Author's Note: Ok guys, I want you all to do me a favor and listen to this song "Always be with you" by Walking on Cars. It's been stuck in my head whenever I write this story because the lyrics are just so Jace/Alec centric. I listen to it and I feel like I'm in Alec's head when he's thinking about Jace, especially the part where it goes "Please do you erase me, I know that you can. If it's been for me I know that I'll always be with you."

"So how long we're you going to wait before telling me that Alec was missing?" Magnus braced his hands against the table that usually held a collection of herbs and spellbooks. "I mean, if I hadn't called when I did and forced your hand."

His expression was as tight as his voice and Jace didn't miss the normalcy of Magnus' apartment, which was usually decorated in a different style every time Jace had been over. Jace figured that now Magnus didn't have time for such frivolous hobbies when Alec's life hung in the balance.

Jace crossed his arms over his chest, choosing his words carefully. "It was important to me to keep this private until I knew for sure that he was missing. He's my parabatai. My concern. My responsibility."

"Oh what and you think that I just crashed his wedding for shits and giggles? Cause I had nothing better to do with my time?" Magnus mimicked Jace's posture. "I know that the parabatai bond is like nothing else on this earth, but don't think for a second, Jace Wayland, that your relationship with Alec means more than mine. You can make all the claims you want about priority and Shadowhunter policy but you cannot claim to know my feelings for him. To understand the lengths that I'd go to for him."

Jace's eyes dropped to the floor and stayed there. "You're right. I should have told you sooner."

"Damn right you should have!"

"Alright, we get it! Alec means a lot to all of us, so let's stop arguing over past actions and work on getting him back." Clary stepped forward, placed herself in between them. Behind her Luke and his pack shifted awkwardly at the edges of the room, trying to staying out any drama.

"Agreed," Isabelle moved to stand next to Clary. "Magnus, you said that you could help us, so help us."

Magnus ran his hand through his hair. "You said that there was a ring from Hodge?"

Jace nodded, pulling it free of his jacket pocket and holding it up in the air for Magnus to see. "Hodge used it to contact Valentine. He left it behind before escaping back through the portal when Luke's pack came after him."

Magnus took a moment to absorb that. "I need to see it. There's a chance that it still holds a trace of Hodge's presence. If I can connect with him then there's a chance I can also connect into his headspace… make use of his eyes."

"What are you saying?" asked Clary.

"I'm saying… I might be able to see Valentine's organization through Hodge's eyes. If we're lucky, get a look at Alec. I could tell you if he's alright. That's what you're worried about, aren't you?"

Jace blinked. "How could you tell?"

Magnus' grimace was full of sympathy. "It's written all over your face."

Jace looked away and rubbed at his jawline, giving himself a moment to compose his features into something that wasn't so exposed. Jace extended his hand with the ring out to Magnus. "Do what you need to do."

Magnus took the ring into his hands and twisted it around in his fingers for a minute, examining it with a critical eye. When he was satisfied with what he saw he retreated back towards the bookshelf on the side wall and ran his fingers along the book spines, skimming for a specific one. Jace watched him pulled one loose— covered in a grey, scaly cover material that was uncomfortable familiar to Jace— and brought it over to the table.

"Is that cover made out of… demon skin?" Jace asked with a raised eyebrow and a hand pressed to his mouth to suppress his nausea.

Magnus sighed at Jace's reaction. "Not all of us are lucky enough to have our sacred texts digitized like you shadowhunters. The magic doesn't come just from reading Chtonian, sometimes the magic is embedded within the spellbook."

"What's—" Clary leaned over towards Jace.

"Chtonian is the warlock language used for spells." supplied Jace.

"Apparently there was a shortage of leather when this spellbook was written…" Magnus continued speaking as his flipped through the book. "so yes, demon skin. A Vetis demon to be more specific."

"But how is that possible? I thought they disintegrate when they're killed. " asked Clary, leaning into Magnus' space to get a closer look at the cover material.

"True," Magnus waved Clary out of his personal space. " but there are warlock rituals that preserve their physical forms for a short time. Sometimes demon blood is needed for spellcasting."

Magnus waved at them to be silent and the group did as told. Jace watched as Magnus found the page he was looking for and let his hands hover over the page. His fingers started flexing and twisting as he muttered the enchantment under his breath. The ring in Magnus' hands started to glow with the warlock's characteristic blue aurora. Magnus closed his eyes as he worked his way deeper into the spell.

"I found him but there's strong magic surrounding the area blocking my connection to Hodge. I'm going to try to break through it."

Jace watched Magnus' brow furrow in concentration, perspiration breaking out at his temples. A redness bloomed on his cheeks from the strain that it took him to push through the magical barriers, and then all at once he was knocked back. It was only Simon's newly acquired vampire speed that saved Magnus from falling to the floor.

"Are you alright?" Simon steaded Magnus and lead him over to the couch positioned behind them. Magnus fell into the cushions, shaking like someone who had been left standing out in the cold.

"It's too strong, " gasped Magnus, hand pressed against his torso as he caught his breath. "Whoever put up those wards for Valentine used ancient magic— the kind I've only felt a few times in my life. I'm sorry. I'm not strong enough to break through the wards. I thought I could do this for you."

Jaced took a step forward. "You used Alec's strength once during a spell when you were healing Luke. Could you do it again, with mine?"

"That was different… healing magic isn't on the same caliber as the magic necessary to break through ancient wards. Your strength, even added onto mine, might still not be strong enough."

"If it looks like it isn't enough, tell us and we'll add our strength into the mix." Isabelle raised her chin a little higher in the air, looking more like the defiant woman that Jace was used to seeing. "It'll be just like when we called the memory demon."

"I seem to recall that that moment didn't end so well for all parties involved." Magnus sent a pointed look at Jace. He pushed himself back to his feet but didn't argue the point further.

He extended his hand out towards Jace, who took it in his own. Magnus started speaking the enchantment again and this time when his hands glowed blue Jace felt the jolt of magic race through his whole body like an electric current. Jace had felt the same sensation when they'd connected the circle while summoning the memory demon and he now realized it was Magnus' power surging through his body, latching onto the strength held within him and drawing from it.

Jace didn't know if he'd closed his eyes or not but suddenly a cloudy image was rising up in front of his eyes. Apparently the extra might that he'd given Magnus was enough to break through the barriers because the image rippled and reformed like an object breaking through a layer of water. The man that stood in front of Jace was speaking, though the words faded in slowly and before Jace could hear more than a few nonsensical words he was moving in the opposite direction, walking down a hallway.

The reality of the situation was jarring to Jace's own mind. He was aware of the fact that his hand was clasped in Magnus' own— could feel the other man's fingers squeezing against his own— but he also knew that the eyes he was seeing through were Hodge's. He watched Hodge enter into a room that was devoid of people… but wait, it wasn't because there was Alec sitting cramped in a cage.

The look he directed at Jace— no, wait, Hodge— was so severe that Jace felt cut to pieces by it. Beside him, through the thick veil of magic, he could make out Magnus' breathed exclamation, "Alexander."

Hodge unlocked the cage door and opened it, positioning his body in the threshold to dissuade Alec from making a daring escape.

"I brought you lunch," Hodge lifted the sandwich and the bottle of water in his hands a little higher. Alec's eyes were drawn to the plate, his eyes lingering on the sandwich, before he turned away to stare at the wall.

"I'm not hungry," said Alec.

"Please don't be like that," Plead Hodge. "You need to eat, Alec. To get your strength back."

"Why?" Alec grunted, hugging his knees closer to his chest. "So you can use me again? I refuse to be used against Jace, to be made into his weakness. I'd sooner starve."

"That's not going to happen again, Alec. I won't let Valentine hurt you."

Alec's laugh was biting. "What makes you think you have a say in anything he does? No, Hodge. The truth of it is that you're weak and you'd do anything to keep yourself alive. So take your stupid pity sandwich and come back to me when you've grown a spine."

Hodge sighed and turned away, placing the dish on a rusted machine next to the cage. He stalled with his hand on the cage door, eyes on Alec's obstinate form. Jace felt connected to Hodge in that moment, both of them unwilling to leave yet. A deep yearning to help Alec, barely contained inside his tense limbs.

Hodge drew his stele and lunged at Alec, who didn't have a chance to react before Hodge was seizing his arm and dragging him towards him.

"What are you doing?" Alec shouted, trying in vain to wrench his arm out of the older man's grip.

"You don't want to eat? Fine." Hodge's foot came down on Alec's shoulder pinning him to the cage floor. He traced his stele over the nourishment rune on Alec's forearm which flared to life in a fiery red glow. "But if you're going to escape this place, then you'll need the strength to run."

He stepped off Alec's shoulder and shoved his arm away from him, exiting the cage and locking it behind him. Alec followed him as far as he could, threading his fingers through the links of the cage.

"One day you're going to have to pick a side, Hodge. You can't play the middle line forever."

Hodge paused in the doorway, turning partly— enough that Jace hoped for a last glimpse of Alec— but didn't reply. He left Alec alone in the room and as Alec faded farther away from him, so did the image in Jace's mind as Magnus' power dwindled. Jace blinked as the apartment came back into view, feeling like he had walked for miles to return to this point.

Jace released Magnus' hand, flexing his hand against the death grip they'd held each other in, though Jace couldn't have said who'd started it. He staggered back towards the couch, his legs a tingling mess.

Magnus saw his weakened state. "That'll fade in a few minutes."

Isabelle was tentative to ask for anything too soon but couldn't seem to help herself, "Did you see him?"

Jace sat down on the couch and rubbed at his legs, trying to work some feeling back into them. "He's alright from what I could see. He's got enough strength to be just as stubborn as he is with us and Hodge activated his nourishment rune."

"You call that alright?" Magnus blinked at him in disbelief. "He was in a cage!"

"Did you think that they were just going to sit him in a chair in a corner of the room and tell him to stay there?" asked Jace. "He's alive and he'll stay that way until we can get to him. That's what matters."

"Did you see anything that could help us get to him? Did you see my mother anywhere?" Clary stood anxiously off to the side.

"There was no sign of your mother, but Hodge has access to Alec which means he might have access to her as well. He said that he wouldn't let Valentine hurt Alec. There's still the chance that he's sympathetic to all of you, if we can get to Hodge there's a chance we can get him to lead us to Alec and Jocelyn."

"And what happens if he just turns about and betrays us like he did the first time?" snapped Jace, still unwilling to forgive and forget.

"Trust me," Magnus' fingertips sparked with blue electricity. "He won't have a say in it. If he won't lead us to Alec willingly then I have 400 years of spells I can unload on his ass to persuade him."

Jace smiled darkly. He'd never seen Magnus enraged enough to threaten someone's life with magic before but he couldn't deny that he liked this angrier side of the warlock.

Simon raised his hand. "I feel the need to be the voice of Alec right now, since he's not here himself, and say that he wouldn't want us to go in without a plan. He might have a stick up his ass about a lot of things, but he does have a point when it comes to planning for a mission."

Jace flashed him a look. "I'm not going to say you're wrong, just don't get too comfortable speaking for Alec."

Simon's expressed blanched for a moment, and Jace thought that he must be remembering the argument they'd had in that alley. They'd both yelled some hateful things at each other that weren't entirely true. A part of Jace wanted to reassure Simon that it was all in the past, but he couldn't let the vampire think that he liked him or anything. Jace had his image to maintain after all and once he said something nice to him, the vampire might get it into his head that they were friends and then Jace would never hear the end of his whining.

Jace focused his mind back on the mission… but as he did that he needed to ask himself was it one mission or three? Rescue Alex and Jocelyn, find the book of the white, and most importantly kill Valentine. There were too many things to get done before they got caught inside the warehouse and there were too many rogue shadowhunters to fight. Besides, there was no way that last item of Jace's list was going to fly if he had the rest of the group with him.

"We're going to need to split up if we want to accomplish all our goals." stated Jace, gathering everyone's attention at once.

Jace looked toward Clary. "You need to find your mother but you can't go alone, so you and Isabelle will pair up and search for her when we get to the warehouse. If you find her you move her a good distance away and call the institute to pick you up. Agreed?"

Isabelle opened her mouth ready to spout off an objection but then looked at Clary and understood that Jace was right. She couldn't leave Clary alone to find her mother. An untrained shadowhunter against who knows how many adversaries. "Yeah, alright."

Jace looked towards Magnus next. "You said on the phone that you found where Camille is. Where was that?"

"The Hotel Dumort. Raphael and I go way back, I should have guessed that was where he would have locked her up." Magnus rolled his eyes at his own stupidity.

"Then it's your responsibility to go there and get the Book of the White from her."

"I'm not going to be relegated to the sidelines while you go rescue my boyfriend." snapped Magnus.

"I didn't say that," Jace said, holding his hands up placatingly. "But I can't let you go inside that warehouse. There's bound to be an army of newly made shadowhunters waiting for us and seraph blades are deadly to anyone with demon blood… that includes warlocks. Alec wouldn't forgive me if I got you killed, Magnus."

Magnus sighed morosely. "I really wanted to set some nephilim asses on fire."

"I know you did." said Jace. "But if we pull this off, once Valentine finds out he does have his bargaining chips anymore, he's bound to send shadowhunters after all of you. I'm counting on you to protect Alec once he's with you. You can set as many nephilim that come hunting you on fire then."

Magnus' smiled brightened at the prospect.

"So, if they're doing that, what am I doing?" asked Simon.

Jace smiled at the vampire. "You're rescuing Alec."

Simon laughed and then realized that Jace wasn't actually joking. "No, no, no. You're rescuing Alec. You're his parabatai after all." argued Simon.

Jace shook his head, no matter how much he'd like to be the one to save Alec like his parabatai had saved him in the past, he couldn't this time. "I'm the distraction. Valentine wants me? Well, he's going to get me."

"You're going to fight him?" gasped Clary.

And I'm going to kill him. "It's the only way to distract him long enough for you guys to accomplish your tasks. Luke and his pack will split up between me and Simon."

Luke turned to his pack members and started speaking to them privately. Jace supposed that he was dividing them up between him and Simon.

Jace looked at Simon, trying to impose as much seriousness into his voice as possible. "Once you get Alec you bring him to The Hotel Dumort. You get him to Magnus. I don't care what Alec tells you to do, you do not let him go after me. I want him out of harm's way, do you understand me? I don't care if you have to drag him out of that warehouse. Just get him to safety."

Simon nodded though he looked uncomfortably pained by the prospect. "I understand."

Jace breathed deeply and tried for a reassuring smile. "And if we all make it out of this alive then we'll meet back up at the institute and wake Jocelyn."

Isabelle clutched at Jace's hand suddenly, her nervousness rearing its head. She squeezed Jace's hand and declared, "We can do this."

There were a few determined nods around the group before Luke shouted out the order. "Alright everyone! We've got loved ones to save and an army to dismantle. Let's head out!"

The group filed out of Magnus' apartment and headed towards the warehouse. Towards Alec. Towards war.