Jace's people skills are about as good as Alec's. It might be slightly better when it comes to Clary.
Magnus is bored. Which is never a good thing.
Simon has definitely been adopted by the Lightwoods (*cough* Izzy *cough*).
It wasn't that Jace didn't like Magnus. Because he actually did. He was intelligent and unapologetic, which were two qualities that Jace appreciated in people. But there was something about him that screamed heartbreaker.
He wasn't sure, whether it was in his arrogance (and really, Jace didn't judge, because he wasn't exactly the epitome of modesty himself) or just the way he had to smirk at everyone like he was having dirty thoughts. What he was sure of was that Alec seemed hooked, more than he had ever seen him and he did not like it.
For all his pretend to act like he didn't have feelings (and Jace wanted to laugh in his face so, so bad because Alec was literally a walking puddle of feelings), Alec sure was doing a poor job at hiding his obvious crush on Magnus. Magnus had never even bothered to hide his. He was literally making heart eyes at his brother every time he was in his field of vision. Jace almost wanted to throw up.
So, he wasn't a huge supporter of this whole thing but it was just his protective instincts because no, Alec wasn't the only one who could turn into a hurricane if he felt like his loved ones were threatened. It was ironic, in a way, that he had learnt to trust Magnus with his life but couldn't do the same for his brother's.
Jace had never been excellent at internalizing his feelings. Probably because he had never tried to, he thought to himself as he directed a particularly nasty blow at Magnus's ribs. They had been training together for a good hour now. Alec had been there earlier but he had left with Simon and Luke to get some supplies. Magnus had made one of his usual flirtatious comments when Alec had left and Alec had blushed but he had smiled that stupid, goofy smile of his and now, Jace was oddly annoyed. He wasn't going to let Magnus play with his brother's heart without doing anything about it.
It was probably this creeping irritation that made him stop holding back and he felt a malicious sense of pride in seeing Magnus struggle to defend himself for once. They were both panting hard but Jace couldn't even feel the exertion, entirely focused on the task at hand. When he finally managed to knock Magnus's off his feet, he didn't budge to soften his fall and the man fell hard, the air knocked out of his lungs for a moment. Jace didn't give him time to get up, locking him to the ground with one knee against his chest.
"Okay," Magnus panted, raising both his hands in surrender. "You won. Want to tell me why you're so pissed off?"
"You", Jace spat out harshly. He didn't even know why he was so angry all of a sudden.
Magnus blinked, taken aback. "What did I do now?" he asked and Jace wanted to punch him in his perfect teeth.
"You know what you did," he hissed back, grabbing the collar of his t-shirt threateningly.
"Okay, Jace, you're not making any sense," Magnus said, clenching his teeth in annoyance. "Now, I suggest you let me go and go deal with your little crisis away from me."
"Stop fooling around with my brother," Jace snapped, pushing him further into the sand.
Magnus's eyes widened for a moment and then, to Jace's great surprise, he laughed. It was a slightly maniacal laugh, but a laugh anyway. Magnus pushed on his elbows to try to get up but Jace didn't let him, tightening his grip on his collar.
"Look, darling, your concern is touching," Magnus breathed out, "but it's also misplaced and inappropriate. Your brother is an adult, he can make his own decisions. Now, how about you tell me why you're really upset?"
He pushed on his elbows again and this time, Jace released him with a sigh, letting himself fall next to him, breathing heavily.
"You're annoying," he groaned for good measure.
"So are you, to be honest," Magnus retorted with a smirk. "So, what is this about?"
"I have a bad feeling about this whole thing," Jace admitted reluctantly, turning his head in the sand to look at him. "I can't get rid of the idea that it's all going to blow in our face."
"So you're taking out your frustrations on me?" Magnus asked and it wasn't unkind, just surprised because, truth be told, Jace usually wasn't one to show much fear.
"Sorry," he grumbled half-heartedly.
Magnus smirked. "It's alright. I can handle it. It's better than taking it out on poor Simon."
Jace let out a breathless chuckle. "He's even more annoying than you are."
"Listen, Jace, we're all scared," Magnus said after a pause, his voice softening. "I know you Lightwoods are highly protective of each other. And then, there's Clary and Simon and Luke who are like family. And even if you take that out, we've all grown to care for each other on different levels. We all know how dangerous Valentine is and yeah, it's frightening and even though I don't say it, I'm terrified that something is going to go wrong. I've experienced first-handedly what this man is capable of. But we can't let that stop us."
"It's not that," Jace sighed. "I'm not having second thoughts. I'm as motivated as any of you. I just… There's too many of us. I can't protect everyone."
"No one asked you to," Magnus replied with a gentle smile. "And no one expects you to. We'll protect each other."
"I'm worried about Alec," Jace confessed abruptly, his voice dropping confidentially. "He's just so focused on protecting everyone that he doesn't think of protecting himself and if anything goes wrong, he's just going to run head first into whatever danger with no regard whatsoever for his own safety. He always does."
"Hey," Magnus breathed out, squeezing his shoulder in comfort. "We have a solid plan. We need to trust that everything will work out, otherwise it simply won't. And if anything goes wrong, we won't let him do anything reckless, alright? I promise."
Jace looked at him in silence for a moment, scanning his open features, the reassurance in his gaze, the tender sparkle in his eyes.
"You really care about him, don't you?"
Magnus darted his eyes away and Jace could have sworn he was blushing but there was no way that Magnus freaking Bane would do such a thing.
He shrugged, trying to appear detached but failing miserably. "Yes," he said. "I do."
"Okay," Jace replied, brushing off the strands of hair that were falling in his eyes. "Okay." He paused, taking in the meaning of this moment before he turned his head to glance straight into his eyes. Magnus had dropped the act, his face open and oh so easy to read. "Break his heart and I'll break your neck," he added for good measure.
Magnus chuckled, shaking his head in what looked a lot like fondness. "What if he breaks mine?" he asked carefully and there was a truly concerned edge to his voice that made Jace blink in surprise.
"I won't break his neck," Jace replied with a smirk, "but I'll tell him off a little."
This time, Magnus fully laughed, throwing his head back and rising to his feet, brushing his sandy clothes as if to brush off the entire conversation.
"I need a shower," he stated, "and I need to put something on my ribs because you sure are heavy-handed."
"Sorry," Jace declared truthfully with a small grimace.
Magnus shrugged. "I'll kick your ass next time."
And he took off toward the villa, Jace following soon after.
.
Jace knocked carefully on the closed door and waited until he got permission to push it open. Clary was sitting on her bed, her suitcase open on the bed as she cautiously folded her clothes to put them inside. She smiled at him when he came in but didn't interrupt her actions, immediately turning back to her task.
"Hey," he said. "When is your flight?"
The night before, Luke had asked for their approval to go back to New York for a few days with Clary to go see her mother and there had been no protestation at all. After the late events, they all needed a break for a few days and there was no way they would try to stop them from seeing Jocelyn. Jace was well aware that she needed it. She was beginning to close off and spent more and more time drawing these days, absorbed in her own bubble. It was clear that she missed her mother and it was deeply affecting her usually joyful mood.
"Nine tonight," she replied with a blinding smile.
She patted the bed for him to sit and he obliged, unable to hold back a grin at how thrilled she looked at the idea.
"It's good to see you happy," Jace put out softly.
Clary shrugged, trying to dismiss it but she did a poor job of it, considering she was still grinning broadly.
"How is your mom?" he asked, shifting on her bed to get more comfortable.
Her smile weakened and he immediately regretted asking.
"Her doctors say her complete rehabilitation should take a full year but she's already making progress. At least she can stand on her own now."
Jace nodded, not sure what to do with himself. "That's good."
"Yeah," Clary replied with a small smile. "She's staying with Luke's sister until we get back. It's safer there."
"Does she know?"
"Know what?" Clary echoed with an inquisitive frown.
"About what we're doing here," Jace eluded, gesturing widely with his arm.
"She knows the outlines. She's not happy about it but she knows she can't stop me."
"Yeah," he retorted with a smirk. "I've noticed you're slightly stubborn too. And by slightly, I mean awfully."
Clary chuckled, rolling her eyes. "Well, nobody's perfect."
Jace staged a fake cough, motioning at himself with a raised eyebrow. Clary laughed but instead of waving his remark away like she usually did, she leaned forward, pressing her lips to his in a chaste kiss. She pulled back barely seconds later and he struggled to catch back his breath, opening his eyes slowly.
"You need to stop doing that," he murmured, slightly panting.
"Why?" she asked, her eyes widening a little in panic. "I'm so sorry, I thought you –"
Jace cut her off by grabbing her waist, pulling her against him to kiss her properly, lips and tongues meeting eagerly. He was quite proud to realize that she was as breathless as he was when he pulled back.
"Because you're going to make it hard for me not to miss you," he muttered, pushing a strand of red hair behind her ear.
"Good," she whispered back, locking their lips again.
Jace could hear his heart pounding in his ears.
He was so screwed.
.
Since they had decided to take a few days off, Magnus shouldn't have been surprised to see the villa turning into some kind of boredom lair. They had spend so much time plotting, deciphering and training these past few weeks that they weren't used anymore to just relax and do nothing for a whole day, or two, or three. Luke and Clary had been gone for three days and Magnus was starting to die from the monotony that had settled in the villa. Sure, the company was pretty great but Simon had made them endure a Marvel marathon which had resulted in a debate which had quickly turned into an argument between Simon and Isabelle, who claimed that there was no way that Magnus was the Hulk because he was clearly Tony Stark; Magnus was neutral (he wasn't, he was definitely Tony Stark but he didn't want to upset poor Sherwin). It had been followed by a Lord of the Rings marathon, followed by a Star Wars marathon and Magnus had had just about enough of marathons.
Magnus had never been good with monotony. He needed things to be moving all the time or he started fidgeting and when he started fidgeting, bad things happened. Well, not necessarily bad but things that Raphael disapproved of at the least. Although Raphael disapproved of pretty much everything he did so it wasn't saying much.
He reached his breaking point on the evening of the third day.
"So, I went out to buy a Wii today. Who wants to play Mario Kart?" Simon asked innocently.
Magnus groaned. It was an ugly noise which came all the way from the back of his throat and resonated in his entire body. He looked up from his newspaper to meet Simon's expecting eyes.
"I can't take it anymore," he growled and rose to his feet, ignoring the rest of their bewildered eyes following him and took his phone out of his pocket, stepping outside to have some tranquility.
Catarina picked up on the second ringtone.
"Well, well, well," she said mockingly. "If it isn't the great Magnus Bane who manages to find some time to call an old friend."
"Yeah, yeah, I'm sorry," he mumbled. "I should have called earlier."
"Oh, but I've come to an understanding that you've been pretty busy lately," Catarina snickered and he wasn't sure why she put emphasis on the word but he wasn't going to ask if it could avoid him a lecture.
"Whatever Raphael told you is a lie," Magnus countered.
Catarina laughed. "So you're not an idiot?"
"Nope," Magnus retorted with a roll of his eyes that she could probably picture. "Quite the contrary actually. I've been told I'm a genius a few times."
"Sure, Magnus. So, to what do I owe the honor?"
"I'm bored."
"And you decided to call me after a month of silence and leaving Hodge to call me about whatever business you're doing when you know I don't like him just to tell me that you were bored?" Catarina asked, irritation layering her tone.
Magnus grimaced. "Sorry?" he said and it only sounded like a question because it was full of apprehension.
"You're lucky I love you," she groaned, "and your cat. I mostly love your cat."
"Who doesn't?" Magnus chuckled. "Everyone loves the Chairman."
"Raphael doesn't."
"Raphael doesn't like any of the good things life brings," Magnus retorted matter-of-factly. "I once saw him frown at a baby who was smiling at him in the subway. He moaned at him for being, and I quote, 'a drooling demon'. The mother was horrified."
Catarina burst into laughter. "Sounds like our lovely Raphael."
Magnus laughed with her and allowed a comfortable pause to settle between them.
"So, you're bored," Catarina filled in. "Isn't California active enough for you?"
"I was actually wondering if you had something to make me more… active actually," he eluded, a hopeful edge to his voice.
He could easily picture her frown. "I know you're doing that thing now for good reasons but I thought you were done after what happened with Ragnor," she stated, because she had never been one to beat around the bush, especially not with him.
Magnus sighed. "Yeah, I thought so too but I guess this whole experience awakened that… dormant side of me."
"Oh, honey," Catarina sighed pitifully.
"Don't judge me," he moaned. "Not you. You never judge me."
"I'm not judging you," she reassured him instantly.
"Good," he stated firmly. "So, I'm bored. I'm sure you've heard of something going on here in California."
Catarina heaved out a deep breath and he grinned in triumph. "That means yes," he uttered. "Come on, tell me. I'm not asking for a break in into the Louvre, just a little routine robbery."
"It's never routine with you," she deadpanned. "You always managed to make it not routine."
"If it's your way of telling me I'm an absolutely scintillating individual, thank you," he replied with a smirk.
Catarina snorted. "I may have heard about a thing in San Francisco," she admitted reluctantly.
"Do tell."
"It's nothing big," she tried again.
"Humor me."
"You're nothing if not obstinate," she sighed in defeat and his grin widened.
.
"So, who wants to come with me to San Francisco to break into a vault from the nineteenth century?"
Isabelle paused their game of Mario Kart to raise an eyebrow at Magnus who was grinning devilishly at them. "Come again?"
"I'm bored," Magnus stated like it was a perfectly decent explanation.
"I'm not sure I follow," Alec replied, dropping his remote on the coffee table.
"I called Catarina and –"
"You know, I'm starting to wonder if this Catarina person is real," Simon cut in distractedly. "You, Luke and Hodge keep mentioning her but I don't even know what she looks like. She might be some kind of A.I. for all I know."
Magnus rolled his eyes but his lips twitched in amusement. "This is not a movie, darling. She's very much real," he replied patiently. "So, I called her to whine about being bored and beg for something to do and she told me about a vault in San Francisco that she's heard of."
"And you want us to break in?" Isabelle asked, squirting her eyes at him inquisitively.
"Yep," Magnus answered with an eager nod. "Come on, we're so bored that Simon had to go buy a Wii today to get us some entertainment!"
"Tell us more," Jace said and Isabelle recognized in his eyes the familiar mischievous spark that usually meant trouble.
Alec was about to protest but Magnus was already talking. "It's in a building just at the limits of the city. It used to be a bank but it's been abandoned for decades and it just got bought by a big company to be turned into a Walmart or something. Anyway, there's a vault in the basement but they didn't even bother to try to open and see what's inside."
"So you want us to go to San Francisco, trespass an antique building and break into a vault without knowing what we'll find inside?" Alec cut in with a disapproving frown.
"Pretty much, yeah," Magnus responded with the chaotic smile of his.
"I'm in," Jace exclaimed eagerly, just as Alec let out a firm "No".
Isabelle snorted and watched as her brothers indulged into a glaring match, seemingly arguing telepathically. Alec crossed his arms stubbornly.
"No," he repeated.
Magnus stepped closer, tilting his head to meet his eyes. "Come on, it'll be fun and Catarina said there was not much surveillance around the area. It's a secluded part of the city."
"No," Alec reiterated, his glare turned to Magnus now. That didn't seem to disturb him because he leaned closer, a devilish smirk on his lips.
"Pretty please," he muttered, giving him his best pleading stare.
"I have three younger siblings," Alec deadpanned. "Puppy eyes don't work on me."
"I could always try something else but we have an audience," Magnus stage-whispered, sending him a shameless wink.
Isabelle laughed as Alec mumbled a curse, his cheeks visibly heating up.
"I'm in," she chimed in.
Alec's eyes darted away from Magnus to focus on her, his face displaying a look of utter betrayal.
"What?" she exclaimed in false innocence. "It could be fun."
Alec groaned in defeat as Magnus beamed victoriously. He had quickly understood that if he had Jace and Isabelle with him, Alec would automatically follow.
He turned to Simon. "What about you, Mr. Robot?" he asked.
Simon gaped, apparently surprised to be included but he seemed to think about it for a while and eventually shrugged. "Why not," he grumbled. "It's not like I haven't done anything illegal already anyway."
Isabelle smiled at him and Magnus clasped his hands together, swinging around in an excited flourish. She couldn't help but roll her eyes fondly.
.
Hodge had not been happy about this idea and tried to bring them to reason but there was nothing to be done when faced with three very stubborn individuals, someone who had no choice but to follow them and someone else who was just going with the flow. When Alec had told him that he had more or less agreed to this, Hodge had looked at him with something that looked a lot like disappointment but Alec hadn't flinched, hadn't even blinked.
"Fine," Hodge had sighed, his eyes burning with undisguised anger. "Follow his lead," he had added with a disregarding wave toward Magnus. "Just don't get into too much trouble."
That was how they found themselves gathered in the van the next day, dressed up in black gear. Magnus had taken the wheel, because he actually knew where they were going, and Jace was sitting next to him, his feet sprawled nonchalantly on the dashboard.
Alec was spread across two seats, his long limbs twisted to fit in a position that couldn't have been comfortable and he had drifted off to sleep about half an hour ago. Isabelle knew he was tired. He always was, with his insomnia, but for him to fall asleep while they were driving to a potential robbery, he must have reached a whole new level of exhaustion. She had opted for sitting next to Simon to watch an episode of Game of Thrones with him to pass the time.
When they arrived at their destination, it was already pitch dark. This part of the city wasn't as lit as the center so they had to take a few lamp torches with them, warily making their way to the building. Magnus had been right. The place had clearly been abandoned for a while. The windows were all broken or covered in dust and you could see the cracks in the wood. It pretty much looked like a haunted house, Isabelle pondered to herself.
"I think if we're ever going to be attacked by a demon, this would be the place," Simon murmured when they circled the building to get inside by the back entrance.
The streets were oddly quiet and mostly empty, which only added to the general glooming atmosphere. Isabelle chuckled.
"Do you want me to hold your hand?" she offered playfully.
"Ha ha, laugh at me now," Simon retorted. "But you won't be so proud of yourself when we're attacked by a vampire and we have nothing but lamp torches to protect ourselves."
"Who says we only have lamp torches?" Magnus chimed in, suddenly producing an awfully well sharpened knife with a roguish smirk.
Simon took a step back warily. "Where did you get that from? Why do you carry a knife around?"
"If you think they don't have one," Magnus retorted, indicating Isabelle and her brothers with a wiggle of his fingers, "you're delusional."
Simon turned to them in shock and they shrugged unapologetically in perfect synchronization.
He looked up at the sky, throwing his arms up in the air in despair. "Why did I have to become friends with a band of lunatics?" he mumbled theatrically.
Isabelle chuckled fondly, hooking her arm with his. "Don't worry. We'll protect you if we come face to face with Dracula," she mocked gently.
"Or we might use you as bait so we can escape," Alec cut in with a smirk and Isabelle could see Magnus's influence in that simple twitch of his lips.
Magnus let out a quiet sound of victory as he burst the back door open with his knife, turning to face them with a grin.
"Always carry a knife with you," he told Simon with a wink. "Who wants to go first?"
Isabelle smiled when Simon took a defensive step toward her.
Jace rolled his eyes and stepped inside. "You're all ridiculous."
Magnus followed him and Simon hastily did the same, probably not too keen on the idea of being the last in the queue. Jace took the stairs that lead down the basement and forced the door open. The place was only lit by their lamp torches and she could just barely distinguish the myriad of spider webs that were scattered all across the room.
"I should have brought garlic," Simon whispered to himself behind Isabelle.
"There!" Magnus exclaimed and raised a hand to cover his eyes when four lamp torches were pointed at him at once, effectively blinding him.
They joined him in front of the vault and Jace let out an impressed whistle at the sight. It was reinforced, of course, but they could see that time had left its marks, the metal scaled all over. It was nothing like the vaults they had in banks these days. To the trained eye, it was obvious that it wasn't very thick. The door was locked with a system of double levers that probably had been very sophisticated at the time but seemed quite ridiculous nowadays.
Jace stepped forward and turned to face his siblings. "Okay, let's do this," he said firmly, rubbing his hands together.
Magnus raised a surprised eyebrow and moved out of the way. Alec smirked at him almost smugly and Isabelle was kind of proud. He positioned himself in the middle of the door while Jace and Isabelle each took hold of one of the levers.
He pressed his ear against the reinforced door. "Go," he murmured, gesturing at their brother.
Jace turned his lever a few times towards the right and froze abruptly when Alec closed his fist, waving for Isabelle to do the same with her own lever.
They were perfect, the three of them together, and it was mostly for this reason, right there, Isabelle considered with a proud smile. They didn't need to talk. They had established a routine in their years of illegal shenanigans that was peerless. In these moments, they shared the same brain. It made everything easier.
"That coordinated shit is starting to get creepy," Simon muttered in their back and Isabelle couldn't hold back a smile.
"Shh," Alec whispered, holding a finger in his direction.
"What are they doing?" Simon murmured anyway, turning his head to look at Magnus.
Isabelle turned around just in time to see Magnus's eyes focused on her older brother's ass while Alec bend over to tap his knuckles gently against the metal.
"Magnus?" Simon insisted, efficiently pulling him out of whatever dream he was stuck in.
Isabelle gave him a knowing look and turned back to the vault.
"Watch and learn," he whispered, gently patting Simon's back in the dark.
Isabelle only had to turn her lever two more notches for Alec to signal her to stop. They moved back in a same moment as a loud, screechy noise broke the quietness, and they stepped forward again to grab at the iron handles of the door, pulling it open.
"Damn."
"Are you going to comment everything like you're filming a documentary?" Alec inquired matter-of-factly with a roll of his eyes.
"But you did that so easily," Simon replied, almost offended.
"This isn't our first nineteenth century vault," Isabelle chimed in, chin up in pride.
"Of course not," Simon muttered disbelievingly, mostly to himself.
Because it couldn't have been so easy, the reinforced door opened on a locked metal gate.
Jace tried to shake it open but that technique had never worked before, even on a two-century-old gate. Magnus stepped forward and put a gentle hand on his shoulder to push him out of the way. His fingers hovered calculatingly over the iron, following the bars, stopping over the lockless handle, studying it carefully, mumbling under his breath. Isabelle had seen one of these gates before. They were meant to be open from the inside, which meant there was another hidden door somewhere but the basement was a mess and half of the walls were covered in fallen bricks so finding the hidden door wasn't really an option.
Isabelle watched, almost entranced, as Magnus worked to figure out the problem and find a solution, his brow furrowed in reflection and his focused eyes looking black under the dim lights of the torches.
"Darling, pass me the torch, would you?" he asked softly, holding out a hand behind him without looking away from the door for an instant, as if a vault that had been there for two centuries was going to magically disappear.
Magnus gave pet names to everyone but somehow, Alec was the only one who moved this time. Isabelle shared a glance with Simon that they had both understood that it couldn't have been meant for anyone but Alec. It was probably in the way he had said the word, his accent curling tenderly on the syllables.
Magnus barely muttered a thank you, pointing the torch to one of the railings and he let out a sudden cry of victory. Isabelle wasn't sure why but it was probably a good sign. He gave the torch back to Alec, motioning for him to keep the light on his hands. He got his knife out in a swift motion and stood on his tiptoes, pointing the knife at a notch at the top of the door between two railings. His face was twist into a grimace of concentration and Isabelle found herself smiling. He turned the blade around and the iron cracked, the already damaged bars falling to the ground in a metallic noise.
"Now what?" Jace muttered, feigning an unimpressed expression.
Magnus turned around with a flourish, sending him a confident wink. "Now it's your turn to watch and learn," he taunted.
Isabelle watched, her mouth falling open in shock, as Magnus grabbed the bar at the top of the door and pulled himself up by the sheer strength of his two arms. He somehow managed to slide his lanky body into the space he had created, arms first, the rest of his body following swiftly. In what seemed to be barely a second, he landed on the other side, rubbing his hands together to get rid of the dust. Well, that explained the yoga.
"Shit, you're flexible," Simon whispered with an impressed whistle.
Isabelle had to bit her lips not to laugh when Alec cleared his throat awkwardly and she watched as Magnus's smirk widened.
"I'm very flexible," he confirmed with a lewd smile, eyes searching for Alec's, who refused to give him the pleasure.
"When you're done torturing my poor brother, maybe you can help us get to the other side?" she cut in, both to save her brother and to embarrass him a little. (Yeah, well, he was just too easy to wind up so it was his fault.)
"Of course," he exclaimed with an exaggerated flourish.
He grabbed his knife again and put his lamp torch in his mouth to light his hands as they worked on opening the gate from the inside. Soon, it burst open with a deafening shriek. Jace immediately stepped inside and Isabelle followed closely.
"I'll keep watch," Alec said firmly. "Be careful."
Isabelle nodded, grabbing Simon's sleeve to drag him along.
The vault was as dusty as the rest of the basement, so much so that everything appeared to be grey, a shade from white. It was mostly empty, apart from a few boxes scattered across the room. Magnus grabbed one, bursting it open with his blade. Isabelle did the same with another box and they shared a thwarted look when they realized most of the boxes were either empty or filled with well overdue checks, contracts and diverse papers.
"Holy shit," Simon muttered to her right.
They turned together to face him. His face was glowing under the dim lights of his torch and his eyes were widened in surprise. Jace was next to him in a second and he beamed at Magnus and Isabelle, who eagerly joined them. Simon's box was filled with jewelry and precious stones that must have been worth a fortune.
"Ah!" Magnus exclaimed cheerfully. "I told you it was worth it! Catarina never disappoints."
Simon grabbed a necklace. It was a beautiful silver piece, set with a glowing ruby in the middle of the square pendant, framed with intricate symbols. He let out an impressed whistle, holding the necklace in front of his astonished eyes.
"Come on," Jace said. "Let's check the other boxes and get out of here. All that dust is making me itchy."
They nodded and got to work. They found another box that was filled with old coins and another with gemstones but all the other ones turned out to be disappointingly empty. They grabbed the three boxes that were interesting and went back to Alec, who was leaning against the wall next to the vault patiently, his lamp torch pointed at the bottom of the stairs.
It wasn't before they were back in the car, Alec behind the wheel, that Simon held out the necklace to her with a shy smile.
"You should take it," he uttered, dropping his voice, but in the tight space, they were both well aware that it wasn't exactly a private conversation.
"You found it," Isabelle replied with a soft smile. "Keep it, it's yours."
"It would look silly on me," Simon retorted jokingly, grabbing her hand to place the necklace in her palm. "Take it."
Isabelle gaped at him for a moment but she eventually closed her fingers around the ornament, stunned by his gesture. Simon was looking at her with a shy smile and it was kind of ridiculous that he was acting like that after offering her a necklace that was probably worth more than they could both imagine. But it was sweet, too. And it occurred to her than Simon was just a genuine, sweet guy who probably helped older people carry their grocery shopping, stopped in the park to feed the birds or do other foolishly nice things that people who wore their heart on their sleeves did on a daily basis. Simon was so much better than any of them and not because he wasn't a professional criminal like they were, but because he was pure of heart.
Isabelle was an impulsive person but it was only half on impulse when she grabbed his collar to pull him forward, smashing their mouths together. He made a surprised noise in the back of his throat but quickly kissed her back, awkwardly grabbing her shoulders to have something to do with his hands and somehow even that was incredibly endearing.
Jace and Alec groaned in perfect unison.
"Please stop," Jace all but whined. "I really don't want to see this."
"I'm going to have nightmares," Alec added on the same tone.
Isabelle pulled back reluctantly, taking great pleasure in the love-struck look on Simon's face.
"I'm always here if you need someone to tuck you in your bed," Magnus chimed in with a smirk.
"Please tell me we're almost home. I can't take this," Jace groaned again, louder this time. "Why can't you people behave yourselves?"
"Hey!" Alec protested, pointing an accusatory finger at Magnus, his other hand still firmly gripping the wheel. "I didn't do anything, it's him!"
Jace snorted, giving him a pointed look in the rearview mirror. "Don't act like you don't like it. We all know you do."
Alec muttered a curse under his breath, his posture defensive and Isabelle wondered idly if he was aware of the depth of his feelings for Magnus yet. She would have to ask him later but for now, she just kissed Simon again. Her brothers complained loudly and Magnus's laughter almost covered their protest.
But Simon didn't seem to mind because he kissed her back enthusiastically, cupping her face in his hands. She wouldn't have had it any other way.
Hello lovelies,
What did you think?
Poor Alec being all flustered by Magnus' yoga skills. *cough* UST *cough*
That necklace sounded familiar, didn't it? And isn't Simon the dorkiest little cupcake of all time? (spoiler alert: he is and I love him and I will fight anyone who doesn't).
In the mid time, here's not a cupcake but a cookie because you all deserve it:
"He wants me to plan a dinner at the manor this weekend. A small event for people who were at the gala, but more private," she said slowly. "The guest list is way more restricted."
"And what does that have to do with us if we won't be able to crash it?" Jace inquired.
"That's the thing," Lydia replied. "He mentioned a couple he had talked to at the gala and he wanted me to find to invite them… At first, I didn't know who he meant but then he started describing them to me and I realized he was talking about you," she added, gesturing between Magnus and Isabelle.
Guess who's back (*Eminem voice* back again damn, I'm so old) next chapter? Yes, it's your friendly neighbor Valentine!
Don't you hope he's going to have a good time? The poor guy gets so much hate... (hahahahahahaha)
When you leave reviews, Alec and Magnus make out in the alternate universe. (Just sayin', you know, I don't make the rules)
Come yell at me on my tumblr.
And you can still send love the best beta in the whole world.
See you on Monday, you lovely lovelies.
All the love,
L.
