And...chapter four is now up and running! The weather outside was perfect for this chapter, seeming as how it's thunderstorming, right not. Heh heh.

Oh! And Noverael Parabatai...I agree...100%. I don't know why I wanted to do that, though; but I had this image in my head and I wanted to put it in. -facepalm- I'm horrible. And to Jexyna, I figured that, somewhere during Jonathan being missing, he would have picked up a few things and realized how to go about it so he COULD get Jace. Poor Jace, right? X3

Now! Enjoy after the disclaimer!

Disclaimer: If I owned M.I...well...just be glad I don't!

4

Extraction

"I can't make promises that anything will happen."

Alec's eyes traced the floor as Magnus stood not more than three feet away, his hand on the sweater that was lying on a wooden pedestal. He was watching the Shadowhunter, eyes remorseful when he saw the disappointment flooding his counterpart's face. He released a sigh, shaking his head and drawing Alec's attention.

"I'm not saying I won't give it a shot, you know." Alec's eyes brightened, causing Magnus to return the sentiment.

Alec bit the inside of his lower lip before replying, "Thank you."

Magnus shrugged and closed his eyes, waving his hand in a dismissive manner. He turned to the sweater and opened it up to where it was draping off of the stand. As he grabbed a small, clear crystal that sat on the table pushed against the wall next to him, he looked to Alec; he was watching the sweater, mind obviously somewhere else as they drifted off. He set the item on the center of the sweater, it beginning to glow a very soft purple, casting a purple stain on the surrounding objects. Alec seemed to have returned to his right mind, whereas he shook his head and stared intently at the glowing crystal.

"Why's it…glowing?" he asked, looking to Magnus, who had gone back to working with the sweater.

He picked it back up, allowing it to dangle from its chain as it reflected the purple glow on his face. "Mundane interference," he responded with a shrug. Alec looked at him curiously. "It has a mundane chemical on it – that's all," he responded to the unasked question.

"Anyway to tell what?"

At this, Magnus laughed, as though what Alec had asked had been a joke. He smirked, making eye contact. "You have little faith in my abilities, don't you, Alec?" Alec frowned, crossing his arms as he raised an eyebrow. "And, not to sound cocky, but you should be the last person that thinks that."

His smirk grew wider and he laughed when he noticed that the other's face was starting turn a slight shade of red. He always seemed to enjoy embarrassing the younger male one way or another. He focused back on the crystal a bit too soon, whereas a small, white candle hit him in the head the moment he had turned away. He looked at Alec in disbelief, but quickly changed his look and moved out of the way just as another one came flying his direction. It hit the wall and fell onto the table.

"I have an arsenal over here, just to let you know," Alec said, watching Magnus crouch down; a nervous smile on his face.

"You'd break all of my candles just over that?" He pulled his hands over his head as two more came his direction – one hit the floor next to him and the other hit him in the back. "But Alec…." He paused, as did the pelting; though he was sure that Alec was quite ready with another one in his hand. Though the young Shadowhunter would verbally deny it, everyone knew that their small, playful quarrels were one of the things both of them enjoyed. Magnus stood, straightening out his midnight blue shirt, having some of the gold glitter that traced it fall onto the floor. He looked to Alec, who, sure enough, was holding a set of four candles. "I can always refresh your memory, if you've forgotten."

And there it went.

Next thing Magnus knew, he was berated with white candles. He laughed, catching one right before it hit his head. "Must you always be so flippant?" Alec asked, stopping his attacks and crossing his arms again; despite a small smirk tingeing his face, he continued to try and force the frown. "Come on. I need you to be serious for a second."

Magnus exhaled, tossing the candle he had caught back to Alec, who caught it and set it back on the table behind him. "All right, all right." He turned his back to Alec, rummaging around through the items on the table next to him. He pulled out a small book from under a stack of other books, careful not to make them fall. He laid it open and Alec craned his neck to see what he was looking at. He walked up behind him, standing next to him and looking down at the book as Magnus set the still-glowing crystal next to it. The moment the crystal was down next to the book, the pages flipped themselves open, stopping on a page near the beginning. On the page were a list of chemicals, all starting with 'c' sorted alphabetically, but only one was casting the same glow as the crystal.

Magnus furrowed his brow; Alec's eyes were almost wide.

"Chloroform?" he asked, looking to Magnus, whose face was stern.

"Alec...we may have a problem."

o-o-o-o-o-o

Blood trailed down Jace's side, dripping down his leg and forming a pool beneath his feet that were dangling above the floor where Jonathan had him held by his throat. He grabbed onto Jonathan's forearm, trying to pull up and lift himself, so as to relieve some of the pressure cutting his breath short. He clenched his eyes shut and released a stifled grunt as Jonathan pressed the blade between his ribs, slowly sliding up and into the young Shadowhunter. He pulled it out just as slowly, it coated in the other's blood.

"Did he ever teach out how to cut someone forty-two times without touching anything vital?" Jonathan asked, referring to Valentine, as he leaned close to Jace's ear. The response he received was a muffled groan. "I didn't think so," he whispered before releasing him and letting Jace crumple to the ground.

He turned, walking out of the pentacle and back to the book that was lying face-open on the floor. He picked it up, his back to Jace, as he turned a few pages – the blade he was holding dripped blood onto the floor. Jace put his palms face down on the cement, trying to push himself up; he had to stifle a cry that was begging to be released when pain shot through his body, sending electric jolts to his ribs in particular. With his body weakening from the constant blood loss, his muscles were becoming more difficult to control, whereas they wanted to fail him with every move that he made. He took a breath, mustering up all of his strength just to force himself to stand. When he managed to get to his feet, he stumbled slightly, causing his arm to cross the diagram: He released a shout when it burned him and he immediately jerked his arm back, holding the now-singed skin.

Jonathan did not even seem to pay heed, his mind focusing on the book in his hands.

Jace wiped at his face, unaware that he had tears running down his face and mistaking it for blood from the cuts. Jonathan turned the page, muttering, "Εξουσίες του κολάσεις, καλώ και πάλι." The runes began glowing again and Jace's heart jumped to his throat – it did not bode well. "Σας δίνω αυτό άγγελος μεταμφιεσμένος σε άνθρωπο. Δείξτε του το εσωτερικό φως του."

The same deep, muffled voices from earlier echoed around him and Jace grunted as he felt hands on his shoulders, holding him. What felt like claws dug into his back, tearing down the length of his shoulder blades; as they cut into him, he could feel the warmth of blood trailing down his back and he clenched his eyes shut, using his strength to keep him standing.

Once equal slices were down his back, the pressure of hands subsided, allowing Jace to relax his muscles; that was until those same hands seem to shove themselves into the freshly made cuts. His eyes shot open and he held back a yell as the muscles on his back felt as though they were being ripped apart, splitting down his shoulder blades as the hands continued to dig.

"Απελευθερώστε το εσωτερικό Άγγελο. Μέσα από τον ποταμό του αίματος και να περάσει στο Δημαρχείο της Μαρτύριο, φέρτε μου τον Άγγελο," he said, finally turned to face Jace, his eyes a hollow black.

The more Jonathan spoke the words from the book, the deeper the pain became. Jace could feel his bones crack under the pressure, and the voices around him became louder – as though he was surrounded and they were chanting around him over and over.

Seeing him still resisting, Jonathan's eyes became dark and he spoke in thick tongue, "Καταστρέψτε αθωότητα αυτού του ανθρώπου και να τον φέρει στα γόνατά του."

Jace bent his knees, trying to hold his ground as the feeling of hands pushing on his shoulders tried to force him to the ground. He ignored the pain that shot through his abdomen as he tried resisting, his shoulders cracking under the invisible weight.

"Αφήστε αυτό να είναι καταδικασμένη άγγελος!"

Jace could no longer resist the pressure or the pain and released a blood-curdling scream that bounced off of the cement walls as he collapsed to the floor on his hands and knees. The cracking continued to erupt from his back, louder and louder; nearly as loud as the chants that surrounded him. He could feel his muscles, nerves and skin rip open on his back, blood trailing down his sides inside his shirt and forming a dark pool on the front of his black shirt as Jonathan continued to spout more words that the Shadowhunter could not understand. Tears poured down his face, falling onto the floor and he started to shout for Jonathan to stop, his voice pleading with his tormentor. His back continued to split at the shoulder blades as Jonathan continued reading from the book, sadistic amusement clear on his face.

"Ισχύς των Αγίων. Ισχύς των κολάσεων. Παρούσα αυτόν τον άγγελο μου. Δωρεάν τα φτερά του."

Jace tried to grab at something, anything, to help relieve the pain; but there was nothing close to him. He shouted, voice shaking violently. The runes that surrounded the floor around him were glowing a bright, but deep, blood-red and he the other voices – deeper voices – spoke loud whispers around him, chanting 'aπελευθερώστε' repeatedly. The more voices that he could hear, the brighter the runes glowed, drenching him in bloodstained light. The voices became louder, no longer just whispers, and they drowned out Jonathan's voice as he kept reading. He could feel weight on him and hands holding him as his back split further and further. He released another shattered scream as he felt the hands dig even deeper into the splits in his back, digging around inside him, before he felt them grab hold of bones inside him; or, at least, he figured them to be bones. His screams became louder and more violent when they started to pull on what they had grabbed; his back feeling as though it was being broken and bones were being ripped out. As hands held him down, the ones inside him started pulling harder, pulling out their hold through the tears running down both of his shoulder blades.

The closer they got to their extraction, the harder they pulled.

"Προσαγωγή τους στη μου!"

In one harsh jerking movement, they pulled out their hold, causing Jace to release one final scream as blood-drenched white wings flew straight out from his back, ripping through his shirt and rising nearly to the ceiling. The feeling of hands vanished and he collapsed to the floor, shaking, as the red glow of the runes slowly died.

Tears continued to fall from his eyes onto the floor as the wings came and folded themselves over him, blocking his view to where, the only thing he could see, was the blurred figure of Jonathan standing outside the circle of runes where he had been. The book he had been reading from was now closed and hung in his hand at his side. Loose, white feathers fell onto the floor around him, some of them splotched with red. His body continually twitched and jerked as the pain started to subside. Blood from his shoulder blades still trickled down his back; a stream had run over his shoulder and could be seen running down his right arm, making a small pool on the floor.

Jonathan crossed the threshold of the runes, crouching down next to Jace and running his hands along the bone of the wings, before bringing his hand to set it on the side of Jace's head.

"I knew you were strong," he said softly. Hating himself for thinking it, Jace could not help but feel soothed by the gentleness from Jonathan's hand as it began lightly running through his hair and the soothing tone to his voice. "You'll do great things, Jace." Jace shut his eyes, his body pleading for the soft and gentle touch to continue; his mentality, even more. He felt Jonathan's free hand on the base of the wings, massaging the tender skin around in softly. His body began sinking into the ground, fatigue swarming over him. "And don't worry. I will protect you from death…unless you beg for it. And that, my angel, is a promise."

Perhaps his mentality was warped from the occurrence, but Jace's entire body screamed to be comforted; and he did not very much care who he received it from.

I told you that you'd feel sorry for Jace by the end of it! Actually, even on my Facebook, I had as my status: "I'm sorry, Jace." My friends were like, "WHY? What'd you do to him?"

I'm thinking only two more "chapters" and this should be done. Told ya it was a short-story. :P