Background: Alec and Magnus are living together. After Lord of Shadows. Magnus is sick like the other warlocks but managing.
Alec is hurt when he comes home. He attempts to hide it from his family but soon he discovers it is worse than he thought. Magnus, his children, his siblings and everyone around him just wants to help but he is determined to be strong.
Alec's Pain.
Chapter One.
Alexander Gideon Lightwood is a proud man. Despite the soft side he has for his lover and the playful side he has for his children, he is a very proud man. So proud in fact that when he is injured in a stupid battle that he should not have been a part of in the first place he does not tell anyone. He rushes home, holding onto the wound on his side and running up the stairs to his apartment. He doesn't call Jace to tell him because Jace is busy being the head of the institute and anyway, he is afraid of what Jace would say given that Alec really should not have involved himself in that demon at all. After all, there were three shadowhunters there already. Magnus will know when they strip each other bare tonight the same way they do most nights after the children have gone to sleep. But he will give an excuse and kiss his lover so hard he won't think about it. He can't tell Izzy either. She would freak out and make him come back to the institute to get help. He thinks about telling Clary but she'll tell Jace and that only leaves Simon, which is out of the question. So he is left with no one.
Alec takes his shirt off carefully, biting his lip through so that he does not call out in pain. He tried two healing runes on the way here but nothing worked. His body is still in pain, barely dulled out at all. He forces himself to be quiet while he takes a look at the gash on his side in the mirror. His agony is clear all over his tensed and fearful body. He gets out a light blue soft wash cloth and runs it under the water. He wipes off the blood, biting his lip harder than before. Magnus is in the kitchen with the boys. He heard it when he came in. He's truthfully rather surprised that they are not coming at him with questions about his day yet.
Once the blood is wiped away, Alec's shaking hand tosses the washcloth out and examines it. It's deep: a large gash cut across his side and partly on his stomach and back. It hurts deep inside of his body but he tries to think of anything else to distract himself. He knows just how dangerous those thoughts can get. Slowly so that he does not call out in pain stupidly, he covers his wound with bandages, begging the Angel that it does not bleed through but knowing that is likely. After putting pressure on it and assuring it is not bleeding through right now, he splashes some cold water on his warm, sweating face and gives himself a few moments of relaxation to bring himself together. Alec tries his iratze one more time but the pain is only slightly dulled. At least he does not feel like calling out and groaning every few seconds.
"My love, care to join your family?" Magnus calls from outside of their shared bathroom. "We'd love to see your handsome face."
"Coming," Alec responds, taking a deep breath. With a brave face, he exits the bathroom and squeezes his loves arm. Magnus is wearing a cat print robe and long dark shorts. Surprisingly, he does not have on any shoes and his eye make up is minimal today.
"Cosy day indoors?" Alec asks, kissing his cheek so that Magnus does not pull him in for a painful hug and give him away.
"Indoors: yes. Cosy: no. The children and I have been cooking all day. It's been a bit of lesson for everyone involved. At one point Max used a levitation spell to levitate the eggs and crack them by dropping them to the counter. Let's just say that cooking might not be his strong suite," he says but Alec is hardly listening. He is overcome by a bright white pain sensation all over his body, radiating from his side. He grips his own hand so tightly he leaves fingernail marks in his palms. Alec attempts to hold back any negative feelings and walks through to the kitchen with his love, pretending to listen.
"Daddy!" Max yells and runs over to him. Max grabs onto his leg and squeezes as hard as he can. Luckily he is not bit enough to actually run into Alec's stomach or side because he doesn't think he would be able to hold back that pain.
"Hey buddy," Alec says with a genuine grin. It makes him feel just a little bit better to have his son greet him that way. He always does. He greets both of his fathers with a happy exclamation even if they have only been gone for a few minutes. Sometimes Alec would come out from the bathroom, only been gone under two minutes and Max would greet him with a flying leap.
"How was your day? I heard Papa let you cook with him," Alec says, attempting to sound as casual as possible but the pain is starting to radiate to his chest and legs. He was not expecting it to be so gripping, so spreading. He attempts to hide it anyway, giving him a smile.
Max looks up with those big eyes, his hair falling through the horns on his head. Alec attempts to fix it, move it from his eyes as his son gives him a smile.
"We had a lot of fun!" Max says.
"Max had fun. I think I might have actually cooked something," Rafe says with a grin.
"What did you make?" Alec asks, hoping for any kind of distraction at this point. He is praying to the angel under his breath.
"Belgium waffles," Rafe says with a surprisingly happy grin. He holds out a display of fluffy waffles, whipped cream and fruit on a plate. He looks quite happy and proud of his display as he holds it out to his father.
"Impressive," Alec says with a smile. "That is actually one of the many things I am very good at making. I hope you used my recipe."
"Your cooking probably seemed miraculous in light of Isabelle's but I would not exactly call it incredible, my love," Manus says, giving him a pat and wrapping his arm around his waist. Alec jumps when Magnus gives him a squeeze.
"Alexander?" Magnus asks with a confused expression.
"Just sore," he says, shaking his head. But Alec pulls away anyway because the bright white light of pain that flashed over his eyes is getting worse. The pain is effecting his entire body now. It is making him feel tired and shaky. He walks over to Rafe, sitting down at the bar with him on a bar stool. He thought this would make him feel better but the pain is only worsening.
"Alexander what is happening?" Magnus asks again.
"Nothing. Really," Alec says, rather unconvincingly. "I'm fine. Let's eat these waffles."
Magnus seems horribly unconvinced. He watches his lover as Alec starts to sway. The pain grows until it is all over his body. He lets out a gasp when he reaches for a fork. He realizes that he cannot hold back the noises and he gets up from the chair.
"Daddy?" Max asks.
"Dad, what's wrong?" Rafe asks.
"I'll be back. Just give me a second. I'm sore from training," he says very quickly before he rushes back to his bedroom. He collapses on the bed and grabs a pillow just in time for the screams to become uncontrollable.