Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Jace threw another dagger at the demon and grinned as it crumpled, incinerating into nothing as it returned to hell. Water demons were nothing short of a nightmare to hunt. You had to get them on dry land in order to fight and kill them, and they were never on land for long.

There was a surprised shout from behind him and the blonde turned in time to see Alec being dragged into the lake by a particularly hideous demon. Izzy was already running at them, grabbing for Alec's arm as he clawed at the beach in an attempt to keep out of the water.

Their hands grasped, fingers slipping from each other's grip as Alec gave a final yelp before being pulled under the dark, frigid water.
Izzy screamed and threw herself at the lake but Jace grabbed her waist and pulled her back. It was the middle of winter and far too cold to have both his siblings jump into a half frozen lake. He could only carry one of them back to the institute after all and having both of them down with hypothermia just wasn’t an option.

Jace held his breath as Izzy fought against him, both watching the churning water as Alec fought the beast from under the waves. Jace felt like throwing up. There wasn’t anything he could do to help. The water was too dark to see the demon or Alec and they could do nothing but wait.

A minute passed and the water calmed. Jace pressed a hand over his parabatai rune, silently begging for his brother to be okay. Bubbles rose and popped on the surface of the water and Izzy let out a quiet plea.

“Alec?”

The water suddenly burst, water spraying everywhere and Alec came tumbling out, water pouring off him as he fell onto the shore, ichor stained seraph blade in hand.

“Fuck, I hate winter. I fucking hate the cold and I hate the fucking Demons.”

Jace let go of Izzy as she surged towards her brother. The blonde laughed a little hysterically at Alec’s furious cursing because if he could grumpily pull the finger at a lake then he was okay.

Izzy was patting him all over, brushing his wet hair out of his eyes and fretting over his icy skin, making sure he was okay.

“Did it get you anywhere? Are you okay? By the Angel, I thought you’d died Alec.”

The boy was shivering so hard he could barely get any words out without the risk of biting off his own tongue.

“I’m fine. Fucking freezing but I’m fine. Ughh just get me out of here.”

Alec felt as if he was being stabbed all over with tiny needles, his head was exploding from the inside out and like he might shake apart from the force of his shivers. All he wanted was to be warm and dry. He was also really tired and could do with his boyfriend.

“Call Magnus. He can portal us back.”

Jace looked over from where he was retrieving weapons. Alec’s voice sounded water logged, and the blonde creased his eyebrows in concern as Alec coughed harshly. Izzy thumped his back as he spat out lake water.

“Okay, we need to get you warmed up. I’ll call the Warlock.”

Izzy was still fretting over her brother so Jace took his phone out and called, barely managing to get a word out before Magnus interrupted.

“What happened? Is he okay? Why isn’t he the one calling? That always means he’s hurt.”

Jace grunted, irritated, and rushed to reassure him.

“Magnus, he’s fine. He just got dragged into a lake by one of the demons and now he’s grumpy because he’s cold and wet. If you could portal us back to the institute, so we can warm him up before he gets hypothermia, that’d be great. Would you just give me a minute Alec, I’m talking to your boyfriend. By the Angel, so impatient.”

The last part was shouted away from the phone, as Alec continued to grumble about not wanting to walk into the institute looking like a half drowned cat. Magnus sighed in relief. Hypothermia he could deal with.

“Okay I’ll be there in a few seconds, but I won’t be able to portal so close to the water, you’ll have to meet me at the park. I’ll take you to my apartment, it’ll be easier to take care of him there.”

Jace thanked him and hung up. Not at all liking the idea of his brother having to walk a block, soaking wet and freezing. He told the others the plan and they started to walk, Alec shuffling as fast as he could while his muscles were so stiff.

The walking was more of an effort than it should have been, the Lightwoods body doing everything it could to maintain his body heat. At first he shook violently, his body trembling all over and breaths coming in erratic pants. Most of his skin was now numb and he no longer knew for sure if he had a nose or not, but the parts of him he could feel were being stabbed with the cold, electric shocks of frost going right to the bone. Half way to the park and he could no longer feel or move his hands.

Jace and Izzy were keeping a close eye on him and trying to keep him hurrying along but his body wouldn’t allow him to move any faster than a shuffle. His eyes were drooping, feeling heavier with each step, and Alec wanted nothing more than to lay down and sleep. Preferably somewhere warm.

He was coughing, deep chest rattling coughs, as his lungs tried to expel the water he swallowed in that damn lake. They were almost to the park but Alec wasn’t even sure where they were going now. His vision was fuzzy and he desperately wanted to sleep. He hadn’t realized his eyes had closed until Jace shook his shoulder. The wet Shadow Hunter dragged his heavy lids open to look at Jace crouching in front of him.

Apparently his legs had decided to give up as well, leaving him kneeling on the hard ground, sitting back on his haunches.

“Alec! Come on, stay awake man we’re almost there. Magnus is just over that little hill.”

Alec groaned. He didn’t want to walk anymore. But they pulled him to his feet, Jace taking most of his weight as they walked, Izzy running ahead to find the Warlock.

Alec’s knees buckled again before they made it to Magnus but Jace dragged him back up and kept going. Magnus ran towards them as soon as they made it over the rise.

The Warlock took Alec’s bone-white face in his hands, taking in the boys gasping breaths and blue tinted lips. “Oh darling, let’s get you home and warmed up.”

Alec nodded, eyes only half open, eager to do anything his boyfriend said. He wasn’t entirely sure what was happening but he knew his Magnus was there and he tried to catch his arm, numb, clumsy fingers snagging on the sparkly sleeve.

They pulled him towards the portal, everyone tumbling through at once. Alec fell to the floor, his knees hitting the hard ground as he shook. The tremors were slowing, his muscles no longer contracting at such an erratic rate but Magnus knew this was not a good sign. Izzy was running around and grabbing things, turning the shower on and covering the bed with blankets.

Magnus wrapped an arm around the frozen Nephilim’s back and drew the limp arm around his shoulders as he dragged him to the bathroom. He sat him down on a nearby chair and knelt in front of him as they waited for the water to warm.

“Mag..nus.”

The Warlock took the blue tipped fingers in his hands and blew a spark of warmth into them, pressing kisses and breathing warm air onto the frozen skin. Alec had his eyes closed, probably without realizing, as his lips tugged into a slow smile.

“Yes Alexander.”

Unfocused eyes opened and blinked at Magnus, making him worry further at the show of confusion and fatigue.

“Love you.”

Magnus laid a palm on the boys pale cheek.

“I love you too Angel. Now let’s get you out of these clothes.”

Alec giggled and mumbled something inappropriate enough to make Jace cough as a reminder that he was still there.

Magnus clicked his fingers, removing most of Alec’s clothes in an instant rather than trying to pull him from the wet fabric. Alec didn’t seem to notice he was now only in his shorts and Magnus and Jace took a side of him each and lifted him to his feet, heading towards the shower. Magnus felt the water and frowned as it was on the cold side of luke-warm, though he knew they needed to be slow about warming Alec up.

Clearing his throat, Magnus looked at Izzy and Jace as they hovered nearby.

“I’ll sort Alec out with his shower, why don’t you two make some tea and hop in the bed. We’ll need to share our body heat with Alexander for a little while in order to get him to his correct temperature.”

Alec smiled.

“Cuddle puddle.”

“Yes, Alexander, a cuddle puddle.”

The two nodded and went off to work, Magnus turning back to his boyfriend who looked as if he’d fallen asleep standing up.
Getting his own clothes off, he guided Alec into the water, holding him there when the boy whined and tried to get out.

“No Maggy, it hurts.”

“I know, I’m sorry, but we have to get you warm.”

Alec tried to stand as far away from the water as he could and so Magnus took him in his arms and hugged him under the spray of water. Alec whimpered and hid his face in the Warlocks neck, tucking his stiff arms between their chests and curling as small as he could in his loves arms.

Magnus knew that Alec’s skin would be burning from the water and kissed his wet, loops of hair that clung to his forehead, humming a melody close to the boy’s ear to calm him.

He turned the temperature of the water up in increments as Alec defrosted, slowly relaxing in his hold, sighing a shuddering breath against his neck when his tense muscles melted. Now that he was warming up he began to shiver again, teeth chattering and limbs trembling. Alec grunted. He had only just started to relax and now his muscles were jumping again.

Once the water was as warm as Alec could stand without it stinging his chilled skin, they stepped out, Magnus holding him up as he shuddered.
Alec was more alert now that his brain wasn’t frozen and he coughed a few times, wincing as it hurt his chest, while Magnus towelled them both dry. Once they were no longer dripping, he took the boy to their shared bed where Jace and Izzy were already waiting with mugs of hot tea.

Alec blushed at his state of undress in front of them and quickly got into bed, eagerly throwing the blankets over himself. Magnus got in beside him and wound his arms around his chest, blowing warm air against Alec’s cheek.

Alec went really red when Jace started taking his shirt off, throwing it to the floor and jumping in the bed to huddle on Alec’s other side. Izzy kept her clothes on but hopped in as well, straightening the blankets over them all.

“Um, do we all need to be in the bed?”

Jace snorted and wrapped an arm around his parabatai’s, snuggling close and hissing at the goose-bumps that broke out over his skin.

“Damn, Alec, you’re freezing. And don’t be such a baby, we’re only cuddling.”

Throwing an arm out, the blonde pulled Izzy close to his side so she could snuggle too, holding Alec’s hand as it stretched over Jace.

“We need to get you warm big brother, we don’t want you getting sick.”

Magnus patted Alec’s chest as he nodded.

“Yes I’ll take a look at those lungs later to make sure they’re clear of any water you may have swallowed. And, please Darling, no more swims in that lake.”

Alec nuzzled his nose against the downworlders ear, making him jump at the cold.

“It’s not like I did it on purpose. I hate that lake, and those stupid demons.”

Izzy wriggled closer. “I’m just glad you’re okay, when you went under that water…. Never again.”

They all agreed, more than happy to skip the water demons next time. Someone else could deal with them.

Magnus rubbed a finger against Alec’s red nose.

“Are you all warm now? Can you feel your nose again?”

Alec looked into Magnus’ cat eyes and pretended to think, pouting a little.

“My lips are still cold.”

The Warlock smirked and lent forward, brushing his warm lips against Alec’s cold ones.

“I think I can help with that.”

Jace groaned.

“Please don’t start making out with us in the bed. Huddling for warmth is one thing but I don’t really want to be this intimately close when you two go at it.”

Alec smiled, stealing kisses from Magnus between words.

“He’s my boyfriend.”

Magnus purred into Alec’s mouth as he kissed him back.

“And my bed.”

Jace yawned and closed his eyes.

“At least wait till I’m asleep, and keep it PG.” He was too tired to move and Izzy was already asleep on his shoulder. The blonde fell asleep a few minutes later, tired after the excitement of the day.

Magnus held Alec closer, feeling fiercely protective over his Angel.

“I’m serious about being careful next time Alexander. Whenever Jace or Izzy call during your Shadow Hunter duties I immediately think you’ve died.”

Alec snuggled down into his arms, finally feeling himself properly warm.

“Aww Magnus. I promise I’ll do everything I can to come to you. You don’t have to worry about me so much, I’ve been trained my whole life to be a Shadow Hunter and I’m pretty good at it you know.”

“I know you are but I still worry. I likely always will.”

Alec sighed against the Warlocks neck, almost asleep now. Magnus kissed his hair and whispered.

“Go to sleep beautiful. You’ve had a long day.”

Alec smiled and, laying in his loves arms with his Parabatai and little sister beside him, fell happily into his dreams.

Chapter Text

Izzy sighed and tried to pull the blankets back from the lump in the bed but he was determined to keep them.
"Alec, you can't have all those blankets you have a fever."

The lump barely moved and Izzy had to strain to hear the mumble that came from under the mountain of blankets.

"I'm cold."

She sighed again and sat on the edge of the bed.

"I know, you're sick right now. Come out of there, you'll smother yourself. I have a potion for you to drink. It should help get your fever down."

She pulled the blankets back to reveal messy loops of black hair. She smiled a little and ran her hand through the tangles, making her brother shiver as he curled tighter into a ball of fevered limbs.

"It's cooold!" He whined, wanting back under his blankets, but Izzy pulled them back to allow Alec's pink nose and rosy cheeks to peek out.

"Drink." He grumbled but came out long enough to drink the bright blue liquid before huddling back under his blankets.

"No Alec, you can't have all of them. We're trying to get you cooled down and staying under five blankets is not going to help. You'll cook like a chicken."

He giggled to himself. "Like a gay chicken, hehe."

Izzy snorted and patted the blankets where his head was hiding.

"Yes Alec, like a gay chicken."

Jace walked in then, holding a bowl of soup and some crackers, and he wrinkled his nose at the overheard words.

"What exactly are you two talking about?"

Alec shuffled around in his bed at the sound of his parabatais voice.

"Jace? Did you get rid of them all?"

Jace set the tray of food down and rolled his eyes.

"Yep, every last one. No spiders are getting to my big brother any time soon, I promise."

Alec snuck a peek, diving back under with a squeak of terror.

"You missed one."

Jace held back a sigh, closing his eyes and taking a breath before opening them and replying in a patient tone.

"Where is it?"

Alec didn't come out this time, only throwing an arm out the side of his bed to point in the direction of his bookshelf.

Jace stomped around a bit, theatrically stomping down the imaginary spiders. There was no point telling the sick shadow hunter he was hallucinating because in Alec words "well they're still pretty damn scary."

"All done?"

Alec peeked before sighing in relief.

"Yup, all gone. I don't like spiders"

Jace picked the try back up, nodding.

"I know buddy, but they're all gone now. How about you sit up so you can have some of this soup I made you. It's Tomato and bacon, your favourite."

Alec sat up but pulled the blankets to his chest, shivering as his shoulders met the air.

"Thanks Jace, you're the best little brother ever. Apart from Max but you're adopted so it's like a whole different category."

Jace laughed as he carefully placed the tray on Alec's lap.

"Thanks Alec."

The boy started on his soup, dipping his crackers in it the way Izzy had always said was disgusting. Once finished, he went to lie down again but was stopped by his little sister.

"Hey, drink this first. You need to stay hydrated."

Alec groaned at the glass of water she was holding out to him.

"I just had soup, Iz, I think that's hydrated."

She shook her head as Jace smiled at how petulant he was being.

"That doesn't count."

Alec scrunched his nose and narrowed his eyes.

"I don't want it, I want to lie down and you've been making me drink all day."

Izzy glared at him with her best 'stern' look.

"Alexander Gideon Lightwood-"

Alec cut her off and reached for the glass.

"Okay, okay. By the Angel, Iz, you're worse than mother."

He took the glass and begrudgingly drank it as Jace snorted at his siblings' behaviour.

Izzy took the glass and handed the tray back to Jace before laying a hand on Alec forehead.

"Your fevers coming down, you'll start to feel better soon."

She kissed his pink nose and started to tuck him in as he lay down.

"So I can keep all my blankets?" Izzy smiled at her bothers small hopeful tone.

"Not a chance big brother."

He whined again as another shiver rolled through his large frame.

"Magnus lets me have lots of blankets. Where's Magnus?"

Jace helped Izzy pull a few layers from the bed, folding them away and smoothing out the wrinkles in the remaining blankets in that pedantic way of his. He swept through the room, absentmindedly putting his brothers things away from where they were strewn about the floor.

“Chill, man, he’ll be back soon. He’s just grabbing some stuff from his place that you apparently left there.” He grabbed another shirt from the floor and started folding it before getting a whiff of it and throwing it towards the doorway, to the growing pile of washing.

“By the Angel, Alec, would it kill you to clean up every once in a while? How do you live in this mess?”

Alec coughed into his elbow and winced at his sore throat as he frowned at his brother.

“It’s my room, I can do what I like.”

Jace continued tidying, trying to put some sort of order to everything. He wanted to help look after his Parabatai and doing something useful with his hands made him feel better about everything and less like he was in the way.

“That’s not how it works, Alec, you can’t have your room like this. It’s a mess, how do you find anything?”

Alec coughed again and Izzy placed a hand on his back as he caught his breath. He pointed around the room.

“Dirty clothes go there, and clothes that I’m going to wear again go over there. Shoes go under the bed so I can take them off quickly and- hey, leave that alone, I’m not done with it yet.”

Jace threw up his hands and put the book from the floor, onto the bookshelf.
“Why don’t you just put your clothes away, then you’ll always know where they are.”

Izzy sighed and closed her eyes in frustration.

“Would you two please stop arguing? Jace, don’t tell Alec what to do.” Alec smiled and looked smug, until Izzy looked at him with eyebrows raised.
“Alec, let your brother clean your room.”

The two wrinkled their noses at being reprimanded by their younger sibling.

Alec looked ready to protest again but was interrupted by his own coughs. “How come he gets to-?” His coughing was deep and rib rattling, left over from the frigid water that he’d inhaled in that frozen lake. Izzy placed a hand on his back and rubbed soothingly as the boy bent double trying to drag in air.

“Is that my Angel?”

Alec’s head snapped up and he smiled through the last of the coughing fit.

“Magnus!”

The warlock walked in, coat ruffling as he strode in with quick steps. He dropped his bag onto the floor and sat on the bed next to his boyfriend, taking his flushed face in his hands.

“Oh my poor darling, your fevers not gone down yet. Are the spiders all gone?”

Alec smiled, his eyes glued to Magnus’ cat ones. He loved the warlock’s natural eyes and had begged him not to glamour them anymore. The boy nodded, his face still cradled in his loves hands, thumbs running gentle lines across his cheekbones.

“Yeah, Jace got rid of them for me.”

Magnus smiled back, seeing the fever glaze over Alec’s beautiful eyes.

“What a lovely brother he is.”

Alec agreed and lent forward to hide his face in the warlock’s neck, cuddling into him as Magnus wrapped his arms around the shadow hunter. Magnus hummed as he rubbed his hands over the boys back, making Alec curl tighter to him.

“Are you feeling any better?” He turned his next words to Izzy. “Did he eat anything?”

She nodded, smiling at how puppy-like her brother was being, his hands curling to Magnus’ waist.

“He had some soup and crackers and I got him to drink some more water as well as some of that potion.”

The downworlder nodded and turned back to Alec.

“Good job, sweetie. Sounds like it’s time for bed then, you could use a few more hours of sleep.”

Alec shook his head and mumbled words into Magnus’ skin.

“I’m not tired.”

Magnus rose his eyebrows and bent a little to pepper kisses over Alec’s hair and face.

“Oh really?”

Little blue sparks came from every kiss and Alec started giggling and trying to swat his boyfriend away.

“Maggie!”

Magnus laughed and kissed Alec’s nose, making him scrunch it in that adorable way of his, before kissing his smiling lips, whispering puffs of blue magic into his mouth.

“Sleep.”

The magic did it’s work, sending the shadow hunter to sleep with a pleased sigh. He slumped against Magnus, the warlock effortlessly positioning himself in time to catch the boy and lay him gently on the pillows, tucking him in with a last kiss to the forehead.

“You’re much better at babysitting him then we are.” Jace laughed at the dopey smile on Alec’s sleeping face as he patted Magnus’ shoulder.

“He looks so cute.” Was all Magnus replied with, sweeping his hand through Alec’s hair.

Izzy replied with “he does” at the same time that Jace said, sarcastically, “as a button”.

Jace picked up the food tray and sighed.

“I’ve been killing imaginary spiders all day so I’m gonna take a nap. Are you good with him?”

Magnus nodded as Izzy yawned.

“You two have a break, I’ll take care of this one.”

The two left, leaving Magnus to watch over his charge, with adoring eyes.

“Goodnight angel.”