A/N: Thank you to everyone who visited and read the first chapter, here we go for the second.

Nora walked past Jace to assess if anything had been taken but her small apartment had been ransacked, things scattered everywhere on the floor, her bookcase and all it's books scattered on the ground.

"Damn it." She sighed, lowering her stake. "They found out."

"Find out what?" Jace still had his guard up.

"That I'm the one that killed every single vamp in the bleeder den and torched the place."

"That was you?" Izzy smiled broadly, clearly impressed.

"Oh yeah." The noise in the kitchen made them stop talking and they slowly walked in the direction it was coming from. The space was so small that they couldn't go through the door together so Nora went in first but as soon as her torso made it through the threshold, she was punch straight in the face, making her stumble.

"Slayer, you'll pay for what you did." The vampire quickly left with that warning.

"Are you ok?" Izzy kneeled down next to her.

"I'm good." She nursed her jaw.

"You can't stay here anymore." Jace finally said.

"I don't exactly have anywhere else to go." She got up and started putting things back in order.

"Grab some stuff, we're bringing you back to the institute" Jace left no room for discussion.

"They'll come after me, I can't do that."

"And we'll be ready for them." Izzy chimed in. "You're not safe here anymore."

"When was I ever safe?" Nora grumbled under her breath as made her way to her room. She grabbed a duffle bag from under her bed and started shoving some clothes in it. Jace and Izzy could only watch as she moved around her apartment as she gathered her things.

"Need some help?" Izzy offered.

"Can you just grab that bag by the couch please?" She pointed in the general direction of the living room. Izzy did as she was asked and Nora slung her duffle on her shoulder. "I'll come by another time for the rest of my things." She grabbed her computer on her way out.

"Let's go." Jace took the rear and they made it back to the institute.

"What's going on?" Alec met with them as they walked back in.

"My placed was trashed. They know I'm responsible for the bleeder den fire."

"That was you?" Nora hadn't seen this redhead when she was there earlier. "Oh I'm sorry, I'm Clary." She realized that she was have been staring at her funny.

"Nora." She smiled back, taking the hand that was extended to her.

"Izzy and Clary will help you settle in and then we can talk some more about what happened." Maryse had joined them by now.

"Thank you." The girls pulled Nora in the other direction, in search of a room.

"So, Alec said that you're." Clary started, looking at her as they walked.

"A Vampire Slayer, yeah. New York born and bred."

"We'll have to compare notes then." Clary smiled. Nora knew that she'd get along with Clary and so she nodded in response.

"We're here." Izzy pushed a door opened and let Nora walk inside.

The room basked in early afternoon light from the beautiful glass windows, courtesy of the kind of building they were in. The furniture was a dark mahogany colour and everything looked brand new. Nora ran a hand along the royal blue bedspread.

"This room is gorgeous." She turned to look at the two girls who were smiling.

"A step up from your place." Izzy laughed.

"A few actually." She grinned back at them.

"Come on Izzy, let's let her get settled in. We'll come get you in a little bit to talk with Maryse."

The girls left without another word, leaving Nora alone to unpack. It didn't take her a lot of time to put away what little clothes she had stuffed in her bag. She looked back out the window, knowing she'd have to go back out there for the rest of her things. Izzy had left her weapons bag next to the door so she went to grab it and sat down on the edge of her bed with it. Once unzipped, she pulled out each weapon and placed it on the bed for inventory. She made sure that her crossbow wasn't loaded like it usually was and set it on top of the bedspread and then she pulled out a stake. She hadn't used it in a very long while but it did bring back a few memories.

It felt like it wasn't all that long ago that she had found out she was a slayer and she had killed her very first vampire with that very stake.

"Hey, you ok?" Nora looked up and her eyes met soft ones. They were far less harsh then when she had seen them for the first time only a few hours before.

"Alec." She finally smiled. "Yeah I'm good, just lost in some thoughts."

"If you need anything, my room is right across from yours." He turned to leave but she stood.

"Did you work things out with Jace?" He stopped dead in his tracks and turned back to face her.

"We haven't had a chance to talk."

"You know, I have no idea what it is to have people around me." He simply let her talk. "I've been working alone since I found out I was a slayer with only a few phone calls from some people with more experience in this fight against evil than me. You're lucky to be able to fight with your family." He was finally able to see the scope of her loneliness as she spoke. "I don't know much about your world but Jace is your parabatai, the other part of you, what makes you two such great warriors. Don't be mad at him for keeping my secret, he only did what I asked him too."

"Thanks."

"Anytime." They smiled at each other before Alec took his leave, going in search of his parabatai, his brother.

He found Jace in the training room, sparring with Izzy. As soon as she noticed her brother in the room, she dodged Jace and went to meet him.

"Everything ok?" Izzy had worry lines on her forehead.

"Yeah I'm good." He smiled at her to ease her worries. "I came to talk with Jace."

"Catch you later then big brother."

Jace and Alec looked at each other, not saying a word. "Look Alec, I'm sorry."

"Jace, don't." He raised his hand to stop him from talking. "I acted like a jealous girlfriend and it was wrong. Nora's been going through a lot and she made me realize that I'm lucky to have my family and my parabatai by my side."

"And my intention was never to hide anything from you but I needed to keep her secret for her own safety, you know how that is."

"I know and that's why I'm sorry."

"Don't worry, we're good." Jace said, giving Alec a smirk. "Now let's see if I can kick your ass." He threw the two Seraph swords he had in his hands, Alec expertly catching them before Jace grabbed two axes from the table behind him, Alec giving him a smirk as well, attacking as soon as Jace was facing him again.

Nora finished unpacking before she went to explore the institute. She didn't know how far she was aloud to venture but her feet took her through the same hallways as before, making her way to the training room where she found Alec and Jace in full combat. She leaned against the post and watched them fight. Alec countered Jace's attacks easily and they looked like they were dancing. Then Alec went on the attack for one final hit and he hit Jace's elbow with his second sword, finding a vulnerable opening, smirking. Then they both attacked for a final time, ending in a draw.

"Wanna go hand to hand?" Alec was towering over Jace by half a head.

"I thought you'd never ask." Jace smirked, cockiness in his tone.

They both threw their weapons on the ground before going at it with physical hits. Their movements were fluid but sharp, the two feeding off each other. Anyone could see that their bond ran deep by simply looking at them but in the end, Jace got the upper hand and Alec hit his hand against the floor twice to show that he was giving up.

"Wow, that was impressive." The two boys looked in Nora's direction as Jace helped Alec up to his feet.

"Think you could take me?" Jace walked in her direction.

"I see you haven't lost your cockiness." She took a blade that was sitting on the table. "Maybe I need to take you down a notch." She smirked, Alec giving her a chuckle.

"Oh I definitely want to see that." He took the spot she had vacated only minutes before and crossed his arms across his chest.

"Are you ready?"

A/N: Do you guys think that Nora can take Jace on or will be raise a white flag like Alec? Please take a few seconds to review before you go, I always love to see your thoughts - Sarra