Simon woke to panic. The last thing he remembered was talking to Cassandra about the shadow world and then everything seemed almost like a bad movie. He had chased the mundane around her apartment, she had hit him hard with a frying pan which had given her enough time to lock herself in her bedroom. He had clawed at the door, yowling for her blood as if it was the only thing that mattered. And at that moment it had been. Then Jace, Magnus, and Raphael had been there though how they had known where he was was still fuzzy. After that he couldn't piece any memory into coherincy. Looking at his current surroundings he found himself in a dark room that smelt like it was underground. He was lying on a cot that looked like it had seen better days. The room was dark, the only reason he could see was a small sliver of light under what might have been a door and his uncanny night vision

"'Ello?" He called and his cracked voice echoed in the emptiness. There wasn't a reply and Simon wasn't sure if that was a good or bad thing. With a sigh, Simon stood only to find that he had been chained to a metal ring at the end of the bed and could only go a couple of steps towards the door before the chain was holding him back. Fear licked at his veins and he curled up on the bed, eyes wide and body tense. Hours ticked by and a thirst bubbled up in his gut and clawed at his throat.

Finally a light flicked on, illuminating the room. Simon hissed in pain as the unexpected light assaulted his eyes. The metal door across from the cot slid open and three people Simon did not want to see entered the small space. Magnus, Lily, and Raphael. Lily was straight up glaring at Simon while Magnus seemed worried and Raphael was emotionless. Feeling cornered Simon let out a small hiss and curled further in on himself. Lily, of course, hissed back earning a disapproving glare from Magnus. There was a stalemate now while everyone waited for someone else to speak. Tension rose until Magnus finally sighed.

"Sally, how are you feeling?" The warlock asked gently and Simon, who had been keeping his eyes focused on Lily, the one he perceived to be the biggest threat to him, snapped his attention to Magnus. He stared at Magnus for a moment before speaking.

"Thirsty." He rasped out. Magnus nodded.

"That's to be expected. You've been living on animal blood for a while now and that's not healthy. You've been masking the hunger but never really feeding it." Magnus said and Simon frowned.

"So what? You feed me until I'm healthy and then you kill me? Seems counterproductive." He said and Raphael said something in Spanish that might have been swears but since Simon didn't speak the language any more than to say 'hello' and 'goodbye' and to know when others were calling him an idiot but that was about it. Instead he sighed and buried his face in his knees deciding to ignore the others until they told him what they wanted. Because it was obvious that they wanted something from him and that until they got what they wanted he wouldn't be let out of this room.

"Samson! Seth, please answer me." Magnus' voice caught Simon's attention and he realized that Magnus had to have been calling his name for a couple of minutes and that he had seriously zoned out.

"Hmm?" Simon hummed lifting his head enough to barely see over his knees. His eyes felt heavy and he couldn't help but to blink slowly.

"Why is the traitor acting so...odd." That was Lily's voice. Simon wasn't sure what she meant by 'odd' but he couldn't help but let out a sigh of relief when a cool body lifted him up and wrapped itself around him.

"Drink mi sol naciente, you need your strength to answer our questions." A smooth voice said in his ear. Simon felt his head being lifted to the crook of a shoulder. There was blood pumping under the skin there yet Simon wouldn't let himself bite. Couldn't let himself bite. His mind was muddled but he knew that if he bit down there would be nothing from stopping him from draining the poor Mundane that he was currently laying on.

"Come on bebé, you have to feed." The smooth voice said and Simon shook his head, dragging his nose across the person's collarbone. A strong hand pressed him into the neck and Simon felt his fangs drop. Simon let out a whine in protest

"Please, no. Dn't wanna 'urt 'ou." He slurred. The person underneath him chuckled

"You won't hurt me idota. I'll stop you before you do." The smooth voice said but Simon refused to give in. The Mundane obviously didn't understand how much danger they were in at the moment. Simon refused to hurt them, refused to be a monster. He would be stronger than his thirst.


Magnus had to leave the cell where they were keeping Simon. Lily had left an hour ago after Raphael had told her to. Simon still wouldn't feed. It had been three hours since they had first walked into the cell and Simon refused to feed, to live. Raphael had asked for privacy and while Magnus hadn't wanted to leave, he knew the process of what Raphael was about to do was a big vampire secret.

He let his eyes slide shut, trying to block out the image of the gaunt figure that had been laying on Raphael's chest. He had looked like a holocaust victim, even feeding from Raphael in the mundane's living room hadn't made him look better. A shriek filled the air making Magnus jump. Even as it began it was gone, the sound of nails on a chalkboard and a thousand dying cats. Magnus had to keep himself from going back into the cell and forcing the two vampires away from each other. He knew he shouldn't, that it would make things worse, and that was the only thing that kept him from doing so. Another scream tore through the air, this one much more human and much longer. Pain laced the cry, an anguish that Magnus had never heard come from Simon's lips. And Magnus knew it was Simon making the sound. Raphael was not only older and therefore stronger, he was also healthier. But Simon had looked so tortured laying there in Raphael's arms while they tried anything and everything to get him to feed that the sound of the fledgling's pain was breaking his heart.

The cries rose in octave and he thought he heard a garbled 'Raph' and 'please' and maybe even his own name mixed in there. Magnus couldn't stand it any longer and quickly portaled back to his apartment. Alexander was waiting for him there, waiting for the news with a hopeful look that faded when he saw how haggard Magnus looked.

"What happened? Is Simon okay?" Alexander asked rising from the couch to help Magnus sit.

The worry that colored the Shadowhunter's voice sent a pang of guilt through the Warlock at what they were doing to the fledgling. Magnus shook his head and buried his hands in his face. Where did he even begin? What could he do to alleviate the pain that his beloved was feeling when he didn't even know if the process would work?


Raphael watched the fledgling writhe on the cot. The screams had stopped coming from his mouth but they still echoed around the room. He was naked, skin pulled tight over ribs and pelvis. Arms and legs thin as twigs. Simon's fingers were clenched in the crumpled, red stained sheets. Eyes stared unseeing at the ceiling.

His state wasn't only because of his lack of feeding, though Raphael assumed that it would have taken longer to get to this point if the fledgling had been eating properly. No, this was because of Raphael and the process of draining the fledgling. The blood that soaked the sheets on the cot and the thin mattress dripped onto the floor in a crimson mess was both too much and not enough. Raphael wanted so bad to comfort the fledgling, to tell him that this was necessary but it would be just empty words to someone who couldn't understand him.

Simon was dying again, Raphael was draining him through gashes up his arms and across his chest. This death, however, would not be hidden in the throes of lust and the high of the feed. It had been possible but Raphael wouldn't have been able to look at his fledgling after that without seeing the act. No matter what anyone would have said, it would have been rape to kill Simon like that. Finally the gaunt form fell still and Raphael carefully approached the cot. He cradled Simon's face in his hands as the last of the fledgling's blood drained out

"Shh, it's going to be alright." Raphael crooned as Simon clumsely reached up with bloody fingers to touch Raphael's cheek.

"I...I'm sorry. I don't...I don't want to go." Simon choked out and Raphael shushed him again.

"It's going to be alright Cariño. I'm going to take care of you." He murmured as he maneuvered the limp fledgling so that he could bite down on Simon's neck.

As soon as Raphael started to pump venom into the other vampire the screaming started up again. Simon clutched weakly at Raphael's hair with one hand and tried feebly to push him away with the other. Raphael could feel Simon's body die in his arms. Though the fledgling hadn't struggled much there had been quite a bit of tension in his body. Slowly, the fledgling slumped in Raphael's grip, the hand that had been pushing at his chest slackened, the tension in the throat under Raphael's fangs gave out, and the hand in his hair laid to rest limply on Raphael's back. It was only then that Raphael realized Simon hadn't been mindlessly screaming. He had been screaming a word. A name. Raphael's name.

"Lo siento, mi sol naciente." Raphael murmured into the fledgling's neck. As expected, there was no reply.