♛ City Of Lost Wishes ♕ Malec ♛

11) ''He Can't Be, He's Not''

A/N I haven't written this in so long so all the facts may be a bit jumbled so please just point out any mistake you recognise so I can fix it ASAP :) Thanks ~ Maddie

~A~

'Isabelle?' I asked, shaking her awake softly, the snores quickly stifled and her head shooting up.

'Alec!' She cheered, wrapping her arms around my still frail body. I felt weak, it was no surprise- it must have been a long while since I ate anything.

'Hi, Iz.' I smiled gently at her and hugged her back, my arms aching as I did so. I soon let go and groaned as I pushed myself upright, Izzy falling back quickly. 'What happened?' I asked, examining the room. Most objects were still a blur in front of my blurry eyes but I could make up smashed objects along with blood trailing across the main part of the infirmary's floor.

'A lot,' Izzy sighed, 'you've been asleep for fifteen hours, Alec, you managed to miss the brunt of the aftermath. The Clave have already left.' Izzy looked solemn, falling back onto the stool she had placed beside his bed that she must have been sitting on before falling asleep atop of me.

'The Clave was here?' I squinted at her, her face still a blur of blacks and pinks, as confusion contorted my face. I couldn't remember much with sleep hanging over me, I was drained, exhausted even and was not in the state of mind to be asking such serious questions. Izzy nodded, her face solemn still.

'Valentine was here. He has the cup...Jace and Clary, they aren't in the best place right now.' Izzy looked pained, uncomfortable. I placed a comforting hand on her shoulder but it did little to relax her.

'What happened to them?' I asked, meeting her eyes, which were now brimming with tears. This had gotten to her just as much as it had gotten to the rest of them- her warrior facade was breaking.

'They...they're siblings. Jace is as much Valentine's child as Clary is.' I gaped at her, disbelieving. My parabatai, my brother, was Valentine's son. It was impossible. Impossible. I turned my head to my lap and shook my head.

'He can't be. He's not.' Denial.

'Yes, Alec, he is.' Sadness.

'Anything else?' Solemn.

'Only what happened to you. You are the only one who has any information to that mystery, though.' My head shot up, my eyebrows furrowed. I focused but the spell of sleep was still on me, my thoughts would not sort themselves.

'I can't remember, not yet anyway. I'm still tired.' I admitted and she nodded in understanding. That kept the conversation at bay causing us to sit in silence, both of us monitoring the clock carefully- whilst it seemed Izzy was waiting for something, I was simply trying to decipher the blur of numbers I was seeing.

My brain didn't seem to register any of what had been said to me. It still denied that my parabatai was my enemies son. It hadn't realised that my enemy had shadowhunter's most wanted weapon. It hadn't noticed that it was not sleep driving me to delirium but rather a lack of food- starvation, almost.

'Magnus!' I suddenly called out. How had I forgotten? He was here with the rest of us, right? I remember being on the subway with him. On the way here, wasn't it? Or was my mind all just a jumble right now; could I not remember anything right? 'Is he okay?' I urged Izzy who smiled gently and nodded. Relief shot through my and I sank back from my tense position. 'That's good.' I breathed.

'Oh, food!' Isabelle burst out, rushing over to a far off table, or so I assumed, and came back with some simple but revitalising food. I took it gladly and began eating furiously, the cloud in my mind slowly lifting. A smile graced my lips only to be replaced with a frown, the whole situation suddenly setting in.

'Valentine has the cup.' I breathed, my eyes widening, flying over to Izzy. She looked distraught by now, having had time to wallow over the fact. 'We lost-'

'No, we didn't.' Isabelle interrupted. 'Valentine may have the cup but he still has a lack of people on his side. We can still beat him, I know it.' Isabelle's cracked facade was replaced with a new one and despite seeing the falseness in it, it did give me a sense of hope in the situation.

'Alec!' I heard the shriek ring around the room and a pair of lips touch my own and I knew immediately who it was. I smiled and let him kiss me before pulling away slowly, watching as Izzy sneakily left the room, stifling a laugh. I smiled at her as a form of goodbye before turning my full attention to the man beside me, his face a mix of worry and happiness.

'How are you feeling?' He asked gently, cupping my cheek with his palm. I nestled into the touch murmuring a quick 'fine'.

'I'm glad,' he started, 'you had me worried. Technically, I'm here for a medical check-up, that's what I had to tell your parents, so I should probably do that.'

'My parents are here?!' I gasped, my eyes widening. Magnus nodded, disgust gracing his lips. I copied his action, I didn't think I could bear it with them around. Nor could I be around Magnus in the Institute with them around...or Jace, for that matter. Magnus began his check up with no further speech and found me healthy apart from a few scattered scars and a fairly bad injury on my shoulder- the demon bite. It seemed no poison was in me, luckily, so I was free to go about my life again, with frequent rest by request of Magnus himself- at his place preferably.

'I didn't want to bring this up just yet but I want to know what happened the other side of that door. What happened to you? That injury is serious enough for it not just to be from battle. I think I would have noticed that too.' Magnus rambled, scanning me over for injuries one last time using his eyes rather than his magic, wincing as he looked at my shoulder. And without hesitation, I began to recall as much as I could of what happened.

word count: 1048

published: 02.05.17