Hello everyone, I'm back! I have some stuff to say before I let you read, so bear with me, okay? First of all, I apologize for delaying this update, but I'll be honest with you, it was my way of helping the fandom to concentrate on winning that stupid eonline poll. I know that fanfiction can be a distraction and since we needed all hands on deck, I decided to post this after that was over and we all could go back to our normal lives. Anyway, we didn't win, but I'm still very proud of this fandom, we really are like a big, big family. So kudos for us!

Now back to the fic...the next couple of chapters are going to have an insane amounts of fluff. I'm not going to explain why, because spoilers, so just enjoy them. There are some characters who are going to meet other characters, and some secrets that will finally be revealed (not in this chapter, but very soon), so fasten your seat-belts because a lot of the things you've been asking me about are just around the corner, and to be honest I'm not sure if you're ready for them ;)

Anyway, enjoy this chapter and please don't forget to comment, bookmark the story or leave kudos! See you soon!

Chapter 21

One of Alec's phones rang, startling him a little. He had had 24 hours of pure and utter stress and because of that, he was a bit jumpy. Since Asmodeus had escaped the day before, both the FBI and the Interpol had been trying to find him without much success and Alec felt as if his life had suddenly gotten out of control—his team back in the office was going crazy, he had no idea where Asmodeus might be, he hadn't slept in more than 48 hours and to top that, he had been forced to look after his little brother over the weekend because his parents apparently had some problems that they had to solve. Alec knew that they had been having some disagreements since they had moved to Washington D.C. and that these had only intensified when his father had moved back to New York, but his mother's timing to try to solve them couldn't have been worse. They all were crazy busy, and the proof of that was that Alec's phones hadn't stopped ringing all day.

Alec sighed, pulling the ringing device out of his pocked and staring at the screen—it was Magnus...again. The criminal had been calling him and sending him millions of text messages all day, but Alec had been ignoring him. It wasn't that he didn't want to talk to the criminal, no, it was just that he didn't know how to do it. He didn't know how to tell Magnus that his father, that man who single-handedly had ruined his life, had escaped and that Alec had been unable to do anything to stop him.

"I'm sorry." He whispered, holding the phone firmly in his hands as Magnus's name kept flashing on the screen.

Alec really wanted to answer that call and tell Magnus everything, he wanted to share with the criminal his frustration over what had happened and how he felt about it. These past few hours had been a real nightmare for him, and there was nothing he wanted more than to be in Magnus's arms and hear that everything would be fine, but the very thought of facing him terrified him to the bone. Alec didn't want to see the disappointment reflected in Magnus's eyes when he found out that the system had failed him, that Alec had been unable to keep that man away from his life; and although he knew he would have to face Magnus eventually and inform him of what had happened, he wanted to postpone that meeting for as long as was possible. Alec still had some hours to find Asmodeus before it became public knowledge that he had escaped and he was going to use every second of that time to do everything in his power to fix this mess.

His phone finally stopped ringing, but almost immediately a new text message arrived. Alec opened it and read it in silence. "Alexander, Alec...please answer the phone, this isn't funny, you're worrying me. Are you alright? Is everything okay? Call me."

Alec didn't reply and just sighed, putting the phone face down on the table to avoid looking at the screen. He knew that probably he should have turned off that phone hours ago to stop receiving all those calls and messages that were just driving him crazier than he already was, but the simple fact of receiving them was a way to know that Magnus was fine. As long as the criminal kept trying to communicate with him, Alec could be sure that Magnus wasn't in any imminent danger—at least for now.

Because Asmodeus was very dangerous and Alec was well aware of that, and although he didn't think the man was so stupid as to try something against any of them mere hours after escaping, he wasn't taking their safety for granted and that was why he had assigned two teams of special agents to patrol not only his neighborhood, but also Brooklyn Heights—just in case the criminal decided to pay his son a quick visit. After all, neither of them were safe now that Asmodeus was out and about in the streets of New York. The criminal could decide to go after any of them—Magnus for what he had done to him, and Alec, because in the end, it had been him who had put him behind bars.

"Alec...the door?" His little brother, Max, said, snapping Alec out if his thoughts.

"What?"

"The door." Max said, poking his head from over the back of the couch where he had been watching movies since they had arrived from Alec's office. "The pizza is here."

"Oh, yeah, of course." Alec said, standing up from the table and heading for the door to pay for the pizza. Max loved pizza and Alec knew he missed the peculiar taste of a good New York-style pizza now that he lived in Washington with their parents, and since he was too busy to cook anything, he had decided to spoil him a little bit by buying him his favorite food.

"Give it to me!" Max practically demanded the minute Alec closed the door. He was a very impatient boy, so Alec just rolled his eyes and handed his brother the pizza, walking to the kitchen to fetch some paper plates and glasses so they could have dinner.

"Here," Alec told his brother, giving him a plate and a glass of soda, "and don't grab the couch with your greasy hands, okay?" He added, handing him a stack of napkins—too many were never enough.

"You sound like mom." Max complained, rolling his eyes.

"Well, I don't care if I sound like mom, just use the napkins." He warned his brother, who just rolled his eyes again and started eating.

Alec smiled in amusement over his brother's antics and just sat down, grabbing a slice for himself and trying to watch the movie Max had been watching. He had no idea what it was about, but his little brother couldn't take his eyes off the screen, so he figured it was quite entertaining.

Five minutes passed and Alec really tried to pay attention to it, but as it had been happening lately, his mind quickly wandered away, and Magnus, Asmodeus, and that conversation he had had with the fugitive criminal filled his thoughts.

Magnus's father had said a lot of things during their talk and a lot of the details of that conversation were a bit fuzzy in Alec's mind at the moment—probably due to sleep deprivation—but there were things that had stuck in his head, like the fact that Asmodeus had truly shown no interest in revealing the true nature of Alec and Magnus's relationship, or the fact that the criminal had wanted to protect his own son even though it was clear to Alec, especially after what Magnus had shared with him, that he didn't care about his son in the slightest. Alec wondered what his true inten-

"Aren't you going to answer?" Max asked, bringing Alec back to reality for the second time tonight.

"What?"

"Your phone's ringing—again." Max said. "Aren't you going to answer?"

Alec shook his head, glancing briefly at the device he had left on the table.

"Is it work?" His little brother asked. He was very much like Izzy in that sense, both had very inquisitive minds, they just had to know everything.

"No."

"Is it your boyfriend?" Max asked again.

Alec almost choked on his pizza. "I-I...I don't have a boyfriend."

"Izzy said you had one." Max said as if that statement weren't such a big deal.

"Well, Izzy has a very big mouth." Alec said, already plotting in his mind all the ways in which he was going to murder his sister the next time he saw her—which would probably be tomorrow morning when she came to pick up Max to take him to the park.

"She didn't tell me exactly, so don't get mad at her, I overheard a conversation between her and Jace earlier when we were at your office." Max explained. "I don't know what they were talking about, but I heard when she said, 'especially since now Alec has a boyfriend,' was she lying? You don't have a boyfriend?" He asked.

Alec thought about lying for a minute, but for some reason he couldn't understand, he couldn't do that in front of his little brother. Lying had never been his forte that much was true, but omitting the truth from his other siblings had never been a problem, however, with Max things were very different. His little brother was special, he was very perceptive, he could see through people and know when they were lying, and Alec didn't want to hurt his feelings by lying to him blatantly. "No, I do have one, well...he's not my boyfriend, but we're seeing each other."

"Do you like him?"

"I do." Alec confessed because there was no point in denying the obvious.

"Do you want him to be your boyfriend?" Max asked, completely knocking the air out of Alec's lungs.

"I-I…" Alec couldn't formulate a coherent answer. Did he want Magnus to be his boyfriend? Of course he wanted it, but he knew that things between them were complicated—a formal relationship had never been on the table. However, he found himself nodding in response.

"Then ask him to be your boyfriend." Max said, as if that were the most obvious thing in the world to do.

Alec laughed. "It's not that simple, Max."

"Why not?" Max asked in confusion. "Doesn't he like you?"

"No, I think he does, it's just that...it's complicated, okay? You'll understand when you grow up."

"Why do adults always say that!?" Max complained, rolling his eyes dramatically.

"Because it's true, now let's keep watching the movie, that bizarre dude looks like he's up to something."

"Voldemort."

"What?"

"He's not a bizarre dude, his name is Voldemort, and he's the most powerful and dangerous dark wizard of all time." Max explained.

"Of course he is, let's keep watching then." Alec said, not having a clue of what his little brother had just said. Sometimes it was as if he were speaking in a different language. "This looks interesting."

"You haven't been paying attention...you've been working since we got here." Max pointed out.

"Well, I am now, so shhh...let me watch." Alec said, putting an end to the conversation.

They fell into a peaceful silence and although Alec actually tried to watch the movie to finally stop thinking about Magnus, he couldn't concentrate. The criminal was there, tattooed on his mind, and staring at him with disappointment in his eyes. It was so real, so vivid, that Alec had to shake his head to get rid of that awful image. He could handle almost anything, but not that...never that. Maybe a few months ago he wouldn't have minded so much, he would have just brushed it off and kept going, but now the thought of disappointing Magnus, even in the slightest, made him feel sick to his stomach.

In a really short time, well, not that short, but still, Magnus had become more important to him than he dared to admit out loud. The criminal had become that person Alec wanted to protect, that person Alec wanted to make happy, that person Alec wanted to...love.

Shit! He cursed in silence. The truth about his feelings was becoming more and more evident with each passing day and that made him feel a bit vulnerable. All these feelings and emotions were completely new to him and although he had heard of them, he had never imagined that they would feel this way.

Alec took a deep breath to try to compose himself and looked at his little brother. Max had fallen asleep, the movie was still going, but apparently the three slices of pizza that he had eaten had finally done the trick and had knocked him out.

"Come on, Max, let's get you to bed." He whispered, carrying him to his bedroom and carefully tucking him into bed like a father would with his son. Max had come into their lives when Alec had been old enough to be his young father, so in a way, he looked after him as if he were more like a son than a brother.

"Good night, Max." He said, kissing his brother's head and turning off the lights of the room.

Alec walked back to the living room to clean up all the mess his little brother had left and keep working. His body was begging him for some sort of break, but with how complicated things were at the moment, he knew that even five minutes of self-indulgence were completely out of the question, so he just sighed and started cleaning up the dishes. He was picking up the dirty glasses to take them back to the kitchen when out of nowhere, a voice broke the silence.

"Good evening, Alexander." Magnus said, stepping into his apartment.

"Magnus…" Alec said, turning around in surprise and dropping the glasses he had been holding.

o-o-o-o-o

Magnus would have laughed at Alec's surprised reaction when he saw him stepping into his apartment, but for some reason the look on the agent's face wasn't helping to ease his mind. All day he had been going crazy trying to think of possible reasons why Alec wasn't answering his calls or responding to his text messages. The last time they had seen each other, Magnus had revealed an important part of his life and now he feared that that would have been a big mistake. Alec had seemed fine when he had left Magnus's loft the other day, but perhaps after sleeping on it, he had realized that he couldn't be with someone like Magnus, that he couldn't be with a criminal.

"What are you doing here?" Alec asked, not looking at him.

"Well, you weren't answering my calls and I was worried." Magnus said simply, though the word 'worried' couldn't even begin to describe how he had felt all day.

"I told you I was busy." Alec said, picking up the pieces of glass from the floor. The glasses the agent had dropped had completely shattered with the impact.

"That was last night, darling."

"Well, I'm still busy." Alec said, still avoiding looking at Magnus's face.

"Yeah, I just saw...there's another man in your bed." Magnus said, and noticed how Alec just rolled his eyes. "He's cute, though, how old is he?"

"Nine...almost ten." Alec said, finishing picking up the broken glass and just walking to the kitchen.

"May I ask why you're avoiding me?" Magnus asked, following Alec into the other room. At first he had thought he was overreacting and imagining things, but after seeing how the agent was acting—doing everything in his power not to look him in the eye—there was no doubt in his mind that something was wrong.

"I'm not." Alec said, walking back to the living room, but still avoiding any kind of face-to-face conversation. "I was just busy, my family is in town and-"

"Don't use them as an excuse, Alec." Magnus said, stopping him by the arm. "I know you're avoiding me, so be honest with me, okay? Is this because of what I told you the other day? Was it too much for you? Was-"

"What!? No!" Alec immediately exclaimed, turning around and looking at Magnus for the first time. "Of course not."

Magnus was relieved, but Alec's response had only confirmed that, indeed, there was a reason for this new behavior. "But there's a reason then." He said, voicing his conclusion.

Alec took a deep breath and ducked his head in defeat.

"What is it, Alexander?" Magnus asked, lifting the agent's chin to look into his eyes, but Alec's eyes were closed.

"I failed you." Alec said, whispering so low it was barely audible.

"What?"

"I failed you, Magnus." Alec said, opening his eyes.

"What are you talking about? Why are you saying that you failed me?"

"Because it's true."

"What happened?" Magnus asked worriedly. There were all sorts of scenarios playing in his mind, but none that made any sense whatsoever.

"Yesterday."

"Yesterday, what?"

"Your-your father…" Alec continued, "your father escaped."

"What!?" Magnus asked unable to hide the surprise and worry in his voice. Of all the things that Alec could have told him, this was definitely not what he had been expecting at all.

"My boss rushed his transfer and when some agents from the Interpol were taking him to the airport someone ambushed the convoy and-"

"-and he escaped." Magnus completed the sentence.

Alec nodded. "I didn't know how to tell you, I didn't want you to think that I couldn't keep that man away from you, not after knowing what he did to you. I've been working my ass off since yesterday trying to catch him again. I have agents looking for him in every airport, bus terminal, and corner of this city. I still have a couple of hours before I have to make public that he escaped and I was trying to find him before you had to learn about any of this. I didn't want you to feel disappointed, I didn't want you to think that you couldn't trust the system, that you couldn't trust me and-"

"Hey, hey, it's okay." Magnus said, getting closer to Alec and hugging him. The man looked as if he were about to have a panic attack and Magnus didn't know what else to do. The news he had given him weren't the best ones, but none of this was his fault. "This isn't your fault." He added, trying to reassure him.

"But it is!" Alec exclaimed. "You trusted the system to get that man out of your life once and for all and it failed you! I am part of that system, Magnus, don't you see? I failed you!"

"Hey, hey," Magnus said, grabbing Alec's face with both hands so the agent could look him straight in the eye and see that he was being completely honest. "You didn't, okay? He probably planned his escape the same day he was arrested. I should have known better, but please, Alec, don't blame yourself."

Alec looked down.

"Alexander, look at me." Magnus asked him. "This isn't your fault, okay?"

Alec sighed, closing his eyes again, but resting his head on Magnus's shoulder. Magnus could feel the muscles on Alec's back slowly relaxing as they held each other. It was as if the mere contact between them was lifting that heavy burden that the agent had been carrying since yesterday.

"I'm so sorry." Alec whispered.

"Don't be, Alexander. These things happen, okay? Just don't do this to me ever again, you understand? I was worried sick that you had decided to dump me out of the blue, so when stuff like this happens, talk to me, okay? Don't push me away."

"Yeah, I'm sorry...I didn't want to," Alec said, "I was just afraid that you would feel disappointed and-"

"Never, did you hear me? I'll never feel disappointed in you."

Alec smiled softly and kissed him, allowing Magnus to breathe again after 24 hours of uncertainty and despair. All the fear that he had had of losing Alec vanished as soon as their lips touched. It was something so simple, so mundane, but at that moment it said more than a thousand words ever could.

"Alexander, I-"

"Hello." A tiny voice said, interrupting them.

Magnus jumped apart from Alec in a matter of seconds.

"Max! What are you doing awake? I just put you in bed." Alec said, showing an incredible amount of self-control in spite of the unexpected and uncomfortable situation in which they currently were.

"I heard something breaking and then people talking." Max said sincerely. "Who's this?"

"This-this..." Alec hesitated, "this is hmmm...the-the man who's been calling," he said, "and, well, this is Max, my little brother." He added, this time looking at Magnus to make the proper introductions.

Magnus felt nervous for a minute. This kid, Max, was staring at him with his big, big eyes. They were as beautiful as Alec's, but for some reason they were even more intimidating than the agent's.

"What's your name?" The little kid asked, tilting his head curiously.

Magnus hesitated before answering. It was too risky to reveal his real name, but his mind was blanking out and coming up with a new one seemed like an impossible task at the moment. "It's-it's...it's a bit of a secret, Max, I can't tell you what my name is." He said, to gain some time.

"I can keep a secret," Max said, "I'm very good at keeping people's secrets."

Magnus looked at him and pondered what to do. "Okay…"

"Don't." Alec immediately said, but Magnus had already made up his mind.

"It's fine, Alexander...don't worry." Magnus said, kneeling to be at Max's height. "You can't tell anyone unless your brother Alec says otherwise, okay?" He said, and when the boy nodded, he took a deep breath before saying his name. "My name is...Magnus." He added, offering his hand to Alec's little brother.

In all his life Magnus had never felt more nervous than he felt at that precise moment. He didn't know why, but for some reason he needed to have this little one's approval.

"I like your hair." Max said, shaking hands with Magnus in a friendly way—the tips of his hair were blue at the moment.

"Why, thank you, Max." Magnus smiled. "I like your pajamas."

"Alec bought them for me." Max explained.

"Well, he has really good taste, those are really nice pajamas."

"You could ask him to buy you ones." Max suggested.

"I think I will."

"Max," Alec interrupted their little conversation, "go back to bed, okay? I'll be there in a second."

Max shook his head. "I'm not sleepy anymore."

"Max, it's late." Alec said.

"I don't have school tomorrow!" Max complained, rolling his eyes in such an Alec-like way that Magnus couldn't help but smile at the striking resemblance between these two adorable human beings.

"Well, I don't care, you have to sleep, so come on, off to bed." Alec ordered him.

"No." Max said, taking a seat on the couch and turning on the TV—apparently stubbornness was a family trait. "I want to watch a movie. Magnus, have you seen Harry Potter?"

"Of course I've seen it, I love Harry Potter."

"Alec knows nothing about Harry Potter."

"Of course he doesn't." Magnus said with a laugh. In these weeks he had discovered a lot of things about Alec and that included his evident lack of knowledge of any reference to pop culture.

"Would you like to watch a Harry Potter movie with me?" Max asked.

Magnus didn't know what to say, he knew how incredibly stupid this idea was, if Max was there that meant that Alec's other siblings could come in at any moment and discover him there, but he had to admit that resisting this kid's charms was hard. His level of adorableness surpassed Alec's—and that was saying something.

"I…"

"Please?"

Magnus sighed. It wasn't really fair that this family already had so much power over him—he was only human. "Sure, okay...it'd be my pleasure." Magnus said. "If you're okay with it, of course?" He added, now looking at Alec. He certainly didn't want to cross any line.

Alec just rolled his eyes in a playful way, but nodded.

"Of course, he's okay with it." Max added, making some room for them on the couch and patting the two spots beside him.

Alec quickly sat down on the left side and Magnus joined them, taking the right side.

"I was watching the Order of the Phoenix earlier, but I fell asleep," Max said, "you mind if we watch it from the beginning?" He asked, looking directly at Magnus.

"Me? No, not at all." Magnus said a bit taken aback with how easily Max had accepted him.

The kid put the movie and after telling Alec to pay attention and ask if he didn't understand something, they started to watch it in complete silence. Magnus had seen this movie thousands of times before, so he wasn't really paying any attention to it, he was just trying to look at the Lightwood brothers from the corner of his eye and treasure the moment he was sharing with them.

Since he had decided to try something with Alec, he had resigned himself to the idea of not having any kind of interaction with the agent's closest circle, so this little change of plans was making him extremely happy. It was nice to know that at least one member of Alec's family could accept him and-

"Magnus?" Max whispered after twenty minutes of complete silence.

"Yes?"

"Can I tell you a secret?" The kid continued whispering, though Magnus was sure that what he was saying was loud enough for Alec to hear it too.

"Of course."

"Alec wants to be your boyfriend." Max confessed.

"Maxwell Joseph Lightwood!" Alec exclaimed appalled.

"Should I ask him?" Magnus asked, whispering into Max's ear and ignoring Alec's face of utter horror. Things were starting to get interesting to say the least.

Max nodded and covered his mouth to drown out his giggles. This little imp knew exactly what he had done.

"Alexander, would you like to be my boyfriend?" Magnus asked, looking at Alec with all seriousness. He hadn't asked before because he was aware that making their relationship formal was a bit pointless. They couldn't have what other couples had, they couldn't go meet each other's families, or go on a date in public, but that didn't mean that Magnus didn't want it and that they at least couldn't pretend it was true even for a little while.

"Magnus…" Alec said, telling him with his eyes what he clearly couldn't say in front of his little brother.

"I know, dear, but would it really change things much between us?" He asked. It wasn't surprising that they could communicate like this, their connection had only gotten stronger with each passing day.

"I guess not."

"See?" Magnus smiled. "So...is that a yes or what?"

Alec smiled. "Okay, fine...yes."

Max clapped excitedly. "Now you can kiss." He said, covering his eyes as if to give them some privacy.

"We have to humor him." Magnus said, winking at Alec who was as red as a tomato.

"I'm going to personally murder you." Alec said, but leaned over and kissed him—and of course, Magnus did not believe that threat for a second.

o-o-o-o-o

Alec was really trying to watch the movie, but very so often, he found himself looking to his right and locking eyes with Magnus. Both had much to say, especially after what had just happened, but with Max sitting between them, talking was a bit complicated, so they just shared sweet smiles and turned their eyes back to the screen.

"I'm cold." Max announced after a while, grabbing the blanket Alec usually had near the couch and covering them all with it.

"Don't you want to go to bed instead?" Alec asked, hoping that his brother finally decided to go to bed.

"No." Max replied, not even bothering to look at him.

"Okay…" Alec sighed resignedly, moving closer to his brother to help him warm up faster. The little boy was under his care and Alec didn't want him to catch a cold or anything; receiving a lecture from his mother because of how irresponsible he'd been with his little brother wasn't something he wanted at the moment.

"Are you watching?" Max asked.

"Yes, Max, I'm watching." He partially lied. He had been watching, but with the warmth of the blanket and the soft murmur from the TV he was already beginning to feel drowsy. It wasn't that the movie was boring or anything like that, the special effects were great and the story seemed interesting, but he was having a hard time understanding the plot of this particular installment, and that coupled with his extreme fatigue and how comfortable he felt at the moment, were making the 'staying awake' mission almost impossible.

"Okay…" Max said, immediately starting to discuss with Magnus the differences between the movie and the book.

They were talking in hushed voices, but the murmur was so peaceful that Alec couldn't keep his eyes open any longer, so with the voices of his brother and boyfriend playing in the background like a lullaby, he fell asleep.

When Alec came to himself, Magnus was at his side, shaking him gently, trying to wake him up.

"Alexander...wake up, darling."

"How long did I sleep?" Alec asked, blinking repeatedly to try to get rid of the lingering haze of disorientation left by unconsciousness. When he had fallen asleep, the TV and the lights had been on, now the room was almost in darkness, dimly lit by a floor lamp that Alec had tucked away in one corner and almost never used.

"Two hours...give or take." Magnus informed him.

"Where's Max?" Alec asked—his little brother was no longer with them.

"Asleep...I took him to your bed almost an hour ago." Magnus said. "I wanted to let you sleep more, I can see that you're very tired, but I have to go and I need you to tell me everything you know about that man's hmmm...my father's escape."

"I didn't mean to fall asleep," Alec said sincerely, rubbing his eyes to get rid of the sleepiness, "I hadn't slept since that day at your home and-"

"Shhh it's fine...just tell me what you know and I'll be gone so you can go back to sleep."

"I can't go back to sleep, I have to work, find your father and-"

"Alexander…"

"What? I still have some hours before the details about his escape reach the news and I want to do everything in my power to find him." Alec said, sure of himself.

"I know you want to and I'm sure that when you're well-rested you will, but you can't kill yourself in the process." Magnus said, gently caressing Alec's cheek with his thumb. "What would I do without you, huh, boyfriend?" He joked, giving him a soft smile—the kind of smile that even to this day made Alec's knees go weak.

"Hmmm, about that…" Alec said. He liked the sound of the word...boyfriend. He liked it very much, but whether they wanted to or not, they had to talk about it.

"Don't." Magnus said, putting a finger in front of Alec's mouth to silence him. "I know what you're going to say. I know that a formal relationship between us is a bit pointless, if not stupid. I know we can't have what other couples have, I know things are complicated, but like I said before, would it really change things much between us if I considered you my boyfriend? This...us, it's real, Alexander, and I don't know about you, but I'd like to give it a label even if we can't share it with the world."

"I'd like that too." Alec confessed, blushing so hard he could almost feel his hair turning red too.

"Have I told you how adorable you look when you blush?" Magnus teased.

"Oh, shut up!" Alec said, hitting Magnus playfully and hiding his still-flushed face under the blanket that was still covering half of his body.

"Okay, I'll shut up, but you still look adorable." Magnus said. "Anyway, now that we cleared that up, do you mind sharing with me everything you know about my father? It's important that I know what happened, so I can protect us all, okay?"

Alec sighed and emerged from under the blanket, looking into Magnus's eyes. "I don't know much, to be completely honest nobody knows what happened." He confessed, snuggling closer to his now boyfriend's body. "Everything happened so fast, in the morning I was reading his statement and finishing the paperwork to close his case, and before I knew Jace was informing me of the incident during his transfer."

"I understand and don't worry, just tell me what you know."

"Well, as I told you when you arrived, his transfer was rushed. My boss signed the order and the Interpol decided to move him yesterday instead of this Monday as planned. A group of special agents were assigned to take him to the airport, but when they were on their way some armed men ambushed them and your father escaped. There are three Interpol agents dead and four more severely injured in the hospital, the agent in charge of the transfer, Agent Malachi Dieudonne, is missing, we assume that they took him hostage to guarantee a free path, but we're hoping to find him soon, after all, it's been 24 hours since then, they no longer need him."

"Do you know why your boss rushed the transfer?" Magnus asked.

"Yes." Alec confessed. That had been the first thing he'd asked Hodge when Jace had informed him of what had happened. "He said that the Interpol had pressured him about it and that was why he had no choice but to sign the order without consulting me or Lydia—the agent from the CID."

"And why did the Interpol decide to transfer him yesterday and not the other day as planned?"

"We still don't know, the agent who could give us all those answers is missing."

"Okay, well…what else do you know?" Magnus asked.

"That's it." Alec said sincerely. "There's footage of the incident, but all the men involved were wearing masks, so it was impossible to identify them. I have to be in the office in the morning, so if there's something new about it, I'll let you know immediately, I promise."

"Okay, well...I'll try to see what I can find out about this escape from my side, my father always leaves a trace, so I'll see what I can find out about this, but I don't want you to worry about anything, okay? We're going to be fine, I don't think he's going to try anything against us any time soon. My father is smart, he's not going to risk ending up in jail again after just escaping."

"I know," Alec said sincerely, "I mean, I'm worried because your father is, well, we know who he is, and we have to be careful now that he's free, but I've already taken some precautionary measures."

"What did you do?"

"Hmmm, I...I...don't freak out, okay?" Alec said, already fearing Magnus's reaction. He hadn't given much thought to the idea when he had assigned the agents to patrol both their neighborhoods, but now that Magnus was here, he was a bit worried about his reaction to his plan.

"What did you do, Alexander?"

"I-I...hmmm, I assigned a team of federal agents to patrol your neighborhood." He confessed.

"You what!?"

"What did I ask you? Don't freak out, remember? Like I said, it was just a precautionary measure, Magnus, to make sure you were safe. I knew your father wouldn't dare to come near you so soon, but I had to be prepared, if something were to happen to you because of me, I would never, ever, forgive myself. And don't worry, I didn't give them your address, I'm not stupid. I promised that no one would ever know about your home, and I meant it, I just put them to patrol Brooklyn Heights—all of it. I know that you never leave your home without taking the necessary steps to ensure your own safety, so I'm sure no one will recognize you. Besides, it's only for a couple of days until we know where your father is."

"Alexander…"

"Don't, okay? I did it to protect you and I don't care if you get mad at me for it. It's what I had to do and that's the end of this."

"I'm not mad."

"Then stop looking at me like that."

"I'm not looking at you in any way."

"Yes, you are, you're looking at me in a very strange way." Alec said, because Magnus was looking at him like he had never done before.

"It's not that, I'm just...touched." Magnus confessed. "I mean, I knew you cared about me, but I didn't know you cared so much. Hmmm, no one had ever worried about my safety as you do. It's hmmm...weird."

"Weird in a good way or bad?" Alec asked.

"In a good way, of course." Magnus said. "And don't worry about me, okay? Nothing bad is going to happen to me, I promise. And thanks...for trying to protect me, that's actually very sweet."

Alec smiled softly and leaned over to kiss him. "You're welcome."

"Can I ask you something?"

"Of course."

"What else did my father tell you when you talked to him?"

"It wasn't a very long conversation." Alec confessed, realizing that he hadn't shared with Magnus what had happened that day. He had been so caught up in wanting to hear Magnus's version of the story that he hadn't shared with him yet what Asmodeus had told him.

"It doesn't matter, tell me everything you remember, I need to know what he's up to."

"Hmmm, okay." Alec said, trying to remember everything that had happened that day. "Well, at first he just told me he wanted to meet me, but then he confessed that he knew I was working with you. He didn't exactly say your name, but he said something about his son and, well, that intrigued me."

"Of course it did."

"Then, he tricked me into saying your name and that's when I knew he was more dangerous than I had anticipated. He knows how to play with people's minds."

"Tell me about it."

"Anyway, after that he just said he wanted to learn to know me better or something like that. He said that I intrigued him. He told me that he followed you here to my apartment one day and-"

"So that was how he figured out we were together." Magnus said, interrupting him.

"You knew he knew we were together?" Alec asked confused—he hadn't reached that part of the story yet.

"I figured that much out when he decided to tell you who he was and what had happened between us." Magnus said. "He wouldn't have done it if he hadn't known you were going to talk to me about it. He knew we were together and wanted that conversation to happen between us, why? I don't know, but he wanted it to happen. Maybe he thought I wasn't going to be honest with you and he was counting on that for something, but he doesn't know that what we have is different."

"I think he does?" Alec suggested tentatively. "He told me that I was different from the rest of the people you've been with. He said that all the people in your life have always wanted something from you, but that he knew I didn't want anything."

"Well, he didn't lie about that...you are different." Magnus said with a soft smile. "But I'm pretty sure he doesn't know how things are between us. He can try to guess, but he doesn't know—he can't know."

"Why?"

"Because he doesn't know what that is…he's never known." Magnus said, getting a bit lost in his own thoughts. "But anyway, what else did he say?"

"Hmmm, after that he told me that you had been working for him all these years and when I said I didn't believe him, he told me the story about your mother. It was a very short and biased version of it, but he still shared it with me. Then I asked him why he was telling me all that when he should be trying to make me hate you, you now? And he said because he didn't want me to hate you."

"He said that?"

"Yeah, the conversation is a bit fuzzy in my mind right now, but I do remember that he said that he didn't want me to hate you. Anyway, I then asked him if he was willing to go to prison for a crime he hadn't committed—during the conversation he had insinuated that you had framed him for the bonds—and he said yes. When I asked him why, he just said that because it was convenient for him at the moment."

"Of course it was, my father never does anything without a plan...I guess I learned that from him." Magnus said a little crestfallen. "But anyway, whatever his plan is, I'm going to find out what it is and make sure he stays away from you. Is that all he said?"

"Yeah, pretty much. Well, he also said he wasn't going to reveal what was happening between us because it was none of his business. I don't know if he was telling the truth or not, but at least in his statement he didn't mention anything, so I guess he wasn't lying?" Alec said.

"He's never cared about any of that, he has other ways to hurt people, so no, he wasn't lying about that. If he had wanted to expose us we would have done it already. Anyway, like I said, don't worry about anything, okay? I'll take care of this, I promise." Magnus said.

"You look concerned...and sad." Alec pointed out. Magnus might not have noticed it, but he was like an open book to Alec. His posture, his gaze, his expression, every part of his body was an indicator for Alec of the emotional state of the criminal. And tonight he looked thoughtful, worried, sad...lost somewhere in his thoughts.

"No, it's just that…" Magnus hesitated, "I'm sorry I dragged you into all this mess, I should have walked away from you when I could. My life's always been a series of misfortunes and you don't deserve to go through any of them. If I had been strong enough to-"

"Hey." Alec said, interrupting Magnus and forcing him to look him in the eye. "Don't say that, okay? I wouldn't change what happened between us in a million years, do you hear me? Yes, I know this is unusual and that things could end badly for both of us, but-but...you changed my life, Magnus, and I would never change this, us, for anything in the world."

"You changed my life too." Magnus confessed. "You actually turned it completely upside down."

Alec smiled pleased with that answer. "Good." He said, leaning over and kissing him again.

"I should probably get going." Magnus said, between kisses. "You need to sleep and I have to see what I can find out about my dear father, I don't want to alert my friends about any of this yet, so I have to do it on my own."

"Why?"

"They can be very dramatic when it comes to my father, especially Ragnor." Magnus said, trying to stand up from the couch.

"Don't go…" Alec asked, practically clinging to Magnus's arm, "stay for five more minutes?"

"Since when did you become so clingy?" Magnus asked, but stayed where he was.

"It's the lack of sleep." Alec confessed.

"So when you're well-rested, you aren't going to want me near you?"

"Pretty much," Alec joked, resting his head on Magnus's shoulder, "so don't get too used to it." He said, closing his eyes and trying to synchronize his breathing with Magnus's.

"I won't."

"Magnus…"

"Uh-huh?"

"If for some reason your father went after you and you had to run away, you would tell me, wouldn't you? Before leaving, I mean." Alec asked.

"Yes, but I'm not going anywhere."

"Not even if your father decided to go after you?"

"No."

"Why?"

"Because you're here."

"But I want you to be safe, I don't care if that's far from me." Alec said sincerely. That was a concept that, although it hurt to just think about it, didn't make it any less true. Magnus's safety always came first.

"And I'll be safe—but I don't need to go anywhere."

"You promise?"

"I swear," Magnus said, "I know how to handle my father, Alexander...remember that I've been doing it since I was a kid."

"Yeah…" Alec agreed because that much was true. Magnus practically had a PhD in the man, "but still, promise me that you'll be careful, okay?"

"Okay, I promise, but I also need you to promise me that you'll be careful too, okay?"

"I will." Alec assured him.

They fell into a peaceful silence again, just enjoying each other's presence until Alec remembered something that had been bothering him since the other day when they had talked and that until now, he hadn't had the chance to ask. "What do those words you said the other day mean, huh? The ones in Indonesian..." He asked.

"You didn't look them up?"

"I tried, but I didn't know how to spell them."

Magnus just laughed.

"So?" Alec asked.

"I'm not going to tell you—at least not today."

"Why not?"

Magnus shrugged.

"Is it something bad?"

"No."

"Then?"

Magnus shrugged again.

"Can I torture the truth out of you?" Alec asked hopefully.

"You can try…" Magnus smiled, "but since it's late and your little brother is sleeping in your bed, I don't think that's the best idea. Besides, you're very tired for that, darling."

Alec pouted. "Are you going to tell me someday?"

"Yes."

"When?"

"Soon."

"When's so-" Alec was trying to ask, when Magnus silenced him with a passionate kiss, effectively putting an end to their conversation.

"You don't play fair, did you know that?" Alec complained, trying to catch his breath after that kiss.

"I know," Magnus said with a wink, "I know..."