The camp was quiet. After last night's chaos, they had all fallen asleep relatively quickly. Alec and Magnus were in their tent, but Simon had refused to share a tent with Jace, insisting that the past few days had been traumatic enough. This meant Clary had wound up sharing a tent with Jace, and Simon with Izzy. Clary didn't mind it - she loved spending time with Jace, even if it just meant being close to him.
As birdsong warbled through the trees, the early morning sunlight soft upon their tent, Clary opened her eyes slowly. She could hear Jace's steady breathing next to her, deep enough to suggest that he was still asleep. She shifted ever so slightly so that she could see his face lying next to hers. Luckily for him, the bruise had died down, so his complexion just looked slightly uneven. Izzy had probably brought makeup, which would fix that easily enough. His golden hair was messy from tossing and turning in his sleep - Clary had been on the receiving end of a few kicks that were enough to indicate he hadn't had a calm night's sleep. He tilted his head, lost in the depths of sleep. The golden light of the morning filtered through the blue canvas tent, gently illuminating his face.
"I know you're watching me."
His gravelly voice surprised her. "You're awake?"
"Mhmm," he mumbled, blinking wearily. "And you've been watching me."
She rolled onto her side, facing him fully. "I can't help it."
"Oh yeah?"
"Uh huh."
"Are you mad at me?"
She frowned. "Why would I be mad at you?"
"Because I treated Alec like shit."
"No you didn't."
"Yes I did. I know I did."
"Okay. You did. But… I'm not mad at you. It was just lighthearted fun that went a bit off the rails."
"Yeah, but - "
"I'm not saying that's an excuse for messing with him. He has every right to be mad at you. But I'm not going to hold it against you. Mostly because I like you too much to hold a grudge."
"Is Alec going to get back at me?"
"Hopefully."
"Are you going to help him?"
"Maybe."
He smiled sleepily. "Bring it on."
Clary returned his grin, reaching out to hold him. He pulled her over until she was laying on top of him, their eyes still focussed on nothing but each other.
"If I were to kiss you right now, would you tie me to the tent?"
She laughed. "Not this time."
So he kissed her, not with the feverish intensity of last time, but with the delicate idleness of a person deeply in love. And she kissed him back, with no ulterior motives, no hidden plans, just a reckless sense of adoration for none other than Jace Herondale.
Sometimes it scared her, how much she cared about him. Sometimes she was afraid that her willingness to go to any ends for him would end up stinging her. But as they lay, hands entwined in hair, sunshine soft and warm, hearts beating as one, she couldn't think of anything but how much she loved him.
Somehow, she forgot where they were. Somehow, she forgot everything. She couldn't have cared less what was outside that tent. She had a universe to herself in her arms, and there was nothing, nothing, that could take it from her.
"Hey."
"Hey."
'Hey' seemed like an understatement. Simon wanted to say something closer to 'holy shit, you're an angel', or 'what did I do to deserve you?', or even 'thank you for gracing my existence with your presence'. But he instead said 'hey'.
Isabelle winked. Maybe what he thought didn't need to be said.
She yawned, sitting up and drawing the sleeping bag around her. Simon couldn't keep his eyes off of her. He'd had trouble seeing anything angelic in Alec, Jace, and even Clary - but he didn't doubt for a second that Isabelle was part angel. In fact, he found it harder to believe she was human at all.
She caught him gazing at her and he blushed and looked away, suddenly self-conscious. He had no reason to be. He had seen her, all of her, last night. But still… he felt bad looking at her.
"You don't have to look away. I appreciate you protecting my modesty, but… I don't want to make this awkward," she said, picking her clothes up off the floor and putting them on. Simon mumbled something that she didn't quite catch.
"What was that?"
"I… I don't want you to feel uncomfortable."
She paused. "Do you know what? I don't think anyone has ever cared about whether or not I was comfortable before."
It was true - she'd been dressing to match her high self-confidence since she'd been allowed to, and even though she was seldom uncomfortable around people, regardless of her state of undress, she didn't think anyone had ever cared enough to consider her comfort. It was usually just assumed that she felt at ease dressed in anything - or indeed, dressed in nothing. But here was Simon, his gaze averted out of sheer decency, turning down a chance that she knew others would happily take. She couldn't help but smile.
"Why… why not?"
"I don't know," she replied honestly. Before she could elaborate, he began mumbling, cleared his throat a little, and blurted -
"It's… it's a privilege to be with you, Isabelle. In every single way."
Her thoughts flicked back to the countless stares, the filthy mutters she endured, the rough grabbing and demanding yelling and all of the hell that other men had dealt her. She shook her head.
"It's a privilege to be with you too, Simon. More than I hope you ever realise."
Alec and Magnus, in a surprising turn of events, did not end up getting anywhere near as intimate as the others did. In fact, Alec had climbed into their tent and promptly fallen asleep, only pausing to kiss Magnus goodnight. He was drained from the exhausting day, and quite frankly, Magnus was too. He was always fatigued these days, with his magic feeling more like a memory than a real presence. It was still there - of course it was - but it was rather like waking up and finding out that the person you thought you were cuddling was actually a pillow. Still real, just… distant.
But it was getting stronger, and so was he. For that reason, despite the desire to remain laying next to Alexander for the rest of his immortal life, Magnus decided that he would get up early that morning and practice his magic.
Nobody else was out of their tent yet, but Magnus knew better than to assume that meant everyone was still asleep. All it meant for him was that he got peace and quiet - two things he'd never appreciated so wholly - and time. Time he could spend on magic.
He closed his eyes, breathing through his mouth. He could do this. He didn't need to waste time summoning things such as hamburgers - Izzy had been right. What they really needed was a way out of there, not a Happy Meal - but truth be told, Magnus wouldn't object to either right now. Focus, he told himself, and he did, which surprised him so much he lost focus again. Frowning slightly, he willed himself to focus again -
And he did. He had never had to focus intensely on doing simple magic before his connection with magic was strained. The thought process involved just seemed to happen automatically, like a reflex. This newfound focus - maybe it was his magic telling him that he was closer than he thought. Maybe it meant that the automatic process was still there, albeit a little blurry. With this in mind, Magnus opened his eyes, steeling himself to succumb to all of the distractions of the outside world -
And he found himself still focussed. He could still feel the magic rippling beneath his skin, still feel the tightness holding it caused in his fingers. It wasn't quite as mechanical as before, no, but nonetheless it was closer than he'd gotten recently. Daring to exhale, he relaxed slightly, looking around the camp.
The magic was still there.
Resisting the urge to celebrate this triumph in some way, he allowed himself a smile. He didn't think Alexander would be too pleased with him wasting this fleeting magic on something as 'unimportant' as a ceremonious shower of glitter (though Magnus would never be convinced that glitter was anything but something of great import, he did understand Alec's reasoning). With his smile still on his face, he turned his attention to a rock that lay on the ground before him. His fingers crackled excitedly - the magic knew what to do, it was just awaiting his command.
Move.
And the rock did - rather enthusiastically, as a matter of fact. Jolting, it flung itself about a metre from where it originated. No, Magnus thought, it didn't fling itself. I flung it. With my magic.
This time, he couldn't help the glitter.
His next target was a stick that lay partly buried in the recently dried mud. It took a little more effort, due to the resistance it put up, but it too shot off into the woods. Huh. Magnus smirked - just like old times with his good friend Ragnor Fell, he had proven once more that he, Magnus Bane, was a master at moving sticks-in-the-mud.
His magic seemed to sense his contentment, and began to trickle away. Magnus stopped smirking, focussing hard again, but he could do nothing to stop its fading - it was like talking with someone you really want to talk to, finishing a deep conversation, and having to endure the awkward small talk that precedes goodbyes. No matter how hard he tried, the magic seemed determined to be on its way.
In a last, desperate attempt, Magnus used whatever magic he could still summon to drag one of the bags they had brought towards him. It was heavy, so it took more effort, and it didn't leap off the ground as freely as the other things had - it just slid over to him. Alas, it seemed that by the time the bag was at his feet, his magic had slipped away without so much as a promise of return.
He sat down, grouchily wiping his brow. He hadn't realised that he had begun to sweat. How unbecoming of him. Now that he had a bag at his feet, he figured he may as well do something with his time and look through it - if anyone came out of their tent, he needed an alibi as to what he was doing with said bag. He wasn't ready quite yet to admit his magic was teasing him - he didn't want to get hopes up.
He unzipped the bag absentmindedly, not caring what he found (unless it was food, in which case, he would be very happy). But once he had opened it, he found the contents of the bag intriguing. Very, very intriguing.
"It's probably time to get up now," Clary breathed into Jace's neck. He pouted playfully.
"Really? I don't want to have to face Alec's wrath just yet. Five more minutes."
She laughed quietly, tying up her red hair into a messy bun. "I don't believe in karma, Jace, but I do think it's a little unfair that you put Alec through hell and you're rewarded with - "
"With you? I know, right?" He closed his eyes happily, content to never open them to anything but her again. Seeing his relaxed state, she tickled him, and he curled up into a ball as he tried to push her off him, to no avail.
"Come on, Jace, time to get out of bed."
"Stop," he wheezed, batting her away. "Please. I'll take anything Alec will throw my way - just please stop tickling me."
Looking as though she'd just uncovered his weakness, she pulled a jumper on and left the tent, leaving Jace a few seconds to pull himself together and follow her.
Simon and Izzy were already outside, sitting outside their tent and each clutching a warm drink. Magnus had set up a fire and boiled a kettle of water for tea and instant coffee - though absurdly, he seemed content with a mug of plain water. Izzy didn't question him on it, though - she was too busy trying to think of the perfect words to describe Simon's scent.
It was an odd thing to want to do, she thought, but as he sat next to her, leaning into her shoulder, she couldn't think of anything but the precise scent of his hair.
He smelt kind of like sweat, but Izzy suspected that was left over from last night. He also smelt like shampoo and some sweet undertone that she couldn't quite put a finger on. Whatever it was, it was so distinctly Simon that Izzy felt the urge to bottle it up and wear it as perfume.
It's a privilege to be with you.
Izzy wasn't an overly romantic person - she had held off on being too affectionate for this entire trip - but after last night, and after how tenderly kind he had been to her… she felt a rising desire to stamp her name all over him, to wrap him in bubble wrap until the end of time, to protect him over and over and over again -
"Iz?"
"What was that, sorry?"
"I just… I just apologised because, um… I kinda spilt a little bit of coffee on your leg."
Simon had, indeed, spilt coffee on her thigh. Not enough to be painful, but enough to be uncomfortably warm - and, she noted, enough to leave a stain if she didn't wash her pants soon.
"Oh. That's alright."
"Sorry."
"It's okay, Si."
"Okay. I'm still sorry, though."
"That's okay. You don't need to be."
"But I am."
"Alright," she sighed happily, leaning in closer to him. Yes, he was a klutz, but he was her klutz.
When Clary and Jace had finally emerged from their tent, and Magnus had finished pouring them a drink, Magnus frowned slightly.
"By the way - whose bag is that?"
He pointed to a grey bag that was sitting slightly apart from the rest of them. They'd decided to leave their bags underneath the tree, where they were protected but not taking up room in their tents.
"It's mine," Clary yawned. "Why?"
"Oh, nothing much. I just stepped on it a little earlier - by accident - and I thought I heard something crack. It may have been nothing, but I thought it an intrusion of privacy if I was to go through and check your belongings were intact."
"Oh - okay. Uh… I'm sure everything will be fine. It was probably just a stick. I'll check, though."
She walked over to her bag and began rifling through it, running off a checklist in her head to make sure everything was intact.
But.
But something was missing. Clary frowned. Where was it? She couldn't have lost it - she'd barely opened her bag this entire trip. She looked up at Magnus, about to ask if anything had fallen out of her bag when he met her gaze. The casual apology in his eyes had disappeared, and for the moment that their gazes locked, she could tell that he knew exactly where it was.
Shit.
Nobody else had noticed this exchange, however, so Clary pretended that nothing was amiss. "Everything's fine."
"Mm. It probably was just a twig or something. No harm in checking."
Although every trace of hostility had vanished, Clary still felt uneasy. This wasn't something that could be ignored. He'd get her alone, and then he'd ask about it, and she'd have to answer. Until then, however, she put on a sleepy smile and walked over to Jace, who lazily pulled her into a hug.
"Well, if that's all sorted, can we get some breakfast?"
"I couldn't agree more," Magnus said, practically leaping over to where the food was. He retrieved some plastic bowls and the bag of rolled oats that Jocelyn had wanted to bring. You may not like it, Clary, but porridge is easy to make and the ingredients are easy to carry, she had argued as she purchased the large packet. Clary tried to ignore the familiar ache of missing her mother, but it was no use. They had been apart before, of course they had, but this time was different. There was no war. No reason to be apart. In fact, there was nothing supernatural that Clary could pin this on at all - other than Magnus, of course. But she couldn't bring herself to blame him.
She gulped. She hoped he felt the same sentiment towards her.
By the time Alec had awoken, breakfast was well underway. He emerged from his tent yawning, hair messed up from a rough night's sleep. Instead of his usual 'good morning' scowl, he greeted everyone with a sleepy wave.
"Wow. You must have really done something to him, Jace. He seems almost… sociable."
"Ha ha ha. Hilarious. You're a comedy genius, Simon," Alec deadpanned.
"There's the Alec we all know and love - sarcastic and misanthropic."
Alec rolled his eyes. He didn't have time for this.
"Morning, Alexander! So glad you could join us! Would you care for some porridge? I'm afraid it's a tad bland, but it's all we have."
Alec smiled at Magnus. "I don't have much choice, do I?"
With a subtle wink, Magnus handed Alec a mug of porridge and a spoon. He took a bite, surprised to find that it wasn't bland at all - in fact, it tasted like it had been flavoured with brown sugar and milk. He frowned at Magnus, who shrugged. Alec sighed, trying to communicate wordlessly with his boyfriend.
You don't have to waste your magic on me.
Magnus beamed, communicating clearly: on you, Alexander, magic is never a waste.
Alec couldn't help but smile back. Maybe he did deserve the luxury of flavoured food - he had spent the entirety of yesterday wanting to shrivel up and die, after all. Which reminded him…
"Jace."
"I'm not here," Jace mumbled, ducking behind Clary. Unfortunately, the 5'11" warrior was unsuccessful in his attempt to hide behind Clary's small frame. This fact wasn't helped by Clary ducking aside, laughing at his pathetic attempt at camouflage. Alec grinned sympathetically.
"Nice try, but you know what's coming."
"Fine," Jace said, standing to meet his fate. "However, I must insist that if I am to receive an ass-kicking from my parabatai, at least give me a chance to do so with dignity."
Maintaining eye contact with Alec, he whipped off his shirt. Clary seemed to be the only one who was impressed.
"Can I just ask… why?"
"Because, Alec, when they finally finish piecing my corpse back together after you've blown me into smithereens, I want them to say, 'damn, that boy had abs'. It's my dying wish."
"I'm not going to kill you, Jace. Not yet."
"What do you mean not yet?"
And with a knowing smile, Alec sat down next to Magnus, ignoring Jace's increasingly frantic questions. Clary didn't envy Jace - from the smirk on Alec's face, it appeared that whatever Jace had in store for him wasn't going to be pretty.
They ate the rest of their breakfast in near-silence, everyone but Alec tentatively nibbling at their tasteless porridge. Alec kept fussing over Magnus - rearranging his hair so it was out of his eyes, brushing dirt off of his clothes, constantly asking him if he was comfortable. To the others, there was nothing about Magnus that needed tending to, but he made no effort to stop his boyfriend from fretting over him. It was cute, Clary thought, and she whispered that much to Jace.
Jace shrugged - maybe, but it didn't change how unnerved he was by Alec's sadistic grin.
Simon was the first to finish, and Izzy shortly after. They stood up at the same time, laughing at how they were 'in unison', and decided that they'd go for a walk. No one bothered to object, so long as they were back within the hour. Clary stood next and dismissed herself to go to the river to wash her bowl. Magnus got to his feet too.
"I'll join you. I have a bowl to wash, too. Shall I take yours, Alec?"
He shook his head. "I can do it. Don't worry."
"I insist," Magnus replied, taking the mug from him. Clary followed suit, taking Jace's bowl, but her thoughts were occupied - surely, Magnus would use this chance to confront her on her bag. What could she say to get out of it?
"I need to wash, too - give me the bowls and I'll do it all myself."
Magnus raised an eyebrow. "Nonsense. It'll be faster if I come with you and we finish the bowls quickly, and then you can bathe. Besides - we wouldn't want you getting lost, would we?"
The word 'lost' echoed around her mind. Was it intentional? She didn't know, but knowing Magnus, it probably was. Her heartbeat quickened as she put on a sweet smile and left the campsite with him.
They walked in silence, Clary terrified to say anything, until they reached the riverbank. She bent down to start washing her bowl before Magnus said: "care to explain this, Clarissa?"
She didn't need to turn to know exactly what he was holding, but she did anyway - just in case this was a huge misunderstanding. Alas, her premonition had been correct.
In his hand, Magnus held a GPS. It was simple, and designed for portability - it had a bracket where, if you desired, you could attach it to a bike. There was a screen, and Clary knew that if it were turned on, she'd see a map with a blinking red dot to indicate where they were. Although she knew everything about the GPS, she refused to take her eyes off it, because meeting Magnus' gaze would be even worse.
"Why didn't you tell us you had a GPS?"
She didn't answer. What was there to say?
"Clarissa, we could have found our way back by now."
"It's not that simple, Magnus."
"Really? How is it not that simple? Please. Tell me. I'm curious," Magnus retorted, his tone rising in annoyance.
"If we turn that thing on, it emits a signal."
"I'm not a mundane, Clary, I don't know much about technology, but please - don't patronise me here. I know it would emit a signal. How is that a bad thing?"
"Because if it's emitting a signal and trying to get our coordinates, it's actively alerting anything nearby that we're here. It's trying to figure out where we are by bouncing signals off wherever it can. And… and if it does that, then we can be found."
"I… I can't believe that you would be so selfish, Clarissa, as to not tell anybody about this - I don't know what you have against the rest of us, but we would very much like to be found."
"As would I, Magnus, but by my mother. By Luke. If we turn this on, the only people who would have access to our coordinates are us and - "
"The police," Magnus finished. "You don't want the police to know we're here."
"No," she whispered, her voice shaky. "I don't."
"Please tell me why that is," he asked, his voice equally low.
"Because… we'd have to explain. We'd have to explain how we'd survived for so long, how we hadn't all broken our necks in the fall. How Alec's wound had healed so fast. And we'd have no choice but to tell them the truth. We'd expose the shadow world."
"We could lie, Clary - we could think of an alibi. We could use a glamour over our campsite, make them think it was a false alarm and stop following us. There are so many other options than letting us waste away in some godforsaken forest!"
"It's not that easy, Magnus. It's never that easy."
"What would you know? You're a child! Who are you to tell me what is and isn't easy? You know what would be easy? If we turned on this GPS and discovered that there's a trail that would lead us straight out of here. Or if we discovered that there's a camping ground a mile or so away that we'd never find if it weren't aware. We could find help. We could get us out of here."
"We can do that without the GPS. We know the way out - up the embankment. It'll just take time, Magnus, and we have plenty of that. We don't need to overcomplicate things."
"Overcomplicate? Tell me, Clary, how do you think Jocelyn will feel when she discovers that you could have just pushed a button and found a way out of this?"
"Or not! If we turned it on, who's to say that we do find a route out? We could have search and rescue police on our tail for no reason."
"Even if that was the case, it's completely unfair of you to make that decision yourself. You should have told the rest of us. We could have come up with an alibi together. We could have thought it through a little more than you did."
"I have thought this through! I've spent every second of every day we've been here contemplating what to do. I knew if I told anyone, especially Jace or Isabelle or you, that you'd want to turn it on."
"What do you mean, especially Jace or Izzy or me?" Magnus' voice was louder now - he was yelling angrily at her. Usually, he hated yelling at Clary - she was so small that it didn't seem fair. But she, too, was getting increasingly shrill. He was glad he had waited until they were this far away from the camp.
"I mean that you three are prone to leaping into danger headfirst if it means direct benefit. You don't think."
"Don't you dare speak to me in that way," he hissed, but Clary didn't seem inclined to stop.
"It's true, Magnus - you throw yourself at danger without a second thought. You threw yourself into a raging river, almost killing you and Alec, and I don't think you heard a single word that I said to you afterwards. You act like you're prepared to die for Alec, but how would you feel if that fearlessness caused him harm? How would you - "
"Enough," he seethed, but the heartbeat thumping in his ears was too loud for him to determine whether or not she had shut up. Anger, unbridled and ready to explode, coursed through his veins, causing his whole body to tingle -
No. That wasn't anger. It was his magic, as furious as him, rearing inside of him like a wild stallion. Before he could control it, a few blue sparks crackled at his fingertips - a warning sign for whoever dared to oppose him.
It was only for a split second, before he forced it under control, but the damage was done - Clary's eyes had widened in shock.
"Your magic - "
"It's… it's not as strong as it looks - "
"It responded to what you saw as a threat. It reacted to your emotions. If it's strong enough to be an automatic reflex - "
"Clary, it's not strong enough. Trust me."
"But it's stronger - "
"I don't want to get their hopes up."
"You should have told us."
"Perhaps you're not the only one who has been keeping secrets."
They exchanged a glance. Clary could see, behind Magnus' snide scowl, that he didn't want to hide things from the others. He didn't want to leave them in the dark. But Magnus could see through her, too, and he could tell that her malicious snarl was a facade to hide her fear. She was just as tentative as he was about hiding things from the others. But some unspoken thought passed between them, a shudder that turned their blood cold - they would both have to keep quiet, or else the other would expose them, too. It hurt them both, but neither would budge from their standpoint, and hence, both would have to remain silent.
"I'm sorry," Clary whispered.
"I am too."
And Magnus spun on his heel, leaving Clary alone on the riverbank, unwashed dishes still in hand.
"Where's Jace?"
Alec shrugged. "Why should I care?"
Izzy frowned. "Shouldn't you be worried that he's trying to run from your wrath?"
"I know he won't run. He's got too much pride to do that. If I didn't know better, I'd say he's in his tent right now, listening to what we're saying, and trying to gather how I'm planning to wreak my havoc. And just for the record, Jace - I'm not going to let you find out. You'll know when it happens. Also, stop eavesdropping."
"I wasn't eavesdropping," Jace barked from inside his tent.
Simon laughed but covered it up with a cough. Alec smiled.
"How was the walk?"
Simon and Izzy looked at each other, an inside joke written all over their grins. "Oh, it was… quite interesting."
"The scenery was gorgeous."
"Beautiful."
"Absolutely spectacular."
"First of all, ew," Alec said. "You're my sister. Stop it. This is weird. Second, I think I'll follow your lead and go for a walk - but like, an actual walk. Not whatever the hell you two did. I have some planning to do, isn't that right, Jace?"
A muffled scream of annoyance came from inside Jace's tent. "Just tell me what you're going to do and get it over with."
"Not just yet. Patience."
"I don't have any patience, Alec."
"What else is new?"
Still looking content and unfazed, Alec strolled out of the camp, whistling to himself.
Magnus hated keeping secrets. It was ironic, really - he hated secrets, and yet he had so very many of them. Actually, it wasn't the secrets that bothered him, but rather the fact that he had to not tell anybody else. Sure, that was the nature of a secret, but it was so inconvenient. He wanted to tell Alec about the GPS, to get his clear-headed verdict on what should be done. He wanted to tell Alec that his magic was getting stronger, but it still wasn't strong enough. But Alec would tell Jace, because these weren't personal issues - they pertained to all of them, and Alec would argue that Jace would have a right to know. Then either Alec or Jace would tell Izzy, who would tell Simon, who would tell Clary if Jace hadn't told her first. Then not only would the secrets not be secret and their purpose defeated, but Clary would know he had broken the wordless agreement they made each other.
It was complicated. Complicated and inconvenient.
He hadn't wanted to go back to the camp because that would mean facing Alexander, and he wasn't in the mood to be coddled by someone he was lying to. Not lying, Magnus reminded himself. Just not telling him the truth.
His master plan to avoid Alec was foiled, however, by Alec walking straight up to him.
"There you are!"
"What are you doing? Is something wrong?"
"No, I was just… taking a stroll. Don't worry. Hey - the bowls."
"Huh?"
Alec gestured at the dishes Magnus held in his hands. Both were still dirty.
"Yes. About that. It turns out that I'm not great at cleaning without magic."
"Don't worry - I'm sure you'll get your magic back soon," Alec said, in such earnest sympathy that Magnus' heart felt tight. "Until then, however, I'm going to have to show you how to wash dishes. You're pathetic."
Well, there went the sympathy. Magnus exhaled. "Of course. After all - it can't just be you washing the dishes in our apartment. That'd be inefficient."
Alec had already started towards the river and was grinning like a little kid. "I know this is going to sound dumb, but I'm… I'm kinda excited."
"Me too," Magnus agreed, a genuine smile taking over his worry. "It's going to be so much fun. But fair warning - I'm not changing my aesthetic for you. You're going to have to work around my taste in interior design."
"I'm okay with that, as long as I get a space for my weapons. Somewhere accessible. And as long as I have a place to store my clothes - I don't want to have to dig through piles of sequinned fabric to get to my stuff."
"I should have mentioned this earlier, but visible nephilim weapons and black clothing is the exact opposite of my aesthetic."
"Huh. I've never considered what my… aesthetic… would be, but I think if I had one, that'd be it."
"Well… I suppose I'll have to make do, then. It won't be too hard - I always have room for more clothes, and for your weapons… I suppose I could make some room near the door. But not too near, so when we have unexpected visitors, that won't be the first thing they see."
"Yeah, or else they'll think we're prepared to kill them."
"I won't have you ruining my social life."
"Speaking of… I'm not a very social person."
"Really? I hadn't noticed. Don't worry, Alexander - I don't throw that many parties, and even when I do, I have a hideout room that nobody knows about. It has snacks and wifi."
"Have I told you how much I love you?"
They neared the river, and Alec took a bowl from Magnus, kneeling beside the river. Magnus glanced up and down the bank - no sign of Clary. She must be back at the camp. She wouldn't say anything - of course she wouldn't. Neither of them would.
"What are you waiting for? An invitation?"
"My apologies," Magnus said, kneeling next to Alec. Usually, he'd protest having to kneel in mud, but his silver jeans had already been through a lot - surely, a little dirt wouldn't hurt them.
Wow. He couldn't believe he'd just thought that. Was there really a part of him that didn't care for the preservation of clothing, that didn't mind a bit of mud? Surely not. Maybe - just maybe - Alec was rubbing off on him.
"Like this," Alec said, rinsing the pot in the water.
"It doesn't seem like there's much to it," admitted Magnus.
"Well, there'd be a bit more if we had detergent and a sponge, but you're right. It isn't complicated at all. Oh well. You caught me - I just wanted to spend more time with you. Is that such a crime?"
"Never," Magnus murmured, the words barely escaping his lips before Alec occupied them. They sat there, in the mud, in the dirt, still-dirty dishes discarded beside them. In that moment, it was them, just them. As it would be as soon as they got back, and Alec moved in with him, and the world was set right.
As soon as they got back.
Despite the utter bliss that was Alec, a niggling voice in the back of Magnus' mind kept bothering him, kept reminding him that if they did want to get back, his magic was the safest bet. His magic, that was so close and yet so far. His magic, that only he could do anything about. His magic, that was as much a part of him as his thoughts, that he had no power over.
And so, despite Alec's kisses, despite the promise of a wonderful future, despite anything and everything good that had ever come his way, Magnus couldn't help but feel like he'd failed everyone somehow. And that stung.
Luke hung up the phone and turned to Jocelyn. He didn't need to say anything - she had heard his side of the conversation. She slumped onto the table next to them.
"No luck?" The owner of the camping grounds that they were staying in was waiting in the doorway. Luke shook his head gravely. Mercifully, the owner, a woman by the name of Ellen, nodded with understanding and gave them a moment alone in her office. They had frequented it over the past few days, seeing as it had the best reception in the park - that, and it was shielded from the curious eyes of fellow campers. By now, the entire park was on alert for a band of six teenagers, two female and four male, who could be anywhere in the woods. The description was vague, and somewhat ill-fitting - Jocelyn had pointed out that Magnus was not a teenager, but Luke thought it easier than trying to guess how old Magnus looked. Besides, he had argued, nobody is going to look for them, they're just going to let us know if they see them. And if they see a group of six people, most of them teenagers, that'll probably be enough to trigger a few alarm bells.
Jocelyn didn't want to point out that there may not be six of them, not if they split up, or… or if one was missing. She didn't want to point out that there was no guarantee that they were even in the woods, that they could be anywhere along the road from the Institute to where they were, or even farther depending on what had happened. She didn't want to point out that maybe they'd be glamoured, changing their appearance or erasing every trace of them. All of these things concerned her, but she didn't want to point them out, because she didn't want Luke to know how stressed she really was. Not because she didn't trust Luke, but instead because she was afraid that seeing her as nervous as she was would lead him to do something stupid. He was reasonable, thank the Angel, but he was incredibly loyal, and if a member of his pack - or indeed, his family - was threatened, his protective instincts would kick in.
So she just smiled weakly, knowing that he didn't buy her confidence, knowing that whatever she did, he wouldn't be convinced she wasn't concerned, but putting on a brave face anyway. It didn't matter that the police had still found nothing. It didn't matter that there was no trace of human habitation in the forest so far. Everything was going to be okay.
By the time night fell, Jace was almost in hysterics. He had waited all day in suspense, hovering in and around his tent, keeping an eye out for Alec. So far, his revenge had not manifested, and neither had he - he was still taking his 'stroll'. This incredibly long walk of his would have worried Jace even more, had Magnus not also been missing.
But, a tiny voice in Jace's head said, what if Magnus is helping him execute the plan? What if you now have a warlock against you as well? You hurt Alec, and you know what that means - you hurt Magnus, too.
Shut up, Jace told the tiny voice. You're making things worse.
You can only deny it for so long, the tiny voice continued, heedless in spite of Jace's annoyance. Magnus is in on it too. And Isabelle and Simon - the two of them have kept to themselves all day. Simon hasn't made one attempt to make a fool out of you. Something must be wrong.
Don't be ridiculous, Jace countered. So what if they haven't talked to me? Not everything revolves around me.
Listen to yourself, the voice sneered.
Jace frowned. It had a point.
And Clary -
Not Clary. Never Clary.
Yes, Clary. She's on edge. Can't you see it? Something's wrong.
You're right, Jace admitted. Something's a little off with Clary. I should talk to her - whatever it is, we can deal with together.
Or, the voice pointed out, you could just assume the worst and stay away from her.
That is an option, agreed Jace.
However, before Jace or his little voice could finish debating, Alec and Magnus strolled back into the camp.
"Took you long enough. And look - you didn't even clean the bowls," Izzy said, gesturing at the dishes they held in their hands.
"Sorry. I was distracted," mumbled Magnus. Alec bit back a laugh.
"You were gone for hours," Simon said incredulously. "Not even you two could be so 'distracted'."
"Fine," Alec said, "we were busy making plans."
Plans. They were plotting against him. Jace scurried back into his tent. Nope. Nope. Nope. He knew Alec's fighting style - it was quick and efficient, no unnecessary glamour. He had seen Alec in action. He was not looking forward to whatever destruction Alec was about to unleash. Not at all.
Back outside the tent, Simon shot Alec a quizzical look. "I don't know what you did, but whatever it was, teach me. I want to be able to make Jace that nervous."
"Charmer, aren't you?" Alec strode over to the entrance to Jace's tent. "Hey, Jace?"
A muffled whimper.
"You okay, buddy?"
"Look… I know that I fucked up. I'm sorry. Really. But… whatever you're planning to do to me, whatever revenge you're looking to enact… just get it over with. I'm dying over here."
Alec laughed to himself. "You've worked yourself into hysterics."
"Have not."
"Jace, we're parabatai. I can feel your fear - your heart is racing. You think we're in battle or something."
"Aren't we? Aren't you about to unleash hell?"
"About that…"
Jace opened the flap of the tent. "Alexander Lightwood, be careful with your next few words. If they are what I think they're going to be - "
"I'm not going to do anything to you."
Jace cleared his throat, getting to his feet. "Do you mean to tell me that I've spent the entire day worrying over nothing?"
Alec nodded, quite content with himself. Jace shook his head.
"No. You don't get to be happy about yourself here. You just told me that you and Magnus were making plans."
"Yeah. For his - our - apartment."
"But… but…"
"Wow. I think this is the first time that Jace Herondale has ever been at a loss for words."
Jace sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. As the others watched, his shoulders slowly began to bounce, as if he was -
"Is Jace crying?"
"I'm laughing, Simon. You got me. All of you. Good job."
"All of us?" Izzy frowned. "This was all Alec's doing."
"Of course. Of course it was."
And so the end of the day saw the campers laughing over Jace's hysteria, and settling down into their tents. They maintained the same arrangements as the night before, so Clary was making her way into Jace's tent when she was stopped by Magnus.
"Clarissa, may I have a word?"
Her lighthearted smile from before, when she had been watching the boys' antics play out, faded. He pulled her aside, behind the tree that overlooked their camp. "What's wrong?"
"Biscuit… I can't do this. I can't lie to Alec."
"You can't tell him. He'll hate me."
"I'm sure he'd respect your decision. I just need to let him know that there's a way out."
"There's more than one way out, Magnus, and you know for a fact that your magic is one of them. I hate keeping secrets too, but I'm not about to tell Jace your secret. That is, unless you were to tell mine to Alec. Then I may reconsider."
"Don't do this to me," he whispered.
"I have to. I'm sorry."
She was. She genuinely was. She couldn't let the others know that she'd had the capacity all along to get them out of here, but she had refrained from doing so because she was worried. By the same token, she understood why Magnus didn't want the others to know that his magic was getting better, but it wasn't there yet. It was an embarrassment to him, and it would make him feel even guiltier that he could do nothing. She hated that things were the way they were, but there was no other way - secrets had to be kept.
She staggered away from him, finding her way into the tent without breaking eye contact with him. She searched his face for any sign that he'd give her away. All she could see, however, was hurt - the hurt she caused, the hurt the secrets caused. It made her feel like absolute shit - but, as she reminded herself, it's necessary.
The moon rose high above the camp, not a cloud in the sky. Another night rolled in, and despite the lighthearted antics of the group, worry was settling too. A way out of their situation seemed less and less likely as time wore on. At least, Isabelle thought to herself as she fell asleep next to Simon, breathing in the scent that was so unmistakably him, we have each other.
Until, of course, they didn't.
