Idris

Two Years Ago


He ignored her when she called his name.

"Alec?"

A piece of crumpled up paper hit his back, rolling across the floor. He merely scoffed in annoyance.

"Alec!"

"What?" He demanded, his eyes never leaving the screen. "What could you possibly want?"

That was classic Isabelle, trying to distract him the moment there was work to be done.

"Look." She whispered.

He reluctantly tore his gaze away from his view of the city, allowing it to land on his grinning parabatai. The two raven haired teens stared at their brother in amazement.

Jace...

Looked...

Happy.

Jace Lightwood didn't do happy. He was cynical, head strong, stubborn, stoic, all admirable qualities in Alec's eyes, and yet, here he was, leaning against the wall with a lopsided smile on his face.

"Hello, Alexander."

"Um, hi." He replied, unsure of what else to say. "You... You seem happy."

It suddenly occurred to him that he had never actually seen his brother look happy. Amused, sure, annoyed, definitely, but happiness had seemed to allude him for the last seventeen years. Jace was an orphan, taken in, adopted by the Lightwood's as a young child. His parents, his true mother and father had been taken away before he could ever know them, murdered in cold blood by Valentine Morgenstern.

Clary's father, though he would never hold that against her.

Jace was a hero, the best fighter Alec knew. He was so strong, so accurate, so dedicated.

He was also so loyal, forever defending those he loved. Robert, Maryse, Isabelle, Max, Clary, himself even, for they were parabatai, bound to protect one another. Always.

Jace deserved to be happy, Alec decided, more than anyone he knew.

Jace nodded. "I am."

Alec turned back to the screen, intent on returning his focus to his earlier task of searching for demons. Why Jace was happy was none of his business, and he wasn't being rude when he hoped that his brother would not share. They were Shadowhunters, they were supposed to control their emotions, not be ruled by them.

An order that had always seemed to be lost on the two girls in his life.

"What happened?" Isabelle demanded, her eyes shining.

She lived for gossip, and he found himself feeling thankful that Clary was not with them. Not because she so often got on his nerves, though that happened daily, but because despite her tomboyish nature, she still had her girly moments, where she and Isabelle wasted hours whispering back and forth, occasionally giggling.

Jace smirked. "Wouldn't you like to know?"

"I would, actually." She pushed a dark wave of shiny black curls behind her ear. "Where's Clary?"

Alec sighed.

He wasn't stoic, he did feel, he just didn't feel a lot, but earlier, when their red-headed friend had run out of the room, struggling to keep her composure, he had almost followed her out. He would have, had Jace not beaten him to it.

As much as they butted heads, as much as she got on his nerves, as much as he yelled at her, berated her, criticized her, she was still Clary, the girl that had been like a sister to him since her own mother handed her over to the Lightwoods as an infant, too worried about herself to even give a damn about Clary. He loved her. They all did.

"In her room." Jace said, his lips forming a thin line. His smile was gone, but only for a moment. "She, uh, she's going to be okay."

Of course she is. Alec thought. She's Clary.

"Why are you smiling?"

He reached for the knife he kept clipped to his belt, casually tossing it into the air. "Am I not allowed to?"

"You never smile." Isabelle accused, her eyes narrowing. "What happened between you and Clary?"

The knife clattered against the polished floor.

"W-What?" He asked.

The stuttering peaked Alec's interest, though his gaze remained fixated on the screen.

Jace never stuttered.

"What happened between you and Clary?" She repeated, pronouncing each word carefully.

"Why would you think-"

"Because it's you." Isabelle replied, as if that explained everything. "And Clary. Everyone knows that-"

Jace rolled his eyes. "Not this again. Izzy..."

"It's true." She defended, crossing her own arms. "Right Alec?"

He didn't answer.

She hadn't finished her sentence, not that she needed to. All anyone had to do was mention their names together. It was the way they looked at one another.

They were...

They were Jace and Clary; everyone knew they would end up together.

Isabelle opened her mouth to speak, but she cried out instead, her hand clutching her side as she doubled over in pain.

They were at her side in an instant, catching hold of her arms as she sank to the ground.

"Izzy?" Alec asked, the urgency clear in his voice. "What is it? What's wrong?"

"Clary." Isabelle whispered.

With a shaking hand, she gripped the end of her tank-top, the fabric bunching up in her fist as she yanked it upward.

His eyes widened.

"Her parabatai rune."

And then, Jace was running, wrenching free from his sibling's grasp.

Isabelle screamed.


"Clary!" He yelled, bursting through the door.

The room was splattered with red, the color of blood, a far cry from how it had been only minutes earlier. A lamp was broken, and her favorite chair, placed deliberately by the window, was toppled over, the fabric also stained.

"Clary!"

There was no answer.

"Clary?" He shouted, the desperation clear in his voice. "Clary?"

Someone coughed.

"J-Jace?"

He ran to her.

She was lying beside her bed, a mass of fiery curls plastered to her pale, sweaty forehead.

Her hand was pressed against the gaping hole against her chest. A knife wound. Fatal.

"No." He hissed, covering it with his own. "No. Stay with me, Clary, don't you dare close your eyes!"

"J-Jace..." She said again, a single tear rolling down her cheek.

"Save your breath." Jace told her. "Don't say anything, you need your strength.'

He reached for his stele, but found nothing.

"Where is it?" He hissed.

She let out a strangled breath, drawing his attention fully back to her.

"I'm so sorry Jace." She murmured. "I tried... He was just... He was just so strong."

"It's gonna be okay." Jace promised, brushing the curls away from her eyes. "You're going to be fine."

Fingers trembling, she brought her hand up to cup his cheek, her palm a familiar warmth against his skin.

"Te Amo." She whispered. "Te amo in aeternum."

Her hand fell away from his face.

"No." He grabbed hold of her shoulders, shaking her violently. "No! Clary!"

Her head lulled to the side, and as she took her final breath, his face was the last thing she saw.