Alec knew about Magnus' nightmares long before the warlock had said anything. He didn't have to. Alec had just come home from a mission with Jace. When a mission ran late it was not unusual for the warlock not to wait up, what had put him on edge was the fact that his warlock was laying on the couch, practically curled in on himself, his magic seemed to be coming from him in waves and most of the objects that were on the floor were floating, anything that was liquid was bubbling, almost like it was boiling (although last Alec checked wine didn't boil), and it was with alarm that Alec realized that Magnus was holding his breath.

Alec approached the dark haired man carefully. He wanted nothing more than to chase away whatever bad dreams were plaguing his warlock. He watched as Magnus' face twisted in pain and he moaned. Alec sat on the floor near the couch and lightly touched Magnus' arm, watching his face; that was when he noticed the tears slowly making their way down his cheeks.

"Come on, Mags. Wake up. It's only a dream, you're really very safe. You're at home in your own apartment. Just breath for me." The entire time he spoke he was running his fingers up and down the other man's arm. He was relieved when he saw Magnus' chest rise and fall with his intake of air.

Alec continued to soothingly touch his arm and tell him in gentle tones that he was alright and that everything was fine. He let out a breath that he hadn't been aware that he was holding when he looked at Magnus' face and saw amber cat eyes staring back at him.

"Are you alright Magnus?" Alec entwined his fingers with Magnus' right hand and felt him shaking.

Magnus drew in a shaky breath, briefly closing his eyes in a desperate attempt to get himself under some semblance of control. "of course Alexander." He was trying very hard to control the unevenness of his voice.

Alec offered him a gentle (and what he had hoped was a comforting) smile. "You don't need to be brave with me."

Magnus gave an uneasy laugh. "It was just a bad dream; nothing to get flustered over. I get them, probably more often than I'd like to admit. When you've lived as long as I have; there is a good chance that you've been through some things that would cause nightmares."

Alec sat beside the still shaking warlock. There was a fear in his eyes that Alec had never seen before and he immediately decided that he didn't like it. He rubbed his hand down the warlock's back, to find it damp with sweat. "Magnus, I don't think that you are being completely honest with me."

Magnus dropped his gaze, letting Alec know that he was right. He heard Alec sigh and closed his eyes, allowing the first tear to fall.

Alec thumbed the tear away. "Mags, look at me." He didn't speak again until there were two amber eyes, looking up at him. "I'm not mad, I'm worried. If there is something that has happened in your life that is still affecting you, I want to know about it. I don't want you to feel as though you have to hide bits of yourself because you're worried about scaring me. Okay?"

Magnus held Alec's hand as tightly as he dared, the last thing that he wanted to do was hurt his precious angel. He took a deep breath. "After Ragnor had first found me and helped me stop the earthquake that I was causing, I ran from him. I know that it was a childish thing to do but you have to understand, I was scared of myself but I was more terrified of what he might ask of me in return. I left my village and tried to settle in the next one. But the news of the devil's child with strange eyes had traveled fast. One of the locals had found me and began throwing rocks and sticks; anything that he could find. By the time that Ragnor had found me again, I was bloody and unconscious. The attackers were gone, probably believing me to be dead."

Alec kissed the knuckles of the hand that he was holding; relishing in the fact that Magnus was always warm. "That's awful. I won't let anyone hurt you ever again. You have my word." He didn't know what else to say as Magnus burst into a fresh batch of tears.

Magnus couldn't bring himself to look into Alexander's eyes; he was ashamed; he was nearly 500 years old—he shouldn't still be as affected by events centuries old. He'd known warlock's that had been through worse. In the end, Magnus just pulled his knees up to his chest, laying his head on them, not willing to look up, he wouldn't be able to bare the look of disgust or disappointment that he was sure was on Alec's face.

Alexander knew that there were events in Magnus' past that he'd like to forget. It was only a matter of time before they started to surface. He watched his warlock's shaking form, almost at a loss as to what he should do, in the end he practically picked the warlock up, arranging him in his lap as he rubbed circles on his back. Neither of them spoke until the sobs stopped.

Magnus finally looked at his shadow hunter, his eyes full of tears. "You must think me so weak."

Alec tipped the warlock's head back, to place a small kiss on his lips, it was soft and tender. "Absolutely not." When the tears started again Alec resumed rubbing the older man's back. "Hey. Hey. Calm down, they can't hurt you anymore."

For the longest time Magnus just sat in Alec's lap, head on the shadow hunters chest as Magnus seemed impossibly small. After the sobbing stopped, Alec looked down to see his warlock tear-stained but asleep. Right then, Alec decided that he would make it his life's mission to make sure that Magnus was never hurt like that ever again.