You have a nice...well everything." He smiled awkwardly and she nodded, leaning against the side of his desk and discreetly pocketing the card.

"Thanks." She smiled. "Well, I've got to go and report that thing. But maybe I'll see you around." She suggested and he nodded at her hastily.

"Wait up." He called, scribbling something down on a sticky note and handing it to her before she could walk away.

She looked down at it and saw his number. Great. "Thanks." She smiled, walking out the front door before putting her glamour back on and enter the room again and heading in the same direction the other pair did.

"You are not being the distraction next time," Alec commented and Arya frowned once she caught up with the siblings m.

"Why? I was good at it." She shrugged showing him the sticky note.

"Yeah, too good." He scoffed, taking the paper from her hand and scrunching it into a ball, throwing it in the nearest trash can they walked past.

"Hey, maybe I wanted that." She complained and Alec raised an eyebrow at her.

"No, you didn't." He told her sternly.

"No, I didn't." She concluded, smirking at the boy as they walked side by side to find Izzy who was further ahead.

✧

"Did you get it?" Alec asked hastily once the group of five had been reunited.

"Theoretically?" Clary sighed and they all groaned. Why was it so difficult to get a card from a police station.

"Theoretically?" Alec asked with a sigh.

"Yeh." She grumbled. "I found the card. I just have to figure out how I reached into my notebook before. It's not an exact science." She complained and Arya was slightly relieved that they had the cup.

"Can't you just pull the cup out?" Alec asked frustrated.

"I can, theoretically. I just...It's not as easy as it looks, Alec." She complained, frantically looking around her.

"Okay, the pair of you can discuss theory as much as you what when we get back to the institute. But right now, considering we just stole from the cops, I suggest we get home." Arya complained and the other two nodded in agreement while Clary and Alec glared at each other like usual.

"Guys, I think the mundane stuff might be the least of our worries," Izzy said wearily when the necklace started to pulse out of nowhere.

"Well, at least we know the demon necklace works." Alec surveyed and Arya frowned.

"We found out the demon necklace worked two days ago when I was almost killed by one. Remember." She contradicted and Alec rolled his eyes at her.

"Always got to be right." He sighed and Arya rolled her eyes at him too.

"Always am." She grinned.

"Sure you are." He scoffed with a smirk.

"You keep thinking that, Alec." She grinned, patting
him on the chest and then catching up with Izzy while a blush rose to Alec's cheeks.

The five quickly departed with Clary slightly behind. The redhead was so busy frantically looking around for demons she didn't notice when she walked into an old woman who dropped her purse. "I'm so sorry." She apologised. But as she did, it was revealed that the old woman was a demon.

"Grandma." Jace welcomed, acting like he was going forwards to hug her but instead stabbed his seraph blade through her chest, turning the demon to dust.

"What the hell." Clary sighed.

"Language. Not in front of Grandma." Jace joked and the others rolled their eyes and scoffed at his poor timing.

"How did they find us?" The lightwood boy asked, himself and the Legacy girl gravitating towards one another for protection.

"I don't know," Arya answered, looking around and spotting the officer she had flirted with earlier on that day, as well as three more officers behind him. And they all had glowing eyes. "But she brought friends," Arya added, pointing them all in the direction of the police officers who were gaining on her.

"How can you tell?" Clary asked the four who were looking right at the group of them who were beginning to converge around them.

"It's like seeing through a glamour. You just got to pay attention to details." Jace explained as they all made a speedy exit.

"But I can't see anything." The girl complained.

"Behind us." Izzy pointed out but Clary still couldn't see them. They stopped hastily however when they ran into another one, right in front of them. Some how they had found out that Clary now had the cup. They knew who she was and where to find her and it was putting all of their lives in danger being there.

"Okay, there are too many people." Clary pointed out when her eyes finally allowed her to see the glowing eyes of the demons. They weren't difficult to spot when they were bright green.

"I don't say this often, but I agree with Clary." Alec surveyed, backing away—with Arya by his side an arm gently around her—from the one in front of them. "We gotta get out of here." He insisted and it didn't take much for everyone to agree.

"Hey, this way." Clary directed them. If anyone knew the way around the police station it was her. After all, Luke was like her father when she didn't have one and he still was now that she knew her real one was valentine. She had spent her childhood growing up around the police station and staying there with Luke while her mom was away or working. He would let her roam around the station and everyone knew that she was like Luke's daughter so nobody would question it. She discovered just about every corner of the place and no longer needed to rely on the signs or the answers of other people to find her way around.

So the group of five ran quickly down large rows of steps to a door that was hidden at the back of the precinct. It was labelled with Danger and do not enter signs since it was an Electrical room but nobody was bothered.

"What's the unlock rune again?" Clary panted. She struggled to remember all the runes at the best of times given she didn't even know about shadow hunters till a few days ago. But when she was under stress, it was even harder.

But instead of telling her, or showing her. Jace slammed his foot into the door and broke it off its lock. "Open sesame." He grinned and once again everyone rolled their eyes at him. He was always out for attention and cracking jokes at the worst times. But that was just Jace. Reckless, Sarcastic and Vain Jace. They all still loved him never the less.

They ran through the door and toward the tunnels at the end but all hung back when they noticed Alec had stopped by the door, stringing an arrow ready to fire.

"Hey, what are you doing?" Jace asked, approaching his parabatai.

"Holding them off. Take Clary back to the institute." He insisted and Arya frowned, shaking her head at the Lightwood.

"No, if you're staying, I'm staying. We fight together." Jace denied and Arya agreed.

"Don't be stupid. If the demons get the cup, we're dead anyway." He insisted. No matter how true what he was saying was, everyone was reluctant to let him stay behind alone.

"I'm not leaving anyone behind." The blonde wouldn't give up.

"You don't have a choice." He further pushed.

"I know you guys are having a moment, okay? But we really have to go." Clary interrupted.

"Don't worry. It's not like this is the first time Alec has saved your life. I doubt it would be the last." Izzy commented.

"Go," Alec told the blonde sternly. "Just, please, keep Arya safe for me." He told him quietly and the Blonde grinned at him and then nodded.

"Promise." He assured before turning to the others.

Arya had contemplated it in her mind and ultimately decided to push whatever was telling her not to do what she wanted to the side. If she didn't get another chance she would hate herself for not doing what she wanted to. She quickly walked towards the boy who was looking at her and hoping she wasn't going to try and convince him to go with them because he wasn't sure he would be able to resist her. Instead, she stood in front of him and used her hand to pull him down so their lips met. Alec didn't waste a second to kiss her back. It was desperate and hurried but also perfect at the same time. "Be careful." She whispered to him when they pulled away and he nodded. She quickly pecked him once more before the group of four followed the pathway of the tunnel and he stayed behind—a blush and a smirk on his face.

"That took far too long to happen." Isabel grinned when they walked down the slightly lit tunnels.

"Shut up, Izzy," Arya mumbled, holding her seraph blade at the ready.

The pair carried on while Clary and Jace stayed back to have a moment.

"I can't believe you finally kissed him." Isabel continued to gush and Arya grinned. She had wanted to do it forever. "He's wanted—" She started but cut herself off when the necklace began to pulse. "Guys? It's pulsing." She called back to the other pair who quickly caught up.

"Again?" Clary groaned.

"It's getting close. Let's spread out." She suggested and everyone nodded, spreading their separate ways.

"Izzy, where is it?" Jace asked desperately when it still hadn't appeared.

"I don't know." Isabel stayed calm. It was the anticipation that was killing them. Once they knew where it was, they could kill it. But while it was roaming around, around them. It could attack at any time and they were nervous about that. Because after no matter how many years they had been shadowhunters, the instinct to keep everyone safe would never go away. "It's like there right here but I don't see them." She complained.

But of course with Arya's luck, as she descended one of the tunnels she heard the snarling from behind her. She turned only for the demon to jump on top of her. She screamed from the impact but quickly maintained her composure, punching the demon off her face and slashing it with her blade before it could do any real damage.

"Are you hurt?" Jace asked from his concern and the concern for the promise that he had made Alec. He didn't want to break that. Not for any of them.

"No. I'm fine." She assured and they all breathed a sigh of relief.

"What are those things?" Clary asked nervously.

"Shax demons," Jace informed the girl and Arya was happy that the days where they would sugar coat things for the girl were over. She hated having to be the truth-teller of the group. "They're like the bloodhounds of the shadow world." He added.

"They've been tracking us," Isabel explained.

"So what do we do?" Clary asked.

"The institutes only a couple of blocks from here. We can't lose them, but they won't be able to track us if we split up." Jace suggested nervously for all of their safety.

"But, I don't...I don't—" She stuttered and Jace was quick to silence her complaints. "Clary, you'll be fine." He insisted. Izzy, Arya and I will draw them away." He told her and the two girls quickly reacted when they heard the hissing of another demon. "No matter what happens, just keep running." He instructed the girl and she nodded.

"They're coming," Izzy told them when the noise got louder.

"Jace, I—" Clary panicked.

"Run, Clary!" He ordered her sharply and she listened that time, even ignoring them when the screeching followed her.

The demons started to surround the three of them, circling them like a lion would be ready to eat its prey. They slaughtered a few of them before finally being forced to split apart. Arya went the opposite direction to Izzy and Jace but didn't notice until she got further down the hallway. She turned into another room where the lighting was darker and she struggled to see.

On instinct, she pulled out her stele and activated the night vision rune on her forearm. She could see but it was still difficult. The hissing seemed to be all around her. It was echoing from all sides of the room and she couldn't tell which ones were fake and which ones were the real shax demons. She was in trouble now.

✧

"Get back!" Clary screamed when she saw two people approaching her after her encounter with a fake Jace. "How do I know it's you?" She asked them wearily, holding up her seraph blade.

"I got you to spray paint for your birthday," Luke told her calmly with his hands raised. "What happened?" He asked and Clary's lowered the blade.

"Uh, demons." She brushed over. "Long story. Um...where'd you come from." She asked the man.

"Jail." He sighed.

"Where's Arya?" Alec asked worriedly.

"She ran off with Jace and Izzy to kill a group of demons so I could get away," Clary explained and Alec only hoped that Jace kept his promise.

"I ran into Alec," Luke stated the obvious. "Said you might be down here. Thought you might need some help." He expanded as the ashes on the group finally disappeared.

"Apparently not," Alec said, sort of shocked. "Looks like she took care of it." He added, watching the dust which looked like embers from a burning fire, finally turning to black dust and then disappearing.

"Shouldn't we get going or something," Clary said hastily, not wanting another encounter with a demon she was going to have to differentiate from her friends or a monster. "More demons could be coming right?"

"Oh, don't worry about it. I got the pack on the lookout." He assured her and Alec only hoped that that would also help ensure the others safety too. "If there are any other demons, we'll take care of them."

"Look at you, leader of the pack." Clary surveyed with a slight smile.

"Well, you know, it has its perks." He grinned also.

"Shall we?" Clary sighed and the other two nodded.

✧

Once Alec and Clary's returned to the institute, the pair overheard him telling everyone that he wanted them on the lookout for Arya and Clary in the tunnels beneath the precinct.

Clary ran over to him and assured him that she was okay but Alec stayed put at the top of the stairs. Jace had said Clary and Arya Which could only mean that she didn't make it back with Jace and Izzy.

Clary pulled herself into his arms and he held her close. She looked up and just like Arya had done with Alec earlier, she mulled him into a kiss. But a
he froze, looking up at Alec. He looked heartbroken, betrayed and worried all at the same time. Alec couldn't even stand there and look at it. Arya was missing and Jace had promised to keep her safe, yet here he was kissing the new girl with not an ounce of concern for the brunette.

Izzy who had been stood beside him on the stairs, followed after her brother. She was mad at the blonde also. How in the hell did he lose the girl in the tunnels and then decide that kissing Clary was more important.

"Alec, where are you going?" Isabel asked, jogging after him as he headed for the exit.

"I'm going to find her." He told her firmly and she knew that she wouldn't be able to get him to change his mind.

"Do you—" Isabel started.

"Please don't try and stop me. I love her, Isabel. Always have, always will." He said truthfully and Isabel's heart melted at his words.

"I was going to say. 'do you want company?'" Isabel smirked and Alec nodded.

But as the Lightwood boy headed towards the exit, his sister in tow the door flung open and it revealed the exact person he had been worried about. She practically sprinted over to him and threw herself into his arms the second she saw him. He wrapped his own around her and held her tightly, not letting her go until he knew she was alive and really there. "Oh, my god." he breathed.

She pulled away and he practically smashed his lip against hers, it was exactly what he had wanted to do since she kissed him the first time and far beyond that. She finally made her move and he wasn't going to waste any time making his. But as his hand made its way onto her waist she gasped against his touch and winced. The pair broke away and he looked at his fingers. They were red, lightly layered with blood.

Arya's vision became hazy and her head began to spin like all of the effects suddenly hit her. Her legs buckled and if Alec didn't already have his hands on her waist she would have dropped and hit the floor. "Mom! Dad!" He called out for his parents, gathering her in his arms.

The couple appeared at the top of the steps with Max beside them and spotted the head of brunette hair that was Arya trembling in their sons arms. They quickly rushed down the steps towards the girl and Max's eyes filled with tears as he saw the bloody residue on the tile floors and the way she looked so limp and lifeless. The two parents lead their son and the girl in his arms to the hospital wing where he lay her on a bed, the sheets quickly being tinted the same crimson colour. Max had followed the four through and they hadn't even noticed—too worried about the brunette girl—he stood by the doorway and Jace quickly spotted him on the way to find the pair himself. He lead him away but Alec was still furious at him.

He had broken his promise and for some reason, Alec knew that he would. He knew that from the moment Clary appeared in the institute, everything would change for the worse. This was exactly what he didn't want to happen.

Jace's eyes widened once he saw the extent of which had happened. He had messed up.

Alec had finally—somewhat—gotten the girl. And now he might lose her.

✧

Hey guys, I know this took a while to get out but I wanted to make this chapter good. I LOVE IT NGL!

But yeah, I hope you guys enjoyed it, vote if you did!

But anyway, ALEC AND ARYA FINALLY KISSED. Took them forever lol.

I like how i did it tho because I feel like instead of it being forced or random they finally did it for a reason. And we all know that Alec worries about Arya so i thought it would just be cute to add it there.

Xoxo—LCC

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