Jace Herondale was a hard worker. Some- well, all- of his colleagues would say he worked too hard, but that wasn't possible; everything had to be done correctly to him. Everything had its place and should be in its place- that is why he decided at the age of 17 he would become a police officer, and why he was promoted through the ranks to detective in eight short years- he was a perfectionist and knew it, it was the way he had been raised and he found comfort in keeping order.
This is why, on his way into his modest apartment, he was the only one in the street to notice the out of the ordinary situation occurring on the rooftop.
Standing at the very edge of the concrete roof, toes barely touching the ledge, was a girl. The seven o clock sun was bright enough for him to make out her slim stature and unwavering stance, and immediately he knew. She was going to jump.
Racing forward into the building he ran straight for the stairs, knowing the ancient elevators would never reach the roof in time. Taking the steps two at a time, he continued his pace, practice from years of chasing criminals kicking in as he reached the top of the five story building, legs searing and muscles aching, but with his determination still burning.
Slowly, as not to startle the woman, he opened the door to the roof. He breathed in a deep breath, steadily through his nose, calming his pulse and keeping quiet.
Standing roughly 30 metres away from him was the girl. He could see now that her hair was a blazing red, like a swirl of fire fluttering in the wind. He began to walk towards her, softly so as not to alert her. Jace continued to walk, golden eyes glinting as he formed a plan in his mind, the only thought in his head being to get her down and keep her safe; this was the most obvious thing he could do. As he got closer he began to hear her sobs, muffled and dry, as if she had been going at it for hours. He felt the urge to wrap himself around her, and every one of her quaking breaths felt like a twist in his gut.
He was up close now; the sobbing continued and he could almost make out words from her murmuring. Standing still for a moment, Jace contemplated his next move, then realise he had no time for a master plan, and instead flung himself at her.
He sprinted through the remaining distance and grabbed the woman around her waist, hearing her gasp as he did so. He held on tight and lifted her off, spinning them both around and pulling her close to his body as he fell downwards, cushioning the fall then rolling over so that her body was pressed under his.
"Stop!" She gasped, breathing in air and struggling beneath his iron grip. "Let me go!" She wriggled more, opening her eyes wide and glancing frantically around the empty roof; her emerald irises nearly caught him off guard enough to loosen up, however he caught himself when he saw the tear tracks glistening down her cheeks.
"No," he whispered down, breath tickling her ear, "I'm not leaving you, stop struggling and I will let you up." She coughed at this, turning to stare at him, then going still. Not yet satisfied that she wouldn't run away from him, he held onto her arms and rolled over, pulling her up along with him.
Staring at Jace's hand on her arm, her large eyes widened impossibly more.
"Who are you?"
