Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

Jace had cornered Alec in his bedroom when they’d returned from Magnus’. Alec had been hoping that he could go another twelve hours before finding out whether Jace was going to be weird about it, but Jace had never been a particularly patient person. Alec knew from the moment that Jace saw Alec’s memory, that cute guy from the Academy picking up his stele and handing it back to him with a shy smile, Jace wouldn’t let this go until he got some answers.

“Tell you what?” Alec asked lightly, folding his laundry very slowly.

“I’ve tried to set you up with girls a million times, and you always said you were too busy. Why didn’t you just tell me that you were gay?” Jace asked, grabbing Alec’s elbow. Alec dared to glance at Jace’s face briefly, doing a double take when he saw the genuine hurt in his brother’s face. “You didn’t think…? You didn’t think I’d…?”

“Hate me?” Alec finished quietly. Now that he said it out loud, it sounded ridiculous. Jace would never hate him.

“What did I do to make you think you couldn’t tell me? I tell you everything, Alec. What…? How long…?”

Alec shrugged, looking back down at his laundry. “I don’t know, since we were… Thirteen, fourteen, maybe.”

“That’s ten years, Alec. Ten years of you hiding this…” Jace struggled for the right word. “You didn’t have to do that, I’d have been cool. I am cool. We’re cool.”

“Are you sure?” Alec asked, turning to perch on the edge of his bed, arms folded.

Jace tutted, putting his hands on Alec’s shoulders. “Of course I’m sure, fuckwad. You’re my big brother. And hey,” Jace shrugged, a wry smirk on his face. “At least now I don’t have to worry about you stealing Clary out from under my nose.”

Alec snorted so violently that it actually hurt, his hand coming up to pinch his sinuses shut. “Yeah. Definitely not.”

“And this also means that I can finally play wingman and not get that look-”

Alec glared sharply at him, and Jace chuckled.

“Come on, man. I saw the way you blushed when that warlock complimented you. Lit up like a fucking Christmas tree when he called you… Ah, fuck, what did he say?” Jace snapped his fingers, screwing one eye up.

“Pretty boy,” Alec mumbled, folding his arms tightly. “He called me pretty boy.”

Jace grinned. “Seared into your memory already, is it?”

“Shut up,” Alec grouched, his stomach doing flips. “So you’re… Really okay with me being… Into guys?”

Jace arched his eyebrow. “You can’t even say it out loud to me?”

“No, I just…” Alec waved his arms around. “I’ve… Never said it out loud.”

“Hmm… Well…” Jace pulled him to his feet and dragged him to the mirror, positioning him in front of it and patting him on the back. “Go on, then.”

Alec looked at Jace like he’d just recited pi to the twentieth decimal place.

“Go on, say it. No need to freak, it’s okay.”

“Jace-”

“Come on, man, you’ve known for ten years, it’ll feel good.” He pressed, and Alec glared at himself in the mirror.

“Fine, fuck, if it’ll get you off my ass,” Alec grumbled, meeting his own eyes. “I’m…”

“Guhhh… Ayyy...”

“Oh my God, Jace,” Alec elbowed him in the stomach, making Jace wheeze. “I’m gay! There! I said it! You happy?!”

Jace clapped him on the back, grabbing his shoulders and shaking him a little. “Fuck yeah you are.”

Alec snorted, his cheeks a bit pink. “You’re a fucking loser.”

“I was gonna say at least I’m not gone for a guy I just met but…”

“You’ve known Clary five minutes.”

“...Yeah.” Jace sighed, looking at the two of them standing side by side in the mirror. “Guess we’re both pathetic, huh.”

Alec shrugged one shoulder. “Yeah, but…” He glanced at Jace out of the corner of his eye. “Least we’re pathetic together.”

Jace grinned. “Fuck yes we are, parabatai.”

Chapter Text

It was an unpopular feeling among his fellow shadowhunters, but Alec sort of liked doing paperwork. Being in the midst of the action was fine, but there was nothing like the sense of accomplishment when your ‘in’ pile got halved in just a few hours. Alec was on a roll. He’d even run out of ink in his pen and had to pick a new one. All in all, he was having a pretty good afternoon, considering the fact that there was a Clave Envoy skulking around somewhere.

“Alec!” Jace didn’t knock before coming in, his eyes alight with excitement. “It’s your lucky day!”

“Has Clary decided to behave herself?” Alec asked drily, which made Jade scoff.

“No, of course not, don’t be silly. No, Magnus is on his way! Lydia sent for him to check out this weird forsaken with Izzy.” Jace explained.

Alec narrowed his eyes as he looked up at his brother. “And…?”

“And?!” Jace sighed, wondering where his brother got his denseness from, “this is your chance to ask him out!”

Alec actually laughed. “That’s funny. I have paperwork to do.”

“Come on, I know you wanna jump his magical bones.”

“Please never say that again.”

“He wants to jump yours too, it’s obvious.”

“When did you start picking up on homoerotic tension?” Alec asked, arching his eyebrow.

“Hey, trust me,” Jace said sagely, “I have been hit on by more than a few guys in my time. I know when a dude is into it.”

“Name one guy who hit on you.” Alec dared.

“Simon,” Jace shrugged, “guarantee you the dude’s jerked it thinking about a threesome with me and Clary.”

Alec blanched. “I could have gone my whole life without that mental image.”

“Sorry,” Jace grinned, nudging Alec. “Come on, take off your shirt.”

“What?! Why?!”

“Because you have a good body, and Magnus is gay.”

“Bisexual,” Alec corrected him, and Jace rolled his eyes.

“Alright, bisexual. Point is, he sees your abs, he’s putty in your hands.” Jace shrugged. “Go to those punch bags close to the door in the training room, get your shirt off and get all sweaty and shit, and then I’ll tell Izzy to tell Magnus to deliver his findings to you, and then bam! You’re on a one way train to bone town.” He let out one of those devious little chuckles that he did when something terrible or embarrassing was about to happen, and Alec gaped at him.

“Are you seriously suggesting that I disrupt the chain of command and go over Lydia’s head just to hit on Magnus?”

“It’s the Lightwood way,” Jace reminded him, and Alec scrubbed his hand down his face. “You’re carrying on the tradition! Izzy put her fingers up to the Clave by messing around with Meliorn, I made out with Valentine’s daughter in the ops centre and now you’re gonna get busy with the High Warlock in a time of crisis! Go big or go home, Alec.”

“You really think Magnus will be into it?” Alec asked with trepidation.

“Dude! Yes! Girls and gays can’t resist abs, okay, it’s science.”

“You’re not supposed to call gays gays, you’re straight.” Alec pointed out.

“Girls and guys who are into guys didn’t sound so snappy,” Jace admitted, shaking his head. “Stop distracting me! Go shove your abs in Magnus’ face!”

Alec got up from his chair, his hands in a surrendering position. “Fine! Fine! Jesus Christ! Fine! I’m going!”

Jace nodded, and squeezed his shoulders, making an excited noise. “That’s my boy! Go get that magic dick!”

Alec snorted out a laugh, letting Jace steer him towards the training room. “I’m not a child, I know what I’m doing.”

“Oh, do you?” Jace asked skeptically, “then what’s your plan of action?”

“I don’t think flirting is something you need a plan for.”

“For a novice like you? Of course you need a plan!” Jace nudged him, pointing to his shirt. “I know you, you clam up if you go somewhere dangerous without knowing what the plan is.”

Alec rolled his eyes. “I wouldn’t count talking to Magnus as a dangerous place.” He lifted his shirt up and over his head.

“Are you kidding? I’d take a hundred shax demons over asking out someone I liked any day.”

“Yes, but you have intimacy issues,” Alec reminded him, and Jace pretended to upper cut Alec in the abs. “Why are you so focussed on me? Shouldn’t you be squinting and pouting at Clary?”

“Haha, very funny,” Jace deadpanned, shrugging off his own hoodie and snatching Alec’s shirt out of his hands. “So here’s our play…”

Alec sighed, wondering how he’d ever thought Jace would be anything less than annoyingly invested in his love life. “Magnus is a person, not a football.”

“Do you want my advice or not?” Jace asked, putting his hands on his hips.

“I guess I do,” Alec groaned, looking at the hoodie in his hands. “What’s this for?”

Jace held up his hands. “Okay, this is what you’re gonna do. You’re gonna be working out, and then Magnus will come in and be like ‘here’s the report Alexander, oh, what lovely abs you have’.”

“Okay, first of all, Magnus’ voice is deeper than yours. Secondly, he’s like a million years old, I doubt he’s going to be impressed by my abs.”

“I thought you’d say that, which is why I did some research,” Jace said wisely, “it turns out that guys who are tall and have hairy chests and abs are pretty much the ideal in the gay community. You would be classed as an-”

“If the word bear comes out of your mouth I’m killing myself.”

“What?!” Jace spluttered. “No, no, don’t be silly.”

Alec sighed in relief.

“You’re not big enough to be a bear.”

“Oh my God-”

“Okay, okay, back to the plan!” Jace said hurriedly. “So you act all coy and sexy and be like ‘oh, these abs? Let me just cover myself, how embarrassing.’”

“I definitely don’t sound like that.” Alec smirked, unable to keep from laughing at his ridiculous brother.

“Just go with it, Jesus! So that’s when you put on the hoodie.”

“Why can’t I just put on a shirt?” Alec asked.

Jace facepalmed. “Because, Alec, with a hoodie, you can zip it up a little to pretend to be modest, but then actually end up framing your titties. It looks hot, try it, go on.”

Alec was skeptical, but he did as Jace said, zipping the hoodie halfway. “Like this?”

“Nah, little lower.”

“This?” Alec pulled the zipper down an inch. Jace stepped back and tilted his head to the side.

“Yeah, yeah, that’s it. Exactly like that.” He surveyed Alec with a approving eye. “Fuck yeah, he’s not gonna know what hit him.” Jace pulled out his phone. “Now all I gotta do is get Izzy to tell him where you are…” His thumbs flew across his phone, a grin growing on his face. “She already told him. He’s on his way.”

“He is?”

Jace nodded. “Yeah, and apparently he made a little innuendo about wanting to get his hands on you,” he wiggled his eyebrows, and Alec scoffed.

“You’re disgusting.” Alec shooed him away. “No go, before he sees you coaching me.”

“Don’t forget to take off the hoodie!” Jace insisted as he backed towards the door. “And don’t forget to tense!”

Chapter Text

“So why did you ask to train?” Jace asked, towelling off his neck. “Mr Head of the Institute.”

Alec shrugged, fiddling with his own towel. “I don’t know, we haven’t talked much lately.”

Jace narrowed his eyes, looking at his brother with suspicion. “Is this about whatever happened at Magnus’ last night?”

“What…?” Alec shrugged, “what do you mean?”

“Well, you were feeling all happy and shit, and I was trying really hard not to pay attention,” Jace started, “and then you got all freaked out and… Ashamed.”

“Sounds about right,” Alec sighed, scratching the back of his neck.

“So what happened? Arrived at the station too early?” Jace asked, and Alec wrinkled his nose, shoving at Jace’s shoulder.

“No. No!”

Jace chuckled. “Alright, so what is it? Why did you freak out?”

“Well…” Alec folded his arms tightly. “You’ve had a lot of sex, right?”

“A lot, yes,” Jace confirmed, a naughty grin on his face, which made Alec groan and shove him again.

“How did you know when you were ready?” Alec asked, “because I’m like 99% sure I am but maybe I’m just…” He looked around to check that no-one was in earshot, “horny.”

Jace pressed his lips together really hard to keep from laughing. “You know it’s totally fine for you to be horny, right? Is that why you freaked out? Cus you got-”

“Excited,” Alec said quickly, rubbing his hand down his face. “We’ve only been on two dates. It’s too soon, the rule is supposed to be three.”

“Okay first of all, chill out with the slut-shaming,” Jace told him, “you know how mad you get when people get at Izzy for sleeping around, so give yourself the same treatment. It’s understandable to want to ride Magnus like a prize stallion, he is, objectively, super hot.”

Alec stared at Jace, looking just about as freaked out as a person could look.

“What? I might be straight, but I know a fellow ten when I see one.” Jace shrugged. “Anyway, the point is, if you want to have sex with him, go have sex with him, you don’t have to think this hard about it.”

“But what if…” Alec swallowed hard. “What if I’m terrible at it?”

Jace sighed, and put his hands on Alec’s shoulders. “If you think that Magnus Bane is going to just lie there and let you be terrible, I don’t know what to tell you.”

Alec huffed out a laugh. “Alright, true.”

“Also, I knew sooner or later that this was going to come up, so I did some research.”

“Oh, fuck,” Alec groaned, putting his head in his hands.

Jace pulled out his phone, smirking a little as he sent the email that had been sitting in his drafts since Alec came out to him. “Check your emails, you can read it on the way over to the loft.”

“How are you both the best and the absolute worst at the same time?” Alec asked, his eyebrows raising as he looked at the extensive list of links that Jace had emailed to him.

Jace grinned. “It’s a gift.”

“Okay,” Alec blew out a long breath. “Okay, I’m gonna…”

“Do you have lube and condoms?”

“Oh my God,” Alec stressed, “my boyfriend is a warlock, he can just conjure them, we’re good.”

“Well make sure he does!” Jace insisted as Alec headed for the door, “if he says he’s too big to wear one tell him that condoms stretch up to-”

Alec turned and put his hands up in the air. “Magnus is a 400 year old, mature, sophisticated, educated man, not a seventeen year old fuckboy.”

Jace shot him the finger guns. “Go get that mature dick.”

Alec huffed, but shot him finger guns back. “Planning on it.”

Chapter Text

Alec didn’t look at anyone as he stormed into the Institute, his feet bare and his hood pulled up over his head. He was still hungry, having abandoned his breakfast at Magnus’, that he himself has cooked. He’d cooked french toast and he didn’t even get to eat it because he and Magnus had had another stupid fight.

When he walked into the kitchen, he noticed Jace perched up on the counter, reading something on his phone and eating an apple. Alec grunted a hello and started looking in the cupboards for some cereal.

“Whoa, what did the oatmeal do to you?!” Jace said, his eyebrow arched.

“Magnus.” Alec grumbled.

“What did he do?”

Alec didn’t answer for a moment. “He said I was a child.”

“And you decided to prove him wrong by storming out…” Jace said slowly, his eyes going up and down Alec’s body, “barefoot.”

“You’re meant to be on my side!”

“Why did he call you a child?” Jace sighed, knowing already that it was most likely just a miscommunication and that Alec was probably overreacting.

Alec shrugged one shoulder, stirring some almond milk into his coffee. “It’s a long story.”

“So tell it,” Jace pressed.

“The other day I asked Magnus to move in together,” Alec started, “and he said no after I caught him looking in this box, so-”

“Please tell me you didn’t look in the box.”

“What was I supposed to do?!”

“Not look in the box! Fuck!” Jace massaged his forehead. “I thought I was supposed to be the romantic disaster.”

“You are a romantic disaster,” Alec insisted, “I just made a lapse in judgement. Anyway, in the box there were all these keepsakes from all his exes. Like, twenty little objects and photographs and all kinds of stuff. So I asked him if I was just going to end up as an arrowhead in his little box, and we fought.”

“And he called you a child?” Jace guessed, but Alec shook his head.

“He told me that we should just live for the moment.”

“Great advice,” Jace shrugged, “you can’t be mad that he has exes considering he was around for like 400 years before you were born.”

“I’m not mad that he has exes!” Alec said heatedly, slamming his mug down on the counter. “I’m mad that he never mentions them! Is that what it’s gonna be like when I’m dead?! Is he just going to… Stop thinking about me?!”

Jace hopped down off the counter. “Okay, first of all, take a fucking breath.”

Alec glared at him, but breathed in deep.

“Second, Magnus definitely still thinks about those exes if he still had a box of their stuff. So… What are you really mad about?”

Alec folded his arms tightly, looking down at the ground. “He… He is my whole life. The one love I’m ever going to have. And me? I’m just one in a long line of relationships. I’m not special. I’m nothing new. Just the latest.”

“Wow.”

“Yeah.”

“You really are an idiot.”

Alec’s head snapped up to look at his parabatai. “What?!”

Jace rolled his eyes. “Just because he loved other people before you doesn’t mean that you’re not special. Didn’t he say that he hadn’t fallen in love in like a hundred years before he met you? That sounds pretty fucking special to me.” He pushed at Alec’s shoulder. “You’re being an asshole for no good reason.”

He would never, ever admit it out loud, but Jace had a point. “Shut up,” Alec grumbled, sipping at his coffee.

“Yeah, you’re welcome,” Jace huffed, throwing the apple core at the bin.

Alec shovelled some oatmeal in his mouth. “So what do I do now?”

“I think you know what you have to do,” Jace slapped Alec’s back.

“Apologise,” Alec sighed, swirling his spoon around his cereal. “But I still don’t know what we’re going to do when I start getting old.”

Jace snorted. “Dude, you’ve been dating less than a year. You have a good few years before you start looking older than him. Chill the fuck out, we could all die tomorrow.”

Alec looked at his parabatai, his eyes narrowed. “Too soon.”

“Sorry,” Jace chuckled, shaking his head. “My bad.”

Chapter Text

“Why are you avoiding Clary?” Alec asked as he and Jace made their way down into the mausoleum.

Jace didn’t say anything for a moment, his mismatched eyes intent on scanning their surroundings. “She, uh…” He inclined his head the slightest bit to the left. “Came out to me.”

Alec straightened up, his eyebrows furrowing. “As in… came out, came out?”

“Yeah,” Jace confirmed. “I know I shouldn’t have outed her to you, but… I need to talk about it. I really didn’t see it coming.”

“So she’s like…? Not into guys at all?”

“Nope,” Jace sighed, scratching his forehead with a wry chuckle. “I know it’s not about me, and I’m trying not to take it personally, but… I love her.”

Alec nodded. “I get it. That’s tough.”

“I’ll get over it,” Jace shrugged, his tone intentionally light. “She’s happy, that’s all that matters.”

“You deserve to be happy too,” Alec insisted, “you’ll find someone else.”

“Maybe,” Jace allowed. Alec wanted to give him a hug, but Jonathan was skulking around somewhere, so he settled for a squeeze to Jace’s shoulder, instead. “So what’s going on with you and Magnus? It seemed pretty intense, back there in the Institute.”

Alec sighed. “He broke up with me.”

“What?!”

“Yeah,” Alec felt numb saying it. “He said that he couldn’t do his job as the High Warlock while he was with me, so… He had to end it.” He swallowed hard, shrugging one shoulder. “I get it. I broke his trust.”

“Come on, man, it’s not all on you-”

“It is, though,” Alec insisted, “I know that you want to try to make me feel better, but I did this. I prioritised my duty to the Clave over him and the good of the downworld. I basically told him that my job matters more than my loyalty to him. Shit,” Alec snorted, his throat thickening. “I’d have dumped me too.”

“But your job doesn’t matter more than him, you know that and I know that.” Jace pointed out. “I’m like ninety percent sure you’d die for Magnus, Alec.”

Alec licked his lips, and did a slow spin to check all the corners of the mausoleum. “Yeah, well, he doesn’t know that.”

“Then tell him!”

“Maybe,” Alec replied, his voice quiet, “if we survive this Valentine shit.”

“We will, if we stick together,” Jace insisted, his eyebrows furrowing as he spotted a vicar ambling in through the door they’d come in through. “Wait… Forsaken, six o’clock!”

Chapter Text

Alec let out a loud sigh of utter happiness when he finally managed to excuse himself to go to the toilet, leaning against the bathroom door with a goofy grin on his face. He was out. Everyone knew. Everyone knew and the world hadn’t collapsed around him. He was steadfastly ignoring the fact that he hadn’t yet faced his parents, and focussing instead on how good it felt to grab Magnus by those beautiful lapels and kiss him with all the want he’d been saving up for weeks now.

And Magnus kissed him back. Magnus liked him back, and they were probably going to date.

Alec let out another happy sigh and wandered over to the urinals. Right as he unzipped he heard the bathroom door fly open, and the next thing he knew there was a weight on his back, and he was falling forwards into the urinal. He managed to catch himself with his hands on the wall, but he did let out a little cry, reaching back to grab at the weight once he’d gotten his balance.

“You did it!” Jace yelled too close to his ear, and Alec relaxed a little, glancing down to see Jace’s legs wrapped around his waist. “You just… You did that! With tongue and everything!” He hopped down and spun Alec around with his hands on his shoulders.

“Yeah, I did,” Alec grinned, still a little giddy.

“Looks like my lessons in romance did the trick,” Jace continued, awe in his face. “That was like, the most romantic thing I’ve ever seen in my life.”

“What lessons in romance?” Alec asked innocently, and laughed as Jace shoved at him. “Oh my God,” Alec ran his hand through his hair, shaking his head. “I can’t believe that just happened.”

“Me neither, I thought for sure Magnus wasn’t gonna turn up.”

Alec’s eyebrows furrowed. “You invited him?”

“It was Izzy’s idea,” Jace shrugged, “and it was a stroke of genius, as usual.”

“It could have backfired spectacularly,” Alec snorted, turning to use the urinal.

“Nah, we knew that you’d do the right thing. No-one was gonna resist those big old sparkly puppy dog eyes standing in the aisle.”

“Puppy dog eyes?” Alec repeated, glancing sideways at his brother.

“Yes, puppy dog eyes.” Jace insisted, “straight I might be, as I’ve said, but Magnus is ridiculously pretty for a dude. I’m secure enough in my sexuality to say it.”

“He is, isn’t he?” Alec felt a goofy wave of happiness overcome him again as he looked himself in the mirror over the sink. He washed his hands and rubbed his face over with water, just to check that he wasn’t dreaming.

“I’m happy for you, Alec.”

Alec looked past his own reflection to Jace’s, smiling gratefully. “I joke about you being a pain in my ass, but your support means a lot, Jace.”

Jace patted him on the shoulder, and Alec turned to give him a hug. “I just want to feel your happiness next to mine, just like this, always. And I know Magnus is the one who’s gonna make it happen. I can feel it.”

“I can, too,” Alec admitted, squeezing him once more before letting him go. He glanced at the door, taking a deep breath through his nose. “Only one more thing left to do. Face Mom.”

“Whatever she says, me and Izzy have your back,” Jace assured him.

“I know.” Alec nodded, straightening his tie. “Let’s go.”

Chapter Text

Jace had always been a dog person. The Lightwood children had never been allowed to have a dog, but Jace and Izzy had always begged for one, every Christmas. In fact, it was a secret wish of Jace’s to one day have his own place and his own dog.

And just like ninety percent of dog people, Jace did not like cats.

He appreciated that Magnus had let him stay at the loft while Aldertree was gunning for his ass, but it did mean that every time Jace sat down to work, there was a cat’s ass in his face. When the ginger one leapt up on him for the fourth time, Jace groaned and threw down his pen.

“Magnus!” He called, putting the cat back on the floor and sighing when it jumped back up again.

“What?” Magnus asked, poking his head out of the balcony door. “Oh,” he smiled at the sight of the cat butting its head into Jace’s chin, and conjured a bowl of cat food. “I must’ve forgotten to feed her this morning.”

“I’ve never met such a bunch of cuddly cats in my life,” Jace tutted, picking up his pen once more. Magnus came out to sit opposite him, making a fuss of a grey cat that leapt into his lap. “Thought they were supposed to hate everyone.”

“That is such a dog person thing to say,” Magnus shrugged, “cats are delightful creatures if you know how to read them.”

“I’ll take your word for it,” Jace muttered, eyeing the one on Magnus’ lap.

“Aside from the feline company,” Magnus said slowly, scritching the cat in his lap under the chin, “how are you finding it, staying here?”

Jace sighed, and set his pen down again. “I’m being rude, aren’t I?”

“It’s fine,” Magnus assured him, “you’ve been through a lot. I get it.”

“I’m really grateful to you for letting me stay here, Magnus. Really.”

Magnus waved it away. “It’s no bother. I could conjure limitless rooms. And from what Alexander told me, Aldertree was making your life at the Institute miserable.”

“I hated feeling like a criminal just for walking around,” Jace admitted, “I used to have the run of that place, and now it’s all changed.”

“Well, never fear. The worst that can happen to you here is getting attention from a couple of cats.”

Jace smiled. “Not so bad, all things considered.” He shared a chuckle with Magnus for a moment, and straightened his spine to look in through the balcony doors, to check Alec wasn’t around. “If you ever want me to make myself scarce like last night, you can just say, by the way.”

Magnus tilted his head to the side, his eyebrows furrowed. “Alec said you had a date.”

“Oh,” Jace bit his lower lip. “Right.”

“Wait… Did Alec tell you…?”

“We talk about everything, Magnus,” Jace admitted, “so yeah, he talked to me about… You know, the next step.”

Magnus nodded slowly. “Makes sense.” He looked carefully at Jace for a moment. “And you’re okay with us…?”

“What? Of course. Listen, the amount of times Alec had to try and sleep next door when I had girls over, I have it coming.” Jace snorted, sliding down in his seat a little. “You guys just do what you gotta do, I’m cool. I mean I’d rather not lie next door and listen, just ‘cause, you know, that’s my big brother…”

“I understand,” Magnus huffed out a laugh. “I’m sure Alec would rather you make yourself scarce, as well.”

Jace smiled, looked steadily at Magnus for a moment. “You make him really happy, you know.”

It seemed to surprise Magnus, and Jace could barely believe it when Magnus’ cheeks turned a little pink. “He makes me happy, too,” Magnus replied quietly, and Jace nodded.

“Well, he should, he’s the best guy there is.” Jace shrugged, getting up from his seat. “Though I have to admit even I was surprised by how much of a softie he is when he’s with you.”

Magnus chuckled. “I guess I bring it out in him.”

“Yeah, you do.” Jace agreed, “I like it.”

“Me too,” Magnus replied, his smile crinkling his eyes a little.

“I gotta go and tell Clary what I’ve found. See you later, man, have a good night.”

“Will do,” Magnus nodded, butterflies low in his stomach as he felt Alec cross his wards downstairs.

Chapter Text

“Jace!” Alec almost barrelled into him with the speed he was coming up the stairs. Jace whirled around to see him, a question on his face. “We have a problem.”

“With Valentine?” Jace guessed. Alec had just come up from the cells, so…

“I don’t think he’s Valentine.”

Jace’s brain came to a halt. “What?” Of course it was Valentine, anyone could see that.

“He’s been crying in there for days, insisting that he’s Magnus.” Alec pointed out, “and Magnus has been acting really weird, like super super weird.”

“What do you mean by weird?” Jace asked, eyebrows furrowing.

“He’s not answering my calls, he didn’t show up to date night last night, and when I went to see him he had no excuse, he didn’t even look sorry!”

“That is weird.” Jace agreed, “maybe we should ask Valentine, or the Valentine in the cells, something that only Magnus would know.”

“That’s the thing, though, Valentine might have… I don’t know, looked in Magnus’ brain. He’s a scientist, we have no idea what he’s capable of.” Alec folded his arms. “There is one thing he said, which might prove that he’s Magnus.”

“What was it?”

“He said that Azazel had used a body switching spell, unum ad unum. I figure it we can find that spell and it turns out to be a body switcher…”

“Let’s go,” Jace urged, leading the way to the library. “There has to be something going on, Magnus would never stand you up without a good explanation.”

Alec shrugged, rubbing his arm. “Unless he just wants to break up with me.”

“Why would he want to do that?” Jace snorted, nudging Alec with his elbow, “don’t think like that.”

The moment they got to the library, the two of them made a beeline for the warlock section. Alec slipped his fingers across the spines of the books, eyes searching for the only spellbook that the shadowhunters kept in house. Luckily for them, it was pretty thorough. Jace spotted it first and pulled it off the shelf, and Alec cleared the nearest table so they could take a look at it.

“I wish they had indexes in these things,” Alec grumbled, “it’s gonna take us forever to find unum ad unum, if it even exists, and Valentine is due another interrogation with the agony rune in less than an hour.”

“It’s got to be in psychological magic, right?” Jace asked out loud, rifling through the pages.

“It could be interpersonal magic too,” Alec pointed out, “these spellbooks are always so badly organised. Magnus is talking about writing one with spells in alphabetical-”

“This has to be the right chapter, look, there’s the spell for convincing a person that they’re an animal,” Jace flipped through the next few pages.

“There!” Alec yelped, going back a page. He’d spotted a drawing of two people with arrows between their heads. “Look, look, body switching spell.”

The two of them scanned the page, eyes greedy to find the incantation.

“Unum ad unum!” The both of them said at the same time, and Jace’s eyes went wide.

“That means Valentine is walking around free and Magnus-”

“The Inquisitor’s been torturing Magnus this whole time!” Alec felt like he was going to be sick. “Come on, we have to get him out of there.”

Jace nodded, grabbing the spellbook, his finger marking the right page. “Let’s go.”

Chapter Text

Once Alec had seen Magnus to his Uber, he headed back inside the Institute for an afternoon of actual work. The training session he’d had planned for Magnus had taken some unexpected turns, turns which had Alec feeling a little smug as he made his way to his office. Now, though, he had a pile of paperwork on his desk that was calling his name.

He didn’t expect anyone to be in his office, so he was surprised to see Jace standing by the bookshelf, his hand encircling his wrist behind his back. At the sound of the door opening Jace turned, and Alec couldn’t help but smirk at the mock-scandalised look on Jace’s face.

“You, my friend, are a dark horse.” Jace told him, and Alec snorted.

“How did you find out?”

“I came to give you my intelligence report on the new pack leader and I saw you and Magnus rolling around in the training room. Genius, by the way, offering to train with him.” Jace enthused, shooting Alec a finger-gun. “Nicely done.”

Alec rolled his eyes. “I didn’t plan to end up rolling around, I thought I was genuinely gonna teach him the basics. Of course he didn’t mention that he has a black belt in like four different martial arts.”

“So you thought you’d just hate fuck him in the training room?”

“I did not…” Alec huffed, “hate fuck him in the training room.”

Jace wrinkled his nose. “Boring.”

“I hate fucked him in my room,” Alec corrected him.

Jace grinned. “Nice.”

“Yeah,” Alec admitted, biting his lip as he sat down at his desk. “It was.”

“I can’t believe you really just went at it in the middle of the day, I need to step up my game if I’m gonna uphold my stud of the family reputation.”

Alec snorted. “What reputation?”

“Hey, I’ll have you know in certain Seelie circles I am known as Fingersmith.” Jace insisted.

“Dick game that weak, huh?” Alec teased, and Jace growled playfully, tossing a cushion from the couch at his head. Alec ducked out of the way of it with a smirk.

“Says the bottom.”

“I don’t know where you got that very information, but-”

“I lived with y’all for two weeks, I know more than I ever wanted to,” Jace countered.

Alec rolled his eyes. “Quit projecting your love of pegging onto me.”

“Hey,” Jace protested, his cheeks going pink as he threw the second cushion at Alec, “that was one time.”

“If I remember rightly you did say it was the best sex of your life.”

“Alright!” Jace groaned, shaking his head with a sheepish grin. “I hate how good your memory is.”

Alec laughed.

Chapter Text

“I know there’s something he’s not telling us, Iz,” Alec muttered as he and Izzy watched Jace move sluggishly around his room, getting ready to go and talk to Catarina about Tim Dempsey. “Between the parabatai rune disappearing, and him being… Like this, I just know-”

“I can hear you whispering,” Jace grumbled, not looking at either of them as he pushed past out of his room.

“We’re just worried about you, Jace.” Izzy insisted, “you haven’t been the same since Valentine was killed.”

“I’m exhausted,” Jace answered, honesty in his face for the first time in days. “So tired I could literally just nap on the floor.”

“Then sit out this mission,” Alec countered, sighing when Jace activated his stamina rune.

“I’m fine, let’s go.”

Alec and Izzy looked at each other with doubt, but didn’t speak as they let Jace lead the way out of the Institute. The walk to the subway was a little awkward; all three siblings were silent, when usually they always had something to talk about. Jace was the one to break the silence, scratching his forehead as he looked down between his feet.

“I don’t want to get either of you in trouble,” he said quietly. He glanced around at the subway carriage instinctively, checking for danger.

“Jace, getting ourselves into trouble for you is kind of in our job descriptions,” Izzy pointed out, which made all three of them snort.

“This is different,” Jace shook his head, “this is bad.”

“No matter how bad it is, we can fix it.” Alec promised, “if you tell us the truth.”

Jace met Alec’s eyes. “I did die at Lake Lyn.”

“I knew it,” Alec whispered.

“How is that possible?” Izzy asked, leaning forward, “how are you…?”

Jace swallowed hard. “Clary used the wish to bring me back. Said she couldn’t see a guy she considers a brother die after everything that happened with Jonathan and Jocelyn.”

Alec nodded. He could understand it. He’d have done the same thing if it had been one of his siblings, blood related or otherwise. “It’s going to be okay, Jace.”

“Is it?”

“Yes,” Izzy agreed, taking Jace’s hands in hers. “It is. We’ll protect you and Clary.”

“Three go in, three come out.” Alec said firmly, “that’s the way it’s always been. The way it’s always going to be.”

Jace looked like he could cry with relief. “You’re not mad?”

“That you’re alive?” Alec shrugged, a tiny smirk pulling at the corner of his mouth. “I guess it means another fifty years of you being a pain in my ass, but-”

Jace snorted, leaning into Alec’s side. “Shut up.”

“Never.” Alec insisted, putting his arm around Jace’s shoulders. “We’re going to piss each other off for years to come, you hear me?”

Chapter Text

Jace was waiting in the kitchen for Alec and Magnus the next morning, which was unusual because Jace didn’t tend to hang out much at the loft even though he’d technically been living there for a week. Magnus and Jace must have co-ordinated at some point though, because they shared a meaningful look, and Magnus announced that he was going to go and have a shower. Alec looked suspiciously between the two of them, eyeing Jace with apprehension once Magnus had shut the kitchen door behind him.

“So what happened last night?” Jace asked, as direct as ever. Alec shrugged one shoulder, making himself some coffee.

“I thought it was pretty obvious. Iris made us all hallucinate so she could try and steal Magnus’ spellbook.”

“I meant what happened with you,” Jace pressed, hopping up to sit on the counter next to Alec. “You… You were ready to throw yourself off the building.”

Alec sighed. “Magnus already gave me the ‘you’re not alone’ talk, don’t worry.”

“Uh, no, you know what, I think I’m gonna worry. Suicide is serious shit, Alec, and you’ve never once mentioned feeling like that, ever. And don’t pull the magic card, ‘cause Magnus already told me last night that magic can’t invent feelings like that.” Jace said it all while barely breathing, and his chest heaved once he was done. “So what the fuck, man?”

“Being in the closet is hard.” Alec said flatly. “Before Magnus, I felt alone, even when I was with you and Izzy. Every time I breathed, every time I spoke, I would feel anxious about outing myself. Every single move was carefully thought about and assessed to make sure it wasn’t effeminate, or whatever. I don’t know. It was hard. Sometimes I felt like I was choking. Sometimes, yeah, I wished that some demon would take me out. But never bad enough to plan anything, never seriously enough that I ever felt like my life was truly at risk. And now, with Magnus…” Alec kept his eyes on his coffee mug, his gaze intense. “That pressure is gone. But I was so miserable for so long, I still feel kind of exhausted sometimes.”

“I’ve felt it,” Jace admitted, “a few times. I didn’t know what it was, I thought…” He shrugged one shoulder, “I thought it was anxiety about being a leader.”

“No,” Alec snorted, “that’s always come easily.”

“I guess I never thought about how tiring it is to hide who you are from everyone. I just figured that you were still the same guy, nothing had changed.” Jace said quietly. “But everything changed. For you, at least. I didn’t realise how big of a deal it was.”

Alec nodded, letting out a sigh. “It was a huge deal. And I am so glad that part of my life is over. I’m so, so much happier now. Don’t get me wrong. Magnus makes me feel…” He smiled faintly, tipping his head back. “Like there’s still this tightrope that I’m walking on, that feeling that I had before, but I know now that there’s a trampoline at the bottom to break my fall and catapult me back up. And he’s the trampoline.”

Jace had absolutely no frame of reference for what Alec was describing; he’d never felt like that about anybody. Not even Clary, he realised with an unpleasant jolt. He didn’t even trust Clary like that, not even now that he knew they were siblings. He shook that bombshell off to think about another time, and put his hand on Alec’s shoulder. “I’m glad that you have Magnus. But me and Izzy are here for you, too. I know we can’t understand it like Magnus can, but… You can talk to us too.”

“I know,” Alec assured him, “but like I said, it’s really not that serious.”

“Not that serious,” Jace echoed, rolling his eyes. “Like you weren’t almost an Alec pancake.”

Alec choked on a sip of his coffee.

Jace slapped him on the back. “Your idea of serious and mine are very different.”

“I’m fine,” Alec insisted, meeting Jace’s eyes. “I promise.”

He wasn’t one hundred percent convinced, but Jace let it go, knowing he’d compare notes with Magnus again later, when Alec was working. “Alright. Alright. I gotta get to the Institute. See you later.”

“See you later,” Alec agreed, blowing out his breath in relief. He wasn’t a huge fan of heart to hearts, not really, but he did feel bad for worrying everyone. No doubt Izzy would corner him too, at some point today. He resigned himself to it as he heard the front door close behind Jace, drinking his coffee while gazing out the window.

“Penny for your thoughts?” Magnus asked softly, and a warm pair of arms appeared around Alec’s waist.

Alec smiled, letting his head tip back to rest on Magnus’ shoulder. “I’m so glad I met you.”

Magnus hummed, kissing Alec’s shoulder. “The feeling is mutual.”

Chapter Text

Alec was late to the Institute the morning after the party at the Hunter’s Moon. He and Magnus had stayed up late talking about what had happened with the soul sword, and between the high of Valentine finally being dead, the relief of getting back together with Magnus, and the lack of sleep, Alec was in a very strange mood. As he walked to his office he thought about how glad he was that he wouldn’t have a crisis to deal with that day, but when he opened the door to see Jace already sitting on the couch, he realised that there would never be a quiet day at the New York Institute.

“Good night?” Jace asked as Alec took off his jacket to hang up on the coat stand.

“Yeah, me and Magnus figured things out,” Alec answered, settling into his chair. “What’s up?”

Jace looked nervous, which made Alec nervous. Jace was never nervous. “Before I say it, you have to promise to hear this as my brother and not as the Head of the Institute.”

“Jace, I will always be your brother first,” Alec insisted, only growing more nervous with every word that left Jace’s mouth. “Is this about what happened at Lake Lyn?”

“Yeah,” Jace admitted, rubbing his knees. “Valentine got the drop on me, jumped out from a bush while me and Clary were talking at the lake. He stabbed me through the heart, there was nothing I could do about it.”

Alec’s eyebrows furrowed. “So you did die.” He looked Jace over, knowing in his heart what had happened, but he was still hoping for another explanation.

Jace nodded. “I was okay with it, you know, I died to stop Valentine. Clary had him. But… After losing Jonathan the day before, she couldn’t stand to see me die too. So…” He didn’t look at Alec. “She used Raziel’s wish to bring me back.”

“I knew it,” Alec said softly. “Jace, if the Clave ever find out…”

“Then Clary gets sentenced to death,” Jace murmured, “yeah. I know.”

“There’s always a price for bringing someone back from the dead,” Alec reminded him, “how do you feel?”

Jace met his eyes. “I feel like something had been taken from me. Something… Deep.”

Those words made Alec’s arms break out into goosebumps. He had no idea what to say. “Jace… I…”

“Clary doesn’t get it,” Jace said, “she just thinks that Raziel gave us a miracle, no strings attached. But something doesn’t feel right, Alec. I don’t feel right.”

“We’re gonna figure it out,” Alec promised. He didn’t know what else to say. He couldn’t send Jace to the Silent Brothers for mental health treatment for fear of exposing Clary’s secret.

“Promise me that you’ll keep an eye on me.”

“Jace, I’m not going to let you fall.” Alec said firmly, getting up to go and sit next to Jace on the couch. “We’ll figure it out.”

It wasn’t often that Jace initiated physical contact, but he leaned into Alec’s side the moment he sat down, and Alec put his arm around his brother’s shoulders. “I thought it would be over once Valentine was dead, but… I feel something. I can feel in my gut that something terrible is coming.”

“Whatever it is, we’ll see it off, together. You, me and Izzy, like always. Don’t worry.” Alec insisted, squeezing the back of his neck.

Chapter Text

When Alec woke up in the medical centre of the Institute, the first person he saw was Magnus. He sighed in relief, and closed his eyes for a moment. “You made it back,” he murmured, reaching out for Magnus’ hand.

“Of course I did,” Magnus soothed, kissing Alec’s knuckles. “We always find our way back to each other, remember?”

Alec hummed, smiling tiredly. “You saved Jace?”

“I did,” Magnus assured him gently, “but Clary… She didn’t make it, Alexander.”

“What…?” He tried to sit up, and Magnus gentled him, his hands on Alec’s shoulders. “What do you mean she didn’t make it?”

Magnus looked up at the door behind Alec. “I’ll leave the two of you alone,” he said softly, bending to give Alec a kiss on the forehead. Alec tried to turn to look at who was there, but it hurt to twist his body.

Jace came round the bed to sit where Magnus had been moments before. “Alec, I’m so sorry. I… I couldn’t stop it, I wasn’t strong enough.”

“It was Lilith, Jace,” Alec pointed out, “she’s the mother of all demons. Nobody could’ve kept her out. It wasn’t you.”

“But I nearly killed you, my own brother...” Jace sounded on the verge of tears, and Alec grunted as he tried to sit up.

“You didn’t.”

“But what if I had?”

Alec sighed. “It doesn’t matter, because it didn’t happen. You’re okay, you’re back to normal. Lilith is dead… At least… She’s dead, right?”

“Banished back to Edom,” Jace corrected him, “but she won’t be escaping any time soon.”

“And Clary…?”

Jace swallowed hard, shaking his head. “There was an explosion when Lilith was banished… She…”

“I’m sorry,” Alec said quietly, reaching to touch Jace’s forearm.

“Yeah, me too,” Jace whispered, sniffing.

“It’s not your fault,” Alec told him, but he shook his head. “It’s not. It’s Lilith’s. She killed Clary, not you. She made you stab me. And now she’s gone.”

“How…?” Jace’s voice broke, and he swallowed hard before trying again. “How do we…? Where do we go from here?”

“I don’t know,” Alec admitted, “but we’re going there together. You, me and Izzy. We’re never going to give up on you, Jace. We didn’t when you were possessed and we won’t now.”

Jace tilted his head back, trying to hold back the wave of utter misery that had been threatening to pull him under since he found Simon alone on the roof.

“Clary would want you to carry on,” Alec said gently, “even though you didn’t end up together, she still loved you like a brother. She wouldn’t want you to blame yourself.”

“I know,” Jace admitted. “I know.”

“It’s going to be alright.” Alec promised, though at this moment, he had no idea how. Clary had been their driving force in the two years she’d been in their lives. He had no idea what their lives would look like without her. Right now, though, he knew that he had to focus on Jace.

“There’s something else, Alec,” Jace told him. “Magnus… He… He…”

“I just saw him, he’s safe,” Alec said slowly, confusion seeping in.

Jace shook his head. “He… He… I didn’t want this, Alec, you have to know that. I’d rather have died than…”

“What is it?” Alec demanded, his voice suddenly sharp.

“He sacrificed his magic to save me,” Jace closed his eyes like he couldn’t bear to look at Alec’s reaction.

For a long moment, Alec was silent. He couldn’t fathom what that meant. Magnus had sacrificed his magic, his pride, his power, for Jace. For him. He hadn’t mentioned it when Alec had woken up; he was going through the loss of his magic alone.

“Where is he?” Alec asked, “where did he go?”

“I’ll go and get him,” Jace promised, rising from the chair. He didn’t look directly at Alec. “I’m sorry.”

Alec didn’t know how to answer. Magnus had given so much already, stuck his neck out for the shadowhunters again and again. His magic was everything to him; Alec could barely grasp what it must feel like for him. He’d compare it to being deruned, but he knew even that was insufficient. When Magnus appeared, Alec looked up at him with mournful eyes.

“It’s okay,” Magnus told him, crossing the room to the bed. “I’m perfectly fine.”

Alec wrapped his arms around Magnus’ waist and buried his head in his chest. “I’m sorry.”

“Nothing to be sorry about, Alexander,” Magnus said airily, the way he always lied when he wanted to hide his real feelings. “I’m fine.”

Chapter Text

Jace knocked gently on the door before him, hoping that he wasn’t intruding. When he heard the man within call out, he let himself into the room that had been serving as Magnus’ room for the wedding weekend. Izzy had insisted that Alec and Magnus couldn’t see each others’ tuxes before the wedding because it was bad luck, so while Alec had Izzy and Maryse fussing him in his own room, Magnus and Cat were in a temporary one.

“Jace,” Magnus stood up as he saw who it was coming to see him, his eyebrows furrowing. “Is Alexander alright?”

“What? Yeah,” Jace answered, “of course.”

“Oh. Good.” Magnus nodded, glancing at Cat briefly. Jace recognised the slight confusion as to what he was doing here, and he felt a little guilty. He should’ve tried harder to bond with Magnus, he knew that, but there was always something getting in the way, some crisis or other. But not today.

“I’ll go and check on the caterer,” Cat volunteered when Jace didn’t say anything, shooting Magnus a wink as she went.

Jace cleared his throat as the door clicked shut behind Catarina. “So… Feeling nervous?”

“A little,” Magnus admitted, “there aren’t many things I’ve never done, but getting married… That’s a new experience.”

“It seems unbelievable to me that you’ve never been married before, to be honest.”

“What makes you say that?” Magnus asked, sitting back down on the sofa and gesturing for Jace to sit opposite him.

Jace shrugged. “You seem to have your shit together, you’re good looking, charming, kind… It just seems strange.”

“Appearances can be deceiving,” Magnus pointed out, smiling slightly. “Truthfully I was terrified of commitment before I met Alec. Had been for over a hundred years.”

“I guess I can see that,” Jace hummed, “Alec is special.”

“Yes,” Magnus said softly, “he is.”

“I’m really glad you guys are getting married.” Jace told him, “it’s great.”

Magnus’ eyebrows twitched. “Is there a but coming…?”

“No, of course not. I just… I wanted to say it. I feel like… This is probably gonna sound weird to you, but… I consider you a brother, Magnus. After the last couple years, feeling Alec’s happiness whenever you’re around, feeling the… The bone-deep contentment… I’m honestly in awe of what you guys have. And I feel really fond of you, even if we haven’t really spent all that much time together just the two of us. The love that Alec has for you… It would be pretty much impossible for me to not care about you, too. I’m really, really happy that you’re finally going to be an official Lightwood. And the fact is, from now on you’re just as much my brother as Alec or Max. And that probably doesn’t mean all that much to you, but…”

“It does,” Magnus smiled, leaning forward to squeeze Jace’s knee. “Thank you, Jace. That’s… Very sweet of you to say. And,” he raised his finger, “for the record, I’m fond of you, too. The way Alec talks of you, I feel like I know you very well. We don’t have much in common,” he shrugged, “but still. Brothers don’t always have a lot in common.”

“Hug it out?” Jace asked hopefully, and Magnus chuckled, getting to his feet. It was a little weird, for both of them, but nice nevertheless. Jace thumped Magnus on the back the way he did with Alec, and Magnus patted him back. “I should get back to Alec,” Jace pointed out, “I’ll see you out there, man.”

“Yes, you will.” Magnus confirmed, a little misty-eyed. It was one thing, marrying the love of his life, but gaining a family… A real family, that loved him… That was something else altogether.