Alec arrived home late at night, early morning actually, considering it was nearing three am.

He slipped through the door soundlessly, tiptoeing to the bedroom. To his surprise, Magnus wasn't in bed.

Deciding to check in Max's room, Alec went there as quietly as possible. Magnus was sitting crossed-leg next to the crib, which was magically rocking softly. From the looks of it, Magnus was asleep.

"Hey," Alec whispered, touching his shoulder.

Magnus started, jerking up, making the crib nearly topple over. Alec was quick to balance it, thankfully not waking Max.

"I'm so tired, I can't even move," Magnus mumbled.

"Come on." Alec grabbed him from under the arm, pulling him up. "Do you need my strength?"

"I'll be fine, darling. This little, restless monster is going to kill me."

Alec peered into the crib at their peacefully sleeping devil. Only his little blue nose was visible from his cocoon of blankets and toys. He refrained from touching Max, afraid he might wake him.

Slowly, Alec and Magnus went to their room.

oOo

It felt like they had just fallen asleep when Magnus's phone rang.

Alec lunged for it, hoping it hadn't waken his boyfriend. Magnus needed the rest.

"Hello," he answered in a hushed voice, swinging his legs over the edge of the bed, ready to leave the room.

"Magnus?" A hysterical voice that sounded like Lily's cried from the other side of the line.

"Lily? It's me, Alec."

"A-alec! Oh, G..." She choked up. "Please. Tell Magnus to come to the hotel."

"Magnus hasn't slept properly in nights and days. He's always with Maxie, since I'm always on the streets with Jace. I bet you heard about the rogue vampire visiting our city."

"That's the problem!" She wailed. "He's here! He brought ten mundanes...uh, sort of mundanes. They're all fledglings now."

"Oh, shit!" Alec stood up. "That's my business, not Magnus's. I'll get Jace and—"

"No! You're going to kill them!" She said, panicked.

"Lily, you don't know what to do when one of your vampires does something as silly as drink from a fay, but you plan to keep ten newborn vampires under your supervision? Are you kidding me? Besides, as much as I hate saying this, protecting our worlds and keeping everyone safe is my job."

"I won't allow you to kill these people! They have no idea what's going on."

Alec could remember Simon, when he'd been in the same situation, but this was different. "I'm sorry, Lily. You can hate me later for doing us all a favor. And while we're after them, we'll finish off the rogue vampire too."

"Alec!" Lily said menacingly.

"If they're fledglings like you say, they won't feel any pain if we put a stake through their hearts."

"Alexander!" Alec spun around, staring surprised at Magnus's horrified face. He'd managed to forget where he was, as his basic instincts took over, to keep the world safe from ten new vampires. "My phone, please."

Reluctantly, Alec passed the phone to Magnus. He listened to his side of the conversation, which was a lot of "mhmm" and "uh-huh" before Magnus hung up. He went to get dressed, leaving Alec gaping at him.

"What are you doing?"

"If you'd stopped your Shadowhunter bullshit speech for a moment and actually listened to her, you'd have heard the rogue vampire is badly injured by Lily's clan for what he'd done."

"What? Are you serious now? My Shadowhunter bullshit speech? Magnus, you can't go in there alone! Let me call Jace so we can back you up!"

Magnus walked to stand in front of Alec, slowly buttoning up his shirt. "I don't expect you to trust vampires, but I thought you trusted Lily."

"I do," Alec said hotly. "The problem here is that there's this out of control vampire—"

"Who is injured, all thanks to Lily's clan," Magnus retorted.

"You're not going alone, Magnus! I don't like this. Something's fishy."

"Yes, I agree. Your trust in our friend is fishy." Magnus left the room.

Alec was hot on his heels. "Don't be like this, babe." He grabbed Magnus's elbow. "You know better than anyone I'm the first to take any Downworlder's side in front of a battle with Shadowhunters, but only when they're right. I don't like this situation, Magnus. You don't know how cunning and dangerous this rogue vampire is. I've been after him for weeks now with Jace."

"Alexander, I'll be fine. Lily and her clan will have my back if he has enough strength to attack me."

"Magnus, if you'd just wait a few minutes..." A loud cry came from Max's room. "Fuck. Awesome timing to wake up, Max."

"Go to him. I'll be back soon." Magnus pressed his lips to Alec's forehead.

He created a Portal and was gone before Alec could voice any more of his concerns about the way Lily sounded, unlike herself at all. She was rarely hysteric in such situation. As new and inexperienced as she was, she always kept a level-head.

On his way to Max's room, a chill ran down Alec's spine as he contemplated the thought of Lily being coerced into bringing Magnus at Hotel Dumort.

Alec found Max out of his blankets, kicking his little limbs in the air, screaming for everyone within a few miles radius to hear. For a fourteen months old he had quite the lungs.

"I'm here, baby." He picked up Max, rocking him gently. "Shh. It's okay."

Max looked up at him with wet blue eyes. "Papa."

"He's not here. Now calm yourself before you get sick." Alec kissed the top of Max's head. "Want to sleep in our bed?" Not waiting for an answer, he carried him there.

Max snuggled with Magnus's pillow, hiccuping softly, while Alec stroked his back gently.

Could he feel there was something wrong?

For a brief moment, Alec entertained the thought of calling Jace, and for them going after Magnus, but it would only prove to his boyfriend that he not only didn't trust Lily, but he didn't trust Magnus himself. That was out of question.

Alec fell into a restless sleep, keeping Max's small body close.

oOo

He was jerked awake by a hand shaking his shoulder.

"Magnus?" Alec turned around sleepily, touching the hand on his shoulder, which felt all wrong. There were not rings, it wasn't soft. His eyes flew open when he noticed his father standing there looking solemn. "Magnus. Oh, God. Magnus." Alec's hands started shaking.

"There's a Portal in the living room. It will take you to the Institute. I'll get Max."

"No." Tears pooled and slid down Alec's cheeks.

Robert surprised Alec by catching him into a strong hug.

Alec couldn't even find his words to ask what was going on, but all he knew was that something terrible had happened. With one last fleeting look at their little Blueberry, he rushed to the living room and through the Portal.

He found himself in the entry hall for the Institute. Shaking uncontrollably, he stepped into the elevator, reaching the upper floor.

His bare feet slapped loudly against the cold stone as he ran to the infirmary. No one had to tell him where to go, he already knew.

Outside the door, he found Izzy sobbing into Simon's arms; Jace leaning against the wall with a stony expression; Clary trying to comfort Maryse; and even Jem and Tessa were there, with haunted expressions.

Alec wasn't sure if he was going to be sick, or he'd faint.

Jace was the first to notice him, and was by his side in a flash, his long arms wrapping around him.

"Alec. It's... terrible. He's... the Silent Brothers have no idea what to do. Catarina is in there with them, as helpless as them. Even Tessa here tried to help, but failed."

Alec's world titled, and he fell to his knees, sobbing.

Maryse and Jace were there, talking soothingly and touching him gingerly.

"Wh-hat hap-pened? H-how?"

"The rogue vampire thought he was entitled to create havoc and ruin the Accords you'd tried so hard to establish," Jace explained softly.

Jem joined them, touching Alec's shoulder. "We took care of him. It happened that Tessa and I were passing by when we saw Magnus going inside. It was suspicious, and we followed him. He's lucky we did."

"It seems that the rogue vampire had turned several people, who might as well be dead by now, and also constricted Lily into bringing Magnus over. He was the reason why Laurence, as the rogue vampire introduced himself, came to the city. You see, Laurence doesn't agree with Downworlders co-existing blissfully with Shadowhunters."

Alec's wet eyes met Jem's. "Did he hear what I told Lily? I answered Magnus's phone. Fuck. I said terrible things."

"We were there," Tessa said softly. "Laurence repeated what you told Lily on the phone, taunting Magnus. He kept insisting that Nephilim will always be after something and will go to any length to hurt a Downworlder. He told Magnus that it was a matter of time until you turned against him and showed your true face."

"That's when Magnus attacked him—his first mistake." Jem closed his eyes.

"He...the rogue...wasn't hurt?" Alec asked, feeling sicker by the moment.

"It was all a scheme. He'd coerced Lily's clan to be on his side. They all attacked Magnus, then he moved them aside and made his way to him. We were outnumbered. Tessa and I tried to keep the clan away, to talk sense into Lily to get her people under control," Jem said softly.

"But then Laurence was all over Magnus. And it was like Magnus had stopped fighting."

Alec choked out a cry. "He was drained of power."

Jace squeezed Alec's hand. "Jem sent us a message at some point during the battle. We all went there. I was sure you were there with Magnus, that's why I didn't think of calling you."

"He's gone now," Maryse said solemnly.

"At what price?" Alec said bitterly. "How is Magnus?"

No one answered, which only proved to him in what a bad shape his boyfriend was.

With Jace's help, Alec went into the infirmary.

The sight that greeted him was not what he expected to ever see.

Magnus was laying on a bed, his chest bare, bloodied clothes in a hump at the foot of the bed, gashes all over his body, his skin so pale and ashen.

"God, Magnus. No." Alec squeezed in between two Silent Brothers, nearly knocking them over. "Don't do this." He threw himself over his boyfriend, crying.

He's out of any imminent danger for now, one of the Brothers said seriously.

Though, it's touch and go, on whether his body accepts the medicine we made for his wounds, the other added.

It made Alec insanely angry at their subtle way of saying no one had ever bothered to find a way to cure a severely injured Downworlder.

"Leave me alone with him," Alec demanded.

Jace hovered for a moment too long at Alec's side, before leaving with the others.

Alec stroked Magnus's face. "You can't do this to me. You're supposed to be there for Max forever."

When not a single muscle twitched in Magnus's stoic face, Alec took his hand, squeezing it.

"Please, wake up, Magnus. This is not how it's supposed to end. You are the one who should have outlived me. I can't live without you."

Alec stared at Magnus's closed eyes through a veil of tears.

"I want to see your beautiful eyes. Please, Magnus. It's stupid, but I don't want our last conversation to have been an argument. A valid argument. I want for you to wake up so I can say 'I told you so' about walking into a trap. Why must you be so stubborn?"

Alec brought their linked hands to his lips, kissing Magnus's knuckle, then his fingers.

"If you do this, we won't ever get married. I've been fighting for too long for us to have our special wedding in gold. Don't you dare die, Magnus! You can't die. I can't conceive that. You're supposed to live forever. You're supposed to be there for Max after I'm no longer. You're supposed to live a thousand more adventures after I'm gone." Alec took a shuddering breath. "I'm supposed to die first!" He yelled.

Alec exhausted himself with his speech and crying and the veil of worry enveloping him.

Next time he came around, he was in the bed next to Magnus's, and by his boyfriend's bedside was Maryse, staring at him blankly.

Alec blinked the sleep out of his eyes, rubbing the crust formed them from the tears. He sat up slowly, alerting his mother that his slumber was over.

"Any change?" He asked in a rough voice, getting up from his bed to join her, but when he noticed more bloody washcloths and more lotions and potions on the table next to the bed, his legs crumbled, and he fell to his knees at Magnus's side. "God. Please, get better."

"What the Brothers gave him made him better for a short while, then he bled worse, thus we moved you on that bed. Catarina and Tessa worked on those lotions and potions. They seem to work. I've been staring at him for the past five hours. He's getting better. I can see color appear back in his skin," Maryse said softly.

"Five hours? How long have I been out?"

"About ten hours. I guess you were exhausted. No one blames you."

Alec met his mother's eyes surprised. "Whoa! Where's Max?"

"With your father and Uncle Jace." She sketched a small smile. "I think the poor dear can feel something is wrong."

"He knew before everyone else. He started crying before Magnus even left." Alec looked at his boyfriend sadly. "I tried talking sense into him, Mom. But all my words were harsh and against everything I believe in. I never mean to sound like a heartless Shadowhunter who doesn't care for Downworlders, but that's how everything that left my mouth sounded." He gulped thickly. "If I lose him, and our last conversation was an argument..."

"Honey, he knows you love him. If only you knew how many times your father and I fought before he went out with Michael during the Circle time. I was at home pregnant with you and worried out of my mind. We always promised to never fight before he left, yet it came down to that every time."

Alec was shocked his mother spoke so openly about that time, but he couldn't dwell too much on it. His main worry at the moment was Magnus's well-being.

oOo

Three days had passed since Magnus got hurt.

Alec was by his side day and night, only leaving three times, and those were to check on Max, to reassure him at least he was still there.

It was late, well after midnight. Everyone had gone to bed, but Alec sat by Magnus's side, the warlock's hand squeezed into his.

A weird feeling rushed through him, which he usually felt when he offered Magnus his strength for whatever reason. Next his felt pressure on his hand. Magnus was squeezing back—weakly, but squeezing.

Alec gasped, placing his other hand on top of Magnus's, sandwiching it between his hands. "Take all my strength if you need. Take anything you need to get better," he said hurriedly.

Alec kept his eyes on Magnus's face, as he gripped his hand harder.

Then Magnus's eyes flew open and his beautiful face twisted in pain. His cat-like eyes were what Alec had dreamed of seeing for days.

"I was so scared," Alec sobbed in relief. "Are you in any pain?"

"I..." Magnus cleared his throat. "Did a train ran over me?"

"I wish," Alec blurted, then his eyes widened. He shook his head quickly. "I mean, you wish. Shit. Magnus!"

Magnus fought against a smile at how adorable Alec was being.

"I was right about the rogue vampire! He almost killed you."

"Ah, that's why a train sounded like a better option."

Alec kissed Magnus's hand. "I'm not sure what potion or lotion to use. Let me get someone."

"Stay. And try the green one." Magnus looked at the bottles on the table.

After a few sips and in less pain, he tried sitting up with Alec's help.

"He didn't agree of us. He wanted to show you that all Nephilim are the same," Alec whispered, looking down. "And it's true. Do you remember what I said?"

"You were right, Alexander. This is not about Shadowhunters or Downworlders. It comes down to common sense. Which I lacked profusely."

Alec giggled, and it felt liberating. "You had me so worried, Magnus."

"I heard you."

Alec's cheeks flamed. "What?"

"I heard everything you told me. And I'm terribly sorry I put you through this."

"I'm not ready to lose another someone else I love, especially you. I want Max, my brother, to be the last person I lost for a very long time." Alec watched him watery. "I can't bear it. What was I going to do with our baby? He'd have needed your guidance. He already uses magic without knowing."

Magnus smiled. "Chairman wasn't impressed to sport a pink tail."

"Neither was I to see that spider growing bigger and bigger," Alec snorted.

"I couldn't have missed any of these moments. We both know there are more to come. I want to be there with you to experience them all," Magnus said softly.

"Promise to listen to me next time."

"I promise, my selfless Shadowhunter." Magnus tugged weakly on Alec's hand, bringing him closer. Then he was kissing Alec with all the passion and love he had for him. "Thank you."

"What for? I didn't do anything besides cry and hope you'd make it."

"You gave me strength when I needed it the most."