Clary P.o.v.: Clary shut her door and flopped down on the bed. What was going on between Alec and Jace lately? And why was she apparently involved in all this?

At least Isabelle didn't seem to be as mad at her as she had been before. Now that the boys had 'made up' when she yelled at them, Isabelle was a lot nicer.

Clary picked up her sketchbook and started to draw. She drew until her hand hurt, and crumpled the paper into a ball without looking at it. When she threw it across the room, it bounced off the far wall and landed behind the small desk in the corner. She hated not being able to do anything.

When Valentine had been terrorizing everyone on a regular basis, there had at least been something to do. Now, there was absolutely nothing to distract her.

Tears started to leave her eyes before she could stop them from rolling down her cheeks. Before now, she had always had training, trying to plan against her father's attacks, fighting demons, and everything else in the life of a Shadowhunter. Now there was nothing to do, and nothing to stop her desperation from setting in.

It was time to face the facts. She and Jace could never actually be together.

After all, what would Simon say? What would Isabelle think? And Alec? The rest of the Lightwoods? Hell, what would the rest of the entire Shadowhunting world think? What would Valentine- no, Clary didn't really care what their father thought.

But everyone else would be disappointed, angry, disgusted, and not one of them would ever understand.

So how would she tell Jace? Knowing him, he might go off and do something incredibly stupid and get himself killed, or at least physically damaged somehow. And she cared enough about him that she didn't want that to happen. Hell, she cared too much for him completely!

"Clary?" Maryse Lightwood stood in the doorway, beckoning her to come along, "I'd like you to meet our newest 'resident'. That is, he will be staying with us for a few months or so."

They reached the kitchen, where a boy with jet black hair was sitting at the table.

"This is Sebastian Verlac. He's visiting from the Beijing Institute. Sebastian, this is Clary."

The boy looked at her with dark eyes scorching, blacker than his hair; Clary felt a strange feeling- a connection between them.

AN: And now you probably all hate me. But, I'm not going to apologize for bringing Seb/J.C. into this thing, so… suck it up, I guess. Or leave a flame or something. Your choice ^_^

Jace P.o.v: Jace couldn't believe this. There was something about this new kid at the Institute- Sebastian, or something like that- that he couldn't quite put his finger on.

It was… unsettling somehow, and that made Jace extremely uncomfortable. Nothing was supposed to make him nervous, or even apprehensive in the slightest. It just went against his nature completely.

Still, there was something about him that reminded Jace of his father- in the haughty dark eyes. And there was something that reminded his of Jace in the swagger, the way he already looked like he owned everything. Which, he supposed, also came from his father.

Maybe it was the resemblance of his father in the new kid that Jace immediately hated him for.

Or perhaps it was just the fact that when Jace had entered the kitchen, Sebastian had been sitting at the kitchen table with Clary, and they were laughing together. Clary had a huge smile on her face, and the fact that someone she barely even knew could merit such a response for a joke that surely could not have been all that funny made him sick to his stomach.

Still, he had swallowed back the bile rising in his throat and continued into the kitchen with a loud cough to break up the last of the laughs. Jace had introduced himself, barely bothering with injecting any measure of false warmth into his voice, and shook Sebastian's hand more firmly than was probably necessary.

"Clary," he had only nodded in way of greeting, "Meet me in the training room in ten." Before she could respond, he had disappeared. She was probably confused by his somewhat cold demeanor, but Jace was past caring about that now. All he needed to focus on right now was the threat this new kid posed him. And how to kill him quickly and silently and make it look like an accident, or a demon attack. He shook his head at himself slowly. Really, he was getting ahead of himself. He couldn't kill Sebastian yet. It would be way too suspicious.

Jace began formulating a new plan. He would devote his time to two things and those two things alone. One was to keep Clary away from Sebastian at all times if possible. The other was to 'befriend' Sebastian so when the time came to get rid of him, it wouldn't be as obvious.

Shit. Jace had completely forgotten about getting revenge on Alec. That would have to wait, he supposed, seeing as spending time with Clary and Sebastian while keeping them as far apart as possible was going to be very difficult.

He'd just have to ignore Alec and pretend he was acting very immaturely and giving him the silent treatment. It wouldn't be nearly as fun as gluing everything he owned to the ceiling, but frankly, Jace didn't have time for that now. He was utterly preoccupied.

He headed out of the Institute towards the coffee shop a few blocks over. This was going to take a lot of time and energy, and he was going to need a caffeine boost.

By the time Jace had gotten his coffee, he realized that he had completely forgotten to meet Clary. Damnit. He started back to the Institute, sloshing the hot liquid down his arm in his haste and swearing profusely.

Alec was walking towards the elevator when Jace stepped out of it.

"Jace," he began, "I'm sor-"

Jace cut him off, "Can't talk right now, Alec," forgetting that he was supposed to be ignoring him like a pouty two year old.

"No, Jace, this is important!"

Jace pushed past him, "I don't care. I don't have time for you right now," and continued on his way without so much as a backwards glance.

Alec sighed, disheartened, and headed out to go see Magnus and sulk. However, when he left, the dark haired boy he had met earlier was standing in front of the Institute, seemingly waiting for him.

He nodded at him slightly and continued on his way. Alec wasn't in the mood to talk to anyone besides Magnus right now.

Suddenly, a pair of hands reached out and dragged him into an alleyway that was surprisingly dark for it being the middle of the day.

"Hello Alexander," came a cool voice that was terrifyingly familiar from his childhood. Oh fuck.

AN: So, I finally wrote a bit. I had a small bit of inspiration as a nice break from a long period of writers block. Reviews are always welcome, as you should know by now. Also, there's a poll on my profile page regarding this story so go vote for an ending please (not that this will be ending that soon- I have plenty more plot twists I need to work in first.) Check out my new twoshot story: All of His Life (only part one is up so far) and let me know what you think. I think that's all the stuff I have to cover in this thing, so… Press the lovely shiny button!

-Fiori ^_^