Rory Shadowwood was never very good at being subtle, and he rarely had any interest in being so. So when he walked up to Jace the day after Magnus had shown up at his house, Jace knew there was going to be questions. It really didn't help that Magnus wasn't there again.
It was Jace who trained Rory for the most part. Jace, and Clary. His fathers were still caught up in each other when Rory was old enough, and Jace was the next best thing. Chris didn't have any family, and no one was going to interrupt Isabelle while she was training Simon. Jace knew Rory's every movement, had instilled them in him from a young age, and they way the boy was walking toward him betrayed anger and curiosity.
"Will, Amanda, why don't you go and help your mother with lunch?" He told his own children. Will sighed and put away his weapons, but Amanda put up more of a fight.
"But Dad, we need to train. When you were our age, you were so much better. Uncle Alec says so," she said, sounding so much like her uncle it was shocking.
"I was raised by Valentine, who happened to be homicidal and insane. Now, go help your mother," he said right back. Amanda glared at him but cleaned up and left with her brother. Her mumbling could be heard as the twins left. Jace was glad that Rory had the sense to not mention Magnus with them there.
"Jace, who is Magnus to my dad?" he asked the moment that they left. Jace sighed. He was getting so tired of being the one everyone was going to.
"Chris, to my knowledge, has only ever met Magnus here," he said. Rory rolled his eyes.
"Not Chris. Alec. Who is Magnus to Alec?" That was the question, wasn't it?
"The truth is, I don't know," Jace said. It wasn't technically a lie. Jace had no idea what they were at the moment. And then Jace cursed Shadowhunter stubbornness because the next question out of Rory's mouth was,
"Then who was he?" That question wasn't any easier, but it did have a simple answer.
"Everything. Once, Magnus was everything to my parabatai," Jace told him, a laugh in his voice as he thought back to when those words were reality.
Jace noticed that Alec wasn't at training. Again. Honestly, this was getting annoying. He was the only one who was any good at the bow, and Clary needed to learn. Clary herself was currently sparring with Izzy, and was losing, badly, but was okay.
"Give me a sec, I'll call Alec," he called out to the girls. Izzy nodded in his direction. She knew exactly where her brother was, and really, she wasn't worried. Alec deserved some happiness and peace. Now if only Jace could figure that out.
Jace had stepped outside the training room, and took out his phone. It only had a few people's numbers in it: Clary, Simon, Izzy, Alec, the Lightwood adults, and Magnus. In reality, he only ever called Clary. He clicked on Alec's name, and waited for him to answer.
"Hello, Blondie, what is it that you want?" That was not the voice he was expecting. In the background, Jace could hear Alec laughing.
"Why do you have Alec's phone?" Jace asked, playing overprotective best friend for the first time in his life. There was more laughter from Alec.
"Because at the current moment, I am tickling him, and he is incapable of speaking, let alone answer the phone," Magnus replied. Jace had heard—and done—a lot of strange things, but a warlock tickling a Shadowhunter and getting away with it was certainly new.
"You're...tickling him?" He asked just to be sure that he had heard correctly. Magnus laughed, and then said,
"Alec, baby, Blondie wants you." Jace could picture Alec rolling his eyes and blushing. There was the annoying sound that signifies a phone exchanging hands, and then it was Alec on the line.
"Sorry about him. I'll get him back later," he said. There was the faint sound of Magnus saying that it had better be in the bedroom when that happened. Jace cringed. He could totally live without hearing that. "Magnus Bane, I am on the phone!" Alec yelled back at him.
"Right. You do realize that my girlfriend needs training," Jace said, "and you are the only one who can show her archery?" Alec laughed. It was weird hearing him laugh so much, Jace decided. That was not like the Alec that he knew.
"Have Simon do it. He's not terrible, well, he's better than you and Izzy, at least. I'm busy," Alec said.
"In case you have forgotten, Simon isn't allowed inside the Institute. He's a vampire. A very special vampire, but still a vampire. He shouldn't have been there while he was a mundie, and he's really not allowed here now," Jace replied.
"Then take them somewhere else. Luke's farm, maybe. I am really busy, Jace," Alec told him. Jace was flabbergasted. Alec had never refused him with such insistence before.
"Alexander, please hurry up, it's game day," Magnus called from another room.
"Coming, Magnus. Give me a few minutes. Jace, I can't come. Get Simon, or train her in something else for the day," he said and hung up. Jace stood in the hallway with his mouth wide open in shock.
"What do you mean, 'everything'?" Rory asked. Jace chuckled.
"Just that, Ror. Magnus Bane was the world to Alec. It was for Magnus that he came out. He did it in such a dramatic way, too. For that one moment, Alec's issues out-shined me and Clary's," Jace said, remembering the kiss in front of most of the Clave all those years ago.
"Seriously, that was Alec?" Obviously this generation had heard of that day, though apparently no names were given. Jace laughed again.
"Yep. That was the same day that Clary created the Alliance rune," Jace said, though he knew that Rory didn't need the history lesson.
"If Magnus meant everything to my dad, why aren't they together?" He asked Jace. This was the part that Jace wasn't able to really explain.
"I honestly don't know. I know that Alec made a mistake, and that Magnus left him. I know that Alec went through hell—quite literally—to win him back. Alec actually killed for him. But when it comes down to it, I'm not sure why he let Magnus go," Jace said in a whisper. Rory looked at Jace and saw that he was torn. Jace had ties to both Alec and Magnus, and now Rory, too. He wanted everyone to be happy, but that wasn't really possible.
"Where is he, Jace?" Rory asked just as quietly. Jace sighed.
"You know where he is, Rory," Jace said. "You can go home, if you want, I can take care of Will and Amanda." Rory only nodded and left.
It was strange to think of his dad in love with someone other than his father. For so long it had been him, Ashleigh, and their dads. The four of them, with the occasional visit from Chrisalai. That was the world that Rory knew, and it was the one that he wanted to stay in. It was still warm, being that it was only September, even though the leaves would hit him in the face as the fell. He was laying down in the park by his house, almost afraid of what he would see if he went home.
He remembered first meeting Alec, and thinking that he was one of the most talented Shadowhunters he had ever met. He was also six, but the impression had turned out to be correct. When his dad—Chris—told him that he was going to ask Alec to marry him, Rory was so happy that Alec was always going to be a part of his life. It was a dream come true. He remembered holding Ashleigh's hand walking down the aisle on their wedding day, and seeing his dad so happy. It had been ten years since the wedding, and the memory was a little fuzzy, but the feeling was still crystal clear.
Rory stood up and dusted the dirt and leaves off his pants.
Walking in, he saw his sister doing pushups in the living room. When she saw him, she stopped.
"Hey, what are you doing home already?" She asked, tucking her legs underneath her.
"Jace said we were done for the day," he said, the lie quick on his lips. He didn't know why he lied. "Where's dad?" he asked her.
"In the library, where else?" she said, rolling her eyes. Rory would have laughed if he didn't have so much on his mind, and Ashleigh knew it. "Rory, what's wrong?" He shook his head and started walking towards the library.
"What, Ash?" He asked when her hand closed around his arm.
"He's got a guest, just so you know," she told him. Rory rolled his eyes.
"Yeah, of course he does." He said under his breath, and jerked his hand out of sister's grip.
Standing outside the library door was perhaps not the best of ideas. Rory overheard Magnus saying that it was fine that Alec left him, and though the words were kind, Rory could hear sadness in his voice. And then he heard Alec move. At that, Rory couldn't take it any longer. He opened the door to find his father in the arms of the man he taught with on a daily basis. He saw lips connected, and he felt his heart shatter. Tears began to form, and he dropped to his knees right in front of them. Ashleigh came running in at the noise, and Alec pulled away from Magnus to see his children.
