Gift Wrapped

Alec Lightwood found his friends in the Institute library, seated at a table that was so covered in books that it partially hid the three of them from view. All he could see was a golden mess of hair atop one book pile; a flawless pale arm, the nails of which were painted a vivid blue sticking out from behind another. Coming from behind the biggest pile was a tortured groan.

"It's really not that hard of a concept to grasp, you know?" Alec heard his sister Isabelle saying.

"Yeah, if you were raised with all of these stories," the owner of the groan shot back, and Alec had to smile. Ever since returning to the Institute from the battle with Valentine in Idris, Clary Fray had had her nose stuck in a book, trying to catch up on the mountain of Shadowhunter history that she had missed out on.

"Well, how about we go over the names of the Angels again? You need to know those so you can name your seraph blades, at the very least," Jace – ever the practical thinker – said, and Alec thought that it was time for him to interrupt.

"Umm, guys?" he said, and suddenly Clary's red mess of hair popped up from behind a book pile, and her eyes were looking at him as if to say 'get me the hell out of here'. "I need some help with something."

"Did you have anything in particular in mind? 'Cause you need help with a lot of things," Jace said with his usual smirk, and Alec shuffled slightly, shooting Jace a half-hearted glare.

"Oh Alec, just spit it out already," Isabelle said in annoyance.

"Well you see, it's Magnus's birthday, and, well, I don't know what to get him," the awkward teenager said, and his three friends were silent for a moment, before Isabelle and Clary shared a quick look.

"Jace, we're taking a shopping trip," Isabelle announced as she pulled Clary to her feet. Jace looked shocked for a moment, yet made no move to stop them.

"Can you pick me up some of that canned spaghetti while you're out? There's nothing edible to eat in this place."

"But there's still some left over-" Isabelle started.

"Like I said, nothing edible," Jace interrupted, and Isabelle scowled at him. "You can go now," he added with a dismissive wave of his hand. Clary shot him a look that said that he would most likely be forced to apologise later, before the two girls grabbed an arm each and dragged Alec out of the library.

"So, where exactly are we going?" Alec asked as the trio stood in the elevator, heading down to the street below.

"Like I said. Shopping," Isabelle replied, frowning at a less-than-perfect spot on her painted nails.

"Do you know of anything that Magnus might want?" Clary asked, and Alec sighed.

"I really don't know. He already has so much stuff, and what do you buy an eight hundred year old warlock anyway?" he said as the pair walked out onto the busy street. Isabelle led them into a swanky store that automatically made Clary feel uncomfortably underdressed, and yet Isabelle glided through like she owned the place.

"Clothes?" she suggested, holding up a designer jacket.

"I don't think it's sparkly enough for Magnus," Clary remarked with a grin, starting to get into the swing of things. Isabelle regarded the jacket, before nodding in agreement and replacing it on the rack.

"Alec, you know what his tastes are like. Go round up some things that he might like," she instructed, and Alec's blue eyes widened in surprise.

"But I don't know-"

"Oh, just find something that sparkles, or is some obscenely bright colour," Isabelle countered impatiently, waving him away. With a hesitant backwards glance, Alec wandered away like a lost puppy, and Clary turned to her friend with a frown.

"I thought we were gonna help him," she said, and Isabelle smiled.

"Oh we are," she replied. "Tell me, Clary. What is the one thing that Magnus loves above all others?"

"Is this a trick question?" Clary asked, thinking for a moment. "His cat?"

"God I hope not!" Isabelle countered with a shudder. "Alec, you dope. So what do you think he'd want for his birthday?"

"Uh, Alec?" Clary tried, and Isabelle nodded, beaming. "So then what are we doing out shopping?"

Isabelle snorted; an oddly harsh sound coming from the gorgeous girl. "Like we could send Magnus his present looking like THAT," Isabelle explained, pointing at the distant figure of Alec Lightwood. He was wearing a pair of black bootleg jeans that had holes in the knees, and had faded to a dark grey in most places. His black sweater had turned brown, and still showed traces of blood and gunk stains from countless demon hunts. His dark hair was a mess, his joggers falling apart on his feet. Alec Lightwood needed a makeover. Badly.

"I see your point," Clary admitted, suppressing a giggle. "So what's the plan?"

"Okay, you go catch up with him and pick out a new outfit. Tell him it's so he has something nice to wear for when he takes Magnus his present," Isabelle started, and Clary nodded.

"So what are you going to do?"

"I'm going to go and pick out a few extra things," she replied with a wink, before turning on her stiletto heels and gliding away through the store. Clary shook her head in wonder, before hurrying to catch up with Alec, who was still looking lost.

"Blue or green?" she heard him mutter as he held up two plain shirts, both of which Clary didn't think Magnus would ever wear. They were far too plain, and had no sparkles, shimmers, or even a picture.

"Alec?" Clary said, sidling up to the eighteen year old, whose head snapped up way too fast as he stuffed the shirts back onto the rack. "I think we need to get you some new clothes first," she added, linking arms with the boy.

"But why? We're shopping for Magnus, not me. And my clothes are fine," Alec protested, and Clary rolled her eyes.

"Yeah, if you like that gutter, homeless look," she countered. "You want to look nice for Magnus, don't you?"

"Well … I guess," Alec replied, and Clary noticed how his face flushed in embarrassment. Even though everyone knew that he was now officially dating the warlock, Alec still felt awkward talking about his feelings. Clary thought that it was adorable, and she knew that Magnus did too.

"So, we need to pick out a new outfit for you to wear. It doesn't have to be fancy, just something new. With fewer holes. And no stains," Clary explained, frowning at the faded sweater and jeans. She didn't even want to know how his clothes had ended up looking so bad; she just knew that he desperately needed something new to wear. Right now.

0.0

Meanwhile, Isabelle had a gift bag slung over one arm, and was browsing through shelves full of adult paraphernalia. With a giggle she picked up a pair of fuzzy purple handcuffs – the fuzz also containing shimmering strips of glitter – and shoved them into the gift bag, on top of a bottle of body chocolate and several paint brushes.

"Oh, just what I was looking for," she said with glee, picking up a box of edible underwear. After a moment's pause, she grabbed a second box and threw them both into her bag.

"Miss? Can I help you with something?" a male shop assistant suddenly asked, and Isabelle turned to face him with a sultry look, knowing that she was underage and shouldn't really be in this particular section of the store.

"I sure hope so," Isabelle purred. "You see, I'm shopping for my brother's boyfriend. It's his birthday, and I wanted to get him something special," she said, grinning as she noticed that the man was suddenly torn between being turned on by the attractive teenaged girl, and uncomfortable about who she was shopping for, and what she was buying. "You wouldn't happen to sell whips, would you?"

"Uh … umm … they're over on that shelf there," the man stuttered, pointing at the next shelf over, and Isabelle thanked him before gliding past. The shop assistant vanished, and Isabelle grinned. No man could get the better of Isabelle Lightwood.

The whips weren't real, Isabelle noticed straight away. Unlike her own whip, these were made with more sensual purposes in mind, not for immobilising and cutting off limbs. However, she wasn't looking to buy a real whip. Just something fun, and so she settled on a fake cat-o-nail tails, adding it to her bag.

"Now, where was the party section?" she mused, before setting off to complete her purchases.

0.0

"Clary, are you sure these jeans fit properly?" Alec asked, frowning at his reflection and doing a half turn, checking out his profile. "I mean, I like the colour, but I don't really know about the cut."

"Firstly, black is not a colour, it's a shade," Clary said as the artist in her took over for a moment. "Secondly, those jeans are supposed to fit like that. They're skinny leg jeans, and they look just fine," she finished with a smile as Alec dropped his arms down by his sides.

"Okay, but a cream sweater?" he asked, looking down at the cashmere sweater with disdain. In Clary's opinion, the lighter colour made his hair look darker and his blue eyes sparkle, but it somehow didn't look right on the boy. Maybe she was just too used to seeing him all in black?

"Maybe you're right. Wait here," she said, before disappearing in search of something else for him to try on. Alec sighed, pulling at the sweater and trying to bend his legs in the jeans. They were uncomfortably tight, and yet the young Shadowhunter couldn't help but admire how they looked on him.

"Okay, try this!" Clary called as she reappeared, shoving a shirt at Alec and pushing him back into the change room. Waiting impatiently, Clary jumped up and pulled the cashmere sweater down when Alec hung it over the door. Slipping it back onto its hanger, she put it on a nearby rack just as the door opened.

"Clary, I dunno … "

"It's perfect!" the younger girl exclaimed. The shirt was black and long sleeved, yet the sleeves had holes that ran along the top of the arms, affording glimpses of the faded Marks that adored Alec's arms. The front of the shirt had a wave of shiny silver painted onto it, and the whole shirt had very subtle glitter worked into the fabric. It was only noticeable if Alec turned a certain way under the lights, and the shirt wasn't horribly tight; yet form fitting enough to show off the fact that Alec Lightwood had a very nice body to look at.

"We just need to fix that hair of yours," Clary added, standing on tip toe in order to reach the few offending strands that were hanging in Alec's blue eyes. The boy stooped slightly and allowed Clary to smooth his hair, before he turned to regard himself in the mirror. And stopped in shock. He looked good!

"Alec, wow!" Isabelle exclaimed as she joined the pair, and her brother started pulling at the shirt in a self-conscious manner that Isabelle ignored. "You did good, Clary."

"Thanks," the redhead said with a grin, before picking up a pair of black joggers. "You'll need these too, Alec."

"Dressy, yet practical," Isabelle said with approval as Alec sat down and pulled on the shoes.

"Do I even want to know what's in the bag, Iz?" he asked, and his sister thought about it for a moment, before shaking her head.

"Can I see?" Clary asked, and after pulling out a glossy black feather boa, Isabelle held the bag open for her friend, whose face turned bright red when she saw its contents.

"Okay, now I really want to know what's in there," Alec said; yet Isabelle quickly stuffed the feather boa back on top and pulled the bag behind her back.

"You'll find out later, trust me," she said with a wink, before handing Clary a red gift bow, the kind that you would slip over a box.

"What are you going to do with that?" Alec asked, and Isabelle and Clary shared a knowing look as Alec watched on with apprehension.

0.0

Isabelle and Clary were laughing amongst themselves as they walked towards Magnus's apartment, a worried Alec trailing behind them. He still didn't know what was in the bag that Isabelle was carrying, and he had a sinking suspicion where the bow was concerned, yet couldn't bring himself to say anything to either girl. Soon enough, they were in front of the warlock's door, and Alec gulped as Isabelle rang the bell.

"Clary, bow," Isabelle hissed, and Alec's suspicions were confirmed when Clary moved towards him with the red bow, trying to hang it around his neck. As if his body were no longer attached to his brain, Alec found himself stooping and allowing the plastic ribboned bow to be draped over his head and left to hang against his chest.

"Isabelle! What a pleasant surprise!" Magnus exclaimed as the front door was flung open, revealing Magnus Bane in his rainbow jeans, sparkly blue tank top, black fishnet gloves, and his hair held up at impossible angles by what was obviously glitter hair gel. "And you've brought Clary and Alec too!" he added, and as his cat-like eyes came to rest on Alec, they widened slightly in appreciation.

"We just dropped by to say happy birthday," Clary said with a grin as Isabelle handed him the gift bag.

"And to give you your present," Isabelle finished just as Clary stepped behind Alec and shoved him towards the open door.

"Happy birthday!" she said as Magnus caught Alec as he stumbled across the threshold. The warlock blinked at both girls, then at the scarlet face of Alec, and finally at the bag that was in his hand. Lifting the feather boa aside, he peered at the contents, and then back at Alec – who had finally caught a glimpse of faux leather, purple fluff, and several unidentifiable boxes – and beamed.

"Oh fantastic! A gift-wrapped Alec, and some new toys to play with! How did you girls ever guess that this is exactly what I wanted?" Magnus said in a singsong voice, before he glided around Alec, giving the younger boy an appraising look.

"Umm … happy birthday," Alec mumbled as Magnus came to a stop in front of him once more. Looking over his shoulder, the warlock winked at the two amused girls.

"I like what you've done with him," he said with glee, before turning back to the still scarlet Shadowhunter. "And you are so adorable when you blush, Alec dear."

Isabelle giggled, linking arms with Clary. "We should probably get going," she said, and Magnus gave her a dismissive wave of his hand, as his eyes were still fixated on Alec.

As Clary turned to pull the apartment door closed, she chanced a look back at Alec and was happy to see his look of utter mortification melt into a look of gratitude as their eyes met for a moment. Magnus was happily rummaging through the gift bag, and Clary smiled as he lavishly draped the feather boa around Alec's neck. She gave Alec a smile, and then shut the door.

"Should we tell my mum that Alec won't be home for dinner?" Isabelle asked as the pair made their way down the stairs and back out onto the street. Clary gave a slight giggle, before she stopped dead in her tracks.

"Oh damn, I forgot to pick up some spaghetti for Jace!" she exclaimed, and Isabelle's eyes darkened.

"Too bad. He'll just have to reheat the casserole that I slaved over last night if he gets hungry before dinner," she hissed, and Clary suppressed a shudder.

"Yeah, I guess so," Clary said, hoping that – since she was home – Maryse Lightwood was planning on cooking something real nice for dinner. Clary didn't think that she could survive another night of Isabelle's cooking, and the subsequent quest for Chinese that went with it.

"They looked happy though, didn't they?" Isabelle said with a grin, completely changing her previous dark mood. Clary took a moment to realise that they were once again talking about Magnus and Alec.

"Yeah, they did. I think we made Magnus's day," Clary said, and then remembered the look that the young Shadowhunter had been sporting. "And Alec's day too."

"So true!" Isabelle giggled. "I don't think we could have come up with a more perfect present for the High Warlock of Brooklyn," she added with a smirk, and Clary had to agree. A gift-wrapped Alec Lightwood was simply too perfect for Magnus Bane.

The End

Author's Note - Ok, this is my first Mortal Instruments fanfic, so please be nice! I adore Magnus/Alec, and this idea came to me after reading City Of Glass, so I decided to run with it. That, and I knew I'd have way too much fun messing with Alec! The girls might be a bit OOC, but meh. Fun was had, and that's all that matters to me. I hope you all enjoyed, and please review!