Clary fidgeted with the clean hospital sheets draped over her legs. Her back was against a big, fluffy pillow, but it didn't help ease her anxiety. In front of her, holding a sort of notepad in one hand and a mug of coffee in the other was the weirdest man she had ever met. His hair was spiked up in odd angles. It looked as if he had dyed it with a rainbow dispenser, with a thick sprinkle of what looked like glitter. He wore a white coat over a yellow button-up shirt and blue skinny jeans. She was amazed and horrified that he was assigned to be her doctor. She was even more so about him being allowed in a hospital at all, considering the chemical substances he had in his hairdo. For a full five minutes, she paid attention at the way he nodded and how the glitter didn't even fall off. Maybe he was safe? For the patients, at least?

Finally, he looked up at her and smiled. Weirdly, his friendly demeanor made her relax. Her fingers stopped trying to claw holes in the fabric. "Well, I've read everything. You had quite the nightmare, Ms. Fray."

She nodded mutely. When she had woken up, dazed and stunned, Jace and the others were there at her side. Isabelle had squealed with relief and hugged the lights out of her. Maia was muttering curses of how worried she was in a chair next to her. Max and Alec were absent, because it was nearly 5 a.m. and Max was obviously out of place in the hospital. Alec had driven him up to the house and comforted him there. Jace was pacing agitatedly when she had opened her eyes. He was the one who ran out the door and demanded the sleepy nurse to come and take care of her. She felt a little bad, but still recounted her dream, and the nice woman wrote it down. Isabelle, Maia and Jace were waiting for her outside, probably asleep on the chairs since it was still pretty early in the morning. Herself? She couldn't bring herself to take a short nap without remembering that damn dream.

The man spun a chair before sitting on it, his elbows over the back of it. His position was so much of young man's that she was starting to question his age. She couldn't really tell from the eyeliner. He eyed her a little drowsily, but with every bit of kindness and curiosity of a cat's. "So, this boy in your dream. Is it a close friend?"

Clary shrugged. "Not exactly. We're friends, sure, but… it's complicated, Mr…"

"Bane," He said. "Mr. Bane. But I like it better when people call me Magnus. Please, go ahead, try it out."

"Okay… Magnus."

"There ya go." He grin. "If I have to guess, this boy – Jace, was it? – is actually more than a friend, to you at least. You like him?"

Clary's cheeks reddened. "I-I suppose."

"And in the dream, he was disappearing. Why is that? Is Jace moving away?"

"No. No, that's not it. He goes to the same school as me. He's… actually right outside."

"Ah," He nodded, understanding. "I figured as much. Tall teenager, with blond hair and all the girls look at him?"

"H-How'd you know?"

"I saw him before coming in. There were two other girls with him, but they were asleep on the couches. Him, well, he was constantly looking over at your door. Did you know he has this habit of shaking his left leg when he's impatient?"

All she could do was shake her head. Jace was… that worried about her? After everything that she did? After everything that she said?

"Anyway," He cleared his throat and took a sip of coffee. He nudged the mug to her. "Want some?" She politely declined. "Suit yourself. So, Jace was slowly disappearing in front of you, and yet he begged you to save him. And judging from your reaction just now, you two aren't in very good terms. Did it ever occur to you that maybe you had this dream because of this?"

"I'd like to say I did, but I haven't really been able to think clearly. You know, I just woke up like about an hour ago."

"Right. So, here's what I think: You were afraid that your relationship with him would end tragically, and he would walk away." She nodded. "But you know, or at least think, that there's something holding him back, and it's making him stay. He needs something from you. Any idea what that means?"

Nervously, she chewed on her lower lip. The memory of him pouring his heart out in front of her, of the story between him and his biological family, came to her head. He confessed that it was the first time he told anyone about it. If he had kept it bottled up for all those years, then there must've been something about her that melted him so badly as to reveal such a vital secret, right?

"Help me."

His words echoed again. How was she supposed to help him? She wanted to, so badly. She yearned to lift the burden off his shoulders. Through the strong façade of Jace Lightwood was a crying little boy screaming for his parents to come back. She hardly remembered her mother. She had a few photos of her in her room. When her father was at home, he would tell her stories of when Jocelyn was alive. Even then it was hard for her to accept that her mother was gone, and she had barely known her. Jace, who was old enough to remember, old enough to get scarred for life, experienced both of his parents leaving.

Magnus dug around in his pocket and held out a small transparent plastic bag with a few tablets of what looked like sleep pills. "Take these before you sleep. This should help get you a good night's rest." He produced another thing from his other pocket. It was a card. "There's my phone number in here. This may sound surprising, but I'm a real doctor. I did not kidnap one from this hospital, nor did I take his clothes. Besides that, I'm trained in psychology. If you ever need anything, give me a call."

She took them gratefully. For what felt like years, she smiled. "So, do all your patients get such good treatment?"

"Nahh," He snorted. "Most of them try to call security, only to be laughed at. You, on the other hand, didn't. I like that. And," He stood up. "You called me Magnus. I absolutely detest being called Mr. Bane. Thank you, Ms. Fray."

"Clary. It's Clary Fray."

"Well, Clary," He helped her off the bed and ushered her to the door, flinging it open with so much style she couldn't hold in her laughter. "You're free to go!"

~0~0~

"Maiaaaaa," Clary gently poked her friend's cheek. "Wake upppp…"

Maia groaned and swatted her hand away. "Five more minutes, Jordan…"

Jace scoffed. Isabelle giggled. "Jordan's not here, stupid."

Maia's eyes flew open. She sat up and scrubbed her palms over her sleepy face. "Wha… Where am I?"

"You're making it sound as if you were the one rushed over here, Roberts." Jace commented.

Maia blinked a few times before realization dawned on her. "Oh yeah! Damn, Fray, you okay?"

"I'm fine. Just tired."

The front door opened, but they didn't turn their head. Maia let out a huge yawn. "We should probably−"

"CLARY!"

The redhead was suddenly attacked of what looked like a tiny bear with glasses. Arms were locked around her, nearly suffocating her. She was so stunned that it took a few seconds to recognize the person. "Simon?!"

He untangled himself from her and took her by the shoulders. "Alec called me! Well, okay, not exactly. I suddenly woke up in cold sweat and the first thing I thought about was checking up on you. Yeah, it sounds strange, almost crazy, too, but I'm serious. So, when I called your cell phone, Alec was the one who picked up. He told me that you had some sort of panic attack and that you were in the F-ing hospital! I got here as fast as I could. Are you okay?"

She could barely believe it. Simon was never a morning person. Absolutely never a morning person. He got cranky when he didn't get enough sleep. He once yelled at his alarm clock for waking him up from a fantastic dream and ended up throwing it out the window. The fact that he had somehow sensed her in pain alone made her heart soar. But he had come all the way from his house to the hospital to check on her?

Clary grinned and pulled him over for another hug. "I'm okay, Si. You have no idea how much it means to me that you're here."

Slowly, Simon's shoulders relaxed. This time, his embrace was gentle and comforting. "Of course I'd come."

And Jace just had to interject them right there. "So, Lewis, you got a ride for us or what?"

Simon glared at him over Clary's shoulder. "Shut it, Lightwood. We're having a moment."

He held up his hands in mock surrender. "Just askin'."

"Anyway, Clary, I called Jon and Luke on the way. They should be here in a few minutes."

Car tires screeched in the parking lot. Two dark vehicles were parked in front of the sliding glass doors, and two men got out hurriedly. "Or, maybe they're already here." Simon mumbled.

Jon was the first one to enter the building. His eyes found Clary's in no time at all, as if they were magnets. "Clary!" He shouted. He ran over to them and gave her a hug of his own. For a moment, Clary was content being in his arms again. He held her firmly, but not too tight like Simon. He was caressing her hair in the most caring way possible. Clary couldn't help smiling into his jacket. Despite the dropping temperature, she felt warm. She felt completely and utterly safe. "Oh God, I was so worried."

"I'm still alive, Jon, don't be so dramatic." Clary laughed.

"Yeah, Jon," Jace spat. Clary instantly jumped away from the other boy. She cursed under her breath. How could she have forgotten? Jace was right behind her, and she just went and hugged the one guy that was making things complicated between them. She mentally slapped herself. Jace continued, "Don't be so dramatic. You can keep your hands to yourself."

Jon's eyes shot daggers at him. "What, so you could have your own hands on her instead?"

"I just don't like guys who don't get the message of 'breaking up' very well."

Before Jonathan could retort, a middle-aged man appeared. His dark hair was a bit disarrayed, like he had been woken up too quickly. He probably was, considering it was around 6. He pushed up his glasses as he clapped Jonathan's shoulder. "Hey, what's all the commotion here?" He asked.

"Luke?" Jace's jaw dropped.

"Luke!" Clary jumped up and engulfed him in her tiny arms. He stumbled slightly, but stood his ground while he laughed happily. When her feet touched the ground again, her smile was starting to hurt. "Luke, I missed you!"

"Aww, I missed you, too, Clary." He ruffled her hair affectionately.

"Okay, okay, time out!" Jace made a T with his hands, clearly dumbfounded. "You mean to tell me that my freaking boss is… is your… ummm…"

"He's my godfather." Clary explained shortly. "My mom's best friend. Didn't I mention him before?"

"Luke is a pretty common name, Clary."

Luke nodded his head in hello. "Morning, Jace. I would say that I'm surprised to see you here, but Clary has told me that you're a close friend of hers now. And, by the way, if you ever skip your shift like you had this Saturday, I'll fire you. Got it?"

Jace opened and closed his mouth repeatedly.

Clary cleared her throat. "Um, Luke, these are my new friends." She introduced each of them. "They helped me out when I… you know."

"I am incredibly grateful. But, are you alright, Clary?"

"For the hundredth time, I'm fine. I just need some sleep."

"We'd better get home soon, too." Isabelle chimed in. The girl had been so quite Clary barely remembered that she was there. "It was nice meeting you, Mr. Luke."

"Of course. Thank you all again for taking care of Clary."

"No problem."

"So, Clary, wanna go home?" Jon asked. "I'll drive you."

"Yeah, home would be good." Clary rubbed her temples.

Jonathan immediately placed his hands over hers. "Are you okay?" He whispered.

With her cheeks reddening, she nodded. She caught the sight of his sweet smile before he lowered his lips down to hers.

Luke turned to Jace. Luckily, the older man didn't notice his shaking fists. "Jace, you take my car and drive your sister home. I'll expect you to bring it to my shop on time for your shift and unscratched."

Jace shook out of his trance and accepted the car keys. "Yes, sir."

I'm so lazy today, ugh.