Rome
No one would have ever suspected that the Shadowhunter Institute in Rome was located near one of the most visited tourist and religious sites in the world, behind the left semicircular colonnade that bordered Saint Peter's Square and just outside the wall that surrounded Vatican City. The Institute was wedged between two buildings and it faced a small plaza and a park in which people congregated for picnics on their days off, or to play tennis in one of its courts. Even without protective wards, the building would have still gone unnoticed, its architecture inconspicuous among the imposing designs of Saint Peter's Basilica and the historical and religious character of the surrounding buildings. The Rome Institute was likely one of the smallest of The Clave outposts and it kept just a skeleton crew, of no more than three or four Shadowhunters.
Kat thought that the plaza in front the institute was the likeliest place for the next attack, and she told Jace as much when the team congregated in the situation room of the New York Institute two days after the Zürich incident. "All other attacks have taken place in open spaces near the buildings' entrances" she argued, her tone as usual quiet and unimposing, yet still carrying the authority of careful thoughtfulness. "Trust me, the plaza is the place. The other streets surrounding the Institute are too narrow," she added pointing to the satellite image of Rome displayed on the screen. "And the attack will be tonight," she concluded, consulting once again the star chart on her tablet.
"Okay then," said Jace. "I will send confirmation to Alec that his team should set their ambush on the plaza near the Institute's entrance. In the meantime, we have to decide on our plan of attack."
"Are you going to tell Alec that we are coming?" asked Izzy, who at that moment was arriving from another night of guard duty at the Hotel Du Mort, her face drawn and her eyes betraying the effects of several nights with little sleep.
"No, something tells me that any information we share with Alec is monitored, and I don't want to alert the Inquisitor or The Clave of our plan to bring Alec back."
"Kat and I are both coming; you are going to need two warlocks on this mission," stated Catarina. "We don't know what we will run into and you don't want to be stuck over there with no escape. Besides, Kat needs to see the site of the explosion and at least part of the ritual the warlocks are performing to figure out how to stop it."
Jace, who had already tried to dissuade Catarina from coming with them, nodded. It was a simple formality because, in the time that he had been working with the warlock, he had learned that she never took no for an answer once she set her mind to something. The apparently ethereal look of her blue skin and white hair, and her colorful outfits, concealed an iron will and a stubbornness equal only to his own.
"Alright," Jace said, standing up and placing a finger on a switch on the tabletop touch screen computer. The same satellite image of Rome came to life on the screen and Jace zoomed in to the plaza in front of the Institute. The rest of the team gathered around the table.
"Catarina, you will oversee transportation and will provide cover from the perimeter in case we find ourselves under attack," Jace stated. He then marked a point on the map that he thought would offer accessibility and protection for the warlock to open the portal that would take them there and hopefully bring them back. "Clary will stay with you to provide cover. Kat, you will approach the building's front door from the side, but be prepared to withdraw at any moment even if you don't get the information you need. Jeremy, you will provide her cover and make sure she doesn't come under attack from the Shadowhunters in Alec's team."
Jeremy nodded and looked towards the small and fragile looking Kat with an expression that was a combination of affection and humour, and Jace wondered whether Jeremy already knew that Kat was a formidable warlock who was unlikely to need his protection.
"Izzy and I will join Alec's team and stop the explosions. When that is done, I will grab Alec and bring him back with us" he added pointing in the general direction of the Institute's entrance where he assumed the confrontation would take place. That is, if Kat's prediction was correct. "If the attacks follow the same pattern than the previous ones, we can assume that there will be no more than two warlocks in the first group."
"Shouldn't we try to get Magnus too?" asked Catarina.
"If Magnus is in the second group, Izzy, you will go after him," replied Jace. "Catarina, you must be ready to get us out of there as soon as we are done. Now get some rest; we will meet on the Institute's roof at eight tonight. Kat predicts that the attacks will be at about three in the morning, Rome time, that is nine for us here in New York."
Jace watched as the members of his team began to disperse and marvelled once again at the easiness with which this unlikely group of people had come together under a common goal. Reaching for Kat's hand, Jeremy guided her out of the room and likely towards the library where they had been spending almost all their time studying star charts and historical records. The young Shadowhunter with his studious face and intelligent eyes, towered over the small warlock, yet he had an expression that denoted deep respect and perhaps even awe towards Kat. Pineshade is besotted, thought Jace and couldn't help smiling; for he knew better than anyone that you couldn't help who you love. He just hoped that Kat wouldn't not break the Shadowhunter's young heart.
Catarina headed for the kitchen in search of food, and Jace was certain he would find her there later, eating a sandwich and chatting with some of the other Shadowhunters about food, the need for a good diet, or the poor condition of the health care system in America. Catarina was a warlock that lived with one foot firmly in the mundane world and the other equally firmly in the Downworld. Yet, she didn't seem to suffer any conflict as a result.
Reaching for her phone, Clary walked towards the stairs leading to the greenhouse garden located on the top floor. She was likely calling Luke, Jace thought, wanting to check on him and remind him of his duty to protect Simon in case something happened to her. Jace knew that Clary found the greenhouse relaxing and she always went there when she needed quiet before or after a mission. If he had time, he would go and spend some time with her among the flowers and trees, he thought, and for a moment the prospect of putting his arms around her and kiss her lovely lips filled him with anticipation.
"How are the vampires?" he asked, turning to Izzy who had lingered at the table, and who was reviewing notes on her tablet.
"We haven't seen any of them, except for the ones that come to the door every couple of days to pick up the blood supplies that Luke and his pack deliver," she replied, a mixture of exhaustion and concern on her face. "That place has always been eerily quiet, but the silence now is even more unnerving. We heard something yesterday around midday: screaming and what sounded like scratching on a window, followed by some movement, but then nothing."
"Have you seen Raphael at all?" Jace asked, his hand reaching and then resting on Izzy's hand.
"No," she replied, sadness joining the look of exhaustion on her face. "He has refused to see me or answer my calls."
"We will figure out what is happening to him," Jace reassured her. "Whatever is happening to the vampires began with the attacks. Once we figure out what is behind the attacks, we will find a cure." Jace hoped that what he was saying was true. The Clave had ordered the elimination of all the infected vampires and, those who had not escaped and gone into hidding in the other cities, had already been killed. So far, Jace had refused to even acknowledge the order but he feared that this was just a temporary solution.
"I don't know. I wish I was as optimistic as you are," Izzy said as she stood up and headed out of the room in the direction, Jace was sure, of the armory where she would spend the next few hours getting her weapons ready.
"Try to get some rest," Jace said as she walked away. "We cannot risk the mission failing because of an exhausted team member."
"I will be fine," she replied, turning her head towards Jace and smiling, a smile that failed to reach her eyes.
"It is an order," stated Jace, imbuing as much authority on his voice as he could manage.
"Only if you rest first," was Izzy's only reply before she disappeared down a corridor.
At the end, as with most plans that rely heavily on variables that are unpredictable, Jace's plan of attack turned out to be more like a guideline. As soon as they stepped through the portal and emerged in a spot on the right side of the plaza, Jace and his team found themselves in the middle of a full-blown battle. Alec, who, with the plan of setting up an ambush, had arrived with his team a few minutes before through a portal on the far-left side of the plaza had found five powerful warlocks waiting for them. The warlocks were flanking the front entrance to the Institute and were protecting the perimeter of what would be the site of the explosion.
As Jace began to move towards the center of the plaza, his blade drawn and glowing in the darkness, he saw Alec, his bow at the ready, standing in front of Berg, the warlock that had opened the portal through which his team had arrived. Berg was keeping the portal open and ready for a hasty retrieve. While the rest of his team neared the enemy's line of defense, Alec covered them by shooting arrow after arrow in quick succession. The warlocks sent surges of energy that diverted or destroyed the arrows in midday but at least one made it through, lodging itself in the shoulder of one of them. If Alec saw Jace, he didn't show any sign of recognition, focussed as he was on the task of protecting his team.
The arrival of Jace and his team gave the warlocks another target and they had to split the focus of their attack. As they began to close the distance and attack the enemy's defense line from the right side, while Alec and his team did the same from the left, Jace and Izzy began to draw as much fire as Alec and his team. Jace saw from the corner of his eye that with a flick of her wrist, Catarina closed the portal through which they had arrived. She and Clary began a slow advance along the perimeter of the plaza, searching, he suspected, for a more accessible exit point. Meanwhile, Kat and Jeremy slowly made their way along the Institute's wall towards the front door trying to reach the spot the warlocks were protecting. This created a third point of attack for the warlocks. Kat defended herself and Jeremy with powerful balls of magic fire that she threw with incessant waves of her small arms.
Placing his bow across his back, Alec shouted to another Shadowhunter to stay with Berg, who, having refused to fight, was standing near the entrance to their portal. He then started in the direction of the center of the plaza where hand to hand combat was in full force; a seraph blade drawn and ready to engage the enemy. At that precise moment, a new portal opened on a spot on the left side of the Institute, less than twenty meters from Alec's location. Four figures emerged from it; one of them was Magnus Bane, his silhouette unmistakable even through the smoke and magic energy that was rapidly covering the plaza in a dense fog.
Alec instantly felt that his lungs released a breath he didn't know he had been holding and an unexpected warmth rose from the center of his chest and expanded throughout his body. "Magnus!" he wanted to shout; "You are alive, Magnus," he wanted to say; "Magnus, I am here," he wanted to call out, but he didn't. For the figure of Magnus among those warlocks and amid the destruction, the fire, the death seemed suddenly unreal, like an image in a nightmare. This Magnus with the fierce expression, the dark make-up around his eyes, the black hair styled in spikes, this Magnus was a stranger. This wasn't the Magnus that smiled and flirted in public with Alec; this wasn't the Magnus that snapped his fingers with grace and flourish to conjure up coffee or a cocktail; this wasn't the Magnus who could kiss Alec and undo his belt buckle in the same seamless movement. This wasn't even the Magnus that had once destroyed a wraith demon to protect Alec and then closed the rift to stop more creatures from attacking New York. This wasn't his Magnus, the Magnus in those memories that until Barcelona and the Inquisitor, Alec had thought were indelible, permanent, everlasting. This Magnus, the one walking beside another warlock, a warlock that, at that moment, was throwing deadly surges of energy at a member of Alec's team, was the Magnus from the images the Inquisitor had planted in his mind.
Magnus didn't give any indication that he had seen Alec, and he kept his eyes on the institute's entrance. After a few meters, Khuno stopped and turned towards the battle, and Magnus was forced to stop behind him. Khuno's job was to provide cover for the two warlocks who would unleash the explosion, so he lifted one arm, ready to attack while with the other he kept a firm grip on Magnus' wrist, a steady flow of energy passing from Magnus to him through the manacles around Magnus' wrists. The other two warlocks continued walking in the direction of the building.
The sight of Magnus distracted Alec for an instant, enough for one of the other warlocks, a woman with long hair held in a tight ponytail, to aim and release a ball of red fire in Alec's direction. Alec's response was nearly instantaneous and, lifting his blade, swung it in the air, hitting the ball of magic fire with a loud crack, and redirecting it towards the bushes on the side of the plaza. The magic energy exploded and set the bushes on fire. The woman threw another ball of energy, this time in Berg's direction. Berg's chest exploded as he felt backward, the portal he had held opened sputtered and closed, leaving Alec and his team with no other way out than the portal that Catarina would hopefully open.
With a sinuous movement, Alec turned and threw his blade through the air in the direction of the woman, and the blade lodged itself in her chest killing her instantly. With another fast and smooth movement, Alec took his bow out once again, nocked an arrow, and lifting it, aimed it directly at Khuno's chest.
Wrapping an arm around Magnus, Khuno pulled him in front of his body; placing Magnus between himself and Alec's arrow; using him, once again, as a shield. "Come on, Shadowhunter, shoot; I dare you, maybe this time you will finish the job," he shouted, taunting Alec, a malicious smile on his face.
Alec locked eyes with Magnus for an instant, before looking back at the face of his target, his heart beating in his throat, hesitation settling in the pit of his stomach. Magnus looked back, his face serious and his expression impassive, determined not to show Alec the emotions rushing through him, not wanting to influence Alec's actions. At that moment, Magnus even hoped that the heartbreak he had caused Alec would be profound enough, and that his mission would be critical enough, that he wouldn't hesitate to shoot even if Magnus was in the way.
Jace, who had been slowly making his way towards Alec, saw that Alec was so focussed on Khuno and Magnus that he hadn't realize that another warlock, Gwydion, was approaching him from his left side, a ball of fiery energy building in between his fingers ready to release it and send it straight to the center of Alec's chest. Jace resisted the temptation to shout a warning at Alec, concerned that he might either distract his parabatai or haste Gwydion's attack. Instead, he finally sunk his blade on the chest of the warlock with whom he had been fighting and turned in Gwydion's direction, drawing another blade as he run.
What happened next, happened almost simultaneously. With all his strength, Jace threw his blade, aiming it at the center of Gwydion's back, and the blade glowed in the air for an instant before it hit home. Gwydion turned, a look of horror and surprise on his face and then fell, the ball of energy that had been glowing between his fingers, deeming and dying, at the same time that his eyes went blank. Izzy, who had been approaching Khuno and Magnus from the side opposite Jace, protected by a magic shield conjured up by Catarina, unleashed her whip, its tip cracking as it made its way through the air and coiled itself tightly around Magnus' wrist, the one that Khuno had been firmly holding.
Recognizing Magnus, the warlock who months before performed a spell to strengthen it, a spell that willed it to never fail its master, the whip held true. The whip released a shower of sparks as it made contact with the manacle around Magnus' wrist, and momentarily interrupted the enchantment that had kept Magnus tied to Khuno. With all her strength, Izzy pulled the whip and Magnus along with it. At the same moment, Magnus, finally freed from Khuno, and momentarily in control of his power, released a surge of energy through his fingers, still weak and feeble, but enough to push Khuno in the path of the arrow that Alec had finally released. The arrow hit Khuno on his side, making him fall on his knees. Another warlock grabbed him and with blinding speed dragged him away and towards the park that bordered the plaza.
"Jace, retreat!" Jeremy shouted from a spot near the Institute's entrance and when Jace turned he saw that the two warlocks that had arrived with Magnus and Khuno were standing near the front of the building. They were looking up towards the sky, chanting in an unfamiliar language. A hole had opened on the ground between them, red and orange flames spewing from it, burning the ground, building memento until the flames reached the warlocks and they began to scream, the most horrendous screams of pain, as their bodies burned, the fire building up energy as if it were a balloon that couldn't contain any more air and was about to explode.
"Catarina, portal!" shouted Kat, as she stretched her arms up in the air and conjured up a shield that she hoped would contain the explosion. Catarina swung her arms in the air and opened a portal, and gestured for Clary and Izzy to go through it. The two women hesitated a moment, waiting for the rest of the team to join them.
Jace who by now had reached Magnus, grabbed him by the shoulder. "Come on Alec, let's go," he shouted to his parabatai as he turned and guided Magnus towards the portal.
"Jace, cell block," Magnus said hastily, as Jace was about to step through the portal's event horizon. Looking at Magnus, Jace nodded in understanding as he stepped through the portal, Izzy, Clary and Catarina a step behind him.
Alec briefly turned just before he too stepped through the portal and, at that precise moment, the ground between the burning bodies of the warlocks exploded. The last thing Alec saw before he felt the pull of the portal's energy was the outstretched arms of the small woman who had been accompanying Jace's team, energy flowing from her hands and forming a dome that contained the explosion. The fire and heat caught one of the surviving warlocks unawares before he too caught fire.
Jace emerged from the portal in the middle of the New York Institute's cell block, his hand still firmly on Magnus's shoulder. Magnus's wrist was still trapped by Izzy's whip, the metal sending sparkles of energy in all directions, as if a short circuit was interfering with an energy flow, or as if the whip had become a live wire. Izzy was a step behind, followed by Catarina and Clary. Izzy gently pulled on the whip and it uncoiled from Magnus' wrist, still sparkling as it recoiled.
Alec came through next and, then, they all turned and waited for the last two members of their team. An interminable moment later, Jeremy's figure finally emerged, Kat's limp body cradled in his arms. The portal closed behind him with an unusual release of orange energy that caused the temperature in the room to suddenly raise a few degrees, and the ground to shake with the aftershocks of the explosion.
"What happened?" asked Jace, his voice barely containing his agitation.
"Kat contained the explosion by creating a shield," replied Jeremy, "but the effort drained all her energy and she lost consciousness. We almost didn't make it." He then walked towards a bench by the wall and laid Kat down on it, her yes close and her face as white as paper. Catarina followed close behind ready to help.
Alec turned and set his eyes on Magnus for the first time since Barcelona, weeks and a lifetime ago. Magnus looked back at him, trying to read his expression or at least get a sense of the state of mind of the man he loved more than he ever thought possible to love another human being. For a moment, everything and everybody else in the room disappeared and only Alec existed; only Alec's unfathomable expression; only his bottomless eyes, like pools of amber; only his beautiful face, now stained with soot and grime from the battle.
Magnus used all his strength to resist the urge to free himself from Jace's grasp and walk towards Alec; to touch him; to make sure that he was not injured or hurt; to run his fingers through his hair; to tell him how empty, how dark his life had been without him, how much he wished he could have told Alec that he meant the world, the stars, the whole universe to him. Magnus wanted to tell Alec how much he wished he had known hundreds of years ago that one day he would meet him, that one day Alec would fill his life with light. Perhaps if he had known, Magnus wouldn't have searched for home elsewhere, wouldn't have been caught in the web that now pulled him back into the darkness.
Alec looked back at Magnus, his eyes steady and full of fire; a rush of mixed and confusing feelings and memories running through his mind. The Inquisitor's voice echoed loudly in his head telling him that Magnus had cursed him, that what he felt for the warlock was not real. The vivid memory of Magnus' touch against his skin, cold and hot, sharp and soft at the same time, awakening old sensations, old desires, old fears, and old longings. The longing turning to anger, an anger that seemed to have no beginning and no end. Alec didn't know how to feel: confusion, distress, relief. His hands ached to touch Magnus to make sure that he was real and not an figment of his imagination, but he feared that the touch would fill him with disgust, hatred and self-loathing. He wished he could grab Magnus by the shoulders and shake him until he relinquished the answers to questions Alec didn't even know how to ask.
Alec's steely eyes pierced Magnus' heart. The hurt and anger in those lovely eyes that once had looked at Magnus with nothing but love filled Magnus with new guilt, a more profound guilt than he thought possible. Looking at those eyes, Magnus experienced what it is like to feel unending regret: regret for not having looked away that first time his eyes rested on Alec; for not having left New York when Alec was still unsure about being with Magnus; for not having stopped himself from kissing Alec; for not having made himself leave, forget, resigned himself to another hundred years of loneliness. He thought that a hundred, a thousand, an eternity of years without love would have been better than the guilt of having caused Alec so much pain.
After what felt like an eternity, but that was likely no more than a few seconds, Alec looked away, turned and without a word, left the room, his steps steady and fast. Magnus stared after him, as someone stares at the sun as it sets and sends the world into darkness, and he felt suddenly cold, empty and old, older than his three hundred years.
"I have to put you in a holding cell," Jace, who was still standing beside him, softly told him.
"Yes," replied Magnus, "you better do that. You should also arrange for me to be transferred to a more secured location. You are not safe with me here."
Silently, Jace guided Magnus into a cell, and, once there, Magnus sat on the narrow bed by the wall and bending forward put his head in his hands.
"Do you need anything?" Jace asked gently. "Coffee, water, or food?"
"I am fine, Jace, thank you," Magnus replied, his voice sounding tired and despondent.
At that same moment in Rome, Khuno looked with satisfaction at the incandescent opening on the ground between the warlocks' burnt bodies. Everything was still on track even though they had had more casualties that Annaliese had anticipated. They had also lost Magnus, but that could prove to be an advantage. Annaliese would soon be able to track him and with him the Shadowhunter boy that Magnus had gone to such lengths to protect and conceal. Yes, everything was still going according to plan, he thought, as he turned and holding his side, where the wound inflicted by the arrow was still healing, he limped through the portal that he had just opened.
I have never written a battle scene before. I am sorry if it is too confusing. Let me know what you think and thanks for waiting this long for these two to finally be in the same room again.