Magnus was entirely certain that he had never been so happy in his long life. When he proposed to Alec, he had never imagined that he could fall more in love. But with every passing day, he fell deeper and deeper in love with Alec, and sometimes the thought scared him ever so slightly. He had to continually remind himself that he and Alec still had years to be together, that they weren't out of time yet.
As he watched Alec from across the table, he was filled with so much joy that it was almost stifling. Alec was smiling from ear to ear, and he was currently in the middle of telling Magnus a story of a conversation he and Jace had once had early on in their relationship. Jace had been slightly terribly oblivious to the fact that Magnus and Alec were together, and Alec had forgotten that simple fact and had accidentally casually said something about Magnus. The resulting conversation had been hilarious.
Magnus, however, was far too distracted by what he was waiting to ask Alec that he could barely pay attention to where their conversation was headed. Alec wrapped up what he was saying and said, "Magnus, darling, it looks like you want to say something. What is it?"
Chuckling ever so slightly, Magnus decided now was the time to dive right in to what he had been waiting for all day. "I do actually have something I've been wanting to say. I have a proposal, Alexander." When he said this, Alec cocked his head to the side, clearly intrigued. "I was thinking that it was high time we considered starting a family, and I was wondering if you felt the same."
At first, Alec clearly looked surprised. Slowly, a smile began to spread on his face. "Oh Magnus, of course I feel the same, you know that! But now, I have a proposal of my own."
It was Magnus's turn to be intrigued, but he simply waited for Alec to continue. "I think that we should go ahead and pay our bill and head home, if you know what I'm trying to say."
Magnus definitely knew what Alec was trying to say, and he thought it was the best idea he had heard in a while. He promptly paid their bill and they headed out the door hand in hand.
They were halfway home and Magnus was terribly anxious although he could not pinpoint exactly why. He was anxious to get Alec home, that was for sure, but there was a different kind of anxiety as well, a darker kind.
He kept this from Alec, however, not wanting to worry him. Just as he decided that everything was part of his imagination, he heard a cold voice behind him.
"Stop right where you are and do not move." Suddenly, Alec's hand was being wrenched out of his own, and he whirled around to see Camille taking a knife out of her pocket. She took over hold of Alec from the vampire who had yanked Alec away from him and calmly placed the knife to his throat.
Magnus began frantically looking around, but all he saw was vampires. His eyes landed on Lily, and she stared back at him with a gaze that showed just how sorry she was. Magnus knew that she would see no forgiveness in his eyes when she looked back, and he couldn't say that he was ashamed of that.
Turning to Camille, he began speaking, keeping his voice surprisingly calm. "You don't want him, Camille. I know you too well; it's me you really want. Just let him go and we can deal with this just you and me."
She laughed sharply in return. "Now why on Earth would I do that, Magnus? I have you right where I want you."
"No, Camille, you don't. You want me dead, I can see it in your eyes. You let Alexander go and I'll give you what you want." He shot a warning look at Alec before he continued speaking. "You let him go and I'll fight you. To the death. Me and you, skill against skill alone."
It took a moment for Camille to react, she was clearly considering her options, working out what kind of chance she had of winning. She apparently decided that the odds were greatly in her favor, as she slowly removed the knife from Alec's throat. He immediately ran to Magnus, but Magnus couldn't bring himself to look at him.
Before they could do anything else, Camille stepped forward. "Shall we get this over with, Magnus? I have a schedule to keep." The smile that appeared on her face sent chills down Magnus's spine. He had no idea what he was going to do. He knew he could never kill Camille, he didn't have it in him to kill someone he had once loved so deeply. And it was likely Camille knew that too.
Magnus turned very quickly to whisper "I love you" to Alec and give him one final kiss before he looked Camille straight in the eyes.
He didn't have time to do any further thinking before she lunged forward. If he hadn't had the training he had been given over the years, he would never have been able to step back in time to save himself. As it was, he barely did so quick enough. "Camille, let's talk about this for a moment." There was more pleading in his voice than he had hoped for, but he was too preoccupied to care about that at the moment.
She laughed again, and responded, "Why, Magnus? Afraid you'll lose?" As she did so, she lunged again, this time landing a blow on Magnus's left arm. He managed to make no indication that the blow had hurt him at all.
Keep the pain out of his voice, he began stepping away from her in an intricate pattern as he replied, "You don't want to do this, that's why. If you kill me, you'll be an even more wanted woman than you ever have been."
He knew he was running out of time, but he was running out of things to say as well. He could tell she didn't care just how wanted she would be. All she wanted was his death. Magnus could tell he wouldn't be able to keep up much longer, he was having to step too quickly to keep out of her reach.
She realized this just as he did, and her last words were, "Say goodbye to your little Shadowhunter, Bane," before she lunged again.
Magnus had prepared for death then, he had closed his eyes and pictured Alec's gorgeous face and had simply given up. But then he heard Alec's voice screaming, "His name is Magnus Lightwood!" and suddenly he felt Alec standing in front of him, seraph blade blazing in hand.
Just as quickly as Alec jumped in front of him, Alec was gone. It took a moment for Magnus to understand what had happened, and then he realized that Camille had thrown Alec out of the way. He heard a sickening thud along with the all too familiar cracking of bone. This had been enough to stop Camille in her tracks, but Magnus was racing to Alec's side before she had ever stopped.
He was hesitant to move Alec, as he had no idea what bones Alec had broken. Magnus's heart fell in his chest as he saw the blood slowly puddling around Alec's head. He immediately grabbed for his phone, calling Catarina, even though he was already losing hope that there was anything they could do.
When Catarina arrived, she knelt down beside Magnus, taking Alec's wrist and feeling for a pulse. She paused momentarily, as if trying to assess the situation, then she finally spoke. "Magnus, darling. I don't think there's anything I can do for him."
It was then that Magnus became aware that his face was soaked with tears. It was then that he began to feel the pain in his chest. There was no way he could lose Alec. They were supposed to have decades left together. His heart skipped a beat as Alec's eyes fluttered open very softly.
"Magnus?" Alec's voice was very soft, very weak, and Magnus could very painfully tell that they didn't have much time left. He reached to swipe Alec's hair out of his eyes, silent tears continuing to steam down his face. "Magnus, I love you. I'm so sorry."
"Oh, Alexander. My Alexander." Magnus paused, trying to find the right words to say, trying to get it right, wondering which word would be the last thing Alec heard. "Don't be sorry for this. You saved my life, darling."
"I couldn't let her hurt you, Magnus." Alec tried to move and winced in pain. He grabbed for Magnus's hand, and when Magnus placed his hand in Alec's he could tell from Alec's grip that he was terribly weak, was on the brink of death.
"I'm fine now, love. Don't you worry about me anymore; you saved me." He paused, trying to catch his breath, but just when he was about to speaking again, Alec closed his eyes.
The last words Alec said were, "Happy anniversary, Magnus Lightwood." He was silent for several seconds before Magnus saw his chest stop falling and rising.
Magnus bent down to give his husband one last kiss, and it was then that he broke down into terrible, heart wrenching sobs. He could tell that Catarina was trying to say something to him, he knew that he should be listening to her, but he had no idea what she was saying. He wasn't aware of anything other than the fact that Alec was gone. He couldn't feel anything outside of the pain in his heart. It was the worst pain he had ever felt, and he knew it would never go away.
Without understanding exactly what he was doing, he got up and turned on Camille. He felt a release of magic, and suddenly Camille flew against the wall herself. She was smiling at him and all he could think of was riding the world of her smile once and for all.
"Give me one reason," he began, his voice surprisingly even. "One good reason, Camille, why I shouldn't kill you right this second." He raised his hand, ready to hurt her just as much as she had hurt Alec, but he suddenly felt a hand on his wrist.
Catarina took hold of his hand and gently forced him to lower it. "I'll give you a reason, Magnus. You're not a murderer, that's why. And Alec would not want you to do this." He turned to look at her with pleading eyes, but he knew she was right.
Turning back to Camille, he forced himself to look at her, even though it made him sick at his stomach to do so. "I'm not letting you go, Camille. I'm turning you over to the Clave. They can kill you for me."
Twenty years passed, and Magnus missed Alec more and more every day. The days never got any easier, despite everyone having told him that time would heal his wounds. Time only seemed to reopen his wounds.
One day, Magnus finally sat down with the Lightwoods as well as Raphael, Ragnor, Catarina, and Tessa and Jem. He knew they were all terribly confused as to why he had called them all together, but all the confusion would soon be cleared up. All of Magnus's pain would soon be cleared up as well.
"I know," he began. "That you're all trying to figure out what you're doing here. But I have an important announcement to make."
They all looked up at him with questioning looks, and it almost hurt him to have to tell him what he had planned. Almost.
"I wanted you all to know that I have thought about his more than any of you could ever know, and I've decided that I am going to take away my immortality. I am going to allow myself to age naturally and die." He held up a hand when he saw several of them start to interrupt. "I am terribly sorry, but I have already made up my mind. I am going to perform the spell tonight, and there is nothing that any of you could say to change my decision." He took a deep breath and closed his eyes for a second.
When his eyes were closed, all he could see was Alec's face, and that was enough motivation to continue speaking. "I need to be with my Alexander again."
