Isabelle, Maryse, Jace, and Robert were all seated in the living room of the institute, discussing their predicament in hushed tones. They were interrupted, however, by a very flustered-looking Buddy, who stormed into the room with a panicked expression.
"What's going on? Who let you in?" Maryse asked, standing from the couch.
"Clary let me in. Something's wrong." Buddy said, panting slightly; he had obviously run a fair distance.
"What is it?" Isabelle asked.
"Elfred's missing. Do you know where Alec is?" Buddy asked.
"He's in his room..." Isabelle said, realizing what Buddy was implying, and getting up to check on him. She returned a moment later with and identical expression as Buddy's.
"He's not there." Buddy sighed. It wasn't a question.
"What does this mean? You think the Seelie Queen stole them back?" Jace asked.
"Maybe...Or they may have gone voluntarily..." Buddy suggested. No one in the room knew which of the two they would prefer.
"What do we do now?" Maryse asked.
"The only thing we can do: get in there and see for ourselves what is going on."
MALEC MALEC MALEC MALEC MALEC MALEC MALEC MALEC MALEC MALEC MALEC.
Magnus zoned out of the dramatic speech that the Seelie queen was giving to process the information. It was a boy. Alec and he were having a son. He wrapped his arms around his stomach, and bowed his head. That thought made him want to break down: Alec may never meet his son. God, how he hated the Seelie Queen. If he were let go after this was over, nothing would ever be the same. He knew that he rather die than go back into the 'real world' and pretend that none of this had happened.
Magnus looked up slowly as he realized that all had gone silent in the room. He looked up to see the Seelie Queen staring open-mouthed at the door across the room. He glanced over and was surprised to see Elfred standing there. What the hell was he doing? He was in exile; he knew that to come back would be fatal.
"Elfred..." The Seelie Queen gasped out in shock. Magnus saw something that he had never seen before in her expression...he couldn't quite place it.
Elfred smiled, without kindness behind it. "Good day, Mother."
MALEC MALEC MALEC MALEC MALEC MALEC MALEC MALEC MALEC MALEC MALEC.
Buddy led the way to the entrance to the fae's realm, he stopped suddenly after spotting a figure sitting on the side of the pool in the moonlight. The figure looked up at them through the short, dark veil of its hair.
"Alec? What are you doing here?" Isabelle asked, stepping towards her brother.
"I-I'm sorry, Buddy...Elfred said that you would be mad if you knew what he was doing...I would have told you, but...I need Magnus back." Alec confessed. Buddy knelt in front of the boy and put a comforting hand on his shoulder.
"I'm not mad, Alec, just please tell me what Elfred is doing."
"He-he said that he had a p-plan for how to save Magnus, and he said that it was the only way, so I agreed to let him do it..."
"Alright, but what does this plan involve?" Buddy prodded.
"He didn't say, he only said that you would not be happy if you found out that he was doing..." Buddy nodded and stood, turning back to the Shadowhunters.
"I will go in after him. If Magnus is let out, please just take him home. Don't wait up for us..." Buddy turned, and without waiting for a reply, walked into the water, and into the fae's domain.
Alec stood as Buddy disappeared into the water. He started in after the warlock, but Isabelle stopped him.
"What do you think you're doing?" Alec turned to his sister, and she could tell that he was worried.
"Buddy obviously thinks that something is wrong, and it's my fault. I'm going in after him." With that Alec plunged himself into the water.
MALEC MALEC MALEC MALEC MALEC MALEC MALEC MALEC MALEC MALEC MALEC MALEC.
"What are you doing here?" The seelie Queen asked, breaking the shocked silence.
"I am here for my friend, Magnus Bane." Elfred said, giving Magnus a small smile.
"What on earth do you want with that warlock?" She said, looking down at Magnus in disgust.
"Well, for starters, I want you to let him go." She studied him for a moment, before glancing at Magnus again.
"Why should I let him go?" She asked.
"Because, Mother, if you let him go, you will have your son back." Elfred avoided the horrified look on Magnus's face, as he stared straight-faced at his mother.
"I thought that you chose exile because you wanted nothing more to do with our life." She said, clearly not completely against the idea of agreeing to the deal.
"I did. And I still stand by my opinions, but my friend doesn't deserve what you are putting him through, and I will not let you ruin his life and the life inside him."
"Elfred, you can't!" Magnus said, before he was silenced by one of the guards standing over him.
"Magnus, I have heard many stories of your life before Alexander, and none of them very pleasant. You deserve this chance to be with him and to be happy. I have already had my chance, and while short-lived, it was amazing. I would hate myself if I knew that you and Alexander suffered for something I could have prevented." Elfred turned back to his mother, and took a deep breath. "Is it a deal then?" He asked.
The Seelie Queen looked down at Magnus, and slowly nodded. "It is." She said.
"You shall let him go and never seek him or his child again?" He asked, "And in turn I shall remain here." She nodded, somewhat reluctantly. "I also request that you give him one wish. He deserves it after what you put him through."
"Agreed." She said.
The guards stood Magnus up and were about to take him to the entrance when Buddy burst through the doors.
"Buddy, what are you doing here?" Elfred asked.
"I'm here to stop you." Buddy shook off the guards that approached him and walked up to Elfred.
"I have to do this, Buddy, for Magnus and Alexander, and their unborn child." Elfred gently cupped Buddy's face in his hand, and looked pleadingly into his eyes. Buddy shook his head and Elfred could see tears welling up in his eyes.
"What about your child-"
"I'll never stop loving Christie, you know that-" Buddy interrupted him by grabbing his hand and moving it down to rest on his stomach.
"Your children." He corrected himself. Elfred stared down at where his hand rested, before glancing back up at his husband.
"You're pregnant?" He asked quietly.
"Yes..." Elfred pulled his lover into his arms and hugged him tightly. He let the tears fall from his eyes and buried his face in Buddy's shoulder.
"I'll always love you and I'll never forget you." He whispered, before pulling away. He stared one last time into Buddy's heartbroken expression before turning back to his mother.
The Queen stood in shock, staring at her son and his lover's little exchange. She shook her head slowly, before sitting down on her throne with her head in her hand.
"Leave me." She said quietly.
"What?" Elfred asked, unsure of what she had said.
"I said leave. Bane will get his freedom, and his wish, but please just...go." Elfred stood, staring at his mother in amazement. She felt...sorry for them.
Magnus watched the scene unfold in amazement. He decide that he was wrong in thinking that she was heartless...but he decided that he was probably right in thinking that the secret was love.
MALEC MALEC MALEC MALEC MALEC MALEC MALEC MALEC MALEC MALEC MALEC MALEC.
Alec opened the doors to the Seelie Court and was surprised to find it full of people. There was a crown of fae surrounding the scene taking place in the middle. He saw Buddy and Elfred, as well as the Seelie Queen, but couldn't seem to focus on them. He saw only Magnus. Magnus stood right in front of him, in the middle of two guards, looking upon the scene in front of him with amazement. Alec took no heed of the guards and threw himself at the warlock. He pulled Magnus into an embrace and kissed him with as much passion and love as he could muster.
"Alec!" Magnus gasped as he pulled away. Alec leant his forehead against Magnus's and smiled. The broke apart when they heard someone clear their throat. They looked up to see Elfred and Buddy standing there hand-in-hand.
"Shall we get out of here and have this little reunion elsewhere?" Elfred asked, causing Alec to blush and nod.
The two warlocks, the shadowhunter, and the fae left the Seelie Court, and travelled back up to the shore of the small pond.
MALEC MALEC MALEC MALEC MALEC MALEC MALEC MALEC MALEC MALEC MALEC MALEC.
The Seelie Queen had never before been so ashamed and embarrassed before. Not only had she let her son and the 'key to a better future' go, but in front of her citizens! She sat on her throne for a long while, the silence in the room deafening, until one of her guards by the name of Fykien stepped up.
"You did the right thing, My Lady." He said. She thought him to only being trying to comfort her and shook her head.
"Please, just...don't even try." She requested.
"You know that I cannot lie. Does anyone here think that she did the right thing?" He asked, addressing the gathered fae.
There was a moment's hesitation before the room burst into applause and cheers. She looked up in shock at her people. She could sense that they were not lying. She, the cold-hearted Seelie Queen, smiled.
MALEC MALEC MALEC MALEC MALEC MALEC MALEC MALEC MALEC MALEC MALEC MALEC.
Once the group was outside in the cool night air, they were all bombarded with questions. Magnus let Elfred and Buddy answer them, wanting only to be with his boyfriend. When they were able to escape the Lightwoods, the four of them went back to Buddy and Elfred's place, where Alec and Magnus were to be staying. Buddy dismissed Clary, who had agreed to babysit Christie, and soon they were alone.
They all took a seat around the dining room table, and sat in silence for a long moment.
"Are you alright, Magnus? You haven't said much since we got out." Alec asked.
"I'm fine...I just forgot to tell you something."
"What? What is it? Is something wrong?"
"No, nothing's wrong...it's j-just that...you're going to have a son." Elfred and Buddy were pleasantly surprised by the revelation, and congratulated them. Alec sat, frozen. "You okay, Baby?" Magnus asked.
"I...I love you." Alec said, at a loss for anything else to say, and pecked Magnus lightly on the lips.
Magnus smiled and then turned back to Buddy. "What about you guys? How far along are you, Buddy?" He asked.
"Wait, what? You're pregnant?" Alec exclaimed, turning to Buddy in shock.
"Yeah...Around a month, I think." Buddy said.
"Wow, déjà vu much!" Magnus said, with a kind smile, which was returned by the other warlock.
They conversed for a long while about what had happened and what was about to happen, until finally they decided to head to bed. Magnus and Alec lay in each other's arms that night, thankful that the drama was over...little did they know it had only just began.
To be continued...