Jace and Max left before dinner as they were again expected at the Fray-Garroway household and, as much good as their presence had done Alec and Izzy, it definitely brought a peace back to Magnus' apartment. That peace increased when after another restless night Izzy started showing signs of improvement with her appetite returning and the pain significantly lessening. These signs only increased over the next few days until she was strong enough to stand on her own and the tremors had almost completely gone.

There was still a large mental component, which left Alec very reluctant to let her go just yet, but he still tried for Magnus' sake. Magnus, however, wouldn't have it and insisted that Izzy at least stay to complete two weeks, when the very worst would have passed and Alec could be sure that she really was back on the road to recovery. Izzy had graciously accepted and Alec had spent most of his nights sleeping on the couch since then. Not that his bodyguard complained, but Magnus could see the crick in his neck.

There was however the unfortunate fact that however Magnus may try to have his meetings through video chat, it would eventually be inevitable that he had to go into the Warlock Inc. offices. Of course it was Seelie Queen who was the one who would cause a stir and insisted he come personally to oversee a larger meeting with several managers. Usually he wouldn't mind overseeing her meetings, but this was the most unfortunate timing to deal with her micromanagement.

When he mentioned this to Alec, Alec didn't hesitate at all. Magnus could not go to that meeting alone and Alec would join him no matter what. But Izzy could not yet be left alone. As strong as she was trying to appear, the anxiety and longing was eating her alive and her mind was still considering falling back into her habit. And then Magnus proposed that Isabelle would join them. Both Alec and Izzy startled at this idea, but upon learning that it included visiting the fashion division Izzy was in, and thus Alec was also on board.

Alec had washed Izzy's clothes in the past few days and Izzy had exchanged her more comfortable wear and Alec's sweaters for the skintight bright red dress she had worn that first night she had arrived. The bags under her eyes had largely disappeared, or been masked by access to Magnus' make-up, and back in her normal clothes she seemed to also regain a lot of confidence. Magnus felt he hadn't appreciated the look of all Lightwoods together before. Honestly, there had to be something in the water where they were from because they were all stunning.

Jace had been the obvious first looker, and going by what Alec had told him Jace had gotten around before he'd met Clary. Izzy, when not absolutely miserable from withdrawal, had, aside from a pretty face with dark features and a body any girl would kill for, a certain confidence in her appearance that was incredibly attractive. Even young Max, though puberty had yet to hit him, was on his way to being a very attractive young man, with the trademark intense Lightwood eyes and tall stature.

Despite that, it had been Alec, who didn't have the same confident brilliance as his siblings, who kept drawing in Magnus' eyes. Alec was the very definition of tall, dark and handsome, but somehow wore it with no confidence whatsoever. He shrunk in on himself, dropped his head and stood at the back. Magnus possibly hadn't noticed it before for the simple reason that his own eyes were continuously drawn over to Alec.

Out on the street it was a impossible to ignore however. Magnus was used to people turning to look at him with varying expressions. He knew that most of the attention he was receiving was positive. Izzy, walking next to him, received blatant stares at the shortness of her dress or the radiance of her presence. Alec, walking only a few paces behind them was almost hidden by their presence. He didn't stand out and didn't try to, clearly used to having his siblings act as lightning rods of attention. Like Alec completely forgot, or had never even realised, that he was worth looking at just as much.

'I thought you were in real estate, not fashion,' Izzy suddenly said to Magnus who turned his attention towards her.

'I am,' Magnus replied. 'Warlock Inc has different divisions.'

'He just sort of adopts his hobbies into his company,' Alec joked, earning him a playful glare from Magnus and a laugh from Izzy.

'I started out in real estate in college. It quickly got rather boring, so I got some help and started the fashion division. Then the legal component became a big deal with everything around my having to ensure safety and wellbeing of the workers across the world and my friend Ragnor joked that with the amount of legal work he was doing for me, I might as well give him a division in my company. So I did. It was about two years back that I first started talking with Henry about starting the research institute.'

'What kind of research?'

'Nanochemistry, if you'll believe it.' Izzy abruptly stopped in her tracks causing Alec to almost bump into her.

'You're kidding.'

'I assure you that I'm not. My friend Henry is quite the expert in the field, though Lydia will probably steer us slightly more towards nanophysics once she has joined,' Magnus replied amusedly. Izzy stood frozen for a few more seconds before bringing all three of them back in motion.

'Why didn't you tell me, Alec?'

'Do you honestly think I could read any of the material involved in this division? It is so advanced I was proud of myself when I figured that it was in a chemistry field at all. You're the smart one of us, Izzy.'

'Am I missing something here?' Magnus asked Alec.

'Izzy's studying chemistry and looking into nanochemistry as a potential masters degree.'

'And you never thought to tell me?' Magnus now quipped back playfully.

Alec rolled his eyes: 'I thought I was hired as a bodyguard, not a messenger boy.'

The Warlock Inc offices took up a rather tall office building with varying divisions on different floors. Fashion took up the lower 24 floors and the basement. No matter how many times Alec came here he was continuously amazed with what Magnus had built. After all, the man was only eight years older than Alec, but where Alec was struggling to get by, Magnus had built a literal business empire.

Security on the ground floor raised an eyebrow at the new presence by Magnus' side. They were more than familiar with Alec, as he'd made it a point to reach out to them so they were aware of his duties around Magnus. Izzy was a different story. But with a single nod from Alec they let it go. Magnus made no complaint; Alec vouched for her, all was well. Though it did raise the question of who she was. She looked a bit too young to be a new girlfriend, and the similarity in looks to the familiar face of Alec put her in a curious position.

As they stepped into the elevator to ride it up to the 24th floor Magnus turned to Isabelle: 'Honestly, after hearing your brother talk about you I figured you would be more excited for the fashion division than my little science project.'

'Oh, don't get me wrong,' Izzy replied. 'I'm really excited, and I absolutely love clothes and shopping. I'm just not sure I can keep up with the conversation.'

'What are you talking about, Izzy?' Alec spoke up. 'You're the most fashionable person I know, after Magnus.'

'That is because Jace has a simple style he sticks to and Max is only twelve. You don't know anyone else.'

'But what about the clothing exchange you started?'

'That's not really fashion, Alec.'

'Clothing exchange?' Magnus now cut in with the squabbling siblings. Izzy and Alec shared a look before a nod from Alec encouraged her to start explaining.

'I was still growing when our parents died, and pretty soon none of my clothes fit anymore,' she said. 'But money was tight so we couldn't really afford a lot of new ones, or the really cute ones, so I started borrowing a lot from my friends. They really liked it, so every month or so we'd just swap part of our wardrobe. We were all pretty similar in size and some clips did the rest. Then we moved to Nebraska.

'I had stopped growing and my clothes fit, but I didn't feel comfortable with wearing the same thing over and over again. So, I set up the same thing with some friends from my new school. They were really into it and it was great. But then we moved to New York and I didn't have that here. But near our first apartment there was this outlet store and one day, just checking it out I got to talking with the woman who owned it. I told her that I couldn't afford to buy anything and that I'd previously always swapped clothes with friends. And she thought it was such a wonderful idea she might want to try it with the store.

'I helped her set it up. We promoted a little and almost a hundred people showed up in the evening with a set of clothes. We'd check the clothes out for quality and then they get to take another set of clothes that someone else brought or that were at the store, home. In the beginning it was just personal clothes, but then some local boutiques got wind of it and started donating outfits because of how much attention we were drawing. It's still going, but on a weekly basis now. I go about once a month.'

The doors of the elevator slid open as Magnus replied: 'You are such an inventive pair. I'm going to have to get in on that.'

'Please, Magnus, don't tell me you're taking on another project,' a voice said. Their attention was immediately drawn to a man dressed fashionably in pastels. His features were dark, but Alec was always confused for a moment on whether the man wore glitter or was just naturally shimmery.

'Meliorn!' Magnus beamed. 'It is nothing major. Although I might actually do well to get you on this as you are much more suited for the task than I am.'

'As if I don't already have enough work from both you and Seelie to do.' The sarcasm and snark that Meliorn seemed to communicate in had immediately endeared him to Alec the first time they had met. Meliorn was a master of words, fashion icon and completely incapable of lying. On top of that, he was great at his job, so Alec had taken an instant liking to the man.

'Oh, shush, you'll love this. Meliorn, meet Isabelle Lightwood. Alec's sister. She just informed me of this clothing exchange phenomenon she has started in the city and I really think we should get in on it.'

'The Bronx clothing exchange?' Meliorn asked.

'Of course, you'd already know about this,' Magnus smiled brightly. 'Well, that should facilitate things a lot. I think it would be a good idea to get in on this, so we should probably get in touch with public relations and see what input they have on this.'

'Do you also want me to contact marketing?'

'No, this isn't marketing. It's fun. Perhaps design would like to get in on it. You probably have a better idea of who wants to get in than I do. Just make sure to not inform Seelie until the last possible moment.'

'That much was implied,' Meliorn replied with a grin. 'I'll get on it later today. Now we have a meeting to get to.' He turned and walked in the direction of the large meeting room. On the way Meliorn briefed Magnus very quickly on the changes in the agenda, including the addition of a brief that had only been submitted last night. Fortunately he had printed a copy for Magnus, so they swung by his desk to pick it up. As Magnus very quickly started skimming the document Meliorn cast a look at Izzy before reaching into the candy jar on his desk filled with some form of sweets wrapped in shiny red foil packages and offered her some.

'What are these?'

Meliorn suspiciously eyed Magnus, who was completely focussed on the document and Alec who kept a careful watch on their surroundings, before leaning forward and speaking in a hushed tone: 'It helps with the cravings. You look like you could use it.' Izzy was about to protest when he continued. 'Don't worry, your secret is safe with me. I know what it's like.' He gave her a wink and a smile pulled at her lips as she accepted the candy.

Popping one in her mouth Izzy's eyes grew wide: 'Oh my god, these are so good.' Her hand in front of her mouth did not cover the delighted expression. 'What are these?'

'You've never had chocolate caramels?' Meliorn raised an amused eyebrow.

'Dude, I've barely had candy in the past few years,' she replied before a flirty smile drew on her face. 'Where do you think this amazing body comes from?' But she did start unwrapping the second one he'd put in her hand.

'Genetics? But rest assured, as much as I appreciate that body of yours, I'd be happy to supply you with more as long as you're here.'

'And after?' Alec tried his very hardest to not stop his sister from her blatant flirting. He liked Meliorn. Correction, he had liked Meliorn until he had taken a liking to his sister and he couldn't help but be protective over her. Still, he knew that as far as his sisters interest in men went, Meliorn was actually a very good choice. He was not going to interfere, just make it very clear on whose side he'd be, no matter how much Magnus needed the man, if he had any intention of messing with his sister.

Meliorn caught his eye, but was clearly not bothered by it: 'Either I can give you my number right now, or you're going to have to weasel it from your brother.'

'I'm sure Alexander would be happy to oblige,' Magnus cut in. 'For we have a meeting to get to. Especially if she is going to try to enact this brief.' He received a devious smile from both Meliorn and Izzy from that, which then turned to Alec, who rolled his eyes and followed them to the meeting room.

As Meliorn and Magnus went in, Alec and Izzy stayed outside. Izzy took a seat on the sofa in the hallway as Alec took his usual position leaninging against the wall besides the glass door. They stayed like that in silence for a good while before Alec decided to speak up.

'So, Meliorn. You sure that's a good idea?' Alec gave his sister that look that instantly caused her to roll her eyes.

'Oh, lighten up, Alec. It's just some harmless flirtation. It would actually do you good if you tried it sometime.'

'Whatever,' Alec's cheeks rapidly turned pink at the memory of exactly what had been happening right before he'd received the call from Jace about Izzy being missing. He turned his head away to try and hide it, but it was in vain as Izzy of course spotted his blush.

'You flirted with someone?' she immediately scooted forward. 'Why didn't you tell me? Who is it?'

'I didn't… Not really. It was just… It was nothing. And it's not going to happen again.'

'Oh, come on Alec. I tell you everything.'

'Much more than I ever needed to know, thank you very much,' Alec quipped back, earning him a glare from Izzy. 'It's not a big deal.'

'It is a big deal, Alec. This is your first time flirting with anyone. So, how was it? Did you like it?' Alec knew he was fighting a losing battle. She was never going to stop badgering him about this.

'It was nerve wracking,' he finally admitted. 'It was fine until he touched me and then I kind of freaked out and pushed him off. Like I said, it's never going to happen again.'

'Why did you freak out?'

'Because I couldn't... I couldn't think, or breathe for a matter. It just felt… Look, can we talk about something else?'

'You really like this guy, don't you?' Izzy's posture relaxed at this realisation.

'What makes you say that?' Alec asked genuinely confused.

'Please, big brother. It's written all over your face. Who is it?'

'Alec!' The two Lightwood siblings attention was snapped towards the corridor.

'Lydia?' Alec said surprised at the blonde who was almost hurrying towards them. 'What's going on?'

'Nothing serious, I promise. I heard you were in the building and I had something I needed to talk to you about, which would be better if it was done face to face.'

'Magnus is in a meeting,' Alec cast a quick look at the glass door seeing that the meeting was indeed still going.

'It's fine. I was hoping to talk to you alone anyway. Do you have moment?'

Alec looked over at Izzy who mouthed at him that she'd be fine: 'Eh, yeah, sure.' She led him back down the corridor out of Izzy's earshot.

'What's up?' Alec said once he determined there was no one else around.

'I figured you'd want to know about this.' It was only now that Alec first noticed the rolled up magazine she'd held in her hands. She opened it a couple of pages in and handed it over to Alec. Alec was surprised for a moment that she was handing him a gossip rag. Neither he nor Magnus was not concerned with rumours and gossip. But then he noticed the people in the picture and the title.

"Bane once again mixing business and pleasure" Under it were several pictures of Magnus and Alec in public; leaving the Warlock Inc. offices, seated side by side in a restaurant, Alec holding off reporters from Magnus and Alec steadying Magnus with a hand on his shoulder after Alec got that cut on his cheek.

'Aline came across it a few days ago and it's been buzzing around the company like mad. Especially since no one has seen either you or Magnus in a couple of days.'

'There's been a lot going on,' Alec replied absently as he looked over the article. 'Where do people even come up with this?'

'Magnus has a bit of a reputation,' Lydia said, 'but it's been quiet for a rather long time and you're the first new person to pop up.'

'Guess that makes sense. Though I don't know how they figured out I'm gay.'

This startled Lydia: 'You're gay?' Right. He had not told Lydia that yet.

'Yeah, sorry. I should have told you,' he awkwardly rubbed the back of his neck. 'Just, a lot going on and I've never really told many people.'

'That's… fine. Does Magnus know?'

'Yeah, I told him a while back. He's okay with it.'

'Okay, well, good.' Lydia was clearly still trying to wrap her head around what Alec just told her.

Alec turned back to the magazine: 'Do you think Magnus is going to be bothered by this?'

'Probably not, but I figured I should inform you anyway,' Lydia crossed her arms over her chest. 'You do realise what this means, right?'

'Not really,' Alec replied.

'Alec, you're protecting Magnus for a reason. Stalkers and people who want to hurt Magnus now have a new target in you.'

'So?'

'You can't seriously have that little self preservation.'

'I don't,' Alec protested. 'But it is a lot easier to protect Magnus when people aren't aiming for him anyway.' He shrugged at which Lydia rolled her eyes.

'Just, be careful, okay?' He nodded. 'Good, then now you can tell me who that is.' Lydia pointed at Izzy who was still sitting on the couch, eyeing them. A smile came back on Alec's face. He handed Lydia back the magazine and led her over to the couch.

'Lydia, this is my sister, Isabelle. Izzy, this is Lydia, former coworker and current friend.'

'I should have known,' Lydia laughed. 'You two look so alike. Nice to finally meet you. I've heard a lot about you.' Lydia held out her hand to Izzy, who equally smiled.

'Likewise.'