Story: "Just Alec, now."
Chapter: 03 – Family is where your heart is
Rating Story: NC-17
Rating Chapter: PG13
Warning(s): AU/AH, mature content, swearing, language
Pairings: Malec, Will/Jem (TID)
Disclaimer: Cassandra Clare thought of the wonderful world of the mortal instruments and infernal devices. I just play with the characters and change a bit of their life.

AN: Dear readers: thank you.

Poopsie pie: Sorry for answering so late and thank you for your review. Alec and Magnus need to be this young at the beginning, as the story has a span of about 5 years and then I need Alec to be about 19/20 (making him 14/15 'now'). I hope you can bear with me :)

Never before had Alec enjoined a game of Scrabbles more. Normally he was annoyed by his siblings because they just could not play with the much needed sincerity. Inventing new words with every turn they took, the game soon became a war of "who gets to look it up in the dictionary". Now he was sitting in front of the coffee table looking at the letters he had gotten while Magnus was looking from his letters to the board nibbling on the thumb of his uninjured hand. He sighed, changed his mind again and again. William – he was a FBI Agent in the making as Alec had learned during dinner – was tapping his hand on his arm and Jem – James actually – was smiling serenely at the board waiting for Magnus' next move. The older teen sighed again and got the velvet pouch from the table and put some of his letters inside taking out new ones. "Really, Magnus? You needed about 10 minutes before you finally decided that the letters given to you weren't to your liking?" Will was smirking at the teen who was scowling back at the black-haired man. "William, don't be like that." Jem was – obviously – the more mature one who tried to mediate between the two dominant personalities.

Alec was next in line. He nibbled at his bottom lip laying his letters on the board forming the word 'graceful' with the ones already there. "See, Magnus. That is how you do it. You think while the others are playing and then you get new letters playing the next round." Will nodded to Alec who blushed in turn stealing a glance at Magnus. The older teen was scowling deeply at his guardian. Jem touched Will's arm in a warning and at the same time comforting gesture. "William. It is your turn and I hope you are as fast as Alec with the letters you call your own." "Where you looking at my letters again, James?" "Don't be stupid. Of course I was." Now scowling at his partner, the raven haired man took the pouch of letters and changed his own to new ones. "See. I was way faster than Magnus with my decision." "That may be, but I can assure you that I could have laid at least two words with the letters you had." "Oh, really? Let me see what you have there, Mr Carstairs." Will crossed his arms over his chest, waiting for Jem's move. The gray-haired man lay his letters on the board, getting extra points for using all of them. Magnus smirked at Will who was frowning at his partner.

Jem meanwhile was looking up at the clock hanging over the dinning table. "It is already late and you, Magnus, have school tomorrow." Said teen was now frowning at the older man. "I'm 16 not 6, Jem. I know when to go to bed so that I will not oversleep tomorrow." Jem was giving Magnus a look conveying what he was thinking about the teen's statement and the raven haired boy got up and walked over to the bathroom connected to his bedroom. "Alec? Help me put away the board?" The boy nodded and helped Jem filling the letters into the pouch. "William? Why don't you get the spare bed and spare sheets ready in Magnus' room?" Without even commenting on the other's words, the dark-haired man left the living room down the hall.

"For as long Magnus and William are occupied, I would like to talk to you." Putting the board into the box and the pouch with the letters above, Jem closed the box and put it back into the cupboard where it came from. "Magnus didn't tell us much. I don't think he knows much himself. About you and about what has happened to you. But I think he has theories and I think he fears what may have happened to you." James gestured to the couch for Alec to sit on. He got two bottles of water from the fridge setting them on the coffee table. "Our household is unique on its own. We all came together by strokes of fate. William and I have been friends before we became partners. What has happened is in the past and if, when, one of us wants to tell you he will. We decided to offer you the same treatment. But as a doctor I need to know one thing." Alec was swallowing hard and nodded his head. "Where you in any way touched inappropriately by an adult where ever you have been before you ran into Magnus?" Slowly the teen shook his head. He knew what Jem was referring to and he was glad that he hadn't met that fate. "Good. Would it be alright if I checked more than your arm tomorrow?" Alec took one sip from the water bottle and nodded.

Jem sighed and pulled Alec into his arms who stiffened at the unfamiliar touch of the older man. The gray-haired man pulled away quickly. "Oh I'm sorry, Alec. I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable." "No. It's just that I haven't been hugged in a very long time." Ruffling the younger male's head – and getting a scowl in return – Jem stood up and walked over to the hall closet to get some fresh linens for Alec's bed. "I bet that Will and Magnus are wrestling over the honour to get your bed ready." Suddenly there was a small squeal coming from the bathroom Magnus had walked into. Will came out of Magnus' room rolling his eyes. "You have nothing I haven't seen before and definitely nothing I want to see." Huffing, Will let himself fall into one of the armchairs. "I take it that you put Alec's bed up in Magnus' room?" The dark-haired man snorted and nodded his head. "Yes and while I did so, our drama queen came out of the bathroom – naked – and squealed as he saw me sitting on the bed." Alec blushed lightly at the older man's words.

At this moment Magnus came out of his room in his pyjamas and a dark blush on his face. "You could have warned me that you where in my room. I wouldn't have come out then without at least a towel on. But no, you have to be all stealthy and quiet." Jem was walking past the scowling teen and tapped him on the head. He made his way towards Magnus' bedroom to get the new sheets ready. Magnus sat next to Alec on the couch taking a sip from the younger boy's bottle. "Oh Maggie, be thankful that I put the spare bed close to your bed or else you wouldn't be able to talk to Alec tonight. Well at least I put the spare bed close, I don't know what Jem will be doing while getting the sheets ready." Muttering something about "not calling him Maggie." the older teen stood up and offered his hand to the blue-eyed boy. "Come on, Alec. We don't have to listen to this old man here, talking about things he doesn't understand."

Gaping at Magnus and looking to the smirking Will, who just nodded his head, the boys made their way to the one room they all had refered to as "Magnus' room". Jem was just fluffing the pillow as they entered. Seeing the bedroom for the first time, Alec could not imagine anyone else in this room but Magnus. One wall was covered with ceiling high windows and nearly transparent white curtains and lime green blinds. Two of the other walls were white but covered with posters and picture frames of landscapes – by the look of it from all over the world – and the last wall behind the bed was painted a light greenish-blue colour. The bed itself was an accumulation of colours and shapes. A desk was standing at the other side of the room with a desktop pc and next to it was a bookshelf organised by the colours of the book covers. The open wardrobe took the last place between the door to the bathroom and the other wall. Colourful was the only description of the clothes hanging inside and lying around on the ground in front of the closet. Alec cringed at the bright colours, as they were not an option to wear in his old home. Next to the bed was a small cot with light blue sheets on it – much to Alec's liking.

Jem walked over to the smaller teen handing him a big white t-shirt and dark shorts. "These are an old pair of William. I think they will fit well enough for tonight. Tomorrow we can get you new ones." Thanking the older man, Alec walked over to the bathroom and closed the door behind him. The gray-haired man knocked once on the door to let the teen know which towels he could use. Then he walked over to Magnus pulled him close and gave him a small peck on his forehead before he left the teens to got to sleep.

Alec was enjoying the warm water cascading down his body. It had been a long time that he could shower uninterrupted and without having one of the "teachers" watching him. The soap smelled lightly of Sandalwood. He turned the water off reaching for a towel on the rack drying himself off thoroughly before he put on the clothes he had been given. The t-shirt was much too wide and hanging loose from his shoulders. The Shorts were kept on his hips by a ribbon and pure stubbornness. He dried his hair by towelling it roughly and walked into Magnus' bedroom seeing the other teen already in bed reading one of the many books. He laid down on the spare bed and snuggled into the sheets.

Alec heard the sheets on the older teen's bed rustle as Magnus stretched to put the light off. "You okay over there?" "Never better." "Want to continue our game from before?" Alec turned on his side looking at Magnus' bed and what he presumed was Magnus in it. The light from outside was not enough to see more than shapes from the things in the room. "Who was asking the last question?", the younger teen asked as he got closer to the edge of the bed. "Hmm. We established that you like the colour blue and I love everything but black. Your favourite season is autumn while I'm more of a summer person. What else?" "You like asian food." "Ah, right. And you liked Lasagna. So I have a question: Have you ever been abroad?" "Does Canada count?" "The french part?" "No. Vancouver." "Hm. Don't know. Yeah we let that one count." "What about you?" "I have been to Indonesia, England and France before coming here." "That's awesome. I wish I could have traveled around." "Maybe we will. William is from England - London to be exact. Normally he visits the city every two or three years, the last time we three went together." "I don't think I will be able to come." "Why not?" Laying on his back the younger teen looked at the ceiling. "Because I clearly don't have the money and I'm not old enough to work and I don't have a passport." A small snort was heard from the bed not far from him. "Money and passport are not a matter. Trust me. Jem had to go to China once for some family business or other and it was on a short notice like over night. Will pulled some strings and the next day Jem was flying to China with an over night visa and there is no over night visa for americans to China." "I still would feel bad." "Don't be. It's not illegal to apply for financial help for raising a child and it is definitely not illegal to take money offered to you out of obligation." The way Magnus said that made Alec think about what Jem had told him about their little family.

"So: train or car or bus?" "What?" "What kind of vehicle would you prefer when travelling?" "I don't know. We were always driving by car. Anywhere. But I always wanted to go by train somewhere. Like in Harry Potter. That would be nice." "You're a Potterhead as bad as they come." "As if you would be any better." Turning around, he thought about the countless hours spent inside his room reading and re-reading the novels. He was glad that he was able to read the end before he was brought to New York. The sheets of the other bed rustled and suddenly there was a shadow standing in front of his cot. "Are you crying?", affronted the younger teen looked up at the older boy. "No, why would I be?" "Because I made fun of you." "That's no reason to cry and mature boys don't cry anyway." Sitting down on the smaller teen's bed Magnus reached over and laid a hand on Alec' shoulder. "Crying is good for your soul. Especially if you have gone through something traumatic." Watching the older teen Alec wanted to ask what Magnus would know about "going through something traumatic" but he felt that he didn't have the right to ask him that. "family is where your heart is and we - Jem, Will and me - are very good at being a family without any kind of blood ties." He laid down next to the smaller teen. "And I think you would fit perfectly inside."