Magnus waved his flaming fingers over Jace's forehead and sighed. "Unfortunately, I can't cleanse him of the lake water. The cut on his head means it's in his blood, and I can't remove water from the blood without risking further damage. He'll heal but the next few days will be rough. Fever, hallucinations, and nightmares will be a problem."

Alec tore his gaze away from his brother, to glare at Clary. "Why can't you just do what you're told?!"

Magnus placed a gentle hand on his boyfriend's chest, as Clary tried not to cry. "Getting mad isn't going to help Jace. He needs you right now. Besides, I think she's learnt her lesson."

Alec took the warlocks hand and sighed, pressing a kiss to his cheek. "Sorry. Thanks for being here."

Magnus placed a hand on Alec's cheek, gently rubbing a thumb over his skin as he offered a smile. "Of course, love."

Izzy spoke up from where she was arranging supplies on the bedside table. She'd already cleaned Jace's head wound and placed a couple of butterfly bandages over it, but she needed to keep her hands busy.

"How long will it last?"

Magnus considered for a moment, head tilting slightly as he thought about it. "A few days maybe, or at least until his fever breaks. You might not want to leave him alone in that time, from what little I've researched about the lake, his hallucinations aren't going to be the fun kind."

Alec was about to ask what exactly that meant, when Jace's breathing picked up in the bed. His chest rose and fell in a more irregular pattern and his breaths came as pants. Alec took his hand and tried to wake him.

"Jace?" The blonde's eyes scrunched shut and he let out a whimper. Alec pressed his fingers to his parabatai's cheek and cursed as he felt the heat radiating from him.

"It's starting."

Isabelle sat on the other side of the bed, beside her adopted brother, and brought a damp cloth to his over-heated skin, trying to relieve his fever a little. Jace squirmed at the cold touch and shivered under his blankets.

He mumbled in his sleep, too quiet and jumbled to be understandable, but he didn't wake, and Alec thought it time for everyone to get some rest of their own.

"It's going to be a long couple of days, I'll stay with him, everyone else can take shifts."

Magnus frowned a little, worried about his boyfriend overexerting himself. "You need your rest too."

Alec shook his head, not taking his eyes off his little brother. "He needs me, I'll rest when he's better. Clary, you should go to bed, you were hurt too."

Clary was surprised the Lightwood would care, and even though she didn't want to leave Jace, she also didn't want to get in the way and make Alec angry again.

She stood from her seat and wrapped her arms around herself, still feeling cold from her impromptu lake swim. She went to leave but hesitated at the door, turning back to speak with a soft, unsure voice.

"I really am sorry. I didn't mean for this to happen."

Alec let out a sigh, closing his eyes and hanging his head as Izzy and Magnus watched him. Finally, he turned to the girl.

"I know. It's not completely your fault anyway; Jace is a handful and it's not like you could have stopped him. You did the right thing, bringing him back here. Get some rest, Fray. You can come see him tomorrow."

It may have been the days trauma catching up to her, but Clary almost felt like crying. It was probably the nicest Alec had ever been to her. She quickly ran over to him and wrapped her tiny arms around him, making the Lightwood huff out a quiet laugh as he patted her hand.

"Don't push your luck." His tone was fond despite his potentially harsh words, and Clary quickly let him go and went to her room.

Magnus gave a knowing look to his boyfriend, one that made Alec smile but didn't look at. "What?"

"You're going soft on her." The warlocks tone was sweet, and Alec laughed a little as Magnus leant his head on the shadowhunters shoulder.

"No, I'm not. I just didn't think yelling at her would be good for Jace."

Alec looked back to the sleeping Nephilim, hoping that everything would be okay. He could feel something unpleasant tugging at their Parabatai bond, and could feel Jace's fear and pain. He wrapped an arm around Magnus as he squeezed Jace's hand.

"Hang in there, buddy."

….

Their night was anything but restful. Jace began tossing and turning in his sleep, crying out in fear as nightmares overtook his mind. Alec woke from his light doze and tried to calm the younger boy, catching his flailing arms as he tried to protect himself from something his mind was throwing at him.

"Jace, it's okay, you're safe. Calm down."

The blonde turned his head towards the voice, trying to find safety, but he was too confused and everything was being warped into something scary by the effects of the lake water. He continued fighting the hands pushing his arms down, as mumbles and plea's fell from his panting mouth.

"No, no, no, please don't. I'll try harder, I won't forget again, just please don't do it. I'm sorry."

Alec's face turned suddenly pale, and he let go of his brother's hands, to lift the bed covers instead, slipping in beside Jace and lifting him into his lap, cradling the shaking boy in his arms. Jace's head fell against Alec's shoulder and his hands found his shirt to grip as he continued to mumble in panic.

Magnus wasn't sure what was happening, or why Alec seemed so distressed, but when he looked to Izzy for answers, he only saw the same pale, distressed look that Alec wore.

The older boy held Jace close, and whispered to him, voice soft and gentle as Magnus had ever heard it.

"He's not here, Jace. He can't hurt you anymore, I won't let him. You're safe, I'm here. Shhhh, just rest."

Jace seemed to calm a little at Alec's words, plea's falling silent and face smoothing out, the scared look melting into sleep.

Magnus had never seen Alec behave this way towards anyone before. The way he held on to Jace, cradling him against his chest and chasing away his nightmares; it was a sudden reminder that Alec would always be a big brother, before anything else.

Izzy watched her siblings, hand coming to her mouth in worry. "Do you think he'd dreaming about…?"

Alec just nodded and watched Jace's face carefully for any sign of distress. His voice was low and tired, but full of loathing.

"I hate Valentine. Out of everything he's done, this is what I'm going to kill him for."