Homophobic slurs are made in this fic. Just a quick warning for readers

"Strap him down! Make sure he doesn't get loose!"

"Strap him down with what? We don't have anything-wait. Give me your belt."

"What?"

"Your belt, Jace! Give it to me!"

"Fine! Jesus."

It had been 4 hours since both Jace and Magnus, with the help of several other Shadowhunters, finally managed to capture Alec and secure him back at Magnus' loft. He might've actually been unconscious or the demon inside Alec was just playing games. Demons were known for their mind games.

Before the wild goose chase, Alec and Jace had been out on a mission. The intel they were given said there was a demon loose at the docks. What nobody knew was that the intel was wrong. Very wrong. Demon was actually plural; there were demons loose at the docks where the Jade Wolf was located, and the parabatai were the first to arrive at the scene.

"Cover my six. I'm going in," Jace yelled over the roar of the pack of demons that strongly resembled wolf spiders.

"Jace!" Alec hissed, but it was pointless. Jace had already sprung into action.

The demons just kept on coming. One after the other, it felt like when they killed one, two more took its place. It was impossible. Not to mention the werewolf pack that belonged to Luke had fled under orders. Alec didn't blame them. There were too many demons to handle.

"Jace look out!" Alec raised his bow and shot an arrow straight through a demon's forehead, killing it instantly. "Pay attention!"

"Pay attention?! Pardon me but have you seen how many-" Jace slashed at a demon with his blade. "Have you seen how many demons are here? If I had a dollar for every time I swung this blade tonight, I'd treat everyone to dinner."

Alec was about to respond when a black smoke rose up from the ground and hovered behind Jace. It started to grow and form a human like shape, except it still looked like pure smoke. It reached towards Jace, its red eyes glowing vehemently.

"Jace!" Alec yelled. He raised his bow to aim and shoot but the demon was faster. His weapon was knocked out of his hands as he was suddenly lifted off the ground by his throat by a clawed hand.

The inside of the demon's mouth looked like embers after a fire went out, but it smelled much worse. Alec had seen and smelled his fair share of weird things out there in the world, but this was enough to knock him off his feet. It smelled like a corpse; rotten and decomposing.

The claws around his throat tightened and Alec choked, struggling to breathe. His vision was starting to turn dark. He felt his extremities growing numb as the life drained from his body. When Alec tried to call out to his parabatai, it seemed like Jace was too far away and he couldn't be heard.

The demon raised its other hand, a finger pointing directly at Alec's mouth. Completely against his will, Alec could feel his mouth open on its own and felt the smoky, clawed finger go down his throat. He struggled and choked. It felt like he had walked through a group of people smoking three cigarettes at a time. Or he had stepped into a burning house.

Jace turned around to see his brother at the mercy of a large, smoke covered demon. He yelled and tried to make a move to save him but an invisible force shoved him backwards into the metal crates. He banged the back of his head as he flew backwards but didn't get back up right away because of the initial stun of the impact.

Jace had watched helplessly as his parabatai fell to his knees on the wet pavement, the smoke demon entering through his mouth as Alec screamed at the grotesque intrusion. This wasn't natural, Jace knew that much. A Shadowhunter could only be possessed under very certain circumstances, mainly because of the protection of their Angelic rune. The rune prevented them from getting possessed. Those circumstances consisted of moments of weakness, or the other alternative that no one ever chose, acceptance of the demon into the body. Jace didn't want to believe that Alec chose acceptance. It wasn't like Alec to do that.

Alec doubled over and choked as he gasped for air. This was when Jace was finally able to get to his feet, blade raised in case he needed to take action. As he neared Alec, Jace could see blood dripping from his mouth and onto the pavement.

"Alec.....are you okay?" Jace took a hesitant step towards his parabatai. "You're scaring me. Cut the crap."

Alec, his head cast at the ground, chuckled in a very deep and very demonic voice. "Alec isn't here right now. Leave a message and he'll never get back to you."

Jace backed up as Alec got to his feet. "Where's Alec?! Let him go!"

"Let him go? I just got here! At least me enjoy myself a little first," the demon inside Alec chortled. "Maybe if I like it here enough, I'll move in. Permanently."

Jace jumped forward with a yell and tried to slice at Alec (which granted, wasn't the greatest idea but Jace was fuming with rage at the time). But the demon was faster. Alec's body neatly dodged the blade and grabbed Jace's arm, pinning it behind his back and wrapping his other arm around Jace's throat from behind, cutting off his air supply.

"My, my. First time on the earth plane in a millennia and the first kill I get to make is a Shadowhunter. I'm like a fat kid at a chocolate store," the demon chuckled. "The only question is: should I make it swift? Or should I let it play out gradually so I can watch the life slowly leave your eyes?"

Jace gurgled in response. As the demon was talking, he had reached into his pocket and took hold of his stele. It was gripped tightly in his hand.

"I'm sure no one would miss you. Shadowhunters aren't known for grieving-"

The demon let out a scream as Jace pressed the stele into Alec's skin and drew a rune. It was the Agony rune. The moment it was finished being drawn, Alec had let go of Jace and fell to the ground, writhing in pain.

"What-what is this?" The demon let out an inhuman roar, eyes black as the night sky.

"That.....is me letting it play out," Jace spat. "You're not staying in my parabatai's body. Not when I'm alive and breathing."

The demon roared with laughter. "Then I shall enjoy killing you, Nephilim!"

This all happened nearly four hours ago. Jace found that hard to believe especially when the Clave made a kill order within 48 hours. Kill orders were very rare and only happened if a Shadowhunter went rogue or got possessed. And Alec was very much possessed.

"Can you help him?" Jace asked Magnus.

The warlock let out a sharp breath. "I'll do everything I can in my power to bring him back, Jace. It'll take time-"

"We don't have time. The Clave gave the official kill order in 48 hours. Therefore, we have two days to save Alec. After that, he's as good as dead."

Magnus trembled. It wasn't very often you saw this warlock frightened. To Jace, he seemed fearless. Always living life to the fullest. But when it came to Alec, Magnus showed vulnerability. Alec was his greatest weakness.

"Then let's get to work," Magnus said with a steady voice. "I need you to grab these ingredients from my storage room."

"Ingredients? Are you going to cook the demon a gourmet meal and hope it leaves Alec alone?"

Magnus shot Jace a look as he wrote down a list of what he needed. "It's for a potion, you idiot. I'll explain once you get back what it does exactly."

Jace disappeared around the corner, muttering something or another about warlocks but Magnus ignored him. He was occupied with looking Alec over. The Shadowhunter was strapped to a wooden chair in the middle of the room, unconscious. Or at least he seemed to be. The Agony rune had faded somewhat so it was likely that the effects were wearing off and he was going to come to soon.

"Alec," Magnus whispered. "Can you hear me?"

Alec stirred. Groaning, he slowly opened his eyes and lift his head. There was recognition on his face when he saw Magnus standing in front of him but it lasted only a moment. The demon began to laugh in the deepest voice Magnus ever heard.

"Warlock. Magnus Bane, I presume? That's the name that keeps getting repeated in this Shadowhunter's mind. Pathetic, really."

"Let him go. Alec doesn't deserve this. He's a good person."

The demon laughed. "Lots of people don't deserve a lot of things but it still happens to them. That's life." The demon leaned forward in its chair, smirking. "Shit happens."

Anger surged through Magnus' veins. "I'm going to get you out of Alec's body and once I do, I'm going to make you wish you never came into the earth plane."

"Ooh I'm shaking in my boots," the demon feigned a shudder. "There's nothing you can't do to me that won't hurt your precious Shadowhunter."

Magnus stared the demon down. "What do you mean by that?"

The demon snickered. "What hurts me, hurts the Lightwood kid. He's still in here, screaming to get out. Quite the fighter, this one. I'm impressed."

With a yell, Magnus' hands lit up with a flash of light and he pressed them against Alec's forehead. "Get out of him! Get out of him right now!"

The demon roared in pain as the light touched its skin but it eventually turned into laughter.

"Magnus!" Jace was back, rushing to the warlock's side and shoving him away from Alec. "What the hell are you doing?!"

"The demon! It...." Magnus breathed heavily. He hated this. All of this. Here was his beautiful boyfriend, strapped to a chair with blood red eyes and a smile that didn't belong to him. He just wanted Alec back. "Did you get the ingredients?"

Jace nodded. "All in this bag. What kind of potion is it?"

Magnus spread the ingredients out on a countertop. "Back when I was living in Peru in 1734, I came across a shaman who was performing an exorcism on a young child. The shaman asked for my help in exchange for a favor in return so naturally I agreed to help."

"What did he get you to do?"

Magnus crushed some herbs as he spoke. "He asked me to drain the poison from a deadly snake and boil it in hot water. Then pluck the wings off dead flies and mix it with the brew." A bead of sweat rolled down his' forehead. "The wings were believed to grant the soul access back to their body. The poison paralyzes the body so the soul can find its way back. It's a very sacred process. Almost like a spirit journey."

"So you're going to poison Alec and feed him wings from dead flies?" Jace shook his head. "He's going to love this story when he gets back."

Magnus ignored him and continued to mix the potion. "Boil this, would you? Wait until it's bubbling up and then remove it off the stove."

The demon watched as both men moved frantically around the room like busy bees. "So much trouble for one Nephilim. Why bother trying? Like the blonde one said. He's as good as dead anyway."

"Word of advice: shut up. If you know what's good for you, you'll keep your mouth, or Alec's mouth in this case, shut," Magnus flashed his yellow cat eyes at the demon and beamed inwardly as it quickly looked away.

Once the potion was brewed and read to go, Magnus poured it into a small glass vial and shook it slowly. "It's diluted completely which means it's ready." He looked at Jace. "I need you to hold his head back."

Jace's eyes widened. "You're joking. The thing tossed me like a rag doll down by the docks. What makes you think I can do this?"

"Because he's your parabatai. Where thou goest, I will follow. Or however it goes. Now are you going to help me or not?"

Jace hesitated but eventually went over to Alec and stood behind him, ready to grip Alec's head and hold it back.

The demon was suddenly leaning back to look at him, a very sick and sadistic smile on its face. "Well hello there. I've heard a lot about you. The boy who was raised by Valentine Morgenstern. I'd shake your hand but I'm a little tied up at the moment."

Jace grimaced as the demon cackled in a deep voice. "Ugh. Magnus. Just do it. This thing is creeping me out and that's saying a lot."

"Hold Alec's head back. I'm going to pour the potion in his mouth," Magnus said.

Jace gripped Alec's head and forced it back, the demon grunting and hissing in restraint. Once he had a handle on it, Magnus tilted the vial upside down and let the liquid pour down Alec's throat. The demon, who had been cackling at its own jokes earlier, was now coughing and retching as the poison slid down Alec's throat.

"How long does it take for it to work?" asked Jace.

"Depends. It could take a few minutes or it could take hours. If the demon is powerful, it's more likely to resist and the potion won't work. If it's weaker, the chances of it working quickly are high."

Their conversation was cut short when the demon started to laugh. "You honestly thought a little hocus pocus would bring Alexander back? You Nephilim are gullible. Not much has changed since the last time I've been here."

"Thanks for the history lesson. Now shut up. We're going to get Alec back and you're going right back to whatever fiery pit your sorry ass crawled out of," Jace spat in anger.

The demon smiled. "But I like where I am now! This body feels nice. He's big in all the right places...."

Magnus couldn't watch as the demon licked Alec's/it's lips and thrusted upwards. "Jace. Go grab my spell book from my library. I want to try a few spells to see if that'll work instead."

"So the potion didn't work?" Jace said under his breath.

Magnus shook his head. "No. It didn't work."

Jace frowned but did as he was told anyway, disappearing into Magnus' library in search of his spell book.

"It's interesting. I'm combing through Alexander's memories here and I found out that he used to have feelings for Jace? Can you confirm or deny that for me?" The demon purred.

"Shut up," was Magnus' response.

"Oh, so feisty. No wonder Alexander likes you. You wouldn't believe the amount of information I have access to in this noggin. Secrets even you don't know about...."

Magnus would be lying if he said he wasn't interested but truthfully, he was. He always believed that Alec was open and honest about everything. Perhaps the demon was lying? Demons were known for their mind games.

"Let's see here...oh here's a good one. Did you know that your sweet Alexander self-harms?" The demon chuckled as it looked at Magnus with black, lifeless eyes. "Oh. Judging by the look on your face, you didn't. Well allow me to delve more into this situation."

"Don't," Magnus croaked. "Please don't."

The demon didn't listen. "It's the little things he does that makes him seem selfless or heroic. Doesn't wrap his hands up when he uses his punching bag. Doesn't heal his wounds right away because he thinks he deserves them. Poor kid is downright suicidal, trying to step into a circle containing a memory demon. Or nearly killing himself-twice-while trying to track his parabatai. Either he really wants to die or he's an adrenaline junkie. Not sure which one yet...."

"Stop it. Just stop-"

"Then there's the other things. The things you don't know about," the demon smirked. "He purposely burns himself with his stele. Yeah. Leaves it on his skin until he can't take it anymore. I don't even know why he does it. That thought is really locked away-"

"I SAID STOP!" Magnus yelled. Two white lights exploded from his hands and they hit the demon square in the chest, causing it to fly backwards against the wall. It roared in pain as the skin on Alec's face sizzled and burned.

"Magnus?" Jace rushed back into the room with a book in his hand. "Magnus! What the fuck did you do?!"

Magnus was breathing heavily. He didn't quite hear what Jace was saying; there was a dull ringing in his ears and his heart was thudding in his chest.

"What did you do?!" Jace yelled again. "His face has blisters on it. Are you aware of this? Blisters," Jace rushed over to where Alec's body lay on the floor, still strapped to the chair, and took out his stele. "I don't know if this will hurt him or heal him. The Agony rune burned his skin when I drew it."

Magnus couldn't quite speak but found his voice as he cleared it. "Only one way to find out."

Jace took a deep breath and touched Alec's Iratze on his side. It lit up and began to glow with a soft light as Alec's face slowly began to heal.

"It worked," Magnus breathed. "Oh thank god it worked."

"Yeah. Thank god," Jace glanced up at Magnus and scowled. "What the hell were you thinking?!"

"I...." Magnus swallowed. "I wasn't. The demon was saying things and I reacted....it was foolish of me to let my guard down so easily."

"Well at least we got something right tonight," the demon groaned and cranes its neck to look up at Magnus and Jace. "You like blasting people's face with magic, warlock? You seem to be making quite a habit of it..."

Jace grabbed the back of the chair and with one easy tug, pulled the demon back up in sitting position. "You're not a person. You're a thing. An abomination-"

"Says the experiment with angel blood coursing through his veins and the half demon, half human over there. Talk to me when you have a valid argument," the demon spit on Jace's shoe and laughed.

Jace scowled and turned to Magnus. "I got you your damn spell book. You stay here and look for a spell. I'm going back to the institute to see if I can find anything on possessions in our database."

"You're leaving me here with....that?" Magnus nodded his chin in the demon's direction.

"Why? You got a problem with that? Because earlier you seemed quite capable of handling yourself along with Alec's face," Jace slipped on his leather jacket. "Don't do anything stupid while I'm gone. Like kill my parabatai."

"Oh well there goes my grand plan..." said Magnus, sarcasm Alec's in his voice. He stated as Jace continued to scowl as he left the loft, weapon back in his hands again.

"I like your sarcasm. Alec just laughed at you in here. Says Jace deserved that," the demon spit out a mouthful of blood. "Ugh. Your little spell gave me blisters in my mouth. Thank you for that."

"Once again: shut up. If I hear your voice one more time, I will blast you into oblivion."

The demon laughed, but laughed in Alec's voice. "What if I used this voice? Would you object to it then?"

Alec's voice made Magnus frown. He loved this voice; so deep and rich. Especially Alec's laugh. The Shadowhunter didn't laugh very often and as far as Magnus knew, he was the only one capable of making the Shadowhunter smile broadly or laugh. But now that there was a demon inside him, the laugh didn't have the same effect as before.

"What's your name?" Magnus decided to change the subject.

"Ah ah ah. There's power in a name, warlock. I'm not giving you power over me. Where's the fun in that?" The demon clicked its tongue as it gazed around the room. "Hmm. You and Alec made out on that couch. I can see it in his memories. He's quite the kinky young man."

Try as he may, Magnus found it incredibly difficult to tune out the demon's words. He couldn't lose control again. He couldn't. Even when the demon was inside Alec, he knew he was causing Alec pain too.

That one thought alone fueled Magnus and he flipped through his spell book with lightning speed. There had to be something in here. Something that would help save his beloved Shadowhunter from the monster inside him. If there wasn't...he didn't want to consider the alternative. Not until he knew he was out of options.

Hours passed and Jace still hadn't returned with any information (if he even had any). Getting hungry while he looked through his spell books, Magnus grilled a New York steak along with a red wine reduction with a side of garden salad. The demon watched him eat, and much to Magnus' disgust, a thick string of saliva hung from its mouth. He reminded Magnus of a Saint Bernard when it smelled meat.

"Sharing is caring, you know," the demon hissed.

"Too bad I don't care," Magnus cut into his steal and took a bite. "Don't demons eat souls or something? The blood of virgins?"

"We eat whatever humans eat. Just because we're inside their meat suits doesn't mean we invulnerable to their bodily needs. Granted, it's quite an inconvenience but at least we're immune to pain."

Magnus wiped his mouth. "Just like you were immune to Jace's stele earlier? And my spell?"

The demon roared, revealing a set of sharp teeth inside Alec's mouth. "Don't fucking get smart with me, warlock. Two can play that game. You think you're the only one capable of hurting me? Well think again."

Magnus watched in horror as a deep cut appeared along the side of Alec's cheek, and Alec screamed in pain. He knew it was Alec because of the sheer agony in his voice.

"Alec!" Magnus rushed over and raised a hand to touch Alec's face. "Alec, can you hear me? We're going to get this thing out of you. I promise. I love you-"

"Faggots! Cocksucking sons of bitches who love it up the ass!" The demon cackled, which made Magnus rear back in fright. "Goddamn, the world has gone to shit. We got men fucking men. Women fucking women. Men turning into women and vice versa. What the fuck is wrong with you?!"

Magnus was at a loss for words. He didn't take demons for homophobes. He guessed this one was. "You don't support LGBTQ rights?"

The demon mewled as it struggled with the restraints around its wrists and ankles. "I missed the last gay pride parade. Faggots rule!" It gagged on whatever was in its mouth. "Honestly what is infused in these restraints? I should've been free long ago!"

For the first time since this demon showed up in his loft, Magnus laughed. "It's a belt. As for not being able to escape it, Jace drew a rune on it when you were out of it. What kind of rune, I don't know but it seems to be doing the trick."

The demon spat and hissed. "Once I get out of these bindings, I'm going to kill you, warlock. Nice and slow."

"Get in line," Magnus grumbled. "You're not the only one that wants me dead."

Another hour passed and Jace still wasn't back. Magnus began to grow worried. At this point, he didn't know whether Jace was dead or alive or in an alley somewhere in Brooklyn bleeding out on the pavement.

"He's fine," the demon suddenly said.

Magnus looked at it. "Huh?"

"Jace. He's fine. He's this Shadowhunter's parabatai, is he not? We would feel his pain. But we don't feel anything. So therefore he's fine."

Magnus grimaced. "Don't use the term 'we', is that understood? You're intruding in someone's body. A body in which they didn't give you consent to enter-"

"Who said I didn't get consent?" The demon snorted. "Once again, I've stumped you. How do you know Alec didn't just say yes and let me in?"

"Because he wouldn't do that. He would never let a demon inside. He'd rather die before getting possessed by something like you."

The demon snorted. "Okay. If you really think Alec would never do something like this, then I'll leave it at that. Let your imagination run wild."

It was just after 3 am when Magnus was awakened by a soft whimpering. Squinting from sleep, he saw Alec's body trembling with small sobs. This could've been a trick the demon was playing. If it was, Magnus wasn't falling for it.

"Magnus? I'm so scared," Alec whispered. His voice sounded so frightened and shaky. Whether this was genuine or not, that was unclear.

Magnus slowly got to his feet. "Alec? Is that you?"

Alec nodded but didn't look up from the floor. "I don't have much time. I managed to suppress it but I don't know how much time I have."

"How do I know that this is really you?"

Alec whimpered again. "For our first date we went to the Hunter's Moon. You bought a martini and I got a beer. I don't even really like beer. I just drank it to impress you."

Magnus remembered their first date. They played pool and almost gotten beat up by the werewolves, but Magnus had scared them by flashing his magic. It was an amazing first date. "I remember. But I also remember that the demon has access to your memories so that doesn't really help at all."

Alec moaned and let out a sob. "Magnus, please. You have to believe me. It's really me. Listen. The demon. It's been communicating with others of its kind. They're planning an attack on the institute-"

He was cut off as the demon suddenly returned, Alec's hazel eyes instantly turning red again. "You little bitch. You thought you could sneak past the sentries, did you? Wrong!"

Magnus held up his hands, light emanating from them. "If he's fighting you, then just leave. Find a host who will accept you-"

The demon hissed again and clamped down on Alec's tongue hard enough to the point where it started to bleed freely. "I'll bite your tongue off, Shadowhunter, if you try to pull a stunt like that again."

"You wouldn't dare," Magnus growled under his breath. "Hurt Alec and I will return that hurt sevenfold to you. You don't want to mess with me or the people I care about."

Laughing again, the demon released Alec tongue before spewing up green and yellow vomit to the floor. "I mentioned earlier this one's a fighter, right? He's fighting me right now. Trying to claw his way back to the surface. Maybe I should just snap his neck now and get it over with-"

"No!" Magnus cried. "No. Please don't. I'm begging you."

The demon seemed to consider this for a moment. After a minute of contemplation, it burst into laughter again. Magnus could see yellow vomit oozing out of the side of Alec's mouth as it laughed. "One simple teeny tiny turn of the neck in the wrong way and it's lights out for your sweet Alexander. Say goodnight, warlock!"

"No!" Magnus raised his hands as a light shot out of them. This light seemed to freeze the demon in place, the only parts of its body able to move were its eyes and a bit of its mouth.

"What did you do to me?!" It groaned in frustration.

"I stopped you from hurting Alec. That's what I did." Magnus grabbed the chair that he knocked over in surprise earlier and sat himself down. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have less than 40 hours left to save my boyfriend's life."

The sun was beginning to rise and Magnus still hadn't found a spell for the current situation. He also didn't get any sleep which only made matters worse. A cup of coffee sounded amazing right abut now. Maybe that would help him focus again.

"You're finally awake. Thank Jesus. I was starting to get real fed up with your constant snoring and muttering," the demon grumbled. It didn't look like it had gotten any sleep either-but did demons even sleep?

"Good morning to you too. Sleep well?" Magnus poured up a cup of coffee using the coffeemaker that Alec had gotten for him Christmas time.

"I don't sleep, warlock. I'm blessed with absolutely no fatigue. I wish I was also blessed with no hearing so I can tune out your atrocious sleeping habits but that's never going to happen."

Magnus shrugged. "Not my problem. You sit tight for a little while longer, okay? I'm going to keep doing what I was doing yesterday. You'll be free in no time."

The demon swore in Archaic Latin but remained quiet as Magnus opened his spell book to where he left off.

The morning was quiet. Oddly quiet. The demon would hum every now and then or mutter something under its breath and chuckle. Magnus would just tune him out as best as he could. There was no point in getting angry anymore. He had to save his strength for when he found the right spell to save Alec.

"I know who your daddy is, you know. The great and powerful Asmodeus. That would make you the prince of Hell."

Magnus said nothing as he continued to look through the spell book.

"Of course I don't bow down to anyone. Not even his children. I heard talk that you're his favorite. Old Azzy was always one to brag about his exploits on the human plane. The way he described your mother-whew. I was tempted to have a go at her myself."

Magnus whipped around to face the demon. "Don't you dare speak of my mother like that. She was a good woman."

"Good woman? Are you delusional? Have you forgotten the time when your human father caught you doing magic for the first time and burned you with the fire poker? And she stood there and watched? He was convinced you had the devil in you. He had no idea how close he was to the truth."

"Shut up...." Magnus groaned.

The demon chuckled. "And when your oh so kind mother saw your warlock's mark she screamed bloody murder and your human father tossed you from your home like a sack of rotten potatoes."

Magnus covered his ears with his hands but it was no use. He could still hear the demon talking.

"No one loves you, Magnus. They just use you for your powers. That's all. Just ask Alexander here. You provide him with free services just because you love him. Well heads up buddy-he doesn't love you. You're a lonely, good for nothing, piece of shit."

"ENOUGH!" Magnus reared up as he yelled, knocking over his chair for the second time. As he stomped over to the demon, it laughed and licked its lips in excitement. "I'm getting you out. Now. You've been here long enough and I'm tired of your games."

"Oh this should be fun. I can't wait to see what kind of spell you'll cast on me. Make sure you don't get this pretty face fucked up too much. It's my money maker," the demon let out a wheezy laugh.

Anger boiling in his veins, Magnus let his hands glow with such a bright light that the entire room lit up like the Fourth of July. The power that surged through him was enough to shake the entire loft like an earthquake. He wouldn't be surprised if the mundanes felt it.

The loft continued to shake as Magnus surged more power into his spell. The smoke demon was fighting against it; he could tell because of the way Alec screamed and screamed as smoke emerged and disappeared from his mouth.

"Come on, Alexander! Fight it! You're stronger than this! I know you are!" Magnus felt the room tilt. He was growing weaker because of how much energy he was using up to cast the spell. "This isn't you, Alexander. I know you."

The demon gave a final roar and ripped through the belt bindings before fully exploding from Alec's mouth. It loomed over both Magnus and Alec's limp, unconscious body on the floor, growling menacingly. Magnus had sunk to the floor in a heap, completely helpless to defend himself against this foe.

Did you honestly think you could get rid of me that easily? I am a Greater Demon. I am thousands of years old. You are no match for me, half-breed

Magnus raised a hand to shoot a white light from it but he was too weak. The spell he performed to save Alec had drained him and took every ounce of energy left in him. He saved Alec but couldn't save himself.

And now he was going to die.

The demon raised a clawed hand, getting ready to bring it down into Magnus when it reared back with a roar of pain. In the middle of its chest, where its heart supposedly was, had an arrow sticking out through it; an arrow that was all too familiar to Magnus.

The demon sunk to the floor before exploding into a puff of smoke. As Magnus coughed and waved away the excess smoke, he looked up to see Alec holding his bow like the warrior that he was. He looked like he'd seen better days (which he has) but he looked...not possessed, for lack of a better term.

"Alec," Magnus breathed.

"Magnus," Alec dropped his bow and crawled over to the warlock. "I am so, so sorry about all of this-"

"Shh," Magnus wiped a tear that was rolling down Alec's face with a thumb. "Don't apologize. It wasn't your fault."

"I was there the whole time, Magnus." Alec swallowed and sobbed. "I could see you and hear you but I couldn't do anything. I felt so weak inside my own body. And all those things it said to you about your mother and about me-"

"Alexander," Magnus gently held Alec's face between his hands. "Look at me. It wasn't you. None of it was you. Okay? You would never say any of those things. I know you wouldn't."

Alec cried into Magnus' shirt. "I did give it consent. That much was true."

Magnus stiffened. "You gave the demon consent to possess you? Why would you do such a thing?"

Alec shrugged, cringing as he wiped his mouth with a sleeve. "It was going to hurt Jace. I had to protect him somehow."

Magnus scoffed. "Of course you did. You selfish bastard. Did you stop to consider for a moment how I would feel about all this? Did you?!"

"I'm selfish for wanting to save my parabatai?! Explain to me how exactly that makes any sense!"

"You idiot! I had to sit there and watch this thing control you! Your voice wasn't your voice! Your eyes weren't your eyes! I wanted to kill you, Alec! And I damn well almost did because I thought it would put you out of your misery!"

Alec went quiet as Magnus started to breathe heavily. Neither of them spoke for a very long time. From outside, they could hear the commotion of mundane traffic as well as the call of pigeons as they landed on the balcony outside. The outside world didn't even know what was going on in the loft above their heads.

"I'm sorry. I thought I was doing the right thing." Alec wiped the sweat off his forehead. "I feel like shit. Like a truck ran me over several times."

"Well you look like shit," Magnus half smiled as Alec looked up at him. "And you smell like it too. You puked on my Parisian carpet. That thing is over 200 years old."

"Oh I'm so sorry. Next time I'll make sure to puke on something less valuable." Alec laughed as Magnus rolled his eyes. "I really am sorry for scaring you, Magnus and I hope you find it in your heart to forgive me."

Magnus reached down and entwined his fingers with Alec's. "Don't apologize. The main thing now is that you're safe. The demon is gone-"

"The institute! Was it attacked like I said it would be?!"

"So that really was you talking to me?! It wasn't a joke?"

Alec raised his hands in the air, defeated. "No! It wasn't a joke. It was really me! Did you contact Jace to see if he was okay? Has he called at all last night? I didn't hurt him, did I?"

"Alec. Alec!" Magnus held his boyfriend's shoulders before brushing a strand of sweaty hair from his eyes. "I'm sure they're all fine. Right now, we need to get you cleaned up. A hot bath will do some wonders on you."

Alec looked down at his sweaty, vomit stained clothes. "Geez....demons are messy. I didn't even want to throw up but it made me do it anyway."

"Hence why I'm going to help you into the bath. You're weak-"

"That much I knew already. I let a demon in. That's a sign of weakness. I was vulnerable."

Magnus leaned forward so that their foreheads were touching. As he gazed into Alec's eyes, his heart soared at how happy he was to have his Shadowhunter back. "Vulnerability doesn't mean weakness, Alec. It just means you feel something. Bravery. Compassion. Sympathy. These emotions don't make you weak. They make you human."

Alec smiled weakly as Magnus kissed the tip of his nose. "How about that bath now? We could both actually use a bath. I think I vomited on you."

Magnus looked down at himself. "Oh. So you did. You stuck with the Parisian theme, I see," he laughed as Alec blushed. "It's good to have you back, my sweet Alexander."

"It's good to be back," Alec sighed heavily. "Possession isn't fun. I don't recommend it at all."

"I'll make sure to put that on a poster," Magnus kissed his nose again. "Now come on. Let's get us into a hot bath to relax ourselves at last. I think we deserve it."

"Right," Alec helped Magnus to his feet and the warlock did the same for him. "If I had to advice to someone today I would say this: never give consent to a demon. Never."

Magnus chuckled. "Good advice. The only person you should ever give consent to is me." He smirked when Alec's eyes widened. "I'm kidding. Sort of."

"Sure you are," Alec rolled his eyes. "If you say so. How about I give you my consent and I'll let you bathe me. I'm too exhausted to even move a muscle."

Magnus bowed his head and smiled softly. "It would my absolute pleasure, Alec. But if we come across any water demons while in the tub, we're saying no, right?" He laughed as Alec shot him a glare, but it earned himself a kiss anyway.