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Alec stood at attention, hands clasped behind his back, on full alert as he looked over at the man behind the desk. The man was a bigot, sexist, racist and bully but he was also the president-elect of the United States of America, and it was his job as a secret service agent to protect the man with his life.
And of course, that’s exactly what Alec would do, despite his personal prejudices against the man, he would protect him without question. The earpiece in his ear buzzed, and he was instructed that his relief was just outside. His shift was over, but he couldn’t relax just yet, he wouldn’t move from his post by the door of the oval office until this meeting was over and every one of the foreign ministers had left, even if it took all night.
It had been almost a year since Alec had been promoted, he was surprised when Luke Garroway, his boss and friend and head of the secret service, had told him he had gotten one of the converted positions in the employ of their President. He sometimes wondered if he still would have received it if the President had known about his sexuality. Probably not, but so be it. His personal life had no bearing on him doing his job.
Surprisingly, over the last year, Alec had garnered a small sliver of respect for the man, being the President wasn’t easy, and the long hours he worked were ridiculous. He’d done some good and some bad during his time in office but all that had no bearing on Alec and his job.
Tonight they were off to an engagement at the embassy of the Kingdom of Edom. It was a tiny little kingdom, but they were rich in minerals and resources and securing an alliance with them would be good for the nation. They were all on high alert as there had been threats against both the King and Prince of Edom and the President by those who did not want such an alliance to proceed.
Alec stood only a few feet away from the President, shadowing him as he moved through the party. To his right at the corner of his eye, he could see Underhill as he shadowed the first lady. Underhill rolled his eyes and Alec had to hold back a smirk. They both hated these sorts of affairs, just thinking about how much all this would have cost turned Alec’s stomach, that money could do good so many other places.
It was almost 10.30pm when the doors to the ballroom slammed open, and Alec went on alert, there was a gasp from the crowd, and everyone turned to see what was going on. Alec took his place in front of the President, just in case it was a threat and held back his gasp as he laid 8eyes on the most beautiful man he’d ever seen.
The man smiled apologetically as he walked into the ballroom, people bowing and curtsying all around him. He walked straight up to Alec and smirked at him. Realising he was royalty, Alec took a side step and allowed the man to approach the President.
“Mr President, I am so sorry for my late arrival, my jet had an unfortunate incident, and I had to catch a commercial flight,” The man said, holding out his hand.
“Prince Magnus, It’s perfectly OK, your father has been more than gracious, and I’ve been enjoying the wonderful fare.”
Alec held back an eye roll, the President had been stuffing his face with their fancy food all night.
The two men walked off toward the King, and Alec followed at a discrete distance. The men all smiled and laughed, and Alec stood quietly, scanning the crowd discretely.
“So tell me, Mr President, how does one get such a gorgeous bodyguard?”
Alec looked at the man in shock, unable to school his reaction.
“Prince Magnus, Mr Lightwood is secret service, not just a bodyguard,” The President explained.
“I see,” Magnus said, giving Alec an appreciative once over. “So pretty.”
It was almost midnight, and the party was still in full swing. There seemed to be even more people in the ballroom now, and Alec’s feet were killing him. While the President got to sit and chat with guests, Alec had to spend the night standing.
Throughout the night, Prince Magnus found he couldn’t keep his eyes off the President’s secret service agent, Mr Lightwood. Magnus found himself wondering what his first name was. The man was beautiful, and Magnus couldn’t help but want to know the man better. Magnus wanted nothing more than to talk to the man, but he held himself back, knowing the man was working.
Alec could feel eyes on him once again, looking around, he caught the prince staring. The man was shameless, he smirked and winked at Alec.
“I’d ask if you were enjoying the party, but we both know given the choice you’d rather be anywhere but here,” Prince Magnus said, sliding up to stand beside Alec.
Alec smirked, he turned to Prince Magnus for a moment and then turned back towards the President.
“I’m not much of a party person,” Alec admitted.
“So what does a secret service agent do in his free time?” Magnus asked.
“Spend time with family and friends.”
“To be honest, this isn’t my idea of fun either,” Magnus admitted.
“Really?” Alec said, turning to Magnus for a moment.
“These sort of events are more of an obligation than fun, I’d much rather spend a quiet night with friends,” He explained.
Alec smiled at the prince and felt his heart flutter when Magnus smiled back at him.
“I should let you work,” Magnus said reluctantly as Alec turned back to his charge. Magnus wasn’t offended that Alec couldn’t give him all his attention, he knew very well that Alec’s job tonight came first.
The President shifted to another table, forcing Alec to follow. “Sorry,” He said quietly to Magnus as he walked away.
At 1 am, the party was finally starting to wind down, but the President and the King of Edom were deep in conversation. The President decided it would be best to send the First Lady home, so Underhill called for a car and accompanied her while Alec remained with the President.
Almost all the guest were gone, and the embassy staff were beginning to clear up the ballroom. Alec stayed alert, there were too many people coming and going for his liking.
Prince Magnus made his way over to where his father sat with the President. They were still discussing the trade agreement. Magnus initially was opposed to the agreement, but after months of work and research, he now realised that it would benefit both countries.
Alec watched Prince Magnus as he approached his father and the President. Alec was able to get a really good look at the man finally, without having to take his eyes off the President. The prince was beautiful, there was no doubt about it, and from the snippets of conversation Alec had been able to catch, he was also an incredibly intelligent man. Alec’s favourite combination, not that he would ever do anything about it. Prince Magnus was way out of his league on so many levels.
Out of the corner of his eye, Alec could see some staff members clearing off tables. They were loading dishes onto carts. Alec turned to look at the staff behind him, it was then that he noticed that one of the staff members seemed to be taking items off a cart, not putting them onto it.
Alec watched the man as he turned his back to him, something wasn’t right. Shifting from his spot, Alec moved to the other side of where the President was sitting, it gave him a better view of the suspicious staff member.
As the man turned, Alec noticed that he was holding something in his hands, Alec realised that it was some sort of explosive device. It was at that moment that Prince Magnus decided to move. He left his seat and was walking over to talk to some of the last remaining guests. The man watched the prince and turned to him before breaking into a sprint.
Alec’s instincts kicked in, he ran forward tackling the man, pulling the device from his hands as he threw him to the ground. Alec looked at the device, it was armed, and there wasn’t time to disarm it, he had about 40 seconds before it went off. Alec turned and sprinted for windows of the ballroom. They were on the second floor, but it was the quickest way out of the building and away from the guests.
Alec ran at the windows at full speed and broke through easily, throwing the device upwards as he fell, Alec heard the device explode just as he hit the ground and then everything went black.
Izzy walked into her brother’s hospital room, and once again, she found Magnus sitting there. Over the last few days, Izzy had gotten to know the man. Alec had never mentioned Magnus to Izzy, but that wasn’t strange, Alec was always so secretive about his personal life even with his siblings. Izzy knew that it was partly their parent's fault, initially, they hadn’t been able to accept that Alec was gay. Then there was Alec’s job, Alec insisted on hiding his sexuality to secure it because it was very important to him.
Izzy couldn’t help wanting to know how Magnus and Alec had met, and the extent of their relationship, so one afternoon she’d asked him.
“So how did you and Alec meet?” Izzy asked curiously. She knew her brother and he hardly ever went out, his job took too much of his time.
Magnus looked at Izzy and smiled embarrassedly. “Truthfully, we met the night he got hurt,” Magnus explained. “We don’t really know each other all that well but . . .”
Izzy beamed at the man, Alec must have really made an impression on the man, since Magnus had been there every day. He talked to Alec, read to him, sat with him holding his. Izzy could tell that the man cared for her brother.
“You don’t need to explain yourself to me, Magnus, I’m just happy Alec has someone.”
Alec had been in a coma for almost 5 days, and Izzy was worried.
“Hey Magnus,” She said softly.
Magnus looked up at Isabelle, smiling, “Good afternoon Isabelle.”
“Any change?” She asked.
“Sadly no, the doctor said all his vitals are good, the swelling in his head has gone down, he just needs to wake up.”
They sat in silence for a little while. “He will you know,” Izzy finally said. “He’s one of the strongest and stubbornest people I know.”
Magnus chuckled. “I really hope to find that out first hand someday,” Magnus said honestly.
Alec could hear voices, he tried to open his eyes, but they felt heavy. One of the voices was Izzy’s and Alec could have sworn that the other voice sounded like Prince Magnus. He shifted, pain radiating through his body before he lost consciousness again.
“Did you see that?” Izzy said excitedly.
“He moved,” Magnus exclaimed.
Izzy pressed the buzzer, and a moment later, she explained to the nurse what had happened.
The nurse checked Alec’s vitals and then called for his doctor.
“He’s waking up, we’re dialling down the pain medication,” He explained.
Almost 2 hours later, Alec finally opened his eyes.
“Alec!” Izzy exclaimed.
Alec turned his head to his sister and tried to smile.
“Thank god, we were so worried.”
Alec turned, and his eyes fell on the man seated beside Izzy, Prince Magnus.
“Prince Magnus?” Alec croaked, confused.
“Prince?” Izzy said, surprised. Magnus hasn’t mentioned that little bit of information.
Magnus looked at Izzy sheepishly, “I may have forgotten to mention that.”
There was a flurry of activity as nurses, and Alec’s doctor flooded the room after he woke. Half an hour later, they were all left sitting in silence.
“So a prince huh,” Izzy said smirking. “That’s cool.”
“Not as cool as you’d think,” Magnus said honestly.
“Oh my god, Prince Magnus of Edom,” It clicked in Izzy’s brain.
Alec had saved the lives of the President of the United States, The King and the Prince of Edom. He was a national hero, the story plastered all over the papers and social media.
“Is everyone?” Alec asked his voice gravelly from lack of use.
“No one was hurt,” Magnus confirmed. “What you did was very heroic and stupid.”
Alec just shrugged.
Magnus’ face softened, he took Alec’s hand. “Thank you for saving my life.”
“I was doing my job,” Alec said shyly.
“Your job was to protect the president,” Magnus said softly.
Over the next couple of days, Alec was put through a battery of tests which he passed with flying colours and soon afterwards he was released. Two weeks later, Alec was back at his post, standing at attention in the President’s office.
Ever since waking up, Alec and Magnus had been talking and texting, so Alec was shocked when Magnus walked into the office.
Magnus smiled at Alec for a brief moment before moving to greet the President.
“Welcome Prince Magnus,” The President said.
“Thank you, Mr President, I bring apologies from my father.”
“I understand perfectly,” The President said. “Your father does have an entire country to run.”
Magnus’ father was needed back home and had returned to Edom. Magnus, on the other hand, had decided to remain in the US in the role of ambassador to their two countries.
“I hear you’ll be staying on with us,” The President said.
“I am,” Magnus smiled. He wanted to look at Alec, he hadn’t told him yet, it had only all been agreed to earlier this morning.
The President and Magnus concluded their business and then Magnus asked the President for a favour.
“Mr President, would I be able to have a word with Mr Lightwood. I am yet to thank him for saving my life and that of my father.”
The President smiled, “Of course,” He said. “In fact, I believe Mr Lightwood is just coming off shift.”
As if on cue, Alec’s replacement knocked and walked in, followed by one of the President’s aides.
The aide showed Magnus and Alec to an empty meeting room.
“I hear they are giving you a medal,” Magnus said once they were alone.
“They are, but it’s unnecessary.”
“I know you were only doing your job.”
Magnus stepped closer, “I owe you my life,” He whispered softly.
“Prince Magnus. . .” Alec started.
“It’s just Magnus,” Magnus corrected.
“Magnus,” Alec said, almost breathless. Magnus was standing too close, and Alec felt his brain scramble.
“Have dinner with me tonight?” Magnus asked, taking Alec by surprise.
“I don’t think . . .” Alec stopped talking when he noticed Magnus’ face drop. He heard his sister’s voice in his head. ‘So what he’s a prince, he’s also a man Alec, a man who obviously cares about you.’
Magnus turned, he had hoped that Alec could see past his title to the man beneath.
“Actually, I believe I am free tonight,” Alec blurted out before he could lose his nerve.
Magnus turned back to him in surprise, “Really?”
“Magnus, I like you, I want to have dinner with you.”
Magnus beamed at him.
“But . . .” Alec continued. “Why don’t you come to my place, I’ll cook for you.”
“Alexander, you don’t have to.”
“I know, but I want to.”
“I’d love that,” Magnus said excitedly.
“Until tonight,” Magnus said, leaning forward and giving Alec a peck on the cheek.
“7 pm, I’ll text you my address,” Alec said blushing.
There was a knock at the door, and Magnus was whisked away by the aide that had been waiting outside. Alec just stood there beaming, before pulling out his phone.
‘What do I wear to dinner with a prince?’ Alec sent to his sister.