Alec Lightwood (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
strongest_faith) wrote2018-08-05 04:46 pm
strongest_faith) wrote2018-08-05 04:46 pm
City of Bones, Warning Clary
The mundane girl had not gone away.
She had, if possible, become more entrenched into their lives. Because of her, Alec had gone to a Downworlder party. Because of her, a warlock had flirted with Alec. (At least...he thinks that's what happened. He's still trying to figure out that particular interaction.)
Because of her, Jace had attempted to rescue the other mundane (Angel's sake, there were two mundanes in the Institute), by going to the Hotel Dumort alone. Without Alec. It was a miracle they'd come back in anything like one piece.
There was nothing for it, Alec was going to have to simply ask her to leave. She clearly wasn't going to do it on her own, and Jace was never going to send her away. When she left the infirmary, Alec hurried after her.
"Clary!" he said, jogging to catch her up. "I need to talk to you."
"What about?" She looked wary, like she wasn't sure she could trust what was going to come out of his mouth.
For a split second, he almost didn't say it, but he thought of Jace, bleeding on the entrance of the Institute, without his parabatai to protect him, and he pushed through. "I think you should leave," he said. "Go home."
Clary looked like she'd been slapped. "Alec, the last time I was home, it was infested with Forsaken. And Raveners. With fangs. Nobody wants to go home more than I do, but--"
He cut her off, mostly because she was making too much sense, because he knew he should care about all of that. "You must have relatives you could stay with?" He heard the desperation in his own voice.
"No," she said simply. "Besides, Hodge wants me to stay."
"He can't possibly," Alec said, shaking his head. "I mean, not after what you've done--"
"What I've done?"
He swallowed. She had to realize, didn't she? "You almost got Jace killed."
"I almost--What are you talking about?"
She didn't even realize. With Jace sitting in the infirmary even now, she still didn't realize. "Running off after your friend like that--do you know how much danger you put him in? Do you know--"
This time it was Clary who interrupted. "Him? You mean Jace? For your information, the whole thing was his idea," she said, like Alec hadn't known that from the start. Like he didn't know Jace well enough for that. "He asked Magnus where the lair was. He went to the church to get weapons. If I hadn't come with him, he would have gone anyway."
"You don't understand." That was painfully clear. She didn't understand anything at all. "You don't know him. I know him. He thinks he has to save the world; he'd be glad to kill himself trying. Sometimes I think he even wants to die, but that doesn't mean you should encourage him to do it."
"I don't get it." Even as she spoke, Alec wanted to scream at her that he knew that. If nothing else, that much was obvious. "Jace is a Nephilim. This is what you do, you rescue people, you kill demons, you put yourselves in danger. How was last night any different?"
"Because he left me behind!" Alec shouted, feeling his carefully constructed crontrol shattering. "Normally I'd be with him, covering him, watching his back, keeping him safe. But you--you're dead weight, a mundane." He said the word with more venom then he usually felt toward mundanes.
"No," Clary said. "I'm not. I'm Nephilim--just like you."
He could feel the sneer tugging up his lip. "Maybe," he said, because that was technically true. "But with no training, no nothing, you're still not much use, are you? Your mother brought you up in the mundane world, and that's where you belong. Not here, making Jace act like--like he isn't one of us. Making him break his oath to the Clave, making him break the Law--"
"News flash," Clary said, her eyes flashing, and Alec could see a spark of the warrior she could have been if she'd been raised a Shadowhunter. "I don't make Jace do anything. He does what he wants. You ought to know that."
He looked at her in horror. It was like she had no concept of a life outside of herself. How could she possibly be so self-absorbed. "You mundanes are completely selfish, aren't you? Have you no idea what he's done for you, what kind of personal risks he's taken? I'm not just talking about his safety. He could lose everything. He already lost his father and mother; do you want to make sure he loses the family he's got left as well?"
Alec couldn't bear the thought. Jace exiled, stripped of his Marks, cast out. He could almost swear he felt a pang in his shoulder, where his parabatai rune was, at the very thought of having that bond severed.
Clary was tiny, but she had gathered up a deep rage from somewhere, and when she hissed her response at him, Alec took a surprised step back. "You should talk about selfish. You couldn't care less about anyone in this world except yourself, Alec Lightwood. No wonder you've never killed a single demon, because you're too afraid."
The words hit him like an electric shock, and for a moment he just looked at her, stupefied. "Who told you that?"
Her answer was simply and devastating. "Jace."
"He wouldn't," Alec said. "He wouldn't say that." Not to her, especially. Not to a mundane.
"He did," she said, and he saw an almost cruel gleam in her eye "You can rant all you want about honor and honesty and how mundanes don't have any of either, but if you were honest, you'd admit this tantrum is just because you're in love with him. It doesn't have anything to do with--"
Alec wasn't even aware he had moved until he heard the crack of Clary's skull hitting the wood paneling of the hallway. The terror that swept over him pushed aside any other thought in his head. "Don't you ever," he whispered, hands gripping her arms tightly as he kept her pinned to the wall, "ever, say anything like that to him or I'll kill you. I swear on the Angel, I'll kill you."
In that moment, he meant it. His grip on her arms tightened, and she gasped in pain. He let go immediately, pushing off the wall and spinning on his heel, all but fleeing the hallway.
[ooc: All dialogue comes from City of Bones by Cassandra Clare.]
She had, if possible, become more entrenched into their lives. Because of her, Alec had gone to a Downworlder party. Because of her, a warlock had flirted with Alec. (At least...he thinks that's what happened. He's still trying to figure out that particular interaction.)
Because of her, Jace had attempted to rescue the other mundane (Angel's sake, there were two mundanes in the Institute), by going to the Hotel Dumort alone. Without Alec. It was a miracle they'd come back in anything like one piece.
There was nothing for it, Alec was going to have to simply ask her to leave. She clearly wasn't going to do it on her own, and Jace was never going to send her away. When she left the infirmary, Alec hurried after her.
"Clary!" he said, jogging to catch her up. "I need to talk to you."
"What about?" She looked wary, like she wasn't sure she could trust what was going to come out of his mouth.
For a split second, he almost didn't say it, but he thought of Jace, bleeding on the entrance of the Institute, without his parabatai to protect him, and he pushed through. "I think you should leave," he said. "Go home."
Clary looked like she'd been slapped. "Alec, the last time I was home, it was infested with Forsaken. And Raveners. With fangs. Nobody wants to go home more than I do, but--"
He cut her off, mostly because she was making too much sense, because he knew he should care about all of that. "You must have relatives you could stay with?" He heard the desperation in his own voice.
"No," she said simply. "Besides, Hodge wants me to stay."
"He can't possibly," Alec said, shaking his head. "I mean, not after what you've done--"
"What I've done?"
He swallowed. She had to realize, didn't she? "You almost got Jace killed."
"I almost--What are you talking about?"
She didn't even realize. With Jace sitting in the infirmary even now, she still didn't realize. "Running off after your friend like that--do you know how much danger you put him in? Do you know--"
This time it was Clary who interrupted. "Him? You mean Jace? For your information, the whole thing was his idea," she said, like Alec hadn't known that from the start. Like he didn't know Jace well enough for that. "He asked Magnus where the lair was. He went to the church to get weapons. If I hadn't come with him, he would have gone anyway."
"You don't understand." That was painfully clear. She didn't understand anything at all. "You don't know him. I know him. He thinks he has to save the world; he'd be glad to kill himself trying. Sometimes I think he even wants to die, but that doesn't mean you should encourage him to do it."
"I don't get it." Even as she spoke, Alec wanted to scream at her that he knew that. If nothing else, that much was obvious. "Jace is a Nephilim. This is what you do, you rescue people, you kill demons, you put yourselves in danger. How was last night any different?"
"Because he left me behind!" Alec shouted, feeling his carefully constructed crontrol shattering. "Normally I'd be with him, covering him, watching his back, keeping him safe. But you--you're dead weight, a mundane." He said the word with more venom then he usually felt toward mundanes.
"No," Clary said. "I'm not. I'm Nephilim--just like you."
He could feel the sneer tugging up his lip. "Maybe," he said, because that was technically true. "But with no training, no nothing, you're still not much use, are you? Your mother brought you up in the mundane world, and that's where you belong. Not here, making Jace act like--like he isn't one of us. Making him break his oath to the Clave, making him break the Law--"
"News flash," Clary said, her eyes flashing, and Alec could see a spark of the warrior she could have been if she'd been raised a Shadowhunter. "I don't make Jace do anything. He does what he wants. You ought to know that."
He looked at her in horror. It was like she had no concept of a life outside of herself. How could she possibly be so self-absorbed. "You mundanes are completely selfish, aren't you? Have you no idea what he's done for you, what kind of personal risks he's taken? I'm not just talking about his safety. He could lose everything. He already lost his father and mother; do you want to make sure he loses the family he's got left as well?"
Alec couldn't bear the thought. Jace exiled, stripped of his Marks, cast out. He could almost swear he felt a pang in his shoulder, where his parabatai rune was, at the very thought of having that bond severed.
Clary was tiny, but she had gathered up a deep rage from somewhere, and when she hissed her response at him, Alec took a surprised step back. "You should talk about selfish. You couldn't care less about anyone in this world except yourself, Alec Lightwood. No wonder you've never killed a single demon, because you're too afraid."
The words hit him like an electric shock, and for a moment he just looked at her, stupefied. "Who told you that?"
Her answer was simply and devastating. "Jace."
"He wouldn't," Alec said. "He wouldn't say that." Not to her, especially. Not to a mundane.
"He did," she said, and he saw an almost cruel gleam in her eye "You can rant all you want about honor and honesty and how mundanes don't have any of either, but if you were honest, you'd admit this tantrum is just because you're in love with him. It doesn't have anything to do with--"
Alec wasn't even aware he had moved until he heard the crack of Clary's skull hitting the wood paneling of the hallway. The terror that swept over him pushed aside any other thought in his head. "Don't you ever," he whispered, hands gripping her arms tightly as he kept her pinned to the wall, "ever, say anything like that to him or I'll kill you. I swear on the Angel, I'll kill you."
In that moment, he meant it. His grip on her arms tightened, and she gasped in pain. He let go immediately, pushing off the wall and spinning on his heel, all but fleeing the hallway.
[ooc: All dialogue comes from City of Bones by Cassandra Clare.]