A/N: Hi. So. Sorry about the cliffhanger last chapter…? Also thank you for the reviews! :) I own nothing that belongs to someone else… obviously. Cassandra Clare owns the characters, and another Fanfiction writer owns the nickname Jace uses later on, but I'm terribly sorry I can't remember who at the moment. I own Magnus' songs and Alec's books.
Also, I'm thinking of doing more sections from other characters' POV? What do you guys think about that? Maybe I'll bring some of the Infernal Devices characters in and do a scene from Clary or Simon's point of view. If you think it's a bad idea and I should just keep it a Malec fic, let me know. Okay, I'll shut up now.
Jace wondered what was taking the three boys so long. Alec had come into the living room alone and suitcase-less, meaning he must've gone back out to help Sebastian and Max. But it had been ten minutes and they had yet to make an appearance. He called Alec, but he didn't pick up. He called Max, and Clary called Sebastian, but neither of them picked up either. Jace eventually decided to head out and look for them. He shrugged his coat on, kissed Clary farewell, and exited the house, hopping down the steps to the drive. His golden hair was slicked to the side of his face within seconds.
"Alec?" He called out. The hill the driveway led into was void of any signs of life. In fact, the entire hill seemed empty: there were no signs of any new arrivals. It was like his brothers had never arrived at all. "Shit." Jace had a suspicion of what had happened. He began to make his way down the road slowly, almost scooting down the hill on his ass when it became too steep and slippery. The guardrail where the road turned was torn open, leaving a path straight down the cliff. He hurried over. Alec's car was a mangled mess at the bottom, on its side with shattered glass all around. There wasn't anyone in the car as far as Jace could see, but he did see two bodies—he almost threw up right then and there—in a tree above the car. The first was Sebastian, his normally blond hair as red as Clary's. He wasn't moving: an ornament on the sickest of trees. Jace felt his heart stutter.
He spotted Alec next, thrown across a branch below Sebastian, bleeding from his head and dangling limply. Jace didn't see Max anywhere, and it was in that moment that he finally looked back down at the car, realizing that the blaring in his ears wasn't his terror, but rather the horn of the car. He gasped shakily, beginning to climb down. His rain-slicked fingers scrabbled on the rocks, causing him to slip down the last five or so feet, skinning his palms in the process. He wiped the blood on his pants and ran to the wreckage. Max, his baby brother, was lying mangled on the wheel of the car. His head lay against the horn, as though the angry noise was his swan song. Jace felt his neck for a pulse and was surprised to find one. He shakily pulled out his phone and dialed 911.
After explaining his location and the situation to the cops, he called Clary and filled her in too. She began to cry on the phone, told him she loved him, and said she had to call Izzy and Magnus (a name Jace had yet to match to a face). He held his brother's hand, the wailing sirens of their approaching saviors drowning out everything—even the deathly rain.
"I should have fucking called him!" Magnus shouted into the phone. He wasn't really mad at Clary, though, or Izzy, or Jace, or anyone, really. It wasn't anyone's fault. It was this infernal rain. And now Alexander Lightwood could be dead. He wanted to punch something. He wanted to go back go that afternoon in the park, where Alec had been alive and warm beneath his fingertips, breathing, heart racing, lips moving against Magnus'. He wanted time to freeze there instead of here, where he couldn't even be sure he could hear his own heartbeat anymore.
"I shouldn't have let him go out in the rain!" Izzy proclaimed in anguish.
"Where is he?" Magnus asked into the phone.
"They're on their way to the hospital now," Clary replied. "Jace is with them. I'm kinda stranded in the cabin until the rain lets up… three cheers for Candy Crush, I suppose. What other stuff is in here? Here's Scrabble… Chutes and Ladders… all eight of the Harry Potter movies. You two need to go and see Alec and Max and Seb," she finished. "Give them my love. Talk to ya later, Maggie. Love you."
"Love you too, biscuit," he answered, sighing, and put the phone down. "To the Clave Medical Center we go," he said to Isabelle, who nodded and slipped into her high heels. They mutely made their way outside and hailed a cab. It seemed all hope was being pounded into the ground by the rain. Magnus wished he could go back to the first rainshower he'd experienced with Alexander, when they'd been bowled over by that careless biker.
They rode to the hospital in silence, listening to the downbeat of the rain. Magnus' fingers began to drum on his leg against his will, but for once he was lost for lyrics. Isabelle leaned into him as they drove, crying quietly. If he hadn't already been drenched, her tears would've soaked him. The rain coated the window, blocking him from seeing the world pass outside.
"Here y'are," the cab driver drawled sympathetically. "Hope yer friend's okay."
"Thank you," Isabelle sniffed. Magnus paid for the ride and they hurried into the hospital. At the front desk, Izzy told them that she was Alec Lightwood's sister and demanded to see him. The woman told her he was in surgery and they could see him when visiting hours started at nine the next morning.
"Is he okay?" Magnus demanded, shoving past Izzy. "What happened? How bad was he hurt? What about the other two he was with, Max and Sebastian? Are they okay?"
"Max—that's the youngest, right?—will live," the woman said. "He has several broken bones and a bad concussion, and will need a number of stitches. Alexander got lucky. He just needs stitches in his forehead and sprained his ankle tumbling down that tree."
"What about Sebastian?" Isabelle asked, noticing the absence of a report on her friend.
"I'm sorry," the woman sighed, looking down. "We weren't able to save him. He broke his neck in the crash… I'm sure it was painless."
"I need to see Alec," Izzy insisted, voice wobbling as more tears welled up in her eyes.
"I'm sorry, ma'am," the woman told her again. "You have to wait until he's in a better condition."
"What condition is he in now?" Magnus shouted. He supposed he was drawing unnecessary attention, but he didn't care. His Alexander was in the hospital, getting stitches in his forehead after being found almost dead in the forest. He didn't give a shit about protocol. "And where's Jace? The blondie who brought him in?"
"We sent him to the waiting area with hot chocolate and a blanket. He was close to contracting hypothermia," the woman said. "Again, I'm truly sorry about this. If I can have your contact information, I'll be in touch as soon as you can see Alexander."
Magnus took a piece of paper and scribbled down his name and phone number. Isabelle did the same, then handed the slip back to the woman and shakily said, "tell my baby brother I love him."
"Do you have any message for Alexander?" she asked Magnus.
"He's not my baby brother," Magnus said flatly. "You can tell him I'm worried about him and that as soon as he wakes up, I'm going to kiss him unconscious again."
The woman blushed at that, nodded and hurried off. Magnus and Isabelle made their way to the waiting area and found Jace, asleep, wrapped in a cutesie blue blanket with clouds on it. He had dark circles around his eyes and his hair was messily stuck to his skin.
"Nice to meet you," said Magnus, realizing just how much he owed Jace Lightwood. "You don't know me. I'm Magnus. I like Alexander very much, if you know what I mean. And I don't say this often, but thank you. Without you, he might be dead."
Jace, obviously, did not respond.
Some time later (Magnus was too worried and out of it to know how long it had been), the same brown-haired nurse came back and told him that Alec was awake and asking to see him. Magnus hadn't believed her at first. Alec's siblings were here too, though admittedly they were asleep, and he wanted to see Magnus? He got up and followed the nurse, moving quietly as to avoid waking Jace or Izzy.
"Magnus Bane, right?" The nurse asked timidly. "You're here for your concert?"
"Correct, but I may have discovered other reasons to want to be here," he said vaguely.
"I'm assuming you meant what you said earlier?" She asked, still not looking at him. "About… kissing him?"
"Every word," Magnus said.
"Well, then I'm happy for you. My two best friends in the whole world finally admitted to each other how they felt—I've been watching them pine for each other for years now, but Will and Jem both avoided that by acting like they liked me. Needless to say, they've been together for a few months now and it's like the world is sunny again."
Magnus snorted. "Ironic, since it's been raining for two days nonstop and Alexander Lightwood almost died because of it."
"Alexander Lightwood. Like, author of All the Locked Doors?" The nurse looked at Magnus with wide eyes.
"The same. Mala having awesome hair was intentional," Magnus grinned.
"Epic. Are you guys, like, the new hottest celebrity couple?"
"If anyone knew that Alec was Alexander Lightwood, then yes, we might be," he explained. "He's kept his identity secret from the general public."
"I see. Well, here's his room. See you later, Magnus Bane."
"Bye…?" Magnus realized he'd never gotten her name.
"Tessa," she grinned, holding her hand out to him. "Tessa Gray."
Magnus pushed the door open and entered the room. Alec was lying there in the bed, looking more disgruntled than anything else. As soon as he saw Magnus, his entire face lit up, then elapsed into worry.
"Magnus! Are you okay? Are Jace and Izzy and Max and Sebastian okay? And Clary?"
Magnus stood in the middle of the room, watching the monitor beep. He realized how lucky Alec had been, surviving such an ordeal. He'd fallen off a cliff, for Raziel's sake! He made a measly attempt to breathe evenly, but failed epically and broke down sobbing.
"Alexander, Alexander, I could've lost you!" He cried, running to Alec's side. He grabbed his hand and fell to his knees next to the bed, putting Alec's hand against his forehead. Alec began to absentmindedly comb his fingers through Magnus' silky hair. The contact ripped shivers out of Magnus' skin, and he leaned his forehead on the rail between them. "Oh, Alexander, you scared me so bad…."
"Shh, Magnus, it's okay," Alec whispered. "I'm okay. But what about everyone else?"
"They said Max is fine and Izzy is fine and Jace could've gotten hypothermia because of being an idiot but he's fine and everyone's fine except me and except Sebastian—" Magnus rushed the words out in a single breath, crying harder. "And they said Sebastian was dead and I felt so bad for just feeling relieved that you weren't dead and I know it's not fine and you're probably not okay anymore and I want you to be okay even though nobody is ever really okay anymore but that doesn't change anything and—"
Alec put his hand on Magnus' face, tilted his head up, and brought their lips together. The kiss was anything but explosive, but Magnus felt his heart explode anyway.
"Shut up," he said into Magnus' mouth. "Slow down. Tell me what happened."
"I can't," Magnus breathed, a sob constricting his throat. "All I know is that you left to help Sebastian and Max settle into a house in the mountains, and it was raining too hard to be safe. You were gone for too long so I was going to call you, but Izzy said you were probably just hanging out with your friend and little brother, so I didn't. Next thing I know, Clary calls me up crying and says you were in the hospital with Max and Sebastian, that there'd been a crash and nobody knew exactly what had happened. So Izzy and I came straight here. I wanted to see you right away, but they said you were getting stitches and we couldn't. We asked what had happened. They said Max was okay and you were okay, but that Sebastian was dead...I must've fallen asleep, because just now Tessa, that nurse, came and got me and brought me here."
Alec's blue eyes widened. Magnus felt the need to tread water, even though the only ocean was trapped inside Alec's gaze; there was more depth in those eyes than all the world's oceans combined. And apparently not even Alec could hold all the world's oceans in his eyes, for a rush of water poured down his face, and his slender body shook with forceful sobs.
"Alexander, I'm sorry," Magnus choked out, sitting up on his knees. He put his arms around Alec and let him nuzzle into his shoulder.
"It's my fault… I shouldn't have left them in the car when I went to say hi to Jace and Clary! If I'd been there—"
"You couldn't have done anything to stop a car on a steep hill in a flood," Magnus said comfortingly.
"That just makes me feel worse!" Alec yelled. "Sebastian wasn't supposed to just… die!" He sank against his pillows, becoming suddenly weak. "I feel like I failed him, Magnus."
"You didn't fail anyone, sweetheart," Magnus said, pressing a kiss to Alec's forehead, then the bridge of his nose between his eyes, then the tip of his nose, then right against the top of his lip, and finally full on his mouth. Alec automatically pulled him closer, and Magnus leaned into him despite the horrible way such a position arched his back. It was like Alec had a gravitational pull of his own, and no matter how close Magnus got, it always seemed to pull him closer. Not that he was complaining. He tightened his arms around Alec.
"Get off the floor, you dolt," Alec growled against his lips, and pulled Magnus up by the collar of his hoodie. Magnus obliged readily, coming to sit next to Alec in the bed. As soon as he made himself comfortable, he and Alec were on each other again, as though the world would stop spinning if they separated.
"Hey, Alec, they said we could come in even though it's not visiting—" Jace started to say, then stopped mid-sentence and began to laugh. "So this is the famous Sparkles the Wonder Cat I've heard so much about! He's not very sparkly right now."
"Sparkles the Wonder Cat?" Izzy and Magnus exclaimed in unison.
"That is so much dumber than Magno!" Magnus groaned.
"I know!" Izzy exclaimed gleefully. "I told you! Jace is the king of dumb nicknames!"
"Yes, bow down, peasants!" Jace chuckled. "Magnus, right? Don't you dare hurt my brother. If he so much as stubs his toe in your presence, I'll come after you with an axe, got it?"
"If he stubs his toe in my presence, I'll go after the offending piece of furniture with an axe," Magnus replied with a straight face.
"Okay, Alec, you can keep him," Jace said with a sense of finality.
"Thanks, Jace," Alec snickered. "Have you been to see Max?"
"Yeah. He's a fighter, he'll pull through," Izzy sighed. "He was just devastated to hear about Sebastian. I haven't called Mom or Dad yet. Do you want me to?"
"It's not like they'd come," Alec said. "Besides, I have everything I need right here." He smiled around at his siblings, then up at Magnus, who grinned back at him with enough warmth to light up the galaxy.
"What do you mean, 'the brakes weren't on?'" Simon inquired angrily.
"I mean someone tampered with the brakes," Luke answered.
"Why would anyone do that?" Simon was with Luke near the site of the crash. The rest of the cops were still inspecting the car and the tree it had hit, and the hill, and the broken guardrail.
"That's what we're trying to find out, kiddo," Luke told him. "All I can say is this was no accident. If the car had been working normally, it wouldn't have broken clean through the rail like that. And the mere fact that the guardrail isn't ripped up is suspicious, too; it's almost like someone unscrewed the section beforehand."
"What's going on?" Simon was beginning to feel scared. He didn't like smart people who used their intelligence to wreak havoc. He preferred smart people who liked to geek out with him over science, physics, conspiracy theories, and Star Wars. People like Max Lightwood, for example.
"I'm thinking someone set this up to impair Sebastian Verlac," Luke said grimly.
"But this is Alec's car," Simon said in confusion. "Sebastian just got here last night. Alec drove them up here because they're staying with Clary's family in the cabin. Right, Jon? Wasn't that the plan?"
Jonathan Morgenstern, Clary's half-brother, frowned. "Yes," he answered. "That's Alec's car? I could've sworn it was Jace's. I got so worried when he wasn't here when I woke up. I guess seeing the car in the ditch made me jump to conclusions. Is Jace okay?
"Yep," Simon answered. "He's in the hospital with Alec and Max and Sebastian. Besides, he has a bunch of bumper stickers on his car. And I know this one's Alecs; there's a scratch in the paint here from the time Izzy and I almost crashed into a light post because I swerved to avoid hitting a raccoon. That's the last time Alec let us borrow his car."
Jonathan let out a laugh. "I suppose it could be worse. Alec's okay, right?"
"Yes, Alec is fine, as is Max," Luke told him. "But Sebastian is dead. His neck was broken."
Jonathan put his hands over his mouth. Simon thought it looked like the guy was about to start crying; when Sebastian and Alec had dated, Jon had been best friends with Sebastian. It was almost like they were the same person. (A/N: Is it bad that this made me laugh?)
"Hey, Jon, it'll be okay," Simon said. Jonathan hugged him, showing the lovable kid side of his that rarely came out around other people. Luke crossed his arms and gazed down at the mangled car.
"Luke?" Simon asked. "Whatcha thinking about?"
Luke sighed. "That someone probably wants Alec dead."
A/N: Don't kill me! *nervous but gleeful laughter*
As a writer, I respect all well-written characters (even the ones who are total bitches) so I'm doing my best to keep their personalities the same while making them good people... and attempt to make them not too OOC. Even if one of them wants Alec dead! Or so it seems… all will be revealed in the coming chapters. And no, it's not Valentine. So… who do you think it is? Chocolate-covered strawberries to anyone who gets it right! Have an awesome day, people! :)