Chapter 6: Awakenings

Jace was still trying to control the power he could feel rolling through him like thunder in a raging storm. He looked at Alec as he held his hand, a tear falling down his cheek, he knew that nothing was ever going to be the same. He had no idea what he would find in his Parabatai when he awoke. He looked up to meet Izzy's eyes. They shared a moment of grief for what had happened to their brother before Izzy wiped her tears away and in true Izzy form tried to stick to the positive. "Okay" she said, "We need to get him somewhere safe and we need to get Madzie from Idris." Everyone looked up at her still in shock from what happened when they were all startled by a presence they had all but forgotten in the craziness. "You will need to keep him hidden until he learns to control his new form." It was Ezekiel speaking now. They had all forgotten he was there; he had gone so silent after learning of the Leviathans. He continued on, "It would not be wise for any of you to let anyone know what has happened to him or what we have learned about his heritage. He is too powerful so his life is not at risk but his existence in your world is. I fear what the clave may want to do, or want him to do if they learn of him." Everyone will fear him, everyone will want to use him towards their own ends."

Magnus' eyes turned bright as his cat eyes became prominent. He looked at Ezekiel in anger, "What are you saying that Alec is putting us all in danger now! He is family. He has been unbelievably brave, giving up his very humanity in order to save the world! Now you ask him to skulk away in a corner because he is too powerful to be exposed!" Jace shot up with a speed none of them expected and lifted Ezekiel off the ground by his shirt with one hand. He looked him in the eyes with determination as he demanded what the old man knew of the Angel of Death and what this would mean for Alec. Ezekiel struggled in his arms terrified by the power his connection to Alec was giving him. Ezekiel cried out, "Jace your eyes!" Clary ran over to Jace. "Please, Jace, let him down. He hasn't done anything wrong. He is just trying to hel–" She stopped mid sentence as she looked into his eyes. They began to glow with an ember firelight much like Alec's had before they were transported to this forest. She put her hand to his cheek and spoke in a hushed voice. "Set him down, your eyes are turning like fire, just like the angel. You don't know your new strength yet and Ezekiel is trying to help us and help Alec. We should listen to what he has to say. He is our only source of knowledge now that the Angel Samael has left us."

Jace calmed with her touch and let Ezekiel down on the ground. Ezekiel huffed and looked at the group of them. "I know we are all in shock. A great many things have just been thrust upon us and we do not know what is coming next for any of us. I do not know anything that can help us as far as Alec's condition goes but I know something of what it is he is supposed to face. If it is truly like the ancient stories that were told to me as a small child then we are up against a very old and powerful force that until now was thought extinguished and only killable by God's legions of his most mighty archangels. Right now we must find shelter for Alec and learn what he can do and how well he can control it. We need to prepare and pray that there are only one or two of these leviathans left because it took legions of his highest angels to smite and trap these creatures. Now there is only one angel left and his converted child. These are not good odds."

They all looked at Ezekiel truly grasping the monumental task ahead of all of them. Simon spoke up, "I know something about vampiric tendencies so I would suggest we get him to wherever we are going to put him before he wakes up and decide how we are going to feed him, because if it is anything like when I first transformed into a vampire, he is going to be very thirsty. He may not be able to control himself." "Okay Simon, you take Alec to your house it is probably better to keep him in the mundane world rather than the downworld or shadowhunter world. As you are the only one with vampiric experience among us and who lives among the mundanes you are our best option. Magnus and Jace will stay with you. I think it is best to say that you two are going to have to be his source of nutrients based on what Samael said." Izzy barked these orders out without hesitation and all three men nodded in acceptance. Izzy would stay strong for her brother. She would be brave like him. She turned to Clary and Ezekiel, "Okay Ezekiel I think you need to explain to us everything you know and what happened leading up to this moment. I assume you were with them before coming here." he nodded to Izzy and Clary. "First we should have Magnus portal us back to the Lightwood Mansion in Idris so we can collect your young one and set her up somewhere safe. Then we should all go together to the place we decide to keep Alec." Ezekiel said this while looking at Clary and Izzy.

Once they had their plan they all moved into action almost on autopilot. It was all so intense and they were still in a state of shock. No one could have ever predicted that this is where their lives would be just hours ago. Magnus quickly portaled Ezekiel and Izzy to Idris. Izzy got Madzie up and explained that she was going to stay with her grandma for a while. She didn't know what excuse she was going to give her mother, but she knew she couldn't tell her…yet. Magnus portaled Izzy and Madzie to Mrs. Lightwood's house then returned and portaled Izzy and Ezekiel back to the forest where he then portaled all of them to Simon's house. Jace was carrying Alec. Once they were at Simons he set up his spare bedroom as a place for Alec and Magnus. Jace laid Alec onto the bed and sat down beside him as Magnus climbed into the bed with Alec and laid next to him.

Simon walked in and whispered so the others in the living room couldn't hear. "You two should decide who should feed him first before he wakes up because you may not have much time when he does to decide. He may not even be able to control himself so I would suggest whoever doesn't go first be ready to try and pull him off if he goes too far." Magnus smiled at Simon and said, "Do not worry Simon, we will figure that out and don't feel you have to take this all on. I have been helping care for vampires for far more lifetimes than you can imagine you are off the hook Izzy put you on. I know this hits hard for you. Thank you for sharing your space with all of us." Simon in his trademark geekish form responded with a goofy grin and said, "Hey, me casa su casa!" With that he walked out and closed the door behind him for privacy.

Ezekiel sat down in the living room with Izzy, Clary, and Simon and relayed everything that had happened before they were all summoned to that forest. Jace looked at Magnus with tears in his eyes. "I am so scared for him, Magnus. What will the world be like for him when he wakes up?" Magnus looked at Jace. "I don't know but I know that we will be there for him no matter what, Jace. You and I, we will bear this burden with him." Jace looked at Magnus and finally asked the question neither of them had dared ask. "What do you want to do? The angel Samael was clear that our blood would be best for him, but who do you think should go first?" Magnus thought for a moment before responding. After a few moments he finally looked up at Jace again. "I think it should be you. The angel spoke to you first about feeding him and he said it would give him great power, he did say the same of me but I think he was clear yours was the primary one due to your intense Parabatai bond. Speaking of which, I am curious as to how you two maintained that connection when he was transformed." Jace thought about it for a moment, "Maybe because it isn't like the Downworlder vampires, he isn't gaining any demon blood. In fact he was becoming more angelic which is where we get our runes from so it makes sense that those angelic bonds would remain and get even stronger." They both looked at each other pleased with this deduction. It made the most sense.

Jace agreed to be the first to feed Alec when he awoke. If anyone was going to be able to talk him down from killing someone it would be the love of his life so it would be good to have Magnus there to pull him back to himself and Jace agreed that the angel implied his blood would be the most potent. Magnus soon fell asleep by Alec's side and Jace continued to watch over the two of them. He knew he couldn't fall asleep in case Alec woke up in a frenzy. Ezekiel left to go to a place nearby to sleep. They all decided it would be best to wait until after Alec was awake and they could judge how in control he was and what his powers were before Ezekiel told them all what he knew about the Leviathans. Their first priority was Alec, then they would figure out the next steps. Everyone was now asleep, Simon in his room, Clary had returned to the Institute to try and make excuses for Alec's upcoming absence, and Izzy was asleep on the couch. She had fallen asleep crying. Jace had listened for a while to her quiet sobs coming through the door. He felt so sorry for what their family would have to endure. When would they ever be able to tell Alec's parents about this, about their heritage even? Could they ever tell them? They were bound to find out eventually when Alec was clearly not aging anymore. But that was all too much for the moment they just needed to make it through the present situation he told himself. All Jace knew was that he was not going to let Alec withstand any of this alone and that he and Magnus would move Heaven and Earth to make sure Alec lived as happily as he could.

Jace could suddenly feel a new surge of power fluttering in his Parabatai mark that spread up through his veins from the mark and pulsated in his throat artery. He could feel Alec's hunger and it was like he was being called to him through the mark. It was a strange feeling the pulsing in his veins and it wasn't unpleasant, but he instinctively knew that if he ignored it for long enough it could turn into a very painful pull as a warning for Alec's hunger state. Jace knew this would be an important and helpful connection but it honestly scared him. It scared him because it was a new form of intimacy with his Parabatai, and a part of him dared not cross this threshold. Old memories of Alec's misery when he thought he loved Jace. Jace not being able to reciprocate those feelings. It tore him apart to know that his Parabatai, his brother, was miserable in his own skin. He did not want to rekindle those long since forgotten heartaches. He now felt more grateful than ever that Magnus had entered Alec's life and given him a light to hold onto. He would need this light now, and Jace knew that he too needed that light now. Someone to stand by his Parabatai alongside him. Just as passionate to see him happy.

The hairs on the back of Jace's neck stood up as he felt a slight breeze. Just a second ago he was staring at Magnus and Alec's sleeping form and now he was looking at a sleeping Magnus…Alone. Jace slowly turned around very carefully, rising to his feet as he did so. Behind him stood his Parabatai. Alec was staring at Jace, at his throat, an expression of pain and conflict on his face. He was breathing shakily as if he was using all of his control to keep him rooted in place. His eyes were no longer his normal eyes; they were silver in color and held a glow that sometimes flashed red and sometimes flickered with an ember light. Jace began to say Alec's name slowly but stopped when Alec inched closer, still struggling as hard as he could to keep himself from attacking Jace.

Jace looked over towards Magnus, who was still asleep, he dared not try to make noise to wake him. He did not want to startle Alec into doing something he didn't want to do. He stayed very still just nodded to Alec before whispering as softly as he could manage, "It's okay, brother. I am here. It's okay." He then slowly tilted his head to the side while very slowly letting his leather jacket drop to the ground so that he was now just wearing his black t-shirt with the v-neck that exposed a great amount of his throat. He wanted to make it very clear to Alec that he was offering it to him, and that he didn't have to feel guilty. As he tilted his head further to the side fully exposing his throat to Alec he could hear a small gasp leave Alec's lips. Jace looked into Alec's eyes. They were now bright red with flickering flames behind them. Jace slowly closed his eyes, giving himself over completely to whatever was going to happen. He trusted Alec with his life and he knew that showing him this trust now was what Alec needed most. Jace waited, barely daring to breathe as he waited for Alec to strike. He felt a gush of wind and suddenly he was no longer in Simon's guest bedroom with Magnus anymore.