Disclaimer: I own nothing other than this fan fiction's plotline!
Title: Character Protection Program
Summary: When their life story is published in the best-selling book, City of Bones, Clary, Jace and the others must change their identities, families and lives completely… Because no-one can ever know that some of their favourite stories might not be as 'fiction' as they think. ;)
This is just the prologue; I want to gauge the reaction for this story idea
Clary was lying on her stomach on the floor of the guest room, sighing as she chewed the end of her pencil. Maryse had offered Clary her own space in the Institute, and Clary had accepted it first out of politeness. But she soon found herself needing a change in her surroundings, bored with the monotony of her own bedroom at home and the medical suite where her mother lay unresponsive, still in that deep coma. She found it calming, the bare walls and white and black furnishings easing her troubles slightly. But for some reason, it wasn't working today.
The furnishings seemed harsh and the walls oppressive. It definitely could not have anything to do with the fact that her drawing was going horribly wrong, she thought sarcastically. She didn't know what it was, but the dark haired stable boy on her sketchpad looked off. Clary had the distinct urge to lighten the hair, and make his eyes blaring gold.
She blushed and looked around avidly, as though she thought someone might read her mind and find her thinking about a certain blond-haired boy. Jace. My brother, she thought with a wince.
After realising this drawing session was not going productively, Clary stood up and stretched out her body. She looked at the silver clock on the wall and started when she saw it was 5 o'clock. Luke was probably wondering where she was. Gathering up her things, she sent him a quick text saying she was on her way back now.
Just as she reached the door, it knocked softly, and Clary almost had a heart attack. She wondered who it was. Maybe Max wanted to show off his new comic; but then he would just come bursting in unannounced, as per usual. No-one usually bothered her while she was here, the only person was close with was Jace in the family. And that was before all the siblings thing happened. To say their relationship was on tenterhooks was the understatement of the century.
So when she opened the door, Clary was surprised to see a very frazzled-looking Maryse. Upon seeing the redhead, Maryse smiled tightly, but it was obvious to both of them that it wasn't sincere.
"Sorry to disturb you, Clarissa, but there is an urgent matter at hand," Maryse told her.
"What do you mean an 'urgent matter'? Is someone hurt?" Clary asked, panicked. Her mind whizzed through the options, and she was hoping against hope something hadn't happened to Jace. She did not think she would be able to bear it.
"No, no! We are all as well as can be expected." Maryse said. Clary narrowed her eyes.
"Explain." She said abruptly.
"Young lady, there is no reason to be rude! I will explain once I know myself, but until that point, I would appreciate some respect." Maryse quipped. I know that tone; it's the one my mom always used to use when she was pissed. A wave of shock went through Clary's body at the ease at which she'd used the past tense in reference to her mother.
"I understand, of course." She replied quietly.
"Now, while I entertain our 'guests' can you bring Jace and yourself downstairs, they have requested to speak with all in the household." Maryse stated.
Clary bit back the urge to ask 'Who have?' and settled on a nod. Seeming satisfied, Maryse whirled round and walked down the hall gracefully. Watching her walk made Clary think again how unsuited she herself was to becoming a shadowhunter, they all seemed so… lithe.
Moving out of the room, Clary tried to stride in the regal way that all the Lightwoods have. But one meaningful look from Church as he passed told her that she looked more like she desperately needed the toilet rather than stepping with poise and elegance. She gave up after that.
Clary cautiously approached Jace's room and stood outside for a few moments collecting her thoughts. Raising her hand to knock, she was nearly given her second heart attack of the day when a deep voice sounded from behind her.
"Any reason why you're standing outside my room, little sis?" Jace questioned, waggling his eyebrows. Clary visibly flinched when she heard the pet name. It hurt her every time he used the newly discovered sibling status so flippantly. Couldn't he see how much he was hurting me?
He was topless, a light sheen of sweat covering his abs. What she wouldn't give to lick those abs…He's your brother damn it! Mentally slapping herself, she looked away from his abs into Jace's eyes, which were alight with mischief. He had obviously guessed she was drooling over his body. How embarrassing, she thought, blushing deeply.
"Maryse told me to tell you that we are needed downstairs," she said as steadily as possible.
"Did she now? Any reason?" He asked playfully, running his fingers through his coarse hair, something Clary had always wanted to do.
"If there was a reason, she didn't tell me, but it seemed quite important." Clary told him earnestly.
"I'll see you down there in a bit, sis." With that, he winked and sauntered into his room, closing the door behind him. 'Sis' was such a small word, but it carved holes in me like a dagger.
Walking away rigidly, I made my way downstairs, tying up my hair with the hairband from around my wrist.
The kitchen was silent for once, which was surprising considering there were nine people in the room. Four of them Clary knew: Maryse, Alec, Robert and Max. Some part of her wondered where Isabelle was, but she dismissed it. There were five she had never seen before, lined up with their backs to the counter. The one in the middle was obviously in charge, and also obviously a shadowhunter based on the marks she could see through the thin white shirt. His hair was jet black and his face betrayed little signs of age, she guessed he was about twenty-five to thirty years old. The other four were surprising in their origin; a female warlock judging by the little sparks coming off from her fingertips, a faerie man, a male vampire who was grinning like a Cheshire cat and a woman that seemed to be human. They were all under forty years of age and wore shadowhunter battle gear. I stood in the doorway, completely shocked. Glancing to the table, the seated Lightwood family looked wary and unsure.
"I assume this is Clarissa Fairchild. Pleased to meet you. My name is Gadson Meynor." The man in the white shirt told her. Clary was surprised to hear her full name.
"I go by Clary Fray actually." She said, smiling a little in greeting.
"Not for long," the man grimaced, and Clary looked at him perplexed. "Contact your friends Luke Garroway and Simon Lewis and tell them to be here as soon as possible."
"Why?" Clary asked, scowling. Why bring them into this?
"Just do it, Clary." Maryse said warily.
With a sigh, Clary sat down with her back to the assorted group of supernaturals and texted Luke and Simon saying something was up, and that they were needed at the Institute.
She had just sent the texts when Jace walked in, thankfully wearing a black t-shirt this time, although she could still see the outline of his muscles. His blond hair was wet, and Clary assumed he'd just had a quick shower.
"What's going on?" He asked suspiciously, narrowing his eyes as he studied the people in turn. His eyes widened as he took in the shadowhunter, "Gadson."
"You know him?" Clary asked, confused.
"Yeah, he's part of the Clave. Though what he's doing here with a warlock, a faerie, a vampire and a werewolf is beyond me. Maybe it's some kind of anti-racism rally." He said sarcastically, rolling his eyes. So that girl was a werewolf, not a human, Clary thought. The vampire snarled.
Gadson frowned, "Take a seat, and I will explain why we are here." From across the room, Clary thought she heard Robert say something along the lines of 'about bloody time'.
Once Jace was seated, Gadson took a deep breath.
"As you all know, it is a shadowhunter's job to protect the mundanes, but also to keep them in the dark about our world. The dangers of humans finding out that beings such as yourselves and the people behind me could be catastrophic. If you can only imagine what –"
"I don't think that explaining the reasons behind our mandate is clearing anything up, Meynor, so if you wouldn't mind getting to the point…" said Maryse coldly.
"Of course, ma'am. Our purpose," he started, gesturing to the downworlders behind him, "is to act as a police of sorts to make sure our world stays hidden. And well, a member of your group has breached this."
"What do you mean 'breached'?" Robert asked incredulously.
"I think what he means is one of us has told the mundanes of our existence." Alec chimed in, speaking for the first time.
At this, all of the Lightwoods' looked around the group wondering at the victim of such an accusation.
"Precisely, Alec, thank you," replied Gadson Meynor.
Clary and Jace's shocked faces locked as they looked around the room again. Clary couldn't hold his burning gaze for long though and looked into her lap embarrassed. How does he affect me so much? she wondered. Maryse, on the other hand was fuming.
"How dare you come into my house and accuse one of us of disobeying the Clave? You wretched, good for nothing –"
"Not one of you, exactly." Gadson murmured quietly.
Maryse looked confused, "But you said-"
"I know what I said. The traitor was Isabelle Lightwood."
After all the yelling, screaming, denial and fiery insults had calmed, Gadson cleared his throat and began to speak.
"I know it's hard to believe, but please hear me out."
The room was silent, and then Robert nodded his head slightly.
"Isabelle Lightwood has written a book, entitled City of Bones, under the pen name Cassandra Clare. It was mainly based around Clarissa, but all of you were prominent characters. She has presumably been finding out all the information she could for a long time now, and she got the publishing deal a couple of months ago. The book is set to be released next week. Here's the problem. She used all of your names exactly, and described in detail the workings of glamours and Downworld affairs. The book is well-written and the fantasy genre is very popular with mundanes at the moment. It's expected to be a best seller."
Another silent pause followed as we took this new information in. Betrayal hit Maryse hard. How could she do this to them? Their own daughter?
"What does this mean for us?" Clary asked meekly. What did he mean it centred on her? Were all of the times they had spent talking of her life and feelings just food for Isabelle's book? How much detail had she gone into? Her face burned with embarrassment at the thought of all of Jace and her's moments captured for everyone to read.
"It means none of you are safe anymore. What would people think if they saw Jonathon and Clarissa walking around? Two people who were identical to their favourite characters, who live in the same town and have the same name? Their stupidity only goes so far. I can assure you, if you stay here, they will catch on." Meynor assured them.
"What do you expect us to do? Change our entire lives because of this damn book?" Robert asked, angrily.
"Yes." Gadson retorted calmly.
"And if we say no?" Robert inquired aggressively, placing his hands on the table in front of him.
At that the group of four Downworlders stepped forwards, their faces changing from passive to menacing.
"I see." He said, paling considerably.
"We will set you up with a new home in another state, new identities and fake jobs for the adults. The families will be changed around a bit so there is less chance of people guessing. In return, you will be expected to change your appearance a bit, maybe with dye or a new wardrobe that is dissimilar to your usual style." Meynor explained to the shell-shocked people before him.
"So, this is like a witness protection program, except with people in a book?" Max inquired meekly, and the room looked at him shocked, most had forgotten he was even present.
"Yes, I suppose you could say that." Gadson muttered surprised.
"So, we're in a character protection program! This is so cool!" Max replied enthusiastically, his childish grin evaporating at Maryse's withering glare. Clary looked at him sympathetically.
"Why can't we just use glamours when we are around people? Wouldn't that solve the problem?" Jace pondered.
"No." Said the man bluntly, "Even full warlocks struggle to maintain glamours for that amount of time; you could not be trusted to do this correctly."
"And the others?" Alec asked, "Magnus, Meliorn, Kaelie and everyone we have met that isn't here?"
"They live alone. They are a lot less likely to be recognised than siblings running around together. We will warn them, but no, it is unlikely they will have to leave." Gadson replied.
Alec seemed upset at this, and Clary wondered if it had anything to do with his attachment to the warlock, Magnus Bane.
"It seems like we have no choice." Maryse said quietly. Clary frowned; it was unlike her to be so defeatist. But Clary's mind was caught on something Meynor had said before. If there was the smallest amount of chance…
"What do you mean, change around the families?" She asked, breaking the omnipresent silence.
"Well, siblings couldn't be siblings. For example, even with different hair, if Max and Alec were siblings there might be a chance people could put the pieces together. However small, we don't like there being a chance they'll figure it out." Meynor explained to her.
Siblings couldn't be siblings… Did that mean, that in this alternate universe we were about to enter, that me and Jace wouldn't brother and sister. Not being able to stop herself, she turned to look at him and found his eyes still boring into her. He must be on the same wavelength. Clary wondered how he felt about that. He didn't appear to care about their siblingship. Clary turned back to Gadson, biting her lip, and saw him looking between the two of them sympathetically. With a jolt she realised he knew about the two of them. Which could only mean that Izzy had written about it in that book of hers. What a bitch.
The room was yet again gloomily silent as the Lightwood's and the Morgenstern's thought about what was to come. Even when Simon and Luke ran in, demanding explanation, Gadson Meynor was the only one to speak. As he went through it again, all Clary could think was that nothing would ever be the same again.
I hope you liked it!
Here's the deal, I have two stories, so whichever gets the most reviews on the most recent chapter I will update first… so if you want this updated, REVIEW! And if you want All's Well that Ends Well to update, REVIEW! :P
Thanks ;)