The twins were caught up in the middle of Jace and Simon, who were both being very persistent on the two girls going with them. If this was a decision strictly based on choosing Jace or Simon then both girls would choose their best friend in a heart beat, but it was more complicated than that since this was about finding their mother. Both girls kept their eyes on each other, trying to silent decide between the two of them which one to go with. Lexie knew that she was going to be the one to make the hard decision, since Clary never did well in these kind of situations.
"Clary, come on. We gotta go, guys." Simon pleaded, desperately wanting his best friends to choose him over a stranger. Lexie couldn't help but notice that Simon only addressed her twin at first, which tore her heart a little bit. She always knew that those two were closer, but she still expected him to fight for her just as much as he would for Clary.
Lexie pushed aside these emotions before she turned to face Simon, taking a hold of his hand. "Simon, we can't. I wish we could, but I think Jace can help us." She said while letting out a sigh, since she knew that this wasn't necessarily what he wanted to hear.
"What?" Simon responded, in disbelief that they chose Jace over him. He dropped Lexie's hand and looked over at Clary, who silently nodded to let him know that she agreed with her sister.
"Come on." Clary told Simon, pulling him along up the stairs behind Jace, who was already making his way up the stairs. Lexie followed closely behind the two, feeling slightly jealous as she noticed that Clary was holding Simon's hand in the same place that she was moments ago.
Simon reluctantly went up the stairs with the twins, "How do we even know this Mick Jagger looking dude is gonna-."
Jace quickly stopped and turned around right in front of Simon. "Mundane, we do not have the time." He said, cutting Simon off before he could finish.
The four of them then quickly made their way up the steps and into the church, which appeared abandoned to Simon. Jace took not of the confused look on Simon's, so he took out his stele and started drawing a rune on his arm.
"Trust me." Clary whispered to Simon, realizing how unusual that must seem to him.
"He's like burning himself." Simon said, thinking that what Jace was doing was extremely obscure. When Jace finished drawing the rune, he then grabbed onto Simon's hand. "Buddy, what's going on? I'm not your type, man." Simon half joked. "I don't even-" He was cut off by the inside of the church transforming into the Institute. "Where are we? What the hell? Guys, is there a was going on that I don't know about?"
"There is now." Jace commented before walking ahead of the others.
"And, I'm pretty sure that our mom is at the center of it." Lexie added while her and Clary started to follow close behind Jace. "You coming?"
Their best friend nodded, "Yeah."
The four then made their way down the hall and into the main part of the Institute. Jace immediately led them to a screen where they watched as the NYPD banged on the church's doors.
"So this cold blooded killer is gonna help us?" Simon questioned, obviously taking a dislike to Jace.
Clary was quick to come to Jace's defense after Simon's comment, "He's not a killer. He's protecting us."
"Specifically you." Jace nodded towards Clary, which made Lexie shoot him a look. "And, you." He said, directing it at Lexie once he realized he forgot to originally mention her. "It's sort of our thing." Jace added, knowing that it would get a reaction out of Simon.
"Your thing? You guys have a thing?" Simon asked in jealousy, not liking how close Jace and Clary were getting.
Lexie noticed the disgusted look on Simon's face, "He means a Shadowhunter thing." She told him, trying to make him feel at ease. "That's what they do, protect the humans from the demons."
"Demons, right. That makes perfect sense." Simon remarked sarcastically. "Cause there are demons running all around New York."
"That is the first correct thing you've said all day." Jace informed Simon, while keeping his eyes focused on the board in front of him.
The screen in front of them zoomed in on the police at the church's doors. "Won't they find us?" Clary asked.
"No. Our wards will deter them." Jace assured them. "And the NYPD will do their typical mundie thing for a few hours and then the area will be clear."
"I need a breather." Lexie told them, still feeling overwhelmed by this new life she now has. "I'm just gonna-" When she turned around to leave, she bumped into somebody. Lexie's eyes scanned up the body to see who she had hit and when her eyes reached his face she realized that it was Alec. "Hey." She breathed out, unable to think of anything else to say.
Alec kept his eyes on Lexie for a moment, before directing his focus at Jace once he remembered what he came over to confront them about. "What is going on here? Why is there a mundane in the Institute?" He questioned him once he saw that they had brought Simon into the Institute as well, especially since he wasn't very happy with Lexie and Clary being there to begin with.
"A circle member followed him to get to the twins." Jace informed Alec.
"A circle rune, just like the guys that took our mother." Clary included.
"What exactly is a circle member and why are they trying to kill us?" Simon spoke up, still not caught up on everything that's happened.
"All we know is a long time ago the circle held a revolt." Jace explained. "A lot of Shadowhunters got killed, including my father." The pain was visible in Jace's tone, and Lexie couldn't help but feel guilty for all the times she thought that he didn't feel much emotion.
Alec joined in, most likely sensing that Jace wouldn't want to continue his explanation, "And since the revolt we've been forbidden to even hear about the circle."
"Until now." Lexie chimed in. "Look, I'm sorry but I don't care for your rules. Is there anyone here who knows something about the circle that can help us find our mother?"
"There is." Jace said, starting to walk away from the group. "You coming?" He the asked the twins. Clary and Simon quickly started to follow behind him, but Jace wasn't too keen on Simon joining them. "No, no, no. Not you."
"Hey, we're a package deal." Clary stepped forward to defend Simon, not wanting to leave him alone.
Jace was clearly annoyed by this. "There are runes all over the training room floor that would kill your little mundie boyfriend." He told them, motioning his hand towards the floor of the Institute.
"Yeah, Simon, maybe you should stay back." Lexie suggested, concerned for her best friend after hearing what Jace had to say, even if it wasn't actually the truth. "And Jace, he's not her boyfriend. He's our best friend." She notified him, feeling a little annoyed because even he noticed how close Simon and Clary were.
"No, Lexie, it's okay. I'm tough. I can handle runes. So, uh, bring on the runes." Simon rambled, trying his best to sound confident. "What exactly are runes?"
"They give Shadowhunters our demon fighting powers." Izzy explained to Simon, demonstrating it to him by revealing one on her arm.
Simon was infatuated by her immediately, "So hot." Jace cleared his throat after, as hint for Simon to back off. "The rune." Simon corrected, feeling intimidated by Jace.
"Don't worry, girls. I'll watch over the best friend." Izzy assured them, however the tone she used was starting to make Lexie jealous. "In fact I was about to make some breakfast."
"On second thought, the runes might be less lethal." Jace teases, huffing out a slight chuckle.
Isabelle gives him a look with a mischievous smile. "I'll pretend I didn't hear that." She told Jace, before adverting her attention back over to Simon. "Excuse my brothers manners. This is Alec. And I'm Isabelle." Izzy introduced, extending her hand out for Simon.
It took Simon a moment before he quickly started to shake her hand, obviously flustered by her beauty. "Lewis. Simon Lewis. Two first names. Am I still talking?" Simon rambled on nervously, which made Izzy giggle.
"Maybe I should just stay behind with Simon." Lexie suggested, not too keen on the idea of leaving Simon alone with people they just met. Even though, deep down she knew that they were trustworthy.
Izzy shook her head and nudged Lexie over to Clary and Jace, in a friendly manner. "Don't be silly. Go help find your mom. I promise that Simon will be in good hands." She promised her.
"Lex, I need you." Clary then added, looking over at her sister with puppy eyes.
Lexie was reluctant at first, considering that she just met these people, but ultimately gave in. "Fine, but keep good care of him." Lexie told Izzy, still feeling a little uneasy about leaving him alone for awhile. After getting a nod of approval from Simon, Lexie turned to leave with her sister and Jace. Suddenly, she stopped and turned back around, locking her eyes with Alec's. "Hey, remind me that I need to talk to you later." She said to Alec, receiving a curious look from him.
"You coming?" Jace called out to Lexie, which broke hers and Alec's eye contact.
"Yeah, I'm coming." She informed Jace as she turned back, away from Alec and sped up to him and Clary.
Jace led the twins over to the training room, where a man and a women were sparring. "Who's that guy?" Clary asked Jace, as the three stood in the entry way watching him train with the girl. He seemed well experienced and was obviously the one that Jace brought them here to see.
"Hodge Starkweather, our weapons trainer." Jace said, keeping his eyes on the training session that was taking place in front of them. "And, more importantly to us, a former circle member. After the uprising, Hodge repented and was sent to live and work here to make amends. But, he's forbidden to ever leave the Institute." He continued just before Hodge successfully defeated the woman he was sparring with.
Lexie, Clary, and Jace made their way over to talk to Hodge once he was finished, but before they could introduce themselves, Hodge already thought that he recognized them. "Jocelyn?" Hodge said to Clary, since Lexie's hair made it hard to find similarities between her and her mother. Hodge was clearly happy to see her there, even though he had mistaken her for the wrong person.
"No, I'm Clary and this is Lexie. Jocelyn Fray is our mother." Clary notified him.
"Well, she was Jocelyn Fairchild when I knew her. And she was one of my best friends." Hodge said, still slightly in shock to see even a relative of Jocelyn in the Institute, since nobodies heard from her in years.
Lexie instantly felt more at ease once she knew that her mother and Hodge were friends. "Look, our moms been kidnapped by Valentine and his men." Lexie informed him.
"By the circle, Hodge." Jace said, cutting to the chase.
Hodge's reaction was pure shock, not wanting to believe that what he was hearing was true. "But, that's impossible. Valentine's dead and the circle died with him." When Hodge finished, the rune on his neck started to burn causing him pain.
Lexie took a concerning step forward, prepared to support Hodge if he needed it. "Are you okay? What's happening?" Lexie asked, not understanding why his circle rune was suddenly burning him.
"I swore a vow never to speak of what we did. This is the Clave's way of making sure I keep that vow." Hodge informed her.
"We can't torture him, Jace." Clary told him, feeling guilty that they were the reason that Hodge's rune was burning. "Is there anyone else we can ask?"
Before Jace could respond, Hodge had already started talking again. "If the circle really is back and they've taken Jocelyn. Our leader, our leader of the circle was Valentine Morgenstern." Hodge continued, however he had to take a moment to compose himself after his rune started burning again. "We thought he wanted to protect humans, like all Shadowhunters. But we never realized the lengths which Valentine was willing to go, the people he was willing to sacrifice. Most of humanity would die if we carried out Valentine's plan." Hodge said, gritting his teeth through the last bit as he tried to fight off the pain that the rune was causing him.
"But why would Valentine take our mother?" Lexie questioned, still not seeing how their mother tied into all of this.
"Jocelyn was a member of the circle as well." Hodge said, filling the girls in on a major part of their moms past that they were missing.
The twins were shocked by this revelation, and were both shaking their heads in disbelief. "No. I can't believe it. Our mother, she-" Clary started, before she was cut off by Hodge.
"The most important thing is that Jocelyn left the circle. And so none of this even matters, because Valentine died in a fire years ago." Hodge said with a smile, also in denial about the news he was receiving. The circle on his rune started to burn again, this time Hodge couldn't take the pain and would've collapsed had Jace not been there to help him.
Lexie took a few steps back, feeling overwhelmed by all this new information about her mother and her past. "I can't." Lexie told Clary, as she started to back up further. "Hodge I'm sorry we made you suffer like this." Lexie then apologized to him, just before bolting out of the training room, ignoring the calls for her to come back from Clary, Jace, and Hodge.
Lexie starting speed walking through the Institute, not paying attention to where she was going and not caring either. She just had to get as far away from the training room as she possibly could. She had reached the main room that they were all in earlier and then remembered how to exit the building from there. Lexie was just starting to turn into the hall that led straight to the door, when she accidentally bumped into somebody.
"Where are you going?" Asked a deep voice that Lexie instantly recognized. It was Alec. He was looking down at her, now with his arms folded and his eyebrow raised.
Lexie was trying to think of an excuse, but figured that he wouldn't believe her anyways. "I'm leaving okay? Lexie told him as she pushed past him and starting making her towards the exit again. Before she could get very far Alec had grabbed onto her wrist, stopping her from going any further. "Let go, Alec!" Lexie yelled at him while trying her best to escape his grip, however was unsuccessful because he was much stronger than she was.
"Do you really think I'm going to just let you leave here alone?" He questioned, not loosing his grip on her, but making sure that he wasn't hurting her.
"Honestly, yes." Lexie answered in a quieter voice, but her annoyance was still noticeable in her tone.
Alec let go of her, feeling confident that she wasn't going to try and take off again. "Look, I get that this must be a lot for you to process, but leaving here without Jace, Izzy, or myself is basically suicide. Every circle member is after you and Clary, so if you leave then it's only a matter of time before they find you." He said in a soft, concerning tone that Lexie didn't know he had.
"You've made it very clear that you don't even like me and Clary, so why do you even care about me leaving?" Lexie asked. She found it so hard to read Alec, one minute he was saving her and then the next he couldn't care less about her and now he suddenly cared again.
"I don't know." Alec answered truthfully. He didn't know why he cared so much, but for some reason he did. "I just do."
Lexie was at a loss for words, not sure how to respond since it wasn't the response that she was expecting. "I-" Lexie stammered, trying to think of something to say. But was saved by Clary and Jace, who had been in a rush to find her.
"Lexie!" Clary shouted, jogging up to where her sister and Alec were standing. "Our memories have been wiped."
Lexie was stunned by this news. "How is that even possible?" She asked Jace, who she assumed knew more about this than her sister did.
"A warlock must've done it. We think it might've been Dot." Jace told Lexie, who didn't seem surprised to hear Dot's name involved. After Dot made the portal, Lexie knew that Dot had some kind of magical powers and her being a warlock made perfect sense.
"And you're sure of this?" Alec asked, also shocked to find out that the twins memories were wiped. Even if it does explain why they never knew about the Shadow World.
"Positive." Jace assured him.
"C'mon we've got to get changed." Clary told Lexie while grabbing onto her hand and pulling her away. "I'll fill you in on the way."
Clary had told Lexie what they found out about the Cup, and about how they needed to find Dot. They had then gone into a room with Izzy to get changed since they were going out. Izzy put Clary into black skinny jeans and a black tank top, and put Lexie into leather pants and black halter top.
"These are the least revealing things you have?" Clary asked Izzy, in reference to her cleavage showing and some of Lexie's stomach.
"What? All the naughty bits are covered." Izzy said, standing behind the twins as they looked at themselves in the mirror. "A little too much in my opinion."
"Where's Simon?" Lexie asked, remembering that Izzy was the one who was supposed to be watching him.
Izzy pretended to be confused by the question, "Who?" Both twins stared at her in shock, until they saw Izzy start to giggle. "Kidding. He's in good hands with the boys." She told them, allowing the twins to relax a little.
Izzy then parted from the mirror, making her way over to the bed. Lexie and Clary followed close behind, but while Clary just stood across from Izzy, Lexie sat next to her on the bed. "So, um you, Alec, and Jace are what, like family?" Clary asked Izzy, trying to get some answers on her type of relationship with Jace, who she was clearly interested in.
"Translation, you want to know if Jace and I are a thing?" Izzy clarified, while giggling while she spoke.
"Why would I care?" Clary shrugged, even though it was obvious to everyone but her and Jace.
"Don't play dumb, sis. You just do." Lexie chimed in, joining in on the giggling with Izzy. It was so clear that her sister was into Jace and she couldn't resist the temptation to tease her about him. Even if it did earn her an annoyed glare from her twin.
Izzy noticed the look on Clary's face, that ensured that her and Lexie were right. "Don't worry. In every way, he's like my brother. Our parents took Jace in when he was ten. We trained together. Learned to fight side by side." She ensured Clary. "Plus there's no need to deny it. You're not the only one who's got their eye on one of my brothers." Izzy added while tilting her head over to Lexie, hinting towards her and Alec.
Lexie shook her head, "Who? Me and Alec?" She questioned, looking over to Izzy who had a mischievous grin on her face. Even Clary was grinning. "No, trust me." Lexie denied, still convinced that part of Alec hated her.
"It's so weird. A few days ago, all I had to worry about was getting into art school." Clary said, returning everyone back to a serious vibe.
"And all I had to worry about was whether or not you'd get in." Lexie added, finally taking a moment to realize how much their lives had changed in only a matter of days.
"Is this the part where I give you a pep talk about harnessing your inner Shadowhunter and accepting your true destiny?" Izzy joked, trying to lighten their moods.
Lexie sighed, "Was that the pep talk?" She asked, smiling slightly because she appreciated the effort that Izzy was putting in to making them feel better.
"Basically." Izzy shrugged, but removed her smile when she realized the girls were still upset. She grabbed onto Lexie's hand and pulled her up off the bed, leading her over to Clary. "Girls, remember you were born to do this." Izzy told them, standing across from them. "No matter what has happened, this is who you both are."
"Not exactly feeling that." Clary said.
"Yet." Izzy added, as her grin returned back onto her face.
Lexie smiled over at Izzy, feeling like the two of them were going to be good friends. "So, all we've gotta do is find Dot."
"And track down and kill the most dangerous rogue Shadowhunter in history before he kills us all." Izzy included.
Lexie couldn't help but laugh in disbelief at how fast Izzy could turn the mood in the room. "Way to kill a pep talk." She said.
"C'mon let's go." Izzy told the twins while leading them out of the room. "Oh, and Simon's kind of nerd hot." She mentioned while laughing, before leaving the room. Lexie sighed, not happy to find out that yet another person was showing interest in Simon. But she just shook her head and followed Izzy out, not wanting to show Clary how jealous Izzy's comment made her.
The twins were back in the main room with Simon, as they were all preparing to leave so they could try and find Dot. "Let's get out of her, just you two and me. We can get Dot ourselves" Simon whispered to the twins, since the three of them were finally alone.
Lexie shook her head, remembering the conversation that she had with Alec about this same topic. "We can't Simon, there are demons out there who want to kill us. And I don't know about you, but I don't know how to kill a demon."
"I'm an internet search away, Lex." He told her, just as Izzy passed by in between the three of them.
"Simon, I really don't think it's that simple." Clary chimed in, siding with her sister.
"I bet you it's not that hard." Simon continued, not wanting to give up since he didn't trust these people. However, when Izzy opened up the weapons panel, Simon was speechless. "Woah." He managed to croak out.
Jace also moved past the three of them and made his way towards Izzy. "No, Izzy." Jace said, hitting her hand off of one of the swords.
"Fifty bucks says he doesn't approve this mission." Izzy commented, dragging her finger along the weapons once again.
Seconds after, Alec came over to the group. "I don't approve of this mission." He said, repeating exactly what Izzy thought he would. "I spoke with the Clave. They're sending Seelie scouts to search for Valentine, but they made it clear, the little girls are not to leave the premises." He informed the group, gesturing to the twins during the last bit of his sentence.
Lexie looked over at him annoyed because of the name he referred to her as. "It's a good thing I don't listen to them then." She told Alec, not caring about what anyone says because there's no way she's staying here any longer. "Oh and by the way, our names aren't Little Girls." She added, folding her arms.
"We're going to find Dot." Clary spoke up.
"Alec, this warlock could have the answers we need." Jace reminded him while speaking in a softer tone.
Lexie could see that they were kind of getting through to Alec. "I'm going out there no matter what you say this time and I know Clary is too. But you said it yourself, I'm not safe out there alone." She told him, locking their eyes so that he could see that she wasn't bluffing.
"They have a point." Izzy said, going against her brother's wishes.
"Et tu, Izzy?" Alec asked, feeling defeated. "All right, since you have all the answers, where do you suggest we search?" He asked Lexie, since he trusted her opinion more than Clary's.
"Dot's apartment." Lexie answered, figuring that it was a good place to start. "It's in Greenpoint."
Clary was holding onto the necklace that her mother gave her, "And there's this thrift store that she-" Clary didn't get to finish her sentence, before both her and Lexie let out a gasp at the same time. The necklaces on their necks started glowing and they both started to experience the same vision.
"Hey, what's wrong?" Alec asked, placing his hand onto Lexie's shoulder.
"What is it?" Jace asked, not understanding what had just happened to the twins.
They both started to fiddle with their necklaces, starting to figure out that it was the cause of their visions. "Weirdly, I think we know where Dot is." Clary told the group.
"Great, I'll drive." Simon said, with a smiled as he pulled out his car keys. "What? Unless you have a Shadow-Mobile or something." He said, after noticing the looks on everyone's' faces. "You were kidding about the runes on the floor killing me, right?"
"Possibly." Jace teased him with a grin, as he patted Simon's cheek. He started to leave the room and the other five followed him out.
Simon still seemed hesitant as he walked out behind them, "Am I going to die?"
The six of them were all walking through the alley towards Pandemonium, when suddenly Lexie and Clary stopped due to another vision. This time the vision was of Dot about to be killed by a circle member with a seraph blade. "Dot!" They shouted to unison, as they took off running down the alley.
The twins were running way ahead of the group, since they were the only ones who knew why they were running. "Lexie! Clary!" Jace called from behind them, after they rounded a corner. "Stop, where are you guys going?" He asked them, once they slowed down enough for him to reach them.
"Two men." Clary started, while trying to catch her breath. "Circle members. The same ones who came to our house, took our mom." She continued to frantically explain to him. "They have Dot."
"We've got to stop them before they kill her!" Lexie exclaimed as she ran into the club, with the rest of the group hurrying behind her.
When they got into the club, there was no sign of anyone there. "No." Lexie mumbled, gripping onto her necklace in hopes that another vision would appear. However, when none did, she stopped and turned to face Clary. "She's gone."
Tears starting forming in both of their eyes. "She was just trying to help us." Clary said, painfully.
"Guys, I'm sorry." Simon said, placing a hand on both of their shoulders.
"You don't understand. Dot was like our big sister." Lexie said, turning towards the rest of the group.
"It's not safe here." Alec pointed out, meaning that the group had to leave. "We have to go back to the Institute, right now."
Lexie looked up at him in astonishment at how little emotion he could have at times. "Show some compassion for once." She shot at him.
"I am." Alec told her, kind of offended by her comment. "I'm sorry about Dot, but I care about you being safe and the only way I know you will be is if we leave now."
Lexie was once again taken back by another one of his comments. "I can't go back to the Institute yet." Lexie told him, feeling guilty for having to go against what he wants. "Valentine had our mom and Dot, and we're just going to give up?"
"What about our memories? They can't just be gone." Clary spoke up, not willing to give up just yet.
"There is another option." Jace mentioned while looking over to Izzy and Alec, because he knew that they knew what he was referring to.
"Don't even." Izzy said at the same time that Alec said, "Absolutely not."
Jace shrugged, "I'm not afraid of the Silent Brothers."
"Who are the Silent Brothers?" Clary asked.
"They're Shadowhunters with superior powers." Jace answered.
"Who possess the ability to recover memories." Izzy added, which made the twins faces light up in optimism.
"A process that could also kill you, so there's that." Alec finished.
"Your bedside manner is abysmal." Simon told him in a sarcastic tone.
Alec ignored Simon's comment as he turned towards Jace. "We've broken at least 18 Clave rules and now you want to go to the City of Bones? There's no way. I won't allow it."
"This isn't our choice to make, it's their decision." Jace reminded him.
"You can't ask her to do this." Izzy interjected. "She doesn't know what she's facing. She's not prepared."
Lexie shook her head, "If it risks Clary getting hurt then it's a no."
Alec and Izzy looked relived when they heard Lexie's answer. However, Lexie wasn't the only one who had a say in this. "If anyone can tell me another way to recover my memories and still get the answers we need, then I'm listening." Clary said to the group, waiting to hear if anyone else had anymore ideas. "That settles it."
"No, Clary." Lexie then said, refusing to let her sister risk being killed. "Did you not hear me say no earlier?"
"Actually only one of you needs to do it." Jace informed them, which made Clary smile because there was nothing her sister could do to stop this from happening now.
"Fine." Lexie said. "But Clary's still not doing it."
Clary looked over at her sister with a confused look on her face, but Alec knew exactly what she meant. "Don't." He begged her.
Lexie ignored Alec's plea because was serious when she said that there was no way she was going to risk her sister being killed, and if this was the only way then it was something she had to do. "I'm going to see the Silent Brothers." She announced to the group.
Clary shook her head, "Lexie, what? no?"
"Clary this isn't up for discussion." Lexie shot at her sister, causing Clary to feel defeated. She knew how stubborn Lexie could be and knew that there would be no changing her mind. Instead, she just grabbed onto her sisters hand tightly.
"I told you they were one of us." Jace told the others, before anybody else could say anything. He then started walking out of Pandemonium, with the others following behind him. As they started to make their way over to the Silent Brothers.