I know you're all getting rather anxious for some Clace, but it ain't happening for a bit... Trust me when I say that when it does happen, it'll be spectacular!

This doesn't make sense, Jace thought to himself. He kicked back at a Black Angel copy just before it could collide with him. Then, he whirled around to fight another.

They weren't supposed to be active. They're just symbols, threats. At least, that was what Sebastian had told Jace. And anyway, they had a deal. These guys weren't supposed to be fighting. There was supposed to be no more fighting at all. That was the deal.

Jace groaned knowing that business with villains is tricky and he probably missed some loophole during their conversation. He kept on fighting, trying to fend off as many copies at a time as he could. Clary was somewhere nearby. He couldn't see or hear her with everything going on but he knew she was fighting some copies herself.

When one of the copies blew fire breath at Jace, he barely had time to duck. Standing back up, his eyes were wide.

"Well," he said aloud to no one in particular, "didn't know they could do that."

"If Black Angel himself is getting stronger," Clary said appearing out of nowhere and startling Jace, "then I'm assuming his copies are growing stronger too."

She held out her right hand and in it grew a staff made entirely of solidified light and color. Clary spun it around and swung out at their foes. Jace watched, admiring her for a few moments. When she was punched in the gut and had her feet swept from under her, he remembered that he was supposed to be fighting too. At first instinct, Jace wanted to help Clary get up. But he remembered that he needed to be keeping his distance and instead left her on the ground.

This fight was a shorter one which Jace appreciated. The real Black Angel hadn't been anywhere around during the entirety of it which Jace hadn't appreciated. Once all the copies were defeated, he crossed his arms over his chest and studied the scene around them. Why did Black Angel do that? What? Was he just keeping up appearances or something?

Clary came up beside Jace. She was a little out of breath but otherwise seemed alright.

"First time we've had to deal with them," Clary said. Jace didn't look at her.

"Yup."

"Guess it's a good thing we had up those cameras."

"Yup."

"Is everything okay? You've been acting sort of off lately."

Jace shrugged, still not looking at Clary. "Yeah, I'm great. Should probably get going now. Bye." With that, he was gone.

Jace arrived back at his apartment feeling exhausted. He groaned as he pulled off his mask and tossed it on the couch. Isabelle was standing in the kitchen holding a cup of coffee. Her eyes were wide.

"Wow, so you really are the Badger..."

Jace let out a little chuckle and shook his head as he headed to his room to change. He called back, "You thought I would lie about that?"

"No, it's just hearing and seeing are two different kinds of believing." Isabelle was silent for a few moments. "So, what happened this time?"

"Some of the copies went live. Started attacking the streets. We took care of the situation." Jace came back out now wearing regular street clothes. "Nothing interesting."

Isabelle nodded. "And Clary?"

He shrugged not really knowing what to say. "I guess she's alright. I left after the fight ASAP." He plopped down on the couch and Isabelle soon joined him. "Any ideas on how to distance myself from her permanently?"

"Actually, I have been thinking about it and I think your best bet is to get a girlfriend."

Jace shook his head. "Nah, I considered that a while back when I started getting too distracted. Then, I ran into Kaelie on the street, we started talking, and I decided it might not be the best idea to get a girlfriend for the sole purpose of distancing myself from Clary."

"But do you remember what happened after that? Clary saw you two together in Java Jones and she got super jealous." Isabelle turned to face Jace with her whole body. Her eyebrows were high in excitement. "You don't need a real girlfriend. You just need Clary to think that you're sleeping around and seeing other people. Make her think that you're not completely head over heels for her."

Jace opened his mouth to refute that last statement but soon closed it realizing he had nothing to say. "Yeah, okay."

"Good. Now, Clary's got work today." Isabelle grabbed Jace's phone off the coffee table and thrust it out towards him. "And you've got a whole bunch of numbers in here, Herondale. It's time to give one of them a call."


"You're late again!" Magnus called to Clary as she rushed back to the employee's only room in order to grab her apron so she could start work.

"And what else is new?" Clary responded. Magnus could only shake his head.

"You're gonna be fired one day and I'm going to have no sympathy."

Clary almost laughed. "They'd never fire me. I'm too loved by the staff and the customers."

"I hate to admit when you're right," he muttered.

Clary immediately got to work making people's coffees. She was a little sore from her earlier fight, but the several ibuprofens she'd taken were beginning to kick in. As the hours passed and people came and went, Clary's mind wandered.

"What you thinking about?" Magnus asked Clary when no one was at the cash register. She turned to him a little startled.

"Nothing really."

"Oh, so you meant to pour whipped cream all over your hand?" At Magnus' pointed smirk, Clary turned to what she had been doing to realize that she was missing the mug she was holding and was instead getting whipped cream on her hand. She groaned as she set down the cup and grabbed a rag.

"Guess I spaced out a little." She wiped at her hand, her thoughts once again taking over, before turning back to Magnus. "Have you ever felt like you're not in control of your own life? Like you get no say in what you get to do?"

"Woah." Magnus furrowed his eyebrows at her. He leaned back against the counter with his hands crossed in front of his chest. "Where is this coming from?"

Clary shook her head. "I don't know. I guess everything from the past year has just been catching up with me recently. I mean, I ran into my older brother Sebastian a little while ago and it just wasn't anything like what I would've expected our reunion to be."

"What's happened in the past year? And your brother?" Magnus was blinking surprised. "You haven't seen your brother in years, right?"

She nodded. "Right. But now all of a sudden he's back in my life in the absolute worst way possible."

"What?" Magnus chuckled. "Does he want money or something?" Clary laughed but said nothing. Couldn't reveal all of her secrets... "Hey, it's going to be okay. I'm sure this will all blow over soon and you won't see him for another ten years or whatever."

The smile was forced, but she managed it. "Yeah, you're probably right. I'm just letting my head get the best of me. Mags, what would I do without you?"

He shrugged, turning back around as someone approached the register. "Let life completely cripple you in every way?"

This time, the smile was real. "Yup, sounds about right."

As Clary was turning back to her work and shaking her head at how ridiculous her friend was, she saw the door to Java Jones open. Jace entered and alongside him was some girl that Clary had never seen before. Talk about tall, blonde, and dumb... Clary frowned as she watched the two laughing at something that was said and find a seat in the coffee shop. She caught Jace's gaze for half a second but he was completely unreadable.

Calming herself, Clary pulled out her phone. There was no need to jump to conclusions, right? Quickly, she texted Alec.

From Clary:
Hey, does Jace have any siblings?
More specifically, any sisters?

From Alec:
No.
He's an only child
Why do you ask?

Without responding to Alec's second message, Clary blew out a huff and shoved her phone back in her pocket. Maybe this was like that time she'd seen him with that one ex of his, Kaelie. Maybe it was just an old friend he'd run into and they were catching up. Yeah, that was it. That had to be it.

Clary went on with her job, making coffee and little snacks. The entire time, her mind was on Jace and the bimbo. She didn't even realize how upset she was until Magnus said something.

"Hey, Clare? Has your hair always been that bright red? I thought it was more carrot, but-"

Immediately, Clary's hands flew to her head. So, sure, she was pretty mad.

"I'm sure it's just the lighting," Clary said and she tried chuckling a little to lighten the mood- well, her mood- but Magnus looked unconvinced.

"Umm, okay? I'm going on break, so I'll see you in twenty." He headed for the break room much to Clary's demise. She didn't want to be left alone out here when Jace was still sitting on a couch with the blonde! Right where she could perfectly see them too! It was almost like he was trying to make Clary see this girl.

Nervous, Clary chewed on her thumb as she once again pulled out her phone and rushed to text Simon. She told him to come ASAP and when he replied that he was with Izzy she said to bring her along. ASAP.

It took only five minutes for Simon and Isabelle to arrive. In that time, Clary got to witness Jace kiss the girl's neck, whisper in her ear, and feed her biscotti. Needless to say, Clary felt like throwing up.

"What was so urgent that you needed us to come here?" Simon asked sitting on a stool at the counter. Isabelle took the seat beside him.

"That," Clary said and she motioned to where Jace sat. When the two spotted him, they turned back immediately.

"Is he on a date?" Simon questioned. "I thought he liked you? Why would he be on a date with someone else and why would he bring her here?"

Clary pouted and leaned against the counter. "I thought he liked me too. I can't even be upset about it though because I'm not supposed to like him."

"Why not- nevermind, superhero thing. I know, sorry." Simon waved a dismissive hand when the realization came to him.

Clary stared at Jace for a moment longer before she realized that Izzy had yet to say anything. "Iz? Any thoughts? I figured you'd be blowing up about this."

Instead of going off, she only shrugged. "Honestly, I'm just not all that surprised. I mean, it is Jace we're talking about and he does have a history with a lot of women. I know that I wanted you two to date for the longest time, but I've just come to realize that maybe you guys wouldn't be all that perfect together after all. He is kind of an asshole if you hadn't noticed."

Clary gaped. Had Isabelle really just said all of that? Sure, she was known for being honest but this was next level. And Jace wasn't an asshole. At least, the Jace Clary had gotten to know in the past month or so wasn't an asshole. He was a really sweet, funny, and caring guy that actually valued being a superhero as much as she did. The Jace Isabelle was describing was the Jace Clary thought she knew when he was just Badger to her.

"Oh, look at that," Isabelle said, "they're leaving." Clary watched as Jace guided the blonde from the coffee shop with his hand in the small of her back. "Yikes. Hey, Si do you think I can stay the night with you because who knows how long that chick is going to be over for."

Simon obviously agreed but Clary wasn't even listening anymore. She felt heartbroken and betrayed. But was it really even fair to feel betrayed by a guy you weren't even dating? She didn't know and, at this point, she didn't care. All she could focus on anymore was getting through the rest of this shift and then going home to sleep.

No amount of ibuprofen could fix this kind of pain...