Left For Dead [malec fanfiction] [complete]

Seventeen: Oh Brother, Where Art Thou?

Alec woke up that morning and had completely forgotten where he was. Instead of laying on his somewhat comfortable bed back in Alicante, he found that he was laying down on a rock hard mattress with pillows piled up behind him to keep his upper body upright.

He also forgot that he had been shot. Trying to get up from his uncomfortable sleeping position sent a wave of pain through his shoulder as well as a yell of agony. Isabelle rushed in seconds later, hands going to his arms.

"Relax-relax! You're going to rip open your stitches!" She exclaimed.

"Where am I? Where is everyone?" Alec croaked. His throat was dry and cracking from lack of hydration.

"Out in the living room. We just finished eating breakfast. We saved some for you if you're feeling well enough to eat." Isabelle kneeled down next to her brother and felt his forehead. "Fever is down. How's your shoulder?"

Alec moved his arm. "Sore. Really sore. I think the pain knocked me out last night. I don't remember much after getting shot."

"Yeah, that'll happen when you're in a delirious amount of pain," said Isabelle. "You stay put. I'm gonna go get you some breakfast."

"What's for breakfast?"

"Canned beans and beef jerky. Not the greatest but at least it's something. The boys want to go scavenging around the other rooms later to see if they can stock up on supplies."

Alec shifted onto his good side. "Max too?"

"Well...." Isabelle shrugged. "You'll have to talk to Max about that. He's been waiting for you to wake up so he can come in and ask you about going."

She left the room. Alec sighed through his nose, knowing she was going to come back in a few minutes with Max following close behind her. The answer was going to be no, obviously, but Max was persistent and determined. Alec always did admire his little brother's unwavering bravery.

A knock on the door meant Isabelle was back with breakfast. "Got you some beans and beef jerky. Part of a complete healthy breakfast," she said.

"I'm sure it is-" Alec saw Max peering into the room and sighed. "Come here, you little squirt. Isabelle said you wanted to talk to me about something."

Isabelle ruffled Max's hair as he walked by. "I'll leave you men to it."

When she left, Max plopped down beside Alec's mattress. "Magnus is going scavenging with Simon and Jace later."

Alec shovelled a spoonful of beans into his mouth. "Yeah? What about it?"

"I...." Max squeezed his knees. "I wanna go, Alec. I wanna help get supplies. The more hands on deck, the better. That's what you always said, right?"

It was true. On more than one occasion, Alec did say that the more hands they have to help, the higher the success of survival. Max must've held onto this after years of hearing Alec say this to his group.

"Max. You know what I'm going to say to this. I don't know why you bother asking-"

"Because I thought if I kept asking then maybe you'd change your mind at some point," Max barely whispered. His eyes grew sullen as he looked over his older brother. "How's your shoulder?"

Alec's hand went subconsciously up to his wound. "This old thing? Barely a scratch. I'll be up and about in no time."

Saying nothing, Max began to play with the zipper of his jacket, which Alec noticed was a size too big for the boy. It was camouflage green with a large hood and several pockets on the chest. He didn't ask where Max got it. He figured Magnus found it last night when he came back with supplies to help with Alec's wound.