Summary: Among Mundanes there are many people that have the potential to become something more than they are, but first they must become something else.
Written for Silverbluerose. I hope you like it.
Simon hated Jace Wayland. This was all his fault, Simon would never orgive him, no matter how much Clary asked him to.
Simon sighed and leaned back against the cold, hard metal bars of the cage he'd been shoved into when a Circle member had dragged him and Jace into Valentine's headquarters. Jace had been shoved into a similar cage a little bit away .
Simon was afraid, afraid of what Valentine was planning to do with him and Jace seemed unconcerned and Simon, Simon hated him for that.
He'd fallen asleep, how could he have slept? Simon's eyes darted around the room, looking for a way out, not the missing Jace, he told himself.
It felt like hours before Jace was thrown back into his cage and Simon felt his undead heart stop as he watched Jace bleed sluggishly from his wounds.
After the Circle member left Jace laid down and stretched out his blood soaked arm out through the space between the bars of his cage, reaching for Simon, "No sense in wasting it, they probably aren't planning on feeding you."
Simon shifted uncomfortably but nodded, mirroring Jace on the floor of his own cage and reaching out to swipe his fingers down Jace's arm to collect what blood he could and brought his hand to his mouth. By the time Simon finished Jace was blinking slowly, tiredly.
"I'm going to sleep for a bit." Jace whispered, closing his eyes.
"Okay, I'll stay up." Simon promised.
Simon lost track of time, Valentine would take Jace and sometimes one of the other Downworlders in Cages down here with them. The Circle members would bring Jace back hours, or it seemed like hours, later, bloody, and sad, and Jace would reach out for Simon to feed him, the fingers of his outstretched hand clutching weakly at Simon's wrist as Simon dragged the fingers of his opposite hand through Jace's blood and into his mouth to suck the blood from them. Sometimes, most times Simon would end up talking while he did this, he'd talk about growing up with Clary, about his band, even singing Jace a few lines from his songs, or the silly promise he'd made with Clary about marrying her if they were still single at thirty so Clary could have her babies without her mother being disappointed in her, and how Simon wasn't sure he could still do that for Clary now that he was a Vampire.
And on some days Jace would speak, slowly, soft and slurred from blood loss and pain. Jace would talk about Izzy and Alec, and when he was more out of it than coherent Jace would talk about Simon.
He'd talk about how Simon was so annoying, how he hated his stupid crooked grin because it made his heart beat falter in his chest, how his laugh made him smile, how jealous Jace had been when Simon had shown interest in Clary and Maia so Jace had taken Clary out of the running when she had asked him out which had the double bonus of hanging out with Simon some more even if Jace had to pretend to dislike it.
Simon had decided not to hold Jace to his blood loss induced babbling and just listened, he listened and wished he was brave enough to try, like Magnus and Alec were, but he couldn't, he needed his Clan, Jace needed the acceptance of the Clave and the support of the Nephilim. They could never but Simon couldn't put voice to that when Jace had admitted in slurred and slow speech that the only thing that kept him from giving up and clinging to life was a promise Jace made to himself one time, long after Simon had stopped eating, that when they were free Jace was going to kiss Simon like Alec had kissed Magnus at his wedding.
Jace landed heavily in his cage, shoulder hitting the bars and bruising.
"Better rest up, traitor, Valentine has something special planned for tomorrow." The Circle member laughed, kicking at Simon's cage as he left.
Jace felt better than he had for a long while, they'd drawn healing Runes on his skin again and again until his body was mostly healed.
"You okay?" Simon asked softly as he pressed against the bars of his cage nearest to Jace.
Jace nodded and tried to smile reassuringly at the Vampire.
Simon looked sick, his skin was pale, even for a Vampire and it clung to his bones, he looked like someone who was starving, and Jace had to remind himself mentally that Simon was starving, he couldn't be Runed with a nutritious Rune and be okay, and while Jace had been feeding the Vampire Jace also knew that what little blood Simon scrapped from his skin was no where near the amount the Vampire should be eating, it wasn't enough.
"Do you think they'll find us?" Simon asked, he'd asked every time Jace was coherent enough to answer and Jace's answer was always the same, even if he no longer believed they'd be alive when the other arrived to rescue them.
"Yeah, they'll find us." Jace assured Simon with what they both knew to be a lie.
Valentine strutted into the basement they were being held in.
"Morning all!" He said cheerfully, generally happy to see the Downworlders suffering.
Jace growled wordlessly, deep in his throat as he was pulled from his cage and felt terror fill him as Simon was as well, he couldn't do what he did to the other Downworlders, not to Simon.
"We're going to see how Nephilim react to being injected with Vampire blood, perhaps nothing wil happen, I mean, most of the blood in his veins must be your by now, you've been feeding it." Valentine took on a chastising tone at the last bit.
Simon couldn't help it, he knew Jace could hold up, he had every faith in Jace's ability to withstand Valentine's torture, but Simon couldn't, Simon couldn't bare to watch Jace scream and thrash and potentially break.
"Rune me." Simon's recognized his own voice and ignored Jace's protests.
Valentine grinned, sickly sweet, "Go on, Johnathan, Rune the Vampire."
Jace was forced forward and he set his hand sweetly on Simon's cheek with a devastated and terrified look in his eyes.
"It's okay, Jace, please don't let one of them do it, I want it to be you." Simon whispered as he closed his eyes and pressed a soft kiss to Jace's palm before leaning in to the hand.
Jace pulled Simon into his chest, vaguely aware of Valentine stopping his people from pulling them apart. Jace wrapped his arms around Simon's bare shoulders, his shirt lost ages ago, torn into strips for Jace to attempt at bandaging his injuries, and then Jace took the Stele in his hand and drew a Rune, tightening his grip on Simon as the Vampire opened his mouth to let a blood curdling scream and began to thrash in Jace's arms, and Jace, Jace forgot how to breath as his legs gave out and Simon screamed and screamed until his voice faded into nothing and Jace couldn't stop crying.
Jace thought it couldn't get worse and then Valentine and his people pulled Simon away from him.
Simon hadn't stopped shaking since Jace had Runed him, Valentine had returned them to their cages and all Jace could do was hold Simon's clammy and shaking hand through the bars of their cages, body cramped and uncomfortable, pressed against the bars to his cage, his arm stretched as far as he could across the distance between their cages, shoulder aching but unwilling to let go as Simon continued to spasm and gasp for unneeded breath as the Angelic power the Rune accessed coursed and burned through his unreceptive body.
And Jace cried because he knew that this was just the beginning for Simon and that there was no way that Simon was going to survive this, no downworlder ever had before. And Jace regretted never telling Simon that he loved him.
There were voices all around him, singing and shouting, whispering encouragement and advice, screaming in anger and horror. Simon didn't know what was happening, everything hurt, his body spasmed and burned painfully. It was to loud in the silence and Simon could almost feel the blood leaking from his ears, nose and eyes.
But there was a hand in his, gripping tightly like an anchor weighing him down and Simon could feel worry, anger, and sorrow. A single voice drifted out from the booming silence, clear and crisp.
"Please don't leave me, Simon."
Simon felt himself drift away from the voice against his will, 'I'm sorry, Jace.' He thought as darkness overcame him and he fell into nothing but cold and dark.
Jace screamed out when Simon just stopped, his body jolting into stillness, such a contrast to the contorting and jerking his body had been doing mere seconds before.
"SIMON!" Jace screamed and tried to stretch his body further, trying to get closer, trying and failing, "Please, please, SIMON!"
The door of the basement opened with and explosion and Jace jerked away briefly in surprise before reaching for Simon again.
"Jace!" Alec cried as he scrambled to Jace's cage, Magnus destroying the lock that kept him caged.
Alec helped Jace out of the cage as Magnus opened Simon's and carefully pulled the man from the small cage.
Jace stumbled as Alec held him up but once he was steady Jace reached out for Simon.
"Give him to me." Jace demanded.
Magnus hesitated, likely knowing how bad it would be for Simon to fall, but...
"Please?" Jace begged quietly, tears falling from his eyes again, "Please?"
Magnus and Alec shared a glance before Magnus carefully handed Simon over, Alec and the Warlock taking positions on either side of Jace as they left the basement, several fellow Shadowhunters slipping through the room to release the other downworlders, helping them limp from their prison or offering a final release from their pain.
As Jace ascended the stairs, walking up from the basement and when the sun first hit his face after exiting the house Jace fell to his knees and he sobbed as people walked around the four of them, Alec and Magnus directing several people while Jace buried his face in Simon's hair and sobbed in both relief and grief, because there was no movement in Simon and the Rune Jace had carved into his shoulder was glaringly obvious and a burning red that bleed black.