Alec had been up for too long. Magnus kept telling him he needed to rest but there was so much to be done. There were missions during the day, and reports to do at night, and he hadn't managed to get a break for more than five minutes without being called away to do something else.

He'd been up for three days already and he was going crazy. He needed to sleep. He'd told Magnus he'd been sleeping at the institute and he'd told his siblings he'd been sleeping with Magnus at home, when really, he'd been using stamina runes to keep himself awake.

But his vision was blurred and he couldn't concentrate and so, he was finally going to bed.

He stumbled into his and Magnus' apartment, throwing off his jacket and toeing off his boots, as he made his way to their bedroom. Magnus was already asleep, curled under the silk sheets with his arms wrapped around one of Alec's pillows, and he looked so beautiful that the Nephilim thought he might cry.

He was so tired, his body practically gave up as soon as he got close to the bed, and he fell onto the mattress. He didn't want to sleep in his jeans but he was too tired to take them off, and only managed to get half under the covers before he lost consciousness.

…..

Magnus sighed as he woke, rolling over in bed and reaching for his angel. He frowned and groaned in frustration when he realized Alec probably wouldn't be there, only to snap his eyes open in surprise when he heard it. Those adorable little snores he loved so much.

Alec was home! The shadowhunter was lying face down on the bed, cheek smushed on the pillow, with his arms flung out to the side. He was still in his jeans and shirt, and deeply asleep.

The warlock brushed the other man's hair back and placed a kiss on his temple. His poor angel was so tired.

Not wanting to wake him, Magnus slipped from the bed and went to the kitchen to make tea, pouring a cup for Alec when he got up. Only, he didn't get up. Magnus waited for a few hours, before checking in on him, but he was still in the same position he was in when he left him.

Magnus frowned. Alec usually liked to move a little in his sleep, limbs either twitching from his dreams, or wrapping around Magnus to cuddle while he slept. But Alec wasn't moving.

The warlock stepped closer, making sure Alec was still breathing. He sighed in relief when he saw the man's chest rise and fall, another snore escaping his parted lips.

He felt silly, then. Alec needed his rest, there was no need to be so worried.

But he really shouldn't sleep with all those clothes on, it couldn't be comfortable. Magnus used some magic and his gentle hands to ease the stiff clothes from Alec's sleep-heavy limbs.

The Nephilim didn't move at all throughout the process, and although Magnus would like to have credited that to his own talent for undressing his boyfriend, he got the sense that something was actually wrong.

Surely Alec would have woken or at least stirred a little. Wouldn't he?

Magnus leant down, and whispered into the man's ear.

"Aleeecc, looove. Time to get up."

Nothing happened. Not a twitch, or a lapse in snores, just….nothing. Okay, that wasn't good. Magnus frowned and tried again, gripping Alec's shoulder and giving him a light shake.

"Alec! Wake up! Come on, you're worrying me now."

Still, nothing happened. Magnus' heart was pounding and he quickly thought of anything he left out that Alec could have gotten into on accident. He had drunken a truth potion once, mistaking it for tea. But that wouldn't make him sleep. He'd made a health tonic yesterday but that wouldn't have this effect either.

There were so many dangerous potions and spells he had lying about the place, Alec could have accidently messed with any number of things. Or, it could be something completely different!

His mind started racing with every bad thought and possibility, swarming in his head and making it difficult to breathe. It could be a curse, or an injury or a side effect of something.

What if Alec had hit his head on a mission and sustained a head injury without realizing? He could have slipped into a coma while Magnus slept on.

He quickly snapped his fingers, summoning his magic so that he could perform a diagnosis spell. Blue flames curled around Alec's body, seeping into his skin and inspecting every cell for damage. But there was none. His magic shut off and he sighed in relief. So, he wasn't dying but he still wouldn't wake.

His panic left him all at once and he looked once again to the sleeping shadowhunter, chest rising and falling rhythmically, and face relaxed like a child's. He didn't seem to be in any danger or discomfort, just…sleeping.

Magnus racked his brain, trying to think of anything else that could have caused something like this, when he noticed Alec's runes. Maybe it was a Shadowhunter thing? Magnus, though very old and very wise, did not know too much about Nephilim or how their runes worked because until he met Alec, he simply hadn't cared.

Placing a hand across Alec's back, he summoned his magic once more, this time using it to feel the runes over his skin. One of them felt weaker than the others, as if it were drained, but it wasn't causing Alec any pain.

He really didn't know what was wrong, and so, he pulled out his phone and placed a call.

A bright voice answered, happy and surprised. "Hey Magnus, what's up?"

"Good morning, Jace. Um… this may be a strange question but… Alec won't wake up and I was just wondering if you'd know why?"

There was a pause, and the previous background noise, quietened, as if Jace had stopped whatever he'd been doing.

"What do you mean he won't wake up?"

Magnus didn't like that tone. It was worried and flat, and meant that Jace had no idea why Alec would be in this state.

"I woke up to find him in our bed, this morning, but now he won't wake up. He's breathing fine, in fact, he's snoring, he just…won't respond to anything."

Jace's voice came through the phone once more, but hushed and directed towards someone else. "Izzy, somethings wrong with Alec, we're going to Magnus'."

And then it came again. "We're on our way."

Magnus hung up and looked to his boyfriend sleeping peacefully, among his pillows.

"What have you gotten yourself into, Alexander?"

Jace and Isabelle arrived in a hurry, rushing to the bedroom in search of their brother, as Magnus tried to assure them it wasn't an emergency.

"He's okay, he's not dying! He just won't wake up, and I don't know why."

Jace was holding his Parabatai rune as he frowned down at his brother.

"He feels okay, and he's still snoring so, I guess he's fine. Could it be a curse or something?"

Magnus sat on the bed as Isabelle took Alec's wrist to feel his pulse.

"I've checked, but I don't think so. All I could find wrong with him was one of his runes seemed weak. But I can't do much to help that."

Izzy looked up, eyebrows pinched. "Which one?"

Magnus motioned for Jace to help him, and they both rolled Alec over onto his back. He didn't stir during the process, just lay as limp and unresponsive as he'd been all morning.

Magnus pointed to a small rune on Alec's chest. "That one."

Izzy groaned and smacked her brothers shoulder in annoyance, although it did nothing to wake him.

"Oh, Alec! You idiot."

Jace frowned at her, brushing her hands away from his Parabatai protectively, in case she wanted to hit him again. "What Iz?"

Magnus was just as confused as Jace was. The Lightwood girl sighed and frowned down at the boy in the bed.

"He's overused his stamina rune, and now he's crashing. He's been overworking himself for days but he told me he'd been sleeping here! He must have lied."

Magnus picked up his loves hand and squeezed it, as he watched the girl.

"So, he's okay? Wait, he told me he was sleeping at the institute?"

Jace laughed and ruffled his brother's hair. "He's just really tired. What an idiot, he knows what happens if you overuse it like that. He used to tell me off for it all the time."

Magnus sighed in relief. "Oh, thank goodness. I was so worried."

He leant down and pressed a kiss to Alec's sleeping mouth, sending a puff of magic into him, that would give him the extra strength his rune had been drained of. "My poor, sleepy angel."

Alec's snores stopped abruptly, eyes blinking open to see his boyfriend hovering over him. He smiled, not seeing his siblings. "Hey Maggie, what's going on?"

Isabelle smacked him on the shoulder, issuing an undignified yell from Alec as he flinched away from her. "Ow! What was that for? Why are you in our bedroom?"

She stormed out of the room as Jace watched, laughing. Her voice faded as she walked away but her anger could be heard no matter how far away she was.

"We were worried about you, you asshole! Use your runes properly!"

Jace snorted out a laugh and tried to offer an explanation. "You overused your stamina rune, and wouldn't wake up. Just be glad your boyfriend has magic kisses."

Alec had no idea what was happening but Magnus was smiling and he felt better than he had in days.

"Oh, sorry, I guess. Thanks Magnus."

The warlock shook his head as he laughed, smile turning mischievous.

"You will be sorry; you worried me! I'm going to get you back for this Alexander, and I'll teach you not to lie to me."

Alec looked worried, and Jace took his leave.

"Uhhh, I'll see you later, Alec. Don't be too hard on him, Magnus."

Alec reached for his brother's hand, but missed as Jace dodged the hand. His voice was high and desperate. "Jace, don't leave me!"

Magnus laughed again and crawled to lean over his boyfriend as Alec lay on the bed.

"I'm going to eat you alive, angel."

Alec smiled at that, raising an eyebrow cheekily. "Oh really?"

Magnus dived down, pressing kisses all over Alec's face and neck. Alec laughed as he was smothered, the warlock letting out words in between kisses.

"My…wonderful…stupid…handsome…shadowhunter."

Alec held Magnus waist and pushed him back just enough to halt his kisses so that he could rub their noses together instead. "I love you too, Maggie."