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humansunshineao3 · 6 years

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Fighting the Good Fight [Ch. 13]

Alec Lightwood just wants to run his Institute in peace.

This is the story that could’ve unfolded if Jace didn’t exist.

Rating: Mature

Pairings: Magnus/Alec, Clary/Izzy

Tags: Jace doesn’t exist, transgender alec lightwood, retelling of the TV show, Internalized Transphobia, Panic Attacks, Emotional/Psychological Abuse, Fluff, Lightwood Siblings Feels, Izzy and Alec are parabatai, Family Dynamics, Homophobia, top surgery, Trigger warnings in chapter notes, in depth trigger warnings

AUTHOR’S NOTES

Anxiety/fear: Simon has to come face to face with Camille, who obviously killed him. Additionally, Magnus is very anxious around Camille, and it’s clear that he bears some emotional scars from his time with her. Clary sort of switches off from anxiety in the last section of the chapter because of the fight with Valentine and his shadowhunters. Alec also experiences some anxiety, but is distracted from it by Magnus.

Violence: Camille lashes out at Raphael and knocks him unconscious. Alec beats the ever loving shit out of Hodge, which is immensely satisfying. There’s a fight scene towards the end that has some mild gore including tongues being bitten out and achilles tendons being severed, but none of our heroes get injured too badly, so all is well. There’s some violence between Izzy and Valentine as well, but nothing too severe.

Emotional abuse: Camille employs several tactics to break Magnus down, including body shaming, belittling his feelings, gaslighting and slut shaming him. Magnus is upset by it but not devastated. Camille also tries to tear Alec down but he shrugs it off. Valentine tries to get inside Clary’s head by insinuating that they’re the same kind of person, while simultaneously insulting her ability by referencing Ragnor and Simon’s death.

Sexual Assault: Camille kisses Magnus against his will, and pierces his lip with her fangs. Magnus is almost immediately reassured by Alec after this happens.

References to racism: Alec and Magnus talk about how shitty the shadowhunters used to be in centuries gone past. It’s canon-typical but it’s there.

Sexual tension: Nothing happens but Magnus and Alec have a Moment™ in the third to last scene.

Previous Chapter

Episode 13: Morning Star

Raj had been walking around the city for hours. He’d been on worse missions, but there was nothing as mind-numbingly boring as wandering aimlessly around a ten block radius looking for a fugitive. This morning he’d spotted this deli that made his mouth water every time he passed it, the smell of sourdough and cured meat making his stomach rumble. He’d promised himself a break at 1pm, and when he just happened to walk past the deli at 12.53, he shrugged and decided it was close enough.

The last hour of his patrol he’d been considering what he’d order, so he already had ‘pesto ciabatta with salami and prosciutto’ on the tip of his tongue, but then he saw this huge crusty loaf come fresh out onto the display shelf and he had to start from square one all over again. As he weighed his options, he glanced out the window.

His eyes met the pale blue ones of Hodge Starkweather, who was standing looking in through the window.

Hodge ran for it, and Raj grunted, abandoning his place in the queue as he stumbled out the door to sprint after the traitor. “Fuck you, man! Fuck you!” Raj shouted, activating his speed rune.

As Hodge skidded around a corner, Raj pulled out his phone to call Alec, stopping in his tracks as he turned the corner after Hodge and found himself standing in a dead end. Raj groaned, letting his head tip back as Alec answered the phone.

“Report?” Alec asked, and Raj sighed.

“I saw Hodge. He was headed west, nearing the park. I almost had him, but he disappeared in a dead-end alley. Guessing he infiltrated a mundane’s home and got out the back.” Raj explained, running his hand through his hair. “I’m sorry, Lightwood. I fucked it.”

Alec sighed. “It’s alright, you did all you could. I’m calling in the wolves to help us,there’s no way we can track him through the city with the manpower we have. Get up on the roof and see if you can find him, keep me updated. Well done spotting him, at least we have a lead now.”

“Just doing my job.” Raj answered, and after a brief goodbye, hung up. He kicked the wall next to him, embarrassment making him want to scream. First Hodge uses his sexuality, which he’d stupidly revealed on a night out to the Hunter’s Moon, as a way to con his way past Alec, and now he just let him slip away through his fingers. He wouldn’t be surprised if Alec sent him back to the academy for this.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Alright, everyone. Here’s what we’re going to do.” Alec raised his voice to get everyone’s attention, standing at the front of the ops centre with his hands behind his back. “Raj spotted Hodge just east of the park, heading west. We could try and predict where he’s going, but Hodge is clever, he was most likely taking a route to throw Raj off. I’m going to liase with Luke Garroway of the New York pack, he’s promised us the help of the wolves. Lydia, I want you to stay here and triangulate communication. I need to know of any new developments, I’ll instruct everyone to report to you every half hour, it’ll be in your discretion to keep everyone updated. Anyone doesn’t report back, send back-up to check on them. Everyone else, I want you out on the streets, checking big empty spaces in the city. If Valentine’s creating an army he’s not gonna be hiding in a downtown loft. Everybody understand?”

There was a hum of affirmation among the shadowhunters, and Alec nodded, dismissing them.

“I’m going to take Clary to the Hotel DuMort to retrieve the Book of the White,” Izzy took Alec aside the moment the attention was off him, “Camille has it. Simon’s promised us an audience with Raphael to get it back from her.”

“Don’t bother reporting to Lydia, just keep me updated. Magnus is creating portals to get our people out faster, I’m sure he won’t mind making one for you and Clary.” Alec told her, heading towards the door. “I’ll see you later.”

“Be careful, Alec. Hodge is dangerous.” Izzy insisted, and Alec shrugged.

“Always am.”

“Did he okay us going to the Hotel DuMort?” Clary asked, appearing at Izzy’s elbow. She had daggers strapped to her thighs and a seraph blade in her hand, and if they weren’t in the middle of a crisis, it might have distracted Izzy.

“I don’t think he even registered what I was asking, honestly, but he did, yeah. Let’s go. Is Simon in good standing with Raphael?” Izzy grabbed a wooden stake to put in her hip holster, she and Clary falling into step together as they made their way towards the entrance.

Clary shrugged sheepishly. “I’m assuming so; in all the excitement I haven’t been able to talk to him much. He sounded happy enough on the phone, though.”

Magnus was standing next to a portal that was bigger than average, monitoring the shadowhunters passing through it. He’d cast a flexible portal rather than a one-destination one; it meant less magic consumption, and he had a feeling he’d need to call on his magic a lot more before the day was done.

“How are you holding up?” Clary asked him as they approached, and he shrugged.

“I’m the High Warlock of Brooklyn. I’m fine.”

“Do you think you can keep it up long enough for us to use it?” Izzy checked.

Magnus held out his arm towards the portal, inviting them through just as the last shadowhunter hopped through to their assigned area. “You’re the last ones I need to transport.”

“Thank you, Magnus,” Clary smiled at him, tugging Izzy through the portal and staggering on her feet a little as they came out the other side, right on the doorstep of the Hotel DuMort. Simon and Raphael were waiting just inside the door, out of the reach of the sun. Simon rushed forward to hug Clary once the door was shut, his face turned carefully away from her skin. Raphael and Izzy nodded at each other in greeting.

“So you want me to let Camille go?” Raphael drawled, leading them up to a reception room. The windows were all boarded up with bricks, and it was decorated so lavishly that Clary couldn’t help but wonder if all downworlders were filthy rich. It reminded Isabelle of the tombs of the Pharaohs of Egypt, full of wonderful things but without that life-giving touch of sunlight.

In the vampires’ case, she supposed, it would be the opposite of life-giving.

“We need to know where she hid the Book of the White,” Izzy explained, remaining standing as Raphael sat down on a hard-looking leather sofa. “No doubt she’ll want something in return for it.”

“She’ll want her freedom,” Raphael insisted, “there’s no way she’ll accept anything less. And I can’t afford to give that to her.”

“She kills mundanes, Isabelle,” Simon reminded her, “people will die if we let her go.”

Clary put her hands on her hips. “Can we trick her? Make her think we’re going to let her go and then recapture her?”

“It took a hundred vampires to subdue her the last time,” Raphael pointed out.

“We need the Book of the White to wake up my Mom.” Clary explained, pushing her hair back from her face. “She knows Valentine better than anyone, she can help us defeat him.”

“Or she’ll just run away again and leave you all to deal with it.” Raphael replied coolly.

Simon shook his head. “Jocelyn would do anything to protect Clary. That’s the only reason why she ran before. Now Clary’s involved in the fight, she’d never abandon it. She was like my Mom, too. She’s a good woman.” He insisted.

“Can we at least talk to Camille? Maybe we can offer her a plea bargain with the Clave?” Izzy suggested.

Raphael pursed his lips, considering it. “You can speak to her. But I will not allow her to leave these walls. Not until the Clave arrests her and takes her away.”

Clary and Izzy looked at each other for a long moment. Simon glanced at Raphael, who was watching a silent communication pass between the two women. Suspicion rose in him, and he raised his chin.

“Alright, let’s do that.” Izzy answered, “we agree to your terms.”

Camille’s casket was so thickly covered in chains that Izzy couldn’t tell where they begun. Raphael pulled a string out from under his shirt, revealing a key that had been hanging around his neck. Clary and Izzy watched as he bent down to grasp the padlock that hung down underneath the table the casket was sitting on, and with a flick of his wrist it fell away. He and Simon moved the chains slowly off the ivory coffin, letting them drop to the ground at their feet.

“If she makes a move to escape, do I have your permission to stake her, Raphael?” Izzy asked, her fingers wrapping around the stake at her hip.

“I’m way ahead of you,” he admitted wryly, pulling a stake out of his back pocket.

“Are you ready, Simon?” Clary asked, rubbing his back.

Simon looked paler than usual, and that was saying something. “The last time I saw her was when she killed me,” he said quietly, straightening his spine. “I’m ready.”

Raphael and Clary opened the coffin, and Izzy readied herself as the lid lifted up to reveal Simon’s sire. She’d never seen a vampire at rest before, and she was surprised to note that Camille didn’t look as dead as Izzy had expected her to. She wasn’t breathing but there was colour in her cheeks, and it was only when Izzy noticed the IV drip in her arm, attached to a blood bag strung up next to the coffin, that she understood why.

“Keep your guard up,” Raphael urged, his eyes fixed on Camille’s still body, “she can probably hear us, she’s waiting for an opening.”

“Let her wait forever,” Simon muttered, “I’m never relaxing around her.”

Camille’s eyes snapped open, smirking when she saw Izzy raise her stake threateningly. “My, my, my, what on Earth do we have here?” She drawled, her dark eyes looking at each of them in turn. “Have you brought me some angel-flavoured snacks, my little caramel?”

“They’re not snacks,” Simon snapped, his voice trembling despite himself, “and I wouldn’t bring you anything!”

“Tell us where you hid the Book of the White.” Clary demanded.

“The what?”

“Don’t act smart. The only reason this coffin is open is because the shadowhunters need something from you.” Raphael insisted. “The second we deem you useless, you get chained right back up again.”

“It’s a warlock spellbook,” Izzy explained, “Ragnor Fell gave it to you.”

Camille’s eyes lit up, and she started to sit up slowly. “It’s only taken him a hundred years to notice it was gone, he must be taking his vitamins.”

“We need it for my mother,” Clary raised her chin, “to help stop Valentine.”

“Valentine? My goodness, you really do need me.” Camille laughed, pushing her hair over her shoulder. “Well, we’ve got no time to lose, then. Step aside, Raphael, there’s a good boy.”

“Oh, you’re not going anywhere,” Raphael chuckled, shaking his head. “You’re going to tell them where the damned book is or I’m going to let Isabelle here stake you through the heart. It would save us all a lot of time and energy.”

“Are you really going to let them kill me? I made you. I’m your sire.” Camille said to Simon, her eyebrows furrowed.

Simon put his hands on his hips. “You say sire, I say murderer. You can rot in hell, Camille. I bet you don’t even remember my name.”

Camille pressed her lips together, and Clary clenched her jaw.

“You really don’t remember? You’re sick.” She spat. “Tell us where the book is!”

“What, so you can just put me back in this box?” Camille shook her head. “No. What you’re going to do is, you’re going to let me go and I’m going to lead you to the book. Otherwise no deal. If you kill me, you’ll never find it. I promise you that.”

Izzy bit her lip, considering their options. If they let Camille go, it would be difficult for the Clave to recapture her, but not impossible. They’d wake Jocelyn and save countless mundanes and downworlders from Valentine’s plans. If they left Camille here, they’d have to find a way to get to Valentine without Jocelyn, which would make everything a lot more difficult. Thousands of downworlders and dozens of mundanes could die.

“We have to,” Izzy murmured, making eye contact with Clary.

“You are not taking her.” Raphael warned them, his fangs dropping.

“What choice do we have?” Simon asked miserably, “we need to wake Jocelyn. Alec will catch her. We know he will.”

“She’s too dangerous,” Raphael insisted, grasping the coffin and beginning to close it.

Camille rolled her eyes, and moved as quick as a flash, diving at Raphael and ramming him into the wall behind him, his head knocking into the brick. He slumped to the floor as she let him go, unconscious. Straightening up, she flipped her long hair over her shoulder and flashed the others a smirk. “Let’s go.”

“Is he alright?!” Simon asked, his eyes wide. Camille grabbed his wrist, dragging him towards the door.

“He’ll be fine,” Camille shrugged, glancing over her shoulder to make sure Clary and Izzy were following. “And I’ll need one more thing from you, my little caramel.”

Simon blanched. “What?”

“I need a written agreement that you asked me to turn you,” she explained. “That way I can go free to start again, far far away, without the Clave yapping at my heels.”

“No way, that’s too far. Simon isn’t signing anything.” Clary growled, catching up to them. “You killed him, he isn’t giving you a damned thing.”

“If you don’t, I’m not helping you find the book.” Camille warned. Simon swallowed hard, and nodded.

“You don’t have to do that, Simon,” Izzy insisted, but Simon wrenched his hand out of Camille’s grasp, falling into step next to her.

“Yes I do. Jocelyn’s like a Mom to me too, Iz. I’ll do anything to save her.”

“Excellent!” Camille purred, “I know just the warlock to draw it up.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It hadn’t taken too long for Luke’s pack to locate Hodge. They cornered him near the docks in just over an hour, keeping him pinned down, quite literally, until Alec was able to reach the scene. Hodge looked pale with terror, on his back underneath a shifted werewolf, and Alec felt a twist of satisfaction to look at it.

“He doesn’t have the mortal cup. He must have already given it to Valentine. Maia, let him up.” Luke ordered as Alec neared them, and the beta wolf growled in Hodge’s face before reluctantly getting off him, padding over to stand next to Luke as Alec yanked Hodge to his feet.

“Thank the angel you’re here,” Hodge muttered breathlessly, gripping onto Alec’s jacket with wide eyes. “The Clave are trying to frame me, because of Raj-”

Alec punched him in the nose, flooring him in an instant. He didn’t even feel the anger, he just fell to his knees and rained down punches on Hodge’s face and chest, and it was only when Luke rushed forwards to grab him did he realise he was shouting, roaring in anger. As Luke pulled him up, the beta wolf, Maia, tilted her head to the side, and bared her teeth like she was smiling.

“Alec, we need him. Get a hold of yourself.” Luke reminded him, though he patted Alec on the shoulder.

Hodge didn’t move a muscle, totally unconscious, and Alec sniffed, wiping his hands on his trousers.

“He got past me, Luke. Just ‘cause he said he was gay. And then he has the nerve-”

“I get it. I get it better than most.” Luke soothed, squeezing his arm. “Valentine was my parabatai, I understand betrayal and I understand the drive for revenge.. Just sit down for a minute. He’s not going anywhere.”

Alec nodded, lowering himself to the ground with shaky knees. “You’re right. You’re right.” He turned his face away from Hodge’s prone form, looking out over the water.

“You stay here, alright? I’ll deal with this.” Luke promised, backing away from him, and Alec frowned.

“What are you talking about? I’m not going to just sit here while you take him back to the institute; they wouldn’t let you in, for starters.”

He glanced over at Luke to see him dragging a barely conscious Hodge to his feet, slapping him a few times to wake him up. As Alec moved to get up to help, Maia and another wolf rounded on him, Maia putting a warning paw on his chest.

“This is between me and Valentine, Alec. It’ll take too long to interrogate Hodge, I have to go after Valentine now before he creates a rogue army. We don’t have time. I’m sorry, Alec.” Luke said, pulling Hodge away. Alec growled under his breath, looking up into the faces of the two wolves holding him there.

“You’ll need backup!” Alec shouted, but Luke didn’t look back. He sighed and let Maia push him back down to sit. “You know, I could arrest the two of you for interfering with Clave business.”

Maia huffed, and Alec pressed his lips together.

“I’m just saying I COULD.”

The two wolves looked at each other for a moment, and then back at Alec.

“Can I at least use my phone?”

Maia took her paw off Alec’s chest and sat next to him on the curb. Alec glanced at the other wolf, who looked a little more antsy, but who turned their head when Alec slowly pulled his phone from his pocket.

“Hey, Iz, where are you?” Alec asked as she answered the phone, crossing one ankle over the other.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Alec’s gonna meet us at Magnus’.” Izzy told the others, tucking her phone back into her pocket. “He’s got a couple of wolves tailing him. Luke took Hodge and went after Valentine himself.”

“They have unfinished business,” Clary nodded, glad that Luke was in control of the situation. It wasn’t that she didn’t trust Alec to do his job, but she knew Luke’s stake in this was more personal than anyone’s. He wouldn’t let Valentine go again, not this time.

“Shadowhunter drama is exhausting,” Camille sighed. “Don’t you ever just take vacations?”

Clary, Izzy and Simon glared at her, and she shrugged. The door of Magnus’ loft opened before Simon could knock, Magnus standing in the hallway looking pensive.

“What do you want?” He asked, his uneasy eyes on Camille, who just smiled sweetly at him.

“Magnus, you look just as lovely as I remember. A little heavier, perhaps, but…”

“What do you want?” Magnus repeated, closing his robe a little tighter.

“She wants a contract saying Simon asked to be turned.” Izzy answered, giving Camille a little shove into Magnus’ loft. “She won’t give us the Book of the White without it.”

Camille and Magnus were looking at each other like they were having a silent conversation, and Simon felt uncomfortable just watching them. He was terrified of Camille and he’d only been on the receiving end of her manipulations for a couple of weeks. He couldn’t imagine how Magnus was feeling at that moment. Clary and Izzy sheathed their weapons, satisfied that Raphael hadn’t managed to follow them.

“I’m going to go and wait for Alec outside, check the wolves aren’t giving him too much grief.” Izzy murmured, glancing at her phone.

“Simon, can I talk to you for a minute?” Clary tugged Simon out to the balcony, leaving Magnus and Camille alone.

“How long has it been, hmm? One hundred? One hundred and fifty years?” Camille asked, reaching up to run her fingers across Magnus’ cheek. He flinched away from it, and led her into the apothecary.

“One hundred and thirty eight,” Magnus answered, lifting his chin. “And oddly, I haven’t missed you at all.”

Camille glanced around the room, laughing lightly. “Of course you have, my love.”

“I thought I was done with you.” Magnus muttered, reaching for a piece of parchment.

“We’ll never be done with each other, you and I.” Camille purred, perching on the desk next to him.

“Oh, I put you in my past years ago. That is never going to change.”

Camille leaned closer to him, giving him a whiff of that same perfume that she used to wear all those years ago. “Don’t be like that. We had so much fun together. Besides, it’s petty to hold grudges.”

“You may have had fun picking me apart piece by piece, but it’s not one of the highlights of that century for me, let’s just put it that way.” Magnus snapped, contorting his fingers over the parchment, making the contract appear on the sheet.

“You’ve always been sensitive.” Camille sighed, trailing her fingers down his arm, “that must have been why I left you, I can barely remember.”

Magnus hated himself for letting that sting, but he couldn’t help it. How could she not remember the show of strength, decades overdue, when he finally left her? When he finally packed his bags and told her that he was done? How could she have forgotten?

“Oh, yes. Now I recall.” Camille mused, shaking her head with a smile. “You were upset by my dalliance with that short-lived Russian. Always with the monogamy unless it was you in the middle, hmm?”

“That’s not why I left and you know it.” Magnus replied coldly, his eyes on the parchment. “I feel nothing for you or for anything that happened between us. Gave that up over a century ago.”

Camille smiled. “You see? I was right. Love is fleeting.”

“And yet true love cannot die,” Magnus shot back. He regretted it as soon as he let it escape his lips, and with a glance at Camille he knew that she had figured it out.

“Oh, my darling. Have you fooled yourself thinking you’ve fallen in love… Again?”

Magnus clenched his jaw, finishing up the writ with a flick of his wrist. “That is none of your concern.”

“True love may not die,” Camille smirked, “but people can.”

“If only you’d do us all a favour and prove that yourself-”

“So touchy.” Camille cooed, stroking his chest. “So I’m right. Two hundred years later and you’re still as naive as the day I met you. It’s almost endearing. But we both know what lurks underneath this pretty shell, Magnus. What kind of darkness hides in your heart. You wouldn’t know what to do with a true lover if you found them.”

Magnus pursed his lips, snatching up the writ from his desk. “You know nothing about me.”

“Oh… Oh, Magnus, my love.” Camille tutted. Her red manicured nails wrapped around his cravat. “I know everything about you. Including…” She sniffed the air delicately. “Oh, darling. You stupid, beautiful boy.” She laughed, grasping his chin with her free hand. “A shadowhunter. You’ve given your heart to a shadowhunter.”

“He’s everything that you are not.” Magnus snarled, his eyes gleaming amber.

Camille flashed him her teeth, and tugged him in for a kiss, the sharp edge of her fangs catching his lip and making him gasp. She hummed into it, and Magnus shoved her back, wiping at the swell of blood on his mouth. He felt a little sick at the satisfaction on her face, the hunger in her eyes at the taste of his blood, and he turned his face away from her to see Alec standing in the doorway.

For a moment, Magnus and Alec just stared at each other, Magnus’ heart going cold in his chest. Camille must have smelled Alec and Izzy coming, must have timed it just for this. Alec turned his attention to Camille and glared at her, rolling his eyes when she smiled sweetly at him.

“You certainly have a type, don’t you, darling? Brunette, tall… A little… Sassy. He’s cute.” She drawled, looking Alec up and down. “Too bad it won’t last.”

Izzy’s face was cold with anger, and Magnus shrank away from the Lightwood siblings, shame crawling through his veins. “Say that again,” she warned, her eyes intent on Camille, “and you won’t last.”

Alec snorted, and walked past the vampire, going to Magnus’ side. “You alright?”

“She pounced on me, I didn’t-”

“I know, it’s okay. Exes can be a lot, huh?” He murmured, and Magnus smiled, sucking his lower lip into his mouth to soothe the sting lingering from Camille’s fangs.

“A lot.” Magnus agreed, the tightness in his chest easing a little. “Now, Camille, we’ve fulfilled our end of the bargain. Where’s the Book of the White?”

Simon and Clary wandered in, the two of them looking a little less depressed after checking in with each other. “Yeah, I’ll sign your stupid contract once you tell us where the book is.”

Camille rolled her head on her neck, pulling a hairpin from her head and walking over to Simon. “Sign first, book later.” She pressed, and Simon looked to Alec for advice.

“Just do it, she’s not getting out of here with all five of us ready to kill her.” Alec shrugged, and Camille smirked at him over her shoulder, pricking Simon’s finger with the hairpin and making him yelp.

“Oh, that explains it. You’re a murderer. Magnus never liked virtue in his lovers.”

“Shut the fuck up,” Clary snapped.

Alec didn’t bother to grace her with a response. He knew her type, he’d been bullied throughout his time at the academy in Alicante. He’d been called a lot worse than a murderer.

“Where do I sign?” Simon sighed, holding out his bleeding finger with a grimace on his face. Magnus took his shoulder and showed him, handing him a quill to make it easier. The moment Simon finished writing the ‘s’ of Lewis, Camille snatched it from the desk and rolled it up, tucking it into her dress.

“Excellent.” She purred, cupping Simon’s chin. “Now we’re both free to live our lives without fear of the Clave.”

“Oh, I wouldn’t say that,” Alec sing-songed, tangling his hands together behind his back. “I’m still the head of the institute, and if I get a whiff of you in New York after today I will send my entire staff after you.”

Camille glanced at Magnus, who looked nervous, and tilted her head to the side. “Then I suppose we’d better hurry, hmm? The sun will be up in a couple of hours.” She looked at Clary, adjusting her dress. “The book is at my apartment in Manhattan.”

“I’ll drive,” Simon volunteered, and everyone looked at him with furrowed eyebrows. It took him a moment, but he smiled when he remembered, “portals exist.”

Magnus chuckled and turned towards the wall to cast them a portal. “Still the same place?” He guessed, not looking at Camille.

“Of course, darling. I’m a creature of habit.”

Izzy scoffed, and put her hands on her hips.

The room was tense and silent as Magnus finished creating the portal, everyone except Camille looking serious and withdrawn. They were so close to retrieving the Book of the White and waking up Jocelyn. Izzy and Clary went through the portal first to keep Camille from running away, followed by Camille and Simon, and finally Magnus and Alec. Alec reached out to grasp Magnus’ sleeve as they stepped through the magic gateway, and Magnus twisted his wrist to take his hand, squeezing his fingers gently.

“I’m fairly sure it’s in the drawing room, but it could be in the library. It’s been a long time.” Camille sighed, gesturing at the walls of books around them. “Better get looking.”

“Are you kidding me?! You don’t even know where it is?” Izzy demanded, shaking her head. “This is not a fair deal!”

Clary was walking towards Camille to give her a good punch again when her phone rang, her heart leaping into her throat as she saw Luke’s name flashing on the screen. “Luke? Did you get him?”

“No, there were too many of them. Still got Hodge, though.” Luke panted, “He’s heading for you, kid, you have to get out of there. He knows you’re trying to wake Jocelyn.”

“We can’t leave, we have to find the book.” Clary insisted. “We have to wake up Mom.”

“Clary-”

Clary hung up the phone, and turned to the others. “We haven’t got time to deal with Camille, we have to find that book now. Valentine’s on his way.”

“We’ll check the library, there’s more books there.” Magnus suggested, gesturing with his head for Alec and Simon to follow him. He was sort of familiar with Camille’s library; it hadn’t changed much since he was last here, and he’d spent a lot of time reading in here while Camille had her way with whatever mundane she’d picked to cheat on Magnus with that week.

“What does the book look like?” Alec asked. His head was tilted back a little to look up at all the shelves.

“It’s white and gold,” Magnus told them, striding over to the sliding ladder to start checking the higher shelves. “On its spine is the word ‘album’.”

“Album?” Simon repeated, “what, does it have photos in it?”

“Album means white,” Alec explained before Magnus could open his mouth. “Why is a warlock book bound in the shadowhunter colours?”

Magnus pressed his lips together, scanning the shelf in front of him, “Because originally it was meant to be a reference for shadowhunters. But Ragnor’s mother, or adopted mother, decided against granting the shadowhunters access to the spells and potions in there. The shadowhunters were too big a threat back then; the angel blood in them wasn’t as diluted and they had access to a touch of magic.”

Alec hummed, his fingers running along each shelf in turn. “I heard that. About our ancestors having magic. I don’t blame the warlocks for wanting to keep their secrets. Shadowhunters back then were savages.”

“Like Valentine?” Simon pressed tentatively, and Alec nodded.

“The only thing that kept them from totally wiping out downworlders was the fact that they enjoyed hunting them for sport.” Alec said quietly, his eyes darting up towards Magnus. “They were animals.”

“Seems Ragnor did his job of teaching this generation the truth of their lineage,” Magnus mused, his tone light to break the macabre tension in the room. “Any luck down there?”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Magnus said before that the book is white and gold.” Clary explained, “most of these books are brown or black, so it should be easy.”

Izzy nodded and went to the opposite side of the room. Camille had scarpered the moment Magnus left the room, and neither Izzy or Clary made a move to stop her. They’d get her another time. “What’s the plan for when Valentine shows up?”

“No idea,” Clary admitted, “but we can’t let him get this book.”

“Alright,” Izzy chuckled, shaking her head as her eyes swept along the shelves closest to the door, “I guess that’s worked for us up until now.”

“I got it!” Clary yelped, plucking the Book of the White off the wall. “This is it! Look, it has the Latin for white on the side, this must be it!”

Izzy turned to cross the room to see, but ran into a solid chest. With a glance up, she saw it was Valentine, but before she could flick out her whip, his seraph dagger was pressed to her throat. One of his new shadowhunters grabbed Clary, and to Izzy’s dismay, Alec, Magnus and Simon were marched in too, all held like her with blades to their necks.

“Well done, Clarissa. You came so close.” Valentine sneered, yanking Izzy around to face Clary by her hair. “You’ve done well. Assembled a little army, figured out the problems that arose. You did lose one soldier,” Valentine smirked at Magnus, who clenched his jaw, “and of course, you let a dangerous vampire run free, but… You are promising.”

“What do you want, Valentine?” Clary spat, meeting Magnus’ eyes, who tilted his head just a little, as if to say ‘keep him talking.’

Valentine pulled Izzy along with him as he walked over to Clary. “That’s very simple. I want you by my side, helping me lead our army. It is your birthright, after all.”

“She’s not interested!” Simon insisted, making Valentine turn to look at him, Izzy hissing in pain as the dagger dug into her skin.

“Oh, yes, I forgot about you. You really should have kept a better eye on your little mundane friend, Clarissa. Letting him get turned into a filthy vampire. Should’ve let him die, he would have been better off.” Valentine mused. “Ah, well, there’s always a chance to right our wrongs.” He nodded at the shadowhunter who was holding Simon. “Kill him.”

The shadowhunter holding Magnus, next to Simon, collapsed to the ground, and Magnus burst free from his arms, sending a shockwave from his body and knocking everyone in the room to the ground. Alec had his seraph blade out before he even hit the floor, and lunged back up to his feet before the shadowhunter that had been holding him, cutting his achilles tendon and incapacitating him. The shadowhunter that had been holding Simon was quicker than his friend, and bore down on Simon. Alec only just reached him in time to block his killing blow, and the two of them started exchanging swings of a sword, Alec putting his back to Simon to protect him.

“Simon, run to the institute and bring backup,” Alec ordered, glancing over at the others between blows.

Izzy was trying to get Valentine’s blade from his hand, but he had years of experience on her. Clary was standing over a dead shadowhunter looking shell-shocked, and Magnus was on his hands and knees, gasping for breath. Izzy cried out, and Alec’s stomach lurched to see Valentine grab her, abandoning his fight with the shadowhunter to run towards them.

“Wake your mother, Clarissa. Soon we’ll all be together again,” Valentine smiled, smashing a portal stone into the ground and dragging Izzy with him.

“No!” Alec screamed, sprinting for the portal, but Magnus caught his ankle and sent him flying. “Magnus, let me go!”

“If you go through that portal,” Magnus panted, squeezing his eyes shut as it closed, “you’ll be lost. You don’t know where it was coming out, you’d have been stuck in limbo.”

Clary screamed in rage as the last shadowhunter, the one that had been fighting Alec, went for Magnus, and stabbed him through the stomach. The moment he hit the ground, Clary dropped her seraph blade, hands shaking. Magnus heaved himself up off the ground, and pulled her into a hug.

“It’s alright, Biscuit,” he told her, “you had to.”

Clary stared at Alec over his shoulder, and Alec stared back, both pairs of eyes empty and lost.

Izzy was gone.

Alec got up silently, stepping past Magnus’ offer of a hug and walking over to the shadowhunter he’d incapacitated, dragging him to his feet. “Where did they go?” He demanded, but the shadowhunter said nothing, opening his mouth in a bloody grin. His tongue fell out and onto the floor, and Alec dropped him, recoiling. He’d bitten out his own tongue. He looked over at Magnus, who looked grim but unsurprised.

“We’ll find her, Alexander. I promise.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Luke was waiting for them back at the institute, his clothes torn and blood-spattered. “Werewolf healing, I’m fine,” he assured Clary as she checked him over for signs of injury, “Hodge is in custody.”

Alec walked right past the two of them once he’d handed the mute shadowhunter over to Raj, going up to Lydia. “Have you sent a team to the docks?”

“Yes. We think that Valentine has access to a cargo vessel. He’s gone over water to avoid our tracking.” She explained. “I’m so sorry, Alec.”

“Izzy’s fine,” he replied, “she’s unharmed, she’s just trapped. If he planned to kill her he would have done it already.” Alec was trying to convince himself more than anyone else, forcing himself to think rationally so the panic clawing up his throat wouldn’t overwhelm him. Magnus came up behind him, and took his elbow gently.

“You need to get out of your binder, Alexander,” he reminded him, and Alec nodded, letting Magnus lead him to his room. Magnus hesitated in the door when they got there, but Alec pulled him inside.

“Stay?” Alec asked, “just for a while?”

“Of course.” Magnus answered, “do you want me to turn around while you-”

Alec pulled his shirt over his head, quirking his eyebrow at Magnus. “Do you want to turn around?”

“I…” Magnus’ mouth open and closed a few times. “Alec, I…”

“How about I turn around?” Alec suggested, sucking his lower lip into his mouth before turning his back to Magnus and peeling off his binder, his toned muscles bunching and relaxing as he lifted his arms. Magnus swallowed hard as Alec reached for his sports bra. “You doing okay back there?”

“I’m great.” Magnus insisted, wringing his hands together as Alec wriggled into his clothes. “I’m, uh, I’m sorry that you had to see me kiss Camille. I didn’t want to.”

Alec turned back around, settling his shirt back over his hips. “Anyone with eyes could see that you didn’t want it. It’s fine. She seems… Well, I don’t like to use the word insane, but…”

“Something is definitely off in that twisted little brain,” Magnus agreed.

“She was right about one thing, though. This won’t last. At least, not for you.” Alec sighed, walking over to his dresser and picking up the framed picture of he and Izzy that sat there. He looked at it hard for a moment. “My whole life will go by in a flash for you. What’ll happen when-”

“Alexander,” Magnus said softly, putting his hand on Alec’s waist. “I may be the High Warlock of Brooklyn, but even I can’t tell the future. We’ve only just met. Who knows what’s going to happen between us in the weeks and months to come, hmm?” He stroked Alec’s back soothingly. “Besides, right now we need to focus on Izzy.”

“I don’t know where to start,” Alec confessed, putting the picture down. “I have no idea what to do. It feels like I’m staring at a brick wall.”

“Well, we can start by waking Jocelyn. She might have a better idea about what Valentine’s plans are than we do. And now he’s made himself an army of shadowhunters…”

“There’s no telling what his endgame is,” Alec finished. Magnus was right. Jocelyn could provide insight into what Valentine was up to, and if they could just get ahead of him, there was a chance of them getting Izzy back. No doubt Izzy was doing her best to escape too; Alec had faith, deep down, that she was strong enough to come through this. Still, Alec hated the thought of her all alone, surrounded by Valentine and his army of new shadowhunters. “Let’s go.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Clary sat in the infirmary with her mother and Luke, staring at Jocelyn’s sleeping face. Her mind was totally blank, as blank as the look on her face, as she saw the lifeless bodies of the shadowhunters she’d killed, over and over again. There was an awareness in her that she should feel something. But she just… Didn’t.

“What happened back there, Clary?” Luke asked softly, touching her shoulder. “Come on, kid, talk to me. I’m here.”

“I’m alright,” Clary answered, tearing her eyes from Jocelyn’s face to look up at him. “We just have to wake up Mom so we can get Izzy back.”

Saying her name hurt, and Clary was somewhat relieved to know she could still feel something.

She should have been quicker; if she hadn’t been so absorbed in that dead shadowhunter, she could have helped. She could have stopped Valentine from grabbing Izzy. Maybe Valentine would have been just another dead body slumped at her feet. Maybe Izzy would be sitting there next to her, squeezing her hand. But she’d hesitated, and now Izzy was gone.

“Biscuit?”

Clary looked up at the sound of Magnus’ voice, but she couldn’t quite summon a smile. “We’re ready,” she told him, giving he and Alec space beside Jocelyn’s body.

Magnus nodded and opened the book, flicking through the pages deftly. He swept his hand over Jocelyn’s body, and frowned when his magic fizzled. “Must still be a little low from the fight,” he muttered, glancing at Alec. “I don’t suppose you could…”

Alec offered him his hand, but Magnus tilted his head a little, a small smile on his face. “What?”

“A kiss would be more efficient.” Magnus told him, and Alec snorted through a reluctant smile, leaning in to press his lips to Magnus’.

“When did this happen?” Luke muttered to Clary, who smiled weakly at him.

Magnus hummed into the kiss, feeling Alec’s energy fizzle through his veins, and pulled away. “Thank you, Alexander.”

“You are very welcome,” Alec murmured, eyes warm.

“Luke, put your arms under her ready to catch, or she’ll fall.” Magnus instructed, waving his hand over Jocelyn once more and nodding when it took, the blue-silver magic crackling in the air. He said the incantation, his magic rumbling and sinking into Jocelyn’s skin in thunderous bursts, and after the third burst, the green energy surrounding her dissipated, and she tumbled gently into Luke’s arms.

“Mom?” Clary stepped forward, and Magnus tugged Alec back to give the family of three a little space.

Jocelyn’s eyes fluttered open, and she smiled to see Luke holding her. “Oh. It’s you.”

“Yeah, it’s me.” Luke’s eyes filled with relieved tears, and he lifted her slightly, cradling her close to his chest. She kissed his cheek gently, resting her forehead on his temple.

“Mom?” Clary repeated as Luke let Jocelyn down. As Jocelyn turned to look, Clary fell into her arms, burying her face in her mother’s shoulder. “You’re alright.”

“And so are you,” Jocelyn sighed, clutching her close. “Oh, Clary, I am so…” She noticed the runes on Clary’s arms, and pulled back. “You’re…”

“A shadowhunter. Yeah.” Clary nodded, squeezing her hands.

“A pretty good one, too.” Alec supplied.

Jocelyn looked between Alec and Clary, and then to Magnus and Luke. “How long was I asleep?”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Izzy was thrown careening onto the deck the moment that the portal closed behind them, barely catching herself. She turned over to see Valentine standing over her, three shadowhunters jogging over to them. Not one of them was familiar to Izzy, and her heart sank. Valentine really had created an army.

“Take her to the cells.” Valentine ordered, smirking at Izzy as she was dragged to her feet. “You’re lucky that you look like your mother, Miss Lightwood.”

Izzy spat in his face. “Traitor.”

“You’ve got her fire as well,” Valentine chuckled, wiping his face. “How nice. Take her away.”

“You don’t have to listen to him,” Izzy insisted, digging in her heels as the three shadowhunters pulled her below deck, “he’s not what you think!”

Valentine turned to watch the sunrise, leaning on the railing in front of him. “A new day begins,” he muttered, raising his chin.

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