I know, I know, it's late, but I was out all day, so... ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Anyway, like my mom says, it's better late than never. Enjoy the chapter and please if you're going to yell at me, feel free to use my name—is Alexis, btw.

See y'all next week!

Chapter 26

Magnus stood up from the table and began to walk around the living room for the second time today. It had been more than an hour since Raphael had started looking for information about Valentine's partner and Magnus was getting impatient with the lack of results. It wasn't helping either that he was worried sick about Alec. The agent and his annoying brother had gone to meet the informant his boyfriend had told him about this morning and Magnus hadn't heard from any of them even though it was already way past noon. He was trying to convince himself that he was exaggerating, it hadn't been that long since he had talked to Alec on the phone, but for some inexplicable reason, he couldn't stop worrying.

"If you don't stop walking around right this second, I'm going to personally tie you to a chair!" Ragnor warned him, without even looking up from the file he was reading.

"I'm sorry, but I'm worried," Magnus said, "Alec should have called by now, the meeting was at noon—it's been long enough."

"It's been barely an hour, Magnus."

"I know, but still..."

"Maybe he's busy doing all the paperwork about the meeting, didn't you say they were going to give this guy an immunity deal?" Ragnor asked. "Be reasonable, my friend, bureaucracy takes time."

"Yes, but he said he was going to call the moment the meeting was over. Even if the informant agreed to the terms of the agreement, all the paperwork had to be done in the Bureau—he promised that he would call the moment this was over."

"Then it's not over." Raphael said in exasperation. Apparently Magnus had gotten on his nerves as well.

Magnus shook his head, he had had a bad feeling about this from the moment Alec had called him; and now that enough time had passed, it was impossible for him not to worry—that feeling that had been driving him crazy since the phone call had only gotten stronger.

He pulled his phone out of his pocket and contemplated whether or not to call his boyfriend to check on him. Maybe Ragnor was right and he was already back in the Bureau doing all the paperwork of the meeting and making the informant talk, but he didn't want to put the agent under any unnecessary pressure just because he was being paranoid, so he just took a deep breath and put his phone back in his pocket. He could wait a little longer for Alec to call.

"Do you have anything on Luke/Lucian yet?" He asked Raphael to distract himself from those thoughts. It was better to focus on the task at hand than keep worrying about his boyfriend. If Alec needed him for something he would call him—he knew that.

Raphael half nodded. "It's not much." He said. "They wiped this man's life from the face of Earth, but there's an old picture...and it's from his class in Quantico."

"Really? Show us!" Magnus exclaimed excitedly.

Raphael turned the computer monitor so Magnus and Ragnor could see it. It was indeed, a very old picture. It was very similar to the one Alec had back in his home with all the new special agents standing in formation in their fancy suits after graduation; the only difference was that this one was in black and white and appeared to be the picture of a picture instead of the original, but other than that they were identical.

"Can you zoom in?" Magnus asked, hoping to find something useful for the investigation—a face, a name...anything.

Raphael zoomed in as much as he could without compromising the quality of the picture and they started to examine all the faces that were there. It was a group of at least sixty agents, so trying to find familiar faces in that sea of unknown people was almost impossible. It wasn't helping either that all these people were twenty or twenty-five years younger than how they looked today—the physical appearance of a person could really change a lot over the years.

Magnus was about to give up when his eyes landed on the man standing next to Valentine and Luke. Unlike all the other agents in the picture, this man was the only one who instead of looking straight into the camera was looking at Valentine. Not directly, of course, but his gaze was slightly turned to his right side, where the now criminal was standing.

Magnus examined him in more detail, trying to age his features to put a name to that face, and suddenly a shiver ran through his body—he knew who that was.

"It's a trap!" He exclaimed, the moment the pieces of the puzzle he didn't know he had been trying to solve put together before his eyes.

"What?" Ragnor asked in confusion.

"It's a trap!" Magnus repeated, standing up abruptly from the table and heading for the door. Alec had been led straight into a trap and he had to go and help him.

"Magnus, slow down! What are you talking about?" Ragnor asked again, stopping him by the arm before he could reach the door.

"Alec, Ragnor, Alec was led right into a trap!" Magnus said. "I have to go help him!"

"How do you know that?" Raphael asked.

"That picture...I...we've been investigating all the feds who had a connection with Valentine in the last few weeks, we've been chasing them! Don't you think it's extremely suspicious that just after we started digging information about them this 'informant' decided to share some names with the FBI? It wasn't a coincidence, this is a trap! They want to disappear us, well...Alec from the map." He explained. "Now let me go!" He said, trying to break free of Ragnor's grip and leave to help Alec, but Ragnor wasn't letting him go that easily.

"Don't you think you're overreacting?" Raphael suggested. "Yeah, we've been investigating them, but we've been careful, nobody knows we're doing it. I'll deny that I ever said this if my next words ever leave this room, but your fed is smart, I'm pretty sure he didn't go around telling everyone what he was doing—él no es estúpido."

"He didn't need to tell anyone, there's someone who already knows because he's very close to him."

"His father is clean." Ragnor said.

Magnus shook his head. "Who sent him there?"

"His boss."

"Exactly."

"And?" Raphael and Ragnor asked not really understanding what Magnus was saying, or rather trying to say.

"Who's his boss?"

"Hodge Star-something." Ragnor said, barely looking at the list they had. The name of Alec's boss was listed there among the other agents from the New York City office, they just hadn't checked him yet.

"Hodge Starkweather," Magnus corrected his friend, "and he was in Valentine's class. Look at the picture! He's standing right next to him and Luke."

"Are you sure?" Ragnor questioned doubtfully, but Magnus just rolled his eyes.

Of course he was sure. He didn't know him in person, but he knew every face of that office by heart, from the messenger and the maintenance staff to the captain of the division himself.

"It does look like him." Raphael agreed. He was examining the picture. "Let me try to find information about him, okay? I can put some contacts to do a more detailed investigation on him if you want, he's a local so it's easier, just give me half an hour and-"

"We don't have half an hour, Santiago, besides, I don't need you to do a more detailed investigation to know he's corrupted!" Magnus said. He didn't know how he knew that, but he wasn't going to waste time figuring it out either, not when Alec's life was at stake.

"What if he's not?" Ragnor asked.

"He is, Ragnor, it makes sense...think about it. He's the Captain of the White-Collar Division in the city, he has the perfect position to be Valentine's inside man. I don't know how I didn't see it before."

"You may be right, but-" Ragnor was saying, but Magnus didn't stay to listen. He had no time to lose.

"Magnus, wait!" Both Ragnor and Raphael exclaimed, but it was too late, Magnus was already out the door and practically flying down the stairs as he tracked down the phone he had given Alec to know where he was. The last location the phone could be traced at was on a street in Red Hook, Brooklyn—not that far from Magnus's place.

"Where is he?" Ragnor asked, panting behind him. He and Raphael had followed him down the stairs.

"Not far from here." Magnus informed them. "Van Dyke & Barnell St, Brooklyn."

"Then let's go," Raphael said, "my car is outside."

Magnus just smiled at his friends, grateful for their unconditional support and hurried out of the building. His heart was pounding impossibly fast and he felt as if he were about to pass out at any moment now, but he couldn't afford that, he had to be strong. Strong to go help Alec, so he focused on that and tried not to let the fear of losing him stop him from doing what he had to do.

It took them ten minutes to get to the place the GPS indicated and the moment Magnus saw the cloud of black smoke hovering above the buildings, the sea of NYPD cars, the thousands of firefighters trying to put out the fire and the line of ambulances waiting to treat the wounded, his heart sank into his chest—he was late. Too late.

"Oh dear God…" He whispered, practically jumping from the still-moving car and dashing toward the place to look for Alec without even waiting for his friends.

There were a lot of people trying to catch a glimpse of what had happened, so it took him some effort to make his way to the front of the police line. Magnus had no idea what had happened there, but judging by all the destruction, it had been serious. Two of the warehouses were completely destroyed and had been consumed by flames, there were several bodies covered with white sheets stacked on the street, and what was worse...there seemed to be no survivors.

"Did anyone survive?" Magnus asked the man standing next to him.

"Two." The man said. "A woman who was walking down the street when the incident happened and a man, they are just taking him out." The man indicated, pointing to the warehouse where some paramedics were taking the man to one of the ambulances.

Magnus didn't think twice and not caring whether anyone could recognize him or not, he passed under the police line and got near the ambulance. When he saw the familiar face lying there, he felt some sort of relief, but his heart didn't stop worrying. The man was Jace.

"You can't be here, sir." The paramedic told him, pushing him back so that he wasn't getting in the way of the ambulance.

"No, let him." Jace said, grabbing Magnus by the arm. He had some trouble breathing and there was a fairly large wound on his side that was bleeding considerably, but other than that he looked fine.

"Where's Alexander?" Magnus asked in utter despair. He knew that Alec wasn't there, only two had made it out alive and the other person was a woman, so the only other option were those dead bodies outside the warehouse, but Magnus refused to believe that his Alexander was among them—he couldn't be.

"He took him." Jace said.

"Who!?" Magnus asked terrified.

Instead of replying, the agent placed a piece of paper in Magnus's hand and just whispered, "save him," before the paramedic put him in the ambulance and closed the door behind them.

Magnus looked down at the note and his heart stopped—he knew that handwriting as much as his own.

"What happened?" Ragnor and Raphael asked. Magnus hadn't even realized that they had already caught up with him, but now his friends were standing behind him, staring at the destruction before them in bewilderment.

Magnus looked up from the note. He could feel every inch of his body trembling not only with fear but also with rage.

"He took Alec."

"Who?" His friends asked.

"My father..." Magnus whispered, "my father took Alexander."

o-o-o-o-o

When Alec started to regain consciousness, the first thing that crossed his mind was that he was in great pain. He knew he was hurt, he could clearly remember what had happened before he fainted—the warehouse, the mysterious man, the trap...the explosion—so he forced himself to open his eyes and examine the gravity of his wounds. His left arm was bleeding badly and there was a burn on his left leg that felt as if hot iron had gotten into his bone and was melting his skin from within, he had some cuts and bruises all over his arms and chest, but other than that, he seemed fine. He wasn't dead and that was saying something, after what had happened it was practically a miracle that he was still alive.

When he and Jace had entered the warehouse following the man in the black cloak, they had immediately realized that things weren't right and that they had walked straight into a trap; the man they were supposed to meet with had turned out to be none other than Asmodeus Brown—Magnus's father.

They had tried to run back to the car and escape, but a group of at least ten men who had come out of nowhere had cornered them, forcing them to stay inside the warehouse and fight. It had been an unfair fight, they had been outnumbered and hadn't been prepared, so they had barely had time to do anything but draw their guns. Unfortunately, that hadn't been enough and three of the men had grabbed Jace from behind and threatened to kill him if Alec didn't agree to talk to Asmodeus.

Alec, not wanting to endanger his brother's life, had done what he had been asked to and after surrendering and dropping his gun to the ground, he had agreed to talk to Asmodeus. The conversation hadn't lasted long, the criminal had only wanted one thing from this exchange: Alec himself. So Alec had agreed to go with him as long as the criminal could assure him that his brother would make it out alive from there. Asmodeus had given him his word and after they had sealed their agreement with a handshake, he had ordered his men to release Jace. However, when the criminal had approached his brother and handed him a note, asking him to give it to someone, Alec had realized what Asmodeus's true intentions were. The criminal didn't want Alec to send a message to the FBI or in revenge for imprisoning him, no, for him Alec was nothing more than a bargaining chip. He wanted someone else, he wanted Magnus. So as a last resort and in a desperate attempt to sabotage this man's plan and still give Jace a chance to escape, Alec had used the phone that Magnus had given him and made it explode, turning the warehouse into a living, breathing hell.

After the explosion Alec had tried to escape as well, but unfortunately, with the blast he had hurt his leg and walking had become a bit of a problem for him. Asmodeus, who by some freaking miracle had come out only with a couple of scratches, had immediately grabbed him and dragged him out of the burning warehouse. He had no idea how many of Asmodeus's men had died with the little stunt he had pulled with the phone, but he guessed most of them since he had seen no one but Jace come out of the fire.

After that, Asmodeus had handcuffed him and pushed him into a car that had been waiting for them in the back of the place. The last thing Alec remembered was being in the moving car watching the warehouse they had been seconds ago being consumed by the flames—after that, everything was blank.

"You're awake." Asmodeus said, walking into the room. Until now, Alec hadn't really paid much attention to where he was. It looked like the basement of an old house, abandoned by the looks of it, it had a few boxes and broken furniture here and there, but other than that, the place was empty. "I thought you'd be sleeping for at least another hour." The criminal added, and it was then that Alec remembered the terrible smell—Asmodeus had drugged him when he had pushed him into the car, that was why everything was so blurry after that.

"What am I doing here?" Alec asked, trying to ignore that wave of nausea coming over him.

"Don't worry, Agent, you won't be here for long." Asmodeus said, looking at him with a grin plastered on his face. "I'm sure you already guessed that you're not exactly the one I'm after, but rather someone we both have in common."

Alec's eyes widened with realization. "Magnus." He whispered.

He had figured that much out back in the warehouse, but now that the criminal was confirming his suspicions, he couldn't help but feel sick to his stomach. This couldn't be happening to them.

"Yes, my son and I have some unfinished business that we have to solve," Asmodeus said, still with the same mocking smile on his face, "and since our last meeting alone wasn't exactly successful, I figured that if I really wanted to get something from him I had to use my best card against him...hence why you're here—you're my trump card, Agent."

"So the whole thing about the informant was a lie to bring me here?" Alec asked, feeling incredibly stupid. "Why go through all that trouble, huh? You know where I live, if you wanted to use me to bring Magnus here, you could have just gone to my apartment and kidnapped me there, there was no need to put on this show."

"Well, I guess…" Asmodeus said with a shrug, "but it turns out that this isn't just my plan, Agent, and you and my son aren't the only ones we plan to ruin with it."

"We? Who's helping you?" Alec asked. This had come as a surprise to him, as far as he knew Asmodeus preferred to work alone.

"The question is not who's helping me, but who I'm helping, Agent." Asmodeus said, but didn't elaborate. "Here." The criminal added, throwing Alec a sealed manila envelope that he couldn't grab much less open—his hands were tied to a post. "And I didn't lie, I truly am the informant with whom you were hoping to meet and inside that envelope you'll find the big names that were promised to you. As I told you the first time we met, I like you, Agent, so I'm going to give you what you wanted so you don't feel bad about yourself later. Whether or not you're going to be able to use it to expose all those people, well, that's going to be up to my son."

Alec looked at the envelope, he was dying to open it and see the names listed there, but he couldn't. He doubted that Asmodeus would agree to untie him just for that. "Who's in there?"

"Hmmm...let me think." Asmodeus said, pacing the room as if he were thinking. "Five well-known criminals, a couple of Interpol agents, the director of one of the four California offices, some agents from several other offices, the police chiefs of a couple of major cities, a former president...oh, and of course the captain of the White-Collar Division of your city."

"What!?"

"Oh, you hadn't guessed it yet?" Asmodeus asked amused. "Well, news flash, Agent, your boss is one of the bad guys, he's always been. In fact, you should know he was the one who sold you. I asked him for your head, and guess what? He gave it to me on a silver platter and without thinking twice. I suppose the enemy was closer than you had anticipated."

"You're lying!" Alec exclaimed.

"I'm not, why would I lie to you? As I told you when we first met, we're practically family, families don't do that to each other. I've always been honest with you, but if you don't believe me then just use that smart brain of yours and think for yourself...who gave you the tip, huh?"

"No." Alec said, shaking his head in denial. He couldn't believe that his own boss had betrayed him, he had always seen Hodge as a second father. The agent had treated them like family since he had been their tutor in Quantico. Asmodeus had to be lying, Hodge couldn't be behind any of this, he couldn't be colluded with Valentine.

"Yes, your dear captain's been working with Valentine for years now, who do you think helped him stay off the radar for so long, huh? He's a loyal servant, not so useful in times of trouble and a traitor we no longer need, hence why I'm telling you all this, but-"

"Are you working with Valentine?" Alec asked in surprise, now it all made sense.

"Not exactly, but we do owe each other a couple of favors."

Alec couldn't believe what he was hearing, it was as if suddenly the entire puzzle had solved itself before his eyes. "Valentine helped you out of prison, didn't he? What did he ask you in return?"

"Nothing of your concern, Pretty Boy." Asmodeus said, smirking.

"Don't call me that."

"Why? Does it remind you of someone?" Asmodeus asked amused. It was evident in the way he was smiling that he knew full well what he was doing and the impact his words had. "You and my son are still in the honeymoon phase, aren't you? Such fools! Love is fleeting, Agent, you're just wasting your time with each other. One day he's going to get tired of playing the good guy just to please you and you'll have no choice but to do what you were trained to and put him behind bars. It's your destiny, you're doomed, but ultimately, that's none of my business. You two seem to enjoy suffering."

"I won't let you hurt him." Alec said instead.

"I don't think you're in the position to do much for him," Asmodeus said, kneeling in front of him, "but I'll give you some points for bravery, you've proved to be quite dangerous when you want to be. That little trick you pulled with the phone back in the warehouse was, shall we say...unexpected. You managed to surprise me, Agent. That doesn't happen very often."

"I should have killed you." Alec said, spitting into Asmodeus's face.

"You should have…" Asmodeus agreed with a smile as he wiped his face with the back of his sleeve, "but you didn't and here we are, both alive and both being useful to each other."

"I'm not going to let you use me to get to Magnus. I won't-" Alec was saying when the portable radio Asmodeus was holding started to make some strange sounds. It was the voice of a man who was notifying the criminal that his son had just arrived.

"Too late." Asmodeus smiled, pressing a button to respond and asking the man to keep Magnus upstairs until he was there.

Alec wanted to scream, to tell Magnus to run and leave him there, but he knew that no matter what he said, Magnus would never abandon him—he would never leave him at the mercy of his father. If he was already there, there was little Alec could do to stop him from meeting with Asmodeus.

"Do you remember the story I told you during our first encounter?" Asmodeus asked. "I told you to remember it, well, now you'll see why. It's time to see if you really are that important for my son." The criminal added, putting a piece of cloth in Alec's mouth to prevent him from speaking.

Alec tried to pull against his restraints and let out a muffled scream through the cloth in his mouth. He wanted to kill that man, kill him for everything he had done to Magnus since he was a boy, for everything he had done to so many innocent people during all these years, and for what he was sure he was going to do to them.

"Shhhh, be quiet, Agent." Asmodeus said. "We're civilized men, there's no need to make a scene. Besides, I have to warn you something about me, I'm not a very patient man and if you don't behave, I won't hesitate and slice that pretty neck of yours. It will be a slow and painful death, you're already wounded, so it won't be so hard to finish you off, a little cut here and there and you'll bleed out in no time. I've done it before...kill someone by bleeding them to death, I mean. Did Magnus ever tell you about Axel Von Fersen? No? Well, you can do your research on him, but maybe you'd like to know that this was his final resting place, he's buried in this very room. He was a nice guy, rich, handsome, but stupid—very stupid. He didn't know how to remain silent. So the question is...are you stupid, Agent?" Asmodeus asked, gently sliding the tip of his knife down Alec's neck.

Alec just gulped slowly and stopped screaming.

"That's what I thought, now let's welcome my son, I'm sure he's dying to see you."

o-o-o-o-o

Magnus's heart was pounding hard against his chest as he headed to where his father had taken Alec. The note the man had left for him with Jace had only contained a silly riddle to guide him to one of his many security houses, so Magnus hadn't wasted any time, and once he had solved it, he had hailed a taxi to take him there, leaving his friends behind to keep them safe and away from his father.

They hadn't been very happy with that, in fact, they both had been very vocal about it, shouting and cursing him for leaving them, but Magnus had told them that if something were to happen to him, he was counting on them to continue helping Alec to catch Valentine. Of course that hadn't made things any easier, but it had helped them understand the situation they all were in and had somehow forced them to agree to do what Magnus had asked them to—even when they hadn't been one hundred percent on board with the idea.

"We're here." The taxi driver announced, parking the car in front of a series of houses in Bronxville.

"Thanks." Magnus said, paying the fee and getting out of the car.

He stood there for a couple of seconds to try to calm his beating heart and after taking a deep breath, crossed the street and headed for the house. It had been five years or so since the last time he had been there and to his surprise not much had changed since then. The house was just as he remembered it—old and abandoned, dirty and gloomy.

The last time he had been there the situation hadn't been much different from what it was today, history had the tendency to repeat itself in an alarming way, however, this time Magnus had come prepared and knew exactly what he was facing. Five years ago he had been naive and hadn't taken his father's threats as something serious and, unfortunately, that had cost Axel—his ex-boyfriend—his own life, but this time, Magnus was determined that things end differently. This time he was willing to give it all to make sure Alec was okay.

"Please follow me." One of his father's henchmen told him the moment he stood in front of the house.

"Where's my father?" Magnus asked instead. He didn't have time for stupid protocols, he had to see his father and make sure Alec was still alive.

"Waiting for you inside." The man said, opening the door for him.

Magnus took a deep breath and followed the man inside. The interior of the house hadn't changed much either, it was as dark and creepy as he remembered it. It was finely decorated with expensive furniture that his father had probably stolen somewhere in Europe, but that didn't help to improve the appearance of the space, on the contrary, it made it look worse. Asmodeus had a very strange taste and all his security houses looked exactly the same: like a cheap imitation of a very overdone Victorian style.

"Where's Alexander?" Magnus demanded the moment he saw his father standing in the living room, waiting for him. He was pouring himself a drink and offering one to Magnus, but Magnus hadn't come here to drink, he had come to rescue Alec.

"Your agent is fine." Asmodeus said, taking a seat on the couch and motioning Magnus to join him.

"Cut the crap, okay? This isn't a social visit, where is he? I need to see him!" Magnus told him.

"Not so fast, son, before I let you see him we need to talk."

"No, I won't speak with you until I've seen that he's fine." Magnus said. His father had tricked him once before, but he wasn't so stupid as to make the same mistake twice. He had learned his lesson.

"Okay, if that's what you want." Asmodeus said, standing up. "I wanted to spare you both the uncomfortable moment, but if you insist."

"I do."

"Alright." Asmodeus said, walking toward the door leading to the basement. "Follow me."

Magnus didn't hesitate and followed his father down the stairs. The basement unlike the rest of the house was a mess, it was all dusty and with a couple of useless things stacked there, but there, in the middle of the room and tied to a post was his Alexander.

"Look who wants to see you, Agent!" Asmodeus said, turning on the lights.

"Alec!" Magnus exclaimed, immediately running to his side to make sure he was okay—but he wasn't. He was injured, his left arm was bleeding badly, there was a pretty nasty burn on his thigh and he had cuts all over his arms, chest, and face. "You hurt him!"

"I didn't." Asmodeus exclaimed, raising his hands to prove his innocence. "He did that to himself."

"Don't lie!"

"I'm not lying," Asmodeus said, "your silly boyfriend made his phone explode when we had already reached an agreement, I had every intention of bringing him here without a scratch. I suppose the explosive device was a gift from you, if I recall correctly, your friend Raphael makes them, right?"

Magnus remembered the warehouses and all the destruction he had seen not so long ago, and suddenly everything became clear. The explosion hadn't been part of his father's plan, all that had been Alec's doing. "You could have killed yourself." Magnus whispered to Alec, stroking his cheek in a tender way. He couldn't believe what his boyfriend had done, he could have died in the explosion. "Why did you do that?"

"Well, don't take my word for it," Asmodeus intervened; he knew Alec couldn't answer Magnus's question, "but I think he was aiming to kill himself to prevent me from taking him. It didn't work, though, he killed most of my men, but he only hurt himself."

Magnus looked at Alec and smiled slightly at him. Of course he had done that, that was something that Alec did all the time, sacrificing himself for the people he loved.

"Oh Alexander…" Magnus whispered.

He could see that Alec was desperately trying to tell him something, probably that he should go and leave him there, but Magnus wasn't going to do that. He wasn't going to let his father harm him, not if he could prevent it. "Let him go and take me instead." He said, turning around to look at his father and ignoring Alec who was shaking his head vigorously.

"What did you say?" His father asked, pretending he hadn't heard anything.

"What you heard, let him go and take me instead." Magnus repeated.

Alec started to complain loudly despite the cloth in his mouth, so Magnus turned around and looked at him. "Hush, hush, my love, I'll be fine, don't worry about me." He said, trying to reassure him—and himself.

"Well, it's not going to be that easy, son." Asmodeus said.

"Why not? That's why he's here, isn't he? You wanted me, well, here I am...now let him go and stop all this nonsense." Magnus said, already tired of his father's game. Alec needed medical assistance or else those wounds could get infected, he had to get him out of there as soon as possible.

"Before I do that we need to come to an agreement. You know that with me, everything comes with a price."

"What do you want?" Magnus asked without thinking twice.

Asmodeus smiled. In all his life Magnus had never wanted to kill anyone as much as he wanted to kill his father at this very moment. He had a code he had respected for years, that was why he was never armed, but today he was seriously regretting not having brought a gun.

"Isn't it obvious? I want you to work for me again."

Predictable. Magnus thought. "Okay, for how long?" He asked.

Alec kept shaking his head and trying to scream through the cloth, but there was no other choice, he had to do it. He wasn't going to risk Alec's life, he would do anything to free him—even work for his father again.

"Indefinitely." Asmodeus said, smiling triumphantly. Apparently, the old criminal had learned from his mistake and created the perfect setup to trap Magnus for life.

Magnus took a deep breath. He knew that this was the end of his life as he knew it, but he didn't care, he could give it up for Alec without a second thought. "Okay." He said.

Asmodeus's smile widened and he clapped his hands in excitement. "See, Agent?" He said, addressing Alec. "He cares about you, congrats! You didn't protect him in vain, he does love you!"

"Let him go." Magnus demanded him.

"Sign the contract first." Asmodeus said, pointing to the contract he had on the table. Magnus hadn't noticed until now, but apparently his father had been prepared all along. He knew this would happen. "I don't trust you, son, I know what kind of man you are, I made you who you are, so sign the contract and I'll let him go."

"Unharmed?"

"You have my word."

Magnus stood up despite Alec's protests and walked to the table. The contract was similar to the one he had signed all those years ago, the only difference was that instead of threatening him with giving evidence of his crimes to the police if he didn't fulfill the contract, now his father was threatening him to kill Alec and his family. The bastard!

"As you can see this time you won't be able to get out of it so easily." Asmodeus said. "I made sure to use my best card against you. Take it as my payback for your betrayal."

Magnus said nothing and just looked at him. He hated this man with every fiber of his being. "Do you have a pen?" He asked.

"Here…" Asmodeus said, handing him Alec's pen. Magnus had given it to his boyfriend as one of his many Christmas presents. When he had bought it he had never imagined that one day he would be using it to sign his own death sentence.

Magnus looked one last time at Alec who was still trying to free himself, and after taking a deep breath, signed the contract. The moment he put the pen down, some of his father's men entered the room and grabbed him from behind, handcuffing him immediately.

"Take the agent back to the city and leave him somewhere near the FBI Headquarters, I'm not sure he can walk much with that leg. Oh, and take my son to the place I prepared for him." Asmodeus ordered them.

"At least let me say goodbye." Magnus asked. He knew it was very likely that he would never see Alec again.

Asmodeus looked at him. "Alright." He said. "Let him say goodbye."

Magnus approached Alec and knelt beside him. "I love you." He said, leaning over to whisper those three words in his ear. "Please, when you get out of here, go to the doctor and don't try to find me, alright? I'll be fine, continue with the investigation and catch that bastard, okay? My friends will help you."

Alec shook his head. He was trying to tell him something, but Magnus already knew what it was—he could see it in his eyes.

"It's okay, I'll be fine." Magnus said, leaving a soft kiss on Alec's temple. "Don't worry."

"That's enough." Asmodeus said, snapping his fingers so that his men grabbed Magnus again. "It's time for the agent to leave."

Two more men entered the room and untied Alec, forcing him to stand up and trying to drag him out of the room.

"Don't forget to take the agent's envelope," Asmodeus told them, "I promised him he could have it if he got out of here alive."

The men nodded and picked up a manila envelope from the floor.

"Now go!" Asmodeus said.

Magnus noticed how despite his poor physical condition Alec was still trying to put up resistance. He was fighting, trying to squirm out of his captors' grips and throwing punches whenever he could, but his efforts weren't being successful. He was very hurt and what he was doing wasn't making much of a difference.

"Is he always so stubborn?" Asmodeus wondered aloud, pointing to Alec, but Magnus was ignoring him. His full attention was on his boyfriend.

He wished they could have had a different ending, he wished they could have had a different life, but as he had feared from the beginning, despite how much they loved each other, some things just weren't meant to be.

"Goodbye, Alexander." Magnus whispered before Alec disappeared up the stairs and his father's men put a sack on his head.