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Magnus was terrified. He was terrified because Alec wasn’t waking up, no matter what kind of magic Magnus tried on him. The young Shadow hunter had been brought to Magnus during one of his afternoon happy hour. The Shadow hunter was unconscious in Jace’s arms, shivering violently and his face all the way to his neck was drenched in sweat.
Magnus placed his drink down on the table in front of him, rushing over to Jace’s side and telling the blonde to place Alec on the couch. Jace carefully placed Alec on the couch and took a few steps back, beginning to pace around Magnus’s living room.
Magnus watched Jace pace, asking him in a worried voice. “What happened?”
Jace ran a hand through his dirty blonde hair, making it messier than his usual slicked back look. He answered Magnus in a panicky voice, “He was shot by a werewolf. The bullet was laced with something; he wouldn’t heal no matter how many times I tried the healing rune on him.”
Jace continued, “I think its poison.”
Magnus was confused. “Why would one of the moon children have a gun? That’s something a mundane would have.”
Jace gave Magnus a look, his tone sharp and biting. “There wasn’t enough time to ask when he pulled the gun and began firing at us!”
Magnus admitted it was a fairly foolish question to ask, he turned back to Alec, the male shivers had increased and it seemed as though he was having a seizure. “Tell me exactly what happened.”
“We, me and Alec, were sent on a mission. Some werewolves had been attacking mundane; we thought it was one or two wolves. It was more than two, we took down most of them but things went haywire when Alec shot down the alpha. He pulled out a gun and began firing at us, we managed to escape getting filled with bullets but Alec got shot in the shoulder and then he collapsed, screaming in pain. I tried removing the bullet but it kept going deeper and deeper into Alec’s shoulder,” Magnus noticed the dried blood on Jace’s fingertips; he turned back to Alec and began removing the younger male’s sweater.
Magnus threw the drenched clothing onto floor; he used his magic to summon a basin filled with water and a cloth. Wetting the cloth, Magnus began wiping the sweat off of Alec’s upper body. He said to Jace, “He is in quite the amount of pain, I have managed to relieve some of it but he is still suffering.”
“Can’t you use your magic and heal him?” asked Jace, stopping his pacing and walking over to Magnus’s couch to look at Alec.
“If I could, I already would have.” Magnus said his tone sharp.
“Then what do we do?” Jace asked, even he could tell Alec was in a lot of pain, his body shivering even though Magnus had placed several heat magic on his body.
“If we don’t find what that gun was laced with,” Magnus looked directly into Jace’s eyes, his tone grim. “Alec will die.”
Jace looked even more panicked than before, “How do we do that? Find whatever it was that the bullet had.”
Magnus bit his lipstick-covered lip in thought, “You said that when you tried removing the bullet in Alec’s shoulder it went deeper and deeper?”
Jace nodded his head, not sure what Magnus was getting at until he continued talking.
“I could try removing the bullet. My guess is that the more you try to remove it, the deeper the bullet goes. But if I kill all blood flow in Alec’s arm, the bullet should stay still but depending on how deep it went, I may or may not be able to remove it.”
Jace was unsure and confused by Magnus’s idea, “How does that even work? The bullet will stop moving if you kill blood flow in Alec’s entire arm?”
Magnus rolled his eyes slightly, “It won’t make sense even if I explain it to you. Just trust me.”
Jace was wary but nodded his head and moving back when Magnus placed the basin with the cloth in it on the floor and stood up. Placing his hands over Alec’s unconscious body, he began the spell needed to temporarily kill the blood flow in Alec’s arm.
Jace watched worriedly as Magnus’s spell began to take effect, Alec’s arm losing color with every second that went by. Magnus stopped his spell, bending down to look at Alec’s injured arm. He murmured something to himself and dug two of his fingers into Alec’s gunshot wound.
Alec’s face was contorted in pain; his head shifting side to side as though trying to shake away the pain. Magnus dug his finger even deeper into Alec’s arm, worried for a second that the bullet had gone too far for him to be able to remove it when he felt something hard brush against his fingertips. Magnus smiled a small smile, his fingers holding the bullet precariously; he pulled out his finger from Alec’s arm and placed the bullet onto his other non-bloody palm.
Jace was relieved when he saw the bloody gold bullet in Magnus’s palm, coming closer to the warlock he bended down and looked at the bullet, trying to see any difference with it and the bullets that he could remember. Magnus placed a hand over Alec’s wound, the blood that had poured when Magnus stuck his finger inside drying up and the hole slowly closed up.
Magnus said to Jace, “Alec is not safe yet. I need to make a cure using whatever is inside this bullet; unfortunately, I don’t know how long it could take to make the cure.”
“How long could you take? An hour? Two?” asked Jace, thinking about how long making the cure could take.
Magnus shrugged his shoulders. “Could be a day or more, different poisons require different times to make a cure.”
“A day? Alec doesn’t have a day.” Jace shouted angrily at the warlock.
Magnus snapped at the blonde, his temper rising with the tone of Jace's voice. "I know that, little ShadowHunter!"
“Different poisons need different cures that require different amounts of time to make. Whatever they shot him with,” Magnus looked at the unconscious male on his couch, looking back to Jace and continuing his voice calmer than a moment ago, “It will take an unknown amount of time to make”
Jace kept his mouth shut and looked at Alec, nodding his head when Magnus had finished speaking. Sitting down beside Alec, Jace said to Magnus his voice low. “Please save him, Magnus.”
Seeing Jace sitting beside Alec, looking worried and tired, Magnus replied, “I'm trying.” leaving the males alone and going somewhere more private to begin making the cure.
It had been roughly over three hours since Magnus had left Jace and Alec, going to his room and shutting the door behind him. Occasionally, Jace would hear the warlock cuss and something fall to the ground. Jace had kept an eye on Alec, calming him down when the dark-haired began thrashing around on the couch. He was about to go and see what was taking the warlock so long when the door opened and a weird smell spreading throughout the house, Magnus exiting the room holding a small bottle with a yellow-ish liquid inside.
Magnus walked over to the two Shadowhunters, holding up the bottle for Jace to see clearly, Magnus said, “I managed to find the cure for his poison wound.”
J ace grabbed the bottle from Magnus’s hands, opening it, he opened Alec’s mouth and poured the contents of the bottle inside. He threw the empty bottle beside the dark-haired and watched the Shadowhunter for any sign of him waking up.
Nothing happened. They both waited anxiously, watching Alec’s face keenly but nothing happened. The young Shadowhunter didn’t move showing no signs of the cure doing its job.
Jace rounded on Magnus, his voice loud and tone accusatory. “It’s not working! He’s not waking up!”
“It takes time to begin curing the injured person.” Magnus replied.
“Time! Time!” Jace said, his tone mocking, “It’s always time with you! Alec doesn’t have any time, can’t you understand that!?”
Magnus was getting irritated by Jace’s tone. “Listen here, Shadowhunter, you came to me for help. You begged me to save your precious brother,‘’ Magnus made quoting signs with his fingers, his voice sharper than before, his eyes turning cat-like, ‘’You do not speak to me like that, know your place.”
Jace was about to respond when he got cut off by Alec moaning in his sleep. Looking at Alec, Jace began shaking Alec, shouting at the Shadowhunter to wake up. Magnus watched the blonde try waking up the dark-haired and failing, saying to the blonde, “He won’t wake no matter how much you shake him.”
“What do we do?” asked Jace.
“For now, I’ll stay awake and keep an eye on him. You go and rest, you look exhausted and filthy.” Magnus suggested, his upper lip rising in disgust at the sight of Jace’s and Alec’s filthy clothes on his chair.
Jace refused the offer, saying, “No. I have to be here when-if- he wakes up.”
Magnus rolled his eyes at the blonde stubbornness, he never understood why people enjoyed making themselves sick while they took care or worried over someone. Coming closer, Magnus placed a hand on Jace's filthy shoulder the blonde falling asleep in mere seconds and being levitated to Magnus's room and being placed none too gently on his couch.
Magnus sat down on his other chair that faced where Alec was sleeping, picking up his drink, Magnus downed the entire glass and refilled it using his magic to bring the bottle to him and pouring it in the glass. He ended up drinking two bottles of wine and falling asleep for a short moment on his couch. When he woke up, he stood up and went to check on the Shadowhunter, getting worried when he realized the younger male hadn't woken up yet.
Magnus waited and waited, staying awake through the whole night till the following morning and Alec... had not woken up yet. The older male begun fearing the worst, thinking he had made the wrong cure. He thought of trying some awakening magic on the younger male but decided against it, rushing someone who got poisoned to heal is a bad idea, he knew from experience.
But as the hours went by, Alec didn't wake up, stir or twitch. It was as though he had died, the only proof that he was still alive was the rise and fall of his chest. With every hour that went by, Magnus's emotions grew from worry to terror, thinking he had failed to save the one Shadowhunter he genuinely liked. Magnus was about to give in and use awakening magic in the young male when aforementioned male opened his eyes and looked straight into Magnus brown eyes.
Alec stared into Magnus shocked brown eyes, closing his eyes for a second before opening them once more. He looked around the apartment as best as he could, wondering where he was until a voice answered his unvoiced question.
“You're at my apartment.” said Magnus. Moving away from the Shadowhunter, he went to sit in his chair.
Alec stayed silent, blinking twice before clearing his throat and trying to speak, “What happened?”
Magnus was a bit confused. “You don't remember anything of the night you got poisoned?”
“Everything's a bit foggy. I remember a mission and being ambushed and pain.” Alec replied, looking down at his body trying to find where the pain he had felt had originated from.
“Wait, I got poisoned? What about Jace? Is he okay?” Alec questioned getting more worried when he couldn’t see his friend.
Magnus felt something akin to irritation and pushed it away focusing on the matter at hand. He told Alec all that Jace had told him about the fight and watched as the younger male began remembering the fight. He answered Alec’s questions when the younger male asked once more.
“Don’t worry. Jace is unfortunately,” He mumbled to himself before continuing at a normal tone of voice, “perfectly fine on the couch in my bedroom.”
“That’s great, thank you Magnus.”
“There’s no need for that,” Magnus said, his hand waving in the air as he refused Alec’s thanks. “I’m just relieved that you’re alright.”
After repeating multiple times that he should rest and not move around, Alec finally listened and stayed still on the couch occasionally shifting on the couch trying to find a more comfortable position. They sat in silence for a while when an idea hit Magnus. He was all alone-well as alone as they could get with Jace in his bedroom- with the one Shadow Hunter who’s company he didn’t despise.
“Tell me, Alec, how is Isabella doing?”
Alec found this question to be extremely strange because as far as he knew, his sister and the high warlock of Brooklyn never talked. “She’s doing well…”
Their strange conversation was interrupted by Magnus bedroom door opening and Jace walking out, his hands rubbing the sleep in his eyes. He removed his hands from his eyes and looked at Magnus about to ask him on the condition of the younger Shadow Hunter when he saw from the corner of his eye Alec shifting on the couch and was by his side in a few seconds.
“Alec! How do you feel?”
“A bit nauseous but I’ll live.” Alec said.
“Magnus, why didn’t you wake me up when Alec woke up?” Jace asked the warlock, his voice already beginning to annoy Magnus.
“You looked like an angel sleeping and drooling on my couch that I didn’t want to disturb you.” Magnus sarcastically replied smiling when Alec snorted at his reply.
“I do not drool.” Jace refused.
“The wet spot where your mouth was begs to differ.” Magnus stood and walked over to Alec and pushed Jace away with his hip and begun checking on Alec. “He has to rest for a few more hours, possibly a day, for the antidote to fully work but you can take him back.”
“Good, I don’t want to stay around you any longer than I need to.” Jace said, walking back to Magnus’s bedroom to get his things and missing the middle finger that Magnus sent his way.
Exiting the bedroom, Jace went to Alec on the couch and carefully assisted him in standing and walking to the door before turning to the warlock. “Thank you,”
Magnus waved his hand at them, his lips lifting into a smile when the two had left his house. When Jace had been in the bedroom, he had taken that chance to slip something to Alec and whisper seductively in his ear so that Jace wouldn’t hear.
“Call me. Next time we’ll talk about something that isn’t your sister.”