Lately I Been, I Been Losing Sleep

By the time Alec got to the institute it was mid afternoon. He'd been using his Clave salary to stay at a hotel on the other side of town and had gone there first to collect his things and check out. Now he walked through the quiet institute, looking for anyone who might be home. Church, whom Alec was usually on good terms with, had been irritable and entirely unhelpful. So now he wandered room to room, checking all the usual places before finally hearing voices coming from the training room.

"I'm telling you Jace, going over to his place is only going to upset him. It isn't going to fix things. Its going to piss Magnus off."

"Izzy, he is the reason Alec has pretty much dropped off the face of the earth for three weeks, I really don't care how much it pisses off Magnus. We need to do something."

"Jace, Iz is right. We really don't need a pissed off Warlock on our hands."

"Thank you Clary." By now Alec could see into the training room. They had targets set up and Izzy was attempting to get Clary to be able to roll with a bow in her hands and come up shooting. "Try not to crush your bow. You break the thing and you are dead." Izzy demonstrated and Clary grimaced. Ranged weapons were not her thing, and before Alec had taken off for three weeks he'd been the one helping her. He realized now that his leaving screwed with her training some and he felt bad for it.

"Alec will come home when he is ready to." Izzy said as Clary tried, and failed to copy her roll. "You know how Alec gets when he is upset Jace. He wants to be left alone, and I can guarantee he doesn't want us fucking with his ex-boyfriend just because we are worried about him."

"Yes but he doesn't usually run away like this." Jace said stubbornly, going over and adjusting Clary's crouch and hold on the bow. "Don't forget your anchor."

Clary sighed and rolled again. It was better this time, but she lost her balance before she could get the bow up. "UGH! Why was this easier with Alec?"

"Because the people teaching you are distracted." Alec said dropping his backpack at the door. "Tuck tighter when you roll, your roll is sloppy so you can't get up right. It will be easier to crouch if you do it that way."

They all turned, startled, to look at him. Jace crossed his arms over his chest and glared at him, while Izzy shot him an "I told you so" look. Clary simply tried his advice and got it right. She gave a little cheer as she shot the target dead on. Izzy congratulated her and then gave Alec a small smile before walking over and pulling him into a hug. He wrapped his arms around her, grateful for an excuse to look away from Jace. The Heavenly Fire was a bit brighter inside him due to his irritation and it kind of freaked him out a bit. He would have to deal with that soon, but for now he let himself feel comfort in holding onto his sister.

She pulled back slightly and looked over him, tucking his hair behind his ears. She didn't say anything but he could see the worry in her eyes. As much as she had been telling Jace to be calm about it he knew she had also had the same thoughts Jace had expressed. Alec did his best to smile at her. "I'm alright Iz," he said trying to sound reassuring and tugging at her hair. She frowned and shook her head. "No you aren't," She replied sadly. "I saw Magnus after you left. I couldn't not go and yell at him after that ya know? but when I got there I just couldn't. Alec if he loved you half as much as I know you love him, there is no way you are alright." Alec sighed and pulled her back into the hug. The hazards of your siblings being your best friends is that they worry twice as much.

"I'll be alright Iz." he said softly.

"You had better be," Jace said harshly,"Cuz if not I'm going to have a sparkly Warlock to kill." Clary shot him a look and told him to go hit something.

"Excuse him Alec, the Heavenly Fire messes with his personality sometimes." she said as Izzy pulled away and went to retrieve the failed arrow attempts across the room. Jace rolled his eyes and headed for a punching bag. The Silent Brothers had told him that physical exertion would help, and now that Alec thought about it, a good fight was almost what he needed. "Wait Jace, spar with me." Alec said heading towards the changing room.

They spared for hours, until both of them were so tired they could hardly move. It did wonders for their moods, and they soon were back to their usual relationship. Keep the body busy and the mind has a hard time thinking. It was the same idea Alec had used with the random stranger sex, only more productive. When they were done they headed to their rooms, Jace walking him to his, almost like he wanted to make sure he wouldn't disappear on him again.

"Are you really going to be ok Alec?" He asked eyeing him thoughtfully. Alec stuffed his hands in his pockets and looked down at his feet. "I don't know Jace," He admitted "I feel like I'm split down the middle. Part of me wants to do what he says and leave him alone so I can move one. But part of me feels like I'll regret it the rest of my life if I don't fight for him." Jace studied his face for a moment.

"Alec, if you love him, fight for him," He said finally."If it doesn't work and you have given it everything you have then it is on Magnus."