A/N: I wanna keep this short, because I know you're all crazy to find out what happens next. I just want to say sorry for the editing. FF is not letting me put the *horizontal line* between scenes, I have no idea why, so I'm just gonna put NEW SCENE to indicate there's (gasp) a new scene or a change in POV. I'm sorry for the inconvenience. And I know his chapter turned out to be pretty long, I hope it won't bore you!

Chapter 16 – Reunited At Last

Alec sat in the infirmary, doing what he'd been doing for the last three days: watching Magnus closely and checking for any signs of his condition deteriorating. Jace and Izzy had found him unconscious in front of the Institute with a knife stuck in his back. They had no idea how he got there, but Alec didn't care. All he cared about was making sure that Magnus got better, even though it seemed like an impossible task at the moment. They'd been taking care of him the best way they could, but Magnus had been unconscious ever since and hadn't show any signs of improvement so far.

Alec rubbed his sore eyes with the palm of his hands and sat up straight on the stuffed armchair that had served as a bed for the last few days. He only left Magnus's side when Izzy offered to watch Magnus for a couple of hours while he got some decent sleep. But Alec was determined not to leave the Institute before Magnus woke up; he wanted to be there when it happened, he wanted Magnus to know that he was there for him.

He had had a lot of time to think about where he stood on this… thing he had with Magnus. It was complicated and Alec wasn't sure what to call what they had. But he did come to the conclusion that he didn't want to lose Magnus just yet. He'd been turning Luke's words over in his head and decided it was worth it to at least try. His need for Magnus was greater than the fear of his immortality. They could deal with that later. They had the time. Finally Magnus was back and that was what mattered the most. Now he just had to heal and Alec hoped they could figure things out together.

Alec was buried so deep in these thoughts, he missed the way Magnus slightly tilted his head to the side. He only noticed the change when his eyes fell on Magnus's half open eyes. Alec's heart skipped and beat and he froze from the shock and gazed up at Magnus's face.

"Magnus?" he asked carefully, holding his breath. He hadn't even noticed that he had reached out to Magnus's hand and now held it tightly in his own.

"Alexander..." Magnus exhaled his name as a weak smile curled up on his lips. He closed his eyes again and sighed. "Am I in heaven?"

"No. This is just the infirmary of the New York Institute," Alec replied and his body tensed up. Why was Magnus asking that? Had he hurt his head or something?

"Right. What was I thinking? I'm half demon, I can't go to heaven." Magnus's voice gained some strength and Alec felt his hand shift in his. He let out the breath he'd been holding and a smile formed on his lips. If Magnus was making jokes, then it was a sign that things were getting better.

Magnus opened his eyes fully and met Alec's. They stared at each other silently for a couple of seconds. Alec could only hope his eyes told Magnus what he couldn't put into words – how much he had missed him, how much he'd been worried about him and how happy he was to see him safe again. The mixture of feelings inside him felt like a rainbow after a storm. He felt his eyes burning up with tears of joy and looked away before Magnus could notice them too. He swallowed his tears and attempted a cool voice.

"How are you feeling?" He asked Magnus trying to stay as neutral as possible.

"I've been better," Magnus admitted and he took his hand out of Alec's to sit up on the bed, grimacing and hissing in pain as he tried to sit up in the best position possible without hurting his back too much.

"No, don't…" Alec protested and jumped up on his feet to help Magnus. He touched Magnus delicately, as if he could break at a single clumsy move like porcelain. With Alec's help Magnus managed to roll himself onto his side breathing heavily from the effort and Alec frowned, his forehead creasing with worry.

"Well, I'm alive. I shouldn't complain," Magnus said once he had regained his breath and rested his head on the white pillow.

Alec wanted to be comforting, but he didn't know what to say. So he pulled the chair closer to the bed, sat back on it and reached out to Magnus's hand and held it again. Magnus gave him a smile and he felt him gently squeeze his hand, sending a wave of unexpected excitement down Alec's body. He felt like kittens were running around frantically in his stomach and the rainbow inside him was fully cast from head to toe. Alec found it bewildering that just touching Magnus's hand had this effect on him. They stayed in this blissful state for a couple of minutes, transmitting how grateful they were for having each other through tender stares and handholding. They weren't worried about anything else around them. Then Magnus glanced down on his chest frowning.

"What am I wearing?" He asked as he stared at the loose dark blue t-shirt.

"It's-it's… it's one of m-my shirts," Alec stuttered awkwardly. "I figured you'd freak out if you woke up in one of the-the hospital gowns, so…" He couldn't finish the sentence. Remembering that day brought back very unpleasant memories and feelings – like the way Magnus was bleeding when they had brought him in, forcing them to tear his black shirt apart to perform a surgery on him, since drawing an iratze on his skin wasn't an option. Watching all that just made Alec feel like the world was going to end then. Seeing Magnus like that was without a doubt one of the worst moments of Alec's life and he had no desire to relive it. He stared at the bed quietly until Magnus spoke again.

"You know me so well," Magnus said softly and Alec could hear him smile, which gave him the courage to look up. It wasn't the first time Magnus had looked at him that way before; with eyes full of adoration and tenderness. Alec was not ready for that expression yet; it was doing things to him he was too embarrassed to admit. So he looked away again shyly.

Magnus misunderstood Alec's reaction and froze for a moment. He must be looking awful right now since his face was completely make-up free. He felt like a dirty mess. Due to his actions in the last two weeks; Magnus didn't feel like himself; he didn't even feel worthy of Alec's attention at all.

"I'm sorry you had to see my face like that," He said apologetically. "I must look terrible.

Alec looked up at him confused.

"I like your face the way it is," He said and gazed into Magnus's beautiful eyes. He liked him even more like this, without all the make-up, just pure Magnus. He wanted Magnus to know how important he was to him and he didn't need to hide behind makeup.

Those words had a wonderful effect on Magnus. He was left speechless as he felt a delicious warm wave of happiness spreading through his body. He fell even more in love with Alec. He was honest, caring and sweet with him; it was everything Magnus could hope for. Even the pain in his back had stopped for a moment. Alec was everything he needed to heal – physically and emotionally.

Magnus and Alec, still holding hands, were completely lost in this sweet moment when someone peeked inside the room.

"Oh my God!" They heard Isabelle's excited little squeal. Alec closed his eyes annoyed at her high pitched voice and squeezed Magnus's hand involuntarily as a way of reaching for comfort.

"Look who's up!" She said excitedly and ran across the room straight to Magnus's bed. She hopped onto it and with a bright smile squeezed Magnus into a tight hug. Magnus helplessly let go of Alec's hand and Alec caught him silently grimace from the pain that Izzy's hug had caused him. Alec got up from the chair and placed a hand on her shoulder to pull her away from Magnus.

"Geez, Izzy, be gentle…" Alec grumbled at her and rolled his eyes. She let go of Magnus and leaned away from him but stayed on the bed.

"Oh, I'm so sorry!" She said guiltily and covered her mouth with her hands.

"It's alright, dear," Magnus smiled at her. "I'm happy to see you too." He was amused by how she was the complete opposite of Alec – while he kept his feelings hidden behind solid walls she had no problem showing exactly how she felt.

Magnus's reassuring smile cast the guilt off of Izzy and she grinned at Magnus.

"Finally, some decent company! All I had for two whole weeks was my extra grumpy brother. You can't imagine how dull that has been!" She complained so dramatically, she knew it would tease Alec. Magnus just nodded along with serious air and held himself from laughing as he switched his eyes between a delighted Izzy and a clearly uncomfortable Alec. Magnus found Alec's grumpiness quite endearing.

"I'm right here," Alec grumbled from behind his sister. But it was pointless; he could have been talking to a wall.

"Alec hasn't left your side for three days," She continued with the same enthusiasm.

"Izzy!" Alec fumed and stomped his foot on the ground nervously. Both Isabelle and Magnus looked up at him and he felt like a child caught stealing candy.

"I'm gonna go…" He held up his hand and pointed his thumb backwards. He knew his face was turning bright red. "I'm gonna see if there's…" He hated how he was stuttering again. Why did Izzy say that? She knew she'd make him feel super embarrassed.

"I'm gonna go get you… umm… something to-to eat," He finished without actually looking at Magnus, then turned around and rushed out of the room as if he was being chased. The pressure was too much on him. It's not fair, he thought with a pinch of jealousy on his chest. Why does she get called 'dear' and not me? Why did she have to make him get so flushed? He didn't understand his sister sometimes. And the way he stuttered around Magnus, he hated that. Why did this keep happening to him? He walked so furiously he didn't even noticed Jace and Clary calling his name as he passed in front of the kitchen.

"Three days, huh?" Magnus asked Isabelle when they were left alone.

"Hey, it's not my fault my brother became obsessed with you," She answered him with a playful smile on her face.

Magnus was touched by both Alec's and Isabelle's caring for him. He'd spent such an intense period of time alone in the dark constantly being offended by people that this warmth felt strange, yet refreshing to him. But he didn't know how to sculpture these feelings into words, so he just smiled back at Alec's sister.

"I have something for you," Isabelle said mysteriously. "It's my way of saying thank you for saving my brother."

"Actually, before you give it to me, a shower would be nice," Magnus said hopefully. He really wanted to get rid of the dirt that made him feel so gross.

"Can you stand?" Isabelle got off the bed and held her hand out to help Magnus get up. Magnus took her hand and with some effort he was standing next to her, a bit shaky.

"Thank you for taking care of me," He said with a smile.

"We didn't do much, actually. Your magic did most of the trick," Isabelle said, looking at him with admiration.

Hmm, really? The last drop of my magic did something good after all, Magnus thought and he paid more attention to the emptiness that had been haunting him since he woke up. Oh, no… it can't be, he thought and froze from the recognition.

"Magnus!" Clary yelled excitedly through Magnus's panic, and Magnus was mostly brought back by the two pairs of adoring eyes that stared at him, although his thoughts continued to race in the back of his mind.

Why were they looking at him like that? Why were they treating him like he was some war hero? This kind of attention was becoming suffocating to Magnus. But of course, they didn't know what Magnus had been through, what horrible things he had done. Not yet, anyway.

"Yes, it's very nice to see you all, but if I could just get to that shower, it would be lovely," He said anxiously before anyone could say more.

Isabelle showed him the way to a private room, letting him hold on to her arm as they walked slowly; then brought him her shampoo, soap, makeup and pressed a wrapped package into his hands with a sly grin. She informed him that Jocelyn and Luke were making dinner and it would be ready soon. Magnus just nodded and went to the bathroom before she even left his room. He was so eager to be alone and breathed a sigh of relief when the door was closed. Peace and quiet finally. He took a very reviving hot shower, ignoring the hot water burning his wound.

When he got back to his room he opened the package, inside which was a silver suit with a navy blue button up shirt and a matching silver vest completing it. There was also a set of eye shadows and eyeliners inside a glossy makeup bag. Magnus was so touched by Isabelle's gesture, he shed a few tears as he dressed.

To Alec's annoyance, Simon had joined them for dinner. Luke and Jocelyn had made lasagna, but even though it was delicious, no one ate much. Everyone was on edge and they were eager to hear Magnus talk about his experience with Valentine. The atmosphere was so tense that forks and knives kept slipping on the ground with loud clatters that broke the silence temporarily, before the table slipped back into its uneasy silence. No one knew what to say, up until Jace finally put the thoughts that everyone have been struggling with into words.

"So?" Jace eyed Magnus intensely. "What happened to y-"

"Jace, no," Alec interrupted Jace firmly. "We can do this after dinner." Alec was protective of Magnus; even though he wanted answers too, Magnus's wellbeing was more important to him right now. Jace pouted but didn't insist. Magnus gave Alec a grateful smile and Alec decided he really liked the way the thin silver line of eyeliner on his lower lid looked on him. They finished dinner silently.

To Simon's great disappointment, Jace didn't let them have any of the wonderfully displayed cheesecake for dessert. Instead, he helped Clary, Luke and Jocelyn put away the dirty dishes, insisting that they wash them later, and Simon joined them. Magnus watched the rush with amusement.

"Yes, everyone knows I'm even more delicious than cheesecake," Magnus commented cheekily. The shower and the food had improved his mood a little. Simon blinked at him doubtfully and Isabelle giggled like a schoolgirl for which she earned a playful wink from Magnus. Alec just stood there like a tall statue processing that sentence.

"You two love birds follow me," Izzy said after she recomposed herself. Then she led Alec and Magnus out of the kitchen to the conference room. They walked slowly due to Magnus's condition, but he was well enough to walk without help. Alec kept looking him up and down, ready to leap into action in case he fell or just needed his help. He still couldn't believe he was there with them and he was so grateful he even complimented Magnus's new clothes on the way.

"That looks really… umm… nice on you," He said softly and blushed. He remembered the silver tie he had with him and thought it would match Magnus's clothes and his makeup perfectly. But admitting to having that tie in his possession in the first place would have been too embarrassing for Alec, so he decided not to go through with it.

"Thank you, Alexander," He said warmheartedly.

"It was from me," Isabelle intervened flashing a smile at them.

"Your sister does have an impeccable taste, Alec," Magnus admitted with a small recognizing nod towards her.

"Well, I saw it the other day at the mall and I knew it would look great on you, so I had to buy it," Izzy stated excitedly.

"We're in a middle of a war and you go shopping?" Alec shook his head at his sister. They finally reached the entrance of the conference room. Isabelle turned around to face them.

"A girl has her needs," Izzy answered with a smirk. She leaned on the doors behind her and spread her arms to open them.

Alec rolled his eyes but also couldn't help but smile at Izzy's dorkiness. They walked into the conference room which was only used in case of a meeting with representatives of the Clave or Shadowhunters from other Institutes. The room was so neutral looking it basically screamed traditional Shadowhunter business; it had a long black table with twenty black stuffed chairs around it; the floor was covered with a beige carpet and one of the long walls was occupied by a massive glass projection screen.

Isabelle occupied herself with turning on the screens and Alec wished for more privacy with Magnus. Since the minute Magnus had woken up Alec had just wanted to be alone with him. There was so much he wanted to tell him, but before he could say a word to him Jace, Clary, Luke, Jocelyn and Simon rushed in the room like they were missing out on something important. Alec rolled his eyes in frustration as everyone poured in chattering about insignificant things. He felt Magnus's eyes on him, so he made an effort to smile and led him to the main seat of the table. He thought he had caught a glimpse of panic in Magnus's eyes as the others chose the closest seats to him, but when Alec looked again it was gone. He took a step closer to Magnus.

"Are you okay with this?" He asked him softly, so only Magnus could hear him. "Because we don't have to do this right now if you don't want to."

Magnus looked at him with tenderness and took Alec's hand.

"It's okay, Alec," He said, running his thumb over Alec's hand. "I feel much better now. The food really helped," Magnus smiled at him.

"Are you sure?" Alec asked, ignoring the pleasant warmth of Magnus's touch. He had the impression that Magnus was tired and only willing to do this to please him and his friends.

"Yes," Magnus said firmly and to show he was not accepting any more objections he gently pointed him to the chair on his left for Alec to sit in it.

Alec took the seat reluctantly. Everyone else was already seated. To Magnus's right Jocelyn, Luke and Clary sat next to each other, in that order; while on his left Alec, Isabelle and Simon formed the line. Jace was facing Magnus as he sat on the top of the table between Clary and Simon making it almost impossible for them to face each other. Magnus smirked at his attempt to keep them separated. Everyone was staring at Magnus intensely, resembling the lost boys in Neverland, waiting for Wendy to tell a story. Except that Magnus's story wasn't going to be an enjoyable bedtime story. Magnus stayed on his feet, rolled his eyes and let out a long sigh before beginning to narrate the story they were so anxious to hear. He knew he would have to spill the beans sooner and later, at the very least he had to inform the Nephilim about Valentine's army being destroyed. He could leave out the ugly details. But just after he told them that Valentine wanted him to create a portal, Isabelle interrupted him.

"Hold on for a second…" Isabelle raised her hands and drew all eyes to herself. "He wanted you to create another dimension of reality? I don't mean to offend you with this, but warlocks are not capable of doing that. That's heavy demon business."

"I didn't actually create another dimension of reality. I just created a portal into nothing. A dimension of… emptiness maybe?" Magnus still wasn't sure what was behind the portal he'd created, but he did know one thing. "Everything that went through the portal was disintegrated immediately. They just stopped existing."

"Still demon territory. How did you manage to pull that off?" Isabelle sounded genuinely intrigued and interested in Magnus's magic.

Damn it, why do you have such a smart sister, Alec? Magnus was definitely not going to bring up the fact that he had killed people in order to build that portal.

"Maybe it has to do with your, umm… demon parent?" Luke guessed awkwardly.

"What does that mean?" Alec asked confused.

Great job bringing up another topic I don't want to discuss, werewolf, Magnus thought annoyed.

"Basically, it means that my father was an especially powerful demon, which grants me especially powerful magic," Magnus answered. "So what Luke said… makes sense I suppose," He added and watched Alec for his reaction.

"Yes, but still…" Isabelle leaned in, determined not to let this go, and Magnus had to interrupt her.

"Let's just leave it at that… shall we?" He said firmly, holding a hand up to stop her from going on.

Everyone was caught by surprise by Magnus's insistence of not getting into more details, and they were waiting for Isabelle to continue, but she chose not to. She leaned back on her chair, still determined to dig deeper into that matter, and an awkward silence fell on the table. Magnus didn't wait for anyone else to ask him uncomfortable questions about his past, but went on with his story, walking from one side of the room to the other as he spoke; the others followed him with their eyes like he was a magnet.

He left out the murder ritual and the part when he killed one of Valentine's Shadowhunters out of rage and tortured another. He gestured a lot as a way of dissipating his anxiety. He stopped when it came to the part of his escape, the enraptured faces of his audience slightly unnerving him.

"So…" Jace interrupted the tense silence. "How did you escape?"

Magnus was very uncomfortable about this part. He found it difficult to say out loud what had happened. The horrible things that he'd done.

"When I finished Valentine's portal I opened a safe and regular portal and stepped through it," Magnus did his best to sound cool about it.

"Really? Just like that?" Jace raised his eyebrow. The others followed this conversation with their eyes like it was an exciting tennis match.

"Well, obviously Valentine wasn't so happy about it. He had to throw his knife at me," Magnus said dryly.

"So this is Valentine's?" Jace asked as he took the knife out of his belt.

"Yes," Magnus said blinked at the knife astonished.

"Good. You can help us track it down then," Jace said and put the knife on the table.

"Sadly, I can't. My magic is… gone," He said quietly. The gasps of astonishment from his audience only made him feel worse.

It didn't go unnoticed by Alec that Magnus avoided eye contact with everyone after that statement, like he was ashamed of not having magic. Alec's couldn't understand that reaction, but he knew this was a great loss for Magnus.

"Will it come back?" Jace finally asked.

"I really hope so. I would die out of boredom if I had to live forever without magic," Magnus said half-serious and half-playful and Alec shifted uncomfortably.

"What about his army?" Jace asked after letting out a sigh.

"What about it?" Magnus asked cautiously.

"How many of them are there? How is their training going? What is Valentine's next move?" Jace's intense hunt for answers made Magnus blink and suddenly his body felt heavier.

"Well…" Magnus started down at the table's edge in front of him struggling with an answer.

Now would be a good time to tell them, I suppose… But why is it so hard?

He got the answer to his question a second later, when regret hit him like lightening. He froze as he remembered tossing the Shadowhunters across the portal in the desert and then unleashing all that magic to kill the rest of them. The weight of his acts of revenge on Valentine made him feel very small suddenly and he looked down on the floor as he answered.

"I'm not really sure," He said, his voice gone weary. "About one thousand Shadowhunters I'd say… and they were definitely planning an attack on this Institute."

"One thousand?" Jace raised his eyebrow. "That's great," He said bitterly. "We don't have nearly enough Shadowhunters to fight them. And on top of that, we have an earth shaking demon on the loose to deal with."

"What's that now?" Magnus asked. Those words had definitely brought Magnus's attention back and he looked up at Jace.

"This." Jace turned on the monitor on the wall using the remote control lying next to him on the table and footage of a desert showed up, a desert that apparently was shaken by an earthquake. Magnus found the scenery very familiar.

"South Texas. We believe a higher demon caused this. Not sure about their motives yet. The Los Angeles Institute requested our help with the investigation. It happened three days ago, on the same day you showed up with a knife stuck on your back."

"Interesting…" Magnus muttered to no one in particular and looked away from the screen, fighting his own memories.

"You don't happen to know anything about it, do you?" Jace looked at him suspiciously.

"No! I mean yes… maybe?" Magnus hesitated. But then he decided to spill it out before the momentary courage that had possessed him flew away. "That was me, actually." He pointed at the screen. "This is how I escaped," He concluded and felt the confused looks on him.

But before anyone could verbally react to that, the door flung wide open and Maryse walked in followed by a group of Shadowhunters Magnus didn't recognize. All heads turned to face the unknown people and a hostile tension rose up in the room as Maryse turned her attention to Magnus.

"Bane," She pronounced the word as if it was a curse. She was clearly disappointed to see him standing there. "I wasn't aware that you regained consciousness," She added and then gave her children a look that instantly made them feel guilty. They were so excited about Magnus waking up they completely forgot to tell their parents.

Magnus didn't answer. Normally, he would have said something snarky just for the pleasure of watching her reaction, but at this moment he just realized how tired he was. He'd had enough of Shadowhunters expecting things from him, he was tired of this interrogation and most of all, he was tired of being looked at as a disgusting creature. All he wanted was to go home and stay there forever.

"These are the representatives from the Los Angeles Institute. They arrived about an hour ago," Maryse introduced the small crowd that had lined up by the wall. They watched the scene with confusion and Alec imagined they were not used to seeing such a diverse group of Shadowhunters and Downworlders in a meeting room. Maryse looked at the screen and approached it.

"We have new information about this. It looks like hundreds of Shadowhunters were crushed under that massive quake. We don't know who they were and why they were down there. But it looks like this demon was specifically targeting Shadowhunters," She said and then glared at Jace sitting on the table, transferring "not-in-front-of-our-guests" with her eyes. But Jace couldn't be bothered with it. Not after this huge revelation.

Magnus could sense their little engine's working as they put two and two together. Isabelle let out an audible gasp and squeezed Simon's arm in excitement. Jace and Alec exchanged a shocked look then Alec turned to Magnus questioningly. The seven of them stared at him with mixed expressions of shock, hope and even admiration. Magnus was glad the cat was finally out of the bag without him having to actually say the words out loud, but those piercing eyes were becoming too much to bear.

"Wait, wait a second…" Simon spoke up for the first time. "Are you saying… that you caused that earthquake and destroyed Valentine's entire army with it?"

Who the hell is this and why is he talking to me? Magnus looked at the excited vampire warily. He remembered him from the wedding, but he had no idea what he was doing here.

"I could hug you right now!" Simon exclaimed and a wide smile spread on his face.

"Please don't," Magnus's voice sounded almost like a whisper and he galred at Simon with wide eyes. Alec gave Simon a very hostile "don't-you-dare-touch-my-Magnus" look over Isabelle's head. She looked up at him and smirked at his extreme protectiveness over Magnus, and Simon felt like he had just been stomped on and shrunk a few inches from that look.

"What does he mean you caused this?" Maryse asked annoyed. She clearly didn't like not having the control over the situation.

"He means that I turned Valentine's plan against him and destroyed his army," Magnus said, satisfied to see her shocked too. "Tell the Clave they're welcome," He added with a smug look.

Magnus caught the way Alec froze at his last sentence, and couldn't read it as a positive or a negative sign. He wondered if he was scaring Alec with his attitude towards Maryse. But he couldn't help it, she was making him so mad.

"Hah, right," Maryse snapped back. "Why don't you ask for a reward too?"

"Actually, Alexander's life was the price and no one can give me anything more precious than that," Magnus said that in such a fierce way it made even Jace gasp. Alec couldn't breathe and his cheeks burned in tomato color. But Magnus wasn't looking at him.

Magnus was too busy trying to control his own emotions. He was glad he didn't have magic in this moment, because he might have done something regretful with it. Everything was going fine until Maryse showed up with all of her arrogance and superiority, reminding him of Valentine. He didn't need to put up with this; he didn't want to put up with it any longer.

"I'm leaving now," He announced with a tone that didn't allow arguement and everyone in the room tensed up. He didn't need magic to be powerful. "I cannot deal with you people any more. I need at least five drinks before I even consider talking to a Shadowhunter again," He said angrily and no one stopped him as he stormed out of the room, leaving everybody speechless for minutes.

And then Isabelle stood up, clearing her throat.

"Excuse us, mother," She said innocently. "Alec is not feeling very well."

Alec looked up at her confused as she squeezed his arm and mouthed a silent "Get up" to him. He had no choice but to follow her out of the room.

"What are you doing?" Alec hissed at her when they were outside.

"What do you think I'm doing? I'm giving you the perfect opportunity to go after Magnus!" She was almost yelling at him.

"What? No! Didn't you listen to him? He doesn't want to talk to any of us," Alec objected shaking his head, not sure about what to do. Izzy just rolled her eyes at him, which really surprised Alec, since that had always been his move.

"Go. Now!" Izzy gave him a small push then went back inside the room and shut the door closed.

Alec blinked at the empty corridor. Izzy could surely drive him nuts sometimes, but she was a good sister. Could she be right about this? Would Magnus talk to him? He didn't know. But he took off and ran after Magnus anyway, hoping he would still catch him.

Magnus was leaving the Institute with mixed feelings. He controlled himself on the outside, but was such a mess on the inside. He hated how Maryse and those stupid Shadowhunters judged him for what he said; it only validated his guilt even more. And he also hated the worshipping looks, even more than he judgy ones. No one should congratulate him for killing a thousand people. Magnus looked back at it as an awful event that shouldn't have happened, even though he probably saved the entire Shadow World with that act. His only desire right now was to be in the comfort of his own home, get drunk and take another shower. He felt dirty again and suspected that not even ten showers could wash away his guilt and shame for what he had done to escape Valentine. There was so much he wanted to wash off of himself, but he was afraid there wasn't enough water in the world for that. He was just about to reach the entrance door when he heard Alec's voice behind him.

"Magnus, wait!"

Magnus stopped and turned around to see Alec running towards him. He was so tall and handsome; Magnus's breath was taken away by his beauty once again.

Alec was so relieved to see Magnus hadn't left yet. He stopped right in front of him and took a deep breath, doubting his own courage to do what he wanted to do.

"I know you said you don't want to see us and you want to go home… I was just wondering…" Alec couldn't continue due to his racing heart beat and he knew it wasn't because he had basically just run across the entire Institute.

"You know I didn't mean you, Alec," Magnus said softly. Seeing that Alec cared enough to go after him like that put a pause on the turmoil of emotions he'd been battling with.

"Yeah. Right." Alec nodded hesitantly, but he didn't really know. He just assumed Magnus was tired of him too. Especially since he was the reason Magnus got into this messed up situation and got hurt.

"I just… Look, before you go… Can I… talk to you? In private? It will be quick, I promise." He looked at Magnus so pleadingly the warlock felt his heart beat faster. To Alec's relief, he nodded and let Alec lead the way into the housing corridor of the Institute with growing intrigue. Alec stopped at his bedroom's door and opened it for Magnus, who gave him a questioning look. Alec didn't say a word, he just looked at Magnus with determined eyes and waited until he finally stepped in his room and then, after taking a deep breath, Alec followed him and closed the door carefully behind him.

A/N: Mmmm yeah, so what's gonna happen in Alec's bedroom? ;)

Shoutout to my wonderful beta readers Sabiduria and soccergurl382, thank you to JelloDVD for the food reference and a big shoutout to soulelvi who left a review on each chapter of this story and I'm so so touched, thank you so much for the love! *.*