Many hours later, Team Good finally arrived in New York. During the flight, Will had only been able to read a few chapters of A Tale of Two Cities because Sebastian kept asking him questions about it and insisted he have some of the breadsticks he'd ordered from the cabin crew. Helen was looking through a photo album of pictures she'd taken with Aline; not all of them had her in them, but it made Helen think of her all the same. In the row behind, Jon was discussing possible plans with Horace and Jocasta, who had become his sort of second-in-commands.

When they were growing up he'd always stayed clear of other Shadowhunters, Horace and Jocasta included (even though the three of them were the same age). Clary was the more sociable one, having made friends with Aline and a few others the first time she was allowed to start training and then Helen later on. Jon wished now he'd taken the time to make friends; he was beginning to see how these two fellow-Nephilim sitting with him were more than just people in the background and he was relying on them more than he thought possible, but there was a first time for everything and they were starting to grow close.

"I say we stake out Central Park" suggested Horace, "it's a central point in the city and someone that shady dealings are likely to take place. If we're lucky the guy we're looking for will show up himself (not that we'll be able to tell it's him) but more likely some Downworlders will be lurking around who we can question".

"I think we should wait first to see if the Lightwoods followed us onto the plane" Jocasta interjected, "we took them out once we can do it again; either we do that and question them or we follow them in the hopes that they go to wherever this guy lives".

As they were getting off the plane and making their way through the airport, they still hadn't officially decided on a plan.

"Does anyone need to use the bathroom before we leave?" Jon asked.

"I do" answered Helen

"I'll go with you" offered Jocasta

"No I don't know why girls do that" Will said to Sebastian.

Helen and Jocasta walked towards the girls' bathroom together in silence, neither knowing what to say to the other but knowing it was feminine protocol for them to both go. When they came out of their cubicles they started to wash their hands in the sinks, when a girl's face in the mirror made them turn around in horror.

"Don't scream" the stranger urged, "I'm here to help you". Her skin was light brown; her hair and eyes darker; and oddly she wore a sophisticated beige raincoat over tattered cargo pants, which clashed horribly.

"Who are you?" Helen asked.

"A friend; at least I was in another life. There's no time to explain, the Lightwoods followed you onto the plane and might have even found your friends already". She moved towards the door but turned back before opening it, "do you both have weapons on you?"

"Yeah. Do you?" The girl smiled and held up her hand. Jocasta and Helen jumped back when claws began to elongate from the tips of her fingers. She bared menacing fangs and glowing yellow eyes at them; "I don't any". They emerged from the bathroom and sprinted towards where the others were. They were now accompanied by an unfamiliar boy who had tattoos creeping out from under the sleeves of his t-shirt. It was clear that he was working with the mystery girl from the bathroom, so everyone relaxed (but only a little).

"No time for introductions" to boy said, "I just spotted them over there". He pointed towards the far end of the room they were in, and sure enough a black-clad Shadowhunter was on the escalator and descending towards them.

"Why is only one of them there? Where's Isabelle?" asked Horace worriedly.

"You'd think they'd want to go for the element of surprise by emerging from this elevator right next to us" Jon said. With a wide-eyed look to each other they all turned in the direction of the elevator doors, and to their dismay the level number at the top was slowly decreasing; 4 ... 3 ... 2.

"RUN!" It wasn't clear who had said it but everyone knew they were talking sense, so without a moment's hesitation they were sprinting around a corner and huddling amongst a group of large potted plants.

"Okay" said Jon, bringing everyone to attention, "Jocasta, Will and Sebastian run for escalators with tattoo guy; hopefully that will draw one of the Lightwoods away so that the other can stay and look for the rest of us". The four of them immediately leapt to their feel and moved cautiously towards the open space, with the 'tattoo guy' throwing a worried look in his friend's direction.

"What about the rest of us?" Horace asked.

"Me and Helen will draw whoever stays behind over here where we can start the fight. You and Beyonce circle behind them so that he/she is surrounded in a corner where we have the advantage".

"Wow. No. Just because I'm black that means I'm Beyonce? That's s racist! Although I wouldn't mind being her. How do you even know who Beyonce is anyway if you've spent your whole life in Alicante?"

"There's an MTV Idris"

"Really?"

"No. Me and my sister had to hike over to Ragnor Fell's house and hack his radio frequency"

"Fair enough". They moved into position, but when Jon and Helen went to look past the corner they were horrified to see that either of the Lightwoods were there. "Oh God; they must've both gone after the first group!" All four of them ran straight for the escalators and took the moving platforms two at a time, despite the sign warning against it. When they reached the top the scene before them was far worse than they could have imagined.

Isabelle had thrust a sword into the chest of a giant werewolf, who then fell to the ground in utter defeat. When the sword was removed they could see that the blade was made of silver, making it a fatal blow.

"We've decided to show you mercy" said Alexander, walked from the background where the three unconscious and bleeding bodies of their friends lay, "we decided to just kill the Downworlder, for now. Our contact wants you alive, but don't worry. We're not going to come back for you until we've killed the person you came all this way to see"

"Don't do it!" urged the girl, "you need him; he's your only ticket to the life you once had!"

"The only life we need is one where our brother is safe and with us" said Isabelle fiercely. Everyone was silent as the two Lightwoods collected their weapons and ran off out of sight. Horace was the first to move, and was now busy checking for a pulse on the werewolf who had turned back into the boy with the tattoos. He shook his head at Jon, who then gave a sympathetic look to the girl standing next to him. "I'm sorry" he said. She went to check the body for herself while Horace was confirming that everyone else was still alive, which they were.

"What was his name?" Jon asked.

"Jordan; don't sound so sad about it. You didn't even know him and he isn't really dead anyway; he'll be fine as long as we can reverse all of this"

"I don't understand"

"There's a lot to explain and I don't know how much of it I should tell you (it can be a bit overwhelming). But don't worry, we'll have a lot of time to discuss it on our way to rescuing the guy they're on their way to kill".

As she had told Jon, she knew that Jordan wasn't really dead. When they were finally able to put the world back to normal he'd be his old self again; they all would. Still, after introducing herself to Jon, Helen and Horace as Maia, she moved away silently to the corner of the room where she could cry in peace.