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Chapter Text

When Izzy found The High Priestess Arcana card in her wallet with only an address and a date on the back as well as the words “Want to knock Robert Lightwood down a peg or two?”

She knew it was stupid and that she shouldn’t have shown up, but she couldn’t pass up a possible opportunity to get back at her father for all he had done.

Finally arriving at the address listed, she noticed she wasn’t the only one there. An asian man was already waiting and examining the place. He turned at the sound of her arriving, “I take it i’m not the only one who got one of these?” he asked, raising the Strength Arcana card to show her.

“Nope,” she replied raising her own to show him. “I’m Isabelle,” she introduced herself, making sure to avoid using her last name, lest he have the same grudge against her father as she had.

“Magnus Bane,” he replied holding out his hand for her to shake, which she accepted after a moment.

Right then, two more people entered, a redheaded girl and a brunette guy with glasses. Neither of them struck her as the type  for revenge but who was she to judge.

“Hey..,” the red headed girl said, “You guys here for..?” she asked trailing off.

“Yeah. You too?” Isabelle asked, holding up her card.

The two replied by showing her their own cards, The Star for the girl who introduced herself as Clary, and The Fool for the guy whose name turned out to be Simon.

Just as the time on the cards was approaching and they were ready to enter, one more person appeared, Jace.

“Is this the-“ he stopped when he saw Izzy, “Iz?”

“Hey Jace, you got one of these too?” she asked.

“Yeah,” he said digging around in his pockets for his own card, and taking it out to show them, The Chariot.

“You two know each other?” asked Simon.

“He’s my brother,” Izzy replied after a moment, deciding that this information couldn’t hurt to share.

“Were we supposed to bring a plus one? No one announced me,” said Magnus sarcastically, “Is this all of us?”

“I mean it’s four o’clock, the time on the card, so I guess so.” Clary said, stepping closer to the door of the apartment and trying the doorknob. “Locked.”

“Great, so we came here for nothing,” Simon said, seeming ready to give up and go back home.

“Nothing’s ever locked,” said Izzy, stepping closer to the door and taking a pin out of her hair. She squatted next to the door and put the pin in lock, moving it around with practiced ease until she heard a click. “Gotcha.” She pushed the door open, going in first. She heard the sound of the others following close behind.

The apartment seemed new, almost eerily so.

“This place gives me the creeps,” Simon mumbled, looking around with an expression between curiosity and apprehension.

“Agreed,” Clary said.

In the center of the living room stood a table with a few things on it, the only thing in the room.

Magnus went closer to it and took something off the table to show them: the Emperor Arcana.

“This guy sure thinks he’s important huh?” muttered Jace, “proclaiming himself the emperor.”

“Well, he got us all to come here didn’t he?” said Magnus while examining the rest of the items on the table.

“Fair enough,” Jace agreed, although he didn’t seem too happy about it.

Magnus took the tablet, the only other thing on the table aside from what looked like a case file, and pressed the on button. A video came to life, showing her father’s face.

Afterwards, words appeared on the screen.

“To those who are reading this,

You’ve been chosen because your skills are unmatched. I’ve been watching you, and I firmly believe that you are the perfect team for the opportunity I’m about to offer you.

What lies ahead is the kind of job you won’t see twice in a lifetime. High risk, but higher reward. Each of you plays a crucial part. Pieces of a puzzle, if you will. Without one, it all falls apart.

Instructions are in the file. Should you agree, I think that you’ll find the reward very inspiring.”

At the end, the tablet shut off, never to be opened again.

Izzy went to pick up the file, and open it, only to be met with a picture of her families brooch.

Small text was in the corner of the picture: “Worth: 100 million dollars.”

Clary, who had been looking over her shoulder, let out a surprised sound as her eyes fell on the writing, “A hundred million dollars? For a brooch? Talk about crazy rich.”

“Yes,” Magnus agreed, “Robert Lightwood is a billionaire. Speaking of which,” he said, turning to Izzy and Jace and crossing his arms, “why exactly are his children here?”

All the heads in the room turned to Isabelle and Jace, who looked at each other in a panic.

“Children?” questioned Simon, voice rising by about an octave, “this isn’t some kind of sting operation is it? Am I about to go to jail?”

“No one is going to jail dude, calm down.” said Jace, “Let’s just say we aren’t on the best terms with our father. When an opportunity to get back at him presented itself, we weren’t going to pass it up.”

“Exactly,” agreed Izzy, “But how did you know who we were?”

“I didn’t initially, but I remembered an old article I saw. Your pictures were included,” Magnus explained, “Should we be expecting your older brother to walk through that door too?”

“No way,” Izzy said, “Alec isn’t the type to get recruited for this kind of stuff. Too.. rule following. If he ever received this kind of letter he’d just ignore it.”

“Or go straight to the cops,” said Jace, “He’s fun like that.”

“How are we supposed to trust you?” asked Clary while looking at them warily, “You could be going back to your father and reporting on all that happened for all we know.”

“Why would we go through all the trouble of organizing all of this just to arrest you? It would be easier to just corner you somewhere. Besides,” Izzy explained, “why would both of us come here if it was just a ploy to get you in jail?”

“I don’t know,” said Simon while fidgeting with his jacket, “strength in numbers.”

“This is ridiculous,” Jace said angrily, “The guy who brought us all here clearly thinks we could work as a team, and is offering us millions to do it. You gonna pass it up because of who our father is? We have more reasons to want revenge on him than you do.”

“Revenge?” asked Clary, “We’re here because we were promised money.”

Isabelle realized that Jace’s card must have had the same writing as hers while the others had had other things on them. Clearly this Emperor guy knew all of them on a personal level and knew what buttons to push to get them to cooperate.

“I’m gonna make a wild guess and say that we all had different things written on our cards,” said Magnus as if he had read her mind.

“I’m gonna have to agree with you there,” Izzy replied. “Listen, I know you guys might not trust us, but we were all called here for a reason, whatever that may be and I think we’d be dumb not to take this opportunity.”

Simon still didn’t look very convinced, but after Clary pulled him aside to talk he finally agreed.

“Great,” Magnus said after they all agreed to continue, “let’s see the rest of this file.”

Chapter Text

The next day:

After examining the rest of the file they had all decided to call it night and meet again the next day to discuss things more in detail, the mystery apartment having been unanimously chosen as the meet up point.

Jace and Izzy were just exiting the house, ready to meet up with the others when they bumped into Alec, who looked like had just had a horrible day, although it was only one pm.

Izzy must’ve shared Jace’s thoughts, “Why do you look like you just escaped hell?”

Alec huffed out a laugh, “Because I did. We had a meeting with a few important investors. It’s like talking to a wall with these guys, anything I suggested just went over their heads and dad just ignored ninety nine percent of what I was saying.”

Being the heir to the family company, Alec accompanied their father to most meetings, having the “pleasure” of meeting all the people involved in the running of the company.

Hearing about these meetings always put Jace in a bad mood, thinking about how little their father cares about them, especially Alec who’d been nothing but the perfect son all of his life, and how he only cares about the company.

Jace is ninety percent sure that if their father had to choose between saving one of them or his company, they’d be quickly sent to the afterlife, no doubts to be had.

Izzy, probably having similar thoughts, put her hand on Alec’s arm, “It’s not too late to run away and join the circus like I suggested. Or we could become world class thieves, Ocean’s Eleven style.”

Alec let out a laugh, “I wish,“ he said, sighing dramatically, “alas, I don’t think I’d be a good clown, or a good thief.”

Jace and Izzy shared a look, silently appreciating the irony of the situation, before seemingly realizing at the same time that they were going to be late.

“Jace, we’re gonna be late for the movie,” Izzy said before turning back to Alec, “The offer’s still on the table, just so you know. Say the word and we’ll be on the next plane to Vegas”

“Duly noted,” Alec said, smiling before he noticed his phone ringing, “Speak of the devil,” he rolled his eyes, “Enjoy your movie.” he said as he answered the call and went back inside.

Jace looked at the door Alec had entered one more time before following Izzy to the car.

~~~~~

All of them were gathered in the small apartment, sitting on bean bags that Clary and Simon had bought, saying that if they were going to work there, they may as well be comfortable.

Jace didn’t like that Simon guy (he had no idea why, he just didn’t), but even he had to admit that bringing the bean bags had earned him some brownie points.

“Alright so this is what we know so far,” said Magnus, pointing at the wall he had projected his laptop onto. There stood an image of their father, “Some of you already know this,” he said, looking at Izzy and Jace, “but this is Robert Lightwood, he owns one of the biggest security firms on the market and he is crazy rich and I’m not even exaggerating. I’m talking billions of dollars rich.”

He pressed a button on his laptop and the image changed to one of the Lightwood family brooch in all its glory. It was relatively small, but its price was made up from the jewels it was made of. They were organized in a neat pattern, forming a flame, their family crest. Small stars were above it, looking as if they had just erupted from said flame.

“This is the Lightwood family brooch. It was made many years ago and its value comes from the gems on it. Like the picture said, its cost would be roughly one hundred million dollars,” Magnus explained, before being cut off by Simon who was looking at Jace and Izzy.

“Ok, but if they are his children, can’t they just.. I don’t know, take it? Easy peasy, job done?”

“Are you stupid?” Jace turned to him, brownie points already forgotten, “You think he just keeps it lying around? We see that thing only once a year.”

“That’s more than the rest of us,” Clary argues back, ready to defend her friend.

“Wasn’t there an article a year back,” inquired Simon, “Something about your family opening a museum to wow all of us with all your wealth?”

“That’s not how it was worded, but yes. What’s your point?” Izzy asked.

“Isn’t the brooch there? How do you only see it once a year if it’s always on display?”

“You think he actually keeps the real thing on display in a museum?” Jace asked mockingly, “If you had a one hundred million dollar brooch, would you entrust it to a museum where anyone could steal it?He’s a douchebag, not an idiot.”

“So the one in the museum is a fake?” asked Clary, “How are we supposed to steal the real one then?”

“Like Jace said,” Izzy butted in before Jace could fight anyone else, “we do see the real one once a year. Our family hosts a masquerade ball yearly and the real brooch is paraded off in our family museum.”

Ignoring Simon’s incredulous muttered “Family museum?”, Jace continued the idea that Izzy had started, “It’s not gonna be easy, that thing is guarded like crazy, but the museum is opened only at the end of the night, “to end it with a bang” as our father likes to say. Our window of time is before that happens.”

“Well when is this masquerade ball?” asked Clary.

“If Google is to be trusted, Halloween Night,” said Magnus, holding up his phone, the search opened on their father’s wikipedia page, “that’s a month from now.”

“Surprisingly convenient timing on Emperor’s part if you ask me.” commented Izzy.

“Are we really calling him that?” Jace groaned.

“You got a better name?” Simon challenged, “Plus, it sounds cool. It’s kind of reminiscent of Star Wars if you think about it.”

“I cannot believe that this guy was chosen for such an important thing,” Jace muttered, pinching the bridge of his nose.

“I’m right next to you and I can hear you, you know that right?”

“Alright children, let’s stop arguing,” Magnus said. “So, Halloween night. Do you two have any way of getting us an invitation to the party or are we going to have to sneak in?”

Jace and Izzy looked at each other, both thinking the same thing. It was Izzy who said it, “We can’t, but our older brother might.”

Chapter Text

“Just like that?” Clary asked, suspicious.

“Just like that,” Jace said, “but we have to be careful. I will not risk our brother getting in trouble for something we did.”

Unwillingly, he remembered all the times that Alec had covered for them in their childhood, claiming their mistakes as his own. He had no doubt that if they were caught, he would shoulder that too, just so that they wouldn’t be punished.

“Nice family spirit,” muttered Magnus. “We’ll do our best not to be seen doing anything suspicious. But first we have to decide what each of us will do. What are all your qualities,” he made air quotes, “if you will.”

“Well I can pick locks,” Izzy said, “I’m pretty good at being the distraction too, if I need to.”

“Me too,” Jace agreed, “I can also fight.”

“Let’s hope it doesn’t come to that,” said Magnus.

“Can anyone use something like bow and arrows? In movies it’s always helpful to have an archer on hand. Far away and efficient,” said Simon, clearly thinking he was in some action film, “they don’t even have to hurt someone, just pin their clothes.”

“Yes, but for that they have to be crazy good,” Magnus said, “One centimeter off and you end up shooting someone’s heart instead of their shirt. Not very enjoyable I would think.”

Izzy and Jace looked at each other (something they’ve been doing a lot these past few days), thinking about the archer they did know.

Clary noticed their look, “What? Are any of you actually an archer?”

“No, our older brother is.” Jace said, and cut off Simon before he could say anything, “And we are not , bringing him into this so don’t even ask.”

“The trope of the mystery older brother strikes again,” Simon asked, “You gotta let me meet the guy.”

“If you behave,” said Izzy, shooting him a wink.

Magnus looked close to banging his head on the wall, and although Jace wasn’t his biggest fan, he shared the sentiment and he could admit that he seemed the most organized so he intervened, “Let’s leave this archer thing. You,” he pointed at Simon, “whatever your name is. What can you do? Why are you even here?”

“Have you watched any heist movies? I’m the hacker,” he answered, puffing up his chest.

“Really?” Izzy asked, suddenly seeming genuinely interested, “you can really do stuff like the hackers in films?”

“Not as fast as the guys in the movies,” said Simon gaining confidence, “but close enough.”

“That’s all fine and dandy,” Magnus said, “but what about you biscuit?” he asked turning to Clary.

“I can act as the distraction,” she said, “and I’m a good pickpocket.”

Magnus finished writing something on his laptop and turned to them.

“We need a concrete plan,” he said, “we can’t just barge in there and hope for the best. Unless any of you fancy a long visit to jail.”

“What are you even good at,” asked Jace, “You’re questioning the rest of us but I don’t see you talking about what you can do.”

“Let’s just say this isn’t my first rodeo,” he answered fiddling with his necklace.

Izzy let out a breath of surprise, “I recognize that necklace. You’re the Warlock.”

“The what now?” asked Simon, clearly as confused as Jace.

“ The Warlock,” Izzy said, looking at them like they were stupid, “He’s one of the best known thieves in the continent. That necklace is part of Valentine Morgenstern’s stolen collection. Well, it was before he was arrested, that is.”

Magnus must’ve noticed the ever growing anxious expression of Simon’s face because he clarified, “I only steal from those who deserve it.”

Izzy still seemed somewhat in awe, but a warning alarm was flashing in Jace’s head, “If you’re such a great thief and have stolen so many things, why are you even here?”

Magnus’ eyes narrowed, “I’ll admit, I only came because of my curiosity. But after seeing what we have to steal, I couldn’t pass this opportunity up. Do you know how many people in the underworld would kill for a shot at your families brooch?” he said, “I don’t care if I have to work with amateurs, Chase.”

“Jace,” he corrected angrily, “and if you’re such an expert, then tell us, what’s you big plan?”

“I was getting to it, before someone rudely interrupted me,” Magnus replied clearly just refraining from giving Jace a piece of his mind, “Clary and I should enter as guests, ready to create a distraction when need to. Seeing as I’m the only one who has done this before, I’ll also have to help you secure the brooch,” he turned to Simon, “You, Sherman, should stay in the car with your laptop. Unless you are some kind of magician, I don’t think you can hack while disguised as a guest without drawing attention to yourself.”

“What about us?” asked Jace, “We’re not just gonna sit around.”

“Of course not,” Magnus replied, “but you’re important guests. People are going to be paying attention to you. It won’t be as easy for you two to sneak away. We’ll have to create a distraction.”

After that, they all started planning, making sure to think about everything, because if they were going to fail, the consequences would be severe.

~~~~

“You want me to do what?” Alec asked, looking at them with a confused expression.

“Put the names of some of our friends on the invite list.” Izzy explained, “Please.”

“Yeah, I heard that,” he said, “but why? You two always try to convince our father to let you not go and now you’re bringing friends?”

“We decided that if we must go, we might as well make it more enjoyable.” said Jace

“Can I meet them at least?” he asked still looking on the fence but Izzy knew that they had him, “I don’t think our father would be fond of having total strangers at his party.”

“As if he knows everyone on the list,” she said, making puppy eyes, something which always worked on Alec.

They knew they had won when Alec sighed and reached for his phone, “What are their names?”

Izzy all but jumped on him to hug him, “Thank you.”

“Yeah, yeah,” he said although the corners of his mouth were twitching, “The things I do for you two.”

“The names are Damian Hale and Natasha Miller,” Jace answered the question Alec had asked. They had agreed on Magnus’ plan for him and Clary to enter as a distraction, while Simon remained in their car as their “chauffeur”, which would give him the right environment to hack whatever he might need to.

Alec typed something on his phone before turning back to them, “Alright. Your friends are on the list. Don’t make me regret it.”

“We won’t,” Jace said,

“Did we ever tell you you’re the best big brother?” Izzy asked.

“You should do it more often,” he said, smiling before his phone rung, bringing Izzy deja vu from the day before, “I gotta take this. I’ll see you two later.”

~~~~

When Izzy and Jace reached the apartment about fifteen minutes later, Simon and Clary were sitting on the bean bags and probably discussing the plan.

“Where’s Magnus?” asked Jace,

“I’m here,” Magnus said, walking into the living room and putting his phone back in his pocket, “I was thinking and we need a blueprint of your house.”

“How the hell are we supposed to get our hands on that?” Jace asked,

“Your father owns a security firm, am I wrong in assuming that his firm also protects your home?”

“No, you aren’t.” Izzy replied,

“That means he must have at least some blueprints,” Magnus said, “Do you have any way to get your hands on his laptop?”

“No way, he cares more about that thing than he does about us,” Jace said, “He’d never leave it alone somewhere.”

Simon looked like he didn’t want to say what he was about to, but like he couldn’t refrain from it either, “Don’t punch me for this, but would your older brother have access to them?”

“You mentioned he’s the heir to your father’s company,” Clary said, looking inspired, “He must have at least some sort of access to something, right?”

“He might be heir but our father won’t give up his position in the company until he’s six feet under,” Jace said, the same familiar bitterness creeping into his voice, the way it always did when he talked about his father.

“That doesn’t mean he doesn’t have anything on his computer,” Simon argued, “I’m not saying to steal it,” he explained rapidly, noticing the expressions on the Lightwood siblings’ faces, “There’s this USB stick that, if you leave in long enough, can give me remote access to a computer and its files. I just need to be in long enough to search for the blueprints.”

Jace was reluctant to allow Simon into his brother’s computer and clearly so was Izzy, but this was their only option if they wanted everything to go well.

“Alright, we’ll do it,” Izzy said, “But no snooping into anything else, am I clear?” she threatened him.

“Crystal,” Simon said, gulping in fear.

~~~~

Sneaking into Alec’s room was surprisingly easy to do, Izzy thought as she opened the door.

A benefit to their ridiculously big house was that there weren’t many people on most floors, especially in their living quarters, which made sneaking in or out relatively easy.

She looked around his room, taking it in. She hadn’t been here for a while, not since she’d been young.

Regardless of its big size, Alec hadn’t decorated much. It was relatively simple, a bed, a desk, his wardrobe and a few bookshelves.

Eyes zeroing in on his computer, Izzy went to the desk, pushing Alec’s Columbia sweatshirt out of the way, and sitting down on the chair.

She quickly took the USB stick out of her pocket and plugged it into the computer.

Instantly, numbers appeared on screen, switching between thousands of combinations, trying to guess her brother’s password. The numbers 1, 2 and 0 had already been guessed as the first three digits out of six.

Simon had given her a pair of comms, so that they could talk during this, and also to use it as a trial for the night of the heist, to see if they work.

“Simon,” she whispered, “can you hear me?”

“Loud and clear,” he said, “I think I’m close to cracking his passcode.”

Right when he said that, the last digit clicked in place and her brother’s computer opened.

Chapter Text

As Alec Lightwood’s computer opened, Simon had to admit that it was more bland than he had expected.

From what he had heard of the oldest Lightwood, he had expected something a bit more.. interesting.

It was neatly organized, and Simon could only see things related to work, which on one hand made his work easier but on the other: was this guy’s whole life his work?

Deciding that he didn’t want to get his ass kicked by Izzy, he stopped wondering about that and got to work.

Finding the blueprints was surprisingly easy, as they were nicely placed in a folder titled “S. Plans”.

He worked fast to download the blueprints, as well as what looked like a way too complicated model for of a vault.

“Alright,” he said, “I’m done.”

“Great,” he heard Izzy reply, “I was getting anxious. He’s in a meeting right now but I don’t know how much longer it’ll last.”

He heard the sound of a door closing before Izzy said she was coming over to the apartment to see what he had found.

~~~~~

Simon had texted their group chat (they had a group chat now apparently, she didn’t know when that had happened) and asked everyone to meet up at the apartment to see what he had found on Alec Lightwood’s computer.

Clary was going to use those next few hours before she had classes as an opportunity to sleep but she grudgingly put on a jacket and left her dorm.

When she got there, she saw that she was the last one to arrive, Magnus beginning to speak when he saw her enter, “Samuel managed to find not only the blueprints but also something that looks eerily similar to what is generally used by big companies as a vault.”

Magnus opened up a picture of a very detailed vault, with a lot of footnotes in the corners.

“This seems much more complex than a normal one though. Robert Lightwood is keeping a one hundred million dollar brooch in there so I guess I can’t fault him for that,” Magnus said, “From what I could tell, it has three different security systems.”

Three different pictures appeared on screen.

“The first is a biometric scan, voice recognition,” he turned to Simon, “can you replicate someone’s voice if you have a recording of it?”

“Yes,” Simon replied, “but I need at least one minute of them talking.”

It was Izzy who replied, “That can be arranged.”

“Great,” Magnus said, “Luckily, it seems like your father didn’t think of everything. He didn’t think to set a passcode. This lock is the type that opens from voice recognition alone,” he smirked, “better for us.”

Clary had to admit, the guy sure looked like he knew what he was doing. When Izzy had identified him as “The Warlock” she had been skeptical, but now, seeing him planning, she could see the truth in that.

“Of course we will also need a keycard.” he turned to Izzy and Jace, “Am I wrong in assuming neither of you have one of those?”

“We don’t,” Jace said, “Honestly I don’t think Alec does either. Our father is too paranoid.”

“Thought so,” Magnus said, playing with one of his rings, “We’ll have to steal it from him at the masquerade then. Isabelle or Jace, one of you will have to do that. No one else from our group will be able to get close enough without drawing attention.”

“I will,” Izzy offered, “I’m not a half bad pickpocket.”

Clary found herself speaking, “That’s not enough. You have to be good to be able to steal this. We can’t risk getting caught.”

She didn’t know where the seriousness came from, she was usually laid back, but she didn’t want this mission to fail. Plus, although she wouldn’t admit it, she had started to like the people in this group, particularly Jace.

“I’ll teach you,” she offered, to which she received a smile from Izzy.

“Great,” continued Magnus, “Of course, there’s also an alarm and the security cameras that we have to worry about,” he turned to Simon, “Can you handle those?”

Simon shrugged, “I’ll need to see the system, but in theory, yes.”

“Can you also shut down the backup alarm?” asked Magnus, “From what I can see here, if the main alarm is disabled, a secondary one is turned on. Usually these need to be shut off within maximum a minute after the first or it’ll start going off.”

“It can be done,” Simon said, “but I’d feel more comfortable if I could practice on something.”

“I’ll find you a test dummy,” said Magnus, “I surely have something similar somewhere. There’s one more problem though. To actually disarm all of these, we have to get past the guards and cameras to be able to plug Sean’s USB into the main interface. That would usually be in a security room.”

Jace cracked his knuckles, “Finally something I can do,” he said, grinning cockily, “If we can find their break times I can get past while the guards are changing posts and get his USB in there.”

“Good,” Magnus nodded, seeming pleased, “You need to plug it into the main computer. Luckily for us, they usually have an USB plug somewhere in the back. After the download is done and Simon is in the system take the USB out and bolt.”

“I can do that,” Jace said, confident.

“Now,” Magnus said, clapping his hands together, rings clinking, “let’s see about that test vault for you.”

~~~~~

“Damn it,” Simon shouted after the third failed attempt at disarming Magnus’ test alarm.

He was so close. He just needed two more seconds and he would succeed. Just two more seconds.

He was about to try again before he thought of something that might work better. If he could write a code that just needed to be activated, that might cut out a bit of time.

Sure, it would take more now , but it was worth it if it worked better on the day of the heist.

Half an hour later, he was ready to try it out.

Simon input the code, holding his breath in anticipation as it worked its way through the security system.

His heartbeat quickened as he looked at the timer, Come on, he thought.

Just as the timer hit zero, the alarm was disabled.

Simon let out a relieved breath. He had done it.

~~~~

October 30th, 2024

It was the night before the heist, and they were doing the final checks, making sure everyone knew what they had to do, and what to do if something went wrong.

Magnus turned to the others, “Alright, one last time. What’s the plan?”

Clary answered, “You and I enter, and scan the place for guards. Once we figure out the aproximate amount and when they take their breaks, we tell the information to the others.”

“Great, what’s next?”

“I have to steal our father’s security card, and meet up with you in the hallway next to the vault room.” Isabelle stated,

“Then I go and sneak into the security room, and insert that weird USB thing in the main computer,” said Jace,

“After that, I hack into their mainframe and loop the feeds in the vault room and the hallways,” continued Simon, mouth semi full from chewing on a candy bar.

“Then we open the door, using the keycard of course, and then Spencer here will have to bypass both alarm systems. After that, we’ll just need to use the recording of your father’s voice to open the vault.”

“We’ve known each other for a month and you’re still calling me by the wrong name? It has to be intentional at this point,” complained Simon,

“I have no idea what you’re talking about Steven.” Magnus said, watching as Simon dropped his head on the desk.

“I’ll have to cause a distraction,” added Jace, somewhat amused by the situation, seeing as it was at Simon’s expense, “one long enough for you and Clary to slip out of the mansion and in the car Simon’s into and drive away.”

“Exactly,” Magnus said, pointing at the blueprints in front of them, “if something happens and the exists are blocked, we might need to go through the windows. These ones are very similar to the ones I had back in college, you have to jump through without touching any part of the window. Otherwise an alarm will turn on. Annoying, but doable.”

Simon stared at him in confusion, “What kind of college is so interested in their students not sneaking out that they’d pay for windows like that?”

“A very prestigious one that doesn’t want to ruin its reputation.” Magnus answered, rolling his eyes and probably recounting times he had snuck out, but not offering any more details even when Simon muttered something along the lines of “Crazy New Yorkers.”

Magnus suddenly clapped his hands, startling everyone, “I’m glad we all know the plan. Should be easy.” he said, smiling in a way that told them he thought the exact opposite.

Chapter Text

Halloween Night, 2024

Magnus and Clary stood in front of the Lightwood mansion, situated in the line of guests waiting to be let in.

Looking at him, Clary could see that he had given it his best when dressing up. To be fair, he usually did but he had truly outdone himself. He had a crimson suit on, with golden accents on his sleeve, and black shoes with matching accents. His tie was a simple black, and his mask was the same color as his suit, with a golden pattern.

Clary was wearing a simple purple dress and a mask that matched, as well as stylish black heels. 

After a few minutes, they finally reached the front. 

“Names?” asked the security guard placed in front of the mansion’s entrance, pushing her blonde ponytail out of the way and looking at the list.

“Damien Hale and Natasha Miller,” Magnus answered.

Clary’s heart was beating fast in her chest. What if they weren’t on the list? Sure, Jace said that they would be, but what if something went wrong?

The guard scanned the list for a few seconds before crossing something off and raising her head back up to look at them, “Everything’s in order. Come on in.” she said, moving out of the way to let them through.

They entered the mansion, slowly taking it all in. Clary hadn’t seen such a big home in her entire life, so this was a new sight for her. 

She and Magnus stopped next to a table with different alcohoicl drinks on it, and they each picked up a glass of red wine. 

They wouldn’t get drunk, that would be just stupid, but it would act as a great cover for when they needed to speak with someone on the comms and didn’t want to look crazy talking to themselves.

“We’re in,” she whispered, pretending to take a sip of her wine and looking at the corridor she knew led to the vault and security rooms.

~~~

About an hour after they entered, Clary and Magnus could determine that the guards switched places every half an hour. 

“The guards switch every half hour or so,” Magnus relayed to the others, “give or take five minutes.”

“And from I could see, there’s about three different pairs in that hallway,” said Clary, “I’m not sure about the rest of the building.”

“It’s good enough,” Jace said, pretending to be talking to Izzy. It was honestly a very good act, if she didn’t know, Clary wouldn’t be able to tell that they weren’t talking to each other.

Suddenly her phone rang, her mother’s face flashing on the screen. 

She turned to Magnus, “I gotta take this,” she said moving towards the exit.

~~~~~

Magnus watched Clary exit the mansion to take a call, lazily taking a sip of his wine. He could hold his alcohol very well, a simple sip wouldn’t do anything to hinder their plan.

He turned around, ready to walk to the nearest wall and lean on it when he bumped into someone, spilling a bit of his wine on theirs suit jacket.

He looked up, an apology on the tip of his tongue, when his eyes locked with the hazel ones of Alexander Lightwood, his face hidden behind a black mask.

“I am so sorry,” he apologized, running his fingers through his hair before turning around and grabbing sone tissue from a passing waiter, “Here, let me help.”

“It’s no problem,” Alexander replied, but he let Magnus dab at his suit anyways, “Believe it or not, it’s not the first time this has happened to me at a party.”

Magnus smiled, “Really? And here I was about to offer to buy you a new one,” he said, “If it happened before then I think that you might the problem.” 

Alexander let out a laugh, “I get wine spilled on me and I’m the problem?” he asked, but the words were clearly coated in amusement.

“At least the color matches your tie,” Magnus commented and had only a few seconds to enjoy Alexander’s laugh before he heard a voice in his ear.

“I got the keycard,” muttered Isabelle.

When Magnus looked up, he could see her moving away from Robert Lightwood and closer to Jace.

She put a hand on his arm, a gesture that seemed normal to anyone else, but if you knew where to look you could see her passing off the keycard to him.

“I’m Alec, by the way,” Alexander said, putting his hand out for Magnus to shake,

“Damian,” Magnus replied, shaking the hand that was offered to him, 

“The guards are leaving their posts, Jace.” Isabelle’s voice suddenly rang out in his ear, “That’s your cue.”

That was also his cue. They had decided for him to be close to the security room while Jace went inside, to keep watch. 

“I’m afraid I have to leave,” Magnus said, turning to Alec, “I promised my friend that I would look for her when I arrived and I’ve already kelp her waiting. Perhaps I’ll see you around.”

Alexander nodded, “I look forward to it.”

Magnus smiled at him one more time before he took off towards the corridor where the security room was located.

“Magnus, were you honest to God just flirting with my brother?” Isabelle questioned in his ear. From the corner of his eye, he could see her pretending to take a sip of wine.

“In my defense,” he said, “you didn’t warn me about how attractive he was.”

“Do I need to remind you that we are talking about my brother?” she asked, although she seemed more amused than mad.

“Not the moment,” Clary said, appearing at Magnus’ side.

“Agreed,” said Jace, “Although we’ll have a talk after this.”

“How about you focus on entering the security room without making any noise,” Magnus said.

~~~~~

Jace’s heart was beating erratically as he snuck down the hallway, keeping his eyes out for any guard that might not follow the pattern.

He paused just outside the door, listening to see if any guard had stayed behind. Hearing no movement, he silently swiped his father’s keycard at the card reader, the door let out a beep as it opened.

The room wasn’t as big as he had thought it would be, the only thing in the room aside from many computers being two chairs in front of what he assumed was the main computer, as well as some screen watching the feed from the security cameras.

He silently moved through the room, stopping in front of what looked like the main computer, “Simon,” he whispered, “which computer is the main one?” he asked, reaching his hand up to show Simon through the camera he had put in his cufflink.

“The one in the middle,” rang Simon’s voice out in his ear, “the USB plug should be somewhere on the left side.”

Jace moved closer to the computer, craning his neck to look behind it. He examined it for a few seconds before his eyes fell on it. 

He reached into his pocket to take out the USB stick and plug it in, the small screen Simon had installed on it flashing green for a second before showing a percentage, 10%.

It was downloading fast, but Jace was very stressed, eyes going to the door every few seconds.

It had reached 80% when he heard Clary’s panicked voice through the comms, “They’re coming back Jace,” she said, “You have to leave now.”

“The download isn’t done,” he protested,

“I don’t care,” said Magnus, “A failed heist is better than ending up in jail. You need to leave.”

As he said that, Jace heard the guards outside the door, ready to enter.

Just as he thought he was done for, he heard a slight swish outside, followed by a thump. 

The door stopped opening, and Jace heard a guard making a surprised sound, “What the hell was that?” he heard a voice, probably the guard’s, ask.

“I have no idea,” answered a second one, “We should probably go check it out.” Jace heard, followed by footsteps going away from the door.

As he looked back at the USB, the screen flashed “Complete” and Jace quickly removed the USB stick, all but running to the door. 

“Get out of there, Jace,” said Magnus, voice a bit strained, “They aren’t in the hall anymore. They went to investigate the noise.”

Jace didn’t even need to be told that, hastily opening the door, looking both ways in the hallway to check for anyone passing by and shutting it behind him.

Only when he was back in the main room did he let out a breath of relief.

“Seems like your guardian angel was looking out for you,” said Magnus, trying to look like the whole thing hadn’t shaken him but Jace could see the relief on his face.

“Right?” Jace asked, still partially out of breath, “What even was that?”

“No idea,” said Izzy, “Maybe something fell.”

“Doesn’t matter,” said Magnus, “What is important is that you got in and out of there without being caught. Shawn?” he asked, “Are you in?”

“Yes,” Simon answered, not even bothering to correct the name and Jace could hear the concentration in his voice, “I need a few minutes to work on the cameras. Do whatever in the meantime. Might want to split up so you don’t look suspicious. I can see you all huddled up there.”

Before Jace and Izzy left to go closer to the front of the room, Jace shook Magnus’ hand, subtly passing him the keycard. 

Magnus then put his hands in his pockets, hiding the card from view. 

~~

“I gotta take a breather,” Jace told Izzy, hands coming up to loosen his tie.

“Me too,” she replied, looking for Alec in the crowd, maybe they could all talk for a bit, they didn’t get many opportunities to do that nowadays, but not finding him anywhere, “How about we take a tour of the museum?” she asked, “we haven’t ever cared enough to look,” her voice dropped to a whisper, “might as well appreciate some art now that we’re stealing it.”

Jace huffed out a laugh, appreciating the irony, “Sure.” he said, letting Izzy lead him to the room where their family kept important artefacts or art pieces that they had gotten they hands on, calling it a “museum”.

Jace’s eyes immediately fell on a sword that felt ancient but looked to be in very good condition, “Look at that beauty,” he told Izzy, stopping in front of where it was displayed and looking at the small piece of paper in the corner that talked about its history. “Favored weapon of knight William Herondale.”

“I’m more partial to this,” Izzy said, nodding in the direction of a silver bracelet, curling like a snake with two small precious stones for eyes.

“The camera’s are being looped as we speak,” Simon’s voice suddenly rang out, “And the security guards are none the wiser.”

“Great job,” said Magnus, “Where are you Isabelle?”

“I’m coming,” Izzy said, moving towards the door, “Wish me luck,” she told Jace.

~~~~~

When Isabelle and Magnus reached the vault room, eyes peeled for any guards or guests passing by, Magnus took out the keycard and scanned it, the door opening immediately.

Upon entering, Izzy’s eyes immediately fell on all the objects in the room. It was full of things, all looking like they belonged in a museum.

Her gaze was drawn to a neat looking painting set, that she was sure was worth thousands of dollars, “Clary would like that,” she told Magnus, “Don’t you think?”

Magnus’ gaze turned to the set, “I agree.”

“Personally,” chimed Simon in their ears, “I would kill to get my hands on those comics in the corner. I can’t see too well on the camera but they look like limited editions.”

Izzy turned to Magnus, mouth opening to make a suggestion but Magnus beat her to it, “Don’t even think about it,” he said, “there’s no way for us to steal something so big and to hide it with the preparations we made. A brooch is small, comic books aren’t.”

Izzy deflated but nodded her head nonetheless, “Sorry Simon, I tried.”

Instead of a sarcastic remark, she was met with silence. “Simon?”

Magnus was starting to look concerned, “I think our comms are down.”

Chapter Text

“Fuck,” Simon swore when he noticed the comms turning off, “What the hell is wrong with these?”

He didn’t usually swear, but he thought the situation called for it. He wasn’t sure what caused the problem but he suspected that all of the frequencies in the vault room (and in the rooms next to it) may have messed with the devices.

There was a way to fix it, but it would take time that they didn’t have, which left him with two options:

One, try to fix the comms, at the cost of time.

Or two, don’t try to fix the comms, and hope that Izzy and Magnus can figure out when they need to use the recording of Robert Lightwood’s voice, seeing as it needed to be input within a minute of the alarms being disarmed.

Wait, Simon thought, Izzy’s phone. 

Izzy had to bring her phone with her, the recording of her father’s voice being on there. 

Which meant that, in theory, Simon could send her a message. Now, because of the weird frequencies in the vicinity, it might not reach her, but it was worth a try.

With that thought in mind, Simon set to disabling the alarms.

First came the main one, the easiest one, since he could take his time on it. Of course, not too long, since Izzy and Magnus were waiting with no communications, but still.

One and a half minutes later, the first alarm was down. 

Time for the second one he thought, nervously.

Sixty seconds on the clock. 

He input the code he had created and hoped for the best, looking nervously at the timer while the code worked.

Be ready, he typed on his phone, hoping the text gets to Izzy. 

Looking back up at the screen, his heart started beating way too fast at what he saw. The code wouldn’t be able to finish in time.

Five more seconds, four, three, two, one.

As the timer hit zero, the code still had one more line to read. 

Simon froze, ready to see the alarm go off, when his screen turned green indicating that the alarm had been turned off.

“What the..” he muttered confused, but he snapped out of it, sending Izzy a text. Now.

Looking at the security screen, he could see Magnus and Izzy staying still, and looking at each other. Izzy clearly hadn’t gotten his latest message.

Just when he was starting to panic, Izzy reached for her phone and opened what looked like their chat. 

She turned to Magnus and said something, unheard by the cameras and then opened her audio app.

~~~~~

Now. Simon’s message read.

Izzy could only assume that meant to take out the recording of her father’s voice and to use it. If she was wrong.. well, she didn’t want to think about that.

She pressed on the play button, both Magnus and her waiting anxiously, still as statues. “Open.” she heard her father’s voice say. She had to admit, Simon had done a wonderful job at that. If she didn’t know that it was fake, she wouldn’t have been able to tell.

You could hear a pin drop while she and Magnus waited to see if the vault would open.

Tiiingg, she heard, before the vault cracked open.

They had done it. 

Izzy could jump with joy in that moment, but she realised that the battle wasn’t done. They still had to leave with it. 

Magnus reached into his pockets and put on his gloves, before carefully opening the vault door. 

He looked and nodded sharply in the direction of the door, indicating to Izzy to stand on the lookout, now that Simon wasn’t able to properly alert them. 

She moved slowly to stand at the door, putting her ear to it to listen for any sounds.

A few seconds later, Magnus was back at her side, gloves back in his pocket and brooch in the other one. 

They were ready to exit when they heard what sounded like guards coming closer to the door, “Lightwood said we should check this room again,” one said, “The transfer is happening in two hours and you know how paranoid rich people are.”

“Say that louder,” said the other, “maybe one of them will hear you.”

Izzy stilled, hand on the door and turned to Magnus, who was in a similar position. Fuck.

“What should we do?” she whispered frantically, but Magnus was looking around the room, probably for a place to hide that would fit both of them.

Suddenly, alarms started blaring.

“Attention, please. A fire has been detected in the building. Please remain calm and proceed to the nearest exit. This is not a drill. Please remain calm and follow all safety instructions.”

The footsteps outside the door stopped.

“A fire?” the first voice asked, “Should we still check that room?”

“I’m not risking my life for some stupid art pieces or whatever is in there,” the second one answered.

Then, silence for a second, before Izzy heard the footsteps circle back to the main room and away from them.

She and Magnus slowly left the room, quickly pushing the door closed.

“Is there an actual fire?” she asked,

“I have no idea,” Magnus answered, before pausing, “Comms are back on. Samuel, is this your doing?”

“I accept cash and credit card,” Simon’s voice rang out in both of their ears, “I saw the guards coming towards you so I activated the fire alarm. There’s no real fire,” he said before pausing, “At least as far as I am aware.”

Magnus let out an incredulous laugh, “Good job, Simon.”

“Hey, you actually got my name right.”

Magnus let out a chuckle and shot Izzy a smile which she returned, but didn’t say anything else.

Seeing as everyone was exiting due to the fire alarm, Izzy and Magnus picked up the pace and easily blended into the crowd.

It looked like they were all clear, when Isabelle’s father and mother suddenly appeared next to them.  

“Isabelle,” he said, voice loud, “I am so glad that you are alright. When the fire alarm started and we couldn’t find you we were so worried.”

Which was code for We thought that you had turned it on. Which, to be fair to them, she kind of did. Indirectly anyways.

“Who’s your friend?” her mother asked.

“Damien Hale,” Magnus introduced himself, offering up a hand for Robert to shake.

Izzy’s heart was suddenly beating very fast. How were they supposed to get out with the brooch now? They had no way of getting past her parents that wouldn’t be suspicious.

Looking around for something, anything, she spoted Clary, looking in their direction with concern in her eyes.

Izzy widened her eyes slightly, just enough so that Clary would get the message, and was pleased when the red head started walking towards them.

Magnus and her father were talking about… something, Izzy didn’t have it in her to pay attention to that right now, when she slid closer to him and subtly kicked his leg, their signal for the pass off.

Izzy stepped a tiny bit in front of him, to cover his left pocket from her parent’s view. Without even stopping in his conversation, he took his left hand out of his pants’ pocket, and passed her the brooch.

In the next moment, Clary was walking behind her. Izzy held out the brooch behind her back and Clary took it instantly, tucking it in her purse and moving towards the parking lot where Simon was, unnoticed in the chaos.

When the transfer was done, Izzy let out a relieved breath as she watched Clary disappear behind the corner.

Seconds later, two guards appeared, “It was a false alarm, we think it may have been triggered on accident,” one of them said, “but sir? We have a problem.”

“What is that problem exactly?” her father asked, impatient. 

“We went to check in all the rooms after the false alarm,” the other said, The door to the storage room is open, and some things are missing.”

Magnus and Izzy looked at each other in confusion. Some things? Plural?

Her parent’s eyes widened, “Call the police,” said her mother, “No one is allowed to leave this premises until we find the thief.”

“We’re out,” Simon said suddenly, startling Izzy, “No one saw us leaving, they were all in the front because of the fire alarm. I also removed Clary’s name from the list, as I’m pretty sure that they’ll check it.”

Izzy instantly relaxed, noticing Magnus next to her do the same.

They had succeeded, Clary and Simon were away with the brooch and Izzy, Jace and Magnus had nothing to incriminate them.

~~~~~

Ten minutes later the police arrived and everyone that was present had to talk to them.

The Lightwoods talked to them last, of course, no one suspecting that they could have possibly been involved in this.

“Have you checked the security cameras?” asked her father.

“We tried,” said one of the police officers, “But the log for this day is empty.

“What do you mean empty?” asked her mother, shocked.

“There are no recordings of today.”

Simon must have thought to erase all of the footage. That’s very smart, Izzy thought. Clary would’ve been seen in some footage which would’ve raised questions seeing as she wasn’t on any list.

“We have reviewed the guest list,” continued the police officers, “And everyone on it was accounted for.”

He handed it to them, “Is there anyone that attended that is missing from this list?”

Alec and her parents both looked over it, scanning the contents.

Fuck, Izzy thought, Alec is certainly going to remember that a certain “Natasha Miller” was supposed to be on the list. He had added her there, it’s impossible for him not to remember that.

“No,” said Alec, “that’s everyone.”

Jace and Izzy looked at each other, relieved but confused. Surely Alec couldn’t have forgotten about one of the two people he had added onto the list at their request.

But if that was the case, why had he lied?

Chapter Text

THAT NIGHT: 

All of them had agreed to meet at the apartment at one am, to see the brooch for themselves and figure out where they went from there.

Simon and Clary were, of course, the first to arrive, having stopped by their dorm to change clothes before going to the apartment.

As they entered, turning on the light, Simon saw a big box in the corner.

He turned to Clary, “Did you put that there?” he asked,

“No,” she answered, “maybe someone else did.”

“I didn’t,” said Jace, entering the apartment and looking at the box.

“Me neither,” denied Izzy, coming in after him.

Magnus entered a few seconds after them and he shook his head, signalling that it wasn’t him either.

Jace went closer to it, and pulled its lid off, “What the..”

“What?” asked Izzy, “what’s in it?”

“Come and see for yourself.” he said, gesturing to the box.

Izzy went closer and looked inside, “Oh my God,” she exclaimed, pulling out a bracelet in the shape of what looked like a snake. “How did these end up here?”

“I think I might have an idea,” said Magnus, moving closer to the box and pulling out a note, “For your efforts”  he read out, before turning the other side of the typed paper over to reveal the Emperor Arcana.

He then pulled out the stack of comics that Simon had complimented, as well as what looked like a very expensive painting set. Jace pulled out a sword and admired it.

“Wait a second,” said Simon, “how did that guy even get his hands on these?” he turned to the Lightwood sibling, “Weren’t these in your family’s home?”

“They were,” Izzy said, before seemingly realising something, “That means he was there tonight. And he must have been listening somehow. How else could he know that we wanted these? I only mentioned the painting set for Clary once, in the vault room.”

“That’s insane,” said Clary, “he was there all along and we never knew.”

A silence settled over the group, which Simon broke after a few seconds, “Hold on,” he said, turning to Magnus, “why didn’t you get anything?” he asked.

“Well I never talked about anything in the mansion,” he replied, “I guess nothing caught my eye and he didn’t know what to get me.” he grinned, “Don’t feel too bad, sixteen and a half million is plenty enough for me. Now if you don’t mind, I need some good beauty sleep. We’ll regroup in the morning.”

“Wait,” Izzy said, “what about the brooch? What are we going to do with it until then?”

“Leave it in here,” Magnus said, “I could take it with me, but something tells me it’s safer in here. Put it in the small crevice in the wall by the entrance to the hallway.” he offered them a mock salute while heading for the door, “You all did a good job tonight.”

~~~~~

Magnus left the apartment, and exited the building, enjoying the breeze as he stepped outside.

He put his hands in his suit pockets to retrieve his phone when he felt something that he hadn’t put there. Slowly, he pulled out a box, secured with a crimson ribbon.

He looked at it for a few seconds before pulling on the ribbon to open it. What he saw inside made his breath catch in his throat for a moment.

The Lightwood family ring stared back at him, glistening in the moonlight. Small flames made their way to the edges of the rings, blending with the silver that the rest of the ring was made out of.

A small note stood next to it, written in a familiar scrawl that he had seen many times since their days at Columbia.

“Not quite as big as the others’ gifts, but it has been a long time coming. 2 A.M., Central Park?

• A.G. L. (B?) “

There was no way, he told himself, absolutely no way that Alexander had proposed to him like this, immediately after a heist, and with a note.

When did he even put that in there? he thought, before he remembered that he had bumped into Alexander, spilling wine on him. That must’ve been when he had put the box in his pocket.

The more he thought about it though, the more he realised just how fitting it was. They never had been a normal couple, had they? He didn’t think most normal couples had executing heists as a pastime.

Changing his route to Central Park, he let his mind wander to the first time he and Alexander had met.

Alexander was a third year at Columbia and Magnus was in his fourth and final year. They had met by accident, Magnus bumping into Alexander and spilling his wine on him (when they had recreated that scene at the ball, the irony was not lost on Magnus).

Instead of apologizing, Magnus had, as a normal person would when confronted with Alexander Lightwood’s face, used one of his worst pick up lines on him. He didn’t know why, it was probably the drunkness coupled with the pretty face staring at him.

Nevertheless, Alexander hadn’t been mad at him for ruining his shirt and had instead laughed at his horrible pick up line, before offering to get him some water to replace the wine he had lost.

They had started talking, realised that they enjoyed each other’s presence and the rest was history.

When Magnus finally got to Central Park, he instantly saw Alexander sitting on a bench, waiting for him, getting up and walking to him when he saw Magnus enter the park.

He opened his mouth to say something, before getting cut off by Alexander placing his hands on his face and pulling him in to kiss him.

Not one to complain, especially as he hadn’t gotten to see his boyfriend (fiance?) face to face in a few weeks, aside form their way too short run in at the masquerade, he placed his hands on Alexander’s waist, deepening the kiss. 

It was Alexander who pulled away, “You did it.” he said, smiling.

“We, did it.” corrected Magnus, “And don’t think I didn’t realize that you were Jace’s guardian angel. What did you do to distract those guards?”

“Shoot an arrow at a shelf to knock something down,” he said, smiling sheepishly and rubbing the back of his head, “Luckily I managed to shoot it somewhere where they wouldn’t see it and I’d have enough time to take it out.  Also had to help Simon out a bit.”

“When?” Magnus asked, he hadn’t known about that.

“When he was turning off the backup alarm,” Alexander replied, “His code was one second short, so I had to turn it off manually. Let’s hope that he didn’t notice or that he thought that he had just pulled through.”

“And the footage?” Magnus asked,

~~~~~

“Nice touch with deleting the footage by the way,” said Izzy, turning to Simon, “That was smart.”

“What?” he asked, confused, “I never did that.”

Izzy and Jace turned to each other, “Then who did?” asked Jace.

~~~~~

“Yeah, I deleted that too.” Alexander said, “I realised that it would be relatively easy to see someone that was in the footage but not on the list or recognized by anyone. Plus all the footage of all of you talking and moving around. It was safer that way.”

“You really thought of everything,” Magnus said, a bit in awe whenever he remembered just how smart Alexander was.

“I had to,” he replied, snaking his arms around Magnus’s waist and pulling him closer, “I couldn’t risk having Jace or Izzy go to jail. I couldn’t risk having you go to jail.”

“Ah, so Clary and Simon you could handle going to jail,” teased Magnus,

“Why of course,” Alexander replied in the same tone, “Collateral damage.”

Magnus huffed out a laugh before he remembered something important. “Alexander Gideon Lightwood,” he said, raising his hand to show the ring on it, “shouldn’t we be having a more important conversation right now?”

Alec smiled, “I suppose we should,” he said before dropping to one knee, “Magnus no middle name Bane,” he stared, and Magnus let out a chuckle, “We have known each other for almost three years now and I can honestly say that I’ve never felt more at home next to any person than I have next to you. You have changed my life for the better and you keep doing that every day. You have just helped pull off one of the biggest heists ever, even though you had given up theft a while ago, just because you knew that getting back at my father would make me happy. We are literal partners in crime and I hope, should you say yes, that we will be partners in life too. Will you make me the happiest man alive and marry me?”

Magnus was speechless for a moment, before he pulled Alexander up and kissed him for a long moment before Alexander pulled away, “Is that a yes?” to which he received a slap on the arm.

~~~

THE NEXT DAY:

Izzy, Jace, Simon and Clary woke up at ten am, after having fallen asleep on the bean bags.

Clary, not wanting to disturb the others, silently unlocked her phone and opened the news to see what they were saying about their heist.

A few seconds after, though, she was shaking Izzy and Jace to wake them up.

“Huh?” mumbled Izzy, rubbing at her eyes, smearing her mascara in the process, “What’s wrong?”

Clary all but shoved her phone in Izzy and Jace’s faces, “You might wanna see this.”

On her screen stood a news anchor, with the title below her, “LIGHTWOOD SECURITY CEO STEPS DOWN AMIDST HEIST AT MASQUERADE BALL AND POSSIBLE CRIMINAL CHARGES.”

Izzy and Jace’s eyes widened, exchanging a shocked glance.

“Breaking news tonight: Robert Lightwood, CEO and founder of Lightwood Security, has stepped down amidst the shocking revelations of him having been part of “The Circle”, a criminal ring created by former security specialist, Valentine Morgenstern. The Circle used to deal in corporate espionage, blackmail, and illegal arms trading, before most of its members went to jail. Only a few have managed to escape imprisonment by staying anonymous. His eldest son,  Alexander Lightwood, has officially taken over the company in an effort to salvage its reputation. Our correspondent, Meliorn Fae, has the details.”

The feed cuts to a dark haired guy standing in front of Lightwood HQ with a microphone.

“During the heist that happened last night at the Lightwood Manor, police have gotten an anonymous tip from the thieves, in the form of a USB stick left at the crime scene, containing information about the illegal activities that Lightwood Security has been taking part in. According to a police spokesperson, Lightwood Security has been using its contracts with major corporations to steal sensitive data and sell it to competitors. The firm also allegedly engaged in illegal arms smuggling and blackmail, using surveillance to extort powerful clients. This comes as a devastating blow to what is the world’s leading security firm.”

Footage of Alec entering the headquarters is shown on screen. 

“Following these revelations, Robert Lightwood resigned immediately and is awaiting criminal charges. His son, Alexander Lightwood, has taken control, vowing to ‘restore integrity’ and cooperate fully with authorities. He seems determined to distance himself from his father’s legacy.”

The screen cuts back to the anchor.

“A stunning fall from grace for Robert Lightwood and a sudden rise for his son, Alexander. More updates as the story develops.” is what the anchor says before the screen turns to black, leaving the apartment in silence.

“How did this happen?” Jace asked, “What USB stick?” he asked, turning to Izzy.

“I have no idea,” she said, “We didn’t leave anything there when we took the brooch. Maybe that emperor guy did it. We know he was present.”

They all stood in silence for a few seconds, “I’m sorry,” said Clary, placing a hand in Izzy’s arm.

“For what?”

“Well, your father is going to jail,” she said, “I know we just stole from him but, you know. It’s different.”

“I guess it is,” said Izzy, looking at Jace, “I don’t really feel bad though.”

“Me neither,” Jace confirmed her unasked question, “He got what was coming to him.”

~~~~~

Later that day, the three Lightwood siblings reunited at home, the place where it all went down.

“So,” Izzy began, looking at Alec, “should I call you Mr. CEO now?”

Alec huffed out a laugh, shoulders relaxing, “Don’t.” he said, “I wanted to tell you personally but we had an emergency meeting and I didn’t get the chance,” before sobering up again and reaching into his pockets to pull out something.

He held it up for them to see: The Emperor Arcana.

“We need to talk.”

Chapter Text

Izzy felt rooted to the spot, pieces clicking into place, things that she had subconsciously noticed but never put together until now. How Jace had been miraculously saved from the guards, how the footage had just vanished into thin air, something she had attributed to Simon at the time, but that he had denied credit for when asked about. 

The way he hadn’t protested as much as she had thought that he would when they asked him to edit the guest list, the way his computer had been so easy to break into, and so blank, aside from the things that they had needed.

She had attributed all of these to luck, or skill, but now, they seemed less like luck was on their side and more like something deliberate.

“You,” she said, “I can’t believe this.”

“Believe what?” asked Jace, clearly confused and not having put two and two together, even with the evidence in front of his face in the form of “The Emperor” Arcana.

If Izzy wasn’t so shocked, she would’ve face palmed and slapped him across the back of the head for being so dense.

Nevertheless, she decided to be nice to him and spell it out, “He’s the emperor.” she said.

“What?” shouted Jace, “No way.”

“Please forgive me for not telling you,” Alec said, a tense expression on his face, as though he expected them to lash out, “But it was the only way I could have a backup plan in case something went wrong.”

“What do you mean?” Izzy asked, trying to calm her emotions. How had he been involved in all of this? How could they not tell? Since when was he the type of person to not only be involved in a heist but to orchestrate one?

“If, God forbid,  you were caught, I could take the heat off you if they didn’t know I was also involved. I made sure nothing could go wrong but it’s never bad to have a contingency plan.”, he explained, and Izzy could see that he had really thought this through. She still didn’t understand something though.

“That’s all fine and dandy,” said Jace, finding his voice and cutting in before she could ask her last question, “But you could’ve just acted from the sidelines, while telling us, Alec!”

Izzy shut her mouth. That’s what she had wanted to ask.

“First of all,” he said, “I didn’t know if I could trust Clary and Simon to keep their mouths shut about this. Especially Simon.” Izzy had only a second to notice how weird it felt to hear Alec say Clary’s and Simon’s names, when he wasn’t supposed to know who they were before he started again, “And second of all, can you honestly tell me that you wouldn’t have been careless if you knew that I was watching out for you?”

That shut Jace up as well. He turned to Izzy, and a silent understanding passed between them. He was right.

Izzy still had a question though.

“But why do all of it?” she asked, “Why make your life harder by planning all of this when you could’ve just.. taken it yourself?”

Alec looked to the side, rubbing the back of his head, “I wanted to embarrass our father. I mean, how humiliating is it to have the biggest security firm in the world and have your two most valuable things stolen right from under your nose?”

“Two?” Jace asked,

“The brooch and his company.” Alec answered, “He had no choice but to step down after what the police found.”

“About that,” Izzy said, a grin overtaking her face “Did you do that?” 

Alec answered with a grin of his own, his mind wandering to a certain moody police officer that Magnus was friends with, “Of course.”

Jace clapped him on the arm, “I’m still mad that you didn’t tell us.” he said, “but damn Alec. I didn’t know you had it in you. We seriously underestimated you.” suddenly, his face turned serious,“ As compensation for the lies, I’ll ask for a million out of your cut,” he said, and Izzy couldn’t tell if he was joking or not.”

“I don’t have a cut,” he said, “The one hundred million will be divided into five parts.”

Both Izzy’s and Jace’s eyes widened, “Seriously?” she asked, “You planned this whole thing and don’t want any of the money?”

“Well,” Alec answered, “I think what’s in our father’s bank account will be enough for me.” He replied, an involuntary smile overtaking his face when Jace and Izzy both laughed. 

They would be okay.

~~~~~

“Wait,” Izzy said suddenly, getting up from her position on the couch they had all sat down on to watch a movie.

She took the remote and paused it, “I just realised,” she said, “You said you didn’t trust Clary or Simon not to spill. But what about Magnus? Why do you trust him?”

Alec dropped his head on the back of couch, staring at the ceiling, “Fuck” he muttered, and then louder, “This wasn’t how I wanted to tell you. Actually I wanted him to tell you, but I guess I’ll have to do it.”

Jace sat up as well, clearly sensing that it was important. 

“I don’t even know how to start this so I’ll just jump into it,” he said, suddenly awkward as if he didn’t just mastermind an entire heist the day before, “We’ve been working together since the beginning.”

Izzy’s jaw dropped slightly. Seriously, were there any more secrets she was going to find out?

“Actually,” Alec said, even more sheepish, “We’ve known each other for a while.”, he took a deep breath, “We’re together.”

“What?” shouted Izzy and Jace at the same time.

Izzy continued, “Together as in, together together? You’re dating Magnus? How long?”

Alec was avoiding her gaze, “Two years.” Then he muttered something Izzy couldn’t hear.

Two years?

“What was that?” Jace asked,

“As of last night,” Alec muttered, “We are engaged.”

“I will murder you, Alec” said Izzy, “I can accept you keeping your role in the heist from us, but your entire relationship of two years? Your fiancé?

“At first I was closeted,” he explained, defending himself, “And then it had already been so long and I just didn’t know how to bring it up.”

Izzy was waiting for someone to pinch her, wake her up from what surely had to be a dream, but it didn’t happen.

“So he knew from the start?” asked Jace, although he seemed as shocked as Izzy.

“Yes,” Alec replied, “we planned it all together.”

“I cannot believe that I didn’t figure it out,” said Izzy, “He did seem more calm and knowledgeable than the rest of us but I just attributed it to him being The Warlock.” she slapped a hand to her mouth, looking at Alec, “You know that right? Please tell me you know that and I didn’t just ruin your relationship.”

Alec laughed, “Of course I know, he gave up stealing after we started dating,” he turned to her,  "How could that ruin our relationship? We just planned and executed a heist together but him being The Warlock is too much?” he asked, amused.

“Shut up,” she said, “How was I supposed to know?” 

The more she thought about it, the more it made sense, 

“Now that I’m thinking about it, you two are actually so perfect for each other.” she said, “But I still can’t believe that you are together and I didn’t know. Wait, so when you bumped into each other at the ball?”

“It was intentional,” he said, “We hadn’t seen each other face to face in a while.”

“Unbelievable” she muttered. “I’m gonna have words with Magnus.”

“Well,” Alec said, “he’s coming over later.”

Izzy grinned.

~~~~~

When Magnus walked in, he took one look at Izzy and Jace and then turned to Alec ,”You told them.” he said.

“I told them.”

He sighed dramatically, “Betrayed by my own fiance.” but he still leaned in to kiss Alec. He clearly loved saying that word.

Although she had expected it, Izzy was still somewhat shocked by the sight. Seeing her brother be together and clearly content with someone (with Magnus, of all people) made her happy.

“Yeah,” Izzy said, “About that. How did you even manage to keep that a secret for so long?”

“Talent?” asked Magnus, shrugging.

Izzy went up to him and hugged him, “Welcome to the family,” and then muttered something that could be vaguely identify as a threat of bodily harm if he ever hurt Alec.

He went up to Magnus, clapped him on the arm and issued a similar warning. 

Izzy then punched Magnus lightly in the arm, “I cannot believe that you were working with him. That’s why you were always so calm. You knew he had our back.”

Magnus shrugged, not denying her claim

“So,” said Jace, “Is this it? Or should we expect you to organise another heist?” From the tone of his voice, you couldn’t figure out if he wanted them to or not.

Alec let out a laugh, “Why?” he asked, “you got your eye on something?”

“No..” he answered, before grinning, “yet.”

“I’ve created a monster,” muttered Alec.

“Omg,” said Izzy, starting to smile “just wait until we tell Clary and Simon about you two. If I remember correctly, Simon really wanted to meet you”

Alec sighed before dropping his head on Magnus’ shoulder.