Jace and Clary's first meeting at Pandemonium, plus where Jace begs Hodge to let him be the one to go find Clary. Requested by dewikaka.
The strobe lights burst out different colors as Izzy faded into the crowd, music blared out words of profanity and the mundanes grinded up against each other. Alec stayed close to Jace as they made their way to the storage room. On any other night, girls would be trampling over themselves to get Jace's attention, but now with the glamour covering his body, that wouldn't happen. Jace frowned, but his grin was quickly back when he saw Izzy about to lead the guy off.
Jace's eyes moved over the crowd, the club was full of women that would surely give him a good night. The girls tonight seemed... experienced. Skanky, to be honest. Maybe he would return later tonight after he washed off his glamour and changed out of his blood-covered clothing. He glanced over at his sister, seeing her raise a crooked finger and beckon the demon into the storage room after her.
Jace pulled out his seraph blade, his favorite weapon, and followed quickly after them. Alec only a step behind him as Jace's body started to tense with readiness. The blood in his veins ran fast and lit up in fire as he became happy in a way that only demon hunting could provoke.
He saw Isabelle tied up the demons wrists and feet before the blue haired Eidolon demon fell to the ground. "He's all yours, boys."
Jace laughed lowly, he grabbed onto the demon and threw him against the concrete pillar. Jace tried to keep in his excitement, tried to not beat up this demon boy too quickly.
"So, are there any more with you?" Jace asked.
The demon played dumb, "Any more of what?"
"Come on now." Jace rose his hands up, letting his jacket sleeves fall, showing his rune covered arms, "You know what I am."
"Shadowhunter." He hissed.
"Caught you." Jace grinned, if it wasn't for the fact that they had to get information out of this demon, he would've killed him now. To work off some steam, Jace started to pace in front of the demon attached to the pillar. "So, you still haven't told me if there are anymore of your kind with you."
"I don't know what you are talking about." The boy lied. Jace knew he was lying simply because he could see through his glamour. He could see the black, slimy skin and yellow sharp teeth with his red, snake tongue. His body, encased by his fake legs, wasn't even a body it was just a bundle of black slime, oozing like lava towards the floor so that the demon could stand. His head was only attached by a what looked to be a spine coming out of his neck area and connected its disgusting head.
"He means other demons," Alec said, "You do know what a demon is, don't you?"
The demon turned his face away.
"Demons," Jace moved the boys face back to look at him with the spine of his seraph blade. He then continued on, hate filling his voice, as he expressed his extreme loathing for demons. The hate only fueling his fire to fight the demon.
However, Isabelle stopped him before he even got started.
"Isabelle's right," Alec agreed, "Nobody here needs a lesson in semantics- or demonology."
Jace smiled at the boy, not looking at his brother and sister, "Isabelle and Alec think I talk too much. Do you think I talk too much?"
The monster didn't have a response for that, his black eyes glanced at the blade still at his temple. Ever so slightly, Jace noticed his breathing start to quicken. Quicken in fear. This made Jace smile wider.
"I know where Valentine is." The demon said, trying to save himself.
Jace glanced back at Alec, his brothers face changed from being slightly calm to overly nervous. Jace spoke his next words to calm his brother, "Valentine's in the ground. The thing's just toying with us." Alec didn't look too convinced but he shrugged.
"Kill it, Jace." Isabelle changed the subject, "It's not going to tell us anything."
Jace rose his hand, overly obliging to her demand.
"Valentine is back!" The boy screamed, "All the Infernal Worlds know it- I know it- I can tell you where he is-"
"By the Angel, everytime we capture one of you bastards, you claim you know where Valentine is. Well, we know where he is. He's burning in hell. And you," Jace's voice filled with fury, "you can join him there."
"Stop!" The blade slipped from his hand as he heard a frightened girl's voice, "You can't do this!" He whirled around, his heart beating faster as he saw a short, red haired girl with bright green eyes and a set chin. Unknown emotions piled up in Jace's stomach. It was as if he was looking down a dark hallway, unarmed and lonely, at the end of the tunnel there was a light that filled his heart. Made him feel whole.
Jace saw Alec glance at him from the corner of his eye, hurt and confusion in his blue eyes, "What's this?" He demanded.
"It's a girl." Jace didn't know if he was actually speaking to his siblings or if this was all in his head, "Surely you've seen girls before, Alec. Your sister Isabelle is one." He took a step closer to Clary; the light making him feel warmer with each step. He squinted his eyes, trying to see her better. "A mundie girl and she can see us." Interesting.
"Of course I can see you," The girl said, "I'm not blind, you know." Jace's heart skipped a beat when she talked. What's wrong with you? It's just a girl.
"Oh, but you are," said Jace, he bent down to pick up his knife. The one moment he was not looking at her, making him feel alone. "You just don't know it. You'd better get out of here, if you know what's good for you."
"I'm not going anywhere." The girl snapped, those few words heating his heart more than Isabelle, Alec, or even Max had. "If you do, you'll kill him."
"That's true." Jace twirled the knife between his fingers as if trying to get his attention back on the demon. Trying to move his excitement wholeheartedly back to the demon. It worked, but not much. "What do you care if I kill him or not?"
The girl spluttered, "Because, you can't just go around killing people."
Jace nodded, so she was defending the demon. Someone- something- she barely knew, she was a brave girl. "You're right, you can't go around killing people." Without looking at the demon, he pointed at it, "That's not a person, little girl. It may look like a person and talk like a person and maybe even bleed like a person. But it's a monster."
"Jace," said Isabelle in warning, "That's enough."
The girl backed away from him, the heat going with her, "You're crazy. I've called the police, you know. They'll be here any second."
"She's lying," Alec said doubtfully, "Jace, do you-" But Jace would never know what Alec was about to ask him, because at that moment the demon attacked. The demon flung himself ontop of Jace and they both fell to the ground. The demon's claws slashing at Jace. Finally!
What Jace thought was goign to be a good fight, actually turned out to be one that Jace got hurt in. In front of that girl. The demons claws sprang out of it's newly grown hands and they came straight for Jace's face. Jace rose an arm to protect it and the claws raked over the skin, drawing blood and pain out of Jace. Quickly, Isabelle and Alec were there, Izzy's whip came down on the demons back and it fell off of Jace. Who moved with speed that only he possessed, he rolled over and sank the seraph blade into the demon's chest.
The red haired girl was on the ground almost as if the demons impact on Jace had impacted her as well. Jace pulled the blade out of the demons chest and watched it as the demon folded on itself and disappeared. Alec rushed towards Jace and pulled up the sleeve to his jacket, looking at his scratch wound. The black haired shadowhunter reached for his belt where Jace knew his stele was but Jace shook his head, seeing Isabelle's whip tighten around the girl's wrist.
He walked toward the two girls, the wound on his arm not hurting anymore.
"Stupid little mundie," Isabelle glared at the girl, "You could have gotten Jace killed."
"He's crazy. You're all crazy. What do you think you are, vigilante killers? The police-" The red haired girl was shaking her head, trying to pull the wrist free of the whip. It would only make it tighter around her arm.
"The police aren't usually interested unless you can produce a body." Jace said. He stepped even closer to her, finding that the pain in his arm was fading. "They return to their home dimensions when they die. In case you were wondering."
"Jace, be careful." Alec hissed, a scowl on his face as he looked between Jace and the girl.
"She can see us, Alec. She already knows too much." He snapped at Alec, growing annoyed with his brother.
"So what do you want me to do with her?" Isabelle asked, her whip still tightly coiled around the girls wrist.
"Let her go." Jace said, almost demanded of Isabelle. She looked at Jace with surprise but did as he said. The girl rubbed the red lines on her wrist as Jace glanced down at his stele, wondering if he could help her heal.
"Maybe we should bring her back with us." Alec said, "I bet Hodge would like to talk to her."
"No way are we bringing her to the Institute. She's a mundie." Isabelle shook her head.
"Or is she?" Jace asked, his voice growing soft as he watched the girl. The mysterious red haired girl. "Have you had dealings with demons, little girl? Walked with warlocks, talked with Night Children? Have you-"
"My name is not 'little girl,'" She interrupted him. "And I have no idea what you're talking about. I don't believe in- in demons, or whatever you-"
"Clary?" The girl spun around to face a curly brown haired mundane with brown eyes and large glasses. He was looking at the girl, at Clary, with confused but tender eyes that filled with an emotion Jace didn't like to associate with. Love. Jace didn't like him. "Are you okay? Why are you in here by yourself? What happened to the guys- you know, the ones with knives?"
Clary looked around at Jace, Isabelle, and Alec. So this new mundane couldn't see them, that's the way it should be, but that begged the question, why could Clary? Seeing the understanding and realization cross over Clary's face made Jace shrug, I told you so but I am sorry. Clary turned back around to the friend.
"I thought they went in here, but I guess they didn't. I'm sorry. It was a mistake." Clary said and then without a look back at them, she untangled herself from the wires on the ground and walked out of the storage room. Isabelle giggled.
After the mysterious girl and her annoying friend disappeared, Jace rose a hand to his heart, it was slowing down exceptionally and the feeling of being whole left his body. He felt alone and cold. Alec whirled around toward Jace, a crease between his eyebrows, anger in his blue eyes. However, before he said anything, he grabbed Jace's arm and drew Iratze, a healing rune, on his arm. The cuts on Jace's arm started to close instantly and Jace's head felt clearer.
"Jace. You cannot tell all of our secrets to a mundie! She could've been a spy for Valentine or a... dark magic warlock! You can't-"
"Don't start believing idiot demons, Alec. Valentine is dead and he will remain dead." Izzy replied, although Jace thought she wasn't defending him. Just assuring herself.
"Still!" Alec threw up his hands like a seven-year-old that didn't get the last cookie, "I don't think Jace should be flirting with a girl who could've been-"
Jace interrupted this time, "Flirting? You think I was flirting with that girl?" He tried to keep the unknown, unwelcome, emotions from swirling around his stomach as he thought about Clary.
"Jace, you flirt with every girl." Isabelle said, looking slightly hesitant, an odd emotion to see on her face.
Alec looked irritated, "Let's get back to the Institute. We need to talk to Hodge."
They all started to walk back to the Institute, Jace couldn't stop thinking about the little girl.
"What do you think she was?" Izzy asked him after they exited the club.
"Trouble." Alec said, stalking out into the night.
"She was pale enough to be a vampire, but her fangs would've come out after my blood spilled." Jace started, "Maybe a warlock, but she seemed unaware of her powers. Plus, I didn't see any of the marks of a warlock. Did you?"
"No." Izzy replied, giving Jace an odd look.
"What?" Jace asked, wiping a hand over his face. "Is there demon blood on my face?"
"No. There's nothing." Iz shrugged, "You just seem happy."
"I'm always happy after demon hunts."
"Not like this." Alec whispered from a few steps ahead of them.
"Anyway, what other theories do you have?" Isabelle changed the subject.
"I think it's possible that she could be a shadowhunter." Jace said and continued quickly, before they could interrupt him, "I know we saw no Marks, but they could've been hidden under her clothing. Maybe she is more smart about where she puts her runes."
"She didn't even have the Clairvoyant Sight rune, Jace. Every shadowhunter gets that when they turn twelve." Alec shook his head.
"Yes, yes. I know, I know." Jace waved his hand to cut him off, "I'm just saying maybe Clary's parents never told her she was what she is."
"But, what is she?" Izzy demanded as they entered the Institute. After wiping off demon blood from their clothes and a long explanation to Hodge, the Lightwood siblings went off to bed and Jace was left alone with his tutor.
"Well, Jace, I assume you have a question." Hodge said.
"What would make you say that?" Jace asked, glancing around the enormous library they were in. He wondered if there were any books on what he was feeling for Clary.
"You've never been one to want to talk to me after hours." Hodge replied, smiling slightly, "Ask away."
"Can I be the one to go after Clary?" Jace asked, looking at his tutor in the eye.
"Clary?" Hodge's eyebrows pulled together, "Who's Clary?"
"The red haired little girl at Pandemonium." He replied impatiently, "Can I be the one to go after her?"
His tutor stared at Jace for a long moment, his eyebrows still pulled together in confusion but underneath it there was relief and hope. "Of course you will be the one to get her. Why don't you get some rest and the three of you can-"
"No." Jace cut him off with more force than he intended, "I want to be the one to get her. Not them, not the three of us, not just Alec and I, only me. I want to be the one to find her and bring her back. Hodge, let me do this."
"Why?" Hodge asked.
"Because, I-" Jace didn't know how to respond to that. "I just think it should be me."
Hodge nodded in understanding, even though Jace didn't really explain anything. Hodge always seemed to know more than Jace ever could. "I believe that it should be you as well."
Jace smiled, relief flooding into his veins, "Thanks, Hodge."
"You're welcome. Now, go get some rest." Hodge shooed him away with his hand, "You can't get her on no sleep."
"Goodnight." Jace nodded and walked out of the library. After showering off his sweat, Jace pulled on flannel pajama pants and crawled into bed. He couldn't help but sigh as he did, it felt so good to rest his muscles and lay down.
Jace fell asleep with a smile on his face that night.
A/N: Thanks for reading! I hope you liked it! Okay, wow! Thank you everyone for all the requests! I got so many requests that I don't think I'll be able to do them all! A few different scenes (the scene where Aline and Jace kiss, the scene where Jace tells Clary he loves her, when Jace and Clary talk about the Heavenly Fire) and I'll do those but since there is so much wording in those scenes I'll have to cut out a few lines or something along that line, just a heads up! Also, I've been working on a few different TMI stories so I'll also be working on those, so just think of that if it takes me awhile to update!Thanks again!