Erm. Sorry for the delay in updating.

I want to thank the reviewers for being patient. Also, I want to be clear that I take aspects from both the show and the books. This fic is mostly based on the show because I prefer it to the books, but I take things from the books as well to create a unique universe.

Chapter Five

Alec stood up. He had been hesitant to trust Clary, but after all of Isabelle's assurances that she wasn't in with the Circle, this was a blow. How was he supposed to believe anything Clary Fray—Clary Morgenstern said? Her father had killed his parents, killed innocent Downworlders. All in search of the Mortal Cup.

"Alec," Izzy said, grabbing the hem of his sweater and tugging on it. Alec swiped his sister's hand away and inched out of her reach. He wasn't going to sit back down.

"Your father," he said to Clary, "is Valentine Morgenstern. And you expect me to trust you? He killed my parents!"

"He took my parents away from me too!" Clary snapped. Her jaw trembled and she blinked the tears from her eyes. She stood and glared at him. "Just listen to me. Please. I need your help."

"Alec, she doesn't have a Circle rune," Izzy said softly. "She lives with a Downworlder. Please. We need her help too. She's a Shadowhunter who isn't with the Clave and isn't a Circle member. She's like a saving grace for us."

"We don't know she isn't secretly with the Circle," Alec said. "Are you looking for the Mortal Cup, Clary Morgenstern?"

"Fray," Clary said. She clenched her fists. "It's Clary Fray—or Fairchild if you must. Don't call me Morgenstern. All Valentine has ever done to me is bring me pain, and I've never even met him. My mom dropped me off here when I was eight. I didn't know anything about the Shadow World then. All I knew was that Luke, the man who I'd thought of as my father, had been kidnapped, and my mother was leaving me. I don't know where they are. They might be dead. But the High Warlock of Brooklyn raised me since I was a child and you dare insinuate that I'm in the league with Valentine."

"But are you looking for the Cup?" Alec asked again. The sad details of her backstory didn't interest him. He only needed to be sure if he could trust her.

"To stop Valentine from getting it, yes," Clary said. "I don't have any leads, but as far as I know Valentine doesn't either."

"You're sure he doesn't know where it is?" Isabelle asked.

"We'd know if he had it," Clary said. "New Shadowhunters would be popping up like dandelions."

She hadn't taken her stare off of Alec. She was daring him to push more, he could tell. He thought about how this girl had been taken in by Magnus. He vaguely remembered hearing about Magnus Bane's indifference towards Shadowhunters as a child. Alec had never met him before the night he had taken Clary home, but the affection with which Magnus talked about her had been clear enough.

Trust was going too far. But he would work with Clary.

The door opened and the three Shadowhunters turned to see Magnus unzipping his jacket. He tilted his head and took in the scene. He introduced himself to Izzy, who introduced herself back. His gaze rested on Alec for a second longer than Izzy. Alec twitched and didn't meet his eyes. Finally when he looked at Clary, he raised his eyebrows.

"I assume you've told them, then?" Magnus asked. He had noticed Clary and Alec's confrontational body language. Alec took a step away from Clary and relaxed his shoulders. Magnus waved his hand. "Please. As though I wasn't reluctant to take in Valentine's daughter. But she turned out pretty well."

"Thank you," Clary said. "Now can we figure out what we're going to do about this now that we're all here?"

"About what?" Magnus asked.

"Finding the Mortal Cup," Alec said, just as Clary said, "Finding Mom and Luke."

They looked at each other again. Alec frowned. Clary's priorities were far different than his. He'd given up on finding his parents. He knew they were likely dead. Clary's parents had been gone for a decade. What made her think that they were still alive?

"I thought you wanted to find the Cup so that Valentine couldn't get to it," said Alec.

"And only my mom knows where it is," Clary said. "She took it from him and hid it. We tried to see if I could remember anything about its whereabouts—I went to a Silent Brother—"

"You went to see the Silent Brothers?" Izzy asked, eyes wide. "I thought you needed to hide from the Clave."

"A Silent Brother," Clary corrected, her face stony. She did not want the subject to be pushed further. "Magnus tried everything he could. We can't summon demons anymore now that the portals to other dimensions have closed. I don't know where it could be. So if we want to find the Mortal Cup, we have to find my parents first."

"What makes you think your mom hasn't been killed by Valentine?" Alec asked.

Clary and Magnus shared a look.

Magnus walked over to the couch. He sat down beside Isabelle. Blue sparks appeared at his fingertips and suddenly he was holding a cup of Starbucks coffee. Alec stared. Magnus took a sip and frowned. "Needs more sugar." He looked up at Alec. "Valentine wouldn't kill Jocelyn. If he still doesn't have the Mortal Cup, it's safe to assume that she is alive."

"What about Luke?" Clary asked.

Alec got the feeling that this was a question she asked frequently, a question she hoped would have a different answer. It made him wonder just what Clary had been doing all these years. She seemed to have training. She'd gone to the Silent Brothers. How was it that she didn't have any leads whatsoever?

Magnus simply shook his head. "That's impossible to tell. They were parabatai once, but they betrayed each other."

Clary nodded. She sank down beside Magnus. "Are we going to have to go to the Clave? Do you think they know more than us?"

"Absolutely not," Magnus said. "We can do this on our own."

"We've been doing this on our own," said Clary. Her voice tightened. "It isn't working."

"That's why you have us, isn't it?" Isabelle put in. "We're not part of the Clave. By all accounts, the Clave probably thinks we're dead. But we're Nephilim. And we're here."

Clary pressed her lips together. She ran her gaze between Alec and Izzy, and back again. She nodded. Clary brushed cat fur off of her jeans and stood. "That's right."

She walked over to a wall and glanced at Magnus, crossing her arms. Magnus sighed and snapped his sparking fingers. A glamour over the wall went down, revealing a small collection of Shadowhunter weapons: a couple of steles and seraph blades, even a whip and bow and arrows. Not enough weapons for an army. Just enough for the three of them.

But more than what Alec would have expected.

"How did you get these?" Alec asked.

Magnus grinned. There was a glint in his eye. "I have connections."

Clary cleared her throat, and Alec and Izzy looked back at her. She took a seraph blade off of the wall and weighed it in her hand. She glanced up at them. "If we're really going to stop Valentine, you two need training."

She held out the seraph blade and waited.

Alec felt a thrill go down his spine. Drawing all the runes would do nothing if he couldn't hold his own in a fight. Being trained by little Clary Fray was less than ideal, but he would do it. Clary was all he and Izzy had, after all.

Alec stood and walked to her, holding out his hands. Clary placed the sword in his hands. At his touch, the runes etched on the blade glowed.

Time to begin.

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