I'm sorry for those of you who aren't massive fans of malec, I find it very hard NOT to include them in some way...

Across Every Battlefied

By the angel.

Alec groans as he feels his phone beep with the all-too-familiar tone of the institute's demon alert, his mental battle over whether or not to ignore the call sparked once again. In the end, he lets himself lose the battle for the sake of duty and pulls back from Magnus' warm embrace to grudgingly answer the call.

"Sorry dude," Jace says immediately.

"Oh come on, I literally just left you!" Alec complains, but they both know it's only for the sake of it, and there's no question about Alec being on his way as soon as he's told where to go.

"Well, actually…"

"Jace, what is it?"

"We need the warlock too," Jace admits eventually.

Alec can't tell if he's relieved or worried.

Thankfully, Magnus decides for him and takes the phone from his hand, asking Jace where to go and thanking him on behalf of Alec but also sassily reminding the blonde shadowhunter that he has a name other than 'warlock'. Alec can't help chuckling as Magnus ends the call before Jace can make a remark, then entwines their hands and clicks his fingers to conjure a portal.

"Ready, sweet pea?" Magnus asks with a smile.

"More ready than those demons are," Alec replies, smirking.

"There's my Alexander!" Magnus exclaims lovingly, and, with that, the two of them step through the portal together.

It's only a second after they've both stepped through that there's a demon aiming its tail weapon at them. Alec doesn't even think before firing an arrow, catching the demon's eye and causing it to shriek, before promptly disintegrating.

"Where are we?" Alec asks as he aims another arrow at the demon behind Jace.

"On the warehouse mile, aptly named due to the dozens of stagnated… well, warehouses." Magnus manages to sound extremely disappointed in the human race even whilst facing a hoard of demons.

Alec smiles.

But it's short-lived.

"Magnus!" Raphael calls, and Alec realises he hadn't even noticed the vampire.

"Sorry Alexander, I think my assistance is required…"

"I'll cover you; go!" Alec tells Magnus, having to yell because of something exploding nearby, which probably means that this battle isn't going to end anytime soon.

Magnus nods and makes a run for it, the aura of his magic hugging the air around Alec like a cosy goodbye. As he runs, Alec almost senses the demon behind him and curses, spinning on his heel and aiming an arrow before the creature can even think to attack.

It falls in the form of dusty rain but something else crashes into him and he ends up stumbling to the floor. He springs up almost instantly but the creature lunges again, and Alec winces as one of its claws catch his side. Of course, that doesn't stop him from pulling out his dagger and simply stabbing the thing into oblivion.

"Magnus…" Alec mutters to himself as he turns back to his warlock, and his eyes widen when he catches sight of the demon smugly poised to strike, "Oh no you don't."

Two rapidly fired arrows later, the demon is showering his boyfriend with ash.

Magnus doesn't react other than to stiffen slightly, preoccupied with whatever Raphael has requested of him, so Alec smiles to himself and cracks his neck, turning back to the demons near him.

"Bring it on!" Izzy is heard yelling, before the sound of her whip snapping echoes around them.

Alec only has time to shout something unintelligible but somehow clearly motivational to Izzy before he spots another gang of demons heading towards them. He motions to Jace, and the two of them share a grin before running at the attackers.

His arm moving like machinery, Alec fires arrow after arrow, destroying half of the stupid creatures before they even notice him. It's times like now – when some of the demons require multiple hits to be vanquished – that Alec internally thanks Magnus for charming his quiver to never run out.

"Six o'clock!" Jace yells, and Alec is spinning, reloading, and firing before he can blink.

Unfortunately, the demon only slows down, so Alec has to duck to avoid being injured. Staying low, he simply kneels and fires another arrow at the demon, which somehow manages to stay alive and growls, displaying an alarming set of teeth, a set of teeth that Alec wants nowhere near either of them.

He exhales and aims at the creature's open mouth, well aware of the flames building up inside the thing, and waits. Jace yells at him but he stays motionless until the creature freezes, ready to blast a wave of heat, then pulls his arrow back and releases his grip, watching it fly into the demon's mouth and grinning when a pile of dust is all that remains of the threat.

"Jace, watch out!" he calls, firing an arrow before Jace realises there's a demon behind him.

"Thanks!" Jace calls over his shoulder, his seraph blade swinging through the air once again.

After that, it's not long until the whole gang is nothing more than littered ash and dust. Jace, sweating enough to make him seem positively shiny, claps Alec on the shoulder as the two of them head back to where they'd started.

"No!" Jace is already running towards Clary, who's stumbling, but Alec is quicker, his arrow flying before the demon can lunge again. By the time it does recover enough to try again, Jace has pulled Clary behind him and plunged his seraph blade into its skin, or rather, scales.

"Alec! Have you seen Simon?" Izzy asks as she pauses in front of him.

"Probably with Raphael," Alec replies as he rolls his ankle, ignoring the dull spikes of pain.

"You okay?" Izzy frowns, concerned.

Instead of an answer, Alec shoots another demon, sending Izzy a small smile when it roars in defeat and dies with a wail. Izzy shakes her head but she's smiling, reassured, as she heads to find Simon for whatever reason.

Alec stifles his wince as he heads to Magnus, which is where everybody seems to be headed anyway. Six demons and nine arrows later, Alec reaches the cover of Magnus' magic, joining everybody else.

"What's going on?" Alec asks one of the vampires, still not sure why they're even with them in the first place, not that he's complaining about the extra help.

"We're trying to reverse the portal Camille helped open."

Oh.

So that's why the vampires have decided to help: because it's one of their own who'd caused this mess.

"Where's Magnus?" he demands without having to really demand it; they're a well-known and respected couple so it's not unusual for everyone to be ready with directions.

He nods at the vampire when she points for him to go left and starts moving, pausing only once to aim his arrow at an approaching demon but not bothering to watch it hit its mark, then follows the pull of Magnus' magic until he can kneel beside his boyfriend.

"Mags? You okay?" he murmurs.

"Alexander?" Magnus seems surprised. "There's something… something blocking the portal from opening and I can't seem to..."

As Magnus trails off, Alec notices how tense he looks, and how tired he appears to be. There are different types of battlefields and Alec knows that Magnus' is equally as exhausting despite what it may seem to onlookers who haven't lived with a warlock.

He wraps his arms around the warlock and shuts his eyes. "Magnus. Take what you need from me."

"Alexander, I can't, you're already-"

"Just do it, Bane," Alec whispers, knowing that his use of Magnus' last name will both amuse and persuade him to do it.

Magnus chuckles softly but does as Alec requests. Soon enough, Alec can feel the pull on his strength but he doesn't let go, tightening his grip until Magnus gasps and the two of them are pushed backwards, a ridiculously bright light exploding from the ground.

"Cover your eyes!" Alec has the energy to yell as he pulls a rather drained Magnus back, and he hears a few people repeat his order before they're surrounded by dozens of shrieking, dying demons being sucked into the portal.

"Thank you, love," Magnus murmurs quietly, and Alec has to fight his blood rush, biting his lip to hold back his smile; there's just something about Magnus' genuine gratitude that lures his smile out in even the most perilous of situations.

"You did it!" the vampire who'd given him directions declares proudly.

Magnus nods, using a touch more magic to seal up the crack in the floor. Before he can try to magically clean up the whole place, Alec glares at him, a silent argument taking place within their gazes and eyebrow movements.

Alec wins, and, much to Raphael's amusement, interlocks one of Magnus' hands with his own, turning back to everyone else. "We'll be heading back now. I trust you can make the rest of this mess disappear?"

"Yeah, sure, we've got this," Izzy assures him, so Alec pulls the laughing warlock with him as he starts to walk away.

He can hear Izzy and Jace laughing behind him, and soon enough, he's chuckling too, rubbing his thumb on the back of Magnus' hand. "Portal or Feet?"

"Really Alexander? Is that even a question?"

Moments later, the two of them are closing their eyes and practically falling forwards as the portal whirls in front of them. Alec emits a mixture of laughing and groaning as they land on the carpet of their bedroom, and Magnus frowns.

"Are you injured?"

"Nothing serious," Alec says, propping the quiver and bow up against the wall and sitting up.

"What do you say we watch a movie and fall asleep halfway through again?"

"That was one time!" Alec protests, trying his best to fight his instinctive pout away.

"Yeah, one time every week," Magnus retorts, raising an eyebrow.

Alec coughs to hide his laughter and nods. "Okay, fine, we'll do that. But we're not watching Disney again!"

"Alexander!"

"Magnus…" Alec mimics, determined to at least win the battle for their evening entertainment.

"But it's Disney!" Magnus all but whines, running a hand through his hair as he stands up to match Alec's folded arms.

Alec tries his best not to be distracted by the sheer fluffiness of his boyfriend's hair. "And I would like to watch something else."

"Like what?" Magnus inquires.

Alec hadn't prepared to win this fight, so he doesn't have anything to name. "Uh, like that spirit… away… thing you showed me…?"

"Spirited away?" Magnus asks, his voice already akin to an overexcited toddler.

Alec nods.

"Okay, alright, you win, we can watch that!" Magnus declares and plants a small kiss on Alec's check before flopping onto their bed with a smile.

"Really?" Alec asks, surprised that Magnus had given in. Well, no, he was more surprised that Magnus had given in despite how unsure Alec is of himself at the moment.

Magnus just taps the space beside him and Alec smiles, sliding into said space, the two of them shifting around a little so they can get comfortable. Before Magnus can waste his magic to turn the lights off, Alec picks up a stray cat toy and chucks it at the switch, smiling when dim darkness surrounds them.

"Show-off," Magnus mutters.

"You love it really," Alec replies.

"Obviously." Magnus rolls his eyes.

"Now I can prove to you that I do not fall asleep halfway through films."

Magnus snorts. "Love you as I do, Alexander, I can't deny that you're absolutely awful at staying awake for the entire duration of a film."

"Hey!" Alec protests once again. "I can too!"

Magnus just pulls a face, his thoughts on the matter quite clear. Alec half-heartedly rolls his eyes, elbowing his boyfriend. "I will prove you wrong, warlock."

"I'd like to see you try, shadowhunter," Magnus smirks. "This isn't the same as shooting an arrow on a battlefield, you know."

"I can win on any battlefield, even when that battlefield is consciousness, thank you very much." Alec pokes Magnus again, smiling when he jumps and grins widely, but still holds back his laugh for the sake of proving his point.

"We'll see."

"Yeah, we will, because we'll both be awake."

With shared stifles smiles and daring winks, the two of them settle to watch the film, knowing that no matter who wins the argument, this battlefield is one they're happy to stay on for as long as it takes, even if it takes an eternity and they reach an impasse that can't be overcome.

Of course, that doesn't mean Alec is okay to lose…

He's going to be victorious across all of the battlefields.

Obviously.

Please leave a review! Any thoughts and feedback or requests for something else? Have a good one :)