it was just one night.

jailbirds and justice

It had been a week. A week since Jonathan had made himself officially known to the Clave. A week since all Institutes were sent into lockdown. This hadn't stopped Jonathan from destroying the Mumbai, Jakarta, Madrid, and Kiev ones however.
It had also been a week since Alec and Jace's arrest.
"Have you ever considered trying to-"
"No."
"But I didn't finish-"
"Jace, please just go to sleep."
"It's three pm in the afternoon!"
Alec rolled his eyes. "Yes, and you haven't slept for four nights. As the older, I am demanding you sleep. Jace?"
He looked down at Jace, who had somehow fallen fast asleep in ten seconds, and smiled fondly. Alec missed his family and Magnus so much. More than anything. But he was extremely thankful he had Jace.
Even if that meant he had to put up with his lack of common sense 24/7.
Alec was in an awful condition. He couldn't eat; he refused, and he didn't feel hungry at all anyway. He might've had some bread, but that was it. He drank as often as he could -no coffee, just water. And he wasn't sleeping at all either; although he was used to it because he had always struggled with bad sleeping habits since childhood.
Alec decided to take his place next to Jace, awkwardly sprawled out on the floor.
Maybe he could try to sleep.
But why sleep when you can lie awake wondering if you're ever going to get out?

-------------

"Time to wake up! It's Action Day!"
Simon was woken up by Izzy yelling down the phone. He'd spent the past week with Raphael, much to the vampire's dislike. It was nice to hear such a beautiful voice again.
Even if it was yelling at him to wake up at four am on a Tuesday morning.
As he arrived at the Institute, everything was in chaos. Clary and Isabelle were sliding on thigh garters to hold weapons, Maryse was talking to someone on the phone, and Magnus was...well, asleep. On the couch.
"Oh! You're here!" Izzy exclaimed. She ran over, hugging Simon for an extra long amount of time. "Ready to become a Gard worker?"
A week earlier, Simon and Maryse had had the genius plan that Simon go undercover at the Gard. The plan was that he would be 'an intern getting shown around on his first day of work', but in reality he would be using encanto on the guards. He was getting shown round by the lovely Aline Penhallow, and her wife Helen Blackthorn, who just so happened to be childhood friends of the Lightwoods. Once twilight struck, they would break in the window of Alec and Jace's cell and get them out. Magnus would then portal in with Isabelle and Clary to get them safely home.
Ready for Part Two. Simon had taken to naming part one 'Infinity War' and part two 'Endgame'. No one else was as pleased.
"Never been more ready, ba- I mean, uh, girl."
Simon blushed furiously as Izzy shook her head.
"You're impossible. Babe," she replied with a wink and a kiss on the cheek.
Oh how Simon wished she would just officiate things. He really, really liked her.
"I'm just off the phone with Helen. She says everything is ready for your arrival. Sure you'll be alright, Si?" Maryse asked, motherly instincts taking over. She, like Isabelle, had taken to calling him Si. He appreciated it.
It was cute.
"I'll be fine, Mrs Lightwood. Ready to go."
"Yeah," Clary called, "I don't think we'll be going too soon."
Magnus was still fast asleep, however he was shaking. He kept twitching and sweating, and muttering things in another language. It sounded like a plea. Then he shot up, wide eyed and staring.
In typical Magnus fashion, he ignored what just happened and clicked his fingers, outfit changing into an elaborate long silky jacket, black boots, snakeskin trousers, and a cropped t shirt that showed off his navel-less flat caramel stomach.

"Right! Ready for action?"

-------------

"I hope this goes well."
"So do I. It's so horrible seeing Alec so...gone. But I'm confident we can win this bitch."
Helen high-fived her beautiful Aline. They were both ready for a fight. Jonathan had killed Aline's cousin in a freak attack in Paris.
"Simon should be here anytime now," Helen muttered. She didn't want to worry anyone, but she was extremely nervous. She wasn't with her siblings, whom she felt she had a duty to protect as the eldest. Even Mark. Especially Mark. She left them in the hands of Jules, whom she trusted would take care of Livvy, Ty, Dru, Tavvy, and Mark (because let's face it, Mark is incapable of caring for himself half the time).
But oh well.
Aline reached up to caress her wife's face. Her porcelain white skin was cold. She leaned up and gently pressed a kiss on Helen's forehead, and then another on her lips.
"We're gonna do this. We're gonna take him down, baby girl."
"Damn right."
Aline laughed and leaned in for another kiss, but was rudely interrupted by the arrival of Simon Lewis, their trainee for the day.
"Oh BY the angel. I'm in the middle of kissing my wife thank you very much," Aline exclaimed, not seeming very pleased.
Helen rolled her eyes. I love this chaotic little lesbian, she thought.
"What she meant was, hello, 'Trainee Lewis'. Excited for your first day?"
Simon didn't immediately clue in on the act, but then realised and with a little too much effort, said, "Yes! I cannot WAIT to see the CELLS! They look SO COOL."
Helen smiled at a worker walking by, hoping she hadn't heard the obvious emphasis.
Aline took the lead. "Follow me right this way, sir!"
First stop: Staffroom. Time to encanto everyone.
Then? Then it was action time.

---------

Jonathan Morgenstern smiled to himself as he left his 'cell'. The girl had assisted him in taking down the guards, giving him enough time to get out. She'd also destroyed the alarm system, so that the Institute would only notice Jonathan was gone when they went down to the cell.
"I haven't caught your name by the way. What is it?" he asked the girl.
"Oh, me? My name isn't important. What's important is that I want to help you."
Jonathan tilted his head to one side. "But why?"
The girl looked nervous. "Because," she swallowed, "you're the only person who I look up to."
Even Jonathan was shocked at this.
"You look up to a serial killer?"
"Well when you put it like that, yes."
Jonathan weighed out his options. He didn't need this girl's help; but she might come in handy. If she had such a vendetta against the Lightwoods then it meant it would be easier for him to overpower the New York Institute. The only reason Jonathan didn't want to do it yet was because Clary was in it, and he didn't want to anger her. He adored Clary, was devoted to her.
He wanted her.
And nobody wanted to face the consequences of when Jonathan Morgenstern did not get what he wanted.
"Listen. I'm going to make this easy for you. Tell me your name, and we can work on. If not, then you'll end up like those guards."
The girl's expression went stone cold. "I -I'm not sure what you mean-"
Jonathan rolled his eyes. He had no time for patience.
Dusting off his jacket as he walked away from the scene, Jonathan began to come up with his next plot. The girl being killed would be enough to distract the Institute. Meaning, he could attack whilst they were off guard. With two of their best soldiers currently in jail, they weren't going to last long. But in the meantime, he had a few hours to kill. Figuratively and literally. He could go across nearby Institutes. Might as well take as many down as possible.

--------------

Alec was nodding off again when he heard a light tapping noise coming from behind. He decided to ignore it. Probably a bird. Then, all of a sudden, the window shattered.
"What the hell- Simon?! Aline?! Helen?!"
Jace stirred. "What's going on- oh hey, vamp boy. You here to save us?"
"Funnily enough, as it turns out, yes, we actually are," responded Helen. "No time for explaining though."
Aline butted in. "But you know what there is time for? Escaping and beating the shit out of Jonathan Morgenstern, which is exactly our plan."
Alec admired Aline's readiness.
He also admired that she was here to rescue him and Jace.
As quick as they could, they scrambled out the window, not going without a few scratches. Then Helen and Aline yelled for them to start running and sped off. Alec and Jace, not knowing what was going on, followed. Once they caught up, Aline started talking.
"Your mom contacted us saying she was sending Simon over to get you guys out. She knew I spent time here, so she got me to get Helen. The three of us spent all afternoon encanto-ing the guards."
"Now," Helen continued on from her wife," as far as I remember, it's the part where Magnus opens a portal for you two."
"And after that?"
"Endgame time!" Simon exclaimed. "It's the nickname I gave the last part of the plan. We're planning an attack on Jonathan. We're gonna try and take him down, once and for all."
Jace whistled. "I'm not sure about you Alec but this seems like fun."
"You don't say."
Sure enough, as Helen had previously said, Magnus soon appeared. However, there was something grave about his expression. He looked worried.
Alec could sense his fear. He said his goodbyes to Aline and Helen and then he and Jace were back in the Institute.
"No time for hugs, no time for anything. It appears we got the times for Endgame wrong," said Izzy, looking towards Simon.
Alec glanced at Magnus for an explanation, but his face had not changed. "What do you mean?"
"Jonathan attacked earlier than we thought. He killed a member of this Institute. We're the only ones here. Everyone else is out hunting for him. But we're staying here, because I know he'll come back for us while everyone's distracted," said Clary.
Isabelle had left weapons on the table for Jace and Alec. They were gonna need as much as they could get.
"Where's mom?" Alec asked.
"Maryse is safe, Alexander. I've made sure of it," spoke Magnus, but with no emotion. Alec was beginning to worry. Everyone was fussing over the matter at hand, so Alec took the opportunity to quickly ask Magnus if he was alright.
"I'm fine. I just, I'm extremely worried."
Alec took Magnus's face in his hands. "Don't be. We can do this."
Magnus felt momentarily better.
In the midst of everything awful, Alec was a beam of light that never stopped shining.