Thank you Odeveca, Pandemonium333, beachchick3, and KindletheFire for your in depth and lovely reviews! I loved reading your thoughts and theories and your overall analysis of everything so far. I apologize for the delay in uploading recently and I thank everyone for being patient! Enjoy!


"Are you sure?"

"Positive."

"But they're three-hundred—"

"I don't buy cheap things."

Hodge wasn't sure if he should be grateful or utterly horrified. They'd arrived in New York City at around midnight due to the six hour time difference. Ragnor was kind enough to open the Portal near the Dumort where Tessa and Catarina were waiting on the other side. The warlocks greeted Hodge kindly, telling him they held no ill-will towards him. Hodge was relieved everyone was so understanding, despite the fact he was a fugitive of the Law.

"Thank you." Hodge knew it was a wasted effort to thank the vampire, but he felt the need to. Raphael's reply was a mere shrug. When the sun was rising over Manhattan, Eva and the others returned to the Institute, leaving Hodge with Raphael in the Dumort. The clan leader gave him the suite down the hall from his own and then told him they'd be going to an optometrist at noon.

Hodge never thought he'd turn to mundane medicine, but he supposed it was just one more thing the Clave lied about. It wasn't backwards at all: the doctor had him look through a contraption of sorts that switched between various lenses until he could see the letters on the board clearly. Hodge apparently had something mundanes called myopia with a bit of astigmatism in his right eye. The Silent Brothers have a similar method: they have hundreds of circular glass cuts they place in front of your eyes until you see clearly and then they create eyeglasses for you. Hodge never knew his terrible eyesight had a name.

"I can show you New York," Raphael said as he tossed his enchanted umbrella into the backseat of the Audi. Hodge was surprised to see how different he looked wearing a graphic t-shirt, jeans, sneakers, a Mets cap, and aviator sunglasses. He looked like a regular boy of sixteen. What he was supposed to be. "Eva told me you've never actually seen the city—"

"I won't subject you to that," Hodge laughed softly, giddy at being able to see clearly after so long. The city towered over his head, the colors vibrant, people's faces clear and distinguishable. "You're doing more than enough by letting me stay in the Dumort and spending an absurd amount of money on a single pair of glasses."

Raphael shrugged as he started the car. "I owe you."

"Me?" Hodge frowned quizzically before understanding what he meant. "You don't owe me anything."

"I don't think you understand what you did, Starkweather," Raphael said. He didn't take his eyes off the road as he steered the car through the city streets. "Or what it means to Eva."

"I lied, I schemed, and I did things I'll regret for the rest of my life."

"You don't regret anything." Raphael spared him a quick glance behind his sunglasses. "If you had to do it all again for her and for your wife, you would."

Hodge sighed sharply, begrudgingly accepting Raphael's sound logic. He was completely correct and Hodge suddenly remembered this boy was much, much older than him. And much wiser.

They were in the underground parking lot under the Dumort when Raphael said, "I've killed innocent people too, you know."

Hodge stopped walking abruptly as if an invisible wall blocked his way and drew the breath out of him. Raphael simply stood there, his boyish face contrasting the depth of his eyes. He stuffed his hands into his pockets and said, "When I was fifteen and stupid, my friends and I thought we could challenge a vampire clan and make it out alive. I was Turned, but I didn't have anyone to guide me so I drained my friends of blood and killed them."

It amazed him how Raphael could speak of it without flinching. Perhaps after so many years, it gets easier to say. "I was aware of what I was doing, but I couldn't stop and by the time I could it was too late. I know it's not the same—I was in a frenzy, and you had the ability to walk away. But when you really look at it, neither of us had another choice."

"Did you tell Eva?"

"She knows everything there is to know about me. I've been very transparent, as should you."

Hodge sighed shakily, his mind flashing with memories he tries to forget—both good and bad memories that bring him an equal amount of grief to relive. Raphael turned around to pull the door of the stairwell open.

"Don't be afraid to tell her the truth," Raphael said. "I was afraid, and it was all for nothing."


It was early in the evening when Eva arrived at the Dumort. Hodge was in Raphael's office trying to avoid the decanter of whiskey on an old-fashioned tea trolley. Hodge was a nervous drinker, and just thinking about having to tell Eva a story he's never heard himself say out loud was urging him to feel the burn of alcohol in his throat.

"I'm glad to see you're both alive!" Eva joked. Her hair was a mess of lovely curls, accentuating her soft features and bright golden eyes. She wore a cream knitted sweater with ripped jeans and suede block-heeled boots. He could see the hilt of a dagger poking out of her right ankle while her left stored her stele. The hoops she wore were her trusty chakrams—Hodge always felt a surge of pride to see her with them.

Eva pointed at Hodge's face. "Nice glasses, Hodge."

"They cost me a pretty penny," Raphael said from his desk. He'd been doing paperwork, but Hodge didn't dare ask what it was. Only the Angel knows what vampires do that requires paperwork. Blood bank donations, surely. "If they arrest him again, make sure to take them back so I can return them and get a refund."

He's warmed up to you, Eva touched Hodge's mind suddenly. When he gave her an incredulous look, she laughed. "Don't look so terrified!"

Hodge followed Eva out of the old hotel and onto the darkening streets of New York. Now with clear vision, Hodge could take in the details of his surroundings, the sparkling lights of the city, the lettering on the signs of every street corner. The enormous buildings of Manhattan towered over his head, nearly as tall as the glass towers of Alicante. Cars and taxis zoomed past him on the streets and people bumped into him as they rushed on the sidewalks. Eva took him down to the subway and they took a train downtown. Hodge was impressed by how efficient mundanes were.

They bought some food at a cafe near Central Park and sat on the terrace to eat. Eva started by telling him every Shadowhunter was being summoned to Alicante for a meeting to discuss Valentine and what to do about him.

"They decided to call the meeting after the battle on the East River," Eva smirked deviously. "And they also mentioned a prisoner they were interrogating in regards to Valentine's whereabouts has suddenly gone missing; they're saying Valentine snuck into the city himself and broke him out."

"Interrogation? They didn't even give me a trial by the Sword; I was left down there to rot," Hodge let out a sardonic laugh. "Hopefully Valentine doesn't hear about it—he might approach the Clave and deny it altogether."

"It's scary to think how much the Clave lies to us," Eva sighed softly, pushing around the salad she ordered. "Was it always like that?"

"There are some things you have to keep secret for the sake of everyone's sanity, but the Clave has become quite corrupt since Valentine's return. They're scared and rightfully so."

"They don't know where to turn or who to listen to," Eva nodded slowly.

Eva then went on to mention Clary Fairchild was approached by a woman named Madeleine Bellefleur who claimed Jocelyn had confided in her when she went into hiding. Madeleine said none other than Ragnor Fell could bring Jocelyn out of her induced coma.

"I have to tell Rapha to call Ragnor, but I think he's exhausted all his favors for the next century," Eva laughed. "Clary wants to come with us to Alicante, so we'll just walk to Ragnor's house together and he'll be forced to see us."

"He definitely won't be happy about that," Hodge joked.

Silence loomed over them. There was a massive elephant in the room and Hodge knew she was letting him bring it up. It was a delicate subject for him, and he appreciated her tactfulness. Hodge took one large gulp of sweetened tea before setting it down on its saucer.

"I don't know where to begin," he admitted with a nervous chuckle.

"Start with the happy things," Eva rested her chin on her hands, leaning in to listen intently. "Tell me about my mom, how you two met, how you started dating, your first kiss, your wedding, what she liked to eat and do and what kind of music she listened to. Would she have liked Izzy? And Rapha? And Jace and Alec?"

Hodge let out a laugh. "I like to say she'd be very proud of you if she were here now. She wanted nothing more than the best for you."

"Even if..." Eva blinked quickly, no doubt batting away the tears welling up in them. "Even if she was forced to have me?"

"There was an alternative plan we discussed about going into hiding and raising you in the mundane world like Jocelyn did with Clary," he said. "We thought about moving to the English countryside where Marigold dreamed of living, or perhaps back to her hometown in New Orleans or Canada or South America..." he trailed off. "But you have the blood of Heaven in you, much more so than us Nephilim. You belong in the Shadow World, and the Angels could probably come down to claim you at any moment if they wished—we know nothing of them or what they're capable of doing. And if we ran away, Valentine would hunt us down and kill us without mercy, and we couldn't let him have you. You're our daughter."

The finality of his tone made Eva's lips waver. Her hand shot up to her cheek to catch the stray tear before it stained her face. Her voice was steady as she spoke, "You don't deserve what you've been through, Hodge. You're a hero."

"Some heroes are never written about in history books," he said. "They only exist to the people they helped, and I'm fine with that."

Eva smiled softly, twiddling her fingers together on the tabletop. Hodge returned the smile. "Now, I suppose I can begin with how I met your mother..."