Enjoy! Thanks for reading!

**All credits to Cassandra Clare

Alec had just come out of the grocery store when it happened. Magnus was hosting a party that evening and Alec had volunteered to pick up some odds and ends. Secretly, Alec needed to get out of the house. He was losing his patience and he was feeling increasingly stressful about the whole "Clary" situation. There had been no new leads the whole week despite the searchers on every street and closed portals throughout the city. With everyday came more doubts- maybe it was just their imagination, maybe their sightings were just products of their hopeful wishing. It all had been to go to be true anyway...

But then he saw her. A complete déjà vu situation. He was halfway out of the store when he froze. She was right in front of him. A few passerbyers in between; a flash of a few cars; the buzz of the morning city traffic. But it was her. Her wavy red hair spiraling down her shoulders; the morning sun reflecting lights off her green eyes. She stood there without smiling- without even blinking, still as a statue. The only indication she was real was the billowing of her fiery hair blowing in the chilly wind. Alec exhaled a breathe he didn't know he was holding, took a careful step forward in her direction... and just like that, she disappeared. "Dammit!" He yelled punching his fist into the cement, store wall. No, he thought angrily, No, I'm not letting you run this time. Anxiously, he ran across the street to where she had just stood. Nothing. No proof that she had just stood there, nothing that he could use to track her. "It doesn't matter." He muttered "I'll find you anyway." With that, he took off running.

Izzy jumped out of the desk chair when the library door slammed shut startlingly. Jace merely looked up tiredly from the book he was reading and closed it slowly upon seeing the expression on Alec's face. "Izzy." Alec said frantically" I was out grocery shopping-" "Jace, would you mind grabbing my phone? I left on the kitchen counter." She interrupted, eyeing Alec sharply, subtly nodding her her head in Jace's direction. Jace rose from his book unhurriedly, glanced at the two of them suspiciously, shrugged his shoulders, and closed the door behind him. "God, Alec. You need to be more careful." She hissed hotly. "Sorry" He said quickly "Its important though." He sat down where Jace had just been and crossed his legs nervously, fidgeting with the zipper of his sweater. "I saw her again. I was shopping and when I came out of the store...Bam." He said punching his fist into his palm "I tried following her, I even ran several blocks, but no trace." He shook his head "No offence, but Clary wasn't that fast. She shouldn't be able to disappear like that." Izzy leaned back in her padded chair. She chewed the pencil eraser thoughtfully, spinning in lazy circles. She stopped suddenly and looked at Alec warily "Do you think she's working with someone? Nothing in this whole situation sounds like the Clary I know, in fact" she put the pencil down and glanced at the closed door. "This whole...thing" She indicated with a wave of her hand "Reeks of demonic energy." She finished her voice barely above a whisper. "You know just as well as I do, that her whole disappearance has been fishy from the start."

Alec closed his eyes, rested his elbows on his knees, and his face in his palms."What if we don't make it on time, Izzy? If your right about the demonic energy, than we're in a race against time." Izzy rose and sat on the carpet floor, directly in front of Alec "Alec, listen to me for a second." She breathed in through her nose slowly "Jace knows. Or he knows pieces" Again she glanced at the door nervously like he might enter at any moment "I know what you are going to say, and I agree. If it isn't her- or worse, we don't get to her in time..we- I could never do that to Jace. But" Alec opened his mouth to object "BUT-" She said raising her voice slightly "If anyone could find her, its Jace. You know it." Alec rubbed his creased forehead with the tips of his fingers. His eyelashes barely concealed the shadows of sleepless nights under his eyes. He was anxious. They all were. This case was taking a physical toll on all of them as well as an emotional one. He rose from the chair and slowly made his way to the door. "I just- I need to think Izzy. Just wait for me to...process it all, okay?" Izzy smiled sadly and nodded "Of course." Alec smiled back and opened the door. His heart froze in his chest. He could hear Izzy gasp in the background and could almost hear her move her hand to cover her open mouth. There, in front of them stood Jace. He was still- completely frozen like a soldier. His golden eyes were filled with betrayal and disbelief, his fingers shook as he clenched them into a fist. Alec opened his mouth, but Jace cut him off "Clary.." He choked on her name and raised his eyes to meet Alec. They gleamed with a nervous excitement and Alec could hear Jace's heart thumping in his chest. "Tell me the truth, Alec. Whats going on?"