West of Words (Alec Lightwood)

🗝 Chapter Forty-Nine 🗝

Alec Lightwood landed in the Institute with an encouraging smile on his face, Izzy found joy in the look. Comfort in the words of his brother written in chicken-scrawl on the much to small paper, Alec turned to hug Varian in his excitement, only to find the space behind him disappointingly empty of the smaller man.

"Alec!" Izzy's voice was full of smiles, just barely a hint of worry in it. "You're back so soon? Did someone come for the fighters?"

"Yeah, yeah." Alec answered in a distracted way, the papers crinkling in hand as he tried to put together where Varian was. "Well, no. The soldier slit his own throat before Varian or I could get anything from him, but, he had this on him."

The paper became transparent as it was held up in the light, Izzy snatched it quickly, her eyes trailing across the paper more times then necessary. When she looked up tears decorated the corners of her eyes, a sad smile on her lips.

"He's okay." Izzy barked out a laugh, throwing her arms around her brothers neck in a moment of pure unfiltered happiness. "He's okay! Oh by the Angel."

Alec felt the happiness, he truly did, and if Varian were here he would tell him that he was bright yellow in color. But the emotion was dulled by a feeling of veiled betrayal, he couldn't be sure why Varian hadn't followed him through the portal, but no matter what the action did not comfort him in any way.

Alec lifted his hands up, carefully pulling his sisters arms away from their place around his neck. "But we are no closer to finding him, Aldertree's strategy isn't working." It was spoken in frustration, and in a veiled attempt to distract himself from Varian's missing energy. The feeling of the Institute without Varian's constant magic was different, and he quickly found himself despising it. "The Circle members all took the same oath. They're gonna keep slitting their throats before they tell us anything."

Izzy couldn't be sure why her brother felt so angry, this note was a win, and yet the anger rolled off of him in spades. "Do you have any other ideas?" Izzy responded with anger accidentally, but her brother did not catch the emotion, instead, throwing his hands into the air as he continued towards the screens that made up the ops room.

"Put in a request for a maritime mission." Alec tapped away at the screens, and to anyone else it looked as though he were doing some sort of research or filing a report. In reality, despite the fact that he felt he was betraying Varian by doing so, he started to look for Varian's distinct magic signature through the city.

Izzy frowned, her hand bringing the small sheet of paper closer to her chest as she looked Alec up and down. The sight of his black clothing tinged slightly red had her charging forward, pressing a hand to his side, and not missing the way that he did not wince at the touch.

"It was just a flesh wound." Alec muttered, shaking off her hand. "Varian already took care of it."

Izzy noticed the way he so specifically avoided looking at her, tapping at the screen as though it had pissed him off. "The ship is glamoured, it won't show up on sonar." Izzy muttered dejectedly, responding to what he had said earlier.

Alec's hands barely stilled on the screen. "Well it can't hide from us if we run right into it." Alec hoped it wasn't obvious that he wasn't looking for Valentine, but at the same time even if Izzy noticed what it was that he was doing, she wouldn't say a thing.

"We should look at the aerial drones?" Izzy offered, wanting to reach out to her brother and help him in any way that he would accept.

"I've already done that." Alec muttered the half truth without much considering that it was half a lie. He had used them to glance at the area surrounding the fight club building, rather than look for the ship, but like Izzy had already said it wouldn't show up on the imagery because of the cloak covering it.

Silence stretched on between the two of them, and Izzy hated every second of it, but couldn't find the words to break the silence. An hour passed with them staring at bright screens, Izzy took a place by his side, using her vague knowledge of the ocean and its currents to at least plan a small path that they could have potentially followed. She knew that her brothers focus was split between who she could only assume was Varian and the other Jace.

Alec slammed his fists on the table in frustration, the few night watch Shadowhunters barely startled at the sound. Izzy jumped, turning to her brother and throwing her hands over his, to stop the action from potentially repeating.

"Alec you have to talk to me, this is, this is more than just worry for Jace, we know that Jace is alright." Izzy mumbled, her voice just loud enough for him to hear but no one else. The news that Jace Wayland had had contact with the two Lightwood siblings was something that not everyone would be happy about. "What happened?"

Alec took a deep breath, his shoulders lifting from the action, the words tumbled through his lips, "Varian opened the portal for me, and I kissed his cheek before I stepped through, but he didn't follow me."

Izzy smiled in a way that would have been comforting to anyone else. "He probably just had to stop by his apartment, or maybe talk to Magnus."

"He would have told me!" Alec's voice was accidentally harsh, he mumbled the words again. "He would have told me."

This was, after all, Varian Bane, the one who became a full Warlock and showed up to his wedding in the same day. The Warlock that kissed him in front of a room of Shadowhunters before almost immediately passing out. The boy that Alec had given his heart to practically instantly, looking at the powerful man that healed a Werewolf without any prompting other than a need and want to help.

"Before we left, he said that he could form a connection with Valentine. He said that he would rather try anything else, but that was before a Circle member slit his throat rather than speak to him." Alec sighed, pulling his right hand from under Izzy's and carding it through his hair. "I don't know where he is, and I'm worried."

Izzy's hand was soft on his arm, and without any other prompting he turned into her, his head coming to rest on her shoulder and his arms loose around her waist.

"I'll call Magnus." Izzy offered. Alec nodded into her shoulder, and Izzy's hand rested on his head with the smallest hint of a smile.