Archive of Our Own

When Alec woke up, he felt weird. Not coming down with a cold weird or Magnus woke up before him and didn’t give him cuddles weird. No, it was a deep feeling of wrongness, but he couldn’t quite figure out what it was.

He pushed his sleep-addled brain to wake up faster, to think. If he had been able to, Alec would have worried; anything that impaired his soldier’s ability to be awake and alert in a moment was dangerous. But instead he simply fought the slow battle of waking up, body instinctively moving closer to the heat that wrapped around him.

It was his body as well as his mind, he realized. It wasn’t moving right, didn’t feel right. The realization finally woke him up enough to open his eyes, thinking he would wake Magnus and see if his husband could help him figure out what the hell was wrong with him.

Except when Alec opened his eyes, it wasn’t Magnus who was wrapped around him, breath fanning softly over Alec’s face.

Jace was already stirring, blinking his eyes open before Alec could react. Jace’s arms tightened around him, letting out a soft moan of someone not quite ready to be awake but not upset about it either. Alec’s body tensed, trying to pull away from Jace gently, but somehow not being able to budge him a bit.

Alec probably wouldn’t have really freaked out if Jace hadn’t kissed him.

He hadn’t even realized what Jace was doing until he had already pulled Alec close and pressed his lips softly to his. It was gentle and full of love, nothing at all like the half baked daydreams of Alec’s teenage years where Jace kissed him hard and needy, something much more like the way Magnus kissed Alec now they were together. Perhaps this was a very strange, disturbingly lucid dream.

Nothing could have prepared Alec for how to react to a situation like this. He chose the most rational option and screamed, a startlingly high-pitched noise that had never come from his mouth in his life, and pushed as hard as he could against Jace’s chest until Jace released him in shock. The momentum of Alec’s pushing caused him to roll wildly off the bed and land on the floor with a loud thump.

The wind knocked out of him, and Alec gasped for air, fingers scrabbling against the hard floor. His nails were long, too long, and he felt pain shoot up his hands from scraping them too hard against the stone. His hands were small too, he realized, his whole body was. Why was he in Jace’s bedroom instead of his own?

“Clary?” Jace shouted, his head poking out over the side of the bed. He stared down at Alec as he finally found his breath again. “Clary, by the Angel, are you alright?”

Clary?

Alec carefully pushed himself to sit up, his body feeling too light and his back aching. Maybe he had accidentally taken some Seelie drugs or something. He scanned the room for Clary, not wanting to deal with embarrassing himself in front of her, but saw no one in the room but him and Jace.

“Jace? What-” Alec cut himself off, his voice still high-pitched and weird, scratching his throat. What the fuck?

He looked down at his hands to inspect his aching fingers but stopped again in confusion. Not just his fingers, but his whole body was too small. The top of his head barely came to the top of the bed, his arms and legs were short and skinny. He was wearing a bright green top, a camisole he guessed, though he wasn’t quite sure, and matching… panties? Those were… that was a… where was his…?

“What the fuck is happening?” Alec said, voice full of panic. But it wasn’t his voice, he recognized it now, realized that it wasn’t high-pitched but in fact low-pitched, for Clary at least, and why it hurt so much. “Jace, what the fuck.”

Jace quickly climbed off the bed and kneeled over him, hands hovering over Alec, not quite touching. “Clary? Jesus, are you okay? You fell really hard. What can I do?”

Their knees were almost touching and Alec really wished Jace was wearing more than a pair of boxers if this was going to happen. Not that he had never seen Jace undressed, but combined with Alec’s own lack of clothing and apparently being in Clary’s body made everything about one hundred times more uncomfortable.

“I’m not Clary,” Alec said, trying to stay calm and keep his breathing even. But even Clary’s lungs seemed too small to him. “It’s Alec. I don’t know how, but I’m Alec, I swear.”

Jace, of course, just stared at him in confusion.

Alec looked around frantically, mind working to find a plan of action. He needed clothes, feeling very uncomfortable both in Clary’s body and with so much of said body exposed. It was surprisingly difficult to pull the heavy top blanket from the bed without moving from the floor. He knew Clary was strong, but she wasn’t built like Alec. This wasn’t going to be fun.

He wrapped the blanket around himself, not looking Jace in the eye as he stood, having to maneuver around Jace with the way he was still kneeling over him. Alec looked around again. “I need a phone. We need to call Magnus. He will have a better guess at what’s going on than us.”

Jace stood too, immediately moving around the bed to grab his phone off the nightstand. He reached out over the bed to hand it to Alec, instead of just tossing it to him. Alec readjusted his blanket so he could take the phone without showing off Clary’s lower body again.

“Alec?”

Alec looked up to see Jace staring at him again, his hand over his parabatai mark. Pain washed through Alec’s body when he realized another reason being in Clary’s body felt so wrong. He couldn’t feel his bond with Jace. There was some sort of recognition, but without his mark, there was nothing to filter it through to him. Nothing connecting him to Jace. But could Jace feel him?

“Yeah, it’s me,” he said softly.

“Fuck,” Jace said. “What the hell is happening?”

Alec shook his head, typing in the password for Jace’s phone and thumbing through his contacts. “That’s what I’m hoping to figure out.”

There was a pause. “Do you think Clary…?”

“I’m sure she’s fine.” Alec pressed on Magnus’s name and put the phone to his ear. “Hopefully, she’s with Magnus.”

The idea of Clary in his body made Alec uncomfortable, but it was the most likely possibility. Surely, if Clary was still somewhere in her body with him he would be able to feel it. Jace, at least, seemed to relax a little at the idea. They may not always get along, but at least Jace knew that Magnus would do anything to protect Clary.

“Hello?” Magnus’s voice came through the phone, already making Alec feel better.

“Magnus?” Alec tried to force himself to speak higher and softer, imitating Clary’s voice as best he could to try to keep from straining his vocal chords more. “Magnus, I need your help. I know this might be hard to believe, but this is Alec.”

There was nothing but silence for a long moment. Then a crash from Magnus’s end, soft to Alec through the phone as if it came from another room.

“What in the world?” Magnus said. “Hold on a moment.”

Alec cursed, trying to turn up the volume on Jace’s phone but it was already on the loudest setting. Jace gave him a questioning look, but Alec waved him off, straining in an attempt to figure out what was happening.

There was movement, muffled voices, another loud crash, and then nothing for an agonizing moment, as if Magnus had set his phone down. Alec tried pacing, but the blanket got too tangled around his legs and he wavered a bit, having to focus on not falling down on his face.

Then, thankfully, Magnus was back. “Alec? Are you still there?”

“Yeah, I’m here. What happened?”

Magnus sighed. “I came into our bedroom to find you on the floor next to our beautiful Rochester Lamp in pieces. Only to be told it wasn’t you, but our dear friend Clary. Any chance of you knowing what’s going on?”

“I wish I knew,” Alec said helplessly, glancing at Jace again. “Is Clary alright?” he asked, knowing how worried his parabatai must have been.

“She’s fine. She cut your arm up a bit on the lamp, but I helped her find your stele. It seems she’s a bit… unbalanced. But she should be okay if she stays sitting down.” There was amusement in Magnus’s voice with the confusion and concern. At least that meant Magnus wasn’t too worried.

Alec nodded to Jace, letting him know Clary was there and okay. He saw Jace sigh with relief but focused back on Magnus. “Do you have any idea what could have caused this? Or, you know, how to fix it? Because I can’t say I’m thrilled at the idea of having to stay like this for long.”

“It would be easier if you were here so I could get a better look at you both.”

“That makes sense. Jace and I will head over now,” Alec said.

“See you soon.”

They hung up, Alec trying not to feel a bit bereft at Magnus’s abruptness. The situation was so strange. He turned to Jace with a bit of hesitation. “We need to get dressed.”

Jace nodded, grabbing a tshirt hanging from his desk chair and putting it on. Alec rolled his eyes.

“I’m not sure exactly what I’m doing. Do you have any of Clary’s clothes?”

It took Jace another moment after sliding into a pair of jeans before turning to Alec with wide eyes. “Oh, fuck. This is weird.”

Alec just nodded, pulling the blanket around himself tighter. He thought of the tight pants and low cut shirts and heels Clary wore. Nothing nearly as bad as what Izzy wore, but still enough for Alec to feel a bit of trepidation at the idea of wearing an outfit like that.

“Sweatpants. Sweatpants are good,” Jace muttered to himself, crossing the room and opening a drawer in his dresser. It seemed to be full of Clary’s clothes, as if she didn’t have her own room and her own closet just down the hall.

It was one of the worst experiences of Alec’s life. The sweatpants were easy enough, but when Jace pulled out a bra Alec panicked a little. He tried to be respectful as he pulled off the camisole, struggling for a moment as it tangled at his neck in Clary’s long goddamn hair. It was a bit unavoidable to look, and worse to touch, as Alec struggled to get the bra on properly, and he tried not to think about the privacy lines Clary might have to cross in his own body considering he and Magnus usually slept in the nude. It took him four tries to get it hooked properly, and then longer to adjust… himself… so that it fit with something resembling comfort. He grunted in frustration before pulling on the shirt and jacket Jace had thrown on the bed for him.

“I hate this,” he muttered to Jace as he turned to face him again.

Jace grabbed Clary’s cell phone and stele before shooting off a text to Magnus letting him know they were ready. Less than a minute later, a portal appeared in the corner of the room, and Alec didn’t hesitate to walk through.

It was odd seeing his own body sitting on the couch, twisted into an awkward position as if Clary wanted to cross her legs but couldn’t quite figure out how to. She was fiddling with Alec’s stele, but kept dropping it, much less dextrous with Alec’s fingers than with her own. Alec felt her pain.

Magnus was standing near her, like he wanted to comfort her but still too wary about the odd situation. He turned when they came through the portal, his face shifting into a mask of neutrality that he used for business. Alec’s heart ached a little at the sight.

Jace took a step forward, as if to rush to Clary but stopped himself. Whether from confusion or awkwardness, Alec wasn’t sure, but he was secretly glad he wouldn’t have to see his own body hugging Jace the way that Clary hugged him. It was weird enough just seeing his face with a surprisingly distinct Clary expression, lips pointed and eyes wide. He wondered how different Clary’s face looked with him in control.

Alec understood how Jace felt. He wanted nothing more than to hug Magnus, to draw comfort from his touch. But it felt too weird, and from the look on Magnus’s face Alec didn’t think the attempt would be welcome.

“Well, let’s get started. Why don’t you sit on the couch so I can check you both out.”

Alec hated how stiff Magnus was acting. He was a bit surprised, though. Of the four of them, Alec would have expected Magnus to be the most comfortable with the crazy situation. Surely, out of all the many crazy things Magnus had lived through in his life, switching bodies with Clary couldn’t be the strangest.

Fighting the urge to fidget with his hands, Alec went to sit next to Clary on the couch. Magnus came closer, just close enough to bring his hands to their foreheads and release some magic. He slowly moved his hands over their bodies, from their heads to their legs, before coming back up to their foreheads and pulling away with a sigh.

“My best guess is that your spirits have switched completely. But I can’t determine what the cause may be. There’s no trace of magic leftover, which limits the options. It’s powerful, which means either someone equally powerful cast it or there is something powering the spell from an outside source. Can you remember anything that happened in the last couple days that might have caused this?”

Alec leaned forward, but growled in frustration when hair fell in his face. He tried pushing it back behind his shoulders, but it just fell forward again. He noticed Clary smiling next to him, his own lips twisted up lightly, eerily similar to how the smile looked on Clary’s face. He flipped her off as he raised his arms to gather as much hair as he could and pull it to one side.

“Something must have happened on the mission yesterday,” Clary said, and oh god, Alec didn’t even know his voice could be that high pitched and soft. “Something at that apartment must have done it.”

They had been tracking a rogue warlock across the city, after too many mundane deaths and obvious signs of dark magic. They had found his hideout the day before, but it was already abandoned when they got there. There had been a lot of dark magic objects in the apartment, and plenty of the warlock’s possessions, but nothing worked to try tracking them.

“That would be the most likely possibility,” Alec agreed, glancing at Magnus out of the corner of his eye. Magnus was looking at him like he was a difficult puzzle he was trying to solve. He figured that was better than outright discomfort and avoidance at least. “Everything is still back at the apartment, we haven’t had a chance to process everything and get it back to the Institute.”

“Seems like a good place to start,” Magnus said. “When shall we go?”

Clary shook her head, suddenly looking a bit embarrassed. “I think there’s a few things we should take care of first.”

Jace tilted his head. “Like what?”

“Alec and I didn’t exactly get to do our morning routines. I should help him with his… well, my hair. And, um… I’ve had to pee pretty badly since I woke up. And I’m not gonna lie, I have no idea how to do that.”

Face suddenly heating, Alec looked down at his hands, focusing on the little scratches on the tips of the fingernails from scratching against the stone floor.

“Oh,” Jace said awkwardly.

Magnus just shrugged, pretending to take it all in stride. But Alec could still see the discomfort beneath, though it was obvious they were all pretty damn uncomfortable.

“I need to make plans for the Institute as well. I can’t just leave them hanging and we have a lot to do today, especially with the warlock still out there and the apartment to process,” Alec added, hoping to keep Clary from feeling too embarrassed. And also trying not to think about his own bladder. Fuck.

“I’ll start looking through my books for possibilities of what we’re looking for,” Magnus said, gesturing vaguely towards his bookshelves. When no one objected, he turned around and walked away. Alec tried not to pout, feeling his heart following Magnus out of the room like it always did.

Clary cleared her throat. “Any thoughts on how I should… handle this issue?”

“Right,” Alec stood up, eyes widening in concern when Clary stood up next to him a bit too quickly and almost lost her balance. Having enough problems after shrinking, Alec wondered how much harder it was to suddenly be much bigger. Her arm swept out to try to catch herself, but overshot and whacked Alec hard on the back. “Ow.”

“Sorry,” she said, scrunching her face. His face. Whatever. It looked weird. He almost wanted to tell her to stop.

They walked closer to the bathroom, Jace trailing behind them like a confused, lost puppy. “Just, um… maybe just sit down and like, make sure you’re… uh… pointing the right direction. But sitting is probably… safer.”

Clary just nodded, looking at the ground, before ducking into the bathroom. Jace walked around in a circle before leaning against the wall next to the bathroom door. He looked like he was dying to go in and help Clary, hating that she was in distress, but equally like he wanted to run far far away. Alec wished he could be amused.

“Jace,” Alec whispered, eyes shifting back towards the room Magnus was in. “I think I have to go after she’s done.”

Jace’s eyes widened again. “Oh shit. But, I… I mean, how different could it be? You know?” he said, trying and failing to be optimistic.

Alec just shook his head. Clary emerged a bit later, hands held with fingers splayed out and looking like she had just been scarred for life, not saying a word. Alec tried his best just to operate on autopilot as he entered the bathroom and sat down, only taking a few moments to stare at the toilet paper in horror before summoning every ounce of his Shadowhunter courage. It could have went worse. He washed his hands twice afterwards.

When he came out, he saw Clary standing by a table, holding her forehead. When her hand came away, he could see a large pink welt. Alec took a slow, deep breath, wondering how many bruises his body was going to have after this. Not that he could be mad with the large bruise that was probably blooming on his back and that poor state of his nails.

“Sorry, I dropped your stele and then hit my head trying to pick it up. You are so fucking tall,” she explained, holding her head again.

“I’ll get you some ice. Alec, can you help her to the couch?” Jace asked, walking towards the kitchen.

Clary scoffed. “I can walk fine. Mostly. Your feet are so big, though. I stubbed your toe earlier, too. Sorry.”

“It’s fine,” Alec said. The sensation of having to lift his arm high up to place it on his own shoulder was very strange. “Our bodies are pretty different.”

She laughed half-heartedly. They sat on the couch again. “Is it weird being a whole foot shorter?”

Alec repressed the urge to grumble. “I have to look up at Jace now to talk to him. It’s the worst thing ever.” It was offensive, really. In no world should Jace be taller than him.

That won him a real laugh, though it quickly turned into choking when Clary’s too-high laugh twisted Alec’s vocal chords in a new way. Alec decided he was thankful he wasn’t too prone to bouts of random laughter. It sounded painful.

“It’s really not that bad,” she insisted. “I know it’s different than you’re used to, but a lot of us shorties find it attractive when someone is tall. Just wait ‘til you’re standing next to Magnus.”

No. No, Alec couldn’t think about Magnus being so much taller than him, no way.

Luckily, Jace chose to reappear that moment with a bag of ice and a hair brush. “I asked Magnus to summon one, I figured that would be easier.”

Alec was a bit surprised Jace had had so much forethought on such a small detail. He took the brush with a nod of thanks. Jace sat on the table in front of Clary and carefully placed the bag of ice to her forehead. At least if Alec had to look up to see Jace, Jace had to look up to see Clary.

“Start at the bottom and work your way up,” Clary advised, taking the bag from Jace. “I’ll help if you need it, but it shouldn’t be too bad this morning since I brushed it last night."

He did end up needing her help, but was able to brush most of it himself. There was one chunk of hair in particular that refused to unknot, and Clary was able to clumsily work it out. Alec was annoyed with the way his arms slightly ached just from being raised and working at his hair. This was exhausting. He wondered how Izzy did it all every day.

“Okay, I’ll just put it up for you. That will probably be easiest.”

She pulled the hairband from Alec’s wrist he really hadn’t noticed was there, and started to gather all the long hair together into a ponytail. The fingers combing through his hair might have felt nice if Clary hadn’t kept jabbing him with her new long fingers and pulling a bit too hard.

But he had to admit it was a lot easier to move around once the hair was out of the way, even if it made his head feel heavy and weird.

“Thanks,” he said, testing out the feel of the hair with his hands. “Hey, do you have my phone, or is it still in the bedroom?”

“Bedroom. Do you have mine?”

“I do,” Jace chimed in, pulling Clary’s phone and stele from his jacket. “Forgot about that.”

Alec took his own stele back from Clary, realized he had no pockets to put it in, and held it awkwardly. Girl pants were stupid. “I’m just gonna have Izzy come over. It’s easier than trying to explain it all over the phone, and she should be able to handle everything for one day at least.”

“Wait a second, before you go,” Clary stopped him. She gestured to the ring on her finger, Alec’s wedding ring. Alec always wore the ring, he didn’t even take it off to shower. He hadn’t even realized he wasn’t wearing it, not when he was in Clary’s body. Alec felt a pang in his chest. “It probably won’t fit right, but do you want to hold on to this?”

Alec nodded, taking the ring from her. He went into the bedroom, quickly finding one of Magnus’s chain necklaces that he could loop the ring on. The moment the ring was touching the skin over his heart, Alec felt immensely better.

His phone was still on the nightstand where he left it. The lamp was missing, magicked away by Magnus, and the sheets and blankets were a total mess. He realized Clary must have gotten tangled in the sheets with the long limbs of Alec’s body and probably fell out of bed too when she knocked over the lamp.

The text to Izzy was short. He trusted her to know to come as quickly as she was able to, even without the details. They could explain what was happening to her when she got there and he could make her a list of everything that needed to get done that day that he couldn’t do stuck in Clary’s body and she had the clearance to make sure everything got done without too many people asking questions.

He decided to join Magnus in his office, hoping he could help dispel some of the discomfort his husband was feeling. Or at least find out the source of it.

Alec spared a glance at Jace and Clary on his way to Magnus’s office. They seemed fine being left alone, though. Clary was still looking a bit embarrassed holding the ice pack to her head, but seemed to be animatedly recounting the details of everything that had happened since they went to bed the night before. Jace seemed caught somewhere between staring at Clary with those gross moony eyes and remembering it was Alec’s body and maintaining a more brotherly expression, whatever that was. But at least Jace had no qualms about being close to and touching either Clary or Alec. Alec wasn’t sure the same could be said about Magnus.

Magnus was sitting at his desk when Alec stepped inside, staring at a book but not quite reading. He looked miles away, worrying Alec more than anything else Magnus had done since he had gotten there. Alec announced his presence with a soft knock and smiled when Magnus looked up at him.

At least the answering smile seemed less forced this time, even if not as joyful as Alec wanted.

“Hey you,” Alec said softly, stepping closer.

“Hello, Alexander,” Magnus replied, closing his book and leaning back in his chair.

Alec ignored the free chair in front of the desk in favor of coming around the side to sit on the edge where there was a bit of space. He kept some distance between them though, recognizing the signs that Magnus wanted some space. “Find anything?” he said lightly.

Magnus shook his head. “Nothing helpful. It’s not exactly common warlock magic.”

There was a metallic clinking Alec recognized as Magnus’s rings against the side of his desk, a sign that Magnus was deep in thought. But it wasn’t exactly reassuring. Alec took a deep breath, hoping it wasn’t too soon to ask, that Magnus would talk to him instead of pulling farther away. But every thought in Alec’s head was suddenly about making Magnus feel better, seeing him smile again.

“Can I ask what’s wrong? I wasn’t expecting you to be flirting with me in Clary’s body, but still.”

He waited for Magnus to deny anything was wrong, but Magnus just sighed.

“Just bad memories, I guess. Nothing to worry about. It will pass.”

Alec could feel his brow furrow. Had something like this happened to one of Magnus’s past lovers and it ended badly? Not that badly, if he was expecting it to pass. Or had it happened to Magnus himself? Had Magnus been switched with someone else-

Oh shit.

“Fuck. Magnus, I’m so sorry. I didn’t even think about that.” He moved forward, instinctively wanting to take Magnus’s hand, to hug him, to comfort him, but drawing back at the last moment and simply put his hand on Magnus’s shoulder lightly enough Magnus could shrug him off easily.

Magnus shook his head. “It’s an entirely different situation than what happened to me. It’s highly unlikely that Azazel, or any greater demon for that matter, had anything to do with this. And switching bodies with Clary is most assuredly different than switching bodies with Valentine.”

Alec tried not to flinch, knowing Magnus wasn’t meaning to make him feel guilty for what he had done. Blindly following the Clave’s orders and hurting Magnus unforgivably in the process. He knew Magnus held no animosity for Alec now, but also knew that Magnus still had nightmares of the awful things that happened to him last year. Including being tortured by Alec and the Clave.

“It is different,” Alec agreed, fighting to keep his voice steady. He gasped when he felt tears beading in his eyes. Of course, Clary cried much more easily than he did. “But I’m still sorry this is happening. That you have to think about all that. Is there anything I can do?”

Now, Magnus looked at him with a genuine but gentle smile. He reached up to place his hand over Alec’s, thumb rubbing softly. It felt so odd, the sensation of smooth on smooth. Though Clary’s training now kept her hands from staying too soft, they were a far cry from Alec’s callused hands from years of training, especially with his bow.

“I just need a little time. I’ll be alright,” Magnus reassured him.

Alec wanted so badly to kiss him. He settled for a quick kiss on Magnus’s cheek, something he had seen Clary do before with Magnus in greeting, and hopefully wasn’t too weird. Magnus didn’t seem upset about it.

With that, Alec stood, deciding he would check on the others and make sure they weren’t getting up to anything Alec’s body really didn’t need to experience, but Magnus stopped him, wrapping fingers around his wrist gently. He squeezed Alec’s wrist as he stood.

“I don’t want you worrying about me. You have plenty to worry about already,” Magnus said, stepping closer so that there was less than a foot of space between them.

“I always worry about you,” Alec managed to say, but his voice wavered.

He wanted to focus on what Magnus was feeling, on reassuring him that everything would be okay. But Magnus was so close and Alec was having to bend his neck back to look up at him. And, more staggeringly, Magnus was looking down at him. It was a position that Alec had always had a thing for, usually gained with Magnus sitting on the kitchen counter and Alec standing between his knees, but this was different.

There was a heat growing in his belly, and Alec had to blink and look away from Magnus. What had Clary said earlier about being shorter having advantages? It wasn’t even that much of a height difference, really, only an inch or so more than their usual difference. But the reversal was much more exciting than it should have been.

The heat only grew when Magnus’s other hand came to Alec’s face, fingers light against his cheek to direct Alec to look at him again. It wasn’t even especially provocative, but Alec could feel his mouth getting dry and the heat was curling in his stomach and traveling down. Eye contact with Magnus was doing absolutely nothing to help the situation.

Of course Magnus figured out what was happening. The smirk grew slowly across his lips and his eyes lit up in amusement. Alec desperately hoped Magnus wouldn’t tease him too much.

“Perhaps I should be asking you if you’re alright, love,” Magnus purred.

Alec found the strength to push himself away, raising a finger at Magnus to stop him. “Nope. No flirting. I have an unfortunately good idea of what happens when a girl gets turned on, and I have no desire whatsoever to experience that.”

At least that got a laugh out of Magnus, which made Alec smile.

“It wouldn’t be that awful. And you know, Clary will most assuredly have to deal with at least one accidental erection if she hasn’t already. Just be thankful you aren’t a teenager anymore,” Magnus pointed out with a raised eyebrow.

The distant sound of a knock and the front door opening saved Alec from having to answer that horrifying statement. With a semi-playful glare, Alec turned and left the room to go find Izzy.

It didn’t take long for Alec to completely regret asking Izzy for help. If Magnus had been amused by the situation, Izzy was ecstatic.

“Oh my god, this is amazing!” She squealed, tugging at Clary’s arm, almost unbalancing her, before seeming to change her mind and coming to annoy Alec. “Is it weird being in a girl’s body? It’s gotta be weird, right? At least you don’t have to be worried about being attracted to yourself.”

Alec pinched the bridge of his nose, fighting the urge to grab his sister’s shoulders and shake her repeatedly. “Of course it’s weird,” Alec said exasperatedly. He went to gesture at his breasts before deciding that would be too weird and letting his hands fall awkwardly at his sides. “We’re handling it.”

Izzy only grinned impossibly wider and turned to face Clary again. “And a guy’s body? I can’t even imagine. Like, isn’t it weird having a dick? Does it just flop around?”

“Isabelle!” Alec shouted in surprise. Did his sister have any boundaries?

He looked over at Magnus and Jace for help, but Magnus was obviously trying not to crack up laughing, and Jace was somewhere between horrified and curious.

“It’s, um… it’s different,” Clary said, trying to keep the peace. “The weirdest part really is just how much bigger Alec is than me. It’s weirdly disorienting. And I broke a glass earlier because I didn’t realize how strong I was.”

Izzy laughed. “That’s amazing. And you guys just woke up like this?”

“Yeah, it was pretty weird. I recognized the bedroom, but I had no idea how I had gotten here or why I would be in Magnus and Alec’s bed.” Clary made a face, realizing how that must have sounded. “I don’t know what I would have done if Magnus was still in bed when I woke up.”

“Yeah, especially if he had kissed you,” Jace said with a laugh.

Alec froze. It wasn’t rare for him to wonder which sibling he hated the most, but he was fairly certain Jace was about to come out on top of that particular battle.

Izzy caught on quickly, her eyes and mouth opening wide in surprise. “You kissed Alec!”

The moment Jace realized he fucked up was obvious, and Alec would have laughed if he didn’t want to punch his parabatai so badly. Izzy would never let them live this one down, and Jace had been stupid enough to announce it to all of them.

“You kissed my husband?” Magnus said, turning to Jace. Jace paled when he saw Magnus breaking out his most intimidating glare, the magic beginning to swirl around his fingertips. Alec was mostly sure Magnus was just fucking with Jace, but he briefly wondered if he would even stop Magnus from doing anything harmful at that moment.

Clary also seemed to be amused, and worryingly intrigued. But at least she was better than Izzy, who had zeroed in on Alec again, even to ignore the spectacle Magnus and Jace were making.

“Wow! Oh, Alec, what was it like? Was it everything you ever dreamed of as a teenager? Was it awful? Did he have morning breath?”

Jace spared a moment from cowering away from Magnus to look at Izzy in offense and betrayal. Clary only laughed, doing nothing to defend her boyfriend.

Alec chose not to respond. But it might have been a wrong decision. Because Izzy had plenty more questions.

“Speaking of kissing, have you guys kissed each other yet? At least Magnus is bi, it wouldn’t be that weird for him to kiss Alec in a girl’s body. But Jace kissing his parabatai, even if it’s actually Clary, especially after this morning...” She was giggling before she could even finish talking.

Jace rolled his eyes. “He’s my parabatai. I can kiss him if I want to, I don’t care.” He flashed another nervous glance at Magnus. “But I won’t, cuz I know Alec wouldn’t like that. Clary and I can wait until we find a way to switch them back.”

Izzy opened her mouth, probably to make a cheeky remark about Clary and Jace never having been able to keep it in their pants before, but Alec interrupted her, hoping to change the subject. “No, Alec would not like that. Thank you, Jace. Please do not kiss me, body or spirit.”

Alec tuned out the response when he looked at Magnus, already over pretending to be menacing to scare Jace. He was looking back at Alec, a slight smile on his face. Alec thought about how badly he had wanted to kiss him earlier, how badly he wanted to kiss him now. He sincerely hoped they would switch back to normal soon, or he might go crazy.

It wasn't like they had never gone without kissing or touching for longer periods than this, but this was different. This was aching for something that was missing but that dangled in front of them impossibly. Alec shouldn't be able to miss Magnus when he was standing right in front of him. But he did.

It took them all a bit of time to reorganize, and to kick Izzy back out of the apartment, with promises to keep her updated on anything exciting that happened while she was gone that Alec didn’t intend on keeping. But eventually Magnus had portaled them to the warlock’s apartment and he and Alec had helped Clary bullshit her way past some shadowhunters stuck guarding the apartment. It took even longer to comb through everything in the apartment, Alec and Clary trying to retrace their steps from the day before to figure out what they might have accidentally activated.

Finally they found a most likely culprit, an ancient demonic artifact in the form of a box. Alec vaguely remembered looking at it for a moment, tracing over unfamiliar runes that didn’t match any of the demonic languages Magnus had taught him bits of. He had tossed it to Clary, in case she could decipher their meaning any better than he could with her magic rune powers, but she had been just as clueless as him and they had quickly moved on.

Alec cursed himself for being so stupid.

Magnus hadn’t been able to see much more than them. He knew he had seen the language before, but it wasn’t one that he had worked with much. They decided to carefully transport the artifact back to Magnus’s, with several protective spells to keep anything else from being affected, so that he could research the box and the language further.

“I’ll have to call in a couple favors and see if anyone else knows much about this kind of magic. I hate to say it, but I don’t know enough about it to fix this on my own,” Magnus admitted after they portaled back to their apartment.

The statement was met with a trio of sighs, recognizing they wouldn’t be able to switch Alec and Clary back anytime soon. Alec was already feeling tired. He slumped into a chair, deciding to take advantage of Clary’s small frame and curl up with his knees to his chest. He caught Magnus looking at him with doe eyes and stuck his tongue out immaturely. Magnus just blew him a kiss.

They broke off to settle down for a bit. Clary and Jace took the couch, settling close enough to hold hands, sparing a tentative look at Alec and waiting for his nod of okay before doing so. For as uncomfortable as the situation was, he actually really trusted them not to cross any lines that would make Alec uncomfortable. Magnus took the other chair nearest to Alec, already working on sending out fire messages to those he thought might be able to help them.

“Is anyone else hungry?” Jace asked eventually when it got too quiet, free hand rubbing over his stomach. Clary smirked at him, but turned back to Magnus expectantly. Alec realized he had a point. It was getting close to 11, and none of them had eaten breakfast that morning.

Magnus obviously still had a few things to do, so Alec took out his phone and called their favorite deli for sandwiches, figuring that would be quick and painless. And when he was done, he settled his head back into the chair and closed his eyes.

He didn’t even realize he was dozing until the whispers jarred him. Alec flashed a quick look at Magnus, but Magnus only shrugged and looked back down at the book he must’ve summoned. Magnus wasn’t going to get in the middle of it.

But Clary looked distressed. Jace seemed to be trying to comfort her, two hands trying to wrap around hers and holding it to his chest, but she was shaking her head and looking away. Alec sat up, focusing on what they were saying.

“I know I’m going to hurt him. I already have, and I can’t stop it, Jace.”

“You’re not clumsy. It’s just something that will take getting used to. And you won’t even have to get used to it. You know Magnus. He’ll figure something out.”

Alec’s instincts were to just ignore the conversation, let Jace take care of it and let them have their moment. But he could tell how upset Clary was, the way she would start to look at him but then look away, not even realizing he was paying attention. Alec knew how Clary worked now. If she was worried about hurting Alec, only Alec could assuage her fears entirely.

Standing slowly, Alec moved over to them, wedging himself into the bit of space between Clary and the arm of the couch. Clary noticed and scooted closer to Jace to give him more room, but Alec didn’t really need it. It was entirely unsettling to sit next to his own body, feeling absurdly small. Clary looked down at him in confusion. It was awful. Alec tried to focus.

“You really that worried about hurting me? You don’t think I’m strong enough to take it?” he said, trying to keep his tone somewhere between grumpy, aloof, and teasing. Alec was very aware that it was the same tone he would use with Izzy or Max in this situation, and that Magnus was most definitely listening and would tease him for using his big brother voice later.

Clary scoffed, but at least she wasn’t crying. She probably wouldn’t in Alec’s body, he almost never did. “I almost broke your leg earlier. You can’t say you wouldn’t be pissed at me if I did something like that.”

“Of course I would. I get pissed about everything. I’m the grumpy one.” Alec made sure to say it in the flattest voice possible, just to startle a laugh out of Clary. “You act like it’s anything an iratze wouldn’t fix. You’re the one who would feel the pain. That’s all you.” He shrugged and held out his scratched nails for Clary to inspect. “It’s not like I haven’t dealt my share of accidental pain.”

“I just really want to switch back. There’s so many things that could go wrong. And I know I’m not your favorite person in the world. You must hate this.”

Alec didn’t expect that. He thought Clary knew he was way past disliking her. He still played it up sometimes, the same way Magnus did with Jace, but at this point Alec could genuinely say that he liked Clary. He wouldn’t, but he could.

“Well, you’re certainly not my least favorite person. That’s Raj for sure.”

Clary laughed again, finally starting to relax into the couch. “Yeah, okay, that’s fair.”

“Alec never hated you, Clary. He was just being a repressed asshole. Magnus fixed that,” Jace jumped in, happily throwing Alec under the bus if it meant making Clary feel better.

Alec rolled his eyes. But he didn’t deny it either. Across the room, Magnus cleared his throat and winked.

“Is that actually something you think? That I don’t like you?” Alec couldn’t keep himself from asking. He really didn’t want to talk about this, he just wanted to curl back up and maybe take a proper nap after they ate. But it would bother him if he didn’t.

Clary moved her shoulders in a way similar to a shrug, but it was a bit too uncoordinated and looked more like a shiver. “I don’t know. I know we get along better than we used to. I don’t actually think you hate me, but…”

It was kind of sad. Alec knew he wasn’t the most open about his emotions, but he really didn’t know Clary had missed the fact that they actually did get along now.

“I thought you knew. Especially after… everything that happened with your mother. It was awful, but it did kind of get us to put aside all of our petty differences. I didn’t really think we had any problems after that,” Alec tried to explain.

Clary’s eyes were sad for a moment as she thought about her mother. They had talked about it, eventually, once Clary felt like she actually could. Alec thought that had helped. Maybe it hadn’t.

“Just because we don’t have problems doesn’t mean we were magically friends. We just kind of… tolerate each other,” Clary said.

“That’s not how it is for me. We may not be friends, but…” Alec wasn’t sure how to finish. He wasn’t sure how to admit to Clary that he thought of her as a sister now, family. He had at least since she and Jace had gotten together, if not even sooner than that. “I definitely don’t just tolerate you. Otherwise I wouldn’t have just bought you lunch.”

That seemed to stump her. She bit her lip and tilted her head in consideration. Unsurprisingly, Alec didn’t like seeing such a cutesy expression on his own face, but wouldn’t dare say anything in the middle of such a serious conversation. After a moment, she smiled.

“I feel dumb now, but I guess it makes sense. I’m sorry I thought you didn’t like me.”

Alec shrugged. “Guess I need to make more of an effort.”

“No, you don’t need to do that. Just keep buying me lunch and the occasional coffee, and I’ll say we’re friends,” she chuckled.

“Yeah, sounds like a deal.”

Clary was already reaching out to hug him, already seeming to be in better control. Alec liked that he could make her feel better, but why the fuck was Clary’s body so goddamn small. Just being wrapped in his own much larger body made him feel claustrophobic.

Luckily, Alec was saved from anything sappier (Jace was eyeing them like he wanted to join the hug) by the knock at the door. He happily broke free of Clary’s arms to get their food.

It didn’t take long for Alec to realize his mistake.

“Oh, god,” he said spitting out the bite of his sandwich. Alec stared down at it in confusion and betrayal, quickly grabbing a napkin to run hurriedly over his tongue.

“Everything alright?” Magnus asked, setting down his chip bag and leaning closer.

Alec studied his sandwich. Everything looked fine. The tomato was ripe and juicy, the lettuce green, even the meat looked fine. “This is absolutely disgusting.”

“Oh, ew,” Clary said suddenly, face scrunched up as she chewed on her salt and vinegar flavored chip. “Why are these so sour?”

“Well, this sucks,” Alec said, realizing what was going on. After making sure the last of his sandwich bite was cleaned from his mouth, he moved forward to steal Clary’s sandwich and slid his to her. “Guess I’ll be putting seven cups of sugar in my coffee tomorrow morning if we can’t fix this today.”

Clary switched their chips, staring at her usual favorite sadly as she took Alec’s plain, boring ones. Thankfully, Alec had gotten them all water.

“Think of it as an excuse to try new things!” Magnus said, ever the optimist. “Totally different taste buds! A whole new variety of tastes to enjoy.”

Alec knew to stop Magnus before he started planning out all the different foods and drinks he wanted Alec to try with different taste buds. That could get dangerous. “I have absolutely no desire to eat pain,” he said, flicking the bag of salt and vinegar chips to Jace. “At least Clary gets to eat tomato.”

Clary’s nose wrinkled again. “They’re just so wet and gross.” She looked closer at her sandwich. “Onions too? What is wrong with you?”

He wished he could feel vindicated about his own tastes when Clary took a tentative bite and moaned in confused enjoyment. But he was too busy glaring at his pastrami on rye. It was one of Clary’s favorites, though he had tuned out Clary’s rambling story about her and Simon’s childhood when she first told him months ago, but now he was wishing he had ordered her something else.

It didn’t even taste that great.

Alec didn’t even get his much desired nap, either. Apparently, Magnus had included a fire message to Cat explaining the situation, asking her to come over to check on Alec and Clary.

“Thanks for coming,” Magnus greeted her at the door. Alec realized Cat had brought Madzie with her. Magnus knelt down to hug the girl tightly.

Apparently, Magnus hadn’t explained the whole situation to Cat or Cat hadn’t told Madzie, because as soon as Magnus let her go she ran straight to Clary and scrambled into her lap to hug her.

Clary took it in stride, carefully rearranging Madzie to avoid knees in sensitive areas and hugging her back gently. He wanted to be proud of Clary for being more in control of her body, but Alec’s heart ached a bit at the sight. He looked helplessly over to Magnus and Cat.

Cat came to the rescue. “Madzie, remember I told you we were coming to do a check up on Alec and Clary? That something was wrong and we needed to help them?”

Madzie’s eyes widened as she looked back at Clary, climbing back off her lap as if worried she would hurt her.

“It’s alright, sweet pea,” Magnus said, coming to kneel next to her. “Alec isn’t hurt. But there was a spell, by a bad warlock. A very powerful spell that was able to take Alec and Clary and switch them around. So now Clary is in Alec’s body. And Alec is over there in Clary’s body.”

Alec tried his best to smile reassuringly when Madzie looked over at him. He was sure it would be a difficult concept for a seven year old to understand. “He’s telling the truth. I know it seems kinda weird, but it’s me, Mads.”

She took a couple steps towards Alec but stayed close to Magnus, keeping a hand on his arm. “That is weird,” she said finally, after studying him for a long time. Alec tried not to feel hurt when she didn’t hug him. Instead, she sat in Magnus’s vacated chair and summoned one of her toys they kept for her in the guest bedroom.

Catarina had Alec and Clary take turns lying out on the couch, checking them over from head to toe with her gentle, blue magic and more mundane instruments like the stethoscope draped over her neck. Jace stood worriedly to the side but kept silent while Magnus played with Madzie, keeping one eye on Alec and Cat.

“I can’t find any trace of magic that caused this,” Cat said in frustration as she pulled away from Alec, wisps of magic fading away. “It’s so strange.”

“I couldn’t either. I’ve never seen anything like it before.” Magnus jiggled Madzie’s knee with a smile before standing and turning to focus on Cat. “How are they doing?”

Cat shook her head. “Their vitals are lower than they should be, but nothing too serious. It’s straining, though. Eventually the bodies will start to reject them, and there won’t be much we can do. I’m guessing if they weren’t nephilim they wouldn’t survive very long at all.”

It was sobering news, but Alec couldn’t say he was surprised. He avoided Magnus’s eyes that he knew would be filled with worry as he moved to sit against the armrest of the couch and pulled Clary down to sit next to him.

“Like when Magnus had Lorenzo’s magic and his body rejected it?” Jace asked, frowning.

“Pretty much,” Cat agreed. “The angel blood makes them strong, though. It should be awhile before we have to worry about that. Just try not to do anything too strenuous. No fighting, no training. Just pretend you’re a pregnant woman on bed rest.”

Alec knew he must have looked horrified and disgusted by the idea because Cat laughed at him. It helped to ease some of the tension in the room. But honestly, did she have to say that when he was in a body capable of getting pregnant?

They spent about an hour talking about lighter subjects, distracting themselves from the heavy news. There was nothing they could do about it at the moment, other than Cat and Magnus looking over a few books together, shaking their heads in frustration as they found nothing. Alec, Jace, and Clary kept Madzie entertained, switching between playing with toys and asking about her morning.

“You’re a girl like me and Cat now,” Madzie had said at one point. Alec had shared an uncomfortable look with Jace, unsure of how to respond but Madzie didn’t linger on her observation. “Can I play with your hair?”

Of course he had to let her, which is how Alec ended up sitting on the floor in front of the couch with Madzie fastening dozens of ribbons, bows, barrettes, and beads in his hair that Magnus helpfully kept summoning for her when she ran out. Jace and Magnus both took too many pictures, but at least they wouldn’t make good blackmail material against Alec. It was just unfortunate that he knew Izzy would be getting them too.

“I wonder if Alec would let us do his makeup too,” Magnus suggested with an evil little smirk, but was interrupted by Alec’s phone ringing.

Alec waited until Madzie had finished up her last ribbon before pulling out his phone and seeing it was Izzy. “Hold that thought,” he said, turning around to flash a smile at Madzie and a glare at Magnus. “Iz?”

“Alec, I hate to say this, but we have a problem. I think you’re gonna have to come over here, because I'm too busy to come to you.”

“Shit,” Alec sighed, immediately covering his mouth when he remembered Madzie was sitting just behind him. She giggled. “Is it the warlock?”

“I think so, but we can’t be sure. There’s been a bunch of demons reported in several locations across the city. Someone is doing low-level summonings. I think it might be a distraction, but I figured you would want to see this and decide what to do,” Izzy explained. She sounded stressed, which meant it was more serious than she wanted to admit.

“Okay, I’ll have Magnus portal us over,” he said.

He met Magnus’s eye when he hung up. “Clary and I need to go to the Institute.” Clary would have to go with, pretending to be Alec. It was risky considering neither he nor Clary were particularly great actors, but it was really the only option. He figured Jace would go with them refusing to leave Clary’s side. But Magnus would have to stay behind.

Magnus looked at him sadly, realizing the same thing. “I’ll have to stay here and keep looking. I should hear back from Tessa soon, and the Spiral Labyrinth is the most likely to have what we need.”

“Madzie and I will stay and help as best we can for a few hours,” Cat said, Madzie nodding excitedly in agreement.

“Okay,” Alec said. He stood up, feeling Magnus’s magic wash over him as he undid all of Madzie’s hard work on his hair, suddenly back in a simple ponytail. They looked at each other for a long moment.

They’d been through worse apart. Alec fought demons on a daily basis without Magnus at his side, but this was different. Though Alec knew he was very lucky it had been Clary, Magnus’s experience with Valentine wasn’t that different. It was still a violation that couldn’t be compared to anything else, a body that wasn’t your own and knowing someone was in your body and you couldn’t do anything about it. Worse, it was slowly killing them. They would make it through, Alec knew for certain, but he didn’t want to be away from Magnus any longer than he had to and it was clear Magnus felt the same. It was easier to deal with everything if Magnus was with him.

“I love you,” Alec whispered, ignoring the fact that everyone could see and hear them. “We’ll be back as soon as we can.”

Magnus leaned forward to kiss Alec’s forehead, having to bend slightly to do so, and making Alec’s body warm again. At least it was a good distraction. “I love you too. I’ll have something by the time you get back, don’t you worry.”

“I never do with you,” Alec admitted. “You’ll always keep us safe.”

Madzie hugged him goodbye, making him feel a little better about the situation. Even if it was still weird to her, letting her play with his hair helped a lot. And the poor girl had been through much weirder.

They left, crossing through the portal Magnus made them to appear outside the Institute.

“Just stick together and don’t do anything weird,” Alec muttered.

Clary just made a noise like she was trying to scoff but choked instead. Then she moved to Jace’s other side so that Jace stood between them, closer to Alec. Which was… smart, and something Alec didn’t think of first. He needed to stick to Jace’s side like a lovesick girl. Great.

The problem was, they had to walk through the entire damn Institute to get to Alec’s office. And it didn’t take long for someone to stop them to talk. They didn’t even make it past the entryway.

“And where have you three been all morning?” Raj asked, crossing his arms over his chest.

Normally, Alec would have risen to his full height and glowered until Raj backed off with his tail between his legs. Being shorter than Raj was quite possibly the worst thing that had ever happened to Alec.

“Why do you care?” Jace said, already walking past Raj but stopping when Raj moved to walk in front of him.

Raj shot Jace a cocky smirk. “I guess I just assumed that four demon hoards, three mundane casualties and a wounded Shadowhunter was something the head of Institute would want to be present for. But for some odd reason, you were nowhere to be found. It must be something good.”

Alec glanced over to Clary to see that she, surprisingly, had managed to keep a straight face at the news. Izzy hadn’t been that specific over the phone, probably knowing Alec wouldn’t take the news well. But he was admittedly proud of Clary for being able to keep the facade of being Alec in the face of news like that.

“We were handling another situation that took precedence. If we need you, you will be assigned like everyone else. Until then, I suggest you get out of our faces and get back to work before I regret letting you come back from Wrangel Island.” Clary’s voice was low and dark. Alec was almost jealous that Clary was able to manipulate his vocal chords so well already. Even Jace seemed impressed.

Raj, rightfully chastised, moved out of the way with a glare aimed at the floor. Maybe Alec should owe Clary a nice dinner after this. Or pay for one for her and Jace. She was definitely earning it.

Clary kept the scowl on her face, ensuring no one else tried to talk to them. Alec wasn’t really that person anymore, but plenty of people remembered the previous year when Alec was moody half the time and now anytime Alec walked in with that look on his face, usually after a dumb argument with Magnus, people tended to leave him alone.

When they entered his office, Izzy looked a bit stressed.

His desk was in disarray, one of the reasons Alec never let Izzy use it. Her hair was slightly out of place, which was rare for her, and all Alec needed to know she had waited until the last possible second to call Alec in, trying her best to handle everything herself. She was totally capable, just not as practiced as Alec. He was actually pretty proud of her for doing so well so far. Maybe she would run her own Institute someday. Maybe even take over for Alec if he had his way in the future.

“Three mundane casualties? You should have called us in sooner, Iz,” Jace said, completely avoiding any tact whatsoever. “Or at least called me.”

“As if you would leave Clary for something as trivial as a couple demon summonings,” Izzy said flatly, not even looking up from her tablet.

She wasn’t wrong. Alec came up behind her, peering over her shoulder at the tablet as she scanned the latest field report on the situation. It was a bit odd only barely being able to see rather than having to lean over. She shifted so that he could see better, pressing her shoulder into his arm. It was weirdly comforting.

After a moment, she handed him the tablet and stood so that he could sit and catch up on everything. “Thresh’s patrol ran right into the first hoard this morning. Called in reinforcements and was able to clear them out. But then the calls kept coming. All patrols have been sent reinforcements now and I have everyone else available on standby waiting your orders.” She paused to flick the tablet over to a map showing the locations of all four attacks. “There’s still fighting at these two locations, but Amelia already checked in and said they were almost finished. We can’t find any pattern in the locations so far, but we do think the warlock must be going to different locations and summoning multiple demons as a distraction before moving on.”

“Why would the warlock need a distraction like that?” Clary asked, hovering close to Jace again now. “Why didn’t they just leave the city?”

Jace shook his head. “They must not be able to. There’s something that’s keeping them here and they need us out of the way.”

“There was still a lot of stuff back at the apartment. They didn’t exactly have time to pack a bag before we got there,” Clary mused, pursing her lips. Were Alec’s lips really that big? Is that why Magnus liked them so much?

“It could be something there,” Alec agreed, trying not to stare at his own mouth.

Izzy sighed. “That would actually make a lot of sense. We still haven’t been able to clear anything out because everyone has been busy with the attacks. The only reason I haven’t lessened the guard at the apartment yet is because I was waiting for you to give the order.”

“That would’ve been my first instinct, too. We need the numbers if the warlock going to keep summoning like this, even if the demons aren’t that powerful. There’s too many of them.”

Alec studied the map again. There was no pattern, no way to predict even a general area of where the warlock would target next. They couldn’t track the warlock and Magnus was too busy dealing with Alec and Clary’s little problem to be able to pull a magic trick from his hat to save the day as he usually did.

“Is Underhill still here or has he been dispatched?”

“Should be at ops. I figured you would want to talk to him,” Izzy said.

“Great.” Alec turned to Jace. “Go track him down for me and bring him here. Do your best to warn him about Clary and me without anyone else hearing you.”

Jace nodded and left. Clary went over to the couch and collapsed with a sigh while Izzy found a spot to sit on the corner of the desk. Alec wondered what Magnus was doing, if he was making any progress. If he was still hurting at the reminder of all the awful things he went through the previous year. Maybe after this he could treat Magnus to a vacation. He had been talking about showing Alec around Ibiza lately, and it would serve as a nice enough distraction for them.

It didn’t take long for Jace to return with Andrew in tow. It took a bit longer to convince him that he was Alec and not Clary, that they weren’t pulling some elaborate, ill-timed and out of character prank on him, even with Jace’s attempts to warn him. They were eventually able to convince him when Alec made a veiled reference to the time he got drunk and bared his heart to the man about Magnus and Clary talked about something embarrassing that had happened to her during a training session with Andrew.

“I mean… have you thought about talking to Renzo?” Andrew asked. He knew things were still shaky between Lorenzo and Magnus, but they were more likely to help each other out now, especially if Andrew and Alec talked them into it. “He may not know much more than Magnus, but it might be worth a shot.”

“Actually, I was hoping to ask for his services on this issue. Magnus is doing all he can for us, but we still need someone who can help us find this warlock and stop them. It would be helpful if you and Lorenzo could work together on this,” Alec explained.

It wouldn’t be the first time Alec hired Lorenzo instead of Magnus. Sometimes he did it on purpose, with Magnus’s approval, to keep on good terms since he was still technically High Warlock. Though he and Magnus really shared the responsibilities now, Magnus was too busy with his work with the Clave to bother with contesting Lorenzo for the position. Maybe Magnus could be High Warlock of Alicante with how much the Clave was hiring him now.

“I’m sure he would be delighted to help. I’ll let him know,” Andrew said, pulling out his phone to text his boyfriend. “Any plan of attack yet?”

“We think the warlock might be after something in the apartment. You and Lorenzo can go down there first and see if he can identify anything that might be what the warlock wants. Keep trying to track them while we send out teams to handle the demons they summon. You and Izzy can run lead from two different locations so we can have eyes on more ground.”

They worked out a plan that would keep the apartment protected but could keep as much of the city covered as possible to prepare for the next attack. Lorenzo appeared soon enough, willing to help with the promise of a hefty paycheck afterwards. Izzy would be with the teams on the ground, while Alec and Clary would be keeping an eye on everything from the Institute with the help of Jace on ops and sending them the info as it came.

It was a long day. Alec itched to leave the building, or at least get on the floor and have his own eyes on the situation. He hated being stuck in the office hiding. He should be doing something. Should be helping. Clary did her best to keep him calm and focused on the situation.

It wasn’t until late evening that Alec got the call from Andrew confirming Lorenzo had identified the warlock and had been able to contact him to set up a meeting to trap them. With some strategic thinking from Andrew and Lorenzo’s century or two of experience over the other warlock, they were finally able to capture the warlock and bring them to the Institute.

Alec just wanted to sleep.

He knew it was the spell wearing on him. All he had to do was glance at Clary to know she was similarly affected, swaying on her feet every time she stood, and blinking her eyes hard every so often. Cat had said they had plenty of time. But it had only been a day and Alec felt like he hadn’t slept in a week. And he would know what that felt like. What happened when Alec was too tired to even stand?

By the time the warlock was processed and a guard rotation had been set up, Alec threw himself onto the couch, pulling Clary down with him who went all too willingly. He didn’t even care anymore as he pulled his legs up to sit sideways with his feet tucked under Clary’s thigh and his head snuggling into the back of the couch. Clary was too tired to even be shocked at the casual contact, she just settled as best she could with her long legs splayed out in front of her and her head tipped back over the back of the couch.

They waited until Jace returned from wrapping everything up and Izzy popped her head in to say goodbye. It was Jace who called Magnus for a portal and who had to drag both Alec and Clary back to their feet so they could cross through.

Only to immediately crawl back onto the couch. Magnus raised an eyebrow and looked at Jace in concern. Jace just shrugged back and went to sit on the armrest next to Clary’s head.

“Long day,” Alec said quietly, resisting the urge to close his eyes. He would definitely fall asleep if he did that.

“We’ll be fine,” Clary insisted, raising her head up a little as if to prove her point. “We should probably eat soon, though.”

Eating sounded exhausting, but Alec knew she was right.

“Well,” Magnus said with enthusiasm. It took Alec a few moments to realize it wasn’t fake. “I have some good news that should cheer you up. Tessa was able to find records of the box in the Spiral Labyrinth. We were right in assuming your spirits were completely switched. The box acts as a conduit, which is why there was no trace of magic on either of you. It’s not from Edom, or any dimension I’m familiar with, but it’s been used on mortals many times, and a few of those times were recorded.”

Alec leaned forward. “So what can we do? Can we just destroy the conduit and switch back?”

Magnus shook his head. “Destroying the box would actually have the opposite effect. We have to harness the box’s power and switch you back ourselves. Tess and I have already started working on the spell. The potion I’m making will have to brew overnight and Tessa is working on the words of the spell. We should have you two back to normal in the morning.”

There was a tension that had been over them all day that suddenly released at Magnus’s words. Alec looked over at Clary to smile in relief and she reached over to squeeze his arm.

“This seems a bit convoluted,” Jace pointed out, but he was obviously just as relieved as the rest of them.

“Since when do demons ever do something simply? It’s so much less fun that way,” Magnus said with a smirk, winking salaciously at Jace just to annoy him.

“I don’t care how we do it as long as it gets done. Being Alec is fun and all, but I’d really like to be myself again. And take a nap.” Clary readjusted herself on the couch, deciding to wedge one leg between Alec and the couch, leaving the other stretched out to the floor, spreading her legs in a way Alec would never position himself in decent company. Maybe not even in indecent company.

He didn’t even mind though, if it meant she was comfortable. They needed to rest. Alec went ahead and curled up a little more, leaning his legs against the one Clary had on the couch and wrapping his arms over his chest. It was weird to have to push his breasts up to get comfortable, but he really was past caring at that point.

“Food,” he grunted at Jace before laying his head back and shutting everyone else out.

He didn’t think he fell asleep, but it felt like one moment he closed his eyes and the next Magnus was gently shaking his shoulder and the smell of Indian food wafted through the room. Alec’s stomach grumbled in excitement.

Sitting up, he saw Jace had woken Clary, who had started lightly nuzzling her face into his thigh. Jace looked at Alec in panic as her hand innocently creeped up towards his crotch, but Alec just rolled his eyes and looked back at Magnus who was smirking.

“That’s kind of hot,” Magnus teased. Alec grimaced. He really didn't want to know if his husband was joking or not.

Jace gingerly moved Clary’s hand to her lap and moved closer to the food.

“Is that butter chicken?” Clary said, blinking her eyes rapidly as she slowly sat up. Alec followed her lead, letting his hand graze over Magnus’s where it still rested on the couch.

“No expense spared for my girlfriend,” Jace said, handing her a box.

Magnus scoffed. “Yes, none of my expenses,” he said flatly with a glare. Jace shrugged.

They quickly tucked in, Alec and Clary eating with a relish neither of them usually had. It was tiring at first, but Alec could already feel the food doing its job and making him feel better. Plus, Clary's taste buds absolutely loved butter chicken and Alec stole the box from her and ate the entire thing. Clary didn’t mind, hoarding the palak paneer for herself.

It felt so good, Alec was almost ready for a nap afterwards. But Clary and Jace decided to put on a movie and Magnus had to work on the potion more before they went to sleep. Alec would rather be with Magnus than watch Jace and Clary attempt to watch a movie together without cuddling or making eyes at each other.

Alec settled himself in one of the chairs in Magnus’s office, one that gave him an excellent view of Magnus standing over the potion brewing on his desk, brows furrowed slightly in deep concentration. He watched as Magnus’s fingers worked magic, moving in ways that Alec couldn’t help but be captivated by as he did strange things to ingredients and added them to the brew. It wasn’t something he got to watch often, Magnus did most of his work while Alec was at the Institute or on missions, and most of their downtime was spent with a strict "no work unless it’s an emergency” policy. So, Alec just sat back and let himself soak it all in.

For such a long and stressful day, Magnus looked good. Which wasn’t surprising at all, but something Alec happily let himself enjoy. The kohl marking his eyes, the dark paint on his nails that called attention to every graceful movement of his hands. His outfit was impeccable, and his tight shirt hugged the muscles of his arms and chest, tucked into tight pants that led Alec’s eyes to the narrowness of his hips moving with such captivating fluidity as he worked that in normal circumstances Alec wouldn’t be able to help stepping up behind him and dancing with him, kissing his neck and shoulder until Magnus abandoned his work for more.

Just the thought made heat settle in Alec’s stomach, and this time he let it happen. He was tired and full, and he wasn’t really worried about anything happening. The heat curled contentedly, not asking for more, and Alec just watched his husband.

“See something you like, Alexander?” Magnus asked, only pausing in his work long enough to flash Alec a teasing grin.

“Many things.” Alec waited until Magnus looked at him again to slowly trail his eyes up and down Magnus’s body. It clearly didn’t have the same effect coming from Clary’s body. Instead of a widening of pupils and a hitch in his breathing, there was only a soft snort of amusement. Which was both comforting and a bit of a let down.

Magnus wouldn’t completely disappoint him though. He never could. “The moment you get your body back, Alexander… The things I’m going to do to you.”

The heat flared for a moment, dipping a bit lower. Maybe there was a bit of danger here. But Alec trusted Magnus not to take it too far. “Must be good if it’s anything compared to what I’m gonna do to you.”

“Oh?”

“Let’s just say I have a new appreciation for our height difference,” Alec teased. He knew for a fact that he was strong enough to hold Magnus up against walls during certain activities. He wondered if he activated his strength rune if he could… nope, had to stop that line of thought. For now.

Magnus seemed to be thinking the same thing as he bit his lip and seemed to struggle with turning away from Alec and back to his work. Mission accomplished at least.

They let the tension between them settle back again, but couldn’t resist trading glances with each other, sometimes heated, sometimes teasing, and sometimes just loving and longing. Alec realized there was no way he would get through something like this happening to him without Magnus.

“Can I ask you something?” Alec asked quietly. He licked his lips, suddenly feeling nervous.

Magnus smiled. “Always.”

“Why did you stay? After everything I did to you?”

Magnus was silent for a long moment, focusing a little too hard on his potion. Alec rubbed his hands anxiously. But he had to know. He couldn’t stop thinking about Magnus in Valentine’s body, screaming his name, begging for Alec to realize it was him and to stop hurting him. Begging for his life.

“We both made so many mistakes in the beginning. We both had so much growing to do, and we weren’t exactly in the best environment to be able to do so. Everything we did, we both thought we were making the right decision, even when it was difficult,” Magnus said softly. He had put down the pestle he had been using and looked at Alec.

But Alec couldn’t accept that. “I hurt you. I lied to you. I spent a month pushing you away because I was too scared to deal with even the idea of liking you. And when you lost your magic-”

Alec started a bit when Magnus stood abruptly. He moved around his desk to kneel in front of Alec’s chair so fast it took his breath away. “It’s not as easy as that. Not that black and white. And you know it.”

“Magnus…”

“Alexander, the moments we have spent apart were the worst in my life. The only thing that got me through my time in Edom was knowing you were alive and safe. But even from the beginning I knew I didn’t want to be without you. Choosing the Seelie Queen over you was the most difficult and the stupidest decision I’ve made, and I made it because I was hurt and scared. But it was also when I discovered you were all I wanted and I wanted you forever. I’ve never been as happy as I am when I’m with you. We make each other better, we grow together. I wouldn’t have married you if I wasn’t completely sure that we would keep each other safe and happy.”

Alec couldn’t breathe. He had known how Magnus felt, had heard Magnus say things like this before. Even their wedding vows cemented it. But it was exactly what Alec needed to hear.

“I love you so much,” he whispered, taking Magnus’s hands.

“I love you too,” Magnus said with the softest smile, bringing Alec’s hands to his lips to kiss. Alec could feel his face heat at the gesture, and realized how much easier it would be for Magnus to see the blush on Clary’s fair skin.

If Alec could take all away all the times he had ever hurt Magnus he would. But he also knew Magnus wouldn’t want him thinking like that. It was in the past, and they had had so much good in their lives together since then. It was the past that made them the people they were now, taught them the lessons they needed to learn from their mistakes. Alec let himself stare into Magnus’s eyes a little longer. Things would never be easy for them, not with the lives they lived. But they had proved time and time again that they were much better together than they were apart.

They stayed like that for a long time, but eventually Magnus had to go back to the potion. Alec was starting to drift off again, and the sooner Magnus finished what he needed to tonight, the sooner they could finally go to bed.

When they finally left the office, they found Jace curled up on Clary’s chest as they lay on the couch. Clary seemed amused and was stroking Jace’s hair. Jace looked like he was enjoying himself a bit too much. The TV was dark, their movie ended and both too lazy to move. But Clary yawned in time with Alec and most of Jace’s face was pressed into Clary’s chest and they happily accepted Magnus’s invitation to sleep in the guest bedroom.

Magnus summoned Clary and Jace both sweatpants and tshirts to sleep in, but stopped before summoning anything for Alec. “Shorts would be more comfortable,” he muttered.

Alec considered. He and Magnus pretty much just slept naked every night, so Alec was going to be uncomfortable no matter what he wore. He just shrugged. Let Magnus decide.

Which was how Alec found himself in short pink shorts with the words “JUICY” on the ass. At least the tank top covered more skin than the one he had woken up in, keeping him from having to deal with his cleavage.

Alec loved his husband dearly, but that didn’t mean he didn’t want to kill him sometimes.

Magnus took pity on Alec and wore pants and a shirt to bed, because trying to sleep next to a naked Magnus was distracting enough on a good night. They crawled into their bed, lying on their sides facing each other but not touching.

“Eventful day,” Magnus observed, blinking slowly. “How are you feeling?”

Alec shrugged, trying to get comfortable with his hair still tied up and digging into the pillow strangely. “Tired. Ready to be back in my own body.” He sighed softly, pulling his knees up, careful not to let them touch Magnus’s thighs. “So thankful that you’re with me and keeping me sane.”

Magnus smiled, the soft warm one that made him seem to glow. “I’ll always be with you. In sickness and in health, remember?”

God, he loved Magnus so much. Alec couldn’t help but grin widely. He reached out for Magnus’s hand, happy when Magnus automatically twined their fingers together but sad that they didn’t fit together like they were supposed to. He rubbed his finger over Magnus’s wedding ring, feeling his own nestled slightly uncomfortably between his breasts but not willing to move it.

“Good,” Alec said simply, pressing a soft kiss to Magnus’s hand above the ring. Alec fell asleep like that, pressing their hands to his mouth.

He couldn’t really be surprised, however, when they woke up cuddling.

It was an odd sensation, just like the previous morning, but only weirder tucked into Magnus’s side. It took him a long moment to remember what had happened, that he was in Clary’s body and that’s why he fit so snugly under Magnus’s arm. Alec felt small and safe in a way he never had before. It was nice, and he almost wondered if he would miss this feeling when he got his own body back.

What he wouldn’t miss was the horrible wedgie Clary’s underwear was giving him. And he couldn’t even fix it without moving too far from Magnus’s embrace. So, Alec chose to suffer. At least until Magnus woke up.

“Biscuit?” Magnus grumbled in confusion. Alec looked up to see his eyes blinking rapidly, his arm pulling away slightly from Alec’s shoulders and his hand pulling away from Alec’s hip. For a moment Magnus just stared at him before he remembered. “Not Biscuit,” he sighed before settling back into the bed and pulling Alec back to him.

Alec bit his lip but didn’t push Magnus away. “Is this weird? Should we be touching like this?”

“I’m too tired to care. It’s too damn early to worry about the morality of cuddling in someone else’s body,” Magnus said grumpily, only holding Alec tighter. “Besides, don’t tell me you don’t think they’re doing the exact same thing.”

Not that Alec really wanted to think about that, but it was a good point. He decided to relax and just enjoy some time in Magnus’s arms. It’s not like he would ever get to feel this sensation like this ever again. Might as well milk it all he could.

They did finally get up when Magnus couldn’t risk leaving the potion unattended any longer. Clary and Jace weren’t up yet, so Alec decided to make breakfast. It was a bit of a mess. He was too uncoordinated in Clary’s body to do delicate work like cracking eggs, and he had to bashfully tiptoe into Magnus’s office to ask for help in opening a jar of jam. But by the time Jace and Clary came stumbling out of the guest room there was enough food to be called a breakfast set out on the kitchen island.

“Morning,” Alec greeted, dishing out some eggs onto a plate for himself and another for Magnus. He looked up to see Jace blushing and staring at his feet. Clary wasn’t quite as embarrassed, but was looking at Alec with a bit of a shit-eating grin. And Alec just… so did not want to know what happened.

“Sleep alright?” Clary asked cheerfully, trying to distract from the awkward air in the room. She started piling a plate with food and digging in with relish.

Alec shrugged. “Like a baby.” He watched them eat, wanting to wait for Magnus.

But the others had already almost finished their plates by the time Magnus came back into the room with a proud grin on his face.

“The potion is ready and Tessa has sent me the words to the spell. We’re ready whenever you two are.”

Clary and Alec exchanged looks. Jace practically leapt off his stool in excitement. It was time. They would finally go back to normal. They only took a moment for Alec to pull his wedding ring off of the necklace and hand it to Clary to slide back on her finger.

It was a depressingly simple spell all things considered. Clary and Alec stood facing each other. They both drank the potion, repeating the words Magnus told them and they switched so suddenly Alec felt like his life was being ripped from him for a moment.

Disorientation, nausea, and the intense feeling of being too large and too heavy came up on him so suddenly that Alec couldn’t stay on his feet. He saw the floor rushing up to meet him, felt Magnus’s magic covering him as it cushioned his fall, keeping him from breaking his arm or giving himself a concussion. He willed his lungs to work, to take deep slow breaths until he could blink away the darkness and sharp spots of color blinding him.

Slowly, Alec sat up. Magnus was at his side, one hand resting on Alec’s back and the other on his knee.

“Alec?” Magnus asked softly, unsure.

Alec smiled, a bit weakly but no less real. “It’s me, Magnus. It worked.”

He wasn’t sure who moved first, but he was reaching out to Magnus and Magnus was wrapping his arms around him and they pulled each other as close as possible. Alec could feel Magnus’s lips against his temple, breath blowing lightly over his skin as if whispering a prayer. It felt perfect, finally fitting together again like puzzle pieces.

“Clary,” Alec heard Jace whisper and he knew the other pair were hugging each other just as tightly. He looked over to see Jace holding her face in his hand but hesitating. Clary rolled her eyes and kissed him, crawling partially into his lap. Gross.

“Good to be back,” Alec whispered. He kissed Magnus lightly, choosing to ignore the disgusting display behind them. He and Magnus could enjoy their own proper reunion once they were alone. For now, Alec just enjoyed the feeling of Magnus’s thumbs rubbing circles into his back and the kisses they pressed to each other’s cheeks, noses, and foreheads. His wedding ring back on his finger where it was supposed to be.

It was easy enough to kick Clary and Jace out. Alec gave Jace instructions to give to Isabelle before they disappeared into Jace's room at the Institute to reacquaint themselves with Clary’s body and an agreement to meet again the next day so Cat could give them another check up to make sure they wouldn’t have any side effects. They couldn’t seem to leave the apartment quickly enough, barely taking the time to change into more appropriate clothes before running through the portal Magnus made for them.

Alec didn’t mind.

“So what are we going to do with our day off?” Alec asked. He looked down at Magnus with a smile. It felt so good to be his proper height again.

Magnus shook his head, stepping closer and grabbing Alec’s wrists to wrap his arms around him. “You need to rest. Your body has been through a lot. Obviously we need to go back to bed.”

Alec pretended to pout. “Just to sleep? I’m not that tired.”

“Well, in that case, I’m sure we could find something to do.” They were already walking towards the bedroom, clutching each other tighter.

A few hours later, after making sure they both remembered exactly how Alec’s body worked, they were holding each other again, Magnus’s limbs wrapped around Alec like a clingy octopus.

“Feeling a bit cuddly?” Alec asked, deciding not to tell Magnus that his arm was asleep and Magnus’s knee was pressing too hard into his thigh.

Magnus huffed out a laugh, shifting a little and thankfully moving his knee. “I’m just thinking about how I never want to let you go again.”

“Actually, that sounds really nice,” Alec agreed.

At the very least, Magnus wouldn’t have to let him go anytime soon.