Chapter Text
Alec woke to the warmness of the sun across his face. He stretched lazily, enjoying the softness of his boyfriend’s mattress and the comfort of his silky sheets. How had he gotten so lucky? He couldn’t help but ask himself as he took just a few more moments to enjoy that special moment of peace before one truly woke up. He’d gone from a time-worn life of solitude and despair to one of luxury and love and light. Meeting Magnus Bane would forever be the greatest thing that had ever happened to him in the hundreds of years that he’d been alive, and as long as he had his boyfriend by his side, Alec didn’t care if no one else remembered his existence. Magnus did and that was enough. This new life he’d found was perfect.
And in typical New York fashion, a car honked angrily outside his window followed by the muffled sound of angry yelling, pulling himself from nirvana and back into reality. He let out a quiet groan, before rolling over to reach Magnus’ side of the bed as he had every morning since his boyfriend had invited him into his home. “Morning,” he whispered, his eyes still closed as he felt around for where the other man usually was in the morning and found nothing but empty air. “Magnus?” He asked, his voice louder this time as he finally pushed himself into a sitting position and looked around the room.
His boyfriend’s side of the bed was empty, and the sheets were cold like Magnus hadn’t been lying in them for hours. The robe Magnus usually donned when he got up to make coffee was hanging over the back of the chair where he’d hung it on the night before, and his cell phone was still sitting on the bedside table in the same place he’d plugged it in before they went to bed. Alec began to panic, every instinct he’d honed in his long life screaming at him that something here was very, very wrong. “Magnus?!” He yelled, jumping to his feet quickly and nearly tripping over himself as he tried to make his way out into the living room looking for his wayward boyfriend.
Like the bedroom and the kitchen, it was empty and showed no signs of the missing man. Alec’s heart was beating out of his chest as he called again for his boyfriend, and he frantically began to search their other rooms before his eyes fell on a collection of items set carefully on the kitchen table. There was a letter addressed to him and tickets and mementos from all of their dates which Magnus treasured as photos couldn’t capture Alec’s likeness. But it was the sight of the final two objects that struck fear into Alec’s heart; his boyfriend’s signet rings - the M and B that he was rarely seen without — were strung through a linked silver chain and sat on the table next to the letter.
Alec took the paper in shaking hands and unsealed the letter, which had been closed with a wax stamp the same deep maroon as Magnus’ favorite shirt. The sight of his name in his boyfriend’s elegant script was enough to have tears welling in his eyes; he didn’t have to read the words to know what he would find inside.
He’d asked, of course, how long they had left on Magnus’ curse, but every time he’d brought it up, his boyfriend had given him a kiss and changed the topic. Eventually, Alec had stopped asking, choosing instead to focus on the time they had together. Magnus was living with the sword of Damocles hanging over his head and Alec had come to accept that he had chosen to bear the burden of his past choice alone.
Magnus’ letter was a heartfelt goodbye that pained Alec to read. He forced himself to take in the words, reading them over and over and over again and hoping that with every new read, the reality of the contents would change. “No,” he found himself whispering, his tears staining the script as they soaked into the paper. “No, Magnus, please.”
He couldn’t let this be the end. He knew Magnus was trying to spare him with how he chose to leave but he couldn’t let this be their final goodbye. Was it too late? Had Asmodeus come for his boyfriend in the middle of the night or did Magnus leave on his own accord? He’d left his phone behind, so tracking him through that would be impossible. There had to be another way…
His eyes trailed across the room, hoping- no, praying that a solution would jump out at him.
There was a framed picture of the Brooklyn Bridge hanging above Magnus’ fireplace. He’d asked about it once — the coldness of the photo contrasted the rest of the warm and inviting decor his boyfriend had spread around the loft - and Magnus had told him that it was to help him remember.
That first day he’d realized that Magnus remembered him, the other man had told him the story of a boy who fell in love with a girl and had his heart broken. He said he’d ended up on the bridge in the rain where he’d met the devil himself.
Alec was moving before he even had a chance to consider his action; there was only one place Magnus could go…back to the place it had all begun.
He grabbed the rings from the table and bolted out the door, pushing past the people on the street without a care, knowing that the moment they turned their heads, he’d be forgotten anyway.
He ran and ran. Even when his legs felt like giving out, Alec pushed himself harder. He had to make it in time. There wasn’t any other option. He needed to be there for Magnus or to find a way to stop this. He wasn’t going to take no for an answer, not when he’d already lost so much.
It was raining as he approached the bridge. The sun was still shining everywhere except for directly over it - something he was sure that the mundanes would pass off as a freak rainstorm and nothing more. Alec knew the truth, however. Clouds in the sky or not, the Devil worked in mysterious ways.
Traffic was moving slowly across the bridge, honking and trying to merge to avoid the lane on the farthest right. He had to squint through the raindrops and push his mind through the hazy image in front of him to see past the glamor that had been cast. Magnus was on his knees, a numb, cold and faraway expression in his eyes, and behind him - with a sickening grin on his face — was none other than the cat-eyed man who had doomed them both.
“Stop!” Alec yelled, fighting to be heard over the sound of upset drivers. “Stop! Please! I’m begging you.” He continued, falling to his knees in front of the demon and his boyfriend. “I’ll do anything. Just…don’t do this to him. He doesn’t deserve it.”
Magnus didn’t seem to hear him because he didn’t even twitch at Alec’s sudden arrival. Valentine gave a low chuckle. “You think you can stop this? He made a deal; it’s only fair that I collect on it. I’ve held up my end of the bargain, after all.”
“And I’ll give you anything else that you want,” Alec pleaded, the words tumbling from his mouth without a second thought. “Anything…just let him live.”
“I made a deal with you too, Alexander Gideon Lightwood. Immortality and a chance for freedom, to live your life the way you wanted to live it…there was just one tiny caveat, do you remember?”
“How could I forget?” Alec asked, tears blending with raindrops as they streamed down his face. “No one remembers me. My family forgot me. I’ve watched everyone I’ve ever cared for forget and pass away. You gave me a chance to choose my own path but is it really choosing when the only option is to keep going? I can’t even die in the way I choose. You have all of eternity to keep ruining my life and making me miserable. All I ask is that you spare Magnus.”
“He cares for you, Lightwood, and that is why he must go,” the demon started to say as he raised a hand and started drawing away what Alec could only assume was Magnus’ soul. A loud crash of lightning came from behind them and the man’s eyes widened. “No. You can’t be here — you aren’t supposed to interfere!”
Another man was walking toward them slowly, a cane in one hand and a black umbrella in the other. He had grey hair and was dressed as a college professor might with a tweed jacket and a bowtie. He didn’t seem at all bothered by the demon’s appearance. “And you were supposed to punish sinners, Valentine, not the innocents. Don’t you think that this has gone on long enough?”
“You didn’t stop me,” the demon snarled, his attention now fully on the newcomer, Alec and Magnus now forgotten. Alec moved forward, pulling Magnus into his arms and hating how stiff his boyfriend was. “No one stopped me! I did my part! It’s only fair that these two -”
The older man tapped his cane on the ground and bright white light exploded around them, casting the world into silence. The rain stopped and Alec could only hold his breath as whatever was happening in front of them continued to play out. “These two have suffered long enough. Consider your deals with them null and void. If you try to collect, you’ll have more than simply myself to deal with. I do suggest you run away now and stick to collecting the souls of the damned as you’ve been tasked to do.”
Just as the demon tried to scream, it was snatched away in a whirlwind of magic and completely disappeared from sight. Alec froze as the figure turned his attention to him and Magnus. “Well, I suppose I got here just in the nick of time,” he said finally, taking the remaining few steps until he was directly behind where Alec was holding Magnus in his arms. “Another few seconds and unfortunately even my powers wouldn’t have been enough to pull him back.”
He gave Magnus’ shoulder a squeeze and the haze that had been surrounding Alec’s boyfriend’s eyes dissipated instantly. Magnus slumped into his arms with a nearly silent sob. “It’s alright,” he whispered, stroking Magnus’ back gently and trying not to break out into tears himself. “It’s alright. It’s over, I think. I’m here, Magnus.”
“It most certainly is over,” the older man said. Alec had forgotten he was there.
Magnus jumped as his voice and his head whipped around toward the source. “Ragnor? What are you doing here? You shouldn’t be — it isn’t safe. There was a —”
The older man held up a finger, silencing Magnus’ rambling in a familiar gesture. “I’ve been keeping an eye on you, Magnus Bane. I was rather surprised when I felt the shadows of Edom darkening your soul. I was even more surprised when you happened to stumble across another in the same situation as yourself.” A frown flickered across Ragnor’s face and Alec now realized he’d heard that name when Magnus had talked about the mysterious owner of the bookstore. “We have failed you, both of you, and for that I am sorry. Neither of your stories were meant to go this way. The Fallen have gotten out of hand and have lost sight of the jobs that they were tasked to do. Your curse has been lifted, Magnus. You will not die here today.”
The remaining tension poured out of Alec’s body as he realized that he’d made it. He had done what he set out to do. Magnus was safe. Magnus was alive and the man he loved would not be dragged to hell for the deal he made.
“What about Alec?” Magnus asked and Alec tried not to let hope flicker in his heart. Even if his curse was still his to bear, at least he had saved Magnus. He could live the rest of his days knowing that at the very least, his boyfriend was safe.
“Even Alec,” Ragnor Fell replied, pressing two fingers to the center of Alec’s forehead. He shuddered as a chill wave washed over him. “I can’t imagine the pain you’ve suffered, living hundreds of years trapped the way you were. The future we can give you can’t make up for the pain you’ve experienced, but I hope, at least, the happiness from it is a start. You’re both free from the curses that have bound you — Alexander Gideon Lightwood, no longer will you be a forgotten face. And Magnus Bane — you have a good soul, son. You do not need people to like you as long as you love who you are. Enjoy the rest of your mortal lives together boys.” Those were his last words before he, too, disappeared without a trace.
There was only a beat before the world around them exploded back into chaos. A car tried to cut past and swerved at the last minute, angrily honking its horn at them. Alec jumped to his feet and pulled Magnus out of the way before they could be hit. They stood there in each other’s arms, foreheads pressed together, enjoying the peace and safety of each other’s company. “Hi,” Alec whispered, lightly stroking Magnus’ back.
“Hi to you too,” his boyfriend whispered with a small chuckle.
“Don’t you ever do that to me again. Every war I’ve ever lived through, I’ve never felt that type of fear. Ever. Not knowing if you were alive or dead. I…I was terrified.”
“So was I,” Magnus replied, pulling back so he could look up at Alec with teary eyes. “Alec, I —”
“Magnus,” Alec said quickly, cutting his boyfriend off before he could say another word. “I love you.”
“I love you too.”
Alec grabbed the lapels of Magnus’ jacket and pulled him into a kiss, ignoring the honks and cheering from the cars as they passed them by. After a few moments, Alec broke them apart, reaching into his pocket to reveal the two rings that Magnus had left for him. “I realize this is rather unorthodox but, given the situation, I didn’t exactly have a lot of time to prepare. Magnus Bane, you’ve shown me what true happiness is after years of living in the darkness. I can’t imagine spending the rest of my life without you by my side. I’ve already given you my heart but let me give you my soul as well. Would you do me the honor of marrying you?
Magnus chuckled and pulled Alec into another kiss. “Only if you let me marry you too.”