Sorry it's such a short chapter. My laptop died on me, and i didn't get much time to write. I'll try harder. R&R

(Mpov.)

I walked Clary to the subway, then told her I'd meet her at home, and that I was going to fly home. She nodded happily. She loved to watch me fly. She said she's seen two angles, Ithrial and Rasle, and that she sees the resemblance between the three of us. The wings, the hair, the body structures. Everything on the outside.

It just felt good to fly again. And after such an angering, tiresome, excruciatingly painful day, it felt good to get away from it all. Or them all I guess. They had come after me, which is sweat and all, but I don't want to go back to the life were I'm always running; always fighting for survival. No. Not when I have Clary, Jace, Isabelle, Luck, Simon, Mom (the real one), Alec, Magnus; the list goes on and on.

Even back in the time of the flock, I wasn't a leader. They said I was the leader, but did they listen to me? No. They didn't. How can you go back to being something you're not? I found were I belonged, and I was going to stay there.

When I got home, Clary was climbing up the steps. I looked around. No one was around. I dropped down right next to her. "Hey, Mini Me."

She smiled slyly. "Hey back, Big Me." We laughed at our nicknames as we entered the house. "So," she said. "Are you ever going to tell me who those people were?" She hopped up on the counter in Luke's kitchen.

I sighed. "They were the flock. They came after me."

She looked so heartbroken. "Oh," she said. "That's great."

"No, Clary. It's not. I'm not going back to somewhere that I'm not needed. They don't listen anyway, and a real family wouldn't kick a family member out."

"So you're not going?" she asked happily.

I smiled. "No, Clary. I'm not. And they're not staying. Fang almost got me killed today." She gasped, and asked what happened. "He and the flock had been watching, and when we were about to kill him, he jumped out, distracted me, and the demon attacked when I wasn't looking." I showed her the marks. She grabbed her steel and healed me.

"And besides," I continued. "I'm acutely needed here; and someone has to make sure Jace doesn't, you know what, with you any time soon."

We cracked up. Everyone knew there was no stopping them. It was just an excuse to stay. And that's what I wanted. Was to stay where I was needed.

"So. Since you're staying- what were you planning on wearing to the party this weekend?" she asked.

"I don't know. I'll have to ask if this is a formal party or not. I don't want to wear a dress if I don't have to." She nodded in agreement. We were both deathly afraid of dresses.

"We'll have to avoid Isabelle on the day of the party. I don't want her trying to dress us up. We are not life size Barbie dolls." Clary shivered, as though the room was cold. I laughed.

"We could say Simon needed us to be at a performance for moral support. It works every time. And it's totally believable. Boy needs all the help he can get."

We sat there on the counter, laughing, side by side, when we heard the door open, and Luke walked into the kitchen with bags of groceries, and a box of pizza. "Sorry I'm home late. Your mother will be getting home late. She needed to get something from out of town. Want some?" He shook the box, the sound of crust hitting the side of cardboard filling the room.

"What kind?" me and Clary asked at the same time.

"Pepperoni with extra cheese."

"I already ate at the Pandemonium," I said. "But I could use a snack."

"Thought you might. Wait. You were at the Pandemonium tonight?"

"Oh. Um, yeah, sorry I didn't tell you. The demon levels were kind of high, so everyone but Clary went to check it out."

"I see. I won't tell Jocelyn. She'd freak. So, how'd it go? Well I hope."

Me and Clary exchanged glances. Clary spoke first. "You see, Luke. Max's old family- the flock…" he nodded, signaling her to continue. "They showed up tonight. They're at the Institute right now. They want Max to come back with them."

He looked baffled. "I'm not going with them," I quickly said. "They don't need me. And I like it here." He looked relived.

"Good," he said. "The wedding is soon, and I want us to be a family again. Or I want you to be a family again, and me just be a part of it. Any way you want to think of it."

"First one," me and Clary said in union.

He smiled his genuine smile. When I first meet him, I was totally freaked out. He looked just like an Eraser, the evil wolf-human hybrids that haunt my dreams. But soon I grew fond of him. I looked up to him as a father. Not the way I did with Jeb; but in a new, and totally unique way.

"Well, since you have training tomorrow, you should probably get some rest."

"Kay, goodnight." I went to my room, one right next to Clary's, were I stared up at the ceiling, wondering what tomorrow would bring.

(Alec's Pro.)

We went to the library to explain what we were. I didn't like this. Not the part about how they were Max's old family, and how they kicked her out, and didn't respect her- even though I didn't like that. The thing I didn't like the most was that they all had the sight, and they all were experiments in a lab. The same lab.

It was a boring conversation about the things I grew up with, and the things I learned, with little side comments from them every once and awhile. While Jace was explaining, I would watch Izzy. I could tell she was angry. She had grown to love both Clary and Max, and to have one taken away, leaving the other one heartbroken, would just kill her.

So she shot dagger eyes at them. Max had said Angle could read minds, and I could tell she was reading Isabelle's, and was being quit disturbed by it. I bet that cheered Iz up a bit.

"I have a question," the boy, Fang, asked.

"What?" Isabelle growled.

"Who's Valentine?"

We all looked at each other. There was a lot about Valentine. "Valentine was a big enemy of the Clave. He was also Jace's pretend father until he was ten. Then he faked his own death. He hated downworlders. At the age of 17 he started a group were they killed all downworlders. He was quite successful too. He wiped out a good portion of them."

"Who would join such a terrible group?" asked Nudge.

"The Lightwoods, Clary and Max's mom Jocelyn, Luke, Hodge, and some other people."

"Max's mom was part of a killing group," The Gasman asked. He looked at me. "Your parents too?"

"My parents only stayed because they were afraid. Hodge too. Luke was the first to leave. Jocelyn had her reasons for joining. She also had her reasons for leaving."

"Okay," Iggy said, impatiently. "What were they?"

"She left because Valentine scared her, and she needed to get away with her children. She was pregnant at the time with Clary and Max."

"Her reasons for joining?" Fang asked.

"Because," Isabelle spoke. "She was his wife."