New chapter. This time, they're slightly older, although not quite up to current times. We'll probably be jumping around time-wise.

Time After Time

Will surveyed the area carefully. Jem and he were out on an investigation. Bodies of dead mundanes had been turning up near a popular underworld haunt, and Charlotte was letting the two of them investigate on their own. It would only be their second mission together as parabatai, and one of their first without any form of outside supervision. Charlotte didn't really trust Will on his own because of his recklessness, but Jem being around reassured her. Jem was the logical one; he was the only one who could keep Will focused and calm.

There had been a report about another mundane that had disappeared in the area. Melissa Birch, a girl around 11 with brown hair and brown eyes. She fit perfectly with the patterns of disappearances; she was young, pretty, and hopelessly naïve. She was the perfect target for dark people with nefarious purposes.

Jem and Will were supposed to find her body. They were not to engage in any form of combat. That was probably the reason Charlotte had trusted them on this mission, actually. Will would not be allowed to recklessly charge into violence, and Jem would not have to worry about physical exertion.

Will was worried about the small, silver-haired boy. He was looking frailer than usual, and his skin was unnaturally pale. How long had it been since he had taken the drug? Will did not have any extra on hand, and he doubted Jem would, either. Jem would always try to avoid taking it for as long as possible. He hated thinking of himself as an addict, dependent on the drug.

Will hated thinking of it as a drug. Jem was not an addict; he was merely a young boy caught in unfortunate circumstances. However, thinking of the silver powder as medicine was an even more appalling concept. Jem needed it to survive, but it provided no medical benefits. It was killing him slowly. Medicine did not do that.

Will turned his eyes towards Jem, distracted by his thoughts. They walked down dark alleyways, searching for any hint of Melissa's corpse, but neither searched as carefully as he should have. A demon had been following them for four intersections, and they had not yet detected its presence. Will was too busy worrying to be properly alert, and Jem was distracted in an altogether different fashion. He had not taken the drug recently enough, and his body was starting to weaken.

The pair walked into a deserted alley when the demon finally moved to strike. It went for Will first—he was a bigger target. Will spotted the shadow of the demon, which was standing in the streetlight. Will moved quickly, pulling out a seraph blade and muttering a name to himself. He ran forward around to stab the demon, but it had moved too quickly towards another target. Jem was separated from Will, and although he normally could be trusted to take care of himself, his body was simply too weak at the moment. He had begun to cough, and even the demon could see that he was an easy target.

Will sprinted towards the demon, hoping to stop it before it reached Jem. He was no longer thinking at this point—his brain could only repeat Not Jem, Not Jem over and over. Jem was the only person in the world that he allowed himself to love. If he died, Will was alone.

The demon loomed over Jem, who was coughing more and more violently. Will needed to kill the demon quickly so he could rush Jem back to the Institute. While the demon was distracted with Jem, Will stabbed him in the back, watching as inky blackness leaked from the wound. For good measure, he stabbed the demon several more times, to ensure it was really dead.

He then turned immediately to Jem. Jem was curled up into a ball, his coughing getting more severe and his body starting to shake. The Institute was five-minute walk away. Will immediately picked Jem up and began to run, thanking his Shadowhunter training for his abnormal endurance.

Back at the Institute, everyone was frantic. Jem looked like death. They administered the drug immediately. Will was relieved when the shaking subsided and the coughing stopped. This was the closest he had ever seen Jem come to death.

Will was miserable. This was a startling reminder of his best friend's frailty. Jem was his other half, but he was dying. Will was both profoundly upset and perversely reassured. Will allowed Jem in more than anyone else because he WAS dying. It was not Will that was killing him. It was a drug, something that Will held no responsibility for.

However, anyone who thought that William Herondale planned to let his parabatai die anytime soon was a fool. Time after time, Jem had fallen ill because he refused to take the drug, and time after time, Will was there to keep him going. Will would not let Jem die.

Jem had asked everyone to stop searching for a cure for him. Will agreed to comfort Jem. However, he would never give up on Jem. Jem was all that he had in the entire world, and he would walk to the ends of the earth and back to let him live a full life.