A/N - Sorry for being late updating; exam season and all that.
I wanted to say a quick mid(ish)-story thank you to anyone who's favourited, followed, reviewed, or even just read this story. I really appreciate and I'm motivated by the support, so thank you!
Torture warning for the first section
"Shall we try this again?"
Magnus gritted his teeth, his whole body shuddering with every strained inhale. He had believed that Maryse was the parent that he would have most issue with, but that was a clear oversight apparently. Robert had insisted on 'questioning' the warlock himself. Despite everything stated in the accords, Magnus was being tortured in clave custody. If Alec knew what was happening...
Magnus closed his eyes. Alec knew. It was clear from the moment they had cuffed him with those runes, but Magnus was still here and Alec hadn't burst in to rescue him. It wasn't like last time.
Prior to his arrest, he had been taken down to one of the cells below the institute; an environment he knew all too well from his time trapped in Valentine's body. The guards had shoved him into an iron chair and bound his wrists to the arms and his ankles to the legs with the runed shackles. One of them had stayed to question him and when Magnus hadn't given them the answer they wanted, Robert Lightwood was sent in.
The question was always the same.
"Can you perform the spell or not?"
"I already told you, I don't know," Magnus answered in complete honesty, wondering how many times he would have to repeat himself before Robert understood. "I've never attempted to raise the dead and, to be honest, I never wanted to try..." His gaze lifted to the shadowhunter. "Please, listen to reason. What you're asking me to do... it's not safe—"
The stele flashed across his shackles and a surge of pain racked Magnus's body like a seizure. He couldn't help but scream. His throat was hoarse when Robert showed a hint of mercy and removed the stele, and Magnus slumped in the chair, bowed forward as he fought in wheezing gasps.
It had gone like this for hours now. Magnus wasn't sure how long he could bear the burn of the agony runes.
"Please..." he whispered desperately, shaking now from the effort it took to scream. "Please, I don't know... I don't know how to do the spell..."
"Then who does?"
Magnus swallowed hard, shaking his head. As much grief as she had given him over the years, he couldn't betray her. He would not hand one of his own kind over to The Clave. He screamed when the pain came again. His mind threatened to waver and, in his desperation, he used whatever remained of his strength to force it away from his dark past and into better times.
Dark hair and a coy smile overtook his thoughts. A cut on his cheek from his bowstring, a dark rune burned over the side of his neck, black clothes scattered carelessly across the floor. The pain was over but he couldn't bring himself back.
"Alec..." he breathed out over and over like a prayer, pleading almost, like Alec could stop this, like Alec could save him. "Alec... Alec..."
"Tell me who can perform a necromancy spell."
Magnus had to stifle a moan at the thought of enduring another bout. He shook his head and the movement scattered tears down his cheeks.
"You don't know or you won't tell me?"
He didn't speak.
The stele struck the shackles again and his head snapped back, staring sightlessly up at the ceiling.
"Alec!" he cried out, seeing only the shadowhunter, feeling only agony, begging him to make it stop. "Alec!"
"Alec will not come. He understands the law. My son is a man of honour and he will not sully himself with you any longer."
The agony eased away and Magnus hunched forward, shuddering in his restraints. He choked on his own tears. Desperate sobs broke from his throat and heaved his chest. Rationally, he knew he shouldn't let Robert's words get to him. The pain and promise in Alec's voice when Magnus had first been taken should have been enough to prove that the shadowhunter had not abandoned him.
Alec's not here, he had to remind himself over and over. Alec's not here, but he will come.
"I know you did something to him," said Robert unexpectedly, causing Magnus to lift his head and blink up at him through the tears. "My son would never have defied orders for his own, selfish reasons. Your magic is powerful. It would be easy for you to concoct some kind of love charm."
Magnus choked on a scoff of disbelief, staring at the shadowhunter with wide eyes. "Is it so… difficult for you to imagine that Alec is making his own choices?" he asked, breath shuddering in a weak chuckle that sounded closer to a sob. "Alec is good. He's brave and kind… He is anything but selfish." His eyes hardened, swallowing thickly as he prepared for Robert to lash out. "He is nothing like you."
The physical assault was unexpected and Magnus's head was slammed to the side, reeling from the sheer force of the fist that Robert flung at his jaw. Blood filled his mouth and he spat it onto the floor.
"How dare you mock me," hissed the shadowhunter. "You're a downworlder. You're nothing. After your execution, your spell over Alec will be broken and he will resent you for what you did." He looked thoughtful for a moment. "If you were to tell me how to break the enchantment… I could make an appeal for your execution to be withdrawn. You would simply be imprisoned. You wouldn't have to die if you admit to me that Alec feels no real love for you."
Magnus swallowed, wincing against the metallic tang of blood. "You know I haven't enchanted him," he murmured, realising aloud. "You're asking me to force Alec out of love… You want me to use my powers on him."
"Can you do it, or not?"
Magnus's eyes narrowed into a glare. "I will never use my magic to harm Alexander in any way. The fact that you're asking me to do it is all the motivation I need to keep fighting you. If I have to die for Alec to see your lies, then so be it, but I will not use my powers against him."
Robert stared him down, something like resignation entering his gaze. "Then you condemn yourself."
The stele glowed and cracked against the shackles, and Magnus threw his head back in a screaming sob.
To say that Robert made a mistake in checking on Alec was an understatement.
Having been called into the office that now belonged to Robert, Alec, Isabelle, and Clary were all painfully aware that Robert had just come from Magnus's cell. There was no need, but he had taken it upon himself to question the warlock. Alec couldn't help but feel personally victimised by that.
Jace wasn't with them; he couldn't be seen around them right now. He had to keep up the façade of siding himself with The Clave. Alec felt unstable without him and lost without Magnus.
"The warlock has refused to adhere to questioning," Robert informed, meeting their glares with a carefully neutral gaze. "He will not confess to breaking the accords. He won't tell me how to break whatever enchantment he has placed over you, Alec."
"Magnus has never used his magic to do anything but help me," Alec growled. "I am not enchanted. I love him because I decided to love him."
The pitying look Robert cast him then had Alec clenching his fists so hard that his knuckles turned white against the table. The fact that Robert believed Alec was under some kind of spell was bad enough, but to use that to explain his coming out and his love of Magnus was crossing a line that should never be crossed. Alec wanted to scream at him, but he feared it would just digress into sobs if he tried to raise his voice.
"What will you do?" Isabelle asked, a tightness to her voice. "If he won't answer any of your questions—"
"The Clave has certain… methods to convince their prisoners into compliance."
Alec clenched his jaw. "If you're hurting him—"
"The runes will break him," Robert muttered. "We'll learn the truth."
The rage blinded him then, red mist settling across his vision and Alec ground out a yell. His body moved without his consent. When his vision cleared, he had his father pressed against the wall, a blade testing at his throat.
"Alec, no!" Isabelle shouted, rushing to grab his arm but she couldn't force him away. "Alec—"
"You're enjoying this, aren't you?" Alec hissed, tears stinging his eyes. They fell quickly but he didn't try to push them away; he kept his dagger at Robert's throat, so close to drawing blood that the slightest additional pressure would split the skin. "You think you're teaching me some kind of lesson because you think I made a mistake, but you're wrong. I love him more than anything. I love him and you can't take that from me; you can never have that!"
Robert eyed the blade a moment before lifting his gaze back to his son. "Alec, there is sufficient evidence to believe that you have been enchanted by this warlock. You'll see. Once we've executed him, the spell will be broken and you'll see I was right."
"If you touch him," whispered Alec, barely a breath, "I will kill you. Do you understand me?"
"Alec," Isabelle insisted, and two sets of hands managed to pull him back, Clary coming up on his other side. "This won't help him."
Isabelle wrestled the blade from his hand, discarding it to the side so she could hold her brother.
"Your behaviour is proof enough that you are under this warlock's power," Robert insisted, and Alec despaired to be told that it was he who had condemned Magnus. "I will force the warlock to tell me how the free you… If he doesn't comply within the next twenty-four hours, then he will be executed. We will have to hope that this spell dies with him."
Alec did not take the news well.
Retreating to Alec's bedroom, they had speculated that Robert's threat of execution was just theatrics. However, Jace—who had slipped in to see them a couple of hours after Robert's visit—had gathered intelligence from the Clave guard that it was, in fact, a genuine plan. There was outrage from Isabelle and subdued grief from Clary, but Alec said nothing. He stared blankly at the floor; his brow furrowed slightly as if struggling to process the information. Jace felt nothing but numbness from his parabatai bond and a swell of pity touched his chest.
"Alec," Jace murmured, when Isabelle had finished her initial rant, and the silence stretched out too long.
"We have to move before the transfer," Alec muttered, his voice too void of emotion. "If they get him to Idris then we'll never have a chance." He pushed himself to his feet, meeting Jace's anxious gaze levelly. "I'll never be allowed down to the detention level, but you could use your position with Robert to get to Magnus without being challenged."
Isabelle waved a hand. "Wait, you expect Jace to be able to get Magnus out of there by himself?"
"No," Alec muttered. "I'm going with him."
A heavy silence met his words. No one wanted to speak out against him, not when he was like this.
"How exactly do you expect to get down there?" Isabelle asked, crossing her arms, clearly struggling not to be hostile. "You're not exactly Team Clave. You've been fighting to get Magnus freed since he was taken and dad knows it; he thinks you're under a spell. He won't trust you."
Alec hummed his agreement, turning back to open one of the drawers of the desk. Pulling out a roll of parchment, he spread it out across the table top, pinning the corners with heavy books and beckoning the others over. His fingers traced across the paper, using gestures to illustrate his words.
"This is the complete blueprints for the building," he informed. "Only the head of the institute gets to see it." He tapped to one of the designs. "This is the detention level, where Magnus is."
"Wait, what's this?" Clary asked, pointing to parallel blue lines across the design.
"It's an emergency exit," Alec stated. "Sort of. It's a passage leading from the lower levels of the institute out into the city. It's hidden beneath the floor of the elevator and it comes out at Wall Street Station. I'll go through that entrance and meet Jace on the other side. We'll take Magnus out that way."
"Why haven't we used this before?" Clary asked.
"Because our father knows about the tunnel," Isabelle muttered, closing her eyes. "He knows Alec has seen the blueprints. He'll have the passageway guarded." She glanced up to her brother. "What are you going to do? Kill the guards?"
Alec swallowed hard. "If I have to."
Isabelle shook her head. "No, I'll go. You stay here and distract dad."
The two stared at one another, Alec's stunned eyes meeting his sister's defiant glare.
"Izzy, they're torturing him," said Alec, his eyes taking on some painful glaze. "Right beneath our feet, they're hurting him and you're telling me I can't do anything?"
"I know how difficult this is," Isabelle soothed, her gaze softening marginally. She took her brother's arm and squeezed gently. "I understand how much he means to you. That's why I can't let you do this." Alec looked as though he would argue again. "You're not in your right mind. I won't let you kill shadowhunters to get to Magnus. I won't let you."
Alec regarded her a long moment before, surprising everyone, he gave a soft nod. As much as he wanted to have a role in helping Magnus, Alec knew as well as any of them the lengths that he would be prepared to go to free his boyfriend. He couldn't risk losing control as he had done with Robert. Isabelle was right; he could kill someone.
"Okay," agreed Alec, forcing his voice to remain light although deep down he was despairing. "Jace, you'll use your position with Robert to get down to the detention level and find Magnus. Isabelle will clear the tunnel for you to get through. Take Magnus back to the apartment."
He chewed his lower lip a moment in deep thought, his gaze flitting across to Clary, who looked despondent at having no part to play.
"Clary," he muttered and she glanced to him expectantly. "I'm going to need you."