CHAPTER 2: REDHEAD'S GOT A HOTHEAD
[S1E1 The Mortal Cup (Part II)]

By the time they had made it to Pandemonium, they were running a little behind the schedule Alec wanted to follow. Jace bumped into someone, a redhead, and the three others decided to leave him be as they walked towards the nightclub. They waited at the entrance for Jace, who was clearly taking longer than Alec desired. "Jace!" he called out, hurrying him into the club.

They found the demon quickly, seeing him shift into the body of a tall brunette in a tight, hot pink dress. Jace took the lead, following the demon with Izzy, Margo, and Alec hot on his heels, in that order. Margo felt Alec's hand rest on the small of her back so as not to lose her inside the packed club.

Izzy glanced back at the two, getting a thumbs-up from Margo for the blonde (platinum) wig she wore. After turning back, Margo looked up at Alec, whose chest was pressed against her back. "Why don't we ever come to clubs to actually dance?" she asked aloud.

He shook his head, wearing his game-face, or as Margo liked to call it: his "resting bitch face." At first she thought he hadn't heard her, but then he took hold of her hand, pressing a kiss to the back of it. "Next time, promise," he said.

The foursome entered a private space in the club, Jace pulling the curtains as they entered, ensuring privacy.

"Izzy," Jace started. She nodded her head, making her way up to the podium and slipping out of her jacket. She pulled off her wig, dancing slowly and pulling the demons around her in a trance. They were too occupied with watching Izzy's body to notice Jace walk up to the demon as Alec and Margo took their places a few feet away. Alec rested against a pillar, pulling Margo to his body. The girl crossed her arms, watching as Jace conversed with the demon.

She heard him mumble, "Last chance," before his seraph blade came out to play.

The redhead from earlier, the one who had bumped into Jace, was suddenly in the room with them, screeching at the demon, "Watch out!"

She pushed the demon out of the way just before Jace did the same to her. The demon's true form exposed itself as it launched itself at Jace. Whilst Izzy used her electric whip to manage the demons near her, Alec and Margo fought those around them using their own seraph blades. Roars and grunts and growls filled the room.

By the time the fighting had stopped and all that remained were the four Shadowhunters, the redhead escaped the room, clearly in a panicked state. "Should we go after her?" Margo questioned as she neared Alec, letting him grab her face in his hands and check her body for any wounds.

Jace shrugged, letting his friends go back to the Institute while he followed the girl, ensuring her safety.

Margo couldn't jump faster at the offer, having had enough physical activity for one night.

Once they made it back to the Institute, they all managed to find their way to the kitchen, grabbing two tubs of ice cream, and then to a recreational den, where the three rested up until Jace came back. Because he was outnumbered 2 to 1, the three Shadowhunters ended up watching Project Runway, Isabelle and Margo's favorite pastime.

As the minutes passed, Margo became tired, leaning against Alec, who sat to her right. His arm wrapped around her as Izzy laid down on Margo's left side, resting her legs on her parabatai's lap. Margo fell asleep soon after the three had shared two tubs of ice cream between themselves. The Lightwood siblings were in the middle of their fourth episode when they heard Jace come home.

Whilst Izzy found it easy to slip away from the couch, Margo was practically laying on top of Alec. The two siblings made eye-contact and silently approved of the plan that Isabelle would go check up on Jace whilst Alec would stay with Margo.

Almost an hour later, he woke her up, wanting to get her into her comfortable bed rather than sleep down here. "Mango, come on." He gently shook her, watching as her eyes fluttered open and she softly smiled up at the handsome face in front of her.

Her hand came up to cup his cheek. "Alec, you're cute," she bluntly stated, still half-asleep, before standing up and letting him grab hold of her hand. "But I hate you for waking me up," she finished off, allowing him to lead her to her room.

On the way, they passed by a medical room, where they heard Isabelle and an unknown voice. Margo's eyes squinted, wondering who the stranger could be. Just as she pulled Alec into the room, Jace entered behind them.

"All I know is some psychos took my mother, and now you people have taken me." Upon entering the room, Margo matched the voice to the face of the redhead at the club. They just couldn't shake her, could they?

The sleepiness in Margo's voice could be heard as she responded, gripping tightly onto Alec's hand. "And by taken, I assume you mean saved your life?"

"A mundane shouldn't even be here," Alec said from beside her. Margo hummed in agreement.

"Where is here, exactly?" the redhead asked angrily. It was an appropriate reaction for someone who wasn't aware of the surroundings or people.

"Oh, redhead's got a hot head," I commented playfully, high-fiving Izzy for the play on words.

Jace ignored her, turning to the couple in front of him. "She's not a mundane, Alec."

"How do you know that?"

He pointed at the girl. "Because the seraph blade lit up when she touched it." He turned to the younger Lightwood, who was sitting by the redhead's feet. "Look, Isabelle, can you..." She nodded, standing up and letting Jace take her place.

He sighed as he looked at the mundane. "I'm Jace Wayland," he introduced.

Margo let a yawn escape her lips as she started at the mundane. Alec noticed and rubbed her side softly, calming her back to an almost sleep trance. She was hesitant to respond. "I'm uh-"

Jace cut her off. "Clary Fray. We know who you are."

So, the redhead had a name. Suited her.

"I didn't know who she was," Margo mumbled from beside Alec, a pout set on her lips.

He found it extremely adorable and couldn't resist the urge to kiss her forehead, pulling her closer to him. He caught Clary looking and shifted his feet, letting Margo wrap her arm around his torso. "Am I the only one who finds this unusual?" He turned to Jace.

"You find everything unusual, Alec."

"I have to report this to the Clave," his parabatai announced.

Jace sighed, irritated. "You know what? Dial it down a notch."

Isabelle, who sat on a couch beside the bed spoke up. "My brother doesn't have a dial." This made Margo snort. "I love you, Alec, but you have a switch that's always on."

Alec glanced at her. "I love you, too." Margo stared up at him, nudging him. He added on, "You too, Mango. But this just-"

"Hey, you know what?" Jace seemed to be doing a lot of cutting off today. "Give me a minute. Here's a word you never hear me say: Please?"

Alec glanced between Jace and Clary. He sighed. "What is with you?" Margo looked over at Isabelle and the two had an unspoken agreement. The younger Lightwood sibling stood up, walking up to Alec and Margo. "Really, no, what is with him?"

Margo grabbed hold of Alec's hand as Izzy linked arms with him. "Walk with us, big brother. We'll explain it to you."

As the three exited the room, Alec spoke up. "We don't know this girl. There's no such thing as new Shadowhunters."

"Maybe there is now," Margo suggested.

He frowned. "You don't find that strange?"

Isabelle chuckled, stopping the three of them and standing in front of the couple. "What I find strange is that you're so upset. Maybe you're upset by the way Jace is looking at her, that he took action." Alec rolled his eyes, suddenly understanding that Isabelle was referring to Margo. "You know, you should be happy that Jace is interested in someone other than himself."

Margo chuckled, "Yeah, Alec, at least someone around here is getting some action."

"Oh, please," Isabelle stated, "You two are as close to getting some action as it gets."

Margo rolled her eyes at Isabelle, looking up at Alec as he continued. His reply made the playful smile on both the girls' faces drop. "Maybe I'm pissed that she ruined the mission. We never found out who's buying the blood. That was our one job."

He took a glance behind Isabelle, to the room they had just left Jace and Clary in, and huffed, walking away to his room. Margo and Isabelle sighed, looking at each other.

Both knew that Alec took the missions very seriously, probably more seriously than his three companions all did together. Therefore, it was also easy to assume he took it the hardest when they failed. It wasn't often but when it did happen, Alec would need some time by himself before either Margo or Isabelle went up to his room to console him.

Usually, it was Margo. She would make her way up to his room and stay up the whole night, talking with the handsome Lightwood. Then, they would fall asleep, wake up, and try not to mention the night before.

If there was one thing Alec Lightwood hated, it was coming off as weak. He wasn't ever like this around his parents or strangers but when it came to his two best friends and his sister, there was a sense of understanding. They were all in this together, through thick and thin; they all had the same experiences so they all understood.

There were times when Margo or Isabelle or even Jace would have such moments. They would lock themselves in their rooms for a while before dealing with their stress in different ways. Margo usually talked with Jace about it, mostly cause Alec wasn't very much into the whole talking about feelings thing. Isabelle would usually talk to Margo about it and Jace rarely talked to any of them about it. He would eat, nap, and after a while, he just let it go.

"I'll take this one," Margo said before Isabelle could offer. Her best friend nodded before wandering off to her own room. Margo let out another yawn, never realizing just how tired she was until she made her way into the kitchen, grabbed a jar full of peanut butter. They didn't need utensils - her and Alec were savages when it came to peanut butter.

Her feet were in front of Alec's door soon after and she knocked twice before hastily entering.

There he sat, Alexander Lightwood, in a pair of sweatpants and nothing else, laying atop his bed, with his nose stuck in a book.

Margo took a few seconds to admire the view - all her hot fantasies featuring Alec always started like this - before shaking her head of unspeakable thoughts.

She made her way over to his bed, sitting down beside Alec and wordlessly opening the jar and waiting for him to stick his finger inside so she could follow suit.

He did so after placing his book on his nightstand. "You okay?" she asked after a few moments of silence. Alec shrugged. "Look, I know this is important to you, Alec. We'll figure something out."

He frowned. "Will we? Because we had a perfectly good chance until that little girl ruined everything!" It was more than clear that Alec was not fond of Clary.

"Babe, I know," she soothed, trying to comfort him by drawing circles a little too close to his v-line.

"We can't keep her."

Margo laughed softly. "She's not a dog, Alec. We can't just talk about her like we can get rid of her. Jace obviously sees something in this girl. When was the last time you saw him interested in something that wasn't his reflection? Maybe we should give her a chance."

"Go, you don't understand," Alec protested, "I have a bad feeling about her. She's already caused so much trouble in the few hours we've known her."

She moved herself closer to Alec, letting their limbs tangle as they both laid down. "Do you remember when we first met?"

He scoffed, almost as if the rhetorical question was offensive. "Of course I do."

"Then you remember that during my first few weeks here, I did nothing but cause trouble and have tantrums. She's not too different from me."

Alec was quick to defend her. "She's nothing like you, Margo." He moved his lips to her body, placing soft kisses down her neck. "She could never be."

They spent the rest of the night laying in Alec's bed, recalling memories from their youth, and just before the clock struck 2 am, the pair could be found asleep in Alec's bed, wrapped up in each other.