A/N— Initial dream is in italics to avoid confusion.

"Alec!"

The reply was nothing but darkness, and Magnus whipped around in a desperate search. He didn't remember how he got there or even where he was, but he knew one thing for certain and one thing only. He needed to find Alexander.

Then, as if to answer his desperate longing, there he was, walking out the darkness. Alec was different to how Magnus remembered him, his stride was rigid and measured and he halted several metres away, his hands clasping behind his back, just staring. It was like he was waiting.

Magnus breathed his name, relief sending tears springing to his eyes and he stumbled forward, reaching for Alec, afraid he would disappear. Ice snaked around his outstretched hand, a chain slithering up to wrap around his wrist. It didn't stop with one. Soon enough, Magnus was trapped in place, trussed up in frozen shackles.

He fought, rattling them desperately, but he couldn't break free.

"Alec," he said, begging almost as he lifted his head to stare at the shadowhunter. "Alec, help… Help me, please."

For a moment, Alec did nothing but watch. His gaze was unconcerned, roaming up and down Magnus's body, seeing the chains and doing nothing to try and break them. Lazily, he wandered forward. When he was close enough, his hand came up to grab the end of the limitless chain, giving a harsh tug that tightened every link and sent Magnus to his knees, crying out in agony.

"No, no, wait—"

"Sorry, Magnus," said Alec, but there was no emotion in his eyes. There was nothing. "The law is hard…"

Magnus shook his head desperately because this wasn't Alec. The Alec he knew, the one he had fallen in love with, would never abandon him like this, would never surrender him to the merciless mercies of The Clave. He thought Alec would fight for him.

"Alexander, please," he begged, and every word cost him more chains. A new rope of metal lashed out to bind him, tighter still than the last. "Alec!"

Shaking his head, Alec slowly lifted a finger to his lips, a soft hush echoing and lingering in the darkness until the sound became shrill and piercing and Magnus ducked his head with a cry as it rang sharply in his ears. Iron wrapped around his neck, forcing his head back up, choking the breath from his lungs.

At first, Magnus believed it was another chain come to hold him, but he realised suddenly that he was wrong. It was Alec. The shadowhunter's hand was on his throat, horribly cold and tightening ceaselessly.

"Alec," choked Magnus, gulping for breath that didn't reach his lungs. He tried to reach up and force Alec's hand away, but his arms were weighed down with chains and refused to give an inch when he tried to lift them. "Alec, please… Please, no…"

"… but it is the law."

Magnus shot upright, hands lifting to clutch his throat in desperate gasps for air. Realising suddenly that he could move his arms, he glanced down to see the chains were gone. There was no cold, just uncomfortable heat. Sweat clung to his skin, dampening the bedsheets on which he sat. His wrists were wrapped in bandages. There were hands on him.

That part still warranted panic and Magnus shoved them away in a thoughtless thrash. His eyes took longer to adjust and it was a moment before he managed to set his drifting gaze on Alec. Magnus just stared.

Alec had his hands held up to almost touch his shoulders: a clear surrender. It came back then. The Clave dragging him away, Alec fighting to stop them, guards torturing him, Jace and Isabelle breaking him out; all the memories came flooding back. It was so much so quickly that Magnus almost broke down on the spot.

Instead, he blinked at Alec. "You're here."

It was half query, half observation, and Alec lowered his hands with a small frown. "Of course I'm here. Where else would I be?" He tilted his head a little anxiously. "You've been sleeping for a few hours. The others are out in the main room."

It dawned on Magnus suddenly that Alec couldn't go back to the institute. None of them could go back. Jace and Isabelle had broken Clave orders in breaking him out of the cell, and if Alec was here, then it meant he was involved in the escape.

"Clary?" Magnus asked.

"She's here," said Alec, confirming Magnus's suspicions that the stubborn red-head would have insisted that she help. "Did you want her? I can get her for you—"

"No, no, I just… I was just making sure."

The quiet fell again. Magnus didn't want to break it; he didn't want to speak again. What could he even say? Alec already knew what had been done to him and there was no need to trouble the shadowhunter any further by divulging the nature of his dreams. Part of Magnus just wanted to go back to sleep. The rest of him was too afraid of what he would see if he dreamed.

Glancing down, he ran an absent hand over the snugly fitted bandages wrapped around his wrists. Magnus didn't know who had treated him. He supposed he'd been unconscious at the time. Alec's hand joined and he gently pushed Magnus's touch away, as if he didn't want Magnus dwelling on his injuries, as if he was afraid the warlock would be hurt.

It was a little late for such concerns.

That same hand lifted to Magnus's jaw as Alec leaned forward to kiss him. The warlock grunted softly and leaned away, closing his eyes and he prised Alec's hand down from his face. Frowning softly, Alec dutifully retracted his hand. He suspected Magnus had a good reason, but he couldn't help but feel hurt by the rejection.

"What is it?" he asked, careful to keep his tone light in fear of sounding angry. He wasn't angry, he was just confused. "Are you still hurting?" Magnus didn't reply as such, just shook his head. "Do you not trust me? I said I'd get you out and I did. I'm sorry it took so long, but we needed Jace to trick Robert into—"

"Alexander," interrupted Magnus, but there was nothing of him in his voice. "I don't blame you for what happened, and I'm not angry about the timing. I will always trust you with everything I have. I trust you with my life."

Alec shook his head in confusion. "Then what… what's wrong?"

Magnus's jaw trembled softly and Alec frowned at the pain in his eyes. Taking a breath to speak, Magnus was immediately interrupted by the door opening and Jace peering into the room.

"Sorry to interrupt," muttered Jace. "Alec, I think you should see this."

Hesitating a moment, Alec cast a glance to Magnus, concerned about his wellbeing, but his boyfriend was already climbing out of bed. Trying to protest resulted in Magnus merely waving an absent hand to him.

"I'm fine, Alexander, don't fuss."

From what Alec had seen, Magnus certainly was not fine, but he couldn't argue. Stashing a mental note to carefully bring this up later, Alec followed his brother back into the main room. outside the bedroom, Catarina met Magnus and set a gentle touch on his upper arm. She murmured something that Alec didn't hear, to which Magnus nodded softly.

What Jace wanted Alec to see turned out to be a fire message. It was from Maryse Lightwood; his mother's signature was easily recognisable. Alec and Magnus read through it together in the main room, eyes scanning across the edge-charred paper and the letters printed out there in Alec's mother's fluid handwriting.

Robert and his guards had been withdrawn from the institute. Apparently, the inquisitor gave command to Maryse while Robert and his Clave unit were under investigation. Magnus had been officially cleared of Robert accusations. Alec, Jace, Isabelle and Clary were all permitted to re-join the institute without consequence.

"Is this all because you have relation to Imogen?" asked Magnus in subtle surprise, glancing to Jace.

The shadowhunter shrugged. "I'd like to think that it's because she knows that Robert is wrong, and that he was completely out of order. Surely not everyone in a position of power in The Clave hates downworlders. We didn't do anything wrong and she knows it."

"Yeah, you can never do anything wrong, can you?" Alec muttered, earning himself a squinted, almost confused glare from Jace.

"What did they want the necromancy spell for?" Magnus asked, wrapping his arms around himself, as if in attempt at comfort or protection.

Jace continued to watch Alec a moment, jaw set in a hard line as if he wanted to argue. "We don't know," he murmured honestly, if a little reluctantly, as he dragged his gaze away from his brother. "That's the first thing we plan on asking our mother when we get back to the institute."

Magnus nodded. "Let me know when you find out."

He turned to leave, pausing when Clary queried "aren't you coming back with us?"

There was a heavy look to Magnus as he glanced back to the shadowhunter. "No," he replied bluntly. "No, I'm not."

Alec watched him as he walked away, something wrong and dull with his step. There was something missing, some trademark Magnus swagger that had been broken with the torturous techniques of the Clave guards. He didn't so much as glance back as he slipped back into the bedroom and closed the door quietly behind him.

Clary cast a frantic, panicked look to Alec. "What's wrong with him?" she whispered.

Alec scuffed his heel against the floor, glancing up to the ceiling briefly as he searched for the words. "Look, I don't think it's a great idea to be mentioning anything… Clave-wise around Magnus right now." He sighed and ran a hand down his face. "Thank you," he murmured his gratitude, casting his eyes across the group. "All of you, for helping us. I'm going to stay here with Magnus until he's feeling… more like himself. You should all head back to the institute."

Isabelle took a moment to gaze at the closed door of the bedroom. "Are you gonna be okay handling him on your own?"

"He's not on his own," said Catarina, casting a small nod to Alec when he gave her a surprised glance. "I'll stay… at least until the burns heal."

"Thank you."

Watching the others leave, accepting embraces from each of them in turn—except Simon that is; they weren't quite there yet—Alec began to wonder if his sister's concerns were founded. Magnus was different. The things The Clave had done to him had left him in such a state, and Alec worried that the injuries weren't merely physical.

There was something wrong with his mind.

A panicked shout echoed through the apartment and Alec lurched off the sofa.

He hadn't been sleeping all that much anyway, but now, instead of absently dozing, he was wide awake. Raking a hand into his hair, Alec hurried his way across the room. Catarina met him at the bedroom door, having rushed out from the spare room. The others had gone back to the institute earlier in the day, so it was just the two of them and Magnus in the apartment. Not that they would have known Magnus was there with him being sequestered in his room.

The familiar cry of the warlock in the throes of a nightmare had been the only sound from the room for hours now. Catarina had suggested that they give him some space. Clearly set on helping, she started towards the door, but Alec waved a hand to her dismissively.

"I've got him," he murmured. "You can go back to sleep."

"Are you sure?"

Alec nodded. "I can handle him." He cast her a sad smile. "It's not like it's the first time."

The look that Catarina cast him told Alec that it wasn't her first either. In Alec's experience, Magnus's nightmares often involved the warlock's family, notably his mother's suicide and his stepfather's murder, as well as occasionally things he had done with Asmodeus. Magnus was always quiet and monosyllabic after these dreams. Alec supposed this time wouldn't be any different.

Entering Magnus's room, Alec softly shut the door behind him and winced at the sounds coming from the bed, turning to quietly make his way to Magnus's side. The warlock was gasping for breath, hands twisted into the bedsheets. Cold sweat ran down his temples.

"Magnus," said Alec, sitting himself on the edge of the bed.

A wordless mumble flared Magnus's lips and Alec reached to stroke his fingers through dampened locks of hair. His boyfriend shifted and moaned feebly under his touch. Alec's heart clenched uncomfortably in his chest and he forced in a deep breath, knowing he couldn't let Magnus know how bad it had been when he was conscious.

"Magnus, it's okay," he murmured, his thumb passing over Magnus's temple. "It's a dream. Wake up for me, okay?"

He startled when Magnus's eyes snapped open, his warlock mark in full view, golden irises flashing with alarm. Crimson shrouded his fingers and he grabbed Alec's wrist. The shadowhunter sucked in a sharp breath at the agonising burn of his boyfriend's touch, wrenching his hand away.

Magnus blinked hard, the light dying from his fingers as his eyes faded to their usual dark shade. His hand lowered back onto the bed.

"Alec...?" he whispered uncertainly.

Alec nodded. "Yeah, it's me. It's okay. You were dreaming."

Still a little disorientated and practically shaking from the shock or fear of his dream, Magnus ran a hand down his face to wipe some of the sweat away, using his free hand to push himself upright in the bed. His eyes fell upon Alec's hand, concern furrowing his brow. Alec followed his gaze and hurriedly tried to hide his wrist beneath his sleeve, not caring how the rubbing fabric stung his lightly burned skin. He just needed to hide the damage from Magnus.

"It's nothing," he insisted, forcing a twitched smile as his gaze met Magnus's again.

"It's not nothing," said Magnus, his eyes and voice filled with despondency. "I hurt you. I didn't even realise…" The sadness faded with a bitter scoff that exhaled from his lips, and he glanced away from the shadowhunter. "You should go."

Alec frowned softly. "You want me to leave?"

"Yes."

The answer came too quickly, too bluntly, and Alec didn't believe it for a second. There was something really wrong. As much as he hated to push when Magnus was like this, he knew he couldn't just do whatever Magnus wanted. He knew he couldn't leave. Magnus only wanted him gone because he was afraid, but Alec wasn't scared of being burned by the warlock's powers; he wasn't scared of any kind of pain.

He was just afraid of leaving Magnus alone. Knowing his boyfriend's history all too well— namely the incident on Blackfriars bridge—Alec was afraid of what Magnus might do if this depressive spiral continued its downward trek. It was just like Catarina had warned. Magnus was trying to push him away.

"Alec, please," muttered Magnus. Clearly Alec had been silent too long. "Please, just go home."

Alec shook his head. "No, I'm not going to leave you like this… and 'home'? I am home, Magnus. I'm with you."

Closing his eyes, Magnus angled his head away from Alec and his attempt at comfort. "You don't want to be with me right now, Alexander. I'm not safe to be around." He gestured weakly in the direction of the shadowhunter. "Just look at what I did to you. Isn't that proof enough that I'm not who you thought I was…?"

"What does that mean?" asked Alec, his tone remaining soft so as not to upset his boyfriend. "Magnus, look at me. What are you saying?"

The eyes that found him were cat's eyes, gold and beautiful and brimming with tears. "You thought I was strong, but I'm not," he whispered and, god, if those words didn't break Alec's heart right in half. "They broke me… The Clave… Those runes, I…" He ducked his head to choke back a sob, lifting a hand to push the tears back. "I broke, Alec. They broke something in me and I… I don't know how to fix myself."

Another sob wrenched its way from Magnus and Alec instinctively reached for him, wanting to hold him and to keep him safe, but Magnus shied away from his hands. "No, no," was all he whispered before he had to stop because the tears were relentless. So, Alec stayed back. He sat on Magnus's bed, clueless on how to help, speechless, useless.

There was nothing he could do except watch, and struggle to keep his own emotions under control, as Magnus wrapped his arms around himself and wept.