Disclaimer: I own nothing related to TMI.
Jace In Exile
Chapter 14
He saw Alec's silhouette standing at the fountain, hands in his jacket pockets, looking attentively around the park for Jace. Jace jogged the last bit, closing the distance between him and the fountain. Their eyes met and Alec's face broke into a wide smile.
"Hey Brother, you are a sight for sore eyes. How you holding up?" Seemed Alec wasn't angry with him.
"I've had better days." Jace reached for Alec's hand and then wrapped him in a guy hug. "Let's walk and talk. You never know who's listening around here." He looked over his shoulder and saw Brother Zachariah following close behind.
"So fill me in on what happened after you walked out of the Great Hall through the portal."
Jace ran his fingers through his hair and told Alec how he ended up in the graveyard outside the Silent City, how Brother Enoch gave him seven days to get his life in order as a mundane, and that he was staying with Simon and Jordan. He left out the encounter with Raphael; he needed to figure out how to tell Alec the story without him freaking out.
Alec stopped dead in his tracks. "You mean for two plus days we've all been worried about you and you've been shacked up with a vampire and a werewolf? What the hell – Jace? You didn't think a call would be nice?"
Uh-oh, Jace didn't want Alec upset with him. He needed to explain his logic behind his behavior.
"Alec, I was so surprised by the Silent Brother's postponing my reversal of ascension that I lost my phone in the graveyard." Okay he was stretching the truth a little bit. He had to tell him, but he knew Alec would try and take Raphael down himself, and Jace didn't want to put Alec's life at risk for his own. It was okay for Jace to put his life in danger for others but he didn't want his family doing that for him.
Alec shook his head and shoved his hands deeper in his pockets. "Jace – Clary and Izzy are so worried about you. I don't think Clary has slept in two days. Izzy's been eavesdropping on Mom's telephone conversations hoping she knows something we don't. It's crappy you are avoiding us."
Jace shrunk away and put some space between them. "Alec there is more, I have a chaperone at all times, he's here right now…you just can't see him. Brother Zachariah was assigned to be my guardian, my watchdog this week."
"So how'd you ditch him to meet up with me?"
"I didn't he's right behind us."
"Are you losing your mind? I don't see a scary dude in paper thin robes walking behind us." Alec scowled.
Jace turned around and spoke to Brother Zachariah, "Alec is my parabatai; would you drop some of your glamour so he can see you?"
Brother Zachariah complied. Alec jumped back, "Okay that's freaky dude! How can he glamour himself past the sight?"
"Mr. Lightwood, the Silent Brothers practice many traditions of old. Our powers are great and cover various forms of glamour. This is all I can reveal of our secret skills."
"Still talks in your mind, huh?" a little laugh escaped Alec's mouth. "So no seraph blades, no stele, no runes, I'm going to ask again why did you go to Simon's?" Why not Magnus'? You know he would let you stay at his place if you needed too. I'm there most of the time anyway." He flushed slightly.
"That was my plan initially, but as we were leaving the graveyard, we were jumped by Raphael and his motorcycle gang. He seems to think I have something to do with Simon being a Daylighter." Jace avoided Alec's gaping mouth.
"Why would he think you have something to do with that?"
Jace stopped walking and stared down at the ground. "Alec when I found Simon on Valentine's ship, he was drained completely of blood, he was dying or almost dead. I knew if I let him die, Clary would never have forgiven me. I let him drink some of my blood to keep him alive."
"After he drank my blood, he could walk in the sun. Clary was the only one who knew about it until now. I've concealed the scar using glamour, but I can't use glamour now. We were walking out of the graveyard, Raphael jumped us and Brother Zachariah didn't glamour my scars. He saw them and I think he put two and two together," his voice grew quiet.
"Yeah, but we know other vampires that drank from Shadowhunters and they weren't Daylighters." Then the light bulb went on and Alec's eyes lit up. "Because of your extra Angel blood…that's what you think made the difference?"
Jace shook his head yes, and they continued walking.
"So Raphael threatened to what…kill you?"
"No he wants to imprison me, let his minions feed on me and make an army of Daylighters using my blood. He also wants to kill Simon, which is why I went to Simon's the first night. I've stayed at Simon's because I don't want to put you, or Clary, or Iz in danger."
"That's suicide – Jace. You can't defend yourself against a vampire right now. You need us, you shouldn't avoid us out of pride," emotion filled Alec's voice.
"I know. I know. It's just I'm really lost Brother, I don't know who I am when I'm not a Shadowhunter. I can't come back to the Institute, its just really hard facing Clary in my broken state." Tears stung the back of his eyes.
Alec could sense his anguish. "Where do we go from here? You need protection, Shadowhunter protection. You need to be around your own kind – Jace, not Downworlders."
Jace laughed ironically, "Funny you mention I need to be around my own kind. I found out from Brother Z," pointing back at Brother Zachariah with his thumb, "that I'm weakening myself by not being around other Shadowhunters. My runes are fading, well I should say all my non-permanent runes are gone, almost like they were washed away in the shower, and my permanent runes – the voyance and parabatai – those are fading!"
He had to admit he felt more like himself in the short period of time he was in Alec's presence than he had in two whole days. It was like an invisible string connected them, and he felt whole again. He felt his strength, agility, even gracefulness he'd always possessed return just being with Alec.
Alec put his hand on Jace's shoulder, "Let me help you. We are parabatai we took an oath. I said I would stand by you at all times till the death, follow you wherever you go, protect you in times of trouble. Let me do what I promised to do."
Jace swallowed hard, "Okay, but can we hold out a little longer on telling Clary where I am?"
"Jace – she loves you, unconditionally. Don't push her away, you need her, she's a Shadowhunter just like us. You need to draw strength from her blood."
"Just for tonight…can we wait until morning to call her? I have this job…this modeling thingy in the morning," he said shyly looking down at his fingernails.
"A what thingy? Did you say modeling job?" Alec smirked.
"Yes, Dude I have to have a job if I'm going to live like a mundane. Food costs money, shelter costs money, I have to make money to survive. All my skills and experience are in fighting, being a warrior, killing demons. It seems mundanes go to prison for that sort of stuff," he answered with an insolent smile on his lips.
"Mom and Dad would support you. You're not eighteen yet and under the circumstances they would take care of you past eighteen."
"No – I won't take their money. That's not what this is about. I have to prove to myself that I can make it in this world if I'm not a Shadowhunter. I have to show Clary I can do this." He paced in front of the fountain.
"Okay, okay. I get it. Stay at Simon's tonight, go to your modeling job in the morning, and then come over to Magnus' when you are done. I'll fill him in on everything that's happened." Alec said hopefully.
"Thanks." Jace gripped Alec's shoulder.
Jace gave Alec his new cell number, and promised to call him when the modeling job was done the next morning. He looked up overhead, a storm was coming; he jogged home to beat the rain, and was asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow.
It was a warm spring day in the park. The birds were chirping, children were playing tag, and people were walking their dogs. It was a perfect day for lounging around enjoying the beautiful weather. Jace was stretched out on the blanket on his back, eyes closed, his long eyelashes looked like gold fringe against his cheek bones; his lips slightly parted, he was snoring softly. His t-shirt was raised at the hem revealing his stomach muscles and the curve of his hips.
Clary sat next to him, drinking every inch of him in like a fine wine. Seeing the V-shape of his hips always stirred something deep inside her. He was absolutely beautiful, and he was hers. She snuggled up to him and put her head on his shoulder. He absentmindedly draped his arm across her waist and pulled her close to him.
He sighed, "I wasn't sleeping I was just resting my eyes."
"It's okay if you sleep I was just admiring the view." She took her finger and traced a line on his stomach where his t-shirt was raised.
He hummed, "Clary are you trying to take advantage of me?"
"You can't take advantage of the willing," she replied and then kissed his lips lightly.
Jace looked in her eyes and put his hand in her hair, "I love you Clary. I'll always love you regardless of where this life takes me. You have my heart, my soul, and every fiber of my being. I am yours."
He leaned her head toward him. He kissed her full on the mouth, deepening the kiss; she pulled back and was breathless. She regained herself and kissed him deep on the mouth, parting his lips and brushing his tongue with hers gently. A soft moan escaped his mouth, and she took this as encouragement. She pulled him on top of her and….BEEP -BEEP - BEEP
What the hell! My alarm goes off now! Right this second, in the best part of the dream. Clary sighed, pulled her covers back, crawled out of bed and shut off the alarm. She really missed Jace. She'd never dreamt of them kissing like that, she needed a cold shower.
The cool water ran down her head and back, waking her up. She switched the water to hot. Her muscles were tight from training the day before. She was angry with Jace for not calling her, but she missed him so much that her anger evaporated at the thought of seeing him today.
That sinking feeling she had about Simon being involved in Jace's whereabouts grew stronger in her belly as the water hit her back. She didn't share her thoughts with Izzy, but her gut told her Simon had the answers. She and Izzy decided they would go over to Simon's again this morning. Maybe they would catch him before he was out for the day. Simon had never dissed her in the past, and not calling her back for two days, well that was completely out of character for him. There were only two explanations, either he was in trouble or he was with Jace. She was going to find out what it was…today, even if she had to sit outside his door for hours.
She finished showering, threw on her black leggings, electric blue sweater, and lace-up boots. She finger combed her hair and decided not to use the blow dryer, too frizzy with this wet weather. She looked out the window and the rain stopped but there were giant puddles on the street. She grabbed her trench coat and an umbrella, just in case it started up again, and walked down the hall to Izzy's room.
She knocked on the door and waited for Izzy to answer. "Come on in, I'm almost ready!" She hollered.
Clary pushed the door open and as expected the room was a disaster; clothes everywhere, shoes covered the floor, and her dressing table had a light dusting of body glitter on the top. She sighed as she muddled her way through the clothing tornado.
She walked halfway into the room and Izzy popped her head out of the closet. "Ready to go find Simon and punch him the stomach?" Izzy asked and threw on her red trench coat.
She wore black tights, a long black sweater and black slogger boots. Izzy was prepared for the rain and still looked sexier than Clary ever would in rubber boots.
Clary shook her head in amazement, "Sure…planning on venting some anger when we see him?"
"I think he deserves a little pain since we've been suffering for three freaking days without any contact! How is a girl supposed to know where she stands with a guy? He likes me, he likes me not…I can't figure him out, but I really want too," she raised her eyes suggestively.
"Oh Izzy! Simon doesn't know what he's in for with you," Clary laughed.
They walked out the door onto the wet streets and started moving in the direction of Simon's apartment.
AN: Sorry I teased the modeling scene in my AN for the last chapter. I have it completed, but adding it to this chapter made it way too long. So hang in there it's definitely in Chapter 15. Love the touching scene between Alec and Jace. Finally Jace realizes he might need to lean on someone else instead of carrying everyone's burden, his included, on himself.
Thanks for reading! X