Jace was up first as usual and decided to run out and grab Clary her favourite breakfast and coffee from the diner down the street. He smiled at himself as he walked not paying much attention to the strange looks passerby's were giving him, last night when Clary had asked for a distraction he definitely delivered. Thoughts of the night before began flooding his mind but he had to quickly shake away those thoughts or he'd end up running back to the institute to distract her some more.
He walked up the steps and opened the door to the small diner, it was crowded today mostly with seniors and a few university students who looked like they hadn't slept in days their heads bent over their coffees and the bags under their eyes clearly visible even from this far away. Jace walked up to the counter and was greeted by a short old woman with her white hair pulled into a tight bun at the top of her head, her mascara was smudged and her lip stick was about four shades darker than her lips but she smiled kindly at Jace before asking him what she could get for him.
"Okie dokie that'll be about a five minute wait if that's alright?" she asked scribbling his order on a small pad of paper. "Yeah no problem" he said heading to the back of the diner to one of the booths in the corner.
Every time he came here with Simon, Isabelle, Clary and Alec they always asked why he had to sit at the same booth in the same seat shoved into the corner and he always replied continuity but in reality it was the perfect vantage point. He could see the entire restaurant from his seat, he'd glance up everytime the bell above the door rang and would take constant inventory of the patrons noting any seat changes or people leaving. Today however he noticed nothing unusual, normally there would be a couple fearies or the occasional downworlder but today it seemed to be filled with mundanes. Plain, boring mundanes. The bell above the door chimed and a young couple walked in their gloved hands clasped together as they walked to the counter and waited to be seated, the man was tall and wearing a large hood that covered most of his face, the woman had on a trench coat that reached just below the hem of her dress that was exceptionally tight and looked like it was suffocating her, they seemed unusual but altogether harmless so Jace turned his attention to the large window that stretched all around the restaurant.
They sky was grey today clouds blocking out the sun and the wind seemed to have picked up sending leaves and garbage dancing down the streets to get caught in the gutters or the front steps of apartment buildings, the sidewalks were mostly deserted and the few people that had braved the weather were bundled up in large coats and hats to ward off the wind. Jace had only worn a light jacket and a pair of jeans since the institute was only a couple of blocks away and he'd been in a bit of a rush to get breakfast before Clary was up.
After a couple more minutes of staring out the window the elderly woman that had taken his order earlier came over carrying a white paper bag and two plastic paper mugs of coffee, "sorry about the wait there" she smiled at him and went to hand him the bag but it somehow slipped and fell to the floor. Jace immediately bent to pick it up but the old woman bent down at the same time and grabbed his wrist keeping him bent under the table out of view from the entire restaurant, Jace tried to pull away but she had an iron grip and there was a flash of something in her eyes that kept him planted to the floor.
"I don't mean to worry you but that gentleman has been staring at you for the past couple of minutes" she whispered, Jace looked at the old woman's face and saw her eyes change to bright blue fearie Jace thought to himself before slipping his wrist from the woman's grasp. "Are you sure he was looking at me?" Jace asked standing and helping the waitress up before picking up the paper bag with his order in it, "Positive, you be careful shadow hunter." she whispered stepping back and smiling like nothing had happened.
Jace made his way towards the door and made sure not to glance at the man sitting with his head bent and a hood covering his eyes, he did however notice that the woman he'd entered with wasn't with him.
Jace walked straight towards the institute he wasn't in the mood for a fight; not today, he walked with his head down the collar of his jacket pulled up and one hand near his waist where his seraph blade was strapped. He made it one block when he saw the woman from the diner, she was sitting on a bench across the street her long dark hair whipping around her face being pulled by the wind in every direction. She locked eyes with Jace, her eyes were dark. Souless. Her deep red lips quirked up into a smile and she winked at him her winged eyeliner making her eyes look huge in her pale face, Jace was staring at her lips and he saw her mouth something to him, one word that made his skin crawl. Clary.
Just then he felt someone come up behind him and Jace sprung into action ducking low, he felt a blade whip past his head but he didn't dwell on that long. He pulled a small dagger from his boot and swung inward towards his attacker, he felt his knife pierce skin and heard the man behind him cry out, Jace spun and swung his fist, it cracked against the mans jaw and he felt bone shatter. The man staggered back his hood falling away from his thin face revealing sandy blond hair and bright green eyes. A sudden anger consumed Jace, this was the man who'd attacked Clary a few days ago, and Jace wasn't going to let him get away this time. He threw himself at the man sending him flying into the nearest wall where his head smashed against the concrete, then his fists were slamming into his rib cage over and over until he was sure he broke at least 3 ribs, he grabbed a handful of hair and pulled him up so they were face to face. "Who are you?" Jace demanded, the man stared at him and smirked but didn't say anything so Jace pulled his head back and smashed it painfully against the wall, "who are you?" he asked again his voice rising. The man smiled again "How's Clary?" he asked winking. Jace didn't even think about it his hand went instinctively to his seraph blade and he unsheathed it before raising it in the air ready to drive it into the mans chest when he was suddenly thrown off and tossed halfway down the block .
Jace felt gravel dig into his back and could feel his skin tear against the road, his back collided with the front bumper of a garbage truck and he felt something in his shoulders twist painfully until he couldn't move his left arm. He had the wind knocked out of him and was coughing desperately trying to breath, he started to feel like he was choking so he dragged himself into a sitting position and continued coughing until his mouth was dripping blood. He looked up to see who'd thrown him but the streets were empty, it was just him sitting in a pool of his own blood. He brought himself to his feet at an agonizingly slow pace and had to lean heavily against the truck, when he was finally standing he started walking towards the institute every bone in his body ached and he still couldn't move his left arm, the taste of blood was beginning to make him feel sick and he had to stop and rest twice to catch his breath.
Finally after a painfully long walk he could see the front steps leading up to the large oak doors of the institute and he let out a sigh of relief after climbing the last steps. He placed his right hand against the old door and it swung open beneath his touch, the hinges creaked quietly as they closed behind him and he leaned against them heavily taking a few deep breaths before he made his way towards the elevator to get upstairs.
When the doors opened the hallway was empty and there wasn't any sign of anyone anywhere, "By the angel!" Jace said under his breath in frustration and tried to throw his arms in the air but his left arm stayed hanging limply at his side. He was starting to feel light headed and thought he should probably get Alec to put a healing rune over his arm and maybe the rest of his body if he wanted to walk to tomorrow. After some reflection he decided the kitchen would be the best place to start looking for them since that's where they always seemed to be when Simon was over and Jace had a feeling the day-lighter would be visiting Isabelle.
He pushed the swinging kitchen door open and saw Clary sitting at the counter next to Isabelle and Alec's face was bright red from laughing so hard at whatever show Simon and Magnus had been putting on but all of the laughter stopped as soon as Magnus set eyes on Jace.
"Oh goodness you were pretty before you left" Magnus said dropping the wooden spoon he'd been holding, "You think so? I just rolled out of bed like this" Jace tried to smirk but started coughing up blood that sprayed the kitchen cupboard, then vision blurred and his knees started to buckle, he tried to catch himself but his left arm still wouldn't move so he slammed hard against the island in the middle of the kitchen and continued to cough.
He briefly registered Clary pulling him upwards saying something about choking and felt the burning of a stele against his neck. After several minutes the coughing stopped and he could see straight, there was a brutal pounding in his head and when he tried to talk it felt like his mouth was full of cotton balls. "Jace look at me" Jace looked up and Magnus was leaning over him a hand on either of his shoulders, "You've dislocated your left shoulder and I'm going to need to pop it back in do you think you can handle that?" Magnus' green eyes changed to gold and he saw a hint of worry but he managed to smile and answer "anything for you."
He felt Alec's strong arms hold him by his chest to keep him still and he saw Simon lean against his legs to pin them down, then Magnus' hands were holding his left arm and he started counting down from three. There was a jarring pain in his shoulder and a bright light flashed before his eyes blinding him with pain, he writhed and squirmed but with Alec and Simon holding him down all he managed to do was slam his shin against the corner of the counter and knock heads with Alec who gave an extra good tug on his left arm to make sure it was in place. Finally after what seemed like forever everyone that had been holding Jace let him go and he let his head drop forward but instead of hitting the floor like he'd expected his forehead fell against someone's shoulder, then small gentle fingers were in his hair then moved to his temples and massaged his head until the pounding behind his eyes had died down.
Jace groaned and pulled away to look up at Clary which he soon realized was a mistake because a serious wave of dizziness sent his head spinning and he had to try really hard not to empty his stomach right there on the kitchen floor. "Alec grab his other arm" Clary commanded and stood up pulling Jace with her so he was standing but leaning heavily against her, he tried to protest but the need to vomit had him slamming his mouth shut and holding onto her small shoulders with everything he had. Alec complied and together they half carried half dragged him to the infirmary where he threw himself into a bed and shut his eyes, the pain in his shoulder hadn't really gone away despite the healing rune and his face felt hot like he had a fever.
Another wave of nausea hit him and he almost vaulted out of bed but he felt a bucket thrust into his hand before he could get anywhere. After dry heaving and spasming he felt someone take the bucket from his hands and he fell back heavily against the pillow unable to keep his eyes open, there was a soft click as the infirmary door shut and he thought he was left alone in the room, but he felt the weight on the bed shift as someone sat down next to him then there was a cool cloth being placed on his forehead and cotton on the cut beneath his eye. He was too tired to open his eyes but he didn't have to, to know that Clary was the one who'd stayed. Her artists hands would glide across his cheekbone and feather over his eyelashes or trail down his cheek to gently cup his face, blankets were pulled up around his shoulders and Clary placed a soft kiss to his forehead before she whispered "Oh Jace what did you get yourself into now." And that was the last thing he heard before he drifted off and his mind was filled with darkness.
A.U- Sorry about the wait loyal readers but my work hasn't given me many days off so finding time to write has been a little challenging :/ Here's a little tid bit from my personal life- My best friend (whom I commonly refer to as Alec, due not only to his sexual orientation but also the fact that he has a very flamboyant boyfriend) he and I had a slumber party a few days ago and honestly sleepovers with boys is way more fun than sleepovers with girls :) (None of that dirty stuff though get your heads out of the gutters ;) Read and review people it is always so much appreciated and the reason I keep writing!