There was a bottle of hair dye on the table beside Alec when he woke up.

"Uh....what's this?" He asked, wiping the sleep out of his eyes to make sure he was wasn't still asleep and dreaming.

Magnus was sitting at the small table in the kitchen eating when he heard Alec's deep, sleepy voice. "Oh you're awake. Good. Start putting that dye in your hair now. The earlier it's set in, the better."

Alec picked up the tube of dye and read the back. "You couldn't pick a nicer color at least? What even is this anyway?"

Magnus glared at him. "It's a mix of a lighter brown and red. And it's the best I could buy on such short notice so I'm sorry if the color displeases you."

It wasn't the color that displeased Alec. It was the fact that he was being forced to change his hair that bothered him the most. "Don't I have to bleach it first before I dye it?"

"If you want it to be a lighter color then yes," Magnus stated as he took a sip of his water. "But we don't have time to go through the whole process of proper hair care so we have to this the quicker way in case someone finds out we're here."

Glancing down at the tube again, Alec swore under his breath. "Fine. I might be a while in the bathroom. But if a different man comes out of there, don't scream."

Magnus snorted. "Can't make any promises. A tall, sexy stranger walking out of my bathroom? I don't know, Alec...."

Alec rolled his eyes but went into the much too small bathroom anyway. After wiping off the mirror with a towel, he tried to imagine what he'd look like with his hair a completely different color.

But he couldn't.

He quite liked the way his hair was now but he understood why Magnus wanted him to change it: to lower the risk of being noticed. If his face was plastered across every newspaper, social media site and news channel then he had to change up his appearance somewhat to avoid getting caught.

"You okay in there? Do you need any help?" Magnus knocked on the bathroom door.

Alec locked the door. "Um....no. I'm good. Just working myself up to it. That's all."

A moment of silence followed. "Okay. If you need me, just shout. I've dyed my hair lots of times. There's nothing to it." He paused before speaking again. "I think you'll look great, Alec. You're just overthinking it."

"I probably am," Alec more or less mumbled to himself. Taking a final look in the mirror, he opened the bottle of dye and breathed out slowly. "Let's get this over with."

Two hours passed. Magnus finished eating his lunch, played a game of cards and sent a series of texts to Isabelle through a burner phone before he became restless while waiting for Alec to finish up in the bathroom.

"Alexander! Did you fall down the toilet in there? What's the holdup?" He called out.

Alec didn't answer right away but when he did, he sounded unsure. "Magnus, I don't know....I look stupid."

Magnus snorted. "Nonsense. Get your sexy butt out here and let me take a look at your new do."

The door to the bathroom opened. When Alec stepped out, Magnus felt his breath catch in his throat.

"You hate it," Alec stated.

"I-I don't hate it. I'm just....surprised." As Magnus tilted his head to get a better look, he chuckled. "Wow. Alec you look so different but yet so amazing at the same time."

Alec face flushed at the compliment. "You think so? Because I've been staring at myself in the mirror for twenty minutes now and I don't even know who I am anymore. The man I thought I knew is gone. This," he tapped his chest, "is a stranger to me."

With a gentle tug by the hand, Magnus pulled Alec towards the kitchen table. "Lucky for you, I know exactly who you are. You're the brave and selfless man I fell in love with six months ago. You're strong. You're smart. Just because you look like Archie from Riverdale now doesn't change how I feel about you."

"Jesus," Alec half breathed through a laugh. "You couldn't compare me to anyone else? Or anything for that matter?"

Crinkles appeared around Magnus' eyes as he smiled. "Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?"

"Oh smooth," Alec chuckled, leaning in to kiss Magnus. "So my hair really isn't that bad?"

Magnus ran a hand through Alec's hair. "No. I think it suits you. Though I'm partial to your old hair, this is a change you needed or else we'd be surrounded by armed people right about now."

Alec turned to glance at himself in the mirror again. "I'm just glad I don't have to wear contacts-oh. You got contacts."

Magnus snickered as he handed a container of contacts to Alec. "What, did you honestly think I'd let the world see your beautiful hazel eyes? They're a dead giveaway. Plus we can't just change your hair. The goal is to keep eyes off of you."

The container lid now open, Alec peered inside to see what color lenses he was stuck with. "Blue? Seriously? With this color hair, Magnus?"

"Stop complaining and try them on. I do all this for you and this is the thanks I get? I would've preferred a thank you or a crisp high five even. Trust me. Just try them on."

So that's what Alec did. He slipped in the contacts, blinking rapidly at first due to the uncomfortable feeling in his eyes, then finally took a look at himself in the mirror.

"Holy shit," he gasped. "I look so different!"

Magnus clapped his hands together. "Finally. He caught on. Now turn around and let me take a good look at you."

Alec squared his shoulders when he turned to face Magnus. "Hello. My name is Gideon."

Magnus wheezed with laughter. "I think we also need to change your name. Gideon is too obvious."

"How is it obvious? Nobody knows my middle name."

"They might if the authorities release your full name. Trust me on this. I know how they think. Gideon is much too noticeable." Magnus stroked his chin in thought. "How about something less conspicuous? Like Matt?"

Alec shook his hair out which also masked his disagreement. "I don't really look like a Matt but hey. You said to trust you, right? So Matt it is."

Magnus kissed him square on the lips. "We make such a good team. Maybe one day I'll teach you how to con people-"

"Whoa. Okay, no. I'm still a cop, Magnus. Justice and helping people is still my main priority here. A haircut and new eye colors isn't going to change that."

Seeing the distraught in Alec's fake blue eyes, Magnus nodded in apology. "Sorry. You're right. I got ahead of myself there thinking about all the possibilities now that you're free."

Alec took Magnus' hand and held it between his own. "I'm not technically free yet, Magnus. We still have a long way to go before I'm a free man again. Conning people will most likely get me thrown into prison again-maybe even including you too."

Before Magnus could say anything, his head cocked to the side like he was listening to something outside. "Shh. I hear police scanners."

"Police scanners? How?" Alec peeked out through the blinds to see two cop cars slowly driving along the streets outside. "Think they're looking for me?"

Magnus clicked his tongue. "Only one way to find out." He reached for the door handle behind him. "Stay here and stay out of sight. I'm going to go find out what the hubbub is."

Alec watched as he left the trailer to go join the people on the street. His stomach lurched whenever the police car got close but somehow Magnus managed to keep under the radar. No one even seemed to notice Magnus as he went about the street, probably gathering intel here and there from the gossiping civilians.

After a few minutes, Magnus returned looking absolutely furious. He even slammed the trailer door behind him, a string of curses escaping from his mouth.

"So? What are they doing out there?" Alec asked him.

"Well at first I assumed they were here for crowd control, which they are. But they've also been advised about your escape. The whole country has apparently. So basically every police officer, detective, fire department-"

"Will be on the lookout for me," Alec nodded. "Of course. It's standard protocol when there's an escapee from a high end prison like Alicante. Fuck!"

Alec punched the wall of the trailer, causing both the structure and Magnus to shake. "Alexander. I won't let anything bad happen to you. At least not while I'm here. So take a breath, sit down and relax and I'll handle everything."

They both waited for the police to leave before taking the opportunity to go outside to enjoy the sun and stretch their legs. Magnus even snuck a few glances at Alec's new hair, marvelling at how it glinted under the sunlight as well as look much lighter than it did inside the trailer.

"Do I have to wash my hair in hot water or cold?" Alec asked as he ran a hand through his locks.

"If you want the dye to last longer then I suggest using cold water. Hot water will only run it out of your hair."

They set up their lawn chairs just beside the trailers facing the ocean and took a seat. It took a moment for Alec to speak again because he was so amazed by the difference between sitting in a cell versus sitting by the beach. "Have you ever dyed your hair before and hated it?"

Magnus snorted. "How do you know my hair isn't dyed right now?"

"Magnus. Be serious."

"Ugh. Fine. If you must know, I've dyed my hair more times than I can count. Blue, red, green, blonde, silver. I've loved all of them and I'm pretty sure my roots are severely damaged by the number of times I bleached them."

His hair looked completely natural to Alec. He continued to stare at it, earning himself a laugh. "Sorry. I don't mean to stare. It just looks...."

"....good? Stunning? Natural? Because it is. All three of those words. This is my natural hair color at the moment. I decided to go back to it when I got fed up waking up everyday without you beside me."

Alec smiled softly at him, watching Magnus run a shy hand through his hair. "It looks really good. Better than mine anyway. I can't wait to go back to black."

"You're not sick of your hair already are you?" Magnus chortled. "They do say that a new hairstyle takes a few days to get used to. Give it a few days and I'm sure you'll love it just as much as I do. Now. Do you want something to eat? I'll buy."

They ate takeout from a Chinese restaurant that evening, whispering about how they both wanted to prove to everyone that Alec was innocent. It wasn't going to be a walk in the park; they both knew this. Convincing people was going to be hard, especially when the evidence was piled up against Alec the first time around.

"The evidence was all fake though," groaned Alec. "The security footage. The phone call."

"Fake or not, it was enough to throw you in Alicante. What I don't believe is how an expert didn't analyze the video from the night Jace died. Or even the call for that matter." Magnus noisily slurped down some noodles. "Isabelle went over it herself. It was clipped together with editing software."

"So a youtuber could've spliced it together?"

"Or anyone with basic knowledge of cropping and pasting together bits and pieces. A baby could've done it."

A noise from outside grabbed their attention. It was already dark, so the grounds around the trailer were hard to see due to lack of lighting in the park.

"Could be a raccoon," Magnus  whispered. "They're nocturnal creatures, right?"

Voices could suddenly be heard; two male voices, deep and low like they were trying to keep quiet and avoid detection.

"Unless raccoons learned how to talk and sounded like grown men," Alec's own voice was a low whisper, quickly extinguishing the light of their candle that provided the light for their trailer.

The voices became louder meaning they were closer to the trailer. Alec could pick out a word here and there but the one that stood out the most was his own name.

"They're looking for me," he mouthed.

Magnus cocked his head, either listening or confused Alec wasn't entirely sure. But recognition soon replaced the concentrated look on his face as he reached for something under the sink.

It was a gun. Alec stared at it, carefully watching Magnus check the clip as quiet as he possibly could while listening for the men outside at the same time.

"Where did you get that?" Alec mouthed to him.

"It's mine. Always has been," Magnus mouthed back. He put a finger to his lips, lifting the mat underneath them to reveal a secret hatch. "Come on. Let's hide out in Malcolm's trailer and wait for these dicks to leave."

He carefully opened the hatch. It opened with a creak, causing them both to cringe. For a moment the men outside went silent. Did they hear the noise too?

Alec went first through the hatch. Magnus followed behind while quickly closing the hatch above them. The crawl out from underneath was a tight one, as they had to listen for voices and boots around them while they also had to keep quiet.

Just as they crept their way over to Malcolm's trailer, they heard their trailer door get kicked open. Alec didn't even get a chance to look back over his shoulder because Magnus had hauled him inside and quickly closed the door behind them.

Malcolm shot up off his sofa. It took less than a second for both Alec and Magnus to notice that he was wearing nothing but a pair of white briefs.

"What the hell?!" He yelled. "What are you guys doing in here?!"

Magnus covered his mouth with a hand. "Shut up! There's men outside looking for Alec. They just broke inside the trailer and we barely escaped."

Malcolm's eyes bulged. "Oh no! That's terrible! So you decided to hide out here and get me killed along with you?"

"That's not our intention," Alec reassured him. "Can we just....hang here until they go away?"

Malcolm snorted. "You mean if they go away? If they're looking for you, they won't stop until the anonymous tip they were given proves to be right or wrong. So far it's neither."

Magnus shot him an incredulous look. "An anonymous tip? How would you know if they got a tip or not?"

Malcolm didn't reply. Instead he sniffed in deeply through his nose and scratched his arm nervously.

"Jesus Christ," breathed Magnus. "You're the one that sent in the tip, aren't you? Aren't you?!"

"Can you blame me? They're offering twenty grand for tips that are legit. Those guys out there-they have money-"

"They're bounty hunters." Magnus shook his head in disgust. "You send the tip and they drop the money in a designated spot but only if the info is correct."

Alec pulled the blinds apart just enough to see if the men were still out there. "Ask him how high he is."

Magnus looked over at Alec, surprised by what he said. "Huh?"

"I said ask him how high he is."

Magnus sighed. "Fine. Malcolm. How high are you right now?"

Malcolm sniffed. "On a scale of one to ten? Maybe a nine."

"And are you out? Is that why you gave the tip? So you can get some more money for drugs?"

Malcolm suddenly burst into tears. "Yes. Yes, it was me. Okay? I called in with the tip-"

A gun went off and Alec yelled in surprise. Magnus had taken out his gun and shot Malcolm right in the kneecap, causing him to cry out and fall to the floor.

"That's for ratting us out. If we don't get caught when we leave here tonight, I'll make sure to come back later in the future and shoot you in the other kneecap. That one is for being a fucking piece of shit," Magnus spat down at him. "Alexander. Let's get out of here before those guys figure out which trailer the shot came from."

There was plenty of time to ask questions later but now wasn't the time. Alec took a final glance at Malcolm before following behind Magnus out of the trailer. The men were nowhere to be found but they still had to be on the alert.

"Do you really think Malcolm would rat you out like that?" He asked once they were inside a car that was parked on the side of the road. "Also, I thought you said he didn't do drugs?"

"He doesn't. But," Magnus grunted as he hotwired the vehicle, "there was money involved so yes. Money does something to people's minds. They forget their moral values. It's like a drug-maybe even worse than drugs. Thinking I could trust Malcolm was stupid of me."

Alec reached over to grip Magnus' shoulder. "You did what you thought was right."

A sarcastic snort. "And look where that got us." Magnus sighed heavily through his nose. "I know a place where we can stay for now. It's a safe house that belongs to me but I haven't been there in years. We should be good there for a while."

Alec nodded. "Okay. Whatever you think is best. You're the expert."

Here's a photo of Alec's hair 👀