Hey all. Let's try something new.
A/N: To the Malec fans: Please don't follow me expecting me to be a Malec writer. I am a Klainer at heart and I mostly write blangst. If you like these things too or don't care, that's fine. I like new friends. But consider yourself warned. Let me know what you think.
Also, don't hate me for ruining the world of TMI. I literally read the books in a week; I haven't had the time to know everything. And for this, I don't care. I just wanted to torture them for a bit, ok?
To the Klainers: Don't worry, Blaine is still my bb.
Onward!
Everything (1/2?)
There's a fine line between magic and miracle.
Magnus has done many wonders of magic in his lifetime, but very few miracles. Of course, this could be a matter of perspective. To a mundane, even the slightest flicker of magic would be considered a miracle.
To Magnus it was just routine.
Wake up, feed Chairman Meow, conjure breakfast, think about Alec over a couple of scones.
That last one he hasn't been able to change, as much as he tries to do so. He loves that boy. He loves him, even now after he's been so betrayed by him.
And he's literally all Magnus thinks about anymore – his strong hands cupped around his morning coffee, the way his bold runes snake over smooth skin, his blue eyes glimmering from across a crowded room as he watches Magnus, gaze locked on him only.
Magnus knows that for the time they were together, Alec considered him his everything. Alec never had much chance to be with anyone else, but Alec's soul had connected so quickly to whatever spirit may or may not be inside of Magnus that everything felt too right to not be real.
True love, soul-mates – the words were never enough to explain what exactly they were. They were everything.
The scary part is that Alec meant just as much to him too. Means just as much. Magnus has had many lovers, but not many loves. He's seen love from a distance though, observing the mundanes who love so fiercely in their brief lives.
Maybe that's why they love so fiercely in the first place.
But what they felt, he imagines must feel like this.
It's the kind of conversation he'd have with Alec, who'd always challenged him in the most unexpected ways; he made Magnus think.
Oh, Lord, does he miss him.
It doesn't change anything, he'd told him. But it changes everything. It makes this separation so much harder.
What he did, though, is unforgivable.
Chairman Meow curls up at the foot of Alec's empty chair and glares at Magnus.
Looks like Magnus isn't the only one missing his beautiful Shadowhunter this morning.
While Magnus ponders his cat's loyalty, Alec at the Institute spends his morning hiding knives in his clothes. They are going hunting today.
His fair falls flat against his heads, the shadows under his eyes, remnants of sleepless nights, make the blue appear faded and dull. He looks every part the ex-boyfriend still hopelessly in love.
Fighting will be a good distraction from Magnus. The adrenaline will help, even if he feels like an empty shell of himself without Magnus in his life.
Clary is coming today. Alec genuinely likes Clary well enough, but she's not a fighter. Not the way he and Isabelle and Jace are. It means Jace will be paying extra care watching her back, which in turn means Alec will need to pay extra attention watching Jace's. He's not going to let Jace protect Clary at his own expense.
He huffs as he slides a knife inside his boot. Mostly it just hurts to see them together, even as much as he loves them both. It's the same with Isabelle and Simon.
Alec and –
He hates the pain he's caused Magnus. In a way, it would almost be easier if their parting had been colder, but they'd kissed instead. They said they loved each other. And instead of angry, Magnus had been disappointed and terribly betrayed.
It's the worst feeling knowing you've hurt someone who's given you their love and trust. At the same time, Alec feels betrayed that Magnus doesn't seem to love him enough to forgive him for his entirely human and understandable mistake.
He hates that Magnus was not forthcoming about his past even when Alec asked. He knows he's made a huge mistake, but so has Magnus. Just because they are no longer together does not mean those feelings have just gone away.
Alec hates that they've done this to each other, hates himself for his part in it and hates Magnus for contributing too. But, by the angel, they loved each other.
They were so good together.
They were everything.
He refuses to wallow. He's a warlock and too proud to pine for a mere shadowhunter.
But Alec will never be just a mere shadowhunter to you, Magnus.
It doesn't matter. He's better than this.
We were better together.
Magnus shakes his head to dispel the thoughts of Alec. He spends too much time in his own head, and he needs to focus. He's got a client today.
This is convenient because he needs a distraction, plus the pack of werewolves upstate is paying him handsomely for his services – they've got an injured alpha on their hands.
He's halfway through creating a portal when his phone rings. His first thought is Alec, but no, he realizes when he looks at the screen. It's Isabelle.
He's had enough of Alec's friends stopping by and calling him to tell him he's made a mistake. He silences his phone.
He's done.
The portal shimmers complete when his phone vibrates against his thigh with a call coming in. Magnus angrily answers, about to shout for Isabelle to stop calling when the words halt in throat.
"Magnus! Oh thank the angel you answered, Magnus. You have to come," Isabelle pleads. The desperation in her voice rivals the first time he healed Alec. It reminds him of when the Lightwoods had lost Max. "It's Alec. He's been hurt. Please."
Panic floods his blood and his bones collapse as the truth sinks in. Alec is dying.
"Where are you?" he asks.
She tells him, and instead of picturing the trees of upstate New York, Magnus lets the image of blue eyes sweep over him, and he steps into the Portal.
It's a blood bath. The ash of the dead stifles the air and the city traps the metallic smell of blood within her walls.
They are in an alley.
Clary is the first to catch his eye, as Isabelle and Jace both are kneeling beside the prone form of their brother, frantically drawing the runes that would save his life had the damage not been so dire. Magnus can see that from here. They won't work.
Isabelle and Jace do not know he's arrived.
"Move!" he tells them, and he forces his way beside what remains of Alec – and it's not much.
There's so much blood, and he can't tell what's Alec's and what's not, and he especially can't tell where it all is coming from.
"What happened?" Magnus demands.
"It was just a hunt, an investigation really," Jace explains. "There's been an increase in demonic activity in this area recently"
No, really? Magnus would've snapped back at Jace. He really would have.
"We anticipated demons, but not this many. T-They wouldn't stop coming," Isabelle continues.
"Eventually, Clary just created this rune –"
Why is Jace still talking? At this point, Magnus doesn't care. Alec's heart is literally slowing right now.
Magnus pushes his magic through Alec's chest, wraps it around his heart, and jump starts it to pump around the weakening muscle.
Oh lord, Alec.
They can't stay here. The demons could return at any time, and all this time Alec has been breathing in infected air.
His portal is still open, and gently he scoops Alec up into his arms, gesturing for the others to follow him through to his home. It's a safe, clean environment where he can focus on the healing required.
Without thinking about what it means, he takes Alec to his bedroom instead of any of his guest rooms. The others follow.
With a snap of his fingers, Magnus removes the blood coating Alec's hair and sticking to his skin. What remains is his own, and Magnus can see easier the sources. Slash across his chest, gashes in his left arm, a large chunk out of his side.
And the burns.
He's not going to make it.
Magnus runs through spell after spell. Blood thickening and replenishment spells, burn removal. He tries to close the wounds, but it's working too slowly. There's too much damage and Magnus finds himself jumping from wound to wound in attempt to heal the worst of the damage.
He falls back against a chair stunned, and the others look at him expectantly.
"I can't heal him," Magnus admits, keeping the pain he's feeling locked deep in his heart.
"What! You've barely tried! There must be –"
"There's nothing!" He shouts. And then, seeing their faces and knowing it's reflected in his own, he repeats softer. "I'm sorry, Isabelle. There's too much."
Isabelle shakes her head. "I won't accept that."
"You will have to."
Magnus reaches out to grab Alec's hand, rubbing the bruised knuckles with his thumb. This hurt goes beyond anything he's ever felt. He knew he'd have to watch Alec die eventually, but he always thought it would be after they lived their lives together and after Magnus had had the time to prepare himself for it. He never imagined it like this.
They're not even anything right now because of the fight they had. Magnus does not want Alec out of his life, he never really wanted it. And now he has no choice, and it hurts so badly. It's too early and he's not prepared.
And this ache… he could never be prepared for it, he knows now.
Magnus is crying.
Through their clasped hands, Magnus pulls Alec's pain away. It's the one thing he can do to ease Alec's suffering.
For a moment, just a moment, Alec's lashes flutter open. They dart around the room until they land on the warlock beside him. "Ma…g...nus, " Alec coughs, blood dribbling down his chin. But his eyes are bright and he smiles before falling back into unconsciousness.
Isabelle screams, but Magnus is already checking for a pulse.
It's there, but he can feel how weak it is.
Alec is an indescribable shade of pale, his eyes closed, breath releasing in pitiful gasps, blood running down his arm and his chest and his face.
Magnus feels like he's dying inside right along with Alec. He can't handle this; he literally wants to die in this moment, and probably will forever without Alec at his side.
"Magnus, please," Isabelle cries. "Keep trying."
"I –"Like lightning the idea strikes him, shocking him out of his seat and back into action.
He conjures a knife and carves a symbol onto the inside of Alec's arm
"Demons are children of the fallen, just as you are the children of angels. The darkness in their blood makes them warped, inside and out. But at the core of it, as children of Lucifer, they come from similar stock as you.
"There is a lost art involving ancient runes to enhance spells. They are not like the runes you use, as they were created by Lucifer at the fall, punishments for disloyalty. There's one that – may actually help Alec."
"The mark won't…hurt him?"
"It won't turn him evil, no, if that's what you're asking." The symbol oozes red where Magnus has cut into Alec's arm.
Behind him, Clary gasps, and it's obvious she knows what it is he plans on doing.
"I want you to leave."
"But-"
"Leave, Isabelle. I'm going to save your brother but you have to let me work!" Reluctantly Jace and Isabelle turn to leave the bedroom, Jace tugging on Clary's arm, where she stands frozen, staring at the symbol Magnus has started carving on his palm.
"Clary," Jace urges.
Magnus shakes his head.
"Clary stays." Immediately, Jace opens his mouth to argue, but Magnus promptly cuts him off. "I need help and you are too close to him. So you go, Clary stays. Come," he beckons to her as Isabelle and Jace leave.
"Magnus," Clary breathes, shocked and a little sad.
"I can only do this once, Clary. So, I'm going to make this count. Stay beside me. You need to stop me before I pass out or it'll go too far. Promise me?"
"I promise," she confirms, compassionately holding his unmarred hand.
"And Clary? Don't tell the others until I have a chance to talk to Alec."
Clary nods as Magnus brings the symbol on his hand to the one he drew on Alec's arm, an exact pair, both streaming red.
When they connect, Magnus jolts, gasping for air as life begins to passes through him and into Alec.
"The first couple years will heal. The rest – I don't want to live a moment without him, Clary. Do you think he'll understand? Is this the right-," he groans as a wave of pain passes over him, "thing to do?"
"I think he loves you, Magnus. You're giving him a gift."
He'd nod if the sensation weren't too much for him, but at the moment his entire body aches with limitation. Suddenly gravity is an unmovable force. The air heavier, thicker and he can suddenly feel the dangerous gases swirling within it as it swims in his lungs.
In this moment, he really wants to be able to look at Alec, to make sure he's healing. He wants to see him healthy again, but he can only see the blurry image of his palm on Alec's arm.
"It's working, Magnus!"
A bit of blood dribbles down his lip, and Magnus can taste it on his tongue. "Good."
The world spins, and darkness creeps up at the edges of his vision.
"Clary, now." He can only whisper.
And suddenly it's over as Clary forcibly severs the touch between them and the connection giving Alec life.
Magnus passes out, his head falling forward softly onto the mattress stained with Alec's blood. His last thought - the miracle of blue-eyes blinking open.
TBC maybe?