This is a short chapter, yes, but it's the one you've all been waiting for. A lot of y'all have been saying that Jace needs to hurry up with the truth or else Clary is going to get mad. And, well, yes. That's the point. I needed her mad for plot related reasons. Anyway, here we go, my lovelies. Please enjoy and review.

"Hey, Sebastian," Jace greeted as he entered the boy's hospital room. He raised a take-out box filled with pasta. "I brought you some good food so you don't have to eat this hospital garbage."

Jace had taken to visiting Sebastian every now and then over the past week. He had talked him into waiting before seeing Clary. Jace didn't tell him why obviously, but he had become rather good at making up elaborate yes believable excuses.

"Thanks," Sebastian said taking the box from him.

Jace sat down on the chair by his bedside. He stared out the window as Sebastian started to eat. Really, he was just there to keep him company, and to make sure his memories didn't somehow resurface. With everything that had been happening recently, Jace felt oddly comfortable around Sebastian now. Despite that he had tried to kill him and Clary for a good year.

"Hey, Jace," Sebastian said. Jace hummed in response turning to the other boy. "I was thinking... well, I was thinking I'm ready to see my family. My mom and Clary."

Jace's eyebrows were high, but he tried not to react too much. "Right. Of course. When?"

Sebastian shrugged. "As soon as possible, I guess."

Jace nodded. "Yeah, I'll have a talk with Clary. I'm sure she'll be over the moon about this." On the outside, Jace was calm and collected. On the inside, all he could think was, fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck.

"Thanks, I'm really grateful that you've been helping me out this past week and a half."

"Of course," Jace said, his voice an octave too high, "I'm just happy to be of help."


Clary was growing worried. There hadn't been a Black Angel attack in a while which was highly unusual. She didn't often get time to herself or time to heal. Not that she was complaining about it, but she was, wasn't she? Because a break in attacks had to mean something bad was coming.

So, Clary wore her Blindeye costume and stood upon the roof that she and Badger used as a meeting place whenever needed. She walked in a square around the edge of the building as she waited for Badger to arrive. She had texted him nearly half an hour ago. Where was he?

When Badger finally showed up, Clary had grown aggravated. She put her hands on her hips as she walked over to where he stood.

"What took you so long? What if there was an attack?" she demanded. She raised her eyebrows at him. He had always been irresponsible, but this was just unbelievable.

"Somehow I just kind of knew there wouldn't be," Badger said. He shrugged and plopped down on the roof so that his legs were swinging over the edge. "And besides, I was busy."

Clary sat down beside him. "There is nothing more important than our superhero duties. Especially with Black Angel still out there doing who-knows-what." She motioned to the city before them. It was peaceful now, but he got the point.

"Actually," Badger said with great reluctance in his voice, "I need to talk to you about that."

"About what? Black Angel?"

He nodded. "I haven't been entirely truthful with you lately." Badger cleared his throat. He didn't look at Clary. "I don't really know how to tell you this... which is why I've been avoiding doing so for over a week."

"You're worrying me," Clary said. She watched as Badger fidgeted with his hands. There was a bracelet on his wrist that said "Partners In Crime." When she looked down at her own wrist, she wore an identical one. But she had no recollection of ever getting it.

"It's not like that, Clare," he continued, and Clary's jaw dropped. Not only did he know her real name but he apparently knew her well enough to call her by the nickname of her nickname.

Clary stood up, and that was when Badger looked up at her.

"How the hell do you know my name?"

Badger stood too. He seemed very hesitant. "Because there's a lot that you're missing. Because we know each other in real life. We met two months ago."

"Then why the hell don't I remember that?" Clary demanded, taking a few steps back. But if that was true, it would explain a lot.

"Black Angel, that's why. Long story short, your memory got wiped." He ran a hand through his hair. "I don't really expect you to believe everything I say, but I'm telling the truth. Black Angel is actually your brother, Sebastian. And your dad, Valentine, is dead."

Clary wasn't looking at Badger anymore. She stared at the ground feeling stuck. "What?"

"He made this machine-Sebastian, I mean-and he tried to get rid of your powers with it. It erased your memory. Had I not gotten you out, it would've erased a lot more than just two months." Badger stepped towards her. He put a hand on her shoulders. "Clary, I-"

"No!" She shouted and whacked his hand off her. "No. I can't believe this! You lied to me for nearly two weeks! How could you just do that? I mean, we know each other in real life? What does that mean? How did that even happen?" Then something occurred to her. "Who else knows?"

"Simon," Badger answered immediately. Before Clary had time to react, he continued. "Magnus. Alec. Isabelle. Jace."

"WHAT!" Clary couldn't help it when she screamed. She was so infuriated at not only Badger but all of her closest friends too. And apparently she'd already known Isabelle and Jace long enough that her secret was revealed to them too. This certainly explained why everyone had been acting so strangely lately. "I'm so... mad!" With that last word, Clary felt a surge of energy go through her body. She stumbled a few steps backward.

"What just happened?" Badger asked. He blinked a few times, worry deepening on his face. "Why can't I hear anything? I mean, I can hear just fine, but I can't-"

"Read minds," Clary finished for him. "Could you... read minds before?"

He nodded. "It was my new power. How did you-" Realization replaced his worry, and his eyes went wide.

Clary couldn't really explain what was happening, but she could hear what Badger was thinking. By changing focus, she could hear what anybody was thinking. And when Badger started thinking about himself, Clary's eyebrows shot up.

"Jace?" she said, and his lips parted. "I'm so confused right now."

"Did you-" Jace ripped the mask off his face. It was him all right. He took a few steps towards Clary. "Did you just steal one of my powers?"

Clary looked down at her hands. If she had, she hadn't meant to. Nor had she known that she could. "I think so."

"Well, give it back!"

Clary threw up her arms. "How?"

"I don't know!"

"Neither do I!"

Jace ran a hand through his hair. He started pacing back and forth. "So, you can steal powers now. You couldn't do that before you lost your memory so it doesn't make sense that you can now."

"Did we-" Clary couldn't really focus on what Jace was saying out loud when she could hear everything that was going on in his mind. "Were we romantically involved?" She couldn't think of a better way to put it without feeling weird. Already, she felt weird. How could she fall for Badger? She despised him.

"Please stop reading my mind," was all Jace said in response. He didn't even stop pacing. "This feels bad. I can't put my finger on why, but this just feels bad."

"You've liked me since we first met? No, my bad, you've liked Blindeye since we first met?" Clary questioned. She didn't really know how to turn off the mind-reading.

Jace stopped pacing to look at Clary. "Stop reading my mind!"

She felt a little bad. "I don't know how."

Jace let his head drop into his hands. He groaned rather loudly before looking back up at Clary. "I'm going to go back home now to try and figure some of this out." He turned but then paused. "And by the way... I moved in with Isabelle because Magnus and Alec decided to take the next step in their relationship and move in with each other. So, if you need me..." He shrugged and, with that, he left.

Clary was left on the roof feeling completely bewildered. She pressed the palm of her hand to her forehead as noises started to come at her from a million different directions.