Tessa felt the floor give under her. Right away, a tingling darkness engulfed her, the strong wind untangling her hair from her chignon. She felt as if she were spinning, but she never felt dizzy.

She was starting to worry when they didn't land in under a minute. What if they got lost in this portal, never finding their way back?

As if on cue, they hit the ground.

Tessa gasped as pain stabbed up her leg. She had lost Will's hand, and she couldn't see him anywhere.

"Will!" She whispered. They where in a dark room for sure. Tessa could barely make out the rocks that littered the room, as well as the balcony above. Wait a minute—rocks?

"Tessa!" She could hear Will scrambling toward her a few feet away. "Are you injured?" He asked once he reached her.

Tessa didn't want to admit it, she wanted to say that it wasn't that bad. But she could feel hot liquid running down her leg, and just thinking about standing standing up made her cringe in pain.

She nodded, then figured Will couldn't see her in the darkness. "Yes." She said in a small voice.

She expected Will to start chastising her, saying that he was right to not come here, but he just sighed. "Where?" He asked.

"My leg." Tessa replied. After inspecting it with just touch, Will got to work. Tessa could hear him ripping his shirt, then gently wrapping it tightly over above her wound. Then he ripped another piece to cover the actual wound.

"There." He said, kneeling back. After Tessa resentfully thanked him and mentally hit her head for being stupid enough to get hurt, she asked what both of them were wondering.

"Where are we?"

"Probably the library." Will replied. He sounded uneasy. "The rest of them should be in the drawing room."

"Will," Tessa padded the floor for his arm. When she caught it, she rested her hand on his shoulder. "There is no balcony in the library." She felt his laugh through her fingertips before she heard it. "Or rocks, for that matter." He said, laughing harder.

Tessa kept quiet until he stopped. "Will—" She began, but he interrupted her.

"I hadn't noticed," He said, his voice now in a more grave tone. "That the portal was gone."

Tessa's eyes widened with fear. She turned to look back, only to confirm he was right. There was no portal.

She began to panic. Her breathing became quicker, and she was sure she was about to scream, when the door on the far wall opened and light flooded the room.

Figures dressed in black came rushing in, with the sound of shouts and metal scraping against metal following.

The impact had momentarily blinded Tessa, so they were only black blurs.

By then, Will had already grabbed Tessa and was hurrying to get to a dark corner where they would not be seen. He settled her beside him, gripping her hand. They where camouflaged by a bulk of metal, and Will peeked through a whole, impatient to see who were the dark figures.

Meanwhile, Tessa could only hear what was happening. She heard screams, thuds, more metal scraping against metal—and then silence.

"What's happening, Will?" She whispered. The silence caused the hairs on the back of her neck to rise.

He didn't answer, so she pushed him away. He didn't resist, for he had a weak look on his face. This made Tessa all the more to want to look through the whole.

And when she did, she felt her face contort with pain. Not pain for her leg—at this time, it was completely numb—but pain for a memory she was trying to forget.

Will's heart was beating so hard against his chest, he feared it might burst. He was feeling so dizzy, he was glad he was already on the ground.

He waited for Tessa to turn around and look at him, to react just as he had, weak and confused.

But she didn't. She kept looking throughout the whole, completely still. Will could imagine exactly what she was seeing. He remembered it exactly like it was yesterday.

Tessa would see herself surrounded by everyone she loved and who loved her, with Charlotte kneeling over Henry, tears streaming down her face, Magnus at their side. She would see Mortmain in the balcony, looking down on them as his clockwork machines attacked, with Cecily, Gabriel, Gideon, Sophie, Will and Jem fending them off. Jem.

Seeing him hurt Will. Seeing him once again fighting next to his past self hurt more. Knowing that he was witnessing their last fight together made him want to curl up and sob.

He was contemplating the idea, to let himself go and cry until his eyes were dry, just one more time, when he felt the end of Tessa's dress ruffle the floor.

He looked up to see that Tessa was slowly limping towards the scene. Towards Jem.

"Tessa!" He scream-whispered, trying to grab hold of her dress with no avail. He got up, and nearly froze at the sight of Jem once again. The image stabbed his heart.

He tried to get to Tessa as unnoticed by the others as possible. All of his efforts went to waste when Tessa shouted Jem's name. Thankfully no one other than Jem turned.

He seemed to turn in slow motion, his still pale but almost completely black eyes looking for Tessa. The marks on his face relaxed just a bit when he saw she was safe. She as in Past Tessa.

Tessa realised this as well, and she desperately tried to run to him. It took all of Will's will power to not run to him too. He grabbed Tessa firmly by the waist while she tried to wrestle free. "Jem!" She was sobbing for him.

"Jem!" She screamed. The sound tore Will's heart apart even more. He hadn't noticed that he was crying as well. "Tess," He tried to hug her tighter to his chest. "Tessa." His voice broke and she stopped struggling.

The look in her eyes was as wild as a rabid animal's. She looked lost and confused. Will saw his own reflection in her grey eyes to realise that he looked the same.

"Will," She was shaking, her eyes darting to look everywhere. "Why are we here?" She gasped for air, gripping the sides from his ripped shirt.

Will had an idea. After Henry's comment of Jem going with Will instead of Tessa if he was still there, he couldn't stop thinking about him. He was sure Tessa had thought about him too. So they ended in the last place they had seen him.

In those few seconds that Will held Tessa, time seemed to fly past. Past Tessa was talking to Mortmain, and just when Will knew she was about to turn into an angel, the portal came back.

Will was surprised that he didn't want to leave. As hurtful as this moment was, he wanted to stay a little longer.

But he knew he couldn't. If he stayed for even a minute longer, he knew he would never be able to leave.

Just as Past Tessa made the room explode in gold, Will lifted his Tessa to his arms, and made a run for the portal. He expected no one to see them, but when he turned his head to get one last look at the scene, he saw Past Henry looking directly at them. Will didn't know what else to do but nod at him. Then, he entered the portal.

They were all relieved when Tessa and Will got back. They had been waiting in Henry's study, and Charlotte could feel the anxiety in the air. She could almost read the negative "What ifs" of everyone. What if they never come back? What if they meet their past selves? What if they change history, but in a way they're not supposed to?

As soon as they got back, Tessa was rushed to the infirmary and Will to their room to get changed. As Charlotte tended to Tessa's injured leg she noticed how quiet she was. They all wanted to know what had happened, but neither of them would talk about it. Their far-away look concerned everyone.

As soon as Charlotte finished stitching Tessa's leg, she fell into what seemed like a hundred-year sleep.

She grabbed a chair and sat next to her, reading a book and occasionally checking for signs of consciousness. Will came later in the evening and sat at the foot of the bed.

"How is she?" He asked Charlotte. She folded the corner of the page she was on and set the book on the nightstand. "She is going to be fine. She just needs rest." She noticed Will had dark circles under his eyes.

"As do you." She added.

Will chuckled. "I shall," He said. "But first I need to speak to Henry."

A/N: I'm so so so so so sorry I made you guys wait so long for an update. I had tons of homework (my teachers don't seem to realise I have other classes besides theirs), and I got writer's block. I had already part of this chapter done, but I re-wrote it because I didn't like it. Please be patient for the next chapter. IT WILL COME. I promise.

Kokokirakenaquila: In Spanish, that's what the metaphor says, nothing more. I guess they added "but satisfaction brought it back" in English. Thank you for reading it!

Spectaculaire: Thank you so much! :D

MagicMissy: Thank you for the suggestion, but as you can see, I had another idea planned. Hope you like it!

SaneLilies: Your profile picture makes your comment so funny. I hope you like it!

Guest: I'm so sorry that it didn't come "soon." I hope you're satisfied with it.

rebecca de silva: HAHAHA! Your comment made me feel as Rick Riordan must have felt when he wrote the end of Mark of Athena.