Chapter 18 A Good Night

Mia carefully placed their orders on the table.

Noticing the obvious tension between the two men, she smartly decided not to tarry, avoiding the usual silly pleasantries one engaged in that would perhaps earn them more tips. Having emptied the tray in her hands, she slightly bowed her head, wishing the two men a happy meal, before quickly leaving their table.

She wasn't stupid, of course she knew exactly who the two men were. Ragnor Fell, although very grumpy, antisocial even, was actually very nice and wouldn't hurt a fly unless otherwise provoked. Magnus Bane on the other hand, although charming and seemingly sociable, him you had to watch out for. The High Warlock of Brooklyn had no problem seperating a person's flesh from their bones. At least that was what she'd heard. Not to mention Luke had been very diligent in his warnings not to step on this person's toes.

Magnus and Ragnor nodded their heads, thanking Mia.

The two once again settled down, Magnus picking at his food. Honestly he didn't really have much of an appetite anymore, plus he felt that it would be best to continue the rest of their conversation somewhere more private. So, after indulging Ragnor for a while longer and forcing himself to eat a few bites, Magnus asked for the remainder of his food to be made up to go.

Having noticed the servers' nervousness and not wanting to leave too bad of an impression, Magnus made sure to leave a hefty tip behind.

The two warlocks walked out of the restaurant and into an abandoned alleyway. There, Magnus quickly opened a portal and the two of them headed back to his apartment.

"I think you should just give into her and look at the surrogates," Magnus was saying as they stepped into his living room. "Who knows, it might just work out."

"Even if I wanted to before, do you honestly think I'd want to now after everything you've just told me." Ragnor glared at Magnus as if he'd suddenly grown two heads. "Now is definitely not the best time to bring a child into the world."

Ragnor headed to couch, while Magnus made his way over to the bar. "Now, enough about my problems. We obviously have much bigger issues to worry about, so let's get back to that. What exactly is it that you need me to do?"

Magnus brought two glasses of drinks over to join Ragnor. As he sat down, placing one of the glasses on the coffee table in front his friend, he let out a tired sigh.

"We have demons secrectly scouring the other realms trying to find her. So far we've come up empty handed. There's only one place left where she could be. I cannot very well summon demons here to search, that would obviously alert the shadowhunters," Magnus explained. "This is where you come in. There's definitely someone here helping her; a warlock. I need you to find out who it is. If we can find out who's helping her, then perhaps they can lead us to her whereabouts."

Ragnor finally took a sip of his drink. "This isn't going to be easy." He thought over everything for a moment, tapping his fingers against his chin. "And I trust you want to keep this under wraps for as long as possible."

"That is a given. Which is why for now I don't intend on telling the Council anymore than is absolutely necessary. It's difficult to know who we can trust right now. Someone has obviously helped her regain her full powers and their using some kind of cloaking spell that even I haven't been able to break through." Magnus emptied his glass in frustration, frowning at the bitter taste. "Father has already placed Edom on high alert. We're preparing for war, Ragnor..." After Magnus said those words, he couldn't help but paused for a moment, as if allowing them to fully sink in. "The first in my lifetime."

If Ragnor didn't before, he was now truly begining to grasp seriousness of the situation. "Is your father really that worried?" He couldn't help but ask, hoping that they were all just overreacting.

"There have false alarms in the past as well as petty conflicts between the princes, which you're well aware of. This time however, Dad's not leaving anything to chance. And honestly with everything that we've gathered thus far, I have to agree with him. I've even secretly placed a protection spell on Alexander last night, as well as strengthen the wards in the Institute. Nothing demonic is getting in that old church without me being alerted."

Ragnor could not help but chuckle, his laugh laced with a sort of nervous distress. "Maybe you should place a tracking device on him and put a camera in his room as well."

"You think I should?" Magnus asked in all seriousness. "Although he does have his parabatai rune, and that thing is it's owning tracking device...not to mention he only ever leaves the Institute in my company." Magnus thought about Ragnor's camera suggestion for moment but then quickly shook his head. "No. He would never agree to it, and he would never forgive me if I went behind his back. He already feels like he's a prisoner. This would just make..."

"For Hell's sake!" Ragnor exclaimed, abruptly cutting Magnus off. "Magnus..." he stressed, quickly trying to reel back in his friend's paranoia. "I was only kidding. I prefer you when you were acting nonchalant," Ragnor joked, placing a calming hand on Magnus' shoulder. "Nothing will happen to your mate. He's safe where he is, protected by his fellow shadowhunters. You're father has things in Edom under control and is duly ready to ward off any attack. Let's just focus and do what we need to do here. Alright? You get ready for your meeting, and I'll go see about a warlock."

After discussing things for a little while longer, Ragnor finally left, leaving Magnus alone with his thoughts. The alpha got busy right away, fearing that he would drive himself crazy if he allowed his mind to wander even for a minute. He was running low on a few important potions, so he headed to his apothecary. There is where he would stay until it was time for his meeting.

Alec, Jace, Izzy, Simon and Clary, all sat together having lunch at their usual table in the cafeteria.

"So where are you guys heading?" Izzy was asking.

After filling their trays and sitting down, Clary had began telling Izzy about her's and Jace's plans to have a night out.

"We haven't really decided yet," said Clary. "Honestly I'm just happy at the mere prospect of being able to do something normal for once. It's been such a long while since we've had a date night."

Izzy nodded in agreement. Alec couldn't help but feel a little bit guilty as he listened to them. While his friends were all busy putting their lives on the line, night after night fighting demons, what was he doing?

"Maybe we should do something as well?" Izzy glanced across the table at Simon. "I need to let loose and set this town on fire," she proclaimed, excitedly.

"I think you meant paint the town red," Simon corrected, quickly pouring water on Izzy's fire. "And for the safety of the city and all of it's dwellers, I think it would be best if you just stayed home."

"Come on baby." Izzy pouted as she reached across the table and took hold of one of Simon's hands. "I'll be on my best behavior. Promise. No craziness. Even you'll have a great time."

Alec couldn't help but cringe at the couple's display, Jace and Clary snickering at them.

"Please..." Izzy begged as Simon looked to the others for help. But they all quickly looked away, as if saying; you're on your own with this one buddy.

Sighing audibly, "Can't we just stay in and play some video ga...?" Simon started to suggest, but had to quickly swallow the rest of his words at Izzy's death stare. If looks could kill... The poor innocent beta would've been dust in the wind.

Izzy stared at her mate for a while longer before she continued. "Anyways..." She settled back down, releasing Simon's hand, much to the embarrassed beta's relief. "Too bad Magnus isn't here, else this would've been the perfect oppertunity for a tripple date." Then, as if she was remembering something, Izzy's gaze focused in on Alec. "Alec," she drawled non too sweetly. "I'm suspecting you. Why didn't you come to training this morning?" She of course did not need Alec to confirm her suspicions. One look at the omega's face and light redness tinting his ears, and she had her answers. Izzy stood up, reached across the table and smacked Alec on his shoulder. "Magnus came by this morning, didn't he? That's why you were couped up in your room all morning."

"Wha...?" Jace and the others all shot him a look of disbelief.

Alec did not correct their assumptions. It was best if they only thought that Magnus came by this morning, and not that the warlock had infact spent the night. Alec was in no mood for a lecture...and from his little sister of all people.

"You know what this means right?" Asked Izzy, obviously planning something. They all looked at her expectantly. "With Magnus being back, we can do the tripple date."

Alec groaned. "Iz, I'm sure Magnus will have a lot of work he needs to catch up on. Plus I'm pretty sure that Jace and Clary were just trying to have a couple's night out before you steam rolled them and invited yourself along."

"Thanks bro," Jace finally spoke up. He had been secretly elbowing Clary this entire time, trying to get her to pull the brakes on Izzy's plans. Unfortunately they all knew how Izzy was whenever she got an idea in her head; the feisty alpha would just keep going, full speed ahead.

Izzy looked over at Clary seeming genuinely surprise. "Is this true? Did I really just..." She gestured between Jace and Clary. "Crash your date?"

Clary smiled awkwardly. "Sort of," she admitted. "But it's ok, I don't mind." She quickly added, much to Jace's annoyance.

"No," said Izzy. "You guys deserve a couple's night out. The last thing I wanna do is intrude. Simon and I will just do our own thing tonight. But..." Izzy emphazed, pointing a finger at Alec. "We're still going on that group date, so you better tell Magnus about it. I've barely spent anytime with that fabulous brother inlaw of mine. Not to mention we still haven't had a chance to properly celebrate you finding your mate yet. With the extra free time, not to mention that magic potion you've been taking, this is the perfect opportunity for all of us to hang out together...outside of the Institute."

"She's right," Jace agreed. "It's about time that Magnus really met the 'gang'. I've barely had a chance to threaten him properly."

The others chuckled, nodding in agreement as they all started chiming in one by one; Clary exaggerating about how Magnus is always whisking Alec away to some faraway unkown destination, and Simon stating how he had a few history questions that he was just dying to ask Magnus.

"You've been selfishly keeping him all to yourself," said Izzy.

Alec simply rolled his eyes at their antics. "Fine, fine," he agreed, sighing in exasperation.

They continued chatting lively as they ate their lunch, discussing where would be a good place to go on their group date, when Alec suddenly remembered something he'd wanted to ask. "By the way..." he interrupted Clary who was telling them about this great new restaurant she'd heard about. "When did Raj return from Rangle island?"

Izzy immediately let out an ugh sound, as if the mere mention of that person's name annoyed her to no end. "The bastard did a very good job pleading his case before the Clave, Izzy explained. "He claimed that he was provoked. And you know how the Clave are. Since each time he acted out of line it was towards a downworlder, they decided to let him off with only a warning strike on his record."

"Oh." Was all Alec could say. He didn't even know why he was surprised. With how the Clave felt about Magnus being his mate, despite currently not being able to do anything about it, they most certainly would not go out of their way to punish a fellow shadowhunter, who's actions they probably agreed with. Even if Raj did insult him as well.

Alec decided to drop the issue. It really wasn't worth bothering about. If that person ever disrespected him or his mate like that ever again, he would just have to deal with the matter personally.

The days continued to pass by quietly and without incident. The trees had finally shed the last of their leaves and the chill of winter had slowly seeped it's way into veins of the city. It was unfortunate that Magnus could not enjoy this kind of respite. Infact, the lack of activity was what was bothering him.

Everything in Edom was calm...for a hell demension anyways, and so far Ragnor had not found out anything substantial. It wasn't until just this morning that he'd called Magnus, informing him that he was finally starting to make some headway.

Through a process of elimination, Ragnor had managed to cross those warlocks who lacked the sort of power needed to cast the kind of cloaking spell that Lilith was using, off his list of suspects. Doing this, he'd managed to narrow the list down to a dangerous few, and had currently placed eyes on all of them.

Of course, the people he had trailing said suspects, were wholly unaware of the deeper reason as to why they'd been hired for such a job in the first place, and only knew that they were to follow their targets and report back him. They were expected to give Ragnor a full account of the suspects daily activities, down to the last minute detail; when they eat, when they sleep, even when they visited the bathroom.

As for Magnus and Alec's relationship, everything was pretty much the same. Other than their new heightened level of intimacy, the only thing different, was that Alec no longer pushed Magnus to open up about certain topics that the warlock was clearly not ready to discuss with him; more specifically, whatever it was that was going on in Edom. The two of them had formed a sort of silent understanding about the situation. If Magnus was ok with talking about it, then he would, if not, then Alec would not pursue the issue. And although Alec felt like Magnus was keeping something important from him, he was nevertheless determined to be patient and understanding with his mate. He knew that Magnus would talk to him about whatever it was that was going on whenever he was ready.

Another thing that hadn't changed, was Magnus' daily visit to the Institute. Infact, that was exactly where the warlock was currently headed. A little over a week ago Alec had informed him that his sister had been pestering him about setting up a group date with him. That fiesty little sister of his mate had even accosted him about said group date when she'd felt that Alec hadn't carried her message convincingly enough.

Magnus stepped out of a portal in front the Institute.

Despite his relationship with Alec, he still wasn't able to simply walk in, and so he was escorted by one of the guards to wait in the entrance hall. Of course he could always simply portal in if he wanted to, however, considering that this was a formal visit and he didn't want to give away his little secret, he thought it better not to do so. And so, Magnus pulled out his cellphone and called Alec to inform him that he was waiting for him.

Alec was already ready, and had been waiting in his room. Once he received Magnus' call, he texted the others to let them know that he was ready as he went to meet Magnus.

Like always, Magnus' heart quickened at the sight of his gorgeous mate.

"Hey," Alec greeted, Magnus meeting him half way.

"Hey to you too," Magnus returned, giving Alec a chaste kiss on his lips before he pulled him into his embrace, not minding one bit the two guards scorn filled gaze. If anything, he relished it. "I missed you," he whispered as he pulled back to take in Alec's appearance.

Alec looked dapper in a pair of black slim fitted jeans tucked into black high top military style boots, a dark gray sweater, and a black mid thigh length overcoat. A thick black scarf finished off the look. Magnus was salivating. However, the fashion crazed part of his brain just couldn't help but think about how much hotter Alec would look with just a bit of color. He was going to get more color into Alec's closet, no matter how painful it was going be.

Alec smiled at Magnus' words. "I missed you too," he confessed as he took in Magnus' appearance as well.

The warlock wore a combination of earth tones. Greens, browns and burgandies were very fashionably layered on top of each other. A dark olive waist coat sat beautifully atop his wine colored button down shirt and maroon colored pants. An overly embelished dark brown suade jacket along with a scarf and other accessories, finished off the look.

Magnus brought a hand up, combing his fingers through Alec's hair as he tried taming the beautifully wild locks. "Why didn't you use the hair gel I got for you?" He asked, trying to get a particularly stubborn lock of hair to keep out of Alec's eyes.

"I forgot I had it," Alec shrugged. To be completely honest, he really wasn't a hair gel kind of person. He always either ended up putting too much, which just looked messy, or he put too little, which didn't really have the desired effect. The only reason why he'd ever even bothered with such things in the past were to indulge his sister, and now, his mate.

"Let me summon it for you," Magnus suggested. He was about to snap his fingers when Alec quickly grabbed his hand.

"That's not necessary. Let's just let it be for tonight."

Magnus gave him a look that said he wanted to argue, but just then, they heard the others coming.

Izzy was looking beyond gorgeous in a classic little black dress. The sexy number was cut high above her knees with a few peekaboo lace covered cut outs at the sides as well as the neck and chest area. She paired it with a pair of black ankle boots and a long black, belted ankle length coat. A few accessories finished off her look. Clary was similarly dressed, though a bit more conservative in her own choice of little black dress. Simon and Jace were also donning the black on black look as well, with Jace's stand out piece being his black leather jacket, and Simon's being the silly video game design he had on his sweater.

"Magnus," Izzy greeted, leaning in to exchange one of those silly little double cheek kisses that didn't actually touch one's cheeks. As she pulled back, Clary awkwardly followed suit.

Simon, for some reason attempted a bro hug, whilst Jace, simply jutted his chin in acknowledgment, his gaze fierce as it met Magnus'.

Magnus couldn't help but snicker on the inside. He'd long since gotten used to Jace's constant overprotective 'big-little' brother roleplay and didn't let it bother him. He was confident that as it was with Izzy in the beginning, it was only a matter of time before Jace came around and accepted him fully as well, dropping his silly little act.

With all of the pleasantries out of the way, jackets buttoned and scarfs tied, the group made their way outside. Alec drunk the potion that Magnus had created for him to block his scent and Izzy brought up a map on her phone with the address of the restaurant. After deciding on a safe location within walking distance of the restaurant, Magnus quickly created a portal. Clary and Jace stepped through first, followed by Simon and Izzy, then, with their hands entwined, Magnus and Alec stepped through.

The restaurant wasn't anything overly fancy, but it had just the right atmosphere to accommodate family style dinning and energetic conversations.

Izzy had been the one responsible for planning tonight's get together, so she'd made sure to call ahead and reserve a nice table for them. Upon entering the restaurant, after checking over their booking, the receptionist called one of the waiters to take their coats and show them to their table.

The waiter led the group all the way to the far right corner of the huge dining hall. There the tables were sectioned off from each other by beautifully designed wood work, giving the illusion of privacy. The tables in this section of the restaurant were also a lot larger, and could probably accommodate up to eight person each.

Being the gentleman that he was, Magnus pulled out Alec's chair for him, helping his mate get comfortable before taking his own seat beside him.

Clary and Izzy were about to pull out their own chairs, but upon seeing this display, the two immediately paused their actions and looked at each other, before looking expectantly at their mates.

Both Simon and Jace awkwardly cleared their throats.

"What?" Jace shrugged, looking at Clary defensively. "I was going to do it for you, but you didn't even give me the chance."

Clary simply rolled her eyes and sat down once Jace pulled out her chair for her. Izzy thumped Simon, who blushed lightly in embarrassment, on his shoulder as he pulled out her chair for her as well.

Magnus couldn't help but chuckle at the the two. Both Jace and Simon looked at him in annoyance. It was obvious what they were thinking; this warlock had better not spend the night trying to upstage us and make us look bad in front of our mates.

As if I had to try to upstage anyone, Magnus thought, or ever stop spoiling my mate.

Once everyone one was settled, the menus were looked over, and their orders were taken.

"So Magnus, I think we've all been dying to know..." It was Simon who started. The beta was almost giddy with excitment. "Who are some of the famous people you've dated throughout history?"

Alec almost choked on his drink and one could see Magnus visible tense. Jace fought back his laughter, while Clary elbowed him, warning him to behave himself.

"Um Simon..." Izzy started, trying to save her socially awkward mate from further putting his foot in his mouth, when Magnus promptly cut her off.

"It's alright, Isabelle," Magnus assured. "I'm not at all embarrassed."

The truth was that he'd already had this very conversation with Alec. Once when they were busy fooling around, the question of Magnus' first time had somehow come up. Needless to say that Alec had become a bit upset when he remembered that he wasn't going to be his mate's first as well, which was completely understandable. But, after they'd talked about it, with Alec lambasting himself the entire time for even getting upset in the first place...taking their unique circumstance into consideration, Alec realized that their was really nothing for him to be upset about. Other than the fact that there was nothing that he could do about it, at the end of the day Magnus was his, and he was Magnus'. They were each other's present and future, and whatever happened in the past, belonged to the past. Yes, he would always feel some amount of jealousy, but that too was only natural. When you loved someone, it was only natural to feel jealousy towards them. No one wanted to picture their mate with another person.

All that being said however, just because Alec had gotten over it, it didn't mean that it was something that they wanted to talk about, least of all in front of their friends. So...Magnus lied.

"Honestly," the warlock continued nonchalantly. "I don't really remember."

Simon looked at him confused. "How can you not remember the people you've been with?"

"Because," said Magnus. "Anyone I've been with before Alexander is simply not worth remembering." Magnus then looked over at Alec as he continued, their gazes locked with each other's. "As far as I am concerned, my life didn't begin until I met Alexander. Therefore, whatever happen before then, doesn't matter."

Alec's face was crimson from embrassment, but also from something else. He couldn't help but wish that he and Magnus were alone. The two of them held each other's love filled gazes for what felt like a really long time before the sound of awing pulled them back into the moment.

Izzy and Clary awed, looking at Magnus and Alec as if they were the world's cutest puppies.

"You guys are so cute together," said Izzy. She then turned her gaze on Simon, complaining, "Why can't you say things like that to me, huh?"

Simon was flabbergasted. "What are you talking about? I say them all the time. You're the one who always get's annoyed and say that I'm being too mushy."

Izzy scoffed. "Well I don't remember any of that," she quickly defended.

The rest of the table couldn't help but snicker at the two as they continued to go back and forth. But that was Simon and Izzy; they were so in love that they had to fight about it.

Over all they were having a wonderful time. Alec's friends really got to see him with his mate, they really got to see just how suited they were for each other, how much in love they were, even if the two had not yet declared their feelings to each other. They got to see Magnus as not just a downworlder or the prince of Edom, but simply as a person, as their brother and friend's mate, further quelshing any lingering doubts any of them might have had. They were fianlly able to welcome him into the family once and for all.

As for Alec and Magnus, Alec got to hang out with his friends again like old times, and despite not realizing just how worried he was about Magnus not fitting in, he could now happily lay those worries to rest. Magnus was simply just happy anytime he was with his mate, and seeing Alec joking around with his friends, and having those friends accept him, was the cherry on top of a very delicious cake.

Half way through their meal, it was Jace who first clinked his glass, calling everyone to attention. "I would like to make a toast," said the alpha. "To Alec, my parabatai and brother, for finding his one true mate. And to Magnus, for being the luckiest bastard alive." Everyone laughed as they raised their glasses as well. "You better treat my brother right," Jace continued, his gaze locked with Magnus'. "Because, he deserves the best." At those words, he looked at Alec, conveying with his eyes just how happy he was for him. Turning his gaze back to Magnus,"Or we'll kill you," he threatened.

The table was a roar with laughter and toast after toast. Alec smiled so much, that his jaw hurt.

His little band of misfits were welcoming Magnus into the family.

It was about two hours later when the group left the restaurant.

"So there's this great club..." Izzy started, causing Alec to groan. "Come on Alec, this will be fun. The celebration isn't over yet. I promise you'll like it," she assured.

Alec highly doubted that. Although he'd never actually been clubbing before, he's also never wanted to.

Magnus couldn't help but chuckle at his mate's expression of dread. He wasn't sure if Alec's dislike of crowds was as a result of him being couped up in that old church, or if he just generally didn't like crowds. "It could be fun," Magnus encouraged him. With the current situation, he didn't feel wholly comfortable bringing Alec to such a place, for the obvious safety reasons, however with the others there as well, if anything were to happen, he was confident that they would be able to protect Alec.

"Don't worry big brother, I booked us a spot in the VIP section, so we'll have a bit of privacy." Izzy pouted, while batting her unnaturally long eye lashes at him.

"Fine," Alec agreed, rolling his eyes at her dramatics. As if he was going to say no. Clubbing may not appeal to him, but having fun with his mate and friends definitely did.

The club was only a few blocks from the restaurant, so they decided to walk, enjoying the night air.

"Are you guys ready to party?" Izzy screemed as they arrived at the club's entrance. They avoided the long line that stretched the entire block, and walked right up to the door. Izzy took out what looked like tickets from her purse and showed them to one of the bouncers, an obvious werewolf, who immeadiately showed them in.

The music was loud, but thankfully not so loud that one could not hear themself speak, and colorful lights danced across the room to beat of the music, raining down on the sea of moving bodies on the dance floor. Apart of Alec honestly wanted to just turn right back around and leave, but the other part of him was already getting hypnotized by the freeing atmosphere and the catchy music.

The bouncer led them through a narrow passageway and up a metal staircase. There, they stood on a large balcony that circled half of the room and overlooked the dance floor and bar below. Each section was roped off by thick red ropes and decorated with a large black circular leather couches with a glass table in the middle. Once the bouncer showed them to their section, he headed back down to the front door.

Right away a very scantily clad waitress came over and took their orders. Of course Alec wasn't much of a drinker, but he wasn't going to let that stop him, not tonight. The omega tried a variety of different drinks, from shots, to a few colorful, fruity concoctions that Magnus seemed to like.

"This place is great, right guys?" Asked Izzy. When everyone nodded in approval, she cheered happily. "Well then let's party!"

They chatted and made fun of each other all night, drinking drink after drink. And after Alec felt like he'd had enough liquid courage flowing through his system, he pulled his mate off the couch, and along with the others, headed to the dance floor.

Alec wasn't a very good dancer, but with the alcohol in system burning away his inhibitions, he couldn't remember to care. He moved like no one was watching, exuding confidence and sex appeal.

Magnus bit his bottom lip hard, trying to stiffle the fire that was threatening to set his whole body ablaze, as he watched his mate. "You're so damn sexy right now," he whispered in Alec's ear as the omega moved in closer, wrapping his arms around his neck and the two of them began moving against each other.

"Hmm, so are you," Alec whispered back, his hot breath fanning Magnus' face.

Honestly, Magnus had long stopped paying attention to the beat of the music, and who could blame him with how alluring and sensual his mate was looking. So, although the song's beat was up tempo, the two of them were dancing as if it were a slow song. Jace and Clary, as well as Izzy and Simon, were not too far away from them, but neither of them seemed to remember where they were as everyone and everything around them seemed to disappear. All that was left was the two of them and that beautiful love song that only they could hear.

And in that moment when their eyes met, reflecting each other's love filled gaze, Magnus had no choice but to lean in and kiss his mate.

Needless to say that the others were a bit shocked as they watched the two devouring each other in the middle a crowded dance floor.

Izzy wanted to take a picture so that she could tease her brother later on, but luckily Jace was there to stop her and protect his parabatai's pride that would no doubt be hurt when he woke up in the morning.

Alec didn't know how they'd managed to pry themselves away from each other, but they'd somehow got back to their seat. They had a few more drinks, and played a few cringy drinking games .

It was all kind of a blurr after that.

Meanwhile in a familiar abandoned subway tunnel, the man with the stance of a soldier was once again meeting someone.

"My master has asked me to give this to you," said a male voice cloaked in a dark silhouette as he handed the 'soldier' a strange looking vial containing a purplish liquid.

"Is this it?" The 'soldier' asked.

"Yes." The other man replied. "You know what to do."

"Good," said the 'soldier' as he hugged the vial in his hand. This is what he'd been waiting for. Now with everything in place, he could finally make his move. "We're going in tonight," he stated eagerly, not wanting to wait even another minute.

"Then, we shall await your arrival."

The 'soldier' did not reply, instead a most sinister smile curved slowly at the corners of his lips, pearly white teeth shining in the darkness. His dark eyes stared down at the vial clenched tightly in his hand for a few beats before finally he turned away and seemingly blended in with the surroundings, disappearing into the night.

Magnus stepped out of the portal with the others on his heels and a slightly drunk Alec snuggled up at his side.

"Come on baby, let's get you to bed," he whispered as he hugged Alec's waist tightly, pulling the shadowhunter in even more against him.

With his head resting on Magnus' shoulder, Alec buried his face in curvature of the warlock's neck, mumbling something incoherently as they made their way into the Institute.

"What was that, love?" Asked Magnus, but Alec just mumbled again.

"Do you need me to...?" Jace gestured to Alec, offering Magnus his help.

"I've got it," said Magnus.

"Alright."

The group, all of them looking a bit worse for wears, got on the elevator. Once they got off on the correct floor, they all said their goodnights, and headed to their rooms.

Magnus entered Alec's room, closing the door behind him. He gently placed Alec on the bed, and began slowly helping him settle in. He snapped his fingers, removing Alec of his clothes, and into his pajamas before tucking him in.

Satisfied that Alec was comfortable, Magnus then leaned over, and placed a kiss on Alec's forehead. As he was about to move away, he heard Alec whisper...

"Are you staying tonight?" Alec asked, having sobered up a bit.

"I'm sorry I can't tonight," said Magnus as he sat down on the edge of the bed and began gently combing his fingers through Alec's hair.

"Why?" Alec groaned, reaching his arms up to pull Magnus down on top of him.

Magnus chuckled as he snuggled Alec, burying his face in the omega's neck. "I still have a few things to attend to tonight I'm afraid," he said, his reply coming out muffled.

"But it's late. It's already after midnight." Alec noted.

"I know," Magnus agreed. "But it's the best time for summoning demons," he chuckled.

Maybe it was the alcohol in his system and the fact that he tired, but Alec didn't bothering asking Magnus why needed to summon demons.

"I promise I'll be here first thing in the morning," said Magnus. "We can have breakfast together. No wait," he corrected. "On second thought, you know what, let's make it lunch. That way you can sleep in. I'll leave some medicine that you can take for your hangover when you wake up, alright."

"Ok," Alec muttered hugging Magnus even more tightly as he started falling asleep.

Magnus waited for a while until he was sure that Alec was deep in sleep, then, he slowly pulled Alec's arms from around his neck, releasing himself from the omega's death grip.

With that, the warlock leaned over and kissed Alec good night. He was about to get up off the bed when he heard Alec whisper something. Leaning back down, Magnus listened closely.

"You...Magnus...I love you. Magnus...you..."

Alec was clearly dreaming, and despite the words being but a whisper, barely audible, Magnus was very sure of what he'd just heard. The warlock did not move for a very long time. He simply sat there watching Alec mumble in his sleep as tears slowly began trailing down his cheeks.

Alec loved him.

Yes, Alec was his mate so of course he knew that Alec loved him in some way. But thinking that you know something and actually knowing it for certain, hearing it with your own ears, are two completely different things.

Magnus was overwhelmed with emotions. He no longer wanted to leave...the world be damned. If not that this was something that would affect Alec as well, he would've immediately crawled into the bed beside his mate. He would've held his Alexander all night, whispering how much he loved and cherished him until the moon went to sleep, and the sun was once again high in the sky.

It was at least another half hour before Magnus was finally able to drag himself away.

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