Hello! Here is the next chapter! It's a little short, but it's up ridiculously early, so hopefully you'll forgive me. :)

Alec didn't know what is was about the dusty, vacant corner room in the northeast quadrant of the Institute, what made it so different from the rest of the rooms, or why it had been his refuge during stressful times, when he just wanted to be alone and sulk, for as long as he could remember, except that it was quiet and about as far away as he could get from everyone at any given time, and that no one would ever know to look there for him. The skyline view of New York City didn't hurt either.

He sat on the window seat, one leg bent in front of him, crossed arms resting on top of it, the other draped over the side, staring out the window and trying to pretend, for just a minute, that his life didn't suck so much.

He couldn't believe this. After everything they'd been through and all the hurtles they'd gotten over together, here Magnus was, willing to throw all of that away, willing to die and leave Alec alone and broken once again. And the worst part, the one that not only made him feel guilty for opposing Magnus as he did, but that also gave him no real ground to stand on in doing so, was that, as much as it hurt to admit, Magnus was right. It was the only chance the rest of them had of coming through this alive. How could he, a Shadowhunter, mandated to serve and protect, to lay his life down in the defense of the cause, oppose Magnus wanting to do exactly that?

The answer: he couldn't. And he hated himself for so badly wanting to.

His miserable solitude lasted about ten minutes before the bedroom door opened and closed again, obviously emitting someone into it. Alec didn't turn to see who it was, but he had a pretty good idea. Whoever it was didn't come closer then the door. He waited. As he sat there, staring out the window, he was beginning to feel the effects of his weeks without proper nutrition and rest, now that the shock was wearing off. He felt more exhausted then he could ever remember feeling before.

"Alec," a painfully familiar voice said softly, making Alec's heart jolt in his chest, despite his frustration. Magnus came closer, stopping just a few feet behind him. Alec couldn't bring himself to turn around."

"Alec," Magnus repeated, "Please look at me."

"Why?" he demanded, suddenly fighting tears with everything in him, "If you're just going to leave me anyway?"

"I would never leave you, Alexander."

At that, Alec finally looked at him. "You're willingly going to die and leave me here alone. It may as well be the same thing. Either way has the same result."

"Don't act like I want to. In fact, the last thing I want is to die now, when you have finally given me a reason to live."

"Then don't."

"I have to. You know as well as I do that I have to, if for no other reason than that it's the right thing to do. You know it is," he said when Alec had begun shaking his head, trying, and mostly failing, to prevent the tears from falling, but he just didn't have it in him to be strong anymore. Magnus was quiet, watching him for a few seconds before speaking again, his voice quieter, "I'd rather die so you can live, Alec. I've been alive for centuries; you've barely had nineteen years."

"And I don't want to live another minute if you aren't there to share it! Don't you get that!?"

Magnus looked stricken. "I might not die." The only indication Alec gave of having heard him was to meet his eyes, listening. Magnus took a deep breath and continued, "I wasn't going to tell you, because it may not work out and I didn't want to get your hopes up, but…there's a chance… I have to speak to Catarina, but there's a chance I wouldn't die, not right away."

"What do you mean, not right away?"

"Right now, the demonic part of my brain is, in a sense, repressed into submission, pushed so far from my conscious mind that, despite the rough shape it's in, it can't get to me. Using it against my father… well, I'd essentially be separating it from me completely and forcing it on him instead, using it's power, my power, and also his power, against him. And it may be enough to stop him. Probably not permanently, but long enough that he wouldn't ever be able to bother you again."

"I don't understand. How would that not kill you?" Alec asked, trying to control his voice. He was curious now, if nothing else. At the very least, a move like that would leave Magnus mentally ill for the rest of his life.

"Because my anatomy is different from a mortal's. The two halves don't occupy the same amount of space. From what I can tell from the few things I've read on it over the years, out of pure curiosity, about ninety-five percent of my brain hosts the part of my mind that is human, while only about five percent hosts the demonic part. And while that part is immensely powerful, is the control-center and the end all-be all of my warlock aspects, it doesn't, as far as I know, control any of the actions that are necessary to life. The human part does that, because demons don't actually need to breathe or have a beating heart. So its possible that, as long as the demonic half of the mind is safely separated and removed completely, a warlock could, theoretically, survive." He stopped again and seemed to decide whether or not to go on. He apparently decided to. "Alec, if I'm right, as long as we, Catarina and I, can figure out how to safely execute this, I could be okay. And… because the demonic part is what possess the warlock characteristics… immortality included, ridding myself of it…"

Alec literally jolted as he fit together what Magnus was saying. "You would be mortal…"

Magnus nodded, his expression an odd one, "If not completely human." Alec blinked, trying to process this new information, his mind whirling with new possibilities. He knew the chances of this actually going off without a hitch were slim to none, Magnus had said as much, and any possibility at all depended on whether the warlocks could figure out how to do it in the first place, but still, he couldn't help but get his hopes up. Just a little bit. "I don't know how realistic a hope it is, Alexander," Magnus' voice was soft but firm, bringing Alec back to reality, "But even if there turns out to be no safe way to do it and I have to die, you have to let me try. I know you feel your life would be meaningless if that happened, but I can still hope you would eventually be proven wrong, that you would find someone else eventually." Even as he said this, Alec was shaking his head. Magnus meant well, he knew that, but he had never been so wrong.

The warlock continued, "I know you don't believe that, and that's fine, but I have to, for the sake of my sanity between now and however much time we have left, I have to believe that. Running from this would be the most selfish thing I could ever do, and it would be for nothing anyway, because we would all die then. It would be evil, and though I am a lot of things, I am not that. It would only be right to give my life to save all of yours, so please, Alexander, don't make it more difficult than it already is. I'm begging you, don't."

Alec was quiet for a minute as they stared at each other. "You realize," he said when he finally did speak again, "That the only way I could ever hope to allow you to try this, for my own sanity, would be if I knew you would be okay after, immortal or not… I know how slim a chance it is, and that there is no guarantee, but if you're going to do this, and I know you are, I have to hope for that. No matter how much worse it would make things if you-if it didn't work."

"I know."

"Just-just promise me," as he spoke, he found he was on the verge of crying again and fought hard against it, "Promise me you'll do everything you can, get as much help as you can, to find a way to survive it."

"It's never been done before, Alec. I don't know-"

"Just promise me. Find a way. Try. Please."

Magnus sighed, looking at him with enough pain in his eyes to break Alec's heart, but eventually nodded. "I promise." He started forward again then, until he had Alec's face cupped in his hands. "I do want to survive for you, love. I've never wanted anything more than I want that."

Alec closed his eyes and swallowed against the lump in his throat. That was as much as he to ask for. And if it didn't work, he could only hope that he would die as well, because no way could he live with that kind of pain. "Okay." He kept his eyes closed as Magnus kissed him.

"Okay," Magnus said after a minute, all traces of his formerly somber tone gone, "Now, let's get out of this room, if you don't mind. It is entirely too depressing, and I am allergic to dust."

The Hunter's Moon was mostly empty, the lunch rush having died down a little while earlier, and getting a table far enough away that they wouldn't be overheard hadn't been much of a challenge for Magnus. Catarina had sat, listening intently and looking only slightly shocked, as he'd explained what had happened and what he planned to do, leaving out no detail. He finished and looked across the table at her, hands clasped together atop it. She didn't speak for a long time, but had sat, processing his words; her white hair and blue skin a deep contrast in the crappy lighting.

"I can see you've put a lot of thought into this, Magnus," she said finally, "Even so, do you think such a thing is possible?"

"I don't know. But I have to try."

"I mean, forcing your nature on your father very well may be accomplishable, but… surviving it?"

"I have to try," he repeated.

"For Alec," she supplied.

Magnus only nodded stoically. "I did some research, a hundred or so years ago, trying to learn more about how our minds worked. I've never given it much more thought than curiosity, and once I learned, I moved on to other things. Like I've said, it's been years, but there was one source I found, back then, that almost implied that the two parts are autonomous. And nothing I found ever suggested that one couldn't continue on without the other."

"And you think if the part that functions most in keeping you alive remains in place, you can live to tell the tale."

"That was the general idea, yes."

"Magnus, you would be accomplishing the impossible, if it can even be done at all."

He shrugged. "There's a first time for everything."

She eyed him for a moment. "I'm assuming you've considered the fact that it might leave you mortal?"

"It's all I've thought about," he answered honestly.

"For Alec," she repeated.

"And for myself. I'd really rather not outlive another love. I'm honestly not sure I'd survive the pain again."

"And what if this kills you?"

He shrugged. "It's a chance I have to take. If I don't do anything, chances are all of them will meet their doom, and so will I. And that's unacceptable."

Catarina nodded, obviously understanding, if not agreeing. "You're right."

"So you'll help me?"

She took a deep breath and, eventually, nodded. "I'll help you," she confirmed, and after a few seconds added, "And who knows, if this works, maybe I'll find a way to follow. Immortality's not all it's cracked up to be."

Magnus lifted his drink to his lips for the first time since he'd begun speaking. "Amen to that."

So? Thoughts?

Thanks for reading!