Pairing: Magnus/Alec, minor Jace/Clary, minor Simon/Clary.

Rating: Nothing overly explicit, but things do get intense.

Story length: planning around 7-8 chapters.

Warnings: nothing explicit I can think of... a lot of angst?

Genre: angst, emotional hurt/comfort, romance...

Spoilers: up to [2x10] in the show, no book spoilers.

How did it all go wrong so fast?

Just a few hours after dawn, all the Shadowhunters were summoned for briefing. All that was left of them anyway, in the aftermath of the attack. The casualties were above imaginable and the tension in the Institute was not the atmosphere Alec or anyone else wanted to be part of.

But duty came first.

Aldertree was standing on the podium, addressing everyone with authority.

"Fellow Shadowhunters. The war with Valentine has been put to a stop but not without consequences. We mourn those that we lost and punish our enemies for their crimes," he paused for a dramatic effect and then continued on, "Now, while the interrogation of Valentine Morgenstern is still in progress, there is a certain group of individuals that will be summoned for questioning as theye have a direct involvement with the horrifying events that took place inside the walls of the Institute," he said and even before the names were listed, the group had exchanged glances with each other, knowing what was coming next.

"Jace Wayland, Alec Lightwood, Clary Fairchild, Simon Lewis – I expect you in my office immediately. For all the others, you're on a temporary lockdown. Dismissed."

Alec had to stay strong – as the leader and for Jace's sake. Everything that took place that night was pure madness. The number of people they had lost… only the thought that Magnus wasn't one of them gave him the push he needed to keep on moving straight.

He felt a soft, feminine hand on his forearm and looking up he saw Isabelle by his side, together with everyone else in a small circle their group seemed to have had formed.

"I will go with you. We should be in this together."

"No, Izzy. You stay. You're still weak from…"

Alec still felt very uncomfortable about everything that went down with his sister. They never really had a chance for a proper talk, but at least he was on speaking terms with her right now. He took it as a win. He reached to cover his palm over her hand on his arm, squeezing it slightly. "You should rest. We'll tell him everything that we know and be back with you soon."

"Yeah, Isabelle, don't worry, we'll just tell him-" Clary had started but was interrupted by Jace.

"-that I activated the Soul Sword?"

Despite his efforts, the closed off look on Jace wasn't fooling anyone. Especially not Alec who could still feel so much guilt in Jace through their parabatai bond. He thought he was doing better but ever since he talked with Clary (which clearly he didn't), he refused to speak with anyone else until the very start of the briefing.

"Jace, that wasn't your fault. You tried to stop it," Clary said from his side, her hand tentatively falling down on Jace's arm. It only got brushed off, leaving a hurt look on Clary.

"Yeah, so much for that. It doesn't matter now, let's just go."

"Jace…" Alec tried to stop him from leaving, but the intense wave of rejection that was coming through their bond, stopped him from going further.

"Maybe they won't punish us," Simon cut in, three pair of eyes turning to look at him with unbelievable looks on their faces. "I mean, we did help them catch Valentine, right? It must count for something."

"Yeah, they might not burn you in the sun," Jace spat sarcastically, really having no patience for the vampire right now.

"Technically I'm unable to burn in the sun right now-" Simon was starting again but before he could elaborate the group had already reached the doors of Aldertree's office and stopped short just outside. Ready to be asked in.

"Simon," Clary chided him.

"Right. Sorry. Bad timing. I talk a lot when I'm nervous."

"You always talk a lot," Alec commented from the sidelines.

Simon nodded in an absentminded consideration of that. Clary shook her head at them and turned to Jace one last time. "We won't let anything happen to you, Jace."

"We won't," Alec assured him.

But the wry smile on his face told them that he didn't really believe that.

"Might be already too late for that."

Alec was asked in first.

He knocked just as he was asked to come inside.

"Alec, please, sit."

Alec didn't like the look on his face as soon as he stepped through the doors. Something about Aldertree just spoke volumes that he was up to something. Alec wondered if there was still a way for him to use Izzy's case against him, just in case, no matter how much he loathed to put Izzy through trial that would come out of it if it were to be done.

He couldn't have been more wrong. Or naive.

Aldertee seemed at ease with himself – a hot cup of coffee in hand – he was enjoying the aroma of the beverage, sipping it in small amounts.

"Are you going to start yet or should I leave you for your coffee break?" Alec asked rather abruptly.

He couldn't care less about the raised eyebrow of the Head of the Institute.

Finally with a sigh, the dark skinned man put the cup on the table – the resonating sound echoing in the dim lit office.

He put Alec under a steady gaze, letting him immediatelly know that he wouldn't like anything that's going to come out of his mouth.

"I have sent a fire message to the High Warlock of Brooklyn, Magnus Bane, for summons. I expect him to answer to my call or I'll have to dispatch a unit to get him," he told him casually, a crease appearing in Alec's forehead, as his heart skipped a beat at hearing the name of his lover.

What did they want from Magnus now?

"Why? What do you need Magnus for?"

He absolutely disliked the lazy smirk that appeared on Aldertree's face.

"For questioning, of course. He was also directly involved in the events," he said, leaving Alec confused and defensive against the out-of-nowhere accusations that were being thrown at his lover.

"What?" he asked. "How? He wasn't even there when the Soul Sword activated."

"Yes," Aldertree drawled. "How very convenient for him."

Something literally snapped in Alec at those words.

Did he really just say that or was he hearing things before his time? How could he even put the word "convenient" word to a life and death situation? If he wasn't the Head of the Institute, Alec would've already had his bow ready to shoot.

After everything that they had been through… after almost literally loosing Magnus... to hear someone say it was convenient for Magnus to what, stay alive?

He swallowed the tight lump in his throat, closing his eyes for a brief moment before addressing his boss again. "Convenient?" he asked, his voice cracking at the end. "Do you- He's a Downworlder, he would have died if he stayed when the Soul Sword activated. You can't honestly try pinning this on him for leaving-"

"Under suspicion of crime, yes I can."

Alec felt his heart skyrocket to his throat as a sudden wave of panic started to settle deep inside his stomach. "What're you talking about?"

The other man took a hold of the coffee cup on his table, taking his time to put it to the side before lacing his fingers on the table, leaning in towards Alec with a hard no-nonsense look.

"It's my knowledge that Magnus Bane took the young child warlock, who was responsible for twenty four Shadowhunter's deaths, into hiding, himself unharmed. Is that correct?"

Alec felt himself shaking his head involuntary. Whatever Aldetree was planning, it wasn't anything good and Alec rushed himself to start thinking of a quick escape route. His first stop being Magnus. Reaching Magnus and telling him to put his double… triple wards up, anything, just not come into the Institute.

"What're you trying to do here?" he asked, forcing his voice to keep steady.

"Answer only the questions that I ask, Alec," the other man said harshly. "Did he or did he not use a portal to take Madzie out of the Institute after she had slaughtered all those Shadowhunters?"

The Clave needed someone to blame for all the horror that had happened….

"He took Madzie out of there to stop her from using her powers anymore. To protect her and everyone else. She was being used. By Valentine. She's only a child, what do you expect-" he tried protesting in vain, but Aldertree seemed to only hear what he wanted.

"So the answer is yes."

They needed someone to blame… a scapegoat… Valentine wasn't enough. They needed someone to be responsible for letting Valentine act on it. Jace. His parabatai. He was a Lightwood, despite his lineage. Maryse wouldn't put the Lightwood's family's name in danger.

She would sacrifice a Downworlder, though…

Alec felt he was going to be sick.

He abruptly stood up, rounding the chair, ready to march out of the room. "I need to leave."

He needed to find Magnus.

He needed to tell him to run. Fast.

If the Clave was after him…

Aldertree's voice stopped him from going further. "Leave this room and you'll be in danger of deruning. Again, I might add." You could literally hear the smirk in his voice.

Standing with his back towards the Head, Alec couldn't imagine that he would be feeling so powerless twice in a single day. He felt like a mouse trapped between the jaws of the mousetrap, immobilized but not dead yet.

After taking a deep breath, he turned around to face the man.

"Look, I don't know what the Clave or whoever told you, but leave Magnus out of this. He's done nothing but help us all."

"Yes, " Aldertree agreed, Alec thought naively for a second, before proven wrong. "Like how he had refused a direct order and assaulted a Shadowhunter inside the walls of the Insitute."

That again? Alec shook his head, his hand coming to cover his forehead.

"He was saving my life!" he burst out.

Why couldn't they all just leave him and Magnus alone? Just for once.

"That does seem to be his pattern," the man noted and took a pen to, for God's sake, write something down on his notepad.

Was he putting on a case on Magnus with Alec standing right there? Right there, in front of him?

His breathing started to increase, he could feel himself losing the feeling of stability on the ground, going mostly numb in his legs. Was he going to fail Magnus again? He… loved him. He had just told him that, not even twenty four hours ago. He was supposed to be there for him and now… he should have never even opened up his mouth. He should have never even started, now Aldetree was plotting some kind of master case of making Magnus responsible for everything and Alec couldn't do a damn thing to stop him, unless he wanted to risk deruning and then he would be greatly helpful as a damn mundane.

Aldertree must have noticed him taking more and more gulps of air because he was ordered to get back to his seat again. "Sit down, Alec."

His silence didn't last long.

"So, were you or were you not the only Shadowhunter spared in the attack of the young warlock Madzie?"

Alec closed his eyes, just praying for this to be over soon.

As soon as the interrogation was over, Alec nearly bolted through the doors, ready to get back to his phone, inform Magnus and everyone else in the process to not say a damn word to Aldertree.

If he wasn't as stressed as he was, he would've realized that Aldertree was letting him off too easy.

He only got as far as the first corner before he found himself trapped behind the wards inside the hallway, trapping runes on either side… his stele still back in his room, where they had orders beforehand to leave their things at.

"No… no no no, this is not- Aldertree, you can't do- Clary! Jace! Izzy!" he yelled for anyone he could think of but the trapping wards being soundproof would never give him the results he wanted.

He slumped with his palms against the invisible wall.

"Damn it!"

There was a knock on the door and a petite redhead walked inside.

"Hello, Clary Fairchild. I'd like you to answer some questions for me."

The smile he greeted her with, didn't sit fully right with her but she wasn't about to question his authority just yet.

She knew she had to help Jace out somehow.

There had to be a way, Alec thought.

Until the Clave put a solid case on Magnus, Aldertree could still be stopped.

He only needed to get out of those stupid wards and tell someone about it.

He only needed to get out…

"Look, I know I wasn't supposed to be here tonight, but I was only trying to help Simon. I swear, If I had another choice-"

Aldertree stopped Clary's rant with a hand.

"Yes. I know. But please only answer my questions. Is it true that you were portaled to the Institute despite knowing that your presence alone could bring destruction to the Downworld, by the High Warlock Magnus Bane?"

Clary shifted in her seat, not liking the sound of that.

She wanted to help Jace, but not put Magnus to blame for her own actions.

"He only did that because I insisted. Simon was in danger. Valentine had him, I couldn't just leave him," she told him. "Look, he didn't even care about his own well being. He only worried about Alec being safe-"

"Thank you, Clary. That'll be quite enough. "

The smile he led her out of the room with worried Clary as if she had said something she shouldn't have.

Maybe he should have punched him?

A few weeks ago, even in his wildest dreams he wouldn't have pondered of the possibility of hitting the Head but these days he seemed to be so over all those rules that he felt almost back in his younger days.

We're Lightwoods. We punch noses and accept consequences.

At least he would have been unconscious long enough time to inform Magnus.

"Simon Lewis. I can assure you that your Encanto will not be working here on me."

The patient look Aldertree was giving to a frozen vampire was just that, patient. But nothing lasted forever.

Simon blinked at once, shaking himself out of it.

"Oh. Yeh, right. Sorry, I just- I'm kinda nervous." He laughed a little, bouncing his feet noisily against the floor. "With everything that happened, you know- I mean, the Soul Sword, huh? I thought I was a goner there-"

"Yes, I'm very interested to know how did you survive the blast... when every other Downworlder in the room got killed?"

"Honestly? I have no idea. And does it really matter? I mean can't a guy just be glad to not have turned into a fried egg on the floor? At least I am."

The Head sighed.

"Simon, what is your relationship with warlock Magnus Bane?"

Simon feared he'd get the hard questions, like – How did Jace activate the Soul Sword? Was he aware he'd activate it? – but this? This was easy. These were the questions he could answer.

"Magnus? Oh, he's my 101. For Vampire coaching," he replied proudly.

"So, he's your mentor?"

Simon nodded. "Yeah."

There was a moment where notes were being written but before Simon could question it, he was asked out.

"I see. Thank you for your time."

Jace could feel Alec's worries through their parabatai bond. It was nearly as bad as just a few hours earlier today and if he was not absolutely sure that Magnus was fine, he'd be wondering if something else hadn't happened to Magnus, but thinking where he was being led to, he could only come up with one answer – Aldertree must want Jace dead.

He wouldn't care much about his life, but Alec, he wasn't sure if his parabatai could survive his loss.

He couldn't think of anything more, before he was led inside.

Aldertree was sporting a disgustingly sweet smile on his face, and he might not have been too big a fan of the man, but he couldn't quite remember ever feeling so repulsed just by seeing him.

Must have been because the man was just about to announce his execution.

With a sigh, Jace sat down on the chair, opposite Aldertree.

"Jace Wayland. I must admit, I didn't expect you back in my office just so soon."

"Cut to the chase. You want to punish me, just do it. I am responsible for all those deaths. I killed all of them."

Jace chided himself in his head. Way to go. Straight for the kill, Wayland. But he remained stoic on the outside.

"Technically, that might be true," the man started, making Jace frown in confusion at the choice of his words. "But only partly. There's a reason why you activated the Soul Sword. It was because Clary was there, right?" he purposely stressed Clary's name out, which didn't sit well with Jace.

Whatever he was trying to do, he would better be leaving Clary out of it. She wasn't getting involved. Not on his watch.

"I didn't activate the Soul Sword because of Clary. I wanted to destroy it. I thought I had demon blood in me that could do that."

Ironically, how all this time he despised having demon blood but when he truly needed it, just once in his life, then it failed him.

"Yes." Aldertree's voice shook him back to focus. "Who told you that again?"

Jace narrowed his eyes at the Head. Who else? "Valentine."

"Hm. Didn't he also seem to know that you'd activate the sword?"

"He knew I'd try to save Clary if she was in danger."

What was he getting at?

"And you only reached out for the sword because Clary was here, in the Institute. Just like Valentine planned."

Okay, Jace was starting to absolutely not like the sound of all this, but the throbbing in his parabatai bond told him to hurry up and go to Alec, to reassure him that Aldertree probably didn't want him dead.

Not for this, at least.

"Valentine had Simon. Clary would've never stayed away," he said while something throbbed inside him painfully. Of course Clary would never stay put when Simon's life was in danger. Especially now that they were an item… they were more inseparable than ever.

"Yes, but your friends were making sure that despite her pleas she would not be found in the Institute, right?" Aldertree asked, as if to be sure. It felt mocking, if anything. He damn well knew that they failed on that.

Jace leaned in towards the man, staring him right in the eyes. "Look, we had no choice. Magnus did what he thought was right. Like we all did."

Crap, he could only think.

He must have said something wrong, if the creepy smile was anything to go by.

He hoped Alec was going to forgive him somehow.

"So it seems. Thank you, Jace. You've been most helpful to the Clave."

Down in the closely secured chambers, one prisoner was waiting patiently until his time to strike again. He was desperate to look for any excuse.

Lucky for him, he wasn't the only one.

"Mr. Morgenstern, I'd just like to ask you one specific question."

He never thought Victor Aldertree would give him the key.

The sound blared right throughout the walls of the Institute – the alarm going off, red light flashing the announcement in the middle of the Ops Center.

Curious Shadowhunters all gathered like swarms towards the shrilling sound, wanting to be the first to see.

Isabelle was the first of the group, having been left behind, to see the horrifying words. With hands against her mouth, she stared at them in horror.

"Magnus Bane. Wanted for Treason. Alive or Incapacitated."

to be continued...? Leave me your thoughts if you'd like me to continue.