Alec stood up, pacing the living room for what felt like the hundredth time. They had been waiting anxiously all night and it was approaching dawn, according to his watch. It was still set to New York time. Hours and hours of waiting, with no news, had frayed his nerves until he was clinging on by a thread.

"Say the word and I will make you a portal, Alexander," Magnus said. Again. He had offered many times over the last fourteen hours. And each time, Alec had deliberated, a torn expression marring his beautiful features, before refusing.

Magnus wanted nothing more than to create a portal and for all of them to take it but he couldn't leave. The mortal realm wouldn't stand a chance if he did.

"I can't," Alec said tersely, gripping Magnus' offered hand for a moment when he passed by the couch again before resuming his well-trodden path across the room. The need for information warred with his need to stay and protect Magnus.

Alec knew that Magnus wanted to go too. But neither of them could leave. He refused to leave Magnus to face Lilith alone.

"You can. Go and find out what is going on then come back to me," Magnus said, also standing. He needed to stretch his legs anyway. Crossing the room, he blocked Alec's path, taking his husband's hands in his own until Alec met his gaze. "Go and check on them. You can be there and back before the battle even starts."

They weren't just worried about Simon's fate, they were worried about all of their family. Magnus had sent messages to Catarina, Izzy, Clary, Jace. Even Luke and Maryse. Nobody had replied.

"The battle starts at dawn, Magnus. Twenty-four hours. There are no guarantees that I can get back in time," Alec said, gripping Magnus' hands tightly, searching Magnus' face. "I can't leave you here. If she finds out that you are here alone she might move against you," he said.

"The only people who will know you are gone are me and Cain. Neither of us is going to tell her," Magnus replied.

"And what if I can't get back?" Alec asked, his stomach tightening at the thought of Magnus being trapped there alone. "What if they need my help and I can't get back in time? What if Lorenzo refuses to send me back here? Or refuses to let anyone else?" he asked.

Magnus nodded. It was the same conversation that they had been having all night, going around and around in circles. Cain had gone to bed hours ago, asking them to wake him if they received any news but none had come.

Alec let Magnus tow him back to the couch, slumping down into it once more. He was torn. Should he stay, where he knew exactly what the danger was? Or should he leave and face the uncertainty of being able to return? At least he knew exactly what was happening here.

"We could always ask Cain to go," Magnus said. Again.

"We need him here," Alec sighed. "I don't trust the others. Our 'allies'. We need him with us," he said when Magnus gave him the same look he'd worn every time the suggestion had come up.

"He is a skilled fighter but his presence isn't vital," Magnus said. Every time he had suggested it, Alec had point-blank refused to send Cain.

"We will be stronger with him here," Alec said, avoiding Magnus' gaze. Cain would have been a good solution but they needed him there as much as Alec needed to be there.

A flair of light, coming from the training room, cut Magnus' reply off. He still didn't see why Cain couldn't just portal to the mortal realm and return with the information they needed but Alec insisted.

"Alexander, look. A message," Magnus said, halfway out of his seat when Alec streaked past him.

Alec skidded to a stop in the doorway of the training room, staring down at the message that had appeared.

Magnus, Alec, it's Catarina.

I'm sorry, I was in the middle of working a double at the hospital when I received a fire message from Lorenzo, instructing me to portal straight to his mansion. I wasn't here to see your messages.

The messages needed an anchor and my apartment was the only safe place to build one so all of the messages have been coming here. I've been passing your messages on to the others but I've only just found these.

When I arrived at Lorenzo's, the place was packed with warlocks from all over the city. He said that New York has been attacked.

Lorenzo had called an emergency cabinet meeting to gather as much information as he could. The Shadowhunters didn't show up and they haven't confirmed anything but there are wild rumors flying about.

Alec, I'm so sorry. The word is that Jonathan Morgenstern has been on a worldwide rampage. Reports are coming in from Downworlders on every continent. They are saying that he's decimated Institutes all over the world.

When Lorenzo couldn't get any concrete information, he asked for volunteers to fight if it was needed and for warlocks who couldn't fight to shore up the defenses. Everyone else is being evacuated to the spiral labyrinth. Werewolves and vampires too. The Seelies refuse to get involved, hiding away in their realm.

How did you know something is going down?

Catarina.

Alec stared at the message, one part of his vampiric brain speeding through scenarios, another part worrying for his family, another part grieving for his lost friends. Even if nothing was confirmed. A hand on his shoulder had him looking up.

"Nothing has been confirmed yet, Alexander," Magnus said, squeezing Alec's shoulder as he unknowingly parroted Alec's thoughts.

"Jonathan Morgenstern has been on a rampage and I've lost this invisible connection with Simon," Alec said, refusing to state the obvious.

Alec stood behind his husband, reading over Magnus' shoulder when Magnus knelt on the ground and dug a handful of grave dirt out of the barrel to pour a message out.

Catarina,

The sire bond between Alec and Simon has been disrupted.

Are you able to go to the New York Institute and try to get some information? We don't know what is going on, we haven't heard anything but it happened hours ago. We have been waiting for a reply from the others. At least now we know why we haven't received one.

If you can get any information for us, we would be grateful.

Magnus.

"Wait, ask her if she can find anything out about LA too," Alec asked before Magnus could set fire to the message and send it.

Magnus amended the message and sent it, his stomach clenching. He and Robert had never been bosom buddies but the man was Alec's father, his father-in-law. And Max lived there too.

Alec felt like he was living in a waking nightmare. Institutes all over the world gone, his family and friends missing, the link with Simon gone, and no information about what had happened to any of them.

They only had to wait a few minutes before a new message appeared under Magnus' reply, Alec once again reading over Magnus' shoulder.

I'll portal to the New York Institute to see what I can find out. I'll send Malcolm Fade a fire message too. He's still the High Warlock of LA. I'll let him know that I'm in contact with you both and ask him if he can get any information.

I'll let you know what's happening as soon as I can. Just hang tight and try not to worry. I know that's easier said than done but don't lose hope.

Catarina.

Magnus grabbed another handful of dirt and poured out a new message;

Thank you. And please, be careful.

M.

"Come on, I need a drink," Magnus said, tugging at Alec's hand until Alec followed him into the kitchen. He busied himself with getting Alec a glass of blood and conjuring a neat whiskey for himself. A martini wasn't going to cut it. Snapping his fingers, he added a large dash of whiskey to Alec's blood.

"We should go and wait..." Alec cut off when Magnus shook his head.

"The wait will drive you mad if you sit out there," Magnus said before taking a large gulp of his drink, tipping Alec's glass while he was at it.

Alec tipped his drink back, draining the glass in two gulps. His stomach almost rebelled from the large whiskey but it settled after a moment.

"Do you think we should wake Cain?" Alec asked, not having anything else to say. He didn't dare voice his fears. Saying it out loud, that their entire family was gone, might make it true.

"Let him sleep," Magnus said, settling into a chair at the island. Cain would need the rest. They all did but there was no way either of would be getting any, any time soon. Too much was up in the air.

Alec settled next to Magnus, gripping Magnus' hand tightly, knowing Magnus was just as worried about Catarina, and probably Raphael, as he was for his family.

They sat at the island in silence for another hour before it became too much for Alec. Always the protective big brother and Head of the Institute, he wasn't used to sitting around when others were in danger.

Magnus followed Alec into the living room, his eyes flicking to the training room doorway when he entered the room. The glow of a new message had him following Alec hurriedly, his turn to read over Alec's shoulder when his husband stopped in the doorway.

I've received word from Malcolm. He was already at the Institute. Robert and Max are fine but they are the only survivors. I'm so sorry, Alec, nobody else in LA made it.

I also portalled to the Institute here in New York.

The Institute is still standing but the park that surrounds it is almost completely destroyed. There's a scorched crater half the size of Williamsburg where it used to be. I don't know what has happened but it looks bad.

The wards on the Institute are up. I scanned it with my magic. Nobody with demon blood can get through. I'm not sure but I think the Shadowhunters are holed up inside. I've tried sending fire messages to Jace, Clary, and Izzy but they aren't working.

When I received Malcome's reply, he confirmed that it was Jonathan and that he has taken out fourteen Institutes all over the world. Jonathan confirmed it himself to Robert Lightwood. There were no survivors. Jonathan also gave Robert a message to pass on to the New York Institute, which he did.

Robert has been trying to get through to the New York Institute ever since but he's had no luck. He did say that he has spoken to Maryse. She is okay but has had no contact from anyone either. She said Luke was called to the Institute but he's not answering his cell and neither are any of the others.

I've informed Lorenzo of the developments and I'll keep trying. I'll let you know when I get in touch with the others.

C.

Thank you, Catarina, but you won't be able to get through until they drop the wards. I designed them specifically to ward against those with demon blood entering in case the Institute was ever attacked, at Alec's request. Only I can remove them if the Shadowhunters refuse to drop them. And I'm stuck here. You'll have to get in touch with Jia Penhallow, see if there's anything she can do to contact them.

M.

Magnus set his reply alight and stood, pulling Alec into a hug. Alec didn't need to breathe anymore but a deep, shaky sigh shuddered out against his neck. "Your Mom and Dad, and Max are okay," he said, his fingers raking through the soft strands of Alec's hair.

Alec didn't answer. Half of him was thanking Raziel that half of his family was okay. The other half was desperate for news about his siblings. The extra wards that he had requested from Magnus had him kicking himself. He'd hoped that they would never need those protections. Now they were nothing but a hindrance.

The loss of so many Shadowhunters weighed heavily on Alec's mind too. He might not be one of them anymore but they were people that he was related to, friends that he had gone on missions with and trained with during visits to other Institutes or when they had visited his. They were still his people.

Magnus let Alec go when Alec pulled back, watching as his husband paced the training room. Being unable to do anything other than wait, he felt useless. Seeing Alec shrug his shirt off and hook a magically reinforced punching bag up to the concrete ceiling beam, he snapped his fingers and conjured a small workbench and some ingredients.

Magnus set up his makeshift workbench in the corner, knowing that Alec wouldn't leave the room until they heard back from Cat. Taking a seat, he started making some more potion grenades, wanting to make himself useful. The steady rhythm of clinking chains as Alec pummelled the punching bag did nothing to relax him.

Alec took his aggression out on the punching bag for hours, hitting it over and over again until his knuckles split open. Each time it happened, he barely let them heal before starting again. The fourth time it happened, he jolted in surprise when he suddenly found a pair of boxing gloved laced onto his hands.

Magnus had to replace Alec's gloves twice when Alec punched the bag hard enough to destroy the gloves. The sound of Cain moving around the loft had him leaving the training room to explain everything that had happened. He thanked the Vampire when Cain offered to give them some space, before returning to the training room and his work, steadily building a pile of the grenades.

The useless feeling that had taken up residence in Alec's stomach didn't let up until another message finally appeared. Forgetting all about the punching bag, he crossed the room in an instant to read it, Magnus on his heels.

Hey guys, it's Jace. I'm with Catarina. I'm fine, and so are Clary and Izzy.

Lorenzo demanded that Jia got in touch with us when he couldn't get through to anyone from the Institute. Catarina told me that she let you know what Jonathan has done. It's true. We were tracking him for days, unable to find him. He destroyed 14 institutes. There are only 22 left.

Jia sent out a group of elite Shadowhunters to investigate when she didn't hear anything from a couple of them. They are completely wrecked, bodies everywhere. It was a massacre.

The rest of the Institutes were put on lockdown when we received a message from Dad, explaining that Jonathan was responsible and was planning to take every Institute out. He and Max are okay. Helen is beside herself though. Her siblings were visiting an uncle in London but her parents were still in LA. There's no news from her uncle but London was attacked too.

Jonathan told Dad that he was coming for us so we prepared as best as we could. Everyone with Heavenly Fire waited outside the Institute. We attacked Jonathan as soon as he got there. A few people were injured but Dad said that he was able to kill without even having to touch anyone so we blasted him as soon as he got there, stopping him from killing anyone.

We destroyed him. But Simon got caught up in the blast. He wasn't supposed to be there. We told him not to come, to stay as far away as possible but he didn't listen. Jonathan took the brunt of it but Simon had crept up behind him, trying to be a hero.

It didn't destroy Simon but it... fried him pretty bad. We dragged him inside and put the wards up. Thank the angel they only stop people of demon blood from entering once they are up. Actually, thank you, Magnus. We were all too weak after using the Heavenly Fire on Jonathan. Anything that attacked would have finished us off. Luckily, the Heavenly Fire was diluted and nobody was harmed from using it.

Catarina has agreed to come to the Institute to heal Simon. Helen's doing what she can but it's not enough. Something else happened. The Heavenly Fire didn't kill Simon but it turned him back into a mundane.

Clary and Izzy haven't left his side since we got him to the infirmary. They're trying to be strong for each other but he looks bad. He looks like Jonathan did before he came back. At least that will never happen again. Jonathan is gone for good, along with the Heavenly Fire. We used it all to kill him, turned him to ash.

We have to get back to the Institute but I just wanted to let you know what happened. We thought that the sire bond between Simon and Alec might have broken and we didn't want you to worry. Sorry that it took so long to let you know. I'll send another message as soon as we know more about Simon.

Take care,

Jace.

Alec almost sank to the floor with relief, his knees feeling oddly weak. Only Magnus, turning him and pulling him into a hug kept him standing. He sank into Magnus' embrace, gripping his husband tightly.

"Your family is okay," Magnus said, rubbing soothing circles into Alec's back, his own sigh of relief mingling with Alec's.

"Our family. Simon though..." Alec muttered, feeling guilty for his relief. The others might be okay but Simon's situation sounded bad. As did Helen's.

"Simon is a fighter, he'll pull through. And Catarina rarely loses a patient. He is in good hands, I promise," Magnus assured Alec. A shuffling sound behind them had him pulling back, looking around to see Cain.

"Everyone is okay?" Cain asked, having heard a few snippets of conversation.

"Everyone except Simon. He was hit with Heavenly Fire and turned into a mundane. They are doing what they can to save him though," Magnus said while Alec got himself together.

"He's a mundane?" Cain whispered, wild hope flooding his veins and settling in the gulf that had opened up where his stomach used to be.

"Cain... it's all gone... there's no way for you..." Alec trailed off, watching the hope fade from Cain's intense gaze. He hadn't even thought about how Cain would be affected by the news. It was no secret that Cain hated being a vampire. "I'm so sorry," he said.

Cain waved Alec off, pain crashing through his gut. Just for a moment, he had thought he might finally have a way of ridding himself of Lilith's curse. Holding his hands up when Alec took a step forward, he turned his back on them.

"You have both had a long night. Go get some sleep, You will both need it for the battle tomorrow," Cain said, taking up his swords once more before turning for the training yard. "I'll keep watch," he said over his shoulder.

Magnus gripped Alec's arm when Alec made to follow Cain, shaking his head when Alec looked at him. He watched Cain go, feeling bad for their friend. Of course, Cain would want a cure, maybe would even have had it if he had returned to the mortal realm with Simon. He had no doubt that Cain would have gone with Simon.

With a sigh, Alec followed Magnus to their bedroom, silently closing the door behind them. Tugging his shirt and pants off, he stood clutching them for a moment, completely lost. Never before had he felt so useless.

Magnus discarded his own clothes, staring at the hunch of Alec's back. "Alexander..." he started.

"All of those people, Magnus. So many..." Alec said, his voice hitching in his throat. So many Shadowhunters lost with no word of survivors. Sure, Jonathan was gone. But there were still demons that the mundanes would need protecting from. It was a serious loss, one he wasn't sure the Clave would be able to recover from. Not to mention, so many of his people were dead. "It could be us tomorrow," he said.

Magnus crossed the room, hearing the despair in Alec's voice. Pressing himself against Alec's back, he wrapped his arms around Alec's waist, needing to feel him close. "I won't let that happen," he said, holding on tightly.

Alec turned in the cage of Magnus' arms, taking Magnus' face in both hands. Searching Magnus' face, memorizing it, he pressed his forehead to Magnus'.

"I can't lose you, Magnus. I can't face this existence without you. Promise me you will make it out of this alive," Alec said, almost choking out the words.

"Only if you do. You aren't the only one who wouldn't survive... please, please don't do anything that will get you..." Magnus couldn't finish. Looking up into Alec's eyes, he saw the raw, desperate need there, feeling it, himself, in the marrow of his bones. Without a word, he snapped his fingers, casting a silencing spell on the room.

Alec pressed his lips to Magnus' in a bruising kiss, trying desperately to convey every ounce of love he felt the man who clung to him just as tightly as he was holding on. Tugging Magnus' hands, he silently pulled Magnus into the bathroom and flicked the shower on. If they only had the guarantee of tonight, he wanted to make it count.