legerdemain 

noun | leg - er - de - main | meaning - sleight of hand, a display of skill or adroitness. 

chapter four 

Beckett had checked the perimeter of the club twice, once in wolf form and another in human form, just to be safe. If their had been any other Circle members, which he was sure there definitely had been, they were long gone now. That was a good choice on their behalf, because they did not want to find out what Beckett was capable of doing if they so much as thought about getting near Clary again. 

Speaking of the younger girl, Beckett quickly began making his way back to her once he had finished securing the perimeter. After finding her again, he felt anxious leaving her side even if it was to check for danger. It only made him feel worse knowing that he'd left her with Shadowhunters, a species that disliked him just about as much as he disliked them. Maybe he didn't know these young demon hunters specifically, but he'd known enough like them in his life time to know that they were no good, especially for someone as good as Clary. 

There had been a brief moment of panic when Beckett had gotten back to where he'd left her, only to find that Clary was no longer there. Doing his best to maintain his composure, Beckett followed her scent, which was difficult in a place with so many other horrifying scents, and found himself stumbling outside a back exit of the club. 

The two shadowhunters, Alec and Jace, were the first thing Beckett saw when he got outside. Their eyes looked deeply into each other as they both concentrated purposefully. Their hands were interlocked and began emitting a soft glow that Beckett immediately recognized.  

"Parabotai tracking," Beckett noted, causing Clary to jump, apparently she hadn't noticed him, while the other shadowhunter she was with only gave him a short side glanced. Beckett figured she had to have known he had approached them before Clary did, but he didn't ask. 

"How do you know that?" Clary asked quietly, prying her eyes off of the two parabotai to give Beckett a puzzled look. "Actually, more importantly, how did you know people like warlocks?" 

"Werewolves get around, too, you know?" Beckett took a stab at sounding light-hearted, but Clary's unamused expression told him he'd fallen a bit short of that. That was okay with Beckett, seeing as being light-hearted felt like to much of a chore to actively try to do to often anyways. 

"You-you're a werewolf?" 

Beckett nodded softly, trying desperately to read Clary's expression. She didn't look terrified of him, which Beckett decided to take as a good thing, but he also knew he probably wasn't her favorite person at the moment. He gave her a second to take everything in before speaking again. "I'll answer any questions you have for me, Clary. Just ask." 

Clary blinked, trying to figure out where to even begin. Before she could sort out her thoughts, though, Alec and Jace were pulling away from each other and turning to the others. 

"You'll have to catch up with your lap dog later, Clary, I think I know about where Magnus is," The blonde shadowhunter, Jace, announced. 

Beckett had already decided that out of all the shadowhunters, the blonde one was his least favorite. He didn't hesitate in sending the shorter boy a well practiced glare, crossing his arms to show the demon hunter he wasn't easily pushed around. "Well, little guy, I can do you one better. I know exactly where Magnus is." 

The two other shadowhunters looked back and forth between Beckett and Jace. By the look on his face, Beckett could tell that Jace, obviously, was equally as fond of Beckett as Beckett was of him. 

"Then please, tell us." It took everything in Jace to keep himself from gritting his teeth. 

"You wish, Shadowhunter," Beckett narrowed his eyes, Jace thought about hitting the werewolf before remembering it was another one of Clary's friends. Why did she have to have the worst taste in friends? 

"Beckett, first of all, stop with all the glaring. You know what mom says, you do that any more and your face will be stuck looking like an angry old mans," Clary warned as she carefully stepped between the two short tempered men. She gently reached out to Beckett, and directed his attention down to her, ignoring Jace's murmuring about his face for the time being. "Second of all, you have to help us find him, please. I need to get my memories back." 

Beckett's dark eyes softened significantly when they looked from Jace to Clary. "I'll help you find him," Beckett promised her firmly. "But I won't just tell you were he is hiding. Magnus trusts me, and I respect that trust, so I'm going with you. I'm also never letting you out of my sight again, just a heads up." 

Clary smiled for a second, before a look of confusion flickered across her face once again. "Wait, how are you so close with Magnus?" 

Beckett felt all three pairs of shadowhunter eyes turn to him, and he mentally dared them to say something snarky about him and Magnus. He simply held up his hand to Clary, signaling for her to stop with the questions. "Not the time or place, Clary." 

"It never is with you and this kind of stuff," Clary scoffed. Beckett ignored her comment, which of course Clary noticed and began to smile. 

Beckett took a step back before turning away from the group. He only turned his head slightly to be able to call back to them. "Are you kids coming or what." 

The other four quickly fell into step behind him, but not without Jace angrily murmured his distaste for being called a kid. Beckett was lucky enough to have his back to the blonde shadowhunter, because upon hearing his complaints he almost immediately had a slight smug smirk plastered onto his face. 

In an attempt to not freak Clary out anymore then he probably already had, Beckett resisted shifting into his wolf form when he led her and the others to where Magnus was staying. The trip was mostly silent, except for when Clary thought of a question to ask Beckett, but Beckett abruptly cut off the girl for the time being when she began asking questions about his origin story as a werewolf.

 That, naturally, had gotten some distasteful look from the shadowhunters, who Beckett was sure had already made up stories in their heads of how he came to be a werewolf, and it gave him bitter satisfaction knowing that none of their made up stories came close to the horror of his reality. 

"This is it," Beckett came to a stop, and Clary ungracefully crashed into his broad back. Jace, Beckett noticed, had an immediate reaction to that and quickly steadied her. Beckett turned his attention back to the building looming in front of them. "Behold, Magnus Bane's glorious lair," Beckett quoted his warlock friend in a bored, monotone voice. 

From the outside, it didn't look like much, which was how Magnus had kept it hidden for such a long time. But Beckett knew from first hand experience that the inside offered a collection of different wonders to encounters, some of which Beckett himself wasn't quit able to remember. He had, after all, met Magnus at a very blurry time in his life. 

"Magnus lives in a warehouse?" Clary scooted next to Backett, giving him a quizzical look. 

"It's-" 

"Warlock Glamor," The other shadowhunter, Alec, cut in to Beckett's explanation, sounding bored as he gave Clary an unimpressed look. Beckett wondered when he had mastered the graceful art of complete boredom and total displeasure. 

The group flanked around the side of the building, Beckett revealing to them an entrance they wouldn't have been able to find without him, not that any of the shadowhunters would've admitted that. Beckett touched his hand to the door and frowned instead of trying to open it. 

Isabelle noted Beckett's expression and began studying the building. "Somethings wrong, isn't it? We shouldn't be able to get this close so easily, even with you here." 

"Something brought his protective wards down," Jace guessed. Beckett was not at all pleased to be nodding in agreement with the blonde. 

Beckett was the first to enter the building. It was eerily silent. He knew instantly that something was definitely wrong, and he had a feeling he didn't need to convey that to the demon hunters, seeing as they all withdrew their weapons and began spreading out behind him. Becket's skin prickled at the sight of the shadowhunter weapons and he urged his unhappiness to not be noticeable. 

"You," Alec said, addressing Clary once more with a distasteful expression. "Don't get in the way." 

Though Beckett didn't enjoy the way he'd said it, the werewolf did agree with the message. last time he'd checked, Clary wasn't quite up to date of Battling Bad Guys 101. 

The sound of a fight hit Beckett's ears, and he immediately directed his attention to the point it was coming from. On the second story of the warehouse, Beckett could easily see through the draped clear plastic that a struggle had broken out between men. Before Beckett or the others could even think about stepping in to help, one of the men was faced with his death via stab from a seraph blade, dramatically falling from the second story to the first. 

"Oh god, Valentine found Magnus!" Clary shouted fearfully. 

That was all Beckett needed to hear. In a split second, the New York police officer was gliding through the air, his form shifting from human to wolf. 

Beckett's paws hit the ground, but only remained their long enough to brush against the concrete. Moving with startling speed, the dark monster Beckett had become bounded through the warehouse, his strides much longer then the shadowhunters quickly trying to follow him. Though his body was large and stocky, the werewolf still moved with a startling grace, jumping with surprising agility from box to box until he was making a rather gutsy jump down to where the body had landed.

Beckett landed with a thud, stirring up dust underneath him. He immediately sense movement coming from his right, and moved to let out a menacing snarl, but the fearsome sound got stuck in his throat when he saw what was on the receiving end. 

A small child came barreling into the room, stopping only when she made eye contact with the black wolf. The creature was much larger then the stories she'd heard about them had led her to believe, and nothing would every prepare her for it's fierce luminous golden glare. Beckett registered the fear in the young girls eyes and quickly tried to make himself smaller, which hardly did him any good. 

The girls attention was quickly drawn away from the massive werewolf, though, when she looked at the mangled body just feet away from them. 

"Daddy!" She wailed. It was one of the few things Beckett had ever seen that tugged at his unused heartstrings. 

The girl rushed towards the body, and Beckett knew as much as she needed to grieve, she also needed to be safe. Moving slowly as not to scare the already battered child warlock, Beckett approached her. He stood next to her, his wolf head easily the same height as the girl. He thought about nudging her softly, but thought it might startle her. Before he could decide what he should do, she surprised him. 

The girls small arms wrapped around Beckett's thick neck, her hands just barely making it around to touch together. She buried her face into his heavy black fur, letting out a heartbroken sob. Not knowing what else to do, Beckett nuzzled into the girl, allowing the power and warmth of his wolf form to comfort her. 

Beckett didn't need to look behind him to know a circle member was approaching him. His other senses told him what was happening, and he quickly acted on them. 

The most sensible thing Beckett could think of doing was to bring the girl to the ground. He did her best to lower her quickly without hurting her. She was dazed, but couldn't do much as she had a powerful beast looming over her, quickly lowering himself to cover her and shield her from the evil quickly approaching them. Normally, Beckett wouldn't ever put himself in such a vulnerable position, but everything else he would actually normally would do would either put the girl in harm sway, or cause her to once again be afraid of him. 

Just when Beckett was sure he was going to feel the stinging pain of a shadowhunter blade, and he tried figuring out what he'd do after, something else entirely happened. 

"Watch out!" Shouted a new voice. It was Clary, and Beckett picked up his head just in time to see her charging the circle members blind side and kicking him away from Beckett and the warlock child. 

"Clary Fairchild." The dark shadowhunter regained his footing and stared at Clary. "Valentine will be so pleased to meet you." 

Over my dead body, Beckett would've liked to say if he was in his human form. Instead, he shifted his weight up from the child underneath him and watched as the other female shadowhunter, Isabelle, expertly flicked her wrist and allowed her whip to ensnare the man. When he turned then to attack the darker haired girl, Jace, who had somehow managed to climb onto a rafter, struck him in the back with a nicely thrown dagger. Beckett was vaguely impressed. 

"Thanks for that," Clary said up to Jace.

The blonde shot her a wink and a smirk. "Anytime." 

Once Beckett was up on all four paws again, he allowed the girl to use his muzzle to help herself up. Clary came over to the two, and extended a hand out to her. The girl took it with a thankful smile breaking through her sorrow, but she kept her other hand firmly knotted in Beckett's fur. 

"Stick close, it's safest if we stay together," Isabelle told the three of them. Beckett wanted to roll his eyes. 

"We won't leave you alone I promise," Clary swore to the girl on behalf of herself and the werewolf. Beckett let a small rumbling sound emit from the back of his throat, which oddly enough seemed to comfort the girl. Apparently, he really did have a way with warlocks. 

Beckett tensed. By now, he had somehow become accustomed to Magnus, such as his scent and the aura expelled from his magic, and he could tell that his warlock friends was nearby, fighting. Quickly, he shook away the young girls hand, pressing his nose against her face when she began to whimper in protest. He let out a low bark, knowing she wouldn't understand it but hoping she got the message before he began running again. 

He twisted around corners until he came to a stop in a room where Magnus was in deed, but not alone, as Beckett had predicted. What the werewolf wasn't expecting, though, was for the circle member to already be defeated, and Magnus to be addressing the shadowhunter Alec. 

When Magnus' cat eyes fell onto Beckett, the warlock looked a little to amused. "Unsurprisingly, you're late. A different, but still equally handsome, man had to come to aid me. This is what happens when you ignore me, Beckett." 

A sound that was a cross between a snort and a growl shredded through the white razors in Beckett's mouth. His eyes flitted over towards Alec, who was looking at the ground and Beckett dared to think he was blushing. 

"Oh hush, you angry fuzzball," Magnus waved away the snarl-like sound that had come from Beckett and turned to Alec. "He's always so huffy, he needs a massage or something to relieve all his built up bitterness," Magnus sighed. He turned his attention back to the incredibly unamused wolf. "Return to you much more dashing human form, will you? This invasion is over." 

Beckett did just that, not because Magnus told him to, of course, but because he couldn't find any more trespassing enemies with any of his sense. Sadly, he did find himself picking up on Jace's oddly aromatic cologne. 

Soon enough, Beckett was standing on two legs again. He took his natural stance, arms crossed and a glare in place directing itself at Magnus, who only beamed happily. He moved swiftly past the two boys, motioning with his fingers for both Alec and Beckett to follow him. 

"Come on, boys. Time to rejoin the party," Magnus said in a song-like voice. His words flashed Beckett back to many, many, wild nights with the warlock. 

Both Alec and Beckett found themselves approaching the door to follow Magnus throughout the warehouse to the so called party. Alec was the first one to stop himself, keeping the pair from colliding as they attempted to walk through the door. 

"Go ahead," Alec wasn't quite looking at Beckett, but past him. Beckett hated that. 

"No, your Magnus' savior. Please, you first," Beckett retorted sarcastically, Alec looked as amused as ever, which meant not at all. 

The shadowhunter still nodded solemnly, stepping through the door first. Beckett followed quickly behind Alec, his eyes lingering on the archer's back for a longer time then he had meant. 

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it's been so long im so sorry. but at least beckett and alec (aka alett?? or belec??? maybe becklec???) got a lil time together not to mention more magnus and beckett because i love them too?? I ALSO LOVE WRITING WOLF!BECKETT?! HE'S MY EVERYTHING? NOT TO MENTION MAGNUS CALLING HIS WOLF FORM FUZZBALL!!

anyways, please comment your thoughts! you know i love to hear what you say, whether it be about beckett and magnus or clary or alec. every opinion is valued and just downright makes my day gosh darn it. 

also, dedication goes to @harleyspuddin- for being the first to request this when i asked the other day!