The Only Good Guys You Get

A Bar
Somewhere

“Agent Luke Garroway?”

Luke stared into his whiskey and ignored the smooth, cultured voice next to him. The ice in his glass shifted as it melted. Luke took another sip.

“Or should I say, Lucian Greymark?”

That got Luke’s attention. He put his glass down hard enough to startle the man beside him but not hard enough to break the glass. There was still whiskey in there, after all.

“Nobody calls me that unless they want to lose the ability to call anyone anything at all,” Luke said.

“My apologies,” the man said. Luke finally turned his head and looked at him. Brown skin, curly hair, expensive suit, and a haughty look in his eye. He was rich and well-informed. Luke wasn’t interested.

“No,” Luke said.

“You haven’t even heard my proposal,” the man said.

“Don’t care, not interested.” The only thing Luke was currently interested in was his glass of whiskey. He took another sip.

“Look, Mr. Garroway, my name is Victor Aldertree, of Idris Pharmaceuticals. I have a problem, and I think you can help me with it.”

“And why would you think that?” Luke asked acidly. But his tone didn’t scare Aldertree off, unfortunately.

“Because you were the best agent Interpol had in its white collar division. You caught dozens of criminals. Recovered hundreds of millions in stolen artwork, frauds, and identity theft cases. Until you were framed and they left you out to dry like—”

“Remember back two minutes ago when I talked about losing the ability to speak?” Luke interrupted.

“Of course,” Aldertree continued smoothly. “My point is that you have certain skills. Skills that are going to waste. I’d like to hire you. Put those skills to work for me.”

“Uh-huh,” Luke said, but he wasn’t punching the guy, so maybe this proposition didn’t sound totally terrible. He didn’t like to admit it, but Luke had been feeling kind of bored.

“How much do you know about the pharmaceutical industry?”

“Is this a test?”

“I oversaw the development of a drug. Years of my life. Millions of dollars in research. Someone tampered with the test results, hacked into our system and replaced favorable results with unfavorable ones. The FDA won’t approve it if I show them these.”

“So do more trials, prove the drug is safe,” Luke said.

“I don’t have that kind of time,” Aldertree snapped, his cool facade crumbling for the first time. “I’ve put everything I have into the development of this drug. There’s a shareholders' meeting in three weeks time. If I don’t have something ready for FDA approval by then, I’ll be ruined, and the drug will never see the light of day.” Aldertree closed his eyes and rubbed his temple. “Look,” he said. “I’ve already hired a team, but I need you to lead it.” He reached into his briefcase and pulled out a handful of file folders. He threw them onto the bar in front of Luke.

Luke glanced over them, intrigued despite himself. The two on top: Isabelle and Alec Lightwood. Solid choice. He’d gone after them a few times himself, but never did catch them. He shifted to the next file.

"You got Magnus Bane?" he asked.

Aldertree raised an eyebrow. "Is there someone better?"

"No," Luke admitted. "But Magnus is insane."

"His sanity is not my concern," Aldertree said. "My concern is whether or not he can do the job."

"Look," Luke said, shuffling all the files back into one neat pile. "You've hired the best, I'll give you that. But these people, they don't work well with others. They don't work with others at all."

"They will," Aldertree said.

"I don't —"

"They will for 500,000 dollars each." Luke shut his mouth. "And for the man who leads the team, who keeps them focused and on task? Double that."

Luke kept his face impassive, but if Aldertree had done his research – and it seemed that he had – he would know that Luke wasn't in much of a position to be turning down that kind of money. Still...

"I'm not a thief," Luke said.

"I don't need another thief," Aldertree said. "I've hired all the thieves I need. What I need," he said, his eyes boring into Luke, "is one honest man."

FDA Field Office
Boston, MA

The wind blew Magnus’ hair into his eyes until he tucked it securely under his black beanie. His fingers lingered on his ear, itching to touch the small piece of plastic in his ear.

“Don’t fiddle with it,” Isabelle said, not looking up from the screen of her tablet.

Isabelle had taken one look at Luke’s radios back in their hotel room and scoffed. “Completely outdated,” she’d said, and then pulled out a box of these tiny things. “In-ear bone conduction monitors!” she’d said proudly. “They work off the vibrations in your jaw, and the connection is encrypted by me, so no one will be able to pick up on them.”

Magnus remained unsure about working with all these other people, but he had to admit that it was better than the bulky radios.

“Everybody ready?” Luke said in his ear. That was probably the weirdest part of this whole thing. Luke Garroway, the law enforcement agent whom Magnus always wanted to avoid the most, running a team of thieves.

“We’ve been ready,” Alec said gruffly.

“Speak for yourself, pretty boy,” Magnus said, and went to check his rig again. Alec scowled.

“Now, boys, play nice,” Isabelle laughed.

Magnus would love to play nice with Alec, honestly. Even scowling and rolling his eyes, he was incredibly attractive, all tall with dark, messy hair and stunning eyes. But he was so closed-off and prickly, Magnus imagined that fucking him would be similar to fucking a cactus. No thank you.

“60 seconds to go,” Luke said, ignoring them. “Wait for my mark.”

“You know,” Magnus said, pulling on the straps of his harness, “the last time I used this rig was Florence, 2015.”

“2015? The Caravaggio?” That got Luke’s attention. “That was you?” Magnus winked at Alec and stepped into position a few feet from the edge of the roof. “Magnus, the Caravaggio was you? Goddammit, 20 seconds to mark.”

“He’s going,” Alec observed, voice flat.

Magnus took three steps and threw himself off the building.

Over the wind rushing around him as he fell, he heard Alec demand – the radio making it feel shockingly close and intimate – “Is he ten pounds of crazy in a five pound bag or what?”

Magnus smiled into the wind.

There was disappointingly little freefall before he had to slow himself and stop at the 32nd floor.

“Talk to me, Magnus,” Luke said.

“Alarms are on,” Magnus reported. “Vibration sensors active.”

“Use the binary, just like we talked about. Slow and steady.”

Magnus didn’t actually need Luke to tell him. He’d been doing just fine on his own for years now. But Luke’s voice was oddly soothing, so he let it go and took the applicator out. The blood was rushing to his head from being upside down for so long, but Magnus ignored it. He pressed the suction gently to the glass as the gel burned through it. One pull and there was a hole just large enough for Magnus to get through.

He landed soundlessly on the desk. He had to move quickly enough not to register to the alarms, but softly enough not to trigger the vibration sensors. Luckily, Magnus was the best. He was out of the office and into the hallways, moving to a utility closet in a matter of seconds.

“Good,” Luke said. “Isabelle and Alec, get ready.”

“We’ve been ready,” Alec grumbled again.

Magnus rolled his eyes and sparked the wires to get the elevator moving. He went about setting up the screens and keyboards Isabelle had given him until he heard a soft tap on the utility closet door.

“Switch.” Isabelle smiled at him when he opened the door.

He stuck behind Alec down two flights of stairs and across the hallway. It had the double advantage of not leaving an unknown at his back and getting to watch Alec’s back muscles shift under his t-shirt. It was really, really a shame about the personality.

“How’s security?” Luke said in his ear.

“They don’t see a thing,” Isabelle answered.

Magnus made quick work of the office door, and then knelt in front of the safe.

“How long is this gonna take?” Alec asked.

“Excuse you,” Magnus said. “Safe cracking is a delicate process. It will take as long as it needs to take, and it will take longer if you don’t stop talking.”

“Whatever,” Alec said.

“Whatever, my ass,” Magnus snapped. “I don’t even know what you do.”

“Boys,” Luke said. “Quiet. Alec, watch the door. Magnus, concentrate.”

Magnus huffed, but he relaxed when Alec’s eyes were on the hallway and not on him. He ran his hands over the door of the safe and put in his earpiece. The safe was old school, a classic. Not the most secure, but it wasn’t exactly holding diamonds. He closed his eyes and let himself focus completely on the subtle clicks of the safe.

Until he heard Alec say, “What do you mean, they’re doing their rounds an hour early?”

Magnus opened his eyes and jerked his head around to see Alec, tense in the doorway and glaring down the hall.

“Yeah, they’re doing them an hour early so they can watch the Celtics in the playoffs.” Luke’s voice was remarkably calm. “Isabelle, I want you to squelch ‘em.”

“Got it,” Isabelle said. “They have no contact with downstairs.”

“Good. Alec, clear the zone. You know what to do. Magnus is the bait.”

Alec said nothing, but disappeared down the hall, leaving Magnus all alone.

“Did you just say ‘bait’?” Magnus snarled. “I’m not your fucking bait, Garroway.”

“Keep working the safe, Magnus,” Luke said, still infuriatingly calm. “Your only job right now is the safe.”

Magnus grit his teeth, but went back to the safe, all the joy he’d taken in it previously fled. He was almost done when he heard the slam of the stairwell door and the buzz of radios. The security team was here. Magnus turned his head to the noise, then back to the safe. As far as he could tell, Alec was gone.

“Oh, fuck this,” he whispered to himself. He dropped his headset and was at the office door in two smooth steps. He stepped into the hallway just as four guards turned the corner and saw him. Well, shit.

“Freeze!” one of them yelled. They all raised their guns. Magnus moved to put his hands above his head.

Behind the guards, Alec stepped out from where he’d been hiding.

It took exactly 8 seconds for Alec to disable the four guards and take their guns apart. Magnus had never been a lover of violence, but he felt a heat in his gut watching Alec put them down without even breaking a sweat.

Alec ejected the clip from the last gun and threw it over his shoulder. He looked Magnus in the eye from across a pile of unconscious bodies and raised an eyebrow. “That’s what I do,” he said.

“And you do it so well, darling,” Magnus said, and licked his lips. Alec’s eyebrows furrowed, as if in confusion.

“Guys?” Luke said. “Everything okay?”

Alec broke eye contact and looked down at the guards. “The threat has been neutralized,” he said.

“Great,” Luke said. “Magnus. Safe?”

“Right,” Magnus said, and went back into the office. It took barely any time at all to finish cracking the safe. He found the files and switched them for the ones he’d brought with him as Alec dragged the guards into the office and efficiently tied them up. Hmm, Alec efficiently tying people up would have to be a thought he came back to another day. Right now, he had a job to finish.

“Files are switched,” he told Luke.

“Great. Isabelle?”

“Digital files are altered and all traces of our presence have been erased,” Isabelle said. “But we have another problem.”

“What now?” Alec asked.

“The guards reset the alarms on the floors above us. We can’t get out from the roof.”

Magnus saw Alec stiffen.

“Fuck this,” he said, in a slightly eerie imitation of Magnus two minutes ago. “Izzy, exit strategy golf. I’ll meet you at the place.”

“You are not leaving me here,” Magnus said.

“Watch me,” Alec sneered.

“Guys!” Luke shouted in their ears. “This is not a disaster. I have a plan. Now I need you to keep it together for 7 more minutes. Can you do that?”

“I can if he can,” Magnus muttered.

“Magnus,” Luke said.

“If Izzy gets hurt, you won’t last a week,” Alec said. It took Magnus a second to realize Alec was talking to Luke and not Magnus.

“Alec,” Isabelle said.

“No one’s getting hurt,” Luke said. “No one’s getting caught. Now, Isabelle, head down to Alec and Magnus.”

“On my way,” Isabelle said.

“You still have that bag I gave you?” Isabelle made a sound of assent. “Good. We’re going to the burn scam.”

Isabelle was still laughing when she met them at the elevator.

She threw some clothes at Alec, then at Magnus. “Strip,” she said gleefully, then proceeded to pull her top off. Normally Magnus was an appreciator of beautiful bodies, but even he knew better than to ogle Isabelle with Alec standing right there. He turned around and pulled his own top off. He heard a strangled sound behind him, then a decidedly feminine snort.

“Oh my God, Alec,” Isabelle.

“Shut up,” Alec said in a tone that Magnus was sure sent lesser men running with their tails between their legs. Isabelle didn’t seem fazed.

Magnus finished buttoning up his light blue oxford and turned back around. Alec’s face was flushed red and Isabelle was smirking.

“Problem?” he asked. He let his eyes linger on the bit of chest exposed by Alec’s half buttoned shirt. Very nice. Focus, Bane, he scolded himself.

“No,” Alec said shortly and glared at Isabelle.

Isabelle only smiled and turned to Magnus, holding out a brush and a pot of spirit gum. “Help me get my face on?”

When the elevator doors slid open they were met with the dour and suspicious glare of the two lobby security guards.

“No one is supposed to be here!” one of them barked.

Isabelle flinched, the turn of her face revealing the ugly burn scar running down her cheek. “Sorry,” she whispered, her voice thick, clearly holding back tears.

“Nice,” Magnus said acidly. “Real nice.” He held out a hand, but Isabelle shook her head, leaning heavily on her crutch.

“What the hell’s your problem, man?” Alec asked, shouldering a briefcase and helping Isabelle through the lobby. “Don’t you think she has enough problems?”

“Um,” the guard spluttered. “Sorry! So sorry, I uh…”

“What are you looking at?!”

“Nothing!” the guard said.

“It’s okay, Dan,” Isabelle said. “It’s fine.”

“No,” Magnus said, “it’s really not.”

“Let me get that door for you!” the guard practically yelled, eager for them to be out of the building. Alec and Magnus helped Izzy through it just as a sleek black car pulled up to the curb. Five seconds after leaving the building, they were all inside.

And then they were gone.

The sun hadn’t yet made an appearance, but the gray of the morning had started lightening in the Commons. Luke looked at the three hardened criminals in front of him. They were just kids, really.

“The money will be in your accounts later this morning,” he told them. Alec nodded grimly. Magnus smirked. Isabelle smiled widely, white teeth against red lips, even in the gloom.

“Hey guys,” she said, “we rocked that, right?”

Magnus’ smirk softened into something more genuine. “It wasn’t completely terrible,” he said.

“Whatever,” Alec said, but Luke thought he detected some satisfaction in the slight lessening of his scowl.

“What about you, Luke?” Isabelle asked. “Did you have fun playing our side?”

“This was a one-time-only deal,” Luke said. The last thing these guys needed was encouragement.

“Of course,” she said with a small pout.

“I already forgot your names,” Magnus said. He turned gracefully on his toes and walked out of the park.

Alec met Luke’s eye and nodded before tucking Isabelle under his arm and heading the opposite direction.

When the sun peeked over the buildings, Luke put on his sunglasses and left.

The ringing of Luke’s cell phone dragged him out of sleep. Time was, he would have been awake and alert at the first sound, trained to respond and be ready to run off to a crime scene, no matter the time. But he’d had more than a year to get out of the habit, not to mention a few mini bottles of vodka.

He groped along the nightstand without picking his head up off the pillow.

“Hello?”

“You screwed me, Mr. Garroway,” Victor Aldertree’s cold voice greeted him.

“No, I didn’t,” Luke defended himself automatically. “We switched all the files.”

“Not only are the files not switched,” Aldertree said, “But there is sensitive information missing from my servers. The servers I gave you access to!”

“Look,” Luke said, pulling the blanket over his head. “I told you you couldn’t trust them.”

“I didn’t trust them,” Aldertree hissed. “That’s why I hired you.”

Luke sighed. His head was pounding. “I can come meet you —”

“Impossible,” Aldertree said. “We can’t be seen together. Not this close to the shareholders' meeting. I have a house on the Cape. I’ll text you the address. Meet me there in three hours.”

Then he hung up.

Luke got an extra-large coffee at a drive-through and opened his all his windows. By the time the air turned salty and he turned off the Mid-Cape Highway, he was feeling slightly more human. He expected Aldertree’s house to be some kind of fancy beach place, but instead his GPS sent him toward the marshes, on an isolated road where the houses were far apart.

He turned into the driveway of a small and slightly run down house. There was one car already in the driveway. A rental, he noted. Not like Aldertree at all. Uneasiness squirmed in his gut, and he missed the weight of a gun under his arm.

Voices reached him as he stepped up to the enclosed porch.

“You tell me, you’re the thief.”

Alec.

“But I’m not a hacker. Only you and Isabelle were able to be in both places at once.”

Magnus.

“Boys, this really isn’t necessary.”

And Isabelle. Of course.

Luke pinched the bridge of his nose and wished for another coffee.

He walked into the house to find Magnus holding a gun on Alec. Alec looked unconcerned. Isabelle sat on the couch, examining her nails.

“Guys, come on,” Luke said. All three heads turned to look at him.

“We haven’t been paid, Luke,” Isabelle said, not looking up from her nails.

Luke decided to deal with the most pressing matter first. He addressed Alec. “Aren’t you even a little worried?”

Alec rolled his eyes so hard his head tilted back. “Are you kidding me?”

“You —!” Magnus started, outraged. Faster than Luke’s eyes could track, Alec reached out with one arm, got the gun out of Magnus’ hand, ejected the clip, and unloaded the bullet from the chamber. He dropped the now useless gun at Magnus’ feet.

“Hey!” Magnus said.

“I don’t like guns,” Alec stated.

“Okay, let’s talk this through,” Luke said. “Magnus, you definitely switched the files.”

“Of course.”

“And Isabelle, you definitely altered the digital copies.”

“It wasn’t even that hard.”

“And none of you got paid?”

“That’s why we’re here,” Alec said.

Luke’s sleep-deprived and hungover brain stuttered over something. “How did you know to come here, anyway?”

“Cloned your phone, saw Aldertree text you,” Isabelle said.

“Followed them,” Magnus shrugged. Alec scowled.

“So we’re all here because we didn’t get paid,” Luke said slowly.

“And we did the job,” Magnus said. “You were there.”

“And to double-cross me, you would have to be working together,” Luke said. “Which you would never do.”

Dread rushed through him. Isabelle stood up from the couch.

“So the only way to get us all in the same place ever again, would be to not pay us,” Luke concluded.

“Go!” Alec barked. Isabelle was already sprinting past Luke. Alec pushed Magnus after her and grabbed Luke’s arm.

They’d only just got past Luke’s car when the house exploded, and everything went black.

Luke opened his eyes to an unfamiliar ceiling.

“Hey, he’s awake!” a woman’s voice shouted. He flinched. God, his head was killing him.

“Fucking finally,” a voice drifted out from the air vent above him.

“Isabelle, please lower your voice,” Luke managed to rasp out. He moved his hand to massage his temple, but was stopped by the handcuffs securing him to the bed.

“Oh yeah,” Isabelle said. “Local police got there right as me and Alec were waking up.”

Luke tested his other arm, found it free, and used it to push himself into a sitting position. Isabelle was cuffed to a chair in the corner of the room. Luke tried to make his pounding head form a coherent thought. They needed to get out of here, was the main one. He’d promised Alec that no one would get caught, and it was a promise he meant to keep.

Plus, there was some unfinished business with Victor Aldertree.

“Have we been processed?”

Isabelle waved her cuffed hand at him, her fingertips black with ink.

“How long ago?”

“Twenty minutes,” Isabelle said.

“As soon as they get those prints back, we’re screwed,” Magnus said from the other room.

“Will you just fucking uncuff me?” Alec snapped, softer, not meant for Luke.

“How long will it take for the prints to come back?” Luke asked.

Isabelle shrugged. “Depends on their system and how much of a priority they’re making it. But I’d say we’ve got 15, 20 minutes, tops.”

Dammit.

“Luke,” Alec said, “I can take these cops.”

“No!” Magnus said. “You’ll fuck up my escape. This is why I’m not uncuffing you!”

Whatever Alec’s response was, it was too low for Luke to hear.

“No one has to take anything. We’ll get out of here together,” Luke said. Isabelle frowned and looked up at the vent, clearly uncomfortable being separated from Alec. “Listen,” he said. “You all know what you can do. But I know what all of you can do, do you believe that?”

“You’re the only one who ever came close to catching us,” Isabelle said.

“I don’t trust these guys,” Magnus said.

“You don’t have to trust them, Magnus,” Luke said. “You only have to trust me. Do you trust me?” There was silence from the other room.

“Of course we trust you,” Isabelle said with a smile that promised death and destruction to everything that got in her way. “You’re an honest man.”

“Okay,” Luke said. Of course, that meant he had to come up with a plan now. He took one deep breath. “Magnus, I need a phone.”

Luke couldn’t make out Magnus’ response, but he could make out the sound of someone vomiting, and the sound of Alec Lightwood, who Luke had once watched beat 12 Russian mobsters to a bloody pulp in under a minute, screeching, “Oh, gross!”

Luke decided not to ask.

Isabelle had spent the hour-and-a-half drive back to Boston typing busily on her stolen smart phone, and she was already talking when they walked into the spacious South End loft.

“Four first-class tickets to elsewhere,” she announced. She moved the mouse on an impressive computer set up, the screen going from black to bright. A printer in the corner started whirring.

“Whose place is this?” Magnus asked, impressed.

“Ours,” Alec said shortly. He walked toward the couch, then reversed and walked toward the kitchen instead, his hands clenching into fists at his sides. “I’m going to end Aldertree.”

“Alec,” Isabelle said, though she seemed somewhat distracted by the computer.

“You won’t even get close,” Magnus told him. He leaned back against the couch, affecting a nonchalance he didn’t quite feel to counter Alec’s barely-held-in aggression. When Alec glared at him, he just shrugged. “He knows your face. You won’t even get within a block.”

“He tried to kill us,” Alec said, as if Magnus could have forgotten.

“More importantly,” Magnus sighed, “he didn’t pay us.” 500k lost, plus whatever he’d lose by having to lay low for months. Magnus hated laying low.

“How is that more important?” Alec asked.

“I take that personally,” Magnus said.

Alec looked at him, his brows furrowed and the muscles in his jaw twitching. “There’s something wrong with you,” he said finally.

“Hey,” Isabelle called out. “Stop flirting and look at this.”

“We’re not —” Alec said, but stopped when Isabelle held up a hand.

“Look, these are the files we switched last night. I’ve had a program analyzing it since this morning.”

“You weren’t supposed to keep a copy of those,” Luke said.

“Whoops,” Isabelle said without remorse. “Must have slipped my mind. Anyway, these files are faked.”

“Yeah, that was why we were supposed to switch them,” Alec said.

“No, the original ones are just that – the originals. The ones we put in last night are the fakes. See, you can see down in the deeper code that the dates don’t match up. The files were created way later than the trials started.”

“But why bother lying?” Magnus asked. “He could have just paid us to insert some fake files. Who cares?”

“To catch you off guard,” Luke said. Luke was standing straight, his arms crossed, intent on Isabelle’s computer screen like there was something comprehensible there. To someone other than Isabelle. “If he pays you to replace the files straight up, you’d know he’s a criminal. Like you. You wouldn’t trust him. But he gives you a story – he worked hard, he’s trying to help people – then you let your guard down a little bit.”

“I don’t let my guard down,” Alec said.

“But you did,” Luke said. “Just enough. You trusted him to pay you, and it was enough to let him double-cross you.”

“Hey, you didn’t exactly see it coming either.”

“Whatever,” Isabelle said. She pushed back from the desk and walked over to the printer. “Berlin,” she said, shoving a ticket at Magnus. “Tokyo.” She held out a ticket to Luke but he didn’t move to take it. Didn’t even look at her.

“You’re running,” he murmured.

“Yes,” Isabelle said slowly, “That is what one generally does when one is wanted by the law. Luke, your ticket.”

“Not you,” Luke said. “Him. Hiring us, it’s a high-risk play. He’s got himself tied to the stock price like an anchor. There’s a shareholders' meeting coming up. He’s desperate. We can’t let him have time to cool down.”

Magnus stopped his mental inventory of his German assets and stared at Luke. “You wanna run a game on him? You?”

Luke smiled. Magnus was not comforted. “How do you think I caught all those criminals? I had to know the games too. This guy is greedy, and he thinks he’s smart. He’s the best kind of mark.”

“He does think he got rid of us.” Isabelle sat back in her chair and turned so it was facing the rest of them. “We’d have the element of surprise working for us.” She looked at Alec. They had some kind of conversation completely with their eyebrows. Alec sighed.

“What's in it for me?” he asked.

“Payback,” Luke said. “And if it goes right, a shitload of money.”

“And what’s in it for me?” Magnus asked around a grin. Oh, he liked this game.

Luke knew the game too. “A shitload of money,” he said. “And if it goes right, payback. Isabelle?”

“I was just gonna hack his dating profile.” She shrugged. “But if Alec’s in, I’m in too.”

“Alec?”

Alec leaned back on his heels and crossed his arms over his chest, mirroring Luke. “What’s in it for you?”

Luke blinked. “He knew things,” he said slowly. “Personal things. Things he shouldn’t know. He knew too much.” Silence filled the loft as they waited for Luke to explain that somewhat creepy non-explanation. But if Luke was going to explain, he wasn’t going to do it today. He shook his head. “Anyway, let’s go get Clary!” he said, and walked out of the loft.

Magnus looked at Alec, then at Isabelle. At least they seemed as confused as he was.

“The fuck is a Clary?” Alec asked.

Four hours in a minivan wasn’t Izzy’s idea of a good time, especially four hours with three guys who only sort of got along. Luckily, Alec had put a pillow against the window and fallen asleep before they even got out of the city.

“How does he do that?” Magnus asked.

Izzy shrugged. “He trained himself to fall asleep whenever he could, because you never know when the next time you’ll get to rest is.” It was an oversimplification, but while Izzy liked Magnus fine, she certainly didn’t trust him with Alec’s secrets. Izzy wished she could follow Alec’s example. He’d tried to explain to her how he did it, but her mind just wouldn’t stop turning. If she fell asleep now, she’d only be groggy when they got to New York.

“That’s … practical,” Magnus said. He looked like he wanted to reach over and poke Alec just to see if he was really asleep.

“It is,” Izzy said. “And as long as nobody makes any sudden moves or loud noises near him, we should all be safe.”

Magnus recoiled, and Izzy looked down at her phone to hide her smile.

Eventually, Magnus put in his headphones and fell asleep himself. Izzy took out one of her smaller laptops, set up a secure hotspot with her phone, and continued her research. If they wanted to hit Aldertree soon, they needed a lot of information very quickly. Izzy wrote a program for finding information, then another one for narrowing it down. She’d have to make the final decision on what was useful herself, and then organize it into something coherent. Luke let her work in near silence, only speaking up with a suggestion or idea every once in a while.

Luke wasn’t so bad. Izzy liked him, now that he wasn’t trying to arrest them. But who could say if the truce would last? She didn’t want to give too much away.

Their destination was a small art gallery in Brooklyn.

A Mirror Darkly, the poster in front said in large letters. Revealing the self through painting. Izzy bit her lip and only rolled her eyes a little bit. Under the listed artists was Clary Fray.

“We’re here for an artist?” Izzy asked.

“Hmm,” Luke said, and walked inside without answering.

“I hate it when he does that,” Alec said.

Luke seemed content to wander around the gallery with no purpose as far as Izzy could tell, so Izzy took her own time. The gallery was small enough that none of the boys were ever out of her sight anyway. Alec, who had very little interest in contemporary art beyond how much they could sell it for, found a bit of blank wall in the back and leaned against it, keeping an eye on them and the door simultaneously. Magnus took genuine interest in the art, but then again, he was a thief who specialized in art.

Luke eventually settled in front of a particular corner and beamed at the paintings hanging there. Magnus joined him and immediately made such a face of utter revulsion that Izzy let out a small laugh. She had to see this.

“These are certainly … contemporary,” she managed to choke out when she joined them.

“Aw, thanks!” a voice said behind them.

Izzy and Magnus jumped, but Luke turned around with a smile.

“They look amazing, I’m so proud of you,” he said and swept the girl standing behind them into a hug. Izzy could only see a cloud of orange hair until Luke let her go.

“Thank you, Luke, I’m so glad you came,” the girl said.

When Izzy was able to see the whole package, she smiled a small smile that Alec always told her looked predatory, but she couldn’t help it when she liked what she saw.

“Hello,” she said, butting in. “I’m Isabelle.” She held out her hand.

“Clary,” the girl said, and took Isabelle’s hand to shake. Izzy let her fingers linger over Clary’s palm as she pulled back, and she thought that Clary’s grin deepened a little bit. Okay, this could be fun.

“Do you have some time to walk with us?” Luke asked.

“I always have time for you, Luke.”

Clary and Luke kept up a light conversation for a few blocks until they got to a small park. Izzy and Magnus fell in behind them, and Alec behind them, watching their backs. Clary didn’t stop walking, but her demeanor changed slightly.

“Okay, Luke, what’s the deal? I haven’t done anything. I’m a genuine student now, on the straight and narrow, just like —”

Luke’s lips twitched up ruefully. “I’m not.”

Clary stopped. Izzy almost bumped into her. “What?”

“We’ve got a job for you, if you’re interested.”

“You’re on my side now?” Clary asked. “On our side after —” Clary cut herself off, and to Izzy’s surprise she looked angry.

“I promise I’ll explain,” Luke said. “Will you come with us?”

Clary’s expression softened. “Of course I’m coming with you,” she said. “This, I’ve gotta see.”

Back at the loft, Magnus took over Alec and Isabelle’s well-stocked but, from the looks of it, not often-used liquor cabinet and made martinis. Clary and Isabelle gladly partook, but Alec and Luke opted for beers from the fridge. Luke looked around the kitchen and made them snacks from the staples there. Finally, they settled on the couch in front of the huge flat screen that Isabelle had hooked up to her tablet.

“Victor Aldertree,” Isabelle said. “Head of R&D at Idris Pharmaceuticals. Old money, went to Princeton, Harvard, the works.”

“Makes sense,” Magnus said. “Victor is such an old-fashioned name. When’s the last time you met anyone named Victor?”

“Six years ago, Vietnam,” Alec said. “Banho Zay.”

Clary tilted her head. “On the Chinese border?”

Alec focused on Clary, giving her his attention for the first time, as far as Magnus could tell. “That’s an odd thing for you to know,” he said.

Clary looked back at him, unblinking. “That’s an odd place for you to be.”

“Now, here’s the drug Aldertree has spent the last few years and almost half a billion dollars developing,” Isabelle interrupted. She swiped to a slide with a molecular structure and formula that not even Magnus could figure out. His O-Chem days were far behind him. “Short lab name is HT-1, and they plan to market it as Nexela.”

“What are we looking at, Izzy?” Alec asked.

“It’s a non-opioid painkiller formulated specifically for chronic pain patients,” Isabelle said. “If it actually did what Aldertree and Idris are claiming it does, it would be life changing.”

“But it doesn’t?” Clary asked.

Isabelle swiped again, showing them some kind of report. “Well, it works for the pain. These are the clinical research reports. They show that the drug is highly addictive and comes with a whole host of side effects. From what I can tell, one patient even died during withdrawal, but Idris is claiming the death was from an unrelated condition.”

“But then what’s the point of getting us to switch the data?” Magnus asked. “When people start taking this shit, they’re going to realize it isn’t what Aldertree is claiming.”

“Sure,” Luke said, “but that’s years down the line. In the meantime, Idris makes billions of dollars, and Aldertree makes a huge bonus and a name for himself. He’s probably got stock options. He may even be planning on selling out and moving on before the shit hits the fan.”

“What an asshole,” Alec said. Magnus had to agree.

“What I don’t understand is how he still plans to get it approved,” Isabelle said. “Even with the falsified data, the approval process should catch this.”

“I’m guessing he’s already got some bribes set up to fast-track the approval process,” Luke said. Isabelle made a face. But Luke went on. “And that’s how we’re going to get him. Isabelle, what do you need to get access to Aldertree’s files?”

Isabelle smiled.

Idris Pharmaceuticals
Cambridge, MA

The air in the vents of Idris Pharmaceuticals was hot and close. Magnus didn’t mind; he was used to it.

“Aldertree’s out of the building,” Luke informed them.

“Getting ready to drop the spike,” Isabelle said.

“I don’t see why I have to do this,” Alec grumbled. “Shouldn’t Izzy be playing tech support?”

“No, I need Izzy to actually be tech support,” Luke said. Magnus imagined he could hear Alec’s teeth grinding over the mic and grinned.

“Spike dropped,” Isabelle said. “Magnus, you should be hearing in 3, 2…”

The lights on the relay system they’d set up blinked. “Hello, IT,” Magnus said into the mic.

“My computer just died!” said the voice of Aldertree’s overworked and overwhelmed assistant. “It won’t do anything!”

“Okay,” Magnus said, “Have you tried turning it on and off again?”

“I don’t have time for this!” the assistant said as if she hadn’t heard Magnus. “Oh, Mr. Aldertree is going to kill me!”

“Don’t worry, we have someone on your floor. I’ll send him your way.”

“Thank you!”

Magnus was moving as soon as she hung up, sliding his way through the vents to Aldertree’s office.

“Undo the top button of your shirt,” Isabelle said into his ear.

“You can’t even see my shirt,” Alec snapped back with the distinct cadence of a person who was talking around clenched teeth.

“I don’t need to see it,” Isabelle said. “Just do it.”

“I’m supposed to be a nerd,” Alec said, though Magnus had the impression that he’d just done what Isabelle wanted. “What does it matter?”

“You’re supposed to be nerd hot,” Isabelle said. “That’s the whole point of a distraction.”

“That’s not a thing, Izzy,” Alec hissed.

It was totally a thing, but Magnus didn’t think it was wise to get in the middle of the Lightwood siblings right now. He paused while Alec awkwardly presented himself at the assistant’s office, then opened a panel and dropped silently into Aldertree’s office while she was distracted by Alec’s … everything.

He laughed silently at Alec’s completely lame attempts at flirting while he stuck a USB into Aldertree’s computer. While that did its thing, he set up the rest of the equipment to Isabelle’s exact specifications.

“Do you come here often?” Alec asked the assistant. “I mean, obviously you do, you work here. Have you worked here long? Because I haven’t seen you before, uh, not that I would have any reason to, I guess…”

Magnus bit his lip to keep his laugh inside his mouth. The thing was, it was totally working. Aldertree’s poor assistant was stuttering and giggling right back, not that Magnus could blame her, exactly. Even the ugly button-down and glasses they’d dressed Alec in couldn’t really hide how handsome and built he was.

Magnus finished his tasks and tapped his earpiece to alert Isabelle. “I’ve got access,” she said. “You’re good to go.” Magnus pulled the USB and tucked it into a pocket before lifting himself back into the vents.

“I’m clear,” Magnus whispered, and started working his way to his exit point.

“I just need a another minute to restore her system,” Isabelle said slyly. Alec coughed, but it sounded a lot like the word Izzy to Magnus.

“Oh fine, you’re no fun,” Isabelle said.

“And there you go,” Alec said. “All fixed. Well, I guess maybe I’ll see you around? If your computer ever breaks again, I mean. I mean, not that I’m hoping your computer breaks. Um. Okay. Bye.”

Isabelle’s laughter was loud and clear in Magnus’ ear as he pulled himself through the vents.

Izzy leaned on the breakfast bar and cradled her coffee in her hands as she watched Luke and Clary talk through the information she’d gotten from Aldertree’s computer. Hackers weren’t made for mornings, she thought grumpily.

Clary looked fresh and awake in a smart suit and flawlessly curled hair. She’d turned out to be a bit of hard nut to crack, but then again, it had only been two days.

“I hope you’re thinking about the job and not your next conquest,” Alec said from behind her, too low for anyone else in the loft to hear.

“It can’t be both?” Izzy asked.

“We can’t trust these people, Izzy,” Alec said. He set his own coffee down on the counter and sat on the stool beside her.

“I don’t trust them,” Izzy said.

“But you want to,” Alec countered. Izzy pressed her lips together and readjusted her glasses. For someone who acted like emotions didn’t exist 90% of the time, Alec could be remarkably adept at them sometimes. Usually when Izzy least wanted him to be.

“It wouldn’t be terrible, having people to watch our backs,” Izzy said.

“I’ve got your back,” Alec said.

“Of course you do,” Izzy said immediately. “And I’ve got yours. I’m just saying, we could probably use more.” Alec said nothing, and Izzy knew she hadn’t convinced him at all.

“You do get into more than your share of trouble,” he said finally. It was only a slight concession, but it was something.

Clary smiled at something Luke said, and Izzy curled her toes around the rungs of her stool.

Alec looked at Clary, then back at Izzy. “You could do better,” he said.

Izzy grinned into her coffee. “Maybe,” she said.

Izzy was still in her boxers and sweatshirt, but much more caffeinated, an hour later when Clary walked into Idris Pharmaceuticals. Luke stood next to her chair, alert. Izzy wasn’t even sure he’d slept, honestly, but she couldn’t tell. He seemed to be running on pure righteousness and adrenaline. At least he didn’t smell like a distillery anymore. She hadn’t seen him drink anything harder than beer since they picked up Clary. There was a story there, but Izzy didn’t think Luke would tell her if she asked.

“Yes, hello, my name is Tara Ellis, I have a 9 o’clock appointment with Victor Aldertree?” Clary spoke in a flat Midwestern accent that matched the identity Izzy had created. If Izzy hadn’t been listening to Clary speak for the last two days, she’d have no idea it was an act.

“Okay, you can have a seat,” Aldertree’s assistant said.

“What? I don’t have a 9am,” Aldertree said when his assistant called him.

“Sir, it’s in your calendar.”

Izzy smirked. It had been nothing to access Aldertree’s calendar and add an appointment.

“Fine, fine, show them in.”

“Mr. Aldertree, so good to meet you,” Clary said. “Tara Ellis, with the FDA.”

“More red tape, I presume?” Aldertree grumbled. “This couldn’t have been done over e-mail?”

“We do prefer to call them safety measures,” Clary said. The way Clary said ‘safety measures’ was full of a completely different kind of promise. Izzy was impressed.

There was a pause, then Aldertree said, in a completely different tone of voice, “Of course. I take safety very seriously. My apologies, things are just so busy right now. There’s a shareholders' meeting in a few days. What can I do for the FDA?”

What a sleaze, Izzy thought.

Behind her, she heard a door open. She craned her neck to see Magnus shuffling out of the room he’d claimed, his hair soft and falling in his face, with only the barest remnants of yesterday’s eyeliner.

“Nice of you to join us,” Alec said.

“Shut up and point me to the coffee,” Magnus said. Alec pointed, then held out an earpiece, which Magnus took and put in his ear as he grabbed the coffee pot. Izzy tuned back to the job just in time to hear Clary speak.

“Sorry, I’m just so excited to be here. I’ve heard so much about what Idris is doing.”

“You can’t believe everything you hear,” Aldertree said.

“I’m sure in this case I can,” Clary said, managing to inject just the right combination of hero worship and invitation to draw in a man like Aldertree. “I know you said you’re busy with the shareholders' meetings, but do you think – could you maybe just show me the labs? If you can’t, it’s —”

“Oh, I’m sure I can fit you in,” Aldertree said.

“I was ecstatic when Dr. Boyer said I should come see you,” Clary said as they presumably walked to to the labs. “He said there was no better person to do my first consulting job with.”

“Consulting is a codeword for bribe,” Luke muttered.

“I’ve always been an avid believer in nurturing young talent,” Aldertree said. Ugh, Izzy wanted to shower just from listening to him. Behind her, Magnus made a gagging noise, and when she turned around, he was pretending to choke on his finger. Alec was pretending not to smile.

“Dr. Boyer, you said?” Aldertree continued. “How is Steve doing?”

“Oh, you know Dr. Boyer,” Clary said. “It’s always something with him.”

“Mmhm. And what about his son? Isn’t he in college now?”

“Clary, that’s a test, it’s ‒” Luke started, and Izzy flew into action, bringing up the information she’d gathered about Aldertree’s FDA contacts. But Clary answered before she could.

“You mean his daughter?” Clary asked. “I think she’s starting her freshman year.”

“Of course,” Aldertree said, and Izzy and Luke breathed a sigh of relief.

Izzy and Luke continued to monitor Clary as Aldertree showed her the labs, and the offices, and then offered to take her out to lunch.

“I wanna punch this guy,” Alec said when Aldertree ordered them both dirty martinis, putting a slimy emphasis on the word dirty. “When do I get to punch this guy?”

“Eventually,” Luke said, evenly.

“Can I watch?” Magnus asked. He’d showered and dressed and applied his makeup in the meantime.

“If that’s what you’re into, I guess,” Alec said.

“Would you like that?” Magnus asked suggestively and pink bloomed across Alec’s cheeks. Izzy held back a laugh.

“Thank you so much for this morning, Victor,” Clary said over the comms. “Are you serious about hiring me as a consultant?”

“Of course,” Aldertree said. “Although there are certain expectations I have of a consultant. If you think you can meet them, then I see no reason to not formalize the offer.”

“What kind of expectations?”

“As my consultant, I’d expect any complaints about Idris products and particularly about Nexela be moved to the bottom of the pile.”

“That’s not so hard,” Clary said. “We get thousands of complaints a day that don’t amount to anything. But if the complaints are consistent, eventually people will notice.”

“Eventually,” Aldertree allowed. “But I’m sure it won’t be a problem.”

Luke relaxed for the first time all day. “Alright, he’s hooked. Time to move on to phase three.”

With phase three begun, just waiting on Aldertree to take the bait, the team had a free night. Normally, Magnus would take the opportunity to go out, maybe hit up a club and work through his stress on the dance floor, but he wanted to stay sharp. Besides, he was technically supposed to be laying low.

Instead, he goaded Alec into a game of pool, and then another when Alec won the first one.

Isabelle pulled Clary into a manicure session, and Luke watched over all of them with an amused smile on his face when he looked up from his book. It was … surprisingly domestic and comfortable. Magnus still didn’t trust anyone else in the room, not really. But until they took Aldertree down, they were in this together, and he did trust them to finish the job. That was more than he’d had in, well, years. Maybe decades.

He and Alec were tied two games to two when they decided to take a break from pool. They shifted to the sofa and proceeded to smoothly change from arguing about pool to about what movie they should watch.

“If you don’t decide soon, I will,” Isabelle threatened, and Alec quickly capitulated to Magnus’ choice. Which just made him curious about how much Alec knew about what Isabelle would have chosen.

“Okay, let me do yours now,” Clary told Isabelle.

“I don’t know if you want to do that, Isabelle,” Luke said with a small laugh.

“Oh my God, am I ever going to live that down?” Clary said. “I was 10!”

Magnus felt his eyebrows creep up to his hairline. How in the world had Luke known this experienced grifter from childhood?

Luke’s eyes were crinkled with amusement, and it made him look young in a way that Magnus had never seen. “No,” he said, “you really won’t. You should have seen Jocelyn’s hands, they were —” He cut himself off suddenly, and his expression shut down completely.

A lot of things slotted into place in Magnus’ head. He kicked himself for not seeing it earlier. Clary looked so much like her mom.

“You’re Jocelyn Fairchild’s kid,” he said. Clary bit her lip and nodded, her eyes shadowed. Just the mention of her name seemed to weigh on both Clary and Luke.

It made sense now, how they knew each other. Everyone knew Interpol Agent Luke Garroway had a complicated relationship with Jocelyn Fairchild, one of the most successful grifters of the modern age. And everyone knew that when she had died under mysterious circumstances, Interpol had suspected Agent Garroway of being involved. Luke had been cleared, eventually, but the investigation had ruined his reputation and his relationship with his agency. He had resigned and disappeared into obscurity. Until he showed up last week, taking charge of a criminal operation.

And for Luke to have this kind of relationship with Jocelyn’s daughter … he and Jocelyn must have been closer than anyone knew.

“I think we need popcorn,” Isabelle said into the awkward silence. “I’m gonna go make popcorn, and then you can do my nails.”

“Izzy, no,” Alec said immediately and sprung up off the couch to follow Isabelle into the kitchen.

“I’m getting another drink,” Magnus said. “Anyone want anything?”

When he looked back, he saw Luke leaning over Clary, pressing a kiss to her hair.

The lights in Idris Pharmaceuticals were dim, everyone else having long since gone home. Everyone except for Victor Aldertree and Daniel Quinn, head of Idris security. Victor swiped through the pictures Quinn had presented him with, and his fingers tightened around the tablet. He swiped back to the first one, of Tara Ellis ‒ or whatever her name really was – and Luke Garroway exchanging a heartfelt hug.

“So they think they can play me?” he murmured.

“Sir,” Quinn said. Victor held up his hand. If they were trying to play him, they probably … he put the tablet down and leaned over to look under his desk. A tell-tale red light blinked back at him. When had they – it didn’t matter. What mattered was damage control.

He motioned Quinn out of his office and into the hallway.

“What’s going on?” Quinn asked.

“They planted a bug,” Victor said.

“I can have my team remove it immediately.”

“No, then they’ll know I’m on to them. They’ll run. No, keep it there. We need to play this carefully. Call the FBI.”

“Sir,” Quinn said and went off to do just that.

Victor looked back down at the tablet, at Luke Garroway’s smug face. “You think you can hustle me? You’re about to get a very rude awakening.”

“Good morning, Ms. Ellis, Victor Aldertree. I was hoping you would be amenable to formalizing our consultation agreement sooner rather than later. I’d like to invite you to the shareholders' cocktail hour at Idris tomorrow. There will be champagne and hors d’oeuvres, and then we can talk. Looking forward to seeing you.”

Clary hit the button to stop the voicemail from playing and looked up at the rest of the team.

“This is good,” Luke said. “We can work with this.”

“I don’t like it,” Alec said. “That many people, I won’t be able to move quickly if something happens.”

“It will be fine,” Luke assured him. Izzy stared down at the phone on the counter. There was too much arrogance in Aldertree’s voice for her to be comfortable, but that was Aldertree all the time. She couldn’t read too much into it. “Alec and Magnus, you know what to do.” They both nodded and went to prepare.

“Luke, this is going to work, right?” Clary asked softly. Luke put a hand on her shoulder and squeezed.

“I promise. I’ll be right outside.”

Luke settled onto a bench in the small park across from Idris Pharmaceuticals' corporate headquarters and tapped his earpiece to make sure it was settled firmly in his ear. He opened the small laptop Isabelle had provided him. It automatically synced with the system Isabelle was using and showed him security footage from inside the building.

“I’ve got you on GPS, Luke,” Isabelle informed him.

“Good,” Luke answered. “Alec?”

“I’m here, and I’ve got eyes on Clary.”

“Magnus?”

“In position and waiting for your signal.”

“Clary?”

“In position.”

“Remember,” Luke said, “Don’t --”

“Luke, I know,” Clary interrupted him. “You know I’ve done this more than you, right?”

Isabelle giggled and Luke gave in to the urge to roll his eyes.

“Alright, keep an eye out and we’ll--”

A heavy hand on his shoulder froze the words in his throat. He looked behind him and was treated to the sight of three Idris security goons in identical black suits and sunglasses.

“Luke?” Isabelle said in his ear.

“Gentlemen,” Luke said. “What can I do for you?”

“Mr. Aldertree would like to see you,” the head goon said.

“Good for him,” Luke said. The hand on his shoulder tightened.

“It wasn’t a request,” the goon said. “You’re coming with us.” One of the goons adjusted his jacket in a manner calculated specifically to show off the gun on his hip. Well then.

“Okay,” Luke said, and stood.

“Luke, I can be there in 50 seconds,” Alec said.

“I’m sure Mr. Aldertree just wants to talk,” Luke said. He hadn’t been speaking to the goons, but one of them answered anyway.

“Sure,” he said flatly.

Great.

The goons led him not to Aldertree’s office, but to a small security office in the basement. A small bank of monitors cycled through security camera feeds. One monitor stayed on a single feed, the camera trained on Clary. She was standing at a small table, fiddling with a full glass of champagne. Luke swallowed and hoped nothing showed on his face. The post-meeting cocktail hour was in full swing.

Aldertree had presented his clinical data on Nexela to the shareholders this morning to great success. The stock was up 10% since the announcement; Luke had checked.

Aldertree himself was waiting, leaning against a desk and watching the feed of Clary when the security goons shoved Luke into a chair.

“Shouldn’t you be celebrating?” Luke asked.

“Oh, but I am,” Aldertree said. He lifted the glass of champagne he was holding and took a sip. “See, not only do I get to see years of research finally paying off, but I also get to see you locked up, never to bother me again.”

“Are you sure about that?” Luke asked.

“Of course I am. Really, Luke, trying to honey trap me with Jocelyn Fairchild’s daughter? Isn’t it a little beneath you? Did you really think I wouldn’t figure it out?”

Luke was quiet for a minute, looking down at his lap. Finally he said, “No, we thought you’d figure it out. In fact, we counted on it.”

That brought Aldertree up short. “What?”

Luke relaxed back into his chair. “You see, Victor, you took a bunch of people known for working alone, and you brought them together. We never would have thought to work together if not for you. And you counted on that to double-cross us.”

“So?”

“So,” Luke said, allowing himself a small smile, “you hired Magnus Bane.”

“Is there a point to all this?” Aldertree growled and took another sip of his champagne.

“The point is,” Luke said slowly, “that thanks to you, I’m not working alone. What do you think Magnus has been doing while you were distracted by me?”

Right on cue, the phone at the security station rang. The goons looked at Victor.

“Well, pick it up!” Victor growled. The head goon picked up the phone. Luke didn’t need to be hooked into the system to know what he was being told.

“Go ahead and look at your cameras for Storage Facility 14,” Luke said to one of the other goons. He didn’t even wait for the nod from Aldertree before leaning over the computer and looking up the feed. The camera showed the open doors, the empty shelves, and the hive of security guards that had just realized they’d been robbed.

“So you stole some samples of HT-1?” Aldertree scoffed. “You can’t sell them. I already hold a patent, no one will buy from you.”

“Oh, we don’t want to sell it,” Luke said. “You know, Alec wanted to kill you with his bare hands, but I convinced him this was more poetic.”

“What are you talking about?”

“HT-1. We put it in the champagne. The champagne that you and all your shareholders are drinking.”

Aldertree froze with the champagne glass halfways to his lips. He lowered his hand. “Impossible,” he said. “I’ve had people watching you and the girl this whole time.” He looked at Clary on the monitor. She was still holding a glass of champagne, but it was full.

“I told you, we’re not working alone anymore.” Luke watched realization steal over Aldertree’s face. “Alec understands the poetic justice of it,” Luke said, shrugging, “but you know, he still wanted to be involved.”

Alec stepped into the frame and leaned against the table next to Clary. He looked directly into the security camera and smirked.

“I should tell you,” Luke said, “those samples were pretty concentrated. According to your clinical data, just a fraction of what you’re drinking now is enough for an addiction to form. Not to mention the side effects. You should start to experience euphoria, followed quickly by nausea, vomiting, fatigue. And obviously be on the lookout for blood in your urine…”

The champagne glass fell from Aldertree’s fingers and cracked on the floor. He bolted out of the room.

“Maybe you should go after him,” Luke suggested to the security goons mildly. “You didn’t have any champagne, did you?”

They followed Aldertree satisfyingly quickly.

Luke settled into his chair and watched on the security cameras as Aldertree burst into the cocktail party and starting slapping champagne glasses out of people’s hands. He couldn’t hear what he was saying, but he could guess. Luke smiled.

“Isabelle, you can go ahead and send the info we’ve prepared.”

“Got it,” Isabelle said.

Those shareholders and journalists who weren’t distracted by the scene Aldertree was making checked their phones to find an email from Aldertree’s own email address with a PDF information packet on Nexela. It was specially put together by Isabelle and contained the original drug trial findings, as well as proof that Aldertree had faked the findings he gave to the FDA and presented to the shareholders.

Luke stood. “I think our work here is done.”

“Alright,” Clary said. She and Alec straightened up from the table. Clary paused, then downed her glass of champagne. “It’s a shame to let it go to waste,” she said when Alec glared at her.

“I’ll meet you outside,” Luke said. He took one last look around the office and closed the door behind him.

Victor sat in his assistant’s office, head in his hands. He couldn’t go in his own office, nor his lab. They were both teeming with law enforcement and security.

His phone vibrated against his thigh. Probably another stock alert. It had already fallen 25% last time he bothered to check.

The phone kept vibrating. Victor picked up his head. It was a call. He swiped to accept the call.

“Yes?”

“You should have just paid us,” Luke Garroway said.

“There was nothing in the champagne,” Victor said.

“Of course not,” Luke said. “We didn’t even steal anything from your storage facility. Magnus thinks your security is beneath him, to be honest.”

“The charges won’t stick,” Victor ground out. “I’m going to beat this.”

“See, Victor, here’s the thing. If a company’s stock price falls say, 10, 15% in one day, and you know it’s coming, you sell short and you make a lot of money. If it falls 27%? You can make a shattering amount of money.”

Victor curled his hand into a fist on his thigh.

“We didn’t need you to go to jail,” Luke continued. “We just needed you disgraced, publicly. The jail thing is just a bonus. So Victor, I wouldn’t go talking about us to those agents in your office. Next time we won’t be so nice.”

He hung up.

“Who are you talking to?” one of the agents barked at him.

Victor blinked and weighed his options.

“Nobody,” he said.

Luke hung up the phone and turned back to his team. Well, his team no longer. The job was done.

Isabelle was handing out envelopes. She handed one to Luke. “Hard earned rewards.”

“Good job, everyone,” he said as he absently opened the envelope. He glanced down at the check and his eyes nearly bugged out of his head. “Whoa!”

“Holy shit!” Clary said.

“What she said,” Magnus said.

“There was an overlap in the London stock market,” Isabelle said happily. “The valuation carried over to NASDAQ, and --”

“Izzy is just very good at what she does,” Alec said.

“This is the score,” Magnus said. “Buy an island and retire money.”

“This is 'go legit with no worries' money,” Clary said.

They were all silent as they considered what Clary had just said. No worries, no one chasing them ever again. Luke wondered if any of them had ever had that. He knew Clary hadn’t.

“It is,” Luke said. “Well, pleasure working with you all.”

“One-time-only thing,” Alec said.

“I already forgot your names,” Magnus said. He turned on his toes and walked away.

Once he was alone, Luke stuck his hands in his pockets and set his path to take him out of the park.

“Okay, here’s the thing,” Magnus said from beside him. “I’m good at one thing. I can’t really stop doing that one thing, right?”

“Magnus,” Luke sighed.

“We’ve never had that good a time on a job,” Isabelle said from his other side. “Plus, your brains, and my brains, they go together!”

Luke desperately sought out Alec, sure he would be the voice of reason. “Don’t tell me you agree.”

“I think you were a mess because you had nothing do,” Alec said with devastating accuracy. “A guy like you, you need a challenge, a chase.” He shrugged. “Plus, I go where Izzy goes.”

“Guys —”

“You pick the jobs.”

Luke looked up. Clary was on the path in front of them.

“Clary, no. You’re a student now. You’re doing what you love, and you don’t have to worry.”

Clary shook her head. “I’m a terrible student, and I’m bored all the time. You pick the jobs, we’ll follow your lead.”

“I just...” Luke looked around at the kids looking at him hopefully. Criminals every one of them. “My job was helping people. Taking down bad guys.”

“So find some bad guys.” Clary shrugged. “Bad guys have money.”

Luke didn’t say anything, but from the smiles spreading across their faces, they knew they had him.

Magnus clapped his hands together.

“Oh, this is going to be fun.”