A/N: Sorry about the delay. I got distracted by some other stuff, but I'm back on task now! I'm actually kinda excited because the next chapter is where the action is super gonna pick up. Also, just to let you all know, I now have separate accounts for my non-smut and smut fics. If you go to my profile/author page, you can read more about it there, and find a link to the other account. Thanks!
"Don't." Isabelle gently, but firmly places her pale hand on Simon's shoulder as he moves to follow Clary. She'd just stormed out of the club after grabbing her clutch from Isabelle, angry that Simon didn't want to leave with her. "After what she did, you don't owe her a thing. It was a total dick move."
"Yeah… I guess so." He's still staring at the door his best friend stomped furiously through. Isabelle's lips purse sympathetically.
"Hey. Look at me." He turns his head, surprised at the forcefulness of her tone. Her dark eyes melt his as they sparkle enticingly. She smells like a rich vanilla cream laced with a hint of sweet citrus, maybe even a citrusy floral scent like gardenias. Whatever it is, he can't quite put his finger on it, but it's seductive, intoxicating, comforting, and exhilarating all at once. Her painted lips shimmer invitingly at him when she leans in close. For a moment, he manages to forget all about Clary.
"She's a foolish girl who can't see what's right in front of her face. She doesn't know what she's missing." Izzy's thin hands cup Simon's tan face that's slowly beginning to redden and she rakes her fingers over his cheeks and jaw, letting her thumbs run over his lips tantalizingly. His expression is almost as stricken as it was when Clary was grinding on him, but since it's the incredibly flirtatious and forward Isabelle Lightwood, he's less surprised. It's more so that she's flirting so forwardly with him that he finds surprising. He always assumes she's just messing with him or doing it to irritate someone, but there's no one else around to make uncomfortable, and she definitely seems like she's being serious. Is she actually…?
The raven haired Shadowhunter downs the rest of her drink, stands, and offers Simon an outstretched palm for him to take. He finishes his drink as well and takes her hand in his. She wastes no time leading him to the dance floor. Simon can feel himself trembling a little with anxiety.
First Clary, now Isabelle? What a night. Veryyy unfamiliar territory for one Simon Lewis.
Simon's dancing repertoire mostly consists of joke moves largely based off movies filmed in the 60s and 80s. He can do "the twist" very well. Even moonwalk. He'd entertained Clary many a time with his Jackson impersonations, but he was by no means an amazing impersonator. Or dancer to begin with. Thus, the fact that there was a type of music that would not permit him to use any of the moves he's used over the course of his life, and the thought that Isabelle might start dancing like Clary had practically paralyzes him with fear. He's not sure he can handle more of that grinding stuff.
To his immense relief, Izzy places Simon's hands on her waist as she rests her forearms on his shoulders. She starts stepping side to side and Simon realizes that they're basically slow dancing like what kids did at school dances. Okay… Cool… I can do this... This isn't so bad…
Isabelle smiles sweetly at him, which he finds odd since she typically looks so tough and menacing. She seems to have dropped her defenses at the moment, though, which is helping him to relax and really look at her for the first time. Although the lights are dim and flashing, she's beautiful. Not in her normal seductress kind of way, full of confidence and sensuality, but in a strong, capable woman who has internal strength as well as external. A woman who has fortitude of character and is truly beautiful on the inside as well as out. He can see that she's good and compassionate. That she's caring and dedicated. She's guarded and doesn't let people in easily, but she's also sweet and kind and loyal when she comes to trust you. She's a bit of a wild thing, but she loves, not just lusts. And she loves unconditionally with her whole heart.
Simon sucks in his breath, overwhelmed by Izzy for the billionth time, but in a totally different way this time. There's only ever been one girl Simon's found so breathtaking before, only one girl who has ever captivated and intimidated him so by her inner strength and beauty, and that one girl is Clary Fray, his best friend and the love of his life. But recently, things have been different. He can't help but notice that she hasn't been acting like herself.
He can hardly blame her what with finding out she's not who she thought she was, so she's probably going through some sort of identity crisis, plus everything with the cup, losing her mother, and now Jace… Freaking Jace… who is nothing but bad news. Simon can really understand why she might be acting out, but still… To take it out on him? He's only ever tried to be there for her time and time again… to be supportive… be anything and everything she wanted, even if it was killed him inside because he could never be what he wanted to be for her. But that's what you do when you love someone, right? Sacrifice what you want and how you feel to try to make them happy?
But tonight… tonight Clary made it abundantly clear how she feels about him. And this time the pain he's feeling isn't going to be so easy to ignore. Clary treated him, Simon, her alleged best friend, like her plaything. She used him to make Jace jealous with no regard for how that might make him feel. It was almost as if he'd just been some random stranger she'd plucked out of the crowd. If he hadn't have been there, that's probably what she would have done. Is that what he'd become to her? A random stranger to use when she wants and then discard when she's done? If so, maybe she's spending too much time around Jace, letting him influence her for the worse with how he treats others.
Though he'd tried getting over Clary so many times in the past, now, he didn't even care anymore. He decided that he didn't care how he felt about her, she didn't feel the same way, so why shouldn't he have a good time with a beautiful, smart, fun, powerful girl who seems to like him for him. Maybe she doesn't want anything more with him than just to have a little fun, but hell, he sure could use a little fun right now. He was tired of trying to bend over backward for someone who never even seemed to notice everything he did for her. He was tired of being the emotional support for someone who never reciprocated. He was tired of living his life for someone else, so he decided that maybe… maybe just for tonight… he'd live for himself…
Isabelle seemed to notice that Simon had made some decision as she felt his body relax under her arms. She smiled and pulled them closer together, resting her head on his shoulder. They relished the feeling of one another. As they rocked from side to side, squeezing each other tightly, the music began to pick up and their swaying movements increased in speed.
The DJ was very skilled because the song transitioned seamlessly into the next and soon, the dark-haired couple parted from each other, hands still clasped. Simon was a bit unsure about how to dance to the new beat, but Izzy helped him out by taking the lead. She seemed to sense that he'd never really danced before like this and was teaching him wordlessly. Before long, Simon had learned some basic moves and the two of them were dancing away, having a blast.
The next song was even louder and faster than the previous one and by this point, Simon was having so much fun and feeling so comfortable with the beautiful black-haired girl that he started to let loose and bust out some of his 80s moves. Izzy's giggle sounded like Christmas bells and she immediately joined him in his reenactment of the final Footloose dance scene. She'd never seen it, but she was a good sight-learner. By the end of the song, they were both panting from exertion due to the super aerobic 80s dancing.
Izzy led Simon off the floor and back to the bar asking him where he learned those moves. He confessed that they were from the 80s movie Footloose, which proceeded to spark a conversation about Footloose, 80s movies, and mundane movies in general.
"You've never seen Footloose?" Simon shouted over the music in surprise. He took a few large gulps from the water glass that had been set before him by the bartender. "That's unacceptable! What about The Breakfast Club? You've got to have seen that. It's a classic!" Isabelle just shakes her head with a smile as she sips on her water, poking the lemon wedge with a toothpick.
"Jeez. Ok, what about Star Wars. There's no way you haven't seen Star Wars. It's iconic. Everyone's seen it." When she says she hasn't, his jaw drops and he immediately stands, grabbing her by the wrist.
"Woah!" She grabs her purse from the bar as he starts dragging her toward the door. "Woah, woah, woah! Where are we going?" Simon whips around and grins at her.
"We're gonna go watch Star Wars."
I'm squinting my eyes as a bright light brings me back to consciousness. What is that? After blinking quite a few times, I start to make out my surroundings. I'm still in Luke's guest bedroom and the mid-morning sun is blazing urgently on my face. I squirm around and realize that my sketchbook and phone are still on me. Crap. I must have passed out... and slept all night… Dang.
The events of last night come crashing back down on me. I pick up the sketchbook and stare down at the drawing of my tea mug. I'm wracking my brain for an explanation, but none is coming. I'm tracing the outline lightly with my finger, and I swear I see the cup flash.A crazy idea enters my mind, but I figure everything else is so crazy right now, why not give it a go?
I set the intention in my mind, my heart racing, hoping against hope that this is going to work and I slip my hand inside the paper, closing my fingers around the mug's handle and pulling it back out of the page. My jaw drops and I can't believe my eyes. I did it! Wait, if I can do that… Is it possible?
I leap off of the bed and dash into the hall shouting for Luke. I scramble about the house, flinging open the doors to all of the rooms, but he's nowhere to be found. His truck isn't outside and there are no signs that he even came home last night. I start to wonder where he might be, but the clanging in my head overpowers my thoughts and I grab my stuff quickly from the room before racing out of the house.
I recall the rune for speed that Jace drew on me the other night and Mark myself with it as well as the invisibility glamor rune. I want the least amount of distractions possible. As I'm running down the street, I pull out my phone to try to get ahold of Luke. Nothing. I try a few more times, but when he still doesn't answer, I just leave a message. Oh well. I know who I should go to with this first anyway.
"Hodge!" I breathe a sigh of relief when I see the smartly dressed man pouring over one of the ancient tomes in the library. I was really hoping I didn't have to search the entire Institute for him because I wasn't sure where else he might be other than here and the greenhouse. I still haven't explored much else of the huge building.
"Clary?" He looks up at me in surprise. I'm out of breath, and I'm sure I look totally wild-eyed from my excited anticipation. "What's the matter? Is something wrong?"
Through my pants I struggle to assuage his alarm. He's stood from the desk and is striding towards me now, looking thoroughly concerned.
"No! Nothing's wrong! Something's right, actually! For once!"
"What do you mean, Clary? What's happened?"
"I know where the Cup is, Hodge! I know where Cup is!" I've mostly recovered myself and am standing upright now, breathing still heavy, but with excitement. Hodge's eyes bore down into mine and he grabs me by the shoulders.
"What?! How? How did you find out? Where is it? Goodness, Clary, do you know what this means?!" I beam up at him.
"Yes! That we can find my mother!" Hodge is lost in thought for a moment, but gets brought back by what I said. He looks back down at me and his intense gaze softens.
"Yes. Yes, that's right, Clary. We can find your mother." He's let go of me and is turning away.
"And we can stop Valentine from getting it, of course."
"Yes, of course." He walks back toward the desk and I follow him.
"It's at Madame Dorothea's. In one of the tarot cards my mom painted for her."
"What?" He turns to look back at me with a puzzled look on his face. I don't think anyone told him about the tarot cards. Or possibly even Madame Dorothea. I wonder what he was told when I was passed out. I take a seat on the green armchair next to the desk, impatient to share what I know with him so we can formulate a plan to retrieve it immediately.
"See, there's this woman, Madame Dorothea, who lives downstairs from my mom and me, or at least where we used to live, and my mom had painted her a set of tarot cards. I later found out that she was a witch, or not a witch herself, but her mom was or something. Anyway, doesn't matter. The point is, in the tarot card deck, there's this card… the Ace of Cups, and the cup painted on it looks exactly like the Mortal Cup." I look at Hodge expectantly. He just stares back at me, equally expectantly.
"It's in the card! The Mortal Cup! The cup is actually the Cup!" I realize I'm not making any sense and sigh with frustration. I slam my sketchbook on the desk, causing Hodge to start slightly, and then take the round stone paperweight holding a few pages down and place it on the same page I'd put the mug in before. Hodge gasps quietly when the stone disappears into the paper. I slide my hand into the page and pull the weight out again, placing it back on the loose papers.
"Of course!" Hodge murmurs. "I should have guessed. Your mother had this ability as well. I've never seen anyone else ever do anything quite like it. The memory block Magnus put on you must also have been suppressing your abilities. Who knows what else you can do."
I hadn't really considered this before, but it rang true. The curiosity as to whether or not I had other talents that most Shadowhunters didn't began to eat away at me when Hodge said this. The fact that only my mom and I could do this and the fact that what I seemed to be able to do with runes was also unusual and even surprised Jace in a pretty profound way made this possibility seem pretty likely. A stern and urgent note in what Hodge's said next interrupted my curious speculations.
"It's good you came to me, Clary. We need to recover the Cup as soon as possible."
"Is anyone else here? I'm ready to gear up and go now."
"I'm afraid not." Hodge is back at the desk and rummaging through the drawers. "In fact, no one came home last night. Alec, Isabelle, and Jace are all still gone."
"What? Really?" I'm not sure how I feel about this news. Especially the fact that Jace didn't come back. Where could he have spent the night? What was he doing being out all night? Suddenly I realize that I hadn't given an explanation why I hadn't come back and felt a little guilty. "I went to Luke's last night. It turns out everything he told Valentine's men was a lie to protect me. He explained a lot about the background of the Circle and… he told me that Valentine was my father… and that I had a brother that he killed…"
Hodge is silent, looking unsure as to what he should say. He's stopped rooting through the desk drawers and straightens up with something clutched in his hand. I can't quite tell what it is, but it sort of looks like a crinkled piece of paper. His eyes are sympathetic, but slightly distant as if he's still thinking about something else.
"I'm so sorry, Clary, that you had to hear about everything like that. I know that this must all be so very difficult for you, and I want you to know that I will do everything in my power to help make things right. So, let's see what we can do about retrieving the cup, shall we?"
There's a warmth in his voice that makes me feel like he's sincere, genuine, like I can trust him. Yet there's something in his eyes, the movement of his body, his arms seem to be twitching jerkily ever so slightly. I dismiss the latter as my imagination. I'm probably still just zonked from everything. I need to get a proper night's sleep where I don't just pass out on accident at some point. I feel like the sleep quality isn't as good when it's unplanned.
I nod my head, trying to communicate my gratitude to him for helping me with my eyes. We decide that I should gear up and head over on my own first, making sure to keep checking in with Hodge and continuing to try to get ahold of Luke on my phone to let him know what I'm doing. Hodge will attempt to contact Alec, Jace, and Isabelle via phone and fire messages and give them the address of where to meet me at, filling them in on the plan.
After I'm geared up, Hodge draws some extra protective runes on me and repeatedly warns me to be careful. He gives me a senser and tells me that if ANY demonic activity is picked up, that I'm not to enter the building until someone shows up. I'm to conceal myself and keep watch. A voice in the back of my head is saying something along the lines of 'fat chance' but I try to stamp it out. Careful. Cautious. Not stupid or impulsive. Not rash or reckless. Safe and smart is the Shadowhunter way.
As I turn to exit the library a final time, I see Hodge looking after me with a concerned expression. He looks tired, so tired, and sad. I bet he's sad that he can't leave the Institute and help out more. I feel a tremendous about of pity for him. I'd hate being caged like that. I'd feel so helpless and trapped. I'm sure that's how he feels, too. I hope he knows how appreciative I am of him just being there for me, though. As the door is closing behind me, I see him turn to Hugo who has landed on the chair by the desk. It looks like he's attaching a note to the bird's leg.
That's funny. I thought he said he was going to try to reach them by fire message. Oh well. I'm sure he knows what he's doing.