Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters and stuff, they are Cassandra Clare's

The Present:

Strong hands gripped his waist and hot breath tickled his left ear. "Welcome to London."

Magnus pushed his head in to the crook of Alec's neck, hugging him from behind. Sharp lashings of rain blew in to their faces Alec looked down at the small black suitcase at his feet. It looked drenched and he couldn't quite remember if it was meant to be waterproof ... it didn't look like it was.

His first glimpses of the UK didn't exactly match the postcards. Sure, there were big red double-decker buses storming down the road and shining black cabs beetling along. There was Big Ben standing tall and proud, dominating the city sky-line. Yes, it was definitely London. But right now, through a veil of rain, all he could concentrate on was the bustling crowd and roaring traffic. It was all just too ... busy. They had been through so many cities across the world now and they all shared this tense atmosphere. Nevertheless the crowds made the same effect on him, his hands twitched nervously in the face of such a vast unknown. He half expected a demon to pop out at any second.

In some respects he wished he could just return to the Institute. It might not be the warmest or most inviting of places but it was his home. He knew every nook and cranny of the old Church. Alec had never before realised how much of a comfort it was after a day's work to go back there and know he was safe, at least for a little bit.

He wasn't frightened of being away from home, but his own paranoia kept him on the edge of his toes at all times despite the fact that he was meant to be on holiday. Magnus had been respectful of his nerves and hadn't snapped once when Alec inevitably drew the conversation round to whether the man at the bar was a downworlder or whether the murders in the paper were due to supernatural forces.

The only thing Magnus had insisted on was that no steles or seraph blades, in fact no Shadowhunter gear of any kind should leave their hotel room. It had taken Alec awhile to agree but nevertheless he had relented and had kept to the rule ever since.

"Now we just need to find the hotel." Magnus was standing in front of him now, glittering suitcase in hand. Today the suitcase was purple; its colour seemed to change every day.

Alec concentrated on the warlock in an effort to disregard the distracting crowd. "What's it called?"

Magnus laughed, "That's for me to know and for you to find out. Come on, let's find a taxi."

Magnus was already strolling off before Alec could bend down and grab the handle of his suitcase. He wished he had got one with wheels, he felt so awkward heaving the bulky thing around everywhere. He half scowled at the warlocks back. The thing would be less than half as heavy if Magnus hadn't come around and stuffed inessentials in to it.

Magnus looked back at him quickly as if he could feel the Shadowhunter's gaze burning in to his back. He smiled unconvincingly and grabbed at Alec's free hand.

"Are you alright?" he asked in earnest.

"Of course." Alec's voice sounded as if it were far away and he didn't even bother to look at Magnus as he spoke.

For some reason there had been tension between them since they first stepped out of the portal in to London. Magnus couldn't think of any reason why but then there had been a kind of tension growing between them since the beginning of the trip. Alec just seemed so closed off to him.

But why? He had thought the trip would help them open up to each other but it only seemed to bring them further apart. He sighed sadly, but tried to smile again when he saw Alec look up at him. Then their eyes parted again although their hands remained entwined.

Eventually they reached a taxi rank. Magnus let go of Alec's hand to tap the window. He whispered quickly to the driver who nodded with a bored expression pasted across his face.

Magnus turned to Alec, "You can get in," he motioned with his hand in the direction of the taxi.

"I'll put the cases in the trunk."

"Are you sure you don't want a hand?" Alec asked.

"Nah, I'm fine darlin'."

Alec nodded slightly and passed his suitcase to Magnus before getting in to the taxi.

Magnus shook his head slightly before dragging the two cases to the back and popping up the trunk. As he heaved the cases in to the taxi a scene across the road caught his eye.

Two young looking people were clutching on to each other. One, a man, was leaning against the side wall of an old bookshop. He was wearing an ostentatious black top hat which had a green ribbon wrapped around it. Apart from the hat he looked normal enough, with scruffy, paint stained jeans and a faded green t-shirt. A tall woman stood in front of him with her hands gripping at his t-shirt. She was taller than the man. She had long dark blonde hair that seemed to have red and brown highlights. Her long floral dress clung to her figure, soaked by the rain. Magnus wasn't sure what about the pair in particular had attracted his attention. Perhaps it was how thin their clothing seemed despite the rain.

The man seemed to notice him watching them and the woman turned around as well. She licked her lips suddenly and that was when Magnus saw that she had a forked tongue like a snake. The man too was odd, he had hands with claw like nails. They were warlocks.

They stood staring at Magnus, and Magnus stared back at them, each uninterrupted by the traffic whizzing past in-between them. Magnus broke the link first. What does it matter that there are warlocks in London? There are warlocks everywhere, kit makes no difference. They're nothing special.

He slammed the boot of the taxi closed and got in without giving the couple another look and quickly forgot that he had seen them at all.

That was a mistake.