I figured I had you guys in enough suspense as it is, so here you go! Sorry for the long time without an update :( Schoolwork is getting harder and harder, grr. But I hope this satisfies you all! Just a quick warning: this update hops around A LOT. So get ready for a lot of sporadicalness!

Songs:

I'm making this Inception-based because to be honest, Hans Zimmer is a GENIUS. This is in scene change order, mind you.

Half-Remembered Dream by Hans Zimmer (When the scene is in Jace's POV)

Time by Hans Zimmer (This song perfectly fits Simon as soon as they um, 'burst in' and he finds Clary…yeah…must I say more?)

Dream is Collapsing by Hans Zimmer

Slow Me Down by Emmy Rossum (When a certain you-know-who wakes up…just read on!)

Alec had his head down low to avoid seeing any more than he wanted to see and was on the verge of losing whatever shred of patience he had left in him when the door suddenly flew open–literally, flying off of its hinges.

"ALEC!" a baritone voice bellowed. "Where in the Angel's name are you?"

"In here!" Alec called out, beyond relieved. Seeing his boyfriend with his inky black hair on the fritz with a cloud of glitter surrounding him made Alec's heart soar. I never thought I'd see you again…and I almost died just thinking about that.

"Oh thank the Angel," Magnus sighed dramatically, walking over to Alec and kissing him on the lips. "I swore I thought I'd never see you again–and that's not the half of it. I thought I'd never–"

"Hey, uh, do you mind?" Izzy shouted, causing Magnus to jump ten feet in the air.

Magnus turned around to face her, his cat eyes narrowed into slits. "And who the hell are you?"

"Your apparent boyfriend's sister," Izzy spat back. "And I'd be beyond furious at you right now if it weren't for the fact that you're going to save us." Izzy turned her gaze to a mortified Alec and raised an eyebrow. "How did he know where we were? I didn't even get my cellphone out."

It was true; Simon was too humiliated to even attempt taking the phone out with his mouth since his hands were a bit tied up at the moment.

"I texted him before telling him where I was going," Alec shrugged, struggling to act nonchalant with his not-so-secretive boyfriend and sister in the same room. "And now I don't regret it." Turning his gaze back to Magnus, he asked, "How did you manage to break down that door?"

"Dearest Alec"–Magnus took a step closer and Alec stared incredulously as the air around Magnus' fingers swirled blue–"there are certain things about myself I rarely reveal to anyone. This would be one of them." And as if they were made from powder, the ropes binding Alec and his sister to Simon fell apart in a pile of powder.

Alec gaped at his boyfriend, too stunned beyond belief.

"I'll explain later," Magnus said in earnest. "But I do believe there is someone in need of some rescuing?"

Jace's feet slipped out from underneath him yet again, causing him to stir from his sleep when the manacles around his ankles and wrists held him from collapsing to the ground. He hadn't slept, showered, eaten in days and instead spent the time sweating or bleeding as he contemplated death. Death would be so easy; no more pain, no more emotions, no more worrying about dying or not. If only it was easy to achieve.

"…But Master, it'd be so much easier if we just took over now…"

Jace's ears perked up at that. Since he had no other way of knowing what time it was, he went by whenever Valentine talked to his minions–which, he figured, was around nighttime settling into early morning since they weren't needed on deck to feign actual workers. Jace didn't know why Valentine was so open to talking about his plans in front of him and figured the psycho was either careless or simply didn't care at this point since it was clear Jace couldn't run away. Jace figured it was the latter.

"…Too soon and I don't want to risk things getting out of hand…"

"…We're already ready, sir, and it's going to save us time…"

"…Dare you defy me!"

The whistling sound of air being sliced through was Jace's only clue to the minion's demise–that, and the sickening splat as it landed on the ground. Surviving what had to be possibly the third day on the cruise, Jace was already immune to Valentine's malicious ways. He didn't even flinch when he heard the body crumple to the floor–not the way he had the first few times he heard the others.

"Father?"

"What, Jonathan?"

"Garial is right. Striking now is the perfect time. Waiting until tomorrow night is too long, and surely the other families have noticed their children are gone. It's still early now, even for the working humans, and we should take advantage of the nightfall while it shields us still."

Jace sucked in a breath in anticipation as Valentine considered this. Squeezing his eyes shut, Jace prayed that Valentine would follow his son's advice so that he could finally put his plan into action.

But he would never get to hear his response, because the moment Valentine opened his mouth to voice his opinion, the boiler room was suddenly glowing with such intensity, Jace roared as he closed his eyes shut–but even so, the pure whiteness made it behind his eyelids. Then came the thunderous boom as the triple metal boiler room door was flung off its hinges and crashed into the far side of the room, knocking off several pipes in its flight path and causing Jace's ear drums to explode as a high-pitched whistling sound reached them.

Upon forcing his eyes open, Jace watched as four figures appeared at the doorway, the bright blue light lighting their silhouettes from behind. The last thing Jace noticed before allowing himself to finally succumb to relief was the glare of the light shooting back at him from a pair of glasses nestled crookedly on the scrawniest of the four figures, magnifying black beady eyes that stared at him incredulously.

Simon had a dream; it was of nine-year-old Simon in a red cape with the wind whipping past his face as he flew into action to save the pretty girl next door's cat from a tree with the Thundercats theme song in the background. Sure, the dream was a little outdated–hell, the song choice at the time was just awful–but at the time, he wanted nothing more than to be a hero in someone's eyes.

Never in a million years would he actually believe that someday, this dream would come true–only for it to be thrown back into his face. Standing in the threshold where a triple-layered metal door once stood beside his girlfriend, her brother and her brother's once-mythical warlock didn't really help the case, either.

Blinking around to adjust his eyes, Simon took in the creepy pipes, the steam that quickly fogged his glasses and felt his body slip into 'FLIGHT' mode. But when Izzy grabbed his hand, already sensitive to his emotions, Simon felt grounded and more determined than ever. If whatever Magnus told them was true, then this sicko was the reason for Clary's disappearance and Simon wanted to be there to make sure he could watch the man's demise at Magnus' hands.

"Jace!" Izzy shrieked, dragging Simon with her to where the blond boy was chained up against an upside down 'T' made out of pipes, his hands handcuffed around the pipe and his ankles shackled to the bottom pipe.

But before they could make it over to the boy, Simon slipped on something wet and fell backwards, landing with a sharp burst of pain on his back. Groaning, Simon propped himself up on his elbow and glanced around, only to experience a pain that made the experience of getting kicked below the belt feel like a pinch.

"C-C-" was all he managed to get out before a sob tightly constricted his windpipe, rendering speaking impossible. There she lay, pale as ever, her eyes glazed over and wide with fear, in a pool of her own blood. Only because he had to, Simon forced himself to glance down at the source and had to close his eyes a second later, because the sight of it was enough to make him want to puke.

"Si–" he heard someone rasp behind him. But he couldn't force himself to remove his gaze from his sister's face. She was so beautiful, the way he always remembered her to be; a flood of memories poured into his mind, one after the other, taunting him the longer he stared at her. There would be no more memories after this…

"Simon," Jace forced himself to say. "She did this to herself. She did it to live."

With tentative fingers, Simon reached out and moved a hair from her face, tucking it gently behind her eerily cool ear before removing his hand away. "But…why?" he whispered. "Why would she ever…?"

"Because of this guy," Magnus interrupted, cutting off Jace. All heads snapped up to where Magnus stood in the center of the room, both of his hands holding back the man Jace had used to represent all things evil in the known universe. Valentine put up no battle as the warlock moved towards the group, instead, he smiled as they moved out of his way. "Isn't that right?"

"He's not going to speak," Jace spat, staring Valentine in the eye. But no matter how much rage he put into his stare, Valentine only stared back with a look a notch above pure boredom. "He knows better than to give voice the sick thoughts in his mind."

This caused a spark of amusement to light up behind the man's eyes. "Very good, boy. Seems you've learned an awful lot these past three days, haven't you? Too bad it's not enough, nor will it ever be."

"God, just SHUT UP, WILL YOU?" Jace bellowed, fighting against his restraints. "You twisted, evil, poor excuse of a human being! How could you do such a thing and still deserve the privilege to live while others die at your mercy?"

Valentine narrowed his eyes imperceptibly but said nothing.

"Jace," Magnus spoke up. "How much do you know, exactly? Because what I'd like to know is if we've got to keep this bastard alive or not."

"Kill him," Jace said without hesitation. "Kill him as slowly and as painfully as you can manage. That's all I'll ever need to know."

Magnus exchanged a look with Alec, who shrugged but nodded his head anyway. Glancing around and exchanging looks with everyone, Magnus finally sighed and complied with Jace's orders. With a quick flick of the wrist, the reign of terror was finally over –for now, at least.

"Half the crew is made up of demons," Jace explained as Magnus quickly undid the manacles and healed his wounds with magical blue sparks. "I have no idea just how loyal they are to Valentine, but I'm pretty sure they won't be too much of a burden. He seemed to use intimidation in order to get them to obey, so with him out of the picture, I'm sure taming them will be easy. Unless you have other things in mind…?"

With one last glance-over, Magnus sighed. "Demons aren't like normal Downworlders; once they swear fealty, they're loyal for as long as you make them to be. We can't risk it. Unfortunately for me, none of you seemed to be trained properly to protect your own lives, so this fight is mainly for me."

"Not true," Jace persisted as Magnus switched his attention to Clary. When Magnus placed two fingers on her wrist, Jace fell silent and felt his own heart pick up double time as Magnus tried to pick up a pulse. When Magnus gave him a curt nod, Jace sighed in relief.

"What do you mean by 'not true'?" Alec asked from behind the two.

Jace turned around and gave the boy a curious look. "My father–Stephen–he told me I was an experiment. That I was created for a special reason, and I assume this has something to do with my training."

"Training?" Alec looked incredulous.

Jace rolled his eyes. "You heard me right. Ever since I was born, I was taught to use anything as a weapon, from an AK-47 to a plastic knife. 'Kalashnikov' was the first word I learned how to say, if that helps. And weaponry isn't my specialty–hand-to-hand combat is moreover my forte."

Simon–who stood next to Izzy–blanched. "What a pleasant thought, considering you're dating my sister."

Jace tossed Simon a crooked smile. "Think of it this way, Garroway. At least she'll be safe with me."

"Until she breaks up with you," Simon mumbled.

"There's always that," Izzy agreed.

"Will you all just stop talking for a second?" Magnus' voice was strained and immediately drew the attention back to him as blue sparks–more vibrant than ever–flowed from his fingertips and into Clary's orifices. Leaning in closer, Alec touched Magnus' shoulder to get a glimpse and immediately felt his energy being sucked out from him through the fingers that touched Magnus.

"Alec," Magnus warned, glancing up at his boyfriend.

"Use it," Alec said through clenched teeth. "For her. Please." Alec fought back the blackness that threatened to suck him in by focusing on the look of awe and admiration on his boyfriend's face and forced a smile on his face to prove to everyone that he was okay. What he didn't expect was to see Jace take a step forward, placing a firm hand on the warlock's other shoulder and Izzy along with Simon following suit soon after. "Use it all."

At first, there was nothing. She was floating in a black abyss with no sense of direction, just simply hovering in place with a sense of pleasant weightlessness. But then, with the force of a wrecking ball hitting against a concrete wall, she was no longer insubstantial; she had weight that tugged her downwards and caused her to fall, the wind to whip her hair around her face as she descended…

Thud. She landed into a tight, confined space that ached everywhere. Oh, how she longed to be gaseous once more, to feel truly free in every sense of the word, instead of cramped up in the confined prison that was her body.

Excruciating pain was a constant reminder that she could no longer return to that delightful form along with the sensation that something was slowly stroking her head. Reality settling in, she fluttered her eyelids open and inhaled her very first breath of life that she never thought she would have again.

"Clary," a voice rasped, followed by distinct murmurs that she couldn't register over the loud thumping of her heart. She turned her head towards the source out of instinct and felt her weak heart soar as it took in beautiful piercing amber eyes–the very ones she fell in love with–set in a beautiful, angular face contorted with pain and relief. "You're alive."

Since her first breath, breathing was coming more naturally, but she couldn't trust her voice just yet. The bitter taste in her mouth informed her that talking was probably something she didn't want to try just yet, so she nodded once, more than relieved she had ever been in her entire life.

Alive. How glorious and beautiful that word sounded. Was it true? Had she been dead for a few hours, almost beyond the brink of return, only to be back again? Was she sure that this wasn't some sort of mind-trick, that maybe she was already in Heaven, looking down on Earth from afar? Or maybe she hadn't really died at all, because really, how was coming back to life after being dead for hours even possible?

But none of those questions mattered the moment her eyes fell on Jace's. Because she was back again–for some reason–and she had Jace back, and that was all that mattered to her. Oh, and Simon too.

The moment Clary sucked in a deep breath was like the sound of angels singing to Jace's ears. For the longest time, Jace felt as if he would never see her again and had already put up a defensive wall around his heart to ensure that the death of her wouldn't be nearly as painful as it could be in order for him to focus on the task at hand. But now the murderous weasel was gone for good and he could finally let himself feel for the first time in days.

"Oh God," Jace rasped, leaning over and pulling Clary's head into his lap–too afraid to make any sudden gestures that might harm her. "You're alive! Thank the Angel."

Jace never showed emotion in general, so crying his heart out in front of five other people who actually understood what ordeal he'd just been through was an emotional milestone. Still, he didn't flinch when he felt Izzy's hand on his back, rubbing soft soothing circles on his back or when Simon pulled Clary's right hand into his lap and intertwined her fingers with his. Because in the end, in their own way, they all understood and empathized with each other–and that's all that mattered at the moment.

That is, until Jace realized something horribly wrong. He tensed up immediately, causing Izzy's hand to still as she asked him what was wrong. But he barely heard her voice over the rolling waves of self-loathing in his mind that slammed down on him as he realized he had overlooked a small detail that should have never been overlooked.

"Magnus," Jace said, sounding eerily calm, "is Valentine the only person you managed to find the moment you stormed in?"

Comprehending and regretting the fact that he did, Magnus answered honestly. "Yes."

Jace sighed, his muscles tensing up the way they did moments before a fight. "We shouldn't have counted our eggs before they hatched."

For all those who thought her dead, well, what do you think now? It's never a good story if it doesn't have a good twist to it!

Clary: I agree. I very much prefer being alive, thank you very much.

Jace: As do I.

Simon: I concur.

Jace: About time you guys showed up, too.

Izzy: Don't complain! As you've probably read, we were in our own predicament.

Alec: Yeah!

Jace: Sorry, I must've skipped over it in search for more awesome parts about me.

Izzy: Self-absorbed prick.

Jace: Narcissistic primadonna.

Alec: Ugh, really guys?

Izzy: Batshit crazy asswad!

Jace: Ego-tripping princess-wannabe.

Simon: Assburger with a side of skankfries!

*Jace raises an eyebrow*

Jace: I think I've just lost my appetite.

Simon: That so? Got any room for the taste of defeat?

Jace: Virgin.

*Clary slaps Jace*

Clary: STOP IT!

Me: Ugh…Is it bad of me to admit I secretly missed this bantering?