Back in 2017, I started an AU with @stardustrobin. The plot went in a “What if the Circle succeeded” sort of direction, that now had Downworlders on the run & the Clave had been completely taken over by Valentine & his circle.
Alec was brought up in this sort of life & new nothing different. He was also raised around Sebastian (Jonathan Morgenstern) & I fancied the idea of them both being parabatai. Alec meets Magnus on a hunt one day, & that started a drastic shift in his life.
We never finished the AU, but we are getting back around to it now! I liked my writing from back then, & decided to post this. Probably won’t ever expand on it, but I do miss this style & hope to get it back.
Their lips crushed together in a desperate sort of passion with teeth and biting and all the roughness that accompanied the lusting excitement his blonde haired partner was feeling. Alec’s back hit the wall harshly when shoved, then he’s crowded again and his blue eyes close as more screams filled the air around them. His hand raised to push away, but his partner took him by the wrist and pinned it against the wall until he was sated and broke away on his own. Dazed, perhaps a little high from the coppery taste of blood in his mouth (which Alec was 100% sure that it was his own blood), he shook his head in an attempt to ground himself. Blue eyes shift blearily to their guest who was strewn about on the floor before them, burning away thanks to the silver powder that his parabatai had doused the wolf in. Jonathan sneered, black eyes hardly reflecting any emotion upon their observance.
Alec was all but used to those judging eyes and their cold reflections of cruelty. He had always been that way, the eldest Lightwood child lamented, but that was just how it was. He hardly had any authority to demand an emotional response from his parabatai, especially in the case of a filthy downworlder. Still, in moments like these, Alec found himself turning his eyes away as he leaned back against the wall again. His gaze tilted upward, shoulders sagging as the werewolf screamed again after another introduction to silver powder is made.
Sometimes he really wondered: is this even right?
That’s just the way things are had never been a comforting explanation, but it was one that was swallowed down in all it’s bitter and crass acceptance. There were rumors of what life was before reformation, but Alec was only a toddler back then. From the way the new council spoke, the Clave that was had been easily corrupted and trodden-over by the influence and sympathy of downworlders. As the story went, their leader- Valentine Morgenstern- had a better vision for the nephilim, one that would uplift them from their darkened times of bowing before the wills of those inferior creatures that ran amok without consequence.
Alec’s parents were close to Valentine, and- in turn- he was close to Valentine’s son, Jonathan. They had grown up together, become close– but Jonathan always had a way with Alec, some dominance over him that pulled him along like a well trained pup. Being in such close proximity to Valentine and his family did not come without concomitance- like the superiority to be felt over all things deemed less than in their training.
Once upon a time, it was said that Valentine had a beautiful wife too– but she was whisked away by his parabatai-now-turned-werewolf before the man in charge started his glorious revolution. Alec had only ever heard comments in passing about Jocelyn Fairchild, like how she still interacts and sympathizes with downworlders and acts in hopes of tearing down the power and glory that is the current Clave.
Alec had never thought much of it until his dear little sister, Isabelle, turned tail and ran for whatever resistance that Lucian and Jocelyn had formed. Still, he loved his sister more than anything else in this world (even more than Jonathan, he sometimes thought) and burned down anything and everything that the Clave could have possibly used to track her. When they came through for investigation, Alec insisted that Izzy herself had done the damages; she was a smart girl after all, she would make herself disappear entirely with how serious she was to running away.
She had insisted on Alec coming along with her, tried her best to persuade her older brother, but he always came back around to Jonathan no matter how hard he tried to leave. Izzy knew why, and disapproved with good reason; the Morgenstern boy was not the best influence or company to keep around. But for every bruise and bite and injury that Alec received, he was still too far gone (or so he believed) to give up his life here.
This was who he was, he had insisted despite the awful way his stomach knotted and twisted.
“Are we done here?” He asked in flat-planed boredom as he turned his head away from the gruesome scene.
It was about a minute longer before his parabatai responded. “Yeah,” he huffed, and he too shared the sudden disinterest in their victim, ending the werewolf’s misery at long last. “Too bad,” Jonathan genuinely sounded disappointed as he swung the blade in his hand idly. Black eyes shifted to his uncomfortable partner, and his lips twisted back in amusement. His mud-stupid parabatai was never so good in these situations.
A gentle hand rested on Alec’s hip, enticing him to look back but ultimately failing. When he did not receive the reaction he wanted, Jonathan grabbed for Alec’s wrist and dug his fingers in harshly until the Lightwood boy glared back with a questioning expression. “I was hoping he had some insight on where your sister had gone,” Jonathan finished as he released Alec’s wrist.
“You know Izzy doesn’t want to be found. She’s had the same training we’ve had-”
“-you’ve had, Alec. Not me.”
“…I’ve had. She’s not coming back anytime soon.”
“I suppose..” The blade was sheathed with a flippant sigh before the blonde boy turned on his heels and shrugged. “We tried..!” He adds in a faux sort of exasperation, unable to really keep the satisfaction of the kill from his voice. “Come on. We still have that gathering nearby to investigate.”
That was right… They weren’t even supposed to be bothering with this werewolf, it was just an unfortunate victim of circumstances, having been in the wrong place at the wrong time. Alec rolled his eyes and pushed himself away from the wall, stalking after Jonathan in a resigned state as his gaze dropped to the ground like usual.
Rumor had it that there was some collection of downworlders meeting up nearby, for whatever reason the Clave didn’t care to investigate. Their orders were simple: Find them, kill them, come home. That was all.
“How many are inside?” Jonathan Morgenstern’s voice brought the Wayland boy out of his fixated gaze as they approached. The darker blonde haired boy perked up, blue eyes blinking away the daze as they settled on the Morgenstern and Lightwood boys. He had expected them here sooner, say before the wards were thrown up. There was no feasible way of sneaking in without alerting the disgusting creatures inside now. They certainly had their tricks, after all.
“Not like it really matters,” the Wayland boy scoffed as he gestured to the building in question. “Wards are up cause you took too long.”
Their fair-haired leader leaned in as he felt that attitude was a challenge to his authority. He cupped the other Jonathan’s chin with a harsh grip, tilting his head up so blue eyes stared into black. “Excuse me…” he starts in an even tone that hardly reflected the raging storm of emotion beneath. “What?”
Alec took a step forward in an attempt to dilute the tension, if only a little. “It’s not like we could’ve gotten in without them knowing anyway. They would’ve smelled us first,” he pointed out, trying to act as the voice of reason. Jonathan Wayland had also been a childhood friend, but not as close as Alec’s parabatai. Something happened between Alec’s dad and Michael Wayland, something that really put a strain on their relationship. Despite their fathers being parabatai, Alec was hardly given the chance to really bond with the Wayland boy all that much.
Sometimes he wondered what had made their relationship so… estranged.
Nonetheless, he finds himself just a little protective over Jonathan Wayland, if only because someone has to be. Alec wouldn’t argue that his parabatai could be a little… extreme when it wasn’t necessary. In fact, he would vouch that his parabatai took great delight in his extremities.
He had a taste for cruelty that Alec simply didn’t share, but found himself falling into whenever possible.
Morgenstern released Wayland with a scoff, standing to his full height and rolling his shoulders back before that same hand rested on Alec’s arm with false reassurances and a promise of gentleness that would never see fruition. “You’re right, parabatai. I just didn’t like his attitude.” He pats Alec’s shoulder lightly, then steps away to survey the area. “Well.. We know what to do: Break in and kill as many as we can. It’s too late to surprise them now.”
“We wouldn’t have surprised them before-” Wayland tried to remind him, only to be silenced by Morgenstern’s hand shooting up in silent command. The Wayland boy took a step back with a disgruntled noise, falling into place beside Alec for comfort. “Running in without knowing who is in there would be suicide. I saw Magnus Bane with them.”
Fair-haired Jonathan waved his hand to brush off this little statement. “I don’t care about that mulato. Morale will lessen when they see his head on my wall.” He was determined, and Alec knew there would be no talking him out of this now that his mind was set. “Let’s go.”
