Disclaimer: I own nothing, obviously. Cassie Clare is the genius, I only own the plot of this story and any new characters!(:
The techno music pounded throughout the club, vibrating through the swaying bodies and resonating through the soles of Clary's feet. The strobe lights flashed like lightning and added to the intensity of the music, making Clary want to dance even more despite her protesting feet; Isabelle refused to let her take off her heels to dance.
Currently, the guys were sitting at the bar watching their girlfriends dance from a distance. Clary, Maia, and Isabelle danced like nobody was watching, making the guys laugh with them. When the upbeat dubstep song ended, the Clary and Maia started to make their way back to the bar to join the guys, but Isabelle grabbed them by the shoulders and pulled them back. She whisper-yelled into their ears and they all smiled at one another and continued to dance normally. The guys noticed that they had started to return but stayed, and they watched with curiosity.
After a few minutes, the girls changed the style of their dancing, gaining the appreciative looks of guys and girls alike; Isabelle held the other two closely and they writhed in a seductive manner. The men around them started whistling and cat-calling to the girls, and their boyfriends kept their eyes on the show. All three girls looked to their boyfriends and started grinding on one another to further pike their curiosity. Jace stood up and pushed his way through the throngs of people to be closer to his red-headed angel. His sexy red-headed angel.
Clary grinned and walked up to him with a sway to her hips, and he offered his hand out to her.
"Care to dance?" Jace asks with that beautiful half-smile that always makes Clary's heart skip a beat. She nods her head and pulls him closer to her to dance. Taken aback, Jace looks at her with curiosity at her newfound confidence.
"What?" Clary asks innocently. They continue to dance while Jace decides how to answer.
"You're in a good mood," he smirks as they sway to the music.
"So? Is it a crime to be happy?" Clary retorts with sarcasm. Jace chuckles and leans down to whisper intimately in her ear.
"It's actually really hot, so please, continue," Jace whispers and nibbles on her earlobe. Grinning, Clary turns her back to him and maintains her steady rhythm against his body. She wraps her arm back around Jace's neck and lowers herself, grinding against his muscular body causing him to gasp in surprise. She turns back around, not wanting to tease him too much.
"You will be the death of me, Clarissa," Jace groans in frustration, but pulls her into a tight hug and kisses her on the head.
"I always assumed that you would go during a fight, not because of a girl!" Clary mocks with a grin.
"Why, Miss Fray, you are not just any girl," Jace pulled away and held her at arm's-length. "You are the most beautiful, compassionate, loving woman I have ever met," he murmured, his eyes melting her to the core. Jace leaned down and placed a soft, sweet kiss on her lips.
The happy couple was pulled out of their private moment by a commotion coming from nearby. They both turned to see a dark-haired mundane guy trying to rile up Jordan Kyle, Maia's werewolf boyfriend. The boy shouted profanities at Jordan, causing him to shake with anger. Maia was pulling on his arm, whispering in his ear; probably trying to calm him down so he wouldn't change in the middle of a crowd. Simon's brown hair bobs through the crowd towards them in a rush, pushing people to get through.
"Hey Jace, you mind giving us a hand? This dude's trying to get Kyle to fight him," Simon jabs a thumb over his shoulder at the boys. Jace nods his head and makes his way through the crowd to help out his friend. Simon led Clary with a protective hand on her back and made her keep her distance. "I would love to see this brute get his ass handed to him, but I don't think it would be good for Jordan to go all wolf-man in here," Simon babbles with his signature goofy grin.
"What's the problem here?" Jace smoothly cuts off the mundane who is now trash talking Jordan and Maia. The boy glares down at Jace, who is standing between an enraged Jordan, and a mundane who doesn't know when to shut his mouth.
"This doesn't concern you, blondie," the boy sneers. He's a couple inches taller than Jace, and built like a football player, but Jace could easily take him without breaking a sweat.
"This asswipe was trying to feel up my girlfriend," Jordan growls out in rage.
The giant boy retorts with some swearing and a lame reply. "Keep your bitch from dancing like that a-," Jace cuts him off with a swift punch to the gut, causing the man to double over in pain.
"I suggest," Jace whispers in a deadly calm voice, "That you keep your mouth shut before you find yourself in a situation that will make you wish you wouldn't have opened your fat mouth." His voice is low and gentle, like the calm before a storm; the underlying tone of his voice was deadly.
"Yeah, what are you gonna do about it fag?" the mundie quips, either oblivious to the warning, or just too stupid to comprehend it.
In a flash, Clary had each one of his arms pinned behind his back, causing everyone to stumble in surprise. The boy shot a surprised look over his shoulder, but laughed when he saw the tiny redhead holding his arms back. "Don't you ever talk to my boyfriend like that again, or you will be sorry," Clary hissed with venom. Jace threw her a proud smile, and sneered at the boy, which only enraged him farther.
"What a man, letting his bitch fight for him," the dark-haired boy scoffs, and attempts to yank his arm free. To his surprise, Clary held him fast, not letting him budge.
"The more you struggle, the worse it's going to get," Isabelle warns him in a sickly sweet voice as Clary wrenches his arm ever tighter behind his back.
"I could shatter both of your arms with the twitch of my hands. Is that really something you want? Because I would be more than happy to," Clary snarls in outrage and continued to twists his arm even tighter.
The dark-haired mundane had nothing to say, now; He finally realized that they are more dangerous than they seem. Jordan walks up to stand in front of the boy and nods at Clary to let him go. Reluctantly, she releases him with a shove, causing him to stumble forward into Jordan's fist that just so happened to be soaring toward his nose.
Jordan smiles at the outcome of his punch before taking Maia by the waist and leading her out of the club. The rest hasten after them, but not before glancing back at the dazed mundane who was still sitting on his ass with a bloody nose.
The group makes their way through the ever-busy streets of the city, their breath puffing in clouds from the steadily dropping temperature. The early December chill is close to freezing, making Clary wish that she had worn more than a skirt and leather jacket. Shivering from the cold, she leans into Jace's side and he wraps an arm around her for warmth. When her teeth start chattering, Jace pulls her to a stop, and the rest of the group stops a few yards ahead when they realize the other two stopped.
"Here, give me your arm," Jace orders with a smirk. "Your teeth-clicking is very annoying." Clary holds out her arm while he pulls his stele out of his leather jacket. He gently pushes her sleeve up and begins tracing a rune into her forearm; by now, Clary has been adorned with countless runes, but they still stung slightly. As soon as the tip of the stele leaves her skin, Clary is flooded with warmth, cutting off her shivering.
"A heat rune, nice," Clary smiles at him in gratitude. Gently, Jace lowers his lips to her outstretched arm and gently kisses the spot that is now marked. Clary blushes as a different type of heat courses through her body to the pit of her stomach, giving her butterflies.
"Can you guys hurry up?" Jordan shouts from a distance. "Simon doesn't get cold anymore, and you guys have magical runes and shit to keep you warm, but Maia and I are freaking freezing." Jace and Clary smile and walk hand in hand to where the rest of their friends stand waiting.
"Mush! Mush! Lead the way," Jace shouts and mimics holding the reins of a dog sled. Everybody, with the exception of Jordan, busts up with laughter at the comment.
"Watch it Lightwood, I am not a sled dog, and you are no Cuba Gooding Jr.," Jordan literally growls. Jace, Isabelle, and Alec look at him with confusion, while Simon, Maia, and Clary laugh even harder.
"It's a kid's movie," Simon explains to the confused shadow hunters that grew up without modern conveniences, such as TV and movies. "This dentist from Miami inherits a cabin and some sleigh dogs in Alaska….." he trails off with an annoyed look. "And you're not listening," Simon draws out the 'A' in and, then sighs.
"It's okay Si, we'll have to have a movie marathon, or something to catch them up," Clary pats Simon on the back as they walk. The rest of the walk consisted of small talk and banter- along with Simon questioning Izzy about what movies she's seen, which turns out to be very few.
After what feels like miles, and a couple near-death experiences from Clary slipping on ice in high heels, they finally round the corner and enter Taki's. The diner is fairly small, so as soon as they walk in, they can see that their usual booth is taken. The man sitting at their booth has his back to them, and he has black hair that is arranged in a tastefully messy way, and sparkling in the fluorescent lighting of the diner.
"Magnus?" Isabelle says in disbelief. When he stands and turns her way, she beams a huge smile, and launches herself into his arms. "Magnus! What are you doing here?
He smiles at his best friend and hugs her back before turning to the rest of the group. "Out on the town so soon, Clary?" Magnus smiled and gave her a hug before whispering in her ear. "Thank you for that chat today. I really appreciate it," he whispered so that only Clary could hear. Before she could reply, he had already turned to greet everyone else. "Jace, Samson, Children of the Moon," he nodded at each, purposefully messing up Simon's name as always. Finally, he turned to Alec, his ex, who was lingering back by the door with his eyes downcast.
"Alexander," Magnus nods, his face and voice completely devoid of emotion, unlike his eyes. His eyes churned with an inexpressible amount of sadness and pain. Alec glanced up to mumble a hello, revealing the sadness that was apparent in his eyes as well.
"So what brings you here?" Isabelle asked in an effort to break the awkward silence that ensued.
"Can't a man visit the local downworld diner as he pleases?" Magnus retorts.
"Magnus, really? You wouldn't be caught dead here unless it was important," Izzy replies with her arms crossed and her brows raised.
"Touché, my dear," Magnus smiles, and then gets down to business. "There's been more demonic activity on the lower east side, so I thought I'd let you guys know," he shrugged.
"Perfect!" Izzy claps as if he were talking about a party; if there is anything that Isabelle Lightwood likes more than fashion, it's slaying demons.
Jace turns to face Clary and Alec to consult them about a possible hunt. "You up for it?" he asks, mainly directing it to Clary.
"You know it," Clary replies with a devious smile. Aside from a few nasty bruises, Clary already felt back to normal after her last hunt.
"Just so you know, I think there's another shadowhunter there already," Magnus added on as an afterthought. This comment caught Alec's attention, since he is the oldest shadowhunter and has authority over matters like these.
"Another shadowhunter in the vicinity?" Alec asks, finally looking Magnus in the eyes.
Magnus replies with a bit of a surprised look on his face; he didn't think that Alec would talk to him at all. "Yes, a woman. That's all I can tell. Could it be your mother?" he asked with curiosity.
"No, she doesn't usually go on hunts, especially not alone," Jace pipes in. The most recent action that Maryse, or even Robert Lightwood got was the battle against Sebastian and the dark shadowhunters at the Seventh Sacred Site.
"Well there's a synagogue a couple blocks down," Simon informs the rest, but they just stare at him. "What? I thought you guys could get weapons from any holy place as long as you don't have a certain religious affiliation," Simon explains, as if to prove that he has been paying attention all along.
"Hmm," Jace muses, "I never knew that, thanks for the tip, Daylighter." Simon grumbles something along the lines of 'you'll thank me someday' and turns away.
"Hey. Well tonight was fun and all, but we're gonna split now and leave you guys to your business," Jordan says while awkwardly scratching the back of his neck and fidgeting.
"Ah, inexperienced love, how romantic," Jace gushes and holds his hands clasped in front of him in a very Magnus-like way. "Well, we don't want to keep you from your business, either," Jace smirks at the two, earning him a rude hand gesture from Jordan, and a light punch to the shoulder from Maia. Leave it to Jace to find a way to insert an innuendo at the most random of times, Clary thinks with a small smile playing on her lips.
"Screw you, dude!" Jordan says in mock anger, and walks out the door with Maia in tote.
Right before the door shuts, Jace shouts after them. "Sorry, you're just not my type!" he yells, producing another round of laughs from the rest. Turning back to the rest, Jace addresses them with a lingering smirk. "Alright, lets gear up and go end this night properly."
After getting weapons and gear at the nearby Synagogue, the young shadowhunters make their way to the area that Magnus detailed to them. Simon had left before they entered the holy place, to go wherever he goes when Maia and Jordan are 'busy', and you can see the sadness and longing in his face; Simon can no longer even utter the name of his holy god, and it pained him to be near a place he used to take for granted- only to realize how dear it was for him.
Simon grew up with a very devout Jewish mother, always grumbling and complaining about being dragged to prayer every Saturday and having to recite the prayers, and wear the tallit and yamaka. Now, he was miserable when reminded of his old life and family. All because I had to drag him along with us to Magnus' party. If he hadn't been there, he would've never drunk that damn rat potion, Clary's face stays pulled down in a slight grimace at her thoughts.
"Clary? Are you okay?" Jace questions Clary with a worried look on his face.
"Hmm? Yeah I'm fine. Just thinking," she waves off dismissively, and when Jace raises his eyebrows for an explanation, she ignores him once more. They continue to walk towards the water's edge in tense silence. The industrial streets smell like garbage and sewerage, but with a hint of something more putrid. If not for special training, the four of them wouldn't even be able to pick up on the stench of the nearby demons; to mundanes, it would just smell like rotting garbage.
Alec, who is leading them, suddenly stops in his tracks and holds and hand up towards the rest in a signal to stop. Just as Jace opens his mouth to talk, Alec cuts him off with a stern look and places his index finger over his lips, silencing him. Then, he turns to a cluster of buildings and cups his ear, then points to the buildings.
They stand in silence and strain their ears to listen for whatever it is that Alec was motioning at. After a couple moments of concentration, Clary could hear very faint grunting and the clattering of weapons, along with slithering and groaning noises of demons.
Jace's face spread out into a wicked grin as he pulled out his angel blade. "Sounds like some poor shadowhunter needs our help."
The dank, musty foundation creaked in protest as they made their way through the cluttered depot building. Jace takes the lead, with Isabelle and Clary flanking him, and Alec holding up the rear to watch everyone's backs. They pick their way around scattered debris and abandoned crates, until they finally come upon one of those flimsy swinging double doors with a square plastic window; just like the ones that lead to the storage rooms of a grocery store, or the kitchen in a restaurant. The noises they heard from earlier were much louder now. Jace attempted to look through the small windows on the door, but it was pointless because of the grime that covered it. From the sounds, however, it was easy to tell that there was at least one shadowhunter in the room.
Alec walks around to stand next to Jace, and as if on cue, both slam a door open and jump into the room. Before the doors could swing shut, Izzy and Clary joined the boys in the large room to see a young shadowhunter, around their age, fending off an Achaierai Demon.
The girl looks to be about Alec's age, maybe a little older, and she has blonde hair that is pulled up into a pony tail, but most of the hair is clinging to her sweaty neck. She wears the typical black leather gear and weapons belt, along with a glowing Seraph blade clutched confidently between her hands.
As the doors burst open, her eyes flash to the sudden commotion, but quickly refocus on the kill. In that brief moment, Clary caught a glimpse of chocolate brown eyes that flashed with the thrill of the fight, as well as something more. What exactly that was, Clary couldn't put her finger on. Was it smug? Expecting? No, there's no way this girl was expecting us, unless she just magically knows Magnus and he told her…
Clary was jerked out of her thoughts as Isabelle snapped into motion in front of her, charging towards a Drevak demon that was lingering in the shadows and staying out of the fight; usually they served as messengers, reporting back to whoever summoned them.
A Hydra demon turned on Isabelle just as she was finishing off the last Drevak, its current form being some sort of alligator body while two tiger heads sat on its shoulders, jaws snapping at Izzy's unprotected back.
"Eremiel!" Clary screamed, and her angel blade burst to life just before slicing into the Hydra's leg. It howled in pain and turned on her. Izzy turned from the now dissipating Drevak and flicked her whip over her head like a helicopter, and wrapped it around one of the tiger's heads, slicing it off in one clean motion. The rest of the body and the remaining head did not stop to grieve the lost appendage; it roared in outrage and lunged at Isabelle who neatly sidestepped the beast and let Clary finish it off with a solid blow to it soft underbelly.
"Nice, Clary!" Isabelle throws in congratulations, and they start in on the nearest demon, quickly finishing it off in a similar manner. The two girls worked in almost perfect synchronization.
"That was cake," Jace huffed out while trying to catch his breath. Clary looks around the room in astonishment. Any trace of a demon was gone, disappeared into thin air, like a wisp of smoke.
Ignoring Jace, Isabelle turns to Clary and grins wide at her friend. "I told you we'd be good together! We've never tried working together before."
"Yeah, it was pretty awesome," Clary laughed along. "Easy as breathing!"
Once Clary's breathing returned to normal, she turned to find Alec talking to the blonde girl. Jace was lingering nearby Alec, as always.
Isabelle walked up to Alec with a confused look on her face. Although Magnus had told them that there was another shadowhunter in the area already, it still came as a shock to them all; it wasn't often that a random Nephilim came passing through.
Clary examined the girl closer as she made her way to Jace's side. She seemed very relaxed talking with Alec, and they seemed deep in conversation. Clary realized that she couldn't see the girls aura, which puzzled her. Every shadowhunter has had one so far, as well as every living creature. Remembering a passage from the dusty old book Magnus lent her, she concentrated on the girl, peeling back the layers, like she used to have to do to see through a glamour. After a couple of failed attempts, Clary peeled away the last layer of the other girls protective wall, until she was left bare and in the open.
Clary could tell that the girl's aura would be absolutely beautiful if it weren't for the ugly gray overlay. Just like the wall that guarded her aura in the first place, the gray overlay brought a sense of guardedness and it was easy to tell that the girl didn't trust easily. If not for the murkiness, her aura would be a gorgeous emerald green with the gold and white plumes of divinity and angelic power that they were all born with. The green struggled to glow through, but it was failing. It tried to blossom and heal itself, but she was too withheld, despite her relaxed demeanor.
"Looks like we're going to have a guest for a while," Alec called out to the rest of the group and motioned to the blonde-haired girl. Jace, Clary, and Isabelle looked at him with questioning eyes.
Rolling her eyes, the young woman stepped forward and offered a hand out for them to shake. "Adira Hightower, newbie trainer," she smiled and glanced at Clary.
Izzy, being her normal cheery self, stepped forward first and daintily shook her hand to be polite. "Isabelle Lightwood, fashionable demon destroyer," she played along with the introduction including her name and self-given title.
Adira then turned to Jace, and her eyes visibly went a wider when she got a good look at him. Jace smirked and kept his arms crossed over his muscular chest. "Jace Lightwood," he simply stated, choosing to use his adoptive name. When it became clear that the girls eyes weren't going to move from Jace's godly figure, Clary sighed in annoyance and cleared her throat. Adira's eyes reluctantly focused onto Clary.
"Clary Fray. The noob you get to train," she said in as polite of a voice that she could muster. The girl seemed nice enough, but something about her just made Clary uncomfortable. Probably because she was practically drooling over your boyfriend, a voice in the back of Clary's head told her. To make the relationship clear, or maybe just to reassure herself, Clary confidently wrapped her arm around Jace's waist and smiled up at him.
Of course, Jace could see straight through her little charade and smiled at her with a little laugh. Either way, he played along and wrapped his arm around her shoulders before softly kissing the top of her head.
When Clary turned back to Adira, the girl had on a neutrally happy face, but her eyes frowned that Jace was obviously taken. "Not bad for being new," she offered with a small smile. "But it's going to take you a while to catch up with the rest of us," she said as if she was the longtime friend, and Clary was the newcomer. No shit, my mom kinda kept a different whole world from me till I was 16," Clary thinks to herself with annoyance, but the other girl couldn't have known that already.
"The infamous Valentine Morgenstern's daughter, I see," she tests Clary with the question. Instantly, Clary becomes uncomfortable and fidgets under Jace's arm. I stand corrected.
Jace quickly sensed her unease and tightened his arm around Clary, and spoke up for her. "She's not his daughter, and he was never her father. He was nothing but a sperm donor," Jace says in a calm voice, but the point came across clear: that topic is off limits.
"Let's get back to the Institute. It's late, and I'm sure we're all tired."
Wow! super long chapter! Sorry it's been longer than usual since I've updated, but I was stumped on how introduce the trainer. But voila! I got it! And I'm sorry I couldn't come up with a way to add in some Malec drama, but it will happen eventually, I promise! I was thinking maybe a chapter in Alec's point of view. Or maybe just a section of a chapter. Plus, I've been Beta-ing for someone. Go check out the story Red and Gold by sharky-clarky. Its a Mortal Instruments one and I really like it! Very creative(:
OH OH OH! I just started another story! I think it's a good idea! I haven't read one like it yet, that's for sure. It's shadowhunter Clary who was raised in Idris by her mom and normal shadowhunter Valentine(not the crazy evil one). So Clary's kind of a bad ass. And yea I have like a chapter written. So. What do you think of that idea?
Anyways! Please please read, review, comment, suggest, whatever! Any ideas for Malec, or other cutesy little filler chapters? It would be a huge help and keep things flowing if you guys throw some stuff out there. Whatever little things you want to maybe happen! I'll definitely think em over and see if i can squeeze anything in(:
Thank you soooo much I love you all! *Interweb hugs*