Somehow, Magnus and Alec silently agreed to not make one move. Catarina was someone Magnus loved, and Jace was someone Alec loved, and it seemed that both of them understood that without saying a word. Valentine seemed to gather this too and smiled even wider, causing Magnus to feel sick with disgust.

"You're about to make the wrong move, warlock. Not that you haven't already made a million wrong choices tonight, but you're about to lose everyone you care about, and that's a promise." Magnus's head was swimming. He had no idea what to do; he knew that if he made any move at all, more people would get hurt, and because of him again.

He suddenly felt Alec's hand clutching his arm, and he knew that Alec was asking him to save Jace. Magnus knew he was too weak to pull another stunt like he had the first time, and he had no idea how he was going to get out of the situation. He thought about stalling for time, but before he could get any words out, Valentine spoke again.

"I have a surprise for you Magnus. Someone wants to see you; someone who hasn't seen you in a very long time. But I can't take the credit for it, it was all Jonathan's idea, you know, since he loves you so very much."

Magnus felt his heart drop to his feet when he recognized the next person to walk into the apartment. Without thinking about it, he immediately shoved Alec behind him, forming a protective shield. He knew he couldn't do anything against the man at the door, the situation had just become helpless, but that wouldn't stop him from protecting Alec at all costs.

Finally, Jace asked the only important question left. "Who are you exactly?"

Magnus's heart stopped as he heard the answer he had already known all too well. "I happen to be Asmodeus." He paused, and when that didn't seem to ring any bells for either Jace or Alec, he laughed and continued. "More to the point, I am Magnus's father."

Closing his eyes, Magnus wished for everything to be over, for his father to do whatever he was going to do and to simply get it over with. "The choice is yours, Magnus," Valentine began again. "Someone in this room is going to die tonight, and it is not going to be me or my son."

He knew it was coming, it was utterly inevitable. Someone was going to be hurt by his father, and badly. And he didn't know any way of stopping it at all. Finally opening his own mouth, Magnus said the words he'd been dreading all night. "You're not hurting anyone other than me, Valentine. Let my father do whatever he wants to me, but do not touch anyone else."

Alec's hand gripped his arm even harder, and he knew if he looked at Alec his will would break and he wouldn't be able to go through with what he needed to do. As gently as possible, he pushed Alec's hand off of his arm, stepping toward Valentine and away from Alec. He finally looked toward his father, and the grin on Asmodeus's face was enough to make him sick.

"Come here son," Asmodeus sounded like he was bored, as he always did, but there was something under his tone that Magnus couldn't quite pinpoint. "It'll all be over soon."

As he walked forward, Magnus heard a soft voice behind him. "No, please," was all Alec could seem to get out before he had to stop and regroup. He almost broke, but he couldn't imagine what his father would do to them, and he couldn't let it happen to anyone but himself.

Before he could say or do anything else, Asmodeus stepped forward and turned him around, putting an arm around his neck in one swift motion. When this happened, Valentine and Jonathan let go of Jace and Catarina. He relaxed slightly, but just then, Alec started to move toward him. Magnus shook his head as best he could while in his father's grip.

"Alexander do not do anything stupid, please." Alec stopped walking, but he looked conflicted about it. The thought of leaving Alec physically hurt Magnus, but there was no way around it, so he looked away from Alec and said, "Go ahead, Father. Just get this over with. You and I both know you've wanted this for a long time."

Magnus could feel his father chuckle behind him. He was terrified of the pain Asmodeus could put him in, but he brushed aside the thought immediately when he thought of Alec being put in that pain. His heart skipped a beat when his father spoke. "Actually, Magnus, I have a bit of a surprise for everyone here." Magnus knew that didn't sound good at all, he was scared, but he didn't know what of.

"Valentine, you think my son is a traitor, don't you?" Magnus was a touch surprised that Asmodeus had begun speaking to Valentine. When Valentine simply nodded, Asmodeus continued. "Well, the apple doesn't fall far from the tree."

At that, Asmodeus let Magnus go and lazily flicked his wrist, sending Valentine and Jonathan flying backward. Magnus had to admit that he was more than a touch surprised at this, but he certainly wasn't going to argue with Asmodeus on this one. He immediately went to Alec again, who stepped in front of him this time. Magnus was sort of getting so used to being surprised that he was barely surprised when Alec did this. When Asmodeus swept his hand and Valentine and Jonathan disappeared, everyone looked startled. Asmodeus laughed again then said, "Don't worry, I didn't kill them. But they're going to have one hell of a time getting out of the Amazon."

Magnus couldn't help but smile at the thought of this, but then he startled himself when he had the thought that what his father had just done sounded an awful lot like something he would have done. Asmodeus seemed to think of this as well because when he looked at Magnus, he smiled just as widely as Magnus was smiling.

"I know what you're all thinking, but just hear me out for a moment, please." Magnus knew he was going insane, but he simply swallowed the lump in his throat and nodded. "Magnus, son, I know you've heard the stories of Greater Demons becoming good again, becoming more like the angels they once were. I know you grew up with those stories being just that exactly, just stories, myths. But they're not just stories, and I'm trying to make that happen for myself. I want to become good again."

"Magnus this is absolutely insane! You can't just trust him like this." Alec was raising his voice more than Magnus had ever heard him do so, but Magnus was becoming furious at it himself. He could see the concern in Alec's eyes, but that didn't matter to him at the moment. Nothing mattered but getting his father back.

"What would you know about it, Alexander? You don't have any idea what you're talking about. He's my father, not yours."

What Alec said next made Magnus even angrier. "That's my point, Magnus. You want to trust him because you want the father you never had. I'm sorry but you can't just blindly trust him." Magnus sat down, putting his head in his hands. It scared him how right Alec was, and he knew he should listen to Alec, but part of him wanted to throw caution to the wind.

Sighing, he responded to Alec, his voice a bit weaker than he had expected it to be. "You're right." He could see the surprise on Alec's face as what he just said sank in. "All I ever wanted was a father who actually cared, and now there's the slightest chance that I could have my father back. Don't think for a second that you wouldn't want the same, Alexander."

At this, Alec sat down beside him and gently placed his hand on Magnus's shoulder. Before Alec could speak, Magnus continued, knowing that he had to figure out what was going on before the Clave decided they knew what was going on. "The thing is, I have to figure out what's going on. He's family, and if there's the slightest chance that he could have changed, then I'm not going to give up on him. I can't ignore the fact that he saved me, he saved us. I have to help him."