The Time Traveler (Malec Fanfic with TMI/TID crossover)

Chapter 3

** WARNING: unedited. Proceed at your own risk **

Chapter 3

"Alec?" A sleepy voice made him jump. "What are you doing?"

Alec cursed silently as he stopped in the silent corridor like a deer caught in the headlights. After Jace had left the infirmary, it had been past eleven in the evening and he couldn't help but rethink what Magnus had told him: Once you have fully recovered, we will have a talk. Meet me in my apartment. He was feeling perfectly fine already, so why not now? Besides, it wasn't as if he could keep still and steady in a bed with his thoughts circling around Magnus.

He whirled around to find Clary standing in the middle of the hallway, a witchlight in hand. She was rubbing her eyes as if she had just woken up, a glass of water gripped in her other hand.

"Why are you out of the infirmary?" Clary prodded on, her eyes squinting under the dim glare of the witchlight. "Shouldn't you be resting?"

"I-um," Alec stammered. "I was supposed to visit the Weapons Room."

He immediately felt like smacking his head. Alec knew he was a terrible liar, and so does his parabatai's girlfriend.

She narrowed her eyes. "Weapons Room? In the middle of the night?"

"What I meant is-"

"You're visiting Magnus." said Clary.

It wasn't a question.

Slowly, Alec nodded.

Clary sighed. "You're lucky I was the one who found you out." She waved her hand. "Go on now. Pretend I didn't see you."

Alec blinked. "Just like that you're letting me go?"

Clary smiled at him warmly. "I believe that that misunderstanding between you and Magnus could be fixed. Love, unlike magic, needs two people for it to be able to work. And in what I could see, it's still working perfectly well underneath the entire dilemma." Clary winked at Alec, who appeared stunned. "Go on, lover boy. Save the relationship."

Alec was still staring at the small figure bounding down the hall as the clock chimed twelve. He couldn't help but feel a new wave of respect for the red-headed girl.

*

"WHO CALLS UPON THE HIGH WARLOCK OF BROOKLYN?" the voice from the intercom boomed as Alec stood at the foyer, biting his lip. He had one hand over the doorbell of Magnus's apartment, contemplating on whether to answer or bolt back to the Institute. He didn't know whether it was really a good idea to come. But he's here now, and apparently it's too late to back out.

Alec cleared his throat. "It's me. Alec." Your ex-boyfriend that you dumped in that old subway, he couldn't help adding silently.

Silence.

Then a buzzer.

The front door opened with a soft ping and Alec stepped in, hesitating a little bit. He turned around, feeling a sense of movement somewhere behind him. The street was eerily quiet and nothing looked out of the ordinary so Alec just shrugged and continued his way towards the apartment, climbing up the stairs to the second floor landing.

Magnus was leaning against the doorframe, arms crossed over his chest. He wore flannel pajamas designed with gray kittens, his hair sticking out in tufts of black. His yellow-green eyes were bleary and tired, as if he had been rubbing it multiple times.

A sense of déjà vu seemed to overwhelm Alec. He remembered a few nights after the attack on the Institute where Alec had asked the high warlock out on a date, the wall just outside his loft wherein they shared their first kiss. The way their bodies seemed to fit perfectly, and the sweet taste of Magnus's lips, soft and warm against his own-