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Alex wasn’t moving.
No, she was moving, her chest was raising up and down in stuttering breathes. She was fine, she just hadn’t stood up yet. Magnus should give her a little more time to adjust to the shock, she had taken a pretty hard hit from the minotaur club after all before Jack had managed to defeat it. Magnus called the sword back to him, taking a steadying breath as tiredness pulled at his very soul.
Alex still did not stand. She didn’t even try to. She just lay there on the ground, her chest spasming.
Something was wrong.
Magnus surged towards her, skidding the last few feet until he was on his knees next to her. Alex’s chest was still moving weirdly, her multicoloured eyes bright and her mouth open like she couldn’t get enough air.
For a stupid moment Magnus thought to just wait it out, maybe hold her hand while she died so that she wouldn’t be alone but then he remembered that they weren’t in Hotel Valhalla. She would not rise the next day perfectly well again with a new funny story about that one time she died to a minotaur.
No, they weren’t in Hotel Valhalla. If Alex died here then she dies for real.
Magnus summoned his power, hovering his hands over Alex’s chest. She latched onto one of his wrists but when she tried to speak all that came out was a gasp.
“It’s okay,” Magnus said. “You’re okay.”
But she wasn’t. He could sense what was wrong now and it made his blood run cold. Alex’s ribs had been crushed, splintered bone ripping into both of her lungs. That’s why she couldn’t breathe, that’s why her skin was losing colour and her beautiful eyes were losing focus. Magnus’ fear hadn’t been exaggerating the situation.
Alex was dying.
He couldn’t repair her lungs, not with the bones still in them. He would have to reform her ribcage first. Magnus steeled himself, knowing that to help her he was going to have to hurt her first. But this wasn’t like healing a sprained ankle or a small cut. Magnus knew that if he did this wrong then he was going to kill her before her injuries could but he also knew that he was Alex’s only chance.
“Do you trust me?” Magnus asked.
He didn’t know how his voice was not shaking. This was Alex, Alex, if she died then Magnus would never be the same again. She was his friend, his best friend, he couldn’t lose her. He would not lose her.
Alex whimpered, her nails digging into Magnus’ wrist. Of course she didn’t trust him, she had had been betrayed time and time again by the people who claimed to care for her and this was no different. Alex had been through so much in her short life and her even shorter death, he should never have put that pressure on her. He should have just started healing her, there was no time to waste.
But then Alex nodded.
Something bloomed in Magnus’ chest then. Hope? Joy, even. It was a massive step for Alex to let anyone touch her without lashing out with her garrotte, an even bigger step to claim that she trusted them. Magnus did not know how he had earned that trust but he sure as hell wasn’t going to let her down now.
“This is going to hurt,” Magnus said. “But I need to to try to stay awake.”
Alex nodded again, holding a little tighter onto Magnus’ wrist.
With his power, Magnus searched out for the largest piece of bone. It was sticking out of her right lung, almost an entire rib that had been displaced. He felt a little ill, realising what he was doing, but he kept focused on his power until it was gripping onto the the piece of rib and he pulled.
Alex screamed.
She thrashed on the ground as pain ripped through her but Magnus knew he had no choice but to keep going. Repositioning the rib, he focused on fusing it back into place. He rushed to heal the part of her lung it had punctured but her lung resisted him. Magnus felt a little dizzy, summoning more power until the lung pieced itself back together.
Alex had gone silent now, her eyes wide as tears ran down her face. She was still conscious but he could feel that she was fading quickly. Magnus had to work faster. Piece by piece, Magnus reformed her ribcage, healing her right lung as he did so. He forced himself to imagine it as some messed up puzzle, finding the exact spots the bones were meant to go to if only to keep himself from thinking to hard about how he was hurting her. He kept working no matter how much she shook under him, even when Alex coughed and brought up blood he kept working.
“I’m sorry.” He would say. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I’m sorry.”
Magnus kept ripping her apart to put her back together again and he had to blink back his own tears to stay focused on the task at hand. At last he moved onto the last piece of rib in her right lung and Alex jolted. She sucked in a deep breath, the sound whistling, sweat pouring down her face.
“Mag…” She gasped out.
“It’s okay,” He said. “You’re okay.”
Even if her right lung was fully reformed and oxygen at last was getting to her body, he would have to move quickly and heal her left lung or else the one he had healed might re-collapse from the pressure. He told himself that it was a good thing when Alex started screaming again, it meant that she was still alive, that she was still fighting, that he wasn’t killing his own friend.
But Alex was more than that. She wasn’t just a friend, she was everything to him. Magnus kept healing her, talking to her the whole time.
When it was at last done, the final piece of rib in place and the tissue of her lungs reformed, Magnus sat back, his vision pulsing. It was luck alone that nothing else had been injured by the club, he wasn’t sure if he could have healed not only her ribs and lungs but her other internal organs too. Exhaustion dragged at him and it was all he could do to sit there and try to stay awake.
He had never used so much power before and he wasn’t sure he wanted to use that much ever again. In fact, he didn’t want to ever leave the safety of Hotel Valhalla again where it was easier to just let someone die rather than heal them piece by piece as they thrashed against you.
“Glow.” Alex said.
“What?”
It felt strange to hear her voice after having only heard her screams for gods know how long. It was weak but it was her voice all the same.
“You’re glowing.” She said. “Like a lightbulb.”
Magnus didn’t remember if he had a chance to laugh before everything went black.
———————————————————————————————————————————
When Magnus awoke he was laying on his back, staring up at the stars. He was warm despite the night and there was a popping sound of a fire beside him. He twisted, slowly, only moving his head as the rest of him felt too heavy.
Alex was crouching next to the fire, adding a few more sticks. Her eyes looked stunning in this light even though she looked exhausted. No, not her eyes. His.
“Are you just going to keep staring at me?” Alex said, not looking up from his task.
“You’re not dead.” Magnus breathed.
“You’ve always been the smartest of us Maggie.” Alex said. “Truely, it’s astounding just how much of a genius you are.”
Magnus sat up but his head spun and all of a sudden Alex was there, his hand on Magnus’ shoulder.
“Take it easy,” Alex said. “It’s a miracle you’re not the dead one given how much power you used.”
There was blood on Alex’s shirt and just seeing it made Magnus feel more ill. It hadn’t been some terrible dream, the fight with the minotaur had really happened and Alex’s ribs had really been broken like that and Magnus had really kept Alex alive.
“Never do that again.” Magnus said.
“Oh, you think I go around challenging all the minotaurs I see? It’s not my fault that ugly thing didn’t realise we’re not Greeks. You know, next time I might say that. ‘Hey Minotaur, we’re einherjar not Demi-Gods, go find someone else to fight’, do you think that would work?”
“Alex,” Magnus whispered. “Please.”
Alex tilted his head. He sat back with a sigh, keeping his hand on Magnus’ shoulder even if he didn’t need it to hold him up anymore.
The fire was still warm but a coldness seeped through Magnus’ veins. Today had been close, too close. Alex may be awake and joking now but he had nearly died and if Magnus had hesitated even a moment longer then he may just have.
“Chase,” Alex said. “I’m okay.”
He knew that. Of course he knew that. Alex was sitting right in front of him, colour back in his face and light back in his eyes. He was perfectly okay. But Magnus could feel his own hands shake and his eyes were stinging.
“You nearly died.” Magnus said. “I… I hurt you.”
“You saved me, Magnus.” Alex said. “It hurt like a bitch, sure, but you saved me. I’m okay.”
Alex’s hand moved from Magnus’ shoulder to his hand, tugging on it until he brought it up to his chest. Even without bidding it, Magnus’ power searched for signs of damage in Alex’s body, searched for fragments of ribs and torn lungs and any number of horrible injuries but all Magnus felt was a strong beating heart.
Magnus should pull away. Alex never liked anyone touching him, least of all touching his chest. He should pull away. He didn’t.
“I’m okay.” Alex said again.
When Magnus realised that the tears were falling, he could not stop them. Alex did not tease him, he just stayed there with him, holding Magnus’ hand to his chest and eventually pulling Magnus fully into his arms. The tears fell harder then as the adrenaline seeped out of him.
Alex waited until Magnus pulled away before he sat back again.
“We should get back to the Hotel.” Magnus said.
“I figured we can just stay here the night.” Alex said. “I mean, check out my awesome fire.”
“I thought your lighter was confiscated for nearly burning down Hotel Valhalla?”
Alex grinned, pulling a lighter from his pocket. Magnus did not recognise it and he should probably ask if it was stolen or bought but he felt the weight on his shoulders ease a little seeing Alex smile like that and he realised that he didn’t care.
Alex was alive.
Alex was okay.
Alex was a pyromanic who really shouldn’t be trusted with lighters.
Magnus went to reach for the lighter but Alex just laughed, dodging out of the way. Holding back his own laugh, Magnus reached for it again but in his tiredness he overbalanced and all of a sudden they were both on the ground, Magnus above him.
Alex wasn’t moving.
His chest was stuttering with uneven breathes, his eyes wide, and Alex. Was. Not. Moving.
Magnus scrambled to get off, an apology already on his lips, but Alex held him in place. Slowly, so slowly, Alex leaned up and pressed his lips against Magnus’. Magnus melted into the kiss, so dizzy with the feeling that it took him a stupidly long time to realise that Alex was kissing him. Alex was kissing him and Magnus was kissing him back and gods it felt like his heart was going to beat out of his chest.
“Wow Chase,” Alex whistled. “You really know how to take a guys breath away.”
Magnus stared at him. Just a few hours after nearly dying from broken ribs and Alex was making breathing jokes because of course he was.
“The next time we have training,” Magnus said. “I’m going to kill you.”
“Not if I kill you first.” Alex grinned.
They did end up staying out that night, side by side by the fire. While Alex eventually had to move a little away from Magnus, his limit for human touch at last surpassed for the day, Magnus did not mind. He simply enjoyed being there with Alex, he enjoyed the warmth of the fire and he enjoyed just knowing that Alex was okay.
Alex was his friend. His best friend. And even if Magnus’ heart yearned for Alex, he knew that the kiss had only been because Alex had been in shock. While he wished to forget what it was like to heal Alex like that, he hoped that he would never forget what it felt like to have Alex’s lips against his own.
Magnus would have to be satisfied with the memory because Alex was his friend and nothing more. He would have to be satisfied that Alex was okay.