Malec.
Queen Lydia.
More Malec.
Nightmares aren't funny. Neither is Ragnor.
Also, Malec.
Valentine is still a creepy creep.
Magnus wasn't sure how long they stayed in the alley wrapped in each other but at some point the rest of the team had gotten back inside and he was aware of that somehow, not that he would have been able to tell when or if they had said anything to them before leaving.
Magnus wasn't aware of much except for Alec, Alec's arms around him, Alec's lips moving with his, Alec's hands that were still holding on to him as if he was afraid Magnus would just disappear if he let go of him, which was impossible. There was no way Magnus would move away from Alec. They had to pull away at some point, though, because well, oxygen was needed. If he could have lived without it, he probably would have stayed right there, against the car on which Alec had pushed him at some point, to kiss him until he grew tired of it. So basically, forever.
When Alec pulled back, he was breathing hard and just stared at Magnus, his eyes alight under the lamppost. His lips were shining, red and slightly swollen, and if Magnus couldn't breathe, it wasn't just from the kissing.
"We should probably go inside at some point," Alec whispered and Magnus was reassured to hear that his voice was shuddering, that he wasn't the only one so affected.
"Do we have to?" he asked, nearly whining and Alec smiled, his hands moving slowly to cup his face, stroking his cheekbones with his thumbs.
He leaned forward, pressing a soft, almost chaste kiss against his lips. He apparently had more self-restraint than Magnus because he pulled away almost immediately, although his eyes stayed fixed on Magnus's lips.
"We can't exactly stay here forever," Alec murmured.
"I see no logical reason why not," Magnus retorted, only half-jokingly.
Alec chuckled and kissed him again and it was really unfair because how did he expect Magnus to get some sort of control over himself back if he kept doing that?
Magnus slid his arms around his shoulders, kissing back eagerly and he was gone again, his mind pushing away any coherent thoughts. He was so screwed. Raphael could never know about this because he would never let him hear the end of it.
He swore he didn't even realize his hands had gone wandering under Alec's shirt at some point but somehow, he was stroking the skin of his lower back and Alec's lips were moving to suck against his throat. His toes curled and he scratched the skin inadvertently and he could feel how Alec's breath itched, turning warmer against the skin of his neck. Suddenly, the atmosphere around them wasn't so sweet anymore but heavy with weeks of frustration and tension. Alec nipped at his tense neck and this time, Magnus – and he hated himself for it – had to be the clear-minded one.
"Alec," he huffed out, bewildered by his own breathlessness. "Alexander, darling, we should really go back inside before this gets out of hands."
Alec's lips stopped moving but he stayed put against Magnus's neck, panting heavily. "Yeah," he murmured, his lips brushing against the mark he had worked on leaving there. Magnus had to bite the inside of his cheek not to moan. "Yeah," Alec said again.
He pulled away and Magnus missed his warmth instantly. Nights were never cold in California but in that moment, he felt like the temperature had just decreased drastically.
They stared at each other for a while, saying with their eyes what they couldn't with words. Magnus had never been one to be rendered speechless but then again, Alec was special.
"Let's go," he finally murmured. He took Magnus's hand in a slow movement, almost shy and Magnus was amazed by how fast he could go from devastatingly appealing to incredibly sweet in half a second.
They made their way back to the living room and were met by smug faces and knowing smiles. Magnus rolled his eyes and turned his head toward Alec. Truth be told, he could understand the smugness. Alec had a couple of red marks on his neck, his hair was completely tousled, his shirt slightly rustled and Magnus didn't allow himself to focus on his lips. He was fairly certain that he didn't look any better.
"So," Jace stated in a loud voice, obviously holding back a laugh, "now that you're done making out, can we see the pictures?"
Magnus had to fight back a blush and cursed internally because yeah, that was kind of important. He still couldn't understand why he had been under the impression that something was deeply wrong in that East corridor.
"Yeah," he croaked, his voice betraying him and he closed his eyes to avoid seeing the amusement in theirs, taking a deep breath. "Shut up," he grumbled.
Alec smiled, stroking his back lightly. "Ignore the kids," he said and he had barely the time to get the words out before his phone started ringing loudly.
He picked up, mouthing "Lydia" at the rest of them.
"Hi, Lydia. Wow, slow down. No, they're fine. Wait a second, I'll put you on speaker."
He pressed a button on his phone, holding it towards the rest of the team.
"Alright," Alec said. "Everyone can hear you."
"Magnus! Isabelle! I'm going to kill you!" Lydia blurted out immediately, voice shaking with anger.
Magnus grimaced. "Sorry? Did Valentine give you a hard time? I didn't mean to punch him… It just kind of happened."
"You're the one who punched him?" Lydia exclaimed astonishingly. "What the hell happened? No, don't answer that. Right now, I'm furious at the two of you!"
She sounded positively mad indeed and Magnus frowned because he wasn't sure he had done anything else wrong.
"What did we do?" Isabelle asked, rising to her feet to get closer to Alec and Magnus to be sure to be heard.
"What did you do?" Lydia echoed wrathfully. "You disappeared!" she fully yelled. "I left Magnus in front of the North corridor with the indications he needed to get to the piano room and when Mr. Morgenstern came back, he was bleeding and you two had disappeared! Do you have any idea how worried I was?"
Magnus bit his lip and heaved out a deep breath.
"Oops," he uttered with a sheepish shrug she couldn't see.
"Oops?" she repeated at the top of her voice. "Is that your answer? Because I swear I'll drive to the villa to strangle you myself!"
"I'm sorry," Magnus sighed more eloquently. "It's my fault. I punched him so obviously, we had to get out of there as quickly as possible. I was so angry I couldn't think straight and I didn't think of warning you we were leaving."
"Next time, I want an earpiece too," she put in and she didn't sound as angry as she had so Magnus took it as a small victory. "I was worried sick but I couldn't call you because his stupid guests wouldn't leave me alone."
"There probably won't be a next time," Luke put in with a small smile. "I'm pretty sure Magnus destroyed any chance we had of approaching Valentine from the inside when he punched him."
Alec stepped closer to Magnus, his hand not holding the phone dropping to his lower back. He opened his mouth to talk back but Luke was quicker. "I'm not judging," he added rapidly. "On the contrary. I would have broken his nose myself if I could!"
"It wasn't broken," Lydia cut in and Magnus was deeply disappointed. "It was badly swollen, though, and he bled a whole lot. He had to go change."
Magnus smirked proudly and Alec's hand tightened its hold on his hips. It was all very distracting. "His suit was ugly anyway," he said playfully. "I hope it's ruined."
Lydia chuckled and he was oddly relieved to hear that she wasn't mad anymore. "It is."
"Did he give you a hard time?" Alec asked, rolling his eyes at their antics. "He's not exactly mild-tempered."
"No, he was actually in a good mood for the rest of the night, which was weird because he literally had a plaster on his nose that we had to change every half hour because it kept bleeding again."
"The more I hear from him, the more I think that man is completely insane," Simon chimed in and his statement was followed by a wave of approving nods and groans.
"Tell me about it," Lydia sighed. "Anyway, I'm going to bed and you should too. I'll come over tomorrow night."
She was saluted by a symphony of disharmonic voices and they heard her chuckle almost fondly before she hung up.
"She's right," Hodge said as soon as Alec had put away his phone. "We should get some sleep. We'll go over these pictures tomorrow."
His statement was met by yawns and approving groans at best. Magnus was soon left alone with Alec in the middle of the living room, staring at the stairs where everyone had just disappeared.
He glanced up at Alec with a small smile. "We both know we're not going to sleep," he said with a playful smirk.
Alec let out a quiet laugh. "Stop making everything sound dirty. Patio?" he suggested.
Magnus nodded, making his way outside, Alec on his heels. "It's not my fault if you can't get your mind out of the gutter, Lightwood," he retorted.
Alec snorted and rolled his eyes as they settled on their favorite patio couch. It was the one that faced the pool and further, the fence that lead to the beach.
.
At some point, Magnus had stood up to get them wine because clearly, Magnus didn't do much without a glass of wine, even if it was just quietly chatting with Alec. Although this night, they didn't chat much.
Alec was stuck in a haze of his own muddled thoughts, as they often were. He kept replaying the last events in his mind. He wasn't sure what it meant for Magnus and he wasn't even sure what it meant for him. He knew he had wanted it – more like craved it, restraining himself for weeks – it seemed silly now.
Alec's history with relationships was messy at best. Chaotic would be a more appropriate word. He had had, all in all, two boyfriends in his twenty-six years of existence.
The first one had broken up with him because, at the time, he had still been in the closet (Alec had been barely seventeen) and the boy, Mark, had grown tired of being his dirty little secret. Alec didn't blame him. He had blamed himself, like he often did. Although it had ended poorly, he was grateful for this relationship because it had prompted him to come out to his parents. Although their reactions hadn't been as positive as he had dared to hope, they had been what he had expected. For people like Maryse and Robert Lightwood, who prided themselves of being part of the wealthiest social circles of New York, having a homosexual son was shameful, especially when it was their oldest who was meant to inherit their empire. Alec had politely – or not – declined the offer when he had turned eighteen by slamming the door of his childhood house and never going back. He missed it, sometimes. Most of the time, he was fine with just Isabelle, Jace and Max when he could get away from their parents' strict rules.
Alec's second boyfriend had been different. He had been out for a few years by then and James had stumbled into his life by mistake. They had met in a bar, hooked up and somehow started dating afterwards. Alec had liked James, very much so, but he had never been in love, unlike James who had started to go overboard about their relationship. For someone like Alec, who was deeply uncomfortable with human interactions that didn't feature his siblings or some kind of robbery planning, it had been unsettling and stressful. It had been worse when James had actually said the words and Alec had been incapable of saying them back. These were important words, words he had only ever uttered when he knew fully and absolutely that he had meant them. Basically, it meant that he had never said them to anyone but his siblings. James had broken up with him soon after. Once again, Alec didn't blame him.
So, he had a history of messing up his relationships, because he was too "emotionally constipated", as Jace liked to put it tactfully. As if he was any better.
He didn't know what it was (and probably wouldn't have been able to tell if it had slapped him right in the face) but there was something special about Magnus that made Alec hope it would turn out to be different.
"You don't regret it, do you?" Magnus blurted out of the blue.
Alec's head snapped toward him. Magnus was frowning slightly but he looked mostly apprehensive. Was it possible that Alec had already managed to mess it up when it hadn't even properly started?
"You've been silent for an awfully long time," Magnus added, tilting his head to meet his eyes. He was sitting with his legs crossed next to Alec and there was something positively endearing about the whole thing. "What are you thinking about?"
Alec was an adult. Adults talked about these things. It couldn't be that difficult.
"You. Me. Us," he blurted out, as eloquently as ever.
Magnus had never minded, though, and he didn't this time either. He simply smiled.
"Would you care to elaborate?" Magnus asked kindly, reaching out to grab Alec's glass of wine and putting both their glasses on the floor to take hold of Alec's hands softly.
Alec had always viewed kindness as a strength. It was something that too many people lacked, especially in his own experience, and Magnus just brimmed with empathy. Magnus wasn't strong because of his physical abilities (which were quite impressive too, as he had witnessed with his own eyes), he was strong for everything else. He was strong because he managed to be compassionate and kind in a cruel world that had done a lot to push him off this path. It was both unsettling and incredibly charming.
"I like you," Alec admitted bluntly, the words slumping out of his mouth before he could really think about it. "I really do and it's weird because I don't usually like people but somehow… I like you and I liked you almost immediately and I'm not sure what it means or where it's going –"
"Alexander," Magnus cut in softly, leaning forward to put a gentle hand on his wrist, "I like you too."
Alec blinked. "Good. That's good," he breathed out. He hadn't even realized he had been holding his breath.
"It doesn't have to be more complicated than that," Magnus pondered. "Whatever this is," he added, waving gracefully between the two of them, "we'll figure it out along the way."
"Yeah," Alec replied with a considerate nod. "That sounds good."
"Now, how about I shut down that over thinking brain of yours by giving you something much more interesting to occupy your thoughts?" Magnus said with an almost predatory smirk.
Alec couldn't have hidden the twitch of his lips even if he had wanted to. "The everlasting debate about why Simon claimed you were Bruce Banner when you're clearly Tony Stark?" he asked teasingly.
Magnus huffed out a breathless laugh. "I know, right? Tony Stark is definitely my spirit animal. I didn't want to disappoint poor Sheldon, he was so enthusiastic."
He shifted toward Alec, hovering close, albeit not close enough for Alec's liking.
"He'll be devastated," he whispered with a smirk. "You're much prettier than Tony Stark and Bruce Banner anyway."
Magnus's smile widened and Alec was bemused to feel the proud feeling in his stomach at the sight.
"My, my, Alexander, you're trying to seduce me, aren't you?" Magnus said, a mischievous spark dancing in his eyes. He moved closer and Alec had to shift his legs so he could settle between them.
"Are you seriously quoting The Graduate at me?" he deadpanned, albeit fondly, and it was mostly covered by his breathlessness. His hands found their way to Magnus's waist on their own accord. "You do realize that movie has a terrible ending, right?"
Magnus smirked, dropping his hands on Alec's shoulders, straddling his legs to get more comfortable (Alec could pretend it was the only reason). "I'll let you debate it with Sheldon because frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn right now."
Alec laughed, a loud and happy noise. "Did you run out of pick-up lines so you're using movie quotes instead?"
Magnus chuckled. "Busted."
"Who would have believed that the infamous Magnus Bane is actually a giant dork?" Alec muttered with a smirk.
He didn't give him time to reply, finally pressing their mouths together.
It was just like the first time, only hours ago. They breathed together and Magnus melted into his arms, fingers finding their way into his already disheveled hair. Alec was grateful to be sitting on the couch because he wasn't sure he wouldn't have collapsed with how giddy he suddenly felt, kind of ridiculous and terrifying. But frankly, he didn't give a damn.
.
He didn't know how it happened, couldn't remember moving but suddenly, he was lying on the couch in an awkward angle (being tall was a nightmare sometimes) and Magnus was on top of him, his long ring-clad fingers wandering on the bare skin of his arms, leaving a burning prickle in their path. His own hands were plastered against Magnus' back, bringing him closer and yet never close enough.
Magnus shifted to settle against his chest, their hips brushing together and they moaned into each other's mouth almost loud enough to be embarrassing.
Magnus pulled back, holding himself on Alec's shoulders. "Okay," he murmured, "we need to slow things down before I lose my remaining self-control."
"Yeah," Alec agreed breathlessly. "Yeah." And he almost rolled his eyes at his own eloquence.
"I mean, I definitely want to," Magnus added with a flourish, clearing his throat awkwardly, "but maybe we should go on a date first… or something." He sounded as convinced by his own words as Alec was.
Alec nodded and Magnus pulled away to let him sit back, staying close to him with his legs crossed. His cheeks were slightly flushed, his hair completely disheveled and his eyes were shinning and Alec was stunned to realize that he had done that.
"Well," he said slowly, his voice sounding foreign to his own ears, "Could that count as a date?" he asked, gesturing to their abandoned glasses of wine on the floor.
Magnus blinked but he quickly caught up. A devilish smirk broke onto his face and Alec's heart skipped a beat.
"Yeah," he murmured. "It can definitely count as a date."
"Well, in that case, we've had like… at least fifteen dates before," Alec replied and he couldn't believe he was trying to justify their lack of restraint. Although if he was honest, he had no regrets.
Especially not when Magnus's smirk grew wider and his eyes met his heatedly. "Which means we should have been doing that like… fifteen dates ago."
Alec chuckled and he rose to his feet, grabbing Magnus's hand to drag him inside the villa. "Really, it's long overdue," he said.
"Totally," Magnus breathed out, his voice hoarse with what could only be desire.
Alec didn't reply, taking the steps to his bedroom almost two at a time. He wasn't even ashamed to appear so eager because clearly, Magnus was in no better condition.
"Shit," he muttered, stopping dead in his tracks.
They had arrived in front of his bedroom's door and his enthusiasm dropped dramatically.
"What?" Magnus whispered. They were both very aware of the other inhabitants of the house sleeping in the rooms around them.
"I don't have anything," Alec admitted sheepishly and yet, he almost automatically leaned closer, stepping into Magnus's personal space.
Magnus smirked, tugging on his hand to drag him along the corridor to his own bedroom. "I do," he replied, pulling him into his room.
Alec didn't waste any time, lunging for his mouth. "I'm not going to ask why," he mumbled against his lips, sliding his hands under his shirt to bring him closer.
"Safe sex is always better," Magnus murmured back smugly. "And I knew you wouldn't last forever without jumping me. I mean, I'm pretty irresistible."
Alec snorted and pulled back just so that Magnus could see him roll his eyes. "You're impossible."
"But in a good way, right?" Magnus retorted with a teasing wink.
Alec had trouble grasping the fact that this man, this incredible, joyful, glimmering and luminous man wanted him. And Alec wanted him back more fiercely than he had wanted anyone in his life. Now that he was aware of that, that it was out in the open and there was no turning back, he felt free, more so than ever. That knowledge was probably the reason why he felt oddly bold all of a sudden. It had to be why he let a smirk play around his lips and his hand drop on Magnus's ass to squeeze it playfully, watching as his eyes widened in surprise, before they darkened again.
"In the best way possible."
.
Magnus prided himself with how skilled he was at what he did. For most people, he counted as a bad person. Thieves were never exactly praised in any society but well, Magnus wasn't looking for praise anyway, although it was always nice to read an article about how the police was still failing to catch him. He sometimes thought he should cut out these articles and make some kind of board he could splatter on the wall of his apartment in New York. He probably would have done it already if he wasn't sharing said apartment with Raphael, who would just tear the thing down like the grumpy cat he was.
Being so good at what he did was for several reasons. One of them was that he trained hard to always keep his senses alert. While it might look like he was freewheeling his way into it most of the time, he never got into a job if he wasn't entirely prepared for it. Even then, he was always attentive to his surroundings. This was probably why he had frozen in shock when he met Ragnor Fell.
Everything had gone smoothly. He had broken into the vault without much difficulty. He had managed to avoid the castle's security almost too easily. He had heard many praises about security systems in England but it turned out to be quite a disappointment because he had encountered no obstacle as of now.
That was, until he heard a voice with a heavy foreign accent behind him. He had just been about to break the glass that protected his intended target, a priceless ring that had belong to some French king he had no real interest about. The ring was a beauty, though, and he wasn't even sure he would sell it once it was his. Maybe he would keep it as a trophy, something to remember his first robbery in England by.
"Well, this is terribly unfortunate."
Magnus froze, his mouth falling open. Raphael was going to kill him if he got arrested in England of all places. Raphael hated England, although Magnus always thought he should enjoy the rain since it was a perfect allegory for his glooming personality.
"Terribly unfortunate," the stranger repeated, mostly to himself.
Magnus finally turned around, observing the man in front of him. He was quite tall, slightly taller than Magnus himself, and his hair was an uncommon shade of blonde, almost white. He had big, green, laughing eyes and was dressed like he was coming back from a fancy dinner, if that fancy dinner had been held two centuries ago. He was smiling, eyes lit up with amusement.
"Who are you?" he asked, narrowing his eyes suspiciously.
"The name is Ragnor Fell," the man said. "And you are?"
"Not telling you," Magnus retorted swiftly. "What are you doing here?"
Ragnor chuckled and Magnus observed him doing so with confusion. He felt oddly out of place and it wasn't a feeling he got very often.
"I believe I'm here for the same reason you are, my friend," he replied with an easy smile. "King Whatever's ring."
"Well, I was here first," Magnus replied petulantly.
"That you were," Ragnor smirked. "I was wondering why the alarm system was already off."
Hiding a proud smirk, Magnus stepped away from the glass but he stayed between his targeted item and the stranger. The man scanned his movements cautiously and Magnus could see, now, that he wasn't as nonchalant as he appeared to be. His jaw was flexing faintly, almost unnoticeably.
"Now, how are we going to play this, chap?" Ragnor said with a smile.
"There is nothing to play," Magnus argued with a frown. "I was here first. Go away."
"Americans are so rude," the man sighed. "Is this a way to greet a colleague?"
"We're in an unconventional business," Magnus countered.
The man didn't seem nonplussed, on the contrary. His smile widened. It was a peculiar smile, Magnus pondered to himself. It wasn't mocking, it wasn't a smirk. It was a real smile that seemed to indicate he was having the time of his life.
"Indeed we are, my friend," Ragnor replied good-heartedly.
Magnus hesitated for a second, eyeing him warily.
"So if we're not colleagues, let's call it fellow bandits," he grumbled. "It has a nice ring to it, don't you think?" he added, putting extra emphasis to the word.
Magnus couldn't help but snort at the horrible pun. He had always been a sucker for stupid puns.
"I thought English people were supposed to be funny," he retorted with a smirk.
"I hate stereotypes," Ragnor replied and his accent suddenly sounded heavier. "I try to be as unfunny as possible to stop the spreading of this terrible misconception."
"You're succeeding," Magnus mocked, not unkindly.
"Oh, darling, now you're just flattering me so I let you run away with the ring," the man said, obviously amused, taking a nonchalant look at their surroundings.
"Would flattery work?" Magnus asked.
"It might," Ragnor responded with a dismissive shrug. "I'm easily corrupted."
Magnus didn't reply immediately because it occurred to him that he was engaged into a playful banter with a man he didn't know, in the middle of a robbery he had planned for weeks, while the change of shift in the security was due to happen any minute now and he had to move soon if he didn't want to get caught.
Clearing his throat, he stood straighter on his feet and took a look at his watch. "I'll buy you a Guinness, or whatever you English people drink, if you just let me finish this so we can get out of here as soon as possible. The next patrol is due in seven minutes."
Ragnor crossed his arms over his chest and quirked an eyebrow indifferently. "Alright then," he sighed. "Make it two pints and we have a deal. I did waste my night, after all."
Magnus turned around to face the glass and hide the smirk that was growing on his lips. "I'm sure we can help with that as well," he muttered in a seducing tone.
Ragnor chuckled. "You Americans have no chill," he sighed, although it was light-hearted. "Sorry, darling, I'm straight."
"It was worth a shot," Magnus retorted as he pierced the glass and grabbed the ring swiftly.
He eyed it with hesitation, looking back up at Ragnor.
"Keep it," the English man said with a kind smile. "I don't really need it, I was just bored. Let's say it's a gift to cement our new friendship."
Magnus found himself oddly not opposed to the idea. He had never really believed in fate because he had always made his own path but maybe he had been wrong. Maybe there were accidents of time and place, maybe there were immediate sparks flying between two people sometimes, that were meant to be a promise of something bigger.
"I'm not sure you know what you're getting into," Magnus replied with a genuine smile. "I've been told I'm a pretty terrible friend."
"Is that because your friends end up being killed because of you?"
.
He should have been used to it by now, but every night, when he woke up with a start from these nightmares, he still felt oddly surprised. It wasn't so much the nightmares in themselves that startled him, but the fact that his subconscious would put these dreadful words in the mouth of the kindest man he had never known. Ragnor would have never blamed him for what had happened. He would have joked about it, maybe made a terrible pun. He would have reassured Magnus that he was innocent in the events that had occurred that dreadful night two years ago. But Ragnor was gone and Magnus was left to deal with his guilt alone.
Magnus remembered that night they had first met vividly. Well after they had made their way out of the castle, when they had settled in Ragnor's apartment in East London with surprisingly good wine, Magnus had decided he wouldn't sell the ring, as a reminder that every now and then, it was good to just take a leap of faith. Oh, how he regretted it now.
Maybe if he hadn't befriended Ragnor that night, he would still be alive. Maybe if he hadn't caved, maybe if he had insisted for him not to go in. Maybe if he had been less of a coward… All the maybes in the world wouldn't change anything.
"Magnus?" Alec whispered next to him, his voice hoarse with drowsiness. "Are you okay?"
He was naked and Magnus could surmise the pale skin of his chest in the darkness, but not much else.
Magnus discreetly dried the traitorous tears that had rolled down his cheeks and sat up, disentangling himself from Alec's warm body.
"I'm good," he murmured, not even believing it himself.
Even the darkness couldn't seem to prevent Alec from seeing right through him. He sat up too and found his hand in the dark, squeezing it gently. Magnus used his free hand to grab the ring on the night table, playing with it absentmindedly. At first, it had been a token of his friendship with Ragnor. Now, it was much more. It had become his most precious possession and his most painful one, too, because every time he put it on – which was everyday – he remembered everything. Time hadn't yet erased the agonizing memories. In fact, as of now, all he had left was pain, sometimes mixed with memories that had lost their cheerfulness because of his inexorable mourning.
"Nightmare?" Alec inquired slowly, like he wasn't sure it was acceptable to ask.
"I'm good," Magnus repeated weakly in lieu of an answer. The ring in his hand seemed to weigh tons.
Alec sighed and Magnus thought he was going to give up and just go back to sleep but – really, he should have known by now – Alec did none of that. He grabbed his waist and pulled Magnus against him, dropping a kiss on his shoulder.
"No, you're not," he whispered. "It's okay if you don't want to talk about it but you don't have to lie to me."
"I'm not lying to you," Magnus argued halfheartedly, his voice shaking uncontrollably.
"Then don't lie to yourself, it's worse," Alec replied, dropping another kiss on his neck.
Magnus hummed thoughtfully. He let Alec push him back in a lying position and snuggled against him, his hand settling on his stomach. Alec hissed slightly when he felt the cold metal of the ring but he didn't complain. His hand met Magnus's in the dark, tangling their fingers together. He slid his free arm around Magnus's shoulders, dropping a kiss against his forehead.
"It's not your fault, you know," he murmured.
Magnus blinked, his whole body freezing in a mixture of horror and shock.
"You cry his name in your sleep," Alec explained before Magnus could try to lie. "It's not the first time it happens."
Magnus gulped difficultly. "It is my fault," he whispered slowly, dragging the words out. It occurred to him that he had never said them out loud before but now that they were out, it was simply and purely agonizing.
"You didn't pull the trigger," Alec argued. His thumb was stroking lightly against the naked skin of Magnus's shoulder in a soothing gesture.
"Why does it feel like I did, then?" Magnus muttered imperceptibly. In the quiet of the room, it was impossible for Alec not to hear him, though.
"You didn't," Alec repeated patiently, pulling him closer. "You did nothing wrong. You need to forgive yourself."
They had barely decided to give it a try and Magnus already felt like they were months-deep into their relationship, baring their hearts to one another. It was terrifying. Nonetheless, he felt oddly peaceful, soothed by Alec's heartbeat against his ear.
"Hodge was right from the beginning," Magnus sighed. "You're too good for me. You deserve better."
"I decide what I deserve," Alec replied and he sounded slightly annoyed but Magnus knew it wasn't directed at him. "Screw Hodge," he added with a groan for good measure.
"Cheating on me already?" Magnus scoffed, a small smirk tugging at his lips.
Alec snorted and Magnus could easily imagine the fond roll of his eyes. "Don't be ridiculous," he huffed and it was a simple statement, uttered jokingly, but they both registered the deeper meaning behind it.
"You're something else, Alexander," Magnus muttered, somehow breathlessly.
"Coming from the infamous Magnificent Bane himself, I'll take it as a compliment," Alec said, his fingers stopping their exploration of Magnus's arm to squeeze it gently.
"As you should."
.
Magnus was in a good mood and no one, not even Hodge, who was annoyingly tapping his fingers on the coffee table, could change that. It wasn't that he didn't understand his eagerness, because he was eager himself, but he was trying to read the newspaper and it was slowly starting to get on his nerves. His mind was still on an Alec-shaped cloud and he didn't want to get down from it earlier than necessary. Hodge was irritating, but that was nothing new so he could deal with it. It was made even easier when Alec joined them in the living room, freshly showered, and dropped on the couch next to Magnus, leaning into his body almost automatically. Magnus welcomed him with a smile, shifting to allow him closer.
Hodge stared at them for a second, rolled his eyes and resumed his fidgeting.
"What's wrong with you?" Alec asked and Magnus almost applauded himself for not being the one who finally snapped.
Hodge blinked, apparently taken aback, and quirked an eyebrow. "What?"
"I know you and you're fiddling," Alec said blatantly, pointing at him with his hand that wasn't distractedly laying on Magnus's knee.
"I just want to get this over with," Hodge sighed. "My villa has turned into a reality show and I'm tired of hanging around doing nothing."
"Aren't you a ray of sunshine?" Luke chimed in as he barged in the living room, Clary and Simon on his heels.
Hodge mumbled something to himself but didn't reply out loud.
"Simon, you can settle everything. Jace and Isabelle will be there soon," Luke said in his paternal voice (which Simon called it his Nick Fury voice "but without the swearing" although Magnus was pretty sure he actually meant Samuel L. Jackson).
Simon turned his laptop on and loaded the pictures Magnus had taken the night before so that they would appear on the plasma TV. The photographs were slightly blurry because the setting hadn't exactly been ideal for professional photography but they were clear enough that they could work with them. Magnus had taken as many pictures that he could of the inside of the manor and he filled them in on what he had noticed as the photographs were passed on. What really interested them though, was the East corridor. If Lydia didn't have access to that part of the estate, there had to be a reason why. Simon stopped when they arrived at these pictures.
They were quite dark and taken from an awkward angle, indicating that Magnus had hidden in the casing of a door or a window to avoid being seen. Nevertheless, they could distinguish quite easily what Magnus had described to them in the earpiece the night before. There were two guards standing in front of a door that had a strong metal lock at the top and a box that indicated a number combination was needed to open it on the side. The guards were both wearing strict suits and they could make out gun holsters at their hips.
"I can't pinpoint what it is," Magnus sighed, scratching his brow in reflection, "but I know there is something that doesn't add up."
Simon frowned, focusing on the screen and continuing passing the photographs of the East corridor.
"Stop," Jace blurted out, squirting his eyes at the screen. "Go back to the first one."
Simon stared blankly at Jace for a second but obliged.
"Okay," Jace breathed out, a focused edge to his voice. "Pass them again, slowly."
The silence that followed was excruciatingly long. Magnus couldn't even focus on the screen anymore. Instead, his eyes scanned Jace. He was leaning forward, elbows tugged on his knees and a deep reflective frown was bringing his eyebrows together. The tip of his tongue was poking out of his mouth in concentration and Magnus had to admit it was quite endearing. Damn, these Lightwoods really made him go soft. Again, his thoughts drifted to Raphael who could never ever, ever hear about this. Which meant that he would, eventually, and that he would tease Magnus about it relentlessly.
"There!" Jace exclaimed loudly, jolting him from his reverie.
"What is it?" Luke asked.
Jace stood up, stepping in front of the TV. "Look!" he uttered almost excitingly, pointing at the bottom of the door. "First of all, there's light under the door, which is weird because why would the lights be on in a room if it's just a safe in there?"
Magnus nodded approvingly. Next to him, Alec shifted and leaning forward, copying the exact expression his brother had had a minute ago. "Oh, shit," he muttered, apparently going to the same conclusion Jace had.
"What is it?" Clary inquired, voicing out loud what the rest of the team was thinking.
"Look under the door," Alec breathed out, his eyes widening slowly.
"There," Jace said, pointing at a shadow on the picture. "See the shadow? Now, Simon, pass the pictures again. Slowly."
Simon obliged, frowning. Magnus watched, bewildered, as the shadow seemed to move. He had taken the pictures in rapid succession and he had barely shifted, frozen by the concern of being caught. He knew the movements of the shadow were not his fault.
"Oh my God," he murmured, his mouth falling open.
"What is it?" Luke asked this time, voice wavering with impatience.
"The shadow is moving!" Jace exclaimed. "This is not the room where the safe is kept. Or it might be but the safe is not the only thing in this room. There is someone in there, a real person!"
"What? Like a prisoner?" Hodge blurted out, his surprised expression mirroring the rest of the team's faces.
"The room is triple-locked," Alec deadpanned, not unkindly. "I doubt they're in there because they want to."
"I'm calling Raphael," Magnus heaved out, breathing heavily. "We need to speed things up."
He shared a glance with Luke, who was the only one who still had the presence of mind to nod at him in approval.
This whole thing had just gotten on a whole new level.
Hello lovelies,
First of all, thank you so much for all the comments and all the yelling you did on the last chapter! I'm glad you liked it and I sure hope you liked this one as well but something tells me you might have... ;)
When you leave a review, Magnus uses a movie quote as a pick-up line on Alec. You wouldn't want to cockblock them now, would you? Hahaha
Cookie? COOKIE!
"This is a stupid idea and I don't like it."
"You never like any of my ideas," Magnus deadpanned.
"This might very well be your stupidest idea ever," Raphael snapped back and he sounded genuinely angry, which should have been worrying to Magnus but he was too focused on trying to put his plan together in his head to really pay much attention to Raphael's gloominess. "And that's saying a lot because I've known you for fifteen years and witnessed many of your stupid ideas."
Next: Grumpy Raphael is grumpy. 3
I'm very close to my next hundred followers on tumblr (onceuponasourwolf) and you know what happens when I reach that, don't you? *wiggle eyebrows*
So brace yourselves, you might get next chapter on Saturday instead of Monday ;)
My beta (pynchie) is one of the cool kids.
I love you all, you bunch of crazy cupcakes. 3
All the love,
L.
PS: Spanish readers, you can find a translated version of this fic here: s/11928631/1/