Chapter Text
“One more, pleaaassseee?”
“Yeah, Papa, read another one.”
Snuggled between Rafael and Max in the oversized chair, Magnus was tempted to give into their pleading, but they were tired whether they realized it or not. And so was he. Teaching first graders was the most rewarding career he could imagine, but it was also physically and mentally exhausting. Most days he crawled into bed as soon as he could.
“You know there’s a three book limit on school nights. Now up, up, up. Time for bed.”
Rafael, his older, responsible child gave a quiet, resigned sigh, and walked to the bed on his side of the room, while Max, the drama queen, began a show of pitiful wailing that wasn't convincing anyone, even himself. Magnus had to refrain from laughing, because he knew it would only exacerbate his son’s dramatics.
He carried his youngest to his bed, promising to read more books tomorrow, and trying to distract him with questions about school. By the time he’d tucked him in and kissed him goodnight the outburst had ended. Thankfully his emotions ran hot and quick.
“And goodnight to you, too,” he said with a kiss to Rafael’s cheek. The boy was mumbling his goodnight, his eyes already getting heavy, when light shone through the window from outside.
Magnus’ head shot up, while Rafe’s eyes sprang open as he felt his father’s tension.
“What?” Rafe asked quietly, smart enough to not alert his younger brother.
The backyard light was on a motion detector. It was probably a cat walking by or an opossum, or heck, sometimes a gust of wind triggered the light, so why was his heart racing? Anger eclipsed the initial rush of fear. Anger at himself. This was all his fault.
“It’s nothing. The neighbor’s cat is probably outside again,” he replied with as much fatherly confidence as he could.
Walking to the bedroom window, he peered outside. The flood light shone brightly on the patio, but the dense landscaping at the edge of the yard was a shadowy, suddenly ominous, black void.
There was no reason to think he was out there, but Magnus couldn’t shake the feeling that it wasn’t impossible either - Sebastian, the tall, blue-eyed, blond man with the face of an angel that he’d dated for several months. The first and last time he’d ever meet someone on a dating app.
At first the man seemed perfect. That should have been a red flag itself. The gentile British accent and the easy smile had lured him. Their first few dates had even been fun. Things had been less perfect when they became sexual however.
The chemistry was lacking, at least on Magnus’ part. Sebastian had only wanted to bottom and while Magnus enjoyed both positions, the man had been his first male partner in years and he’d been looking for a different experience. He should have known the sex would be lackluster - smooth blonds had never been his type. But he was old enough to know that personality was what drove attraction, so he decided to give them more time.
Never being able to go to Sebastian’s apartment should have been another warning sign. But after three months Magnus had thought they were serious enough to let him meet the boys, and it was easier to have him over anyway. It was about that time when the bigger issues began.
While he was still feeling tepid emotionally and physically about the relationship Sebastian seemed eager to speed things up, spouting “I love you” in nearly every conversation and talking about their future. With any new couple it was common that one person wanted to move faster than the other, but it was the possessive behavior that signaled the situation wasn’t that innocent.
The man began to question his whereabouts multiple times a day and would get agitated if he was a few minutes late. He should have ended things when Sebastian became jealous of Ragnor, his best friend and neighbor three houses down, one of several attempts made to stop him from spending time with other people. But no, he’d stupidly let things continue until the day he’d walked in on the man berating his kids as if he was their father.
It’s when all the red flags flared in his brain like the emergency beacons they were. And now, six weeks after supposedly ending the relationship, he was scanning the shrubbery for a tall human form and wondering if he had locked all the windows.
“Papa?” Rafael called with that concerned tone he was too familiar with.
“Yep, it was that orange cat again. Now you get to sleep, OK?”
Flipping on their nightlight, Magnus cleaned the kitchen and folded a load of laundry before giving in and checking all the locks. He couldn’t seem to shake the jittery feeling that pinpricked across his skin. It was this feeling that made him jump in the shower, eager to let the heat soothe his nerves.
Closing his eyes, the water flowed over his head, then his shoulders and down his torso. He breathed out, willing himself to indulge, as his hand slid down his smooth chest, enjoying his own firmness from years of yoga and dancing class, until he reached his target and took himself in hand. Yes - this is what he needed.
He was annoyingly soft at the moment, though he knew he could reach a size he was quite proud of if he could just let himself enjoy it. Images of past partners, his own mental porn library, flashed across his mind - Imasu, his college boyfriend, sucking his dick while looking up through dark eyelashes. Taking Camille from behind. Kitty’s perfect breasts.
Unbidden, the image of he and Sebastian’s first time appeared, the man on his back, pulling his legs up to his chest to present his ass, but the look on his face wasn’t desire. He could see it now for what it was. Magnus was an object he wanted to own. He’d thought the problem had been him not wanting to top that night, but now he understood the real issue was their lack of an emotional connection.
“Fuck!” he exhaled as he dropped his dick, his interest dissolved by the disturbing image. “I can’t even jerk off, you fucking asshole,” he muttered to himself.
Bang - Bang, Bang
Moving quickly, Magnus turned off the water and held his breath, listening. He’d heard something - a window rattling? A door being shoved? Or had it only been a car door from the street?
The boys! He thought as he flew out of the bathroom dripping wet and tugging on a robe. After seeing two little sleeping forms, he breathed in deeply. He was going to hyperventilate if he kept this up. Padding softly from room to room in their one-story house he looked for anything out of place and found nothing.
“Get a grip,” he told himself. He couldn’t freak out at every little sound.
On impulse he turned off the living room lamps so it was darker in the room than outside and looked out the side window. The familiar silhouette of tall viburnum shrubs backed by the pyramidal forms of arborvitae trees came into relief before he noticed the other. He leaned towards the glass, willing his brain to make sense of the shadows. Among the rustling outline of leaves in the breeze was something immobile, tall and narrow. His breath thinned as his nerves hit the stratosphere. It looked like a head and shoulders, a black void staring back at him.
BAM!
Magnus yelped at the very real noise from the back of the house. On instinct he grabbed the iron poker by the fireplace and headed towards the kitchen. Stepping carefully, his arms lifted in a backswing like he was in a batting cage waiting on the next pitch, he scanned the room and quickly spotted it.
There on the all-glass back door was a folded piece of paper taped to the glass with a red hand print next to it. Red drips flowed down from the hand, a caricature of the art his kids made at school. Was that - blood?
Pulling his phone from his pocket he hit speed dial #1.
Ragnor’s comforting voice “My dear boy, you’re up late.”
“I think he’s outside.” Magnus’ voice was shaking. “There’s something on the back door, and my god, I think there’s blood.”
“Get off the phone and call the police. I’m coming right over.”
*****
“Thank you, Officers. Good night.” Magnus took a moment after the police left to gather himself before going inside. After they’d searched the yard and photographed the door, he’d had the unfortunate experience of telling them his entire dating history with Sebastian.
That the man had pleaded with him when he first announced he was ending their relationship, which had then dissolved into belligerence and snide remarks before Magnus had ordered him to leave. Over the next couple of weeks Sebastian stopped by the house several times, begging, and had even come to his school, though he’d been stopped in the hallway before he’d made it to the classroom.
The last phone call was what had turned a nasty situation into something alarming. They would never be over, Sebastian had declared. They were meant to be together.
Now he could offer nothing useful to help stop him. He didn’t know where the man lived, and the phone number was no longer in service. He’d become a boogeyman that haunted his dreams, yet so real his blood had to be scrubbed from the door.
As soon as he walked in Ragnor handed him a glass of wine which he gladly accepted. Thank god his friend lived close by. He’d watched over the sleeping boys who hadn’t stirred once.
“Magnus, this note!” he stated as he waved the paper in the air. “The man is insane.”
“You think? I thought the blood print he left was kind of pretty.”
“This is no time for joking. He says here that you belong to him and that you’ll be reunited soon. And if that anyone else touches you he’ll kill them. I imagine you wouldn’t come out much better. This is serious.”
Magnus took another swallow of wine. “I’ve told the police everything I know, which isn’t much. They’ll look for him, but where? I’m going back to women, my friend. Men are crazy.”
Ragnor huffed with amusement, “That’s a little drastic don’t you think? Camille was psycho too, remember.”
“Camille was a conniving manipulator, but she wasn’t violent.”
They sat in silence, both lost in dark memories and a frightening present.
His voice sounded weaker than he wanted it to, “What am I going to do?”
“Until he can be caught, I’m getting you protection. That’s what we’re going to do.”
Magnus didn’t know what that meant, but it felt good to have someone to lean on.
*****
When had climbing four flights of stairs become a physical feat he could barely handle? Alec winced as the pain in his side compounded at each landing and now rivaled his headache. Of course they couldn’t afford a place with an elevator, he thought bitterly.
Worse than an aching body, what he dreaded even more was the reaction he’d get at home from Jace, his adopted brother and best friend. He’d be hurt and angry, but it was worth it to keep him safe and his hands clean. His friend deserved a future, a chance at happiness, after what he’d endured for following his older brother. That was more important than Jace actually liking him.
The familiar mismatched eyes, one blue, one half-blue, half-brown, looked up warily as he entered, before furrowing. Jumping up from the sofa, he was in front of Alec before he’d taken two steps inside.
“What happened?! Your face is a mess. Your lip is split.”
Alec could hear the annoyance in his tone, though it didn’t hide the concern. His brother’s hands held his face, turning it back and forth, before they dropped to his shoulders, beginning their scan of his condition. All Alec wanted was to brush him off and go to bed, but he knew he couldn’t just yet. It would cause less problems if he eased his friend’s fears.
“I got jumped on the subway,” he replied.
“Bullshit. Tell me what you did. Now.” Jace was feeling his hands now, pressing his fingers, looking for Alec to wince to determine if anything was broken.
“I got Pangborn. The one with the bounty on his head. I turned him over to the cops. Things were a little messy at first.”
Jace’s eyes flashed angrily. “What the fuck, Alec?! We’ve talked about this. We’re a team. Why didn’t you call me?”
“I was all the way over in Queens. I didn’t want to bother you, and I could handle it. I did handle it.”
“And you don’t think it will bother me if you end up dead one day because you pull shit like this?”
Alec stared at him impassively which was probably the wrong thing to do.
Jace’s voice lowered as he tried to control his anger. “We’re partners, remember? This is OUR business, together.”
It was all true, and there was no point in arguing.
“Where else are you hurt?”
“Nowhere.”
“Oh yeah, then why are you standing like that?” That was the problem with having this much history with someone - lying convincingly was difficult. Jace grabbed his left side exactly where he’d been kicked, and Alec couldn’t stop himself from pulling back with a grunt of pain.
When Jace’s expression deflated from anger to resignation it hurt even worse.
“Go take a shower, and then I’ll finish checking you over. And before you start to bitch about it, your other alternative is going to the emergency room.”
The warm water helped more than he’d imagined. If he could let go of even a tenth of the tension he held in his body, he’d feel like a new man. And the sad part of it all was that this was the best life they’d had since - well, since it had all started back in high school.
Alec had come out to his parents at the start of his senior year. When they’d given him the ultimatum to either go to conversion therapy or leave the family, the only hard part about his decision was leaving his siblings. He’d convinced Izzy to finish school, but Jace had refused to stay at home even though Alec had begged.
He tried to reason with his brother and told him to think about college. That he would stay in touch. But the tight bond they’d formed when Jace joined their family six years earlier had only grown stronger, and he’d refused to be left behind. So at ages 17 and 16 they were living on the streets, finding whatever money, food and shelter they could.
Before long he was turning tricks with men, while Jace was doing the same with wealthy, middle-aged women. That grew old quickly, and when Alec’s supermarket job wasn’t enough to pay for an apartment, it only took a few months for Jace to talk him into selling drugs.
The next year had been better with a roof over their heads and food to eat, but they must have been shitty dealers because Jace made a sale to an undercover cop who then followed him home and busted both of them. If things had been tough before, they were dreamy compared to the three years they spent in prison.
Alec thanked the stars daily that they served most of their time together, otherwise it’s doubtful they would have survived. They’d been in fights before, but their time behind bars turned them into a duo fighting machine. Jace was too pretty for his own good, and Alec had needed a place to funnel his guilt and anger.
It was the six months that Jace had to serve after Alec had been released that haunted him to this day. They’d made enemies over those years and with Jace alone the power balance had shifted. He was beaten badly one day and sexually assaulted a few months later, forced to give head to a big, ugly bastard in front of his friends. Jace said he was putting it behind him, but Alec couldn’t. The thought of going back to prison just so he could kill the sick fuck was more appealing than he’d admit.
When they’d been reunited nearly two years ago, they swore to turn themselves into something better. Putting their rough and tumble skills to use, they started a security business. He’d convinced Jace to get his GED, they had a decent apartment, and he pushed his brother to envision a normal future with a wife, kids - the whole dream.
“Turn your head,” Jace instructed as he applied antiseptic cream to the cut on his temple.
Out of the shower and wrapped in a towel, he hadn’t argued when his friend had barged in. Sometimes it was easier to just go along. Jace carefully examined the area on his side that was turning purple and came to the same conclusion that he had - the ribs were bruised but not broken.
He finished his physical exam and didn’t seem too alarmed. Sadly, being bruised and battered wasn’t an uncommon state for them. “You could have a concussion, which means don’t do anything strenuous or mentally taxing the next couple of days. Now I’ve got to watch you like a hawk, thanks a lot buddy.”
Alec breathed a little easier upon hearing his brother’s sarcasm begin to return.
Jace leaned back against the bathroom counter. “So - that GED class begins next week. Did you enroll?”
Ah, so this is why he’d started with the light-hearted banter so quickly.
“Not yet,” he replied.
“Well, are you?”
“Maybe.”
The twitch in Jace’s jaw muscle betrayed his agitation. “You were such a nerdy, goody two-shoes in high school. I’m telling you it’s easy, you’ll knock it out in six months. You know successful business owners need a degree.”
Alec wasn’t in the mood to be lectured or inspired. “Maybe I don’t want it. I’m 25. It’s too late anyway.”
“What do you mean you don’t want it?”
Alec stared off into space, ignoring Jace’s rising temper. “Maybe I don’t care.”
There was a long stretch of silence, which he knew was bad. His eyes flickered to meet his friends.
“I know what you’re doing,” he stated flatly.
All he wanted to do was sleep. His limit for being reprimanded had been reached. He stared back coldly into angry blue eyes. “What do you think I’m doing?”
Jace stood, puffed up and mad, “You psyched me up with talk about the importance of education and a having future, so I’d get my GED. You get this business started in hopes it will take off, all while you have no plans and continue this bounty hunter shit by yourself, purposely trying to piss me off, hoping - actually hoping that I’ll get fed up with you and leave, all so you can be alone and find some hole in the ground to climb into.”
Jace was in his face, his spit flicking onto his skin, but Alec only glared in return.
“Well fuck you Alec for thinking I’m the type of person who would do that, and fuck you again for thinking I’d ever be OK with you - giving up or whatever the hell it is you’re doing.”
Breathing heavily, Jace waited for his response, clearly needing something. Alec would give him nothing.
“You know what,” Jace declared, “I’m so done with you right now.” He walked to the door before turning, “Let me know when my best friend wants to come back. I miss him.”
It was a cold blow. They could both be assholes when they wanted and knew exactly how to hurt each other. Alec felt the allegation like a punch to his gut, but his emotionless response remained unchanged.
*****
It was after 2:00 in the morning when he woke to the sound of Jace yelling out in his sleep. It wasn’t an uncommon occurrence. Jumping out of bed he rushed to his room. His brother had explained his night terrors before. He would be half awake, half in a dream, usually about his time in prison when he’d been alone.
There he was on his stomach, frozen like a man in rigor mortis and whimpering, trying to escape the nightmare. Alec sat on the bed and rubbed his back, “Hey, hey, you’re OK,” he murmured.
The gesture was enough to snap him out of it, and as his brother came towards this side of the living his body visibly relaxed. Alec never really did much in these situations, but Jace had said his presence was all he needed. Slipping into their usual routine, Alec sat up against the headboard and settled in for the night. Jace liked him to stay, and Alec wouldn’t be able to go back to sleep anyway, too upset by the likely content of Jace’s dreams.
His brother rearranged himself, hugging a pillow to his chest as he turned to face Alec’s direction. His eyes were closed and his voice drowsy, “I’m still mad at you.”
“I know,” Alec replied.
Nothing else needed to be said. His breathing deepened and evened out into sleep while Alec remained awake, almost content that he was still good for something.