Hey everyone, sorry this is late. I took a break to revamp some future bits of the story, so I didn't wanna post this chapter before I did that. It was mostly just tweaking small details, nothing major.

Alec watched as Jace was called into the room, and a few seconds later the warlock exited. Eager to find out what was going on, Alec stepped through the doors and found a disgruntled looking Jonas. Jace seemed equally as annoyed.

"What's wrong?"

Jace shook his head, frustrated, and faced Alec. "He won't let me draw the rune on him."

It took Alec a moment to figure out what his parabatai meant. Jonas would need another rune now that they were about to go up against stronger demons.

"It's his choice," replied Alec, though he began to worry about their lack of other options.

"I'll let Alec do it," Jonas said, surprising Alec.

Jace glanced between Alec and Jonas for a moment, eyes narrowed. "Fine," he relented. Jace's lips thinned as he walked off, leaving them to it.

Alec frowned after his parabatai, before looking back to Jonas. "You could've let Jace do it," Alec said. "He would do just a good as job as I'm going to."

"If I can't do it. Then I want you to do it."

Jonas' statement left no room for discussion.

Not trying to overthink what that might mean, Alec reached into his pocket and pulled out his stele. "This will hurt," he warned the man.

"Then do it quickly." Jonas paused, averting his gaze as he grit out, "Please."

Alec's lips twitched ever so slightly, amused by Jonas' aversion to the word 'please', before he focused and got to work. He wasn't going to enjoy this, but it had to be done.

Alec watched as Jonas drew the circle. At first, his movements were jerky and the lines were jagged, but passable. After a while, Jonas' strokes evened out into smoother lines, and the shift from jerky movements to practiced strokes occurred a few more times until finally, Jonas was done.

He then sat there for a while, just staring at what he'd drawn. Alec watched him, and when Jonas continued gazing at the pentagram, he cleared his throat.

Jonas flinched at the sound, and then glanced at Alec. A look of relief crossed his face and the man got to his feet and walked over to where Alec was standing. He wasn't too far away, but he'd left Jonas a bit of room to draw the pentagram.

"What's going on?" Jonas asked.

Alec eyed the man closely, wondering why he was asking that. "We're getting your memories back."

"How?"

"That pentagram" -Alec pointed at what Jonas had just drawn on the floor- "will summon the memory demon that has your memories."

Jonas swallowed and nodded. "Okay."

"Okay?" Alec asked. He'd just had to explain the plan again. "What, did you forget?"

"No," Jonas replied. Then he reconsidered. "Yes."

Alec stared at him. "How could you forget that?"

Jonas looked stricken, like he didn't know what to say.

He was spared from having to answer when Magnus entered the room, along with the rest of the group. "Not bad," he said, then continued, "And I would consider myself a fine judge of art, considering I knew Michelangelo, who was excellent in bed, I might add."

Magnus' words effectively distracted Alec rom his concern over Jonas. He felt torn between being embarrassed and charmed when the warlock look pointedly at him, and then Jonas in turn. Alec didn't quite get why the man seemed to be flirting with the both of them.

Was this some kind of game to him? Did the warlock just flirt with anyone? Or was he toying with Alec and Jonas, trying to cause disharmony amongst the group?

Alec pushed the line of thought from his mind. There were more important things to be focused on.

Jace noticed Magnus' look and shot a disturbed glance in Alec's direction. Alec shrugged and tried for an expression of confusion (which he sort of felt.) It must have work, because Jace let him be.

Magnus turned and walked around the edge of the pentagram, coming to stand at the head of it. "Okay. We're ready." He began to roll up his sleeves. "Everyone take your rightful place on the pentagram."

Izzy moved to stand at the point next to Magnus, and Jace positioned himself next to her. Alec was already standing at the other point next to Magnus so he stayed there. Jonas looked around, and figured he was to stand at the last remaining point.

"We must initiate a bond. Once this bond is sealed," Magnus emphasised his words by holding up a single finger. "It cannot be broken until the demon retreats. No matter what happens, we must not let go of each other's hands."

He looked to everyone in turn, before his gaze finally landed on Alec. Slowly, the warlock extended his hand to him.

Alec eyed the offered hand for a moment, before reaching out and grabbing it. As soon as their hands were fully connected, Alec's body jolted and his eyes were locked with the warlock's for a long moment. It felt… intense. Alec finally managed to jerk his gaze free and turned to Jonas, holding out his hand.

Jonas stared at it for a second, before exhaling and grabbing Alec's hand.

The jolt occurred again, and Jonas' eyes went wide as he met Alec's gaze.

Alec tried to offer what, he hoped, was a reassuring look. Jonas swallowed and turned to Jace. They locked hands, and then Jace turned to Izzy.

"You people are pathetic," Izzy said. She then easily grabbed Jace's and then Magnus' hand.

Show off, Alec thought fondly.

"I will lead the ceremony," Magnus told the group. "And you all must do exactly as I say. The demon's name is Valak. And at some point, he will ask for payment in exchange for Jonas' memories."

"What do you mean?" Jace asked. "What kind of payment?"

"We will see." Magnus rolled his shoulders. "Let us begin."

The warlock recited words in Chthonian, and once he was done, Izzy spoke up. "The necklace. It's pulsing."

The pulsing started weakly, and then increased in frequency.

Suddenly, everyone looked up at the same time as the memory demon showed up. It dived down from the ceiling, arriving in a swirl of a smoke-like mass

"Valak is among us," Magnus shouted. "Do not break the bond."

A set of eyes burned within the writhing mass. It was an intimidating sight, but Alec did his best not to let it get to him.

"It is time," Magnus declared. "The demon demands payment."

"What does it want?" Alec asked, having to shout to be heard over the noise of the demon.

"We must each relinquish a beloved memory of the one we love the most."

Izzy went first, and Alec saw his face appear in front of him. Which, hey, was kinda sweet.

Jonas was next. Alec didn't recognise the face that appeared, but it appeared to be a boy about Jonas' age, with spiked, brown hair and a sharp face. The boy's eyes were a stunning shade of azure, and Alec wondered briefly what this person meant to Jonas.

Then, Alec felt something taken from him, from deep within him.

For one, brief second, Alec thought that the memory might be of Jonas.

The memory that showed before him was much, much worse than one of Jonas. It was of Jace.

"No, it's not true!" Alec denied immediately, glancing in panic at his parabatai as he continued, "The demon deceived me!"

"Do not break the bond!" Magnus yelled.

Izzy tried to console him. "Alec, it's okay!"

"No!" Alec shouted and let go of the hands he was holding.

"Alec!" He heard Jace shout.

Everyone was thrown backwards as the demon raged. "No!" Magnus cried. "I cannot contain the demon much longer!"

Alec glanced over at the warlock, seeing how the man was straining from the intense use of his magic. He made a decision then. This was his mistake, he had to fix it.

He got up and raced towards the demon, not quite sure what he was planning to do. He felt someone collide against him, and knew immediately that it was Jace.

"No!" Jace shouted.

Alec was thrown away as the demon grabbed Jace. Izzy rushed forward and reached for Jace's arm, holding onto it for dear life. "Jace!" Izzy exclaimed and then to Alec yelled, "Grab him! Grab him!"

Alec jumped to his feet once again and grabbed the other arm of his parabatai. "Hold on!" he called, desperate for Jace to be okay.

"The demon is growing stronger!" Malec warned them.

"He's slipping!" Alec shouted.

Then, suddenly, the demon withered away and died. As it faded, it was revealed that Jonas had stabbed it with a seraph blade.

Jace's body, no longer being held by the demon, fell to the ground.

Falling to his knees, Alec's hands fluttered helplessly over his parabatai's body. "Jace, get up," he tried rousing him, to no effect.

"Will he wake up?" Alec heard Jonas ask Magnus.

"I don't know. Does he normally just lay like that without moving?"

Alec looked up to see Jonas shoot Magnus an annoyed look. "I really hope that that was supposed to be a joke."

Magnus held his hands up in surrender. "Oh," the warlock paused. "Just so you know, you killed the demon, your memories are now lost forever."

Jonas didn't appear all that surprised by the news.

Turning his attention back to his parabatai, Alec said, "Get up. Jace."

Izzy moved to check his head or something, but then suddenly Jace pushed himself up, coughing and sputtering. Alec got to his feet and backed away because he'd done this, it was his fault Jace had been hurt by the demon.

He stood by the doors, staring at his parabatai from a distance.

Magnus walked over to him, but Alec couldn't tear his eyes away from the scene in front of him.

"There's nothing to be ashamed of, Alec."

"I don't know what you're talking about," Alec replied without even glancing at Magnus.

He heard the warlock shift closer. "You will," Magnus said, and then walked away.

Not long after, Izzy appeared.

Alec took one glance at her, decided he didn't want to deal with that right now, and left.

Alec was so caught up about what happened that he completely forgot to ask Jonas how he could've forgotten about the memory demon… which was kind of ironic. He had shut himself in his room as soon as they got back to the Institute.

He'd then proceeded to lie down on his bed and contemplate his life choices.

After a while of silence and being lost in his own thoughts, the door to his room creaked open and Jonas popped his head in. Alec turned to look at him, remembering the last time he'd been here and how important the reason for his visit had been.

"If you're not too busy thinking about puppies and kittens and rainbows, can we talk?"

Alec exhaled in a soft puff and sat up, kicking his feet over the edge of the bed.

Jonas took that as his cue and he approached, pulling out that strange necklace with the purple shard. "I was holding this, trying to figure out if I recognised it. I… had a vision, or something. Jocelyn was there, still alive and suspended in some kind of magic bubble, and also a man."

"What happened?"

"He spoke to me," Jonas said. "He looked right at me and said, 'You want your mother? Give me the Cup.'"

Alec didn't miss how Jonas' lips thinned around the word 'mother'.

"Do you think it was Valentine?" Alec asked.

"Maybe. I've been kind of hoping it was Santa," Jonas said. "That'd be far less creepy."

Alec felt his lips twitch, but he tried to remain serious because this was serious. "Did it look like Santa?"

"Not… technically," Jonas admitted. "But we can't really know what Santa looks like, right?"

"I think it was Valentine," Alec told Jonas apologetically. "And he can speak to you through that necklace? Here, in the Institute?"

"I mean I wasn't holding anything else suspicious at the time."

"Okay." Alec nodded to himself as the puzzle pieces clicked into place. "So it's a Portal shard."

Jonas' brows raised in curiosity. "A Portal what?"

"It's a part of a portal. I'm guessing it still works, kind of." Alec stood up and crossed over to Jonas. "Where are they?"

"If I knew their location I would've started with it. I feel like that trumps the whole Santa debacle," Jonas replied, dripping with derision.

"Were there any identifying characteristics?" Alec inquired, wanting to be thorough. He ignored Jonas' sass for the moment. "Equipment, weapons, photographs?"

Jonas crossed his arms. "Oh yeah, now that you mention it, there was a big map with a red dot on it showing me exactly where to find them."

Alec sighed and backed off. "Sorry. I just wanted to make sure."

"I get it," Jonas said. "But tone it down a bit? You're going to hurt my feelings."

Eyeing the man closely, Alec replied, "Emotions are nothing but a distraction. You're ruled by them. We're taught to control them."

"And how is that working out for ya?" Jonas replied.

Alec ignored his jab. "It is my job to protect the Institute. If Valentine can see in, that's a door I have to shut. Now... let me take a look at that thing."

He held out his hand.

For a moment, Jonas stared at Alec with those big green eyes of his. Then he scoffed and handed the necklace over.

Alec glanced at it, and then nodded at Jonas. "Now, it's in the proper hands."

He stalked past Jonas and out the door. The other man hurried to catch up. "Where are you going?" he asked.

Alec answered. "To put this somewhere safe. Where no one could be tempted to use it."

"We should use it," Jonas replied. "Alec, we should use it to get to Valentine."

"If I were Valentine, I'd make you think that you could rescue Jocelyn." Alec led the way to the training room and up the steps. "And then I'd lure you to me and leverage your life for the Cup."

He crouched over the floor safe and activated the rune on top. The safe rose up from the ground and Alec then traced the rune on the side to unlock it.

He placed the necklace in the center, and triggered the safe to close up and lock.

Alec stood and turned back around to find that Jonas was staring at him.

"What?"

"It's just… why is there storage for important objects in the floor of the training room?" Jonas asked. "I mean, that's just asking for it to get stomped on or whatever and for everything inside to be broken. Also it's just a really weird place to have it."

Alec directed a judging look at the man (because honestly… what? just... what?) before walking past and throwing over his shoulder, "Leave it there."

The next day, Izzy turned up in his room when Alec was getting dressed. He'd already pulled his jeans on, and was tugging a shirt over his head. She walked up to him, examined him for a moment, and then started digging through his draw.

"If you want to look good for Jonas and Magnus, then you should wear this one instead."

Alec frowned and spotted the shirt she'd picked out. It was the same color- black, and the same style- short sleeved tee. "First of all, I don't want to 'look good' for Jonas or Magnus–"

Izzy chuckled. "You keep telling yourself that."

"Second of all," Alec continued, ignoring her interruption, "That is the exact same shirt as the one I'm wearing."

She shrugged. "You won't know unless you try."

Alec stared at her, wondering when exactly his sister had gone insane. She continued to stand there, though, unstoppable, immovable. Deciding it was easier to just give her what she wanted, he ripped off his shirt and pulled on the one that she had picked out.

"I knew it," Izzy said, sounding smug.

Alec bit back a groan. "You didn't know anything. I'm just doing this to get you out of my hair."

Izzy smiled, all sweet and innocent. "Sure. Bye!"

She strutted off then, and Alec glared at her retreating back for a moment before looking in the mirror.

This shirt was a size smaller and fit his body tighter, though not uncomfortably so. It helped emphasise his build, and he puffed out his chest a little bit just to test it out.

Okay… Maybe she was right.

(He wasn't going to tell her that, thought.)

Alec took one last glance at his reflection and then headed out of his room to grab some breakfast.

Later on, Alec found everyone standing by the training room and chatting with his mother. Alec studied Jonas briefly, taking in the tense line of his body and his clenched jaw. Filing his observations away, Alec walked over to them and said, "Mother. Welcome back. We didn't expect you."

Maryse replied as she stepped towards him, "You should be prepared" -Alec leaned over to kiss her cheek quickly before pulling back- "whether you expect me or not."

"I am," Alec said, clasping his hands behind his back. He glanced at Jace. "We are."

"We'll talk about the Institute later," declared Maryse. "Right now, we have a bigger problem. The Seelies have stopped communicating with the Clave and won't explain why." As she spoke, she circled their small group of four. "My guess is they're still upset we asked them to send scouts to look for Valentine, but no one in their realm will talk."

Izzy stood straighter. "I have Seelie friends."

Maryse's lips quirked as she leered. "Yes, I know about your friends. Isabelle, we stay separate from the Downworld for good reasons. The wrong move, the wrong word… Do you think there is such a thing as harmless rebellion? Who knows what offends these creatures? Maybe you told him– them… something they shouldn't know. Maybe you–"

Jonas growled low in his throat, an almost animalistic sound that silenced Alec's mother. Alec shot the man a worried look, but Jonas had turned his head so he was staring intently at the wall across from him.

Jace took that opportunity to speak up. "Wait, wait." He frowned. "I don't understand. You're laying all this on Izzy for having a friend in the Downworld?"

Maryse's gaze snapped to Jace. "When someone upsets the natural order, everything falls apart."

"I can help," Izzy offered, gaining Maryse's judgemental attention. "I know how to talk to Seelies."

"She's right," Alec said. "She can visit with Meliorn and see what he knows. I could go with her if you want."

Maryse's lips thinned as his suggestion. "I'd rather Jace" —she reached out and put a hand on Jace's shoulder— "goes along this time." Maryse inhaled and stepped away. "Alec, you stay with the Fairchild boy. I want him under control. He's caused enough trouble already."

At her words, Alec bristled. Not only had she just tied Jonas in with Jocelyn— which Alec knew made the man feel uncomfortable— but now Alec was supposed to 'get him under control.' He held his head high, though, and refused to reward her with any reaction, positive or negative.

He noticed Jonas begin to tremor out of the corner of his eye, and swallowed, concerned for his… friend.

"The Clave counts on us Lightwoods to maintain order here," Maryse reminded them all.

"You don't need to tell me that," Alec responded. He then added, "If the mission is important to the Clave, I would prefer to be the one who goes with Isabelle."

Maryse chuckled. "You're all so eager to do what you would prefer. It's time to face the truth. Life is not about what you want to do, it's about what must be done. I have given you your assignments, now carry them out. You" —she pointed to Izzy and then Jace— "and you, with me, now."

She then spun around and walked off, with Izzy and Jace hurrying after her.

Alec exhaled, not exactly a sigh— Maryse didn't deserve that. He then turned to Jonas. As his gaze landed on the man, he froze. Jonas looked… Jonas looked furious, but terrified. Strong, but shaken.

"I can't stand her," Jonas snarled. "She reminds me of Jocelyn" —Jonas hissed the name— "and I definitely do not need another one of those in my life."

Alec felt the inexplicable need to move closer and comfort the man with a hug… or something.

He wanted to help, but he didn't know how.

Then his gaze caught on how the man's fists were clenching and unclenching, and Alec had an idea.

He walked over and grabbed two staffs, then returned and held one out to Jonas.

Jonas' gaze flickered between the proffered staff and the other one in Alec's left hand. "You… want me to spar with you?"

Alec stared at him, because obviously he did. They weren't about to bake a cake with the staffs.

Jonas straightened, looking almost amused underneath that kind of bored-mask he sometimes wore. "I prefer to avoid violence if it's not necessary."

Alec didn't miss a beat. "You could use the training."

"Trust me," Jonas's lips twitched into a smirk. "I don't need any training."

"Good, so then this will be fun."

Five minutes later, Alec was knocked on his ass for the seventh time in a row.

Jonas chuckled and offered a hand to help Alec up. Alec decided that, even though his body ached, it had all been worth it to see Jonas smile.

He accepted the hand and Jonas easily hauled him to his feet. "I've gotta admit, I'm surprised." Alec paused to dust himself off. "I mean, you're obviously not formally trained, but you make up for that with speed and strength."

"...Thanks?" Jonas's expression shifted into one of reluctant appreciation.

"Let's give this another go."

They squared off again, and Alec made the first move. He struck out with his staff, jabbing forward. Jonas blocked the blow and pulled his staff back to hit again. Alec grunted as he defended against the attack. He hadn't been lying when he'd said Jonas was strong.

"Watch your grip," he warned as he noticed Jonas' hand slipping. Jonas nodded and dodged the swing of Alec's staff. He counter attacked with a swipe of his staff, trying to cut through Alec's torso. Alec dodged again and retaliated by swiftly disarming Jonas.

Jonas huffed and used his hands to block Alec's next attack. Alec let go off his staff before Jonas could use it against him, and dived for the staff he'd previously disarmed. Once he had a weapon again, he spun just in time to block a blow Jonas had aimed for his head.

Then, before giving Jonas a chance to defend himself, Alec swung his staff low and knocked the man's feet out from under him. Jonas yelped as he fell, but then sat up to glare at him, looking reluctantly impressed

Alec smirked, relieved that he hadn't lost again. "See? Fun."

"It's still seven to one," Jonas pointed out. He then rubbed the back of his neck. "Let's pick this up after lunch," he declared and got to his feet.

"Okay," Alec said, but Jonas had already walked off.

Shrugging to himself, Alec went to get cleaned up, then he'd get himself something to eat.

Devilaire Mshadi: Thank you so much! I'm so relieved to hear my characterization isn't completely butchered. It's one of my main skills I pride myself on. As to why they stole Clary? Read and find out! Oh! And There'll be some snippets of Jonas (and the rest of the system's) POV later on, but yeah, this fic is mostly gonna be from other character's points of view.

Sarah152: Thank you! It makes me so happy to hear that :)

MissAmeliaYoung: Ah! A thousand thanks for pointing that out to me. I went through and fixed them all, and hopefully you won't see it happen again in the future.

CoffeeJunkie33: Thank you for such an insightful review! Hopefully I don't dissapoint c:

Next chapter... a kiss? Maybe? Who knows!