Archive of Our Own ^beta

“ Who are you?” The warlock asked and it’s all Alec could do not to roll his eyes. Of course, he wouldn't respond — couldn’t, even if he wanted to — and that much should be evident by the piece of black plastic and leather currently covering the lower half of his face. He glanced at Izzy and raised an eyebrow with a slight tip of his head. He might not be able to speak, but the three of them knew each other well enough that she’d understand what he was asking of her.

“That’s Alec,” she said as he passed her and started to collect the arrows that he’d loosed during the battle. The last thing he needed was his mother riding him about being irresponsible with his weapons. “I’m Isabelle, that’s Jace and Clary. We were hoping that you could help us restore Clary’s memories,” she explained as she began to tell Magnus about everything that had happened during the last few incredibly hectic days.

When he was done collecting his arrows, he nudged the deceased circle member with his foot, confirming that the man was in fact dead before he took his place next to Jace and settled into parade rest. He could tell that Magnus was studying him as Isabelle spoke, but Alec was used to all the staring and harsh whispered comments that came with his punishment. It wouldn’t be the first time that someone judged him on the muzzle and until his mother decided to remove it, it certainly wouldn’t be the last. He cocked his head to the side and dared the warlock to say anything. 

“I’m sorry,”  Magnus said, holding up a hand and stopping Izzy in the middle of her rather lengthy explanation of why they needed his services. “Are…are you okay?”

It was a fair question, Alec knew, especially since it wasn't a common Shadowhunter punishment — and certainly not one that would have been seen outside of the walls of the Institute. However, he was no longer filled with shame when someone asked about the muzzle, and he’d long since come to terms with the fact that his mother had no plans to permanently remove it any time soon. He nodded in response before flashing his sister the hand signal that told her that he was giving her permission to tell the warlock about the situation.

“Alec’s being punished,” Isabelle explained and Alec could see pity flash across the warlock’s face. “For something that happened a few years ago. Our mother doesn’t think he’s learned his lesson yet. It’s completely stupid if you ask me but one doesn’t argue with Maryse Lightwood.”

Pity gave way to horror as Magnus slowly turned toward Isabelle. “ Years?” She nodded and Alec held up three fingers before Magnus could ask the next inevitable question. “Three years? You’re still practically children. This is torture. Surely whatever you did wasn’t severe enough to call for any such punishment.”

“He and Maryse had a disagreement. Publicly. In front of multiple members of the Clave. Alec was right but she didn’t appreciate losing face,” Jace explained with a huff. “We’ve all fought her over it but she’s not willing to listen. I think she’s afraid of Alec and the changes that he wanted to make. This is her way of ensuring that none of that ever happens. The only thing stopping him from taking over the Institute and sending her back to Alicante is that damn muzzle and Maryse is the only one who can remove it.”

“Not the only one,” Magnus muttered under his breath and Alec raised an eyebrow in question. “I have magic, darling. One snap of my fingers and you’d be free of that cursed thing. All you need is to say, well sign, the word. Personally, I think your face would be much prettier without it.” Magnus winked as magic started sparking at his fingertips.

Alec felt a blush rise to his cheeks and he reached into his jacket pocket to pull out a small notepad and a pen that he kept with him for situations where more words were needed, flipping to a blank page and quickly scrawling out a message before holding it out to Magnus. ‘ Angel, are you flirting with me?’

“Oh, I’m not the angel, that would most certainly be you, Alexander,” Magnus replied with another wink as his sister snorted quietly beside him. “What do you say? Ready to piss off Maryse Lightwood for the good of all humanity?”

Could he? Could he disobey his mother, take his Institute back and finally move on with his life? What would the Clave think about his defiance? Better yet, what would his mother think when he walked in without the muzzle for the first time in three years? If he ended his own punishment, how would that affect all the plans he had for the New York Institute? He shook his head. No, he’d worked too hard for too long to ruin everything he’d planned for on a simple whim. There would be time to come back to Magnus and have him remove it once he’d had a chance to weigh the pros and cons of taking his future into his own hands. He flipped a page and scrawled another note. ‘ Not yet but maybe. Right now, we’ve got bigger fish to fry.”

“Ah yes,” Magnus replied, finally turning his attention to Clary, who had been watching the entire exchange with obvious confusion. They hadn’t given her the entire run down as to why Alec was wearing the muzzle. “Alright, Biscuit. We can summon the memory demon, but I’ll need your help to draw the summoning circle. Every detail needs to be perfect so that we don’t let a demon loose in the city. Come now, I’ll show you what needs to be done.”

He paused by Alec, taking the notepad from the Shadowhunter’s hand and scribbling down some numbers. “I mean it, Alexander. Whenever you’re ready. I’m only a text message away.”     

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The next few months passed, and Alec found himself texting the warlock daily. Sometimes it was a story about Jace doing something stupid, sometimes it was a funny picture of Magnus’ cat (who on Earth named their cat Chairman Meow?) but sometimes it was just because he needed a friendly voice to rant to when everything just seemed to be going wrong. Today was one of those days. Jace and Clary had taken yet another unsanctioned mission and something Isabelle had said to Maryse really seemed to rub her the wrong way. She’d been in a mood all day and he was simply doing his best not to make the situation worse.

Currently, he was sitting in her office while she worked, trying to finish the reports on Jace and Clary’s latest fiasco. He’d finished three thus far and there was only one more left to go. He was nearly halfway through that one so he figured he had about another hour before he could escape his mother and her problems and find solace in his room and Magnus’ texts. “You should be done by now,” she said sharply, causing Alec to furrow his brow as he pointed to the stack that he’d already completed. “Really, Alec. It’s like you’re not even trying.”

He grabbed his tablet and typed out a message knowing that she expected some sort of answer from him. ‘ I’m almost done. This is the last one. I thought the Clave would appreciate specific details of the attack since the Ravener demons weren’t behaving as they normally would.”

 “What they appreciate is these reports being written in a timely manner. Just leave what you’ve written thus far on my desk. It’s obvious that I’ll need to do it for you.”

The pen fell out of Alec’s hand and the world went silent around him as his mother continued to insult him. Hadn’t he been trying his best? He hadn’t even slept yet since they got back from patrol, instead choosing to burn through a stamina rune or two so that he could get right back to work. He was exhausted and on his last straw and he couldn’t even argue back with her about it because he was still wearing the stupid muzzle. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. “And now you aren’t evening listening,” his mother spat. “You really are going out of your way to try and be a failure.”

He needed out. Now. He couldn’t do this anymore. Not like this, at least. He grabbed his jacket and his bow from where he’d set them next to him on the couch. Maryse was glaring at him with narrowed eyes. “And just where do you think you’re going? You haven’t been dismissed yet.”

‘ I am going for a run,’ Alec signed at her, knowing that she hadn’t bothered to learn like Jace and Izzy had when it became clear that Alec’s punishment would be lasting a lot longer than any of them had originally expected. He slammed the door behind him, his mother still making demands that he get back in the room. He stalked through the Ops Center as people scrambled to get out of his way.

Once outside, he activated another stamina rune, knowing that he was going to absolutely feel the rune exhaustion tomorrow but finding himself not particularly caring. This needed to happen. It should have already happened. The run to Brooklyn passed in a blur, and it was only when he was standing outside of Magnus’ door with his hand raised to knock did he realize that he didn’t even know if the Warlock was home. Maybe he should have texted Magnus and confirmed before he ran halfway across the city in a rage. 

His worries turned out to be unnecessary when the door swung open, revealing Magnus in a loose red and gold shirt and a pair of black pants. His cat eyes were on display and Alec found himself stunned into further silence at the way they seemed to glint in the low lighting. “My, my, my. What brings a Shadowhunter like you to a place like this, Pretty Boy?”          

Alec shook his head to snap himself back into reality instead of losing himself in further daydreams about the wonder that was Magnus Bane. He pointed at the muzzle.

Magnus’ mood changed instantly and he gave Alec a questioning look. “You’re ready to take it off now? For good?”

Alec nodded. He wanted to explain more and tell Magnus about everything but right now, more than anything, he just wanted to be able to speak to the man.

“Alright, Angel. Come inside and we’ll get that taken care of immediately. I must say, I’m curious to hear your voice. I’m sure it doesn’t even compare to the one I’ve given you in my dreams.”     

He followed Magnus inside, sitting on the sofa as instructed as Magnus knelt down in front of him. “I promise this won’t hurt. You probably won’t even feel more than a tickle. Just sit still and it will be over in an instant.” The warlock snapped his fingers and Alec felt the muzzle fall into his lap. He stared at it in shock for a moment before he glanced up to find Magnus staring at him with concern etched on his face. “Are you alright, Alexander? No pain or anything? It looks like you may have a scar on the bridge of your nose from wearing it for so long, but I have a paste that can take care of it. It’s worked wonders for me in the past. This one time in Peru—”

Alec couldn’t stop himself. He grabbed Magnus’ shirt and pulled him close, pressing his lips against the warlock's. There was a soft ‘oh’ from Magnus before he too let himself be lost in the moment. When they finally parted, Alec let out a small laugh. “Sorry, I’ve been wanting to do that for a while now. You’ve been flirting with me for weeks. It was driving me mad.”

“You’re not the only one. I was even considering storming the New York Institute and demanding Maryse release you or I’d remind her of why I’m the High Warlock,” Magnus admitted before a grin spread across his face and he reached up to cup Alec’s chin. “There you are, and I must say…the sound of your wonderful voice is better than anything I could have conjured in my dreams.”

Alec huffed as a blush rose to his cheeks and Magnus laughed. “I want to spend hours talking to you. I want to take you to dinner and tell you everything and I want to stay here forever and kiss you all night but as much as I want all that and more, there really is something I need to take care of first.”

“You’re going to confront your mother?”

He nodded. “I’m going to confront my mother and then I’m taking my Institute back.”

“I know, Angel, and I can’t wait to see what that means. The man I’ve come to know sounds like he has some awfully big ideas,” Magnus replied softly. 

“Oh, he does. And he really wants to tell you all about them over dinner later tonight. Do you suppose the High Warlock is free for a late dinner date?”

Magnus tapped a finger on his chin. “You know, I have it on good authority that his schedule has opened up. Besides, late hours don’t really matter when you can portal all over the world.”

“Then I’ll call you as soon as I’m done. Hopefully, it doesn’t take too long now that the conversation will no longer be one-sided. Can I get another kiss? For good luck, of course.” Alec asked and Magnus could only chuckle.

“Of course,” the warlock obliged and pressed another kiss to the Shadowhunter’s lips. “Now go, Angel. Take care of something that seems to be a long time coming.” He twisted his wrist and flicked open a portal. “Right to the Institute steps, as close as I can get you without raising suspicion. Go make me proud.”

Alec waved and stepped through without hesitation, startling a team of two who seemed to be coming back from patrol. “Alec? It’s…where? Did Maryse finally end your punishment?” One asked, though Alec ignored him, bounding up the stairs two at a time. Thankfully, the Ops Center seemed to be mostly empty and he didn’t have to worry about the news finding its way to his mother’s office before he did.

He threw open her door and was secretly pleased to find that Jace and Isabelle were already there. Good, he would only have to do this once. His mother looked up, eyes already blazing at the sudden intrusion and he saw the moment that he realized he wasn’t wearing the muzzle. He stalked across the room and threw it on her desk, knocking the pile of reports he’d been writing to the ground. “It’s over, mother. You have no power over me anymore.”

“Alexander Gideon Lightwood, your punishment is not over until I say it’s over. How dare you disrespect me in such a way. You get over here right now and let me put it back on you. You’ve just earned yourself more time and you’re pulled from patrols and on lockdown in your room until further notice. I will not have you acting like a spoiled brat and making a fool of yourself and giving the family a bad name,” his mother growled, the anger absolutely dripping from her voice.

“No. I’m an adult and this was my Institute before you took offense to me saying that we needed to work with the local Downworld and decided to muzzle me like a dog to ‘teach me some manners.’ Well, guess what? It didn’t work. I played your games but I continued to make my plans. Get out and go back to Alicante. I’m petitioning the Clave to return New York to my control and if I ever hear of you doing anything like what you did to me to any others? I will personally rain hellfire down upon you.”

His mother didn’t move for moments and he felt Jace and Izzy move closer to him, letting her know that they intended to stand by their brother even if it meant a fight. Slowly, she rose to her feet. “This isn’t over, Alexander. I don’t know what you think you’re doing but—”

“There are no buts, and it’s Alec . Now go, I’m not going to ask again.”

He watched as she crossed the room and waited for the door to close before he let out a sigh of relief and turned to face his siblings. “It’s good to have you back, big brother. I’ll have to thank Magnus next time I see him.”

“Oh, I plan on thanking him tonight over dinner,” Alec replied with a laugh, “In many ways, and preferably all night. Can you two take care of spreading the word that I’m back and make sure Mom actually leaves? Arrest her if you have to, I don’t even care anymore.”

“I’ll even have Andrew start helping draft the formal letter to the Clave. Now go , Alec. Enjoy your date. If anyone deserves a night off and a good steak, it’s you. We will take care of the Institute for you in the meantime.”

He shot Magnus a quick text and a portal opened in the middle of the room. “He shouldn’t be able to do that,” Jace stated as they all stared at the shimmering orange glow. “Did you know that he could do that?”

“I didn’t,” Alec replied simply. “But I feel like there’s a lot about Magnus Bane that we don’t know. And you know what? I’m going to love finding it all out.”