Ok, my lovely boyfriend, the one I've mentioned oh-so-many times, talked me into letting him post this. So, when anything goes horribly wrong… XD ~points~ not my fault! XD (poor guy's probably gonna be mad when he sees this, I'm apparently supposed to trust him more =]) So, let the world know, he is officially re-competing for the best boyfriend in the world award. If you currently care, or think he's cute, or lame, vote!! I'm fascinated to know what people think. XD

Hope you enjoy the longer chapter, especially to make up for how short the last one was.

Boyfriend: Hello everybody! Don't ask me why I wanted to post this (you already know…) I'm just gonna go now, byeee! And to all you single ladies out there… nah just kiddin =P

Disclaimer: Still don't own. ~sigh~ oh well~!

***

"The more things change, the more they stay the same…" ~Kenny Chesney, Summertime

***

The three companions dragged themselves out of the pond and stumbled onto dry ground once more. Their wet clothes weighed them down and had them all shivering in the frozen air until Magnus dried them off once more. Then they were left standing, unsure of what to do next.

Alec stared at the flask in his hand. Immortality- the ability to live forever. Everyone he loved would die, and he would have to watch that. Any person he met from now on, for the rest of his life, would be dying. But he would be frozen, unable to age, unable to move forward. For the first time, he felt a chill of fear. Was it worth it?

"You must be sure." He looked up at met Magnus' brilliant catlike eyes.

"What?"

Magnus gave him a careful smile. "Before you drink that, you must be sure that it's what you want. You haven't had time to really think about it."

It was as if he'd read Alec's mind. How did he always know? Alec tilted his head slightly, considering the look trying to fight its way out from behind Magnus' careful control. What was that? Panic? Fear? Love?

Alec shook his head and glanced at Clary, who was watching him curiously. "No," he said, looking between them. He felt a strange sensation- it was entirely contradictory, somehow trapped and free at the same time. "I am sure." He quickly undid the top of the flask and drank down everything in it. For just a moment the liquid was held there in his mouth- he could still spit it out if he wanted, it was his last moment to decide- before he swallowed it.

The agony was instant. Alec was sure that he had never felt such comprehensive and undiluted pain before, though as a shadowhunter he was no stranger to pain. Even when he'd nearly been killed by that Greater Demon he hadn't felt nearly this bad. He felt as if his blood was boiling, his skin was unwinding from his bones, as if everything inside of him was trying to escape and make its way out. He felt like he was going to explode and implode all at once, and he could make no sense of how to make this all just go AWAY!

Dimly he recognized voices talking to him. He realized vaguely that he had collapsed into a heap on the ground, but he was sure that he was lying on his back now. "Alec?" he heard very fuzzily. "Alec, please!" Clary's voice, he thought, but maybe he was wrong. Thinking didn't seem to be working very well right now.

Still, he forced himself to open his eyes. The part of his mind that wasn't completely overrun with pain- that was the part doing the thinking, he realized- was thankful that it was nighttime instead of day. The light would have made his head hurt far worse, although the ability to comprehend why was slightly beyond his limited grasp at the moment.

He noticed Clary and Magnus kneeling next to him. "Whatis't?" he mumbled almost incoherently.

"Well," Magnus voice was slightly formal- he didn't like to show worry, Alec's mind reminded him-, "you seem to be in quite a lot of pain at the moment, and you collapsed."

"Mmm," Alec agreed wearily.

"What should we do?" he heard Clary ask as he closed his eyes once more. Ah, how peaceful the darkness was… "How are we going to get home? He's in no shape to be walking."

"M'fine," he mumbled. "I c'n walk if you help…" he winced at a particularly bad twinge of pain, "…help me up," he finished slightly breathlessly. He opened his eyes at waited expectantly.

Magnus sighed and rose to his feet, offering his hand. Alec took it and let himself be pulled to his feet. As soon as they let him go he very nearly passed out again- his mind was overtaken for a moment by fuzzy dizziness.

"…told you he can't walk!" Clary was saying as his mind evened out once more.

"I'm fine," Alec protested through gritted teeth. "Just help me get home."

It was over an hour later that they finally managed to reach the institute. Alec was less stumbling now than being dragged, and it took both of them to get him up the front steps. Clary finally reached forward and opened the door, only to be greeted by a slightly frightening sight.

Jace and Isabelle were waiting, their full wrath tangible in the air.

"Where have you been?" Isabelle hissed. Alec winced slightly as the noise.

"What's wrong with Alec?" Jace demanded. He glared at Magnus. "What did you do to him, warlock?"

"Wasn' his fault," Alec mumbled, trying to defend Magnus. "Twas all me this time."

"Alec!" Isabelle chided, though not as harshly as she normally would due to his current state. "What were you doing?"

"It was my fault, actually," Clary said, making her presence known.

"Well that's just great!" Jace burst out sarcastically. "Now all we know is that this is probably all of your faults. Clary, what were you thinking?"

Alec opened his eyes to look at Clary. She seemed a mix of hurt and determined. "I was only trying to help."

"Help? Do you see the state he's in?"

"Shut up!" Isabelle yelled. "You two can argue later. What's wrong with Alec?"

"He will be perfectly fine," Magnus assured her. "I think," he added in as an afterthought and Alec sighed. That would hardly be helpful.

Sure enough: "You think?!" Izzy sounded slightly hysterical now.

"I'm fine, Iz," Alec rushed to assure her. "M'jus a bit sleepy." The slight slurring of his words hardly helped the matter.

"Are… are you sure?"

"I jus' wanna sleep," Alec told her. "Please, Izzy?"

Her suspicion easily melted into concern. "Where should we take you? The infirmary?"

Alec nodded. "Sure." Just let me sleep. She came over and took him from Magnus, supporting him easily after all of these years that he'd come home messed up from fighting demons. Clary and Magnus ignored Isabelle's glare and followed anyways. Jace hung back in the hall, a sulking expression on his face.

Izzy got Alec settled into the infirmary and glared at the other two. "I don't know what you've done, but if you say he'll be fine… just let him sleep." They nodded agreeably. The heavy wood door thudded shut behind her as she left.

"I wonder… what have we done?" Clary whispered quietly. "We're going to be in so much trouble."

Alec heard Magnus laugh. It was slightly sarcastic, but mostly happy. "Well, whatever the consequences, we've done it now." Alec heard a chair move slightly and guessed that the warlock had settled into it. "We'll just have to wait to see what happens."

"Yeah," Clary agreed quietly, fearfully. "We'll just have to wait." A few moments later the door thudded once more, signaling that she had left. Alec allowed himself to drift off to sleep. His last thought before he full welcomed the blissfully empty darkness was that maybe when he woke up this pain would be gone….

***

Magnus watched over Alec all night. When dawn came he was still asleep. Alec looked slightly pale, but he had stopped whimpering from the pain a couple hours before. He still didn't look entirely restful in his sleep.

Magnus did feel slightly guilty for what he had done. He had convinced Alec to become cursed, just like him… maybe if he had loved him more, he could have let him go… maybe if he had loved him less he could have accepted that Alec would never be like him. But he hadn't. He'd loved Alec just this particular amount, and now Alec had become immortal. He reflected that he might feel more guilty if he wasn't so happy as well. Because, despite what was right or wrong, Alec was now his forever. It was all he had ever wanted, more than he had ever hoped for, and entirely perfect. Magnus did, however, feel guilty for Alec's pain. He didn't like to watch Alec hurting- it hurt him as well. With a sigh he gently felt Alec's forehead. There was no longer a fever, which was a good sign. Alec was going to be fine.

"How is he?" Isabelle's voice came from the doorway.

"Much better than he was earlier," Magnus told her. "He'll be fine, Isabelle; you don't need to worry so much." Not that he hadn't been worried as well.

"I already lost one brother," Isabelle snapped. "Sorry if I'm not anxious to lose another."

"You're right," Magnus conceded. "But he will be fine. You know I wouldn't let him die, Izzy."

She rolled her eyes. "Even you can't control some things, Magnus. Sometimes there are no answers." He had a feeling that she understood a lot more than she had let on to in the last year.

"Maybe," he told her carefully. "Or maybe you just haven't looked hard enough for them. Either way…" he hesitated. He didn't want to tell Alec's family what they had been doing- he figured Alec had the right to do that. "Everything's all right for now."

She huffed. "See? Even you won't promise forever."

Magnus smiled confidently. "I can promise anything, darling."

Isabelle rolled her eyes. "You look tired," she said, motherly concern making an appearance once more. "Maybe you should sleep. I have a feeling everything's going to go to hell once Alec wakes up."

"And…?"

She shrugged. "Maybe you'll want to be well rested for that."

Sleep couldn't possibly hurt, Magnus reasoned. "All right. Wake me when he does, will you?"

"Yes, alright," Isabelle agreed. She nodded towards a bed. "Sleep."

"Yes mum," he mumbled defiantly before grinning at the glare he'd earned. He gave in to her command and lay on one of the many extra beds, falling unconscious rather quickly. After all, for the first time in a year, he had very little to worry about.

Or so he thought. He couldn't have known how wrong he was.

***

Alec came to consciousness slowly, unwilling to give up this pain-free obliviousness. When he did begin to feel the pain again he was relieved to note that it was much less intense. It was like accidentally brushing against a stove versus being thrown into a furnace- or into hell. Whichever hurt worse. In either situation, this was incredibly preferable and easy to deal with. At moments like these, Alec was very glad to have shadowhunter stamina.

He opened his eyes and sat up, ignoring the protest of his thoroughly battered body. He noticed Magnus asleep on one of the beds a few feet away and smiled slightly. Then he noticed Izzy.

It seemed that she had gotten over her concern now that he was well again. She looked furious. "What did you do?" she hissed.

"Um…" Alec glanced half desperately at Magnus. Why couldn't he do the talking? He was better at that, talking, charming people. Alec was just… quiet. He didn't do talking well. "Maybe I should just tell you all at once." Isabelle looked unimpressed. "Clary will want to tell her side. You know you don't want to leave her to Jace's wrath."

"Huh," Isabelle said indifferently. "That depends: did she almost get you killed?"

"No!" Alec defended. "This isn't her problem. I dragged her into it."

"We," Magnus corrected from behind, and Alec spun around to face him. He was looking frostily at Isabelle. "You said you would wake me."

She shrugged. "Forgot."

Magnus sighed. "Young Clarissa is innocent. The blame falls on Alec and I. She was only doing her best to help us."

"I don't suppose you'll tell me what she was helping you with?" Isabelle bit out angrily. "I've been kept in the dark long enough, I think!"

"Yes, do tell." Jace was standing in the doorway, bored expression in place. Alec had to roll his eyes at his best friends antics; he sure knew how to piss everyone off. Clary was standing behind Jace, her eyes slightly puffy. Alec assumed she'd been crying and felt a twinge of sympathy for her. Jace never did go easy on her. Part of that over-protective love Jace felt for everyone, Alec assumed. "I'm just dying to know."

"Fine," Alec agreed. How best to tell? Oh, screw it, he decided. If talking didn't work for him, he might as well just come out and say it, right? "I've become immortal."

The silence in the room was so complete that any of them could have heard a pin drop.

"What?!" Jace's angry voice was the first to pierce the silence. His eyes were flaming. Alec quickly took in everyone's expressions. Magnus' was closed off, Alec noted with a sigh. Clary looked terrified. Izzy still just looked stunned. "Have you lost it?"

"Alec, this isn't good," Isabelle said quietly from next to him. "The Clave won't like this."

"They don't have to know," Alec protested weakly. It was true, though, and he hadn't thought of it before. What would they do to him?

He didn't like thinking about that.

"Alec, you're an adult shadowhunter. You'll have to go to Idris sometime! Did you expect them not to notice that you're not going to get any older?"

Alec shrugged. "It's done now, Iz."

"You. Are. An. Idiot." Each and every word was definite and clear. Jace's anger was dark and hateful. He turned, strode out of the room, and slammed the door behind him. The resounding boom echoed in the silence for a few moments as the four remaining people listened to the ominous sound.

"Well," Magnus said briskly, very nearly cheerful. "That went well. Can't wait to tell the others, hm?"

Alec and Clary heaved simultaneous sighs. This was going to take a long time to sort out. What had looked so good at night suddenly seemed a lot more complex.

Neither was looking forward to the next two months and yet…. Isabelle slowly started to smile. "How did my perfect older brother manage to stir up so much trouble?" she complained half heartedly. And then, "Why wasn't I invited!? You have got to tell me the details."

Some things never changed.

***

Hm… I kinda like the way I ended this chapter. So much that I could almost end it here. But I won't. I kind of want to see what the Clave does. I was surprised when that twist appeared. =)

Review, please!