Summary: It's all a bit tragic, really, isn't it?
"It's all a bit tragic, really, isn't it?" The man asked with a sad little smile.
"I guess so." The child shrugged, "I mean Shadowhunters die all the time right?"
"Yeah." The man muttered as he turned to look out the window.
"So, what was so special about this one?"
"He would have said nothing, but for me everything about him was special." The man began to twist the ring on the third finger of his left hand, a Shadowhunter Family ring; a Lightwood Ring.
"Warlock Bane?" The child asked after a long moment.
"I'm sorry, I was remembering." Warlock Bane shook his head, "This Shadowhunter was the reason we are on such good terms with the Clave, with Shadowhunters in general. It was his idea to have patrols with a member of each of our Races on the teams, and he was a member of the first mixed team, along with Raphael, Lucian Greymark, Meliorn, and myself. Of course his sister and brother often joined along with Simon and Clarissa Fray." Warlock Bane smiled softly as he remembered.
"That was sooo long ago." The child whined.
"Yes, it was." Warlock Bane agreed, "I am very old, child."
"Do you miss them?" The child asked.
"Everyday, some more often than other, my Alexander most of all." Warlock Bane admitted, twisting his ring.
"What makes him different than all of the other people you've loved?"
"Because Alexander was the last person I loved, the one I will always love; not my first but my last." Warlock Bane said softly.
"Do you remember your first?" The child asked, curiously.
"I remember their hands." Warlock Bane grinned a little, "They had small hands with long fingers, their nails were cracked and they had callouses, they had a worker's hands." The man shook his head, "I have lived a long time, child, that I remember anything from my first love is amazing, the human mind is not made to retain so many memories."
"Are you afraid of forgetting your Alexander?" The child asked.
"Yes, I have already forgotten the sound of his laugh, I fear the day I forget his crooked little grin, the one he gave me the first time I introduced myself to him, the one he gave when I first called him 'pretty boy'. I loved seeing that smile on his lips, I miss it. I see it now only in my dreams." Warlock Bane sighed sadly, "But surely you want to hear something other than an old Warlock's memories and sorrows."
"Can you tell me a story about you and Alexander?" The child asked, "A happy story?"
"Alright, but first let's tuck you into bed, hmm." The Warlock lifted the young child up and carried them to their bed, tucking them under the blue and gold quilt that had been a Wedding gift to Warlock Bane and his Alexander from the Seelie Queen.
"Now what story to tell you?" Warlock Bane asked himself as he sat on the bed beside the child.
"Tell me your favorite one." The child demanded as they cuddled deeper into the bed.
"My favorite." Warlock Bane said to himself, "My favorite story about Alexander is the day we first kissed."
And so, Warlock Bane began telling the child the story about his first kiss, the desparate way Alexander had dug his fingers into the lapels of his coat and dragged him in to kiss him, the way he'd dived back in for another after taking a breath and the breathless whisper of 'What did I just do' after it.
The child's eyes fluttered closed as they finally fell asleep and Warlock Bane stood up and walked to the door of the room, turning out the light as he stood in the doorway, "Goodnight, Annalee Lightwood."
Warlock Bane closed the door, leaving it open a crack as he walked to the living room, in the morning the child's parents would pick her up and he would be alone again until she needed watching again or another child from the Institute needed to be watched.
There were days when Warlock Bane almost regretted promising Alexander that he'd watch out for the Lightwood line after the man died, keep Isabelle's children safe, her grandchildren alive, her great-grandchildren happy and so on. He couldn't remember how many generations removed little Annalee was all he knew was that she was the most recent Lightwood born, though she was soon to have a brother.
Isabelle had promised him that their name would never die, every Lightwood born kept their last name, male or female, some hyphenated but the name Lightwod remained and Warlock Bane was known to every one of them. He couldn't remember what generation had started calling him Warlock Bane instead of Uncle Magnus but he hadn't corrected them, one day he would be forgotten, one day he would finally join Alexander in the afterlife, but that day would be a long time in coming, and hopefully he wouldn't forget Alexander's smile before then.