Faith in the Face of Instability
( @shadowhunterbingo square: Magic) Reyhill, Teen, no warnings (Read on AO3) Lorenzo’s magic is unstable. There’s little he can do about it - whatever they did to him, whatever that potion was they tipped into his mouth against his will - is doing something to his powers. He has some control over it if he can reach into the deepest parts of his connection to it, but the way it reacts to any sound, the way it startles against his will from his fingertips, isn’t good.
It’s erratic and it’s dangerous, both of which he could tolerate when the only people around were the people who did this to him. But now, left alone, he wonders how long he might have to stay here to wait it out before it’s safe enough to seek help.
He’s also in pain. So much pain that the slightest movement is enough to set off his magic in reaction to the sharp lightning bolts of pain that shoot through his nerves with every movement, with every too-sharp breath.
He wonders if he won’t die from the war inside of himself first, tugging at his very essence.
“Lorenzo?” He hears his name spoken in a relieved tone. “Thank the Angel we found you-”
“Stay away,” Lorenzo says, stilling Andrew in the doorway. “My magic is unstable.”
As if on cue, the golden yellow magic that was previously crackling lightly at his fingertips flares up, and Lorenzo has just enough awareness to hold his hands out to his sides, doing his best to direct it into harmless beams to either side of them that damage only concrete walls.
“You need to go,” Lorenzo says.
Andrew hesitates. Lorenzo’s magic, feeling the intrusion in the otherwise empty space, reaches out for the Nephilim. Lorenzo feels it pooling around him, tugging away, straining to be freed from Lorenzo’s stubborn hold on it.
“No,” Andrew says finally, taking a step closer. He motions for the other Shadowhunters who arrived with him to leave, an order they don't hesitate to follow at the sight of Lorenzo's erratic magic.
“Andrew, please. I don’t know how much longer I can contain it,” Lorenzo manages, gritting the words out through clenched teeth.
“I’m not leaving you here in pain,” Andrew says. It’s a promise that’s as terrifying as it is reassuring to Lorenzo. “I’m not leaving you here alone.”
There’s an unspoken fear lingering behind that last sentence: Andrew doesn’t want to leave him here alone in case this is it - in case he dies here at the hand of his own magic.
“You goddamn stubborn-” Lorenzo starts, but stops abruptly as the magic flares again. It takes everything he has left to contain it, but he knows it won't be enough this time. His magic crackles along his skin like static electricity.
"Do you trust me?" Andrew asks rhetorically, knowing full well that Lorenzo does. "Because I trust you."
“I can't… Andrew, run!” Lorenzo warns, barely able to grit the words out through clenched teeth.
To his horror, Andrew doesn't run. Or, he does, but he runs closer. Andrew runs straight to Lorenzo and grabs his hands, clutching them tight even as Lorenzo tries to break contact and pull away.
“I got you,” Andrew says to him as if that’s enough. Maybe it is. Maybe it has to be because Lorenzo can feel the last thin thread of control he has snap just as Andrew pulls Lorenzo up against him, wrapping his arms around the warlock. “I got you.”
Lorenzo’s magic explodes out of him in every direction. It looks like a shockwave, one that starts with him and reverberates throughout the entire room in one wave of powerful, destructive energy that practically obliterates everything in its path from Lorenzo to the cement walls of the room around them which crack upon impact.
Everything except Andrew, who remains safe and wholly untouched, arms still wrapped around Lorenzo.
“Are you okay?” Lorenzo asks Andrew, reaching a hand out to check him with magic, except there’s not a single drop left in him to use. “Did I hurt-”
“I’m fine. I’m totally fine, Ren,” Andrew promises him. “Are you okay?”
“I-” Lorenzo starts, but stops again, trying to control his ragged breathing and shaking hands. It takes a few minutes for Lorenzo to calm down enough to process what just happened, surveying the damage to the room around him as his breathing slows and evens out.
“How did you know?” Lorenzo asks finally.
“I didn’t,” Andrew admits. “But I had faith. You wouldn’t hurt me, and your magic is a part of you. I took a chance and followed my gut.”
“You took a-” Lorenzo starts, breaking off in a huff of incredulous laughter. “You could’ve died.”
“I didn’t. And neither did you. Can we please just focus on that for now and get out of here? You can yell at me for being stubborn when we’re both safe at home,” Andrew pleads.
Lorenzo shakes his head but allows Andrew to lead him in a few tentative steps forward, closer to safety - closer to home.
