Malec one shots

Wrong (part 2)

Alec sucks in a surprised breath, inhales a little bit of saliva, and doubles over in a coughing fit in the middle of the hallway as he tries to back away and gesture that he's going to go talk to his mother. He makes his escape, face burning, as Magnus looks on smugly.

Back in the main hall, Jace and Izzy are talking with Clary and Simon in hushed tones while Alec's parents are coordinating with four different advisors at the same time. Alec approaches them cautiously, waits for Hodge to say his piece on making questioning non-residents of the Institute a priority before he politely cuts in and tells his mother that Magnus has strengthened the wards.

"That's good to hear," Maryse says, much less anger in her voice than there had been earlier. Now she just sounds tired. "You should go to sleep, Alec, and make sure to lock your door before you do. I don't like the idea of my children running about the Institute while there's a traitor among us. Actually, that goes for all of you, come here." She gestures to the group standing near them, who all shuffle over hesitantly, even the vampire. "I want all of you to go to your rooms and stay there."

"Mom-" Izzy starts.

"This isn't negotiable," says Maryse. "You'll be safest there."

"We should be out here helping you," Jace insists. Alec, even though he's emotionally and physically exhausted, has to agree. "Come on, the Cup's missing and there's so much work to do-"

"As the head of the Institute, I agree, but I'm also your mother," Maryse sighs, pinching the bridge of her nose. "I might not be happy with some of you but you three are still my children, you would cause a war over broken Accords if any harm came to you here, and you cause trouble wherever you go."

"Hey!" Clary protests.

Alec disguises his laugh as a sneeze.

"Isabelle, I'm placing Clarissa in your charge for the night. If anything goes wrong..." Maryse trails off, leaving the threat unsaid but still making herself explicitly clear.

Izzy gulps. "Right." She glances at Clary, eyes pleading.

"Now go, all of you. I'll let you know if anything changes."

Maryse dismisses them and they slink away as a group; Alec immediately gravitates to Magnus once they're back in the hallway.

"So we're searching for the mole ourselves, right?" asks Clary. "I bet whoever it is is still here somewhere."

"No," Izzy and Alec say at the same time. Alec follows it up with, "Absolutely not."

"What's going on, exactly?" asks Magnus.

"Our mom wants us all to lock ourselves in our rooms and do nothing, basically," Jace says.

Magnus raises an eyebrow and sends a tiny smirk Alec's way.

While Alec is busy combusting inside, Izzy says, "It's my ass on the line if either of you do anything stupid. Let's just do what Mom says, for once. There's plenty of powerful people here who can help out."

"Yeah, and one of them's a traitor," says Jace.

"Sorry to interrupt, but where exactly am I supposed to sleep if we're all stuck here?" Simon asks.

"Shut up," Alec and Jace say at the same time.

Simon sighs and mutters something about missing his sire.

"Listen, none of us got much sleep last night, so we're not gonna be any good tomorrow if we don't sleep tonight either," Alec points out. "We can start fresh in the morning and not upset our parents any more than we already have."

"Hey, I'm the golden child right now," Jace laughs. "I thought Izzy was gonna be in the doghouse for a while but damn, Alec, way to upstage her."

Alec glares at him but it turns into a smile before he can stop it. Magnus chuckles quietly.

"Can I at least go check that my mom's safe before we go to bed?" Clary asks.

"That's a good idea, actually," says Magnus. "It might help if I went with you and cast some additional protective spells around her. That is, if you wouldn't mind company."

"Oh no, not at all!" Clary smiles. "I'll go straight to your room after, Isabelle, I promise."

"You'd better," Izzy huffs.

As the group starts to disperse, Alec grabs Magnus' elbow. "Um - after, if you want-"

"I'll show him where your room is, Alec, don't worry," Clary smirks, dragging the warlock away. Magnus lets himself be led with a bemused glance back at Alec.

Rude.

"You gonna carry him across the threshold?" Jace smirks.

"Shut up."

"Yeah, I know one room I'm not sleeping in tonight," says Simon. "Like, you guys are beautiful and your love is inspirational, but-"

"I literally hate all of you," Alec snaps, stalking off down the hallway before anyone can see how big his smile is.