EDITED 5/30/2020
Sorry to keep you waiting! I worked really hard on this chapter and making sure that it came out all right. Enjoy.
Magnus stood outside the door to Alec's office and listened to the sounds of crashing and breaking glass from within. He flinched when there was a particularly big crash. He turned to Izzy who was leaning against the wall across from the door.
"Is Jace here?" Magnus asked warily. "Or perhaps Samuel? Just in case he throws something when the door opens."
"No, Jace is out and Simon hasn't been here since the breakup."
"I was really looking forward to seeing one of them get hit by a flying stapler." Magnus griped before pulling the door open and walking into the office. He was struck silent by the scene he walked in on. The shelves and tables were bare, the things that once decorated them sat broken on the floor. The mirror that had been hung on the wall near the couch was cracked and had blood near the site of impact, indicating that Alec had punched it. Alec was standing in front of his desk, hunched over and gripping the sides of it, blood running down his knuckles as his shoulders heaved with how heavy his breathing was.
Magnus waved a hand and blue magic flowed out over the shattered glass and mended everything that had been broken. Knick knacks and decorations flew back to where they belonged, and the mirror looked like new. Alec straightened up as his things returned to his desk and he slowly turned around.
"Alexander." Magnus breathed as he took a few steps forward.
Alec sniffed and looked down at his bloody hands, turning them over to examine them. "I, uh," he took a shuddering breath. "I think I broke some stuff."
His face was red and puffy, as were his eyes. His cheeks were tear stained, a few tears still falling down his cheeks.
"I'll say." Magnus closed the distance between the two of them, grabbing Alec's wrists and letting his magic flow down into his boyfriend's hands. He looked down at Alec's hands and watched as the skin healed, knitting itself back together. Once the skin was healed, he vanished the blood, cleaning Alec's hands and he lifted them to his lips, kissing them. "Isabelle told me what happened."
"I feel like a failure." Alec admitted, freeing his hands from Magnus' as he rounded his desk and sat in the plush chair. "I just, how can I go on, leading these people and acting like I'm not the guy who let Valentine get away? The guy who let my sister's... I don't know what he is to her now, but he's obsessed with her. He'll find a way to hurt her, Magnus. I did this."
"Izzy was the one in charge of the transfer. Not you." Magnus reasoned.
"But I put her in charge of it." Alec returned.
"No matter what I say," Magnus sighed, sitting in the chair across from Alec's desk. "You will find a way to spin it and make it your fault."
"That isn't what I'm doing!" Alec defended, sitting up straight and looking at Magnus indignantly.
"That's exactly what you're doing." Magnus replied calmly, leaning forward in his seat. "I'm not trying to place the blame on Isabelle. The blame belongs to whomever on the team set Valentine free. Okay? You and your sister are blameless in this."
Alec shook his head. "The clave won't see it that way."
"They may not." Magnus agreed, nodding his head. "But what's important is that you do not blame yourself."
"How can I not blame myself, Magnus?" Alec pulled on his hair. "Valentine is out there again! He'll probably try to decimate the Downworld again. That includes my soulmate, my daughter, my sister's soulmate. Simon, Luke, all of them! That's on me, whether I'm at fault or not. It happened at my Institute, under my supervision."
Magnus shook his head. "I won't fight with you. Not about this."
"Good." Alec leaned back in his chair and dragged a hand over his face. "Because I don't want to fight with you either. You can't change my mind about this Magnus. And I want you to know, I'm going to hunt this son of a bitch down, and I'm going to kill him. He won't take my family away from me. I swear on the Angel, he won't hurt you or our daughter."
Magnus soaked those words in for a moment. Once again, he wondered how he'd gotten so lucky. This man that sat opposite from him in this moment was kind, selfless, brave and strong. But at the same time, Alexander was also insecure, vulnerable and sensitive. Magnus couldn't believe that he got to be with Alec, he got to hold him, love him and raise a child with him. He, and no-one else, got to build a life with him. He wouldn't waste anymore time, after all, Alec was mortal. He would leave Magnus and Madzie one day.
Magnus stood up and rounded the desk, pulling himself up to sit on it before leaning over and connecting his lips with Alec's. Alec smiled into the kiss, reaching a hand up to cup Magnus' cheek.
Magnus pulled back, staying close enough for Alec to still feel his breath on his face. "Stop smiling, I can't kiss you like I want to if you're smiling." He complained, a smile gracing his lips.
Alec smiled wider, gazing into Magnus' eyes. "I can't help it." He rasped, leaning into Magnus' intoxicating presence. "I'm just so incredibly in love with you."
Magnus beamed and stroked Alec's cheek with his thumb. He blinked back tears as he leaned in again. When he was only centimeters away from Alec's lips he whispered to him; "I love you more than I ever thought possible."
—-
"Hey!" Jace called as he jogged to catch up with Clary. "Can we talk?" Jace asked as she kept walking.
"About what?" Clary asked, her tone was light and positive but Jace could hear the underlying edge in her voice.
"About how you keep walking out of a room every time I walk in?" Jace suggested, exasperated.
"I haven't -" Clary tried to deny it.
"Yeah, you have, Clary." Jace interrupted. "And look, I get it. But we can't avoid each other forever."
Clary turned back to him, a smile still on her face yet she looked annoyed. "Jace. Valentine's missing." She kept walking, looking away from him. "We have more important things to deal with right now. Any word from Magnus or Luke?" She directed the question to Alec.
"No." Alec answered. "With Valentine free the Downworld cabinet has been holding secluded meetings at the Seelie Court."
"Well that's not good." Jace muttered.
"You think anything good happens in the Seelie Court?" Clary asked bitingly.
"The Clave isn't going to let this go unpunished." Alec quickly continued, shooting Clary a concerned look. "The Inquisitor's sent an envoy to assess the situation. Chances are they'll be the ones replacing me as Head of the Institute."
"Not if we can recapture Valentine." Izzy said angrily. "Sebastian and all available personnel are searching. We already know that Duncan managed to hijack the portal."
"If he was Luke's accomplice, he could've been orchestrating the secret transfer all along."
"Listen." Alec sighed. "I appreciate the effort, but Valentine escaped on my watch. I deserve to take the heat for it."
"This isn't your fault! It's mine." Izzy protested. "I was the one in charge of the transfer team."
"Hey. We both were." Jace interjected. "Look, Alec, you are a good leader. You can't just let Imogen fire you over something you didn't do."
"Alec, will do as he's ordered." Robert Lightwood entered.
"Dad?" Izzy asked.
"What are you doing here?" Clary asked.
"I'm the Clave's envoy." Robert explained. "We need to talk." He told Alec.
—-
"I never expected it to be you." Alec admitted.
"You're my son." Robert explained. "I felt it was my responsibility to deliver your orders personally. Allowing Valentine's escape was a lapse in leadership, but our top priority is tracking him down. We believe he is still in New York. Imogen is convinced that you know the city better than anyone in Idris. She says that you will remain Head of the Institute."
"And that's it?" Alec asked, surprised.
"For now." Robert confirmed. "Imogen is keeping an eye on you. Don't give her an excuse to give Aldertree his old job back."
"Well, I appreciate the help." Alec replied slowly. "But don't think this makes up for what you did to Mom."
Robert looked down, ashamed. He sat on the couch and clasped his hands together. "Alec, your mother and I have always had a complicated relationship."
"It's not complicated." Alec snapped. "You cheated on her. There's a reason she returned to Idris as soon as you got here."
"I made a mistake." Robert stressed. "I never meant to hurt you...but I fell in love."
Alec looked up to glare at his father.
"You of all people should know what that's like." Robert started to say.
"Magnus isn't an affair!" Alec said, upset. "I shouldn't have said anything. We can argue family drama once we find Valentine. Until then, I have an Institute to run."
"Alec," Robert pleaded.
"You can go." Alec said, his voice hard but his eyes showed the pain that he was feeling.
—-
Clary gasped for air as she broke the surface of the lake in Idris.
"You okay?" Jace asked her.
"Fine." She replied, still gulping down the air. "Just a little damp. Did we make it?"
"Yeah." Jace panted. "Welcome to Idris."
They climbed up the hill and looked out at the trees. "I still can't believe you made a portal rune." Jace marveled.
"You said that already." Clary replied. "It isn't the first time I've used one."
"You don't understand." Jace countered. "It took Warlocks thousands of years to use portals and you just improvised one."
"Magnus and Alec didn't care this much." Clary complained.
"I wanna get out of here before dark. These woods are home to several packs of notoriously feral werewolves." Jace informed her.
"Valentine certainly has interesting ideas about what's kid friendly." Clary commented as they trekked through the woods.
"Yeah, well, even he wouldn't let me go near the lake." Jace said.
Clary stumbled into a tree. "Whoa." She breathed.
"You okay?" Clary nodded. "You know an Iratze could help you with that." Jace told her.
"Oh no." Clary realized. "I don't have my Stele. I must have dropped it when I hit the water."
Jace gave her an exasperated look, holding his arms out in a shrug. "Don't look at me. I left mine in New York. Someone pulled me through the portal before I had time to get it."
"You know, it's okay. I mean we don't even need a Stele. You can activate your runes without them, right?"
"Yeah. I mean, you know, theoretically."
"And you were giving me crap about my portal?" Clary asked him.
"I didn't say I couldn't do it." Jace argued.
Clary stumbled again. "On second thought, my stele might come in handy. Let's see if we can find it."
—
"Honestly." Alec said. "As long as Dad apologizes to Max, I don't care what the fire messages said."
"I know you're still upset about the affair." Izzy replied, "but think about it. Valentine escaped under our watch and yet Imogen is letting you keep your job? Why? Did he say anything?"
"Not really. He said he was in love." Alec told her, a bitter edge to his voice. He suddenly straightened and started to flex his hand.
"Are you okay?" Izzy asked, pushing off the wall.
"Something's wrong with Jace." Alec told her.
They hurried to Jace's room and found it in shambles.
"By the Angel!" Izzy gasped, stopping in the doorway, Alec right behind her. She gazed into the room at the turned over furniture and scattered papers.
They wandered further into the room and Alec spotted broken glass at the other end of the room.
"What the hell?"
Alec crouched down near the glass and fingered a piece, Izzy walked up behind him and looked down at it.
"What happened here?" She asked.
Alec held up the piece he'd been looking at and noticed something unusual about it. "Is that a lake?" He asked. Izzy peered into the glass shard and noticed that there was indeed a lake reflected in the glass. "What are these things?" Alec wondered aloud.
"They look like portal shards." Izzy said, grabbing the piece from her brother.
"So Jace and Clary are at this beach?"
"Assuming they went through together." Izzy agreed. "But none of it makes sense. How were they able to create a portal inside the institute?"
"Clary made a rune. She's only done it once or twice, but never like this." Alec told her.
"Clearly it wasn't a normal portal." Robert said. Izzy and Alec whirled around to see him standing in the doorway.
He walked into the room and stopped before his two oldest children. Isabelle held the portal shard out to him
He held it up and peered at the lake in it. He lowered it and looked back to his children. "This isn't a beach." He said, sighing. "It's Lake Lyn." He handed the shard back to Izzy.
"The Lake Lyn?" Alec asked. "How can you tell?"
"Because Jase requested a portal to Idris this morning." Robert revealed. "He thought he might have a lead on Valentine, but the Clave denied it. Seems like he went anyway."
"We need to help him. Them." Alec said, looking at Izzy rather than their father. "You have to get that portal approved."
"I'll try my best," Robert said. "But the Clave -"
"I don't care what the Clave says." Alec interrupted. "Clary is in trouble."
"I agree. She is my daughter you know." Robert reminded Alec. "But as long as you're acting as head of this institute, you need to remain here."
"Clary and Jace are family." Isabelle protested. "You can't expect Alec to abandon his Parabatai."
Alec sighed, looking devastated. "No. Dad's right. I need to put the institute first."
Izzy shook her head in disgust and turned away. Alec held a hand out and stopped her.
"Listen." He said. "I'm not abandoning anyone. I'm sending my best Shadowhunters to rescue them."
Izzy nodded and turned to her father. "Get me a portal to Idris."
—-
"Magnus is on his way." Alec told his sister as they stood in the Head of the Institute's office.
"I can't believe you aren't going." Isabelle griped.
"Who said that I'm not going with you?" Alec asked her.
"But you told Dad you'd stay here." Izzy was confused.
"I told him what he wanted to hear." Alec said as a portal opened in the office. Magnus stepped out of it looking miffed.
He rounded on Alec almost immediately. "You're going to Idris?" He demanded. "Don't you know how dangerous that is right now? What if Valentine's there? He'll kill you!"
"I have to save Clary and Jace." Alec insisted.
"Then I'm going with you." Magnus crossed his arms and glowered in his boyfriend's direction.
"What about Madzie?" Alec demanded. "If something goes wrong she won't have either of us."
"Well, nothing better go wrong, then." Magnus said triumphantly.
Alec opened his mouth to say something else when Magnus stepped up to him, their bodies pressing together. He reached a hand up and pressed it to Alec's cheek. Alec's eyes fluttered shut for a moment before opening once more.
"You honestly think that I could let you go without me?" Magnus whispered to him. "I refuse to lose you, my love."
Alec leaned in and pressed a kiss to Magnus' mouth.
"We have to hurry." Isabelle said. "If all of us are going we need to go before they catch us."
Alec broke away from Magnus' lips, sending Izzy an irritated glare before turning back to Magnus.
"I love you." He whispered and pressed a kiss to Magnus' forehead.
Magnus smiled sweetly up at Alec before moving to a spacious part of the room. "Let's do this." He said as his hands lit up blue.
—
Izzy stepped out of the portal first, Alec followed and Magnus brought up the rear. They joined Izzy near the edge of the lake and looked out onto it before making their way into the woods. Magnus was gripping Alec's hand in his own as they followed Isabelle through the forest. Magnus jumped when they heard the animal yelp in the distance. Alec looked back at him with a small smirk and Magnus opened his mouth to say something when Alec released his hand and whirled around, arrow notched in his bow, pointed straight at Jace's heart.
"Hey, hey!" Jace said, hands raised in a surrendering gesture. "I'm guessing you got my message? I had to do something to get your attention."
He showed Alec his palm, a dark red gash went down the middle of it. Alec lowered his bow and held out his hand. A small cut was in the same place on his hand.
"Can I use your stele?" Jace asked him.
"What happened to Clary?" Magnus asked him as Alec handed Jace the stele.
"Thank you." Jace thanked his brother. "One minute we were looking for her stele by the lake; the next she was gone."
"You didn't drink any of the lake water did you?" Izzy asked.
"No, but Clary did." Jace told them. He then noticed the look on Alec and Isabelle's faces. "What?" He asked, noticing that Magnus also seemed confused.
"Lake Lyn has Hallucinogenic properties. An iratze should be able to cure her, but we need to get to her soon." Alec told Jace.
"Or what?" Jace asked.
"Or she could lose her mind forever." Isabelle said.
—-
The group wandered around the woods for about an hour, searching for Clary. Alec was getting visibly frustrated and Magnus was speaking to him in slow and soft tones, holding his hand and stroking his arm. All of that seemed to be in vain, though when a portal opened next to Magnus. Alec pushed Magnus behind him and notched an arrow in his bow, ready to fire.
"Alec, don't!" Magnus cried as Alec let the arrow fly.
The arrow stopped mid-air, surrounded by purple magic as Wesley stepped out of the portal.
"Wesley." Alec said, shocked. "What are you doing here?"
Wesley closed the portal and grabbed the arrow out of the air and handed it back to Alec.
"Magnus texted me and told me Clary's in trouble. I couldn't not come." Wesley explained.
"Who are you?" Jace asked rudely.
"A friend." Alec answered, glaring at his little brother.
"I was enlisted to help Clary, so here I am helping Clary." Wesley added.
"Why would Clary need your help?" Jace asked , looking around at the sudden looks of discomfort on the faces of the people around him. "What don't I know?" He demanded.
"Clary is just having a difficult time is all." Magnus told him. "Wesley, having gone through something comparable, was in a position to help."
When Jace opened his mouth to say something else, Alec snapped; "Can we just go find my sister already?"
He stalked off in the direction they'd been heading in and Magnus and Wesley followed close behind, Izzy nudging Jace along.
When they found Clary she was lying on some rocks. She seemingly sensed their presence and quickly stumbled to her feet.
"Who are you?" She asked the group.
"It's me, Clary. It's Alec." Alec told her in a soothing voice.
"Clary shook her head. "I don't know you."
"You're confused." Wesley told her. "It's okay. We're here to help you."
Isabelle pulled her Stele out and slowly approached the girl. "It's okay. Just hold still."
Once she was close enough to Clary, the younger girl lashed out. Wesley surged forward and pushed Izzy out of the way, taking a kick to the gut. He leaned forward and grabbed her wrists, allowing her to still land kicks on his shins, holding her in place.
"Clary, it's me. I'm here, it's okay. Clary, I'm here." He told her over and over again, watching as she slowly calmed down and leaned in towards him. He released her wrists and pulled hers closer by her elbows, letting her rest her head on his shoulder. He wrapped his arms around her and gestured for Izzy to bring the stele back over and cure Clary.
Izzy gently grabbed the hem of Clary's shirt, pausing when the girl started to panic. She continued when Wesley successfully talked her back down. She quickly traced the iratze and backed away.
Alec walked over and spoke quietly to Isabelle. "You, Jace and Magnus are going to finish here, Wes, Clary and I are going back to the Institute. Okay?"
Isabelle looked over at Clary and Wesley. Wesley had scooped Clary into his arms and was holding her close to his chest. Her head was still resting on one of his broad shoulders and they were speaking to each other quietly.
"Okay." Isabelle smiled.
—
Alec stood in front of the fireplace in his office, the flames lit his face making him look more brooding than usual. There was a knock on the open door and he turned to watch his father walk into the office.
"I just got word from Isabelle. Jace and Clary are safe. Clary had a slight mishap and is now back here. A warlock is looking her over. Jace and Isabelle will be at Valentine's cabin shortly."
"That's good to hear." Alec replied, remaining stone-faced. "Hopefully they can recover something we can use to track him."
An awkward silence settled over them and they both looked down towards the ground.
"Dad..." Alec started. "Thank you. Izzy never would've made it to Idris without your help.
"Alec, you and Isabelle and Max and Clary and Jace are the most important people in the world to me." Robert told him. "I know I've lost your trust. I hope I can earn it back."
"Then why are you still lying to us?" Alec asked him. "You told Max to keep a secret about some fire messages."
"Yes, but -" Robert started.
"Whatever it is," Alec continued. "Just keep Max out of it."
"I sent those fire messages to Imogen to make sure that you would remain Head of The Institute."
"Oh, so you're protecting me because I'm a Lightwood." Alec said.
"No!" Robert cried. "It's because I've always admired your courage. And your honesty. It's the stuff that great leaders are made from."
"Why should I believe you?" Alec asked. "What did you send to Imogen?"
Robert sighed and looked around before moving closer to Alec and lowering his voice.
"The Clave is keeping a massive secret of their own, and I threatened to reveal it. I didn't tell you because I didn't want you to have to carry the burden of lying to people you love. I know how hard that can be."
"Dad." Alec interjected. "Just tell me."
"But you cannot repeat this secret to anyone." Robert stressed. "Not even Magnus. Promise me, Alec."
"I can't promise that." Alec told him. "Either you trust me to be a leader or you don't."
Robert looked around again before making eye contact with his son. "The Clave lied about the Soul Sword. They never recovered it from Valentine's attack on the institute. They don't have it. They never did."
—-
Robert left for Idris shortly after the conversation and Jace, Magnus and Isabelle returned. Alec stood behind his desk and Wesley, Clary, Magnus, Izzy and Jace were all seated around the office. Wesley and Jace were sitting on opposite sides of the same sofa, Magnus was seated in an armchair with Clary balanced on the arm of it, much like they'd been sitting in the same chair back when they'd discussed Kaelie. Izzy was seated on the edge of his desk, looking at him, concerned.
"So, I've called you all here because." He stopped and sighed, bowing his head and pinching the bridge of his nose. He collected himself and looked back up at the concerned faces of the people he considered family. "My father shared some disturbing information with me. The Clave has been lying to us. They do not have, nor have they ever had the Soul Sword. It was not recovered after Valentine's attack on the Institute."
"What?" Jace gasped.
"The Clave wanted this to remain a secret. Dad asked me to keep this a secret from all of you. I can't do that."
"You really are different from other Shadowhunters." Magnus marveled, looking at Alec with tears in his eyes. "We can figure this out tomorrow. Let's go home."
Alec smiled sadly, because he knew this was only going to get worse, but damn; hearing Magnus ask him to go home with him. That sounded pretty damn perfect.