Chapter Text
Alec
They met in a coffee shop.
It was almost clichéd. Alec had been going there to do paperwork as a way to get a break from the oppressiveness of the Institute (and the coffee was amazing). Magnus was another frequent customer who Alec had a not-so-subtle crush on — he owned a club, Alec was pretty sure.
To be fair, he was gorgeous. Smooth skin, low-cut shirts that let show his abs, makeup that made his already-beautiful eyes pop. He moved gracefully, almost catlike, and from the first time he saw him, Alec was hooked.
He knew, logically, that he shouldn’t. He was a Shadowhunter, effectively the Head of the New York Institute whenever Robert was away (which was often), and he was part of the Resistance. While he was openly gay — he’d come out a few years earlier, and it successfully distracted the Clave from the low numbers of Downworlders that New York caught and interrogated, which had been part of his intention — dating a mundane would be considered taboo. Not as taboo as dating a Downworlder, of course, since the standing orders were to bring them in for questioning (or rather, torture, which was usually followed by death), but the Consul had recently approved a law stating that a Shadowhunter could not date a mundane unless the mundane were already preparing to Ascend. Which significantly reduced the number of applicants for Ascension, since about eighty percent of them were the fiancés of Shadowhunters — not that anyone was Ascending, what with the Mortal Cup being stolen. But no matter the reasoning behind the laws, dating Magnus could end with Alec being deruned.
And yet, when Magnus sat down across from him at his favourite table and offered him the coffee Alec always ordered — a chocolate mocha with whipped cream and extra sugar, he had a sweet tooth that the Institute refused to cater to, sue him — and asked him on a date, Alec said yes.
It was only one date, after all. What could go wrong? Magnus was a mundane, after all, so there was no chance he’d come into contact with a Shadowhunter. Clary had developed a more effective glamour rune that Sighted mundanes and Downworlders couldn’t see through, as well as making him pass as a mundane through warlock wards (thank the Angel she’d hidden the rune from her father) and making him invisible to Shadowhunters. It would be nearly impossible for him to be detected. He had nothing to worry about — it wasn’t like he was falling in love, after all.
Then, of course, one date turned into two, then three, then too many to count, and Alec was slowly but surely falling in love.
Magnus
Alec was — well, Alec was a surprise.
He’d noticed the incredibly hot guy working in his favourite coffee shop several times before he’d caught him staring at him, and decided that yes, he was probably interested, and so walked over to sit down at his table and ask him on a date. He’d also gotten him his regular order, because he’d accidentally memorized it.
It might have been foolishness. He could at any time have to leave the country, if the Shadowhunters cottoned on to the fact that he was Bane, the warlock who’d been the biggest thorn in their side for years. He was pretty sure that Alec wouldn’t get caught up in anything, though, so it was absolutely worth it.
He hadn’t told him about the fact that he was an immortal warlock with magical powers yet. He might, eventually, but for now this was far too new — and knowing he was a warlock would inevitably get Alec involved with the Shadow World, and with the current levels of tension there, that was the last thing he wanted. He’d even made up another last name so Alec wouldn’t recognize “Bane”.
Before Alec, he’d been well on his way to shutting up his heart again. After Camille, his relationships had… petered out, and he realized now that he’d been calcifying. The last twenty or so years hadn’t helped — the Clave had been vaguely bearable for a few years, and then the Circle had shown up, and instead of fighting them, the Clave had joined them rather than lose some of their most promising youth. That disappointment had hardened him. But Alec had reminded him what it was to love, why he shouldn’t shut himself away anymore, and he was honestly happy.
And to add a cherry on top of Mangus’s growing happiness, the rumours were that the Shadowhunter’s Resistance was gaining ground. Magnus had first heard of them five years ago, although he’d heard reports of them from even earlier. The Resistance was a group that wanted to return to protecting Downworlders, believing that they weren’t demons and just as worthy of protection as mundanes. They also pointed out how much less efficient they were at fighting demons without warlock portals and wards or information from the rest of the Downworld. Their goal was to take over the Clave, and rebuild it into something new — something with laws to protect Downworlders, the ability to work with them, more democratic and less bureaucratic systems — but as of now, most of what they did was set free innocent Downworlders. They were highly effective, too: Cat had told him about how a resistance member who had helped take down Iris Rouse had ensured that Madzie was given to her, rather than taken to the Institute, and both Raphael and Luke had told him of various Downworlders that had been quietly set free. One such case was Simon, a fledgling who’d been met by a solitary Shadowhunter who’d told him to run.
The entire organization was run by a single Shadowhunter, as far as Magnus knew, someone known as the Wolf. In addition, each Institute with a Resistance presence had a Commander who directed the operations in that Institute — and beyond that, no ranks, no bureaucracy, which was surprisingly effective. It was completely anonymous, each member having an alias, and only that Institute’s Commander and the Wolf knowing who was who. Magnus knew that New York’s Commander was called the Falcon, but no more.
As a matter of fact, Falcon was trying to get in contact with him. Raphael and Luke had both mentioned that they’d been asked for Bane’s contact information. Falcon was allied with both of them, though not with Camille or Gabriel, leaders of the vampire Clan and the wolf pack respectively. An alliance with Magnus was probably what Falcon was after; he had quite a bit of influence over warlocks worldwide.
Magnus himself was considering it. The resistance seemed trustworthy, but Magnus had centuries of experience dealing with Shadowhunters. Falcon was, according to Luke and Raphael, a fair, trustworthy person, and coming from Raphael, that was saying something. Cat spoke highly of him, of course, and if it hadn’t been for the knowledge that if he was captured and tortured for information, everyone he knew would be at risk, he would probably have met with the Shadowhunter already. As it was, accepting the contact would be a serious risk to take. On the other hand, not helping the Resistance could doom it, and since the Downworld was too fractured and inefficient to take down the Clave themselves or to protect the mundanes if they succeeded, the Resistance was really their best hope.
Perhaps, the next time Falcon tried to contact him, he’d allow it. Things were certainly looking up.
Alec
There was no one moment when Alec fell in love with Magnus.
It was in a thousand touches and looks and stories, in the dramatic movement of his hands and the incredible kindness with which he faced the world. It was seeing him wake up in the morning, sleep-rumpled and grinning, or watching him rule over his club with such grace. It was the way he held Alec, like he was something precious, something to be protected, rather than the protector he’d always been. It was the easy acceptance of the fact that he was closeted, that he didn’t know when he’d be able to tell his parents, the way he beamed when Alec interlaced their fingers on the street. It was everything. It was Magnus.
It wasn’t perfect, however. There were fights, sometimes, stupid ones or serious ones. There was the fact that Magnus had been with tons of people, while Alec had never kissed anyone before. There was Camille, a woman who’d come up to Magnus while they were walking home one night and done everything she could to drive them apart — and she had, for a few days, before Alec found himself knocking on Magnus’s door again and apologizing and holding him close when Magnus immediately forgave him. They’d talked, after that, and they’d come out the other side stronger than before, though Alec still hadn’t worked up the courage to tell him he loved him.
But there was more. Alec hated the way he couldn’t tell Magnus anything, hated that he could only offer a highly censored version of his days, hated that he was pretending to own a law firm rather than telling the truth. But if Magnus got involved with the Shadow World, it would only endanger him — and if anyone found out about him, they could hurt him to get to Alec. Because Alec would certainly be making enemies, as soon as the Resistance made their move.
Maybe after — if they won, because Alec probably wouldn’t survive losing — he could tell him, and hope he didn’t lose Magnus for the lie. Until then, he would keep quiet.
It wasn’t like Magnus overshared about his work. He cared about it, definitely, but he rarely talked about what he did all day — probably assumed Alec would be bored. As if Alec could be bored by anything Magnus said.
But aside from the secrets, it was the happiest Alec had been in years. The Resistance wasn’t strong enough to take on the Clave yet, but it was getting there. More Institutes had developed alliances with the local Downworld in their area. They still didn’t have nearly enough warlocks on their side — Alec was trying to contact Bane, who was apparently known and respected the world over and would almost certainly be able to convince more warlocks to help them — but a lot of the local vampire Clans and werewolf packs had joined.
Izzy and Jace were still trying to convince him to join the Alliance — he’d considered telling them he was leading it, but it was absolutely hilarious to hear them sing the praises of the organization he’d founded. They’d also noticed that he’d been happier over the last few months, and drawn a confession about Magnus out of him. They’d been ecstatic, Jace cracking several rather uncouth jokes and Izzy demanding he “tell her everything”. They agreed (though reluctantly) when he explained that they couldn’t meet with Magnus yet, although Alec was fairly certain they snuck out and spied on his boyfriend because Izzy complimented him on his taste in men.
But, of course, it couldn’t last.
Magnus
That opportunity to ally with the Resistance came a few weeks later, although Magnus didn’t have time to take advantage of it. Magnus arrived on the scene after a panicked call from Maia to find her desperately trying to staunch the bleeding from several bite marks on Luke, Gabriel’s corpse a few feet away.
Luke had, apparently, fought and defeated Gabriel, which meant that he was now Alpha of the New York pack. He was in a bad way, however, and wouldn’t survive a taxi back to Magnus’s apartment, which meant a portal.
That was a problem. The Clave had figured out, a few years back, how to trace and detect portal travel. Magnus had wards on his loft that hid any portal opened from there — that was how he’d gotten here — but there was no protection the other way.
There was nothing for it, however. Luke was a good friend and a skilled leader, and Magnus had to save him. With a flick of his fingers, a portal opened, and Magnus carried Luke through, Maia following behind him.
Luckily, he was at full strength and he’d had plenty of time to stock up on materials since he hadn’t been able to take clients since the Circle. Maia looked like she was on the verge of imploding if she didn’t get a chance to help, so he set her chopping ingredients.
She explained what had happened as she did so. She’d been taken by a group of Shadowhunters, arrested for no reason at all. When Luke found out, he’d wanted to send a group to save her; Gabriel refused, saying that he would rather cooperate with the Shadowhunter. They fought. In the meantime, a Shadowhunter had slipped her a knife and a note, and she was pretty sure someone had drugged the Shadowhunter set to guard her — they’d wanted to keep patrolling, or something, and they’d left her alone with just one guard. Resistance work, clearly. She’d gotten back in time to see Luke win.
The note, she said, simply asked if she could put Falcon in contact with Bane, and offered a phone number, along with instructions to burn the note.
Magnus did his best to convince her that it wasn’t her fault while preparing the potion and healing Luke. He memorized the phone number before sending the scrap of paper up in flames.
Luke was nearly healed when his wards sounded the alarm. Shadowhunters. They’d traced the portal, and he could feel his wards straining under the assault of repeated unlocking runes.
Magnus was running low on magic by now. Healing Alpha werewolf bites were exhausting, and Luke had been in severe danger. He didn’t have enough power left to finish healing Luke and portal Maia and Luke away while keeping the Shadowhunters out. (He shuddered to imagine what might have happened had he been taking clients, or had to make any more portals — without help, Luke would have died.)
But even now, Luke would die unless he finished the healing, so that wasn’t optional. He could hold the wards long enough to heal him, at least, and then try to portal them all out. If they were caught, he could only hope that the Resistance got to him before the Clave tortured something out of him.
Magnus shoved more strength into Luke’s body. His wards faltered for a moment, but held. The last bite marks closed up, and he was shoving Luke into Maia’s arms and opening a portal just as the wards shivered — hesitated — and shattered.
He was almost in the portal, following the two werewolves, when something pricked the back of his neck and the world went black.
Alec
“You should really join,” Izzy told him as she fell backward onto his bed. Jace was there, too, finishing activating the rune Clary had invented, which made listeners believe they were hearing a completely boring and uninteresting conversation. (A Soundless rune would be suspicious, since it would seem odd to be sitting around in silence.)
“I agree,” Jace said. “You freed that werewolf like a pro.”
Alec had been the only Resistance member on a patrol that had picked up the werewolf girl. Maia, she said her name was. He’d slipped her a knife and another request to contact Bane, and made sure Raj, who was guarding her, drank a bit of sedative along with the bottle of water he carried with him. Maia had disappeared into the night, and he’d even gotten a chance to give Raj a demerit.
His siblings had no idea that he was a pro at this. He was, after all, Commander of the New York Institute. Perhaps he should stop pretending he didn’t want to risk joining the Resistance.
“Seriously, Alec. There’s almost no chance you’ll be found out, it’s all anonymous, and you can help Downworlders better.”
“I mean, there’s a chance you’ll get a lame alias — I’m Golden Retriever, it’s infuriating — but Izzy’s Viper, which is cool.”
Alec allowed the corners of his mouth to lift. He’d given Jace the alias, not that his brother knew it, and his constant irritation was absolutely hilarious.
“Please join the Resistance,” Izzy asked him, turning on her puppy eyes. He’d never been able to stand up to them, and now was no different.
“I can’t,” Alec told her. She looked disappointed until he continued, “I can’t join, because I’m already part of it.”
They both blinked at him for a moment.
“Since when?” Izzy asked.
“What’s your alias?” Jace said at the same time.
Alec grinned. “I’ve been part of the Resistance since before you joined.”
(Izzy screeched.)
“And my alias is Falcon.”
(They both screeched. Jace would deny it later, but it was true.)
Then, of course, Alec was barraged with questions and Izzy’s fists, wondering why he hadn’t told them (because it was hilarious to listen to them try to convince him to join), if that was what he’d been doing all the time (partly, he did also have to run the Institute), and why he’d given Jace the alias Golden Retriever (because, again, it was hilarious).
Both his siblings were laughing about it soon enough, any anger gone, and they almost missed the knock on the door.
Alec stood up, deactivating Clary’s rune, and told the knocker to come in.
It was Robert. He’d returned from Idris a few days earlier, although he hadn’t done much work since then.
“Alec. I have news.”
Izzy and Jace looked curious, but they said nothing, allowing Alec to be led away.
In the Head’s office — nominally Robert’s, even if Alec spent far more time there — his father drew a Soundless rune on the door before turning to face him.
“We caught Bane.”