Clary had thought what she might say if she could talk to Ian again, if he was somehow still alive. She had let hours pass staring at the ceiling, crying for Ian, and Cole.
She had been thinking about Ian, turning the picture over in her hands. She was glad she had something to remember the exact shade of his eyes, the curve of his throat, the wavy brown hair. She would always remember what he looked like, even after years had passed, and the memory became blurry and unclear. She wished she could say the same about Cole. He had been very attractive as well, with green eyes a shade lighter than hers, and raven hair framing his face. The last image she had of him, was of him running, and then falling. She wiped tears from her eyes, guilt eating away at her.
Then Simon had barged into her room, tears falling rapidly from his eyes. There was a wild glint in his eyes, his brown hair tousled.
"Ian." He whispered. She didn't know what to say.
"Simon he-
"Cole, an Ian are in the infirmary." He said breathlessly.
No. It couldn't be true. Impossible.
"Simon, Ian and Cole are dead." She said forcefully.
"No. COME on." He said, rushing out the door, not waiting for her to follow. He knew she would.
She didn't try to hold back the tears, when she saw Cole, his chest rising and falling, and so so alive. He looked only slightly older, it had been a year. He would be twenty now, Ian nineteen. He looked up at her, and smiled faintly.
"Did you miss me?" He said. She took a step forward, and then threw her arms around him. He hugged her back, tightly.
"What the hell?" She said.
"Clary." He whispered.
Simon was standing beside her, his eyes fixed on the infirmary bed. Lying there, was Ian.
It was her Ian, with his icy blue eyes, his rich brown hair, his high cheekbones.
But he was covered in blood. Considering she had thought he wasn't even alive, this was good. He was still breathing.
"What happened?" She asked, looking over at Cole. A shadowed look passed over his eyes.
"We got in a fight." He said.
"I can't believe this." She said, half to herself.
"I know." Simon agreed, taking the empty seat beside Ian. Simon's own foot was bandaged, most likely an injury from training.
"Are you going to tell us?" Clary said.
Cole frowned.
"Tell you what?" He asked.
"What happened? Where you were for the last year? I thought you guys were dead." She said, her voice cracking near the end.
"I thought you were dead also, Clarissa." He said, sadly. He and Clary had been friends, if not more. Ian had been like her brother, like Simon was. Cole had kissed her that night. He was looking at her now.
"Your taller." He observed.
"Yeah." She said. Simon looked from one to the other, and raised his eyebrows.
"Okay. That night, we both thought we were going to die. Only, a few society members, let us go. I thought I was alone, you three were dead. I found Ian, sitting on the side of a building, hugging his knees. We all know he hated being dependent on anyone else, but he couldn't see. I found him, and we continued trying to look for the resistance. But, we both were thrown in jail for fighting the society that dreadful night. We were in there for maybe seven months. I set the place on fire, burnt it to the ground. Don't ask. me and Ian escaped, and continued our search for the resistance. We went to a few places, but we couldn't find you. We were losing hope, fast. I had started to wonder if this place was a myth. Ian too. We had to get food, so we stole some from the grocery store. We ran into some security guards, and they beat the crap out of me and Ian. The one had a wicked knife, and cut Ian in the side. He should be fine. He just needs some rest." As he talked, he ran his fingers through his long choppy dark hair, and Clary could see a long gash just below his hairline. it was a little bloody still.
This was alot to take in.
Magnus didn't see Simon and Clary until lunch, and they both looked utterly drained. Simon was colorless, and Clary looked like she ahd just been crying.
"What happened?" He asked. He, Simon and Clary were the only ones sitting at the table.
"Ian and Cole are here." Simon answered.
"I thought you said they were both dead." He said, Clary had told him the story various times, and he knew those boys were dead.
"No." Clary whispered, looking down at her untouched soup. Just then, Ragnor came over, looking less cheery than usual.
"Oh what is it Ragnor?" He asked, a little irritated.
"I won't see Daniel for at least 2 days." He said flatly, taking a bite of his lunch.
"Why?" Magnus asked, tearing his gaze away from Simon and Clary.
"Two new members today. Both need minor medical treatment." He explained. Daniel was one of the medic's at this place, or at least in training.
So the two new members were the legendary Ian and Cole.
"Wow." was all he said.
Alec had gone to lunch a bit late, and gotten a bowl of soup. He had eaten with his brother and sister, at one of the many empty tables in the lunch room. There were also two other people there, sitting at a table near them. Alec assumed they were the two newcomers, everyone had been talking about. The taller boy with raven hair stood up, and grabbed his friend's arm. The tall boy carried both tray's. Alec realized the other boy must have been blind. He went to return his bowl as well. He spun around, and bumped into someone tall, and very skinny. He looked up from his feet, and stared into furious green eyes.
"Watch out. " He said, then his mouth formed an o.
"Oh god." He whispered, his hand over his mouth.
"What?" Alec said more sharply than he had intended.
"Lightwood." He whispered.
Pain exploded where Cole's fist connected with his jaw. Alec dropped the bowl, and it shattered into dozens of white glass pieces. His hand was bleeding, where the falling glass had cut him. He straightened, and Cole was cursing under his breath.
"I'm so sorry." He said. He was looking at Alec strangely.
"Wha- what!" Alec stuttered angrily. He clenched his hands into fists at his sides.
"I recognize you, with the split lip. Your the one who saved Ian." He said, quietly.
"Then why did you just hit me!" He shouted. Jace and Isabelle were looking at the three boys. Jace sprang to his feet, and went to stand beside Alec.
"Woah. What happened to you?" He said, looking at Alec, then Cole.
"Nothing." He said through gritted teeth, bending over to pick up the broken glass.
Magnus had walked into the room he now shared with Alec, and found him laying on his bed, looking at the ceiling. He was pressing an ice pack to his jaw, with a bandaged hand. He couldn't have possibly done this to himself while training. Magnus saw a nasty bruise where the ice pack didn't quite cover.
"What happened to you?" He said, anger bubbling up inside of him.
"The perks of being a lightwood." He said, then sighed.
"What!" He gasped.
"Yeah. Apparently the new guy doesn't like me much." He replied, looking at the ceiling.
"Ian?" He said with surprise.
"I don't know which one is Ian." Alec said.
"Ian had brown hair, and Ice blue eyes." He said, remembering the photograph of the boy, who Clary talked about so much.
"No, it was the other guy." Alec said, after a pause.
"Cole?" Magnus said.
"Yep." Alec answered.
"I'm sorry Alec." Magnus apologized.
"It not your fault." Alec said wearily.
"Why did he do it?" Magnus asked.
"I bumped into him, he sneered lightwood at me, then threw a punch. I dropped by soup bowl, slashed my hand, and my knee. Gonna have a nice bruise and split lip." He said simply.
Alec didn't deserve this.
No one did.