lavender blue (dilly dilly)

For a brief moment there was absolute panic in the moment his son got up to leave the room. Whenever one was dragged out of the cell, they were subjected to experiments and torture - at least in his case, he still hoped Alf was spared that one. And yet he knew there was torture involved. They haven’t given his son sustenance most of the time meaning Jake served as his sons meal while they gave Jake this horrible potion that seemed to effect him in ways he couldn’t name yet. 

Jake looked up at his beloved wife. She was here. And Alfred was safe. He was just going out with Magnus. Magnus would keep him safe. He could trust his younger brother and so he could turn into his wifes touch.

“They found me. I… wouldn’t have had the strength…” He admitted.  And there was much more that was wrong. He was longing for something, needing something he knew he shouldn’t need. Well more than one thing. He was starting to sweat. “Love…this isn’t over…” He finally said. “What they did…My body needs that potion…and venom.”

Eli could hear Magnus behind the door, speaking so lowly with Alf that she couldn’t make out their conversation. But, it was comforting to know that her son was just behind the door and not lost to her. Eli was determined not to let either of them more than 100 yards away from her. She brushed hands over his forearms, a constant reassurance to her that he was there. 

Jake’s panic though, at Alf’s absence sent ripples of anger through her. Anger at the Circle who had caused immeasurable pain to her beloveds. She would take the wrath of any Shadowhunter if it meant hunting down the offending Circle members and causing them the same pain. 

She had wondered what had kept the vampire living (or continuing to exist after death), and she could never had imagined that Jake would have fed him his own blood. He’d given up his own life force to keep Alf alive, and Eli couldn’t have loved him anymore than she did then. “Jake,” murmured the blonde warlock, her words faltering as she took in the implications. She knew realistically it wouldn’t be that easy, that getting him and Alfred back wouldn’t be the end of it. 

Brushing a hand across his forehead, Eli glanced towards the door before she spoke again. “Oh my darling.” Settling her weight next to him, she sat with her body angled over him. “Whatever you need, I’ll be here to help. All of us will.” They had so many children who loved him as much as she loved him, they wouldn’t be hard pressed to find people willing to lend a hand when needed. 

She was here. After all these years, after all the pain, she was here. She was like a golden shining light in what seemed to be a never-ending darkness. His magic flared up a little, as if trying to reach out for its partner. They had been united for hundres of years, they and their magic partnered for so long, that it was instinct now, that his magic reached out for hers. Even in its weak flickering it reached out for hers, like he himself was almost too weak to do.

“You…you made me survive….” He whispered. Alfred was what tethered him to this world. He fought for him, had purpose to serve his son and keep him alive, but the idea of seeing Eli again, it drove them both to fight harder. They wanted to see her again. “I… missed you. We missed you…”

He held his hand up as far as he could in his weakened state, hoping she understood that he needed this contact between her. His magic crossed the last bit, reaching out to caress her skin.

Her shattered heart, which she had begun to piece together as the months and years passed, finally felt like it was whole again, only the cracks remaining. In one fell swoop, she thought she had lost her husband and two of their wards, her children gone. She can’t bring herself to ask about Mara. It felt like too much to hope, that the other vampire was still alive. She had gone to Mara’s after they didn’t return, saw the ashes and the ruins.

“I thought I would never see you again." It had been worse than the first time. She’d thought, perhaps, that after a year or so, he would return to her. But, that year had passed along with many others. “It’s okay, Jake, love you’re here. Oh goodness, I love you.” Her heart pounded against her chest, beating with more energy, more life, than it had since he’d left. If it weren’t for the children, their beautiful bundle of adopted downworlders, she might have faded away without him. 

Instantly, Eli wrapped both hands around his offered once, lifting his fingers to her lips where she pressed soft kisses to each digit. She was aware of Alfred standing up on shaky legs, ready to leave his parents to reunite alone, and she turned to look at him. “I don’t want either of you out of my sight, you stay here.”

‘It’s fine,” he said, quietly, “I’ll only be out there with Magnus.” He didn’t hesitate, using what was left of his energy to race out of the door before either could argue. 

The caress of his magic set hers into a frenzy, practically vibrating with joy and relief, she had missed the presence of his magic. She freed the hand that was curled around Alf’s shoulder, magic sparking off her hands, healing spell that came so easily to help with any physical pain. The emotional toil, she could only offer her company. 

@daemcnborn

After they found and rescued them, they brought him and Alfred to Magnus, his younger brother. Neither was really up to anyones touch but to the others. They had been through years and years of constant torture of Valentine himself. They had been made to figuratively go through hell, basically. Alfred wasn’t given food, so Jake constantly made him drink from him, leaving state in an almost constant state of anemia. On top of that they very carefully fed Jake only with a potion, that subdued him, basically drugged him and, sadly hooked him to the stuff brutally, so that leaving him without food became pure agony to him. So the days since Valentine fell - at least that was what he understood when they were brought out of their cage - had been the horror for him. On multiple occasions he ran so low on energy that only the now instinctual use of his magic kept him alive - and his sons whispers. 

He refused whatever potion Magnus offered him, clinging only to his sons hand. Until the very moment Magnus rushed to the door, opening it for someone. He heard his younger brother exclaim in relief and then he heard a voice he had held tightly in his memories, like a prayer. First he whispered to his son. “Mom is here…” Then he turned his head to the door, almost blinded by her beauty. She… was a vision and his bright blue cat eyes filled with tears.

As Magnus spoke down the phone, giving Eli the news she had waited years to hear, her vision clouded and she clasped a hand over her mouth. Utter relief flooded through her, knocking her legs from beneath her. He was safe, Magnus had him and Alfred was with him. She was in the process of telling Magnus she’d be right there when one of their adoptive children came to find Eli, and she had a hard time explaining, caught between heart stopping worry and relieved tears. 

Conjuring a portal just yard from Magnus’, Eli practically ran to his loft, and rapped knuckles against the wood. By the time Magnus opened the door, she was bouncing on her heels she was so close to seeing both her missing son and husband again that the wait was agonising. A teary smile on her face, Eli asked, “where’s my husband? where’s Alfred?” Magnus walked just a step in front of her, leading her towards the two people she’s been longing to see for years.

Seeing them, finally, brought new tears to her eyes and Eli felt breathless. Words could not describe the rage that coursed through her veins, and if she wasn’t needed here, she would be out searching out the Circle members till they suffered the tortures they had put her boys through. She heard Alfred say, ‘I can hear her heartbeat, Dad. She smells the same,’ and as she entered, she saw the frail smile on his lips. 

Jake made his way through the town, to talk to the mother. She had accepted their childs fate and so Jake knew it would be cruel to tell her it was alive. She was so damn young. Even younger than he had expected. Her knowing, might ruin her life and so he didn’t tell her. Back at the house he made sure their cart was ready. It was a fully covered cart, with the inside being significantly bigger than the outside. It was, in all honesty, almost a full apartment. The perks of being a warlock.

He made sure everything was good for his wife and the child they had adopted. plenty of blankets, their belongings and of course he stocked it with food and milk for the baby.

Then he returned.

“Darling, everything is ready.” He said. He held his hand out to lead her outside to their luxurious cart.

Being alone with the infant, scares her more than anything. The child is so tiny, so fragile, and swamped in her arms. But, the fear came from concern. Concern that she’d accidentally hurt them. She knew, she would do everything in her power to keep them safe, as she would for Jake. 

The bundle in her arms had already wormed their way into her heart with the sleepy stretches and wide eyed glances around itself. How anyone could not love a child so cute was beyond her, but then mortals didn’t appreciate the unusual. She swayed her arms, a soft hum sounding from her lips as she looked at them. 

John returned, and Eli could let out the breath she’d been holding. Standing slowly, and careful not to jostle the child, Eli adjusted her hold making sure to keep the baby’s neck supported. That was the thing to do, right? 

Jake couldn’t help his expression. Obviously he loved hearing it from her and yet he had no doubt that it couldn’t rival his pride in her and in being able to call himself hers. He leaned in to softly kiss her sweet lips, with a child in his arms. And just then he leaned over enough to gently maneuver the child they were about to adopt into her arms. For a moment the baby seemed alarmed, but settled immediately once in Elis arms. It left him room to make preparations. And after all, he was meant to do the most work now. She was a new mother after all and the baby was so young that people in their new home would expect her to rest a lot and recover from giving birth.

“You remind me of it often, my love. And I am just as proud of you.” He said to her. “I’m going to go get the horses and get everything ready. You two…I suggest mother and child get familiar with each other.” He truly looked at his wife then. “You two make quite the picture….beautiful…”

When he’d taken her in back in Salem, Eli had never imagined that they’d end up like they were, never thought she would feel his lips on hers or know how sweet it was to simply love him. Perhaps, she had wondered before about him, and put it down to her awe of him. She could not be more glad of how things had changed, the grief she’d endured when she thought him dead excluded. 

She can’t think of much though, when he settled the sweet child in her arms. Initially, she freaked, realising exactly how small the tiny creature in her arms actually was. She may not know much about being a mother, but she knew how she could love this baby, and that Jake would be there to help her learn. 

He leaned against her, her magic still cursing through his veins, expelling the last bit of demon venom he felt inside of himself. He was as good as new. And they could take care of that little kid in his arms. He leaned against his wife and smiled softly at her. They could give this child a good childhood. They could make sure it grew up to be a responsible warlock, truly prepared for what the world would throw at it. 

The baby stretched in his arms and he smiled. She was not the babys biological mother, so they had to find it a wet nurse, but there were explanations, it was not an uncommon thing to need one. They could handle it, together they could handle everything. And this was not his first child. He had been an adoptive father so many times over.

“Yes, we should. I will go check on the mother once I changed, see if I should inform her or let her mourn her child and then…he would see. He raised a hand and snapped his fingers and all their belongings appeared in front of them, neatly packed into their large suitcases. “I don’t even know if it’s a boy or girl…”

They were really going to do it, they were going to raise this child together. Her heart had never felt fuller, affection for the small being in his arms already growing. She knew nothing about raising a child, the only experience she had was with his adoptive children before his untimely ‘death’. 

There was so much they needed to do, so much that needed planning and discussing but right then, she didn’t care. A soft giggle slipped from her lips, joyful as she watched the calming back stretch in his arms. 

“She’s no more than eighteen. Her husband is around thirty. And powerful, as you know. He brought the babe outside. I suspect she thinks the child is taken or dead or both. She has no power over her husband. Even if she wanted to care for the child, he life, her social life, would be over. She’d be shunned, if not hunted and killed. It might end her life.” And he did not want that for anyone, least of all someone as young as she was. Besides, the child was a warlock. It would be safest if it was raised in the community, by a warlock that could keep it safe, hide it and teach it how to control the powers it had been given by it’s accident of birth.

“We can let her know that the child is safe, but anonymously. If she wants it… we can arrange something, but this would be a hard task for her, if she accepted it.” And he doubted it. She was too much under the thumb of her husband and probably her family, too. 

“Eli… I think… I think we should move away and keep the baby with us.” He said slowly. “We can glamour it. It can grow up safely, learn how to use it’s powers for good, how to disguise itself. If the mother can’t handle a warlock child, you and I could raise it…” And they couldn’t have children of their own. They could however give that child something he had been blessed with, unlike her: A loving family.

She nodded slowly. The mother and her husband would never be able to take care of the warlock baby, and he’s right (of course he was, she knew by now that Jake was always right), a mundane family was no real place for the baby. A child they could raise. One who had been abandoned by it’s very parents for marks that Eli and Jake could understand. She wondered, if it were her, would she want to know her baby was safe and being raised by another? Or would it be kinder to let her believe the child had died. 

Of course they would have to move, the people here knew them, and knew the couple that had just lost a child. Suspicions would raise, and they could not have that. “Jake, you know I will follow you anywhere.” She couldn’t deny that a family was something she had longed for, that she hadn’t watched the new mothers and their children with envy. She had resigned herself to not having children. Yet, here was this small child in Jake’s arms, one they could raise and keep safe. Warmth settled in her chest, a small smile on her lips. They could really be a family. She and Jake could love this child, accept it in a way that a mundane couldn’t.