Writing a story is hard guys. I honestly didn't think I would make it this far, but I also didn't think anyone would read it! More infrequent updates may happen, since I'm borderline about to have a stress induced panic attack. Don't take AP classes, children. It's not a good idea, especially not when you're involved in anything and everything you could be in high school. Anyways, sorry for my little life story. Please give feedback and favorite so you can be the first to know when I add new chapters! Enjoy!

Isabelle sat in a small corner booth, shrouded from the prying eyes of the mundanes.

She idly twirled a piece of dark hair and waited for her companion.

Simon slid into the place besides her, glancing at her with concern. Isabelle swallowed. Nothing got passed Simon.

"How's your family?" Isabelle asked him, trying to get his attention off of her. It was a hard task, considering he was always concerned about her.

"Rebecca is fine. A little shaken up from her divorce, but fine. I think she's going away to Europe for a little while. You know, to clear her head. My mother's pretty torn up about it, but at least she doesn't have a million crucifixes stuck to her door anymore." Simon tried to joke, but Isabelle knew that he remembered the time during his vampire days. She almost wished Magnus didn't uncover the memories.

"Becky is a strong woman. Maybe now we have an excuse to take a vacation to Italy." Isabelle said lightly, but they both knew vacations would be out of the question for a long time.

"Seriously, Izzy. What's wrong? I know when something is bothering you." Simon said, brown eyes filled with concern.

"Yes, and I hate you for it." She responded, sticking her tongue out at him.

She sighed, pressing her forehead into her palms.

"It's Jace. I thought that if we found Clary and brought her back, he would go back to being himself, but I don't even know who that is anymore." Isabelle also didn't know Clary would have two tiny children clinging to her at all times. That certainly complicated things.

"I don't know what we expected. It's been seven years. He's not the same person he used to be, but we tolerate him anyways. We're a family, no matter what." Simon pulled Isabelle in close and stroked her hair.

"I think that's what Jace is banking on." Isabelle muttered, earning a peculiar look from her fiancée.


After Tessa had said her goodbyes, needing to meet her husband for an early dinner, Clary sat with her mother, watching their children.

She could tell Jocelyn was a little unnerved that her youngest daughter was the same age as her oldest daughter's children, but Clary had given birth just weeks after her eighteenth birthday.

She didn't know what made her mother more upset.

"I have half a mind to march into that Institute right now and knock some sense into that man." Muttered Jocelyn, staring off into the distance.

Clary shook her head. "It's really not worth it, mom. He's not Jace anymore. He won't listen to anyone."

"Daddy!" Felicity yelled suddenly, alerting Clary to Luke's entrance.

He had tears in his eyes as he moved to embrace his stepdaughter.

"God, Clary, you've certainly grown up. I didn't think it was possible, but you grew a few inches." Luke chuckled, poking fun at her.

Clary groaned. Short jokes had always been a common occurrence before she left.

Out of the corner of her eye, Clary noticed something rustle in the bushes. The window was open, allowing her to peer outside. A flash of blonde hair peaked her interest.

"You two can come out, you know." Clary announced, hoping she was right. The two girls emerged from their hiding places, looking sheepish. Clary waved away their embarrassment.

"Now, could you please tell me what you're doing here? And don't lie, I'm sure I've used every excuse in the book."


They now sat inside, clutching cups of tea that Jocelyn insisted they take.

"So, what you're saying is that Jace-, Mr. Herondale, sent you to follow me?" Clary asked with disbelief. She couldn't believe him. Did he really not trust that she could make her way to her mother's apartment without getting killed? She was a Shadowhunter, after all.

But the two girls simply nodded, confirming her doubts.

"We're really, really sorry, but it was an assignment. We have to follow orders, or we get yelled at." Cambry said, gazing intently at the ground.

"At least he sent us and not Zachary. He's sort of Mr. Herondale's sycophant." Blake added before returning to her silence.

Clary was grasping her mother's hand, most likely cutting off circulation. She could not comprehend that this was the man she fell in love with. But he wasn't, was he? She needed to have a very serious discussion with him about his behavior, whether she would like to or not. Maybe she could talk some sense into him.

"Mom, Luke, could you watch the twins for a few hours? There's something I need to take care of. Maybe we could all have a late dinner tonight." Ceilea and Andrew looked up from their games, but quickly returned to building the world's largest tower of red blocks with their new playmate.

"Yes, I think that will be fine. They seem to get along very well with Fleece." Luke said with a smile. Jocelyn looked a little unsure, but she was in no place to tell her adult daughter not to do what she wanted.

Clary motioned for the two teenagers to follow her, and they departed for the Institute.

The instant they were outside, Clary turned on the two girls.

"Tell me, how is he really? I know he's technically your boss, but don't sugar coat things."

Cambry stifled a laugh while Blake smirked.

"He may be in charge of us, but believe me, we're not loyal to him in any way, shape or form." Cambry said, rolling her eyes. The dislike for Jace that rolled off of the pair was palpable. It was a huge change from when she was a teenager. Any female in sight would be instantly in love with Jace Herondale.

"At first, he wasn't horrible. He treated us with kindness for the first few years, which is why Zach worships the very ground he walks on. Mr. Herondale was actually good at running the Institute, besides the fact that he spent the majority of everyday sulking in the library, staring at old photographs. After our third year there, some time in January I think, he just snapped. He went out almost every night, getting so drunk we had to help him walk up the front steps. We weren't allowed to tell anyone. He sent us on reckless assignments, claiming it would make us better Shadowhunters. I suppose he was right, but we almost died about a hundred times." Blake laughed without humor, glancing down at the scar that decorated her left arm.

"The only time he was ever nice to anyone was when a blonde girl, just a couple of years older than us, visited a year ago. The Clave took away her Parabatai and was sending her to London. I guess they used to know each other, because Mr. Herondale was really sympathetic." Clary slowly nodded her head.

It must've been Emma Carstairs. The poor girl almost had her marks stripped from her, from what Clary was told. She was starting to believe the rumors were true, but the punishment she received was incredibly harsh.

"Was he at least good to you?" Cambry asked, and Clary wished she hadn't. She didn't want to remember the good times of their relationship. It only made it harder to see him how he was now. She sighed, pressing a finger to her temple.

"He was. We were happy, really happy, for a little over a year." Clary said, feeling her throat close up and tears fill her eyes. She blinked them away, quickly. This was not the time to reminisce about the past.

"What happened?" Blake asked cautiously, catching on to Clary's shift in mood, but what too curious to let it go.

Clary gave her a sad smile.

"You two were both so young, seven or eight, if I'm correct? Enduring the Mortal and Dark wars was hard on everyone, but being at the center of them both when you were only a teenager? It's enough stress to traumatize anyone for a lifetime. Only a year after was Jace appointed to be the next head of the Institute. It was also the same month I became pregnant." Clary looked away from their shocked faces, counting to ten so she could regain her composure. They graciously did not say anything for the rest of the walk.

They were cutting through a small park when Clary froze. The air was colder here, and a sinister feeling swept over her.

"Stop!" She commanded, but it was too late. Blake had already put one of her feet on the ground, passing the boundary. Clary was surprised Jace hadn't warned them about the ley lines, considering all that had been happening.

"Seraph blade, now!" Clary shouted, already seeing the shadows taking on a solid form. Cambry threw one at her and ignited her own. Clary stepped in front of Blake, pushing her back, out of the darkness. "Ithuriel." She muttered under her breath, naming it after the Angel that had helped her throughout her entire life.

A small, hunched backed man approached them, his legs resembling a goat's.

A satyr, Clary thought. She remembered from reading the Codex that they were the less dangerous of the Unseelie's creatures. She thanked Raziel it hadn't been a hobgoblin.

Clary stood up straight, chin tilted towards the sky. "State your business, Satyr. We do not have time for your folly right now."

"You crossed the line." He said simply, stamping his hoofed feet. "Pretty girls who cross the line must not be very smart. You shouldn't have crossed the line."

Clary stared him down. "I think you are the one who crossed the line. It was your people who murdered all those Shadowhunters and Downworlders, wasn't it?"

The satyr chuckled. Clary noticed more shadow emerging from the trees behind him. She had to think fast.

"Silly girls. You do not know anything, but you did step over the line. You can't step over the line." He lunged at her, attempting to kick her in the skull with his hooves. Clary dodged, and Blake slashed him with her Seraph blade.

"Run!" Clary yelled as the shadows began to advance. They weren't very swift in their ethereal forms. As long as they could get out of the park, they would be contained.

Of course, things were never that easy.

Panting, Clary turned around, making sure the two teenagers were accounted for. Blake was fine, but Cambry was clutching her shoulder, clearly in pain.

"Hand me your stele." She instructed the girl, who pressed the cold Adamas into her hand. It had been so long, but just holding the instrument in her hand sharpened her mind. It was comforting. After pressing a particularly powerful Iratze on to her shoulder, Clary drew the rune onto the ground. The girls watched in awe as a swirling blue Portal materialized in front of them.

"Well," Clary said with a grin. "Are you coming?"


Jace had his head on his desk, most likely crushing the papers he had been reading.

They made no sense anyways. He figured it had been the Fey behind the murders, but now he wasn't so sure.

Something clanged on the window behind him, breaking through the glass. It was an acorn with a piece of paper shoved inside. Avoiding the shattered window, he moved to pick up the note.

Dear Mr. Herondale,

Your presence is requested in the Court of Seelie tonight. Our lovely queen wishes to discuss certain matters with you and Clarissa Fairchild.

Great. Just what he needed right now.

Absent mindedly, he wonder what the Seelie Queen could want from him, aside from his stunning good-looks and charm and why should would send someone to ruin his window.

There was a crash outside the door, followed by panicked whispers.

Jace moved closer, listening in.

"You're the rune girl, right? Can't you just heal her with some ultra powerful Iratze?" He heard Blake ask, desperation in her tone. Someone else sighed.

"I wish I could, but a goblin's claws contain old magic. She could be poisoned."

Jace pushed the door open as Cambry moaned in pain. Clary looked up at him, green eyes full of worry.

"Can you call the Silent Brothers? We were attacked, and I can't fix it." She pleaded with him. Jace fought the urge to snap at her, but it would get him nowhere. He nodded his head, once, and ducked back inside.


With the two teenaged girls safely in their rooms with the Silent Brothers, Clary could finally relax. It was only her second day in New York and she had already been pulled back into the Shadowhunting life style.

It felt like decades since she had drawn a rune or welded a Seraph blade, but everything came back to her so naturally.

Someone approached the couch she had been reclining on. Clary looked up.

Jace stood before her, expression unreadable, holding out a cup of something warm. It smelled like one of the tisanes Hodge made for her when she first arrived at the Institute.

"Thank you." She said graciously. Jace didn't respond. Instead, he sat down next to her, thankfully keeping his distance.

They sat there, silently, for what felt like an eternity before Jace finally cleared his throat.

"The Seelie Queen has requested our presence this evening. It would be unwise to decline." He stated formally. Clary froze, remembering her last visit to the Faerie Realms.

"Did she say what she wanted?" She asked carefully. Jace shook his head, indicating that she did not. They both sighed.

The sun was almost fully below the horizon, revealing the bright, full moon.

Jace stood up, straightening his jacket. "Well, I have to go and if you will be joining me, we have to leave now."

Clary deliberated for a few moments. Andrew and Ceilea were safely tucked in at her mother's house, and there was no harm in seeing what the Queen wanted.

"Let's go, then."

They can tolerate each other now! Hooray! Sorry if this sucks, but I'm bad at relationships so I really don't get theirs even though I'm writing it... Anyways, the next update will come when I reach a certain, undisclosed number of reviews ;) So... review away! P.S, THANK YOU GUYS FOR THE NICENESS IN YOUR REVIEWS! I recently cleaned up my inbox so I haven't been getting the Fanfiction emails and I was convinced everyone hated it!

Also, I'm supposed to be studying for my one millionth drivers test but like, writing is more important, am I right?

Fun fact: The highway is the safest form of motorized transportation, hydroplaning occurs at 35 mph, and you must stop 150 feet before an intersection.

xoxo, A.