A/N: Wow! I loved the response to chapter nine; thank you guys so much for the support and also for sticking with me!

Also, I want to point out that Sebastian is in no way out of the picture, nor are things what they seemed in chapter nine. I still have a few curve balls up my sleeves. ;)

Enjoy!

As always, not part of the Mortal Instruments belong to me ;)

Chapter 10 – IN CONTROL

It didn't seem to matter how hot the water got, Clary could not rid herself of the icy chill that had had crept its way deep into her bones. It began the moment she left Jace standing in his doorway. He watched her go as if she were likely to collapse at any moment.

Truthfully, she did not want to leave at all, especially because Jace had new information, but she had to take a shower; desperate to wash away the feeling of Sebastian's hands on her, holding her down against the mat, pinning her arms and legs, forcing himself on her.

It wasn't the kind of feeling that you could put a name on. It was the kind of feeling that came after something horrible happened. Shock, confusion, disbelief, anger, fear… all of them at once, bearing down so hard that Clary could only stand there under the searing water and breathe; deep calming breaths. She had always been a rational person; preferring to think about things thoroughly before coming to a decision. Training as a shadowhunter had only improved her ability to compartmentalize. The more she learned, the more she realized that Jace had been very right about her needing a tougher skin…not that she planned to tell him that of course.

It was that training she clung to now, so desperately needing to remain in control. She could not allow herself to be wrapped up in emotions right now; regardless of what had happened with Sebastian. The threat of Valentine still lurked in the background of the day to day, not to mention the fact that she and Jace were some kind of angelic science experiment that left them with unnatural abilities they knew almost nothing about.

She tried to force her thoughts towards the conversation with Tessa, replaying the facts and details to keep them fresh in her mind. But there was another feeling…hiding deep down in the pit of her stomach…one that throbbed with doubt. Something about Sebastian…about the incident in the training room… just didn't sit right with her. It didn't make sense that he could just flip a switch so fast. For nearly two months he had been kind and affectionate; wrapping her tightly in his arms when she stayed with him at night. Had she missed something? Had she simply not seen the signs amidst the chaos of her uprooted life?

The water suddenly went fridge and Clary jumped back with a squeal. Cursing loudly as she quickly switched the water off. The clock on the vanity told her that she had been in there for 45 minutes. She had only just managed to pull the towel against her body when her bathroom door burst open with a bang.

"CLARY?!" Jace exclaimed surveying the small bathroom, looking as though he were ready to take on an assailant. He froze instantly when realized that she was alone. Clary, shaking the utterly shocked look from her face, pulled the towel firmly around her still dripping skin.

"WHAT THE FUCK?!" she yelled. Jace however was too busy trying to force the blood back to his brain to respond.

"Ummm… hellooo…earth to Jace! You better have a damn good reason for barging in here!" she said with raised eyebrows. That seemed to snap him out of whatever had temporarily paralyzed him.

"OH Fuck…." He started, a slight look of panic played on his face. "I am so sorry Clary. I was coming to check on you when I heard you yell…. I… I thought you …were in danger."

"From what Jace….my fucking loofa?" she said acerbically reaching for robe hanging on the wall.

"Clary he's gone. Sebastian is gone…"

~o.0.o~

It was nearly nine o'clock before Clary and Jace made it back to his room. After discovering that Sebastian was no longer where they had left him, they called Maryse immediately. Clary had spent, what felt like hours, explaining and recounting the event, before Jace had stepped in and rescued her.

"Maryse…I think that is enough for now…" he said softly.

"Jace, this is a Clave matter now…"

"With all due respect Maryse, last I checked I was in charge of the team. Clary is a part of that team and I think I know when she needs a break. She needs to rest...I think we can afford to hear her story for the one hundred and twelfth time in the morning."

Clary had been rather impressed by the way he stood up to Maryse, and even more impressed when she relented. She turned to Clary before she left,

"Clary, I don't want you to think that I am not concerned about you… but as long as he is out there, I have to put that first." Clary simply nodded her head before following Jace from the room. Sebastian's door was ajar as they passed and Clary could hear voices coming from inside.

"Remember that investigation you didn't want happening…?" Jace said jokingly as he shut the door behind them.

Having only been in his room a handful of times she didn't quite know where to place herself. Glancing around quickly it seemed like the only choices were the chair at the desk that he was now occupying, his bed, or the rather plush looking arm chair across the room.

"Make yourself comfortable" he told her sensing her unease. Clary was actually surprised how neat his room seemed to be every time she saw it. Similar her own, it occupied the opposite corner of the building. She leaned against the edge of the bed closest to the desk and focused her attention on Jace.

"I decided to best way to pick up Valentine's trail was figure out what kind of guy he was…aside from being a murderous bastard… I needed to know what his habits were. I went back to Idris to talk to a few people who knew him before he vanished. Luke was the most help actually." He explained "he told me that Valentine always had rather expensive taste in whisky, Mortlach Single Malt to be exact. Apparently it's the only thing he drinks. Turns out that there are so few bottles made that it was pretty easy to narrow down the list of places it could be bought. There was one in Miami about fifteen miles from your old house. I sent Alec, Izzy, and Simon to check out the others." He broke off suddenly and looked at her rather strangely.

"It's my fault that you were alone with him…."

"Don't do that Jace. There is no way you could have known…." She cut him off "please continue."

"Right… well, seeing as the stuff can cost a few grand for a case, the man who ran the store actually remembered Valentine. Not that he is very easy to forget, but he pulled the credit card receipt and with a bit of encouragement… provided the address the Valentine had given him to ship the case to.

"So what did you find?" she asked him trying to hide how impressed she was by his investigative abilities. He reached under the desk and pulled out a small brown sack, moving towards the bed.

"I am not entirely sure…" he dumped the sack upside down next to her for dramatic effect. Dozens of papers, maps, and a few small leather bound journals lay scattered in a pile.

"Apparently I set off some kind of demonic alarm system…I grabbed what I could and got out of there. I figured the best person to help me sort through it would be you…I had just gotten back to the institute and was looking for you when I walked in on…."

"Any chance that Valentine will go back there?" Clary asked hopefully. Jace shook his head solemnly chewing his lip again. He was going to have to stop doing that if he expected her to focus…not that she planned to let him know just how much that tiny thing affected her.

"I am having the place watched just in case though. Tessa has offered to help in any way she can, and given some of the markings on these pages, we may well need it" he said sorting through the top pages. Clary's stomach rumbled loudly reminding her that she had not had a chance to eat. Jace chuckled and retrieved his phone from his desk.

"What's the point in me risking my neck for you if you starve to death Red?" he mused punching a few buttons. Clary took advantage of his momentary distraction to get a better look at his room.

The bed she sat on was neatly made and his desk empty of clutter. Noticing the lack of personal items throughout the room she turned her head slightly to look at his nightstand. That's were most people kept their personal items right, safe and close by? She was momentary disappointed that it held only a half full glass of water and a book, until she saw the title; 'A Tale of Two Cities' by Dicken and a rather old copy by the looks of it.

"When the time comes, let loose a tiger and a devil; but wait for the time with the tiger and the devil chained -not shown- yet always ready." She recited with a smile.

"Do you mutter dark proverbs to yourself often?" Jace asked hanging up the phone. Clary shot him a glare.

"It's from 'A Tale of Two Cities'…it's my favorite." She pointed to the book.

"I always thought you would be more likely to quote Godsmack." he said kicking off his boots and pulling open his dresser. "Actually I haven't read it. It's something Tessa gave me." He told her with a pained smile. She had not thought too much about it before but technically Tessa was the only living relative Jace had.

"I ordered us some Cuban food; it should be here soon…" he shrugged the jacket of his gear off and tossed it into the hamper by the door. "I'm going to change." He said disappearing into the bathroom. He was still in there when Clary heard a soft knock on the door, thinking nothing of it she walked over and pulled it open. Aline stood in the dark hall.

"Clary?" she said, sounding shocked; but it was easy to read the instant jealous hate that twisted her pretty face.

"Uhh…yep, that's me." She said smartly, wishing she had not opened the door at all.

"What are you..." Aline started but stopped suddenly "where is Jace?" she asked instead.

"He's changing." Clary instantly regretted her words as Aline stiffened.

"Whatever… just tell him that his food is here…" Aline said storming off down the stairs. Jace exited the bathroom in a pair of grey/blue flannel pajama pants and saw Clary at the door.

"Making a break for it Red? I promise I'll be good." A smirk played at his lips, but it died when he saw her face.

"That was Aline….the food is here…." Clary said as if that explained it.

"Oh….that's just great! She's probably going to key my car now." He pulled his wallet from a drawer in the desk and ran down stairs.

~o.0.o~

The food had been quickly devoured once Jace returned. They were now sitting on his bed across from each other, the pile of papers between them. Clary had reached for the journal immediately. Like the papers, many of the pages were filled with strange symbols and languages that she did not recognize. Some of them however, were filled with tightly scrawled lines. Her mother's name drew her attention.

Jocelyn's symptoms seem to be worsening with the increased dosage. The healers have confined her to bed, but it is the child I am most concerned with. I imagine it will only be a few more days now and the anticipation is distracting. Of course I am still looking into other alternatives, incase this experiment proves a failure.

Faerie and warlock blood are still too greatly muted by the shadowhunter blood to be of any effect. The Blackthorn child, while physically striking and more cunning has been a disappointment.

She tore her eyes from the words and found Jace staring at her intently. Realizing the he had been caught he quickly looked away.

"I think this is some kind if journal that Valentine kept" she said handing it over to him "he mentions my mother and multiple experiments." She watched his eyes move over the page stopping suddenly.

"Blackthorn… I knew it!" he exclaimed dropping the journal and flying off the bed. He stopped at the empty wall near his desk and touched the tip of this stele against it. Clary heard a low grinding noise and to her surprise the stark white wall had dropped down into the floor. Behind it was another wall, but this one was covered nearly floor to ceiling with photos, news clippings, and various documents and maps.

"That is like…some kind of James Bond shit." She said rather ungraciously.

"Sometimes you don't realize the value of information right away, I like to keep it all when I'm working on a case. Like this" he lectured as he plucked a photo of Valentine from the wall. Valentine stood smiling brightly next to a man with tousled brown hair.

"Look" Jace turning the photo over.

Valentine Morgenstern with Andrew Blackthorn – Head of the Los Angeles Institute 1985.

"I have been trying to figure whether Valentine had done this to anyone else. I had suspicions about the Blackthorns but nothing concrete…until now. At least we have a new lead for the team to look into."

"Random question…" Clary said as they climbed back onto the bed. "What's the deal with the whole 'team' thing? I mean I know who you're referring to, but aside from parabatai, the only other group aspect of shadowhunters seems to be the Silent Brothers and the Iron Sisters."

"You are right." He said seeming impressed by her deductions. "Putting together a team for a unique assignment is not uncommon, but a group like ours, who trains together from the beginning is. Like parabatai we are all marked, not with the same runes of course, but we are linked in our own way; drawing strength from each other as the Silent Brothers do. The Clave is using us as a trial run."

"And you're the leader?" she asked.

"Of course," he grinned at her. "We each have our own skill sets. Alec is our tech guy; it's actually kind of scary what he can do with computers. Sebastian was the enforcer and also an expert at pretty much every weapon. Aline and Izzy are great in the field, their…um...abilities are quite useful to gain access or information; and Simon is pretty much the shadowhunter version of google." He detailed, Clary was amused by the pride in his voice as he talked about his team.

"And you?" she prompted

"What about me?"

"What makes you the leader?" She asked as though she were challenging him, "And don't say that it's because 'you're the best'…because I've heard that….in more than one way…" she added under her breath. Jace laughed out loud, telling her that he had heard her.

"It's the truth. For starters I excel at strategy" he said stretching out on the bed. She watched him move admiring the lines of his chest and the deep cuts of his abdomen. "As well as all forms of combat. I've also killed more demons than anyone else within five years of my age." He boasted turning on his side to face her.

"Don't forget that you're bossy as hell." She threw in, enjoying the chance to tease him. Jace however did not respond the way she expected him to.

"You're right again." His voice had gone low and his breathing seemed heavier. "I do enjoy being in control… you could even say it's my specialty." The electricity between them pulsed, while Clary had grown used to its constant pressure when she was around Jace, she had not spent so much time with him before, preventing the buildup that she was now experiencing.

Deciding that her scarlet red cheeks had provided Jace with the only answer he needed, she stretched out on the bed rolling onto her stomach and found her spot in the old journal.

I'm just going to leave this right here for now… not exactly a cliffy...but it can be necessary sometimes, right?

Clary doesn't believe that Sebastian could have just attacked her like that, but how can she find out the truth when they don't know where he is? Any how did he get out to begin with? The Institute was supposed to be a safe place, but could it be possible that there are enemies within its walls? Will Tessa be able to help them decipher Valentine's notes? Find out in chapter 11.

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I am looking for a beta. If you're interested or can recommend someone please pm me!

XoXo

Skyy