'Max, hurry up!' Rafael shouted. He was trying to fend off three Kuris, spider demons with poisonous fangs, at once while covering Max.

'I'm trying!' Max called back, with a panicked voice. 'I've never done this before!'

Rafael swore as he dodged the poisonous fangs of a Kuri, it missed him by an inch.

'I know,' he gritted, slashing his blade at a Kuri. One down, two to go. He could see Max trembling from the corner of his eye and tried to reassure him, 'Come on Max, you can do it!' He said. 'You've seen papa do it a thousand times.' 'Thanks,' Max murmured, barely audible. Rafael smirked as he said, 'Now hurry up, Blueberry. We'll be late for dinner.' Max didn't reply, but Rafael could feel him rolling his eyes. Rafael managed to kill the second demon, but the last one was bigger and stronger than the others. Rafael was also running out of energy pretty fast. He wouldn't be able to hold the Kuri off for much longer. 'Done!' he heard Max call out behind him. Thank Raziel. 'Come on, hurry!' Rafael didn't need to be told twice as he slashed at the Kuri one last time, pushing him back before he sprinted towards the portal Max made. The New York Institute, Rafael thought as he leaped into the portal.

For some reason, the journey was a lot bumpier and longer than usual. But he discarded the thought quickly, it was most likely because Max was new to making portals. The landing was rough too. Rafael often praised himself for his steady landings; during trainings or whenever he needed to jump out of the second floor window to make a quick escape from aunt Izzy's cooking. So it was quite a shock, literally, when he landed face first onto the carpet.

Rafael jumped to his feet when he heard a startled scream. He immediately shifted into a fighting stance. With his Seraph blade still glowing in his hand, he checked his surroundings: he was in a bedroom. It was a pretty organized, except for the heap of clothes on the bed. But it was the woman in the room that caught his eye. She had a golden whip in her hand, her hair was pulled back in a messy bun and her dark eyes looked pissed as hell. Rafael recognized her in an instance: it was his aunt Izzy. But something wasn't right. She looked...younger? She also looked pretty naked, since she was wearing nothing but a towel. Quickly, Rafael turned his head and averted his eyes. He didn't want to see his aunt in anything less than the occasional crop top and miniskirt. Though she started to cover up more since her pregnancy… wasn't her belly bigger? 'I-I'm sorry!' Rafael spluttered. 'I wa-AH!' A sudden weight threw him on the ground and he nearly impaled himself with his blade. His prided angelic elegance was having a bad day.

'Ugh…' Rafael groaned. Max had fallen on top of him. He tried to push his brother off, but he froze when he felt something warm and sticky. 'Shit!' Rafael carefully turned so that he now cradled Max in his arms. His eyes scanning Max' body, searching for the wound. Blood was flooding out of Max' left shoulder, the boy self was squirming with pain, his breathing ragged and uneven. Panic and guilt flooded Rafael. Max had been bitten by the Kuri that he had failed to kill.

Always make sure to eliminate the demons, or at least make sure that they're too injured to do further damage until backup comes. The words of his uncle rang clear through his head. He had focussed so much on getting to the Institute for backup that he forgot about the rules his uncle Jace told them to always remember during fights. To make it worse, he had abandoned his little brother while the threat was still there. He took a deep breath and forced himself to calm. He hand to help Max first, he could beat himself up over it later. He looked at the wound. How much of the poisonous venom has gotten into Max? The blood was spilling out of Max' arm pretty fast, so most of the venom should've gotten out too, right? He cursed himself for not paying more attention when his father taught them about what to do in situations like this. The venom was not his top priority. Right now he had to stop the bleeding before his little brother died of blood loss. He pulled his t-shirt off his head and wrapped it tightly around the wound. That would stop the bleeding temporarily. What now? Iratez, right. He took his stele out of his pocket and pulled Max' shirt up. He was about to draw the Alliance rune on Max when someone caught his arm. He looked up and saw his aunt stare at him like he was crazy. Thankfully, she was no longer only wearing a towel, so Rafael was able to look at her again. 'What are you doing?' she hissed. Not understanding what she was doing, Rafael pulled his arm back. 'I don't have time for this, aunt Izzy!' He said and returned his focus onto Max, who was biting his under lip hard to stop himself from screaming out in pain. 'Just a second, Max,' Rafael whispered. 'I'll make it better, promise.' He placed the stele on Max' stomach and started drawing the Alliance rune. He heard his aunt make some protesting sounds behind him but paid her no heed because he really didn't have time to deal with her 'pregnancy brain', as uncle Jace called it.

Having finished the rune on Max, he quickly drew one on his own arm along with an Iratez. In the year that they'd been using the Alliance rune, they discovered that the magical effects of runes could also be transferred. So if he'd draw an Iratez on his arm without being injured, Max' wounds would heal. It was their only option since that Max's skin could only bear the Alliance rune. And just like every other time, the Iratez' powers were transferred to Max. When he finally heard his brother's breathing even out, he leaned back and let out a breath in relief, letting his brother rest in his lap.

'What in Raziel's name?' Rafael heard his aunt mutter behind him.

Rafael turned around to face his aunt and he could see her clearly for the first time since he crash-landed into the room. His aunt looked younger than when he had seen her last. She was also wearing a tight dress. A dress that was way too tight for a woman to wear while pregnant. And when he looked at her belly, he could see that there was no belly. Quickly, he scanned the room. Uncle Simon's things were nowhere to be found: no Star Wars poster, no quirky bubbleheads of fictional characters, and no pictures of their wedding. Something wasn't right, and the lack of recognition in his aunt's eyes told him that he was right. Gently, yet swiftly, he laid Max on the floor and stood up, his Seraph blade steady in his hand.

The woman, not aunt Izzy, now looked wary of him too. Her whip was once again in her hand. 'Who are you?' Rafael asked. He had positioned himself in front of Max, shielding him from the stranger in front of them. 'I could ask you the same', came the answer. 'You appear out of nowhere while I was, excuse you, naked. You brought an injured downworlder child with you-' Raf winced when he heard her say 'downworlder'-'healed him with a rune, which should be impossible, called me your aunt even though I've never even seen you before, and now you're asking me who I am?' She was practically yelling by the end of her rant.

Suddenly, the door burst open and a certain golden- and red-haired couple came rushing in. 'Izzy!' Jace exclaimed. 'Are you all right? We heard you yelling.' Then, their eyes landed on the two unfamiliar boys in the room, one lying asleep on the ground and one with a seraph blade in his hand. 'Who are they?' Jace asked warily, setting himself into a fighting position.

'That's what I've been trying to find out before you rushed in', Izzy said, her tone mildly irritated.

'Oh my God they're bleeding!' Clary gasped. She took a step forward, but stopped in mid-motion when Rafael pointed his blade at her. 'Don't come any closer', he growled. It felt wrong to turn his weapon on his family, but he reminded himself that they're not his family, they just looked like them. He wasn't taking any risks when his brother was laid wounded beside him. Clary held up her hands, slowly. 'I'm not going to hurt you,' she said, 'I just want to help.'

'Don't worry,' Izzy said while keeping her eyes on Rafael, 'the boy already healed the warlock child with a rune.'

'With a what?!' Jace asked in disbelief.

'A rune, Jace. I saw it with my own eyes.'

'Are you sure that-'

'Yes, I'm absolutely certain that it was a rune. He drew a rune I didn't recognize on the child.'

'But I thought that runes could only be applied on shadowhunters,' Clary asked, she gave Jace a confused look.

'They can only be applied on shadowhunters.' Jace said. 'It's not possible to mark a downworlder, mundane or anyone besides shadowhunters.'

'But-,' Clary started, before she was interrupted by Max' groaning. Rafael took his eyes off the people in front of him to glance at his brother for a second and Jace took the opportunity to leap forward and knocked the Seraph blade out of his hand. Clary rushed forward and bent down before Max. 'Aunt Clary?' Max asked, but he was hoarse, so came out like a barely audible whisper.

With his weapon out of reach and his little brother in danger, Rafael could feel his panic welling up. To get to Max, he'd have to get pass Jace. And if this Jace is anything like the real Jace back home, then he'd stand absolutely no chance in winning a hand-to-hand combat. But luckily, it wouldn't be a hand-to-hand combat. Thanks to the Alliance Rune, Rafael had access to Max' magic. He could feel the magic in his veins, prickling at his fingertips. Rafael wasted no time, he held his hand out toward Jace and threw him across the room with the swipe of his hand. Rafael usually threw Max's blue fireballs when he used magic in combat, but even though the person in front of him was a stranger, he couldn't burn the man that looked like his uncle. After all, he was just a scared kid in an unfamiliar place. Jace flew against the wall ten feet away with a shocked expression on his face.

'Jace!' Carly and Izzy cried out, they turned to face Rafael with surprise and disbelief clearly written on their faces. Rafael ignored them and rushed towards Clary and Max. 'Don't touch my brother', he growled at Clary. With another wave of his hand, he sent her flying as well. But not at the wall, he couldn't do that to her since she genuinely seemed like she wanted to help. But again, he wasn't taking any chances. Instead, he threw her on top of Jace; it was a softer landing and it'd keep Jace from getting up easily. Rafael heard Max suck in a sharp breath and he whipped his head towards his little brother, dropping down on his knees a bit too fast. Rafael looked at Max, his brother was out cold. 'Shit!' Rafael cursed. He had used too much of Max' magic when his brother was already weak to begin with. He was a terrible brother. First, he'd left Max behind without thinking twice, which resulted in Max being terribly wounded, then he used too much of Max' power. I could have killed him. Tears welled up in Rafael's eyes. 'Max, I'm so sorry', he whispered. Oh, how he wished that their dad or papa were here, they would've known what to do. Suddenly he heard the voice he craved to hear so much. 'Izzy! Jace!' The voice said. 'What in the name of the Angel happened here?!' Rafael's head snapped up and his teary eyes sought the face of his father. Rafael wanted so badly that he'd tell him that this was just another nightmare and was here to bring them home. His eyes caught his father's for just a second before he heard a soft 'sorry' behind him and something hard hit the back of his head. His eyes aren't blue, was Rafael's last thought before everything went dark.