Ok please don't judge me? Alright? Good
I of course am a HUGE Malec fangirl; ask anyone it's SERIOUSLY true!
But I couldn't help but think that Magnus saw Clary every 2 years of her growing up and she was the only human child he saw grow up so how could he not develop some sort of affection for her? Yes I know he is supposed to be gay HOWEVER we know that he is basically bi (Camille HELLLOOOOOOO!) and even though it isn't even a fraction of what he feels for Alec (3) it is still quite possible that he could still be interested in girls ALRIGHT? Cool :P. I also know he is distantish in the books but still he isn't heartless and yes I know he does definitely have a small sort of affection for Clary in the books but still I wanted to see what I could do with the characters and basic storyline the AMAZING Cassandra Clare provided for all of our enjoyment.
I don't own anything except the romance that may develop between Magnus and Clary :S
Hope you enjoy
Lots of Love and thanks for reading
Alicia
xxxx
Familiar
Chapter 1
Magnus Bane was standing at his bedroom window that night in his silk kimono, his tanned forehead rested upon it listening to the rain as it hammered against the glass when he saw her.
Out of the corner of his eye he saw a shadow flicker across the pavement and he straightened his back, his perfectly manicured eyebrows quickly pulling together. Quick as a flash his cat's eyes latched onto the hooded figure and he analysed them. He saw that without a doubt it was a woman; women had a certain grace than most men lacked. Following her movements he eyed her curiously as she hurried up the pathway towards his dwelling. He saw how she appeared to be holding something very gently her eyes kept darting to the object which to Magnus was obscured by blankets in her arms and he also saw how she occasionally threw frantic glances over her shoulder as she climbed the few steps to the porch, disappearing from his view as she moved towards the front door.
He only had to wait for a few seconds before he heard the all too familiar sound of his buzzer and he detached himself from where he was leaning against the window frame and sashayed out of his bedroom to strut over to his front door and pressed a button on the wall beside it.
"Who dares disturb the High Warlock of Brooklyn?" He boomed through the speakers, smirking to himself as he released the button and waited for the reply. He loved playing the bad guy, he took great pleasure in frightening his visitors, he never knew why.
But this woman did not sound frightened when she replied.
"Jocelyn Fray, I know it is late but I need your help. Please." Magnus was shocked by the pure desperation in her voice as she put extra emphasis on her plea; however her voice did not waver once.
"Very well." He murmured down the speaker and pushed another button to release the lock on the front door and listened intently as the he heard the sound of delicate, soft footsteps walking up the stairs.
There was only a moment of silence before a soft but sure knock vibrated through his door.
Magnus reached forward and pulled the door fully open and allowed himself to scrutinise this woman fully.
She had removed her hood and Magnus could see that she had fiery red hair which was pulled back into a messy bun but odd strands had escaped and hung limply across her face being pulled down by the rain which had gripped onto it. Her emerald green eyes did not widen when she saw him like most people's did, she simply raised one delicate dark eyebrow and cleared her throat just as the bundle in her arms let out a loud wail.
The tall warlock's eyes widened at the sound and he cocked his head to the side in confusion. A baby. He certainly hadn't expected that.
Shaking his head quickly to clear his thoughts he gestured for the woman to enter and she did. Her steps sure as she rocked the baby in her embrace.
Yet as soon as Jocelyn entered the apartment the baby ceased to cry and Jocelyn looked down at her daughter in shock before shaking her head in a manner similar to how Magnus had done moments before.
"I'm sorry for disturbing you this late Mr. Bane, but I couldn't hold it off any longer or I might change my mind." She spoke, turning to Magnus and for the first time there was vulnerability in them; the unmistakable look of worry and desperation.
"Think nothing of it. What can I assist you with child of the Nephilim?"
Jocelyn blanched and her eyes widened as her jaw went slightly slack and she looked at Magnus with panic in her eyes.
"How did you—?"
"The Angels Marks, they flicker when you move, most will not see them, but you see it is my job to pay attention to detail." Magnus spoke with a smirk.
She recovered from her shock and steeled herself for what she was about to do before she spoke.
"That is exactly what I need Mr. Bane; detail." This sentence confused the warlock so he tilted his head to the side as he moved to close the door behind him, his eyes not leaving the shadow hunter before him as she bent forward and placed the child on his plush hot pink sofa the blankets falling from the child and surrounding the curly red haired girl who had been concealed within them.
No words were said as Magnus moved forwards and knelt before the toddler whose emerald green eyes rested on the sparkly warlock and locked onto him wide in silent wonder before she extended the chubby hand that wasn't in her mouth towards Magnus.
Magnus leant his head forwards and allowed the child to grip one of the many dark spikes that formed a crown on his head. She gurgled in delight and Magnus couldn't help but chuckle a bit as she released his hair and clapped her hands together.
"She looks like you." Magnus commented with a smile and watched as his tiny cat jumped onto the sofa and nuzzled the blankets surrounding the child.
"That she does." Jocelyn remarked with a small smile but there was an undertone to her voice that Magnus couldn't determine so he decided not to press the issue.
Magnus stood and turned to Jocelyn.
"Now, what is it I can help you –"
Magnus' sentence was cut short by the screeching of the hamster-sized cat as the child's fist was clenched around his tail. The cat whirled around and raked his claws across the girls' hand and sped off as soon as his tail was released leaving a very distraught looking toddler who then promptly began to wail, her face going a bright shade of red but no tears fell.
Jocelyn darted forward and lifted her daughter into her arms cradling her against her chest whilst kissing the top of her head and whispering into her hair.
"Oh, Clarissa. My poor baby it's alright. Shhh, calm down baby." She cooed and soon the child yawned large and ceased to wail, preferring to nuzzle her head into her mother's chest her tiny hand gripping the front of Jocelyn's white button down shirt as her eyes slipped shut and all that could be heard was her tiny snores.
"My goodness, is she part banshee?" Magnus joked, rubbing his ears.
Jocelyn did not laugh but simply looked up at Magnus from where she had situated herself on the sofa holding her snoozing daughter.
"Mr Bane, it is of the utmost importance that you be honest to me. You know from which race I am from, that race is also what I have been hiding from for these past months and I want nothing more than to leave it behind me, I don't want anything to do with it, it nearly destroyed me and I will not let it get to my daughter. It doesn't even bear thinking about." Magnus simply stared at this woman, her eyes were strong and determined but her body language was hesitant and defensive as she clutched her daughter to her.
"I had hoped that she wouldn't have developed the Sight, there was a slim chance but I had hoped…." She sighed and bowed her head.
"But she does have the Sight." Magnus finished for her.
She didn't look up.
"Yes," She finally spoke in a small voice, "I discovered her teasing a pixie in a bush at the park today. I suppose I had always known that she couldn't have been blind to the Sight but all my heart and soul went into the hope that I installed in her being different." Abruptly she stood and walked over to the large window, the light from the moon being warped and shadowed by the paint and grime that he had allowed to artistically build up on the window. "Mr Bane I need you to rid her of the Sight."
Magnus' eyes widened. In all of his years, all of the services he had been requested for, this had never been required before. Magnus had never even heard of it being done. Instantly his mind went to the damage that it could cause if he were to try and do this and he felt his eyebrows pull together for the second time tonight.
If I get wrinkles then this woman is going to pay.
"Mr Bane…" Jocelyn ventured.
"Magnus, please call me Magnus." He interrupted her, pinching the bridge of his nose between two long fingers.
"Magnus, you are not being honest with me."
"I have not said anything yet." Magnus passed a hand over his eyes and stood upright looking her straight in the eye. "However, I must tell you that this has never been done before, it has never been heard of in all my years, and trust me I have had plenty, I have never heard of this being done before, this could destroy her far worse than following her blood line could. This could destroy her mind, unravel it; it could devastate it, if this goes wrong she will never be able to recover from it." Magnus looked at Jocelyn intensely willing her to see the severity of the consequences if he were to even do one thing wrong, take the wrong turning (so to speak) young Clarissa would be lost in a maze of her own mind, driven crazy as she tried to find a way out of something that was closed in on her.
He expected Jocelyn to look horrified, to cry, yet any semblance of emotion he expected to be displayed on her face, in her eyes, never was. This woman continued to surprise him.
"I must do something." She said, clenching Clarissa close to her.
Magnus looked at Jocelyn and Jocelyn looked at Magnus, both of their gazes was unwavering; both stood their ground for different reasons.
"I won't do it." Magnus finally spoke.
"Why?" Jocelyn didn't look mad, only irritated, it was clear that she was warring with herself as to whether she should go through with her decision as much as Magnus was.
"Because I have seen what madness can do to a person, and I will not willingly inflict it upon anyone who can live a life without it." His voice was full of force as he moved to his door, wrenching it open and looking poignantly at the woman and her child.
Images of a body suspended in a barn by a thin piece of rope haunted Magnus' mind as he recalled the look in his mother's eyes each day she lived knowing what she had given birth to. The craziness grew and grew until one day she ended her own life out of guilt for what she had brought into the world and craziness due to the guilt that had built up within her.
"I know what madness is as well Magnus." She gave him a small grim smile, "I was married to it."
Magnus stared at Jocelyn and he had begun to wish he had never let her in to his life, she was beginning to delve far deeper than he wanted her to.
"I almost became it," She sighed and returned to the sofa sinking down onto it with a huff and looked up at Magnus with sadness in her eyes. "My husband was Valentine." She spoke slowly and watched Magnus' face intently as it changed from shock to horror to pity and finally to a grim understanding and shutting the door behind him once more he sank down into his sofa and rested his head on the back of it, heaving a noisy sigh.
"Well that must have been simply fabulous." He commented sarcastically.
For the first time that night Magnus heard Jocelyn chuckle darkly, but she still chuckled all the same.
"At first it was, my common sense was clouded by a haze of love. But as all things tend to do, its once sweet taste turned bitter. Valentine lost his sense of right and wrong and there was nothing I could do to stop him, to help him. I let him get lost and look at where that got me." She laughed once without humour. "Magnus I cannot let her be dragged into that world, it is not her world, and I won't let it be." She stared straight ahead as she let her voice reveal every emotion tumbling through her at that moment; worry, hurt, longing and a fierce burning determination.
His resolve broke and he groaned before shifting to sit right on the edge of the sofa clasping his hands together and squeezing tight.
"If this goes wrong…"
"It won't." Jocelyn spoke firmly and turned to him with complete trust in her eyes.
Magnus rubbed the heels of his hands into his eyes and was suddenly glad that he had removed his makeup.
"I cannot remove the Sight from her completely, but I can, so to speak, blind her from it."
"What do you mean?"
"What she sees of our world she will forget even as she sees it. It is the best I can do." Magnus finished sounding hesitant.
"But?" Jocelyn prompted, causing Magnus to sigh.
"But, it will probably last at most just 2 years."
"Then I shall have to return here every 2 years." It was not a question but a statement, Jocelyn was saying that she would gladly return.
"Are you –?"
"Positive." She said and nodded her head once.
Running his hands through his spikes nervously he stood up and gestured for Jocelyn to hand Clarissa over. She did, and Magnus carefully plucked the sleeping child up and cradled her against himself as he paced the floor of his apartment reciting incantations, he had never previously had to use, and feeling power wash over him.
Jocelyn watched with apprehension and drew in a quiet gasp as she saw blue flames flow from Magnus' fingertips and engulf her daughter in a shimmering curtain of magic.
The rhythm of magic began to thrum through Magnus as he focused intently on the route he was taking, he felt himself touch Clarissa's mind and dug deeper inside, all worries melting away as he let his instincts guide him forward. He felt himself grow weaker but he let that become his strength; someone had once told him that Strength was man's greatest Weakness and Weakness was man's greatest Strength. That piece of wisdom was proving to be very useful at this moment in time.
Finally he found it, a bright white light blazing against the darkness; The Sight. Breathing in a laboured breath he filtered his magic through his mind and released it, forming a haze around the light, the curtain of magic knitted carefully together and there was a large burst of light which near blinded Magnus before it finally subsided and Magnus gazed in wonder at the Sight being withheld by his own magic. He had done it.
He felt himself laugh once, a high exultant sound. He reached forward once more and felt his own consciousness trail its fingers across the surface of the child's. Where his fingers trailed, burning marks were left.
Finally retreating from Clarissa's mind with the utmost care and precision he watched in his head as the image of the Sight became smaller and smaller but as he went he could see his burning signature left on this child's mind.
Soon he was completely in himself again and he felt his knees buckle as he fell to his knees, shielding Clarissa with his arms.
The magic had ceased to flow and he could now hear his own fast, laboured breathing and felt Clarissa being pulled from his arms and then gentle hands were on his face and holding his hands.
"Magnus? Mr Bane are you alright?" Jocelyn spoke frantically. What had she done,? Had this affected him more than he himself had anticipated?
One sharp laugh broke the silence as Magnus slowly opened his eyes. They were alight with joy which was clear through the exhaustion he had just put himself through.
"Magnus?" Jocelyn asked carefully.
"I did it." He said in disbelief.
"I knew you could." Jocelyn spoke with a grateful smile. "Thank you so much Magnus. You have no idea how much…" She trailed off as she heard small sounds coming from the sofa and she released Magnus' hands to see to her daughter.
Standing on shaking legs the warlock made his way over to the sofa and sunk down onto it with a satisfied groan. He moved his head to his right and looked down to see the young child nestling into his side with a contented smile his mother hovering over her with a bemused look on her face.
"Will she still be able to remember you?" Magnus didn't look up at Jocelyn's question. He gently used his hand to smooth down some curls which had fallen onto Clarissa's forehead.
"No." He said and suddenly he felt immense sadness but for what reason he couldn't determine. Clarissa lifted one of her hands and balled it into Magnus' electric blue kimono. Magnus smiled and reached down to lift her onto his chest where she settled into him.
"How much do I owe you?" Jocelyn asked.
"We do not know how long this will last, so until we know that you owe me nothing. We shall discuss those issues next time we meet." Magnus grunted as he stood with Clarissa in his arms and made his way over to his front door.
Placing a gentle kiss on her forehead he attempted to remove her from himself, but her little grip was not faltering. Smirking he used one hand to gently loosen her grip but she simply gripped Magnus' finger and he felt his heart swell.
"Go on Clary-Beary back to mummy now." He murmured past the lump in his throat into her mass of ginger curls and, with some help from Jocelyn, Clarissa returned to her mothers' arms her little arms looped around Jocelyn's thin neck and her head rested on her shoulder.
"Clary-Beary?" Jocelyn joked with a smirk.
"Not a word." Magnus said with an air of false indignation.
Jocelyn smiled and leant up on her tiptoes to kiss Magnus on his tanned cheek. Magnus smiled down at her before they said their farewells.
As Magnus stood in his doorway watching Jocelyn walk away he kept his eyes on the child and he marvelled, not for the first time in his life, at how beautiful and tender humans were.
So as he watched Jocelyn disappear out of his sight he whispered to himself.
"Goodbye little one." And retreated into his apartment.