AN: sorry it's been so long, thanks a lot for the reviews as always :) the end is in sight guys! Also, this fic is now being translated in to Italian :D :D :D CYBER COOKIES FOR ALL.
Also, yeah. Rewatching Supernatural. DOES IT SHOW?
When Jace came to he found himself tied to a hard wooden chair in a darkened room. The ropes cut in to his wrists and when he shifted to look around a bolt of blinding pain shot through his neck. He groaned and looked around; there was a pentagram drawn on the floor in chalk surrounding the chair but apart from that the room was empty.
What the hell had happened to him?
He took a deep breath, intending to begin the arduous task of wriggling out of the bonds but the door to the room swung open and light spilled in, momentarily blinding him.
"You're finally awake," Magnus said from the doorway, sounding relieved.
Jace blinked in the bright light, "What happened?"
"Sebastian," Magnus said looking at Jace worriedly. "You don't remember?"
Jace shook his head. He remembered following Magnus out of the park, he remembered Sebastian laughing and that was it. "I don't remember anything."
"Where am I?" Jace asked, looking around again.
"You're at my apartment."
"You have a dungeon in your apartment?" Jace started to ask but Magnus shot him a devilish look and he petered off. "Of course you have a dungeon in your apartment..."
Magnus frowned and bent down to examine the pentagram on the floor. "What is that thing?" Jace asked.
"A demon trap; if someone is possessed it keeps the demon, or in this case Sebastian, subdued. It's something mundanes use."
Jace eyed the chalk circle doubtfully. It was a chalk drawing. How defensive could that be? He watched as Magnus traced the circle's edges, murmuring little charms. "Can you get rid of him?"
"Jace, this magic is very old and very powerful and what's worse the ceremony was interrupted so I have no idea how bonded you are."
"I assure you, Magnus, I have in no way 'bonded' with Sebastian."
Magnus shot him a sharp look and stood up. "Well I'm glad to see your personality hasn't been affected."
Jace forced a smile. "So what are you going to do?"
"I'm not letting you leave this room," the warlock said quietly. "It's too dangerous."
Jace's smile vanished. "You're going to leave me in here? You can't!"
Magnus turned to him, eyes steely. "What would you have me do, hm? Sebastian is too dangerous." He spat and Jace flinched at the raw fury he saw in Magnus' eyes because of Alec.
"Oh, god, Alec." Jace half-sobbed. "Is he here? Is he okay?"
Magnus nodded, "He's here," he looked away. "He'll...He'll be okay."
Jace wasn't sure what to say. There had been part of him that had thought-hoped- that night had been a bad dream. He closed his eyes briefly and all he could thinkhearfeel was Alec twisting away and begging and crying.
Jace please, Jace stop!
Here in the dark room, tied to the chair with the ropes biting into him he knew it was real.
When he opened his eyes he was only half surprised to feel tears burning his eyes. "He knows it wasn't me, right?" he asked, voice wavering.
Magnus sighed, "Yes, we told him."
"We?"
"Clary and Isabelle are here, they know too."
Jace nodded and took a deep breath, trying to steady himself. "How long will I be in here?"
"Hopefully not too long."
"Can I see Clary? Isabelle? Alec?"
"Not Alec," Magnus snapped but then his expression softened. "I'll ask about Clary and Isabelle. And I'll leave a light for you."
Magnus shut the door with sigh and locked it. He didn't like having to lock Jace up, Jace didn't deserve it, but he couldn't risk Sebastian getting out again.
He moved back through to the living room where the floor was strewn with ancient spell books and Isabelle and Clary were sprawled among them searching for anything to unbind Sebastian from Jace. Alec was still in the bedroom, Magnus had charmed him into a dreamless sleep.
"Is he okay?" Clary asked, looking up at him immediately. "Is he awake?" She looked awful; her face was pale, her nails were bitten and there were dark circles under her eyes.
"He's awake. He wants to see you and Izzy."
Clary jumped at the opportunity, "Yes! Of course I want to see him!"
But Izzy looked away. "I don't want to see him."
Clary looked at her, a mixture of anger and understanding. "Isabelle we need to support him." she said softly.
"I know Clary," Izzy said quietly. "But I don't know if I can look at him after what he-Sebastian-did to Alec."
Magnus ran a hand through his hair; this would be far trickier than simply removing Sebastian. Even after Jace was free he'd still be there, etched in their memories, in Alec's bad dreams. Magnus tried to imagine how it must feel to have your best friend, brother do something like that to you. How must Izzy and Clary feel knowing what Sebastian had been doing to Alec? Did they feel as guilty as he did? Had they analysed every interaction they had had with both of them to see what they had missed?
Magnus knew he should have realised something was wrong the minute Alec left him for Jace. Jace had never had any interest in his parabatai and he'd be so in love with Clary, Magnus should have known something was wrong.
He watched as Isabelle pressed a hand to her mouth, blinking away tears and Clary crossed the room and laid a comforting hand on her back. He glanced at the closed bedroom door and sighed.
How were they supposed to move past this?
"Any luck on finding anything?" he asked, trying to change the subject.
Isabelle shrugged and Clary shook her head before standing up, "I'm going to go and see him, okay?"
When Izzy nodded she left the room and Magnus crossed the room to sit beside her. "Are you okay?" he asked gently.
"No," she snapped. "My brother has been possessed by his brother and has been torturing and...and..." she broke off with a sob. "Magnus what am I supposed to do?"
Magnus put an arm around her and shook his head. "We'll get passed this." He said, but words tasted bitter in his mouth.
They sat there for a while until Magnus stood up, "I'm going to go check on Alec, will you be okay?"
Izzy nodded, biting her lip and picking up another ancient book.
When he got in to the bedroom he found Alec standing by the window, forehead pressed against the glass. His arms were wrapped protectively around himself, he was trembling slightly.
"Alexander?" Magnus asked carefully. "How are you feeling?"
Alec shifted slightly and Magnus noticed Alec's hands balled into fists. "Fine." He said flatly.
"Alec..." he said, approaching him. "Alec you need to talk to me. You need to deal with this."
"I'm fine, Magnus." But this time his voice shook.
Magnus laid a hand on Alec's shoulder and Alec flinched and stiffened against the touch. "It's okay," Magnus soothed. Eventually Alec relaxed and Magnus wrapped his arms loosely around the Shadowhunter.
He needed to get Alec passed this. He could see him fading, reverting back to who he'd been before all this, quiet, shy, angry at the whole world and desperately scared. Magnus held him tighter.
"Was it..." Alec asked in a voice barely more than a whisper. "Was it my fault, Magnus?"
Magnus spun Alec to face him and gripped him by the shoulders, "No, Alec. Don't you ever think that."
Alec's eyes filled with tears. "But I could've stopped him...I could have fought but I didn't! I didn't Magnus. I just...I just let him..." Alec's eyes were wide and he looked like he was crawling out of his skin.
"Oh, Alec," Magnus pulled Alec to his chest and held him there, whispering soft words of love and comfort.
Jace had fallen asleep after Clary left, he wasn't a hundred percent sure how he'd managed to fall asleep whilst tied to a chair in a cold dungeon in a warlock's apartment but he had. And he'd actually managed to sleep pretty well. He'd dreamt about Clary and Alec and Isabelle before Sebastian when they just had his deranged father to defeat, happier times.
He was awoken when the door swung open and light streamed in.
"Magnus, that you? If it is I demand sustenance." Jace called, blinking in the bright light as his stomach growled.
The figure in the doorway moved in to the room. It wasn't Magnus. "Alec..." Jace said in a strained voice. Inside his head he felt Sebastian rumble.
He was wearing a dark coloured hoodie, his hands stuffed in the pockets. His eyes were darting around the room, looking anywhere but Jace.
"Alec-Alec...I..." Jace stammered. His mind was churning through images of that night, playing them over and over on a loop like an awful horror movie. "You know it wasn't me, right?"
Alec nodded. "I knew..." he said quietly. "I think I always knew. You never felt that way for me, I knew it wasn't you..."
Jace wasn't sure what to say but he didn't have to worry about it for long because Alec turned and left without a backward glance leaving him once more alone in the dark.
You just let him walk away? Came Sebastian's voice.
"No. No." Jace said. "Magnus said...You can't be here!"
Sebastian cackled, I'm no demon, little brother. Your silly drawing might have slowed me down for a bit but I'm back now. Did you miss me?
Jace closed his eyes as Sebastian slipped in to control.
