-----

CHAPTER TEN:
Can't Pick Your Family

(But you can always pick your lovers.)

-----

Aren't you silly? Thinking I'd abandon this story just like that? I'M BACK! Ha! You can thank the lovely ladies at The Mortal Archives, representing the best MI fanfiction out there. City of Ink got nominated up the wazoo for their fanfic awards. Check out the categories:

The Jace Award for Best Angst
The Clary Award for Best Romance
The Alec Award for Best Lemon (tee hee)
The Luke Award for Best Post-City of Glass
and the Consul Award for BEST AUTHOR!

I know! I know! HOLY COW! So, as a thank you and as an incentive for you to vote (instructions on how and where are on my profile) I bring you the highly anticipated 10th chapter. Also, I've replaced the original chapter eight with the complete NC-17 version, in case you missed it on LiveJournal. My love to you all.

This chapter's song: Gorecki by Lamb.

-----

With trembling hands, Jocelyn drew out the symbol on her daughter's chest. She bent down to kiss her forehead, almost a goodbye, and went to stand beside Luke. Clary turned her head towards Jace and extended a hand for him to take. She took in his face, the harsh angles of his stern jaw and the creases on his forehead. He was so worried, the poor thing, ready to defend her at all costs.

She brought two fingers to her lips and stretched out her arm towards his, a improvised kiss for two warriors on their deathbeds. The paint dried and they both gave a nod to Jocelyn, signaling her to start drawing the trapping rune on the painting.

"Above the tower," said Clary in a sleepy voice. Her soul was already slipping. "In the sky."

Jocelyn did as asked and Clary and Jace rested back, their eyes fluttering closed. A loud gasp followed and the two awoke in a black and white world, their hands still clasped. When they looked down, they were clothed in their usual hunting gear, their knives still in their holsters hanging by their sides. They let out a heavy sigh and started for the tower in the distance. It didn't need to be said. They weren't sure if they could even speak. They just had to get to that tower. The closer they got, the harder it got to walk as through they were penetrating a mile-wide force field around the tower.

"What's going on?" asked Jace, his voice echoing. Clary only shrugged but even as simple a gesture as that took effort. For two bodiless souls, they sure felt heavy and weighed down.

They wondered if the outside world could hear. They looked up at the sky and found themselves looking in on the room. Clary got a sudden case of vertigo and Jace had to wrap his arm around her waist to hold her up. They felt sick. It wasn't right for them to be there. This was a dead city, meant to house lost souls. Their souls were very much alive and belonged to very virile, living bodies just beyond that veil.

"I think we have to get to the tower to reconnect to our bodies," said Jace as they came upon the side of a building. He rested her up against it and they tried to catch their breath.

"We need to find him first," corrected Clary, seemingly able to speak without moving her lips. "And he's not going to be up there."

"Your psycho antenna tell you that? Ugh. That means the bastard knows we're here," said Jace, caressing the hair back from her face and finding his hands stained with ink. He raised his palm up to her to show her but her eyes were started to droop closed. "Geez! Clarissa! Wake up! I knew it! You're just dead weight."

"Shh!" she shouted, her lips still fixed. "He can hear us. We don't need to talk here. Our thoughts belong to the city and this city was built for him."

"In which case, I greatly apologize for any lurid thoughts I might have about you in advance."

She groaned and rolled her eyes. "My knees?" she said, puzzled by the rush of images before her. "Seriously? Knees are sexy?"

He chuckled and kissed her quickly. "Sorry. I'll stop eventually."

She punched him in the arm and he realized he felt it. He heard a yelp from above and looked up to find Alec by his side, gripping his free hand. He'd jumped, it seemed, from the pain in his arm.

Clary cursed. "Looks like if we get hurt here, we hurt in real life."

Jace didn't respond. He was too entertained by the looks of concern on the others' faces. "Punch me again," he joked. "Let's see if we can get Alec to cry."

She looked at him disapprovingly, too tired to hit him again. "Jace, I can barely move and you can't concentrate to save your life… literally. I need you to look at me and focus on finding my jackass of a brother. I can feel him tugging at me. It's like he wants me closer. It's making him stronger or something."

Jace rolled his eyes and picked up her tiny frame by the waist, throwing her over his shoulder. She didn't seem to have the strength to complain though she did moan as he muttered something about nobody turning his girlfriend into a battery.

-----

"This is ridiculous!" shouted Alec, standing up off his spot on the floor between Clary and Jace's empty bodies. He turned to Jocelyn and gripped her arms. "Please! You have to send us in."

Magnus just rested on one of the sofas across the room. He had his eyes closed but he was wide awake, leaning his elbows forward onto his knees. His perfectly sculpted eyebrows were knit together and he had a strange, flowy aura all around him.

"Stop it, Alec," he finally said, his voice low but firm. "I'm trying to make the damn runes stronger. I need her calm."

"What?" asked Jocelyn, snapping around to face her painting. It continued to shift as though the ink were rippling the canvas in low, vertical waves. Everyone watched her face change but didn't say anything. They'd all suddenly become zombies. Isabelle's teary face was buried in Simon's chest on the sofa next to Magnus. She just whimpered. Simon continued to stare between Jocelyn and Clary until all he saw was red hair anymore, and Luke had decided to calmly leave the room two hours ago. Nobody had followed him.

"But Magnus, it's been hours! How do we even know they're still alive? You can do it. You can send me in."

"Really," continued Magnus, just as firmly. "I need you to calm down, kiddo, and let me work."

Simon nodded. "Come on, Alec. Magnus is doing this for you, you know. He's trying to keep them alive for you."

Magnus' eyes snapped open and the canvas stopped rippling. They flew to Alec's frantic expression for a moment and stayed there as he slowly stood. His height was suddenly immensely obvious and his own cat-like eyes were hooded with darkness. For a moment, it seemed as though a fight was about to ensue. Magnus' hands were clenched into fists.

"Alec, may I speak with you outside," he growled through gritted teeth. Alec was the only one unafraid. I guess there was no reason to fear him once you see him naked. Envious, maybe, but not afraid.

Alec looked back at Clary and Jace and quickly decided to follow him outside. Everyone watched them go. "Those are the two unhappiest gay men I have ever seen. They're walking oxymorons, I tell you," mumbled Isabelle into Simon's shirt. Alec, stung, shut the door extra loudly and shot them icy glances as it closed.

"Don't take it out on the walls," said Magnus.

"You're the one who wanted to talk!" shouted Alec. "I need to be in there."

Magnus smiled coldly. "Alexander, he doesn't need you," he said softly.

Alec's eyes started to water. "And what? You do? Is that it? Is this you being jealous again? You don't have to help us if it bothers you so freakin' much!"

Magnus' eyes were still shrouded in darkness but his voice was light as always, full of love. He wasn't sure how long he was going to be able to take these cuts at his pride before he bled to death. "No, I think I've been more than reasonable. I'm always going to be here for you, no matter what. You have to stop thinking that my affection ends the day you stop needing me. And I'll stop pretending you and Jace doesn't bother me. Dammit it, Alec… if it were mutual, you know I'd let you go. You're worth it. But it's not! Look at what he's doing for her!"

The tears were flowing down Alec's face. He shook his head and turned around. Men were not supposed to cry, he told himself often, but he knew he didn't need to hide from Magnus. He turned back around and raised his chin defiantly.

"You need to calm down," Magnus whispered, crossing the space between them. He was waiting for Alec to take the final step, giving him the go-ahead. When he did, Magnus wrapped his arms around him.

"I don't know what I'll do if he dies."

Magnus continued to rub his back silently. He wanted to tell him he didn't know what would happen either. He wanted to be able to tell him he'd still be there, but nothing was certain anymore. Magnus wanted to believe that Alec had taught him how to be selfless again but he had spent too many years alone. Did he really want to tether himself to someone who could never fully love him?

-----

Clary and Jace walked for what felt like hours. They weren't sure how time worked but Jace never tired, a perk of having no body. He shifted Clary around in his arms, cradling her head to his heart, as she fell asleep. The more time they spent in the city of ink, the easier it was to move around. The ink smudged all over their gear, their faces, but Jace figured it was just camouflage now, no point in washing it away. He just prayed the city didn't swallow him up. He wasn't afraid to die but he couldn't handle being stuck there forever.

Suddenly, he heard laughter in the distance, a braying laugh that made the ink buildings vibrate as though someone were shaking liquid in a bowl. It made Jace feel seasick as Clary clung to his clothes, pulling down. He stopped walking and set her down on a park bench. Jace recognized it now. Central Park. Of course. Jocelyn joined bits and pieces of nameless cities but she could never, as a true artist, leave out Central Park. It was woven into a part of her soul now, her identity.

Jace knew he couldn't leave Clary there. Sebastian would take the first chance he could to kill her. On top of that, Jace couldn't find him without her, even if he was killing her with every step he took. He caressed her hair back because the fluid ink lines that represented her once red locks were flying about in the wet, night wind. It made him feel even more trapped, more helpless. If he couldn't stop her own damn hair from flying all over the place, how was he supposed to keep her alive?

"You're an idiot, Jace Wayland," the eerie voice echoed throughout the park. He had heard that voice in his nightmares often but it was almost painful to hear it in person. The buildings and trees shook again around them. "But you're right. She won't leave this place alive."

Jace scoffed and drew out his knife, trying to find the source of the sound. He figured he could follow the waves of ink, if he could only get Sebastian talking again.

"She's your sister. She never did a thing to you!" called Jace into the void of the empty streets.

He laughed again. "No, but you did. You killed me, Jace. Your birth brought about my death. Your life and the people you love then brought about the death of my father," he said, as calm and collected as Valentine.

The sound was getting closer. Jace decided not to move. Let the bastard come to him so he could still protect Clary, who had closed her eyes and fallen over on the bench. Her chest didn't move but neither of them needed to breathe, it seemed. He knew she was alive and awake and vulnerable as ever as though his soul were tied to hers stronger than ever.

"Yes, you whiny bitch. Get over it."

The laugh made Jace's hands shiver and tense into fists around his knives. He pulled them up into attack position and watched for the movements in the ink. "He's not here," whispered Clary behind him. "He's… in the ink."

Jace snapped around to face her but she hadn't moved an inch. "What do you mean?"

"I can hear him moving. He walks through the walls. He comes… towards me."

Jace cursed and sheathed his knives again. He turned to Clary and wrapped his arms around her, a human shield. He knew Sebastian could get past him much too easily. "Clare, look at me, baby. I need you to open your eyes."

"You're scared," she said and it almost sounded loving. She liked that he was scared, which puzzled and frightened Jace even more.

"He should be," came a voice behind them. Jace didn't move. It was just a voice. Sebastian wasn't near, not as near as they felt him. It's just a voice. It's just a voice!

Jace picked her up in his arms and they were running now, as fast as they could manage. The heaviness was wavering but it was still strong. Clary pointed towards a house in the distance. It was just a brownstone. It wasn't the same as the home she'd left behind the day Jocelyn disappeared but the number on the house was. It'd been drawn in large beside the door. Jace realized what she meant because he'd gone to the house with her on a few occasions. Without speaking should they be overheard, they slowly climbed the stairs into the entryway. The door was open but Clary didn't go right in. She held the knob for a moment, trying to figure out the meaning of the rune on the doorknob.

"It's a protection rune," she whispered in Jace's ear. "He can't find us here."

He nodded and pushed in the door. They stepped inside but there was no furniture. There were only black walls and a window in the end with a view of demon towers they hadn't seen in the distance. They were obscured by the vastness of the skyscrapers.

"The city has its own rules, just like the real world," she explained, going to sit under the window so she didn't have to face the brilliant light from outside. She felt like she had a headache but no head to hold. The pain was on the outside, on her real body.

She cursed softly and extended a hand up to Jace, who had closed the curtains but continue to peer through the tiny sliver of light he'd allowed through. Her hand felt around at empty air, her eyes shut, and hit his knives on his right thigh. He noticed her then, trying to hold back a headache uselessly. He knelt down by her side and forgot about the demon at the gate.

"Does it hurt you too?" he asked. "We'll be out of here soon. I promise I won't let him hurt you for much longer."

"He's not the one hurting me, Jace," she answered, her face buried in her hands. "We're hurting ourselves. Can't you feel it? The heaviness is going because we're not as connected to the physical world as much anymore. Soon, we'll be spirits like him with no bodies to go back to. I can bear the damn headache if it means I'm still alive."

They were quiet for a moment as Jace pondered what she meant. He couldn't imagine being trapped here forever, even if it was with Clary. Jace didn't do commitments well. He couldn't imagine getting married or owning a house before Clary. He didn't even think he was capable of love before her and was almost positive he could never love another person like he did her at that moment. But he didn't like being trapped. It was worse than the constant fear of losing everything he cared about, which still followed him everywhere. It was prison. He had willingly checked himself into prison for this dainty little girl rested against him.

"We can't stay here forever. I'd rather die," he said.

She nodded and tried to push herself up off the floor. She turned around to the wall with the window, the darkest wall, and ran her hand gently over it. Her fingers got stained with ink and she hurried to the other side of the room, the lightest side, for a clear spot to write. She closed her eyes and saw the rune immediately. It was practically screaming at her to notice but she knew she couldn't trust her mind's eye. She was connected to Sebastian in too many ways. She had no way of knowing if the images were of her own making.

So, she opened her eyes and stared at Jace for a moment, just trying to erase her thoughts and open up her heart. "What?" he asked, starting to feel self-conscious. Then he saw her hand trace swirls on the floor and understood that he was a tool to distract. The rune that came out was only partially correct. She looked at it and knew something was missing.

Jace got up off the floor and hovered over the rune, behind her, trying to see it from her perspective. "I can't finish it," she whispered sadly. "I don't think he's letting me."

"You can feel him, right? Where he's moving?" asked Jace, ignoring the rune and going back to focus on the mission at hand.

She crossed her arms and shot him a look over her shoulder. "Damn it, Jace. You can't beat the crap out of this one. He's part of the painting. We're just visiting. If we want to fight him, we have to finish this rune. It's in my mind. It's in my heart. But it's incomplete!"

He sighed, rolled his eyes, and let his hand fall from the attack position on the hilt of his knife at his side. "You and I are 'bonded,' right? You got your energy from me when you were sick so that means we're bonded."

She shrugged and wrinkled up her face. "Jace, what the hell are you getting at?"

"The blood manifested differently in us. I kick ass. You write runes—"

She raised a finger to silence him. "I like to think I do both but sure, continue."

He smirked at her. "What if in this place, we really are soulmates? What if the angel blood linked our souls the way you're linked to Sebastian by Valentine's blood? What if, in here, I can finish the rune for you, clear through the clutter in your head?"

She knew it was unlikely. She knew she'd be giving him direct access to her every secret, opening every door to her memories, feelings… but she gritted her teeth and let him take a stab at it anyway. Something told her they'd be okay afterwards. If he didn't find the rest of the rune inside her, if they died like Sebastian wanted, he'd at least die knowing how much she loved him.

-----

I'll try to be quick about the next update, my loves. I promise. Some sadness is in store but, hopefully, they'll still have someone left to lean on.

Reviews are better than knees.
(But votes make Jace happy.)