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Magnus leaned back against the leather seat of the couch in Pandemonium, closing his eyes briefly as the two vampires stepped away from him. His magic was tetchy, itchy under his skin, and the tension he could feel was felt by every one of his people in the club. He should have known better than to come to Pandemonium today, to try to be the Consular High Warlock today.
Magnus took a deep breath, opening his eyes again and twirling his fingers in a gesture that would draw another drink into his hands and sipped it, savoring it. No one would approach unless he gave them permission, nor would they find it strange for him to take a moment of solitude.
The ring on his left hand gleamed and he stared at it, admiring it for the thousandth time. It was the one ring he never removed, that would never tarnish, would never fade or wear down with time. It would be as eternal as he was. It was embedded with the only piece of Alexander he had allowed himself to keep as he passed. A parting gift, Alexander had called it, once.
Sixty years gone, and he could still feel the small pulse of the sliver of Alexander's soul that resided within the ring. Magnus looked down at it and rubbed his fingers carefully over the 'L' etched into the ring and sipped his martini again. He had known that the time had been precious, but now that it was gone, all time seemed to do was drag, and pull on him.
He lifted his eyes and met the eyes of Arillia, waiting patiently and off to the side for her summons with him. Magnus smiled faintly as he gestured her forward, watching her present her magic to him. She always reminded him of Catarina with the way her magic indexed so far towards healing magic, and he had a feeling that he already knew the request that she was here to make, one that he was happy to assist with. More warlocks working in a hospital would never be a bad thing after all.
~!~
By the time hours had passed by, Magnus felt the crowd begin to thin. Dawn was not far away and the rest here would begin to disperse. He closed his eyes in relief. He wanted to go back to his home and drink until he no longer had to think about people, or responsibilities. Barring an emergency, he was not to be disturbed and the time alone, remembering, reflecting, would be good for him. He reached out in an old habit long gone to touch Alexander's shoulder, to tell him they would be leaving, only to close his hand around air.
A familiar stab of pain hit his heart and Magnus instead made it part of a flowing gesture to stand upright, turning towards the bar when the wards around Pandemonium rippled, warning him of a warlock, a powerful one, unsworn to him, approaching.
He froze, his gaze sharp as he turned an assessing eye over the crowd, those around him tensing at his own reaction. Magnus sank back into the couch at Pandemonium and waited. The power of the warlock was gathered tightly around him and Magnus found himself humming at the sign of power barely controlled. The warlock couldn't be very old, then. Which meant that he was likely asking for help.
Magnus frowned though, when it was clear that the warlock, whoever it was, had not begun to approach him immediately. Instead, he appeared to be taking his time walking through the crowds. His people were openly hostile to the newcomer, and he could hear the whispers and dissent gathering in the club. A quick glance around showed that his security had already managed to usher the rest of the mundanes out of the club and all that remained were Downworlders.
With a wave of his hand, Magnus silenced the music playing and the club was abruptly, obviously silent. He stood up in front of the couch, and waited, his eyes going unerringly to the red-headed man making his way towards the dias, each step measured and deliberate. He tilted his head, reaching out for his magical signature, only to find it blocked. A low snarl started to leave him and he narrowed his eyes. This warlock, this pup dared to enter the seat of a Consular High Warlock and not have his signature on display?
By the time the the man was in front of him, Magnus was calm, his body relaxed and nonchalant, but his magic was singing with fury along his skin and he didn't bother to hide it. He quirked an eyebrow when the man stood across from him and didn't immediately present his magic. When no words were offered by the man who was still silent, Magnus raised both eyebrows.
"You're standing among a great many enemies that you do not want to make if you are here to ask for my help," Magnus warned him. "I suggest that you-"
The man looked up and grinned, quick and teasing. "Follow the traditional customs of greeting a Consular High Warlock? Forgive me, it's been a little while."
Magnus watched his security step forward and gave them a quick shake of his head. He could more than handle the warlock in front of him if it came down to it. "Then I suggest that you introduce yourself and your magic this instant before I force you to do it."
"Well," the man said, still smiling. "I'd only get one chance to do this, and I figured I would make it as dramatic as I possibly could."
Magnus frowned and watched the skin of the man ripple, the tanned skin and red hair falling away. Once the glamour was totally gone, he watched magic, blue and vibrant, the same shade as his own, ripple over the warlock in front of him, not just a presentation, but a submission. Magic that tasted like his own. He lifted his eyes and his breath caught when the last of the glamour faded away and hazel eyes he knew better than his own were smiling at him.
"No," he breathed. "It can't..."
Alec sank down to his knees, still holding Magnus' gaze, just like he had the very first time and he grinned, bright and wide. The magic surging around him felt like it was home for the first time in decades and he closed his eyes, savoring the way it finally, finally settled into his skin, like it belonged to him, just like he belonged to Magnus.
The silence in the club now was shocked, and Magnus stared, his eyes sweeping across the body and features that he knew, that he'd known, that'd spent decades memorizing, but now with warlock power surging through him. Alexander, Alexander who he'd buried, who he'd mourned, who he'd cried over, broken himself apart over, was kneeling in front of him, still smiling, his eyes as familiar and welcoming as they had always been.
"So," Alec said, unable to keep from smiling as he stared at Magnus. "I present myself to you, Magnus Li," he coughed and paused, before continuing. "Magnus Bane, as not only one of those sworn to you, but as one who would never cause you harm and will protect you until my very dying day, whenever that may be."
Magnus made himself nod and watched as Alec stood up, rubbing the back of his head.
“I couldn’t swear fealty to another High Warlock, your magic wouldn’t let me. That’s why I probably felt weird on your wards. Sorry. I couldn’t do much about that while also glamoured,” Alec said with a shrug, but tilted his head, watching Magnus. “Sorry it took me so long to get back to you.”
Magnus could feel the weight of all of the eyes on them, but just like as it had been when he had first seen Alexander, he didn't care. Alec had not only presented his magic, he had submitted it, giving Magnus control over it should he see fit to use it. He took a step closer to Alec, then another. "You're a warlock," he stated, looking at Alec, meeting those eyes with a challenging eyebrow.
"Yeah," Alec said with a shrug. "I didn't particularly want to be a vampire, and that was the only other option that I found. I didn't think getting reincarnated would be this much of a pain, but it was."
Magnus' mouth went dry at the ease of which Alec made that statement. "You, how?"
"Well," Alec said, looking down to Magnus' ring. "There was still a piece tying me here, and I was allowed to come back. Or," he frowned, rubbing the back of his head again. "I was given the choice if I wanted to make the journey to come back, is more accurate." Alec smiled at Magnus when wide golden eyes met his. "And of course I did."
Magnus swallowed and nodded, taking another step closer to Alexander, the tension between the two of them ratcheting up in the silence of Pandemonium, of the crowds watching the both of them. "My magic?" he asked, his voice low. "How?"
Alec shrugged. "I'm not entirely sure. When my magic presented, that's what it was. When my mark presented..." he flushed and gestured towards his eyes. "That's when I remembered everything. The choices I'd made and why."
Clenching his hands into fists was the only way to stop them from trembling and reaching out to pull Alexander into a kiss that he had been desperate for for more than sixty years. "Show me your mark," he demanded. It was never a demand he would make of another warlock unless he deemed it a necessity, but this was Alec. He understood, without needing to be told. When his own golden eyes stared back at him, Magnus froze all over again, unable to look away from how beautiful those eyes looked on Alec's face.
Alec smiled faintly as Magnus continued to stare at him and glanced down at the rest of his body. "There's also, uh, these, which are, I don't know if I'd call it a holdover, but..."
Magnus dropped his eyes and stared in shock at the faint blue shimmer that now seemed to be embedded on Alec's skin in the shape of his deflect rune, and the other runes he had used to carry on his arms. He'd never seen another warlock mark like it. In a heartbeat though, the runes were glamoured again and Alec was smiling at him again.
Alec raised an eyebrow. "Need any other convincing?"
Magnus lowered his voice, keeping it soft, to steal it from as many ears as possible. "It's really you?"
"It's really me," Alec promised, smiling at him. "I even met with Catarina earlier tonight so she could check and confirm. Oberon was the one who helped me get here as soon as I could get in contact with him."
Magnus wanted to laugh, pull Alec in for a kiss and never let him go. "You planned this with them."
Alec shrugged. "I told you. I'd only get one moment for the appropriately dramatic reveal. I had to make it good." He heard a smattering of laughter from a few around the club and looked away from Magnus for the first time. The smiles and relaxed postures now evident in all of the eyes he met made him grin.
"Alexander," Magnus breathed, the name escaping from him for the first time in decades. When Alec's eyes snapped back to him, wide and and dark, he couldn't help reaching out to take Alec's hand. Once their skin touched, magic surged through both of them and Magnus breathed, the familiar touch of his own magic reaching out for him.
What Alec likely hadn't been likely to feel, what he couldn't hear, was the way Magnus' magic spoke to him, proud, pleased. It had brought his shadowhunter back to him, just like he had wanted, but they hadn't been able to do. It had brought him back, through the veil of death, and claimed him, made him into that which he was now. A warlock. An immortal.
"I've missed that," Alec whispered, reaching out to tangle their fingers together, squeezing Magnus' hand. He stepped in closer, nuzzling into Magnus' neck with a sigh, sagging against him. "I've missed hearing you say my name. Even though I've never heard it here, in this body, I've missed it."
Magnus swallowed, wrapping an arm around Alec's waist, holding him in close, absently aware that the club was emptying, and that there were smiles and grins being thrown his way as his people began to leave them to their reunion. "Alexander," he whispered again, feeling Alec shudder for him. "My darling Alexander, you've somehow surprised me, yet again."
Alec smirked at him, raising both of his eyebrows as he pulled back to meet Magnus' eyes again. "Once again in a good way, I hope?"
"Only in the very, truly best ways," Magnus promised him, pulling him in for a kiss, but pausing just before their lips touched. "But we are going to have words about you going to Oberon and Catarina before me. Lots of words," he growled.
"The brilliant thing," Alec whispered, reaching out to cup Magnus' cheek in his palm. "Is that we have time for as many, or as few words as you want to share with me, Magnus. I'm a warlock now. There's no clock over our heads, and if you think death wasn't enough to keep me away from you, well." Alec grinned, bright and wide. "An immortal life with you certainly doesn't stand a chance of scaring me off."
Magnus couldn't help the delighted laugh that escaped him, even as he pulled Alec into the kiss at last. Alec, his shadowhunter, his warlock, who had somehow fought his way past death to be able to come back to him. To return to him, not only as he had been, but as someone who wouldn't need to leave him again. Magnus was thrown by the possibility. However, something still felt off. He pulled back from the kiss and frowned at Alec's hand. The ring was missing.
Alec rolled his eyes. "I wasn't about to summon it from, uh. The other me?" He winced, rubbing the back of his head. "Yeah, no easy way to talk about that. But I figured you would make me another?"
Magnus nodded, readily enough. "You'll have to tell me where you grew up," he muttered, reaching out for Alec's hand, squeezing it as he summoned a copy of the ring, about to slide it onto Alec's finger when he was stopped. He frowned and looked up at Alec.
Alec shook his head, reaching out to take Magnus' hand in his, focusing on the ring between them. "I'm not a Lightwood any longer," he managed, clearing his throat. "But I do have parents that would love to meet you someday, by the way, they've told me as much."
Magnus’ breath caught as he closed his eyes and remembered Maryse. “That is going to be a little odd,” he admitted.
“Yeah,” Alec said with a laugh. “But we’ll figure it out.” He focused on the ring and changed it slightly, pulling his hand back from Magnus’ and smiling at the other warlock when he caught sight of the changed letter on it. “What do you think?”
Magnus rubbed his finger over the ‘B’ now replacing the ‘L’ on the ring and slid it back onto Alexander’s finger, like it had never been gone. He exhaled and wanted to laugh. “I think I’m very glad that I have tomorrow free.”
Alec lit up in excitement before he hesitated and looked to Magnus. “May we,” he cleared his throat. “Can we spend the day together?”
Magnus froze and lifted his eyes to Alexander, hesitation creeping over him. “Are you, do you not want…” he frowned. “Where are you staying tonight?”
“Well,” Alec cleared his throat. “I didn’t want to presume, but I was hoping with you.”
Magnus nearly sagged in relief, reaching out to pull Alec in and against him again, listening to the firm beat of Alec’s heart under his ear. The same heartbeat he had memorized decades ago. “Yes. Yes, Alexander, please.” He needed Alec close tonight, needed to wake up with him, needed to know this was real.
“Good,” Alec breathed, relaxing into Magnus again. He smirked and continued. “Besides. You know you’ve missed the refractory period I had in my twenties.”
Magnus’ eyes flew open and he pulled back to stare at Alec, only to find golden eyes already looking at him, the heat in them obvious. “You want…”
“Magnus,” Alec growled. He yanked the warlock into another kiss, this one hard and deep and a hint desperate. “I’ve had about thirty years since my mark manifested to think about it. To remember it. Yes, fuck, I want you to take me to bed and not let me leave for a week.”
Magnus laughed and summoned a portal directly into his bedroom. “We’ll start with a long weekend and then I’ll see what I can do about scheduling a week for us.”
Alec strode through the portal and proceeded to strip off his shirt, boots and socks before he reached out to pull Magnus into another desperate kiss. “Sounds great,” he managed, kissing Magnus again.
Magnus let Alec push him back onto the bed, giggling into their next kiss, feeling Alec’s magic slide along his skin. It sounded better than great. It sounded perfect. It sounded like forever.