A/N: Merry Belated Christmas/Hanukah/Yule/whatever you may celebrate! I finished this on Christmas, so yay! I was in a writing grind, as I call it, and got this out pretty quickly. I'm just trying to read lots of romance stuff, since I have almost no experience writing it and I don't want to screw up Malec.
I did something a little different at the end, by the way. I wrote an omake. Gasp, I know. I couldn't resist. I got an idea, and I couldn't put it into the actual story, but I wanted to share it so . . . *shrugs*
This is getting kinda long, but I was thinking about rewriting the summary. What do you think? Any suggestions?
Either way, enjoy, and tell me your thoughts!
Song I listened to on repeat (just one this week):
Run Boy Run (Woodkid)
Disclaimer: As is blatantly obvious by now, TMI would be a very different if it was mine, but I can always wish. No, seriously though, Cassandra is brilliant, and I want to read her work, not mine.
~Cloak and Dagger~
The sun had long since set when Alec steeled himself and stopped avoiding the inevitable. He slowly got ready to leave. He had already changed into dark clothes and grabbed his shadow cloak, figuring that he'd probably need to be able to sink into the shadows.
Knowing that stealth was going to be crucial, he had decided to not take a bow since it would only get in his way. He was in the middle of failing at hiding a sword on himself when Lucifer came around the doorway.
Alec watched him out of the corner of his eye. The fallen angel watched Alec struggle and let out a light snort, causing Alec to make a disgruntled noise. "Little help, please?"
Lucifer smirked but made no move forward. Instead, he tossed a bag at him. It would have rather painfully smacked into his face had he not caught it at the last possible second. The bad had an array of weapons, some of which he vaguely recognized from their trip to Hell. He looked at the fallen angel in confusion.
"It's about time you stopped using seraph blades," Lucifer stated. "All of those are made of a mixture of metals from Hell with a little bit of metal from Heaven." Here, he grimaced. "It was incredibly difficult to make an alloy with it all, but some of my more talented forgers managed. There's not much they won't kill so don't lose them."
Alec looked back into the bag with slight awe and started to carefully extract the weapons. There were two swords, eight daggers, four sets of throwing knives, two dozen arrows, and a beautiful bow. His eyes lit up. "Whoa."
Lucifer hummed in agreement. He held out a black belt with specific places on it for holding weapons. "Here. Put this on and take a couple of the daggers and one of the swords. This belt has a minor compulsion charm on it; it keeps people from noticing it or the weapons in it. Even Lilith herself would have difficulty seeing through it."
Alec eagerly grabbed the belt and put it on, quickly putting weapons in their proper sheaths. They'd had some weapon belts at the institute, but none like this. "Thank you."
"You're welcome." Lucifer leaned against the wall, tilting his head. His eyes cut to the clock. "You're almost running late, Alexander." He tsked. "Not a good quality, I assure you. When you do come back, though, do keep from getting followed or captured."
"I'll do my best," Alec said, wondering if he should feel insulted. Probably not.
"Oh, wait!" Lucifer said. He quickly handed him a crown. "Keep it on you just in case. It wouldn't do for a king to be without his crown. And remember that while we don't know much about your powers, we do know that you seem to be able to do a lot if you just will it."
Alec just sighed and accepted the crown, getting used to Lucifer's strange ways. He mulled the advise over with a quick nod of acknowledgment.
The journey to the institute was short – hallelujah! – and Alec tried his best to stay in the shadows. Easy, right? Ha, how about no. There were streetlights and passing cars headlights everywhere. He probably looked ridiculous, jumping from any and all light, too. He was about five blocks from the institute when he spotted the first shadowhunters.
He felt his eyebrows raising. He had been hoping that Isabelle had been exaggerating, but apparently not. From what he could tell, a full perimeter had been set up. That was going to make it decidedly more difficult to get inside undetected.
He shook his head as he mimicked the glamour from the day before. It was much easier this time and took a lot less energy. He shuddered slightly at the feeling. He hadn't noticed before, tired as he'd been, but the glamour felt almost like gelatine on his skin.
Alec spent the five block journey staying close to the buildings, pulling his cloak tightly around him, trying walk noiselessly. When he finally got to the institute, he frowned.
There were six shadowhunters in total guarding the building. There were two by the front gate, two around the back, and two by the doors of the building. This was not going to be easy at all, he decided.
What to do, what to do?
Maybe . . . hm, that could work. They would know he was there, though. Oh well.
He was smirking slightly as he turned back. On the rear of a building was a shadowhunter leaning against a wall. The man yawned and checked his watch. Alec raised his hand, eyes already glowing slightly. He started to slowly raise the man into the air, and as he had hoped, the man started furiously yelling.
"HELP!" he shouted, twisting. Huh. He had strong lungs. "I CAN'T MOVE. I NEED BACKUP!"
Alec's eyebrows were raised when all six of the shadowhunters guarding the institute came running, weapons in hand, leaving the institute open to threat. Wow, they were idiots.
Alec continued to levitate the man as he walked back towards the institute. Once he was in front of the doors, he slowly lowered his hand, gently sitting the man down. He actually felt kind of bad for the Clave if they couldn't get more competent help than that.
Alec raised his hand to the door, prepared to request entrance. Before he could actually say anything, though, his hand touched the door and something very strange happened, causing his body to flood with extra energy.
Starting under his hand, a pale gold light rippled. It spread across the rest of the ornate wooden doors, rippling with his hand at the center point. It reminded him of the ocean on a calm day. The door, previously cold, heated up under his hand and energy continued to thrum through his body. The doors suddenly clicked open.
His eyes had widened, and he almost wanted to study the ripples, but he could hear the thudding of boots approaching from behind. He darted inside and quickly closed the doors.
When the doors clicked back into place, they lit up with the same pale gold light and it stayed, rippling throughout like a pond even without him touching it.
He didn't understand why until he heard the shadowhunters outside furiously demanding entrance, but the doors stayed sealed. He smiled and looked up. There was only one person – being? – that could pull that off. "Thank you, Lord Raziel."
He could have sworn that the door glowed brighter for a second, almost as if in acknowledgment. Now confident that he was safe, he made his way upstairs using the rickety old elevator. The elevator came to a stop and was creaky as it opened. Thankfully, the clanking of dishes in the kitchen seemed to mask the noise.
He looked into the dining room before he entered, and sure enough, Isabelle was sitting a plate of food in his normal spot. Thankfully, it was obviously their mother's cooking and not hers. It seemed he had barely gotten there in time.
The rest of his family, including Max, were already sitting down. His parents eyed his food warily, glancing at his empty seat, but they said nothing about it. He gave them a moment to get sat down before he announced himself.
"Am I late for dinner?" he asked, leaning against the doorway. He carefully kept the amusement off his face when they all jumped. He had been spending way too much time with Lucifer, it seemed.
"Alec?!" his mother asked incredulously.
He suddenly felt awkward and out of place, barely resisting the urge to tug at his fancy clothes. "Hey, Mom. Hey, Dad."
Whereas Jace and Isabelle and even Max were unsurprised and calm, all seeming to expect him, his parents both seemed to be on the verge of panic attacks, quickly rising to their feet.
"What are you doing here?!" his father all but hissed. "Are you trying to get caught? Get out before they figure out that you're here!"
Maryse quickly walked towards him, dark eyes wide with what looked like fear. "Hurry up and leave!"
"Wait . . ." Alec said, feeling confused. "Are you trying to . . . protect me?"
Maryse looked insulted. "What kind of parents would we be if we threw you in the lion's den?" She shook her head, focusing. "The Inquisitor is here somewhere! I'm surprised she hasn't already come up here for you. She's been after your blood since that battle! You've got her so distracted that she hasn't even gotten a chance to go after Jace."
Alec blinked. He still felt horribly confused. Where these the same parents that had always done everything they could to get him to stop having his "freaky" dreams? And what was that about the inquisitor going after Jace? "Don't worry," he told her. "Lord Raziel has sealed the entrance for me."
At that, even his siblings looked up incredulously. Robert coughed. "Did you just say Lord Raziel sealed the door for you?"
Alec nodded and was about to respond when his stomach loudly growled. "Er . . ." he mumbled, feeling heat quickly rise to his face. "Sorry, but I haven't really eaten since breakfast. Can I tell you while we eat?"
Maryse sent a worried look towards the elevator, but nodded eventually. She and Robert led him to the table, and he slid into the seat between Jace and Isabelle. Max grinned at him from around Jace. He smiled somewhat weakly back, taking a bite of his dinner.
"So," he slowly began, feeling uncomfortable with the way everyone was looking at him. "This tastes great."
Maryse and Robert were both sitting stiffly, occasionally sending wary looks in the general direction of the elevator. Maryse answered, "Thank you."
They descended into awkward silence again, and Alec glanced around the table. Everyone was there except . . .
"Where's Hodge at?" he asked with his head tilted.
Automatically everyone stiffened and the tension was practically solid in the air. His eyes narrowed. "What happened?"
Robert opened his mouth to explain, but he seemed to change his mind. Isabelle, fidgeting slightly, finally said, "Alec . . . Hodge gave Jace to Valentine."
Alec inhaled his drink and started furiously coughing. That would explain the inquisitor wanting to talk to Jace. "That good for nothing pestiferous worm!"
At the same time that Jace snorted, Isabelle looked confused and mouthed pestiferous to herself. His parents and Max looked slightly shocked, and he belatedly realized that his eyes were glowing and the table was starting to shake. Oops.
"Sorry," he muttered awkwardly, looking at his dinner. He didn't have to maintain eye contact with family, right? Yeah, probably not. So long as he never let Lucifer know, maybe.
"Er, that's all right, son," Robert coughed, but it was blatantly obvious that he was not "all right" with it at all. Oh well. It was the thought that counts, he supposed.
The table descended, once more, into uncomfortable silence. No one wanted to be the one to break the silence. Luckily, Max started jabbering about a new comic book that he had just read.
After that, familiar conversation was shared, but Alec didn't miss the way that his parents were purposefully ignored the metaphorical horse in the room, in the form of his new title, responsibilities, and powers.
He just put a somewhat forced smile onto his face and continued eating. At least they hadn't kicked him out, and that was honestly more than he had expected.
. . .
Isabelle latched her nails into his arm, no doubt leaving marks, and tugged him and Jace behind her. She turned her head to call over her shoulder. "Dinner was great, thanks. We'll be in my room."
Alec and Jace exchanged a resigned look as she marched ahead of them. It was generally safest for all involved if she got her way. She didn't release them until they were standing in front of her door. She hastened to open the door and gestured for them to sit on her bed.
The second they were inside, she shut the door and took out her stele. The two males watched with curious eyes as she started scribbling locking, silencing, and safety runes all over the wood. When she finished, she stood up with a pleased look and a nod. The runes flared blue-silver light for a second before fading, proving that they were working.
She turned towards them and jumped on her bed, legs crossing. Once comfortable, her eyes locked on Alec. "Spill. What happened when you were gone?"
And spill Alec did. For hours.
At one point, Jace and Isabelle both started literally rolling in laughter. Isabelle gasped out, "Can we keep him, Alec? Please?"
Jace and Isabelle both looked at him with wide, hopeful eyes. His eyebrows rose. "Lucifer is not a puppy," he slowly explained. "Lucifer is Satan. You can not have Satan as a pet."
They both looked wounded, and Jace put a hand over his heart. "You know me so little, my dear brother. I don't want him as a pet; I want him as a best friend!"
Alec had just rolled his eyes and opened his mouth to respond when there was a strange rumbling noise. The three siblings blinked and looked around in confusion.
Almost immediately, the entire room started shaking and dust started falling from the rafters. Alec and Isabelle both sneezed, their allergies getting the best of them.
"What is that?" Isabelle asked, smoothly jumping off her bed and pulling out her whip. Jace and Alec followed her lead, both getting out their swords.
Alec shook his head, eyebrows furrowed. The ground was shaking under his feet, but not enough to make balance difficult, and there was a strange feeling in the air. "I don't know, but it feels almost like – but, no, that doesn't make sense."
Gold and brown eyes narrowed at him, two different but incredibly similar facial expressions. "Like what?" Jace demanded.
Alec never got to answer. Light flared brightly, the same pale gold color as the light on the institute door, and a voice reverberated through the room. Rather than be cool and silky like Lucifer's, it was powerful and hair-raising. A brute force that somehow seemed melodic. It was one that Alec vaguely recognized from his dreams.
"Lord Alexander," it said. "I can only keep the Clave from entering the building for so long without alienating myself. You need to flee now. I have sent word to Lucifer and he is on his way. You have five minutes before I must open the doors."
Alec cursed under his breath before replying. "Thank you for the warning, Lord Raziel."
He turned to his siblings. Judging by their expressions, they had been permitted to hear the words. They stood in dead silence for a heartbeat before he glanced to the door. "I have to leave."
Isabelle and Jace both nodded at him once.
He left the room with a stormy expression, aggravated that his time with his siblings had been cut short, and made sure that he had all of his things. He thought about running by his bedroom, but decided better of it. He had limited time, and he had nothing of sentimental value in there. Besides, Lucifer could procure anything he wanted.
He started to head towards the elevator, but he paused half way there. That was the way that the shadowhunters and the inquisitor would come once Raziel allowed them entrance, so that way was a no go.
He turned and headed towards the training room quickly. Maybe he could climb out of one of the windows? It was pretty high up, but he could probably cushion his fall . . .
He quietly closed the doors just barely in time as the elevator doors creaked open and the sound of a dozen leather-covered feet thudding echoed. He quickly slid a wooden spar stick into the door handles, temporarily holding the doors in place.
Adrenaline pulsed through Alec's veins as he looked up, easily seeing through the dark, eyes glowing slightly. There were rafters set for support all the way to the unused bell system at the very top of the building, more than a hundred feet up.
There were windows at the ground floor, maybe thirty feet up from the ground outside, but that was too risky. His best bet would be to get up high enough that they wouldn't risk shooting him down. His eyes shot to the door as they were suddenly banged on harshly. When the doors didn't open, the shouting began, more people rushing to budge the door.
His eyes caught on a rafter about twenty feet up. He was already breathing heavy from the rush of the chase when he quickly climbed up the bottom rafter from one of the higher structures in the room meant for training.
He braced himself and jumped up to grab onto another rafter nearly ten feet above him. His hands latched onto it and he swung himself on top of it. He was about forty feet up when the wood holding the doors closed snapped with a crunch.
He froze for a heartbeat, but he quickly continued his ascent. Even if they had night vision runes on, it would be hard to see him at that point. He kept as quiet as possible, and kept his cloak close to him, keeping it from getting tangled in anything.
"Where's the light?" a woman's cold voice demanded.
Alec glanced down to see the speaker, and he realized that it must be the inquisitor. It was a woman with platinum blond hair and intense gray eyes. While she could easily be considered to have ageless beauty, she had a deep scowl on her face and she was dressed entirely in an oppressive gray color.
"I found it, Inquisitor!" a dark skinned woman triumphantly said. There was a faint click noise, but no light. "I . . . it's not working."
Alec grinned, continuing to scale the rafters, knowing who must have been responsible. He was almost seventy feet up now. Thank you, Lord Raziel, he thought, knowing the angel would be able to hear his prayer.
There was a light flash of lightning outside, visible through the ornate windows, and a grumble of thunder followed it. Alec figured that it was the angel's version of "You're welcome.".
Cold sweat was dripping down his back from the exertion of hauling his body weight around, and the rafters were unbelievable dusty. Between the two, it was getting more difficult to keep a secure grasp, and he paused for a moment to slow his heartbeat and wipe the sweat and dust off his hands. He was getting close to the bell now. He guessed he was a little over a hundred feet up.
He looked down, but it was harder to see now. Deciding to test Lucifer's theory about his powers, he willed himself to see better. He felt a slight drain of energy, but suddenly his vision sharpened.
The shadowhunters were still in the room, talking quietly, and with another thought and energy drain he was able to understand them, too. They were searching the room, quietly talking amongst themselves. Suddenly a red haired man looked up and gasped.
"What?" the inquisitor demanded, quickly coming to him. "What is it?"
The man blinked up in Alec's direction causing Alec to freeze. "I . . . look, inquisitor!" he cried, pointing.
Everyone in the room looked up towards him and his muscles were tensed. There was no way that they could see him! He was about a hundred feet up and it was dark!
"By the Angel," the inquisitor breathed, her eyes wide. "Is that . . . is that him? Maybe . . . maybe he is of Hell."
"I don't know," another answered, "but I don't like this. I don't like this at all."
Before anything else could be said, lightning flashed again. With everyone's eyes looking up, the lightning illuminated him, and his eyes widened. Uh oh. He quickly stood up, lunging upwards towards the next rafter before the light had even faded.
"He's going to the roof!" the inquisitor snapped, snapping out of her daze. "We won't be able to catch up with him from inside. Go outside now! We can't let him escape."
Their footsteps quietly pounded out, and Alec felt a rush of slight panic. They knew his plan now. How was he going to get out of this? With fear intermingling with adrenaline, he had scaled the final forty feet incredibly quickly. Then came the next problem.
At the very top, it went into a slightly pointed tip. Granted it looked a lot more pointy from nearly two hundred feet down. Once there, it was obvious that it was not truly a tip at all, but rather a three foot wide flat surface with sharp downward inclines on each side.
Oddly enough, there was a trap door to the outside, so he got outside easily enough. The next problem came in the form of the wind. Because of the lightning storm and how high he was, there was a swooping wind that threatened to unbalance him, so he crouched down. He shivered slightly. The wind was chilly and he still had a fine layer of sweat over his body.
He looked down to the ground in front of the institute, and he saw that all of the shadowhunters were gathered there, including his family. They all were looking up at him with varying degrees of wariness and horror.
He saw the inquisitor, the only form not dressed in black, cross her arms and shift her weight. He couldn't hear what she was saying, partially because of the distance, partially because of the wind howling in his ears.
His eyebrows rose when he realized that Clary and Simon had just arrived. Clary was saying something, her arms furiously gesturing, but Jace calmed her down. She seemed angry with him too, though, and turned away from him and stalked towards Simon, who was obviously uncomfortable standing amongst shadowhunters.
Alec shook his head slightly. He really needed to figure out what was going on with them. They were obviously completely in love with each other, but they both seemed to be avoiding it. Weird. He wondered if he'd missed something.
When the shadowhunters started fanning out, surrounding the building, he snapped out of his thoughts. How was he going to get out of this situation? From what Raziel had said, Lucifer should be arriving sooner or later which was the only silver lining he could see.
Alec leaned forward slightly so he could look down better, but he quickly leaned back to his original place. Heights had never bothered him before, but there was a big difference between a couple of stories with fire escapes and a couple of hundred feet with no real way down but jumping.
Before his brain could abort mission, a glint of pure white light caught his eye. He looked towards it, and he let out a shaky breath of relief when he realized that Lucifer was there and had revealed his wings to get his attention. No one else seemed to see the fallen angel.
Lucifer's eyes were glowing slightly as he caught his eye. The fallen angel was on top of a building, but was still about a hundred feet below him. Lucifer mimed jumping, and Alec's eyes widened and he shook his head.
He could faintly see Lucifer rolling his eyes. He then pointed at Alec, mimed jumping, then pointed at himself and mimed catching and flying.
Oh, Alec mouthed. He nodded, and stood, noticing that all of the shadowhunters had stopped speaking. He glanced down, feeling a curl of fear in his stomach, but he trusted Lucifer. He wouldn't let him hit the ground.
So with a grim resolve, Alec let a smile slip onto his lips as he stepped forward, eyes closing. In one smooth leap, he was falling, and he barely heard the screams above the rush of air in his ears. Thunder rumbled, and in the next second a bright white light lit up his world, gentle hands grabbing him. Then, he was safe.
. . .
Whereas Alec was exhausted, sticky from dried sweat, and sure that he would have aged ten years if he could age, Lucifer was delighted. He would be silently standing there, then suddenly burst into mad cackles of laughter.
Alec tried to humor the fallen angel – really, he did – but it was getting ridiculous. "Will you be quiet for ten minutes, please!"
Lucifer cut off in the middle of a burst of cackling. He cleared his throat and straightened his already impeccable clothes, his chin raising in a snobby expression. "Why, my little shadowhunter, I am perfectly capable of being quiet." He paused, and a smirk slipped through. "But their faces!" He laughed.
Alec made a strangled noise and slid down on the couch. "Can I go to sleep or are you going to keep me awake to retell it again? In case you'd forgotten, Lucifer, I was there!"
Lucifer looked somewhat wounded and he pouted. "Very well. Get a good night's sleep. We're visiting the Fairy Queen tomorrow afternoon, then the vampire clan once the sun sets."
Alec nodded and stood to head to his room. He felt slightly guilty, though, and he turned to Lucifer. "Sorry for snapping at you, Luce. It's just been a really long day."
Lucifer grinned at him. "No harm done. Now, shoo. You need to get your beauty sleep!"
Alec muttered something slightly rude under his breath, but he easily headed to his room. Fifteen minutes later, he was curled under his covers clean. His light was off, but there was faint light from the city shining in the open windows. He decided to leave them open, liking the way it looked.
He looked up at his ceiling, thinking about the day. He started with the most recent and worked his way back. He had several mysteries that needed solving.
What exactly had happened inside Valentine's HQ while he and Lucifer were in that battle? What was happening with Clary and Jace? Where did Hodge go? Who in the Clave would be easy to sway to his side? Were they all idiots? What language was that that Lucifer had been speaking earlier? Would the fae or vampires be on their side?
He shook his head and stopped thinking about stuff he didn't know. He needed to think about something else. Without his permission, he started thinking of a pair of mischievous eyes lines in dark makeup. He started to brush the warlock from his mind, but he quickly sat up as he realized that he had never texted him.
He got the colorful slip of paper from his pants in the dirt clothes hamper. He debated with himself. He had just gotten it earlier that day, and he didn't want to seem desperate. Then again, he had very limited time already, and he got the feeling that his free time was about to decrease even more.
With that thought in mind, he decisively typed "Hey, this is Alec Lightwood" and hit send.
Less than a minute later, his phone rang. Eyebrows raising, he answered it.
"Hello?"
"We really must work on your timing, my dear Alexander," a half-asleep voice murmured, nearly purring his name.
Alec felt a flush on his face from the way the warlock said his name and he glanced at the clock. Oh. It was two o'clock in the morning. He felt sheepish. "Er, sorry. I didn't realize how late it was."
A decidedly more awake huff of laughter answered. There was a faint shuffling noise like Magnus was readjusting himself. "Would it have anything to do with your attempt at cathedral diving?"
"Maybe." He paused. "How'd you know about that?"
"Please," Magnus said. "The Clave can't do anything by itself. They came banging on my door hours ago, demanding my services." He huffed. "They scared off my guests, and I refused to help."
Alec grinned. "Thanks."
"You are most welcome, Alexander."
He frowned and out of habit said, "I prefer to go by Alec, actually."
The warlock replied without pause. "Lord Lucifer calls you it. There is no harm in letting more than one person call you that. It sounds more royal, as well. Is that not what you're aiming for?"
Alec sighed. "No, you're right. Lucifer keeps trying to get me used to it, but it seems more of something that people I don't like would call me. Alexander is just so . . . formal, you know? I don't want friends calling me it."
There was a second of silence. "Does that mean you consider me a friend, Alec?" He could hear the grin in his voice.
Alec's face heated up. "Uh, well, um, yes?"
There was a laugh. "Are you free tomorrow?"
His eyes widened, and he temporarily went into panic mode. By the Angel, did he want to meet up or something?! He tried to slow his breathing before he responded. "In the morning, yeah. Why?"
Magnus hummed. "How would you like to get some coffee with me? I know this charming little diner that has delicious muffins."
Alec blinked, his heart thudding in his ears. "Er, sure. When?"
"How does seven sound? I can come to the building you're staying in?"
"Sure," he said, wondering if he was hallucinating. Maybe he had hit something in the fall from the institute and was in a coma or something.
"Great. See you then, Alexander," the warlock purred before hanging up.
Alec blankly looked at his phone for several minutes, wondering what had just happened. That kind of thing did not happen to people like him. He exhaled and leaned back into his pillows.
He slipped into sleep with a light smile on his face and his phone loosely clutched in his hand.
Omake: Alec felt incredibly sneaky as he jumped into the closet, landing in a roll. He could faintly hear the Mission Impossible Theme playing from his bed, and he slowly opened the drawer. His eyes lit up when he saw the forbidden items, and he slowly reached inside . . .
Zap!
"Ow!" he yelped, snatching his hand back. It had shocked him! It had actually shocked him!
There was a cleared throat, and he looked up to see Lucifer standing there, holding up the phone that was playing the Mission Impossible theme. His eyebrows were raised. "Do I even want to ask what you're doing, Alexander?"
Alec slowly shook his head and removed his hands from the forbidden drawer.
Operation: Retrieve Exercise Clothes (Op: REC for short) was a failure, it seemed. Maybe next time . . .
