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1
The first time Chairman appeared in the Institute Alec was a mix of bemused and worried. The small cat had slipped through into the meeting had been having with his mother and Isabelle about how the Lightwood siblings were going to be running the New York Institute after Maryse and Robert left. Alec had been so caught up in the meeting which had been going on for hours as they argued back and forth over even the smallest of things that to begin with he hadn’t noticed the additional feline presence in the room.
He’d spent the night at Magnus’ loft but had been reluctant to wake his peacefully sleeping boyfriend when he had to leave far too early for his liking that morning. So instead he had left a note with little squiggly heart drawn in the top corner for Magnus to find when he eventually woke up to deal with his clients. Alec always felt awful about leaving before Magnus woke up, he knew it hurt the warlock too but it was unavoidable. Especially when his mother and father were still in town. So he’d kissed Magnus on the forehead, gently so as not to wake him, had left the note and had stroked the Chairman on his way out of the door in order to be on time for what was the worst, headache inducing meeting that Alec had ever been to.
“Alec?” Izzy asked from where she was sitting on the small sofa, Maryse was behind her desk and Alec had been pacing in front of the unlit fireplace before his sister spoke across their mother to get his attention.
“Yeah Iz?” He replied, wary of her slightly strange tone as he stopped to look at her with a raised eyebrow.
“Is that the Chairman?” She asked pointing to the unassuming cat who was sitting in front of the slightly open door, licking his paw.
Alec watched in surprise when the cat stopped before looking Alec straight in the eye and mewing. Maryse didn’t say anything and neither did Izzy.
“Um it looks like it?” It came out as more of a question than a statement. “Well. Yes. It is. I don’t know how he got here though…”
“Is the warlock here too?” Alec’s mother asked, glaring at the cat with a weird sense of vengeance.
“He has a name.” Came Alec’s instant, snappy reply. He was getting really sick of his mother disrespecting Magnus. “No, at least he shouldn’t be. He’s meant to have a client today.”
“Do you think he walked here on his own?” Izzy asked standing up in order to crouch down in front of the Chairman, holding out a gentle hand for the cat to sniff.
“I doubt it, it’s a long way. Even for a cat.” Alec replied, watching with amusement as the Chairman looked at Izzy with a reproachful blink before walking round her to fuss against Alec’s leg. He automatically reached down to let the Chairman headbut his hand and fuss behind his ears.
“Alexander-” His mother began sternly.
“Alec.” He corrected.
“Are you seriously telling me that this cat either walked all the way here or took what? A portal?”
“They do appear to be the two options.” Alec said, bending down to pick the purring cat up and was shocked when the Chairman hissed and batted his hands away before trotting over to the door, tail in the air.
“What did you do to upset him?” Izzy asked with a laugh, Alec just shrugged.
“I have no idea.”
The chairman meowed loudly and walked out the door then as if he’d realised that no one was following he came back, headbutted Alec’s leg then left again. This process repeated a couple of times as they all watched with varying feelings of befuddlement and amusement until Izzy spoke up as she came up with an idea.
“He wants you to follow him!”
“That’s ridiculous, it’s a cat.” Maryse snapped but the two siblings ignored her.
“Where do you think he wants to go?” Alec asked quietly, subtly checking his phone in his pocket to make sure Magnus hadn’t sent a message or tried to call and that was why his cat was here.
“You’ll have to find out. Although I bet it’s to see Magnus.” Was Isabelle’s thoughtful reply as the Chairman headbutted Alec’s shins for yet another time.
“Alright, alright. You win, Chairman. I’m following.” Alec said with a chuckle.
“Alec! We’re in the middle of a meeting!” Maryse objected loudly, getting to her feet as Alec reached the door.
“We’ve been in this meeting for hours, now's a good a time as any to take a break.” Alec replied, his expression brokering no further argument from his mother.
“Say hi to Magnus for me.” Izzy called as he followed the cat down the hallway to Alec’s room.
Once inside, Alec almost had a heart attack as with nothing more than the wave of a paw the Chairman produced a portal. Through it Alec could see Magnus’ loft, the balcony right in front of him but he couldn’t see Magnus himself. He was going to have to have a serious talk with his boyfriend about how he’d acquired a magical cat.
The Chairman completely ignored Alec’s shocked state and simply wandered through the portal before turning to look at the shadowhunter expectantly. Alec sighed and nodded, filled with the creeping feeling that something was wrong and Magnus was at the centre of it. It made his stomach sink at the thought of anything having happened to the warlock and with a million possible awful scenarios running through his head Alec followed Chairman all the way to the closed door of Magnus’ bedroom. It was like the other man hadn’t left the room at all that morning when he entered.
The lights were off and if it wasn’t for the rays of filtered sunlight making their merry way through the thin curtains he wouldn’t have been able to see at all. Magnus’ clothes were still spread around the floor from where they’d discarded them together the night before which was just wrong. Magnus never let his clothes stay crumpled and untidy for longer than a night. Never.
Alec deposited his jacket and boots by the door, he’d left his weapons at the Institute knowing that if anything did happen he had a couple of spare seraph blades stashed in the loft. Magnus himself was nothing more than a huddled shape under the bed’s blankets, his jet-black hair splayed out on the pillow. He was holding the other one, the one Alec normally slept on, as if it was anchoring to the earth. Alec felt his heart twist and contract painfully, Magnus was clearly hurting. That’s why Chairman had brought him here.
“Mags? It’s me.” Alec whispered softly as he got changed into something comfier, namely one of Magnus’s shirts that were too big for the warlock himself, before sliding under the covers and sliding the pillow out of his boyfriend’s grip and placing it under his head.
“Alexander…” Magnus whispered hoarsely, there were dried tear tracks down his cheeks and Alec reached out to softly wipe them aware, a sad smile on his lips as Magnus wrapped himself around the shadowhunter.
Neither of them said anything when Magnus started sniffling and Alec just held him tighter, whispering tin reassurances in his ear when he started sobbing. Stroking his hand through Magnus’ soft hair and up and down his back in what he hoped were comforting circles.
When Magnus calmed down enough to speak he shuffled back a little to rest his forehead against Alec’s own, their eyes closed as the shadowhunter fell silent once more.
“You have a meeting…” Magnus said softly, like he was confused by Alec’s presence.
“It wasn’t going anywhere anyway.” Alec said before pressing a chaste kiss to his boyfriend’s lips, pleased when he earned a small smile when they broke apart.
“How did you know?” Magnus ran a hand through Alec’s hair absentmindedly.
“The Chairman came and got me.” Alec said a hint of laughter in his voice along with a healthy amount of disbelief. “Only you would have a cat that could do magic.”
“Oh, right. He’s...you know what familiars are?”
“Yeah.”
“He’s my familiar.”
“Of course he is.” Alec said with a breathless laugh as he leaned down to kiss Magnus again. At some point they would have to talk about what had happened to cause Magnus’ slump but Alec knew that right now it wasn’t what his boyfriend needed.
2
The second time the Chairman came looking for Alec was when the shadowhunter was already in the loft. Which wasn’t surprising considering he’d, for all sense and purposes, moved in there already. Magnus was in the kitchen preparing them some snacks to eat for lunch as they were both working. Separately but both in Magnus’ study.
Alec was stretched across the small sofa, his legs kicked up over the end because he was just too tall and couldn’t fit otherwise. He had reports spread around him. Some open on the floor, others lying on his chest and he was holding one up to read when Magnus’ cat jumped on to his chest. Effectively dislodging the blanket of paper and files so they fell in a rustling cascade onto the floor. Alec scowled and pushed the cat off of himself but didn’t bother picking any of the files up.
Magnus would be back soon with food, he never took long as he normally used his magic to snap some sandwiches from somewhere else, Alec tried his best to make sure Magnus paid. He had just found his place again when the Chairman jumped back with a disgruntled mew, pushing the file out of Alec’s hands so it fluttered to the floor along with the rest. Alec rolled his eyes and was about to ask the cat why he was acting weirdly when he suddenly remembered the last time the cat had been acting weird.
Alec picked the Chairman up and dropped him onto the ground as he stood up, following the cat out the door all the way to the kitchen. The shadowhunter tensed when he couldn’t hear any noise coming from inside. Magnus should have been shuffling around at least even if he was planning on summoning half their food. Alec took a deep breath and pushed the door open quietly so as not to startle Magnus if he was (hopefully) still in there.
He was. He was standing in front of the fridge which was wide open, bathing Magnus in its artificial white light. Alec was facing the warlock’s back, Magnus’ shoulders were tense. Alec wasn’t sure whether Magnus had noticed his presence so he carefully made his way forwards, his sock-clad feet making a little noise on the smooth floor.
Alec wound his arms around Magnus’ waist, clasping his hands together over his boyfriend’s stomach, and tucked his head into the crook of Magnus’ neck. The warlock slumped back into Alec’s hold slightly and his breath hitched as Alec pressed a soft kiss to the other man’s throat.
“What is it, Mags? Talk to me, please.” Alec murmured, looking up slightly so he could see inside the fridge.
There was nothing out of the ordinary. A half finished jar of strawberry jam, a bottle of milk, some pineapple juice cartons, a cabbage and some eggs. Surprisingly more food than normally could be found in the warlock’s fridge.
“Don’t push me away, Mags.” Alec pleaded when Magnus didn’t speak up. He felt the other man let out a deep breath.
“I used to call him Little Dear Cabbage.” It was so quiet that if Alec hadn’t been so close he probably wouldn’t have heard. “I miss him, Alec. So much.”
Alec pressed a kiss to Magnus’ shoulder, he got it now. It was about the right time of year. His disaster of a wedding was about a year ago. Which meant that Ragnor’s death was also about a year ago. Of course Magnus was going to be okay.
“I wish I could have met him.” Alec said, feeling ever so helpless as he had no idea what to do to help.
“You two would have gotten on well, you both like to make fun of me.” Magnus said with a sad laugh.
“It’s out of love.” Alec replied.
3
The third time had been a little...inconvenient. Alec had been in the shower at the Institute after a patrol when the Chairman had butted his way in and mewed until he had Alec’s attention. To the Shadowhunter’s credit, he knew as soon as he heard the damned cat that something was wrong. It was a recurring theme and it was one that Alec was grateful for, it meant he could be there for Magnus when he needed him. Regardless of whether Magnus knew it himself.
So Alec had quickly hopped out of the shower, got changed into clean clothes and followed the Chairman through the portal with shampoo still in his hair. He hadn’t wanted to waste time and have Magnus hurting for any longer than necessary. Plus Alec could always wash it out at Magnus’ loft. He was going to look really rather stupid but it was worth it.
He'd been expecting something serious like the last two times so he was more than mildly surprised when he hurried into the Loft only to find Magnus swearing himself blue in the face and clutching the side of his hand. Alec looked down at the cat who just looked smug then back up at his boyfriend who had momentarily stopped prancing around to lock eyes with him. Alec himself winced when a smirk grew on Magnus’ lips as he took in Alec’s half-showered state.
“I think you might have forgotten to rinse your hair, darling.” Magnus teased, pointedly looking at said hair. Alec rolled his eyes.
“Your cat is a menace.” Alec retorted indignantly, already feeling the blush working its way up his neck.
“Well he is my cat after all, Alexander.”
“Are you okay?” Alec asked, trying desperately to steer the conversation away from himself and the cat.
“Um...yes?” Magnus said, trying to smile but he just looked guilty.
“Why were you swearing then?” Alec asked casually, holding his hands behind his back.
“I um...papercut.” Magnus lifted his hand for the shadowhunter to see and indeed there was a tiny red line.
“Can’t you just heal it?” Alec asked, tipping his head to the side and wriggling his fingers as he always did when trying to motion about Magnus’ magic, he only did it to make the warlock smile.
“Well I haven’t had time yet. Did the Chairman go to fetch you?”
“Um. It’s a possibility.” Alec replied with a shrug.
“Well, seeing as you’re here, darling. I feel like I know what would make it better.” Magnus said with a sly grin, stepping closer to Alec.
“Is that so?”
“I think that a kiss would do nicely.” Magnus beamed up at his boyfriend who rolled his eyes again.
“You’re right. The Chairman has learnt how to be a menace from you.” Alec teased before lifting Magnus’ hand to kiss the small cut. “Better?”
“Much, darling.”
4
It was a couple of years later when the Chairman did it again. Laws had become more lenient. Times had changed. The cat was still a menace. Alec was still stubborn but much less repressed. Magnus was as much of a menace at times as his cat but now he was also Magnus Lightwood-Bane. They shared a surname and a home and a life. And a magical cat. It was perfect.
So when Alec found the Chairman scratching at the bedroom door in the middle of the night he was surprised. But he hadn’t forgotten what the cat’s weird behaviour meant and dutifully followed after him. Magnus hadn’t been in the bed next to him which happened occasionally when the warlock was caught up in his work and forgot to get some sleep. It hadn’t become a habit, thankfully. Alec slept fitfully without Magnus in his arms.
He trailed the cat into the living room to find Magnus on the balcony, he was holding something and as Alec stepped forwards quietly he realised it was the Keris and everything in his sleep muddled brain slipped into place. It was Magnus’ birthday in a couple of days and Alec knew how much pain that brought about. He gently reached over from where he was standing next to his husband and took the blade out of his hands, setting it on the table behind them.
Alec carefully maneuvered his husband until Magnus had his head on Alec’s shoulder and his arms around his back, clutching at the fabric of Alec’s pyjama top.
“I love you so much, Magnus. So, so much. So many people love you.” Alec started, he’d learnt over the years that sometimes it was best to just say what he was thinking, it wasn’t going to make things worse. “Izzy loves you, Clary loves you, Jace does too, Max practically adores you. Cat loves you and so does Tessa. Ragnor did too. You are loved Magnus Lightwood-Bane, here and now and as long as I live and even when I’m gone you will be loved. I know they didn’t, I know that I can’t change that but you can’t either. It’s okay to grieve for that. It’s okay.”
Magnus held on for dear life.
5
The fifth time Alec ran after the Chairman in a mad dash as the cat couldn’t seem to decide just where Magnus was until Alec ran straight into his husband’s chest. Swiftly regaining his balance and clutching onto the shorter man’s shoulders, putting a little space between them to look Magnus up and down for any injuries or signs of anything awful. He found none.
“Everything alright Alexander?”
“Chairman...He…” Alec gasped for breath, the Institute had way too many stairs and he was out of breath from a combination of fear and the unexpected exercise. “Bloody cat…”
“Oh, right. I’m perfectly fine, darling. Not a hair out of place.” Magnus reassured him but Alec still wasn’t entirely sure.
“What were you just doing? You didn’t say you were coming in today.”
“Izzy invited me to lunch. I assumed it would be takeout as normal. She made...something. I’m not sure what it was meant to be but I momentarily forgot your warnings and ate some.” Magnus confessed, looking warily over his shoulder to make sure that his formidable sister-in-law wasn’t overhearing.
“Your memory is awful.” Alec stated, a broad smile on his lips. Everything was fine.
“Says you! Mr ‘I can’t remember where I’ve left my phone for the thousandth time’.” Magnus teased, linking his hands around the back of Alec’s neck.
“Twice. I’ve lost my phone exactly twice.” Alec grumbled before melting into his husband’s kiss.
+1
Magnus had never been the one to be fetched by his cat. Not once. But he had seen on more than one occasion how the Chairman would lead Alec around in a grand quest to find Magnus himself. He’d loved his cat and his husband all the more for their weird but infinitely comforting method of communication. So it was to no one's surprise when the small cat popped through a portal into the Loft and started pawing angrily at Magnus’ leg. The warlock had stood up immediately, dropping the book he’d been reading in order to speed dial Alec’s phone all whilst following his cat through another portal.
The call wasn’t answered but it turned out it wasn’t necessary either as the Chairman had deposited him...in Idris. In the middle of one of the Clave’s meetings. Where only the Downworld representatives were allowed and the heads of the Institutes. Magnus didn’t bother addressing any of the sudden shouts of shock and indignation. Instead, eyes scanning the room he took in the scene before him.
Alec was standing at one end of a long, rectangular table holding a very blue, warlock child protectively in his arms and the Inquisitor was standing, staring shell-shocked at Magnus, on the other. The rest of the council looked like they had just been relieved from a shouting match.
“Mags…” Alec breathed out and just that word was enough to jolt Magnus into moving to stand next to his husband.
The entire council were utterly confused beyond belief and some of them had started whispering amongst themselves whilst the Inquisitor was shouting for guards to escort Magnus elsewhere as he had just broken through their wards. Technically it had been the cat though.
“How did you get a portal in here?” Alec asked, gently shifting the sleeping baby boy in his arms as Magnus pressed himself against Alec’s side, one arm around the shadowhunter’s waist and the other stroking through the soft tufts of hair on top of the baby's head who was now pressed gently between them.
“The Chairman. How did you wind up with a child? A warlock child at that.” Magnus asked softly, half-listening to the shouts of the other shadowhunters and half focusing on using his magic to make sure the baby wasn’t being woken up by the noise by creating a quiet little bubble around him.
“Long story.” Alec sighed, looking up as a couple of thuggish looking shadowhunters came forward towards them. “If you even dare to touch my husband I will not hesitate to intervene.” Alec snarled protectively and the two men backed off again.
“How did you portal here, warlock?” The Inquisitor spat, clearly furious at everything that was happening.
“My cat.” Magnus replied honestly although he was pretty sure they thought he was lying. “Alexander, darling, love of my life, have you managed to adopt a baby warlock?”
Alec blushed a little and looked down at the sleeping boy in their arms, he was adorable. “It’s possible.”
“Well, that’s that then.” Magnus said cheerily, they were not going to be talking about this here and Magnus would have to be blind to not see how attached Alec had already become to the child and there was no way in hell he would leave this innocent baby to the merciless hands of the Clave. He looked up to address the Inquisitor. “We’ll be leaving now. My husband and I need to have a talk about some things. If you need to contact us...don’t.”
Alec rolled his eyes as the Chairman made a portal as if he’d understood Magnus’ words, maybe he had, and they walked into the loft. The portal snapped closed behind them and the baby instantly woke up and started crying. Magnus just smiled and stole a kiss from his exhausted looking husband. They would be fine.