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“There’s a diamond I need to steal,” Magnus says casually kissing Alec on the cheek as he pours his morning coffee.
“Need?” Alec scrutinizes the eyebrow with the little scar in it raising.
“Okay, maybe not need, but I definitely want,” Magnus says with smile. He hops up onto the counter crossing his legs looking so cat like sometimes.
“You know you already have diamonds, right?” Alec says reaching around Magnus for the creamer pouring it into his mug.
“Yes, but I don’t have this diamond,” Magnus stresses with a smile pulling on Alec’s arm after he’s put the creamer back in the fridge. Alec goes easily slipping in between Magnus’ legs as he uncrosses them.
“Okay, so you need to steal this particular diamond. Does that mean you won’t be home for dinner tonight?” he asks taking a sip of his scalding hot coffee loving the burn.
“Actually I could use your help,” Magnus says draping his wrists over Alec’s shoulders.
“Really?” he says surprised, slightly taken aback.
“Yes, really,” Magnus says with a smile and a tilt of his head. So damn cat like sometimes. “We do work together from time to time.”
“I know that,” Alec says sitting his coffee aside. “But an easy diamond theft usually you can handle just fine on your own.”
“I can, but there’s a bit of a catch to this one,” Magnus says showing his teeth.
Alec sighs. “Of course there is.”
“I don’t totally know who has said diamond and the lackey who got caught while they were transporting the shipment it was in last night won’t talk to me,” Magnus explains tapping his fingers on Alec’s back where they rest.
“And you think he’ll talk to me?”
“You’re a very convincing man,” Magnus says kissing one of Alec’s cheeks playfully. Alec doesn’t really have to think about it, if Magnus wants his help he’s going to do it no questions asked.
Alec picks his coffee back up taking another large gulp of it. “Where is this guy being held?”
Magnus beams.
***
Alec settles them on the roof of the Manhattan 255 precinct.
“Alright, I’ll see if he’s just feeling generous to help the friendly neighborhood Spider-Man and if he’s not we’ll switch to alternative methods,” Alec says with a smile pressing a quick kiss to Magnus’ lips uncaring that he’s wearing the mask.
Magnus playfully salutes him as he flips over the edge sticking himself to the wall and crawling down to the proper barred window. Inside a large burly man named Jimmy sits on the sad cot in the corner arms crossed.
“Hey!” Alec says cheerily already betting this man isn’t about to be chatty. The man ignores him.
“I was wondering if you wanted to be a good Samaritan and help me, Spider-Man, out tonight,” he says just as cheery. The man continues to ignore him, but he soldiers on. “Who hired you to pick up the shipment of gems last night?”
Jimmy stays silent crossing his arms even tighter turning away from the window. Alec sighs thinking sticky and staying close stuck on the wall with one hand while extending the other. He shoots out a tiny bit of web balling it up and tossing it through the window hitting Jimmy in the shoulder.
The man looks back at the window with a furrowed brow. Alec shoots out some more web rolling a handful of little web balls out flicking them in at Jimmy one by one.
“Either you’re going to tell me who hired you or I’m gonna hang outside your window all night and throw web balls at you,” he says readying another ball and knocking it directly into Jimmy’s temple. “And if that’s not annoying enough, Black Cat will perform memories from Cats over and over again for you. And guess what he doesn’t totally know the words, he makes up half of them.”
He stays still, grumbling at Cat’s name, defiant as Alec flicks another web ball at the guy’s chest.
“Alright then, hit it Cat!” he shouts to Magnus still crouched up on the edge of the roof. Magnus clears his throat and gets to it, loudly.
“Meeemoriessss, all alone on the pavvveeementtttt,” he belts out kinda good, kinda bad, mostly just obnoxiously loud.
Jimmy stays still pressing his hands over his ears as hard as he can, flinching a bit when one of Alec’s web balls hits particularly hard at his neck.
Alec tilts back and looks up at Magnus and shrugs. Magnus continues on to the next chorus, his volume getting increasingly higher while Alec’s web balls start hitting Jimmy to the beat.
“Alright, alright!” Jimmy shouts after a few more minutes once Magnus is gearing to start the song back up from the beginning again with likely all new lyrics. “I really hate you two.”
Alec smiles under his mask flicking the last web ball in his hand into the window. “Victor Aldertree, he’s the one with the gems. There’s a safe in his study where he keeps all new intakes for at least a week, but you didn’t hear that from me.”
Alec pushes back from the window saluting Jimmy in thanks before crawling back up to Magnus’ side.
“Aldertree is having a masquerade party for his birthday Friday,” Magnus muses. Alec raises an eyebrow under his suit, Magnus really does always know where all the rich parties are even when he doesn’t have plans to rob them. Magnus moves his hand out, lifting a claw and using it to turn Alec’s face towards him. “Fancy a date night slash heist?”
“With you?” Alec says grabbing Magnus’ hand and pressing the back of it to his mask covered lips. “Always.”
***
Aldertree’s home is insanely large. A four-story apartment building that he kicked out the residents of and gutted to create his own new wave décor mansion with a rooftop infinity pool. It’s gross and outlandish and completely lacks style. It also has fairly low maintenance security for someone of Aldertree’s business stature and other illegal activities.
Alec adjusts his jacket at the wrist discreetly shooting out some webbing and pulling at the back exit door, the cameras already temporarily shut off. Magnus slips through the door first the hustle and bustle of the kitchen sounding around them as Alec lets the door close quietly.
Magnus reaches back taking his hand and pulling him through the kitchen no one paying a bit of attention to the two well dressed men.
“Aldertree is having fireworks on the roof at 9:57 on the dot, evidently that’s his exact moment of birth,” Magnus says adjusting the delicate gold and black spider web masquerade mask that matches his perfectly tailored suit exactly as they fall in line with other partygoers easily blending in as they walk into the main hall.
“That’s an hour from now,” Alec says surveying the room. He spots Aldertree in the corner, shlarmy as ever surrounded by five girls he’d bet were paid to attend tonight. Aldertree is no stranger to crime, a Wall Street tycoon by day stealing from people and a whole other enterprise by night, but for all his lavishness he’s been tricky to ever catch in the act of anything. He pays people to do his dirty work, unlike so many of the outlandish villains Alec meets on the day to day who love the hand to hand of it all. “What should we do till then?”
Magnus smiles reaching up and fixing the crooked angle of Alec’s far simpler mask, black with discreet red trimming just like his suit. “We are going to dance, my love,” he says pulling Alec out onto the crowded dance floor filled with people already drunk and dancing terribly off beat while a few others dance to the fast paced beat perfectly.
Magnus twirls around Alec always knowing just how to move, far better at dancing than Alec could ever dare to be. The fast song dies down almost as soon as they hit the floor though shifting into something softer and far more within Alec’s capability.
He knows his body, has intense control of it, that doesn’t mean he has rhythm though. Magnus takes the lead putting one hand on the back of Alec’s neck and the other in his right hand moving them a little more complexly than Alec would to the slow song.
“You know I saw you at a party like this once,” Alec muses letting Magnus lead him across the floor his free hand resting at the small of Magnus’ back.
Magnus tightens his grip on the back of Alec’s neck. “What do you mean?”
“It was one of those annual holiday masquerade rich people congratulating themselves events, I was there working my day job that night and I saw you,” Alec explains leaning into Magnus’ touch. “You pickpocketed some people and I think you stole a safe.”
Magnus struggles to remember the event, he’s robbed a lot of rich people parties over the years, plenty of them since returning to New York and crashing into his Spider’s life.
“And you didn’t try to stop me?”
Alec shakes his head. “I had had enough of rich people that night.”
Magnus chuckles before pressing a soft kiss to Alec’s lips. “I can’t believe I didn’t see you,” he says when he pulls away.
“You didn’t know what I looked like,” Alec shrugs leaning in to kiss him a little slower. Magnus smiles into it slipping his hand from Alec’s neck to down over his heart when they separate once again.
“Still,” he says moving his fingers in slow circles into Alec’s shirt. “As handsome as you are I feel like I’d never miss this face,” he says bringing his hand back up caressing along Alec’s jaw.
“I’m good at blending in when I need to,” he says the hand on Magnus’ back pulling him in a little more. “Plus, it was pretty early on after we first met, I wasn’t ready, so I hid a little harder once I recognized you.”
Magnus hums drawing his fingers softly up to the edge of Alec’s mask. “Sneaky Spider,” he says softly dipping down to run a finger across Alec’s upper lip.
“That’s me,” Alec says with a shrug as they continue to sway across the floor.
Magnus keeps them on the dance floor for twenty minutes, moving Alec around to the faster songs laughing when he ends up horribly out of sync with the song.
“Ladies and gentlemen!” Aldertree announces into a microphone screeching the music to a halt. “If you would like to all follow my concierges,” he says gesturing to a row of bored looking people dressed head to toe in white. “And myself to the roof the fireworks will begin shortly.”
Everyone claps in excitement, happily following the concierges. Aldertree jumps off his obnoxious birthday platform draping his arms over two women when he lands on the floor stumbling a bit from all the champagne Alec’s seen him tossing back all night.
“That’s our cue,” Magnus whispers into Alec’s ear. They step in line with everyone else keeping close watch on the series of guards that follow Aldertree closely up the stairs. Magnus and Alec linger till they’re at the back of the crowd.
They clear the first set of stairs slowing their steps waiting for Aldertree to disappear up and up. The other partygoers don’t notice them come to a dead stop, Magnus tugging Alec by the arm down a long hallway.
Alec hits the panel underneath his fancy suit turning off the cameras as they slip down the hall.
They stop when they reach the door at the end. Aldertree’s study.
“You’re up,” Alec says stripping his suit jacket. His Spidey suit comes into view as he unbuttons his shirt Magnus sad to tear his eyes away and focus on the triple locked door. He undoes his own suit jacket slipping his clawed gloves and usual mask from the pocket before discarding both the jacket and his shirt.
He slips on the gloves getting to work on the locks. It doesn’t take him long; Magnus is extremely good at what he does.
“We’re in,” he says his voice low and dramatic as he turns back to Alec who’s now fully in his Spider-Man garb his suit and mask discarded in a pile on the floor along with Magnus’. It’s a shame they’ll have to leave them behind, his boyfriend looked damn good in that black and red. He looked damn good in his gold and black too.
Alec chuckles. He picks Magnus’ Black Cat mask up from the floor and presses it to his face. “You sure the room’s clean?”
Magnus nods in the affirmative. His intel from Catarina, a security specialist in every right when she’s not stitching up idiot criminals who need the help or working doubles at the hospital, is solid. Aldertree is confident that no one is going to bother him, that he’s too low-level, white-collar crime for anyone to notice.
He’s wrong of course. Jewelry theft is Magnus’ game.
“Beauty before brains,” Magnus says with a devilish smirk gesturing for Alec to go first.
Alec snorts nodding his head and gesturing for Magnus to go instead. “Well that means you first then,” he says and Magnus can just imagine the playful smile underneath his mask.
Magnus obliges carefully stepping his freshly polished heels carefully on the hardwood certain to make no noise just in case. He gestures to Alec each of them taking one side of the room. Magnus drags his fingers along the bookcase, each one a clear plant of someone trying to look smart but has never so much as picked up any of the books, their bindings in perfect condition.
He taps his fingers along them pausing when the sound shifts on a copy of The Girl in the Spider’s Web. Oh the irony. He pulls the book from the shelf, feeling outright giddy when the center of the bookcase pops open.
A secret door. He loves a good secret door.
He creaks it open, the hinges making a little too much noise for his liking. He pauses when he’s done, watching over his shoulder as Alec’s keen ear tilts towards the hall just in case. He shakes his head in the all clear after a few beats.
Magnus finishes opening the door, a shining safe greeting him. Jackpot.
Magnus presses a hand to it and smiles. A little listening and he’ll have this cracked in minutes.
He leans in close listening as he spins the dial round and round. The four digits come easily 6969, right to left. “Ugh, what a creep,” Magnus whispers to himself spinning the dial. The safe clicks and he smiles.
“Darling, I need you for a moment,” Magnus says one hand on the handle.
Alec stops what he’s doing sitting down the statue he’d picked up and been passing back and forth between his hands and walks over to Magnus.
“Why do you need me for this safe? Something you want me to check out with my Spidey sense? Cause this seems like nothing for you,” Alec says eyeing the large lock box.
“No,” Magnus says with a smirk before pressing his palm to Alec’s cheek. He tilts Alec’s face towards him lifting his mask up above his nose. “I want to do this,” he says leaning in pressing his lips to Alec’s softly.
Alec pulls back before things can get really interesting. “What? Now? In a bad guy’s lair?”
“I know can you think of anywhere hotter?” Magnus says leaning back in.
“Cat!” Alec says pulling away focusing back on the safe. “You’re ridiculous,” he says with a shake of his head and a fond smile.
Magnus smiles despite his disappointment and sighs. “You’re no fun at all tonight.”
He pulls at the lever the safe coming open with no resistance. Alec pulls his mask back down peeking inside along with Magnus.
He rifles through the stack of papers moving them and handing them to Alec uncovering a row of clear boxed gems. Dead in the center rests Magnus’ prize.
He slips the clear case from its spot nestled in the center. He holds it delicately in one hand sliding the lid off. Behind him Alec sits the papers on the desk shuffling through them.
He lifts the necklace by its long delicate chain the small but heavily diamond encrusted spider at the bottom glinting in the low light coming from the window. He tosses the case back into the safe lifting the chain up around his neck and clipping it closed. The spider hangs low resting just above the zipper at the front of his suit pulled low just below his pecs.
“Gorgeous,” Magnus says toying with the necklace as he walks over to the desk and stands beside Alec. “Just like you,” he adds on reaching out a hand to tap his nails on Alec’s back playfully.
“You just needed to steal a spider diamond huh?” Alec says a smile in his voice. Magnus smiles back letting the necklace fall back onto his chest.
“I had my very personal reasons,” he says softly leaning over and kissing Alec on the head when he turns back to the papers on the desk shuffling through them. He flattens the hand on Alec’s back vaguely reading over his shoulder as he flips through mediocre receipts. He feels it when Alec tenses the muscles in his back going taut.
“What is it?” he asks trying to read over Alec’s shoulder. Alec slides the newly opened manilla folder over to Magnus so he can see.
It’s receipts alright, receipts for people. His nasty little enterprise of human trafficking tucked in between Amazon orders and fancy restaurant tabs like it’s just another fucking hobby. The documents make it clear he has no one held right now, but he has many times before and there’s no doubt he will again if they don’t do something about it.
“All this time, I’ve never caught him doing anything. He hires people to steals jewels and he money launders but there’s never a moment to catch him and all this time he’s been trading people like stocks on his day job,” Alec spits out his fist cracking down onto the desk hard, Magnus can hear the wood cracking under the hit just a bit.
He understands the rage. He always knew Aldertree was a creep, but this, this is reprehensible.
“Well there’s proof now,” Magnus says closing the folder shut and tucking it into his belt.
Alec shakes his head. “The cops will never take documents from me as fact,” he grits through his teeth.
“Well then it’s a good thing Spider-Man knows a very talented journalist who can make sure they can’t ignore it,” he says collecting the rest of useless papers and tossing them back on the upper shelf of the safe. He unclips the little bag from his belt dumping out the rest of the jewels into it. Alec watches as he does it.
“He’s a piece of shit human trafficker, he’ll be caught tomorrow and tonight he’s losing millions worth in jewelry,” Magnus says clipping the now full bag back to his hip.
Outside the fireworks start bursting.
“We gotta go,” he says pushing the safe and the hidden compartment closed. “You think Simon’s at the office?”
“Simon’s always at the office,” Alec says as they exit the room shutting the door firmly behind them. Magnus sweeps their discarded suits from the floor, tossing them casually in the garbage can by the door they entered in when they slip out completely unnoticed, the kitchen staff huddled around a nearby window watching the fireworks show.
The sky lights up in a barrage of colors as they enter back into the alleyway. The colors fall down in waves, the loud booming of them not phasing either of them like they would on any other night. Had they not just discovered what they did they’d revel under it all as they swung across the skies, two handsome figures cut in a rainbow of light.
Instead Alec just pulls Magnus close as he shoots his webbing upward the anger and tension still rippling through him.
***
Alec settles them on the ground in the alleyway behind The Daily Bugle anger still rippling through him. He wants to stop Aldertree now, he wants to go back to that party and punch him in the face and stop him in his tracks.
But he can’t without the proof being in the world, Aldertree could just slip under the radar again, run for it never to be found again. Tonight he has to settle for metaphorically punching him in the face.
“I’ll wait here,” Magnus says handing Alec the folder stuffed with evidence.
“Magnus it’s about to rain,” Alec argues as a rumble of thunder rolls. Alec gets a little glee in knowing that Aldertree’s planned two-hour long fireworks show is about to get ruined.
“The city is a little more accepting of me now than they were when they first found out about us, but I don’t want to scare the poor man,” Magnus says pointing up to the one singular light shining in the office. “Plus he’s always bugging me for an exclusive interview, it’s annoying.”
Alec huffs out a tiny, tightly controlled laugh at that his shoulders shaking and loosening just a bit. The tension flies back quickly though, the documents a burning reminder in his hand.
Magnus runs his hands up and down Alec’s arms. “You’re doing the right thing. There’s no way you could have known and there was nothing you could have done to stop him before now,” he says a little bit of the tension Alec had been quietly carrying as they swung across the city slipping away.
“I know,” he says shifting the hand not holding the files to squeeze Magnus’ hand. He does know that. He knows just because he’s Spider-Man it doesn’t mean he can do everything, but sometimes he feels like he should be able to. “I’ll feel better once I know Simon has these in hand.”
He steps back from Magnus and leaps onto the side of the building crawling up to the skylight just above where Simon’s desk sits. He creeks it open Simon not even noticing him in the slightest his headphones turned up so high that even without his enhanced hearing Alec’s certain he could hear it from all the way up here.
Alec jumps through the skylight landing in a perfect crouch in front of Simon’s desk.
“Shit, Fuck, SHIT!” Simon yells as Alec lands. He scrambles backwards pushing his rolling chair so far back he tips and starts to fall to the ground. Alec rolls his eyes hopping up and rushing to his side catching him just before his head meets the floor.
“Calm down,” he says righting his chair.
“What?!” Simon yells his headphones still blaring into his ears. Alec just rolls his eyes again and plucks the headphones off of Simon’s head.
He drops the folder into his lap gesturing at it. “Wall Street’s man of the moment Victor Aldertree isn’t just laundering money like they all are, he’s human trafficking too. It’s all there, time stamps, dates, photos and most disgustingly proofs of purchase.”
“Holy shit,” Simon whispers already flipping through the documents. “This is legit, that’s his signature I’ve seen it like a dozen times when I pull public records. He’s hard to catch.”
Alec nods in agreement. “Not anymore. Think you can whip something up and have these printed by the morning?”
“I mean I can try; I can write fast and confirming this stuff should be a breeze with all my informants on the police, but my editor can be a little bit of stickler. He’s not big on quick turnover,” Simon says looking up at Alec fixing his jostled glasses.
“You can convince him,” he says reassuringly pushing Simon’s wheely chair forward and back at his desk. He can’t tell Simon this as Spider-Man, but he’s their editor’s favorite. That’s why he yells at him so much. “Aldertree’s birthday bash is tonight so he won’t notice anything’s missing, but come morning he’ll sober up and he’ll make a run for it.”
“I’ll get it done,” Simon says with a confident nod digging back into the documents. Alec knows how Simon works; he’s lost to the world now until everything’s posted so he raises an arm shooting out some web to exit back out of the skylight.
He grips the web just about to make his way back up when Simon says one last thing swiveling his chair to look at him. “I’m guessing Black Cat had something do with this?”
Alec starts climbing the tension leaving his body with the knowledge that something’s about to truly be done. That Aldertree is done for by morning. “He likes shiny things and people hide other secrets with their shiny things.”
Simon snorts out a laugh as Alec finishes his climb. Simon tosses him a salute turning back to his desk, fingers already flying over the keys of his laptop. “Tell him I’m still waiting on that exclusive.”
***
Magnus paces in the alleyway waiting for Alec. He’s just as eager as his super boyfriend for Simon to have that proof in his hands, to put a stop to Aldertree’s horrific empire.
Lightning strikes twice over his head; a particularly loud rumble of thunder follows and the downpour that’s been brewing begins. Magnus rushes under the sad excuse of an awning by the back entrance of the paper staying close to the wall in an attempt to stay dry.
Another rumble of thunder bellows when Alec comes into view hanging upside down the rain pouring around him.
“Ready to go home,” he says reaching out one hand. Magnus shakes his head.
“You got a Spider umbrella tucked in there somewhere,” he says gesturing up and down at Alec’s body.
Alec laughs, a real laugh that makes Magnus smile. They’ve done a good thing tonight, a good thing that’ll be done by morning now thanks to an overactive, but incredibly smart young journalist.
“Oh come on Cat, it’s just a little water,” he says shaking his head like a wet dog splashing some rainwater under the awning. Magnus backs up holding up a warning finger to his boyfriend.
“Key word there is Cat, we’re not big on water,” he says, Alec swings ever so slightly in reaching out and catching Magnus’ hand.
“I’ll protect you from the big, bad storm, I promise,” he says tugging on Magnus trying to pull him out into the rain.
“You’re in a charmingly good mood that’s hard to say no to,” Magnus sighs stepping just a little closer. Not quite in the rain, but not quite out of it either.
“An asshole is jail bound by morning and a lot of people are going to be safer for it, my friend is about to break a huge story and the man I love is cheeky enough to steal a Spider diamond for reasons,” he says tugging Magnus lightly just a little bit more into the rain.
“You saved a lot of people’s lives tonight most likely, who knows how long he would have gotten away with this,” Magnus says the rain rolling off his suit as he steps a little further out.
“We saved a lot of people’s lives tonight,” Alec says stressing the word we. He lets go of Magnus’ hand swinging back out fully into the rain, “Now come on.”
Magnus smiles at him, still even after nearly two years together being a little stunned when Alec gives him credit like that. He never thought he’d be more than a very good criminal, now he’s a very good criminal who occasionally saves the day as well.
He takes the last steps fully out from under the sad little awning his hair being almost instantly matted down by the rain. He reaches up pulling at Alec’s mask rolling it down to just above his nose. He holds Alec in place with both hands on each side of his face.
“You’re my hero you know that?” he says not giving Alec the chance to respond. He leans in kissing Alec slow and passionate the taste of rain slipping between them and that unique flavor that’s all theirs combining together. They kiss until Alec runs his tongue along Magnus’ teeth, Magnus giving more without hesitation. They kiss until the thunder rumbles again, a large boom like an explosion that has Magnus jumping back a bit.
“Scaredy Cat,” Alec teases. Magnus pushes his hand on the exposed part of Alec’s face sending him swinging back just a bit.
“I call you my hero and then you make fun of me, I see how it is,” he says kissing Alec quickly on the lips one more time despite his words.
Alec does a complicated spin, one hand holding onto the webbing the entire time, until he’s right side up. He slips his mask back down before he holds out a hand to Magnus that he takes immediately. Alec lifts him up until he’s tucked into his side, his arms going around his neck and one leg tucking around his like they’ve done this a few hundred times before because they probably have by now.
“You’re my hero too, you know?” Alec says seriously and Magnus just smiles. He never knows quite what to say when Alec says things like that. He doesn’t think saving the day every now and then makes him a hero, but Alec does and if he does then maybe it is true. Maybe one day Magnus will believe it.
He presses his head to Alec’s affectionately Alec pulls him in a little closer at the action the slow purposeful movement as precious as the smile he can’t see.
Alec does his thing using his core to swing them back high snapping the web and instantly shooting out another catching on the next building over to swing them all the way back home.
***
“Simon’s story has been posted,” Alec says as soon as Magnus steps out of the bathroom wearing a pair of unfairly short pajama shorts paired with one of Alec’s t-shirts that are just too tight in the arms. His cat suit is hanging on the stove alongside Alec’s own suit soaked to the bone, Alec’s not sure the fur lining around the neck will be salvageable after tonight.
“That was fast,” he says toweling off his hair one more time. He tosses the towel on the ground and Alec gets up from the bed picking it up and putting it in the proper spot.
“Towel rack,” he says and Magnus waves the words away with a hand. Alec rolls his eyes; Magnus is prone to throwing things where they land and coming back to them later. Alec meanwhile owns a label maker, enough said. “And we were in the shower a long time and Simon works fast,” he says handing his phone to Magnus before heading to the living room.
Magnus follows him scrolling through the article and the printed documents, certain bits properly redacted so that a case can be built and to protect the names of the missing until families can be contacted.
Alec falls onto the couch stretching his legs out and resting them on the coffee table. Magnus stops for a moment reading a bit more when Alec’s phone buzzes with another alert.
“And he’s written another one,” Magnus says turning the phone so Alec can see the screen. Wall Street tycoon arrested, charged with three counts of human trafficking and more to come, the headline reads.
“Well look at that cops actually did something correct in a timely manner,” Alec says with a sigh of relief. His relationship with the NYPD has always been timid at best. He’s beloved by a few, but hated by most when it comes to the boys in blue. Magnus skims the article before settling Alec’s phone on the wireless charger by the couch.
“Maybe I should give Simon that exclusive finally and tell him that on top of being a piece of scum, Aldertree is also short somewhere in the range of 5.6 million in jewels,” Magnus says with a smirk toying with the necklace still around his neck. “That’s gonna make a finding a decent lawyer a little harder.”
Alec’s eyes widen. “Okay, first off, no because that would implicate you in a crime and also, really? He had that much worth?”
Magnus hums in the affirmative. “According to Ragnor’s estimates from the photo I sent him,” Magnus says dropping the necklace back on his chest. “Once he finds a buyer I think I’ll split the money between a few of the local human trafficking prevention charities.”
“Like I said, my hero,” Alec says genuinely, reaching out a hand for Magnus to join him. Magnus goes easy slipping over and around him till he’s settled comfortably in Alec’s lap one arm thrown around his neck. It’s the least he can think to do with any profit he’s made off of tonight, another little way to chip at the wrongs Aldertree has committed.
“Don’t speak too soon, I do intend to keep this beauty,” he says lifting the spider at the end of the chain and dangling it in front of Alec’s eyes. “Reminds me of you and all that.”
Alec holds out a hand and Magnus settles the diamond in his palm.
“It is pretty,” he says running a thumb over it before releasing it, the jewel settling back on Magnus’ chest.
“You know maybe one of these days I’ll steal a pretty diamond just for you,” Magnus says pressing a kiss to Alec’s cheek still nice and shower warm.
“Oh, really?” Alec says running a hand along Magnus’ bare thigh, his spirits even higher now that he knows Aldertree is in custody. “You’re not just gonna get down on one knee, scratch me and then run away this time?”
Magnus groans and rolls his eyes titling his head back for a moment. He leans his head forward pressing his forehead to Alec’s.
“Are you ever going to stop mentioning that?” he sighs. “We weren’t even together yet.”
“We very nearly were,” Alec says pulling back. He pouts,a pathetic, very fake, but very cute looking thing. “It hurt my feelings.”
Magnus leans in pressing another kiss to Alec’s cheek, then one to the corner of his eye and a last one to the tip of his nose. Alec’s face scrunches up adorably.
“I’m very sorry, Spider. I promise,” he says crossing his heart. “That the next time I present you with a diamond it will not be a trick to evade you.”
“But it’ll still be stolen right?” Alec says with a bright smile.
“Obviously,” Magnus says running a hand through Alec’s messy still damp hair. “You love a thief you get a stolen diamond.”
Alec chuckles pulling Magnus in closer to him one big warm hand spread out on his thigh. “I’ll tell everyone it’s fake.”
Magnus gasps playfully hitting Alec on the chest. “You better fucking not.”
His integrity as a thief and his stature as a not cheap man is on the line and he won’t have such a blasphemous thing be said.
Alec smiles pressing a quick kiss to Magnus’ lips. “I won’t,” he whispers still close to Magnus’ face. “I’ll cherish my stolen ring forever.”
“You better,” Magnus says inching down a bit to settle his head against Alec’s neck. “Thank you for coming tonight. I know it ended up being a bit more heroic than originally intended in the end, but when you agreed I just wanted a silly diamond and it means a lot that you came.”
“You don’t have to thank me Magnus, you know how it is,” he says pressing a kiss into Magnus’ hair. “You ask me to be there, I’m there. Always.”
“Always,” Magnus repeats after him quietly the two of them settling into comfortable silence as the rain continues tumbling down outside. Magnus runs his fingers along Alec’s soft shirt, thinking about all the pretty diamonds he could steal and which one’s would look just right on Alec’s finger.