This chapter's song is Recovery by James Arthur. I know it's a little later than expected, but this chapter just didn't want to be written.

Thank you Intoxic for your review!

Disclaimer: I don't own TMI or TID.

Enjoy!

Chapter 14

Jem woke up early in the morning. He had a long day ahead of him. The job interviews he had arranged for today didn't start until noon, so he took his time to get ready. He got up, took a shower and started making breakfast. For the first time since he left the Brotherhood he was eating on his own. That gave him a lot of space and time to think. Space and time he didn't want.

One would have thought that after more than a century with the Silent Brothers he would have let all of his troubles go. That's what he thought. But watching Jace and Alec interacting, seeing other Shadowhunters and living with them, and seeing Magnus again, these things brought back memories. Memories he'd rather leave in the past.

He remembered Tessa, the woman he loved. She was the woman he never really got the chance to be with. She was the one that could see past his illness. She was the reason he wanted to survive his addiction. Jem had been depended on yin fen ever since he was twelve. Because of this drug he had been aware that he would die fast. He had been lucky to even make it to seventeen. He had never thought of a future for himself. He had accepted his fate. But then he met Tessa. She gave him hope. She made him dream again. Because of her, he had started thinking of a future.

He remembered Will, his parabatai. He was a troubled boy that in his own way let Jem into his heart. He was everything good in Jem's life. He was his hope when he thought his last day was here. He was the one to stay by his side when his illness took the best of him. He was the one to get him yin fen, because Jem was too embarrassed to buy it personally. He was his fellow soldier. He was his best friend. He was his brother. And by the Angel, Jem missed him. He missed his arrogance, his obsession against ducks. Angel, he even missed the pointless lies to cover the fact that he was just a hurt boy under his façade.

They were his everything. Now Will was dead, Tessa had been traveling around the world and Jem was on his own. Those feelings, the ones of loneliness, had come back, and something told him they were there to stay.

Jem shook his head. He couldn't think this way. He had Magnus' support and he felt like he could find a good friend in Alec, the one that when he first saw him, he thought Will had been reincarnated. But in reality they were very different, even in appearance. He had been a soldier at war, but now these days were over. If he was needed on the battlefield ever again, he would go. But now it was time for him to recover.

He finished his breakfast and he got ready to leave. When he went to the door, he opened it and found Jace ready to knock. "Jonathan. What are you doing here?"

"It's Jace and I came to see Alec."

"Jace. He is not here. But I'm going there now. Would you like to come with?" Jem asked politely.

Jace shrugged "Sure." He was fed up of the Institute. He wanted to spend some time with his parabatai and get updated on how things were going with Leviathan.

Soon enough, they reached a place called "Riverside". It seemed like a restaurant of some sort, but it was closed. "What is this place?" Jace asked.

"It's a tavern. Alec will tell you all about it. I'll be in my office. Just go up those stairs and you'll find them." Jem smiled kindly.

Jace went up the stairs and found the couple sleeping in the bed. He took in his surroundings and said "Sparkles has overdone himself this time." He looked at all the weapons and whispered "By the Angel, what are they up to?" He realized he was talking to himself, so he tried to wake them up. He started shouting "Good morning, sunshines! I would let the sunlight in, but there are no windows! Time to get up!" Jace saw that neither of them made of a move to get up, so he found another method to use. "Witchlight it is." He took out his witchlight, went close to the couple and put it in front of their eyes. At its glow, Magnus buried his head in Alec's chest and Alec squeezed his eyes shut.

Alec was dreaming about making out with his boyfriend when a blinding light made him wake up. He squeezed his eyes shut for a moment, hoping the light will go away. When it didn't he opened his eyes. "Angel!" he squeaked.

"Nope, just me. I can summon him if you want. But let me warn you it will not be a pleasant experience."

Alec covered his eyes with his arms and sighed "What are you doing here Jace?"

"You could say hello first, you know." Jace saw Alec glare at him so he gave in "Fine, fine. Just wanted to see how you're doing."

Magnus heard someone talking and he opened one eye to see who it was. When he saw Jace he closed it again and wished he could fall back to sleep. "Shut up, Goldilocks."

"Did I interrupt a good dream, Sparkles?" Jace raised an eyebrow.

"You interrupted a great dream actually. You see, Alec was f-"

"Magnus!" Alec squeaked and covered the warlock's mouth before he said anything else. His face was flaming red, because he knew what Magnus what about to say. Apparently, even their dreams were in sync.

Jace laughed at Alec's face and thought to save him from his misery "Come on, get up, lovebirds."

"Just let us get dressed first. Wait, Mag, could you snap some clothes or something? We didn't bring any with us yesterday." Alec asked.

"Yeah, Mag, just snap some." Jace smirked.

Magnus snapped his fingers twice. The first time he brought some clothes and the second time he gave Jace a new hairstyle. "There, all ready."

Alec started laughing and Jace, when he realized what he was laughing about, started yelling at Magnus "Change it back, Warlock! Or I swear I will throw all your glitter away!" His hair was neon blue, of all colors!

Magnus snapped his fingers again, turning Jace's hair back to normal. "Next time, I'll make your skin pink."

Jace grunted and gave them some space to change their clothes. When they were done, they had breakfast at the table. Waffles were today's meal, Magnus had snapped them in.

"So, what is this place?" Jace asked.

Magnus and Alec took turns in explaining what had happened with Leviathan. How Lucifer had found out Leviathan had turned against him and how they needed a safehouse to complete Leviathan's plan. They told him what that plan entailed as far as they knew and how Magnus created "Riverside" and gave it to Jem.

"What do you need so many weapons for?" Jace asked when they were done with their news.

"You never know when an unwanted Prince of Hell will come banging on your door." Magnus shrugged.

"How did you even come here?" Alec asked. They were now done with their breakfast and just talked until Leviathan showed up to go on with Magnus' lessons.

"Jem brought me. He's at his office." He answered simply.

They spent the rest of the time until lunch talking, catching up and training while Magnus preferred to look from afar, afar being the bed.

Jem had been signing papers all morning. Magnus has created a beautiful place, if only he had taken care of the rest functional necessities. He had signed food shipments, he had chosen the right cutlery and plates, and he had ordered any gadgets for the kitchen he could think of. In other words everything was ready for the opening night, except the staff. He looked at the watch on his wrist and saw that it was almost time for the first interview of the day to take place. He cleaned up the mess on his desk and put the fake wall to cover the stairs. To the mundane eyes this was a mundane building after all. The place looked spotless.

Just in time a firm knock sounded. Jem got up to welcome his possible employee. He saw a young boy, barely eighteen, standing there in professional attire. He wore black trousers, a white button-down shirt and a skinny burgundy tie with black dress shoes.

"Hello, come on in. My name is James, I suppose you are Leopold?" Jem asked politely and offer his hand for a handshake.

The boy took his hand and said "Hi, nice to meet you. Please call me Leo." He smiled.

"Nice to meet you, Leo. Take a seat." Jem went around the office and took his seat. He thought he caught the boy staring at the fake wall but he dismissed the thought immediately. "So tell me. What position would you like to go for?"

"I want to be a chef one day, so I'd like to be in the kitchen. But I could work as a waiter, too. My friends say I'm a social butterfly, so I think I wouldn't mind being around people." Leo shrugged.

"Do you have any experience with the kitchen-department?"

"No, I haven't been given the opportunity yet. Can I be honest with you?" Leo asked carefully.

"I wouldn't expect anything less."

"Honestly, I just need this job. My little sister suffers from leukemia and my parents are both gone, so I just need to be able to pay the bills. I don't care what I have to do for it." Leo looked down at his hands ashamed, but honest. He did need this job. The reason didn't matter.

Jem looked at him another moment and said "I'm sorry about your sister. I can see you care about her deeply. She's in good hands." He smiled kindly.

"Thank you. I just wish my parents were here, you know? That I didn't have to be a mom, a dad and a brother." Leo frowned.

"I understand. We may wish things, but they don't always happen. We just need to deal with what we've got no matter how hard it can be. Don't give up hope." Jem smiled softly.

"Thank you, Mr. James."

"You can call me Jem. Anyway, I'll consider your application and I'll tell you my decision in two days' time the most." Jem got up from his seat and led the young man out.

"Thank you again Mr.- Jem." Leo shook his hand and turned to leave.

"Have a good day, Leo." Jem saw the boy leaving and thought about it again. The place was big. He needed many waiters, especially if both Downworlders and mundanes were allowed in, so he thought giving the boy the job wouldn't hurt, would it? Either way, the boy needed the money. He made a mental note to call him later that evening.

Alec and Jace had just finished training, when Leviathan and Satan popped in.

"Who's that guy?" Jace asked.

"That's Satan." Alec said.

"You're Satan? I was expecting red skin and horns not some model-wannabe."

"I'm guessing you're the angel boy, right?" Satan said ignoring his rude comment.

"I know I'm very good looking like an angel, but you can call me Jace."

Satan chuckled. He turned to Leviathan "I like this one."

"You are the only one." Magnus murmured.

"Watch it, Sparkles."

Magnus rolled his eyes and ignored Jace. "What are we going to do today?"

"What we did yesterday. But you're going to try to make something in human form, without Alec's help." Leviathan said.

"I thought Satan was the one tutoring me?"

"He is. I just answered for him." Leviathan shrugged.

Magnus got to work and tried to do as he was told. He closed his eyes, concentrated on his magic and tried to picture what he wanted to create each time, a leg, a hand, a head. Nothing worked though. All that happened was a glittery cloud being released from Magnus' finger tips, but just when he willed it to take a form, the cloud disappeared. He couldn't do it.

"What's going on?" Jace asked. He had been informed about everything they had been trying to do. Alec had told him everything about yesterday too, how Magnus managed to create Alec's projection, but now the warlock couldn't make a thing.

"I can't do it!" Magnus sighed in frustration. "Every time I try to let it take a form…"Magnus groaned running his hands through his hair.

Alec was sitting on the bed watching Magnus trying time and time again to create something to no avail. "Mag? What's wrong?"

At the sound of his boyfriend's voice Magnus turned towards him "I'm scared. I'm scared that if I let go, I will lose my powers. I can't lose my powers, Alexander."

Before Alec could answer, Jace piped in "Why don't you bind them to yourself?"

Magnus turned to him confused "Care to elaborate?"

"I don't know how, but I've heard it's possible. You could bind your powers to your body and soul. That way no matter how much power you transfer into your creation, you will never lose them." Jace added as an afterthought "Unless you die of course."

Magnus squinted his eyes at him unable to believe that Jace came up with something that actually sounded like the solution to their problem. "I knew you could be useful, Goldilocks. I just thought it would be in another lifetime."

Magnus got to work with his binding spell and Jace went to sit by Alec's side.

While watching Magnus do the spell, Alec whispered to Jace "Do you think it's going to work?"

"The imposter thing? I don't know. I hope Leviathan knows his brother as good as he thinks he does, or else we're all screwed."

Jem was done with the interviews for today. He had seen some pretty good people. He had found the right chef, who apparently would bring his own assistants and tomorrow he would find the rest of the waiting staff. For now, he would call Leo to offer him officially the job.

Leo was sitting in his living room waiting for the phone to ring, when it finally did. He picked it up right away. "Hello? Leo speaking"

"Hello? This is Jem. I called to tell you that you have the job, if you want it."

"Really? Yes! Thank you! Of course I want it!" Leo said excitedly.

"Good. I'll e-mail you your hours and when you start working. See you soon Leo."

"Thank you, Jem. See you soon." Leo hung up and smiled to himself.

"Well?" The brown haired handsome man asked his from his armchair.

"He bought it, Master."

"Good." Lucifer grinned. "Let's see what my son is up to, now."

What is Lucifer up to now? Hanging out with mundanes? What do you think about Jace's idea? Will it work?

Here's a little spoiler for the next chapter:

"Do you know what my father used to tell me? 'Love is to destroy.'" He paused for a moment and saw Magnus looking at him. He locked eyes with the warlock and said "Do you know what I would tell him if he were here? I would tell him that love is not a weakness, it is a strength. A strength that has no rival. If your love is as strong as to undo you, then you should embrace it, because your undoing will be the sweetest of all."

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Thank you!