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“Jace!!! Nooo!!!” Alec dropped his bow and the arrow he was about to shoot as he watched Jace collapse to the ground, the warlock and his ravener demon were pulverized by Magnus’ magic but not before Jace had been first stung by the demon’s poisoned tail to his shoulder and been blasted by a sickly green nearly opaque pulse of demon powered magic from the warlock who’d been brainwashed to do Valentine’s bidding.
It was the latest of Valentine’s series of passive-aggressive and increasingly less subversive attacks on the New York Institute and the Clave by extension. Alec himself went down as his legs went out from under him with the agonizing pain that raced through him via his bond with Jace. It wasn’t fair that Jace was getting hurt all the time, he protected both Clary, the cup and by extension the entire Downworlder population with stubborn conviction which only left in harm's way time and time again.
He crawled the last few feet, so that he could cradle Jace’s head in his lap, wrap protective arms around him and whisper encouragement to stay awake, to not give in. The spark in Jace’s beautiful multi-colored eyes was dulling and he could sense Jace fading through the bond.
The blond shadowhunter held on to Alec’s arms that embraced him to then look up into those gorgeous hazel eyes and with barely any sound to it said: “I love you too.” before he passed out.
The beeping was annoying and incessant but somehow he knew he needed to not ignore it, as his mind and body came back online. Jace went through what felt like quicksand to try and claw his way up to a fully awake state. When he opened his eyes, everything was blurry at first, but came into focus slowly as he took in the darkened room he was in.
The beeping was a heart-rate monitor beside his bed; he recognized the room as one of the recovery rooms at the New York Institute. He racked his brain for how he had gotten here but came up blank. The last thing he remembered was a flash of green and searing pain in his left shoulder and Alec’s concerned hazel eyes above him and then nothing but blackness until now.
He looked down from his half seated position and saw the blood transfusion needle stuck in the back of his hand along with another in his arm to administer a bag of clear liquids. His shoulder was bandaged he could just see the dark gray material poke out from underneath the navy blue hospital gown he was wearing.
His hand that wasn’t doubling as a pin cushion, was loosely covered by Alec’s, who had fallen asleep, his head resting on the bed beside Jace’s hip. He looked beautiful and peaceful in sleep. Gently Jace pulled his hand out from under his and carded his fingers gently through the shock of unruly black hair, and could feel his parabatai push into the gentle touch. Jace wanted him so much more than he could ever admit out loud, especially after finding out that Alec felt the same way. The words had been at the tip of his tongue ever since that catastrophic memory demon experience a few weeks back. However, Jace also knew that Valak had taken that memory from Alec so who knew if he even still felt the love that he had so unwillingly disclosed in front of all of them as it had floated towards the memory demon.
Alec slowly opened his eyes, he was sleep-drunk and rather adorably rubbed his eyes before he looked up at Jace who regarded him with a gentle smile.
“Hey there, brother.”
“How are you feeling?”
“Like I’ve been blasted by errant magic and stung by a demon?” Jace tried to laugh but winced when the motion pulled the wound on his shoulder.
“Hey take it easy, funny guy. Do you remember what happened?”
“I remember the warlock aiming at me and that ravener demon appearing out of nowhere. I’ve never seen a warlock with a ravener familiar. It was a very strange thing to see. And then I saw you crouching over me, encouraging me to stay awake before I passed out.”
As Jace said this he recalled vividly and with utmost certainty that what he had said to Alec, seeing his parabatai’s face fall was all the proof he needed.
“Anything else you recall?”
“Yeah, only just now though; I love you Alec, been wanting to say it since the Valak incident but too afraid to. The curse, our bond. I was worried it would change everything but I love you in the way that I shouldn't but I can’t deny it.”
Alec kissed him then, a soft tender meeting of their lips, the touch between them was electric and it made their bond thrum with increased intensity and connectedness, as the link between solidified infinitely more and it couldn’t feel more right to either of them.