EDITED 5/30/2020
Clary watched in horror as Jonathan did something to the apartment. She nearly fell to the ground when it stopped.
"What was that?" She asked him.
"Just a little change of locale." Jonathan told her.
Clary went to the balcony and threw the doors open. She could see the Eiffel Tower in the distance, and she had to fight down a grimace. As much as she had wanted to come here, she didn't want to with Jonathan. She had wanted to come with Wesley or Alec and Magnus and Izzy. Not like this.
"What's the matter? You're in Paris." Jonathan sauntered up next to her. "I thought you'd be happy."
"Sorry." Clary sighed. "I'm not, uh . . . thrilled to be shackled to my demon blooded ex-brother."
"I take it you're afraid of our little bond." Jonathan said. "I forgive you for trying to kill me, by the way."
"Whatever. Can we just go see the sights or something?" Clary walked back into the apartment and Jonathan turned to follow her.
"Gladly."
Jem and Alec stepped out of the portal first. Tessa and Wesley followed behind, all four of them wearing heavy coats and snowshoes. Magnus had pitched a fit, wanting to accompany them but Madzie had been insistent that at least one of her father's stay with her. Alec had felt bad, leaving so soon after he had woken up, but they had to find Clary.
"These are the coordinates." Jem told Alec. "It must have touched down here."
"Let's take a look around." Alec replied. Alec walked up to the little house and threw the door open.
"Damn it!" Wesley shouted, looking over Alec's shoulder.
"They're already gone." Alec sighed, looking at the turned over furniture and the thick layer of dust on everything. Clary and Jonathan were not here.
"I've got tracks!" Jem called, looking down in the snow, Tessa by his side.
Wesley and Alec came over to see what Jem had found. Jem pointed down at one of the footprints. "Looks like a females."
"They keep going." Alec pointed off into the distance.
"You think Clary may have escaped?" Wesley asked.
"I hate to say it, but we might want to hope that she didn't." Jem said.
"Why's that?" Wesley asked, his tone hostile.
"Let's assume that she ran out, right. Didn't have time to stop to grab a winter coat. We're in the middle of nowhere. Eventually, she'll get tired and it's cold. She'd become hypothermic, probably collapse. If she did escape, the chances are we are going to find her somewhere out there freezing to death, if she's not already dead." Jem explained.
"We have to find her." Wesley cried.
Jem and Alec stood up and started running alongside the footprints. They run through a bunch of trees and Jem stops to pick something out of a tree. He turns to the three warlocks and holds out a clump of long black hair.
"Clary was out here." Alec said.
"She might still be." Wesley sighed.
They continued on, walking through the snow as quickly as they could until they came to the edge of a hill where the tracks indicated that Clary had fallen.
"She isn't here!" Alec looked around but couldn't find any indication she was still there.
"There's something down there." Jem said. "Help me." He reached a hand out to Alec and together they slowly made their way down the hill and Alec couldn't help thinking that they made a great team.
They got to the edge of the creek, Tessa and Wesley behind them and Jem kneeled next to a rock in the creek. "Blood." He touched the large red spot on the rock. "It's dry, it's been a while since she fell."
"I don't think I can take this much longer." Wesley told the group. "The not knowing, I can't take it."
"We're going to find her, Wesley." Tessa reassured him. "We will."
Alec was kneeling next Jem, staring at the dried blood on the rock. Jem put his hand on Alec's shoulder, he didn't say anything. He just gave Alec the simple comfort of knowing he had someone there for him.
It was two days later when they saw the changes in Paris.
"We can confirm that the apartment jumped again early this morning." Jem said as they all moved to the ops center.
Catarina, Tessa, Wesley, Izzy, Magnus, Alec, Raphael, Madzie, and Simon were all there.
"And we have good reason to believe Clary was in it." Alec finished Jem's sentence.
Over the last two days the men had grown close. Jem had seemed to adopt Alec under his wing and had spent a lot of time with him in the loft or in his office at the Institute. They were becoming very good friends and had a father-son or brother dynamic that Magnus had pointed out more than once.
Jem nodded. "The problem is, she could be anywhere."
"Well, not 'anywhere.'" Magnus corrected.
"What do you mean?" Alec asked.
Magnus ran a hand over the ops table, making it light up. "Inter-dimensional domiciles run along ley line grids. Based on the apartment's size and power, there are only a handful of habitable regions with grid junctions large enough to support it."
"Alright, well, let's get a list of all the places that fit the profile and check any nearby Institutes for unusual activity." Alec ordered Izzy.
"Do we think any international warlock friends would keep an eye out for us?" Alec asked his friends.
"Marvin might help." Wesley spoke up.
"Isaac and Elphas owe me favors." Magnus added.
"What about Kwasi?" Alec turned to Magnus. "He owed me a favor, he knew we were together, he might let you cash in."
"I'll make the call." Magnus nodded.
"Even if we check all these places," Simon said. "It's still like finding a needle in a haystack."
"Then we better start now." Alec told him.
Simon looked unsure and Alec broke away from the group, grabbed Simon by the arm and led him up to his office. Simon went willingly, surprised by how gentle Alec had been when he had grabbed him. Alec opened the door of his office and waved Simon in and Alec closed the door after the both of them.
"We're going to find her, Simon. I promise you." Alec told him, sitting on the edge of his desk whereas Simon just looked around the office uncomfortably.
"How can you be so sure?" Simon asked. "I saw what happened, you didn't. I really thought I had killed her. I mean, you're her older brother. Aren't you supposed to hate me for what I did?"
"I know how much Clary means to you, Simon. And I know how much you mean to her. Even if you had killed her, which you didn't, she wouldn't have been angry with you. It was an accident. It's not like it was premeditated murder. She forgave me for killing Jocelyn."
"You were possessed. You couldn't control it." Simon pointed out.
"Oh, I hadn't realized that in the time between you telling me you couldn't control the mark, right before you went in the building, and when the mark went off, you learned to control it."
"Well, I didn't but..."
"Then it wouldn't have been your fault." Alec told him. "I mean, how hypocritical would I have to be to allow Clary to forgive me for killing her mom and then to hold you accountable for practically the same exact thing? No matter how much I love her, I couldn't blame you."
Simon shook his head. "I'd still blame myself."
Oh, how Alec understood that. How many times had Clary told Alec that she forgave him? How many times did he believe her, yet still hold himself accountable?
Alec sighed and pushed himself up off the edge of his desk. He closed the distance between Simon and himself and pulled the younger vampire into his arms. Simon stiffened for a moment before wrapping his arms around Alec as well and he buried his face into his shoulder.
"I'm here for you, Simon." Alec told him. "I know Magnus and I poke fun at you, but that's just our way of showing our affection. Magnus, he and I we've been through so much, lost so much, been hurt by so many people. Poking fun at you, it's easier than being truly affectionate. But I want you to know that if you ever need me, I'm here. You need a big brother? I'll be your brother. Okay?"
"Okay." Simon gripped the backs of Alec's shoulders tightly before letting him go. "Thanks, man."
Alec just nodded and walked out of the room.
"That was incredible." Jonathan marveled, his arm around Clary pulling her snug against his side where she was very stiff and uncomfortable.
"You killed a man Jonathan," She said, allowing herself to be pulled along by him. "A Shadowhunter."
"And I did it for you." Jonathan told her. "Seeing you in his arms like that, so vulnerable...It wasn't like any kill I've ever done before. Clary . . . It felt so good!"
He let her go and stopped them. He turned to stand in front of her and grabbed her hands. "You make me good."
She wrenched her hands out of his. "That's not what good is, Jonathan! Killing like that should never feel good."
"Oh yeah?" Jonathan asked. "I heard what you did to our father. On the shores of Lake Lyn, watching his life slip from your hands, how did that feel?"
Clary glared at him. "Valentine was not my father. That title goes to Magnus Bane or Robert Lightwood."
"Yeah." Jonathan said. "That's what I thought. It did feel good."
"What are we doing here Jonathan?" She demanded. "The Morning Star Sword. It's not a gift. What are you planning?"
"I would love to tell you, Clary." Clary didn't believe that for a second. "But frankly, I am beginning to question your motives."
Clary rolled her eyes and looked over Jonathan's shoulder. Alec, Wesley and two people she didn't recognize were running towards them. Alec had his bow at the ready, arrow notched.
She shoved Jonathan behind her and put a hand up. "Wait! Don't shoot! If you kill him, I die too."
"Stand down." Alec said, lowering his bow.
"I knew I never should have trusted you!" Jonathan yelled into Clary's ear.
"Let's be real Jonathan." Clary laughed humorlessly. "We never trusted each other."
She grabbed his dagger from his thigh holster and stabbed herself just above her knee.
Jonathan grabbed his thigh where he was bleeding as well, and Wesley half-lunged forward, purple magic sparking from his fingers as he looked at the stab wound in Clary's leg from his spot about a hundred feet away.
"You little bitch!" Jonathan shouted before running off.
Clary pulled the knife out of her leg as Alec and the mysterious man ran forward, stopping just in front of her and looking in the direction Jonathan ran in. Clary's knees buckled and Alec caught her.
"Never disappear like that again." He murmured, pressing a kiss to the side of her head. "Jem, Tessa and I are going to try and find him. You okay to stay here with Wes?"
Clary nodded, holding on to Alec's bicep. Wesley jogged forward, taking Clary from Alec's arms and watching as his three companions ran off.
Wesley sent his magic into Clary's leg, healing it. They watched it heal and close up before Clary looked up at him.
"Wesley.."
Wesley took her face in his hands and pressed his lips to hers. He wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her flush against him. He let one hand drift up to her hair and he held a fistful of her black curly locks in his fist. Clary's arms wrapped around his neck as she pulled him closer to her, this is what she had been yearning for since the moment she first saw him. Since he pressed those gorgeous lips to the back of her hand and whisked her away into a portal.
She then remembered one very important fact. She jerked away from his lips and his arms, putting some distance between the two of them, trying to ignore the pain in her leg.
"Clary?" Wesley asked. Clary tried not to think about how wonderful his accent and voice made her name sound. "What is it, love?"
"You have a soulmate in Tokyo or whatever." Clary tried to catch her breath. "You shouldn't be kissing me."
"Clary." Wesley smiled at her; his eyes were soft. The kind of soft that Magnus or Alec's eyes were when they looked at each other. Clary's heart dropped to her feet. She didn't dare to think that this was going where she thought it was. "I never said that I had a soulmate in Tokyo. I told you that I had met her, but that It was too early to say anything."
"I need you to say it." Clary said, backing up another step as he took another forward. "I won't believe it, not until you say it."
Tears were building in her eyes as she held a hand up in between them, silently asking him to stay put.
"You're my soulmate Clary." Wesley told her, tears building in his eyes as she looked at him like she was terrified. "The two weeks you've been gone, Clary, I've been terrified. I've been terrified that you were hurt, that maybe you were dead. That maybe you had died, and I would never be able to tell you how much I love you. That I had lost the other half of my soul, my heart before I ever really got a chance to have you. We aren't like Alec and Magnus, Clary. You wouldn't have come back to me."
"Why couldn't you have told me before?" Clary cried, tears rolling down her cheeks. "I have been trying to convince myself that I don't love you because you had a soulmate that you loved. That we could never be together."
Wesley moved forward and enveloped her into his arms once more. "I love you." He whispered. "I love you, and I am so sorry. I should have told you; I should've told you sooner. Magnus and Alec wanted me to tell you sooner, but I was afraid. You know what Shaylee did to me, and it wasn't that I thought you were going to go mental and kill everyone, but I was scared of being hurt again. I wouldn't have been able to take it."
"By the Angel, I love you." Clary sobbed into his shoulder before pulling back and pressing her lips to his. Wesley stroked her cheek as he kissed her before taking a stand of her hair and brushing it to rest behind her ear. Clary loved how attentive he was, and how he clearly loved her. That was the kind of love that she needed, she was the kind of person who needed to know where she stood.
"Seriously?" Clary heard Alec's voice from behind her. Clary broke the kiss and looked over her shoulder.
Jem, Tessa and Alec had come back empty handed. Alec's lip was curled in playful disgust as he looked at his little sister in one of his best friend's arms.
"I've seen you and Magnus do worse." Clary shot back.
"Clary," Alec smiled. "This is Jem Carstairs and his wife, Tessa Gray. They've been helping Wesley and I search for you."
"It's a pleasure to meet you both." Clary shook both of their hands.
"Jem and I actually have met you before." Tessa informed Clary.
"What?" Alec asked. "You didn't tell me that."
"Or me." Wesley piped up, tightening his grip on Clary.
"You were two years old." Tessa continued like the men had not spoken. "Your mother brought you to Magnus, she wanted him to rid you of your inner eye. Instead we decided to periodically wipe your memory and we called on a silent brother, Jem, and together he and I performed a protection ceremony on you. It ensured that demons wouldn't attack you while you were unaware of the Shadow World."
"Oh." Clary blinked. "Well, thank you then."
"I saw you a couple times after that." Tessa continued. "Whenever Magnus babysat you. I used to braid your hair and sometimes we did Magnus' make up together. We baked cookies and played with dolls. I was Auntie Tess. Magnus was Daddy. I so wish that you had been able to recover your memories. I know how much it kills Magnus that you'll never remember how much you adored him."
Clary frowned and looked down at where her and Wesley's feet were almost touching. "I wish I could remember as well."
"How about we talk about this more at home? Magnus, Izzy and Simon are probably worried sick." Alec suggested.
There was a murmur of agreement and Alec waved a hand, creating a portal.
"It worked!" Clary cried, looking at his runes after his obvious display of magic.
"It did." Alec smiled at her before walking into the portal. Jem followed closely behind with Tessa behind him. Wesley released Clary, grabbed her hand and pulled her through the portal.
They stepped out into the loft and she had barely taken stock of her surroundings when there were arms wrapped tightly around her and a voice in her ear.
"Am I dreaming?" Simon asked her. Wesley squeezed her hand; he hadn't let her go.
"No." Clary laughed, putting on hand on his back, squeezing Wesley's hand with the other.
"I'm not?" Simon pulled back to look at her.
"No." Clary shook her head and laughed.
"Oh, my God!" He pulled her back into his arms before letting her go and moving aside so Izzy could approach her.
"Hi." Clary grinned.
"Hi." Izzy pulled her into her arms, giving Wesley a slight look when she noticed that he was still clutching Clary's hand like a lifeline. Izzy pulled back and gripped Clary's shoulders. "Tell me where Jonathan is. I'm gonna kill that son of a bitch with my bare hands."
"You can't." Alec said.
"None of us can." Jem added.
"Why?" Catarina asked. Leaning back against the wall with her arms crossed.
"Lilith forced me to drink some of Jonathan's blood. Because of that, he and I are connected. I get hurt, he gets hurt, he dies, I die."
"Which is why I sent an alert out to the other Institutes." Alec told everyone. "Jonathan must be captured alive."
"He was looking for a sword when we were in Paris. The morning star. If we can find it first, maybe we can track down Jonathan." Clary said.
"It's a solid idea." Jem nodded.
Magnus seemed to get impatient and he moved forward, gently shoving Izzy out of the way and pulled Clary into him. He batted Wesley away and Wesley reluctantly dropped Clary's hand. Clary wrapped her arms around his neck and buried her face into his shoulder.
Magnus held her to him so tightly that Clary was just on the edge of having difficulty breathing. "I'm going to lock you in your room and you're never allowed to leave, ever again." He was crying.
Clary smiled. "Okay."
"I thought you were dead."
"I know."
Magnus took a deep breath and ran his hand up and down her back, making her hair move with his hand. "I love you." He whispered.
"I love you, too."
Magnus pulled away and put a hand on the side of her face, pressing a kiss to her forehead.
"There's one idea that I have regarding the blood connection." Magnus said loud enough for everyone to hear. He moved away from Clary, going to stand next to his husband, son and daughter.
"You have an idea?" Wesley asked as he reattached himself to Clary, wrapping an arm around her waist and offering her his other hand which Clary took in both of hers.
"We do the ritual on her, just like we did for Alexander. However, she wouldn't be able to use the rune to keep her runes. If she were to keep her runes, she would keep some of her Angel blood. She would have to be one hundred percent warlock."
"What does me becoming a warlock have to do with breaking my connection to Jonathan?" Clary asked Magnus.
"You would be changing your blood, your DNA." Magnus explained. "You would still be you; you would still be a Lightwood, you would still be . . ." He hesitated, looking at Wesley.
"My soulmate." Wesley nodded. "She knows."
"Right." Magnus looked back at Clary. "You would just be a different species essentially. It's just like turning into a werewolf or a vampire. But I believe that this would break your connection to Jonathan."
Clary looked up at Wesley. "What do you think?" She asked quietly. "You okay with me bugging you for eternity?"
Wesley smiled. "You don't bug me." He told her quietly. "And I don't think you realize how much I want you to say yes."
Clary smiled and looked at the rest of the room. "What does everyone else think?"
"The only opinion that matters is yours." Jem tells her. "You want to do it, we'll do it."
"Then let's do it." Clary said. "I want to do it."
"Okay." Magnus nodded. "We will get everything ready."
He walked up to Clary and Wesley. "Would you like to get her ready?" He asked Wesley. "I can draw the pentagram and do the spell work."
Wesley nodded. "Thank you."
"You think you'd ever consider having another Parabatai?" Jem asked Alec.
They were sitting in the corner of the loft watching Madzie coerce Raphael into playing dolls with her.
"When Jace was still alive, or right after he died, I would've said no. Not in a million years. But now? Yeah, I would. Not to replace him. Don't get me wrong. No one could ever replace Jace. But I think about living for eternity, never having that feeling again. I miss that feeling."
"So do I." Jem said. "And I was going to wait awhile, to ask this. But, with Clary doing this ritual today, this is my last chance to do it the way I want."
"What do you mean?" Alec turned to look at him.
"Alec," Jem sighed. "I do not wish to go through another loss such as the loss of my Parabatai. But if I were to fight with someone again, Alec, I would want it to be with you."
Alec took a deep breath. "You're asking...?"
"I'm going to go in there and I'm going to ask Clary for one more rune. An immortality rune. I have no desire to become half warlock. I wish to stay a Shadowhunter, but I also wish to stay with Tessa, Wesley, Catarina, Magnus, Clary and you. Even the Vampires and Madzie. But I also wish to have a Parabatai. You."
Alec looked at him. Really looked at him. "Jem." He said quietly. "I would be honored to call you my Parabatai."
Jem smiled, a big, toothy, genuine smile. He stood up and pulled Alec up with him by the arm. The two men embraced in the middle of the living room.
"Should I be worried that you are trying to steal my husband out from under me, Jem?" Magnus' teasing voice floated into the room.
"Your Husband just agreed to become my Parabatai, Magnus."
As soon as Clary closed the door to her room, Wesley had her in his arms.
"Thank you." He whispered.
"What for?" Clary asked as she wrapped her arms around him and just reveled in the feeling of being held by the man she loved.
"For doing this." He said. "Even if it's just because of the blood connection. Thank you for staying with me."
Clary breathed him in and closed her eyes. "Did you really think that I could ever leave you?" She asked, her tone soft and her words quiet.
Wesley ran a hand over her hair and then cupped the back of her neck, pulling her back by her hip enough that he could kiss her. It wasn't fast paced or hurried, it was soft and slow and sweet. Just two people trying to show the other how much they love each other.
When Clary pulled away, she could see that Wesley was crying. She gave him a small smile and removed her arms from around his neck.
"Don't cry." She whispered. "It's okay." She brushed the tears away with her thumbs and Wesley held on to the opening of her jacket, like he was afraid she would move away, and he needed a reassurance that she couldn't.
"You're right." He nodded, letting go of her jacket and grabbing her hands, keeping them where they are on his face. "I've never been more okay than I am right now."
He pressed another quick kiss to her lips, before smiling at her playfully and grabbing her by the waist again. He pressed a kiss to her cheek, and then the other, then her nose, her forehead and her lips once more. Clary giggled and squirmed in his hold as the door opened.
"Oh, I'm sorry." Jem said.
"Hi." Clary smiled. "What's up?"
"I was hoping to ask a favor from you, before you go through with the ritual."
"I don't think it's wise to postpone this." Wesley held a hand up towards Jem, in between Jem and Clary.
"No, I don't mean that. I completely agree." Jem nodded. "I was just hoping that Clary could make one last rune."
Clary pulled away and pulled out her stele. "Of course." She nodded. "What can I do for you?"
"An immortality rune." Jem said. "I've asked your brother to be my Parabatai, and I want to stay with Tessa, but... I don't want to be a warlock. So, could you make me an Immortality rune?"
"Coming right up." Clary nodded. "Where at?"
Jem beamed and rolled up his sleeve. "Thank you, Clary."
"Oh, please." She touched the stele to the spot on his arm that he pointed at. "According to Tessa you helped keep me safe for sixteen years and then you helped search for and rescue me when Jonathan kidnapped me. Plus, you are about to become my brother's Parabatai. It would be kind of horrible for me to say no to something so simple. There, all done."
Jem looked down at the rune and ran a finger over it. "I owe you."
"You owe me nothing."
"Now go show your wife and Parabatai." Wes waved Jem out of the room. "We have to get Clary ready for the thing."
Jem grabbed Clary by the sides of her arms, planted a kiss on her cheek and fled the room, closing the door behind him.
"So." Clary turned to Wesley. "The ritual?"
"You'll change into something comfortable; we'll go into the room. You'll stand in the middle of the pentagram and Tessa and Magnus will do the spell work. It won't take long. After that, we will bring you back into here, we'll lay you down and you'll be asked to drink a potion and some demon blood. After that, you'll only be conscious for a few more seconds. You're supposed to sleep for about twenty-four hours after that. During that time your magic will settle in and so will your warlock mark. I'll be with you the entire time."
"I'll get a mark?" Clary asked, intrigued.
"You will." Wesley smiled, pushing her hair away from her face.
"Can I - what's yours? Can I . . . see it?" Clary asked hesitantly.
Wesley removed his glamour and Clary gasped. All over his skin were beautiful black vine designs. "Oh my..." She traced a finger up his arm and then moved it to his face. "So beautiful."
Wesley held back tears. "You're the beautiful one, love. Now go get changed."