The giant cat stretched its wings and yawned as Magnus watched and- something was kicking him. A thump, and a shout smacked against him and he sprang up from bed, wide awake. What a shame; he'd liked that dream.

Another thump came, and Magnus clicked his fingers, turning the lights on as his heart raced, so he could figure out what had woken him.

Alec was tossing and turning in the bed beside him, sweat soaked hair sticking to his forehead as he struggled against the sheets. He was crying out as his arms tried to free themselves from the tangle of blankets, and he sounded just as terrified as he'd been when they'd found him in that basement.

"No, please don't hurt me. Izzy, make it stop! Jace, help me, please! Magnus!"

He cried out in pain as he rolled on to his broken ribs and injured side, and Magnus quickly tore the sheets from him. He freed the boy's struggling limbs and scooped him into his arms to cradle to his chest.

The Nephilim's eyes were scrunched shut as he whimpered, terrified, his hands clawing at Magnus as if searching for help.

"Alec, wake up!" Magnus called out to him, voice loud in the quiet room.

Alec jerked awake with a scream, hands scrabbling and glassy eyes searching for the source of the sound. The warlock held him close and wiped the tears from his cheeks, keeping his voice quiet and soft.

"Shhh, love, it's all right. I'm here, you're safe now."

Alec blinked up at him, trying to get his bearings. His cheeks were pink and his eyes wouldn't focus completely. He seemed to recognize who was with him, but not where he was, and he whimpered as he curled himself to his boyfriend, clinging on so tight that Magnus should feel him shaking.

"Magnus. Help me."

"You're okay." The downworlder stroked Alec's hair back, trying to calm him, but frowned as he felt the heat in his skin. He brought his hand back to that too-hot forehead, and cursed.

"Oh, darling you're burning up!"

Alec didn't want to move but Magnus couldn't let him cook in his own skin, so he grabbed his phone and pulled Alec from the bed. Isabelle's number was dialled and he slid the phone across the floor, to the bathroom, so that he could use both hands for Alec. The phone was on speaker, and he could hear the girl pick up as he tried to help Alec stand.

"Magnus? Is something wrong? It's three in the morning."

Alec was so scared, whole body trembling as he was lifted from the mattress and onto his feet.

"Alec had a nightmare but he isn't really coming out of it, even now that he's awake, and Isabelle, he's far too warm. Shh, my love you're okay, just hold on to me." His last words were directed at his boyfriend as he shook in the warlock's arms.

A soft curse came from Izzy's end of the line, shuffling and footsteps coming through the phone. "Dammit, okay I'm coming over. Try to cool him down and keep him calm, I'll be there soon."

Alec was still so weak that Magnus had to practically carry him to the bathroom but he resisted the whole way, not wanting to move. The warlock dragged his boyfriend over to the shower and sat him beside it, apologizing profusely as he turned on the shower.

"I'm sorry, love, but you have to cool down. Just keep listening to my voice, you'll be all right." He felt terrible for leaving the man, even for a second, watching him while testing the water to make sure it wasn't too cold.

Alec was panting, eyes glassy as he begged for help, body sagged against the wall he was leaning on. "Magnus, the seelie girl is going to hurt Jace. She's going to hurt my brother you have to stop her, please."

The warlock, satisfied with the luke-warm water, came back to kneel in front of Alec. He stroked those tear stained cheeks, flushed with fever.

"She isn't going to hurt anyone, she's gone, everyone is safe. Here, grab onto me."

Alec did as he was told and held on as Magnus lifted him into the shower, but he didn't know why he was being put in there, or why he'd be going into a shower fully clothed. He didn't start panicking until his mind started screaming, telling him that the falling water from the shower was the same dripping that he'd heard in the basement where he'd been tortured.

He suddenly bucked in Magnus' hold and scrabbled back, trying to escape the bathroom. But he was so weak, and unwell that he didn't get far before Magnus had pulled him to his chest and wrapped him in a hug. He had one arm wrapped around the Nephilim's back while the other hand was stroking the back of his head, his voice worried and soft as he whispered to him.

"Alexander, you're okay. What's wrong? Why are you so scared?"

Alec was still trying to get away from the shower, and refused to even look at it.

"I can't- It's the noise. She's going to come back and she said she'd hurt Jace. I can't let her hurt him."

Magnus didn't want to subject Alec to any further nightmare fuel but he needed to cool him down, and the luke-warm shower was the best way to do it. He gathered as much of Alec as he could, into his arms and moved to the shower.

"She'd dead, my love. She isn't going to hurt anyone ever again. Jace is safe, now let me take care of you."

Alec whimpered, hands fisting into his shirt on his back.

"Magnus."

The warlock held firm, pulling him into the water, holding tight when Alec struggled in his arms.

"I'm right here, and as long as you hold on to me, everything will be okay. I promise, I'll protect you, and Jace will be fine. Just hold on tight and don't let go."

Alec was confused and scared and in pain but if Magnus said it would be okay, he believed him. He held on as tight as his shaking limbs would allow, sobbing into the warlock's neck as he tried to hide from the spray of water and block out any sound that he could. Magnus held him tight on the floor of the shower, wrapped around Alec and rocking him to try and keep him calm.

"Shh, I've got you. You're all right, Alexander. You're safe, it's all over now."

Isabelle arrived fifteen minutes later, dressed in a set of silk pyjamas, with a worried Jace in tow. Magnus felt them approach his wards and opened the door for them from his position in the shower, and held Alec closer when they came in.

The Nephilim was significantly calmer by the time they arrived, his hold on Magnus was less frantic, and he'd stopped crying. He lay in his boyfriend's arms as he was rocked, and peeks out of his hiding spot as Isabelle knelt and reached towards them.

She lay a hand over his forehead before moving it to stroke his red cheeks; she was frowning as she tilted her head. Alec blinked up at her as Jace leant in and turned off the shower.

"Sorry." His voice was raspy from the screaming he'd done, and now that his head was clearer he felt stupid for such a meltdown.

Izzy shook her head. "You have nothing to be sorry for, Alec. How are you feeling?"

He shrugged and curled back to Magnus, so that he could rest his head on the warlocks shoulder.

"Tired. I don't feel very good."

She nodded and stroked his wet hair back, a gesture that made him feel just a little bit better.

"Let's get you dry and into bed then. Jace can you help him out? I'll go get some supplies to replace that wet bandage, and something to bring that fever down."

Jace grabbed some towels as she left, helping Magnus lift Alec from the floor of the shower and onto his and Magnus' bed. He seemed clearer, his eyes focussing properly, and his hands had stopped shaking. Magnus gave him a kiss on the cheek before leaving him with Jace, so that he could get on something dry.

Jace knew that Alec would be embarrassed to need help, so he tried not to make a big deal out of it as he rubbed a towel over his Parabatai, keeping his voice light.

"You're dream kind of bumped into mine, when I was sleeping, I could feel and kind of see what you were dreaming about. I'm glad I woke up when I did cause Izzy wasn't even going to tell me something was wrong."

Alec kept his head low. "I'm sorry, I didn't to wake you guys."

Jace sighed, as he lifted the sopping wet shirt from Alec's body, peeling the material from him, before throwing it in the bathroom and wrapping the towel around his parabatai's shoulders. He rubbed his hands up and down Alec's arms and back as he spoke, drying him off as best he could.

"We don't mind helping you, Alec. That's what happens when people love you, they take care of you. We all just want you to get better."

Alec nodded but didn't look convinced. Jace kept his hands busy as he spoke, pulling Alec's wet clothes off to replace them with warm, dry ones.

"Do you remember when I first came to the institute? Our rooms were right next to each other, and you could hear me have a bad dream almost every night. You didn't even really know me that well, but you'd come to my room with some stupid excuse, like you couldn't sleep so I had to help you practice your runes. You stayed up with me until morning, or until I fell asleep again. Sometimes we'd read or talk, but you never mentioned the nightmares, or complained that I was keeping you from your sleep.

"I felt really stupid for being so scared of a dream, and I didn't want to talk about them because I didn't want you to think I was weak. But one night, after a really bad dream, I woke up crying and you were already there, sitting next to my bed. And you told me that everything would be okay, because you were there. You said you'd never let anything happen to me.

"I wasn't used to other people, and Valentine wasn't the most caring parent… you were the first person that ever made me feel safe. I don't think I ever thanked you for that, but it really meant a lot to me. And, I know you want this to all go back to normal right away, but it's going to take time. It'll get better, big brother, just let us help."

Jace had just finished pulling Alec's shirt on, and looked up as he straightened the shirt. Alec's eyes were watery, and his smile was faint but he looked grateful for the story, his voice rumbling with emotion.

"Thanks, Jace."

The blonde nodded and pulled the older boy into a hug, being careful of his chest, but Alec squeezed back tightly.

"Love you brother."

"I love you too, Jace."

Izzy came in then, as Jace released his hold and replaced the towel with a blanket around Alec's shoulders. Izzy carefully dried and covered Alec's stitches with a new bandage before handing him a few pills to take with the cup of tea Magnus came back with.

The warlock was dressed in a new set of pyjamas, his damp hair laying in soft disarray across his forehead. Alec felt a little better just at the sight of him, though the downworlder frowned as he spoke to Izzy.

"Sorry I got his stitches wet, but I couldn't think of another way to get his fever down."

The doctor shook her head as she snapped off her gloves. "It's all right, they look okay for now. The fever might be the start of an infection but I'd like to think it was just a reaction to the nightmare. Reliving that trauma may have told the body that it was in danger and too cold so it reacted accordingly. It's going down now, anyway. Feeling better, Alec?"

The Nephilim nodded as he sipped his tea, before setting it on his bedside table and laying back under the blankets. He felt better now that he was in dry clothes, but his ribs were protesting all the excitement of the night, and he couldn't hold back a grimace as they shifted uncomfortably.

Magnus' hands quickly come to his aid, lifting his shirt to hover over his array of colourful bruises, sending warm healing magic into his bines to take the pain away and ease the tension in his chest. Those graceful fingers paused over the long scar, and a shadow passed over Magnus' face, like a wash of grief, before he blinked and tucked his shadowhunter back in.

"There, all better."

Alec wanted to apologize again, feeling guilty for every worried face in the room, but he remembered Jace's words and offered them a smile instead as Magnus crawled into bed behind him.

"Thanks for taking care of me, it means a lot."

Magnus wrapped a gentle arm around his boyfriend and snuggled close. "My pleasure, angel. And you two are welcome to stay the rest of the night."

Izzy placed a kiss on both her brothers and the warlock's forehead, and bid them goodnight, Jace smiling at the two before following her.

Magnus sat up in the bed a little, leaning over Alec and stroking his hair. "Are you really okay?"

Alec smiled and pulled his handsome man down for a kiss. "Everything's okay as long as I hold on to you, right?"

Magnus smiled and kissed him back, sinking back into the bed to smuggle with Alec as he replied in a soft, happy tone.

"Absolutely."

Alec took the other man's hand where it lay on his tummy and squeezed it tight. "Good, then just don't let go."