A/N: Big thanks to readers both old and new for your continued support and kind words! Not sure when Lucifer and Izzy will get the chance to interact again, but this chapter is a fallout of the end of Chapter 8. Lots of Lightwood family feels! Hope you enjoy! XOXOX
Devil in the Details
Alec opened the door. On the opposite side stood Jace and Clary.
"Thank the Angel, you're alive!" Clary said as she pushed through the entryway. She pulled Izzy by her neck into a bone-crushing hug.
So much for Magnus' wards.
"W-what? Of course I'm alive," Izzy stammered, trying her best to breathe through Clary's death grip.
"Why are you here?" Alec asked, a severe stare leveled at Clary and his parabatai. He and Magnus stood side by side, no longer wrapped up in each other but a unified front none the less. Alec was annoyed at the unwanted visit, Izzy could tell. This was his safe space, and Izzy's presence was already pushing his limits.
"Izzy missed two patrols in a row." Clary's voice turned slightly accusatory, which Izzy had learned was just Clary's way of speaking when she was worried or upset. "When I went to check her room, all her stuff was gone. So I panicked and called Jace."
The irrational, emotional part of Izzy was angry at Alec for forgetting to take her off of the patrol schedule, thereby making it Alec's fault that they were in this situation right now. If he had just done his job, none of this would be happening and Jace and Clary would be oblivious. But, after a few deep breaths, Izzy knew that wasn't fair. It wasn't Alec's fault, and it wasn't fair of her to expect him to take care of everything for her. He'd had just as long as her to digest everything; it wasn't like he could have altered patrols in his sleep. That schedule was set in stone weeks in advance.
There was no avoiding this fallout.
This was the part where Jace would start his over-protective brother speech. But instead of an infuriating show of coddling, Jace remained quiet. Unsettlingly quiet.
"Jace...hello?" Clary waved her hand in front of Jace's face. He didn't even blink, his unseeing gaze focused on Izzy's belly. Like he knew.
"Jace!" Clary smacked his chest, which startled him bad enough to jump. He shook his head, limp blond strands falling in front of his eyes. He didn't look well, now that Izzy took a good look at him. There were dark circles under his eyes, like he hadn't been sleeping much. Valentine's defeat may have been a victory, but it took its toll, especially on Jace.
"Sorry," Jace apologized and pinched the bridge of his nose. One hand went to sweep his hair back into place. "Must have zoned out. It's been a long day."
Clary's face contorted into sympathy and worry. Her touch turned gentle, stroking over the place she had slapped. It couldn't have hurt him, not with all that leather between her tiny palms and his skin.
"What's going on, Iz?" Jace asked. His blue eyes were no longer hauntingly blank, but Izzy found that they kept involuntarily drifting to her abdomen.
There was no way he could know. No one knew. Only she, Alec, Magnus, and the Devil himself.
"I'm taking a leave of absence from the Institute for a few months. It's for my personal health."
"Shadowhunters don't get sick," Jace said, his brow furrowing in confusion.
"Does this have to do with when I found you throwing up?" Clary asked.
"It does."
Izzy felt light-headed. Was she really going to do this? Upheave her new normal so soon?
Alec reached over and took her hand. She took his and held on for dear life. She offered him a wan smile, and it was enough to push her forward.
"I wasn't throwing up because I'm sick. I was throwing up because I'm pregnant."
Deafening silence fell over the foyer. Jace's jaw literally dropped. Clary's eyes bugged out of her head.
"Izzy...that's...amazing," Clary said for lack of a better word, a little out of breath from sheer surprise. "Congratulations!"
The hug this time was much more gentle. Izzy didn't feel like it was quite the right response.
"Yeah, don't congratulate me just yet," Izzy said as she pulled away. Clary cocked her head to the side, curious.
"Izzy, if you're pregnant, that doesn't mean you have to run away from the Institute and hide out with a warlock," Jace said, like the whole thing was ridiculous. And, if Izzy thought about it too hard, she was inclined to agree. "I know that the Clave can be total assholes, and that some of them aren't the most accepting bunch, but we - Clary, Alec, and I - will support you. You can still go to work and run missions. Maryse did it all the time."
"I'm not Mom," Izzy snapped. It was hard to keep a level head and the conversation on track when Jace and Clary did not have the whole story. There was only one thing left to do, whether she wanted it or not. Izzy took a breath, bracing for the worst. "This baby...it's not a Shadowhunter baby."
"Meliorn?" Jace did not look impressed.
"Wh- no!" Izzy was genuinely taken aback. She hadn't been with Meliorn in forever - okay, except that one night - and what they had was a fling at best. "Why does everyone - ? No. Whatever. It's not Meliorn's. It's the Devil's."
"What?" Jace snorted out a laugh and rolled his eyes. "Good one."
But no one was laughing except him. Alec and Magnus both kept a flat affect. Slowly, the mood sobered, and Clary grew pale as a sheet. Jace's arms fell to his side; his mouth formed a severe line. It was impossible to tell what he was thinking.
"It can't actually be the Devil's...can it?" Clary asked, fear lacing her every word.
"Unfortunately, it can," Alec said with the weariness of someone thrice his age. He gestured to Magnus to continue the story. Magnus looked like he would rather spend another day in Valentine's body.
"Lucifer Morningstar has operated within the mortal world for quite some time now," Magnus said to the rising tension in the room. "But I can assure you, Lucifer is not a threat - "
"Not a threat?" Jace cut Magnus off, his voice going up an octave. "The Devil himself is not a threat?"
"I made a deal with the Devil to protect myself and the baby," Izzy said, standing her ground. The next bit was going to be even harder. "Because of it, I can't go back to the Institute. Or Alicante. I physically cannot enter angelic spaces. And that's how it has to be until the baby is born. That's why I've been 'hiding out' here with Magnus... I have nowhere else to go."
That struck a blow to the group. It was one thing for her to be pregnant and surrounded by her loved ones. It was another thing entirely to have her so far away from where they could be with her.
"Why'd you do it?" Clary asked, a little broken. She looked like she was going to be sick. "Did you really think that we would turn our backs on you? That we wouldn't help you?"
"No, of course not," Izzy assured, trying not to make things worse. "But there's nothing you could have done. This is way beyond anything anyone could have imagined or prepared for. And I'm terrified. But you know me...I never run away from a challenge."
"I would hardly call this a challenge," Jace replied, his words stinging. "This is a living, breathing, demonic thing that could easily cause the end of the world as we know it."
"I don't believe that." Izzy had to believe that. "Lucifer really isn't all that bad. If you could just meet him - "
"I'll pass, thanks."
"Isabelle is right," Magnus said, trying to mediate. He was the only one who seemed to have kept his cool. "Lucifer knows what it means to be human. He spends much of his time among them. He's not the monster you are picturing in your head, Jace. As much as it may pain you to accept, he's on our side."
Jace's face contorted into something dark and scowling. "Great, so we're working with the Devil now. That's just peachy."
He stormed off to the back of the apartment, onto the balcony, and turned his leather jacket clad back to the group. It felt like a slap to the face. Izzy had to fight back tears.
"Just let him cool off," Clary said, casting a weary eye to the balcony. "He's been going through a lot lately."
Magnus sighed and placed a hand on Alec's shoulder, comforting him as he felt his parabatai's pain. "We all have. That's no excuse."
"I'll go talk to him," Alec said, following Jace out to the balcony.
With a flick of his wrist, Magnus shut the doors behind them, giving the brothers some privacy. He then turned and headed towards the kitchen. He didn't need to clean up breakfast by hand, but Izzy had the suspicion that he would if only to give Izzy and Clary some privacy as well.
"Clary, I need you to do something for me," Izzy said, taking Clary's hands in her own. "I need you to take over being Weapon's Master until I can come back. Don't tell anyone at the Institute where I've gone. Tell them I'm on a deep cover mission, or traveling the world. Anything. I can't risk losing this baby."
Clary pulled away, tears in her eyes. "I can't do that, Iz. I can't."
"Please." Izzy hated to beg, hated how weak it made her sound. But she was desperate, and these were the only people she could trust to do right by her. "You know how fast information spreads around there. One word about a Nephilim-celestial baby and they'll never let me or the baby see the light of day again. I'll be locked in The Gard and executed for treason as soon as it's born. You know it's true."
These were all her darkest thoughts, the horrible, terrible things that plagued her nightmares and refused to give voice. Until now. She didn't want to believe that her own mother, her own father would turn her over to the Clave. Would give her body up for experimentation. Would sacrifice her child to the Clave's greed, or worse, their fear. Valentine infused his own son with demon's blood; he gave his daughter the blood of Ithuriel and now she can write her own runes, much to the ire of the Clave. Clary's life was always in danger. Izzy didn't want that for her child. She just wanted them to be safe.
Tears dripped down Clary's cheeks. Her chin wobbled. "I don't want your job. I want you to come home."
Funny to think that just a few months ago, Clary was against them, thought herself a prisoner at the Institute, and now she called it home. Clary had grown into such a fierce, strong Shadowhunter. She could handle being Weapon's Master, at least for a little while.
Izzy pulled Clary into a tight hug, the third that night. Normally she wouldn't be so maudlin. But in a couple of weeks, there would be a bump between them, and hugs like this would be a thing of the past. Izzy wanted the memory, just in case -
"I know," Izzy said, and hated how small her voice sounded. She was always weak when it came to her family, Clary included. "And I wish...I wish I could. But I can't. Not until this is over."
"This will never be over," Jace said as he and Alec rejoined the group, ever the pessimist. He looked less murderous and more irritated. Alec must have done a good job talking him off the ledge, literally. He crossed his arms over his chest, his glare severe. "You'll have a baby. You'll be a mom. That's something that will never go away."
"Jace is right," Alec agreed, mimicking his parabatai's stance. "You may be able to cross onto angelic ground again one day, but what about the baby? We don't know anything about that child. For all we know, it could claw its way out of you with demon's wings and a tail."
"You have been reading way too much Twilight," Clary muttered and rolled her eyes. None of them knew what that meant. Izzy assumed it was a pop culture reference. Maybe it was related to Trek Wars or whatever it was Simon kept rambling on about.
"No need to worry about something months away. We will take this one day at a time, yes?" Magnus said, a smile on his face that was more for Izzy's sake than anyone else's. "I think we've had enough talk of doom and gloom for one morning. You - " he pointed to Alec " - need to get going, or you'll be late for duties as Head of the Institute. And you - " he turned on Clary and Jace " - I believe I heard something about a patrol?"
Izzy could have kissed Magnus, she was so grateful.
This wasn't over. Izzy knew that there would be other, longer, more painful conversations to come, but at least now she could prepare for them. And despite all the anger and upset, Izzy could tell that Jace and Clary were on her side. She could handle hurt feelings so long as she still had them at the end of the day.
"You coming with us?" Jace asked Alec.
"Yeah, right behind you." Alec turned to Magnus and gave him a look. "I'll be back tonight. No funny business. Izzy needs to stay inside, hidden."
"I swear on my very long life that Isabelle will be well looked after." Magnus crossed his heart with pink-polished fingers, a teasing smile on his lips. "You worry too much, Alexander. Everything will be fine."
Alec grumbled a protest, but Magnus ignored it. He kissed him once on the lips and then pushed Alec toward the door.
"Remember what I asked," Izzy said to Clary as she headed for the door. Clary's face was a mask of pain, but she nodded and turned the corner, gone down the hall. Jace looked confused but didn't press. Clary would probably tell him later, and that was fine. Once his anger died down, Jace would do everything he could to make sure her alibi was protected.
Once everyone was out, Magnus snapped his fingers, and with a wave of his hand the wards came back to life in a glittering sheen. Symbols flickered throughout the web of shimmering gold, symbols she did not recognize from the usual wards that marked the Institute, both made by Magnus.
"A little extra protection. Just in case," Magnus said as he watched Izzy study the wards. "Now - " he clapped his hands, rings and bracelets jangling, " - what would you like to do today?"
..._...
"Why are we doing this, again?" Maze asked, disgust clear in her tone.
Lucifer was beginning to ask himself the same thing. It seemed like a good idea at the time: borrow Detective Douche's ID badge, slip into the morgue, retrieve the body of the fallen Nephilim, and sneak it out the back into his car. Now, lugging nearly two hundred pounds of literal dead weight, Lucifer was beginning to see the pitfalls of this plan. Normally, that little weight wouldn't have been an issue, but the body in question was roughly his size, and it was rather difficult to wrangle a body in a proper, respectable carrying condition without any kind of wheelchair or gurney. And Maze was being absolutely, positively unhelpful.
"Eager to be somewhere, are we?" Lucifer sassed. Maze leveled him a glare that promised pain. Once upon a time, that thrilled him in a sexual way. It still did now, but not as much. Maybe because for once, he actually understood what was at stake. "We are doing this because pretty soon things are going to start heating up in the demon department, and I'm going to need an in with the Nephilim."
"Why not just banish all the wraiths to Hell and be done with it?"
Always looking for the easy way out, Maze. Lucifer shook his head and sighed.
"If I do that, they'll just come back now won't they? I need to get to the bottom of this, figure out who is behind releasing all the wraiths, and not so metaphorically cut them off at the neck."
"Can I do that part?" Maze asked, a manic excitement in her eyes that she only got at the mention of sex or violence. She spun one of her daggers around in a maneuver that would have taken the fingers off a mortal man. "It's been so long since there's been a good execution."
"Yes, fine, be my guest."
Lucifer waved Maze's request away. He didn't care how the foul fiend was stopped so long as they were stopped. Permanently. He couldn't have rogue demons causing a mess when his spawn was born. Too many problems at once lead to a massive headache that not even the best designer drugs could cure.
Instead of opening the door for her lord and king like a good demon, Maze let Lucifer kick open the back door.
And instead of being met by the parking lot, he was met by a gun in his face.
"LAPD! Drop the body!"
Fuck.
As instructed, Lucifer dropped the body and raised his hands above his head. It landed on the ground with a wet squelch. Unknown fluids ran over his red bottoms. As he looked up, he was met with the Detective's incredulous, furious stare. She didn't lower her gun.
All Lucifer could do was smile.
"Hello Detective!"