Hello lovelies! Here's part 2 of Smelling the storm! We now see what Alec is up to before the battle and I finally found my cue to give our little Max the spotlight before... well, the impending doom :'( i thought it was necessary to give the youngest Lightwood some moment and even if you guys were impatient for a Malec reunion, Alec is nothing if a very protective older brother and I wanted to show this with Max. I hope you'll enjoy this nonetheless, I personally found it very heart-warming and heart-breaking at the same time. I wanted to address the issue of the older siblings being so harsh and dismissive toward Max and that's what you got... Please forgive me if I get some tears out of you! :) In five minutes, I'll also post the bonus i talked to you about, of Jalec 'kiss' even if it's a little late because I feel bad of giving you short and late chaps this week -_-' Maybe if my muse will keep up there might be some one shot also later on, that has been nagging me a lot lately :) All in all, I hope you enjoy this and the bonus :)

Disclaimer : Don't own... because then Max wouldn't be dead and would call off his siblings on being asshat toward him :(

Chapter 26 : Smelling the Storm (Part 2)

As Alec had guessed, he didn't sleep well that night. Between his worries for Jace and how he was assaulted with thought of everything he'd done wrong in his relationship with Magnus and how he'd been too much of a coward to embrace what he felt and was, he ended up staring at the ceiling of the attic bedroom as sleep evaded him. The moon ran its course and when sunlight was near its rise, he heard the awaited sound; Jace shuffling up the stairs and muttering under his breath. Alec sat down on his bed, waiting for his parabatai to come in.

When Jace walked inside the room, he caught some of the mumbles : 'stupid self-sacrificing dumb bloodsucker' and so on with the insults the blond shadowhunter was so good at expressing. Alec frowned up at his brother, hoping to gather a questioning face but Jace barely took notice of him. He walked to the other bed, discarding his shirt and being his usual asshat indifferent self. Alec cleared his throat, trying to catch the blond's attention but of course, that didn't work. Finally exasperated, Alec asked the question he needed to know the answer to.

- « Where's Simon? Did you get caught? » Obviously, Jace snorted in contempt at the last one but reluctantly accepted to answer the former.

- « The stupid leech won't evade. Some damn nonsense about self-sacrifice. Something like the Inquisitor had threathened our family. I really preferred him when he was a dumb mundane. » Jace finished with a harsh voice. Alec looked at him wide-eyed, somewhat impressed with Simon's devotion. They really had more in common than it seemed... Because Alec would have done the exact same thing.

Alec stayed quiet, as there was really nothing to say and Jace didn't spur on further. It seemed like the blond shadowhunter was either tired or too pissed to do much else than go to bed. Alec let him, in need of some quiet moment too. Before he knew it, his eyes closed and he was drifting to sleep, one of his worry now erased and giving him the necessary relaxation to welcome oblivion.

When Alec awoke, it was mid-day. Well, when he looked outside the window, maybe it was mid-afternoon. To be honest, he was mostly impressed that he'd been able to sleep all that night without nightmares or being awoken by on or another of his annoying siblings. He moved out of bed grunting, his body popping and cracking in odd places, as if complaining of the long inactivity that had befall upon it. He dressed quickly, as usual not caring about it, and went downstairs in a stiff stride.

The first person he met was Isabelle, trying to cook some unnamable thing in the kitchen, Alec was about to retreat before she proposed him something when she turned around and glared at him halfheartedely. He was about to ask what was wrong when she just seemed to give up and turned back to whatever she was experimenting with 'food'. Alec could hardly believe his good luck and he quickly rummaged through the fridge and cupboard to get something to eat. He finally settled down with some cereals. He'd been eating quietly when Izzy spoke, letting him know what had been on her mind.

- « Jace left. He just said he was going to take a walk but he seemed upset. » His sister said in an even tone, a sure way to tell she was worried.

- « Jace's always upset lately, Izzy. Don't worry about it, he'll be back. You know he always take off when he's bothered. » Alec replied, unconcerned. His mind was far from lingering on his parabatai these last days. He'd made sure Jace was safe yesterday and he knew for sure that he wasn't going back to bail Simon out, as the vampire had told him off, so as far as Alec was concerned, Jace was out venting any kind of frustration he could have felt these last weeks. Nothing new there. As long as his parabatai's rune didn't bother him, Alec would stay confident.

Izzy just huffed angrily at him, unhappy about his calm demeanor. Nothing new there either which explained why Alec escaped after he was done eating, uncomfortable under the heavy glares of his stressed out sister. He found solace in the library, picking up a book, A Tale of Two Cities, one of his personal favorite, and lost himself in the familiar words, happy to forget about the world and his problems for a little while.

He was unearth from his lost state by his little brother, hovering uncertainly close to the library door, adorned in his gray pajamas, glasses askew on his face and hair stuck in every directions. When Alec sensed someone there and looked up at his brother, Max walked slowly toward the eldest and most similar to him of his siblings. The boy was clutching tightly on a manga book, as if he was afraid someone would take it from him (it used to be one of Jace's pastime when he was very bored) while he stopped close to his brother and looked up at him seriously.

- « Alec... would you read to me before I go to bed? Jace hasn't come back and Izzy doesn't want to... She told me to get lost. » To say the least, Alec was suprised at the request. He'd grown used to not being in Max's favorite persons list. Even though he'd cared for him when he was a baby, after his mother had gone back on missions when Max wasn't even one, he knew that Jace was Max's everyday super-hero and that Izzy always made their little brother laugh. Alec was more of a formal, responsible presence and that wasn't very attractive.

Although, Alec couldn't help but frown at Izzy bad behavior toward their little brother. Sure they were all busy and had dismissed Max more often than not since they got to Idris but it was still wrong of their sister to be so rude. As if Max had seen the frown and interpret it as another blow, Alec saw his little brother's bottom lip quiver, to fit with the big eyes already watery, and the boy turned around knowing he would go to bed by himself yet again. Alec felt instantly awful, knowing that his frown hadn't been meant for Max but mostly, that he hadn't been very kind either with Max these last days.

Without further questioning, he stood up, leaving his book aside the armchair, and took off after his little brother's retreating form. Before Max could get very far, there was a warm arm resting around his shoulder and Alec was looking down at him with a tender smile on his lips, one he used to have for Magnus too, and Max glanced back, sadness forgotten in the blink of an eye as only children can do, while the cheerful expression he usually adorned came back on his face. Alec chuckled a little bit and asked Max the only question that really mattered to his younger brother.

- « So Max, what are we reading tonight? » Alec said enthusiastically, lauching Max into a passionate monologue about one of his favorite series, Angel Sanctuary...

Their voices faded in the long hallways and Alec was happy to share a close moment with his young brother, one of the few he usually had.

Alec had been dumbstruck for less than a second before a rushing wave of protectivness swallowed him. He clutched tightly on the wiggling body of his little brother Max, Max who'd been right and if Alec had spent a minute thinking about, would have realized that his younger brother would be an amazing shadowhunter before long; he was observant, quiet and always noticed what was odd. Aline had been abducted by some ugly demon, he was still dizzy with disbelief that there was a demon in Alicante, and with all the boldness that his sister was usually filled with, she had took off right after the disappearing form, leaving Alec torn with his duties.

He ran upstairs with Max in tow, who was yelling and thrashing, and suddenly put his brother up on his feet, holding the boy shoulders between his hands, that seemed so big compared to the frail shoulders, and shook his hysterical little brother.

- « Stop it Max ! STOP ! » Max froze and looked up at Alec, to see a determined and angry scowl on his brother's face. Although, when Max calmed down, the features softened.

- « Max, I need you to stay inside and be safe, alright? Don't stay close to the windows or the doors. I'll ask Sebastian to stay with you and close off all the openings, okay? We'll doused the light to make sure we don't attract any more demon. I need to go find Izzy and I don't want to worry about you. Can you promise me to stay in here and safe? » Alec asked seriously and with the even voice he always used to calm down his siblings, his older brother voice.

Max sniffled and nodded, his young body trembling in fear. Alec caressed the ruffled black hair and kissed Max's foreheard gently before running away to his room, picking up his bow and quiver, seraph blades and daggers. He ran back out, glancing back only to make sure Max hadn't wandered away, glad to find him sitting down near the stairs, eyes wide and frightened. He opened the door only to be met with an apocalyptic sight.

There you go my lovelies, did you like it? :) I hope so! And as you know i always love feedback, review review my darlings :) 300 is now very obviously flirting and I really like it ;) only 25 more to go :D Thanks to all who read, review, fallow and fave :) You guys are awesoooome! XD