Archive of Our Own

Chapter Text

“Bapak!!!”

Rafael came running out of the kitchen and stood in front of him with a beaming smile on his face. He gestured his hands upwards to be picked up. Magnus effortlessly took the boy into his arms and kissed his cheeks.

“Hi, My Darling.” He spoke softly.

Magnus walked towards the living room with Rafe in his arms and found the Chairman trapped in Max's arms. The boy was either cuddling with Chairman or trying to smother him to death. No one could ever tell with Max.

He waved his hand and magicked some quality tuna in the Cat's bowl as a silent apology. Chairman Meow’s life had become extremely challenging since the boys had entered his life.

He bent down and kissed Max’s head, being mindful of his horns. The boy looked up and gave him a toothed grin.

“Hi Bapak”

Rafael smelt like freshly cut fruits with a hint of citrus mixed with it.

Max smelled like. Um well.

It would be rude to compare his own child to a litter box so he refrained himself from doing that.

The sounds of intense swearing coming from the direction of the kitchen filled the living room.

Alec never swore.

Unless he was cooking.

He sighed at the realisation that Alec was trying to cook again. His husband believed that hard work and love could fix everything in the world. Magnus thought of it as a beautiful sentiment. However, he was also a realist and he knew that even love had its limits and that no amount of it could fix Alec’s cooking.

He heard his husband’s footsteps coming towards the living room. He had the biggest frown on his face and was muttering something to himself, probably because of another failure in the kitchen. Alec was actually a decent cook but he could never make anything fancy. It didn't stop him from trying though.

He was wearing a navy blue sweater with penguins printed all over it. The ones that Rafael and Max had gotten for him because they have been obsessed with penguins recently. There was a time when Alec used to resist their kids' demands but he had long since accepted the fact that he had no power over them and wore whatever the kids got him.

“Alexander”

He did look pretty cute with an apron on.

People might say that Magnus was being biased because he was married to the man but he had lived long enough to know that most people are stupid.

Magnus is not.

Alec just looked good in everything he wore.

The shadowhunter placed a hand on his waist, and brought him closer to press a gentle kiss on his lips.

"Hey," Alec said softly.

“Hi”

“How was your day?” Alec asked.

He sighed, recalling the boring meeting he had to endure for hours at the Spiral Labyrinth.

"It was okay. The warlocks wanted to discuss about some new protection spells. I have no idea really, since I zoned out three minutes into the meeting. It was a truly tiring day." He added dramatically.

Old warlocks were sometimes a pain in the ass. They had an unnecessary habit of dragging their sentences just because they believed that they had an eternity to finish them.

Magnus had plenty of reasons to be annoyed.

Alec looked amusedly at him. "Oh, you poor baby. I am sure it was a very tiring day for you. Do you think you have enough energy left to help me with a little problem? It might not be up to the standards of the Great Magnus Bane."

"Hmm, what would that be? If it is some Clave thing, I am out of here. I love you but talking Clave bullshit on a Saturday is where I draw the line" He replied to which Alec just pointed in the direction of the two boys.

Both of them were pouting at each other.

Oh. It was something far worse than the Clave.

Movie Night.

In particular, deciding what to watch on movie night.

Magnus steeled himself and summoned all his strength for a very long night of arguing and whining.

He lifted Rafael up in his arms and then turned towards Max.

“So, what have we decided today? What are we watching?”

Max, who had been uninterested in the conversation till now, finally looked up. "I want to watch Moana." He announced.

Rafe shook his head and grumbled. "I want to watch Encanto Bapak. It's my night anyway."

“NO Moana!! Rafe always gets his way.”

And well, that was a lie if he ever heard one.

If there was anyone in this house who got their way every time, it was Max. He had what everyone called the younger child privileges. Max knew he was too cute for the world, and he never forgot to exploit that little piece of information.

While they had a system of letting both of them choose the movies alternatively, Max suspiciously got into accidents every time it was Rafael's turn.

He would suddenly get sick, regardless of the fact that warlocks technically could not.

Or his horns would start hurting.

Or "Chairman bit me daddy!"

If Max wasn't his own kid, he would have fought with him at that. Chairman was his Cat. He did not bite people.

It would not be so easy for Max to keep on continuing with this charade if it were not for his husband.

Alec would always let him get away with it.

“But what if his horns really are hurting this time Magnus? How would you know? I don’t see you having any horns huh?” He would argue.

“Alexander, his horns are not hurting today, neither were they hurting the last 13 times.”

Too bad for his husband; their other son had also found a loophole to get away with things.

Since a couple of months ago, Rafael had stopped calling Alec 'Daddy' and had replaced it with 'Dad' to sound more grown-up.

Magnus remembers the breakdown the man had the first time Rafe had called him that.

He had come home from a meeting and had found the loft extremely quiet. Rafael and Max had been playing in Max’s room. On asking where Alec was, they told him that he has been in the bathroom for the past two hours and has not come out.

Magnus’s heartbeat had quickened at that. He had sped to the bathroom and found it locked from the inside, which never happened.

He knocked on the door lightly. “Alexander, is everything okay? Can I come in?”

“Magnus?” He heard a sniffle. “Yes.”

He entered and found his husband sitting on the countertop sniffling lightly.

He stood between Alec’s legs and grabbed his face. “Sweetheart, what is it?”

“Rafe called me dad instead of daddy”

He took him a minute to understand what Alec meant by that. He could not help it but a chuckle left his mouth and Alec glared at him. “You’re hiding in the bathroom because of that?”

Alec swatted at his shoulder. “Stop making fun of me. You don’t understand”

He pulled him closer to him. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry. You know it's just a thing kids do. So stop being a baby and come out.``

“No.” Alec replied, whining. “Can you use magic and convince him to wait for a few years?”

“I’m not using magic on our nine year old son.” Magnus couldn't help but chuckle at Alec’s dramatics.

“Wow, I thought you loved me.” He added petulantly. Alec looked adorable with that pout.

“You know he loves you more than anything, right? This doesn't change anything, darling.”

Alec groaned at that and fell against his chest. “Okay, if it isn't such a big deal then you can be dad and they can call me Bapak from now on.”

Magnus threw his head back in laughter. “I love you, you ridiculous man.” Alec’s ideas from there had only gotten worse so he eventually had to resort to playing dirty and he had kissed his husband senseless for the next thirty minutes to shut him up.

He did not mean to brag but the trick had worked and Alec had forgotten all about his breakdown by then.

He chuckles at the memory. It's not that Rafe had completely stopped. He still used the term on rare occasions.

If he was feeling particularly clingy or had a nightmare. Or if he sees Alec exhausted because of work.

Or if he wanted to blackmail his dad on movie nights the word would just easily slip out of his term with an angelic smile on his face.

His husband knew what Rafe was trying to do, but he would melt at the words every time. He was a pushover when it came to the kids.

It was one of the things Magnus found incredibly endearing about him.

Alec groaned at the ongoing staring competition between the two boys. He looked as if he had already spent hours watching this argument which knowing his kids, he probably has.

He decided to relieve his husband from the joys of parenthood and take one for the team.

“We will be watching Encanto tonight.” He announced

Rafael shot his fist in the air. "Yayyyy!!!! And kissed Magnus's cheeks in appreciation.

Alec grinned at that, and he knew what was coming.

“I see you are choosing favorites again.”

Magnus looked at the man accusingly. “I do not have favourites in this house Alexander. Stop feeding lies to our children.”

“It’s okay Bapak, I’m not mad.” The younger warlock added.

It would have been alarming to watch the sudden mood change considering how heavily he had been pouting a minute ago.

But Max always had been like that. His mood fluctuates every five minutes and they are all used to it by now.

“Daddy is my favorite anyways.” He said innocently.

He really was a little shit sometimes.

It was his turn to pout now. “Oh really. Fine then. If your daddy and I ever got divorced then I am keeping Rafael with me and you are going with daddy. Let’s see how you learn magic then huh?”

Alec looked stricken at those words. "Magnus, why would you say something like that?"

Shit. He looked a little hurt.

He probably should not have made the divorce joke.

He pulled Alec by his sweater to bring him closer, and kissed him softly in a small apology.

“I am sorry darling. I would never. I was only joking.” He mumbled.

The shadowhunter’s lips turn upwards at that. He brought his face closer to his ears and whispered, “No, I meant why do I have to keep Max? I am keeping Rafael with me. I found him anyway so I get to call dibs.” Alec grinned.

Rafael, who was still in his arms, snickered at that.

Little shits. All of them.

Max stepped onto the touch and climbed into Alec's arms, and started tracing the runes on his arms.

“I have Uncle Ragnor to teach me magic Bapak.” He added as a matter of fact.

As if that green monster would ever go near a child.

“Who says Uncle Ragnor will ever teach you? He hates children.” He added pettily

Max had a knowing look on his face. The boy always had a card up his sleeves.

“I know. But Uncle Jace told me that Uncle Ragnor tried to take me hostage as a baby. So I will use that to blackmail him.”

Jace Herondale.

If Magnus did not love his husband as much as he did, his parabatai would be a dead man.

Alec shook his head and chuckled lightly, just when his phone rang.

“It’s Jace.”

Of course.

“Jace, what do you want?”

He could not hear what the man was saying, but the expression on Alec's face changed suddenly.

It looked like someone had thrown a bucket of ice water on him.

"That's not possible." He saw Alec tighten his hold on Max slightly as if protecting him from whatever was coming.

Magnus himself felt alarmed now.

“Okay, we are coming.”

Alec disconnected the call and ran a hand in through his dark hair.

For some reason, he would not meet his eyes, which was never a good sign.

He placed both the kids on the ground and looked at them.

“Rafe, will you take Max to your room for a while. Bapak and I have a small emergency.”

Both the boys looked like they wanted to argue but even they could sense the change in the tone.

Rafael always hated when any plans were changed because changed plans usually indicates an emergency in their world. And emergencies meant one of them could possibly get hurt. So, the shadowhunter boy had valid reasons to detest them.

As shocking as it was, Max was usually the one who was easier to handle in situations like this. While he was a drama queen and absolute nightmare on most days, he was actually a pretty perceptive child.

Whenever he would see Magnus looking tired due to exhausting his magic, he would quietly bring a nail paint for Magnus and apply it on his nails. And then he would turn to Rafael so that his brother could fix his bad nail work.

He wouldn’t even fight with him for being better at painting nails which really was saying something because Max liked to fight with Rafael at everything.

“I’m sorry. I promise we will make up for this”Alec spoke, his voice softer now.

But both the boys nodded silently. They knew their parents would not bail on movie night for anything.

Alec bent down to lay a soft kiss on both their heads.

He stood up and finally met Magnus’s eyes.

“Alexander, what is it?”

“Magnus..I...” He tried to speak but couldn't complete the sentence. Alec swore in frustration.

Magnus was getting more concerned by the minute.

“Sweetheart, what’s wrong. You’re worrying me.”

“It’s… it’s Camille.”

Magnus stilled at those words.

It had been a while since he had heard that name.

It felt like a lifetime ago.

“What do you mean it’s Camille?” Magnus asked tentatively.

Alec bit his lips and took both of his hands in his. “Magnus I don’t know how, but I think she is alive.”

**********
Camille is alive. Camille is alive. Camille is alive.

Magnus’s brain kept on repeating the same words over and over again.

He did not know what to think. His brain was still in processing mode.

No, wait.

He had not started processing the news yet.

He had barely registered the news.

Magnus knows that stranger things have happened in the world, especially their world, but he wishes that these things would happen to someone else for once.

He does not get why people who are dead won't stay dead.

It was only Alec’s hands in his that had prevented him from running away to the opposite end of the world.

As soon as they had heard the news, they had called up their babysitter and portaled her to the loft.

Alec had asked him if he wanted to come, giving him the option of opting out. And Magnus had almost said no, that he did not want to come.

But curiosity got the best of him and he came with Alec to find out what was going on.

Magnus was currently regretting his decision since he was in the middle of one of the worst arguments he had seen at the Institute since the Pie Debacle of 2014.

That Event had almost broken the Alliance.

Which was fair considering there was a Herondale, a Lightwood-Bane child, and one mortal instrument involved.

All of them had ended up signing a Shadow World version of the Non-Disclosure Agreement and had swore to never speak of it again.

He was having serious war flashbacks right now.

The vampire clan, headed by Lily was present at the institute and everybody kept on yelling at each other.

He could not blame them, really. Tensions have been running high for the past couple of weeks. There had been eight vampire deaths in the past three weeks.

Vampires were dying in the worst way possible. By burning in daylight.

The Alliance had not been able to figure out what had been driving the vampires to do that.

Everything made more sense now. Of course Camille was involved. There was no one more equipped at driving people to madness than her.

Magnus knew it by firsthand experience.

“How are you so sure it’s her?” Isabelle asked.

“Because she almost drove a wooden stake through Eliott’s chest. Elias might be an idiot but he knows who Camille is. She just told him to send a message to Lily Chen that there will be a ninth death soon.”

Since the moment it had been confirmed that it was indeed Camille, the vampires and the shadowhunters were accusing each other of not ensuring that she was dead when Maureen told them.

“How the fuck is she alive?” Lily asked, looking extremely pissed.

Because she’s Camille, she was nothing if not resourceful. He was not surprised at all that she was alive. He just wondered if this had been her plan all along.

But what purpose did faking her own death serve?

“We never found a body. We should have tried harder.” Isabelle added.

“So much was happening at that time that nobody bothered. We just believed the information we had received”, Jace added.

Jace was right. There had been a war going on, and nobody had bothered to double-check at the time.

But there was another very simple reason why the Clave had not bothered. The Clave, at that time, only cared about controlling the downworlders who were alive. A dead one meant nothing to them.

Hence, it was convenient for them to believe the news.

Also, it was Camille.
Usually, if there had been a downworlder murder, the body would have been sent to the friends and families of the person after the investigation.

But this was Camille.

Nobody had cared enough to ask.

She had never given anyone a reason to care.

He remembers words that someone had muttered to him centuries ago. He couldn't recall who said it, but the words have been etched into his brains since. If no one in the entire world cared about you, did you really exist at all?

Magnus pondered for a second if he should have but then decided to not dwell on it much since it would only lead him to a downward spiral.

His eyes trailed towards Alec, who had been silently observing the argument. He had not spoken a single word since they had arrived at the institute.

Alec had always been like that. A quiet but just leader. The kind of person who when spoke, you could do nothing but listen.

Magnus wondered how he was feeling about Camille being back.

It had not been the best experience when the shadowhunter had met him the last time. A shudder went through his body, remembering all the pain she had caused the two of them.

Another thing that kept bothering him about the whole ordeal was that everyone kept on sending worried glances towards him. He knew that it came from a place of love and genuine care, but he had never been good at handling that.

“Maybe Magnus Bane can talk to her and find out what she wants. Didn’t they date for like a century or so?” One of the shadowhunters that he didn't recognise spoke.

Of course, shadowhunters would want him to solve their problems. It was nothing new.

He saw Alec's jaw clench at that and saw him open his mouth to say something. But before he could speak, another voice came forward.

"Magnus Bane does not owe the Institute anything. He will not be forced to talk to anyone if he does not want to." Clary added sternly.

No one dared to argue with the Head of the Institute.

Magnus couldn’t help but soften at that. It still surprised him some days how the times have changed, how he was not just a commodity or a service-man for the shadowhunters.

That he was considered a real person now.

Alec shifted closer to him, and he could feel the heat of his body through their shoulders.

It grounded him a little bit.

“We need to come up with something as soon as possible. We need to establish a connection with her. There have been enough vampire deaths.” Jace said.

Lily, who had been looking particularly distressed the whole time, spoke, “I will not let her ruin everything we have built in the past few years.”

It was a little unsettling to watch her be this rattled. She was not the kind of person who ever looked like this. Lily was the kind of person who thrives on chaos and making other people squirm.

He knew she did not want to lose the progress that they had made in the past few years. That she did not want to lose the power.

But more than that, he knew it was about something else.

Someone else.

About Raphael.

Magnus closed his eyes for a second and thought of that snarky little shit. He instantly pushed the memories aside because he did not feel like he had the energy to deal with grief right now.

Pushing the thought of Raphael away would not have been as easy if a familiar hand had not grabbed him and led him to one of the vacant corridors.

Alec turned around, and his face was filled with concern and worry. He knew what the man was about to ask, so he decided to interrupt for some reason.

“Hey, are you okay?” Magnus asked.

Alec blinked at him.

“You are asking me if I am okay?” He said exasperatedly.

Of course. He always wants to know how Alec is feeling.

“Yes”

Alec looked at him and sighed, “I’m okay.” He tucked a strand of loose hair behind Magnus’s ear. “What about you?”

He knew this question would come his way sooner or later. He had tried to avoid it.

It was easier to ask the shadowhunter how he had been feeling instead of pondering over his own feelings.

He could lie and tell him that he was okay, but he knows that Alec would see right through it.

It was sometimes annoying how well he could do that. So he tried to be honest.

“Is it okay if I say I don’t know?” He asked quietly.

Alec stroked his cheeks lightly and wrapped him up in his arms. He felt the tension leave his body instantly. He had not even realised that until he had felt his husband's arms around him.

“Magnus, of course it’s okay.”

They stood there wrapped up in each other for a while.

He knew Alec was needed back in the meeting since he was the Consul.

But since Alec was the Consul it's not like he had to answer to anybody. So he could spare a couple of minutes for them. His jobs did have their perks sometimes.

He pulled apart and looked at the shadowhunter.

“I love you.” He whispered.

Magnus might not know what he was feeling about Camille, but he knew how he felt about Alec.

And it felt important to say it to him right now.

Alec’s face softened at that.

Magnus has met so many people who had been fascinated with his magic and had been in awe of it.

Those people clearly have never seen the way Alec's face turned all soft and brightened whenever he looked at Magnus.

He did not believe there was any magic in the world more beautiful than that.

“I love you too”, Alec whispered and tugged on his shirt and brought their mouths together.

********
The discussion had accelerated by the time they had gone back to the Ops Centre.

The vampires have always been a notorious bunch and kept on getting in one crisis after another. It had only been in recent years that they had established a system that would work for everyone.

It made sense that they were restless about losing that.

Magnus sympathised with that. He wanted to help them, but that would mean possibly meeting Camille, which was not something he was willing to deal with right now.

It took him centuries to realise that he also gets to put himself first. He was learning slowly and steadily that helping others should not have to come at the expense of his own peace.

He knew that the shadowhunters and the vampires could handle this and decided to go back home. They needed to release the babysitter anyway.

It was already late at night, and Rafael and Max did not sleep well without at least one of them at home.

He kissed Alec and made him promise to get done with the work as soon as possible and come back home.

As soon as he reached the loft, he went looking for the boys. The TV was playing in the background, and he found both of the boys sleeping on the couch, cuddled up with each other. Max was almost on top of Rafe.

He looked at both of them, and all the tension from the day immediately vanished. They have always had that kind of effect on Magnus.

He wondered sometimes if he ever brought that kind of comfort to his mother. If there was ever a time when she was having a bad day and just one look from him could make her smile.

Magnus doesn't remember much from his childhood but he remembers how he would pretend to be asleep, hoping that having his eyes closed would make her forget about the demon she saw in him and that she would finally stroke his cheeks lightly or brush his hair.

He does not recall if she ever did so he just blames it on his memory. Blaming it on his memory was easier than accepting that she never did.

He suddenly felt tears well up in his eyes at the thought.

This is why Magnus does not like to think about his past. It always has a ripple effect and makes him relive memories of pain and suffering from different lives.

He knows he has grown a lot and has come a long way from who he was before. He doesn't hide from his past anymore but that doesn't mean he likes to think about it either.

He heard Rafe whine in his sleep probably because of how Max was clinging to him like a Koala and decided to take the boys to their respective beds. He took Max in his arms and placed him in his bed. He tucked the blankets around him carefully.

Max slept like a log and not even an earthquake could wake him up. Nobody could look at a sleeping Max and tell that this child was literally the devil incarnate during bedtime. They thought it would get easier with age, but it had only gotten worse.

He bent down and kissed his forehead. “Night, Blue.”

Magnus went outside and picked up the other boy. Rafe was a light sleeper, so he tried to be as quiet as possible but the boy woke up nevertheless.

He opened his eyes and squinted.

“Bapak”

“Hey baby.”

"What happened? Where's dad?" He said after looking around, not being able to see his dad.

He looked down, smiled fondly at his son, and started brushing his hand in his hair.

Contrary to popular belief, Magnus did not have a favourite child.

It’s just that love has never come easily to him. He always had to fight for it.

He and Alec had to struggle so much to be with each other.

And Max, while had been a harmless little thing when they had found him, had terrified Magnus to his core.

But Rafael had been different. His Rafe had been nothing short of a miracle for him. He had taken one look at Magnus and fallen into his arms. He had been the easiest thing in his long immortal life.

The boy nudged him a little, with a frown on his face, still waiting for his answer.

He was so much like Alec sometimes. Magnus’s heart would flutter in his chest everytime he would see pieces of him or Alec over them.

Magnus doesn not know why Camille was back and if it had anything to do with him. But right now, surrounded by the love for his family, it didn’t matter at all.

He bent down to kiss the frown on Rafe’s forehead and spoke gently. "Everything's okay, sweetheart, go to sleep."

Magnus decided to hold him for a little longer till Alec could come back home and hold him.

*******
It had been a week since Camille's arrival, and they had not been able to make any progress in the case. The deaths were still a mystery to them, and the former leader of the vampire clan was still MIA.

Magnus had kept himself away from the whole ordeal as much as possible.

The Shadow World had twenty different crises going on at the same time, and since everyone loved to call him for help, it had been easy to keep himself busy with work.

He actually had a pile of letters from people, specifically shadowhunters requesting his aid. Alec had put Rafe and Max on letter burning duties at one point. His husband was currently working on a law to ensure that warlock services were not being exploited. He had been particularly motivated since their recent trip to St. Barths.

For the time being, he planned to avoid all his feelings on the matter. It was a tried and tested method and he was determined to stick with it.

Being a warlock had its perks sometimes. You can always delay difficult conversations and feelings.

He had been working on some spells that were needed for a cure at the LA institute when Magnus got a call from an old warlock acquaintance of his.

As soon as he portaled the house, he knew he was being ambushed.

The home looked absolutely wrecked, and a shiver ran through his body. He knew whose work it was and why he was here. Before he could create a portal and leave, he felt a distinct chill surround him.

"Hello Magnus", he heard a soft singsong voice behind him.

He took a death breath and tried to delay turning and looking at her as if she was Medusa.
Call him dramatic but Magnus would take Medusa over her.

He eventually stopped delaying the inevitable and turned. She stood in the archway of the room.

She was wearing a long red dress, and had her hair open, falling over her shoulders. She crept inside the room in a swift motion, and stood in front of him.

Magnus had the exact same thought he had every single time she had barged into his life unprompted. There wasn't a single thing he could find that differed from the last so many times he had seen her.

"Hello, my love", Camille said.

He flinched at the endearment.

It had only been a second, and he was already done with her shit.

“You ambushed me again? How original.” He shot back.

He suddenly felt tired. Magnus hated being ambushed. If someone was planning to ruin his day, he’d prefer if they sent him a fire message first.

"You knew this was going to happen sooner or later", she whispered.

"I would have preferred never."

“You’re not even a little bit interested in how I am alive? You didn’t really think I was never coming back, did you?” She said, with a smirk on her face.

He rolled his eyes. “Camille, I don't spend my time thinking about dead exes. I have a life.”

“Did you really think I was dead? Did you grieve for me?” Camille’s face had always been devoid of all human emotion but Magnus could identify something real for a second.

Did he?

He barely had the strength to grieve Ragnor and Raphael at the time. He thought he would have more time to do that. Out of all the things in the world, warlocks had a tendency of delaying grieving. Warlocks were assholes like that.

He doesn’t remember grieving Camille. So he doesn’t know how to feel about her being alive. It had been a week, but Magnus had still failed to put the finger on what emotion he was feeling.

He did not know what to tell her.

“I see you married the shadowhunter. I did not think you were that stupid Magnus.”

And just like that, the second had passed and she talked like Camille again.

“Yeah well. Guess you thought wrong.” He retorted back.

It annoyed him to no end that she tried to bring Alec into this conversation.

“Well, I’m not surprised. You have always made bad choices with love now haven’t you.” She added as a matter of fact.

He scoffed at that. Because she couldn’t be more wrong.

Magnus had never once made a wrong move when it came to love. Maybe the people he had fallen in love with had been wrong or undeserving. But there had been nothing wrong with the way he had loved.

He had loved and loved and loved. Love was his entire philosophy.

It did not surprise him that she still did not get it.

“I see you even took a mortal boy in. Another nephilim.”

It suddenly scared Magnus that she knew about the kids. He tried not to react at the mention of the kids but Camille, who hated human emotions, was exceptionally perceptive at reading others and she saw Magnus’s and smirked.

He looked into her eyes. “Do not drag my family into this.”

She laughed at that.

“Family! Is that what you’ve been calling it these days? Playing house with mortals. Oh no wait. I heard you also got another stray. Another immortal.” She laughed.

“Oh Magnus.” She looked at him with so much pitiness in her eyes. “There’s a reason why warlocks can’t breed Magnus. You are not meant to be parents. ” She said condescendingly.

“And yet, here I am”

“Do you even care about that demon child or is this another attempt of yours to keep an immortal by your side.”

Magnus had thought that he could have a civil conversation with Camille and leave but he was clearly wrong.

Before he could even think, blue sparks from his fingers left and surrounded Camille. As if the word had offended his magic too. It probably had since Magnus’s magic knows and protects everyone that he loves.

Only Magnus is allowed to call Max a hellborn brat. No one else gets to do that.

“Watch your words, Camille.” He spoke, his voice cold now.

Camille’s face changed at that. As if she hadn't really expected Magnus to react.

She had never really understood the lengths he would go to for the ones he loved.

“Do not mistake my kindness for weakness, Camille.”

“Oh, I know what you are really capable of.” He recoiled at that.

He wasn't surprised that she would throw one of his darkest secrets in his face like that.

Magnus felt utterly exhausted with this. “I am not playing your games anymore. I am leaving. I hope to never see you again”

Her face turned into a malicious grin at that. “You know you can't really escape me.”

Magnus ignored that. He opened a portal to the only place he wanted to be right now.

Alec’s arms.

**************
Alec was laying on the couch, both his feet up on the table in front of him and trying to catch up on some reading, but his mind kept on running in circles, every thought coming back to Magnus.

He wasn’t even surprised. That's how his brain has been working for the past decade. No matter what he was doing or what he was thinking of, his mind would also come back to one thing.

Magnus.

However, instead of daydreaming about kissing or cuddling with his husband like usual, he has been worried about him recently. His husband always found it difficult to share his pain. It has gotten better with time. Both of them have worked on their issues and have become better with each other.

For each other.

But still, Magnus has lived a long life, and some habits are hard to break. And sometimes, the warlocks’ first reaction was hiding.

Not from him. Alec had slowly realized that. Magnus had made him understand it with love and patience and a lot of cuddling that he had always been running from his own thoughts.

He had been too engrossed in his mind, which is why he missed when Magnus came home.

He only realised it when the warlock threw himself on the couch in a dramatic groan and hid his face in Alec’s lap.

Alec started running his fingers through his hair lightly. “Hi”

Magnus groaned in his lap again but didn't reply. Alec decided to give him some time to collect himself and returned back to his reading. They stayed like that for quite some time.

Finally, the warlock muttered something against his stomach, but it came out all muffled.

“Magnus I can’t hear you.” He said gently.

The man finally turned a little bit, and he could see his face now.

Magnus looked a little gloomy and that’s not an expression he liked on his husband’s beautiful face.

Alec bent down and pressed a kiss against his forehead.

He took Magnus's hand in his and gently squeezed it, nudging him to speak.

“I saw Camille today.” Magnus spoke in a low voice.

Alec couldn’t help his reaction and immediately stilled at the words.

He couldn't stop the anger that suddenly took over him at her name. He knows that Magnus was probably cornered into having a conversation with her and it bothered him to no end. He almost opened his mouth to let his anger out when his eyes trailed over the man in his lap again. Magnus looked so distressed that it sent a pang through his chest and he decided to keep his feelings on the matter aside for a minute.

He reminded himself that this wasn't about him.

“Okay. Do you want to talk about it?” He asked softly.

He gave him some time to speak. But he also didn't want Magnus to feel obligated to do that, so he added, "it's okay if you don't want to."

Magnus met his eyes and asked tentatively, “Is it?”

There had been a time when he would have pushed and prodded at Magnus till they had fought.

But not anymore. He did not want Magnus to do anything he did not want to.

“It is. It’s okay if you don’t want to talk to me about this. Or if you feel more comfortable talking with Cat or Ragnor or Tessa or anyone else.” Alec replied.

Magnus lifted himself up and stood up from the couch, and started pacing across the living room.

"It's not that I don't want to. I just. I don't know-how. I can't do it right now."

Alec did understand. It has taken him some time, but he knows that's just how Magnus works. He needs some time to process information.

He stood up, walked behind Magnus, and slid his arms around his waist.

“Hey, you don’t have to explain.”

Alec pecked his neck and rested his head on his shoulder. Magnus exhaled at the words but his body still felt somewhat stiff.

The warlock turned in his arms and started running his fingers through his hair in frustration. His hair was moving in all directions, so unlike him that it unsettled Alec.

“Alec, I just. I. I don’t want you to think that I am hiding stuff like last time. About her. About my past.”

Magnus was rambling at this point.
“Baby..” He tried to convince him that it was okay but the man interrupted him again.

“I almost lost you once, Alexander. Because I couldn’t open up and I- I swear it’s not like before. I’m not hiding.” Magnus said, his voice shaking.

Alec felt his heart break at those words.

He remembers the time when he had been so wrapped up in his own insecurities that he had failed to recognise what Magnus was dealing with.

How he had hurt the person he loved the most in this world.

He had promised to never let him go through anything like that again.

He grabbed Magnus’s face and brought their foreheads together.

“Magnus, stop. I know. I know, my love. It’s not like before. We’re not those people anymore. We’re better.” He replied softly.

He felt Magnus’s body relax at that.

“And Magnus”

“Hmmm”

“I never wanted your past. I have only ever wanted you.” He said sincerely, because there was nothing more truer than this in Alec’s heart.

He needs him to know how much Alec loves him, how he consumes his every single thought.

Alec knows that Magnus knows. But he also knows that sometimes people forget and need to be reminded. Even if you have told the person you loved a thousand times before, is it really ever enough?

The warlock cupped Alec’s hands on his face with his own and gently kissed his knuckles.

His heart stuttered in his chest. He doesn’t think Magnus will ever understand the true limit of his love for him.

Alec does not know it himself. Because he doesn’t think it exists.

He brushed his lips lightly against Magnus’s, feeling the warmth of his breath on him and as slowly had it begin, he smashed their lips together. Hoping he could imprint his love through touch alone.

“Aku Cinta Kamu, Magnus.” He whispered against his mouth when they pulled apart, still heaving slightly.

Magnus pulled back a little bit, and Alec saw a slow smile work its way across his face up to his eyes.

He knows his husband is a sucker for hearing him speak in Malay, and he wasn't against using that little bit of information in his favour. Not when he knows it's going to make him smile like that.

"Aku Cinta Kamu Juga," Magnus whispered back softly and brought their mouths together again, and they both melted into each other.

After a few minutes of being wrapped up in each other Alec realised that while the tension had left his body, Magnus still looked tired, if the way he couldn't stand properly was an indication.

It was late anyways and both the boys had already slept.

“Will you come to bed with me now?” Alec asked.

The man groaned against his chest. “Ughh. I have some work to do. I have been delaying it because of everything that's been happening.”

Okay, he guesses it was time to bring the big guns. He created some distance between them, at which Magnus whined like a child.

He shoved him onto the lounge chair behind them and straddled his lap.

"Come on. I have a proposition for you." He said, whispering conspiringly in his ear.

Magnus purred against him like a cat. “Ooh. I like the sound of that. I’m interested.” He said while moving his hands on Alec’s thighs.

“You have one track mind, Bane. I have something else. Something better.”

“Not possible.”

Alec looked at him, challenging at which his husband's face turned curious.

He leaned closer and gently bit his earlobe. “If you forget about work and come to bed with me, I will let you be the little spoon tonight.”

Magnus gasped at that.

So dramatic.

"Alexander!! Are you okay? You never let me be the little spoon." He said with equal amounts of shock and dramatics on his face.

“Hmmm. I’m just a better little spoon and you know that. But I’m feeling generous today.”

Magnus was better at everything else, but it had been established very early on in their relationship that Alec was a better little spoon.

“If I knew that my evil ex making a comeback would convince you to do that, I would have found her out sooner.” He grinned.

Alec chuckled at that. “So do we have an offer Mr. Bane?”

Magnus kept on pressing featherlight kisses across his face. “I cannot believe you’re seducing me with cuddling. And that it’s working. What have I become?” He sighed.

“Fine. If you don't want that then we can sleep with our normal arrangements.”

Magnus immediately sat straight at that. "No, no, no. I accept the offer. No, takebacks, Alexander."

They both started laughing together, and Alec finally felt so much lighter after seeing him like that.

Alec knows that there are parts of Magnus that he might never have. He had accepted that a long time ago. He knows now that Magnus doesn't owe him his history.

He does not think it matters really.

As long as Alec had Magnus’s heart.

*********
Magnus was sitting by the little patisserie near Central Park that Cat liked a lot. She had been craving her dessert for quite some time, so they had decided to make a date out of it.

He was currently wearing a sheer black shirt with leather pants, and a deep blue blazer over it. It was quite chilly today but sacrifices have to be made in the name of fashion.

He knows he looks stunning, considering Alec's reaction this morning. As soon as the shadowhunter had gotten out of the shower and laid his eyes on him, he tripped on his feet and almost fell.

Alec had muttered a couple of curse words about how Magnus was trying to kill him and had stormed out of the room in order to cool himself down.

Magnus chuckled, remembering his reaction when he finally saw Cat walking towards him. She was still wearing her scrubs. He stood up and greeted her. She kissed both his cheeks and sat down.

They had been talking for a while when a small boy came towards them and stood by Cat. He looked around 7 or 8 years old. He shyly held out his hand that had a beautiful purple Lily and held it out for Cat.

Cat looked equally surprised and confused by that.

Then a woman walked towards them and took the boy's hand in his.

“Charlie, you can’t keep running away like that.” She reprimanded him gently.

Magnus was pleasantly amused at the whole exchange.

The woman looked exasperatedly at the boy and then turned towards Cat.

“I’m sorry Ma’am. I had been in the hospital for a couple of days for a minor surgery. He was very scared because it's just the two of us. There was a nurse that used to take care of him and was very good to him too. Since I’ve recovered, he has made it his mission to thank every nurse in the vicinity of New York.”

The boy who had been staring at Cat the whole time held his hand out again, and this time she took the flower. Cat’s smile widened at the boy and bopped his nose.

Magnus might not know as much about the mundane world as her, but he knew that nurses weren't appreciated in the medical community.

The boy whispered something in her ears, and then both the child and the mother left. Cat waved him goodbye and kept smiling to herself for a minute. And suddenly her face changed and a far off expression took its place.

Everyone knew Catarina Loss as a friend, warlock, healer, the one with the brain cells, but not many people knew that Cat was a mother too.

Cat, who had raised a nephilim child long before Magnus had. His heart ached at how she had given so much and, in the end, had to leave him because of the cruelty of their world. He does not think there is anything more cruel in the world than having to hide your love. He wonders how it must have felt for her.

Magnus thinks of Rafael and how he could never do that.

But he also knew that there was no one like Cat in the world.

There were no words in the world that could reduce the pain or the longing, so he did what they have always done for each other. He held out his hand for Cat to take.

They both held each other's hands for a while and talked quietly when suddenly they heard the same child screaming murder.

“He’s on fire!! He’s on fire!! Mom! Mom! Stop him” The child screamed and wailed.

Everyone around them looked confusedly at the child since they did not see anyone on fire. Magnus and Cat turned towards the direction the boy was pointing towards.

A man was standing in the middle of the road, screaming and crying in pain. His body was getting covered in blisters when they realised it was a vampire.

This is why none of the other mundanes looked alarmed. The child probably had the sight.

Magnus and Cat exchanged a look of mortification and realised that they couldn't directly go and help the man, so they immediately made a quiet exit, glamoured themselves and then ran towards the man.

Cat grabbed his hands, and Magnus opened a portal behind him and pushed him through it.

The portal opened to one of the cells in the Institute.

It felt wrong to take him to the Institute cell, but they knew if they had taken him somewhere else, he might have tried to escape again.

Magic flew from both of their hands, and blue sparks surrounded his body and started healing him.

It looked like he had only been out in the sun only for a few seconds which is why he wasn't completely burnt to a crisp and had survived.

There was disturbance outside, and then he saw Jace, Izzy and Clary enter the cells.

They seemed as bewildered as he felt. Confusion and shock written all over their faces.

“What the hell is going on? Who is this?” Jace inquired.

“He is a vampire. He was trying to burn himself in the sun. Coincidentally, Cat and I were at the right place at the right time and stopped him.” He answered.

“Why would he do that?” Isabelle asked.

Magnus wishes he could answer that, but he had absolutely no idea what was going on.

He stared at the man, who was starting to look slightly better than he was a few minutes ago, but his face was covered in pure anguish and pain.

He didn't know if it was because of the physical pain or whatever had driven him to do this.

He had started sobbing now and had blood running down his eyes. He doesn't think he'll ever get used to the sight of a vampire crying since, instead of tears they shed blood.

“Why did you save me? Please please please let me die. Please let me die.” The man kept on repeating the words over and over again.

Magnus knelt down and gently asked him why he would want that. He didn’t think that the man had heard him.

“She doesn’t want me here. She doesn’t want me here. She doesn’t want me here.”

Was he talking about Camille?

He wanted to ask again, but the man didn't look in the right condition, and they needed to transfer him to the infirmary for a proper treatment.

After checking on him one final time, Magnus and Cat left the holding cell and walked towards the group of shadowhunters.

They had called Lily up and informed her about what had happened. She had reverted back that she would come to the Institute as soon as possible and take care of the vampire.

All of them were deliberating on the matter, trying to deduce what had just happened.

“There has to be something critical that we are missing. These are not fledgling that aren’t able to control themselves, they are all old vampires. Someone’s making them do this, we need to figure it out soon.”

Magnus looked around trying to figure out where Alec was when he realized that he had gone to a meeting at the Academy. He deflated at that reminder since he felt the need to see him right now.

He could not get the image of the pure agony he saw on the vampire’s face out of his mind. He had seen it plastered across his own face more times than he can count. He knows there are only two things in the world that can make that look appear on someone’s face.

Love and grief

**********************
The first rule that shadowhunters were taught when they began their training was to always be on their vigil. To never let their guards down. To not let anything distract them.

Alec had lived by that rule, but then Magnus had come into his life, and all caution had been thrown out of the window. Because now he was constantly thinking of Magnus or the kids.

Which is why he did not see the attack coming.

Alec was at the Academy when he had received a message from Jace, informing him about what happened to the vampire today. He had come back as soon as he could and had gone to meet the vampire but had realised that he was not in the condition to talk.

He had eventually decided to go home and had been too engrossed in his thoughts when he suddenly felt a kick from behind.

In a swift movement, he noticed that he was surrounded by four vampires.

“You really don't want to do this.” He said.

One of them smirked at him and spoke. “We do.”

Well, no one can say that Alec did not warn them.

In a quick movement, he lifted his leg up and kicked the one in front of him and used the other hand to take out his seraph blade. Alec might be an archer, but he was also great at hand-to-hand combat.

A punch came from behind above his right shoulder. He dodged the hand and bent down and flipped the vampire over his head.

One by one, he easily incapicitate all four of them.

He looked over himself and saw that there were a couple of bruises on his body and a superficial scratch on his abdomen.

Alec took out his phone to call Jace, knowing fully well that Magnus is going to kill him for not informing him, but he knows he cannot go home looking like this.

Before he could make the call, a portal opened up behind him and out came Jace and Clary. His parabatai looked a little panicked and had probably felt the pain through the bond.

“Alec, Alec, are you okay?” He came over and checked his body.

Jace took out his stele and started drawing Iratze over his body.

“Yes,Yes, I'm okay. I just didn't see the attack coming.”

He felt a whoosh of air around him and saw that Lily and her vampires had arrived.

“Lily, how are you here?” He inquired.

“I got a call that some vampires were attacking the Consul. I don’t know who it was.” She replied to him and looked around “This is a fucking mess.”

Just then, Lily’s phone rang and she walked a little away to take the call.

“Alec, you go home, we will take care of this.” Clary said, her voice soft.

While he had not been severely injured, his body still hurt quite a bit, and home sounded like heaven right now. But he needed to go to the infirmary first.

“I need a change of clothes first. I can not go home like this. Max and Rafael would freak out if they saw me like this.” He sighed.

Jace and Clary nodded at that.

“Okay come on, let's patch you up.”

Lily came running over to Alec looking infuriated.

“Alec, listen. I have got a message from Camille. She wants to meet.”

Fucking finally. The Alliance had been working endlessly to establish communication with her, but they had not been able to find her. Vampires cannot be tracked through shadowhunter or vampire tracking so it had been extremely difficult.

“Okay when?” He asked

Lily looked a little apologetic.

Of fucking course.

“She wants to meet right now?” Lily nodded at that.

This is why Camille had planned the attack right now. She wanted Alec to be injured and weak before he met her.

He tried to push away the splitting headache he could feel coming his way.

“Okay let's go. Where does she want to meet?”

“She wants to meet at the Institute.”

Alec wanted to be surprised at that, but he really was not.

Camille wanted to establish dominance at his place of work.

“Okay, call her.”

Jace came in front of him and grabbed his shoulders. “Alec, you need to go to the infirmary. We can do this later.”

“We can not do this later, Jace. We have been at it for weeks and she has clearly planned this. You know what happened today.”

Jace sighed at that and begrudgingly agreed with him. Clary opened a portal to the Institute, and they walked through it.

Alec went straight to his room first to get a change of clothes. “Hey Red. Can you give me one of Jace’s sweaters? I can’t go out like this.”

“Yeah sure, come with me?”

They went to Jace and Clary's room, and she opened the closet. He saw her rummage through the billion clothes that clearly belonged to Jace and try to find a sweater for him. His parabatai's closet had undergone a significant transformation in the past few years.

Now it wasn’t just filled with black leather jackets as a representation of his teenage angst but had actual variety.

And yes, he knows he sounds like a hypocrite but his own wardrobe has changed in the past decade. His sweaters have gotten a couple of shades lighter in the past few years and every now and then he would sport whatever ridiculous clothes the kids would get for him.

He saw an off-white sweater that Jace had been wearing almost every other day. Apparently, it was a look alike of the one some mundane celebrity wore in some movie. Jace had found out that Clary had no control over herself when he wore that.

Straight people.

He noticed a faded grey sweater in there, which looked very familiar to him.
“What is that?”

Clary turned towards the item of clothing he had been pointing at and suddenly looked like a deer caught in red lights.

“oh, this is just some old thing I got from Simon.” She replied urgently.

It didn't look like the type of sweaters Simon wore, but he had more things to worry about, so he let it go.

“Here, take it and come out soon.” She pushed the item of clothing into his hand and ran out of the room.

She was acting weird for some reason. But she often acted weird, which was probably some side effect of living with Jace for such a long period of time.

Poor girl.

He changed and walked back to the hall where everybody was waiting for him.

There were vampires all around the Ops Centre, and in between all of them stood her.

He could literally feel the temperature drop in the room just because of her sheer presence. As if someone had taken all the air out of the room.

Okay, maybe, he was being a little dramatic, but he had valid reasons to. Both past and present included.

Camille looked exactly like he had remembered. Devoid of any human emotion.

Well, Camille might not have changed in all these years, but Alec sure as hell has.

She looked at him and then smirked.

“Hello Alexander.”

It had literally been a second, and he felt like punching her.

“Hello Ms. Belcourt. You can call me Mr. Consul or Mr. Lightwood-Bane.” He tried to keep the venom out of his voice and replied in the most diplomatic manner possible.

Years of dealing with Clave’s bullshit had made it very easy for him to change into Consul mode.

Her face turned a little darker as if she hadn't expected that. She probably hadn't seen the virgin shadowhunter with a stamina rune to become the Consul.

Or gotten married to Magnus after everything she had done to break them up.

“We need to talk about the vampires Ms. Belcourt. I don’t know how you are controlling them but you need to end this now.” Clary spoke.

She started twisting her hair with her fingers and had a bored expression on her face.

“Oh that’s boring stuff. I’m here to talk to you, Blue eyes.”

“You know I can arrest you in a second, right? You have committed several crimes against the accords in the past few centuries.” He said.

She smirked at that.

"And you still have not done that. I wonder why that is."

He was a hundred percent sure that she knew why.

She sauntered towards him in a swift motion and spoke, "The Clave pronounced me dead a decade ago. So, officially, Camille Belcourt is dead, and you cannot arrest someone who is already dead, do you?

He almost wanted to say that she had been dead long before that night.

But it felt insensitive considering he was standing in a room full of vampires.

“What do you Nephilim say? The law is hard, but it is the law, huh.” She added mockingly.

“I can change the law.”

"Oh, you most definitely can, but that might take some time, you know. I have all the time in the world, but those vampires don't, and neither do you, Mr Consul?" She spoke smugly.

He prevented himself from flinching at that. He knew it was a quip at the immortality issue between Magnus and him. Of course, she was going to remind him of that.

But today wasn't the day to think of that.

He is going to let future Alec deal with the inevitable immortality crisis.

“Why do you want?”

She turned towards Lily and sneered at her.

“What’s rightfully mine. The New York Vampire Clan.”

"It wasn't your clan when I got it. It was Raphael's," Lily added fiercely.

They were all arguing when the portal opened, and Magnus walked in.

He looked at the crowd and asked, “what’s happening.”

“Magnus. Hello, my love.” She said, fluttering his eyes at him.

Forget punching her. He was ready to commit first degree.

His husband ignored her and walked towards him.

“What are you doing here? I thought you were at home. Who is with the kids?” Alec inquired.

“I got a fire message that I was needed here. I called Nora. She said she would be there any minute.”

Nora was their mundane babysitter who had the sight. She went through a gruelling selection procedure by Magnus before getting the job, and it had taken even a longer time for Alec to trust someone outside of the family with their kids.

They had realised that they were all very important people and sometimes nobody was available to babysit. So they needed to get another sitter but had to make sure they had the sight because they did not want Max to glamour himself in their own home. They didn’t want either of the boys to hide who they were.

They all had gotten quite fond of her. Nora was really good with the kids.

Also Rafael might have a small crush on her.

Which irked Izzy to no end.

“I am their favorite aunt Alec, stop trying to replace me.”

“Izzy, I am not trying to replace you but you were too busy sucking face with Simon to pick up the call. I needed a sitter.” He retorted back at his sister.

She had huffed and threatened to kidnap the kids if someone ever tried to come between them.

Rafael and Max had everybody wrapped around their little fingers so he knew that she totally would do that.

All of them had lost their childhoods to war and pain, so watching the kids grow up happy and carefree had been all of their way to make up for lost times. It was equally sad and sweet.

Magnus placed his hand on his shoulder and asked what was going on. He just sighed and pointed towards everyone standing.

“You have no claim over this clan anymore.”

“That little pest worked under me for decades and then betrayed me. I heard he was murdered by a sword ripping through his chest.”

Magnus and Lily visibly flinched at that.

He had only met Raphael a couple of times. And most of those times, he had gotten a snarky conversation or comments about being 12.

But he knew how much his husband cared about him.

Caring came as easily as breathing to Magnus. It had surprised him initially to find out that his husband had been so oblivious to his own self. He had never met anyone who was kinder than Magnus.

Alec had made it his mission to make him aware of that. He had spent the next few years breaking as many walls as he could and replacing them with words of love and praise etched across his skin.

“An easy death I would say. I had something else in the plans for him, didn’t I, Mr. Lightwood?” He heard the snark in her voice.

Lily lunged at the words to attack her, but Jace restrained her from doing that. It was not an easy thing to piss off Lily with words. She had spent decades with Raphael, so she was immune to most things, but Camille has always had that effect on people.

He realised that this meeting was not going anywhere and decided to intervene.

“If you’re not here to work things with us then you need to leave Camille.” He ordered.

He met her eyes and went full Consul mode when he spoke his next words.

“But know this Camille. I will stop you. I will do whatever it takes to serve justice but I will not let a technicality let you absolve you of your past crimes and continue this murder spree. That is not the Clave I run.”

He saw her shudder at that, and he could almost identify an emotion that looked a lot like fear on her face.

Good.

While Alec had good reasons to hate her, he wasn't doing this because of that.
His personal feelings did not matter right now.

He was doing it for the vampires.

Magnus did not need him to fight his battles, he was capable enough on his own. But the downward was his responsibility.

He would not let innocent people get hurt.

"We will see. I'll see you soon, Magnus."

She moved to leave, and the vampires started to follow her when she stopped and in an almost invisible motion, she advanced towards Magnus.

“Say hi to the little munchkins for me Magnus. I would like to meet them some day.”

She held out one of her hands, and a vampire gave something to her. She walked too close to Magnus for his liking but gently took his hand and pushed the item into it.

The second Alec’s eyes laid on the piece of cloth, he froze. He could feel blood run cold through his body at that.

It wasn’t something he had ever expected to see in her hands.

Max’s cape.

***************

"Rafe. Rafe. Baby, wake up" Alec shook Rafael to wake him up from sleep. The boy was sleeping in a weird position, and it was a wonder that he had not fallen off the couch yet.

Rafael shifted slightly and woke up groggily.

Magnus walked towards them and knelt down beside them. He started stroking his cheeks gently.

Alec's heart was hammering in his chest, and it was getting harder by the minute to breathe.

As soon as Camille had shown them Max's cape, both of them had run back home to see their son. They had looked around everywhere inside the loft but had not been able to find Max.

Neither did they see Nora anywhere.

Apparently, she had been on her way to reach their place, but some family emergency had come up, and she never made it to the loft. She had sent a message to them, but they had been too engrossed with everything at the Institute to check their phones.

Magnus's face looked so stricken with that information, and Alec knew he was going to beat himself up over this.

The boy's face morphed into confusion, wondering why his parents were waking him up from his sleep when usually they would have just carried him to the bed.

“Rafael! Where’s Max?” He asked

Rafe looked around the room and looked even more confused.

“In his room?”

A hard knot constricted in his chest.

"I don't know. He was here only." Rafe added.

He started searching the house frantically again while Magnus took Max's cape and tried to track him.

It traced back to the loft itself, and Magnus continued to pinpoint the exact location.

“Terrace,” he whispered. “Alec, he’s on the terrace.”

He wanted to run towards the terrace, but his legs felt foreign and unwilling to work properly. Magnus took both his and Rafael's hands and led them through the portal to the terrace.

They examined their surroundings and still could not see Max anywhere.

Alec's mind kept on going over the worst-case scenarios.

What if someone took Max? What if someone hurt him? What if.

He couldn't lose his son. Max was his baby. Alec knows he would never survive that.

His grip on the older warlock's hand hardened. “Magnus. Magnus. Where is Max? Please I.” He begged.

Magnus squeezed his hand back tightly. “He has to be here somewhere.” He replied, his voice quivering.

He knew Magnus's magic could not have been wrong, so he tried to push the fear away and focused on searching for his son.

There was a pavilion canopy on the terrace that provided shade to one section of the sitting area. It was something in the shame of an umbrella the last time he had been up here.

Magnus kept on changing the furniture and redecorating the loft every five days. A decade of living with the man had made him used to the frequent changes in the house, and he hardly noticed them anymore.

His husband had made every corner of their home as warm as possible but he has always been particularly fond of this place.

It had witnessed so many important moments of their lives.

They have had so many date nights here when both of them had been too tired to do anything more fancy. Not that that ever prevented Magnus from turning even a simple dinner into a grand affair.

They have hosted friends and family here to celebrate birthdays and anniversaries.

And sometimes it was just the four of them snuggling and laughing with each other.

Alec hopes that he is not going to witness the worst moment of his life on this terrace too. He was walking towards the sitting area when he heard a crack under his feet. He looked down and found a broken plastic blade crumbled underneath his shoes.

The one that belonged to Max.

When the younger warlock had been getting more and more interested in the shadowhunter culture, he would go around and play with Alec’s stele and imitate him.

While they usually kept the weapons out of the reach of the kids, Max had always been an inquisitive child and they didn’t want him to accidentally touch a seraph blade and burn his hand.

So they had gotten him a plastic toy to fool around with.

It had always amused them how Max was so obsessed with the shadowhunter culture while Rafael couldn't care less. He had always been more fascinated by warlock magic and potion-making.

Their household was odd in some ways but he wouldn’t change it for the world.

As soon as he saw the crumbled piece of toy lying on the floor, the fear gripped him around and threatened to choke him. He tried to call out for Magnus but no words came out of his mouth.

His eyes trailed towards the lounge chair and he saw two small legs peeking out from behind.

He dragged his feet forwards and found a bag lying on the floor.

With Max in it.

Alec’s body was on fire and he felt like time had slowed down.

The bag was a little too small for his boys so his legs were peeking out of it.

Max was not moving at all and Alec steeled his heart somehow and crouched down to check for his breathing.

Please please please let him be okay. He’s my baby. Don’t take my baby.

He forced his body to cooperate somehow, and as soon as he touched Max and felt him breathing, he felt a single teardrop leak out of his eyes.

“MAGNUS!! Magnus he’s here.” He shouted but it came out all choked up.

Alec took out Max from the suitcase and took him in his arms.

“Max, Max! Please wake up Max.” He cried.

Magnus and Rafael came running towards them and knelt beside him.

His husband started to check his body for any damage and even the thought of thinking of Max and damage in the same sentence made bile rise up his throat.

“He’s okay. He’s okay.”

He didn’t understand what anybody could get out of doing this to Max instead of taking him.

Alec instantly berated his own brain for the thought. Max had been missing for all but five minutes and he had lost his shit. There was no way he would have survived him being actually kidnapped.

Rafe came closer and touched Max’s head. “Max, wake up hermano.” He whispered, looking extremely scared.

The warlock child finally started shifting a little bit. There wasn’t much space for him to move around since Alec was holding him so tightly.

He loosened his grip a little bit and Max opened his eyes, looking at the three of them a little disorientedly.

Alec had never thought that he could love a color as much as he did right now but seeing the blue of Max’s eyes again, after thinking even momentarily that he would never get to do that, sent a pang through his chest.

He realised that he would be willing to trade his memories of the past few minutes in exchange for an eternity in hell.

And he had been to actual hell more than once, so he really meant it.

Magnus still kept on checking the boy’s body over and over, his hands shaking and not as steady as they usually were.

Max started looking more conscious and his face turned from confusion to absolute gleam.

Alec felt like he could finally breathe.

“Dad! Bapak! You found me!” He exclaimed and started jumping up and down. Too energetic for someone who was lying in a bag not five minutes ago.

Max’s brain has always worked a little differently than the others. He was completely unhinged sometimes if he was being honest.

He wondered if it was a younger sibling thing.

Or if it was just a Max thing.

Magnus took him in his arms and hugged him tightly. “Of course we found you Max.”

They both held him so tightly for a couple of minutes, fearing that he might disappear otherwise.

“He’s okay. Everything looks normal.” His husband breathed.

Magnus, who still seemed extremely distraught, started peppering kisses all over his face and almost had tears in his eyes.

“Blueberry. Are you okay? Who did this to you?” Magnus inquired.

"I'm okay. I won," Max replied excitedly.

He won.

Wait what?

He cupped the boy's face and asked him, "Won what, Blue?"

Max turned towards Rafael and looked smugly at his older brother.

“Rafe and I were playing hide and seek and I won. He could not find me. Yayyyyy!!!! Rafe lost! Rafe lost.” The warlock boy kept on repeating and continued jumping up in celebration again.

Alec had never been more bewildered by anything more than this. “You hid yourself in the bag?”

“Yes! But Rafe didn’t come so I got bored and fell asleep, I think?” He added a little confusedly.

Rafael, who had been kneeling next to them, seeming as troubled as them till now, instantly tensed up. He stood up, and his face turned super guilty.

“Shit”

"Rafael?" Magnus asked gently. He was still trembling slightly, so Alec started making circling motions on his shoulder.

Both of them were equally confused and terrified with the turn of events.

His elder son, who rarely looked guilty, looked down ashamedly. He wouldn't meet their eyes.

“Don’t be mad but I might or might not have told Max that we were playing hide and seek because he was being annoying and I wanted to watch TV. And then I forgot about it” He spoke in a low voice urgently.

What in the Raziel's name?

He looked at Magnus, who was still holding Max a little too tight with equal amounts of astonishment on his face.

Max, who had been jumping up till now, finally stopped and saw all their worried faces.

He might be a little shit. But he wasn’t stupid. He could tell something was wrong.

“You were playing?” He asked Max because he needed the confirmation once more.

Max nodded at that.

Alec felt relieved that no one had hurt their child and that it had been a misunderstanding, but his mind still kept running around how this could've ended badly.

He could still feel the absolute fear and panic he had gone through during the whole ordeal, and he knew he would be feeling this way for the next few days.

And as soon as the fear left, it was replaced with fury towards his kids.

Alec was never the one to yell at his children. Yelling was a cruel cruel method of trying to get children to comply and no child ever deserves that. Children only deserve love.

But right now, he was so pissed at them for acting so recklessly.

"Dad. Dad! Are you mad?" The boy spoke, a little choked up.

Mad would have been an understatement.

He was about to reprimand Rafael for being so irresponsible with Max.

He almost opened his mouth to ask his son how he could act this carelessly, but then he really looked at his son and restrained himself from doing that. Rafe looked so remorseful and scared.

That wasn’t a look he ever wanted to see on him.

Rafe had tears running down his small angelic face rapidly. He tried to wipe away the tears, but new ones kept on coming at an even faster rate.

Alec closed his eyes and tried to calm himself down. He was better than this.

This was not Rafael's fault. He was a child himself. All he wanted to do was watch cartoons like any other nine-year-old.

This is the kind of shit siblings do all the time.

They annoyed each other and closed the other one in the bathroom. They stole each other’s food and basically made each other’s life a living hell.

Alec would never have done this to his siblings because he was too busy taking care of them.

He would never have done that, not because he was a more well-behaved child but because his parents had been too busy running the Institute and everything had fallen on his shoulders. Alec had to make sure that everyone was okay. That Izzy was fed and that Jace wasn't playing with knives again.

That Max was…

He stopped that trail of thoughts.

He had lost his childhood because he had been too busy being a parent to his siblings. He won’t let his son go through that.

It had been Magnus and him who had messed up. They should have made sure that the kids had someone at home. His kids deserved to act like kids.

It was not Rafael’s duty to be responsible for his brother.

He heard more sniffling. "I'm sorry, dad. I'm sorry, Bapak. I didn't want Max to get hurt. I'm sorry," Rafe hiccuped. He kept on apologising to them and Max.

“Why is Rafe crying? Don’t cry Rafe. You will win next time.” Max said, innocently.

As much as Max fought with Rafael, he loved his brother endlessly. Whenever Rafael had a nightmare, Max was the first one to run to his room and cuddle with him.

The boys probably did not even understand what was happening since it was them who had panicked because of what Camille had shown them. He won’t let his son feel guilty for something that wasn’t his fault.

He took Rafe’s hand and pulled him in his arms and held him tightly.

“Daddy I-” He whimpered.

Alec’s heart broke at that.

“No, no, no, shhh Rafe, It’s okay. It’s okay, my baby. You have nothing to apologise for. I’m sorry”

Rafe clutched at his sweater and continued sobbing.

"We're not mad. Nothing happened. It's okay. It's okay." And continued pressing soft kisses on the boy's head.

Magnus stretched out his other hand and brought the two of them into his arms too. The four of them stayed on the terrace floor, wrapped up in each other murmuring soft words of comfort and love.

****************
“Magnus”

He heard a low voice call out for him.

The four of them had stayed wrapped up in each other for quite some time on the terrace. Eventually, it had started to get too cold, and they had brought the kids, who had already fallen asleep in their arms, downstairs.

Alec had started singing to the boys softly. The lullaby that Maryse had taught him. Magnus had looked at the three of them and got so overwhelmed that he had to leave the room.

He still couldn’t breathe.

His emotions had been all over the place for a couple of days, but centuries of dealing with pain had made it easier to ignore them for a while. But not today.

He knows that nothing happened with Max. But even the thought of losing his son was sending him through a downward spiral.

He was sitting on the lounge chair on the balcony and could feel the cold breeze on his face.

“Magnus”

Alec placed a gentle hand on his shoulder. He eventually looked up and found his husband with a worried expression on his face.

Alec had so much to deal with at work that Magnus had tried to make their home as warm and stress-free as possible.

But like always, his past has caught up to him.

Alec sat down next to him and took his hands in his. Magnus put his head on his husband’s shoulders and they sat there quietly for a while.

Magnus had believed that there was no quiet place in the world for someone like him and never would be. And then he had found Alec and everything had fallen into place.

But right now, the silence became a little too overbearing for him again.

“Have they slept?” He asked

“Yeah. Max slept like a log as usual. Rafael took some time.”

He nodded at that.

Alec started rubbing circles with his thumb on his hand. “I’ll talk to him about it tomorrow. He is probably confused by what happened.”

He didn’t have the energy to do anything but nod at that.

“Baby, are you okay? Talk to me.” Alec asked softly.

Magnus couldn't figure out what to say except apologise. So he did just that. "I'm sorry."

He turned a little bit, put one of his legs under the other, and brought Magnus closer.

Alec tucked Magnus’s hair behind his ears. He did that a lot. Even if his hair was perfectly placed, which they always were, his husband would bring out a strand of hair and tuck it back in. “What are you apologising for?”

For putting our family in danger again.

He almost didn’t want to say the words, scared for a second that Alec would agree with him.

But he also needed Alec to hold him more than anything else right now.

“For what happened today.”

“Nothing happened, Magnus. Max is okay. It was just a misunderstanding. The kids were just being kids. It would have been funny under other circumstances. ” Alec’s voice was as gentle as ever.

He always did everything like that when it came to him and the kids.

Gently.

“I know. But Camille still threatened Max.” He felt bile rise up his throat at the words. “My past keeps on coming back and endangering all of us. I don’t know how to make it stop.”

He didn’t understand why it kept on happening to him. Why everyone kept on bothering him.

“Magnus, that's not true.”

He shook his head at that.

“It is.” He said. “Shinyun. Asmodeus. Camille. And then Asmodeus again. And then Shinyun again. And now Camille. I feel like I keep on going in circles. Every time one of them comes back and ruins things for us. Everyone puts their life in danger to protect me. So yes, I should be apologising.” He added angrily.

Not at Alec.

But at everyone else who keeps on thinking he is some toy to be played with. Who keeps on using his kindness to hurt him.

“And now, now the kids are in danger. I.I was so scared Alexander. If something had actually happened to him..Because of me.”

Alec cupped his face and made him look at him.

“Hey, hey, hey, listen to me. I know. I was scared too. But our lives are always going to be like this. I’m the Consul and a lot of people don’t like the fact that I’m married to a downworlder and have a warlock child. You and Max are constantly in danger because of me.”

He exhaled deeply at that. He knows Alec was trying to assure him, but this reminder only made him feel even worse.

“Magnus, I put a target on your back the day I kissed you in the accords hall in front of everyone. Does that change how you feel about me” He asked.

“No.” He immediately shook his head at that. “It was a good kiss.”

Alec grinned at that. “Please. I made you see stars with that kiss.” Magnus chuckled at that.

“Other people’s actions are not your responsibility to bear.” Alec said, his voice soft.

It was annoying sometimes when Magnus was having an existential crisis and Alec would try to alleviate his fears with his perfect logic.

“We’re going to be okay.”

“How can you be so sure?”

“Because I know you won’t let anything happen to them. To any of us. There is nothing else I believe in more.”

Alec was always so sincere with his words that it was impossible not to believe him.

But some days were just hard to get through. Magnus groaned and leaned forward to put his head on Alec’s shoulder. The shadowhunter started carding his fingers through his hair softly.

"Your husband brain has made you stupid." He added, trying to lighten the mood because he was getting more exhausted by the minute.

Alec hummed at that. He stayed quiet for a couple of minutes.

“Do you know how Rafael was when I first met him?”

He moved his head away from the man's shoulder and looked at him, not knowing where he was going with this.

"He was such a little shit to me. Kept on sassing me when he was all but five." Alec chuckled lightly, remembering the time.

Magnus smiled at that. He knows how much Rafael loves teasing Alec.

“I didn’t see him smile all day and I thought, ‘does he ever smile? Has anything in this world ever made this child smile?”

His heart clenched, thinking of his son. His Rafe's smile is one of the softest things in the whole world, and he didn't want to think of a time when he didn't.

Alec stroked his cheek lightly. "Do you know when I finally saw him smile?" He just shook his head, knowing the shadowhunter didn't really expect an answer.

“He saw a picture of you on my phone. And just like that, he smiled. It was like magic.” He spoke softly.

He had never heard about this.

“Why?” He asked like a dumbass because he had never been able to figure out why Rafael took so easily to him.

Not that he was complaining, but still, he would like to know.

Alec's face softened at that. He looked so tenderly at him that Magnus wanted to look away, but he had also never been able to look away from Alec.

“I don’t know, love. I just figured that he felt the same thing I did when I first saw you. That This is it, he will save me.” Alec spoke earnestly. “I’m not lost anymore.”

Magnus felt his breath caught in his throat. He felt the tears well up in his eyes, and he all but climbed into Alec's lap and threw his arms around him.

“Alec..I.”

What was he supposed to say to someone like Alexander Lightwood?

His husband hugged him tighter and kissed his temple. “You are the best thing that has happened to the three of us, Magnus. Please never forget that.”

Magnus has spent a lifetime trying to figure out lovers. He constantly had to search for love and meaning behind people’s words and actions.

He never knew that love could be this easy.

He clutched Alec’s sweater in a strong grip. “I love you, Alexander. Thank you for loving me.”

“We’ll deal with whatever comes next together. So stop being an idiot and blaming yourself.”

He chuckled lightly and nodded against Alec’s shoulder.

“And you know what, while they are all very annoying, I don’t blame them. If we weren’t together, I’d be obsessed with you too. I would be spending Clave money to stalk you. You’re just that irresistible Mr. Bane. I’m surprised there aren’t more people doing this.” Alec said with a grin.

He chuckled at that. “You want more crazy people in our life?”

Alec just shrugged. “I’m just saying that it's a little unrealistic to me that there are not more people starting cults in your name. Maybe, I should introduce a new law. Everyone should be allowed to go nuts over Magnus Bane.”

Magnus threw his head back in laughter and almost fell off his lap.

“You’re an absolute idiot.” He grinned back.

An idiot that Magnus needed to kiss really, really badly.

He placed one of his hands at the nape of Alec's neck and the other on his cheek and pulled him into a deep kiss. Alec's mouth felt warm and soft and hard at the same time.

“I don't know what I did to deserve you.”

Alec met his eyes and spoke the next words as sincerely as possible. “You don't have to do anything to deserve us.”

He knows this.

After centuries of stumbling and wandering, he had understood that people don't have to do anything to deserve love. That love isn't conditional like that.

But he was not talking about any ordinary person here.

He was talking about Alec Lightwood.

Magnus had to do something to deserve this stupid man, right?

“Let’s go to bed, my love” Alec said. “I’ll hold you close”