I thought this would be entertaining.
Enjoy.
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Magnus2 glances up from his book and sees a portal open by the door, out walks himself.
Magnus smiles, "Hi."
Magnus2 smiles back, "Hello."
"Alexander around?"
"Institute."
"Good. Maxine?"
"School."
Magnus nods, "Good, I need to talk to you about something."
Magnus2 nods. He puts the book on the coffee table, "Is this talk going to require martinis?"
"Yes, lots of them."
Magnus2 nods, "Sit, let me make us a pitcher." He stands and walks to the bar.
Magnus sits on the sofa and takes a deep breath.
Magnus2 brings over the pitcher with two glasses. He fills the glasses and hands one to Magnus, "Ok, what's on your mind." He sits in a chair.
Magnus takes a sip, "Do you regret becoming your Alec's Protector?"
"Regret? No, I felt that it was my only choice at the time. Why?"
Magnus ignores the question and asks another of his own, "How old was he, when you first had sex?"
Magnus2 laughs, "Wow, personal much. He was seventeen years and one day, when we made love for the first time and again I ask, why?"
Magnus finishes his martini in one gulp, "Max and I had to save Alec when he was sixteen and for a second I wanted to bring him to the loft and never let him leave."
"Wow, but there would have been repercussions."
Magnus nods as Magnus2 refills his glass, "Yes, but seeing him in so much pain, I don't know, it hit a nerve and I wanted to grab him and to Hell with the consequences."
"It was that bad?"
"Yes, when I met him face to face I could see how it wore on him, but this was before he learned how to hide it."
Magnus2 shrugs, "My Alec told me he loved me the day after the rune appeared. He was fifteen"
"Fifteen? My Alec's rune appeared after he over extended his Parabatai bond and it almost killed him. Me being an idiot thought that I could bring him back with a kiss. The kiss didn't work but the rune showed up. Terrified the shit out of me because nobody else saw it. Alec finally saw it the next morning after he went over it with his stele."
"How long did you know each other?"
"Oh aside from following him when he was seven, I saved him a handful of times but the rune showed up a month or so after we finally met. He was twenty-three."
Magnus2 smiles, "We were already married three years when he was that age."
Magnus smiles, "We got married months after we first met."
Magnus2 laughs, "Made up for lost time."
"Something like that."
"Yes when the rune showed up on my Alec, after he got attacked by a Mortifer demon, nobody saw it either."
Magnus winces, "A Mortifer demon? Nasty creatures, who helped you?"
"Catarina."
Magnus smiles, "Catarina loves Alec. She told me that even I was never to hurt him."
Magnus2 sips his martini, "She told me the same thing after I did hurt him."
Magnus puts his glass on the coffee table, "How did you hurt him?"
"Izzy was there and she passed her stele over the rune. Catarina and I saw it, then Alec saw it after he awoke. Later on I put magic into it and it healed him completely. He kissed me on the lips and I pushed him away. He was crushed. Izzy and Jace got him to understand that he was too young for us to have a physical relatiionship, but Catarina made it clear that she wasn't happy with me."
Magnus nods, "It would have been either mundane jail or the City of Bones, depending on who found out."
"Exactly. My Alec never had to hide who he loved. Izzy, Jace, even Maryse knew he loved me even before the rune showed up."
Magnus sighs, "I loved him the moment I finally was able to look into his beautiful eyes. And he loved me but being a ShadowHunter and doing his duty was a heavy burden on his shoulders. I used every opportunity to make him see that his happiness was more important than his duty. I crashed his wedding not even sure that he would pick me."
Magnus2 smiles, "His wedding? Who the hell was he getting married to?"
"Lydia Branwell."
"The Head of the California Institute?"
"That's her. Alec thought their getting married would be a good thing for the Institute. I tried to get him to change his mind but I couldn't."
"Wow, how close did he get to marrying her?"
"I walked in and she had the stele to his wrist."
"Shit."
Magnus nods, "Maryse tried to stop me but I told her to mind her business and let Alec decide."
"And?"
Magnus smiles, "He couldn't go through with it. Lydia gave him, her blessing. He told his mother to butt out, then he kissed me until I couldn't breathe."
Magnus2 laughs and clicks his glass against Magnus', "Good for you."
"Thank you. The rune appeared about a week later."
"Wow. So what happened to sixteen year old Alec?"
"Lamar stabbed him in the heart."
Magnus2 cat eyes flare, "The same Lamar that was part of the plan to kill my angel?"
"Yes. He popped out of a portal in the middle of Atlantic Avenue and tried to end Alec's life before it even started. Max saw it in a nightmare and the next day, Alec had a heart attack."
"Holy shit, Magnus. How is he?"
Magnus sips his martini, "After we saved sixteen year old him, he was better. He went back to work this morning. Max had classes and I was staring at the walls. I almost portaled back there and rescued him from seven years of Clave prejudice, but instead I portaled here."
Magnus2 shrugs, "My Alec never had that problem, and believe me, if he did, I would have known about it."
Magnus sighs, "Lucky. I still can't believe that Robert and Maryse allowed Alexander to live here."
Magnus2 laughs, "They had no choice. You know ShadowHunters and their 'the law is the law' credo. Order 144.45 is an objective thing and they couldn't fight me on it. Maryse eventually did see it as the best thing for Alec and Robert knew that he was out numbered."
"Robert, that son of a bitch."
"Yes, I had dealings with him before he married Maryse and I never trusted him. He definitely was a Lightwood. Maryse had airs about her at first, but she's a smart woman and realized that I wasn't the enemy. I didn't find out that Alec was a Lightwood until we walked into the Institute and he called Maryse 'Mom'. By then it was too late, the peace and calm was worth dealing with her."
Magnus nods, "I got a fire message from Maryse, asking for help because her son got bit by an Aeger demon. I went to the Institute, gave her my price and she had no choice but to agree to it. I was quite pleased with myself until I walked into his room."
Magnus2 nods knowingly, "How old was Alexander?"
"Fourteen. The calmness was instant and all rational thought went out the window. I tossed everybody out and healed him. As I sat there I wondered if it was possible to sneak out with him but I didn't."
"The Order would have worked then as well."
Magnus shrugs, "Never even thought of it. I left without him but at least I had finally learned his name. Nine years later, when he walked past me in the nightclub and the familiar calmness washed over me, I wanted to call him, but I stopped myself. A few minutes later, I turned around and there he was. My beautiful angel." He takes a sip of his martini.
"And?"
Magnus smiles, "I introduced myself and he barely remembered his first name. We connected instantly but he had an uphill battle to fight. Duty, training and prejudices against his happiness."
Magnus2 smiles, "Here's to happy endings." He clicks his glass against Magnus'.
Magnus nods, "Amen to that."
Magnus2 looks into his glass, "Now it's my turn to ask a personal question."
Magnus smiles, "Go ahead, it's only fair."
"You helped save my Alec from death because of Max's nightmare."
Magnus nods, "Yes."
"So if Max never had that nightmare, would it still have happened?"
Magnus nods, "I'm afraid so."
Magnus2 closes his eyes, "And Lamar and Zachary would have prevented the love rune from bringing him back, like you were able to do with your Alexander?"
Magnus sets his glass on the coffee table and holds one of Magnus2's hands in his, "Yes, they used magic on the demons' claws to neutralize your magic in the love rune. They put a block on how far back in time you could go in order to prevent Alec from getting attacked in the first place. But their block had no effect on MY magic, which is why I was able to portal you far enough back to keep him safe while we took care of Robert and the warlocks."
Magnus2 blinks against the tears falling from his eyes, "So Maxine and I would have lost Alexander with no way of getting him back."
Magnus nods, "Which is why you let the demon kill you."
"Maxine was only eight and she would have lost both of us."
Magnus nods, "Max was eighteen. And if Alexander had come back wrong, I was going to kill him, then myself. Of course, assuming Catarina would have allowed me to kill him. Luckily it never came to that. He not only had all his protection spells in place but he was immortal."
Magnus2's eyes widen, "Immortal, how?"
Magnus shrugs, "No idea."
"Wow."
They drink in silence for a few minutes.
Magnus2 sighs, "Enough with talking about his death. Alexander is the man that we love."
Magnus smiles, "My biggest weakness is his sexy lip biting."
Magnus2 nods, "When he was a child and be deep in thought, I never noticed it. Once we became lovers, I would just stare."
"And his beard? Good Lord, I couldn't keep my hands off of him."
"Wait, Alexander had a beard? My Alec never had a beard. How do I not know about this?"
Magnus laughs, "He got the flu and spent most of the time unconscious. I was too busy trying to keep him hydrated and myself sane to notice it but once he was okay, oh my. Another kink, I never knew I had."
"My Alec never got sick."
Magnus sips his martini, "It only happened twice. Once right after we got married, then earlier this year. His fever was way too high. The first time, I was terrified but Catarina reassured me that he would be okay and he was. This time, I had to reassure Max, but it was rough. He said things that were upsetting, but you deal with the bad because the good is wonderful."
"True. So why did he only have the beard twice, if it's so sexy?"
Magnus laughs, "He has offered to not shave but the sexiness of it would be lost. It's sexy because of its rarity. After awhile it itches and annoys him and I do miss seeing his beautiful face."
Magnus2 nods, "I see. My Alec needs to not shave for a while, I want to see him and his beard."
Magnus winks, "I guarantee, you will not be disappointed."
They click glasses and sip their martinis. A few minutes later, they smile and say together, "His runes." They laugh.
Magnus2 smiles, "I saw him get rune after rune and they never bothered me until he was seventeen and he sat in my lap. Magnus, as he was talking, all I could think about was kissing the ones on his neck."
Magnus nods, "Especially the love rune. Very sensitive."
They sigh and smile.
Magnus smiles, "We aren't the only ones that think he isn't complete without his runes. Max's only issue, so to speak, with the other Alecs, is their lack of runes."
Magnus2 nods, "Maxine was five, and she jumped on our bed while we were getting dressed in the morning. She had her drawing pad with her and she sat there drawing each rune perfectly. I sat there laughing. When she was done, he was finally allowed to put his shirt on and we had breakfast. But when he was ready to leave, she insisted that he tell her what every rune was, so she could label them."
Magnus sits back on the sofa, "Max was doing homework in the War Room. He was nine or so. ShadowHunters going about their day until two idiots come in, arguing over the similarities between the Courage in Combat rune and the Agility one."
Magnus2 laughs, "They are completely different."
Magnus nods, "Exactly. Max never backed away from an argument, especially one that he would win. He drew both of them on a sheet of paper and explained their differences."
Magnus2 laughs, "Oh they must have loved that. Was he glamoured?"
Magnus laughs, "No he wasn't. Yes, two ShadowHunters getting schooled on runes by a blue child was funny. I was dropping by after a client and we were going to go home, so I saw Max in action. Max filled me in on what I missed, but I was there for his tutorial on runes. And they were pissed. IdiotA asked Max, "What would a blue warlock boy know about runes?" Max told him that his daddy's a ShadowHunter. IdiotB said, "Oh your 'daddy' is one of us, and what is your mommy?" Max told him that he didn't have a mommy, he had a Poppa. They laughed at him."
"Oh shit, is that when you walked over?"
Magnus smiles, "I had faith in Max, so I waited to see how he would react. He stood up and walked over to IdiotA, and told him, "My Daddy is better than both of you put together."."
"Oh shit. Max is badass."
"Yes he is. IdiotB told him, "I'd kick your Daddy's ass with both hands tied behind my back"."
"Magnus, please tell me this is when you taught those fucks some manners."
Magnus smiles, "Max was close to opening a portal, when Alec and Jace showed up. Alec asked our son, "Max, is there a problem here?". Max smiled at him and said, "No, Daddy"."
Magnus2 laughs, "No DADDY. Damn, they must have wished he had sent their sorry asses through a portal."
"Once Max said that, they ran out of the War Room. Later on, we told Alec the whole story and he had them removed from active duty. They tried to appeal and Alec filed a formal report with Idris. They were de-runed and sent to Kansas. I have no idea what they are doing now."
"Wow, Magnus."
Magnus nods, "Yes, that is what Alec had to deal with when he was younger. I guess those two weren't aware of who Max was or who his father was."
"I guess my Alec was lucky, and we never had drama between us either. How about you and your Alec?"
Magnus finishes his martini, "I had a lot of moments when I thought that he would leave and never come back. In the beginning, I was so insecure about our relationship especially how much he loved me. But each time I was amazed at how he shrugged it off and stayed. Except that one time when he did leave and I was terrified."
Magnus2 reaches for his hands, "He left you? Why?"
Magnus weakly smiles, "Max is visiting our past and seeing how our love grew. He went back to our wedding day. We had stepped into a room to get away from the crowd and Max prevented us from being killed. He portaled our attacker away not realizing that he was being sent to the present. When the attacker showed up here, I sent him to the bottom of the East River. Max returned here and we both were antsy. Long story short, Alec had a long day in the office and we added to his stress. He walked out of the loft that night."
Magnus2 squeezes his hands, "And?"
"I had to put on a brave face for Max even though I was terrified. I laid in bed that night wondering what I could have said different. Alec returned a few hours later. It was all misunderstandings on top of stress. And the Magnus Anti-Panic Rule."
Magnus2 laughs, "Another thing I don't know about."
Magnus smiles, "Before we got married, I had a nightmare. I never crashed his and Lydia's wedding and they got married. But there was no love in their marriage, they slept in separate rooms. Eventually they got a divorce and Alec showed up at my door. We finally made love. He left the next day with promises of a life together, but the Institute was destroyed and everybody was killed. I found Alec dead outside, that is when I woke up. I was in our bed alone. I didn't know what was real and my mind refused to see beyond the nightmare. Alec walked in and bought me back, as he always does. During breakfast, I told him that if I went to bed alone because he was working late, then he wasn't allowed to leave the bed in the morning, until I woke up. He agreed and dubbed it the Magnus Anti-Panic Rule."
"Wow, you have had way too much drama in your world, Magnus."
Magnus nods, "That is why I wanted to know how your life with him was since you didn't have all that shit."
"Yes it was better, BUT, think about this, because you and your Alec were always on your toes, you were able to get rid of your enemies one by one. My Alec was killed by three people who were just waiting for the right opportunity."
Magnus nods.
Magnus2 continues, "Besides, if you had at one point or another, stepped in and became your Alec's Protector, then our worlds would no longer be different. Because you let your Alec live away from you when he was younger, while I had mine here, THAT is why we both exist, otherwise our worlds, our Alexanders would be the same."
Magnus finishes his martini and slowly nods, "Good point. Thank you."
Magnus2 smiles, "No need to thank me. Without you, my Alec and I wouldn't be here, and I hate to think what would have happened to Maxine without her fathers."
Magnus nods, "Max at least was eighteen, and he could have taken care of himself. I suppose Izzy or Clary would have adopted her."
"Maybe, but I know that our deaths would have shattered her."
"Yes, she was way too young to lose both of her fathers."
"And that is why you never need to thank me for anything, Magnus, I owe YOU so much."
Magnus smiles. He is about to answer when a portal opens and ten year old Maxine walks into the room. She looks from one Magnus to the other. Her eyes narrow as she tries to figure out which is her Poppa.
She smiles and walks over to the sofa, "Hello Not Poppa." She kisses Magnus' cheek.
He laughs, "Hello Maxine."
She walks over to Magnus2 and hugs him. She kisses his cheek, "Hello Poppa."
He laughs, "Hello blueberry. And how was school?"
"School was okay."
Magnus laughs, "What gave me away?"
She sits next to him and taps his left hand which is holding the martini glass, "You don't have an engagement ring."
"No I don't. Smart girl." He kisses her forehead.
She giggles, then looks from one to the other, "Two Poppas, is Daddy in danger?"
Magnus2 laughs, "Not this time, darling. We're just talking about your favorite subject."
Maxine giggles as she sits back, "Daddy."
Magnus2 sniffs, "No, math."
She shakes her head, "I hate math, let's talk about Daddy."
"And what can you add to our conversation, young lady?"
She smiles, "Daddy is beautiful, and smart, and brave, and wonderful, and he loves coffee."
Magnus laughs, "Is coffee the only thing he loves?'
She rolls her eyes, "Dah. He loves Poppa and me."
"Oh, just checking."
Magnus2 laughs, "He's just teasing, Maxine."
Magnus laughs, "I should be getting back." He stands up.
Maxine stands as well, she holds his hand and pulls him into her fathers' bedroom. Magnus glances at her father, who can only shrug. She closes the door and hugs him, "Thank you."
He hugs her, "What are you thanking me for?"
She looks up at him as tears roll down her face, "For saving my Daddy and Poppa. For my birthday this year, all I wanted was to know what happened that day, and they told me. So thank you and Not Daddy and Max for keeping my fathers alive."
He smiles and gently wipes her tears away, "You're welcome, Maxine." He gently kisses her forehead and holds her tight.
She smiles, "I didn't want to do this in front of Poppa, he might start crying too."
Magnus laughs, "You may be right."
She nods, "Okay." She opens the door and they leave the bedroom.
Magnus2 looks at her, "Everything okay?"
"Yes Poppa, I was telling Not Poppa that I hate math and gym."
"Oh okay."
Maxine giggles and hugs Magnus, "Bye Not Poppa."
He kisses her forehead, "Goodbye Maxine."
Magnus2 walks over and shakes his hand, "I'll let you know about his beard."
Magnus laughs, "Thank you for helping me see things from a different perspective."
"You're welcome, glad I could help."
Maxine smiles, "Next time bring Not Daddy. Oh, and Max"
Magnus laughs, "Yes, Maxine." He creates a portal and leaves.
Magnus2 smiles at his daughter, "I did cry a little bit."
She giggles, "You were listening?"
"You knew that I would."
She nods, "I knew. I bet he knew too."
"I'm sure of it."
She hugs Magnus2, "I love you Poppa."
"Love you too, blueberry."
-tbc-
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Loved it? Hated it?
I thought it would be interesting for the two Magnuses, that were so alike and yet had different Alecs, to talk and compare notes.
This was originally going to be the last chapter but after re-reading the story, I felt that there was one last loose end that needed to be tied with a pretty bow.
