A/N: For the wonderful youarethefirstdreamofmysoul on tumblr. Merry Christmas darling, and I hope you enjoy this little something from your secret reindeer.
glass towers
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He thinks he sees her now, dirt in her hair, light reflected in her glassy eyes, as the bright glass towers illuminated. Clary's hands are gripped tightly around a seraph blade, and she falls to the ground, speechless, inhaling sharply.
In a flash, his arms are around her, and Jace is kneeling next to her, as Clary buries her head in his shoulder, and as he breathes for the first time in forever, he can see out of the corner of his eyes, the littered bodies, and the broken cup, smashed into a thousand pieces. He can feel her hands, clenching the front of his shirt tightly, and it feels like everything is over, only he has a feeling the battle isn't quite over.
It isn't, because people are dead, and outbursts puncture the silence that can only be a product of despair. People are crying, and Clary is sobbing quietly, and Jocelyn is leaning over the mutilated body of her dead son, and everything is falling into a thousand pieces.
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He wakes up with a bandage on his side, and he can feel the familiar burn of a freshly applied rune on his skin, but Jace's first thought is Clary, like it's always been, and he feels a flicker of panic, but then he sees her hand, hanging off of the hospital next to him, hair in a disarray around her head, and he relaxes. Next to her bed, a chair is pulled up, and Simon is sprawled in it, legs over the side, head hanging off the arm.
It feels like his whole body is on fire, aching as he forces himself up, props himself up on one arm, looking around. He had been in the Alicante hospital before, once, and he can recognize the smell of lavender and the light brown walls. Clary looks like hell, and he swings his feet over the bed, feeling the tightness of his muscles.
Simon shifts restlessly, and he shakes his head blearily, before seeing Jace, awake, and staring at Clary like she was the rising sun.
"Oh," he says awkwardly, "I'll just leave." Jace's head snaps in his direction, and he takes a moment to appreciate the boy's common sense.
As Simon walks out of the hospital wing, a small one, just them in the room, Jace calls out, "Thanks for taking care of her," and Simon turns and smiles a little.
"That's all I'm good for." Jace wants to roll his eyes and tell him to stop fishing for sympathy, but instead, he just nods, and then it is just him and Clary in the room. Clary is particularly fragile in her bed, her face was pale and there was a small scar, from a dagger dipped in demon blood, at the base of her throat, still looking puckered and fresh. Jace walks over to the edge of her bed, sitting down, without his usual grace, in the chair that Simon had previously occupied.
A tender hand gently brushed a lock of hair from Clary's face, tucking it behind her ears, and Clary shifts slightly in her sleep, aware of Jace's presence like his is of her's. She opens her eyes, blinking slowly, scrunching her eyebrows up when the light hits her.
"Hi," she says, finally, when her eyes go to his hand, then travel up to his face.
"Hey," he replies, leaning his head so that it was on the edge of the hospital bed, part of her face obscured by the raised sheets. She smiles, sleepily, and she scoots over in her bed, compacting herself into a small corner of the hospital bed, patting the empty side. Jace falls into place with her, folding himself so that his arm is under her head, and he is on his side, while she lies on her back. A lazy hand goes up to caress his face, and Jace can feel a warm sense of happiness and comfort, that only Clary can make him feel, and he catches her hand in his.
"You okay?" he asks, bringing their joined hands to her face, feeling the softness of her cheek with the back of his hand.
"I'm fine," she says with a tiny smile. For a moment, they both push the thought of war and destruction out of their minds, choosing, just for the time being, to pretend that it was just them, together. Jace finds that he likes the feeling.
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There is a never ending fire burning, to the south of the shining towers, and all of Idris smells like the sweet smell of burning incense, and Clary makes a point to ignore it, not sparing a glance at the signs of the dead burning. Jace can't keep himself away though, turning his head as spirals of smoke disappear into the usually clear air, and he thinks, fleetingly, that he could've been burning right now.
Clary pulls him away though, pointing to somewhere in the distance, mumbling something about Izzy, so Jace entangles his fingers with hers, and allows her to drag her away from the sight of death in the distance. She moves with her usual intensity, vivaciousness clinging to her every movement, as her hair, curly and red flipped over her shoulder.
"Hey, Jace, don't stare off into space again," Clary says, with a soft laugh, and a shrug, but with a tinge of worry.
"I'm not going anywhere," he says, smiling down at her, and Clary thinks for a second, that he looks beautiful in the bright sunlight, gold catching her eye, from his hair and eyes.
"I know," she says, leaning her head on his shoulder. After a little bit of walking, they see Izzy and Alec, who looks especially tired in his red t-shirt and blue jeans, but Magnus, beside him, in gold pants, looks like he has all the energy that Alec lacked. They have their hands joined together, and Alec is leaning on Magnus' shoulder, ever so slightly.
Isabelle waves at them, calling out their names, and a passing boy, younger than them, but still close enough to their age, watches as her hair, braided behind her glinted in the light blue-black, and her eyelids, dusted lightly in sparkly powder fluttered prettily. He sees that she doesn't notice him though, so he continues along.
"Jace! Pass me one of your blades, I'm going to be the first one through," Izzy says, turning to face the portal, colors swirling around, promising a new destination. He complies, slipping one out of his weapons belt and tossing it to her. Izzy's and goes up to catch it deftly in midair, before waving at Clary and stepping into the portal. It's their turn now, and Clary grabs Jace's hand, intertwining their fingers.
"Let's go home," she says, and Jace wants to tell her that his home is with her, as it's always been, but instead, he grins and steps with her into New York.