Magnus barely made it three steps off the track before he started mentally patting himself on the back. It wasn't exactly anything impressive, but hey, Jordan hadn't yelled at or punched him, hadn't thrown anything, and hadn't sprinted off into the distance fueled purely by rage and unresolved childhood trauma. She'd just talked and — hopefully? — worked through some of her troubles. By all metrics available to him, that counted as a win.
A small and fragile one. But still, a win.
Okay. Not entirely terrible, he thought, already adding finish the rest of daily quest exercises to the ever-growing list of things Future Magnus would have to suffer through once Present Magnus stopped actively dying. Ugh, so rest first probably. Lots of it. And possibly a new spine!
Then something landed on his shoulder. Something that had claws and a familiar weight.
He sighed. "Tony—"
The next part was also familiar, in the way it had always felt wrong when it happened.
The world… slipped. A disorienting shift, like stepping wrong on a stair that wasn't there. He was simultaneously on the track and somewhere else at the same time.
Dim corridor. Concrete walls. Stadium lighting, but weaker. Humming faintly overhead. And apparently, Tony was also on his shoulder in the vision. Exactly like the present.
"Kid," the raccoon voice echoed in his head, cutting through the stillness, "remember that thing we discussed before?"
"Tony, I swear, if this is another—" he heard himself say before Tony cut him off.
"I meant about someone seeking to harm the fast stormy one."
His brain was still processing this when he heard his future self reply, "You found out who's trying to sabotage Jordan?"
"Well, not exactly—"
Snap!
The corridor vanished.
He was fully back in the present again. Morning light, open air, the faint smell of rubber and grass.
Tony was still on his shoulder. But now the raccoon was looking deeply unimpressed. "You still have very low awareness of surroundings!"
Magnus dragged a hand down his face.
"…Great," he muttered. "One crisis barely over before another one started!"
Tony patted his cheek. "At least you are consistent. Danger follows you like smell follows trash."
"…Comforting."
***
By the time Magnus reached the cafeteria, he was in a foul mood. And he wasn't subtle about it, either.
Alex, on the other hand, had the audacity to grin at him. Not just any grin, either. The kind of impish, entirely-too-pleased-with-herself grin that said she knew she did something terrible but was still happy with the results anyway.
"You," Magnus said, jabbing a finger at her as he pushed the cafeteria door open, "need better self-control!"
She hurried after him, the grin faltering into something more sheepish.
"I'm sorry about last night," she said quickly, raising both hands the moment he glanced at her. "Really! I am! I honestly thought we could just go to bed and cuddle after we figured out how your power works. What happened after was a… miscalculation."
A beat.
"One I thoroughly enjoyed…" she added, then, at the look he shot her, quickly amended, "…but a miscalculation I'm deeply sorry for!"
Magnus said nothing. He simply turned away, grabbed a tray, and started loading it with food.
His portion and — Alex noticed — things she usually stole from his plate. So, she smiled. Then, after quickly piling a few things onto her own tray, she jogged to catch up, slipping right into his space like she belonged there. Which — annoyingly — she kind of did.
"Come on," she said, linking her arm with his, rising onto her toes so her lips brushed his ear. "Forgive me! I'll do anything to make it up to you."
"Anything?" he asked, glancing sideways at her.
"Absolutely anything you want," she licked her lips, bit her lower lip lightly, then smiled in a way that should have come with a warning label.
Magnus gulped. Opened his mouth… and then a memory slammed into him.
Sofia. That blank favor. The one she didn't — couldn't — promise wouldn't land him in the dog house with Alex.
His spine straightened a fraction.
"Okay," he said, tone shifting. "Then I want a get-out-of-jail-free card I can use at any time."
"…Wha—wait, what?" Alex blinked.
"You heard me," he said, not even stuttering. "If, in the future, we ever fight, or you're ever mad at me for whatever reason, I get one free pass to call truce early. And you have to respect that."
"I—I thought you'd—" She stopped herself. Blinked again. "D-don't you want to use your wish on anything else instead?" she gestured vaguely at herself.
Magnus's heart started pounding like war drums. He immediately turned away so she couldn't see his face.
"Please," he said, aiming for calm and probably landing somewhere around barely-contained panic, "with the self-control and self-restraint you showed last night, that'd be a waste of a perfectly good wish."
Alex stopped walking. Her jaw dropped as she stared after him.
Because that — that — was new! Not the completely confident version of him that only showed up when he stopped thinking. But also, not the usual flustered mess. Something in between.
And somehow, that was better and worse at the same time!
She blinked. Twice.
She would have been proud. She would have found him so attractive right now. If she didn't want to strangle him for roasting her that hard even more!
Magnus found a table, set his tray down, then turned and beckoned her over.
"Well?" he called. "What's your answer, Reyes?"
Alex walked over, set her tray down, then huffed out a laugh that sat somewhere between highly impressed and deeply offended.
"Well, Magnus," she said. "Babe. You've gotten your wish."
A beat. "But you've also made me mad in one fell swoop!"
He sat down, looking entirely too pleased with himself. "Yeah, nice try! But I'm not using my free pass on something as trivial as this."
She sat down across from him and glared. "When did you get this smart and smooth, huh?"
"Honestly," he admitted immediately. "I have absolutely no idea what I'm doing right now!"
That earned him a laugh. And just like that, they settled back into their usual rhythm.
***
They ate for a bit before Alex leaned back slightly.
"So," she said lightly, "how's playing psychiatrist with Jordan?"
"As well as it can be," Magnus said. "But I cannot tell you the details. Doctor-patient confidentiality."
She stared at him for a few seconds. Then nodded. "Alright. I respect her privacy enough not to pry. And you'd tell me if something was bad, anyway."
"Thanks," he said.
He tapped his fingers lightly against the table.
"I can say this, though," he added. "She resisted the power."
Alex looked up sharply. "What?"
"Yeah," he said. "She considered for several seconds under Aura Weave's influence, before actually agreeing."
A beat. And because Magnus was either very brave or very stupid today — or possibly both — he added:
"If it had been her and her self-restraint last night instead of you and yours, I would have gotten at least four hours of sleep."
The look Alex gave him could have ended civilizations. Yes, plurals! He immediately regretted everything.
She smiled sweetly.
"Oh," she said. "You're so going to regret saying that!"
Magnus stared very intently at his food, wishing he could trade one of his current powers for the one to turn back time.
They ate in silence for a while after that. Then Magnus cleared his throat.
"So… about Harper," he said. "What do you want to do?"
Alex exhaled.
"Can't put that off forever, I suppose," she muttered.
"Well, I have her number." Alex's expression shifted into business mode. "I can ask for us to go see her at her apartment sometime tomorrow. Or maybe Wednesday." A small pause. "Preferably wrap things up before Jordan's track and field meet this Friday."
Magnus nodded slowly. "How do you want to do it? Tell her the truth?"
Alex thought about it. Then shook her head. "Too risky."
He frowned slightly.
"Harper and I are… close, yes," she continued. "But I haven't seen her in ages. I don't know how she'll react."
"You think she might react badly, like Jordan?"
"Honestly? I don't know." She sighed. "That's the problem."
She tapped her fingers lightly against the table. "We're close — family close. I trust her. And she trusts me. But I don't know how she'll react to something like this. I don't think it'll be positive. And if she doesn't believe us, or even if she does but rejects it, or if she just needs too much time to process it…"
She shook her head. "We don't have that kind of time. It's too risky. Let's just play it like usual. That we're a couple experimenting."
Magnus hesitated. "…Don't you think that'll sound weird, and very awkward, given your history?"
Alex winced.
"Yeah," she admitted. "It will."
Yet she didn't back down.
"But it's safer than the alternative," she said, firm. "Your life is on the line. I don't think we should gamble with the truth."
Magnus looked unconvinced. Opened his mouth. Closed it. Thought about it. Then he finally nodded, reluctantly. "Okay. Your friend, your call."
Alex nodded, trying to sound more confident than she felt. "Okay. I'll contact her later, then update you. Then we can go over what to say. Hopefully, we'll be able to get things wrapped up before Jordan's meet."
"Oh, about that…" Magnus raised a hand.
Alex froze.
"…Oh no," she said. "What now?"
Magnus gave her a look. "You're not gonna like this."
"I already don't," she said flatly. "Go on."
And he told her about the premonition. By the time he finished, she was groaning into her hands.
"Ugh! Why can't we just have a normal week for a change?" she complained. "Why is it always just one crisis after another?"
"Yeah," Magnus said. "I wonder the same thing, too."
She took a few deep breaths. Then straightened.
"Okay," she said. "You said we're bringing Tony to Jordan's meet?"
"Apparently future us will, for whatever reason."
"Then we'll probably have to talk to Sofia, too."
Magnus blinked. "Wha—why? What does she have to do with anything?"
"She's the only person who knows about our… situation who also has a car," Alex said. "I don't see us bringing Tony onto public transportation, do you?"
Magnus paused. Pictured it.
"…Yeah, okay. You have a point."
And apparently, just like that, another normal, completely manageable week had officially begun.