Chapter Twenty Six - The Reckoning
Chapter Songs;
Scene One; Winter Wind - Run River North
Scene Two; God Loves War - Black Sugar Transmission
Walking back through the house hand in hand, Jace and Clary were both at ease with small smiles on their faces. Jonathan and Valentine both looked up as they entered, concern on both their faces. Jonathan was on his feet instantly, reaching for his little sister. "Are you okay?"
She nodded, wrapping her free arm around him in a one-arm hugged. "I'm okay, Jon. Thank you." He placed a light kiss on her cheek as they pulled away, nodding for confirmation as they all went back to their seats. Instead of sitting on the floor this time, Clary took a seat besides Jace, sitting on her feet as she curled up into his side. She could see Valentine narrowing his eyes at them questioningly, but he made no vocal comment.
"Was she ever gonna tell us?" Clary asked as she looked up at her father, keeping her hands intertwined with Jace's as he rubbed soothing circles on her skin.
"She was." He admitted with a deep sigh and a nod. "On your eighteenth birthday. Both of your eighteenths." He looked to Jonathan, whom was 17 when she died. He pursed his lips as he looked down at his lap, almost ashamedly.
"What happened to the people who killed her?" It was Jace, this time, and Clary could tell from the tone of his voice he was asking with an Agent stance rather than just a curious one.
"The Academy found them. Some of them were killed while a mission was being carried out, the others were arrested and sentenced for life."
Clary nodded, staring off into the distance with a vacant expression. Jace tried to gauge how she was feeling by wrapping an arm around her waist, but she made no response. She was going into near shock, that much was evident - he'd been there twice before when she'd done so. But this time was different. She wasn't shaking, or crying uncontrollably. She seemed distant, disconnected from her body. It was like she was there, but her mind wasn't.
"So what's the plan?" Clary choked out, her voice barely above a whisper as she continued to bore a hole into the spot on the wall she was staring at. Valentine looked at her with a confused expression, and out of the corner of her eye she must have noticed because instantly her focus changed to be on him. "How do we stop Starkweather?"
"Clarissa, it's not that simple-" Valentine began, but was swiftly interrupted by an angry Clary.
"No, dad, it is that simple!" She almost shouted as she stood up in a range, Jace's arms dropping from her to rest on the sofa. "Your psychotic business partner who, need I remind you is my Godfather-" she almost growled out the world, and Jace looked at Valentine in surprise. Well, that was one detail he hadn't known. "-is out to kill you and your two children. He needs to be stopped - simple!" She was becoming more animated with her hands as she spoke, and both Jace and Jonathan could tell this sudden outburst of anger was stemming from the information about her mother.
This wasn't like Clary. She wasn't an angry person, nor was she a very shouty-type of person. The past twenty four hours were clearly having a toll on her, and she was becoming borderline psychotic. Jace could see her hands shaking slightly as she spoke, and the tears threatening to brim at her eyes.
She was just about to shout something at her father when Jace quickly intercepted, placing himself between the pair as he wrapped his slender fingers around her wrists. He ducked his head down so that she was forced to look him in the eye. "Hey, Clary, it's gonna be okay." He whispered, quiet enough so only she could hear his words. "Relax, we're gonna take care of everything. Okay?"
She shakily looked between his eyes before nodding. "Okay." She squeaked out, and Jace pressed a kiss to her forehead.
"I love you. Remember that." He murmured with his lips still pressed against her skin.
"I love you, too." She swallowed hard as he placed another kiss on her forehead, before guiding them to sit back down once again. Instantly she buried her face into his neck, taking in deep breaths to calm herself down.
Jace could see the worried look on her brother's face from across the room. He furrowed his brows at his little sister, mouthing 'Is she okay?' Jace nodded subtly, glancing down at the redhead curled in his arms before back up at her brother. 'She'll be fine.' He mouthed back.
The four were quiet for almost half an hour after that as everyone settled after the eventful morning, until Clary finally was able to withdraw the tight hold she had on Jace. He silently asked her if she was okay as she untangled herself from him, and she simply nodded.
Further silence followed that as everybody awkwardly tiptoed around each other, nobody knowing what to say or when to say it. Surprisingly Clary was the one to speak, her voice quiet and a lot more calm, now.
"Does anyone even have any ideas on how to move forward from this?" She glanced warily around at the three men in the room, Jace's own gaze focused on hers. Valentine refused to look her in the eye, and Jonathan was constantly flickering between all three of them.
"I'm holding a ball here next month." Valentine started cautiously, still not looking at anyone directly. "I used to hold it annually, but since your mother's death I thought it would be disrespectful to continue."
"The masquerade ball." Clary looked up at her father expectantly, a lighter expression on her face. "You used to hold it every day on Mom's birthday."
"It was her idea." Valentine smiled nostalgically as he finally looked up at his daughter. "She loved these balls, and big fancy parties. It was a way for her to embrace the community, bring everybody together. It was also an excuse to spend thousands of dollars on dresses, but..." he trailed off with a laugh, and even Clary found herself smiling at the memory.
On the 7th of November every year, since before Clary could even remember, the Morgensterns would hold an extravagant Masquerade Ball in honour of her mother. There would be dancing, meals, entertainment, speeches. It was a beautiful night that everybody would be talking about until the next one the following year. Although Clary had never embraced the idea of being the spoiled rich kid, the ball had always been her favourite time of the year. With a mask and a pretty dress, for one night she could pretend she was somebody else. Not the awkward, freckly ginger pre-teen that she always saw herself as. Not "Valentine's Daughter". But somebody else entirely.
"Starkweather will be there. It will be the perfect opportunity to set plans in motion." Jace was nodding approvingly at Valentine's words, watching him cautiously for any signs of mistruth behind his words. "Jace, if you and your Agent friends would like to meet sometime soon we can discuss battle strategies."
"A ball could work," Jace confirmed aloud. "Especially in this place. There's enough back rooms and hidden spaces that we could coax Starkweather away and rid him without anybody seeing. He wouldn't be expecting us to act in such a public event - it would be the perfect cover."
"What about if he comes after one of us before then?" Jonathan questioned, leaning forwards with his elbows on his knees as he looked around the room. "He's already attacked us once - who's to say he won't try again?"
"He won't." Valentine announced confidently, standing up and buttoning his blazer jacket. "I know Hodge, and I know that he's shaken after having two failed attacks." He slowly walked over to the open window where the lace curtains were flowing freely at the sides, stopping in front of it with his hands behind his back. "He's not so foolish to act again. He may get people to scout you out, but it's unlikely he'll throw a full blown attack at either of you so soon."
"You should increase your security detail, as well." Jace told him. "Clary and Jonathan both have twenty-four hour protection in the form of myself and my two partners, but we cannot guarantee your safety. If this whole mission is to go smoothly, you need to remain in tact."
"Don't worry about me, Agent Herondale." Valentine said as he turned back around to face the trio, a neutral expression on his face. "I know how to protect myself. After all, I've been on the run for twenty four years, remember?"
Five days later, Clary found herself curled up in the corner of Jace's sofa while four other people hustle and bustled around her. Everything in the room was so frantic, so loud, so animated, that Clary just needed to take a break from the scheming. She watched absentmindedly with her legs tucked underneath her and one hand in her lap. The other was on the back of the sofa, her head resting atop of it.
"Hey," Jace came around to Clary's side, wrapping an arm around her shoulders from where he stood. "You alright? You seem pretty quiet."
"I'm fine." She looked up at him with a smile, raising a hand to squeeze the hand on her shoulder reassuringly. "Just letting everything sink in."
Jace nodded with a scrutinising expression, before leaning down to kiss her sweetly. She stroked the side of his face as he pulled away, pressing another lingering kiss to his lips with a smile on her face.
"Alright," Isabelle's voice broke their intimate moment, and Jace rolled his eyes as he reluctantly pulled away. He sat himself down on the arm rest directly besides Clary so that she could still fiddle with his hand in her lap as they turned their attention to the group in front of them.
Jonathan was sat on the single arm chair at one end of the low table, Alec on the floor opposite Clary and Jace with Isabelle stood looming over the lot of them. A huge A1 sheet of white sugar paper sat on the table with black writing all over it, including drawings and directions and times. It hurt to look at, quite frankly, but was understandable if you knew the method behind the madness.
"The ball starts at 6:30pm, right?" She looked up between Jonathan and Clary for confirmation. He nodded, and she continued. "Clary and Jonathan, you'll both be inside with your father greeting the guests. As her date, you'll be there as well, Jace." She pointed with a perfectly manicured nail to a diagram where the letters 'J' for Jonathan, 'C' for Clary, and 'H' for Herondale were written. "Up until I give my say so, you're not to let either of them out of your sights. Got it?"
"Got it, Captain." Jace mock saluted her with a roll of his eyes. She glared daggers at him, but otherwise ignored the sarcasm as she continued with the explanation.
"Alec, you'll be around the ballroom." She turned to her brother this time. "Keep an eye on Starkweather at all times - don't let him leave the main room. Distract him if you have to, but make sure you stay inconspicuous. Valentine's got the entire house rigged with CCTV, so I'll be up in Clary's room with eyes on the cameras, should anything go wrong."
"Each of you will need one of these." She walked to the other side of the room and picked up a small, black briefcase, before kneeling on the floor by the table and opening it up. Surrounded by individual velvet padding was five sets of what appeared to be walkie talkies with wires running through them.
Carefully picking up one of them to show everyone, she shut the briefcase. "This is an ear piece." She showed a small, seemingly insignificant piece of black metal that was no bigger than a nail. "This is a microphone. The ear piece is wireless and the microphone is connected to this." She followed the wire to show the walkie-talkie like thing - a battery pack.
"Battery pack goes here," she hooked the back of it on the belt loop of her jeans, before wrapping the wire around her back and attaching the microphone to the inside of her shirt collar, so that it was invisible. "Make sure the skinny end is facing downwards, otherwise we'll lose connection between devices. Whichever is your less dominant side, place the ear piece there." Taking the tiny black speaker and placing it in her left ear, she dropped her hands with a 'voila' motion.
"Keep it all under your clothes, obviously. Everything is small enough so that it should be invisible to anyone not outwardly searching for it." She explained, opening the suitcase once again to show the other four devices. "I'll have the central communication deck with me upstairs, which means I'll be able to talk directly to each of you without the other hearing. The moment you turn your devices on, though, each of us will be able to hear everything from everybody." It was almost a silent warning as she glanced at each of the faces in the room individually.
Got it - everything Clary encountered, everyone else would be able to hear. Everything Jace encountered, everyone else would be able to hear, and so forth.
"You can turn it off and on just by tapping the ear piece," she gestured as such, "though I wouldn't recommend turning it off. Who knows what could happen at any moment, and we all need to know where each other are at any given time should anything go sour." She ordered with a cautious look as she unwound the communication device from around her and placed it back in its individual space.
"At seven there will be the opening Morgenstern Waltz." Jonathan interjected before Isabelle could continue, straightening up as he looked over at Clary's direction. "It's a tradition my father has always upheld. Clary, myself, and our father will take to the dance floor alongside Starkweather's wife, Elena." Upon seeing the confused expression from the three Lightwoods in the room, he explained further. "Usually it would be our mother - hence the Morgenstern name. But, given that she is not here, and my father insisted we still follow tradition, Elena offered herself."
Isabelle nodded in agreement, quickly writing that down as part of the plan in between two events. "Right. So, around seven thirty there will be speeches. Valentine will start, and he'll open the floor to anybody else whom wishes to make a toast. No doubt Starkweather will want to, so at that time everyone needs to be alert. Who knows if he might strike."
"At that point we switch up." Jace offered forwards, squeezing Clary's hands from where they were wrapped around his in her lap as he looked around at the faces in the room. "Alec you will watch out for Jonathan and Clary, and I will get Starkweather separated in the back room. From there, we make our move."
"Wait, why you?" Clary sat up straighter with her brows furrowed as she looked up at Jace, whom refused to meet her gaze. "Starkweather is dangerous, you can't go in there alone."
"We'll call in reinforcements." Jace nodded sternly. "The Institute has agreed to send ten additional agents to the event as back up. Two will follow me and remain close by while I coax Starkweather away."
"No way, it's too dangerous." She shook her head adamantly as she stood up, wrapping her arms around her torso as she looked between the three agents with an incredulous look. "You could get hurt!"
"And so could you!" He growled passionately as he, too, rose to his feet, grabbing her arms roughly as he turned her to face him. "I can't let you get hurt, Clary. Not today, not at the ball, not ever. I'm the only one who can safely protect you, which is why it has to be me to go after him." He lifted one of his hands to cup her cheek securely, his gaze flickering between both of her eyes. "I don't trust anybody else to get the job done. Please, just trust me."
Clary looked at him cautiously as she took in a deep breath, finally nodding. "Fine. But you talk to me through the ear piece the entire time so I know you're safe." He opened his mouth to protest, but she cut him off by placing her index finger over his lips. "Promise me, Jace! Promise me you'll do it. I couldn't live with myself if I knew you were hurt and there was something I could do to help you."
"I promise, Clary, it won't come to that." She nodded, leaning upwards to press her forehead against his as she closed her eyes. Jace placed a soft kiss to her nose before whispering his love into her ear. She just smiled as they both sat back down, Jace nodding for Isabelle to continue.
Isabelle watched them both as they settled back onto the sofa uncertainly, before looking back down at the plan in front of her. "We can't rule out that Starkweather might have back up. Agents will be stationed around the room to keep an eye out for them, and any known threats will be subtly disposed of beforehand."
"Once Jace has a hold of Starkweather, he will coax him onto the roof where armed forces will be awaiting his arrival." She looked over at Jace whom had taken a seat next to Clary this time. "Do whatever you can to get him up there. I know goading people is one of your favourite things, so just flash some Jace charm."
He smirked wickedly at her words, flashing a cheeky wink in her direction. "You know me too well, Iz."
She rolled her eyes with a heavy sigh as she moved to the other side of the room where she'd gotten the suitcase from previously, instead picking up a black vest-like item which was completely patternless, and completely neutral. It stood up on it's own as she placed it on the table, and she rested her hands on the top of it. "Every one of you will be wearing one of these. It's a bullet proof and a stab proof vest. Like I've said before, we cannot rule out that Starkweather's men may not be there, so I'd like everyone to be protected to the extreme."
"I can't wear that." Clary said with a shake of her head, though it came across more as rich snobby kid than she had expected to. Upon seeing Isabelle's narrowing eyes, she quickly readjusted her statement. "It's not exactly inconspicuous with a dress. Sure, for these guys - they'll be wearing suits. That makes it easy to hide a hunking load of thick material with five inch shoulder straps. I can't exactly do that."
"Then we'll find something else." Isabelle corrected sharply, her eyes widening as she moved the bulletproof vest back to where she got it from. "I'm sure the Academy will have something suitable that will still protect you."
"Once Starkweather is taken care of, then we're scot-free." Jace announced with a menacing glare as he stood up with a pointed slap to his lap. "As long as there is an eye on Jonathan, Valentine, and Clary, at all times then everything should fall into place."
"So that settles it then." Jonathan also stood up from his seat, his eyes settling on his little sister with a protective glance. "Let's catch ourselves a conman."
EDIT: Sorry for switching from third to first person half way through! My other fanfic is in first person and I took a break halfway through writing this chapter, and when I returned I completely forgot I was supposed to be writing 'she' instead of 'me'. I've edited it all, now, and hopefully fixed everything! Again, I apologise for the mistake.