Hello! I know it's late, but I wasn't home and I don't really like posting from my tablet, it always messes up the format, but anyway...I have some notes to share so bear with me, okay?

First, I wanted to thank you for all your comments and opinions on this story, I really, really hope you end up loving it as much as I do. The ride will be long, but I promise it'll be worth it in the end.

Second, if you've been reading my fics then you know that I love slow burn, so don't expect this story to be any different from the others, you'll get your happy ending, but you'll have to wait for it (sorry, but not really).

And finally, I wanted you to know that I'll try to post more than one chapter per week, but I can't promise you anything right now because school is driving me insane. I'll try to write as much as I can this weekend and if all goes as planned, I'll post the next chapter on Tuesday, if not, well, I'll see you all until Friday.

Anyway, I think that's all for now. Enjoy this chapter! See you soon!

Chapter 2

"I'm here." Magnus exclaimed from the balcony of his loft when he heard the voices of Ragnor and Raphael calling him. He had been doing some relaxation exercises to release the tension from his body. It had been quite an exciting week and he always enjoyed doing some exercise while admiring the view of his beloved city. It was fun and it helped him stay in shape. After all, his body hadn't been a gift from heaven, he had worked very hard on it, and if he wanted to keep stealing glances from boys and girls alike on the street, he knew he had to keep it toned.

"Where the hell have you been all week!?" Ragnor exclaimed, stepping into the balcony along with Raphael.

"Good morning, my friends, yes, I'm glad to see you too." Magnus said sarcastically. He hadn't seen his friends since they had sold the Pollock a week ago and this hostile treatment wasn't what he had been expecting at all.

"Don't be so melodramatic, and now tell us, where have you been!? I tried to reach you all week, but you never answered. I even stayed here a couple of days in hopes to see you, but you never showed up. Where the hell have you been!? You never take the Chairman with you unless you know you're going to be away for more than three days, so I know you're up to something."

"I am." Magnus admitted.

"What is it!? And why don't you answer your damn phone!? Only in the last half hour I called you at least ten times!"

"My phone is charging in my room...chill, Ragnor. What happened? What's the urgency?"

"What happened!?" Ragnor exclaimed in disbelief, making Magnus frown in confusion.

He didn't understand why Ragnor was so upset, it made no sense. Yes, he had been away for a couple of days, but it wasn't the first time he had left town without telling his friends. They were not his parents, Magnus was a grown-ass man, he could do whatever the hell he wanted. "Yeah, what happened? I'm not liking your tone or the hostile treatment, my friend."

"Did you do it?" Ragnor asked instead.

"Did what?"

"The bank...did you do it?" Ragnor insisted.

"What bank, Ragnor? What are you talking about?"

"The bank, Magnus! 270 Park Avenue? Does that ring any bells for you?"

Magnus frowned again because the more Ragnor opened his mouth the more Magnus didn't understand a word of what he was saying.

"There was a bank robbery this morning." Raphael intervened. "The news…"

"The news, what?" Magnus asked, now exasperated. He hated when his friends didn't go straight to the point.

"We saw the news and the police are linking your name to it, Magnus." Raphael said. "Apparently, they found evidence that confirmed that it had been you."

"But I didn't do it!" Magnus said, surprised. "I've been home all morning."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah, I'm sure I'd know if I had robbed a bank, Raphael."

Ragnor immediately walked to the living room and turned on the TV; the local news were reporting the latest information about the incident. Apparently, the whole city was on high alert after what had happened. According to the NYPD and the FBI there was evidence enough to suggest that this vile heist against one of the largest banks in the city had been Magnus's work.

"But I didn't do anything!" Magnus complained. It was hard to believe that what he was hearing was true.

"If you didn't do it, then someone did it for you." Ragnor said.

"Evidently, but I didn't ask them to do it if that's what you're implying, Ragnor, someone's trying to copy me!" Magnus said offended. He knew that most criminals would find the fact flattering, after all it was an indicator that the work was so good it was worthy of imitation, but Magnus didn't. He was unique, there was only one Magnus Bane in all New York and he was currently standing in front of the TV watching this nonsense.

"Or maybe someone's trying to frame you." Raphael put his two cents.

"You think?" Magnus questioned.

"It is likely...I mean, if you wanted to ruin someone, a criminal like us, how would you do it?"

"By ruining its reputation." Magnus said.

Raphael gave him a knowingly look. Of course! That made much more sense and was, by far, worse than having someone trying to imitate him. The person trying to use his name wasn't making him look any good. According to the news, this fake-Magnus had killed five guards during the robbery, so it was clear that no matter who was behind this slander, he was dealing with an amateur. Magnus could have gone in and out of that bank without a single bullet being fired.

"Santiago, can you help?"

"With what?"

"With this...you know, ask around, see if you can find out who this impostor is?" Magnus asked. Raphael was their best contact in the 'underworld', if someone was trying to ruin Magnus, the only one who could find the information was their friend.

Raphael rolled his eyes but nodded. "I'll see what I can do."

"Thank you."

"You think it can be you-know-who?" Ragnor asked curiously.

"No, that man is certainly capable of doing something like this, he's been trying to ruin my life since I can remember, but he has different methods. He is more...direct, and he doesn't like playing around. Besides, he has things on me that could do more damage than a simple armed robbery. This..." Magnus said matter of factly, "is the work of someone else."

"Whose?" Ragnor questioned.

"I don't know, but we'll find out." Magnus assured him, turning off the TV.

"And then what?"

"Then, we'll make whoever this person is pay for this slander because nobody uses my name and gets away with it. I've been in this business for quite some time and no one's going to come here and ruin everything. I have a reputation to keep and this impostor is not going to stain it." Magnus said with determination.

Raphael and Ragnor nodded in agreement. Both knew that in the business not having a reputation was probably the best reputation, but when you had one, the best thing you could do was to keep it intact—it gave you prestige and credibility. Both terrific assets when trying to sell stolen items or land a new big score.

"Sounds good," Ragnor said, "now, would you mind telling us what were you doing all week?" He asked again, this time without yelling, his previous anger was now long forgotten.

"Studying our new target, my friend." Magnus said.

He had spent an entire week doing research, asking around and generally, getting everything ready for their next big score. Magnus's reputation wasn't something he had won thanks to his handsome face. No, all his works, even the simplest ones, had a very long process that generally required of all his physical and mental abilities. From the planning to the execution, everything, every step Magnus took, was previously studied and analyzed, with a number of escape routes just in case something went wrong. Due to what he did for a living, Magnus could not afford to make mistakes and that was why he never left anything to chance—anything.

"Already? But we are still happily spending the money we got from the painting." Ragnor said.

"I know, but this one will require careful planning and-"

"I better go." Raphael interrupted them. He always did that when they started to talk about 'work,' he said it was better if he didn't know in what new ridiculous situation they were going to get themselves into. It was safer for everyone. In their line of work they could never be too careful. "I'll let you know if I find something about this impostor. And I guess I'll call you later, Rag...I mean, Ragnor." He said, waving goodbye and disappearing from view almost immediately.

"Rag?" Magnus inquired, raising an eyebrow the moment they were left alone. "Raphe and Rag! Ugh! You two are so in love! It's disgusting!"

"We are not!"

"Of course you are, I don't know why you keep denying it." Magnus said. "'Oooh, Raphe said this, Raphe said that.' 'Why don't we call Raphe and ask him what he thinks?' You know I'm not lying, something's going on between you two."

"Nothing's going on between us. We are not in love, we're just friends." Ragnor said, but the color on his cheeks could indicate otherwise. "Anyway, if you're done imagining things and speculating about our lives, could you please tell me more about this new score you have in mind? Why didn't you share it with me before? We are a team, remember?"

Magnus laughed, but let the issue rest for now. He knew that his friends would share it with him when they were ready, or when they pulled their heads out of their asses—where they seemed to have them most of the time. "I didn't tell you before because first I wanted to make sure we could pull it off. This is going to be big, my friend, if we do this right, I could pay my debt once and for all."

"What!?" Ragnor questioned, and Magnus smiled in response. "With one score? What's the target? The Federal Reserve?"

"No, something better and less risky...bonds."

"Bonds?"

"Yes, but these ones aren't like any other bonds, my friend."

"They are not?"

"No, these are special."

"Why?"

"All in good time...now, let me take a quick shower and we can go."

"Where?"

"To the National Archives, of course."

Ragnor frowned and gave Magnus a look of sheer confusion. Magnus knew that his friend wasn't following him, but that was part of the plan too, he would explain everything once they got there.

"Don't look at me like that, I'm not crazy. I promise you'll understand everything. I'll be right back, okay?"

"Magnus, wait!"

"What!?"

"Are you sure you want us to do this when there's clearly someone out there using your name? Maybe this isn't the best time. You've waited long enough, if this score is really going to help you pay off that debt maybe we should wait and-"

"No, on the contrary, my friend, we can't wait. This is the best way to make sure that this city knows that I, that we are not behind those killings. Like I said when Santiago was still here, I have a reputation that I would hate to stain. Besides, this score won't be easy, I'm estimating that it will take us at least six weeks to plan it, so..."

"So we're doing this."

"We are." Magnus agreed. "But don't worry, my friend, everything will be fine, I promise. Anyway, five minutes, okay? I won't take long."

o-o-o-o-o

Alec arrived to the bank located at 270 Park Avenue and sighed loudly. If it weren't for the fact that there were policemen and forensic teams examining the area, he wouldn't have believed what he was seeing. There was chaos everywhere. The bank and the streets surrounding it were crowded with people wanting to see what had happened inside. Tourists, office workers, executives, reporters, everyone was there. Crimes happened all the time in New York, it was part of the day to day, but when these were acts of violence that threatened the security of the city, they always tended to cause a lot more commotion.

"We'll have to get rid of all these people." Alec said.

"Don't worry, I'll take care of that." Jace said, walking close to the nearest police officer and requesting her to make a security perimeter to allow them to work.

Alec and his team weren't usually part of these kinds of investigations. Their division only had jurisdiction when it came to white-collar crimes, ie, non-violent crimes committed for financial gain. And although a bank robbery fell under this category, this particular attack had had a very violent nature and, therefore, the last thing they had been expecting was to be called in to help with the investigation.

About an hour ago Alec had received a call from the NYPD asking him for backup for the case about the bank robbery, as they had evidence enough to believe that this attack had been the work of none other than one of the Bureau's most wanted white-collar criminals: Magnus Bane. And since Bane was Alec's official case, they had requested his presence at the crime scene, so that they could hand over the investigation to the FBI.

"Iz, what did you find out?" Alec asked his sister as soon as he and Jace walked inside the bank. In their first report, the police had notified them that they had found trails of glitter in the vault and other areas of the bank, hence why they were blaming Bane, but Alec still had his doubts that this criminal could really be him. If there was something that Alec knew about Bane was that the latter wasn't a violent person.

"It's Bane." She confirmed. "I had my doubts like all of you when they first called, but it's him. I just came back from the vault and there's glitter everywhere, there are no prints, no nada...it looks like Magnus's doing."

"But there are dead bodies." Alec said. That had been the part that hadn't quite fitted since they had received the call. This attack to the bank had had casualties, something that until now, had never happened before. Magnus wasn't a murderer.

"Yeah, that was weird because it doesn't match his MO, but it's him, big brother."

Alec shook his head. There was a part of him that refused to believe it and not because he thought Magnus was an angel, after all he was a criminal, but because even among criminals there were codes and Magnus was not the kind of person who went through life killing innocent people. He had ethics. He had moral. "It's not him." He said sure of himself.

"How are you so sure?" Jace asked. "Just because until now he hasn't done it, doesn't mean it's not him, Alec."

"He's never killed anyone, Jace. He robbed a casino in Vegas and walked out the front door with 80 million dollars in cash without even setting off the alarms. His work is that clean, and this whole mess? Well, it doesn't look like him."

"Well, then let's check it out to see if you're right." Jace said.

Alec, Jace and Izzy entered the first secured area and looked around. Alec couldn't help but notice that the scene looked clean enough. There were no fingerprints, no clues and he could bet that the security footage had been tampered too. He couldn't deny that at first glance it did appear to be Magnus's work.

Alec walked past the first dead body and uncovered it, kneeling beside it. It was of a man in his early fifties—a security guard. His eyes were closed and he had a shot in the head. A clean shot. Somehow it was a relief to know that he hadn't suffered, it had been an instant death.

"All the others died in the same way," Izzy said, kneeling by Alec's side and putting her hand on his shoulder, "none of them suffered. At least he showed them some mercy."

Alec sighed. "Why is he killing now?"

Izzy and Jace shared a look. "I don't know, Alec, but we'll find out." Jace said.

"I never thought he would be capable of doing something like this." Alec said, looking at the dead man and feeling a little guilty. He couldn't help thinking that if he had already caught this criminal this man would still be alive.

"You don't know him, Alec." Jace added.

"But I do, Jace, I do. I've been chasing him for five years. I've been after him for far too long. I know what he likes, what he dislikes, his weaknesses, his strengths. I know he's weird and eccentric, ambitious and conceited to some extent, but up until now, I never thought of him as a killer." Alec said, covering the body and making his way to the vault.

His team was already there doing the usual protocols; getting the reports from the police, gathering the evidence and trying to figure out how this massacre had happened.

"How much did he take?" Jace asked one of the agents.

"Just three million, the vault was almost empty when the robbery occurred." One of the agents informed them.

Alec frowned. Now he understood even less why Magnus had taken such a risk for so little money. It made no sense, none at all.

"Did he leave a postcard?" Alec asked. He hated them, he really did since thanks to them everyone in the Bureau knew that Magnus had some interest in Alec, and that was pretty uncomfortable, but at the same time it was his best chance to see if Magnus had really done it. Maybe hidden in the message, he could find the answer he was looking for.

"No, we searched everywhere, but no postcard this time."

"Maybe he didn't have time...I know for a fact that one of the alarms went off." Izzy chimed in.

"Maybe…" Alec said, walking around and analyzing every corner of the vault—there was something that wasn't adding up. The dead bodies, the lack of postcard...something was strange. Even the glitter wasn't spread as it usually was, as if it were part of the man committing the crime, but it looked as if it had been just thrown in there very last minute. Alec had always associated the glitter with Magnus, as if it were part of the man himself. He still didn't know how he did it, but it was as if he went around leaving glitter wherever he went, and that trail on the floor didn't look as part of the person who had taken the money and committed this crime.

"It's not him." Alec said again.

"Alec…"

"No, look." Alec said, before Jace could say another word. "Look at the glitter." He encouraged his entire team. "Look at it closely and tell me, what do you see?"

Alec's team observed, but no one seemed to understand what he was asking them to see. It was blatantly obvious, he didn't know how they couldn't see it.

Alec was about to give up and explain what was evident to his eyes, when Izzy gasped in surprise. "Oh my God! You're right! It looks imposed, as if someone had just thrown it there for the sake of throwing it."

"Exactly." Alec said, with a smile. He knew his sister was very, very smart. "Look here, do you see this?" He pointed to the floor where there was some glitter accumulated in a small mountain. "This right here is the proof that whoever this criminal is threw the glitter after taking the money. I need everyone to go and analyze all the rest of the trails and see if you can find something that can help us know who this person is and-" He was saying when out of nowhere his dad and the captain of the office, Hodge, arrived to the vault.

"Dad? Hodge? What are you guys doing here?"

"Agent Lightwood." Robert said. He always referred to Alec that way when they were working. Yeah, they were family, but his father preferred the formality. He said it was more professional. "The office called us and we're taking over the investigation."

"But why? I mean, the NYPD called me because Bane is my case."

"Yes, he is, but we have reasons to believe that he's now colluded with Valentine Morgenstern."

"What?"

"What you heard, Agent Lightwood."

"He would never...Magnus is not like Valentine, their styles are very different."

"Valentine Morgenstern is recruiting," Robert said, "Bane is a dangerous and talented criminal, don't you agree that he would be a great asset to his team?"

"Well, yes, but-"

"But nothing. Criminals make alliances all the time, Agent. I'm sure that you, with all your years of expertise, are well aware of that. We've been investigating some crimes associated with Valentine and we believe this heist was some sort of audition for Bane, right, Agent Starkweather?"

"That's right, Alec. These deaths and the money he took were his ticket into Valentine's circle." Hodge added.

Alec meditated that new information for some seconds. It still sounded improbable to his ears because he simply couldn't see Magnus and Valentine working together, but there was something his dad had said that had had some truth in it: criminals made alliances all the time. And an alliance would certainly explain why Bane had changed his MO so suddenly.

"Do you really think they are working together?" Jace asked worriedly.

"Yes, and since now Bane is part of Valentine's circle, we have to take over this investigation."

"But you can't get me and my team off the case." Alec said in self-defense. He had been investigating this man for years. He had invested a lot of time in this, they couldn't just push him aside.

"We don't want to get you off the case, on the contrary, we want you and your team to join us. This case is under our jurisdiction now, but we could still use your help to solve it. After all, you're an expert in all things Bane, right?"

Alec sighed. Working with his father meant working alongside the Marshals of the Washington D.C. office and Alec hated that. They were just a group of conceited by-the-book agents that couldn't see beyond their internal rules and protocols. They were all on the same team, but not all of them played by the same rules and that had always been the problem with them.

"We are on the same team." His father said, almost as if he were reading Alec's thoughts.

"I know, but you guys have very different methods and-"

"That's why Agent Starkweather is part of the team too." Robert said. "Besides, our methods aren't that different, Agent. We all are after the same thing, make sure that the law is followed and respected. Don't you remember your lessons in Quantico? Dura lex, sed lex. The law is hard…"

"-but it is the law." Alec completed the sentence. He knew. They had drilled that motto into him for years, but the way the Marshals interpreted the law was very different from theirs.

"So, what do you say, Agent Lightwood? Can we count on you and your team for this investigation?" His father asked.

Alec wasn't sure. Just a few minutes ago he had found evidence that had led him to believe that this wasn't even Magnus's doing, and now he had a new theory that contradicted the above. His mind was conflicted. Something deep within him told him that his father and Hodge were wrong about the alleged alliance, but the other part couldn't help but agree with them.

"Alec…" Jace said, giving him a look like the ones they used to share since they were kids. "Maybe they are right about the case and this was an audition. Think about it, that would explain what you were saying earlier about the glitter and the lack of postcard. I think we should join them and see if that way we can finally catch them both."

"Listen to your partner." His father said.

Alec took a deep breath. Jace had a point, this robbery being an audition would certainly explain the issue with the glitter and the postcard, but he still wasn't sold on the idea. "Izzy?" He asked.

"Do what you think is best, Alec, you know I have your back."

"If you don't join us," his father added, "you know you'll have to hand over all your research on this criminal and you won't be part of the case anymore, so think carefully about what you really want."

Alec looked at his father. He didn't want to leave the case and for reasons, he certainly wanted to be the one to put Magnus Bane behind bars, so he took a deep breath and made up his mind.

"We're in."

o-o-o-o-o

Magnus and Ragnor entered the National Archives in Lower Manhattan. The National Archives maintained the historically significant records of Federal agencies and courts in New Jersey, New York, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands dating from 1685 to the present. They also kept selected microfilm publications of the National Archives, and provided access to a variety of online historical resources. It was the perfect place for a good research. Not exactly for criminals, but no one knew what they were. Both were disguised, Magnus, as an academic professor from some Ivy League University, and Ragnor as his assistant.

"Are you going to tell me what are we doing here?"

"Yes, my friend, just a second." Magnus said, walking to the front desk and requesting a form to have access to the Spanish Victory Bond.

"The what?" Ragnor asked, when they were left alone waiting for the requested document to arrive.

"I told you we were going after bonds, and well, that's the only official copy there is." Magnus said.

"I'm not understanding."

"You will in just a second, don't be so impatient." Magnus said.

They waited for a couple of minutes until an old man came and gave them the bond so they could analyze it. He explained to them how they should handle it and left them alone so they could study it.

"It's beautiful." Ragnor said, admiring the piece of paper. "Is that a...?"

"Goya?" Magnus said, looking at the miniature replica of Goya's painting The Charge of the Mamelukes that was illustrating the bond. "Yes, yes it is. I always loved this painting. Did you know it's a companion to the The Third of May 1808 painting? It depicts one of the many people's rebellions against the French occupation of Spain that sparked the Peninsular War. It shows the beginning of the uprising when the Mamelukes of the French Imperial Guard were ordered to charge and subdue the rioting citizens. Did you know that Goya chose not to paint any single action or to have any single focal point to emphasize the chaos of the drama?"

"No, I didn't know that."

"Well, it's true. I would kill to have the original painting, but maybe someday. Anyway, it's amazing, isn't it?"

"Yes, it is. Now, do you care to explain what are we going to do with this?"

Magnus smiled. "Of course, my friend. As you can see this is a war bond. War bonds were debt securities issued by a government to finance military operations and other expenditures in times of war. This little gem over here was issued during the Second World War, more specifically in 1944, by the United States to support the Spanish Underground in their battle against the axis. It is believed that very few have ever been redeemed. There's speculation that entire boxes were captured and many of them are still hidden away in caves of Altamira."

"How many boxes exactly?"

"Thousands, my friend."

"Oh, I get it!" Ragnor exclaimed, suddenly understanding. "We are going to try to get those boxes!"

"Not exactly, but you're close." Magnus said, pulling out a camera that he had sneaked into the building and taking a couple of pictures for future reference. "We're going to forge them."

"But how? I mean, if as you say, this is the only copy in existence, when they come to compare our bonds, they won't match this one. You're very talented, my friend, no doubt about it, but not even you are capable of making exact replicas of this. Look at the security seals, these are tricolor seals. Impossible to match without having the physical copy for reference. Also, we don't even know what kind of paper is this and-"

"That's not a problem, if you need to know, this bond was made in Spanish Press Parchment of the same year it was issued, my new friend, Liam, told me."

"Who's Liam?"

"The man who just let us examine the bond without asking any questions? He thinks I'm a professor at Yale and I'm writing a book," Magnus said, taking out his fake ID from his pocket and showing it to Ragnor, "so don't worry about the details, I know more than I should about this baby. Forging them won't be a problem, the problem will come later, when we put in motion the second part of the plan."

"What's the second part?"

"Well, remember what you said earlier about this copy not matching our forgeries? Well, that's true, even someone as talented as myself can't make exact replicas of this, so for that, we'll have to switch the original with one of our own, so that when they compare them, the seals and details-"

"-match the original." Ragnor completed the sentence.

"Exactly, and since that won't be a problem, we'll be rich in the blink of an eye. Instant money, my friend."

"How much?"

"Well, their face value was of $1,000, drawing a 10% interest, and compounded for 72 years it gives us around $300,000 dollars give or take."

"How many are you planning on making?"

"Five hundred, maybe more, we'll see."

Ragnor smiled broadly. That gave them almost $150 million dollars just for them. It was more than enough to cover Magnus's debt and split the rest so they could have the life they had always wanted.

"Brilliant." Ragnor said. "Absolutely brilliant."

Magnus smiled too. He knew the plan was brilliant. He had been thinking about doing this score for quite some time, but he had never felt confident enough to pull it off until now. Forging bonds wasn't as easy as it sounded. Bonds, unlike paintings and even bills, had more security elements that had to go through all the tests. They had to be pretty good to stand up to examination.

"When are we starting?"

"Today, my friend." Magnus said. "There's no time to waste."