Clary felt like she was floating. On what, she couldn't say. All she could feel was softness beneath her, carrying her and lulling her back to a lethargic state. She could feel her mind swimming in and out of consciousness and made no attempt to stay at either. She was comfortable in the midst of what ever it was she was in and had no desire to leave it. She was content to just float on the strange softness…
But something was nagging at the back of her mind, forcing her to remain in the consciousness of her mind. Something had happened, but she couldn't remember what. She remembered running through a place, dodging thin needle like objects – were they branches? Had she been in a forest? Possibly but she certainly wasn't in one now, the softness she lay on – because she realized now that she wasn't floating but laying on something distinctly solid – was not something one found in the wilderness. So whatever she was running from, had it caught her?
No. She remembered another place, a clearing from the trees. With a house, an old decrepit house. Something had been there, something that wasn't supposed to be there. She had felt angry and scared. And then came the pain. Shearing pain that originated in her upper arm and almost instantaneously erupted into the rest of her body as if it she were on fire from the inside, quickly burning, burning…
Clary woke with a gasp, sitting up so quickly her head swam. A thin blanket fell off her chest, and it only took a moment to recognize the softness beneath her. She was sitting on a comfortable, wide bed, in a room painted a soft, creamy yellow. She didn't recognize it and for a moment she panicked, brain kicking into overdrive.
She threw the blanket the rest of the way off of her and made to get out of the bed frantically. She needed to know where she was and who she was with but before she could leave the bed, strong arms pushed back onto it, in a laying position. Terrified at the unknown entity, she struggled viciously, kicking and scratching at the figure.
"Ow! Dammit Clary, knock it off!" Clary froze. She knew that voice, had known it for years. She forced herself to relax and actually look at the man who was holding her down. Dark brown hair, mussed slightly, large brown eyes, light skin. Several large scratches marred his cheek although they were already fading to pink before her eyes.
"Simon? Wha – where, where am I?" Clary settled back onto the bed reluctantly, still weary at being in an unknown place.
"Magnus and Alec's place. Don't ask me where the paint job came from, I don't have a clue, but it's one of the spare rooms. After you got hurt, Jace and Alec brought you here. We didn't know when or if you would wake up, Magnus didn't know if he got the poison out in time, you know? Anyway, Jace, Alec, and Isabelle are at some sort of Clave meeting. They've been having them all week, since the demon hybrid escaped." Clary winced at the thought of the child. She remembered seeing it now, cradled against the demon as if it were truly a mother and child and not two disgusting abominations. She hated that it had gotten away and worse, that it was quite possibly her fault.
"And I don't know where Magnus went," Simon continued, pulling Clary out of her thoughts. "He hasn't been around much since he took the poison out of you and said we all had to wait, so it was just me on body patrol. Guess it's just luck that I get to be the one you gouge, huh?"
"Body patrol?" Clary asked incredulously, not knowing if she should laugh or kick him. She was relieved to find herself in a familiar place at all, though the Angel knew why Magnus decided to go for a complete room redecorating while she was unconscious. Still, being referred to as body patrol tended to hit a sore spot no matter what.
Simon had the decency to look sheepish. "Well, like I said, Magnus didn't know if you were coming back. You were hit with some pretty nasty stuff, by the time Jace and Alec got you here your heart had almost stopped and you weren't breathing. You've been out without even a twitch of a pinky for a week. It was pretty terrifying, really. Even Magnus was pretty off the wall about it. Kept pacing all around like crazy. And I'd be damned if Alec didn't look near tears for at least some of it. Jace wasn't even his usual jackass self. You know how shaken up he has to be if he doesn't even have an asinine comment saved up. Isabelle was pretty beat up too. Almost as bad as when Max died. Your mom's been on a rampage but that's to be expected. She'd be here, but the Clave seems to have adopted her as some sort of connoisseur of demon-hybrid babies. All in all, it's been a rough week."
Clary sat quietly for several minutes, letting it all sink in. She couldn't believe she'd been out that long or that she'd almost been killed, again. Nor could she believe how torn up everyone seemed to be about it – Jace and her mother she could understand, and she knew Magnus was rather soft at heart, and she had heard about some of what Isabelle's father had said to her, but Alec surprised her. Their relationship wasn't as rocky as it had first been, meaning of course that he wasn't constantly glaring at her, but they weren't close – at least not close enough that she thought he would cry because she was unconscious. And he had been acting weird before that too, snapping at her like he had. It had all been very strange.
"Earth to Clary? Calling all Clarys? Clary phone home?" Simon's incessant talking broke her out of her thoughts and she turned back towards him. "Oh, now you notice me?" he huffed jokingly and Clary smiled despite herself. She was glad it was Simon who was here when she woke up. Good old Simon that, no matter what, would always be able to make her crack a smile. "Oh. That's a smile there, you out of whatever hell you were thinking in then? That's good, because I have an idea for some fun."
Clary looked at him suspiciously, slowly sitting up. Now the adrenaline of fear had rushed out of her, she realized she was quite sore in places, a distinctly unpleasant feeling. "Fun?"
"Yeah. I mean, this is the first time we've been alone in Magnus and Alec's apartment isn't? And neither will be back for a while, they never are. Why don't we go poke around, see their skeletons in the closet, huh? It'd be fun. I've always wanted to know what kind of china an immortal kept, you know, for special guests."
Clary snorted. "You are out of your mind, you know that? There is no way in hell I'm going to go poking around Alec and Magnus's stuff. They'd kill me. Plus, the stuff is probably booby trapped a mile high. There is no way in hell I'm going to explain some random defect to everyone because you needed to satisfy your curiosity. Uh-uh."
"Don't be like that. Come on, just one room. Just the living room. Poke around in the drawers and stuff. Harmless really, what's the worst that could happen?"
Clary bit her lip, contemplating. She was curious as to what type of magical artifacts Magnus might keep in his living room cabinets. "Fine, what's the worst, right?" Simon grinned and helped her gently off the bed. Clary winced at the soreness of her body but managed on her feet alright, taking small steps with Simon's arm around her waist until they'd made it to the living room.
"You sit here," Simon helped her into a brightly colored chair, "and I'll bring you anything interesting. But you got to stay here, I told Magnus if you woke I wouldn't let you move too much."Clary rolled her eyes but didn't protest.
She watched quietly as Simon shuffled through the drawers lined against the wall for several moments before boredom took over and she started looking around the room. It was the same bright slapdash of colors she remembered, and yet it seemed different. Clary couldn't place it but it just felt different than it had before. The whole house did, really.
Clary stared at the couch as she thought, listening to the quiet shuffling beside her, when something small and bright caught her eye under the couch. Glancing at Simon, she stood up quietly and slowly, sorely made her way to the couch. Bending down, she reached one pale hand under the couch and grasped the surprisingly soft thing.
She pulled it out and held it up, shocked. Why would Alec and Magnus have this in their apartment? "Hey Simon?" She kept her eye on the strange object as Simon grumbled about women not listening and walked over. "Is this the kind of thing you're looking for?" She asked handing the offensive object towards him. Simon's eyes widened. "Why the hell do Alec and Magnus have a stuffed lion?" Clary asked, not really expecting an answer.
"No idea. We should put it back though," Simon answered. Clary looked up, surprised at his suddenly abrasive demeanor. Simon's face was masked, a look of carefully crafted indifference he must have learned from the Shadow Hunters. He had never been able to hide much before. Still, he was Clary's best friend and she could tell when he knew something.
"Why the hurry? Don't you want to find out why Magnus and Alec have a baby's toy?" She asked, sliding the small lion away from her friend.
"Not really. Their business you know? Let's just put it back and get you back to bed. I brought a couple of the new volumes of the manga you like." Simon made to grab the toy but Clary held it close. To grab it from her would most likely hurt her, and she knew Simon wouldn't risk something like that. She glared.
"What's up Simon? You're acting weird now. Do you know why they'd have something like this? Because unless Alec has a secret plush collection, the only reason a couple has toys like this is if they have a child, and that's impossible."
"I really don't want to know that Alec has a secret plush collection. A teenage boy would kill to keep something like that hidden, and I'd rather not get killed for Stuffy the Cowardly lion over there." Simon had returned to his normal, sarcastic demeanor and Clary was halfway convinced when the door opened and they both froze.
"Hello? Any bloodsuckers in here? Simon?" Magnus's voice rang out, surprisingly cheerful. Simon hastened for the lion but it was too late, Magnus was in the room before he could hide it under the couch again.
For a moment, Magnus didn't see the lion, surprised as he was to see Clary up and about but the moment Simon made to stash it, his eyes flashed towards him. For a moment, Magnus was still, eyes wide and Clary was surprised to see the hint of fear that crossed his face. It was gone in an instant though, replaced with a face erased of all emotions.
"Where did you get that?" He asked, voice deceivingly calm. Clary and Simon looked towards each other, each debating what to do.
"It was under the couch, in clear sight. Anyone could have found it," Clary said finally. "And besides, I think there's another question to be answered here," she continued, feeling braver than she actually was. Magnus had rarely ever scared her before but she could freely admit how terrifying he could be, towering over her as he did. Especially when he was looking at her like that.
"Oh?" he replied, arching a single brow, "What exactly is more pressing than to find out what you two children are doing, looking through my apartment?"
Clary steeled herself, feeling Simon tense beside her, one hand pressing on her shoulder, warning her to stop. "Why do you and Alec have something for a baby in your apartment?"
Hey, so I'm starting college classes tomorrow (kind of scary) but I'm going to try and update more frequently then I have been. Anyway, I really hoped you liked the chapter (it kind of sets the ball rolling for the rest of the story) and once again a great big thank you for A Really Gay Spider for helping so much with the betaing and ideas. Thank you for reading and I'll try to update again soon.