Hey guys ! Once again thanks for the reviews !^^ There isn't much "Jace and Clary parts" in this chapter but I promised there will be in the next! I still don't own anything but the story and the OCs.

Lilly

Chapter Four: Out with the Old and In with the New

Clary felt like a teenage girl, hopping alone in her art studio, her cellphone stuck to her ear. Isabelle was getting married. Finally. It was happening. She took a look at her wedding and engagement rings, memories of her own wedding flowing through her mind.

"Clary, are you listening to me?" Isabelle screamed on the other end of the line.

"Yes – well no – I… Sorry," she apologized, picking up a paintbrush. "You were saying?"

"That I want you to be my Maid of Honor." There was a small silence. "Clare? Are you still here?"

"YES!" she squealed.

"Yes you're here or yes you'll be my Maid of Honor?"

"Both," Clary answered. "Thank you Izzy."

"You're welcome, you're my best friend," Isabelle sang. "By the way Simon and I are planning a little get together tonight with my parents and his mother and sister. You guys should come."

"Okay, especially since I'm appointing Magnus as my assistant Maid of Honor."

"That's fine with me," Isabelle agreed. "By the way, do you think he'll be mad if I go Vera Wang for the dress?"

"No, he won't," Clary assured her. "Remember when we picked my dress? He said he wasn't interested in making wedding dresses since Vera was doing it so well."

"Amen to that," Isabelle laughed.

"So how does it feel to be engaged?" she asked.

"I don't think I realize it quite yet," Isabelle admitted. "It's only been two hours, twenty-seven minutes and about forty-nine seconds."

"Oh, you're counting," Clary chuckled. "That's a good sign."

"So, what are you doing?"

"You remember that weird looking guy with the white hair?" Clary started.

"Oh yeah, he was cute. For an old guy," Isabelle smirked.

"He wasn't old; his hair was white. I don't know why."

"You didn't Google it, did you?"

"No, I don't really care. Anyway, I promised I would paint one of my skies for him, so that's what I'm doing," Clary said.

"You're at his place, are you mad?" Isabelle exclaimed. "I'm coming to fetch you. Right now!"

"No, I'm not at his place. I didn't say I was painting his bedroom's ceiling, I'm at the studio," Clary explained.

"Oh God. Good."

Clary shook her head, smiling. "Anyway, do you want to meet later?"

"Yeah sure, I'll call Magnus," Isabelle said. "Where do you want to meet?"

"The Vera Wang store next to Bryant Park?" Clary suggested. "I know the manager, I painted the room of her little girl – Emma Granville, I think her name is. We should make an appointment as soon as possible to be sure that you get the dress you want."

"I see you've got everything under control so I'll just show up and be pretty," Isabelle grinned. "Should we say in a couple of hours?"

"That works for me." Clary nodded.

"Great. Clare, I've got to run, Savannah and Rebecca just arrived."

"Be nice," Clary warned her friend. She heard her sigh.

"But–"

"No buts, Iz," she interrupted. "Do it for Simon."

"I hate you when you use emotional blackmail on me," Isabelle muttered.

"Love you too! See ya!"

xXx

Everyone thought Maia Roberts wasn't afraid of anything. After all, she had survived her abusive family. The Roberts' neighbors in Little Ferry, New Jersey had seen the bruises, the swollen lips, the cuts on her arms and face, the screams, the fights and the tears. No one had expected her to make it out of high school but she did. She graduated, found a good job as an interior designer and moved to the city – that's what the people in New Jersey called New York. And they had never heard from her again. But, on the other hand, they had witnessed the police arresting her older brother Daniel for armed robbery and her father being brought to the township's morgue after his car had been crushed during an accident. Soon after, her mother, Carolyn had taken her maiden's name Mortmain back and moved to Florida.

Maia had never blamed her mother for what her brother and father did to her, because what they did to Maia they also did to Carolyn. So, mother and daughter had kept contact over the years, despite the fact that they only saw each other on special occasions like Carolyn's remarriage or the birth of Maia's son, Killian.

Maia never believed happiness had been meant for her to find. But as she lied on her bed, watching as the breathing of her baby boy and his father were oddly synchronized, she couldn't think life could get better than that. If everything she had endured from her early childhood to the day she had met Jordan had to happen for her to be right there right now, she wouldn't change a thing. Killian was a very curious baby with huge hazel eyes like Jordan's. Maia gently stroked his hair before kissing his forehead and dragging herself out of bed.

She had a lot of work to do. They were finally moving out into a bigger apartment – where Jordan and she would actually have a real bedroom – and she knew exactly how she wanted it to look like, which was the main reason why they hadn't moved in yet. She rummaged through her bag before she found her file with her drawings of the new apartment's rooms. There was only one that wasn't finished yet: Killian's nursery, and she knew exactly what she wanted. It had taken time and a lot of efforts on Maia's and her colleagues/friends' part but she had found the number.

She quickly dialed it on her phone and waited. "Laurel Miller, how can I help you?"

"Hi, I was actually looking for Clarissa Herondale? The artist? I wanted to know if she was available to paint my son's nursery," Maia quickly explained keeping her voice as low as possible.

"I'm her agent," Laurel answered. "No, that doesn't go here you moron!" Maia frowned. "Sorry, I'm in the middle of this diner party's organization and apparently I speak some kind of foreign language since no one understands what I want."

"I hear you sister," Maia chuckled. "I'm in interior design, sometimes it's like they do it on purpose, to test your cool."

"Well I don't have any," Laurel mumbled. "Wait – you're an interior designer?"

"Yep," Maia said.

"Interesting. Would you be interested in a little trade?" Laurel asked. "To the right you idiot!"

"Depends, what are you proposing?"

"I'll get Clary on the phone and into your son's nursery – let's say by the end of the week, if you help me with the party," Laurel proposed.

"That sounds fair," Maia said. "I'm in."

"Great, do you have a pen and a paper?"

xXx

When Sebastian had been informed that he was going shopping, this wasn't what he had in mind. But even when the doorman of 1678 Fifth Avenue, held the massive glass door for him, he didn't dare ask where they were. Jace and Alec were walking a few steps ahead whispering, whereas Aline was right next to him, her mind absorbed in her tablet – which he knew was usual with tech operatives. She was beautiful, he thought, with her long blond hair, long legs and full mouth, wearing a gray high-waist skirt, a provocatively open white shirt and high heeled boots. If he stretched his neck just a little higher he could take a peek at her lacy black bra. He shook his head, focusing on the task ahead.

He hadn't expected Jace to be so – well to be Jace. Like everyone else at the Agency, he had heard rumors that Jace and Alec had been the only agents to be ever recruited out of high school and not college, and to finish training at the Farm in one month, that they worked both normal ops and black ops – no one knew exactly what black meant but it always sounded badass, and that there was an entire office and team dedicated to keeping their covert status safe. They were the CIA's best operatives. The images he had conjured up in his mind from that information were in utter contradiction with the reality. He thought they would be serious – as in boringly serious and older. If he had to guess, he would say Jace and Alec were about his age, slightly older maybe. They didn't look like the type with experience, although he had to admit they radiated some kind of authority and inspired some respect.

Still, Jace was one cocky bastard.

He climbed into the elevator and watched as Alec pushed the 34th floor's button, which was the only one without a company's name tag and that required a key to access.

"Who are we going to see?" Sebastian finally asked.

"Magnus Bane," Alec answered. "He's the man for the job."

He saw Aline give Jace a look of pure adoration while he was typing on his phone's keyboard.

"He'll give you a makeover," Alec continued.

"How do you know him?"

"He's his boyfriend," Jace interrupted. Sebastian looked at Alec who shrugged.

One less to compete with, he thought. But with Jace looking all golden next to him, he knew he didn't have much chance as long as they were in same room.

The elevator bell rang and they stepped off directly into what looked like a huge fashion studio filled with the light of early afternoon, with samples of fabrics hanging on the walls next to drawings and life-size dummies half-dressed and covered with needles. Pillars seemed to bear the weight of the ceiling and if he squinted Sebastian could swear there were sculptures of angels carved in the marble stone. The room was quiet and empty of people except for a weird-looking man with glittering spiky blue hair and an even weirder outfit, scribbling on what looked like a sketchpad. Alerted by the footsteps of Aline's boots, he looked up, his face illuminating.

"Alec, darling! What are you doing here?" He exclaimed, getting up. "Is everything alright?"

He walked up to them, lightly kissed Alec's lips and firmly shook Jace's hand.

"And you brought company," he noted, looking at Sebastian in the exact same way Jace had earlier at the DPD.

Sebastian swallowed and extended a hand. "Sebastian Verlac," he introduced himself. "This is Aline Penhallow."

"Aline? As in–"

Jace nodded. "I see." Magnus suppressed a laugh and offered her a smile.

Magnus looked so different from Alec, it was extremely hard to believe they were an actual couple. Where Alec was all dark blue and black and serious, Magnus was green and gold and glitter. His creativity transpired through every pore of his body. But there was a look in Alec's eyes as he stared at Magnus, thinking no one was looking at him, that gave Sebastian every reason he could have been looking for.

"What is this place?" Sebastian asked, his dark eyes searching for clues through the room.

Aline, who hadn't been paying attention to the boys at all, squealed.

"You're the creator of WolfsBane," she exclaimed in disbelief. "You are WolfsBane! We're in the secret headquarters, aren't we? Oh my god!"

"At your service." Magnus curtsied. "Welcome to my temple."

"Wolfs –what? What is she talking about?"

"Is that guy for real?" Magnus said, shooting an eyebrow up in a quizzical expression. "Get him out of here."

"That's exactly what I said!" Jace smiled proudly .

"How did the Agency recruit him?" Magnus asked, keeping an eye on Aline as she wandered through the studio with twinkles in her eyes.

Sebastian's mouth fell open.

"What the – how the hell does he know?" He shouted.

Alec and Jace exchanged a meaningful look; Magnus was trying hard not to burst out laughing.

"I told him," Alec said matter-of-factly. "Which I believe is my right."

"Bu – but –"

"I'm a Level 6 agent, you on the other hand are barely a Level 2," Alec spat through gritted teeth. "I've no lesson to receive from you."

"Of - Of course," Sebastian apologized. "Sorry."

"Alec dear, don't be rough," Magnus soothed.

"So we need you to work your magic," Jace said, ignoring the conversation. "He needs to be ready for tonight."

"What kind of magic are we talking about?"

"The kind that would help Newbie here charm a girl," he clarified.

"Do I want to know?" Magnus asked Alec, who shook his head in answer. "Alright."

"I know there's a lot of work," Jace smirked.

"I wouldn't want to sound pessimistic or anything but if he talks, you're screwed," Magnus said. "There's only so much I can do."

"Do your best and leave the talking to me," he smirked.

Alec caught a sight of Aline nodding fervently, her eyes on Jace and rolled his eyes, fighting the urge to slap her in the face.

"Ok, but I don't have much time. I promised Izzy and Clare I would meet them in an hour at Vera Wang's," Magnus continued.

"Why would they need to go to Vera Wang's? It's a wedding dresses store, isn't it? That's where Clary got her dress if I'm not mistaken," Jace said.

"Yep."

"Well? Who's getting married?" he asked.

"If it's not Clary, who do you think it is?" Magnus asked, hands on his hips.

"Isabelle." Jace's eyes went wide. Sebastian thought surprise didn't suit him.

"Wait. Izzy is getting married? My sister Izzy?" Alec repeated in disbelief.

"Why? Do you know another one?" Jace inquired.

"Shut up Jace!" he exclaimed. "When did that happen?"

"This morning," Magnus informed them.

"Why didn't Lewis call us?"

"He did, but it seemed your phones didn't work," Magnus said. "If you could do anything to change that by the way, nobody would mind. Especially me and Clary."

Sebastian thought he heard him add, "It's hard to make a booty call if there's no one there to answer it," but wasn't sure.

Magnus grabbed his coat – a cotton bright green one – off the hanger and started walking toward the elevator. "Well don't stay there!"

"Where are we going?" Sebastian asked.

"Hairdresser, then optician, then beautician, then Rolex, then Saks, and probably Starbucks for a Venti caramel macchiato," Magnus sighed. "Like I said, there's a lot of work to do."

Keep reviewing!

See ya!^^

Lilly