Behind him, Magnus felt a sudden shift, and at first he had no idea why that would be happening. Then he realized that Alec had hit the floor, and he was immediately on his knees beside of Alec. It was obvious that Alec had lost far too much blood, but before he could begin to do something about it, he realized that turning his back on the situation at hand had been the worst of ideas.
The Morgensterns were a bit smarter than Magnus often gave them credit for because Jonathan grabbed one of his hands and Valentine took care of the other. One quick rune later and Magnus's hands were tied together, meaning he couldn't do magic. Or it should have meant that, if he were an average warlock.
He quickly realized, however, that if he was going to have any chance of keeping himself, Jace, and Alec alive he had to keep up the impression that he was currently magicless. He winced in pain, but forced himself to let Valentine shove him to the ground. Magnus smiled slightly as he heard Jace swear under his breath. Having Jace believe he was incapacitated would greatly increase his odds of getting out alive.
"Make one move, Jace, and I'll kill the warlock where he stands." Jace looked terribly conflicted, and Magnus could tell that he wanted to move to help Alec, but now that he knew Magnus wasn't evil, he wanted to ensure that nothing happened to him either. Then, Valentine began speaking again. "Not that I'm not likely to kill the treacherous bastard anyway."
Magnus stopped listening then, he closed his eyes, trying to focus all his energy on getting out of the situation. He hadn't done anything like what he was planning to do in a very long time, and he knew it was going to take a lot out of him. He focused on feeling where Jace and Alec both were in relation to himself, he focused on pulling all of his remaining energy into himself.
He suddenly felt a knife go to his throat, and he figured it was then or never. He thrust all of his magic outward, he found Jace and Alec, and he pulled all three of them out of warehouse and back into his apartment just as he heard Valentine ask him if he had any last words.
When he realized they were, indeed, safe, he reveled in the look of surprise that was clearly written on Jace's face. Jace opened his mouth, then shut it and immediately went to Alec's side. It was obvious that he wanted to ask about what had just happened, but he had decided to let that wait until later.
Instead of going to Alec's side himself, Magnus picked up his phone. Jace gave him an incredulous look, and he finally spoke. "I cannot heal him myself, I'm too weak right now. That little stunt took too much out of me." Pausing, he switched to the conversation on his phone for a moment. "Catarina, I need your help. It's Alec, he's been hurt by Valentine, and I-" Magnus smiled as he was cut off as Catarina hung up the phone. He assumed that meant she was on her way.
Finally, Magnus allowed himself to slowly move to Alec's side. He knew that if he moved too quickly that the lack of energy would bring him to the ground as well. What he hadn't expected, however, was for Jace to come over and take hold of his arm, helping him walk to Alec's side then gently lowering him beside of Alec.
For a moment, Magnus could hardly breathe. Alec was entirely too still, and it caused Magnus's heart to stand still itself, silently hoping beyond belief that Alec was going to be okay. He couldn't quite believe how quickly and completely he had fallen for Alec. All he knew was that if he lost Alec to Valentine and Jonathan, he would never forgive himself for what he had done. Leading Alec on only to fall in love and yet still continue as normal with Valentine and Jonathan because he was too much of a coward to tell them things were over was the most repulsive thing he could ever think that he had done.
He was pulled out of his thoughts by the sound of Jace's voice again. "Magnus, I still don't understand exactly what happened."
Before responding, Magnus reached over and took hold of one of Alec's hands, gently brushing his thumb back and forth across the top of Alec's hand. "I'm not an ordinary warlock, Jace. My father is such a powerful demon that I don't need my hands to do magic, and I can do quite a bit more than most warlocks too. That's also why my warlock's mark is so stubble. I simply kept that bit of information from Valentine and-" he paused, still loathing himself for the entire situation. "and Jonathan. And for good reason too."
Jace was silent for a moment, then he spoke again, a slight look of confusion on his face. "Okay, that all makes since to me, but what doesn't-" he paused when Alec began to move.
"Mag- Magnus." It was clearly a struggle for Alec to get even the one word out, so Magnus placed a hand on his forehead, brushing his hair out of his eyes, attempting to calm him in any way. Alec's eyes fluttered open, but the pain he was feeling was still clearly reflected in them.
Bending down, Magnus quickly kissed Alec's forehead then said. "No, Alexander, don't talk. You're going to be fine, I swear. Just relax, love." Alec closed his eyes again, and Magnus was slightly afraid that he would never open them again. He was slightly more afraid that he would never see Alec's beautiful blue eyes again, but just as the thought was crossing his mind, the door slammed open and Catarina came in.
Once she was there, Catarina took over in the way only a nurse can. She immediately ordered Jace and Magnus to get Alec on the couch, then she ordered Magnus to lie down himself until she could help him regain his energy. Surprisingly, Jace came to sit beside of him, not daring to argue with Catarina over Alec.
They sat in silence for far longer than Magnus had figured they would, then Jace quietly picked up the conversation. "Magnus, what I don't understand is why you were with Jonathan to begin with. And why you changed your mind."
Magnus had known the question was coming, he just didn't want to answer it at all. For the first time in a very long time, he was ashamed of what he had done, and he was worried about what Alec would think of him. About what the rest of the Lightwoods would think of him for that matter.
"There's no simple answer to that, Jace. I was with Jonathan because I'm an idiot, and I was looking for someone who would love me regardless of who, or what, I am. I guess I thought that because Jonathan is more like me than he's like Shadowhunters," he paused, considering how vulnerable he was making himself, and then deciding that it was for the best.
"I guess I thought that he had to love me. I'll admit that being with Alec started as a scheme." Magnus held up a hand Jace began to open his mouth, anger clearly written on his face. "I'm not justifying anything, Jace, I'm simply explaining. It started out as a scheme, as a way to get to you. And then Alec surprised me. I suddenly found myself happier than I've ever been, and I realized that I was the luckiest person I could possibly be."
Magnus had been so caught up in talking to Jace that he hadn't heard Catarina and Alec enter the room. He looked up as Alec cleared his throat and began speaking. "And then what, Magnus? You can't honestly expect us to believe that you 'turned good' because of me." It hurt Magnus to see the anger on Alec's face, the pain and betrayal still written there.
He would have gotten up, but he knew he was still too weak, so he sat where he was and simply continued where he had left off, praying that Alec would listen to him.
"One night, it finally hit me all at once that here you were, proving me wrong on everything I had once believed. Here was a Shadowhunter, and the kindest, gentlest Shadowhunter I had ever met at that, loving me simply for me. You loved me regardless of the fact that everyone around us sees me as a demon. That night, I also realized that what I was doing made me sick. Deceiving the best man I had ever met, allowing him to fall in love with me, only to betray him. It made my physically ill, Alexander. You have to understand that."
Alec stood there in silence, arms crossed, looking more like Jace than himself. So Magnus simply continued. "The last thing I realized scared the hell out of me. Simply put, I realized that I am utterly in love with you, Alexander."
Unable to read the look on Alec's face, Magnus made a slow movement to get off the couch. His intention was to go to Alec, to take him in his arms, but that was far from what happened.
Even getting up from the couch caused a terrible wave of dizziness. Before he could do anything about it, he stumbled forward, quickly losing his balance. He was surprised, however, to find that he did not hit the floor. He suddenly found himself in Alec's arms, Alec slowly lowering him to the ground and asking Catarina to help. Once Magnus was leaned against the couch, Alec lowered himself to his knees, worry written across his face.
Alec stayed silent while Catarina helped Magnus, but Magnus could tell that he desperately wanted to say something. When Catarina moved away, Alec didn't give Magnus any more time to explain anything. Magnus was pleasantly surprised when he discovered Alec's lips on his. He was not pleasantly surprised, however, when the door to the apartment burst open, bringing Valentine and Jonathan with it.
He and Alec were quickly on their feet, but not before Valentine took hold of Jace and Jonathan took hold of Catarina. Smiling, Valentine simply said, "Your wards are looking a little shabby, Bane."