Sick to the Core (Malec/Mortal Instruments fanfic)

Blackmail

Alec was doing his laundry, minding his own business, but constantly on his toes, as if he were on the constant lookout for demons. Which he technically was, he felt suspicious about Luc and treated him like a demon anyway. As much as the constant slaps, skin digging nails, and constant roughing kissing hurt his body, Alec was forced to take it.

He wasn't sure of his plans, but Alec was some sort of gateway for Luc to get into the institute, as if he couldn't get in himself. It made him curious, but he never asked Luc about it, in fear of what he would do. 

It just made Alec feel like a coward; he was the eldest of.. well, two, and he was being beaten by this guy he got bombarded by at a warlock hospital. For all Alec knew, he could be an eidolon demon or a warlock with a mark on his body somewhere. But he couldn't check, not without going somewhere he would regret.

A pair of arms wrapped round his stomach and squeezed a little too tightly, "hey there darling." Luc spoke, face right by his ear.

"Hi.." Alec replied, folding up the shirt he was holding. "Where you been today?"

"Mm.. Researching." He licked the back of his ear, making Alec shiver in disgust. "Better be folding my clothes right." He squeezed harder but relaxed them when Alec gestured to the pile.

"Just how you like them." He squeaked.

"Good boy, I'll come see you again later. I need to visit a certain.. warlock of Brooklyn." Alec froze, "hey, you don't still have feelings for him.. do you?" His grip tightened again, "you know how I feel about that."

Alec took in a sharp breath, "no, I don't. The after effects of him destroying my heart just makes it rather pained to mention him.." He yelped and Luc tightened his grip again, "I don't feel for him! I don't, I don't!"

"If you didn't then you wouldn't bother reminiscing on your heart. You love me now, and don't you forget that. Let me hear you say it."

"I-I love you.."

"Good boy." Luc never said it back, but it wasn't as if Alec ever meant what he said. "I'll see you later." He dropped his grip completely, letting Alec take in lungfuls of air. "Oh you'll be more breathless later darling."

"Whatever you say."

Luc grinned, "you're catching on."

~*~

Jace was stood quietly outside Clary's door, waiting for her to stop complaining about their relationship going awry. Izzy stood with him, also unable to go in her room. "Everyone seems to slowly be going crazy." Jace said, breaking the silence.

"What do you mean?" Izzy looked at him, arms folded across her chest.

"Well first there was Magnus who I know went through a breakup, but still. Then Alec went now that Luc is here, and the parabatai rune pulses every now and again, so something is up and he won't tell us. Now, all of a sudden Clary is flipping out all the time."

"I see what you mean, but Clary is just having girly problems you wouldn't understand; Magnus probably goes through this with every break up and Alec is always secretive. Not this secretive I'll admit, but maybe you should try talking to him when he's alone. Do some training, get him hot so that you can make him remove his shirt and see his chest; I keep seeing bruises around his neck and his arms."

"He's gay, Izzy. He came home with plenty of bruises from Magnus'."

"Yeah, but when you ask him about them he used to blush, stammer, and claim he fell on his neck. Now, he clutches at them desperately and claims he just had a training accident. No stammering, no blushing."

"So he made a different excuse, big deal."

"Just do it Jace!" He blinked in surprise at her raising her voice.

"Alright, fine. I'll do it."

~*~

Clary wasn't even in her room, she had crawled out the window to find Simon. She had called him to meet up in town that day anyway, to go shopping for Jocelyn's birthday that was soon coming up. Not that she was particularly bothered about it, she knew her mother would be disappointed if her daughter only got her a measly store bought card.

Simon was leaning against a wall, scrolling through his phone, probably Facebook or something. Both he and Clary stayed true to social media in the 'real world', but convincing Jace and the Lightwoods to try and get it resulted in a broken phone and relentless screams of "This is such bullshit!" Though Clary found out Alec used it to stalk Magnus.

She approached him with a smile, glad to be away from the institute. "Hey, Simon." She said.

He put his phone away and looked over at her, "took you long enough. Did you climb out the window again? You have dried leaves in your hair.." He trailed off, reaching to pick them off and flick them to the ground.

"Thanks. Ready to head out? Might just get her a mug or something edible.."

"Can't you think of anything she's asked for? A kettle.. Baking tray? I don't know! I'm a guy."

Clary laughed, "she never asks for anything except art supplies, might just buy her some canvases."

"Why don't you paint her something? I mean, your drawing skills are great and your painting is too - I heard mother's like that sorta thing.."

She shrugged, "well, it's easier than finding something to buy. Let's get a card, then head to Eric's awful poetry reading, yeah?"

~*~

Alec came slouching down the corridor, clutching his sides where Luc had squeezed him. Jace came the other way, spotting him and calling out, "hey, Alec!"

Alec lifted his head and quickly let go of himself, "what is it Jace?"

"Want to train? Or should I get straight to my point?"

Alec narrowed his eyes, "whatever Izzy has asked you to do the answer is no."

"She didn't ask me to do anything, this is me worrying about my parabatai who's rune won't stop pulsing. What is wrong?"

"Nothing's wrong, just happy to be with Luc is all." He pulled a smile. 

"Take off your shirt." Alec took a step back, surprised. "You heard me."

Alec frowned, "and why should I? It's cold."

"Ah yes, Alexander, the boy who wears short sleeves and shorts in cold weather. Just do it, dummy."

Alec hesitated, looking round cautiously before waving Jace into an empty room. Jace looked hesitant but he followed nonetheless, shutting the door behind them, Alec doing the same to the curtains. 

He took another cautious glance outside, before everywhere else in the room. He turned back to Jace and pulled his shirt off slowly, tossing it to the ground. Jace had to stop himself from gaping in shock at the state he was in.

His ribs were covered in purple bruises, a few of them a yellow-green; his shoulders were red, stomach blue, and his sides where he had been clutching were a pale yellow meaning it had happened recently. When Alec turned around, his back was worse. Thin lines of scratches were all down his upper back, his lower back curled inwards further than a normal person would. 

Alec's body visibly trembled, quickly putting his shirt back on when he felt Jace had seen enough. "Alec.." Jace's voice shook, "what happened to you?"

Alec turned back, tears in his eyes. "Please don't tell anyone."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I'M BAAAAAAAAAAAAACK :D Hope you guys missed me! Because it's been way too long and I missed you guys. Feels great to be able to write all day without the impending doom of an exam. (Except for moving house, that's very time consuming).

But what do you think of this chapter? Hope it's good enough to (somewhat) make up for lost time! Let me know what you thought in the comments, they're what keep me writing! And a vote is always apprecited

See ya next week! ~Fiz