A rhythmic beeping broke through the haze in her mind, slowly bringing her back to consciousness. She carefully opened her eyes, flinching against the bright white ceiling above her. There was a deep pounding behind her eyes, and the beeping in the room wasn't helping anything. She squeezed her eyes shut, a low groan escaping through her lips.

"Miss Fray?" a voice called from next to her.

She slowly turned her head in its direction and just barely cracked her eyes open. Luke was sitting in a hard plastic chair next to her. He was dressed in his normal, professional manner, but she could tell there was something off about his demeanor. He wasn't as stoic as he normally was, coming across as almost anxious or worried.

She was about to ask what was wrong, when everything suddenly came back to her. She sprang up into a sitting position, ignoring the pain radiating from her head, her eyes fixed on Luke's.

"Where's CeeCee?" she asked, her voice sounding scratchy to her own ears.

He immediately adverted his gaze, and his hands formed fists on his knees. "We don't know," was all he said.

She swallowed thickly and briefly closed her eyes, fighting against the burn at the back of them. She barely registered the sound of the beeping in the background picking up pace as her heart hammered in her chest. "I'm so sorry. I tried to stop them, but—"

Luke leaned forward and placed a hand on her shoulder. "Don't get yourself worked up right now," he said. "I'm going to go let the doctor know that you're awake."

He stood swiftly and left the room. It wasn't even a minute before a man walked into the room, his face angled down as he read over a clipboard. He looked up and smiled kindly at her, introducing himself as a good friend of Dr. Herondale. He asked her questions like how she was feeling followed by some questions that she knew were designed to test her cognitive ability. He took her vitals and ran some other quick tests before really diving into things.

She stared at him as he filled her in on her condition. He started by telling her that she had been drugged, which she already knew, but she didn't recognize the name of the drug. She had been out for a little over 12 hours, but her vitals were looking good. He expected the only side effect she would experience was the pain in her head, but he was going to prescribe her something for that.

She waited patiently while he went through all this information, waiting for the news she really cared about.

"And this shouldn't have an effect on your pregnancy," he finally said.

She let out a deep breath, placing her hand against her abdomen. "Does anyone else know?" she asked quietly.

His brow furrowed. "I'm not sure what you mean."

"Did you tell Jace about any of that stuff?" she asked.

"Of course not," he said. "Doctor-patient confidentiality is something I take very seriously. The only people I have shared information with are nurses and your primary care physician."

"Oh," she said dumbly. She didn't know if she was relieved or not at that. She knew that she should be the one to tell Jace about the baby, but part of her couldn't help but feel that it would have just been easier if he found out through someone else.

The doctor scribbled something on his clipboard and looked at her again. "I'm going to go fill out some paperwork so we can get you out of here as soon as possible. If you need anything, don't be afraid to press the call button."

She gave him a quiet thanks. As soon as he left the room, Luke was walking back in with a phone pressed against his ear. He was nodding and giving responses of affirmation to whoever was on the other side.

"Yeah, she's right here," Luke said into the receiver, locking eyes with Clary.

He handed the phone to her, nodding his head toward the door, indicating he was going to step out. Clary took the object from him and held up to her ear, watching as Luke exited.

"Hello?" she answered.

"Clary?" Jace's voice came through the speaker. "I'm sorry I'm not there right now. I've been with the police all day and now the media is getting involved and I haven't had a chance to leave. But how are you doing? What did your doctor say?"

His words were rushed, his voice thick. Clary could tell even through the phone that he was barely hanging on by a thread. Something inside her broke at the sound of his voice. Before she could process her own emotions, a sob escaped from her throat.

"Don't apologize, Jace. I should be the one apologizing," she managed. "I'm the reason this happened. I—I was the one there and I didn't try hard enough and now CeeCee's missing and you're distraught and I can't do anything to fix it."

Just like Jace's, her words came out rushed together. She wasn't sure if he could even understand what she was saying by time she reached the end of her sentence.

"Clare, baby, please calm down. This is not your fault," he said, his voice gentle. "And you might think you can't do anything, but like you said, you were the one there. There's a detective who will be there shortly to talk with you. Whatever information you can give him will help us find CeeCee, okay?"

"Okay," she sniffled. "I'm sorry for breaking down like that. I should be the one comforting you right now." She let out a humorless laugh.

"I'm not going to sit here and pretend like I'm the only one affected by all of this. I'm here for you as much as I know you're here for me," he said. "I have to go, but I love you, and I'll see you soon, okay?"

"I love you, too," she said quietly before the call ended.

She sat there, spinning the phone in her hands. She didn't know where Luke was, and without another person around, she didn't have anything to distract her from her racing thoughts. She couldn't stop thinking about the baby and how much more complicated it was going to be to tell Jace. What was she even supposed to say to him now? Hey, I know your child is currently missing, but at least you have another one on the way?

She was also afraid of breaking the news and having it stress Jace out even more. He had so much going on at the moment. Did she really want to add to that? Maybe she could just put it off until CeeCee was found and safely back home. But even she knew there was a possibility that wouldn't happen.

The thought of that turned her stomach, and she fought back the urge to vomit. That raised even more questions for her. If something terrible did happen and CeeCee didn't make it, would Jace resent her? Would he resent their child? Would he look at the life they made and only be able to think about the life he lost?

A knock on the doorframe drew her from her morbid thoughts, and she looked up to see Luke standing there with another man next to him. He was slightly older, his dark hair graying around his temples and light wrinkles around his green eyes.

"Miss Fray, this is Detective Blackthorn," Luke said. "He's here to talk to you about last night."

The man stepped forward, offering his hand to her. Clary took it, shaking it, as the man reiterated his identity.

"I'd like to ask you some questions about what you experienced last night," he stated. "To begin, could you please tell me what happened? And, please, spare no details. You never know what could become important later."

She told him everything, beginning with Jace leaving to his office building and ending with watching the two men walk out with CeeCee. Detective Blackthorn nodded along, jotting down notes every once in a while as she talked.

"Thank you, Miss Fray," he said once she finished. "Now, have you ever given your door code to another person? Even on accident?"

Her brow furrowed, and she frowned. "No. Never," she answered. "Why?"

Blackthorn glanced at Luke, who gave him a slight nod. "According to the system tracking, your code was the one used just before the attack."

She racked her brain, trying to thing of any way that could have happened, but she came up empty. "I—I don't know why. I swear I haven't given it to anyone."

"That's fine, Miss Fray. This just means we'll have to find out where the got the code from. You said there were two assailants?"

"Yeah. One was in CeeCee's room taking her while the other was lurking around and snuck up on me."

"Unfortunately, all the security cameras had been disabled, and we have no video of these two men. Do you remember what they look like?"

"I didn't get any real look at the one who snuck up on me, but I recognized the one who took CeeCee. I'd seen him around before. It was always in random places, and I caught him staring at me a few times. I thought it was just a coincidence or that I was being paranoid. But I guess this proves I was wrong about that."

Blackthorn scribbled down on his notepad. "That's very good information to know," he said. "Do you think you could describe what the man looked like?"

"I can do better than that," Clary said. "Do you have a pencil and paper?"

Clary and Luke rode back to the penthouse with Detective Blackthorn. Jace was standing in the foyer when they arrived, his hair a mess and his eyes rimmed red. The second he saw Clary, he took her in his arms, mumbling about how glad he was that she was okay and that he had been so terrified when they got home and couldn't wake her up. He held her tightly, running his hand over her hair and pressing her face to his chest. She squeezed him back as tightly as she could.

He broke away from her, his body going stiff, as the phone rang. He excused himself, running up the stairs to his office, a few officers following behind. Clary was left standing there, confused and feeling out of the loop.

"It has to do with CeeCee," Jordan said, stepping up next to her and placing a hand on her shoulder.

"What do you mean?" she asked, turning her head to look at him.

He let out a sigh. "They're have been ransom calls. Whoever did this is looking for money and some experiment and research files."

"It's Valentine Morgenstern," Clary said, wrapping her arms around her abdomen.

"Jace's old employee? How do you know?"

"I recognized on of the kidnappers and was able to do a sketch. Luke recognized him immediately. We were going to fill everyone in once we got back here, but then…" She gestured to the stairs Jace had disappeared up.

"Fuck," he muttered under his breath.

"Luke had a similar reaction." She glanced at the stairs once more. "I'm gonna go shower. Let Jace know if I'm not back by time he comes down again."

She went into her room and stripped out of the previous night's clothes, throwing them in a random corner. In the bathroom, she turned the shower's water up to the highest heat she could stand. She stepped under the spray, closing her eyes. The water was scalding, but she accepted it, wanting to wash away all the terrible things she was feeling.

She'd only had that brief moment of time earlier in the day to herself. She had been thankful for all the distractions she'd had, but now she just wanted the time to fully process everything. She took her time showering, letting her mind finally mull over everything that happened.

Tears leaked from her eyes as every overwhelming feeling hit her. The first feeling was of violation. They had been in what she had considered to be her home. They invaded a space that was special to her and committed a terrible act. Then they had drugged her, risking her own safety and that of her unborn child's.

The most overpowering feeling was the guilt, though. The violation alone she could probably handle. The guilt, however, was tearing her apart on the inside. She should have been able to stop them that night. They should have never been able to leave that building with CeeCee. On top of that, she couldn't help but think about how it all could have been avoided if she had just said something about seeing Valentine on multiple occasions. Maybe they could have kept an eye on him and become aware of his plans before he followed through on them.

Eventually, she shut off the water, her skin tinged pink. She dried herself and wrapped a towel around her body before walking back into her room. Unsurprisingly, she found Jace sitting on her bed waiting for her. They existed in a companionable silence as Clary dressed and brushed through the knots in her hair.

When she was finished, she sat down next to him, taking his hand in hers and laying her head on his shoulder. He began rubbing circles on her hand with his thumb. She remained silent, knowing he had something to say and wanting to give him the time to speak first.

"They don't want me to give the ransom," he said. "They want to try to track Morgenstern first, but I don't think he's going to easily be found. The money and research isn't what I'm worried about anyway." He paused, and Clary squeezed his hand, encouraging him to continue. "I don't care about the money or research. I mean, I guess on same base level I do. But I would literally give it all up if it meant having CeeCee back safe."

His voice cracked, and he turned, wrapping his arms around her middle and pressing his face to her breasts. She felt a wetness seeping through her shirt, and she gently ran her fingers through his hair.

"It's going to be okay," she whispered. "Everything's going to be okay. They'll find her."

As the words left her mouth, she couldn't help but think about the fact that they might not be true.

Early the next day, Jace received another call. After it, Clary couldn't help but think it was like a switch flipped in him. He did a complete 180 on her. He went from refusing to let go of her the night before to locking himself in his office and not talking to her. Any time she knocked on the door, there was no response. She was trying her best not to take it personally, thinking maybe he just needed some time alone. However, she'd watched as Imogen, Luke, and Jordan had all been allowed to enter the office.

Clary had spent the day trying desperately to distract herself. She'd deep cleaned her room, rearranged her closet and drawers, and even spent time sketching. By the time evening rolled around, she was frustrated and on the verge of tears. While she'd try to keep her mind on other asks, nothing had really worked. She couldn't stop thinking about the little girl that was no longer right down the hall from her and the man who was quarantining himself away from her.

She threw down the sketchpad in her hands with a huff before standing from her bed. She took a deep breath and left her room, making a beeline for Jace's office. She knocked on the door with enough force to sting at her knuckles. It wasn't a surprise to her when there was no response. She pulled out the master key that Jace had given her one day and unlocked the door herself. She wasn't about to let him continue to hide away in this room from her anymore.

"What is going on with you today?" she demanded, slamming the door behind her.

Jace didn't even look up from his computer screen. "Did I invite you in here?" he asked, his voice monotone.

"No, you didn't. You've been avoiding me all day, and I don't know why! What the hell happened on that phone call, Jace?"

"I would appreciate it if you didn't enter my office without my permission, Miss Fray."

She stopped cold, her heart dropping. She stared at him, trying to figure what had caused this sudden change in attitude. They hadn't spoken to each other since that morning, and even then they hadn't really talked about anything serious. She didn't know what she did or said that made him upset enough for him to revert to his "professional" side.

"Seriously, what is going on? I can't right whatever wrong I did if you don't talk to me," she said, her voice rising in anger.

"It's not what you did. It's what you didn't do," he responded, his eyes still on the screen.

"I don't know what you mean." She threw her hands up in the air. "And could you at least fucking look at me while we have this discussion?"

Letting out an exasperated sigh, he finally fully turned his attention to her. "I tried not to get mad, but now that I've had more time to think about it, I can't help it. You saw Morgenstern multiple times, and you never said a single thing about it!"

Clary's stomach clenched, and she swallowed hard. "I thought I was just being paranoid. I didn't think it meant anything."

"New York is a big place, Clary. Seeing the same person multiple times isn't just a coincidence. I don't understand how you could be so stupid!"

"I'm sorry, okay?" she cried out. "I fucked up. If I could go back, I would say something."

"Well you can't go back, can you?" He fixed her with a hard stare. "If anything happens to CeeCee, it's on you."

She swore that her heart stopped beating, his words seeming to echo throughout the silent room. She just stared at him for a moment as she tried to figure out if he really said what she thought he did.

"I can't believe you," she finally choked out. "Do you think I don't feel guilty enough? How could you say that to me?"

"How could you let this happen to my daughter?" he shot back.

"Fuck you, Jace," she spat before storming out.

She went straight to her room, pulled on a pair of shoes, and grabbed her car keys. She stalked toward the elevator, thankful that the living was room was empty. Luke and Jordan weren't around to interfere.

It was hard to breathe, and she felt trapped. All she knew was that she needed to get out. To get away. She couldn't stay in that building thinking about everywhere CeeCee should be and everywhere CeeCee wasn't. She couldn't stay there knowing that not only did she blame herself, but Jace was now blaming her, too.

After everything he said about being there for each other, she couldn't understand why he had suddenly changed his mind. Yes, he had learned about Valentine and her mistake, but he had learned that last night. Last night he didn't say anything or seem too upset by it. What had changed that morning?

Clary made a little over halfway to her own apartment before the tears blurred her vision so much that she had to pull over. Huge, gasping sobs wracked her body and she leaned forward, pressing her forehead to the steering wheel. It felt like the harder she tried to get herself back under control, the harder she cried.

She wasn't sure how long she sat there for before her phone began ringing. Her heart skipped a beat, and she rushed to answer it. Her voice was shaky, her throat scratchy.

"Where are you?" Jordan asked.

Disappointment flooded her at the sound his voice. It wasn't the voice she'd been hoping to hear.

"I'm on my way to my place," she said, her voice sounding hollow even to her own ears.

"What? Why?"

"Ask Jace." She shrugged even though he couldn't see her.

He cursed under his breath. "Listen, I don't know what he said or did, but just give him some time, okay? There's a lot going on right now."

"I know there's a lot going on, Jordan. And I don't think this issue is one that giving him time is going to fix." She really wasn't in the mood to be discussing the situation with him. "I have to go. You know how to contact me if anything happens or changes."

She hung up before he could respond and started her drive again. She made it to her apartment without any other delays and went straight to bed. The night was spent tossing and turning, hoping that her phone would ring and the screen would light up with Jace's name.

A few days passed without her hearing a word from Jace or Jordan. She'd called Izzy the day after the blowout, and her best friend was on her doorstep within thirty minutes. Izzy had a general idea of what had happened but didn't know all the details. Clary took the time to tell her everything, only keeping her pregnancy a secret still. She didn't want to tell anyone until she managed to tell Jace.

Even though Izzy didn't know that one detail, she still knew how distraught Clary was over the situation with Jace. Clary had considered reaching out to him after giving him some time to cool down, and she voiced this Iz. Her friend shot that idea down, though, and said that Clary needed to wait for Jace to reach out to her. She said with the way things were left between them, it was on Jace to make the first move.

Clary had been ready to follow Izzy's advice. But then her first OB appointment happened. As she sat on that bed and listened to the heartbeat belonging to life growing inside of her, she knew she couldn't keep putting off telling Jace. He deserved to know about the life he helped create.

She also wasn't sure about how much longer her body could keep the secret. The doctor had told she was about eleven weeks, which meant she could start showing any day. Clary knew with her size, she would most likely end up blowing up like a balloon once she did start showing.

The sonogram photo stared up at her from the coffee table as she gripped her cellphone in her hand. Taking a deep breath, she brought up Jace's contact and hit call. Her kneed bounced up and down as the line rang. When the call rang through to voicemail, she was disappointed but not surprised.

Her voice shook slightly as she talked. "I know you're mad at me," she said, "but there's something I have to tell you, and I really rather not do it over the phone. So please call me back, and maybe we can make plans to meet up?"

She tried not to obsess, but she still found herself constantly checking her phone throughout the day. By the time she needed to start getting ready for work, there was still nothing from him. She tried to call him once more as she was on her way out the door. There was still no answer, and she left another message.

Clary spent a moment debating calling Jordan. The pregnancy wasn't the only reason she wanted to talk to Jace. The silence she'd received from everyone also meant she had no idea what was going on with the CeeCee situation. She didn't know how close they were to getting to Valentine or to bringing the little girl home. She ultimately decided not to call him, trying to have faith that if there was a big update, someone would let her know.

At work, she was a mess, though. Being at Pandemonium was supposed to be a distraction, but she just couldn't keep her mind on the tasks at hand. She kept messing up orders and forgetting tables. She had a feeling Bat was a few minutes away from just sending her home for the night.

The stares and looks of pity were also getting to her. She'd been working the past few nights to keep herself occupied, and she'd done pretty good at ignoring the looks people were giving her, but that night she just couldn't seem to. There were people that ran in the same circles as Jace, and they knew about CeeCee missing. Clary was sure that her increased presence in the bar was causing the rumor mill to run wild with theories.

Clary ended her shift and stepped outside. She took in her surroundings, being more cautious than ever with everything that had happened. As she scanned the area, she noticed a familiar car parked across the street. She walked toward the vehicle and tapped on the driver side window. The glass rolled down, revealing Jordan behind the wheel.

"You're not being very inconspicuous," she said. "What are you doing here?"

He shrugged. "Had some free time and thought I'd check on you."

She raised an eyebrow at him. "You had some free time at three in the morning?"

Sighing, he ran a hand over his face. "I just wanted to check in, okay? How are you holding up?"

She leaned a shoulder against the car and looked down at her feet. "I'm doing the best I can. How's Jace?"

"Honestly? He's a fucking mess, which is to be expected. He's been going back to the office, I think to keep himself occupied. Seems you're doing the same."

She nodded, kicking at a pebble in the street. "I'm going to drive myself crazy if I just sit around thinking about everything." She paused for a moment. "Do you think you could Jace to call me? I have something I need to talk to him about, and he's completely ignoring me."

Jordan was quiet for a few seconds, and she looked up to see a conflicted look on his face.

"I can try," he finally said. "He's just—There's a lot you don't know, and I'm going to ask you again to give him some time. There's things he needs to figure out."

She let out a groan and threw her head back. "This is fucking ridiculous Jordan. What is going on? What the hell happened for this sudden change him? I didn't think Jace would ever just cut me out of his life like this, and you're telling me to 'give him time'? The things he said—He should be the one running after me but here I am trying to get his attention."

"I know, Clary. Everything is real fucked up right now. But I'm telling you this as your friend. Not as Jace's employee or friend but yours. Just have some faith in him, okay? Trust me on this."

She rolled her eyes but conceded. "Alright. But I'm serious Jordan. I need to talk to him. You're saying there's shit I don't know, but there's also shit he doesn't know that he needs to."

"I'll try, Clary. I can't promise anything, though."

"Okay," she breathed out. "I need to get home. I'll see you… Whenever I guess."

"I'll try to stay in touch," he said. "Be safe, okay?"

She gave him a nod before walking off in the direction of her care. She made her way home and tried Jace one more time. It was the middle of the night, and she wasn't expecting him to answer but thought she'd give it a shot anyway. She left another message and plugged her phone in on her nightstand, making sure the volume was up.

After getting changed and brushing her teeth, she popped a few Benadryl. The allergy medicine had always managed to make her drowsy, and she knew her racing thoughts wouldn't allow her to sleep without it.

She was pulled from her dreamless sleep by a loud pounding on her door. She clambered out of her bed and stumbled to the door in a still half-asleep haze. Pulling the door open, any remnants of sleep left her as her eyes fell on Detect Blackthorn in the doorway.

"Miss Fray," he said, "sorry to wake you up. May I come in?"

"Y-Yeah of course," she stuttered, opening the door farther to let him in.

He stepped into the apartment, his eyes quickly flashing around the room. She offered him something to drink, trying to ignore the pounding in her chest and the knots in her stomach. He politely declined, explaining that he wasn't going to take long.

"As someone involved in the Herondale case, I wanted to inform you that early this morning, we managed to get Valentine Morgenstern in custody," he stated.

Clary stared at him, her eyes wide. "And CeeCee?" she asked, her voice barely above a whisper.

"We found her safe and alive. That's all I am allowed to share. You'll have to contact her family for any more details."

"I—Thank you. Thank you for letting me know. I really appreciate it."

They said their goodbyes, and as soon as the door was closed behind him, Clary went into her room and grabbed her cellphone. There were no missed calls or messages, and something burned in her at that discovery. Someone should have reached out to her once CeeCee was found. She should have been given an update, even if it was a quick text.

She dialed Jace's number, getting even more upset when it went to voicemail after one ring. "Detective Blackthorn was just here," she started her message, sounding more sure of herself than she had in days. "I know that CeeCee's safe and that Morgenstern is in custody. If you don't call me back, I'm just showing up, Jace. I swear to God."