The Institute – Training Room
Clary stormed into the training room, followed by Jocelyn and Simon. Neither noticed that Alyssa was already sitting in there.
"Clary! Clary, stop!" Jocelyn said, drawing Alyssa's attention away from her thoughts to them.
"What's wrong with you?" Frustrated, Clary turned around to face her mother. "We almost had him back."
"You don't understand." Jocelyn said, shaking her head. Clary scoffed at this.
"You're right. I don't understand why you would want to kill Jace. You're lucky Alyssa wasn't there, and she doesn't know what you tried to do."
"What don't I know?" Alyssa finally stood up and walked over to where Jocelyn and Clary were standing. Jocelyn looked almost scared and swallowed the lump in her throat.
Alyssa, of course, knew what they were talking about, but she wanted to see if they would tell her the truth. Clary turned to give Jocelyn a look.
"Do you want to tell her, or should I?" Clary asked. Jocelyn's throat suddenly felt dry.
"Tell me what, Clary?" Alyssa asked in a dangerously calm voice.
Alyssa, you have to understand. I…"
"Understand what, Jocelyn? Hmm? That you tried to kill Jace after tracking him down and the only reason he's even alive is because your husband pulled him away before the arrow could kill him." All color drained from Jocelyn's face at Alyssa's tone. Clary, on the other hand, was surprised that Alyssa already knew.
"You know." Jocelyn said, taking a step back.
"Did you think I wouldn't know, or at least find out, that you tried to kill my husband? I never thought a day would come when I would thank Valentine for anything."
"How did you know?" Clary asked curiously. Alyssa glanced at her, then glared back at Jocelyn.
"I was speaking with Jace when he got distracted by Jocelyn's appearance. By accident, I discovered another ability that we have as a soul-bound couple. I was able to see everything through his eyes. I saw everything and I want to know why you tried to kill him." Alyssa asked, directing her question to Jocelyn.
"There is still so much you don't know."
"And whose fault is that?" Clary yelled.
"You didn't answer my question, Jocelyn. Why did you try to kill Jace?"
Jocelyn opened her mouth, trying to answer, but she couldn't say anything.
"Can't answer? Ok, here's an easy one. Did you know that if you had succeeded in killing Jace, I would have died too?"
Jocelyn cast her eyes down, then looked back at Alyssa with a guilty expression, giving Alyssa her answer. Clary also deduced the answer and looked at her mother in shock.
Simon was also surprised.
"Mom…" Alyssa nodded and smiled bitterly, letting out a bitter laugh.
"Why am I even surprised? You never do anything without thinking it through, without knowing all the consequences that come with your actions. You weren't just aiming to kill Jace, you were aiming to kill me. I wasn't collateral damage; I was the target."
"Alyssa…" Alyssa just scoffed and walked out of the training room.
"Mom, how could you?"
"Clary, your sister is not who you think she is." Clary looked at her with disbelief.
"Really? Everyone says Valentine's the monster, but you… you tried to murder someone so your own daughter could live." Clary seethed. Simon intervened at this point.
"Hey, maybe we should take a deep breath and relax." He said. Jocelyn exhaled deeply and looked at him.
"Simon, give us some space." Simon cleared his throat and stepped back.
"Sure thing, Mrs. F" he said.
"No, you're not going anywhere." Clary said, stopping Simon. "You're the only person I can trust right now." Hurt flashed across Jocelyn's eyes.
"I want you to know… I'm a victim too." Jocelyn said. "We all are. When Alyssa was yet to be born, Valentine experimented on her while she was still in the womb." This surprised Clary.
"What?"
"He injected Alyssa with demon blood. He did the same thing when I was pregnant with your brother, Jonathan." Clary looked at her in shock, as did Simon.
"Why would he do that?" Clary asked.
"He's sick. He thought demon blood would make your brother and sister strong. And it did. You must have noticed that for someone who can't fully shift into a wolf, Alyssa is much stronger than any other werewolf. And you noticed that she's never afraid of anything. Not to mention, the intimidating aura she always gives off. That's the demon blood in her. As for your brother, it made him strong, but it also made him evil."
"No, even if that's true, Downworlders have demon blood." Clary said, shaking her head. "And not all of them are bad."
"Clary, you have no idea how much I loved your brother, how much I loved your sister. And I didn't want to believe it until I saw what they were capable of." Jocelyn said, then took hold of Clary's arm and activated a memory rune on her own arm to share the memory with Clary. Clary's eyes turned white.
Memory -- Flashback
Jocelyn was walking through a garden, carrying a baby. As they approached a patch of flowers, the baby began to fuss.
"It's okay. Mommy's just cutting some pretty flowers. Okay." Jocelyn cooed, cutting some of the flowers. "Oh, oh, it's okay. Yeah." The baby's eyes suddenly turned completely black, causing the flowers in Jocelyn's hand and around them to wither and die, leaving Jocelyn shocked. "Jonathan!"
End of Memory
Clary gasped as her eyes returned to normal, only to turn white again as another memory began.
2nd Memory – Flashback
Jocelyn entered a room, after hearing a crash. She could be seen to be slightly pregnant. A little girl, about two years with dark skin and brown hair was standing in a room, all by herself crying, while pieces of broken furniture, lay scattered around the room.
"Alyssa!" The girl only screamed and picked up what looked like a rocking horse and threw it in Jocelyn's direction. Jocelyn moved in time for it to smash against the wall and leave a dent on both the toy and the wall. Jocelyn turned to look at Alyssa shocked. Luke was then seen rushing in and gathering the little girl in his arms to comfort her.
End of Memory
Clary's eyes turned back to normal and she gasped, having pulled from the memory.
"And it wasn't the last time something like that happened with either of those two. So I went to one of Idris' most powerful warlocks, Ragnor Fell. He warned me that in the future, your brother would only leave death and destruction in his wake."
"What did he say for Alyssa?" Clary asked quietly.
"He said he couldn't see much of her future. The only thing he could tell me was to watch out for her anger. As a werewolf, her anger already makes her dangerous, but with the addition of demon blood, she could be overcome by bloodlust. So you see, your sister is just as dangerous as your brother, whether she's aware of it or not." Clary stared at her mother after she said this. Unknown to either of them, Alyssa hadn't gone. She'd been listening to the conversation, hidden.
Training Room
Alec was sparring with Alyssa. They had both ended up there to blow off steam and decided to spar. Clary walked in and hesitantly approached both of them. Both of them noticed and stopped, panting.
"Are you guys okay?" Clary asked, tentatively. Alyssa ignored her and moved to grab a towel to wipe her face. Alec, however, looked at her with contempt.
"Pretty bold of you to show your face here." Clary sighed.
"I can explain." Both Alyssa and Alec rolled their eyes.
"Unless your explanation can bring Jace back, save it." Alec turned and began to punch the punching bag behind him.
"Alec, I care about Jace too…"
"You barely know him." Alec turned back to Clary and said, "I grew up with him. I fought by his side. He's my brother. He's my best friend." Clary stepped forward to put her hand on him.
"Alec…" Alec moved away before she could touch him. "Alec, I want Jace back as much as anyone. I… I'm not my mother."
"How well do I even know you? I mean you show up out of nowhere, you convince my brother, you convince me too search for your mother. And the next thing I know, Jace is gone. And your mother is the one trying to kill him."
"I had nothing to do with that, Alec. I would never hurt Jace." But Alec wasn't listening.
"Since you've arrived, you've caused nothing but problems. My family lost their birthright. Izzy would have faced being deruned if your sister hadn't stepped in and taken the blame on herself and in return, she was almost deruned. And now, Valentine has my parabatai. And it's all because of you."
"Alec, that's enough." Alyssa said, stepping in. Izzy walked in just then.
"Alec." Izzy said.
"I'm sorry." Clary stuttered.
"Alec, this isn't her fault." Izzy continued.
"When are you gonna realize that you don't belong here? You never have." Alec said spitefully.
"Alec! I said that's enough." Alyssa raised her voice, staring Alec down. Alec just glared at Clary then left the room.
"Alec." Izzy called before going after him. Clary looked over at her sister.
"Do you also feel that way?"
"Don't ask me something that I can't give an answer to, Clary."
"So you do."
"That's not what I said. Don't put words into my mouth. There is some truth to what he said however. None of this may be your fault, but some things wouldn't have happened if you'd just listened to us and not been stubborn to find your mother."
"That's indirectly saying that this is still my fault."
"I said don't put words into my mouth, Clarissa. Alec is just stressed and angry. Not to mention, we almost had Jace back and then your mother and Aldertree messed things up. He just wants someone to blame and unfortunately, since it was your mother that caused Jace to once again disappear by trying to kill him, he's unloading all the blame onto you. But for what it's worth, I don't blame you. If Jocelyn had been honest with you from the beginning, we wouldn't be in this situation. This is her fault, not yours. Ok?" Clary nodded and looked down then looked back up at Alyssa.
"I'm sorry for what mom…"
"Clary, don't try to apologize for her. If she really regretted her actions, she would have come to me herself. You're not responsible for her or her actions, daughter or not." Alyssa said, then left the room.
Main Room
Every Shadowhunter in the Institute was standing in the Ops center listening to Lydia as she made her announcement.
"There's a clear pattern. Young, strong, highly-skilled fighters, all abducted from boxing clubs, dojos and gyms." Alyssa looked to the side to see Clary walking over to stand by her and Izzy, with Alec standing behind them. "Valentine must've realized that even with the Cup, creating Shadowhunters isn't easy. He needs mundanes who are more likely to survive the conversion."
"50/50 on that assumption." Alyssa muttered.
"When did the briefing start? Nobody told me." Clary asked quietly.
"That wasn't an accident." Izzy whispered.
"Most likely on the orders of the ass who is now the head of the institute." Alyssa quipped.
"So how come you knew about it?" Clary asked.
"I happened to be here when Lydia called for the gathering. Now hush, and listen."
"Your job is to stake out the potential targets, and catch the Circle members when they try to abduct them." Aldertree and Jocelyn walked in just then. "We capture a Circle member, we have a shot at Valentine."
"And Jace." Alec said, leaning in closer to Alyssa and Izzy. "That's how we get to him before they try and kill him."
"Just keep your cool in front of the boss." Izzy whispered to him.
"And I wouldn't hold my breath on the chance that Jace is gonna be there because he won't." Alyssa said quietly.
"You have your orders. Dismissed." Lydia ordered. Everyone dispersed then and Clary made her way towards Lydia.
"How do you know he won't be there?" Izzy asked.
"Simply logic." Alyssa said in a 'duh' tone. "Jace is Valentine's best soldier slash weapon at the moment. You don't send in your best on trivial missions and assignments such as this. You could risk losing them to the enemy should something go wrong and Valentine isn't stupid. He'd send out the ones who are expendable to him. The ones he won't lose sleep over losing. Ones who don't know much." Izzy and Alec considered her words, seeing her point. "Besides this strategy is going to be a waste of time."
"What do you mean?" Alec asked.
"Circle members all swear an oath of loyalty to Valentine. They're blindly loyal and would rather slit their own throats than betray Valentine, especially the new ones who don't know any better and the die-hard ones. We might not be able to get anything out of them. It's a wild goose chase."
"So why are you still coming with us if you think this is a waste of time?" Izzy asked.
"Because, I need to get out of here. I've been cooped up for too long and it's driving me nuts. I need to let off steam before I go insane, despite it being a waste of time."
Meanwhile with Clary, she was begging Lydia to allow her to help with the missions, however, Aldertree wasn't going to have it.
"Absolutely not. Your lack of training is a liability. Besides, you're too close to this." He said, then gestures for Lydia to follow him to the side. Lydia gives Clary an apologetic look and follows after him. Desperate, Clary looks to her mother.
"This isn't coming from me." Jocelyn said, shaking her head then walking away. Clary then looked toward Lydia and Aldertree, listening in to what they were saying.
"Nice to see how well you had things under control here." Aldertree said to Lydia.
"Stop making this personal." Lydia said.
"The Lightwoods and Alyssa are too close to this. With Jace still out there, it clouds their judgment."
"Izzy, Alec and Alyssa are the best we've got. They stay in." Lydia replied back with a hard look.
"Alyssa is still on lockdown."
"Not anymore. She's the strongest and the best besides the Lightwoods right now, not to mention, a great tracker. She's staying in." Lydia said, then walked away. Clary then rushed over to Alec, Izzy and Alyssa, where they were.
"Izzy." She said, grabbing the three's attention. "Izzy, please. You wouldn't want to be benched on this. Let me come with you."
"Did you not hear me before? There's no…."
"Alec!" Alyssa cut Alec off before he could finish, giving him a glare. "Cool it." She then looks to Clary. "Look, Clary, you're gonna have to sit this one out. Alec, Izzy and I should be enough for today. Besides, allowing you to come could get Izzy and Alec into trouble."
"Alyssa, Izzy, let's go." Alec said. Alyssa sighs and gives Clary an apologetic smile, Izzy doing same before they both followed after Alec. Alyssa shoved him as they went, scolding him for how he was treating Clary.
Underground Fight Club
Izzy, Alec and Alyssa walk through an alley to a door where a man lets then in. Alyssa is on the phone as they enter to see an open space with dimmed lights and two muscular men in a ring formed by the crowd watching and cheering as the two men fought. Alyssa sighed as she got off the phone. Izzy and Alec noticed.
"Problem?" Izzy asked.
"That was my dad. Said Jocelyn told him Clary snuck out. It's like that girl forgets she's a danger magnet in this world. Anyway, he and Jocelyn went to find her, so let's just focus on why we're here. I'll deal with them later when we finish here."
"He said the best fighters in the city come here." Alec said, bringing them back on track.
"It's only a matter of time before Valentine hits this place." Izzy said. Alyssa said nothing, watching as the bigger man defeated the other man. Izzy and Alyssa shared a look and smirked, looking back at the man.
"You've got some moves." Izzy spoke up, drawing the man's attention.
"Yeah? How about I take you home and show you some of those moves, up close and personal?" The man, Mark, said suggestively. Alec and Alyssa shared a look of amusement while Izzy smirk.
"That's funny." Alec said, earning a look from Izzy. "You really think you have a chance with her?"
"And who are you?" Mark asked, glaring at Alec.
"I'm the guy who's gonna put you down if you don't shut your mouth." Alec shot back.
"Why don't you come up here and try pretty boy?" Alec glared at the man and took a step forward, only to be stopped by Izzy and Alyssa who placed their hands on his chest.
"Easy there." Alyssa said.
"I've got this." Izzy said at the same time. Alec steps back, not taking his eyes off Mark.
"You know you really shouldn't judge a book by its cover." Alyssa said as Izzy walked past Mark and onto the mat, in the ring.
"What are you waiting for? Let's go." Mark follows after her.
"I don't fight girls, especially hot ones." He said. Izzy turned slightly and smirked at him.
"Then I guess it's gonna be really one-sided." Izzy said, then before anyone could blink, she threw her leg out and kicked the side of his leg and his face then spun around to kick his face again in quick succession, bringing him to his knees. She then grabbed his head, making him look up at her as she smirked and kneed his face, knocking him onto his back on the floor, to the cheers and clapping of those around. Alec looked on amused while Alyssa just smirked. Izzy then walked over to him and placed her boot on his throat, smirking down at him. "Still want to take me home?" She looked up at Alec and Alyssa who smirked back at her.
Sometime later, Mark was still in the club after everyone had left, holding an ice bag to his face which was bruised and swollen from his fight with Izzy. The man he fought earlier walked over to him.
"A chick did that to you?"
"Yeah, I'd like to see you fight that chick." The other guy walked away, out of the building. "Break you like a twig." The lights began to flicker, making Mark look up. A man, a circle member, ran up stealthily and went to grab Mark's arm. He was immediately pushed back by Alec into a wall. Alec held his blade up to defend himself if need be. 'Mark' got up and run a stele over a shape-shifting rune on his arm, making his form shift back into that of Izzy's. The Circle member also brought up his blade but he was quickly disarmed by Alyssa's whip. She stepped into view next to Izzy.
"Tell us where Valentine is." Izzy ordered. The man remained silent. Alec raised up his blade threateningly.
"Where is he?" He demanded. The man only brought out a small knife and before anyone could stop him slit his own throat, killing himself. "No!" Alec yelled but it was too late. The man slumped and slid sown the wall, dead. Izzy, Alyssa and Alec all sighed and shared an annoyed look.
"Told you. Blind loyalty." Alyssa commented, shaking her head, annoyed that they hadn't managed to at least get anything out him.
Streets
Izzy, Alec and Alyssa were walking together.
"Aldertree's strategy is not working." Alec said.
"We've only been to one gym so far. We have to be patient." Izzy reassured. Alec shook his head while Alyssa snorted quietly.
"Alyssa was right. The Circle members all took the same oath. They're gonna keep slitting their throats before they tell us anything."
"Do you have any other ideas?" Izzy asked.
"Put in a request for a maritime mission. Take out a vessel ourselves." Alec said. Alyssa gave him an amused look.
"Alec, the ship is glamored. It won't show up on radar." Izzy pointed out.
"Well, it can't hide from us if we run into to it." Alec said. Alyssa let out a chuckle.
"Ok, now I know you're just grasping at straws. It's a pretty big ocean out there, Alec. They could be anywhere. Besides, even if, in an unlikely event that the Clave grants the maritime mission, you think they're gonna let either of us in on it? They won't. They're just gonna stick some other idiot from the Clave on it and leave us hanging."
"Look." Izzy said as they stopped walking and faced each other. "We know he's not hurt. Otherwise, you two would have felt something, right?"
"I wish. The thing is Izzy, I can't feel anything from him. Why do you think I'm going out of my mind?" Alyssa said.
"I don't feel anything either, Izzy. That's what scares me." Alec said, shaking his head.
The Institute
Alyssa was leaning against a table when she heard Izzy and Alec walk in.
"We should look at the aerial drones." Alec said.
"We've already done that." Alyssa pointed out, walking over to them.
"So we do it again. Maybe we didn't look close enough."
"Alec, I know you're upset about Jace, I get it, but this is just--" Alyssa began to say.
"You don't know." Alec said.
"Did you forget whom you're talking to? I'm the only one in this place who actually feels what you're feeling, if not twice as much. But you don't see me going off on everyone who's just trying to help." Alyssa snapped, then walked away into the hallway.
"Alec." Izzy softly chided. Alec sighed and followed after Alyssa, with Izzy on his heels.
"Lyssa, wait." He caught up to her and grabbed her arm. She stopped and looked up at him, her eyes glistening. "I'm sorry." He said then pulled her into his arms. Jocelyn had followed them into the hallway and decided to make her presence known.
"Alec, Isabelle." Alec and Alyssa pulled away and all three turned to look at her. Jocelyn, seeing Alyssa, hesitated for a bit, remembering what Luke had told her but decided to push ahead. "I have a way." She said then showed them a stone, an adamas stone.
"How did you get that? Only the Iron sisters have access to adamas." Izzy said.
"Better question is, where did you get that stone? That's the adamas Dad's mother gave him." Alyssa said, narrowing her eyes. Izzy and Alec gave her confused looks.
"Luke's mother was an Iron Sister." Jocelyn clarified. "She told him about an ancient way to communicate through…"
"The parabatai bond." Alyssa finished.
"Through your linked spirits." Jocelyn added, speaking to Alec.
"Why would Dad give you this? Why now? We've been searching for Jace for months and never once did he offer us the stone." Alyssa said. Jocelyn remained silent. "You know what, I'll find out myself." She said then walked away from them.
Jade Wolf – Outside
Alyssa arrived to see Luke talking to one of the wolves outside the restaurant.
"Dad." She called out to him as she walked over. Luke looked up and grimaced when he saw the look on her face. He gestured for the wolf to go back inside then tensed up for the inevitable argument he was about to have with his daughter. "Do you mind telling me why you just suddenly decided to give Jocelyn the adamas stone that grandma gave you? The very one that was in that cat statue that I always hated but you wouldn't get rid of." Luke led her to a secluded part of the docks.
"Lyssa, baby, you need to understand."
"No, dad." Alyssa said, pulling away from Luke's grasp. "I want to know what changed. Why did you give Jocelyn the adamas stone now, after all these months of trying and failing to find Jace? Why are you only now offering the stone?" Luke swallowed, seeing the look in his daughter's eyes.
"Alyssa…"
"Answer me. Why now?"
"Clary got kidnapped when Jocelyn and I found her at the art academy. It was Dot and we have every reason to believe Valentine ordered her to." Alyssa looked away and smiled bitterly.
"So because Clary got kidnapped, you decided it's finally a good idea to let us use the adamas to try and find Jace."
"Sweetie, it's not that."
"It's been months, dad, months since Jace went missing and you didn't, for once, tell us, or in my case remind me, that we could try using the adamas stone to help us track Jace through Alec."
"You and I both know how dangerous that method is for parabatai who try to use it. They could both die if something goes wrong."
"And yet you still gave it to Jocelyn to…"
"I couldn't risk it then."
"But now you can because Clary's also missing and because Jocelyn's worried sick? Because it's Clary who's now missing, you're now willing to risk Alec or Jace possibly dying so she can be found."
"This is not about Clary."
"Yes it is, dad. It is about her and Jocelyn. For months, you watched me suffer the loss of Jace. I could barely eat or sleep for a month. I could barely function properly and I was so lost. You watched me fall apart but the minute Clary went missing and Jocelyn showed signs of panicking, you immediately decided, it was time to resort to desperate measures at whatever cost."
"Clary's your sister."
"So? I never said I cared about her any less than I do about Jace and I would have still been as I was if she'd had gone missing instead of Jace. My problem is if it had been Clary that'd been missing first instead of Jace, you'd have done everything you could to find her, you'd have gone to any extreme measure just to find her so that Jocelyn could be happy."
"Is that what this is about? My feelings for Jocelyn?"
"I've told you before that what you do with Jocelyn is your business and your life and it doesn't affect me. Or at least it didn't until now. All I wanna know is, if Clary hadn't been kidnapped, would you have even thought to offer the adamas stone? Would you have thought to tell us about it?" Luke remained silent, unable to give an answer. "Right. I have to go." Alyssa walked past Luke to leave.
"Alyssa, please." Alyssa ignored him and kept walking away.
The Institute – Jace's Room
Alyssa was seated on the bed, sketching in her book. She had unshed tears in her eyes as she sketched. She heard a knock on the door.
"Come in." She looked up to see Lydia enter the room.
"Hey." Lydia said.
"Hey."
"You okay?"
"Yeah. Just having a family squabble with my dad."
"You seem to be having a lot of parent issues these days." Alyssa looked up at Lydia with narrowed eyes.
"Lydia, you're my friend but there are lines that you shouldn't cross, especially concerning my parent."
"Don't you mean, 'parents'?"
"No. As far as I'm concerned I have just one parent, which is my dad."
"And what does that make Jocelyn?"
"Clary's mom and the woman who abandoned me to die and almost succeeding in killing me not long ago."
"Alyssa…"
"Lydia, like I said, you're my friend but if you don't drop this, you're not gonna like me." Lydia nodded and raised her hands in surrender.
"Ok, I give." Alyssa nodded and went back to sketching. "So what are you working on?" Lydia asked, looking on her sketch.
"See for yourself." Alyssa gave her the sketchbook let her have a look.
"The mortal instruments and the angelic rune. They look almost real. You have a gift." Lydia complimented. Alyssa took the book back with a small smile.
"Thanks. It's one of the few gifts I'm happy to have inherited from Jocelyn." She said. Just then, a lightheaded feeling came over her, making her dizzy and her breathing heavy. Lydia noticed and grew concerned.
"Hey, are you okay?" Lydia asked, placing a hand on her shoulder. "Let me go get you a medic." Alyssa caught her hand and shook her head.
"No."
"What do you mean, 'no', Alyssa?" Alyssa shook her head again and slowed, trying to regain her composure.
"They won't be able to find anything or help. This isn't happening to me." Alyssa then lifted her hand to her nose, just above her upper lip, feeling something trickle down. She drew her hand back to see blood on her fingers. "Jace, Alec." She whispered
"By the angel, Alyssa, your nose is bleeding. Just let me…" Just then Izzy burst into the room with a worried expression.
"Lyssa." Alyssa looked up at her, startling Izzy who saw then the blood from her nose. "Lys…"
"Izzy, what did Alec do?"