Isabelle shook her head, winding her whip up and hooking the coils onto her belt as she argued with Clary.

"You don't know what you're getting into. This isn't some regular demon hunt, Clary."

"I know that, and it's not like you and the others won't be there."

Izzy sighed and turned to her best friend. She was trying to explain why she couldn't come battle an Achaieral demon untrained but the young shadowhunter wouldn't have it.

"You haven't been trained for this! Do you even know what they are? They cover the night in darkness, taking away any light that the stars and moon provide, they're huge and fast and very dangerous."

Clary was being as stubborn as ever, crossing her arms and planting her feet in the armoury.

"We've handled big demons before."

Izzy spun to her, groaning. She and Clary may have been close but this was infuriating.

"Not like this one! The last time they attacked it took an army of shadowhunters working with downworlders to take them down. Simon, Meliorn, Mangus and Luke are coming with us so you can stay here where it's safe."

Clary still didn't want to listen, adamant that she could handle herself in the battlefield.

"Simon is going? He doesn't know anything about demons? Why is he going?"

Isabelle refused to look at Clary now, too mad at her arguing to properly focus on her task of drawing runes. Her voice was hard and impatient.

"Because he's fast and strong and he won't get killed if he's thrown around a couple of times."

"I can handle myself!"

"No, you can't! You aren't going! You have no idea what to do against this demon! You don't even know whether to avoid the teeth or the talons! Or the wings which IT HAS BY THE WAY."

"So, I'll read up on them or just tell me what to expect, I can-"

"I learnt about these demons when I was twelve, Clary. You don't know anything, you've been a shadowhunter for three months, come back when you've been doing it more than a year."

Jace came in then and quickly put his hands between the two, now shouting girls. Alec was behind him but kept quiet, uninterested in sorting out their bickering.

"Hey, what's going on? What's with all the yelling?"

Clary pointed an accusing finger at Isabelle.

"Izzy doesn't want me going on the mission."

The brunette laughed without humour and shook her head, giving Clary a hard look.

"I didn't say I didn't want you to go. I said you couldn't. You're staying here."

Jace frowned and started picking weapons off the rack, handing one to Clary with a shrug.

"Why not? We could always use more fighters; these demons are known to be tricky."

Izzy looked at him incredulously, swiping the seraph blade from Clary's hand before she could protest.

"That's why we're bringing the downworlders. It's too dangerous for her."

"Who says?"

Izzy threw her hands up, eyebrows furrowing in anger.

"I did! She's my best friend, I'm not having her go running in blind because she can't listen to someone who knows better than her."

Jace crossed his arms and raised an eyebrow at Izzy.

"Are you sure you don't just want the credit of the hunt for yourself?"

"What?"

"Come on, I know you want mom to be proud of you and sure, this is one way to do it but you can't stop Clary from going just because you want to be the hero."

Izzy shook her head, shocked that her brother would accuse her of such a thing. Alec came towards them now, no longer interested in staying out of it if Jace was going to be so cruel.

"I can't believe you'd say that. This isn't about me this is about keeping Clary safe."

Jace shook his head and pursed his lips, obviously not believing her.

"Okay, so that's why you want her to stay away? Because you think you matter more than her?"

Alec stepped between his siblings and placed a hand on Jace's chest.

"That's enough. Izzy's right; Clary is untrained and would only be a liability to this mission. This is about Clary's safety as much as it is about the safety of the rest of the team and the mundane's that will get hurt if the demon escapes. Clary stays here, that's an order. You can work on your rune studies."

Clary stormed off, clearly upset and Izzy turned back to her runes. Alec grabbed Jace's arm as he turned to follow her. He spoke softly but his tone was hard with disappointment and anger.

"Apologize to Izzy. You were out of line."

Jace looked behind Alec, over to their sister, and shook his head.

"I don't agree with either of you. How is Clary going to learn to be a shadowhunter if we don't let her fight?"

"The same way we did. Through training in controlled environments. She can read up on the classifications of demons and other downworlders and keep learning about runes. Knowledge is just as important to being shadowhunter as fighting is."

Jace shook his hand off and walked away.

"Whatever."

Alec rolled his eyes at his brothers behaviour and turned to Izzy where she was angrily pulling at the straps of her armour.

"You okay?"

"Yeah, thanks for taking my side."

Alec just shrugged and helped her tighten a piece on her side where she couldn't reach.

"You're right, they're being reckless and trigger-happy. We need to be smart about this hunt. That's why you're coming after all." He smiled at her and her anger melted away. She smiled too and helped him with his own armour.

The hunt was difficult, the demon being far stronger than first anticipated, and it would have failed completely if everyone didn't do their jobs so perfectly.

Alec had been working on injuring the thing from afar while keeping an eye on everyone and covering them when they got knocked down. The downworlder's did their best to weaken the beast with constant, hard attacks as Jace and Izzy went in for the kill.

But Jace got knocked down when he got too close and was pushed back enough that he would lose his window of opportunity if the demon flew up out of their reach again.

Izzy had always been good at distractions, so she leapt in front of the demon and flicked her whip towards it, wrapping the leather around its wings to keep it grounded. The demon was so strong it took both her hands to keep hold of it and although she knew this would leave her vulnerable, she held fast anyway so that Jace could kill it.

Jace did kill the demon, with a scream of rage he swung his seraph blade, slicing through the meat of its neck, and cutting off its head before stabbing it through the heart.

It fell to the ground, raining ash as it disintegrated, leaving the smell of brunt rot in the air.

The demon was dead but not without a fight. Jace cleaned the ichor off his blade, unaware of Izzy's injury until he heard Alec screaming her name.

She was on the ground, groaning as she clutched her side. The demon hadn't liked having its wings tied and picked her up, throwing her into a wall before it died.

Alec rushed over with Jace hot on his heels, kneeling beside his sister and running his hands over her, checking for injuries.

"Izzy, where does it hurt?"

Her breath was strained through her clenched teeth and removed her hand from her chest so that Alec could press careful fingers to her ribs.

"Four of them are broken and I think your shoulder's dislocated."

He started drawing runes, calling Magnus over to help her with the pain before gently taking her arm.

"I'm sorry, Iz, this is going to hurt." He winced in sympathy as he pulled the joint back into place, the bone snapping back audibly in the quiet night. She groaned but refrained from screaming as her body protested the harsh treatment.

Alec turned his furious expression on Jace.

"Does this look like she wanted the attention to you? Who was the hero in this scenario, Jace? The one that killed the demon or the one that was willing to die so that you could do it."

Jace didn't know what to say. So, he said nothing, watching as Magnus helped Alec get Izzy through a portal back to the institute.

Once Izzy had been mostly healed and placed in a bed in the infirmary, Jace and Clary came to see her. Both had their heads hung low in shame and Clary took her best friends hand in hers.

"I'm so sorry I didn't trust you, Izzy. I just want to be like you guys so bad and I felt like I knew enough to help. I shouldn't have said those things, I'm sorry."

Jace nodded and looked at her, guilt growing heavier with each bruise he saw on her skin.

"I shouldn't have said those things either. I don't have any other excuse except that I'm a dick and I was being selfish. I'm really sorry, Iz."

Isabelle was too tired for any arguing and just looked at the two with a frown.

"I forgive you. But if either of you pull that crap again I'll kick both your asses and you guys can stay in the infirmary while I deal with the demons on my own. Agreed?"

Jace and Clary nodded. Izzy sighed and closed her eyes as she leant back in her pillows.

"Good, cause I love you guys and I hate fighting. Now, go get me some food please, this selfless hero is hungry."