Magnus stood in Warehouse 2 the next day wearing a green jumpsuit to signify that he was working in the agriculture section. Though green wasn't his color and he wanted to complain that it didn't match his eyes, he had to keep quiet if he wanted his grand plan to work and be set in motion.
No one knew about his plan. Not even Alec. If he told anyone what he wanted to do he knew they would try and stop him. So for the sake of secrecy, he chose to keep quiet about what was going on in his head. Nobody would understand anyway. If he wanted to get any information out of anyone about the secret warehouses, this was one plan he couldn't discuss with anyone else. Not even Alec.
"Magnus Bane?" A whispery voice said from behind him. As Magnus turned, he saw a small woman with wisps of gray hair standing in curls on her head breeze towards him. She was the living embodiment of air itself when she walked.
"That's me," said Magnus. "Are you Ethel?"
"Indeed I am. Overseer of Warehouse 2. Good to have you here." She shook his hand and sighed. "I'm so sorry about the mess. We just had a harvest recently. The cleaning crew didn't come in to sweep the dirt yet."
Magnus waved a hand. "It's no problem. I wouldn't be working here if I was afraid of a little dirt."
Ethel chuckled at this. "You got jokes! It's about time Lydia gave me one with a little humor. All the workers that walked through these doors are all serious. Not a drop of humor in their bones."
She beckoned him to follow so that's what Magnus did. As she led him through the large warehouse (it was actually a large greenhouse with retractable steel walls) and up the stairs to the second floor, he got a bird's eye view of the ground floor where some of the vegetables were growing.
"As you already saw, the walls are retractable. We open them on sunny days so the food can get some rays and then we close them at night. Simple but effective," Ethel explained.
"What about rainy days?"
"Depends on the amount of rainfall. We opened the ceiling once years ago during a shower and we damn near drowned the food. Lydia went ballistic." Ethel shook her head at this. "Now we don't open the ceiling unless she gives the order. So bossy, that woman."
Magnus tilted his head to look at the third floor. "Why three floors? Wouldn't the sun only reach the top one?"
"Ah," Ethel smirked. "We have a very talented engineer who designed the floors to retract as well. We let the food on the top floor bathe for a few hours and then pull them back so the ones on the bottom floor can get some sun."
It was amazing to see something so simple yet work so effectively. As far as Magnus could tell, the fruits and vegetables were growing really nicely; potatoes, cucumbers, lettuce, to name a few. He'd never seen so much growing in one place in years.
"You're speechless," Ethel laughed. "First time being around so much fresh produce?"
"It's been years," Magnus breathed. "My uncle owned a farm in California. We'd go there every summer to visit and help out on the farm. It was my favourite thing to do during the school holidays."
Ethel nodded. "Yeah, we all have one memory or another of the farm life. My husband was the farmer. Not me. I'd stay home and knit and cook and clean. Stereotypical housewife, you know? My sons would go and help their father in the barn and in the fields."
"Are they still alive? Your family, I mean."
Ethel shook her head. "John died trying to help a neighbor escape one of those dead ones. Always trying to be a hero, that one. My boys were killed a few months later by a group who robbed us on the road. Why they left me alive is beyond me. I'll never understand it. I should've died that night too."
Magnus placed a gentle hand on her shoulder. "Maybe fate had bigger plans for you."
Ethel snorted. "Fate. Is that what you young ones call it these days? Was it fate that the dead come back to life and eat the living?"
"Well no. I like to think of this whole situation as a chance to start over. Correct the mistakes we humans have made over the years. Become better people."
A hand then returned the touch on his shoulder. Ethel had placed a warm hand on his jumpsuit and was smiling when he turned to look at her.
"You're a good man, Mr. Bane. It's rare for anyone to have that positive mindset these days." She gave him a pat on the back before walking away and shouting, "It's great to have you on the team!"
Magnus smiled broadly but it quickly faded when he thought about how he was just using this position to get what he really wanted. He felt awful for playing Ethel like this. She truly did seem like a wonderful person so using her the way he was felt heinous.
"Hey! You with the angelic face!"
Magnus turned to see a squat old man shuffling towards him. He appeared to be out of breath and wheezing by the time he reached the platform where Magnus was standing.
"You the new guy?" The old man wheezed. His voice was gravelly, like he smoked one too many cigarettes.
"Yes. I'm Magnus Bane. Who's looking for me?"
The old man coughed a laugh. "Figured you were new. The name's Arthur. Follow me. I was told to give you a map of our warehouses. My office is this way."
By "office" he meant a small tent just within the vicinity of the gardens. There was a small desk beside the tent in which the man reached into the drawer and pulled out a map of what looked like New York.
"The warehouses are marked according to color. We're Warehouse 2, agriculture, so we're marked in green. One through ten are all marked differently."
Magnus leaned over the map to study it. "Where's nine and ten?"
Arthur looked up from the can he was opening. "Huh?"
"Warehouses nine and ten," Magnus tapped the map with a finger. "Where are they?"
Arthur flinched but shook his head. "I don't have the clearance to know the location. Only those who are high up have access to that information. Like Lydia. Why do you want to know? You don't plan on snooping, do you?"
Magnus shook his head. "No sir. I was just told during my tour here that there were seven warehouses. Not ten. Just thought I'd ask." He picked up the map and pocketed it. "Thanks for the map though. Is there anything you guys need help with here at the moment?"
Before Arthur could answer, a buzzer went off somewhere within the building followed by a loud voice.
"Lunch is being served in 15, ladies and gentlemen. Drop whatever it is you're doing and please gather in the mess hall. Thank you."
Arthur sighed in relief. "Thank god. I thought it was going to be canned corn again. And to answer your question, no. We go to lunch first and then come back here to work. Understood?"
Magnus nodded. "Lunch first. I like that idea."
"Of course you would. Who in their right mind wouldn't these days?" Arthur clapped him on the back. "So, Mr Bane. Tell me a bit about yourself."
----------
"Where's Simon?"
Jace looked up from his plate to look around. "Last I heard he was visiting Isabelle in the infirmary. Said he'd be there just until she got better."
"She's still in there?" Magnus glanced at the spot where she would've been sitting had she joined them for lunch. "How's she doing anyway?"
"She's....not good." Jace ran a tired hand over his face. "Yesterday she had a cough and now she's got a full blown fever. Simon says she doesn't seem to have been bitten or scratched so this could be just the flu."
Clary nodded in agreement. "We did spend a lot of time out in the cold. She could've caught something then."
She made a good point but if that were the case, shouldn't all of them or the majority of the group have the flu too? Magnus thought about this as he shoved a spoonful of soup into his mouth. He didn't really like vegetable soup but you couldn't exactly be picky about what you ate these days.
"And in case you're wondering where my brother is, I haven't seen him since yesterday," Jace pointed out. "Don't give me that look. I could tell you were about to ask that next. You get all googly eyed when it comes to him."
"I don't get googly eyed," Magnus grumbled, "but you're right. That was actually my next question. Did he mention going out with the Scavengers this morning?"
Clary snickered into her cup. "Scavengers? Did you actually say that trademark out loud? Because it sure sounded like you were trying to say Avengers there."
Magnus stuck out his tongue. "So what if I was? I mean....aren't they like the Avengers though? Alec is Captain America. That big bulky guy I saw him with is the Hulk. I don't know about the rest of them."
"As I was saying," Jace cleared his throat to silence Magnus. "I haven't heard from him or seen him since yesterday. He's probably out like you said. You got to get up really early for this kind of job. You don't want to get caught out there after dark. Trust me."
Magnus believed him. He remembered what it was like hiding in houses and other building during nighttime over the years. He also remembered watching and hearing other groups that were passing by during the dark get caught up in something that they didn't have to get caught up if they just stayed inside until morning. Their screams still echoed in his head sometimes-
"What's it like in the agriculture warehouse?" Clary interrupted his thoughts.
"Oh," Magnus shook his head. "They have fruits and vegetables growing, like you'd expect. I think in the adjoining warehouse they have animals. Cows and sheep-"
Jace snorted. "Where the fuck did they get cows and sheep? This is New York. Not Kansas."
"This might come as a bit of a surprise to you, Blondie, but New York is an entire state. Not just a city. There used to be farms and whatnot outside the city limits. How else did you think most restaurants got their fresh local produce?" Magnus said, cocking his head with a smile.
"I know that New York was a state. I just....I haven't been outside of here or Brooklyn before. So I didn't know about the farms," Jace grumbled into his bowl. "Can we change the subject? I feel stupid."
Magnus shrugged. "I don't think it matters if we change the subject or not in your case-"
Jace lunged for him but Clary managed to hold him back.
"Hey! That's enough!" She snapped. "I know we're all tired and our group isn't at its normal 100% working capacity lately but we can't be at each other's throats like this. We're a team, remember? A family."
Both men sighed. She had a point. They were only exhausted from everything that's happened to them so far. The recent changes in location wasn't helping and neither was Isabelle's sudden illness. If Alec were here, he'd know what to say and do.
"I got to get going down to the garage. We're repairing some vehicles for the warehouses to bring back some goods." Jace cleaned out his bowl and nodded to Magnus and Clary when he finished. "See you guys at supper."
"Bye," Clary kissed him as he left. "I should be going too. They want me to do a tally of supplies at The Closet-"
"What's The Closet?" Magnus interrupted.
"It's what they call the storage unit with all the clothes. They told me yesterday in the coal room they needed help organizing it so that it's manageable and I sort of enjoy organizing things," she blushed and smiled. "Before all this happened I wanted to be a wedding planner. Help people with their big day. This is the closest to my dream that I'll ever get, right?"
As she began to rise from her seat, Magnus slid a hand over hers and gave it a squeeze. "Who knows. Maybe they find a reason to have a wedding planner job opening in the future?"
Clary's eyes widened for a fraction of a second before her face exploded into a full blown smile. "True. Yeah. Thanks Magnus. You just made my day a little brighter."
"Glad I could help, Little Red," Magnus smiled back. "I really need to get going too. I'll see you at supper."
Arthur was waiting at the entrance when Magnus arrived at the warehouse. He was handing out seeds to the workers and instructing them where to plant it in the soil. When he saw Magnus, he shuffled over and pressed a pack of potato seeds into Magnus' hand.
"Bit of a power imbalance here today, kid. Ethel wants to do things one way whereas I want to do it another," he grumbled.
"Didn't realize that you two were at odds," shrugged Magnus.
"Oh we're not cozy, that's for damn sure. God bless her soul and all but things need to be done differently here if we're to have another successful harvest. The last one wasn't too pretty."
They walked inside the warehouse towards the soil beds, passing several workers carefully placing seeds in the soil and watering them. It was cold so everyone was doubled up on clothing layers. Some people even wore winter hats on their heads to beat the cold.
"What happened to the last harvest?" Magnus asked. "Ethel didn't tell me too much about it."
"Of course she didn't," Arthur coughed. "She's trying to save her own ass as usual. The last harvest was so goddamn awful that nearly 75% of the crops were rotten. You can't do a whole lot with rotten fruits and vegetables. Feed the rats but that's about it."
Rotten vegetables. Magnus made a mental note of that as he carefully made a hole in the soil to place a seed in. "What do you think happened to the crops? For them to become rotten, I mean."
Arthur took out a cigarette from his pocket. He was about to light it when he caught himself, as if remembering he wasn't allowed to smoke in here. "Shit. I don't know. My best guess is pesticides but no one comes and goes out of here without me knowing about it. Probably a bad batch of seeds or something."
When the workers were done planting, they then moved along to moving the metal ceiling down to protect the crops from the winds. There was no sun today but the solar powered lights provided just enough heat and artificial sunlight for the plants to get started on growing.
Magnus watched everyone carefully. One of the things they taught him in Quantico was to always pay attention to your surroundings. Take in every sound, sight, smell. Every detail mattered. In this case, he was looking for signs of weaknesses. Not just in the infrastructure of the building but in the people too. If he noticed that someone was acting suspicious, he was going to jump at the opportunity to take advantage of them for information.
But no one was acting weird. If anything, they were almost robotic (which maybe in a sense was weird to Magnus). Moving at the same time, avoiding eye contact with their coworkers. It was eerie to watch. The longer Magnus kept an eye on them, the more he wanted to ask someone what was going on.
"Mr. Bane! You look deep in thought all by your lonesome over here in the corner," Ethel chuckled as she approached. "Something on your mind?"
Magnus blinked himself out of his thoughts. "Not really. Just....watching everyone, more or less. Getting a feel for the environment," he smiled coyly.
"Ah," Ethel nodded. "It's a lot to take in like I said. But once you get used to how everything works here, you'll be a professional in no time."
As she was talking to him, Magnus could see that the other warehouse workers were watching them. When Ethel would look in their direction, they'd immediately drop their eyes to avoid looking at hers.
"Try and keep awake though, Magnus. It tends to get a little boring around here sometimes," Ethel told him.
"Boring? How?"
"Well....you can only plant so many seeds and water them so much a day. So the workers here either play cards or hackey sack to pass the time. Do you play Poker?"
Magnus almost grinned at this. "Not really. I have a terrible Poker face."
Ethel laughed heartily. "I'll teach you one of these days. We usually place bets in seeds so it's never really a serious game but like I said. It passes the time."
She pat him on the knee just as the announcement for supper rang out. The workers all jumped to their feet at once and filed out, eager to get a hot meal in their stomachs. Magnus didn't blame them. It was cold this afternoon and the wind wasn't helping as they crossed the road back over to the Institute.
"Magnus! You survived the cold I see," said Clary once he sat with her and Jace at the table. "How was your first day?"
Magnus shrugged. "Alright. Can't complain considering I'm growing what you have on your plate right now."
Supper was fresh bread, hot out of the oven with mashed potatoes and a small side of meat. What kind of meat, that was still uncertain but Jace swears up and down that it was venison.
"There's deer here?" Magnus asked.
"You'd be surprised," Jace said through a mouthful of food, "how fast nature takes over and reclaims what once belonged to it. One of the guys showed me a suveillance camera of downtown New York. Central Park is basically expanding and there's freaking deer running around and breeding. There's bucks out there that they hunt-but they hunt in moderation. They leave enough males for reproduction."
"Well then. I'm glad people are so conscious about the environment now. Too bad they weren't like that before," Clary grumbled.
Jace shrugged. "We thought we had everything before. Now we don't. We need to more careful now. More than ever."
Magnus ate quietly. His mind kept going back to the warehouse workers and how they acted around Ethel. There was something deeply wrong there. Very wrong. He needed to find out what if he wanted the rest of his plan to fall into place-
"Magnus? Anyone home in there?"
Magnus looked up, drawn out of his own thoughts. Jace and Clary were both looking at him, worry on their faces.
"Huh?" He said. "I'm fine. I'm just thinking about Alec. Just praying he's okay out there and that new group has his back."
"If they don't then we'll just shoot them in theirs-ow!" Clary had hit Jace on the shoulder, causing him to wince and grab the spot where she hit him. "What did I do this time? And why do people keep hitting me in the same spot?"
"You can't say that shit out loud, Jace! You never know who's listening...." She whispered. "Look. Magnus. I'm sure Alec's fine. He's a skilled scavenger. You've seen him in the field before. He's a beast. So don't worry about him because he's doing just fine out there." She offered him a small smile and squeezed his hand. "Now is there anything you wanted to speak your mind about?"
Thoughts drifting back to the warehouse workers and his plan, Magnus shook his head. "Nope. Nothing. It's a boring job but at least it passes the time. Do either of you know how to play Poker?"