EDITED 5/30/2020
LAST CHAPTER OF NOT BY BLOOD! THANK YOU ALL FOR GOING ON THIS AMAZING JOURNEY WITH ME, THE SEQUEL 'NOT BY CHOICE' WILL BE STARTING UP SOON, I'M GOING TO START EDITING THIS WORK FIRST.
- DAY FIVE -
Catarina had said that they were not going to resolve the issue of Alec's amnesia any time soon. Magnus had blown up, quite literally. The apothecary in the loft had scorch marks on the walls and the drapes had caught on fire. His eyes had unglamoured and had glared so intensely at Catarina that she had shrunk away from Magnus as tears rolled down his cheeks.
He didn't want to accept that he had lost his husband for who knows how long. He knew that he had let himself sink into his feelings a few times over the past few days, but he had never truly given up, he could never give up on his Alexander.
Thomas was still asleep in the master bedroom and Magnus was lounging in the living room, staring at the wall. He thought back on his time with Alec and wondered if he would ever get the pleasure of seeing him again.
That night that Alec had nearly jumped off of the roof, Magnus could still feel his heart beating against his chest painfully, even as Alec slept peacefully in his arms. Alec's head was resting against his chest, he was pressed against Magnus' side, Alec's heart beating against him, soothing Magnus slightly. Magnus had one hand pressed flat against Alec's back and the other was reaching across his body to stroke his lover's curly, black hair.
He tugged lightly on a strand of Alec's beautiful hair and he watched as a dopey smile curved Alec's luscious lips and he sighed happily. "M'gnus." He murmured, making Magus smile as well.
"I'm here, my love. I'm here." He pulled Alec further into his chest and pressed a kiss to his hair.
Alec hadn't wanted to leave Magnus that night after the Soul Sword Massacre, Magnus didn't blame him; after Alec had admitted his love for him, all Magnus wanted to do was take Alec home and to bed so he could have his way with him, whisper his love for him in his ear as Alec lay beneath him. But Magnus knew that there was something else they needed to do before.
So, when they got home, Magnus stopped Alec's wandering hands and put some distance between them. "Alexander, there is something I need to tell you." Magnus sighed, reaching out and holding Alec's hands in his own. "You might be angry with me."
Alec looked confused. "Magnus," He said, sounding very concerned. "What is it? What's wrong?"
Magnus smiled and allowed himself to step closer to Alec, reaching up and placed a hand on the side of his face. He tilted his head slightly and looked at Alec with a soft expression. "How much do you really know about Warlocks, darling?"
"What you've told me." Alec replied, "Not counting the lies that the Clave fed us."
Magnus nodded and ran his thumb back and forth over Alec's cheekbone. "Have you heard about Soulmates?"
Alec shook his head. "Those are real?" He asked.
Magnus nodded. "Every warlock has a soulmate, Alexander." He moved his hand down from Alec's face to his chest right over his heart.
He watched as Alec's face dropped slightly. "I'm not yours?"
Magnus grabbed Alec's waist with his other hand and pulled him closer. "The warlock knows the second they look into their soulmate's eyes. Imagine my surprise when I turn around after making the worst meat pun I'd ever made to look into the most beautiful eyes I'd ever seen and know that I was looking at the other half of my soul."
Alec lit up and he gripped Magnus' waist as well. "I'm your soulmate?"
Magnus leaned up and kissed the underside of Alec's jaw. "My beautiful Nephilim." He murmured. "My perfect soulmate." He confirmed.
Alec grinned, tears springing to his eyes. "Soulmate." He whispered, bringing Magnus closer to him. "I love you."
Magnus had tears in his eyes as well. "I love you, too, Soulmate." He moved his hands to cup Alec's neck and pull him into a kiss.
"Madzie." Magnus kneeled down in front of the little girl next to Alec. "My name is Magnus, and you know Alec, right?"
The girl nodded shyly. "Well, sweet pea." Magnus smiled. "We were wondering if you would want to live with us? If we can be a family?"
"Family?" Madzie asked curiously.
"We want to be your dads." Alec explained. "We want you to be your daughter, is that okay?"
Madzie looked pleased. "Really?"
"Really." Alec nodded. "I want to be your Dad and Magnus wants to be your Papa. Would you like that?"
Madzie nodded excitedly and hugged Alec. "Yes, please, Daddy." She said, making Alec tear up and grin so wide that Magnus thought his face would split.
Magnus grinned as well; this was heaven.
"It still bothers me." Alec admitted, sitting on the couch of Magnus' loft.
"What does, darling?" Magnus asked from where he was reclined against him.
"Dot." Alec replied. "You didn't seem very bothered by it. Why is that?"
Magnus sat up and turned to look at him. "Because I trust you." He insisted. "I believe that you wouldn't hurt me. Especially with a woman."
Alec smiled as well. "I trust you, too." He said with confidence. "And I love you."
"I love you, too." Magnus grinned as he turned and climbed into Alec's lap, his voice turning sultry and teasing. "My gorgeous, sexy soulmate."
"Mmm." Alec hummed happily, leaning back against the couch and pulling Magnus against him and connecting their lips. "I bet my soulmate is sexier than yours." He whispered huskily.
"Impossible." Magnus breathed.
Alec was sobbing, gut wrenching, heart breaking sobs as Magnus stood a few feet behind him. Alec was gripping Max's cold, lifeless hand between both of his as he cried over his younger brother's body.
All of the sudden something changed, and Alec turned to Magnus. Eyes red, cheeks wet, tears still streaming from his eyes. He looked devastated, completely and utterly destroyed. And he turned to Magnus.
Alec gently set Max's hand back down on the mattress and rushed into Magnus' arms. Alec had turned to Magnus for comfort, and while he was saddened that he needed it, especially to this extent, he was still pleased that his soulmate had turned to him.
Alec sobbed into Magnus' shoulder and clutched at his back, holding him as close as possible.
"I'm so sorry, my darling." Magnus murmured. "So, so sorry."
They were lying in bed, Alec spooned in behind Magnus, their left hands entwined. Magnus was admiring their engagement rings, side by side, gleaming in the sunlight.
Magnus curled their fingers together and brought them up to his lips, kissing their rings, eyes closed and just holding their hands there against his lips.
Alec nuzzled against the back of Magnus' neck before pressing a kiss there.
"Love you." He said sleepily.
"Love you, too, my sweet darling." Magnus replied, words muffled by their joined hands.
Their door slid open and Madzie ran over to their bed, heaving herself up onto it with effort. "Daddy! Papa!" She shouted, breaking the peace of the moment. "It's morning!"
"Yes, it is, Princess." Alec replied, with a slight chuckle. "C'mere!"
Madzie threw herself down onto her parents who both turned into her, smiling.
Magnus and Alec embraced each other and their daughter between them.
Magnus and Alec were sitting at the dining room table, Magnus' box of mementos between them. Magnus wanted to show Alec everything that he had kept of Alec over the centuries.
"This crystal was from your first life." Magnus pulled it out. "You never did tell me the story behind it."
"Anne, right?" Alec asked. Magnus nodded and he pulled out a silver bracelet inlaid with emeralds.
"This was hers as well." Alec took the bracelet between his fingers and looked at it with interest.
"And then there was Thomas." Magnus smiled, picking up a lock of hair. "You didn't have anything that I didn't give you since you were homeless and living in the woods when we found you, but when I found you, dead in the woods, I took this because I wanted to remember you, not the things that I gave you."
Alec frowned sympathetically and took the hair. It looked just like his own.
"And then there was Adam." Magnus moved on quickly. He plucked a stack of scrap paper out of the box and handed them to Alec.
He sifted through the stack and saw sketches of an apple, different farm animals, hearts and even a not so great sketch of Magnus' face.
Magnus also handed him a feather that looked like it came from a duck. "You gave this to me, and you said you wanted me to have it as a reminder that I gave you the wings you needed to fly."
Alec smiled. "More than once it seems."
Magnus smiled too. "Then Isaac." Magnus picked up a ring, it had all kinds of gems all over it. "You gave this to me after you were told that you were being forced to marry Princess Elizabeth. You gave it to me to show me that you wanted to marry me, not her, despite your inability to do so."
Magnus then grabbed the little box inside the box and handed it to Alec with a key. "This was Isaac's as well. It's a box full of everything I gave you in that life. Photographs, doodles, sketches, flower petals, sketches. All sorts of things."
Alec opened the box and stared down at all the different gifts that Magnus had given him when he was Prince Isaac.
"After Isaac was Imasu." Magnus picked up a shiny rock. "You gave this to me when we met. You said it was beautiful like me."
Alec smiled. "I wasn't wrong, but you are far more beautiful."
Magnus chuckled lightly.
"Then it was George." Magnus picked up a piece of paper. "A love letter. You hadn't gone away or anything, you had just wanted to write me the letter."
Alec took the paper from Magnus and read it.
My love,
I know this may be odd, writing you this letter for no other reason than to tell you how much I adore you, however you and I are both aware of how dreadful I can be with words sometimes. That's one reason I found it so odd that you fell in love with me. Magnus, you are so eloquent and so good with your words. You never fail to let me know just how much you love me, and I wish to do the same for you.
Magnus, you are the breath of life in my lungs, the beat of my heart in my chest. The light of my life, the apple of my eye, and everything in between. I love you more than words could ever express, and I am forever grateful to you for everything you have done for me. You saved my life, baby. When you stopped by that warehouse and kissed me like there was no one else in the world, you saved me. You taught me what it meant to have a family.
You are my family, Magnus. My life, my world, my heart, my everything.
I love you more than life itself.
Yours for eternity,
George
"Wow." Alec breathed. "I don't think I could compete with that." He admitted.
Magnus frowned. "Alexander, I am not showing you these things to make you feel like there is some sort of competition. I just wanted to show you your past. Our past. There is no competition, all of this was you. You are the only soul I want. I love you."
Alec nodded. "I love you, too."
"Then there was Etta." Magnus moved on with a slight smile. He picked up a ring with an emerald inlaid with it. "I bought this for our one-year anniversary, you treasured it, but left it behind when you left me."
Magnus dropped the tiny ring in the palm of Alec's hand and Alec stared down at it with a strange expression on his face.
"And after that was James." Magnus said. "Your last life. You always used to write down these jokes and leave them where you knew Raphael and I would find them."
Magnus handed the papers to Alec and he looked them through.
How do you get a squirrel to like you? Act like a nut!
Why don't you tell eggs jokes? You'd crack them up!
I don't trust stairs. They're always up to something.
What do you call someone with no body and no nose? Nobody knows.
Why couldn't the bicycle stand up by itself? It was two tired.
"Well," Alec said. "At least I was funny."
Magnus and Alec had been home alone, only a few weeks after they got married and they got Clary back. It was the day before Alec and Jem were supposed to have their Parabatai Ceremony and Magnus had Alec pinned against the living room wall.
Alec's hands were pinned above his head with Magnus' magic, his shirt had been ripped half open, Magnus' hands were rubbing up and down Alec's chest and stomach while his lips were attached to his neck, biting down and then soothing with his tongue.
Alec let out a low moan as Magnus sucked hard on the underside of his jaw. Magnus grinned against him and then ripped the shirt open the rest of the way, shoving it back on Alec's shoulders, unable to take it off as his arms were stretched above his head.
"Alexander." Magnus breathed as he reached down for Alec's belt.
"Are you kidding me?" Raphael's voice rang out across the room as the front door shut behind him.
The magic pinning Alec's hands above him vanished immediately and he stumbled slightly, laughing.
"Raphael." Magnus breathed. "I didn't think you'd be home until later."
"Clearly." Raphael brushed past his dads and into his room as they laughed.
"I think we may have scarred him." Alec laughed.
"I think we should take this somewhere more private." Magnus purred. "I'm not done with you yet.
Magnus looked into the nursery and saw Alec sitting on the floor, Max's tiny blue fists clutching Alec's hands as he used his father to hold himself up on shaky legs. The shaking didn't seem to bother the baby as he stared up at Alec's bright eyes and gleaming smile, babbling happily with a huge smile on his face.
Alec was talking to their son, his smile never lessening.
"Look at you." He cooed. "You're so big, standing up, Maxie!"
Max squealed and let go of Alec's fingers, throwing himself into Alec's chest, using his shirt to climb up into his lap and wrap his arms around his neck.
Alec chuckled and wrapped his arms around the little blue boy and pressed a kiss to the side of his head. His eyes met Magnus' over Max's shoulder.
Magnus will never forget the way that Alec's eyes shone with happiness, his smile widening as he spotted him and how he pulled back from Max, pointing over at Magnus.
"Look, Maxie!" He said happily. "It's Papa!"
Max turned when Alec said 'Papa' and reached one hand out to Magnus, squealing with delight as he kept one fist attached to Alec's shirt.
Magnus grinned and he knew that he would remember this forever, this beautiful moment with his husband and their youngest son.
Magnus snapped out of it and stood up, sighing. He started to gather things from around the living room and tidying up. He had just taken some dishes to the kitchen and put them in the sink when he heard his soulmate walk in.
He looked up at him and smiled stiffly as Alec's eyes and smile as their infant son pointed at him flashed before his eyes.
"Darling." Magnus greeted. "How'd you sleep?"
His soulmate frowned and looked at him, confused. Magnus furrowed his brow and gave him a strange look before looking back down at the sink. He snapped his fingers and the dishes disappeared. He glanced back over at Alexander's form standing in the doorway, staring at him with a slightly dropped jaw. Magnus opened the fridge and looked in it.
"We can have eggs, toast, pancakes, bacon, waffles?" Magnus offered, trying to get a word out of him.
"Я думал, что я был мертв (I thought I was dead)." He murmured.
"Hmm?" Magnus looked up, eyes traveling over Alec's face, finding what he was expecting and feeling his heart drop. "Anne." He closed the fridge.
"Я думал, что я был мертв (I thought I was dead)." She repeated.
Magnus nodded. "ты был дорогой (You were, darling)." He told her. "Ты был. Ты. Вы умерли более трехсот лет назад. Ваша сделка с Азраилом сработала. Ваше последнее воплощение, Александр, он очень сильно пострадал. Он умер, на несколько минут он умер. У него амнезия, которая быстро прогрессировала в последние пару дней. Сегодня вечером я уверен, что он даже не узнает, кто я. (You were. You are. You died well over three hundred years ago. Your deal with Azrael worked. Your latest incarnation, Alexander, he got very badly hurt. He died, for a few minutes, he died. He's got amnesia that's progressed quickly over the past couple of days. By tonight I'm sure he won't even know who I am any longer)."
"Ты думаешь моя душа могла когда-нибудь тебя забыть? (You think my soul could ever forget you?)" Anne asked him.
Magnus grimaced. "Это, безусловно, чувствует себя так, как сейчас. (It certainly feels like it right now.)" He admitted.
Anne frowned. "Даже если мой разум забудет тебя, моя душа никогда не забудет. Я всегда буду знать тебя глубоко, моя единственная любовь (Even if my mind forgets you, my soul never will. I will always know you deep down, my one and only love.)"
Magnus wished he believed her. He wished that he didn't have that sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach. He wished more than anything that he could just push those feelings away and make them vanish into thin air. But he was terrified that this was it, that his hopes had been crushed.
He just shook his head sadly at Anne and opened the fridge, going back to looking for breakfast.
- EIGHT HOURS LATER -
Anne had risen from the armchair she had curled up in and moved towards the bookcase as Magnus continued to read on the couch. However, he jumped up when Anne stumbled and went to fall over.
He caught Alexander's body in his arms and looked down at his face. His eyes were closed, and his breathing was slow and steady. Magnus was positive that Anne was gone now, leaving nothing behind. Magnus' soulmate was gone, he shed a few tears and lifted Alec into his arms, carrying him into the master bedroom that his soulmate had been occupying the past five days.
Magnus laid him down onto the bed and covered him up with the comforter before going back and sliding the door shut. He moved back over to the bed and sat on the side of the bed and held Alec's right hand between his own.
"Please." Magnus whispered. "Come back to me."
He reached down and brushed Alec's now too long hair out of his eyes and then moved down to stroke over the growing beard that decorated his jaw line and upper lip.
"Don't leave me." He sniffled. "I love you."
He sat next to Alec clutching his hand for a grand total of forty-five minutes. He stared down at his face, watching as he breathed, as an eyebrow twitched, the corner of his mouth, or his nose wiggled slightly.
When Alec let out a low groan, Magnus dropped his hand and moved off of the bed, not wanting to startle him when he woke up and found a stranger sitting there holding his hand.
Alec's hand flexed and his eyes opened slightly. He looked up at Magnus and his brow furrowed. He gazed up at Magnus and seemed to adjust to his surroundings as his eyes started to open further and further until they were completely open, and he looked alert.
"I'm in heaven." Alec breathed.
Magnus was confused. "What do you mean?" He asked.
"I died," Alec told him, still just laying still and staring up at Magnus like he was dazed. "Jonathan killed me. But you're here. I must be in heaven."
Magnus stumbled forward and knelt by the bed, looking at Alec with wide, teary eyes. He reluctantly reached forward and placed his fingertips against Alec's jaw. "Do you know who you are?" Magnus asked.
Alec furrowed his brows once more. "Of course."
"Tell me." Magnus breathed. "Tell me your name."
"Alexander Lightwood-Bane."
To Alec's complete and utter horror, Magnus started to cry.
"Magnus?" He asked, sitting up. "What's wrong?"
Magnus sobbed harder at the mention of his name and climbed up onto the bed and straddled Alec's hips, laying himself flat onto Alec, burying his face into Alec's shirt, crumpling it in his fists. He wept into Alec's shirt, soaking it with his tears.
Alec's confusion was palpable. His hands gripped Magnus' waist and he turned his face so that his nose was pressed against Magnus' temple. "Magnus, what's happening?"
"I love you; I love you; I love you." Magnus muttered over and over again.
"I love you too, baby." Alec said, the concern in his voice was very apparent.
Magnus sat up and connected their lips, Alec kissed him gently before pulling away. "Magnus." He said tensely. "Tell me what happened."
"You died." Magnus whimpered. "You were dead for nearly ten minutes. We got you back, but you weren't you anymore."
Tears were rolling down his face and Alec was watching him sadly. "What do you mean?" He asked as his mouth curved downwards and his eyebrows furrows, a wrinkle appearing between them. "I wasn't me?"
"You were James." Magnus said, tears dripping off his chin onto Alec's already wet shirt. "That was five days ago, you've been slowly losing all your memories. Forgetting me."
Alec sat up and wrapped his arms around Magnus, pulling Magnus' legs to wrap them around his waist, pushing himself up onto his knees and then moving forward to press him into the mattress.
Alec settled his weight onto his husband and looked down at him, sympathetically. "I could never forget you, Magnus. Never. You're my husband, the father of my children, my soulmate, my world. I love you more than life itself. How could I possibly forget the most perfect man in the world?"
Magnus granted him a watery smile and leaned forward to kiss him. They kissed tenderly and Magnus sunk into it, following Alec as he pulled away, reconnecting their lips with his fingers linked behind Alec's neck.
Alec pulled away once more and stopped Magnus from reconnecting their mouths. "Why are we in the loft?" Alec leaned forward slightly as he whispered the question, eyes half lidded as he stared into Magnus' eyes.
"I didn't want our kids to have to see you like that." Magnus replied, trying to pull Alec back to him. "Raphael having to deal with you not knowing him again, Madzie wouldn't understand, Max is so little, Clary . . ." Magnus sighed. "I didn't want them to feel what I felt."
Alec nodded. "I love you."
"I love you." Magnus replied.
"Sorry I'm late," Raphael came into the office looking a bit disheveled. Azazel, Tessa, Jem, Magnus, Alec, Wesley and Clary were all in the office waiting for him and Simon. Clary smirked at him as she had passed him and Simon kissing frantically, Simon pressed against the wall by Raphael, Raphael's hands fisted in his shirt and hair as his tongue plunged into the younger boy's mouth. "I was doing . . . things."
Clary snorted just before Simon burst into the room. "Was it really necessary to push me down the stairs?" He demanded of Raphael, looking just as disheveled. He brushed past his kind of, sort of boyfriend and plopped down next to Clary.
"It was an accident," Raphael said indignantly. "My hand slipped."
"And what was your hand doing on Simon?" Magnus asked, teasingly.
Raphael smirked. "I was helping him pick the lint off his shirt."
"Sure, you were." Alec rolled his eyes as Raphael moved to sit next to him.
Azazel cleared his throat. "You're probably wondering why I called you all here."
"No," Wesley scoffed playfully. "We just came to bask in your glorious presence."
Azazel smiled, "Bask away," He spread his arms. "I just wanted to share my plan of revenge on Azrael and the Clave."
Alec raised an eyebrow. "You're really going to go after the Clave? That's not what we asked for."
"I told you, child." Azazel said kindly. "I'm going to avenge you, that includes making the Clave suffer."
"Go on." Magnus prompted.
Azazel nodded. "As for Azrael, I am gathering a few friends and we will take him down ourselves, it won't be an issue. As for the Clave, I'm going to pay them a visit."
"A visit?" Jem asked.
"Yes." Azazel said, sickly sweet. "The involved parties, those who wish my child harm will first have my presence inflicted on them and then I shall take them down to the lowest level of Hell and introduce them to my boss."
"You don't mean . . .?" Magnus asked wide-eyed.
"Indeed." Azazel said. "They will be tortured by Lucifer himself, and then, the Clave will burn."
Everyone watched Azazel with wide eyes, stunned.
"Don't worry." He said. "After those horrible people are gone, we will march on Idris and take over the Clave, watching as all of Alicante burns to the ground, nothing but ashes in the wind."
"You can't be serious." Jem shook his head, "Alec, this is crazy."
Alec was looking at Azazel with an unreadable look in his eyes. "I say we do it. I want to watch them burn."