Disclaimer: I am not Cassandra Clare, the author, and I most certainly do not own the Mortal Instruments or the universe it is based on. This is my personal take on CoHF, and this has not been approved in any way by Clare.

I don't know how many of you are extreme Malec fans, because if you aren't then you might find this chapter very boring.

Because there's a lot of Malec :)

IV ~•o•o•~ Envy ~•o•o•~ IV

"What have you done to her?" Jace yelled in fury.

"Nothing much," Sebastian said while caressing Isabelle's cheek and brushing away loose strands of hair. "Like Clary said, she's just being obedient."

"The rune is forcing her to be obedient," Clary elucidated seethingly. "None of this acquiescence is of her own free will."

"That is true," Sebastian mused dully. "However she is not possessed, not completely. No rune in the Gray Book allows one to control another's body."

"But you controlled Jace before," Clary countered.

"I didn't draw the rune. Lilith did - she was the one who established the connection between me and Jace. The rune itself was demonic," Sebastian explained. "As for Isabelle, I was forced to settle with the obedience rune, since my stele refused to draw something as evil as Lilith's possession rune. Now, Isabelle's body moves of its own accord; Isabelle has no control over it when I compel from her an action. At my command, her mouth will speak the words I desire her to enunciate, and her hands will strangle the ones I wish dead. Though inside, her soul remains to be in her possession. For example right now, inwardly, she might be calling me names that are highly derogatory, but since I forbade her from speaking against me, she keeps her curses to herself." Sebastian paused. "If she leaves my presence, she will assume her old self again, regaining full control of her body. When I was with Jace, I could feel him; our connection was tangible. But with Isabelle, I don't feel anything. She's just as connected to me as any of my other servants. We aren't connected in any way, shape, or form."

It took a while for Jace to take everything in. Until now, he didn't even know such a dark rune existed in the Gray Book. Neither did Clary, Jace assumed.

But it made sense. When Isabelle first returned home, covered in lash marks, she was crying her heart out. Jace wasn't saying that Isabelle didn't cry, but Isabelle was the type of person who would stand her ground in the face of death. It was so unlike her.

Then when she interrupted him and Clary, she was back to herself, perchance even more aggressive than before. Jace also noticed she was grumpier than usual towards Clary.

If she leaves my presence, she will assume her old self again, regaining full control of her body.

No, Jace thought. Isabelle was free of Sebastian's control whenever she was away from him, that was true, but she wasn't exactly "her old self" either. She was traumatized. To her, being under Sebastian's possession was worse than death.

Clary screamed, "Why have you done this? Of what use is Isabelle to you?"

"Calm down, sister. You're talking to me as if I just killed her."

"You gave her a punishment worse than death, so don't speak as if you were being merciful," Jace seethed.

Sebastian guffawed. "This isn't her punishment. It is yours. You defied me, thus this is the price. So don't glare at me like this is entirely my fault, because you know you brought this onto yourselves. This is only the beginning, Jonathan Herondale." Jace flinched. Sebastian rarely called him by his real name. "Later on, you'll look back to this moment and laugh at yourself for overreacting over such a trivial matter. Isabelle Lightwood was just the first. I will first get rid of the Conclaves and Enclaves, then I will ride up to Alicante and take down the Clave."

"Then you'll declare war against Heaven," Jace continued caustically.

"Perhaps."

Jace raised his eyebrows. "You know you cannot fight against the right hand of God."

"I was being sarcastic, Jace."

"You..." Clary began to stutter.

Sebastian frowned. "Yes, sister? Found your voice again?"

Clary's face was so hot with ire it was perceptible to Jace. "You don't have to do this."

"Do what?"

"If your targets are Jace and I, then just get us already! You don't have to protract everything and sabotage everyone else!" Clary's voice cracked as she spoke. "You sadistic little bastard. You're even worse than Valentine was. Valentine wanted to reform the Clave and banish the Downworlders; you want to rule the world and smother the light in things. You even advocate demons!"

Jace put his arm on Clary's shoulder comfortingly. "Clary, there's no point in raving. Do you want to kill him, or shall I?"

"I think Isabelle should be the one to do the deed."

Jace was about to argue that time was ticking away and if they didn't end Sebastian now, they might not be ever able to, when Clary whisked out her stele and started drawing on the ground.

Jace started, "Clary, what -" He was cut off by the sight of another familiar rune. It was what Clary sketched on Valentine's boat that blew it into smithereens. Jace's choked back a gasp - he wasn't sure what he ought to be feeling. Relief? Trepidation?

"Clary, no," he warned, but knowing Clary and her way of detaching from the world, he knew she couldn't hear him. Jace bent down and shook her violently, but her resolve to draw was too strong. "Clary!"

Jace looked up and saw Sebastian frowning. "What is she doing?"

"Ending your life," Jace growled.

"Really? As she vandalizes my expensive marble, I'm supposed to languish and die? How interesting."

Jace glared at him. Sarcasm wasn't what he was expecting from Sebastian at a time like this. He looked down and saw Clary rising up, the rune corroding the marble underneath it before her.

"It's done," Clary announced triumphantly, much to Jace's horror.

Without hesitation, Jace grabbed Clary by the arm and made a beeline for the door as the walls of the room caved in behind them.

From the back, he heard a scream that unquestionably belonged to Sebastian. "I'll be back," Sebastian sounded through the threshold.

Unable to control himself, Alec blurted spitefully, "Have you come to deliver my death?"

Magnus took a step back in surprise. "What?"

"You heard me. Have you come to kill me?" Alec reiterated. "Or have you come to watch me die?"

Magnus ignored and proceeded to unchain him, but Alec did his best to move away from Magnus' hands. "Alexander -"

"I told you not to address me by that anymore."

Magnus waved Alec's interjection away. "We don't have much time. Do you really want to fight now, or can I get you out of here first?"

Alec's face boiled with rage. Although part of him did want Magnus to get them out as soon as possible, another part of him wanted answers more. Allowing the latter to dominate his conscience, he asked, "Why did you come back to save me when you were so bent on disappearing off the face of this earth?"

"You know the answer to that," Magnus replied.

"No I don't," Alec snapped. "I want to hear it from you."

"Alexander -"

"I said, stop calling me that!" Alec screamed. He wasn't precisely sure why he was acting this way; he should have been happy that Magnus had come to his rescue, but instead all he wanted to do was let out all the apprehension he had kept to himself for days. "Stop calling me Alexander, stop sighing, stop evading my questions, just stop everything!"

Alec added afterwards in a soft voice, "Everything except for answering."

"Alec, after I get you out of here, I swear by the Angel I'll tell you everything you want. Please, let me help you," Magnus implored.

Alec heard Simon sigh dramatically. "Just accept his help and so we can get out of here," he said.

"Oh, not you, Sherlock," Magnus jabbed a finger accusingly at Simon. "I only came here for my boyfriend."

"Your ex-boyfriend," Alec corrected him harshly. Alec stole at glance at a terrified Simon and told Magnus, "Fine. Get us out. Simon included."

Magnus exhaled reprovingly and began to work on Alec's shackles. After his hands were free, Alec shoved Magnus towards Simon to ensure that he wouldn't default on his promise. Rolling his eyes, Magnus worked on the blessed metal that constrained Simon and set him free. After that, Magnus strolled over to a wall and began chanting a spell Alec knew very well.

"It won't work," Alec uttered. "There are enchantments -"

To Alec's surprise, Magnus' magic succeeded in opening a Portal.

"I tore the enchantments down. Hop in," Magnus spoke with a grin.

All of a sudden, the cavern shook, as if there was an earthquake approaching. Soil and gravel started to fall from the ceiling, descending at increasing speeds. Alec jumped around, dodging loose rocks, consequently moving closer to the entrance of the cavern.

"Go!" Alec saw Magnus usher Simon into the Portal, then frantically looked around for Alec. "Alec!" Magnus cried in despondence. "Alec! Where are you?"

Taking the falling detritus into consideration, Alec decided to abandon his obduracy for a while. Making his way towards the Portal, he yelled to Magnus in reply, "I'm coming!"

Moving with the agility of a true Shadowhunter, Alec glided across the room and was about to reach Magnus when a large boulder unlatched itself from the top. Despite his Nephilim blood, Alec knew that he couldn't withstand a million pound rock on his shoulders, nor could he outrun a stone crashing down at the speed of lightning. Bracing himself for death, Alec closed his eyes.

In lieu of the sky smashing down on him, a blizzard of powdered rock clouded Alec's body, fogging his vision when he did pull his eyelids open. After the mass of debris had cleared, Alec felt a pair of hands grapple his back and pull him towards the blue haze that once was Alec's destination.

Then the force of the Portal threatened to jerk his insides out.

Alec blinked, his eyes adjusting to the bright light above.

"Where am I?" Alec said to no one in particular.

"My loft," Magnus' reply came from beside him. "Back in Greenpoint Avenue."

"How did I get here?"

Magnus frowned. "You Portaled back here, remember?"

"Not really," Alec tried to get up but a sharp pang pained his head. "Ow -"

"I think you may have a concussion," Magnus deduced. At Alec's confused expression, he added, "Right, I forgot you Nephilim don't use Mundane terms. Whatever, lay down, I'll heal you."

Alec did as he was told. He watched as Magnus produced a spellbook - no, not just any spellbook. It was the famous Book of White. However, when Magnus' hands approached Alec's shoulders, Alec cringed away.

"Alec?" Magnus inquired worriedly.

"You stopped calling me Alexander," Alec noticed.

"You told me to."

"I didn't think you'd listen."

Magnus sighed noisily. "Of course I'd listen. I listen to everything you say."

The rage that boiled inside Alec back in the cave resurfaced. "Oh yeah? You didn't seem to listen to me when I apologized repeatedly on the day you broke up with me."

"I did listen. I just chose to ignore the meaning behind it all," Magnus responded.

"And exactly why did you do that?"

"Because it hurt too much to think that the person I loved most in the world couldn't trust me. Alec, I love you. I know that in the letter I gave you I told you blatantly that I didn't care anymore, but that's not true. I said it for your own good, and for mine. I knew I couldn't bring myself to be with you again, and I didn't want you to spend the rest of your life mourning me. I wanted you to move on."

"And you just couldn't have written the letter a bit more nicely?" Alec grumbled sarcastically. "Do you have any idea what I've been through for the past few days? I've been camping outside your loft - oh, and thanks so much for making it unseeable, I've been humiliated by your neighbors, I haven't been eating, haven't been sleeping, I forget to arm myself when I'm faced with demons and Dark Nephilim, then I get kidnapped -"

"Then you get rescued. By me." Magnus grinned, putting his hands on Alec's shoulder comfortingly. "I know, Alec. I've been watching you."

Alec became even more incensed. "So you've been watching me and yet you did nothing to stop me? Did you want me to die?"

"No! Why do you think I saved you?"

"Did you enjoy watching me torture myself?" Alec questioned, his voice filled with sorrow.

"No!"

"Then why? Why didn't you intervene?" Alec yelled.

"I..." Magnus stuttered.

Upset, Alec nodded his head in acknowledgement. "Do you still love me?" Alec inquired quietly.

"What do you think?"

"I don't think you do."

Magnus groaned. "Why do you have to make things so difficult for us?" he bellowed, choler finally seeping into his voice.

"Me?" Alec shrieked incredulously. "So now I'm the problem?"

Magnus glared at him for a moment, then added under his breath, "You were the one with trust issues."

Alec raised his eyebrows. "Oh? Who's not trusting me now?"

Magnus shook his head. "Fine. We both have trust issues, happy? Alec - I broke up with you because you hurt me."

"I know, and I'm sorry -"

Magnus raised his hand to cut Alec off. "Let me finish. You hurt me, and I wanted to hurt you back - I know it was very immature and irrational of me, but I wanted to. I still love you, Alec, that hasn't changed - and it never will. And after you almost dying, I saw the extent you were willing to go to to get me back -"

"Cut to the chase, Magnus," Alec interrupted. "I don't want to hear your dulcet explanations."

Magnus sighed. "The point is, I'm ready to forgive you. If only you're ready to take me back."

Alec stared at Magnus in disbelief. So 10 days of starving and depriving himself of sleep and 2 hours of being chained to a wall has evoked Magnus' sympathy? Alec felt indignant. Alec didn't do all those things because he wanted attention - he did them out of despair and longing.

Alec's blue eyes met Magnus' expectant cat-eyes. "Give me some time," Alec finally choked out.

Magnus smiled. "You have all of my time at your expense, Alexander." His tone turned suddenly serious. "Now let me heal you, for the Angel's sake."

This time Alec complied.

Magnus chanted, "Luctus a beata mens mergunt -"

"Magnus?" Alec interrupted.

Magnus opened his eyes. "Yes?"

For the first time in 2 weeks, Alec took in every beautiful shape of Magnus' face. His eyes, his nose, his mouth, his furrowed eyebrows...

Forgetting what he was about to say, Alec simply responded, "Nothing."

"Well, don't interrupt my incantation for nothing. Spells can go horribly wrong," Magnus snapped and closed his eyes again in concentration. "Sollicitudine animi dubius mergit -"

"Magnus?"

Magnus sighed in exasperation. "Yes, Alexander? What you're about to say had better be worth the interjection."

"I don't want you to heal me. I can iratze myself without difficulty."

Magnus took a step back, unknowingly taking his hands off Alec. "Alec, I know you don't exactly want my help, but we're beyond that."

Alec shook his head. "It's not that. I just want to heal myself, is that too much to ask for? I want to do something for myself, to hold on to whatever dignity I have left. I don't want my boyfriend to be bandaging my paper cuts every time I get one. I'm perfectly capable of taking care of myself, thank you."

Alec's hand delved into his pocket, only to find empty air. Alec cursed under his breath.

"I forgot my stele," Alec admitted. "Fine, you win. Heal me."

Magnus smiled. "If you really do want to heal yourself, I have a spare stele in my bedroom. I'll get it right now."

"Since when did you have a stele?" Alec questioned but Magnus was already out of earshot.

When Magnus returned, he handed the stele to Alec courteously. "You brought it here, remember? Apparently you forgot to take it home when you came and got your stuff."

"Right," Alec muttered. He hated being outsmarted by people, especially by Magnus. Alec had always wanted to be the head of their relationship, but since Magnus always seemed to make the better decisions, Alec had allowed him to take the lead. Every time I make a decision, something goes awry, Alec added to himself.

Alec hastily drew an iratze on his head, then on his bloodied wrists where he struggled against his chains.

"Much better," Alec remarked as the throbbing pain in his head receded.

Magnus pulled a chair over and sat next to Alec's bed, placing his hand on his. "I care about you."

Alec blushed, but didn't wince. He whispered in reply, "I know."

"Do you -" Magnus stopped, as if searching for the right words to say. "- care about me?"

Alec became even redder and if it weren't for Magnus' consoling hand on his, he would have trembled. Alec didn't know what to say; part of him screamed "Yes!" but another part of him still felt aggrieved at Magnus.

Magnus' eyebrows scrunched together. "Alec?" he asked anxiously.

At a loss for words, Alec just stared at him. It wasn't a death-glare, but it wasn't exactly a compassionate look either.

Magnus seemed to have misunderstood the latter.

Resigned, he uttered, "I see." Then he stalked away, a blue-white glow emanating from him, leaving a trail of azure light in his wake.

"I hate him. I hate him so much," Clary cried on Jace's shoulder. "We lost so many lives last night, but in the end it was all for naught. Now we have no idea where Simon and Alec are."

"I know," Jace replied as he caressed Clary's back gently. "But at least they're not dead. I can sense that much through my parabatai connection with Alec."

Clary and Jace were sitting on the steps of the Met, with bags of food strewn all around them. Despite not having eaten for hours, Clary wasn't at all famished.

"I just don't get it. What does he want from us? Why did he have to involve Isabelle?" Clary sobbed.

"Maybe he's truly lonely," Jace proposed. "Or he could be gay. After all, my charisma is enough to twist sexuality around."

Clary scoffed rancorously. "I doubt it. The lonely part, I mean. There is no love in Sebastian. All that he is is a bottomless pit of darkness."

"Not that I'm disagreeing with you, but I think you ought to let it go. Not because he deserves it, but because you do."

Clary stared at Jace in utter disbelief. Was Jace defending the asshole who killed his brother and possessed his sister?

Jace grinned, though part of Clary knew he was just trying to hide his mistake. "Joking."

The rebellious Clary would normally force Jace to apologize for even suggesting such a despicable thing, but after so much weeping, Clary was too weary to argue.

"I'm hungry," she finally said.

"Great, because I'm about to eat this all up."

"I still don't get how you manage to stay so fit," Clary whined indignantly. "I eat a cookie and it's 200 calories down my stomach. You eat the entire bakery and your abs still show."

"When you're a Shadowhunter, staying fit doesn't require much effort," Jace stated matter-of-factly. "Of course, a lot of sex helps too."

Albeit Clary knew Jace was being sarcastic, she couldn't help but inch a bit away from him. "Do you really sleep around that much?" Clary whispered deprecatingly.

Jace's hand reached over to stroke Clary's cheek but she cringed away even further. Raising her voice, she reiterated woefully, "I said, do you really sleep around that much?"

"No," Jace answered calmy. "You know that."

He was right; she did. Maybe it was the shock of last night's events that had affected her disposition, causing her to overreact to things. "Yeah. Sorry... I guess? Okay, that just made things ten times more awkward between us," Clary said, forcing herself a smile.

"It's never awkward between us." Jace dipped down and set his forehead against Clary's. He added without much conviction in his voice, "At least, not to me."

Jace tried to move away, but Clary gripped his shirt by the collar and kissed him. This most definitely was not the first time they've ever kissed, yet every single time they touched, shocks of electricity would course through Clary. This type of feeling never gets old. Clary shoved her tongue against Jace's resistant lips, compelling him to open them. When she was granted entry, she spent a good minute or so exploring Jace's mouth, then finally stuck her tongue down his throat. Clary felt him wince; Jace's hands locked themselves around Clary, and she gripped the back of his flawless hair taut, the fingers of her other hand digging into his back, presumably leaving a good batch of scratch marks.

Suddenly, Clary's tongue felt so hot it could have melted had Clary not pulled away instantly. As she did so, she let out a moan of mixed delight and surprise without any volition on her part.

Ogling each other, Jace spoke, "Sorry. I couldn't control -"

Clary put her finger on his lips and hushed him. "It wasn't your fault. Besides, I'm sure someone would have interrupted us with a 'get a room' eventually." Tracing her finger down his neck and collarbones, she reached down and, from under his shirt, felt the muscular bumps on his abdomen.

"Earth to Clary," Jace called. "You once told me you could bear the sight of my naked chest without swooning. Seeing you in this state from simply touching my abs disproves that completely."

"Shut up," Clary snapped, smirking. "There is one thing I've been wanting to ask you though."

"By all means, ask away Clarissa."

"Why didn't you use the fire to scorch Sebastian when he was about to kill you last night?"

Jace sighed into Clary's ear. Oh God, that per se was seductive, Clary thought. "I tried. But I couldn't. No matter how hard I concentrated, I couldn't muster up the fire. He must have had some kind of protection placed on him that rendered him immune to Heaven's wrath, or the vestiges of it anyway."

Clary's hand, now smoothing out Jace's shirt, stopped moving. "How did he know about the fire?"

"He probably guessed. Sebastian is smart, Clary, I hate to say it, but he is. He is always going to be a step ahead of us."

"Then we must be two steps ahead of him."

"Now that's the spirit I've been instilling in you," Jace marveled proudly. "The only downside of it all is that it spoiled our romantic date."

Clary frowned. "Date?"

"Oh come on, you don't consider this a date?"

Clary paused. "It was a terrible date."

"Only because you made it terrible. I managed to salvage most of the fun though, so as to make it bearable."

Clary punched Jace in the stomach, though the pain she felt in her hand was probably more than the pain Jace felt in his abdomen. "Oh, shut up."

Damn it.

It has been precisely 5 hours since Magnus had walked away from Alec, and Alec still couldn't stop replaying the entire scene over and over again in his head. He remembered the look of melancholy on Magnus' face, a face that would probably be seared into the back of Alec's head for the rest of his life, and the way he moved as if all his vigor has been drained from him. He remembered Magnus' firm hand ungluing itself from Alec's shaking ones, the way his body spit fire as he walked and the way the room lit ablaze by his ire.

Finally gathering the courage to get out of bed, Alec strode across the room and went out into the corridor. He continued to move forward, until he reached the familiar expanse that was Magnus' living room. Propped atop a red sofa was Magnus, utterly absorbed in a magazine.

Alec cleared his throat and was about to speak, but his words got caught in his throat. Alec glanced towards Magnus' languorous figure, still reading as if Alec was nonexistent. Either Magnus didn't hear him, or he didn't care. Alec prayed for the former.

Taking a deep breath, Alec walked towards his beloved. "Hey," Alec greeted awkwardly, his face pointed to the floor. "So..." By the Angel, Alec scolded himself, has 8 years of being with Jace taught you nothing? Kill the nerves, get the words out, and add some wit to it!

"Well, I've decided," Alec finally managed. He glanced up to see Magnus' reaction and, much to his disappointment, saw that he was still reading, not a muscle having been moved. If Alec was still in his petulant jealous mood, he would have been infuriated. But after 5 hours of supposedly resting in solitude, Alec realized that he would have to be the one to open the door, not Magnus. Losing his patience, Alec snatched the damn magazine away and threw it into the furnace.

"Hey!" Magnus protested. "I was reading the pornography section!"

Alec raised his eyebrows. "Oh? And I'm not enough porn for you?"

"Well, we haven't been sleeping together much lately, and I do need to quench my needs, don't I?"

"No, you don't!" Alec snapped. "If you're dating me, you're dating me, and only me."

"Reading porn doesn't mean I'm dating someone else."

"But you're looking at someone else! And I only want you to look at me."

"Okay, chill out! Besides, we're broken up. You don't really get to tell me what to do or what to say anymore," Magnus said blatantly. It was the truth, the truth Alec had been crying over for the past 2 weeks, but it still hurt him to hear it come out of Magnus' mouth.

Unable to help himself, Alec wiped away a few tears using his sleeve. "Do you know why I came here?"

"To heal," Magnus intoned.

"Here! As in, this room!" Alec shrieked. "I came here to tell you I wanted to be with you again. That I wanted to be with you more than anything else in the world!"

Magnus frowned. "Wanted?"

Taking advantage of Magnus' discomposure, Alec continued raving, "Yes, wanted. I don't like this Magnus I'm seeing anymore. The Magnus I loved actually cared. He wouldn't have wanted to hurt me like this. He's gone, and this monster in front of me has taken his place."

Magnus reached for Alec's hand but Alec slapped it away. "I hate you," Alec enunciated in fury, emphasizing every syllable.

To Alec's surprise, it was a bleary voice from behind that spoke next. "What's going on here?"

Alec spinned around and saw Simon who looked like he had just woken up. Alec turned and stared at Magnus, recounting everything that he had just felt - rage, despair, desolation...

Without any volition of his own, Alec's body raced towards Simon and he crashed his lips onto his.

Please review!

Also, is there anything in particular you'd like to see happen in this story? (though I have already established the basic plot)

~SoMuchForSobriety