Chapter Text
Magnus and Jace watched helplessly as Isabelle was thrown towards the portal, a desperate attempt by the warlock with Jace's sword sticking out of her chest to kill the shadowhunter. Isabelle had been hit hard by the magic and was too out of it to think of a place, knowing it wouldn’t make a difference seeing as the warlock didn’t have a destination in mind when she opened the portal, anyone who went through it would simply be in limbo… and that was arguably a fate worse than death. Izzy closed her eyes, thinking of a silent apology to her family as she waited to feel the heat from the portal and then the eternal darkness that would be held within the portal. Instead, she felt strong arms grab her and throw her out of the way, she hit the ground hard and just managed to turn and look in time to see her brother fall through the portal. A loud cry of “Alexander!” was the last thing she heard before she was dragged unconscious.
Magnus watched as his Alexander jumped into the way of Izzy and the portal, using his strength to throw Izzy away from the portal, unfortunately that meant he also pushed himself backwards and into the awaiting mouth of the portal. Magnus held Alexanders eyes for a split moment before he fell through and the portal closed behind him. “Alexander!” The cry escaped him almost involuntarily and he hit the ground hard, he’d gone through a portal without a destination in mind, he was dead- trapped in limbo forever. Jace fell to the ground beside Magnus, he was clutching his side where the parabatai rune was, his face a mask of emotion as he tried desperately to feel his brother through their bond. “I can’t feel him.” It was uttered no louder than a whisper but in the now silent room it sounded as though he had yelled the words. Clary let out a sob from where she was cradling her girlfriends head in her lap, the sound was enough for Magnus to stand up and with a simple wave of his hand he healed the wound on Izzy’s stomach along with her concussion. “Mag-” Magnus didn’t stick around to hear Clary finish her sentence, instead he opened a portal to his loft and walked through, leaving the two grieving shadowhunters and the unconscious Izzy alone in the warehouse where he’d lost his husband.
***
The loft was a terrible place to go, it was filled with their things. Magnus could see the book Alec had been reading on the couch, his bookmark sticking half hazardously out of it, a pair of his boots lay by the front door and a spare jacket was hung up on the coat rack. Magnus took a deep breath and fought back tears, the loft smelled like Alec, it smelled like his cologne and that earthy scent which he’d attributed to Alec’s natural scent a long time ago. It lingered in the apartment, a comfort and a curse all in one. A reminder that Alec had lived here and a reminder that he never would again. That in a few days the loft would stop smelling of Alec and in a year or two it would be like Alec had never been here, that is if Magnus moved on like Ragnor and Catarina always insisted he do when he was lingering on a lost love for too long.
Summoning the first glass of whiskey had been to distract himself from the smell of Alec.
The next three glasses were to stop him from crying.
The next four were to get him through his nightly routine and the task of entering the bedroom he had shared with Alec.
The remainder of the bottle was summoned to help him fall into a drunken sleep, one where he was able to fall asleep clutching Alecs pillow in his arms and breathing in his scent.
***
At some ungodly hour Magnus was roused from his sleep by someone trying to get through his wards, he debated ignoring the person outside, he was out of commission as the High Warlock of Brooklyn until he decided to return and that day certainly wouldn’t be mere hours after the loss of his husband. His husband who had become immortal for him, so they could have forever together and now- Magnus swallowed the lump in his throat and scrubbed his face aggressively, pressing down on his eyes with the palm of his hands so hard he saw swirls of colour behind his eyelids.
The shadowhunter - his wards had told him who was knocking insistently - seemed desperate to get in and despite his clear refusal to see anyone the shadowhunter continued to press themselves against his wards. With a sigh Magnus slowly sat up and used his magic to put his glamor on and then to put his armour on. No one saw him without his makeup, no one other than Alexander, but he would never see him again.
Dressing himself in casual dark jeans and one of Alexanders T-Shirts, Magnus was ready to face the shadowhunter outside his doors, a mask of indifference on his face to hide his true emotions. He walked over to the door and opened it, mentally preparing the speech he’d have to give to whoever had decided to bother him during his time of mourning. All that went out the window when he suddenly had an armful of a clearly distressed Isabelle Lightwood. “I’ve been outside all night, I couldn’t-” Her words catch in her throat and she tightens her hold on Magnus, Magnus just stood there and let her cling to him not unlike to how a child clings to their mother.
He carefully put his arms around her and with one hand closed the door and began leading her into the living room. Once Izzy was settled on the couch, Magnus realized just how awful she looked with her running mascara and her rumpled clothes. “Water?” Izzy nodded gratefully and within a second Magnus had a glass of water in her hands while he sat down on the couch beside her with his own glass of something decidedly stronger then water. After she’d had a drink, Izzy turned to him again. “I couldn’t go back to the institute, I mean I tried but I passed his old room and I just couldn’t.” Her head hung and she wiped away tears with the tissues Magnus had summoned for her.
After a moment of silence, she straightened her shoulders, brushed her hair away from her face and turned to look at Magnus like the powerful shadowhunter he knew she was. “I don’t remember what happened, I remember being flung towards the portal and I know-” Her voice caught but she carried on, “I know Alec saved me, but I don’t…I want to know how it happened, exactly how it happened. Clary tried but she’s out with Simon searching for Jace.” He looked at her confused, Jace was missing? “Is Jace alright?” His dislike for the blonde shadowhunter had slightly faded over the years into something he might have been able to call friendship, but that was mostly because of Alec. Because Alec had told him that Jace was important to him, almost as important as Magnus and he couldn’t live with their bickering for all of eternity.
“He left after I woke up, he refused to even go near the institute when Clary suggested going back there.” Her eyes filled with unshed tears but Izzy refused to let them fall as she said the words Magnus knew were coming but still dreaded. “His parabatai rune vanished, I don’t think Jace knows how to deal with this I tried to help but he-he couldn’t even look at me.” Magnus felt a flash of anger towards Jace, not being able to look at Isabelle because no doubt he saw Alec in her was unfair to Izzy. Jace wasn't the only one who had lost a brother. “Clary made sure I was okay before she called Simon to go search for him and I couldn’t be alone there so I came here.” She looked around the loft, her eyes settling on the discarded book Alec had been reading. Her eyes softened as she picked it up and cradled it to her chest like it was a delicate flower. “He always loved reading, I remember when we were kids I could always find him in the library curled up on this big red armchair with a book. He could sit there for hours on end just reading but Jace and I could never stand the silence and the stillness for more than a few minutes.” A smile graced Magnus’s face as he pictured a younger version of Alec trying to read while his restless siblings were distracting him.
Izzy placed the book in her lap before reaching forward and plucking the glass out of his hands and setting it on the table, after that she grabbed his hands in hers. “Please Magnus, I need to see what happened to my brother.” “Isabelle darling, you don’t-” She interrupted him, her voice determined. “I do. My brother died for me, I need this Magnus.” She held his gaze, her eyes were full of that same stubborn determined look that he’d learned to recognize on Alec. With a sigh he summoned a portal which opened into the warehouse. He and Izzy slowly walked through the portal, too quickly for Magnus’s liking he was back in the place he never wanted to be back in. He could see a few arrows lying discarded on the ground and he averted his eyes quickly. “I won’t watch this again Isabelle. I won’t watch my husband die for a second time in twenty four hours.” She nodded in understanding, “I don’t expect you too Magnus, but thank you.” He nodded and then summoned his memory of the event for Isabelle to watch as he turned his back and returned through the portal to the comfort of his living room. He held the portal open for Isabelle to return through and settled himself on his balcony to wait for her.
***
“Jace called, he says he found the warlock responsible.” Magnus looked up to see Alec already shrugging on his signature leather jacket and reaching for his bow. “Your sure this is the right warlock?” This warlock had been causing problems for both Magnus and the New York Institute for a week and a half now. Rogue warlocks were rare but when they did go rogue they were dangerous to everyone around them. This particular warlock had already killed six mundanes and tried to kill a group of shadowhunters on patrol. Alec cast Magnus a look before continuing to get ready, the look was one of exasperation and one that read “Of course I’m sure”, Magnus had been on the receiving end of that look enough times to recognize it. “Alright then!” He clapped his hands together and summoned a portal after Alec gave him the address. “After you dear.” Alec shook his head amused before he walked through the portal with Magnus close behind.
Magnus shot another blast of magic at the female warlock, catching her off guard and sending her crashing into the wall. But not before she threw her own blast of magic that clipped Isabelle and sent her crashing to the floor. In a second, Alec was crouching beside his sister, his bow still knocked with an arrow and pointed at the warlock. His previous arrows lay discarded around them where the warlock had used her magic to send the arrows astray. Clary ran at the warlock, using her sunlight rune, it was only a stroke of bad luck that the warlock managed to roll away from where the rune was pointing a second before it could hit her. She retaliated with her own burst of magic that Clary only barely managed to avoid.
The near death experience seemed to strengthen the warlock and she began firing magic off in every direction, forcing the shadowhunters to take cover and making Magnus alternate between firing back with his own magic and deflecting magic that was heading towards the shadowhunters. After a few minutes of this stalemate, Magnus noticed Jace sneaking up behind the warlock, his seraph blade at the ready. At the sight of this Magnus redoubled his efforts to distract the warlock with his magic, it appeared to be working as she laughed at yet another wisp of magic she deflected. “High Warlock Bane, I thought you would be a strong opponent and instead you remind me of a-” She didn’t get to finish her sentence, Jace had plunged his sword into her chest and with a scream she crumpled before them.
Jace smirked and clapped his hand on Magnus’s shoulder, his way of saying thanks no doubt. Clary was standing off to the side, her eyes still on the dead warlock but Magnus paid her no mind. Instead he looked for the Lightwood siblings who were slowly making their way over towards the rest of the group. His eyes caught Alecs and Alec smiled at him in a way that even after three years still made Magnus’s heart flutter.
All of that vanished when Clary gasped and suddenly a portal was opened behind Isabelle and she was being flung towards it. Magnus watched as his husband didn’t even hesitate to run and grab his sister around her waist, throwing her out of the way of the portal before he himself was swallowed by it and he vanished from sight. The warlock on the ground laughed, a terrible wet sound before she fell silent and this time Magnus knew it was forever.