- Los Angeles, 2007 -

"Let me start by saying that this is by far the most stupid idea in a long list of very stupid ideas." Jace snorted and looked at Clary. "I can't believe you didn't tell them how stupid it is."
"Well, actually, she did," Amelia said hastily and Jace turned to her. "She did? Oh, great. Then why are we still talking about it?"

Clary smiled. "Because she's quite stubborn."

"I am not stubborn," Amelia countered. The others just looked at her and she sighed and murmured, "Okay, maybe I am stubborn. But that's not the point. I just wanted to discuss Ty's plan with both of you."

Jace grimaced. "That's not a plan! It's just an idea. And - oh, did I mention that it's a very stupid idea?"

"Jace!" Clary frowned and said reproachful, "You're not being very helpful right now."
Bugged out he threw his hands in the air. "This is probably the most helpful thing we can tell her!" His gaze wandered to Amelia and his voice got more quiet and insistent. "The Seelie Queen is absolutely and completely not to be trusted! She betrayed the Nephilim more than once. She betrayed us and joined sides with Sebastian Morgenstern."

His words made Amelia shiver. She forced herself to withstand his gaze, as Jace continued, "She is as manipulative and evil as she is beautiful and enchanting. There's nothing - absolutely nothing - she ever does without thinking of her own gain. And she'd do anything to get what she wants."

"Maybe we can trick her into believing she actually wants to let Mark go," Amelia said halfheartedly. She already knew that Jace was right, but was not ready to give up her position. "And she's possibly the only one who can help us."

Jace shook his head. "She won't. Even if she could - helping is not in her nature." He crossed his arms in front of his chest and sighed. "Believe me - the Queen would never negotiate with you unless you'd have something she wants. And at the moment there's not very much she wants."
Amelia raised her eyebrows and said, "If we can't negotiate with her, maybe we can prove to her that Mark was forced to join the Hunt and that - according to the law - means that they have no right to keep him."

Clary and Jace exchanged looks and Amelia sighed. "I know it's not much, but the law says one has to join the Hunt out of free will. And Mark clearly did not do that." Her gaze wandered to Clary. "You said that he had scars on his arms. It's obvious that he has been tortured."

Clary lowered her eyes and instead of her, Jace answered. "It's not that easy, Amy. It's not really a law, it's more kind of a rule. And it's a fairy rule, so they can interpret it in any way they want or need to. And since they are sneaky little -" Noticing Amelia's face, he paused for a second, before he continued, "Since most of the fairies are not very cooperative or trustful, they will find a way to turn whatever we think to be helpful into their advantage."

"Plus, we'd have to prove that Mark was tortured," Clary said. "It would be his word against theirs."

Suddenly, Amelia felt cold. Neither Jace, nor Clary had to say the most obvious thing – Mark's word would not be enough prove. He was part-fey, he was able to lie and everybody knew it.

For some seconds no one spoke. Amelia felt dizzy, her hands were cold and she could feel her heart beating heavily. She swallowed hard and whispered, "So, that's it? We're done?"

Jace and Clary exchanged looks and Jace nodded softly. "I'm afraid, yes. I think, at the moment there's nothing left we can do."

Amelia closed her eyes and tried to calm her breath. If she was honest with herself, she had already known that. At least her mind had known, even if her heart was still not willing to accept it. She wanted to run away, to hide in her room and to forget everything – if only for a few hours. Slowly Amelia opened her eyes again and looked at Clary and Jace. "I guess I'll have to tell the others."

Clary grimaced and said softly, "I'm so sorry."

"Don't be." Amelia shook her head and tried to smile. "You helped us so much and I'm very thankful for that. But - " Her gaze wandered to Jace. "There's one thing I'm asking you to do for me."

"We're giving up? Just like that?" Emma's voice was stone-cold. She was standing in front of one of the racks of the library, her hands placed on her hips, her blonde hair hanging wild around her blushed cheeks. She was staring at Amelia as if the other girl was an enemy, just like she had been staring at the members of the Clave back in Alicante, when they had decided not to look for Mark.

Amelia shivered. She looks like an angel, she thought, a beautiful, wrathful angel. Suddenly she knew that Emma would grow to be one hell of a Shadowhunter and that whoever would become her Parabatai could be sure to fight beside the most loyal and fearless person she knew.

Emma took a deep breath. "You said, we would do anything to get Mark back, and now you're telling us, that we should give up?"

Amelia shook her head and said hastily, "I'm not saying we're giving up. I'm just saying we need to take a break."

"A break?" Livvy, who was as usually sitting on one of the tables, raised her eyebrows. "That sounds like we're packing our bags and go on a vacation. I don't think, taking a break is a good idea."

"You're right." Amelia turned to Livvy and nodded. "I don't think so, either -"

"Then why are we talking about it?" Emma interrupted her. "Why are we wasting time with talking?" It was obvious that she wanted to fight. Emma was clearly willing to fight her way to Mark and to bring him home, even if that meant starting a new war with the faeries. And she would do that because she was fearless and completely loyal. And because it would take the sadness away from Julian.

Amelia turned back to her. "Because there's nothing left to do." Emma wanted to say something, but Amelia raised her hand. "Wait. I'm not saying we're giving up. I would never do that. But I believe it's time to rest and to start thinking about new ways of helping. Because everything we did so far has not been very effective, has it?" She sighed. "And let's be honest – Ty's ideas are not very promising. Sorry, Ty."

Amelia looked at Ty. He was sitting in one of the armchairs, his gaze was targeted at one of the huge windows, but it was clear that his thoughts were somewhere else. "Ty, I know that you tried really hard to come up with some helpful ideas, but -"

"You're right," Ty said, his voice calm and without any trace of anger or bitterness. "They were stupid ideas, but it was all I could come up with." He turned his head and looked at Emma. "Amy is right about taking a break, Emma, and you know it. We all do. And I'm sure we all have thought the same at least once throughout the last weeks, haven't we?"

The others remained silent, so he continued, "Well, I have. And I know that you all have too. Amy is just the one who was brave enough too say it out loud. Don't be mad at her because of that. That's not fair."

Amelia smiled faintly. She was grateful that Ty was telling the truth that all the others did not want to see. His straightforwardness was as honest as it was unpleasant sometimes, but he was a good ally in this discussion.

Emma stared at Ty as if he had betrayed her by taking Amelia's side, but before she could say anything, Julian stood up. "I agree with Amy."

Emma whirled around, her eyes wide with disbelief. Julian shrugged his shoulders, his movements slow and tired, as if his body was desperately longing for some rest. "Emma, we can't go on like that. Everything we did to find him just didn't work. We had plans and we failed. Amy's right. We need to recover, so that we can think straight again." He made a helpless gesture towards the others. "Just look at us. We are all tired and sad and we're losing hope. We can't help Mark like that. We need to get ourselves together and maybe then we'll find a new way to help him."

Julian looked at Emma and his voice got softer. "I want him back, Emma. The Angel knows I do. And I want Helen to come back as well. But we mustn't forget what else is important. Tavvy and Dru need to be looked after. They are too young to understand what happened. They have lost so many people they loved – we need to make sure they will get through this mess."

He sighed and whispered, "I'm sure that's what Helen and Mark would want us to do if they were still here. And until they come back that's what we should do."

Amelia swallowed hard. His words made her want to cry, because there was a finality within them that made her heart heavy and her feelings numb. Julian spoke of Mark and Helen as if they were dead and that was exactly how having lost them felt to all of the others. She forced back her tears and cleared her throat, wanting to speak. Amelia opened her mouth, but wasn't able to say a single word. She knew that the others expected her to say something, to tell them what to do next, but she couldn't. Suddenly her head seemed to be completely empty, except for the thought of Mark.

Grayson, who had to that point been observing the discussion silently, examined his little sister closely. Then he took a step forward and said, "Okay, guys. So can we agree on the following? We call off the search until we all have been able to rest and recover. Of course, that doesn't have to mean that we have to stop thinking about ideas of how to find and help Mark. It just means we stop going to the Faerie until we have another plan."

Deeply grateful Amelia flashed Grayson a glance and he briefly nodded to her. In moments like that she loved him even more than she already did. Moments like that revealed how well he knew her and showed her that she could always count on his help.

Finally it was Emma who spoke first. "I need to train. I feel like I have to kick or destroy something." She threw Amelia a reconciliatory glance and said, "Let me know when and how to help, okay?"

"Okay." Amelia nodded and watched her and Julian leave the library. Ty stood up and Amelia turned to him. "Thanks."

"What for?" Ty looked completely puzzled. "I haven't done anything, except for telling the others how useless all our efforts have been so far."

Amelia smiled. "Well, then thanks for being you, I guess."

Ty's face got even more confused. "That's stupid. I did nothing special to be myself. I just am who I am."

"And that's why we all love you deeply," Livvy said quickly, kissing her brother softly on his cheek. Ty raised his hand and tried to wipe away her kiss. "I wished you would stop doing that."

"No, you don't," Livvy countered smiling. "Because secretly you love being kissed by me." She linked arms with her brother and they moved towards the doors. Passing Amelia by, Livvy placed her hand on the other girl's arm and squeezed it softly.

After the doors had closed behind Ty and Livvy Amelia turned to Grayson. "And thank you too."

Imitating Ty, Grayson raised his hand as well and waved it through the air. "I wished you would stop saying that."

Both of them burst out laughing. But instantly Amelias laughter turned into sobs and Grayson grabbed her, pulling her into a soft embrace. Carefully he stroke her back with his hand and placed his chin on top of her hair. She felt so unbelievably tiny in his arms and never before had he felt the need to protect her from everything evil and sad so bad like in this very moment. And the fact that there was absolutely nothing he actually could do to spare her this pain made him feel more helpless than ever before.

After some minutes Amelia's body calmed down, her sobs fell silent. Grayson took a deep breath and asked, "What are we going to do now?"

Amelia raised her head and looked into her brother's face. "I've talked to Clary and Jace and we've agreed on going to Faerie one last time."

Grayson raised his eyebrows and she quickly added, "I know, I said we wouldn't go anymore 'cause it was too dangerous and useless – and that's true. I really think it is."

"But?" Grayson began, waiting for his sister to complete the sentence. She sighed and repeated, "But I need to go there one last time. I need to check the signs one last time. I need to make that last effort. Can you understand?"

Grayson thought about her words before he nodded. "To my own surprise I think I can."

This time it was Amelia who raised her eyebrows. "But?"

Grayson smiled. "But this time I'm going with you. Somehow I have a strange feeling about you going there this time." He got serious again. "I don't know why, but I feel that you might need me there."

Amelia's first impulse was to tell him that she would go alone, that she had always done that and that nothing bad had happened so far. Chances were very little that this time anything different would happen. But she knew what Grayson felt. Thinking about going to the Faerie this time made her shiver and the thought of having her brother by her side was calming her.

"Okay."

"Okay?" Grayson repeated in disbelief. "Just like that?"

Amelia shrugged her shoulders and he said, "I was prepared for a heated discussion. I even had some bad ass arguments. And all you come up with is okay?"

She turned around and went towards the library doors. "I'm too tired for a heated discussion, Grays. I just want to get some sleep before we go." She threw Grayson a glance. "And I think it wouldn't hurt to have my big brother by my side."

Grayson shook his body. "Wow, that makes me shiver..." He caught up with Amelia and they left the library.