Hello there! What did you think? That I would make you wait until next year to read a new chapter? Of course not! I'm not that evil ;) I know that for some of you 2016 is already a thing of the past, but let's pretend time zones aren't a thing, okay?

Anyway, you know I hate to spoil the chapters, but in this case I think it's important that you guys know that ***spoiler alert*** I changed the rating of the story, so you all can start to guess what's going to happen ;). However, if that's not your cup of tea, then don't worry, just skip the second scene of this chapter (all chapters have three and are divided with this o-o-o-o-o) and you'll be fine :)

Anyway, I really hope you like it! There are more notes at the end of the chapter, but for now, just enjoy!

Chapter 15

Alec couldn't see where he was going, after Magnus had invited him to his place and Alec had agreed, the criminal had put a scarf around his eyes and prevented him from seeing anything. And, although at first Alec had complained—he hated not being able to see where he was going—Magnus had asked him to trust him, and that had left him with no choice but to nod and let himself be guided by him. He had just told the man that despite everything that might happen in the future between them, he wanted to be with him, it would be contradictory and very stupid of him to pretend that he didn't trust him. He did, he trusted him like he never thought he would trust anyone, much less someone with Magnus's line of work.

"Are we still far from wherever your place is?" Alec asked for the umpteenth time. They had been walking for at least fifteen minutes without stopping. He didn't know how much longer he would be able to keep going without wanting to remove the scarf from his eyes.

"I already told you that we're almost there, Alexander, have a little patience." Magnus said.

Alec let out a snort. He wasn't very good at these kinds of things, first, because he wasn't a very patient person, he seemed to be, but it was only in appearance, his inner reserves of patience were very, very limited. And second, because he really got nervous when he didn't have control of situations, with Magnus he had been getting used to it, but still, it wasn't something easy for him.

"You're not making me walk the entire city, are you?"

Magnus chuckled. "Of course not, dear, just Brooklyn."

"You're joking, right?" Alec said, stopping dead in his tracks. He wasn't wearing comfortable shoes, he had actually decided to dress for the occasion and had chosen to wear some very nice shoes that his sister had given him last Christmas.

"Of course I'm joking." Magnus whispered into his ear, and Alec shivered.

Up until now, the criminal had been keeping a safe distance from Alec's body, barely touching him to guide him through the crowded streets and prevent him from colliding with other people. So this new proximity had really taken Alec by surprise, causing his brain to short-circuit and his lungs to stop working properly. If this was what was going to happen to him every time Magnus was near him, then Alec was completely and utterly screwed. It wasn't possible that the closeness and warmth of Magnus's breath against his neck could have such an effect on him.

"Okay, we're here." Magnus announced. "I need you to stay where you are for a few seconds while I go open the front door, can I trust you not to take off the scarf?"

Alec rolled his eyes inwardly but nodded. "Yes."

"Okay," Magnus said, leaving a soft kiss on Alec's cheek and taking him by surprise for the second time in less than a minute, "I'll be right back, don't go anywhere, okay?"

Alec nodded and just stood there praying that he didn't look as flushed as he felt, and not really knowing what to do with himself. That kiss had been such a sweet and natural thing to do that he didn't know how to react. He was practically forcing himself not to touch his cheek—where he could still feel Magnus's lips—in fear that the criminal might notice how much that little thing had meant to him.

"Okay...are you ready?" Magnus asked. Alec noticed that he sounded weird, as if he were equally nervous as excited.

Alec limited himself to nod. He didn't trust himself at the moment—to say that he wasn't really ready was a big understatement.

Magnus led him into the building and then into the elevator. Alec took a deep breath and tried to calm himself down. He didn't understand why he was so nervous all of a sudden. He had never stopped being nervous, after all, this was all new to him, but right now, he felt as if every nerve in his body had just...come to life.

The elevator stopped, and next thing Alec knew, Magnus was ushering him out of the cabin and placing him in front of what Alec assumed was the door of his place.

"I'm going to take off the scarf from your eyes, but I need you to keep your eyes closed for a little longer, okay?" Magnus said, and Alec nodded again.

The criminal very slowly began to remove the intrusive piece of cloth from his eyes, and Alec really had to resist the urge to just open them and end with the uncertainty once and for all.

"Open your eyes on the count of three, okay?"

"Okay." Alec replied.

"One." Magnus said, and Alec heard the door being unlocked. "Two." The criminal added, placing his hands on both of Alec's shoulders and making him walk. "Three..."

Alec opened his eyes and his jaw dropped at the sight of the beautiful place displayed before him. Magnus's apartment, or better said, loft was huge, like those advertised in real estate brochures, with high ceilings and large windows that sent the light sprawling across the polished hardwood floors. The whole place was finely decorated with a mix of antique and modern furniture, it was very eclectic, but quite beautiful—just like the owner of the place. If this loft had belonged to someone else, Alec would have found it very strange, but it belonged to Magnus, so he couldn't help but love every corner of it.

"It's beautiful…" Alec said almost out of breath as he took a step inside what Magnus called a home, but Alec would have mistaken for a museum.

"You like it?"

Alec nodded, immediately looking around and trying to absorb his surroundings—the colors, the sounds, the smells, the textures.

"May I take your coat?" Magnus asked, and Alec absentmindedly let him take off his coat. A huge door right in the middle of the living room, which he assumed led to some kind of balcony or terrace, had already caught his attention and he wanted to get closer to take a look and see why this place was so special.

"Can I?" Alec asked, pointing to it.

"Be my guest."

Alec smiled and quickly got closer and opened it. The view from there was simply spectacular—like that of a postcard. He couldn't pinpoint Magnus's exact address just now, but taking into account the angle of view of the Brooklyn Bridge and the fact that he could see the Bureau's building as part of the Manhattan skyline, he knew he was somewhere in Brooklyn Heights. All these years Magnus had been closer to him than he had imagined—literally right across the river.

"Why am I here?" Alec suddenly asked because it hadn't dawned on him that he was in Magnus's secret lair, the place where every time the criminal committed a heist he used to go into hiding. For some reason Magnus had decided to share this place with him and Alec needed to know why. "Why did you invite me over?"

"Well, because you're willing to give it a try to this thing between us and I want you to know that I am too, and this," Magnus pointed around himself, "this is me, the real me, Alexander. No secrets."

Alec smiled. He wanted to go kiss that man and get lost in him, but he restrained himself and better started exploring the place. There was so much to see that he didn't even know where to begin. His eyes landed on something interesting and intriguing every time he blinked, so he just walked to the impressive bookshelf that served as a wall to examine the books Magnus had. If he had had Shakespeare's first editions to spare, he couldn't even imagine what other literary treasure could be hiding in there. And just when he was about to start reading the titles, a little something, or better said, a little someone, got in his way.

"Oh, hello there." He said, looking at the adorable munchkin cat currently demanding his attention.

"That's my son, his name is Chairman Meow." Magnus said.

Alec frowned not quite getting the name. It was original, he couldn't deny that, but he suspected that it had some sort of random meaning behind it.

"It's a parody of the former Chinese leader," Magnus explained, "Chairman Mao Zedong, get it?"

Alec chuckled, rolling his eyes playfully and picking up the ball of fur. It was absolutely adorable. "You're a very cute kitty, Chairman." He said, scratching behind the cat's ears and making him purr.

"I'm glad he approved you because that would have been a deal breaker, dear, if my son hadn't liked you then I would have had to stop seeing you."

Alec smiled and put the cat down, but the Chairman kept rubbing against his leg.

"I guess he's marking you as his own now," Magnus pointed out, "I'm not entirely sure if I like that, is it valid to be jealous of a cat?"

Alec laughed.

"What? I really want to know. I have the feeling that this is going to turn into some kind of love triangle from which I won't come out victorious. I know my son and what he can do. I know that he makes pretty boys such as yourself to fall in love with him, but let me tell you something about him before you make him your favorite. He is cute and adorable, yes, but he's the devil in disguise. He's a drama queen, a diva...he's very difficult to please, I, on the other hand, don't need much to start purring." Magnus said, winking.

"You just didn't..." Alec said, laughing and turning around to avoid looking at that man in the eye. Sometimes he really couldn't believe him.

"Are you hungry?" Magnus asked as Alec resumed his exploration of the bookshelf. There were so many titles there, classics, contemporaries, science books that he got easily distracted. Now he knew why Magnus was so cultured and educated.

"Alexander, are you hungry?" Magnus asked again.

"Oh, I'm sorry...yeah, a bit." He said, although now that he thought about it, he was more nervous than hungry. There was something he had been unable to stop thinking about ever since he had set foot in this place: he was at Magnus's home and here, well, here he doubted that anyone could interrupt them if they decided to continue what they had started back in Alec's apartment.

"I wasn't really prepared," Magnus continued, "but I have some lasagna leftovers in the fridge that we could reheat and pretend I just cooked it. I don't know if you remember, but during our first phone call I also promised to cook for you."

"Weren't you just bluffing?"

"No, I really like to cook and I'm good at it, but, well...I never thought the night would end like this."

"You thought I was going to say no." Alec said, realizing the meaning behind what Magnus had just said. The criminal hadn't been expecting Alec to agree to this new turn in their relationship.

"I was hoping you'd say no." Magnus confessed, and that broke Alec's heart a little.

"Why?"

"Because I care about you and I know I'm not good for you."

"Shouldn't I be the judge of that?"

"Well, yes, but I had to warn you."

"And you did." Alec said, getting closer to the criminal and smiling at him. That had been so sweet and considerate that he couldn't stop himself and just took Magnus's hand, interlacing their fingers together. It was so easy for him to feel comfortable around Magnus that he still managed to surprise himself from time to time. "Now, are you going to reheat the food or what?"

Magnus smiled, and after giving Alec a quick kiss on the lips, walked to the kitchen and started taking things out of the fridge—a bottle of wine included.

"Could you help me fetch the glasses? They are over there." Magnus said, pointing to a cabinet at the far end of the kitchen.

Alec nodded and quickly grabbed two glasses. Magnus poured some wine into them and proposed a toast.

"To us." He said.

Alec smiled and clinked his glass against the criminal's. "To us."

Alec took a sip of the sweet red wine and resumed his exploring of the place while Magnus put the food in the microwave. He wanted to see every inch of this place, first, because he wanted to know all there was to know about Magnus—the man, not the criminal—and second, because this place really looked like a museum. There were no picture frames, but there was an overwhelming amount of paintings and they were absolutely beautiful.

"Is that a Degas?" Alec asked, pointing to the painting of a dancer hanging on the wall. His knowledge of art wasn't as extensive as Magnus's, but he knew that Degas was best known for his paintings depicting dancers. And this painting showed a solitary ballerina on a stage completing an arabesque.

"A reproduction of a Degas, but yes. Good eye, Alexander. That paint is called 'L'Etoile' in French or 'The Star' in English." Magnus said.

"An official authorized reproduction or a forgery?" Alec inquired, eyeing the criminal from where he was standing.

"Do you really want to know?"

Did he? He wondered. "No." He said, Magnus had already said more than enough.

Magnus laughed, and Alec just kept walking around the living room. He had noticed a canvas on the extreme corner that worked as some sort of studio and his curiosity had piqued. It was a beautiful painting, hard to understand at first because of the great amount of dark colors that prevailed in it, but so beautiful once you understood what it was. It was a landscape, a forest to be exact, it was gloomy and a bit sinister, but it reflected...hope. It had some flashes of light between the leaves that had so much power within the composition that Alec felt the need to delve into the painting just to explore where that beautiful light was coming from.

"You did that?" Alec asked. He had never seen one of Magnus's original works, he didn't even know if he had them, but there were some brushes by the easel that indicated Magnus's possible involvement in the creation of the painting.

"Yes."

"Reproduction or original?"

"Original…"

"It's-it's beautiful." Alec said.

"You can keep it."

"What?"

"You can keep it if you like it." Magnus said.

"No, I can't. I mean it's yours, I couldn't...I-"

"No, it's not mine."

Alec frowned in confusion. Magnus had just told him that he had painted it and that it was an original work, he didn't understand why he was now telling him that it wasn't his.

"I painted it thinking about you," Magnus continued as a way of explanation, "so technically, it's your painting."

"You...?" Alec said, unable to articulate something coherent. He was speechless, looking at the piece of art with new eyes.

"Yeah, I painted it after that day at your apartment. I came here and, well, I was very much awake to go to sleep."

Alec blushed. He could imagine why Magnus had been very much awake to consider going to sleep. He himself had had a very hard time trying to calm down after what they had almost done.

Magnus got closer, picked up the painting and turned it around, showing Alec the title he had scribbled back there: The light out of the woods.

"I wasn't very clever with the title." Magnus admitted.

Alec didn't know what to say. He understood the reference to his last name in the title, and if what he had gotten from the painting was partially accurate, the meaning behind it was beautiful, more so than the painting itself.

"Am I really that for you?" He asked.

Magnus looked at him intently. There was something in his eyes that Alec hadn't seen, or noticed before. "Yes, Alexander, I think you are."

Alec's heart skipped several beats and he couldn't control himself any longer, so he just grabbed Magnus from the lapels of his shirt and kissed him frantically.

"The food." Magnus said when the annoying sound of the microwave broke the silence that until now had only been slightly disturbed by their ragged breaths.

"I'm not hungry for food right now." Alec said. He wasn't sure where all that boldness was coming from, but he wasn't interested in finding out either.

"What are you hungry for then?"

"You."

"Well, then serve yourself, darling, like I've told you before, I'm all yours."

o-o-o-o-o

Magnus led Alec into his room. Their lips had barely detached from each other's since they had started kissing again, both too eager and too desperate to connect with each other in every possible way to even stop for a much needed breath of fresh air. They were panting, desperately trying to get rid of all the pieces of clothing that were still getting on their way. Their shirts and shoes had landed somewhere in the small hallway that separated Magnus's room from the living room, but their pants? Their pants were becoming a problem—a real problem—especially with the lack of lighting in the room that prevented them from really seeing what they were doing.

"Alexander…"

"Uh-huh?"

"I need to turn on the lights," Magnus said, "I can't see anything and-"

Alec didn't let him finish and just stretched out his arm, turning on the lights. They were standing almost by the door, now looking into each other's eyes with the new light.

"Problem solved." Alec said.

"How did you know where-"

"The lights were? Common sense." Alec said, not wasting any more time and kissing him again, taking partial control of the encounter and pinning Magnus against the wall.

Magnus lost himself in the kiss. Little did the agent know that he could make Magnus turn into liquid just with a touch. The man had a power over him that was almost terrifying, but Magnus didn't dwell on it for long; he just closed his eyes and leaned his head back, letting Alec take him as he wanted.

Magnus wrapped his legs around Alec's waist, bringing their hips together and making their very much aroused members slam into each other in a painful, yet pleasurable way.

"Magnus…" Alec murmured, clearly taken aback by the proximity of those delicate parts of their bodies.

"Say it again."

"What?"

"My name," Magnus said, between ragged breaths, "say it again, I like how it sounds when you say it. Say it, Alexander. Say my name." He asked.

Since that time Alec had said his name by accident, the agent had stayed true to his word and had avoided saying his name as much as possible. Magnus could only remember hearing him say it when he had asked him for some help with that other case he had had about the fake wills, so hearing Alec say his name now when they were about to take the final step on their way to knowing each other was, in his opinion, even more arousing than the act itself.

"Magnus."

Magnus melted at the sound of his name being voiced by Alec and lowered his legs, slowly leading the agent to the bed, and gently throwing him onto it. The new position presented a lot of advantages, so Magnus seized each and every one of them, and climbed on top of him, leaning over him and kissing him again, exploring with his tongue every corner of that addictive mouth of his.

"Tell me how you want it, darling." Magnus whispered, kissing his way down Alec's neck and softly nipping at his nipples. Alec's response to touch was the most beautiful and arousing thing he had ever witnessed. The sounds that came out of his mouth were sinful and so loud that he was almost certain that all New York could hear them.

"However you want it." Alec managed to say.

He truly seemed lost in the ecstasy of the moment, and Magnus took some seconds to admire this version of the agent. Alec was completely flushed, his lips were swollen from all the kissing and his hair was going in every direction—he was a gorgeous mess.

"Tell me, Alexander...do you want to top or do you want me to do it?" Magnus asked, leaving a trail of wet kisses all over Alec's abdomen, starting where Alec's amazing abs began and ending just above the hem of his pants.

"I-I don't know." Alec said, arching his body in sheer pleasure. Magnus was enjoying immensely how responsive and sensitive Alec was and that was why he was painfully teasing the agent, taking his time to kiss every inch of exposed skin and not really getting rid of the last piece of clothing standing between them.

"How do you like it?" Magnus asked, biting his lip very deliberately as he looked at the agent straight in the eye.

"I-I…I don't know."

"How's that?"

"I don't know what I'm doing." Alec confessed.

At first Magnus thought that Alec's response had had to do with the fact that he was too far gone to make any sense, but then it dawned on him that Alec was being honest when he said he didn't know what he was doing. Magnus hadn't noticed it before because the man could fool anyone—he really was an excellent kisser—but now that he thought about it, there was something in the way he moved and even touched Magnus that although it could be mistaken for innocence, it was only a sign of his apparent lack of experience.

"Are you...?" Magnus asked, not quite believing what he was implying with his question.

Alec just nodded.

"Impossible." Magnus gaped. "Why? I mean, you're the single most handsome man I've ever seen, men surely throw at you all the time, right? You can't be-"

"I'm not a saint," Alec interrupted him, "I've done other stuff, I just haven't gone all the way, you know?"

"Why?"

"I never felt comfortable with anyone before."

"I-I…" Magnus was speechless for a moment. What Alec had just said was a big deal, and he didn't know if he was worthy of such trust. "Are you sure you want this? Are you sure you want us to continue? I don't want to force you into doing something you don't want to or feel ready to do, I mean-"

"If I didn't want this I would have never initiated it, I already told you, I want you...I want to do this with you."

Magnus completely lost it after that. Who was he to deny anything to this man? He was just realizing that if Alec asked him for the moon, he would give it to him without second thoughts. How? He didn't know, but he knew deep within his soul that he would find a way, even if that cost him his own life.

"Oh, Alexander." Magnus said, reaching for Alec's mouth and kissing him again. This time he made sure that the kiss was softer and sweeter. Now more than ever he wanted to make this special for Alec. He wanted the agent to feel in every touch, in every kiss, how much this vote of confidence meant to him. The fact that Alec trusted him enough to do this with him for the first time was more than he could have asked for. He had been the first man in the lives of some of his former lovers, but if he was honest, he hadn't cared for any of them the way he cared for Alec. This man was special in every way.

"I'm going to take off both our pants, okay?" Magnus said.

"Please."

Magnus got rid of their pants and underwear in a quick and expert movement, and leaned down to kiss Alec again. They were completely naked and although the agent seemed to be comfortable in his own skin, he didn't want to freak him out by staring at his amazing body for far too long. "I have to ask you." Magnus said, between kisses. "What do you want us to do? Do you want to-"

"I want to feel you." Alec said, not even letting him finish.

"Okay." Magnus managed to say before Alec's hands started to explore his naked body, taking him completely by surprise.

"I want to feel every inch of this wonderful body." Alec whispered.

Magnus smiled, blushing a little with the sudden compliment about his body and just reaching out to grab a condom and some lube from his nightstand. "If at any moment you want me to stop just-"

"I know." Alec said, shutting him with a kiss.

Magnus reacted to Alec's touch and moaned, losing his self-restraint and kissing him everywhere—his neck, his chest, his arms, his abs. He was stopping at certain places for a couple of minutes to mark Alec's pale skin. He had never been a fan of hickeys, they could be quite revealing and not very esthetic once they were disappearing from the skin, but after seeing those purple-ish marks against Alec's skin, he chad ompletely changed his mind about them.

"You're a piece of fine art, Alexander." Magnus said, tracing with his fingers each and every line of Alec's body and committing them to memory. "And I'm an art expert, so I know what I'm talking about."

Alec tried to chuckle, but the sound that came out of his mouth was more like a moan than anything else, so Magnus seized the opportunity, and continuing the trail of marks and kisses that he had started at the base of Alec's neck, he put his lips on the tip of Alec's erected member and gave it a tentative suck.

"Magnus…" Alec panted out, drawing his fingers through Magnus's hair and tugging a little, sending a wave of new sensations through Magnus's body. "Please."

Magnus smiled satisfied with the reaction and used his expert mouth to please Alec in every way he could. He started slowly, just playing with the length of the agent's member, licking and sucking it up and down, but soon, he found himself almost gasping for air, taking it all in as if he couldn't have enough of him.

Alec was a hot mess. His breathing had become increasingly shallow and ragged, and the sounds coming from his mouth were like a melody that Magnus wanted to hear for the rest of his life.

"Magnus, please! I don't want to come yet, I want to feel you!" Alec managed to say between moans.

Magnus would have happily stayed there just sucking him until he had dried him out, but Alec had made a valid point, if they kept doing what they were doing neither of them would last for long, and he wanted this to last for as long as they physically could.

Magnus grabbed the bottle of lube and coated his fingers, rubbing them to warm the cold substance before pressing the tip of one of his fingers into Alec's tight entrance.

"Oh, shit!" Alec cursed.

"Are you okay?" Magnus asked alarmed. The last thing he wanted to do was hurt Alec for not taking things slow.

"Yeah, I'm fine, it's just that...well, that felt sooooo good, I wasn't expecting it...keep going."

Magnus smiled and continued, opening Alec slowly and delicately, using his fingers to soften the rims of his entrance and make the experience as painless as possible.

When Alec started babbling nonsense and thrusting his hips against Magnus's fingers, clearly asking for more, Magnus put on the condom, coated his length with enough lube and positioned the head of his cock at the agent's entrance. "Are you ready?" He asked.

Alec nodded, looking straight into Magnus's eyes. That look of absolute trust mixed with lust and care was all Magnus needed to push himself inside the agent and make them both cry out in sheer pleasure.

"Is this okay?" Magnus asked. He had stayed very still to let Alec get used to the foreign feeling.

"More than okay, move, please!" Alec demanded, and Magnus obeyed, quickly finding a pace that worked for both of them. Thrusting in and out of Alec for God knows how long, and using his free hand to stroke the agent's aching member up and down, while leaving soft kisses on his neck and shoulders. Alec was so far gone, he was grasping the duvet to have something to hold onto.

"Magnus…" Alec said, when Magnus changed the pressure of his hand and stroked him just a bit harder.

"What? You don't like it?" Magnus teased. "Do you want me to stop?" He said, stopping altogether just to see how Alec reacted.

"No!" Alec cried out, hooking his legs around Magnus's waist and using his hands to pull him closer and pick up the pace.

It wasn't a surprise for Magnus to discover that their bodies matched perfectly, like two pieces of the same puzzle. They worked and moved in perfect synchrony, taking and giving, driving each other closer to the edge. Alec dug his nails in Magnus's back and captured his mouth, biting his bottom lip.

"Dear God, Alexander." Magnus said because this man was going to be the death of him. His sweetness, boldness, and passion were qualities for which Magnus hadn't been prepared in the slightest.

The air in the room grew thicker and harder to breathe, and soon the sounds coming from both of them turned more hectic, erratic, their bodies desperate for some kind of release.

"Magnus, I…"

Magnus stroke Alec's cock, riding him to the edge. Alec was losing it, barely breathing and repeating Magnus's name as if his life depended on it. "Come for me, Alexander." Magnus whispered, and the agent obeyed, arching his back in absolute pleasure and coming hard against Magnus's hand, leaving white stripes of cum all over his chest and the recently-washed-but-now-completely-messed-up duvet.

"Fuck!" Magnus cursed, thrusting one, two, three times, but it was already too much for him. Alec's muscles were clenching around his cock and the feeling was overwhelming; the agent was so tight, so perfectly tight, that Magnus came without warning, sinking into Alec with each wave of pleasure that hit him and trying not to pass out from the incredible orgasm he had just experienced.

"Alexander…" He whispered, trying to catch his breath and letting himself fall on top of the agent.

Alec was smiling, trying to ease his breathing and still shaking with the aftershocks of his orgasm. "That was…"

"Unreal." Magnus completed Alec's sentence and pulled out of the agent, discarding the used condom and snuggling closer to him, leaving lazy kisses all over his chest. "You are unreal, darling."

"I'm not," Alec chuckled; the smile in his face was so big, Magnus feared it might break his skull, "but you certainly are." He added.

Magnus laughed in contentment and used the already dirty duvet to finish cleaning them both and quickly throwing it to the floor. "Was that any good?" He asked coyly.

"Are you kidding?" Alec exclaimed, grabbing Magnus's face to bring him closer and kiss him. "That was amazing."

Magnus smiled and just rested his head in the crook of Alec's neck, enjoying the closeness. He liked it there, it smelled nice, of sweet cologne, sweat, sex, and Alec.

Alec...

He still couldn't believe that he'd have had the privilege of being Alec's first. It was such a powerful and overwhelming concept, it made him feel honored and special, but also a bit possessive. He didn't want any other man to make Alec come undone—this man was his...at least for now.

"What are you thinking about?" Alec asked. He was playing with Magnus's hair, messing it even more.

"Hmmm, you...us…" Magnus confessed, "thank you for choosing me to be your first, I-I don't even know what to say."

"All my life," Alec started to say, and Magnus was aware of the sudden shift in his voice, he knew this was going to be serious, "I've had a hard time connecting with people. At first, because I hadn't come to terms with my sexuality; I've already told you this, I was in the closet and without any plans to ever come out of it, but then, well...then I did it, I embraced who I was and for a moment I thought my life would change and that I would be more like my brother and sister, but that didn't happen. I was still the same old awkward me and not many people seemed to find that attractive. I tried, I let my siblings introduce me to people, but I couldn't let my walls down and that became a problem. Then I entered the Academy and that was when I decided to focus completely on my career. My parents hadn't taken the news about my sexuality well, so becoming the best agent in the division sounded like a great way to balance things up with them. I didn't want them to look at me differently, so I closed myself to...well, to any of this."

"Really?" Magnus asked, turning his head slightly to look at Alec.

"Yes...there were times, especially when my siblings were head over heels for someone, that I really felt alone, so I used to go to this very famous bar in Lower Manhattan and hooked up with random guys. There were times when I almost gave in to the pressure of going all the way, you know? But I always found myself stopping and fleeing from there without looking back. I love to read, books have been my only friends on countless nights, and the version of sex that those books had sold me for years didn't match with what used to happen inside the stalls of that bar, so I never agreed."

"You like romance." Magnus stated.

"I do." Alec chuckled. "It's stupid, isn't it?"

"No, it's not." Magnus admitted. "Can I ask you something?"

"Yeah."

"You said you closed yourself because of your parents and work, but you became that top agent you wanted to be five years ago, why didn't you date someone in the last few years?"

"Because there was no one who wanted to go out with me."

"What?" Magnus asked surprised. "You're kidding, right?"

"No, it's true, I don't know why it happens, maybe because I'm a federal agent and that scares them, but for years no one invited me out. In fact, this is going to seem funny to you, but you were the first one to ask me out with your silly postcards."

Magnus couldn't believe what he was hearing, dating a man like Alec should be considered a true honor, and he just couldn't understand how nobody had tried to ask him out. If their paths had crossed earlier in life, he would have certainly tried to date him and if he had been lucky enough to have Alec's heart, he would have spent the rest of his life trying to make him happy. "Well, I'm disappointed in the male population of this city, but ultimately it was their loss, they didn't know what they missed, and I'm very glad I got to be the first to ask you out too."

"Me too," Alec confessed, "my sister always says that I'm like a book written in a different language that not many can read, but since the first day we met you proved yourself to be fluent in it, you seemed to know me in ways I wasn't expecting. I don't know how or why it happened, but those walls I told you before have never been there when it comes to you. At first, realizing that really scared me, it made me feel vulnerable, but in these past weeks I've learned to live with it and I like to feel this way. I suppose that's why I agreed to this in the first place, I don't want to miss the opportunity to explore what can be, you know? I don't want to lose this connection we have, I-"

"Say no more." Magnus said, kissing Alec's jaw. "I understand, I don't want to lose it either." He said, hugging him tightly. Somehow, he wanted to merge with this man and become one.

"Now you tell me something about you." Alec said.

"What do you want to know?"

"Hmmm, I don't know...why did choose Brooklyn to live? I mean, this place is absolutely amazing, but I can't help wondering...with the amount of money you make with each score, you could easily be living in one of those over the top buildings in the city, so why here?"

Magnus chuckled. "First, because I love the neighborhood, it's safe, quiet and very picturesque, but mostly because believe it or not, I do not have that much money to move somewhere in the city."

"You don't? Why?"

"Because even I have to pay stuff, Alexander, bills, debts..."

"You have debts?"

"Everyone has debts."

"I don't…" Alec confessed.

"Of course, you don't." Magnus laughed. How had he dared to include Alec with the rest of the mortals? This man was the definition of perfection, of course he had no debts.

"What are you paying for?" Alec asked curiously.

"My mistakes."

"Did you buy something and later regretted it?"

"More or less, I did buy something, but I never regretted it."

"What did you buy?"

"Time." Magnus confessed without meeting Alec's eyes. He could already see the agent's frown of confusion, but he wasn't ready to share that part of his life yet.

"May I ask for what?"

Magnus shook his head and took a deep breath. Someday he wanted to tell him about his life, but he needed time. "Not yet, okay?"

"Okay." Alec said, but Magnus could hear the disappointment in his voice.

"Hey, hey," Magnus said, lifting his head to look Alec straight in the eye, "don't take this the wrong way. I promise that one day I'll share with you everything there is to know about me, just give me some time, okay?"

"Okay." Alec said, giving him a soft smile.

Magnus leaned over and kissed him, wanting to seal the promise he had just made with something more than empty words.

Alec immediately deepened the kiss and rolled them over, positioning himself on top of Magnus and pinning him against the mattress. "Can we...?" The agent suggested, smiling mischievously.

Magnus hummed approvingly, both for the change of subject and for what Alec was suggesting. "I thought you'd never ask."

o-o-o-o-o

Alec opened his eyes as slowly as he could and immediately felt the weight of all the activities of the night before falling on him. Every inch of his body ached, like back when he was in the Academy and his tutors forced him to make those deadly training sessions that left him in bed for days, but unlike those times when he felt heavy and unable to move so much as a finger for fear that his body would fail him, this time, he felt light as a feather and fully aware that his body was in more than perfect condition. Yes, his body was sore, but it was a good kind of sore, not the painful kind, just a sweet and torturous reminder of the good time he had had not so long ago.

He turned his head to the side to see the man sleeping peacefully beside him. They had fallen asleep embracing each other after their second round of sexual activities, but somehow during the rest of the night they had managed to get entangled in some sort of mess of blankets and limbs, so he couldn't do more than turn his head to his left so as not to disturb and wake Magnus.

"Magnus…" Alec whispered more to himself.

The man looked so beautiful right now even with his makeup all smeared that Alec had trouble believing he was even real, so tentatively, he pulled his hand out from under the sheets and brushed away a lock of loose hair from Magnus's face and smiled, taking a few minutes just to admire his beauty. A part of him still couldn't believe that he had spent the night with him. How had that happened? For years, Alec had tried to imagine how his first time would be like, but never in his wildest dreams had he imagined it would be so...perfect.

"Stop looking at me like that." Magnus murmured under his breath. "I can feel your eyes leaving permanent marks on my face."

"Am I not allowed to do it?" Alec asked with a smile. Magnus had just caught him blatantly staring at him, and he wasn't even sorry. The sun was peeking through the windows and revealing a lot of tiny details of Magnus's face that up until now Alec had failed to notice.

"It depends," Magnus said, opening one eye and looking at him, "are you trying to memorize my features to improve that not-very-good sketch of my face that you have in my file? Or, are you just admiring my beauty?"

"So self-conceited!" Alec exclaimed with a chuckle, playfully throwing a pillow at Magnus and hitting him right in the face.

"What!?" Magnus complained, throwing the pillow back to hit Alec, but sending it flying across the room. "I know what I have...the question is, do you?" He asked, climbing on top of Alec and looking him straight in the eye.

"What? You want to know if I know that you're stupidly handsome? Yeah, I do."

"Well, thanks for that, but I was actually wondering if you knew what you have because you're even more beautiful to look at than I'll ever be."

"I guess I'm not bad, but my siblings are way more better looking than me." Alec said, wishing Magnus wasn't looking at him like he was doing at the moment. He could feel the blood rushing quickly to his cheeks and not just because he had the man currently on top of him and completely naked, but because he hated talking about these things, they always made him feel uncomfortable.

"Are you crazy?" Magnus said. "For starters, that blond who follows you around isn't half as handsome as you, I mean, I guess he's fine, but he's not my type...and your sister? Well, I can't deny that she's absolutely gorgeous, the black hair is certainly a feature I like, but I guess my eyes were caught by one Lightwood already, so no, you're the most handsome, most beautiful of them all."

Alec smiled and tried to hide his flushed face in the base of Magnus's neck.

"You'll have to learn how to take a compliment, Alexander," Magnus whispered into his ear, "because I'm planning on telling you as many as I can, every," he kissed him, "single," another kiss, "day. You deserve to know how absolutely amazing you are."

Alec rolled his eyes. He doubted he could ever get used to that, but he appreciated the intention. He couldn't deny that since the first time they had seen each other three years ago Magnus had always managed to make him feel different, attractive, sexy, and even interesting.

"Are you hungry?" Magnus asked, messing with Alec's hair. Alec was certain he was trying to comb it into submission, but Alec's hair was hopeless, it always looked like a big mess in the mornings. "We kinda skipped dinner last night."

Alec blushed because, well, he clearly remembered why they had skipped dinner last night.

"I could make pancakes," Magnus suggested, "the Chairman loves them."

"Well, if your cat loves them," Alec joked, "then I guess pancakes are okay."

Magnus smiled and leaned over to give him another kiss that Alec was more than happy to deepen. Since last night, both had been unable to stop kissing each other at every chance they had. It was as if they couldn't get enough of one another.

"As much as I'd like to continue with this." Magnus said, breaking the kiss. "I'm famished! Someone wore me out last night, I need to eat before you completely kill me."

Alec laughed. "For what it's worth, I'm famished too."

"Then let's have some breakfast first, and once we've recovered our energies, we can continue with this little thing we have going on."

"Okay."

Magnus quickly took out a pair of clean shirts and sweatpants from a wardrobe and tossed one of each to Alec. They dressed quickly, and Alec followed Magnus to the kitchen. He tried to help, but the man insisted that he just 'put his cute butt there' and let him spoil him, so Alec had not choice but to smile and take a seat on one of the stools while Magnus started to prepare breakfast for both of them.

"Did you know?" Magnus started saying as he took out all the ingredients. "That the Ancient Greeks made pancakes? They called them tagenias, which derives from tagēnon that means frying pan."

Alec laughed with amusement. Even after weeks and weeks of hearing him throwing random facts in every conversation, he was still amazed at Magnus's extensive knowledge of things. "No, I didn't know that."

"Well, the earliest attested references to tagenias are in the works of two poets from the 5th century B.C. Tagenias were made with wheat flour, olive oil, honey, and curdled milk, and were also served for breakfast. They had another kind of pancakes, but I can't remember the name, those were topped with honey, sesame, and cheese, they were-" Magnus was saying when a noise coming from the door startled them both.

"Magnus, you're not going to believe what-" The person who had just entered the loft without even knocking, said, pausing mid-sentence at the sight of Alec.

Alec looked at him. He didn't have to ask who the newcomer was to know it was Magnus's partner in crime—Ragnor Fell.

"My friend!" Magnus exclaimed, as if the sudden tension in the room weren't palpable.

"You invited the fed over?" Ragnor asked in disbelief, looking back and forth between them. "Are you an idiot or have you completely lost your mind!? I told you to fix things with him, not to bring him here! What about all that bullshit you once said of choosing this place to be yourself, huh!? You screwed up, Magnus! The FBI will be here any minute now! You have to run! We have to run!"

"No, you don't have to run." Alec said, standing up and walking toward the man to try to calm him down. He understood why he was reacting like that. If he had been in his place, he would have probably freaked out too. "No one's going to be here—ever. Hi, I'm Alec." He added, offering his hand to the other criminal in a friendly way.

Magnus's friend just eyed it suspiciously, as if pondering whether or not to take it. "I'm...hmmm, Magnus's friend." He said, shaking hands with him.

Alec nodded in acknowledgement. He knew this man was smart enough to hide his name from him, not that he needed to, Alec already knew who he was, but it was still fascinating to see how protective they were of their identities.

"What are you doing here so early?" Magnus asked.

"I-I...well, we discovered something about what we talked about yesterday."

"What is it?" Magnus asked intrigued.

Ragnor looked at Alec suspiciously. It was clear he didn't want to talk about whatever they had talked about yesterday in front of him.

"He's with us, Ra-I mean, my friend." Magnus said, rolling his eyes at his friend. "Do I need to remind you that the whole purpose of this alliance is to help him catch Valentine?"

"Okay, fine." Ragnor sighed. "But if he betra-"

"If you keep talking nonsense, I swear I'm going to tell him who you are." Magnus said, interrupting him.

"You wouldn't dare!"

"Try me."

"Okay, fine...whatever, I'm not going to say anything else, you know what you're doing."

"I do, now talk, please."

"Well, you know what you told me yesterday about the lack of information on Valentine before he became a criminal?" Ragnor asked.

"Yes?" Magnus said, and Alec paid close attention to the conversation. He had already thought of that before too, and just like Magnus, he had found that lack of information very, very strange, but he hadn't been able to find anything in the Bureau's files.

"Well, you were right, that's not a coincidence."

"It's not? What did you find out?"

"Well…" Ragnor said, fidgeting with his hands, "...the reason why there's nothing about Valentine before he became a criminal is because...because…"

"Because, what!?" Magnus snapped, and Alec thanked the intervention. This man knew how to make a dramatic moment even more dramatic. He would be very good at announcing the winners on those television game shows.

"That's because Valentine was like him." Ragnor pointed at Alec.

Alec and Magnus looked at each other, not quite understanding what Ragnor had meant with that.

"Really?" Ragnor said, rolling his eyes. "Then let me spell it out for you, Valentine Morgenstern was a fed!"

"What!?" Alec and Magnus exclaimed in unison—that couldn't possibly be true.

These 8K words are my gift to all of you. Thank you for all the support you gave me this year! I started writing for this fandom in April and since then I've received just positive vibes and messages of encouragement, so THANK YOU! I could not do any of this without you! Anyway, I don't want to get sentimental, so here's to 2017! May it be better than the last one!

Thanks again for everything! I'll see you all next year (Saturday) with a new chapter!

**cheers**