AN: Hey guys! It's been a while, but I'm back and here to stay! So here's your next chapter and it's exciting! Thanks for Dayannacahillfraychase my awesome BETA and writing partner. Our writing sessions are always so eventful.

Anyhow, here you go, enjoy.

Cruel Reflections

All characters belong to Cassandra Clare

Chapter 26

Alec's point of view

The amount of crazy Isabelle had been putting on for the past few days was unmeasurable. She'd been acting like a lunatic. For a minute Alec had considered she was drinking something stronger than iced tea. She kept staring at him in a quizzical manner and discretely raising her thin eyebrows when she thought he wasn't looking. It was really getting on his nerves. And on that Saturday morning Alec had had enough. He was sipping on his coffee, minding his own business, when Isabelle sat in front of him and smacked her lips. "Soo…whatcha doing today?"

"Working," Alec answered.

"That's all?" Isabelle asked.

"Yeah. I might see Lydia after work though," Alec answered.

"Right, Lydia," Isabelle stated and smiled to herself.

"What is up with you?" Alec asked. "You're acting all weird."

"It's nothing new. I'm always weird. Maybe you've finally got your nose off the screen of your phone so that you noticed it." Isabelle ran her pale hand through her long dark hair and flipped it nonchalantly.

Very suspicious, Alec thought, very suspicious indeed. "Yeah, well I've been busy with friends."

"Yeah." Isabelle rolled her eyes and got up to leave with a croissant in her left hand and a glass of ice tea in the other. "Have fun with Lydia."

"Yeah, I will."

The hours literally dragged their claws into time and space making the day droop forward. Alec was stuck home until eleven, that's when his shift at Walmart began, before that he sat on the couch with his mother and watched Dragon's Den. Usually it would have been a hoot, Maryse was quite entertaining when watching day time TV, but he had his mind on other things, such as suspiciously acting little sisters. However, for the time being, he'd just have to settle for oohing and aahing as Maryse made comments about the products being pitched.

At ten thirty he decided he had to get out of the house, even if that meant being early for his shift. He ran a comb through his black hair and made it look less messy than it was, but it was still a fine degree of messy. He wore black jeans and a light blue T-shirt and a brown parka-jacket. He added a blue scarf and figured that his outfit would be Magnus approved.

He kissed his mother goodbye and swiftly shuffled his way to his beloved car. He started the engine and settled his hands on the wheel, letting his brains gear into autopilot. Driving was a good pastime for him. It made his mind focus on something else than problems or naked Magnus (which by the way happened to cause problems of its own). He was like a zombie in a way, a mad conscientious law abiding driver zombie. He smiled at the thought and enjoyed the smooth drive to work. He parked in the employee spots and jiggled his car keys as he walked in. A few of his colleagues waved at him or gave a hazardous nod to acknowledge his presence. He waved back and gave a smile. He happened to believe in smiles and what they could do. He believed they cheered up everyone around them.

Although, as he finished his shift that had been full of reorganizing stuff people put in the wrong aisles and getting yelled at by a lady named Helen, even he wasn't so sure a smile could make his day any better. He was way too happy to be taking off his work attire and slipping into his comfy jacket. He sat in the employees room for a while and then decided that he had to leave or he'd be late for Lydia's coffee invite. He drove like a zombie again. The snow had stopped piling to the ground so it was rather easy to navigate. Still, as Alec got out of the car he felt the bitter air pinch his cheeks making him hurry into his favorite coffee shop. Lydia sat in the corner table, her head buried deep into a book she seemed to be sifting through. Her blonde hair was strewn across her shoulders covered by a little deep purple hat. She looked like the kind of girl Alec would have been intimidated by if he hadn't known her. Her attire was spot on, but still messy enough to make it seem as if she didn't really care. As she saw Alec walk towards her she smiled brightly. Alec noticed that her teeth were in immaculate order, like, Hollywood immaculate. "Hey," she chimed and got up to give Alec a warm hug.

"Hey," Alec replied as they sat back down. "Is the book any good?"

"Meh, it's trashy," Lydia replied her smile not wavering.

"So just the way you like it?" Alec asked, playfully winking.

"Exactly, Lightwood." Lydia put her book in her rainbow colored bag and took a bite from her cinnamon bun. "So how's your day been so far?"

"Crap," Alec answered honestly.

"Oh, do tell," Lydia encouraged. She looked as if she was ready to tackle all of Alec's problems.

"Well, as Izzy's been weird. Weirder than normally. She's really bugging me. Plus work was…I mean I got yelled at by some lady who threatened to call my manager and I when I said I was the manager she lost it. I mean she stomped her foot like she was a five-year-old having a temper tantrum."

"Was her name Joan?"

"It might as well be," Alec sighed. "But how about you?"

"Well I woke up at noon, wasn't half as productive as you were. I got one assignment done and then I came here to talk trash with you."

"Yeah, I'm glad you chose this place. It's my favorite," Alec laughed.

"Really?" Lydia laughed. "I picked this place because I get free cookies and coffee."

"Huh?" Alec asked, his interest was immediately captured by the words "coffee" and "free".

"Yeah, my step mom owns the place," Lydia said. "Remember? The one that makes poisonous cookies."

"Poisonous cookies?" Alec asked, his brain was pulling a blank. Could Lydia really be talking about Charlotte?

"Well I don't have proof yet, but it's either arsenic or anti-freeze." Lydia laughed lightly. She topped as she saw Alec's confused and a bit horrified look. "I'm just kidding. Calm down."

"Charlotte is your step mom?" Alec blurted out. It wasn't exactly the most discrete way to ask the question, but it got the job done.

"Um…yeah," Lydia answered. "You know her?"

"Yeah, I mean I don't know her, like, know, know her, but I do know her," Alec answered, fully aware of the fact that his words were cluttering together again. "She owns this place. I had a summer job here once."

"Oh," was all that Lydia said as she pressed her thin lips together.

"She's super sweet. Not the poisonous cookie type at all," Alec added.

"Wow," Lydia laughed, nervously. "Well this is awkward."

"No, it's great. I can confirm to you. Charlotte is super nice," Alec replied and offered Lydia his kindest smile.

She grimaced and stirred her coffee. "Yeah, but you see it's in the step daughter code to hate your step mom."

"That makes absolutely no sense," Alec sighed. "Why wouldn't you just look at the bright side? You have a nice step mom and you get free cookies and coffee. It could be worse."

"I supposed," Lydia sighed and rolled her gray eyes. "I just wish she hadn't made my dad drag us here."

"Again, it could be worse. You could be living in Siberia," Alec laughed.

Lydia grinned playfully. "You know I've heard great things about Siberia…"

"Oh stop it," Alec snorted and shook his head. He had a feeling that Lydia would have to come to terms with Charlotte in her own pace. And he was sure it would happen.

"Anyway, let's talk about your life," Lydia said, changing the subject as delicately as an elephant stomping through a porcelain china store. "What was going on with your sister anyways?"

"Oh I don't know, she's just acting weirder than normal. And that is saying a lot. She looks at me weird. She talks to me weird. And the creepy smiles, I can't take it. It's like she's possessed or something."

"Possessed as in call Sam and Dean Winchester or possessed as in bad influences as in Jonathan Morgenstern?" Lydia bit into her cinnamon roll again. Her blonde eyebrows, lined to look darker than they were, creased as she asked her question.

"I'm hoping for Sam and Dean. At least then all I'd have to do to get my sister to normal is to take a Latin course. If it's people like Jonathan Morgenstern, it gets a little more complicated."

"True. He must be like some kind of evil creature though," Lydia remarked. "A hot evil creature."

"Really?" Alec asked.

"What? I still said he was evil."

"You're weak, Lydia."

"Hey, it's not like everyone gets to have a hot boyfriend like you do," Lydia scoffed and made a face at Alec.

"Well, I'll admit I got lucky, but I'm sure there's someone for you here," Alec tried.

"Oh, I don't think so. I'm better off single than with anyone from this town."

"That's insulting."

"And yet it's true."

The banter went on for a good while. Alec ordered a pumpkin spice latte, which Lydia found incredibly amusing. He drank it within minutes, which only fueled their conversation. They had covered oh…about everything to the moon and back, when Alec noticed something catch Lydia's eyes. "What is it?"

"Your sister."

"Speaking of the devil," Alec mumbled.

"Well let me tell you the devil is wearing Prada, because you're sister looks like she's dressed to the nines." There was perhaps a tinge of jealousy audible in Lydia's voice, but Alec couldn't come up with what she could possibly be jealous about, so he dismissed it as paranoia due to the coffee high he was enjoying.

"Is she coming our way?"

"Yep," Lydia said, popping the P.

"Oh great. She never comes here. Why would she be here now?"

"I guess we're about to find out."

Alec heard Izzy's heels clicking on the floor before he actually saw her, but the sheer noise was enough to make him shiver in annoyance. He loved his sister. He really purely honestly did. But sometimes, this being one of those times, she managed to push his buttons and drive him up the wall.

"Hey, Alec," Izzy said in a perky voice. She shot both Lydia and him a starry smile and sat down elegantly next to Alec. "So this is the Branwell girl I've been hearing too little about."

"What, you mean Alec doesn't constantly talk about me? I'm shocked," Lydia replied with a sarcastic smile.

"Yeah, um Izzy this is Lydia. I don't think you've ever been properly introduced." He gestured for the girls to acknowledge each other. They nodded cordially and the both glared at Alec with expectation filled eyes.

"So um, Iz, what are you doing here?"

"Oh, I just wanted to get a cup of coffee. You've been raving about this place for so long I finally decided to give it a try," Izzy said. She held up her Pumpkin Spice Latte, the exact same that Alec had enjoyed a minute earlier. "It's sublime."

"So does the caffeine addiction run in the family?" Lydia asked.

"We all like coffee, but Alec is probably the only one who believes he could sustain on coffee alone." Isabelle tucked a strand of dark hair escaping her messy bun back where it belonged. She wore a white fabric poncho like jacket and skinny black jeans. They were topped off with a pair of knee length dark brown leather boots. She really did look put together, but in a very different way than Lydia, because Alec was sure he was pretty much the only one who didn't look put together.

"Aha, got it," Lydia said while nodding.

"Well," Isabelle laughed. "I just popped in to get the coffee and to say hi, but I actually have a bus to catch, so I better get going."

Izzy gave both Alec and Lydia a sweet smile complimented with a nod and hurried out the door while waving elegantly.

"Well that was a weird exit," Lydia remarked.

"Tell me about it. This is the kind of stuff I've been putting up with for a while," Alec sighed. He watched from the window as Izzy waved at a bus to make it stop, her white jacket flailing in the wind.

"She's taking 7X. That goes to woodbine, right?" Lydia peered out the window, getting up from her seat.

"Izzy wouldn't be caught dead shopping there," Alec said as he squinted his blue eyes to make sure he wasn't imagining things.

"That's it," Lydia said and stood up gathering her things. "This is getting too interesting."

"Where are you going?" Alec asked, confused.

"Into your car. We're following her." With that Lydia stomped out of the cafe, not even waiting for Alec to reply, as if she knew he would follow. He met her at the car and gave her a questioning look. "Are you sure this isn't a bit stalkerish?"

"Positive," Lydia said, smiling eagerly as Alec sat in the driver's seat. "This is investigating."

"Fine," Alec sighed, turning the keys in the ignition. "But you better not say 'follow that bus', or we're not going."

"You're lame," Lydia said pouting.

"I've learned to cope," Alec retorted.

Isabelle's point of view

"Rosario Ellis," the bartender said amused, "nice to see you again." Isabelle couldn't take her eyes off the tall lean bartender. She kicked herself mentally for not remembering him right away. Focus was key in investigation mode. Especially when the person being investigated was so...distracting. It had tugged at the deepest corner of her memories for a while before she was able to make the connection that finally put her mind at ease. The hot bartender from Clary's birthday. Alec had hot, half naked pictures of the hot bartender from Clary's birthday. Now, Isabelle had the utmost faith in her fake ID, but to be honest, Alec being friendly with the bartender explained how they had gotten away with drinking. That is when the decision had been made. Isabelle simply had to dig deeper, she needed to know exactly what was going on with the hottie and her brother. So she'd hopped on a bus, which was not her favorite form of transportation, and made her way to Jessie's, aka hiding place for hotties.

"You remember me?" She asked, raising a curious eyebrow. She smiled flirtatiously and leaned on the bar.

"Well, you made quite an impression. You're quite feisty," the bartender said, smirking. He was dressed almost as impressively as she was. He had a tight fitting black T-shirt and a purple vest to go on top. It was outrageous in a way, but suited him. Izzy knew that she looked good, she had taken her jacket off to reveal a black top with see through stripes and a generous neckline. It was exactly her style and fitted her perfectly. It was her go to top when she wanted to impress. It was a bit trashy, yes, but it helped with the investigating.

"Yeah, I'm sorry for yelling at you," she said and batted her eyelashes. "I was just upset. I'm not used to people questioning my integrity."

"I'm not entirely sure that's true," the bartender smiled, giving her a doubtful look.

"And there you go again, with the integrity questioning," Isabelle said and tried out a light laugh. It was supposed to sound sexy, but honestly came out as desperate. Something about this guy and his immaculate eyeliner was intimidating. How he had managed to get her brother to be comfortable with him, she didn't know. She had to wonder what Alec was even doing with a guy like him. He looked like trouble. Alec on the other hand was as sweet as sweet could get. Wasn't he always the one warning her about bad guys. And perhaps Izzy was skipping the biggest question of all. What was Alec doing with a guy. Besides the obvious of course.

"You look suspicious to me," the bartender said. "And I still don't believe this ID is real."

"So how come you're not kicking me out?" Izzy tried.

"Well, maybe I'm just a rebel without a cause and get kicks from getting undrage girls drunk."

"That sounds slightly terrifying," Izzy remarked in a mock frightened tone.

"I was hoping that would make you leave me alone," the bartender said, pouring an interesting looking blue liquid into a martini glass.

"The only person more stubborn than me is my brother," Izzy said, "and he's not here, so…"

The bartender shot her a strained smile. "Is that so?"

"I can assure you it is."

"So what can I do for you then?"

"Let's start with one of those blue drinks." Izzy pointed at the sleek glass he was holding. "Then we can discuss how long you've been sending my brother topless pictures."

The bartender stopped in his tracks and bit down on his lower lip. He put the drink down and then seemed to decide it was the wrong decision. He raised the glass and took a long sip. "I have no idea what you're talking about ma'am."

He passed the glass to her and waited until she tasted the drink. Izzy took a good swig of it and instantly felt the liquid burn down her throat. "Oh, I think you do."

"I'm pretty sure I'm not dating anyone whose last name is Ellis," the bartender said.

At this it was Izzy's turn to stop in her tracks. That was true. What was she to do now? She decided she'd rather get kicked out of a club than have Alec keep his secrets. "Well, you've always said that you don't believe my ID to be real. So you tell me, what do you think my real name is?"

"Trouble," the tanned man replied, "Give me five minutes."

AN:

Dayanna: Should we add another Alec's POV? Or add some more to Izzy's?

Alexandra: Nah, this is evil

Dayanna: Good point. Let's be as evil as possible.

So there you have it folks, Alec's cover is about to be blown. What did you think of this chapter and what do you think should happen in the next one? So excited to hear your thoughts!

Love Always, Alexandra

And PS. You guys can totally blame the evilness on Dayanna, she just brings it out in me.