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DOWNWORLD ASSOCIATION EMBASSY TO THE ALLIANCE - ADMIRAL LUKE GARROWAY'S OFFICE
Magnus taps his fingers on Luke's desk. He just can't believe this. "I'm to be the Captain of the Alicante? The Nephilim flagship?" He wants to ask more, but he also doesn't want to jinx it. The Alicante is the pinnacle of Nephilim technology and he can't wait to get his hands all over her. Which is precisely why he doesn’t trust this. “What's the catch?"
Luke frowns. "The Admiral and half of his crew will stay on board. You'll have the helm, but he'll be watching your every move."
Magnus blinks. Almost feels his glamour drop in surprise. The Admiral... It can’t be. "Admiral as in Admiral Lightwood? The Tin Soldier Lightwood? The best cyborg the Clave ever built? This must be a trap."
"Remember, Magnus, we're allies now. The idea is to encourage mutual cooperation by mixing the fleet and its personnel. You were specially requested to serve as captain on the Alicante."
Alarm bells are going off inside Magnus' head. "Specially requested? By whom?"
Luke grimaces. “We’re not sure, but they must be high up in the Clave. They’d never allow you access to the Alicante otherwise.”
Fuck. They know. They must know. "Definitely a trap then," Magnus says.
Luke nods. "There's a high possibility of that, yes. But you'll be on board the Alicante, in the constant company of the Admiral, who's been privy to every strategy the Nephilim have concocted these last 10 years. He’s both their greatest achievement and their greatest weapon.”
"So it's both a trap and an opportunity."
"Exactly. So, your orders are to serve the Alliance Fleet as the Captain of the Alicante, to patrol the 26th squadron. Off the record, your mission is to figure out how Lightwood's cybernetics work and what his weaknesses are, figure out how that ship managed to escape us for almost two decades, and stay abreast of any unsanctioned missions the Clave might be doing on their own. Understood?"
Magnus nods and stands up. "Understood, sir." He's nearly at the door when Luke adds another off the record order. "If they find out who you really are, Magnus, you're on your own. We can help Magnus Bane, but we can’t help The Warlock. So don't let the Admiral find out."
Magnus grimaces but salutes. He figured that one out on his own. If Lightwood finds out Magnus Bane is the same person as The Warlock, who is single-handedly responsible for the magical destruction of several Nephilim Ground Bases and troops, he'll be dead in the blink of an eye. No trial, no judge or jury, but a straight-up execution. The Nephilim might hate Downworlders, but they truly abhor Warlocks, especially a Warlock Merc who has humiliated them on more than one occasion. Despite the Accords, there’s still a price on his head, and since his crimes date from before his service as an officer of the DWA, there’s nothing Magnus or Luke can do about it.
He still can’t believe he’s about to serve on the Alicante, be in control of her, all while being watched by the incredibly attractive, stubborn, emotionally repressed, half robotic Alec Lightwood. The Tin Soldier himself.
Magnus always did love a challenge.
ONE WEEK LATER - ALLIANCE STATION DOCKING BAY
He gets to handpick his crew, which means Raphael is waiting for him at the shuttle that’ll bring them to the Alicante.
"This is a trap," the ever-upbeat Raphael greets him. Magnus pats him on the arm in comfort. Raphael has been his second in command for ages and has always excelled at seeing the worst-case scenario. It's why Magnus keeps him around–no need to worry if someone else always does the worrying for you.
"We're at peace," Magnus tries. Raphael rolls his eyes. "We're setting a trap right back," Magnus adds. "Report on the crew?"
"We got everyone approved without a hitch, no questions asked. Same with our equipment. Standard checks for dangerous explosives and contraband material, but they didn't even confiscate our communication technology."
Magnus frowns. He has no idea what the Clave is playing at. He doesn’t understand why they'd request him specifically to serve under Lightwood. It doesn’t make any sense. Raphael continues his report while they dock the shuttle. "Nothing untoward detected in the crew's quarters, but then we're not sure what Lightwood's cybernetics are actually capable of, especially not regarding wiretaps. Who knows what happens if he plugs himself into the ship."
Magnus hums. He has only met Admiral Lightwood a couple of times. The first time he was still a Lieutenant and they were technically still at peace. Two times they met while they were at war, and Magnus was shuttling refugees. Once when the Accords were signed. Lightwood makes a tall and imposing figure, face always stern and serious, pose never at ease. There are so many rumors floating around about the Tin Soldier. That he is more machine than man, that he was born without emotions, while others claim they are mechanically suppressed. That he can shoot lasers out of his eyes, control ships with his mind.
Magnus only believes what he has seen, and what he has seen so far is a man with a bad mood, a good haircut, and nothing showing on his face that can be read. Magnus had stolen two ships of refugees from under his nose, and yet on screen, Lightwood had merely observed the decoy ship, inspected the code, and looked at the camera broadcasting all of that to Magnus. He'd saluted and left the ship. Magnus had dreamed of his eyes for weeks. Sometimes he still dreams about them.
And now he is supposed to be captain of the Alicante, while Lightwood, now Admiral Lightwood, watches his every move.
Magnus shivers. He might be biting off more than he can chew. "How is the Nephilim crew? Any problems there?"
Raphael snorts. "There's a lot of distrust, but so far we haven't run into any trouble."
"They've been friendly?"
Raphael snorts again. It really isn’t a becoming sound. "They're Nephilim, of course they're not friendly. They're all very much by the book. All tall and imposing. But they've been helpful and they've obviously been ordered to be courteous."
Magnus frowns again. If he’s not careful his brows will be stuck like this. He hasn’t spent much thought on how he’ll deal with the Nephilim crew, now under his command, but he has never had trouble managing a crew before. In the end, all a crew wants is a well-run ship that finishes missions. Magnus might be unorthodox, but he gets the job done, with very little casualties.
The shuttle docks the Alicante and Magnus feels the familiar thrill of boarding a new ship. He wonders how she flies. How quick she’ll be to respond to his every command.
They’re greeted by docking personnel, unfamiliar faces except two of his own crew. He waves and they both grin back. The Nephilim freeze in their actions, but don’t otherwise react. Magnus has no idea how he is going to survive amongst these people. He can’t imagine being this serious and stoic all the time. He wonders how much of it is Nephilim nature versus edicts of the Clave.
At the end of the docking station, a welcome-committee awaits them. In front is the Admiral himself, tall and imposing. Magnus puts a little swagger in his step. It won't do to be intimidated already.
The Admiral doesn’t smile, doesn’t hold out his hand. He does give a slight nod of his head, looks Magnus up and down slowly. "You're here," he says rather quietly. And then, "Thank you for granting my request and accepting this position.”
"Glad to be here," Magnus says. Wait, what did Lightwood just say?
Unaware that he’s just rocked Magnus’ understanding of the Universe and their respective places in it, Lightwood continues, “I’ll show you to your quarters.”
The Admiral was responsible for his presence on the Alicante? Had personally requested him? That makes even less sense than the Clave wanting him on board. The man hates him.
"Dismissed," Lightwood says to Raphael, who scowls but lets it be. Magnus follows Lightwood on auto-pilot. There is something fishy going on, and he is going to give his all to finding out what.
The ship is as sleek and impressive on the inside as she is on the outside. Magnus can’t resist stroking his fingers on her hallway sides. She’s a marvel of Clave technology, and he is going to take care of her. If Lightwood notices his sentimentality, he doesn’t comment, face as stern and blank as ever.
The elevator is as spacious as they can get on a spaceship, and yet Magnus is acutely aware of the tall, looming figure of Lightwood next to him. It feels like his eyes are burning on the side of his head, and his body seems to give off way more heat than regular humans do. Maybe a side-effect of the cybernetics? You can’t see any of them on the outside. Lightwood looks like a normal human being, if not for the permanent emotionless state of his face.
"I hope you are comfortable here," Lightwood says, once they’ve entered the Captain's quarters. Which turn out to be the most luxurious quarters Magnus has ever seen. And he’s been undercover on a Harem Ship for three rotations. The plush sofa, the draperies, the ornaments—are those red satin sheets he can see on the bed?
Nothing at all like what he'd expected from the famous Clave austerity.
"I had it adapted to something more fitting to Downworlder preferences," Lightwood explains. There’s something in the way he holds his shoulders that’s different. Less confident? Magnus can’t believe Lightwood is insecure about this of all things.
But the rooms look quite comfortable. ”I’m sure it'll be fine," he says. "Show me to the Bridge?" Lightwood nods, looks around the quarters one last time and proceeds into the hallway.
The Bridge is obviously busy, but everyone stands at alert once the "Captain on deck" is announced. Simon and Maia smile and wave, but most other faces are unfamiliar. A ship the size of the Alicante simply needs thrice the people that Magnus had needed on the Pandemonium. For a moment he feels severely outclassed. Then Lightwood comes to stand next to him, steady and warm and serious, and Magnus feels like himself again.
"I'm sure you're all familiar with Magnus Bane, formerly Captain of the DA Pandemonium. He served well during the War, and was a worthwhile adversary. Personally, I prefer him on our side, where I'm sure he'll prove himself again in this new Alliance. It was an honor serving with you this past decade, and I'm sure you'll honor me by serving Captain Bane with the same dedication and skill as you served me."
For a moment, Magnus is stunned. Lightwood keeps surprising him, keeps throwing him for a loop, and it leaves Magnus unbalanced. Cyborgs aren’t supposed to be surprising, they are supposed to be perfectly predictable machines.
The crew is looking up at him expectantly and Magnus knows he needs to say something. Something not about their dastardly attractive and confounding Admiral.
“Hi,” he says with a little wave. “I still can’t quite believe I was outrunning your gunners a year ago, and here I am on the Bridge of the Alicante. She’s a marvel and I can’t wait to get my hands on her.” He bites back a remark about wet dreams and her engines right on time, but beside him, Lightwood arches his brow, so Magnus feels admonished anyway.
He clasps his hands behind his back and clears his throat. “I’m sure we’ll need to get used to one another–a new commanding style always takes some adjusting–but rest assured I’ll do my best to be worthy of your service and the Alicante.”
He looks at the expectant faces in front of him, feels the steady warmth of Lightwood next to him, and suddenly believes, with a strength that surprises him a little, that he can do this. Whatever the Clave’s master plan might be, whatever Lightwood throws at him, he’s got this. He knows how people work, he knows how ships work. He’s great at getting the best out of both.
He’ll figure out Lightwood eventually as well.