Hello! Here's the new chapter, but before I let you all read it, I have to make some announcements. I promised a while ago that I would let you know when we were reaching the end of the story, and well, that time has finally come. It's been a long, long ride, and I've had a blast, but it's time to move on and start writing something new. So if everything goes according to plan (and I don't get carried way with the length of some chapters), then this fic will have 32 chapters. There's a lot of stuff coming up, so I really hope you're ready for the last part of this story ;)

Anyway, enjoy this chapter and don't forget to leave reviews and/or favorite/follow the story. I'll see you soon!

**Warning: Asmodeus threatens Magnus with some nasty stuff, so read carefully if you're easily triggered.

Chapter 27

Alec felt trapped in some sort of nightmare he couldn't quite wake himself up from. He was hurt, desperate, and on the verge of going mad; memories of Magnus, Hodge, and his encounter with Asmodeus were flooding his mind and reminding him how much he had lost in the past few hours. The pain he felt, inside and out, was like nothing he had ever felt before—he had no idea how much longer he was going to be able to bear it.

Almost an hour had passed since Asmodeus's men had pushed him, bound and blindfolded, into what appeared to be a van to take him to the city, and they still hadn't arrived at the FBI Headquarters. Asmodeus had ordered them to take him there, but Alec wasn't sure if these men were going to follow his orders. After all, they were criminals and although not all were the same, he had learned that most of them couldn't be trusted.

"Uncuff him." The man Alec assumed was in the driver's seat said.

"The boss said we left him near the FBI." One of the men who had been holding Alec still said.

"And we're almost there," the driver informed them, "but I'm not going to park and risk our necks for a fed. His people must be on high alert looking for him, I have orders to just drop him there."

"Drop him as in letting him fall? What if he doesn't survive?" Another of the men asked.

Alec gulped slowly and tried not to panic with the fact that he was going to be thrown from a moving vehicle to the ground and without any sort of protection.

"Then let's hope it's a quick death." The driver said.

The two men removed the handcuffs from his wrists, but didn't let go of his hands, they were holding him tightly so that he couldn't move. Not that Alec would have tried to do anything, he was in so much pain, he could barely feel his body. He had reached that level where the pain was so intense and sharp that he was starting to feel numb.

"Open the doors." The driver said.

Alec braced himself for the fall. He was well aware that his body was in no condition to go through something like that, he was seriously injured and his chances of survival weren't the highest at the moment; but he had been trained to endure things like this, so he took a deep breath and mentalized himself for what was to come. He wasn't going to die, he had to make it out alive, he had important things to do—he had to find Magnus.

Without any warning, the two men holding him released him, removed the blindfold from his eyes and kicked him out of the van. Alec tried to roll on his right side to absorb the force of the impact as much as possible, but it didn't help much, the fall was hard anyway. He felt every part of himself stiffen at once with the contact of his body against the asphalt, but luckily for him, the incident had no serious consequences and only added a few cuts and bruises to his already cut and bruised body.

"Here's your envelope." One of the men shouted from the van, throwing him the manila envelope that Asmodeus had given him as they drove away and lost themselves in the busy streets of the city.

The envelope flew through the air and landed a few feet away from him. Before some stranger could take it or a car could run over it, Alec crawled across the floor—as much as he could without putting himself in danger—and grabbed it.

With bloody and trembling hands, he opened it and looked at its content. As Asmodeus had promised, there was a list of people there who had been, or still were, colluded with Valentine. Some were important, others not so much, but their jobs, positions, and involvement with the activities of the fugitive criminal were neatly described there. However, Alec didn't stop to read them, he had found something else inside the envelope that had caught his attention, an add-on he hadn't been expecting: pictures.

Alec took them out and looked at them, there were a lot of faces he didn't recognize and others that seemed familiar, but the one that made his blood boil with fury was that of his tutor—Hodge Starkweather. The man in whom he had confided and who had betrayed him in the worst possible way. Not only had he been working with Valentine and had been helping him circumvent the system for years, the bastard had sold Alec to Asmodeus, forcing Magnus to have to sacrifice himself for him. If Alec had lost the man he loved today, it was all because of Hodge and he was never going to forgive him for that.

With a new determination product of all the pain, rage and despair he felt, Alec managed to stand up and hobble his way to the building. His legs were shaking and he was practically dragging himself down the hall to get to the elevator, but he didn't let his physical condition stop him and he just kept going.

When the elevator came to a halt and the doors opened, the commotion before him startled him and made him hesitate if he should step out of the small cabin or not. The entire office was in complete chaos. Agents came and went all around the room like busy ants, moving in groups, breaking lines and regrouping in the blink of an eye. All the phones seemed to be ringing at the same time and people were shouting from desk to desk in a rather loud voice. Alec had never seen anything like this before.

"Alec!" Izzy exclaimed when she spotted him coming out of the elevator.

There was an overwhelming silence as she ran to his side and hugged him so tightly that Alec was almost certain that something had broken inside him.

"We were so worried about you!" She continued. "When we heard about the explosion, dad and Hodge immediately sent teams to look for you. Dad has every available agent trying to find you and he was coordinating with other departments to-"

"I'm fine, Izzy." Alec said, carefully pushing her to the side and trying to make his way through the mass of bodies that had suddenly gathered around him. He appreciated the concern and all, but at the moment he didn't care about anything or anyone. He was a man on a mission and he had a traitor to face.

"No, you're not, look at you, we have to take you to the hospital and-"

"I said I'm fine, Izzy." Alec repeated with determination and just kept walking.

He was in pain, there was no doubt about it, but a hospital would only help him get rid of the physical pain and if he was honest that was nothing compared to what he felt inside. His heart was broken into hundreds of thousands of pieces and the only way he was going to start mending it, was if he made the people who had broken it in the first place pay for what they had done—starting with Hodge.

"Alec, but-" Izzy insisted, but Alec just disregard her and kept going, ignoring her complaints and also those of all the other agents who were trying to approach him to offer him some help—including his father.

"Alec-"

"Not now, dad." Alec said, not even daring to look at him. He had his eyes fixed on Hodge's office. He would have time to deal with his family and the thousands of questions he was sure they would ask later, but first he had to face that traitor that until today he had called a friend.

With some difficulty, Alec climbed the couple of stairs that separated the conference room and his and Hodge's office from the rest of the department and opened his boss's door without even bothering to knock.

"Alec…" Hodge breathed out with surprise.

He was looking at him as if he were looking at a ghost, the look on his face left no doubt that Alec was the last person he had been expecting to see. It was obvious that he had already considered him a dead man, all this farce he had put of trying to find him had been just to keep up appearances.

"I'm so glad you're okay, we-" The man promptly added, but Alec didn't let him finish and instead punched him hard in the face, letting out all the anger, betrayal, frustration, and pain he felt in that single blow.

"Alec, what the hell!?" Hodge complained, wiping the blood that was dripping from his lip.

"You fucking traitor!" Alec exclaimed, losing his temper. He couldn't believe that Hodge had the guts to look him in the eye and pretend he had done nothing wrong and that Alec had no reason to be mad at him. "You thought I would never find out!? You thought your secret was safe!? You sold me! You sold me to them, you son of a bitch! I trusted you and you've been working for Valentine all these years! You-"

"What did you say?" Jace asked in shock.

Alec had been so engrossed in the discussion that he hadn't heard him come into the office, but he was glad to see that his brother was fine. Apparently he was hurt, the bandages under his shirt were quite visible, but he seemed to be doing okay. Alec had been worried about him even though he'd seen him walking out of the burning warehouse.

"Thank God you're okay." He told his brother.

"What did you say about Hodge?" Jace asked again.

"This traitor's been working for Valentine all these years." Alec said, feeling all that rage and anger take over him again. "We've treated him like family and he's been laughing in our faces! He's one of Valentine's men!"

"He…?" Jace asked, opening and closing his mouth in surprise. "Is that true?"

Alec knew that Jace and probably everyone in the office would have a hard time believing that what Alec was saying was true. In their eyes, Hodge had always been one of the good guys, he would never dare to betray them.

"No, of course not! Alec lost his mind and-" Hodge was saying, but Alec had enough evidence up his sleeve to back up his words, so before this man could keep coming up with excuses to cover his own ass, he threw him the pictures that Asmodeus had given him.

"Never trust a criminal." Alec said, practically spitting those words to his face. "Just like you sold me to them, they sold you to me...and guess what? I'm going to make sure you pay for this, you traitor!"

Jace looked at the pictures that had landed on the desk and without waiting for Hodge to give another excuse or say something else, he started to beat the crap out of him. Alec had never been in favor of violence, he knew that punching someone wasn't the way out of trouble, but he wasn't thinking clearly; so even though he knew this wasn't the way he was supposed to fix things, he did nothing to stop his brother and only witnessed how the latter took care of their boss—or rather, ex-boss.

For what felt like an eternity, Alec watched as Hodge took blow after blow without even flinching. Jace wasn't having him any mercy and yet the man was doing nothing to defend himself—that reaction was making Alec's body vibrate with rage. He wanted to hit him himself to make him cry out in pain, but he truly was in no condition to move. The effort he had already made to get there and do what he had done so far had exhausted him, he could feel his energy levels dropping sharply.

"And what about you, Alec?" Hodge asked from the floor, he was curled into a ball and covered in blood from all the beating, but there was a mocking smile plastered on his face—as if the fact that they had discovered his secret didn't worry him in the slightest, as if he had something he could use against them. "Are you going to pay for being an accomplice to a criminal too?"

"What?" Alec asked confused.

"You thought I didn't know?" Hodge retorted, smiling and spitting out some blood on the floor. "I know everything, Alec. I've known it for months, even before you told Jace and Isabelle. And don't try to deny it, I know they know, I've heard you all talking about him enough times already to be just a coincidence. So don't come here and act like I'm the only one who is colluded with criminals, Alec, I know who you're sleeping with...I know who you're protecting."

Alec felt the little blood he still had in his veins draining from his body. His ex-boss hadn't said of who he was talking about, but Alec could see Magnus's name written in his eyes—Hodge knew about them.

"Shut up!" Jace exclaimed, hitting him again to silence him.

"Hit me all you want," Hodge laughed, "but know this...if I fall, you'll fall with me."

Maybe a few months ago that threat would have made Alec hesitate or fear for his future, but after what had happened today, he no longer cared about anything. He knew that Hodge had no proof of what he was saying, if there had been any, Asmodeus would have warned him about it. The man was a bastard and Alec hated him with all his soul, but he had to admit that since they had met, he had been surprisingly honest with him. Asmodeus would have never given him a chance to bring down Hodge if he'd known the man had something he could use against him. He hated to say it, but Magnus's father wasn't that kind of man. Even in his wickedness, he had some kind of honor—a little twisted, but still.

"You have no proof." Alec said, trying to kneel in front of his ex-boss to confront him face-to-face. He wanted Hodge to see how his threat had meant nothing to him, but his injured leg wasn't cooperating, so he had to settle for just leaning a little to see him straight in the eye. "It's my word against yours, and after I give the right people everything I have about you, no one will believe you. You're ruined, Hodge. You signed your own death sentence when you decided to help Valentine. So go ahead, tell them!" Alec challenged him. "Let's see who they believe, you or me."

"What is happening in here?" Lydia asked, entering Hodge's office and looking at them all. Alec, who was clutching the desk for support, Jace, who had Hodge pinned against the floor, and Hodge, who was all beaten up and bleeding badly. "Agent Jace Lightwood, what do you think you're doing?" She inquired when she noticed that Jace's hands were covered in blood—Hodge's blood.

"Making this traitor pay!" Jace said, hitting Hodge to make a point.

"What are you talking about?" Lydia said. "Please step away from Agent Starkweather immediately. Have you lost your mind? This could be cause for suspension or worse of your permanent dismissal from this institution, you attacked your superior for no-"

"He earned it!" Jace interrupted her, grabbing the pictures from the desk and handing them over to her.

Lydia took them and examined them in complete silence. Alec was watching her closely, trying to read her body language. He wanted to see her reaction when she understood what was happening—in all of the pictures Hodge was with Valentine and some other people, they were chatting and drinking like the best of friends.

"Are these real?" Lydia asked, looking at Alec. She didn't have to ask to know that the only one who could have brought this new evidence was Alec.

Alec nodded. "Asmodeus Brown gave them to me before setting me free."

Lydia looked back and forth between Alec, the pictures, and Hodge, and Alec saw the moment she put all the pieces together—Valentine's ease to evade justice for years, Asmodeus's mysterious escape...Alec's kidnapping. And although this news changed everything for everyone, she, like the good agent she was, didn't even flinch and simply cleared her throat to speak.

"Agent Starkweather, I need you to stand up, you're under arrest for-" Lydia was saying when Alec cut her off.

"No, let me." He asked her.

He wanted to do this, no, he needed to do this, for him, for his family...for Magnus. So with a heavy heart and putting aside the pain in his body, he dragged Hodge to his feet and handcuffed him. His leg and arm were killing him, but all the anger and pain he felt inside were actually making him function.

"Agent Hodge Starkweather," Alec said with a firm voice, "you're under arrest for treason, obstruction of justice, intervening in a federal investigation, malpractice and misconduct, assisting fugitive criminals in their illegal activities, complicity in the kidnapping of a federal agent, and all the charges that may result from the pending investigation. You have the right to remain silent. Everything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to an attorney. If you cannot afford one, then one will be appointed for you by the court. Do you understand what I'm saying?"

"You're going to regret this." Hodge told him. Alec could see that there was pure rage in his eyes.

"No, I won't." Alec said and pushed Hodge out of his office to expose him in front of everyone. It was time for every agent in the Bureau to know what kind of human scum Agent Hodge Starkweather really was. "You can be sure that I won't."

o-o-o-o-o

After the shackles and the sack covering his head were removed, Magnus was thrown into a room that looked a lot like a prison cell. It was small and damp, there was only a small barred window at the top of the wall opposite the door and almost no furniture—there was an old mattress, a toilet, and a bedside table. The door was completely made of steel and had a small opening at eye level that, like the window, also had bars to prevent him from escaping or trying to do so.

Magnus took off his jacket and after rolling up his sleeves, jumped up as high as he could to try to see through the window, hoping that the view would help him figure out where he was. Unfortunately, the window was so small that the only thing he could see was the darkening sky. There were no buildings, landmarks, or anything that could help him guess where he was, only sky, sky, and more sky.

He climbed down and sighed.

It was official, he had no idea where he was, but he knew he couldn't be that far from his father's security house in Bronxville. The transfer to this new place had taken less than twenty minutes, reason why he suspected that they had only taken him back to the city, probably to some place in the Bronx. He had tried to memorize the path they had taken, counting the turns and stops to determine exactly where he was, but he suspected that his father's men had circled around different places to mislead him, so he couldn't rely on that data to guess where he was...the possibilities were endless.

"Let me out!" He shouted through the opening of the door, but no one seemed to hear him. This place was eerily silent—worse than a cemetery.

"Goddammit!" He cursed silently, leaning against the door and letting himself slide to the floor.

When he had decided to sacrifice himself for Alexander by agreeing to work for his father again, he had known that the old criminal had had something else planned for him. It had become clear with how things had turned out that Asmodeus had planned this thoroughly, however, Magnus hadn't imagined that his plan would include locking him up in a prison cell. He had assumed that he would be in captivity and not free to do many things, but never in his wildest dreams had he imagined that he would be a prisoner in every sense of the word. This was much more than what he had been anticipating.

Magnus sighed, looking around and making peace with his new reality. It wasn't ideal, it wasn't what he wanted, but it was what it was and there was nothing he could do to change it.

He took a deep breath and with the solitude that this place provided, he did the only thing he could do at the moment: think. He thought about his cat, his friends, and the people he had met over the years and the impact they all had had on his life. He thought about the things he had done, good and bad, and what he wished he had done differently. He had had a good life, and now that the uncertainty of his future was the only certain thing he had, he realized that in all his life he had only one regret, and one regret only: not having predicted that something like this would happen and spare Alec—the love of his live—of all the fear, pain and suffering he had gone through.

"I'm sorry." He whispered and a single tear rolled down his face.

When he thought of Alec, that handsome, smart, sexy and somehow innocent man who had walked into his life and turned it completely upside down, he felt his heart shatter; not only because he knew that they would probably never be together again, but because everything that had happened to him in recent months had been Magnus's fault. He had dragged him into this mess. He could have walked away, get his fill of the man when he could and then leave as he had done countless of times in the past, but instead, he had been selfish and had stayed. He had stayed and made the stupid mistake of falling in love—something he knew he should have never done.

It was true what they said, love was the sweetest of dreams and the worst of nightmares, it was a dangerous weapon that in Magnus's line of work became even more dangerous. It not only made you vulnerable and susceptible to pain, but it gave your enemies something to use against you. And although Magnus had known all this from the very beginning, he hadn't cared and once again, he had ruined someone's life. He had ruined Alec's life.

He sighed, putting his head between his knees.

Perhaps this small sacrifice he had made could help a little to redeem him for all the damage he had caused so far. Maybe doing this for Alec was what he had meant to do all along. For years, he had wondered what his purpose in life was, what his mission on this Earth could be—his reason for being there; and during all those years he hadn't had the answer, but maybe, maybe this was the reason, maybe this was the-

"Do you like your new home?" His father asked, speaking through the opening in the door. He was smiling that smile that Magnus had hated all his life. "I had it cleaned just for you."

"Let me go, I signed your stupid contract, you have what you wanted." Magnus said, although he knew that the chances of his father letting him go were very remote.

Asmodeus just tsked as a response and opened the door, entering the small room. He was carrying some bags that he immediately dropped on the floor. Magnus wasn't sure what they contained, but judging by the shape of them, he guessed that some blankets, maybe books and a few toiletries.

"I brought some stuff for you." The man said.

"I don't want anything from you." Magnus replied.

Asmodeus ignored him and just leaned against the door, crossing his arms. "I'm sure you'll end up needing some of these at some point, so I'll leave them just in case. Also, I thought you'd like to know that your fed made it safe and sound to the FBI Headquarters. My men informed me about it a few minutes ago, so you can stop worrying about him."

A wave of relief went through Magnus's body, but he wasn't completely calm. Today, he had realized one thing: as long as he was alive or there were enemies out there who wanted to hurt him, Alec would always be in danger. "I know what kind of man you are," he told his father, "I know you won't hesitate to betray me as I did to you, you taught me that there is no greater loyalty than the one you have to yourself, but I need your word that you will truly leave Alec and his family out of this."

Asmodeus laughed. "We signed a contract, didn't we?"

"No, I signed a contract, you didn't. You could still hurt him if you wanted to, but I'll do whatever you want if you promise me he'll be fine."

"And what if I don't want to promise anything?" Asmodeus inquired, eying him amused.

"Then I'll kill myself and whatever your plans for me are will be ruined." Magnus said, sure of himself. He had thought about that the moment he had realized that his father had only used Alec as bait to bring him to him. He needed a way to keep Magnus on a short leash and, unfortunately, he had found in Alec the solution to his predicament.

"You think so highly of yourself." Asmodeus said, rolling his eyes.

"No, I don't, but I know you." Magnus admitted much to his chagrin. "I know you did all this because you needed me for something and we both know that the only way I would agree to do it would be if you threatened to hurt someone I love. You're nothing but predictable, dear father."

"You're smart, son, like me. I can give you that."

"I'm nothing like you!" Magnus spatted out. Just the thought of being compared to this man made him sick to his stomach. Asmodeus could be his father, yes, but they were nothing alike—they couldn't be.

"You can keep telling yourself that all you want, but deep down you know it's not true. You and I are very much alike, son, and sooner or later you'll come to terms with that." Asmodeus sighed. "Anyway, this conversation is boring me, so I think it's better if I just go and let you rest. I need you to be healthy and well rested for what awaits us."

"And what awaits us, exactly?" Magnus asked with a bit of intrigue. He didn't care about his future, but he was still wondering what his father could possibly want from him.

"Big things, son, big things." Asmodeus said. "We're going to help a friend of mine with one of his heists."

"You don't have any friends." Magnus said. Ever since he was a kid that had been something he had noticed about his father—he was always alone. He had no one, no friends, no relatives, no nothing; it had always been Magnus and only Magnus. Sometimes he still wondered why.

"You're right, he's not my friend, he's more like an acquaintance of sorts."

Magnus frowned. This still didn't make any sense, his father never helped anyone out of the kindness of his heart...ever—no matter if it was a friend, an acquaintance or his own son.

"Who is he?" Magnus asked, now really intrigued. He knew that this person had to be someone important if he had convinced his father to help him.

Asmodeus took a few seconds to reply, but when he did, he was smiling broadly. "Valentine Morgenstern."

Magnus felt as if the air had been knocked out of his lungs at the sound of that name. He couldn't believe that his father was working with Valentine. How had they met? When? Why were they working together? He wondered, but didn't have much time to dwell on it because suddenly Alec's look of sheer desperation when Magnus was about to sign the contract made a lot more sense. He didn't know how, but somehow Alec had discovered that Asmodeus and Valentine were working together and had tried to warn him about it.

"You're working with Valentine?" Magnus asked stunned.

"I don't work with or for anyone, you know that," Asmodeus said, sounding offended at the insinuation, "but he helped me out of jail and now I'm helping him get what he wants."

"What he wants?" Magnus asked confused. How could Asmodeus help Valentine get what he wanted? It didn't make any sense, Asmodeus was a common thief, and a pretty pathetic one if Magnus was completely honest. The only thing his father was good at was hiding and threatening people. He usually used other criminals to commit his heists, his fame and reputation were based on the achievements of others, specifically Magnus's. "Wait a second," he said, when the realization of what his father had insinuated hit him, "he wants...me?" He asked even more confused than before.

"Well, not you precisely, but your talents, son."

"My…my?" Magnus stuttered—to say that he had lost the ability to speak coherently was an understatement.

"You've made a name for yourself, you have a reputation, you should be proud of that." Asmodeus said. "The fact that one of the best criminals of all time requires your assistance with one of his heists speaks volumes of what you are worth in our world."

Magnus blinked confused. He didn't understand what use he could be to Valentine, he wasn't a murderer, he wasn't like Sebastian or Jonathan or whatever Valentine's son called himself, he was just a con man, one of the best, but just a con man.

"I won't work for a murderer." Magnus said.

"Well, you have no choice, you signed a contract, remember? And you'll do exactly what I ask or else, your dear Alexander will be the one to pay the consequences. And I'm not talking about killing him right off the bat, that's too easy. You know me, I enjoy watching people suffer, so if you don't cooperate, that's exactly what I'm going to do. I'm going to make him suffer so much that he's going to end up hating you. Because everything that happens to him and his family will be your fault and yours alone. What do you think his reaction would be if I kidnapped his little brother and killed him in front of him, huh? I bet that would drive him crazy. And what about his sister? She's a very beautiful woman, I don't think my men would object to have some fun with her before killing her, what an exquisite piece of-"

"Enough! I'll do it! I'll help Valentine!" Magnus said, interrupting his father. He couldn't keep hearing those horrible things, he already felt sick about it, so if helping Valentine was what he had to do to prevent any of that from happening, he would do it without hesitation.

Asmodeus smiled. "Do you see how well we can understand each other when you want?"

Magnus shot his father a killing look.

"Anyway, there's some food and other things you can find useful in the bags I brought you, please help yourself. If you need anything, just ask the man who'll be watching the door and he'll let me know. We won't be here for long, but I'm warning you, Magnus, don't you dare try to escape. I have people in Washington D.C. ready to take the youngest of the Lightwoods if you try anything."

"Why can't I go home?" Magnus asked. "You already made sure that I can't do but what you want, so why have me here? Let me go..."

"Because we can't risk you telling those lap dogs you call friends what we're planning, this is big and we don't need people jeopardizing it. Besides, your fed practically lives in your place, do you really think I'm that stupid to let you go to him?"

Magnus rolled his eyes. "No." He said sincerely. He hated to admit it, but his father was anything but stupid.

"See? Now, be a good boy and stay here, I'll come for you when you're required."

"And when will that be?" Magnus asked sarcastically.

"Soon, son...very soon."

o-o-o-o-o

Alec opened his eyes and startled a little when he realized he was in a hospital room with a couple of machines hooked up to him. He literally had no recollection of getting there, the last thing he remembered was being in the office, arresting Hodge and heading to the conference room to give his statement of what had happened in the last few hours. He remembered his sister calling a doctor, insisting that Alec should be checked by professionals before anything else, and that was it, his mind was blank from there. How and when he had gotten there, he had no idea.

"Dad?" Alec asked, when he noticed that he wasn't alone and that his father was there. He was resting on a chair only a few feet away from the bed, his eyes were closed, but Alec doubted he was sleeping.

"You're awake." Robert immediately said, standing up to check on his son.

"How did I get here?" Alec asked, still a bit groggy from the medication he assumed they had given him.

"You fainted when you were about to give your statement and we brought you here, you had lost a lot of blood." Robert said, and it was only then that Alec realized that his father had a small round band-aid on his arm, as if he had donated blood—they both had the same blood type so it made sense. "How are you feeling?"

How was he feeling? He had no idea. The pain he had felt hours ago had diminished considerably. His leg still ached, there was a strange sting in it, but the pain was now bearable; his left arm was bandaged and resting on a sling, and the doctors seemed to have patched up all his other wounds as best as they could, but within him nothing had changed. His heart was still broken and-

"Alec?"

"Thirsty." He said to answer his father's first question. "I'm thirsty."

His father grabbed a glass of water from the bedside table and helped him take a couple of sips. The water tasted funny, like metal or dirt, he wasn't sure, but he supposed it was normal. The last thing he had drunk was the coffee Raj had brought him this morning.

"Thanks." Alec said. "What time is it?"

"Almost midnight." Robert said, without even looking at his watch. "We thought you'd sleep through the night."

"What happened in the office after I passed out?" Alec asked.

The question made his father a bit uncomfortable, Alec could see it in his reaction, but he didn't care, he had to know what had happened. After what he had lived today, this whole case had become personal and he wasn't going to rest until he solved it and Valentine and all his men were where they belonged: behind bars.

"There was a meeting," Robert informed him, "OPR called it."

"OPR?" Alec asked in surprise. The Office of Professional Responsibility was the part of the United States Department of Justice that was responsible for investigating elements who had been accused of misconduct or crimes in their professional functions. "So soon?"

"Agent Branwell moved fast after we brought you here." Robert said.

"And what happened?"

"Well, the OPR and the CID decided that the best course of action at the moment was to appoint you as captain of the division and put you in charge of the investigation." Robert said much to Alec's surprise.

He had been promoted to his former boss's position and he had been unconscious to even react to the news. He had always wanted to be in charge of the office, but he had never imagined he would get to do it so soon. He had thought that perhaps in ten or fifteen more years, he could aspire to it, but not now.

"Apparently, the CID had already been considering you for the position," Robert continued, "they weren't happy with Hod-Agent Starkweather's performance and had been thinking of transferring him to another facility, not that that matters anymore. They are just waiting for you to accept the position, but it's almost official."

Alec didn't know what to say, those were excellent news, but he wasn't sure whether he should accept it or not. The fact that the Bureau considered him capable enough to take that position and carry out the investigation made him feel very proud of himself, but he was too involved in the case and with the people linked to it, and he feared that might affect his judgment when he had to make important decisions.

"Are you going to accept?" His father asked.

"I don't know," Alec said sincerely, "I feel like I'm too involved in the case to be in charge of the investigation."

"If you're saying that because Hodge was your tutor, then you have nothing to worry about. Everyone knows that you're not like him, they would have never suggested you as their only option for this position if they had thought otherwise."

"It's not just because of him," Alec confessed, "it's because of you too."

"Because of me?"

"We haven't talked about this," Alec said, looking at his father, "but I know you met Valentine before he was a criminal. You and Hodge graduated together, you two were at the Academy with him. I didn't ask you this before because I respect you and, quite frankly, I was afraid of the answer, but I need to know...are you involved in any of this? Because if you are, then I can't accept this position."

"Do you really think I could be working with Valentine?"

"I don't know, dad, you tell me. Lately I don't even know what to think, I trusted Hodge and look what happened."

His father took a deep breath and sat back in the chair. "You have nothing to worry about," he said, "I knew Valentine before he was a criminal, yes, that's true and I'm not going to deny it. We met at the Academy, he was a good agent, brave, smart and very charismatic. We were friends for a few years, but then he started acting strange and we parted ways. When he decided to go against us, I was no longer in touch with him, it had been two years since he had moved to the Counterintelligence Division and I had decided to come here to be closer to your mother. Last year, when rumors about him being alive started to become stronger, I decided to start an internal investigation on all the people I knew who had been near him when he had been one of us. I didn't find much information, these people know how to cover their own tracks—as I'm sure you're aware—but I always suspected that Hodge was involved in all this in some way and that's why I decided to come back to the city. But to answer your question...no, Alec, I'm not involved in any of this."

Alec was afraid to believe him, he had learned the hard way to be wary of people, but in this moment his heart really needed to believe him. Robert wasn't just anyone, he was his father, and although Alec knew that in situations like this one he had to think with his head and not with his heart, it was very hard for him not to trust him.

"Do you believe me?" Robert asked.

Alec nodded because he did.

"Thank you." Robert said. "I've made a lot of mistakes in my life and maybe I haven't been the father you and your sister and brothers deserve, but I would never betray you. I need you to know that."

Alec nodded. "I know."

"Good." Robert said, exhaling relieved. "And I think you should accept the offer. You've worked so hard all your life and you deserve the recognition. I understand your hesitation, but I believe in you, Alec, I think you're ready for this. Besides, there's no better person to take over the office and solve this case than you."

Alec smiled. "Thanks, dad."

Robert just smiled back, and they were silent for a couple of seconds or minutes, Alec wasn't even sure—time was running differently since this morning.

"Alec?"

"Yes?"

"You didn't have time to give your statement earlier, but I need to ask you something and I want you to be completely honest with me, how did you escape? We know that Asmodeus Brown doesn't release his victims so easily, we thought we would have to negotiate with him to get you back, and-"

"Magnus." Alec said simply.

"Magnus Bane?"

Alec nodded. "He saved me, he negotiated my freedom." He said.

He had thought about what he was going to say when people asked him how he had escaped, and the idea of lying had crossed his mind more often than not, but in the end, he had decided that telling the truth was better. He wanted people to acknowledge Magnus's sacrifice, he wanted them to know how good, and selfless, and brave he was—he deserved it. Alec owed him that much.

Robert frowned. "But, why?"

"Does it matter?"

"Yes, I mean, why would a criminal help a federal agent get out of a situation like that? And what was Bane doing there in the first place? Was he part of this?"

"He wasn't part of any of this, he was just there because he knows Asmodeus Brown and had learned what he had done to me. He's not like like you all think he is, I've told you many times that he is a different kind of criminal, but you refuse to believe me. He knew I was going to die if I stayed there, so he saved me, end of the story."

"How did he do it?"

"I already told you, he negotiated my freedom."

"How?"

"Dad, I don't want to talk about this."

"Why?"

"Because I don't."

"There's something you're not telling me."

"Yes."

"Why?"

"Because you wouldn't understand, okay?" Alec said. He couldn't tell him the whole truth, and even if he could, he doubted his father would be okay with it. "Some things are better left unsaid, you'll have to trust me on this one. Now, tell me, what's going to happen with you? If the OPR is here, I'm sure they're conducting an investigation, right?" He asked to change the subject.

"Yes, and I'm suspended and under investigation," Robert informed him, "we all are. What happened today opened the Pandora's box, son, the Bureau is digging up information on all the agents who may have had a connection with Valentine. The ones that were on that list you gave Agent Branwell have already been arrested and I assume they have been interrogated as well, things are a bit out of control at the moment."

"Dad, I'm sorry…" Alec said, not really knowing what else to say. He knew his father loved his job, that was one of the reasons Alec had decided to follow in his footsteps.

"Don't be, it's not your fault. I decided to keep my investigation concealed from all of you and thanks to that Hodge got away with a lot of things. I'm just glad that my mistakes had no impact on any of you, I would have never forgiven myself if because of me the Bureau had questioned your work."

Alec sighed. "Is mom aware of all this?"

Robert nodded. "She's on her way here with Max, I'd rather have them close, you know? For safety. What happened to you today could happen to any of us at any moment and I can't take care of them if they are so far away."

Alec nodded. It was a relief to hear that his father was already taking care of protecting his mother and little brother, it was one less thing Alec had to worry about. "And Jace and Iz?"

"They should be here any minute now, they had to go back to the office, but your sister is staying with you tonight. I wanted to stay too, but I have to go pick up your mother and brother to the airport and take them home."

Alec nodded. "When will I be able to go home?"

"The doctor said that if you continued to improve at this rate during the night, you'd probably be out tomorrow."

Alec sighed in relief. The idea of being trapped in this place when he should be out there looking for Magnus drove him crazy. He needed to get back to the office as soon as possible to put all the pieces together and find Asmodeus and Valentine before something bad happened to Magnus, he needed to-

"Alec, buddy! You're awake!" Jace exclaimed, entering the room and smiling at him. Izzy was trailing behind him, she was carrying a bag and had changed into more comfortable clothes—something she very rarely did.

"How are you feeling?" They both asked.

"Fine." Alec lied. Physically he was so much better but he still felt like dying.

"Well, now that your brother and sister are here, I think I'd better go. I'll come back tomorrow with your mother, okay?" Robert said.

"Thanks, dad." Alec smiled. "And again, I'm sorry…"

Robert just shook his head and after leaving a kiss on Alec's head, walked out of the room. He very rarely displayed any kind of affection with Alec, Jace or even Max, all the hugs and kisses had always been reserved for Izzy, but apparently what had happened today had shaken him to his core.

"He was pretty scared," Jace said as an explanation to their father's behavior, "when he arrived at the hospital where they took me after the explosion, he looked as if someone had sucked the life out of him. I thought he was going to faint when he saw me. Then, when I was discharged and we headed back to the office, he dispatched every agent we had to look for you, he was desperate to find you. He even tried to call the director of the Department of Justice to ask for backup."

Alec smiled, but his smile didn't reach his eyes. It was good to hear that his father cared so much about them, but he wasn't in the mood for much smiling.

"What's wrong?" Izzy asked.

Alec just shrugged. Since he had returned he hadn't had the time to talk to anyone about what had really happened. As far as the official story said, Jace and Alec had been led into a trap by Asmodeus Brown with the help of Hodge Starkweather. As a result of the confrontation that had ended with an explosion, Jace had been injured and Alec had been kidnapped. How he had escaped and what had happened after that was still a mystery to everyone.

"It's about Magnus, isn't it?" Jace asked carefully. "He's the reason you're free...he went to save you."

Alec nodded. "I suppose you gave him the note?"

Jace nodded too. "I'm sorry, Alec, I didn't want to, but he was there. I don't know how or why, he must have figured out that the whole thing was a trap, but when they were taking me to the ambulance he approached me and I gave him the note. I asked him to save you. I'm sorry."

Alec closed his eyes, he didn't want to blame his brother for what had happened to Magnus, he would have probably done the same for any of them, but it still hurt to know that those bastards had just used them for whatever their plan was. "It's not your fault, Jace." Alec said.

"Is he alright?" Izzy asked, worried. Alec knew she had learned to like him in the past few weeks they'd been working together.

Alec shrugged. "I don't know, I want to believe that he is, he agreed to work for his father in exchange for my freedom, so I'm hoping that means he's going to be fine...but I'm not sure." He said, finally letting out the tears he'd been holding back since Magnus had signed that stupid contract.

Izzy immediately climbed into his bed and hugged him. "I'm so sorry, Alec."

Now that Alec had let loose of his emotions, it was as if he couldn't control them, tears were streaming down his face like waterfalls.

"Magnus is smart," Jace said, trying to comfort him, "he's going to find a way to escape, I'm sure of that."

Alec shook his head. He hadn't told anyone what he knew—that Asmodeus and Valentine were working together. "Asmodeus is working with Valentine, they won't let Magnus escape, they need him, I don't know what for yet, but they need him."

Izzy and Jace looked at each other in utter shock.

"Are you sure they're working together?" Jace asked.

Alec nodded. "Asmodeus told me, that's why they gave me all that information about Hodge and the other people, they wanted to get rid of them. I don't know why, but even the fact that we know they were working for them is part of their stupid plan. We're just another piece of their game."

"Well, don't worry, Alec," Izzy said, wiping the tears from Alec's face, "this may be their game, but it's our turn now, so don't worry, we're going to find Magnus, I promise."

Alec half smiled at her. Were they? He wondered because he wasn't so sure about that anymore. He was going to die trying, of course, but after all that had happened, after all the bumps he had found on the road, he wasn't sure if he was going to succeed. Maybe he was being a little pessimistic, but he was allowed to, his heart was broken, and-

"Hmmm, Alec?" Jace said, snapping him out of his thoughts. "Earlier, when I arrived at the office with dad I...I…" his brother hesitated, "I got a package in my office." He explained.

Alec frowned while his brother pulled out a small box from inside his jacket.

"It only had a note attached to it, it was addressed to me, it said that if you came back alive I should give you this." He said, handing Alec the box. "I thought maybe it was a trap, a bomb or something like that, and I was going to hand it over to evidence so they could examine it, but then I remembered Magnus's friends—they were there when I saw him in the warehouse."

Alec felt some sort of excitement in the pit of his stomach and took the package, ripping it open to see what was inside. It wasn't much, just a new phone and a note that was carefully written in a very styled handwriting.

"We know what he did for you, we knew it the moment he decided to go to that place all by himself. He made us promise that we'd continue helping you with your investigation and we will, so use this phone to contact us, both our numbers are in there. You know what to do."

Alec looked at the phone and a wave of mixed feelings overwhelmed him. Magnus, even before meeting with his father, had already guessed what was going to happen. He had known from the very beginning what he had to do to make sure Alec was okay. He had entered that place knowing that in order to save Alec he would have to sacrifice himself and Alec wanted to be angry with him for being so reckless and stubborn, but he couldn't. This, what he had done for him, only made him love him even more.

"Is that from Magnus?" Izzy asked intrigued, grabbing the note.

"Yes and no…" Alec said, "hmmm, can I have a moment alone?" He asked, "I need to make a call."

"No, Alec, you're not going to leave us out of this." Izzy said with determination and not moving an inch from the bed. "We all want to find Magnus, so if you need to make a call, go ahead, make it, we know who you're calling and we won't tell anyone. You know that."

Alec looked at Jace for some help, but his brother just crossed his arms, making it clear that he, like Izzy, had no intention of going anywhere.

Having no choice but to make the call in front of his siblings, Alec exhaled loudly and dialed the first number there—it was answered on the first ring.

"Fed." A man said—it was Ragnor.

"Do you know something about him?" Alec asked, hoping that they had already found Magnus and all this heartache could end once and for all.

"No, but we're working on that," Ragnor said, "we're checking with our contacts to see if we can find Asmodeus's security houses."

"You don't know where they are?" He asked in surprise. He had assumed they just knew.

"No, Magnus never told us where they were, it was his way of protecting us."

Alec rolled his eyes and exhaled loudly. Magnus and his ways of protecting people were becoming a bit of a headache.

"He's going to be fine." Ragnor assured him. "He's a hard nut to crack."

Alec knew that, but he couldn't stop worrying. This was the love of his life they were talking about. "I hope so..."

"Have some faith in him, he knows what he's doing."

"Yeah, but the people he's with are murderers, he could be dead already. Asmodeus could show him some kind of mercy, but he isn't working alone, he's helping Valentine."

"We know."

"How?"

"Rumors that started circulating today shortly after the explosion, the entire criminal world is talking about it."

"I'm really worried about him, Ragnor."

"I know, we're worried too, but we won't find him just worrying about him, the best thing we can do for him right now is to do what he wanted us to do: continue the investigation." Ragnor said. "Think about this, if we find Valentine, we find him."

"You're right."

"Of course I'm right. Anyway, we sent an envelope to the FBI addressed to you, it'll be there tomorrow morning. It contains what we managed to find out about Hodge Starkweather and some other people linked to Valentine."

"How did Magnus know the meeting was a trap?" Alec asked curiously.

"Through a picture...we found Valentine's partner true identity, that guy Luke, his real name was Lucian Graymark. There's not much information about him, but we managed to get a picture of his Quantico class. Valentine was there and so was Hodge—Magnus recognized him and put the pieces together."

"You found Luke's true identity?" Alec asked, surprised.

"Yes, Magnus figured that out too, we found his name by accident and when he saw the file we had on him, he said that you knew him and that he was Valentine's partner. He's clean, though, he was just the key to finding Valentine. All the information about him is in the envelope I told you about, but as soon as we have more, we'll send it to you."

"Okay, but I can go there instead if you want and-"

"No, you can't!" Ragnor immediately exclaimed. "Things are very complicated at the moment, you can't come here or else you'd put us all in danger. We'll find a way to get to you instead, I promise."

"Okay...yeah, you're right. Sorry."

"Don't be. We'll be in touch, okay?" Ragnor said. "Oh, and Alec…?"

Alec smiled, he was no longer the 'fed' as he and Raphael had been calling him since they had first met. Apparently, losing Magnus and having to work together to find him had finally broken the ice between them.

"We're going to find him."

"I know." Alec said. Now that he knew he could count on Magnus's friends, he was more optimistic. He knew that both sides combined could be unstoppable, he and Magnus were proof of that.

"Goodbye."

"Bye." Alec said, hanging up and looking at his siblings who were watching him intently.

"Do they know something about him?" They asked.

Alec shook his head. "But they're going to help us," he informed them, "they already sent the information they found about Hodge to the FBI."

Jace got closer and put his hand on Alec's shoulder. "Don't worry, okay? We won't rest until Magnus's back with you. We have names, lots of names, and last thing I heard you were the new captain, so if we need to turn this city upside down to find him, we will...did you hear me?"

Alec nodded. "Thank you...both of you." He said, turning his head slightly to kiss the top of his sister's head. "I don't know what I'd do without any of you."

They all smiled at each other and Alec felt a pang of guilt in his stomach. He had been so worried about Magnus and what had happened to him that he hadn't stopped to think what this whole thing had meant to his siblings. Both seemed to have aged five years in the last couple of hours.

"Dad told me that mom and Max are on their way here and will stay in town."

"Yes," Jace said, "we thought it was better to keep them close for safety. I've also talked to Clary and her family, we're going to move them to one of our security buildings, just in case. I'd like to have Clary with me all the time, but since we will be very busy hunting down these bastards, I told her to stay with Jocelyn and Luke—it's better for everyone."

"Do they know about Sebastian?"

"I had to tell them...I don't know if you had time to see the pictures that Asmodeus gave you, but he's there."

"Oh…"

"Yeah, the cat is out of the bag."

"So it's open season, then." Alec said.

Izzy and Jace nodded.

"Then you have be careful too, okay? These people aren't playing around, I have no idea what Valentine is up to, but it has to be something big." He warned them.

"Don't worry about us," Izzy said, "we'll be fine."

"I can't not worry, Iz. I don't know if you realize, but what happened today, what they did today...they sent us a message. The war's been declared and only one side's gonna come out victorious."

"And that's gonna be ours." Jace said.

"I hope you're right, Jace." Alec said. "For all our sakes, I really hope you're right."

I hope you liked it! The show returns this Monday, so if you want to see me losing my shit over malec don't forget to follow me on twitter or tumblr, you can find me as msalexiscriss ;)

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