Disclaimer: The Mortal Instruments and all associated properties belong to Cassandra Clare

Lucian finally fell asleep when he saw Ailey moving on her bed. Ailey wasn't happy with any of what was happening right now. She had inavertedly gotten Lucian into a mess and now he had to fight his way out of it. "I really fucked it up." She thought to herself as she lathered her body with flowery soap. Her hands rested on her breasts. She wasn't used to how her body had grown lately. Her chest used to be flat, but lately she had grown in more regions than one. Her rear had become more pronounced and her chest was well rounded, not robust but well rounded. She stepped out of the shower and decided to leave her hair down. She walked out wearing a plain white tee and a pair of sweats. Lucian was laid out on his bed. He looked peaceful. His chest rose and fell slowly and his breathing was shallow. She sat on her bed and combed out her hair. Since yesterday she felt more stable. Lucian's eyes fluttered open. He yawned loudly while stretching his limbs all of which popped. He walked into the bathroom and walked out in the same clothes. "No shower today?" She asked. "Not until after the fight is done." He said as he pulled on his black combat boots. The fun part about runes is that certain ones react to willpower such as the one in Lucian's blade. He looked at it, focusing intently on the flame rune etched into the blade. It caught Ailey by surprise she saw his sword spontaneously light. "Whoa! That is awesome!" Ailey exclaimed. "But why don't you have a seraph weapon?" She asked him. He looked at her with his firey orange eyes. "Apparently my family did something so heinous that we were stripped of our right to seraph weapons, so instead we opted for silver plated blades with runes etched in." He told her. Her axes were specially made for her family as a new form of seraph blade. He sheathed the blade and sat back down on his bed waiting to be pulled away to fight Arthur and Finley, so Ailey took this as a chance to learn more about him. "What is your dad like?" She asked him out of nowhere. "I'm not answering that." He said calmly. "Then what was your mom like?" She asked him, trying to get something out of him. "My earliest and only memory of my mother is her funeral." He stated somberly. She had no idea how to respond to the information she had just heard, so her only action was to stare at him. "But if you're trying to get closer then here's a nice bit of information. We became parabatai on my 18th birthday." He said. She went wide eyed. For two weeks now they had been living together and that was the first bit of information she had about him. Everyone knew about Ailey, she was the eldest child of the Darkthorns and excelled in all areas of study. But from what she had seen from Lucian he was as good as the older shadowhunters. A knock at the door broke them from their thoughts. Lucian opened it to find Alec and Isabelle there with some blonde guy. "Hey, Lucian this is Jace." Lucian and Jace looked at one another before coming to the realization that they had met. Lucian was about to say something, but Alec cut him off. "We came to get you for your fight." He said with a hint of tiredness. Ailey was off her bed and next to Lucian the moment she heard the word fight. Isabelle was about to advise against her going, but she saw that determined look in Ailey's eyes. Lucian didn't even bother strapping the sword on he simply withdrew it from its sheathe and began walking to the courtyard with blade in hand.

From what Lucian saw most of the institute had shown up to see the fight. He figured it was rare that they ever got to see any fights outside of sparring. What got to him though was that Ailey had tagged along. He knew she was going to come, she was too stubborn not to come. Whispers rippled through the crowd, some were about Ailey some were about Himself. The ones that caught his ear were the ones about him lying and somehow getting Arthur and Fin in trouble. He clenched his jaw. He was used to being blamed, but insinuating that Ailey would do something like that pissed him off for some reason. He stepped into the center of the courtyard waiting to be met by Arthur and Fin. They walked out of the crowd followed by Hodge who looked weary from this whole chain of events. If Lucian had to be honest he was tired of it as well, but his angry over took his weariness. Lucian was wearing his tuxedo shirt with his vest, while Arthur and Fin both wore the standard shadowhunter apparel. "The rules have changed." Hodge announced. "Instead of being a fight into submission, this will be a fight to the death." He finished with glazed over eyes. Lucian felt bad that it had turned into this, even the crowd that was originally excited had grown silent and worried. Lucian felt the worry coming off Ailey. What worried him most was that he felt nothing about killing them. "You may begin." Was all he heard from Hodge before he was beset upon by two seraph swords. Lucian dodged them trying to formulate any kind of strategy. Fin was a heavy hitter, but Arthur made up for that by constantly following up Fin's first attack with smaller hits. He needed a plan now or else he'd be the body on the pavement. Unfortunately formulating can leave you open. Fin had finally broken his guard and Arthur followed through with a thrust that pierced into Lucian's abdomen. "We'll get her this time." Arthur whispered in his ear as he kicked him off his sword. Lucian rolled and regained his footing clenching his sword in his right hand while covering the wound with his left. Fin charged him again with Arthur bringing up his rear. That's when Lucian heard a voice in the back of his head. "Pathetic." Was all the disembodied voice said. Was Lucian pathetic? He couldn't seem to find where the voice would be wrong in that assumption. "Fight!" The voice yelled. "Fight!" It repeated. From that moment on something in Lucian was irrevocably changed. The fire in his eyes burned hotter than ever and his blade erupted into blazing blue flames. Lucian threw his flaming blade like a javelin, and it found its way to Finley's heart causing him to fly backwards from the force before he landed on the ground never to move again. Arthur's anger over took him he tried to hit Lucian with a powerful overhead strike. It connected with the ground, but before he could swing again Lucian stepped on the blade with all his strength snapping it in half. He tried to swing with his half a blade, but his wrist was caught and snapped like his sword. Some part of Lucian wanted this from the beginning, but he felt something in his heart was holding him back. "No." He thought to himself. "It's already too late to go back." He kicked Arthur's right knee in causing him to fall over trying to squirm away from Lucian. As Arthur was squirming away Lucian had walked over to Finley and yanked his sword from his heart. This time the flames burned the standard orange. He stopped focusing on the fire and looked at Arthur. He stood in the path of Arthur. The look on Lucian's face was that of a cold-blooded killer. It was a mask devoid of all emotions. Arthur was about to beg for his life, but it was cut short by Lucian driving his blade through his skull before it slid out with no argument. "Lucian Flamebrandt is the victor." Hodge said as the crowd dispersed. Lucian was looking to the sky as a downpour started. He handed his sword to Ailey so he could heft the bodies of Arthur and Finley over his shoulders. He laid them both out of the rain before he took his sword from Ailey and disappeared without a word.

Ailey returned to their room expecting to find Lucian there too. Instead what she found was much different. He left his sword and a note.

Dear Ailey,

I have some business to attend to and won't be home until late this evening

Sincerely,

Lucian

"Well he could've just told me that." She said aloud in her empty room. All she wanted was to talk to him to see if he was okay, well as okay as someone could be after killing two people. She decided to talk to him when he returned to their room.

Lucian had to get out of the institute for a while. Before he left he drew a healing rune near his would and wrapped himself with bandages. All he saw were the stares of people thinking he was to blame for all of this. Technically they weren't wrong if he hadn't been there none of this wouldn't have happened, but then Ailey would've been victimized. Lucian could live with the guilt of being a murderer. He had lived with it for a year already, so it's not like much had changed. Then he thought of what would've happened if he hadn't been there. Would she have ever told, or would she have taken her life out of the fear and mistrust she'd feel. Lucian broke himself from that train of thought as it had made him angry. "I need to go to a bar." was the only thought he had after that, and to a bar he did go. Sure, it was only noon, but some bar had to be open. He was right as he had found a bar owned by Magnus Bane. He knew the name due to how happily his father used to do business with him. He opened the door to find it relatively empty aside from a few werewolves, and Bane himself. Lucian ignored all of them and sat at the bar waiting for the bartender. "What can I get you sir?" He asked Lucian. "Whiskey." Was all he said. One of the perks of being a shadowhunter is that downworlder ran bars don't ask for ID cause most shadowhunters don't drink. Lucian ordered shot after shot until he felt the need to not numb the memories anymore. Before leaving he left $200 on the bar to cover any drinks he bought, and to buy the bar that had filled up in the past few hours a round. His cheeks were burning and his vision was blurred, but he knew his way home even in a drunken stupor.

When he left the bar the sun was setting, and by the time he got back to the institute the moon was high in the sky and shining down over all of New York. He rode the elevator up to the actual institute part. He stumbled out of the door and made his way to his room stumbling the whole way. When he came in Ailey was staring at him, or were there 3 Aileys staring at him. He honestly couldn't tell as he tried to walk in without talking, but she wasn't having any of that. "We are going to talk, now." She said leaving him no room to argue. "I understand that killing two people must be something that causes guilt, but you can't get drunk to avoid that." She told him. He sighed heavily. She didn't understand at all. He looked down at the ground inhaling and exhaling. He was about to puke. She was about to start lecturing him on responsibilities and trust when he rushed into the bathroom. For 10 minutes straight she heard the sound of him hurling all the alcohol he had been drinking into the toilet, and then she heard the shower turn on and Lucian singing something about flying to the moon and playing in the stars. Lucian stepped out wrapped in only a towel, then she saw the scar from earlier today. It was now an angry red line that would eventually fade to white. Then she noticed the rest of him. He was muscular, not broad or hefty, and his stomach was a perfect six-pack. He sat on his bed for a moment before looking at her. "Turn around." Was all he said to her. She was stubborn and didn't listen so what she saw next were his cheek. She knew he had a nice but from the way it filled out his pants, but now she saw it in its full glory. She turned her head to avoid seeing his cock. He pulled on a pair of black boxers and a pair of red pajama bottoms with a tight black tee. Before he sat back down he pulled something out of his vest. Ailey felt a small sliver chain with a rose pendant be placed around her neck. "I saw it today when I was out, and it made me think of you." He said. She smiled at him and blushed lightly, then she kissed him softly on his cheek. "Thank you, Lucian." She said still smiling. "For everything you've done for the last 2 days." She went back to her bed and pulled the blankets over herself. Lucian was left standing in the dimly lit room dumbstruck and half drunk. Eventually he regained control of his body and turned out the light before he lay on his bed feeling peace for the night.

Back in Idris

The Marches and Dovewings were saddened and angered by the losses their sons. They had spent every day since the loss of their sons petitioning the Council and the Clave to do something about Lucian Flamebrandt, but they could not because he beat their sons in a less than honorable duel that was demanded by the patriarchs of both families. Without the help of the Clave or Council they took matters into their own hands. Marcus Dovewing and Dominic March sent out bounties to all the downworlders in New York. If the Clave and Council wouldn't help them then someone would.