A/N: This chapter contains discussion of abortion. Reader discretion is advised.

Chapter Six

The sound of rasping curtains woke Clary the next morning. Sunlight lit up the inside of her eyelids, and she slowly peeled them open, blinking groggily. A shadow stood at the window, and as she stirred, it turned towards her, and she saw that it was Jace.

"Good morning," he said, smiling softly.

She sat up slowly, her mind foggy. "Time is it?" she mumbled.

"Nearly ten," said Jace. "I didn't want to wake you up, but it's getting late and you haven't eaten anything in a while." He came over to the bed and sat lightly on the edge. "How are you feeling?" he asked gently, tucking a lock of hair behind her ear.

"Tired," Clary murmured. She chanced a stretch and regretted it immediately as the bruises on her body protested and the burn on her chest flared with pain. "And sore," she added, wincing.

Jace reached out and touched the edge of her bandage. "Can I take a look?"

She nodded, pulling her hair behind her shoulder and sliding the strap of her tank top down so he could have a better view. Carefully, he began to peel away the gauze and tape that covered the left side of her chest. She winced as he pulled the bandage off, exposing the burn.

"Sorry," he said, grimacing sympathetically. He set the soiled bandage on the nightstand and picked up the tray from the previous night, balancing it across his lap. "Does it feel any better?"

"A little," she said, though the wound was still smarting. Jace dipped a towel in cool water and began to clean the burn. It was no longer glowing with hellish fire; it looked more or less like an ordinary burn, blistering in the shape of a fingerprint.

"It looks better," he said, wringing out the towel. "It'll probably heal normally. You might have a pretty bad scar, though."

"I have plenty of those," said Clary, grinning. "Can't say I've ever had one caused by a Prince of Hell's burning finger, though. Hey, maybe I should draw something around it. I always wanted a tattoo."

"You have tattoos," said Jace, chuckling as he applied a rather pungent ointment to the burn. Clary wrinkled her nose, though Jace seemed unbothered. "Besides, a burn doesn't look anything like a tattoo. It looks like a burn."

"You're no fun," said Clary in a scolding tone. "Normal tattoos are boring. Marks are pretty cool, admittedly, but still—a demon burn tattoo? Isn't that the most badass thing you've ever heard of?"

Jace shook his head in disbelief, though he was grinning. "You're nuts," he said, kissing her on the nose.

Clary smiled slyly. "If I recall correctly, I'm not the one who once tried to convince a band of drunk vampires that I was their 'scrumptiously attractive leader.'"

Jace slapped a hand over her mouth. "You swore you'd never speak of it!"

Clary grinned. "Whatever you say, Lord Smolder-mort," she said, her voice muffled through his hand.

"Hey, it would've worked if the actual leader hadn't shown up halfway through," said Jace defensively, withdrawing his hand to grab a roll of gauze.

"Mm-hmm," said Clary, leaning back. "Suuuuuure."

Jace harrumphed, taping a fresh layer of gauze over the wound. "There," he said, smoothing it down. "All done."

"Thanks," said Clary, pulling her tank top strap back onto her shoulder. "I feel better already. Must be your magic touch." She leaned in, pressing a swift kiss to his lips. He lingered for a moment before withdrawing, a smile teasing the corners of his mouth.

"Do you need a mendelin?" he said as he stacked the medical supplies back onto the tray.

Clary shrugged. "If you think it'll work."

"I don't," Jace sighed, setting the tray down and picking up his stele. "But it's worth a shot, right?" He reached over, carefully tracing the rune just above the bandages. Clary waited for the familiar sting, but it didn't come; Jace might as well have been inking the rune with a pen.

"Better?" he asked, pocketing the stele.

The burn still prickled painfully, even as the mendelin sank in. "Much," she lied, smiling as she intertwined her fingers with his. She took a moment to really look at him; though his voice was light and he was clearly making an effort to seem normal, he looked awful, now that she stopped to notice it. He clearly hadn't slept well; there were dark circles under his eyes, his hair was unkempt as if he had tossed and turned all night, and his face was pale and grayish. "Hey. Are you okay?" she asked softly.

"Me?" said Jace, looking surprised. "I'm fine. I'm not the one who got attacked by a demon last night."

"Actually, you are," said Clary, reaching up to brush his hair away from his forehead. "Or did that demon knock you out hard enough to make you lose your memory?"

"You know what I mean," said Jace quietly.

Clary watched him closely, though he was avoiding her gaze. "Jace, what's going on?"

He looked at her, and she was startled to see that his eyes were brimming with tears. Wordlessly, she pulled him in against her, and he crumpled, burying his face in her shoulder. His body shook, and she held him, stroking his hair.

"I'm...I'm sorry, Clary," he whispered.

Her stomach swooped. "What are you sorry about?" she said, making an effort to keep her voice neutral.

He pulled away from her. His eyes were red. "I should be the one comforting you. I can't imagine how terrifying last night must have been for you."

"I'm fine," said Clary gently, her heart relaxing. He doesn't know. Thank the Angel. "And we'll comfort each other. It's what we do. It's what we've always done." She leaned over and pressed a kiss to his lips. "We'll get through this together."

"How?" said Jace bleakly. "How do we even begin to handle something like this?"

"One step at a time," said Clary. "And we can't do it alone. The first thing we need to do is hold a meeting. We'll call everyone we know who can help. My parents, Maryse, Simon, Izzy, Alec, Magnus, and Tessa and Jem, of course. They can branch out and try to find solutions. We'll look through the library for anything that could help us trap and kill a Prince of Hell. Once we find an answer, we'll take it from there." She kissed his cheek. "Sound like a plan?"

He gave a watery smile. "When did you get so wise?"

"Well, it was probably after I married you," she said, a smile playing on her lips.

"Oh?" he said, raising an eyebrow. "Did I really make you that wise?"

"Definitely not," said Clary. "If I'd been wiser before, I wouldn't have done it."

Jace laughed. "Now you're just hurting my pride," he said.

"You could stand to lose some," said Clary. She kissed him again, closing her eyes and breathing in his scent. She didn't think it would ever get less intoxicating.

Finally, Jace pulled away. Clary pouted, and he rolled his eyes. "You'll live without my sexual gifts for a little longer," he said, kissing her cheek.

"Ah, there's that pride," Clary teased, sliding out of bed. Her stomach lurched suddenly. "Oh, crap—"

She bolted for the bathroom, barely making it in front of the toilet in time to throw up. There were footsteps behind her, and then hands pulled her hair up and out of her face. She tried to say thank you, but a squelching cough came out instead.

"Gross," Jace complained. She punched him, and he yelped. "Not gross!" he amended. "Gorgeous and beautiful and—and—"

"Carrying your child, you ass," Clary managed to gasp before another wave of nausea overtook her.

"And that," said Jace meekly.

A quarter of an hour later, Clary's nausea had eased to the point where she could get up without needing to throw herself back in front of the toilet. This, Jace pointed out, was progress. Clary seemed unamused.

"Call it progress when the toilet isn't the first thing I greet in the morning," she said irritably, moving to the sink to rinse out her mouth. "You should go," she added, turning the tap and cupping her hands to fill them with water.

"What?"

She took a moment to swish the water in her mouth before spitting it out and saying, "I need some time to clean up and get dressed. You should start calling everyone." She sighed. "I want to get this over with."

Jace gave a soft smile. "Hey. It'll be okay."

"I know," said Clary, turning so she could rest her head on his shoulder. He pressed a kiss to the top of her head.

"I'll see you downstairs," he said, and she nodded.

He left the bathroom and headed for the elevator. He slowed to a stop in front of it, pushing the call button. There was a thunderous crash from below as it began to ascend.

Jace leaned against the cool stone wall, exhaling slowly. His heart felt tight; hard as he might try to make easy banter with Clary, worry was roiling in him, corrosive in his veins. He felt as if he were being stretched in several directions. Part of him struggled with the idea that they didn't stand a chance against a Prince of Hell, even one trapped in a Pyxis. Another part panicked over the fact that someone was trying to steal the Pyxis and would do anything to get to it. And yet another part of him ached for Clary, for the pain that she was in, for the fact that if she hadn't been pregnant, none of this would be happening.

The elevator clattered to a stop in front of him. Jace pushed open the golden grilles automatically and stepped inside, mind still churning. The elevator descended with its usual heart-stopping lurch and, after a moment, let him out on the ground floor. He followed the hallway down to the kitchen, from where voices were emanating. As he entered the kitchen, Jem and Tessa looked up. Steam rose from the mugs of tea in front of them.

"Clary's awake," said Jace without preamble.

"Is she doing okay?" said Tessa, her gray eyes soft.

"She's...she's all right," said Jace, sighing. "But we need your help. We have a lot of calls to make."

It took another half-hour for all the calls and arrangements to be made. Jace, Tessa, and Jem spent several more minutes cleaning up the library, which had been decimated by the demon's fight with Clary. By the time Clary came down, having washed and dressed, the library was in proper order again, with all signs of the battle gone (mostly courtesy of Tessa) and chairs set up at a long table.

"Everything's good to go," said Jace as Clary came into the library.

"You called everyone?" said Clary.

Jace clapped a hand to his forehead. "I knew I was forgetting something...."

Clary swatted him, grinning. "You're an idiot," she told him.

"Well, you're stuck with this idiot," said Jace, kissing her cheek. "Did you eat anything?"

She shook her head. "I'm still feeling pretty nauseous. This baby better be damn cute," she griped.

He laughed. "Well, you have to eat something. Juice and crackers?"

"Juice and crackers," she agreed, sighing.

Jace reached over and laid a hand over her stomach. Smiling, she intertwined her fingers with his. "I'll be back in a few," said Jace, kissing her before pulling away and leaving the library.

When he returned ten minutes later, bearing a glass of apple juice and a small plate stacked with saltines, the library was filled with people and alive with chatter. Jocelyn and Luke were talking to Tessa and Jem; Jocelyn looked pale, her fingers tightly woven with Luke's. Alec and Magnus were situating their children in a corner with a multitude of toys and books. Max was already playing with a train set that puffed out blue smoke, while Rafael was sitting with his back to a bookshelf, a thick book spread open across his knees. Simon had taken advantage of the snacks in the middle of the table; Isabelle was scolding him for eating at a time like this.

In the center of the room, Maryse appeared to be arguing with Clary over something. As Jace approached, Clary gave him a glance that clearly read, help me out here!

"—why you haven't convened a full Conclave instead," Maryse was saying, her arms folded across her chest. "As the heads of the Institute, this going behind the Clave's back cannot happen anymore. I thought you'd have learned that by now."

"It's not Clary's fault, Maryse," said Jace, coming over to stand by Clary. "We have our reasons for not telling the Clave what's going on, but rest assured we will tell them when the time is right."

She turned toward him, opening her mouth to inevitably argue, but paused, her gaze landing on the plate of saltines. "Who are those for?" she demanded.

"Clary. Why?" said Jace, noticing the tiny shake of Clary's head a moment too late. "Uh—I mean..."

Maryse whirled on Clary, who actually took a step back in alarm. "You're pregnant!" she announced.

Clary shot Jace a panicked glance. He shrugged, completely nonplussed.

"Um," said Clary awkwardly. "Yeah. I am."

Maryse let out a piercing shriek. Jace and Clary both jumped, crackers and juice flying everywhere.

"Oh!" she squealed, yanking Clary into a hug. Clary squeaked in surprise. "That's wonderful! Oh, you must be so happy! I can't believe this, I'm going to be a grandmother again!" She squealed again, and Clary winced. Jace let out a snicker behind Maryse's back, regretting it instantly as Clary stamped on his toes.

"Maryse, I think you're suffocating Clary," he said hastily, setting down what remained of the juice and crackers before untangling her arms from around Clary's neck, pulling her away.

"Sorry, sorry," said Maryse, wiping tears from her eyes. "I'm just—I'm so thrilled for you both!" She rounded on Clary. "How are you feeling? You've been taking care of yourself, haven't you? Do you need to sit down? Have you seen a Silent Brother yet?"

Clary looked rather flabbergasted, but before she could say anything, Alec and Magnus came over, no doubt to see what all the fuss was about. Maryse whirled around.

"Did you hear?" she cried. "Clary and Jace are having a baby!"

"Really?" said Magnus, feigning shock. "And here I thought she was just getting fat."

"Magnus!" said Clary, sounding outraged.

"I'm joking, biscuit," said Magnus, ruffling her hair. "You're as beautiful as ever."

Alec sidled up to Jace. "I see you told Mom the news," he said. He leaned in close and whispered in Jace's ear, "Beware of the Mama Bear. She'll never let Clary out of her sight now."

Jace glanced over at Maryse, who was still fussing over Clary. "Okay!" he said, pulling Maryse away before she could force Clary to lie down on the sofa. "We need to get started."

Maryse went over to the table rather reluctantly, followed by Alec. Magnus lingered to kiss Max and Rafe on the tops of their heads before moving to the table as well. Clary, Jace noticed, looked at the children fondly, her gaze softening. Jace couldn't keep himself from imagining a little green-eyed, redheaded boy crawling around the library, or perhaps sitting on his lap, pointing at pictures in a storybook. He smiled and leaned over to kiss Clary on the cheek before striding over to the table.

"Okay," he said, striding over to the table and drawing up a chair. Clary followed, popping a saltine into her mouth with a satisfying crunch before sitting down beside him. "I'll cut to the chase. There was a demon attack on the Institute last night."

An exclamation went up around the table, but Jace held up his hands. "Let me finish," he said quickly. "It's a long story."

He began to explain the events of the previous night. For nearly a quarter of an hour, he spoke into the rapt silence, until at last he had told them everything. "We need your help," he said finally, his voice sounding hoarse and tired to his own ears. "We need to find a way to get rid of the demon in the Pyxis before whoever is looking for it can get it." And before it ends up killing Clary, he added mentally, before shoving the thought away.

No one spoke for a moment, staring on in shocked silence.

"Jesus," said Simon finally, staring at Jace and Clary. "Where do we even start?"

"Tessa had an idea..." said Jace, glancing at her.

She nodded, leaning forward, her hands clasped on the table. "What we need to find is a powerful enough trapping spell that will enable us to keep the demon contained until we can banish it."

"Well, that shouldn't be too hard," said Isabelle, looking at Magnus. "You must have something that could work, right?

He shook his head. "If it were that simple, I would have banished him as soon as he appeared in our apartment. To banish something as powerful as a Prince of Hell, we'd need to keep him trapped for several minutes longer than normal. And he'll be fighting back as hard as he can. I haven't heard of a single spell that's powerful enough."

"Just because you haven't heard of it, that doesn't mean it doesn't exist," said Simon determinedly. "We'll find it." He looked at Clary, giving her a reassuring smile. "We can do this."

There was a murmur of assent around the table.

"I can look through the archives of the Spiral Labyrinth," said Tessa.

"And if you convene the Conclave, they might be able to pool their knowledge and come up with something," Luke added.

"You can't tell the Clave," said Maryse sharply, startling them all into silence.

Jace looked at her, surprised. "Since when do you not want to tell the Clave something?" he said, raising an eyebrow.

"Since Clary's pregnant," said Maryse.

Clary glanced at her. "What do you mean?" she said, her voice deceptively calm.

Maryse looked strangely sympathetic; it was not an expression Jace was accustomed to seeing on her face. "If the Clave got wind that a Prince of Hell has a direct pipeline to your mind, a pipeline that might pose a danger to all Shadowhunters—well, they would do anything to get rid of it. And in this case, that would mean...it would mean getting rid of the baby," she finished in a rush.

There was a shocked silence. Jace heard Clary's breath hitch. He reached over and took her hand, and she squeezed back tightly.

"Can they do that?" said Simon, looking horrified.

"No one would force her," said Maryse grimly, "but if they could make it seem like it was dangerous enough to affect us all...well, Clary wouldn't have much of a choice."

"I didn't think Shadowhunters believed in abortions," Simon said.

"We don't," said Maryse shortly. "However, if the mother's health is threatened by a pregnancy, or in extenuating circumstances like these, there is a potion the Silent Brothers can make. So if Clary doesn't want to lose the baby—"

"Maybe that wouldn't be such a bad thing," Jocelyn said. Heads swiveled to look at her. She flushed. "Well, we were all thinking it!" she said defensively. "And if it's the only way to protect her—"

"We were not all thinking it, and it is not the only way!" Maryse snapped. "There are other options—we could move the Pyxis out of the Institute—"

"It's too risky," said Jem. "Someone's already broken into the Institute to try to steal it. If it got stolen in transit, there's no telling what sort of damage could be done."

"What about a Portal?" said Alec.

Jem shook his head. "I don't think we should be using any sort of magic around it," he said. "As far as we know, no one's ever trapped a Prince of Hell in a Pyxis before, and it doesn't seem to be drawing away his power. He's gaining power, probably by absorbing the magic already around him."

"Well, fine," said Maryse impatiently, "but we can still look for a spell to trap it—"

"And how long would that take, Maryse?" said Jocelyn, folding her arms. "Weeks? Months? And in the meantime, that demon will keep attacking Clary's mind, over and over."

"Maybe we shouldn't be talking about this," Luke muttered, glancing at Clary, who had gone very still, but neither of them took any notice.

"So you would rather Clary kill her own child?" Maryse demanded. "Your grandchild?"

"She can have another baby," said Jocelyn firmly. "There's no telling what this demon wants from her or what it will do. She can't have the baby if she's dead, Maryse!"

"She can't have the baby if she kills it, either!" Maryse shouted.

"That's enough!" Jace snapped, slamming his hands on the table. They both fell silent. "Neither of you has any business talking about this," he said quietly. They had the good grace to look slightly ashamed, though anger was still written across their faces. Everyone else looked rather uncomfortable; most of them were looking at Clary. Jace glanced at her. She was staring down at her hands, her fingers knotted tightly together. He reached for her. "Clary—"

She pushed her chair back, stood up, and left the room without a word.

"Great," Jace spat, shoving his own chair back. "Well done, both of you." He strode out of the room, following Clary.

It took him a moment to find her; she was standing at the end of the hallway, arms wrapped tightly around herself. As Jace approached, he saw that her shoulders were shaking. Wordlessly, he reached out and pulled her into a hug. She curled in against him, letting out a soft sob.

He didn't know what to say. How could he say anything? He didn't have the slightest idea how she was feeling, what she was going through. All he could do was stroke her hair, kiss the top of her head, and wait for her to speak.

Eventually, she pulled away from him, mopping at her eyes. "I know it's stupid," she mumbled. "It's not even a baby yet. Not really."

"It's not stupid," said Jace gently.

She gave a shaky exhale, resting back against the wall. "My mom's right, isn't she?" she said in a resigned tone. "It's the best solution. It makes the most sense."

"Clary, don't listen to either of them," Jace said sharply. "They don't get to have an opinion about this. The only opinion that matters here is yours."

"And what about yours?" Clary said, meeting his gaze.

He gave a soft smile, tucking a stray curl behind her ear. "I'll give it if you want it. But the choice is yours, Clary. And no one will force you to do anything you don't want to do."

She sighed. There was a weariness in her eyes that hadn't been there before. "What do you want to do?" she asked.

He hesitated a moment before answering. "Honestly?" he said. "I...I want the baby, but I want you, too, Clary. I know it sounds awful, but I want you more. And if the demon...if he...if you..." He swallowed, blinking hard.

"Hey," she said softly, touching his cheek. "I'm not dying. I'm not going to. Not anytime soon."

"How can you know for sure?" Jace whispered.

"I just do," she said simply. "You don't have to worry about that, okay?"

"I always worry about you," he said softly.

"I know." Leaning in, she pressed her lips to his, gently, tenderly. He closed his eyes, letting her lips siphon away his fear, drinking in hers, sharing the burden between them.

Finally, after a long moment, she pulled back, gazing into his eyes. "Are you okay, Jace?"

"Me?" said Jace, surprised. "Why?"

"I'm just checking in," she said. "It's not just me being affected by all this." She stroked his cheek. "You're doing okay?"

"I'm fine, Clary," said Jace gently. "It's not me we should be worrying about."

"I always worry about you," said Clary, smiling ruefully.

He chuckled, pressing his forehead to hers. "I love you."

"I love you, too." She reached out and took his hand, weaving her fingers through his. Then, slowly, she laid their interlocked hands on her stomach. "This is what I choose," she said softly. "I want this. And I'm willing to fight for it."

He searched her eyes. "You're sure?"

"Yes," she said, the word an exhale. "I can do this."

"Of course you can," said Jace, smiling. "You're Clary. You can do anything." He squeezed her hand, and she returned the smile.

"Okay," she said, letting out a long breath. "Let's go back in."

They made their way back down the hallway, hand in hand. As they entered the library, Jocelyn jumped to her feet.

"Clary," she said immediately, "I—"

"Don't apologize," said Clary softly. "I know you're just looking out for me."

Jocelyn looked relieved, sinking back into her chair. "Yes. Exactly."

Clary led Jace over to the table. They took their seats. "Here's what's going to happen," said Clary in a clear voice. "We're going to do everything we can to find that spell. I'm going to stay away from the Pyxis. And with any luck, he won't be able to touch me again. So is everyone all right with that?"

She stared around the table, a hard, defiant glimmer in her eyes. Jace felt a surge of love towards her; he had to wonder what he had done to deserve someone as incredibly strong as her.

"We're with you, Clary," said Simon finally.

The others gave murmurs of agreement; Jace saw Jocelyn meet Maryse's eyes across the table; the two women exchanged a nod.

"Okay," said Clary. "Good." She glanced over at Jace. He squeezed her hand, smiling. "Then let's get to work."

A/N: I know abortion is a very controversial topic, but I hope I've approached it with the nuance it deserves. If you enjoyed this chapter, please leave a review. All I ask is that you be kind and respectful.

Thanks for reading!

~4L