Work Text:
If Alec was honest with himself (which he does try to since the last time he repressed his emotions Alec ended up kissing a male warlock at his heterosexual wedding) he was not happy. When he had woken up that morning, curled up and warm in Magnus’s arms, he knew today would not be a good day. While he would love to blame Jonah- a young Shadowhunter trainee- who accidentally mishandled two thousand dollars worth of rations, it was more personal than that.
Today was the day that Magnus was renegotiating his contract with the New York Institute, and head of the New York Institute Alec was responsible for its approval.
He resignedly looked at the time and walked to the meeting room where Magnus would be sent, and he hates this.
Alec isn’t unhappy because he thinks Magnus will demand special treatment from him. No, quite the opposite.
If there is one thing that Alec hates it is that Magnus, however much he loves him, never quite lets go of the fact that Alec is a Shadowhunter. It's subtle, but it's constant.
The way he flicks his eyes to open books he has on his coffee table and closes them as soon as Alec is near. The way he always makes sure his clients are long gone before he shows up. The way Magnus sometimes opens his mouth to tell Alec a story about his day but will suddenly shut his mouth after his eyes drift to the rune etched into his skin.
He hates that Magnus still thinks that Alec will choose this bullshit institution over him.
And Alec knows he plays a part because he can never quite just say it. Or at least, he can never say it the right way- in a way that would actually convince Magnus. He knows, so, so intimately the damage Shadowhunters have done to Magnus over centuries. Alec would never betray his lover like that.
He doesn’t blame Magnus, centuries of abuse have given him a healthy dose of caution when he sees dark runes burned into pale skin. He just wishes, more than anything, that there is something he could do.
Magnus is beautiful, inside and out. He is the best, most talented man Alec has ever had the pleasure of meeting. He has a mind like a kaleidoscope and a heart like a storm. Magnus certainly deserves better. Alec hopes that at the very least Magnus will trust him with this. He hopes Magnus believes that Alec would never short change him just because of their personal relationship. He hopes with ever fiber of his being that Magnus knows how truly adored he is by Alec.
He sits behind the desk in a small, white room. There is a camera in the corner, recording- but Alec had Izzy turn them off. He certainly didn’t need protection from Magnus.
Alec, for possibly the first time, felt his heart sink as he heard his boyfriend approach the door.
All of Alec’s hopes were dashed as soon as he saw Magnus. He was dressed for battle, which already put a lump in Alec’s throat. A dark, sharp coat covered a blood red, sheer top. Even his shoes looked ready to fight.
Alec stood up as soon as Magnus walked in, and (trying not to think too much) pressed a firm kiss on Magnus’s cheek.
“Hey,” Alec said with a smile.
“Alec,” Magnus replied while inclining his head slightly.
Alec didn’t know what to do with that, so he pointed Magnus to the chair. The desk between them was plain white and had a piece of paper resting in front of Magnus’s seat. Next to the white sheet was a pen, Alec’s side also had a pen.
The Institute had been doing negotiations like this for years, but Alec had never been more uncomfortable than he was right now.
“Do you want anything?” Alec asked awkwardly.
“Like?” Magnus said, his face and eyes impassive. Alec hates this.
“Water? A cocktail?” Alec said with a playful grin hoping to relax the mood.
Magnus smirked back; his eyes softened enough for Alec to take a breath, “I’m perfectly fine, darling.”
It was embarrassing how much the term of endearment relaxed Alec- but from the overly smooth movements, Magnus was making it was clear that he was not equally calm.
“So, did you do anything interesting today?” Alec said, unsure how to proceed.
Magnus rolled his eyes, “darling, I have another meeting after this. Could we, perhaps, stick to business?”
“Um,” Alec said flustered slightly, “yes. I mean, yes, of course. I’m sorry. Why don’t you—“
It was evident Alec didn’t need to continue because Magnus was already writing. Before the meeting, Alec looked at all of Magnus’s previous contracts, so he had a pretty good guess of the number he would get. The Institute usually paid him in increments of two hundred and fifty thousand dollars a month for a yearly total of three million. Expensive services, but Alec knew that Magnus was more than worth it. It was possible that Magnus could take Alec’s leadership as an excuse to charge more, but Alec doubted that even though he would gladly pay Magnus as much as he requested. The Warlock dealt with more than enough racism to warrant any sum he wanted.
He forced his face to go stoic as Magnus slid the piece of paper across the desk, his eyes blank.
When he turned the sheet over he physically had to stop himself from gasping out loud, the number was less. Less than Magnus had ever asked for before. He stared at the figures in front of him- ninety thousand dollars a month. Alec did quick math- that would place Magnus’s annual earnings at two million less than he had ever earned from the Institute.
Alec glanced up, and Magnus was leaned back casually in his chair, observing his nails. He was being careful, not making eye contact. By the way, he was sitting, Magnus clearly intended to leave soon- he assumed Alec would take this offer.
This fucking insulting offer. Did Magnus think Alec wouldn’t, at the very least, give Magnus his average earnings? Did he assume that Alec wanted some type of relationship discount? Did Magnus think that Alec saw him as a pet warlock who would do these things for free anyway- only because Alec asked?
And deeper, and much more painful, is that really how Magnus saw him? Did Magnus really think that Alec’s respect only went so far?
His head was in chaos but all of a sudden, the fog cleared. He knew exactly what to do. Alec had always been a man of action, so, carefully concealing his smile he crossed out Magnus’s number.
He heard Magnus shift, suddenly sitting up. Alec had no desire to look him in the eye now because he imagined they would look betrayed. Hurt. He knew that Magnus would assume he was writing an even lower number.
Well, buddy, Alec thought carefully writing more zeros, you’ve got another thing coming.
Alec kept his face blank as he slid the piece of paper across the desk again. This time he did meet Magnus’s gaze, which had gone blisteringly cold and wounded as he observed the paper.
Alec watched with anticipation as Magnus carefully flipped the sheet. He could practically see the moment Magnus realized what happened, his body visibly froze, and his breathing stopped completely for thirty seconds before he managed to get himself together.
“Alexander…” Magnus murmured with a loving smile on his lips, “I don’t think you know how negotiations work.”
Alec smiled, finally relaxed, and scooted forward to capture one of Magnus’s legs with his own.
“Really? I think I’m doing perfectly.”
“Alec… You don’t have to do this. I would have accepted any amount you gave- you know I want to keep you safe. Besides, don’t you think the Clave will notice that you’re paying me one and a half million more dollars a year?”
Alec had it up to here with the assumption that the Clave with its horrible rhetoric was somehow worth more than Magnus. So, he snapped.
“I’m on your side, Magnus. Always. There will never be a single day that you are fighting a battle alone, and especially not here. Not in this God forsaken place. I love you, Magnus.”
“Alexander,” Magnus said tenderly reaching his hand up to rest his hand on Alec’s face reverently, “you can’t give me preferential treatment.”
“But no, that isn’t why I’m doing this. I’m doing this because you deserve it, because chances are you’re going to be doing more work for us this year given the rising threat of Valentine, and because you’ve dealt with enough bullshit. The fact that I love you… Well,” Alec shrugged helplessly, “that’s just a plus.”
He saw Magnus’s face go through a hundred different emotions before he yanked Alec by the collar across the table in a blisteringly hot kiss.
Alec moaned under the assault. He managed to twist his body, so he was sitting on the desk in front of Magnus who was standing between his legs.
“Alexander,” Magnus said breathing heavily once they pulled apart, “my Alexander.”
“Always,” Alec replied, looking Magnus in the eye. “I mean it, Magnus. I’m always,without exception, going to be on your side. You don’t have to do this alone- not every battle has to be Magnus Bane Against the World. Let me take some of the weight.”
Magnus looked to be at a complete loss for words for the first time that Alec has known him. Magnus's mouth opened and closed a few times uselessly before he gave Alec the most dazzling, helpless little smile that the Shadowhunter had ever seen.
“You are something else,” Magnus said eventually before pulling him back into another kiss. This one was slow and tender, and they were pressed so close Alec couldn’t tell whose heart beat was whose.
“Don’t you have another meeting?” Alec whispered against Magnus’s tender, pink lips. This was one of Alec’s favorite looks on Magnus- his lips kissed thoroughly, and his eyes slightly glazed with happiness. He was looking at Alec with such naked fondness and love that Alec almost teared up under the warmth of the gaze.
Magnus chuckled slightly while moving his lips to Alec’s deflection rune, “no, darling. That was a lie I told so that I could go home and drink away my anger after this meeting. You’re always surprisingly me, though. You’d think I would be used to that.”
“I hope you never get used to it,” Alec said tilting his head to give Magnus more access.
“You are a jewel, aren’t you, Alexander Lightwood?”
Alec shook his head, “no. No, Magnus- stop. I didn’t do this because I’m some great guy… You deserve to be treated this way, you’ve just set your standards far too low.”
Magnus laughed, “me? Low standards? That’s something I haven’t heard before.”
Alec moved his hand to Magnus’s chin, forcing the other man to look him in the eye. “Yeah. You’re too used to being the one sacrificing, giving, helping others. And I get it; you can give so much- but… You always deserve just as much love as you give. I hope… I hope, if nothing else, I can grant you that.”
“Fuck.”
Alec visibly jerked at that because Magnus does not swear. He just doesn’t. Occasionally he’ll say “Damn” or “Hell, " but Alec has never heard him cuss like this.
Not even in bed.
“Fuck,” Magnus repeated, his eyes wide as he looked at Alec. “Just- Just- Kiss me.”
Alec has been a soldier for a long time, so this order was easy to follow. Alec placed a slow, tender hand to the front of Magnus’s shirt- feeling the mighty thud under his hands. He imagined he could heal it this way, that he could remove all the poison and pain and leave Magnus filled with nothing but sunshine.
But Alec also knows that the broken parts are a part of Magnus too. He knows the high walls that Alec still feels like he’s climbing are there for a reason. Alec is hit with the sudden realization, with one arm around Magnus’s waist and the other hand placed softly on Magnus’s chest, that he would never dream for Magnus to be simpler. He loves this man, this messy, contradictory man who is in turns too hard and too soft. The man who glares at the world with blood in his teeth, as if to say “bring it on.” The man who, after bringing down his fist in a reckoning that could be considered biblical, turns his magic soft and heals the wounded. He loves Magnus because of the storm within in- never in spite of.
Magnus Bane is a myth, a legend- Alec has heard people debating about his existence as if he were a God.
But this Magnus, the one looking at him now with wide, trusting eyes, this Magnus is his.
Magnus may never need protection- he’s too smart, powerful and tricky to need protection but Alec knows the truth. Magnus never needs protection, but sometimes he wants it.
And Heaven and Hell should both shake in fear should they ever try to hurt this man again.