A/N: So, this chapter is a bit shorter than normal (and Hellishly late). Sorry about that. I'd promise to do better, but classes and work are kicking my ass so...yeah. Anyways, hope you all enjoy it. :-)

Chapter Twelve

The ship was sinking.

Impassive crimson eyes watched idly as the man before them helped a man only a bit younger than their owner from the ship as ice crawled up its hull and crushed it. In most instances, there would've been a stronger reaction, dismay then relief if they were allies, pleasure then disdain if they weren't and yet-

Yet there was nothing there.

It felt as if in the time it had taken them to reach Valentine's son, the emotions that had been raging and roiling within him had drained away, leaving an empty husk behind. It was an episodic turn of events that he'd grown used to in Edom, especially when his broken mate bond left him vacillating wildly between extreme emotions and the all-consuming numbness he was currently feeling. He could only hope that the numbness would last, for he feared not even his mate would survive the madness and rage that would follow it, if the cycle remained true. Only his assurance to Valentine that he wouldn't run kept him from fleeing from the thought, yet it didn't stop the faint echo of fear that tried to breach the numbness.

There was a louder resounding crack and he glanced at the wall, noting that they had less than five minutes before the ship gave way completely.

He said nothing, unruffled by the impending danger. After all, his ice would do what he wanted, nothing more nothing less.

Valentine, having heard the crack as well, stiffened then glared at him before nearly dragging his companion to the dock. Alec followed behind them, and the second his feet were firmly on the dock, he allowed his ice to completely crush the ship. His love's son cried out in surprise, flinching back while Valentine glared at him.

"My men were still on that ship." He rumbled.

"Sorry." The older man's glare darkened at the completely uncaring one in his voice.

"What exactly is your plan, Alexander? You have yet to escape, despite having ample opportunity and we both know I don't have nearly enough men to recapture you."

The numbness wavered, and he could feel the maelstrom stirring, yet he found himself incredulous that his former mate thought him stupid enough to believe him.

"You have more than enough men. You would never keep your entire force in one place for fear of it being attacked."

Valentine's companion scowled. "Father-"

"Silence, Jonathan." The boy fell quiet sullenly, glaring at Alec. The other returned his stare with an eerily empty one and he shuddered, looking away hastily.

"Knowing so, what exactly are you planning, Heylel?" He replied, his voice taking on that silky tone that it had that night so long ago. But the numbness had yet to fade, had yet to release the madness and he was thankful for it if nothing else.

"This needs to end." Ice gathered at his fingertips and within moments a bow of ice was in his hands. "This. Needs. To. End. Samael."

His lover smirked.

"Does it?" And yet a seraph blade appeared in his hand, shining a deep black in compared to their normally blue-white glow.

Eyes burning crimson, Alec took to the air, hoping the numbness would last long enough for him to do what needed to be done.

If not…

Something dangerous flashed against the wall of ice within him, the waiting madness or agony, he didn't know.

And even as Valentine took to the air behind him, he hoped he'd never find out.

*/*

"What the hell?" Luke whispered, staring up at the sky wide-eyed.

When he'd caught Valentine's scent so close to his pack, he'd been nervous and furious, especially after hearing that the bastard had attacked the Institute and taken Maryse's eldest son.

He'd rushed out, hoping to confront his former parabatai and yet this-

This wasn't what he was expecting.

Valentine was in the air, held aloft by large black wings, tips wreathed in flame and a pitch-black seraph blade in his hand.

Opposite of him was Alec, eyes burning crimson and wings just as dark, though his feathers were more tattered and seemed sharper at the edges. In the young man's hands was a gleaming white bow, edges pointed like spear-tips and he was willing to bet that they were just as deadly. He went to yell for them, only to jolt as a portal opened a few feet away from him.

Maryse was the first one out, followed by Jocelyn, Clary, Isabelle, Jace, Magnus and a young shadowhunter who couldn't have been older than ten. All six stilled at the sight, just as he had.

The two beings in the air didn't even seem to notice them, only having eyes for each other and it took him a moment to realize that they'd begun to move.

The two began to clash midair, fighting with a ferocity that he'd never seen either move with, and, matching each other move for move.

"What's going on, Maryse?" He asked the woman and she glared at him, then turned her gaze back to the fight.

For a moment he was sure she wouldn't answer, then she sighed.

"Valentine and Alec have history, it seems. Your parabatai seduced my son, then when Alec found out who he was, he nearly killed him. Left him near death on the steps of the institute." She heaved a soft breath, flinching as Alec seemed to freeze mid-swing, allowing Valentine to strike him. The archer went flying, hitting the water below them with a harsh splash.

"Mom!" The young shadowhunter cried and Valentine's gaze flashed in their direction, eyes flashing a bright blue as he flew toward them.

Alec still hadn't come back up.

The rogue shadowhunter landed in front of them, wings twitching, but his gaze was soft as they landed on the boy that had accompanied Maryse.

Jace snarled at the man, before flinching, turning his gaze to the water wide-eyed.

Valentine paid him no heed, focused on the boy.

"Maxwell," He greeted. "Do you know who I am?"

Magnus moved as if to pull the boy behind him, but the child seemed unafraid, glaring at the elder shadowhunter.

"Yes."

"Then you know that I expect you to join me."

Maxwell's glare darkened.

"You almost killed my mother."

"He betrayed me. His suffering was a result of his own disobedience."

Alec still hadn't come back up.

But the air-

The air was growing thicker, colder, heavier.

He couldn't breathe.

Valentine stilled, mouth open as if to continue, then he turned just as a black blur shot from the water and slammed into him.

"Sweet Angel…" Maryse whispered eyes wide and he nodded numbly. Alec had finally resurfaced and was darting after the rogue, who had shoved him off and took to the air. Permafrost coated his feathers, sharp ice crystals tipping his wings but it was eyes that had drawn their attention.

No longer were they burning and empty.

No.

Madness bright and incandescent danced in their depths, tinged by an ancient sort of rage and betrayal, the like of which they'd never seen and-

And Luke couldn't help but be terrified.

Faltering back a step he couldn't help but wonder if he should take his pack and run. After all, something within him screamed that this-

This was not a fight he would win.

*/*

Beautiful.

He'd never had a chance to see his beloved once he'd thrown him from the Silver City, had never seen him held in madness' grasp but he'd never imagined he would find it as beautiful as he did.

Sure, he'd caught glimpses of it, had seen the way his love's once star-studded eyes had flashed with danger when his bouts of rage hit, but this-

This was something else entirely.

Crimson, darkened to near black and burned into him with their intensity, their rage, a furious snarl curling those plush lips and he couldn't help but fall a little more in love.

After all, this- this was Heylel as he should be.

A ferocious warrior, one of the best he had ever seen, no longer tempered by his archangel persona, or the shadowhunter he'd been in their current life. No this was the angel that had helped their creator beat the Darkness, had saved his life countless times before that. This was what Hell had taken and hardened, had shattered and reshaped and he knew with the utmost certainty that the fight coming would be the most difficult he'd ever fought.

He bared his teeth in a savage grin, grip tightening on his seraph blade as he lunged at his lover.

The other met him with the shaft of his bow, frosted wings flaring, then they were moving.

Faster than any of the beings on the ground could keep up, they fought in a way they hadn't in millennia, not since that fateful battle that had led to his love being charged with treason. Shockwaves rocked the air with each clashing blow, the air heavy with charged grace as spears of fire and daggers of ice were thrown.

It was exhilarating, the madness that had been dancing on the edges of his psyche since their mate bond had shattered causing him to release a delighted cackle.

Swinging his blade toward his mate, a glint from below caught his eye.

A seraph blade was flying through the air, directly toward the nape of Heylel's unprotected neck.

No.

No!

Using the momentum from his swing he hooked his blade through his mate's bow and pulled him forward, using a flap of his wings to switch their places…

Just in time for the blade to go through his back and pierce his heart.

TBC…