Sadly, oh so sadly, I do not own the Mortal Instruments

The streets of New York were teeming with life as the hour turned. Sunrise wasn't to far away, and as they say, "The city never sleeps." Three figures walked down the street toward the Institute. Even though the streets were dangerous for three teenagers to be walking at 4 a.m., no one seemed to notice them walking.

"Michelle," the youngest one, Kathy, began. "Do you think this is safe? What if we can't trust them?"

Being the eldest of the three, Michelle was often looked to for choices and reassurance. She ran one of her hands through her long brown and hair and took a deep breath. She often did this as a way to gather he thoughts or to buy herself some time. "What else can we do Kitty?" Kitty was Kathy's Shadow Hunter nickname. All of the others called her this because of her cat-like reflexes. "They are the only ShadowHunters around and we need all the help we can get if we want to get our parents back."

Michelle, Kathy, and Logan(the third figure) came from a clan of Shadow Hunters that lived down in North Carolina. A few weeks ago, all of the adults in the clan were taken prisoner by the Clave. They were being accused of treason and being allies to Valentine.

As the silence captured them again, Michelle remembered the last time she spoke to her father before this whole mess got started.

"Michelle, come in here please," her father called. He had an edge to his voice that Michelle didn't hear until she thought about it as she walked into the room.

"What's up, dad?" He had an apprehensive look on his face that she knew very well. She knew it meant trouble....big trouble. "Dad, what's wrong?"

He looked around the corner of the room. "Where's your mother and Kathy?"

"They went down the street to Adrian's house." Adrian was Michelle's fiancé. Even though they were both very young, Michelle and Adrian were ready to be married. Neither of their families were adverse to the idea of their families being joined. Actually, both families loved their soon-to-be-inlaws.

"Good. There is something I need to tell you." Michelle sat down on the couch that had been her grandmother's before she passed away.

"Ok shoot," Michelle encouraged.

Her father took a deep breath and ran his right hand through his long brown hair. Even though it wasn't a time to smile, a corner of Michelle's mouth pulled up. She had that same bad habit that her father had. "Michelle, the Clave is coming."

"Here?!" Michelle said hysterically.

"Yes, they are coming for me, your mother, and the rest of the adults in our clan."

"Why? Why are they coming?"

"According to James-(Adrian's father)-, they believe that your mother and I are allies to Valentine. And since our clan is so tight knit and small, they believe all of the adults here are allies. James believes that the children should be safe because since you are all so young, there is no way that you could be in ties with Valentine."

Michelle couldn't believe what she was hearing. She knew that the Clave was crazy, but she never believed that they would accuse her entire clan of being traitors. She took a deep breath and ran her right hand through her hair. "When?"

"Soon. We aren't sure when, but it is soon. That is why I am telling you this. You, along with Adrian, Logan, Rhea, Christian, and the rest of the eldest youth of the Shadow Hunters, must prepare for this. All of our council has spoken or will be speaking to the eldest of each household." Michelle put her head in her hands. She was preparing for something like this even since she began her training, but she didn't like having to fight. But she did what she had to do.

"Ok, dad."

"Promise me, Michelle, promise me that you will do everything in your power to keep our clan safe. As the elders of our clan, I'm asking you to give me your word." He looked at her with those piercing hazel eyes.

"You have my word," she vowed.

A tear ran down Michelle's right cheek. Kathy and Logan were to enraptured in what they were talking about to even realize that Michelle was in pain. She wiped it away quickly and kept on walking. She had a mission to take care of, but her mind kept walking back to those last days at home.

Cries lifted toward the skies from every corner of their homeland. The Clave attacked in the dead of night with weapons of destruction. The destruction of hope, the destruction of life. She and her sister were told by her father to stay out of sight, along with every other youth in the homeland. They watched their mothers and fathers fighting with every ounce of strength in them. It was amazing, but it wasn't enough. They were overpowered and dragged away.

It was a living nightmare.

When the eldest youth were sure that it was safe, they called the younger children out. They scowered their homes to see how much damage their was. Everything was burned to the ground.

"Where's Nicholas?" Michelle asked after taking count of all the kids. Adrian and Mason looked for him everywhere, but it was Lillian, Mason's 8 year old sister, who found him.

"Mason!" Lillian cried. "I found him!" Adrian and Mason ran over to where Lillian was standing. Nicholas was buried under rubble of a house that was burned down. He was still alive, but only just.

Adrian healed him with one of his healing runes. Nicholas starting breathing a little bit quicker and finally opened his eyes. "Nicholas, don't scare us like that ever again." Adrian pulled his Nicholas into a hug before taking him to the other kids.

Michelle put Nevaeh, Riley, Landon,-they are some of the preteen Shadow Hunters- in charge of the younger kids as she went to go converse with the older youth. "What are we going to do now guys?"

Adrian looked around at all of the Light Riders, that's what he called the oldest youth of Shadow Hunters, before he spoke. "Well there aren't enough of us to go and get back our parents and leave some to stay with the younger ones. And we need some of us to stay and try to rebuild whatever we can. We can use some of the Night Saints-(that's what called the preteens were called)- to help us watch to little ones and to build a little bit, but that's all we can really use them for. They aren't ready to fight, and we can't leave them here alone."

"So we are going go to need help, that's a given," said Mason.

"But who is going to fetch the help?" asked Rhea.

All of the Light Riders looked around at each other trying to read each others thoughts. After almost sixteen to eighteen years of growing up together, they started to get better at it.

"I'll do it," Michelle said. She saw that no one else was going to volunteer, so she decided that it was best if she did it. "Any one adverse to the idea?" She looked around at her friends and saw that Adrian was, but he said nothing. "Then it's settled. I'm going for help. Logan, will you come with me?" Logan nodded her head. "OK, and I'm taking my sister with me."

The Light Riders dispersed from where they were sitting to go and begin their work. Michelle whispered some things to Logan before they separated. Michelle walked to where her sister was before being caught by Adrian.

"Michelle, you can't do this," he said with a fierce look in his eye.

"Why not? I'm just as good a volunteer as anyone else." They glared at each other for a long moment. No one could understand how two people who are so much alike yet so different could have fallen for each other. They challenged each other and kept the other on their toes, but thats the way their relationship worked. Michelle continued to measure Adrian's power with her eyes as Adrian's will began to slowly crumble.

"I can't let you-no strike that-I don't want you to do this."

"Give me one good reason why I shouldn't go," she challenged.

His eyes grew soft before speaking to her. He lifted her left hand and played with the ring on her finger. "You know why." He put his other hand on her face and looked into her eyes.

She hated when he did this. He never spoke out loud that he loved her. It was only once that he did, and that was the day he proposed to her. Once again, no one could understand why they had fallen for each other, but they knew why and it was enough.

She sighed, closed her eyes to fight back her tears, and let her head fall before she spoke. "I have to do this, Adrian. I know how you feel about me and that you are scared. I'm scared to, but I've gotta put down my pride and my fear and go. Our families are in danger. That's what matters right now." She looked up into his green eyes and waited for him to speak.

He took a deep breath through his nose before speaking. "You're right. And since that's the case, I can wait until you come home for our wedding." The wedding was set for next week, but it was going to be pushed back.

"Thank you," she said.

Adrian kissed her knuckles and her ring before speaking. "Anything for you." He smiled and kissed her on the cheek before walking away. It was their clan's tradition not to kiss on the lips before the wedding. None of the kids had a problem with this, and neither did Adrian or Michelle.

Michelle found Logan and Kathy ready to go. "What happened?" Logan asked.

"Just took care of some stuff." The three of them laughed. "Kathy, do you want to go with us or stay?" Kathy was one of the Night Saints, and she was to stay, but since she was Michelle's sister, she had an option.

"Yeah, I'm in," she said.

"OK, let me get my things and we can go" Michelle said.

The sun was up by the time three girls got to the Institute. "Are you ready?" Michelle asked.

"Yeah, let's do this," Logan said.

Kathy knocked on the door to the church-like building and it swung open. The two sisters and their friend walked slowly through the doors of the Institute.

"Hello?" Kathy called out.

The three girls walked a bit farther before hearing something down the hallway. They continued to walk slowly toward the loud noise. "Hello?"Michelle yelled out.

The girls rounded the corner to find themselves looking into a kitchen. They found two teenagers, a boy with black hair and a girl with dark brown hair fighting and throwing objects back and forth to eachother. Before any of the girls could say anything, Logan squealed. Michelle, Kathy, and the two teenagers in the kitchen looked toward Logan and saw that she was being held by her hair, so she was being bent backwards, and had a dagger being pointed into her throat.

"Guys help," Logan cried as the boy who was holding her snarled,"Who are you?!"

Kathy pulled out her bow and arrow and pointed it at the boy's head.

The tall girl from the kitchen ran towards Michelle. "What's going on out here?" The boy she was arguing with saw Kathy had a bow pointed to the boy's blonde head and ran to help him. He pulled out a sword and pointed it at Kathy.

"I suggest you back away," the dark-haired boy threatened.

Kathy merely glanced at him then back at the golden-haired boy who had Logan.

"Well it seems as though your friend has taken my best friend prisoner, and my sister is gonna pierce his head if he doesn't let go. And the boy with the dark hair is going to kill my sister if she doesn't back down." Michelle spoke to the tall girl as if they were old friends. Both girls laughed at the situation.

"Alec back off, and Jace let her go," the tall girl commanded.

"Kathy," Michelle began,"drop your weapon."

The boy named Alec pulled his sword back in its sheath. Kathy put her bow over her shoulder and her arrow back in the carrying case and they both disappeared once they touched her back. The boy named Jace shoved Logan away and she fell on the floor.

"Jace, you jerk!" The tall girl said.

Jace shrugged at the girl. "Takes one to know one, Izzy."

Izzy stuck her tongue out at Jace before turning to Michelle. "I'm sorry. We got off on the wrong foot. I'm Isabelle. That's my brother Alec," she pointed to the boy that had had his sword pointed at Kathy, "and that's my adopted brother Jace," She nodded toward the boy who attacked Logan.

"I'm Michelle. That's my little sister, Kathy," she pointed to her sister, "and that's my best friend, Logan." She pointed to Logan who was now standing next to Kathy, glaring at Jace.

Isabelle looked at Michelle with a puzzled look on her face. "Have we met? I feel like I've met you before."

Michelle examined Isabelle before speaking. "Isabelle Lightwood?"

"Michelle Rojas?"

The girls began to squeal.

"What is going on?" Kathy and Alec asked in unison.

"Kathy, Isabelle is my friend from my childhood. She and I grew up together. Logan, this is the Isabelle I told you about the. The one I said that I couldn't remember her last name." Isabelle laughed.

"I'm surprised you didn't remember me, Alec," Michelle chuckled.

Alec raised an eye brow before. "Michelle, as far as attitude, you haven't changed a bit." The three of them laughed. "Wait, if this is you, Michelle, then that," he pointed to Kathy, "must be little Katherine."

"There's a name I haven't heard since I was a baby," Kathy muttered. She joined in in the laughing.

Michelle looked at Jace and shook her head. "Jonathan Christopher Wayland, you haven't changed at all."

"And apparently you haven't learned to call me Jace," Jace snapped at her.

Michelle raised an eye brow.

Logan cleared her throat and got everyone's attention. "Um, I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but Michelle," she pointed to the mark on the back of her hand."

Michelle understood at once. "Ah, yeah." She cleared her throat, but was cut off when another voice entered the room.

"What's going on out here," a red-headed girl said as she entered the room.

Jace walked towards the girl and put his arm around her waist. "It's nothing, Clary."

The two looked at each other and a moment of silent conversation feel between them. "Ok, I'm gonna go work out downstairs." She kissed him on the cheek before walking down the stairs.

"Is that your girlfriend, Jace?" Michelle asked and he nodded. "Wow, I'm shocked. Jace Wayland is finally whipped," she said sarcastically. Alec, Isabelle, Kathy, and Logan all began to double over in laughter.

"Alright, alright, enough humor on my part. Now what is it that you guys came here for?"

"Oh that's really hospitable, Jace," Logan snapped at him. Jace glared at the tiny Shadow Hunter and Logan just glared right back. The other four watched them and waited to see if another fight was about to ensue.

Jace stopped glaring and smirked. "Your friend is cool." He started to laugh a little bit. "Now what is it that you guys need?"

Kathy rolled her eyes at Jace and looked at Isabelle. "Is there a place we can all talk privately?" Isabelle nodded and led them down the hallway to the library.

As they all got seated, Isabelle broke the silence. "Do you need all of us?"

"Is everyone in this household a Shadow Hunter?" Logan asked.

"Yeah. I guess that means that we'll need Clary. I'll go and get her." Alec ran out to get her and caught her before she started working out. They both came back to the library and sat down.

"OK, your on, Michelle," Jace said.

Should I continue? Comments are greatly appreciated.