Monster or Angel - Alec Lightwood

20 - Off The Record... Aldertree Sucks

"All right, listen up!" He says loudly. " I want 24/7 monitoring of the Hudson and East Rivers. If you see anything unusual, you come to me first." I sigh when I see the annoyance on Lydia's face as she approaches Alec. I know Alec is stressed, we all are, but I'm worried he's going to take things too far.

"I've got this, Alec," Lydia mutters.

"Then why haven't you found Jace yet?" He asks with a snap.

"Don't forget who you're talking to. I'm still head of this Institute." Oh, shit. I rush to Alec's side and take his arm in my grip again, pulling him away from Lydia to ease tensions.

"Alec, maybe we should back up a bit," I say gently.

"Yeah, why don't you just take a break?" Izzy suggests. Alec tries to shrug me off again, but I tighten my grip, not letting him get any closer.

"Not now," Alec huffs.

"No, they're right, and it's not a request. You're dismissed." Alec stares at her and silence fills the air, but soon I can feel the anger radiating off Alec and he groans, successfully managing to pull away from me.

"Fine!" He snaps before storming off. I walk after him, reaching for him again, but he stops me. "Everybody, just back off!" He turns and leaves, and as he does I sigh rubbing my face with my hands. I turn back to the others. Lydia walks away from us too, leaving me with my Parabatai and Magnus.

"Has he been like that all night?" I ask and they both nod.

"Yeah, not that I can blame him. Can you imagine not being able to feel each other?" Iz says. My hand unconsciously moves to hover over my Parabatai rune. I can't imagine what Alec must be going through right now. I need Izzy, just like Alec needs Jace. And he's gone. My chest hurts at that.

"No, I can't imagine it," I reply after a moment.

"He'll be okay. How are you feeling with everything?" Magnus asks, continuing to use magic on Jace's jacket.

"I'm fine," I reply.

"Have you spoken with-" He begins to ask, but I stop him knowing exactly who he is talking about. Jocelyn.

"No, I haven't, and I don't plan to," I say and Magnus gives me a look.

"You sure? Because now would be a good time to have that conversation seeing as she's coming this way." He looks past me and I see Jocelyn walking straight for us. Her eyes meet with mine and I know instantly that she is wanting to speak with me. I can't deal with this now.

"Crap," I breathe. I look to Izzy and Magnus again, shooting them a smile each before rushing away.

I weave down every hallway and corridor I pass until I make it to the stairs leading to the roof. I know that I have lost Jocelyn, but hiding out on the roof means that I won't accidentally bump into her.

I open the door, closing it behind me before walking towards the edge to look over the city. I stop moving as soon as I look up. Alec stands, leaning against the small wall. I watch his head dip and his shoulders sink as he sighs.

"I'm sorry for how I reacted before. It's not personal," He says. My eyes widen slightly when I realise that he thinks that I'm here to lecture him. I feel bad that I've intruded on him right now. I know that he needs some time to sort through his thoughts, and me imposing doesn't help.

"I know. The plan was to give you some space, but then Jocelyn made a B-line towards me so," I start to ramble, but I catch myself before I go too far. Alec continues to stare straight ahead and I give him a moment before I decide to approach. I join his side and gaze over the city. It's nice out, but I didn't realise that it was this late. I thought I had slept during the night, but I guess by the time Alec had sent me to bed, dawn had very much broken.