A/N: So, this is it, my lovely readers, this is the end of this particular story. Thanks for making the journey with me, and for leaving all those lovely, heart-warming reviews! I really appreciated every single one of them, a lot :) Which is why you'll get that other story as soon as I can make time to write a bit more of it ;) If you feel a desire to talk to me before then, feel free to PM me or haunt my tumblr (it's evlythe-evil-queen, and don't be too afraid of the scaring amount of Klaine, I'm not going to turn down a good conversation about Malec at any rate xD).

Anyway, I'm not going to keep you from getting to that last installment any longer, so there you go and I hope it'll be to your liking :)

P.S.: By the way, yes, the conundrum bit was from Kissed :)

ooooOoooo

They only broke the kiss when Alec gently pushed Magnus away, panting harshly and way too pale but with a bright smile on his face. He fell back into the pillows, closing his eyes, and Magnus immediately grabbed for his hand, trying to find the pulse at his wrist.

"Calm down, Mag," Alec murmured, one eye blinking open again to give him an amused look. "I'm fine. Just a little dizzy. Catarina said it's likely to happen, nothing but a little flashback episode."

"Can you blame me for worrying?" Magnus grumbled, his fingers not stilling until he'd found what he'd been looking for. Although it was a little too fast, even considering the fact that they'd been seconds away from making out on a hospital bed, the feeling of Alec's rapid pulse under his fingertips was reassuring. "You nearly died of a sepsis of all things less than twenty-four hours ago. I'm allowed to worry."

"You're allowed to worry, and I'm telling you not to because there's no reason for you to worry. It's just going to give you wrinkles."

"Alexander Gideon Lightwood, are you insinuating that I'm getting wrinkly?!"

"Maybe?" Alec chuckled to himself, looking two seconds away from breaking out in helpless laughter. "I would say you're getting old but I guess I'd be several centuries late for that."

Magnus was pinning him to the bed with a feral growl mere seconds later. Which was when Alec lost it and started laughing almost hysterically, twitching in Magnus' grasp until he started laughing too. They calmed down again after a few minutes, when Alec's panting was making a turn for the worse and turned into a coughing fit, forcing him to stop and take deeper breaths.

"Was that really necessary?" Magnus groaned into his shoulder, tucking himself even closer into Alec's side. He hadn't dared to just drop on top of him like he'd usually have with the way he was fighting for breath.

"I think it was," Alec choked out between deep inhales, amusement still evident in his voice despite its strained quality.

"Even though you nearly choked on your own breath?"

"Definitely." Giggling – actual high-pitched, silly giggles that made Magnus' heart flutter – Alec turned on his side and rested his cheek on Magnus' hair. "Have I ever told you how much I love your hair? It's really soft."

"Did you know that you sound really high right now?"

"Hmmm, high of you," Alec murmured, snuggling even closer to Magnus, until the warlock gave up with a sigh and just threw his arms around his waist.

"You're just trying to flatter your way into my arms, cuddle monster." Fondness was seeping through every word, causing the content smile on Alec's face to widen, the most adorable dimple forming on his left cheek.

"I won't tell anyone that you're four hundred and a half if you don't tell anyone that I love cuddling. Gotta keep up the reputation."

"Sure, sweet pea."

They stayed silent for a while, just enjoying the silence and being this close again after weeks apart, listening as Alec's breathing went back to normal.

"I've missed holding you like this. Just maybe not in a hospital bed," Magnus said softly, at last breaking the silence. Alec only slightly muffled his snort in his chest where he'd slid down earlier. "I hope you didn't just get snot on one of my favorite shirts."

"Oh, as if you couldn't just snap it away even if I did," Alec mumbled, cuddling even closer. "And I missed it, too. I missed you."

"I kind of noticed. So did my mailbox."

"I'd say sorry but I'm not really sorry."

"Alec?"

"Huh?"

"Did you actually fulfill that horridly overused romantic film clichée and called me just to hang up without leaving a message because you wanted to hear my voice?"

A moment of silence. "... Yes?"

"And now you're blushing," Magnus chuckled, not even needing to feel the overheated skin of Alec's cheek against his thin shirt to tell. "Every time I think my memory is playing tricks on me and just glorifying your adorableness in your absence you come tumbling back into my life only to be even more precious than I remember."

"Jace broke my phone," Alec threw in after a moment of blushing even harder, to Magnus' amusement. "Twice." He sounded rather petulant, making him even more adorable.

"He did?" Magnus felt Alec nod against his chest. "Why?"

"I quote 'Friends don't let friends keep calling their exes and hanging up'."

"And you memorized an exact quote of something Jace said because...?"

"That phone was brand new. I may or may not have put duck sheets on his bed right before a mission so that he'd only notice when he'd wake up in revenge."

Magnus buried his head in Alec's hair, trying to muffle his laughter. "Of course you have, darling." Absentmindedly, he started playing with the soft strands. "I wonder what it is with Herondale boys and ducks. It must be a genetic animosity."

"So Will hated ducks, too, I guess?"

Magnus nodded. "And ingrained that hatred into his children and grandchildren from a young age. It seems to have passed down as a family tradition. Which doesn't solve the mystery because Jace was never raised by a Herondale."

"Jace is insane enough to come up with a fear of ducks on his own," Alec chuckled, leaning back into Magnus' touch, seconds away from purring.

"Someone is enjoying this way too much."

"I'm allowed to. I nearly died not twenty-four hours ago, you said it yourself." Magnus burst into laughter, pushing Alec away from him a little so he could press a soft kiss to his lips. "Idiot," he whispered softly, pushing a stray strand behind Alec's ear.

"Call me whatever you want, just don't stop doing that," Alec sighed, leaning back into Magnus' gently scratching fingers with a smile.

"Sounds oddly familiar, though a bit out of context," Magnus smirked, ducking quickly so that Alec's lazy attempt at a playful hit missed by a hair's breadth.

"What, no blushing?" Alec could almost hear the pout in Magnus' voice.

"Nah, too relaxed for that."

They fell back into companionable silence for a while, just breathing each other in and thinking.

"So, where do we go from here?" Alec was the one to break it first this time. "Because if you think I'm letting you leave my arms anytime soon, I should probably inform you that you're mistaken."

"I don't know," Magnus said, sounding thoughtful, the hand still playing with Alec's hair finally stilling. "Where do you want it to go?"

"I think we both know where I want this to go. The question is, do you want the same?"

"We'd both have to work on communicating quite a bit for this to work."

"I'm willing to try, if you are. Was it so difficult and horrifying to actually tell me something from your past that meant something to you?"

"Difficult? Yes. It means remembering and remembering usually means either sweet melancholy or pain. Or both. Horrifying? No. I actually like sharing those memories with you, I think."

"And I like hearing more about your past, so that would be a match."

"You're entirely too curious for your own good, Alexander. I don't think letting you in on my past could possibly make losing you any harder than it's already going to be, so no need to throw that wall up again. What about you? Planning on meeting up with any more murderous exes of mine to plot my descent into mortality behind my back, now that you won't have to sell your blood for memories anymore?"

"You make me sound like some kind of prostitute or drug dealer," Alec complained, then fell silent for a second. "Oh by the Angel, I am some kind of blood-dealing prostitute for vampires. What was I thinking? I must have been more desperate than I remember, though that's probably thanks to my last shreds of dignity trying to protect me from the truth."

"Oh Alec," Magnus chuckled, "how I missed you. I think I might be willing to try again if you promise to drop out of the business, my little blood-dealing vampire prostitute." This time, Alec's playful hit didn't miss its aim.

"Very funny, mister. But if you actually want me to say it, no more deals with vampires to get information about you and no more meeting up with your exes behind your back. Though I'm slightly afraid to ask how many murderous ones there actually are, if you're that concerned."

"Oh shut up, Alexander," Magnus growled, throwing the closest pillow in his face.

"So does that mean we try again?"

"That's what I've been trying to say."

"I could be okay with that."

"So what do you say if instead of going home with your siblings when Catarina lets you out of here you come with me and we have a little history lesson?"

"No taking it slow?"

"I would love to, but there's kind of a war on our doorstep and I don't want to waste another minute without you if I can help it. Also, I miss the fantastic sex."

Alec broke into another round of hysterical laughter. "Of course you do," he wheezed once he'd regained some semblance of control. "Why did I even ask."

"So what do you say to my proposal?"

"I'd love to accept it, but I have to ask Jace and Izzy first. They were worried about me."

"To be honest, I'm worried about you, too," Magnus said from where he was still resting on the pillows, watching Alec type away on his phone.

"Oh?" Alec rose a questioning eyebrow, looking up from the small screen.

"Well, Catarina did say that you were not only dehydrated but also undernourished and sleep-deprived when she found you."

With a sigh, Alec sent the message and put his phone back onto the side table, turning to face Magnus. "Total honesty?" Magnus nodded.

"I think the whole situation has gotten too much for me." Alec winced as soon as the sentence was out. "God, that sounded pathetic coming from a Shadowhunter."

"You've got to stop calling yourself pathetic, love. You are anything but. Now instead of talking yourself down, care to elaborate on that?"

"Fine." Alec heaved a deep sigh before he continued. "It's just... When I'm not patrolling I'm on a hunt and unlike the others, I do have to attend Clave meetings and the like. I don't think we've ever been in quite such a bad situation, even during the Mortal War. It's so much harder to even guess at what that bastard might be doing next. His plans are much more diabolic than anything Valentine would have come up with. I'm scared. I've lost my brother, my baby brother no one would have dreamed of getting hurt, in a war maybe half as bad. What are the chances that, considering all my remaining family are going to be up front and in arms this time, all of them will survive?

"And what about you? Last time we had to face him he didn't even have his full forces at hand and you nearly got killed. Immortality doesn't keep you from being stabbed, as you like to point out. I'm bound to lose some of you and there is nothing I can do to protect anyone. I feel completely and utterly useless. Helpless. Can you blame me for losing my appetite, or sleep, over that train of thought?"

"Did you talk to anyone about this?" Magnus grabbed for his hand, holding it tightly.

"No." Alec shook his head. "I can't. I'm... I'm the older brother. I'm supposed to be strong for my siblings. After all, they're in the very same situation and you don't see Izzy or Jace breaking down. Give them something to kill and it works well enough as a distraction, for a time. It doesn't work for me. I can't stop overthinking everything. They're the warriors, I'm the protector. There's more than enough to do for them. For me, there's only a feeling of impending doom and helplessness and it's eating away at me. It's the kind of thing I'd come to you with. Because I know I don't need to protect you, not in that way."

"And that means a lot to me," Magnus said softly, pressing a kiss to the back of the hand he was still holding. "But I'm still going to kick your ass if you don't start taking better care of yourself from this second on."

"Yes, Sir," Alec chuckled, sliding down on the pillows and leaning in for a soft kiss. "Is the questioning over now? Because I really want to take a nap and then go home with you." An adorable yawn escaped him before he could suppress it.

"Yes, you've been sufficiently painfully honest with me for today to deserve your beauty sleep. And when you wake up, Catarina will finish up getting that demon poison out of you and we can cuddle on the couch while you question me on whatever you want."

"Really? Whatever?"

"Whatever you can come up with."

"Even if you don't really want to tell me?"

"Even then."

"Sounds like a wonderful afternoon. Is there tea involved?"

"Tea and all the blankets I can find."

"Mhh, you're the best."

"Believe me, I know."

And as Alec slowly drifted into sleep in his arms, his soft, sleepy laugh still ringing in his ears, Magnus thought that maybe, just maybe the unfathomable hurt Alec's eventual death would mean was actually a just price for all the love and joy and laughter he'd bring with him in his lifetime. That he'd be glad to pay it and bear the unbearable once more if that meant he could have Alec for as long as possible. Perhaps he should send that tiny spider demon a bouquet to whatever dimension it was currently in, because it had definitely forced them to learn a valuable life lesson or two. (It had also led to a reinforcement of the rule that Magnus was the one to take care of all and any spiders, no matter how tiny, showing up in the apartment. If Chairman Meow wasn't quicker, though that had the unpleasant side effect that he liked to bring Alec his dead prey as a gift. But that's a whole different story)