Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Alec still had his eyes closed from the strong white light that had engulfed him, his hand clutching his stomach where he knew he was bleeding. He had a hard time breathing normally but he knew his stele was lost. Scrunching his nose because of the pain and letting out a quiet groan.

“I see you’re awake, shadowhunter,” a voice says close to Alec’s ear. “That’s a surprise, I suppose it’s the angel blood that’s running through your veins and on my floor.” He sounds amused, like the blood on the floor was unintentional, but a welcome surprise. “Hopefully you will have enough energy for this to work, though I must say that I’m extremely proud to have injured the great Alec Lightwood to this extent. All without more than a scratch.”

“Who are you?” Alec grunts out, prying open his heavy eyes, but unable to make out anything other than general shapes of a face. Although there was something odd about the shapes on the left side of his face, almost like they were sharper than the other side. It annoys him that he’s unable to focus his eyes on the man hovering above him with a smile that could contend with the madness in Valentine’s.

The man laughs humorlessly. “A powerful warlock, of course. With my experimentation over the past decades I even think I surpass your traitor of a husband, something I will take delight in showing him when he’s weakened.” The warlock finally moves away from Alec, scrambling a bit with something on the table before turning back to stare down at Alec again. “You would have never caught me, shadowhunter. Looks like I caught you instead.”

The taunting words are merely a whisper, but somehow echoing loudly in Alec’s head, a connection is made. This warlock is responsible for the deaths of nine bodies in the last two months. Alec and his team of shadowhunters have worked closely together with the leaders of the Downworld Cabinet to try and catch the killer. It had taken them the first month to even figure out that magic had been used on the victims, but since then they had all known that the suspect almost certainly had to be a warlock.

Alec had been busy following up a lead on the case when he had suddenly been stabbed through his stomach. His last thought before the bright light of the portal surrounded him had been that he should have accepted Jace’s offer to go with him. But Alec knows why he had said no. Clary was in the infirmary being treated for demon poison, nothing particularly out of the ordinary, except that she was also pregnant. Alec knew Jace didn’t want to leave her side and Alec wouldn’t make him, not when his parabatai was so incredibly worried about his wife. Besides, the lead had just been a suspected sighting of the last victim and Alec had been sure it was a cold lead. Never will he make the mistake of assumption again. If he makes it out alive that is.

“Why did you take me here?”

“Tsk tsk, what makes you think I will answer your questions?”

Alec raises an eyebrow despite his body hurting, because the warlock had kinda answered his other question. He then feels scaly hands guiding his bloody body on the floor, laying on his back with arms close to his body. Alec feels like his limbs are too heavy to try and resist and just lets the warlock move him, hoping that the pain won’t get worse.

“Well, if I’m going to end up like the others it wouldn’t matter to you, would it?” Alec tries to spit back, but it comes out barely above a whisper. All the others were dead and Alec had to admit that he wasn’t ready to face that same fate yet. He had grown up knowing that he would probably die young, he had accepted it, sometimes wanted it quicker. But now he had hoped to live longer than a shadowhunter’s average age, he wanted to spend as long as he could with his husband. Alec was deep down terrified of not being able to live, not because he was scared of death, but because he knew how hard Magnus would take it.

“I suppose not, but I’m hopeful this won’t end up like the other ones. I think I finally solved the problem.”

“What problem?” Alec still tries to get the warlock to talk, maybe delay whatever he’s planning to do to give his siblings time to find out that he’s missing. Hoping that Jace will notice that Alec has been hurt through their bond and has collected a team to search for him.

“You could say I’m experimenting with a spell, but all the other’s didn’t have what it takes to make it succeed, but I have full confidence in you, angel blooded.” The Warlock sighs heavily and spreads something that smells horrendous in a circle around Alec. “It really makes me furious that I need one of you for this, oh the irony.”

“Then why do it?”

“For the greater good, of course.”

Before Alec can continue his questions he feels a sudden pain throughout his entire body, spreading quickly through every nerve, making him shut his eyes and scrunch his face trying to not scream. His hands are closed in fists, nails pressing into his skin, the wetness of blood covering his hands. His body’s starting to shake out of his control. He hears loud buzzing noises that take over from every other sensation. It feels like too much, like he’s being pulled apart cell by cell.

Then suddenly it’s quiet.

The pain that is left is only the wound in his stomach. He opens his eyes and blinks a few times to try and focus on his surroundings. He’s clearly not in the same room where the warlock had brought him before, but his eyes still have trouble seeing clearly. He’s outside in the middle of the street, but he doesn't recognise the buildings surrounding him. It’s dark, probably the middle of the night, there should be shadowhunters out. Maybe his siblings would come and find him, while he still can’t really move, his limbs heavy from exhaustion. Whatever experiment that warlock had just performed had taken a big toll on his body, Alec felt certain that he is lucky to be alive. He can understand the pain that the victims before him had undergone and he feels almost guilty for having survived when nine others didn’t. He tries to shake that feeling of, nothing good ever comes from feeling guilty over something you can’t control.

It takes Alec a couple of breaths before he can move his body to sit up and get a better view of the street he’s now in. It looks like old houses, but familiar in a sense. There’s a newspaper on the ground next to him swirling in the wind. Alec grabs it and suddenly he feels like the air disappeared from his lungs. The date is clear as day.

April 9th 1893.

Alec feels dizzy and stills immediately.

This couldn’t be right. Time travel does not exist.

Alec had even listened in on a discussion concerning this very topic when Magnus had two old warlock friends over at their loft right before their wedding. Apparently the three of them enjoyed discussing impossible subjects and had been very clear with Alec, when he silently massaged Magnus’ shoulders in their company, that even if it was possible it would be extremely dangerous. Time is a delicate thing and if altered could cause extreme consequences. Then Magnus had, with animated movements, started going deeper in on the magic side of what it would take and Alec had stopped trying to understand the words and just enjoyed hearing the excited tone of his fiancé’s voice.

It really should be impossible. Time travel. But the more Alec looks around himself on the empty street, listening to the deafening silence, seeing the lack of electricity and smelling the odeurs coming from the sewers, the more the fact settles in his mind. The warlock that killed all those innocent people had tried to go back in time. That’s the experiment and the spell he was talking about and somehow, this time, it worked. At least for Alec. He couldn’t be sure if the warlock had traveled here too, because surely that was the goal?

As Alec tries to stand up to move to a safer spot he realizes he is bleeding profoundly from his stomach, it’s a deep wound, much deeper than he thought it was. He doesn’t have his stele with him or any weapon, all either lost in the one sided fight or taken by the warlock. He tries to reach out to Jace through their bond, wanting to communicate something, but all it does is alert Alec that the bond is very thin and stretched out at the moment. He can barely feel that Jace is alive. With no way to contact anyone at the institute, the only ones that know he left to look up a lead, he feels the hope of getting back evaporate. Time travel is impossible. Even if he could contact his parabatai, they wouldn’t be able to do something about it. Alec is stuck here. With a bleeding wound. Probably only about an hour or so left to live if he doesn’t find something to stop the bleeding.

Slowly he gets off the ground and starts walking in a direction. Soon enough he recognises some old buildings from his patrols, quickly figuring out that he’s still in New York. Alec isn’t completely sure where to go to find his way somewhere safe, because surely the institute isn’t going to be that place. The Clave would probably lock him up or torture him for information about the future if they knew. No, Alec would have to think of somewhere else to go. That’s when the obvious answer comes to his mind, his husband. If Magnus is in town he will be in his loft, Alec is pretty sure that his husband had mentioned having the space since the 1850s and now he really hoped that was the truth and not some exaggerated tale.

Walking down the quiet streets makes Alec awfully aware of the pain emitting from his stomach, making every movement hurt. He knows if he doesn’t get help soon he’s gone forever. All he wishes is that he would’ve had time to say goodbye to his loved ones. A bit of comfort comes in the form of the letters every shadowhunter writes in case of their deaths. Alec has written five letters. One for Magnus - the love of his life. One for Jace - his trusted parabatai. One for Izzy - his beloved sister. One for his mother - who now supports him through thick and thin. One for Clary and his unborn niece - his unexpected friend and wife to his parabatai. The letters will hopefully help them all cope with Alec’s inevitable death.

A strangled noise startles Alec from his thoughts, it comes from an alleyway. He rushes over as fast as he can in his condition and sees a werewolf fighting a demon. The werewolf is on the ground with the demon towering over him, it snarls at him, taunting like it’s playing with its food. Alec doesn’t think before he grabs a stone from the ground and throws it at the demon. The stone does nothing to hurt the demon, but it takes away its attention from the werewolf, which was Alec’s intention.

“Run!” Alec shouts at the werewolf, who looks at Alec with big wide eyes and then stands on all fours. The demon also looks straight at Alec and Alec feels a cold shiver running down his spine. This is it. Alec holds his head up high, proud to have done one last good deed before the end. The demon walks slowly over to Alec, turning its back on the werewolf. Alec expects the wolf to run away, like he told him to, but instead he jumps on the demon’s back, before Alec has a chance to strike with his weaponless hands.

The demon decimates into pieces and black ichor cowers the ground. Some of which splatters onto Alec’s shoes. Alec looks at the wolf and he looks at Alec. It’s like the werewolf is deciding whether Alec is a threat or not, and Alec just stands there knowing very well that the tension between downworlders and shadowhunters is very high at this time. And there is no guarantee that the wolf will give him the benefit of the doubt, considering.

The werewolf turns around to go back in the alleyway, it’s a dead end. Alec wants to know if he’s alright so he stays where he is, waiting to see what’s going to happen. A few moments later a man comes out, looking a few years older than Alec. He figures this is the wolf's human form and gives a small smile in order to seem less threatening.

“Thank you,” Alec then says in his direction, one hand covering his bleeding stomach, the other in plain view for the man to see. Showing that he’s not holding any weapon.

The man looks confused. “I- Are you not going to try and kill me?”

Alec snorts despite the situation. “No, that’s not really my thing.”

“Then I guess I should thank you too?” It comes out as a question, the man still wary of Alec. He thinks the werewolf has probably never had any reason to thank a shadowhunter before.

“I threw a stone. At a demon. Anyone could have done that.”

“…Why did you throw a stone at the demon?” The man takes a step closer as he curiously asks his question. “Where’s your shiny blade?”

Alec just raises an eyebrow at the man, even if he seems nice enough, letting someone know that you don’t have a weapon on you is a big risk. Alec’s aware that the man can come to that conclusion himself anyway and probably sees how much Alec’s bleeding, he’s not a threat in this condition. He knows that he needs to build some kind of trust from the man if he wants a chance of living.

“My name’s Alec, what’s yours?”

“Wade,” he pauses for a moment, “do you need help?” He’s still kinda far away from Alec, but he knows Wade can see his bloody and torn clothes by the way he’s looking at him. Alec thinks he almost looks concerned.

Alec thinks on the question for a moment, knowing that yes, he needs help, but not knowing exactly what to ask for. He can’t exactly ask a stranger if they know Magnus Bane out of the blue. It would sound like he had an alternate motive other than healing. Alec settles on asking in general instead.

“Do you know any warlock that lives nearby? I am in need of healing and would greatly appreciate finding someone I can pay.” Alec tries his best to not sound too much like he’s from the twenty-first century, but knows it probably comes across as just speaking weirdly.

“You want to pay a warlock to heal you?” Wade gapes at him. “Where’re you from? No shadowhunter in New York would want that. They would rather die than let a downworlder close enough to touch them.”

“I’m not from around here, no,” Alec says and gives a tiny smile, feeling a little guilty over the way other shadowhunters act. “Could you please show me the way to a warlock willing to heal me for a price?”

Wade seems to consider the question for a moment before he nods his head slightly. “Alright, I’ll take you to a friend of mine, but I can’t assure you that she’ll do what you ask. I’m just taking you there and then my depth to you for saving my life will be repaid.”

“Okay.” Alec agrees easily and breathes out, feeling a bit of hope return. Maybe he won’t die yet, there’s still a chance of surviving.

Wade walks beside him, neither of them talking as they make their way through the streets slowly. Alec tries to walk without the other man noticing how much pain he’s in, but he can tell Wade knows by the way he’s glancing over at Alec's abdomen from time to time.

After a few minutes they walk up to a porch and Wade knocks on the door. It only takes a few seconds before the door swings open and there stands a familiar person to Alec, Catarina Loss, Magnus’ good friend. Alec can’t help but let out a little smile at the familiarity even though he’s starting to see black spots appear in his vision.

“Wade,” Cat says sternly, “why have you brought a nephilim to my house?”

Alec wants to continue to listen to what is being said, he wants to plead his case to ask if she can help him. But what happens instead is that darkness takes over and Alec falls into someone’s arms before completely blacking out.

Chapter Text

The cold and hard surface beneath his body distracts Alec from the aching pain. The only sounds he can hear are his own breathing and a clock ticking. There is no sign of another person being close by.

He opens his eyes and turns his head around to get a better look at the room he’s in. It looks like a living room of sorts, with a small couch and a round table with four chairs. There is a bookcase and some trinkets spread around the room. After a quick sweep of the room, Alec slowly sits up despite the pain around his stomach, realizing that he was laying on the floor. The smell of books calms Alec’s beating heart down a bit, making him able to focus on what happened.

He remembers talking to a werewolf named Wade, who helped Alec get to Catarina’s place, but after that he has no recollection. Looking out the windows, where the moon is lighting up the dark sky, makes Alec come to the conclusion that he has been unconscious for about four hours. Alec assumes that Cat healed him, since he feels a bit better. Now he’s at least not dying from bleeding to death.

Not that it helps a lot, knowing that he has survived another day. Not when he’s not home. It doesn’t really matter what happens to him here, because no one knows him. It’s a sad thought, but a realistic one. Alec has no family here, they are all in the future. And he has no way of getting back. The only person who knows how to make the spell, is the warlock that killed nine people in his madness to time travel.

Even if that warlock would help Alec get back, which he doubts, he doesn’t have a name or place or any information about him to search him up. Alec doesn’t even know if the warlock traveled with him in time, or if he stayed behind in the present. If it’s the latter, it makes it more impossible to get Alec back, since that warlock in this time doesn’t have the knowledge, therefore it doesn’t matter if Alec can find him or not. It’s hopeless.

Alec’s head starts hurting and he decides to stop thinking about all the complications for now. It’s of no use to think so many steps ahead anyway. He takes a deep breath and focuses on the here and now instead. He should find where Cat is, he has to pay her for the healing.

After that Alec plans to look for the warlocks that his husband had talked to about time travel, maybe one of them thought about it before 1893. Alec remembers that the one with green skin and horns introduced himself as Ragnor. Alec has heard many stories including him and Cat from Magnus, but has only met him twice. Once at the time travel discussion and once at his and Magnus’s wedding reception.

Alec thinks that maybe he can ask Cat where to find Ragnor, because that might be his best chance at figuring out if it’s possible for Alec to get back to his time. He must still have hope that it is, but as Magnus usually says: if Ragnor can’t do it, nobody can. Alec knows this is his best chance because he trusts his husband. And after thinking for a while Alec realizes that his first plan of finding Magnus can be devastating for the future, since Alec likes his life as it is. He doesn’t want to accidentally destroy their relationship because of alterations in the past. So the best outcome must be to avoid his future husband, if possible. But realistically if he has already found Cat and plans on finding Ragnor, he will most likely stumble upon Magnus as well. They are after all a trio.

“You’re awake.” Catarinas voice suddenly startles Alec out of his thoughts. “Good, means you can go back to your people.”

Cat stands leaning against the doorway to what Alec assumes is the hallway, with her arms crossed over her chest, eyes narrowed in at Alec. He recognises the way she carries herself as defensive, a posture she hasn’t had in his presence in a long time.

“Thank you,” Alec says with a scratchy voice, coughing slightly at the attempt to speak, “for healing me.”

Cat waves her hand and a glass of water is suddenly conjured on the table next to Alec, he manages a small smile at her and takes it, drinking the water without hesitation. The dryness of his throat immediately disappears and Alec can’t help but suspect she used a small spell on the water as well, but doesn’t mention it, knowing it was probably a test of some sort for him. He is after all a shadowhunter in her home.

“I’m a healer first and foremost,” Cat states warily, “if it’s in my ability to heal someone in the close vicinity, it is my oath to do so. But next time I would greatly appreciate it if you didn’t collapse and almost die on my doorstep.”

Alec sends her a small grin, the familiarity of the snarky Cat he knows visible. “Of course, next time I’ll at least take the time to actually ask for help before almost dying on your doorstep,” he quips. When she looks at him with a frown he realizes this isn’t actually his friend Cat and regrets not speaking with more finesse.

He is after all a stranger to her. A stranger she wants out of her home as quickly as possible.

“I suppose that is the least I can ask of a shadowhunter who willingly searched for a warlock instead of going to the institute,” Cat says after a beat of silence and Alec hears the implicit question of why in her reply, but he knows he can’t answer with the whole truth.

“I would most certainly have died if I had tried to make my way there instead.” Alec doesn’t say that if that was the case and he didn’t die from the bleeding, the clave would probably be his cause of death. They would probably have tried to get Alec to tell them all about the future with any means necessary. “Besides, as you revealed, you are a healer. You healed me when you didn’t have to and I suspect that you used a lot of your energy to get me this healthy. So please, tell me how I can repay you for everything you did for me. I don’t have anything of value on me besides this…” Alec holds up his left hand, the wedding ring on display, “which is the only thing I am not willing to part with.”

Alec is aware that Cat deserves more as payment than he can give her at the moment and makes a mental note to thank her again if he ever gets back to his present time.

She hums in acknowledgment, “Don’t worry, I wouldn’t ask you to give me something as important as a wedding band. Although you’ve got me curious as to why a shadowhunter carries one. I was under the impression that shadowhunters married with a rune?”

Alec hesitates before opening his mouth again, “It’s…a bit complicated. Usually yes, that is the case.” He doesn’t expand more on his answer, can’t let her know that the reason he has a ring is because he married a warlock, not to mention that it’s her friend Magnus Bane. Alec doesn’t want to say too much about things that happen in the future, just in case, and this is probably one of the things he should keep to himself, at least for now.

Cat seems to catch on to his reluctance to speak about himself and changes the topic, to Alec’s surprise. “You need to rest for a day or two before going back to killing demons. As I said before, you almost died because of your stab wound and I did what I could to save the tissue surrounding it, but it will most likely leave a permanent scar. As for how you can pay me, how about you give me your name as a start.”

Alec frowns, “you can call me Alec. My family name is probably not safe for me to share with you, I wouldn’t want to put you in a difficult situation by knowing it.”

“Well, Alec.” Cat moves from her position at the entrance to the living room and sits down on the couch. “I’m Catarina. Could you answer some other questions for me? Knowledge is a valuable thing to have and worth enough for you to pay me for healing you.”

Alec nods and then he also moves from the floor where he has been sitting on the uncomfortable floor to a chair, not wanting to make Cat uncomfortable by sitting next to her on the couch. “The questions you have that I can answer I will, but if you ask something that I can’t answer without risking your safety I will not.”

“That’s an interesting view of thinking for a shadowhunter. How come you say you care about my safety? I’m a warlock, your kind usually don’t consider us people, let alone behave as such.”

“But you are!” Alec exclaims, “A person that is. And as a shadowhunter it is my responsibility to protect both mundanes and downworlders, that’s our mission given to us by the angel. I’m aware that most shadowhunters treat downworlders as less, but I can assure you that I do not. We are equal and that’s how I treat you.”

“You’re telling the truth,” Cat states with a surprising expression on her face, “you truly care about downworlders.”

“Of course,” Alec immediately agrees, then he lets out a laugh as he realizes how Cat can tell that he’s genuine. “You put a truth potion in the water, didn’t you?”

Cat’s eyes widen and Alec sees a flash of fear in between one blink and another. Alec rapidly puts his hands up to show that he means peace and gives her a calming smile.

“No need to worry, Catarina. I understand why you did it without telling me and I must emphasize that you taking precaution with a shadowhunter in your home is perfectly reasonable. I won’t report you to the Clave.”

“It’s not really a truth potion as much as it is a spell that let’s me know if what comes out of your mouth is a truth or a lie,” Cat says after a moment, probably deciding that it’s safe to tell Alec and trust him enough to know that he won’t hurt her in any way.

“That explains why I didn’t notice it.” Alec leans back in the chair to find a more comfortable position for his healing wound, now that the conversation is more friendly. “Now continue to ask me what you want and I’ll answer the best I can.”

Surprise crosses Cat’s features yet again and then her face softens into a more familiar view for Alec. “You still want to answer my questions to pay for my service even though I just told you that I put a spell on you to my benefit?”

The question is rhetorical, but Alec nods his head invitingly. Cat makes a movement with her hand as magic pours out, conjuring up two cups of what smells like herbal tea. She then gestures for Alec to come sit on the couch next to her and Alec does.

“Alec,” she starts but then seems to rethink the question she wants to ask as she instead takes a sip from her cup before continuing, “Wade told me that you helped him kill a demon, thank you for saving my friend.”

“It’s what I do.” Alec shrugs, knowing how impulsively he had acted and if the werewolf hadn’t killed the demon, Alec would be dead.

Magnus would be livid with him if he knew what had happened. He would have told Alec that he needs to think about his own safety sometimes as well, to think before acting and not the other way around. Magnus calls him reckless. Alec knows that his husband is really just scared to lose him, but Alec isn’t the type of person to just sit and watch someone die if he can do something about it.

“You didn’t have any weapon on you, or a stele.”

“I didn’t,” Alec agrees, “but I have taken down demons with my bare hands before, so when I saw Wade struggling I acted on instinct to try and help. I kinda forgot that I was already bleeding until the demon looked at me. Wade saved my life and led me to you, I owe him.”

They continue talking a bit about Alec and his interaction with Wade. Cat tells him what happened after he passed out and before he woke up, telling him about how Wade helped gather some ingredients for a potion to heal Alec and how he had told her that Alec could come to him if ever needed help again. Then Cat starts asking more about Alec.

“Where are you from?” Cat seems almost curious now as opposed to before when her caution was obvious.

“Here from New York.” Alec takes a sip from the tea and hums in delight.

“Yet I’ve never seen you on patrols before.”

“You have and you haven’t.” Alec’s cryptic answer gets an eyebrow raise and snicker from Cat.

“All right then, when were you born?”

Alec stays silent for a moment, the question seems simple at first glance but it would reveal everything. There is a thought in his mind lingering, wondering if maybe the best way to go about being stuck in the past is actually telling someone that you are. He was already thinking about finding and telling Ragnor, but that seemed easier than telling Cat, since he barely knows Ragnor in the present time. It’s easier to keep distance that way. But now, Alec thinks maybe it can’t hurt to have two people help him, if he can convince them to.

“September 12th,” Alec answers and takes a deep breath before continuing, “1989.”

A pin could drop and be heard loud and clear in the silence that follows. Alec sees the wheels spinning in Cat’s head and the frown that appears and disappears. He deduces that she could tell that he had spoken the truth and was now trying to piece together what it means: Alec’s from the future.

“Well, that certainly explains your fashion sense.”

At that Alec lets out a laugh, not having expected that as a response. “I suppose it would.” Then he turns serious again. “I didn’t plan on time traveling and now I’m here with no way back.”

“What do you mean? If you got here you must have a way to travel back to where you come from?”

The concern laced in with her voice is what catches him off guard.

“I didn’t think he would send me to the past when he kidnapped me…” Alec continues on and tells Cat what he can remember from the warlock and what he did, being very careful not to mention anything other than absolutely necessary.

When he finishes his tale both of them have finished their cups of tea and Cat looks determined.

“I’ll try and help you, Alec.” Cat smiles at him with a smile that takes away some of the worry that has been constant in Alec. “But I do think we should portal to my friend’s house, he knows a lot more than I do about discovering new possibilities in magic. I’m certain he has thought about time travel before and perhaps he has some books on the matter that could be of help.”

With that Cat makes a portal and then drags Alec through. He recognizes the green warlock that stands in the new room they turn up in as Ragnor Fell.

“And why, Catarina,” Ragnor grunts,” have you brought a nephilim to my sacred grounds?”

“His name is Alec and he’s from the future.”

After half an hour of explaining everything that happened in the last day, Ragnor is up to speed. He takes the time travel with grace and seems mostly excited to unravel the mystery that is Alec Lightwood-Bane (though neither of the two warlocks are aware of his last name) and how he traveled to the past.

“In short, a warlock experimented with a time travel spell and now I’m here, stuck in the past.”

“Fascinating,” Ragnor whispers and then continues in a louder voice, “I can sense some kind of unknown magic surrounding you, boy. It might be related to the spell.” He steps closer to Alec with a somewhat worried face, scrutinizing Alec and presumably looking for the source of that magic.

Before he can get too close another portal lights up the room and out steps a less sparkly version of his husband.

“What is a pretty shadowhunter doing here?” Magnus asks and looks straight at Alec. But Alec doesn’t see his husband in those familiar brown eyes. He sees a stranger.

Somehow it hurts more than Alec had mentally prepared himself to when he hears and sees this younger version of his husband. Sure, Alec had hoped that he could’ve avoided Magnus in the past, but since Wade helped him get to Cat he knew it was a very possible outcome.

“He collapsed on my porch. I couldn’t let him die. The Clave would’ve pinned it on me if I didn’t help. And turns out he’s not so bad.” Cat speaks as she gives Magnus a hug in greeting.

“You have too soft of a heart, my dear,” Magnus softly sighs, “but I suppose I can see the appeal in saving this one. I’m Magnus Bane, darling.” Then he winks at Alec, making him somehow stumble on his feet and flush red in embarrassment.

“Alec.”

Magnus looks at him questioningly. “No last name, Alec?”

Alec just shakes his head, unsure if he’s able to speak to Magnus without panicking or rambling or just saying the wrong things.

“Before you took the liberty to crash in my living room.” Ragnor pointedly glares at Magnus. “I was about to suggest that Alec and Cat can stay here while we do our research.”

“I think that’s a splendid idea, Ragnor,” Cat agrees, “and now perhaps Magnus should stay as well?”

“Oh, I would love to spend my next few days here.” Alec feels Magnus’s gaze tracing his body when the words are said, but doesn’t have the courage to meet his eyes. It would feel weird to see his husband looking at him with desire and knowing that this is not actually his husband.

“Great,” Ragnor claps his hands, “Cat and Magnus you know which guest rooms are yours. Alec I will show you where to go after–“

Magnus interrupts him.

“Oh, you’re married.” He looks slightly disappointed at Alec’s hands.

Alec can’t help but smile widely. “I am.”

“I believe your ring could be the source of the unknown magic,” Ragnor then says, trying to steer the conversation back on track.

“I–“ Alec looks at Ragnor, feeling very confused. “I didn’t know you could tell it has magic.” Alec settles on being honest, even if he knows Cat took away the truth spell thing that she used before.

He didn’t know others could feel the magic coming from the ring, but maybe it explains some of the looks he gets from other warlocks whenever they’re out and about. Maybe everyone could tell that Magnus’s magic was used to protect Alec. He almost smiles at the idea, but doesn’t as soon as he realizes that this Magnus is clearly not his husband.

“Can I take a closer look? Wouldn’t want to be blindsided if the ring indeed is the source and you have brought malicious magic through the wards.” Magnus holds his hand out in a clear indication that Alec should drop the ring on Magnus’s palm. Making it less of a request and more of an order.

“He needs rest,” Catarina interjects, looking sternly at Magnus and then Ragnor. Alec thinks she can tell that he’s overwhelmed, which is nice and also weird since this isn’t the Cat he knows. “And the wards can’t let anything through that doesn’t have pure intent, that includes objects with infused magic. You were the one who made the wards Magnus.”

“No, it’s fine, you can look at it but I won’t take it off,” Alec tells them, his lips forming a tight line. He doesn’t like this, but he wants Magnus to trust him. Alec holds up his hand with the ring, but doesn't make a move to get closer. “It has protection spells in it.” He explains although he’s not entirely sure how many or what they do exactly, he just knows that his Magnus told him to always keep it on, that it would protect him.

“You have a wedding ring infused with protection spells?” Magnus stops getting closer to Alec and instead furrows his brows and tilts his head a tiny bit to the left, like he does when he’s feeling confused. “Why would a shadowhunter want that? Don’t you have a rune for protection?”

“Yeah, I– we…” Alec takes back his hand and stops to think about how to say this, because he can’t give up too much information that can affect the future and the way things are supposed to be. He absentmindedly spins his wedding ring around his finger, feeling a bit better knowing that it’s still there. “It’s just extra layers of protection, I guess. My husb– um… partner bought it.”

Alec winces as he stumbles over the words. He’s pretty sure everyone catches his slip and hears the full word: husband. And oh, how that could cause trouble at this time and age.

“A shadowhunter with a ring that’s infused with magic, how peculiar.” Ragnor looks at Alec with a bit more curiosity than before. Alec’s lips stretch to an almost smile as a thanks that Ragnor ignored his slipup.

“I suppose.” Alec shrugs.

“Alec you really should rest–” Cat starts but Magnus interjects with a suggestive tone.

“You mentioned a husband.”

“–before we talk about what happened.” Cat finishes her sentence ignoring Magnus’s questioning but hopeful gaze at Alec, but makes sure to glare at Magnus as he says his statement.

“Magnus,” Ragnor says sternly, “now is not the time for such discussions. Let the boy get some rest.”

“Fine.” Magnus huffs and makes his way out of the room, shouting behind him as he walks, “After you’ve gotten your rest shadowhunter, come find me!”

Both Ragnor and Cat roll their eyes while Alec feels a flutter in his chest. He has to remind himself that it was in fact not his husband saying those words. Alec watches with big eyes as Magnus disappears out of sight, probably making his way to his room.

“He recently went through a break up, which I dearly hope stays as a break up this time.” Cat sighs and a sadness crosses her face. “It does not excuse his behavior, of course, but the over the top flirting is probably how he copes with it. I hope he’s not making you too uncomfortable, and if he is just tell me or Ragnor. Otherwise Magnus has a great knowledge of magic and would be a good addition to our research.”

“I know,” Alec sighs, “In my time I’ve spoken to him more times than the two of you combined. It’s just jarring seeing him being so… different.”

“Would you be okay with us telling Magnus about your situation?” Cat asks him, voice full of concern.

“Yeah, I think that’s probably best.”

Alec doesn’t know if that’s actually true.

“Magnus can be a bit less insufferable when doing research,” Ragnor adds with a fond eye roll, “now, young man, let me show you to your room so you can sleep. When you wake up we can discuss more about how you got here and come up with a plan on how to get you back.”

Chapter Text

The view from Alec’s window shows the big garden outside. There is one big tree closer to the house and an area for flowers, the rest is an open landscape. There isn’t another house in sight, instead all Alec can see in the distance is a forest, seemingly surrounding Ragnor’s home.

After resting for a little bit in the guest room Ragnor had shown him, Alec starts making his way to where the others seem to be. He follows the voices, accidentally listening in on the conversation.

“… shadowhunter that time traveled.” Magnus’ voice echoes outside of the room. Alec concludes that Cat and Ragnar have finished telling him about how Alec turned up here.

“Which is why we want to try and help him.”

“It’s best if all of this stays between the four of us, Magnus.” Ragnor coughs and Alec can hear clinks from some tableware, presumably a cup of tea. “At this moment we don’t have enough knowledge to estimate how this situation is affecting the timeline and we need to be careful.”

“So what you’re really saying is that we have a research slumber party for the next couple of weeks, sounds riveting!”

Alec steps into the room and sees the three warlocks around a table with a teacup each and plate with scones. Cat is the first one to notice him and gives him a small smile.

“How are you feeling, Alec?”

“Better,” he answers and sits down on the chair in between Cat and Magnus. “I’m still a bit sore, however the pain is completely gone.”

“That’s good.” Cat then conjures up another cup for Alec and he thanks her before taking a sip and grabbing a scone.

“We should start with finding the books to research,” Ragnor says, “I’m not sure if there is any information about time travel in any of mine, but it’s a good start.”

“Can’t we start with asking questions about the future if he really has time traveled?” Magnus asks, looking expectantly at Alec.

“You can ask, but I can’t promise I will answer.”

Magnus seems happy enough with that answer and lights up with a smile. “Do you really have a husband?”

Instead of saying something Alec just holds up his hand, showing the ring. Magnus that sits next to Alec moves to grab his hand, but Alec quickly moves his own back. Alec looks pointedly at Magnus, who now wears a pout on his lips, but accepts that he can’t touch the ring.

“Does the Clave approve of a same sex marriage?” Cat inquires curiously, knowing how much that would mean for Alec as a shadowhunter.

“They do now.” Alec smiles proudly. “We waited to get married until it would be seen as legit by the Clave and…um, well— I had to sit through a lot of long and boring meetings to change the law. It’s now legal to marry whoever you want.”

“Even a downworlder?” Magnus asks and Alec nods, “and you?”

Alec knows what he’s asking, did he marry a downworlder? He wants to answer that yes, he did, but he’s still not sure where the line of acceptable things to admit about the future is. So instead he gives Magnus the look again that says he can’t answer. Which admittedly is an answer in itself, since the easy and expected answer would be to just say no.

“Fine.” Magnus touches his ear in a nervous gesture. One that Alec misses very much. “Do you know me in the future?”

“I do,” Alec responds, “I know Cat as well and I have met Ragnor before. I know a number of warlocks and other downworlders, mostly through my work, since I believe we should have good working relationships between us. And now I consider a lot of them my friends.”

“Interesting.” Magnus takes another sip. “Tell me, is the Statue of Liberty still standing?

“That’s what you want to know?” Cat rolls her eyes but the small smile on her lips deceive the pretend annoyance and replace it with a fondness.

“Can we skip the future talk for now?” Ragnor chimes in, “I want to know more about the time travel part. Hence we should start researching.”

Magnus rolls his eyes. “My dear cabbage, how is the future not interesting?”

“I have a potion that I need to finish before I can start researching,” Ragnor says ignoring Magnus’ question, “the rest of you can begin with looking through my books for something relevant.”

That’s how the four of them find their way to Ragnor’s apothecary, ignoring his suggestion.

Ragnor starts collecting items and Cat seems to know exactly what he needs as well, helping out with finding the ingredients. Magnus walks around the room, mindlessly touching different stuff, while humming. Alec watches them and enjoys seeing the easy way the three of them move around each other, how they don’t necessarily need words to understand the flow. How it seems like this is the thousandth time they’ve been in this situation. How easily they all accept Alec into their space makes Alec feel like he belongs for a moment. It’s surprising that he’s even allowed in the apothecary in the first place, he is after all a shadowhunter. An apothecary is one of the most important places for a warlock, it’s personal, intimate. Alec almost feels overwhelmed at the trust handed to him.

Ragnor seems to enjoy talking while making potions, though he doesn’t really speak to anyone, just kind of verbally explaining what he does and why. Sometimes he adds an anecdote or two to mix it up. Magnus ignores most of what Ragnor says, just humming in the background, while Cat sometimes acknowledges something or adds an interesting fact to an anecdote. Alec finds that he really enjoys listening and watching what they do and sometimes asks questions, which Ragnor happily answers. Alec suspects that he likes teaching and sharing his knowledge with other people.

“When making a potion or a spell, a warlock always leaves their signature available for other warlocks to notice. This is why I can easily tell when Magnus tries to cloak his creations and he always fails to pull practical jokes on me.” A pointed glare is directed at the humming man that browses the cluttered shelves behind them.

“Is it not possible to block such a signature?” Alec asks, thinking about the case he was working on before the time travel. It had taken them a month to figure out that magic was involved, which was Magnus’ discovery.

“It is, but it takes a lot of energy and the procedure isn’t always reliable,” Ragnor easily responds. “It’s seldom worth the effort.”

Alec furrows his brows in contemplation of what Ragnor just said. If Ragnor has an easy time recognizing all of Magnus’ magic, then how come he didn’t say anything about Alec’s wedding ring before? Did none of them notice that the ring is basically drenched in Magnus’ magic?

“Hold on, are you saying that the magic you felt on me yesterday wasn’t familiar in the slightest?”

“Should it have been?” Ragnor raises an eyebrow in Alec’s direction at the topic change and then goes back to grinding the bones in the mortar.

“Uh…yes?” It comes out as more of a question than intended, but Alec now feels a bit of anxiety making itself known. The magic from the ring should have been very familiar. It’s Magnus’ magic for angel’s sake. He put all of the protection spells in the ring before their wedding and sometimes he adds a new one or renews the older ones.

His answer makes all the movement in the room stop and puts a pause on Magnus’ humming. All three pairs of eyes look at Alec with different degrees of confusion and something else that Alec can’t identify.

“Well, like I said before,” Cat breaks the silence, “if the magic was malicious it couldn’t have gotten past the wards, so I don’t think we need to worry too much about that part.”

“But– if it wasn’t the magic from my wedding ring that all of you reacted to, then what was it?”

“A good question indeed,” Magnus responds and then Alec recognises the glint in his eyes as mischievous, “and there is a quick and easy way to find out if I can just get my hands on you.”

Ragnor rolls his eyes. “Magnus, please stop flirting with the man in front of me.”

“Are you saying I can do it behind your back?”

“He has a husband, Magnus,” Cat states, “stop making him uncomfortable. You know as well as I do that what you’re suggesting isn’t necessary.”

Alec feels his face become warmer and is sure he resembles a tomato at the moment. It feels weird to have Magnus, but not his husband, flirt with him. It’s difficult to separate the two in his head and the flirting definitely doesn’t help the differentiation either.

“A simple scanning spell should suffice,” Ragnor agrees.

“Fine.” Magnus slumps down with an over dramatic gesture in the closest fauteuil with a heavy sigh. “But I can assure you that the shadowhunter has given me the eyes.”

Alec’s face flushes a deeper color of red and he pointedly ignores Magnus by looking at his feet. He has no doubt everyone in the room can tell how flustered he is.

“I love my husband and I would never be unfaithful to him.” His voice comes out stronger than he thought, not prepared to be indirectly accused of such a thing. His words are full of truth. The situation is just complicated, because Magnus is his husband. Just not yet.

“Alec.” Cat calls to his attention and smiles kindly at him, then makes a motion to a fauteuil in the opposite corner of Magnus. “Sit down for a moment, the spell might tingle a little.”

Alec follows her orders and sighs in relief that it’s not Magnus doing the spell. It gets harder and harder to not react in the same manner as he does with his husband when this man is wearing the same face and speaks in the same way. It’s Magnus. Yet it’s not. And it’s messing with his head. The most obvious difference is the words that he says, they’re more harsh in comparison to his husband who always speaks so gently and lovingly to Alec. He guesses it’s because of Camille’s influence, but even knowing that she’s probably to blame for his attitude doesn’t stop his heart from hurting.

The tingling that Cat mentioned is barely noticeable to Alec, only there for a couple of seconds. He watches her reaction to whatever she found, and she doesn’t look happy. Her mouth twitched slightly downwards and brows furrow.

“I haven’t exactly seen this particular spell before, but I’m certain that someone casted a permanent tracking spell on you about a week back.”

“Shit–“ Alec eloquently breathes out and then touches the deflect rune on his neck, wishing that he had his stele. He then looks over at Ragnor. “Can the warlock track me through your wards?”

“I’m not sure.” Ragnor frowns.

“I can leave,” Alec says and stands up again, “I don’t want to bring trouble your way.”

“Don’t be an imbecile, young man.” Ragnor rolls his eyes and puts a firm hand on Alec’s shoulder. “Even if the warlock you’re speaking of could track you here, there is no way for anyone with malicious intent to get through the wards. We’re all safe here. You included.”

“I can put an anti-tracking spell on you.” Magnus stands up and walks over to Alec, waiting for him to give his consent before calling forward his magic.

Alec almost sighs happily at the familiar feeling of Magnus’ magic flowing in a warm embrace over him, but manages to not make any sound. Maybe he squirms a bit under the spell in his attempt to not react, but no one says anything about it.

“You know who did it.” Cat looks at Alec and Magnus goes back to his seat.

“I would assume the same person that stabbed me, but I don’t know who he is.”

Magnus shifts in his fauteuil. “About that, how did he manage to stab you?”

Before Alec can answer a fizzing and popping sound is made from Ragnor’s direction and an apologetic mutter follows. It only takes another moment for the potion to be done and the smell that spreads through the apothecary makes Alec scrunch his nose and forget to answer the question.

“Why do you always take the clients that want the worst smelling potions?” Cat complains and ushers Alec out of there as Ragnor just rolls his eyes, seemingly unaffected by the odor. Magnus swiftly moves out of the room as well.

The three of them move to the living room. Alec sits down on the very end of the couch, with Magnus barely respecting his private space. He sits close enough to Alec to make him aware of every breath Magnus takes, and just far enough away from Alec that he can’t ask him to move further without being rude. The space left on the couch next to Magnus isn’t enough for another person, but there is another couch where Cat sits down.

They decide that Alec should answer some more questions about the warlock before they search for books. It’s time to go through the details about what Alec had been through to figure out a solution. He still has hope that the three warlocks helping him out will come up with something. And he knows that the more information they have on what happened the more likely it is.

Ragnor soon joins them and sits down next to Cat. “I believe we should start with trying to figure out who the warlock is.”

“I agree,” Cat says, “since we know all the broader strokes of the situation the most reasonable starting point for details is to figure out who did it and why.”

“I never got a good look.” Alec shrugs, regretting that he didn’t try harder to figure out some sort of attribute or warlock mark or just something. “I was kinda out of it and had a hard time focusing my eyes when I woke up after he had kidnapped me.”

“What about before?” Ragnor asks, “you mentioned that he stabbed you, didn’t you see him in that fight?”

Alec shakes his head. “I didn’t have time to react before I felt the pain of being stabbed from behind. Then I remember a portal appearing and after that I woke up in his lair.”

“Were you on patrol?” Magnus is the one to ask the question this time.

“No, I was on my way to investigate a lead.” Alec doesn’t add that he had denied the offer from his parabatai to go with him, not about to let them know that he, the head of the institute broke protocol and went alone, making him end up kidnapped and sent through time. He was definitely acting prematurely now that he thinks about it.

“So you didn’t get a chance to look at said warlock until you woke up dazed in his lair,” Ragnor summarizes.

“Correct.” Alec sighs. “His voice makes me believe it’s a male warlock and I noticed that half his face was…I’m not sure how to describe it. It was sharper. Like, I could only make out the general shape of a human hovering above me and one half was smoother and one was sharper.”

“That could be anything,” Magnus unhelpfully adds, “sharp like glass? stones? scales?”

“I-I’m not sure…but his hands felt sharp too, if that helps.”

“One or both?”

“Both.”

“Did you see any color on him? His skin, hair or something else?” Cat asks, looking a bit concerned.

Alec shakes his head again. “Not really, it was like I just saw his silhouette and the room was dark. No matter how much I squinted I couldn’t see. It was annoying.”

“It’s likely that he put some sort of spell on your eyes to hide his identity,” Ragnor hums thoughtfully, “especially since he performed the tracking spell on you.”

“Could be.” Alec shrugs, feeling disappointed still that he doesn’t have much information about the warlock’s appearance. “He did say that all the experimentation was for the greater good, whatever he means by that. Because I have no doubt that we have different definitions on that one.”

“Did he say anything else?” Cat leans forward in her seat, Ragnor mirroring her new position.

Alec stops to think, trying to remember what tiny pieces of information he had been given during his captivity. Then he shrugs. “I think the reason his experimentation worked was because of me being nephilim, but that’s all I can remember.”

Ragnor presses his lips together in a tight line, something Alec has picked up as Ragnor contemplating something. “There must be a reason, something that sparked his experimentation with time travel. Why would a warlock try and do the impossible for what he deems the greater good and then risk it all by sending a shadowhunter back in time?”

“Perhaps Alec wasn’t the only one to make the journey,” Magnus suggests. “It’s likely that the warlock didn’t anticipate Alec joining him in the time travel if he wants to change something that has already happened. It’s possible that he only wanted to use Alec’s blood as a means to make the experiment work for him, but Alec was a side effect.”

“But what event could be so important that he spent decades trying to change it?” Alec feels confused. What Ragnor and Magnus are saying makes sense, there has to be something that ignited this madness.

There is a beat of silence.

“Love,” Ragnor sighs, “it always comes back to love or the loss of a loved one.”

“Perhaps.” Magnus shrugs. “but there is no reason to spend our time on guesswork.”

“If he really did make the journey with you, Alec, we could try and stop him from changing the timeline,” Cat says, “Finding a warlock with almost no information is not going to be easy, but it is possible.”

Alec carefully bites the inside of his cheek, trying to not think of all of the impossibilities of this situation. He needs to focus on the now, stop thinking about what could happen if they’re not successful.

“I love a challenge.” Magnus smirks, slightly annoying Alec with the lightheartedness is his statement that contradicts Alec’s near panic. “Since all three of us felt what the unknown magic felt like on you, Alec, there is a possibility that if we come across the same warlock’s magic again we will recognize it.”

“Perhaps we should focus on the research we can do in the house for now.”

Alec follows Ragnor to the rows of bookshelves in the room next door to the living room. Magnus and Cat immediately start picking up different books, magicking them to the table in the living room. Alec walks down the row of books in English, carefully touching the leatherbound spines with his fingers, breathing in the smell of old books.

Ragnor knows exactly which books could be relevant and transports all of them to the living room with a snap of his fingers. Alec almost pouts, knowing that he can’t stay in this heavenly place filled with his favorite smell. But he obediently follows Ragnor out to the living room again.

All of them have their own pile of books to read through. Alec knows that he got the books that aren’t theory heavy or include some sort of warlock secrets. He doesn’t mind. He likes reading and the motivation behind this particular reading makes him quickly pick up the first book and start skimming the pages.

The next few days continue about the same way. Alec wakes up, does some simple exercise and walks to the living room, where Magnus, Cat and Ragnor are already up and reading. Alec sometimes moves around so that he sits on a chair or a couch or sometimes on the floor, while reading through the books. With the exception of an occasional food break where they talk to each other, it’s mostly silent. Everyone focused on their own task, trying to find something useful. Anything at all that could be helpful in sending Alec back to his time.

The books that Alec’s reading aren’t very interesting, none of them so far have mentioned anything about time travel or another type of dimensional travel. Instead Aled has now read about numerous different spells for how to conjure up a specific flower from the seelie realm, the magical theory behind making wards (the beginner version, thankfully, the 300 page book was incredibly difficult to get through) and for some reason an in-depth guide of how to take care of a cow. That last one was actually interesting, Alec chose to read it as a break from all the boring theory and spells. And maybe also because Alec finds cows intriguing and everything that can distract Alec from the time travel for a bit feels worth it. How it ended up in the magical theory bookshelves Alec doesn’t question.

On the second day Alec learns that they’re still technically in New York, just outside of the city. The reason that Ragnor’s house is surrounded by forest and is located quite far away from neighbors is that no one can disturb him and it’s perfect for research. Ragnor is not a people person and prefers delving into the wonderous world of research.

On the third day Magnus keeps disturbing Alec with questions about the future, all of which Alec ignores. But he can’t concentrate on the book he’s reading and ends up turning the page only twice in ten hours and can’t remember a single thing on those pages.

On the fourth day Cat portals back to her house to get more books from her own collection that might have something useful in them. Magnus for some reason refuses to do the same. Alec doesn’t ask, but Cat and Ragnor seem to already know the answer.

Alec has barely talked to Magnus, with the exception of some flirtatious lines from Magnus and the awkward responses from Alec. The elephant in the room that Alec can’t speak about functions as a big fat wall in between them and Alec feels like he can’t carry small talk with Magnus. Alec telling him about their marriage would probably freak Magnus out. He can’t tell him. He hasn’t told any of them about who his husband really is. He doesn’t say anything at all about his husband, no more than he did that first day. The others seem to have caught on and try not to mention it.

On the fifth day the comfortable silence, with the occasional page turning, breaks with the familiar swoosh of a fire message. Ragnor quickly moves his hand up and catches it in the air, scowling and rolling his eyes as he reads it. Magnus grabs the message after a few seconds, reading it himself, breaking into a wide smile.

“The annual visit!” Magnus exclaims, “how exciting!”

“You mean boisterous.” Ragnor huffs.

“You, my dear cabbage, just don’t know how to enjoy life.”

Alec just watches the exchange of words with amused confusion. He doesn’t feel like he has anything to add in the conversation and doesn’t want to be a bother. Today he has placed himself on the floor against the wall the furthest away from the couches, where the other three sit comfortably. Magnus has been annoying Ragnor by resting his legs over Ragnor’s, but he hasn’t made any actual attempt to get Magnus to move.

“Perhaps we deserve a break from the research,” Cat suggests after reading the message, “it seems like we have another week for Magnus to convince Ragnor to go.” She winks at Ragnor with a smirk.

“You were one of the founders of the orphanage, you have to go.” Magnus takes on the challenge immediately, after having made eye contact with Alec. If Alec didn’t know better he would think that Magnus spoke mostly to let him know what’s going on. Or to prove something to Alec, what he doesn’t know.

“We do this thing every year where you complain about how little you like children and how you always get a headache because it’s so loud there.” Magnus pauses for dramatic effect. “But then when we’re there you have this smile on your face that only ever shows up when you meet and talk to the children. You can pretend all you want, but I know you secretly like this annual visit.”

Ragnor just rolls his eyes and then proceeds to ignore Magnus for the rest of the day.

On the sixth day Cat drags Alec outside before he has the chance to pick up another book, saying that he needs to breathe in the fresh air to not rot from all the dust inside. Alec pretends to be annoyed by not having a book in his face, knowing that Cat sees right through his facade. He knows that she has noticed that he has been quieter and less prone to smile the longer they’re stuck in their research and never find anything useful. So, he spends the next hour sitting in the grass with his back against the big tree, visible from his bedroom window, listening to nature with closed eyes. Grateful for the way this Cat somehow reads him just as well as the Cat from his time.

This was also the first moment since Alec traveled back in time that his mind finally relaxed. He doesn’t think about all the problems, the unknown warlock, his siblings, the research, nothing. All he hears are the birds chirping, the rustle of leaves and the occasional distant talking from the three warlocks inside. Somehow this spot in the garden makes him feel more normal, like nothing is wrong and he’s allowed to just breathe.

On the seventh day Alec decides to sit in the same spot under the same tree in between breakfast and research, letting his mind relax for half an hour. Then Magnus joins him and for the first time doesn’t try to start a conversation by flirting.

“It is quite pleasant out here isn’t it.”

Alec turns slightly to look at him. “It is. I like the stillness, it’s relaxing.”

Magnus makes a noise in agreement, then shifts in place to also be able to rest his back against the tree trunk next to Alec. “Can I ask why you act so unbothered by this whole situation?”

“I’m used to the impossible.”

“Is that truly a reason?”

Alec can’t even be annoyed at Magnus’ insistence. It feels like he cares, like he knows Alec and wants to be there for him. Alec misses his husband, his warmth and care. The way his gentle voice deepens when he knows something is troubling Alec or how his fingers carefully cards through his messy hair to make Alec relax. He misses the feeling of home. Of his husband. Of Magnus.

Maybe that’s why he decides to open up.

“Honestly, I’m constantly freaking out. I’m surprised you haven’t picked up on it.” Alec lets out a wet laugh, embarrassed by how easy it would be to just let go and cry. He doesn’t.

“Perhaps you act more calmly on the outside when there’s a war waging inside you.” Magnus shifts and locks eyes with Alec. “Cat is worried about you, she noticed that your behavior has changed. Even Ragnor has expressed concern and he usually never pays attention to anything except the books when doing research.”

“Yet you are the one checking in on me.”

Magnus gives him a small genuine smile, the first real one that Alec has seen in the last week. “You have grown on me, Alexander. I admit that I feel worried about you and I don’t want you to lose your hope to get back.”

“Hope is the only thing that makes this bearable.“ Alec puts down his hand on the space in between his thigh and Magnus’ in an unconscious effort to be closer to his husband and turns his head so that he’s watching the house instead of Magnus. “I want to see my family again.”

Alec hears the quiet rustle of clothes moving before his little finger is covered by Magnus’, barely touching. It reminds Alec of the first time he held his husband’s hand on their second date. Alec’s hand was almost shaking with nerves at the time and he worried about sweating or holding Magnus’ hand the wrong way, but as soon as Magnus squeezed his hand and told him he had nothing to worry about, everything had been so peaceful and quiet. It had grounded Alec in a way he always wanted to feel. Alec loves holding his husband’s hand. This is not his husband.

Alec regrets resting his hand so close to Magnus, probably giving him the signal that it would be okay for him to touch Alec. To hold his hand. To show support that way. Alec can’t help but feel like it’s wrong. He pulls his hand back before Magnus has the chance to do more than barely touch him.

He doesn’t say anything as he walks back inside, leaving Magnus alone.

Chapter Text

Alec breaks his daily pattern the day after his conversation with Magnus in the garden.

He doesn’t want to get out of his room. Seeing the person wearing his husband’s face everyday when said person doesn’t know anything about Alec is jarring. It makes it hard to breathe when Alec looks at Magnus and doesn’t see any recognition in his eyes beyond that of a stranger living in the same house. Alec didn’t think it would hurt so much to be so close to Magnus and be so far away from his husband. The easiest thing is to avoid him, so that’s what Alec decides to try.

He knows this probably isn’t the best way to go about it, but Alec just wants to stop having to constantly think about every little thing he’s doing or saying, even if it’s just for the day. It doesn’t only apply to his husband, it applies to Cat and Ragnor too. Sure Alec has shared that he has met all of them before, but he’s careful not to spoil how they met or when, what they usually do when they meet etc. He tries not to show that he already knows how they like their tea or how he already knows a lot of the stories that they tell him.

But it’s exhausting to hold back. Alec constantly bites his tongue to not unintentionally let out how much he actually knows Magnus and his retellings of interesting stories. Alec tries not to show how much he relishes Magnus’ presence or the small accidental touches.

The thing is Alec doesn’t even know if anything he does or says will affect the future. He just wants to take precaution. Maybe it’s selfish. If there is any risk at all that Alec’s own life changes he would be devastated. He loves his life and wants to keep it the way that it is. Until they have found a solution or something that will keep the timeline intact he won’t risk it.

Alec tries to reach Jace through their bond again. He has tried to not think about the empty feeling that comes with a stretched bond, but now when he’s not reading about magical theory it’s difficult to ignore. No matter how much Alec prods and pulls at the bond that binds him to Jace, all he feels is the void of emotion that’s usually there. He knows Jace is alive, the heartbeat is still there. It’s weak, but it’s there. Alec wishes he could tell what his parabatai felt. At least then he would know if Jace is worried and trying to find Alec. They could’ve somewhat communicated with each other. But that’s not possible with this thin and barely there bond.

Logically Alec knows that his parabatai must be looking for him. Probably has been since Alec was stabbed and sent back in time since Alec sent Jace as much information as possible through their bond. Jace most likely isn’t doing anything else than trying to find Alec, by any means necessary. Alec knows this because he would have done the same thing if it was Jace that was missing. Like he did when he recklessly used their bond to track Jace when Valentine was still alive. It almost killed Alec. He hopes Jace isn’t going to try the same thing. Hopes that Magnus and Izzy talk him out of it if he is.

A soft knock on the door breaks Alec out of his thoughts. He calls for the person to come in, knowing that he can’t avoid everyone for his entire stay here, and Cat enters his room. She looks contemplative, like she’s debating whether or not to speak. She gives him a small smile and nods towards the desk chair in question. Alec nods at her, the company surprising him by bringing a tiny bit of comfort. She sits down and Alec watches her fiddle with her hands.

“It must be difficult seeing him.”

Alec reacts to her remark with a flinch. Instinctively his fingers move toward the golden ring in defense, like he can protect the person she’s talking about with the motion.

He knows who she’s talking about immediately. He should have known Cat would bring it up. She’s not one to walk around the problem, circling it with caution or ignoring it completely.

“When did you know?”

“You twist your ring only when you talk about your husband… or you look at him.”

Alec snorts. He isn’t naive enough to believe that he could keep his husband a secret from three warlocks. Not when all of them are observant and at the moment very intent on helping Alec, therefore watching him intently for any signs of magical interference. It’s not a surprise that Cat noticed his habit of spinning his ring in anxious situations to ground himself. He knew it would be impossible to keep who his husband is from them when he accepted that he would stay in the past for way longer than he originally thought. He knows he can’t pretend not to love Magnus, not when he loves every part of his husband, all the versions. So of course Cat came to the correct conclusion.

“Also when I forced you outside for the first time I accidentally touched your ring.” She gives him a sad smile, like she could understand what Alec feels. “It’s obvious he loves you very much. I have never known him to give something so full of love to anyone else. The spells in it are immensely powerful, and my guess is that is the reason as to how you survived the experimentation when none of the others did.”

Alec is pretty sure his face shows what he’s thinking by the way Cat’s eyes turn more sad. That she can tell how he wished he didn’t survive if he can’t make it back. But Alec doesn’t say anything, just looking down and toying with his ring. He doesn’t react as Cat comes closer to him, she kneels down before him but doesn’t move to touch. Like he’s a child she doesn’t want to scare away by disarming herself. He would have scoffed at her if he didn’t feel the burning in his eyes threatening to spill out tears or his throat closing up on itself, making him try and swallow away the emotional pain.

“I’m here for you, Alec.” She puts her hand on his knee, a gesture similar to the rare comforting touches from his mother when he was a child. “I can’t say that I understand what you’re going through, but I’ve been told I’m a great listener—“

“I found something!” Ragnor’s voice thunders through the house, interrupting Cat.

She gives him a quick smile and a small squeeze with her hand before hurrying out of Alec’s room, presumably to join Ragnor in the research. Alec would follow her if he wasn’t so close to breaking down. He doesn’t think he can take it if whatever Ragnor found turns out not to be helpful. He doesn’t want to crush the little hope he has that they will find a way to send Alec back. Instead Alec stays in his room.

He catches a glimpse of himself in the mirror situated beside the door that Cat left through. He stubbornly ignores the wet streaks on his cheeks that he felt when Cat told him that she’s here for him. He has noticeable bags under his eyes, his hair looks more disheveled than normally and the shirt he wears sits awkwardly on his body. It’s the same shirt that he wore when he was kidnapped, the same shirt that he has stubbornly been wearing every day since he got here. Of course he has tried to wash it (or had magical help) to not smell too bad. The black shirt (admittedly not so black anymore) is one thing outside of his wedding ring that makes Alec feel like maybe there is a chance of him getting back. Only it used to fit him perfectly and now it’s almost loose around his biceps and shoulders, making the fit weird and less comfortable.

Alec knows one reason behind this is because he hasn’t been eating as much as he should. He also knows that the others notice as well with their silent conversations over his head when they think he doesn’t see. The worrying gazes from each and every one of them when he has more than half the portion left on his plate when he states that he’s finished. They try to bring him different snacks way too often to probe him into eating more. Alec tries. He really does. But eating any more makes him feel nauseous and like he’s wasting time. He’s actually surprised by how much he manages to get down. Alec tries to eat because Magnus wants him to. Because his husband would want him to.

It’s a bad habit of Alec’s to not eat enough when he has a lot on his mind. His husband often has to bring food to the institute or one of his siblings throws an apple at him in the middle of a meeting to make him eat. It’s not a new thing that he forgets to eat or deems it less important than whatever else is going on. Alec knows it’s bad, he knows he needs the energy to do his work, he knows all of this and yet he can’t prioritize himself. Not when there are other people at risk.

This time Alec can’t even comprehend how many people are in danger. If the warlock didn’t time travel with him and is still in the present, it’s likely that he will continue experimenting with people to get what he wants. If the warlock came here with Alec there is no telling how much this could affect the mundanes, downworlders and shadowhunters. It could completely ruin the timeline and the world with it. The warlock could take many more people's lives and Alec is stuck here, barely doing anything. He wants to help. He wants to stop the warlock. But he can’t. Because he doesn’t know who this warlock even is, even less how to find or stop him.

Alec closes his eyes and takes a deep breath. Normally he would talk to his husband about everything he’s feeling. Leaning on him whenever Alec feels inadequate or overwhelmed. Magnus calms him and helps him not to overthink things. Sometimes he massages Alec, sometimes he sweeps Alec away to another country, sometimes he just tells Alec about his day to distract him, sometimes a more hands on approach is the way to go. Magnus always knows which one is the one Alec needs at the moment. Alec still hasn’t figured out how he does it.

Slowly Alec stands up, bringing his hands up to his face to dry away what remains of the silent tears. Before walking out to the living room, where he guesses the others are at the moment, Alec makes his way to the bathroom to somewhat freshen up. He concludes that he still looks like shit, but at least more presentable. He’s been hiding in his room for more than half the day now and it’s probably making everything worse, which is why he takes one final deep breath before entering the space of the living room.

Pretending to be okay is something Alec has practiced, just like putting his own feelings on the sideline.

“What did you find?” Alec’s voice is steady, no trace of the storm inside of him. He knows that his face is carefully blank and void of emotion. He wears the mask he uses when one of his shadowhunters gives him a report or when he’s in a Clave business meeting. The one that screams confident and competent leader.

Alec meets the concerned gazes from the three warlocks in the living room without reacting. He knows they’re worried about him, but that’s not what he wants this conversation to contain. He wants to know if there is hope to find or not.

“I went to the Spiral Labyrinth late last night,” Ragnor says and pats the spot on the couch next to him for Alec to sit. He does, figuring this might take longer than a couple of exchanged sentences.

“What did you find?” Alec repeats his question when Ragnor hesitates.

“There is a forbidden section in the Spiral Labyrinth, one that only a few warlocks have access to. The reason being that if any of the books or items in that section were well known among us, it would be impossible to maintain this world as it is. It’s not possible to bring anything with you in or out of this particular section as a security measure.”

Alec’s not surprised at this new information, he’s pretty sure Magnus has hinted at it before when talking about the gathering place for warlocks. But he also knows that for Ragnor to willingly share this with Alec, a shadowhunter, he must have found something relevant to bringing Alec home. For him to trust Alec with this information feels almost overwhelming, but Alec tries to act like it doesn’t move him and instead concentrates on the information. That’s more important at the moment. Feelings can wait.

“You’re one of the few with access then?”

“Indeed,” Ragnor agrees, “So is Magnus.”

Alec’s eyes find their way over to Magnus that sits on the other couch, listening intently to the conversation. Cat sits in silence as well, but Alec can feel her looking at him. Maybe waiting for a reaction or checking to see if their conversation from before has had an impact on him.

“When I was there yesterday I found out that another warlock had tried to get inside the forbidden section without the clearance necessary. Of course he wasn’t let inside, but the Spiral Labyrinth reacted in a way to his failed attempt by figuring out what he wanted from the section. It’s a kind of locksafe for when things like this happen.”

Ragnor pauses momentarily to let Alec catch up with the information.

“And because I have the clearance needed I was told about the attempt when I got there. I also found out exactly which items he wanted from the section. The reason as to why I’m telling you this is because one of the items was a book that delves into the timeline among other things.”

Alec nods as he takes in what Ragnor is saying, his mind instantly coming to the conclusion that the warlock that tried to get the book could be the same as who kidnapped and sent Alec back in time. Otherwise it would be one big coincidence. The two events are most likely connected in some way. Something Alec is pretty sure that the others have already concluded.

“The problem,” Ragnor continues, “is what I stated earlier, that we can’t take anything out of the forbidden section, even if we have the clearance to get inside.”

“So you and Magnus go back and read through it to see if there’s anything useful?” Alec asks, trying to figure out what kind of plan they have come up with.

“It’s not that simple,” Magnus speaks up, “we can’t take anything from the section, that includes the knowledge we might have learned from books we read inside.”

“There is a way to get around it,” Cat chimes in, “but it could take another couple of weeks before it’s possible if we’re going through the correct channels.”

“And because we can’t be certain of what the book contains, we wanted to ask you if you think this is the option we should explore,” Ragnor finishes and all eyes in the room are set on Alec, waiting for his response.

Alec thinks about his options. He knows that they have almost gone through all of the books that Ragnor, Cat and Magnus owns and haven’t found anything. It’s unlikely they will find something in the last remaining ones. Thing is, Alec isn’t sure he can wait another couple of weeks to maybe get some information about time. There might not even be anything about time travel to help Alec. But right now it seems like the only option. A string of hope.

“Do you think it’s worth it?” Alec looks at all three of them, to try and gauge their thoughts.

Ragnor looks like he normally does, stoic, but Alec catches the barest nod and a determination in his eyes. Magnus looks more uncertain, hand coming up to fiddle with his ear cuff. While Cat shrugs her shoulders, showing that she doesn’t know.

“We’re out of options,” Ragnor says with a sigh, “This might be the only book on the matter. Otherwise we would have to start experimenting of our own, and that is not something to take lightly.”

Alec knows, he thinks back to all the victims that died due to this warlock’s determination to time travel and barely conceals a shiver running along his spine. No, if they can avoid the experimentation, they should.

Alec gives a decisive nod. “Alright, so how are you gonna get the information out from the forbidden area?”

Ragnor and Magnus share a look and Alec immediately knows that this part is definetaly not supposed to be known by a nephilim. Before any of them can say this, Alec puts up his hand in a gesture that translates to I understand.

Alec moves to stand up and get back to his room now that he’s up to speed, but Cat’s voice stops him.

“You should get some fresh air, Alec.”

Alec understands what she really means by that statement, that she doesn’t want Alec to just stay in his room and wallow.

He’s about to decline and just walk back to his room when Magnus cuts in.

“You could come with me on my walk?” It’s a question, but Alec knows that it’s meant as more of a demand. Especially with the smug look on Cat’s face, Alec is pretty sure that she’s behind the request.

Alec hesitates for a moment, looking at Magnus. The hope in his eyes is unmistakable and Alec has never once before been able to deny anything that makes Magnus happy and he’s not about to start now, even if this is a different Magnus.

“A short walk.”

“Naturally,” Magnus agrees and his eyes twinkle, matching his smile.

Suddenly Alec thinks back to his conversation with Cat and can’t help but think that Magnus knows too. And if he knows then Ragnor probably does too. Alec can just hope that if they do it’s not going to affect the life Alec lives, if he can even get back. He doesn’t want to find out if Magnus knows, but he’s already accepted the proposition and Alec keeps his word. Always.

Thus five minutes later Alec’s walking slowly beside Magnus. They’re only going to walk around the property, staying inside the wards. Just in case the other warlock could track Alec here before Magnus put the protection against it on Alec.

They walk in comfortable silence. Alec keeps seeing Magnus turn to look at him from his peripheral vision, but doesn't acknowledge it. Alec just wants to enjoy the silence a little longer before any more heavy conversations take place. But he’s careful to remember that the person walking next to him isn’t his husband and therefore he can’t just hold his hand like usual. Alec keeps a bigger distance between them than necessary, just in case he accidentally forgets. If he wasn’t so intent on keeping Magnus away he would probably laugh at the ridiculousness of the situation.

Turns out the wards stretch a bit into the forest so the two of them walk out of sight from the house, bringing yet another privacy element to their walk. Alec is pretty sure he saw both Cat and Ragnor look out the windows in the living room to oversee their walk. Magnus probably realizes as much and consciously steared them towards the woods where the trees can cover them.

The air is fresh and filled with different smells from the blossoming trees and greenery surrounding them. On the ground a couple of flowers are blooming and gives the forest a sort of idyllic feel to it. Spring is in full force and Alec enjoys it.

He stops thinking about keeping his distance from Magnus about halfway around the house and doesn’t shy away from the way their hands sometimes brush against each other, as he keeps looking around at all the various species of trees and flowers. Endlessly impressed with the way nature can look so peacefully beautiful. He feels the serenity transfer to himself and lets go of the worries inside.

The walk is, as promised, short. Alec feels thankful to both Cat and Magnus for making him go outside for a moment, even if short lived. Alec really enjoyed the silent company through the picturesque forest. And soon enough they’re making their way back to the front door.

At the threshold Magnus turns around and locks eyes with Alec, his brows slightly furrowed and the lines next to his eyes show the hidden concern. There’s a slight twitch in his hands, like he wants to reach out to Alec, as he speaks.

“You don’t have to carry the weight of the world on your shoulders, Alexander.”

Alec shakes his head, because that’s where Magnus is wrong. It’s currently the best option unless he’s ready to risk the future.

They walk inside in silence and Alec quickly makes his way to his room, closes the door and almost jumps into bed. With the blanket pulled up to his chin and the fatigue from the emotional day it doesn’t take long for his eyelids to shut close and for the dreams to envelope him.

Chapter Text

A bowl filled with soup suddenly appears on the table in front of Alec.

He’s been sitting at the table in the dining room for the last few hours. He’s reading the last of the books available in the English language that Ragnor has in his bookshelves.

Yesterday took a toll on Alec and he slept for nine whole hours, something he hasn’t done in what feels like forever. Today he feels energized and less like the world is ending. Which is why he’s stuck with the book on herbs' magical qualities, just in case one of them could be used in time travel (not very likely, but Alec wants to do something, anything to find a solution).

Even if Alec is feeling better he couldn’t bring himself to sit in the same room as the others when doing research, he figures it’s better than locking himself inside his own room anyway. Small steps forward. The others in the house come and go sometimes, but never really bother him. They can likely tell that Alec needs this time for himself, yet Alec sees that they’re concerned for him and want to stay close by.

“Eat,” Cat demands and raises an expectant eyebrow when Alec sighs.

The challenge is clear in her eyes and Alec keeps eye contact as he picks up the spoon to feed himself the soup. It doesn’t taste too bad, but the food still reminds him of being in the past.

“Happy?” Alec gives her a sarcastic smile, but keeps eating anyway. He doesn’t want to be a burden for her or anyone else and if he can avoid that by eating, he will do it without much complaint. He just isn’t feeling hungry.

“Immensely.”

Their one-worded conversation is interrupted by a shout of victory coming from the room next door. Alec and Cat both turn their heads as Magnus bursts into the dining room with a big smile on his face.

“It’s time to celebrate!” Magnus grins. “Drinks for everyone!”

He then proceeds to conjure up some kind of alcoholic drink, gulps one glass down, and sits down next to Alec, who feels incredibly confused. Both as to what they are celebrating and what Magnus just drank. Even though he has been drinking more since getting to know Magnus, he’s still clueless to most drinks, trusting in his husband to make them taste good.

Alec is having a hard time concentrating on anything more than his momentary confusion with how close Magnus is to Alec. It makes his brain temporarily shut off, the feeling of their thighs pressing together taking priority.

Alec might not feel hungry, but he’s starved for his husband’s touch. And this Magnus is acting more and more like the man Alec married.

Cat picks up her own glass with a smile on her face as she watches Magnus. “Did the old grump finally agree?”

“Only took three days this time.” Magnus winks at her. “I bribed him with two bottles of his favorite wine, a trip to Italy and me doing most of the heavy lifting in the Spiral Labyrinth.”

“I believe your record is eight hours, you’re slacking, Magnus.” Cat smirks and takes a gulp from her glass. “Where are you gonna get the wine from? Luis stopped selling it fifty years ago.”

Her eyes briefly meet Alec’s. After their conversation yesterday about Magnus being his husband Alec has noticed the concerned gaze Cat gives him. He knows she sees the closeness between him and Magnus right now, but he also knows that she won’t explicitly say anything about it. Instead she’s letting Alec decide when or if to tell Magnus about their future.

Cat isn’t one to meddle with other people’s relationships. But Alec can see the twitch in her eyebrows as she looks at him, the worry palpable there. He can understand her apprehension as he himself didn’t want to have anything to do with this Magnus in the beginning. It really is difficult being so close to someone he loves with everything he is, and yet that person doesn’t know.

Alec recognizes that this will probably lead to someone getting hurt, most likely Alec himself. But, Alec thinks, perhaps Magnus is in the risk zone as well. If he has started to like Alec and it’s inevitable that Alec will leave him behind to get back to his time, he will inadvertently hurt Magnus.

Maybe it’s selfish, but Alec feels like he needs this type of closeness. Just for a moment. To feel calm on the inside. The intimacy that is so familiar and grounding in a way that it makes Alec loosen his grip on all the stress that’s surrounding him.

Magnus simply rolls his eyes as a response to Cat’s jab and refills his own glass. “Somehow he manages to get more stubborn with the years, but as always I come out victorious.” He grins. “And I have my sources for the wine.”

“What are we talking about?” Alec feels the need to ask, since this whole conversation has just flown right above his head. His focus having stayed on the warmth emitting from Magnus and the way his smile lights up the whole room.

“You remember when we talked about the orphanage that Ragnor helped start up?” At Alec’s nod Cat continues. “Every year he makes a fuss over it, telling us that he doesn’t want to go, and Magnus has taken on the challenge to convince him each year.”

“The challenge is more of when Ragnor admits that he wants to go than me convincing him of going,” Magnus adds and the smile that follows would have made Alec’s legs buckle if he was standing up.

And oh, this is more difficult than Alec thought. A wake up call. Yet he can’t bring himself to put distance between him and Magnus. He’s not even sure if Magnus notices the way they always seem to drift together.

“And I.” Ragnor slinks down on the empty chair next to Cat, grabbing a glass as he does. “Just want to see what he’s willing to bribe me with.”

“The annual visit is in four days. Do you want to come with us, Alec?” Cat asks him and gives an encouraging nod. Like he doesn’t really have an option beside going along, but she wants him to come to the conclusion of wanting to go by himself. It’s such an Izzy-move that Alec momentarily forgets about his worries.

“What do you have to bribe me with?” The response slinks out of his mouth before he has thought it through.

Alec’s reply makes the rest of the table chuckle in delight. The tension from the last couple of days diminishes slightly. Alec can easily tell that Magnus’ shoulders release some tension as he feels Magnus’ body relax next to him and shake slightly with the chuckles escaping his lips. Cat looks at Alec proudly, and he detects a hint of playfulness in her eyes, probably looking forward to the challenge. Even Ragnor’s lips twitch upwards into a smile at the retort.

“Well, dear Cat,” Magnus drawls out her name with a smirk, “looks like it’s your turn to play the game.”

Over the next four days Cat is coming up with things to bribe Alec with. Of course they all know that Alec will go with them in the end anyway, but it’s actually kind of freeing to play a game of who is the most stubborn. Alec wants to outdo Ragnor (and maybe let Magnus win). It’s a silly game but somehow it makes Alec relax more in the situation, it’s not all bad being stuck in the past.

There are apparently a couple of rules to this game. Three bribes are to be accepted. One has to be a physical object (the amount doesn’t matter), one has to be an act of service and the last one can be whatever.

The morning of the annual visit is when Cat comes with the winning suggestion.

“Really!?” Alec feels his face light up the mention of more books on cows, the excitement rushing under his skin. He thinks that this must be what kids feel like on christmas. Magnus tried explaining why mundanes celebrate it once and Alec couldn’t understand it then. But he thinks he does now.

Cows are such interesting animals. If Alec were a mundane he would definitely live close to them, something that Izzy has teased him over multiple times. Alec’s not really sure why he has such a fascination with cows, but he’s learnt to accept it. The notion that he could learn even more about his favorite animal is simply fantastic.

“If you come to Heart and Fell’s orphanage with us. Yes, then you can have three books on cows.” Alec can see Cat trying to stifle a laugh as she answers him, but he doesn’t care that she thinks it’s silly that he can barely sit still.

“And…” Alec drags out the word. He’s at least going to try to get something else from the deal now that it’s been going on for four days. Three books on cows is really amazing (especially since mundane books are forbidden in the Institute and Alec never really had a chance to read about cows because of it). Three books on cows counts as one bribe.

“I will ask around and see if I can get you a stele.” Cat’s still smiling but also lets out a sigh and Alec knows that might be a hassle. He appreciates the effort, not many would give a warlock an angelic stele, even if it was a gift to a Nephilim. Alec would have thought it to actually be impossible, but here Cat is offering him a chance at having access to a stele. “You can forget about getting your hands on a seraph blade, though, that is much harder to find.”

Alec nods, careful to not seem too enthusiastic even if he knows his eyes are probably an open window to his thankfulness. “Books and the possibility of a stele. Something else?”

He adds the question, even though Alec doesn’t really want anything else. It’s enough as it is. This isn’t really a negotiation, just a game. But the price that Cat has to pay is big enough that Alec’s going to feel guilty if she tries to give him anything more. But he also knows that the rules are that the bribes have to come in threes, which means that there has to be another thing that Cat offers to Alec. He thinks he will accept anything she says at this moment, to not bring her more inconveniences.

Cat seems to see that Alec thinks it’s already too much, her last attempts at bribes being the only serious ones over the last four days (he suspects that she wanted to see if Alec would accept any of the weird bribes she came up with first). Which is why her last bribe isn’t something physical and more of an offer for Alec to use as he wants. If he wants to.

“When you get back to your time, I will help you set up one date for you and your husband.”

“Deal.”

“Perfect, I’ll be right back with your books.” Cat twirls around and summons a portal. “Magnus will cover up your runes.” She bites her lip in a hesitant action before talking again. “I want you to be careful with him, Alec. It has only been a couple of months since he got his heart broken and I can see the way he’s looking at you. Just… don’t lead this version of him on. Or you could let him in and tell him what your future relationship is like.”

She gives him a small smile and then walks through the portal.

Alec knows she’s right. This is why he held his distance in the beginning. But it’s incredibly hard to stay away. Alec doesn’t want to hurt Magnus. No version of him. He thinks he should probably tell Magnus the truth, but it feels like it’s been too long. Like the time to tell him has already passed. Alec knows he needs to decide how to handle this soon, but first he wants to focus on the children at the orphanage today.

Alec knows that his runes will have to get covered up. He doesn’t want to scare anyone at the orphanage. He knows that warlocks, even very young ones, most likely have had a very bad experience with shadowhunters and Alec doesn’t want to bring those memories up. Something which is more prevalent in this time than in Alec’s, and he thought that was bad before he started his Downworlder Cabinet. Therefore the best course of action is to cover Alec’s runes so that he doesn’t look like a shadowhunter even if he is one. Covering up a part of himself is a sacrifice he can make if it makes the children feel safer.

Alec knocks on the door to Magnus’ room, where he knows Magnus is at the moment. Cat had said that Magnus would help him with the runes, but Alec knows that Ragnor also would have if he had asked. But Alec finds himself wanting Magnus to be the one to help him out, even if it’s perhaps not the wisest of actions. He also knows that Cat gave him this moment to talk to his future husband alone, but Alec hasn’t decided on how or if he will tell Magnus about their joint future. He’ll sleep on his decision.

The door flies open and before him stands Magnus, dressed more casually than Alec has seen in the weeks he has spent in the past. His face is bare of any makeup and no rings or necklaces decorating his skin.

“Hi.”

“Alexander.”

The smile on Magnus’ face is soft in contrast to his rough morning voice. Alec suppresses a shiver that threatens to make an appearance when he hears his name roll off Magnus' lips.

“Hi,” Alec lamely says, forgetting that he had already uttered the same greeting just a moment before. By the angel, he’s acting like an idiot.

Magnus’ smile grows bigger and instead of teasing Alec about his double greeting or blushing cheeks, he just moves out of the way letting Alec inside.

The room is surprisingly minimalistic, but still very Magnus. The small trinkets spread out in the room add to the feeling of home. The bedsheets on the bed are a familiar deep blue, matching with the chair standing in the corner next to the bedside table.

“Am I right to assume that Cat has convinced you and you’re now seeking my help with your disguise?” Magnus grins and jumps down on the end of his bed and tilts his head slightly, drawing Alec’s gaze toward his neck.

He misses snuggling in close and— he shakes his head slightly to come out of the daze. In an attempt to save his reaction he rolls his eyes. The smile on his face holds all of the fondness he’s trying to keep inside at Magnus’ excitement.

Alec hovers awkwardly by the now closed door. “Yeah… yeah, that’s correct.”

There’s a glint of mischievousness in Magnus’ eyes when Alec confirms his reason for being in the room, the one he gets when dressing up and putting some makeup on Alec. Something that Alec has let his husband do three times since they started dating, and only for emergencies. He loves the look on Magnus but not so much on himself. Magnus’ face always lights up with joy and unbridled happiness when Alec agrees on a makeover, which is why he has agreed those times before.

Magnus pats on the bed next to him. “Come here, darling. I’m gonna work my magic on you.”

Alec knows he’s talking about covering up his visible runes, but feels his cheeks heat up anyway as he takes a few steps and sits down. Magnus immediately turns his body to look at him and moves closer, so that Magnus’s knee touches Alec’s thigh. Alec thinks he’s never been more aware of where exactly Magnus has his limbs than these past few days. It’s starting to get pathetic.

“Okay, so at first I thought a glamour would be enough, but since we don’t have a lot of time to do a strong one that can fool all the warlocks that will attend, I was thinking of covering your runes with makeup. If that’s alright?”

Alec nods and swallows loudly. “Yeah, sure, that’s fine.” He’s pretty sure Magnus can hear his heart beating, the nervousness of being so close to Magnus surfacing. He doesn’t know how to act.

Magnus drags his fingers slowly along the lines making up the deflect rune on his neck. “We’re starting with this one.” His voice a low murmur that tickles against Alec’s skin, making goosebumps surface.

Alec suppresses a shiver as Magnus continues his light caress on his neck, until he has traced the entire rune once. Magnus picks up something to cover it, Alec doesn’t really know what it is and it’s difficult to try and focus on anything other than Magnus at the moment. Or rather, focusing on not reacting in any way to Magnus and his touch. He’s just helping Alec cover up some runes for angel's sake. It’s not foreplay. It’s not.

Magnus' face moves closer to Alec’s, intensely looking at his neck when brushing over the black marking. Alec keeps his eyes on Magnus against his better judgement, seeing his focus in the way his brows furrows and lips tighten. Utter concentration.

Sometimes he looks up at Alec from beneath his eyelashes and Alec has to hold his breath every time their eyes meet to not accidentally let out a gasp, or worse moan. It feels nice to have someone gently brush against his skin over his neck. With someone Alec means Magnus of course.

Every now and then Magnus’ other hand grabs Alec’s chin to make him turn slightly. Then he lets his fingers linger there for a bit longer than necessary.

The same lingering happens when Magnus puts down whatever products he has used and just touches Alec’s neck. Alec knows that the rune is finished, yet he lets Magnus do as he pleases. And for a moment Alec thinks he sees Magnus looking at his lips, but in the next Magnus has backed away. The sudden coldness from the lack of physical contact washing over him, dragging him back to reality. This isn’t his husband yet.

He needs to keep a distance between them for now. Nothing can happen. Alec doesn't want to hurt him. Magnus still thinks Alec’s married to someone else. And Alec definitely doesn’t want him to think he would ever cheat on his husband, because he wouldn’t. Magnus is just… Magnus. It’s confusing.

“Give me your arm,” Magnus says and deliberately avoids looking anywhere near Alec’s face. Alec feels both relieved over this and disappointed.

He does as told and Magnus starts covering up his runes there. The rest of the visible runes on his body are quicker to cover up. Alec suspects that Magnus just took his time on the deflect rune because he likes it the most. They barely say anything to each other throughout the process, letting the silence fill the space. It’s only barely comfortable, the tension a bit too high between them.

Alec contemplates telling Magnus, but every time he opens his mouth no words come out. He doesn’t want Magnus to act differently if he knows the truth, yet he knows that the longer Alec waits to tell him the more betrayed Magnus is going to feel. There is also the fact that Magnus knows that Alec is married to someone and doesn’t want to act on the mutual attraction that is so clearly there. Maybe that would change if he knew that he is the husband.

When Alec’s all covered in makeup it’s been an hour. Magnus has conjured up an outfit for himself, adorned with jewelry and a finished makeup look. He looks absolutely gorgeous. Alec can’t help looking him up and down a couple of times. The slight turning of pink on Magnus’ face tells Alec that he definitely noticed him checking Magnus out.

Alec knows he really should tell Magnus now so that there’s no misunderstandings. But what comes out of his mouth isn’t the words he planned. “Would you have told me if you’d remembered meeting me before actually meeting me?”

“What?”

“When I first met you in my time, would you have told me that we met here, in the past for me?”

“Maybe.” He shrugs.

Alec can tell that he doesn’t really want to talk to him. Magnus almost never keep his sentences so short when speaking, except for when he’s just being polite. Yet Alec seems unable to be quiet for once.

“The you in the future never mentioned anything about meeting me before.”

It’s not meant to be an accusation.

“Maybe I kept it a secret then or maybe the timeline found a way to stay intact,” Magnus suggests.

“Meaning what exactly?”

“Perhaps,” Ragnor jumps in, walking into the room, “the timeline fixes itself. Events small enough to not cause any damage to it, can probably adjust and infuse with time itself. It is possible that Magnus, Cat and I forgot about your time traveling before we meet each other again in the future to preserve the timeline.”

“As interesting as the timeline is, we don't have time to discuss theories about it at this moment,” Cat says from behind the green warlock, holding three books in her hands. Alec smiles at her as she holds them up to show him before speaking again. “We’re already late and Rachel sent me a fire message asking about our whereabouts.”

Rachel Heart, the one that Ragnor had created the orphanage with, still works there. Rachel’s and Ragnor’s names are in the name: Heart and Fell’s Orphanage. She’s the one in charge, since Ragnor likes to pretend not to like children. And according to Magnus she hates it when people don’t show up on time (something he had to learn the hard way when he had to live life as a frog for two weeks).

“What are those books?” Magnus asks, looking at the books that Cat’s still holding. “Wait, don’t tell me that’s all it took to convince you.” Magnus turns to look at Alec with eyes wide open in horror. “Cows!?”

Alec shrugs with one side of his lips curling upwards at the dramatic reaction. “What can I say, cows are intriguing animals.”

“You did not!” Magnus gapes. “My darling Alexander, please tell me that three books on cows aren’t the only thing that you accepted.”

“Of course not, though those are the most important.” Alec grins and then walks up to Cat to grab his treasure, ignoring the way his heart skips a beat at my darling Alexander. He’s mostly glad that the earlier tension is almost gone.

As he walks out of Magnus’s room to put the books in his own, he hears Magnus sputter in protest, Ragnor’s coughing (which is really just a way to cover up his laughter) and Cat straight up cackling.

When he’s back it only takes ten seconds before they walk through a portal to the orphanage. Alec grabs Magnus’ hand as a guide to the right place. Wouldn’t want to get lost in limbo on top of being stuck in time. At least that’s the excuse he tells himself, not admitting that he just wants to hold the familiar soft hand in his.

“There you are.” A voice greets them upon arrival, the annoyance clear in the intonation of that greeting. “Ragnor, would you please go to Lucy on the second floor? She wants help choosing a book for storytime from you specifically.”

The woman, Rachel Heart most likely, then looks at the rest of them with scrutinizing eyes. “Cat and Magnus it’s good that you made it and of course your mundane guest. Welcome to Heart and Fell’s.”

Before Alec can introduce himself, Rachel keeps talking. “On the agenda is of course the storytime as usual, and after that we will paint the bigger playroom downstairs for the children. Your assignments will be to limit accidents and make sure that no one eats the paint. And of course we will all eat around the big table like every year, when activities are done.”

No one gets a word in before Rachel has walked back to wherever she came from.

“Well, at least I’m not a frog this time,” Magnus jokes.

“Unfortunately.” Ragnor sighs and then they all walk inside the entrance to the Heart and Fell’s Orphanage, Magnus muttering something under his breath with a glare on Ragnor.

Inside the laughter of children echoes along the walls, bringing life to the building. Alec feels himself start to smile at the sound, it reminds him of the youngest children in his institute.

“Please tell me what else you accepted from Cat.” Magnus pouts, as the two of them stand along one of the walls in the room, a bit away from the rest of the people there. “She refused.”

Alec pretends to think about it for a second. “Books on cows were definitely the best offer, but she also promised to look for a stele and to help me set up a date in the future with my husband.”

“Thank Lilith,” Magnus exclaims, not loudly enough to get the attention of others in the room, but still loud enough to bring a laugh out of Alec with the dramatics of it. “That’s not too bad. I almost thought you were a lost cause in the art of negotiation.”

“Well–” Alec stops talking as he feels someone pull on one of his legs, he looks down to see a small child with slightly more purple skin than normal looking up at him with a shy smile. “Hello there.” Alec bends down to have a conversation with the little boy. “My name’s Alec. What’s yours?”

“Theo,” he answers quietly, “you look like a prince.”

Alec’s eyes widen slightly at the comparison.

“I agree." Magnus jumps in on the conversation. “Isn’t he exquisite?” A wink toward Alec and a confirming hum from Theo is heard, as he excitingly nods his head up and down.

“Are you a prince, Alec?” Theo turns his big eyes to Alec again, filled with hope that Alec feels bad for crushing when he shakes his head.

“No, I’m not." Alec smiles apologetically. “But you look like you could be a prince, Theo.”

Theo lights up with a wide smile. “Really?” He bounces up and down in excitement.

“Yes, of course. You remind me of this one prince I met a year ago. He had the same brown eyes as you, with a tint of golden glow. And he was filled with joy and love, just like I can see you are. He wore the most beautiful clothes –”

Theo interrupts with an enthusiastic “And a crown?”

“And a crown,” Alec confirms with a smile big enough to mirror the one on Theo’s face. Even though the crown was a lie, the rest of Alec’s description was on par with how he had seen Magnus. His prince of hell.

“I want to be like him,” Theo says with all seriousness a five year old can muster, “when I grow up I want to, I want to marry a princess so I can be a prince and rule over the world with love. Oh, and, and I want to wear a big crown.”

He shows how big with his hands on his head and Alec tells him how impressive that would be. A moment later Rachel calls for all the children that it’s story time and Theo gives Alec a quick hug before running to the other side of the room, where Ragnor sits on a couch. He’s covered in children and seems to struggle to see the book in his hands from all the children in his lap.

“You’d make a good dad, you know.”

There is something vulnerable in the way Magnus carefully says the words that makes Alec look up and meet his eyes. Alec then stands back up to be able to speak to Magnus easier.

“I’d hope so,” Alec sincerely says, suppressing the urge to return the compliment, not sure if it’s welcome. He and Magnus had only just started talking about maybe adopting a child when Alec was suddenly thrust into the past.

“Don’t tell me you already have kids and I’ve completely overlooked it?” It’s pronounced like a joke, but Alec can hear the quiet longing.

Alec smiles lopsidedly. “Not yet, we’re discussing it though.”

Magnus makes a sort of strangled noise, one that Alec can’t really discern. But the happy shimmer prior apparent in his eyes quickly disappears, replaced by a blank face, hiding any emotion. Alec swears he sees a bit of fear bleeding through the mask, which does not make any sense in the context.

“I’m gonna— I, um, Ragnor probably needs my help over there.”

Then he’s gone, leaving Alec confused as to what just happened. Magnus stumbling over his words is usually very endearing and cute to Alec, but this time it just seemed like he wanted to come up with an excuse to get away from him. Like he was in a hurry and didn’t have time to be eloquent.

Ragnor definitely doesn't need help either. All the kids seem to love him and have gathered around him in a calm cluster, while he reads them a book. Magnus stands over there anyway, stubbornly not meeting Alec’s gaze.

Alec stands awkwardly in the corner by himself, not wanting to intrude on the reading on the other side of the room. He sees a little girl talking to Cat and then dragging her out of the room, away from everyone else. Rachel Heart is talking to another staff member, a conversation Alec doesn’t want to intrude on. Which just leaves himself. In his corner.

Instead of standing alone in the room full of activity, Alec decides to look around the orphanage. He walks out to the foyer where they came from, but instead of walking outside he takes a left turn and continues down the narrow hallway. He walks past the stairs, knowing that it’s only the bedrooms upstairs. Slowly Ragnor’s voice quietens with every step Alec takes.

He doesn’t walk inside the closed doors he walks past, not knowing if he’s allowed to be there. Then he comes to a door that stands open, inside is a lot of paint buckets. Alec remembers Rachel Heart mentioning that they’re going to paint the nursery. He had assumed that magic would be involved, but he supposes that the mundane way has its charm.

Alec takes a step inside but doesn’t see the person standing right inside the doorway and accidentally bumps into him.

“My apologies.” The voice belongs to a warlock who absolutely does not look apologetic, with a small smirk on his lips and eyebrows raised.

His warlock mark is on display, covering part of his face in what looks like glass, making one of his eyes stay in a static position while the other looks Alec up and down. The right side of his lips tug slightly up in what looks like amusement.

“No worries, accidents happen.”

Somehow Alec is now inside the room with the stranger blocking the way out. There’s no way for Alec to swiftly step past him and out to the corridor anymore.

The warlock takes half a step to the left, covering more of Alec’s escape way. Indicating that Alec has to endure this conversation. Alec’s alarm bells are ringing, but he’s a soldier. He’s been through more threatening situations in the past.

“Let me help you with that,” the warlock says looking at the bright green spot on Alec’s shirt, “it’s the least I can do.”

Alec narrows his eyes at the stranger, trying to understand what this conversation is. The lid is still on the paint bucket in the strangers hands, so he’s pretty sure that is not the cause for the green goo now on his shirt. Alec suspects foul play, but lets it slide, knowing that warlocks aren’t always fond of strangers.

The warlock doesn’t seem to like him and doesn’t seem to regret walking into him, so Alec can’t see the reasoning behind why he’s offering to help in fixing his ruined shirt? Something is definitely going on and Alec doesn’t like it.

“My wife would’ve helped you. She’s always helping lost souls, using her magic for the greater good.”

Alec nods hesitantly, the words familiar, and the warlock makes a grimace Alec is pretty sure is supposed to be a smile. But it’s way too sharp and misses its mark. The warlock then snaps his hands in a rigid motion making his yellow magic surface, the magic moves toward Alec and in a second his shirt has no trace of the green paint.

“I need to go to work, but it was nice seeing you here.” The warlock’s gaze lingers on Alec’s neck as he speaks.

Alec almost gives in to the urge to bring his hand up to cover the rune he knows isn’t visible. Thinking it’s probably a coincidence that the warlock so intently looks at the exact spot where his deflect rune is covered up. Alec is pretty sure he wouldn’t have helped him if he knew Alec was a shadowhunter unless there was an ulterior motif at play.

“You don’t work here?” Alec remembers Ragnor saying that everyone showing up today works here, well except for Alec, Magnus and Cat. Maybe someone else brought a friend with them.

“No.” He gives Alec what he guesses is supposed to be a charming smile, but misses its mark yet again with the offsetting feeling. “My wife, Eliza, she’s pregnant and due in eight days. I came here to be better prepared.”

Alec looks at him confused. “She’s not a warlock?” The stranger did say something about his wife using her magic to help people, but if she’s pregnant she can’t be. It’s a well known fact that warlocks are sterile.

“She is.”

Before Alec can question how a warlock couple has been able to become pregnant, a loud crash followed by a child screaming interrupts. Alec quickly brushes past the weird warlock, not caring about the push he has to deliver to have enough space to do so.

“I’m glad you’re happy here, Lightwood.”

Alec immediately turns around in shock that the warlock knows his name, but is only met with empty air. The warlock is gone. The words linger in the air, tauntingly. Alec replays the venomous spitting of his family name in his head, trying to connect it to the rest of the sentence.

When Alec recovers from his momentary shock, the screaming and crying from the child has stopped and only laughter is traveling through the corridor again.

Alec knows that Magnus is currently avoiding him, even if the reason is unclear. So he decides to look for Ragnor or Cat instead. He needs to tell someone what just happened. Who the warlock could be. Who he most likely is. He saw Cat get dragged away from the crowd by a shy child before he left to get more paint. Alec walks in the direction he saw them go before.

He hears Cat’s soft voice before he sees them in the room opposite from the one they’re painting.

“He’s here.” The breath leaves Alec’s lungs as he says the words, panic filling them up instead.

Cat looks up at Alec with her brows furrowed. The child hugs her tightly around the waist.

She seems to understand the urgency of what Alec is trying to say and moves together with the child towards him. “Millie, can you please go back to miss Heart while I talk to my friend?”

The child, Millie, nods and runs back to the big room without complaint.

“He did magic on you.” The statement is followed with Cat scanning him with her own magic, looking for whatever trace of the other warlock could still be on him.

“Yes.” Alec trembles and falls to his knees, the weight of the situation setting in. “I— I should’ve, I mean, I didn’t recognise him at all. But he… he knew me. Who I am. He said, he said…”

“Alec, look at me.” Cat is beside him on the floor, holding his shoulders in a tight grip. It’s tight enough to ground him in the moment and not get lost in his fear of what that warlock’s plan is. “Breathe with me.” And he does.

After a couple of breaths Alec calms down enough to think again. “Do you think he’s still here? He disappeared, I don’t know where he went.”

“He’s not here anymore.” Cat shakes her head in confirmation of her words. “I can’t feel his magic close by, you’re safe.”

“He’s my only real chance of getting back, Cat. Can you track him?” Alec begs, his fingers twitching on his thigh as he tries to regain his control.

He briefly wonders why he lost his composure so fast, it’s not like him. At all. He shouldn’t panic like this. He’s a shadowhunter. He’s the head of New York institute. He’s a leader. He knows how to control his emotions. He doesn’t freeze in place when he encounters a threat. So why did he do it this time?

The answer dawns on him. Because he’s never been a pawn in someone’s game before, not like this. He has no control over anything, when usually he has a lot. As head of his institute he needs to be in control for things not to go awry. Now that warlock can do whatever he wants and Alec can’t really do anything to stop him. His last words to Alec about him being happy here, is what shakes Alec’s feelings the most. Alec just knows that the warlock is planning on leaving him here in the past to live out his life and die.

Death doesn’t scare Alec. He has grown up knowing that most shadowhunters die young. He accepted it. He has been in many situations when he thought he would die, but somehow survived. And he never felt scared for himself, not once. What scares Alec is leaving his family behind. He wants all the time he can get with Jace, Izzy, Max and Magnus, even Clary and Simon included in that list. He’s not ready to leave them yet.

So the very real possibility of staying in the past and never getting back to the present is downright terrifying. His family would never get closure for his disappearance and death. They would forever wonder what happened to him. Alec can’t do that to them. He needs to get back.

“Alec?” Cat’s voice breaks through his haze. It doesn’t seem like it’s the first time she has said his name.

Alec blinks. He looks up and around, recognising the living room in Ragnor’s house. Cat’s sitting beside him on one couch, Ragnor on the other and Magnus isn’t here. He doesn’t remember leaving the Orphanage or getting through a portal to get here.

And Magnus isn’t here.

“We thought it best to regroup here,” Ragnor says, his hands clasped together in his lap, sitting unnaturally still. Alec can’t think of any other reason for him to be so incredibly still other than something bad happened.

Magnus isn’t here.

“Where no children can be harmed,” Cat adds and her hand on Alec’s back is the only thing keeping him from exploding into panic again. But as he looks at their faces he can tell that something must have happened and

Magnus isn’t here.

Magnus isn’t here!

Chapter Text

Something is wrong.

It’s hard to breathe, like there’s a pressure on Alec’s chest that makes it impossible to take a deep breath.

His skin’s tingling. Something isn’t right.

Alec’s eyes are frantically trying to look behind Cat’s worried face, but she takes up all of his limited vision. He needs to find Magnus. He isn’t here. And Cat won’t move out of his way. Her voice finally breaks through his spiraling mind.

”Magnus is alright. You need to breathe, Alec. Magnus is on his way.”

Alec hears the words and the conviction behind them. Cat knows that Magnus is fine. He’s not hurt. He’s on his way. His husband will be here soon. Cat repeats the words in a calming tone.

The pressure disappears slowly and Alec feels more coherent. He can feel Cat’s magic on him now, certain that she was either searching for a wound to heal or helping him calm down.

“You’re going to accidentally rip off your finger if you keep twisting your ring that hard,” Ragnor says and Alec guesses it’s supposed to sound like he’s bored or annoyed, but only comes across as concerned.

If Ragnor’s goal was to abate Alec’s worries by saying something unexpected he succeeded. Alec can’t help but huff out a puff of air as he looks down at his ring. The skin underneath it is red and irritated from all the spinning and pulling he has done.

Alec looks up again and meets Ragnor’s eyes first and then Cat’s so that they know he’s speaking to both of them. “I’m sorry.”

Ragnor rolls his eyes and mutters something about the shadowhunter being ridiculous. Cat takes Alec’s hands in hers and shakes her head.

”No, Alec. You have absolutely nothing to apologize for. You were panicking and your body and mind automatically thought the worst. Magnus didn’t take the same portal as the rest of us and it’s understandable to think that something might have happened to him when you didn’t see him.”

Alec nods, but he doesn’t really understand her words. ”He always stays by my side, why didn’t he this time?” His words sound broken even in his own ears and he can see the way Cat recognises that by softening her eyes in understanding.

”He did want to stay with you,” Cat starts with hesitating words, “but he was having some trouble containing his anger and thought it best to stay away until he’d calmed down.”

Realization dawns on Alec. Sometimes when his husband is feeling very strong emotions he loses control of his magic. So if what Cat just told him is true he didn’t only have trouble containing his anger but also his magic. He wanted to keep Alec safe by staying away.

One thing that Alec doesn’t understand is why Magnus would be so angry. Did their conversation at the orphanage make him angry? Was that why he didn’t want to talk to Alec and left to stand next to Ragnor and the kids?

”He’s furious, but not at you, young man,” Ragnor states like he’s reading Alec’s mind. He sighs before continuing “He blames himself for your encounter with the warlock.”

”Oh,” Alec breathes out.

Alec’s not sure that’s a comforting thought at all. It’s not Magnus’ fault. Alec never even considered it, but it makes sense that he would think that. Magnus left Alec by himself in a house full of warlocks and the one warlock that wanted Alec harm found him.

“I thought I told you that you’re going to rip your finger off if you continue like that.”

Alec meets Ragnor’s eyes with a guilty smile. “I can’t help it.”

”Maybe we can just ask him if he’d mind if you were left with only nine fingers,” Cat teases him and Alec’s smile grows more genuine.

He’s thankful that both of them try to make him more at ease. But Alec still feels some unease, something still feels wrong. Now that he knows that Magnus is safe and just staying away to cool down, Alec can focus more on that feeling. He can’t pinpoint what’s making him so unbalanced. It’s like his skin is buzzing. Especially around his hip. Unconsciously he puts his hand over the spot.

”What is it?” Cat’s voice makes Alec’s hand fall back down.

Alec hesitates, furrowing his brows, before he opens his mouth. “I’m not sure. I feel a bit weird, but I’m sure it’s nothing.”

He shrugs to show that they don’t need to worry. Even though both their faces scrunch up in contemplation and their eyes flash with concern.

”Cat said the warlock’s magic was evident on you.” Ragnor steps closer to Alec. “Perhaps he did more than just remove a paint spot. I can give you a quick scan to check if I can sense another spell, if you’d like.”

Alec nods his consent. If anything it will settle his worries. It’s most likely just a side effect from Alec panicking, but it doesn’t hurt to do an examination of sorts.

Ragnor’s magic is a similar color to his skin. When it makes contact with Alec’s skin it feels like an uncomfortable tingle. It doesn’t hurt, but no magic has ever felt like this before. He doesn’t want to overthink it, but it adds to the feeling of wrongness that’s been in his body since the encounter with the other warlock.

Alec looks as Ragnor’s face changes from a look of concentration to something unreadable. The magic has stopped around his hip, searching for something. Alec can tell that Ragnor is biting the inside of his cheek when the magic stops looking around.

Ragnor looks up and meets Alec’s eyes. “It almost feels like your body is trying to reject my magic, even though it was just a scan. From what I can tell there’s an active spell on you, one that repels magic and that makes it difficult to pinpoint what its purpose is.”

“Now that you say it, I did notice that something was stopping my magic from calming Alec down,” Cat confirms.

Cat shifts in her seat beside Alec. Before anyone can say anything else a portal appears behind the couch Ragnor sits on. Magnus steps out holding a book in his arms.

”Magnus,” Cat calls his name, “is everything alright?”

“Just peachy,” Magnus unconvincingly states, “I even took the liberty of a trip to the Spiral Labyrinth.”

Ragnor eyes the book in Magnus’ hands with a bewildered look. “How did you convince them to let you take part of the knowledge? I thought it would take us at least one more month and that would have been quick.”

Magnus smirks and winks playfully, but Alec can tell that Magnus is still having to keep up a facade in order to contain his anger and magic, which makes his facial expressions strained. Alec wants to go up to him and give him a hug, whisper soft words in his ear about how amazing he is and that it’s not his fault. He wants to flatten out the crease between his eyebrows and kiss away the frown that keeps returning.

”My charming personality, of course.” Magnus places the book down on the table.

Ragnor rolls his eyes in exasperation, but joins him at the table. He quickly starts flipping the pages, looking for something of value, a bit of magic helping him.

Magnus is eagerly leaning in close to the book and Alec can’t help but look at him with love. He loves it when Magnus shows his excitement openly, because it always means he feels safe. The facade Magnus had up when he walked through the portal slowly diminishing and turning to genuine excitement.

”He’s using a searching spell to look for specific words,” Cat explains kindly when Alec nudges her with a questioning glance toward the book.

“Are you telling me we could have done that with all of the books we went through earlier with research?” Alec raises an eyebrow in disbelief.

Cat lets out a laugh. “We did, you just didn’t notice. How do you think we went through those books so quickly?” She smirks and Alec can’t help but roll his eyes.

”Alright, fine, I get it.” Alec sighs, but a smile is plastered on his face, betraying his amusement. “It does explain how you read ten times as many books than me.”

The pages in the book are still turning, searching for specific words. Until finally the flipping stops and a page lights up with magic. Alec sees Ragnor and Magnus reading the page with looks of concentration. Alec’s focus lingers on the way Magnus bites his lower lip. This Magnus doesn't know what it does to him.

Ragnor’s cough makes Alec look away and watch the green warlock instead. Amusement flashing through his eyes, but quickly replaced with another emotion. “There’s not a lot in here. It speaks of timelines and how time behaves, but everything is just theories.”

”Good theories based on research,” Magnus interjects, “The timeline doesn’t like when things are out of place and wants to correct itself.”

”From that we can draw the conclusion that if we wait long enough either Alec will return to his own time or he will forget where he’s from and blend in to this time instead. With that our memories of Alec will probably alter as well.” Ragnor thinks out loud and Magnus hums in thought.

”Either way we can’t really do anything,” Cat sighs.

”You’re correct,” Ragnor agrees, “the only way to know for sure is to wait and see what happens.”

”But that’s not an option,” Alec says firmly, “I will not just sit around and wait.”

Magnus gives him a fond look. “Of course not, we can still find the warlock who did this to you.” A brief flash of guilt flashes through his eyes. “You are certain that you met the warlock at the orphanage, right?”

Alec feels a shiver run along his back as he thinks back to their encounter, which doesn’t go unnoticed by anyone in the room.

“It was definitely him.” Alec’s voice is flat and hollow, desperately trying to avoid any kind of emotion. “He called me by my family name.”

“And you haven’t told anyone what that is,” Magnus says, his eyes traveling over Alec’s face. Alec recognises traces of worry and concern in the furrowed brow and downturned lip.

“I haven’t.”

Cat, catching on that Alec doesn’t want to talk about his name any longer, clears her throat. “Did he say anything that we can use to locate him?”

“One weird thing, I guess.” Alec furrows his brows. “He said that his wife is pregnant, but he also alluded to her being a warlock. It didn’t really make any sense.”

“I’ve heard rumors about someone researching something like that,” Ragnor hums and then promptly walks out of the room without saying anything else.

Cat stands up to follow him and then turns around in the doorway to face Alec, like she just remembered something. “Take a break, Alec, and try not to bury yourself with theories. Ragnor may have found a possible connection, but it might also take some time before we know if it’s substantial.”

Alec nods and gives her a tired smile. “Yeah, it feels like I can’t really do anything to help at the moment.”

She smiles fondly and reaches for something in the air, a mist of magic reveals a familiar object in her hand.

“Here you go, just as promised.” Her words are accompanied with a proud grin and then she throws the stele in his direction. Alec easily catches it. He can only wonder how she managed to get a hold of one so quickly.

His eyes light up. He’s been wanting to activate his stamina rune many times since he lost his own stele to have the energy to help the three warlocks who have dropped almost everything to help him. Even though he knows they all want him to rest after his panic attacks, he just wants to feel normal. He doesn’t think he can sleep now anyway, might as well have a refreshed mind.

Alec uses the stele to trace over the rune. He gasps. He knew it would be more painful than normal because it’s been a couple of weeks since the last activation, but this burn doesn’t feel normal at all.

It’s like a fire inside his veins, trying to crawl its way out through his skin. Like something is slowly breaking and can barely hold on. His parabatai bond is pulsing in a desperate need to cling on to the thread binding the two shadowhunters together. It feels even weaker than it has the last couple of weeks.

Alec’s eyes widen as he comes to the conclusion that using the stele isn’t helping, it’s hurting.

“Alexander?”

The voice breaks through the confusion Alec feels over his revelation and he looks up to see that Magnus has taken Cat’s place next to him. Cat looks equally as concerned where she stands before them.

Alec tries to give them a comforting smile, but he isn’t sure it’s convincing. He doesn’t really know what just happened. Perhaps it’s just how his runes react when activated in the wrong timeline. In any case, he doesn’t want to give them more reasons to worry about him.

”I’m okay, I guess I just forgot that it hurts to activate runes.”

Magnus’ brows furrow and he tilts his head while searching Alec’s face. Alec isn’t sure what exactly it is he’s looking for.

”Oh right, I forgot you shadowhunters need an adjustment period when it’s been awhile,” Cat says, some concern injecting her voice, “Be careful, Alec.”

Alec nods to show her that he heard and looks as she walks out of the room to follow Ragnor.

”Are you sure everything’s fine?” Magnus’ voice is soft and Alec can’t help but look at him with an equally soft smile.

”Can barely feel it,” he confirms. He’s telling the truth, the burning sensation is gone. But he doesn’t feel like the rune activated, which is weird.

Magnus lifts his hand like he wants to reach for Alec, but quickly aborts the motion. Instead giving Alec a quick tight smile, moving as if to stand up. But Alec reaches out and grabs his wrist before he can do it.

“Are you alright?” Alec asks carefully.

“Of course,” he says with a forced cheeriness, “nothing to worry about, magic’s all contained now. Once in Peru I actually—“

“Tell me the truth, please.” The words are whispered, but Magnus stops talking instantly.

Alec didn’t mean to interrupt him, but the obvious attempt at deflection breaks Alec’s heart. His husband used to do the same thing when talking about powerful emotions and still does it sometimes. But somehow it’s more jarring hearing it coming out of this Magnus’ mouth, like he doesn’t want Alec to know him. A rejection.

Magnus takes a deep breath, eyes fleeting over to the door multiple times before they settle on Alec. He watches as Magnus calculates if he should tell the truth or continue to say that everything is fine.

Another deep breath.

“I’m not supposed to feel like this,” Magnus breathes out, “and I can’t help it. I’ve tried to stop, but you’re just… you’re…” He makes a wounded sound and suddenly his eyes shine with unshed tears. “You have a husband.”

Alec looks at him with a sudden understanding of Magnus’ behavior as of lately. Magnus thinks Alec is married to someone else. Furthermore, this Magnus has started to like Alec as more than friends. And it’s breaking him. Probably even reminding him of Camille, since she cheated on him with multiple other people. Now Magnus thinks he’s on the other side of that same equation.

The ring on Alec’s finger is full of spells that Magnus, his husband, has cast. Cat realized who Magnus was to Alec even before she felt the remnants of the protection spells on it. Alec is pretty sure Ragnor has known the truth for a while as well, but hasn’t said anything about it. Alec has been thinking back and forth about how and when to tell Magnus that he is the husband, and now the moment is here. Maybe too late.

Alec takes the ring off from his finger and holds it up expectantly toward Magnus, who stares at him with wide eyes. The vulnerability there for everyone to see. Alec gives him a small private smile and then grabs Magnus’ hand when he doesn’t move it himself. He drops his ring in Magnus’ palm and watches his face as different emotions flash in quick succession. Fear. Confusion. Hope.

“You’re right,” Alec starts, “I do have a husband.”

Magnus looks down at the ring and then back up at Alec, a tear running down his cheek that Alec thinks he doesn't notice.

”Is this… Am I…?”

”Yes.” With the confirmation a weight lifts off his shoulders, a relief that Magnus finally knows.

Magnus’ palm curls around the ring. His eyes still unbelieving. Alec can tell that Magnus is going through the different spells infused in the object by the small ticks of his eyes. The spells which are distinctly Magnus. A small smile slowly makes its way onto his face, growing bigger by the second.

”I love you,” Magnus says with a wonder in his voice.

Alec knows he’s not saying it because he feels it, it’s too soon for that. They’ve only known each other for a few weeks. No, he’s saying it because he can feel it in all the magic in the ring. Magnus is in awe of how powerful their love is, embodied by the ring. Like he can’t truly believe himself to be lucky enough to experience it.

”You do.” Alec places a palm against his cheek, his thumb slowly caressing the skin underneath Magnus’ eye, in a loving stroke. “And I love you.”

In contrast to Magnus, Alec says it because he feels it. He can’t imagine meeting Magnus in any time period and not love him. He’s the same Magnus as he knows as his husband, just a little younger. Alec will love any and every version of Magnus there is, no question about it.

“You mean it.” The wonder is still there as Magnus speaks, leaning into the touch Alec gives him. “Well, that both uncomplicates things and makes them more complicated.”

The smile adorning Magnus’ face has elements of a sadness mirrored in Alec’s.

Alec takes his lower lip in between his teeth and lets his hand fall back down. ”Yeah, it does. I guess I wanted to spare you those feelings by not telling you about it.”

“I’m sorry,” Magnus apologizes, “It must have been difficult being around me, when you love another version of me.”

Alec shakes his head. “You have nothing to apologize for. Yes, it’s been hard seeing you and being here. It’s been difficult because I know you and love you, but you had no idea of who I am. That was the hardest part. You look at me and see a stranger, whereas I look at you and I see the man I’m in love with. You are still you.”

Magnus nods and Alec can see that he’s still having a hard time wrapping his head around it. He keeps fiddling with the ring in his hand, overwhelmed.

”I…” Alec starts again, afraid that he will overstep, “I’m sorry for all of this. It must have been confusing. Because for me, as I said, you are still you. But I’ve come across as an asshole who…” He can’t bring himself to say the words that hurt even thinking about. A shaky breath and humorless laugh slip out before he continues in a watery voice. “I would never intentionally hurt you.”

”I won’t lie and tell you I’m not hurt by you not telling me, but I do understand where you’re coming from. It’s simply an impossible situation.”

”Yeah,” Alec agrees, not knowing how to continue this conversation any longer. He never meant to hurt Magnus, but that doesn’t take away the fact that he did.

Magnus slips the ring back on Alec’s finger, where it weighs heavily.

“Can you give me some time to think about it all?”

“Of course.” Alec spins the ring in a comforting motion. “You know, Cat thinks the ring is the reason why I didn’t die when the warlock sent me here.”

”I think she’s right. There are some very powerful protection spells in here.”

“Thank you.”

Alec stays where he’s seated while Magnus gives him a small smile, standing up. He’s quickly out of the room, leaving Alec alone. Alec knows Magnus isn’t really fleeing from him, but the emotion of rejection is still there, lurking.

He takes a deep breath, trying to ground himself. He knew he wasn’t being fair to Magnus by not telling him who he is to him, yet he felt torn. Choosing the coward’s way out and staying quiet, thinking that Magnus wouldn’t notice his longing gazes.

He’s going to give Magnus some time to think and wrap his head around everything. Alec’s going to try his best to not overthink it. He doesn’t want to stay in this room, dwelling on their conversation. So he stands up.

A dizzy wave hits him.

There’s a shift in the air.

The room transforms from the now familiar living room in Ragnor’s house, into an empty, white room. The walls replaced by hazy edges, almost like a—

"Dream."

Jace’s voice echoes against the white walls and Alec turns around to see his parabatai standing in his pajamas in the opposite corner. His normally perfectly shaped hair is in an unorganized mess. His facial hair is longer than Alec has ever seen on him. The dark bags under his eyes are larger than when he was possessed by Lilith.

“You look like shit.” Alec tilts his head slightly and a small smirk is visible on his face. “Either my imagination is tired of the golden boy being perfect or this isn’t a normal dream.”

Jace rolls his eyes, but chuckles nonetheless. “I didn’t know I was supposed to dress up to meet you, oh beautiful parabatai. Not that you look much better.”

Alec grins and walks towards his brother, who meets him halfway. The tight hug and familiar arms around him makes the homesickness rush to the surface.

”How are we here?” Alec asks, voice quivering slightly, emotions tight in his throat.

“Your husband is more stubborn than you sometimes.” Jace pulls back slightly, just enough to place his forehead against Alec’s. “New usage for magic usually takes a lot longer than a couple of weeks, but he says he defies the laws of nature for you.”

Alec can’t help but smile at the statement, something inside of him warming up at the thought of Magnus being stubborn enough to create new magic just for him. That the love between them are an inspiration for innovative magic. Across time and dimensions.

”I suppose I am a great incentive.”

They break apart again and just look into each other’s eyes. There’s a small smile on Jace’s face, but mostly Alec can see the pain he’s trying to hide behind it. Probably mirrored on his own.

Instead of saying something utterly ridiculous and insulting, what comes out of Jace’s mouth next makes Alec’s face soften.

”Yeah, you are. For all of us. We love you, we need you... I love you, brother. We would never ever give up on finding you.”

It’s not eloquent nor is it smooth, but it’s raw and honest. His voice cracks a couple of times. Tears drop from his eyes and Alec isn’t sure he even notices the wetness on his cheeks. Emotions have never been easy for Jace to talk about, so the fact that he willingly does so now shows how deeply this has affected him.

”And I always do what I can to find my way back.” Alec brushes the tears away from Jace’s face. “I love you too, parabatai. Now, should we sit down to talk about how and why you’re here?”

Jace nods, a look of determination taking over from the vulnerability. The look of a soldier about to report to his superior. “We only have an hour if Magnus calculated properly, so yeah, we should get started. There’s a lot I need to tell you.”

The space in which they are, doesn’t have furniture, so both of them just plummet down to the floor. They sit opposite to each other. There’s barely any space between them, their legs touching, making sure that this is real. Grounding in a way Alec hasn’t felt since the parabatai bond went almost silent.

Jace takes a deep breath. “When you disappeared I felt your pain. I thought… I thought that you were about to die and then all of your pain just disappeared and I thought that was it.”

“I’m sorry.” Alec looks at his parabatai with both regret and sympathy.

Jace shakes his head. “No, don’t apologize.” He gives Alec a reassuring smile, tinted with sadness as he remembers the first difficult days. “I was in shock at first and just stood there, but Izzy was beside me and she pulled up my shirt to check on the rune. It was still there and then I focused on you and realized I could still feel you. I knew you were alive somewhere. We all burst out crying in relief. It was quite the sight when Maryse walked in.”

Alec smiles in encouragement even though his heart aches with the knowledge that Jace, even if it was for only a minute, had thought that his parabatai was dead. They say that when one half of a parabatai bond dies, the other either goes insane or follows the other half of his soul. It’s the worst pain imaginable to lose one's other half.

”She was the one who took charge you know,” Jace admits and Alec can hear the tiny amount of guilt laced in with that statement. “She called for Magnus immediately and told him to try and track you and then meet up with us in your office. Meanwhile she asked both me and Izzy a thousand questions about what you were supposed to be doing, what I could feel through the bond and we realized that your disappearance was likely due to the case.”

Jace shifts a bit and moves his legs around, looking like he’s contemplating how to say something. The hesitance visible in his eyes as he looks at Alec. So Alec waits him out.

It doesn’t take long before Jace, with a grimace, takes the word again.

”Magnus, he…when he came through the portal to your office he looked so distraught. He… it was really bad, Alec. I’ve never seen him so destroyed. He was barely coherent at first. Then he said something about a protection spell going off and we realized that he knew that you were in trouble even before Maryse called him.”

Alec watching Jace carefully as he listens to the story about what happened can see that this is taking a toll on him. The redness in his eyes is more visible now and so is the shakiness of his hands. Alec feels like it’s his fault that Jace reacts like this now and even though he knows intellectually that it’s not, it’s difficult to shake the guilt.

”We tried to track you together and everyone who you had spoken to that last day came to the institute to share what information they had. We spoke about the case and who was behind those murders. Somehow Magnus and some green warlock found out who the culprit is.”

”Who is it?” Alec can’t help but ask, ignoring the urge to correct Jace by using Ragnor’s name.

”His name is Oscar Byron.” Jace spits out the name. “He’s known to experiment with new types of magic in the warlock community, some call him a genius.”

”Oscar Byron,” Alec repeats the name, knowing how important it is to remember. “A genius who somehow found a way to impregnate his warlock wife and travel through time.”

Alec’s the one to say it. The impossible. Time travel. He knows that Jace must suspect it, otherwise he and Magnus would have tried something else to get in contact with him. Yet, at the confirmation Jace’s eyes widened in shock.

”I know that’s what we expected, but that just feels insane. You really traveled in time?” The question is filled both with terror and awe.

“Yeah, it’s 1893, actually.” Alec gives his parabatai a wry smile. “Tell me what happened next.”

“We found his lair a few days after we knew who he was. Magnus and I were the first ones there just in case we found you. But all we found was this weird contraption and a lot of blood.”

”Mine.” Alec nods in understanding, then the hope starts blooming in his chest. “Did you figure out how the contraption works?”

Jace looks down at the question, pretending to find his hands interesting to look at. The silence is an answer in and of itself. Alec tries to ignore the disappointment and hopelessness that threatens to take over.

Then Jace lifts his head again and Alec can see the guilt suffocating him. If their bond wasn’t so stretched Alec is sure he would feel it in an overwhelming amount.

”We didn’t know that it could be the solution to finding you. I thought it was some kind of container that didn’t have a purpose. I… I didn’t think, Alec. I was so angry with myself and Magnus and Byron. Everyone. I just, I felt like I needed to destroy the room and…”

”You destroyed the contraption,” Alec fills in the blank.

”Yeah.” There’s shame in that agreement, regret as well. “Magnus tried to stop me, but I ignored him. I was filled with this rage I didn’t know how to handle and I…” Jace chokes on the last words, a sob breaking through.

It’s a heartbreaking sound.

At the same time Alec feels annoyed at Jace for acting prematurely, possibly destroying the only chance Alec had at getting back home. But he has always acted recklessly, that’s just who Jace is. And Alec can never be mad at him for being himself.

”Alright.” Alec carefully keeps any emotion away from his voice, not wanting to upset Jace any further. He needs Jace to keep reporting the facts before he lets himself feel. “Tell me what else you found.”

Jace nods once, the determined look back on his face. “Magnus scanned the place for magic, he found huge amounts of Byron’s own magic, but he couldn’t tell what it had been used for. He could also sense your energy there. We knew you had been there and that’s when we looked at everything in that room. We found some notebooks, which were written in some old demon language. But nothing else that seemed of importance, except for that damn contraption.”

”Describe the contraption, Jace.”

”It looked like a container, with the metal and thick glass. There were tubes connecting to it, but they didn’t look like they had a purpose. There was nothing visible inside the glass. I thought it was empty, but Magnus felt residues of some kind of unknown energy after it was already destroyed.”

Alec tries to remember if he saw anything when Oscar Byron kidnapped him, but nothing comes to mind. He was too out of it to really see anything.

Maybe the contraption had nothing to do with the time travel. Alec has no idea and Jace doesn’t seem to know for sure that it was either.

”Magnus and his friend sat with the notebooks for a week before they reported their theory to Maryse. She then told me and Izzy. That’s when we realized that you had somehow traveled back in time, if the translation of the text was correct. Byron had apparently been trying to go back in time himself. And when we couldn’t track him down we figured he succeeded, but we couldn’t find you either and I knew that you weren’t dead. So the conclusion was that both of you were in the past.”

”Ridiculous, right?”

”Totally insane.”

They snicker, both of them needing the moment to lighten up before diving deep again in the grave topic.

Jace takes a deep breath before continuing his report of events. “After we had our theory we searched everywhere for information. But it’s been real slow, not surprising since nobody has time traveled before. We just found some books that mentioned it, but nothing of value.”

”Yeah, information on our side has been difficult to come over as well.” Alec makes a face. “We didn’t have much to go on for anything, so having a name now is really helpful.”

“Magnus was working on this spell simultaneously, so that we could eventually talk to each other. Confirm what happened to you and share what we know. And now here we are.” Jace concludes his report.

Alec manages a smile. “My husband inventing new magical formulas, tell him I find that hot.”

Jace rolls his eyes and shoves playfully at Alec. “I will not be the messenger for your flirting!” He exclaims. “Magnus already tried to get me to tell you that he would love to see you in clothes appropriate for whatever time period you are in and how much he would like to then rip them— I refuse to— oh, oh no.”

Alec laughs, but his happiness quickly turns into a feeling of loss. “Tell him I miss him, at least.”

”Of course,” Jace confirms, the somber mood returning.

”Do you know what event led Oscar Byron to want to time travel?” Alec refocuses on trying to learn more about the warlock that caused him to be separated from his family.

Jace hums in thought. "We’re not sure. According to Magnus’ green friend, Byron lost his wife before the millennium shift. His educated guess is that Byron is trying to save her.”

Alec gives a small amused smile, Magnus’ friend that Jace is speaking about is most likely Ragnor. Who, in both timelines, guesses that love is the reason.

”Eliza,” Alec says the wife’s name and nods, “She’s pregnant. Byron told me that she’s due in eight days.”

”You talked to him?” Jace’s eyes widen.

”I didn’t know it was him until afterwards. He didn’t do anything, but when he called me Lightwood I spiraled a bit.” Alec makes a face, a wave of shame of his earlier emotional state. “I didn’t even correct him.”

Alec always corrects the people that get his name wrong, no matter who it is. His name is no longer just Lightwood, but Lightwood-Bane.

”Yeah, can’t imagine that meeting the warlock that turned your life upside down would be very pleasant.”

“What do you know about Eliza?” Alec changes the subject.

”She’s going to die two days after giving birth,” Jace says, looking at Alec like he knows he needs to talk about anything other than himself at the moment. “We don’t know how. No one seems to remember or just heard rumors about it. Magnus couldn’t confirm anything. He told me that Byron and the baby just disappeared and they felt the wife’s magic seize to exist.”

Alec knows warlocks can feel when another one dies. It doesn’t happen very often, but it always hits the community very hard. Alec can only guess that Eliza’s death somehow is connected to the experimental pregnancy.

”So he’s had a century to come up with a way to time travel.” Alec sighs. “I’ll be glad to be alive for another twenty years, that’s above average for a shadowhunter. There’s no way I can figure it out, even with help from this time’s Magnus in less time than that.”

”You found Magnus?” Jace looks at him with a strange expression. “But yeah, no. We’re still trying to figure out how to pick you up and bring you home. Magnus has gathered at least two dozen warlocks who are working on it, but…”

Alec furrows his brows when Jace trails off. “But?” He prompts.

”It’s not looking good. Magnus has barely been sleeping, working himself to the ground. The other warlocks as well. But the only thing they have to go off is the notebooks and parts of the unknown contraption. They still haven’t been able to translate all of the notebooks either, but from what I understand Byron kinda lost his mind and it’s reflecting on his writing.”

”Basically, there’s little to no hope.”

”He’s not giving up. Neither am I.”

”I know, but if he looks as bad as you or worse… I’m not worth all that trouble.” Before Jace can protest Alec continues speaking. “Oscar Byron is hiding here somewhere, in this time. I can find him and get him to tell me how to get back.”

”Alec, that’s not a great plan.”

“I know. But now that I know who he is, we might have a chance of finding out where he and his wife are. And right now, he is the only one who actually knows how to time travel.”

Jace sighs heavily. “Alright, but please come up with some sort of plan before you go looking. And know that your husband and I will never stop trying to get you back even if it takes decades.”

”Take care of him for me, please.”

”Only until you’re home.”

There’s a pause in their conversation, the most important parts out in the open.

Alec knows the hour must soon be up. There’s a lot he wants to ask, but he also just wants to be in the vicinity of his parabatai without worrying.

”We might not be able to meet like this again.” Jace breaks the silence with a whisper of regret. “Our bond was already weak, but something must have happened a few hours ago and it got worse. Magnus feared it was too weak to even do this once, but we needed to try. Even if the spell is highly experimental still.”

”I’m glad you did. I think something is wrong with my runes, when I tried to activate one today it hurt more than any other have ever done. That might explain the weakening bond.”

”We’ll look into it on our side, but promise me you will tell someone on yours.”

“What makes you think I haven’t already done that?” Alec’s lips curl upwards.

Jace scoffs. “Please, give me some credit, parabatai.”

Alec raises a skeptical eyebrow, but his expression quickly turns into a full faced grin. “Okay, I promise, but only if you promise me to sleep and eat more. I need you to be alive when I get back.”

He says it in a light tone, aiming for a joke, but both of them know that it’s more than that. It’s serious. A plea for his parabatai to take care of himself, when he can’t remind him daily like usual. They’ve always relied on each other to tell the other when they didn’t sleep or eat enough. Having been able to feel it through their bond for so long it comes as second nature for them.

Jace rolls his eyes, but Alec can see that he knows it’s non negotiable.

”Fine, I promise.”

They sit in silence for a bit, just looking at each other with bittersweet smiles. The weirdness of the white space where they are, still not feeling completely real, but none of them want anything more than staying in each other's company.

”I wish we could stay here for longer.”

”Me too.”

After the confession comes another lull in their conversation. Just basking in the presence of his brother.

”Izzy and Maryse wanted me to tell you that they miss you. Izzy had like a million questions for me to ask, but I told her that she would have to ask you when you’re back. Oh, and you don’t have to worry about the institute because the two of them are leading it in your stead.”

“Good, I trust them to lead my people. And I don’t mind answering Izzy’s questions, I will probably ask just as many in return to all of you when we have the time.”

“The biggest thing that has happened while you’ve been gone is that everyone in the shadow world has helped Magnus without complaining, even Lorenzo. Everyone has worked their ass off, especially your husband. He loves you so much it’s ridiculous, you know.”

”Yeah, I know.” Alec knows he probably looks starstruck, still just as in love with his husband as he was when they first exchanged the three words. “Tell Magnus that I love him and—“

Alec doesn’t have time to finish his sentence before the whiteness is suddenly replaced by the sight of the living room.

Time’s up.

Chapter Text

”Alec?” Cat asks hesitantly.

Alec looks up from where he’s sitting on the floor in the middle of the living room. In the doorway, three worried warlocks are looking at him from a safe distance, with concerned faces.

Alec blinks a couple of times, adjusting to the new sensations. “I’m fine.”

“If you say so,” Ragnor scoffs. “You’ve been in a magical bubble for an hour, which, I might add, tried to zap me twice. Twice!”

Alec’s lip twitches. “You can blame future Magnus for that one.”

”Still aggravating in the future, I see.” Ragnor looks pointedly at Magnus, who gapes in pretend offense.

”I am not aggravating!” He walks into the room, now that the bubble isn’t there to zap them, eyes looking Alec up and down. “I most likely wanted to be sure that Alec was safe while his consciousness was someplace else.”

Alec feels grateful that Magnus is still acting like Magnus, despite their earlier conversation. An hour has passed for Magnus to think about the complications of being the future husband of Alec, that’s not a lot of time. Alec had mentally prepared himself for a couple of awkward days ahead, while Magnus processed the information, but maybe it’s not gonna be that bad.

”Is that what happened?” Cat asks, joining them in the room, taking her place on the couch. “Your consciousness traveled somewhere?”

Alec nods, while stretching out his arms and legs. “Yeah, I think that’s it, I was in some sort of white space. Future Magnus was able to figure out a spell that made it possible for me and my parabatai to talk to each other.”

“You were able to talk to him across time, fascinating.” Ragnor looks impressed and takes a seat next to Cat and then looks over at Magnus. “Perhaps you have some intelligence in that brain of yours after all.”

Magnus rolls his eyes, “Oh, please. We already knew that I’m more than capable of making magical advances.”

Ragnor just waves off Magnus' comment, instead raising his eyebrows at Alec. “Are you going to sit on the floor all night?”

Before he can answer a hand is offered, Magnus smiles down at him. Alec returns the smile and grabs the hand. Standing up Alec realizes how close they suddenly are. He’s pretty sure he sees Magnus’ eyes flashing golden before his eyes automatically fall onto his lips. But he knows that he needs to give Magnus time to process and keep his physical distance, so he takes a step back.

”I…we should, I mean…uh, couch.” Alec quietly wonders if all his brain cells took a nap at the same time.

Magnus looks both fond and amused at the stuttering and Alec pointedly ignores the snickers coming from the couch in the background.

”Well, Alexander.” Magnus is visibly trying to keep from laughing, “I think that's a great idea.” Then he proceeds to drag Alec over to the other couch that is still unoccupied.

Alec’s mildly embarrassed about his reaction, but ignores his flushed cheeks as he settles comfortably close to Magnus. Perhaps taking advantage of his good mood, but Alec needs the comfort in this whirlwind of a situation. The steadiness of the person that will be his husband.

“Tell us, Alec,” Cat starts, taking charge of the conversation, “what did you and your parabatai talk about?”

“We talked about many things, but most importantly, he told me the name of the warlock responsible for all this,” Alec informs them, waving his hand, “Oscar—“

”—Byron,” Ragnor echoes the name at the same time.

Everyone turns to look at Ragnor in surprise.

“He’s the one I heard rumors about doing research on the sterility of warlocks,” Ragnor explains. “Apparently he tried to get multiple other warlocks pregnant before his own wife, to be sure it worked. Although none of them have been in contact with anyone for the past two years, so it’s not easy to confirm.”

Alec takes in the information and the hope rises in his chest. If Ragnor knows who they’re looking for, perhaps he knows more about Oscar Byron and how to find him.

”Do you know where he lives?” Alec asks hopefully.

Ragnor shakes his head. “No, but I haven’t had the time to ask around either. Your mysterious magical bubble did take up most of my focus.”

”At least now we know who to look for,” Cat adds, pointedly. That information being a tiny bit more valuable than magic theory at the moment.

”Yeah, and you were right, Ragnor.” Alec gives him a faint smile. “It all comes down to love. According to my parabatai, Oscar’s wife, Eliza, dies two days after their child is born. Which, for us, is in ten days. I think he wants to save her by taking her to the future.”

Ragnor sighs. “Of course this mess revolves around a love story.”

”Don’t sound so disappointed, dear cabbage, the best messes are those that include love.” Magnus looks at Alec when he delivers the second part of that sentence, squeezing the hand he’s still holding.

Alec can feel his cheeks heating up at that small action, looking down at his ring. Not catching the way Cat and Ragnor share a meaningful gaze.

When Alec dares meet Magnus’ eyes that are still on him, Magnus winks playfully before turning to Ragnor again. “Could you find out more about if the previous pregnancies were successful? I want to know if the other women are still alive and if we can ask them questions.”

“Fine.” Ragnor sighs, but Alec doesn’t miss the way his lips twitch upwards in that fond expression he has come to associate with Ragnor. “But you will owe me another bottle of wine.”

Magnus rolls his eyes but still agrees to the condition. Ragnor smiles triumphantly while Magnus exaggerates a pout. Cat just shakes her head at the two of them with a fond small smile on her face. The whole thing reminds Alec of siblings bickering.

“Oh, and Alec,” Ragnor says, “while you were in that bubble of magic, I figured out what the spell we found before is doing to you.” Ragnor seems to hesitate as he speaks. “The spell is attacking all magic it comes in contact with. That includes your runes, I’m afraid.”

The tingles and buzzing on Alec’s skin that hasn’t gone away suddenly make sense. So does the pain when he tried to activate his stamina rune and why the parabatai bond has weakened even more.

“Oh, I guess that makes sense.” Alec's voice is flat, lacking the myriad of emotions whirling inside of him. “I’m going to bed.” Abruptly he stands up and flees out of the room.

Too many revelations and situations have been revealed in the last twenty four hours. Alec knows he should’ve stayed and told them all about his conversation with Jace, but everything is just too much at the moment.

He might have given Magnus time to process new information, but he hasn’t done the same to himself. Everything with Oscar Byron and their encounter to telling Magnus the truth to suddenly speaking with Jace to his own body not working as it should. Everything has his emotions going haywire and he can’t do anything about it, except allow himself some time to come to terms with it.

Ten days.

Alec has at most ten days left of hope of going back, if their theory about Oscar wanting to save Eliza before she dies is correct. He doesn’t really have time to think about anything other than getting back. Planning for that must be a higher priority than his feelings.

Emotions cloud judgment anyway.

Sleep quickly takes over Alec’s exhausted body, but he’s not relaxed. Dreaming of all the worst case scenarios his mind can think of.

The following days pass by surprisingly quickly. Alec tells them everything that Jace told him. Ragnor keeps looking for information about the pregnant warlocks. Magnus and Cat try to track Oscar, only to realize that he’s blocking all types of tracking and instead need to ask around and hope that someone else knows something.

Alec barely talks to any of them after he’s told them the information Jace had. Needing time to himself, he stayed in his room, coming up with plans and then scrapping them. Knowing that he can’t really plan for the unknown.

The solitude makes Alec more homesick and the feeling is getting stronger and stronger for every day that passes. Especially with the lack of emotions passing through the parabatai bond. But Alec forcefully ignores any type of emotion, just running through the motions every day.

Cat makes sure that he eats, regularly knocking on his door to drop off some food. Alec can tell that she’s concerned, but he just can’t bring himself to try harder. He feels constantly exhausted, without having a reason as to why.

With him not being able to use his runes, he’s missing a big part of himself. He’s not sure if he can live without being able to use a stele. Alec’s having an identity crisis and he doesn’t know how to cope with it. He feels like a shell of himself and at the moment he doesn’t care.

In between brainstorming what to do when they finally find Oscar, Alec devours the books he got on cows. Perhaps he can impress his siblings with his increased knowledge of the animal if he gets back. Cows can sleep while standing, just like Jace when he thinks nobody’s watching him in ops. But really, they should invest in some chairs there. Not to sleep in, but to be able to watch the screens for longer, rest their legs and save some energy.

Alec’s been planning more things to improve if he gets back to his institute. New chairs, promoting and demoting different people, setting up a more regular schedule for meetings with his Head of Security, etc. He has a long list in his head on things he wants to change. Most are small, barely making a difference, but Alec needs to keep his head busy somehow.

Alec sighs, his head resting on the table in his bedroom, not caring that he will get neck pain if he keeps this position. He’s not getting anywhere and they only have five days left until Eliza dies and Oscar’s plan is null.

There’s a knock on the door, forcing Alec to sit up properly as he calls for Cat to come in. Only it’s not Cat that comes with food this time, it’s Magnus who stands there in the doorframe, carefully taking a step inside. There’s no food either, a disappointment since Alec is actually feeling hungry. Or maybe that’s just because he’s watching Magnus.

“I’ve been thinking,” Magnus starts and Alec knows immediately what their conversation will be about, “I forgive you for not telling me straight away what we are to each other. Honestly, even if you did, I probably wouldn’t have believed you.”

Alec forces out a smile and motions for Magnus to sit down, though the only available seat is on his bed since he’s occupying the chair. Magnus does as requested, looking way more comfortable than Alec feels.

”I really am sorry,” Alec feels the need to apologize despite knowing that Magnus has forgiven him. “At first I wasn’t sure how it would affect the future if I did tell you and then when Cat figured it out I figured perhaps it wouldn’t affect anything, but I was scared of how you would react.”

Magnus looks too understanding and encouraging when Alec speaks, it makes him feel like this is truly his husband. The person who knows him better than anyone else, that supports him more and always stands by his side.

”Yeah, well, we still can’t be sure if this affects the future. Our future. But I can promise that I will do what I can to not let that happen, Alexander.”

Alec looks at Magnus for a moment, thankful for the way this man can read him even when they haven’t known each other for long. Because that’s his biggest worry, that this somehow will ruin their joint future. Magnus is the first selfish choice Alec has ever made, the one he wants for himself. And he doesn’t want to lose that. Can’t lose that.

Alec tilts his head. “I don’t think the you I married knew we met here and now,” he admits, absentmindedly spinning his ring.

”The timeline probably corrected itself then, because I definitely would never forget meeting someone claiming to be my future husband. Especially someone as handsome as you.” Magnus grins and Alec lets out a chuckle.

”The first time we met, for me that is, I saved your life.” Alec thinks back to the moment his arrow impaled the circle member sneaking up behind Magnus. “And then you saved mine.” Alec’s first wedding plays up in his mind, the way Magnus had stood there at the end of the aisle and how Alec could finally breathe as their lips touched.

Magnus smiles gently and Alec can see that he wants to know more and perhaps it was unfair for Alec to share memories with him when he has to wait another century for them to play out.

”I can’t wait to find out how exactly that will happen,” Magnus says, “I don’t mind waiting decades or centuries to meet you and experience our love story. You’re more than worth it for me.”

If Magnus had been a century older Alec would have kissed him senseless at that confession. Now he’s not sure how to act. It’s still hard for him to see his own worth despite his husband reminding him every day.

”How do you want me to act with you?” Alec bluntly asks, needing something to hold on to. Rules to follow. Clear guidelines to go by.

”I believe that’s up to you, Alexander. I’ll take whatever it is you’re willing to give me. The rest I can wait for.”

“I- I’m still not sure. But you are still you and I, you make me feel safe. Always. Anywhere. I don’t think I can stay away from you even if I wanted to. For now I want to just be Alec and Magnus. But, maybe, I think it would be too difficult to be, you know…” Alec waves his hand as a finish to his sentence, hoping that Magnus understands what he means.

“Physical?” Magnus guesses and Alec nods.

”Yeah, I think I want to draw the line at holding hands, if that’s okay?”

Magnus gives him a smile and holds his hand up in Alec’s direction, who grabs it, enfolding their fingers together gently.

“Of course,” Magnus agrees easily, “I told you already, I’m more than willing to wait for you.”

Alec can’t help the blush that makes its way onto his cheeks and for once he doesn’t try to cover it up, doesn’t turn his head away, doesn’t take his hand back. Instead he keeps looking at Magnus with all the love he carries for his husband.

“Tell me something else?” Magnus requests and Alec gives him what he wants.

Alec goes on to tell him small stories about his adventures with his husband. Nothing that could obstruct the timeline or give Magnus too many details, but just enough to satisfy the need Magnus has to know about their future relationship.

They sit like that for the next couple of hours, just talking about small mundane things, holding hands. They talk about different foods they like, places they have visited and people they have met. About dreams and hopes and feelings. It’s the most peaceful Alec has felt since he turned up in the past and he wants to enjoy it. Basks in the knowledge that the two of them are on the same page, finally.

Alec just feels like normal, talking to his Magnus about nothing and everything.

He tells Magnus about what troubles him, how he misses his family and how the unbalanced parabatai bond affects him. The feeling of missing half his soul amplifies the hurt of being apart and not knowing what the other is feeling makes him feel lost.

He tells Magnus how it feels to not be able to use a stele, access his own runes. How that’s a big part of who he is and now he doesn’t know how to live without that part of him. Missing both the other half of his soul and his magic, making him question his identity. Alec doesn’t tell him about the time Magnus sacrificed his own magic for Alec, but he imagines he feels a fraction of the loss as his husband did when that happened.

Magnus listens, encourages Alec to speak, gives advice and gentle touches in comfort. He never judges when Alec stumbles over his words and has trouble expressing himself. He sits there patiently as Alec bares his heart open and that’s what makes Alec continue to speak, pouring out everything that has been building up inside of him.

It’s a freeing feeling to finally tell someone about what he’s thinking and feeling, about insecurities and questions.

To finally talk to Magnus.

When Alec’s words start to run out Magnus takes the reins in the conversation. He shares his own thoughts and feelings, opening up his heart. Alec hears stories he has already listened to told in another light, he learns about who Magnus is in this time period, what he likes to do and what scares him. He learns and relearns every crook and cranny of the man he loves.

For hours and hours they sit together in Alec’s room and never once do they stop holding hands. During their conversation they laugh and cry and go through a whole palette of emotions. It’s draining in energy and somehow they end up falling asleep next to each other in Alec’s bed. It’s the best night’s sleep Alec has had since he time traveled.

The next day Alec feels lighter and quietly he thinks if they don’t find a way to send Alec back it wouldn’t be so bad. It would hurt, of course, to lose his family and friends but he knows he has people here who cares about him and Alec cares about them. He wouldn’t be alone no matter what happens. He could live a good life here if necessary.

Alec joins the others in the living room, the knowing looks from both Cat and Ragnor follow him when he sits close to Magnus, grabbing his hand, but it doesn’t bother him. Instead he tries to hold back his smile every time he catches their eyes. The others have no trouble showing their support and happiness at the development.

”It’s good to see you happy, both of you.” Cat smiles gently at them, her eyes crinkling as she shares their happiness and ease.

Ragnor grunts, mumbling something about being disgusted with their happiness. But his words are betrayed by the pleased look in his eyes and the fond smile on his lips.

”My dear cabbage, there’s no need to be jealous.” Magnus smirks playfully. “Or perhaps there is, seeing as my future looks pretty handsome.”

Alec rolls his eyes despite the warmth creeping up his cheeks. The familiar banter between the two friends makes Alec feel warm inside. Safe.

“As much as I like to talk about your personal lives,” Cat says with a slightly exasperated tone, ”We do need to discuss Oscar Byron and his experimentation.”

Ragnor sighs. “Those women who supposedly were pregnant are nowhere to be found. I talked to a man whose lover was one of the women, she died early on in the experiment. He didn’t even know that she wanted to try and get pregnant and start a family.”

”So no lead there,” Magnus concludes with a disappointed squeeze of Alec’s hand. “Have you found something, Cat?”

“Oscar Byron is a difficult man to find,” Cat states, “but I might have something on his wife Eliza. A friend of a friend has expressed concerns for her the past few years and is trying to find her. I have an appointment with him this afternoon.”

”Let’s hope that gives us results,” Ragnor says and it's evident for Alec that none of them have much hope after all the setbacks, this is probably the only way left to find Oscar in time and get Alec back.

The four of them keep talking for a bit, the atmosphere heavy. When it’s time for Cat to leave to meet with the friend, Alec knows he’s jittery. His life is dependent on what information Cat can get.

Alec’s leg bounces and his fingers keep twirling the ring, trying to get his nerves under control. Magnus does his best to calm Alec, by distracting him with small talk and innocent touches. When that doesn’t work, he and Ragnor keep up a conversation with just banter between the two of them. Alec smiles weakly at the amusing conversation, but can’t bring himself to listen too closely.

When Cat has been gone for a while and the moon has made its appearance, they say goodnight.

Alec lays in bed, unable to sleep, too aware of the fact that when the sun rises it’s most likely too late. Oscar Byron will have traveled with his wife to the future. Which means that Alec is stuck here, in the past.

He sighs and turns around in bed again. He keeps his eyes closed, but he can tell the moon is moving across the sky, time going forward way too quickly. He tosses and turns, trying to calm down his beating heart and slow his breathing.

“We’ve got a location!” Cat’s voice booms through the house as the door closes loudly behind her entrance. “Eliza’s in labor right now!”

Alec’s eyes open wide when he registers the words. There’s still a chance. He jumps out of bed, throwing on his pants. Hands shaking in renewed hope that they aren’t too late. It doesn't matter that his socks are two different colors or that his hair is sticking out in every direction. All that matters is getting to the Byrons.

In a matter of seconds everyone is assembled downstairs.

”You remember the werewolf that brought you to me, Alec?” At Alec’s nod Cat continues, “He found traces of Eliza’s smell in a shed not too far away. Wade said that he could smell a lot of blood and could hear screams coming from the inside. But as soon as he found the shed he had to leave, since the area is in another pack’s territory.”

”We need to be ready to help heal her and the baby,” Ragnor says, with a determined face.

”Let’s go.” Alec nods at them, ready to face the warlock that’s trying to ruin his life.

With that a portal is made, lighting up the darkness of the night, the sun yet to rise.

They step out and Alec sees the shed, it’s bigger than he thought and looks like the walls could crumble any minute.

The crying from a baby pierces through his ears as soon as the door is opened. All four of them quickly make their way through the hallway following the sound to the basement.

Cat runs down the stairs first, seeing as the woman and baby are just laying on the floor visible from the top of the stairs. Magnus follows quickly and then Ragnor, leaving Alec to be the only one to carefully watch their surroundings.

He can’t shake the feeling that this is some kind of trap, because why would Oscar just let them find his wife and baby?

He can’t see anyone else in the room and his attention turns to the pool of blood surrounding the mother and baby that keeps growing. Alec can tell that Magnus is working on healing the mother as well as he can, while Cat is checking the baby for anything that could be wrong with Ragnor helping her.

Alec thinks the newly made mother looks a bit too pale. He knows it’s most likely the blood loss from giving birth, but he worries for her, seeing as she’s not really reacting to anything that’s going on.

Magnus holds Eliza’s hand, staying by her side, sending soothing waves of magic through the hand and whispering praising words. She doesn’t react, doesn’t even hold Magnus’ hand back, instead she just lays there, on the cold floor, looking at her baby, wrapped up in Cat’s arms. Alec hears them mumble that it’s a girl.

Alec looks around the room as the rest are occupied with the healing, knowing that he can’t help them with that.

In the other end of the basement there’s a kind of orb in a container of some sort, emitting a white light. The box and tubes coming out of it remind Alec of the contraption that his parabatai spoke of.

Alec walks closer to it, when a clicking sound is heard.

Suddenly Alec finds himself on one side of sudden wards together with Oscar Byron who comes out from behind the contraption. The others are on the other side of the wards, separated from the two of them.

The baby’s wailing only barely heard through the newly raised wards. As well as Magnus’ voice probably screaming for Alec but coming out muffled and Alec needs to concentrate to hear him.

The wards are blurry for Alec’s vision and he suspects that maybe this is another one of Oscar’s innovations of magic. He has never seen wards like this before. He can see the hazy silhouette of Magnus trying to get past the wards, but the chuckle coming from Oscar makes him focus completely on him.

“I’ll admit I was surprised to find that you were alive at first.” The warlock’s gaze is locked on Alec, still leaning casually against the wall furthest away from Alec, who is grateful for the distance.

Then he smiles with too many teeth, making Alec’s insides churn in discomfort. “I never wanted you any harm, it was just an unfortunate side effect. A necessary evil, if you will, for the plan to succeed.”

“How do I get back?” Alec asks bluntly, not wanting to play some game.

The hair on his arms are twitching and goosebumps appear. Something in the air reacting with his skin, like electricity. The atmosphere is tense, like something is building up to a climax. The dense air fills Alec’s lungs as he awaits a signal from the others, a spontaneous plan, or just something.

“You don’t.”

The warlock smiles at him condensating, like he’s a child who doesn’t understand what’s going on. The simple answer makes Alec press his hands into fists to release some tension at the words spoken. His knuckles whitening from the pressure.

“My spell is designed to take the same amount of people from the present to the past as it is to bring back to the present, but you will stay here.”

Alec already knew that the two of them traveled in time, which according to the warlock means that two people can travel back to the present time. The warlock planned for both of them to travel back in time and then leave Alec here, exchanging him for his wife.

So why hasn't he already done so? Maybe— oh, his wife has been pregnant up until just a couple of minutes ago. The child counting as a third person, unable to join the travel.

“That’s why you’ve waited so long to travel back?” Alec asks him, taking a small step to the side to get a better overview of the surroundings. “Because your wife was pregnant and the spell counted it as three people instead?”

The warlock breaks out into a smile, almost like he was proud of Alec. Alec suppresses a shiver.

“I didn’t mind the wait too much, although I did toy with the idea to take care of the child myself.”

The words sounding innocent is anything but if Alec reads his face correctly. Oscar didn’t mean literally taking care of the baby, like a normal father. No, he most likely meant to say that he would kill his own child if he didn’t want to stay in the past.

“Which I would have,” the warlock continues, “but Eliza, my love, was so happy when I got here. I wanted her to feel every ounce of happiness she could before we save the world and sacrifice everything.”

”What about your child? Are you just gonna leave her here without anyone to take care of her?” Alec can’t help but ask, trying to stall whatever is going on, hope that Magnus can break through the wards separating them.

”If you’re so concerned perhaps you could raise her. You’ll still be here after all.” Oscar takes a step closer to the contraption, pressing down a button on the display. The orb inside brightens even more, blinding both of them temporarily, before it settles.

Alec uses this to his advantage, spinning around to gain speed and momentum, jumping and kicking his leg out, connecting with the warlock’s jaw. A crack breaks through the buzzing sound originating from the contraption.

Oscar smirks as he stumbles, grabbing one of the tubes to stabilize himself. “And here I was thinking you only wanted to chat.”

”I wanted to give you a chance.” Alec ducks as he avoids a punch. “Tell me how I get back.”

Oscar keeps throwing punch after punch with Alec blocking each one like second nature. “You won’t.”

Alec gets a grab on one of Oscar’s arms, twisting it around so that Oscar is stuck in his position. A pained groan making its way out of his mouth as Alec presses harder.

”Try again.” Alec presses his knee against the back of Oscar’s, making him stumble down to the ground, Alec’s grip still tight.

Oscar chuckles darkly. “It’s impossible, I’ve already begun the process” he proudly states. The arm that Alec doesn’t have in his grip quickly grabbing something shiny on the ground.

Before Alec can react to it Oscar has twisted out of his grip and stands in front of him, a glint in his eyes making him seem feral.

Alec winces as he feels a sharp cut on his arm. Oscar takes his arm and pushes magic into the wound, before Alec manages to pull his arm away. As Alec backs up, so does Oscar towards the contraption.

They end up far apart in the room and Alec looks down at his arm where Oscar got him. The cut is not too deep, but still dripping blood down on the floor.

“See I’ve barely done any harm to you.” Oscar waves in his direction. “I never wanted to hurt you.”

“You put a spell on me that makes my runes impossible to use.” Alec can’t help but snark.

”I suppose I can show my thanks by taking it away, we’ll never see each other again after all.” The arrogant smirk never leaves his face.

He wears it like he’s already won.

Alec keeps his eyes on the warlock in front of him, but sees Magnus’ shadow still on the other side of the wards in the corner of his eyes. The desperation is obvious in the way his arms move quickly up and down, sometimes striking the wall with hard hits.

The buzzing noise grows louder, making it difficult for Alec to remain alert of his surroundings. Like everything blends together.

Alec wonders what he missed, why Oscar seems to think this fight is already over. Alec watches as the warlock walks closer to him, yet he doesn’t move, waiting for his intentions to reveal themselves.

As if sensing Alec’s distrustfulness he throws a stele to Alec and stops before coming too close.

”It’ll be easier to remove my spell if you don’t fight back.”

That’s all the warning he gets before magic is moving fast towards him from Oscar’s hands. In a second it’s gone again.

Alec doesn’t waste more time and quickly activates his iratze, only then noticing that the stele is his own. The rune works as it should, closing the wound. Taking away the small sting of pain.

That small distraction is all Oscar needs to raise more wards around Alec, keeping him from being able to walk out of his contemporary cage. Alec is surrounded by it, almost like a solid wall. Impeding any attempt to get out.

Oscar smiles and presses another button on the contraption, a laugh erupting from his throat, as Alec holds his hands against the wards, unable to do anything but watch.

The buzzing noise takes over all of Alec’s thoughts. The orb expands its white light like a spiderweb through the basement, covering all areas, making it impossible to keep eyes open. Tendrils of power weaving through the air. The sound of fists meeting wards and magic fizzing with intent, makes Alec aware of the fight still going on outside of his new cage.

“No, no, no! This wasn’t supposed to happen…” Oscar’s voice sounds like it’s far away. “…I did everything right. She’s supposed to come with me!”

Alec covers his eyes with his hands, the light too bright to keep them open any longer. The whiteness creeps closer to Alec, threatening to embrace him. He’s not sure how everyone else in the room seems unbothered by the force behind the orb, as the sounds of fighting haven't stopped.

There’s a pure power that’s surging through every vein and vessel in the building. The same way it makes its way through the wards around Alec to reach him and make itself at home in Alec.

Then the white light engulfs him and the pain quickly arrives, making him fall to his knees with an agonizing scream. Somewhere far away he hears an echo of his scream.

The only thing on Alec’s mind is Magnus. How he wishes to see him one last time.

Magnus. Magnus. Magnus.

The pain abruptly disappears. His parabatai bond snaps back into place, emotions that aren’t his own hitting him hard, making him fall fully down on the floor.

Alec’s panting on the floor. Hands still over his eyes even though he can tell the brightness is gone. The buzzing underneath his skin slowly fade away. There are no longer any sounds of a fight going on.

“Alexander!”

The silence breaks.

The shout of his name sounds far away, but the amount of fear in those vowels are heavy enough to make Alec flinch. He wonders if something happened to his hearing during the fight, to make it sound like he’s underwater.

Then he feels the familiar magic of Magnus touching his skin, traveling along his body. A warm embrace. A relieved breath. A repeat of his name, this one sounds like a question. But Alec doesn’t have energy to give more than a confirmative grunt.

He knows he’s safe because Magnus is here. So Alec relaxes his body and mind and lets the darkness drag him to sleep.

Alec can’t remember the last time his eyelids were this heavy. No matter how hard he tries, he can’t open them. He can’t move a single muscle.

There’s a hand holding his so tight it’s on the verge of pain. It’s holding on like it’s afraid Alec will disappear if it lets go.

Alec can’t move any of his limbs, not even a small twitch of his fingers. It should feel constricting.

A smooth voice breaks through his haze, filled with way too much pain for Alec’s comfort.

“My love, please come back to me. You said that we always find a way back to each other, so please, sayang, open your eyes. Come back.”

He wants to do what the voice is telling him. He desperately tries to open his eyes to show the man that he’s here. But it doesn't work.

“My magic reacted by itself, I tried to fix it, but I’m not sure what it did. I don’t think there’s anything else I can do to help you. It’s up to you now, darling.”

The broken voice keeps talking softly, desperately, but Alec’s too exhausted to hear what is said. Instead he goes back to sleeping, unable to do anything else.

Despite the inability to move, he feels a sense of calm and peace that surrounds him. Making him feel safe and dream of the velvety voice caressing him.

Alec shifts in and out of consciousness, always awakening to the voice belonging to his beloved.

“It’s been two days since you suddenly appeared in our home. I’m not sure if you can hear me, but at least I know you’re alive and breathing now. Please don’t give up.” I hear you.

“I love you.” I love you too.

“Nobody knows how to wake you up, Cat said our best bet is to just wait. But I suppose I’m impatient and selfish, because I really want to see your beautiful eyes now, Alexander.” I’m trying.

“You know, it’s a small comfort to know that Oscar Byron is in the same type of coma as you are, my love. Izzy had to threaten to feed Jace her cooking for a month, to stop your parabatai from killing him. I admit I’ve had those thoughts as well, but I can’t bring myself to leave your side.” I want you to stay.

”Please, Alexander, I can’t lose you. I know it’s said that Nephilim love only once, but I think that’s true for me too. You’re the one for me, sayang. I’ve never loved anyone as I love you.” You’re my one too, Magnus Lightwood-Bane.

”I miss you so much, my darling.” I miss you too.

“I already tried to wake you with a true love's kiss once a year ago and it didn’t work, but it’s now been almost two weeks since you returned and I’m desperate so I’m gonna try again, okay?” Please.

Alec feels the warmth of a breath leaning in over him, temporarily stopping just before their lips can touch. Alec wants to be able to lift his head up that last bit, but all he can do is wait patiently for his husband to lean down.

Suddenly soft lips are pressing down against his and Alec can feel the desperate longing through them. Too soon they’re gone again and Alec can’t help the small whimper that makes its way out.

”Alexander?”

Alec slowly opens his eyes, blinking up at his husband’s hopeful face.

Instead of trying to speak, Alec pushes up against his husband to kiss him again, letting his lips do all the talking. Magnus kisses him back just as desperately and Alec feels like he can finally breathe again.

He’s back home.

Alec’s hands move on their own accord, through his husband’s hair to his face to his neck to his shoulders to his back to his waist. Everywhere he can touch, he touches.

All too soon Magnus pulls back, panting for air, with the biggest grin on his face. Alec’s pretty sure he smiles just as wide.

”I’m home,” Alec breathes out, voice raspy.

Magnus cradles his face in between his palms, like he’s holding something delicate and precious, as he gives Alec a quick peck.

”You’re home.”

They look happily into each other’s eyes when Alec snickers. Magnus looks at him confusedly.

”If only you’d kissed me when I first returned. You wouldn’t have had to wait two weeks for me to wake up.”

Magnus huffs, rolling his eyes, still wearing that big smile. “I didn’t think it would actually work,” He admits, eyes softening as he continues. “But I’m incredibly glad that it did.”

”Me too,” Alec agrees wholeheartedly, before smirking. “Ragnor’s never going to let us live that down. True love’s kiss, huh.”

Magnus snorts in surprise. ”You met Ragnor?” Magnus looks inquisitively at Alec.

Alec nods. “You, Ragnor and Cat were the ones to help me through it all.”

”I don’t remember meeting you in the past so you’re gonna have to tell me everything you went through.” Magnus’ smile then turns mischievous. “But first I demand more kisses.”

And who is Alec to say no to that request.