Meet The Parents:
Part 8 In
The Magnus Bane- Psychic Detective
Series
Summery:
A string of robberies puts Alec's little brother Max in jeopardy. How will Max cope? Magnus, Simon and Raphael rally around the siblings, ready to help, but some family members may not be so comfortable with all the help.
During the case a few things come to light…
Adding to the drama, Max also has his 16th birthday coming up, a possible new romance, a lot of confusing feelings,
And a few things he needs to tell his family.
It's a lot to deal with…
Will he be up to the task?
Notes:
Okay, so the last two stories were really fun and kind of crazy…this one is gonna go more serious and emotional. I had wanted to write a Pride story in June, but, as for that I want Magnus and Alec and all the rest of my couples together it's gonna be a bit yet till I get to that.
So, since I haven't got to that I kind of wanted to do a more emotional, coming out kinda story.
This will have a lot of family feels and probably a lot of stuff where you kinda just want to hug a character (But, come on, it's me, you know it'll all work out in the end).
I really liked how my Max was in the Back to School story and wanted to work with him more.a bit
This will have a lot of emotion.
We are going to actually have Maryse and Robert in this, and see what all Alec and the rest have been dealing with.
Honestly, this is the story I'm least sure of,
But I really wanted to do it,
Me taking risks and trying things out of my wheelhouse has worked so far…
Hopefully it'll work again
Anyways,
Hope you all enjoy…
Chapter 1:
Brothers, Breakthroughs and Break-Ins
_Alec-Alec-Alec-Alec-Alec_
Ugh…This is just impossible
Alec thought hopelessly as he perused the seemingly never ending racks and shelves scattered about the Comic book store. The entire place seemed absolutely covered in every type of comic, movie memorabilia and collector's items ever imagined…
No wonder Simon liked it so much.
So, why was he, a relatively sane, if somewhat boring, and okay, yeah a little uptight, detective spending nearly two hours in a place that is about as appealing to him as a dentist's office?
Because he has less than two weeks until Max's birthday and he was still without a gift. It wasn't like he forgot…He really hadn't (It's his baby brother, he wouldn't do that).
He'd started searching for a gift months ago; it's just that he still hadn't been able to find anything that was right. I mean, yeah, there were plenty of things that were fine: A new book, a video game, basically anything other than clothes.
All three of his siblings had banned him from picking out any clothing items as gifts unless he had at least one of them with him to okay it…
He really didn't get what the big deal was; he didn't dress that bad….
Usually he'd have no problem: he and Max were so similar it was just a matter of figuring out something that'd appeal to him at that age, then buying it. But more and more Alec was starting to see that Max was growing up, individualizing, finding what it was that made him, well, him.
Max was going to be 16.
That's a big one.
He didn't want to get something that would be 'fine'. He wanted something special.
He couldn't believe his baby brother was so close to being an adult. He still forgot that at times, but more and more it was becoming obvious. He was getting more outgoing, more confident. He was trying to be more independent, spending more time with his friends, less time at home. Realizing his own values, what he thought was important in life. Max really seemed to be getting closer to finding who he was.
Thankfully, that happens to be a bright, compassionate, young man with a great head on his shoulders.
Alec really started to notice it during the case at his school. Seeing how concerned he and his friends were about their teacher. Them taking the initiative to try to figure it out, rather than just write it off as bad luck and coincidences. The way he was with Magnus, Raphael and Simon. Magnus absolutely thought the world of him.
Anymore when Max would come over he'd constantly ask him about Magnus. Max had even had him invite Magnus over for dinner when he was over…
Well, actually, he'd used Alec's phone and texted Magnus inviting him, then told Alec he was coming over just as Magnus knocked on the door.
Not that he was complaining…it had been a wonderful evening.
How could it not be?
It was Max and Magnus.
As well as Max got on with Magnus, he'd become even closer with Simon. The two seemed to have really bonded. He knew that Max and Simon texted and talked quite often. He thought that Max saw Simon as a kind of role model. Something that Alec could not be happier about. Simon really was one of the best people he knew. He was intelligent, brave, and honestly, the sweetest person he'd ever met.
He kind of got the feeling that Max may have come out to Simon, which…It kind of worried Alec for a second, thinking that Max may have somehow thought he couldn't come to him…but, at the same time, he could understand it being a bit easier talking it through with someone who you hadn't known your whole life.
Also, it was Simon…
The guy did not have a mean or judgmental bone in his body. He couldn't imagine Simon being anything other than caring and accepting. He would really listen and genuinely emphasize with whatever you were telling him. Really, he was the perfect person to come out to first.
-Hell, the first person Alec had tried to come out to was Jace.
He'd been so nervous he'd felt sick trying to get up the courage to tell him… spending almost an hour psyching himself up and constantly reassuring himself that it would be okay…that Jace wouldn't hate him. Jace just rolled his eyes, said 'duh' and went right back to whatever inane thing he'd been talking about before.
Yeah…He kinda thought Max made the right decision there…
That's why after still coming up with nothing he had finally turned to Simon, asking for any ideas. He'd been surprised and suggested that when they were working the case Max and his friends had mentioned this shop quite often. Seemed like a good place to start…
At least it did until he had got here and saw all of this.
He shook his head as he wandered to yet another isle, looking for something that really seemed like Max…He picked up a collector's edition complete set of something called the 'Young Avengers'… he thought he'd heard Max and Kasey talking about that one more than a few times. He absently perused the box they were in, trying to get an idea…
"-Dude, I'm telling you he's…Alec?"
He startles, hurriedly putting the box back on the shelf, looking over to the voice.
Well…at least he was in the right place…
Wrong time though…
"Hey, guys…funny running into you here" He says awkwardly, trying to subtlety move away from Max's possible gift.
Max and his friends Kasey and Isaac are standing there.
"Hey Alec! What are you doing here?" Max asks, somewhat wide eyed… he keeps glancing over towards another section of the store.
Is he blushing slightly?
"I-uh…Simon's birthday is coming up and I was trying to find a gift for him…figured this was a good place to start."
"Oh, umm, yeah… Good thinking…" he says distractedly
"-Ah ha! I found it! See Max, I told you th-…Oh…Hi" The kid stopped mid sentence, startling a bit, before giving a slightly awkward wave.
They were about Max's height, with brilliant pink and blue hair and an electric green shirt with 'Totally Adorkable' written on the front in bright purple lettering and a little orange smiling cat with had a few earrings in both ears and several brightly colored bracelets on both wrists.
"Hello…" Alec starts
Max kind of nervously steps forward…
"Oh, uh…Alec t-this is my friend Billie…" He pauses, glancing over at Billie, giving a slight smile (and blushing even more)
"Billie, you remember my brother Alec…Well, I mean, you saw him at least." He turns back to Alec.
"See Billie's uncle is Mr. Ventura, he even helped on the case…Well, at first we had to convince him that we weren't the ones actually behind it,
But after that, he was a lot of help and when you showed up at the field I pointed you out to him,
And I totally meant to introduce you guys but I kind of got sidetracked when Simon tackled Brock and then you went to the station and…um…yeah…" He trailed off, trying to clamp his mouth shut to stop the flow of words, and blushing even more.
Isaac was covering his eyes in embarrassment, Kasey was rolling his eyes.
Billie just looked nervous and was blushing slightly, but shot Max a sweet, encouraging smile…
Ah…that explains the nerves.
Alec tried to hide a bit of a chuckle, shaking his head slightly…Yeah, Max was definitely spending a lot of time with Simon, he even sounded like him.
Alec stepped forward, smiling
"Well, it's good to meet you, Billie. Max has always had good taste in friends, even if Kasey is a bit of a troublemaker-"
"I am not!"
"Are too" Max, Isaac, and Billie countered, nearly in sync.
Alec did chuckle at that
"It's nice to meet you too, sir." Billie offered somewhat shyly, with a bit of a hopeful, almost relieved grin.
Alec shook his head, with a friendly smile
"You can call me Alec. How is your uncle doing, anyways?"
"Oh he's doing really well…great actually. He and Coach Cobb are actually dating now, which kind of shocked all of us…thank you again for everything you guys did. I was really worried, I had thought of going to the police myself, I just didn't know how to say it in a way that didn't make me sound like an overly dramatic teenager." Billie paused, glancing over at Max
"Thank goodness Max was smart enough to go to you guys, I hate to think what might have happened otherwise."
Alec smiled, nodding slightly
Yeah, he liked this kid…At least Max had good taste
"It was no problem…I was just glad we could help. Max is smart; he can usually find a way to get something to work."
Billie nodded, glancing over at Max, smiling faintly
"Yeah, he's one of the smartest people I know…Definitely the smartest person my age."
Max blushes brighter
"Oh…I-I, um, I'm not that…" he stammers, trailing off slightly
Kasey snickers
"Yep, he's a genius…Eloquent too"
Max glares at him,
Isaac nudges Kasey's shoulder, giving him an annoyed look
Billie raises his eyebrow slightly
"Says the guy who thought my uncle was a robot and is still convinced the Janitor is a Bigfoot?"
"Hey! With that wasn't that far out there…and the guy is way hairy and did you hear how he yelled the other day! It sounded like a howl!"
"He dropped a twenty pound bag of landscaping rocks on his foot"
"Okay, but stil-"
Isaac darted forward, quickly planting a kiss on Kasey's lips. Kasey blushed brightly, stammered a bit, before settling into a kind of dopey smile, slipping his arm around his boyfriend.
Max raised his eyebrow questioningly, Isaac just shrugged
"That seemed like it was going to be a long one."
Max and Billie snickered; Max shakes his head slightly, before turning back to Alec
"So, did you fin-" he's cut off by a chiming sound from his phone
He startles slightly, taking it out, glancing at his friends
"Oh, man, it's already three, we need to head out" he glances apologetically at Alec
"Sorry, we're going to see the new Deadpool movie; it starts at four so we want to make sure we get there in plenty of time. Otherwise I'd help you get something for Simon..."
Alec shakes his head, smiling
"That's okay, have a great time, enjoy your movie" He turns to the others
"Kasey, Isaac, good seeing you two again. Good to know there's someone trying to keep Kasey from going too far out there." The others chuckle, Kasey just shrugs, hugging Isaac a bit.
Alec turns to Billie
"And it was very nice meeting you Billie; I hope to see you again."
"You too, Si-uh…Alec, thank you" He says politely, with a shy, hopeful, smile.
Alec glances over at Max, he's smiling, he looks relieved and so grateful, he nods slightly.
"Thank you Alec, see you later" he says, slipping a bit closer to Billie as they all turn and make their way to the door.
Alec chuckles slightly to himself as he turns back to the shelf; picking back up the collector's set before making his way to the counter.
Okay, maybe it was the right time to be here
Not every day he'd get to see his little brother off on his first date
_Other-Other-Other-Other-Other_
Man, what were the odds of running into Alec at a comic shop! He has the worst luck!
Well, no…
The worst luck would have been running into Jace…
Or Izzy (He loved his sister, but he also knew his sister…she'd of been all squealing and demanding to take pictures of them…And they'd give in cause Izzy was terrifying when she wanted something)
Or his parents…
He shivered a bit at the thought of that.
At least Alec was really friendly. He could see how nervous Billie was; Max knew Billie got some really bad reactions meeting new people sometimes. He could understand it might be a bit worrisome meeting a detective…He had told Billie that he thought Alec and Magnus had been a couple, but it WAS buried in a really long, stammering explanation, so he didn't know if it really registered or not. Alec had actually been really cool though, and not, like weird about it; he figured he would be, but still…
And anyways, it's not like it was even, like, an 'official' date or anything. They were just all going to a movie together. Just a group of friends. Just because half the group happened to be a couple, it didn't actually make it a date…
Right?
Right…Just because they sat close and Billie kind of leaned over especially close to tell him some things about certain parts of the movie, didn't make it a date…Same as the fact that during a few of the really emotional or startling moments Billie grabbed his hand.
And maybe didn't let go for about half the movie…And just cause after the movie they'd all went to eat and Billie had sat really close in the booth, and was laughing and smiling, and kind of kidding around and teasing him a lot…
And just cause he'd walked Billie to their door, and Billie had kind of hugged him good bye, and said what a great day it had been, and that they couldn't wait to do it again… it didn't make it a date…
R-Right…?
Crap…
He'd totally just had his first date and had no clue, didn't he?
And Billie thought he was smart?
He groaned, shaking his head at his total cluelessness. Really who doesn't realize they are on a date until hours AFTER the date?
How does that even happen!?
He shakes his head slightly, trying to focus back on the homework he's working on…
Well…okay, so he'd had his first date…And, apparently it had went well, as Billie had said that they wanted to do this again. Alright, so, his first date was a success…That was good, As long as he can do as well when he actually knows it's a date, he'd be doing really well.
Maybe tomorrow he'd text and a-
His thoughts are cut off by the sound of shattering glass downstairs.
He freezes.
He's home alone. His parents are out at a fund raiser for something or the other. They won't be back for at least another hour or so…M-Maybe something just fell? Like, a breeze caught it or something? It was kind of windy out… He stands up from his desk quietly as he can, grabbing his phone, creeping towards the door of his room. The door is open just slightly; he peers out into the dark hallway.
He angles himself so he can see down the stairs to the first floor, it seems quiet enough…not that he could hear much over his heart thumping in his ears. He eases the door open, cautiously slipping out into the heavily carpeted hallway.
He creeps over to the banister, staying low; he read that's what you're supposed to do somewhere, He eases over a bit closer to the stairs, angling to get a better view… creeping down just a few steps, trying to get a clear sightline.
Finally, He lets out a slight breath…nearly convinced that it must have just been wind from an open window or something. He takes a few more, slightly less cautious steps, standing up a bit straighter.
Then he hears it…
Something else breaks, the sound comes from his dad's office… it's on the other side of the living room at the bottom of the stairs, that is definitely where he heard it from. He freezes, holding his breath trying to hear anything else…
And he can faintly…
Footsteps on the hardwood, shuffling, faint talking.
He cautiously backs back up the stairs, eyes franticly scanning the room watching for any movement, any shadows, anything. As soon as he reaches the top of the stairs he hurries back to his room, quietly closing his door all the way, grabbing his desk chair and wedging it under the knob, effectively locking it.
He backs away, moving towards his closet, and slips in, pulling that door closed too.
Finally feeling he may have enough protection he pulls out his phone, dialing 911 with shaking fingers…
"911, what's your emergency?"
"M-my name is Max Lightwood…I live at 1266 Oceanview road…there's someone in my house…at least two people…please hurry" he whispers
He hears a few more thing's breaking downstairs.
"Please hurry" he says again, desperately
"Max, we have a patrol car in the area; they should be there within a minute"
He can hear them now; through the door…Can hear at least two talking, kind of loudly… heavy footsteps. His heart stops when he hears the doorknob rattle, before the voices move further down.
"Their right outside my room" he says terrified
He hears them shouting and scrambling
"Officers are there now, Max" The operator assures
"I-it sounds like they're running"
He startles, gasping slightly when he hears knocking on his door
"There's someone at my door!"
"I know Max, that's one of our officers, I'm on the other line with him now… can you open the door and talk to him."
Max shakes his head
"No, I'm not doing that…My brother is Head Detective Alec Lightwood with the SBPD. Call him. When he gets here I will come out."
"Okay, Max…I will…Just stay where you are. I'll call your brother" the operator said gently.
"T-thank you…"
_End Of Chapter Notes_
I know the cops got there awful fast, but I figure they had a patrol in the area…And I thought of having him call Alec, but I don't think Alec lives super close to his parents (If you had Robert and Maryse Lightwood for parents, would you?)
-And yeah, I know Deadpool 2 is rated R, but it was the only movie I recall seeing advertised recently that seemed like a group of teens would want to see…
Well just say in this universe they can see it
Okay, so I know this chapter was a bit of an emotional whiplash, but to me that just works best.
As with the Back To School story, with the Billie character the pronoun thing may get a bit confusing, but I think you are all smart enough to keep it straight (Yes, I still like the Pun)
This one is going to have a lot and might feel a bit different.
I'll be focusing more on the case, and this chapter is probably going to sit up the tone of the story…
I'll have lots of emotional moments, and family drama, but a lot of sweetness to balance it out. I have an entire outline worked out so I do know where it is all going and I think you all will like it…
I hope you do…
Anyways,
What do you think so far?