Simon frowned at the reports he was going through. Paperwork was not his strong suit but Raphael had yet to gain consciousness and so everything was falling to Simon. How Simon had gotten the position he wasn't sure.
"Hey." A voice said from behind him and it took him several minutes to realize it was Seamus. He looked so small in a large turtleneck sweater and Simon smiled tiredly at him
"Hey. How are you feeling?" Simon asked and Seamus came to sit beside him
"'m tired mostly. Doctor Lightwood says I should get some exercise though so I've been wandering around the place." Seamus said curling up in the chair, knees pulled to his chest, arms wrapped around his legs and chin resting on the top of his knees. He was barefoot and whoever had given him the sweatpants he wore was several inches taller than him as well. Simon was glad to see him, glad that he was recovering
"That's good. Keep someone with you though. We may be guests at the moment but that only stretches for so long." Simon said and Seamus nodded
"What's the news on Raphael and Lily?" Seamus asked. Simon turned back to his file before answering
"I don't know much, I've been busy but the last I heard Lily was looking close to waking." Simon said shuffling the papers around aimlessly. He didn't want to think about this, about what could happen
"And...and Raphael?" Seamus asked and Simon shrugged
"It's still touch and go. The burns aren't healing." Simon said lifelessly. The clatter of the chair hitting the floor alerted him to Seamus' movement and he slowly turned to face the other fledgling
"That's it? That's all you have to say? He's our fucking leader, your lover. You're telling me you'd rather be doing paperwork than sitting with him?" Seamus shouted, anger pouring off him. Simon blinked, unsure of what to say.
"This stuff has to get done. Someone has to do it and apparently as Raphael's lover it falls to me." Simon said. Seamus scoffed
"You really are cruel. I heard stories about you when I was living on the street. The fledgling without a clan. You were a ruthless back then, I watched you kill another vampire once. Hiding in an alley wondering if you were going to kill me next. You were called-" Seamus taunted, Simon knew he was taunting him.
"I was called el Volantón Demonio. The Demon Fledgling." Simon cut in sharply. He didn't need to be reminded of what he had done to survive. What he had done so that those who would harm him thought twice. Simon watched dispassionately as Seamus scowled before storming out of the room. He would no doubt try and get more information out of Stan if Stan was here. Raphael and Lily had been transferred to Idris where they could get better treatment. Stan was going back and forth making sure everyone was informed on the latest treatments. Simon rubbed his eyes and checked the alarm clock that he had set up on the corner of the desk. It was close to sunrise and he had so much to go through. Most of Raphael's paperwork had been salvaged though when they had been transporting it over they had definitely messed up the organization that Raphael had had. Scrubbing at his eyes again, Simon wondered if it was even worth it anymore. His lover would be hard pressed to ever wake again and the Shadowhunters would eventually decide that he was not worth wasting blood on. No doubt the next time Valentine had a successful raid and the Shadowhunters needed a lot of blood to treat their own people.
He let out a soft sigh before a wave of rage had him sending everything off the desk and onto the floor. He wanted to hit something and settled for punching a hole in the desk. Once his rage was gone he started collecting the files. One in particular caught his interest as it had both his and his father's name on it. Carefully Simon read through it once, then twice before letting it slip through his fingers. Raphael had been digging into why the war was seeming to revolve around him. A Daylighter. Raphael had laid out on crisp white paper the steps to becoming one. Or, what was thought to be the procedure to becoming a Daylighter. If Simon could walk in the sun again he would be stronger. He could protect his clan better. But Raphael had stated downsides to the whole thing, Simon would still fear the sunlight, he would need more blood than the average vampire, he would give off vibes to those around him that he was a predator and even Mundanes would be wary of him. Still, to be able to protect his clan he would give anything. He would need help getting the ingredients though, most were not indigenous to North America and Simon couldn't risk someone checking what he was ordering off the internet. Dropping the messy pile of papers down on the chair Simon flopped onto the floor and wondered when his life had become this soap opera.
Alec had not expected Simon to step into his office looking nervous
"Can I help you?" Alec asked and Simon dropped a worn, slightly charred but still familiar file onto the desk right in front of him.
"I need your help to become a Daylighter." Simon said and Alec frowned
"Simon, I understand you're grieving but think about this." Alec said diplomatically
"I have. I've not thought of anything else in a week. I need to do this. Raphael included a way to break a Sire bond and for that I need something only you can give me. Otherwise I would be going straight to Magnus for this shit." Simon snapped and Alec raised an eyebrow disapprovingly. Simon looked slightly ashamed but didn't back down. Alec almost wished he was still that Mundane that could be easily intimidated.
"Alright. I'll start getting the things together. What did you need that only I could give you?" Alec asked passing the file back. Simon took it hesitantly
"I need to be killed by a Angel Child, to be dying from a holy object for the Sire bond to forsake me." Simon said and Alec hissed at the thought. That would be a painful way to go, there would no doubt be some sort of magic involved to keep him from actually dying but the pain would only be extended due to said magic
"That could easily go wrong. Why me?" Alec asked confused. Surely Jace would be a better choice, he was far closer to the vampire clan than Alec was and even Izzy was closer to Simon than he was. Anyone but Clary would be a better choice.
"Simon." Alec said when Simon just shrugged and looked away.
"Because I trust you to make it as painless as possible. Jace doesn't have the control that you do and Izzy would never go for something like this. It has to be you." Simon said. The unspoken 'I trust you' spoke volumes to Alec and threw him for a loop. Stumbling for his brain to catch up with what was going on, Alec nodded
"Alright. It'll take some time to get everything. Have you spoken to Magnus about this yet. This will require a warlock if you don't want to die." Alec said clearing his throat to hide how it had tightened. Simon shook his head
"I wanted to talk to you first. I'm going to talk to him tonight." Simon said and Alec nodded.
"Good luck." Alec said and Simon grimaced
"Thanks." Simon started to leave the office but paused halfway out. Alec raised an eyebrow when Simon turned back
"Do you think the Clave will kill me or capture me to study when this is all over?" Simon asked with morbid curiosity and for a second time that night Simon had left Alec speechless. Simon seemed to find his own answer to the question
"I guess it doesn't really matter. Take care of Raphael when I'm gone though." He said and then he was gone.
Jace found Seamus sitting in the makeshift common area that they had made for the vampires. The television was on and playing some Spanish show, the volume barely more than a whisper to his ears but it probably was still audible to Seamus' sensitive ears.
"Hey." Jace said softly and Seamus turned to him. His eyes were red from crying and there were pink tracks down his cheeks
"What's wrong?" Jace asked coming to sit beside Seamus who seemed to tense slightly before relaxing again. Seamus slid closer, tucking himself into the curve of Jaces side. Jace wrapped an arm around him and pulled him closer, relaxing into the cool skin of his boyfriend
"I got in a fight with Simon when I was trying to apologize." Seamus murmured into the cloth of Jace's shirt. Jace raised an eyebrow at that
"I thought you were going to talk to him earlier this week? I didn't think you were going to put it off so long." He said and Seamus huffed
"I didn't. I talked to him on Tuesday and we fought and now he's buried himself deeper into paperwork for the clan instead of sitting with Raphael who could die. It's like he doesn't even care." Seamus said, anger sparking in the words. Jace frowned
"Simon is grieving. He lost so many people during the fire, so many of those who died he was friends with. He might not act like you would expect but Simon is worried. He just can't show it the proper way." Jace said. Seamus hummed
"I think I said some pretty shitty stuff though. About his time on the streets." Seamus said fingering a button on Jace's leather jacket. Jace frowned as he still didn't know much about Simon's time on the streets. Raphael probably knew the whole story as well as Magnus and Alec but Jace had never been told much. Until now he never had really cared. Simon had survived and was back and that was all that mattered.
"What do you mean?" Jace asked and Seamus pulled away to look Jace in the face. The eye contact didn't last long, Seamus looked down ashamed
"I taunted him about his nickname. He's never going to forgive me for that." Seamus said and Jace's brows furrowed in confusion.
"What nickname?" He asked and Seamus bit his lip. Knowing Seamus wasn't good at hiding things that were bugging him and that with a little prodding that he would be able to get the information out of the fledgling
"Seamus, please." He said and Seamus shrugged
"When Simon hit the streets he was like a shiny new toy; freshly made and tossed out by the Dumort Clan. Everyone wanted him and he had to fight a lot to keep whatever he had. It didn't help that he had connections to the werewolves. He got a reputation for being deadly, to the point that rumors spread that he was actually a demon due to the way he could encanto Mundanes and kill other vampires. He got a nickname because of that, el Volantón Demonio. He was feared by a lot of vampires on the streets because he never seemed to show any emotions." Seamus explained. Jace paled. He had heard several other Shadowhunters mention the name, the ones that monitored the Downworlders who lived on the streets. They had mentioned that they thought el Volantón Demonio had joined Camille and how he was right up her alley of crazy. To think that this was Simon, that Simon had been so greatly feared that he was known to the Shadowhunters as a threat. Jace stumbled to his feet.
"Jace?" Seamus asked standing as well and reaching out to Jace. Jace let him touch his arm, to try and comfort Jace even though he didn't know what was wrong
"I need to talk to Alec. I'm not mad at you but what you just told me is important and I need to talk to my brother." Jace said pressing a kiss to Seamus' temple. Seamus nodded and Jace sprinted out of the room, headed towards Alec's office. Alec was sitting at his desk when Jace burst in
"Why didn't you tell me?" He demanded, frustration bubbling up in his chest. Alec raised an eyebrow and set the book he had been reading down
"Tell you what?" He asked in the same tone he took when he thought Jace was being an idiot. Jace grit his teeth before answering
"That Simon was el Volantón Demonio. That I was hunting Simon!" Jace snapped. Alec sighed
"I didn't know it was Simon either until Magnus told me. At that point we had already made contact with Simon and the killings had stopped. I didn't see the point." Alec said and Jace wanted to punch him
"How can you be so calm?" Jace asked. Alec shrugged
"I know Simon. He wouldn't have killed those he did without a reason. He only became what he did because he needed to survive." He said and Jace frowned.
"I don't think I can handle this. I'm going to Idris for a while. Until I can screw my head on straight." Jace said. Alec nodded.
"I'll aprove the transfer." He said and Jace stormed out of the office. He didn't notice Clary watching him from the training area or the way her lips curved into a smirk.