Moonlight sifted between the thrown-open curtains, casting soft squares of light across the room. The night was clear, yet the light pollution of New York blocked many stars from view, only the brightest of them managing to shine through the artificial lighting of the never-sleeping city.

Magnus sat on the edge of the bed, staring up at the sky. His glamour was down and his heart was light. Glancing behind him, he saw Alec sleeping soundly in the bed, hair mussed against the pillow, mouth hanging open in not-quite-snores. Magnus had the strangest feeling of déjà vu, though he couldn't quite place the sense.

He resumed his stargazing. Every one of them, he knew by name, courtesy of some half-forgotten mundane lover. They had spent hours at a time lying on their backs, watching the stars, and Magnus had been awestruck by her arcane knowledge of the night sky; knowledge that he had learned and stubbornly held on to, even as his memory of her faded over time.

The mattress dipped slightly beneath him and there were arms around him, Alec draping himself sleepily over one of the warlock's shoulders, head resting in the crook of his neck.

"Why are you awake?" he mumbled, pressing a kiss to the underside of Magnus's jaw. "Can't sleep?"

"Something like that," chuckled Magnus, wrapping an arm around Alec's waist as the shadowhunter settled against his side. "You should go back to sleep. You'll have another long day tomorrow."

Alec hummed his acknowledgement, but didn't make a move to clamber back beneath the sheets. "I don't like the thought of you being up by yourself." He sighed softly and turned his head a little, following Magnus's gaze to the sky. "Bet you know all those stars… Probably there when some of them appeared."

"I only recall being taught them," replied Magnus through a soft smile. "All these constellations… they all have a story."

"Will you tell me something?"

Magnus glanced across to the shadowhunter, pressing a kiss to the crown of his head. "Of course, my darling. Anything."

"Tell me which warlock can perform a necromancy spell."

Magnus's brow pinched in confusion and he shook his head. "I… I don't understand."

Agony shattered into his blood and he cried out, watching thick burns circle his wrists, charring into his soft skin and sending thin wisps of smoke into the air. He glanced up to Alec, gasping for breath, but the shadowhunter just stared at him, unmoved by his pain.

"Alexander," he gasped, trying to reach for his boyfriend, trying to grab him, but Alec's form retreated into mist in wake of his touch, dissolving into the air. "Alec!"

A flash of light blinded Magnus's vision and he blinked hard, finding himself squinting down at a cold, linoleum floor. Harsh, artificial lighting affronted his senses. He shifted his hands in the straps, feeling the burns rubbing painfully in the runed shackles, seeing his skin was raw and red where the skin had seared away.

He remembered now. The memory he has forced to the front of his mind had faded with a new onslaught of pain. Alec had looked so beautiful in the moonlight, but Alec wasn't here now; likely he was somewhere upstairs. He hadn't asked about the necromancy spell in the original memory, he'd asked Magnus about his favourite constellation.

Magnus supposed the repeated use of the runes were having a strain on his mind. He lifted his head to the latest shadowhunter assigned to question him, trembling from sheer exhaustion as he sat back in the chair.

"Are you ready to answer my questions now?" she asked, a soft sneer on her lips.

Robert specifically picked shadowhunters who had existing prejudices against downworlders, people who were merciless and cruel just like him. There was no relief, no respite from the relentless torture. In all honesty, Magnus didn't know how long he could hold out before they wrenched Iris's name from him.

Pain struck him again and he cried out a sob, straining desperately against the chains, rattling them against his burnt wrists, tugging the restraints.

"Alec…" he sobbed, gulping in breaths shuddered that with tears. "Alec, please…"

There was a harsh swish that startled Magnus's eyes open, although he didn't recall closing them. The pain subsided as the shadowhunter plucked a fire message from the air, the flames dispersing at the blackened edges. Her gaze rapidly scanned the note.

"Well," she muttered, casting a glance to Magnus. "I suppose we won't need to keep this up any longer."

Magnus frowned softly, heaving for breath as he squinted up at the shadowhunter. "W—Why…?"

"Seems that we've found another warlock who is much more well-known to practice necromancy… Iris Rouse."

Magnus closed his eyes, his head bowing in defeat.

"That's the name you've been concealing, isn't it?" The shadowhunter pocketed the fire message, clicking her tongue as she crouched in front of the bound warlock. "Don't worry… I'll make sure she knows that you betrayed her. You broke under questioning and sold her out to The Clave."

"I didn't," Magnus whispered, almost delirious from the pain, shaking his head and scattering tears from his cheeks. "I didn't…"

He owed Iris nothing, quite the opposite in fact. In truth, he bordered on despising the warlock. As high warlock, however, she was under his care, and he was obligated to protect her.

"Oh, I know you didn't," soothed the shadowhunter. "But she'll believe it when I tell her. She'll break when she hears who you broke." She lifted one shoulder in an absent shrug. "I suppose Robert will be transferring you to Idris as soon as Iris Rouse is captured."

Magnus blinked hard as a jolt of fear rushed into his heart. It was true; with Iris in their grasp, they had no use for him anymore. He would be taken to Idris and slaughtered for a crime he hadn't committed, murdered for corrupting Alec into loving him. When he was dead and Alec's love refused to die, it would be abundantly clear how wrong Robert had been, but it would be too late.

Magnus suspected he would be dead before the day was done. He wished he could have seen Alec again, just once more.

Alec used his intimate knowledge of the institute to find them a hiding place. It guaranteed a perfect view of the elevator doors, yet secluded enough to hide both Alec and Clary from view. Clary had her seraph blade tucked into the belt of her jeans, undrawn. Alec's bow and quiver were strung across his back, an arrow already prepared in his hand.

Clary's role was demanding; she would need to create a rune that worked against shadowhunters, preventing anyone else from using the elevator once Jace had gotten in. Confident that his position with Robert was one of complete trust, Jace was convinced that he could simply walk into the elevator and go down to the lower levels with no one questioning his position.

It was a risky move, but they were running out of time. Magnus was running out of time.

With bated breath, Alec watched Jace stride his way over to the elevator. Clary was uttering something under her breath, falling into tense silence when the guard held a hand up to Jace, halting him.

"No, no…" Alec muttered.

Jace was talking, but they couldn't hear the words. The guard wore a dubious expression, but he lowered his warning hand and gave Jace a stiff nod, stepping aside to allow him through.

Clary breathed a sigh of relief, reaching back to squeeze Alec's arm. It was done. As long as Clary could seal the doors, and Isabelle could clear the tunnel, and Jace could free Magnus, it would be fine. Alec winced to think at how many variables there were, how much could go wrong in their hurriedly implemented plan.

Jace walked proudly into the elevator, his gaze roaming back and meeting Alec's through the small opening in the darkened closet. The pair exchanged the softest nod just as the doors closed between them.

As soon as that happened, Clary rushed from their hiding place, Alec close behind her. Alec whipped his bow to knock the guard down as Clary immediately began casting her stele over the elevator doors. The commotion triggered a warning shout from their fellow shadowhunters and Alec nocked an arrow, pulling it back to his jawline to face the oncoming rush of Clave guards. Alec's father hurried into the Ops Centre, clearly called from his office at the disturbance.

Alec fired a warning shot to the ground, twisting his head away as the arrow exploded into blinding light, causing the Clave members to stagger backwards, shielding their eyes with strained cries of pain. Another arrow found his bow and Alec aimed directly at his father, who squinted up at him through a weak shield of his fingers.

"Back off!" Alec yelled, shifting his aim to each guard and making them back away slightly, hands held up in surrendering motions.

"Alec, what in the name of the angel are you playing at?" Robert asked, incredulous.

Alec didn't reply. "Clary?" he muttered questioningly.

"I'm close," replied Clary.

Alec supposed he shouldn't be surprised. A confrontation with his father had been inevitable from the start, and Clary had never had to make a warding rune against shadowhunters before. The aim was to make it impossible for shadowhunters to open the elevator doors, in order to give Jace and Isabelle the advantage of enclosure. The fewer guards they had to take down, the more likely it was that they would get Magnus to safety.

"Alec, this is insane," his father chided, stepping forward and Alec shifted his stance warningly. Robert merely stared at him a moment. "You won't shoot me, Alec. You won't kill your own father."

"You lost the right to be anything to me the second you dismissed my choices," said Alec, struggling to keep the tears from flooding his eyes. "If it's because you're homophobic, or just because you hate downworlders, it doesn't matter. Either way, you're trying to break me. No real father would do that to his son."

Robert worked his jaw, eyeing Alec's drawn bow. "All this for a downworlder… for a man…"

The words struck Alec harder than he was expecting. "So it's both?" he asked, his voice coming out smaller than he would have liked.

"At least Isabelle keeps to the right sex," Robert snapped, the words striking into Alec sharper than any blow. "Whatever demon's child she chooses, at least she picks men."

Alec swallowed thickly, his bow lowering unconsciously. "You took Magnus in the hopes that I would stop being gay?"

"Alec, I've got it!" Clary called, and Alec absently turned to look.

There was a new rune seared into the elevator doors.

In that second of distraction, Alec's bow was wrestled from his hands and a heavy weight slammed into his head. Clary screamed his name as he collapsed to his hands and knees, his vision dancing with black spots. He blinked rapidly, squinting as a trickle of heat streamed down his face. His hand lifted to catch the runnel of blood, staring numbly at the crimson stain on his fingers.

Two sets of hands hauled him upright on his knees. A hand clenched into his hair, forcing his head up so his gaze met his fathers. There was a scuffle behind him and Clary's sharp protests as she too was restrained.

"What are we going to do about this, hm?" Robert asked.

"You can kill me," said Alec stiffly, rage coursing through him. "Finally rid yourself of such a disappointing son." He struggled in the guards hold, gritting his teeth. "Come on. Get on with it!"

Robert hesitated.

Something about the silence was terrifying. Alec stared up at his father, wondering if, deep down, Robert did actually hate him enough to kill him. Maybe for the first time, Alec was scared. He had expected his coming out would not be well received, but he had never imagined that his father would want him dead because of his sexuality. He realised now just how brave Magnus was to have flaunted himself so openly, especially when there were those who would see him dead because of it.

It was dangerous to be unconventional, Alec understood that now. The fear just made him more determined. He shouldn't have to feel afraid, no one had any right to make him fear expressing his love.

"That's enough!"

Robert turned at the voice and Alec breathed again.

Underhill came marching forward from the gathering crowd, seraph blade drawn and pointed to the guards that held Alec. There were shadowhunters following him, helping him. The group must have doubled The Clave guards. They drew their blades and warned Robert and his guards back, easing the ones who held Alec and Clary away and herding them back to Robert's side.

"What are you doing?" Robert demanded. "What is this?"

Underhill held a hand to Alec, helping him to his feet, before turning on Robert. "We won't stand for this kind of prejudice. You walked the line when you arrested Magnus, but now you've crossed it by showing us that your only reason was to separate him and Alec. Your hatred came from fear, not from justice."

Robert worked his jaw, realising his damning mistake. Emotions cloud judgement. Alec twisted a bitter smile as he recalled who had first taught him those words. After all those lectures about being wary of love, it was hatred that had outdone his father. Shadowhunters often forgot about hate and fear, as if considering themselves above such pettiness.

For a moment, Alec just stared at Underhill with wide eyes, absently clutching his arm in a show of gratitude. The man nodded in return, eyeing the open cut across Alec's forehead, gently pushing him towards Clary.

"Go," he muttered. "Get Magnus somewhere the Clave don't know, get him to safety. We'll cover you."

Clary immediately whipped her stele up and sketched a rune into the air, bringing a portal rushing into being. Alec caught Underhill's eye. There were so many things he had wanted to say, so many questions he wanted to ask, but there wasn't time. He just gave his fellow shadowhunter a respectful nod.

"Thank you."

With that farewell, Clary grabbed Alec's hand and, with a running start, they leapt through the portal.