Author's note: I would just like to thank each and everyone of you who has submitted a review. It's so amazing to know people enjoy the story and it keeps us working hard to bring you more chapters!
~Chapter Four~
The first thing Magnus noted when he woke, was Alec's absence. He reached out blindly with the hope that perhaps he just rolled away in sleep. No such luck. With a dejected sigh, Magnus opened his eyes. Light beat through the curtains. Rolling over, Magnus forced himself up into a seated position. He stretched his arms over his head, wincing when his joints popped. It was hell getting old.
Waking alone was never his favorite cup of tea. He ran a hand lovingly over the spot Alec slept in. The sheets were cool; he'd been gone for a while. Magnus frowned. How Alec managed to sneak away in the night without him noticing was a mystery. Perhaps he needed to tie a little bell around the shadowhunter's neck like Chairman Meow. He brightened at the mental image of the blushing and angry sputtering that would follow. Unless he could convince him to try it just once. For sex. For the music. A devious smile curved his lips as he started to plan.
A note sat on the bedside table on Magnus's side. He gingerly plucked it from the wooden surface. In Alec's hurried script it said 'I stole some glitter for you from Izzy's room. Got called away to an emergency meeting.' The bottom of the note had a smudge, like Alec started to write something else but thought better of it. Magnus smiled, picking up the small tube of pink and silver glitter.
He stumbled into the bathroom to wash his face and take care of other necessities. He grimaced. Oh, you look awful. He thought to his reflection. He'd fallen asleep with wet hair and it dried in all different directions. Some would call it punk chic, Magnus called it atrocious. The gray of his pallor made the bags under his eyes look like bruises. He still had dark smudges left from his black eyeliner that never washed off. Even his fingernails needed some T.L.C.
Magnus opened a drawer in the sink counter and curiously found a familiar tube of hair gel. He picked it up and surprised. Apparently his little Alexander had stolen it from his bathroom. Not that he minded. Curious now, Magnus peeked into the shower. The shampoo, conditioner and soap, all the same brand he used. He briefly considered taking another shower, but doing so without Alec at this point did not hold as much appeal.
A satisfied smile split his lips. Alec made the most delicious noises during sex. Once he'd gotten the man to open his mouth and let it out. The little shadowhunter still needed permission to let go, ordering it relieved him of the guilt. Building up his self-confidence was a work in progress. Five months alone didn't seem to have done him any favors.
Armed with his favorite hair staple, Magnus wet his hair and wove in the gel forming his beloved spikes to perfection. The glitter Alec stole wasn't the color he was feeling, but he put some in it anyway. He conjured himself an outfit to match. He picked a pair of comfortable dark pink, skinny jeans and that leather t-shirt he'd wanted from Saks. Black sneakers with silver laces finished his outfit. He eyed his orange chipped nails forlornly, Alec would not have any nail polish, and he really didn't feel like searching Isabelle's room. Black bracelet cuffs studded with silver, a small mass of metal and jelly bracelets and a few necklaces for sparkle on his chest, he deemed himself vaguely presentable to the world. With a sigh of deepest regret he exited the bathroom.
Who knew how long Alec would be away. Studying the room, he worried his bottom lip. He could simply leave and wait for Alec to call. Or he could stay here and snoop. He'd never been in Alec's room alone before. I can weasel my way out anything, Magnus justified to himself. It's not like Alec is capable of holding a grudge.
All of the bedrooms in the Institute had the same furnishings. Each room held a full-size bed with two side tables, a bureau that should have a mirror but Alec's was suspiciously absent, a writing desk and bookshelf all made of a dark oak. At the foot of the bed was a weapons chest. His pile of armor from the bathroom had been draped carefully on it and cleaned. The blue scarf was nowhere to be found.
He went to the desk first. Seating himself in the cushy chair he opened a drawer, nothing exciting there, just writing supplies. Shutting it, he moved down to the next drawer and found a stack of magazines. Magnus smiled to himself and pulled out the stack, and flipped through them. National Geographic, Time, Popular Photography, Art & Architecture, Glitter, Popular Mechanics, Archaeology, Nuts & Volts, and Astronomy. Intrigued Magnus pulled out Glitter, it seemed an odd choice for Alec. On the cover was a gentleman wearing one of Magnus's party outfits. A shimmering navy blue mesh shirt over gothic black pants with removable straps underneath a long black trench coat. Ah. Flipping through the rest of the magazine, Magnus saw a few dog eared pages of outfits. These weren't for Alec. Magnus felt slightly giddy at the idea of Alec shopping for clothes for him. It was rather precious actually. He marked a few of the pages with a yes, please! or you should wear this on Alec's choices.
Shoving the magazines back into the drawer, Magnus moved to the other side of the desk. He opened the solitary large drawer full of files. Shadowhunter paperwork? He felt a brief pang of empathy for the man and quickly shut it. Tapping his fingers on the desk top, he took the corner stack of papers and spread them out across the surface. Sketches of runes, armor and even a little cartoon drawing. Upon closer inspection, it was a stick figure with a mop of blond hair getting struck repeatedly by lightning. Jace? Magnus smirked, it could possibly be Sebastian, or Jonathan, as that was his real name.
Pushing away from the desk, Magnus eyed the room, enjoying the rush of excitement his searching endeavor created. When one lived as long as he did, few things held any wonder anymore. Except for Alec's eyes, those hold wonder. And joy. And love... He got to his knees to check under the bed. Several boxes rested snugly nestled together. With glee, Magnus pulled one out, a small shoe box. Opening it, Magnus's eyes softened. The crumpled invitation from Chairman Meow's party when they first met, a SD card, one of the Chairman's catnip toys, a broken phone, and a photo strip of the two of them. Magnus remembered that night fondly; Alec drank a bit too much with dinner and turned quite feverish with affection. He'd have done anything Magnus wanted. That particular night, Magnus wanted to canoodle in a photo booth. It surprised him that Alec actually kept the evidence, especially after the luscious shade of red he turned when he'd relayed what happened the next morning. Much to Magnus's delight, he also found a tiny plastic spider ring. He'd won it at some carnival game on Staten Island and gave it to Alec as a bit of a joke. He turned the tiny trinket over in his fingers with an affection. He carefully deposited all the items back into the box and set it aside, making a mental note to continue to give Alec silly trinkets.
The second box held various instruction sheets for items Magnus never heard of. There were smaller boxes and bags of nuts, bolts, screws, tubes, and springs. The tool kit seemed focused on excruciatingly small details and things. Like a circuit boards and other human inventions he mused. He chuckled to himself, his little Nephilim liked to tinker. His apartment would need some electronic projects now he that he knew.
The final box broke Magnus's heart. It held mementos of Alec's youngest brother. A pair of cracked glasses, a family photograph, a faded cartoon sticker, an old comic book, and t-shirt with a Superman patch messily stitched on it. Magnus's chest tightened. He'd been busy trying to cure Jocelyn Fairchild when it happened. He could still remember the stricken state he'd found Alec in when he had returned. He decided to whisk him away on a grand world tour, to try and ease the pain. They kept as busy as possible. But Alec still found time to be alone with his grief, where the warlock wasn't welcome. Magnus shoved the box back under the bed, a little harder than he meant to.
Getting back to his feet, Magnus headed towards the closet, throwing the door open. Clothing lay abandoned on the floor. Hangers hung depressingly empty. Sighing, Magnus bent down and picked up a jacket. Holding it out in front of him he frowned. The color had long since faded and stains had turned the soft material into a gray it actually wasn't. Magnus shook it out and draped it on a hanger. He studied it for a moment, then snapped his fingers and replaced it with a newer version of the same jacket. Alec wouldn't notice something that small he hoped, unless he noticed being warmer. He proceeded to pick up the rest of the pile hanging the discarded items up. He really needed to teach Alexander how to appreciate clothing.
Although... he frowned and picked up something hidden behind a suitcase. Is that where that went? He smiled at Alec's theft of his long black wool coat. Underneath was a layer of gold that shimmered through in the right light. It also had ostentatiously large gold buttons. He hung it up with a grin. He supposed he should start saying things like Alec, that thief, stole my heart, too, but without an audience he saved it for later.
With all the clothes hung, more treasures appeared. A poster still wrapped in plastic sat in the far corner of the closet. A gift from someone he assumed. The printed on the faded label was Northern Sky. An old telescope missing a lens sat propped up next to an empty suitcase. Another box full of random cameras and parts hid itself behind a long black coat. A photo album nestled in the edge of the box. Magnus pulled it out and blew the dust off the top of it. To his disappointment it held no pictures; he needed to get their vacation pictures printed for him.
The dresser drawers held rumpled jeans and t-shirts. In the bottom of the drawer a layer of folded, new garments sat. It appeared Alec just grabbed whatever was on top and forgot about the rest. On top of the chest, Alec had two picture frames. One of a photo of Alec, Izzy and Jace squeezed together on a bench in Central Park. Jace and Izzy sat poised and perfect with Alec slumped between them, looking like he wished to be anywhere else. The other showed Alec and Jace outside some restaurant. Jace smiled smugly at the camera, his arm thrown haphazardly over Alec's shoulder. Alec's blue eyes sparkled happily at the attention. Magnus turned that photo face down, feeling queasy.
Alec owned one bookcase with three shelves, filled to capacity with several volumes stacked on top of the rows. Like the magazines, the subjects varied. Warlocks, Runes, Angels, mythology, theology, weaponry, ancient languages and zoology just to name a few. Stuck between volumes were spiral bound notebooks. Magnus chose one at random and pulled it from the shelf. He opened it and flipped through pages and pages of Alec's handwriting. He sorted through each notebook. Some held fiction stories, some held notes about subjects magical and not magical, some even held poetry. Alec never struck Magnus as the type to be into that sort of thing. He smiled sadly at the parallel with Will Herondale. Feeling nostalgic, Magnus tugged out the last notebook and opened it. He swallowed hard, running his fingers over the writing. It was a journal. He flipped open to a page near the end where he saw his name, then shut it again quickly. He wasn't ready for that.
He sat down on the bed and frowned. He heard what sounded suspiciously like the crinkle of paper. Oh…? Magnus grinned sliding off the bed. He picked up the mattress and found a hidden gem, a small stack of playgirl magazines. He picked them up and a post-it note fell out. 'These ought to help you forget about Magnus. J' Magnus would kill Jace. He took a moment to flip through the materials to take note to what appeared to be the most interest to Alec. Wiping a hand over his face, Magnus frowned and swallowed loudly. Had he opened these? He wanted to see Alec, and he wanted to see him right now. He put the magazines back in their hiding place and peeked out of the room.
He slipped out into a silent hallway. He'd been in the Institute on numerous occasions. A twinge of regret hit him as the memory of the night before, but he quickly shook it off. His blue eyed Nephilim forgave him. Nothing else mattered. At least for the time being. He needed to go visit Catarina, make sure there were no ill effects of her imprisonment.
When he made it to the main foyer he could hear faint voices. Something brushed against his legs. Church yowled at him impatiently, wanting attention. "Ah!" Magnus said, bending over to scratch the cat behind the ears. "Do you know where my darling Alec is?"
The cat rolled over showing him his belly. After Magnus complied and gave him a rub he blinked up at him with large eyes and twitch of his tail. Then he turned around and stalked down the corridor. Magnus followed obediently.
The silent, sterile atmosphere never appealed much to Magnus. Robert and Maryse Lightwood lacked the warm touch that turned places like this into a home. No family pictures adorned the walls. No personal items out in the main area. Nothing. Magnus found he missed the random comic books or shoes that Max used to leave behind; he could only imagine how the family felt. Loss was something you never got used to, but you did move forward.
No wonder Alec stayed with Magnus whenever he could. Not that Magnus minded, not at all. He'd prefer if Alec would permanently move to his apartment. Perhaps they could discuss such a move in the near future. He knew the only reasons Alec stayed: Isabelle and Jace.
"You must have some kind of death wish, downworlder… Setting foot on sacred ground like this." An angry yet infuriatingly familiar voice said.
Magnus turned to face Jace who stood in the doorway he'd just passed through. The mere sound of the blond's voice made him angry. A small surge power swelled up inside him. "Well, if it isn't the Clave's little golden boy…" he drawled. "How lovely to see you, too."
Jace stalked forward, like the fool he was. "Did you think you could just come in here after what you did?" He got in Magnus's face, poking an accusing finger in his chest. His golden eyes held such contempt. So much hatred for such a young thing.
"After what I did?" Magnus's lips quirked. "What exactly did I do, little shadowhunter?"
The blond let out a growl. "Alec may side with your kind. But I don't." He sneered. "I know exactly what you are. The Clave will send you with your filthy demon fathers back to hell where you bel-"
Magnus snapped his fingers and Jace's mouth shut with a clash of his teeth. "Shut up, child." His eyes flashed dangerously as blue sparks flickered around his fingertips.
Furious, the blond started to glow a faint yellow. He went to unsheathe a weapon but Magnus waved a hand, slamming him face first into a wall. His head hit hard, a blood appearing at the boy's temple. Even if he owed Jace several times over, he could ill afford wasting his time and energy on such overt displays of power. There were more important things to do. He padded to his captive audience reminding himself not to be too happy the boy was injured. A flicker of gold danced above Jace's skin.
Magnus whispered in his ear. "I know exactly what you are too, you little Nephilim worm. The next time the Clave decides to kidnap and torture a healer, let it be one of your own. The warlocks will not stand for it any longer or ever again." His own blue flame danced against the gold angel fire. He gave Jace another slam before releasing him and the blond slid to the floor. "Now if you'll excuse me. I'm not here for you." He spun on his heel, not caring if Jace managed to gain his feet.
He glided down the corridor toward the sounds of voices. They got louder as he approached. Isabelle Lightwood stood just outside a closed door, clearly eavesdropping.
Her black eyes widened when she saw him. "Magnus..."
"Where is Alexander?" He asked, forcing his voice to stay calm, Izzy hadn't done anything to him, not yet anyway.
She looked at the door then back at Magnus like trapped animal. After a moment, she stepped aside.
"Clever girl." Magnus murmured before flinging the door open and making his way into the ensuing argument.