Author: Claire Watson
Fandom: Shadowhunters
Pairing: Alec/Magnus, Jace/Clary (offscreen)
Rating: G
Characters: Alec, Magnus, Clary
Word Count: 1,267
Warnings: No beta. Discussion of theoretical past incestuous romance.
Authors note: This story explores something that occurred to me after watching This World Inverted (S1E10). This is an imaginary conversation Clary might have had soon after ‘discovering’ that Jace is her brother.
Alec and Magnus had been about to head out to dinner at a Thai restaurant that Magnus had been raving about, when Clary arrived at the door. She looked tragic and sad, and obviously needed to get some things off her chest.
Magnus, being the wonderfully caring man that Alec was falling so hard and fast for, couldn’t turn her away. He apologised to Alec with his eyes even as he invited her in.
Clary twisted her fingers together. “I’m sorry to intrude, I can go…”
“You could never intrude,” Magnus murmured, leading her towards the sofa.
Alec decided he might as well be productive and moved over to a small workbench that Magnus had set aside for him. He needed to go through his quiver; some arrows would need maintenance, others to be replaced. Now was as good a time as any, and it would give Magnus and Clary at least the illusion of privacy.
It wasn’t long before he wished he’d just suggested that he and Magnus could go out another time. It appeared the main thing on Clary’s mind was Jace.
“Now, knowing he’s my brother…shouldn’t that stop me from, from wanting him so much?”
“There, there,” Magnus said, patting her comfortingly on the shoulder. “Come on, my dear. Tell me all about it. Get it all out.”
“Really?” Her face was tear-streaked and woebegone. “I don’t have anyone to talk to. Mom refuses to discuss him, and Simon…well, Jace and Simon never really…”
“Nonsense! I assure you that you can always come and weep on my shirt if you need to, Biscuit. Would you like a fortifying hot chocolate? I’d offer you something stronger, but now is really not the time to be starting a drinking habit. Trust me, I know.”
“That would be lovely, thank you,” Clary sniffed. Magnus pulled a handkerchief out of thin air and handed it to her, turning away while she blew her nose.
Alec decided that discretion was the better part of valour and pretended he hadn’t seen or heard anything. Alas, Clary wasn’t going to let him pretend he wasn’t there.
“I suppose you know how it feels,” she said earnestly. “Being in love with Jace and knowing that—”
Alec had no intention of discussing that with Clary, ever. “So, Jace told me that you both ended up in an alternate timeline,” he said loudly, staring hard at an arrow that had nothing wrong with it. “That must have been quite a trip! What was it like?”
Clary brightened immediately. She took the mug that Magnus handed her and relaxed back onto the sofa. “It was the strangest thing,” she began. “The strangest thing about it, I guess, was that, for all its weirdness, it didn’t feel strange at all.”
“That makes sense,” Magnus said, nodding his head. “An alternate timeline is essentially the trouser-legs of time playing out.”
Clary blinked. “The what?”
“The trouser-legs of time,” Magnus reiterated. “It’s a metaphor. The trousers are reality. Some choices cause the trouser legs of time to open up; at that point you start travelling down either the left leg or the right leg. Either leg, it’s still the same trousers, although different events will occur due to the different choices that have been made.”
“Okay….” Clary took a sip from her mug and gave Alec a significant look that he had no idea how to interpret.
Magnus sighed. “The point is, as I said, that it’s still the same pair of trousers. No matter what leg you’re in, the trousers will still fit you. That’s why it didn’t feel strange.”
Clary nodded hesitantly.
“But enough of the boring theory of timelines, tell us about the people you met there.”
Clary laughed. “Well, I ‘woke up’ in my parent’s kitchen,” she said, mouth twisting into an almost smile. “In that world, my parents were still together, still in love. I nearly stabbed my dad with a butter knife.”
Alec listened with interest, working through his quiver, as Clary related meeting them all in their different guises. He smiled a little at the description of Magnus as a fortune-teller who made his living with tarot cards.
“—and then I was introducing Jace to Valentine as my boyfriend, and watching Valentine be all, “Sir is for my father, call me Mr Morgenstern,” and I swear, Jace was stuttering he was so nervous!”
“Wait,” Magnus said, looking up from the contemplation of light through the golden liqueur in his glass. “You introduced Jace to your father? As your boyfriend? Neither of them freaked out and started screaming about incest?”
Clary shrugged, the corners of her mouth turning down. “I guess Jace wasn’t my brother in that timeline.”
Magnus put his drink down. “Biscuit, I’m not sure you understand how differing timelines work. They’re not the same thing as alternate universes. A different timeline doesn’t change who your parents are. Sometimes people die or don’t die, sometimes people are born or not born. But someone’s genetic parents can’t just change. If Jace wasn’t genetically your brother in that timeline, then he’s not genetically your brother in this one either.”
“But—” Clary face crumpled. “Is there a way that the world I went to could be a unique case? Jace said that Valentine raised him. Why would he…if Jace isn’t my brother, it doesn’t make sense!”
“Let me think about this for a moment,” Magnus said, adopting his ‘The Thinker’ pose. “Do I trust the unalterable laws of the universe and time coupled with the proven science of genetics, or do I trust the word of Valentine Morgenstern?” He looked up, raising an eyebrow.
Clary’s face smoothed out and she rolled her eyes. “Fine, I suppose I deserved that one. But why? What reason does he have to convince Jace he’s his son? What good does it do?”
“You can’t think of any reason a man like your father might wish to have a Shadowhunter with Jace’s skills and connections at his beck and call?”
“But then that means—” Clary shoved her mug at Magnus and leapt to her feet. “I’ve got to talk to Jace! Thanks, Magnus! Bye!” She started towards the door, before turning back. “Actually, do you think you could make me a portal to the Institute?”
It was annoying when Alec’s friends and family just used Magnus like a pet warlock. He opened his mouth to object, but Magnus already had the portal ready.
“Go get him, Biscuit!”
Within moments the portal collapsed behind her.
“She didn’t even say thank you,” Alec muttered. He put the last of his arrows back in the quiver and got to his feet.
Magnus came over and leaned into him. “Come now, Alexander. Wasn’t it worth a little magic to get her on her way? Before you know it, the star-crossed lovers will be reunited, and that can only mean more time for you and me.”
Alec smiled, reluctantly. “I suppose you have a point. I just don’t like the way they take advantage of you.”
“My knight in angelic armour,” Magnus murmured, leaning closer. Alec felt his own pulse speeding up. “Protecting me from exploitation. What reward should I offer you, do you think?”
“Only what you want to give,” Alec said, eyes focused on the lips that were hovering so close to his.
The kiss they exchanged scorched Alec’s nerves and left him wanting more.
“I think we should order in,” Magnus said when he finally drew back. “I suddenly have no desire whatsoever to step foot outside my apartment.”
“You have the best ideas,” Alec agreed, leaning in for another kiss.
Very sweet!