Look who passed their finals! No, probably not me. Our chem midterm I got a 67% on and that was the second highest grade in the class. I'm pree sure I flunked this time but yay for curves! Technically, finals aren't over but seeing as all I have left is band and choir I figured I didn't need to do a ton of studying or anything crazy like that. Now it's fact time.

Fact: My other story Your Guardian Angel is a helluva lot more popular than this one.
Fact: This story is a helluva lot better written.
Fact: I can write this story faster/make longer chapters.
Fact: This chapter gets super terrible at the end. Apologies.

Disclaimer: I don't own TMI yada yada. Whatever and ever.


Two days passed before Isabelle found me to tell me the news that Clary was awake. Of course I rushed to the infirmary as fast as I possibly could. Even though all I'd been doing was resting, I was still weak. Weird, it's like I almost died or something. By the time I reached the infirmary, my head was spinning and I needed to rest. But Clary wasn't there.

In the shadows of the hall, I could just make out the shape of Church.

"Church, can you take me to Clary?" I asked softly.

The cat purred and stretched before padding off down the hall. I followed him as quickly as I could. He led me to what I recognized to be the music room. I could hear voices from inside and found there Jace and Clary.

"-I woke up on my own," Clary was saying.

"Oh, sorry. Am I interrupting?" I asked.

"Jaci!" Clary cried, hugging me.

"Hello," I said happily, hugging her back. "Good to see you alive."

"Jaci, I was so scared. I woke up and I didn't see you in the infirmary and no one said anything about you…"

"Who was there with you?" Jace asked, sounding curious.

"Isabelle, but she went off to get someone – Hodge, I think. She told me to wait, but-"

"I should have warned her about your habit of never doing what you're told," I commented.

"Are those Isabelle's clothes?" Jace asked. "They look ridiculous on you."

"I could point out that you burned my clothes," Clary snapped.

"It was purely precautionary. Come on, I'll take you to Hodge." He moved smoothly over to the door, holding it for me and leaving Clary to fend for herself.

"So Isabelle was willing to let Clary wear her clothes but not me?" I asked, mock upset.

Jace shrugged. "Well you were covered in considerably more blood. Besides, I didn't actually ask Izzy for you."

My head snapped around to look at him. "What?"

His face was a picture of innocence. "You were about to die so it called for drastic action. Even the sacrificing of my shirt. Which by the way, where is that?"

"Um… possibly lying on the floor of my room," I suggested.

"Why does this place have so many bedrooms?" Clary asked, reminding us she was there. "I thought it was a research institute."

"This is the residential wing. We're pledged to offer safety and lodging to any Shadowhunter who requests it. We can house up to two hundred people here," Jace recited.

"How long'd it take you to memorize that?" I asked.

They chose to ignore me.

"But most of these rooms are empty," Clary noted.

"People come and go. Nobody stays for long. Usually it's just us – Alec, Isabelle, Max, their parents – and me and Hodge."

I mentally ticked off those he had listed that I'd already met.

"Max?" Clary asked, doing her usual echo routine.

"You met the beauteous Isabelle? Alec is her elder brother. Max is the youngest, but he's overseas with his parents."

"What sort of teenager uses words like 'beauteous' and 'elder' instead of 'older'?" I asked.

Jace glared at me. "I do."

I quietly began to hum Vegas by All Time Low.

"Are they on vacation?" Clary was almost jogging to stay by Jace's side.

"Not exactly. You can think of them as – as foreign diplomats, and of this as an embassy, of sorts. Right now they're in Shadowhunter home country, working out some very delicate peace negotiations. They brought Max with them because he's so young."

Awe, Jace was so nice explaining everything to Clary, aside from the tone he used.

"The Shadowhunter home country is called Idris," I added, predicting her next question.

Jace gave me a sidelong look . "I don't remember telling you that."

I shrugged. "You didn't."

"Then how do you-?"

"Oh look! It's the library!" I cut him off with an obvious lack of subtleness. "Hello, Church."

Jace rubbed the cat's back with his foot while he narrowed his eyes at me. "We're not finished yet, Fray."

"Mmhmm…" I held the doors open for Clary and then followed her in. Jace trailed like a blonde shadow.

After three days I was still not used to the library and its masses of books. Every wall was lined up to nearly the sloped ceiling, it was impressive. The books themselves were ancient, not a paperback to be found, the kind with jewels set in the thick leather covers and locks and hinges.

Hodge sat at the polished desk in the center of the room. He smiled when he saw us.

"Another book lover, I see." He directed his smile to Clary. "You didn't tell me that, Jace."

I saw Jace shrug. "We haven't done much talking during our short acquaintance. I'm afraid our reading habits didn't come up."

For some reason, that statement upset Clary. She whirled to glare at Jace and then turned back to Hodge. "How can you tell?" she asked him. "That I like books, I mean."

"The look on your face when you walked in. Somehow I doubted you were that impressed by me."

I faked a cough to cover my snort and became suddenly very interested in the huge brass globe standing nearby. I heard Jace chuckle and then Hodge's raven, Hugo make a slight noise.

"This is Hugo," Hodge said, still addressing Clary. "Hugo is a raven, and, as such, he knows many things. I, meanwhile, am Hodge Starkweather, a professor of history, and, as such, I do not know nearly enough."

I heard my sister laugh and couldn't help but smile a tiny bit. "Clary Fray."

"Honored to make your acquaintance. I would be honored to make the acquaintance of anyone who could kill a Ravener with her bare hands."

Now my ears pricked up, they'd all avoided talking about the demon around me. I guess they thought I'd be a bit sensitive about discussing what almost/should have killed me.

"It wasn't my bare hands. It was Jace's – well, I don't remember what it was called, but-"

"She means my Sensor," Jace said, cutting her off. "She shoved it down the thing's throat. The runes must have choked it. I guess I'll need another one. I should have mentioned that."

"Funny how that works," I muttered.

Jace's eyes darted to me and then back to Hodge.

"There are several extra in the weapons room." I glanced up in time to see Hodge turn his attention back to Clary. "That was quick thinking. What gave you the idea of using the Sensor as a weapon?"

Clary opened her mouth to speak and I was very curious about what she was going to respond with when someone laughed. Not a happy laugh, a cynical forced laugh. It drew my attention to Alec, lounging in an armchair, previously unnoticed.

"I can't believe you buy that story, Hodge," he said. His glare for Clary was nothing but acidic. I frowned slightly. Alec and Isabelle had been nice enough to me, why should they treat Clary differently? She was my sister. My defensiveness was starting to kick in.

"I'm not quite sure what you mean, Alec." Hodge's tone was not light. "Are you suggesting she didn't kill that demon after all?"

"Of course she didn't. Look at her – she's a mundie, Hodge, and a little kid, at that. There's no way she took on a Ravener all by herself."

"Hey!" I said, slightly outraged.

"She wasn't by herself," Jace pointed out.

"And I'm not a little kid," Clary interrupted. "I'm sixteen years old – well, I will be on Sunday."

Alec shrugged. "So a couple of untrained fifteen year olds supposedly killed a demon?"

"I'm not fifteen," I said quietly. Alec was annoying me.

Jace turned to me. "How old are you?"

"Sixt- wait, what day is it?"

"What does the day have anything to do with how old you are?" Jace asked.

"It actually has a lot to do with it. You see, as each day passes people grow older but of course I wouldn't expect you to understand such a complicated concept." The smile I gave Jace was sarcastically sweet.

"It's Thursday," Hodge interrupted.

I stared at them blankly. Clary stared back at me but the other three just looked confused.

"Then I am seventeen as of…" I checked the time on my phone, "six hours ago."

"Jaci's the same age as you, Alec and Clary is the same age as Isabelle," Hodge said. "Would you call her a child?"

"Isabelle," Alec said testily, leaning forward in his chair, "hails from one of the greatest Shadowhunter dynasties in history. This girl, on the other hand, hails from New Jersey."

"What am I?" I asked. "Chopped liver?"

"It would explain why that cat likes you so much," Jace pointed out.

"I'm from Brooklyn!" Clary yelled. "And so what? I just killed a demon in my own house, and you're going to be a dickhead about it because I'm not some spoiled-rotten rich brat like you and your sister?"

Gasp, Clary said a bad word.

"What did you call me?" Alec's voice was a mixture of threat and offense.

Jace laughed while I smiled.

"She has a point, Alec," Jace said. "It's those bridge-and-tunnel demons you really have to watch out for-"

"It's not funny, Jace," Alec hissed, getting to his feet. "Are you just going to stand there and let her call me names?"

I stared at Alec in amazement. Here he was, a six foot something guy turning to his best friend to defend him from a five foot two girl. I didn't get it.

"Yes. It'll do you good – try to think of it as endurance training," Jace suggested.

"We may be parabatai, but your flippancy is wearing on my patience." Alec's high cheek-bones were dusted with a delicate shade of pink. Cute.

"And your obstinacy is wearing on mine. When I found them, Jaci was about to pass out and Clary was lying on the floor in a pool of blood with a dying demon in the next room. I watched as it vanished. If they didn't kill it, who did?" Jace demanded.

"Clary killed it," I said, no one paid attention to me.

"Raveners are stupid. Maybe it got itself in the neck with its stinger. It's happened before-"

"So it committed suicide?" I asked, hands on my hips, turning to Alec.

He glared at me with his dark blue eyes. "It isn't right for her to be here. Mundies aren't allowed in the Institute, and there are good reasons for that."

"She's my sister," I said for what felt like the millionth time. "If you allow me to stay here, why not her?"

"If anyone knew about this we could be reported to the Clave," Alec warned.

"That's not entirely true." We both turned to Hodge. "The Law does allow us to offer sanctuary to mundane in certain circumstances. A Ravener has already attacked their mother – they could well have been next."

Excuse me, but didn't the Ravener attack us? Maybe I misunderstood that whole Imma-Kill-You vibe it had going on but I doubt the demon was chasing us down to have tea and discuss Jane Austen.

"Raveners are search-and-destroy machines. They act under orders from warlocks or powerful demon lords. Now, what interest would a warlock or demon lord have in an ordinary mundane household?" Alec glanced to Clary and then to me. "Any thoughts?"

"It must have been a mistake," Clary muttered lamely.

"But I thought-"

Alec cut me off. "Demons don't make those kind of mistakes. If they went after your mother, there must have been a reason. If she were innocent-"

"What do you mean, 'innocent'?" her voice was deathly quiet.

Alec began to stammer a response.

"What he means," Hodge interpreted, "is that it is extremely unusual for a powerful demon, the kind who might command a host of lesser demons, to interest himself in the affairs of human beings. No mundane may summon a demon – they lack that power- but there have been some, desperate and foolish, who have found a witch or warlock to do it for them."

"My mother doesn't know any warlocks."

"Our mother," I corrected.

"She doesn't believe in magic. But Madame Dorthea – she lives downstairs – she's a witch. Maybe the demons were after her and got our mom by mistake?"

"A witch lives downstairs from you?" Hodge questioned.

"She's a hedge-witch – a fake," Jace said dismissively. "I already looked into it. There's no reason for any warlock to be interested in her unless he's in the market for nonfunctional crystal balls."

"And we're back where we began. It seems the time has come to notify the Clave." Hodge moved to his desk.

"No! We can't-" Jace began to protest.

"It made sense to keep Clary and Jaci's presence here secret while we were not sure they would recover," Hodge said. "But now they have, and they are the first mundanes to pass through the doors of the Institute in over a hundred years. You know the rules about mundane knowledge of Shadowhunters, Jace. The Clave must be informed."

"But I thought Jace said we weren't mundane?" I asked, confused. I know I hadn't imagined that conversation.

A flash of understanding crossed Hodge's face. "Of course, how could I forget?"

"But we are mundanes," Clary argued, looking at me.

"No, you aren't," Jace corrected.

Clary began to grow angry and I saw Jace shift awkwardly.

"How?" she demanded.

"It would explain your mother. If she was a Shadowhunter in exile, she might well have Downworld enimies," Jace explained. We'd already had this conversation during the past two days where I'd felt like I was still recovering from a bad bout of the flu.

"My mother wasn't a Shadowhunter!"

"Could've been our dad," I pointed out.

"But he died. Before I was born."

I noticed Jace flinched slightly.

"It's possible," Alec said cautiously. "If their father was a Shadowhunter, and their mother a mundane – well, we all know it's against the Law to marry a mundie. Maybe they were in hiding."

"My mother would have told me," Clary said defiantly.

"Again with the 'my mother' thing. Thanks, sis." I was growing more and more annoyed. I was tired and crabby and weak. I hadn't slept well for the last two nights because I'd spent them awake by Clary's bedside. And now I was being shunned out of my own family.

Jace raised his eyebrows at me. "Not necessarily, we all have secrets."

"Luke!" The randomness award goes to Clary. "Our friend. He would know. It's been three days – he must be frantic. Can I call him? Is there a phone? Please." She turned to Alec, Hodge, and Jace in turn.

Hodge nodded and Clary rushed to the phone. I moved off so she could have her little conversation in private. I heard quiet footsteps as someone followed me.

"You two seem to get along well," Jace said from just behind me.

I didn't turn or answer, just sank down onto the floor, my back against a shelf of books. All I wanted was sleep. And some ibuprofen. My shoulder ached and I was afraid I might start shaking at any moment. That was the last thing I wanted, to look weak in front of a bunch of demon killers.

Jace didn't try to press conversation, instead he moved off to where Clary was finishing her phone call.

"I take it he wasn't happy to hear from you?" Jace asked her.

I got to my feet, moving to comfort Clary.

"I think I'd like to have a talk with Clary," Hodge said. "Alone," he added for my benefit.

Alec moved to the door. "Fine, we'll leave you to it."

"That's hardly fair," Jace argued. "I'm the one who found her. I'm the one who saved her life!"

"And I'm her sister," I added.

"I wish to speak with Clary about her mother," Hodge clarified.

"Oh. I get it, because she wasn't my mother or anything. Jocelyn liked Clary better anyways so it makes sense talking to her. Hell, I might as well not even be part of the family anymore." I couldn't take it any longer. Without bothering to see who I'd surprised with my outburst, I stormed out of the library.

I heard Jace's voice say "We'll be in the weapons room."

I wanted to run, to escape. Or maybe just to lock myself in my room, just be alone. Church mewed in surprise as I walked past him and a few feet down the hall before I sank to the floor, completely spent. At first I was terrified that I was going to cry, but then I realized I didn't have the energy even for that.

"Is she alright?" Alec's voice asked.

"I don't know. Does Isabelle enjoy curling up in the middle of hallways?" Jace's voice responded.

I could hear Alec's confusion. "No…"

"Then I would bet she's probably not alright."

Slowly, I raised my head to see them. They both stood over me, staring. Alec's delicate face showed concern while Jace smirked down at me. I groaned and buried my head in my hands. "Go away."

"But we just got here. Come on, Jaci. Time to see the weapons room." In a fluid motion, Jace pulled me to my feet. I glared at him. "Don't make me carry you, because I will."

"Don't you dare touch me, Jace-topher," I warned.

Both boys stared at me.

"Jace-topher?" Jace echoed.

I shrugged minutely. "The longer the name, the more threatening and I don't know your full name."

"Wayland," Alec said.

"Alright then. Don't touch me, Jace Wayland."

"I wouldn't dream of it. Weapons room is this way." He started off down the hall, expecting Alec and me to follow. We did, of course.

"Where's Isabelle?" I asked, attempting to start conversation. I hate awkward silences.

"I dunno," Alec mumbled. There seemed to be some unspoken rule that said Alec plus me equals strained conversation. It was like he didn't know what to make of me. He disliked Clary, that was obvious, but he was still on the fence when it came to me. I mused that it had something to do with the fact that I was Marked… to some unexplained extent.

Ahead of us, Jace turned around and walked backwards.

"So, Fray-"

"Don't call me that," I interrupted.

He raised one eyebrow. "Why not?"

"It's what people call Clary. I go by Jaelyn or Jaci. That's it."

"So, Jaci-"

"Can we call her Jaelyn?" Alec interrupted this time. "It gets confusing with Jace and Jaci."

"I'll call her what I want to. So Jaci, where'd you get that Mark on your hand from?" His tone was only mildly suspicious.

I glanced down. "I honestly don't know. I'd always thought I'd gotten scratched by a cat or something when I was a baby. I never really thought about it before…"

Jace suddenly stopped walking and I almost rammed into him.

"You've had that since you were a baby?" he asked incredulously.

"Erm yeah."

"Are you sure it's from a rune?" Alec asked.

I studied my hand. The Mark looked exactly like the ones Jace and Alec both had.

"It seems to be…"

"Most Shadowhunters get their first Marks when they're twelve. Are you sure you've always had it?" Jace asked.

I nodded slowly, even though the answer was partially no. Before Peliel… Wait. What was before Peliel? I attempted to follow that strand of memories, but failed.

"This is the weapons room," Jace said, entering in. Alec waited for me to go before him.

"Thanks," I murmured to him.

Alec nodded solemnly, not sure what else to do.

Over the past couple days I had glimpses of nearly everything the Institute held, including this delightful room of weapons. However, this was my first time actually going inside the room. The walls were brushed metal and lined with swords and daggers and pikes and whips and whatnot. Without really thinking about it, I wandered over to where several bows rested. Archery was something that I was interested in, but had never been allowed to try. Jocelyn hated the idea of war type things. She didn't know that I'd once been enrolled in a summer fencing program. It only lasted a week but I had been the best in my group. I'd also been about ten years old.

"What do you think Hodge is talking to the mundie about?" Alec mused.

"She's not a mundie," Jace sighed. The two had seated themselves at a table in the center of the room.

I wandered over. "What are those?"

Jace picked up one of the dull silver tubes that I'd indicated. "These are seraph blades."

"Oh." I ran one finger along the tube. "Neat. Is that what you used on the demon in Pandemonium?"

"Yes. And that would have been much easier if your sister hadn't been there."

"You say that like it's my fault." I frowned. Clary was a big girl who was responsible for herself.

"Maybe it was?" Alec suggested.

I chose not to answer that and continued looking around at the different weapons. They all gleamed as though from obsessive polishing.

"Try not to hurt yourself," Alec called to me, not looking up from the seraph blades.

"Jaci," Jace said, "since you're here, make yourself useful and find me another Sensor."

"And then I suppose you want me to make you a sandwich?" I asked crossly.

"A sandwich sounds wonderful right now."

"Bleh." Just talking about food made me feel sick to my stomach. But I did find Jace his Sensor and took it to him.

At the table, Alec and Jace were bent over three of the original four blades they had been working with. The fourth sat dejectedly off to the side, forgotten. I picked it up and examined it for the blemish that made the Shadowhunters reject it.

"What are you doing with that?" Alec asked sharply.

"Contemplating how to murder you both with it," I answered dryly. "Why isn't this one good enough?"

Jace shrugged. "No reason, just can't think of a name for it."

I twirled the weapon deftly between my fingers without realizing it. "I have an idea…"

"First, you know about demons. Then, you know we use steles, and now you know angel lore?" Jace asked. "Are you sure that red haired airhead is your sister?"

I scowled at him. "Shut up about Clary, would you? It's not her fault Jocelyn kept her so sheltered."

"So how did you find out?" His eyes narrowed in suspicion.

I sighed with exasperation. "I'm secretly a demon. I already told you I don't know how I know this stuff. I just do. And the angel lore? I used to have a Lit. Comp. class and for our final project I did a considerable amount of research."

"Lit. Comp.?" Alec asked.

"Literature and Composition."

"So you know facts. Now put the seraph blade down before you hurt yourself with it." I hated Jace's condescending tone.

"I'm not a child. I can handle a knife."

"Not this kind. Using it untrained would hurt you. Probably not too seriously knowing you, but enough that you'd be in the infirmary for awhile. Now set the knife down and go find Isabelle."

I flopped down in a chair. "I'd rather not, actually. I don't know where she is, if you want her send Church. And I'm naming this blade Peliel."

"You're kind of annoying," Alec said. Jace was studiously ignoring me.

"Love me."

The corner of Jace's mouth twitched just the tiniest bit.


Once again, I'm terribly sorry that the chapter took a running jump off a cliff and fell faster than gravity at the end. Review it anyway? Make me happy? Give me some response for this almost 4,000 word piece of not-good-ness!