The long days of hiking and exploring were wiping them all out. They'd find themselves retiring for the night not long after the sun would set. While the others would sleep in past the sunrise, Alec found himself waking long before the rest of the group. He'd got used to the routine though, accepting that he could survive on a few hours of sleep. He was sure that his tired, cranky demeanour was probably not appreciated by the rest of the group but there wasn't much he could do about it. His brain was wired. This was the longest he'd gone since his undergraduate degree without an academic project to focus on and the stupid riddle of where the treasure was buried, while seemingly impossible to solve, wasn't taxing enough to distract him from his frustrations.

They'd been here for almost four weeks now. Four weeks of traipsing through the jungle, day in day out. Four weeks of Magnus' exuberant insistence that they were in the right place, that he could 'feel the treasure', that it must be nearby. Four weeks of Simon singing irritating songs as he pottered around camp. Songs that inevitably would wedge themselves firmly in Alec's head for hours and hours afterwards, sometimes sticking with him until the next day when Simon would sing something new and hellish to replace it. It hadn't been so bad to begin with but after the discovery of the rum and the disappointment that brought along with it, things had felt particularly tough.

At first, Magnus had retreated in on himself quite a lot, becoming short-tempered with all of them. Though that could have had something to do with drinking the loot they'd found. At several centuries old, who knew just how strong that stuff was. The first morning after they'd made the discovery, Alec had woken up with a dry mouth and pounding headache wondering if that was what death would feel like. They'd all been rather delicate that day and no further island exploration had occurred. Instead, they'd made their way to the lagoon and floated aimlessly trying to wash away the hangovers. From then on they'd taken it a bit easier on the rum. Well, Simon, Maia and Alec had. Magnus had continued to drink until he passed out every evening for a week.

It took Alec cracking and yelling at him to get his shit together before he finally snapped out of his funk. Alec understood that Magnus was frustrated but this was his expedition. He was meant to be a leader and leaders couldn't falter like this. If Magnus didn't hold it together, how were the rest of them meant to maintain any level of enthusiasm for their work?

And so, after a heart to heart, Magnus had slowed down his rum consumption and instead approached the exploration with a renewed vigour. Frankly, it was exhausting. Every day he was dragging them back to areas they'd already explored, covering the same ground over and over again.

"We just need to look at it with fresh eyes, pretend you're seeing it for the first time," he'd encourage them. Honestly Alec was impressed he hadn't hit him yet when he'd start his motivational speech bullshit.

It also didn't help that even despite his irritating demeanour, so much time spent with Magnus had him frustrated to the point of breaking. It had got to the point where every friendly wink or silly innuendo was enough to leave Alec feeling turned on and flustered. And all by someone who was just being friendly. His nerves were shot and he was barely holding it together. Of course, it was an issue he could take care of himself, but he found it awkward knowing that there were just a few sheets of canvas between him and Magnus. Plus they shared a camp with two young research assistants. So no matter how worked up he was by Magnus' presence, no matter how tempted he was to relieve some of that tension, when it came down to it he'd freak himself out and lose any interest in such activities. So yes, he was pretty sexually frustrated too.

He felt bad that the others had to deal with this side of him but there wasn't much he could do. He tried to release some of the pent up energy using exercise, taking advantage of the few hours before anyone else woke up to swim until his body ached and until his thoughts were consumed by the cramp in his muscles.

This morning, he'd chosen to swim in the sea rather than the lagoon. While the salt water stung his eyes and left him feeling more dehydrated than refreshed, some days he just needed the movement of the waves and the fish darting around beneath the surface to help distract him from his thoughts. He'd been enjoying a school of small yellow fish who'd been swimming back and forth in the shallows, completely unperturbed by his presence, when he felt the weight of someone watching him. Rising out of the water, pushing his dripping hair back from his face, he spotted Maia sitting on the beach, her purple sarongue and dark skin contrasting to the white sand.

"Morning," he offered out the greeting as he made his way towards her, grabbing his towel and rubbing it absentmindedly against his wet hair.

"Morning," she agreed before lapsing into a comfortable silence.

Alec dropped to sit on the sand beside her when it became clear that she had no intention of moving back towards camp. He was quite content to sit and enjoy the peaceful morning with her.

"You should give him a break you know?" Maia's voice broke through the quiet. She was facing slightly away from him, but he could see the firm set of her jaw and realised she had come here to say exactly this.

"I'm not sure I follow," he responded.

"Magnus. You should give him a break." She turned to face him, looking him straight in the eye.

"I still don't understand?" Alec was genuinely confused now. Sure he'd been avoiding Magnus a bit recently, but it wasn't necessarily because of anything the other man had done, it was to protect himself. The less time he spent around him, the less he would be exposed to everything that was just Magnus Bane. He couldn't face the thought of his feelings developing when they were unreciprocated. He'd decided that he wasn't going to let it go any further than attraction and instead he was going to work on 'finding himself', whatever that meant. At least, that's what students always told him they'd be doing on their gap years, when they travelled to islands like this. Alec was fairly sure that was code for 'too many drugs, too much alcohol' but he could see the appeal of getting away from the norm to find out who you really were.

"Look, I don't know what's changed between you two but I can tell something isn't right. You're avoiding him. And while Magnus will brush it off, pretend that everything is fine, I can tell it's cutting him up inside." Maia continued bluntly, "I know you had words about the drinking, and let me tell you, I'm very grateful you did. I think you're the only person here he would have listened to on that one. But he's stopped drinking himself into a coma every night so I'm not sure what he's done to deserve you giving him the cold shoulder."

"Am I really being that unfriendly to him?" He wondered out loud. While he'd been less 'present' during their downtime, he'd tried to at least be professional and courteous with Magnus.

Maia merely responded by raising one eyebrow at him.

He bought his knees up to his chest, wrapping his arms around them as if making himself physically smaller would somehow protect him as he pondered how he could possibly explain away his behaviour without having to admit the truth. Maia was patient, her gaze now trained on the waves lapping at the sand as she waited for him to speak.

"It's not Magnus, OK." He settled for something close to the truth. "It's me. I just, I don't know how these things are supposed to work, I've never been involved in fieldwork. At least not anything that's more than a day or two consulting. It just seemed like, after the discovery of the smugglers stash, we'd forgotten that we were here to work and I was just trying to draw those professional boundaries back. And Magnus, well he's here with a distinct goal in mind. His stake in this isn't just academic, it's personal. I don't want us to fail and for him to come away disappointed or blaming the rest of us for losing focus."

He shifted uncomfortably under the weight of Maia's gaze.

"You really care about him, don't you?" Her voice was a whisper, barely audible above the sounds of the ocean and the soft calls of jungle birds.

"I do." He huffed out a breath, grimacing slightly at the admission.

"And is that such a bad thing?" She probed at him.

"Yes? No? I don't even know anymore," he groaned.

"Do you know how Magnus and I met?" she asked.

Alec shook his head, slightly confused at the change in direction.

"When I was in my final year of college, I was seeing this guy, Jordan. We were both poor and just trying to make ends meet so we rushed to the moving in part." Maia explained, "There were a couple of warning signs, oh the joy of hindsight, but he seemed really great. Things escalated pretty quick from there. At first, it was just petty comments designed to make me feel bad about myself then it got more serious. He'd quiz me on where I was going, if I did group work he'd show up at the library 'just to say hey', if I was meeting friends he'd happen to be in the area and suddenly appear. It was only a couple of months before I couldn't go anywhere apart from class, and even then he'd be there waiting for me." She paused, taking a couple of deep breaths.

"The thing is, it felt wrong at the time but I couldn't work out why. I knew that this wasn't how a relationship should be but then, he had all these great moments. He taught me to surf, we'd go on cute dates to the aquarium, he'd buy me my favourite chinese food when I was feeling down. But then he also controlled everything about what I was doing."

Her voice was detached, almost clinical as she explained. Alec picked at a loose bit of skin on his finger, unsure of what he should do, if he should comfort the young woman.

"I'd got a temp job doing some archiving work with a local museum. In fact, it was Magnus who hired me. After my first day on the job he insisted we go out for drinks to celebrate and get to know each other better. I could tell he meant it as a genuinely friendly offer nothing untoward. But that night when I got home late, Jordan could smell the alcohol on me and accused me of running off with another man. I told him no, I'd just been with my boss but apparently that meant I was trying to sleep my way into a permanent role. The argument escalated and he grabbed me, hard enough to leave bruises. That was the first time he got physical with me. The only time in fact."

"I'm so sorry Maia," Alec felt tears prickling in his eyes at her story. No one should have to experience that, not with someone they're supposed to be able to trust.

She just shrugged at him with a sad smile and continued her story. "The next day when I showed up to work, Magnus spotted the marks and asked me what was going on. I tried my hardest to lie to him but he kept pushing. Eventually I told him the truth and he sprang into action. He contacted a friend of his, Luke, who's a cop. Got Jordan arrested for assault. We knew the charges likely wouldn't stick but he helped me pack up all my things while Jordan was in jail, got me a place to stay with another friend of his who had a spare room. Magnus made it seem so simple, so straight forward. He untangled me from that mess of a relationship when really, he didn't have to do anything. He was my boss and he'd only just met me. He could have just carried on and ignored me, many people would have." She looked him in the eye, "He's a good guy Alec. There are far worse people in this world to care about."

"It's complicated." He knew it was the flimsiest statement, but he couldn't process all the information she had given him and still come up with a coherent and rational response. Magnus hadn't been kidding when he'd said she deserved a break away.

She levelled him with a flat look before pushing herself to her feet.

"Come on, let's see what Simon's singing for us this morning!"

Alec spent the next few days trying to take on board what Maia had said to him. He still tried to keep things with Magnus on more professional terms but he stopped spending so much time hiding in his tent or alone at the beach. They still hadn't made any progress with finding the treasure, but Alec felt slightly lighter now that he wasn't in his self-imposed exile. And in turn, he noticed some of Magnus' spark, that he hadn't even realised was missing, had returned.

He was sat back in his camp chair, trying his best to maintain a grumpy facade as Simon danced around singing out of tune.

"Why do you build me up, buttercup, just to let me down," he squawked out, as he spun around, tidying up the mess from breakfast. Simon could sing, they all knew it - back in New York he had a band that did alright for itself - but apparently he loved to torture them all more than he loved to show off.

"For fuck's sake Simon!" Alec leaped out of his chair in shock at the coffee now dripping down his arm and chest, his shoulder and side of his face entirely soaked in the fragrant black liquid that Simon had managed to pour on him as he danced past.

"I'm so sorry," Simon's eyes were wide with panic as he grabbed for a cloth and began patting him down. "I didn't burn you did I?"

"No, it wasn't that hot thankfully," he glared down at Simon, "But you should still be more careful. I guess I need to go clean off now."

He grabbed for his towel and stormed off into the jungle in the direction of the lagoon.

When he got there he pulled his shirt off over his head and focussed on trying to get the coffee stains rinsed before they could set in. Once he'd set the shirt to dry on a flat rock in the sunshine, he removed his shoes and dived in, swimming a few fast paced lengths of the cool water until he was short of breath but feeling considerably calmer.

He rolled onto his back and floated, staring up at the sky peeking through the trees. Yes, he was feeling a lot calmer since his talk with Maia but clearly not enough considering he'd actually sworn at Simon. He'd have to apologise once he got back to camp but for now, he could use the time alone.

He counted in his head, they had six more days until Meliorn was due to collect them for the return journey. He'd all but given up any hope of finding Raziel's treasure, and while he knew Magnus was still being cheerily optimistic on the outside, he could see the disappointment starting to creep in. He felt bad, but he was also looking forward to being home again. He missed Izzy and Jace, he missed waking up in an actual bed, he missed his coffee machine and meals that weren't cooked over a fire. The island was great, and everything had been fine so far but he still missed his home comforts more than he had expected. Not to mention that once he was back in New York he wouldn't constantly be faced with Magnus. He wouldn't have to try to suppress his feelings constantly and could go back to living a normal life without the constant fear that he would snap and shove him up against a tree and kiss him breathless. His stomach squirmed at the thought and he mentally chastised himself for even thinking like that.

A splash of water across his face grabbed his attention and he looked up to find the man himself crouching at the edge of the water, grinning. Alec pivoted himself upright so he was treading water.

"You calmed down now, Grumpy?"

Alec, being the mature and responsible adult that he was, stuck his tongue out and splashed Magnus back, causing him to jump up in outrage, though his eyes danced with laughter showing there was no real malice in the downturn of his mouth.

"Want to talk about it?" Magnus asked.

"What's there to talk about? Simon poured coffee on me, I snapped at him. I'll apologise later." Alec shrugged as much as he could while his body was still submerged.

"Hmmm, it's just, you've seemed off for a while.," Magnus prodded at him taking a seat at the water's edge.

"I'm just tired I guess."

Magnus looked down at his feet where the toes of his shoes were just touching the water, his eyes hidden by his hair but his posture conveyed the sadness he clearly felt.

"I'm sorry this trip hasn't been what you expected, Alexander. I thought I'd been pretty clear up front with what it could be…" Magnus spoke softly. The gentle movement of Alec's hands as he tread water had pulled him closer to the waterfall, causing him to miss the end of Magnus' sentence. Magnus looked up, clearly expecting a response from him though.

"I'm sorry, what was that? I couldn't hear you over the roar of the waterfall."

Alec paused for a moment, again not hearing Magnus' response as he turned suddenly and with a splash to face the waterfall, realisation crashing over him.

"The roar of the waterfall. 'His mighty roar is fearsome,'" he murmured to himself, before repeating louder, "His mighty roar is fearsome! Magnus, what was the rest of the riddle?" He turned once more and pulled himself through the water towards his colleague with strong strokes. Magnus stared down at him in confusion. "Magnus, seriously. The riddle?"

"My gifts are safe, guarded by the one who runs forever yet never moves at all. He has no lungs nor throat but his mighty roar is fearsome." Magnus repeated, his eyes widening comically, his mouth forming a small 'o' shape. "His mighty roar is fearsome."

He reached out a hand to Alec, helping pull him out of the water, a wide grin splitting his face.

"You're a genius, Alexander. An actual, honest to God genius."

But Alec was already rushing away from him, drying off his body roughly and pulling on his trainers.

"Look over there Magnus, I think there could be a way behind the waterfall," he gestured at the cliff face. The dark rock didn't give much to go on, even with the midday sun to light up the space, but looking closely, there were obvious notches in the surface that, if you were foolish enough, looked climbable.

"What do you say?" Alec grinned at him, all traces of his earlier frustration replaced by excitement. He could practically feel his body vibrating as he bounced on the balls of his feet. "Fancy a climb?"

Magnus looked up at the rockface and back at Alec, his eyes flitting between the two a couple of times. Alec couldn't read his facial expression, it was somewhere between panic and excitement. Though eventually he seemed to settle for determination as he clenched his jaw and stepped forward.

"After you, Alexander."