Title: Taking Him Down

Prompt from cheshire15: Clary a cop, Jace an IA or undercover officer she stumbles across and gets involved in the operation, they end up falling for each other.

Rating: T

This is the first request. I will be fulfilling them in order. Please, feel free to review and give me prompts. I don't own TMI, just the plot.

Clary Fray and her partner, Isabelle Lightwood, had been sitting in a hot, stuffy surveillance van for hours. Between the two of them, they'd had way too many cups of black coffee as they stared out the window at the seemingly vacant building.

"We should go back over our notes while we wait, it could be all day," Clary said, opening the large cardboard box that contained most of the NYPD's information on notorious crime boss Michael Wayland, their current target. Isabelle continued looking blankly outside, waiting for any sign of movement. "Come on, Iz, we should be making good use of our stakeout time," the redhead encouraged her partner. The two had been together since they got their first beat assignment right out of the academy and risen up the police ranks together. Now, they were detectives with the Major Crimes Unit, an elite task force that chases only the worst of the worst criminals in New York City.

"I can't focus. Where the hell is Alec?" Izzy was biting her nails. The usually confident, calm detective was worried about her brother and fellow police officer, Alec, who was currently trying to take down the Wayland Family. It was a dangerous mission, but Clary was confident in Alec, who was one of her best friends and a damn good cop. Nonetheless, she understood Izzy's worry – Alec was working with a Wayland Family informant, Jace Herondale. He was a high up in the organization, a trusted aid of Wayland himself. But there was a huge risk trusting a supposedly cooperating mafia member. Alec could be discovered at any time being in there with Jace.

As she was reviewing Jace's profile and the information he'd provided thus far, Clary was startled by the sound of gunshots coming from the building.

"Shit!" Isabelle screamed, removing her gun from its holster and jumping out of the van. Clary was hot on her tail, gun in hand, as the duo made their way into the building where Alec's meeting was supposed to happen. There were six backup officers surrounding the building. Clary went in first, scanning the room for any threat. She spotted Alec in a corner and slowly made her way to him, Izzy following her with gun aimed aimed out into the dark room

Alec was bleeding and there was a tall, muscular blond leaning over him. Jace Herondale.

"Jace, freeze and put your hands in the air – get the hell away from him!" Clary screamed. The blond man complied, never taking his eyes off Alec, who Izzy was attending to. Clary pulled out her handcuffs and approached the man, who slowly stood up. She'd never met the informant in person, and he was definitely better looking then in the pictures.

He was taller than Clary had thought, and as he lifted his face away from the bleeding police officer Clary couldn't help but gasp. He was stunning. His golden eyes shined in the dark, his blond hair fell messily atop his head. His chiseled jawline and muscular body made him not classically handsome but still the most gorgeous man Clary had ever seen. When his gold eyes met her emerald ones, he smirked.

"I was helping him, stopping the bleeding. I swear I didn't shoot him. But I have a gun. It's in a holster on my hip. I'm going to remove it now. Don't shoot me." He took the gun out and put it on the floor slowly before kicking it toward her. Clary was vaguely aware of more backup arriving and an EMT loading Alec onto a stretcher as she approached Jace. She kicked the gun away and handcuffed him, unmoved by his statement. She knew from experience that everyone lied – she had no reason to trust the man who had a gun and seemed to have been alone with Alec.

24 hours later, Clary felt like death warmed over. Izzy was at the hospital doting on a slowly healing Alec so she was on her own for the investigation. She hadn't slept since Alec was shot. She had Simon Lewis, her and Izzy's tech guru, working with her, but that was it. She'd spent ten hours interrogating Jace Herondale before he was finally cleared after Simon retrieved video of the shooting. He really had saved Alec's life. As she made her way back into the interrogation room where Jace was waiting, she breathed deeply. She had discovered more about Wayland in a day with Jace than in months of investigation. But she'd also discovered that Jace was a cocky bastard who couldn't stop flirting long enough to string together an innuendo-free sentence. She had to tolerate him.

"Takis – wow, the NYPD sure knows how to treat a guy right!"

"Shut up and eat your coconut pancakes. We still need to figure out how Wayland knew that you were meeting Alec at that warehouse. He had a sniper posted across the street – that wasn't a coincidence. If you didn't tell him, someone did. Any idea who?" Clary watched the flex of his jaw and the way his Adam's apple bobbed when he swallowed. She told herself it was the detective in her trying to learn his habits, but it was really just that he was ridiculously attractive. She was tired and vulnerable so she couldn't really help herself (at least that's how she rationalized it).

"Well, Red, you're the hot cop. Shouldn't you know?" Clary glared at him and he seemed to tense up, maybe finally realizing the severity of the situation he was in. Wayland knew he'd been cooperating. His only hope for survival was NYPD protection. "Okay, okay... I thought Wayland was getting suspicious of me. The other day, I noticed his main security guard, Sebastian, following me. I saw him a few other times. When I was sure he wasn't watching, I called Alec. I was going to tell him I needed to be pulled out – that they were on to me."

"Sebastian who?" Clary asked, diligently taking notes.

"Verlac. He's an asshole, but not a sadist like Wayland. I think it was him today. He was an Army Ranger, specialized in long distance sniper work. I thought we were careful, but I guess not. He's the only one of Wayland's people that could have made that shot." The NYPD had found shell casings on a tall rooftop across the street.

"We're going need to find this Verlac character. You up for accompanying me on a stake-out?" The curious look on Jace's face made Clary laugh.

"I looked into you. You were a decent, small town cop before you crossed the line and became a criminal and moved to New York. I'm not asking you why you crossed into criminal territory, that's none of my business. I'm just saying, it's time you come back across the line and help me out here."

"Okay. Here's the thing. Wayland killed my parents. I infiltrated to bring him down. I just got a little lost on the way. But I am a cop at heart. And now I'm back – the best way for me to get revenge is to take this bastard down and I need NYPD to do it. So let's do it," he said, offering Clary his hand, which she shook. He stared at Clary with a contemplative look on his face, surprised by the feeling of affection he felt for her.

The next day, they found themselves back in the stuffy surveillance bus, sitting side by side and looking at monitors and reviewing files. "Okay, so we tracked Verlac to this apartment building. His aunt, Elodie, lives here. She's clean, no record, she's a nurse at Beth Israel Hospital, but she lets Verlac stay with her all the time." Jace listened attentively as Clary described the situation, before adding his opinion on the best tactic to retrieve Verlac without incident.

"Deep down, Verlac is a coward. He'll surrender if he is surrounded. And he'll talk. Maybe then we'll finally have everything we need to take down Wayland."

"We?" Clary had never heard Jace include himself in the ranks of the officers. He smiled at her, reaching up to tuck a red curl behind her ear. She tried to control the blush in her cheeks.

"We… How's Alec?"

"Izzy said he's awake. Their parents and brother came into town and his boyfriend, Magnus, works at the hospital and is one of his treating doctors. He's doing better and may be discharged as early as tomorrow. He wants to see you, to thank you for saving his life."

Jace ran a hand through his blond hair, pulling at the strands. "I didn't save his life. If I hadn't called him to come get me out, he wouldn't have almost died.

Clary took his hand to comfort him, shocked by the spark she felt at the physical contact. Jace's eyes were wide and innocent as he stared at her. And then, Sebastian passed by the van, walking down the street and into his Aunt's building. And the moment was broken.

"When this is all over, go out with me," Jace said suddenly. He tried to keep his voice steady, but it shook a bit.

"What?"

"I know you feel it too. Just give me a shot to prove to you that I'm a decent guy. Please?" Clary took a deep breath. He did seem like a nice guy. He was sacrificing everything to take down Wayland and his group. He was a cop – deep down, he was a cop. And a good man. So she nodded, bringing a lopsided smile to Jace's face.

"Okay. When this whole mess is over, I'll give you one shot. Right now, let's go get him so we can move on and get Wayland."

"Okay."

With that, Clary and Jace exited the van, signaling to backup. Clary told Jace to stay outside the building with the technical staff, since he was a civilian. "I'm going with you, Clary. You could be hurt."

"No. No you're not. You're a civilian right now – and a potential target. Stay here with Simon." She punctuated the statement with a brief kiss to his lips. "Please, for me."

Jace smiled and nodded. "Be safe. And get the bastard."

Ten minutes later, Clary came out smiling and walked towards him. Behind her, two uniformed officers were escorting Sebastian Verlac into a squad car.

"He was hiding in a closet. As soon as he heard us knock, he hid. Tried to climb out the fire escape, but we had officers there. So he surrendered. He's willing to give Wayland up." She leaned forward, hugging him. Jace was surprised by the burst of affection he felt for the woman in his arms. They stood there, hugging, for a few minutes as the scene cleared.

"Soooo, when's our date?" Jace asked as the pair made their way to the van. Clary found herself laughing all the way back to the station.

Six months later, Clary sat in the front row of the courtroom, waiting for Michael Wayland to be brought in. He had been captured a few months earlier and shot in the leg while attempting to escape. He was charged with several counts of murder, assault, drug distribution, and money laundering. Jace and Sebastian both testified against him. After a three week long trial, today was the day the verdict was to be read.

Minutes before Wayland was due in, Jace meandered into the courtroom, making his way to Clary. He sat next to her, taking her hand in his. His thumb rubbed against her hand in a calming way. Clary figured he was trying to calm both of them down. When Wayland entered the court, Clary squeezed his hand. Jace had been one of the star witnesses, the jury's verdict would either mean that they believed him or not. He was understandably nervous. Alec, Magnus, Isabelle, and Simon were sitting behind them, and Clary could feel Alec's nervous shaking.

The following minutes were a blur. The "guilty" verdict came and Clary's ears began ringing. She leaned in to Jace's side, tears forming in her eyes. She'd been dating Jace since the day Sebastian was arrested. He wormed his way into her heart right away and she hadn't been able to shake him, until she didn't want to anymore. She'd been there to witness the threatening phone calls he got and how he had to move a couple of times. The fear had been real and palpable for her. And now it was over. Jace hugged her close, smiling into her red hair. He seemed relieved too.

"What do you say we get out of here and go home?" he said huskily. Clary nodded, getting up and practically dragging him out of the room. As they approached his squad car, she smiled. He was working for the NYPD now – a uniformed beat cop with the potential to rise in the ranks quickly. He opened the door for her before getting in himself.

"Let's go home and celebrate," Clary said, with a lighthearted tone she hadn't used in months. She and Jace had just moved in together and now, finally, they could live their lives. Together.

"Yes, lets. I love you," he whispered to her.

"I love you too." Then, she leaned in and kissed him passionately, wrapping her arms around his neck. He growled before pulling away, starting the car, and driving off to their new life.