Sorry this took so long! I hope I'm back on track, and I hope you enjoy it after the long wait!
Fallen Angels
Listen. Whatever happens, at least we're together
-Rory Williams
Isabelle's first reaction to the red haired woman and her friend was to pull Max back and go running into the Institute, pretend she'd never spoken to the woman, and forget they'd ever met. However, the mention of Clary brought to mind her brother, and she felt that ache in her heart, the place that belonged to Jace. If there was any hope, if it was even a shred, she would go to the ends of the earth to get her brother back. Carefully, Isabelle pushed Max behind her, and Alec drew forward, closing the gap that Max would have run though. The little boy was forced to peek around Isabelle right side.
"You know Clary?" Isabelle asked carefully, giving the woman a challenging look.
"Clary Morgenstern, redhead, freckles, a bit on the short side?" Amy watched Isabelle's face stay firmly in its place. "Goes everywhere with that blond boy."
"Jace?" Max piped up, ignoring Isabelle and Alec's frustrated sighs.
Amy smiled victoriously. "Jace Lightwood and Clary Morgenstern, yeah we've seen them. I've talked to 'em."
Though Isabelle wanted to believe the woman, her instincts told her otherwise. There was something wrong about these people, some feeling on the back of her neck that made her hairs stand up. Whoever they were, whatever the reason, they didn't belong here. "You'll forgive us for not believing you."
"It's understandable, but, see, we've got nothing to lose and nothing to gain by telling you what we know, so, I think we might just tell you anyway." Amy shrugged playfully at Rory, who nodded in agreement. "Would you like to know?"
Isabelle shot Alec a quick look. He wanted to say no and turn and go, but the idea that someone might know about Jace was too tempting for him. "Just be quick about it; we're only allowed out for three hours a day, and we're running out of time as it is."
"Right, well, my name is Amy Pond, and this is my husband, Rory Williams, and we're, um…" Amy looked to Rory for help.
"We're visiting the city," Rory supplied. "We've come with a friend of ours, and usually, his transportation is pretty sturdy, but we got a little stuck here. Our friend, he took up a teaching position at a local school, and had a little run in with Jace and Clary."
"You expect us to believe that?" Alec asked incredulously. "That explains nothing! Somehow, some Mundanes just turn up in New York, and they can see through our charms, and they track down Jace and Clary, and they know we're all related? You're working for Valentine."
"No, we're not," said Amy, tossing her hair back. "It's a little complicated to explain, in fact, it's a lot complicated to explain. Usually, when we travel, we don't go around telling people all about it, because, frankly, it's a little unbelievable-even for some people who spend their life hunting demons."
This drew Isabelle and Alec up; they hadn't shared their secret, so, how did this Amy and Rory know? "Demons aren't real," said Isabelle reasonably.
"Yeah, okay, and those knives are just for play," Amy snorted. "Listen, we know what you are, and we won't say it aloud- don't worry."
"We're just people like you," Alec said stiffly.
"No you're not, not even close," said Amy, and her eyes were glowing mischievously.
Rory nudged her a little. "Our life is a little more complicated than you think."
"Really?" Isabelle cocked a hip, unable to help herself. "I think, if you really knew Jace and Clary and us, you might not say those things. I think you have no idea who we are."
"I know the world isn't supposed to be this way," said Amy softly. "I know Valentine wasn't supposed to win the war, that you weren't supposed to be trapped her, and that Jace and Clary shouldn't be with Valentine."
"Well, as much as we want it, that's just how it is," Alec said simply. "We accept what we can't change."
"No, you don't get it." Amy leaned against the bars, her fingers curling around them and her face pressing closer. "The world isn't supposed to be like this."
"Well it is!" Isabelle snapped back. "This is what we got for trying to stop Valentine. Our family was torn apart and we're stuck in New York, waiting to hear if our parents are even alive."
Amy and Rory exchanged quick looks. "Listen to us," Rory urged. "You think this is just life, but it's not meant to be like this. Something went wrong, something happened that wasn't supposed to and Valentine won. He wasn't supposed to."
"You don't understand how life works apparently," Alec snorted. "Sometimes, things we don't like happen. When those things do happen, you just have to continue on."
"I'm going to try and explain this as best I can," Amy said slowly. "This war didn't end right, I know this, because I know how it was supposed to end. I know how it was supposed to end, because I've got a friend, the one we mentioned, and this friend isn't a normal man. He said the war was supposed to end with Valentine dying, so, something clearly went wrong."
"You're insane," Isabelle said firmly.
"Wait till I tell you the good part," laughed Amy.
"Which is?" asked Alec.
"So, this man, my friend, his name is the Doctor." Rory looked nervous all of a sudden, but Amy seemed unconcerned. "He's not exactly…human, the Doctor. In fact, he's-well, let's just say he's not from around here. He's kinda a history buff."
"What has history got to do with this?" pressed Alec.
Rory chuckled. "To the Doctor, everything is history."
"Remember how Rory said we were just visiting?" Amy asked, trying to judge if the children would take half of what she was about to say seriously. "We are only visiting, but not quite from another place. See, the Doctor, he's got this thing called a Tardis, and the Tardis can travel anywhere in space…or even anywhere in time."
As Amy and Rory expected, they were met with silence, probably skeptical. Isabelle raised an eyebrow and Alec pressed his lips together. Even Max had the expression of one who didn't quite believe. "So," Isabelle said, nodding her head. "you know a doctor who can travel through time? Yeah, yeah that makes perfect sense."
"Alright, mate, you're the one who goes around the world hunting down inter-dimensional parasites, because an angel tells you to," Rory said quickly. "Is it really so hard to swallow?"
"Time travel is impossible," Alec said flatly.
"For us, yes," agreed Amy. "The Doctor, though, isn't from around here. His people figured out how to travel through time ages ago. See, we weren't planning on even showing up here, but the Doctor took the Tardis too close to a white hole, some science stuff happened, and we ended up stuck here while the Tardis refueled, but now, she won't move. The Doctor figures that she won't go till we sort out this whole Valentine thing out."
"Sort it out?" Max piped up.
"Yeah, I said Valentine wasn't supposed to win the war, and he wasn't! The Doctor said something went wrong in the flow of time and now Valentine is alive and in charge of the shadowhunters. Now, we're just stuck here, trying to fix it all."
"And you met Jace and Clary?" asked Isabelle sarcastically. "That's a bit a coincidence, isn't it?"
"Not with the Doctor," muttered Rory. "He's taken up a position at a school teaching math, and apparently Jace and Clary have been enrolled there by Valentine. We've been working on a way to get them away for a while now, but we need to figure out what went wrong in the first place."
"You're time travelers, who are teaching math on the side to make a quick buck while your time machine is busted?" Alec snorted. "I might believe in angels and demons, but this is ridiculous."
Amy's eyes narrowed. "Jace was really the son the Stephen and Celine Herondale, and when his mother committed suicide, Valentine and your old mentor, Hodge Starkweather, went and cut him from his mother's corpse because Valentine had been dosing Jace with angel blood. Valentine faked his own death and took Jace and moved to Wayland manor and raised him for ten years, faked his death again, and Jace ended up with you. Meanwhile, Valentine went and found his real son, Jonathan Christopher. Jonathan was dosed with demon blood, and it makes him more powerful and dangerous than any other shadowhunter alive. Clary, on the other hand, was also, unknowingly, dosed with angel blood and she can create new runes." When Amy paused to take a breath she saw that Alec, Isabelle, and Max were staring at her in shock. "Do you want to know any more?"
"How can you know that?" whispered Isabelle.
"Because we're from the future," answered Rory. "We know what was supposed to happen, but, apparently, something went wrong. Now, we're here, trying to set it all to rights. So you say you're parents aren't here?"
"They're in Idris," Isabelle murmured. "Valentine took them when they refused to drink from the Cup. I thought he was keeping Jace and Clary there…"
"No, as far as we know, they're in the city somewhere. They're going to school in some private, upscale place. The Doctor was planning on placing a tracker on Valentine soon so we could follow him home, and hopefully, get a lock on the location of Idris. If we can do that, the Tardis might be persuaded to take us there."
"No, technology doesn't work in Idris," Alec shook his head.
"The Doctor's does," said Amy with certainly. "We're just waiting to get a hold of Jace and Clary; they're still living with Valentine as far as we know."
"They're living with him?" Alec asked, coming to life in a jolt. "You have to get them away from him. When Valentine was raising Jace he used to torture him, he'd beat him and brand him and whip him. He can't be living with him again!"
Amy and Rory shot a look at him. Rory said, "Valentine was pretty bad, huh?"
"He was awful to Jace, so the Angel only knows what he's doing now. Plus, he's got to train Clary." Isabelle was frantically twirling a hair around her finger. "He's a monster, and then there's Jonathan, and Jonathan hated Jace."
"We need to tell the Doctor," Amy said to Rory at once. "We can't keep waiting for them to come to us. The Doctor is going to have to get Jace and Clary alone and we're going to have to make a run for it."
"Clary and Jace won't trust us, and they're about as likely to believe the Doctor as Isabelle and Alec were," said Rory helplessly.
"Just tell them-just say…" Isabelle warbled off. Suddenly, she started pulling at the bracelet wrapped around her wrist fitfully. "Here, take this and show it to Jace. He'll know it's mine." Isabelle pushed her whip through the gap in the fence and into Amy's hand. "He was there when I got it for my birthday, he knows I never go anywhere without it. Show it to him."
Amy tucked the whip into her coat. "Good thinking. How long will you three be here?"
"Who knows?" Alec shrugged hopelessly. "If you really do manage to get Jace and Clary away from Valentine, he might take us to Idris to set a trap for them. Don't let Jace follow us."
"No need," Rory said quickly. "We'll be able to come get you in the Tardis. We just need a signal to track you with. Does anything you own give off radiation we can locate?"
Alec, Isabelle, and Max stared blankly back. Their education, though well rounded and detailed, was severely wanting where science was concerned. Radiation to them was a word that was attached to a vague meaning, like how the sun radiates energy or a demon might radiate darkness, but an object they owned that gave off radiation?
"Well, I mean, shadowhunters radiate their own kind of energy-"
"No, no, no," Amy shook her head, looking over the children quickly. "You know, energy radiation, like, electromagnetic radiation or something. Particles…" Amy's eyes landed on the necklace knotted around Isabelle's throat. "That should work perfectly. Can you wear that necklace at all times?"
"Yes," said Isabelle, confused.
"Okay, the Doctor should be able to track you down. That probably gives off its own radiation waves." Amy gave the three children one more long look, her eyes resting on little Max. "We'll come back for you, and we'll have Clary and Jace."
Jace was polishing off a piece of pizza, his feet propped up on the table, as he watched the television. On his lap was Clary's head, her hands curled around his upper thigh and his knee, her eyes were closed and her chest rising and falling in the deep troughs of sleep. Absently, he stroked her hair off her face and admired her delicate cheek bones and pink lips, the copper eyelashes that brushed her face. In her sleep, Clary murmured something, his name, and he grinned stupidly to himself.
"I'm here, Clary," he said back to her, taking her hand in his. "I'm here, don't be afraid." Clary turned over, tucking her face into the junction of Jace's thigh and hip. He marveled at her, marveled at her helplessness, marveled at her childishness in a world so hard as their own. He had grown up with no choice but to be strong, she had grown up softly and now, after being thrust into his, was still holding herself together. "You're amazing, Clary."
"Is the Long King still on?" she asked, caught in the confusion that clung to a person as they woke. "Did I miss Hakuna Matata?"
Jace chuckled. "Was that the song with the pig, gofer, and lion cub?"
"It's a warthog, Pumbaa, a meerkat , Timone, and Simba," Clary said sternly. "And, yes, that's the song."
"Ah, yes, I'm afraid so." Jace nodded to the screen. "Actually, the Lion King ended and another um-did you call it Disney?-movie came on. Now we're watching something about a genie."
"Aladdin," Clary corrected, laughing at Jace's crude description. "I can't believe I've been asleep that long. Is Father home yet?"
Jace shifted at the mention of Valentine. "No, he's still out. Hopefully he drove his car into an accident of something."
Clary laughed and sniffed the air. "Is there any pizza left?"
"Yeah, plenty, do you want me to get you a slice?" offered Jace. "There's even some bread left too."
"Yes, please," Clary murmured sweetly.
Jace kissed her and carefully detangled himself her and went to the kitchen. "It was rather generous of Valentine to get us pizza considering he didn't know our grades before he went. Let's hope the rest of the evening goes as well."
As Jace came back to the couch, Clary pulled him down into a very passionate kiss. They both had only a few words left, and it was easier for Clary to express herself that way anyway. Jace sank down, placing the pizza carefully on the table and joined Clary on the couch. He settled his weight on his forearms, being careful not to crush Clary. She was, for all her fire, still in a delicate state, and Jace knew lying on top of her wasn't going to be good idea. Beneath him, Clary squirmed.
Her hands lingered momentarily on the waist of Jace's jeans, but slowly, her fingers crept up under his shirt and traced the scared on his abdomen. Jace gasped suddenly, and, losing focus slightly, let his weight come down on his right knee, between Clary's knees. Under him, Clary laughed.
"Distracted?" she asked throatily.
Jace didn't reply, he didn't have to. Instead, he left his knee where it was and was able to lever himself up to her could kiss her throat. Not to be outdone, Jace ran his hands up under Clary's shirt, tweaking at her belly button and listening to her heart skip a few beats. He chuckled deep in his throat before returning his lips to hers.
The two remained that way for some time, Jace on top of Clary, his hands exploring her body, Clary fingers nervously toying with the hem of his jeans. Clary wanted to tuck her hands deeper, but she felt oddly out of place, like she was just a little girl, playing a game she didn't understand, and Jace was a grown man, looking more for a woman to love him than a girl. When their kiss broke, Clary took a rasping gasp.
"Jace I-"
"Get off my daughter," ordered a voice, and then Jace was tugged off Clary and tossed unceremoniously onto the floor. "I take you into my home, treat you like my son, and I find you trying to violate my daughter?"
"Father, please!" Clary begged, sitting up and quickly fixing her shirt. "Please, he wasn't doing anything wrong, I wanted him to!"
"My stepson is a womanizer and my daughter a whore," said Valentine bleakly, and then kicked Jace hard enough in the side to elicit the snap of a breaking bone. "Clarissa, you have some explaining to do."
"I-I don't know what you mean." Clary's eyes were on Jace. He was curled up in a ball to relieve some of the pain of the broken rib.
"I spoke with Mr. Smith, and I heard some interesting things…I saw some interesting things." Valentine looked Clary over up and down and then took her wrist and pulled her to her feet, shaking her like a rag doll. "Your Mark was on his white board! Would you care to explain that?"
"My-my Mark? The silencing rune I made?" Clary was seeing tiny pinpricks of light when her father stopped shaking her. "He doesn't know."
"The where did he find it?" demanded Valentine, and then he took her hair and twisted it. "Answer me, you worthless little brat!"
"I don't know!" Clary shouted. "I swear on the Angel I didn't tell him."
"That's a bit rich, don't you think? Mr. Smith, a Mundane math teacher, just happens upon a rune that was only invented last week? Then I find it, written on his board?"
"I can't explain it!" Clary said sharply.
Jace had managed to pull himself off the ground and grabbed one of Valentine's arms, breaking his dangerous grip on Clary. "She doesn't know! She doesn't know!" he kept shouting over and over again. Valentine used his body weight and threw Jace off, and the smaller boy stumbled over the couch and crashed into the wall, his head banging off the side.
"Don't hurt him!" Clary cried, her fear of her father warring with her fear for Jace. "He didn't do anything wrong, he didn't tell Mr. Smith anything. He's been good!"
"I'm aware of that, Clarissa," said Valentine, dragging her away from the living room. "But, I've learned that you care very little for your own well-being, so I must resort to punishing him to elicit some response from you."
Jace rolled over on his side, his head spinning, and he saw the blurry image of Valentine tossing Clary down the hall to his study like she were a doll. He groaned, trying to put two thoughts together. Valentine is angry…This is true, he's furious. He's mad at Clary…Clary always makes her father angry. When he's mad at Clary he takes her to his study…The thoughts finally came together and Jace gave a strangled cry and straggled after the swirling image of Valentine. He reached the study door, but it was closed, locked, unmoving.
"Clary!" Jace cried, pounding his open hand on the door again and again. "Don't you hurt her, Valentine!"
"He's sounds agitated," commented Valentine casually. "Quite worried for you, actually. I'm rather pleased he loves you so much; it'll make it so much easier when you're both older. He'll be a good shadowhunter once he calms down a little. You'll help him with that."
Clary moaned in agony and strained her back. Her father had bound her ankles and wrists to the arms and legs of the chairs, and slowly, systematically, he was heating the flat edge of a knife and branding her skin. She watched red welts rise, on her arms, on her chest, on the back of her neck under her hair, on her legs once Valentine ripped her jeans off at the tops of her thighs. She squirmed under his hands, which we steady and sure.
"He's very dedicated," observed Valentine. "But then, Jace always was a serious boy. He'll come for you once I'm done, don't worry. You won't have to crawl back to your room. Now," said Valentine, kneeling down so he was on level with her, "why don't you explain why Mr. Smith knew your rune?"
"I've told you," panted Clary, "I don't know! He's just a stupid man and I didn't tell him anything. Why won't you believe me?"
Valentine pressed the flat of the knife to Clary's inner thigh and she screamed. She heard Jace echo her scream through the door. "It's too much a coincidence, and you and Jace are liars anyway. It seems only today I heard about some tutoring."
Clary's face paled. "We told him no," she said quickly. "We told Mr. Smith we just didn't have time. He believed us," she added.
"If he believed you then why bring it up to me?" pressed Valentine. "He mentioned it specifically to me at your conference. Now why would he do that if he believed you?"
"I don't know, but we said we were too busy." Clary's eyes were on the knife in his hand. "He doesn't know anything."
"I've told him I'll consider it," said Valentine to her surprise, and then lifted the knife to her face. "Are you that bad at math that you need private tutoring? Are you that pathetic?" He took Clary's chin and turned her face from side to side. "You're a disgrace." Clary was shuddering against her will, fear betraying her. Valentine placed the tip of the knife on her cheek bone and angled it to leave a small cut. Blood dribbled down her face. "You're afraid, Clarissa, and a shadowhunter should never be afraid. You're a worthless thing, completely, utterly worthless. It's not your fault; your mother raised you poorly, but even now, you refuse to learn."
Clary refused to let her lip tremble even though her father's words stung. She had never given much thought to what Valentine had said to her, but, the last few months had shown her that aside from Jace, she was completely alone; her mother had abandoned her and her friends were either dead or well beyond her reach. Clary had been, unknowingly, slipping into a depression, and hearing her father-her own father-telling her she was worthless was painful.
Jace, Jace…please help me. Clary's eyes moved to the door where it was now silent. Jace had stopped pounding on the door a few minutes ago and the comforting sound of him calling out for her was gone with it. Don't leave me too.
"I can't do anything with you," Valentine continued, and wiped the blood off her face. "This blood of yours, this is not mine. You're unwanted, Clarissa, completely unwanted. Your mother prefers me to you, your friends can't suffer your presence, if it weren't for Jace you would be utterly alone. Do you know that?" When Clary looked away, Valentine forced her to look back into his eyes. "Answer me, Clarissa. Do you know that no one wants you?"
"Jace wants me," Clary answered.
"Does he?" Valentine gave her a shrewd look. "Do you really know that? He stays with you, yes, but does he love you? How can he, honestly, when loving you has gotten him nothing but pain and humiliation. If it weren't for you, he wouldn't be stuck in a Mundane school, he wouldn't be completely stripped of his rights, he wouldn't be beaten constantly, he might even be with the people he loves, with the Lightwoods. Do you think he wanted to give it all up just for you?"
Clary bit her lip. "He loves me."
"You don't know what that means," laughed Valentine. "You don't know the first thing about boys, your mother has told me that much, so why would Jace pick you? He could have any woman and you think he wants you that much? No, you're a burden, that's all." Clary stared at her shaking knees, but Valentine struck her face casually. "Say it."
She felt the command like a physical thing and knew Valentine was using the obedience rune on her back. "I-I'm a burden," she whispered.
"Yes, you are," said Valentine. "A burden to your parents and to your lover. Keep saying it, Clarissa, keep saying it till you run out of words. I want that to be your mantra from now on, I want you to know that."
Valentine rose and returned to sit behind his desk, paperwork spread out before him. Clary watched him go, her eyes pleading with him to let her go. When he sat, his grey eyes regarded her mercilessly. "You may begin."
Clary slumped in the chair and began to say, "I'm a burden" over and over. It seemed pointless to try and fight him when all he was asking for was words. She knew she ought to be grateful he wasn't hurting her, wasn't hurting Jace, but it still left her feeling empty on the inside. Valentine returned his focus to his work and remained silent for half an hour while Clary spoke herself senseless. When it was over, when all that was coming out of Clary's mouth was a desperate rasp, Valentine returned his attention to her.
"Good girl," murmured Valentine as he undid the bonds that held her. He tugged her to her feet and dragged her to the door to his study. "When you go to school tomorrow, you will tell everyone you had an accident. If I get a call about you, you won't go back to that school. I can't let them see the bruises you'll have then."
Clary stumbled out of the door with a startled cry, but before she even touched the floor, a gold shape shot out of the corner and swept her up. Though Clary tried to warn him of Valentine, the only sound that came out was a whistle of air. It didn't bother Jace though, he took one sweeping glance: the torn pants, the burns dotting her body, the cut on her cheek, her inability to speak, and then scooped her up to hold off the floor.
"Get her out of my sight, Jace," ordered Valentine, and his eyes met Clary in a silent challenge. "I don't want to see her-or you-until I pick you up from school tomorrow."
Jace bared his teeth in a lion's snarl. "Trust me, it won't be that hard."
Clary didn't make a sound as Jace carried her back to their room and settled her on the bed. She watched him guiltily as he carefully inspected her wounds. She averted her eyes when he sighed and gathered the bandages. She kept hearing again and again what her father had made her say, that she was a burden, and that's all she could think of as she let Jace tend to her.
"What did he do?" Jace asked as he wet a cotton ball and dabbed a burn. "Is this all, or is there more?" Clary shook her head helplessly, and then covered her face with her hands. A moment later, she felt Jace pull her wrists down and she was faced with his glowing, golden eyes.
"I heard what he said to you, Clary; I heard what you said, too." Jace kissed the tears off her eyes. "Don't you ever believe that. I love you, I'll always love you, I'll love you no matter what Valentine does, no matter where we are, no matter what happens. Please just know that."