Jace pressed a hand to his Parabatai rune as he ran. He could feel Alec's energy waning, and knew he couldn't take on a vamp by himself with so little strength. But he also knew that Alec was smart and resourceful, so he wasn't completely panicked until he felt it. A distant stab of pain, like teeth sinking into flesh.
It didn't take a genius to figure out what that meant, and Jace ran faster, trying to get to his brother before his strength drained altogether.
Jace had been shadowhunting a long time, and he'd been in some pretty sticky situations with Alec, but he never quite got used to seeing one of his siblings injured.
He skidded around a corner, following their Parabatai bond, and there he was.
He was sprawled out on the concrete, face turned towards Jace, skin pale and eyes closed, with the vampire attached to his neck.
Everything went white, all sound muted, as Jace's world tipped. Alec looked dead. But his Parabatai rune told him otherwise, and if he didn't start moving again he would lose him. Jace's shadowhunter training kicked in and his world snapped back into focus, all at once. He would save Alec.
Jace surged forward, screaming, seraph blade raised.
"Get off him you leech!"
Irene was so blood drunk, it took her a moment before she released Alec and hissed at Jace. He swung his blade at her, fury burning through him, and she dodged before tripping on Alec's arm and falling back to the ground.
Alec had been sent to arrest Irene, but if Jace didn't get to Alec right now he could die and it would be Irene's doing. Clave law dictated that she be killed, so Jace could get to his brother.
He brought the blade down on her, watching as her cold face turned to a soft smile, with peacefully closed eyes. She was happy to finally be released from this world and sent to the next where her love resided.
She crumpled to dust as the seraph blade ran through her and Jace quickly threw the weapon down and knelt by Alec's side.
Vampires had a peculiar side effect, much like mosquitos, where their bite provided anti-clotting agents to the puncture wound so that they could drink ad much blood as they liked, unheeded.
And this meant, that without Irene's teeth there, blood poured from the wound in Alec's neck, staining the pale skin of his neck and running down onto the concrete.
Jace pressed his hands tightly to the punctures, cursing at how cold his brother was.
"Fuck, Alec. Why would you go on a hunt by yourself? Why couldn't you just call me?"
The air beside him shivered and spun, opening a portal as Magnus stepped through.
His face immediately turned a shade paler and his breath froze in his chest. Jace looked up at him, frantic.
"Magnus do something, he's bleeding out!"
The warlock knelt and clicked his fingers, igniting his magic in blue flames. He nodded at Jace, waiting for him to remove his blood-soaked hands, and pressed his own to the wound.
He had dealt with injuries before, many more that were messier than this, but when it was Alexander's blood sliding beneath his fingers, it meant something very different.
He felt nauseous and tried to concentrate on the task at hand, pressing his magic to the shadowhunter and tried closing the wound on his neck.
He could feel how cold Alec was and knew he'd lost a lot of blood. That, along with the fact that he'd been over worked and draining his energy with stamina runes, meant they had to work fast or risk losing him. But his magic wasn't working.
Jace groaned in pain and gasped as his hand flew to his Parabatai rune. Alec was growing weaker and he could feel their bond slipping away.
"No, Alec. Stay with me."
Magnus pressed his hand tighter to Alec's neck, trying to stop the blood, and called his magic stronger. But nothing happened, Alec was too weak to heal. Healing someone and bringing them back from the dead were too very different spells and at that moment, Alec was too close to being dead for the magic to work.
Mangus cursed, ancient and harsh words flying from his mouth.
"I can't heal him! He's too far gone!"
Jace looked down at his brother, horrified. His chest wasn't moving.
He quickly sprang up to his knees, lacing his fingers over Alec's chest.
"Dammit! Breathe, Alec! Come back!"
Magnus kept his hand pressed to the wound, shaking as he watched Jace count out compressions, yelling out in between counts.
"I'm not losing you!"
Magnus's world was silent as he watched Alec's chest dip under Jace's hands. He wasn't breathing, and he couldn't heal him. For all his years on this god forsaken earth, all his knowledge and all his magic, he could do nothing if Alec didn't start breathing.
He had finally found a reason for living again, someone to love. And he was being taken away.
He could feel the blood, sliding beneath his fingers, growing cold, and he didn't know what he would do if Alec didn't make it.
Finally, after two more sets of compressions and more yelling from Jace, Alec finally dragged in a breath. His chest rose and fell, and while it was slow and uneven, he was breathing.
Magnus snapped back to attention and called to his magic once again, praying that it would work. He held his breath as he watched the blue flames of magic soak into Alec's skin, and only allowed himself to breathe once he felt the wounds closing.
Jace sighed in relief as Magnus' hands came away, revealing a blood stained but healed neck.
He knew they weren't out of the woods yet, though, and placed his fingers against his brother's throat.
"His pulse is weak, we need to get him somewhere safe and warm him up before he goes into shock."
They were both shaking and gasping from the scare but Magnus nodded, already creating a portal behind him as he brushed Alec's hair back and bent down to kiss his forehead.
"It's all right, love. We'll get you home, just hang on."
Jace began arranging Alec in his arms, carefully sliding his hands under his prone body, and lifting him up to sit against his chest. He wrapped an arm around him, the other taking Alec's hand in his as he squeezed, talking quietly into his ear.
"You better not leave me, Alec, I swear by the angel I will drag you back to the world of the living and kick your ass." His voice cracked with emotion despite how much he tried to stay angry.
"You aren't allowed to leave me."
Magnus felt his own throat tighten with emotion and he quickly pulled the portal towards them, transporting them all to his apartment.
Magnus began racing around, grabbing things, as soon as the portal closed, calling out instructions to Jace.
"Share your strength with him, and keep him warm. I need to grab a few things."
The shadowhunter nodded and let go of Alec's hand to pick up his stele, drawing a rune on his palm before he did the same to Alec's. He drew a few iratze's as well for good measure, but they wouldn't take, further worrying Jace.
"The runes aren't working?"
Magnus came back to his side, wrapping blankets around Alec and dropping a few vials and bottles to the floor. He nodded sombrely at Jace.
"His angelic power is drained. Overusing the runes makes them weak and since he has limited energy the runes use up the energy coming from his angelic blood. He's severally drained and they won't work for a while. Just share your energy with him, it'll help me get him stabilized."
Jace did as he was told, taking Alec's hand in his own, the rune burning between their palms before giving way and linking them. Jace sighed as his energy was siphoned off to his Parabatai.
Magnus was still messing with some vials, opening a couple and taking bits and pieces from them to add to a pot boiling beside him. The pot was sitting on flames of magic, leaving the carpet unharmed as it heated the potion being made. The warlock spun it gently before waving a hand over it, extinguishing the flames and cooling it enough to feed it to Alec.
He looked calmer now as he gently tipped his loves head back and fed him the concoction.
Jace watched as Magnus's shoulders dropped, his muscles unwinding as he relaxed.
"Is he going to be okay?"
Magnus nodded. "I believe so. It will take some time for him to recover but the potion I just gave him should replenish his lost blood and keep him warm. He just needs rest now."
Jace could almost cry, he was so relieved. He sighed, exhausted from the excitement, and held Alec closer to him, squeezing his hand.
"We got you brother."
The two lifted Alec into bed, Jace never letting go of his hand, and tucked him in. Jace was fretting over the blankets while Magnus clicked his fingers, cleaning away all the blood while simultaneously switching Alec's hunting gear to some sweats. The warlock sat on the edge of the bed and ran a hand through his boyfriend's hair. That handsome face was peaceful, but not in the soft way it was when he slept, it was more…empty; as if Alec was no longer there at all.
He sniffed a little as he ran a gentle finger down the pale shadowhunters cheek, thoughts dissipating as Jace spoke.
"How are you so calm?"
Magnus looked over at the boy. He was so young, sitting beside the bed and still holding his brothers hand. He was so young and yet he looked as if he had the weight of the entire world on his shoulders. Alec often looked that way too.
"I may not be shattering on the outside but believe me, I am far from calm."
He looked back to his boyfriend, laying so still and cold. Jace's voice was soft and kind, despite the harsh nature of his words.
"Then show me. You don't have to wear a mask around us."
Magnus closed his eyes, stripping away his glamour, before opening them and revealing his cat eyes to Jace. They were filled with tears and heartbroken, just as his voice was.
"He's never this still when he sleeps. Did you know?"
Jace watched Magnus, finally seeing the ever in control warlock, break just a little. He nodded at the question, he did know. He and Alec had shared a room as children and Alec was always tossing and turning in his sleep, muttering things and making noises. It had annoyed him to no end but when he'd finally gotten his own room, he'd found he missed it.
Magnus continued, curling up on the bed and resting his head delicately on Alec's shoulder, arm wrapping around the shadowhunters chest.
"He likes to move while he dreams. The first night we spent together, he was worried about falling asleep because he didn't want to move too much and disturb me. He said it may be easier if he had something to hold, and that smile of his lit up the whole room, even in the dark. I lay on his chest, like this, and he wrapped his arms around me. He still moved in his sleep, but it was always to rub my back or hug me tighter. And after just one night, I knew I never wanted to be without him."
"I know what you do is dangerous, and that one day I will lose him. I say goodbye to him every morning, knowing that he may not come back. So, the only reason I seem calm is because if I don't pretend that I am, I never will be."
Jace knew that feeling very well. Being raised as a shadowhunter meant always knowing that people die and your loved ones may not come back. Jace had almost died on several occasions, and had lived through, what he thought was, his father's death. But he had never been more afraid than when he'd seen Alec lying in that alley.
He held Alec's hand tighter and swallowed his grief. Magnus may be hundreds of years old but he needed a break, he needed someone else to be the strong one for now.
"You sleep, I'll keep watching him."
Magnus looked like he wanted to protest but changed his mind, closing his eyes and sucking in a shaky breath as he tried to calm himself enough to sleep. He just wanted his shadowhunter to be okay, and he hoped that in the morning, he would be.