Promise Me

Clary loved summer breezes. They always felt like a breath of fresh air amidst the heat and ongoing stress around her. Not to mention the fact that they were a little romantic too.

For this very love, she had kept the window open. Even though she couldn't feel the breeze herself with her desk being located at the opposite corner of the room, the sight of her gently flowing curtains made up for the absence. She could hear the crickets chirping and the soft rustling of tree leaves while she clicked link after link trying to find a lead on the new monster that had cropped up.

Sure, she didn't have access to an ancient bestiary, but what the internet can find can be very surprising. Her newfound powers and magical ability were great, but were like having an additional workload. She felt like she was taking AP Ancient Mythology, but worse. Clary knew she should have been getting back to her English essay, but the gnawing tension of the new demons in town was bothering her. Well, it wasn't so much of the demons, but the fact that Jace wouldn't rest until he killed them all that upped her stress levels.

In fact, he was probably out there right now, alone, trying to hunt them down. Clary groaned and rested her forehead against the cool wooden surface of her desk. She sat like that for a while, trying to clear her head when she heard a soft creak. Immediately she perked up, her heightened senses giving her an advantage. Being as quiet as possible, Clary stealthily made for her blade that was stashed in the middle drawer. She picked it up and slid her hand behind her back, tiptoeing her way towards the window.

In a blurred moment of action, Clary made a grab for whatever was hiding out the window and pinned it to the ground, having her blade at its throat in less than a second. Staring back at her was not the gruesome face of a demon, but the cocky, yet slightly surprised smirk of none other than Jace Wayland.

"What the hell?!"

"Not that I'm complaining, but are you gonna stay like that?" he returned.

"Wha-" Clary took notice of her position, her legs straddling Jace's waist in an attempt to pin him to the ground. Blushing, she hastily got off him and brushed herself off. Ignoring the growing smile on the blonde's face, she went back to her angry demeanor. "Are you going to explain why you were trying to give me a heart attack?"

He raised his eyebrows, "One, I wasn't trying to give you a heart attack. And two, you kinda overreacted."

"OVERREACTED?!-" Jace nervously glanced towards the door leading to the hallway. "Overreacted?" Clary lowered her voice. Luke was right in the kitchen. "There is a giant herd of freaking ancient Ravener demons roaming around the city and you think I overreacted?" she whispered furiously.

"How would a Ravener demon make it eight stories high?"Jace said unreasonably.

Clary sighed, the initial panic starting to wear off, "The way you made it eight stories high. How did you get up here anyway?"

He shrugged, "I climbed."

"Why do you do that?" asked Clary, annoyed, as she plopped back down onto her desk chair.

"Do what?"

"Climb up to windows like that, sneaking around. It's not like you're my boyfriend or anything." She couldn't help but slightly blush at the word.

"Is that supposed to be a hint?"

"I swear to God, Jace-" Her cheeks turned even a brighter shade of red.

"Okay, okay I'll stop," he complied, flashing the perfect smile Clary always fell for.

"What are you doing here anyway?" Clary asked with relief, diverting her eyes back to her computer screen.

"Hodge sent me to keep watch on you while the demon watch was still on high alert."

Clary swiveled her chair to look at him. "Hodge sent you?"

"Alright, I came to see if you were okay, but can you blame me? They're ancient Raveners, if modern Raveners weren't bad enough."

Her heart caught in her chest. He came to see her; he came to make sure she was okay. The redhead rolled her eyes to brush off the feeling, "I can take care of myself, Jace. I did just fine pinning you to the ground." A faint smirk played at her lips as she swiveled back around.

When she heard no witty remark fired back, she turned her chair again. "You okay, Jace?"

He looked up, "Hm? Yeah, yeah I'm fine." His half-smile made her even more uneasy. She stopped to look at him. His eyebrows were slightly pinched together, a stormy glaze set over his amber eyes. His golden curls looked even more disheveled than ever and more bruises and cuts marked his perfectly sculpted body. His hands fumbled with each other, something he never did.

Clary didn't know if it was her teenage mind or secret craving but she seemed to notice that Jace had begun to act different around her – more nervous and protective. It made her uneasy yet thrilled to see Jace sitting on her bed like that – like he partly owned it. There were times when she just wanted to jump into his arms and stay there forever. She wanted to run her hands through his hair and just be close to him. And she so wished that he felt the same, but she knew that he didn't. But why was he acting different?

Clary exhaled and clicked out of the window on the encyclopedia of ancient monsters and demons. There was no way she could focus now, or there was no way Jace (being Jace) would let her focus. "Jace are you going to tell me what's on your mind or am I going to have to force it out of you?"

"And just how do you plan on doing that?"

"Oh, I'll find a way. Now speak."

"It's nothing Clary, leave it. I'm just being paranoid."

"About…"

He sighed, "It's just…these demons. I've been reading and reading and reading about them and that night on the roof…they're like nothing I've ever encountered before. And I've been getting this feeling, I don't know why or how, but like I'm bound for failure. Like I won't be able to face them, let alone kill them."

Clary almost wanted to smile. This was so like Jace. He always had the I'm-going-to-save-the-world-by-myself attitude. "Well of course you can't handle them all by yourself. That's why you have Isabelle and Alec and Maryse and Robert and Luke and…me." She said that last one cautiously. Jace had never been exactly…open-minded about her hunting.

Jace's eyes flashed. "Clary if you think that there is any way in hell and back that I am going to let you-"

"Ugh, Jace why not?! I've been training for almost a year and I-"

"-And I've been training my whole life! Hell, so have Alec and Isabelle and we still may not be able to hunt the demons." He got up off the bed, running his hands through his hair. Clary slowly moved towards him, not exactly sure what she planned to do. As she got nearer she reached for his trembling hands. They were shaking more than ever now and she knew the first thing she had to do was help him gain control.

"Jace why are you so ner-"

"Because you're not going to listen to me."

"What?"

"I came here tonight to see that you were okay, but I wanted to make sure you weren't out there looking for them, Clary I ca…I can't sleep knowing that you might be out in the streets, vulnerable to their disgust, lies, deceit. They can make you feel terrible things; they will get inside your mind and torture you and make you see your worst fears."

His hands had stopped trembling in hers and the warmth of her fingers seeped into his. She inched closer to him so that she could almost hear the beating of his heart. "What did they make you see?" she asked softly. She didn't know how she was standing so close to him without trembling or blushing like crazy. It felt natural.

"Please," Jace whispered, "just please promise me you'll stay safe. Promise me you won't go hunting for them." He rested his forehead against her, trying to gain as much warmth from her as he could. Their fingers intertwined and he longed for more and more warmth. He longed for her touch as she was the only soul that could make him feel safe.

"Why?" Clary looked up into his eyes. She could feel her breath catch and then fall into a deep rhythm with Jace's breath. Their eyes locked and it was then she knew. She knew what the Ravener had made him see and she knew what it was that was making him paranoid. It was her. And in the moment that she knew, Jace knew too. He knew that she had figured him out and he knew that there was nothing he could do to make her forget it.

He closed his eyes and breathed. "I should go." He untangled his hands from Clary's and immediately the warmth left him, even in the summer air. He missed it, but it was better for him to not get used to the comfort. Too many times had he lost the ones he loved and he wasn't going to let it happen again. He turned away from the redhead and made for the window.

"I promise."

He turned to look at her, standing there in her shorts and oversized t-shirt that spelled out Columbia University across the front, making a promise to him that he wouldn't lose her. That was all he needed to hear.