EDITED 5/30/2020
"Breaking and entering?" Clary asked as she followed Jem through the rooms of the Ice Rink. "I hear that's the best way to get to know someone."
"Hey," Jem laughed. "At least this way we don't have any of your bodyguards breathing down our necks."
"Bodyguards?" Clary asked, a smile in her voice.
"Magnus, Alec, Wesley, Raphael, even Simon and Isabelle." Jem informed her.
"I think they're just worried." Clary said softly as they came up to the skate desk. "I could still be connected to the maniac that kidnapped me."
"And they have every right to be worried," Jem nodded. "They do not need to wrap you in bubble wrap, though. I am going to be your brother's Parabatai. I wouldn't ever hurt you; you are safe with me."
"I know that." Clary told him honestly. "Everyone knows that, Jem. They are just irrational and worried right now."
Jem smiled and nodded slightly. "What's your size?" He looked around at the skates.
"Uh, six." Clary replied.
"Okay." He looked around some more and grabbed the right size. He then grabbed his own skates and rounded the desk, handing Clary her skates.
Together they walked over to a bench and slipped their shoes off. Clary laced her skates up and stood, Jem not long after her. They made their way to the rink and slid onto the ice.
Jem grabbed her hand and pulled her out further onto the ice. "My dad - Magnus - he used to take me out to do this."
"Really?" He started taking them around the perimeter of the rink, setting a comfortable pace for the both of them.
"Every other Saturday for a long time." Clary nodded. "Occasionally he'd get Raphael to come with us. I think Tessa did once or twice, as well."
"Makes sense." Jem commented. "Tessa's the one who suggested this."
"Why did you want to do this anyways?" Clary asked, looking over at him.
"Well, I'm obviously going to stick around now that Alec and I are making this commitment. You are important to him, and to Magnus. And I haven't seen you since you were two years old when my wife and I performed a protection spell on you. I guess you can say my interest is piqued and I want to get to know the girl that's so important to my friends and that I protected for the better part of sixteen years." Jem shrugged and turned the pair, making them skate down the middle of the rink.
"Fair enough." Clary sighed. "And thank you. For protecting me and making my brother happy."
"It's my pleasure, Miss Lightwood." He smiled at her. "I'm going to go snag a snack from the snack bar. You want something?"
"Sure."
Jem skated on out of the rink and made his way out the door towards the snack bar. He was almost there when all of the sudden he was pinned against the wall with a dagger against his throat and a hand fisting his shirt. He looked up at who had attacked him, it was a young man, probably in his twenties with red hair. It took him a minute, but he recognized him. It was the man that Clary had been arguing with in Paris. This was Jonathan Morgenstern.
He struggled against the grip on his shirt and the blade against his neck.
"I wouldn't do that if I were you." Jonathan said snidely. His voice grated Jem's nerves. "You hurt me, you hurt Clary. Remember?"
Jem stilled instantly, glaring at the man. Sure, they had no idea if the connection had survived, but Jem wasn't willing to take any chances. Jonathan wrapped his hand around Jem's neck and Jem had a brief moment where he wished he and Alec had already had their Parabatai Ceremony, then Alec would know that something was wrong. His vision was blurring, and he knew that he wasn't going to make it out of here conscious and Jonathan was after Clary. Clary was in danger.
"When Lilith brought me back, she brought me back stronger." Jonathan bragged.
"So, what are you going to do?" Jem gasped, barely able to speak. "Kill me?"
"No," Jonathan smiled. "If I killed you, Clary would never forgive me."
Jonathan pulled his hand back and struck Jem across the face, making him see black.
"Clary!" Jem yelled from across the rink. She stopped skating and smiled at him. "Bad news. The, uh, the owner's coming back. I think we should get out of here."
"Aw!" Clary skated over to him. "But we were having so much fun!"
"Don't worry." Jem smiled. "There's somewhere else I want to take you today."
Clary smiled. "Yay!" She playfully singsonged.
Jem laughed and draped an arm around her.
He led her out of the ice rink and down the street, and hand wrapped around her wrist.
"You're really not going to tell me where we're going?" She laughed.
"You'll like it. I promise." Jem assured her.
"Lately, surprises haven't really worked out in my favor." Clary told him as they continued to walk.
"True." Jem agreed. "But this one will. You remembered to activate your anti-tracking rune?"
"Double checked this morning." Clary nodded.
Five minutes later they were on the promenade, there was a food truck and flowers for sale. Jem grabbed a rose and handed it to Clary.
"Um, thanks, but I don't think you're supposed to take those." She found it odd that Jem had given her a flower but supposed it could just be an old-fashioned friendly gesture. She thought she remembered hearing that he was over a hundred years old. Perhaps there were just some customs that she didn't understand that Jem still adhered to.
"There was no one to stop me." Jem looked confused.
"You're some kind of outlaw now?" Clary asked.
"You're right." Jem laughed. "I'm sorry. I think I just forget myself around you."
Clary blinked at him and he surged forward to kiss her, making her startle and she saw her blue pendant flash once meaning her dad would be alerted that she was in trouble. The only problem is that her anti tracking rune was activated. They might not be able to find her; she'll have to find a moment where he wasn't looking to make a phone call. She hadn't brought a stele. She recognized the way that he kissed her. Jonathan had kissed her that same way. While she had been with him that past week and back when he was disguised as Sebastian, he must be doing the same thing with Jem, which meant Jem was hurt somewhere. Or worse.
She pulled back. "Whoa, what was that?" She asked him, hands on his biceps.
"What's wrong?" He asked. "I thought . . ."
"Nothing, nothing." She smiled. "I'm just lightheaded." She brought a hand up to her forehead and sat down on the bench behind her. "I must be dehydrated."
"Oh, I'm so stupid." Jem shook his head. "It's me. I've been running you ragged all day."
"Maybe you could get us something to drink?" Clary suggested.
"Of course." He smiled. "Stay right there." He sauntered over to the food truck and got in line.
She watched him for a moment before pressing her finger against one of the thorns on the rose stem and hissed in pain before quickly looking up and seeing Jem flinch in pain, throwing his hand up to look at it.
Clary quickly turned her back, and pulled her phone out, dialing the number.
It rang twice before Alec picked up.
"Clary?" He asked. "Are you okay? We're trying to track you, what's going on?"
"Dad." She whispered and then cringed. She hadn't meant to call him that, it just slipped out. "I'm on the promenade with Jonathan. He's glamoured himself to look like Jem."
"Clary." Alec said sternly and slowly. "Are you okay?" He enunciated each word with careful precision.
"I'm fine. He doesn't know that I know." Clary assured him. "But Jem has got to be in danger. We were at an ice rink in Chelsea. Jonathan must have ambushed him there."
"Clary, be careful. We're going to find Jem and then come find you. Okay? You understand?"
Clary tried to steady her breathing. Sure, she put on a brave face for the phone call, but she was scared. She was scared about what Jonathan had planned for her.
"Clary! Do you understand?" He demanded.
"We're still connected." She breathed. "I pricked my finger to check. It hurt him. He doesn't know I know. But we're still connected."
She thought he might be able to hear the anxiety in her voice. "It's going to be okay. We aren't going to let anything happen to you. Magnus and I are going to portal back right now okay?"
"Portal?"
"We're in Antwerp." He told her. "We found a lead on the Morning Star Sword, but it turned out to be nothing. We're going to come back to the loft, Wesley's at the loft with Madzie and Raphael, we'll get him too and call Izzy and Tessa. We'll be there as soon as we get Jem. Okay?"
"Okay." She sighed. "I'll deactivate my anti-tracking rune."
"Good idea." Alec told her kindly. "We'll be there, Clary. I promise you."
"Who's that?" Jonathan asked. Clary turned and hung up.
"Alec." She stood up and put her phone back in her pocket. "He was calling to check on a report. But I told him about your surprise, and he said to take the rest of the day off."
"I guess I owe him one." Jem said, flipping the water bottle in his hand so that she could take it.
"Thanks," She said quietly.
"Let's go." He said. "Come on."
"Nice job, Iz." The group walked around the door that Isabelle had just knocked down.
Izzy didn't say anything, instead choosing to walk forward. Alec, Magnus, Wesley and Tessa followed her lead. Alec went in the opposite direction with Magnus following him. Wes and Tessa followed Isabelle.
Alec rounded a machine and spotted Jem on the floor, mouth and hands taped. He shouldered his bow and ran forward. He dropped to his knees next to his friend and Magnus crouched behind Alec, a hand on his shoulder observing as Alec shook him.
"Jem!" He raised his voice. "Jem." When he wouldn't wake, Alec grabbed his stele out of his back pocket and lifted Jem's shirt to activate his Iratze.
It took a minute, but Jem stirred with a slight groan. He opened his eyes which widened with alarm as he sat up and Alec caught him by the shoulders.
"Hey, man." Alec pulled the tape off of his mouth. "We've got you." He ripped the tape off of Jem's wrists.
"Where is she?" Jem panicked. "Where's Clary? What did he do to her?"
"She's with Jonathan." Magnus told her. "As far as we know, he hasn't hurt her yet. But he disguised himself as you."
"Does she know?" Jem asked as Alec pulled him to his feet.
"Yeah." Alec told him. "We have to move quickly; they're headed to Harlem."
"There's a huge ley line junction there." Jem said, shocked and frightened. If Jonathan got Clary there, they could disappear again. And it would be all Jem's fault.
"He's trying to get her back to the apartment." Magnus nodded. "If he gets her inside -"
"That's not going to happen." Alec interrupted. "We won't let it happen."
"Come on, let's go." Izzy popped up, Wesley and Tessa behind her. "We're running out of time."
"Where are we going?" Clary laughed, hand in hand with Jonathan walking down an alleyway. "Why all the secrecy?"
"If you really want me to, I'll ruin the surprise." Jonathan said grudgingly. "There's a gallery I've read about full of artists I think you'll like. It's just up here."
He started for a doorway and Clary pulled him back by the hand that was still held in hers.
"Hey, uh." She said. "What's the rush?"
Jonathan hesitated. "There's no rush."
"Well, I guess I just wanted to talk for a minute. We never get to."
Jonathan looked at her strangely. The expression looked odd on Jem's face. "Are you okay?" He asked.
Clary shook her head and smiled. "Perfect."
"You seem a little on edge."
"Maybe I'm just worried I won't like your taste in art." She teased before noticing Alec, Magnus, Jem, Izzy, Wesley and Tessa approaching them.
The slight shift in her expression had Jonathan looking over his shoulder. When he looked over, the group started running and Clary pushed Jonathan to the ground and pulled her dagger out as Jonathan switched back to his normal appearance.
"I thought we were enjoying our time together." He teased her.
Her eyes narrowed with rage and raised the dagger above her head, shifting to straddle his waist, prepared to bring the dagger down, ready to sink it into his chest.
"Clary!" Isabelle yelled. "No!"
She began to bring the dagger down when she was knocked off of him, a body falling on top of hers. The breath left her lungs as she slammed into the concrete. She looked up and saw Alec on top of her, looking at her in a panic. "What the hell were you thinking?!" He demanded. "If you had killed him, you would have died too!"
"I-I forgot, I'm sorry!" Alec rolled off of her and pulled her up onto her feet.
"Don't be sorry." He told her firmly, his chest heaving. "Learn from this. I've said it before, and I'll say it again; You need to learn to think logically. You cannot let your emotions run wild like this. Not in a situation like this. You were sitting there, ready to commit suicide, Clary! What would that have done to Magnus? You're his daughter. Wesley? You're his soulmate, his only chance of being with you is in this life. You don't get a second chance. And what about me?" He quieted down at this point. "You called me Dad, Clary. On the phone, you called me Dad. I assume that means you've made a decision."
Clary nodded. "I want to do the ceremony again."
Alec closed his eyes for a split second and took a breath. "Then I would have lost my daughter, too. Magnus and I would've been helpless to do anything but watch our child die. You need to learn; you need to be willing to learn."
"I'm sorry." She sobbed, a tear falling down her cheek. Alec pulled her into his chest and rubbed her back.
"It's okay." Alec said. "Nothing happened this time. I just need you to be careful, okay? I don't know what I'd do if you got hurt."
Alec looked over towards the group to see them standing there awkwardly. "Where is he?" He demanded.
"He got away." Wesley said bitterly.
"How did that happen?" Alec asked. "We have three warlocks, two Shadowhunters and two half warlocks here! How did one demon-blooded Shadowhunter get away?"
"When you tackled Clary, he ran off as soon as he had room to get up." Jem explained. "Tess, Iz and I went after him, It was too late, the apartment moved."
"Damn it." Alec hissed.
Magnus couldn't seem to wait any longer and he approached Alec and Clary and took Clary out of his arms.
"Don't you ever do that again." Magnus chastised her. "You hear me? You scared the hell out of us."
"I'm sorry." She whispered into his shoulder. "I'm so sorry da - papa. That's what Raphael and Madzie call you right? Alec is Dad."
"That's right." Magnus nodded. "I'm proud of you. For doing this, I know it was hard and uncomfortable and I'm proud of you for taking the initiative to ask him for this."
"It was the right thing to do." She pulled back and let Wesley take her into his arms. He placed a hand on the back of her head and the other on her back.
"You're okay?" Wesley asked, pulling back to look her in the eyes.
"I'm okay," She nodded as he moved to cup her face and peer into her eyes.
"You're sure?" He tilted her head at different angles to examine her.
She grabbed his hands and grinned. "I'm okay."
Wesley glanced over at Magnus and Alec and found them talking amongst themselves before he leaned in and kissed Clary. He kept it chaste and short, but he needed the comfort and the assurance that the woman he loved was okay.
"Damn it." Izzy swore.
All heads turned towards her as she shoved her phone back into her pocket. "The Jade wolf was attacked. There are only two survivors. One's in bad shape. We need a team to go to the site and help out."
"Alright." Alec sighed. "Me, you, Jem, Wesley do you want to come?"
"Sure." Wesley gave Clary a small smile. "I'll see you later, love. I love you."
"Love you too."
The four of them portaled to the Jade wolf leaving Clary with Magnus and Tessa. "Let's head back to the loft." Magnus suggested.
Clary nodded and Tessa came to stand with the two of them as Magnus conjured a portal. Once it was up Magnus stepped to the side and gestured for the women to go first. Tessa thanked him politely and waltzed through. Clary simply held her hand out to her father and Magnus took it, walking with her into the portal.
They stepped out into the loft and Magnus closed the portal behind them. Raphael was sitting on the ground with Madzie, a barbie doll in his hand and Tessa had settled into the armchair next to the fireplace.
Clary opened her mouth to say something to Raphael when he shot her a look. "Don't. Say. It."
"Right."
"Actually, hijo." Magnus stepped in. "I need to speak with you and your sister in my workroom. Tessa, darling, would you watch Madzie for a bit?"
"Of course." Tessa lowered herself to the ground and accepted the Barbie doll Raphael had been using.
Raphael stood up and followed Magnus and Clary into the workroom. Magnus held the door open for two of his three children and shut the door behind them. He walked over to the small sitting area in the corner of the room and sat down in the armchair, gesturing for the siblings to sit together on the little couch.
"Clary," Magnus sighed. "Alexander tells me you may have come to a decision?"
"Oh." Clary looks between the two men. "He was telling me that the transference ceremony might work again. And when I brought it up to Wesley, he said he's seen it done."
"You're absolutely sure about this?" Magnus pressed. "I don't want to do this ceremony more than twice. If you choose this, this is it. This is the last time I'm willing to do this."
"I'm sure." Clary told him.
"What are we talking about?" Raphael asked, putting a hand up to pause the conversation.
"I'm going to become a biological Lightwood-Bane." Clary answered him.
Raphael looked shocked for a moment before nodding. "That will be good."
"Yeah?" Clary asked.
"Yeah, it's a good plan."
"When do you want to do it, Biscuit?" Magnus asked gently.
"Two days?" Clary asked. "That gives us enough time to tell everyone involved."
"Two days." Magnus nodded.
Not loving this chapter, but I've sat on this long enough, so here you go!