Hey guys. So this chapter is slightly shorter, but I wanted to get something out to you because it has been over a week, and because I don't know when the next update will be because I have an SAT next week and I kinda need to be studying for it... and not writing fanfiction... but I'm a procrastinator... so yeah.

Anyway, hope you like it. :)

The rune flashed before Clary's eyes between one blink and the next, bringing with it the odd sense of déjà vu, as though she'd seen it before, but it was new, she had no doubt. It was also different somehow, unlike other runes, even those she'd made, though it came and went far too fast for her to figure out exactly why.

She sat on the edge of the Institute roof with Simon, watching the sun set behind the New York skyline, casting the city in the golden glow Clary loved; an oddly peaceful setting in the midst of such a chaotic area. She'd sketched it numerous times from that spot, the place that had become hers and Simon's since his Ascension.

She'd spaced out momentarily with the appearance (and disappearance) of the new rune, and the struggle to recall it again afterward. It happened quickly, but not quickly enough that Simon, whom she had been engaged in conversation with beforehand, didn't notice.

"Hello?" he said, waving his hand in front of her face, "Earth to Clary."

She blinked and knocked his hand playfully out of the way. "Sorry."

He stared at her for a second, eyebrow slowly rising. "You okay?"

"Fine. Just tired." She really didn't feel like explaining, not before she even really knew herself.

Simon looked at her strangely for a second, but apparently decided not to press the issue and continued on with their conversation as if nothing had happened.

The knife flew in a perfect, deadly arch before penetrating deep into the center of the target, handle vibrating slightly from the force of the impact. Alec didn't hesitate before throwing the next one. Another perfect bull's-eye, exactly next to the first.

Normally, he never wasted his time with knives, always preferring a bow and arrow for target practice, but knife throwing required more physical force, and after helping Simon with it the day before, it was kind of on his mind. He'd never been like Jace in the beat everyone and everything to a pulp until the world feels just as crappy as I do sense when he was upset, usually just preferring to shut the world out and wallow until he moved on. He did a lot of things differently than his parabatai, always had, but he was wondering now if he had begun to understand just how Jace had felt in the past, stuck in his own personal Hell with no way to cope except to lash out physically.

It was becoming clear to him that one person, no matter how sane that person was, could only handle so much inner torment before it had to just come out. He'd wondered this off and on throughout the past year when everything had happened, had even deemed it the potential to hold water back right before the Dark War, when Magnus had been kidnapped and Alec hadn't known if he'd been alive or dead, when the only way he'd been able to keep going was by telling himself that he would kill every evil that stood in his way until he found his love, and it had made things slightly easier. Or he'd told himself that anyway. But he'd been able to do something, and whether it actually helped or not, everything had turned out okay.

Now though, there was nothing he could actually do to prevent what was happening, to keep Magnus safe and with him. That, he'd determined, was the worst part. Not being able to do anything but wait for the end to come to the first and only person Alec had ever truly loved. Because it didn't matter how hard Magnus and Catarina were working, or how optimistic Alec tried to be around others, deep down, he just knew this wasn't going to end well; that it simply couldn't. Logic wouldn't allow him to believe, truly believe, that it could.

And yet, even in spite of all of that, he found himself hoping against all hope anyway. Magnus had said it was a slim chance, and Alec knew just how impossibly slim, but it was still a chance. A chance that Magnus could potentially make it. And even slimmer still, the chance that he could be mortal, practically human, that he could live a normal life for the first time, grow old with Alec and die with him like other couples did. It was something Alec had thought about since the day he'd fallen for Magnus, something he'd gone so far as to pursue behind the warlock's back and almost ruined everything for, and now, the possibility, small as it was, was actually a possibility. And if it could happen, wasn't it worth the risk? Especially if they'd all most likely die otherwise anyway?

Alec wasn't sure.

What he was sure of though, was that this was killing him. The signs were becoming more and more obvious; the attack was coming soon, very soon. Their time together was running out.

Alec wanted Magnus alive for as long as he lived, whether the warlock grew old along with him or not. But now, it was likely he wouldn't even get that. Alec wouldn't be the one dying first in this relationship after all. Because Magnus was going through with it either way. And it broke his heart.

He let the last of his knives fly, landing it exactly where he'd aimed-just inside the center circle, to avoid hitting the other two already imbedded there, and it was almost like, with every angry throw, a little of the turmoil he felt over their situation went with it. For just a second, he felt slightly better.

He hadn't seen much of Magnus since this whole awful plan had been concocted. The warlock spent every waking moment with Catarina Loss, trying to figure out a way to make the demonic half of his mind into a tangible weapon. From what Alec had heard from the few conversations he'd had with his boyfriend, all of which mostly avoided the sensitive topic, they hadn't been successful yet.

Crossing the room, Alec retrieved his knives from deep in the wall and slid them into his belt, before retreating back across the floor, glancing out the window at the setting sun. It was about time for the nightly sweep of the city. He continued out into the hallway, leaving the training room, in search of Jace, intending to go with him. Anger was overriding everything else Alec felt right then; anger at Asmodeus above all else, and in that anger, he was intent on killing as many of that thing's lackeys as possible.

That night, a lot of things clicked into place for Clary, in a direct way they never really had for her before. The rune epitomized her dreams. A single Mark, like two arrows twisted together. One after the other, appearing over and over, it was there, huge and unmistakable, and so bright, it seemed burned into the fibers of her brain as she shot up in the darkness, suddenly wide awake, breaking free of the relentless image, but understanding it now in a way she hadn't before.

Normally the runes, and eventually their meanings, would come to her in a less aggressive manner, over a span of time. This one though, it was different, it had seemed different when she'd first seen it earlier that evening, and now she knew why. She also knew exactly how important it was that she knew now, and how she had to get the word out as soon as possible.

Wasting no time at all, she flung the covers back from her body and got out of bed, grabbing the first clothes she could find and throwing them on, sliding her stele into her belt, along with a Seraph blade, just in case. She left her bedroom and walked briskly down the halls of the Institute, putting her knotted hair up as she went. She was almost to the elevator when she heard her name. She spun, already knowing who it was.

Jace stood in the dark hall, clad shamelessly in pajama pants and nothing else, looking at her. Moonlight shone through a small, high window, leaching the color from all but his hair, which looked almost silver in it. "It's 3am. Where are you going?"

"Magnus'. I figured it out."

"Figured what out?"

"Look, Jace. This is really important. I have to go."

"What-"

"There's not a lot of time." She wasn't sure how exactly she knew that, but the urgency of the dream and the rune could mean nothing else.

"Clary, you-"

"Jace, do you trust me?"

Her question seemed to take him off guard. He blinked. "Of course I do."

"Than you have to let me go. I promise I'll explain everything I can when I get back, but I need to go. I'll be back in a few hours."

Jace looked like he badly wanted to protest, but he must have heard the urgency in her tone because he just sighed, still looking at her. He was learning. "Be safe," he said quietly.

"I will," she answered, "Be back soon." With that, she lifted the elevator gate, trying to be as quiet as possible and stepped in, closing it behind her, Jace watching her the whole time. She met his eyes quickly through the grate, trying to communicate as much as she could with her own, but then she was moving down and he was out of her sight. The next thing she knew, she was outside in the cool evening air, half-running toward the subway and thanking God that she'd grabbed the pants with her metro pass in the pocket.

An Opening rune got her into Magnus' apartment building, but she didn't dare enter the actual apartment with one. Even at a time like this, Magnus Bane was unpredictable. She didn't want to leave with any uncomfortable images in her mind that would never leave. She resorted to banging, rather forcefully, against the door with her fist.

It took a while, but eventually the door was opened by Magnus, who wore normal clothes, for him anyway, though they'd obviously been slept in; and looked like he could sleep for a month. "What?" he demanded, blinking into the light streaming in from the hall outside. "You had better have a very good reason for this, Biscuit. I don't run an all hours facility, you know."

"I figured it out," Clary said, not bothering to respond to his comment.

"What?" These words apparently meant more to Magnus than they had to Jace though, because he perked up some.

"I figured it out," she repeated, "I can help you."

He blinked, "You mean…?"

She nodded. "I know what to do to make your plan work."

Thanks for reading. Sorry it was short. The next chapter, whenever I get around to writing it, will be longer. Stay tuned!