Chapter 2- An Un-Convention-al Case

(Yes It's a Pun…No I'm not sorry)

Summery:

Magnus gets hired for an unusual Case…Simon is Ecstatic

They run into a familiar face

_Simon-Simon-Simon-Simon-Simon_

"No, but really that's-"

"Excuse me? Is one of you Magnus Bane?" A rather smooth, faintly accented voice asked from the doorway of the shop,

Simon startles slightly, he hadn't even heard the bell

He, Magnus and Raphael turn to get a look at the newcomer,

He was just about Magnus's height, maybe a bit taller, and, as a matter of fact, really quite handsome;

He appears slightly overly tanned with pitch black hair that is a stark contrast to his very light, almost startlingly light, blue eyes.

He is dressed in a nearly black, midnight blue, well fitting, expensive designer suit.

Magnus smiles charmingly, giving him an appreciative once over

"I'm Magnus Bane…And who might you be?" he says in a rather flirty tone, leaning against the desk

The man gets a slightly star-struck look that seems just a bit out of place

Reaching forward to shake his hand

"Wow, it really is you…

Sorry, I-I've just read all about you, uh, about all the cases you worked, it's kind of surreal actually meeting you…

My name is Lidan Campbell, I'm the head of promotions and events for Personas Exposition Hall an-."

Simon gasped excitedly tapping Raphaels arm a bit too enthusiastically

That might leave a bit of a mark

"Wait, wait, wait! That's where they're having the Santa Barbra Scifi Convention this week!"

Lidan seems to startle slightly at his enthusiastic reaction, somewhat unsure

"Y-yes? It is, I w-"

"I wanted to get tickets, but it's been sold out for MONTHS!"

"Well I kn-"

"And you actually get to work there?! Oh my god, that is SO cool! So wh-"

"Simon, amor, let the man finish his sentence…" Raphael cuts him off gently, before he could really get going; he shook his head affectionately,

Simon blushed slightly and tried to temper his excitement, but he was still practically vibrating with it

God he was adorable…how did he ever get so lucky?

Raphael smiled warmly at him, before turning to face Lidan,

His smile turning into something not nearly as warm, and much sharper

"Then, I am sure, as he is here to talk to Magnus, and he, in all likelihood, needs Magnus's help with something,

He will be more than happy to answer whatever questions one of Magnus's dearest friends, may have..." he finishes raising his eyebrow, almost daring him to contradict that.

"Uhh…yes, o-of course I will…" He stammered, somewhat nervously, taking a slight step away from Raphael

He shook his head slightly, coming back to himself

"Umm…anyways, as I was saying I actually came here to hire you"

Magnus gave him an almost affronted look,

"For a…Scifi convention? Mr. Campbell, I realize Psychic abilities are rather unusual but this is not some-"

Lidan's eyes widen, he frantically shakes his head

"Oh! No! Not for anything like that…no, I actually wanted to hire you for a case" he explained

"A Case?"

"Yes… You see, as your friend has already said the Scifi convention is being held there this year. It is a week long event and tends to bring in quite a lot of money…

However, this year something…odd it going on;

People are acting quite bizarre; they seem to be convinced they actually ARE characters in these shows.

It's happen to quite a few, at first we thought it was an elaborate act, or overly obsessed fans, but they won't snap out of it, they genuinely believe it…

That was weird enough, but now there have been a few people who have disappeared entirely"

Magnus tilted his head curiously

"Disappeared? Have you went to the police?" he asked, concerned

Lidan shook his head

"I, no I haven't. I know I should, but this convention is one of our biggest events of the year.

It truth, this event going well is imperative for the hall to stay in business

If word got out about all of the bizarre happenings it could end up damaging us so much that we end up closing.

Mind you, I wouldn't put money over someone's life or health or anything like that…

But there is the very real, more likely option that they just got tired of the convention and left.

I just don't want to get the authorities involved if it is in anyway avoidable…

I was hoping you could maybe come to the convention and investigate?" he finished hopefully

Simon made a slight squeaking sound; he was clearly trying to keep from commenting but could barely contain his excitement

Raphael chuckled slightly,

Slipping his arm around Simon and kissing his cheek lightly

Really, no one should be that adorable…

Magnus shook his head affectionately before turning back to Lidan with a smile

"Well…If I were to take the case I would need access to the event"

"Yes, of course, I can get you all access passes and everything, you'll have full reign of the event"

"Actually, it wouldn't be just me; you see, I have a team that I work with.

I need them with me, it helps with my perception, you see…I really couldn't do it without them" he finishes, smirking slightly

On the couch Simon is still trying valiantly to keep quiet, but he is practically bouncing in place, he has a grip on Raphael's hand that looks painful

Raphael looks torn between pain from his hand, total adoration over Simon's excitement, and resigned horror at having to be dragged around a Scifi convention by his adorable, excitable, boyfriend…

Magnus tries to hide a laugh

Judging by the look Raphael shoots him, he didn't hide it very well

"Sure, no problem…whatever you need. How many of you will there be?"

Simon makes a sound that's almost at a level only dogs could hear

Magnus grins

"Oh, there'll be four of us"

Raphael wonders if, wherever he is, Alec just got the same uncontrollable shudder he just had

_Alec-Alec-Alec-Alec-Alec_

"I can't believe I fell for this…" Alec muttered, shaking his head…as he dodged nearly running into a guy painted bright blue dressed in a metallic, day glow yellow suit

Magnus had called him asking for help for a case;

It seemed that he'd got hired to look into a few disappearances.

The client was hesitant to call in the authorities on the chance that it was all just a misunderstanding…

Magnus had said that, although he knew it was Alec's day off, he also knew just how worried Alec could get about him working cases without any backup,

And that if Alec had the time he would really like him to come along, just in case there was something nefarious going on…

Of course he'd agreed without a second thought,

Pleasantly surprised that Magnus would actually be approaching this sensibly and really looking at all the possibilities, rather than just jumping in and figuring it out later, as he so often does.

He was so surprised; in fact, that it didn't even occur to him to ask what, exactlythe event was…

Not even when he'd asked where he wanted to meet and Magnus had said that he'd come by and pick him up so they could just ride over together…

He blamed himself really,

Actually, no, he blamed Raphael

The guy could have at least sent him a text with a heads up.

He comforted himself with the fact that he was almost certainly more miserable here than Alec.

The second they'd arrived Simon had practically bounded out of the car, talking a mile a minute. He's grabbed Raphaels hand tightly and pretty much dragged him off right into the thick of the crowd.

So at least he didn't have to deal with that

Still…

"Oh, now darling, it's not that bad" Magnus assured, patting his shoulder

Alec glanced back, giving a sarcastic, slightly annoyed look, raising an eyebrow

"I can't believe you tricked me into this"

Magnus gasped, giving an overly exaggerated affronted look

"I didn't 'trick' you! I'd never do such a thing!"

Alec rolled his eyes, scoffing slightly

"What? I didn't! I never lied…It IS a case, and, should it become something other than the much more likely possibility that those who 'disappeared' merely had enough of all this 'excitement' and went home,

Then it really would be better if I had backup, just in case…"

"Uh huh…" Alec said, with a sardonic smile

Magnus linked his arm with Alec's, patting him lightly on the shoulder, leaning close, and giving an overly innocent look, practically batting his eyes

"Darling! It most likely is nothing, but, should it prove to be more, it would be much safer having a strong, well trained, brilliant, gorgeous detective with me, just in case…"

Alec shakes his head, rolling his eyes again, but can't stop a slight chuckle

"Laying it on a bit thick there, aren't you?

By the way, has anyone ever actually bought that innocent look?"

Magnus chuckles, shrugging slightly

"Maybe I was, doesn't make it any less true… and no, not really, but it's always worth a shot"

He squeezed Alec's arm slightly, giving him a more genuine smile

"I know I was a bit deceptive, but I really did want your help with this.

There is the possibility that this could be an actual case; though people leaving a convention and Scifi fans acting weird and getting carried away is not exactly hard evidence,

Honestly, the lack of that would be more unusual…

But I don't want to go into this just expecting nothing and end up blindsided…

Truthfully I don't think it's anything; I mainly took the case so Simon would be able to attend the convention.

Alexander, you should have seen the dear when he found out he was getting to go...

It was too adorable to describe

Even so, I thought it would be beneficial to have some help just in case, and I rather figure Simon will be too distracted,

And Raphael will be too busy being dragged around by him and just trying to keep up."

Alec chuckled at that nodding slightly

"Yeah, I'd kind of feel bad for the guy, but as he didn't even give me so much as a heads up, and he still purposely scares me from time to time, and I know damn good and well it's on purpose…I kinda don't"

Magnus gives a bright, surprised laugh

"Darling, that is terrible; though you do have a point."

"So, as me dragging you here has given you the opportunity for a bit of payback with Raph,

Does that mean you forgive me for tricking you?" Magnus asks him with a hopeful, impish smile

Alec rolls his eyes slightly, but smiles

"Yeah, I guess…"

Magnus grins, then leans up and presses a quick kiss to Alec's cheek, causing him to blush

"S-so…what exactly is this case anyways?" Alec stammers out

"Oh, well, apparently there are a few of the patrons of the convention that have been acting rather odd, they seem convinced that they are, in actuality, characters from some of these shows…

In addition, there have been a few people that have disappeared from the convention altogether,

Lidan Campbell, the head of promotions and events hired me.

Though in truth he seemed rather eager to meet me. He didn't seem overly concerned about the disappearances. He had said he'd read all the articles about the cases I've worked.

Not to sound conceded or anything, but I rather think he may just be a bit of a fan and this was an excuse to meet me…"

Alec felt his heart drop

"Oh…umm, so, what was he like?" Alec asked nervously, not really sure he wanted to hear the answer

"Hmm…? Eh, nothing too interesting.

Fairly attractive, in an overly slick, Hollywood phony kinda way,

Way too tan, almost to an unhealthy degree, and although I do generally have a weakness for the dark hair/light eyes combo, it just seems a bit much with him.

In all honestly, he seemed just a bit dim and rather forgettable…

As I said nothing too interesting" he finished with a shrug

Alec let out the breath he'd been holding

"Anyway about the ca-"

"Hey, is that Jace!?" Magnus exclaimed with a slight, barely controlled giggle, freezing in place, causing Alec to stop as well, as Alec just realized Magnus's arm is still wrapped around his…

"What? Jace wouldn't come to a …" he trailed off when he caught sight of his brother; and then he promptly burst out laughing

"Okay, I take it back…thank you SO much for dragging me along, I owe you big for this" he said in between laughs,

He put his arm around Magnus's shoulders to steady himself and try to catch his breath.

Magnus was no better, he was full on giggling, there was no other way to describe it, he had one hand to his face,

Trying to stifle it, but it was of no use…

Jace; arrogant, snarky, totally self assured, Jace, was standing at one of the booths for some show or the other…

He was wearing a shimmery silver, super cheesy 'futuristic' suit, with some kind of ray gun looking thing slung over his shoulder

His usually slick blond hair was replaced with, what Alec could only hope was, a neon green spiky wig, the tips were a brilliant orange

He had a few prosthetics on his face, and a slight bit of metallic orange-ish costume makeup and…

Oh my god…

Bright shimmery neon green lipstick

"Seriously, I owe you SO much for this, you are the best!"

"I know I am darling, now come on! We have to go over there!" Magnus says still giggling slightly

Alec nods before hurrying along with him

Magnus still reaches him first

"Well, well…finally decided to update your look? I like it, though I don't really think that's quite your shade, dear"

Jace startles, and then groans when he realizes who it is

He looks over to glare at Magnus, then spots Alec, and Alec's grin, and groans even louder

"What are you guys doing here?" he hisses exasperatedly,

"Right now? Just really enjoying the moment" Alec says still laughing slightly

Manus beams at him, squeezing his arm slightly before turning back to Jace,

"Though not nearly as much as you seem to be enjoying the convention"

Jace rolls his eyes, glaring and blushing slightly

Alec is pretty sure that's a first

(The blushing, the other two things he does an annoying amount of times a day)

"Oh, shut up…I got cast for an upcoming part in this show, Cosmos, and they decided to have me come to the convention to kind of give a sneak preview of the character"

Magnus slips his phone out and quickly begins typing…

"What are you doing? Telling Simon and Raphael so they can laugh too?" he snipes

Magnus shakes his head

"No, they're around here somewhere and Simon's determined to see everything, I'm sure they'll see you soon enough.

I don't want to ruin the surprise…

I was looking up the airing time for the show and setting my DVR to record it, I don't want to miss a second"

Alec laughs, nodding enthusiastically; he rests his hand on Magnus shoulder glancing over at the phone

"Thursdays at 9?"

"Yes, darling…though, you should probably just come over about 7:30 or so,

This way we'll have enough time to have dinner and Simon will have enough time to go over the events of the day before the actual show starts, you know how the dear does go on,"

Alec nods

"Good thinking, I could probably just pick up dinner on my way over"

Magnus beams

"Lovely"

Jace groans again, glaring at the both of them

"What are you guys doing here anyways? And, more importantly, can you get back to it?" he grumbles

Alec finally takes pity on him, dropping the teasing

"We're working a case; Magnus got hired to look into some supposed disappearances and strange behavior. Have you seen anything odd?"

Jace gives him a sarcastic look

"Alec, it's a Scifi convention, everything is odd"

Alec raises his eyebrow

"Says the man with neon green lipstick and hair?"

"Hey! It's for a part, okay? And anyways, Magnus has wild colored hair and lipstick all the time!

He probably has this exact same color!"

Alec shrugs, smirking a bit, glancing over at Magnus consideringly

"Yeah, that's probably true, but the difference is he could actually pull it off"

Magnus laughs brightly, absolutely beaming at him

He tightens his hold on Alec's arm

Alec heart speeds up

Alec tries to ignore the fluttering feeling that smile causes, turning back to Jace

"Just, if you see anything let us know"

"Sure…fine, whatever, can you just go now? In a few minutes we have to act out some scenes with the fans…

I really don't want you guys here for that"

Alec laughs, shaking his head

"Oh, no, we're st-"

Magnus grabs his arm once again,

"Now darling, clearly the poor boy is far too shy to have us here, and we wouldn't want to hurt his performance…

We'll leave, good luck dear. I'm sure you'll be wonderful."

With that he turned and walked quickly away, pulling Alec along with him

"Why did we have to leave? This is bound to be hilarious" Alec asked, glancing back,

He still doesn't pull away from Magnus, though,

Magnus gives that impish grin that is far too appealing,

The one that usually means he's up to something

It's even more appealing when the 'something' isn't something likely to backfire…

"I quite agree; that is why, while you were talking to him, I gave my number to the girl running the booth so she could forward me a copy of the recordings they make of every scene…"

Alec bursts out laughing

He's never been so happy to be tricked into something in his life

Just FYI

The reason I didn't get anything posted Tuesday is because I in fact managed to work out my ENTIRE outline…

I actually have the last about 5 chapters pretty well worked out, and I REALLY can't wait to see what you guys think of how this story goes…

I love it SO freaking much!

Fair warning…this is a crossover with Librarians and that means that I have a whole new universe of stuff to play will…and I have a fix to bring it all back to us, so I am going to totally run with the crazy

This'll be a lot of fun, and I know no one is gonna see all the twists coming…

Because I didn't even see them coming when I started this!

Also, with Ezekiel and Jake in the mix I have a whole new set of characters to play with, and I only get them for this one story so they may get a bit of extra time…

Unfortunately, that means we're gonna be pretty short on the Saphael for this one,

Sorry, you all know how much I adore them…but I had to cut something, and they've had three (four, counting the oneshot) that are focused almost entirely on them

Anyways…I hope you guys like this as much as I do