Hello again! First of all I want to apologize for taking so long to update the story, these past few weeks have been difficult and I blame the show and malec entirely for that. The last episode destroyed me completely and I still haven't recovered T_T Anyway, just two more episodes and then the hiatus, so I think I'll be able to write more. There are a couple of stories that I want to post after this one, so I hope you like them too. (◡‿◡✿)
Enjoy the chapter and don't forget to share your thoughts about the story. We're almost at the end, so things will just get more intense (sorry not sorry). Remember that faves, follows and all that stuff are always welcome.
I'll see you soon, I promise.
Chapter 30
Valentine's men helped Magnus out of the van, and without uncovering his eyes, led him into some building. They were back in Renwick's, or at least that was what Magnus thought. After he and Sebastian had successfully broken into the Library of Congress, Valentine and his men had decided not to waste any more time and just go back to New York. It was a four-hour drive from Washington to Manhattan, and although Magnus had dozed a bit during the trip, his body was well aware of all the hours he had spent sitting in the same position in the back of that filthy van.
He was physically and mentally tired, as he hadn't been in years and, although there was still some of the adrenaline of the heist left in his body, he really wanted to just close his eyes and forget about the world—even if only for a few hours. Copying the updated floor plans of the banks hadn't been that hard, Valentine's son was trained in the arts, so it had taken them relatively no time to finish them, but what had exhausted him to the point of feeling drained hadn't been that, but trying to find a way to get rid of Sebastian.
The man had been breathing down Magnus's neck the whole time they had been there, so leaving Alec the message he and Jace had previously agreed on had been more difficult than he had anticipated. It had taken him a long time to convince Valentine's son that they had to split up when leaving the building to make sure that all the guards were really knocked out, so in the end he hadn't had much time to leave something more elaborate for Alec to find. He had left a single word and a few clues that he hoped his boyfriend could decipher somehow.
"Get some rest." Valentine told him, removing the blindfold from Magnus's eyes.
"How thoughtful of you." Magnus replied sarcastically, blinking repeatedly to get used to the light. He was, as he had suspected, back in Renwick's, and although the place was always gloomy, it was noon, so bright light was seeping through all the cracks in the walls and the old wooden boards covering the windows.
"Take him down." Valentine ordered some of his men who immediately pushed Magnus down the stairs and into the basement.
"You're back." Jace whispered, the moment the guards were out of sight. Since yesterday that he had woken up, the agent had been pretending to still be unconscious to avoid another round of interrogation before Magnus could deliver the message with their location to Alec. "I thought you'd be back until tonight."
"Valentine didn't want us to stay there." Magnus said, getting comfortable on his not-so-comfortable mattress.
"Did you leave Alec the message?"
Magnus nodded. "I left it in some books...Shakespeare's to be precise."
"Shakespeare is his favorite author." Jace said with a smile.
"I know…"
"What does the message say?"
"Just one word, I didn't have time for more, Sebastian, well, Jonathan, was breathing down my neck, but I had some minutes alone and I managed to tell him where we were." Magnus said, making a mental note to start referring to Sebastian as Jonathan, after all, that was his real name.
"Do you think he's going to find us?"
"Eventually." Magnus admitted. "He's the smartest person I know, I know he'll figure it out soon enough."
"You really love him, don't you?" Jace asked. So far they hadn't had a personal talk, all their conversations had been related to Valentine and the case, Jace had shared what that lawyer he consulted had told him the day before, but this was the first time they talked as friends.
"More than my own life." Magnus confessed because it was actually that...a confession. He hadn't measured how great his love for Alec was until he had faced the possibility of losing him and that was why without thinking twice he had sacrificed himself for him.
"He loves you too," Jace said, "that's why I talked to this lawyer."
"I know what he feels for me," Magnus said, exhaling loudly, "I've never doubted it. Well, a bit before he told me what he felt I wasn't so sure if my feelings were reciprocated, but that was because I couldn't believe that someone like him could feel that for me. To be honest, he's too good to be true, but I know he loves me."
"I agree, he's too good to be true and I'm sure he'll find us soon. He's going to figure out whatever you left for him. I've seen you both work together, you have a connection like no other, he's going to find us."
"I'm sure he will, I just hope he does it soon because I'm afraid we won't stay here for long, now Valentine has all he needs to get his plan up and running."
"So I'm guessing you successfully updated all the blueprints?"
Magnus just nodded in response.
"How long do you think he's going to wait?" Jace asked.
"Not long." Magnus confessed. "He has everything ready, he just needed to make sure he had the right floor plans, now he has them, so it's only a matter of planning again how to access to the buildings, coordinate everyone involved, and put the plan in motion. I overheard a conversation he was having on the phone when we were on our way here and he said he wanted to go in this Friday."
"This Friday!?" Jace asked in surprise. "So soon?"
Magnus nodded. "I analyzed the floor plans of some of the banks when I was updating them and I have to confess that it is possible to do so in such a short time. The security of the banks and their respective vaults are top-notch, but they work separately, so technically there's no need to change what was already planned for the actual robbery once inside the banks. It'll be hard to get into the buildings, yes, but not impossible—especially since Valentine has a lot of resources."
"Then I hope my brother gets here before that happens."
"Me too." Magnus said, closing his eyes to rest for a bit more. The little nap he had taken on the road had helped, but he still felt really exhausted.
"Do you know what time it is?" Jace asked.
"A little bit past noon, why?"
"I'm just trying to guess what's happening back in the Bureau, I'm sure Alec should be in D.C. already."
"I hope so, the alarm went off when we entered, of course, but I don't think they got the notification until around six in the morning, so yeah...chances are he's already been notified and probably on his way there."
"He's the captain of the division, of course he's already been notified."
"What!?" Magnus asked, opening his eyes in surprise. He didn't know that, when he had decided to work for this father again to save Alec, the captain of the division had been Hodge Starkweather. Magnus had assumed that they would assign someone else to take over that position after what the bastard had done to one of their very own, but he never imagined that they would give it to Alec himself—it was a very important position.
"He was promoted after what happened with your father and Hodge, he's the boss now." Jace informed him.
Magnus smiled broadly. "He deserves it more than anyone, he's very good at what he does." He said, unable to contain the pride in his voice.
"He is," Jace agreed, "he's the best agent we have in the Bureau at the moment. Since we were in Quantico I knew that he was going to hold an important position someday; he was born a leader, he has courage and brains, something essential in any leadership position. He's captured the most important criminals of all time and has helped solve countless cases, he's-"
"Well, not all the best criminals," Magnus interrupted, "I was at the top of his list and he could never catch me." He added with a smile.
"You were always his Achilles' heel," Jace admitted, "and I think he was yours too. It's something that kind of makes sense now, without knowing it, you two already knew each other better than anyone; you both could predict what the other would do and even guess what your respective reactions would be. That's why yours was always a game of power, I don't know how I didn't notice it before."
Magnus laughed. "I think you're right," he admitted, "but he was always the one in command. I tried to fool myself into thinking that I had everything under control and that this game was played by my rules, but the truth is that he always managed to surprise me and even make me fear for my life. When I first heard that there was a federal agent trying to catch me, I didn't take it seriously, that happens all the time in our world, especially when we have a well-known reputation. But when he managed to find out my real name and expose me, I knew that he wasn't just anyone, he was a worthy adversary and that's why, like him, I, too, became obsessed with him. The moment we met on the rooftop of that jewelry store, I knew he could be my undoing."
Jace chuckled. "It took him weeks to find out your name." He said. "He was telling everyone that he had found your old storage unit, but no one believed him. I didn't believe him." The agent admitted. "But somehow he knew it was you, so he didn't let our doubts discourage him and he found you."
"He told me the story." Magnus admitted.
"He did?"
Magnus nodded with a soft smile hovering over his lips. "One night...a couple of months ago, when I helped you all capture my father, he and I had a heart-to-heart conversation. We shared things we hadn't shared with anyone before."
"You told him about your life as a criminal?" Jace asked a bit shocked. Magnus was certain the agent knew what that implied.
"He gave me immunity." Magnus confessed. "He wanted to know about my personal life. I had refused to talk about it because I didn't want him to carry that on his shoulders, being involved with me in a romantic way was more than enough for him, but he insisted. My father had talked to him during his interrogation and he wanted to know things."
"Alec's a curious man."
"You don't say…" Magnus said with a chuckle, "anyway, that day I told him everything there was to know about me, and in return he shared some things—how he managed to find out my real name, for example. It was a night I'll never forget."
"Why?"
"Because that day was the first time in all my life that I felt like a man and not just as a criminal. All my life, the stigma of what I've done has followed me, people only see me as Magnus Bane, the conman extraordinaire—the criminal. But Alec, Alec saw the man, the human being hidden beneath all this." He said, pointing to his appearance. "Despite having done what I've done and the nightmare that my life has been, Alec didn't judge me, on the contrary, he tried to understand what I had been through and he accepted me in spite of everything. He accepted my good sides and the bad ones too."
"Yeah, that's Alec." Jace agreed. "He always sees the best in people and learns to live with the bad. And I honestly think you have more good sides than bad, Magnus. I don't know you that well, we have very little of knowing each other, but I know Alec, and he would have never done what he's done for you or would love you the way he does if you were a bad person. Yeah, you're a...hmmm…you're a-"
"Criminal, say it, I don't mind." Magnus said.
"Well, yeah, you're a criminal, but you're also a good man. You've never hurt anyone, you've always helped those around you. What you did last night? Leave Alec that message despite knowing what that means for you just proves how big your heart is."
Magnus smiled, touched by Jace's opinion of him. "Thanks," he said, trying not to blush, "are we getting sentimental?" He questioned out loud.
"I think we are." Jace said with a chuckle.
"Who would have thought that you and I would end up bonding while being in captivity? I thought you didn't like me."
"I didn't." Jace admitted. "When I first saw you at Alec's place I thought you were just trying to take advantage of my brother, but after seeing you both interact and analyzing the situation, I realized that the one who could lose more with all this was you and not Alec. You've always been a smart guy, very smart, so if you had decided to be there for my brother and even let him introduce you to us, then that meant that what you felt for him was stronger than your ego, which until I met you, I thought it was the only thing that mattered to you."
"I don't blame you for having that impression of me, for years that was what I wanted you all to believe—that I was an egocentric son of a bitch." Magnus confessed. "I'm glad we met, though, it's good to know that Alec has you, Isabelle and that little Harry Potter nerd as-"
"Wait! You know Max!?" Jace asked surprised.
"Hmmm, I...ye-yes? He was in your brother's apartment one day when I went to see him. It was never part of the plan that we met, in fact, that night I waited until Alec took him to bed to avoid the awkward meeting, but the boy woke up and, well, we kind of ended up watching a movie together. He's a very sweet kid."
"Does he know who you are?"
"No, he knows my name is Magnus, but we asked him not to tell anyone that he had met me."
"When did this happen?"
"A little after my father escaped, are you angry? I promise you he was never in danger, I-"
"No, I know…I'm just surprised. I can't believe Max knew about you and none of us had any idea of who was this mysterious man Alec was dating."
Magnus chuckled. "He said he was good at keeping secrets, so I'm not that surprised...the little man kept his word. Anyway, how are you feeling?" Magnus asked, to change the subject. Jace had shown a very open-minded side of him, but Magnus didn't want to take any chances. Besides, the agent had only been awake for a day and Magnus was still worried about him. He seemed lucid, but his wounds weren't healing, on the contrary, they looked worse than yesterday.
"Better."
"Don't lie."
"Well, not better, but I haven't died, have I?"
"Considering your appearance, I would call that a miracle." Magnus said. "Do you still have a fever?" He asked, passing his hand through the bars to touch the agent's forehead.
"No."
"Yes, you do." Magnus said. The agent, just like yesterday, was burning in fever. "I don't have any water left, but hopefully in a few hours they'll let me go to the bathroom to take a shower and I can-"
He was saying when a sudden commotion upstairs made them both go completely still. Jace immediately closed his eyes and pretended to be unconscious in case someone entered the basement, and Magnus, not knowing what else to do, chose to do the same and pretend to be asleep.
The noise was very loud, they could hear the echo of hundreds of footsteps and voices coming and going through the building. They could hear some men moving things from side to side and Valentine's unmistakable voice giving instructions. Magnus tried to listen carefully to what he was saying.
"They are moving." Magnus whispered.
"What?"
"They are moving." Magnus said again. Valentine had clearly said, 'hurry up we don't have all day, we have to go.'
"So soon?"
Magnus nodded.
"Crap! Do you think Alec's here already?"
Magnus shook his head. "I don't think so, it's too soon, even if he already found the message and knows where we are, it's a four hour trip from there to here. Besides, Alec never acts without a plan, he wouldn't risk coming here without thinking things through, you know that."
"What do you think it's going on then?"
"They are moving us to the other security building."
"The other security building?" Jace asked.
Magnus knew he didn't have much time to explain everything to Jace, he could hear Valentine's men moving quickly upstairs, he had to act fast—it was only a matter of time before someone came down there to get them, too. Luckily, he was good at improvising and a plan was already taking shape in the back of his mind. "Yes, now listen to me, okay, Jace? Time is ticking and I need to tell you everything I know before it's too late."
"Why?"
"Just listen, okay?"
"But-"
"There's a place in the Heights, it's a warehouse, Valentine's going to use it to coordinate everything from there. You know Jonathan and I will be in charge of breaking into the New York bank, but in this book," he said, handing Jace one of the books Valentine had let him have in his cage, "I wrote everything I know about the plan—who are the criminals who will be in the other banks, the schedule, the addresses to the security buildings, etc...everything is here. It's coded, of course, I used one of my old private codes in case Valentine discovered it, but there's one person who knows how to read it, he cracked it once."
"Alec."
"Yes, so give him the book when he's here. When you first arrived I told you about a room upstairs, everything I wrote here is there too, but I don't think Valentine's going to leave it, so this is our only backup, Jace, you have to make sure that Alec gets it. It's our only chance to boycott his plans."
"But-but I don't think he's going to leave me behind, he needs me to find Clary and Jocelyn."
"No, he doesn't, if he wants, he's going to find his family sooner or later, he just used you as a way to achieve that faster, but I'm going to make sure he leaves you behind."
"How?"
"I'll find a way, just promise me that when they come in, you'll remain still. No matter what you hear or what happens, you can't move and much less open your eyes, okay?"
"But-"
"Jace, please, you have to do this, for your family, for Clary...for yourself. Alec will be here soon, I know that, so you'll have to stay alive to give him the book I gave you. Tell him to be careful, I know I can't ask him to stay away from this because he's stubborn and never listens, but please, ask him, no, beg him, to be careful."
Jace nodded slightly, he was really startled by what was happening and what Magnus was implying with his words.
"Also, if it's not too much to ask, tell him I love him, okay? Tell him that he's the best thing that's ever happened to me and that I'm eternally grateful for the day he decided to obsess over my case. He brought sense to my life and made me want to be a better person, a person worthy of him and-"
"No." Jace interrupted him. "If you want Alec to know all that, you'll have to tell him yourself."
"Jace, please, I need you to promise me that you'll tell him." Magnus begged.
"No, I know why you're asking me this and I'm sorry, but no, Magnus. You'll have to make it out alive if you want him to know all that."
"I'm not going to make it out alive, I know it."
"Why?"
"When the job is done, they're gonna get rid of me."
"How are you so sure?"
"Because that's what I would do if I were in their place." Magnus said.
He noticed how Jace wanted to keep arguing, but in that moment the basement door opened and some men started to climb down the stairs. "Close your eyes, please!" Magnus whispered hastily.
Jace hesitated for a few seconds, but ultimately closed his eyes. Magnus closed them too and tried to control his breathing so they thought he had been asleep all this time.
"Hey, you!" A man said, shaking the cage to startle him. "Wake up!"
"What!?" Magnus exclaimed, pretending to be annoyed by the situation.
"We're moving."
"Where?"
"You know where, now get your stuff and let's go." The man said, opening his cage.
Magnus began to gather the few things he had, but in that moment Valentine entered the basement so he stopped. The man was smiling broadly and Jonathan was right behind him, also smiling.
"Ready for some more action?" Valentine asked him.
Magnus rolled his eyes in response. "Couldn't you have waited a few hours? I almost didn't sleep."
"And you need your beauty sleep?" Jonathan asked with a mocking tone.
"Jonathan…" Valentine said, eying his son who just rolled his eyes and looked away.
"We have no time to lose, Bane. Besides, there's nothing left for us here, so it's time to move. You better than anyone know that criminals like us can't stay in one place for a long time, we have to be in constant movement. That's the key to our success."
Magnus just ignored him and picked up his jacket from the floor, putting it on immediately.
"Get Clarissa's agent out." Valentine ordered.
"If I were you," Magnus said, trying to sound nonchalant, "I wouldn't drag him with us. He's dying. Having him with us and taking care of him will only be a problem. Criminals like us," he added, using Valentine's very own words and tone, "can't be dragging corpses around, they always complicate things. That's the key to our success."
Valentine looked at Jace's cage and frowned. "I can't leave him here."
"Why not?" Magnus inquired, joining him and looking at Jace as if he didn't care about him at all. "Or do you really want your daughter to be with someone like him?"
"Bane is right," Jonathan added, "my sister can't be with someone like him."
"Open the cage." Valentine ordered his men, who immediately did as they were told to.
Valentine stepped into the cage and knelt next to Jace's body, shaking him abruptly to wake him up, but Jace remained still.
"He's been unconscious since you brought him here." Magnus said. "At first I thought you had drugged him and that was why he wasn't waking up, but he's had a fever since then, I think your men got a bit carried away with the beating. I doubt he's ever going to wake up."
Valentine reached out and touched Jace's forehead. Magnus knew he had just confirmed that Magnus wasn't lying, and that Jace was, indeed, burning in fever. "Well, he was a weak one." He said, standing up and walking out of the cage, closing it behind him. "We'll leave him here to die, I'm sure Clarissa won't miss him once we're away from this place. Put a chain on the door of the cage just in case," he added, "we don't want him to have a miraculous recovery and ruin things."
"Let me do it." Magnus volunteered.
"I'm glad to see that your attitude is changing." Valentine smiled, handing Magnus the chain. "You're finally learning to appreciate the opportunity we've giving you to be on the winning side."
Magnus didn't say anything and just walked over to Jace's cage to put the chain on. He didn't try to not do it, he knew that once Alec was there they could simply break it to free Jace, but he took his time to place it firmly around the bars. When he was putting the lock on and closing it, he heard a tiny whisper coming from the man inside the cage. It was barely audible, but he had heard it clearly.
"I promise."
Magnus felt as if a rock had been lift from his shoulders with the agent's words. Now he could go meet his destiny in peace, knowing that if the worst happened, at least Alec would know that he had loved him like he had never loved anyone before.
"Hurry up, Bane!" Jonathan said. "We have to go."
"Fine." Magnus sighed, giving the chain one last tug and getting to his feet.
He looked at Jace for the last time, and after taking a deep breath, followed Valentine, Jonathan, and the rest of the men outside. Whatever happened to him from now on no longer mattered.
o-o-o-o-o
The sky was already getting dark when Alec finally made it to the place Magnus had told him with his message. Alec had used all the time it had taken him to move from Washington to New York to plan what he was going to do. For safety, he had asked his team and the different squads that would be assisting them in the operation to be as careful as possible while infiltrating the area. He didn't want to alert anyone of their presence there. He knew that Magnus's life and possibly Jace's too were at risk, they couldn't just burst into the building without following a plan and taking extreme precautions.
Alec's plan was simple but efficient. He had temporarily restricted any access to the entire island, no one could enter without the prior approval an inspection of an FBI agent; he had a couple of helicopters flying nearby and had positioned teams of agents and policemen all around the building and surrounding blocks. He was aware that the key to a successful operation wasn't in the number of agents working in the field, but in the way these worked together as a whole. However, tonight he wasn't taking any chances and even though coordinating so many people at the same time was crazy as it sounded, he had all the agents and policemen available in the city working for him.
"Alec, are you sure you want to go in?" Izzy asked for the umpteenth time.
Alec was the first in line, wearing a bulletproof vest and ready to break into the abandoned building with the first squad. Izzy had been asking him to wait until their teams informed them that it was safe to enter, but Alec had refused. He had decided, the moment he had deciphered Magnus's message, that he would be the one commanding the entire operation and that he would do it from within, not as an onlooker like most of the bosses did.
"Yes, Izzy, I'm sure."
"But your leg and-"
"I'm fine." Alec said. "You know I need to go in there, I can't stay here, Iz."
"Then let me go with you."
"No, if something happens to me, you're in charge of finding our brother and helping Magnus, I don't trust anyone to do this but you, that's why you have to stay here."
Izzy rolled her eyes but nodded. "Just promise me you'll be careful."
"I will, besides, I was trained for this, I'm not a rookie."
"I'm well aware of that, you're the best, but your leg-"
"My leg is more than okay, stop worrying about it." Alec lied. It had been bothering him a bit since they had returned to the city. He had been walking without the cane too much today and that was starting to take a toll on him, but he didn't have time to worry about it, he was so close to putting an end to all this that the adrenaline of that was giving him the strength to keep moving.
"We're ready when you're ready." A member of the first squad said.
Alec nodded, and after looking at his sister for the last time and giving her a kiss on the forehead, he took a deep breath and cocked his gun. "Let's go." He ordered them.
Two groups of agents and members of the police force began to move, walking with him and surrounding the building. Their top priority was to make sure the place was secured. The building was in ruins and that represented a big problem, not only because the people inside it could escape at any moment, but because they could also shoot them from inside and turn this into a massacre. They were equipped with vests and in some cases even helmets, but they weren't immune to the bullets and the danger was imminent.
"Sir," one of the men addressed him, "do you want us to knock the door down?" He asked.
Alec nodded. The front door of the building had been barricaded. Alec knew that wasn't a good sign.
Four men from the squad grabbed the battering ram they had brought with them and proceeded to open the door, knocking down those barricades in a matter of seconds.
The team quickly moved inside the building and Alec followed them; every fiber of his being was on high alert, expecting the worst to happen at any moment.
"It's clear." The chief of the SWAT unit told Alec.
Alec nodded and immediately mobilized the agents who were waiting outside for Alec's order to break into the building using the multiple entrances. "Team 2, 3 and 4, move!" He said, using the radio strapped to his vest.
The entire operation was being monitored. The possibility of capturing the most dangerous man was high and Alec really hadn't taken any chances.
The teams of agents entered the building bringing down the multiple entrances and, just as Alec's team had done, gave the all-clear signal.
"How do you want us to proceed, Captain?" A member of his team asked.
"We need to split up." Alec said, quickly analyzing the situation. The building was an abandoned hospital so there were too many floors and rooms to check. He was certain not all of them could be used as a hideout, the place was practically falling apart, but Valentine hadn't chosen this place at random—he was sure of that. There were clear traces of the presence of people everywhere, there were footprints in the dust, lots of empty food containers, broken bottles and cigarette butts scattered all around. Besides, Magnus would have never asked him to come here if this place weren't important. "We need to check every corner of this building, if there's no on here, then maybe we can find something that can take us to Valentine." He said. "Teams 3 and 4 will take the lower floors and the basements, the rest of us will take the upper levels and the roof." He ordered.
"Yes, Captain." The men said.
"You know what?" Alec stopped them before the teams moved to do as he had told them. "We'll take the lower levels and the basements instead." He said. He wasn't in his best condition right now with his leg and arm injured, so taking the upper levels would be stupid and could put his men in danger. "Keep us informed of anything you find using the radio." Alec said, and motioned his team to move. There was no time to lose.
Slowly and making sure to take all necessary precautions to avoid any unexpected attack, Alec and his team began to check the lower levels, entering all the rooms and unfortunately, only finding more dust and piles of garbage, but no sign of Valentine, Magnus or anyone else for that matter.
"Let's check the basements." Alec told his team.
It was a hospital so he was expecting multiple entrances to the basements which would surely complicate things, however, the task became easier when they noticed that of the three doors to the different basements, only one worked.
"Take it down carefully." Alec said. He knew it could be a trap, the chances that Valentine and his men might be waiting down there were low, but still they had to proceed with caution.
The same men that had opened the front door grabbed the battering ram and knocked the door down. Alec and his team moved, holding their guns firmly in front of them while making their way down the stairs, but almost at the same time they started to descend, a voice broke the silence.
"Don't shoot, don't shoot, it's me!"
Alec recognized the voice immediately. "Jace!" He exclaimed, quickly rushing to where his brother was. He was inside a small cage, he couldn't see much, but there were bars standing between them. "Oh, my God, Jace, you're here!." He exclaimed with relief—half of his heart was back in his chest. "Look at you." He added, when he could see him better. Some of his men had already lit some flashlights to illuminate the room, and Alec had discovered that his brother was all beaten up.
"Don't worry, I'm fine." Jace said.
"Open this thing now!" Alec ordered a couple of men who, without wasting time, used what little they had to open the cage.
Alec hugged Jace tightly.
"Ouch." Jace complained.
"Sorry." Alec quickly apologized, his brother was clearly not in the best condition to be hugged, but he had been so happy to see him that he had momentarily forgotten that he could hurt him even when that was not his intention. "I'm so glad you're alive, I was so worried about you, these days have been…I-I was so desperate."
"Hey, I'm okay...it was a close call, but someone made sure to keep me alive." Jace said.
Alec didn't have to ask who that person was to know that it had been Magnus.
"Is he here?" Alec asked, making sure to request through the radio to look for more prisoners, specifically for Magnus Bane.
"He's-he's not here, they all left a few hours ago." Jace said. "They took him with him, he made them leave me behind so that you could find me—he was worried that I wasn't going to make it."
"Do you know what they're after?" Alec asked. What Magnus had done for Jace was all kinds of heroic and he would be eternally grateful to him for that, but there were more pressing things to ask...time was ticking. Jace had said that they had left a few hours ago, so maybe if Alec moved fast he could stop them and rescue Magnus.
"The Federal Reserve."
"The New York Bank?"
"Yes, no...I mean, they're after all of them. They're going to rob the twelve banks simultaneously."
"Do you happen to know when?"
"Magnus said Valentine wanted to go in this Friday, but I'm not sure."
Alec gulped—that meant he had less than 72 hours.
"Magnus said it was possible," Jace continued, "what he did last night in the library, he didn't want to, but Valentine forced him, they needed the updated blueprints of all the banks to break in and-"
"-they're in the Library of Congress." Alec completed Jace's sentence.
Jace barely nodded. "Here," his brother said, handing him an old book, "he left me this for you. He said he wrote everything he knew about Valentine's plan there, there's a room upstairs with all the details as well, I've never seen it, but Magnus said it existed, however, he copied everything here just in case. I guess he always knew you were going to find us, it's coded, but he said you could read it."
Alec grabbed the book and felt his heart racing as he read the title. It was the same book that Magnus had used to leave him the other message, that of reading the numbers as letters. "Oh, Magnus…" he whispered, opening the book and smiling at his boyfriend's stylish handwriting.
The first page was addressed to him, it said: "To APB." Alec knew what that stood for and it broke his heart a little: to Agent Pretty Boy.
"Can you read it?" Jace asked.
Alec turned the pages and tried to find the code in the first few lines. It didn't take him long, though, he had seen it before...once, when he had discovered Magnus's real name. And suddenly, it all made sense. Magnus had left this because only Alec could read it. Magnus had left in Alec's hands the key to find Valentine and put an end to this once and for all.
"Alec?"
"Yes, yes...I can read it." He said a bit overwhelmed. It was a lot of responsibility, and it kind of surprised him to realize how much Magnus trusted him and his ability to end this.
"He also asked me to tell you something and I promised I would," Jace continued as Alec looked up from the book, "he wanted you to know that-"
"I know what he wanted me to know." Alec said, not letting Jace say those words. He didn't want to hear them, they hurt too much.
"But you have to, he needed you to know in case he-"
"I'm going to find him." Alec said with determination.
"He said that he-"
"Don't say it." Alec said, placing a hand on his brother's mouth. "I don't want to hear it. I know what he said and why he made you promise him to tell me, but he's going to be fine. I'm going to make sure of that."
"But-" Jace was saying when the different teams outside and inside the building started to report to Alec through the radio. The building and all surrounding areas were clear.
Alec sighed, he had already known that. They had arrived late...again.
"Secure all the evidence you can find in the building." He instructed everyone through the radio. "I want every corner of this building to be tested, and please bring some paramedics for my brother."
The different teams replied to Alec, but he ignored them, Jace was trying to stand up. All this time they had been on the floor, Alec hadn't suggested that they try to move because his brother's wounds looked quite serious, but apparently Jace was better than he looked. "Are you sure you can stand?" He asked worriedly.
"Yes I-"
"No, you can't." Alec said, when he noticed that his brother could barely hold his head up for a few seconds. "Stay there, the paramedics will be here any minute now."
Jace huffed, but nodded. "And-and what are you going to do with what Magnus left for you?"
"I need a plan, Magnus left the entire case in my hands and I'm not going to disappoint him, I owe him that much, so I'll decipher what Valentine's going to do and then make a plan. If they are planning on going in this Friday, then I have," Alec checked his watch, "a bit more than 48 hours to come up with something and stop it before it happens."
"I can help, I-"
"No, sir, you won't be involved in any of this, you'll go straight to a hospital to recover. You're burning in fever and most of your wounds are infected."
"But-"
"I am your boss and you'll do as I say or-"
"Fine." Jace exhaled, and didn't have time to argue anymore because in that moment Izzy entered the basement, running towards him and exclaiming his name.
"Jace! Jace! I came as fast as I could when I heard you were here!" She said, hugging him even tighter than Alec had done.
"Ouch."
"Sorry, sorry, I'm so glad to know you're okay, I was so worried about you! Where's Magnus?"
"They took him with them." Jace informed her.
"Where?"
"The new security house, it's in-"
"Shhh!" Alec said, immediately covering Jace's mouth for the second time in less than five minutes. "We won't share what we know in public." He said—late, but he had learned his lesson. "I'm not going to ruin this, you're safe, but Magnus isn't, so we need to be very careful. Magnus gave me one chance, and once chance only to put an end to all this and I can't mess it up. This time…" he said with determination, "I will do things differently, I won't play by our rules, I won't do what they expect me to do. If we want to end this we need to take control of the situation and the only way to do that is to do what we have never done."
"And what is that?" Izzy asked.
Alec smiled. The first encounter he had had with Magnus on the rooftop of that jewelry store all those years ago was replaying in his mind. It was clear, so clear that he could hear the words his now-boyfriend had said as if the man himself were there beside him saying them again. "Think outside the box."
o-o-o-o-o
Magnus felt the van stopping and immediately knew that they had reached their destination. It had taken them some time to get there because, for security reasons, the place where Valentine would be operating the whole thing wasn't exactly in New York, but in New Jersey. The warehouse was strategically far from Manhattan but still close enough so that when Magnus and Jonathan left the bank with the money they could take shelter and avoid being caught.
"We have arrived." One of Valentine's men said. He was driving the van.
Magnus exhaled relieved, he would be lying if he didn't admit that he was anxious to get out of the car. In the last few days he had spent so much time confined in small spaces—first in his father's basement and then in that cage—that the mere idea of being in a new place excited him a little.
"Remove the blindfold and uncuff him." The driver instructed someone. Magnus supposed it was the man sitting next to him. Magnus was in the back of the van with only one man guarding him.
The man immediately obeyed, removing the blindfold from Magnus's eyes and not so gently pulling his hands toward him to open the handcuffs.
"Ouch." Magnus complained. "Is the rudeness really necessary? Haven't I proven myself loyal?" He said, rubbing his now-sore wrists. It was clear that he wasn't going anywhere, not because he didn't want to, but because he would never endanger Alec and his family.
"Shut up and just follow me." The man said, opening the door of the van and helping him out.
Magnus nodded and stepped out, frowning a little confused as his eyes landed on his surroundings. They weren't parked on the street as he had supposed they would be, they were parked inside the warehouse. Had they changed locations without telling him? He wondered and panicked. Now he had no way to be sure if he was in the place where Valentine's new ops center was supposed to be, and if they weren't, that meant he had left Alec the wrong address.
"Where are we?" He asked, trying to keep his emotions at bay and not to sound suspicious. But the man ignored him and just threw him a black coverall like the one Valentine had forced him to wear when he and Jonathan had broken into the library.
"Change your clothes." The man said.
"Are we in the new ops center?" Magnus asked again, trying to confirm his location. "In the warehouse in the Heights?"
"Yes, now change your clothes!" The man replied, exasperated.
Magnus tried not to show his relief and just pretended to examine the clothes. "Okay, I will, but...am I supposed to change here?" He questioned, pointing around. He had never been shy about his body, nudity had never been something he was afraid of, but even so, he would be lying if he said he didn't feel vulnerable in front of this man.
"No, you idiot, there." The man said, pointing to a series of rooms located behind them. Magnus didn't know why the man was being so harsh, Valentine's men were usually hostile, but today things were on a different level, since they had returned from Washington everyone seemed to be on the edge.
"There's a bathroom there." The man added.
Magnus didn't say another word and just walked into the bathroom to change his clothes. There he found not only some makeup, but also a bunch of small plastic bags with glitter, which made him roll his eyes. As it had happened last night when he had been forced to break into the Library of Congress, Valentine, by giving him all this, was pretending to prove that he knew him, but the truth was that he had no idea who he really was or how he worked. The glitter was the biggest indicator of that, only five people alive knew how he managed to leave the glitter trails in all his heist—Alec, Ragnor, Raphael, Catarina and his father. They all knew that he had special gloves for that purpose and that he didn't go around throwing it like confetti. Why Asmodeus had never shared that detail with Valentine was beyond him, but he suspected that that 'friendship' they claimed to have was based on pure lies and deceit.
Magnus put on the coverall, applied some makeup in his eyes to look more like himself, and after grabbing some of the bags with glitter and putting them in his pocket, he walked out of the bathroom. The man who had been watching him was still waiting for him there.
"The boss asked me to escort you to him." He said as a matter of explanation, though Magnus hadn't asked for one.
"Then lead the way." Magnus said, following the man through the place.
The warehouse was really large and wasn't empty as Magnus had assumed it would be, it was packed to the very end with thousands of shipping containers stacked one on top of the other. The place was like an endless labyrinth, with long corridors that seemed to connect everything, but that Magnus was sure they probably lead nowhere—it was an excellent hideout.
"Are all these empty?" Magnus couldn't help but ask, pointing to the shipping containers. He was intrigued by them, but his guide ignored him and just kept walking until they got to a clearing in the middle of the place.
It was surrounded by all those shipping containers too, but these were stacked differently, as if to form some sort of fortress with them. Magnus suspected that was intentional, if someone entered the warehouse unexpectedly, whoever was in this clearing would have an advantage point over them. They could easily climb the containers and shoot anyone who dared to intrude from the very top of them. The warehouse was arranged to be death trap.
"Wait for him here." The man said, making him walk into the clearing. So far, Magnus had stood a few steps behind. He had been analyzing the place and trying to avoid all the people gathered there. Now he understood why everyone was on the edge, this was the largest gathering of criminals he had ever seen.
"Look who's finally here!" A man standing on his left said, smiling at him. Most people were chatting in small groups and hadn't paid him any attention. "Magnus Bane in the flesh, I'm a big fan of your work." He said, extending his hand in a friendly gesture.
Magnus gave him a fake smile, but didn't shake hands with him—he didn't want to talk to any of these people. He hadn't recognized them all yet, but many of the faces that now thanks to his 'big fan' were looking at him were extremely familiar and that fact was sending a chill through his body. All these criminals weren't like him, Magnus was a forger and a thief, but these people, these people were murderers.
It kind of made sense that Valentine had brought together a group of people who shared his 'style' to help him commit this heist, but Magnus didn't feel comfortable among them. It was like-
"My son!" Asmodeus exclaimed, separating himself from one of the groups and immediately approaching him. His father was smiling a big smile and the only thing Magnus wanted to do was kill him for everything he had done, including making Alec go through a living hell.
"How have you been?" Asmodeus dared to ask, giving Magnus a pat on the back, as if they were the best of friends.
"Leave me alone." Magnus said, stepping away from him. He didn't want to be near him, he wasn't sure if he would be able to control himself and he didn't want to cause a scene in front of all these people.
"You're still mad at me, I understand, but I promise I didn't want to hurt your fe-boyfriend, everything that happened that day was his fault. Although if we analyze it a little, in the end it was actually your fault because you gave him that phone. If he hadn't had it with him that day he wouldn't have used it."
Magnus pretended to ignore him. He didn't need another reminder that, in fact, what had happened to Alec had been his fault and only his.
"Anyway…" His father continued. Apparently, he didn't understand that in order to have a conversation you needed at least another person willing to talk. "I'm glad to see that you've kept your word and that you have been useful to our new friend."
"Very useful, my dear Asmodeus." Valentine said, interrupting the one-sided conversation they had been having and joining the group.
He had entered the clearing from the other side with his son trailing behind him. Jonathan was wearing a similar coverall to the one they had given to Magnus, and suddenly it was clear why: all the people there who were wearing a similar outfit would be in charge of robbing the banks.
"I heard you just arrived." Valentine told Asmodeus, putting an arm around his shoulders and walking away with him, chattering like friends as they made their way to the single table that stood in the middle of the open space.
Magnus stayed where he was just watching them interact. It was such an odd image that he couldn't help frowning. His father being friends with Valentine Morgenstern was something he never thought would be possible, first, because the latter was supposed to be dead, and second, because it didn't fit his father's personality. Asmodeus wasn't a friendly person, he was as cold as ice, so to witness this display of comradeship was all kinds of bizarre. In fact, the whole concept of his father cultivating any friendship was surreal.
However, now that he had the opportunity to see them interact, it made some kind of sense that they had become close. They had a lot in common, both were madly obsessed with power, both had ruined the lives of their respective families, and both had no heart.
"Your attention please." Valentine said, clearing his throat to get the attention of all the people gathered in the room. The whole chatter died at once. "The time has finally come!" He exclaimed, making all the criminals to cheer at the same time.
"It's time for us to finally do what we've been planning for years and show all those people who we truly are!" Valentine continued. "For too long we've been in the shadows, for too long we've been waiting for our chance to prove the government that they can't stop us! Today, my friends, the wait is finally over!"
The room rumbled with cheers.
"After we've accomplished this, the entire world will know who we are. We'll become heroes among criminals, and nothing and no one will dare to stop us!"
A general clamor of approval filled the room. Every single person gathered there, with the exception of Magnus, of course, was cheering loudly, smiling as if Valentine had just told them that they had won the lottery. And that wasn't far from the truth because with the score they were planning on doing, every person involved in it would become rich in the blink of an eye. The estimated assets of all banks together was of about $4.49 trillion dollars.
"All that sounds great," a man who wasn't far from Valentine said the moment the cheering stopped; he wasn't dressed in coveralls, but in a very fancy suit, "but you're talking as if we were going to put this in motion today and in case you've forgotten, we don't have everything ready. That mistake with the blueprints hasn't been sol-"
"My dear, Malachi." Valentine said, looking at the man. Magnus refrained himself from showing any kind of emotion, although deep down he was very surprised. That man was Malachi Dieudonne, that corrupt Interpol agent who had helped Asmodeus out of prison—one of Valentine's many allies. "That mistake was fixed last night." Valentine added, snapping his fingers to signal some of his men to bring him the updated blueprints.
The same man that had been guarding Magnus approached Valentine and gave him the floor plans, which the old criminal didn't hesitate to put on the table for all to see.
"My son and our new friend Magnus Bane took care of that last night, didn't you?"
Magnus just shrugged and gave a fake smile when he noticed that now all eyes were on him. He hadn't done it to help the cause, he had been forced to, but he didn't want all these people to know what Valentine had on him. If they found out that Magnus was nothing but a puppet Valentine could use at his whim, they could dig deeper and discover Magnus's weakness. He was sure he wasn't going to make it out alive after all this was over, but the future was so uncertain that anything could happen. He had to make sure no one here found out about his relationship with Alec.
"Well done, Bane!" Someone exclaimed.
The criminals started to gather around the table to take a closer look at the blueprints of the banks. Magnus supposed they were familiar with them, he still didn't know how long they all had been working together, but he suspected that at least a couple of years. The level of planning that this heist had wasn't achieved overnight.
"This is top security." Malachi said.
"It is, I don't think we're ready for that." A man dressed in coveralls agreed. "The other plan didn't include this much effort, the vaults are hard enough to break into to add the buildings too, how are you planning on getting us there?"
Valentine didn't respond and just smiled. His men, as if on cue, started to bring in some wooden boxes and open them there, displaying all sorts of guns and ammunition: sniper rifles, machine guns, pistols, bazookas, explosives, etc. Magnus didn't like guns, but he knew a lot about them and these...well, these were guns that could only be used in a massive armed assault.
"Now we're talking!" A man said, smiling and grabbing a machine gun from one of the boxes and pointing it at everyone's direction.
Magnus panicked, he knew what that meant. Valentine's plan was to break into the banks and force his way in by killing everyone in sight. When Magnus had analyzed the banks while copying them, he had realized that it wouldn't be easy to get into them, but Valentine had the resources to find a way in without resorting to violence.
"Put that down, Pangborn." Valentine said. "They're loaded, these aren't toys."
Magnus didn't know what to do, he knew that a lot of people would die because of this—innocent people who would end up paying for the ambition and madness of this man. Suddenly, an urge to do something, anything, struck him and he opened his mouth without even being aware of it.
"Wasn't I supposed to give you a new way to get into these buildings?" He asked, looking expectantly at Valentine. "When I told you about that mistake with the blueprints—very amateur of all of you not to notice it sooner," he pointed out, "you told me that I would have to give you a new plan to get into the banks. Were you joking or is it that you no longer require my services?"
Valentine looked at him with a smile. "You saw the blueprints better than anyone, Bane, there's no easy way in, the security is too high and we don't have time to plan this all over again, guns are the only option."
"Where's all that crap you said about doing the impossible, huh?" Magnus questioned, using Valentine's own words. "Aren't you the best criminal of all time?"
"You're saying that you could break us into one of these without using guns?" The man who had declared himself a big fan of Magnus's work asked.
"Can you really do it?" Another one asked.
"Well, I'm Magnus Bane." Magnus said, smiling perhaps a little too smugly, but he couldn't help it, it was in his nature.
Some of the men laughed as if they doubted Magnus's abilities. Magnus didn't blame them, he looked young compared to most of the people gathered there, but he knew what he was capable of, after all, he had been doing this practically his whole life.
"Boy, don't get me wrong," a man standing next to Asmodeus said, "I don't doubt that your father here has taught you well, but I was already breaking into banks when you hadn't even been born yet."
"Maybe," Magnus said, "and yet none of you has ever broken into a place with this kind of security, but I have. Rijksmuseum? Six years ago, I entered without setting off the alarms."
"That was you?" Someone asked.
"No one could ever prove if it was really me, but we have some feds and special agents among us, why don't we ask them instead?" Magnus said, looking at the men in fancy suits that were near the corrupt Interpol Agent. "Was it really me?" He questioned, making some men laugh.
"Well, you're right, no one could ever prove it," an agent said, "you left the glitter, but back then, people still didn't know that was your signature."
"Is it true that he took a Rembrandt?" The man whom Valentine had referred to as Pangborn asked.
The agent nodded. "He took Rembrandt's self-portrait as the Apostle Paul and left a forgery—the original was never found on the black market. The museum decided to leave the forgery on display to avoid the backlash for having lost that painting, very few know that what people think is one of Rembrandt's best works is actually Bane's painting."
Magnus just smiled, he had always been proud of that heist. And of course the original painting had never been found, he hadn't sold it, he had kept it for himself and was currently decorating his living room.
"That's impressive!" A man exclaimed.
"Very!" Another agreed, and soon, everyone was talking about that heist and how impressive Magnus's work had been.
"Everyone, silence!" Valentine exclaimed after a while. "Okay, Bane, you've proven your point, you've done remarkable things for your age. Now share your plan, let's see if you're as good as you claim to be."
"I don't do guns, so if you want me to share my plan then you'll have to get rid of those." Magnus said, pointing to the wooden boxes containing the arsenal Valentine had prepared for the robbery.
"We won't get rid of the guns, so either you speak or you know what's going to happen." Valentine said firmly.
Magnus sighed. "Fine, but guns won't be part of my plan, you can carry them with you if you want, but if any of you fire them during the operation you'll just ruin everything. Elegant heists aren't the easiest to pull off, but they have more impact than breaking into some place and killing everyone in sight. Can you imagine what people would say if we managed to steal the Federal Reserve without a single shot being fired? Our dear boss here talked about becoming heroes among criminals, but heroes only get remembered by a few, legends? Legends never die."
A clamor, even louder than the one Valentine had gotten with his little speech, broke out, making every corner of the warehouse to vibrate.
"Okay...okay…" Valentine raised his voice, shutting them all out at once. "We're gonna hear Bane's plan, if he can give us a new way to get into the banks in less than five hours, then we'll consider it, if not, we'll do this as men do."
"Killing people to get away with something doesn't make you a man." Magnus couldn't help saying.
"He's always being a softie." Asmodeus chimed in. "He got that from his mother, he's weak...like her."
Magnus tried not to lose his temper, he had already achieved a lot by getting Valentine to consider listening to his plan and even changing it, he wasn't going to risk that because of his father's remarks. The lives and safety of a lot of people were at stake now.
"Unfortunately, that happens a lot," Valentine said, "our children inherit traits that they would be better off without, but anyway," he added, clapping his hands, "off to work, Bane! Tell me what you need to get us this new plan and I'll give it to you."
"Just the blueprints, the maps of each city, some paper and a chair." Magnus said, getting closer to Valentine for the first time. Until now he had kept his distance, judging everything from afar, but it was time to join the group, and to, involuntarily, become just another one of the criminals gathered there.
"Very well, then my son will assist you." Valentine said.
Magnus didn't complain because he knew that this was Valentine's way of keeping an eye on him, so he just nodded and sat down in one of the chairs Valentine's men had already scooted for him. He had analyzed some of the floor plans while copying them, he had thought of possible ways to get into the banks, but it was until that moment that he was realizing that what he was about to do—give that other alternative—would be, if successful, perhaps his greatest achievement as a criminal to date. He had done great things, the bonds being his last big score, but stealing the 12 Federal Reserve banks at the same time was a feat he never thought he would be a part of.
"The twelve banks are scattered throughout the country, so as in the original plan, we'll have to use New York as our base to time the whole operation." He said, getting into his professional criminal self. "This score needs to run like clockwork—it has to be precise—so I'll try to keep the same schedule you all had already planned, i.e. break into the New York bank at 5 a.m., 2a.m. for San Francisco."
"Isn't it too early for the West Coast?" Someone asked.
"It is, but we have no choice, the New York bank is practically a fortress so we'll have to be a bit creative with that one and use the early hours of the mornings to do so. But let me think...I'll come up with something to make it easier for everyone, I promise." Magnus said, and slowly began planning the massive robbery.
The main goal was to get into the banks without being detected, so he set his mind on that. Since the time at which the robberies would take place was different for all banks, coming up with different strategies and plans wasn't an easy task. However, he found some alternatives that, although they would require a little bit of luck and a lot of skill, he hoped that the men in charge of each bank could carry out successfully.
When he had opened his mouth and decided to help plan this crime, he had forced himself to do so, leaving aside the fact that if everything went according to plan, Alec could stop it before it even took place. He was counting on his boyfriend to decipher what he had left for him and come to the rescue, of course, but the best way to make things work for both sides was to pretend that Alec wasn't part of the equation. It was the only way to make sure no one got hurt.
The minutes quickly turned into hours and without realizing it, Magnus had already put together most of the plan, going bank after bank, planning everything down to the smallest detail. Unfortunately, the time Valentine had given him hadn't been enough and when he looked up to see how much time he had left to plan the break into the last bank, he realized that his time was up.
"His time is up." Jonathan said with a smug on his face. Ever since they had met, the man had shown a deep dislike for him.
"I'm going to let him finish." Valentine said. After all, there was only one bank left—New York. It was the most difficult one because as Magnus had said at the beginning, the place was practically a fortress, but he knew that there was no way to stop now, the plan was almost finished. "I want to see the end of this plan, I'm liking it so far."
Magnus's head hurt already, but after taking a deep breath and grabbing all he needed to plan the New York heist, he began to analyze all his options. "Since I copied this floor plan I noticed that for this building we'll need some distractors, there's no other way to do it." He said. "The entrance for the employees and the service door are on Maiden Lane, and the main access on Liberty Street; we'll need to distract the guards inside and outside the building on both sides, not at the same time, of course, that would be too obvious, but we won't be able to do it on our own. The cameras are here," he said, pointing to several points on the blueprint, "so we'll have to make them all focus at the same time here," he added, pointing across the street, "so when we get over here," he added once more, now pointing to the other side of the street, "and we request for access to take out the trash container, they let us in without asking many questions. Once inside is only a-"
"We're going in as people from the trash collection service?" Jonathan interrupted him, he sounded horrified by the idea. So far he had been the only one who had complained about something, the rest of the criminals had been very pleased with the plans that Magnus had suggested to them and some had even helped a bit when Magnus had found a dead end. This guy, however, had been just a constant headache.
"Yes? What were you expecting? There's no other way to get in, we have to disguise ourselves." Magnus said, rubbing his temple. His head was throbbing.
"I'm not going to dress like a garbage man just to-"
"If you don't calm your brat," Magnus said, looking directly at Valentine and ignoring Jonathan, "this will go to hell, so either he works as I say or you get me someone else to work with. I can't get us in if he doesn't cooperate. As you can see there are cameras everywhere, the only way to get into the building is by using a disguise. We can use the schedule that the trash collection service has, is the easiest way to enter and ensure that we have a way to transport all the money once we've broken into the vault."
Valentine looked at him and then at the floor plans. "You'll do as he says, Jonathan." He said.
"But-"
"But nothing, your time will come, but he's right, look at the blueprints yourself, we won't be able to get in there any other way."
Jonathan rolled his eyes not pleased with that, but stopped arguing.
Magnus took a deep breath and without stopping to see if Jonathan agreed with him or not, began to describe his plan in detail. Starting with the distraction maneuvers they would have to put in motion at different times to get into the building, and ending with how they would get out of it with all the money. It would require a lot of precision, teamwork, and control, but he was confident they could pull it off successfully.
"But of course, if we had more time to plan this, I could even make sure you had a way to take the gold stored there too. I don't need much, just one more week." Magnus said as a last resort. He had been avoiding asking for more time without first having Valentine's approval for the plan, but all the cards were on the table now and Valentine seemed quite pleased with what Magnus had suggested so far, so it was now or never. If he managed to delay this for a couple of days Alec would have more time to plan what to do and stop this before hell broke loose.
"I don't need gold, the money will be enough."
"But imagine getting both, gold and money, gold is better than money, gold is-"
"Enough, Bane, you've done your job, like I said, we don't need gold. We'll follow your plan, but we'll take guns with us in case something goes wrong. You and Jonathan will have the best team and I'll get you everything you need to make this work, so get ready...this Friday you'll get us inside the safest building in all New York."
Magnus sighed. He had tried to buy some time but it hadn't worked, now he just hoped Alec could stop this madness that somehow he had helped create before it happened, or else on Friday, he would be committing his biggest crime so far and probably wouldn't even live to tell the story.
2...