**ALL CHARACTERS AND EVERYTHING MORTAL INSTRUMENTS RELATED IS OWNED BY CASSANDRA CLARE**

Chapter Song: Run - Snow Patrol

*Lyrics to Run belong to Snow Patrol and its respective owners*

A/N: So this chapter may seem a bit confusing since one scene will be in Jace's POV and then the same scene will be in Clary's

Clary woke up the next morning to an empty bed and a piece of paper next to her.

Good morning, love. You looked so peaceful and perfect lying there that I just couldn't wake you up. I ran to Taki's to get us breakfast. I'll be back soon.

~J

Clary stretched out on her bed, feeling a little bit sore but in a good way. She smiled as she replayed everything from the night before over and over in her head. Rolling out of bed with just a sheet around her, Clary grabbed a pair of shorts and a tank top. Once Jace got back with the food and they finished eating, she figured that their clothes would just come off again so why bother putting too many on?

Clary was in the middle of getting plates and flatware out when she heard an impatient knock on her front door. She didn't know why Jace was knocking, but maybe he accidently locked himself out. When she opened the door, it wasn't Jace standing there. It was a very tired-looking Sebastian. He had bags under his eyes, as if he hasn't slept in days and there was some stubble growing on his chin and up his jaw line.

"Seb," Clary gasped. "What are you doing here?"

"You ignored all my calls and texts. Why?" He didn't sound angry, but his voice was shaky. He walked into Clary's house and she didn't even try to stop him. She was too shocked to register what was happening. The only thing she could do was continue to back up as he approached her. She wanted as much distance between them as possible.

"You should leave, Seb. I don't want to talk to you." Her voice was anything but forceful. If she ever talked to him or saw him again Clary thought she would be angry, but instead she felt fear settle into her stomach. She didn't like the blank emptiness in his eyes.

"But Clary," his voice was steady and his eyes never left hers as he lifted up his shirt and took out the gun that was nestled in the front of his pants. "I want to talk to you."

Clary felt the color drain from her face, her hands became cold and clammy. "Where did you get that?" Fear seeped into every word.

"Stole it from the safe in my father's office. I'm sure he won't notice." He raised the gun.

She was frozen, she couldn't move, she couldn't even look away from Sebastian. "You said you wanted to talk. So talk."

He just shook his head. "You ignored me. I just wanted to see you, to apologize for the other day. I need you, Clary. You're all I have left."

"I don't want you, Seb." Her fear made her bold. If she was going to die, she wanted to die strong not weak. She heard him cock the gun. "Please, don't do this." There were no tears to cry, she just stared at the gun in his hand.

"You don't understand. This is the only way I can keep you, the only way the three of us can be together again. You, me and Jon. Don't you see?"

Clary closed her eyes. What she saw behind was not the three of them, instead she pictured Jace. Jace, her perfect angel. He shined with a bright gold aura around him, he was truly beautiful. She still wanted to draw him. But at the moment she wanted nothing more to be wrapped in his warm arms, keeping her safe.

"Yes, that would be nice," she whispered. Her breathing was steady and she opened her eyes as Sebastian pulled the trigger.

. . .

Jace was waiting for the food at Taki's. It was taking an unusually long time and he knew that Clary would probably be up by the time he got back. The food was finally brought out to him and he walked back to Clary's house. As he approached her house a strange feeling settled in his gut, something felt wrong. That awful feeling was amplified when he saw that her front door was open. He ran up the porch steps and almost died when he saw what was inside.

Lying on the floor, covered in blood was his Clary. Next to her, also covered in blood was Sebastian, dead. He dropped the food and ran over to her side. There was so much blood, he didn't know how much of it was hers and how much was Sebastian's. He saw a large hole in the side of his head and a gun in his hand.

Jace grabbed Clary's hand and tried to find a pulse, but couldn't. The only thing that assured him that she was still alive was the slow rise of her chest.

"Clary, love, can you hear me? Please you have to open your eyes." Jace had never felt more afraid than he did in that moment. The world seemed to be spinning. She can't die. Not now.

Her eyes fluttered open, "Jace," her voice was so weak and quiet that Jace thought he imagined it.

"I'm here. Don't worry, you're going to be fine." He grabbed his phone and quickly dialed 9-1-1. He told the operator that Clary was shot, Sebastian was dead, and the address. "An ambulance is on its way. Stay with me Clary. Don't you dare close your eyes!"

"Jace," Clary coughed up blood. "Jace, I'm sorry."

Jace looked down at her stomach and saw that blood was still pouring out of her. He tried to cover it with one hand while he pulled Clary's head onto his lap. "Don't be sorry, you have nothing to be sorry for."

She disregarded his comment. "You have…you have to keep living. Promise me you will keep going. Let another in. Let…" she coughed again. "Let them heal you. I'm sorry I can't."

He moved his hand, now covered in her blood, from her stomach to her face. "Don't talk like that. You are not going to die. Please, you can't." For the first time in years, Jace felt tears build up behind his eyes.

Her breathing became short, shallow gasps and he knew he didn't have much more time.

"I'm glad…I got to…see you…one last time." Clary smiled up at Jace.

"Shh, Clary…" The smile was still on her face, but her eyes were beginning to close. "No! Clary, keep your eyes open, love. Please stay with me."

Jace heard the sirens. Paramedics flew into the house and pushed Jace out of the way. Everything seemed to be a blur to Jace. There were so many people. A few people were by Sebastian, but the rest were by Clary. They put Clary on a stretcher. As they wheeled her out of her house, Jace followed. He was stopped right before he got to the ambulance.

"I'm sorry, son, we can't let you on here if you're not family." A paramedic said.

"Look, her mother left her, her father is in prison, and her brother is dead. I'm all she has. Please, let me come with her."

The paramedic looked behind him and nodded. "Alright, but once we get to the hospital you will have to stay in the waiting room, okay?"

"Yes, thank you." Jace climbed in the ambulance with the paramedic right behind him.

He crouched next to the stretcher and held Clary's hand. He heard people around him shouting things, but he couldn't make out what they were saying. All he could think of was Clary. If he believed in a god he would pray that Clary would make it out of this alive. But he didn't believe and he didn't even know how to pray. So he put his faith in Clary's strength and hoped that she would survive.

Once at the hospital, Clary was immediately taken to the operating room. Jace stayed in the waiting room like he promised. He took out his phone and called Izzy. He sunk down in a chair, put his head in his hands, and waited for Izzy and Simon to come.

He didn't have to wait long. Izzy and Simon came bursting through the doors and bee-lined it right over to him.

"Where is she?" Jace heard Izzy's frantic voice. He knew they were just as worried, concerned and afraid for Clary as much as he was.

"They're operating on her. I don't know anything." His voice was flat. He didn't know what to feel first. Hurt. Anger. Guilt. Loss. Hope. Pain.

Izzy burst to tears and fell into Simon's arms. At least they have each other.

Hours passed with no word of Clary's condition. Izzy and Simon took turns getting coffee. Three cups sat in front of Jace, untouched. Izzy bounced back and forth between anger and worry. Simon tried his best to calm her, but they all knew the cold, hard truth. Clary had a very slim chance of survival.

A doctor came out and asked to see the family of Clarissa Fray. Both Izzy and Simon looked to Jace and told him to go.

Jace walked up to the doctor and introduced himself. "Jace Herondale. How is she?"

"Are you family?"

"No, her boyfriend. Her father is in prison and her brother is dead. We also have no way of knowing where her mother is or how to contact her. She left about a week ago."

"I see," the doctor said sadly. "Well, I wish I could give you some good news."

Jace sharply took in a breath and held it, preparing for the worst.

"Clarissa – "

"Clary." He corrected. 'Clarissa' sounded different, distant.

"Of course. Clary was hit in the stomach and lost a lot of blood. Her close proximity to the gun caused the bullet to go right through her, causing even more blood loss. We've closed the wound but I'm not sure how long she will last."

"How long?"

"It depends on how fast her body heals. She could pull through until tomorrow or it could be just a few hours."

"Can I see her?" Jace was lifeless, his hope was slowly being crushed.

"We put her in a coma, but yes you can see her. She is only on oxygen right now." The doctor turned and Jace followed, leaving Izzy and Simon.

The doctor pulled back the curtain and revealed Clary's bed. Jace nearly collapsed at the sight of her. She was hooked up to different IVs and had needles and tubes connected to her at all different places. Her face was as white as the pillows she was resting on. The only color was her fiery red hair splayed out behind her head. He couldn't see any of the damage due to the sheet that covered her body from her chest down. She looked so small and fragile, but Jace could still see her beauty.

He pulled a chair over to her bed and took her hand in his. "Hi, love." The tears he felt prickling his eyes earlier at Clary's house now began to fall. "Please, Clary. You have to stay strong. I need you, we all need you. I finally found you. You made me such a better person. You made me feel emotions that I thought I would never be able to feel again. You made me feel alive. So you see, you can't die, not now. Without you I'm not me. Without you, I'm nothing. I love you, Clary." He laid his head down next to Clary's arm, still holding her hand.

He didn't know what he was going to do. Everything this past week played back in his mind. It all happened so fast. In the blink of an eye, Clary had entered his life and he never felt happier. And in the blink of an eye she could be taken away from him, leaving him even emptier than before.

"Jace, I love you."

"What?" His head shot up and looked at Clary's face.

Her mouth was just slightly open. Maybe he imagined it, maybe he didn't hear anything at all. But one sound was perfectly clear to him. The beeping of the monitor - beginning to slow.

Beep beep beep

Beep…Beep…Beep

Beep

Beep

Until it was just one, flat, monotone sound.

. . .

At first she felt nothing. Then pain began to spread throughout her whole body. She hand went to her stomach and she felt a think, sticky fluid. Opening her eyes, she looked down at her hand. It was covered in blood. Her knees gave out on her and she fell to the floor. She felt herself gasp for air.

"Clary," Sebastian bent down next to her.

"Get away from me!" She tried to move away but that only caused more pain.

He gently caressed her cheek, "I'm sorry. It's the only way." Then he raised the gun to his own head. "We belong together, all of us." And he pulled the trigger again.

Clary watched as his lifeless body fell to the floor right next to her. His eyes were still open so she closed them. Then she thought of Jace again and closed her own eyes.

She didn't know how much time passed. A few seconds, minutes, hours even. But she heard a soft, slightly panicked voice.

"Clary, love, can you hear me? Please you have to open your eyes." It was Jace.

Her eyes fluttered open, "Jace," her voice sounded weak, even to her own ears.

"I'm here. Don't worry, you're going to be fine." He grabbed his phone and quickly dialed 9-1-1. She heard him speak on the phone and closed her eyes. She wanted to fall asleep to the sound of his voice. "An ambulance is on its way. Stay with me Clary. Don't you dare close your eyes!"

"Jace," Clary felt a think liquid in her throat and coughed. Blood came up. "Jace, I'm sorry."

Her vision started going blurry even though she kept her eyes open. She felt a little pressure on her stomach and it felt better. Then she felt him lift her head a little. "Don't be sorry, you have nothing to be sorry for."

She knew what was happening. The pain began to overwhelm her thoughts and she just wanted to fall asleep. But she couldn't let Jace fall apart after she was gone. "You have…you have to keep living. Promise me you will keep going. Let another in. Let…" she coughed again. "Let them heal you. I'm sorry I can't."

"Don't talk like that. You are not going to die. Please, you can't."

It hurt to breathe and Clary took in air in small gasps. "I'm glad…I got to…see you…one last time." Clary smiled up at Jace and let darkness take her.

She felt like she was in a tunnel. It was dark all around her and there was a light at the end. It was getting closer, or bigger, she couldn't tell. But it wasn't a white light. It was golden. Through the light she made out a shape. She would recognize it anywhere. Jace. He stopped right in front of her. She reached out and tried to touch him, but he stayed away. She frowned and moved forward. It seemed that with each step she took forward, he moved backwards.

Half the tunnel was now lit up. Clary was in the dark half and Jace was in the light. Instead of retreating any more, Jace began walking back towards Clary. He extended his hand to her, but again he was just out of reach. She saw that their hands were not even an inch away. She wished that she could just touch him.

As the light became brighter, Jace became blurrier and blurrier. He was fading. No, don't go,she wanted to scream, but no sound came out of her mouth. He smiled at her but began retreating back into the light, leaving her frozen in darkness. She opened her mouth and tried to speak again. Hoping that he heard her, she said, "Jace, I love you" as the rest of the tunnel became enveloped in the bright golden light.

A/N: Thank you to everybody who has stuck with me by reading, reviewing, adding this to their favorites/alerts or all of the above :) You guys are awesome!

I'm so excited because I'm going to reach my goal of finishing this story by the end of the month :)

The epilogue is next! ~Thanks again :D