Chapter 5 – Down a dark alley

"I really think you should go check up on him." Izzy insisted, as she and Alec patrolled the streets, both of them keeping their eyes alert and scanning the area as they spoke, both of them with their weapons at the ready. Alec rolled his eyes, losing his patients.

"I think, I should have never left you alone with mom." Alec said, as they walked down a dark alley, both of them still alert to their surroundings. "I already told her, it will just make things worse."

not to mention, that Alec was trying to get over him, unsuccessfully so far, and it was only getting more difficult with everyone talking to him about Magnus all the time, trying to get him to go check on him. Going to Magnus, would definitely just make the whole thing even worse. It would be unbearable to see him, knowing he is no longer his, and never will be again. Beside the fact that even if he wanted to go, it would mean breaking the deal, and god only knows what Asmodeus would do to then.

"You need to talk to Magnus." Izzy clearly wasn't going to let it go, even though she knew how much pain Alec was in, how hard it was for him to keep talking about it. "You need to go fix this."

"There is nothing to fix, and I don't want to talk to him." Alec snapped coldly, causing Izzy to look at him with a combined expression of concern and hurt, "sorry, I didn't mean to snap, I just really can't handle this right now. I want to forget him and move on."

Izzy was studying his features, trying to figure out his mindset, unsure what the right approach was anymore. She was about to say something, when suddenly there was a sound coming from behind them, they immediately spun around, searching the alley. "Did you hear that?" Izzy asked, sounding worried.

"Sounded like footsteps." Alec said, as they continued to scan the area. When they couldn't find anything or hear more sounds, they continued walking in silence, making their way back to the institute.

When they arrived at the institute and began walking up to the entrance, Izzy finally broke the silence, "I know you're hurting, and you want to move on, but I just think that he really needs you." she said as they walked through the front doors, "I think it's really dangerous leaving him alone with Asmodeus."

"Magnus might be vulnerable and hurt right now, but he is not weak." Alec told her in a harsh tone, as they walked into the ops center. "I trust him to not give in to his father, he hasn't before." Alecc began searching and scanning the screens, just as Underhill walked up to them, looking worried.

"I've heard back from a few of the teams," he said, "none of them found any sign of Jonathan, but they're still searching."

"OK, thanks for the update." Alec sighed, this was not good. What was that saying about the spider? Seeing a spider isn't a problem, it becomes a problem when it disappears. No Jonathan meant they couldn't capture or fight him, they definitely couldn't stop him from causing more damage if they had no idea where he was, doing god knows what. Nothing good, that was sure. Building an army probably.

"I'll go find Jace and Clary," Izzy announced, "See if they've made any progress." Izzy walked off while Underhill stayed, Alec could see from the corner of his eye that he was giving him a worried look.

"What is it?" Alec asked, without taking his eyes off the screen.

"Look, I know it's none of my business, and it would probably be out of line for me to say something…" Underhill began, now having Alec's full attention. "But Is everything OK with Magnus?" Alec sighed and rolled his eyes, redirecting his attention back to the screen. Was there anyone who wasn't going to intervene and give their unwanted opinion on the matter?

"You're right, it is out of line." He said coldly, he didn't want to be so authoritative and strict, but quite frankly, he was sick of people talking to him about Magnus, and telling him what they think he should or shouldn't do.

"I know, but the thing is…" Underhill continued, even though Alec clearly didn't want to know. "I saw him last night, at the Hunter's Moon." at that, Underhill had his full attention, but Alec didn't turn to him or take his eyes off the screen. He found himself wanting to know more, hear how he is doing, but he was adamant on not showing it.

Alec contemplated for a moment if he should ask, or just shrug it off, but he was too curious. "How did he seem to you?" He finally asked, although he was dreading the answer.

Underhill took a moment before replying, finally he sighed and said, "I'm not sure, he seemed very… detached." Alec expected his answer, but it was still as if he was hit with a ton of bricks. "It was as if he was very confused, I felt like he didn't even recognize me."

"Maybe he was just drunk." Alec suggested, trying to find any reasonable excuse for Magnus' strange behavior, anything but being brainwashed by his father.

Underhill pulled his shoulders, "That's what I thought as well." He said, "I'm sure he'll be fine, you both will." Alec just smiled at him faintly, he did not want to tell him about Asmodeus being in New York, with Magnus.

Magnus was sitting on his balcony, holding a glass of whisky. He was turning and spinning the liquid in the glass. His father had left for some kind of meeting or something like that, he wasn't sure who in the world he would be meeting up with, but at that moment he couldn't care less, as long as it gave him some time to himself.

He felt as if his brain was working over time, playing and replaying the memories of everything that happened with Alec. They were all still quite blurry, but more and more of the memories kept flooding him, and along with excruciating pain that they brought on, it was becoming too much, causing the fear to rise up again.

If he was going to be taken in handcuffs against his will - he was at least going to make it as difficult as possible, even without his magic. He was shoving and kicking, using every ounce of force he had to try and resist.

But despite all of his resistance, they had managed to drag him to the New York Institute and take him down to their underground cell. Alec shoved him into the glass cage, his expression remaining too calm and too unmoved or affected. Completely cold and heartless.

"Why are you doing this?" Magnus asked, as Alec walked out of the cell and locked it behind him. He looked down at the warlock, who was still laying on the ground, his face still blank.

"Shut up will you?" the shadowhunter spat, "You will find out soon enough."

"You're just like your pathetic parents." Magnus spat at him, unwilling to show the weakness he was feeling, unwilling to go down without a fight. He stood up, holding himself as straight as he could. "Following your unjustified prejudices blindley."

"I said shut up!" Alec shouted at him, his eyes wide and filled with hate.

But Magnus refused to be scared, refused to allow the shadowhunter to shut him up. "I thought you might be better, I thought - " he began, but was cut off by an electric shock that caused his whole body to collapse in pain, and a sharp buzzing sound in his head.

Magnus let out a grunt through his gritted teeth, trying desperately to will the pain away. When the electric shock stopped, he took a deep breath and forced himself to continue speaking, "I thought you might have learned from their mistakes, but you're just as a coward, just as weak."

Another electric shock hit him, and then another one, and another one. With each shock, he was rendered of his energy and ability to fight back. "What? No more clever remarks?" he heard Alec's amused voice, right before he passed out.

Eventually all that silence was too loud for him, he felt like he couldn't control his thoughts and needed to get out of there, go somewhere, anywhere but there. So he deserted his glass, put on a jacket and walked out of the apartment, he had no idea where he was going, he just wandered the streets.

Magnus had no idea how far he had gone, or how long he had been walking. He was just about to turn and walk down a dark alley when he heard voices. He took a small and quiet step forward, bending his back forward so he can peek down the alley.

Frozen in his place as he saw Alec walking up the alley, with Isabell, he tried to hear what they were talking about. "You need to talk to Magnus." she said, he could hear and feel his heart pounding, he could barely breathe. "You need to go fix this."

When he woke up, he was alone. Magnus tried to stand up, but he could barely lift himself to his knees. His whole body was aching, his head felt like it was about to explode into a million little pieces.

He collapsed back onto the ground, laying on his side. He had no idea what time it was, or how much time had passed.

How did he get himself into this horrible mess?

"I was wondering if you were ever going to wake up." he heard a voice, which caused him to wince and finally sit up. Alec was standing by the cell holding a cup of water and a plate with a sandwich on it. "Can't have you dying on us just yet."

Magnus watched as the shadowhunter walked into the cell and placed the plate and cup inside, before locking the door again. Alec glanced at him for a moment longer and then turned to walk away, but stopped when he heard Magnus speak, "I thought you were my friend."

Alec turned around and smirked at him, "that was the point." he said, his voice lacking remorse or any sign of affection.

As Magnus watched him walk away, he couldn't help but feel extremely pathetic. Not because he was stupid enough to trust and befriend a shadowhunter, not even because he was too slow and distracted to prevent being kidnaped, or being tortured and feeling weak.

He felt pathetic, because a part of him still liked Alec, his body still longed to be near him.

As they got closer, he could see and hear them more clearly, "There is nothing to fix, and I don't want to talk to him." Alec snapped, his voice filled with hatred, clearly he wanted nothing to do with him, and definitely didn't care about the pain he caused him. Magnus could feel his own anger burn inside him, both at Alec for betraying and hurting him, and at himself for trusting the shadowhunter in the first place, and even more so for still having feelings for him, despite all the terrible things he has done.

Magnus could feel his magic begin to tingle at the tips of his fingers, with a sudden urge to attack. But he was still frozen in his spot, no matter how much he was angry and wanted revenge, to hurt him. Something was holding him back. 'Such a coward.' he thought to himself.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to snap, I just really can't handle this right now. I want to forget him and move on." Magnus needed to get away from there, he didn't want to hear this, it hurt too much, more than he would like to admit. He spun on his heels and began to run, and he didn't stop until he was far enough away.

Magnus couldn't catch his breath, he tried desperately, but no air was reaching his lungs. He bent over the ledge, looking out to the east river. There was a lurch in his stomach and he began to gag, but nothing came out.

He bent down, his hands still holding on to the railing. Magnus thought he would feel hatred, he thought that once he finally saw Alec again, all he would want to do is attack him, cause him pain. But when he saw him, something snapped inside of him, feeling like he couldn't hurt him, deep inside, he didn't want to hurt him.

Why did he have this affect on him? After all he has done, all the pain he caused him, why did magnus' body react this way? Still not managing to steady his breathe, Magnus quickly pulled out the red charm from his pocket, and once again held it tight to his chest, pushing it into his skin as hard as he could.