"Cami!" Clary exclaims in excitement, bounding into my bedroom. It was unusual - she looked excited and happy yet sombre, confused and...slightly disgusted

"Woah there" I chuckle, grabbing her shoulders to stop her from bouncing, "What's happening?"

"We got Mom back!" Clary yelps, taking my arm and pulling me down the hallway.

My feet drag along behind her, my body moving only because she was pulling it after like a freight train.

Mom was back?

And I'd have to face her knowing who she married, what she did to me?

I hadn't expected to be reunited with her so soon and of course I'm happy, she's my Mom and I love her but ever since Clary's birthday, something had changed, our relationship was strained and i just didn't feel close to her anymore, not like Clary still did.

When we reach the infirmary, Clary drops my hand and I freeze as if I'd hit a brick wall. It seems Clary's influence was the only reason I'd been moving at all. Then I see my mother.

She was suspended at waist-heigh in the air, unconscious, her hair blowing in a light breeze that didn't exist and she was wrapped in some kind of green-hued bubble that was seemingly keeping her from falling to the floor.

"What-"

"Valentine put something over her, I don't know what" Clary explains, "We can't wake her up and we have no idea what put her to sleep but...she's home. She's here."

"Ok and what about Michael? Where is he?" I question, noticing his absence

Jace face crumples and Clary's loses most of it's happiness and they exchange awkward glances. What the hell?

"Is he okay?" I enunciate cautiously, "Did he get left behind?"

"Oh he's just fine" Jace spits, "Because 'he' was Valentine all along"

"What?" I gasp, "How?"

"A glamour. A good one. One we couldn't see through. We got trapped with him in a room full of demons and he knew we had the Cup. When I commanded it to find Valentine, it didn't work and 'Michael' offered to try..." Clary explains

"And you gave him the Cup?" I growl, "Clary, how could you?! Fuck! I knew something was up with him from the start! I should have been there! I never would've given it to him and then he wouldn't've-"

"I didn't give it to him" Clary interrupts, "I, like you, could tell something was wrong and so I glamoured a mug to look like the Cup and as soon as he took it, he de-glamoured himself and tried to order the demons to kill us. It was only when I revealed that I still had it that he-"

Clary stops short, looking guiltily at Jace, the same, insufficiently hidden disgust lacing through the undertones of her features

"That what?"

"That he told me that he's my father too" Jace whispers

My stomach sinks, my heart drops and the awkward, disgusted glances all make sense...but how? How was that even possible?

"No" I stammer, my eyes glued to Jace, "That can't be...how...I-I don't. You...You were raised by Michael Wayland. Clearly, Valentine is not him."

"But he was" Jace clarifies, "He used the same powerful glamour that he did today when he raised me when I was young"

"That doesn't make any sense!" I shout, running my hands through my hair, "We don't even have a brother-"

Oh God.

JC.

"JC" I breathe, "Jace...that's just a nickname isn't it?"

"My full name is Jonathan Christopher" Jace nods

Jonathan Christopher.

JC.

My brother.

Our brother.

"Holy fucking shit" I expound, slumping onto a bed, "You're my...our brother?"

Jace nods again, slowly, his eyes never once leaving the floor.

"No wonder" I joke, "How else could you inherently annoy me so much?"

Though not completely successful in rousing a laugh, I do get two weak smiles but it doesn't reach either of their eyes.

Of course it wouldn't. They'd kissed...thought of each other in sexual, romantic ways when all this time they were brother and sister...

And I thought my romantic life was falling apart.

"The Cup!" I blurt, standing from the bed again, suddenly alert, "Clary, the Cup, where is it?"

"What? Oh...it's-it's here" Clary frowns, pulling the ornate Cup from her bag and handing it to me

"Is that the Cup?" Alec's voice appears, rounding the corner

"Yeah" I smile, clutching it tightly

"Thank God" Alec sighs but his eyes fall on Jace and he glares menacingly, "Now we can finally save Isabelle"

"Save? What do you mean save?" Jace springs into action, leaping down the few stairs to Alec

"I don't wanna get into it" Alec rebuffs and I practically feel the temperature drop 10 degrees

"Well, I do wanna get into it" Jace growls, crossing his arms, "You almost killed me. You weakened our parabatai bond just to find me. You weakened me so much that a demon managed to slip into an alternate universe, a demon that, coincidentally almost killed Camille."

"You betrayed me" Alec fires back but he looks wounded when Jace mentions my almost being killed, "You lied to me. You both did, and Camille attacked me when I was doing what we all should've been doing - together!"

"We didn't betray you, Alec!" I plead

"We were saving you from yourself" Jace shouts, "If you'd have taken Meliorn to be tortured, you would have that on your conscience for the rest of your life."

"Really?" Alec scoffs

"Really"

"Everything you do is for a higher principle" Alec snarks, "You took the Cup, and you nearly handed it over to Valentine."

"That was not their intention and you know that" I defend

"Doesn't matter. You still stole the Cup from me...and don't deny it, I know you took my stele, Camille. 'Niceties,' right?" Alec snarls and I recoil, "Now, if you'll give me the Cup, I'm going to go and tell my sister that she still has a future"

"I'm not giving it to you" I refuse, "I said I would give them the Cup and I will and then I want to see Izzy as well. Don't forget that I'm the one who managed to convince the Clave to drop that case."

Alec glares but exhales loudly, beckoning me to follow him.

I smile weakly at Jace, patting his shoulder as I follow along with Alec, rushing to keep up with his long strides.

"Where's Lydia?" I question

"What?" Alec gapes, so shocked he stops abruptly, causing me to knock into him

"I want to give it to her" I stumble, regaining my balance, "I trust her to do the right thing with it, to give it to the right Clave member."

"What's with the new shift in attitude?" Alec notes, "Last I heard you were barely able to admit she's your cousin."

"The trial" I admit, "She did a good thing, a Fray thing in that courtroom. Made me respect her, see myself and Clary in her. So I trust her. More than I trust Herondale anyway."

"Inquisitor Herondale" Alec corrects

"Oh, right, like I'm going to respect her at all after the way she treated Izzy?" I scoff, knocking on the door Alec gestures too

"Oh. Hello Cami-is that the Cup?" Lydia redirects, her eyes bulging from their sockets as they rest on the Cup

"Indeed it is" I beam, presenting it to her, "I would have gone to give it to the Inquisitor but...i couldn't be fucked. You were the shortest distance."

Lydia smiles a small smile, a fond gesture exchanged by distant family, "Thank you."

"Anything to save Izzy"

"I'll get Hodge to escort me to lock it up until I return to Idris" Lydia instructs, taking the cup in her hands delicately

"Idris?" I frown, "What about the wedding?"

"It's still happening" Lydia assures me, "But, of course, the Cup takes priority"

"Of course" I echo, resisting the eye roll that threatens to overcome me

"Thank you, again" Lydia thanks, closing the door

"So...Izzy?" I turn to Alec and he nods, gesturing, again, for me to follow

"How is the wedding planning going by the way?" I ask, attempting to sound casual when, really, I was just hunting for something to fill the tense silence that hung in the air, no matter how painful it may be

"Oh...uh...there, uh, hasn't been much time for that"

"Right. 'The Cup takes priority.'" I recite, scuffing my shoes along the ground, "You know...I didn't want to make you feel betrayed, Alec. I never wanted to hurt you. I'd never want to."

"Well, you did."

"I know..." I sigh, "And I'm really sorry...but I was raised to fight for what I think is right, to protect those who need it, to fight against injustice and unnecessary cruelty. I wasn't raised here, in a world where the Law takes precedence over everything. I was doing what I know was right."

"I know that" Alec admits, "Honestly, I wished I could've been right there with you but I wasn't raised that way, I wasn't taught to live with compassion-"

"No, Alec, you are compassionate" I interject, "And I don't hold your beliefs against you. You were raised differently but that's something that this world, that the Clave needs to take into account, especially with Clary and I."

"We need to be more tolerable" Alec agrees, "I hope to do more to encourage not just toleration but acceptance when...if I become leader of this Institute"

I beam happily at his words. He was going to make a great leader.

"With a wife like Lydia on your arm? Come on, you're both shoe-in's for Head of Institute" I compliment, ice sliding along my heart

It would always be painful to think of Alec with Lydia, I knew that...but it didn't make me any less happy that someone like Alec would soon be in a position of power, that someone like Lydia would be there to help him, guide him.

With Alec as a leader, the Shadow World was bound for greatness.

I catch the marginalistic amount of pain and regret flashing through his eyes as he smiles gratefully back at me but there's no use in calling it out.

I'd made my decision and he'd made his.

Now, we have to live with them.

***

The guards by Izzy's door wave us through without a second glance...odd, but I'll take it.

"Jace and Clary are back" I announce, striding into the room boastfully, "They gave me the Cup and...I gave it to Lydia. You're free to go!"

"You made it happen!" Izzy exclaims, leaping into mine and Alec's arms, "They came back! They gave you the Cup! You knew!"

"Well she is my sister" I remind her, hugging her back tightly, "Besides, I'm stronger than her anyway, I'd've wrestled her for it"

"I thought you said she was stronger?" Alec frowns

"Actually, I said braver" I correct, chuckling

"Oh, right" Alec laughs and Izzy exchanges an incredulous look with Magnus

"I see you two are getting along again" Izzy notes, "Why the change?"

"Oh, you know, fake betrayal makes the heart grow fonder" I joke and they all laugh with me, "Besides, his future wife's change of heart definitely won my respect."

Izzy and Magnus' faces fall infinitesimally at the mention of Lydia as his future wife and I know they were still hoping we'd get ourselves sorted, be together, they just had no clue how impossible it was.

"Well, my work is done here" Magnus announces, reaching for his jacket hung over a chair by the roaring fire, "Walk me out, Buttercup?"

"Of course" I drawl, putting on a fake British accent, "Why who else would escort a man as fine as you but I"

"Oh, darling, I would never dream of another arm but yours to assist me in leaving this place!" Magnus plays along, sliding grandiosely to my side and linking his arm with mine, "After you, my dear!"

"No, you, I insist!"

"How?" I hear Alec gape as Magnus and I exit the room, "How are they already best friends?"

"Oh dear brother, the complexities of friendship have never been your strong suit" Izzy imitates Magnus and I with a royal British accent, "Don't ordain to attempt to understand them now!"

"Not you too!"

****

Aww I really loved this chapter, especially the cute little Alemi make up scene and the Buttermags friendship (Magnus and Cami - whom I love almost more than Alemi at the minute *gasp*