"Max.....seriously? You're the thief everyone's complaining about outside our home? They made it sound as if it was a grown man that they caught. Not a scrawny bean like you."

Alec stood in the cells with his arms crossed over his chest. The way the people went on with in the community, they made it sound like some badass, brave soul from outside the gates managed to break in and steal a few things. He didn't expect it to be his little brother. Skinny, small Max.

"They had pudding! You know how long it's been since I last had pudding, Alec?!" Max wiped his nose in the sleeve of his shirt. "When I was younger I used to eat it all the time."

"By younger you mean last week?" Alec chuckled as Max glared at him. "Come on. Get up. I'm breaking you out of prison. We'll change our identities and dye our hair so no one will recognize us."

Max giggled. "Really? You're breaking me out?"

"Of course. You're only 9, Max. You shouldn't even be in here." Alec grabbed the keys that hung by the door and opened the cell. Max raced out and wrapped his arms around Alec's waist in a tight hug. "Easy there, little man. Are you okay? They didn't hurt you or anything?"

"No," Max shook his head. "But Victor said if he caught me stealing again he's gonna hang me by the ears from a tree."

Alec felt his blood boil. "I won't let that happen to you, bud. Just promise me you'll ask permission for some food first next time, okay?"

Max saluted him. "Roger that! I'm gonna go play with the other kids now. Jace found baseball gear in one of the houses and said we could have it."

Alec smiled down at him. "Nice. I bet you liked that." He watched as Max raced off towards the large empty field. "No stealing! I mean it, Maxwell!"

After leaving the cells, he had every intention of finding Aldertree and give him a piece of his mind but the need to sleep overpowered him. A shower sounded nice too....then sleep. Maybe sleep in the shower.

Alicante had running water, but it was very limited. They managed to schedule each household with a shower for certain days of the week, making the water last a little longer. They weren't allowed to go over the allotted time given (two minutes was the time limit). So everyone pretty much had to wash and get out. No screwing around.

"Did you talk to the little thief?" Victor sang out from the courthouse where they held their town meetings.

Alec glanced up in Victor's general direction as he walked past. Victor was leaned against one of the columns with a cigarette in his mouth. As much as he wanted to punch Aldertree in the face, he couldn't risk being in the cells for a night. He had a family to take care of. "Yes. He's off playing baseball with the other kids. He promised he won't steal ever again."

Victor laughed harshly. "That's the exact same thing he said to me. If it were up to me, I'd leave him in solitary for a few days. Maybe that would scare him straight."

Alec couldn't take it anymore. He turned abruptly and stomped up the path to the courthouse with an anger raging inside him, and Victor knew he was mad. He'd backed away when Alec charged towards him in pure horror.

"Talk about my brother like that again and I'll kill you. I won't even hesitate," he growled. Victor wasn't that much shorter than him, but with the way Aldertree cowered away, he felt like a giant.

"I'm sorry. I won't do it again. I swear. Just don't hurt me," Victor whined.

Alec almost laughed. Victor was known for being all talk but no game. He could convince anyone into doing his own dirty work but once it came down to doing something himself, he was pretty much useless.

"Alec. Back away before you do something you're going to regret...." Isabelle suddenly appeared behind him, a gentle hand on his shoulder.

"There's nothing I can't do to him that I won't regret. He deserves what's eventually coming to him," Alec glared at Victor a final time before walking away. Tension now aside, he walked alongside his sister back towards their home. "Did you and Jace drop off the medicine to Jem?"

"We did. Jem was very pleased. The infirmary just needs to restock on bandages and cortisone," she looked up to see Alec's lost expression. "Anti inflammatory agent. Or anti allergen. Used for both occasions."

"Good to know. Maybe tomorrow we'll go back to that town and look through the houses. There's bound to be something good in there that we might need." He sat down on their front porch with a sigh. "It'll be winter soon. Everything is going to go a lot faster like it always does."

"And we always get through. Don't we?" Isabelle sat beside him. "Look at us, Alec. Five years ago we didn't even think we were going to survive. Now we're the best this town's got. Without us they'd probably crash and burn."

Alec snorted. That much was probably true. The town was barely hanging on when they arrived five years ago, and now it was thriving. But they couldn't take all of the credit. There were a lot of good people in this town that knew what they were doing and were very good at their jobs.

"Are we going to take Simon again tomorrow? He seemed to do pretty well today. He kept up with us and carried his weight in supplies."

"Izzy, he doesn't even weigh that much. He's skinny-"

"He'll bulk up.....maybe. So what? We were all skinny at some point. Some of us still are. That can't be helped."

Alec sighed through his nose. There weren't many townspeople in Alicante that were willing to go scavenging. Simon was one of the very few volunteers that raised a hand and wanted to replace their previous group member's spot. "I guess he can. We need the numbers anyway. More able bodies means more to bring back."

Isabelle smiled broadly. "I knew you'd see the light, big brother. Jace wasn't entirely convinced that you would."

"Jace? Were you already talking to him about this?"

Isabelle got to her feet and shrugged. She had a grin on her face. "Wouldn't you like to know?" She laughed, ruffling his hair. "Jesus, you need a shower. Is it our turn for water today?"

"No. Not until tomorrow. Which works out alright because we're heading out again at dawn. So get up early. I don't want to be waiting for everybody when it's time to go."

"Yes dad," Isabelle grumbled. "I suppose I'll go let the rest of the crew know what the plan is for tomorrow. I'll be back in a bit. What's for supper?"

Alec shrugged. All meals were cooked and served in the town hall. This way, it was distributed evenly and no one fought over who had more or who had less. It was a fair concept. "No idea. Guess we'll find out when we get there."

Isabelle was about to reply when Jace raced over to them. He was breathless and gasping for air. "What the hell's wrong with you? Is Clary threatening to kill you again for using your scope to spy on her while she bathes?"

Jace scowled. "No. I can't find Max anywhere."

Alec shot up off the porch steps. "Isn't he playing baseball with the kids?"

"That's the other thing. Some of the kids are gone missing too and the ones we talked to aren't saying shit all. I'm sorry, Alec. I should've been watching them-"

"Apologize later. We need to find him before something happens. Izzy, you check with the townspeople. Jace and I will have a look around the fences. Maybe he...."

Isabelle stared at him. "You don't think he went out past the gate, do you?"

"We don't know that for sure, Alec. Maybe he's inside someone's house?" Jace suggested.

"The longer we stand here and talk about it, the more danger he could be in. Go!" Alec gave Isabelle a small shove down the pathway. Once she disappeared around a corner, he turned to look at Jace. "Let's start with the south wall and work our way around."

Jace followed alongside him like a loyal dog. A lot of people thought at first that Jace was going to be the leader of the Lightwood family, but Alec had to really step up and prove to them that he was their guardian, which Jace was really grateful for. He didn't like the idea of being leader of anything. He was much too laid back to be a leader.

A series of giggles erupted from behind a home as they walked by. Alec recognized Max's snort almost immediately and raced behind a home to see six of the kids standing around by the wooden wall. To his absolute horror, they were each taking turns jumping in front of a Forsaken that got itself stuck between two boards, laughing as it growled and clawed for them.

"Max!" Alec yelled, watching in horror as the Forsaken clawed at them again.

Max turned around. "Alec! Look what we found! Isn't this-"

The boards supporting the Forsaken split and it toppled down into the yard, falling directly on top of the kids. The children screamed and ran away but little Max was pinned under the zombie, screaming and trying to get away.

"MAX!" Alec charged forward. His knife was immediately in his hand and he kicked the Forsaken off his baby brother. The knife slid easily down into its rotted skull and it died immediately.

Max was sobbing the way he used to do when they first arrived in Alicante; his arms wrapped around his still skinny knees and crying for their parents. The tears that rolled down his face were practically the size of golf balls and he couldn't stop shaking in fright.

"Max," Alec gathered the little boy in his arms and hugged him tight. "Are you bit? Did you get scratched? Let me check you."

Max let his shirt and sleeves be lifted up as Alec checked for any signs of a bite or a scratch. "Alec, I'm fine! I just got really scared for a moment. I thought I was going to die."

"I'm not gonna let that happen to you, bud. I made a promise to mom and dad I'd protect you guys and that's exactly what I'm going to do, okay?" Alec held his brother so tight that he could feel Max's little heart thudding through his chest against his collarbone through his shirt and skin. "Don't you ever do that again. Are we clear? You see one of those things and you run in the other direction. They aren't playthings."

Max sniffled and hung his head in shame. "Okay. I'm sorry, Alec. The kids were just playing and then we dared each other to get as close as we could before it could get us...."

Frowning, Alec gently tilted Max's chin up with a finger. "Hey. You're okay now. And you're not hurt. That's the main thing here."

The boy sniffled again. "You're not gonna hang me by the ears from a tree, are you?"

"No," Alec chuckled. "I'm not. However, you're going to bed early tonight. No excuses."

Max looked offended. "I can't practice my reading?!"

"You can practice your reading but as soon as you're finished, it's lights out. No playtime."

Max pouted, looking a lot like Isabelle when he did. "Fine. I don't need to play anyway. Playing is for babies."

"Then come here you big baby." Alec scooped his little brother up in arms and held him upside down by the waist, tickling him. Max giggled and laughed until he was breathless. "You had enough for one day?"

Max nodded. "Yeah. I'm kinda hungry. What's for dinner?"

"Guys!" Simon's voice rang out and he, Jace and Isabelle came rushing over. "Is everything okay? Jace said he got the kids back to their parents but didn't see you guys come out-whoa." His eyes found the dead Forsaken on the ground. "How did that thing get inside?"

Alec nodded towards the gap. "Hole in the fence. I guess the wood was loose and it found its way in here. Think you can board it back up again? And make sure it's fortified before leaving," Alec said sternly. "We don't want another incident like this happening again."

Everyone looked at Max, who turned red in the face with embarrassment.

"Come on, little man. Let's get a place in line at the city hall. See what's for dinner," Isabelle smiled sweetly and stuck out her hand. Max gleefully took it and they both skipped down the road together.

"Was he bit or scratched?" asked Jace in a low voice.

Alec shook his head. "No. He's fine. I checked him over and he's clean."

Simon puffed out a sigh. "Jesus. I'm glad he's okay though. The thought of having to...um....you know...." He made a gun gesture to his head and pretended to shoot himself. "Not my idea of a good time."

"I doubt that's anyone's idea of a good time, Lewis. Now help me board up the wall. Should we report this to the Clave?" Jace lift a board from the stack next to the wall that was there for emergencies such as this one.

"I can do it. The council seem to like me and my boyish charms," Simon batted his eyelashes.

"Don't....please don't bat your lashes at me ever again. It's weird...." Alec scoffed. "Thanks for helping out today, guys. Max and the kids are safe. That's the main thing here."

Simon nodded as he held the board for Jace to nail into the wall. "Totally. Max is like a little brother to me too."

Jace stopped hammering and slowly looked up at him. "You met him twice since you've been here. And the first time he saw you he called you a vampire because of your pointy ass canines of yours."

Alec coughed to cover a laugh as Simon felt his teeth with a finger. "Just board up the wall and come to dinner. We all deserve a nice meal today. We got a lot done."

"Ain't that the truth. And Isabelle said we're going back to that little town tomorrow to scope out the houses?" asked Simon.

"Yeah. Did you want to come with us?"

Simon smiled broadly, his pointy ass canines in full view. "Absolutely! I had fun out there today. I was also very frightened and I puked on the street but had fun nonetheless."

Alec rolled his eyes. "I'll see you two morons at dinner. Board it up really good. The last thing we need is for something else to break in here again."

"Or someone," Jace grumbled.

"Right," Alec agreed. "Or someone."