Chapter 5

Jace opened tired eyes, sighing deeply as he gazed once again around the little dome surrounding himself and his Parabatai- not really seeing it, but looking all the same. To the blond Shadowhunter, the world outside was a blur, like static on the Mundane TV sets he'd seen in store windows. In this shelter, there existed only the two men, their shared soul struggling to stay intact as Jace felt Alec's half tugging, pulling at his own, irresistibly being driven by the poison to flee, to run from the demonic. Now I know how the demons on the other end of Izzy's whip must feel as they try to get away. It's like a noose, growing impossibly tighter, before the connection is severed completely.

Jace had already checked his Parabatai rune several times, it's faded presence a mirror image of Alec's. As each long moment passed, Jace wondered how long it had been since the spell had been cast, since he'd taken on the challenge- since he'd agreed to be his brother's lifeline and his strength when he had none for himself.

He yawned, then shook himself, straightening out of the hunched over position he'd drifted into and re-settling Alec into his grip, the latter failing to move or to acknowledge the movement at all. Jace looked down at the man in his arms, praying to every Angel whose name he knew, that once again they'd spare Alec. It seemed that he'd asked that a lot in past couple of years. Certainly now, more than ever since he'd arrived in New York, he and Alec had been in some rough places and had managed to come out the other side. Still, Jace had to wonder, I hope their isn't a limit to how far the Angels are willing to go for one of their children.

It hadn't been too long ago that Jace had managed to free himself from the Owl, gaining back his control but only vestiges of his sanity, as he ran up to Alec and Magnus lying on the cold cement, the arrow that his hands had driven, slowly but surely, into the raven-haired archer's chest wavering as Alec struggled to breathe around it. And when he'd returned to the Institute, his heart clenched as he sat beside his Parabatai, who had fought for each breath, fought to stop the other lung from collapsing, until Catarina had arrived at Magnus' request. Jace shuddered at the memory of Alec as he lurched, shaking from the blue magic seeping into his body, shaking as he tried to break free from Jace and Magnus' tight grip. His ragged coughs and moans had cut into Jace's very soul, it's roughly torn edges still in shock from their abrupt separation from the Owl. This time, thought Jace, this time these hands will save him.

He shook Alec gently, sighing once again as his older brother failed to open his eyes, to move, or to somehow acknowledge that he was still there, that the poison hadn't truly separated them yet. His shallow breaths rasped within the small space, each one grating on Jace's nerves, stringing them tighter with every second that passed. The day had already been long when Jace had, without hesitation, agreed to Dot's plan. The Lightwood's had been up at the crack of down to train, trying to catch a break to focus and collect themselves in between the attacks from the recent rise in demonic activity. While Jace had understood Alec's logic in getting them up that early, to hone their edges, especially after their last mission almost went south, he still thought that, perhaps, a little more sleep might've been a better idea. They were all so tired, so worn down, like the edge of a blade that had been used too often without a visit to a swordsmith.

But Alec seemed unperturbed by the fatigue. He'd dived into the training with a ferocity that had left even emotionally cloistered Jace with questions. He'd met Izzy's eyes over Alec's shoulder as they had locked swords and met their concerned look with his own. He'd swept Alec's sword out from their joined position and had taken a good long look at his Parabatai.

Alec's eyes were shadowed, his skin pulled tight over his cheekbones, his clothes rumpled and his face grim. If Jace hadn't known him better, he would've assumed that the stress and frustration that came with running the Institute were at fault for Alec's condition- not to mention that demons were creating mayhem almost every night, and almost every night they were losing a fellow Nephilim- whether to injury or to death, their numbers were dwindling fast. But Jace did know his brother, and he'd felt through that bond that this was personal for Alec. Something was very, very wrong with Alec, deep inside, and he was retreating, withdrawing into the old Alec that Jace had first known. Jace had met Izzy's gaze again and nodded slightly. He saw it too, and he was damn sure going to figure out what in Raziel's name was going on with his Parabatai.

The training session had ended, with Jace letting an exhausted Alec sweep his blade from his hand and onto the training room floor by Izzy's feet. The small victory hadn't appeared to even register with the archer as he'd picked up his bow and quiver and headed out through the door, pausing only long enough to check in with another Shadowhunter in gear, before continuing his clipped walk away from his siblings. Jace had been willing to bet that Alec was headed up to roof to blow off some steam and had picked up his jacket and blades to follow, when he'd felt Izzy's cool hand on his arm, staying his determination.

"Let him go," she said quietly, only loud enough for him to hear, not the rest of the Shadowhunters who had merged onto the floor in fighting forms of their own. She'd drawn him over to a quiet, dark corned and pushed him onto the carved wooden bench that buttressed the bottom of the wall. Jace felt the wood dig into the back's of his knees as he tried to protest.

"Izzy, come on! Something's up, and it's not just this demonic crap. Something is very wrong with my Parabatai, your BROTHER- we've got to…" He stopped as Izzy held up a hand to silence him, his voice trailing off into stubborn silence.

"I know, Jace, I see it too. I know. But think for a second, we need to figure out what to say before we just get up there with him and confront him about whatever's going on. I've never, ever seen Alec like this before, but we both know how Alec responds to anything that causes him pain- he doesn't talk about himself, he just draws in and goes on, thinking only about the Institute. At least…" she paused for a second, before understanding gently crossed her face. "At least, that's how he was before Magnus came along. Jace, you don't think something happened between the two of them, do you?" she asked. "Magnus is the only one Alec's ever loved before. Truly loved," she said quickly, as Jace opened his mouth to remind her that Alec had, in fact, confessed some pretty deep feelings towards his own person not too long ago.

Jace closed his mouth and listened as Izzy continued on."If Magnus has had enough power in Alec's life to make him come out of his shell, it has to be Magnus that has caused Alec to fall back into it. He looks like death, if death could carry Seraph blades.

Jace met her upset glance with a grim look, saying "I don't know, Izzy, but I'm about to find out. That damn warlock promised me he'd never hurt Alec, and by the Angel, if this is his doing, I'll send him to Edom so fast it'll make his head spin."

They'd headed up to the roof together, to find Alec and figure out what was happening, but the eldest Lightwood was nowhere to be seen. Jace and Izzy had spent the next three hours scouring the Institute for him, their frustration and desperation growing as valuable time passed. It had begun to seem as though Alec was actually missing when the alarms had blared and upon their skidding entry into the Institute's foyer, along with the rest of the Nephilim, sure enough, their gracious leader and ragged older brother was standing in front of the screens, arms wrapped around himself and jaw set as the patches of demonic red grew wider and wider.

Alec had turned upon their arrival and had met Jace's indignant gaze with a slightly guilty glance of his own, before turning to the blonde Shadowhunter to his right and giving orders. He refused to make eye contact with Jace again. Jace's golden eyes widened and his blood boiled- at least a little bit, he couldn't forget his older brother's drawn face and tired eyes that easily. The eyes are a window to the soul, they say, and in that moment, Jace had seen everything. Still, until they could talk about it, Jace could be a little angry.

"That little…" he exclaimed in a fiercely quiet voice, turning to Izzy. "That little… He KNEW, Izzy, he KNEW we were trying to find him. This damn rune- it gives me away every time. Alec's been hiding from us, Izzy. Well you know what, bro, it's not going to work. We are going to talk about what's going on, we're going to dig around inside that messed up head of yours, and we're going to straighten some things out, if I have to strap you to one of those ridiculous women-Chase-couch things and become Freud himself!" He panted, letting his shoulders ride the last waves of his frustration as Izzy regarded him with something like fondness and humor at the same time.

Jace looked at her amused gaze helplessly, confused as to why she wasn't as frustrated as he was. "What," he asked as he took a deep breath, still trying to recover from his rant.

Isabelle smiled slightly before saying "you know, Jace, it wasn't too long ago that WE had to dig around just to get to know you, even just a little bit. Heck, you wouldn't even let Alec patch you up that first night, you had to be all 'tough guy' around us. It's nice to see you on the flip side of it." She laughed quietly, the sound still a little strained as she turned her gaze upon her oldest brother. "If only it wasn't Alec trying to be all 'tough guy' on us right now."

Almost as if he could sense that he was under discussion, Alec turned and faced his siblings. Yet, instead of the guilty look that Jace expected, the expression on the eldest Lightwood's face stuck a chord of fear in both their hearts. Alec swallowed, his eyes roaming the crowd of assembled Nephilim, looking over each of them as though he wasn't sure what to say. "This…", he began, before having to take another breath, running his hands through his disheveled hair. "This isn't demonic." The crowd looked at him, confused, until he repeated himself. "This isn't demonic. This is evil itself. Someone is killing Shadowhunters, from the inside out. We don't know what, exactly, is going on, but we know that we haven't seen this before. And honestly…", he locked eyes with Jace, who could feel his Parabatai's very real shock and fear coming through the bond, "This I don't even know how to face." Alec ran another hand over his face, keeping it on his chin as he gestured to the blond Shadowhunter from before, who brought a tablet up to the center platform and swiped out, pulling a video up to the screen.

"We got this footage in, moments after the alarms went off. Here we see Ashdown, and his partner, fighting a couple of minor demons, should be no big deal for seasoned Shadowhunters. However, right… here," he paused the video, showing Ashdown's right hand stopped on his neck, his seraph blade poised to attack in the other. "At this moment, something broke through his skin, we're not sure what, but we think that's what caused… This." He fast-forwarded the video to a scene a few blocks away with Ashdown convulsing, light spreading around his form, almost cutting it in half from front to back, and a light green mist streaming from the gap the light had created. Ashdown lay still on the pavement, his partner running up and dropping to his knees at his side, when the aide paused the video again, saying "we weren't sure what had just happened until we caught sight of this." He zoomed in on the mist, still visible, and Jace heard Izzy draw in a quick breath, her face pale as the rustling noises in the room all fell silent, almost as if the horror of what they were witnessing was stealing the life from the room. For deep in the smoky green, Ashdown's face and form were visible, slowly drifting away from his still form lying in the alley.

Alec stepped back to the center of the platform, making brief eye contact with Jace and Isabelle, before gesturing for the aide to take down the images. As he did, Alec said, "someone has found a way to separate the body and soul. We don't know how, and we don't know who. What we do know is that they are working with the demon side, which makes it our job to find them and stop them. No one, no one deserves that fate, to be separated from their soul by something other than death. For the Nephilim, it means we can't be taken to the City of Bones, to rest with our brothers and sisters in arms from throughout the centuries, since Jonathan Shadowhunter himself."

Alec shuffled his feet, taking a moment to collect himself from his passionate outburst, before continuing. "With that in mind, we're going hunting. EVERYONE will be in groups of 3, and NO ONE is to divide and conquer. We watch each other's backs, and we stay strong. We only know of one person who has mended a body-soul split, the warlock Magnus…" his voice wavered for a moment over the name as Jace and Izzy looked at one another, their previous concerns brought back to mind for a moment as their brother's emotions warred for control on the stage. Alec managed to quickly cover his pause with a cough, before continuing on, saying "the Warlock Magnus Bane. And then, it was only a partial split, the body and soul were still connected. And I don't know how much we can rely on Magnus for his help at the moment, he's only just had his magic returned." Alec looked at Jace and Izzy as he said this, his sadness and exhaustion on display in his hazel eyes, meeting their shocked gazes with resignation.

"We know this, though- this poison is fast acting. Between the time we saw Ashdown hit and the time his partner found him in the alley was less than an hour. If you do find yourself in a situation, get back to the institute. Hopefully, by then we'll have some warlock assistance on stand-by for emergencies. We won't lose anyone today." Alec finished his speech, giving the aide time to hand out assignments, before finding Jace and Izzy where they stood, arms crossed on the Institute floor.

"We're a three", he said simply, tiredly, as Jace clapped his hand on the archer's shoulder. The way that he was standing, Jace could've sworn that Alec winced from the weight, but then maybe it was just his imagination.

Keeping his tone light, Jace said "no kidding, next thing I know, you're going to be telling me the sky is blue or that Izzy likes Simon."

"Hey," cried Izzy, slapping Jace across the shoulder. Alec smiled briefly, and Jace caught it, glad to give his brother some light-heartedness, if only for a moment.

If only for a moment before this next question, he thought. "So Alec," he started, "any chance you're going to bring Magnus in on this? If he's the only one that's fixed this kind of problem before, shouldn't he be here."

Alec drew in a breath at Magnus' name, before shaking his head. "I already tried to get ahold of him, he won't answer. Dot, Clary's friend, the warlock that Valentine kept around, has agreed to come along just in case."

Alec wouldn't say any more, and at the small shake of Izzy's head, Jace had let it drop. The three siblings had headed out into the night, armed to the teeth.

It was only after their fourth fight, with Shax demons leading them into Central Park, where they'd met up with Clary, Dot, and Lester, the aide from before, that Jace had seen Alec cupping the side of his neck, his face ghostly pale.

"Jace," he whispered quietly, before sinking to his knees. "Jace, I feel… Weird."

Jace had run to his brother's side, Izzy and the others quickly following, where he'd gently peeled Alec's hand from his neck. The black track marks he'd found had made his heart grow cold.

Jace opened his eyes, shaken back from the memory at Alec's slight groan. "Alec… Alec, can you hear me?"

Alec moaned softly again, his eyes rolling beneath their lids- but there was other response. Jace sighed, wishing now that he'd made Alec tell him what was going on with Magnus, that he'd made Alec bring that damn warlock with them. Instead, they were stuck for God-only-knows how long in this spell, while trusting that Magnus would somehow agree to come and save the guy he clearly had issues with.

Jace looked down at his brother, gently sweeping his sweaty black hair out of his closed eyes, before whispering quietly, "I swear, Alec, by the Angel, if he ended things, if he hurt you…"

Jace never finished as Alec's fingers weakly gripped his own, his quiet voice stunning Jace's angry rant into silence.

"Jace… I … ended it."