Arrested (Book 1 of the Arrested Trilogy) {malec au}

Chapter Twenty-Two

"No. We didn't. We....spooned all night long," Alec whispered as he took off his jacket.

"Hey. Gotta start somewhere. Raphael didn't even like holding hands when we started dating, but he's warmed up to me a little bit. He's coming around."

"That's good. Wish I could say the same for Magnus but he's been 'coming around' since day one."

Simon grinned. "He liked you since he's laid eyes on you, hasn't he? Come on. I can see it in your eyes. They got all twinkly and stuff."

Alec sighed. "Okay. Geez. I might've had a feeling or two. But I put the job before everything else. Always have."

"And do you feel better now that you finally let someone in?"

".....yeah. Yeah, I do."

Simon beamed. "I'm proud of you, big guy! What can we call you guys? Algnus? Malec?"

"Please don't put out names together like Brangelina. It's weird. Where's Agent Branwell? She's supposed to give us instructions for the recon this afternoon."

Simon pointed to the conference room. "In there. Your dad's in there too. But I haven't seen Jace yet today. Is he okay?"

Alec shrugged. "We had an argument yesterday but it's nothing he can't handle. He'll come shuffling in eventually."

Agent Branwell and Magnus were talking quietly when Alec entered the conference room. Robert stood at the window beside the food table, talking on his phone in a hushed voice. No one acknowledged him as he took his seat at the table.

"We'll be wearing mics, right? In our ears too?" Magnus poured up a cup of coffee for himself and Alec. "Is it just one way communication or two ways?"

"Two," Lydia said, and adding "But we can make it one way if we needed to. There's a mute button on our side that we can press and we can talk without you hearing us. Comes in handy sometimes."

"Right," Magnus nodded. "And this person who's meeting one of Valentine's people. Shouldn't we get a photo of who it is so we knew who were looking for?"

"Magnus, don't be snarky...." Alec whispered.

"I'm not. I'm being curious. Plus it makes sense to know who we're looking for instead of twiddling our thumbs in public wondering who the fuck we're looking for. Doesn't it?"

Lydia stared at Magnus with a hard expression on her face. "You're right. My apologies for that. This is who you'll be watching for."

She pressed a button on the Smartboard and a photo appeared. Almost immediately, Magnus reacted.

"That's Tessa! Why are we listening in on a conversation between her and one of Valentine's men?!"

"She said he had kidnapped her lover. Remember when we met up with her yesterday?" Alec whispered.

"You've already met with the target?" Lydia crossed her arms over her chest. "Why weren't we made aware of this?"

Alec shrugged. "It was probably in Jace's report-"

"And where is Jace, may I ask? Isn't he your partner in crime?"

"Not here, that's for sure," Magnus pointed to the photo. "So that's Tessa, like I said. Do you think she'll try and make a deal with Valentine to free her soulmate?"

Lydia changed it over to the next photo, which was of Hodge leaving the Hotel Dumort. "That's why you're doing recon. To find out why she's having a meeting in the first place. As for him....he was last spotted outside the Dumort before disappearing inside a black unmarked vehicle."