Chapter Text
Magnus was in his senior year at Juilliard.
It was everything he ever dreamed of and soon he would have his degree in his hands.
His dance partner Izzy was pursuing the same dream. They were a tight-knit team from the start.
Even after class, the two spent a lot of time together. They often trained late into the night. Except Fridays and Saturdays. On these two days, Magnus pursued his profession as a dancer in his part-time job.
Izzy was ecstatic when Magnus first told her about it. She couldn't believe that Magnus had actually managed to snag one of the coveted spots on the PANDEMONIUM dancing crew.
"You absolutely have to invite me as soon as you perform there" said Izzy.
"Let's wait and see for the first performances. If I know that you are in the audience I would be too nervous otherwise and I would screw it up for sure," he replied.
Izzy knew that wouldn't be the case. But she didn't press him any further.
Instead, she asked him what he thought of the assignments for their degree. Today they were told the song choices and dance styles they had to audition for their final performance.
As he had feared, there was also a ballet part. He hated ballet.
Thank god he had Izzy. She loved ballet and was also one of the most promising ballet dancers at Juilliard.
"Together we can do this, Izzy. I have no doubt about that" was all he said.
It was late Friday afternoon, so he didn't have much time to chat with Izzy. He told her he had to go and they could talk about it all on Sunday.
He had to be at the club soon for his first performance.
Everything went smoothly and the performance on Saturday also was a complete success. His colleagues all congratulated him on his brilliant start.
He checked his watch as he left the club. Could he still write to Izzy? It was the middle of the night. Regardless, she would either still be awake and answer him directly, or she would see his message as soon as she woke up.
"Hey Izzy, the first performances were amazing. You were right of course, there was no need for me to be nervous. See you later."
Half an hour later he finally arrived at his apartment. He went straight into the bedroom and threw himself down on the bed, far too exhausted for his actual evening routine.
⚣
A few weeks later, he invited Izzy to his Friday performance.
He already has had a few chances to showcase his dancing skills on stage, apart from his part-time job at one of the hottest clubs in town, PANDEMONIUM.
Up to this evening he has always given 100 percent or more at every performance.
Something was different than usual. The club wasn't nearly as crowded as typical. Ok, it was early Friday evening. The club would probably fill up even more at a later hour.
As the song started he took the stage, right in his element. Everything around him faded out.
He began with his newly rehearsed choreo. It was one of his favourite songs and thank goodness the club owner liked it too.
“I spent half my life looking for you
Just to find you here on a Friday night in the city
Ain't no way I could ignore you, no”(1)
He was snapped out of his trance when someone shouted at him "Then please don't ignore me".
What, where did that come from?
He surveyed the audience as he performed his choreography. Careful not to show anyone that the heckling had distracted him.
Was that Izzy over there? He had invited her, of course she was there. But who was that next to her? He didn't think that she would bring her brothers right away. But there they were.
Izzy had told him about her brothers. Jace, her adoptive brother, was easy to spot. He looked very different from Izzy. But her biological brother, what an apparition. Tall, dark and incredibly handsome.
When Magnus saw him, it was breathtaking. He staggered but, thank God, didn't fall off the stage.
How was he supposed to keep dancing normally when he had a spectator like that?
He had to pull himself together. "Focus Magnus, focus on your choreography!" he said to himself.
He kept dancing as if nothing had happened. After all, it wasn't the first time that one of the club guests tried to unsettle him. But there was something different about this particular guest.
He kept looking over at the three of them. Jace teased Alec and giggled. Magnus was sure Jace was the heckler, trying to draw his attention to Alec. Jace had accomplished that mission.
Izzy watched Magnus spellbound, looking a little taken aback, as if apologising to him for Jace's behaviour. He winked at Izzy.
Magnus still had a long evening ahead of him. He had only just started dancing and his performances usually lasted late into the night.
But how was he supposed to pull himself together while "tall, dark and handsome" watched him? Almost devoured him with each of his looks.
Finally the song was over and he could take a short break as the dancers, at least those chosen for the main stage, took turns.
Backstage he could let himself go. Oh my god, how was he supposed to get through this evening? The song selection for tonight would certainly not help him.
Unfortunately, there was nothing he could do about it at such short notice. Clench your teeth and pull through . There was nothing else he could do.
His brief break was over sooner than he expected. He heard the first notes of the song and went back on stage. He really had to pull himself together not to stare in Alec's direction the whole time. It's getting harder and harder for him.
I'm unruly, no you can't tame me.
Don't you know that I'm on the prowl?
I know what I want, and I don't play shy,
So baby boy I'ma hunt you down. (2)
Magnus tried to forget everything around him and give himself completely to the dance.
As the song ended, Magnus saw Izzy running after her brothers. They had left the club without him getting a chance to talk to them.
What a pity Magnus thought. He would have loved to have talked to Izzy and met her brothers, well at least Alec. He wasn't too keen on meeting Jace.
⚣
Izzy couldn't wait to go to the hippest club in town with her brothers that night.
She had waited so long for Magnus to invite her and today it finally happened.
Alec and Jace had agreed to go with her. She didn't know what Jace had done to convince Alec to accompany her, but that didn't matter now.
She had been toying with the idea of setting Alec up with her dance partner for some time now.
They would make such a great couple and today was her chance. Today she would introduce them to each other. At least she thought so.
Of course, everything turned out differently than planned.
It started with them arriving late. Magnus' performance had already begun. He danced so beautifully, Izzy couldn't take her eyes off him, she knew he was completely in his element here.
"And this is your dance partner at Juilliard?" asked Jace. "Yes, isn't he gorgeous?" said Izzy dreamily.
Alec was frozen, his eyes ran greedily all over the dancer. The man on stage was beautiful, no not only beautiful, he was breathtaking with all this glitter and that skin tight leather pants that didn't leave anything for his imagination. He had never seen a man like Magnus before and he had been dragged to many dance performances by Izzy in the hope that she could set him up with one of her friends.
So far without results, because Alec had never been interested in any of the dancers.
But Magnus, he was magnificent. Jace noticed immediately that Alec was staring at the stage, his gaze fixed on the dancer. He was absorbing Magnus's every movement. Jace's interjection snapped Alec out of his trance.
Hopefully Magnus wouldn't think that Alec had called out in between. He blushed, turned to Jace and punched him in the side.
"Jace what was that all about," Alec said a little angry. "Sorry man. I thought it would be fun. Magnus should know you're interested, don't you think?" Jace countered with a mischievous smile.
Alec felt even more uncomfortable afterwards, actually he hadn't wanted to come at all. Clubs were just not his thing, he felt uncomfortable among so many people. He had only come for Izzy's sake and the fact that Magnus was a relief for his eyes was the only positive thing about the evening.
When Magnus' second performance began, Alec couldn't believe his ears.
Had Magnus deliberately chosen these songs to flirt with Alec?
If Magnus was trying to seduce him, he was doing a pretty good job. Alec was completely at his mercy. How could he ever have resisted this man?
Breathing became increasingly difficult, he had to get out of here before he made a complete fool of himself. Without saying anything, he turned and left the club. As soon as his siblings realised what he was up to they followed him.
"What's wrong with you Alec? We can't just leave, I didn't even get a chance to say hello to Magnus," Izzy said, slightly hysterical.
Jace was amused, he guessed that Alec was totally fascinated by Magnus and that's why he took flight. However, he didn't dare say anything else about it, not after he had already teased Alec at the club.
Instead, he turned to Izzy and said, "Come on Izzy, you know what makes Alec tick. He only came along for your sake, you know that as well as I do. Let's just go home, you can write to Magnus. I'm sure he won't hold it against you."
Alec was grateful to him for refraining from making fun of him at least once.
⚣
The next morning Magnus was lying in his bed and thought about yesterday's performance. Unfortunately, Izzy and her brothers had left before he had the chance to greet them.
He would have loved to get to know Alec better. What a pity.
Magnus was caught up in his thoughts and didn't even notice that his cell phone was vibrating.
Whoever was on the other end was very pushy, but when Magnus finally noticed that his cell phone was vibrating, yes he had forgotten to turn the sound back on, it was unfortunately already too late. The caller had hung up.
So he checked who had called him. It was Izzy's number. He called right back.
"Hey Izz, sorry I saw it too late. What's up?"
"Hi Magnus, I...um...yes I called to apologise for my brothers. Jace can be a real jerk sometimes."
"Izzy, you don't have to apologise. I thought it was nice that you were there, even though your brother's heckling threw me off and I struggled a bit to keep my composure after seeing Alec."
"Ah, so you noticed him. I hope he didn't distract you too much."
"Maybe a little bit" Magnus couldn't help but giggle.
"You know what, maybe we should all meet up. Then you'll have a chance to get to know him better. I'm sure you would make a cute couple."
"um... do you really think so?"
"You know what, we all wanted to go out to eat tomorrow anyway. To the new Italian restaurant. Alec, Jace, Clary, Simon and Maia are coming too. I'd be happy if you'd come."
"Hm... ok. Let me know when and I'll see if I can set it up. See you then"
Holy shit. What should he do? Of course he wanted to get to know Alec better. Izzy had never said much about him before.
All he knew was that Alec was gay. But has not yet come out publicly. Probably afraid of how his parents would react. Izzy had told him that once, in confidence, after a night of drinking.
He couldn't think of anything else. He would do anything to go to this restaurant the next day.
But, as so often, fate had planned something else for him.
⚣
Tonight's performance couldn't have been worse. There was a sequence where Magnus performed on stage with several dancers and of course something had to go wrong today of all days.
One of the new dancers slipped and collided with Magnus. Magnus staggered and fell over his own feet because he was thrown off balance.
He immediately noticed that something was wrong with his ankle.
Ragnor had watched the spectacle from his office and when he saw Magnus fall he immediately jumped up and made his way down to the stage. Thank goodness it was still early in the evening and the club wasn't nearly as crowded as it usually was on a Saturday night.
He instructed one of the security staff to call the ambulance. Magnus had to go to the hospital, that was obvious.
His ankle was swollen and already beginning to discolour. "I hope it's just a strain," Ragnor said, trying to reassure Magnus.
While waiting for the paramedics Ragnor tried, wringing his hands, to rearrange the performances for the rest of the evening. Somebody had to fill in for Magnus.
The ambulance arrived quickly and they were able to calm Magnus down. Nothing was broken. They put a bandage on him and took him to the ambulance. Of course, the ankle had to be x-rayed to be sure.
Ragnor promised him that he would follow as soon as possible to check on him and bring him his things from the wardrobe.
Magnus was so grateful to him, he hadn't expected his boss to be so caring.
⚣
Magnus hated hospitals. It was bad enough to visit someone there, but to be a patient himself was almost unbearable.
The eternal waiting didn't make it any better. The more time passed, the more uncomfortable Magnus felt.
Hopefully, no one in this hospital would guess that the owner of this facility was his father. It was bad enough for Magnus that he had ended up in one of his father's hospitals in the first place.
When Ragnor arrived at the Brooklyn hospital center, Magnus was still in the emergency room. None of the doctors had found time for him yet.
Ragnor was beside himself with rage. Magnus had probably been there for almost two hours, waiting for a doctor to talk to him or for his ankle to finally be examined.
Seeing his co-worker lying there on the bed, his face contorted in pain, made him angry. He went straight to the nurse on duty and asked why no one had checked on Magnus yet.
After Ragnor had a word with the nurse on duty, she immediately came to Magnus' bedside. She took his particulars. When Magnus told her his full name, she looked up and stared at him in irritation. "Bane? Like Asmodeus Bane?"
Ragnor looked puzzled, Magnus hadn't told him about his father and actually Magnus didn't want anyone to know that he was Asmodeus' son.
He sighed and nodded slightly. He was not ready to actually say it. Magnus had finally broken off contact with his father a few months ago, he still lived in the loft Asmodeus had bought him, but otherwise there were no more connections with him.
The nurse asked directly whether his father should be informed and Magnus panicked. That was the last thing he needed right now. "No, he doesn't need to be bothered with such a petty little matter," Magnus said, amazed at himself that his panic was not audible.
The nurse nodded and left, promising that someone would be along shortly to take Magnus for an X-ray.
After another two hours he was discharged, on crutches and with a splint around his ankle.
He had a check-up appointment in three weeks, until then he had to rest his injured leg.
Ragnor took him home and promised to come by the next day and check on him.
⚣
Magnus lay in his bed for a long time, how could everything go so wrong?
Not only had he hurt his ankle because of that bumbling dancer, but now Ragnor also knew who Magnus' father was.
The day couldn't have gone any worse.
He looked at the clock one last time, it was already four in the morning. He felt totally burnt out, but his thoughts kept drifting back to that fateful moment in the hospital.
When Magnus finally fell into a restless sleep, the first rays of sunlight could already be seen rising over Brooklyn.
Magnus woke up in pain, thank God Ragnor had put water and some painkillers on his bedside table before he left.
He felt as if a train had run over him. After taking a painkiller, he lay down again and fell straight into a deep sleep.
Magnus didn't know how long Ragnor had tried to wake him, or how he had got into his flat in the first place. But he was glad to see a friendly face, even if he didn't know exactly why his boss was so friendly towards him.
Hopefully it had nothing to do with the fact that Ragnor now knew who his father was.
"Ah the sleeping beauty has finally awoken," Ragnor said with an amused smile on his lips.
"Um, yes you could say that and thank you for ..." Ragnor did not let Magnus finish.
"You don't have to thank me. It was the least I could do for you after you got hurt at my club because I insisted on the group gig," Ragnor said. "But you have to explain one thing, why didn't you tell me Asmodeus was your father? Were you afraid I wouldn't hire you?"
Magnus had to swallow, he had hoped that Ragnor would not call him on it. Magnus knew the history of Ragnor and his father, that had been one of the reasons why he wanted to dance in Ragnor's club to spite his father.
He knew Asmodeus wouldn't approve, but when had Magnus ever done anything to please his father?
"Ragnor, I wanted this job more than anything. I thought if you knew who my father was, you would reject me outright without even giving me a chance," Magnus replied with a shaky voice.
"Oh Magnus, I can understand your concern, but I would never hold it against you who your father is. You can't choose your family," said Ragnor.
Magnus sighed in relief. He was so grateful that Ragnor was so understanding towards him.
Should Ragnor tell him that he already knew who he was when he saw his application and that that had been the real reason why he had hired Magnus as a dancer? Maybe it would be best, but not today, not after what Magnus was going through.
⚣
It was time, today she would finally introduce Magnus and Alec to each other. Izzy was so excited, she knew deep inside that they were meant for each other.
Izzy was terribly excited, she didn't want anything to go wrong. She texted Magnus just to make sure he knew exactly when and where they were meeting.
It seemed a bit strange that Magnus didn't answer her, but she thought maybe he was still asleep. She knew he had performed at the club again the day before. Who knows when he was home. So she thought nothing of it.
In the afternoon Clary came to her, they wanted to chat a bit before dinner. The two haven't had as many opportunities to spend time alone together since Clary and Jace became a couple.
Izzy let Clary in on her plan to set Magnus and Alec up. Clary was as excited as she was. They both agreed that they had to do everything they could to bring them together. But it couldn't be too obvious.
Izzy looked at her mobile phone one last time before she and Clary set off for the restaurant. Still no answer from Magnus. This could not be good. Izzy called him, but he didn't pick up. She left him a voicemail.
"Hey Mags, I've been trying to reach you all day. We're on our way to the restaurant now. I really hope you'll come too, or at least get back to me. Don't leave me hanging!!! See u, Izzy."
When Clary and Izzy finally arrived, they saw Jace, Simon, Maia and Alec already sitting at the table.
Clary turned to Izzy and asked: "When are you going to get up the courage to tell Simon that you like him, that you really like him?
Izzy was a little irritated, was it really so obvious that she had her eye on Simon?
"I don't know what you're talking about." Izzy tried to hide her true feelings, but Clary knew better. "Yeah sure, whatever you say," she replied, shrugging her shoulders.
When the waiter came to take their order, Izzy immediately called out that they were still waiting for someone.
They all looked at her in surprise because the others thought they were all there. Izzy had only let Clary in on it.
"You didn't mention that someone else was coming. Do you have a boyfriend we don't know about yet?" asked Jace, slightly incredulous. Simon winced as he heard the words come out of Jaces' mouth. Izzy a boyfriend? No, that couldn't be. He had been planning to pour out his feelings to her for a long time, but had never yet summoned up the courage to tell her how he actually felt about her.
Izzy was shocked by Jaces' assumption, after all she had a secret crush on Simon and judging by Jaces' look he knew it.
She countered, "No Jace, there is no one. I asked Magnus to make amends for your behaviour on Friday! Your stupid heckling and then Alec just marched out. I could still slap you both for that."
Alec was totally flabbergasted, he hadn't expected Izzy to still be angry. "Um... yeah... uh. So Magnus is coming over here, yes?” stuttered Alec. Oh man Alec pull yourself together, he thought to himself.
"Yes Alec, that's not a problem is it?" Izzy had not finished speaking when everyone turned to Alec expectantly. Alec felt a little uncomfortable in his skin, he wasn't used to this much attention and didn't want it even though he knew everyone present,
"Um, yeah, sure, Iz... no problem," he stammered.
Izzy looked at her mobile phone again and was disappointed. Magnus had not responded to any of her messages. How long should they wait for him, Izzy wasn't sure.
They ordered drinks and after the waiter left to place their order, Izzy tried to reach Magnus one last time, to no avail.
She angrily threw her mobile phone on the table and said a little dejectedly, “Then not. Let's also order something to eat and enjoy the evening. I don't think Magnus is coming."
Clary took Izzy in her arms and whispered in her ear, "Izzy don't be sad. I'm sure there's a good reason Magnus hasn't contacted you. You know he would never let you down."
Of course Izzy knew that, but still she was angry, disappointed, sad.... Oh she wasn't quite sure what she was feeling, but most of all she was annoyed that once again her plan wouldn't work out.
⚣
When Magnus woke up again it was already dark, he had slept almost all day and he still felt totally drained.
At least the pain in his ankle had subsided a bit, which was certainly due to the painkillers.
He tried to get up, but immediately realised that it was a terrible mistake to stand with his injured foot.
Where had he put the crutches? He looked around and found them leaning against his bedside table.
When he looked closer, he saw a handwritten note.
"Hi Magnus, I got a call and had to leave quickly. There were problems at the club and I didn't want to wake you. I'll come by tomorrow morning to check on you. If there's anything you need, write to me.
Until then, Ragnor"
Magnus read the message again and reached for his mobile phone, he wanted to thank Ragnor for looking after him. When he saw the notifications on the screen, it hit him like a thunderbolt.
How could he have forgotten that? He had been supposed to meet Izzy today, damn it. He ruffled his hair before dialling Izzy's number.
Izzy answered the phone at the first ring.
"Ah Magnus, it's nice that you’re finally getting in touch." Magnus could tell immediately from her voice that Izzy was pretty pissed off, and rightly so.
"Hey Izzy, yeah I'm really sorry... I had a shitty night and um... I forgot to write you. I'm really totally sorry, I was honestly really looking forward to it but I had an accident at the club yesterday and was in hospital half the night...." Magnus tried not to let on how much he had been affected by all this and was glad when Izzy called out, startled, "Magnus, what happened? Are you alright? Oh man and I thought you didn’t want to meet us and just didn't know how to tell me. I should have known better."
“Yes Izzy, it's all good. I only have a strain, I should be fit again in a few weeks. But until then I shouldn't put too much weight on my foot."
And then it dawned on him. They had their first performance at Juilliard in three weeks. Shit, this performance would count towards their final grade.
It got quiet on the other end, too quiet. It was immediately clear to him that Izzy was also thinking about the performance.
"Hey I'm so so sorry. Oh man I'm so stupid, I should have paid more attention."
“Oh Magnus, we'll manage somehow. There are still three weeks until the performance and we have already rehearsed so much for it. It'll be fine, but we should talk to Luke and Aline just in case. They should know if your ankle isn't fully healed by then."
Of course Izzy was right, they needed to talk to their professors and come up with a plan if Magnus' ankle hadn't healed by then.
"Hey Izz would it be too much to ask you to come to my appartement tomorrow? I don't think I'll be able to make it to school in the next few days. We could hang out here for a bit and figure out the best way to go about it."
"Um, yeah sure I could ... uh ... Magnus I don't know where you live at all, but yeah sure I could come by around noon? If you want I can bring some food too?" Izzy now realised that she had never been to Magnus' house before, even though they had been dance partners since the beginning of their school career at Juilliard.
"Izzy that would be wonderful. I'll send you the address, see you tomorrow."
Magnus hung up and thought about why he had never invited Izzy over before.
He wasn't sure, had there even been a reason? Most of the time they had just practised in the dance rooms at Juilliard after class, or gone to Izzy's place. Somehow it had never come up that they wanted to go to his place.
⚣