A/N: Hello again. Little bit of bad news. An old wrist injury of mine has flared up again, which as you might imagine makes typing a bit difficult. This also means that the chapter lengths are likely going to stay short-ish like they are now.

It was like a scene out of Sleeping Beauty. Except this time the princess was Magnus and the bed was a couch. Maybe not the best comparison. But Magnus was laid out on the couch in a position that suggested someone had placed him like that and that he had not moved since. And the blankets that were neatly tucked around him without a trace of a wrinkle seemed to confirm that version of events.

"Is he sleeping?" Clary asked. She yelled in his ear while she shook him. "Magnus, wake up!" Nothing happened. She shook him again and his arm fell and hung down on the side of the couch. It was then that Clary noticed that she couldn't tell if he was breathing or not. She looked back at Izzy with panic in her eyes. "Is he dead?"

Izzy was still standing in the doorway. "No."

Clary crossed her arms angrily. "You didn't even check!" Her heart was racing. He was just too still.

"Don't need to." She walked over anyway, and went about checking his vital signs.

"Why not? How could you know for sure?" Clary demanded huffily.

"Alec isn't passed out on the floor. Even if he has been stumbling around New York like a madman for nearly a whole day, he'd be much worse off if Magnus had died." She looked at Clary. "Even so, I'm still worried about him." She stood back up, having found both a heartbeat and shallow breathing. "Like I said, he's alive."

"Well, what happened to him then?" Clary looked a little lost. There was still a lot about the Shadowhunter world she didn't understand. None of her lessons had taught her what could do this sort of damage to a warlock, or if they had, she couldn't remember.

"Honestly, can we just head back to the Institute? I'm worried about Alec. Maybe Jace is back already. Alec will likely know what happened anyway." Only then did Clary notice the glazed look in Isabelle's eyes. Of course, she was worried about her brother. Clary felt a little thoughtless.

"Ok." She got up to leave with Izzy, but stopped halfway to the door. "What are we gonna do with Magnus?" Both girls glanced back at him and then each other." We can't just leave him here."

"But what if Alec is already back at the Institute? Wouldn't seeing Magnus likely just upset him more? "Clary sighed. Izzy was obviously so focused on her brother that she couldn't think of anything else.

"Normally, I'd agree with you. But what if— what if whoever did this comes back?"

Izzy didn't say anything for a while. She just looked at Magnus, and then back to Clary. "Alright," she said after a moment. Clary stood in awe for a moment as she watched Isabelle easily pick Magnus up off the couch before walking over to help her. Isabelle ended up carrying most of his weight anyway.

... ... ... ...

An hour later, they were at the elevator in the Institute. The problem was, they didn't know where Alec was. If Jace had already brought him back, he could be anywhere in the Institute. If he hadn't, they could show up at any moment. Izzy was hoping to put off Alec's discovery of Magnus being in the building for as long as possible. Besides, it certainly wouldn't do any good for Alec to see him hauled unconscious into the building.

"Right. Clary, when we get up there, check to see if the way to the nearest guest bedroom is clear. If the coast is clear, let me know. We can move him to the Infirmary later."

Clary pressed the elevator button and the doors opened immediately. "How do you want me to do that?" she asked as the two of them hauled Magnus into the elevator. He didn't start out that way, but after an hour trek across the city Magnus was heavy.

"Shout for Jace if the coast is clear. Do anything else if it isn't." Clary simply nodded in response as she darted out of the elevator. Izzy only had to wait a moment before she heard Clary's voice shout "Jace!" With a sigh, she picked Magnus up again. Just think of it as strength training, she told herself. On her way to the room, Jace actually appeared and wordlessly helped her carry him the rest of the way.

Once Magnus was safely deposited in the bed, Izzy turned to Jace.

"He's in the infirmary, Iz. I … had to lock him in there." He spat the last part out in a rush. She didn't even notice the bruise on the side of his face before she ran out of the room and towards the Infirmary. But Clary did.

She pulled out her stele immediately and started to draw an Iratze on him. "Jace! Are you OK? What happened?" She knew a bruise wasn't usually a big deal, but this was Jace. He was very protective of his face. If someone managed to bruise him there, they likely hurt him elsewhere too.

He smiled at her as he sunk into the nearest chair. "If you don't mind, I'm just gonna wait till Izzy gets back to tell that story. She's going to be—" He was cut off by Izzy's shriek. He sighed and shook his head. "Here we go…."

"JACE! What did you do to my brother?!" Izzy stormed in and Jace knew that she was seconds away from grabbing her whip. She looked like she was ready to burn the world down.

"In my defense, he did almost knock me out first."

So? I hope you're enjoying the story so far!

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