"Izzy, I don't care how hot he is IF HE'S A WANTED CRIMINAL, HE'S OFF LIMITS!" Alec shouted into his cell phone, exhaling with exasperation as he kicked off his shoes and tossed his seraph blade on the counter

"Awww" Isabelle's whine came over the phone, "He was in the wrong place at the wrong time. It wasn't his fault!"

"Izzy" He said warningly, "I spent all night clearing a nest of Demons, I am running on caffeine and adrenaline at this point- Don't push me,"

"Fine" Izzy muttered angrily, and hung up. She would probably date the guy anyway, but Alec could deal with that later, at the moment, he needed to focus on putting an Iraz on his bleeding stomach before he passed out. Bracing himself on the counter, he reached for his steelie, before remembering that it had snapped in half as some point in his fight with the demons. Alec cursed in frustration, stomping his foot childishly, and winced in pain at the sudden movement.

"I'm afraid that stomping your foot, however satisfying it might be, is not going to help your predicament," A smooth voice purred in his ear.

Alec tensed, "Bane" He hissed in displeasure. He had almost forgotten about the Warlock, Magnus Bane, who had been temporarily staying in the institute while he set up the wards. Izzy had taken to Magnus immediately while Jace bristled like an angry cat around him, taking every opportunity to pick a fight. Alec had tried to remain neutral towards Magnus, but he didn't like the way Magnus smirked and winked at him the first time they met. Or maybe he did like it, and that was the problem, Alec couldn't tell. He didn't like where his thoughts went around Magnus, and made a point to avoid Magnus whenever possible, and Magnus noticed.

"Antonio" Magnus replied, intentionally getting Alecs name wrong, "Could you please avoid bleeding out in the kitchen? It's rather unsanitary."

Alec glared at Magnus. "I wasn't trying to" He growled, but Magnus was right, bodily fluid did not belong in the kitchen. Alec took a step towards the doorway. Black spots danced across his vision and his knees gave way.

"Idiot" Magnus said catching Alec by the waist, before he could crash to the ground, "It was a joke. Your welcome to bleed out wherever you like, who am I to judge."

Alec froze, Magnus's fingers were like tendrils of fire on Alec's skin, sending jolts of electricity up Alec's spine. For a second, Alec leaned into the touch, wanting more, before realizing what he was doing. His face flushed with shame. "Don't touch me" he snapped, almost instinctively.

"To pure to be tainted by a dirty downworlder?" Magnus asked, immediately letting Alec go, and watching with a smirk as Alec fell to the ground with a very undignified yelp,

"That's not it" Alec protested, blinking away stars as he struggled to sit up,

Magnus raised a skeptical eyebrow, "Is that so?"

Alec blinked, a thick fog was entering his brain, making it difficult for him to follow one train of thought, "Uh-"

"I suppose I should heal you, your about two pints short. It's really amazing you're still conscious but-" Magnus sighed theatrically, "I might get blood on my coat, and this is one of my favorites."

Alec tried to see the coat Magnus was wearing but his eyes wouldn't focus and the world was rapidly blurring around him. "Is it green?" He asked, his words slurring slightly,

Magnus chuckled dropping to his knees beside Alec, "No darling, you're looking at the ceiling."

"Oh" Alec murmured letting his head fall backwards, his eyes fluttering shut,

Magnus said something that Alec didn't catch, everything around him sounded distant, as if Alec were underwater, but Alec tried to focus on the sound of Magnus's voice. Soft, smooth, with a slight lilting of the vowels, lulling him into a trance.

"Do you mind if I remove your sweater so I can work on the wound?" Magnus was asking,

The words slowly worked through Alec's muddled brain. His body stiffened, his eyes opening and widening with fear, when their meaning finally hit him. "Don't" Alec said quickly, "Please."

Magnus frowned slightly, but didn't question him, "Alright, but I'm going to need to pull up your shirt a little to get to the wound anyway."

Alec nodded, exhaling in relief, his body relaxing as Magnus's cool fingers went to work on the gash on his side.

"Rise and shine sleepy head!"

Alec wrenched his eyes open to see Isabelle standing above him, her arms crossed. His entire body was sore and his head was pounding,

"Do you want to explain why you're lying in a puddle of congealed blood in the middle of the kitchen?" She asked irritably,

Alec blinked, wincing at the volume of her voice, and looked around. She was right, he was sprawled, his limbs sticking out at odd angles in an alarmingly large puddle of blood. "I'll clean it up?"

Isabelle arced an eyebrow, clearly unimpressed, "You better, and next time you bleed out, do it in your bedroom, the kitchen's just unsanitary,"

"I wasn't trying to" Alec grumbled, and sat up, ignoring his aching muscles cry's of protest and made his way to the sink where he promptly vomited.

"Your cleaning that too" Isabelle sung, "I'm going to Taki's with Simon- See you big brother." She kissed Alec on the cheek and disappeared.

Alec was on his knees, scraping dried blood off the floor, when Magnus wandered in. He walked over to the fridge and grabbed a cherry popsicle, before glancing disdainfully at Alec.

"Oh" He drawled, "Your alive."

"Sorry to disappoint" Alec muttered,,

"Oh no, On the contrary, I'm quite glad your alive, Adam," and Alec's shoulders slumped, Magnus would never remember his name, "I put so much work into healing you."

"You healed me?" Alec tilted his head slightly,

"Of coarse Abraham,, you collapsed into my arms like the damsel in distress you are and I had to heal you, and ruin my coat in the process." Magnus smirked at the look of embarrassment on Alec's face.

"Wait," Alecs brow furrowed, "Didn't you drop me?"

"Only because you didn't feel comfortable being touched by me," Magnus waved his hand dismissively,

"Oh" Alec hung his head "I'm sorry,"

"It's alright," Magnus's voice was cold, "I'm used to it."

Alec wilted, pulling his sweater closer to his skin, an unconscious gesture, he wasn't sure where he had picked up,

"So, is that your security sweater?"

"What?" Alec blinked, marveling at how Magnus's tone had gone from icy to light and mocking,

"You seemed pretty attached to that sweater when I was healing you. You almost had an aneurysm when I asked if I could remove it. I was wondering why."

"Oh- uh" Alec's eyes darted around the room, as if searching for the nearest exit, "It's nothing,"

Magnus's eyes narrowed, but he just shrugged, "What ever Andrew." And with an unnecessary flourish he close the fridge and sashayed out of the room.

Alec was not in his element as he wove between the mass of sweaty people, pulsing to the music.

"Come on" Izzy exclaimed, "How often do you get invited to a Warlocks party?"

Alec bit his lip, "I wasn't invited to the party you were. He doesn't like me. We lived in the same house for a week and he doesn't even remember my name." Alec tried to keep the defeat out of his voice when he said it, but he clearly failed.

"Awww, Alec" Isabelle put a comforting hand on his shoulder, "He pretends to forget everyone's name, it's really nothing personal."

Alec just shrugged,

"Trust me" Isabelle continued, unnecessarily, "The Lightwoods are known for their sexual charisma, Magnus will fall for you eventually"

Alecs eyes widened in shock, his face turning beet red, "This conversation is over." He sputtered And he made a mental not to talk to his sister when she was drunk.

"Sexual charisma? Are you guys talking about me?" Jace appeared at Isabelle's elbow, Clary was clinging to his arm, looking just as uncomfortable as Alec.

"No" Isabelle grinned, "Actually, I was talking about my dear brother,"

Jace frowned thoughtfully, his gaze raked Alec, and Alec had to hold back a shiver. It wasn't the same way he looked at Clary. It would never be. "Yeah, Alec's pretty sexy. I'm not gay, but if I were, I would probably do him. He would be better if he were blond though with gold eyes though."

Alec felt his heart stutter. He opened his mouth, and shut it, unsure what to say. Sometimes he thought Jace did this to him on purpose, making off hand comments or joke about Alec and him being in a relationship, just because he knew the effect it had on Alec.

At that moment, Magnus came over, holding two drinks, and handling one to Isabelle, "I am so glad you came," He told her, pointedly ignoring Alec.

"I'm very glad I came too, it seems unfair to deny a lovely party such a fine human specimen" Jace admitted bashfully, plucking the drink out of Isabelle's hand and draining it,

Alec snorted and Magnus's cat eyes narrowed, "Sorry" Alec mumbled, unsure what he was apologizing for, and hunched his shoulders, trying to make himself as small as possible.

Magnus didn't press the subject though, and began talking to Isabelle about fashion. Alec tuned them out, and watched with a growing pain in his stomach as Jace pulled Clary into a long deep kiss.

A man approached Alec with a glass of some colorful liquid that burst sparks, "You look like you could use this," He said with a dazzling grin. The man was very attractive in the square jaw chiseled sense, and if it weren't for his skin, which was a soft lilac, Alec would have assumed he was a model.

"It won't turn me into a rat, will it?" Alec asked, as it changed from bright red to a deep green,

The man laughed, "Don't worry, you'll be fine."

Glancing at Jace, who was still trying to suck Clary's tonsils out, and Isabelle, who was still engrossed in a conversation with Magnus, he snatched the drink from the man's hands and brought it to his lips. There was a loud cracking sound, and before more than a few tablespoons of the liquid had entered his mouth, the cup shattered in his hand, shards of glass slicing open his skin

Alec gave a startled cry, and leapt backwards, looking to the man, who had disappeared into the crowd, and Izzy laughed,

"Sorry" Magnus smiled looking completely unapologetic, "But trust me, you don't want that in your system"

"Why?"

"It's spiked with Viate, a plant that induces hallucination, pain, and sometimes death" Magnus replied, easily,

Alec swore softly,

Magnus looked at him sharply, "You didn't drink any, did you?"

"Not that much…" Alec stared at his shoes`, he struggled with eye contact on a good day, but with those cat eyes, scrutinizing every movement, Alec found it nearly impossible for his eyes to meet them. Magnus rolled his eyes and grabbed Aec's wrist, leading him towards his bedroom.

"Sit" He commanded, pointing at the canary colored bed, Alec nodded, and sat on the silk comforter, feeling guilty about the way it wrinkled around him. He scanned the room, it was and explosion of colors and glitter, the dresser was cluttered with makeup and seemingly random items, various paintings decorated the wall, and the carpet was a deep gold accented with red. The entire thing screamed Magnus.

"Don't worry" Magnus said, sitting beside him, "I might be a warlock, but don't keep I dead bodies in my room."

Alec turned his gaze to the floor, embarrassed. He wouldn't like it if someone had come into his room and started gawking at his possessions, why would Magnus be any different.

Magnus grabbed Alecs jaw and tilted it it up, forcing Alec to make eye contact, their eyes met for a quarter of a second. Alec flushed, and immediately averted his eyes.

Magnus hissed in frustration, "I'm checking for pupil dilation, which is difficult seeing as you refuse to look at me."

Alec let his eyes rest on the bridge of Magnus's nose, as Magnus examined them. The warlock produced a flashlight from seemingly mid-air, and began shining it in Alecs eyes, watching the way they dilated and retracted.

"You pupils are dilated much further than they should be" He announced, "And they're not retracting in the light, suggesting that there's some of the poison left in the system. I can use my magic to scan your body for poison if you want."

Alec bit his lip, "I don't have any money…"

Magnus rolled his eyes, a gesture Alec was all too familiar with, "If you get poisoned at my party, social standards obligate me to heal you,"

Alecs brow furrowed slightly,"How did you notice that the drink was spiked?"

"The plant has faint magical properties warlocks can sense, if they pay attention."

"You were paying attention?" Alec blinked

Magnus ignored the question. "Using my magic to search your body for any signs of the poison is going to feel a little weird, are you okay with that?"

Alec looked nervous, but nodded.

Magnus took Alecs wrist and turned it over, placing two fingers on his pulse point, and Alec gasped as Magnus sent magic through his body. It was as if every nerve ending in his body had been activated and was filled with an intense pleasure, he couldn't help but turn to putty under the stimulation, slouching forward, his eyes fluttering shut. If Alec were standing up, he was sure that he would have slid to the ground.

"I told you it would feel weird" Magnus said, smirking, as he let Alec's hand go,

Alec didn't reply and just gaped at Magnus,

"Any way" Magnus continued, "Your fine, you might feel a little off the rest of the evening,but you'll be fine."

Alec relaxed, "Tha-"

He was interrupted by Isabelle, flung open the door, looking very pale, mascara streaking her cheeks, "Alec- Come- It's Jace."

Alec barely noticed the dirty looks he earned as the shoved his way through the crowd of people, Isabelle leading the way.

"Look." She said miserably, pointing to Jace, who was talking to two shadow hunter's, an angry gleam in his eye. Alec stepped closer to here the conversation.

"I haven't been killing Mundanes" He insisted, crossing his arms, "The only crime I've committed is being this good looking."

The smaller shadow hunter's eye brows shot up to her hairline, "Really? So it's just a coincidence that three Mundanes ended up dead in the area that you were patrolling, and witnesses say that they saw a boy your age covered in tattoos with a golden blade with all three victim's before their death?"

"Yes" Jace said stubbornly, "It could have been any Shadow Hunter my age, it was just a coincidence I was patrolling the area they died, the day they died, "

` "A coincidence that happened three times?"

Alec winced at how incriminating it sounded,

"What's going on?" Magnus said, his voice smooth as honey but his words laced with poison, and Alec jumped, he had almost forgotten about Magnus, "I don't remember inviting you."

The larger shadow hunter scowled, "We don't need an invitation warlock" he spat, "We're here on official Clave business, to issue the arrest of Jonathan Herondale, to be held in the Silent City, until we can prove that he's innocent."

Magnus narrowed his eyes, and didn't move, instead he folded his arms across his chest and leaned against the wall..

"Can't I have trial by Mortal Sword?" Jace demanded, his voice was growing frantic. "I can't go back there." His voice came out a broken whisper. Jace had been kept in the Silent City once after finding out the truth about who had raised him, and Alec could see the terror in his eyes at the idea of going their again

"The Mortal Sword is needed in Idris. We're not going to use it on a petty issue such as this." The shadow hunter said curtly, pulling out a pair of handcuffs, and Alec thought he saw Magnus's eyes narrow even further.

Jace's mouth was a thin hard line."Kinkey, but not my style." Though his words were confident, his voice shook when he said it, and his eyes were wide and panicked.

"Wait." Alec said the world was beginning to spin around him, he could barely stand, but the words kept coming to him, as if someone were speaking for him, "I've been covering for Jace while he was on patrol for the past month. I was the Shadow Hunter in the area of the victim's death. If you're going to arrest anyone arrest me."

Jace opened his mouth to protest but Isabelle kicked him, shooting Alec a meaningful look, "He's telling the truth. Jace wanted to spend time with Clary, so he asked Alec to patrol for him."

"We keep our own separate records of who parols when, that we don't show the Clave, if you want to see them" Alec challenged, praying that they wouldn't call his bluff.

"It's fine" The man said, in a voice that suggested that he didn't really care either way, as long as he got to make an arrest.

The women looked sceptical, but the man just shrugged, and fitted the handcuffs around Alec's wrist, and fastening them with a click. Alec gasped in pain as he felt an energy begin coursing through them, sending bursts of pain up his arm every time he moved.

"I don't see why this is necessary." Magnus interjected, placing a hand on Alec's shoulder, "The Silent City seems cruel for someone so young- I'd be happy to hold him, until the Mortal Sword is available- like I did his parents."

Alec opened his mouth, "You kept my parents?"

"Yes Aaron," Magnus said, mock patience in his voice, "They stayed with me when you're parents were awaiting trial for planning an uprising to kill all DownWorlders. It wasn't a pleasant experience, but one I would be willing to repeat=."

Alec opened his mouth and closed it, aware that he looked something like a fish struggling for air.

Magnus placed a hand on Alecs shoulder, "Why don't you go wait in my room while we work out the details. You look like you're going to pass out darling."