Chapter Text
Mary and Robert Lightwood were rarely around. This was something Alexia had known since they deemed her old enough to left alone or with her younger siblings, and it had always irritated her… until things began happening that would have been far harder to participate in if her parents were there.
First, Liam kissed another boy, and Alexia could see the signs of young love that, if nurtured and supported, could be something far more powerful. And then she herself began courting a female warlock in secret- something utterly forbidden by the Clave- and she ceased entirely to wish her parents’ return. She was far happier with Magdelena, Maxie, Liam and Jess and their respective partners, than she was with her stiff, cold parents and their old, suffocating ways. It was much better for everyone that they remain gone.
The longest absence they had ever had before was six months. This latest was pushing nine, and Alexia kept finding herself hopeful that they might stay in Alicante forever and leave her in charge of the Institute and her siblings. She knew it was a terrible hope, but she couldn’t quite help it.
Liam and Clark were absolutely enamoured with each other, and one of the five girls’ favorite pastimes (for Maxie had joined them in this) was to sit in a room far away from Liam’s- usually one on the top floor- and talk and talk and talk about the boys’ relationship. They were utterly adorable; Alexia simply could not help herself, and she got the feeling that the others felt the same.
Occasionally, the subject would turn from Liam and Clark to Magdelena and Alexia themselves. Alexia would always end up red as a tomato and the warlock would always kiss her flaming cheeks- “To cool you down!” she claimed, but Alexia was sure she just liked embarrassing her. (She had also noticed that Magdelena was several times more likely to kiss her if she was blushing. And that meant on the mouth, if they were alone, and all over her bright red face if they had company.) Not that she really minded the kissing; it was just a little uncomfortable when sitting across from her sister, her cousin-who-may-as-well-be-a-sister, and said cousin’s best-friend-maybe-something-more.
Jess and Silena really needed to figure out what they were, because it was driving everyone else mad. Magdelena was of the opinion that they needed a nice shove into each other’s faces; Clark thought they should be locked in a closet for a few hours; Liam believed that they should just talk it out; Maxie made little kissing sounds every time she watched an interaction between the two; and Alexia agreed with Dela. They needed to kiss before the tension drove everyone around them mad, and she said that as someone who has an outlet for that sort of thing. It was getting ridiculous. They’d known one another for a good six months; Liam and Clark had kissed before a week had passed! They had no excuses for letting it go on this long…
But then, Alexia had always known that Jess wasn’t one to rush when she was serious about someone. Granted, she’d only ever had passing crushes before and never to this extent, but Alexia just kind of knew. Silena, she hadn’t known for almost a decade like she had Jess, but it was clear to her that the brunette mot likely would not be the one to make the first move here. If it was to be one of them, it would have to be Jess; and she wasn’t looking to be confessing anytime soon. And that left the rest of them, the outsiders and onlookers, to make the push and shove.
Alexia sighed. I hate mutually oblivious pining. It’s so… depressing.
Magdelena heard the Shadowhunter’s soft sigh from across the room- the younger girl often teased her about having the ears of a cat- and frowned. Turning around, she asked, “Are you alright?”
Her voice jolted Alexia from her thoughts. Her head jerked up from where she’d been brooding, chin on folded hands, on Magdelena’s kitchen table. “Huh?”
Magdelena smiled softly; her Nephilim’s involuntary adorableness never failed to get to her. “I asked if you’re alright, sweetness.”
A bright blush spread over Alexia’s cheeks at the endearment, just like always, and she coughed. “Well, um,” she muttered, all-too-aware of Magdelena’s stunning eyes burning into her. “I was just thinking that Jess and Silena need a push, like you said before.”
The warlock groaned. “God, yes! The obliviousness! The OBLIVIOUSNESS!!” she wailed dramatically, casting the back of one hand to her head as though swooning. Alexia giggled at her partner’s antics and the older woman subsided, grinning brightly at the Shadowhunter.
“But truly, Dela, they need to kiss before everyone else is driven stark raving mad,” Alexia sighed.
Magdelena sighed, setting the pan down- she’d been making omelets, her specialty, before Alexia’s brooding had drawn her attention- and made sure the flame on the stove was low before she moved behind Alexia and set her slim, strong hands on her shoulders. Even before she dug her fingers into the muscles, the Shadowhunter's shoulders instantly lost tension, body recognizing the relief that came with the now-familiar gesture. Alexia let out a tiny moan as Magdelena’s skilled fingers worked into her shoulders, head drooping and eyes shuttering closed, entire body relaxing and upper torso arching instinctively toward the warlock’s talented hands. Magdelena grinned slightly to herself and dug her thumb into a stubborn knot of muscle: Alexia’s eyelids fluttered and she let out an almost startled moan, hands tightening suddenly on the arms of her chair and head tilting back to look up at Magdelena with hazy blue eyes.
The warlock smirked at her and dug her thumb in again. “Tense?”
Alexia whimpered slightly in reply.
Once Magdelena finished with her impromptu massage, she spun back to the stove and whipped the eggs off the fire, eyes sparkling as she glanced at her partner’s limp torso, closed eyes, and small dozy smile. “Feel good?” she asked, setting plates down on the table; Alexia hummed an assent and sat up, eyes regaining their awareness.
“But truly, Dela, they have to kiss before the month is out or I am going to… to…” Alexia struggled for an appropriate consequence.
Magdelena’s multicolor eyes glittered mischievously. She leaned over on the table, chin in hand. “Wellllll… we could always embarrass them by kissing in front of them…”
Alexia went bright red just thinking about it. “DELA!”
The warlock started laughing. Alexia pushed her, blushing furiously. “That would embarrass me more than them!” she insisted, eyes fiery. Magdelena leaned in, expertly catching the Shadowhunter's soft mouth with her own. She sucked her bottom lip in between her own teeth, nibbling softly, and released it only to cup Alexia’s heated face and try to suck the air out of her lungs. When Alexia was finally released, she was panting.
“...What were we arguing about again?” she asked slowly.
Magdelena smirked. Alexia frowned, “Magdelena… that is not fair. You cannot do that.”
The warlock was about to argue, but she caught the look on her partner’s face. She sobered. “Alright, darling. I won’t win arguments by kissing you senseless anymore.”
Alexia nodded. “Thank you.”
That was the morning. That afternoon, Alexia and Jess, who’d been patrolling on the opposite side of the city from the other three, were running away from a Behemoth that had somehow gotten into their city.
“We need to stop it!” Jess yelled, glancing over her shoulder.
Alexia growled, hand clenching on her bow. “I can’t get a clear shot!” she yelled back, leaping over a heap of dirty rags and gasping as she hit her ankle against a badly placed brick. “Tell you what,” she continued, the Behemoth’s roar nearly drowning out her voice; “you distract it, stab it a few times, and I get into a position where I can actually shoot the damn thing.”
Jess glanced at her cousin in alarm: Alexia’s voice was calm, but the paleness of her lips and the curse betrayed her. Alexia never cursed unless she was terrified or furious, and it was pretty clear it was the former. The blonde teen nodded, hands steady, as she spun and threw a seraph into the Behemoth’s “face”. It roared, slowing down slightly; the street was narrow and cluttered, and it was having a difficult time moving through the area. Alexia ducked behind a crate, drawing two arrows and putting them to the string at the same time. She stood, sighting briefly before releasing and ducking back under cover, reloading swiftly.
“Can you get any closer?” she called to Jess.
The blonde cursed and rolled, stabbing the demon in the side and getting up in one fluid movement. “I think I’m close enough already!”
Alexia huffed a laugh, more out of fear and adrenaline than amusement, and shot another few arrows into the demon’s hide. One sprouted out of where an eye might be; sickly black ichor splattered the walls and the street, hissing. A droplet hit Jess’s gear-covered arm, and her crystal-blue eyes widened as the leather began to smoke. She danced away from the Behemoth, hands occupied with her seraphs, as her gaze flitted from her opponent to the acidic liquid on her arm to the huge demon in front of her.
Alexia made a split-second decision. Whipping out one of her own rarely-used seraphs- the battle when they met Clark and Silena didn’t count in her mind, her bow had been under repairs after it had snapped in battle- she hissed, “Ramiel,” and the blade blazed brightly in her hand. Sucking in a harsh breath, she got up on the crate and, sighting along the blade, threw it with the pinpoint accuracy of an expert archer. It flipped past the side of Jess’s still head, actually severing one of her curls, and landed squarely in the demon’s face. Ramiel burned heavenly fire into the demon’s skull, thick flesh melting right off the bone in front of the girls’ eyes, and the Behemoth shuddered and roared and stilled right behind Jess as the flames melted what passed for a brain. Alexia reached back slowly, drawing an arrow and putting it to the string without ever taking her eyes off the body of the demon. She drew and released and lowered the bow without moving any unnecessary muscles; the arrow landed beside the seraph, and it hissed as it was enveloped in burning, tearing muscle and flesh. The Behemoth died slowly, agonizingly slowly, and Jess and Alexia did not take their eyes away from the damned thing until it was gone.
The blonde girl released a long breath once the corpse had burned away. “That was… something,” she said slowly.
Alexia’s eyes shifted down to her pale, callused hand wrapped around the dark wood of her bow. It was shaking ever so slightly. “Yes,” she murmured, and stepped down off the wooden crate with one large movement. She walked toward the place where the Behemoth had died, free hand extending, particles of demon floating visibly in the air. “Yes… yes, it was.”
Jess laughed suddenly, and the sound seemed to break Alexia out of her trance. The blonde tossed her head back, golden ringlets glimmering, and wiped her eyes. “You killed a Behemoth, Lexi. You just killed a damn Behemoth.”
Alexia stared at the place where the demon had been, and her bow clattered to the ground from nerveless fingers. She didn’t seem to notice. “I did,” she whispered instead, head tilting back even as her eyes slipped shut and a great rush of air burst out of her lungs. “I did,” she repeated slowly, pivoting and looking down at Jess. “I killed a Behemoth.”
On the other side of the city, a woman threw her hood back and stared down at the huddle of shadowy figures below her. She smiled, and the gesture showed sharp points on her teeth and blackened gums. Her eyes glinted black-violet in the darkness as she raised her arms, wrapped in gold bands, and she howled to the skies. Her followers howled with her.
She lowered her head and stared out at the city, eyes unerringly focused on the barely-visible silhouette of the London Institute in the distance. “We are coming, Nephilim,” she hissed. “And when we do, we will return you to the Void where you belong.”
Her pointed teeth flashed in the light.