I'm not completely satisfied by how this chapter turned out, but I didn't want to ende the week without an update, now I'm off to celebrate my birthday (February 28! :D) Anyway I hope it's decent enough. Have a nice reading! Please review, since I'm not sure Ipulled off writing from Magnus perspective.

Chapter 5: Under my skin

Too close to breathe he came to me

Under my skin, making me high

I didn't look for what I see

To less to live too much to die

Of love

-Too close to breathe by Xandria

There were not many things that could take someone as experienced and old as Magnus Bane by surprise, a call from a worried shadowhunter girl at such an ungodly hour –That is, 8 am- Did however surprise him, quite a lot actually.

"Who dares awaken the High Warlock of Brooklyn so early in the morning?" Magnus mumbled into his cellphone.

"There's no time for your antics Magnus, I think there's something wrong with Alec" the voice at the other end of the line sounded worried and tired. It took the warlock's sleep-deprived brain a moment to realize he was talking to Isabelle, but once her words sank in he shot up from his bed, fully alert.

"How do you mean?"

"He's been acting weird ever since that strange demon attack a few days ago, he almost never comes out of his room, I haven't seen him eat and yesterday, while on patrol he killed a rogue vampire in such a detached, cold way, it was a bit frightening".

Magnus didn't allow his raising panic to infiltrate his voice when he spoke again "What do you think I can do? Why did you call me?"

There was a short silence on Isabelle's part that Magnus didn't know how to interpret

"What do you think? Come here, talk to him and show him you care! Maybe he will open up to you if no one else"

"I can't…" He muttered into the phone "You know I can't do it"

It wasn't because he didn't want to see Alec, it was the opposite. He wanted to see him too much; he had already kissed him the last time they were in a room together. He had forgiven his ex-boyfriend almost from the moment he had betrayed him, but that didn't mean the warlock was ready to go back to a relationship with such obvious trust issues.

But this was Alexander, merely being in his presence made Magnus want to kiss him senseless, hence he had kept as great a distance as possible, which was not that hard, taking New York's size into consideration.

"Get your mind out of the gutter" Isabelle yelled into the phone "You were the one that begged me to call you if something was wrong with Alec, and now you are not willing to come check on him?"

"I meant his health!" Magnus roared "Is there something physically wrong with him?" he honestly hoped the answer was no. Please, Alexander has to be alright.

"I don't know" Came Isabelle's honest answer "He looks paler than usual, and the bags under his eyes make me think he hasn´t been sleeping much and I told you I haven't seen him eat, but Magnus, he killed a downworlder, stabbed him when his back was turned! Even if the vampire was crazy, does that sound like something Alec, our Alec would do?"

No, it didn´t. Noble, gentle Alexander, who was used to protecting instead of attacking, his Alexander killing a demon in cold blood? At first he had refused to let Isabelle's fears affect him, but now he was starting to panic. He needed to make sure his beloved shadowhunter was ok.

"I'll be there in a few minutes" was the simple answer he choked out, rummaging through his closet for the first set of clothes he could find.

A short "Thank you" on Isabelle's part ended the phone call, leaving Magnus alone with his thoughts.

He needed to hurry, he had to talk to Alec and be sure that nothing too serious was going on with him. Isabelle worried too much and after Max, who could blame her but surely Alexander was fine. He had to be!

Twenty minutes later the warlock exited his loft at a brisk pace, he would have portaled but he wasn't sure he could with the renewed wards that had been placed around all the institutes of the world, besides, the more paranoid side of Magnus warned him against the thought in case he needed his magic to help Alexander.

He arrived at the institute almost an hour after his call with Isabelle, and it was her who greeted him at the door upon his entrance.

"Thanks again, I know how difficult this is for you"

Magnus shrugged, in a motion he hoped looked nonchalant "Where is he?"

"Upstairs" she said "I've told you, he doesn't come out of his room very much, and when he does he doesn't talk to us, he practices with his bow and then goes back to his room"

They didn't say anything more, together they headed up the long stairs to the second floor, where Jace was standing, leaning on the wall at the top of the staircase, he turned to them, his golden gaze meeting both sets of eyes.

"To what do we owe the pleasure Bane?" He said, though there was no real bite behind his words.

"Your sister told me about Alexander's recent behavior and asked me to check on him"

Jace scoffed "Good luck with that, he doesn't talk to anyone"

Magnus narrowed his green-gold eyes at him, annoyed at the fact that everyone seemed to notice something had been wrong with Alec for DAYS and no one tried to do much about it, except get him to try and solve the problem.

"I'll MAKE him talk to ME" The warlock hissed between clenched teeth. He turned away from the golden haired shadowhunter and headed down the corridor with Isabelle on his heels.

"He doesn't mean to be to be so annoying" Isabelle said pleadingly, turning to look behind her for a moment "He's just angry because even though he is Alec's parabatai, he doesn't know what's wrong with our brother"

Magnus nodded but kept silent, the situation had to be worst that they were letting on, if everyone was so tense. The warlock was so deep in thought, he almost didn't notice that they had stopped in front of Alexander's door and his sister was already knocking.

"What is it?" came a muffled voice at the other side of the door, it took Magnus a moment to realize that it was Alec speaking, he sounded….sick? Weak? Anyway, he did not sound good, which only served to fuel the warlock's worry even further.

"It's me Alec, please open the door" Isabelle told him, placing her index finger in her mouth, beckoning Magnus to stay quiet.

The warlock heard a tired sigh from inside the room before Alec spoke again "For the hundredth time Izzy, I'm ok, you don't need to worry"

"Someone's here to see you" she replied while knocking on the door without pause, either she planned to annoy her brother into compliance or she was getting back at him for whatever was going on between them.

At last, the door cracked open and Magnus had the first glimpse of his blue-eyed shadowhunter in nearly a week. What he saw shocked him. Alexander looked sickly pale, he had bags under his eyes and he looked thin to point of seeming bony. Isabelle was right, there was something wrong with him.

The shadowhunter's eyes widened in surprise once he realized who his unexpected visitor was, he gapped at Magnus like a fish, and it took him a few seconds to finally manage to speak.

"Wh-what are you doing here?" he stuttered out.

"Isabelle told me you still looked sick" was Magnus simple reply "I came here to check on your health"

Alec grimaced "I'm fine" he looked behind Magnus, to stare his sister in the eyes "You are overreacting".

Isabelle shrugged, hiding her worry and annoyance "Might be so, but it wouldn't hurt to make sure, besides, it's about damn time you two sort things out"

With that, she turned away from them and walked back up the long corridor in Jace's general direction, leaving Magnus and Alec standing awkwardly in front of each other outside the shadowhunter's room.

"So…" Magnus began, not quite knowing what to say "Should we stay standing here? I don't really mind, but it is quite uncomfortable"

Alec shifted from foot to foot "Uh, yeah…Do you want to come in?"

"If it isn't too bothersome, I do need to give you a checkup before your sister murders me with that deadly whip of hers"

The dark-haired Nephilim sighed "I've told you, I'm fine, just a bit tired" Alec opened his door a bit wider and motioned for Magnus to come inside, it was then that the warlock noticed Clary sitting on Alexander's bed, steele in hand, she seemed as surprised to see him there as he was of finding Clary in the room, he knew that she and Alec were not particularly close.

She quickly pocketed her steele and got up from the bed. She turned to look at Alec, a silent question in her eyes. She must have seen something in Alexander's face that he himself was missing, because she then turned to him, with an expression that looked sad but also a bit…hopeful? What in Lilith's name was going on here?

"I'll be going, Jace must be looking for me" she said "It's nice to see you Magnus" she gave him a smile before walking out of the room, when she was at the door, she looked back at both of them one last time and shot Magnus an apologetic smile before leaving.

As they both stood there, the warlock wondered what was going on between the redhead and Alec, they had had a rocky start to their relationship, and even when the situation with Jace was solved they were not the closest of friends, he looked at Alexander who was staring at him expectantly, the shadowhunter seemed to understand his silent question.

"I got a few bruises and cuts on our last patrol, usually I would ask Jace for an iratze since he's my parabatai, but everyone's been fussing over me way too much since that demon attack in central park. Clary's runes are very powerful, because of her angel blood, and she is not paranoid about my health, so I asked her to do it instead"

It seemed like a plausible explanation, but something in Magnus' gut told him there was more to it than just that.

"An iratze for some cuts and bruises?" Magnus asked "I wouldn't expect that from you"

He didn't expect the shadowhunter's reaction either, he flinched and took a step away from Magnus, his gaze seemed guarded, it was the look a shadowhunter would give a stranger.

"I just didn't want any of them to keep pestering me about my health!" the shadowhunter roared "Besides, what do you care? I called you, texted you, went to Brooklyn to ring the buzzer and nearly knock down you door SO MANY TIMES! And look all the good it did! You never answered, you didn't care! The only reason you are here now is probably because of Izzy's little mind games about my 'condition'"

"She's worried about you, so is Jace, you look sick Alexander really sick, it can't be because of that demon attack, I took care of that, made sure your life was not threatened before I stopped my healing, so what's wrong with you? I can help"

Alec scoffed and stayed where he was, looking Magnus with that angry gaze of his that looked almost feral "I'm tired of your games. You say that you love me and that you forgive but we still can't be together. You tell me that you never want to see me again after saving my life and yet here you are, claiming you are so worried about me because of Izzy's tendency to be overprotective!"

"I'm not claiming to be worried about you, I truly care about your health, I need you to live a long life and I need to know you are ok"

Alec clenched his fists, took a deep breath and set his mouth on a thin line. Magnus noticed his eyes shined with unshed tears.

"I am not ok" The shadowhunter said "Nothing is ok"

Alexander started to cough softly, he walked over to his bed and sat down rubbing his chest with his hand, the coughing didn't stop and after a couple of minutes Magnus became distressed.

"Is something wrong with your throat? Did you catch some particularly strong cold?" The warlock was becoming more and more unsettled, it was obvious from the shadowhunter grimace that his ribcage was resenting the strain of such a prolonged coughing fit.

"I-I, Magnus I can't really explain anything to you right now but-"

At that moment, they were interrupted by the sudden opening of Alec's door, Jace and Clary barged in, without a care in the world for what they could be talking about.

"There's been a report of some bizarre demon activity in Queen's" Jace informed his brother "Are you up to joining us or would you prefer to stay here?" Magnus noticed that the blonde shadowhunter was trying really hard to hide the annoyance he had so openly showed a few minutes ago in front of him. He addressed Alec with his usual nonchalance, not letting him know how worried he truly was.

"It's alright, I'll go" Alec rose from his bed and was about to head out the door when Magnus grabbed at one of his wrists in an attempt to stop him. It worked, the shadowhunter turned to stare at the warlock's beautiful golden eyes.

"We are not done talking" the downworlder said "You were about to tell me something, and it seems important, besides, you are in no condition to go demon hunting, you still look pale and, need I remind you that you nearly coughed your lungs out a few minutes ago?"

Jace's brow furrowed and Clary took a hand to her mouth. Alexander made a gesture that was meant to be reassuring before addressing the warlock.

"I promise we can talk later, right now I need to go make sure no demons in causing chaos in our city, and I was not coughing my lungs out, you are exaggerating, just like Izzy"

Without another word the three shadowhunters exited the room and Magnus had no choice but to follow, they went down through the Institute's long corridors and the long set of stairs towards the main entrance, where Isabelle was waiting, whip in hand, she looked at Magnus expectantly but did not betray any feeling when the warlock shook his head.

They all exited the institute at the same time, though the shadowhunters were heading in the opposite direction from the warlock, before they left Alec approached Magnus.

"I know you are still not done talking, and honestly, I want a chance to explain, there are many things I want to tell you, but now is not the time. Please answer your phone next time, we owe each other an explanation"

With that he ran back towards his family and away from Magnus. The warlock stood for a moment before making up his mind. His gut feeling told him to watch over Alexander, to protect him, and so he would. Silently he summoned some of his magic in order to cast a glamour that would hide him from the world and not just from mundanes. Sorry darling, but I can't just wait, I must make sure you are all right. With those thoughts crossing his mind Magnus Bane followed the shadowhunters though the streets of New York.

So, what will happen next?