gutter: I facking love this pairing. The Mortal Insturments is such an amazing series, how could I not take advantage of the canon slash? I wish Magnus and Alec's relationship could be a little more centered in the books, though. Oh, well. Keep my hopes up for City of Glass. This is sometime during or after Ashes. Take your pick. Hope I can convert some of the hopeful Jace/Alecs out there. Yes, I'm looking at you Amme and Lauren.

F I R E
"maybe in time, you'll want to be mine
magnus/alec

There was a part of Alec that wanted to hate Magnus.

There was a part of Alec that wanted Magnus to hate him.

It was a Sunday afternoon. The sun had just begun to dip beneath the skyscraper skyline, its arms bleeding, reaching out for anything to pull it back from the edge. The moon would merely watch, drifting higher into the sky like a lover that could never be touched. The buildings stood testament to the sun's demise. Never moving. The people of this city, well, they knew not of the struggles of the sun nor its advocates. Those same people were blind to the all too real things that scritch-scratched at the floorboards beneath their beds. They say that you grow out of that primal fear as you grow up.

Growing up is a foolish thing to do.

Alec Lightwood drifted through the crowd like a beautiful wraith -silent, swift and mesmeric. He had started taking this route almost three times a week since the fiasco with the Greater Demon. Even now, he wasn't sure why. After the first visit, he found himself being drawn into this area of the city, far from the sanctuary of the Institute. Like a moth to a flame, he was enticed each and every time. One would think he'd run before the flame singed his wings.

As he made his way towards the street of his destination, he noticed figures in the thick blackness of the alleyway. Vampires. Their eyes were set greedily on the horizon, watching the sun die in a way that a lecherous man may look upon a supple young girl. Alec's black brows instinctively knotted together at the sight of the children of the night. He had become slightly more tolerable of their lot since Clary's mundane proved to be more than just a hindrance. Slightly.

Tearing his gaze away from the nightwalkers, he reached out and buzzed the button anchored to the wall of his target building. Now that he was here, he felt the familiar tug of anxiety. Alec gnawed on his bottom lip, looking very much like the child he tried not to be. Not even a minute passed before the door swung open, revealing a man with green gold eyes and a winsome grin. "We're making these visits a habit aren't we, Alec?" The man inquired, amusement laced through his voice.

"Shut up..." Alec replied, blushing as he strode into the apartment. The warlock made an amused sound in the back of his throat before closing the door behind him. "You know, you don't have to ring the intercom. I gave you a key for a reason." The Shadowhunter remembered the thin silver key Magnus had presented him with two weeks ago, just about when these visits became routine. "I left it at the Institute," He told him. "Did you-," Alec cut him off: "Yeah, I hid it." Magnus blinked down at the younger man and said, "Actually, I was going to ask if you got my message last night." Alec blushed furiously, unable to form a coherent sentence and ended up trailing off into silence. As always, Magnus caught the conversation by its threads. "So, what wonders of the mundane world have you brought this time? I quite liked that Buffy the Vampire Slayer. That chick had a lot of moxie." Alec dropped his bag on to the hot pink couch with a small smile after they entered Magnus's loft. "And that Angel. Now that was a man I'd let bite me any day of the week," the raven haired man sighed, waggling his eyebrows suggestively.

"Well, then you'll be happy to see what I've brought," Alec replied, enthusiasm creeping into his voice as he withdrew a DVD box set that said Angel in capital letters. "You're an angel," the warlock of Brooklyn smiled, leaning in to press a chaste kiss to the junior's forehead. From the amount of heat radiating from his face, Alec Lightwood guessed that he was flushed a lovely fuchsia color. While his companion walked towards the television, snapping his fingers to signal its response, the Shadowhunter let his gaze fall.

If only what Magnus had said were true...

The boy could not deny that his heart ached for Jace. The same Jace who was his adoptive brother, son of evil incarnate Valentine and the first person to stir emotions in Alec that he didn't know he even possessed. The tawny eyes that could pull him deeper than any kelpie ever could had haunted his dreams countless times. They were no stranger to his thoughts. Yet, despite his incessant longing for Jace, he found himself thinking about Magnus as often as he did the blonde angel who symbolized everything he couldn't have.

Settling on the couch, the theme song for the mundane program beginning to spring from the speakers, Alec snuck a quick glance at Magnus Bane. He was always welcome here. No matter the time of day or the state of his nerves, Magnus always ushered him inside, hand like fire as it touched the small of his back. In the early days, he drew away from the burn; afraid he'd catch the ember and ignite himself. Now...

Whenever that flame danced against his flesh, he felt himself arching into it. Some part of him, some innate sense of wanting was roused whenever that flame dared to swathe his skin in its warmth. His muscles tightened and a sound that should never come from a Shadowhunter fought to be liberated from his mouth. Thinking about it made the tendons in his arms strain. In an attempt to be placid, he focused on the screen and the lovely David Boreanaz.

More than once did Magnus burst out in laughter at some human fabricated fact about vampires. "Where do the mundanes get their information?" Alec asked, a wide smirk spreading from ear to ear. Magnus crossed his long legs, turning to look at his guest. "Well, a few hundred years ago, some of your kind decided it would be good fun to tell the mundanes some worthless information. The Clave managed to cover much of the leaked information, but could never erase that garlic myth." They continued to laugh throughout the duration of the show whenever they weren't transfixed by Angel.

When Magnus's slender shoulder bumped his, Alec knew the grace period was over. He couldn't very well pull away without Magnus catching on to his anxiety, but nor could he stay in the wake of that amazing heat. Through the veil of his thick black locks, he surveyed the warlock. He wondered how someone like Magnus could be infatuated with someone like him. His too beautiful eyes were lined with black charcoal and glitter, heightening the contrast of the blending colors. The black and white striped shirt over a tank top hung loosely from his bony shoulders, giving a lovely glimpse of his golden chest.

Since when did his throat close up?

The particularly exciting episode only continued to rise as the lovely and homicidal Angelus said, "Y-you never learn, do you? This wasn't about you. This was never about you... And you fall for it every single time!" Alec's heart did a little cartwheel in his chest at the stunning realization that Buffy had walked into a trap. He had never been one for television, but this stuff was almost as good as Shadowhunting. He wasn't prepared when Magnus caught his wrist, drawing him closer. "Magnus, wha-,"

He halted mid-sentence as that fire flowed through his body freely, given free reign by the lips that bridged the chasm. At first, he bent to the will of the flame, letting the embers spark his very being until something built inside the pit of his stomach. Only when he felt the smooth metal of the piercing in Magnus's tongue against his own did he wrench away from the fire. The tension had returned to his chest, for his entire body was screaming out in protest. "What was that?" He demanded, unable to stop his voice from quivering.

Magnus stared at him as though he had just sprouted horns. "That was a kiss, Alec. Surely you know what that is..." The warlock's eyes were lidded with something more than just confusion. "I know that, but what...was it?" The warlock regarded the young Shadowhunter with a gaze that could only come from hundreds of years of experience. "I'm showing my affection for you, darling, if we have to be blunt." Alec wrung his hands in the material of his sweater-- a nervous habit. "Magnus," He began, refusing to meet the warlock's eyes. "Why would you waste your time chasing me like this when I'm still...thinking of...," He couldn't bring himself to say the words love and Jace in one sentence.

"Because," The High Warlock said in a low voice. Through the corner of his bluebottle eyes he saw the glitter god arch forward, spine bending in ways he didn't think possible. He continued the feline movement until he was hovering over Alec, pressed against the arm of the couch. Now, he couldn't hide from the green yellow seas of his eyes, not when they were staring down at him like that. "I find you," He pressed his lips to the junction of his neck. "Adorable." Eyes closing, almost in denial, Alec instinctively nuzzled into the sensation at his neck. Those words were heartbreaking and painful to hear. Heartbreaking because he knew that Magnus wasn't playing a game, he really felt that way about Alec. And Alec, like an indecisive pawn in a game of chess, was evading the all-powerful queen.

Smiling into his skin, Magnus paused in his torture to say, "More beautiful than you realize." It felt like a crime to Alec when he clutched at the elder male's shoulders, pulling him closer when common sense told him to push. He could feel Magnus's tongue against the sensitive flesh of his neck --feel his sharp teeth pursue the affected area. "Different from any Shadowhunter I've ever met." Without warning, a loud sob tore from Alec's throat, hot tears streaming through his lashes, over his cheeks in a smoldering path.

Magnus Bane, the High Warlock of Brooklyn, drew back. A look of concern mingled with fear was on his face. It looked unnatural for Magnus to be afraid. It was like he was wearing a mask. But through that mask, his ever-twinkling eyes shined through, sending hot white pain through Alec's heart. He must have looked like a fool, crying like a child --certainly not like a Shadowhunter. Why did Magnus insist on doing this to him? And why did he insist on doing this to Magnus?

"Alec?" He looked as though he were afraid that he had hurt him in some way. Alec Lightwood said nothing, his frame shaking from the force of suppressed tears. This wasn't how it was supposed to be. The Shadowhunter was supposed to be stalwart and true -conquering the demons. Yet here the demon was reducing him to tears with a few simple kisses. How were those lips deadlier than any blade? Alec would like to know.

"I'm sorry," Magnus murmured, reaching out a heavily jeweled hand to cup the boy's cheek in his hand. Surprisingly, he didn't flinch away. Magnus's thumb absently stroked the trail of tears while the broken boy let his cries grow faint. Since when had Magnus been apologizing? Since when was he the one who hurt Alec? Everything felt so wrong. The only time thing felt right was when...

We're living in a fucked up world, honey. Up is down and yes is no.

He reached up and clasped the hand on his cheek closer. Through bright eyes, still dripping pearls, he looked at the demon that was fighting for his heart. "Hurt me," He whispered. Confusion passed over the green yellow skies of his eyes, like a storm cloud. Until the dawn broke. Alec wasn't sure who moved first, but all he knew was that the fire felt so inviting against his lips, and he welcomed it this time. Magnus held the back of his head in one hand, the other still firmly clasped against Alec's face, as though he were afraid the boy would shatter. To be honest, Alec wanted to shatter, simply because he wanted to put everything he was in Magnus's hands.

He trembled when the warlock requested entrance to his mouth, but succumbed to the pressure of his lips against his own. Before he knew what he'd done, and only after he'd melted with the sensation, he felt Magnus's tongue in his mouth, locked in a battle that Alec was swiftly losing. His heart was pounding painfully against his ribs- his lungs straining to reach the air they were denied of. When his back was pressed into the cushions of the couch and Magnus climbed on top of him, rocking in the sinful rhythm that could only be attributed to Magnus, Alec freed the moan that had built in his throat.

Through the brokenness of the moan, the black haired boy could hear Magnus's soft laughter as he bent closer, catching Alec's lips once again. He'd never done this with anyone but Magnus, but the feeling of the body on top of him felt familiar and foreign at the same time. After a few more moments of kisses that were sure to leave bruises, he felt fingers drift under the hem of his sweater. "Magnus..." He whimpered-- hand wrapping around the Downworlder's wrist. The thin fingers probed along the muscle at his abdomen, drifting up and up and up until-

"Ohh!" Alec arched upward, the ceiling blurring before his eyes. That heat at the base of his stomach was growing again. The feeling of wanting. Needing. He felt the fabric of his sweater being pushed up, and instinctively leaned up, letting it pass over his head before it was thrown to the ground. He watched Magnus lightly trail his fingertips along the myriad of Marks along his body. The luminescent silver scars were numerous and each time Magnus ran a finger over them, it was like being Marked all over again. The thin splitting heat--but when Magnus touched them it was the good kind of heat, the kind that made you shiver.

For a split second, he thought the heat of their efforts had passed. He was wrong.

Magnus rocked his hips against Alec's, sending delicious shudders through the smaller male. He knew he was moaning --that much he knew. He knew that he felt like he would die if Magnus were to stop. Before he knew it, he was rocking against Magnus too. "Finally getting into the scheme of things, huh?" Came a husky voice at his ear. He moaned Magnus's name as the friction increased until he was desperately clawing at material of Magnus's shirt. One final moan tore its way from his throat as Magnus took the flesh of Alec's neck in his mouth and sucked. Hard.

"There's a Mark for you..." Magnus breathed. Alec panted, unsure of what had just happened between them. He felt like all his muscles had betrayed him. All he could do was wrap his arms around the warlock, and try to return his breathing to normal. "This is statutory rape on so many levels..." He murmured, breathing in Magnus's exotic scent. Magnus laughed at that, twining his fingers through Alec's rich black hair. "Not yet, jailbait. Sex has to actually commence before that charge can be filed."

"Great. I'm jailbait."

"Yep. Only by 297 years, though."

Alec Lightwood smiled against the warlock who was bent on stealing his heart's shoulder, feeling more content than he had in a long while. "We have an audience," Magnus told him. Alec turned to see Chairman Meow perched on the makeshift bar, staring at them like a lecherous old man.

"Pervert cat."

"He looks disappointed."

"Maybe he wanted you to rape me on this couch."

Magnus narrowed his eyes at the eldest Lightwood child, a predatory smirk spreading over his

features. "He's not the only one."

Alec gulped.