Here it FINALLY is! Almost at twenty chapters my loves! I'm sorry it took so long! See end notes for important new poll!
She was drowning. She didn't know which way was up and which was down. Her chest and lungs were burning with need. She opened her mouth and then...
She screamed. Loud, blood-curdling screaming. Her back arched off of the bed with the force of it.
Alec sat up in an instant, Magnus started beside him, looking up at him with bleary eyes that focused as he registered what the disturbance was. Alec grabbed a single arrow off the nightstand next to the bed and jumped up, wielding it like a sword as he rushed into Clary's room, he could feel Magnus right behind him as his eyes swept over every square inch of the room before he lowered the arrow, seeing that his sister was in no immediate danger. Rather, she was sitting up, tangled in her bedsheets, ebony hair plastered to her face in sweat, chest heaving and tears streaming down her now-pale cheeks. The color had drained from her face as she looked shell-shocked.
Alec set the arrow aside and rushed to her side. "Hey, hey. Shh. It was just a bad dream."
"Alec?" Clary gasped, her chest heaving as she took in air.
"Yeah. It's me. We heard you screaming." He looked back towards Magnus.
""Are you okay, Biscuit?" Magnus asked, gently.
"I, I Uh, was back at Lake Lyn. Underwater. Drowning."
"Well, you're okay now." Alec said, brushing the hair away from her face.
"Papa?" A little voice asked. "What's happenin'?"
Magnus stooped down to pick the little girl up. "Auntie Clary had a bad dream. But she's okay now."
Alec smiled at his boyfriend and daughter and turned back to his sister. He noticed that she was still shaking and crying. He stood and rounded the bed, sitting on the empty side.
"Madzie, do you want to sleep with Papa tonight? Daddy's gonna stay with Auntie Clary and we're gonna have a grownup talk."
Madzie nodded sleepily against Magnus' shoulder. Magnus winked at Clary before bringing Madzie over towards Alec and sitting on the bed so he could reach. Alec leaned forward and kissed Madzie on the top of her head. "I love you, baby girl." He cooed. He then leaned in and kissed Magnus on the lips. "Love you, baby."
"Love you too, darling." Magnus stood up and swept out of the room. "Love you, Auntie Clary." Was thrown over his shoulder.
Alec laid down on the bed pulling Clary down with him and tucking her into his side.
"Everything that happened, back at the lake, I can't get it out of my head." Clary told Alec as she rested her head on his bicep.
"Well, I don't blame you. It was pretty scary." Alec mumbled back to her.
"Jonathan is alive, and I still don't understand how Wesley calmed me down like that."
"Do you want to find your brother?" Alec asked her quietly.
"What are you talking about?" Clary asked lightly. "You're right here. Max and Jace are back at the Institute. Magnus is in the other room. I know where all my brothers are."
Alec pressed a kiss to her hair and stayed silent.
"What about Wesley? You know something, don't you?" Clary tilted her chin up so she could look at him.
Alec didn't answer, instead he began playing with her hair. Clary began to feel tired, and yawning she threatened him. "I'm not done with this. We're gonna talk about this later."
—-
When Clary woke, she was alone in the bed. She turned over and saw that Magnus had pulled her arm chair to the side of the bed and was sitting there flipping through a magazine.
"When you were three, I'd watch you for two weeks at a time." Magnus started to talk without looking up from whatever Magazine he was inspecting. "We'd do all kinds of things together; paint, bake, play dolls, all sorts of things. That's also around the time that you started to call me Dad. The first time your mother heard it, she burst into tears. I'd thought she'd be angry with me, but instead she said she'd rather it be me than Luke, or worse, Valentine."
"Why would she prefer you over Luke?" Clary asked groggily.
"I wasn't sure back then. I always thought it was odd that I was the one she had me make you forget while saying I was better than the one that was allowed around you. But now, I wonder if she'd known that if anything were to ever happen to her, that Luke would act the way he is now. That he wasn't as reliable as he wanted everyone to believe."
"Why are you telling me all of this?" Clary asked him.
"You have family, Clary. I'll always be here for you. You may be my boyfriend's sister, but in my eyes you will always be my first daughter. You have me, Alec, Isabelle, Maryse, Robert, Max and Jace. I sincerely hope that you won't go looking for Jonathan. I don't think you understand how much that would hurt Alec."
"I don't want to find Jonathan." Clary told Magnus. "Alec is my brother. And Jace and Max. I don't need Jonathan. He's probably just like Valentine."
"Good." Was all that Magnus said before he flipped to the next page in his magazine.
—-
"Your stance is off." Alec informed her seconds before he swept his leg out and knocked her on her ass. "See?" He smirked.
Clary hopped back up and swung her staff out at him, narrowly missing his midsection as he flipped backwards and struck back out at her. The wooden staff caught her shoulder and pushed her backwards. She stumbled but regained her footing and spun quickly, swinging her staff out and stopping just before she smacked him in the head.
She smirked and lowered the staff, backing away.
"Don't get cocky." Alec warned. "You've still got a lot to learn."
"And I'll learn it because I have the best teacher." Clary replied, walking over to the rack and placing her staff back on it. "You've taught me a lot. I'm getting better because of you."
Alec placed his staff back on the rack as well. "Suck up." He teased and then sobered. "You're improving, but I still don't feel comfortable with you out there, on your own. You haven't had enough time, enough training. And with Valentine and your brother out there..."
"Jonathan isn't my brother." Clary interrupted. "You are. Max and Jace, too. But Jonathan stopped being my brother the second I became your sister." Clary turned and grabbed a box from her bag. It was the box that Jocelyn had kept all of her son's things in.
Clary turned to her brother and unlatched the box. "I never knew him. All I knew was my mom and Luke. I've got nothing to hold on to, no memories, nothing. But you, I have these memories, I know you. I know what it's like to love and be loved by a brother because of you. You are my brother, Alec. Nothing in this box, or anything that Jonathan or Valentine have to say can do anything about that." She flipped the lid of the box open to find that it was empty.
"I thought you said there was stuff in the box?" Alec asked helpfully.
"Looks like someone decided to help themselves." Clary remarked dryly.
Alec reached a hand out to take the box from her and she handed it over without hesitation.
"I was gonna give you the box and tell you to do whatever you wanted with it. I was going to say that I didn't need it anymore because I have you. I'm done holding on to my old life."
"Clary," Alec sighed as he turned the box over and over in his hands, examining it. "Just because you're a Lightwood now, doesn't mean that you have to forget being a Fairchild, Clary. You don't have to let go of Jocelyn or Simon or Luke or any of that. You won't upset us."
"Luke called me, the other day." Clary said. "He wanted me to know that while he cherished our time together, and knowing me, and helping raise me, he wasn't my father. He'd never seen me that way. He can't bear to be around me anymore, not with mom gone. He said if I need a father that badly, if Robert isn't enough, go to Magnus." Clary shrugged.
"Simon and I will figure things out, eventually. We always do. Luke's done with me, my mom is dead. Simon and Magnus are the only ones left. I need to move on, Alec. Okay?"
"Okay."
—-
"The Clave is very impressed with your progress." Alec informed his little brother, standing in front of the fireplace with Max standing a few feet in front of him. Clary was perched on the edge of the desk, watching the exchange in silence. "They think you're ready for your first mission. What do you think?"
"I've been ready since the day I got here." Max said excitedly, a big grin on his face.
"Well then you better get your butt over to training." Alec told him.
"You know how much our sister hates tardiness." Clary chimed in. "Come on, I'll walk you." She hopped off the desk and pecked Alec on the cheek.
Alec smiled and watched as his siblings walked out the door and Jace passed the two of them walking in.
Alec waited until his brother and sister were out of sight before turning to his other brother. "Any sign of Jonathan?" He asked.
"No. I tried to track the box itself but it was a dead end." Jace set the box on the desk.
"So Valentine sent Duncan to steal a pair of baby booties?" Alec asked.
"Someone did." Jace replied. "Someone who wanted to circumvent us from tracking Jonathan."
"And now we have no leads on either of them." Alec groaned. "We have nothing."
—-
Alec reread the last sentence of the report he was reading and rolled his eyes, bringing his fist up to prop his head on.
A knock on the door jamb had him looking up. Magnus and Madzie walked in the room, Magnus slowly sauntered towards the desk, looking amazing as always as their daughter rushed over to her father and pulled herself onto his lap. Alec wrapped an arm around the little girl as she snuggled into his chest, her little arms wrapping around his torso.
"Lost track of time?" Magnus asked nonchalantly.
Alec sighed, leaning down to press a kiss to Madzie's head. "I missed dinner, didn't I?" He asked.
"Only by a few hours." Magnus spread his hands.
Alec pushed his chair back and stood up, shifting Madzie to his hip as he approached his boyfriend. "I'm - I'm so sorry. Really." He placed his free hand on the side of Magnus' neck and leaned in for a kiss. He let his lips linger against Magnus' for a moment before pulling back. "It's just, it's been so crazy here."
"I understand." Magnus broke in, placing a hand on the arm that Alec was using to hold their daughter.
"I can't believe I forgot." Alec fretted.
"It's okay, Alexander. If we can't go to the Cape," Magnus reassured him. "I'll bring the Cape to us."
He snapped his fingers and the table set itself for a dinner for three.
Madzie wriggled in Alec's arms. "Put me down, Daddy."
Alec let the girl down and watched as she scrambled over to the table and sat in the middle chair.
"Lobster tails, Champagne and Apple Juice for the little princess." Magnus said as he booped his daughter on the nose, he grabbed two flutes of champagne and handed one to his boyfriend. "To toast to a successful Down world meeting."
They each took a drink from their glasses, Madzie sipping her sugary drink eagerly, watching her fathers with joy filled eyes.
"It went well?" Alec asked as he swallowed.
"Relatively." Magnus circled the table as he spoke, taking a seat. "But the Downworlders barely trust the Clave to begin with. And the Seelie Queen went on and on about the Clave being nothing but a bunch of liars."
"That's harsh." Alec said, not pleased with the Queen's assessment.
"But Luke and I assured them that now that you are the Head of this Institute, and implementing a policy of complete transparency, change is on the way."
"You told them about the sword?" Alec asked, spearing a piece of the lobster tail on his fork and holding it out to Madzie.
"I did." Magnus confirmed. "It won you points with everyone. Even the Seelie Queen. The vampires fully support you now."
"That's good to hear." Alec smiled, clearly relieved.
"It is." Magnus grinned back at him.
Alec sat back, not able to help the smile gracing his face as he watched his daughter spit the lobster tail into her napkin, her nose wrinkled and mouth screwed to the side in disgust.
"Yuck." She decided, looking over at Alec.
"Pardon me." Magnus laughed. "Lobster is not yuck. It's an exquisite meal that you just have to have the palate for it."
Regardless, he waved a hand and Madzie's meal turned into chicken fingers and French fries which the girl gladly dug into with a quick 'Thank you, Papa!'
Magnus and Alec exchanged smiles before continuing to eat their lobster tails.
—-
"Dot!" Clary called as she and Jace approached the warlock. "Are you okay?"
Dot hesitated and Jace turned to the Shadowhunter that was keeping watch.
"Give us a minute." He requested. The man nodded and left the three in peace.
"I didn't know where else to go." Dot admitted. "I didn't know who to trust so I came straight here."
"Okay." Clary said slowly. "What's wrong?"
"Have you heard from Elliot?" Dot inquired.
"Elliot Nourse?" Clary clarified. When Dot nodded she continued. "No. Not since he quit mom's shop and opened his own. Dot, what is it?"
"I think something terrible has happened to him. And I'm worried I might be next." She thrust her out towards Clary, showing her the mark that appeared on the back of her hand.
Alec showed up five minutes later, slightly disgruntled that he'd had to leave his boyfriend and daughter to finish dinner by themselves.
"After Elliot opened his own shop, we lost touch." Clary informed him as they walked down the hallway with Dot by their sides. "But when I was little he was one of my mom's best friends."
"He introduced me to Jocelyn." Dot told the girl with a smile.
"Now you're concerned he's in trouble?" Alec asked as they rounded a corner, Jace trailing behind him.
"The mark on Dot's arm is part of a protection spell." Clary replied as they walked into Alec's office.
Alec made eye contact with Magnus who had moved Madzie to a back corner and was playing chess with her. He shook his head slightly, signaling that he needn't get involved. Once Magnus nodded and returned his attention to their daughter, Alec resumed listening to his sister and her friend.
"It's a sigil." Dot corrected. "It only transfers to another warlock if something terrible has happened."
"Whatever he's guarding must be pretty important." Alec commented.
"It's the mortal mirror." Clary informed her older brother.
"Jocelyn had it?" Jace asked, surprised, exchanging a look with Alec whom looked shell shocked
"I know. It's crazy. The mirror and the cup? I guess she knew that Elliot would do anything to keep it safe. As a warlock he could protect better than anyone, right? So, she entrusted him with its location."
"And Elliot entrusted it to me." Dot added.
Alec gave her a hard look and glanced from her to Clary and from Clary to Magnus and Madzie, both of whom had abandoned the game in favor of watching the four newcomers, and back to Dot again. "So you know the current location of the Mortal Mirror?" He inquired.
"Sort of." Dot said after a quick glance at Clary. "The lines coordinate to specific ley lines in the city. I can figure it out but it will take some time."
"We have maps of all the ley lines." Alec informed her. "We can help you."
"And we can protect you from Jonathan and Valentine." Jace added. "With all those marks on your wrist it's only a matter of time before they come after you."
"Jace and I will go to Elliot's shop." Clary said, grabbing Dot's hand in both of hers. "See what happened. You'll be safe here."
"Be careful." Dot warned her.
Jace and Clary walked out, leaving Alec and Dot alone with Magnus and Madzie. Dot, still having seen the pair in the corner turned to Alec.
"So you're the one dating Magnus Bane. Right?"
Alec nodded, rounding his desk and pulling a drawer open. He sat in the chair behind the desk and began to rifle through the drawer.
"I can see it." Dot said. Alec glanced up at her in confusion before looking back in the drawer, trying to see what she'd seen. "No. What he sees in you." She clarified.
"You see, Magnus and I were a thing back in the day."
"Hmm." Alec hummed one acknowledgement as he shut the drawer and opened another one.
"You are so his type." Dot continued, not at all perturbed by the Shadowhunter's lack of enthusiasm. "Tall, young, gorgeous."
Alec was still staring down into the drawer, moving things around trying to find what he was looking for so he either didn't notice or was pretending not to notice as Dot rounded the desk and perched on the edge next to him.
"Aha!" Alec cried softly as he pulled a stack of papers from the drawer he'd been searching. He sat up and turned in the chair only to immediately straighten his legs in an effort to roll himself backwards and away from the warlock sitting next to him. "Uhm." He coughed awkwardly. He sat the papers on his desk and picked up a ruler. He used the ruler to slide the stack closer to her. "Those are the maps of the ley lines in the city. Raj or Underhill should be in the ops center, that big room we walked through earlier. They can help you narrow it down."
"I'd rather you help me." Dot admitted. "Aren't you supposed to be the best? Head of the Institute and all? Shouldn't we only have the best working on this? It's important work."
"Any idiot here can read a map." Alec replied flatly. "Retrieving the mirror will be the hard part. I've got work to do, I want the location as soon as you've found it." He rolled back up to the desk and flipped open a folder, pen in hand. As he began to read over a report, Dot hopped down from the desk.
"Maybe dinner some other time?" She asked hopefully.
Alec didn't even look up at her as he replied. "Not only am I gay," he said sounding exasperated. "I'm also in a relationship. I seem to recall you mentioning it earlier."
Dot swept out of the room and closed the door loudly behind her.
"Well that was entertaining." Magnus piped up.
Alec dropped his pen and glared up at his boyfriend. Watching him approach his desk.
"That wasn't funny." Alec groused.
"No." Magnus agreed as he sat on Alec's lap and wrapped an arm around his shoulders. "It wasn't. I can't believe she did that, it was despicable and I want to hate her for it. But how can I? Look at you. She's absolutely right. You're by far, the most gorgeous man I've ever laid eyes on. I can't blame her for wanting you."
Alec smiled up at his boyfriend. "I love you. You and only you."
Magnus grinned and leaned in to kiss Alec, smiling wider at the "ewwww." That rang out from the corner of the room.
Important:
So, I've been thinking on this for a while and it seems, with all the changes I've made in this story that this one might be coming up soon because at this point it feels right. So the poll is:
Should Magnus and Alec get engaged within the next couple chapters? The wedding wouldn't happen immediately, I'd still like for them to have that whole break up in season three and I feel that it would add more to that if they're engaged.
Vote: yes or no.
Don't forget to vote on the chapter as well. Comment your votes and, like always, I'm still watching for any comments that say what you would like to see happen in the story. But of course there is no guarantee that it'll happen. I try to include everything it may just happen further down the line if it hasn't been included yet.
Thank you for your patience, love you all.