Jagnus || Shadowhunters || Jagnus || My Husband, My Soulmate || Jagnus || Shadowhunters || Jagnus

Title: My Husband, My Soulmate – A Warlock and His Familiar

Fandom: Shadowhunters: The Mortal Instruments

Disclaimer: All rights to the Shadowhunters show reserved to Ed Decter, the books the show is based off and its characters belong to Cassandra Clare. This fanfiction on the other hand is entirely mine. No money is made with this, though reviews are more than welcomed.

Tags: m/m, soulmates, shapeshifter/familiar, fluff, family fluff

Main Pairing: Magnus/Jace

Shadowhunters Characters: Jonathan 'Jace' Herondale, Magnus Bane, Raphael Santiago, Madzie Loss, Catarina Loss, Ragnor Fell

Summary: When Valentine experimented on Jace, he made him a familiar. When that proved useless to Valentine, he discarded of the child and Jace ended up alone on the streets, taken in and raised by Catarina Loss. When he's nineteen, he meets Magnus Bane, the warlock he wants to bond with.

My Husband, My Soulmate

A Warlock and His Familiar

Valentine Morgenstern, posing as Michael Wayland, had genetically manipulated, stolen, raised and abused Jace for ten years. He had tried to turn Jace into a familiar to use. Familiars were magical creatures that could bond with warlocks and strengthen them. Valentine wanted to artificially create one who would bond with him. And while he had inexplicably succeeded in turning Jace into a familiar, even the artificially created familiar was unable to bond with a Shadowhunter.

That realization had come when Jace was ten and with that realization, Jace became... useless.

So like all useless things, he was discarded. Kicked out onto the streets like a mangy dog. While in reality, he was just a scared, little puppy. New York was big and scary and Jace was small, defenseless and confused. And lonely. He wanted to be at a warm place, wanted to be safe.

"Oh, aren't you a precious one? Little pup... Little... familiar?"

A woman with dark skin and dark hair and weird clothes was scooping him up, holding him above her face. He whined confused, trying to hide behind his own paws, which only made her coo. Later on, he learned that the 'weird clothes' were scrubs, because the woman was a nurse. Catarina Loss. That was how he found his mother, his home, his safe warmth. She fed him, tucked him in and checked him through to make sure he was physically alright. When he felt a bit better, he shifted into his human form – and the moment Catarina laid eyes on the ten-years old boy with the bruises and scared look on his face, she knew there was no returning him.

It took her a long time to coax most of his story out of him, but knowing that he had been abused, had been experimented on, all she wanted to do was shield this little child from harm. And that was exactly what she did. She adopted him, with some magically forged papers, taught him about the mundie world and signed him up for mundie school and made sure he had the most normal childhood he possibly could. It was hard, of course, especially the first years. Jace didn't understand society, he didn't understand mundies, he didn't understand unconditional love.

He would break something, on accident, and stand frozen in fear, eyes cast down, fidgeting nervously with his little hands. "I'm sorry, ma'am."

Catarina would frown at him, concerned, and kneel in front of him, gently taking his hands. "No ma'am. Mom. Or Cat, if you do not want to call me mom. And you don't need to apologize for accidents. It's alright. I can be quite clumsy too, you know."

She'd smile at him and carefully gather the shards on the ground, while Jace would stare at her in confusion, wondering about the lack of punishment. Instead, she would hug him. And while he laid stiff in her arms for weeks, the more often it happened, the more he opened up to it. He started hugging her back, at first careful and then, at one point, with his everything, clinging onto his mother, onto the first person in his life who was willing to give him unconditional love and warmth.

Therapy helped. After a couple of weeks of allowing Jace to simply settle into her home and of her teaching him about the mundie society, she gently suggested therapy. He flinched, couldn't accept physical comfort, had nightmares and flashbacks. He needed help, help Catarina couldn't provide.

While at first, Jace was uncomfortable with that and simply remained quiet and suspicious, the longer he went there and the longer he lived with Catarina, the more he opened up to therapy too and carefully, slowly started accepting the help, started working through his issues.

Once Jace was settled in and had started opening up a little, Catarina signed him up for school and set him on course for a normal, mundie childhood. Going to school, making friends. He played on his middle school's soccer team and his high school's baseball team as the pitcher. He dated his very cute catcher for about a year and went to prom with the girl he dated during final year.

All the major events in his life were meticulously documented in pictures. Catarina had plastered the walls of their house with framed pictures – Jace's first day of middle school, pictures of him with his sports teams, him and his date at prom all dolled up, just everything. Catarina was such a loving and supportive mom, she was so proud of him for everything he accomplished. Jace, who had never had a mom at all and who had never actually lived with a loving parent, it was amazing.

By the time he graduated from high school, he didn't know what he wanted from life yet. And that was okay. He had lost ten years of his life to abuse and isolation, Catarina understood why he didn't have everything figured out. He could take his time, find his place.

So he did that. He started working at Java Jones as a barista to earn money and save up for getting his own place and he worked on figuring out what he wanted from life. Or he tried to, anyway.

When he was nineteen, Magnus Bane entered his life. Jace knew Magnus from photos and stories from his mom. Magnus was one of her best friends, but he was also a very busy warlock who kept traveling the world. Technically, he was the High Warlock of New York, but if there wasn't something pressing, he let Catarina handle things. He only came back when something major happened. Something major had happened.

Warlocks were going missing. Jace knew that, he had heard his mom on the phone with Magnus, with others. And then Magnus Bane returned, to take care of this. And he was even more gorgeous than on the pictures. All mischievous, charming smile, impeccable fashion sense, deep, dark eyes that bore into his very soul. All Jace did when he first met him was be awkward.

Jace hated being awkward. But the guy was literally centuries older than him and his mom's best friend and Jace had a silly, superficial crush on him, just based on good looks. So he was awkward.

The thing was, Magnus kept coming around, him and Cat kept working together on this. Jace kept running into the guy in their kitchen and their living room. And slowly, Jace stopped being awkward around him. Slowly, Jace started having normal conversations with him. The initial, superficial crush started to fade. But not to just be gone. Instead, something else started to grow where the crush used to be. Something stronger, something real. With every witty conversation, every charming smile, every flirtatious wink, every time they stood close together, Jace felt these feelings grow and grow. Jace started looking forward to seeing Magnus, eager with anticipation.

"Here, try this. I made them last night", declared Jace eagerly.

Before Magnus could even say hello – to be exact, the moment Magnus opened his mouth to say hello – Jace shoved a piece of baked goods into his mouth. The warlock blinked wondrously at Jace as he chewed slowly and swallowed. And then there was a soft, delighted smile on his lips.

"Whatever that was, it is delicious", declared Magnus. "You outdid yourself."

"It's the coconut extract", nodded Jace pleased. "I mixed a bit of coconut into the filling. Gives it that special kick. I thought you may like it."

"I like it a lot", confirmed Magnus, smiling at Jace.

Pleased with himself, Jace turned his attention back to his baked goods. He had expected Magnus to leave again at that, so he was startled when he next turned around again to put a tray on the table and he nearly collided with Magnus. The High Warlock gracefully stepped aside.

"Mom's not home yet", offered Jace after a moment, when he put the tray down.

"I know. I wanted to see you", replied Magnus, sitting down at the table.

"...Me?", asked Jace carefully, turning to look at Magnus. "What for?"

At that, the warlock blinked bemused. "Because I like spending time with you?"

Jace did too. But they had never actively sought each other out, they just talked whenever Magnus visited Catarina. This was different. It changed things. Jace wasn't sure if that was good.

"We need boundaries", declared Jace with a firm look on his face.

"We're sitting in the kitchen, talking", argued Magnus confused.

"Yes. But... you're being you. And we're alone", argued Jace. "We need boundaries."

"Why and what kind of boundaries?", asked Magnus gently. "I respect any boundaries you set, but... I do want to know why. I thought we were on the same page."

"You're like centuries older than me. You're my mom's best friend. I can flirty banter with you when I know you'll be gone in five minutes to talk to my mom, but I can't flirty banter with you if I know it's just you and me, all alone...", declared Jace pointedly.

"...I understand if that is... something that would keep you from pursuing a relationship with me, sweetheart", assured Magnus softly after a moment. "I admit, these things are... and feel... different for an immortal. Yes, you are Catarina's son. And I suppose... things would be different if I had been around, if I had met you as that precious chubby-cheeked child on the pictures. Had I met you as a kid, seen you grow up. But... you're just this... very sweet, attractive young man I met a couple of weeks ago. And I'd like to get to know you better. As... friends?"

Jace narrowed his eyes at that. He doubted it. Doubted they'd be just friends, but he did want Magnus in his life. Heaving a sigh, Jace put down another tray of baked goods.

"Help me pack them up in containers", ordered Jace. "Mom's taking some to work tomorrow. I get to sell them at the coffee-shop. You can take some with you too."

"So... what are the boundaries then?", inquired Magnus curiously.

"No more flirting. Not even playful. I can't do friendship with flirting", stated Jace. "I love flirting with you, but I can't do both of those. You're allowed to stay, if you can respect that."

Magnus smiled at him and went to fetch a container to start packing things up. That was the beginning of their friendship. Although, Jace turned out to be very right about his doubts.

/break\

Through Magnus, Jace met his best friend – Raphael Santiago. Magnus' own stray he found in the streets and decided to raise. The four of them – Magnus, Cat, Jace and Raphael – spent some dinners together, celebrating Magnus' return to New York. And while Magnus and Cat had been busy catching up with each other, Jace had been left to entertain the vampire. They talked, over a glass of wine, about books. They noticed they had a similar taste and with time, they started reading together – the same books. They kind of started a book-club. Occasionally, they also met to play chess. Their friendship grew, grew to the point that Raphael noticed the way Jace and Magnus grew closer – beyond the point of friendship. He noticed, whenever they were together.

"You and Magnus... are you dating?", asked Raphael bluntly.

It was one of the reasons the two got along so well; they knew not to mince words. Jace blinked slowly, surprised, turning to stare at him. The two of them were in the living room of the Loss home, playing chess. Jace nearly dropped the chess piece he was holding at the accusation.

"We are not. I... I made that clear. We're friends", stated Jace very firmly.

"Mhmh... Friends. With very lingering looks... and hands", drawled Raphael curiously.

"Do shut up, Santiago. You're just trying to throw me off my game", warned Jace annoyed.

Though it was true that Jace and Magnus kept growing closer and that it became harder to deny the pull. And it was a pull, quite literally. Jace couldn't explain it, didn't understand it. He had never felt that way before. He has had girlfriends and boyfriends before, even more serious relationships. But this... it really was different, he had never felt that way with anyone.

"It's... a pull", muttered Jace after he made his move. "I never felt like this. It's... more than just attraction. It's not sexual. It's... deeper. And it's intense."

"Jace, you... you're a familiar, you know this", huffed Raphael amused. "And he's a warlock. Have you considered that maybe your familiar-side is being pulled toward his warlock-side."

The way Jace stared at Raphael at that told the vampire all he needed to know. Oh. Right. Somehow, Jace never really had considered that. He loved using his dog-form to roam free and that was kind of it. He had never bonded with anyone, he had figured that after living with Catarina for years and never feeling like becoming her familiar, maybe he was just fundamentally... broken. That whatever Valentine had done to him, it hadn't fully made him a familiar.

"Talk to your mother about this", advised Raphael. "Check-mate."

/break\

"Sweetie, stop pacing, you're making me dizzy", requested Catarina a bit amused.

"How. I am bonding with Magnus!", grunted Jace, waving his arms around wildly. "I never bonded with a warlock before. This is weird and it feels weird and what do I do about it, mom-?"

Catarina smiled warmly at her son, her eyes following his pacing as she sat on the couch. "You sit down with your mother and take a deep breath, that's what you do now."

She patted the spot next to herself and Jace sat down with a glower. He continued glowering even as she wrapped her arms around him and pulled him into a tight bear-hug, rocking them both a little. It was what she used to do when he was still little and easily upset by things. As always, it worked and eased the glower off his face slowly, until he leaned into her hug, sighing.

"I don't like not understanding, mom", muttered Jace frustrated. "And I don't understand this pull."

"Your magic and his magic are calling for each other. It's what happens when a warlock and a familiar bond. It's perfectly natural, sweetie", assured Catarina, resting her chin on his head.

"I figured I'd bond with you, if I'd bond with any warlock. You're my mom. My person."

She cooed softly at the pout on his face and kissed his cheek. "You are so adorable."

"I'm a grown man now, stop calling me adorable, ma", argued Jace embarrassed.

"Shush, you'll always be that precious little boy I found ten years ago", declared Catarina with soft eyes, cupping his face. "And it's okay that your magic did not choose me to bond with. I chose you, I chose you as my son and I will always love you. My love for you is not conditional to you being useful to me, Jace. I do not need you to be my familiar, I need you to be happy. Because I'm your mom and moms want their children to be happy. Would being Magnus' familiar make you happy?"

Jace remained quiet for a stretch, trying to not look his mom in the eyes. "I... don't know? I don't know what it means to be someone's familiar, mom. How could I know if it makes me happy?"

"Does being with Magnus make you happy?", asked Catarina then.

The answer she got was a shy blush. "I mean. Sure. I guess. He's... great. Very great. Just..."

"Great?", finished Catarina, raising one eyebrow. "Jace. I'm not blind or daft. I know you have a crush on him. You keep blushing. You're so adorable when you have a crush."

"Sto—op saying I'm adorable, mom", groaned Jace embarrassed, covering his face.

"Baby, I saw you stare doe-eyed at the neighbor's girl and bring her daisies you picked yourself when you were eleven. You're precious and sweet when you like someone", argued Catarina gently. "You are the same with Magnus now. Doe-eyed and bringing him, well, sweets instead of flowers."

Jace flushed and glared annoyed. So he had always tried to be gentle and sweet when he liked someone, to be everything his father had never been with him because Catarina had taught him that this was love – gentle warmth. Apparently, that was a cause of amusement for his mother now.

"Mother, you are evil", muttered Jace frustrated. "...And it doesn't bother you?"

"We're immortal, baby. Things are... different. Time is different for us. Yes, I was very bothered by it at first, because you never stopped being my baby, my precious little baby boy. It took me some time to see you as... a grown man. I'm still not used to that", Catarina sighed softly and shook her head. "But baby, I would much rather you lose your heart to a person I know to be good and I know Magnus, I know he is a good man. And I'd much rather see you love an immortal than get your heart broken by a mundie's mortality, sweetie."

Jace swallowed hard. Right. Mundie mortality. That was a problem. His mom had warned him about that the first time Jace had gotten a crush on someone. Catarina smiled at him again.

"Besides, you're young. A crush isn't much. But it's not really related to your choice of bonding. You can bond with someone who is a parent, a sibling, a best friend, a lover, or simply a business union from which both parties profit. This bond can be whatever you need from it."

"...That's not very helpful, mom", sighed Jace exhausted.

He leaned over to rest his head on her shoulder. Catarina smiled and patted Jace's head gently.

"Talk to Magnus about this. I think that's what's going to help", advised Catarina.

/break\

Magnus sat, smiling to himself. There was a puppy pacing in front of him. Well, a fully grown Golden Retriever, but who could possibly look at the golden-furred beauty and think 'ah, a respectable dog!', no, this was a cute puppy. Tilting his head, Magnus watched the wagging of Jace's tail. He loved the dog-form, the first time he had seen it, he had made an utterly delighted noise. Jace liked running around as a dog, he liked curling together on the lamb-fur in front of the fire-place in his dog-form, he also truly loved getting cuddled, having his fur ruffled. Right now, Magnus wasn't quite sure what the puppy wanted because he kept pacing.

"Just... a piece of advise; it'd be easier for me to understand what you want if you were... human and would talk to me", said Magnus casually after a few rounds of pacing.

The puppy paused and turned to face Magnus, blinking slowly. Then, he shook himself and his form changed into that of the cute blonde human Magnus had a bit of a crush on. It was hard not to; so pretty, so snarky and inexplicably making Magnus feel very understood. Lately, something else had changed too. Something very fundamental. Magnus could feel the tendrils of his magic reaching out for Jace, longing for Jace the same way he longed for Jace.

"I think we're bonding. I mean, not just... bonding as friends. Bonding as warlock and familiar."

For a moment, Magnus paused, blinking slowly. "You're right. My magic is reaching out to you."

"Mom said I should talk to you about it. Since it's... an us-issue. I just, I don't understand what this is like. What this means. I may be a familiar, in creation, but... I wasn't raised as one. A familiar is usually born to other familiars and taught by parents and other familiars in the community. I never even met another familiar before. I have no idea what all of this means."

Magnus' eyes softened as he reached out to cup Jace's cheek. "Magic is a part of our soul, it's... part of our very essence. Bonding means merging our magic. Not just... tying it together, but truly mashing it into one, making our core essence one. It's..."

"Soulmates", muttered Jace surprised, blinking a couple of times. "I mean, that's what it is if I decide to share my soul with you? That's like... more than just soulmates. Because instead of sharing a bond and finding each other, you... find each other and choose each other."

"...You could say that, yes", Magnus nodded slowly, smiling to himself.

"How does that work?", asked Jace after a moment. "I just... Do I have to make a definite decision right now? Because that's a... big commitment."

"No. Generally, how that goes is that the warlock and the familiar... let things unfold on their own. We spend time together and... our magic will simply merge, on its own. If we don't want the bond, if we disagree with our magics' choice for any reason, we simply stop seeing each other until it... settles down. There is no rush on anything, my dear", assured Magnus.

Jace seemed to visibly relax at that, nodding pleased. To be more precise, he relaxed against Magnus, sitting down on the couch with the warlock and resting against Magnus' side. The warlock wrapped an arm around the familiar, pulling him closer against himself.

/break\

The bond happened naturally, as Magnus had suggested. Jace and Magnus gravitated closer and closer toward each other, more and more often. It helped that Magnus had invested in Jace's business – Jace finally knew what he wanted from life; he wanted a bakery. Selling his goods at Java Jones had been a first step, a test-run. Catarina was very supportive and also invested in the business. Magic was very helpful in quickly renovating a place and putting it into a state where it could effectively run. The two became Jace's most faithful regulars; the bakery was just around the corner from the hospital, which was also a very good place to own a bakery, because doctors and nurses needed breakfast and coffee and had lunch-breaks. Magnus, he just... came by. He sat in the bakery, nursing a coffee and eating whatever delicious thing Jace had made that day, and he would do his work. Or whatever parts of his work he could do in the bakery; paperwork, research. And just being close to Jace. Their magic, it still called for each other and it felt better when they were physically closer. The bond formed, just like that. And they were warlock and familiar.

However, this was not the only thing that changed in Jace's life during all of this. Because the very reason why Magnus had come back? Valentine. It turned out he was abducting warlocks. And not just that, apparently the investigation into this had uncovered something else horrific; a warlock, Iris Rouse, who had been keeping a pet-demon to breed warlocks. One of these tiny little warlocks ended up in the Loss-home, because Magnus was desperate for foster-homes – there had been so many children in that house. And Catarina was well-off, had a beautiful home, the space, the heart.

Madzie. Madison Loss. Jace's new little sister. A scared little child, traumatized by what had happened. They were the right home for that, Jace could relate to what she had been through and Catarina had already successfully helped one traumatized child through this.

It was very easy to love Madzie. She was precious and sweet, hurt but so strong.

"Hey there, buttercup, I made cupcakes. Yo—ou want some?"

Jace grinned as he held up a cupcake with pink topping and sparkles. Madzie's eyes widened and she nodded wildly. Bribing her with sweets was working pretty well. For now, they needed to make her trust them, make her soften up to them. Smiling, he put the cupcake down in front of her.

"Are you going to Magnus' again?", asked Madzie hopefully.

She really liked Magnus. Which, Jace totally understood. They shared that.

"I am. Do you wanna come with me? So you can play with the kittens?", offered Jace.

"Ye—es", confirmed Madzie, nodding quickly.

After that, she dug into her cupcake, while Jace went ahead to clean up the kitchen. Catarina would be in the hospital all day, so Jace was on babysitting duty. Madzie liking Magnus worked very well there, because it gave him the perfect excuse to spend even more time with Magnus.

"O—Okay. We're gonna get going right now! Put on your coat, okay?"

Madzie dashed off to get her coat and scarf and then coming right back. Jace smiled and offered her a ride on his shoulders, which she really loved. The wards in Magnus' loft had recognized him even before the bond, but now their magic was one and Jace could open the wards on his own.

"Ma—agnus. I bring a very eager Madzie who wants to pet cats."

"Wonderful! I'm in my office with a client so play quietly until I am done, sweetheart."

"Will you play chase with me, Jace?", asked Madzie eagerly.

Smiling at her, he turned into his dog-form and then playfully chased her, and the cats, through the loft. She was giggling delighted, until they collapsed on the ground in the living room, Madzie cuddled up to Jace and happily running her fingers through his fur.

"Where are my sweet pea and my favorite puppy?"

Jace's tail was immediately wagging at that and he turned to stare at Magnus in anticipation, while Madzie waved happily too. Magnus smiled and picked her up to whirl her around in the air once before putting her down again. Next, Jace ran up to him and climbed onto his lap as soon as Magnus sat on the couch. The warlock looked pretty pleased as he petted his familiar. This was nice. Jace loved this, loved laying on Magnus' lap and having the warlock's attention like this.

/break\

Jace ended up moving in with Magnus not long after. He waited, until Madzie seemed really settled in. And even moved out, him and Magnus still regularly babysat Madzie and Jace was certainly not a stranger at home; his mom wouldn't stand for that. Weekly family dinners and Magnus came along, every week, because he too was family. At first, Jace lived in the guest-room. They were warlock and familiar, they were close friends. But being close was so good. They fell asleep on the couch together, arm in arm. And slowly, Jace found himself gravitating toward Magnus, into his bed. Platonically, at first. For the sake of the bond, the comfort of Magnus' magic and arms. Occasionally, at first. And then it became more and more regular. He didn't even entirely remember at what point he stopped going to his own room, his own bed.

"I love you", whispered Jace softly as he woke up in Magnus' arms.

It wasn't even necessarily a special day. Just a random morning, the sun shining in through the window. Magnus' fingers were playing with Jace's hair, both were half awake and half asleep, it was a lazy morning, neither was motivated to really get up. They shared many such mornings. Nothing about this morning was special, until these words were uttered into the silence.

"I... love you too, sweetheart", replied Magnus after a moment's hesitation.

"I'm in love with you", corrected Jace, his fingers drawing symbols on Magnus' chest.

There was a smile on Magnus' lips as he leaned in to kiss his temple. "I'm in love with you too."

"Good. Good we talked it out", nodded Jace pleased, snuggling up to Magnus.

"Yes. Very good talk", agreed Magnus amused, nuzzling Jace's face.

/break\

Being with Magnus was a rush. Their magic was one at this point and they had already shared so much, but now they were like a blur of one as they traveled the world. Every date was in another city, most even in other countries. Magnus was so determined to show him the world. They usually spent a whole weekend at whatever place Magnus owned a house or apartment.

Jace particularly liked the places with a beach, because he could run as freely as he wanted on the beach, on his paws. He barked happily as he ran up to his boyfriend. Magnus was laying sprawled out on a blanket with Catarina, both of them enjoying the sun, while Madzie was building a sandcastle right next to them. Sometimes, they took Jace's family with them on a small vacation, which always did Madzie good. Going out and seeing other places, having fun, it helped her a lot.

Barking softly, Jace tackled Magnus, laying sprawled-out on the warlock's chest with a wagging tail. Magnus smiled up at him, ruffling the fur between Jace's ears. Though then Jace jumped off Magnus and nudged Madzie instead, urging his little sister on to run with him into the shallow water to chase and splash around; not even knee deep because Madzie was still so small.

"You two are so disgustingly cute", noted Catarina amused.

"Yes, we are", whispered Magnus pleased, propping himself up on his elbows to watch the two.

"It's good to see you happy", stated Catarina gently. "After Camille, I was... worried about you."

"I was worried about me too", admitted Magnus, voice wavering. "But Jace. He makes me happy. Just... by being there. Hearing him hum to himself as he goes about something. Trying his newest concoctions for the bakery. Falling asleep with him in my arms, waking up next to him..."

"At first, I just thought the bond was a good idea. Having a stable companion who has your back. A friend you can trust with everything", mused Catarina. "I never expected you to... love him, like this. I'm glad. He's my son. I love him, with all of my heart. I could never stand to see him hurt. Not after I found him, not after all the pain he has been through. I love you, Magnus, and I know you will never do anything to intentionally hurt him."

"Never", assured Magnus with fierce conviction, his eyes on Jace. "I'll love him forever, Cat. I can't imagine a life without him anymore. He is... my soul now. My heart, my soul, my everything."

"That's very good to hear", nodded Catarina pleased. "I'm never going to call you 'son'."

"What?", grunted Magnus, nearly swallowing his tongue.

"And if you ever call me 'mom' or 'mother-in-law', I will curse you", continued Catarina.

Magnus continued staring at her in surprised confusion, unsure what to make of this and before he could ponder it more, Madzie and Jace came running back – Jace human now, laughing as he collapsed next to Magnus on the ground, snuggling up to him, while Madzie excitedly showed off some pretty shells her and Jace had found at the beach.

/break\

It was about two weeks later, when Jace and Magnus were in Rome together, that Cat's words made sense. They were just walking through the city, sight seeing. In the end they went to the ruins, where the cats lived, watching them and trying to find ones that looked like Magnus' kittens. Jace had been fidgeting with something in his pocket all day. That wasn't unusual, Jace generally found something to fidget with, it was a nervous habit of his.

"I love you", started Jace softly, still fidgeting.

"Yes, I love you too, sweetheart", replied Magnus with a smile.

He reached out to take Jace's hand and link their fingers. Only that Jace pulled back. That was unusual; normally, his familiar sought out any physical contact he could get. Instead, Jace walked around Magnus, so he could face him, pulling the thing he had been fidgeting with out of his pocket. It was a small, black box. Magnus blinked confused, watching his boyfriend.

"We've been dating for a year now. And I love you, a lot. We've been living together for a year and a half. And... I am so in love with you. I know I want to wake up next to you every morning and I want to... to cook with you and watch TV with you and perform magic with you. I love you."

Magnus wasn't entirely sure where all of this was going, until Jace went down on one knee and held up the box. Suddenly, the fidgeting, the box, the rambling, even Catarina's words from two weeks ago made sense. The lid popped open and Magnus stared at an engagement ring. Golden, with a tiger's eye at the center and two smaller, clear stones, one left and one right of it.

"I love you and I know I'll love you for... forever. No one can take our soul-bond from us. But... I want us to be that even... in the mundie world. I want everyone to know that you belong to me and that I belong to you. Do you... Will you... marry me?", asked Jace, sounding nervous.

"Yes. Yes, I will, of course I will. Oh, the ring is beautiful", whispered Magnus startled.

He let Jace slip the ring onto his finger and then he pulled his soulmate into a tight hug, whirling Jace around and kissing him slowly and deeply. How precious and cheesy and wonderful.

"I saw the ring and it reminded me of your eyes", muttered Jace a bit flustered. "You really like it? I wasn't sure, because traditionally, you give a diamond. But a diamond is... expensive. And I don't have that kind of money. And this is beautiful."

"You are so cute", laughed Magnus, showering Jace's face with kisses.

/break\

The wedding happened in winter. Magnus had a beautiful place in the Alps. They decorated it with crystals and glass and decked it out in blue and silver and white. It was breathtaking. The ceremony, they had it outside in the snow, under a white arc, in front of a frozen lake. Genuinely, the only thing missing had been a fawn or something walking through the background. Both Jace and Magnus were wearing white matching tuxes, with soft-blue dyed roses in the button-hole. Magnus' hair was spotting matching blue tips, his make-up white and sparkly.

"We're gathered here today", started Ragnor in his most exasperated tone of voice. "Because this one is finally going to tie the knot." He jerked his head into Magnus' direction, before he then turned toward Jace with kind eyes. "I don't know how he is bribing you to be here-"

"Ragnor, behave yourself", warned Magnus pointedly, though he was smiling amused.

"I'm just saying!", exclaimed Ragnor, throwing his hands in the air. "Such a pretty, young familiar, stuck with a grumpy, old warlock like you."

Jace was grinning to himself as Ragnor finally got to the proper speech. Raphael was Jace's best man and Catarina was Magnus' best woman. Raphael wore a tacky light-blue suit (according to himself), while Catarina wore a matching blue dress. Most of the people present were warlocks, the majority Magnus' friends – he had a couple centuries on Jace in the making-friends department. But over the years, Jace had made friends among the warlocks too though.

"You may now kiss the groom, both of you", ordered Ragnor, waving a hand.

Before Magnus could react, Jace had already tackled him in a kiss, holding Magnus' face with both hands and kissing him deeply with all the love and excitement that Jace had for their shared future. Magnus smiled into the kiss, wrapping his arms around Jace's waist to pull him close.

"Hello, Mister Loss-Bane", whispered Magnus with a smile.

"Hello, Mister Bane-Loss", countered Jace excitedly.

Catarina and Madzie (who had been their flower-girl and had been absolutely adorable) were Jace's family and while he loved Magnus, he didn't want to lose the connection to his family. Magnus, who had been friends with Catarina so long, the thought of being part of her family warmed his heart. So here they were, the Bane-Losses. Jace smiled softly and kissed Magnus again.

"Yes, yes, that's enough of the kissing, please do stop. You can continue with that in your room, for now I was promised cake and food", interrupted Ragnor pointedly.

Magnus and Jace rested their foreheads against each other for a moment before they went to join their family and friends. Magnus cut the cake and fed the first bite of it to Jace, ending up with a bit of sugary cream on his nose. Smiling, Magnus leaned in to kiss that nose.

"I will love you for the rest of my life", whispered Magnus into Jace's ear.

"Well, you better. We're soulmates", whispered Jace back, smiling amused.

Jace and Magnus shared the first dance, before switching partners. Madzie, of course, insisted on having the second dance with her big brother and after that, with Magnus. She giggled as she stood with her feet on Magnus', letting him twirl them both. Jace, exhausted from dancing with his husband, his sister, his mother and then even his best friend, now sat with Catarina.

"Look at him", whispered Jace with a small smile. "That's my husband."

"Yes, he is", confirmed Catarina, smiling fondly at her son.

She took his hand and kissed his knuckles, just above the wedding band. That made him look away from Magnus and at his mother, into her proud smiling face.

"I am so proud of you, baby. When I found you, you were so scared and I was... I was so worried if you would ever fully recover from what you've been through, if you would be happy. You graduated high school, you opened your own business, you fell in love and now you have a wonderful husband. And I am so proud of the man you became, Jace. So very, very proud."

Blinking away tears, Jace wrapped his arms around her and pulled her into a tight hug. "I love you too, mom. You... have no idea how much you've saved me."

They hugged for a moment longer, until Madzie and Magnus came to sit on either side of them. Madzie immediately reached for the cake in front of Catarina, while Magnus grasped Jace's hand and pulled him close enough to kiss his cheek.

/break\

Jace groaned softly as he rolled over and patted the empty, but still warm, spot next to him. Frowning, Jace cracked one eye open to check where his husband had gone. It was rare for Jace to wake up after Magnus – usually, Jace had the early hours with his bakery and even on his days off, Jace liked getting up early to go on a run. Slowly, Jace sat up and scanned the room. Where was his husband? Narrowing his eyes, he got out of the bed and walked out into the hall.

"Husband?", called Jace out.

"Soulmate", called Magnus back from the kitchen. "Did I wake you, my love?"

Husband-Soulmate was their version of Marco Polo. Tilting his head, Jace sniffed and followed the voice until he found his husband... making breakfast. Well, this started to feel like Jace had fallen into some bizarre alternate reality; not that he was going to complain about that.

"I smell bacon", groaned Jace pleased and wrapped his arms around Magnus' waist from behind. "Even if you woke me, bacon would make up for it. Though I am curious why you're awake, babe."

Magnus carefully turned around in Jace's arms and offered his husband a piece of crisp bacon for which Jace immediately and willingly opened his mouth, carefully licking the grease off Magnus' fingers. Slowly, Magnus leaned in to peck Jace's lips, tasting the bacon on his lips.

"Not willingly, I assure you. If it were up to me, I would be in our bed, in my husband's arms, peacefully asleep", sighed Magnus frustrated. "Meliorn called."

"Mel? Why?", asked Jace confused, bringing some distance between them. "Do not let the bacon burn! I'll make the coffee and set the table. And tell me what Mel wants."

"You know the Seelie Realm has been in disarray since the queen died", offered Magnus as he quickly gathered the bacon off the pan and onto a plate. "There's a lot of... commotion. Some people are loud and some people are... dangerous about this. Many feel entitled to the throne, so... he asked me to put up some wards, caution and protection, while the council is figuring things out."

"So we're going to the Seelie Realm after breakfast", concluded Jace.

"Me. Not you, sweetness", chuckled Magnus amused.

"Babe, husband, you just said dangerous and protection. So, I, your familiar, will come with you to protect you", declared Jace and leaned in to kiss Magnus' cheek.

He knew it wasn't really dangerous. They would be in and out before lunch, but he still preferred to go with his husband. They'd be fine and they'd be back home all too soon.

~*~ The End ~*~


Author's note: It happens rarely that I wish to elaborate on a oneshot, but having written the established soulmates Jagnus in the last one really made me want to write about how they got together. AND it also made me want to write about how Jace returns from the parallel world and how him and Magnus get themselves an Alec too, so expect the sequel coming on February 3rd ;)