It was a little after 2 a.m. when they stumbled into the Institute. Alec held a finger to his mouth, indicating Magnus to be quiet, but Magnus, being the devil he is, rolled his eyes and put a foot in front of Alec's, making him stumble forward and fall flat on the floor. Magnus tried to hold back his laughter as best as he could, but there were tears in his eyes and his stomach hurt from holding it all in. Suddenly, a light flicked on in the corridor and Isabelle Lightwood leaned on the living room doorframe, scowling.

"Alexander Gideon Lightwood, what the fuck are you doing?" she said in a loud whisper. Magnus couldn't take it and let out a loud laugh, to which Alec replied with a "Shut up" and scrambled up. Isabelle raised her eyebrow and said "We were worried you know. After dinner, you weren't here so we thought..." Isabelle trailed off, glancing between him and Magnus. Then she said with a surprised tone "Are you...drunk?"

Magnus smirked and gestured towards Alec "He is. I have a high tolerance of alcohol. If I'd known he was such a lightweight, I would've ordered him an orange juice." Alec said quite loudly "I am not drunk." Isabelle raised her eyebrow again, this time accompanied with a smirk and said "Really? What was my pet rabbits name?" Alec scrunched up his nose, concentrating. "You never had a pet rabbit, Izzy. I mean, if you did it would've been dead in  a week." Isabelle chuckled and replied "Fair enough. But you are tipsy, dear brother. Are you okay?" Her voice was now concerned and Magnus replied "We just went out to..." he glanced at Alec, who slightly shook his head and Magnus continued "To have a bite to eat. And drink a few beers. That's all." 

Magnus smiled sweetly at Isabelle, who had a suspicious face on. She picked on her nails and then said "So you two went out? Are you suddenly best friends?" There was a threat in there somewhere, Magnus was sure of it, because Izzy was pretending not to care but she was looking coldly at him. "Iz... I know what you're thinking. Leave it." Alec suddenly said. But Magnus cut in "Oh, no. By all means, do say what you were about to. Or let me. You think I'm a conman, so I can't be trusted. I've done all these horrible things and even though I am helping you know, risking the lives of the people I love, you still think that I would hurt you're brother somehow? I am not that cruel."

Isabelle took in a sharp breath and cautiously replied "Magnus...I actually think you are a good man. Really. I know all those things you did were for the better...In your own way, you tried to help people who needed it. I just love my brother so much. And-" Alec cut in now with some hostility "Iz. I'm not a child. I was the one who looked after both of you, remember? Don't act like the roles are reversed. Just like then, I need to see to it that you two don't get yourselves killed by doing something reckless. But when I do it, it's the end of the fucking world?" Magnus looked at Alec with admiration. He was wondering when will Alec explode with these emotions. From what he told Magnus, Alec had always followed the rules, keeping tabs on his siblings, never once taking a breather to think about what it was that he wanted. Isabelle seemed hurt but when she opened her mouth to say something, Alec raised his hand, indicating for her to stop. "I'm going to bed. Goodnight." he just said. He turned to Magnus, who was unsure of what was going to happen. But Alec just looked at him and said in a quiet but sweet tone "Thank you, Magnus. I had a great time." 

With that, Alec left. Isabelle stood there awkwardly and Magnus decided to point it out, just for the hell of it. "Well, this is awkward." he announced. Isabelle seemed desperate when she said "Magnus, I was serious. I don't think badly of you. We were just worried. It's just that Alec trusts you, I don't know why, but he does. And I-" Magnus shook his head and interrupted her "And you don't, right? I don't care for your trust anyways, Isabelle. I have had my whole life where people have come and gone, it was impossible to trust anyone. I've never needed it. I can't tell you what to do, and vice versa, but Alec has his own mind. He knows, what he wants, and if he trusts me...then I won't break that trust. Like I said, I'm not cruel." Isabelle stood there, unsure of where to look. She bit her lower lip and looked anxious. "Okay. That's good enough for me. I'm sorry for lashing out." she sighed eventually. Magnus shrugged and replied "I get it all the time." He waved at her and started towards his own bedroom, when he heard Isabelle say faintly "I'm sorry that you've had to go through so much pain in your life."

Magnus turned slowly, with a small smile on his face. He looked straight into her eyes and said "Don't be. I'm not. it's made me who I am today." With that, he left, leaving Isabelle in the dimly lit corridor.

***

"I have to go in alone. She will not talk to me if I'm with someone else." Magnus stated firmly. They were standing around the table in the ops room, this time Clary and Simon were there, too. "We can put a wire on you," Jace suggested. Simon nodded, ready to deal with that but Magnus shook his head. "Catarina is the accountant of Valentine. She knows how these things work. Although she trusts me, she has been betrayed too many times, to not flee when she realizes we are being listened to, and she will realize it." Isabelle sighed. "We can't let you go alone." she said. Magnus looked at her sternly and she quickly said "I don't mean that we don't trust you..." Jace mumbled something like "I don't" but Isabelle continued "It's just that anything could happen. We need to be ready for that." Alec nodded and looked at him with his deep, hazel eyes "Izzy's right. We don't want to be miles away when you could be in danger." Magnus smiled at him sweetly and Jace caught this but said nothing. "I am more than capable of handling myself." Magnus stated, leaning on the table. "I don't doubt that." Alec replied, leaning forward also, looking him in the eyes and smiling a small smile "But I look after my own, and right now, you're one of them. So suck it up, Bane."

Isabelle let out a small laugh and Magnus raised one of his eyebrows, but he smiled. He liked it when Alec took control. He was hotter than usual. And that was saying something. "I'll go and keep and eye on the building from outside. Simon, I'll need those binoculars with heat detecting motion. You all will stay here." Alec said. This was greeted with loud protests from Jace and Izzy, but Alec held up his hand and they immediately fell silent. It was amazing how Alec could silence a room with a simple gesture, just because his aura was prominent with authority. "I need you to stay, and find out anything you can about Valentine's son, Jonathan Morgenstern. Maybe there's a lead there that we could use to our advantage." Clary raised her hand as if in a classroom and Alec said "You don't have to raise you're hand, Clary. What is it?" Clary smiled shyly and said "Right, um. I just wanted to ask if I can help? With the surveillance? I get bored down at the weaponry."

Jace immediately said "Yeah, sure, the more of us the better. We can go through the information a lot quicker." He shot Clary a bright smile and Clary smiled back. Magnus said loudly "As much fun it is to watch you two flirt, I didn't come here to watch a badly acted out version of a teenage rom-com. I have some places I need to stop by before I meet Cat, so, Alexander, let's go?" Clary blushed at this but Jace smirked and patted Magnus on the shoulder "You're just jealous you're not getting any action, my dude." Magnus rolled his eyes and said "Oh? Judging by the way I saw you reading a book in the library last night, neither are you." Simon let out a small laugh at this, earning a glare from Jace. Magnus just smiled and stared at Alec, waiting for him to show the way. Alec nodded, with a smile on his face and said "Right, let's go. Iz, hold the fort. I don't trust Jace to not burn down the place." With Jace protesting, Magnus and Alec walked side by side to the garages.

Alec went to a little more unnoticable car then the one they had been driving around yesterday. They sat in a black SUV and Alec started driving. "Where to?" he asked Magnus, glancing at him quickly. Magnus had put on his red leather pants and a sparkling black shirt, with a long coat. His fingernails were on the window pane, painted black and tapping at the car door. His glitter covered hair were in perfect spikes and his eyes with red eyeshadow on stared at the road ahead. "Right, take the next right here." he said. They rode in silence, with Magnus occasionally telling Alec where to go. First they stopped by at the flower shop. Alec raised and eyebrow but Magnus just said "Wait here." and went inside. He came back with a handful of red tulips and set them on the backseat, before climbing next to Alec again. "You got Catarina flowers?" Alec asked with surprise. Magnus seemed sad when he said "They're not for Cat."

They went on and Magnus turned on the radio. Nodding along, he was still staring straight ahead. Suddenly he said "Let's get a bite to eat." Alec nodded and pulled over to Taki's. They took take out and ate in the car. Alec couldn't help but feel like there was something wrong. Magnus didn't seem his usual cheery self, not that Alec had known him for a long time. He decided to end the silence "Magnus, is everything alright?". Magnus stopped eating his noodles and looked at him. His amber eyes were shining in the sunlight that burst through the car windows. "Yes. Why wouldn't it be?" he said, and Alec could sense he was trying to sound cheerful. "Because, from the moment we met, you wouldn't stop talking. So something's definitely up." This got a laugh out of Magnus and Alec was proud of his achievement.

Magnus put the bag down and sighed, letting his hand go through his hair. Alec would have like to touch his hair to see if they were as soft as they looked. "I just keep thinking about what would happen if Catarina was exposed." he said. Alec nodded and was silent for a while. Then he put his hand on Magnus' shoulder, who looked at him with surprise. Alec stared into his eyes and said "Magnus, I can't promise she won't get hurt but...I can promise that I will try everything in my power to prevent that from happening." Magnus seemed dazed by this. He stared at Alec and his clenched jaw, his little tattoo peeking out of its collar. "Why would you do this for me?" he found himself whispering. Alec smiled and said "Why wouldn't I? Catarina is someone who was forced to do something she didn't want to do. No one deserves that." Magnus looked at him. Alec seemed to be talking about something he was quite familiar with, but he didn't want to pry. So he just nodded. 

After they had eaten, Magnus asked him to drive to a bookstore next. When Magnus came back with a book, he smiled at Alec and said "This is for Cat." Alec smiled and nodded. Soon it was time to meet the famous Catarina Loss.