Limbo
Alt!Magnus
"We've been walking for hours Jace, how far is it?" Magnus asked plaintively. Jace looked over his shoulder from where he was walking in front of them and raised an eyebrow. His eyes told Magnus he was being a giant baby and should shut up immediately. Magnus rolled his eyes in response. Alec was walking a few paces behind him, and had been silent since they'd left the cute little waterfall earlier. Magnus still wanted to kick the idiot man, but honestly it was neither the time nor the place to initiate anything. He'd probably crossed a line, but Alec had just let him walk away and now refused to speak to him. Magnus wasn't mad, he was just frustrated.
Of course he'd rushed to Magnus' side several times when he stumbled over large rocks or unexpected holes. Embarrassment made him flush when he thought about the butterflies that had given him. It had been so long since another person made him nervous, he wanted to both cling to the man and run away from him. Alec was handling Magnus' behavior far better than he could have anticipated.
To be honest, with what he knew of Shadowhunters, Alec's reaction could have been a lot worse. Their society wasn't typically known for its acceptance of rainbows and glitter. In fact, Alec had been oddly accepting of him every step of their journey. It was a little staggering. Not to mention that pesky little tattoo he had on his chest.
Despite the relationship between their counterparts, clearly they were from a magical candy land, this Alec seemed to come from a world where the Clave was just as harsh as the Clave from Magnus' own world. But he still had only pushed Magnus away from him instead of taking off his head.
Magnus had to admire that. He may have made Alec uncomfortable, on several occasions, but he'd never proven to be anything other than tolerant. He should apologize, but he wasn't sure if Alec even wanted to hear it. Looking over his shoulder briefly he took in the focused way in which Alec observed his surroundings.
Always looking for a threat, this one was. His face was a serious face, and Magnus knew he'd probably be head over heels in love if he ever saw the man smile. That face deserved to smile. Magnus sighed, what could make a man so young, so incredibly stoic. He hadn't tried to hear what the two Shadowhunter's had discussed in the cave, but he'd caught a glimpse or two of Alec's anguished face, and he could well imagine what the Clave had done to twist him up so badly. Torture had been his first guess. It was a miracle of his character that allowed Alexander to be in the same room with a downworlder, much less help one. Magnus rubbed his arms as a chill overtook him, was it all fake. The consideration, the ease, the innocent curiosity, could he be biding his time? Magnus looked again. No, his instincts weren't that bad. Alec was genuine.
Jace finally came to a stop, and Magnus was pulled away from his thoughts of Alec as he looked over what appeared to be an entrance to a garden.
"We have to make it through the garden, after that it should be cake." Jace said solemnly.
"So why are we stopping?" Alec demanded.
Jace shrugged his shoulders, "This place is dangerous. We need to be careful."
No sooner had the words come out of his mouth, than two angels appeared in front of them. Both of them were blonde, one was wearing white drawstring pants and a tank top, the other was wearing roman style armor in red leather and a white tunic. Very greek the two of them looked, thought Magnus as the one in pajamas waved his hand and Jace's visage disappeared. Alec came from behind, his bow drawn, and a furious shout "Where did you send him?"
The pajama clad angel shrugged. "He'll be fine, the two of you however…."
The armor wearing angel snapped, "how did you get here? Who do you serve?"
Alec didn't bother answering, just drew his bow even tighter, and snarled "Bring my brother back."
The two angels looked at one another and before Magnus could blink, the pajama wearing one started throwing out blasts of power. Magnus threw up a shield, but the angel power was intense and began to drain him almost immediately. Alec was not standing idyll. He shot off several arrows, one of them grazed pajama boy and blood welled up on his arm. The one in armor shouted his disbelief, and took off at a dead sprint toward Alec and Magnus.
Alec threw the bow over his shoulder and pulled the enchanted blade from its scabbard. Meeting the angel blow for blow. Magnus had gone on the offensive as well, but it was no use. The angel was a hell of a lot stronger than him and his magic was siphoning off much more quickly than usual. Alec was actually winning his fight when Magnus looked over. The hilt of his sword had just connected with the Angel's face, knocking him out, when Magnus decided they should retreat. He barely had anything left, so he grabbed Alec's arm and pulled him into the garden.
The pajama clad angel was cursing them, but too invested in his armor clad friend to chase after them. They ran for over an hour before Magnus came to a stop after walking through an archway of large shrubs, breathing heavily he looked around. They were in an overgrown English garden. Tall hedges created walled off gardens, there would probably be statues and fountains the further on they explored, with pretty roses, willow trees, and butterflies, which made him think of Ragnor in London. Having no idea where Jace had been leading them, he couldn't say if they were lost; but, he was almost entirely out of magic. Not good.
"Damnit." Alec muttered, running his hands angrily through his hair. "What the hell was that?"
"Guardian angels would be my guess." Magnus said flippantly, only for Alec to swing his glare directly onto him. Magnus winced. "Jace is fine I'm sure. They seemed more lower tier than higher tier, so I don't think they can actually hurt him being a ghost and all. It's just us they could easily obliterate." Alec deflated a little.
"Jace mentioned a tree," Alec pointed at the horizon, "pretty sure that's the one we need."
Magnus had to agree, the thing was larger than any tree he'd ever seen. It's branches looked as if they reached the sky, but too much cloud cover obscured the top. The trunk was as wide as a car, and that's what Magnus could see of it over the hedges. Even the fae realms didn't have trees as large as this. The square of the garden they were in had three exits, forward seemed to be the most direct path and Alexander must have thought the same because he took off.
When they stepped through the archway in the hedges, Alec held his hand out to keep Magnus from going any further. "Goddamnit." he said in a whisper and crouched down.
The archway had led them into a cavern, deeply underground, with a ledge hanging over a chasm. Alec jerked Magnus out of the way, and hauled him up onto the ledge beside him. "You know manhandling is considered…." Magnus started to say.
"Hush Magnus." Alec said as he pointed to a dark spot over the ledge. A swarm of demons were coalescing and if Magnus wasn't careful he'd give away their position. And with his magic at less than full power, they needed to be really damn careful.
Magnus turned his eyes toward the demons and took in a gulp of air. He turned away and the movement pushed him further into Alec's arms. Magnus put his forehead on Alec's shoulder, trying to get his bearings. He just needed a minute to breath. Alec let him and he was once again surprised as the hard man he leaned against tried to offer him a bit of comfort. "Should we step back and try one of the other entrances, maybe they're all gateways like this one."
"Yeah," Alec whispered, "Unless they're saying anything you think we should know." Magnus tuned into the demon activity below him and heard nothing out of the ordinary, so he shook his head. Alec turned and put his back to the ledge and protectively herded Magnus back through the archway. The garden hadn't changed a bit, but Magnus was far more wary of what the other two archways might contain.
"Should we test them separately?" He asked. "Just poke our heads in and see what we see?"
Alec nodded and they each took an archway. Magnus leaned across the threshold, and his archway just had more garden. He quickly pulled back and turned to Alec whose face was beet red. "Mine just has more garden, what about yours?"
"Dead end." Alec said, and Magnus had no idea how he knew, but he knew the Shadowhunter was lying. It was broadcast all over his face.
"What do you think the other us's are doing?" He asked out of blue, and Magnus squinted. What the hell was on the other side of that archway?
"I'm sure I don't know, but since they're married I imagine they're happy to be back together."
Alec winced and Magnus was confused. "What's wrong?"
"You don't think it's weird that a Shadowhunter and a warlock are married…" He sounded bewildered.
"Oh no, that's totally weird, but they seemed happy enough."
"The Clave would never allow it, but he still has his runes and he's still got some position of authority. That's not possible."
Magnus walked through the archway with Alec right beside him. "Yeah he said he was an Inquisitor and had been head of the New York institute for awhile."
"That's what doesn't make sense, there's no way the Clave would allow that. The teachings are pretty clear about keeping Downworlder's separate from Shadowhunters. Are they really who they say they are?"
"Maybe they changed all of that, and I don't know how we would know if they were impostors. Why do you ask?" Magnus shrugged.
"The angels would never allow it." Alec said with a fierce finality. They were in a section that put them pretty close to the tree, one of its long branches had fallen into this little square. Magnus touched it a little reverently something about it radiated balance and divinity. They were almost where the imprisoned Shadowhunter's were being kept. Hopefully. But they could pause for just a moment so Magnus could examine the power coming from the tree.
Magnus, with his hand on the tree, looked at Alec inquisitively. "And how would you know?"
All of a sudden magic flowed through him. Not his own magic, that was still shamefully depleted. Magnus watched as a pair of angels drug Alec down a hallway. He watched as they strapped him to a table. He watched them cut out the Shadowhunter's runes. He watched the man scream until his throat could make no more sound. He watched them heal his wounds and begin the process over again. Magnus fell to his knees.
Looking up at Alec with tears in his eyes. Alec rushed forward to help him, but the magic wouldn't let him. Not until he'd seen all of it. Every minute of the angels ravaging his body. The names they'd called him, the horrific things they'd done to him, and how none of it had really broken him. Magnus was in awe. He was standing in front of a man that could still breathe, could still live in a world where that had happened to him.
"Magnus please, let go of the tree." Alec tried to reach out again, but it appeared the magic wasn't quite done with Magnus.
He closed his eyes and took a deep breath as the magic whisked him to a bright sunny room. Magnus knew he was looking at the stone walls of a castle, having been in enough of them in his life. A man, a blonde very well put together man in a pink polo shirt and tan slacks, stood in front of an Angel that Magnus couldn't make out.
"You can't do this Adam, it will destroy the worlds, all of them." The angel said despairingly.
"Have you ever thought that was what was meant to happen. The fates don't know and can't predict every move that's made, nothing is written until they write it, and they don't know. So this might have been the plan all along!"
They were having a heated discussion, Adam looked furious and slightly crazy, his blue eyes manic, when a shout from the angel shattered the vision. "Never."
Magnus fell away from the tree into Alec's arms. His hands running over Magnus looking for damage. "Magnus…" He said intently.
"I'm fine, really, just winded." Magnus wrapped his own arms around Alec, and was completely taken aback by how comforting it was to be in this man's arms. They barely knew one another, but sitting here, wrapped up together, he had never felt so….safe. For the past 20 years he had to jump at every shadow, but here, surrounded by danger, his hands were as steady as they'd ever been.
Alec pulled back first and put a hand on his face, brushing his fingers over his cheek, "what was that?"
"Nothing bad, I'm fine. Just an unfamiliar power trying to get to know me." Deciding not to share what he'd seen just yet, he wanted to think about the vision. Had it been true? Was it a red herring? It was a lot to absorb, and Magnus was about to push away and stand when Alec's hand shifted, fingers trailed along his cheek, his thumb touched Magnus' lip and he let out a sigh. Magnus couldn't breathe, his pulse was pounding in his ears, and butterflies exploded in his stomach. Alec was staring at him in fascination, like his world would end if anything had happened to Magnus.
Their eyes met. Magnus didn't telegraph the movement, but he felt the twitch in Alec's hand as he leaned forward. Asking with his eyes and his hesitancy if it was okay. Magnus met him half-way and everything around them faded.
Magnus had been in love, he'd kissed people he loved, but never in his life had he been kissed like he was precious. Desperation, passion, comfort, he could remember feeling all of those things from his partners. But Alec. God, Alec's hands touched him like he was cherished. Something in the way his hands shook as he reverently moved them over Magnus' face. His eyes were shining.
It was as good as Magnus had anticipated that it would be. Alec kissed like he wanted it so badly but was afraid someone would come around the corner and snatch Magnus away at any moment. He kissed like he wasn't sure he could even have this, like he wanted nothing more in the world than to have his lips against Magnus'.
Magnus groaned and ran his fingers through Alec's short hair, dropping them to his shoulders and clenching his hands around fistfuls of his shirt drawing him closer. He was never letting this man go. He was strong and so very solid under Magnus' hands that Magnus was desperate for more. Magnus nibbled at Alec's lips and opened his mouth inviting Alec inside. A deep whine came from the Shadowhunter when he jerked away from Magnus like fire had ignited between them. He was scrambling back saying sorry over and over, looking frantically around himself like Raziel would appear at any moment and destroy him, he drew his weapon and rolled to the side in a crouch.
Magnus was about to be pissed, very very very pissed off, when it dawned on him. Alec was crouched down looking for threats. Oh he'd scrambled away from Magnus like his ass was on fire, but he'd almost instantly pulled a weapon and turned to look for enemies.
Magnus had seen what the angels did to him. He'd heard the things they said. Damn them he thought, Alec truly thought that if he gave into his desire they'd kill whomever he was interested in. He thought the angels were going to come back and kill Magnus.
He stood from the ground and approached Alec."Darling, we should get moving." It wasn't a perfect strategy, but pretending like nothing happened and allowing Alec the dignity of choosing how to move forward was all Magnus could give him. And perhaps, when this was all over, he'd call upon his father and work out a way to put down the angels who hurt Alec.
Alec looked up at him, and Magnus felt his resolve harden as a shutter came over the Nephilim's eyes and he stood up. A soldier. Shrugging off his emotions and hiding behind the mask of his profession. Magnus knew a thing or two about that, so he turned and headed further into the garden.
8∞8∞8∞8∞8∞8∞8∞8 8∞8∞8∞8∞8∞8∞8∞8 8∞8∞8∞8∞8∞8∞8∞8 8∞8∞8∞8∞8∞8∞8∞8
Limbo
Alt!Alec
Alec cursed himself up one wall and down the other as he led Magnus through the maze. How could he have been so utterly fucking stupid. He knew there was a target on his back, and no matter what had been said to him since, in his world the angels would have come out of the sky and ripped Magnus' heart out.
They'd done it before.
He'd seen Jace's incredulous face when he said he feared for Magnus' life. He'd seen just how seriously Jace was not taking him. Angel's didn't bother with trifling things like who a Shadowhutner slept with.
But the angels he'd gotten tangled up with….they did. Magnus wasn't his first kiss. He wasn't even his tenth. After his visit with the angels he'd gotten drunk in a bar and let a stranger touch him. That stranger had died because of him. And he'd promised himself he would never put anyone else at risk like that. Not again.
But Christ it was so hard to resist the beautiful man behind him. He was considerate, he was kind, he was powerful, and he was about the most gorgeous thing he'd ever seen in his life. Not to mention, he had some sort of dream about their future together and a magical tattoo connection. It was….exhausting. The weak coward that lived inside of Alec, the one his mother had always known was there, wanted nothing more than to crawl into a hole and let the world just pass him by.
No responsibilities. No Clave. No angels. No fighting. No Magnus. Nothing. He just wanted nothing. He wanted it all to go away.
His thoughts so consumed him that it took him a minute to realize they'd reached the center of the garden. The huge tree was surrounded by clouds of white smoke. Flowers bloomed by the thousands in species that Alec had never seen and in every color imaginable. Magnus didn't stop, he just kept walking forward brushing his fingers across the flowers as he went. Alec shook his head, grateful that Magnus hadn't blasted his ass for that kiss. He knew he was confusing the warlock, but Magnus wasn't pushing and Alec was beyond relieved.
"So what now?" he asked Magnus.
Magnus looked over his shoulder, and Alec had to take a deep calming breath. God he was gorgeous and Alec needed to focus on something else.
"I think I need to touch the tree again."
Alec blinked. "No." the word was out of his mouth before he could stop himself, and Magnus' reaction was….predictable.
He raised his eyebrow and placed his palm on the tree trunk, pure defiance in every line of his body. His eyes closed and he fell to his knees and Alec cursed. Bloody stubborn warlock. Alec was such an idiot. He rushed forward to see if a magical barrier had surrounded Magnus, and sure enough he couldn't get to him. Damnit. Alec rubbed the tattoo on his chest, it was burning slightly.
Inching as close as he could get to Magnus before the barrier pushed him back, he sat down and watched. Magnus' face was relaxed, either he had expected the pain and wasn't reacting to it, or this time was different. His body was tense, but his breathing was steady.
"He'll be alright you know." Came a cheery voice behind him. Alec whipped around and pulled his blade and tried to get to his feet all in the same few seconds.
Before his eyes could really absorb the situation, he was demanding "Who are you?"
It was a woman, a very short woman, with black hair in a pixie cut. She was cute, tiny, and delicate. She scrunched up her nose and tilted her head, "I'm Eve."