Chapter Three

By the end of the week Magnus's new line had been shot to perfection and then shipped out to the magazines. He'd be releasing the new clothing sometime next month, and until then he was working, slowly, on his original red and black garments. He'd had to do quite a lot of altering for his new favorite model, but it had all worked out. The little red hat that went with the third dress was perfect against Isabelle Lightwood's long, black hair. She didn't have to wear contacts for this line, and everything was going smoothly until one of Magnus's clients stopped by unannounced.

Alec had been taking a short break from work, pleased that his photos were getting such a massive spread in so many famous magazines, when suddenly his phone rang. He reached over and picked it up, "Hello?"

"Alexander, I need you to come up here immediately. You know where my office is, right? Like, my business office?"

"Yes, I do." Alec frowned at his tone, "Magnus, is everything alright? You sound stressed."

"No I'm fine. Could you also bring a pad of paper and a pencil? I can't find any of mine."

Alec snorted, "That's because they're in your work room. Sure, I'll be there shortly."

"Thank you, Alexander."

They both hung up and Alec quickly stood, snatching a pencil and a pad of paper from his desk, wondering what in the hell was going on. He jogged towards the opposite end of the floor, were Magnus's professional business office was. He never used it unless he had investors coming in or some serious clients. He frowned and picked up the pace, arriving quickly and knocking on the door.

"Come in."

Alec walked in and shut the door behind him, his eyes taking in everything as he went to go stand next to Magnus. A woman was sitting in front of them, with what looked like a body guard behind her. She was pale and had orangey red hair. Her eyes were solid and powerful, and she wore very nice clothing. The bodyguard had interesting coloring; he seemed to be an albino, with snow white hair and silvery skin, but his eyes were hidden behind thick, black sunglasses.

"Alexander, this is Jocelyn Fray. She's one of my clients." Magnus explained, his fingers forming a steeple under his chin. He was dressed in tight jeans and a simple black top that hugged his torso. He was also wearing the purple vest with the blue stitching he seemed to favor so much these days, along with a gold chain belt looped around his waist.

Jocelyn Fray was a big time fashion icon, she had head quarters all over the world and everybody would bend over backwards to do what she asked. That fact that someone like this was in Magnus's office must've been why he sounded a little flustered over the phone.

"Mrs. Fray." Alec nodded, and then handed the paper and pencil to Magnus.

Mrs. Fray examined him and then turned to Magnus, "Mr. Bane, I am going to a ball in one week. I have plenty of dresses, each one unique and very fashionable, but I would like one from you instead. Can you make a ball gown in this amount of time? I shall pay you whatever number you demand."

"Money isn't a problem." Magnus said, his voice slow as he thought quickly. He glanced up at Alec, who had already started to go through the thought process of time. He could see by Alec's expression he'd arrived at the same conclusion he had; it wouldn't work.

For Magnus to make a dress, it usually took about four days. When he was motivated, it could take only two. But for him to make a complete ball gown, with all that complicated bead work and lace and god knows what else, it could take up to two weeks.

Mrs. Fray seemed to take their silence as a bad thing, "Mr. Bane, I know you've been looking to get your line international for some time now. If you can make me this dress, I shall make sure you get your hand in at least a dozen of the capitals of the world in two years."

Alec's eyes widened; he knew what that would mean to Magnus to get his stuff out in London, Tokyo, Rome, and everywhere else. His business would soar and he could make billions.

Magnus's mind seemed to be whirling, obviously thinking the same thing, "Do you have any designs ready for me now?" He mused, still thinking.

"Yes. Sebastian?"

The bodyguard moved forward and placed a folder on Magnus's desk and then retreated back behind her.

The designer picked it up and quickly scanned through the contents. There was a list of what she wanted on the dress, some reference pictures, and then a drawing.

Alec barely glanced at one of the pictures and instantly knew this wouldn't work. It couldn't, no way. It was ridiculous!

"A week? Starting when?" Magnus asked, not looking up.

"Starting tomorrow, Wednesday. I need it done by next week's Wednesday." Mrs. Fray said, raising her head a fraction.

"…deal. I'll send you my bill when I've finished. You'll have to pick it up on your way to the party." Magnus replied, snapping the folder shut, still lost in his mind, "I'll call you if I need clarification."

"Thank you, Mr. Bane. I know this will be a very different and unique dress." Her voice wasn't threatening, but something about it made Alec bristle a bit.

She stood and left with her bodyguard, and only then did Alec turn round on his boss, "Are you crazy!? That'll take over a week to make! Maybe even two weeks!"

"I know!" Magnus sighed, startling Alec, "But I need this. My line exists only in America. Can you imagine what it might do out there in the world?"

"Yes, you'll make billions." Alec snorted bitterly, irritated with the designer.

"What? No, Alexander, that's not why I did this." Magnus stood and picked up the folder, going through it again, "I'm doing this so more people can wear my clothes, can be free in what they wear. That's what I make; fashion freedom. Everything is unique and different and edgy and sometimes strange. People need color in their lives, Alexander." He looked up, completely serious.

Alec was impressed, even thought he'd never admit it, "Well, you can't do this by yourself. What can I do?"

A slow smile spread across Magnus's face. He set down the folder, walked over, and then hugged his photographer tightly, "Thank you, I knew I could count on you." He then drew back before Alec could form a lucid thought, "Alright, I need fabric, LOTS of fabric! Here's the list. You know what store I use?"

"Yes." Alec quickly grabbed the list, heading towards the door, "Be right back!"

Magnus watched him go, a soft smile tugging on his lips. He then whirled around and grabbed the phone, calling the one other person he knew who could help him, "Ragnor? It's Magnus. I have a fashion crisis…"

It was Saturday, and none of them had left the building since Mrs. Fray's visit. Alec had been running around, grabbing lace, fabric, beads, and whatever else they needed as the two friends worked sleeplessly over this dress. It was going to be a thing of beauty, creams and golds and off-whites along with a gorgeous yellow diamond necklace. Magnus had decided to play off the necklace, and had started to hand sew small, light yellow beads over the bodice, covering it all. The dress was almost masquerade-ish, with the amount of poof Magnus was putting into the skirt of the dress. His friend, a broad shouldered, silent man named Ragnor Fell, had proven a worthy foe at the sewing machine, and had been doing most of the easy stitching, like piecing the dress together. They were nowhere near done, but it was coming along.

On Sunday night, Ragnor had to take a break, and had crawled off the one of the rooms to sleep for a couple hours. Alec was perched in a chair, watching Magnus as he sewed tirelessly. But his boss's eyes were drooping, he hadn't put on makeup or hair gel since Tuesday, and his shoulders were slumped. But still his hands worked on, turning the blocks of fabric Alec had bought into a masterpiece.

"Magnus…" Alec stood and walked over, resting a hand on his shoulder, "Magnus, hey, can you hear me?"

"Hnm." Magnus sighed, not really paying attention.

"Magnus!"

"What? Oh god, is it Wednesday?!"

"No, no it's Sunday." Alec gently reached down and extracted the needle and threads from his fingers, pulling away the dress and ignoring Magnus's soft sound of protest, "You need to sleep."

"Alexander…I can't. I need to finish the ball for the dress. I mean the dress for the ball." Magnus's speech was even a little slurred.

Alec walked over and easily stood him up from his chair, a little alarmed by how light he was, "When did you last eat?"

"…what?" Magnus sighed, his head lolling onto Alec's shoulder.

"Ok, you're going to go sleep." Alec wrapped his arm around Magnus's waist and helped him out of his work room. He managed to get him into one of his random rooms filled with clothes, and deposited him on a couch, "Sleep."

"But I'm not tired…" Magnus mumbled, and then reached up and ran his thumb along Alec's cheek bone, "See? I was right. I can count on you…" he then passed out immediately.

"Sure you're not tired." Alec yawned loudly, deciding to ignore the warmth spreading across his face from Magnus's touch, and checked his watch. It was five in the morning, not that it meant anything now, and he sat down next to the designer, leaning against the side of the couch, closing his eyes. He'd just take a quick nap…

When Magnus awoke, he felt like he was trapped in a ball of warm fuzz. His body and mind felt sluggish, and his limbs seemed to be weighed down by something. It must've taken an hour before he finally woke properly. He sat up and stretched, yawning loudly, and ruffled his hair. He was in the scrap fabric room. What the hell was he doing in here? Had he come in for something for the dress and accidently fallen asleep? Oh no…THE DRESS! Magnus stood bolt upright and looked around frantically, spotting Alexander passed out on the floor, "Alexander! Wake up!" He shook him desperately.

"Mphfff…" Alec grumbled, rolling over and peering up at Magnus with sleepy blue eyes, "Whassit?"

"What day is it!?"

Alec frowned and glanced down at his watch. It didn't process for a second, but when it did he swore violently and jerked upright, crashing into Magnus, "Ow!"

"OW!" Magnus yelped back, holding his nose, "What was that for?"

"It's Tuesday! Magnus it's Tuesday!"

You could practically see the gears turning inside his designer's head as his mind loaded, and then, "HOLY SHIT! NO! RAGNOR! RAGNOR WHERE ARE YOU!" He raced out of the room, screaming bloody murder for Ragnor and for Alec to hurry up.

Alec swore and scrambled to his feet, running after Magnus. They found Ragnor also asleep, and woke him up with a mixture of calm explanations (Alec) and frantic screaming (Magnus). When it processed into Ragnor's brain, he leapt up and both he and Magnus sprinted into the work room, grabbing at random bits of cloth as they went. Alec hurried after them, swearing under his breath. It was eleven o'clock in the morning, and Mrs. Fray was coming tomorrow around six o'clock in the evening for her dress. This was going to get crazy.

Alec watched, huddled in a corner out of the way, as Ragnor now ran around and threw things at Magnus as his boss began putting together the dress. Most of the pieces were already made, but they needed to stitch it all together and put in the extra underskirt for the dress. Magnus's hands were a blur as he worked, pricking himself only once as he hand sewed the sleeves onto the bodice, not a stitch out of place. It was like magic, the way the man's hands worked.

Ragnor had gotten everything Magnus had needed, and then sat next to Alec, watching him work. Everything was completely quiet, except for the sewing machine and Magnus muttering to himself as he worked. At one point, Ragnor had to leave; he said a quiet good bye to Alec and then left, shutting the door silently.

It was three o'clock on Wednesday morning when Magnus finally stopped, his eyes wide, "What was I thinking…"

Alec jerked upwards, startled by the lack of noise from the sewing machine, "What?"

Magnus turned to look at him, his exotic eyes looking completely lost, "What am I doing, Alexander?" He whispered, "There's no way I can do this. I still need to add bead work to the waist. That's over 200,000 tiny beads I need to hand stitch. I can't do it." He slumped forward, his head in his hands, and let out a small moan.

The photographer stood and walked over, placing his hands on Magnus's shoulders. "Stand up."

He did, and then let Alec lead him back a few paces.

"Ok, take a breath and relax a bit." Alec soothed, "Now, look at what you've done so far."

They both looked for a couple minutes in silence, and then Alec spoke again, his voice very quiet, "It normally would have taken you two weeks to get this far. But you've done all of that in about five days, give or take, and even I didn't think you could. But you know what? I do now. I think you can do this, and do it damn well. I believe you can, Magnus."

Magnus looked up at him, his eyes clearing, "You really think so?"

"Yeah, I do."

A crazy smile stretched over the designers face, and that old light was back in his eyes, "Then what the hell am I standing around for? Let's make this dress!"

Alec smiled and, on complete impulse, leaned in and quickly kissed him on the cheek. "Get to work; I'll go get us some lunch." He then quickly walked out, blushing furiously as he went.

A bolt of energy shot through Magnus and his smile was so big it hurt his face. He sat back down at his machine and started to work, but every now and then he would glance at the closed door and felt his lips curve up in a smile as he waited for Alec.