Authors Note:

There's a big long one down the bottom for you all. I'm back hi hello how are you I'm sorry… I hope you enjoy this chapter, review if you like it and thankyou everyone for sticking with the story while I sorted out some major badness in my life! You're all wonderful and thankyou thankyou thankyou!

Chapter 15: Changing Tactics

The dull rumble of the accelerated kept any awkward silences at bay which Jace was thanking Angel a million times over for as he sat, fingers gripping the parked car's wheel tightly staring at the windscreen that was slowly fogging up from he heater. The car was completely stationary but continued to vibrate only slightly as Jace kept his foot firmly on the break, he liked giving her options… especially when her unpredictability made the situation, and any situation a little more complicated than usual. It seemed major bruising to the brain had given his feisty red headed wife a little extra kick in the sass department. She was simply just a little more difficult to… control than usual, but nothing Jace couldn't handle being a vicious demon killer and all.

He released on of his hands from the now wheel, sticky with his sweat to rake through his tangled and tousled golden hair that framed his face with perfectly messy curls that Clary had always adored. He didn't see the appeal of bed hair but apparently it drove the ladies wild, the only lady he wanted going wild was his Clary but he chanted to himself to next time be careful what he wished for, considering his wife had turned out a little bit wild with the news of her mother's condition.. it wasn't the wild he had desired, but he loved her nonetheless. Tapping his cramping finger on the top of the car wheel he reached for the radio volume knob with his other hand, seeking to increase the sound of the calm collection of acoustic guitar and soft male voice that repeated kiss me, like you wanna be loved…trying to create a little less tension in the space.

"Don't"

His hand recoiled back slowly and found their place back on the wheel tip tapping nervously again.

His tiny wife sat in the passenger seat completely rigid and unmoving. Her gaze hadn't wavered from the house they were parked in front of for a single second since they'd pulled up. He arms satby her side, folding mechanically almost like a doll Maryse would have bought Isabelle when she was younger and less interested in stabbing and slaughtering demons. Her normally frizzy hair was straightened looking for like the flaming twin to Izzy's sleek long hair, Jace had never realised how long Clary's hair was until she'd straightened it. She'd pulled the cascading hair into a tight ponytail on the top of her head and laced it with little braids and plaits throughout the ponytail. The warmth enclosed within the car meant that she had no need for her small black cardigan, leaving her in nothing but her denim shorts and her plain white swing top which Jace wasn't complaining about, it was a simple outfit that certainly complemented her figure.

It almost seemed as if she wasn't even breathing, Jace could only see the slight rise and fall of her chest that relieved him of the nerves that rose at the idea of her not breathing. Shadowhunters trained to hold their breath for a longer period of time than mundanes, but of course, not for eternity, which is how long it felt they'd been sitting in the car. She was completely cold, a complete contrast to her playful nature she displayed during their spontaneous hide and seek game from earlier. The night was definitely setting a chill throughout the neighbourhood they were in, and the full moon was shining in the sky, illuminating up the road with a white, eerie light. Jace's eyes scanned the dashboard for the clock, catching sight of the numbers 7:34, so it hadn't been the eternity it felt, it'd been half an hour.

"Babe…"

Clary seemed to either completely ignore him or not have heard him and instead of responding, swivelled quickly, robotically and swung her door open, Jace hearing the click of the handle as she stepped out onto the icy road. The slam of the door was enough of a reply to alert Jace that the moment he'd been dreading had now arrived. Now, he had to take Clary to see her 'Brain dead mother'. Perfect.

-Impulses-

Jace trailed his wife as she stood in the small canopy of the little shack of a house that Luke and her mother lived behind. This was the entrance to the house of course, but it was also the entrance to the bookshop that Luke owned, the little cottage sitting behind it, hidden from view.. She'd rung the doorbell, but Jace knew that it'd take awhile for it to register back at the small house that lay behind the creepily quiet bookshop. The streetlight just to the left of the shop created streaks of unsettling shadows within the bookshop, the little lamp at the register turning into an odd shape of a cloaked unknown figure that loomed up onto the bookshelves, the array of books creating jiggered shapes against the floor boards. Jace stared at the shadows in awe, such simply objects could be turned into the shapes and ideas found in the nightmares of his childhood… minus the continuous scream he always used to hear of a female that echoed throughout his head even after he'd woken up. Luckily the nightmares had stopped when he'd turned fourteen.

He wasn't sure what to do, for a second he considered reaching for his wife's hand but then inspecting her overall stance and facial expression he decided against it. She didn't seem in the mood for anything, especially a comforting hand holding session. He saw Luke walking slowly towards the door and a shocked expression quickly ran across his face when he spotted Clary who leaned against the windows that decorated the sides of the doors. Jace heard the audible clicks as Luke unlocked the door and opened it, the little bell above it ringing to signify their entrance. The werewolf stepped back to allow Clary and Jace to walk in to the cool room that smelt of dust and paper.

"We weren't expecting anyone" Luke said in a monotone voice that didn't reflect his expression which was filled with uncertainty and surprise. He shoved his hands into his tattered jeans pocket, a nervous habit and turned to walk towards the backdoor of the bookshop that lead to the white wooden door that opened into the small little house Luke and Jocelyn had been living in for the past year or so.

"We simply thought we should drop in" Clary answered in a clipped, uninterested tone as she followed Luke into the house. Jace didn't say a word, oddly, he felt out of place in the house as he watched Clary waltz into the living and dining area that was decorated with numerous artworks by Jocelyn and a few by the young girl who had made herself at home, sitting on the sofa.

"I'd love a coffee Luke. How's Mum?" Clarissa asked, and that's when Jace noticed something. A small crack appeared that only he picked up on that was only present for a millisecond or two. Clary's eyes looked down at her lap and her mouth formed a small frown, something he hadn't seen her do since collapsing out the front of Taki's. She wasn't necessarily putting on an act as such, but it was evident that she was more worried about her mother than she let on. Jace wasn't sure if she was trying to hold her emotions together the way Shadowhunters were trained to, or if she was just struggling because of her injury… Jace only hope she recovered soon. But it was obvious, Clary was struggling, and rather than second guessing himself the way he had the whole night, he walked over, sat down directly next to her and picked up her hand. He half expected her to rip it away from him but instead she lowered her head and rested it calmly against his shoulder. He felt her breathe out a sigh of relieve as she closed her eyes and waited for Luke to finish making the coffee she requested

-Impulses-

"You straightened your hair" Luke said quietly staring at his hands in his lap, he hadn't made eye contact with Jace or Clary since they'd walked in, which worried Jace. Luke was normally the warm and friendly guy who looked you in the eye as he shook your hand, now he was bobbing his knees like a nervous school boy.

"I wanted a change" was all Clary replied. She sipped at her coffee and winced slightly, the heat burning her tongue.

"Well it looks lovely on yo-" Luke started before being cut off by a sharp reply.

"Oh cut the crap Luke. Where's my mother?" Clary snapped without any variation in her stone cold facial expression or her posture of her body. Jace sucked in a breath, this is what he'd been afraid of, the injury's effects showing through. Luke hadn't been informed of the extent of her injuries and the temporary consequences they had on her personality. He reminded himself to explain everything to him when he got the chance, alone, without Clary.

"Clary I-" Luke croaked, struggling to form the simple words to make up his reply.

"Where is my mother Luke" Clary demanded, this time staring him dead in the eye, her mouth forming a pale thin line. Jace saw that his wife wasn't wavering and was intent on seeing her mother. Which was fair enough, except that both their conditions were far from normal. Clary was irrational and utterly blunt with the occasional rude reply here and there whilst Jocelyn was completely out of it, as in out of it out of it. Two Fairchild's down in one go. Well, Clary was now a Lightwood… but she registered Fairchild as a second middle name, she'd said there was something about that she couldn't let go of.

"She's in her bedroom" Clary rose slowly without saying a word, only nodding at her step father and, putting her coffee down on the circular, dusty coffee table began to walk down the hall that lead to the bedrooms and a bathroom. Jace rose after her, he wanted to stay with her, if not to comfort her than to watch her, and make sure everything would be okay.

Luke didn't move, he just stared at the steamy mug that now sat on his oak coffee table he'd made when Jocelyn first moved into the little cottage. He didn't even flinch when Clary had moved, only stared. The life seemed to be sitting at the back of his eyes, not completely gone, but slowly fading and dwindling as his wife lay in her bed, unmoving, completely still and seemingly lifeless. It was worrying to Jace, Luke was often the life of the family, the positive easy-going rock that held everyone together in a time of crisis, but when it was his life in crisis, it seemed he had lost all motivation to keep a positive outlook.

As Clary walked down the hallway she dragged her fingertips lightly across the faded striped wallpaper, her feet stepping one in front of the other at a steady beat till she stood in front of the door that held her motionless mother. Jace came up quietly behind her and whispered in her ear 'I love you', pulling a small strand of hair behind her ear. And at that, Clary wrapped her delicate hand around the bonze door knob, turning it to he left till you heard it click open.

-Impulses-

The trip to see Jocelyn was not necessarily a fail, but rather pointless. Clary had sat by her mother's side just staring, her face showed no emotion, but Jace knew she was masking it, and masking it well. She'd sat by her holding her hand that was warm only from the machine's pumping her blood for her heart for over an hour. Luke had explained that he wanted Jocelyn at home in case she woke up, but Jace knew he meant in case she didn't make it. He knew Jocelyn would have wanted to be at home, not leaving her loved ones in an artificial and sterile hospital surrounded by masked figures who were strangers to her. So Luke and arranged for all the machines and drugs and everything else to help her to be set up in the spare bedroom for Jocelyn, the cost of thus was high, but Maryse didn't hesitate to pitch in, after all this was her daughter in law's mother. Jace stood by the door the entire time, not saying a word, just thinking and watching, almost waiting for Clary to snap, but she didn't. Luke never entered, and when Clary rose quietly and walked out of the cottage, Jace saw that Luke hadn't moved from his position when he'd given Clary the drink, except perhaps to put the now missing mug in the sink to be washed.

He had told Clary to wait for him in the car for a few minutes, telling her he needed to help Luke clean up because it was obvious by the pile up of plates and dirty glasses on the benches and sitting precariously on top of each other in the sink that Luke wasn't going to do it. He evidently wasn't coping. Clary just nodded, and that's when Jace saw a flicker of emotion, sadness tainting her emerald green eyes. As he scrubbed Jace had explained to Luke about the reasons for Clary's behaviour and warned him for future encounters until the doctors had confirmed her injuries were gone and so were the effects. Luke said nothing, just nodded and smiled occasionaly, forcefully, but it was still a smile that held the familiar trickle of warmth Jace had come to recognise.

Clary know was lying with her head against Jace's chest in his bed, breathing slowly in and out, her heat beating steadily against his body. He could feel her naked, flawless body pressed up against his as she slept, their legs tangled together delicately, keeping each other warm through the chilling night. Jace sighed slightly thinking about the beautiful girl he held lovingly in his arms and wondered when things would all go back to normal. But then he mentally slapped himself, as if anything had ever been normal. There was something but the whole situation that didn't seem right, seemed off. Jocelyn being hunted down and attacked, and the attack occurring at the reception… was that just a cruel coincidence, a sick joke the universe was playing? Or was it more than that? Jace tried not to believe in coincidence… but when it concerned his mother in law, he wanted to believe in it whole heartedly. And the Clary fainting at the news of her mother's condition. Heartbreaking as it was, Clarissa didn't faint and he knew it, she was brave and strong and perhaps she just cracked, but it was so unlike her, that it confused Jace. He thought about the change he'd seen in her… it was such an odd occurrence, was her personality shift really caused by the injuries? His mind was playing games with him, making him paranoid.

"Babe… you're not breathing" he heard a sleepy voice slur. Clary wasn't a heavy sleeper, and woke up at absolutely anything, including apparently the lack of breathing that her husband was doing. She turned her head to face him, looking into her eyes Jace saw the part of her that weakened him (or strengthened him in the end really) and made him fall for her, crack, let her in. Her eyes, her astonishingly green eyes.

"I'm sorry Doll, go back to sleep"

"I'm not tired" She replied a bit more energetically. She shuffled around, until she was seated on top of him, the doona wrapped around her chest hiding the parts of her Jace continued to lust over. He raised an eyebrow, a gesture that frustrated his little wife as he struggled to recreate the action.

"Not tired?" He asked doubt tinging his voice, he knew that you didn't wake up from sleep and suddenly not be tired, especially at 2 in the morning.

"Nope, what shall we do?" Clary asked, a smirk covering her face as she looked down at Jace's smooth chest, running her soft fingers over the planes of his chest, circling the shapes of past runes and markings that made him who he was. He loved it when she did that, it made him shiver slightly under her touch.

"I'm not sure. Why don't we play a guessing game? You show me and I'll guess" He chuckled when Clary looked at him with a mischievous grin, pulling her fingers up to his lips, tracing them, running over the soft skin then travelling up, reaching his forehead where his honey coloured hair began. Her fingers looped around the curls, pulling and playing with them carefully before gripping at the tightly and pulling his head up to her chest, the doona still in place. Jace breathed her in, the scent of her, the smell of roses and cinamen from her deodorant and her natural smell mixed with the sweat from the body head they were creating. She loosened her drip on his hair, letting him move freely where and when he wanted. His fingers ran up the doona, hugging her body tightly… reaching the very tip that connected with her milky skin.

"Close your eyes" he whispered. Clary's eyes fluttered closed, her long lashes pointing down as Jace kissed her freckles all over her face, moving down her neck to where his fingers were at the top of the doona. He moved down, his fingers pulling the doona down slightly, till he met the are of her body that slowly began to rise, the tops of her breasts and began to kiss the skin there, softly, lovingly, and stopped, not moving the doona down any further for awhile. She told her to keep her eyes closed for a little longer as he let his lips run further down, under the doona, to the part of her breast still hidden by that soft material, kissing and licking the sensitive center of the small plump mounds that formed on her chest. A small moan escaped her lips, which Jace took as encouragement, and letting the doona drop to reveal Clary's full upper body for his sight he wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her further up still sitting on his chest. As he did so Clary gasped slightly , Jace stopping in shock.

"I'm sorry Clary I-" He began but Clary silenced him with a passionate kiss, her tongue exploring every part of his sweet tasting mouth, searching for places she hadn't tasted yet.

"So I turn you on that quickly do I?" she asked with a small grin that meant she was up to something less than innocent, which didn't really bother Jace in the slightest.

Jace answered by rolling her over so he was on top of her, holding his weight above her with his elbow so as not to crush her.

"Jace…" Clary whispered to him with such desire Jace could barely control himself.

"Just tell me when, I'm yours Clary" He replied with such intensity that his eyes seemed to become solid gold rather than their usual liquid consistency. Clary shivered under him, whether from the cold of from what he was offering Jace didn't know, and didn't care. All he saw was what he was doing to her, the effect her had on her, and he knew she did the same to him. He wanted to bring himself as close to her as was humanly possible.

"Now"

I should write you all a fanfiction called "Green-doves is sorry for being the worst author in the whole entire world and you should all hate her guts but she's sorry". Because I am. In all honesty, the past year has been really hard on me, I've had a lot happen and struggled with a lot of stuff, I was in a bad place and just wasn't up for writing fanfictions to be honest, and it was a long hard year. I'm back, school will be starting soon but I'll try and keep it up. I'm so sorry I hope you don't hate me, my life just got really hard for a bit.

I made this chapter extra-long because you all deserved it, everyone who stuck with me, didn't unfavourite and everything… thankyou so so much seriously.

I also realised I was like "REVIEW OR ELSE" and I don't like that (look who grew up a bit :P) so no I'm not pushing you to review, yes I'd like some, yes they'd make my day and make me smile but I do want to stress it is your decision of course! So I'm sorry for my pushiness.

If you liked this please let me know!

Hey everyone look! Green-doves is BACK!

Xx

Green-doves