Summary: Jace gets kicked out of the Institute and he's found by Magnus Bane. Malec doesn't exist in this, sadly. It's hurt/comfort romance and is set in City of Ashes. COA with Magnus/Jace

Disclaimer: I don't own The Mortal Instruments series.

There isn't really romance, just little hints at attraction, but I might continue this and have some Jace/Magnus action ;)

This was just a random thought I had when reading COA last night and this came about. So...if you like Malec and Malec alone you should probably not read this because it is nonexistent. Also, this is my first time writing Jace and it was kinda hard for me but I hope you like.

Jace was not like Valentine. He might be Valentines son, but he was raised by the Lightwoods, by Robert and Maryse ,and with his siblings Max and Alec and Izzy. He was family, like blood, more so than him, and yet he was kicked out by Maryse because he was like his father.

He knew that Maryse was just afraid. She thought that having him around was dangerous to her actual family. It wasn't just because of his 'attitude' he was thrown out, which was lacking any good qualities apparently, but because he was a spy and he was giving information to his father. Ridiculous. It hurt more than he would like to admit. After all they had been through she says that, after everything they'd done as a family she treats him like nothing. And exempting all feelings about it, exactly what would he tell Valentine that was so secretive? He wasn't sure Valentine would care about Izzy's shit food and the many hospital visits it had caused, or Alec's bad habit of leaving his door open so everyone could hear him snore.

The one thing that was frustrating was that it was Maryse alone who did this. Robert was gone in Idris, and Alec and Isabelle and Max didn't know he was gone unless Maryse was so heartless to tell them their brother was no longer welcome at the Institute. So there was nobody to stop her from doing this. Nobody but him, but he couldn't do anything according to the laws.

It might be childish, but Jace could say it out-loud. "Maryse is a bitch."

The urge to go all out and beat the shit out of something with his bare hands was overwhelming. He wanted a demon to jump out in front of him just so he could kill it. The release that would bring, the anger he could let out, it would get rid of this unbearable sadness. Sadness that came on strong, and filled him with pain he wasn't aware he could have. He was tossed out, thrown away because of his father, a father he didn't really know. It wasn't his fault Valentine was an evil, psychotic bastard. How could Maryse truly believe he could betray everything her family gave Jace for him?

And worst of all, he was lost. There was not a dollar in his pocket for food or for a place to stay. And the only weapon he had was a small dagger, and his stele. Even though he urged for a demon to kill, he didn't have much to kill one with.

"I hate my life," Jace groaned, shoving his hands into coat pockets for warmth from the heavy cold wind. He crossed the street in front of him and suddenly bright lights assaulted his vision. As he crossed the streets a dark blue car jerked towards him and he was ready to jump out of the way when he was pulled backwards onto the sidewalks like air itself carried him there.

"That doesn't mean you have to kill yourself, darling."

Jace turned his head to see Magnus Bane strolling over. The warlock wore a long black coat with big buttons and as always thick eye make-up that sparkled. Why all the glitter? He tight pants, extremely tight, and a lot of rings, too many rings for Jace's eyes to see from the reflecting light posts. He wore strange clothes, but Jace could admit he was an attractive guy.

It was obvious the warlocks' magic had been what lifted him from the cars impending impact, and he resisted shivering from the fact that Magnus's magic had touched him.

He crossed his arms. "I'd appreciate it if you didn't fondle me with your magic."

Magnus gave a cat-like smirk and wiggled his fingers, blue smoke drifted in the air around them. "I've got magic fingers; I can't help but want to use them."

Jace sighed, ranking his hand through his wind-blown hair. It felt dirty, and the thought of a shower sounded better than food. "I don't have time for witty banter with you." He turned to walk from where he came from. Wherever that was, he thought.

"You look a little lost, Jace Lightwood," Magnus said in a teasing tone.

Lightwood? Jace turned around. "Why did you call me that?"

"Your name?" Magnus asked, and Jace nodded. The warlock raised a brow. "Does no one answer to their name anymore?"

Jace couldn't resist the smile that overtook his lips.

"Well? Are you lost?" Magnus asked again.

Jace sighed. He hated to admit it, his pride screamed at him not to, but Jace needed a place to stay, at least for the night, and Magnus could provide that. If Magnus didn't let him then Jace would stay in a park tonight and hope the rain never fell.

"I am," Jace replied.

"I'm not sure why. You came to my party right over there not too long ago." Magnus pointed behind him. "Is a Shadowhunter's memory that faulty?"

All of a sudden the recognition hit him. He recalled seeing these same factories he'd been seeing for the past ten minutes of walking. Jace felt stupid, completely stupid. Is this how mundanes feel?

Magnus smiled. "You look in need of some caffeine. Why don't you come over?"

Jace realized how un-Jace-like he was being. But really, everything that had happened to him made him a little distressed. He had lost his home, and he had always had a home to go back to. It was horrible to think that he, Jace Lightw—Morgenstern, was homeless. And he couldn't not be Jace, who was the cocky, conceited, and just down right arrogant, and overall strong, Shadowhunter. He always would be like that. But now he was a different Jace. He was ultimately human and sometimes emotions did get the better of him, though he'd prefer them not to. Showing that side of him, especially in front of Magnus Bane, High Warlock, well, he just couldn't let that happen. So he tried to be the other Jace, the Jace that wasn't a weakling.

He shrugged a shoulder. "I suppose it couldn't hurt."

The look in those cat-eyes was all-knowing. Magnus saw through his bullshit. When he really thought about it, Magnus had seen a lot because he'd lived a long time, or so he said. Spotting the truth probably came in seconds. But Magnus didn't say anything about his attempt at a façade. He just said, "Follow me" and Jace followed because Magnus said caffeine earlier and that sounded fantastic.

They started walking down the path Jace remembered, then up the steps he remembered, and there was the entryway where a large metal-bound door with rows of buzzers next to it lay. He saw one that said BANE in thick letters. The warlock opened the door and led him up more stairs, these a little more unstable than the first, and entered Magnus's loft. It was different than last time, with plush carpet furnished with couches, thick framed pictures, and a lot of fancy electronics. There was a living room with a TV on a big stand; a game thing mundane's played, and two dark forest green couches. A shelf filled with movies and games. A kitchen was to the left, in it there sat a simple wooden table, flowers in a vase upon it, and expensive looking appliances. A hallway was straight ahead with two brightly colored doors.

It was so…normal. So mundane. He didn't think Magnus could live so…normal.

Magnus saw him staring at the room. "I change it once in a while, so don't get used to seeing it this way."

Jace took off his shoes along with Magnus, and then his coat was hung up.

In the kitchen it was so warm, like his entire home, and Jace reveled in it, his arms prickling from the onslaught of heat. Suddenly there was movement beneath his feet and he reacted without thought, taking out his dagger and holding it out in defense. What was in Magnus's house? Looking down what he saw was a small white kitten with big eyes now purring around the warlock's feet.

Magnus laughed, but Jace just frowned. He was rash just then. He was never so hasty. He could've killed a cute little kitten.

The cat was taken out by Magnus's hands, and there was what sounded like a mouse and a very small pitter-patter of tiny paws on the carpet. Jace was glad, he might accidentally murder Magnus's cat later if it wasn't out of his sight.

There was nothing said. He expected a rude comment about what he did, but Magnus just smiled. "Let's get some coffee in you. You look absolutely frozen, my dear."

Forced into a seat at the table, Magnus handed Jace a warm cup that came from nowhere. He stared down at it. "How did you make this so fast?"

"I didn't make it," Magnus said with a chilling gleam in his eyes, like stealing was a thrill for him. Knowing he could always get away with it as he had magic to assist him could do that to a person. "It's from the coffee shop down the street; they're open all night."

Though he didn't usually like coffee with sugar and cream—straight black was the way for him—he took what he could get to be warm again. He took a few sips and moaned at the heat. "Thanks, Bane."

"Call me Magnus will you?"

He nodded. "Thanks, Magnus."

Taking a seat opposite him, Magnus conjured his self some coffee. However, his had a big topping of whipped cream on top rather than just a regular cup like his, and there was a green straw. Magnus had a taste for sweet things then?

"So," Magnus began, sticking a finger into the topping of cream, "what were you doing over here so late? I imagine it wasn't demon hunting." The warlock licked the cream from the tip of his finger a little too sexually for Jace to feel comfortable, and his eyes seemed to darken for a moment. Seeing such a look directed at him from Magnus was scary, knowing his power and abilities, but…for some reason Jace liked the attention. Magnus was attractive, he'd already covered that, but it didn't mean he liked him in that way. Jace didn't do that. He was labeled a man-whore, and that did not mean he went after men. He had sex with women, not men, and definitely not Magnus Bane.

Jace shook his head. Dirty thoughts wanted to take over that were not acceptable for what was going on right now.

Magnus's lip twitched into a half smirk like he knew.

"Maryse kicked me out," he said, referring to Magnus's question before his mind went away with him to la la land. "She thinks I'm a spy for Valentine and I helped him get the Mortal Cup. She also thinks that I'm giving my father information."

"Are you?"

Jace gave him a deadpan look. "Doesn't matter. If I was a spy I have nothing to spy on now, and that's what she wanted. She wanted her family safe." Because I'm not family anymore.

Magnus sipped his drink. His tan hand cupped his chin and his elbow rested on the tabletop. "You look pretty upset. I'm sure it does matter to you, if not to both of you. Maryse is doubtlessly wounded. She and many others loved that madman—my apologies, your father. I think she's worried you used her all these years, and she let her anger get the better of her, as mothers tend to do on occasion."

Jace rolled his eyes. "She isn't my mother." She definitely wasn't any longer.

Magnus put his hands flat on the tabletop and stared him down. It was a little unnerving to have his cat-eyes staring right at him so directly. "You were her son, Jace. Adopted or not. She was hurt by Valentine and she probably thinks you'll do the same. She assumes all those years as a…family…were a lie."

Maybe they were, Jace thought.

"I won't go back to a place where I'm not trusted." (*)

The warlock sighed. "I'm not usually one to offer help without pay but…for you I suppose I can make an exception." He winked.

Magnus just winked at him and Jace came to a realization, an obvious one. The warlock was hitting on him. Usually he was the person who flirted so it was a little hard to spot.

Jace was really flattered. Magnus was powerful, domineering, and his eyes just screamed sex. The Shadowhunter did not know why he was doing this now, when it seemed so out of place, but vaguely he remembered the party and Magnus making little comments to him. Jace was just so focused on Clary—the poor girl who didn't know who she was—to notice the flirting.

Not only was he flattered, but he kind of liked it. He hated that he liked it, too. Why did he like it? He wasn't gay like Alec. He wasn't gay, that just couldn't be possible when he liked women too much. Girls and Jace just went together; it was the way of the universe.

He took a big swallow of coffee to gather some nerve back, and get rid of these horny, mundane teenager emotions.

Dammit, I'm hard. And all he did was wink!

The sparkly-eyed warlock hummed like he knew what Jace was thinking, and what was going on in his pants. He looked Jace up and down, which was frightening and sexual. "Listen to me, and don't get angry when I say this. I'm willing to help you if you want it, as I said before. Whether that help be my ears to listen, or a place for the night, both, or anything else, you only need ask me, Jace."

Jace stood up, the chair screeching as it slid across the wood floor. He set his coffee cup on the table in fear that he might break it in his hands. The only help he needed was a place to stay. Magnus had crossed the line between helping and making his blood boil.

"Thanks a lot for the coffee," he said with gritted teeth, turning to leave.

"Don't—"

Jace spun quickly and slammed his hands on the wood, his body inclined forward. His eyes stared the warlock down, burning with fury and forthcoming sadness. "You don't know me." His voice was sharp, like he intended.

Magnus's eyes were wide; however they seemed to be almost lazy and not affected by his outburst. That just made Jace angrier, and his hands itched to be grasping the warlocks flesh to tear it open. "It's not that I don't know you, Jace. I merely understand how much this has to hurt you."

"I am not a weak mundane."

Magnus shook his head, smiling softly. "No, you definitely are not. Nevertheless, I've known many Shadowhunter's and they all have a breaking point they eventually hit, and they hit it hard."

Jace wasn't breaking. How could this break him?

"If you want your family you'll have to go back—"

"I won't go back!"

Magnus raised a brow. He folded his arms across his chest. "Why are you shouting at me?"

Jace's hands gripped the chairs back tightly, nearly breaking it with his grip. "Because you're wrong. Going back won't fix this. Maryse thinks I'm just like him. I'm not. She wants me to say I hate him but I don't. After all the evil things he's done, he's still my father, and I can't say I hate him." I do hate him. I do. But you can't hate family, can you?

Magnus let out a big sigh. "You are a Lightwood, aren't you?"

Jace pictured Maryse's face as she said her last words before she shoved him out the door. 'You are no son of mine, you are just like Valentine'. In an instant his anger died out. Am I really just like him?

"Am I?" he asked, and he wasn't sure which question he was pondering.

The back of his throat was suddenly hoarse and coated in fire. His eyes began to prickle, and he blinked the sting away but it stayed, an uncomfortable feeling he was unaccustomed to.

Magnus rounded the table to stand before Jace. His eyes, those cat-eyes he found sort of entrancing, were so close he could see every detail in the demonic orbs. "Only you know who you are. But in my eyes, you are a Lightwood."

Rubbing his throat and eyes to ebb the pain, Jace stepped back from the warlock. He was too close. Yet Magnus moved with him. His tan hands grasped Jace's own to pull his body forward towards him in a powerful tug, colliding him with a strong chest, then his hands secured around Jace's back to keep him there.

It would be easy to get out of this hug. But he didn't shove the warlock away. It was warm against Magnus's chest, and his hands were somewhat comforting against his back resting there tenderly. Jace's heart beat quicker. This was new, it was like being comforted but stronger, and it was more than just calming. He pressed his hands on Magnus's chest, not forceful, just resting there with his fingers splayed. Jolts of heat were sent threw his shirt against the skin of his back and Jace groaned at the pleasure. Magic was truly a wonderful thing. The scent of Magnus was circulating through his nose, smelling of incense and herbs, and as he inhaled he gripped the fabric beneath his hands, placing his cheek to the bright colored top. Magnus's warm hand moved pressed into his neck, causing his body to tremble. He never felt so at ease.

Why was Magnus doing this? He seemed like such an asshole that first night when they came here with Clary, but now he was hugging Jace—not many people did that unless they wanted sex or to be punched.

He felt the need to speak in the silence. "Magnus…"

"Yes?"

"Could I stay here tonight?"

The warlock's exhaled a small laugh. "I was waiting for that question."

(*) QUOTE FROM JACE, PAGE 45 OF CITY OF ASHES, PAPERBACK

If this is liked I'll probably continue :)

Feedback on this would be great. No mean comments please.

I support Malec fervently.

-Eve