"I was named after my parents, you know." Chase and Emily sat against the cabinets, their legs forward. He had spent what felt like an hour just sitting there, playing with Emily's right hand as he stared at his mother. Emily knew that it hadn't actually been that long, but the silence made the time go slower. Those were the first words that he said since they finally sat down. "My father's name was Charles, and my mother's name was Grace. That made me, Chase – the failure of a Shadowhunter who got his family capture and killed."

Emily leaned her head on his shoulder, feeling his heat soak through his t-shirt and onto her cheek. She was just glad that he was finally talking, instead of mindlessly playing with her fingers, not that she minded. Even if he was just babbling about his failures as a son, which wasn't exactly true. The feeling of his fingers against her own wasn't something she was used to, but she liked it either way.

There was no point in arguing with him anymore though. He thought that all of this was his fault, and there was nothing that Emily could say that would change his mind. It was like she wasn't even there, like she was invisible and he was just talking to himself. The best she could do was hold his arm, but that was more for her benefit than his.

"My sister, Gemma, is perfect, unlike me," he continued. "She's smart, clever, beautiful, and the world always seemed to revolve around her. She was a brilliant cook, and all the guys that knew her were practically in love with her. She was everything any guy wanted, and all I ever wanted was to protect her from ass holes who just wanted to use her. Even at a young age, when I was about seven or eight, I promised my dad that I would always take care of her. But once again, I failed in that aspect too."

Emily sighed and, against her better judgment, she pulled back and stroked his hair off his forehead. For once, he actually responded by closing his eyes and leaning into her touch. She took a chance and finally spoke up. "Chase, you make it sound way worse than it actually is."

"I've broken a lot of promises in my life, Emily. Not only are my parents dead because of me, but my sister is still captive under Lilith. I wouldn't be surprised if the Clave stripped me of my marks and threw me in New York as a homeless guy."

"They wouldn't do that if they knew what you've been through," Emily said.

Chase shook his head. "You don't understand. If I tell them that, I have to tell them everything. I have to tell them that I even made a deal with the devil to take down two of the strongest Shadowhunters alive, AKA your parents. They wouldn't be very forgiving, much less understanding. I probably wouldn't even get the chance to explain before they threw me out." He finally looked down at her for the first time since they sat on the floor. "Emily, why don't you just hate me?"

If only she had a legitimate answer to that question. She'd been wondering the same thing, but couldn't exactly figure it out either. She had every reason to, and yet, it was hard not to look up at him and not care for him. Her mind traveled to last night, where he pretty much asked her if she hated him. She did at one point, but she said that she no longer did without even hesitating. She didn't seem to think at all anymore when it came to Chase, and that's the worst part.

All she wanted to do was give him a reasonable answer, but when she was looking up at him, she couldn't bring herself to speak. She couldn't really describe the look he was giving her other than with affection. His bottom lip was tucked in between his teeth. His eyes were staring through hers with an intensity that made her insides burn with a feeling that she didn't even recognize.

Chase bent down, touching his forehead to hers. "Can you answer me?"

"I wish I could," she said breathlessly.

He chuckled, and Emily wondered how he could even laugh at a time like this. His mother was dead ten feet away, and he was laughing? "You don't know why you don't hate me?"

She shook her head, and against her own will, she leaned back to look into his eyes. "Chase, my dad knows."

His expression went from adoration to confusion in a split second. "He knows why you hate me and you don't?"

"No, he knows about us. My mother told him about you and me," she answered. She expected him to be worried, maybe scared, possibly frightened considering this was Jace Herondale who was her father, but he just turned up one side of his mouth into a smile, but not a true smile. "Why are you smiling?"

"Doesn't that mean that there isn't a point to us sneaking around? One fight about that was bad enough and you have no idea how hard it was to fall asleep last night." He leaned in closer, but Emily stopped him by putting her hand on his chest. His eyes glanced down, and pulled his eyebrows together. "I don't understand."

"It's just not a good idea to think that it's okay to start kissing when my father is in the room or just outside the door."

"What makes you think that–"

"You're Chase," she said in a condescending tone. "You'd totally do that. And you're emotionally unstable right now, and kissing me wouldn't exactly help with the fact that Leviathan killed your mother and still has your sister."

"You sound like a psychologist."

"Maybe that's what you need."

Chase shook his head and grabbed Emily's hand. "I'm not crazy. All I need is–"

Michael bursts through the door suddenly, looking dangerous in his Shadowhunter gear. He froze when he saw Emily and Chase on the floor, but glared at Chase with a fury that Emily had never seen in her brother. His fists were clenched, as he stalked towards Chase. Then, much to Emily's surprise, he reached behind him and pulled out a seraph blade.

"Nakir!"

Emily jumped to her feet as Michael jumped for Chase. Without any clue what was happening, she just acted. She tackled her brother in midair, tackling him to the ground. The blade slid across the floor under one of the tables, and Emily actually struggled with getting Michael under control. He was strong, big, and when he was angry, it only fueled him. Something really got under his skin but somehow, Emily was able to grab his arm, twisting it at such a painful angle that he actually screamed out. His other hand came up, Emily oblivious to it, and it cracked her in the side of the head, knocking her off of him.

Her brother froze, and she felt the anger seep out of him in two seconds. "Oh, shit, Emily?" Michael was by her side in an instant. She was staring up at the ceiling, stars and blanks appearing in her vision. Wherever he hit her, it was strong and painful in just the right spot against her skull. Chase suddenly appeared over her as well, looking down at her, but it didn't last. His gaze went to Michael, like he wanted to say every dirty, nasty, angry thing under the sun, but he never got the chance.

A familiar whip had been lashed out, wrapping around Chase's neck and yanking him back. He screamed and Emily watched, helplessly since Michael was holding her down, as Chase was dragged to the floor, clawing at his throat.

"You little brat." Emily followed the whip's length to find Isabelle a few feet away. All the adults were there, dressed in their fighting gear. Isabelle, Clary, Jace, and Magnus were more than incensed as Isabelle's grip on the whip tightened, choking Chase even more. "How could you?" Isabelle cried out. "How could you do that to him? To us?"

"Let him go!" Emily cried but Michael wrapped his arm around her, restricting her arms and pulling her into his chest. Sometimes, no amount of training can get someone out of a situation, and Michael was taught how to restrain by an expert, Jace. All she could was scream and hope they would come to their senses. "Izzy, you're killing him!"

But Isabelle was oblivious to her pleading words. She didn't even seem to care that she was killing her own adopted child, suffocating him without mercy. Chase was turning purple as Isabelle tugged, and nobody even stopped her. Clary and Jace had their own weapons out, like they were facing down Lilith herself, and she knew that there was no way Magnus would help him. He was on his own, and the thought made Emily sick to her stomach.

Chase choked, his eyes rolling to the back of his head as his grip loosened around his neck. Isabelle didn't seem to want to stop, but suddenly a hand descended on her shoulder, tan and strong. Emily couldn't see who it was, but she stopped squirming in her brother's arms when the figure approached, grabbing Izzy's whip and loosening the very thing that was choking Chase before taking it away from the raged Shadowhunter.

Conan was back.

Jace watched with sick satisfaction as Chase started choking when the whip was released, grabbing at his neck when he was finally able to breathe again. He coughed loudly, sounding like he was breathing through a straw. The little bastard deserved that and a whole lot worse for what he did to his family. He tricked Emily, fooled them all and then had some of them captured for his own benefit. If Jace had his way at all, it would be to kill the kid right here and leave him to rot with his mother on the table.

But Clary would never allow that. It was bad enough that their son was restraining her daughter who was actually worried about Chase. Clary didn't need to deal with Jace killing an eighteen year old Shadowhunter either, even if he deserved a whole lot worse. The Clave would have too many questions about such a situation than Jace really wanted to answer.

"Chase, you bastard!" Isabelle yelled. She made a move to reach for him again, but Magnus, much to everyone's surprise, grabbed her and held her back. She kicked and screamed, shouting every curse word she could think of. "Simon loved you! He cared about you!"

"Let him talk and he'll explain!" Emily yelled. Jace doubted that, but Emily's determination to break free from her brother made him think twice about what she knew.

Michael was seriously started to struggle with her. "Emily, stop fighting me," he begged but when Jace stepped up to help, Emily flew her head back. The back of her head hit Michael's face with a pain that Jace knew all too well. Emily had used that move on him plenty of times since her head was about as hard as a rock, it was so painful. Michael's arms loosened and she slid out of them quickly, sliding over to Chase. He gripped his nose that was now bleeding rapidly, staring at Emily with wide, hurt eyes. "Emily."

Watching his daughter kneel in front of the very reason that all this was happening wasn't okay with Jace. "Get out of the way Emily," Jace demanded, twisting the blade in his hand for a deadly gesture. "I mean it."

Emily shook her head and placed her hand on Chase's chest. He was just lying on the floor, the color barely returning to his skin. "Dad, you don't understand. None of this is his fault."

Everyone seemed to freeze at that moment. Isabelle stopped fighting and Magnus warily released her, watching her out of the corner of his eye. Jace stopped stepping forward, staring at his daughter in shock. Michael and Clary remained silent. The only person who moved was Conan, who stepped forward with the whip ready to use.

The werewolf glanced down at Chase, then back to Emily. "Then look at this and you might think differently."

Jace knew what was on the picture that he handed Emily. That exact picture was the reason why everyone was here. It was of Leviathan and Chase, talking in the sewers. Even to a mundane, it would've been obvious that they were up to something. What made it worse was that everyone in the Shadowhunting world, including Chase, knew that Leviathan had been a top priority for months now. And he knew where to find him, how to find him, and never said a word. If that wasn't enough proof to change Emily's mind, then he seriously failed as a father.

And if he expected Emily to be upset, to be angry, to lash out at Chase, he was extremely disappointed. He watched as his daughter glanced behind her to Chase, who was finally starting to recover, and showed him the picture.

"When was this?"

He slit his eyes at the picture and dropped his head back, closing them. "Few days ago. After th – the explosion."

The voice was hoarse and tired, but Emily looked more alive and angry than ever. Her strawberry ponytail swiveled back into place when she turned to face Conan, shoving the picture back up at him. "You're all idiots if you think Chase did this just on purpose."

"Yeah? Then explain it to us. Whatever you didn't tell me yesterday, spit it out now," Magnus demanded as he took a dangerous step forward. His hands were glowing blue again. "And no fucking lying to me this time."

Emily glanced back at Chase again. He nodded to her, and her explanation began. None of them moved as she explained, except for Michael who went to get some wrappings for his broken nose. They listened intently, and one by one, each other them started to relax. Jace wasn't too convinced, even though Isabelle, Magnus, Clary, Michael and even Conan had put their weapons away and paid every bit of attention to Emily.

But no, Jace's eyes stayed on Chase, and he realized something. The boy on the floor had finally recovered from his near death experience and was back to breathing normally. There were red marks around his neck where the whip had choked him. What struck Jace as odd was the fact that Chase didn't even seem to register his injury anymore. His eyes were looking up at Emily as she talked with her hands. It was blatantly obvious that he thought no one was paying him attention, and Jace recognized that look on his face.

"That's the whole story," Emily finished as she handed the picture back to Conan. He took it, looking down at the floor like he was ashamed, but he still looked seriously pissed off. "Chase is trapped in this as much as we are, if not worse. And unless you want the rest of our family on those tables along with Grace, you'll stop attacking him and understand that he only wants to help."

"I don't care if he wants to help," Conan answered, shooting a dirty look to Chase. But the Shadowhunter only returned the look with one of his own. "I still don't trust the traitor. Those text messages were sent for a reason. He's not one of you, and you're a fool to think he is."

The boys glared at each other for a moment, Conan sending the message that he wanted to kill Chase, before he stormed out of the infirmary, slamming the door behind him. It was quiet, no one knowing what to say. Emily just ignored them all, kneeling beside Chase and talking in hushed tones. One by one, everyone left. Magnus was first, followed by Michael and Isabelle. Clary was last, but she kissed Jace's cheek, telling him to behave and taking his blade before she slipped from the infirmary as well.

It was the three of them, and Jace didn't exactly know how to handle it. Emily and Chase acted like he wasn't even there, and he had to clear his throat to even get their attention.

"Dad, if you're going to try to kill him, I want you out of here," Emily said with malice in her voice.

Jace just sighed, walking over to the pair. Emily tensed when he approached, something that's never happened before, and it made him stop in his tracks. Normally, she relaxed around him. "Emily, I'm not going to hurt him."

"Isabelle, his own adopted mother, just tried to choke him so I'm sorry if I'm a little concerned around you people now."

"You people?" Jace repeated.

Chase placed his hand on Emily's knee. "Emily, can you give your dad and me a minute to talk?" Her eyes widened and she rapidly shook her head. But he touched her cheek, stopping her protests. "Trust me."

Much to Jace's indignation, Emily leaned down and kissed Chase's cheek. At least she had the decency not to kiss him full on, because Jace wouldn't have been able to keep his promise of not hurting him if that happened. She stood, giving Jace a stern look before heading out the door, shutting it behind her none too quietly.

"I know what you must be thinking of me," Chase mumbled as he slowly sat up. He winced in pain, as he backed up to the white medicine cabinet, resting against it.

Jace just nodded, grabbing a chair from behind him by one of the tables and plopping down on it. "I hate you. It's as simple as that."

"And I don't blame you. All this is my fault, even if Emily refuses to believe that. And I deserved everything that just happened. In fact, I'd feel better if Isabelle really did just kill me."

"I'd feel better too," Jace said. "But it's pretty obvious that Emily didn't really fancy the idea of watching you die."

"And that's something I'll never understand." Jace raised an eyebrow, but Chase shook his head slowly. "Don't ask. Anyway, I wanted to talk to you about Leviathan, and you're not going to like what I have to say."

This was getting more and more interesting by the second. "Go on."

"Not a word of this gets repeated, understand?"

Jace couldn't help the single laugh that escaped his throat. "You really think you're in the position to call the shots?"

"It's in Emily's best interest if no one knows what I'm about to say," he answered. Jace wanted to argue, just because that was his nature, but he didn't say anything. He leaned forward instead, urging Chase to continue. "I've talked to Magnus about this, and I didn't really understand at first, but I've started to figure out what Emily's part is in all of this. Leviathan is fast, to the point that he almost teleports when he moves. A normal Shadowhunter can't defeat him, even you, right?"

"I wouldn't go that far to say I couldn't," Jace answered with his hurt ego. "And if you're suggesting that Emily is the only one that can, you're wrong about that to. No way am I letting my daughter near him."

Chase sighed. "I figured you'd say that. But Magnus told me something interesting the other day. Clary's power is runes - that's her gift. You're gifted with speed and agility, the ability to move like no other Shadowhunter could, correct?"

It was the truest statement this kid had said all day. "What's your point?"

"My point is that Emily is gifted as well, just like Michael. Your son is a brilliant healer, but Emily's gift is one that it took a while for us figure out." Chase stopped, like he was waiting for her father to figure it out. It made Jace nothing but angry and luckily, the boy realized it before he got hurt again. "Look, after a lot of observation between Magnus and me, the warlock finally figured it out. Emily's ability is the gift of anticipation. It didn't really make sense to me at first, but after some thinking, it clicked. Even in the training room, it never looked like she moved faster than anyone else, and yet no one could actually hit her. She just moves earlier, before an attack comes, and she's long out of the way before the strike. Leviathan is too quick for any Shadowhunter to see where he's going, but if he faces someone that always knows where he's actually going to be–"

"His speed will become irrelevant," Jace finished with an epiphany. Even though he hated the idea with a burning passion, he couldn't help but accept the fact that this kid was right.

"Emily is the only one who has a chance to kill him at this point," Chase said. "Lilith has made him stronger than ever, along with Agramon, but it's put her at risk. She's weaker than she has ever been in history. I haven't seen it, but Leviathan isn't the best secret keeper at times. He likes to talk."

But Lilith wasn't the real problem if she was that weak. She might have been the brains right now, and Leviathan might be the bronze, but Agramon was the issue that still needed to be addressed. "Either way, Emily can't deal with Agramon, considering he's gotten into her head worse than anyone."

In fact, Jace felt like no one should ever have to deal with Agramon. Just the memory of facing his biggest fear like that, having his whole body shake with fright was the worse Valentine telling him that Clary was his sister. Thankfully, that wasn't true, but he still remembered the feelings. Both were pretty awful, and he'd rather not relive any of that.

"Agramon is your job."

Jace suddenly sat erect, not liking this idea at all. "Uh, excuse me? Why don't you deal with him?"

Chase gave him a stupid look, which Jace returned with an angry one. "Okay, look, this is how I planned it out. If you distract Agramon using Clary's Fearless Rune while Emily gets Leviathan's attention, then I can help everyone deal with Lilith while we get all of our friends and family out of there."

It sounded like a pretty decent plan, even though Jace hated every aspect of it. In fact, he'd rather deal with both Leviathan and Agramon on his own instead of letting Emily in on it. But it was pretty obvious that there was no other way around it.

Jace dropped his head to his hands. Clary would kill him when she found out that Emily was put in this kind of position. In fact, she'd probably kick his ass for weeks, withhold sex, and ignore him until he was old, grey, and more than likely dead. It totally wasn't worth it, but who was he kidding? He couldn't handle Leviathan, and the only other one who could, Simon, was being held captive at this point and kind of unavailable for chit chat.

"But I still don't know the location that they're keeping the others," Chase added. "They moved my sister, and now that my mother's dead, my sister is my top priority. I'm going to do everything I can to find her, but I can't let them on to the fact that I'm telling you all any of this. I have to stay on their schedule, or it puts everyone at risk."

Jace nodded in understanding. "When is the next time you meet with them?"

"This Friday in the sewers under New York."

"That gives us three days," Jace said as he calculated the time in his head. "You use that time to figure out as much as you can. And as for Emily," Chase looked up, flinching back at Jace's expression, "I can tell that you two care for each other. But she's scarier than my wife when she's angry. I've told you this before, but if you break her heart, you answer to her. Good luck surviving that."

Woooo! It's getting intense! REVIEWS ARE AMAZINGLY APPRECIATED!