Distractions - Chapter 46: Chapter 46

They all watched as two people that each of them loved dearly were pulled backwards into Valentine's portal. They were helpless, unable to do anything without endangering Jace and Everest even more, and that hurt all of them, no matter what their relationship to the two was.
Clary shoved the Book of the White into Simon's arms as she rushed towards the Portal that had taken her siblings from her. As she ran, Valentine tugged at Everest and Jace's arms harder, causing them to fall through the Portal with him. The last she saw of them, the last any of them saw of the two, was Jace's regret-filled gaze and the tears rolling down Everest's face as she mouthed words none could make out.
"Jace! Everest!" the redhead cried as the swirling pink mass grew smaller and fainter by the second.
Alec rushed after the girl, grabbing her and stopping her from going through the Portal after the two. As much as he disliked Clary at times, he wasn't going to let her go rushing off through unknown Portals and potentially getting herself stuck in limbo. He didn't dislike her that much, and besides, he'd never hear the end of it from anyone if he let her get stuck in limbo.
"What are you doing?" Clary demanded, ripping herself from his grip.
"Saving your life," he snapped. "If you enter a Portal not knowing where you're going, you'll be stuck in limbo forever."
They all watched, helplessly, as the Portal disappeared, Jace and Everest along with it. Clary's breath came in shuddering gasps as she collapsed into Alec's arms. Hot tears rolled down her face as she clutched him, desperate for any kind of support. His arms circled her shoulders as he pursed his lips and looked up towards the chandelier in an attempt not to let his own tears fall.
Once he was sure he would not start crying, Alec looked at the other three in the room. Simon looked lost, as if he didn't know what to feel. Alec couldn't bring himself to hate the newly-turned vampire just then. He, like the rest of them, had just lost Everest and Jace, and even if he didn't know Jace very well—or like him very much for that matter—he had still lost his sister figure. Izzy was clenching her fists and glaring at where the Portal had been. He knew his sister well enough to know that once they returned to the Institute, he should expect broken furniture to be outside her room at some point. His gaze turned to his boyfriend's, and his heart seemed as if it were trying to knot itself up as he met Magnus's broken gaze. Alec didn't even try to give the warlock a smile. It'd be more of a grimace and he knew that. He just looked at Magnus as he comforted Clary as best he could, and he prayed to the Angel that they'd all be okay. He wasn't so sure they would be, but it never hurt to hope.
They had just lost two very important members of their mismatched family, siblings to some, girlfriend to two, and whatever Jace was to Simon. They had just lost Jace and Everest, they had disappeared through a Portal with Valentine and now they were gone. He wasn't sure when he'd see them again, when any of them would see them again, but they would see them again. They had to. Their group wasn't complete without the two, and Alec didn't want to think of what life would be like if Jace and Everest never came home.
...
Alec and Magnus stood in a hallway just off the Ops Center. Alec leaned against the wall, his hands behind his back, as Magnus stood against the other wall. Both were trying their best to stay calm and collected after their girlfriend had been taken.
"I know you don't want to hear it, so I'll just say it once," Magnus began in a soft tone. "Whatever I felt for Camille, it's ancient history. Almost literally."
Alec's fingers pressed against the wall in a sharp motion born of agitation, a motion unnoticeable to anyone except him. "Yeah, but what she said about you being immortal, she's right. You watch the people you care about age and die."
"Alexander...I may be the High Warlock of Brooklyn, but even I can't see the future."
The hallway was silent as Alec and Magnus simply watched each other. The silence was broken by heavy footsteps approaching.
"They're ready," Luke announced. "They moved her to the Ops Center."
"Good. We need the space. Jocelyn's spell is very powerful."
Magnus followed Luke back to the Ops Center, but Alec stayed there for a moment longer to collect himself. He couldn't break down, not yet. He had to be strong for Izzy and Magnus, hell, he had to be strong for Clary. He needed to be strong, he couldn't let them down—he wouldn't. After a moment Alec stood up straight and followed after Luke and Magnus. It was time to wake up Jocelyn Fairchild and get some answers.
"Do you really think this is going to work?" Clary asked softly, handing Magnus the Book of the White.
Magnus had  an expression that was an odd mix of hope, hesitance, and uncertainty. "Let us hope."
The warlock snapped his fingers, causing a blue hue to slowly begin to overpower the green cocoon-like magic that surrounded the woman. "Jocelyn!" Magnus began to chant in a language Alec only vaguely recognized as Chthonian.
At last the green disappeared and just before Jocelyn fell, Luke rushed forward to catch her. "I got you," he reassured the dazed woman.
"Luke," Jocelyn breathed out. She wrapped her arms around the man tightly and it was quiet as the two reunited.
As Luke set Jocelyn down, she caught sight of her daughter and didn't hesitate to pull her into a tight hug.
"Mom. Mom!" Clary's voice broke as she buried her face in her mother's hair the same way she had when she was younger. "I've missed you so much."
"I'm so sorry I didn't tell you about your past."
Clary shook her head as tears filled her eyes. "No, not now. I have had enough for one day. We can talk about all that later. Right now, I just...I just really need my mom."
Jocelyn smoothed down her eldest daughter's hair as Clary sobbed into her arms. However, as she held Clary, her eyes darted around trying to find her youngest child. But Everest was nowhere in sight.
Where's Everest? she mouthed to Luke. The man shook his head, looking away. But she still saw the pained expression on his face, still saw the way Magnus and the two others in the room, who could only logically be Maryse's children, looked for someone who wasn't there. She saw these things and she wondered what had happened while she was asleep.
...
Alec was a few steps behind Izzy, Magnus, and Lydia as they approached a table. He had managed to get his emotions in check before he left the hallway to wake up Jocelyn, but he could still hear the thoughts of frustration and anger bubbling behind the mental shield he had put up, he could still see Everest and Jace being taken every time he delved into the thoughts in his head. But he made sure to keep a mostly neutral mask up, if only for his sister's sake. She didn't need to see him panicking, not now.
"Any word from the Clave yet?" his sister asked in front of him.
"Not yet and we've been trying for the past four hours. Something's up." He didn't need to see Lydia's frown to know it was there. It was obvious in her voice that she wasn't pleased with the Clave.
"Hmm, the Clave being unhelpful? Who's shocked? Show of hands?" Magnus commented sarcastically, mocking the faith the blonde woman had in authority that had never wavered—until now it seemed. Alec's faint amusement was shadowed by the worry that was all-consuming.
"I'm worried," he said simply. He joined the other three around a table. "I can't sense Jace through our Parabatai bond."
"And we have no way to know if Everest is okay either since she doesn't have a Parabatai," Lydia frowned.
Izzy's frown deepened and she pulled her left hand to her chest and began to spin a silver ring around her finger. He had never seen that ring before, but it looked like one that Everest wore. Alec's eyes narrowed at the jewelry and he made a mental note to ask Izzy about it later.
"We'll find them, Alexander," Magnus told him, attempting to be reassuring but his voice was tense, giving away just how stressed he was.
"When we arrested Hodge, he said Valentine was on a ship. They must still be over water."
Lydia's lips pursed at Izzy's words. "Pull up the waterways around New York."
As Izzy pulled up the waterways, Magnus stepped back to try and track Jace and Everest using a shirt from Jace's room and a ring from Everest's.
"The ship couldn't have gone too far," Izzy commented, almost absentmindedly.
Alec turned to Magnus. "Anything?"
"Sorry."
"There's gotta be something!"
"I don't see him, or Everest," Magnus said, a little tenser than before.
"Alright, listen up!" He turned to face the Shadowhunters milling around the Institute. "I want twenty-four seven monitoring on the Hudson and East Rivers. If you see anything unusual, you come to me first!"
"I've got this Alec," Lydia interjected.
"Then why haven't you found Jace and Everest yet?" he snapped.
Her steely eyes hardened. "Don't forget who you're talking to. I'm still the head of this Institute."
His heart beat rapidly and the annoyance he had felt in the hours since Jace and Everest had disappeared was bubbling to the surface of his mind, tainting the words he spat. "And my brother is still missing! My girlfriend is still missing!"
Surprise flashed across Lydia's face when Alec said 'girlfriend,' but he couldn't bring himself to care that he had announced that he was dating Everest and Magnus. If they didn't like it then they could shut up and turn around.
"Why don't you just take a break?" Izzy suggested as she approached him. Her voice was soft, but he knew his sister and he knew that she would not hesitate to make her words sharper if she felt she needed to.
"Not now, Izzy."
"Isabelle's right, and it's not a request. You're dismissed," Lydia said, face and voice blank once more as she regained control of the mask that many Shadowhunters were taught to have from a young age.
Trigger Warning! Anger, fighting, and negative feelings of self!
"Fine," he spat.
Alec whirled on his heel and stalked away. Someone grabbed his arm and he was spun back around. He tore his arm from the grip, eyes landing on Magnus's worried and slightly hesitant features.
"Hey..." the man said softly.
"Everybody just back off!" Alec snapped, forcefully dropping his hands to his sides. His jaw was clenched tight enough to potentially crack his teeth and his hands were in fists as he walked away, only catching a glimpse of Magnus's hurt expression as he left.
His steps were loud and echoed angrily around him as he stalked through the Institute. By the time he reached his destination, his anger and frustration had dissipated slightly, but only enough for him to not lash out so violently at others and for him to not slam the door behind him as he walked onto the roof. He leaned against the railings, watching the bright lights of the city.
A few minutes passed before the relative peace of the roof was disturbed by the door opening and closing. He looked back briefly, seeing Magnus step towards him hesitantly. Alec hated that Magnus was hesitant to approach him, that he was hesitant to be near him. He hated that so much and it took everything in him not to let the hesitation that Magnus showed get to him. He didn't want to lash out, not again and certainly not at Magnus.
"I'm sorry for how I reacted before. It's not personal," he said.
"I get it. I'm a lot to get used to." No, that wasn't what Alec meant. He was just frustrated with losing Jace and Everest and took it out on Magnus, Izzy, and Lydia. It wasn't that Magnus was a lot to get used to; it wasn't. "I know what you're going through, Alexander."
"No, I...I don't think you do." Alec turned to face Magnus, who had moved to stand beside him at the railing. "Jace is a part of me. Through a rune, we are both physically and emotionally connected. If he dies, a part of me dies too. And I know he's out there. And he's in trouble and there's not a damn thing I can do about it," Alec ranted. "And Everest is who knows where. She's not my Parabatai, she doesn't have one. There's no way for us to know if she's alive or okay or anything about how or where she is."
He went to walk away, he didn't want to lash out or say something he'd regret, but Magnus's words stopped him.
"Tell me what I can do."
Alec thought for a moment, going over the different ways to track and find Jace, and hopefully Everest too, before deciding on the most doable one. "Help me track Jace. I want to use our rune. I just need your magic for the pain."
Magnus's face twisted into an expression of what Alec was pretty sure was a mix of regret and pain. "I can't help you with this," he said after letting out a harsh sigh.
"Why not?"
"The last time you used a rune to track Jace, it almost killed you!" Magnus exclaimed. His right hand flicked to the side, as if motioning 'death.'
"Why can't you just do this one thing? After everything I've done for you!"
Once again, Alec walked away angrily. This time he couldn't stop his emotions from forcing their way to the surface as he found an abandoned training room on the top level. He attacked the punching bag vigorously, letting all of his anger and frustration pour off of him. Once he stopped his attack, the punching bag slowed to a stop and he could feel the sticky feeling of building sweat on his forehead. Alec walked backwards until his back hit the wall and then he slid to the ground, hands threaded through his hair as he tugged at it.
Why had he said those things? Why had he said them so harshly? Magnus didn't deserve those words, he didn't deserve to be yelled at. Why had he yelled at him? Izzy didn't deserve to be snapped at either, she was just trying to look out for him. Why did he snap at her? Lydia didn't deserve for him to talk back to her either. She was just doing her job, just doing what she was supposed to. He would have done the same thing if he were head of the Institute and someone was doing what he had done. Why had he been so rude to her? She had done so much for him, as had Izzy and Magnus. Why had he been so selfish and harsh?
Alec's already harsh breathing slowed, but still stayed just as harsh. His fingers unthreaded and rethreaded themselves through his hair as he tried to calm himself. Was this what Everest felt like when she had a panic attack or got overwhelmed? If this wasn't what it felt like, then Alec wasn't sure if he wanted to know what it did feel like. This, whatever this was, hurt so much. If what Everest went through when she had a panic attack or got overwhelmed felt worse than this, Alec was terrified to know what that felt like for her.
Everest. As Alec tried to calm down, his thoughts turned further towards Everest. Was she okay? Was she with Jace? Where was she? He wanted to have the answers to those questions and more, he wanted to have her home and with him and Magnus, but he couldn't. Everest was Angel knows where, stuck with Valentine, and he had no way of knowing if she was alright or not.
Alec sighed in frustration. Those thoughts would get him nowhere in getting Everest and Jace back, or in making things right with Magnus and Izzy and apologizing to Lydia for being an asshole. He sighed again as he stood up. He ran his fingers through his hair in an attempt to make it more orderly, wiped at the now mostly dry sweat on his forehead, fixed his clothes, and rolled his shoulders before making his way to the door.
Trigger warning over!!
He had a Parabatai and a girlfriend to find.
Alec didn't even make it past his room before his phone went off.
Urgent. Get to the Ops Center now, it read.
He swore under his breath as he picked up his pace. He slipped into the large room just as his mother started to speak.
"We are at war," she began as he stood behind Izzy. "Valentine now has the Mortal Cup, with which he is no doubt, raising a new army, and two of our own have joined him."
Alec clenched his fists at the idea that Jace and Everest had joined Valentine, much less willingly.
"Looks like the queen's taking back her kingdom," Izzy mused. Alec smirked slightly, despite the situation.
"As a result, the Clave has declared a state of emergency at the Institute. Their first priority is to replace the current leadership, who they have deemed wholly ineffectual. It is an honor to introduce the newly appointed head of the New York Institute, Clave representative, Victor Aldertree."
His mother walked down the stairs as a Black man in a grey suit stepped forward.
"Did you know about this?" Alec hissed to his sister.
"No. But maybe this is why Dad went back to Idris."
"Maryse went behind my back," Lydia scoffed. Alec didn't blame her for being upset. He'd be upset too. Angel, he wasn't pleased with the new development anyways, and he wasn't the one who was being replaced.
"My fellow Shadowhunters—" Aldertree began with a small, polite smile. "—it's an honor to be with you all." His smile dropped. "We have to find Jace Wayland and Everest Morgenstern. They're Shadowhunters and we don't leave our people behind. The answer to their location may very well lie in this room. So, I want to speak with everyone who went on a mission where Jace and Everest disappeared."
The crowd shifted and whispered amongst itself, but silenced when Aldertree started to speak again.
"One last thing. Effective immediately, the Institute is on lockdown. But it's only temporary. Let's turn this Institute around."
Aldertree walked away and the crowd dissolved, Shadowhunters speaking in hushed tones about the newcomer and what he had just said. Alec walked away before he could get dragged into a conversation with Clary, who had started to say something. He didn't have the patience to talk to her, not then. He had enough to deal with already with Jace and Everest being gone, him being an asshole to Magnus, Izzy, and Lydia, Aldertree arriving, and, as he discovered on his way to the Ops Center, a pile of broken furniture to get rid of.
He sighed as he saw how large the pile of broken furniture really was. Izzy needed a better way to cope with her anger, preferably one that didn't result in him having to do a workout just to clean up after she freaked out.
...
It couldn't have been more than twenty minutes before Alec stood in the Ops Center, speaking with two Shadowhunters about weapon-cleaning duty. The younger of the two he was speaking with was saying something Alec didn't truly hear when he caught sight of Magnus walking towards the front entrance. He excused himself before following his boyfriend.
"Hey. Hey!"
Magnus kept walking for a few more moments until they reached a hallway. He turned around with his lips pursed and eyes guarded.
"Are you going home?" Alec asked. His tone was much gentler than what it had been before, and he was glad. At least now he wasn't snapping or yelling at anyone, at least he wasn't being mean and ungrateful towards Magnus anymore.
"Where else would I be going? My interview is over and I'm exhausted. Besides, at my house, there's steak and vodka. I'd rather be there." Magnus gave him a tense, borderline mocking smile before spinning on his heel.
"Wait, you're just...you're not gonna help?"
Trigger Warning! Fighting and Anger!
Magnus turned back to him slowly and when Alec could see his face again, he almost flinched at how Magnus's incredulous expression managed to make him feel like an idiot. When he spoke, his voice was thick and wavered slightly. "You really don't get it, do you? You didn't risk anything for me, you did it for you."
This time, Alec did flinch at the way his words from earlier were thrown back at his face. He supposed he deserved it, what with being an inconsiderate asshole earlier. "What? Are you seriously doing this right now? Right now?"
Magnus's expression clouded with a fury he had never seen on the other man's face. "You know damn well I wanna find Everest and Jace just as much as you do, but that's no excuse to treat me like—"
Alec cut him off, his voice rising as he did so. "Well then what do you want from me?"
"At the moment, nothing."
Alec opened and closed his mouth several times as he tried to say something, anything, but he didn't get a chance to. The Institute alarms began to blare, angry beeping and harsh flashing red lights filling the tense air around him and Magnus. Before he could try even one more time to say something, Magnus walked away without looking back. And that hurt more than Alec could put into words.
Trigger Warning over!
"Who sounded the alarm?" he demanded, joining Izzy and Clary in the rush to the Ops Center.
"What's going on?" Izzy asked. No one had any answers for her just then. And then they did.
"Oh no."
In front of them was a hologram with both Everest and Jace's pictures displayed. Under Everest's it said 'Wanted: Alive,' but under Jace's it said 'Wanted: Alive or Dead.' Those words froze Alec in place, unable to move or say anything or even think properly. All he knew at that moment was that two very people who were important to him were wanted, one of them alive or dead. He couldn't let them capture either of them, much less capture Jace dead.
"Aldertree said he wanted to rescue Jace and Everest," Clary said, sounding as alarmed as Alec felt.
"Actually, Clary, I said I wanted to find them. And you gave me the clue I needed to do that," Aldertree said in his annoyingly smug voice.
Those words snapped Alec out of his numb state. "What did you tell him?" he bit out.
"Alec, I—"
"Is this everyone? Fantastic. First up, all Downworlders are forbidden from entering the Institute without my prior approval. For those still present, good day." As Aldertree turned to Luke with a gleam in his eyes that Alec truly hoped he was imagining, he had a feeling that it was a good thing that Magnus had already left. He wasn't sure he wanted to know if Aldertree tried to force Magnus to leave (even if he already wanted to leave because of Alec) when the warlock was pissed as hell. "Mr. Graymark..."
"I'm not leaving Jocelyn," the man said firmly. "Besides, my badge gives access to resources you don't have. I can help you find Jace and Everest."
"That's generous of you, but I'm going to have to insist."
Aldertree gave Luke an infuriatingly neutral smile as the two men locked eyes. Finally Luke nodded and turned to Jocelyn.
"Call me when you can." The red haired woman nodded solemnly and watched as the man left.
"You too...Simon. Simon, right?" Alec hated that he had grown even the slightest bit attached to the vampire who annoyed him to no end. He hated that he felt the need to tell off Aldertree and his audacity to pretend he didn't know Simon's name on behalf of the vampire. He blamed Clary's need to have him around.
Of course, the boy protested. "It's almost dawn. I don't have anywhere to go."
"Hey, you're a smart guy. I'm sure you'll figure something out."
"Simon, come on," Luke called from the hallway.
"I'll be okay," Simon assured Clary before following after the werewolf.
"Now, let's get to it." Aldertree clapped to get everyone's attention again. "I've reviewed your statements, along with the reports of your unsanctioned missions. And I can come to no other conclusion that Jace Wayland is a traitor to the Clave."
"Jace is not a traitor," Alec snapped.
"What about Everest? Izzy demanded. "She's missing too."
"And yet, you all seem to be even more convinced of her innocence than you are of Jace's." The man looked faintly amused. "Point of fact. Clary said Jace called to warn you about Valentine's trap, which got me thinking...Jace had multiple chances to kill Valentine, but he let him leave. Now Valentine, Jace, Everest, and the Cup are missing. You do the math."
"Where does Everest play into this? Why do you think Jace is a traitor but not her?" Clary demanded. Alec had a feeling that the girl would have to be held back from punching Aldertree soon.
"You said that Everest was looking for Jace when he called you to warn you about Valentine, as well as that she has taken every chance she's gotten to attack and try to stop Valentine. Clary also told me about how she was forcibly taken through the Portal with Valentine while Jace willingly left with him."
Alec hated that what Aldertree said made sense. He hated that if he was in his position, and the only things he knew about Jace and Everest were from reports and things said out of context, he would have drawn the same conclusion. He hated it with every fiber of his being.
"There's no way we'd help you hunt Jace and Everest," Clary spat.
Alec didn't like the look in that man's eyes. "And I'd never ask you to. You and your friends are prohibited from any further involvement in the hunt for Jace Wayland and Everest Morgenstern."
While Izzy and Clary gasped, Alec's expression became even more stony if that were possible.
"What?" Izzy cried.
"The rest of you, back to work. I'm lifting the lockdown on the Institute, except for Clary and Jocelyn. Given your relation to Valentine, Jace, and Everest, I wanna keep a close eye on you."
"This is ridiculous," Clary scoffed. Jocelyn tried to grab her arm and pull her away, but Clary shook her head. "No! We cannot just sit around!" Alec couldn't hear what she said next, but he would bet his stele that Jocelyn wasn't pleased with it at all.
"Dismissed!" shouted Aldertree, and the crowd began to fade away. Alec and Izzy shared a look before following the man that had just painted a target on Jace and Everest's backs.
"You can't do this," Alec fumed, barely keeping his temper in check.
"See, that's the thing about being the boss. I can and I did." Aldertree was talking to him like he was a child. It just made him want to punch the man more. He didn't think he'd been so pissed off by a person's mere presence before.
"Then revoke the 'dead or alive' order. Jace is one of us. He doesn't deserve that to be the hunt for him," Izzy tried to bargain.
Aldertree tutted. "Challenging the authority of the head of the Institute is grounds for severe punishment, including de-runing."
As the siblings stood in shock, Aldertree walked away with a small smirk on his face. Izzy whirled on Alec, fury settling on her features.
"He can't do that!"
"He just did," he told her tiredly. He ran his hand through his hair in agitation. He glanced down at the dangerous expression on his sister's face. "If you're going to break something, please go break something that's already in the pile out back. I don't want to carry another pile of stuff out to the pile."
"I would if Aldertree were in the pile," Izzy muttered darkly. Alec pretended he hadn't heard her.
"Sorry for being an ass," he said softly after a moment. "You didn't deserve it."
Izzy looked up at him, expression clearing. "It's alright, I get it. You're stressed, we all are." She looked back down and fiddled with the ring he had noticed before.
"Where'd you get that ring?"
"Oh, me and Everest have matching ones." She smiled softly. "I asked her to be my Parabatai and she said yes."
Alec's mouth dropped. His sister had asked Everest to be her Parabatai. That was a lifelong commitment, one that Izzy hadn't mentioned taking before. Well, except for that one time when she was fifteen and asked if the ceremony was painful. He had brushed it off when she answered his question of "why" with a simple, "Just wondering."
"You're not joking?"
She smiled up at him. "No, I'm not joking."
Despite everything else going on, Alec grinned, letting out a laugh, and swooped his little sister into a tight hug. "Congratulations Iz," he said into her hair.
"Thanks Alec."
"Have you told anyone else yet?" he asked, still keeping his arm around her. She shook her head. "Why don't you go tell Clary? I have to go talk to Magnus anyway."
Izzy's brows furrowed at the mention of Magnus. "What's going on between you two? I thought you guys would have been more, I don't know, lovey dovey?"
He sighed. "It's complicated."
"Maybe try to uncomplicate it before it can't be uncomplicated?" was Izzy's oh so wonderful advice. He gave her an unimpressed stare before walking away towards the front doors. "Just saying!"
Just before he reached the doors, he saw Lydia tapping away at a tablet with a sour look on her face. He decided to approach her anyway.
"Lydia." She looked up and frowned.
"What Alec? I have things I need to do."
He sighed. "I just wanted to apologize for being rude earlier. I was frustrated and I took it out on you. You didn't deserve that and I'm sorry."
She gave him a small smile. "Thank you for apologizing. I admit, I was a little harsh on you too." Her tablet beeped and she gave it an exasperated look. "I've got to go, but I'll talk to you later."
He nodded and the two parted, Alec going towards the doors and Lydia to wherever she was going.
On the walk to Magnus's apartment, Alec tried to figure out what he would say to him. He wasn't good at apologies that required something more than a copy-paste speech about how he shouldn't have done what he had done, that he was sorry, and that he wouldn't do it again. The apology he had to, and wanted to, give to Magnus couldn't be the same old copy-paste apology he gave most people. It needed thought and care and genuine emotion. But how did he do that?
All too soon he was at Magnus's apartment. He hesitated slightly before going up the stairs, passing a strange old woman in what looked like drapes who held a disturbing-looking book, a man with dark blue hair who was on the phone outside someone's door, and a very intimidating young woman about his age hauling a young teenage boy out of the building by the ear, muttering something about "jumping in front of knives and guns instead of being smart and leaving" with a middle-aged man in a suit following them and looking very amused. He decided that he didn't want to know.
Eventually he reached Magnus's apartment. He hesitated again but decided to just go in and try to apologize, despite not really knowing what he was going to say. Alec walked in to find Magnus on his balcony. He was doing some kind of training set with his magic, shirtless. Alec had to take a second to focus on getting through this apology instead of on Magnus's bare chest. It was a long second.
"Magnus." The man in question ignored him. He sighed as he stood in the doorway that separated the balcony from the rest of the apartment. "I'm not good at apologies, but I'm...I'm sorry."
"Continue," Magnus said, not stopping whatever he was doing with his magic.
"I'm...really sorry."
"For?" he prompted.
Magnus still hadn't stopped what he was doing and Alec could feel irritation begin to rise. He really disliked it when people didn't pay attention to what he was saying when he tried to say something important or apologize.
"Look, can you cut that out for a second?"
Magnus flicked his wrist and a ball of blue magic came flying at Alec's head. It only just missed, hitting a lamp instead. Was Magnus really that angry with him?
Alec began to walk towards Magnus slowly. "You were right. When I called off my wedding, that was for me. But this is just...it's very new."
"This may surprise you, but you're new for me too," Magnus snapped, zipping up a sleeveless hoodie.
"Look, with Jace missing, it's just like, the ground has shifted and I can't keep my balance. And Everest's gone too, and even before everything that's happened, I didn't have my balance, haven't since she arrived." Magnus tried to walk past Alec, but he caught his arm. He looked surprised. "Just...I didn't mean to take it out on you. I'm sorry."
"You're forgiven." Alec was very proud of himself for not melting into a puddle of relief right then and there. "Also, you're great at apologies."
Magnus reached up to fix Alec's jacket and he couldn't help the smile that made its way onto his face. He chuckled softly.
"Thanks. I've been working on it." More specifically, he'd been working on it the entire way there, but Magnus didn't need to know that specific detail. His pride had been shaken enough, he didn't need it to be shattered.
"Here's the thing." Oh shit. "We're always going to face challenges. Now and when we get Everest back. So when things get crazy, don't push me away."
Alec nodded.
...
Alec was laying on Magnus's couch, shirtless, waiting for Magnus to return so that he could try and track Jace. And this time, he wasn't even the one to bring up the topic. Magnus had, and as surprised as Alec had been, he was immensely grateful that his boyfriend was willing to help him with this.
"Alright, Alec, ready to track your Parabatai?" Magnus asked. He nodded and Magnus snapped his fingers, blue sparks appearing. As Magnus waved his hands in complicated motions, Alec activated his Parabatai rune.
An image of Jace, Everest, and Valentine leaving a Portal and walking onto a street, Everest looking suspiciously bundled up, appeared in his mind. He inhaled sharply.
"What just happened?" Magnus asked, concerned. "Did it start?"
"I don't need it to." He stood up despite the look Magnus gave him. "I can sense him. He's on land. I think Everest's with him too."
Magnus's eyes gleamed with an emotion that Alec couldn't quite decipher, but he was handed his shirt and told, "Go find them," and he didn't need to be told twice. Magnus opened a Portal to the Institute for him, and with one last smile, Alec jumped through.
He was met by his sister at the entrance. "Jace is back. I think Everest is with him."
Izzy didn't say anything, she didn't need to. The happy and determined look on her face said it all. She followed him to the Ops Center where Aldertree was standing with their mother.
"Jace is back, Everest is probably with him. Call off your men," he said in a powerful voice as he approached them.
"One step ahead of you," Aldertree informed him. "We got a hit on the map. We're mobilizing now."
Izzy stepped forward. "You're not listening. Go ahead and de-rune me. We won't let you do this."
Aldertree glanced at his men and motioned towards Alec and Izzy. "Hold them here until we get back."
Alec didn't bother to fight back against the man who pinned his arms behind his back, knowing that it would do no good. He just watched as Aldertree walked away.
"I'm sorry. I'll do what I can to help Jace and Everest," Lydia promised softly.
He looked to his mother, hoping that she at least would try to help Jace, the boy she had adopted as her own, and Everest, a girl important to her children. She just walked away.
Alec looked down, defeated. All he could hope for now was that Jace and Everest could be found and be safe and sound at home. And, by the Angel, how he hoped for that to be reality.