Jasper stopped inside the doorway of Valentine's den, his peridot green eyes scanning the room for the source of the blood that filled his nostrils with the stench of iron. A movement out of the corner of his eye alerted his attention to a small dark shape.
Jasper entered further into the room and cautiously made his way to the object that caught his eye, which he now saw was a black booted foot, slowly writhing and twitching in what had to be pain.
He crept silently forward until he saw the ankle and black gear covered shin the boot was attached to, and then stopped dead as he saw the shaking knee and slightly swaying sword that was stuck point down into the thigh of Jonathan Morgenstern.
Jonathan, lying on his back with his arms spread wide, appeared to not see him. Jasper moved closer, so close that he could now see the slight twitching in Jonathan's blood drenched fingers as well as the sweat that had dampened his pale hair and had gathered on the backs of his eyelids. Jonathan's nose appeared to be broken as well; there were grisly red trails running down from both nostrils.
The stench of blood seemed overwhelming now.
Jasper pressed the back of his hand to his nose and looked down at where the blade entered Jonathan's leg. The material of his gear was soaked a shade of damp and darker black than the rest of his gear and Jasper knew that if he touched the area, the tips of his fingers would come away scarlet with cursed blood.
Seemingly in a trance, Jasper knelt and stretched his hand out, shaking, to touch the area. A morbid part of him wanted to discover if he could sense the darkness inside this Morgenstern, actually feel the taint within the blood, like he could sense the light inside Jace…
When Jasper was inches from the wound, Jonathan moved as if electrocuted.
He lunged toward Jasper, snarling and slashing out at him with a short dagger. Jasper yelled, forearm raised in defense as he threw himself backwards, but not fast enough to avoid the blade. Jasper held his hand to the cut in his forearm and scooted away from Jonathan, who was eying him ferociously with the dagger still clenched in his sweaty grip, body twisted and looking like a savage demon caught in a pentagram. Jasper swallowed as he tried to focus on healing the gash in his arm.
Try as he could though, he couldn't tear his eyes away from the black ones that were staring into his. If he had needed proof of the evil inside of the eldest Morgenstern, he needed look no further.
This darkness that was encased inside the suit of the boy in front of him… Jasper had never seen anything so wrong, so inhuman. The eyes that stared out at him wanted nothing more than to rip the flesh away from his bones and devour it. And the demon eyes in the pretty face ruined everything else; twisted it, defiled it.
Jonathan made a sound that was more animal than person, and clawed across the floor at Jasper's foot. And though it terrified him to do it, Jasper closed his eyes so he could concentrate on healing himself; he knew Jonathan wasn't going anywhere, not with the sword in his leg.
Healed, he opened his eyes in time to see Jonathan raising the dagger above his head and bringing it down at his foot, the closest part of him that Jonathan could get to. Jasper moved seconds before the point struck home.
Now on his feet, Jasper looked down at Jonathan, his torso twisted and breathing heavily, hand still wrapped around the blade stuck into the floor.
"What's wrong with you! I'm going to try to help! Or should I just leave you here to bleed to death?"
Jonathan raised his face up from the ground to meet his eyes.
Then something inside of him spoke a different language; something dark and guttural. Jasper backed away and Jonathan smiled.
The darkness liked that it was scaring the boy. He started to laugh. But the pain was so bad…Jasper rushed to him as his laughter turned to gasping sobs.
"Get away!" Jonathan yelled. He tried to yank the dagger up out of the floor but found that his strength was deserting him. "Just…just leave,"
Jasper waited for his eyes to close before he pulled the dagger out of the ground and threw it away behind him.
"Your father sent for me to help you," Jasper said cautiously as he scanned the many belt loops that covered Jonathan's gear. Jonathan laughed weakly, still not opening his eyes.
"That's good. Good to know he still wants me around."
Jonathan rolled over onto his back again, wincing, as Jasper settled himself anxiously on his knees, not knowing if Jonathan was going to remain calm or if the demon would decide to make another appearance.
"So are you going to get this out of my leg or not?" Jonathan snapped.
"You would not be so quick to help me, if our fates were reversed." Jasper said in a low voice.
Then he gently placed his fingertips on the top of the sword, absently feeling the cold metal of the handle.
"In fact, I don't doubt you wouldn't just put another sword in me just for the pleasure of watching me struggle and die like an insect pinned to a board."
Jonathan, who had been staring up at the ceiling, closed his eyes as if he couldn't keep them open any longer. Jasper noticed how his pale hair was sticking to his forehead and neck with perspiration.
"No, I wouldn't." he replied quietly. Jasper snorted and felt his hand tighten on the sword's pommel without it meaning it to.
"You just lie freely don't you? With no care to what people think and if they can see through the webs you weave." Jonathan seemed to grow even more exhausted.
"I'm not lying. I wouldn't kill you now I've changed. I'm not the same person who threatened your life before." Every word he uttered sounded like it took great energy to speak it. And when he was finished he lay stiller than before, almost corpse-like, save for the slow moving of his black-clad chest. Jasper considered his words with narrowed sea glass eyes.
"You sure seemed like you wanted to harm me before with that dagger. That doesn't quite seem like the actions of a changed man." Jonathan exhaled heavily, and then winced when the movement caused his body to shift and jostle the heavy blade in his leg.
"That wasn't really me. The…darkness, it was afraid…we've never been hurt like this before," Jonathan mumbled.
"And the darkness…was that what made you hold that knife to my throat that day you questioned me about your horse? Did the darkness make you mutilate your own brother?" Jonathan flushed at Jasper's accusatory tone.
"Jace and I reached an…agreement about that. It's behind us."
"And where is Jace now?" Jonathan opened his eyes and threw him a furious look.
"Just do your job and get this out of my leg," Jasper continued to brush his fingertips over the smooth metal handle of the Mortal Sword.
"And if I don't?" Jasper felt Jonathan's eyes burning into the side of his face. He continued looking at his slowly moving fingers until the weight of Jonathan's gaze became too much and he had to meet his eyes. They were like pits of oil in his face.
"Then I will kill you." he told him. Jasper smiled, showing his fangs.
"That's quite a threat, considering you're pinned to the floor…like an insect," Jasper smiled.
Jonathan shot upwards and grabbed him by the back of his neck, his fingers digging painfully into his flesh with crushing strength.
Jasper made a sound in his throat and used his forearm like a crowbar against Jonathan's chest as he tried to pry distance between them. His struggling was for nothing; Jonathan was much stronger. He dragged him inches away from his face and soon Jasper feared the demon would resurface to take a bite out of him.
But all Jonathan did was whisper through his clenched teeth very close to Jasper's ear.
"Get this out of my leg. Now."
"And then what?"
"And then you're going to heal me."
"What will you do after?" Jonathan shook him, making his teeth clatter.
"Just do it!"
He released Jasper, nearly shoving him backwards, and began to stare at him with so much quiet fury Jasper knew that the demon must be close to stealing his control once again. Jasper could feel the anger in his gaze like it held a physical weight as he stood and wrapped both hands around the hilt of the heavy sword.
"Wait."
Jonathan slid off one of his filthy gloves, pulled it inside out and held it up to his mouth, teeth clamped down tight on the fabric. When he was ready, he looked back up at Jasper.
Jasper tightened his grip on the sword, but knew he wouldn't be able to pull it out without using his foot against Jonathan's leg for balance. He tentatively placed his foot down on Jonathan's sore thigh, the same foot Jonathan had tried to tear off and stab, and tried to ignore the soft growling sound Jonathan made when he adjusted his grip once more.
Then with all his strength, Jasper yanked the sword upwards. And it did not slide out.
Jasper chewed on his lip anxiously and yanked a second time, while trying to block out the muffled sounds that were making it past the leather glove.
This time the blade slid out halfway, screeching horribly against bone as it did.
Jonathan's fingers dug into the carpet as tears filled his eyes and for a moment he lost sight of the sword and was glad, for he never wanted to see it again in his lifetime.
Then his vision cleared and he could see the blade again, and more of his blood than he had ever witnessed before. With a giant heave, Jasper finally pulled the sword out completely, grunting with effort, and Jonathan collapsed backwards onto the floor as pain shot through his entire body.
He curled onto his side and clutched his wounded leg, still groaning into the glove pressed to his mouth.
Jasper all but drug the heavy sword over to the doorway, where he yelled down the hallway for Samuel.
The tidy man appeared and held his hands out for the sword, a handkerchief in one palm to keep his stark white gloves free of blood.
Then without looking in on the scene in the study, Samuel whisked the sword away to be cleaned.
Jasper returned to Jonathan, and was alarmed to see how pale he had turned in the short time Jasper had his back to him. Jasper quickly kneeled next to him and placed both palms flat down on his gaping wound and closed his eyes.
He let the quiet sound of Jonathan's slightly hitched breathing calm him and act as a metronome as he worked the magic for his gift.
Soon he felt flesh and muscle knitting itself back together beneath his touch and heard the intake of breath from Jonathan, who was now removing the bitten glove from his mouth. When he was completely healed, Jasper removed the blood from his hands while Jonathan sat up and observed his leg.
All that remained now was a torn hole in his gear, congealing blood, and the memory of great pain that hadn't quite faded away from his body yet.
Jasper could see Jonathan's throat working, like he was trying very hard to say something but couldn't get the words out. Jasper looked up at his face.
"I can fix your nose too if you'd like." Jonathan shook his head.
"No need."
Then, with his thumbs, he pushed the broken cartilage back into its proper place. The audible crunch it made caused Jasper to wince.
But it appeared Jonathan had done this before; for the end result was as if he had never broken it to begin with.
Jonathan got to his feet somewhat cautiously, almost as if he were doubting that the pain wouldn't be there when he put his weight on his previously skewered leg.
He grinned ruefully then, remembering when Jace had threatened to skewer him with the fire iron.
The grin fell from his face almost immediately as he remembered Jace's current predicament.
Where was he now? Had the Institute Shadowhunters caught up with him? Was he being tortured for information? Would they even have to torture him…or would he just tell them everything willingly?
Jonathan couldn't really blame him if that was the case. He wasn't sure what he would do in a situation such as that. He supposed it only depended on whether or not he would see his father again afterwards…
Jasper was watching him with an odd look on his face.
"What?" Jasper hooded his green eyes.
"I can see that you have changed."
"Don't think of me as your friend now just because I haven't killed you," Jonathan said as he walked towards the bar to pour himself a large drink.
He planned on waiting in this room until someone returned, and considering the night he had, he figured he deserved to crack open his father's good brandy.
And if Valentine got mad at him…oh well, he thought as he took a drink. He turned to Jasper as he felt the alcohol settle warmly in his stomach.
"And don't forget that I'm not Jace either." He said before taking another large drink, his black eyes never leaving Jasper's.
The fae boy dipped his head in acknowledgment as he left the room that reeked of blood and anger.
"Don't worry. That's something I don't plan on forgetting soon."
