Work Text:
She's out of place, that's what draws Magnus's eye to her initially. He's just finishing up with his client when he sees her, tucked into one of the grimy back booths of the vampire bar. She can't be more than twelve. Maybe thirteen?
The vampire he came to deal with is still talking, but Magnus no longer hears him, his feet already carrying him to the warlock child. She tenses as he nears her booth, but she doesn't look up or speak to him.
"Mind if I join you?" he asks, keeping his voice even but gentle. He doesn't want to startle her, but he's also learned over the years that children generally do not appreciate being condescended to by adults.
When she still doesn't acknowledge him, Magnus decides to press his luck and sit anyway. Once he's seated, the girl finally raises her eyes to meet his. Magnus's heart clenches; it's easy to see that life has not been kind to to this child lately. There are bags under her eyes and her lips are cracked and scabbed. She looks remarkably thin.
He doesn't see her warlock mark, or detect a glamour being maintained, but her fingers keep flitting to the edges of her too-tight scarf, and Magnus can guess what's hidden underneath. He drops his own glamour and smiles at her.
She scowls back.
"You don't have to do that," she mutters, eyes flicking back down to the table. "I knew when you walked in."
Magnus blinks, slightly taken aback.
"How could you tell?" he asks her, honestly curious.
She makes a small movement, like an aborted shrug.
"You don't know," he guesses. It doesn't surprise him. Young, untrained warlocks often have no real sense of their own abilities.
She scowls again, and Magnus realizes too late that he's managed to offend her.
"I know because you're orange," she bites back sullenly, gaze still fixed on the table, "and very... loud."
Magnus smiles, pleased with her response, if not her tone.
"You can sense my magic," he says, not bothering to keep the awe out of his voice, "Well. That's very impressive."
She looks back up at that, clearly curious and even a little pleased despite her best intentions.
"It is?" she asks softly.
"I know warlocks centuries old that need intense concentration in order to do what you apparently did without thought," he tells her honestly. "That's a very special talent."
Magnus sees the hint of a smile before she's able to bite it back and he decides to push his newfound advantage.
"I'm Magnus," he tells her. "Magnus Bane. I'm the high warlock."
She's been fiddling with her scarf on and off throughout their conversation, but when she catches Magnus's eyes on it, she drops her hands to the table immediately, fidgeting with a ratty looking bracelet instead.
"I'm Madzie," she says finally, after the moment stretches out long enough that Magnus thinks she might not respond.
"It's a pleasure to meet you, Madzie," he replies, still smiling encouragingly. "How old are you?"
"Eleven," she tells him, and Magnus fights the urge to frown. That's even younger than he had guessed.
"Well, that makes your divination skills even more impressive," he says. Based on the rest of their conversation so far, he decides to take a gamble and add, "it's too bad you're not better at conjuring."
Madzie's eyes narrow. It's an impressively intimidating look for an eleven-year-old.
"Who says I can't conjure?" she challenges.
"Well, it's nearly dinner time and we're within blocks of some of the best restaurants in Brooklyn," he clarifies. "So someone who clearly hasn't eaten all day can't be a very good conjurer, now can she?"
"That's stealing!" Madzie tells him in a harsh whisper, looking so genuinely scandalized by the suggestion that Magnus's heart breaks a little bit further. He lifts up his hands in a placating gesture and smiles at her.
"You're right, you're right, of course," he agrees easily. He reaches into his jacket and lays several mundane bills on the table. "But if this were conjured into the cash register at the same moment? That wouldn't be stealing then, would it?"
"No," Madzie agrees reluctantly. "I guess not."
"So why don't you grab us a bite to eat?" he suggests, "and we can keep talking."
Madzie hesitates. She hasn't taken her eyes off the money since Magnus placed it on the table. She licks her lips and fiddles with her bracelet.
After a few moments, she gingerly raises her hands and pulls her magic forward. It's a little uneventful, as far as demonstrations go. A small wisp of purple magic envelops the money, and a moment later, two plates of food sit on the table in it's place. Magnus finds himself impressed nonetheless - they can always work on her showmanship later.
"Spaghetti," he notes, looking at the food now in front of him. "Excellent choice."
Magnus picks up his fork and starts twirling the pasta around it lazily, mostly hoping it'll encourage Madzie to do the same. It takes a moment, but eventually she follows suit.
He's rewarded for his efforts with the sight of her first true smile, lighting up her face immediately after she swallows a bite of the pasta.
"Mmm, I love spaghetti," she says happily, sounding for the first time like a normal eleven-year-old girl. Magnus smiles back at her.
"So does my husband," he tells her, because it's true and also because something in her reminds him of Alec the longer they spend together.
"You're married to a boy?" she asks. She's clearly still more interested in the pasta though; now that she's started he's surprised she slowed down long enough to get the words out.
"I am," he confirms. "His name is Alexander."
Magnus debates with himself as Madzie continues to eat. He doesn't know if he's done enough to earn her trust, but he also knows he can't leave her here. She's proven to be a clever and stubborn child though. He worries he'll lose her if he pushes too hard.
"You know, I think you would like Alexander," he says eventually. "Maybe you could come meet him after we finish our dinner."
Madzie pauses mid-bite and gives him a much more appraising look than he thinks an eleven-year-old should be able to give.
"You don't trust me," he comments when she doesn't answer.
She twirls her fork idly.
"Do you really think you're safer here?" he asks, gesturing at the dingy bar. He doesn't know how she even ended up here in the first place, but it's clearly no place for a child.
"No," she admits, still pushing the last bits of pasta around her plate. "I just don't understand why you're being nice to me."
Magnus's stomach clenches, but he keeps his smile gentle.
"You looked like you could use a friend," he says. When she starts to scowl he adds, "and so could I, if I'm being honest. There aren't so many of us warlocks nowadays. We need to stick together."
Madzie nods slightly, and Magnus can tell she feels the weight of that truth more than someone her age should.
"What do you say?" he asks. "Would you like to come meet Alexander? Maybe you could even help me brush up a bit on my divination?"
Madzie still hesitates, but she's run out of noodles to play with, her plate all but licked clean. Magnus would offer her the rest of his own, but he worries she would just withdraw further.
Finally she looks back up at him and nods again.
"Yeah okay," she agrees, and Magnus positively beams.
He portals them into the living room, unfortunately startling the chairman from a nap, and sending him darting off towards the bedroom. Madzie follows the movement in fascination.
"Hey babe," Alec's voice calls out from the kitchen, though it sounds as though he's moving closer, "that you?"
Madzie's head whips back around at the sound of Alec's voice. Her eyes are impossibly wide. Magnus panics, trying to think of how to reassure her and warn Alec simultaneously, but he's not quick enough. Before he can even open his mouth to reply, Alec is stepping into view.
"Oh," he says, clearly surprised by their visitor but trying not to show it in front of her, "who's this?"
"Alec," she says, as if she didn't even hear the question. She doesn't look scared, Magnus realizes. She looks confused.
"Madzie!" Alec responds after a beat, his whole face lighting up in a way that never fails to make Magnus's breath catch. "I didn't recognize you at first, you're so grown up!"
"You two know each other," Magnus surmises, still feeling a little off balance.
Alec looks over at him, his face still the picture of giddy excitement, before turning back to the little girl in front of him. He crouches down a bit so that they're more or less eye to eye.
"We met a long time ago," he says, then for Magnus's benefit he adds, "the unsanctioned... orphanage case. Iris Rouse."
Madzie flinches slightly at Iris's name and suddenly everything clicks into place. Madzie is the warlock child, the one that Alec had tried so hard to find, still following up on sketchy leads for years after Iris had slipped away from them. They found some of the other children eventually, but never Iris herself. And never Madzie.
Until now, apparently.
Madzie reaches out as if to touch Alec's deflect rune, but then drops her hand self-consciously.
"I tried to find you again, but-" Alec cuts himself off, his smile slipping just slightly. He shakes his head and tries again, "I never got a chance to thank you for saving my life."
"Nana hid us," Madzie says. She's ducking her head a bit, suddenly shy.
Of course, Magnus thinks. I get sullen and distrusting and he gets starstruck. Still, he can hardly blame her.
Magnus clears his throat delicately. Alec looks up at him.
"I thought Madzie could maybe stay with us for awhile," he suggests lightly, doubting he'll meet any resistance from Alec.
Madzie, however, immediately shakes her head.
"I can take care of myself," she insists stubbornly.
Magnus opens his mouth to reply but Alec beats him to the punch.
"Of course you can," he says immediately. "How old are you now, ten?"
"Eleven," Madzie corrects softly.
"Psh, eleven!" Alec repeats, as if that's a much more impressive number. "If you were already saving the day at five, I can only imagine how strong and brave you are now that you're all grown up."
Alec rubs at his neck sheepishly, as if suddenly embarrassed. Magnus knows him well enough to see through the ruse, but he doubts Madzie will. It's very convincing.
"I know you don't need any help, but actually- we were hoping you could help us," Alec tells her.
"With what?" she asks, clearly more interested now.
Alec hesitates for a beat, and Magnus worries he hasn't thought this all the way through, but he's saved by the sudden reappearance of chairman meow, skirting around Madzie's legs to get to Alec.
"Chairman!" Alec says happily, scooping up the cat and holding him out to Madzie. "Perfect timing! Chairman, this is Madzie. Madzie, this is chairman meow."
"Hi kitty," Madzie murmurs softly, reaching out a tentative hand to stroke the chairman's fur.
"See Magnus and I are busy a lot, so there's no one to play with him and he gets lonely," Alec explains. "So we were hoping you could help us out? Just for a little while."
He moves to hand her the cat, and Magnus tenses, waiting for the stupid beast to ruin the whole thing. Instead, he curls up quite contentedly in the child's arms. Will wonders never cease?
Alec grins widely at the sight, and Madzie offers him a tentative smile in return.
"Okay," she says, after several long moments. "I guess I can stay for a little while. Since you need my help."
Magnus unexpectedly feels tears prick the corners of his eyes at the sight they make, his husband knelt down on the floor, drawing out the shy smile of this spirit-bruised warlock child. It just feels right somehow. It feels like home.
That's what we can give her, he thinks. A home.
He almost rolls his eyes at his own sappiness, but just then Alec looks up and catches his gaze and Magnus sees the same emotion mirrored there.
"Okay?" Alec mouths silently, trying not to draw Madzie's attention away from the chairman.
It's a lot of questions hidden in a single word, but Magnus can read them all on Alec's face. Was that okay? Are we really doing this? Do we even know how to do this?
"Welcome home, Madzie," Magnus answers aloud.
She looks up at him then, gracing him with that same shy smile, and Magnus knows there wasn't ever any other choice.