A/N: Goodness gracious, you guys are so sweet. I really appreciate when you take the time to review my story. I can't thank you enough – but I can try. Thank you, and here's the final chapter. *except the epilogue, it is coming!

Disclaimer: Nothing but Archer is mine!

Magnus sat bolt upright, and realized with a jolt that he was in his own bed. He wasn't so stupid as to wonder if this was a dream, as he knew it couldn't be. He hurt, all over. Magnus knew that he had completely over-exerted himself, and only wondered how long he had been passed out.

Trying to collect his thoughts, he was relieved to find that he remembered winning the fight, and, faintly, Archer being taken away by the Shadowhunters. Most likely he would go to the City of Bones, and be kept there for a long time. Archer would have plenty of time to reflect on the choices he had made in his life. He was still very young, and maybe the time in captivity would serve to help him reconsider his choices. Ah well, Magnus could be optimistic.

He got up slowly, the exhaustion of the previous day just slightly less pronounced, and dressed in his signature sparkly style. The simple action helped him to feel more like himself, and helped lift his spirits slightly. He still hadn't fully processed the fact that Archer, who had seemed to be his second chance at a relationship like the one he'd had with Alec, had betrayed him, and was now gone.

With vague thoughts of getting coffee going through his mind, Magnus left his bedroom and walked out into his living room – and froze.

It had to be an exhaustion-induced hallucination, or he was still asleep and dreaming, because of course it was, he was still so tired and he rubbed his eyes and he was still there and Alec died twenty years ago.

Yet there he was, in Magnus' loft, getting to his feet as Magnus appeared in the doorway.

"There's no way," Magnus stuttered out, "no way, you can't be real, and you can't."

In just a few long strides, Alec – Alec – crossed the room and enveloped Magnus in a hug. It felt so real it was cruel.

"But I do feel real, don't I?" said Alec, the first of his tears punctuating his sentence.

Magnus drew his face back, just the barest fraction, enough to see Alec's face. It didn't look any different than it had before – before he died.

Alec smiled that same shy smile. Oh, that was real – not even Archer could replicate that smile. He started to say something, but couldn't as Magnus cut him off with a kiss.

It was perfect, familiar, thrilling. Magnus felt like an addict who, after thinking he had quit, got just one more taste and was instantly hooked again. The difference was that the addict would feel guilty. Magnus felt nothing but joy.

Somehow, as both had their eyes closed, they managed to stumble over to the sofa, and sat there, reveling in the heady feeling of being together again.

After what could have been minutes, or possibly years, they broke apart. Through the haze that had invaded Magnus' brain, there came questions. Alec could see the unspoken questions in Magnus' face – he had always been good at that – and he answered as best he could.

"I wasn't quite dead," he began softly.

"The Greater Demon who killed me – and no, it wasn't Asmodeus – took my soul with him, but instead of throwing me loose to the demons of the hell dimension, he kept me with him. He showed me," here Alec paused, swallowed, and went on, "he showed me you, your disbelief, your grieving. I watched as you lost yourself to the life you'd had before we met."

"My sadness was keeping him very well fed," Alec continued. "But seeing you? That was what kept me sane."

"I knew the demon's plan – he had no reason to hide it from my hearing. With the strength my grief was giving him, he assumed a human form, and went looking for a mundane woman who looked like me. He seduced her, and when the child was born, he placed him under the care of a mundane family, with instructions to name the child Archer. The family, many of whom worked with Dark magic, agreed."

"So Archer was born to serve his father," Magnus murmured. "His entire purpose was to grow up and charm me for your pain. And I fell for it."

"Don't worry, it wasn't your fault," said Alec gently. "I wanted you to move on, you know that. Just – Magnus, that was the one person I least wanted you to spend your life with!"

They laughed at the irony, still holding each other close.

"But then, why are you here?" Magnus asked.

"You defeated Archer," Alec said, smiling. "I watched, I cheered for you. The demon's plan didn't work, and the combined force of Archer's defeat and my happiness destroyed his hold on my soul. I'm free."

"Then why do you have a body?" Magnus asked quietly. "They found yours, dead."

Alec's smile grew again, wide. "The angels – they don't always make their favours a big deal."

"Honestly, I'm surprised," said Magnus, and then they were kissing again, and they had all the time in the world to do so.

A/N: *smiles*