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One of the last things Alec ever expected when he got home from taking the boys to visit their Granddad was to walk into their apartment and immediately spot two werewolves holding a struggling, feral vampire while Magnus opened a portal for two redheads. The feral vampire immediately had Alec’s attention, and he pushed the kids behind him, sliding his hand to reveal his bow and quiver and immediately nock and draw an arrow. “Magnus, what’s going on?” Alec asked quickly, standing in front of the boys.
The two women turned and the older woman made him blink. He could see her runes but he didn’t know of any Nephilim visiting New York this week other than his parents. “Magnus, there’s a Shadowhunter-“
“Yes, yes, that would be my husband,” Magnus said to her, not looking away from the seemingly complicated portal he was opening.
The bigger werewolf growled low in his throat as he looked back at Magnus. “Your husband is a Shadowhunter?” he asked menacingly and Alec looked at him, shifting his bow to aim at him instead of the feral vampire between him and the other werewolf.
“Magnus, I trust you, but I need to know what’s going on right now, some either you talk or they do, but somebody needs to talk because the kids are with me and I don’t like the look of that vampire-“
“It’s not his fault!” the girl said suddenly, rushing towards him, only to be caught by the older woman. Looking at them, Alec immediately assumed mother and daughter. “Simon’s not in control, he just- I just-“
Magnus finished the portal and immediately Raphael stepped through with his second in command, Lily. “When did he rise?” he asked, going straight over to the feral vampire. He hissed at the werewolves holding him and he and Lily wrenched the feral vampire away. “Magnus, blood?”
“On the table,” Magnus said, and then snapped his fingers so that a plastic sheet covered the rug just before Raphael gave the newly-turned vampire a blood bag and he tore into it, blood going all over the floor.
“Coooool,” Max said and Alec glanced down to see his big, blue eyes open wide as he watched the scene unfold. Rafael had a hand over his own eyes, his other hand in his little brother’s hand tightly.
Magnus cleared his throat. “Alexander, I’m so sorry about this, but it was an emergency, Darling.” He turned to the woman. “I am so sorry, Jocelyn. I’ve kept your identity secret for all these years, but I had no way of knowing my family would be home so soon.”
Jocelyn turned to look at Alec in surprise. “You. Who are your parents?” she asked and Alec frowned.
“Robert and Maryse Lightwood?” he said curiously, unsure what she could want from that information.
Jocelyn looked back at Magnus in shock. “You’re married to Maryse Lightwood’s son?” she asked and he chuckled wryly.
“Trust me, Dear, it surprised me, too.” He looked around and shook his head at the vampire who had fed and was no longer fighting and thrashing and was, instead, crumpled to the floor crying. “Alexander, if you could take the boys to one of their rooms, I’ll sort this out and then we can answer some questions,” he said and Alec nodded.
“C’mon, guys. You two can play in Max’s room,” he said, leading them away from the crazy scene they had walked in on.
~
When Alec returned, Lily, the feral vampire, and one of the werewolves had gone. The others were sitting around the living room with various beverages, all looking various shades of shaken. “Magnus?” he asked as he walked over, standing beside Magnus’s chair with a hand on his shoulder.
Magnus tipped his head back and then snapped his fingers, popping a cup of coffee into Alec’s hand. “Alec, Darling, sit with me,” he said, patting the excess space in his chair. Alec rolled his eyes but didn’t argue. He knew they wouldn’t both fit, but when Magnus ended up half in his lap, that was just how it had to be sometimes.
“Robert and Maryse Lightwood had a son who grew up to get married to a male warlock.” Alec looked over at the werewolf, who was smiling in amusement. “That really takes the cake.”
Magnus cleared his throat. “Alec Lightwood, these are Luke Garroway, Jocelyn Fray, and Clary Fray.” He winked at Raphael. “And you know Raphael.”
“Fray?” Alec asked, looking at Jocelyn curiously. “I’ve never heard of any Fray line?”
Clary looked confused. “Fray line?”
Jocelyn sighed. “Magnus has been blocking my daughter’s Sight for the past twenty-five years. Jocelyn Fairchild,” she said to Alec, who suddenly had it connect.
“The Nephilim who ran to the Mundane world after something bad happened,” he said as realization struck him. “That was you.”
“It was us,” Luke said, shaking his head. “Lucian Graymark is my birth name.”
Alec’s eyes widened. “Wait, you have a sister, right? They said her brother was killed by-“ He stopped suddenly and Luke nodded.
“Werewolves, right?” He shook his head. “I wasn’t killed. I was turned, which for those in Idris, was far worse.”
Jocelyn nodded. “Luke and I ran away from Idris when I was pregnant with Clary. My husband was cruel and Luke was his Parabatai before he was turned, so we were very close. When he was turned and I found out about Clary, we decided to run.” She smiled at Magnus. “Magnus has helped keep Clary’s Sight locked away all this time.”
Alec looked at the girl, who looked angry. “I take it you knew that vampire, then?” he asked and she nodded sullenly, looking twelve rather than twenty-five, not that Alec blamed her. If he had been lied to about his own species for his whole life, he would be having a bit of a meltdown, too.
“We didn’t know about Magnus’s family, though,” Luke said, and Magnus leaned back in the seat, shrugging.
“My family and my business is separate. Also, can you imagine how my business might end up turning when people spread the word that I was married to a Lightwood?” he asked. “I don’t hide it, but I don’t advertise it. The word is out there, but it’s not that widespread. I’ve got two children and a husband to worry about.”
“Why was that little kid blue?” Clary asked, looking concerned.
“He’s a warlock,” Jocelyn said, and Magnus nodded.
Magnus smiled at Alec. “I met Alexander because Alec found an abandoned warlock baby on the steps of the Institute, and when the baby boy turned a year old, he started having mishaps with his magic. Alec sought me out to help his baby stay safe, and now his baby is our baby and we have a second son as well.” He held out his left hand in Jocelyn’s direction. “And not too long ago, we married,” he added.
Jocelyn glanced at his hand only to do a double take. “Is that his family ring?” she asked, and Alec nodded, sliding his fingers into Magnus’s.
“Yes, it is. My mother may hate him, but my father actually really likes Magnus and he loves our children. The Clave likes to pretend I’m single, but there are no laws against marrying a Downworlder since the prejudices of the past made that something they never predicted happening. So, I married another man who happens to be the High Warlock of Brooklyn and there is nothing they can do about it.”
Luke shook his head. “Knowing the Clave, there have to be consequences for that.”
Alec shrugged. “I was going to be given the Institute here and it was taken from me, but honestly they were going to do that because of my son anyways. Magnus barely weighed into that. I was twenty-two when I found my son and decided to raise him and they all kept expecting me to give him up and marry a girl from a good family and run the Institute, but I told my mother they could have my Marks before they took my baby from me, and when he was about two Magnus and I got together and that just sealed the deal for them. I wasn’t giving up my warlock baby if I was going to date a male warlock.” He smiled at Magnus. “It’s obvious they’ve gotten used to it some, though, because they let me have custody of an orphaned Nephilim boy we rescued from vampires instead of taking him and giving him to another family.”
Magnus nodded. “Our other son, Rafael, he’s Nephilim, but his parents did what you did. They had fled to the Mundane world. He didn’t know anything about the Shadow World until his parents…” He trailed off and shook his head. “Well, the point is, he still doesn’t really know about the Nephilim culture. He’s never been to Idris and the Institute here is pretty welcoming to us now. Their compromise by taking the Institute from Alexander was to give it to an unmarried Shadowhunter with no family so that the Lightwood family could stay, and the man running it is a nice guy. He doesn’t judge Alec. They’re great partners.”
Alec shook his head. “I won’t tell them anything about you,” he promised, looking around at them all. “But if they did find out, they would handle it with tact.”
Clary stood up. “Well I sure want to know what’s going on,” she said, pacing in agitation. “My best friend turned into a vampire and I find out that Luke is a werewolf and I’m not fully human all at once!” She pointed at Raphael, who had been silent all this time, standing in the corner. “That guy is a vampire! I’m standing in a room with a Edward Cullen, Derek Hale, and Harry Potter! And apparently I’m part angel!”
Magnus scoffed. “Darling, he is definitely Nosferatu, not Edward Cullen. Also, I’m totally more of a Hermione.”
She crossed her arms. “Where did you take Simon and is he going to be okay?” she demanded.
Raphael shrugged. “As long as he doesn’t go outside during the daytime, he should be fine. He has to stay with us until he doesn’t want to eat you all, but other than that, he’ll be okay.”
Magnus tutted. “Dear, what Raphael means to say,” he started in a softer, more comforting tone. “Is that your friend is having a very stressful time right now, but vampires can absolutely learn to control their instincts and live a happy life. I’m sorry to say he can never go out into the sunshine, never grow older, and never eat normal food comfortably ever again, but he will learn to be happy with his life as it is now. Immortality has its ups and downs but you do grow used to it eventually,” he soothed. “Right now, however, he just needs to calm down and learn to control his hunger so that you can help him through this, that’s all.”
Luke nodded. “Simon’s going to be okay, Clary,” he said, reaching out to take her hand in his. “I went through the same problems controlling myself when I first turned, and your mom helped me learn to be comfortable with my life.”
Raphael smirked. “Good dog,” he said and Clary jumped when Luke growled at him, a low, canine growl.
“Hey! Both of you stop that,” Magnus intervened. “Raphael, stop being racist. Luke, do not growl at my friends.”
Clary gave a nervous laugh that bordered on hysteria. “Oh great, so werewolves and vampires really are rivals, all the YA novels are right.” She looked at Luke. “Does that mean you won’t like Simon anymore?”
“Of course not,” Luke said firmly. “I love Simon almost as much as I love you, him being a vampire changes nothing.”
Jocelyn sighed, putting her face in her hands. “We were free of all of this. My daughter was going to grow up Mundane,” she said quietly.
Magnus reached over and rubbed her shoulder. “I know, Jocelyn, but things happen. And it doesn’t have to be a bad thing. She can still remain Mundane. At her age, she wouldn’t take Marks and begin fighting anyways. She would just learn to do other Shadowhunter jobs if she joined our world.
“Although, it might would be helpful to at least learn about the Downworld,” Alec offered. “Now that your friend is a vampire and your Sight isn’t blocked anymore, it’s safer for you to know what all is out there and how to protect yourself,” he explained. “It could be dangerous. Especially if the vampire that turned your friend is still out there.”
Magnus shook his head, putting his hand on Alec’s knee. “He isn’t. Luke found Simon and took care of the problem. That’s how Simon rose. Luke buried him after he had killed the vampire that attacked him.”
Alec shuddered. “I don’t hate vampires, Raphael knows this, but it seems that of all Downworlders, the ones that have the most bad apples are Vampires.”
Raphael shrugged. “Immortality only suits some people. Warlocks are born wired for it, but we have Mundane brains. Sometimes you get people whose vampire powers only give them a better opportunity to hurt people and their immortality a long time with which to do so. The bad ones have to be weeded out before they bring down our entire species. You two killing Camille is still the best thing to ever happen to this city.”
Magnus flinched and Alec comforted him, leaning over to kiss his temple. “It’s alright, Magnus,” he whispered and Magnus stood.
“Alexander, if you could help Jocelyn and Clary out with the finer details of Nephilim, I think I’m going to go check on the boys.” He smiled weakly. “Maybe get them a snack.”
“Of course,” Alec said softly, knowing that Magnus needed to go hug Rafael and remind himself how lucky they all were.
As soon as Magnus was gone, Jocelyn turned to him. “You’re really Maryse Lightwood’s son? And you’re not absolutely horrible?” she asked with an incredulous look on her face. “She was the most anti-downworlder woman I ever met!”
“Oh, she still is,” Alec said bluntly. “My mother treats my son Max like a thing, has since the day she first saw him, even though my father loves him like he should love his grandson. She has nothing to do with Rafael either since he’s my son. She absolutely hates Magnus. She doesn’t speak to him, she pretends I’m single without kids when she deigns to speak to me, and she didn’t come to my wedding.” He smiled and shook his head. “She’s Inquisitor now, though. So she’s always in Idris.”
Luke grimaced. “Inquisitor. Great. Even more reason to want to keep out of this.”
Clary looked around between them. “What’s an Inquisitor?”
“My mom is like the prosecuting attorney, sort of,” Alec explained, trying to think of Mundane things he had picked up over the years. “When one of us breaks a law, she gets to judge whether or not we really did it and then hand down punishment. Magnus killed Camille Belcourt, the head of the New York vampires, when she threatened our son, and because I let him do it, I could’ve been punished for interfering with Shadowhunter arrest procedures, for example.”
She frowned some, but nodded. “Okay. Was that before or after she disliked you because of Magnus?”
“After,” he said with a small smile. “It was just before we adopted Rafael. I’d been with Magnus for a few years then.” He shook his head. “My sister dates Downworlders, too, has since we were teenagers, so my mom has always been ashamed of her, and my Parabatai is the only one my mom likes anymore. My youngest brother loves Magnus and my kids too much for her taste, and don’t get me wrong, my other brother does, too, but she blames his Parabatai bond to me, not him specifically.” He rolled his eyes. “It’s okay, though. My father came around after a while so my kids have one grandparent.”
Luke smiled and looked Alec over. “The oldest Lightwood married to Magnus Bane.”
“Yep. Officially, we both go by our hyphenated last names, too,” Alec said fondly. “Magnus and I wanted to name the kids Lightwood-Bane so when we got married, we officially changed our names as well. Magnus just doesn’t advertise to his other contacts really, because Magnus Lightwood-Bane makes it obvious who he married.”
Jocelyn shook her head, looking at him in wonder. “My how things have changed. The fact you haven’t gotten in trouble for some arbitrary reason says a lot for that.”
Alec shrugged. “It also says a lot for how much good I do otherwise.” He chuckled. “I’m not modest when it comes to being the best Shadowhunter in the city. I think if they didn’t need me so much, they would punish me for more stuff than they do, but the head is mostly head in name only. I was going to be the head of this institute and I still do all the work now. Everybody knows I’m the leader, James is my co-leader more than anything. They just accept it, and I’m okay with that, honestly, because he gets to do the boring stuff and I get to come home to my husband and children.”
Clary looked frustrated. “But what does that all mean? Shadowhunters fight demons, I get that part, but why are you married to a Downworlder if they all hate them? How do they hate them if they have laws keeping innocent Downworlders from being hurt?”
“How is it legal for me to be married to a man in a Mundane world so blatantly homophobic?” Alec countered, shrugging. “There’s enough of a push to do the right thing that they can’t get away without having at least smoke and mirrors pretending they care about Downworlders. I hunt demons, but I’ve also killed werewolves and vampires and yet I’m not itching to stab him,” he said, nodding to Luke. “And he’s close enough to my family my children call him their uncle,” he said, nodding to Raphael. “The laws exist because some of us listen to them. Some of us believe in them. Maybe not all, but enough.”
Luke looked at Clary. “We never wanted this for you, Clary. This world was supposed to be in the past and you were supposed to grow up Mundane.”
“We’re doing that, sort of,” Alec said softly, since he saw how upset that made her. “Max and Rafael, they both know all about this world, of course, but they go to a private school without a single other non-mundane kid in it. They watch mundane TV and movies, and they live the life of mundane children apart from the fact that one of them can do magic and has to practice it with Magnus to keep his development going well.”
“And your other son?” Jocelyn asked. “He’s nearly old enough to begin training, isn’t he?”
Alec bit his lip and let out a breath. “That… isn’t a done deal.” He rolled his eyes. “I just assumed he would become a Shadowhunter, which I guess was stupid of me, but it’s all I know, you know?” he said with a wave of his hand. “But Magnus got pretty upset when I just assumed that, since he just assumed that we would raise him mundane the way his birth parents were doing. But we decided to let him choose. It’s the only way.” He nodded slowly. “If Rafael chooses to begin training in a couple of years and take marks, he can. If he chooses to not, then he can grow up mundane. Simple as that.”
She looked impressed. “And you, the ‘best Shadowhunter in the city’, are okay with your son choosing to be mundane?”
Alec nodded firmly. “What he wants is what matters. I love him, so I would never try and force him to choose to become a Shadowhunter if he doesn’t want to be one. If he wants to be a dentist he can be a dentist for all I care,” he said with a small smile. “Whatever he chooses, I will support him, the way my mother never supported me.”
“Wow.” Alec looked at Luke, who made an impressed face. “No wonder Magnus married you.”
Jocelyn nodded. “You are a hell of a Shadowhunter, that’s for sure,” she said with a sad smile. “If more of you existed, maybe I wouldn’t have been so afraid.”
Alec rolled his eyes. “Well, I grew up terrified of myself because I’m gay, so it’s not like the whole world has changed so much. I just had to fight with my own fears to decide I wasn’t going to let them do that to me. I told them when I adopted Max and people looked down on him. I would let them have my Marks before I let them separate me from my baby. I was twenty-two and loved my child, and I decided that I was too good at my job to let them scare me into submission. I still get scared when people visit from Idris and my family is visiting the Institute,” he admitted. “I know there are enough of them who would jump at the chance to hurt a warlock and I have two of them.” He nodded between Luke and Jocelyn. “I can see why you would be worried about the Nephilim finding out about you and coming after him. You hide to protect him, and I understand that entirely.”
Luke and Jocelyn both exchanged a panicked look, both laughing suddenly. “No, no, it’s not- that isn’t-“
“Jocelyn and I aren’t married, we’re not-“
“No, I’m still technically married to Clary’s father, I would have to have the Nephilim grant me a Divorce Rune-“
“And we’re not even a couple!”
“No, definitely not.”
Alec raised an eyebrow and looked between Luke and Jocelyn and then looked at Clary, who rolled her eyes. “I’ve spent the past twenty years trying to get them to stop being babies and get married,” Clary said dryly.
Alec cracked a smile. “I spent enough time in the closet to know when people are being bad liars,” he joked and Clary managed a laugh.
When Magnus finally returned and Raphael finally got the call to signal that the new vampire was fed and resting safely, Jocelyn, Luke, and Clary finally rose to leave. Alec walked them to the door while Magnus portalled Raphael back to the DuMort, and he stopped them when they stepped outside. “If you guys need anything, don’t hesitate to call on us,” he said seriously. “I won’t tell anybody about you and I will always help however I can. Magnus seems to already help you guys, so you know you can trust him, too.”
Luke smiled and clapped him on the shoulder. “You’re a good guy, Alec Lightwood-Bane.”
And with that they left. When Alec returned, Magnus was already pouring them drinks. “What the hell, right?” Alec asked as he joined Magnus, flopping onto the couch.
Magnus chuckled, walking around with two glasses, settling on Alec’s lap, handing one to Alec. “We deserve a drink, even if the kids are still up. Just one,” he said sternly and Alec rolled his eyes. He wasn’t the one who needed to be told that. Alec wasn’t a drinker, so one was his usual stopping point anyways.
Alec curled his free arm around Magnus, who settled more comfortably into his body. “Is that Simon boy really going to be okay?” he asked, and Magnus sighed into his glass.
“I hope so, Alexander. I really do,” he said, shaking his head. “Poor Jocelyn and Luke. They’ve worked so hard to stay out of all of this and now their daughters’ friend dragged them right back in.”
Alec smirked. “They swear up and down they’re not a couple,” he said, and Magnus rolled his eyes.
“Yes, well, you and I were pretty much Max’s parents before we got over ourselves and got together. They’ve just managed to spend twenty-five years co-parenting a child without living together, or admitting that they’re in love.” He winked. “I don’t have to be magical to see that much.”
Alec grinned. “They ran away together, what more do they need?” he teased. He exhaled, turning to press his lips to Magnus’s ear. “I’m so glad we didn’t need twenty years to make us realize we love each other.”
“Mmmm,” Magnus moaned, tucking his head under Alec’s chin. “So am I, Alexander. So am I.”