Chapter Text
Magnus Bane loved mornings. He cherished them, he spent the whole day working hard and keeping on only looking forward the next morning.
It wasn’t like he was a morning person, quite the opposite actually, if there was something he liked more than partying it was sleeping, but if there was something he liked even more than sleeping now, that was Alexander.
Alexander was one of the two guys that owned Idris , the coffee shop down the street, just one block away from his workplace. It was small but welcoming, never crowded yet never cold and empty, the caramel latte was always exactly how he wanted it and, most of all, one of the owners was the most gorgeous, kind, awkward yet charming guy Magnus had ever set his eyes on.
He used to show up really early to have some quick breakfast and to spend approximately one hour sitting at one of the tables checking emails, sipping from his warm cup (and if he kept it warm with a bit of magic nobody needed to know), and flirting moderately with Alexander before he had to leave for work.
Every day except for sundays, that was his routine. Morning at the coffee shop, the day running his company, and the early hours of the night keeping bad guys off the streets with his superpowers.
Average day for a not so average person.
That morning he was feeling particularly tired. The night before he had to send a few demons back to their infernal dimension, and after he was finished he had to carry on with his research. In the last few months demonic activities in New York City had severely increased and he knew it could be no accident. There had to be someone behind it and he needed to find them before the situation got out of control.
He already had a few suspects and was currently working on it. He muffled a yawn as he replied to a petty email he just got from his intern, Raphael, when he saw someone approaching at the corner of his eye.
He flinched and turned his head, ready to face whatever danger was coming, feeling his magic bubble up like electricity on his fingertips but as soon as he saw the man facing him he immediately relaxed.
“Sorry, I… did I scare you?” a young man was looking at him with a small smile with a touch of worry, a paper bag in his hand, his hazel eyes blinking in surprise.
“Alexander!” said Magnus, a wide smile blooming on his lips. “Don’t be sorry, I’m just a bit stressed out today, and you caught me off guard.”
In all fairness, Alexander managed quite often to catch him off guard. He could be really silent when he wanted to.
“Nothing too serious, I hope,” the boy said, he sounded genuinely sorry, but with a hint of mischief in his voice.
“Nothing to worry about,” lied Magnus. “What do I owe the pleasure? You are usually secluded behind the counter.” He glanced a look at the queue waiting to be served, where the obnoxious co-owner was making coffees and smiling smugly at the customers.
“Oh, well, it won’t take long,” the man said hesitantly. “It’s just… I noticed you’re particularly tired today so I brought you this. It’s on the house, don’t worry.”
Magnus accepted the paper bag Alec was giving him with a confused smile. As soon as he opened it, a sweet chocolate scent engulfed him.
“Home made brownies. My brother made them. The customers like them a lot. I wouldn’t know, I don’t really like chocolate.”
“That was… lovely of you. I’m sure they’re delicious, and I was just thinking I was hungry. Breakfast is the most important meal of the day, in fact.”
Alexander smiled back but did not reply. He looked at him for a few moments and it looked like he was going to say something deep, when he shrugged. “I have to… I mean… probably I should…”
“You should get back to work, yeah. I see your brother is a little overwhelmed.” Magnus graced him, and the thankful look he was thanked with was totally worth it.
“Exactly. Well. See you around I guess.” he muttered and turned fast on his heels and ran back behind the counter. The other guy, the less attractive more annoying guy that ran the shop with Alec was looking at them amused beyond any limit, but Alexander glared at him, shutting him up for the better.
Magnus couldn’t help but smirk giving the first bite to his breakfast. He hummed in appreciation.
It is good, indeed. He thought, not that he had any doubt. Besides, he would have eaten it anyway, it was Alexander’s gift after all.
He felt a warming dizziness growing inside. He had been going to the coffee shop every day for two months now and he was helplessly trying to flirt with Alec since then. The man didn’t seem to take the hint and Magnus was beginning to give up, because maybe he was just a dense straight, all straights are so dense about flirting I wonder how come they’re not extinct yet, he thought bitterly.
But there were some occasions, some little favours, or quick smiles, the way his face lit up whenever Magnus entered the shop, or when sometimes he caught him staring, that made him keep going. And there were the times when the obnoxious co owner wasn’t at work, when it was his day off and Magnus was the first customer, and it was just the two of them and they talked and talked, and Alexander was happy and revealed himself to be intelligent and quite funny. He liked those days the most.
He was halfway done with his brownies and glanced a quick look at the counter. He found him staring again. They locked eyes for a moment and Alec looked away, startled.
“I don’t know what this man does to you, buddy, but I hope he’s not going to stop. This is the funniest thing ever,” Jace laughed, and Alec glared at him.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he hissed, turning his back to start the coffee machine.
“Sure Jan,” said Jace, then added quickly, “wait, he’s coming! He stood up, he’s coming here!”
“Really?” Alec asked, turning to face the room, spilling some coffee from the cup he was filling. He glanced at Magnus and noticed he was still sitting down at the table, typing furiously on his laptop.
Jace was nearly dying from laughter.
“You are the worst,” Alec grunted, trying to clean the mess he just caused with a towel.
“And you are the idiotest.”
“This is not… this is a made up word.”
“All words are made up, buddy,” Jace giggled, then turned suddenly back serious. “Alec, he’s coming. For real this time. Just in case you want to know”
“I’m not falling for that again Jace, I’m not that stupid.”
“Really, it’s not a-”
“James!” a well known voice said in fake cordiality and Alec stiffened.
“Actually it’s Jace .”
“Whatever,” Magnus dismissed, and Alec turned to look at him again, leaving the now probably cold coffee he was desperately trying to make on the counter.
“Hey,” he said, trying not to sound too obvious. Judging by the amused look Jace was giving him again, he probably failed. Badly.
“Hey yourself.”
“What are you… what are you doing here?”
“I’m here to pay before leaving.”
“I thought I said it was on the house,” Alec said, but Jace sudden interrupted.
“Since when you get to decide to give my food for free without asking?”
Alec glared at him again. “Since now . Don’t you have better things to do, like working perhaps?”
Jace held his gaze but didn’t reply. He winked instead, and went to re make the coffee that Alec had just messed up. Alec wished he could just jump off the window to avoid all this awkwardness.
“You told me the food was on the house, I still have to pay for the drinks,” Magnus explained patiently.
“Of course, yeah, right. It’s five dollars, then.”
Magnus smiled and put a twenty dollars note in his hand. Their fingers brushed. “Keep the change, dear. And thank you for bringing me breakfast, it was really good. Tell that to your brother. Or maybe not. It’s not that I come here for him, right?”
Alec looked shocked by his words, and did not reply.
“See you tomorrow, Alexander,” Magnus said, letting his gaze linger on him a few moments, then he just left.
“You are so screwed!” Jace laughed, as soon as the man was gone.
Alec opened his mouth to give him a harsh reply when they heard a woman say “Where the hell is my coffee?”
When Magnus finally arrived at his workplace he was no longer feeling tired nor he was thinking about demons in New York City, even if he probably should have been.
He couldn’t help but ask himself if what happened today was an actual improvement on his attempts at flirting. He knew he was being stupid and he was usually never like this, I’m a superhero for fuck’s sake, but Alec somehow always managed to make him feel like this, like he was a normal bi disaster trying to flirt with the cute guy next door. And that was priceless. That was why he liked him so much, with him he was just Magnus.
He let himself wonder how one six-feet-twenty-something-toned piece of candy like that could find himself working in a coffee shop instead of on a magazine cover or Abercrombie and then he forced himself to get his mind to work.
He entered the building of Bane Enterprises and greeted his employees with a small wave of his hand. He had informed his intern he had to sign some paperworks that day and asked him to come, so he walked towards his office looking around for any sign of Raphael. The boy was smart, but fairly hard to work with, and Magnus knew it was unlikely he was going to show himself at work after that morning’s whiny email about some recent investments he didn’t approve. Sometimes he just didn’t show up at all and worked from home. If he wasn’t so good at his job and Magnus wasn’t already fond of him he would have kicked him out already.
He locked the door with the snap of his fingers and looked carefully around for good measure.
“Okay, let’s get into work,” he muttered to himself and opened the second drawer to the left.
Here it was, all his research of the past weeks, everything he found out about the summonings. There were a few newspapers’ articles that talked about some of the attacks, but they were only a few. Dates and places underlined with his bright highlighter, some informations about the mayor and his wife that he believed had something to do with the last event and, most of all, the files about his suspect number one.
White Knight.
White Knight was a super like him, the only super like him in the whole city. There were a few friendly neighborhood vigilantes around, but the Supers in town, the one with capitalised S were Magnus himself and White Knight. Magnus knew the man, they had crossed paths before, but he didn’t know much about his powers, not beyond the fact that he was super strong and super full of himself. Oh, and he had a pair of huge white dove wings, an angelic flaming sword and flashy blonde hair.
He couldn’t stand him, of course. There was only enough space for one extra drama queen with powers in town and that place belonged to Magnus.
They had fought together a few times times, back by back, and there was something off with him, something strange. People believed he had a contract with a demon of darkness, or an invisible one.
The fact was, were White Knight went death followed. Most of the times he didn’t even have to fight the bad guys, because they fell down before they got to even be near him.
When White Knight was somewhere fighting demons, supervillains, or any other menace big enough to catch his attention, even if you saw him in plain sight fighting with the main guy, the shadows around him were deadly dangerous to everyone else nearby like there was someone or some thing else having his back from afar.
Even if it was going to turn out he didn’t have anything to do with the recent events – and he probably did – he certainly had to know something.
Magnus spent the rest of the work day signing papers, guilt calling Raphael, baring his colleagues’ presence and Googling everything he could find about White Knight.
He felt a bit guilty about it, White Knight had had his back every time they fought together and he didn’t look nor sound evil, per se. Narcissistic? Yes. Evil mastermind who pursued the end of humanity? Not so much.
But there was something in the darkness around him at night, something whispering in the shadows that followed. And he was the most demonic being Magnus could think about, so he had to find him to interrogate him.
When it was finally time to clock out, he hadn’t found much. There were a few people on the internet that speculated on what kind of demon followed him, but most of them were either made up or something too different from how it felt. Magnus knew demons very well, and the online theories were all bullshit to him.
White Knight also never hurt civilians, not even by mistake. He was one of the good guys, or so it seemed. It was really really difficult to convince demons not to hurt people. That was what they did the most, their only purpose, after all.
He sighed, always the last to go out, his footsteps echoing in the empty corridors. The sun had already set, but if he was lucky enough he could make all the way home, have a decent dinner, and change into his supersuit ready to spend another sleepless night chasing demons, supervillains, or occasionally mild robbers that had the bad luck to cross his path while he was on patrol.
It turned out he, in fact, was not lucky enough in the slightest.
His enchanted necklace, the only useful gift his father was ever able to give him, started to burn the skin on his chest. He cursed between his lips and slipped it out of his clothes on his shirt.
The ruby on it was shining bright red.
The necklace burning could only mean one thing.
Demons in the area. Again.
“Fuck.” was all he could manage to say, thanking whatever deity for being alone in the building. With a snap of his fingers he summoned his suit, and ran off on the street. He was pretty fond of his patrol uniform, the way his navy blue pants and mask matched the blue light sparkling out of his fingers when he made some magic trick, how the white shirt was bright under the moonlight, how the only things his mask let the others see were his mouth and his golden eyes, another one of his father’s gifts, much less useful than the other, a gift that he had to cover up with magic during the day.
He touched the ruby pendant in concentration and focused on the warm poisonous feeling that was building up inside him. He gasped. Now he knew exactly where to go. He summoned a portal and jumped in it.
It was a mess, much worse than the last one. There was a five floors building in front of him, and as it seemed it was full of demons. It was an abandoned office building Magnus knew it belonged to the mayor, one of the several places in town that the man owned for the sake of owning them, just like last time. He frowned behind the mask. That was suspicious.
Looking through the glass walls he could spot demons in every floor, being their usual destructive selves.
Fun - fucking - tastic.
There were no civilians involved apparently but he felt like he had to intervene anyway. This was too weird. Why would a demon horde attack an empty building? Who would summon them for such a purpose?
Looking at the roof with questioning eyes he caught a flash of light and flinched.
White Knight. Here we go. He thought sharply, the bitter taste of disappointment in his mouth. Now he knew his colleague had something to do with the attacks. He opened another portal and stepped in.
“Druid! Nice to see you, bud!” he heard, as soon as he set foot on the roof.
“You’re not fooling me anymore, White Knight. It’s over!” he yelled, knocking an infernal creature out with the wave of his hand, a blue light flashing in its eyes before it fell lifeless on the floor and then vanished in a puff of smoke.
“Excuse me, what?” the other man asked, dumbfounded, and for one second Magnus believed on his innocence, but he quickly shook it off. It couldn’t be a coincidence, not even if White Knight really looked like he was trying to fight back the demons, not to control them.
They heard a piercing scream and suddenly the biggest third class demon he had ever seen arose from the darkness. White Knight rose his Seraphic Blade and grinned.
“Hey, Druid! Look! I found the mommy!”
You fool! the demon’s words boomed in their heads as if they were thinking them.
“How do you say it’s a mommy and not a daddy? Or a... parent?” asked Magnus with a confused frown.
White Knight shrugged, cutting the head off one of the little demonic children. “It just seems the case.”
You can kill my children, but you can’t get rid of me! the voice said in their minds again, and Magnus decided he had enough, so he froze it still with his powers. He didn’t have time for this demonic bullshit, he had a superhero to interrogate.
“Are you really telling me that you have nothing to do with this?” Magnus asked, struggling to keep the demon leader unmoving with his magic. “I can keep it still but not for long! You have to kill it now!” he then added.
“Of course I have nothing to do with this, what the hell bud?” White Knight yelled back, but Magnus almost didn’t listen, one of the demons running towards him, its claws hungry. He closed his eyes helpless, not able to fight back without freeing the big one, ready to face an end that didn’t come. White Knight was in front of him, giving his back, cutting off the demons’ head with one fluid motion.
“What are you doing here, then if you didn’t summon them?” Magnus asked, not even thanking him for saving his life. That was average hero business and they both knew it.
You’re almost out of strength. And when you’ll finally run out, I will kill you both.
They both chose to ignore it. They were used to evil speeches at this point. The demon looked annoyed by their behaviour. “What do you think I’m doing? Kicking demons’ asses as usual! What’s wrong with you?”
The leader of the demons, tall, and dark, and ugly, his demonic black wings frozen under the spell, managed to move one arm towards them. Magnus felt exhaustion overwhelm him. His energy was really at its last.
“And what do you say about the other floors? They were full of demons! Why didn’t they come here to protect the mother we’re trying to kill? You’re controlling them, just admit it!”
White Knight ignored his accusations, too busy killing all the minor demons that were trying to attack them, while Magnus kept his focus on stopping the big one. “Okay, let it go now and when it comes for us I’ll stab its heart.”
“Yeah, as if I trust you.” Magnus said, but suddenly he felt his energy run out and had to step back, lowering his hands. The mother demon freed her other arm.
You two shouldn’t have come here all alone. He released me and now I’ll kill you both.
Magnus saw White Knight’s smirk widen and felt the sudden urge to punch him in the face.
“Just for you to know, demon… I am never all alone,” White Knight said smugly. One moment later an arrow was piercing the demon’s throat and it screamed so high their ears almost bled.
The demon fell on the floor in agony, its claws touching its neck in desperation, ichor flooding out from the cut on its throat. After the blink of an eye, there was only ash and silence.
“What… how did you…” Magnus blurted out in confusion. He knew the voices said White Knight killed demons without raising a hand, but it was incredible to see.
“It was about time!” White Knight then said to seemingly no one. He looked half amused, half pissed off, his arms raised in annoyance.
“Oh, I’m sorry. I was clearing all the other floors to let you kill this one,” the darkness around them spoke. Magnus flinched. “But you didn’t even do that one thing.”
“Well there were other demons out there, too. It’s not like I only had one job.”
“And in the end who killed both the other demons and the mother?”
“It’s not fair! Druid was holding it still! And I was just about to do it, you ruined all the fun. I was only letting it give us the evil speech first! It doesn’t feel the same without it!”
“Who the hell are you talking to?” Magnus finally snapped. “Your pet demon?”
White Knight barked out a laugh, his golden hair shining under the moonlight. “My pet demon ? He wishes!”
The shadows around them scoffed. “I don’t know if I should be flattered or offended,” the voice said.
“Trust me, for you it’s a compliment. I will totally trade you for a pet demon,” White Knight joked. “But unfortunately I can’t. Druid, this is my brother, Shadow. He is the angsty and less attractive one. I don’t think you’ve been formally introduced.”
White Knight gestured vaguely somewhere in the dark. Magnus frowned trying to focus, blinking hard.
Slowly, he started to spot the slim shape of a men surrounded by the night’s darkness. The figure came closer, Magnus could almost see him clearly now. He couldn’t be more different from his brother.
For starters, he was way taller, being at least six feet tall. While White Knight on his face had a shiny golden mask shaped like a pair of wings, Shadow’s mask was deep black like the rest of his suit. He was completely covered by it, the only parts of him he showed were his mouth and his attentive hazel eyes that sent a chill down Magnus’ spine. His black integral costume made him fade away in the darkness of the night, he was silent and so still it was impossible to see him if you didn’t know he was there. He held a black bow with his gloved hand, and black arrows secured behind his back.
But the biggest difference between them was on how their lips looked under the moonlight. Shadow’s mouth was an unimpressed thin line, White Knight was smiling smugly like nothing was wrong in the world at all.
There was no demon horde, nor a demon of darkness, invisibility nor a demon at all. This was the reason why the shadows around White Knight always whispered at night. This was the reason why no villain got near enough to touch him even in the middle of a battle. This was his silent protector, his guardian, his brother.
“I never heard about you before,” Magnus whispered, looking at him intrigued.
White Knight smiled wider. “Of course you haven’t. Nobody knows about him but me. Everyone who had the pleasure to see that dumb self of his had faced an horrible death soon after, I’m afraid. He’s the backstage guy.”
“Well, it’s a pleasure indeed,” Magnus said, making a small bow, blue sparks spreading from his fingers. “My name is Druid, and I’m the main reason your brother is still walking on his own feet today.”
“I don’t know if I should thank you or be mad at you for that,” he said, and for the first time since Magnus saw him, he made the smallest smile. His voice sounded off, slightly disturbed, he probably had a voice changer hidden in the mask. Druid did too, like almost every other super. “But there’s no need to introduce yourself, I know who you are. Every time you fought with White Knight by your side you fought with me too, you just didn’t know I was there.”
“What a shame!” Magnus replied with a smirk. “I would have liked to be aware of your presence very much.”
“Yeah, you thought he was my pet demon instead!” White Knight laughed again.
Shadow glared at him and Magnus rolled his eyes, ignoring him and looking at Shadow instead. “I’ve known you for five minutes and you’re already my favourite.”
Shadow tried to fight back another smile but failed. Magnus counted it as a big win.
“You’d be the very first one, then.” White Knight said bitterly.
“That’s cause we hang out with people with no taste,” Shadow remarked. Magnus was sure he was right.
“So what’s the deal? He does your dirty work and you get the spotlight?” Magnus asked the white and golden man next to him. He didn’t know why, but the thought made him angry.
“We both do the dirty work,” White Knight said, “and he doesn’t like the spotlight.”
“It’s easier like this,” Shadow explained, “nobody can get to him because I watch his back, and nobody can get to me because they don’t know I exist.”
“But now I know,” Magnus commented.
“Do you want to get to me, Druid? I’m afraid you would regret it.”
“I’d love to see it, darling,” Magnus said with a smirk and the man in front of him smiled again. Magnus was already getting used to this smile.
“So it’s Shadow’s fault if you thought I was with the baddies, right? We’re okay now,” White Knight asked, fidgeting with his flaming sword.
“I guess you’re officially absolved, yes. But if you’re not the one behind all this, I have no idea about who could it be,” Magnus whispered. “Or maybe I do…”
“Do you have any clues? Tell us. We want to help!” White Knight said, and Magnus curled his mouth, thoughtful.
“I suppose that makes sense. But not today. The latest events changed my point of view. I have to re analyse my data. I’ll see you both tomorrow night and I’ll give you everything I have. I could use a little help.”
The two men exchanged a quick look, a silent conversation between them, the kind of silent conversation that only siblings or sometimes long time lovers could have.
“That can be arranged,” Shadow said, his voice grave.
“Perfect. Let’s meet each other on the Eastern Bank’s roof tomorrow at ten. I have a place where we can talk in private that’s nearby.”
“All right. And Druid… mention his existence to anyone,” White Knight said, and the tone in his voice made Magnus feel like he was dead serious, “and you won’t see the following day, nor will the one you’re going to tell.”
“I would never,” he whispered, and he meant it. He was a super too, he had his secrets and understood the importance of keeping them. “You’re safe with me.”
“We better be. Because if I come to know that you said something, and trust me, I will-”
“Enough. I trust him,” Shadow interrupted, and the other two looked at him in disbelief. “Let’s go, now. We have work tomorrow.”
“Your wish is my command, brother.” White Knight said, but Magnus had the impression that it was more like the other way round. “Fancy a ride?” he asked, giving him his hand.
Shadow didn’t take it. “I’m not in the mood to fly. Let’s walk home.”
Magnus expected White Knight to protest, but instead he silently retracted his white wings in his back. “Let’s go.”
Shadow nodded briefly, then turned to face Magnus once again. “Thanks for keeping him safe.”
“He didn’t keep me safe. I kept him safe,” White Knight grunted.
“You’re welcome,” Magnus said, and a small smile spread on Shadow’s lips again. His new goal now was making him smile again, maybe a bit wider next time.
The first to disappear in the night was him, but a few moments later the White Knight’s pearl and golden costume faded into the darkness as well. As soon as they were out of sight, he sighed.
Magnus Bane loved mornings. But he was starting to appreciate nights, too.