I'll Save Myself if it Would Save You Too

Chapter 3: A Normal Morning, Except, Not Really

Alec's eyes flew open. Dusty sunlight engulfed everything. He squinted his eyes until the blurry blobs took shape as Magnus's furniture. It was morning. He hadn't gone back to the institute. Thankfully his phone was in arms reach, he clicked it on revealing that the time was 10:43. Shit. Training started at 6:30, he had completely missed it and possibly a mission. He tried to push himself up, but felt a warm weight leaning across his body. He looked down to see a still fast asleep familiar warlock slumped over his chest, his arms still held his shoulders firmly. Alec thought this through carefully. How was he supposed to get up, and not disturb his sleeping warlock. The man was fully wrapped around him. Alec inhaled, and gently shrugged one of Magnus's arms off his shoulder. Once that arm was free, he slowly exhaled. Magnus didn't seem disturbed. He used his free arm to delicately support Magnus's other arm by the wrist and lifted it off his other shoulder. Still no movement beside the deep breaths of sleep from Magnus. Alec silently cheered over his victory. The rest of it would be easy. With shadowhunter agility, he flipped Magnus off of his chest and into his arms with one quick movement from him, and as little as possible movement for Magnus. Magnus made a soft sound and Alec froze.
He didn't breathe.
He knew Magnus wouldn't mind too much being woken up, but it was always a game for Alec to see how fast he could get untangled with as little disturbance to his warlock. Alec stood there motionless, afraid he had just lost. Magnus gripped his arm gently and buried his face in his into Alec's chest. Still breathing deeply. Still fast asleep. Yesssss, Alec thought. He smoothly stood up and slowly made his way to Magnus's bedroom, pushing the door open with his knee. Thankfully, Magnus never fully closed this door. He didn't like to fiddle with the knob if Alec and him were caught in a moment and wanted to get in quickly. Alec crossed the room and gently lay him on the bed. It was about 80 degrees outside, no need for covers. Alec unhooked his arms from Magnus and stood up looking down at his sleeping form.
He looked so peaceful, so content with this part of his life. Alec loved it. He loved him so much. Remembering why he had to move him in the first place, he took a mental picture of Magnus and hurried out of the room. For some reason, he was dressed very strangely. He had no socks on, no pants, no underwear, but still had his sweater, and the sleeves were pulled up. Then he remembered the game they played. How he had taken everything off, I'm hopes he wouldn't have to take his shirt off because...
It suddenly all hit him like a train. He looked down at his pulled up sleeve, revealing the now scared-over cuts he had been trying so intently to hide from Magnus. He can't just leave it on that! He needed to explain things further to Magnus. But he really had to go. Maybe he should leave a note. He checked his phone again, 10:53, and a message from Izzy. Alec where are you? Moms so mad. Shit. Alec frantically looked around for a pen and paper, there was no time. He would have to explain later. Alec pulled on his clothes and ran out the apartment, hailing a cab to take him to the institute, or a block away. He wasn't allowed to lead a mundane to the institute. Through the ten minute ride across the city, Alec tapped his leg impatiently, every few seconds checking his watch. 10:58. Alec noticed a scratch or two on the seat of the cab. He checked his watch. Still 10:58. He looked up and tried to count the buildings. There was 1, 2, maybe 5, 15 now. Too many buildings. He checked his watch again. 11:02. Damn it. His chest was pounding. He decided to focus on an unusually fluffy dog being walked down the sidewalk in the masses of people. It was tan, spotted brown. Very, very fluffy. He checked his watch again. 11:05. Alec huffed. He ran his hand through his hair. He leaned forward to stare out the front window. The driver just glanced over. "Seatbelt." She mumbled. Seatbelt my ass. Alec thought. Shadowhunters don't need a small strip of fabric to protect them. He saw the institute in the distance. About a block away. "Stop." He said frantically. The driver slowed. Alec fumbled with the handle. Once he got out he threw some wadded money into the cabs window and ran down the Brooklyn morning street. He sprinted down the block and over to his window. There, he pulled it open and leaped through. He quickly changed so it wouldn't look suspicious, and ran to his door, unlocking it and throwing it open.
He let out a deep sigh of relief. No one was standing right in front of it.
He composed himself and walked down the hall to the main room. Just another normal morning for him. Except on a normal morning, this would happen at 5:30, not, he checked his phone again and groaned, 11:18. Once he rounded the corner into the main room, Izzy sped walked up to him, but Mayrse, coming out of nowhere, got there first. Alec stood straighter and crossed his arms behind his back.
"Where have you been? You missed training, regrouping, and the discussion of the plans for today and our next attack on Valentine." She spoke in a furious voice in a angry low volume that made it even more terrifying.
"I apologize. I overslept. It won't happen again." Alec stayed composed even though his heart was pounding out of his chest.
"Well, wake yourself up, the local high warlock is coming over in less than an hour." Alec lost his composed stature for a second but quickly regained it. Magnus?!
"Magnus Bane? Why is he coming here?" Being around Magnus and other shadowhunters was a daunting task. It required a full night of sleep, which he did not get. And neither did Magnus. This must be a new plan, or Magnus wouldn't have suggested playing that game that kept them both up. Maryse snarled slightly and held herself taller. She hated repeating information.
"Well you would have known if you had decided to show up this morning." With that she turned her back and walked away. Once she was around the corner and out of sight, Alec let out a breath. She was gone, but he was still surrounded by other shadowhunters, so he continued to hold his back straight with his hands held behind it, wearing an emotionless mask. People were rushing about, carrying dirty armor to the weapons closet, checking clave files, retracing runes on each other. They were preparing for a fight. He looked forward and Izzy was standing right there, he jumped a bit. Izzy laughed then stared mischievously at him. She crossed her arms. "So, where were you last night, and this morning." She teased. Alec rolled his eyes.
"Asleep." He really didn't have time for this. He needed to know what was going on and why Magnus would be involved. Izzy grinned.
"Oh sure, asleep, but where were you asleep, and after doing what?" Alec stared her down.
"None of your business. What's going on here." Izzy tossed her hand at that.
"Nothing as exciting as this conversation." She leaned in closer and smiled, starting to speak quieter.
"I know you were with someone. I saw your face when Jace made that comment about a girlfriend, sorry about that by the way, I know that face. Come on Alec, we tell each other everything! Who is he!?" Alec blushed but continued to stare her down.
"No one. And you tell me everything. It's not mutual. Now please tell me what's going on here." She rolled her eyes and sighed.
"Fine. It actually is pretty exciting. We know where Valentine is." Alec stared at her, open mouthed. "Yeah! We can finally go in for the attack." This was not a good day for Alec to have to function on little sleep.
"But why is the high warlock coming." Alec was careful not to say Magnus's name for fear Izzy would somehow find affection in it.
"He has to break down the wards." Alec did not like the idea of Magnus getting close to Valentine. This was way too dangerous. He knew Magnus was very powerful, but still.
"Why ca-" Alec was stopped mid sentence as a beautiful shimmering portal appeared at one end of the room. Everyone momentarily stopped their work to look up. Magnus Bane, High Warlock of Brooklyn stepped through. He was finishing adjusting his cuffs, tugged on them once and snapped the portal shut. Everyone else looked away and went back to work. Alec didn't. He couldn't. Magnus stood there in front of the window. He wore a shimmering silk blue button up. The sleeves were slightly puffy, but came in nicely at his cuffs which were held together with three gold buttons in a line down his wrists. A green fitted vest buttoned up his torso with golden buttons matching his shirt. Instead of a tie, his collar was pulled together with an orangish peach silk sash, tied in a loose bow. The edges of the vest were outlined in golden embroidery that sparkled slightly in the sun. He wore black fitted jeans with a chain, most likely holding a pocket watch that sat in his pocket, hanging from under his belt. Alec traced his legs down to his shoes, black laced up high heeled boots with golden agates. Alec's eyes flew up to his face. He had black eyeliner with a slight cat eye and glittery blue eyeshadow. He wore silver braided cuffs on the top edge on one of his ears and his hair swooshed up, today, dark green at the tips and covered in glitter. Elegance all the way. Alec had left him only a little more than an hour ago fast asleep, how he had managed to do all this in that time, he couldn't imagine. Alec was aware he was staring, how couldn't he. In his sleep deprived mind, he forgot however, that there were other people in the room to see him stare. Magnus started walking towards him and Izzy. With this sudden movement, Alec was thrown back into reality.
Now realizing the other people in the room, and Izzy tracing his expression with her eyes, a quizzical look on her face, he quickly looked down and blushed. He composed himself, and looked back up. Surprised for the second time today, that Magnus had already crossed the room and was standing right in front of them. Like with Izzy, he jumped slightly. He could see the amusement in Magnus's eyes.
"Good morning, Isabelle, Alexander." He nodded. Alec curtly nodded back, looking away before he could blush again. He noticed how Magnus's eyes shimmered slightly when he said his name.
"Magnus!" Izzy explained. She held her hand out to shake his, he gracefully took it and they shook.
"Do you have any idea what they have planned for me? I got a fire message to come right away. I barely had enough time to make myself presentable." Alec thought he looked more than presentable but didn't say anything. He continued to look straight ahead to not cause suspicion.
"You look fine. Thank you so much for coming, all I know is that we need you to take down Valentine's wards. Sorry I don't know more." Izzy sighed.
"Oh that's fine, I can manage with that. Done anything interesting lately?" Izzy sighed again.
"Just normal shadowhunter business. Just training and going on missions."
"How about you?" Magnus turned to Alec. Alec cleared his throat and shrugged. He really didn't get enough sleep to maintain a conversation with Magnus around Izzy who seemed to pick up on everything.
"Excuse my brother, he's very cranky today. He slept in too late." Izzy explained. Magnus knew this was not the case but didn't say anything. He didn't have time anyway. Maryse sped walked into the room.
"Magnus Bane, would you mind coming into the meeting room to discuss plans." She turned around expecting him to follow. He rolled his eyes at this, but followed anyway. Izzy walked with him and Alec followed behind. He still stayed composed with his hands behind his back.
Once they were all in the meeting room standing around a table with a digital sketch of Valentine's location, Maryse got right to business. She was brief in explaining the plan of action and where Magnus would fit in. "Magnus we called you because you are the only warlock nearby with the amount of power we need. Otherwise, we would have called a more affordable option." Alec did not like his mother insulting Magnus like that. He clenched his jaw but didn't say anything. In this situation he couldn't. Magnus just glared at her. "Knowing that, let's go over the plan. We need this to be a surprise attack. If not, it won't be effective. Because of this, we can't have masses of shadowhunters conjugating in front and ready for a fight. We will be stationed around the perimeter, while you, by yourself, approach the building, take down the wards, and once Valentine's army appears, we will emerge and fight. Is this clear?" Magnus snarled. Alec gawked at his mother, losing his composure. She didn't look at him. They were going to send him without backup? To Valentine?!
"So you want me to approach Valentine's hideout alone? You know he doesn't take kindly to stray downworlders."
"We understand the danger, we will pay extra for your cooperation." Alec couldn't believe this.
"Money won't matter when I've been kidnapped and tortured to death." Magnus mumbled, rolling his eyes.
"This is for the greater good. It's what has to be done." Mayrse's tone remained stern. Magnus sighed. He knew what she said was true.
"Fine. I'll do it." He said with a gesture. Alec stared at him in disbelief.
"No." He said like it was obvious. Everyone looked over at him, surprised that he had spoken. "You can't go in unaided. That's too dangerous, it's not worth it." Alec crosses his arms.
"Alec, stay out of it." His mother challenged. Alec opened his mouth again but was interrupted by Magnus.
"I'll be fine Alexander, I understand your concern, but really it's not necessary. And if something does happen, it doesn't matter. This is important for everybody." Alec tried to speak again.
"Enough Alec." Maryse said firmly, shutting him up.
"I agree with Alec. It's not worth it, we can come up with another plan." Izzy crossed her arms, her tone serious.
"Isabelle, there's no time for another plan. That is final."
"Let me at least go with him." Jace's voice spoke up. Alec was so busy not looking at Magnus, he hadn't noticed Jace.
"Jace, he's going alone and that's final. The three of you need to stay out of it." Maryse said exasperated.
"For once I agree with Maryse. This is the only option. I'm willing to take the consequences." Magnus said. He looked into Alec's eyes letting him know it was okay. Alec huffed and looked away. "Alright. When should I portal in?" Magnus was all business now.
"Now would be ideal. We had prepared for your approval and already have people stationed and more on the way. Valentine won't expect us to act so fast." Magnus nodded and opened a portal. This was all going too fast for Alec. His mind was racing. He felt like he had been on the couch with Magnus just minutes ago. Now they all stood in the institute, preparing his boyfriend, his love, to approach Valentine alone and unaided. There was a very, very high chance Magnus would not come back alive. What had happened this morning?! It was all going too fast. Alec's heart beat faster and faster. He was too tired for all of this. He didn't get sleep. He didn't get to really explain to Magnus why he did what he did. He can't leave Magnus like that. He needs to explain. He needed to stop him, whatever it took. His heart beat faster as he made a decision.

Magnus took a step towards the portal.
"Wait." Alec said, he looked up into Magnus's eyes, trying his best to ignore the other people in the room. Magnus stopped, very confused. Alec focused on Magnus. He walked towards him faster and faster until he stood right in front of him. Before he could convince himself not to, he reached both hands out, grabbed Magnus by the collar and pulled his mouth against his own.

He heard everyone in the room gasp.
He didn't care.
He needed to save Magnus.
He closed his eyes and deepened the kiss. Magnus stood frozen for a second then smiled against Alec's lips. He slid his arms around Alec's waist and pulled him close. He kissed him back even deeper, opening his mouth for Alec to slide his tongue in. The room was absolutely silent except for the faint sound of Alec's beating heart. Alec tilted his head and pulled Magnus closer. He sighed deeply into his mouth. Magnus's lips curled into an even larger grin. What was his Alexander doing. They kissed, Alec clutching Magnus by his collar, Magnus pulling him closer by his waist until Alec slowly parted, eyes still closed, and rested his forehead on Magnus's. Everyone remained silent from shock. Their mouths hanging open. Alec ignored them completely. Magnus just closed his eyes and smiled.
"See. Now you can't leave me alone with them. I need you." Alec whispered, he stayed serious though, shocked, himself at what he had just done. He couldn't let himself think of that now. Magnus laughed. He loved Alec so much for this. And everything else.
"You're a wonder, Alexander. So wonderful." He just breathed the last part, smiling from ear to ear. Look what his Alexander just did for him.
"I can't lose you Magnus. Not now, please. Please don't leave. I love you. I'm in love with you Magnus." Alec's tone was so soft, so gentle, it was something none of his family had ever heard before. It shocked them all even more. Magnus lifted his head slowly. He kissed Alec's forehead. "I know. I know you do. I love you too."

His eyes twinkled suddenly. He leaned back completely. Alec looked up in confusion. Magnus put his middle finger on the top of Alec's head. Alec looked even more confused.
"What are you doing?"
"Helping." Magnus closed his eyes and blue mist fell from his fingers falling down Alec's whole body. A second had gone by and Alec gasped when he couldn't see his own arm. Magnus grinned. "Now they won't see you when you come protect me." Alec looked up, wide eyed. "Let's go." He said as he stepped through the portal pulling Alec in after him. Alec took one look at his family. There was his mom, who appeared to be completely horrified, mouth still hanging open. Izzy, beaming at him with tears in the corner of her eyes, and Jace, calmly shocked. His dad on the other hand, looked murderous.

Alec hadn't really acknowledged him until now. He was always so quiet, letting Maryse take the lead. He would deal with that later. It's best to give them time to think he decided. Alec turned his back and crossed through the portal.