Chapter Text
Alec shot up with gasping breaths as he tried to calm himself down. He heard shuffling next to him and then the bedside lamps flicked on after a snap of blue magic. He closed his eyes and slowed his breathing when Magnus’ hand found his own.
“It’s okay, Alexander. You’re safe, deep breaths,” Magnus whispered as he ran his free hand through Alec’s hair knowing he had a nightmare and this usually relaxed him. He repeated the motion for a few minutes while Alec leaned into his side. “Do you want to talk about it?” he asked quietly after Alec’s breathing was normal again.
Alec sighed and looked over at Magnus’ soft smile. “Bad dream...It was...I got called into an emergency patrol with Izzy and some training hunters. We were fighting the demons and then one of the kids misjudged their swing. I got hit in the stomach with a blade covered in ichor and then I just felt pain and heard Isabelle’s scream until I woke up.”
Magnus shuttered as the image played out in his head and leaned over to press his lips to Alec’s temple. “Do you know what brought that on? You aren’t one to have random dreams like that.”
“I’ve been leading simulation training this week and I haven’t done them since I was in training myself. I used to have nightmares about them all the time as a kid. It must be old memories, I guess,” Alec rattled off as he was still a little shaky.
“Understandably so, darling. Are you able to go back to sleep? It’s only 3:30,” Magnus asked as he made the move to lie back down, bringing Alec with him.
Alec let his head rest on Magnus’ chest as he wrapped himself in the comfort of their bed. “Yeah, I’m okay. I just need to be close to you.”
“No complaints here, love. Get some sleep,” Magnus replied as he felt Alec’s breathing start to even out and they both quickly fell back asleep.
---
Alec had been teaching the recruits the workings of the map system in the Ops Center when Isabelle rushed in and asked for his assistance with a warehouse attack. He called out orders to the surrounding hunters and decided that the recruits would come along for field observation.
They arrived at the warehouse and he told them to stay to the side while he worked with Izzy’s patrol team to take out the nest. “Iz, behind you!”
Izzy snapped her head around and took the legs out from the demon while Alec’s arrow hit dead center in the demon’s forehead. “Nice shot, big brother!” Izzy called back as she ran around one of the posts to cover his back.
Their team had split sides leaving Alec and Izzy handling the left with Underhill and Clary while the other four hunters had the right. Alec’s recruits were watching the left side from behind an area of shelves when a demon snuck past the group towards their leader.
“Mr. Lightwood!” one of the young girls called out causing Alec to spin around. Izzy had wrapped around the side to line up a clear shot for her brother.
One of the recruits had left the group and attempted to put their dagger through the demon at the same time Izzy snatched it with her whip. The boy couldn’t pull his arm back in time so he caught the arm of the demon which covered the blade in ichor before it plunged straight into Alec’s stomach.
“ALEC!” Izzy screamed as she continued fighting the demons surrounding him.
Alec gasped loudly in pain and dropped his bow to cradle the wound while his balance faltered. He remained on his feet and unholstered his blade to continue fighting the demon coming towards the group of trainees with one hand while the other tried to stabilize the blade that was still in his stomach so he didn’t bleed out.
“Clary, open a portal,” Alec yelled when the last demon was finished off by Underhill who immediately went to Alec’s side, supporting his weight, while Izzy moved in and helped Alec keep the blade still. Clary pulled out her stele and drew the portal rune while shouting orders at the trainees.
“Alec!” Jace yelled as soon as they came through the portal. He took Alec from Underhill’s hold and started taking him towards the infirmary. “I called Magnus as soon as I felt your pain. He will be here soon.”
Alec just nodded as he felt himself getting weaker. “There’s ichor….on the blade…” Alec choked out as he clung to Jace who was basically carrying him. “I don’t think it hit...anything vital….just the poison…” he mumbled thickly as he coughed to try clearing the pain in his voice.
“It’s okay, Alec. We’ll fix it,” Izzy said as she helped Jace get their brother on the infirmary bed. Medics flew around them hooking up Alec to machines and an IV to replace his lost blood since the poison in his system caused his runes to be obsolete. Izzy and Clary helped them set up the monitors while Jace removed Alec’s layer of heavy gear leaving just his torn shirt and pants.
A golden portal flourished open in the doorway revealing a polished but frantic looking Magnus. His eyes flicked to the now black, blood soaked t-shirt on Alec’s torso that was light grey earlier that morning as well as his husband’s sickly pale, sweat-shined skin. Magnus leaned down and pressed a kiss to Alec’s forehead before he whispered, “I’m going to fix you up, darling. Just stay with me.”
After ten minutes of removing the poison and eventually stopping the bleeding, Jace and Clary helped a swaying Magnus into a bedside chair while Izzy started to bandage around Alec’s still recovering torso. “I know it goes without saying, but thank you Mags,” Izzy said with a smile as she took his hand.
“Of course, you nephilim have grown on me. I do what I can to keep you around, especially this one,” Magnus said softly while running his fingers along Alec’s bandages before he looked up at Izzy with a furrowed brow.
“Magnus, what’s wrong? Are you not feeling well? You used a lot of magic,” Izzy rattled off as she moved to sit beside him while Jace and Clary took a seat on the opposite side of Alec’s bed.
“No, I just...was thinking about last night. Alexander, he had a nightmare and nearly the same thing happened in his dream,” Magnus said as he motioned to Alec’s bandaged torso.
Izzy tilted her head in thought. “Replay the dream, see if it was the same thing.”
Magnus nodded and thought back to early that morning. “He said you asked him to go out on an emergency patrol with him and he took the trainees with him. From what it sounded like, it was just you two and them. Alec said one of them took a wrong swing and ended up stabbing him in the abdomen. All he remembered after that was intense pain and you screaming before he woke up.”
Izzy shivered and leaned into Magnus’ side before shaking that image from her mind. “That is not exactly what happened even though the result was the same. I asked Alec to come to the warehouse nest with Clary, Andrew, and my team so there were eight of us along with his group of trainees that he brought along for field observation only.”
“So they weren’t even supposed to be involved?” Magnus asked with wide eyes.
Clary shook her head and answered for Izzy. “No, Alec requires that recruits now have to put in fifteen hours of field observation before they get approved for field work to make sure they don’t freeze up during their first fights. He is trying to limit new hunter injuries.”
Magnus hummed as Izzy nodded in agreement before she explained the rest of the fight in detail. She was trying to defend the recruit because she knew Alec would never actually blame him. “The kid didn’t have enough time to stop his reflex movement and Alec was lining up his shot so he was focused on me. He didn’t even see it coming, but the recruit was just trying to protect his leader.”
“Well, sure, I guess. And all of that doesn’t exactly line up with his nightmare. Maybe just a coincidence then?” Magnus asked hesitantly as he reached up to the bed and took Alec’s hand in his own.
“I know things in our world are rarely a coincidence, but Alec has never had prophetic dreams or anything close to that. He used to have simulation nightmares all the time when we were growing up so it’s probably just that and unfortunately this happened today,” Jace answered with an agreeing nod from Izzy.
“Alexander said the same thing last night about the simulations. Any chance someone can take over the recruit training?” Magnus offered with a small smirk.
Jace looked up at him with a similar smirk. “Underhill has been the new trainer for the past hour. My only act as second in command.”
Magnus’ smile sobered at his answer. “Thank you, Jace.”
“Right back at ya, Magnus.”