Hello everyone, hope you enjoy this chapter! Reminder: I'm a sucker for fluffy happy endings...but those have to be earned ;)

The next day Alec was even more illusive and closed off than Magnus had ever seen him. Even when he had first arrived. It seemed the night prior was a step forward too far and now they were stumbling backwards.

Magnus tried not to take it personally, he knew Alec was just a guarded person...still the warlock was quite unhappy with the new development.

What did you expect? That you guys would date? He obviously regrets how he acted. Doesn't matter anyway...it's not right.

Magnus sighed. He absently stared at the spot where the Shadowhunter had disappeared moments before.

Oh god, Alec groaned just regaining consciousness from his nap. That still happened.

It was barely in the afternoon. Alec had only gotten up in the first place because Chairman Meow decided the Shadowhunter needed breakfast and wouldn't leave him alone. The cat was becoming a real pest.

Magnus hadn't come to his bedroom at all. Alec hadn't expected him to.

Breakfast was already made for Alec when the boy finally entered the dining room. Magnus had already finished his so he was up and about. The warlock tried to make conversation with Alec a few times, but to no avail. After forcing himself to take a few bites to satisfy the cat, Alec announced he was still tired and went back to bed.

Now he'd slept in much later than usual. Alec had a bit of a headache, but otherwise felt fine...physically. Mentally he was a mess.

For the millionth time that day Alec thought, Runes and alcohol don't mix. God he probably thinks I'm an idiot...I practically threw myself at him! Why would I even do that? Besides, he obviously wasn't interested.

Magnus was trying to keep himself occupied with various old potions he hadn't quite mastered as Alec slept. But his concentration kept being ruined by Chairman complaining about something.

"How about you go look after Alec? You're the only one he likes around here," Magnus informed the cat.

As Chairman was weighing his options, Magnus finally gave up on distracting himself with chores and took out his phone.

"Catarina," Magnus whispered when the woman answered.

"Magnus...Why are you whispering?"

"He tried to kiss me last night," Magnus forced himself to say.

"What?" Catarina practically yelled.

"Oh god how could this happen? He thinks he has to be my perfect little slave-boyfriend or something! How did he get that idea? Did I act like I wanted that because I saved him at the banquet? He thinks I did that to put him more into my debt? Some power control game?"

As Magnus asked a million questions a minute, his mind was busy flashing back to other time periods. He remembered seeing humans who were slave owners. In different areas and times of the world human slaves were treated in a variety of ways. Magnus remembered the ones who were broken and silently did whatever their masters wanted. But Magnus also remember the pleasure slaves who had to pretend to enjoy their lot in life. Their masters wanted them to be active in their sexual relationship, not passive.

"I thought he knew I wasn't like that! I thought-"

"Magnus stop it," Catarina's voice cut through the hysterics. "Alec doesn't think of you like his master...at least not really anymore. There's no way he tried to kiss you out of fear or duty or anything like that."

"I gave him alcohol," Magnus had to keep himself from shouting his sin.

"Wait...you did?" Catarina's voice was half shocked and half concerned. "How much?"

"Just one shot of vodka...but apparently that's all he needs! I should've known that or something. Then he took me on this hunt and killed a demon and then started acting really weird and laid on the ground and then tried to kiss me."

"A demon? Maybe that's it, maybe the demon did something to him!" Catarina tried, still attempting to wrap her head around this new information.

"I think he would've mentioned it if the lesser-demon had that kind of power…"

"Well now I'm really intrigued," Catarina sounded too joyful for her friend's taste.

"You're acting like this is okay!" Magnus spat. "Alec - the man I currently legally own - tried to make a move on me. Why would he do that? What does this mean?"

"You aren't asking the important question…" she declared. "Did you want him to kiss you?"

"Of course I'd want to kiss him, have you seen him? That isn't the point! I can't do anything...it's not right. I technically own him."

"Come now Magnus, it's not like that. If you both like each other…"

"Catarina, stop it." Magnus could practically see slaves of the past looking at him, haunting him, judging him.

"If you didn't want to hear my opinion, why did you bother calling?"

Before Magnus could snap back at her, he heard a bedroom door open. Without even a goodbye, Magnus hung up the phone and slipped it into his pocket.

Alec entered the room just as awkward and unsure of himself as he had that morning. He still looked tired, Magnus noticed.

"Good afternoon," the warlock greeted with his attention on the potion ingredients.

"Uh-hey," Alec replied shortly.

The Shadowhunter stood there with his hands in sweat-pockets. Alec seemed like he was observing Magnus fiddle with potions, but his eyes were elsewhere. He didn't even pet Chairman when the cat swarmed around his ankles.

The silence was deafening until:

"Alec...can we please talk about it?" Magnus forced out.

"Talk about what?"

"Last night. You know...after the demon."

"I got a little tipsy, sorry if I was acting weird." Alec shrugged it off.

He was swaying slightly as if afraid to fully commit to any movement - either towards or away from where Magnus was standing.

"No it's fine, you weren't acting weird. I was just a bit caught off guard when you…" Magnus let his voice trail off, obviously expecting Alec to say something. When the boy gave no indication of this, Magnus gestured reassuringly to him.

"When I what?" Alec asked innocently.

"You…" Just let it go. "You uh…" Don't push him into talking about it. "You tried to kiss me." That was a mistake.

"What?" Alec demanded, disgust evident on his face. "I didn't try to kiss you. I was just talking to you. Why would you think that?

"Alec...it's okay."

"Why would I want to kiss a warlock? You're delusional. I wasn't..." His voice was sounding more and more desperate with every lie he forced himself to say. The panic in his tone told Magnus he'd made a big mistake bringing this up.

"Okay, nevermind, sorry. I'm just used to people wanting me I guess," Magnus tried to ease the conversation back down. "I'm pretty full of myself ya know?"

Alec's eyes were darting around like he was looking for an escape. He moved away from Magnus' gaze and turned towards the loft entrance.

"Wait Alec-" Magnus moved towards the young man. Alec was like a scared wild animal, about to bolt and do something rash.

"I have to get out of here."

"You can't!" Magnus declared without thinking.

Alec froze. Magnus froze.

Alec looked over his shoulder at the warlock. The hurt and fear in his face was as if Magnus had slapped him. Alec's eye held a certain amount of disbelief...but that was almost immediately replaced with a soft scoff and nod of acceptance.

"I-I didn't mean it like that," Magnus rushed to explain. "I mean-I feel like our conversation should be longer."

The two made direct eye-contact for a moment more. Then Alec stiffly turned his body back to the man. His posture was the epitome of a slave requesting something from their master.

"Please allow me to leave, sir."

"Alec, don't...I…" Magnus wanted to explain himself...to correct himself and apologize. The Shadowhunter's facial expression told him that wouldn't be possible at the moment. Magnus begrudgingly realized there was no way he could save this conversation now, so the warlock receded. "Okay I'll see you later."

Alec nodded once and about-faced to the door. Magnus let out a frustrated breath as he watched the younger man's retreating figure. An accusing meow lead him to look at a very unimpressed Chairman.

That's how the Shadowhunter found himself walking the streets of Brooklyn in his sleep clothes without even a phone on him to call his siblings.

Alec had no idea where he was going, but each step he took was more protection. It was a brisk day, he really should've grabbed a jacket. However the heat in his heart and face did feel better with the wind blowing.

For just a moment - just a moment mind you - Alec allowed himself to picture what it would've been like if Magnus and he had met under different circumstances. Very different ones. Where they both had their agency and freedom, for one thing.

Would anything have happened between them? Would Magnus have even seen Alec in the crowd? Even less likely, would Alec have the courage to approach the gorgeous and powerful man? Doubtful.

Still there was a tiny sliver of "maybe". If warlocks didn't rule over Nephilim. If they lived in peace. Maybe...a slight maybe...Alec and Magnus could be together.

The people of Brooklyn didn't notice him…even without his glamour. Alec was deep in thought even as his mind nagged him to make some use of his spontaneous adventure. The foggy air of Brooklyn was almost a comforting blanket shielding him from the world.

Suddenly, Alec was startled as he made out a figure running straight towards him. His eyes narrowed and he immediately shifted into a defensive position...until he saw who it was.

The young ex-Shadowhunter girl from the banquet. She was now standing right in front of him. Her eyes were no longer afraid. They were focused. Determined.

"Alec Lightwood?" she asked, not even out-of-breath.

"What...what are you doing here?" Alec glanced around, almost expecting some kind of Govern-sanctioned warlock attack.

"Please come with me. I have something to show you."

"What? Who even are you?" He stared at her in confusion as she glanced over her shoulder.

"That's not important. Please come with me." The girl took Alec's arm and tried to lead him in the direction she came from.

"How did you find me?" Alec asked.

"Also not important. Please, you need to see something."

"Just...why?"

"Because at the moment you're the only Shadowhunter who has any power in this world."

The mysterious girl refused to say anything more and since Alec was incredibly intrigued he did end up going with her. They were running together in a dead sprint for several minutes...Alec was a bit proud both of their staminas were still up to par even after being slaves.

The pair came across an old closed down building. It didn't look any different than the other ones in the shady neighborhood. However the girl slipped through a crack in the wood boards, silently beckoning Alec to follow.

They moved as quietly as Shadowhunters always did when they were infiltrating someplace. There were low voices growing louder as they made their way through the building. It was a gathering of some kind. The girl stopped once they hit another wall and held her hand up, pointing to the room they were right behind.

"You're going about this all wrong," Alec heard from the small crowd. "We need to go after his boy. It's obviously his weak-spot."

A cold shiver ran down Alec's spine. He was pretty sure he knew what "boy" they were referring to.

"Oh yes, because that went so well last time," another woman scoffed.

"I still can't believe you let this happen…"

"You weren't there, you didn't see his power! Plus Nephthys stood up for him."

"Speaking of, where is her loyalty lately? She seems to be playing some sort of game."

"Aren't we all?"

There were so many unknown voices, but Alec tried to catch every word that was spoken.

"We're protecting our people and our status in society. She seems to be just observing what happens, not caring about the outcome or ramifications."

"My dear friends, we're getting off subject." Alec gulped at the new voice.

"We need to move quickly, Aldous," a frustrated person said.

"Of course. Which is why the warlock and the boy have already been taken care of."

"What?"

Alec looked back at the girl with wide-eyes. Her expression told him she didn't know what they were talking about either. Alec forced himself to remain calm and listen to every detail.

"What are you saying?"

"I've set a plan in motion…" Aldous drawled.

"Without consulting us?"

"It will take care of Bane and his slave at the same time."

"We can't kill him, we've been over this. That shows the Govern as weak or in civil war."

"And Magnus' charade at the banquet didn't already do that?" someone laughed without humor.

"That was...unfortunate. But we needn't overreact."

"What is this plan you have figured out Aldous?"

"One moment, my friends…"

There was a beat of silence before Aldous continued,

"I do believe we have a Nephilim visitor."

My dear readers, I must admit, I live for drama and cliffhangers.

~Comments keep me motivated to write and update!~