Reviews are love and any constructive criticism greatly appreciated :D I always like hearing how I can improve.

Warnings: M/M love, don't like, don't read.

Disclaimer: Everything belongs to the amazing Cassandra Clare who gave us these amazing characters. I'm just playing with them ;D Title is from the beautiful song "Breathe Again" by Sara Bareilles.

Summary: Set in the end of City of Bones, when Magnus comes to save Alec. (Depending on both reviews and how inspired I am, I'm considering making this a two-shot to include the actual date)

Thanks so much to my lovely Beta Arya Cole for reviewing this for me!

Breathe Again

There was something very useful about being High Warlock. It meant when there was gossip somewhere in downworld, regarding something to do with his city, Magnus was usually the first to hear it. And the second he had heard a muttering of "three young shadowhunters" and "demon" and "injured boy", Magnus had all but flown out of the bar he was in and crashed into god knew how many people to get to the Institute, where Isabelle had seen him astounded and, upon being forced to do so by a terrifying expression and request from Magnus, related all that had happened in as condensed a version as possible.

Magnus had suspected it might have been the blue-eyed favourite of his that was injured. The blonde seemed like the type that would have killed whatever creature might be able to tell about him getting injured. If it had been the blonde, he didn't seem like the person to want gossip about him harmed circulating the city. Especially amongst downworlders. So a slight fit of panic had grabbed the warlock and turned into horror when his assumptions turned out to be true.

"Get me to him" The command was laced with finality. He would heal Alec, no matter what. If anyone tried to stop him, he would not hesitate to knock them unconscious.

Luckily that didn't happen. The boy's sister was sensible enough to realise that he was the best hope they had and took him to the room where they kept Alec, writhing in pain and trying not to scream.

And Isabelle didn't care how much the High Warlock was going to charge them for this. As long as Alec would be alright, it was all worth it. Magnus literally chased them out of the room and they gave up all tries to divert their attention from what was going on after ten minutes of torment. The only thing that told them anything of what was happening in the other room, was the sparks flying out from the crack between the closed door and the wall. As well as several somewhat troubling bangs and crackles.

Isabelle was repeatedly walking against a wall, punching it with her clenched fist and muttering a string of curse words under her breath, loud enough to be overheard by Jace who sat in a stiff wooden chair in front of the door, glowering at the wood panels as if to burn a hole in it so he might see what the hell was going on in there. It sounded like quite a scene. The sparks were a testament to this, even if they served mostly to make Jace and Isabelle even more uncomfortable.

Alec, on the other hand, was feeling more relaxed than he had in what seemed like forever. He could not for the life of him remember a time when he'd been more comfortable, a warm, tingly sensation taking hold of his entire body. It seemed to be forever before it finally faded and all that remained of his agony from the demon's attack, was a dull ache that throbbed through him. Nothing too agonising. The sight when he opened his eyes, however, was.

"M-Magnus?" he asked weakly. The sparkly warlock was slumped in an armchair next to the bed, his figure looking less than comfortable or peaceful, dark circles underlining his usually so bright, lively yellow eyes. The occasional blue spark fired from his fingers as he gazed at Alec with a content, tired smile.

"You know" he started, his voice weary "When I said call me, I did hope we would meet again under less dire circumstances."

Alec coloured slightly and looked over the dark blue comforter that stretched out over his body, smoothing out the nearest creases with nervous fingers. It was just about then that he realised that under the comforter, he wasn't wearing anything.

"Cute. Red suits you."

Alec chose to do his best to ignore the comment, averting his eyes from Magnus and trying to stop his heartbeat from racing away as the older man chuckled.

"You, er, you healed me?"

Magnus looked at him almost pityingly.

"No, I am utterly exhausted from running all the way from Brooklyn because your house would be an excellent venue for holding a party in."

The dry humour of his tone escaped Alec completely.

"Never mind" Magnus made an offhand gesture with his hand "Sarcasm and you don't mix. Duly noted."

Alec still looked baffled and just nodded, before lifting his eyes to meet Magnus'.

"Thanks"

It wasn't enough. The warlock had just saved his life and Alec would probably spend his whole life in the warlock's debt. Something gave him the feeling Magnus would exploit that to the last second.

Not that you would mind… a small voice spoke in his mind, making him bite his lip. "How long was I out for?"

An odd expression adorned Magnus' face as he hesitated before answering. "I don't know how long you were unconscious for before I got here, but since I healed you you've been sleeping for at least seven hours. Your sister and 'his majesty'" Magnus' mocking tone matched his expression as he referred to Jace "should be getting some rest too. They looked exhausted and I told them to go sleep so you wouldn't get a heart attack when you see them. Even I can't bring you back from the dead twice in a row." Although the statement suggested the fact that it was a joke, Magnus' voice broke a little when he said the words. Again, it just rolled over Alec, who took no notice of it being a joke. "Um… thanks, I guess." He smiled bemusedly at the warlock.

An uncomfortable silence stretched over the room, causing the two men to shift uncomfortably.

"Er… I could get the money we owe you, I'm sure you have better things to do than sit at the sickbed of a shadowhunter."

Alec made a move to get out of bed, only to be restrained by Magnus who pushed him back onto the comfort of the pillows. "You need to rest. No getting up or moving about until I say so, we clear? Besides, I can think of a better way for you to thank me" Magnus wiggled an eyebrow at Alec, who flushed instantly and looked away again. "You-you can't hold one of your crazy parties here."

Magnus chuckled. "Tempting, but not what I meant."

At Alec's confused glance, he sighed before a smirk spread over his face. "You see, under normal circumstances, in a world where we were both completely normal-" Alec quirked his eyebrow at Magnus "- and you would have had the sense to call me like I told you to, I probably wouldn't have ended up in your bedroom quite so fast."

It took Alec all of three minutes to understand the double-entendre in Magnus' comment, before flushing violently and biting his lip hard. Apparently that response satisfied Magnus.

"My point is: We seem to have skipped an important step. And while I'm all for skipping," again, he winked at the younger boy, "it does seem… a shame" the last two words were a mere purr and Magnus had leant forward a bit. Alec just stuttered and cleared his throat awkwardly. "I-I'm sorry, I don't quite know w-what you're saying."

Strictly speaking that wasn't a lie. He understood more than he wanted to, but Alec had no idea where Magnus was going with this.

"Oh come, you can't be that naïve." There was only the tiniest hint of annoyance in Magnus' voice. "Alright then, I'll cut straight to the point and remember you owe me." He waggled his finger at Alec, a grin tugging at his glittery lips. "You. Me. Dinner."

Alec was stunned. "Like a-a, um, like a date?"

"Exactly. And don't worry, an idiot could see how uncomfortable you are with being out in public, so I will cook and we will eat at my apartment." He closed the sentence with a wink.

"Er… I…"

"Oh I won't torment you anymore. Just be there. You know where I live, Friday night, 7 pm sharp."

Magnus got up, as much as it hurt his tired muscles and leant in close to Alec. "Be there" he murmured into the shadowhunter's ear, moving his lips slowly to press against Alec's cheek, his eyes closed as he breathed in the younger man's scent. Alec's eyelids fluttered closed at the contact and the sharp intake of breath he expected to come was replaced by a soft sigh of contentment as Magnus lips touched his skin, soft, caring. It sent a thrill up Alec's body.

And it was over too soon.

Before he knew it, the warmth had gone and the room empty. Alec ran a hand through his hair, the tell-tale blush still framing his face. What had just happened? Why was Magnus having such a huge… impact on him?