Chapter Three: Never Live in One Place

~Clary~

When she regained consciousness the first time, she felt sore, sick, and scared all at the same time. It was admittedly terrifying. She was laying on something very soft and very plush, but her mind couldn't really hold on to that because of the pain that was wreaking havoc in her body. She heard noises very vaguely in her ears, but it wasn't anything that she was able to distinguish. Her eyes were still closed and she really didn't have the energy to open them, though she knew that it was probably dangerous for her to remain so still for so long and not know where she was.

Instead of looking around, she figured that maybe she could try and tune into whatever those noises were and figure out where she was that way. It only took a little bit of effort to focus on it, and she realized that it was voices…arguing voices.

"We don't have time for you to sit around and look at the newbie all day, Jace!" a girl's voice snapped. Jace, her mind immediately flashed with an image of a smirking blond boy with golden eyes. It was that guy she'd seen in Wal-Mart. She didn't know who the girl was, however.

"I just got back, anyway, Isabelle!" Jace's voice came out sharp; it wasn't anything like how he'd spoken to her. He was obviously either angry or annoyed. "Today would qualify as my day off anyway!"

"And you're choosing to spend it with some random girl instead of your best friend?" she demanded. "Imagine how Alec feels!"

"This random girl that you're talking about," Jace said coldly, "saved my life."

"We've all done that before," Isabelle remarked impatiently. "I don't see why—"

"You all know me; we're friends," Jace informed her, sounding very impatient. "She could have pushed me into the zombie and ran away, saving her own skin. Instead, she pushed me out of the way and almost got herself killed." There was a moment of silence between them before Jace said in a low voice, "Excuse me for wanting to show a little gratitude. If Alec really has that much of a problem with it, then he can come up here and talk to me about it himself."

"You know he won't!" Isabelle exclaimed. "He's going to think that you've chosen this girl over him."

"For the love of God, Iz," he groaned. "When you told me that Alec was gay, I was completely okay with it. When you told me that Alec had a crush on me, I went to him myself and we talked it over. I explained to him that he needed to move on because I don't swing that way; he told me that he was cool with it. We're best friends and that's it. I'm not his mother and I'm not going to step on eggshells around him to make sure that his feelings aren't hurt." She heard a few footsteps as Jace walked toward Isabelle. "Why don't you tell him to go and talk to Magnus, huh? He's been showing plenty of interest in him lately?"

"You're truly a piece of work, Herondale," Isabelle said to him coldly.

"Yeah," Jace snapped right back, "well so are you. I figured that you would at least be grateful that she saved my life; we are friends, after all."

"I am grateful!" Isabelle told him indignantly. "Don't you dare insinuate otherwise!"

"Then don't act as though you feel otherwise," he replied, his voice cool and calm.

Clary heard the sound of feet hitting tile floor and a door slam shut. After that, she didn't really hear anything else as unawareness took her over.

The next time that she woke up, she felt a lot better. She wasn't hurting nearly as much, though her shoulder was still burning, and her stomach was churning slightly. All in all, much better than the torment that she'd gone through the last time that she'd come around. "My, my, my," a cheerful voice mused from somewhere around her, "looks as if Sleeping Beauty is waking up!"

She didn't know who was calling her Sleeping Beauty, but she imagined that she looked more like a wicked witch than anything remotely elegant. She grunted as she forced her eyes to open, shielding them from the dim light. "Where am I?" she croaked, wincing at the gravelly sound of her own voice. Her throat felt as though a desert had formed inside of it and her tongue was terribly dry along with the rest of her mouth.

"Alicante," a voice to her right answered almost immediately. She slowly turned her head toward the noise and had to squint. Her eyes were still adjusting to the brightness and this man was reflecting light off his neon clothes, making everything impossibly brighter. She blinked harshly and when she opened her eyes again, she was able to see the guy beside her.

He was smiling at her with a bright smile, his hair was spiky and she wondered if the strands would hurt if touched. His eyes were slanted slightly, hinting at some kind of oriental descent. She saw a hint of eyeliner, and if she wasn't mistaken, there was glitter in his hair. Either he was gay, or the people around here were a lot different than what she was used to.

"My name is Magnus," he said as he realized that she wasn't going to fill the empty silence. She had so many questions flying through her head that she was unable to speak because she wasn't sure which one she should ask first. So she simply latched on to the piece of information he'd just handed her and ran with it.

"Magnus," she finally said; her voice was still rough.

He frowned at her and reached over to a small wooden nightstand right beside her bed. He grabbed a red solo cup and reached out to hand it to her. "You must be thirsty; I hear near-death experiences will do that to you."

She smiled at him gratefully as she took the glass from him and raised it to her lips. The water tasted stagnated and was lukewarm, but it was still the best tasting thing that'd passed over her tongue in years. She sighed in relief as she lowered the now empty cup. "Thanks," she said, sounding more like herself instead of a frog. "Your name is Magnus; why does that sound familiar?"

That was when she remembered the conversation that she'd accidentally woken up to between Jace and a girl named Isabelle. Jace had mentioned Magnus liking some guy named Alec. So he was gay after all.

"I don't think I've ever met you," he confided. "Redheads tend to stand out in my mind."

"No," she shook her head before vaguely saying, "I think I remember Jace mentioning your name."

Magnus nodded his head. "I'm the medical assistant around here," he informed her. "I'm here at the moment to make sure that you're sane, okay, and not turning into a flesh-eating monster. You seem to completely pass my exam." He smiled at her, letting her know that it was just a joke. "I imagine that you have a lot of questions, I'll try and answer them all." He gestured to the room around them, "You're in a bedroom of one of the larger homes in the neighborhood; it's where all of the newbies stay until they get situated in to the community. Your sister, Tessa, is being given the grand tour by William Herondale. From what I've heard, you didn't meet him in the store, but he's Jace's cousin, and was the one that drove you here."

"What do you mean community?" Clary questioned, her eyebrow raised.

"It's really one of those see-it-for-yourself sort of things," he explained. "I guess I can try and tell you about it." He was silent for a moment, his eyebrows scrunched together in concentration as he tried to place his words carefully. "A bunch of us were in a group about a year back; we were half-starved and running from a small hoard of the undead. We found this community with wrought-iron fencing around the entire thing. The barriers weren't extremely tall, but they were strong and kept the dead a bay. We holed up here and realized that there was potential for the place. We went out and got supplies to fix the fences up, and, in just a little time, the barriers became more and more impenetrable." He smiled at Clary and spread his arms, as if showing off the room again, "eventually, we got this; a community of almost one hundred surviving people."

Clary was silent, slowly digesting the information. "One hundred?"

"Well, I think you and Tessa make like ninety-five, but I like to round up," he shrugged. "You look like your eyes are about to pop out of your admittedly pale head."

Clary felt herself flush slightly as she tried to burrow herself farther into the bed to get away from her embarrassment. "I just didn't think that…that…."

"You didn't think that there were that many people still around," Magnus finished for her, a wide smile. "Well we're here and it turns out that many of the attractive ones are the ones that are left."

"You mean like Jace?" Clary questioned before she could stop herself. She looked at Magnus with wide eyes and she felt as though her own eyes were about to pop out. Her face must have been on fire, but all Magnus did was laugh lightly.

"Yeah, like both Herondale boys, actually. It's a shame that they know how attractive they are," he said with a shrug, "they're both awfully arrogant."

"Yeah," Clary nodded, relaxing slightly. "I remember that very distinctively; it was rather annoying."

"You still saved him," Magnus pointed out.

"Error of judgment halfway to him," she informed him jokingly. "I actually meant to push him into the zombie, but the good and selfless part of me decided to take over."

Magnus snorted and shook his head. "At least you admit that he's a pain in the ass, he has some people thinking that he's infallible." His tone turned a bit darker, and Clary had a feeling that he was talking about one specific boy. Alec, whoever that was. "I'll give him this, though; I had to make him leave and take a nap. He is obviously very grateful for what you did for him."

His expression lightened moments later and he was smiling again. "Well," he said. "I'm going to go and get Ragnor, he's the actual doctor around here, and then I'll go and grab your sister; I imagine that she'll be pleased to see you awake." He got to his feet and sauntered toward the door, different parts of his hair shining depending on where the light hit it. He shot her another smile just before he shut her door behind him.

Clary took a deep and calming breath as she tried to clear her mind, which was jumbled with so much unfathomable information that she was starting to feel dizzy all over again. She pushed it all away for the moment. Tessa was here and okay; she would wait until she talked to her sister to figure out how much she should be freaking.

~Jace~

He had been sitting at Clary's bedside for the past five hours; he was exhausted, tired, and worn out. The thought of a bed was so enticing that he was actually daydreaming about it as he looked at her. Every time he would consider leaving to go and take a nap, he would see her shift slightly in her sleep and become excited, sure that she was about to wake up.

He jumped slightly when he heard a light knock on the door. It opened a moment later and he saw Magnus stick his head inside. He smiled tiredly at the older man. "How's it going, Bane?" he asked through a yawn.

"So, so," Magnus replied, stepping inside. "Why don't you go and take a nap?"

"I don't want to leave her alone," he confided. "Could you imagine waking up here when the last thing that you remember is arguing with an idiot before you save his life in an abandoned Wal-Mart?"

"She'd probably figure that said idiot brought her here," Magnus informed him. "Besides, you can't be your normal charming self when you're only halfway awake. How do you suspect to win her over when you look like a zombie yourself?"

"Two things, Bane," Jace said with a laugh. "First, I am not trying to win anyone over; second, I am way too sexy to ever look like a zombie."

Magnus rolled his eyes at Jace and said, "Whatever you say, Herondale. I still think that you should go and take a nap."

Jace sighed and looked back over at Clary, not wanting to argue with him since he'd just finished telling Isabelle off for being so cold.

"I'll even stay with her myself," Magnus offered. He was looking over at Clary with something that resembled interest. "If she wakes up, I'll come and get you."

Jace looked back up at Magnus, his willpower weakening slightly at the promise. "You promise that you—"

"I'm not going to leave her until she wakes up and I promise that I'll come and get you as soon as I can after she is lucid," he said, his tone completely serious. "Don't worry, Herondale." He was silent as he frowned at him suspiciously. "I've never seen you like this."

"A stranger's never been brave enough to risk their life for me when they don't even really trust me enough to tell me their name," he said quietly. "I just want to thank her."

Magnus nodded and smiled at him. "I'll make sure that you're able to," he assured him with a nod of his head. "Just go and sleep before someone stabs you."

Jace stood up and turned to look at Clary one more time before he looked over at Magnus again. "Look," he said quietly, feeling as though it was the only way that he was going to be able to get anything settled. "How…how are things going between you and Alec?"

Magnus' face darkened slightly for a moment before he patched the look up and just gazed at him neutrally, his arms crossed as he walked fully into the room. "Why do you want to know?"

"Because I care about him and want him to be happy," Jace replied without missing a beat. "He isn't going to be happy if he keeps pining after me, and I know that you care a lot about him in ways that I don't, and I figured that he might move on from me if you were there."

"We would be great," Magnus replied, his tone a bit colder than before, "except that he's still pining after you. I'm not giving my all into anything when I know that he's in love with someone else."

"As much as I normally don't care," Jace said with a frown, "why are acting as though it's my fault? I told him that it was useless because I don't like guys. I have Isabelle on my ass because apparently he feels as though I'm going to completely shove him out of my life. I'm pushing for you guys to get together just as much as you are!"

"Calm down," Magnus told him sharply, his eyes flickering to the side. Jace knew that he was looking at Clary's bed. "I was just saying that he's still in love with you. Maybe he thinks that you might change your mind one of these days, or something."

"Well, I'm not," he said. "I'm going to have to talk to him again, clearly, but I figured that maybe if I have to hurt his feelings, you could be there to try and make him feel better."

"We'll see," Magnus said with a slight nod of his head. "As for right now, you need to go to sleep."

Jace gave one curt nod before he left the room. He walked down the long, tiled pathway almost mindlessly and when he got to the staircase at the end, he went down them. He probably could have chosen one of the twenty rooms that were inside of the huge mansion, but decided against it; he wanted his own bed in his own room. The stairs ended at the end of a dark hall in the first floor. He silently walked toward the small bit of light that was shining under the door at the end; it was the living room, which held the door that would get him outside.

He saw the familiar head of messy black hair that could only be his cousin, walking out of one of the smaller buildings on the street. It was the mess hall. He would have stopped to say hello, but he didn't know if he really had it in him to hold a conversation with anyone. Alec wasn't normally this hateful toward anyone, let alone a girl that was knocked out from saving Jace's life. He had a feeling that Isabelle, being the concerned sister that she was stuck her nose into the situation and took more from it than there was to see.

He didn't know Clary well enough to think anything romantically about her; he'd literally had a three minute conversation with her before she'd saved his life. It wasn't as though he was about to bust out a wedding ring.

He was annoyed and the fact that he even had to think about all of this was making him even more so. He finally reached the first house on the street before the gate began. He walked into the living room and saw two people sitting inside. Both had matching shades of pitch black hair. One was Alec and the other was Isabelle. They looked up at him as he closed the door, but Jace just ignored them and walked past their couch and down the hallway. His sweet relief was the first door to the right.

His room was immaculate as always, but he hardly noticed as he collapsed on to his mattress with a soft groan of contentment. Not five seconds later, the sweet relief of unconsciousness claimed him.

~Tessa~

The town was the miracle of all miracles. Will was showing her around, introducing her to almost everyone that walked by, Charlotte, Henry, Jessamine, Jordan, Maia, Bat, and the list went on and on and on, most of the names and faces blurring together; she was sure that she would never remember them all.

"You look as though you're about to have a coronary," Will commented. He paused and leaned against the wall of an old hotel building. She could faintly read the sign, Alicante Inn. "Tess," Will said loudly.

She jumped and looked back down at him, smiling apologetically. "Sorry," she said. "I'm just a little distracted."

"I can tell," he replied smartly. "If it's Clary, we can go back and see her, but I figured that you'd want a bit of a distraction."

"It's not that," she assured him, still not entirely sure of how to take his kindness. "This is just a lot to take in. I haven't seen a new face in over a year and now I've seen over fifty in the past ten minutes. It's just a bit overwhelming."

Will grimaced slightly at her statement, his blue eyes flashing guiltily. "Sorry," he said, sounding completely earnest. "I didn't really think about that." He rubbed his hand across the back of his neck, seeming uncomfortable. "It was awfully inconsiderate of me."

"It's okay," she said, looking at the ratty building behind him, unable to really handle the electric gaze that he was giving her. They stood in an awkward silence, him regarding her silently and shamelessly with his arms crossed over his chest, and her looking past his shoulder at the filthy wood of the building that he was leaning on, trying not to flush. Where was her fight now? This was still the same boy that had lied to her about the keys, whether he was giving her the grand tour or not!

She mentally swatted that thought out of her head, knowing that she didn't have a right to judge him for that. She might have been very forward with her feelings of mistrust, but she should have figured that he wasn't going to completely trust her right off the bat, especially when she hadn't given him a reason to. She inhaled, about to suggest that they go back to Clary, because clearly a tour wasn't going to work with just him when her head was all over the place, when she heard footsteps hurriedly walking toward them.

Will's eyes flicked off her and looked past her head. His eyes lit up slightly and he grinned. "James!" he said.

Tessa turned around and spotted a man with dark hair, a tanned complexion, and dark, slanted eyes that hinted at a Chinese descent. He was walking toward them with a small, almost shy smile on his face. Immediately Tessa knew that this guy was a lot more reserved than Will Herondale, and yet they were grinning at each other as though they were best friends. As preposterous as the thought was, it was still a possibility.

"Hello, Will," James said, coming to a halt a few feet to the right of Tessa. His arms were crossed as he turned to look at Tessa with a polite smile. He held out his hand and said, "You'll have to forgive William, he lacks any proper social skills in any setting." Tessa uncertainly took his hand and allowed him to shake hers. "My name is Jem Carstairs."

"Tessa," she said. "Tessa Fray."

"It's very nice to meet you, Tessa," he replied with a smile, releasing her hand.

"You too," she said still unsure of what to make of the newcomer.

He turned to look at Will, who was watching them with something akin to amusement. "Might as well wipe that smug look off your face," Jem told Will. "I've come out here with a message."

Will frowned and looked at him with a raised eyebrow. Tessa felt her heart beating a bit more quickly now; what if his message was about Clary. "Luke wants to see you and Ms. Fray, here, in his office."

She saw Will nod in understanding, the smile on his face truly gone. Jem backed away from them with an encouraging nod in her direction as though he could tell that she was nervous. "Don't worry, Tessa. Luke won't bite you…though Will and Jace, on the other hand…" he was silent as he simply shrugged.

"In my defense," Will called to Jem's retreating figure, "Luke thinks I'm certifiable!"

Jem turned around once he was on the other side of the road and replied just loud enough for them to hear, "If you guys didn't act so crazy, people might actually buy that you're sane!"

Will rolled his eyes at his chuckling friend and turned to look at Tessa with a small smile. "Well, Ms. Fray, would you like to meet our mighty leader?"

"Would it make a difference if I said no?" Tessa questioned.

"It wouldn't," Will informed her with a grin. "You're already learning how things work around here."

Tessa just looked back unsmilingly, and Will held his hands in front of him in surrender. "Fine, I won't joke around anymore. There's no reason to worry though; Luke's not a bad guy. Actually, he's one of the better people around here. He earned my respect they hard way, saving my life more times than I can count."

Tessa nodded and looked at the street around her. "So where is his office?"

"It's time to go to the institute," he replied almost immediately.

"What's the institute?" she questioned curiously.

It turned out that the institute was the same building that Clary was sleeping in. The fact that she was a bit closer to her sister, knocked out or not, made her feel a bit better.

Will led her inside, but instead of heading to the stairwell, they stayed on the bottom floor of the mansion. He walked through the living room, which had different posters strewn over the walls, as if the inhabitants were trying to keep the place as homey and familiar as possible. There was a pair of doors on the far end of the living room from the front door and that was where Will moved to. Tessa followed him on his heels, kind of glad that no one else was around; meeting people was beginning to feel like too much. If she could find a way to get out of it, she wouldn't be meeting Luke.

Will got to the door and grabbed one of the fancy brass knobs before he turned around and looked at her with a confident smile.

"Ready to meet him?" Will asked. Tessa didn't have enough time to answer, because he'd already twisted the knob and pushed the door open. Sitting at a desk, looking down at a dingy piece of paper in the center of the wood was a large man. He had scars all over his exposed arms. He looked up, showing a kind face, and a smile that was halfway hidden behind a beard that was the same color of brown as his curly hair.

"Hello," he greeted her, "you must be one of the new girls." He pointed to a seat against the wall of the office. "Sit," he suggested. "I only have a few questions to ask you and then I need to talk to Mr. Herondale on his own."

Tessa nodded and followed Will inside. There were two office chairs against the wall, Will walked over and occupied the one farthest from the door, so Tessa settled next to him and crossed her legs at her ankles as she waited to Luke to begin.

Will:

Luke asked her the normal questions: name, age, abilities, skills, intelligence levels, anything and everything that could be used to help the town. Will had heard the interrogation so many times that he just zoned out, wondering what Luke could possibly want to talk to him about.

His last question was what brought him back to life. "Is there a part of the town that you would prefer to stay in once Clary is better?"

Tessa straightened up slightly. "I'm sorry, sir, but I don't know if we're staying."

Luke looked at her with a raised eyebrow from behind his glasses. He didn't show any other expression, though, so Will had no idea what was going on underneath all of that hair. "That's odd," he mused. "Not many people try to leave here, but if you want to go, we certainly won't stop you. I hope you'll stay until your sister is healed, though. I hate the thought of her venturing out in her condition."

"Of course, sir," Tessa replied almost immediately. "I'll contribute anyway that I can while she's under your care. You don't know how grateful I am that you took us in."

"She saved one of ours," Luke replied with a shrug. "It's only what's right."

Tessa smiled at him.

"I hear from Magnus," Luke told her, "that Clary is awake. I imagine that you would like to go and see her."

Tessa nodded rapidly, getting to her feet. She smiled at him and Luke smiled in return. "You know where her room is, right? I just need a few minutes alone with Will here."

She nodded at Luke, but looked back at Will uncertainly, as if asking him what she should do. He nodded his head to her and gestured for her to leave with a swipe of his hand. She nodded silently and walked out. Will got up and closed the door behind her. He turned around, fully prepared for a tongue-lashing about his inability to keep his younger cousin out of danger on raids, or for bringing the two girls into their camps without any warning. He got neither.

Luke was looking up at him tiredly, and only said three words. Three words that confused him to no end, but he obeyed all the same. "Get me Jonathan."

So, Clary and Jace finally meet in the next chapter…well, she'll be able to get more than three words out of her mouth before getting knocked out. Why could Luke want Jonathan? If anyone has any guesses, I'd love to hear them!

I'm so sorry that I only got back to a couple of people's reviews. I haven't had time to do anything over the week; I was lucky that I managed to type this chapter up. I hope you liked it regardless, and I promise that I'll try my best to talk to you all before next time!