Rafael slowly blinked his eyes open, mind foggy as he tried to make sense of where he was. What had happened? Where was he? He blinked the blur away until he focused on a dark ceiling. Then, his eyes darted about as he wondered about his brother's well-being.
Now he remembered.
He let out a breath of relief upon spying his little brother asleep next to him on a bed. The golden sheets covered the blue boy's body which rose steadily in his sleep. Rafael took in his whereabouts and deduced they were in Magnus' apartment. The layout was similar to his parent's room back in their future.
His head began to spin as he remembered the events over the past few hours. A quick glance out the window showed it was early morning. So much had happened that, only now was he given a chance to process. Valentine was dead, the angel was raised, Jace came back to life, a hell-hound attacked his father and Max killed it. They had been revealed. At the time, Rafael hadn't cared in the slightest that the cat was out of the bag but now he knew that the Shadowhunters would be asking questions.
There wasn't much left to do but tell the truth. However, they needed a back-up plan as to not screw up their timeline. He and Max were in serious danger of not existing, especially considering their parents' current fragile state of relationship. Looks like Max would have to erase some memories after all. Firstly, they needed to make sure their family could trust them and help them find a way to get home.
Rafael turned to Max and smiled at the Warlock's snores. Pulling the covers away, Rafael couldn't spot any injuries and felt grateful that Magnus had been able to help. Thinking of injuries, his hand ghosted over the point on his stomach where he'd been bitten. There was a dull ache but the skin was unmarred. An iratze or two were probably activated to speed up the process.
He turned back to Max and gently coaxed him awake by stroking through his hair. They needed to gather themselves. They had a big conversation coming up. Slowly Max roused from his sleep but, like Rafael, once he remembered what had happened, he sprung up and looked round wildly.
"Sh, sh, it's alright." Rafael soothed.
"Raf! You're alright!" Max grinned and pounced on his brother.
"Of course I'm alright you blue idiot. You're the one who went crazy." Rafael scolded.
"Sorry ... I saw the blood and couldn't stop myself lashing out." Max replied and pulled away sheepishly. Despite the fond feeling blooming in his chest, Rafael had to push on.
"Thanks for your concern, but now thanks to your tantrum the others will be wanting answers." Rafael sighed. Max bit his lip, unsure what to say. He felt like he was being a little harsh on his brother so softened up a bit. "Look, good job on killing the demon, but you need to be more wary about your well-being. Also maybe keep it more subtle next time?" Rafael smirked, mirth creeping into his tone.
Max gave a cheeky smile and nodded without saying anything. After a moment of silence, they caught the tail ends of conversation muffled through the bedroom door. The brothers shared an anxious look. "Can you activate a hearing rune to see how much trouble we're in?" Max asked. Rafael nodded and grabbed his stele off the side table which one of them must have left. That was a good sign, it showed they trusted them enough to use the stele and not activate any aggressive runes. Rafael felt a little guilty violating that trust by using the hearing rune but he needed to gauge the situation.
"I still think we should have restrained them." Came Jace's annoyed voice.
"We need to hear their side of the story." Clary tried to calm him.
"They're dangerous! You saw the younger one, he was literally on fire. How can you trust them after that?" He demanded.
"They've been helping us for days, why would they do that if they had evil intentions?" Isabelle snapped, feeling protective over the sibling in the other room.
"Hello? Am I only person who remembers Sebastian?!" Jace exclaimed. Everyone fell silent for a moment. Alec stood in the corner, not really knowing what to think. He didn't want to believe the boys were evil or spies but all his Shadowhunter instincts were telling him to question it until he was 100% certain. Magnus was silently seething, although he was suspicious of the boys' intentions, he hated how Jace was insinuating distrust because the boy was part warlock.
"How can you trust so easily after Sebastian weaselled his way into our group like they have? One of them was there when we revealed the location of the mirror, and the other kept disappearing. They must have set up the whole hell-hound thing and only now are they showing their true colours! Max especially can't be trusted, he could be one of Valentine's experiments."
Rafael grit his teeth in anger upon hearing and Max flinched as he heard through their connection. He hated that anyone would connect his brother in any way to Valentine but held himself back to see where the conversation would lead.
Magnus, however, couldn't hold the anger back anymore. "And what is that supposed to mean!?" He snarled. "That he can't be trusted because he's part warlock? How progressive of you! Just shows that the ideals of the nephilim never change!" Magnus laughed humorlessly and scowled at Jace.
"This isn't about Downworld politics! The fact remains that they are suspicious! Alec back me up." Jace urged. Alec gripped onto his elbows tightly. He was feeling honestly conflicted because he knew he felt a weird connection to the boys. Was it organic though? Had they enchanted him or were his feelings genuine? He felt sick at the idea of them being harmed but he had no reason for such protective instincts, so maybe they were plotting against them?
"You must have swallowed some lake water Jace because you're clearly not right in the head!" Isabelle snapped. "How could you believe that they would betray us? They're our friends." She insisted.
"You thought that way about Sebastian." Jace shot back, matching his sisters glare.
"This time it's different!" Isabelle fired back.
"How? What proof is there that it's any different? They could attack at any moment and we're providing BnB service!"
"First of all, I'm the one providing my home to all of you." Magnus interrupted, trying to calm himself down and speak with a level head. They shouldn't argue, but calmly settle the issue. "Second of all, I have wards up all over this apartment. They won't have the chance to attack, trust me." He reassured and a little bit of tension left the room.
Alec felt like he should speak up, he'd been silent ever since the lake. He hadn't known how to handle the situation. He didn't even know what he was supposed to be handling. He didn't want to have to deal with another betrayal. He didn't want to hurt them either. There was a moment of silence as everyone tried to figure out what to say.
"How do you know he isn't in league with Valentine? Have you seen the warlock before?" Jace accused Magnus. Insults were poised like venom on Magnus' tongue but he held himself back because he had seen the warlock before.
He gave a frustrated sigh. "Yes, I've seen the boy before." He confirmed and everyone else tensed. Max internally cursed once again at revealing his identity. He knew Magnus was too perceptive not to have noticed. Jace looked ready to argue once again but Magnus continued before the Shadowhunters grew suspicious. "Before you accuse me as well, I only met him once. He came to me a couple days ago looking for a potion to help him rebuild his strength. He got through my wards easily which shows he had no ill intentions. Of course he looked very different at the time, no runes in sight so forgive me for not recognising him straight away."
"Everyone was too focused on more important things, like, oh I don't know, the wrath demons invading New York, preventing Valentine raising the angel and my parabatai rune disappearing." Alec added, feeling frustrated with Jace's attitude and vague explanation of why the rune vanished. He clammed up after that and Alec felt all the more angry at his parabatai keeping secrets. He deserved to know.
"It's no wonder we got blind-sighted by the hell-hound given all that had happened. Let's just be thankful for now that Magnus wasn't harmed." Alec continued, throwing Magnus a softer look. Magnus shifted a little under his gaze, not knowing how to handle the affection hidden beneath the concern and relief.
Something had been bugging Clary since the lake, "Didn't um ... didn't Max shout 'Papa' when the demon arrived? What does that mean?" She asked curiously.
Jace opened his mouth to answer something along the lines of being affiliated with the demon. Isabelle quickly cut in, "He directed it at Magnus when the demon lunged at him."
"It was probably a command or something." Jace threw back.
"You think he'd look that freaked out by a demon attacking his friend if he was commanding it? Also, Rafael jumped in front of the hound, he saved Magnus' life! How could you think there was any malice there?!" Isabelle demanded.
"And why would I call the demon papa?" Max grumbled in annoyance. He felt a little embarrassed by his slip up of the tongue and knew they'd have to explain themselves. Before the conversation could continue, Simon, who had been filled in on what happened, heard movement in the other room.
"Um, not to alarm anyone but ... they're awake. I can hear them with my vamp ears." He explained. Everyone went silent and turned their gazes to the bedroom door. Rafael and Max tensed and shared a glance.
"Busted." Max whispered and Rafael smiled weakly in response.
"Time to talk it out."
Jace's hand instinctively rested on the blade as the doors started to open, feeling cautious. Everyone held their breath, waiting for the brothers to either show their true colours and attack, or explain. Max looked different to when they were by the lake. He had a glamour on that hid both his runes and warlock features, he didn't want to freak anyone out any further without explaining himself.
Magnus, noticing Rafael rubbing the spot he'd been bitten, felt a jolt of concern. They had both been hurt and he felt ill remembering the way the hound sunk its fangs into the boy's side. The boy who reminded him so much of Alec and made dread ring in his bones at the prospect of his Shadowhunter being in similar peril. "Are you alright?" He asked softly, not able to help himself.
"The iratzes did their work. It's a dull ache now." Rafael reassured. The boy then rubbed behind his neck awkwardly as he tried to figure out what to say. The Lightwoods in the room, as well as Magnus, couldn't help but notice the action being similar to Alec's tendencies. The similarities were startling and Isabelle was trying to work out how that was possible.
"You two have some explaining to do." Alec spoke up after the tense silence. Max felt a jolt of nerves as he recognised his father's scolding tone of voice. Usually it was followed by some sort of punishment, be it doing the dishes for a week or ichor duty for a day.
"Yes, we do. I know we kept stuff from you guys but it was all with good reason, I assure you." Rafael admitted, trying to stall just a little longer.
"And who are you to decide what's good for us?" Jace snapped, glaring at them. Max scowled back, not one to back down from a challenge from his uncle. Rafael held back an eye role and swatted Max's head, telling him to behave.
"Who are you?" Isabelle finally asked.
"Our names are Max and Rafael, but we're not from the LA Institute." Rafael decided to start small.
"And we are brothers, although I'm adopted." Max joined in.
"How can you use runes when you're a warlock?" Isabelle asked curiously.
Max looked a little ill as he remembered the circumstances of his birth and Rafael looked ready to jump in and explain. Max, however, gave his brother a look which told him he would tell it.
"You told us that a warlock experimented on Max when he was younger." Clary prompted, remembering their conversation after warning Imogen of Valentine. "You also said you had downworlders in your family."
Max sighed and hesitated before removing the glamour. Slowly his blue skin and horns appeared and his runes decorated his arms and neck. Shocked and awed gazes were cast round the room. Magnus felt protectiveness wash over him once again when he saw the blue warlock who had looked so lost when he came to him and made Madzie giggle.
"I um ... I guess I am a result of an experiment. My mother was a Shadowhunter and my father ... was a greater demon." Max admitted, feeling small. Magnus felt his gut twist at the shame on the boy's face and wanted to hug him close and say there was nothing to be ashamed of. He too was the son of a demon but it didn't define who they were. No one chose their parents whether they loved you or not.
"That's impossible, our blood and demon blood isn't compatible." Jace scowled.
Clary suddenly gasped where she stood and everyone turned to stare at her. "Unless ..." She started and looked over to the blue Shadowhunter.
"Unless, a warlock created a formula that could make the blood compatible. There's only one warlock crazy enough to try." Rafael filled in, fists clenching in anger.
Realisation started to dawn on the rest of the group. "Iris Rouse." Magnus filled in, disdain in his tone. "That woman never knew when to give up." He sighed and rubbed his temples in frustration.
"Iris Rouse was working for Valentine, how do we know you aren't doing the same?" Jace accused.
Max lost his temper, "I would rather die than side with Valentine! He's hurt my family countless times! He was a monster and would have killed me and the downworld regardless of whether I helped him so tell me, what could I possibly gain from working with him?!" Tears were beginning to sting his eyes and he fought to keep them back. He relaxed a little when he felt Rafael's soothing touch on his shoulder.
Everyone was silent once again, Jace had the common sense to look a little ashamed but suspicion still lay in his every move. All Alec wanted to do was comfort the boy himself and let him know that Valentine would never come back to hurt them again. His family was safer with the monster gone. He couldn't explain the tight feeling in his chest at seeing tears in the boy's eyes. Why did he feel so attached to them? He hardly knew them, he trusted them easily. He hadn't trusted a new person so easily since Magnus and he was still hurt by their distance. He shook the thoughts away. He couldn't think about that now, there were more pressing issues.
Isabelle decided to change topic and get more information without hurting Max further. "So, do you both have the same Shadowhunter mother? Is she a Truewright?"
Both boys shifted, knowing that the truth couldn't be held off any longer. "Um no, neither of us know who our mothers are but we're not related by blood. And ..." Rafael paused, trying to figure out the best way to explain.
"-we're not Truewrights." Max blurted and shrugged at his brother's exasperated expression.
"Why would you lie about your names? What are they?" Jace demanded, confusion clear on many faces.
"Promise you won't freak out?" Max smiled nervously.
"That's never a good way to start things." Isabelle snorted, crossing her arms. Everyone waited, with expectant expressions. Rafael took a breath and calmed his features, he needed to convince them after all. It was time they knew the truth.
"We're Lightwoods."