A man dressed in black entered an ornate room. In his arms was a small baby, her eyes squeezed tight as she cried. Two guards lead him down a hallway inscribed with swirling black designs on the wooden walls. He tried shushing her, but she wouldn't stop her cries. By the time the men and infant made it outside an elegant wooden door, he had tried every tactic he could think of. In the end he just put his hand over her mouth again. The guards opened the door to a good sized room. There was a long table in the center, but the people in the room were not sitting. The man walked over to them.
"I have brought her, sir." He said to the new inquisitor. Said man walked over to inspect the rare baby as he played with the hairs of his brown peppered beard.
"Take your hand of its mouth, Kadir. We don't want it to choke it." Kadir did as he was told, and took his hand off her mouth. "Is it male or female?" He questioned. The inquisitor lifted the corners of the black blanket the baby was wrapped in.
"Female, Roderick. She was born this afternoon my sources tell me."
The inquisitor Roderick lifted her inspecting her more."You are certain of this?"
"Yes. Alexander Lightwood has been watched ever since I overheard his confession to his mother. He was reported collapsing in an alley, I believe, before portaling back to his flat. Where a witch dressed in a nurse's uniform was seen entering then leave some time later. She was born somewhere between 1:45 and 2:30."
"With the time difference, she's about…"Roderick did the math in his head. "Seven hours old. You took her early that night, why?"
"They had gone to bed early, sir, I figured taking her early would give me more of a chance that see wouldn't wake them with her crying." Kadir had to speak louder to be heard over the baby's screams.
"Is there anything obviously wrong with her?" Asked one of the four other men standing in this party.
"Not that I can tell, Arthur." Informed Kadir.
"What's her sire's mark?" Asked another.
"Cat eyes." Answered the inquisitor, "She won't open her eyes for me to see if she has the mark, though."
Barely audibly above the infant's cries, was the sound of someone yelling behind the closed doors at the other end of the room. A scared guard opened the door. He was looking anywhere but at the angry young woman.
"You berk!" She yelled in her cockney accent, "You wake me up at this god forsaken hour, make yourself appear to be in on it all, like you're important to whatever reason, then when we arrive here and I ask why I am needed, and you tell me the same bloody thing you did at my home. 'Some council members have requested an audience with you'," She acted like him when repeating what he had said earlier, "You don't know a damn thing. If you would just pay attention to the things around you, maybe you'd get a higher rank then door guarder who bangs on other peoples doors at three o'clock in the mornin'!" She stormed by him into the room, quickly controlling her angry to annoyed, but calm. Even in a sweat shirt and jeans, she looked regal when she approached the council members.
"Sarah, good to see you're in a good mood." Said the inquisitor.
"Next time I'm wanted, get a person with half a brain." Sarah's voice changed from that of her childhood to the one she had acquired over years of speaking with the top scholars of England. She rarely used her old accent except when mad. "Now, why am I here? It must be important to wake me from my sleep, while you're here playing house with a baby." She sat down at the end of the table. Sarah put her chin on her fist. "Which one of you is the mommy?"
"That's why you're here, Miss." Kadir said with an air of annoyance," She has no mother. Never has."
"We are both people of intellect. You know as well as I do that your last statement was scientifically wrong."
Arthur stepped forward. "A mother would have to be a woman. This infant was not born from a woman but from a man."
Sarah raised an eyebrow, "Arthur, I believe you have finally lost it."
"Mathew." The inquisitor called to one of the men. The dark skinned man came forward, and dropped a yellow folder on the carved table. Sarah opened it, and flipped through the pages absentmindedly."That man- Alexander Lightwood- Is this child's 'mother'."
Sarah flipped back to the first page, looking more closely at it this time, before shutting it. She stood, and walked over to the child. Taking the infant from Roderick, she made a show of supporting the baby's head. She walked over to Kadir before grabbing the blanket out of his hands. "Are you trying to give her a catch of cold? Honestly, gentlemen, Babies need to be kept warm. How old is she anyway? She has to be less than a day old." She calmed the baby so she wasn't crying. Kadir gave her a dark look.
"She's seven hours old." Informed Roderick.
"Seven hours old." She said incredulously, "Why aren't her parents here? Why am I here?
"You're here for repentance." Arthur said.
Sarah's back instantly stiffened, "For what?" She asked even though she knew damn well why. She didn't know she had gotten caught. After awhile with no suspicion being sent her way, she figured she had gotten away with it.
"You know damn well what you did. Somehow getting around the guards and stealing supplies from the science department of The Academy." Said Roderick, "You would be arrested when we found out about your little escapade had it not been for that baby on your arms."
"How did you figure that out?"
"Some people saw you coming and going during the time the supplies were stolen."
Sarah's gaze turned cold. "Those idiots don't get the importance of science, past how the body moves when you stab a demon. I needed those supplies to help my research on anti-gravity. I would have brought them back, but what does she have to do with anything?" Her eyes caught a glint at the baby's ankle before she wrapped her up. She, being as observant as she was, noticed the work that went into making this anklet. The gems were shiny from frequent touch, and real too. So her parents must have some money. It was made by hand, not a skilled one at that, but you could tell by the way the metal hooks were disfigured. Someone had put a lot of effort into this little project. Someone must really love her. Sarah thought with slight longing. She had never had a real family when she was still a child herself, just her grandmother, who didn't look after Sarah as much as she looked after her. It wasn't until age thirteen when she got accepted to a special boarding school for above average students did her love of learning start to take effect. Before she knew it she was graduating with highest honors at her hometown college Oxford. Sarah was now in Idris deciding what government program or college she wanted to work for. She wasn't much of a fighter.
"You're the person we want to take care of her." Said Roderick.
Sarah's head snapped up. "I am not the motherly type, Gentlemen. Other than her being a get out of jail free card, why would I want to take care of her? I don't coddle children like ninety percent of mothers this day and age. Pathetic, really, how children have dominance over their parents."
"Which is precisely why we need you. We don't want a motherly type. We want someone to bring her up while we tutor her. Make sure she has food to eat, and clean clothes that fit her. While we see what she is able of accomplishing."
"Why?"
"She's different." Interrupted Kadir.
Sarah finished wrapping the baby apparently named Bay in the blanket. "Other than the part where her mother is male, or is there something else?" Bay opened her tear filled eyes. The young lady flinched a little in surprise. "She's not full nephilim, is she?"
"How did you come to that conclusion?" Questioned Arthur, while he scratched his gray/white hair.
"Look at her eyes." All five men and one woman looked into this little girl's fearful eyes. Her eyes had taken shape of a cat's golden green eyes. They watched as they slowly started changing colors. They lost their gold, and then melted into turquoise, then light blue, then their original deep shining blue, as she calmed. Her pupils returned to their circular shape. She fell swiftly asleep, nudging her head into the warm elbow of her holder.
Breaking the small silence, Sarah spoke, "Her… sire is a warlock, isn't he?"
Roderick nodded his head looking back up to Sarah. "A very powerful warlock."
"You want to study her and train her to be loyal to the clave. Maybe a use her as a spy or for her possible powers alone, or maybe a future diplomat between the children of Lilith and nephilim."
"Something like that." Answered Kadir.
Arthur spoke-up, "These are your options: Have boarding free in the whole top floor of the Accords Hall, a monthly allowance, the job as head of the science department with its pay, and helping enrich a special child's life, or you can go to jail. Your choice."
Sarah looked back down at the sleeping baby in her arms, and sighed. If she didn't do it they wouldn't give her back. They'd probably make her do it, but with less to offer, or if they didn't make her, she'd go to jail. Their jails weren't the most humane jails, and the last place wanted was to go to jail. She hoped she was doing the right thing. "I accept."
Magnus woke up with this weird feeling that something was off, he couldn't think of anything, so he pushed it away. His beautiful angel was still sound asleep. He didn't blame him. That had to be exhausting for him. He couldn't believe that their baby was born yesterday. It had all seemed so surreal, the Seelie Queen had actually been right on that one thing, it was kind of beautiful in its own strange way. He couldn't help but smile at the memory of yesterday. Little Bay Lightwood was brought into this world, Alec had asked him to marry him, and his shadowhunter became immortal.
They'd probably wait a little while to get married till all the baby craziness had calmed down, but he couldn't care all that much. He'd soon get to be Mr. Alexander lightwood. Be Alec's husband, and he his. The thought of being someone's made him really happy. He'd always had people, but he never really was there's. Not like he was with Alec. He was Alexander's full-heartedly, and loved every minute of it.
The baby was asleep in the other room. That weird feeling came back again. It had to be almost noon by the way the sun shone threw his matching yellow curtains. He thought babies were supposed to wake you up in the middle of the night wanting to be fed or changed, but he didn't remember waking up, which he would have with his hearing. They had even joked about it the night before. She had to be hungry by now he thought.
With every step that feeling got worse and worse. The door was more open then he thought he had kept it. For some reason panic had ebbed its way inside him. The warlock half ran to the crib. He looked in and saw that it was empty. The panic intensified as he lifted the blankets, before turning to look around the room. Finding nothing, he ran into the living room. He looked under couches, behind the bar, the bathroom, and anything that could hold a small child, but he couldn't find her. Magnus glanced at the door. It was unlocked. His heart dropped right then and there.
A thousand thoughts ran thru his mind. Did he leave it unlocked- No he checked after his guests had left, and Alec had fallen asleep. Had one of Alec's family members come over, and were about to jump out saying 'you should have seen the look on your face!'? He would have killed them, no matter who they were. Then the worst one came into his head. Did someone come in, and take her? Had their secret not been secret enough? He knew Catarina wouldn't tell, or Isabelle and Jace. Maybe the red-head or her friend slipped-up. If they had they wouldn't see the light of day ever again. He didn't care who he had to hurt. He just wanted his baby back in his arms.
Magnus quickly opened the door to the landing, and looked around down the steps. He fought the urge to knock down the other tenant's doors, and search their homes. He ran up the steps and slammed the door closed before he opened his bedroom door. Alec appeared to have just woken. The shadowhunter did a double take when he saw his fiancé. Magnus had tears running down his face, and he was shaking. The worst thing was the expression on his face. It was filled with sadness, panic, worry, guilt, and unbridled fear.
"Magnus, what's wrong?"
"I-I can't find Bay."
AN- Please don't go hating on me when you have no idea what it's like to lose someone like that. I have about ten times. My brother has Down's and he's a runner (If you know someone with a kid that has Down's syndrome you know what a runner is.) We haven't lost him in a few years- thank God-, but it's scary when we have. Once we couldn't find him for over a half hour in the city. We had the remainder of church help look for him. I eventually found him in the basement in this little closet/cubbyhole hidden by shadows, playing with his dinosaur and glow stick. Anyway I tried my hardest to make the beginning mysterious, but it started to suck when Sarah came in. For those of you who haven't read 'It Happens' I guess it doesn't matter if you read it or not. You can figure what went on by reading this.
English terms
Berk- idiot