tampered | → I'm the only one who sticks around

Entry tags:

→ I'm the only one who sticks around

When; 03.01.13 ( evening )
Rating; R for violence.
Characters; Clary Fray, Jace Lightwood.
Summary; Jace pretty much doing what he does best.
Log; [ The street is quiet, Clary can't hear anything but the sound of her own heartbeat pounding in her ears. They've run too fast and too far, tried to stay one step ahead of the ghouls for most of the night. If only the apartments weren't overrun too, if only the City had a safe place.

She can't help thinking that maybe she's holding Jace back, maybe if it weren't for her he'd be somewhere else, he'd be safe.

Even now she knows that can't possibly be true. Jace wouldn't let something like this take the City without doing his duty as a shadowhunter. And Clary couldn't possibly let him be out here by himself. She's not trained, but she can remember seeing him lifeless on the ground, knows how that felt. So she's just a step behind him, watching him closely as he maps the layout of the buildings around them. She's never seen anything like this before, animated corpses rotting their way around like they belong here. Vampires, demons, werewolves; she can deal with them. But these are people who are clearly dead, who she can't trick herself into thinking otherwise. ]

Jace. [ A whisper, catching the sound of feet dragging somewhere to the right of them. ] Can you hear that?

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[ He holds an arm out, both to protect her and to hold her back, head turning towards the noise, following it. He's got a blade in his hand, named and ready, and runes already drawn into their skin to give them a little help. ]

I hear it. [ He keeps his voice low, and takes a minute to decide whether or not he should lead them away from whatever it is coming closer or head towards it. ] Have you still got that blade?

[ Her grip feels cold and clammy against the blade but she nods just in his field of vision to let him know she does. She knows how this must feel to him: the urge to keep her safe weighed up against the need to fight the darkness. But they wouldn't be any more protected at home, that's what she'd told him. It would be better for them to stay as a pair, safety in numbers when the ghouls can invade their home.

The dragging of feet moves closer and Clary holds her breath, knows better than to rush out. ] What do we do?

[ Two blades are better than none at all, and he's thankful he had them on him when he entered the City, but he would feel less uneasy about all of this if they had access to more. He wishes he had had enough time to explore more beforehand, to get a better lay of the land, of where everything is, because right now he doubts they'll happen across somewhere that gives them access to weapons. That would be far too easy, and nothing is ever that easy.

Still, Clary has something to defend herself with, just in case, even though he's really hoping it won't come to that. But there's the possibility of being split up or having too many ghouls attacking at once, so it's something.

He keeps his voice low, eyes everywhere, head tilting with each new sound. ] We can run or we can fight. If there's one, we could slow it down, trap it somehow. [ He's searching their surroundings, trying to throw a quick plan together if it comes to it. ] Are you up for it? [ She's in danger whichever way he looks at it, and he can't protect her from the violence of a fight forever - she's already experienced enough to have earned the respect of a choice. ]

Yes. [ There's steel in her voice, her shoulders squaring in bravery even though she doesn't necessarily feel like she could possibly manage this. Jace is with her, Jace has her back, that has to count for something. So she tightens her grip, shifts forward on her toes to whisper something to him again but the ghoul explodes out of nowhere and grabs him around the shoulder, using a strength she hadn't been aware it had to throw him aside, separate them. ]

Jace.

[ Clary's shoes squeak against the wet concrete as she tries to throw a punch, the ghoul grabbing her by the wrist to send her swinging into the metal of the fire-escape. She can hear other feet now, the slow, sloping gait of zombies and her fingers scramble for her weapon, keeping low as it turns to advance on Jace. ]

[ The downside to having Clary around is that she's a distraction, and as much as he's paying attention to their surroundings, the ghoul still manages to take him off-guard.

He lands better than most probably would, but with the surprise and shock of going flying unexpectedly, his ankle bangs hard enough to bruise against the concrete and his arm scraped. It's not important, though, and he's already on his feet properly within seconds, charging at the demon before it reaches Clary, tackling it down to the floor where he straddles it, lifting the blade up until he sees the things face.

Simon.

It's long enough for the ghoul to flip them over, Jace rolling away, which gives it time to advance of Clary once again. ]

Don't look at it, Clary, just stick the blade in and run.

[ She throws her arm towards it, weapon still caught in her fingers but it manages to sweep her out of the way. She falls but rolls with the motion like she's seen them do time and time again, her knuckles grazing against concrete. ]

Jace, what -?

You let me die. [ The minute it speaks Clary knows why he'd told her not to look, but the next few steps closer bring it into the line of a lamp and she muffles her cry with her hand. ] You did, Clary. You let me die.

It's not him, Clary, it's not Simon.

[ He's raising his voice to be heard over the commotion, taking a moment longer than he's happy with to shake off the blow, catch his breath, and jump back up onto his feet - it doesn't help that everything around him seems to be happening too fast while he's slowed down.

All he can think of is that he needs to get to her, that he needs to kill whatever this thing is, because he knows that she can't do. ]

Get down. [ He lunges forward, lifting the blade up in his hand and then driving it down, hard, right into the part of the spinal cord at the top that should disable the thing if not kill it. It releases a pained groan, the sound far too familiar, but it doesn't appear to be that affected. He pushes the thing aside, knocking it off its feet where it struggles to get back up, and then he's on top of it, wrestling as the thing uses it's strength to grab a his blade hand. He spares a look at Clary. ] Look away, Clary. Now!

[ She doesn't look away, she can't. It's a monster who looks like her best friend, who could kill the one boy she's ever loved like he's a part of her and she can't turn away from that. She feels stuck on the image of Jace with his knife even as he swings it down, blood splattering across the concrete. Her breath catches in her throat and her eyes feel wet but the minute Jace stands and moves towards her, Clary is on her feet, her arms around him, face buried in his shoulder. ]

I'm so sorry, I'm so - are you hurt? [ Hands on his arms, trying to look him over. ] Did it touch you?

[ He wraps her up in his arms tighter than he means to the second he reaches her, tries to keep her there without thinking about it, but he never lets the demon on the ground leave his sight, even if it's out of the corner of his eye he watches it, checking that it's not going to get back up; he doesn't know what these things are, exactly, different from anything he's ever seen before, and he doesn't know if killing the thing is really that easy. ]

I'm fine, calm down. I've had worse than a few scrapes and bruises. [ But takes the opportunity to look her over, now letting his focus wander, because he struggles to look at anything else once he allows himself to. ] What about you, did it hurt you, are you hurt anywhere?

Just a few scrapes. [ She hit the ground pretty hard but it's nothing to worry about, nothing she hasn't dealt with before in their lives. She holds on to him too tightly, like she's half afraid he'll disappear from before her if she loosens her grip. ]

We should move, shouldn't we? We should get out of here. [ She can't look at the creature wearing Simon's face, can't because it makes her worry for him back home, terrifies her. ]

Yeah, yeah we should definitely get moving, but I need to take care of that thing first.

[ He moves them both around the corner, after checking it's clear, and walks her back up against a wall. ] Stay here, all right? I'll be right back.

[ He goes back to the ghoul, examines it as thoroughly as he can with a quick once over, and it's killing him that he can't figure out what the hell it is. He makes sure the thing is dead, that it'll stay dead, and drags it off to the side, dumps it just out of sight.

Returning back to her, he takes her hand, the blood-smeared blade out and ready, and he tugs her on at a fast walk. ] Keep a lookout, if anything moves, don't stop.

We need to get back to Mae. [ She trails after him, keeping up but it's pretty clear she might be in shock or something. Or she might be disappointed in herself. She chokes in a fight and Jace must think she's absolutely useless. What kind of shadowhunter can't deal with a situation like this? She let him deal with it because she was scared, because she didn't know how to handle it. ]

She's alone and she's scared and I don't think she knows what to do. She has a gun but she's nervous about using it. We should get to her.

[ Squeezing her hand, Jace keeps her close as they jog along, and although he doesn't look at her, he wishes he could, can sense the shock and the consequences of it. ]

Mae will be fine, Clary, we'll get to her. Out building's not far from here, and I've got a feeling she can take care of herself when she has to. [ Still, he picks up their pace, pulling her close so she doesn't lag behind. ] Are you all right? That thing, you know it wasn't - it's not him, right?

I know.

[ But she still sounds lost and a little afraid like she's not entirely sure of herself in that moment. It had worn Simon's face and blamed her for what had happened to him, she can't really overlook that, no matter how much she wants to try. ]

Don't worry. [ Keeping up the pace with him. ] I'm fine.

[ He hears fine, but he sees something far from it, and as the master of taking the blame for everything he's remotely responsible for, he knows the look well. She blames herself, the ghoul's words playing on something that was already there, which makes him wonder about how these things operate.

He drags her away from the path they're following when something rotten appears up ahead, hiding them in a small alleyway, pulling her to him as he keeps watch around the corner. ] Whatever you think, whatever that thing said, it's not true. If anyone's at fault for what happened to Simon, it's me.

[ She shakes her head mutely, pressing into Jace and if she tells herself it's so the ghoul above them can't see her then that's okay. She just wants to seek comfort in something good and pure for a moment, wants to feel Jace's arms around her and pretend that all of the horrible things that happen to them are not her fault.

Because she invites danger, doesn't she? Simon would have never suffered if she hadn't dragged him in to her life. ]

You didn't do anything, Jace. [ In a whisper. ]

[ The laugh is abrupt, so much so it almost takes him by surprise, harsh and bordering of cruel, because that's the problem: he didn't do anything. ]

No, I didn't, and I should have. [ He was so wrapped up in Clary, both in wanting her and wishing he'd never met her, lost in a way he'd never quite known before, and so shamefully jealous about how close Simon and Clary were - are - that he didn't pay enough attention to the bigger picture, didn't warm her about certain things or train her, and he definitely didn't extend that to Simon. ] He would never have been at that party if I'd wanted to stop him, would never have even come across the vampires, and I should have known the hold they had over him, could have watched him and didn't.

[ But as guilty as he is of it, he can't quite bring himself to fully regret it; if he hadn't been protecting Clary, the outcome could have been worse. ]

Don't.

[ Pulling him closer even though there's still a ghoul out there, she can't let him blame himself. ] I know you're not to blame, Jace. It's not your fault.

If that's the logic you're going with, then it's as much your fault as it is mine. [ He's got eyes everywhere, though, knows that one of them in gaining on them, and he draws in a breath, holds onto the blade tighter. ]

These things stink, but they're not stupid. I've got this if you need to sit it out.

I --.

[ She needs to be better at this, needs to be helpful. ] I'll watch your back, okay?

[ Grip tightening on the weapon. ] We can talk later, okay?

Later. [ Talking isn't really his thing, but it's important he's honest with her, and somehow he either needs to turn her guilt over Simon into something she can use to fight later on or convince her it's not on her - somehow he doubts that will work. ]

Ready? [ He doesn't wait for an answer, though, the thing is gaining on them from above, and as soon as he steps out into the open it drops from above. In his element, he smirks at the thing like he knows something it doesn't, and when it lunges he jumps up and over it, coming up behind it to run the blade across its throat. It drops, not dead, but it's enough; he grabs for her hand and leads them the hell out of there. ]

[ She picks up her pace along with his, her hand clutches in his. ]

Oh my god, where are they all coming from? [ Because she doesn't understand why the City is so under attack, how they all got here. ] I don't even understand what they are, have you seen them before?

Out of all the demons I've fought, I've never seen anything quite like these, but I'm getting the feeling that they play on fears. [ But unlike fear demons, they don't switch to whoever they're chasing, the belong to people. He doesn't love that thought.

In an attempt to lighten the situation, as if that's possible. ] I'm thinking about calling them Taunters, what do you think?

[ She leans against him for a brief moment, pulling him along to the apartment building. ]

Sounds like a horror movie monster.

Is that a no?

[ He'll think of something more terrifying when he's not too busy looking over his shoulder.

He lets her have the moment before they're moving again, and he sticks as close as possible until they reach the entrance. But even then something doesn't feel right, and inside they can be cornered. ]

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