Disclaimer: Alec and Clary are best friends by the last book. I wish, so nope anddddd nope.

A/N: So…yeap, I wasn't expecting the amount of reviews that came in. O_O Thanks for your reviews! I'm really grateful and happy, and I apologize for the (very) slow update, but first, to the story! And then to the author's note at the end. xD

Rune 02 : Cleanse

"No."

"Or how about a rune to see ghosts?"

In all his years of being alive, Alec had always been the rational one, the calm one, with occasional bouts of temper of varying levels, but never once had he fallen to the level where he would choke on water just from a sentence.

Once his coughing fit had settled, Alec looked at the intruder who had hopped in while he had been nursing a headache from his old wound, which said intruder had indirectly caused it to be inflicted onto him. "Why, by the Angel, would I want to see ghosts for!?"

"I mean…there's always someone you might want to see…" Clary trailed off as a dark look came over Alec's face. Sometimes, Clary felt that Alec had every reason to dislike her seeing as she had a tendency to hit all his sore areas, spot on no less.

"I might have seen one before." His voice broke her out of sorry thoughts. "At least, I think I did, when I visited the London Institute when I was younger." Alec frowned. "A girl in a frilly dress, but drenched in blood…" he shook himself. "But really, I don't need to see ghosts."

Clary decided that it was best to withhold mentioning anything about Max. "But on the bright side, you don't need a third eye to see ghosts! You can already see them! Isn't that great?" Clary was all bright smile and happiness, that even Alec couldn't resist cracking a smile.

"No, I don't need that ability. I already have the Sight rune," he raised his left hand before placing it back down on the table. "I don't need a supernatural one. Seeing past glamours is already enough."

"But-"

"Well, am I missing something here?" Clary and Alec turned to face the newcomer. Jace was leaning against the doorframe, Isabelle behind him, playing with her whip. Both of them were in full gear, which was tantamount to demon activity in the streets.

"Where?" Clary turned her head to see Alec, standing up as he looked at his Parabatai and his sister, not before swaying on his feet slightly, causing both the younger Lightwoods to stiffen immediately. Alec waved their concerns away. "I'm fine, so where is it?"

"I think…its fine if you stay at the Institute. Let me and Izzy handle this. Besides," Jace looked at his Parabatai dead-on. "You're looking too pale. What's wrong with you?" Alec frowned.

"I already said I'm fine. And let yourself get killed? No can do." Before anyone could say anything, Alec had walked out of the room.

"At least change out of that awful sweater you're wearing!" Isabelle yelled after a while. Jace gave her a deadpanned look. "A leopard doesn't change his spots. You could have said something else, really." Isabelle shrugged.

"You know its no point asking after his health. He'll just tell you he's fine."

"But…is there any reason why you don't want him to go?" Clary looked back and forth between them. "Because you sounded really reluctant, aside from…whatever seems to be afflicting him these days."

"His looking too pale is one thing, the lack of an appetite another. The last reason is because it's in Brooklyn." Jace crossed his arms. "That bastard of a glitter idiot warlock's place."

"Jace!"

"What?" Jace snapped at Isabelle. "I'm not feeling forgiving of a petty eight-hundred year old warlock, nor do I have any reason to. He's only lucky Alec's not doing anything stupid that I did before." Clary cringed internally at the memory, whereas Jace seemed too mad to recall anything.

"Petty issues aside, we gotta get going. Clary, draw a portal rune for us?" Isabelle asked. Clary blinked for a while. "Uh…uh, okay, sure." Pulling out her stele, she made to draw the rune before she paused.

"Can I come along too?"

"No." was two flat out responses given to her.

"And you still came anyway." Clary stifled a scream as she spun around in shock to see an exasperated elder Lightwood staring at her, arms crossed over his chest.

"Alec, you scared me! Wait, weren't you with Jace and Izzy…?" she peeked out from where she had been hiding, stalking more like it, she thought, from behind the tree. "How did you…?"

"I usually run through a quick scan of the area of wherever we're hunting at, to make sure we don't get any surprise attacks from behind. Especially in our current situation." Clary cast a downward glance. The battle with Seba…no…Jonathan, was drawing close, and Clary was seeing the effects it was having on the Shadowhunters. The treachery of the Fair Folk only had added on to more worries.

"I got a bit worried…so I tagged along…" Clary mumbled.

"We're Shadowhunters. We'll be fine." Alec reminded her gently, causing Clary to look up, startled at his soft tone.

"Alec…you…"

"Jace, behind you!" Isabelle's cry caused Alec and Clary to promptly look up. "That's why I told them not to go by themselves. Stay here!" he yelled to Clary as he dashed towards his younger siblings.

"Well will you look that that." Jace spun his dagger in his hand. "Some party it is." No sooner had he finished his sentence he heard the sound of an arrow zipping through the air as it hit a demon behind him.

"Alec?" Isabelle said as her whip cracked, sending two demons flying before they dissipated into thin air.

"In the trees!" Jace yelled in reply as he jumped over a Ravener demon before back-sinking his seraph blade into it, the demon screaming as it burst into ashes.

"Watch him!" Isabelle gasped out as she narrowly dodged a potentially damaging blow. "Last thing we need is him being more injured than he already is!"

Jace bumped into Isabelle's back as the demons closed in around them. "Please, we both know the only reason he's always hurt is because of us."

"Our stupidity, you mean." Isabelle grinned.

Jace merely smirked back in reply as two more arrows found their mark.

Alec jumped from tree to tree, thanking the Angels for the Balance rune. Although with more practice he hadn't need the rune so much, but trees were a completely different thing…

"Jace!" he gasped out as he saw a demon slither towards the back of his Parabatai, claws open-

And said demon burst as his arrows found their mark. Thanking the Angels again, he promptly nocked his bow, letting loose two more arrows to create an opening for his siblings to break through. He saw Isabelle take immediate advantage of the opening, her whip crackling and sizzling as it swung through the air.

"Alec! Behind you!" Alec jumped to the next branch as a demon landed where he had once been, and he let loose an arrow, hitting the demon at the eyes as it fell off the branch, its screams gradually fading. Heaving a breath, he jumped off the branch, one at a time until he landed onto the ground where a panting Clary was awaiting him.

"I told you to stay there!" he hissed at her. She glared at him indignantly. "If I had, who's going to watch your back?"

Alec opened his mouth to retort, but promptly froze as he heard shuffling noises. "What's that?" Clary whispered. As if on instinct, one of Alec's hand shot out as he and Clary moved backwards slowly. "It sounds like…someone is running…more than one person in fact."

"So its human?" Clary replied. Alec shook his head. "Get behind the tree."

As if on cue, two hooded figures burst out from the thick bushes, a horde of Ravener demons following and screaming closely behind. Alec and Clary watched as one of them stopped, white sparks crackling on their fingertips before the demons were consumed by white flames, but others appeared in its brethen's place, hissing violently.

"Warlocks." Clary whispered. And it was clear that they were exhausted, judging by how the one who had ignited the white flames sank against their partner. They wouldn't last long against the horde at this state. A hiss turned Clary's attention to Alec, who was pulling down his sleeve, but not before Clary saw a glimpse of a Stamina rune, freshly drawn. "I'll cover them. Clary, can you get them to safety? Or at least buy time before Jace and Izzy arrive." Clary nodded and ran over to the Warlocks, who turned to her, their body language clearly surprised by her appearance.

"Hi." She managed breathlessly before pulling out her stele, quick hand movements drawing out the shape of a Vision rune. The horde immediately froze. "Alec! Now!"

She barely noticed the taller of the two Warlocks flinch as arrows flew, hitting their targets. Alec ran out, seraph blade in hand, bow in another. "Clary! Go!"

She spun to face the two Warlocks. "Go, hurry!"

"Alec!" a sizzling sound and the final screams of demons indicated that Jace and Isabelle were close. The two Warlocks turned and ran, Clary following close behind, but not before a glimpse backward showing that the Vision rune was fading even as Alec destroyed those in close proximity before running after them.

"Watch out!" she barely had time to register the warning and why the voice was so familiar before a tentacle came flying towards her, and the next thing she remembered was the cold, hard ground.

"…her head…more severe…safe place…" smatterings of words reached her ears as her world slowly came to focus. Apparently, whoever she was resting on felt her awake, for there was slight movement.

"Clary?" She groaned as she made to slowly sit up, her vision starting to solidify. She turned her head. "Jace?"

The blond let out a relieved sigh. "Thank god you're okay."

"Having a massive headache hardly counts as okay."

"That's of course, you got hit by Raum demon and you flew into a tree." Isabelle walked towards her, her lips in a thin line. She was covered in scratches, but looked relatively unharmed. So did Jace. That left…

"Alec?" Jace's smile faded. "Both of you got hit by the demon. Alec pushed you out of the way before it could do any major damage, but he got himself poisoned as a result." Clary sat up straighter in alarm. "Where's he?"

Then she frowned as she saw her surroundings. "This place…"

"As it turns out, the two Warlocks that we saved turned out to be none other than Bane and his friend." Clary flinched slightly at the harshness in Jace's tone. He clearly wasn't in a forgiving mode. "His friend, Catarina Loss, is a healer. They've been in there for a while now." He nodded his head towards Magnus's bedroom.

No sooner had he finished his sentence the door opened and an exhausted Catarina walked out, the door shutting close behind her. She was swaying on their feet, but managed to keep a semblance of balance as she fell onto the sofa seats.

"How's Alec?" Isabelle walked towards her.

"I see the young Fairchild is awake." The blue-skinned woman said tiredly. "As for your brother, I've done the best I can." She grimaced.

"What do you mean? What do you mean, your best?" Jace's voice had risen. Catarina looked at him. "There's still poison in his system, something I cannot extract in my current state. Battling those demons made me waste magic unnecessarily, not to mention the portal travel…"

"Where's Bane? Is he with my brother?" Catarina narrowed her eyes at him. "I don't like your tone, boy. But yes, he is with your brother."

Jace rose up from the seat, but Clary caught his arm. "Jace, please."

"I'm not leaving Alec in there with that bastard!"

"Well unfortunately for you," Catarina was now also on her feet, eyes blazing, "I am aware of what transpired between your brother and Magnus, and while I do not feel your brother was in the wrong, neither was Magnus. Now sit down!" Jace's eyes blazed in return, but Clary's incessant tugging on his arm forced him to sit back down.

"Then what is my brother's current condition?" Isabelle's trembling voice betrayed her anger and her worry for her brother, but her face was straight. Catarina scrutinized her carefully. "Inside your brother's body, there is not just the Raum's demon poison, but also poisons of other kinds. Old ones. There's especially one poison that is making the extraction process difficult because it's been mixing with the newer venoms. Have you noticed anything odd of your brother lately?"

There was silence for a while. "He's been looking very out of sorts lately. In a daze, almost. But his face always looks like he's in pain." Isabelle said. "Not to mention the lack of appetite and sleep." Jace added, clenching his fists.

"The poison is from a Greater Demon." All three looked up at once. "Has he fought with a Greater Demon before?" Catarina asked.

"Abbadon." Jace spoke up, and his eyes narrowed again. "But Bane said he's cleaned the poison off his system!"

"Because most Warlocks specialize in basic healing magic, they cannot feel residue of poison, especially such that of Greater Demon poisons." Catarina cut through his tirade. "As one who specializes in the area of healing magic, I can sense it. Besides, your brother has accumulated years of toxins in his system, and its weakening him, little by little. Add on to Abbadon's poison, its hastening the process."

"Is there any way to completely remove the poisons?" Clary asked. Catarina's lips thinned. "There is, but it's a painful and long process. I wouldn't recommend it. And his body won't be able to take it."

Silence fell over the room again.

"Cleanse…cleanse…" Clary tossed about on the bed, sleep evading her. The four of them had earlier fallen into an uneasy conversation about why the Warlocks had been out that late and why they were being chased by the demons.

"Probably sent by Jonathan Morgensten to stop us." Catarina said, her fingers crossed over each other. "The Warlocks will aid you in the war, but we are not enough. There are those that will not fight. Magnus and I were just speaking to the Mer-folk, and they've agreed to rally to your cause, if not revenge for their brethren who fell to Valentine's cruelty."

"How do we know that they won't turn tail like that traitorous bastards of a Fair Folk?" Jace snapped.

"Have you not been listening?" Catarina snapped in return. "They seek to avenge their own kind. Hundreds of them fell to Valentine, and Jonathan has no use for them. He will wipe them out, given the chance."

"He will." Clary felt her throat clench. "He'll do it."

"But we're also fortunate." Catarina leaned back against the sofa, sighing. "Some of the Fair Folk have rallied against their queen, mainly the pixies. But the army is still large, and that's our disadvantage."

"The vampires will not rally unless they have a reason to." Isabelle added.

"The vampires have always been of their own." Catarina rubbed her temples. "If only Ragnor was still here…perhaps Raphael would help…" her voice trailed away. "But even now they have their own problems. We don't know if Maureen, the new leader of the vampires, is hostile or friend. At least she doesn't want Raphael dead so badly, so that's a bonus."

"Yea, all she needs is Simon." Isabelle scowled. No one replied.

"A method to remove all poisons…existing ones…if even the iratze can't heal…" she mumbled to herself. "Cleanse, cleanse…cleanse…?" she sat upright. "Cleanse…"

A shape like the iratze, but a longer stroke where the line flared out, and the addition of another line, like a pair of wings to take the pain away…

She threw the blanket off her as she hastily walked to Magnus's rune, the image burning in her mind.

He didn't know how long he had sat there, by Alec's side. All he was focused on was how the elder Lightwood was thrashing about in his poison-induced haze, and how he, the High Warlock of Brooklyn, was powerless to do anything because he was lacking in the strength.

"Max…" Magnus froze. Alec was sweating profusely, and his usually pale skin looked paler. Tears were streaming down his cheeks. "Max, don't go…"

"Alexander." Magnus whispered, clutching Alec's hand. The skin felt hot to his touch. "Alec, darling, you can't go there…"

"Max…don't go…take me…" Fear seized Magnus. "Alexander." He felt his voice rising. "Darling, you can't go there!"

The door slammed open, and Magnus looked up to see a panting Clary. "Clary…what-"

"I think I know what I can do." Clary walked towards them, her face contorting as she looked at Alec. "I don't know if it works the same way, but I trust it'll work."

Magnus stared at her, then to the stele in her hand. "Clary, not that I don't trust your abilities, but Alec isn't in any state to test your rune."

"Trust me on this." Emerald eyes looked at golden ones. "Just hold Alec, I don't know what the effects are like." Before Magnus could protest, Clary had climbed onto the bed and taken hold of Alec's right arm.

Like a pair of wings to free pain…

Black ink flowed from the tip of the stele.

The burning was what had woken him.

Jace had barely time to wake Isabelle before he made his way to Magnus's room, only to see his Magnus holding his Parabatai while he retched and coughed into a bucket on the floor.

"Magnus, what-" Catarina had appeared behind Jace, wide awake. "What happened to him!?"

"I drew a rune-" Catarina turned to looked at Clary, who was still on the bed. "You drew a rune!? Do you know what state is he in right now!?"

A series of choking and retching sounds turned their attention back to Alec, who had fallen to painful gasps as he slumped limply into Magnus's arms. Catarina moved to turn on the light, squinting at the sudden brightness as she walked over to check the boy…

And froze as she saw the contents in the bucket.

"What in the Angel's name is this…!?" Isabelle whispered as she stared into the contents of the bucket. Black, murky liquid filled the bucket, a layer of what seemed like oil coating the surface. Isabelle felt sick looking at it.

Catarina and Isabelle jumped as Alec once more retched into the bucket, and Isabelle covered her mouth as she watch black liquid spill out of her brother's mouth before he fell into coughing spasms. She barely registered Clary's voice of "It's gone", but Catarina had heard.

"Catarina…Alec…" she looked at Magnus, who was holding the boy close to his chest. Taking a breath, she let her magic flow through the boy…and blinked. "How…"

There was no trace of residue poison, not a least bit. She let her magic flow through one more time…and it felt so clean…so clean that it was almost frightening. "Clarissa." She looked at the flame-haired girl. "What did you do?"

"Cleanse." She raised her stele. "I call it the Cleanse rune." She added in a small voice. "What you mentioned about needing to clean thoroughly …"

Maryse Lightwood had been less than pleased when all of them had suddenly portaled back to the Institute, thereby tripping the alarm that had taken an hour to shut it out, and even more displeased when she heard of what had happened to Alec. Still, she said nothing as they placed Alec onto the infirmary bed, listening as she sat by Alec's side.

"And how do you know if he's been completely clean?" Catarina pressed.

"The rune will fade completely." She raised Alec's arm. "I drew the rune here." She circled the area with her stele.

"And there's no marking left behind…" Jace said in astonishment. "It's not even faded it's just…gone."

"The rune fades away as it clears the toxins. All presence of demon poison or whatsoever."

"So Alec will be fine?" Maryse asked at the same time as Magnus asked, "Then why is he still unconscious?"

"About that…"

"You could have given a forewarning that it was going to be this disgustingly painful though." A tired and battered voice reached their ears.

"Alec!" Jace and Isabelle were by his side at once. "Alec, how do you feel?"

"Like I've been run through in the stomach and that someone just clawed my throat out." He whispered, wincing. "Don't get me started on what my body feels too."

"You're going to be okay then." Jace grinned in relief. Isabelle nodded, smiling.

"I should not think so." Both of them flinched as they slowly turned to look at a fuming Maryse Lightwood. "Both of you. Study. Now." And with that, she all but stormed out of the room.

"We're screwed." Jace whined. Alec chuckled weakly. "That's why I said you'll never be okay without me."

"Alexander." All occupants turned to face Magnus, as Alec's eyes widened slowly as Magnus's face came into clear view. "Why…"

Catarina cleared her throat. "Well, I'll be on my way then." She turned and left the room. Jace and Isabelle made to leave, but not before Jace hissed at Magnus. "This isn't over, Bane." and promptly stormed out of the room, Isabelle shooting daggers at him before she too, followed after her adoptive brother. Clary looked back and forth before following them, shutting the door behind her.

"Are they going to be fine?" she turned to look at Catarina, who was leaning against the wall. Catarina shrugged. "Talking goes a long way."

"Then should I draw an extra powerful Locking rune to keep people out?" Catarina smiled, amused.

"Do what you like."

A/N: I wasn't counting this to be this longgggggg a chapter, but it happened. And once again, I apologise for the very late update! _ I was jammed on ideas for a while, but thankfully this one came naturally.

PS: Did anyone get the Jessamine reference? ;))

And I would once again, like to thank everyone who read or favorited this story! Of course, feel free to give me any rune ideas, the ones that aren't in the Codex of course xD, and I'll do my best! ^^

Once again thank you and hope you enjoyed it! ^^