Jace, Alec and Isabelle stood outside, looking up at the Lightwood Garroway building as the morning sun shone down on it. Except it wasn't the Lightwood Garroway building anymore. History had been changed. The three of them tried their best to take in the new lettering at the top of the skyscraper, screaming the words LIGHTWOOD GARROWAY BELCOURT for all of New York to hear.
It had been a stressful few months of organisation and compromise. Santiago Belcourt employees wishing to stay with their bosses when the merger deal was finalised were re-interviewed and new positions became open to the public to apply for. The building was nearly finished being redecorated in a style that suited all the partners. Contracts were being finalised and signed. Office spaces were being negotiated. Clients from both sides of the merger were resigning clients to their new firm. It was the biggest change Lightwood Garroway had ever seen, and possibly may ever see. But in just a few weeks, the newly merged firm would officially launch.
"How insane is this?" Jace said, still not quite believing the sight above him.
"I hope we all made the right call." Isabelle sighed.
"We'll make it work, come what may." Alec nodded. "We did what we had to do to ensure survival. Now we can truly rebuild."
"And kick ass." Jace grinned.
"...And kick ass." Alec smirked.
"I'm all for ass kicking, but I'm also all for keeping warm and it's freezing." Isabelle said, shuddering and heading inside. Jace and Alec patted each other on the back supportively and followed.
...
Clary and Simon were allowed to keep the same cubicles in their working area (being friends with and/or dating Jace had its advantages beyond the obvious). The merger had allowed for paralegals to get given better computers to work with thanks to an increased budget, something Clary greatly appreciated. As hard as it was to cope with so much change happening so fast, she was trying to her best to cope with it by finding the little joys in things.
Clary sat working at her much faster computer when Simon exited the elevator and rushed up to her cubicle.
"Well? How did the mock LSAT go?" He asked excitedly.
Clary smiled. "One hundred and sixty eight."
"That's amazing! You're getting better with every practice run!" Simon said happily as he sat down at his station.
"I've always done well in the mocks; I just freeze during the actual LSAT. It's nothing to get excited about." Clary said. "I'm trying not to get my hopes up."
"You still have a few more weeks yet. You know the stuff; you just need to overcome the crippling nervousness part." Simon said.
"Oh, is that all?" Clary smirked.
"You'll smash it this time. I can feel it in my bones." Simon smiled.
The elevator at the end of the room opened again and a flood of people poured out, led by Camille and Maryse.
"Ooh, more new employees!" Clary grinned excitedly as she and Simon gawped at the crowd. "This place is gonna be packed. I think fresh faces will do us the world of good."
"Yeah..." Simon said quietly. That's a lot of new people who could find out about me.
The nervous thoughts running through Simon's mind were temporarily faded by a familiar face being spotted in the crowd. A young man with a very familiar face.
It didn't take long for Simon to remember him. Julian Blackthorn, an attorney for Santiago Belcourt who'd been one of the friendliest opponents he and Jace had faced off with. It had been a case about medication having unforeseen side effects on ALS sufferers. He and Jace had been very impressed with him at the time, so he was glad to see Julian had clearly decided to follow his old firm into the merger. The rest of the crowd, however, seemed to be complete strangers. More people for him to befriend and get close to and put in danger if they had to keep his secret.
Simon was also aware that it may not even be a problem for much longer. The firm seemed to be finding its feet again with the merger, which would mean Luke in particular would be very keen for him to make an exit from the firm before any further damage was done. The merger might even be a great excuse for his departure not to come across as too suspicious. Camille and Raphael had no idea about Simon's secret after all, and he couldn't blame Luke, Maryse and Robert for not wanting them to find out.
But he also knew that the second he left he'd never be able to live his dream job ever again. This was the only firm he could ever work for; he couldn't go through all that lying again somewhere else. He couldn't hurt anyone else like his secret had unintentionally hurt here.
Things with Isabelle were better again – still awkward, but better – but the memory of what they had all too briefly would pain him forever.
...
Robert sat at a bench in Central Park eating his lunch. He'd had enough of people for the time being and wanted peace and quiet. It had been day after day of introducing himself to hundreds of new employees, learning new systems and floorplans and contracts...it had been too much. He wasn't as young as he used to be. He wasn't the man he used to be.
"Robert."
The voice was all too familiar and always felt like a blade piercing flesh. Robert turned as Valentine sat down next to him.
"We used to do this quite often, remember? Dream of how we would conquer the world one day?" Valentine reminisced.
"What do you want?" Robert snapped. "I have nothing to say to you."
"Well I have plenty to say to you." Valentine hissed. "Teaming up with Santiago Belcourt and tainting your precious firm? How low have you all fallen?"
"Don't try it, Valentine." Robert spat. "You're pissed that we've built ourselves back up to being worthy competition again. You're angry that all your crappy schemes and plans to bring us down didn't work because you have to resort to those lows and it all meant nothing. All that effort, all that hate, relentlessly going after us for nothing...was it even worth it?"
Valentine was red with rage. "I won't rest until your firm crumbles to the ground and you all come crawling back to me. Begging me to take you on board. After you all abandoned me, it all ends with me being your only hope. And that will be beautiful."
"We abandoned you? You abandoned yourself. You lost your way. Our firm was built from pieces of all of us, don't you remember? It was our dream. Our destiny. Taking on the world together. We were so close, weren't we? Then you started taking on dodgy clients behind all our backs to make the big bucks to try and convince us we'd all be better off letting you run everything. Your greediness poisoned you." Robert ranted. "And when that failed, you twisted Jocelyn's son under the guise of mentoring him. You broke him down and twisted his view of the world to use him as a pawn. Did you really think planting him in different firms to gain intel on our competitors wouldn't have gone unnoticed? It would have crumbled us, Valentine. But all you saw was the power you had over someone, so you kept going. And when Jocelyn finally got Jonathan away from you, even having to change his name to do it, you found Hodge instead. You just had to have someone to control. You went against everything we believed in when we built our firm, and yet someone you made yourself the victim. There's a reason none of us sympathise with you, Valentine. Competitors don't have to equate to enemies. You just can't see that. That's why we're on different sides."
"...Are you done?" Valentine said. He was clearly furious, but the truth always did hurt.
"I've been done with you for years, but you just can't move on and let it go. How often do you come here at lunchtime, Valentine? Hoping I'm sat here so you can try and intimidate me? Anger me? Emotions have consumed you but nothing will consume me." Robert stated firmly.
Valentine looked at him for a moment and smiled. "I'm not so sure about that."
He looked down, where Robert's suit jacket had fallen open to reveal a flask in Robert's breast pocket. Robert hurriedly hid it.
"We're both broken men, Robert. We're both troubled." Valentine said. "At least I can admit it."
He said nothing more as he got up from the bench and walked away. Robert took a few moments to allow his heart rate to slow back down before reaching for the flask and taking a swig.
...
"I'm still not used to it. It's so different up here." Simon said, looking around Jace's office and the newly applied wallpaper and freshly laid carpet.
"When they promised I could keep the same office I didn't realise they would make it unrecognisable anyway. I may as well have just moved." Jace groaned.
"It's not so bad. I think Camille getting final say on the décor is a worthy compromise for approving of Alec and Izzy's promotions." Simon shrugged.
"True. I guess I'll get used to it. Wouldn't be the first time something irritated and irked me before I eventually warmed up to it." Jace smirked.
"Exactly!" Simon exclaimed happily. He took a moment and sighed. "You were talking about me, weren't you?"
"Such a smart young man."
Simon rolled his eyes and started pretending to be interested in the objects on Jace's desk, which didn't go unnoticed.
"What's bothering you?" Jace asked.
"Nothing." Simon lied.
"Nice try, Potter. You never forget anything and yet here you are, playing with the things on my desk I've told you never to touch." Jace moaned.
Simon tentatively put the expensive pen back on the desk. "My bad."
"What is it?" Jace wondered.
Simon took a moment and sighed. "I just...I guess I'm just nervous about all these new people. What if some of them know me from the past somehow and expose? What if I slip up because I'm not used to them and everything gets exposed?"
"You need to relax. Everything's gonna be fine."
"I wish I could relax. Even if nothing goes wrong there, it won't be long now until Luke pushes for me to quit to ensure this never gets out." Simon sighed.
"...Yeah, I guess." Jace nodded. "We can talk to Luke, convince him to change his mind."
"But we shouldn't." Simon said. "He's absolutely right. Maryse and Robert will be right there with him. We already threatened them to allow me to stay. Hell, we threatened them with spilling their secrets to Santiago Belcourt. We can't exactly go down that road again now, can we?"
"The merger is still in its early days. Everyone's focus is gonna be on that for the next few weeks at least. We have time to work something out. Just...stop worrying, okay? Everything's gonna be fine, I promise." Jace assured.
Simon nodded, but deep down he knew the worries weren't going away. They probably never would. Even when the time came he did leave, he'd always have to worry someone would still find out and come for him. Leaving the firm wouldn't undo the crime.
Simon knew he may never know peace again. All he could do was enjoy living the dream before it was time to wake up.
...
Julian was relieved when he was told to go home early after being given a tour of the paralegal's workspace and his office. All of Santiago Belcourt's associates had gotten their own offices as part of the merger deal, which he was thrilled with. He was so used to a crowded home life with siblings all over the place that coming to work in his own little bubble would be a nice escape. He loved his family to pieces, but it was healthy to get away from time to time.
Just before he went home, however, he decided to visit the higher floors of the building and personally introduce himself to anyone who wasn't too busy. He hoped to climb the ranks in this new firm and making connections and friendships with the top dogs was a great starting point for that. He had a lot of mouths to feed, after all.
He decided to start with Alec Lightwood. Julian had gone against Magnus Bane a few times while they'd worked at Morgenstern Starkweather and they'd always been on friendly terms. There was always a safe space around Magnus wherever he went. Knowing Alec was Magnus' boyfriend gave him an ice breaker, and if Magnus approved of Alec, Julian wasn't quite to nervous to introduce himself. Isabelle Lightwood would be the real challenge; he wasn't sure if he would be able to form words when trying to talk to her.
Using his copy of the floorplans, he found Alec's office very easily. Alec had apparently from his last office space to a bigger room at the end of the corridor, the words 'Associate Attorney' engraved on his door now being replaced with 'Junior Partner'. Julian was honestly surprised the Lightwood siblings hadn't been given higher positions sooner.
He arrived and was immediately greeted with a newly installed desk in a wide open room in front of the office's entrance. Julian quickly remembered that Alec had been allowed to hire a secretary. He'd heard whispers about the new hire; apparently, she used to Magnus' secretary at Morgenstern Starkweather and had quit her job when Magnus was fired. Julian had respected this unknown woman when he'd heard that. Loyalty was often hard to come by in this profession.
The desk appeared to be empty, but Julian jumped out of his skin when he approached the desk and a woman popped up from underneath it, clutching a stack of files. As she spotted him, she yelped and threw the files everything, littering the floor with paper.
"Sorry! Sorry!" Julian exclaimed, rushing to pick up the papers that had fallen on his side of the desk.
"It's fine, I'm sorry. I was filing some paperwork away and didn't hear you come in." The woman explained.
The space cleared of flying papers and Julian was instantly struck by the beautiful woman stood before him. She had luscious blonde hair and a face that seemed like some angelic figure out of a painting. Like, those really old paintings. The ones that were a million times better than the ones he attempted to do when he had the spare time.
"...Hi." Julian said.
The woman seemed to stop as she got a proper look at him as well. "Hi."
Julian continued staring at her as he handed her the stack of fallen papers he'd picked up. "These are for you."
The woman smiled, discarding them to the side of the desk. "Thank you. Can I help you?"
"Julian."
"Sorry?"
"...My name's Julian. Is that not what you asked?" Julian blushed.
The woman chuckled. "Not quite. But since we're introducing ourselves, I'm Emma."
"Right, sorry." Julian laughed and shook her hand. Her skin was soft as silk. "Lovely name."
"Thanks. So is Julian." Emma said.
"My friends call me Jules." Julian said.
"So what should I call you?" Emma asked.
"Whatever you want." Julian said quickly, blushing again.
Emma smiled brightly. "Okay then, how about...Mark?"
Julian laughed. "That's my brother's name, actually, so that might get confusing for me."
"Right, right." Emma laughed. "I guess Julian will do nicely."
"Guess so." Julian smiled.
"So, what can I do for you Julian?"
For a moment, Julian had completely forgotten what he'd even come to do. "Oh, right...uh, is Alec about?"
"He's at dinner with his boyfriend and his sister. Was it urgent?" Emma asked.
"No, no, I just...I'm new and I wanted to properly introduce myself. It can wait." Julian nodded.
"No problem. I'll let him know you stopped by. Mark, right?" Emma smirked.
"Julian." Julian asserted. "Oh, wait. You're messing with me."
Emma laughed. "I am. I'll let him know Julian seems to be a very nice guy."
"That's very true. When I introduce myself, I'll be sure to let him know how great his receptionist is."
"I'd be very happy if you did." Emma said.
"Then I will. Do that." Julian nodded. "Sorry again, about the...incident."
He pointed to the stack of papers on the desk.
"It's no big deal." Emma said.
"I can help you sort them if you want?" Julian suggested.
"If you don't have anything better to do?" Emma said.
"Nothing comes to mind." Julian said instantly.
"That's very friendly of you." Emma smiled. "So I guess that makes us friends, Jules."
"Guess so...Em. Do your friends shorten it to Em at all?"
"Not normally."
"Emma it is." Julian nodded and smiled sweetly at her. She smiled back and they got to work in comfortable silence, neither of them unable to wipe the smiles from their faces.
...
"Dad, do you know where I can find the file for-?" Isabelle began, but stopped at the sight before her. Robert's head was resting on his desk next to a flask spilling whiskey onto the floor. "Dad, what the HELL are you doing?"
She stormed over to her father and shook him awake, putting the flask up straight and reaching for a nearby box of tissues to clean up the spillage.
"...Is-Isabelle." Robert drunkenly grumbled.
"You're a disgrace! Why do you keep doing this to yourself? To US." Isabelle roared as she finished cleaning up and beat a fist into Robert's shoulder. "You're a mess!"
Robert tried to stand and compose himself. "...You...you w-wouldn't under, understand."
Isabelle's eyes burned with tears. "I'm getting mom. Things are changing right now."
"Isabelle!" Robert shouted as Isabelle turned to storm out.
"What? Are you gonna try and defend this? It's not even five o' clock, dad! LOOK AT YOURSELF. I'm gonna get mom, she's gonna take you home and you are NEVER being left on your own again until you sort yourself out. I'm not gonna stand by and let you do this to yourself. Not again." Isabelle seethed.
"Don't you...don't you DARE walk away from me." Robert mumbled.
"I'm not, dad. Don't you get that? If I were walking away from you I'd just be leaving you to drink yourself to death instead of getting help. You can't be trusted."
"...Trust? You don't know the f-first THING about t-trust." Robert bellowed.
"That's not true, because I'm learning time and time again not to trust you. Having an affair wasn't enough for you? You had to drink to squeeze some pleasure out of your life as well?"
Robert tried to straighten himself. "I...I know about trust. Valentine...this is on him. He spat in the f-face of trust. And I didn't stand for it then. And I sh-shouldn't stand for it NOW. Valentine, Hodge...your precious little Lewis boy...they're all the same."
Isabelle froze. "...Simon? What did Simon do?"
Robert laughed loud and hard as his legs gave way and he sank down to the floor, leaning up against his desk. "N-Nothing! He did nothing. Nothing to g-get here..."
"You're just talking crap. I'm getting mom." Isabelle said.
"I know t-trust. You don't. You just...all you do is fall for a fraud. A SHAM." Robert grumbled.
"...What's that supposed to mean?"
Robert waved her away in between fits of laughter. Isabelle's heart pounded in her chest as she hurried from the room.
...
Simon was hit with a feeling of nostalgia as he started packing folders away into boxes in the storage room. The last time he'd spent a great deal of time there was during the week early into his job where he helped Isabelle go through thousands of documents. It was the first time he'd properly got to spend time with her; the first time the two of them really saw one another. She'd opened up to him about losing her little brother and he'd opened up to her about losing his dad. He'd realised he didn't need to be as intimidated by her as he was; she was amazing. Looking back, he was pretty sure he'd fallen for her during that glorious week.
"Simon."
Simon paused for a moment, wondering if he was only hearing Isabelle's voice because he was thinking about her like he always did. However, he turned around and saw she was indeed stood staring at him at the entrance of the room.
"Isabelle? What's wrong?" Simon asked, seeing she'd been lightly crying.
"I've been looking everywhere for you." Isabelle announced.
"...Hide and seek champion, me." Simon joked. Isabelle remained stoic.
"Found my dad in another drunken state." Isabelle said calmly. "Mom's taken him home."
Simon's heart broke for her. "I'm sorry. Are you okay?"
"No. But dad's only a part of why I'm not okay."
"Then what else? How can I help?" Simon wondered.
Isabelle stepped closer to him. "You can tell me the truth."
"...Truth?"
"...Dad called you a fraud. A sham." Isabelle said, her voice wavering.
Simon's heart skipped a beat, every inch of his body seeming to pause.
No. Please. No. This can't be happening.
"Why would he say that?" Isabelle asked, trying to stay calm and collected.
"...I-I don't know. People say weird things when they're drunk, maybe he-"
"-Simon Lewis, I know my dad is a mess but don't you dare try and blame your problem on his." Isabelle snapped. Simon thought he'd seen Isabelle angry with him, but this was something else entirely. This was terrifying.
"...Isabelle..."
"I tried to shrug it off, too. But there's always been something off about you, hasn't there? You were super into me and then suddenly we couldn't be together and you couldn't tell me why. And dad said that I'd fallen...he knew about us. He knew we were together for a time. I never told him that, so how did he of all people know unless he found out accidentally? And if he found that out by accident, what else might he have found out accidentally?" Isabelle interrogated.
Simon couldn't find any words. Isabelle walked right up to him.
"It wasn't just drunken rambling, was it? I'm trying to see this as a lawyer, not as Isabelle Lightwood. I want to forget I ever heard it but the lawyer in me knows there's evidence backing up what he said. I knew whatever was keeping us apart had to be big; even Jace wouldn't tell me a thing, so he must be in on this deep dark secret too, right?"
"Isabelle, please."
"I'm going to ask you something, Simon."
Tears started to sting Simon's eyes. "Please. Don't."
Isabelle's whole face changed; she knew she was on to something, and she was petrified of finding out what it was.
"If you ever genuinely cared for me at all, you're gonna tell me the truth." Isabelle breathed heavily and closed her eyes. "...What did my dad mean?"
Simon wanted to be swallowed up by the ground. He wanted something, anything, to happen to get him out of this. He should've left when Robert and Maryse found out. Better yet, when Luke found out. When Jace found out. He should never have let it go this far. Simon let the tears fall and took one last look at Isabelle Lightwood before he would truly lose her forever.
"...I didn't go to Harvard."
Isabelle opened her eyes, the darkness in them Simon had always found enticing now a terrifying abyss. "...What?"
"I didn't go to Harvard."
Isabelle took a moment and stepped back, shaking her head. "...Why would you lie about what law school you went to?"
Simon choked. "Izzy..."
"Don't call me Izzy, just tell me." Isabelle said.
"...I might has well lie about going to the best one."
"I don't understand."
Simon looked at the floor and prayed he'd never have to feel so much heartbreak and shame in the same moment ever again. "...I didn't go to law school. I don't have a licence to practice law. It's all made up. I'm not qualified and never have been. I'm a fake. I'm...I'm a fraud. A sham."
Isabelle stepped back further again, tears falling as she shook her head in denial. "No."
Simon wept. "I'm so sorry I didn't tell you, I...I didn't want you to get drawn into this-"
"-THEN YOU DON'T DO IT. YOU DON'T COME HERE. YOU DON'T DO THIS. YOU THINK LIKE A NORMAL HUMAN BEING!" Isabelle roared, an explosion of rage like Simon had never seen. She ran up to him and started hitting him in the chest as they both broke down. "YOU DON'T...YOU DON'T..."
"I'm so sorry..."
She slapped him hard. Then again.
"HOW DARE YOU! You don't get to...you don't get to come here and do this! Y-You don't get to come here and let me fall in love with you when you're..."
She fell to the floor, head in her hands as she cried. Simon sank down, his hand over his mouth to stop the sobs from coming out. They were both in their own worlds for a few minutes as the crying settled into disturbing silence.
"Isabelle..." Simon begged. "...I'm so, so sorry. Tell me...t-tell me how I can make this right. Please."
Isabelle looked up from having her head in her hands, her face stained with tears. "You go back in time and don't come here. You get to the front door, you turn around, and you walk into traffic."
"Izzy..."
Isabelle held a hand up to silence him. "One more word out of your mouth and I swear to god I will kill you. I will just...oh god. Why? Why have you done this? Oh god."
She stood up and brushed herself off. Looked down at Simon. Walked out without another word.
Simon had no idea what her next move would be, but he didn't care. All he cared about was that he hurt her. That she'd never forgive him. That none of this was worth it.
He sat on the floor and cried until there were no tears left.