Two
Everyone else was already assembled in the library when Clary and Simon arrived. Hodge was seated at his desk looking harried, Simon wasn't sure if this was because of whatever news he was about to impart, or just because Jace and Isabelle were wrestling in the middle of the room.
Their disagreement had apparently only escalated since the hair pulling, Jace was trying to put Izzy in a headlock, both of them laughing and swearing in equal measure. Isabelle's shirt rode-up a little, Simon's cheeks heated. He dragged his gaze away, the last thing he needed was to be caught drooling over her in a room containing two of her three brothers.
Max wasn't in the Library, presumably because he was too young for whatever was about to be discussed, but Alec was. Stood off to the side with Jonathan, both of them looking stoic and aloof. Simon could have sworn though, that both of them were fighting off smiles as they watched the spectacle in the middle of the room.
No one interfered, not even Hodge called them to order. The whole thing felt to Simon a little surreal and off-kilter. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Clary watching them with a soft little smile on her face.
He looked back to the playfully brawling brother and sister and realised why it seemed so unreal to him. Jace played the piano, he nonchalantly quoted 18th century poets, he approached every aspect of his life with obscene amounts of confidence; and Isabelle had the self-possession of several adult women combined. Simon had never seen either of them so young, and judging by the unwillingness of everyone around them to halt the scuffle, they hadn't seen it often either.
Simon wanted to be a Shadowhunter, he really did, but not for the first time he found himself wondering just how much he would be giving up.
OOO
Clary could see that Hodge was getting antsy, regardless of how much everyone wanted to preserve this moment she found herself calling softly, "Jace."
It was enough, he straightened immediately, all at once Jace the Shadowhunter rather than Jace the boy. She mourned his loss a little.
Everyone turned to face their mentor. "As always, there is work to be done. There has been a recent string of gory mundane murders, definitely the work of demons."
Hodge frowned down at the papers he was reading from, "The perplexing thing though, is that they were all in different parts of the city and very obviously committed by different types of demon."
Jace raised an eyebrow in a silent question to Clary, "I hate to be the one to question your judgment Hodge –"
Hodge pursed his lips, "–I very much doubt that"
"But that doesn't seem perplexing at all, it seems like normal demon activity. Why do you think they're connected?"
Alec shot him a wry look, "Maybe if, for once in your life Jace, you stopped talking long enough to listen, Hodge would be able to tell you why he thinks they're connected."
"Why Alec, I've never been more insulted in my life." He bounded to Clary's side and laid his cheek on her head, "Lover, do you hear the way he speaks to me? You must defend my honour!"
At the word lover the room rang with a chorus of groans and retching sounds, Clary's included. "If you ever call me lover again I'll have to seriously consider stabbing you."
Jace pulled far enough away for her to see his face, his expression simmered a little, the way it always did when she was threatening violence.
"Oh, by the Angel! Do you see their expressions? This is like some kind of twisted foreplay for them!" Isabelle turned imploringly to Hodge, "Please give me the address so I can go feed myself to a demon!"
"Or better yet," Alec added dryly, "so we can feed Jace to a demon."
Hodge spoke before Jace could retort, "You're not going to the address of the demon. You're going to the apartment of the residences of the victims. I think these murders are connected," he glared at Jace, "because every single victim was reported as behaving irrational, paranoid and delusional in the weeks leading up to their deaths. I want to know if there is something in their homes, something of the Shadow World, causing this."
He handed Alec a piece of paper with addresses written on it, "You have three houses to check so I suggest you get going quickly."
Alec glanced at the addresses then at the group, "It would go quicker if we split up but…" He glanced uneasily at Clary.
Jace finished his train of thought, "But who knows what unspeakable things could happen to us. We've gained an unusually large number of enemies recently, even by my standards, which is impressive, I make a lot of enemies."
Alec shot his parabatai a look that was half affection, half exasperation, "The fact that you can't open your mouth without pissing someone off shouldn't really be a source of pride for you Jace."
Clary felt Jace shrug, "and yet…"
Hodge clapped his hands together, "All of you, go now. You can trade quips on the journey. Out of my nice, previously quiet library."
OOO
The first mundane they went to investigate lived alone in an apartment, full of the little odds and ends that people decorate their houses with because they love them, rather than because they fit an overarching theme. It was homey and really too small for five Shadowhunters and a Shadowhunter-in-training to cohabit; even for temporary, investigative purposes Simon reflected as he pressed himself against a wall to make room for Jace's manic pacing.
Simon wasn't really sure why he was there, as the only contribution he was making was staying out of the way of the people who were actually doing things. Though he supposed that was more of a contribution than Jace was making, who was moving around erratically, opening cupboards and draws seemingly at random and then closing them just as quickly, climbing precariously onto furniture for no discernible reason, and occasionally, stopping to tidy something. Alec was moving along after his whirlwind at a more sedate pace, re-opening the compartments Jace had given a cursory once-over and thoroughly checking their contents.
While being relatively new to the Shadow World, Simon had learned enough to know that Jace was a big deal, with a great or terrible future ahead of him, depending on where you stood. It seemed ridiculous to Simon, as he watched the parabatai work, people always seemed to forget that Jace was a part of a team.
The words were out of his mouth before he had a chance to remember that to speak to Jace, or really, to speak within earshot of Jace, was to give an invitation to be mocked, "What do you think you'd be Jace, if you didn't have Alec?"
Jace paused for a moment, "Dead. I'd be dead."
It was such an unexpectedly honest answer, so completely free of Jace's usual hubris, that everyone in the room grew silent for a moment.
He took it as an opportunity to rocket into the bedroom, a second later his voice rang out, "I have found a draw full of panties. Admittedly, during my wild youth I would have had no compunctions against searching through it, but I'm a changed man. I could not possibly touch the underwear of anyone but my beloved."
Clary looked a little mortified, Jonathan looked as though he fervently wished he had gone deaf before he'd ever had to hear that sentence.
"Alec! Come in here an look through this girl's underwear for me."
Alec turned an unflattering shade of red and made a strangled choking sound. Clary sighed and walked into the bedroom, "I'll search the bloody draw." Then he heard her say in an undertone "Just because you're uncomfortable with sincerity doesn't mean you should make Alec uncomfortable as well just to make yourself feel better."
"Alec's always uncomfortable." Jace made no effort to lower his voice.
"I can hear you you know!" Alec's reply made Simon jump, he hadn't realised he wasn't the only one still listening in.
"I know!" Jace's response was followed almost immediately by a muffled thump, which Simon strongly suspected was the sound of Clary hitting him.
Alec smiled and went back to searching cupboards.
Not long afterwards Clary's voice sounded, "I've got something!"
