I know I'm a day late but ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ life's a bitch, what can I say? Anyway, there's not much to say about this chapter, just that I really hope you like it. It follows what happened in CH5 and you could say that is a sort of introduction to CH6, so enjoy and don't forget to share your thoughts or leave kudos ;)

Anyway, see you all next time!

Chapter 5

Alec sighed. He had just finished copying all the capitalized letters he had found, and so far he only had a bunch of random letters that made no sense to him. From each of the postcards, he had obtained a combination of four or five letters; they weren't words, they weren't coordinates, just random pieces of a puzzle that he still couldn't solve—WOUSE, LDVEN, YOOH, ULEI, IKGH, ETTT, OGOHI, ONRD, ADAV, ATEN, EWEW, ITYO, and HMERK. He knew there was a message hidden there somewhere, the problem was that he had absolutely no idea how to read it.

He started by trying to find anagrams in the different combinations, but apparently the letters weren't combinable among each other, so then he tried reading only the first letter of each combination from the first to the last and vice versa, in order to see if a message popped up, but it didn't work either. No matter how he saw it, the message simply made no sense.

Frustrated, Alec went back to the postcards, perhaps he had missed something there, a detail that could help him find out how to read the message. He looked at them, paying attention to the small details, and it was only when he was about to give up when he noticed that, indeed, he had missed a crucial detail.

Magnus had only capitalized letters in two sentences of the text—the first and the last. That discovery changed everything. The combinations were not only letters but groups.

From the first postcard the capitalized letters of the first sentence were 'W,' 'O,' 'U,' and 'S,' 'E,' of the last, so Alec quickly added a small dash to separate them and did the same with the rest. Soon he had thirteen different combinations divided into two groups—WOU-SE, LD-VEN, YO-OH, UL-EI, IK-GH, ET-TT, OGO-HI, ON-RD, AD-AV, AT-EN, EW-EW, IT-YO, and HME-RK.

What he had to do next was pretty obvious to him, so he read just the first group of letters in order from the first to the last, and a sentence began to form.

"WOULD YOU LIKE TO GO ON A DATE WITH ME?"

"Are you kidding me right now?" Alec exclaimed, unable to believe what his eyes were seeing. This was certainly some kind of joke, right? This man couldn't be serious about this. A date? For real? And although Alec knew that the criminal had left this message only to mess with his head, he couldn't stop the sudden flush that turned his pale cheeks a gorgeous pink. Truth to be told, no one had ever asked him on a date before, of course he had gone out a few times with his siblings and met people, interesting people, but his work had always been first and that had kept him away from the dating market, so in jest or not, this was a first.

Alec shook his head to keep his mind from thinking too much about his nonexistent love and social life, and better focused on the second group of words.

"SEVEN OH EIGHT THIRD AVE NEW YORK."

Alec didn't take long to realize that it was an address somewhere in Midtown East, so he quickly typed it in the Bureau's database, but found nothing of significance to the case. Not that he were really surprised by that, after all this was Magnus Bane he was talking about. The man always knew what he was doing.

The address was of an abandoned building owned by some 35 year-old Swedish entrepreneur named Hans Axel Von Fersen who apparently had disappeared a couple of years ago. He had last been seen in Vienna, and was expected to return to his home in Paris, but he had disappeared and no one had ever heard from him again. It was strange, yeah, but there was nothing there that could tell Alec that his disappearance had had anything to do with Magnus.

Alec frowned. Why had Magnus given him this address? Why had he left him this message? The part about the date was definitely just a joke that the criminal had come up with to, once again, make fun of Alec, but the second part? The second part could mean something. It was an address after all. Alec knew it was a long shot and had all the potential to be nothing but a trap, but what if it was not? What if this address actually helped him find and finally capture Magnus? He couldn't miss the chance to find out.

Normally, when he found himself in these kinds of situations, he called his partner to ask him to go with him, but since his also adoptive brother, Jace, was very busy at that concert being the good boyfriend of the little girl, Alec had no choice but to go alone. Not that it bothered him. He was sure this was nothing but a prank from Magnus, so there was no need to make a fuss just yet. He could go find out what all this nonsense was about and then share his findings with his brother.

Determined, Alec grabbed his gun, his phone, his jacket and left the office.

The place wasn't that far from the FBI Headquarters, so Alec arrived at the address in less than twenty minutes. It was late and although there were still people around, he couldn't help feeling a little anxious. The place looked really abandoned, and the anticipation of what he might find inside was making his heart beat faster and his hands sweat like crazy. For years he had been waiting for an opportunity like this one and now that he had it before him, it didn't seem real—behind that graffitied door he could find the man he had been trying to catch for years, behind that door he could find the answers to his endless questions.

Alec took a deep breath and got out of the car. He walked to the door and glanced down at the lock. There was an old, rusty padlock holding a chain around the handle of the door, preventing any access to the place—inside or out.

Alec sighed. He knew that it was a long shot to think that Magnus Bane was going to be there waiting for him, after all, the criminal had started to send this coded message two years ago, but he couldn't help feeling a little disappointed. He wanted to catch him and put him behind bars, but apparently, that wasn't going to be the case tonight, so for now, he would have to settle for just finding out what this place was and why Bane had led him to it.

Alec looked around cautiously and did the only thing he could do in such situations—he shot the padlock to force his way in. Technically, to enter any private property he needed a warrant, but given that he hadn't had time to request one, he had to improvise a bit. The message on the postcards had given him probable cause and therefore, the authority to break into the building and proceed to conduct a thorough search for evidence of a probable crime. According to the Fourth Amendment, probable cause existed when there was a fair probability that a search will result in evidence of a crime being discovered. So if he managed to find something to incriminate Magnus, he could easily get the required approval with a simple in-court testimony after the search.

Confident that he was doing the right thing, Alec opened the door with a kick and stepped inside, pointing his gun into the darkness. The place seemed to be empty at first glance, there was nothing there but heaps of garbage littering the floor. There was no furniture, and definitely no sign that anyone had used the building in years. Alec tried to turn on the lights but there was no power. He took out his phone and used it to light the way. He walked holding his gun firmly, and started to search every corner. The building had four floors, so he made sure to check each and every room just in case.

When he reached the top floor, he was surprised to discover that unlike the other ones, this floor wasn't covered in trash, on the contrary, it was almost clean, a bit dusty, but in better condition than the others.

Alec looked around. In the other end of the room there was a large mahogany desk. He frowned and walked up to it.

There, above it and in a sea of silver glitter, he found what appeared to be a disposable phone—a burner—and a note. The note, like the postcards, was addressed to Agent Pretty Boy. Alec rolled his eyes already anticipating what he would find there and read the note.

"If your answer to my question is yes, then use the phone and speed dial 1. M.B."

Alec looked at the phone and then at the note. He wasn't there for a date. He had come here to catch Magnus, not because he was interested in participating in whatever game this criminal thought they were playing. He had one goal and one goal only, to put him behind bars.

"Don't even think about it." Alec said, putting the phone back where he had found it and walking out of the room.

He wasn't going to play Magnus's game, he knew better than that. Tomorrow, even when it was Saturday, he would bring his team in the morning and see if there was something there that could help them with the case. But just as he was about to close the door and walk down the stairs, he found himself stopping dead in his tracks.

A part of him knew that this was one of those rare opportunities that only happened once in a lifetime. He had the chance to face Magnus again after all these years and he couldn't waste it. It was risky, and probably the stupidest thing he had done in years since he was on his own, but he had to at least try it. If he did things right, maybe, just maybe, he could catch the criminal distracted and finally put an end to all this.

"God, I'm so going to regret this…" He whispered to himself as he walked back to the room and grabbed the phone.

Alec took one last deep breath and without thinking it too much for fear of losing his courage, he dialed 1.

o-o-o-o-o

Magnus was pacing around his loft. The encounter with his impostor earlier that night had left him a bit uneasy. Not only had he been unable to identify him, but he hadn't even found out why this man was trying to sabotage him, and that had been his mission from the beginning.

He had made a quick sketch of the man's face so that Raphael and Ragnor could ask around and see if anyone in their world recognize him, but Magnus knew it was highly unlikely. This man wasn't working alone and he knew that whoever was behind him, was certainly protecting him. Magnus had a long list of powerful enemies, but none with the ability to pull the stunt this young man seemed to be pulling.

"Who are you working with?" Magnus wondered out loud, sitting on the couch with a loud thud and scaring the Chairman who seemed to be sleeping peacefully there.

"I'm sorry I woke you, Chairman, go back to sleep." He told the cat, but the small ball of fur and claws just sent him a murderous look and wandered off to some other place in the loft to resume his nap.

Magnus laughed, but not even the laughter provided by his four-legged son could help him stop thinking about his current situation. There was another criminal—an evil and very dangerous criminal with no fear of killing—using his name and getting away with it. Yes, to some extent, having someone adding for free a couple of heists to his list of achievements wasn't so bad; it could certainly help him improve his ranking among criminals, but at what cost? This man was ruining his blood-free reputation. Innocent people were dying because of this and that wasn't right, it wasn't fair.

He couldn't deny that the Hope Diamond heist had been a major feat, something that anyone should feel proud of, but even now, Magnus was still trying to understand how his impostor had done it; they had never seen him entering the store. Magnus and his friends had been watching the door all day without even blinking, they had identified almost everyone, they had-

"He was already inside." Magnus concluded softly.

Of course! That made more sense. He and his friends had only failed to identify the last three guards who had entered the boutique to take the night shift, so either his impostor had been one of those guards, or he had been hiding somewhere inside the store just waiting for the right moment to strike.

"Clever." He murmured. "Very clever."

If his theory was correct and his impostor had been inside all along, then, figuring out the rest of what had happened wasn't rocket science. His impostor must have killed the remaining guards, deactivated the alarms and entered the vault with his eyes closed.

Magnus was distracted thinking about how cynical this heist had been when somewhere in his studio one of his many disposable phones started to ring. It was late, so Magnus wondered who could it be. Being a criminal was a dangerous profession and therefore it was a requirement to have multiple forms of communication 24 hours a day—different email accounts, PO boxes all over the world, and several untraceable phone numbers, were the minimum necessary. Magnus never gave the same number twice and for this reason, he had to keep a very detailed list of the contacts he had and the numbers he had given them. It was annoying because he had to always make sure all phones had battery and were running properly, but it was better than going to jail for using a private line. Of course that hadn't stopped him from having a personal phone, but that number only a few selected ones had it.

He walked to his studio and opened a drawer to look for the phone. It didn't take him long to find it and he couldn't help but smile in surprise when he saw who was calling him. That phone in particular, the one he had marked with a golden star, had been reserved for a single purpose. He had bought it two years ago when he had decided to start a game with the annoying FBI agent who had been breathing down his neck for years.

"Alexander!" He answered with a smile on his face. He couldn't believe that a day that had been so bad could have this particular ending. He had planned this moment for two long years and never in his wildest dreams had he thought that today, of all days, he would receive this call. "I knew you'd figure it out someday. I'm glad to see you're starting to think outside the box. Well done, agent. You passed my test."

"Where are you?" The agent asked.

"Eager much? I knew that deep down you weren't indifferent to me. I mean, I'm quite a catch, don't you think?" Magnus joked. He had planned this for far too long not to enjoy it properly.

"Stop saying nonsense, and better tell me, where are you?"

"If you must know, I'm home, Alexander." Magnus said, walking towards the balcony. For some reason he couldn't stop smiling. They had barely crossed a few words and this was already the most entertaining thing that had happened to him in a very long time. "I would love to invite you over, but well...we haven't even had our first date yet, so it's kind of weird, don't you agree? Maybe on our fifth date we could change that. I could invite you over and even cook for you."

"Yeah, right, while I arrest you."

"You are bringing handcuffs?" Magnus teased. "Uhh, I like that. I like that very, very much. I didn't know you had it in you, Alexander, but I'm always open for a little role-play."

Alec didn't reply and Magnus seized the opportunity to keep making him feel uncomfortable. "But I have to warn you about one thing, though. I know I look irresistible and whatnot, like, I'm hot, I know, but I'm not a sex-on-the-first-date kind of guy, Alexander, you'll have to wait a bit to taste all this deliciousness. But know that I'm looking forward to it."

"You're completely insane."

"Like Edgar Allan Poe once wrote, 'Men have called me mad; but the question is not yet settled, whether madness is or is not the loftiest intelligence—whether much that is glorious—whether all that is profound—does not spring from disease of thought—from moods of mind exalted at the expense of the general intellect.'"

Alec didn't reply.

"You haven't read Eleonora? Well, I have to admit that I'm quite surprised by that little detail about you, Alexander, I always thought you were an intellectual, I guess I was wrong. But anyway, when you have some time give it a try. I'm sure that even important agents like yourself enjoy reading sometimes. Now, are you ready for our date?" Magnus asked.

He had meant what he had left in the postcards, not because he were interested in pursuing a relationship with the man who wanted him behind bars, but because he wanted to show that man that no matter where or how close they were, he would never be able to catch him. It was a game of power and control, and Magnus had it rigged so those factors were always in his favor. "You caught me a bit unprepared tonight. It's none of your business, but today wasn't a very good day for me, but don't you worry. For you, I can always improvise."

When he didn't hear any sort of response, he continued. He knew the agent well enough already to know he wasn't going to say anything, he was just going to listen. He knew for a fact that Alexander was a good listener. Since Magnus had met him in that unfortunate incident on the rooftop of the jewelry store two years ago, he had tried to learn as much as possible about him. First, because, well, the man had made quite an impression on him, not only for his handsomeness, which was evident, but because he seemed to be very, very smart, and Magnus liked smart. And second, and most importantly, because he represented a major threat to Magnus and his lifestyle. Alec was a couple of years younger than him and he was already one of the best agents of his jurisdiction. He was dangerous in every sense of the word and Magnus had concluded that the only way to neutralize him was if he learned to know him better, so he did.

"Listen carefully, okay? I'm assuming you're still at the address I gave you, right? So leave your car there and walk to the 42nd street, and then head toward the Bryan Park. It's not far so it'll take you less than 10 minutes to get there. Meet me at the fountain, okay? Oh, and Alexander? Don't you dare bring any company. This is a date and people don't bring company to their dates, unless we're talking about polygamy, which I don't fancy, so..."

"This is not a date." Alec said firmly.

"Then goodbye, Alexander."

"No, wait!" Alec said, and Magnus smiled when he heard the sheer panic in his voice. He knew that the agent wanted this meeting as much as Magnus wanted it, for different reasons, but still. "Fine! It's a date."

"Good, then I'll see you there in a bit. Can't wait to see you!" He said, ending the call and not giving the agent time to say anything else.

"Well, Magnus." Magnus exclaimed to himself, quickly texting his friends to let them know what had just happened and asking for some help. "It seems that tonight's your lucky night, it's time to see your favorite FBI agent again."

o-o-o-o-o

Alec was very, very nervous. He knew this was a great opportunity that he simply couldn't waste. The chance to capture Magnus once and for all was there, it was palpable. It wasn't going to be easy, of course, but it was a real shot that he couldn't afford to throw away. He wasn't really prepared for it, though. He would have loved to have with him a couple of those GPS gadgets they had in the office to be able to pinpoint Magnus's exact location, or at least a recorder to have evidence of their encounter, but since this had been very last minute, his phone would have to be more enough. It was either that or going back all the way to the FBI Headquarters and lose his chance to meet with Magnus.

Alec walked two blocks down to the 42nd Street and headed to the Bryan Park. Alec would never admit this to the criminal, but after Central Park and the Battery Park, the Bryan Park was actually one of his favorite places in all New York. Since he was a little boy, he had always loved going there and just playing around. Then over the years he had discovered that going to the Public Library was his favorite thing in the world, so more often than not, he had found himself lost in as many books as he could get his hands on. Bane hadn't been mistaken about him, Alec was, indeed, an intellectual, and had probably read more books than he could remember, including all the poems and short stories of that American writer, editor, and literary critic that Bane had mentioned during their phone call, but of course, he would never admit that to him either.

Alec arrived at the park and looked around. It was late, but it was Friday, so people were still there drinking coffee or just having a good time. Alec walked over to the fountain and sat down to wait for 'his date.' If he was completely honest, he didn't even know what to expect from tonight. First, he simply couldn't believe that Magnus Bane was going to meet him there, it was too public, too open. Magnus was smart, he knew that coming to a place like this put him at high risk. And second, the criminal had said he would see him there in a bit, meaning soon, so...how soon was soon? Did he live nearby? Commute time in the city was a headache, and not because the city was too large, there were largest cities in the world, but simply because there were too many people moving around 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

Did criminals use the subway as the rest of them? Did they prefer taxis? Alec wondered, fidgeting with his hands. He wasn't very good at waiting. The more time passed, the more he started to feel anxious. Was all this a trap? Was Magnus going to show up? Or, was he going to stand him up?

"Agent Alexander Lightwood?" A man asked.

Alec looked up, it was the man from the coffee stand beside him—not Magnus.

"How do you know my name?" He asked surprised.

"Hmmm...there's a man who's calling you on the stand's number. He said that a man would be waiting for him here at the fountain and you seem to fit the description he gave me. He's waiting on the line. I'm...I'm supposed to take you to him." The man said tentatively.

Alec frowned but followed the man to the coffee stand. "Do you have caller ID?" Alec couldn't help asking. If Magnus was using a public phone he could trace it and find out where he was.

"Yes, but the phone isn't displaying...it's an unknown number."

Of course it was, Alec thought and just answered the call. "Bane."

"Alexander...I'm glad to see you followed my instructions. You see my new friend Michael? Well, he's agreed to help me with our date."

"Why did you call here? I have that phone you left for me, remember? There was literally no need to make all this circus. This is ridiculous."

"Well, bad news, Alexander, but that number stopped working the moment we hung up, so yes, this was necessary. Anyway, as I was saying, Michael is going to help us with our date. He's very nice, you should thank him for me. He was very excited when I shared with him what I had in mind for you tonight. I think he's a romantic."

Alec rolled his eyes. He had no time for this nonsense. "Where are you?"

"Already waiting for you, darling."

"Where?" Alec asked, looking around. Perhaps Magnus had been there all along, Alec just hadn't seen him. "I can't see you."

"I'm not there to be seen, Alexander. Did you really think this was going to be that easy? That park is a very public place, I'm not stupid, darling. You're disappointing me, I thought you knew me better by now." Magnus said, and Alec rolled his eyes in exasperation. Of course he had thought about that before, believe it or not, he knew the criminal almost as much as he knew himself. "But anyway, there's already a car waiting for you there, so just let my friend Michael put you the blindfold and take you to the car."

"Are you trying to kidnap a federal agent?"

"No, I'm just trying to take him out on a date, but given that our lines of work are completely opposed, I figured that we would have to be a little bit more creative. Play along, okay? I won't do you any harm, I promise."

"I'm not afraid of you." Alec blurted out, because well, he wasn't. He wasn't afraid that Magnus could do anything to him, in fact, it should be the other way around. Magnus should be afraid of Alec. After all, when Alec finally captured him, he wouldn't have mercy on him.

"That's good to know, now...please?"

Alec hesitated, but he didn't have much of an option, did he? He was already there. He could play along as Magnus had asked him to, and maybe, if he played his cards right, he could finally know where Magnus's secret lair was.

"Fine."

"Then I'll see you soon, Alexander. I can't wait to see you again! Oh and, darling? Turn off your phone, okay? I don't want us to start with the wrong foot."

"And what if I don't want to?"

"Well, in that case I'd have to cancel our date."

Alec hesitated, his phone was his only chance to find Magnus again. He couldn't turn it off. "Okay, fine." He lied, he could always say he had turned it off and do exactly the opposite.

"Good...and Alexander? Don't even think about trying to trick me, okay? I'll know if you haven't turned it off."

"How?"

"I have eyes everywhere, darling." Magnus said, hanging up the phone.

Alec rolled his eyes and very reluctantly turned off his phone—he couldn't risk it.

The guy from the coffee stand immediately put him the blindfold and carefully guided him through the park to some car parked on the sidewalk. All the way there, the man went on and on, talking animatedly about how he thought this city was perfect for romance. He shared with Alec how he got to see almost every day people doing crazy things for love and how excited he was to be able to help them with their romantic date. Alec just smiled at him and tried not to talk. He didn't want to be the one to tell this poor man that this wasn't exactly the definition of a romantic date.

"I'll take him from here." A different voice said. "Agent, if you please? I'm going to help you get to the car."

"Who are you?" Alec asked, intrigued. He didn't recognize the voice.

"No one of importance, just your driver." The man said, helping him to get in the car.

Alec immediately tried to uncover his eyes, but the man stopped him.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you." He said before closing the door. "I have instructions to drop you at the FBI Headquarters if you try to uncover your eyes before you're specifically told to."

Alec rolled his eyes internally, but left the blindfold in his eyes. He had already made up his mind. This wasn't going as he had planned it at all, but he wasn't going to back out. He was going to get to the end of this no matter what.

The driver started the engine and they drove for around twenty minutes. At first Alec tried to memorize the turns they were taking to try to figure out where they were heading, but he stopped after the first ten minutes. He knew New York City like the back of his hand, but he suspected that the driver had taken unnecessary turns just to deceive him.

"We're here." The driver announced after some time. "Please don't move, agent, I'll help you out."

Alec wanted to complain and tell whoever this person was that he could do it alone, but ultimately decided not to say anything, and just wait for the man to open the door for him and help him out.

"Now, agent, if you don't mind? I have to ask you to empty your pockets."

"Why?"

"Let's say it's some kind of security protocol."

"And what if I don't want to?"

"Then I'll take you back to the FBI Headquarters."

Alec sighed and emptied his pockets. By now he knew that capturing Magnus tonight was going to be almost impossible, besides, it wasn't like he had a lot of things there anyway, just his phone, his wallet and badge, some mints, a pair of handcuffs, his car keys, and the receipt of the salad he had had for lunch—nothing important.

"Your gun too, please." The driver requested.

Alec hesitated. He felt naked without it. His gun was part of him, it was his only safety, without it he felt helpless, but considering that the criminal with whom he was about to meet wasn't known for his penchant for guns, he took a deep breath and handed it over.

"I need your watch too." The driver said.

"Why?"

"We know you feds have all sorts of gadgets for tracking and recording, and you know what they say, better safe than sorry. But don't worry, agent, everything will be returned to you when the night comes to an end."

"Fine." Alec sighed, getting rid of his watch too.

"Good, now I'll just check that you're not bugged and I'll take you where your date is waiting." The man said, passing some device around Alec's body, looking for covert listening devices.

Alec couldn't help but admire Magnus's intelligence. He was making sure that this game was played on his own terms and also ensuring that when they met Alec was completely powerless to do anything against him.

"All clear, let's go."

Alec was lead by the man through what he assumed was some sort of open space, probably in one of the many docks of the city. He couldn't see where he was, but he could feel the wind hitting him hard in the face. He assumed he was somewhere in the outskirts of Manhattan where the tall buildings of the city couldn't block the wind currents.

They walked for a few more minutes until Alec heard a door being opened. He was about to ask if they were there yet, when he was escorted inside a very warm place. It smelled of chlorine and sanitizer, like hospitals usually smelled, but it was in complete silence and he could hear the echo of his own footsteps, so he ruled out the possibility of being in one right away.

"When the elevator stops." The man instructed him. "Take off your blindfold and you'll find the one you've been looking for. Just a warning, though, don't try anything stupid, okay? This elevator only goes to that floor."

Alec frowned, but nodded. What could he try anyway? He was completely powerless. They had made sure of that well enough.

The door of the elevator closed and Alec took a deep breath. The moment of truth had finally arrived, and he felt his hands shaking with anticipation. He didn't know what to expect from this meeting. The last time he had seen this man, he had almost caught him, and since then, they had been playing this cat and mouse game, where sometimes Alec didn't even know who was the cat and who was the mouse.

The elevator slowed down and Alec took off his blindfold. The doors opened and he was finally able to absorb his surroundings. Ironically, he was on the rooftop of some building like the first time they had met. He still couldn't see where he was exactly in the city, but he knew he'd figure it out soon enough. So he stepped off the elevator and looked around.

The entire roof looked like a scene plucked from a Hollywood movie. It was decorated with colorful Christmas lights, and garlands with flowers hanging from random places; there was music enlivening the atmosphere and a single table in the middle of the setting with candles and all sorts of food. For something very last minute, Alec couldn't deny that it was really nice.

"Welcome, Alexander!" A familiar voice said, stepping out from the shadows.

Alec looked at him and his heart raced. There, after two long years, and dressed in a very stylish, but quite fitting blue suit, was Magnus Bane in the flesh.