Author's Note: Helloooooo! Okay, full chapter. Packed with serious shit, so enjoy, lovelies.

Thank you to my wonderful reviewers, you guys are fucking awesome!

Chapters for reviews, same old same old :)

Happy Reading . . .

Clary and Jace stood in front of Idris High. Both staring up at the large sign spelling the name of the school out in large steel block letters. "You nervous?" Jace asked.

"No. You?" Clary asked softly, her voice slightly wavering.

"Absolutely." He said and she laughed, nodding.

"Me too." She whispered and Jace glanced down at her.

"Your vocal cords good?" He asked and she winced, before shrugging and shaking her head in the negative. His hand rested gently on the small of her back and she edged closer, putting more pressure against his hand and he pushed back. The tips of his fingers digging into her skin, reminding her that he was real. Reminding her that she was real and they were really doing this.

"Where's Jon?" Jace asked and Clary grabbed her phone, typing a response. She's gotten good at small answers with her voice, but she can't do it around anyone new, apart from Jace and Izzy. So she texted when the answer was long.

Her: All I know is that I woke up and walked past his closed door. It's usually open in the morning, but not today. There was a bunch of moaning and groaning. Of the feminine and male variety, so I hauled ass. Call him. I'm sure you'll get quite the answer ;)

He read the message and then threw his head back and laughed. Jace finished with a snicker and wiped his hand over his mouth as if trying to wipe away the humor. Suffice to say, it didn't work. Clary was all grins though, no hiding, she adored his laugh. It was rich and husky, the type of sound you wanted to make someone make a thousand times a day for your entire life. Yes. It was that good.

"Okay, poor little red. Not a happy morning for you, huh?" He asked and she turned, so that she walked in front of him. They both moved swiftly, Jace not pausing his step as her arms wrapped around his neck and one of his arms wrapped around her waist, the other hand grabbing her thigh. Hoisting her up so that she settled around his waist.

"Who says it wasn't a happy morning for Clary?" She whispered, swiftly in his ear and his lips twitched as he glanced over at her.

"Was it?" He asked, cocking an eyebrow and she shrugged, looking down the hall. She noticed Izzy. The brunette looked flustered and that was so unlike Izzy that Clary briefly wondered if she missed the memo of hell freezing over. Clary jumped down and moved swiftly toward her friend.

She wrapped her hands around Izzy's wrists as soon as she was in the right distance. "What's wrong?" Clary asked and Izzy met her gaze. The fear and anxiety that shone hurt Clary, physically. It was as if Clary was gazing into a mirror. Isabelle was terrified.

"I can't get the images out of my head. I see him with that gun and I see Aline and Jordan going down. Maia screaming. Kaelie dying. You going into a catatonic state. I see Jon and him fighting and Jon pulling the trigger. Oh god, Clary. I had a dream about that. Except it wasn't him who got shot, it was Jon." Isabelle was in full blown sobs by the time she was done and she was gaining a lot of attention. Attention she didn't seem to notice.

"And his words! They were cruel and disgusting!" Isabelle's weight was suddenly all on Clary as she lost feeling in her legs. Clary briefly wondered if this was how she reacted her first day out. She didn't have much memory from those early days, but she could remember tears, screaming, and lots of need for pain.

You know that sobbing? The cries that aren't exactly sobs, but tiny screams. With the tears soaking the face and streaming down the neck? The snot and the horrified expression etched onto a person's face? That's Izzy at the moment. Jace held her from behind while Clary worked on keeping her up straight in the front. A few teachers had formed a circle around them.

"Okay this is bullshit." Jace cursed, before he moved swiftly, lifting Izzy as if she were a small child into his arms and carrying her swiftly down the hall. He pushed her head into his neck and she clutched to him while Clary followed quickly, nearly jogging to keep up with Jace's fast strides.

"Move." Jace said and kids lunged out of the way. Clary's jogging turned into a full blown sprint as Jace picked up his pace. He got to the truck and Clary barely had her door closed before he was squealing out of the parking lot. A hysterical Izzy in the back seat. Clary started to type ferociously on her phone.

"Not now, beautiful." Jace growled, making a sharp turned and Clary threw her phone. She opened her mouth, needing to say something, but her throat dried and closed up. Anxiety of the repercussions that came with talking clawing at her stomach. Damn you, Lewis. She thought in bitterness. It was his fault. His and Herondale's. It was all of their faults.

•••

Izzy sat in Clary's living room, sobbing to Jocelyn incoherently, but the older redhead listened, holding Izzy's hand in patience. Jace grabbed Clary's fingers and pulled her out of the room. "Hey, green, I'm sorry. What did you want to tell me earlier?" He whispers softly, running the tips of his fingers down the side of her cheek and she bit her bottom lip, staring up at him. Oh Jesus. He was very dangerous.

She reached into his front pocket and swiftly grabbed his phone, pulling up notes.

Her: Izzy's still in shock. It wouldn't surprise me if she even gained some type of PTSD from the situation. In fact, you should probably look into that as well. Anyway, when she's freaking out like that and you go into big bro mode, it's toxic and can end very badly. Our instincts react to others. It's carnal and internal, and so small of a change that sometimes we don't even know it, but if she's freaking out and she feels your own unease, it could send her into a full blown attack. Those are particularly dangerous.

After Jace read the message, he stared at Clary for a very long time. "Clary, I already have PTSD. I don't need another diagnosis and as for the other thing, you're right. I need to keep calm. It's impossible when someone I love is hurting, though." He says gently, his lips barely brushing her cheek. She turned her head and gripped the collar of his cheek.

"PTSD?" She asked him, her voice still just a whisper. He watched her carefully and nodded.

"Yeah, I got shit in my past too." He says, his voice equally as soft. They were centimeters apart and Clary ached with the distance. For once in her life, she wanted a man near her. Touching her. Maybe even kissing her. She's never done that. They took everything else, but that.

At that little reminder, Clary turned her head, effectively breaking the moment as she stepped back. Jace cleared his throat and straightened.

"Why aren't you freaking out, like Izzy?" Jace asked. Wasn't that the billion dollar question? Clary didn't have an answer, so she just shrugged. She'd been asking herself that question for the past two weeks. Why wasn't she freaking? Why wasn't she hauled up somewhere drooling and rocking back and forth in a corner? Why was she so damn calm? Shock. She didn't honestly think that was it, but that's what she was going with.

"Stay the night." Clary blurted out in a soft huff. Her eyes widened and she stared up at him. He blinked.

"It's only seven-thirty in the morning." He murmured and she swallowed, embarrassment enveloping her in its cocoon.

"Right." She breathed, nodding. She turned to make a hasty get away.

"Fuck it."

His soft curse took her off guard and she was just about to turn to ask him what was wrong, but he took the initiative to grip her bicep and spin her around at an extraordinary pace, before lowering his head and capturing her lips with his. She gasped against the unfamiliar contact of another's lips against hers. The motion only caused him to slide deeper against her.

She was aware that one was supposed to close their eyes during kissing. She wasn't an idiot. She hoped. Anyway, her eyes just wouldn't close. They were wide, watching as he tilted his head, while she felt his tongue slide along hers. That's when her eyes closed and it wasn't a fast snapping close. It was a slow flutter, like falling asleep, except this bliss was so much better. Her heart hammered in her chest and her head pounded as she kissed him back. She got the hang of it fairly quickly, still allowing him to lead and when it was over, she resented the distance between them.

Clary pressed her fingers to her now swollen and puffy lips. "Wow." She whispered and he chuckled.

"Thank you." He said and she narrowed her eyes at him, but his grin didn't fade for a second. At all.

"Fuck you." She whispered and he laughed completely.

"You two are disgusting." Both of their attention snapped to the top of the steps, where Jon stood, looking scarred for fucking life. He wore only a pair of sweats and they hung low, dangerously low on his lean hips. Broad shoulders, massive chest, and lean cut torso on full display. Clary became unamused quickly.

"Sex." That was the only word she could get out. Jon frowned at her.

"If I had walked in on that, he would no longer be breathing." Jon said sweetly, walking down the steps with his hands placed comfortably in the pockets of his pants.

"I think I can hold my own, thanks." Jace clipped, irritably.

"No. You. Morning. Sex." Clary said and Jon examined her.

"I didn't take you for a voyeur, Clare." Jon said, conversationally. Clary pushed forward, punching him in the abdomen. He didn't even flinch. Her lips parted and she squeaked in pain, jumping up and down and waving her wrist around as if the thing was on fire.

"I wasn't. You were damn loud." She hissed and he chuckled.

"My bad. Everything okay? What are you guys doing home?" Jon asked and Jace huffed.

"Izzy went into a full blown panic frenzy. Meltdown in the hallway. We brought her here." Jace said, but he could barely get the last part out before Jon was bulldozing past him and into the living room.

"Don't you find it interesting how he can be in bed with someone one moment and then completely and utterly encased in someone else the next?" Jace asked, rubbing his jaw absentmindedly and Clary shrugged.

"Everyday."

They glanced at each other, before both broke into giant grins.

•••

Clary lay awake that night, staring into the darkness. Jace was breathing quietly on the floor next to her. It brought a silly grin to her face that she didn't bother even trying to stop. He stayed. Her heart warmed. This was still dangerous, but she stopped caring the moment she asked him to forgive her. She turned onto her side, truly considering, waking him up, by falling on top of him.

She rolled her eyes and when she closed them. A bleep signaled her alert. She frowned at her silent phone on the dresser right next to her. The beep again. And her body went completely rigid. She opened the bottom drawer and lifted the black phone she got from Luke's office. Sebastian's phone. The number on the screen read Unknown. She answered and hesitantly brought it to her ear.

"Clarissa." She didn't correct the older man's voice in her ear. She recognized it immediately. It was rather hard to forget that voice. Stephen Herondale. Tears filled her eyes and she inhaled silently, before silently leaving her bed and going into her bathroom.

"Stephen." Clary greeted and the older man chuckled.

"It's been a while." He commented.

"Five years." Clary agreed and both were silent.

"I hear you're enjoying Alicante. That's wonderful, Clary. I'm so happy for you." The man said and Clary's eyes narrowed into disgusted slits.

"What do you want?" She snarled and he right out laughed, it lasted for so long that Clary contemplated just hanging up. When he finally calmed, he cleared his throat and Clary could nearly picture the psychopath wiping tears of mirth from his eyes.

"Oh, Clary, you crack me up. I want many things, love. I want money. Fame. Power. You . . ." he trailed off and Clary scowled.

"Well, you can go fuck yourself because I will die before I ever find myself in a situation that involves you again. This is my mother's shit and last I checked, a two year sentence was more than enough payment." Clary growled and there was silence on the other end.

"Clary, darling. I'm calling to help. That's all. I merely have a need to converse with you. Please allow me to. The information I possess may be of use to you." Stephen says casually and Clary's eyes narrow suspiciously.

"What is it?" She snapped.

"Remember when I informed you who your true biological father really is?" He asked and her skin crawled, she swallowed back the bile.

"Yes." She answered honestly and he hummed carefully in her ear.

"And who is that, dear?" Stephen asked and Clary was silent for a very long time before answering. It could have been days for all she knew. She took a deep breath and answered calmly.

"You."

"Correct, me. Jocelyn, the little whore, stepped out with her husband's best friend. After he stepped out with hers. Remember when I also told you that Jocelyn did have another child?" Stephen asked and Clary frowned.

"You're speaking as if I have the ability to lose any memory of you, Stephen." Clary murmurs and he chuckled.

"Correct. What if I told you, that other child was closer than you think?" He asked and she snorted.

"Like where? Your prize, Sebastian is dead. Who else is there?" Clary snapped.

"Valentine and Celine's child. A boy. He was given up for adoption. I'm told he grew up strong, broad, and well. Possessing the characteristic perfection of the Morgenstern beauty. Sound familiar?"

A single tear fell down Clary's cheek, she shook her head, not wanting to believe it.

"You're lying." She growled.

"In all honesty, I wish I were, love. This shit just gets more and more coincidental as the story unfolds. You are the daughter of Jocelyn Fairchild and Stephen Herondale. And that man currently lying in your bedroom is the son of Valentine Morgenstern and Celine Herondale. Scandalous.'

"Anyway, I figured you should know, because Lewis is mighty interested in the Morgenstern bloodline and when he realizes that there is a child of Morgenstern blood and it is not you or Jonathon, what exactly do you think he's going to do? Let that opportunity pass? Oh please. Darling the man is insane. And obsessed, that is a deadly combination.'

"And when he realizes that there is a Morgenstern who is unaware of just how crazy he is, he's going to implant himself so deeply into Jace's life and seduce him onto the other side. Jace doesn't possess the betrayal you and Jonathon do. He's fair game. He's the motherfucking secret weapon." The line clicked off and Clary's heart sunk to the floor.