Author's Note: I think it's very interesting that a lot of you guys want the Seelie Queen to have a happy ending. Now I'm worried I'll disappoint you... NOT SAYING THAT THE SEELIE QUEEN WILL OR WILL NOT GET A HAPPY ENDING. Anyways, we have finally moved into our new house and settled down, so that means I will probably be able to update a lot more often, which means that I can finally pick this story up a bit. Also, I'm considering starting a human TMI fic, but we'll see...

Disclaimer: I do not own anything concerning The Mortal Instruments series.

Chapter 10

Jace was an idiot. Of course, Clary could have told anyone that way before he decided to ruin her entire plan by being the "knight in shining armor," but now it was blatantly obvious to the rest of the world. For once, she wanted to be able to just give herself up and not be the bane of everyone's problems. Why was that so hard to do? Oh right, it wasn't just Jace. she was surrounded by idiots.

"What the hell were you thinking, Clary?" Isabelle shouted as soon as the fay warriors had left.

"I was thinking," Clary spat, "that I was just going to save all of your asses for once instead of causing a bunch of trouble like I always do."

"If it's any help, you caused a lot of trouble way before you found out you were a Shadowhunter," Simon chimed in, earning a harsh glare from Clary.

"Are you stupid? What makes you think I would ever let you just go with her?" Jace exclaimed, grabbing a hold of Clary's wrist.

"Because then she wouldn't be trying her very best to screw up all of your lives, Jace! Don't any of you realize that she is going to ruin everything for us? She has that power, and she won't be holding back this time." Clary tried to rip her wrist from Jace's hold, but he only held on tighter. She winced. There was probably going to be bruise there in the morning.

"If we defeated two bat-shit crazy monsters, then I'm pretty sure we can handle the Seelie Queen," Isabelle said.

"You don't know that," Clary whimpered.

Jace pulled her closer to him and wrapped his arms around her. "It's a fairly good guess though."

"You sure?"

"Ninety-nine percent."

Clary grinned, and punched Jace's shoulder as hard as she could.

"Jesus, what was that for?"

Her grin widened as she repeated one of their oldest inside jokes. "The other one percent."

Jace rolled his eyes. "Who knew my girlfriend had a soft spot for cheesy moments?"

Suddenly, Magnus, who had been quiet for quite a while, stepped into the center of the group. "We should probably have a plan for when the Queen does decide to make her pleasantly wonderful presence known again."

Jace stared at Magnus. "Well, aren't you just a Debbie Downer."

"Excuse me," Magnus said, placing his hands on his hips. "I am quite the opposite, thank you very much. In fact, thousands of people say that I'm the life of the party."

Alec put a comforting hand on his boyfriend's shoulder. "It would never be a party without you, Magnus."

Magnus visibly softened at Alec's words. Jace noticed, and immediately piped up with, "Alec's only saying that because he wants to get laid tonight."

Alec's cheeks turned bright red as he glared at his parabatai. "As if you aren't mentally undressing Clary every time you look at her," he retorted.

Now it was Clary's turn to glare at Jace, who only seductively winked back at her, frustratingly causing her heart rate to speed up quite a bit. "Alright, I agree with Magnus. You guys need to get serious. The Seelie Queen probably isn't joking around right now. In fact, I can bet you she's sitting in her courtroom, dipping her hands in the blood of doe and laughing menacingly to herself as her mind conjures up the worst of all worse forms of torture to put us through."

At this, everyone sobered. Their expressions quickly morphed from relaxed to dead-pan serious.

Clary cleared her throat, trying to fill the awkward silence that had overcome them. "Does anyone...uh...does anyone have any sort of plan?" When no one raised their hand, Clary's heart immediately dropped to the deepest pit of her stomach. It was painfully clear that there was a huge chance the Seelie Queen would win this time. And she was not looking forward to the things she had in store for them.

"Maybe if we sleep on it, something will come up," Simon suggested.

Isabelle nodded her head, as did Alec. "I think we've all been through enough tonight. What's one more day right?" Isabelle joked half-heartedly, her smile faltering slightly at the corners of her mouth.

Clary looked to Jace, who seemed to be in deep thought. "Jace?"

"We should probably get some sleep," he said quietly.

Clary's shoulders slumped forward, and any hope she quickly shattered into dust. She got up and walked to her room, without another word to any of her closest and dearest friends. She wanted better circumstances for all of them. She heard footsteps and Jace calling her name, and she was secretly glad that he had decided to follow her. She needed someone with her tonight, because there was no way she would be able to deal with the horrible nightmares that were sure to plague her tonight by herself. Casting a tired glance at Jace's form moving closer to her in the hallway, she walked into her room, leaving the door wide open, a sense dread crawling into her skin and refusing to leave even when she crawled under the safety of her own covers and Jace's warm embrace.

Sorry for the short chapter, but I have some interesting things planned for the next chapter. Thanks for being patient with me you guys!