Story: „Just Alec, now"

Chapter 11: Trustworthy

Rating Story: NC-17

Rating Chapter: R

Warning(s): AU/AH, mature content, swearing, language

Pairings: Malec, Jem/Will (TID)

Disclaimer: Cassandra Clare thought of the wonderful world of the mortal instruments and infernal devices. I just play with them and change their life a bit (HA I change it drastically!)

AN: next chapter a lot early than the last =D *hides behind rocks*

"Hey Dragon there is someone to see ya!" Will was turning around to the annoying voice of his colleague who has taken a liking to calling him "dragon", "red dragon", "welsh dragon" or anything dragon related he could come up with. The raven haired man sighed and closed the file he was looking at.

"And who is my mysterious visitor?" There weren't any visitors registered for today as there hadn't been a new lead in his case.

"Your son. You haven't told me you had one. Thought it was just your cousin living with you."

Will paused in getting up. The only person who fit the description was Alec and there wasn't a reason he could think of why Alec would be coming to his working place instead of waiting until he came home and shouldn't he still be in school? He sighed and walked over to the room indicated by his colleague.

Alec was standing at the windows looking at the city outside. He had a visitor's badge on his jumper and his coat and bag were hanging from the hallstand beside the door. The teen was sipping something from a styrofoam cup someone must have gotten him before they called for Will.

"Alec? Is there something wrong?"

The raven haired youth shook his head not looking at him. Will closed the door and sat down at the table waiting for Alec to make the first move. He had learned when dealing with teenagers with a past as Alec's or Magnus' that being patient is the best way to get them to talk.

"When I met Magnus on that very first day, he asked me if I trusted him. I obviously did as I went with a person I didn't know and trusted him to take me to a place far away from the place I was coming from. He asked me to trust you and Jem and again I did that without hesitation because I could feel how good you were for each other, how well you treated each other."

The raven haired teen fell silent again and looked outside again mulling over what he should say next. After Magnus' confession the week before he had been thinking about going to his guardians or Magnus and just tell everything what had happened at the Institute. He turned around and sat opposite his guardian. The young man looked at the table circling what seemed to be a burn mark from a cigarette.

"I think Jem had his suspicions where I had been before and I think so did you. Magnus certainly had his own suspicions. But after last week after what Magnus has told me or that time when Jem had a seicure and you trusted me with your pasts I still kept silent. And I can't do that any longer."

Alec looked up from the table and looked Will directly in the eyes. His eyes were shining with unshead tears and his voice was getting a little rough from the emotional turmoil he was going through.

"My name is Gideon Alexander Lightwood and my biological family sold me to the Institute to be prostituted."

Will was gaping at Alec who was now crying silently still looking at his guardian. In all the weeks he had been living with them, in all the weeks that Will had suspected Alec could be the boy 'Gee' from the interrogation in December, he had hoped that that was not the case. And here the very boy was sitting waiting for the adult he trusted to say something , to do something, to make him feel better. Within seconds he was next to Alec and hugged him close and let him cry into his shoulder. Just a week ago Alec had been crying onto his chest when he - by coincidence, Will was sure of that - walked past the former Institute.

"Hey Dragon... Oh damn Will you shouldn't make your kid cry no matter what he did. We all skipped school once or twice."

Growling under his breath because that wasn't just the right time, he called out to his colleague "Get me Jocelyn, now!". Within minutes a woman with dark red hair was standing in the small visitor's office. Will looked up to her as he handed Alec a handkerchief.

"I need to call Jem. He has to be here for this conversation."

The older man got his mobile from his pocket and tried to call Jem. Appearently the other man was occupied so Will left him a message. The woman had taken a seat at the table looking at the two. She wasn't sure why she was needed here. She was Will's partner for the Institute-case and not a councellor when it came to illegitimate children. As she was about to voice her thought, Alec looked at her.

"Oh my gosh. You're Gee."

The teen frowned at the woman sitting opposite him. Where did she get that name? Only the people at the Institute were calling him that. It was intended as an abbreviation for his name and his 'new name' within the Institute. The woman - who Alec pressumed was Jocelyn - was getting up again and walked outside. When she came back she had a laptop, a file folder and a recording device with her.

"Where did you find him, Will? The guy told us he was gone. Oh my gosh. That will be get us to move foreward."

The older man looked annoyed at his partner. She was entirely too excited for someone who was schooled in dealing with distressed teenagers.

"Would you mind to shut up, Jocelyn? I didn't 'find him' as you call it. That is Alec. You know my ward Alec and Magnus' boyfriend."

She slumped back into her chair.

"Then I really don't know what I should be doing here. I'm not some baby-sitter. Especially as you are still here."

"That is because he is related to the case. Jem is on his way and as soon as he is here, we will start. Until then, please don't sadden my kid any further."

She huffed and got her equipment ready murmuring under her breath.

Jem came twenty minutes later. He was sitting next to Alec as moral support and as his guardian while Will and Jocelyn took the other side of the table. A bottle of water was standing in front of Alec and tea was cooling in the mug standing next to Jem. The gray haired man was sitting as close as possible next to his ward without touching him. Jocelyn was tipping away on her laptop and getting the recording device ready. When she was done she nodded at Will who opened a file folder.

Alec could see several photographs of buildings similiar to the one he had been standing in front of that night last week. There was a map with red dots on it which were connected by a red line.

"January 9th, 2008. Interview of witness Alexander Michael Herondale, born September 19, 1992. His guardian James Carstairs is present. Interview by Agent William Herondale and Agent Jocelyn Fray."

Will looked at Alec. The teen was bitting his lip. When they had thought up a name for their new ward without knowing his past, they hadn't thought that one day it would be stated on one of the interrogation tapes.

"Please state your birth name for the record."

"Gideon Alexander Lightwood."

"Where are you born, Alec?"

"Idris, New England."

"How long have you been living with your guardians?"

"Since September 4, 2007."

"How did you come to live with your guardians?"

"I ran their ward Magnus over and destroyed a cake in the process."

Will snorted at Alecs blunt reply to his question. Taking a deep breath he continued questioning the boy.

"Why were you running into Magnus?"

"I was trying to get away from .. that place."

"Could you specify what you mean by 'that place'?"

"The... the Institute."

"Could you describe the Institute for me?"

"It was a brick buidling. One of the old ones. Four storeys high with a small back yard. A golden plaque was installed at the right side of the door."

Will got one of the pictures from the file folder and held it up for Alec to see.

"Agent Herondale showing witness picture of last known shelter of the Institute in Manhatten, New York City. Was it this building, Alec?"

The teen took a look at the building.

"Yes."

"Could you describe the place on the inside for me?"

"I haven't seen much. When I arrived it was dark and the headmaster was leading us towards his office. It was on the second floor. The rooms were on the third and fourth floor. New boys were sleeping in a twin room with an attached toilet. The older ones got their own bedrooms upstairs. There were rooms on the second floor where the classes were held in the morning. In the afternoon we moved to the infirmary on the ground floor. There were rooms in the basement where I haven't been."

"You said 'us'. Who was with you at that time, Alec?"

The teenager bit his lip and looked uncertain from one guardian to the other.

"Robert Lightwood. My father."

Silence descended around the room. Even Jocelyn had stopped tipping on the laptop and looked at Alec.

"Your father brought you to the Institute?"

"Yes. He paid $2000 to leave me with those people."

"Short break for witness."

Will stopped the recording device and looked at Alec then at Jem whose knuckles were turning white. He could see the rage building in his partner's eyes. When Alec had said hat he had been sold to the Institute Will hadn't taken it that literally. But hearing the sum of $2000 for the life of a child. That little sum of money to get rid of a child.

Jem stood up and went outside. He couldn't sit still any longer. What was this Robert thinking when he sold Alec - sweet polite Alec - to the Institute? Will had told him the essentials of his case. That it wasn't an easy one, that children were involved and that some of them turned up dead on the streets of New York. Will hadn't told him what the report of the coroner said but whenever his partner got too silent and brooding he knew that something terrible must have happened to those children. He walked to the stairs needing some fresh air or a sandbag - whatever came first.

Huffing he made his way upstairs. He thought about last week when Magnus had told Alec about his past. That awful night when afterwards he couldn't get any sleep because having to hear the story of the green eyed teen again made him think about the time when he himself was addicted to his medication, when he searched the back streets of New York for men willing to pay for... He punched the nearest wall. The pain made him forget about his train of thoughts but it made him feel dizzy. He sat down and took a deep breath. He could feel the panic attack coming and tried to prevent the most of it. He needed to be strong for Alec, for what the young teen would tell them about those weeks before he came to their home.

"Feeling better now? You should let somebody take a look at your hand."

Of course Will would find him here. His partner had always known where to find him even before when they were 'only' schoolmates and then friends. A bottle of water was pressed in his hands and he took a sip of the clear cold water.

"Did you leave Alec with Jocelyn? I don't think he likes her."

Will just snorted and took a step to the side to reveal the teen standing behind the older man. Concerned blue eyes were watching him. To reassure the teen that everything was alright the gray haired man smiled at the teen and took another sip of his bottle. Feeling a lot calmer than moments before he stood up and took the teen's hand in his walking with him downstairs back to the small visitor's office. A resolve was forming in his mind: when today was over he would take some time off and drive with Alec and Magnus to a small farm near a lake outside New York. His oncle had aquired it when he was a young man himself and let Jem use it whenever he needed a rest from his life in New York.

"Continuation of Witness interview of Alexander Michael Herondale. Gaurdian and Agents still present."

Will had closed the fill folder. There wasn't anything inside for Alec to see. He thought about his next questions.

"Could you tell me about the inhabitants of the Institute? Were there many boys?"

"I don't know. I have only every seen the headmaster, our teachers and the doctor. Beside me there was Adam. We shared a room on the third floor. He told me about the book. There were two others in my classes. I don't know their names."

"What book did Adam tell you about?"

"The book which contained every information about all the boys who ever lived in the Institute."

Will could feel Jocelyn freeze next to him. That was news and if they got a hold of the book they could hunt the families of the children down and see who else was behind the Institute.

"Do you remember anything else from the book?"

Alec shook his head. He had searched for his name and not looked at the names in the book.

"It was rather thick and old. It smelled like the books in the library which don't get read too often."

"Do you remeber the names of the adults? The headmaster or the teachers?"

"The teachers were called Miller and Smith. They left as soon the classes were over. I wasn't looking much at them. The headmaster's name was Hodge Starkweather. He had a golden plaque standing on his desk with his name and 'headmaster' underneath. I hit him with it when I ran away."

"You.. hit him with the plaque?"

"Yes. He was bleeding when I left his room. Can I get in trouble for hitting him? Do ... do you think I killed him?"

"Could you describe him to one of our photofit picture experts?"

Alec just nodded as an answer. He could tell that Will wanted to reassure him that he hadn't killed the man but what if the hit to his head had resulted in him bleeding to death on his own floor? Alec didn't feel too well any more. He swallowed heavily.

"Do you need another break, Alec? You look rather sick."

The teen just shook his head. Better to be over it than having to sit here till the end of the day.

"Okay. Last question for now: have you ever seen other man in the building? Someone who had looked like a business man or something like that?"

The teen frowned. He hadn't seen many people coming to the Institute. There were mostly men coming in the evening but he hadn't seen them in person. There was just...

"There was this man. He was visiting our health class one afternoon. He looked at every one of us. He was tall, at least as tall as Will, maybe taller. He had brown hair. But his eyes. He had green eyes. A lot darker than Magnus' and there was something dark in them. They didn't tell us his name."

Will was rummaging through the folder in front of him. He had seen man before, remembered the dark look in his eyes. At least he found the picture he was searching for and held it up for Alec to see.

"Was it this man that visited that afternoon?"

"Yes. That's him. But he didn't have a mustache."

"Thank you, Alec. It is an older picture of the man." Will took a deep breath and turned to the recording device. "Witness Alexander has confirmed seeing Asmodeus Bane in the Institute. End of interview."

Jocelyn was packing her things up and took the recording device to get the interview rerecorded for their data base. She was eyeing Jem who was gripping his water bottle tightly. Alec was still looking unsure of the disovery they just had made. Asmodeus Bane was Magnus' biological father and appearently he had some strings to the Institute. Will was leaning back in his chair waiting for the photofit expert while he looked at his partner. Ever since he had heard the story of Magnus he had wanted to arrest Bane for using his own son in his productions. But everytime they got close to finding a lead of Bane being part or maybe even the head of a group who sold pictures and movies of young boys and teens to other pedophiles they ran straight into a wall of silence. Magnus' testimony three years ago wasn't good enough for the divisoins' leader. As his ward was a known drug addict and was arrested while he tried to buy more his chief officer told him that even if Magnus was a good boy his statement was a waste of time to investigate. Then Agent Garroway came along and listened to him and they started the investigation of a rumour going around New York.

"Please tell me, that Asmodeus Bane hasn't gotten his hands on other boys."

Will blinked at the sudden outburst from Jem. The man had been silent through all the interview and Will had wondered when it would get the better of his partner.

"Jem..."

"Don't Jem me, William! I want to know if you have evidence that Asmodeus Bane is involved in this case!"

"You know that I can't tell you about an on-going investigation."

Jem stared at the raven haired man and Alec who had been watching those two knew that this wasn't the end of this conversation. When the expert arrived Will excused himself with a kiss to Jem's forehead. Alec blushed because he had never seen his guardians exchanging displays of affection outside of their loft and he hadn't taken Will for one to openly show his co-workers that he was in a relationship with the gray haired doctor.

When the expert was done they had a very accurate picture of Hodge Starkweather for the data base. Alec shuddered when he thought about the man and what he had told him what was waiting for him. Jem led him out of the building to the closest subway station. The sun was already setting and Alec wondered if one of his guardians had thought about to call Magnus and inform him of their late arrival.

After a 15 minutes ride they stopped at the chinese restaurant close to their loft and Jem got them something to eat later. Magnus had been informed by the look of him lounging on the couch with the chairman on his chest while the teen watched one of his favourite shows. He looked up as Alec and Jem entered the loft and got up to help them get the food ready. They ate in silence and left some of Will's favourite for later.

The other man came home two hours later. The teenagers had gone to bed early and the loft was dark. He walked to the kitchen and reheated the chinese food waiting for him in the fridge.

"Will? Is that you?"

The sleepy voice of his partner made him look up. Appearently Jem had fallen asleep on the couch.

"No I'm some burglar who likes chinese food more than your money."

He walked with his food over to the couch. The gray haired man sat up when the older man took a seat next to him on the couch.

"Are you telling me now? You know about before?"

"Has Alec talked to Magnus about the weeks before he arrived here?"

"Don't evade my question, William. But yes he did and Magnus threw a cup on the floor breaking it."

Will smiled at Magnus action. He could see the small dent on the laminate.

"Have I ever told you why I was visiting Asmodeus Bane when I arrived in New York?"

Jem scowled at the raven haired man. He was still evading his question. But still corious he shook his head.

"Henry send me to my father's cousin to inform him that he still had an eye on him. Asmodeus had a lazy smirk on his face when I told him that and minutes later a boy of eleven walked inside the room saying 'Daddy I'm home. Can we go play now?'. I didn't know what to make of that. Asmodeus send his son - his biological son - outside until he was done and wouldn't he want to say hello to his cousin? He was so shy, Jem. Big green eyes and just so adorable and then this man came along and changed him into this sarcastic drug addict and abused shadow. I don't want that ever to happen again to anyone. When I saw him that night in the police station because we had found another body of a young boy, I was just thinking 'get him out of there'. And now three years later there was Alec. And I hoped that Asmodeus hadn't been on him already and now he's saying that he had been to the Institute and, Jem, that is my chance to get him. To get this swine and get him arrested. To make sure that those two and any other boy will be living without the fear of meeting the fate of Alec or Magnus."

Jem touched Will's face and gently wipped the tears away the other man wasn't even aware had escaped.

"I'm taking Alec and Magnus to the little farm by the lake tomorrow. Do you think you can come with us?"

"I'll drive you there but I can't promise to stay. I'll try to come in the evening."

Jem just hummed his reponse laying back down on the couch and taking Will with him. It wasn't often that the older man needed Jem's reassurance, that he cried in front of the gray haired man. For Jem that was Will's sign of trusting him fully, that he was trustworthy enough to cry on his shoulder and make him feel better.

Guest: thank you for your review. I didn't know where really to go with this. I'm glad that the plot bunny hopped by and got me the idea to continue.

blacknblu30: thanks for your review. I tried to make "my" Magnus a bit different from the others.