My dear little broccolis πŸ’šπŸ’šπŸ’š

~ So here comes the first chapter. I know, it is long overdue, but a lot came in along the way. I will try to be rather regular on tis story, but I don't want to make any promises that I will have to break later on. TRY is the main word here, keep that in mind

~ I will also try to upload the epilogue of Road Trippin before the end of this month. promise, I will TRY

~ Anyway, enjoy that first chapter, and don't forget, we are going back in time. Ten years before to be precise

Love, Mina πŸ’šπŸ’šπŸ’š

.

Chapter 1: Valentine Morgenstern(1,9K)

Jace's PoV (16 years old)

After making sure that the door was well locked behind him, Jace displayed the money that he had just embezzled on the bed, jubilation lingering in his golden eyes. This wasn't his first heist, far from it; but it definitely was the most successful he had ever had. It had been so successful, that he was estimating that four (five at most) more cons like this, and he might actually be able to stop living in crappy hotel rooms, or motels. He just needed to save the money so he could buy a nice apartment.

Carefully, he counted once again his cash, relishing as the number kept going higher and higher; and then, he separated his money in three different piles, that he hid in three different places in his crappy hotel room. It wasn't that he was expecting bad company, but years of being in the streets had taught him to always be cautious, and even more when money was on his side.

Jace had escaped the system he was twelve, tired of being transferred from foster house to foster house and of always feeling like a burden since he was five. He never knew how he actually ended in the system in the first place, he just knew that his parents never came home one day, and that the police placed him in the care of the social system. After running away from an umpteenth foster house, he lived in the streets, doing his best to stay off the radar. He struggled to live in the streets with the little money he had accumulated over the years, and one day, one day harder than the others, he had decided that he was tired of struggling. He started stealing out of necessity. Because his clothes were ragged, because his stomach was howling for food, because his throat was aching for water.

And as times passed by, he realised that he was actually good at stealing and not getting caught. He aimed for higher. Things he didn't really need. And the more he was doing it, the better he became at stealing. Jace actually became comfortable with this way of life. Why beg, when he could take without repercussions?

Still, He never saw too big. He knew which neighbourhood to avoid, which important people not to steal from, when to stay low for his own safety. It wasn't that he was scared of being caught, a part of him actually enjoyed the thrill that was coming to him in defying the law; it was that he knew better than to cross way with Valentine Morgenstern.

Valentine Morgesntern was the head of Idris, the biggest mob in the world, and that mob just happened to be based in New York where Jace lived. He had heard of what Idris did to the greedy chiefs that came in its territory, or to snitches. Valentine was leading his gang with an iron fist and very little compassion, and Jace didn't want to ever cross his path. Over the years, he had learned which politicians were protected by Idris, which houses were in the good favours of Valentine, which neighbourhood were under his 'jurisdiction'. And he never crossed the line. No matter how appealing the cash he could make was, Jace always stayed away from Valentine Morgesntern path.

This was probably why he had become such a great thief over the years. He knew all the little dealers, and all the big ones, he knew all the rumours concerning the black market, and despite his young age, he had started to make himself a name amongst cons for his skill in selling back stolen goods. Especially when those goods were rare and expensive artefacts like paintings or jewellery.

Suddenly, as he was hiding his last stack of money (keeping some on him just for good measure), Jace heard an unusual noise in the corridor. He had been staying in this motel for ten days, and from 10pm to 6am, there was no sound whatsoever in the entire facility. Not even the squeak of a bed. It was the main reason Jace often came back to this hotel, it was easy to spot an unusual noise there. He checked the clock, seeing that it was passed midnight; and without thinking further into it, he switched off the light of his room and rushed to the window, in order to escape throw the fire escape.

After making sure that he had his gun on him, he climbed down the stairs, doing his best to not make a single noise; but just as he reached the ground, he saw that two men in black suits were waiting for him there, a limousine parked just behind them. The first thought that occurred to Jace wasn't that it was odd to see a limousine in this part of town, but that he never understood people wearing sunglasses in the middle of the night.

One of the man walked to the limousine and opened the door, before indicating to Jace to get in, with a nod of his head. For a moment, Jace considered ignoring the men, and go the other way; but a small part of him was curious to know who was in the limousine. Maybe it was someone who was interested in him stealing something for them. Some rich guy, in his ivory tower, thinking that he was above everything and everyone.

Showing a confidence that he was far from feeling, Jace climbed in the car, hearing the door clack behind him, and facing two men that he had never seen in his life. Still, he knew the identity of at least one of them, and all the blood left his face when he realised that he might be living his last moment. Valentine Morgenstern was sitting in front of him, with a man probably a bit older than him.

None of them talked for a while, leaving Jace alone with his thoughts and his heart beating faster than it should; and finally the other man tore his gaze away from Jace when someone knocked at the window of the limousine. He rolled down a little the tainted window, only enough for a guy to tell him: "There's no money up there. Nothing, nowhere."

Jace watched the guy glance in his direction as he rolled up the window, before Valentine told him: "Check him."

The guy leaned and checked his pockets, retrieving the little money that Jace had stashed there, and he used the opportunity to take away Jace's gun as well. He gave it to Valentine who examined it, before he said:

"Unregistered gun. Money that disappears into thin air. Difficult to track. Instinct to runaway at the right time. You might actually be an asset, if you weren't stealing from me."

"I didn't steal from you. I stole from a guy who had poor security system, and sold to another guy who had a lot of money to dispose of. You were never in the equation," Jace boldly replied. He figured that if those were his last moments, he might as well speak his mind.

"I come in the equation when you steal from a Fairchild. Everyone knows better than to steal from anyone in my family, but it seems that you didn't get the memo."

"Last time I checked, your name is Morgesntern, not Fairchild."

"Last time I checked, every little thief in the streets knows that my wife's maiden name was Fairchild."

Jace found himself at a loss of words, wondering how something so big and important about Valentine Moergenstern could have slipped by him like that. Had he known that he was stealing Valentine's in-laws, he would have stayed cleared from the house from miles aways. After all, everyone knew how mobsters were when it came to their family. Still, he didn't let his shock show:

"Still, the security system was crap. If it had been better, I never would have been able to steal anything."

"Anything? Did you steal something else than the Faberge Egg?" The other man intervened, making Jace smirk at him ad he retorted with sass:

"I don't know, you tell me."

"Who do you think you are, you little piece of sβ€”"

"Hodge!" Valentine cut the man off, his dark eyes still on Jace while the other man -Hodge- was fuming next to hi. Jace could actually swear that he saw the ghost of an amused smile of Valentine's lips for a brief moment.

"The kid is right. The security system is faulty. if someone can get in and steal, someone can get in and kill. Shall I remind you that my daughter goes to that house twice a month?! Get rid of Blackthorn and put someone better on this house."

"Blackthorn is the best," Hodge argued, earning a dark and threatening glare from Valentine.

"Obviously not, or we wouldn't be here at this moment! Get rid of that incompetent and put Bane on the house."

"But β€”"

Hodge stopped arguing when Valentine turned his entire body to look at him; but all Jace could think about was a way to escape the limousine without being noticed. Which was impossible. Until Valentine turned his head to him, and told him:

"I don't care about the money, you can keep it. But I want the name of the buyer. And I want the necklace back. It holds a special place in this family."

"You can have the money and and the necklace. As well as the pocket watch. I won't give you the name of the buyer," Jace explained. He was just starting to make himself a clientele, he couldn't blow that over.

"I want the egg back. I need the name. You can tell me, or I can get it out of you."

"I'll get you back your egg. You won't have the name, even if you torture me."

Valentine looked at Jace from head to toe, evaluating him, before he conceded: "The day after tomorrow, I will come back to this hotel room. You have two choices: either you have my egg, either you will be dead."

"You'll have your egg," Jace confidently said, because he was sure hat he could steal it back. After all, it was what he was good at. Moreover, he knew that now that Valentine knew his face, there was no point in trying to runaway. No matter where, and which country, he would find him and kill him.

Valentine picked up the gun that Hodge had taken from Jace, and gave it back to the young boy as he told him: "And to make it more interesting, if you manage to get me the egg tomorrow, there is a place amongst my man that had just been vacated."

.
.~Β°~. .~Β°~. .~Β°~.

πŸ’š Your thoughts and opinions are always welcomed πŸ’š

.

~ So here was the first chapter, hope that you liked it very much. I liked writing it, personally. I know, we didn't see Clary in this chapter, and it's normal. We will have to wait a little to see her. For now, we just have Jace, and his way of life.

~ Also, just so everyone knows it from the start, Jace is five years older than Clary in this story. Don't jump on my throat, this is how the story is made. I am saying that beforehand, because this had already been an issue with other pics, so now, I am warning you ahead.

~ Anyway, question time:

πŸ’š What did you think of the characters introduced here? Valentine, Jace, and Hodge?

πŸ’š So, I want you to pay attention to the little tiny mention we have of Clary, and me being a big old meanie, I am asking you why do you think I want you to pay attention to this particular mention. Take Valentine's sentence as a whole!

πŸ’š What did you think of this chapter overall? And what do you think will happen next?

πŸ’š What was your favourite part?

Anyway, Cassandra Clare owns the names of the characters from the Mortal Instruments franchise, everything else is mine.

Love, Mina πŸ’šπŸ’šπŸ’š