Clary buried her face into her pillow, trying to block out the incessant knocking that had woken her up. She hoped that if she ignored it, whoever was at the door would eventually go away. When the knocking still hadn't stopped a few minutes later, she groaned and forced herself out of the comfort of her bed. She winced at the soreness in her muscles as she moved and head to the front door.
"What," she said as she threw open the door. She was surprised to see Magnus standing there in street clothes. It was different from his typical medical examiner get up of a white coat and dress clothes. A pair of black leather pants clung to his legs and the fluorescent hall lights reflected off specks of glitter on his satin purple button up shirt. He was holding a leather bag in his right hand.
"Hello to you, too," Magnus replied, raising a perfectly groomed eyebrow.
"Uh, what are you doing here?" she asked, opening her door wider and gesturing for him to enter her apartment.
"Fulfilling a favor for a friend," he answered as he walked in.
She shut the door and leaned against it, crossing her arms over her chest. "A favor?"
He nodded. "Jace asked me to stop by and check on you. Said you got roughed up pretty bad."
"I'm fine. I don't need anybody giving me a check up. Besides, do you even know how to check on something that isn't a corpse?"
Magnus rolled his eyes. "Even if you think you're fine, I still need to look over you. Jace will kick my ass if I don't. Now sit." He pointed to her couch, and she took a seat. He sat on the coffee table in front of it, setting his bag next to him. "How are you feeling?" he asked as he pulled a small light out of his bag.
She shrugged. "Fine. Just a little tired and sore."
He shined the light in directly into her eyes and she fought the urge to blink. "Sore?" he asked, shutting the light off and rummaging through his bag again.
"Yeah. Just normal muscle soreness. Probably from all the running."
He nodded, pulling out a little wooden tongue depressor. "Open," he instructed, and Clary opened her mouth, wrinkling her nose at the taste of the wood. "Any other pain? Headaches?"
She shook her head as he inspected her mouth. Pulling the depressor out, he went to put away and paused.
"What's that?" he questioned, pointing to the fresh looking scar on her thigh.
"It's nothing," she responded, quickly pulling down the hem of her sleep shorts.
"Clary, that doesn't look like nothing. What did he do to you?"
Closing her eyes, she let out sigh. "I really don't want to talk about it, Magnus. He had a doctor take of care it, and I'm fine."
Frowning, he closed his bag. "Okay. Well, physically, you appear to be all right. However, I highly recommend finding someone to talk to. A professional."
"I appreciate your concern, Magnus, but I'm fine. Really. I just want to forget the whole thing ever happened."
He exhaled loudly as he stood up. "If that changes, let me know. I have a few resources I can give you."
"Thanks," she said, leading him to the door.
"I'm going to let Jace know that you're okay, but don't be surprised if he calls you anyway."
"I don't understand why he's so worried."
Magnus looked her straight in the eyes. "Clary, you were abducted. Jace was a complete mess while you were gone. He cares about you. That's why he's worried."
Biting her lip, Clary looked down at her feet. "I guess I'm just not used to all the attention, you know? Especially from him. I'm used to mostly being on my own, with only my mom looking out for me. This is all really new to me."
Magnus smirked at him. "You better get used to it, cupcake. That boy has fallen head over heels for you, and I don't see him stopping this behavior anytime soon." He opened the door. "Anyway, I'll see around," he said before leaving.
Clary stared at the door after he left. Her heart had fluttered at what he said about Jace. How much did he really care about her? She had begun to think that he just felt bad about how he had acted, but maybe Magnus was right. Maybe Jace actually did have these feelings for her. The question now was, did she have the same feelings for him?
Her stomach growling loudly interrupted her train of thought. A groan escaped her as she immediately realized she wouldn't have any food around her apartment since she hadn't been living there for a while. She quickly went into her room and changed into jeans and a t-shirt. She grabbed some cash from the emergency stash she kept in her bedside drawer and left her apartment, locking the door behind her. She had her heart set on a small café down the street.
As she exited the apartment building, she ignored the patrol car that was in the parking lot. She felt like it was completely unnecessary. She knew Jonathan. He wasn't going to try something again so soon. He liked to plan things out meticulously, and he wasn't going to act out impulsively.
The bell above the café door chimed as she entered, and she smiled to herself as the smell of coffee and pastries wafted around her. She was about to step in line when she heard a familiar voice call her name. She stopped midstep as anxiety bubbled inside her. Turning toward the voice, her eyes met a pair of dark brown ones.
"Hi, Izzy," she said, awkwardly running her left hand up and down her right upper arm.
"Hi, Izzy?" the raven-haired woman almost shouted as she approached Clary. "I find out you were keeping a huge secret from me and then you get kidnapped and I don't see you for two months only to run into you at a coffee shop and all you have to say is "hi Izzy?'" Her voice progressively got louder throughout her rant.
Clary glanced around the café and noticed the majority of the patrons were now staring at them. "Izzy," she whispered, "you are drawing a lot of attention right now."
"I don't care!" she shouted, throwing her hands in the air. "What the hell happened, Clary?"
"I will tell you, if you agree to sit down and be quiet," Clary said.
Izzy nodded curtly. "I'll be over there," she said, pointing to a secluded table in the corner.
Clary joined the line, and less than ten minutes later she was sitting across the table from her best friend. She stared at her cup as she stirred some sugar into her black coffee.
"What do you want to know?" she asked.
"When did you get back?" Izzy questioned. She seemed to have calmed down significantly.
"Yesterday." She tentatively took a sip of her drink, making sure it was to her liking.
"Why didn't you tell me?"
Clary thought she sensed a hint of hurt in Izzy's voice. "I didn't have the time. I got back, passed out, got woken this morning by Magnus, and came here."
Izzy nodded, but she didn't say anything. Clary watched as she crossed her arms over chest and stared out the window, a crease forming between her eyebrows.
"Do you hate me?" Clary asked, breaking the silence.
Izzy quickly turned her head to look at her. "What? Why would I hate you?"
"I-I've lied to you this entire time."
"Oh, Clary," Izzy sighed, reaching across the table and placing a hand on top of hers. "I could never hate you. I understand why you lied. If my father was a psycho murderer, I'd probably keep it a secret, too."
"What about all the yelling that just happened?"
She shrugged. "I was surprised to see you. And honestly, I've been super stressed recently. I was really worried about you. I guess I just kinda took that stress out on you. But I'm really glad you're back and that you're okay." She paused for a second. "You are okay, right?"
Clary smiled. "Yeah, Iz. I'm okay."
After catching up with Izzy for around an hour, Clary walked back into her apartment. She couldn't even begin to describe the relief she felt after talking with her best friend. Izzy had been completely understanding and sympathetic toward Clary's situation, and she was extremely grateful to still have her by her side.
Clary had just locked her door when the landline in the apartment rang. She half ran to the kitchen where the phone was, picking it up just in time.
"Hello?" she answered, slightly out of breath.
"Hey, Fray," Jace greeted. "Where'd ya go?"
She narrowed her eyes, even though he couldn't see. "What? Are you keeping tabs on me through the patrol unit?"
"I just want to know you're safe, Clary," he said, any joking tone gone from his voice. "Plus, I don't exactly have a way to reach you. Your cell has been sitting in Luke's office since the last time you were in there."
She cradled the phone between her shoulder and cheek as she started to untie her shoes. "Oh, yeah. If you're around later I could stop by and pick it up?"
"Um, there have been some changes in the past month or so." Clary could hear a slight hesitation in his voice. "I'm not working for the police department anymore."
Clary grabbed the phone with her hand and stood up straight. "What happened? Did you get fired? Did they-"
"Clary, calm down," he interrupted. "I did not get fired. I actually quit."
"Why? Jace, you love that place."
"A better opportunity presented itself. I was going to tell you in person, but I guess over the phone will have to do. The FBI took over the Morgenstern case, and after observing me and looking over my past cases, they offered me a job."
"Oh," Clary responded, feeling oddly disappointed. "That's great news!" She tried to sound enthusiastic.
"What's wrong, Fray? Are you going to miss seeing me every time you get called in?"
Clary scoffed. "Yeah. You wish." If she was being honest with herself, though, she was going to miss that. Working with Jace, no matter how unpleasant it could get, had been one of the few constants in her life. "Are you moving to D.C. or what?"
He laughed. "No, Clare. I'm not moving to Washington. I'm working out of the New York field office, so you can see me as often as you'd like whenever I'm not at work."
"What makes you think I'd want to see you often?" she asked, leaning against the kitchen counter.
"Because I know you can't resist me."
She rolled her eyes. "Yeah. In fact, I really wish I could see you right now. It's just been way too long since you have graced me with your presence," she said, sarcasm dripping from her voice. Suddenly, there was a knock at her door, and she sighed. "Hold on. Someone's at the door."
Before could respond, Clary set the phone down on the counter and walked toward the door. She undid the locks and opened the door, barely containing a gasp once she saw who was standing there.
"Your wish is my command," Jace said, smirking.
Clary cocked her head to the side. "Damn. I should have made a better wish."
Jace placed a hand over his heart in mock hurt as he entered her apartment. "My presence is the best wish anybody could ever ask for."
Clary crossed her arms and cocked an eyebrow. "What would you have done if I hadn't made a comment, even sarcastic, about wanting to see you?"
He shrugged. "Probably would have showed up anyway. Magnus told me your check up was fine, but I wanted to check in myself."
She chuckled and shook her head. "He told me to expect a phone call, not a house call."
He took a step closer to her and gently cupped her face. "Maybe I just wanted to see your gorgeous face again."
Clary felt the heat rise in her cheeks, and her heart rate picked up slightly as he leaned his face in towards hers. His lips were just centimeters from hers when his phone rang in his pocket. He cursed under his breath and pulled away, fishing the phone out of his pocket.
"Agent Wayland," he answered. His eyes widened at whatever the other person was saying, and he frantically nodded his head. "Yeah. I'll be right there." He glanced at Clary. "And I'll be bringing Clarissa Fray in with me."
Clary's brow furrowed as Jace ended the phone call. "Where am I going with you and why?"
"I'm taking you to the field office. Raphael just turned himself in. He says he wants to help us take down Jonathan."
I meant to get this chapter out sooner but really struggled with it for some reason. Hopefully it wasn't too terrible or disappointing. I'll try to get the next one out in a decent amount of time.