So here's part two of History, as promised! For the record, this does not in any way relate to my other crossover two-shot, Old New Faces. I love creating scenarios involving Cassie Clare's characters from both Shadowhunter series, so there will probably be quite a few, but none of then relate to one another unless otherwise indicated.

On a different note, if you've read the poem Beowulf, please check out my one-shot story I posted. It was an English assignment at the beginning of the year about Grendel.

Now enjoy!


"…So then I tried dragging him, but obviously he's older, so that didn't work, either. I've done everything I can think of: I've threatened him, I've hit him, I've yelled at him, I even tried getting him drunk! But nothing I do will get Alec out of his room. He doesn't even want to go out hunting! What Shadowhunter doesn't want to hunt demons? Ugh! He's so frustrating! And –"

"Isabelle. Izzy. Sister Dearest."

"What?" the black-haired girl snapped, irritated about being cut off.

Jace looked at her lazily from where he lounged on the windowsill. "I get what you're saying, really, I do. But you need to leave your brother alone. If he wants to mope, let him."

Izzy glared at her adopted brother. "Let him mope? Jace, he's been moping for two months now! You're acting as if this is no big deal! No one should be this withdrawn after a breakup."

Jace held up his hands. "I'm not saying it's normal, or healthy, but I am saying you need to back off him a bit."

"He's your parabatai. You should be doing something!"

"I have done something!" He looked hurt. "I got him to go outside."

"Yeah, and broke his new phone!"

"It's his fault; he kept calling Magnus and hanging up and it was getting on my nerves."

"Jace Lightwood, our brother is hurting, and you need to help me fix him, or I swear by the Angel –"

"Isabelle!"

The adoptive siblings both looked at the red-haired girl that sat at the library desk. She had been intently flipping through some heavy-looking books but was now staring at the arguing brother and sister in exasperation.

Clary put her pencil down and sighed. "Izzy, you've been taking care of Alec for the past nine hours. Why don't you call Simon and go to Taki's?"

Isabelle shook her head. "No way, last time we almost got caught by Maureen's followers."

"Okay then, go to his apartment."

"Not gonna happen; Maia's there. Ever since she and Jordan got back together they've been unbearable."

"Well then invite him over here."

Izzy stared at her brother's girlfriend. "Um, Clary? I know you're still relatively new to the Shadow World, but I know you know the Institute is on hallowed ground. Simon can't come inside."

"Isabelle, there is a perfectly good Sanctuary attached to the Institute that's not on hallowed ground. Why don't you use it?"

"… Oh. Yeah. Well okay, then." Isabelle stood up from her chair and left the library, tapping away at her phone.

"Finally!" Jace exclaimed, sliding off his windowsill perch and stalking over to the desk. "I thought she'd never leave." He leaned down for a kiss, only to find his girlfriend's head already bent over the tomes again. "Ah, come on, Clary. She was in here for the past half hour, and now we're finally alone!"

"Jace, I only told Izzy to call Simon because a), Maia and Jordan are driving him crazy, b) I wanted to prevent a fight, and c) I can't concentrate when you two are bickering."

"But Clary…"

Clary had to struggle to keep the smile off her face. No matter how much he acted like a big-bad Shadowhunter, he could really be a little kid sometimes.

"No, Jace. You promised we would research my family history, and we couldn't do it the other day because Mom freaked out when I wasn't at Simon's and made me go home. Now you have to help me."

Jace groaned half-heartedly and slumped down into a chair across the desk. He grabbed one of the thick books and began flipping pages.

About a half hour had passed – surprisingly in almost-silence, apart from Jace's incessant humming – before the couple came across anything. Jace was in the middle of Matchbox Twenty's How Far We've Come when he suddenly cut off mid-hum. Clary glanced up, startled by the sudden silence, and saw him sitting straight up in his seat, staring wide-eyed at the page before him.

"Jace? What is it?" she asked in concern.

He looked up at her, and she was surprised to see amazement in his eyes. "Charlotte Branwell."

Clary shook her head, not understanding. "Huh?"

"You're related to Charlotte Branwell."

"What does that mean?"

Jace flipped the book around and moved to stand beside her. "Look." He stabbed his index finger down on the page. "In 1872, Henry Jocelyn Branwell married to Charlotte Mary Fairchild. A few years later, they were made the Heads of the London Institute. In 1878, after the tragic death of Consul Josiah Wayland, she was made the first female Consul in Shadowhunter history. She's the role model for all Shadowhunter girls. You should know her; I know you've read the Codex."

Clary tilted her head. "Her name is familiar…." She frowned. "But wouldn't all her children be named Branwell?"

Jace shook his head. "Not necessarily. Since she was the last of the Fairchilds after her father passed away, she and Henry probably decided to continue her family name."

Clary thought for a moment before jolting into motion. She grabbed another book and quickly thumbed through it, her eyes scanning the pages. She finally stopped and pointed with a pleased "ah-ha!"

"Found them!" she exclaimed. "It looks like they had three sons: Charles, Matthew, and Aloysius. It doesn't have much on them, only that Aloysius married and had Granville the Second, who married Adele Nightshade, and they had my mom." She blinked. "So that's why my middle name is Adele."

"And your mother's name probably came from Henry Branwell's middle name. Shadowhunters tend to keep names in the family."

Clary tilted her head. "Is Isabelle a family name? I know Cecily and Gabriel Lightwood had a son named Alexander."

Jace frowned. "I'm not sure. Where did you say you found those family trees?"

She handed him a book. "In here."

He flipped through the pages until he found what he was looking for.

"Hey!" he said, surprised. "It looks like Gabriel had an older brother, Gideon. Gideon married Sophie Collins – an Ascended mundane – and they had Barbara, Eugenia, and Thomas." He stopped. "Well, that explains it. Alec's middle name is Gideon, and Isabelle's is Sophia. Must be after these two."

Clary leaned back in her chair. "All this research is giving me a headache. I'm calling it quits before this becomes a migraine."

Jace reached out to help her up. "Want to come upstairs?"

She gave him a look. "Jace, the only places upstairs where we could possibly go are the training room, the weapons room, and your bedroom."

He raised a golden brow. "Your point is?"

"I'm not in the mood to train, I don't enjoy polishing weapons like you do, and you know what'll happen if we go in your room. So no, I don't want to go upstairs."

Jace was about to retort when the library door opened. They both looked to see a black-haired figure shuffle inside. The male wore wrinkled, grungy sweatpants, a ratty t-shirt, and no shoes. His hair was stuck out in all different directions, and it was greasy, as if it hadn't been washed in days. Actually, it probably hadn't been washed in days.

The figure was Alec Lightwood.

No one spoke as the Shadowhunter stumbled over to the couple, his feet dragging. When he was in front of the desk, he stopped and looked up. His blue eyes, usually so full of light, were empty.

"Hey," he said. His voice was hoarse from not speaking for a while.

"Hi, Alec," Clary said softly.

Alec turned to his parabatai. "Have you seen Isabelle?"

Jace stared at his brother for a moment before answering. "She's in the Sanctuary with Simon. She needed a distraction after spending nine hours looking after you."

"Jace!" Clary hissed, appalled at how he was speaking to his best friend.

Neither boy looked at her. After a brief silence, Alec spoke.

"The last time we were in Idris, you confronted me about my feelings for Magnus, and you said I was lying about how I felt because I was afraid to tell anyone who I really loved." He took a breath. "And you were right. I took a chance and showed everyone who I love and now he's gone because I'm a selfish idiot."

Jace was quiet. "Are you done?"

Alec nodded.

The golden-haired boy reached out and hugged his parabatai. "Good. That's all I needed to hear." He pulled away and looked seriously into Alec's eyes. "But really, you need to stop with the moping. Izzy is worried about you, I'm worried about you, hell, even Simon is worried about you. You're lucky Maryse and Robert are in Idris, otherwise you'd be in big trouble."

Alec smiled slightly. "I know. I'm going to try, honestly. It might take time, but… I'm going to try."

Jace grinned. "That's all I ask." He began to close books and straighten things up. "Well, Clary and I were just headed up to the training room. Would you like to join us?"

"Um, excuse me," Clary spoke up, annoyed. "I believe we've already established that the training room is not an option for a pastime today."

Jace grinned at her. "You established that. I said nothing."

Alec smiled at their bickering. "That's alright. I think I'm going to take a shower and change. Maybe I'll see if Izzy wants to get lunch at Taki's."

Clary smiled encouragingly. "You should; I think she'd like that."

Alec nodded and left the library.

Jace turned to Clary. "Ready to go train?"

She gave him a look.

"Okay, so maybe not." After a moment, he said, "You know, you forgot one other place we could go. It's here at the Institute, it can get kind of warm up there, but it's beautiful and significant to us and our relationship…."

Clary smiled. "The greenhouse?" When her boyfriend nodded, her grin widened. "Well, if you insist."

She grabbed his hand, calloused from so many years of weapon-wielding, and followed him from the library, happy that everything appeared peaceful – for now.


Lame ending... but there you have it! This two-shot is complete.