Jocelyn was awake. She finally responded to a spell Magnus found in a long forgotten grimoire. Clary could not have been more pleased to have her mother returned, but Jace felt a sense of anxiety.

Before him now rested the woman who gave birth to him. Despite this profound connection, she was a stranger. They had always believed one another to be dead. Their meeting was destined, but neither was truly prepared.

When Jocelyn began to regain consciousness, she looked around the room of onlookers and saw Clary, Magnus, Luke and Simon. There were also three young shadow hunters whose names she did not know. Clary recognized this was the first time her mother had met Jace, Isabelle and Alec, so she set about introducing them.

Alec and Isabelle were introduced first. Clary made sure to note that they were the Lightwood's children. Jocelyn nodded in recognition. Though she had never met these Lightwoods, she could easily see the family resemblance.

Jace was introduced next, only his last name was not given. Clary asked her mother if she recognized him, hoping that there would be some kind of instant recognition between mother and son. Jocelyn repeated him name, "Jace," but she did not say anything more. Luke saw that she did not know the boy by his name alone, so he added that he was Valentine's son. This only made Jocelyn look even confused.

"Valentine had another son," she asked. Jocelyn knew her husband was not the most honest or trustworthy man, but she never knew him to be unfaithful.

"No," Luke added. "This is Johnathan."

Jocelyn looked at Jace once more, scrutinizing his features as she went. She looked to her daughter, then back at the young man. After a quick pause, she added, "He can't be," leaving the room in shock.

Jace expected some kind of reaction when he and his mother reunited, but he did not expect that she would immediately declare they were not related. Luke and Simon supported the original claim, saying that Valentine raised him. That Valentine had called Jace his son when they fought at the Institute.

But Jocelyn could not be swayed. She stood firm in her belief that the Jonathan she knew was different. He didn't look like a Morgenstern, anyway.

Clary had specific features that came directly from each of her parents, but Jocelyn saw nothing of herself or her husband in Jace. There was no way that she and Valentine could have produced someone who looked like Jace. The nose and eyes were all wrong.

In truth, Clary often noticed the differences between Jace and the rest of her family, but she just brushed them off. She never saw much of a resemblance between Simon and his sister. She hadn't suspected that Valentine would lie about their kinship. Of all things, why lie about this? What would he have had to gain?

She knew now that it was silly of her not to suspect something. So many people had commented on how little Jace seemed to fit in with the rest of the Morgenstern line, and the announcement of him being her brother was timed too perfectly. Plus, Valentine's motives were often too unusual to guess without some kind of insight.

Clary and Jace grew close very quickly after meeting. They had just shared their first kiss shortly before everything went to hell, and Valentine was known for using spies, especially Hodge as they had later discovered. Valentine could have easily found out about the budding romance, and seen it as a tool to divide his opponents. It was a brilliant strategy if you wanted to attack your enemy from the inside.

Despite this theory, they needed to know for sure. Jocelyn asked Magnus if there was a spell that could create a similar result to a mundane DNA test. It was something that none of the others had considered before, but apparently it was simple enough. Magnus said that the same grimoire he just used should have a spell that would work. He then started flipping through his spell book until he found the right page.

After a few agonizing seconds, he began mumbling something under his breath. Then a blue, phantom-like mist billowed from the pages of the book. Magnus made several pointing gestures towards Clary and Jace as if he was telling the smoke who needed to be analyzed. The mist moved towards them and whirled around young shadow hunters like a snake. Magnus finished mumbling and looked up just in time to see the mist turn a dark red color and vanish.

Everyone was watching this with amazement; Simon even with his mouth open. Magnus slammed the book shut at the reaction, greatly startling most of the people in the room as they had not yet redirected their attention away from the two supposed siblings. Once he was satisfied that he was now again the center of attention, Magnus declared that Clary and Jace were not related. Magnus said that if they were, the mist would have turned green before dissipating.

"How can we be sure?" Jace asked. "Have you performed this spell before?"

Magnus frowned. He had not. But instead of admitting this, he decided to perform the same spell again on Isabelle and Alec. Nobody had ever doubted they were siblings.

The fog began to appear from the pages of the book once more. After some much more flamboyant pointing gestures (which Clary figured were probably for Alec's benefit), the mist traveled across the room towards the Lightwoods. This time the mist turned green, just as Magnus said.

Clary did not know if his reaction was out of shock or embarrassment, but Jace was out the door only seconds later. Clary ran after him but was unable to catch up. Jace raced towards the hospital exit faster than she had ever seen him move before, and he was already fast enough to qualify for the Olympics.

Alec and Isabelle followed, meeting Clary in the hall shortly after Jace passed though the exit. They said not to worry, that Jace would come around. Clary tried to listen, but was too frazzled to do anything other than stand there looking muddled. After a quick pat on the back, the Lightwoods said that they would be heading back to the Institute to check in for the night.

Clary asked if they would call to let her know if they heard anything from Jace. Alec said nothing; he only kept walking. But Isabelle agreed before promptly leaving with her brother.

Realizing that it was not a good idea to stand like a statue in the hallway of a busy hospital, Clary decided to return her mother who she had not really spoken with since she had woken up. All the hullabaloo had distracted them from their reunion.

When Clary returned, she began to apologize for everything that just happened. There was no way her mother wanted to wake up in a hospital room surrounded by strangers and immediately be confronted with drama. Fortunately for Clary, her mom said she did not mind. This was nothing serious compared to some of the things that she had endured during her time as Valentine's better half.

Clary smiled politely at the joke. This comment reminded her how desperately she wanted to ask her mother about her past. Clary had so many questions, she didn't know where to start. Magnus left shortly after Jace ran through the door, and Luke and Simon, who had previously been standing by Jocelyn's bedside, decided it was time for them to head out for the day. The boys said their goodbye's and left mother and daughter to reconnect.

Clary began by asking about Jocelyn's time in Idris. Clary made the question vague in the hopes that it would lead into a long conversation. Jocelyn told Clary about a few events that happened to her while she was young, mostly about school and her family, but she was unable to speak at length. Jocelyn was too tired to hold a conversation.

It seems the potion she drank made her unconscious, but it also did not allow her to sleep. She had been awake for the two last weeks, so she was now very tired.

Trying to be a good daughter, Clary got up from her seat so that she could leave her mother to rest. But then a thought hit her. If her mother had been awake this whole time, she would have been able to hear all the events that occurred in her immediate vicinity. Clary grew pale.

The new shadow hunter had convinced her "brother" to come in and speak to Jocelyn while she had been unconscious. She had hoped that hearing the voice of her son would help her mother wake up. Jocelyn had undoubtedly heard Jace come into the hospital room before. His voice was so distinct; Clary wondered if her mother remembered the things Jace head said to her while she was asleep.

Clary asked about it as delicately as possible. Jocelyn answered the question through closed eyes. She admitted that she did recognize Jace's voice. His conversations stood out in her memory as well. Ever since the fire in Idris, Jocelyn pondered whether or not her son, Jonathan, could still be alive. Hearing someone claim to be her son only made her wonder if it was true. And to hear that Clary had accompanied him to her hospital room only raised more questions.

But now more than anything, Jocelyn wanted to know what was going on between Clary and Jace. Even someone who was as ill and exhausted as Jocelyn could see the pair wanted to be together. Clary would not have run after him otherwise. Jocelyn wondered if they were dating. Or had they been dating before being tricked into believing a lie?

When asked, Clary said she did not know how to explain her relationship with Jace. Without going into too much detail, Clary quickly told her mother that she liked him, and that it had been difficult learning they were related. They agreed they should not date, but that she wondered how things might shape up now that they knew they were not brother and sister.

Jocelyn yawned drowsily and quietly I said, "If you two are happy together, then you should be together." With that she fell asleep.

The young girl sat for a moment and thought on her mother's words. It was amazing how Jocelyn made it all so simple.

Clary decided that she needed to see Jace right away. She didn't care why he ran away or if he didn't want to see her right now. There were too many things Clary had delayed saying because of this stupid farce Valentine created. She wanted to clear the air, and she would do it by force if she needed to.

It was approaching dinner time. Clary figured that the best place to find him at this time of night would be the Institute. He was bound to be in one of four places: his room, the library, the kitchen or the greenhouse. And if he was out, she would be there waiting when he returned.

Clary practically ran to the nearest subway station. But despite the effort, her speed didn't matter. The platforms were gridlocked, and all the people around complained about some kind of jam on the lines. Clary disliked having to wait, but she didn't feel like paying for cab-fare either. Luke was also certainly too far away by now to make it back in any reasonable amount of time. Her best option was to wait, and hopefully she would make it to the Institute before Christmas.

Hanging out around the station was agonizingly painful. This was taking much longer than she thought it would, and it was putting a major kink in her plans. She distracted herself by stopping at a little shop to get a quick bite to eat, but spent the rest of the time sitting on the tile floor failing to think of what she would say to Jace.

When things did finally clear up, she used her small stature to her advantage and snuck between other passengers in order to get onto the first moving train. It wasn't the most comfortable experience of her life, but she did finally make it to the Institute around 2am.

The Institute was dark and silent when she arrived. It seemed that everyone was in bed for the night. Clary decided that this was the first place she should look for him first. But she did not find him in his room, or in the library or in the kitchen. If he was here, there was only one other place where he might be.

She climbed the stairs slowly, partially dreading the conversation that was about to take place. Clary did not know what mood she might find him in. While she was thrilled to find out that they were not related, what if he was not? She did not know what she would do if he rejected her now.

Only there was no other choice but to move forward and she knew it; she had already come this far. They would speak tonight, or they would have to bump into each other and face all this awkwardness at some other time. Either way, this conversation was going to happen at some point.

Gathering all her courage, she reached the greenhouse and found him sitting on the spiral staircase where they first kissed. He was leaning back on his elbows staring up at the ceiling, almost as if he were trying to see the stairs behind the glass.

Clary wondered if he heard her approaching. She had been so clumsy lately, she was sure to tip him off. But if she had, he didn't show it. Jace kept his position until she was standing right in front of him. And even when she was clearly visible to him, he did not look at her. His eyes remained fixed on the ceiling, and all he did was blink.

Clary spent the next few moments just looking at him. Never before had she had an opportunity like this to truly gaze upon his features. He was so beautiful, and she wanted to throw herself into his arms. But for now, she felt the need to remain where she stood. Those lingering questions kept bubbling in the pit of her stomach, making it difficult for her to be so relaxed. She needed answers.

First, she needed an ice breaker. "You ran out of the hospital pretty quickly," was all she was able to come up with.

"Yea, I just had to get out of there," he responded coolly.

"I can imagine," she sighed. Standing like this was awkward, but she was too tightly wound to move just yet. "That was kind of a lot for one day."

He chuckled. That was an understatement. He had always thought that he was Michael Wayland's son. When he learned that he was really the son of Jocelyn & Valentine Morgenstern, he had struggled with it, but eventually he accepted it. To learn that this had also been a lie only made him feel lost.

Who was a person without knowing their past? And to Jace, knowing your parents was such an important part of his past. It felt wrong not knowing anymore. And what's worse, he no longer had any theories. There were hundreds of shadow hunters around the world who could have had a blond child his age. He wouldn't be able to find out anything without asking Lightwoods until they returned from Idris next month.

After leaving the hospital so abruptly, he wandered around the city. Jace blew off some steam, and then returned to the Institute to rest and regroup. Unable to sleep, he spent the last few hours in the greenhouse trying to figure out who he was and what he was supposed to do next.

Jace knew that Valentine was still out there, and that he needed to be stopped before he could hurt anyone else. He knew that he needed to apologize to Jocelyn for causing such a stir when she was still so very ill. And he knew that he needed to set things right with Clary too after running away from her like that.

Setting things right was going to be his first task. He looked up at the girl standing across from him, opening and closing his mouth like a fish, unable to produce any words. All the things he prepared to say to Clary disappeared now that she was standing in front of him.

Before him now stood the one person he wanted most, and seeing her here only reminded him of this. More so, it reminded him of the first time he had been intimate with her. When they kissed for the first time a few weeks ago, she was little more than a stranger. He acted largely out of physical desire. But since then, he had been forced to greatly examine their relationship.

He thought of her in great detail since her birthday, all her high points and low points. In the end, he saw more good in her than anything else. He saw light and hope and beauty. God, was she beautiful. Even as she was standing before him in the wee hours of the morning, exhausted from everything that had occurred earlier that day, she was radiant.

Instead of words, something else was forming. The booming in his ears he felt only a few days earlier returned tenfold. There was a very sudden and strong urge to be near her intimately once more. It was a magnetism that neither one of them could explain.

Jace stood and reached out to her, unable to contain himself any longer. Instead of falling into her as he had on their first kiss, he gently leaned back into the railing of the spiral staircase and pulled her towards him. Clary managed to fall into him gracefully, and they melted into one another's instantaneously.

Soon, their pace quickened. They were running their hands through each other's hair and reaching for any bit of available skin they could touch. The need to feel skin against skin was growing urgently. It was not long before they began dipping their fingers under each other's shirts and desperately running their hands across each other's backs and torsos.

Jace new they were falling fast. He was much more experienced than her, and the pattern was clear. He only hoped that Clary wanted him as much as he wanted her right now. Because once they went much further, he wouldn't be able to stop.

Though Jace had not asked her for sure, he was quite sure that she was a virgin. In all of their conversations over the last two weeks, she had never made any reference to having had a lover (well he, himself, had made quite a few). Simon was the only possible candidate that Jace knew of, and she have been adamant that Simon was nothing more than a friend.

Jace needed to feel more of her, but was unsure how she might react. He played with the bottom hem of her shirt. Part of him considered trying to take off her top right there in the greenhouse. Even if it didn't go any further, at least he would be able to test the waters.

While he was not an exhibitionist, he would not be ashamed to have her here. It was late, and he knew the Lightwoods were in bed by now. And they were the only four people in the Institute. Even in the daytime, the greenhouse was private. Nobody other than Jace and Hodge ever came up here, and Hodge was no longer around to intrude.

Despite his longing, something inside him worried that this is not what she would have wanted. Her first time should not be rushed or in some place without proper doors and locks. She should experience her first time in a bed, in a room where they could feel securely alone with her partner. That would be the best way for her to let go and enjoy herself.

Without warning, he pulled away suddenly and lifted her up into his arms. She made a startled noise and then laughed as he began walking towards the exit of the greenhouse. Jace made a hushing sound as they entered the main dormitory hallway, hoping that he would be able to sneak her into his room without waking anyone.

He carried her down the hall and most of the way to his room before she whispered to him asking where they were going.

"My room," he whispered back, praying that she wouldn't stop him. But as soon as the words left his lips, Clary froze in his arms.

"Put me down." She sounded frightened. Those three words were like a giant ice bucket all over him. She wasn't ready, and now she would most likely run away if he didn't convince her to stay. He did as she asked, but moved slowly hoping she might quickly change her mind.

"Why are we going to your room?" she murmured back to him.

"Why do you think?"

"Last time we were in this situation, you wanted to have sex with me."

"And I still do." He moved a step closer only to be greeting with a fierce, don't-touch-me look that made him freeze once more.

They were only a few paces away from his door. She could see how needy he was, and she desperately wanted him as well. But they still hadn't had that talk she wanted. She didn't know how he felt about her any more than he knew who his father was.

The attraction she felt was definitely stronger than anything she had felt before, and the kissing felt amazing. But were they moving too fast? She had always heard that you should be in love before having sex. This was her first time. Clary didn't want to rush into anything.

Despite the death glares, Jace found himself unable to stay away. He put his hands on either side of her face, and tilted her head up in order to kiss her more. She fell off balance a little, going weak under his influence. Clary tried to regain her footing, but she felt herself being drawn back in. She kissed him again, and things started to heat up once more.

Clary was losing control. She wanted him, but she wanted something else from him first. She pulled back slightly so that she might speak with him.

"Jace, I love you, but I want to make sure you feel the same before we go any further" she admitted boldly.

He smiled. Before she knew it, she was being lifted into his arms and he kissed her once more. "I feel the same," he replied.

It was like something out of a movie. She loved him, and he loved her. Now that everything else had been sorted, that was all that mattered.

He grabbed onto her hand and led her, nearly running, down the hall and into his room. They did not even both locking the door. Nobody was dumb enough to interrupt them know. And even if they did, he wouldn't stop. Jace would have been much happier continuing to make love to the girl of his dreams, regardless of the consequences.

Their mouths collided once they were barely crossed the threshold. They grabbed at each other's clothes once more. This time, there was no hesitation. It only took a few seconds before there was nothing but skin was left beneath their fingertips. They tumbled onto the bed and Jace began to teach her how to make love.

When they finished, they laid down together, finally nearing sleep. He slept on his back, and she curled up on his chest, using him as a makeshift pillow. They talked a bit more about the events of the day, avoiding anything that would lead to a long talk. Sleep was coming too fast to delve into anything serious now.

"Did you hear about the subway pile-up?" she asked him as she was nearing sleep.

"You heard about that?" he asked. Clary was a little surprised that he had heard about it. It didn't seem like something that should have affected his commute back to the Institute – it started after he had already left.

"Yea. That's why it took me so long to get here. The whole train system was jammed up for hours."

Jace didn't respond, which made Clary suspicious that he was hiding something. "What do you know about that?" she asked him.

He wavered, but then said, "I may have been the one who caused it…"

Clary gaped. What had he done now?

"I needed to let off some steam after everything that happened today. And I know there's a hoard of demons that live down in the tunnel system. So I decided to go take a few of them out."

Clary blinked. There were so many follow up questions that she could have asked. But the one thing she wanted to know was, "So, how did you manage to stop the entire New York City subway system on your own?"

Jace laughed, almost as if he was proud of this accomplishment. "Hodge used to keep few explosives in the armory. We've all had training with them. I found a few accidentally in the back of the armory and decided to give them a try."

"How big of a hole did you make?" Clary's tone was part humor and part anger as she realized how stupid he had been to take on such a risk alone.

"Part of a service tunnel might have collapsed."

"So when the service train went through, it had no place to go, and all the other trains had to be rerouted…Jeez," Clary groaned. "Did you at least kill the demons?"

Like she even had to ask. Jace smiled, and replied "Every. Last. One." She laughed lightly, then curled up once more and fell asleep.

Jace stayed up only a few moments longer, looking down at the girl in his arms. Having her like this, he realized once more how much he loved her. This, here, now. This felt right. This was what made all the chaos make sense. Love.

AN: The End! I hope you all enjoyed it. Reviews are always appreciated. And as always, I do not own this series.