heartache and hard times

Start from the beginning
                                    

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"Hello, Jonathan."
Jonathan Morgenstern woke up to a girl he'd never seen before. He could barely see at all, and his face was in extreme pain.
"Do you need this?" the girl asked, handing him a mirror.
No one had bothered to wash his face. Jonathan looked at the massive bulging bruises and blood trickling out of deep cuts.
"That Lightwood bastard!" he muttered angrily. Jonathan Morgenstern did not take lightly to people destroying his face.
Especially not people like the Lightwood's eldest, the golden boy, the rule-follower.
To his surprise the girl chuckled and smirked. "Which one?"
He was shocked.
"Do you...not like them?"
She rolled her eyes. "Ugh! God no. First we got the youngest. Little brat. Then we got Isabelle. Total fucking slut. And she's only sixteen! Then there's blondie, who's not even meant to be here, and oh by far my absolute favourite, Alec. He's gross. He has a fucking boyfriend, and it's a warlock too! He shouldn't be here. He's illegal. And to think, I used to have a crush on him. Huh! No chance now."
Jonathan's eyes widened as he grinned. "We seem to share something in common then. Tell you what; release me, and I'll help you find a way to take this family and everyone connected to them down."
The girl considered it. "Hmm. Okay, let's do it."
Jonathan smiled.
This was going to be too easy.

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Everyone was silent. No one was quite sure what to say after Alec's outburst. Apparently they were all afraid of him now.
"We can't pretend that didn't just happen, you know. This is a serious issue," said Maryse. She'd joined them after hearing the commotion. The Clave had been alerted that Jonathan was there, and were supposed to be coming to take him to the Gard.
"I didn't mean to mom I swear-"
"No honey. I'm not bothered about that, it's just he's going to be even more angry at us now. I mean you know yourself how dangerous this kid is."
Clary agreed."Maryse is right. We're not saying he didn't deserve it, it's just that he has even more reason to be angry at us."
"Even more?! Since when was there any excuse at all for him to go around destroying everything including human life in his path?" Jace yelled angrily.
"My mom! She abandoned him and left with Luke. He's going to be angry at us."
Alec steeled his jaw. "Well there's no reason for him to be angry at us, and certainly not any reason for him to kill innocents."
Isabelle was on her brother's side, as was Simon surprisingly. Or not so surprisingly, if you take into account the fact that he was technically killed by Jonathan. Magnus had just spent the last hour or so thinking about how stupid Shadowhunters were. He couldn't really be bothered to argue just yet. Or offer his intellect. Only Alec would understand him.
But then again, Magnus was also famed for his kindness. He could be bothered a little bit.
"Think of this logically. Okay, yeah, Jonathan had a shit upbringing. So what? Yes that may be a reason for his anger but does that give him an automatic right to act on it? No! I had a shitty childhood as well, and look how I've turned out. Jace here, well he was orphaned! That's shit too! And yet as much as I dislike to admit it he is a great person! Having problems does not give you a right to victimise yourself. He needs to be taken down. If he is killed, there's no chance he can hurt anyone at all. Take one life to account for all the hurt and loss caused by that life itself. Besides, death is the only way Jonathan will ever be truly happy, and that we will ever be truly safe."
Clary opened her mouth to argue, but shut it again. Jonathan was her brother, and deep down she knew there had to be good left in him. But Magnus was right. He'd caused a lot of turmoil, and if happiness and safety meant him being gone then so be it.
All of a sudden, three Shadowhunters burst through the door, two in official Clave gear and one dressed normally.
One that Maryse recognised. The smirk on her face was enough to strike fear straight through her. She knew what this meant.
The two in official Clave gear stepped forward and grabbed Alec by the shoulders, forcing him to stand.
"Alexander Gideon Lightwood," spoke the other girl, stepping forward.
"By order of the Clave, you are officially under arrest."
There was a collective intake of breath. Heads turned to Magnus and Jace. There was a simultaneous yell of 'what?!'. The girl who had arrested Alec looked at Magnus and then everything clicked.
"You're his boyfriend. Correct?"
Magnus swallowed and spoke through gritted teeth. "Yes, although I don't see what relevance that holds to you arresting him."
"Yes you do, Bane. Consider yourself lucky you aren't getting arrested too."
"You're all ridiculous!" Izzy exclaimed, "the last time anyone seriously thought like this was eighty years ago!"
"The Law is hard, Isabelle Lightwood, however it is the Law."
"Sorry but -where the hell does it say in the Law that acting like a bigoted piece of shit is okay? You can't separate parabatai; everyone knows that. If you want to arrest him, I'm coming with. No buts, no fighting," said Jace, with a tone of finality that shocked even Simon.
"No! Jace please! I can't have two of my brothers taken away at once, please god no. This is a nightmare," Isabelle cried.
Alec wasn't talking, but his face was screaming at Jace to not do it. God knew how long they'd be there.
"I'm sorry. But I'm going to stand up to the Clave."
Jace said nothing else. Tears streamed down Alec's face.
Just as they were about to get portaled away, Izzy threw herself at the two. She was so scared. She was shoved back, but not before she could see their faces. Magnus shared a look with Alec, filled with love and sorrow. But there was something else there too, something that said this wasn't defeat. They would find a way back to each other.
They were gone in a flash.
That was when Magnus really broke. His hands flared up with blue flames, and his eyes were in their full terrifying glory. He would've burned the Institute down if hadn't been for Isabelle's calming voice calling out to him.
"There's nothing we can do, Magnus."
Simon and Maryse looked at each other.
"Actually, there might be something," said Maryse.
"I think I have an idea," added Simon. "And you may not like, but it's our best bet."

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