She sat on her couch with a hot cup of tea clutched between her hands. She stared blankly at the infomercials playing on the television. Camille breaking in to apartment she could handle. Camille threatening her she could handle. Camille threatening her mother, however, she could not.
She was at a complete loss and didn't know what to do. Should she just come clean to everyone and risk being ostracized? She should she try to figure out who the mole is? Should she just hope Camille wouldn't really be able to get to her mother and that Jonathan actually wouldn't hurt her anyway?
A loud knock at the door brought her out of her thoughts, causing her to jump a little and spill tea over her hands. Clary let out a few curses as the liquid burned her skin and quickly set the cup down before getting up. She grabbed a handgun that she had placed next to herself on the couch and clicked off the safety.
With gun firmly in her grasp, she silently walked to the door. Looking out the peephole, she let out a sigh of relief and put the safety back on before unlocking and opening the door.
"Pack a bag. You're not staying here a moment longer," Jace ordered as he stormed into her apartment.
"Hello, Jace. Thanks for coming over, Jace. Why don't you come in, Jace," Clary mumbled as she closed the door behind him.
When she turned back around, he was staring at her with a fire burning in his golden eyes.
"Do you think this is a time for your attitude, Clarissa?" he seethed, and she flinched at the use of her full name. "Or do you just not think at all? Because you definitely weren't thinking when you let Verlac off scot-free. And you sure as hell weren't thinking when you allowed Camille to break into your home, not once, but fucking twice."
Clary felt tears burning at the back of her eyes as her throat constricted. For as long as she'd known Jace, she couldn't remember ever seeing him this infuriating. And he definitely had never directed his anger at her like this before.
Jace noticed her watery eyes and the quiver of her bottom lip. "Don't you dare fucking cry right now, Fray. You have ten minutes to pack some things before I drag your ass out of here."
She quickly shoved past him and into her room just as the tears started to spill over. She didn't know what she expected when Jace said he was going to come over, but this was definitely not it. He had been a complete dick before, but this was something entirely new. Didn't he know how terrified she was at the moment? How vulnerable? She just didn't understand why he was treating her this way.
She threw some clothes and toiletries into a duffle bag before meeting Jace in the main room of her apartment exactly ten minutes later. Jace turned around, and she could have sworn she saw something like regret flash in his eyes when he saw her puffy, red eyes, but it was gone as fast as it came.
"Come on, let's go," he said as he took the bag from her and led her out of the apartment and out of the building.
She waited until they were in his car and driving down the street before saying anything.
"W-Where are we going?" she asked, her voice thick.
"The precinct. We'll explain the situation to Luke and see what he wants us to do."
She nodded, recognizing that Jace didn't want to talk. The rest of the car ride was filled with a tense silence as Jace raced to the precinct. He pulled into the parking spot in record time and started toward the doors of the building before Clary even had a chance to get out of the car. She scrambled out of the car and into the building, almost tripping in her haste to catch up.
Jace burst into Luke's office with Clary following quickly behind him. A very startled Luke looked up from his desk with wide eyes. Concern flashed across his face as soon as he took in Clary's appearance. "What happened? What's wrong?" he asked, standing up and crossing the room to her.
"Camille Belcourt broke into her apartment again today. Somehow she managed to get two people breaking in in a single day."
Luke shot Jace glare, clearly not appreciating the way he was speaking. "Is that true, Clary?"
She nodded, not trusting her voice and not wanting to say anything that might set Jace off again.
Luke let out a sigh and looked to Jace again. "Can you give us a moment alone? You might want to start writing a report for this."
Jace nodded and left without a word. The second he was out of the room, Clary burst into tears again. Luke looked panicked for a moment before pulling her into his chest, making her cry harder. He was hugging her and trying to comfort her like a father would. Why couldn't she have gotten a normal father like Luke? What did she do in a past life in order to deserve Valentine and all the shit that came along with him.
Once her tears finally subsided, he spoke again. "What happened, Clary?"
Clary recapped the story for him, telling about coming home to find Camille in her apartment. She told him about her threats and how there was apparently a mole within the department. She even told him about Jace's phone call and the way he acted when he showed up.
"Well, Jace was right about one thing: we can't let you stay there anymore. It's too dangerous."
She nodded in understanding. "I just don't know where to go," she said, wrapping her arms around her abdomen protectively.
"Do you have friends you could stay with? What about Izzy and Simon?"
Clary shook her head. "I can't do that. If I stay with them, then I put them in danger too. And I'm so tired of everyone else being put in harm's way because of me, because of my family."
"Alright. Why don't you go to the break room and make some coffee or something. I'll talk to Jace and see if we can't figure something out."
She bit her bottom lip and nodded before exiting his office. She made her way through the bullpen, walking past Jace's desk without so much as a glance in his direction.
In the break room, she started setting up a pot of coffee in the hopes that the mundane task would help distract her. As she poured herself a cup, she felt someone else enter the room. She turned around to catch Raphael Santiago leaning against the doorframe.
"Hola, Clary," he greeted. "What are you doing here?"
"Just helping Jace and Luke out with a few things," she replied, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. She really didn't want to be in a room alone with Raphael. He was a newer recruit, and he just gave her weird vibes.
"Ah, yes. The Morgenstern case, right?"
"That's the one," she replied flatly, taking a sip of her coffee.
"What exactly are you doing on it? Last I checked you weren't a detective or an officer."
She shrugged, staring down at the liquid in her cup. "Consultation. My mom was a reporter and followed him closely while he was still alive. I have a bunch of her journals and everything."
"That seems might convenient," he said with a smirk, almost as if he knew something she didn't.
"Yeah, I guess. Listen, I really gotta get back to Luke," she said, no longer able to stand the discomfort she was feeling from his presence.
"Of course. I'll be seeing you around," he said with an off-putting smile as she exited the break room.
She quickly made her way back through the bullpen and to Luke's office, wanting to be as far away from Raphael as fast as possible. She was about to knock on the door when she heard Luke's raised voice.
"I don't understand how you could say those things to her, Wayland. Especially in the state she's in right now."
"Clary's a big girl, sir. She can handle herself," Jace replied.
"That might be so, but even tough girls like her can be vulnerable some times. She's gone through so much just today, and the last thing she needed was you going off on her like that. If I'm going to send her home with you and Alec, you better learn to be a little more considerate of her feelings. You know she's like a daughter to me."
Clary's brow furrowed. He was sending her to stay with Jace and Alec? In what world was that a good idea? Alec and her got along fine, but he honestly couldn't expect her and Jace to get along for an undisclosed amount of time. No matter how polite Jace tried to act, there was no way they wouldn't end up ripping each other's throats out.
The door suddenly opened and Clary jumped back in surprise. Jace stood in the doorway, arms crossed, looking down at her.
"Eaves dropping now, are we?" he said with a smirk.
Clary glared at him. Did he really think he could just return to his normal annoying self and she would forget how he had acted toward her a little over an hour ago?
"I didn't want to interrupt," she responded.
"Well, I guess you know what the plan is for now. You get to be one of the girls lucky enough to come home with Jace Wayland."
Rolling her eyes, she scoffed. "I've somehow landed in my own personal hell," she muttered.
While she was dissatisfied with the situation, she was pretty sure she knew why they had decided on her staying with Jace and Alec. For starters, she already knew them. On top of that, they were both trained detectives and would be able to make sure she was safe. Even her brother and his cronies wouldn't be stupid enough to try something while she was living with two members of the NYPD.
"Let's get you to your new home," Jace said unenthusiastically, leading her out of the precinct and back to his car.
She buckled herself in and looked over at Jace, who was staring down at his lap, keys still in hand. "Do you just plan on us sitting out here all night?" she asked.
"Listen, Clary," he said, sounding slightly nervous, which surprised her. Jace was never one to be nervous. Ever. "I just want to apologize for the way I behaved earlier. I was just upset at the whole situation and I took out on you and you didn't deserve that."
Clary rolled her eyes, staring out the windshield. She didn't believe a word he said. "You don't have to apologize just because Luke told you to. Like you said, I'm a big girl and can handle myself."
He sighed in frustration as he put the key in the ignition. "I'm trying to be nice. Could you stop being a bitch for five seconds?"
"I wouldn't be a bitch if you weren't constantly a dick."
"I am not constantly a dick!" he shouted as he pulled out of the parking lot. "Who rushed over to your apartment once you said Camille was there? Me. And who is letting you stay at his house in order to keep you safe? Again, that would be me."
"I appreciate you coming over, but that doesn't make up for the shit you said to me once you were there. Doing a few nice things doesn't make you a good person, Jace Wayland. And the only reason you're letting me stay and the only reason I'm agreeing to is because we both know it will make Luke happy. If I stay out of your way and you stay out of mine until we finally resolve this case, we should be just peachy."
Jace huffed, his hands tightening on the steering wheel, but didn't say anything. They remained silent for the entire drive to his house.
I've meant to update more because it's summer. Unfortunately, I've pretty much been working full time for this entire vacation, so I haven't really had the time or energy and I'm really sorry about that. I'll try to get a new chapter up quicker than I have been recently.