Same Evening

Alyssa and Lydia were still lying unconscious in the office.

The door to the office opened, and Alec and Magnus entered to see the two women lying unconscious.

"Lydia."

"Alyssa."

Both men rushed to the women, Magnus, to Alyssa and Alec to Lydia. Alec immediately pulled out his stele and ran it over Lydia's Iratze rune on her arm while Magnus used his magic on Alyssa.

"You're gonna be okay." Alec murmured. Lydia woke up slightly and looked to where the Mortal Cup had been and spoke weakly.

"Hodge..." She groaned, then slipped back into unconsciousness. Alec just looked at her, confused wondering what she was trying to tell him.

Main Room - Ops Center

Izzy was sitting at the computers while Jace and Clary stood behind her, all of them worried for Lydia and Alyssa, but mostly for Alyssa. Jace looked pained, clenching and unclenching his fists. They all looked up when Alec walked over.

"How's Lydia?" Clary asked.

"Better." Alec replied, exhaling deeply. "Magnus is doing what he can to help her but...it's bad."

"And Alyssa?" Izzy asked.

"She's also doing better. Her healing is already kicking, from both her werewolf side and from her Iratze. Magnus also helped her with his magic, so she's doing better than Lydia. Magnus says she'll be back on her feet sooner than we think. And the Cup is definitely missing."

"So is Hodge." Jace said, inhaling deeply and running his hand through his hair. He was barely holding up without Alyssa being around.

"Maybe he was attacked, too." Izzy said, turning to type on the keyboard and pull up the security cameras.

"Maybe he was the one who attacked them." Clary suggested.

"Hodge? No way. We've known him our entire lives. He would never do that to us." Izzy denied, looking for the right footage. She found it and clicked on it to replay.

They watched Hodge flung Alyssa into the wall, which made Clary gasp, and Jace, Izzy, and Alec flinch at the sight. Then they saw Hodge proceed to knock Lydia into the coffee table, knocking her out and then going for the Cup.

They saw that he turned to see Alyssa trying to sit up, and then he went over to her. She seemed to say something, and then Hodge threw her again into the wall on the side, and then he slammed her head against it, knocking her out.

All of them felt an ache in their chests, watching Alyssa get hurt. They all had unshed tears in their eyes. Only Jace had a few slipping from his eyes down his cheek. He clenched his fists tightly.

"I led him right to the cup...to Alyssa." Jace said, his voice thick with pain. Alec placed a hand on his shoulder to comfort him.

"We treated him like family. How could he do this to us?" Alec said, feeling angry. Izzy switched the footage to one in the infirmary, showing Hodge placing a ring onto his finger.

"That's how. What is that ring?" Clary said.

"Looks like he's talking to someone." Izzy observed.

"And I can bet who it is." Jace said angrily.

"Valentine." Clary spat. They all watched Hodge turned his neck to side, exposing his circle rune before it disappeared.

"Well, that explains how he deactivated his Punishment rune, but it doesn't explain where he got the ring." Alec pointed out.

"You think someone smuggled it past the wards?" Clary asked thoughtfully.

"Maybe." Jace said then turned to Alec, looking at him pointedly. "Hodge wasn't the only ex-Circle member around here."

"Look, I know I don't always see eye to eye with my parents but they're not traitors." Izzy defended.

"Really? Isn't that what you just said about Hodge?" Jace said, his anger getting the better of him. "It'd have to be someone we trusted, but if there was an intruder inside the Institute, we would have found them by now."

"What about the Forsaken attack?" Clary suggested.

"No." Alec denied, shaking his head. "We killed that thing and I didn't see a ring."

"He didn't have one during the autopsy but...maybe there's something in the footage." Izzy said, pulling up the footages from that day and looking through them.

"Go to the other camera." Alec said. Izzy did as told and displayed the footage from the training room that day. It showed Hodge taking the ring from the Forsaken's body, trying to be discreet.

"There." Jace pointed out. Izzy zoomed in and they saw Hodge taking the ring and putting it into his pocket.

"So it wasn't a random attack." Clary surmised.

"He was just a delivery boy." Jace realized angrily.

"If he gives that Cup to Valentine, he'll create an army of Shadowhunters. With that kind of power behind him, he'll kill thousands." Alec said.

"He'll kill thousands just creating the army. Most mundanes won't survive that." Izzy added.

"We won't let that happen." Clary declared.

"I'm gonna make sure of it." Jace said, a hard look in his eyes. He turned to leave but stopped when he saw something, or rather, someone walking over.

"I can't believe that you guys are plotting justice without me." The others turned at the voice to see Alyssa standing there with a smirk on her face. She was still in her dress from the wedding but she looked all healed up and fine.

"Alyssa." Clary exclaimed then rushed to hug her sister. "We were so worried about you." Alyssa chuckled and hugged her back.

"It's gonna take more than a knock on the head to take me out of the game." She said, pulling from the hug. Izzy was next to hug her.

"Aren't you supposed to be in the infirmary right now? You're supposed to be resting and healing." Alec said, worry infusing his tone. Alyssa just chuckled at him.

"Don't worry, big brother. I'm all healed up and Magnus gave me the all clear to go on a mission before leaving to his apartment." Alec gave her a look of disbelief.

"Did he? Or did you disregard his advice to rest?" Izzy asked.

"Oh heavens, no. Even I have a line I do not cross with Magnus, especially when it comes to my health. Besides, if he didn't give me the all clear, I wouldn't be here right now. I'd be bound to the bed by his magic, only to be released when I've gotten the rest I would have needed. So don't worry." The Lightwood siblings and her sister still gave her disbelieving looks. "Oh my God, will you guys chill? I'm fine. No pain, no aches, no bruises, no bumps, I'm fine."

"Alright. But any sign of pain or fatigue or whatever, I will put you to bed myself and lock you in your room without your stele." Alec said. Alyssa rolled her eyes.

"Alright fine. Can I get my hug from you now?" Alec rolled his eyes playfully and pulled her into a one-armed hug. Alyssa pulled back to see that Jace was gone. Alec noticed her looking around for him.
"Go find him. You need to talk to him." He said to her. Alyssa gave him a smile and hugged him once more before leaving to find Jace.

She ended up at his room. Taking a deep breath, she entered the room without knocking. Jace turned immediately he heard her open the door.

They both stared at each other as Alyssa closed the door behind her and walked away from it, taking hesitant steps and stopping when she was just three steps away from the door.

"Jace..." Whatever she'd been about to say got cut off as Jace moved to her and pulled her to him, hugging her tightly. Alyssa let out a breath and hugged him back just as tight, burying her face in the crook of his neck.

"I'm sorry, baby. I'm so sorry." Jace whispered, repeating it over and over.

"It's okay. I forgive you." Alyssa said, pulling back to lean her forehead against his.

"No, it's not okay. I shouldn't have done what I did. I shouldn't have pushed you away and shut you out." Jace began to ramble but Alyssa cut him off, pressing her lips against his in a kiss which Jace wasted no time in responding to. They pulled away panting for breath after a few moments.

"Just don't do it again, okay. I can't handle it if..."

"I won't. I promise I won't." Alyssa looked in his eyes for a while and nodded, wrapping her arms around his neck to hug him once again and Jace hugged back.

While this was happening, they both unconsciously opened both their sides of the bond, allowing the other in. Both of them felt a sense of wholeness as they reunited, feeling revitalized. Jace sighed and pressed his lips to her temple.

"When Alec told me what had happened, I got scared. I was afraid I was gonna lose you. Especially when I'd spent the last few days avoiding you and shutting you out. Seeing what Hodge did to you, it..."

"Shh, I'm still here. I'm not going anywhere anytime soon." Alyssa pulled back but not from his arms and smirked up at him. "Besides, it'd take a lot more than that to put me down."

Jace chuckled at this and kissed her forehead. "Yeah, you're definitely fine." Alyssa chuckled with him. "I'm gonna make him pay for ever laying his hands on you and for betraying us."

"No." Jace looked down at her and saw her eyes flash green in anger. "We're going to make him pay for his betrayal and ever thinking to try and take me out."

Looking at the fury in her eyes, Jace almost felt sorry for Hodge, keyword being 'almost'. But he held a similar fury towards the man he'd considered a mentor and as family and without a doubt, Hodge was definitely going to feel that fury from him and his wife.

Training Room

Jace and Alec were there, changed from their attire from the wedding into normal clothing, getting ready to leave. Jace grabbed Alec's bow and handed it to him. Clary walked over to him, still unchanged from her dress.

"Jace, what are you doing?" She asked.

"Every second we waste here, Hodge gets closer to Valentine." Jace said, grabbing his seraph blade.

"Hey, we're a team, alright? I know you're mad right now but Hodge could be dangerous." Clary said.

"Three of us, one of him. Check the math...but I'm pretty sure he's outnumbered. Way outnumbered."

"Three of you?" Clary asked confused. Jace nodded and tossed a seraph blade to the side. Clary turned her head to see Alyssa catch the blade as she walked over.

She tucked the blade into a holster behind her. She then took her throwing knives and spikes sheaths from Jace, strapping them to her thighs.

"You didn't think I was going to let him go alone, did you? Besides, if you think Hodge's dangerous, then you've clearly forgotten how I can get when I'm extremely pissed off, Clary."

"Ok, what is with you guys?"

"Clary, now is not the time for chit-chat. And Jace, if you start talking about how all this is your fault because you couldn't kill Valentine, I will knock you over the head." Alyssa said, pinning Jace with a look and making him lift up his hands in surrender. Alec looked like he was trying not to laugh at how Alyssa managed his parabatai.

"Jace, you can't let your emotions cloud your judgment. Your words, remember?" Clary said to Jace. "When I first wanted to find my mom, I didn't care about anyone else. But you were the one that taught me that it's a world that's bigger than us." Alyssa raised an eyebrow at her after she finished speaking.

"Clary, don't take what I'm about to say as offensive. I'm saying this as your big sister calling you out on your wrongs: you're being a hypocrite. Why don't you take the log out your eye, before you pick out the speck in someone else's eye?"

"What is that supposed to mean?" Clary asked defensively.

"It means you're one to talk when it comes to seeing that the world is bigger than us. Just yesterday, because you were desperate to find a way to wake your mother, you forgot that a man had just died and you were ready to go through his things as if he was someone no one even cared about, forgetting that he was Magnus' friend and that Magnus was distraught over his death. I'm not saying this to be spiteful, Clary. But you need to think before you make hypocritical statements. Make sure you're not guilty of the very thing you're trying to advise against because it makes your argument less strong." Clary stared at her for a long minute before she nodded in acceptance. "Good. Now you should focus on waking your mother up."

"Alyssa's right. She was his prisoner and his wife. If anyone can stop him, she can." Jace said, making Alyssa side-eye him.

"Doubt it. However, like Jace said, she was his prisoner. Even in her comatose state, she could have heard something that we may be able to use against that bastard. After all, if I remember correctly, auditory senses are always to last to fade when a person is unconscious. For some, especially those in coma, those senses remain active." Alyssa said. She looked up from fitting her fingerless gloves to see three pairs of eyes on her. "What?"

"How do you know that?" Jace asked. She rolled her eyes.

"Just because I'm a Shadowhunter doesn't mean I didn't get an education. I took some online classes while I was staying with Magnus. And I had a lot of time on my hands so I took most of the pre-med courses and I have a degree in each of them. I just didn't apply for MCATs."

"What other surprises do you have for us, academically?" Alec asked.

"I took a brief course in Forensic Science." The three stared at her. "Ok, enough about me. Can we focus on the tasks at hand, please?"

"We're coming back to this." Jace said.

"Sure. Can we get going now? For all we know, we might already be too late to find Hodge." This brought back the somber and angry atmosphere. "Clary, just concentrate on waking Jocelyn. As for us, we have a certain traitorous bastard to find." Alyssa said, then walked out with Jace and Alec on her tail.

"Jace, how are we gonna find Hodge? He didn't leave anything we can track." Alec said as Alyssa took out her phone and gave it to Jace who immediately began to dial a number. "I might be able to ask Magnus for help."

"Big brother, you need to stop thinking with your stele. And I think Magnus could use the break from Shadowhunter business at the moment." Alyssa said, turning to look at Jace who nodded at her and placed the phone to his ear. "Besides there's more than one way to track and luckily for us, my dad has a bunch of friends who are excellent in one such way. As am I." She continued then glowed her eyes at Alec with a smirk, giving him a hint as to what she was saying. Jace joined them then, nodding to answer Alyssa's silent question before the three of them headed out.

Subway Station

Hodge walked through the station then came to a stop when he spotted a wolf looking around and towards where he's standing.

He poked his head round the wall he's hidden behind, looking towards the wolf. A wolf howl was heard in the distance and the wolf howled back, running off as several more howls were heard. Hodge let out a sigh of relief, thinking he was safe then inched back, trying to slowly walk away.

He was suddenly pulled back by someone and slammed into the wall behind him. He looked up to see Jace glaring angrily at him.

"Where is it?" Jace growled.

"Jace...I'm afraid you're too late. Valentine already has the Cup." Jace looked at him in shock and looks down.

Taking advantage of Jace's shock, Hodge shoved him backward making Jace almost stumble. But Jace recovered immediately and threw a punch towards the older man which he dodged. Hodge grabbed Jace and threw him to the wall but Jace quickly pushed against the wall with his legs and flipped over Hodge, throwing him instead into the wall."

"How could you?!" Jace asked angrily as they began to circle each other.

"It was the only way to earn my freedom. I'd been caged long enough." Hodge replied, panting.

"Caged?" Jace repeated. "You were our teacher. We treated you like family. We loved you!"

"Family? Family?" Hodge asked incredulously. "The Lightwoods cut a deal, Jace, to have me punished for crimes that they themselves committed. Don't you see? I was their prisoner. And besides..." Hodge stopped moving, a confident look taking over his features. "...let's be real for a moment. You can't win." He chuckled softly. "I taught you everything you know." He said, pulling out his chakrams.

Jace pulled out his own weapon, a short staff from which two blades appeared on each end. "Not everything, Hodge." Hodge tilted his head, nodding slightly as if acknowledging the statement. A light smirk then came on Jace's features, confusing the man. "Not to mention, you made a huge mistake. You hurt my wife." This further confused Hodge. "And you managed to piss her off."

Before Hodge could try to understand, a spike was thrown into his shoulder, making him cry out in pain, before a whip wrapped around his waist and tossed him into a wall behind him, slamming his back into it.

Hodge let out a grunt of pain as the spike was pushed deeper through his shoulder. He glanced down at the spike and pulled it out, tossing it to the ground then looked up to see Alyssa standing beside Jace with her whip in hand and a glare set on her face towards him. A look of surprise came on Hodge's face at the sight of the older Fairchild girl.

Alyssa smirked at the look of surprise on his face. "Did you really think what you did was gonna keep me down and out of the game enough for you to escape, Hodge?" Hodge pushed himself off the wall, walking forward a bit and stopping a few feet from the couple. Alyssa's whip transformed back into the bracelet on her forearm. "Oh, I'm sorry. All you did is give me a headache that just pissed me off."

"You're Jace's wife? And how are you all healed? You were unconscious and bleeding badly when I left you in that office." Alyssa gave a devilish smirk at the question. Hodge grew uneasy at the smirk as he and the couple began to circle each other.

"Wouldn't you like to know?" Alyssa said, still smirking as she pulled out her seraph blade and glowed her eyes at the man, shocking him.

Taking advantage of his shock, Alyssa moved quickly to kick him back. Jace then rushed towards him with the bladed staff, raising one end to strike him, but Hodge had recovered enough and blocked the move. He and Jace exchanged blows and strikes, which the other easily dodged or blocked. Jace then hit Hodge in the stomach, catching him off guard.

Alyssa rushed into the fray then, jumping up over Jace and kicking Hodge across the face and then hit him in the side, making him move backward. Hodge looked up to see Jace rush over again with his staff.

Hodge hit Jace's staff away, dropping one of his chakrams. Alyssa moved in and punched Hodge in the stomach. Hodge tried to hit her with his remaining chakram, but Alyssa caught his arm and punched him in the face twice, then head-butted him, making him stumble back.

Hodge flipped back and away from her to create some distance, but Jace immediately closed that distance, rushing after him with his blade and trying to strike him. Alyssa followed same and began to strike as well, leaving Hodge to defend against both of them with his remaining chakram.

Alyssa jumped up and kicked him while Jace punched him three times across the face before finally, Alyssa put him on his back, swiping his feet from under him with a sweep kick.

Then, in pure anger, Jace swiped his blade and cut off his hand with the chakram with a yell, making Hodge scream out in pain. Jace then raised his blade to kill him, but Alec ran in and tackled him to the ground. Still angry and feeling Jace's anger as well, Alyssa flicked out her claws, her fangs growing out