hey everyone, sorry for the wait. I had a hard time writing this chapter, but I was finally able to finish it. With that said, I hope everyone enjoys this chapter :)

Previously,

"You fucker!" Raphael yells, rushes towards Alec and punches him in the face.

Alec lets Raphael punch him as many times as he wants.

I deserve this, Alec thinks.

"Stop! Get off of him!" Jace says as he pulls Raphael back.

"Don't touch me" Raphael says as he tries to get away from Jace's hold. "I'm going to kill him! How dare you! How could you?!"

"What the hell is going on here?" Robert asks as he gets in between Raphael and Alec.

"Your son here is a piece of shit. You told me that you wouldn't hurt him."

"It's fine dad. I'll handle it. Make Jace do the tour," Alec says and then looks at Raphael, "You want answers. I'll give your answers. Just, not here." Alec gives Raphael a gesture to follow him.

Jace lets go of Raphael, but not before saying, "If you touch him again…"

"You'll what?" Raphael turns around to glare at Jace and then does a double take. "You! Of course you're in this too."

"Enough Jace." Alec says as he stands in front of him. "I deserved it."

"Alec-"

"He's Magnus's best friend,remember?" Jace looks down as Robert curses in the background.

"I thought so," Raphael says. Alec looks at Raphael and they both leave the room.

Raphael and Alec walk into the training room in silence until Raphael breaks it.

"Give me one reason not to kill you right now" Raphael says.

"I never stopped loving him," Alec says with a broken voice. Raphael groans and puts his hands into fists and is about to punch Alec but stops midair and stares at Alec. Alec is staring at the floor, not flinching, as if he's expecting the punch.

"You want me to hurt you. Why?" Raphael asks as he pulls his hand back.

"Because, like I told Jace. I deserve it. I deserve every punch and worse for hurting Magnus."

Raphael looks at Alec, confused. "Jace? Not Jonathan then. Of course not," Rapahel mumbles.

"His name is Jonathan. We just call him Jace." Alec states.

Raphael rolls his eyes at the madness, "Let me guess, your name is actually Alexander."

Alec scratches the back of his head and says "Yeah."

"Wow some undercover agent you are," Raphael says. "Damn it. You're not worth it. I hate you. I hate what you did to him. Magnus was a broken shell after you di… after your fake death. He still is. Catarina, me and that fucker had to put the pieces back together again."

Alec looks away in guilt and Raphael catches the look in his eyes and rolls his eyes.

"You have no right to feel guilty. You caused this mess."

"I know."

"Then why didn't you tell him?" Raphael asks, crossing his arms.

"I was scared okay. I was scared of losing him. My mission was to get close to him and get some intel on Asmodeus. I was ordered to find out if he was working with him,"

"He was not. He hates that bastard."

"I know. Trust me, I know. But it wasn't enough. I had to get proof."

"Well I'm sure you got your proof and yet you still continued lying to him."

"Look, I knew I was screwed from the moment I met him. Shit from the moment I saw him, I knew in my gut that he wasn't a bad guy. Well I was hoping because he's the most beautiful man I have ever seen. I was starstruck. I immediately gave him my actual name. Well almost my full name until I realized what I was doing"

Raphael shakes his head, "Alexander Light. Lightwood. Wow. Idiots . You're both idiots."

Alec looks at Raphael, confused.

Raphael sighed, "That night he called me saying "Raph, I just met the man of my dreams."

"He said that?" Alec asks with a small smile on his face.

"Little did he know that you were using him to get to his father."

Ouch, Alec thinks. "I deserved that. I-I wasn't supposed to fall in love with him. "

"But he was supposed to fall in love with you, to gain his trust." Raphael states.

Jackpot.

" Should have ended it sooner before things got out of hand or told him the truth."

"I was going to. I mean tell him the truth. I couldn't find the right time but at the same time , yes I was stalling. I had it all planned to tell him that night. But I was tricked and was called out to meet my brother. Little did I know that my father sent him and other agents to fake my own death."

"Jesus. They ambushed you."

Alec looks away, tears in his eyes, "Yeah they did. I thought I had more time."

"Why didn't you go back to tell him?"

"I couldn't. They drugged me and by the time I woke up, it was too late. Then I was suspended and was kept in lockdown. I couldn't go and see him, which is why Jace stayed with him and kept tabs on him."

"What about when you were finally able to go out? What about then?"

Alec lets out a haunted laugh, "That's the first place I went and I got caught.I always have agents following my every move. But that didn't stop me from keeping tabs on him, making sure he was safe."

"Are you telling me that Magnus is not safe?"

"Asmodeus still has strong connections. He has people following him, hoping that I show up. Asmodeus wants me dead."

Raphael grabs Alec from his collar and pushes him against the wall, "You're telling me, because of your little mission you have put Magnus' life in danger."

"I'm sorry."

"Your apologies don't fix this. You fucked up and I'm going to stop you from putting Magnus in more danger."

"Then help me. Help me make this right and keep him safe."

Raphael stares at Alec for a moment and sighs, "How many?"

"Jace caught at least fifteen and there's one left," Alec says.

"But you're not sure about that, are you?"

Alec sighs, "My brother is a great agent but he didn't get to know Asmodeus like I did. That man always had a plan."

"Okay. As much as I hate you and what you did, I'll help. Show me the ropes agent Lightwood."

The next couple of days Alec worked with Raphael in training him and showing him how to do the things when they are undercover. Although most of the time, Raphael didn't want anything to do with him or be around him. He still hasn't forgiven him for what he did to Magnus. He probably never will. Frankly, he thinks Alec is a dumbass. But Raphael follows orders as well and showed the ropes with police work.

"I noticed someone following Magnus and me the other day and I saw something suspicious. You were right. There's definitely more of them." Raphael says after he catches his breath from the training session he had with Alec.

Alec eyes widen, "Shit. Does Jace know?"

"Yeah. We have a plan," Raphael says, not offering anything else.

"Oh. Okay," Alec says as Raphael gives him the only look.

"What? You expect me to tell you more?" Raphael says with an eyebrow raised.

Alec shakes his head.

"Good. Something we both agree on," Raphael says.

"How is he by the way?" Alec asks.

"Don't. Just because I agreed to help doesn't mean you get to ask me about him. We're not friends." Raphael states.

Alec flinched and nodded.

"Besides, you already know how he is," Raphael gives Alec a look. Alec looks away because Raphael is right. Jace has been sending him pictures of Magnus whenever he can.

"I'm the one that finally convinced him to start dating again but I'm sure you knew that too," Raphael says, waiting for a reaction.

Right. Magnus is going on a date tonight, Alec thinks.

"I know," Alec says knowing that Raphael was trying to rile him up. But he is not going to give him that satisfaction.

"Damn it. You're as bad as he his," Raphael says, shaking his head.

Alec looks at him confused.

"Both of you are clearly meant for each other. No matter how bad I treat you, you accept it with no problem and with him, he accepts the date for my sake. Idiots. Both of you are idiots. I give up," Raphael says and leaves the training room, leaving Alec standing there in shock.

Did Raphael just…?

Alec shakes his head and looks down with a small smile and then he starts thinking about Magnus.

"Oh my Mags," Alec sighs.

Alec is stressing.

Jace and Raphael have been working so hard to catch the men that's following Magnus and Alec kept his word in not visiting Magnus until they close the case. But he was getting impatient. He trains the other cops and goes on other missions to keep himself busy but lately it's not enough. Things have been okay with Raphael nowadays but Jace and him have completely kept him out of the loop. It was driving Alec insane. It's been five months. Five and Alec has no idea what's happening. He hates this.

Don't get him wrong he has tried to listen in one time when he saw Jace and Raphael talking but they immediately stopped when they saw Alec. He even tried to coax it out of his dad at one point but all he did was look at Alec with pity. So Alec just waited and waited, trying not to get his hopes up every time he sees Jace or Raphael entering the institute. But damn he didn't think it would take this long.

Alec is currently in the training room using the punching bag , trying to let out all his stress and anger when he hears his dad's voice on the speakers.

I need all the agents in the common room now.

Alec wipes his forehead with a cloth, puts on a shirt and leaves the training room.

As Alec gets close to the common room, he sees Robert with Raphael and Jace on each other side of him. Alec freezes and makes eye contact with Jace. Alec stares at Jace wondering what's going on. Jace simply looks at him and with a small smile, he nods. Alec turns his head to the left to look at Raphael and Raphael nods at him. Alec closes his eyes and lets out a sigh of relief. They did it. Magnus is safe.

"Now that you're all here, I would like to say congratulations to my son Jace and Raphael for completing their mission. It's an honor to be working with the selected officers. Loving the outcome. With that being said, let's give them a hand for their amazing work." Robert said and everyone started to clap.

Robert squeezed Jace's shoulder and shook hands with Raphael. As the noise started to die down, Alec made his way to Jace and Raphael.

"Thank you," Alec says.

"I didn't do it for you. I did it for Magnus," Raphael says and nods before leaving.

Jace looks at Raphael leaving,"Is it me or is he more civil towards you." Jace states.

"We patched things up a bit. He's still not a fan of me but at least he's not trying to kill me," Alec says.

"Well I'm glad. I don't know what I would have done without his help and yours for the matter," Jace says.

"I didn't do anything. I couldn't. I just expressed my worries."

"Well it worked. We got them," Jace says.

"How did you stop them by the way?" Alec asks.

"Well let's say that Raphael and I did some digging on the men that were following Magnus and their connection with Asmodeus and we managed to find solid evidence on his betrayal of whatever he promised them," Jace says with a smirk.

"You turned them against Asmodeus," Alec says with a smile.

"That we did. He's done Alec. He won't ever bother you and Magnus again," Jace says.

Alec pulls Jace into a hug and Jace tightens the hug.

"Thank you so much. God, I feel like I can breathe a little easier now."

"Anything for you and Magnus," Jace says.

"I just.." Alec says looking down but then looks up at the look Jace is giving him.

"What?" Alec asks while Jace looks unsure.

"Magnus is going on another date today," Jace says after a moment of silence.

"Oh. That's um. That's good. Yeah, that's…," Alec mumbles. Alec was not expecting that. Magnus has been going on a lot of dates lately. He knew it was going to happen. He expected it, but actually hearing it? Well that doesn't break his heart any less.

Jace looks at Alec, worried. "He needs to move on Alec and so do you."

Alec closes his eyes and nods,"Yeah I know. I'm just not ready to let him go."

"Then what? Have him mourn for you for the rest of his life when you're alive and can't ever see him again? That's not fair for any of you."

"What do you want me to do Jace? It's killing me not able to see him, touch him, hear him or just tell him how much I love him. Why can't I just go and tell him the truth now? I can explain to him what happened and maybe we can be together again."

"Alec. You and I both know it's not that simple," Jace says.

"I can't accept that this is the end for us. I won't," Alec says and turns to walk away.

Magnus (POV)

Magnus sighs as he goes through his closet, looking for something to wear. He finds an outfit but then sighs and throws it on the bed. Magnus sighs. Not of it is good enough. Nothing is good enough. Magnus doesn't even want to go on this date to be honest. Don't get him wrong, the girl is beautiful and she sounds like a great person, at least on her online profile she does.

Magnus never thought that he would do online dating. He never saw the point in it. If anything he loved meeting new people in person and get to know them but he doesn't feel like doing that anymore. There's no point. So online dating it is. He has gone on a couple of dates but they all ended up being terrible and most of the time he was comparing them to Alexander. Their eyes are not hazel. It's not Alexander's laugh. His smile. His voice. Not as compassionate as him. Not as funny as him. Not interesting as him. Him. Him. Him. They are not him.

I should probably cancel, Magnus thinks but hesitates.

He knows that his friends are worried about him. Raphael is definitely worried. Raphael is the reason why he decided to give dating a chance again. Sure, he should do it for himself but he never felt ready. He still doesn't feel ready and he'll probably never will.

It's just been dates too. Nothing else. He hasn't let anyone else touch him. He can't. He's never been a one night stand type of guy anyways. But it's hard to find someone to have a relationship with when you already found one years ago. Alexander was his everything. He still is. Two people died that night. Alexander and his heart because he took it with him. Leaving him with no spark.

Magnus knows he's stalling, so he just randomly picks an outfit from his bed and puts it on. He then puts on makeup, looks at the mirror and sighs.

Let's get this over with, Magnus thinks.

Magnus is shaken out of his thoughts when he hears a knock on his bedroom door. Magnus goes to open it and sees Raphael on the other side.

"Hey, out of work already?" Magnus asks.

"Yeah," Raphael says and looks at Magnus' outfit. "You look ready for your date. Nervous?"

"Uh. Maybe. "

"Magnus." Raphael says with an eyebrow raised.

"I just. I don't know," Magnus says.

"You know, you don't have to go out tonight. I know that Catarina and I want you to get out there more but this is just making you more miserable. We don't want to force you if you don't want to." Raphael states.

"You're not. I'm just not trying enough," Magnus admits.

"You think that we don't know that you're just dating for our sakes and not because you're ready?"

Magnus sighs, "Am I that obvious?"

"The way you act makes it obvious, Magnus. Cancel the date. I can't see you like this," Raphael says crossing his arms.

"No. I'll go. I can't keep going on like this. I'll give this date a chance," Magnus says, determined.

Raphael looks at him for a moment and nods. He steps aside and watches Magnus get his keys and coat and leaves but not before waving goodbye to Raphael.

Magnus sighs as he walks to the front porch. He sits down on the bench and puts his head on his hands.

Another terrible date. What's the point in dating in the first place. I miss him, Magnus thinks. Magnus touches his necklace that has the ring Alec left him and says, "I miss you Alexander. God, I miss you so much."

A tear falls from his eyes. Magnus immediately wipes it away. Magnus feels so alone. He hasn't felt this alone ever since he lost Ragnor. But no matter what he does, he can't bring them back. He won't ever see Ragnor or Alexander ever again and it hurts. It hurts so much.

Magnus is broken out of his thoughts when he hears a sound.

Magnus turns around and says 'Who's there?"

"Oh shit," Magnus stands up and stiffens.

"I said WHO'S THERE?" Magnus asks.

"It's me. Sorry. It's me," A guy in a black hoodie and walks towards Magnus and Magnus backs up. The guy puts down his hood.

Magnus gasps and says "Alexander?"

Notes:

Thank you all for reading and let me know what you think!