Mortal Instruments 1. Chapter 1

**Quick Author's note! The last time I touched this account was 2 years ago this month, due to my very busy job I don't get a chance to write a lot, I cannot promise updates every single week, but I promise to update as much as I can. I had an account before, it was called MusicMayhem93. I've deleted all my old fanfics unfortunately or else I would have reposted because I would have loved to carry them on! But, alas, I start afresh! I hope you enjoy, please don't kill me and my update times. Also lastly, I don't do the whole "15,000,000,000 reviews and I'll update thing." This writing is just as much for me as it is other people, so please be patient! :)**

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters, they belong to the godly Cassandra Clare!**

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Clary tossed herself over in her bed, pulling the covers tighter into her body as the tears slid down her face and onto her pillow. Moments before she was asleep, caught in a world with both her worst fears and wistful dreams, but something had startled her so much that she had woken up, and the dawning realization that it was just a dream - no matter how horrible - had yet again produced a flow of tears to her eyes. She had gotten better over the years, the nightmares had subsided, but every now and then one would infiltrate her dreams out of the unknown and release her fear all over again. She flipped the covers off and spun her feet out, touching them lightly to the ground as she placed her elbows onto her knees and held her head with her hands. Three deep breaths the doctor had told her – three deep slow breaths to make her mind calm down and realise it wasn't real.

As she sucked in her final one she stood up, steadying herself as she quietly opened her door and headed down the hall towards the bathroom. As she passed her Mom's room onto the landing she froze, down below she could hear murmured voices, not just one - but many. Her Mom's working hours were 24/7, as well as owning her own art studio downtown she also done what Clary liked to call 'fostering' although it was anything but that. All Clary knew was that if a child was in some kind of danger her Mom kept them safe until other arrangements had been made, which was how Luke came into Clary's life. Sometimes he would stay when he brought them, other times he was gone for months. There had been many of them over the years, from snivelling three year olds up to battered and bruised eighteen year olds. Clary had befriended a few before, but one thing she learned was that they would always leave her no matter how hard she cried and hung onto them, so over the last couple of years she had distanced herself, not speaking to them and just waiting for them to leave. Clary shook her head, deciding not to bother herself with the new arrival. Creeping forward again she turned to the bathroom, when her Mom's voice rose up the stairs.

"This is dangerous! I have a daughter to think about! He should know better than to ask this of me." Clary could hear the panic in her voice, catching her attention.

"Sssh, Jocelyn – you don't want to wake her, you don't have to say yes." Another voice wandered up the stairs – Luke.

Luke definitely must have brought another kid, there was no other reason he could be here, but all the same no matter how much she didn't care she was intrigued, why was her Mom panicking?

Carefully, she stepped down the stairs one by one until she could see the living room through the open foyer, she sat down, squeezing her eyes and willing them to adjust. There were five figures standing around in a circle – her Mom stood with her back to Clary, she was wrapped in her dressing gown and her dark auburn locks thrown up in a half-hearted ponytail, Luke stood opposite her. From what Clary could make out he looked a state, he had grown his beard out and the left side of his face looked oddly swollen - he was dressed entirely in black and soaked right through, the droplets of water still dripping onto the carpet as he spoke softly.

"Jocelyn, you know I wouldn't have come to you with this if it wasn't with the utmost of impor-"

"You are asking me to put my daughter in danger Luke!" her Mom hissed, as she leaned down and switched a small lamp on - barely illuminating the room.

"You don't think I know that?" his voice rose, one of the other figures grabbed his arm and put a finger to their lip signalling upstairs to what Clary presumed was her supposed self asleep in bed.

"I care for her too Jocelyn," his voice softened slightly as Clary watched her Mom's shoulders fall. "We will all be around to protect her, but this boy needs the best chance of survival right now, and that chance is you." He stepped forward and took Jocelyn's face in his hands, "Don't do this for Valentine, do this for me." He said, so low that Clary wasn't even sure if she had heard it right. Valentine? Her dad? She hadn't seen him in years – she could barely just remember him – the usual excuse of always being away on a business trip had turned into a reality for Clary, one day he was setting off on a busy trip and then he just never came back.

"I'm surprised he even thought of me," Clary heard the sadness in her Mom's voice, Clary was only little when her dad had disappeared, so it didn't really affect her anywhere near how it affected her Mom – she knew she still cared deeply for him regardless of what he done. Her Mom always defended him to Clary, telling her that he had an important job and unfortunately he felt it was more important than them - although Clary could not understand how anyone would find something more important than family. As far as she was concerned Luke might as well be her Dad, he was more than Valentine could ever be. Suddenly, Clary felt a strong urge to run down and hug her, she had watched her Mom crumble for months after he left whilst she didn't really understand what was going on, Luke had helped with that progress, and if it wasn't for his friendship and looking after them both god knows what state her Mom would be in today – but she was not aware that her Mom knew where he was and by the looks of it could have had contact with him.

"He still cares, you know how it is with that job, there can be no thre-" Jocelyn held her hand up silencing Luke.

"I do not need another reminder that my husband left me for his job, regardless of whether his intentions were good." Luke stepped back, nodding once at her. It was quiet for a moment, when her Mom spoke again. "I'll do it," she whispered slowly. "Not for him," she added rounding on Luke. "But for the boy, and who he is."

Clary watched as her Mom walked past Luke and into the middle of the circle. "What in the name of Jesus happened to him?" she asked looking round the group of shadows.

"I'll fill you in later, it's getting late and we need to move before we attract attention." Clary checked her watch, 0430 he was right, Robert Lightwood left for work at 0500 so no doubt there was already life in their house. "I'll send you the file explaining everything but in the meantime smooth everything out, get him into school and help him, you are the best we have and he needs to be safe and feel safe, it's what she would have wanted."

Luke stepped out of the way, the four other figures following him towards the door with her Mom, Clary followed them until they started filing out of the door, she stepped down a bit to get closer when a movement caught her attention - slowly she turned back to the living room. What she saw before her made her recoil in horror as she squeezed her hand over her mouth to stop even a breath escaping. Sitting in the middle of the room was a boy, staring up in her direction, blood covered him – it was in his hair, on his clothes, across his face – everywhere. She saw a glint of light as his eyes set straight on hers, her heart skipped a beat. At first his eyes were a mixture of anger and sadness, but as they adjusted they softened slightly as she felt him sweeping her body before going back to her eyes. She realised she wasn't breathing - taking a deep breath she snapped her eyes away and turned, running upstairs, hitting the landing as her Mom's words followed her up.

"If it wasn't for Celine, I would not be doing this."

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He sat, his eyes focusing on the floor below him. He didn't know how long he had sat like this, the woman – Jocelyn – gave him slight reassurance he was safe as she washed his hands and face of all the blood, ignoring his question about his Mother and simply replying that once he was settled and he had recovered from everything that had happened he would be sat down and told everything. But for now, it was her job to keep him safe and get him back onto a normal track of life. He didn't even know what the hell that was anymore.

"I know it's hard right now Jace," she whispered as she signalled for him to stand up and follow her. "I know once the shock is over your going to be very angry but please be patient - I have protocol to follow and that protocol says I can't tell you anything right now until The Clave are happy."

"Sounds like you've got a rather shit protocol." he muttered. She carried on walking as if he had said nothing.

He didn't even bother asking who The Clave were, his mind was too tired for questions now. She took him upstairs and to the left, right to the end of the landing and to the room on the right. There was already bedding made up, the walls were blue with various band posters up that Jace didn't actually mind. She walked over to a chest of drawers and pulled a towel out, handing it to him as she pointed to a door in the corner.

"There's a shower in there, everything you need is in the cupboards, all the drawers are full of clothes that should fit."

He looked upto her about to ask where all this had come from but she already beat him to it.

"I had a son once – don't worry the clothes aren't his – but this is his room, so please don't smash it up if you get angry with me or Luke or with anything that's happened. I also live with my daughter, I trust you saw her on the staircase tonight."

He opened his mouth to say something, but nothing escaped, he simply coughed slightly and nodded. He only saw her because she moved, Jocelyn had her back to the staircase the whole time so how she knew he was amazed.

"I do not hide anything from my daughter, she is used to many strangers coming by, she knows what she needs to know, not necessarily everything," she paused, taking Jace's arm and stepping closer. "She's been hurt - before - by people leaving, she's witnessed things that 16 year olds should never witness even in their entire life's and yet she still doesn't kick off when I bring another child in." Jocelyn smiled sadly before looking at him again. "If she ignores you, or appears to hate you, don't be offended, its just how she protects herself."

Jace could only stand speechless, his mind was still trying to catch up with everything that had happened, but if some little girl wanted to play the ignoring game she was playing with an absolute champion. He gave a curt nod as he flung the towel over his shoulder.

She squeezed his arm before turning away and walked towards the door, opening it slowly and peering out.

"Thanks," Jace feebly called to her. "I don't even know why but from what you guys were talking about I'm a danger… so yeah, thanks."

She turned as she held the door, smiling a little. "I'm scared, but I made a promise to your Mom a long time ago along with Luke and my husband," her voice faltered for a second before picking up again. "And I intend to stick to that promise, you'll be safe here, I swear."

Jace watched as she closed the door slowly behind her. He stood still for what felt like an eternity, when his focus snapped back, pushing the images replaying in his head of his father away - he opened the door into a shower room and turned the hot water on, he was exhausted, and sore. Leaning against the sink and looking in the mirror he already saw the boy he was yesterday slowly disappear into the scared boy before him now.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N - Hi guys! Okay, firstly, I've had nothing to do this weekend so you lucky Son's have got an update! But, attached to that don't get used to quick updates, I like to put a lot into it - this update is 4,200 words alone without the A/N - so you guys get a lot out of it. I'm looking at updating roughly every 1-2 weeks depending on my work load and access to internet. But if I can update sooner you guys will get it! :)**

**Secondly, thanks for all the follows and favourites and reviews, I didn't expect to get any reviews and I most certainly didn't expect that many follows and favourites! So thank you! It is definitely appreciated at this end!**

**And finally lastly, I'm Irish. So if I don't get all the words right in an American sense I apologise, bare with me!**

**Enjoy this chapter, its a little bit of Jace :)**

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**Chapter 2**

Jace stepped out of the shower, rubbing a towel through his hair and pushing it out of his face. He wrapped the towel around his waist and walked over to the sink, looking up at himself in the mirror. He had stood in the shower for a long time wondering if he should wash the blood off - against his skin it still felt warm, like his father was still with him in a way, but he also realised how much of an idiot he would look like if he spent the rest of his life walking around covered in blood. So he scrubbed his skin raw until nothing was left. Sighing, he picked up a face cloth and soaked it in cold water, pressing it against his face letting himself cool down from the burning of the sponge that he used to pretty much sand the blood off. Images of his dad kept coming to his head but he tried to push them away, it was only hours ago he was showering in his own house and now he was here, showering and cleaning himself in a complete strangers house with her daughter. He looked at himself in the mirror, he could feel the tears mounting as his mind churned over and over in his head that this was it, he was an orphan. But it would not process it, how could his dad be dead? He picked up the ring sitting on the side, turning it over and over in his hand. How could such a normal day just turn and take everything away?

_Jace bumped fists with Jordan as they crossed the finish line unanimously - picking up their water bottles he chucked one to Jordan and downed his own as he began to walk towards his gear on the stands, catching his breath between swigs._

"_Now that was a race!" Jordan exclaimed, hitting Jace on the back when he caught up to him. _

"_10 miles in under ninety minutes we are on fire bro!" Jordan sprinted forward onto his knee's sliding across the grass and raising his hands in the air as he screamed profanities to the world._

_Jace laughed as he collected his stuff, wiping his face quickly with a towel before shoving everything into his bag and swinging it over his shoulder. He plucked his keys out of his hoody and__ headed towards the car park._

"_See you tomorrow Jace, let's get that record down to 80 minutes yeah?" Jordan stuck his hand in the air as he gave a quick wave before turning and jogging back into the school. _

_Jace shook his head as he laughed to himself, he knew Jordan was off to do yet another weights session that day – the boy had far too much energy and as much as Jace thought himself fit, he would never be Jordan fit. He walked over to his bike, picking up his helmet and clipping it on as he swung his leg over and pushed down on the pedal, revving the clutch and reversing out of his space. Swerving round he headed out of the car park, he didn't live far away but any opportunity he got to ride his bike he took. Coming to the junction he turned left, deciding to take the long way home. He loved the feeling of the cold air rushing past him, cooling him down from his workout. He could never compare the freedom of it to anything else in his life. He drove on in peace for twenty minutes, his house rising in the distance. Not long ago his father had moved them out past the city to a house by the sea when his Mom died but he didn't complain, it got him away from the busy city, and his Father and his colleague's who pretty much suffocated his life there with how much they occupied their house. Now it was just him and his dad living by the sea, which meant more time for surfing and longer rides home as well as the house to himself since his Father worked so hard. He couldn't think of anything better. _

_Turning into the drive he parked the bike and shut it off, unclipping and tossing his helmet on to the handle bar and lightly jogging to the door. Walking in he was welcomed by the scent of pizza – Alma knew him well, she was part of the new team of house service his dad had hired, he had left everyone else behind in the city, and he was partly grateful, mainly for the fact that Alma could cook and the last chef most certainly could not. He shouted hello as he ran up the stairs to which no one replied – he didn't expect one, his father was almost certainly still working in his study and Alma could be anywhere in the house. Ditching his stuff and stripping he jumped in the shower, letting the steam soak into his muscles and loosen them as he washed. Jordan had been pushing him harder and harder these days, twenty press ups a set had turned into forty, the usual seven mile run had turned into a ten mile run. Since Jordan became the Captain of the soccer team he made sure him and Jace were at their peaks, but sometimes he wished Jordan would lay off a little – there were only so many hot showers left before he was permanently in agony. Once he scrubbed the sweat from his skin he turned the water off and grabbed his towel and opened the shower door. As he stepped out, the faint smell of burning hit him, confused he dried himself off quickly and shoved on a pair of jogging pants and a white vest top as he jumped down the stairs, Alma had almost certainly found some other menial task about the house to keep herself busy as always, she'd probably forgotten about the pizza. "Alma?" he called out, no answer. "Alma the pi-" he froze as he turned into the kitchen, smoke was rising from the oven, but past that Alma was on the floor, surrounded in a pool of blood streaming from her side. Her eyes were open looking straight up. He stared, panic and bile swelling in his stomach as he slowly stepped forward, avoiding her spilt blood and reaching forward with a shaking hand to feel her skin – still hot. His panic flared with a choked cry from his lips, turning round he ran straight for the phone, picking it up he pressed it to his ear only for their to be no dial tone. He dropped it, not only from its uselessness, but from the fact he just realised Alma wasn't the only person in this house. His Father. He flung himself out the kitchen and down the hall to his Father's study. The door was locked as he rattled the handle, panic overtaking him more as he stepped back and launched himself at the door, it didn't budge. He slammed against it twice more and finally the wood snapped around the lock sending him flying into the room._

_Jumping up keeping his back against the wall he walked round the bookshelves to his father's desk. His stomach churned as he saw the blood splattered across the floor and walls - and propped against the window was his father, lifeless with the look of horror still etched on his face. Jace ran forward, crying out as he fell to his knee's before his father, feeling for a pulse but getting nothing. He felt liquid hit his hand, focusing he realised he was crying. He launched forward and pulled his Father's body onto him and cradled him - his father, who would do this? He wasn't stupid, as much as his Father tried to hide it Jace knew his Father was a very powerful man in other area's – not just in his job as a lawyer. He had to many daily "acquaintances" that used to mill around everyday bothering him. Jace knew his Father mainly worked behind the Law's back, and only an idiot would go after him. _

_He didn't know how much time had passed when he finally stopped crying. His arms were aching from holding his Father but he couldn't bring himself to let go. He saw something glint in the last drop of his tears, looking down he saw his Fathers ring, covered in crusting blood – he reached forward slowly but just as he started to slide it off he heard the floorboards creek in front of him, startled, he jumped up – dropping his Father's body behind him and pocketing the ring. Standing in front of him was a man of medium build, dressed all in black with an untamed beard and shaggy hair, pointing a gun straight at Jace. The panic and hurt disappeared almost instantaneously and turned into anger as he realised that this was the intruder. He launched forward without thinking, connecting his fisted hand with the intruders face, just as he pulled his arm back to punch again two pairs of arms wrapped around his own and pulled him off the bearded man. He screamed for them to let him go as he tried to launch forward again but they just cemented their grip harder._

"_Go on then! Kill me too you sick bastards! That woman in there, my father they didn't dese-"_

"_We didn't kill them," the bearded one snapped, before softening his face. "We are here for you and we don't have much time, if you stop struggling they will let you go and I'll explain quickly, but we need to leave before anyone returns."_

_Jace pushed his arms back trying to shove them off but to no avail, he gritted his teeth as he felt the tears well up again, but he pushed them down, doing what his mother had always taught him and focusing on just one thing, he chose the intruders eyes. "Why should I trust you?" he growled._

"_Because we are here on your Mother's orders." The other men released him as he went limp completely. Dazed and confused he carried on staring the bearded man straight in the eye._

"_But, she's dead?" the words barely made it out in a whisper._

"_We will explain it all later I promise you Jace," the man put his hands on Jace's shoulder but he shrugged it off and stepped back again. The man sighed and rubbed his head. "Even if I told you everything about your Mother and Father you wouldn't believe me right now, but please, we need to get you out and get you somewhere safe, when all this blows over I promise I will sit you down and explain everything but for now you are just going to have to trust me, but if you need some proof," The man held his hand out and opened it revealing a slim silver locket with a sapphire embedded amongst intricate engravings. Jace stumbled forward and snatched it out of the man's hand, how was this possible?_

"_This is my mother's locket," he whispered. "She was buried in it."_

_The bearded man moved forward cautiously stopping short of Jace. "I'll tell you everything, just please come with us now."_

_A wave of exhaustion hit him suddenly, he fell back into a chair his eyes still staring at the locket. "How do I know you aren't the people that killed them." He whispered._

"_I'm afraid your going to have to go on trust, if you stay here I'm almost certain you'll meet the real people who killed them, and as much as I'm sure you would happily stay and try and kill them yourself, they outnumber, outgun and out-experience you."_

_He held his arm out to Jace, looking down with a faint smile that just made Jace want to punch him on the other side of the face too. "It's time to go."_

_Jace knocked his hand out of the way, standing up and walked over to his Father. He bent down, closing his eyes with his fingers – taking the terrified look off of his face and replacing it with an eerily peaceful one. _

"_What happens to his body, can I bur-"_

"_There is no time." The bearded man interjected. "We will bury him once the police have done their thing, but for now saving you is the important thing."_

_He nodded in defeat, there was no arguing with these people. He leaned forward, kissing his Father's head lightly before stepping back and allowing himself to be steered out of the room and out the front door to a waiting car, the bearded man opened the door for him and he climbed inside, still numb. They drove off and headed North from what he could tell, no one else spoke to him and he didn't bother asking anymore questions, he just watched the landscape he had known all his life disappear before his eyes - after a while he didn't recognise where he was anymore. Somewhere along the way he had fallen asleep because next thing he knew a cold breeze hit him as a door opened and a hand shook him gently._

"_It's time to get out Jace." For a second he forgot where he was and launched out of the seat but the bearded man pinned him down and covered his mouth, it was obviously raining because he was soaking wet and dripping all over Jace._

"_We are in a neighbourhood and I can guarantee they are very nosy neighbours, I'm about to introduce you to a very close friend of mine – she will look after you, she's the best I've ever met."_

_He removed his hand slowly from Jace's mouth. "I know everything is confusing right now but don't take it out on her, I promise she's only protecting you, you'll only be there for a while, my team and I need to take care of a few things and then we can help you get your life back on tra-"_

"_What life?" Jace scoffed. "My Father's dead, you've just dragged me from my house – you won't give me an explanation! Tell me, what could you possibly do for me?" He stepped out of the car, matching his height with the bearded man, who just pushed his hair back out of his face and blew out a long breath._

"_I can't give you answers till I'm told, just sit tight. I know you know that your father dabbled in some risky business and, I know the training he gave you," he signalled to the dark bruise now swelling over his eye. "But what you don't know is that the rest of your Father's little gang of merry men will be looking for you right now, because a gang cannot function without a leader. And I along with others made a promise a long time ago to your mother that if we could get you away from that life – we would."_

_Jace just stared, he knew his father was a part of a risky business, although he never indulged what exactly that was – and it was true that his father had made sure Jace knew how to defend himself. But he did not know that his Father was a leader and he certainly didn't understand why his Fathers acquaintances would be looking for him to take over from him, he was still a child. Instead of asking another unanswerable question he decided to go with what he done best – wit and sarcasm._

"_Well someone's done their homework, anything else you want to know? My natural hair colour? What I done behind the bike shed last month? My favourite colour to paint my toenails? Or I guess you will you just steal that too." He walked past the bearded man and over to the other men waiting by the door who were all talking to someone he couldn't see past the door frame. As he got closer the bearded man overtook him and jogged to the door, Jace saw a woman step out just as he reached it and flung her arms around the man, whispering something fast into his ear as she pecked his cheeks. Was this his home? Jace stopped, not wanting to go any closer. The bearded man and the woman exchanged a few words before she turned to him, a look of almost fury in her eyes before turning back to the bearded man and signalling inside with a cold look and pointed finger, the man signalled for Jace to follow him, at first every muscle in Jace's body screamed at him to run, but he also knew there was no point, it was six against one and someone would catch up no matter how much training he had gone through with Jordan. Walking forward slowly he approached the steps and treaded up them lightly, as he stepped inside the woman took his arm and guided him through the dark to the left into a faintly lit room. She pressed a cold glass into his hands and sat him down on a chair as the others filed in and surrounded him._

"_What happened Luke?" The woman asked. She had clearly just got out of bed Jace thought, her hair was in a dishevelled pony tail and she had her dressing gown wrapped tight against as she hugged her arms. The bearded man was the one to answer._

"_We got a tip off that someth-"_

"_You got a tip off?!" Jace stood up, knocking the glass to the floor, a resounding number of "shh's" echoed from around the room, the woman stepped forward and placed her hand on his shoulder._

"_My daughter is asleep upstairs and I'd rather we didn't wake her." Her words were firm but there was a softness to her eyes, Jace slowly sat down, pressing his hands together and bowing his head. They were dropping him off to a damn babysitter._

_The bearded man, Luke as he had been called cleared his throat and carried on._

"_We got a tip off that something might go down, we sent agents ahead but whoever carried out this attack had placed members further down the road – the agents got taken out, we found the bodies in the ditch." The woman pressed her hands to her lips as she sucked in a breath, but nodded for him to carry on._

"_By the time we got to the house the intruder had been alerted and was gone, we found the maid with chest wounds in the kitchen, and we found Jace here with his Father's body in the study, there were no other casualties, whether they were going for Jace too we don't know, but the order came right from Valentine that we are to make him our top priority and protect him with every means possible." He smiled slightly at the woman as he gave her arm a squeeze. "You are the best person we've got to keep him safe until we eradicate the threat."_

_Jace didn't know what he expected, but it wasn't for the woman to recoil in almost horror._

"_This is dangerous! I have a daughter to think about! He should know better than to ask this of me."_

_Jace's stomach plummeted, he was quite hard skinned, but to go from his life of doing what he wanted to suddenly putting the fear of god in a woman he didn't know when she is faced with the possibility of taking him in scared him. Who and what was his family to do this? Jace shook his head and went to stand up – with every intention of running out the door and just going back home – he didn't need these people, or their protection. He knew some of his Fathers acquaintances, he knew they would help him._

_Before he could action his thoughts Luke stepped in front of him and pointed up._

"_Sssh, Jocelyn – you don't want to wake her, you don't have to say yes." He stepped away from Jace and closer to the woman. "Jocelyn, you know I wouldn't have come to you with this if it wasn't with the utmost of impor-"_

_She stepped forward, a hand whipped out from her side. "You are asking me to put my daughter in danger Luke!" _

"_You don't think I know that?" Luke's voice rose, but one of the other men grabbed onto his arm, putting a finger to their lips. Jace watched Luke as his face softened and the tiredness started pull at his eyes. More softly, he spoke to the woman again. "I care for her too Jocelyn." Jace was beginning to wonder if this woman was more than a friend like Luke had said, he didn't know whether it was obvious to everyone else, but Jace was pretty much blinded by their unseen chemistry. He almost wanted to vomit. "We will all be around to protect her, but this boy needs the best chance of survival right now, and that chance is you." He hovered slightly before taking the womans face in his hands._

"_Don't do this for Valentine, do this for me."_

"_I'm surprised he even thought of me." Jace watched as the woman tried to free herself from Luke's grip as he saw her eyes glisten. Under different circumstances Jace might have felt bad for her, but right now he didn't know these people, he didn't know where the hell he was, and he didn't know where his father was. He swallowed the hard lump rising in his throat and looked back to his hands again. 'Strength gives us the power to be what we want' his father would say to him. And right now he wanted to be invisible. _

_Jace carried on playing with the blood on his hands, rubbing it in circles, digging it out from underneath his nails. He almost forgot for a while where he was when suddenly the woman was upon him, he snapped his attention back onto the conversation._

"…_name of Jesus happened to him?" Jocelyn put a hand on his shoulder, sympathy pouring from her eyes and he couldn't stand it, he turned his focus back to his hands again, ignoring whatever else they were saying about him, but within seconds they were all moving towards the door, he kept his eyes firmly on his hands, focusing on the blood, his Father's blood. And then above him, he sensed rather than saw something looking at him - he looked up, searching around in the darkness his eyes finally settled on a figure curled behind the bars on the stairs, once he found her eyes he never left them, they looked terrified – of him, she was holding her hands to her mouth as her eyes glistened. He realised he was still probably glaring like he had been for the last few hours, he softened them a little but his heart sank as she turned to run up the stairs. Looking down, he took himself in for the first time. He was covered in blood, everywhere – he could even feel it in his hair. He guessed she was the daughter, and she was already scared of him. Jace sank his hands into his hair, telling himself not to get upset, but what did he have? His father was murdered, this woman didn't want him, her daughter was already terrifed – why the hell was he here. And then her name came floating from the hall, slowly it entered his mind and he registered it. _

"_If it wasn't for Celine, I would not be doing this."_

_His mother's name. This woman knew his mother._

Jace slipped the ring on before looking back up into the mirror. He didn't care what he would have to do, he was going to find out who killed his Father, without these people's help or not. And he was certainly going to find out how they all knew his Mom.

He walked out of the room, turning the music already playing up slightly, he was about to take his towel off when a figure moved in the corner of his eye. The girl, from last night he guessed was standing right infront of him the bedroom door opened behind her. Her fiery red hair fell around her face, the sleep was still in her eyes as she opened her mouth and roared. "WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING IN THIS ROOM."

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**Hope you guys enjoyed it! Sorry for the one swear word Jace dropped, I can't control the boy. I'll update ASAP, sorry for any mistakes at all, I've read it till my eyes screamed no more and I don't have a BETA, and I really wanted to update. I'll try get the next one up BEFORE Christmas. :)**

**~Ladieesailor**


	3. Chapter 3

***Hides behind Thorin and his company of dwarves* Okay guys I know its been over a month since an update and I feel really crappy for it! I got caught up in being home with family that I just didn't have time to write at all! Then I had to go back to work and I had like 65 page reports to do and well yeah, its not been pretty! This chapter is shorter than my usual ones, and it is a transition chapter! I just wanted to finish up the crossover of Clary and Jace's views so now I can get straight onto just having a different POV each time. Sorry again for the update time guys, I promise I'll try to do better with that in the future!**

**Thanks for all the lovely reviews so far! Feel free to keep them coming!**

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Clary's mind was reeling from everything that she had just overheard. From all of her experiences of kids turning up on the doorstep this one was by far the weirdest. No one turned up at four thirty in the morning, no one turned up covered in blood, and no one turned up that ended up bringing her dad into the conversation. She heard her Mom climb the stairs, presumably followed by the new guy. As far as she could tell her Mom hadn't seen her on the stairs so she was safe from that argument.

She was wrestling with the thought of how to play this one, wake up, admit she'd hear everything and demand answers, or play it cool, and just do the normal – ignore the new kid and carry on like nothing had changed. She was nearly at the point of getting her sketchbook out to note down the pro's and con's when a small knock came from the door, she flipped over and buried herself into her covers, slowing her breathing down and shutting her eyes. The door opened, a draft followed in before the door was shut again. Clary waited to see if her Mom would just go, but she felt the end of her bed bend under a new weight. Crap. Her Mom knew she was awake. She rolled over slowly, still keeping her covers wrapped round her as she looked at her Mom.

"Another nightmare sweetheart?" Her Mom's hand came out, stroking her face lightly and moving her hair from her face. She only nodded in response, scared of what words would actually come out if she spoke.

"And I guess," she continued, "you were on your way to the bathroom when you heard a little discussion going on downstairs about our new arrival."

Clary could only look at her mom - her face probably showing her guilt. Now she definitely knew she had been eavesdropping. She was already in trouble, what harm could a little questioning do?

"Amongst other things." She muffled into her cover.

Jocelyn nodded as if egging her to go on, pulling the covers down a little before continuing to stroke her cheek.

"I heard you talk about Dad, and how you knew he left us for his job, and how he was the one delivering this bo-"

Her Mom held her hand up, silencing Clary. "We have a deal Clary, you are not interested in acknowledging them, so you don't ask anything about them."

Clary looked at her Mom, flabbergasted. "You're telling me I can't even ask about Dad! I mean you've had contact with him were you just going to keep that from me?!"

It was Jocelyn's turn to look flabbergasted. "If I knew where your father was I'd wrap my hands around his neck myself." She stood up, walking towards the door, "this is a favour for Luke, and yes, as you heard I knew the boy's Mom and I'm doing it for her, which was apart of something your Dad and I agreed to do before he ran off, but that's it. Your Father as far as I'm concerned has nothing to do with this and he will never come anywhere near us so long as I'm alive."

Clary's stomach dropped for a second, feeling sorry for her momentarily. She had never mistrusted her Mom before, she knew this was her job and she knew her Mom kept her in the dark to protect her, but everything she heard was bouncing around in her mind and she couldn't rid herself of why everyone was suddenly connected. She sat up, holding her hand out to her Mom signalling her to come back, she would find out eventually but for now, she didn't want to fight.

"I'm sorry Mom," Jocelyn sat back down on the bed slowly taking Clary's hand and clasping it in her own. "I guess I'm just tired and hearing Dad being brought up just hurt a little I guess, but your right he'll never come near us so I guess there's no point dwelling." She watched as her Mom breathed a sigh of relief as she raised Clary's hand to her cheek and gave it a quick kiss.

"Thank you, darling." She placed Clary's hand down as she stood up, giving her hair a quick stroke before retreating to the door again. "Life will be easier if we just let this one blow its course and be done with, he won't stay long, just treat him like the rest and he will be gone before you know it." She winked at Clary as she walked out the door shutting it quietly behind her.

Clary spent the next hour or so tossing and turning, not quite yet able to get the memories of earlier out of her head, but as her alarm went off she decided that her Mom was right, as weird as the situation was it was best if she just forgets it all and let it blow over. Sighing, she hopped out of bed and grabbed her towel off the radiator before opening her door and heading down the hall to the shower. She heard music playing faintly from further down the landing, she slowed a little, listening for where the music was coming from when her eyes settled on the door opposite the bathroom, it was ajar slightly. Licking her now extremely dry lips she stepped forward inching closer and closer to the door her heartbeat getting faster. She set her hand on the door handle and rested her head against the wooden frame. She hadn't been in this room in years, another set of painful memories she was happy to forget, so she didn't know why she was so mad that the new boy was in here. Her heart beating her mind to it she thrust the door open and for a second she was winded from the sight – everything was the exact same as it was 3 years ago, not one thing had changed. She breathed slowly as she stepped into the room, running her hand along the desk before quickly withdrawing it. She could feel panic rise in her throat and all she wanted to do was turn and run away back underneath her quilts where she was safe from all the memories. She blinked the tears from her eyes as she made to turn when movement caught her eye, she turned round fully to look at the new boy, wrapped only in a towel as he walked out of the bathroom. Her pain very quickly turned to anger as she remembered why she stepped in in the first place. He obviously hadn't seen her because he carried on walking to the bed, turning the radio up a little, but just as he turned she say his eyes meet her own, shock and confusion both swirling round his golden eyes. Her heart and anger once again won over her mind and she stepped forward, gripping her hands into fists infuriated at the sight of him, "WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING IN HERE." She yelled, barely containing the snarl that followed. At first she thought she saw a little fear but that disappeared as quickly as it came as he sat down on the bed.

"Well, as far as I'm aware this is where your Mother told me to sleep." He signalled towards the comic figurines on the chest of drawers which they were still, Clary noticed, as they were when she had arranged them into height order as a little girl. "Although I could do without the baby toys." He smirked almost as if he was impressed with his own comment. Clary just stared, her mouth slightly open as all word's escaped her. When she saw him look down at her open mouth she shut it quickly, willing herself not to cry, but the tears fell anyway. Something changed in the boy's face as he rose slowly from the bed, holding his hand out to her.

"Oh my god, I'm so sorry, your Mother told me this was your brother's room, I totally forgot I-," he ran his hands through his hair, shutting his eyes and breathing out deeply. Clary couldn't help but notice the last of the water glisten in his hair, almost like it was made of gold, which infact as she stole a glance up and down his body she realised he might aswell be made entirely of gold. His hair, his eyes, his skin – they all radiated a glow.

"-I'm such a jackass, I was just trying to make light of the conversation." His voice brought her back from her thoughts, she scolded herself silently, telling herself to focus on the problem at hand, there was no time to deduce the boy's looks. She looked up into his eyes, she could feel him trying to convey his apology but she didn't care for it. She just wanted him out.

"If they are too babyish for you then there is a spare room down the hall that I'm sure will meet your jackass requirements." She stole another glance at his eyes before she turned and walked out, slamming the door behind her for good measure. She barged through the bathroom door, and slammed it shut behind her as she pressed the towel to her face and growled profanities into it.

"I see you are already getting started on another turbulent hateful relationship."

Clary jumped, turning round to see her Mom smiling at her in the mirror. Clary groaned and fell into her Mom's arms hugging her tight. "Why that room Mom?" she whispered almost to herself. "Why Jonathans room, it's not right, you've never put anyone else in there." Jocelyn pulled her tighter, nestling Clary's head into the crook of her neck.

"Because for once, I'm taking care of someone who has lost more than us. He's lost two parents who treated him like he was the world, they weren't cruel or horrible like the other kid's parent's, he was loved and even if he doesn't show it to us now he's going to feel his dad's death hard now that he has no one." She kissed the top of Clary's head and pulled her even tighter. "I guess I felt that after seeing his almost perfect life fall a part I wanted him to have some comfort whilst he was here and-" her voice broke for a second, Clary knew she was swallowing the tears. "And I guess I thought cause he's the same age as Jonathan when he disappeared he would have comfort in there because I guess all boys are the same really."

Clary nodded silently, her guilt riding over her now. She heard the story, she knew he was different and yet she had just torn him apart. Her Mom was right, for now, at least he deserved some kind of comfort in all his pain.

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**Promise a bigger chapter next time, I just wanted to get everyone on the same timeline! **

**~Ladieesailor**


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N - Hi lovely people! Really happy I was able to update this weekend, the way things are going this should be a once a week update on weekends possibly through weekdays! I won't waste anymore words! Thank you for the reviews its lovely to receive them and to the people that have followed and favourite - THANK YOU!**

**Hope this doesn't disappoint, read and enjoy :)**

**~Ladieesailor**

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Clary popped a slice of buttered toast between her teeth as she ran around the kitchen, picking up random letters and pieces of paper and discarding them behind her as she frantically searched around for her house keys. Her Mom had left half an hour ago so if she wanted to get to school on time she was going to have to get her butt into gear before Simon arrived to pick her and Isabelle up.

She had all but given up when her hand brushed against something heavy - which sent it flying, a resounding 'klink' hit the air as it went skidding over the kitchen counter and onto the floor.

"Ah hah!" Clary bit into her toast and took it out of her mouth as she moved to pick them up, but another pair of hands beat her to it.

"I guess you are looking for these?"

Clary quickly swallowed the remainder of the toast, mumbling a quick thanks as she snatched her keys from the new boy's hand and carried on making herself look busy, checking that all her books were in her bag over and over again. She was at the point of checking her pencil case when she sensed movement behind her as the boy came into her peripheral view and rested his hands on the kitchen counter.

"I am sorry for what I said, I wasn't thinking straight I-" he started.

"Yeah yeah I get it, your life has changed beyond recognition, you don't know who you are anymore an-"

"My name is Jace," he cut her off sharply, Clary snapped her eyes up to his eyes, which had darkened as he stared her down. "And yeah I suppose finding my dead Father is kind of life changing, but I'll make sure I keep it altogether next time I bump into you, I mean, God forbid I should even care I'm now an orphan."

Without another word he walked towards the front door and opened it, Clary hadn't even realised he was changed into a loose fitting top and basketball shorts - neither of which she recognised.

"Wait!" she scooped up her school bag as she made to follow him to the door but he ignored her, slamming the door behind him. Clary stopped short of it, the air from the door closing wafting over her face. She could have easily given herself a punch on the arm right then if it was possible, how could she be so cruel? She could feel the ashamed feeling rising in her, there was ignoring the new boy like she had always done and then there was being downright rude. She shook her head as she rested it in her hands, she would have to make sure she apologised later, then maybe it would be better if she just shut her mouth altogether, for everyone's sake. Her Mom had gotten quite emotional this morning, Clary knew there was a history behind this boy – Jace - one that made her Mom willing to throw aside her own and possibly Clary's safety to ensure his. And her Mom would definitely be upset if she found out what Clary had said. She had to try harder to keep her mouth shut, for her Mom's sake more than his. The door burst open, making Clary jump, she expected a very angry Jace to have returned but instead a very dishevelled Simon was standing in the doorway, his glasses askew and his jacket hanging off of his back.

"Do you want to explain the guy that's just stormed out of your house sending me flying or shall we save that for fourth period gossip?"

Clay groaned, pushing him back out the door and locking it behind her. "Go grab Iz, we're going to be late."

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**Jace POV**

Jace slammed the door behind him, barely registering the scrawny boy he bumped into, sending him flying onto the grass. He muttered a quick 'sorry', remembering his manors before running off down the drive and into the middle of the road. Despite the morning chill he ripped off the baggy t-shirt he found stuffed in a bag in the spare room and tucked it into the waistband of his shorts. 'Be bold start cold!' his Father had always chirped at him whenever he went out running. Jace shook his head violently, almost as if he could release the memories from his thoughts. It hadn't even been a day yet and he still couldn't bring himself to let it all out, let all the tears he wanted to shed over the father he would never see again. He never remembered losing his Mother, but now that they were both gone, the loss of her too weighed heavily on him. He pushed himself to run harder, to run away from those thoughts, he would deal with it in time, but not now. He wondered what was going on back at home, would Jordan be standing outside the school doors where he usually waited for him, tapping his foot impatiently wondering where Jace was? The feeling of his life changing so suddenly settled onto his shoulders again, this time the day before he was running out the door late for school, now he was running away from the house he had just been kicked into. Then he remembered, the fiery red head's heated words as he tried to apologise – an honour some would say to get an apology from Jace Herondale – and yet she balled it up and threw it back in his face. His anger towards her sped him up, releasing a burst of energy that Jordan would even be proud of. He hated her with a passion, yeah, he had intruded in her home and from the sounds of things that happened a lot, but if anything she still acted like a spoilt brat. He may have touched the line with his comments but she most definitely crossed the line with hers. Screw her he thought, he could easily live out this hell without so much as another word, if she wanted to be left alone she most certainly had him in agreement. The last houses started to fade into a tree line and before he knew it he was jumping over logs as he ran alongside a calm river - he ran as far as his legs would take him before he finally had to stop and sit down on the damp ground. He groaned inwardly to himself as he tried to catch his breath, he was virtually stuck in a little town in the middle of nowhere. Jace never went against his word and he promised Luke he would stay put, but even if he wanted to run he wouldn't have a chance anyway judging by the amount of greenery around. He flopped back, his lungs defeated and his eyes stinging from lack of sleep. The last thought floating through his head as he nodded off was Jordan, standing alone and looking worried as the school bell went, craning his neck to check the parking lot to find no Jace, and then darkness, total, blinding darkness.

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**Clary POV**

"So he just turned up in the middle of the night covered in blood?" Clary watched as Isabelle twirled her hair looking thoughtfully above herself.

"Yeah pretty much," Clary sighed, she didn't know how many times they'd gone through this.

"And he's in Jonath-"

"Yes yes yes Isabelle! He turned up in the middle of the night, Mom put him in Jonathans room, he was the douchbaggiest of all douchebag's then give it a couple of hours and I was the Queen douchebag. Do we really have to go through this again?!" Clary dropped her fork onto her tray as she took her head in her hands once again. The guilty feeling from what she said this morning had been eating away at her all day and constantly repeating the story wasn't helping.

"Don't forget the part where he knocked me off my feet into the bushes!" Simon pointed his fork at Isabelle, a bit of his chicken flying off and landing on her arm, disgusted she flicked it off onto the floor and turned back to Clary.

"You don't normally care so much, normally today would be a day of venting and complaining - he's just another care kid why is it bothering you so much? You've done worse, do you not remember that girl where you practically pulled her hair out because she broke your favourite chair in your dollhouse. What's different about this one? Is he fit or something?" Isabelle perched forward, her eyes shining.

Clary shook her head in disbelief, Isabelle always managed to bring it back to their physical status.

"No its…" Clary trailed off, thinking how to translate her Mom's words that morning. "He's not like the others, he wasn't beaten up or starved or left to die, his Dad loved him, so he's not someone who is glad to see the back of his parent's, I guess he's hurting."

Clary thought back to sitting on the banister when she first laid eyes on him. Through the anger and the blood what had actually shocked her was how broken he looked, just sitting there picking at the blood.

"Woah, Fray, way to have a heart finally." Isabelle giggled, nudging Clary slightly.

"Sounds like he deserved what she said," Simon growled. "dead parent or not he offended you, if anything he should understand your feelings, you lost someone too, granted it was a lon-"

"Okay please Simon!" Clary held up one of her hands, "lets not talk about that."

He nodded wordlessly as Isabelle gave him a pointed look and mouthed 'idiot' to him. Clary was about to tell them it was fine but the loud ringing of the school bell drowned her out. Simon picked up his books yelling goodbye as he ran into the crowd, Isabelle practically pulled Clary out of her seat and shoved her books into her arms before linking Clary's and her own.

"Please apologise to him so we can move onto hating him?" Isabelle said with the most innocent face before a devilish grin spread across her lips. "I miss hearing the everyday struggles of Clary Fray." Clary leaned against Isabelle, knocking her into the lockers beside them lightly sending them both into a fit of giggling hysterics.

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**I know this was a little short, but next chapter is THEE chapter. Where Clary and Jace begin to come together. Hope this was enough for you guys, love to you all :)**


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N - Hey folks, I suppose I should start with an apology for not updating sooner. I can't remember if I explained before but I'm an engineer and I work on ships, just so happened I had a busy time with little chance of gaining access to the internet. So please forgive me! I know its been forever but here is chapter 5!**

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A cool breeze washed over Jace as he stirred, something hard was digging into his back and it took all his effort to make his hand move down to get rid of whatever it was. To his surprise his hands didn't fall on soft sheets, but cold dirt and broken twigs – bolting upright he looked around, he was still by the river in the forest and judging by his lack of vision it was obviously quite late.

"Shoot." He muttered to himself, Jocelyn was going to murder him for leaving the house never mind disappearing off the map. Clambering up he went to run, rubbing the sleep from his eyes in the hope his sharp vision would return to him, but his foot caught on a loose branch, sending him flying down the bank and straight into the water below. He cursed aloud, smashing his fists against the water and screaming his profanities for the world to hear. When he finally calmed down he sat for a moment, almost giggling at himself and his situation - how could this be? When the goose bumps bulged from his arms from the cold he accepted defeat and trudged out of the water and up to a path that he hoped would lead back into the town, or else he was screwed.

He felt ill and weak. Thinking back he wasn't even sure when he had last eaten, probably the lunch before his run with Jordan which was just over a day ago by now. He inwardly sighed to himself, he had thought about it constantly – what was he supposed to do now? He couldn't live here forever - not that he would want to anyway – but he apparently according to Luke couldn't return home either. Jace, a few years ago when he was a cocky sixteen year old would probably have told Luke where to go and find a way to get back home, but these last two years his Father had come down hard on his attitude, he pretty much trained him to obey orders without question to the point Jace would follow through with whatever he was told by whoever. He smiled weakly as he picked through the bushes, trying to catch a glimpse of any lights in the distance. His Father was a harsh and busy man, and as the last 24 hours proved he probably wasn't exactly the person Jace thought he was, but he was his Father, and Jace saw a side of him none of his business associates or house staff saw. His father taught him how to ride his motorbike, he would sit with Jace and watch football replays late at night as they laughed and chatted into the early hours, and more than anything he always made sure Jace knew he loved him, whether that was through words or actions. He could not bring himself to break down no matter what because he knew deep down inside that his Father wouldn't want that, but more importantly, Jace couldn't bring himself to grieve because he also knew his Father's killer was out there and this wouldn't be over until that person was caught – so he had to stay strong, the fact he was plucked from his life and dumped in the middle of nowhere by a bunch of secret agents told him for certain that he was the next target. And he would be ready when they did find him, because if they could get to his Father then they could certainly get to him.

A light ahead caught his attention, taking a few running steps forward he broke out of the bushes, slowing down as he tried to make sense of where he was. At first there was nothing, then out of the darkness stones loomed ahead. Brilliant, he thought – a graveyard.

He was sure he had passed one when he was running before, if he was correct in thinking he was just north of the road he had ran along that morning. Setting off into a light jog he headed down through the stones, dodging them gracefully until he found a path, following that led him past a church and onto another section of the graveyard. Pausing, he turned around looking for an exit but finding nothing – great, just what he needed. Out of the corner of his eye he caught movement. Turning towards it he saw a woman sitting in front of a stone. He hesitated, was it rude to interrupt a grieving woman? He shook his head, Jocelyn kicking off was going to be a lot scarier than a crying woman. He walked over, trying to make as much noise as possible in his steps so she knew he was coming but she didn't move or stir.

"Excuse me, can yo-" he froze, the woman - or should he say girl whipped her head up, revealing red raw glistening eyes, although it wasn't just any girl, it was her. The fiery red head – Clary. She bolted up, wiping her eyes and shoving what he guessed was a tissue into her pocket as she pulled her hood down and stepped over to him. She looked completely different from the horrid girl she was before – she looked more like the small girl perched on the staircase looking terrified of him in the early hours of the morning.

"Jace," she managed to stutter. "What are you doing here Mom's going to flip that you're out this late!"

"I uhm, went for a run an-" he stopped, why was he being nice to her? After what she had said this morning he didn't owe her an explanation for anything. "Infact it doesn't matter, I was just away dealing with my father's death away from your presence so not to offend you again." He sneered at her, hoping she caught the full force of the venom she intended for her, but instead she only blinked slowly, fresh tears appearing as she looked down.

"I'm really sorry about that, I keep forgetting you're different from the rest of them. You're here with me and Mom because you lost your Dad, not because he beat you up or starved you or anything like that like the rest of them, I was moody and brash and clearly wasn't thinking at all – I've felt terrible all day and I just need you to know I really am sorry."

"Good, it was a proper jackass comment to make." He stared at her a moment longer, folding his arms as she continued to stare at the ground, ignoring his eye. He really should storm away now, or make another sarky comment but he decided against it - at the end of the day he had offended her first although it was unintentional – she like him was only human after all. If Jordan could see him right now he would laugh at how pathetic Jace was being, the Jace he was two day's ago would have stormed away with a smirk on his face, revelling in all the sarcastic and witty comments he threw her way, but now? He was broken, and the thought of being rude and obnoxious tired him.

"I'm sorry too, I shouldn't have made the toys comment I wasn't thinking straight either. Truce?" He held his hand out. Her eyes sprang up, her teeth chewing on her bottom lip as she leaned forward, cautiously gripping his hand and shaking it once before withdrawing it back into her pocket. They stood in silence for a while, both of them looking at anywhere but each other, and Clary looked like she was trying as hard as he was to think of something to say. He couldn't bare the silence anymore and decided to address the elephant in the room.

"If you don't mind me asking Clary, what are you doing here?" he stepped a little closer trying to catch a glimpse of the headstone, but flowers hid the name.

"Oh it's my brother's grave." He froze, his mouth hanging open slightly as he tried to form words to say but she beat him to it. "Oh, no not like that, he went missing a few years ago when I was younger… a body has never been found so his death hasn't been called yet, they can't prove he is alive but they also can't prove he is dead, so instead of being stuck in limbo me and Mom decided to do this for him." She looked up at him, opening her mouth to carry on but she stopped herself as she thought of her next words carefully.

"I wish I could just get it over with, bury him properly and just get the grieving out of the way so I can carry on with my life, Isabelle keeps telling me that I should remain optimistic, that he could still be alive-." she faltered for a moment, as if a sudden memory washed over her. Her brows furrowed and her teeth bit even further into her lip. "-but Mom and I both know he's gone, call me stupid or crazy but I just know." He gritted his teeth against the creeping cold, staring past her to the other graves, he supposed he was lucky in a way that he knew his Father was definitely dead, but he had to hold onto the fact that he couldn't grieve just yet, he had to hold on until he was in a much safer position where he could get it out without becoming vulnerable. He saw her head nod a little out of the corner of his eye, as if she was reading his mind.

"It will come, you've got me and Mom to support you, I know its not much but its all we can do." He looked back at her, as she looked sadly up at him. She was like a robot, brainwashed to think her and her Mom were supposed to be there for everyone, he found himself feeling quite sad for her, she was only 16 and standing here infront of him she looked like she had been carrying some weight on her shoulders for a very long time.

"How long have you been doing this for Clary?"

She thought for a minute before answering him. "The first child came when I was four, and they've been coming ever since really, the biggest gap between foster kids was a month and a half and that was between you and the last kid." she gave him a sad smile. "If it makes you feel better I was never nice to the other kids either, I didn't like sharing my Mom and I always felt they came first before me and Jonathan. We didn't really mind at first since we always had each other, but when he disappeared I was alone, and it was only when I became one of those kids who had lost something that me and Mom began to finally bond properly." She looked down at the grave, placing her hand tentatively on the wet gravestone and stroked it absently. "I hate myself everyday for even letting the thought cross my mind that through Jonathan's disappearance I finally got the attention of my Mom over the other kids."

Jace shuffled on his feet as he watched her get caught up in her thoughts again, there was nothing he could say that would abate her guilt, and their was nothing he could even think of to say, but he did feel sorry for her. Stepping forward her placed his hand on her shoulder, she jumped at the contact but she let his hand remain on her shoulder. Words of his Father came to him, words that he would tell Jace when he felt like he had done something wrong and only he could make it better for Jace.

"Clary, the phrase 'the world only revolves around you' was made for a reason, you can't feel other peoples feelings or even begin to imagine what they have been through when something terrible happens because it is not possible. The only feelings you can feel are your own, and whether that's self-pity or regret or anger then that's fine, because its your body and your mind - your allowed to feel that way because nobody else can feel that way for you or even know you feel that way." She looked up to him, the beauty of her attentive eyes caught him off guard for just a moment, he was mesmerised as he stuttered out his final words. "A-and no one else knows you feel that way unless you tell them, so don't feel bad because you think of your situation that way, your only human."

He removed his hand, withdrawing back to himself. She almost moved with his hand but it seemed she thought better and stayed where she was. Reaching into her pocket she pulled out one of the small figurines that was in Jonathans room that morning, glancing at Jace she bent down slowly, placing it next to some wild flowers that had been bunched together.

"See you next week brother." she whispered to the grave as she stood slowly, kissing the head of the gravestone as she stood. Wrapping her arms around herself she turned back to him and looked him up and down. "We better get you back, before you either die of Hypothermia from this rain or the thunder of my Mom's anger that you even left the house today."

He fell in step beside her as they walked down to a rickety gate at the bottom. "Uhh, how mad is your Mom going to be?"

She smirked, letting out a small note of laughter before pushing her hood up and revealing more of her face to him. "Let's just say, if Zeus and Thor were having a fight you would be the poor soul in the middle getting absolutely fried."


End file.

Mortal Instruments, Hurt-Comfort, Romance