"Hey, this is Clary. Leave a message after the - "
Jocelyn hung the phone up in frustration. "She's still not answering. Where are they?"
Luke took the phone from her. "Did it ring?"
"No. Straight to voicemail. Again."
"Then her phone's either off or outside of reception. Knowing her, I'd say she's outside of reception - she wouldn't turn her phone off in a crisis."
"What if they're hurt? What if a demon - "
"Jocelyn. They're more than capable of dealing with that. If they were inconvenienced in any way by a demon, I'm sure they'd have been only twenty minutes late. They have to be lost."
"And that's supposed to make me feel better?"
"They have everything they need with them. They should survive long enough for us to find them, right?"
Jocelyn shook her head hopelessly. "How are we supposed to find them on our own?"
"You're a shadowhunter. I'm a werewolf. If anyone can do it - "
"We can."
"Alec. Wait up."
"Not now."
"Alec, I really think - "
"I'm sorry, Jace. Not now."
"Please - can I just say something?"
Alec turned around, tired and exasperated. "What?"
"I don't know why you didn't tell Izzy about your injury. I don't know why you didn't tell me - "
"Here we go again."
" - but, I do know you. I know you would have had your reasons. And look, I'm not choosing sides, here, but I'm sure your reasons are valid. Okay?"
Alec sighed. "Thanks."
"To be perfectly honest, I could not care less what said reasons are right now. All that matters is that you're okay. So. Shirt off. Let me see it."
Reluctantly, Alec took off Magnus' shirt. Jace grimaced when he saw the wound.
"That bad, huh?"
"Does it hurt?"
"Uh… a bit," Alec admitted, laughing nervously. "It hurt more before."
"Well, I guess an iratze should do the trick."
Jace took out his stele and begun tracing the familiar rune on Alec's back. His cuts slowly closed, and the underlying redness of infection died down. Jace used his still-damp hand to brush away the dirt and dried blood. Soon enough, all that was left was a blue-black shadow of a bruise.
"Hey - there's a bit of… a bruise, I think, and it's not going away."
"Huh?"
"On your neck. It looks different from the rest, but it didn't go away with the - "
"Oh - uh - " Alec began to put the shirt back on, turning away from Jace so he could no longer see it. "That's - uh - not a bruise. Don't worry about it."
Jace grinned. "I was gone for what - thirty minutes? - and you and Magnus - "
"I could say the same about you and Clary," Alec laughed. "Where were you, anyway?"
"We found water," Jace shrugged.
"No shit, Sherlock, you look like a drowned rat."
"Speaking of what I look like - "
"Why does every conversation with you come to this?"
" - how bad is the bruise? On a scale from 1-10?"
"Honestly?"
"Honestly."
"About an 8."
Jace swore, shaking his head. "Why me, Alec? Why my face?"
"Don't worry. It'll die down soon. It just makes you look… tough."
"Really?"
"No. It looks pathetic."
"Thanks. You're great at pep talks."
"You're absolutely welcome."
"Iz?"
Isabelle turned around to see Clary stepping into the tent. She had an apologetic expression, but she didn't let that soften her resolve.
"Yes, Clary?"
"Is everything okay?"
She wanted to say yes, everything was fine. She wanted Clary to leave. She wanted Alec to stop whatever the hell he thought he was doing. And yet, she sighed, and muttered quietly, "what do you think?"
Clary sat down next to her. "Why are you mad at Alec?"
"He just… he's stopped trusting me. He's stopped listening to me. He's… I don't know. I don't know if I'm as angry at him as he thinks I am."
"Look, I'm no expert psychologist, but I'm going to go out on a limb and say he thinks you're very angry at him."
Izzy began twirling her hair in her fingers. "I know. I went a bit overboard."
"If you think that he's changed… if you think there's a genuine issue that needs to be solved… why don't you talk to him?"
"I tried that. Look where it got us."
"Actually talking. No more blaming him for anything and everything. No more getting angry at his every slip-up."
"But I have every right to be annoyed that he didn't tell me about his injury, though."
"Of course. I think we're all annoyed. Now we're just going to have to wait longer before we can get up to the road."
Isabelle scowled. "And, my brother is wounded, and at risk of infection and more serious repercussions."
Clary smiled. "That too."
"Hey - guys? Hey - can I…?"
They looked at the entrance to the tent to see Simon standing there, watching them, waiting to be asked in.
"Si, I have nothing against you joining the D&M, but this is a two-person tent… I don't know if you'll fit…"
"Don't be ridiculous. There's plenty of room."
And with that, Simon squeezed himself into the tent, forcing Clary to shuffle closer to Isabelle. Now, the three of them sat in a row, backs to one side of the tent, with their knees pulled up to their chests.
"Well, isn't this cosy?"
"Do you have something to say, Simon, or were you just lonely?" Isabelle asked, still focussed on twirling her hair.
"Actually, I do have something to say. Several things, in fact."
"Oh, God," Clary muttered.
"First; Isabelle. I don't understand what you're angry about, and I don't think I ever will, because you know… anyway. What I'm trying to say is that you have so little to be angry about. Like… yes, I understand Alec's a bit of an asshole. Or a lot of an asshole. In fact, it's probably true to say that on a scale from one to ten, Alec fits nicely - "
"Simon," Clary coughed.
"But even though he's a… moderate asshole, he's still… good. You know? He's still a nice guy. Not like a 'nice guy' nice guy. Like a genuinely nice person who has asshole-y tendencies. And he cares about you. Because you're brother and sister, and because of all the crap you've been through together. And because you're, you know, amazing. And… uh… for what it's worth… I care about you, too. Probably a little bit differently to the way Alec does… unless… I mean no, probably not, right? That whole incest thing was just with Clary and - "
"Simon," Clary said, with more warning in her voice. Isabelle seemed quite amused.
"The point I'm trying to make is: even if Alec may not trust you (but he does) and even if Alec may not listen to you (but he does)… I will. So please don't ever feel like you're undervalued… or… I don't know… underappreciated… because even if everyone else hates you - which they would never do, because who the hell could hate you? - I will still trust you and listen to you and… try and make you smile."
Isabelle smiled softly, looking past Clary and at Simon. The tears that had threatened to fall before were still there, lining her eyes, but not for sadness - she was happy.
"And the second thing?" Clary asked.
"Huh?"
"You said several things. What's the next one?"
"Oh. Uh. Where's the bathroom? Like… where are we supposed to go when we need to… go? Because I don't really want to just be walking around and find - "
"Alright, that's enough of that. I understood you after the first sentence." Clary began shoving him out the door, anxious to get back the space they had sacrificed for his visit. "Just take a somewhat long walk in one direction, do whatever you need to do, and turn around and come straight back."
"What if I get lost?"
"Then we'll find you."
"I swear, Clary, if I die taking a piss, I will never forgive you."
"It's still daylight. You'll be fine," she insisted, ushering him out the flap of the tent.
"Oh, and Izzy?"
She raised her eyebrows at him.
"Good luck with Alec. Everything will be okay."
Clary sat back down, done pushing Simon out the door. Her legs ached from the pain of the night before, and squeezing them into so small a space hadn't helped.
"He's a good kid, Simon."
"Yeah."
"Do you think I should confront Alec again?"
"I think you should talk to him. In private. Try and be a bit more understanding. And, uh… don't bring Magnus into it."
"You heard that bit?"
"You two were screaming so loudly that we could hear you perfectly before we could see you."
"Well, you know the Lightwood motto."
"Actually, I don't."
"Go big or go home."
Simon's plan was to walk until he could no longer see the camp. He had chosen to follow the sloped edge of the road for as far as he could. That way, he knew how to get back - just follow the giant wall of death.
The buzz of saying what he did to Isabelle had worn off. His confidence was waning. He was beginning to realise that he should have brought someone along with him, because the massive sloped edge of the road wasn't sufficient enough to keep him safe.
He chose a spot quickly and did what he needed to. He turned around to hurry back when something in the bush to his left rustled.
He froze.
Something moved again, quickly, causing a few shrubs to sway.
"Oh God. Um… look. Please don't eat me," he said, pressing himself against the wall. "I don't know what you are, but I'm not going to hurt you, so I'm just going to… leave…"
He remembered going camping as a kid, and the one thing his mother had told him was that if he was ever confronted by an animal, running would only make it strike. Because of this, he found himself edging away, keeping an eye on the bush.
The rustling was only getting more intense.
"Oh… wait, was it because of the… uh, the urine? Look, if that was your territory that I just accidentally marked, I apologise. I don't want it. In fact, you can have it back, free of charge. We can strike a deal."
Even his promise of real estate failed to quell the ominous rustling.
Simon wondered if screaming at the top of his lungs would get anyone there in time. However, before he could so much as whistle, the terrifying beast had leapt out of the shrubbery and straight at him.
Magnus closed his eyes, concentrating as hard as he could. He had been trying for the past few hours to do this. His fingers tingled, the magic tantalisingly close. He took deep breaths, trying to fill himself with something, trying to steady his shaky hands, but nothing was working. The more he strained to gather magic, the more light-headed he felt. His arms and legs had gone tingly, too, but not because of magic - because of how close he was to fainting. Try harder, he told himself, frowning at the effort, giving everything he had to the weak pull of magic. Although his eyes were closed tightly, he could feel his vision fading, the strange array of colours he saw with his eyes pressed shut slowly turning to black. He took another deep breath - he had almost forgotten to breathe. His concentration lapsed, the magic slipping away, and in one final effort to draw it closer, he squeezed his eyes shut and pulled as hard as he could -
"Magnus!"
Magnus wasn't sure what happened first - he could have let go of the magic at hearing Alexander's voice, or perhaps after he felt Alec's touch on his arms, or maybe after he lost consciousness. Regardless of what had happened when, he found himself blinking to clear his dotted vision, and looking straight into Alec's bright blue eyes.
"Hi."
Alec shook his head. "I come into the tent to see you on the brink of consciousness, catch you right before you keel over in a dead faint, and all I get is 'hi'? I would have thought that this would have warranted a slightly less normal greeting."
"And your problem is?" Magnus asked, feeling the tingling subside as he caught his breath.
Alec sighed. "You. You're the bane of my existence."
Magnus smiled. "I think that's the first time that joke has been used in a flattering context."
"What were you doing, Magnus?"
Magnus sat up properly, wiping his eyes to get rid of the few lingering black spots. "Trying to get my magic working again."
"What? Magnus, you're still too weak. You're half as talkative as you normally are, and you're almost paler than me."
"But I shouldn't still be weak. All I did was bump my head a little bit."
"And then you fell down a rather large hill."
"The point is - I've endured worse, and I've been able to use magic in no time. I don't know why this time is any different."
Alec squeezed Magnus' arm. "It'll be fine. After all - we shouldn't need magic. We're shadowhunters. We can cope."
"Speaking of coping - how's your shoulder?"
"Good as new."
"Are you sure? I should have a look myself," Magnus decided.
"This sounds like a very suave attempt to get me shirtless again," Alec muttered, but he was already undoing the buttons. "And by the way - this is your shirt. You have mine."
"I know. But I'm thinking of bestowing that shirt to you - it looks great on you. But do you know - "
" - where it would look even better?" Alec finished with a smile, handing the shirt to Magnus. "I've heard that one a few times too many, Magnus. You have to stop lending me clothes."
"Never," Magnus said, observing Jace's work. "I have to admit, blondie didn't do a half-bad job. It's much better than before."
"Yeah, well, that's not a very high standard of improvement."
"Does it feel better?"
"Yeah."
"That's all that matters," Magnus said, smiling to himself. He knew that Alec didn't care to admit when he was hurt, so hearing him admit a wound hurt less brought him peace of mind.
"Hey, uh, Magnus?"
"Yes?"
"You know how… Izzy said that I didn't listen to her?"
"Alexander, don't start - "
"And she said that it was your fault?"
"She didn't - "
"I don't know if I have changed or not, okay? I may have. Who knows. But I want you to know that it's not your fault."
Magnus began to protest again but Alec continued.
"Izzy and I disagree on… almost everything, honestly, but it usually never escalates that far. I don't know… I think I was afraid of her claims being valid about me not trusting her, so I just kept talking over her so I wouldn't have to hear them, and then… by the Angel, I messed up. She's so mad at me."
"Do you trust her?"
"Of course. She's my sister."
"The fact that she's your sister has nothing to do with how much you trust her."
"Do you really think I don't trust her?"
"I don't know, Alec. I'm not going to make excuses for either of you. But there is something I want to say."
Magnus took a deep breath, staring steadily into Alec's eyes.
"I don't have siblings. I've never had siblings. I will never have siblings. For a majority of my life, I thought siblings were such a burden - to have to trust someone who you got no choice about… I don't trust easily, Alexander. I'd never be able to spend a mortal lifetime tied to someone I didn't choose to be tied to first. But I was wrong. Siblings have a kind of bond that can't be replicated. This petty dispute is nothing compared to the strength of your - "
"I know, Magnus. I trust her. I was just kind of unsure of why I was mad. I mean… we're mad at each other all the time. It's… not that big a deal."
"Oh."
"Yeah."
"Sorry."
"But thanks, though. That was… inspiring."
"It was utter bullshit."
"I know," Alec said with a smile. "But seriously… how am I going to make it up to her?"
"You're really stuck?"
"Yep."
"I have an idea, but I'd say it has a tad more pizzazz than you're used to."
Alec sighed. "Just tell me."
Izzy lay, brushing her hair. The afternoon was wearing on, and soon it would be dark. She had offered to cook lunch, but for some reason, her offer was turned down. The realisation that they'd have to spend another night in the forest had finally settled, and people were too nervous to eat. Clary was at the stream again with Jace, supposedly washing the dirt off of the equipment they had brought. Simon had been missing for the last few hours. Izzy was beginning to worry, but going out of her tent meant facing Alec, and she didn't know what she was supposed to say.
But Simon, she thought. Simon could be lost, or hurt, or worst of all, dead, and you're too petty to face your own brother.
Before she could make up her mind, somebody opened the tent flap right above her head. She sat upright as they continued to awkwardly cram their way into the small tent.
"What the - Alec?"
"Gimme a sec."
"You don't have to sit in here. We can go outside - "
"Don't worry. I got this."
"I don't think you do… seriously, let's just go outside."
"I'm all good," Alec announced, finally twisting his legs beneath him. His knees were pressing against the sides of the tent, and he had to lower his head to avoid hitting the ceiling.
"Alec, I - "
"Izzy - I really want to listen to you. I promise I do. But is it okay if I go first? It's just… you'll see. Okay?"
She sighed. "Fine."
Alec tapped the side of the tent twice. "Are you ready?"
From outside Magnus whispered "five, six, seven, eight - "
"I'm just going to stop both of you there," Izzy said, loud enough for Magnus to hear. "Alec, I'm sorry if I hurt you by what I said. I was just frustrated that you didn't seem to trust me as much as before, but perhaps I was just being sensitive. I had no right to bring Magnus into the debate, or to claim you weren't listening to me. I'm sorry - I really am - so if it's okay with you, I'll be on my way."
"Izzy, no. I… Magnus, can you leave us please?"
There was a begrudging groan and some kerfuffle outside, but soon enough, it was just the two of them in the tent.
"Iz, you shouldn't say that. You had every right to be mad. I don't know if I've changed in the way I've treated you, but if I have, I'm sorry. I try to listen. I really do. But sometimes it's hard. And I mean… before it was just you, Jace and I… but now there are so many more people that I care about… I don't know how to balance everyone. I'm still figuring shit out. I trust you, I know I do, but I think that I'm afraid of becoming… meaningless to you. I want to help you because you're this badass, capable person, and I don't want to be left behind. I would never think you weren't strong enough. I'm sorry for any time you may have thought otherwise. And I was wrong when I said you thought everything was about you."
"You weren't. Not necessarily. I do like it when things are about me," Isabelle admitted with a smile.
"Don't we all?" Alec laughed. It felt as if a weight had been taken off his chest. "I'm sorry. Really."
"I am too."
They sat in comfortable silence before Izzy slapped a hand to her mouth. "Simon!"
"What about him?"
"He's been gone for ages! What if he's lost, or worse, he's - "
She was interrupted by Magnus' short scream. Alec's eyebrows shot up, and he scrambled, alongside his sister, to get out of the tent.
"What the hell is that?"
"I think it's a squirrel. It likes me."
"It looks like a sentient wad of hair you find in a drain!"
Simon gently covered the animal's head with a hand. "Shh! He can hear you!"
"Good! I hope it hears me and runs away! Shoo!"
"Simon!" Izzy burst out of the tent, running over to him. "You were gone so long - what happened?"
"I found a friend!"
"He found a rat on steroids and decided to bring it into our lovely rat-free camping grounds!" Magnus said, sliding behind Alec and using him as a shield from the rodent.
"He's a squirrel," Simon said decidedly, opening his hand to let Izzy see. She flinched slightly upon seeing it. If she hadn't known better, she would have thought it was a mould-covered branch. It was furry, and dirty, and was scowling at her with fury more intense than any opponent she had ever fought.
"It's… cute."
"I call it Neville."
"Excellent."
Alec sighed, and held out a hand. "Simon, it's probably got rabies."
"Don't you dare."
"Give it to me."
"Never," he said, cradling the filthy thing. "It came to me, and I have decided to nurse it."
"It's a waste of time and food."
"Oh, we are not feeding that thing," Magnus said. "Unless, of course, we let it taste-test Izzy's Pinterest creations."
"That's a death sentence!" Simon exclaimed, ignoring Izzy's side-eye.
"Simon, it has to go," Alec said, his expression deadpan.
"Never."
"Simon."
"Over my dead body."
"If that's what it takes," he shrugged, drawing his seraph blade.
"Alec," Izzy said, pushing the blade out of Simon's face. "Play nice, remember? Let Simon have his pet."
"Pet? I'm not sure it qualifies as an animal - it looks more like the physical manifestation of disgust."
"Excuse me, but Neville has taken a liking to me."
"Figures."
"Alec!" Izzy exclaimed reproachfully, trying hard to keep serious as she scowled at him. He smiled back. Simon frowned - he felt like he was excluded from some sort of inside joke.
"Let Simon keep… Neville. Just for now. As to whether or not he's allowed to stay… we'll cross that bridge when we get to it."
Simon smiled smugly at Alec, ignoring the condescending grin he got back.
"Now - let's cook dinner. And no, I will not volunteer to cook. You've made yourselves pretty clear about how you feel in regards to my cooking."
Magnus clapped his hands together. "Excellent. I'll see what I can do."
Clary had decided to turn off her phone. She had carried it around with her all morning and hadn't gotten any reception. There was no point wasting power until they were somewhere that could have signal. She didn't know whether the others had phones or not, but if Jocelyn was going to call anyone, it would be her. It worried her, that Jocelyn was looking for her. At least, she assumed she was. Clary hated it when her mother was nervous for her, so this whole getting lost in the woods situation was wreaking havoc in her mind. She felt sad about not knowing where her mother was. She felt afraid of not getting back. But most of all, she felt guilty.
She felt guilty that Jocelyn was probably having a heart attack trying to find her, but here she was, enjoying herself in the cool water of a remote stream. She felt guilty that somewhere, her mother was probably calling the police, hugging Luke, stressing over her lost child, and yet she got to sit and stare at Jace Herondale, wet clothes clinging to his body, as he cleaned the last of the equipment. That feeling of guilt hung over her like a cloud, and yet, she couldn't bring herself to worry nearly as much as she should have been. Part of her thought there was nothing to worry about at all.
"Done," Jace said, washing the mud off his hands in the water.
"Took you long enough."
"What can I say? I was being thorough."
"Sure," she said mockingly, laughing. He splashed water at her, but she jumped away, out of the stream, just in time.
"Aw, come on!"
"No. No more fooling around in the stream," she said, immediately flushing red when she thought over what she'd just said. Jace smirked. "Stop. Seriously. We have to get back. Maybe Simon's found his way back to the tents."
"You worry too much about him."
"I know," she said. "I've spent a lifetime worrying about him. There's always something worth worrying about, trust me."
"Well, don't," Jace said, stepping out the water and flicking his hair. "I'm sure he hasn't done anything stupid."
Jace didn't like to admit when he was wrong.
But this time, he certainly was, for Simon had in fact done something stupid. Whilst the rest of the intrepid survivors had settled down for dinner, Simon had had the bright idea of keeping Neville in his and Jace's tent. This, however, had gone downhill when Neville got bored of his blue canvas surroundings and decided to redecorate. When Jace went into the tent to change out of his wet clothes, he was greeted with an array of rodent faeces and small rips in the tent.
"Simon?"
"Yup?"
"Do you have something you want to tell me?"
"Your bruise isn't as hideously purple anymore?"
"Simon."
"Fine, it still looks awful, but - "
"What the hell happened to the tent?"
Simon stood up from his place by the food and peered into the tent. "Huh. It seems Neville has had some fun."
"Who's Neville?"
As if on cue, the feral rodent appeared, its face twisted in a menacing grimace. Simon smiled sheepishly at Jace. "He's my new pet."
Jace closed his eyes, counting to ten.
This could not get any worse.
