Disclaimer: I do not own The Mortal Instruments. I wish, but no.

"Son of a... Great now I have to shower all over again, thanks to that bastard." Victoria said, wiping off Sebastian's germs that were on her body. Sapphira grinned.

"I believe the word you're looking for is 'demon'." Izzy and Alec had gone back to their rooms already, leaving Sapphira, Jace, and Clary staring at her with bemused expressions. She looked at them and snapped,

"What? You'd be acting the same way, if that creep had tried to kiss you." She saw Clary shudder.

"I know what you mean." Then she clapped and said, "Well, we should get back to bed." Sapphira nodded in agreement and stalked off to her room, Clary dragged Jace off to their room, and Victoria walked into her bathroom and proceeded to take a shower, grumbling about random things ranging from perverted men to glitter trails to Jace's ridiculous phobia of ducks.

o(^_^)o

"So... Who's next?" Jace asked. The gang were sitting around the breakfast table, eating some more of Sapphira's cookies as if this was what went down every morning. Alec pulled out The List.

"Next is a girl named Cat Eaton." Sapphira choked on her hot chocolate.

"I know her! She liked one of my stories." Jace rolled his eyes.

"Is there anyone you don't know?" She shrugged.

"Well, the royal family in England, whoever's running Russia, and several other important people. Besides, lots of people that are in fandoms know each other." Jace looked confused.

"I have no idea what you just said." Victoria laughed and took another cookie. She had taken a liking to them.

"That's nothing new, Jace. Anyways, could you maybe warn her ahead of time, so that she won't have to get up in the middle of the night after having just fallen asleep?" Jace laughed slightly.

"But wasn't it a nice surprise?" She stuck her tongue out at him. Both girls felt very at home in the Institute. Clary cleared her throat.

"Well, Magnus is having a party today. Who's up for it?" Isabelle squealed.

"Ooh! We must go shopping first! I can't let you guys go in anything less than fabulous!"

o(^_^)o

Sapphira crinkled her nose at the rack of designer clothes in front of her. Why Isabelle had a problem with everyone else's wardrobes was beyond her. Besides, it wasn't as if a party at Magnus' house merited a shopping trip. She opened her mouth to call Victoria, possibly to form an escape plan, and a pair of hands reached out from behind her, clapping a hand over her mouth, pinning her arms behind her, and dragging her backward. The person holding her was strong; she could feel the six pack even as she struggled to free herself. To be honest, she wouldn't put it past Jace or Victoria to try something like this, but with everything going on, even they probably wouldn't make the attempt. At that moment, they entered a small, dark room, and she was thrown onto the floor. Turning her head, her eyes met a handsome, finely boned face with black eyes and shaggy white hair. She rolled her eyes.

"You know, if you wanted to talk to me so badly, you could have just popped over for a chat and some cocoa." Sebastian chuckled.

"Nice to see you too." Sapphira looked around. They were in a janitor's closet, surrounded by cleaning supplies. Sebastian was- probably knowingly- blocking the only exit.

"Something tells me you're not done with me yet." He grinned.

"I'm going to give you two choices. You can either walk out of here on your own two feet, or you can make the trip tied up and slung over my shoulder." Sapphira grinned back.

"Hey! How about- no." Sebastian shrugged.

"Your choice. Your fault." He shoved her against the wall and leaned forward, so that their faces were an inch apart. "What sort of trick do you have up your sleeve, Little Miss Genius?" There was a flash of a grin, then she took a deep breath and shrieked.

Sebastian reeled back, cussed, and covered his ears.

"Stop it! OW!" She took another breath, but before she could shriek again, he reached forward and slapped her across the face. Sapphira flew back, hitting the wall hard, her skull slamming against the concrete. "You little bitch!" He reached back to hit her again as the door opened, then he was tackled by a blur of gold. Jace and Sebastian rolled across the floor until Jace managed to pin the other boy, both of them panting heavily. Jace grinned.

"You want to watch your language in front of a lady. That, and a true gentleman should never strike a female." Sebastian snarled at him.

"You can't stop me. Eventually you'll let your guard down. And as for you," he turned to Sapphira, who was still sprawled on the floor. "That was a nice trick. Try it again, and your vocal cords will disappear." She gulped, her throat suddenly dry. Jace scowled, his eyes hardening, and drew back his fist to punch him, but Sebastian casually caught his hand as it flew. He grinned cruelly. "Let's have some fun, shall we?" His hand twitched, and Sapphira heard a sickening crack. Jace winced horribly. There was another, then another. Sapphira went white.

"Stop! Stop it, please! Victoria! Isabelle!" Sebastian laughed harshly, threw Jace off him, and walked out. Jace cussed.

"My stele. Could you...?" She nodded, pulling the faintly glowing instrument out of his pants pocket. He wrote out a quick izrate, then sighed in relief as his bones knit together. "Sorry I took so long." She shrugged and rubbed the back of her head.

"Eh. One of the risks of being a part of this thing. Are you sure you're alright?" Isabelle ran in, Victoria right behind her.

"Is everyone okay?" They both nodded, and Sapphira smiled.

"Well, I think it's safe to say that this shopping trip is over."

o(^_^)o

Sebastian collapsed onto his bed. This was bad. As he thought, he reached under his pillow and pulled out a sketchbook and a box of colored pencils. Slowly, he flipped through the pages he had spent so much time on. There was Jace, his sculpted jaw set, his tawny eyes flashing murderously. Then Clary, first as he had first imagined her, as a princess, then as she had been when he had met her, her emerald eyes soft and trusting, her red hair falling in curls around her shoulders. Alec, Isabelle, and Max, all drawn with incredible precision and skill. Victoria, her auburn hair shining, her brown eyes wide and thoughtful. He had seen her from afar in the store, running toward the closet with Isabelle. She was interesting, but there were no weaknesses in her personality that he could exploit. Sapphira, with her curly brown hair, dark skin, glasses, and the side bangs that swept over her eyes. As he reached her page, he began to add in the details, as he did only after he had met the person at least twice. The fierce, stubborn gleam in her eye, the small smirk that always threatened to explode across her face whenever a situation became even remotely laughable. She was a loyal sort of girl. She couldn't stand her friends getting hurt. She most probably pushed people away for just that reason, but once she was in, she couldn't get out. Sebastian tapped his chin thoughtfully. Maybe...

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