"So," Jem said, eyeing the box that sat on the mantelpiece, the box was plain with a DULL silver clasp at the front, sealing the powder away; Jem was grateful that it was like this. For that was what it was, it wasn't some miracle drug that would save him, it didn't deserve a nice box like the one he had in London, he didn't want his death to be glorified and he didn't want his killer to be glorified either. "You never told me why we left, we were all having a perfectly nice time, I don't see the problem."

Will stood up; he strode over to the window that overlooked the looming skyline of the city that terrified Will. "Your drug, that's not-" He stopped, stuttering. Jem was surprised, Will was never without words.

"William?"

"Magnus got mixed up, he has given you the wrong one, that's not yin fen." He said bluntly pushing his shock of dark hair back from his eyes, drops of sweat trickling down his forehead.

"Then what is this?" Jem said looking in disgust at the box on the mantelpiece, pointing a thing finger at it limply, he felt a lump in his throat begin to form and he swallowed, why was he crying again?

"I don't know Jem, I'm sorry, we'll fix it. I promise you." He said desperately avoiding his gaze. Jem sat down where his parabatai had been seated, putting his face in his hands. He wasn't upset at Will, or Magnus for that matter, he was ashamed of himself. That he was so reliant on the drug that he had caused this much trouble and worry for Will, he felt sick. He remembered Tessa. She mustn't know, he thought, her gentle face flickering in his mind.

"Tessa, she doesn't know, does she?" His voice was pleading.

"No." Will sighed, Jem noticed his hands clench into fists at his sides. "At least, I don't think so. She knows something is going one but not the specifics." He moved his hand to hold his forearm, over his parabatai rune, which Jem knew was placed there. He moved his thin hand to his own replicating Will's movements wondering why his attention was suddenly drawn there.

He felt his chest lurch, something from inside of him rumbling up inside and clawing to get out, it shook his bones and he wretched, a series of coughs erupting form his mouth, his body shook forward from the force of them and he pressed his mouth into the crook of his elbow. Will had rushed to his side, his hands on his shoulders and dark matted hair falling in his face. Jem looked at him and moved his arm away, revealing stains of red. "What's happening?" His voice was weak and he tried to wipe his arm to become clean again. Will shook his head, his eyes full of sorrow and the blue covered by a watery front; his cheeks were flushed bright red on his high cheekbones, and sweat left his fringe in clumps against his forehead. He looked panicked.

"Come on," He said, letting go of Jem and grabbing a clean towel from the side, "you should clean yourself up, I'm sure you don't want Tess seeing you covered in blood." He said monotonously, Jem saw a light flash in his eyes like a reflection of the sunlight but outside it had faded to darkness.

"You're right." He said moving towards the bathroom and pushing his own hair out of his face. "But Will?"

"Yes?"

"I'm going to get better, I trust you to help me now even if we have no idea what's happening, I have faith." He said definitely, he didn't know what this drug would do to him and the daunting thought scared him stiff, but he knew Will would help him as he always had and always would do where his illness came into concern. He knew it wasn't just the parabatai oath talking either and he was glad to know that Will cared. Will smiled sadly; he squared his shoulders and turned to leave. "Will?"

"Yes?"

"How in the name of the Angel do I use this thing?" He pointed to the nozzle that came out of the wall behind a plastic curtain with a number of buttons around the base. A few drops of water fell to the bottom of the bath. Will looked in confusion, joining Jem at his side and folding his arms certainly across his chest. "What would Henry do?" Jem asked smiling.

"Blow it up probably, or make us all think we're blind which, by the way, I've still not forgiven him for the last time."

"It was just you who thought you were blind, Will."

"Look, I have never been blind so I have nothing to go off, I MADE AN ASSUMPTION." He patted Jem on the back and left swiftly, leaving Jem alone.

Tessa sat uncomfortable on the plush chairs of the institute, she was fiddling with the material of her skirt moving the soft material over her knees, backwards and forwards. Magnus fussed around her, flicking through various books, hovering around Alec and watching over Clary's shoulder as she worked in her sketchbook, pencil in one hand, and steele gripped in her other. She had prolonged telling the story if Jem, demanding that she should wait for Will, for he knew it better than her anyway. Will would tell it as it was and not bother with the details but as good as she was with words she realized she would get muddled in these situations. She sat quietly instead, letting her mind think absently, well, she tried but she felt the worry creep back and the pang in her chest for the safety of Jem.

Magnus huffed and shut another book closed, dust flying off the cover, she wanted to grab it from him and scorn him for not being careful with the pages but she didn't want to agitate him anymore.

"I'm tired," Isabelle yawned, stretching her long white arms above her head, "How long will this take?"

Tessa was slightly offended; Isabelle had the time to wait. "Give them a minute," Tessa said, "This isn't some silly illness that we're blowing out of proportion it's-"

"It's not demon pox is it?" Jace asked, a smile twitching at the side of his lips, she stared at him. Maybe he was more like Will than she thought, she felt the urge to laugh but suppressed it as the door swung open.

"Did someone say demon pox?" Will asked giddily. Tessa stared at him in awe for a second, he still managed to look decent with his hair in clumps, red eyes and a glowing parabatai rune that shone beneath his sleeve, she wondered if Jem had noticed it. She prayed he hadn't. The mention of the disease that Tessa was still unsure as to why Will was obsessed had made the tension in the room bearable. Jace's eyes lit up at the question, he grinned cunningly.

"I did indeed," Jace said, "Demon pox, oh demon pox-"He began, Tessa laughed now, letting out a giggle.

"Oh how is it acquired? One must go down to the bad-" Will continued, a sly grin on his face, his blue eyes lit up. Tessa was dumbfounded as to why, the only times she saw Will smile, was when he was talking about a disease you get from being promiscuous with a demon.

"Are the two of you serious?" Isabelle asked, her eyebrows rising to her dark hairline."

"One must always be serious where demon pox is concerned." Will sighed, sitting on the table, next to Clary who ignored him completely.

"Have you forgotten that your parabatai is dying?" She asked, her voice contemptuous and she stood up, her hair in strands falling out of its tie, framing her striking face.

"Trust me, I've tried." Will said, his face falling again and his mood cascading from his reverie back to his usual self. Magnus moved next to him and whispered in his ear, Will shook his head. "I'll tell them." He looked at Tessa, their eyes catching, and again she couldn't look away, there was fright in his blue eyes and reluctance in his lips that she watched as they tried to form the words of Jem's story. The table creaked as he moved and a pencil fell to the floor and she noticed that the room had fallen to silence. So he told the story.

He told them everything. She couldn't listen sometimes. Sometimes she tried to direct her mind elsewhere. Sometimes she wanted to listen. It was a short telling of his past but that didn't make it any less excruciating to listen to. He spoke about his parents, the demon, the drug and his imminent death, she wished Will and Jace were singing again. When he had finished Alec and Isabelle were quiet, they sat silently and Tessa could see them processing the information, it flickered behind their eyes.

"So this drug that makes him better is killing him." Alec said, it wasn't a question. But Magnus nodded. "You've given him the wrong one."

"Yes," Magnus sighed, "It could make him better, we-"

"From the looks of things it's making him worse," Tessa said, "What are we going to do?"

Will stood up and picked up Clary's pencil, she ignored him again, "We have to go back."

"Home?"

"No, to the place where we got the wrong drug from and if that doesn't work then yes, we need to get home." Will said, he looked over Clary's shoulder, "What do you say, Warlock, will you take me back?"

"Of course I will, anything I can do to help will be done." He said, pulling his jacket on that was resting on a pile of paper, the top sheet flitted away.

"Don't think I'm not coming with you," Tessa exclaimed, "I'll get a coat, it's gotten cool outside now."

"No Tess-" Will said looking at her desperately, Will liked to do this alone, she knew but she couldn't stay out of the loop, she needed to know, she wanted to see everything so that Jem was safe. So that Will was safe.

"No, Will. You'll have to get over it, I'm coming with you." She said, "It's not up for questioning." She sounded like Charlotte.

She saw Clary stand up behind Will, her eyes were red and the steele was glowing in her hand, she grabbed Will's wrist and pulled up his sleeve. She moved quickly.

"Clary?" Isabelle said warily, moving over to her friend but Jace was at her side in a flash. "Clary what is that?"

"It won't harm you, do you mind Will?" He shook his head and she began to draw, she drew over his glowing rune. The tip of the steele seemed to bring the lines back together, the purple faded to black again with each stoke and Will's jaw was set in a grimace, as it was with every fresh rune that was etched onto his skin. "It's brought the oath back together," Clary ran her hand over the finished pattern, "the drug you gave him was making it deteriorate, it's making everything fall apart, you should go quickly."

"What do you mean?" Tessa asked, she felt her heart pound against her chest so hard that she felt her ribs were about to shatter

"I mean the drug is degenerative, it will break everything until it gets to his heart, firstly severing his connection with Will, but it will kill him."

"How do you know all this?"

"No idea." She sighed.