Alec yawned while pouring himself some coffee. Soft music was coming from the radio and he tried to figure out if he wanted eggs or pancakes. Just as he was taking out the eggs and bacon, Isabelle came in, cheerful as ever. "Hey, big brother." she kissed Alec on the cheek, and grabbed his coffee mug. "Hey!" Alec protested, but Izzy flicked her hair, took a sip and then smiled "You love me." She sat down on a stool and Alec grunted "No, I don't." Isabelle replied with "Yes, you dork. You do." Alec sighed, cracking an egg on the pan and turned to his annoying sister and grumbled "Yeah, I do. But you're still a pain in the ass." Isabelle laughed and flicked open a fashion magazine, while talking "Yeah, whatever. How did things go last night? We good to go?" Alec nodded, telling her that Catarina gave them the green light. "What about Jonathan, find anything out about him?" he asked, while putting the bacon next to the eggs.

Isabelle raised her eyes to him and gave a defeated look "Not really. We dug around but there's not much to go on besides the fact that he seems to like the shady bar downtown, where he's been seen a couple of times. 'The Lair' I think. Kind of a drug den, really." Alec nodded again and Jace came into the kitchen, wearing only sweatpants. Alec rolled his eyes and said "Jace, really?" Jace smirked and said "What? There's no one here." He picked a stool and sat on it, taking the mug from Izzy, while Alec put another mug under the coffee machine. "Well, I can't say the view is bad but I think Clary might have a heart attack once she comes in here." a voice said. Magnus came into the kitchen, wearing sweats and a black tanktop and smiling at Jace. Alec looked at him and felt a pang of jealousy, which he quickly shrugged off. 

Jace almost fell from the stool. "Right, well, thanks I guess?" he said with a questioning voice. Magnus laughed as Isabelle threw a shirt at Jace. Just as he had it on, Clary came in with Simon, speaking softly and Simon laughed. Alec noticed Jace looking at them with a jealous expression and almost laughed out loud, knowing he had worn that look himself just a minute ago. "Morning, guys!" Clary chimed. Isabelle flicked the magazine and raised her eyes to Simon. "Morning, Simon." she said sweetly. Simon blushed and Clary nudged him to sit down at the table. "So, you always have family breakfasts here? 'Cause I can't say I enjoy you all blushing over each other like teenagers." Magnus spoke up. Alec's eyes flicked to him, but Magnus was staring at the others with a content smile. Simon started to sputter something but Jace said "You can always have breakfast later. Or in your room. Or anywhere that's not here." He looked at Magnus with a little hostility, but Alec turned to him and said "Jace. Behave." Magnus stared at Jace but the blonde's eyes flicked to Alec, who was staring at him intently.

Jace threw his hands up in defeat and said "Fine.  But only if he does." Magnus smiled an evil smile and said "That word doesn't exist in my vocabulary, blondie." Jace rolled his eyes but Alec set a big plate of eggs and bacon in front of them, shutting them up with a glare. He grabbed smaller plates and gave one to each. They started to eat and Alec stated "Today we're going to make a plan on how to move forward. And then, until we get more intel from Catarina, we are going to keep a close eye on Valentine and Jonathan. But until we get something concrete, it's just the usual. Bounties, if you get them. But when I call you, you come straight here. Alright?" He spoke with an authoritative voice, like he always did when handing out commands, and Magnus stared at him in awe. The others nodded and Simon said "Alec, there's something I wanted to show you afterwards in the computer room. If you have time." Alec nodded at him and stabbed his bacon with his fork.

"Alright, I'm going to have a training session, Alec?" Jace said after he had finished. Alec nodded and said "I'll check up on whatever Simon wants to show me and then we can go. Magnus, you coming?" Everyone stopped to stare at Alec and then Magnus. Jace eyebrows furrowed together. Magnus looked at Alec and slowly smiled. "Sure, been waiting to knock some sense into blondie." Jace rolled his eyes but looked at Alec in confusion. Alec just shrugged his shoulders and gathered the plates. Izzy and Clary did the dishes while Alec went with Simon. Once in the computer room, Simon said "I checked some of the footage yesterday, about Valentine and Jonathan. And I got a match of Jonathan down at the docs. He was there with some pretty brutal looking guys, here." Simon pulled up the footage and watched. It was indeed Jonathan Morgenstern, with some guys who looked like criminals. Jonathan was saying something but the camera was too far for them to hear what was being said. Then he took out a picture and showed it to the men. Simon stopped the video there and said "I zoomed in on the picture, here." 

Simon pulled up the image and Alec gasped. It was a blurry picture but the set of red hair was unmistakable. "Is that..." Alec started and Simon said in a whisper "Clary? Yeah, I thought so, too." Alec shook his head "What would Jonathan want with Clary?" Simon shook his head but looked at Alec with fear in his eyes. "Look, Clary has been my best friend in like forever. I'm scared, that Jonathan wants to come after her. I just, I don't know what to do, but-" Alec put a hand on Simon's shoulder and reassured him "Simon, we'll keep Clary safe. And we'll figure out why Jonathan would even look for her, okay? You keep digging, maybe this has something to do with her past...I don't want to confront her yet." Simon nodded, looking nervous but a little bit better. Alec left him to his work, mind buzzing. Jonathan Morgenstern was looking for Clary. But why? Was she not telling them something? Alec's mind was still occupied when he got to the training room and saw Magnus pinning Jace down. "Alright, I give, sorry I said anything!" Jace was shouting. Magnus smirked and let him up. He saw Alec and beamed "Oh, Alexander. We started without you. Or rather, blondie here started. He's not really good at trash talk."

Jace moved his shoulder around and spat "Got you mad, didn't it?" Magnus glared at him and was about to say something but Alec intervened "I don't want to know. I'm just surprised you could take Jace down. I've only managed that a couple of times and I've known him for ages." Magnus smiled proudly, while Jace just glared and said "I wasn't ready." Magnus rolled his eyes and said "You were the one who started, remember?" Alec chuckled and went to the changing rooms. When he came out, Magnus was on the balance beams and Jace was at the punching bag. Alec went over to the bag, holding it for Jace. Jace seemed fuming. "Hey, you okay?" Alec asked after a minute. Jace punched the bag one more time and then stood still, panting. "I just wish you'd tell me, you know? How you two, I don't know, sneak out? And are you suddenly friends now? Alec, he's a conman. We were supposed to hunt him down and give him to the Yakuza."

Alec winced but didn't say anything. Jace looked at him, waiting. Finally, Alec sighed and said "Look, I know all that. But he's not a bad guy. That's the only thing I know and believe. So try and not act like a dick all the time. I trust you, Jace, you know that. I was going to tell you anyway. It's just that I was upset about mom and dad and..." he trailed off. Jace nodded. He pulled off the gloves and put his hands on Alec's shoulders. "Hey, I'm here for you, okay? And don't worry about Maryse and Robert. You have Izzy and me. We're here for you, no matter what." Alec nodded smiling. He patted Jace on the back and went to the balance beams where Magnus was on one foot, eyes closed. Alec coughed and said "Am I interrupting?" Magnus opened one eye and said with a flirty tone "When the interruption is as hot as you, I don't mind." Alec blushed, but Magnus just smirked and with a frontflip, jumped down from the beams.

"Um, anyways. After we come up with a plan, I was thinking that we should probably frequently visit that place Catarina will leave a message for you? So we'd be ready." Alec said and Magnus's face changed a little. "Right. We can go and check it out later." he replied, clearly thinking about the foster home they were supposed to go to. Alec felt a little guilty about reminding him of it. He wanted to say something else when Simon interrupted them. The nerd was standing in the doorway, looking paler than usual. "Um, guys? We need you down at the ops center." he said and Alec saw Jace come closer. "What happened?" he asked and Alec nodded towards the two so they'd all follow Simon. "It's about the thing I showed you earlier, Alec." the brunette said now, seemingly very nervous. Jace raised and eyebrow while Magnus was immobile. "You mean about Clary?" he asked and Jace stated loudly "What about Clary?" Just then they reached the ops room, where Isabelle, Clary and Hodge were already waiting for them. Clary looked extremely shaken up and Jace noticed. He went to her and looked at the redhead quizzically, while Simon went to her other side. "What is going on?" Magnus asked, sounding a bit on edge. Alec glanced at him quickly but turned to Hodge, who had just started to speak. "Simon found an image, this one." he said, letting the same picture Simon had shown to Alec appear on the screen. Isabelle gasped and Clary looked like she might cry.

"That's...Clary?" Magnus asked and Hodge nodded. "Yeah, Simon showed it to me earlier. We thought that we will look into it, not wanting to scare..." he started, but stopped quickly when Clary gave her a look. "What? You thought I couldn't handle the fact that a psychopath is looking for me?" she asked sternly. Jace eyed her and Simon just seemed overly nervous again. "No. We just didn't know if this was even real. I mean, the photo could be forged." Alec said calmly. Hodge shook his head. "It's real alright. Show them, Clary." he said and the redhead released herself from between the two boys, walking up to the keyboard. "I got this text just a few minutes ago." she stated glumly, pulling the image up on the screen. It read 'Dear sister, it's time you knew who your true family is. I'll be coming for you. Yours forever, Jonathan'. Magnus seemed to be deep in thought but Alec furrowed his brow. "I don't get it." he said and Isabelle looked as confused as Jace and Simon. Clary stared at Hodge, looking angry. "I think Hodge has something to say." she stated firmly. The older man sighed. "Look, I know that withholding this information may have been wrong, but I didn't deem it necessary for you to know. There were no evidence that Jonathan knew about his...family." he said. It was weirdly quiet in the room and Alec felt like it was as if they were about to receive some very bad news.

"Clary and Jonathan are siblings." Hodge stated, looking at Clary with sad eyes. The small redhead let a tear run down her cheek and Jace was by her side immediately, putting an arm around her to comfort Clary. "What?" Isabelle croaked and stepped up, her eyes full of disbelief. Alec looked at Clary, thinking about their shared red hair with Jonathan. Was it possible? Magnus seemed to be indifferent, he was staring at the wall behind Simon and seemed deep in thought. "How is that possible?" Jace asked angrily and Hodge sighed. "Clary was just a baby when Jocelyn escaped Valentine with her. Jonathan was a little older, but Jocelyn couldn't take them both with her - it's complicated." he said and Clary ripped herself free of Jace, stepping up to Hodge. She was so short, that she had to look up to him, but the anger in her face would've made Alec back up a little. He admired the way she could make herself be heard if she wanted to. "All this time you knew I had a brother? And how is it, that I am here, and he is this criminal? How come my mother..." her voice stopped, sounding strangled and her eyes found Simon, who rushed to her, hugging her. Jace eyed them and Alec almost rolled his eyes. Now is so not the time for jealousy, he thought as he eyed the blonde who seemed to be annoyed. "Jocelyn fled with you, because the life Valentine led was no life for you two. She knew me, I was one of her dearest friends. She tried to run, to take Jonathan with you two, but Valentine got to him before. She made the harsh decision - to save at least one of you. When she got here, looking for shelter, she was already dying. A gunshot to her back. She died just after she had handed you to me." Hodge said, sounding devastated now.

"How did he find out about Clary? I somehow doubt that Valentine was the one to tell him." Magnus suddenly asked and Alec saw from the corner of his eye, that Magnus had stepped closer to the group, he was standing almost next to him. "No, Valentine would've never done that, in fear that Jonathan would leave him. Even though he acts like he doesn't care for his only son, we know for a fact that he raised him to be his perfect soldier - he is very valuable to him. How Jonathan found out is beyond me. We erased all records of their connection." Hodge replied, looking at the conman. Magnus seemed to think about this. "If he is trying to find Clary, we could use that to our advantage." he stated, his voice clear in the room. Alec's head whipped in his direction, hoping Magnus wasn't suggesting what he thought he was. "We are not using Clary as bait!" Jace suddenly raised his voice, making the redhead turn to him. Alec saw a sincere smile on her face. Jace was holding his arms towards Clary now, pushing her behind his back like he was shielding her. Magnus looked extremely bored. "That's not what I was about to suggest." he said, pointing a finger at the blonde.

He stepped towards the table, leaning on it. "I was thinking before, what if Catarina will manage to turn Raphael, so he would be on our side? What then? We have no way of backing them up, even if they find something concrete against Valentine. He has no weaknesses. But Jonathan does." Magnus said, eyeing the group and his eyes stopped at Alec. "Jonathan would never hurt Clary. He wants his sister back. And he's doing this behind Valentine's back, that much is clear. The shady way he is trying to contact her? No way Valentine knows about this, he'd be furious. No, Jonathan is doing this in secret. Which means Valentine would be pissed if he'd find out about it." Magnus was now walking around the room and everyone was listening intently. "What if someone were to go to Valentine and tell him all about this? What if that person would have proof, that Jonathan was indeed trying to find Clary? This text perhaps? Valentine would trust this person immediately. He'd maybe even accept a trade of some sort." he said now, stopping in his track and looking at Hodge. Alec tapped his fingers on the table. "Like what?" he asked eventually, when no one said a word. "Like letting that person back in. I could go and confront him and then, when he lets me back into his inner circle, I could find out his plans, his next move. Something to take him down with." Magnus stated, smiling now.

Isabelle looked at him like he was crazy and Jace was eyeing him skeptically, still holding onto Clary who was now wearing a puzzled look. Simon shifted in his spot, silent, but Hodge seemed to be seriously considering it. That was enough for Alec. "No," he said, looking at the conman, who stared at him in surprise. "It'll never work, you said yourself, he doesn't trust you. He tried to kill you. What makes you think he won't do it again?" he asked, his words calculated and he never took his eyes off Magnus's. The man smiled sweetly, turning towards him. "I know how his mind works. If I give him proof about Jonathan's little betrayal, he will trust me. Besides, no one else here knows how to work the angles from inside. I am a conman, after all." he said simply, but Alec shook his head. "Nope. It's too dangerous. And we don't even have the 'proof', like you said." he answered. Magnus was about to say something when Hodge interrupted "Simon can make it happen. Forge a photo. Even if Valentine will be skeptical, the text is traceable." Simon nodded now, enthusiastic. "Yes, I can do that." he nodded, but Alec shook his head again. "What about the plan with Catarina? It could work." he said, now feeling a little desperate. Why? He didn't want any of his team members to put themselves in unnecessary risk. At least, that's what he told himself.

Magnus put his hand on his arm carefully and Alec froze. "Alexander, Catarina has been with Valentine for way too long. If there's any way I can help her get out and do it quickly, I will. Besides, if I'm in there with her, it won't be so bad. We can look after each other." he said softly and suddenly, Alec didn't really care that they were being watched by everyone else. He let his eyes find Magnus's as he spoke slowly "Only if you promise, that you will be careful and won't take any unnecessary risks." Magnus seemed a little surprised by the tone of his voice but he smiled nevertheless. Alec felt Magnus squeeze his arm and his skin tingled with and unknown feeling. His heart beat a little faster as he looked into his eyes and he felt like there was no one else in the room. It made his head spin, just thinking about it. What was happening to him?

"I will, You can trust me." Magnus said, his voice low as his eyes shone with assurance. Someone coughed and Alec's head snapped up. Jace was looking at them with a bewildered look on his face while Isabelle was trying not to smile brightly at them. He almost rolled his eyes. "Alright, we'll do this. Simon, get to work on the photo now. Clary, I want you to stay close to Jace, he will keep and eye on you just in case Jonathan will try to get to you in any way." Alec said with his 'team captain' voice and Simon nodded, quickly hugging Clary and leaving the room. The read-head gave a pout. "I don't need a babysitter. I can take care of myself." she announced, but Jace gave her a look. "Captain's orders." he said smugly and Clary rolled her eyes, stalking out of the room while Jace followed her, but not before giving Magnus and Alec a suspicious look. Isabelle walked over to Magnus. "We appreciate you putting yourself in danger like that, but if you get killed, I will come down to hell and drag you back." she stated, with an amused look on her face. Magnus acted offended. "Why are you assuming I'm going to hell?" he asked and Isabelle laughed. "'Cause that's where I'm going, sweetheart." she said, flipping her hair from her face as she walked away. Magnus watched her leave with a warm smile on his face and Alec couldn't help but wonder, how had Magnus managed to make such an influence on all of them in such a short time.

Hodge coughed and came to Alec. "I trust you in preparing Magnus the best you can. Once Simon is done, Magnus has to arrange the meeting with Valentine. Wires are out of the question, but maybe Simon can work something out, so he wouldn't be going in blind. At least he'd be able to call for backup if need be." the man said, eyeing Magnus. When the conman tilted his head to the side, Hodge shrugged. "I might not like you, but this is my team, too. And we look after our own." he said, although his voice betrayed some suspicion. Magnus smiled brightly. "Aww, don't get all soft on me now, I'll miss you." he said and Hodge rolled his eyes saying "That doesn't mean I trust you." and he left the room, too.

Suddenly, Alec felt very hot. He tried not to look at Magnus and tried very hard to forget the intense moment that had just happened. Unfortunately, Magnus seemed to have other ideas. "So, are you just concerned about the operation or are you scared for me?" the conman asked, and Alec felt the man standing behind him. He willed his face not to turn red. He turned around to reply, but that was a mistake. Magnus was way too close to him, staring up at his eyes. "Um..." he tried to think of something to say but he had already forgotten what Magnus had asked. The conman smiled, his eyebrows raised. Alec felt his heart speed up. They had almost kissed last night. And, to his surprise, he had been disappointed when Magnus had broken it off. Right now, the feeling was the same as back there. His breath quickened because of the close proximity and he saw Magnus giving him an amused glance. "Of course I'm scared for you." Alec suddenly heard himself say. Crap, what?

Magnus's eyes widened a bit and he cocked his head to the side, observing the taller man. "You are different, Alexander. And I'm still not sure if that's a good thing." he said, his voice almost like a whisper. Alec found himself closing his eyes as he inhaled Magnus's scent. It was sweet and reminded him of something. Before he could figure out what it was, he felt Magnus's fingers brush against this cheek. When he opened his eyes, he saw Magnus leaning in to him. The conman's green eyes sparkled yellow under the light for a second, and Alec found himself getting lost in them. 

"I'm hoping it is." Alec said, before he smiled at the man. Magnus smiled back, eyes flicking to Alec's lips. He seemed to be contemplating something. "Magnus..." Alec wanted to say something, but because he had no clue what it was, the conman's name was the only thing that fell from his lips. Magnus eyes found his again and he moved another step closer, so their bodies were now touching. 

When Alec leaned down, he closed his eyes again and could feel the breath of the other man on his lips.

A/N: HAAAAAAAAAAAA I stopped there. Lmao I'm evil. VOTE AND COMMENT OKAY BYE xxx