Notes: This is a first time writing this trio, so I hope I did well. I'd love to know what you think!
The first time Magnus had picked up a seraph blade and it had lit up in bright red, Jace and Alec had been the only ones to see it. The second time, Izzy and Clary had been there too, and Izzy had even offered to go look for a scientific explanation for that before Magnus had stopped her and told her that it had to do mostly with his father.
By the fifth time, Maryse saw it happen.
It had been just a routine mission which later evolved into an actual hunt. The directions they'd been given had been vague at best and they'd ended up in a demon's nest. They'd all been shapeshifters, too, so it had been absolutely impossible to be sure who to kill. Overall, it had been a mess, and it showed, but that would have still been nothing out of the ordinary if it hadn't been for Magnus.
He'd started going out on patrols with them just a fortnight ago and he'd always joined them when they'd already left the Institute, so no one who shouldn't have noticed had noticed, but they'd all been too tired to be careful today. Both Jace and Alec had lost their steles in the process, Magnus's shoulder was bleeding and only the Institute was close enough to provide adequate care for them.
Then they'd stumbled upon Maryse and that was when things had officially gone to hell.
Alec and Maryse were the last people Jace would expect of to make a spectacle of themselves so their argument was a quiet one; Jace himself hadn't joined in because it would look too suspicious, even though he was tempted as he saw both of them grow progressively more furious.
He'd just made to stand up when he felt a hand on his wrist.
"Don't make it worse," Magnus advised and sat down next to Jace. His eyes were unglamoured and his shirt was sticking to his shoulder in a way that reminded Jace that his wound wasn't as light as he was pretending it was. "Maryse needs at least one golden child so she can function."
"Since when do you care about Maryse's feelings?" Jace asked and Magnus laughed quietly enough for Jace to know that he was either in too much pain or not wanting to be heard. Neither possibility sounded too pleasant.
"I don't," he admitted. "But it's easier that way."
In many ways, it was easier. The control of the Institute had slipped out of the Lightwoods's hands and even if she rarely said it, Maryse blames Alec for that; she had never really forgotten what he'd done at the wedding and every conversation they'd had since then had been strained and curt. Still, not approving of Alec's relationship was one thing; seeing Magnus hold a seraph blade she had personally commissioned was something entirely different and it had clearly been too much; enough for her to stop with the silent treatment at least for a while. Despite their hushed voices, Jace could still hear most of what she was saying, including something involving sacrilege and he winced internally, hoping that Magnus hadn't heard it too.
"You can lean on me," he suggested when he saw that the Warlock was visibly struggling to even sit straight. "It's okay."
"It's not." Magnus's eyes were still fixed on Maryse and Alec and Jace inched closer to him, nudging him gently.
"I don't care," Jace said and had the momentary satisfaction of seeing Magnus's pleasantly surprised expression before he did as he'd been bid.
Magnus wasn't a soldier. This wasn't his world and sometimes, Jace felt almost guilty that he and Alec had somehow managed to drag him into it. But he'd wanted it; he'd asked to train with them and when they'd realised that he could use the seraph blades too, they'd all decided that it couldn't go wrong. And yet here they were now and eventually, Alec and Jace would be provided with new steles, but Magnus would have only his magic to heal him.
"Maybe this was a mistake." Jace said and Magnus looked up with obvious difficulty.
"What was?" he asked, but the guarded edge to his tone told Jace that he knew what he meant already.
"You coming on missions. You're not... this isn't your job. You have your lair, and you use it to protect all the Warlocks in the city anyway, so maybe it'd be better if you do the same yourself."
"Do what?"
The conversation died abruptly at the new voice, although both of them relaxed when they realised that Alec had been the one to speak.
"Are you done here for the day? Because I think we could all use some rest," Magnus said quickly, and Jace could practically see his thoughts as he decided to avoid the topic. They both knew that if they had pursued the conversation, the two Shadowhunters would eventually gang up on him. He'd told them countless of times that he was perfectly capable of protecting himself, but it had all fallen on deaf ears so far.
"Yes," Alec nodded and Magnus turned around, ready to conjure the portal. Jace watched him as he did it; he didn't know much about how a Warlock's magic worked, but he knew that it was tiring and even if Magnus had assured them that he was nowhere near to being drained from the battle today, forming a portal still required quite the effort. "We don't have to return the weapons tonight, so we can leave."
A quick look at his parabatai assured Jace of what he was already thinking – they wouldn't have to place the weapon back in the armoury because Maryse didn't want them there now that they'd been used by a Downworlder. He sighed and shook his head, a newer, deeper exhaustion settling under his skin; one that he wouldn't be able to chase away with a good night's sleep.
"You know what I think?" Magnus said, and his voice was much more cheerful than before. Jace knew him well enough to know that he was making an effort to not look as miserable as he probably felt and also well enough to know that it was better not to ruin that; if he wanted to appear more put together than he was, then Jace wasn't going to be the one to ruin it. "I think we all need a bath."
"Not yet," Alec said as he stepped through the portal too. "Take off your shirt."
Of course, if anyone didn't like pretending that everything was fine when it wasn't, it was Alec. If the situation had been even a little different, Magnus would have protested, but he probably knew how bad his wound was, because he reached up for the buttons of his shirt and – after a wince caused by his arm movement – let Alec unbutton it for him and peel it off.
The blood was more than Jace had expected, but he could see that it was better than it actually looked. It would heal in no time, especially if-
"Let me do it," Jace said as he saw Alec reach for Magnus's hand. "I lost less blood."
He found one of the steles they kept in Magnus's flat just in case and activated Alec's healing runes, waiting until Alec did the same for him before turning to Magnus.
They'd done this a few times before, but it was usually Alec who handled it. He'd been the first one to share his strength with Magnus and he'd kept doing it later on when needed or when Magnus had used too much magic to be able to heal himself properly. Jace had only done it once or twice, but he was getting the hang of it.
It was a strange sensation and pretty much the only way in which Jace could know what magic really felt like. It was like liquid electricity flowing through his veins, sparking out of his fingertips and into Magnus. Jace watched as the wound closed slowly, leaving behind nothing but dried blood as a sign of the injury that had been there only seconds ago.
"I'll set up the bath," Alec said and Jace saw him heading for the bathroom from the corner of his eye. They all knew each other well enough by now to know what each of them needed in every possible moment and by the time Magnus let go of his hand, Jace knew that a bath would be just the thing. The sudden disappearance of pain was always tiring; Shadowhunters knew that better than anyone, but all of it was way too new for Magnus to be used to it yet.
They undressed each other carefully, still mindful of any leftover bruises and followed Alec into the bathroom, only to find the bath already full and Alec lounging into it, his barely noticeable smile the only sign that he hadn't fallen asleep. He seemed to notice their arrival despite his closed eyes and motioned them to join him.
Magnus had had to make quite a few adjustments to his apartment since Jace and Alec had come into his life and the bath had been one of them – he'd enlarged it the first time it had turned out to be a problem and had waved them off when they'd told him not to bother. Everything was easier with magic, he'd said, and it was really no trouble. They'd taken it in stride back then, but it was still something Jace couldn't get used to; how someone would alter their own living space to accommodate him.
He gestured at Magnus to go first and then got in himself, settling between him and Alec with a sigh of content.
There were so many things that Jace wanted to say; words of love and reassurance that he could never seem to give enough of, but he didn't. He was sure that they knew already and plus, as long as he could feel their presence, that was all he needed.