Clockwork Wishes (An Infernal Devices/ Mortal Instruments Fanfic)

Chapter 1

With Thomas gone, there was no-one to drive the carriage, so Will and Jem walked to Hyde Park. Jem had brought some meat pies for the ducks (He had originally wanted to take some bread, but Will was convinced that only the meat would truly satisfy them. 'They would probably take off your hand if there wasn't enough meat to feed them,' Will stated). Whilst feeding them, one got far too close to Will. He ended up retreating in a blind panic and falling into a fairly large mud puddle to the side of the path. Jem was laughing so hard that he had to support himself on his cane as to not fall over, but Will was not as elated at him having fallen into a freezing puddle of much as Jem was.

The walk had not done much to lift Will's spirits, and they only plummeted further when the parabatai returned to the Institute. Henry was running past the entrance hall with some blueprints tucked into his belt when Jem stopped him. 'Henry?'
Henry looked up, surprised. 'Yes, Jem?'
'Will and I were thinking of having a men's night out tonight,' Jem started, 'And we both thought it would be wonderful if you were to join us. We should'nt be out too late - not past twelve. What do you say?'
'Boy's night my arse-' Will muttered,but Jem shot him a look that suggested Will should keep his mouth shut.
Henry clearly hadn't heard Will's comment, for face broke into a huge grin. 'That would be wonderful!' He said excitedly. "In fact, we need not even leave the Institute. I've got something I want to show you later on! Meet me in the drawing room in, say, thirty minutes.'
And without waiting for a response Henry disappeared around the corner, still clutching his blueprints.

As soon as they were out of earshot, Will stopped Jem. 'What was that?'
'I invited Henry to a fun night out.' Jem said calmly, as if that was all the explanation needed.
'Well, thank you for informing me about it beforehand.'
Jem grinned. 'You wouldn't have done it if I had told you about it.'
Will scowled. 'Oh how right you are, my clever friend. In fact, I would much rather spend the night alone in my room with a good book in my hands. That is where I would be the happiest.'
'And the loneliest.' Jem said. He reached up and squeezed Will's shoulder softly. 'You think you hide your feelings well under your temper, but you don't. And we both know that the most dangerous person to be alone with when you feel like this is yourself.'
Whether it was the pleading look in Jem's eyes or the truth in his words, Will wasn't certain. Either way, his shoulders sagged in defeat and he looked down.
'So we are having a boy's night,' Will said quietly.
'We are having a boy's night.'

—-

Whilst Jem had thought the evening involved going to go see an Opera or maybe getting a few drinks at a pub (and not Will's 'a few', but Jem's), Henry arrived in the drawing room with some tools and a stele. 'Why did you two get so dressed up?' Henry asked. 'Oh well, never mind. If you just give me a few minutes, I'll have this - my newest invention- working in no time!'
Jem, who was sitting in the chair across from Will, gave him a nervous look. An invention was not a promising start to the evening.
Despite his attempt to stay positive, Will sighed. He knew that when Henry said a few minutes he meant a few hours. 'I'll go get my book.'

His judgement was correct. Two hours later, Henry had drawn some strange new runes in chalk onto the wall of the drawing room and was now tracing over them with a stele. Charlotte was going to be furious at the mess he had made. And, after about thirty minutes of looking through Henry's illegible blueprints, Jem had elected to play on his violin to keep the other two entertained. Will had draped himself on one of the armchairs and was re-reading Macbeth in an attempt to not think about anything. As Jem's sweet notes filled the air, Will found he couldn't concentrate on the book and started to fiddle absentmindedly with one of Henry's tools. Finally, as Jem played the last clear note of a song, Will dropped the tool on Church the cat, who had been sleeping just under Will's chair. With a shriek of pain, Church ran at full speed into one of Henry's legs. Henry cursed as the stele slid off of the chalk outline and deformed the current rune he was tracing.

As the ginger man swore at the cat, Jem turned to Will. 'So? What do you think of the song?'
Will patted his book. 'Sorry, Jem, but I was fully concentrating on my book. I couldn't really hear you.'
Jem raised his eyebrows. 'It's upside down.'
'Pardon?'
'Your book. You're reading it upside down.'
Will quickly turned it the right way around. 'I don't know what you are talking about.'
With a chuckle Jem picked up his violin and started on the next song, but was interrupted by a whoop of joy from Henry.

'I think the cat has fixed the problem with my portal! Now, if I just change this...'
Henry quickly scribbled a few new runes on as Jem and Will watched on in fascination.
'What exactly are you making, Henry?' Jem queried.
'I'm still deciding on an appropriate name, but I'm quite confident of its ingenuity!' Henry said enthusiastically. 'I'm trying to make a doorway that will take us to another place and time. Perhaps one day it should even become a modern mode of travel. You could go to France during the French Revolution, or even travel into the future!'
'Henry, should we really be tampering with the future?' Will inquired. 'I mean, I'm all for seeing the amazing mark I left on history, but perhaps it's presently unknown for a reason.'

Henry didn't hear Will though. As he finished the last rune, Will observed that Henry had created an arch out of runes - already somewhat unreassuring. And, even more disheartening, the runes started to glow. Jem lowered his violin, fascinated, and even Will let his book slide out of his lap. As the last rune fluttered to life, a large blue hole started to form in the centre of the arch. Henry shouted 'It worked! It really worked!' and quickly ran through an equation in his head. He realized something and shouted 'Hold on to something!' but it was too late.

Will gasped as the hole started pulling things into it. At first only a few small items could be sucked in - such as Jem's empty teacup - but with each item engulfed its strength doubled. Will was slowly pulled forward as the wind became stronger and faster. He clutched onto his chair until the wind was so strong it lifted him off of his feet. And then, suddenly, his grip was wrenched away from him. Jem had been holding onto nothing when the gate had first opened, and his makeshift item must have given away under the power of the wind, so it was no surprise that he went crashing into Will. The world spun around them as they tumbled across the floor together, and there was nothing they could do to stop themselves as they fell into the vortex.