#malec canon divergence

[lawsofchaos1]

Malec Promptlet: Circle!Alec AU

[Inspired by a comment from @crimsonpharaoh on my latest fic about the Circles very failed attempt to recruit Alec... What if they didn't fail?]

Alec is the eldest son and the acknowledged heir of two prominent, highly-ranked Circle members that are openly known to have recanted Valentine’s ideology in name only. When Robert and Maryse begin leaving the Institute in Alec’s care when he’s fourteen it becomes clear that Alec isn’t relying on his bloodline alone and is going to be an immensely powerful member of the Clave in his own right. 

The Circle would be utterly foolish not to recruit the Shadowhunter who is absolutely certain to become the next Head of the New York Institute. Especially when it becomes evident that the Shadowhunters of the New York Institute would happily lay down their lives for their beloved young leader. Whichever way Alec turns in this war, so too will New York. 

Kept wholly apart from the Downworld and with no formative mentors other than his parents, the Circle tries to recruit Alec … and Alec says yes. Everything he’s been taught says that Valentine is right - that the Downworld is a threat, and - well, Valentine’s not stupid. It’s clear that Alec is too ethical for torture and the worst of his planned experiments - but the Head of New York openly sympathetic to his cause? Aiding it, even subtly? Valentine is careful in his recruitment and how he presents the Circle’s aims. It works.

In canon, Alec is held back as he works because his pro-Downworld values are so far against the standards of the Clave, but if he doesn’t have that friction working against him? Alec rises fast and far in the ranks, quickly becoming the Vested Head of New York with his parent’s vocal support and he dominates the Clave’s political circles in Alicante. His Institute is loyal to Alec, utterly, and follows his lead. With the careful way Valentine (and Maryse) present the results of his actions to Alec, he has no cause to doubt the righteousness of his support for the Circle's planned rise.

Until he meets Magnus.

Magnus and Alec meet by sheer happenstance, literally running into each other on the streets of Brooklyn on one of the passingly rare afternoons Alec takes off both his patrol and administrative duties. Alec takes one look at the most beautiful man he’s ever seen in his life and is so tongue-tied he nearly fumbles accepting the resultant invitation for coffee.

For months, Alec grows deeper and deeper in love with the gorgeous and kind mundane, glowing in a way that’s noticeable even to his typically highly unobservant siblings. Alec has slowly begun to dreaming about them making a life together. Alec's is certain Magnus' soul would be deemed worthy of Ascension, but, even if Magnus isn't interested in becoming nephilim, Alec loves Magnus with everything he is and can't picture his life without Magnus by his side.

And then Alec’s world falls apart.

Magnus, just as glowing and just as in love, sits Alec down and quietly, nervously, tells him about the Shadow World. Tells Alec he’s a warlock.

If Magnus is a Downworlder, then nothing Alec has believed for his entire life can be true.

Alec is numb and disbelieving, but Magnus must take it as shock alone for he continues in his explanation, rubbing Alec’s back soothingly as he describes the terror and genocidal aims of the Circle.

Alec somehow manages to rasp out to Magnus that he needs time to think and he flees.

With a starting point Alec had somehow never considered over the last seven years, the threads start to pull apart and everything Valentine hid from him unravels in a series of horrible revelations that leave Alec throwing up bile in his sink. 

What has he done?

The next morning, Alec rises from the cold bathroom floor, limbs aching and head throbbing from lack of sleep. Silently, he goes into his office and gathers every document he has on the Circle’s activities. Everything he’s done for them, every horrible political aim he’s aided, every safehouse he’s helped conceal. He writes down names, he writes down dates and addresses, he sketches out images of the Circle members he’s seen and has no other information for. It takes him nearly until the sun’s last rays are fading before he’s done. 

And then he disarms himself. His bow and quiver. His blades and daggers. His stele. Even the slim hold-out weapon in his boot. Nothing remains.

Alec takes up his parcel of documentation and walks to Brooklyn, every step an inch closer to his grave. Every step an inch closer to his love - to Magnus, the High Warlock of New York.

When Magnus opens the door in leggings and only the barest make-up, Alec’s heart breaks. To Magnus, his mundane boyfriend had reacted very poorly to learning of the Shadow World yesterday. Badly enough that he likely is worried what Alec is here to say.

And Alec would give nearly anything to wrap his partner in a warm, familiar embrace and soothe his worries away, but Alec doesn’t deserve the comfort that would bring him too. He doesn’t deserve to even look at Magnus anymore.

Magnus brings him into the living room, gesturing him to the couch, but Alec stops short in the bare space in front of the coffee table. He looks to Magnus, memorizes for one final time what it is to have the man he loves look at him without hate and disgust in his eyes, and sinks to his knees on the ground.

Magnus turns around, startled, mouth open to protest, but Alec can’t listen to that - can’t hear what Magnus says before he knows of Alec’s sins. 

He places the parcel of information on the floor in front of him, focuses his gaze on his knees and confesses.

Everything.

[lurafita]

Asmodeus and Magnus are both Shadowhunters

This one is a bit different than my usual fair, and a lot darker. So just be warned.

What if Magnus is a shadowhunter and grew up with Alec and the others, until the day he was "kidnapped" by warlocks.

Who Asmodeus, the current consul, has declared as all evil, as they are the literal spawn of demons. Alec, his siblings and other shadowhunters search tirelessly for him, but can’t find him. Months later, Magnus reappears at the side of warlocks and assisting them in freeing other downworlders from their incarcerations. Everyone is sure Magnus has been put under a spell by the evil warlocks to help them, and Alec is more determined to free his crush friend from their clutches than ever. But when he actually gets a chance to speak to Magnus, the other tells quite a different tale. How his father is the true evil one here and the warlocks (and other downworlders) being innocent, and how Asmodeus has everyone under his thrall.

But of course Alec and his siblings think Magnus is the one under thrall here. Which kinda ends up in a lot of kidnapping each other to make the other see the truth.

I thought, some shadowhunter lines have special powers, right? Like Clary and her mom being able to press things into paintings? So I thought maybe Asmodeus (and Magnus) can use their eyes to enthrall people? It was supposed to be a skill to be able to diffuse volatile situations to avoid unnecessary bloodshed. But Asmodeus trained his skill to be able to make all Shadowhunters believe him when he claimed warlocks (and other downworlders) are bad. However it doesn't work on Magnus since he has the same skill. But being indoctrinated into the belief, like all the other kids who grew up like this (i.e. Alec, Jace, Izzy,…) he believed what he was taught. Until the day he was "kidnapped" by warlocks (Ragnor and Cat?) who opened his eyes to the truth.

So Magnus knows that Alec and everyone else is under Asmodeus thrall, and Alec and the others think that Magnus has been brainwashed by the warlocks.

So Magnus tries to get Alec (and maybe his siblings if he can) away from the other shadowhunters long enough to break through Asmodeus thrall, while Alec (and his siblings) try to capture Magnus to get him away from the influence of the warlocks, so whatever spell they put on him can be broken

[mirrorofliterature]

two steps to the left | 6.4k | raphael santiago character study | canon divergence | dimension travel | saphael | asexual raphael | rosa & raphael | rated: t

After surviving the Soul Sword Massacre, Raphael Santiago is pulled into another world and forced to watch himself live a life as a mundane. This Raphael is a law professor in Melbourne, has a close relationship with Rosa and is married to Simon Lewis.

It is the life he has always craved. It is the life he can never have. Still, it makes him rethink some things, like the possibility that someone would marry him despite his disinterest in sex.

.

This is my second fandom trumps hate gift for 2023 @fandomtrumpshate, this time for @myulalie, a character study of Raphael Santiago taking place after 2x10 in Melbourne. I appreciate her patience and I hope people enjoy this!

[kasper-tag]

✨ Give and Take is finally here!✨

Title: Give and Take

Pairing: Malec

Rating: Mature

No archive warnings apply

TW for mentions of canon-typical self-harm (fic only)

Total Word Count: 40,000+

Summary: When Alec runs away from his own wedding and leaves Magnus, who had just crashed it, standing alone in the aisle, Magnus thinks that their budding romance is over. But Alec surprises him by appearing at his loft later that night and crying himself to sleep in his arms. Alec shocks him even further by showing up again and asking for cuddles. It becomes a habit, an imbalance of give and take, and their growing connection is put to the test.

With Valentine on the loose, rogue Downworlders wreaking havoc, and a parabatai that can’t seem to keep himself out of trouble, Magnus tries to convince Alec that despite his responsibilities and the chaos surrounding him, he deserves to chase his own happiness.

Will Alec allow his fears to ruin his developing relationship with Magnus, or will he risk it all for the man who stole his heart?

This fic was created for the Shadowhunters Mini Bang 2023: Presented by the @malecdiscordserver

Paired with @fictionalrambles for artwork, beta read by @malecromantic!

[la-muerta]

Title: blackbird

Fandoms: Shadowhunters (TV)

Warnings: Rated E. Omegaverse, Implied/referenced sexual assault (not involving Malec)

Relationships: Alec Lightwood x Magnus Bane

Words: 3,924/?

Chapters: 1 of 3

Summary: The Circle wins... or at least that's what they think. But the Downworld is more resilient than Valentine ever expected, and in a desperate bid to take down the biggest Downworld stronghold, Valentine decides it's time for a real sacrifice to be made — one virgin, unclaimed omega shadowhunter, sent to be a deadly distraction for the powerful alpha warlock, Magnus Bane.

Written for @knotinmyname’s anti-AI event!

[aletterinthenameofsanity]

although I'll leave before the sunrise (I'll be bleeding, but don't you mind, I'll be fine)

Alec Lightwood x Magnus Bane. Malec. Missing scene pre-botched Lydia x Alec wedding. Title is from "Hold Me Closer" by Cornelia Jakobs, which I wrote this whole fic to and directly inspired this fic. Crossposted on ao3.

Alec knows he shouldn't have done this.

It isn't a hard conclusion to come to; it's the only conclusion to come to. This was never a good idea, not when he stepped into Pandemonium for once last glimpse at Magnus before the wedding, not when he let Magnus pull him into a slow, deep kiss, not when he and Magnus stumbled through Magnus' apartment with laughter and gentle teasing and earnest fingers making quick work of clothing and sensitive, erogenous zones.

The hard part is not the question, it's the answer. It's about how he allowed himself to get into this position knowing it would end with him summoning the strength to slip out from under the golden covers and return to his duties and the married life he will be living the moment the blessed union rune hits his skin.

Because the thing is- the bitter, horrible, honest thing is that Alec knew going into this that it was a bad idea. He was well aware of the millions upon millions of reasons why he shouldn't have sought out Magnus for one night together. He was well aware of how much it would hurt to do this, to touch and be touched, to like and be liked, to love and- (he bites back the responding word, because he doesn't think he could survive it being thought) and leave in the morning to marry Lydia Branwell and he still pulled Magnus in anyway. He still let Magnus guide him across the apartment and into the bed, nothing but trust and affection in those golden-brown eyes.

Because Alec is selfish.

Because he knows he needs this. If he is going to sacrifice his life to save his siblings from the ramifications of their stupidity, he wanted one night of happiness. He wanted one night where he doesn't just have to imagine and dream up what uncomplicated affection feels like. He wanted to have one glowing jewel of a memory to take with him the rest of his life, no matter it would hurt after the fact.

And now his eyes burn as he slowly unentangles his impossibly heavy limbs from around Magnus' waist and slides out from under the sheets without waking the man sleeping next to him. Every time he blinks he can see Magnus' smile behind his eyelids, the way his eyes had lit up when he laughed, the way his glamour dropped when Alec kissed him with a fervour he's only ever reserved for training in the past, but he can't let that stop him from getting dressed, from pulling back on his pants and shirt and lacing up his boots. He has to leave early so he can go back to the Institute and punch that training bag to fucking pieces in time to get ready for the wedding.

Alec is careful to be quiet as he pulls his stele from his back pocket, activates his Silence rune, and carefully moves toward the door. He can't wake Magnus before he escapes. He can't bear to look Magnus in the eye as he turns his back on the only good thing he's ever had in his own right, not shared with any of his siblings, not shared with the Institute. This has to be a clean cut. He cannot bear a jagged wound that will fester until the day it blows up in his face.

Alec's hand hits the handle to the exit and-

"You can't do this, Alexander," a voice rasps from behind Alec, and Alec nearly jumps because despite all of his runes, all of his Nephilim senses, he didn't hear the padding of Magnus' feet across the hardwood floor. His body could never register Magnus as a threat, no matter the fact that he owns Alec's bow and quiver, despite the fact that he has Alec's heart tucked in beneath his ribs, forever his.

(Because, some part of Alec's mind whispers, not despite. Because Magnus has his bow. Because he has Alec's heart. Because, because, because.)

"Can't do what?" Alec asks, and his own voice comes out cracking like he never let it during puberty, when all of these forbidden feelings started rising in his chest as he claimed himself a parabatai who would never, could never, know what the pressure Alec kept his feelings clamped tight to his chest meant.

"Leave without looking me in the eye," Magnus says, and Alec still hasn't turned to look at him. He can't bear to look at Magnus undone in the morning, a set of pajama pants slung perfectly low on his hips as he spits, "You've never pegged me as a coward, Lightwood," cruel like he has never been before. But then again, Alec has never been this cruel before, either. He has never hurt Magnus like he is about to hurt him.

"I'm not a coward," Alec says, despite the fact that he is. Of course he is. He has to be. He has to run away from this moment, this beautiful, brilliant, lovely man, if he wants to save his family.

"Then look me in the fucking eye, Alexander," Magnus says, and his voice is wet. Choked. On the verge of crying.

And Alec is the one doing that to him.

A sob is rising to Alec's lips. This is the choice he didn't want to have to make. This is the moment he was so scared of facing.

How can he give up the best man he has ever met? How can he sacrifice the greatest joy he has ever felt? How can he do this to someone who has never been anything but kind and flirty and affectionate toward him?

Why did Alec have to make the stupid decision of leaving Institute last night? Why did he have to meet the right one at the wrong time?

Why does it have to be him? Why does it have to be Alec giving things up, over and over again, sacrificing over and over again for people who he loves despite the fact that they don't always seem to love him back?

Alec has to leave before his sense of self-control slips from his fingers, before he takes off towards Magnus and not towards the door. He has to get out of here while he still has the right priorities in mind, while he can still hold up his siblings' and parents' futures up above his own fleeting happiness.

He swings open the door and runs, choking back everything that wants to rip itself loose.

---

Seven hours later, Magnus enters the Institute chapel, hair pulled up, makeup on, armor bedecked for war. Alec knows him without saying a word, knows what Magnus' lips feel like against his skin, knows what it feels like to shatter someone's heart between his shaking, aching fingers.

And he knows he cannot bear to do it again.

The click echoes across tile floors, not hardwood ones, as he takes a step forward. As he steps down and away from the destiny that has been laid out for him since he was a child laying his hand on his first bow and understanding how this weapon, considered so weak by his trainers, was meant to be his. How he was meant to protect and defend, not to be the hero saving the day with a flashy sword. As he understands that for once, for fucking once, he doesn't have to play the long game. He doesn't have to play the long-range weapon.

He strides forward and his mother puts out her hand and Alec says, "No."

No, I will not trade myself for you.

No, I will not give up golden sheets and golden eyes and a golden laugh.

No, I can't do this anymore, sacrificing everything for you, because it nearly tore me apart this morning and I don't think there will be anything left of me to give if I let you keep taking.

Alec's hands land on Magnus' lapels and pull him in for a desperate kiss. Magnus still smells like sandalwood and tastes of lemongrass and lipstick and if Magnus will let Alec keep doing this for the rest of his life, then Alec will gladly take any moment that Magnus will offer him.

https://archiveofourown.org/works/44650768

[dramaticalisando]

Shadowhunters

Um Elo de Dragão by Skylar102

Magnus Bane/Alec Lightwood || Teen And Up Audiences || m/m, Gen || +60k

Alec não sabe quanto tempo se passou. Quantos dias ele está trancado nesta cela, nas mãos de um monstro.Alec é levado por Jonathan depois que eles libertam Clary da Runa de Geminação. Depois de ser torturado por dias, um companheiro improvável vem em seu socorro. Agora livre, Alec se recupera de seus ferimentos e deve aceitar o que aconteceu entre ele e Magnus. É bom que seu novo amigo esteja lá para ajudá-lo.

Link 🔗🔗🔗

[malec-ao3feed]

Murder at the New York Institute

read it on AO3 at https://ift.tt/lXLZzhe by theMagnusBane Pull out the Cluedo board they said. It would be fun to play they said. Nothing could possibly happen on Samhain they said. And now, Magnus and Alec, Clary and Izzy, Simon and Jace have been pulled into an alternate New York Institute, with no powers, no idea what has caused it, or who has brought them there. Oh. And there’s been a murder. Except, can you kill a dead man twice? And can Valentine Morgenstern just SHUT THE FUCK UP! Words: 1783, Chapters: 1/9, Language: English Fandoms: Shadowhunters (TV) Rating: Mature Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Categories: Multi Characters: Magnus Bane, Alec Lightwood, Clary Fray, Isabelle Lightwood, Simon Lewis, Jace Wayland, Valentine Morgenstern Relationships: Magnus Bane/Alec Lightwood, Clary Fray/Isabelle Lightwood, Simon Lewis/Jace Wayland Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, What-If, Alternate Universe - No Powers, Established Relationship, Fluff and Crack, Hijinks & Shenanigans, Alec Lightwood Is So Done, Magnus Bane Is Over This, Simon Lewis is a Little Shit, Everyone wants to go back home, Dimension Travel, Discord: Malec Server read it on AO3 at https://ift.tt/lXLZzhe

[toffeelemon]

20 Questions For Fic Writers

thank you @wilmonsfolklore for tagging me! 🫶🏼

How many works do you have on Ao3?

32 (that i didn’t orphan👀)

What's your total Ao3 word count?

366,979

What fandoms do you write for?

young royals baby! every now and then i’ll get into a fever dream for other media but yr is my constant

Top five fics by kudos

and they were roommates

royal pains

alex ayúdame

only fools rush in

worst kept secret in history

(i’m glad roommates is the highest because that’s what i’m most proud of. the rest were my entry to yr fics but i believe i have evolved since then!)

Do you respond to comments?

YES! please always leave me comments i love comments

What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

lmao i famously don’t write angst. i wrote roommates right after a break up so that was a little rough but. i fixed it all with a timeskip so

What's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

they all do!!! i have never written a Happily Ever After though, i like the kind of beginning of a happy ending - like yr in canon. the 10 year time skip fic for my rwrb and yr crossover might be the closest to Endgame i’ve ever written?

Do you get hate on fics?

the princess wille AU is - sometimes divisive… rarely directly in my line of sight but i do see some Takes about it, to each their own i guess since it’s so personal to me

Do you write smut?

i surprise myself every time…

Craziest crossover:

i wrote a genderbent yr - first kill AU sksk that had to be my nichest work

Have you ever had a fic stolen?

yes and i revived my wattpad to call out some teenagers ripping off my yr fics. the most mindboggling thing was that they were responding to comments like they wrote it too

Have you ever had a fic translated?

YES! and they were roommates and worst kept secret in history is translated in brazilian portuguese !! every now and then i want to work on chinese translations for my own fics/ others but never got around to it

Have you ever co-written a fic before?

recently fell into writing bits and bobs for @prince-simon newest dead boy detectives fics! i love their writing sm i did try to weasel into their fics many a times, i’m so blessed to get to persuade my fave writer to give me what i want heheheh

All time favourite ship?

wilmon of course but i’d say that malec from shadowhunters set up the blueprint for me. i always enjoy reading firstprince because great fics are aplenty

What's a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will?

started a s1 divergence fic when i was in a pretty dark spot in which wille’s mental health plummets and they have to navigate a healthy supportive friendship before wille could be good enough for himself and simon again. i think it could slap but writing it put me in such bad place so i doubt i will finish what i started

What are your writing strengths?

i didn’t notice until other people pointed it out but apparently i jump across POVs pretty seamlessly! i have always written stream of consciousness swapping POVs - i consume and love visual media way more than books so my head is pretty much in a very visual screenwriting/sceneblocking mode and every POV swap is like. a camera angle change to me

What are your writing weaknesses?

TENSES💀 writing in present tense is such a saving grace for me. logically i know i’m fluent in english but i have a lot of “english as second language student” trauma so i try to keep it simple and straightforward. also pingpong brain traits i don’t like having writing plans so sometimes i do lose the plot, struggle with continuity or forget about key themes and scenes and get mad about it

Thoughts on dialogue in another language?

love-hate sksk my favourite scenario is if the translation is immediately available (but not disruptive somehow). i tend to forget by the time i reach the author’s note in the end. it’s more fun when it’s a language i have a basic grasp on so maybe i should just suck it up

(biggest pet peeve is if it’s another language romanised - it’s basically gibberish to native speakers i’m sorry😭)

First fandom you wrote in?

youtube rpf… on wattpad…

Favourite fic you've written?

there’s so many but. princess wille the manifestation of my own self you will always be famous x

tagging @prince-simon @aro-of-artemis @ungaroyals

[the-great-lightwood-bane]

make this place beautiful

Malec | Rated general | tw canon-typical warnings | Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Friends to Lovers, Mutual Pining, Angst with a Happy Ending, Alternate Universe - Different First Meeting 

Summary: In which Magnus and Alec a) first meet at Alec's first Downworld Cabinet meeting, months before Clary comes into the picture; b) fall in love while believing that the other one only wants a friend; and c) fight Valentine, and perhaps a few others.

A/N: This fic was created for the Shadowhunters Mini Bang 2023: Presented by the @malecdiscordserver.

This is not a complete fic; I started it for the big bang, and then IRL showed up and I wasn't able to write everything I wanted to. Here, I've collected a couple early scenes, plus the climax scene, so it doesn't end on a total cliffhanger (although there are still loose ends to tie up). There's a summary paragraph in square brackets between those two parts to avoid confusion. If I ever get around to writing the rest of this, I'll post it here!

Art for this fic (above) created by cloudbunbuzz!

Read it on AO3 or below the cut.

Magnus stares up at the huge, imposing front doors of the Institute. He’s never stepped inside of them before — oh, he’s entered the Institute through the side door leading to the area of the Institute where Downworlders are allowed to petition the Head for assistance, but this is, obviously, different. At least on the surface. He’s not so sure about how much has changed, deep down. 

He thinks of the fire message he received a few weeks earlier — the formal but not particularly discriminatory invitation to attend a Downworld Cabinet. Organized by the new Head of the Institute, Alexander Lightwood, the eldest child of Maryse and Robert. To share information and collaborate to ensure the collective peace of our peoples. Not races, but peoples. Whatever else Lightwood is, he’s careful in his wording. 

The problem is that Magnus doesn’t know exactly what else he is. As the son of a Circle member, he’d expected cool disdain if not outright vitriol. Instead, Shadowhunter-Downworlder confrontations have been steadily decreasing since the newest Lightwood took control, and now there’s this. An invitation to a Downworld Cabinet. 

It is, honestly, preposterous. A Shadowhunter, and a Lightwood at that, trying to initiate peace? Cooperation? Between the Downworld and the Shadowhunters, as though they’re equals? Magnus knows better than to trust any such promises, however sweet they may seem. 

But the invitation had been sent out. Magnus saw no signs of deception, although he looked carefully. This is almost certainly some sort of ploy to gain the trust of the Downworld; if it isn’t, Lightwood is simply absurdly naïve and the Cabinet will be doomed before it even starts. But Magnus needs to know which of the two it is — does he need to be careful of treachery from Lightwood, or simply avoid whatever bumbling errors he makes in his misguided attempts to build a relationship between the Shadowhunters and the Downworlders? 

Magnus turns when Meliorn calls his name — he must be here to represent the Seelie Queen. There’s no way she could ever let the other leaders get together without a way to know what goes on; whether this is fake or real, she’ll want to know. Magnus greets him with an inclination of the head. They stop at the doors and wait for the others; Magnus knows none of them are particularly eager to wander the halls of the Institute alone. 

Raphael is the next to arrive. Magnus knew he was coming; they’ve been discussing the question in detail since the invitations arrived. Is it a trap? Is it some sort of bribery to get them to cooperate? Is Lightwood genuinely naïve enough to think this could work? The chances that Lightwood will cause them harm are slim — the Downworld would likely fall into revolt, which would bring the Clave’s disfavour down on the Institute — and so Raphael, like Magnus, has come to find out what in Edom Lightwood is thinking. 

Luke arrives last. His ascension to Alpha is because of this meeting: Theo refused to even consider it, and Luke, hoping it was true, challenged him on the spot. (Magnus healed the injuries he sustained in winning the fight.) It makes sense that he’s more willing to trust Shadowhunters than the rest of them — he has, after all, once been one of them — and Magnus hopes he won’t be too let down when Lightwood reveals his true colours. 

Only once all four are assembled does Magnus step forward and knock on the door. He’s sure the Shadowhunters know they’re out here, but a blond man opens the door without comment and escorts them inside with a polite inclination of the head. Surprisingly polite, but of course Lightwood would send a neutral figure to greet them at the door. If he didn’t, it would destroy the entire point of this charade. 

The Shadowhunter introduces himself as Andrew Underhill, and leads them directly into what appears to be some sort of command centre — the space is milling with Shadowhunters, clustered around tables holding holographic maps or computer banks full of camera feeds. Several glance up when the Downworlders enter, but Magnus is taken aback by the strange lack of glares. Lightwood must have a lot of authority here, if he can compel his people to be so polite. 

Another Shadowhunter comes up — tall, dark-haired, extremely attractive, authority lying across his shoulders like a cloak. There’s a deflect rune on the side of his neck, a placement which Magnus recognises as a Lightwood trademark, but even without it, Magnus thinks he would recognise him as the Head. Something in the clear deference that Underhill shows, the posture that suggests leadership. Magnus recalls the carefully polite wording of the message, and thinks that this is certainly the type of person to act carefully and logically, to plan. 

That means he’s probably not very naïve, which means that he has ulterior motives behind the creation of this Cabinet. Magnus cannot afford to think about how attractive he may be. 

“Thank you for coming,” Lightwood says, with an inclination of the head that’s actually not so small as to be offensive — in fact, the gesture suggests that the Downworlders are of equal rank to Lightwood, rather than being dirt beneath his shoes. 

“Did we have a choice?” Raphael asks, voice cold and dismissive. Internally, Magnus winces; whatever Lightwood’s intentions, offending him cannot be a good idea. 

Magnus might be reading too much into it, but he thinks Lightwood’s slow blink might hide surprise. His voice, however, shows no trace of emotion. “It was not my intention to make it appear as though you did not. I assure you that there would have been no repercussions had you chosen not to come, and there will be no repercussions should you choose to leave at any point today, although I hope you do not.” 

It’s easy to say that, Magnus thinks, and Lightwood isn’t a faerie. Lies probably rise more easily to his lips than truth. Still, Magnus doesn’t leave. 

Lightwood leads them out of Ops and into some sort of conference room — the table, Magnus notes, is round, likely to preserve the pretence of equality. None of the seats have their backs directly to the door; Magnus knows that positioning a chair that way would either leave a Downworlder wildly uncomfortable, or if Alec took the seat, give the impression that he was blocking the exit. 

Instead, two seats are about equidistant from the exit. Magnus takes one and Meliorn the other; Raphael sits on Magnus’s other side, and Luke beside Meliorn. That leaves Alec with the seat farthest from the door — a seat he takes willingly, even though it leaves him essentially trapped in a room with four Downworlders. None of them can make a move without bringing the Clave down on their heads, of course, but it’s still interesting. 

“I would like to begin by reiterating my apology that any of you understood there to be repercussions for not attending this meeting,” Lightwood says. “Your presence here today and in future is entirely voluntary, although much appreciated.”

Magnus inclines his head a glacial fraction in acknowledgement; Raphael echoes him, but Luke nods quite happily, while Meliorn’s posture is unchanging. Lightwood doesn’t seem daunted by their reluctance; Magnus still doesn’t know what to make of him. 

“I’ve asked you to come here for a few reasons,” Lightwood goes on. Magnus is certain he’s rehearsed this speech before, but it still sounds fairly natural; the tone is a hair less formal than Lightwood’s apology, but still professional. “First, I want to make amends for my parents’ treatment of the Downworld during their time as Heads of the Institute. Secondly, I think that both Shadowhunters and Downworlders could benefit from closer cooperation between our two groups. Thirdly, I would like to have your input on the measures I’m planning to take to reduce discrimination against Downworlders both in New York and elsewhere.” He pauses, glancing around at the four people sitting around him. 

Magnus no longer knows what to make of him at all. There’s a straightforwardness about him that makes Magnus doubt that he’d do anything too treacherous, and Magnus has learned to respect his gut instinct — but what Shadowhunter could possibly, seriously, want to do any of the things which Lightwood has listed off? It’s preposterous. To make amends? To both benefit from closer cooperation? To reduce discrimination with Downworlder input?  

It is, frankly, utterly impossible, especially for the son of two Circle members. It is impossible. Lightwood cannot possibly mean what he says. 

And yet, Magnus wants to believe him with a surprising intensity. 

He doesn’t know, so he leans back in his chair and listens to what Lightwood has to say. 

“I have recently been made aware of my parents’ role in the genocide of Downworlders during the Uprising,” Lightwood says, and Magnus only barely manages to prevent himself from reacting. There are layers to that statement, but foremost among them is the word genocide. Even when the Clave went so far as to declare themselves opposed to the Circle, they never said exactly what the Circle was doing — never outright declared that the Circle was exterminating Downworlders like so many insects. No, there was always a veneer of formality behind which the Clave hid, euphemisms and half-truths preventing the Clave from having to outright disavow their best and brightest, however misguided. 

And now, Lightwood cuts through all that with perfect ease, although there’s a glint in his eye that shows his awareness of what he’s doing. The Circle committed genocide against the Downworld. It’s there, a bald statement, a declaration. 

Lightwood proceeds as though he doesn’t notice the surprise that’s swept through his listeners — even Meliorn’s careful facade has cracked a fraction. “Since then, they have continually acted unjustly towards the Downworld. I understand that monetary repayments are insufficient to make up for everything they have done, but you are nevertheless owed recompense under the Accords. The Clave may avoid offering it on the basis of technicalities, but I offer it in their stead.” 

This Shadowhunter. To offer recompense at all would be surprising, but Lightwood is offering it without even assuming that’ll make everything better — and he’s implying that the Clave is wrong not to have done so. He’s calling the Clave out on their bullshit declarations that they are entirely unaffiliated with the Circle and thus bear no responsibility for Downworlder deaths at Valentine’s hands. It’s more than Magnus would have expected of any Shadowhunter, let alone the son of two (barely-)ex-Circle members. 

The sum Lightwood proceeds to name is. Well. He’s not rounding down the Downworlder death toll, to say the least, and Magnus is not alone in staring at him in utterly stupefied silence. 

Lightwood waits for a moment, and then, when nobody speaks up, moves on to the next topic. “More practically, I feel that significant benefits could be achieved through a closer relationship between Downworlders and Shadowhunters. I’m not suggesting that Shadowhunters get involved in Downworlder business, but if we could — at a bare minimum — share information on demon movements, I think it could help all of us.” 

“Downworlders aren’t going to do your dirty work for you, Lightwood,” Raphael drawls. “Isn’t killing demons what Shadowhunters are for?”

“It is,” Lightwood agrees calmly, despite the aggression in Raphael’s tone. “And I’m not going to ask any of you to start fighting demons — the chances of that going badly are too high. But our demon sensors don’t work in the vicinity of large groups of Downworlders — or rather, they work too well, and go off continuously. If a demon shows up near the Hotel Dumort or the Jade Wolf, we’ve got no way of knowing about it except if you see it and tell us about it.” 

“And why,” Raphael asks, his voice dropping to a hiss, “has the Clave not informed us of this danger?”

“Because the Clave does not count Downworlders among those we have the duty to protect.” Lightwood pauses. “I, however, do. Raziel created us to protect the world from demons, not merely those members of the world without the Sight. Mundanes, Shadowhunters, ex-Shadowhunters, and Downworlders all fall within our mandate.”

Another simple, concise refutation of all that the Clave pretends not to believe. Raphael does not have a retort. 

“Our technicians are currently working on building sensors that can differentiate between demons and Downworlders,” Lightwood adds, “but we have been unsuccessful so far.” 

“I might be able to offer some assistance,” Magnus says — a test, as well as a genuine offer. Few Shadowhunters would be willing to work with Downworlders when not absolutely necessary. “Runic and warlock magic, working together, becomes capable of a good deal more than either could do alone.” The portal being a prime example — not that any Shadowhunters have acknowledged as much since Henry Branwell’s time. 

“That would be great,” Lightwood replies immediately. “We can discuss fees later on. In the short term, though, please do call us if you see a demon, especially if it’s somewhere near the DuMort or the Jade Wolf.” He pushes a business card with a phone number on it across the table to each of them. Magnus examines his — simple, white with black lettering. 

Alexander Lightwood

Head of the New York Institute

XXX-XXX-XXXX

Lightwood’s own number, then, not just the Institute’s number. Magnus puts the card in a pocket. 

“We’ll consider it, Shadowhunter,” Raphael says, leaning back in his chair. 

Luke nods more cordially, if only marginally so. He was once a Shadowhunter himself; despite all he’s suffered at their hands, he’s still more willing to trust them than the average Downworlder. 

“The last point I wanted to address, before I open the meeting up to any of your concerns,” Lightwood begins, “is about the legal battle underway in Alicante for Downworlder rights.”

“Legal battle?” It’s Magnus who asks the question, but he can see from the other Downworlders’ faces that none of them were aware of any such legal battle. A battle for Downworlder rights in Alicante itself — might that be how New York wound up with such a progressive leader?

“You didn’t know?” Lightwood seems surprised, but shakes it off after a moment. “No, how would you? It’s all going down in Alicante, and it’s not like there are any procedures in place to inform the Downworld of legislative changes that affect you.” He huffs with what seems like genuine frustration. On a Downworlder’s behalf. Every word out of Lightwood’s mouth brings a new surprise. 

Lightwood begins to explain the situation. “Alicante’s last four legislative sessions have been dominated by debate over Downworlder rights. It’s partially because the younger generation is now taking over Head positions from our parents, which is causing a shift in priorities. The old guard is pushing back, of course, but we’re making progress.” He pulls out a binder, stuffed full with papers but appearing meticulously organized. “We’ve managed to stop a bill that Inquisitor Herondale was pushing, which would’ve held leaders of groups of Downworlders responsible not only for the behaviour of members of that group, but also for the behaviour of rogue Downworlders in their area. Our main goal, though, is to get a rewrite of the Accords.” 

Magnus leans back in his chair, doing his best to set aside shock in favour of thinking logically about the political situation. “What do you want to change in the Accords?”

“We’ve got a couple ideas — the right to a trial with a mixed Downworlder/Shadowhunter jury, for example — but what I’d really like to get is your input.” Lightwood glances around at the table. “There’s no point in rewriting the Accords if we end up back where we started.” 

Right. Just Shadowhunters actually trying to help Downworlders, for the first time Magnus can remember. “Not everything can be solved by changing a few laws.”

“It can’t,” Lightwood agrees, “but changing the laws is a place to start, and I’d like to think this Cabinet could be a step towards fixing the other problems we’re facing.” 

Magnus nods, slowly, and they get to work.

[A brief explanation of what happens next: Magnus and Alec become friends (ft. minor misunderstandings and mutual pining). Clary shows up, and Malec deal with her a bit better than they do in canon, because a) Alec is properly HoTI in this ’verse, so he has more power, and b) Malec already know each other and can rely on each other/cooperate more than they do in canon. Valentine manages to build a bomb of angelic energy, which he plans to let off in a roomful of Downworlders (as an alternative to the Soul Sword, since Alec kept that out of his hands in this ’verse). Alec manages to evacuate the Downworlders (giving up on catching Valentine to do so), but he himself is hit with the angelic bomb. It doesn’t kill him, but they soon discover that it’s infected him with angelic energy (similar to heavenly fire, but not exactly the same). If he touches a Downworlder, they die, and if he touches a mundane, they become a Forsaken (basically, Alec touching a non-Shadowhunter has the same effect as drawing a rune on them). They also suspect that if he touches a Shadowhunter, the angelic energy will be passed from one to the other. Izzy’s testing suggests that the energy may consume Alec if they don’t figure out a way to get rid of it. In light of this, Alec has requested that Downworlders stay away from him, and has been attending Downworld Cabinet meetings via Projection. Magnus is, needless to say, upset.]

“What,” Alec asks, his voice clipped and harsh and cold, “are you doing here, Magnus?” 

Magnus refuses on principle to be deterred. “Am I not allowed to drop in to see a friend, Alexander?”

Alec opens his mouth, closes it, hisses, and then glares at him. He’s torn, Magnus knows, between the impulse to insist that Downworlders are welcome in the Institute any time they like — Alec’s really worked hard to make the Institute a more welcoming place — and the urge to get Magnus to leave by any means necessary. 

His goal is to protect Magnus, which is rather sweet, but also infuriating. They have no evidence whatsoever that just being in Alec’s presence could harm him, and seeing as Izzy is yet to find a cure for the angelic energy held in Alec’s body, Magnus thinks his magical expertise could come in handy. 

But no. Alec hasn’t quite forbidden any Downworlders from entering the Institute, but he’s strongly recommended that they stay away from him, which is essentially the same thing. In light of what happened to Gretel when Alec had touched her, Magnus can’t really say it’s an overreaction, but he absolutely can and will say that it’s yet another instance of Alec’s self-sacrificial tendencies. 

“You’re free to do whatever you like,” Alec says at last, scowling at him, and turns on his heel to stride away. 

Magnus follows. 

Alec leaves Ops and starts heading towards his office. 

Magnus keeps following him. 

Alec sits down at his desk and pulls a stack of papers towards himself. 

Magnus sits down opposite him, and waits. 

Alec sighs. “Magnus.”  

“Alec.”  

They look at each other across the desk for a moment. 

“At least let me do a magical scan,” Magnus offers. “I won’t need to touch you, and maybe we’ll figure something out to control it.” Because if we don’t control it—  

“The risks—”

“Are minor relative to the risks to you.” Alec isn’t going to convince Magnus otherwise. Not about this. Not when the untamed energy humming beneath Alec’s skin will eventually consume him, too, just as surely as it’ll kill any Downworlder who touches him. 

Alec’s lips are compressed stubbornly. “Magnus, it would really be best if you—”

“I’m not leaving.” Alec may have a stubborn streak a mile wide, but so does Magnus, especially when it comes to this. To Alec’s safety. “You’re my friend. I’m not going to sit by and do nothing while you waste away.” 

Alec means a good deal more than a friend to Magnus, but that’s beside the point. The point is that Alec already looks skinnier than he should, his cheekbones sharper, his musculature more pronounced. The angelic energy is eating him up from the inside, and Magnus wants to help.  

Whatever retort Alec was formulating is cut off when his tablet blares with an alert that sounds more like an alarm than anything else. Alec frowns and grabs it, silencing the noise and staring down at whatever it says on the screen. 

“Another potential hideout of Valentine’s,” Alec says at last, glancing up at Magnus and then back down. “We’ve come across more than a few potential locations, but so far they’ve all been dead ends. Still worth checking, obviously, but we’ll just send a small team to investigate and call everyone else if they find anything.” 

He looks at Magnus again, and then down at his watch. “As a matter of fact, I think I’ll go. I’ve spent too long cooped up in the Institute.” 

Magnus has no plans whatsoever to let Alec avoid this conversation by just walking away. “Good point. I’ll come with you.” 

“No.” Alec scowls at him. 

Magnus returns the look. 

Alec sighs as if to relent. “We can continue this conversation when I get back, okay?” 

“Fine,” Magnus lies — he’s definitely not letting Alec investigate a possible Circle hideout without backup. 

So, ten minutes after Alec leaves, Magnus steps out of a portal across the street from the empty warehouse. 

“Magnus—” Alec hisses from behind him. “Why did you follow me?” 

“Two sets of eyes are better than one,” Magnus replies. “Seen anything so far?” 

Alec huffs, but acknowledges that there’s no way Magnus is going to leave. See, Magnus knows he can be sensible sometimes. 

“No, there doesn’t seem to be anyone there, but that doesn’t necessarily mean there isn’t anyone there,” Alec tells him. “We should try getting a bit closer.” 

Magnus hums agreement, and the two of them creep quietly forwards, sticking to the shadows of the sparse trees although Alec maintains a careful six feet of distance between them. Alec’s footsteps are, of course, completely silent, but Magnus has snuck around enough places to be pretty quiet as well. The loudest sound is their breathing. 

Until, that is, Magnus feels wards brushing against his skin. “Alexander, wait—”

Too late. Alec, several steps ahead of him, is already across the wards. 

An alarm begins to blare. 

Alec swears softly, and glances back at Magnus. Backup, he mouths, and Magnus flicks his fingers behind his back to send off several urgent fire messages — to the Institute as well as to various Downworlders. Best to get as many fighters here as possible, although he knows it’s unlikely that any of them will arrive anytime soon. 

The not-so-abandoned warehouse is now somewhat reminiscent of a kicked anthill — Circle members in black are scurrying out of it in not-insignificant numbers. 

Magnus makes a quick mental calculation. There’s no way they can fight off that many Circle members alone; there’s no way they can even survive against them until backup arrives. Which leaves either running away, and letting Valentine have a chance to escape, or—  

“How about I cast a spell of invisibility on us, and we sneak inside?” Magnus whispers urgently. 

Alec nods, no doubt having come to the same conclusion. The spell takes effect, and they move in tandem towards the building. 

It’s simple enough to slip, invisible, past the scurrying Circle members, but the difficulty of the invisibility spell increases exponentially with the number of people trying to look through it, and the wards are mildly magic-suppressant. (Mildly to Magnus, at least; they’d be effective against a warlock like Dot.) 

He can’t afford to go into a fight with Circle members low on magic. So, once they’re within the building and out of the Circle members’ direct sight, he drops the glamour with a sigh. Alec glances at him, worried, but only activates a couple runes and continues on — still a couple paces away from Magnus. 

It’s not long before they come across another Circle member, presumably left behind to guard the building while her fellows search outside; Alec kills her with an arrow through her throat. The next two guards are dispatched with similar ease, but the one after that manages to yell before Magnus’s magic wraps around their throat. Magnus sees Alec tense, just as alarms begin to blare; it’s only a matter of time, now, until they’re overrun. 

Circle members are pouring in, an unending stream of them that they can only barely keep at bay. They stand back to back, a scant foot between them so they don’t quite trust, and Magnus fights with magic and blades until the floor is wet with blood and the hallways dotted with corpses. 

And then Valentine is there. It’s obvious that he’s a better fighter than any of his lackeys; Magnus only barely dodges a swipe of his seraph blade, but before he can engage Valentine in proper combat, Alec is there, his blades glowing as brightly as Valentine’s and his Deflect rune standing in sharp contrast to the circle on Valentine’s neck. Magnus can’t hit Valentine with a spell while Alec’s there, but he can knock out the Circle members coming to Valentine’s aid, so he lets Alec deal with the greater threat while he dispatches the lesser ones. 

There are quite a few Circle members left, though, and Magnus is forced to divert most of his attention away from Alec and Valentine in order to fight them. Magic wraps around hands to deflect seraph blades; the knife in Magnus’s other hand darts out to sever tendons and muscles with quiet efficiency. 

And then he hears Alec grunt in pain, and half-turns to look in time to see one of Alec’s seraph blades go sailing out of his bloodied hand — Magnus knocks Valentine back a step with a desperate burst of magic, but he’s too slow, and one of his own assailants’ blades lands in his stomach. 

The angelic energy burns, and he can feel it attacking his magic, trying to eat away at the demonic side of him. He sweeps a hand towards the several Circle members around him, and they fall like stones, and then his magic sputters out against the onslaught of the seraph blade’s angelic power. 

Valentine has lost a seraph blade, too, in the impact from Magnus’s spell; he turns and runs for the doorway. Alec drops to his knees by Magnus’s side — when did Magnus sit down? — and hovers there, anxiously. 

“Go after him,” Magnus hisses, “I’ll be fine—”  

Alec frowns. “The blood loss—”

“The blade itself will keep that from happening,” Magnus returns, “at least until Cat’s here to help me. Don’t let Valentine get away.”

A moment more when Alec hesitates, and then he stands and grabs a blade from a fallen Circle member in his injured hand. “Don’t take the blade out, Magnus,” he says, almost pleadingly, and then he runs after Valentine. 

Magnus takes a deep breath — ouch —  and scoots over to sit against the wall. 

He inspects the injury. The blade’s gone into his abdomen pretty cleanly, and it doesn’t seem like it’s hit anything crucially important (or, at least, anything that’ll kill him before backup arrives); not much blood is leaking out, which is also a good sign. On the other hand, it hurts like hell, and since it’s a seraph blade, warlock magic isn’t going to do anything to stem the injury. And he is, himself, without magic until the seraph blade is out of him; since taking it out would likely lead to him bleeding to death in fairly short order, he is now approximately useless. 

And Alec is facing off against Valentine alone.  

Fortunately, Magnus doesn’t have long to worry about it, because he hears the clashing of blades not far off and then Alec and Valentine come back into view. Their blades — two seraph blades each; Alec prefers to dual-wield and clearly Valentine is as good with two blades as he is with one — are flashing in the air almost faster than the eye can follow. Valentine, Magnus knows, was the best Shadowhunter of his generation; the fact that Alec can even keep up with him is impressive, but he won’t be able to last long. 

And Magnus can’t help him.  

It’s been barely five minutes since Magnus sent out the fire messages for backup, never mind that it’s felt like far longer. He can probably begin expecting help starting in about another two minutes, but by that time, Alec might be— No. He won’t let that happen. Not to Alec, not to the best man (nevermind Shadowhunter) he’s ever met, not to anyone but especially not to Alec, who he loves—

The means at his disposal. No magic; the knife he was fighting with earlier is too far out of reach, as are any of the Circle members who might have weapons. And the seraph blade currently stabbed through his abdomen, of course. 

Alec is obviously tiring. High-intensity combat like this, or even like the fighting they’d been doing together before Valentine showed up, isn’t sustainable for longer than a few minutes, and Alec is quickly approaching that threshold. 

Magnus pulls the seraph blade out of his stomach — quickly, quietly, if Valentine notices he’ll lose his element of surprise — and hurls it across the room with unerring aim. 

Valentine gasps, an expression of surprise on his face and a seraph blade protruding from his throat, and then drops to the ground at Alec’s feet. 

Magnus’s wound starts bleeding in earnest.

Valentine falls, and Alec barely takes the time to make sure he’s actually dead before he’s turning to Magnus, who’s on the ground, a hand pressed to his side with blood leaking out between his fingers. 

Alec finds himself, abruptly, at Magnus’s side, without much regard for the intervening space and/or time. “Magnus—”

“Alexander.” Magnus says his name like it’s a full sentence all on its own, the way he always does, although this time his voice is hoarse with pain. 

Brutally, Alec shoves down his first instinct, to reach out and help Magnus put pressure on the injury. It’s only thanks to the last few weeks of training himself to never touch people that he’s able to stop himself; instead of touching Magnus, his hands hover awkwardly between them. 

The blood is coming out too fast. “Can’t you heal it?” Alec asks, and then realises that was a stupid question, because obviously Magnus would have healed the giant gaping injury in his stomach if he’d been able to. 

“Injuries from seraph blades are resistant to warlock magic,” Magnus tells him anyway. 

No runes either, since Magnus is a warlock. “Mundane healing, then? We can get you to a hospital—”

Magnus sighs. His face is alarmingly pale. “Mundane doctors aren’t going to be able to stitch me back together, I don’t think, and in any case I don’t have the magic for a portal and you can’t touch me.”

Alec feels his heart stutter. “There isn’t — there isn’t anything we can do?” 

The smile on Magnus’s face is far, far too sad, and Alec’s mind is screaming no no no no no. “I’m sorry, Alexander.” 

“Don’t apologise,” he manages, “there must be — something—” no no no no no

“I’ve lived a long time.” That terribly sad smile doesn’t falter. “And if this is how it ends, well — it’s not the worst way to die.” 

nonononononononono, Alec’s brain says, and but you’re not supposed to die at all, and I love you, and he doesn’t quite manage to put any of that into words, but only crouches there and stares at Magnus. 

“I wanted to—” and then Magnus hesitates, and frowns, and the uncertainty in his expression is a thousand times worse than the too-sad smile. 

“You wanted?” Alec asks, because if Magnus is going to — if he’s really — if this is the last time, then the least Alec can do is encourage him to say whatever it is that he has on his mind. 

“I wanted to tell you,” Magnus says, as though he’s made a decision, “that I love you, and I have loved you as long as I’ve known you and maybe for centuries before, and I don’t want to die without telling you, even if you don’t feel the same—”

“Magnus, what — of course I feel the same,” Alec manages, his chest a knot of love-pain-longing-grief because if Magnus had said that a month ago, a day ago, it would’ve been everything he wanted, but now Magnus is dying and Alec can’t touch him. 

There’s a trickle of blood running down Magnus’s cheek, and tears on his face, and the tips of his hair — dyed blue, brilliant and beautiful as Magnus always was — are blurry. Alec realises that there are tears on his own face, too. 

“Idiots, the pair of us, then,” Magnus huffs, and even with his face blurred out by tears, Alec knows that the sad smile is back on his face. “I wish—”

I wish we’d figured it out sooner, Alec thinks, and he knows Magnus is thinking the same thing. All this time they’ve known each other, all this time running around in circles, and now, now, they know that they love each other. 

Magnus tilts his head back against the wall and breathes out, rasping and pained. Alec’s fingers twitch with the suppressed desire to cup his face, to wipe away the tears and the blood. He holds himself still. 

“Can I ask something impossibly selfish of you, Alexander?” Magnus murmurs, meeting his eyes again. 

Doubt you could be selfish if you tried, Alec thinks, but that’s not particularly helpful. “Anything.”

Magnus swallows. “I want to kiss you.”

It takes Alec a moment to realise that he isn’t voicing an abstract desire, but asking that impossibly selfish thing of Alec. His first reaction, upon processing this, is but I’ll kill you, and then with a horrible sinking feeling he remembers that Magnus is already dying and so — so — 

Anything, Alec said, only moments before, and if this is what Magnus is asking for — to die at Alec’s touch rather than of blood loss — then what can Alec do but give it to him? 

“Okay,” he says, and he feels his heart beat faster at the thought of kissing Magnus even as he knows that there will be no recovering from this — from watching him burn and crumble to ashes at Alec’s touch. 

Alec leans forward and presses their lips together, and for a moment all thoughts of what will come next are lost in the softness of Magnus’s lips, the salt tang of the tears on both their faces, the desperate joy that rises in his chest regardless of anything that his brain has to say about it.

He pulls back to breathe in, unwilling to open his eyes and watch as Magnus—

“Alexander,” Magnus says, and Alec’s eyes snap open. 

He’s — he’s here, and he’s alive, and if Alec is hallucinating this, he thinks he rather prefers it to reality. 

His eyes flicker down to the injury in Magnus’s stomach, from which blood still flows. Not a hallucination, then. 

“It didn’t hurt me,” Magnus breathes. “But how — unless the angelic energy—” He’s frowning, muttering to himself in the way he does when he’s caught up in some research project or other. Alec catches the words angelic descent and Asmodeus and fallen angel, but he’s mostly too busy staring at Magnus to follow. 

(Magnus, alive, but terribly pale.)

Apparently having reached a conclusion he’s satisfied with, Magnus nods sharply. “My father,” he says, “is a fallen angel, and the best explanation I can come up with for this is that there’s enough angel left in him — and, therefore, in me — to prevent the angelic energy in your touch from harming me.” He pauses. “Which is fascinating, actually; I’ve obviously never tested whether other forms of angelic energy hurt me—”

Alec’s been only half listening — Magnus’s rants about magical theory are always fascinating, but Magnus is also bleeding out right now — but the thought of other forms of angelic energy sparks something in his head. “You think runes could work on you?”

Magnus frowns at him. “Quite possibly, but I’d want to try with something else first—”

Without a word, Alec grabs a witchlight from his pocket and pushes it into Magnus’s hand. The brush of skin-on-skin contact — the first in weeks — makes him shudder, but now is not the time. 

The witchlight glows red. 

Magnus stares at it. “Fascinating. But Alec, what—”

“If there’s any chance runes work on you,” Alec whispers, through the desperate clenching of his throat, “we have to try.”  

Wide-eyed, Magnus gapes at Alec. Had he really been so interested in the theoretical implications of his apparent immunity to angelic magic that he hadn’t spared a thought for the fact that it might save his life? By the Angel, Alec loves him more than words can say, and he is the smartest person Alec knows, but he can be incredibly idiotic when it comes to taking care of himself. 

“It could work,” Magnus mutters, “although no way of knowing for certain—” 

“But,” Alec says, desperate, “if the other option is definitely dying—”

Magnus nods, and Alec’s stele is in his hands before he’s consciously reached for it. 

Iratzes first, of course, one after another, traced with the careful precision of a lifetime of practice and the intent devotion of lifetimes’ worth of love, until the gaping hole begins to close. Then mendelin for strengthening his constitution, blood-replenishment runes, more iratzes—

On a Shadowhunter, that injury would have been dangerous, left alone to bleed out for so long. With a parabatai drawing the runes, it would’ve been fine, eventually; without a parabatai, Alec wouldn’t’ve lost hope, but he wouldn’t’ve been optimistic. For some reason, these runes seemed nearly as effective as parabatai runes; Alec didn’t have the faintest idea if it was because of the angelic energy humming under his skin, or because of Magnus’s heritage, or for another reason entirely, but he wasn’t going to look a gift horse in the mouth. 

When reinforcements arrived, they found the two of them side by side, a slightly haggard Magnus still leaning against Alec but with plenty of colour in his cheeks. 

(Alec, on his part, had an arm around Magnus’s shoulders and didn’t plan to let go for a long while.)

[cinberella]

My A/B/O Canon Divergent Malec fics

❤️🥰❤️🥰❤️🥰❤️🥰

Shelter

Disowned by his own people, possibly deruned and exiled, just because he wants to be what he was meant to be, wholly and proudly. But the Clave won't allow Alec Lightwood to decide for himself and his daughter. Fortunately, someone unexpected, a powerful and feared Warlock, will offer him help, protection and a safe haven. Magnus Bane is an Alpha who is not afraid to defy the Clave and bring Alec and his daughter to safety.

Rating E - WC 80k

TW implied rape/non con, derogatory language, explicit sexual content, attempted sexual assault

Warlock Therapy

Magnus now expects pretty much anything from the Clave. On the other hand, he has been dealing with Shadowhunters for decades, he knows them. But finding Maryse at his door asking for help to save her son’s life wasn’t something he could have foreseen. The young Alpha who is with her seems to carry on his shoulders a pang of guilt so serious that he would be ready to die, just to atone for his sins. Apparently, the only reason Alec Lightwood wants to fight back and survive is to help his Parabatai. Magnus can’t turn his back on the boy, even if he’s Maryse’s son, when the Clave threatens to kill him just because he’s fallen in love.

Rating E - WC 50k

TW homophobic language, explicit sexual content

[lazinesswrites]

✨Fic Writing Review 2023✨

I saw the lovely @whimsicalmeerkat do this recently, and they did the 'if you wanna do this you're tagged' thing, so! Here we go! On Jan 1st, because I haven't exactly had the time to sit down and do something like this in the last few days 😅

Words

56,557 words posted on AO3

27 works posted or updated on AO3

Fandoms & Ships Represented:

Shadowhunters (2x Malec)

Star Wars: The Bad Batch (19x Platonic Batch, 1x pre-relationship Crosshair x Captain Rex, 1x Crosshair & Commander Mayday)

Star Wars: The Clone Wars (4x Obi-Wan Kenobi x Commander Cody, 1x gen)

The Shadowhunter Chronicles (1x gen)

Top Fics by Kudos

"I wouldn't do that if I were you" + Loth-Cat (SW:TCW, CodyWan, accidental Loth-Cat acquisition, Loth-Cat shenaningans)

Home In Your Arms (SW:TBB, Cross finds and rejoins the Batch, gets some much-needed sleep and hugs)

Won't you take me home ('cause lately I've been losing on my own) (SW:TBB, The Outpost canon divergence, Mayday lives, Crosshair - and Mayday - come home)

Labor of love is ours to endure (SW:TBB, Kamino Lost canon divergence, formerly known as 'The Power of Hugs', Cross rejoins the Batch)

Datawork and Drinks (SW:TCW, pre-CodyWan, Obi-Wan makes caf for Cody, lots of pining, based on this amazing comic by starwarjotta)

My Fandom Fic Events in 2023

I participated in a bunch of different -tober events in 2023, though there's still 'only' 15 works in the series I made on Ao3 for them. Links for the events here on tumblr, and their Ao3 collections when applicable:

Fictober (Ao3 collection Fictober23)

Angstober (A03 collection Angstober2023)

OC-tober

StarWarsTober

Malectober (Ao3 collection Malectober2023)

I technically also participated in Comfortember, though I haven't put the one fic I've posted for it in the Ao3 collection, so. I do have another fic mostly-written for one of these prompts, though it's not quite ready for posting yet.

Upcoming 2024 Events & Projects

I... haven't exactly planned anything yet. There's a few things I'm considering though, like this Cody-day bingo, or this Waxer*Boil Month. Various month-events, like fictober, comfortember etc. And of course I still plan on doing Kedreeva's WIP Wednesday Ask Game as many Wednesdays as I can, and maybe other weekly things like that.

Rules & Tags

Not sure there really are any rules to this, you can be as thorough or brief as you want. I'm also not gonna tag anyone specifically, but if you see this and want to do it too - you're tagged!

[lurafita]

Does make my brain itch about canon divergence where Magnus really does not want to get involved. (not even for the pretty shadowhunter). And then it's kinda like: "I will help you this once! And then you leave me alone." - but, they are at his door again pretty much the next day -

Magnus had started out hopeful that one day, better relations between the shadowhutners and the downworld could be build. That things would change and grow. And examples of open minded shadowhunters, of good ones, of ones who were fair, and just, and non-racist, had been there over the centuries. But the more Magnus trusted in these kind of men and women heralding the change in their society, the more he was disappointed of them just being the exception to the rule. And after the circle, after witnessing, once again, how the clave handles their own in contrast to how it handles the downworld, he decided that he has had enough. He steps down from his position as high warlock (he will always help his fellow downworlders, but he won't be a go to for the local institute anymore. Let Lorenzo do it, as the younger warlock seems to think of it as a position of status) He turns away Jocelyn Fairchild when she knocks on his door, telling her to either return to her ilk, or find another warlock to do her bidding. And while for some time, shadowhunters still try to hire him, (he is one of the most powerful warlocks alive), after some firm rebuffs, they give up. Even his club, Pandemonium, is no longer accepting of those who bear runes. The specilized wards barr entry for the angels' chosen. Life is peaceful for the warlock. (If maybe sometimes lacking a sense of adventure) Until one day, a particularly persistent young, red haired woman, and her seeming entourage of shadowhunters, come knocking at his door. Again, and again and again.

[magnus-the-maqnificent]

Now, apart from malec, what kind of canon divergent plot do we want?

((If Magnus is not High Warlock of Brooklyn, it simply means he's High Warlock of some other place orrrrrr he's a Prince of Hell. Bye))

((Apocalypse - basically "If the bad guys win". Could be the circle, the cohort, Shinyun or Sebastian))

((If the last option wins, I'll simply make another poll with all the suggestions given))

[kasper-tag]

✨It's time for a sneak peek!✨

Title: Give and Take

Pairing: Malec

Rating: Mature

No archive warnings apply

TW for mentions of canon-typical self-harm (fic only)

Total Word Count: 36,000+ (still writing and editing)

About: Season 1+2 Canon Divergence AU, oblivious idiots in love, cuddling, Magnus' unhinged flirting, fighting, first date, first time 👀

Written for the 2023 Shadowhunter Mini Bang, hosted by the @malecdiscordserver!

Paired with @fictionalrambles for artwork, beta read by @malecromantic!

Full fic coming soon! 🖤

[la-muerta]

Title: you're the king and I'm your lionheart

Fandoms: Shadowhunters (TV)

Warnings: Rated E.

Word Count: 9,287 words

Relationships: Magnus Bane x Alec Lightwood

Summary: When Lilith leads her army of demons against Magnus in Edom, Magnus decides that he has to do whatever it takes to seal Edom permanently from the mortal realm and keep the people he loves safe — even if it means giving up his heart, mind, and soul.

Some time later, a nephilim turns up at the door of his ruined palace, a man that Magnus thinks he ought to remember.

[Read on AO3]

--

I actually got the inspiration for two fic ideas from @carelessflower's requests for Malec Secret Santa this year, and I really wanted to write both. So because my middle name is apparently also "Too Much" like Magnus, here's the second fic! 🙈