Chapter 7

Disclaimer: I own nada

Apologies for the slight recap, this starts just after the "tutoring session".

The Fight for Survival

"How many times can I break before I shatter"- O.A.R

The minute Alec left the car, Magnus realized what he'd done. He had just confided massive chunks of his life and personality to a boy he'd known for about a week. How had a pair of pretty blue eyes managed to tear down his carefully constructed walls with such ease. He felt weak, and he hated it.

He then realized that he was subconsciously driving in the direction of Taki's. He felt a smile stretch across his face and his heart sped up in anticipation Taki's was an old fashioned bar, hidden amongst Brooklyn's dark alleyways. But it wasn't just a bar. It also had a fighting arena for anyone to fight in. There were few rules and no particular style of fighting, just an adrenaline fuelled bloodbath and a chance for people to win money by betting on the competitors.

Magnus spent most of his free time there. It was a way to let out his anger, frustration and loneliness. Not to mention that his opponents never saw it coming and Magnus loved to surprise.

The moment Magnus stepped into the dimly lit room he was enveloped by the familiar smells of sweat and booze. The old Magnus would have wrinkled his nose in disgust and left, perhaps going instead to a flashy club, but the new Magnus only grinned, fire burning in his veins.

"Magnus Bane," a large blond man cried, clapping his meaty palm onto Magnus' back.

"Woolsey," Magnus exclaimed, slapping him back, "is there an opening tonight?" he crossed his fingers, God, he hoped there was.

"Sure, bloke called Bat is on at ten. Big hulk of a guy, but I reckon you could take him."

"I reckon so too," Magnus agreed, "I'm feeling particularly pissed today." Woolsey gave him a sympathetic look, he knew Magnus well enough to know the kind of shit he dealt with. "Is it your idiot of a father?" he asked, but Magnus shook his head. "No…..just a guy"

"Dickhead?"

"No actually, the complete opposite," Magnus sighed and stalked off to the changing rooms, leaving behind a confused Woolsey.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Magnus pulled on his fighting gear and surveyed his appearance in the mirror. He remembered the first time he came here he'd been offered a ratty grey tank top and short combo, covered in a suspicious brown substance. He had, of coarse, refused, stating that he would rather fight in his underwear (a pair of sparkly, purple briefs) than the outfit he was offered. And although they then made his do exactly that, he still preferred his underwear to the alternative.

Now he was dressed in his own tank top (heavily bejewelled and crimson) along with a pair of cotton shorts. He touched up his make-up in the mirror, then, after a brief once over, deemed himself ready.

When he reached the back room, a large dingy place dominated by a large boxing ring (although the fighting that went on there had no particular rules or genre) and surrounded by excited men. The whole place stank of beer, sweat and testosterone, but Magnus was used to it.

As he walked in the crowd looked him up and down. Some with curiosity, others disgust and a couple with disappointment. It was clear they felt that the nights entertainment would be short-lived and no'one seemed to even entertain the idea he was a worthy opponent of the brawny man within the ring.

"Get lost fag! This place is for real men," a fat ginger bloke jeered, his chuppy lips twisted into a sneer. "Real men?" Magnus retorted in contempt, "I don't know about that. Real men would fight not watch. Not to mention the fact that you pay money to watch half-naked guys wrestle…..seems pretty gay to me." The ginger looked pissed, but didn't appear to have an answer to Magnus' taunt, so Magnus turned his attention to his opponent.

The man was massive, with broad shoulders and a shaved scalp. He wore only a pair of Lycra gym shorts that emphasized his colossal calves. As soon as Magnus entered the ring, the man gave him a sceptical look, but began to circle none the less. After he had completed nearly three laps of the ring- whilst Magnus watched, eyebrows raised- he finally lunged forward, propelling his powerful fist towards his sparkly opponent.

Grinning Magnus dodged the meaty limb, matrix style, and straightened up. The man staggered forward, carried by the momentum of his punch, but recovered quickly and threw a second. Magnus dodged that one as well, tutting slightly. "You're going to have to do better than that," he taunted whilst ducking and side-stepping the oaf's onslaught of attacks.

"You coward," the man panted, as he aimed a kick at Magnus' legs (which he expertly avoided), "fight back."

Magnus scowled, if there was one thing he hated, it was being called a coward. He shot Bat an evil smile before saying, "fine, I will.".
then before Bat had time to even process his words, Magnus lept forward and delivered a round house kick to the larger man's stomach. Bat doubled over wheezing and Magnus used this advantage to knock his legs out from under him. The man fell to the ground with a loud bang. Magnus stepped back giving him room. "want to have a rest, dear," he mocked as Bat tried desperately to breath.

"No," the man wheezed and he hastily clambered to his feet, resuming his- now wary- fighting stance. He approached Magnus cautiously and when he was close enough, slammed his fist forward. Magnus however was ready for this, and he caught the man's gigantic hand with his own and used the force behind it to pull |bat past him. then when the man hit the side of the ring, the crowd pushed him back toward Magnus. They were cheering now, the men that had been taunting him just moments ago, egging Magnus on as he neared his victim.

He visiously lashed out at Bat, the many rings that adorned his hands digging into the mans flesh. A loud crunch was heard and Bat's nose bent sideways. Then he kicked the man again, sending him to the ground once more. "Please," Bat begged, as Magnus Bane stood over him.

But Magnus' anger blinded him, contorting his vision so that when he looked down at the bulky man- lying broken on the floor, blood trickling down his face- he saw instead the face of everyone who had hurt him, every problem, every emotion that tormented his every second. So he raised his fist and let it all go.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Hours later Magnus sat on the edge of his window sill, watching the lights from next-door glimmer and dance. He had watched and attended many of Camille's parties over the years and even planned some. He remembered once when both his and Camillie's parents had been absent and they had knocked down the fence in-between their two houses and had one massive party that consisted of half of Brooklynd and went on for two days.

He smiled at the memory, but stopped when reality kicked in. Now he was here, watching as his peers and friends danced, drank and laughed and he sat alone on his windowsill.

Sometimes he wished he could change the past so much, it hurt.

As he stared out across the years, a flicker of blue registered in his vision. Focusing he looked across at Camillie's moonlit garden, and saw a tall boy making his way back towards the house. The boy was undoubtedly hot, with a slim figure, dressed in a fitted blue shirt and tight black jeans. But it wasn't untill the boy turned to look straight at him, that Magnus' breath caught. Piercing blue eyes, a strong jaw and ivory skin, it was Alexander Lightwood.

Before Magnus could even think, breathe or say a word he beckoned the boy closer. Alec started and looked behind him, as if to check that Magus was beckoning to him. Magnus was shocked by the boy's heart-wrenchingly low confidence, how could Alec not see how beautiful he was.

The boy walked towards the large fence that separated them and looked up at Magnus, unsure. "Come up" Magnus said, gesturing to a tree that started in Camille's garden but led to where he sat. "It's perfectly safe, Cammie used to do it all the time. Alec looked determined and reaching out, pulled himself up onto one of the tree's thick branches.

Then Magnus realized just what he was doing. Why was he inviting the boy up to him. Was solitary not his only friend, had he learn't nothing from what happened earlier. The boy was too tempting, he got inside Magnus' head and pulled out his secrets. But looking down at Alec's angelic innocence, he found he was unable to say no.

Alec climbed higher and higher, his muscles flexing as he hosted himself up towards Magnus. When he finally reached the window sill, Magnus patted the spot next to him, and the boy sat down. After a brief silence magnus said, "you didn't strike me as a party guy."

Alec blushed slightly, looking down at his attire, "I'm not," he replied, "Clary dragged me here. She said I had to babysit Simon." he sighed, "these arn't even my clothes."

Magnus let his eyes rake up and down the boy's body before he purred, "shame, you look utterly deletable."

Alec gulped visibly and bit his lip, causing all the blood to rush to Magnus' pants. hastily he added, "so where's Simon, have you left him all alone, to pine over the ginger."

"No, he's…" Alec stopped, frowning, "how do you know Simon likes Clary?"

Magnus chuckled, rolling his eyes, "darling it's painfully obvious. The boy practically drools when ever she speaks, I noticed when I used to hang around with them."

"why don't you still?" Alec probed gently.

Magnus stiffened ever so slightly, not wanting to make the same mistake he did in the car and open up, "because I prefer to be alone," he said, snapping slightly.

"ooooh…." Alec paused, looking nervous, "do you want me to go?"

Magnus nearly shouted, "no!" and his desperation for Alec's company shocked him. "No, no," he said instead, "you're different…...I...stay, please." His cynical side sneered at his pathetic plea, but it was overwhelmed when Alec smiled and moved closer.
"tell me something you haven't told anyone else," Magnus breathed, gazing into pools of blue. Alec bit his lip, looking unsure, then he gulped and whispered. "I killed my brother."

A/N
Sorry for the short chapter and the delicious cliffhanger. I started COHF yesterday and it blew my mind. I'm half way at the moment and I know I said I wouldn't update 'till I finished, but right now I'm at school and it wouldn't fit in my bag so I'm giving you this chapter instead.

I intended this chapter to be longer, but I couldn't resist leaving you on this cliffhanger….I'm so evil. I don't know about America, but in England we have study leave and I'm loving it. I only have two exams left and I don't need to come into school *yay*, but today I had to come into school for the whole day as I have one half an hour singing lesson and my teacher "can't possibly reschedule". I'm blabbing I know but I'm super bored as all my friends are at home.

Next chapter is gonna be better I promise.

Oh and I don't know if you know this, but when you guys leave a review, I often check out your profiles and read your fics. I just wanted to mention a couple of people.

Firstly Reader7264, she is writing a fic called "A Sister's First Runway" and although it's only one chapter so far, it's pure gold. It's really funny and please read it and review 'cause then she might write a chapter two and I want it bad.

Second person is Phantom of the Claw, her fic is called ImagiNation and it's partially set in a theme park where Magnus is a sexy sexy entertainer. It's also VERY funny and the banter between Alec and Magnus is really cute and…...yer I want her to update too, so read it!

Reviews:

RangerofFiction- Sexual Cliffhangers? WOULD I EVER!? more of Magnus' POV next chap

Phantom of the Claw- OMG thanks, one step closer to success, and don't worry about the starfish, I have connections at seaworld ;)

MagnusBane- sorry, not much malec action here, BUT, next chap has some...

OracleForMadness- Thank you, I'm glad you like it. I'm loving COHF sooooooo much so far and I haven't even got to the major malecy feels yet. Thanks for wishing me luck in my exams (I'll need it) only have maths left *yay*. Btw what does OCC mean...I don't know how to internet :(

LittleThings- I CANNOT WAIT! when I finish I will probably have to go into hibernation for a couple of years until I get over it.

fangirl101- I love yaaa

adelsaro- glad you liked the party bit, I thought it was naff so thanks :) Hope you enjoy COHF as much as I am

Reader7264- I promise that the next chapter will be even more interesting.

ChocolateWriter- nice, although hopefully Alec will make a better "secret keeper" than Peter Pettigrew, what a train wreck! Glad you like the clace. :)

Well, that's all for now folks, sorry for the extremly long A/N, I am so starved of attention right now. If you guys give me at least 15 reviews then I'll update tomorrow….that's a promise.
lots of virtual love
Amy
xxx