, Jace pushed himself up and leant in to try and shake him awake. And froze.
It was almost invisible. Jace was so used to the sight of the miniature mark he could see at the base of Alec's neck that he had to do a double take to confirm that it didn't belong there.
And it didn't. A day after their birth, all Shadowhunter children were taken to the City of Bones and a ritual was performed by a Silent Brother and an Iron Sister to protect the child from demonic influences. The magic they used was more powerful than almost any other that could be performed on angel-blooded creatures and it protected every Shadowhunter thorough their life. It was strange, that's what everyone said, that it barely left a mark. The only way to tell that the ritual had been performed at all was a small scar at the back of a person's head; the small body unable to handle the sheer power of the magic without finding an outlet.
It was a solely Nephilim tradition. No other race did it, not even the Seelies, because every Downworlder had demonic blood running in their veins to some degree, no matter how insignificant the amount was.
And yet here Alec was. He wasn't a Shadowhunter, though, he couldn't be, because Jace had seen him wield magic. Even his bow, the one he hadn't had the chance to use in the past two days, was infused with it; Jace could feel if all the way across the room. But he wasn't imagining things and the mark was right there and there was no way for it to have happened without the ceremony being authorised.
He'd known it. Even from the start, he'd known that the Queen hadn't chosen her representative at random and what better choice could she possibly make than a Court-raised half-Shadowhunter knight? She knew better than anyone that unlike everyone else in her palace, Alec had the capacity to lie.
Jace snuck out of the bed, the soundless rune flaring up at his stele's touch as he moved around the room and reached for the nearest Seraph blade he could find. He'd discarded his weapons along with his clothing last night and now found them at the foot of the bed where Alec had taken them off of him just a few hours ago. He felt irrationally betrayed and it only made his grip on the blade firmed as he – not without some difficulty – turned Alec to his front and pressed it against his throat.
Alec sensed it immediately, eyes snapping open as he tried to move away from the weapon and Jace let him, only to press on further once he got the chance.
"You know, it's interesting," he mused, watching the knight's rapid breathing get even shallower under the cold touch of the adamas, "that not once in two days, not even after everything you said about the Clave and the Shadowhunters who obey it, did you think it would be useful to mention that you're a Shadowhunter."
"I'm not." Even now, the sincerity in Alec's eyes was enough to make the most sceptical mind trust him. "I never have been."
"No," Jace conceded. "You're loyal to your Queen. But that makes it so much worse, doesn't it? Because I didn't trust you, not at all, but I trusted you not to lie to me."
"I haven't lied to you. You would have known if I had."
"Really?" Jace pressed the blade closer still until Alec hissed and his blood beaded under the tip. "You kept evading the truth, so I suppose it must be uncomfortable for you to do it. That, or you've lived in the Court for far too long. Speaking of which," Jace continued, drawing his weapon away by a few inches but still straddling Alec's hips to make sure that he wouldn't move, "who is your mother? She probably lives in this Institute, or you wouldn't have been so eager to get here." Seelies never did anything so willingly unless they could get something out of it and the more Jace looked at the man under him, the more he realised that his Shadowhunter blood didn't really matter all that much – he was the Queen's knight through and through.
"I've never met her." Alec shook his head in a shocked denial, more desperate to protect his secret than he had been about anything else until now. He would budge eventually, though; Jace was going to make sure of it.
"But you do know who she is, don't you?" He persisted. It was always easier that way with Seelies; if he wanted to hear the truth, he had to be as specific as he could get.
"I don't–" Alec choked on his words and Jace froze; watching, transfixed, the sudden unnatural redness of the knight's tongue and lips. "I've never met her."
So this was it, then. Most Shadowhunters with Seelie blood could lie without any consequences, but he hadn't been raised in a Shadowhunter family. Instead, Alec had been trained to do magic and protect his Queen and he'd had anything Nephilim scraped away from him until his blood was the only thing remaining.
But who, who could it be? Jace tried to call to mind every woman in the right age range, but none of them seemed to fit the profile he'd created in his mind from what little information he had.
I've never met her. That was all the truth Alec could tell him, but he did know who she was and the denial had been big enough of a lie to draw blood out of him.
And he'd said that before; it was all he kept repeating. He'd even said it the other day in an entirely different context, when he'd asked about–
"No."
Despite the circumstances, his reaction was apparently strong enough to startle even Alec. "What is it?"
"Maryse?" There was no way. Maryse was so disciplined, so proper and she'd been a Circle member of all things – and she'd had a relationship with a Seelie?
But it all clicked together all at once; the facts that Jace had been trying to fit against each other for over two days. The timeline he'd tried to picture only expanded with the new information and he could imagine everything perfectly – it had happened at some point before her marriage to Robert but possibly when she'd already been involved with the Circle. It must have been one of the reasons who he'd hidden it s well to the point where she'd probably glamoured herself and–
Alec spoke again, pulling Jace away from the whirlwind in his mind. He sounded defeated; like this was the last thing he'd ever wanted despite his apparent curiosity.
"Her Majesty thought it might be a good idea to meet her," he said. The words made her intentions sound so earnest, like she'd just wanted to help, but Jace narrowed his eyes. "But I didn't know– I was given no warning that it would be now."
And once he'd learnt – from Jace himself, back at that Long Island diner, no less – he'd wanted to find out more. About his mother and Isabelle and Max – his siblings, Jace realised, even though to him they likely felt worlds away even now that he'd met Izzy. Because they were Shadowhunters.
After barely making the conscious decision to do it, but Jace dropped his weapon back on the floor nevertheless. Alec sat up in the bed and all of a sudden, Jace became acutely aware of the fact that they were both still mostly naked. There was no reason to let that bother him, when he thought about it; no matter what Alec had been wearing, he would have probably felt naked right now anyway.
"Maybe you could ask her to send someone else?" After all the involuntary encounters he'd had with Valentine just over the last month or so, Jace found himself all too sympathetic of Alec's situation even if he didn't really mean to be.
All he got in return was a forlorn laugh. "This is my mission now, at least until Her Majesty takes over. I'll go and talk to Maryse and report back to the Court. She'll decide what to do from then on."
"The bodies–"
"I don't need to see the bodies," Alec waved him off impatiently. "A leannán sídhe did it."
"You figured that out just from the photos?" Jace was doing his best not to sound impressed, but it was difficult not to. They had only decided to contact the Court when they'd realised that they couldn't do it on their own and while that had been the exact point of the mission – even the most inexperienced Seelie was likely to know more than Shadowhunters did on the matter – it was still strange to see the mystery solved so quickly.
"I figured it out from the news you found yesterday." Alec pushed him off of himself unceremoniously and got up, clearly unconcerned by his lack of clothing as he tried to pick up the remnants of his armour where it had been discarded all over the bedroom floor. "They were all artists, musicians, writers... in short, people in need of a muse. That's what a leannán sídhe promises them; inspiration in exchange for life force. They have to make the deal voluntarily. That's why they all died smiling. The visions she shows them are too beautiful to resist, even if they kill them in the end."
Angel, maybe it would be a good idea to try and convince Alec to stay after all. They needed someone with his inside knowledge in the Institute and he said as much, only to have Alec shake his head without giving the proposition much thought.
"This is not my home," he said as if it should have been obvious. It was, Jace guessed, to him if to no one else, and he knew that he'd lost him as soon as he'd offered it. "My place is in the palace, by Her Majesty's side. I don't belong in your world. You could always contact the Court again if you need help, but having a knight live in an Institute for those purposes is unheard of."
"And what about Maryse?" It was the question that had been bugging him ever since he'd realised, but Alec just repeated it back at him, making it sound almost like a challenge.
"What about Maryse? If you know what's good for you – and for her – you won't mention anything about this. She left me in the Court to be raised days after I was born; she gave me nothing but a name and I will make sure not to stay around her long enough for her to make the connection. It would be– unnecessary for both of us."
"Don't you think that she might miss you?" It was none of his business. He didn't know Alec well enough to claim that he understood him at all and Maryse could probably do without a sudden half-Seelie heir who just happened to be her firstborn. But he wanted to help and even if his father's disdain still stood out in his mind now, weeks later, the fact that he had always tried to make things right no matter what it cost him wasn't something he'd been able to ignore because Valentine hadn't been wrong.
"Why would she miss me?" It seemed to be an honest question, if the confusion in Alec's eyes was anything to go by. "She doesn't know me."
It wasn't an accusation and Alec didn't sound too upset with the truth of his circumstances. He was just laying out the facts, plain and simple, just like he'd been doing over the last couple of days.
Maybe he was right. He didn't really belong anywhere else but in the Seelie Court.
"I'll introduce you to Maryse and you can tell her what you know," Jace said, the offer laced with resignation, and got a nod in return. He caught the knight by the arm as he made to leave and held him still under the doorframe until he turned to face him. "It's been– interesting," he said, struggling to find the right words. It seemed to be a running theme with Alec. "Knowing you."
"Likewise," Alec admitted and even though he was obviously having trouble with the response, Jace knew that it wasn't a lie this time; it was just that, even if he still struggled with it, he'd finally stopped trying to bite back the truth.
o.O.o
"I can't believe they just kicked us out." Jace didn't want to draw attention to himself – there were more than enough people glancing anxiously towards Maryse's office right now anyway – but he couldn't hold back
Clearly, he was the only one. Alec frowned.
"No one kicked us out," he corrected carefully. "They just asked us to leave. This is beyond our–"
"I know," Jace cut him off. "You don't always have to be so literal."
He hadn't meant to take it out on Alec – not that he seemed to take it too personally – but the tension in the room had been almost too much to handle and now that he was outside, the relief was about as strong as the indignation at being left out of the main event.
He hadn't expected to see the knight again, but he should have known that the Queen wouldn't miss the opportunity to bring him along on her trip. She was physically incapable of not flaunting the knowledge she had in Maryse's face even if Maryse herself didn't realise that.
Alec hadn't helped much either; his nervous eyes darting from Maryse to the Queen and all the way to Jace only to return to Maryse again, creating a sharp contrast to the focused energy he radiated as his Queen's guard. Now that they were out here, he wasn't much different; his stoic expression softened by the look in his eyes – attentive and yet anxious. He hadn't said anything, but Jace could guess that he was affected by everything that had happened. He simply had to be, whether he wanted to admit it or not
"Are you going to tell her?" Yet again, Jace had tried to convince himself that this had nothing to do with him, but he wasn't any more successful at it this time around either.
"Maryse?" Alec asked and Jace gave a quick nod, aware that the knight was doing his best to delay the answer. "No. Why would I? She's better off without me. It's simpler that way. I realise that it might be difficult for you to understand," he continued like he'd seen straight past Jace's attempt at a neutral expression, "but the palace is my home. My mother did what was best for us both: she left me there to be trained and she salvaged her reputation at the same time. My father– He always said that she was wonderful to be around during the festivities in Fayland, but she always seemed so guilty. She didn't deserve to have her life ruined because of a mistake."
"It wasn't a mistake," Jace objected with more passion than he'd expected to find in himself, especially since Alec didn't seem even half as bothered by his own wording.
"I know," he said, and Jace had spent enough time with him by now to be able to tell that he was sincere – he had to be, Jace reminded himself, or he would have most definitely noticed, and it was still frustrating to not know where he stood with him. He'd met Shadowhunters who had a Seelie parent before, but there were usually ones taught and trained by the Clave and all of this was still so new. "Not in the long run. But I have never– I've been told so much about her, and I was curious, but I could live without knowing her. I still can, now that I do. So no, I don't plan on telling her. It would make everything even more complicated."
"And if the Queen decides to tell her?" Jace was thinking out loud, mostly, but it was still a question that had plagued his mind in the week it had taken for the Queen to organise her visit. There was no bitterness in Alec's tone and it was clear that if he'd ever had any conflicting feelings about his heritage, they had probably been long gone by the time they'd met.
"It's not very likely," Alec shrugged. "If she does, I suspect that I could handle it. But in the meantime, please try not to meddle. It might be a foreign concept to you, but this is about my life. And I would like to keep living it the way I always have."
"This case might drag on for a while." Despite his best efforts, Jace could feel that his warning sounded more like a promise. "What would you do then?"
"I don't want to be reassigned yet," Alec said. The possibilities that could lie ahead had only just occurred to him, Jace could tell, and he seemed almost fascinated by them. "Working here is– not what I expected, but I would like to stay in the city for now. It's– intriguing."
Jace wasn't sure whether the assessment had been an insult or a compliment and he didn't want to ask, so he bit back any comment he had on the matter. "Intriguing," he repeated with an edge of amusement to his voice that he couldn't quite smother. "Does that mean that you're staying?"
He wanted him to stay, Jace realised, and was rather unsurprised to realise that he had for a while, even when he'd thought that the Queen would pick someone else to see this case through. Despite everything that had happened and the almost ceaseless arguments, they'd made a good team, and he wasn't prepared to let that go so easily.
"For now," Alec said, settling down more comfortably in his spot by the door. It wasn't a promise of anything – not yet – but it was a start.