I hate writer's block. Long wait, short-ish chapter. It sucks. But hopefully it's a good chapter and that'll make up for it.

Magnus

"Admiring the scenery?" I lifted an eyebrow and gave Alec a knowing look.

My handsome shadowhunter and I were standing on the curb waiting for the rest of the group to catch up. We were having a perfectly normal conversation when out of the blue, his scrumptious blue eyes started to wander from my face down to my lips.

"What can I say?" he returned, shrugging a shoulder nonchalantly. His bright blue eyes lifted to meet mine as he grinned sheepishly. "I find you attractive."

"You had better." I wiggled a finger in his face warningly. "Being my boyfriend and all."

"Oh, you don't have to worry about that." Alec said sweetly. "I'll always find you attractive." His face turned pensive, and he didn't say anything for a long moment. He only studied me silently.

"What are you thinking about?"

"Me?" My delicious boyfriend raised an eyebrow in question and I nodded affirmation. "Let's see here… I'm thinking about this guy." Then, with a slight smile curling his full lips, he reached out and caressed the side of my face with his hand. "And I want to kiss him, only he won't stop talking."

"What a horrible dilemma." I leaned in closer to him. "You know what you should do to fix that?" His eyes shifted once again to my lips, and I got the feeling that he was no longer listening.

"Nope."

"Too bad." I replied. I stepped away from him with a smug smile. "Neither do I."

A scowl crossed his face and Alec let out a frustrated growl. "Kiss me?" He asked. It was meant to be a question, but it came out as a demand. Tut, tut. Alec knew I didn't listen to demands.

"Sorry, Alexander. I refuse to kiss you." I told him with a self-satisfied smirk. "Instead I am going to stand here and protest your existence." To say that he looked confused would be putting it mildly. I gave him an admonishing frown. "Say please."

"No."

"Yes."

"Nuh-uh."

"Alexander."

"Fine." He let out a loud breath. "Magnus Bane, would you please kiss me?"

With a dramatic sigh and a cat-like grin, I leaned forward and whispered in his ear. "Of course I'll kiss you, darling!" I closed in the space between us and pressed my lips to his.

From the sidewalk behind us, someone cleared their throat loudly.

I pulled away from Alec with a knowing grin and turned to find Isabelle eyeing us with a nauseous expression. "See something you like, shadowhunter?" I queried.

"I can never get enough of your sparkling wit and charm, Magnus Bane." She retorted haughtily. "But believe it or not, no. I didn't enjoy that." Much to my amusement, Isabelle grimaced. "Actually, I think I might be scarred."

"Scarred?" I asked with mock horror. "You wound me, Isabelle. Surely my performance was better than that." Isabelle didn't deign to reply, so I turned to Alec with a wink. "She enjoyed it." I informed him smugly. "They always do."

"Shut up, Magnus." My very uncomfortable-looking shadowhunter snapped. "Isabelle, we were just, uh…" His eye flicked back and forth between us as he scrambled for something to say that would diffuse the tension. "Talking. Yeah, that's it."

"Talking?" The raven-haired girl asked dubiously. "Because that didn't look like talking to me. I've never seen two people talk with their mouths pressed together before."

"We were." Alexander assured her.

I elbowed him gently. "Don't overdo it." I whispered in his ear.

Ignoring my warning, the boy continued talking. "We were talking about… stuff. Like the demon and… stuff."

"And you overdid it." Stifling the urge to laugh at Alec's adorable ineptness, I placed my hand over his mouth. Louder, I added, "As Alexander was so eloquently attempting to say before he stuck his foot in his mouth, you're interruption was not appreciated." Alec opened his mouth to protest, but my hand blocked his words. "And now," I continued, paying him no mind. "He is asking if there was any reason for said interruption."

Alec showed my hand away from his captivating mouth, and Isabelle shot us a knowing smile. "Surprising as it may be, there was a reason." She declared. "If we're going to find Botis before Mom and Dad get home, we need to get going. Don't we, Jace?" She turned to blondie for confirmation. I waited for some cocky speech about how he could defeat the demons all on his own, but it never came. "Jace?" Isabelle called louder.

Alexander and I both turned to peer in the direction Isabelle was facing, but neither Clarissa nor her boyfriend was anywhere to be found. Isabelle spun back to Alec and me. "Where are Clary and Jace?" She demanded.

I cocked an eyebrow at the raven haired girl. "You do realize that lover boy and I were about to make out a minute ago, right?" I asked, ignoring the scowl Alec sent in my direction. "We would be the last people to know where those two ended up."

"Well we need to find them soon." Isabelle told us. "You guys start looking this way, and I'll check over there."

"At least you don't have to worry about us." Alec offered reassuringly.

Isabelle just shook her head. "I always have to worry about you two." She walked purposefully toward an alley across the street, leaving my scrumptious shadowhunter and I alone again.

"Come on, Magnus," He laid a hand on my arm and motioned towards the alley nearest us.

"I don't know why she's so worried." I muttered to him. "They're probably off in an alley somewhere having all sorts of fun doing who knows what."

Alec made a face and continued pulling me in the direction of the alley. "That makes me a lot less eager to find them."

A slow smirk slid across my face and I dropped my eyes to his delightful butt. "We could hide in that alley and have our own fun. I can definitely think of a few things I'd enjoy."

"Nice try." Alec patted my arm distractedly. "But we can't. Isabelle might come find us again, and that would be awkward. I'd rather not scar my sister." He peered into the alley, looking for the short red-head and the cocky blonde.

While he was distracted, I inched forward and embraced him from behind. I leaned forward and placed a tantalizing kiss on the side of his vulnerable neck causing him to jump. "You should always be aware of your surroundings Alexander." I whispered into his neck. "Or someone might sneak up on you." I kissed him again.

"Stop it." He ordered, trying to shrug me off. "That tickles."

"It wouldn't tickle if you would turn around so I could kiss you properly." I informed him knowingly. From the way he was relaxing against me, I could already tell that his will to resist was failing him.

"Magnus." He said disapprovingly. "This isn't the time for…" The rest of his sentence was cut off as my mouth covered his. The kiss was both gentle and hungry, a strange combination, and Alec's lips were inviting and delicious.

"Magnus." He repeated, pulling away. "We need to…" He frowned as he tried to remember what we needed to do. I loved the way that my kisses - only my kisses- could make Alexander forget his mission.

"What, exactly, do we need to be doing?" I raised my eyebrows teasingly, "Because I, for one, liked our previous occupation."

"We need to… keep looking for Jace and Clary." Alec told me firmly. His tone brooked no discussion, but I wasn't done teasing him yet.

"So we aren't getting naked then?" I asked innocently.

"Did someone say naked?" Isabelle's voice emanated from the front of the alley. "I don't even want to hear the rest of that conversation."

"I'm sure you would have enjoyed it." I told her smugly. "Alec did."

"Did not." Alec glared.

"Sure, Alec." I smirked superiorly. "Whatever helps you sleep at night."

He shifted away from me with a frown and Isabelle stepped closer to us. "Look over there," she pointed to the dingy far corner of the dark alley. "See that?"

"What is it?" Alec asked, still frowning.

"A mouse." She replied with a grin. "Remind you guys of anything?" The night I first met the Lightwoods was memorable for me, if only because of Alec. I remembered everything, including the fact that they had brought a mundane with them and Simon went and got himself turned into a rat. That's why I never invited mundanes to parties. They always screwed them up.

"A mouse?" Alec repeated dumbly.

His sister frowned at him. "Yes, Alexander." I spoke as if to a small child. "A mouse. Also known as an annoying rodent with a fondness for cheese. A bit like my aunt Matilda."

"I know what a mouse is, Magnus." Alexander's blue eyes flashed as he snapped at me. "I just don't like them."

"You mean you're afraid of them?" I asked, attempting to hide my smile.

"You're afraid of mice?" Isabelle asked disbelievingly. "How did I not know that?"

Alec scowled again. This time it was aimed in the direction of the nosy rodent. "It never came up before."

"But when Simon…?"

"Clary held him the entire time. I didn't get anywhere near him, and you guys lost him before any of you noticed." He admitted as he scowled at the mouse. I smirked as I realized that it was making its way ever closer to our little group. Poor Alexander was about to be in for a surprise.

"Huh."

"Shut up."

"I just said huh." Isabelle said defensively.

"Well I just said shut up." Alec snapped.

"Oh, look." I pointed casually as the mouse stopped a few feet from Alec. "It's right next to your foot, Allie."

"Ahh!" He didn't scream so much as yell as he hurried backwards away from the mouse. "Get it away!" Alexander ran into the wall in his haste to get away from it.

Taking pity on him, I snapped and the creature disappeared. "Poor Allie." I couldn't hide my grin. "Would you rather it be a demon?"

"Yes." He snapped. He glanced frantically around to see if there were any more. "I hate mice." I tried unsuccessfully to hide my smile.

"Don't." Alec warned.

"I didn't say anything."

"It's what you were thinking."

A laugh erupted from behind him, and Alec spun around. Isabelle was standing a safe distance away, laughing her head off. "That…" She said between bouts of laughter. "Was… priceless! Alec, you should have seen your face."

Alec let out a growl. "Shouldn't we be looking for Clary and Jace instead of wasting time?" He demanded. His pride was obviously bruised.

"We should." Isabelle agreed. She made no move to stop laughing.

"It's okay, Alexander." I said comfortingly. "Everyone's afraid of something. Fear is normal."

"For everyone except Jace." Isabelle put in.

Alec ignored her. "You say everyone's afraid of something, but I've never seen you afraid." He pointed out. "What are you afraid of, Magnus."

I thought about it for a minute before saying decidedly, "St. Patrick's day. All those little leprechauns out for gold. They're short and creepy."

Alec narrowed his icy blue eyes at me. "This isn't time for jokes Magnus. Don't mock."

"I wasn't mocking!" I protested. He only glared at me and I relented. "…Only a little."

"Speaking of finding Clary and Jace, which we only sort of were," Isabelle interjected, having recovered from her laughing fit. "They weren't in any of the alleys nearby. And they're obviously not in this one."

"Do you have any idea what happened to them?" Alec asked, happy for the change in topic.

"If I did, would I have told you to look for them?" Isabelle asked irritably. "I know about as much as you do. But right now, I'm thinking that they either wandered off without us or they were abducted."

"Clary can take care of herself, and Jace can more than take care of both of them." I put in. "They couldn't have been abducted unless it was the Greater Demon that got them."

"Which leads me to believe that they wandered off."

"Well," Alec said. "They know where we're going and how to get there. If they did get separated, that's probably where they would go."

"And that means we're just wasting time waiting for them here." I finished for him.

"So it's unanimous?" Isabelle asked for confirmation. "We leave and hope to meet up with them when we make it there?"

"Fine by me."

"And me." I agreed.

"Then what are we waiting for?" Isabelle grinned. "Let's go."

And go we did. In a little more than an hour, we made it to our destination. We would have made it further, but we got a bit distracted…

"Alec, what is that smell?" Isabelle asked curiously, wrinkling her nose. She inspected the street closely for the source of said smell.

"Smells like fish." I answered for Alec. He was busy scrunching his adorable nose at the putrid smell. "Dead fish in particular."

"That is disgusting." Alec announced.

"Brilliant observation, Alexander." I grinned at him. "Would you like a prize?"

"Not now, Magnus." He waved me off. "My stomach is feeling kind of queasy."

It wasn't until we rounded a corner that we discovered the source of the smell. As explained in Chinese by a large green sign, there was a market on this street. A fish market. Lying on tables displayed for the world to see were many different types of fish, crabs, and other fishy creatures. The smell was overwhelming.

"You want fish?" An old lady asked Alec, holding a large brim up to him. Alec looked like he wanted to puke.

"I don't know if I can take much more of this," Isabelle moaned from her spot on the other side of me.

"It's absolutely sickening." I agreed. "But life is a series of hoops that you jump through. And then you die. ...This is one of those hoops."

"Oh, well that's a happy outlook on life." Alec commented. His voice came out muffled because he pulled his shirt over his nose to block out the smell.

From my other side, Isabelle asked, "Can they be flaming hoops?"

"Everyone's a critic." I shook my head despairingly. "The point is… well, I forgot the point. Let's get out of here before that lady holds up something that's still alive."

Clary

"Dun duh duh duh da. Hm hmm." Malheureuse's incessant humming was going to drive me seriously crazy if she didn't stop soon.

"Calm down, Clary." Jace said reassuringly. "We'll find them." His face was set in its ready-for-a-fight mask that I knew meant trouble was nearby.

"That's not…" I began. "You know what, never mind."

Jace looked down at me and allowed his armor to crack enough for a small smile. "Are you sure you're okay?" He asked, reaching forward to run a hand through my hair.

"Hm? Yeah, I'm all right." I sighed. "I just want this whole thing to be over."

"Me too." He agreed. "But it's not every day you get to take out an evil Greater Demon and make the world a safer place."

Leave it to Jace to think of this whole ordeal as a good thing. I sighed. "When you put it that way, it seems like fun."

Jace gave a feral smile. "Killing things is always fun."

"For you maybe."

My voice must have sounded depressed because Jace stopped walking and held out his arms. "Clary, come here." He told me softly. I stepped inside the strong, warm circle of his arms without a second thought. I buried my face in his shoulder and pressed close to him. Jace's mask disappeared completely as he smiled down at me. "You better now?" He asked gently.

"Mmhmm." I didn't want to let go of him.

"Hey, you guys!" Mal interrupted the moment. Her voice was childishly excited as she called for our attention. "Look over there!"

Jace let go of me and spun around, knife at the ready. Hurriedly, I repeated the gesture. Only after we had drawn our weapons did we realize that there would be no need for them because standing not a hundred feet away from us were none other than Alec, Isabelle, and Magnus.