don't let go (post 3x12)
A/N: Little missing scene between 3x12 and 3x13. Reviews appreciated!
Clary Fairchild has been not-dead for a grand total of sixty-seven minutes. In those sixty-seven minutes, she has been hugged by Luke approximately fourteen times, called Biscuit by Magnus at least three times (usually prefaced by 'we missed you' and a hug that leaves her covered in glitter) and been awkwardly stared at more times than she can count. She stood in Alec's office as Consul Penhallow officially declared her pardoned and reinstated her as a Shadowhunter, after which Alec gave her a surprisingly tight hug. "It's good to have you back," he mumbled, before returning to pretending like he didn't care.
Jace hasn't left her side. After her reinstatement, he walks her to her room, sits on her bed while she takes a shower. She tells him it's because she's still cold from being in Siberia but really, every inch of her burns where Jonathan touched her. Her side. Her arms. The tops of her shoulders. Lilith's rune, sitting just beneath her collarbone, screams in pain as if it was just carved. She stands under the scalding shower and scrubs until every inch of her body is red. She changes into her own clothes.
Jace's head lifts when she emerges from the bathroom. He rises to meet her, runs his hands gently up and down her arms. He gives her that concerned frown of his.
"You okay?" he asks.
Okay? Okay?
She wants to crawl out of her own skin.
"I-"
Jace catches her when she falls, crumpling into his arms. She never intended to start crying, but here she is, unable to stop. It rushes to the surface, everything she's gone through in the past year or so but been unable to deal with. Not just Jonathan and Lilith. Jace's possession. Watching Death Row inmates die while thinking she was next. Killing her own father, then resurrecting and subsequently killing him again. Her mother's death.
"I don't know-" she gasps. "I can't-"
She doesn't know what she's trying to say, but it doesn't matter, because Jace responds anyway.
"It's okay," he says gently. "You can let it out."
So she does.
Once the worst of it is over, he ushers her into bed. "You should get some rest. Do you need anything?"
She shakes her head. He turns to leave.
"Jace?"
By the Angel, he loves it when she says his name. "Yeah?"
"Will you stay with me?"
A soft smile on his face, he returns to lay by her side. He kisses her temple as she folds herself against him. "Of course I will."
"Don't let go," she mumbles. His arms tighten around her.
As she falls asleep, he murmurs, "I swear to you I am never letting you go again."