So I just saw the City of Bones movie, which wasn't perfect but pretty good, and I wanted to write something with the characters. So instead of working on one of the multiple Mortal Instrument fics that I've already started, I wrote a new one. I've been toying with this idea for a while and finally decided to write it. Warning: I know you will want to kill me but read until the ending please. It might just go differently than you were expecting.

As you could probably tell, this is based on the piece of spoiler artwork that Cassie Clare revealed for City of Heavenly Fire. If you haven't seen the picture, you can find it here: cassandraclare . tumblr . com(/)post(/)49328482146(/)city-of-heavenly-fire-spoilery-fanart

EDIT 9/24: OH MY GOD THERE IS FANART OF THIS FIC! You can see it here: wiiel . deviantart . com(/)art(/)Engulfed-WIP-Mortal-Instruments-Doujin-484287269 . Go comment on it and love it because it's perfect. It's currently only a work in progress, but I'll add a link to the finished piece when it's done.

Disclaimer: I am not Cassandra Clare.

Clary's blade was so close to her outstretched fingers, but it was just out of her grasp. She could hear Jace cry her name as she struggled to reach the hilt of her sword or shimmy her ankle out from beneath the bookcase that had fallen on it. The reason for Jace's worry was clear; a demon was bearing down on Clary, and she was completely unarmed. The demon reared, about to attack. Clary spared one desperate look at her blade, which was hardly an inch from her fingers, then tried her hardest to pull her foot free to no avail. The demon was about to lunge-

A sword decapitated the demon and the body crumpled. Behind it was Alec, his face impassive. "Thanks," Clary gasped. Wordlessly, Alec lifted the bookcase that had fallen on her foot for long enough for Clary to pull her ankle out from under it. She grabbed her sword and leapt to her feet. Her eyes widened in horror.

"Alec!" she cried out, panicked. Without even looking, Alec turned his sword and plunged it into the gut of the demon behind him.

"Do you know when the last time I heard your name was?" Sebastian asked conversationally. Behind his wall of demons, he was temporarily safe, but the Clary and the others were planning on changing that. "The last time I heard your name, Alec, was from the lips of that warlock."

All eyes flickered to Alec immediately. His face betrayed no emotion at all, but his fighting became a bit more aggressive. Jace shot Clary a worried look as he fought alongside Isabelle, across the room. Clary shrugged minutely.

"Do you know why Magnus said your name, Alec?" Sebastian asked, his voice beautifully lulling. Clary saw Alec's knuckles go white from the tension in his hands and his death grip on the hilt of his sword. "I forced it out of him. As if that warlock didn't sound lovely enough when he spoke, his screams were simply exquisite." Alec's face had gone bone pale. The demon crowd was thinning; the battle was almost over. Clary decided to stick right near Alec, just in case. "The sounds that he would make… Beautiful. He asked for you to save him. Many times. He screamed for you. Too bad you never came." Alec was trembling, but his strikes were still just as strong and sure as they had been before Sebastian began speaking. Clary wondered how long that would last. "But alas, all good things must come to an end," Sebastian sighed. "Your boyfriend's dead. Thought you should know."

Alec's sword dropped to the ground with a clatter. Clary quickly moved to assume a defensive position, although no demons were attacking. Isabelle had just dispatched the last one with a strike of her whip, leaving just the Shadowhunters and Sebastian. Everyone was watching Alec, wondering how he would react. Clary was betting he would break down, as she thought all the others probably were too. That was basically what he had done when Magnus broke up with him, so it stood to reason that he would react similarly.

He didn't. Alec threw himself viciously at Sebastian, ignoring the tears streaming down his face, and threw a violent punch that connected squarely on the bridge of Sebastian's nose. Sebastian's eyes went almost comically wide, and if Clary didn't know that he was probably going to kill Alec for what he had done, she would have laughed.

Alec only got the one easy hit in before Sebastian overcame his shock and began to fight back. His nose looked broken, but he ignore the stream of blood from it and attacked Alec brutally. Even as passionate as he was, Alec was no match for Sebastian. That didn't stop him, though; Alec only stopped when Sebastian bodily threw him into Jace, sending both of them to the floor. Alec was on his feet again in an instant.

"I'll kill you," he hissed in a low voice. "I will end you, Jonathan Christopher Morgenstern."

"Alec, you can't," Jace protested, grabbing at Alec's arm. Alec yanked his arm away, but Isabelle was there before he could take a step, grabbing her brother around the middle from behind. It looked almost like a hug, except for the fact that Alec was desperately straining against it, wanting to attack Sebastian again. Jace stepped in to help, standing in front of Alec and digging his hands into his shoulders.

"Well, that was fun," Sebastian drawled. He sketched a rune into the wall behind him and opened a Portal, which Clary knew shouldn't be possible (she was the only one that knew that rune), but she couldn't bring herself to be too worried about it. She was too focused on Alec, as she knew the others were too. As Sebastian entered the Portal, half a dozen demons exited it, all ready to fight. The Portal slowly closed, with Sebastian on the other side, wherever that was.

"Clary!" Jace called. Clary met Jace's eyes immediately. "Get Alec out of here." Alec had sagged against Isabelle and Jace's grip when Sebastian left, his skin sickly pale when it wasn't covered in blood. Clary gently took Alec's arm and began to lead him away from the fighting, sure that Jace and Isabelle could handle it with ease. Alec followed Clary without a word, tears still dripping down his cheeks.

Alec didn't speak again until they were out of the warehouse and in the alleyway outside. "I just… I can't…" His voice cracked and he leaned against the wall. Clary wasn't quite sure what to do, so she just put what she hoped was a soothing hand on Alec's shoulder.

"I'm so sorry," she whispered. A tremor ran through Alec's body.

"Maybe he was lying," he whispered desperately, looking up at Clary with broken blue eyes. "Maybe he didn't actually kill…" Alec's voice broke before he could speak Magnus's name. He swallowed hard before continuing. "I should check."

"Alec…" Clary wasn't sure that was a good idea, but before she could protest, Alec ran off sprinting. "Damn it," Clary swore, taking off after him.

Magnus's apartment was only a minute or so away at Alec's speed, so he arrived at the door quickly. Clary was only a few moments behind, but she was too slow to keep Alec from sketching a shaky Unlocking rune on the door to Magnus's apartment complex. Clary was about to protest, but it was the quickest way to get up there. And anyway, Alec clearly wasn't thinking straight, so Clary could make allowances for him.

Alec took the stairs two at a time, and Clary's ankle screamed in protest as she did the same. She made a mental note to apply an iratze at the first opportunity.

When Clary got to Magnus's door, Alec was standing outside it, eyes closed. "Did you check if he's there?" Clary asked. Alec shook his head.

"What if Sebastian wasn't lying?" he whispered in a tiny voice. "What if Magnus isn't here?"

"You'll never know if you don't check," Clary said with far more confidence than she actually felt. Raising her hand, she knocked three time on Magnus's door. It took a moment, but there was shuffling behind the door, and it slowly opened.

Alec had thrown his arms around Magnus before he was even fully visible. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry," he whispered, holding onto Magnus as if for dear life. Magnus's eyes were wide.

"Alec, what-" Alec only buried his face in Magnus's shoulder. Magnus turned to Clary. "What is going on?" he asked her. Clary sighed.

"We were fighting Sebastian, and he told us he killed you. Alec didn't take it well," she replied. "He insisted we come check. Go easy on him, Magnus, please."

Magnus's face was pale. "Can you give us a moment, Clary?" he asked, his voice a little shaky. Clary nodded, going back to the stairwell, where she was out of earshot unless either Magnus or Alec raised their voice. Her ankle loudly reminded her of how much it hurt, so Clary knelt down and put on the iratze, listening for any sign that Magnus and Alec's reunion wasn't going well. She wouldn't hesitate to interrupt if she did; Alec had been through enough. All Clary heard was indistinct mumbling, then nothing at all. The silence stretched and Clary frowned, wondering what was going on. Discreetly, she poked her head into the hallway.

Magnus and Alec were kissing, right in front of Magnus's door. As Clary watched, Magnus took Alec by the hand and pulled him inside gently, shutting the door behind him. Clary smiled slightly. Her phone buzzed in her pocket and she pulled it out.

done with the demons. how's alec? the text from Jace read. Clary's smile widened as she responded.

everything's good, she replied. And to be honest, she couldn't help but feel that, despite what was going on, it was.