Notes: So! I haven't posted anything in a while, for which I apologise. This was written for a prompt; I hope it's enjoyable and I'd love to know what you think!

Jace was freezing. He was doing his best not to give in to it – he had enough to deal with as it was and complaining would get him nowhere – but it was a wasted effort; he could feel himself shaking and even if he was painfully aware of how obvious it was, the situation was already out of his control.

It wasn't all that cold, really, or so he suspected. It was the beginning of September and while he was still soaking wet after jumping off of the Morning Star, he hadn't expected to feel quite so bad in the aftermath. Vaguely frustrated with his own inability to focus on anything else, he was just starting to consider that it was possible that one of his father's resident Warlocks had cast a curse on him before he'd managed to escape when Alec came into view.

His parabatai looked like he'd seen better days too. His hair was dishevelled, he was out of breath and what was visible from his skin was covered in already purpling bruises, but he was alive, he was mostly unharmed and if Jace hadn't been so exhausted, he thought he might have cried.

"Jace." His name was said on an exhale, with Alec sinking to his knees next to him on the pavement, arms wrapping around him before Jace had had the chance to react. "Thank the Angel."

Still shivering, Jace let himself sink into the embrace. The last few hours (and days, and weeks, if he was honest with himself) had been hell. Clary's appearance on the ship had been unexpected to say the least and the same went for Alec, who'd apparently tracked him down to the beach he'd ended up on before Jace had even thought about figuring out where exactly he was. He had yet to be given an explanation, but he wasn't in a rush; not when he could feel himself gradually getting warmer under Alec's touch. He couldn't move, could barely breathe, but he just had to ask:

"Where's Clary? How did you find me?" he rasped, tightening his grip even more. It was selfish and he could feel Alec's clothes getting soaked too, but he couldn't help it. "I never thought—"

"Clary's okay; you'll see her in a minute. I tracked you through our rune. There was this stone Jocelyn gave me— it doesn't matter now."

"No," Jace nodded. He pulled away by a fraction; enough for Alec's face to come into focus again. "It doesn't." Still disoriented by everything that had gone down in the matter of hours, Jace couldn't do much but take a quick look around them only to confirm what he already knew: they were alone.

The next thing he knew, they were kissing, Alec's lips almost burning against his own still cold mouth. It was a desperate gesture, one that he hadn't planned but one he'd dreamt of for a while. On the ship, the thought of home – of Alec – had been one of the few things that kept him going and it had been so difficult with their bond as weak as it had been at the time, but he'd managed it somehow, so focused on getting both Clary and himself off the ship that he hadn't noticed how much more strain the latest tracking had put on them.

Now, as Alec's emotions came rushing in through their bond, the contrast was almost painful. With a frantic sort of elevation, Jace realised that he was grateful for all the changes in their bond ever since they'd started their supposedly ill advised relationship because who could tell what would have happened otherwise? Before he'd left with his father, their bond had just started growing stronger until it was almost palpable and he suspected that that was what had kept it safe until now no matter what the Clave had to say about it.

Alec pulled away, gentle and yet firm when Jace tried to chase after him. "We need to get to Magnus's place," he said, one of his hands cupping Jace's cheek as if to ground him. "Think you're up to using a portal?"

"I'll be fine," Jace assured him. "I thought we'd go back to the Institute." His frown deepened as all he received in return was an anxious headshake. "Alec, what's going on?"

"Magnus agreed to help." It seemed to be the only answer he would get for now. "You need to rest first, and we need to get away from here. We'll talk later."

Something had happened in his absence, something major, but the last thing Jace wanted just then was to bring that up. Instead, he wrapped an arm around Alec's shoulders and allowed him to walk them both through the portal whirling in front of them. Everything else could wait.

o.O.o

Jace didn't know when he'd passed out – it was likely that he hadn't been as ready for the trip through the portal as he'd liked to imagine – but he became aware of his surroundings the moment he managed to open his eyes. Everything in his body hurt and he winced as he sat up in the spacious bed he'd found himself in, gaze fixing on the figure on the edge of it a second later.

Fondness mixed with something akin to desperation washed over Jace as he watched his parabatai. Of course he'd fallen asleep. It must have been exhausting; tracking him down and tracking Clary down afterwards only to find him. He had probably decided to watch over him and the fatigue had proven to be too much at some point during the night, but there was no way Jace would be able to get up without waking him. There was no way he would be able to get up, period, he realised, and he suspected that it would take a while before he'd find the strength to do it, so he just tapped his parabatai's shoulder instead, the light touch startling him into awareness immediately.

"You're awake," Alec acknowledged, rubbing the sleep away from his eyes. "How are you feeling? Do you need an iratze? I meant to ask before, but—"

"It can wait." Valentine had wanted to keep him at least somewhat in fighting shape and he'd escaped in the best possible moment. They'd been lucky – all of them – in more ways than one and soon enough, Jace knew that he'd want to know about everything that had happened and to talk to everyone waiting outside of this room (everyone that had helped him escape, he amended, even if he hadn't found out just how yet), but for now, none of it mattered. He could feel the bond between them try and bring him even closer to Alec all on its own as they kissed again, the urgency from the beach giving way to something much gentler. It was nothing but a stolen moment, they were both aware of that, and it was that knowledge that made it all the more painful, but Jace welcomed it nevertheless: whatever waited ahead of them, he wouldn't trade this for the world.