Foreign Wars
chapter twenty-four.
❨ 𝐜𝐥𝐚𝐫𝐲'𝐬 𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐯𝐞 ❩
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𝐇𝐎𝐖 𝐌𝐀𝐍𝐘 𝐓𝐇𝐈𝐍𝐆𝐒 𝐂𝐀𝐍 𝐎𝐍𝐄 𝐏𝐄𝐑𝐒𝐎𝐍 𝐏𝐋𝐀𝐍 𝐈𝐍𝐓𝐎 𝐀 𝐃𝐀𝐘?
Even being behind schedule, Magnus still managed to fit plenty of little dates into their day. The art gallery, the souvlaki truck — which was delicious, of course. Now, they were walking through Chinatown — or rather, Magnus was power-walking and snapping all shorts of photos while Kai just tried to keep up.
"Magnus, can we just slow down for a second?" Kai asked as Magnus all but sprinted across the street between cars.
"Oh, certainly," Magnus responded, although he didn't stop moving. "I have a quick stop planned right before late night dim sum."
"No, I-I just mean, I mean right now," Kai reiterated, reaching out to grab Magnus' elbow to stop him in his tracks.
"I suppose you're right," Magnus mused. "It is rather exhausting hopping from place to place without portals. How do you mortals do it?" he asked, turning to snap a photo of a vendor on a bike as they rode by.
"We don't," Kai grunted, vaguely annoyed. He couldn't help it, he was tired, and Magnus had been rushing about all day, despite Kai's efforts to get him to slow it down. "This whole mortality thing is gonna take some...getting used to." He sighed as he hastily pulled Magnus onto the sidewalk before he was run over by another bicyclist.
He didn't mean to feel annoyed with his boyfriend. He understood why Magnus was acting like this, feeling in a hurry to do as many things as possible within their waking hours. But there was a limit to what one person could do, and Kai was sure he had reached that limit before they had souvlaki.
"Perhaps more than I realized," Magnus agreed somberly. "I've been lucky to live a life relatively free of FOMO. You can't blame me for wanting to make each moment count."
Kai's gaze softened as he half-smiled. "Of course not," he assured his boyfriend gently, resting his hand on Magnus' arm. "It's just...the thing about moments is that you'll miss them if you're always running after the next one." He shrugged, staring down into Magnus' eyes. "When I'm 90, I'm not gonna remember the trendy gallery or the amazing Greek food we had if we don't slow down...and savor moments like these..." He offered Magnus a loving smile. "...when I'm staring into the eyes of the man that I love."
Magnus smiled lovingly back at Kai. "Of course," he agreed. "Everything I need is right here in front of me." Kai gave him a cheeky grin. "Amazing, how a 20-something pup can teach an old dog new tricks," he teased.
Kai grimaced jokingly, shaking his head. "Please don't try to make 'pup' a thing."
"No?"
"No."
Kai smiled and leaned down to kiss Magnus' smiling lips. He felt content in that moment, just being able to enjoy his boyfriend's presence for the first time in days without worrying about his parabatai.
The sound of crackling flames whooshing closer made Kai peel his lips from Magnus, reaching his hand out to snatch the fire message as it appeared out of thin air.
"What is it?" Magnus questioned when Kai's brows furrowed reading the message.
"It's a message from Jace," he responded, his eyes widening in surprise. "Clary might still be alive."
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Back at the Institute, Jace and Alec walked into the Ops Center with Kai, Magnus, and Luke behind them. The five of them gathered around the hologram table as Jace spoke. "We can confirm that the apartment jumped again early this morning," he informed him.
"And we have good reason to believe that Clary was in it," Luke added as they circled around the table.
"The problem is she could be anywhere."
"Well, not 'anywhere'," Magnus corrected Jace.
"What do you mean?" Alec questioned curiously. He had his arms crossed and Kai could see that his friend had a lot of stress weighing on him. He held his phone in his hand and periodically looked down at it, like he was waiting for someone to call him.
That someone being...Leon.
Magnus swiped up on the hologram table as he answered Alec, "Inter-dimensional domiciles run along ley line grids," he explained as they started at a world map of the ley lines. "Based on the apartment's size and power, there are only a handful of habitable regions with grid junctions large enough to support it."
"Alright," Alec breathed. "Well, let's get a list of all places that fit the profile and check any nearby Institutes for unusual activity." He turned to Magnus. "Magnus, you must have some international warlock friends who can keep an eye out for us?"
"Well, I'm not one to name drop," he teased, sliding a sly look to a knowing Kai, "but...I'll make a few calls." Kai chuckled.
"Even if we check all these places, it's still like finding a needle in a haystack," Luke pointed out dejectedly.
"Then we better start now," Jace stated. He looked over to a worried Luke while Kai patted his back to comfort him. "Hey, we're gonna find her."
Kai crossed his arms and glanced between his friends. "Has anyone heard from Leon?" he questioned. "He should be here. I'm bloody shocked he isn't."
Alec's face fell and he case his eyes back down to his phone. He frowned deeper and shoved his phone into his pocket with frustration.
But Jace was the one who answered Kai, shaking his head. "I tried calling him a couple times," he explained, watching Alec walk away. "He probably assumes I'm gonna yell at him for breaking Alec's heart earlier this morning..." Jace scowled. "He'd be right if I wasn't more focused on getting Clary back."
Kai understood Jace's anger toward Leon. Alec was Jace's brother and he was hurting. Not only that but Jace could feel all of it from Alec as his parabatai.
"Jace, I understand you want to protect Alec," Magnus sighed sadly. "But Leon is hurting, too. He's been put through Hell just in the last few weeks." Jace frowned. "He was betrayed and nearly killed by the Consul, whom he trusted. Then was actually killed by his uncle and turned into a hybrid with powers he can't control..."
"That doesn't make it okay for him to push everyone away and break Alec's heart," Jace pushed back.
Magnus held his hands up in defense. "I'm not excusing his actions. I'm just saying maybe we respect that Leon needs his space. He's been so afraid of hurting someone with his powers but hasn't taken a moment for himself since he got the powers. He's been worrying about all of us."
Kai knew Magnus was right. Of all people in Leon's life in New York, of course he knew better than them. He had been so upset with his parabatai for pushing everyone away — himself included — that he had forgotten the bigger picture.
Leon was hurting and the only way he knew how to deal with it all...was isolating himself.
He sighed and turned to Jace. "Magnus is right," he grunted. "I couldn't admit it before because I was so bloody pissed at him, but Leon had severe depression. He was diagnosed when he was a wee lad, after his parents died." Jace frowned and Kai let out a breath. "But he had grown so much, especially after we came here, I didn't want to believe he could've fallen in that pit again."
"But then he was killed, and became a Phoenix," Magnus added. "He doesn't want to admit it, but he has PTSD from it. Even Shadowhunters have mental health to take care of." Kai lowered his gaze back down to the world map that illuminated the table in front of him. "He's coping the only way he knows how — isolating so that he doesn't hurt anyone while he tries to heal himself."
Kai crossed his arms and looked over to Jace and Magnus. "Honestly...I'm willing to bet he found a warlock to open a Portal for him so he could go back to London."
Jace shook his head. "I'm gonna try calling him again...Either way, wherever he is...he deserves to know that Clary is still alive and that it's not something he has to be upset about anymore."
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Leon decided that he had to distract himself. Alec had tried calling him a few times throughout the day, and so did Jace, but Leon didn't answer. He figured Jace knew by now about him breaking up with Alec and was calling to yell at him, defend his parabatai. But he wasn't in the mood to hear it. It's not like Jace wouldn't say anything Leon wasn't already telling himself.
So, when Tilly found him and begged for him to help her train, he figured that it was the best way to distract himself from everything going on back in New York. They got Niamh involved and Leon decided it would be smarter to watch while his sisters sparred together. Well, he watched but he wasn't focused on them because his thoughts kept wandering.
He wondered what Alec was doing. Did he end up going back to bed when Leon left? It was definitely passed sunrise and nearly into the evening by now in New York so was Alec in his office waiting for him to show back up? Or was he out in the city trying to look for him?
"Leon!"
The sound of Tilly shouting his name snapped him out of his stupor. He shifted his attention to his sisters and furrowed his brows. They were both facing him curiously, bamboo sticks at their sides. "What? What happened?"
"You spaced out," Niamh told him, her eyes softening. "Are you alright?"
Leon swallowed harshly, glancing down at his phone for the umpteenth time to see Magnus was now attempting to contact him. When he sent Magnus to voicemail, he saw three voicemails from Jace and three from Alec. And then one from Magnus appeared seconds after his call was ignored.
"Maybe you should call them," Niamh said, now standing beside Leon and staring at his growing number of ignored calls and voicemails.
But Leon shook his head. "They'll be fine," he stated with a heavy heart.
He went to put the device in his pocket but then Niamh snatched the phone.
"Niamh! Give — "
"Magnus texted. He said to call him because it's important." She pressed a button and put the phone to her hear.
Silence filled the training room for mere seconds before Niamh's eyes got wide and she snapped her head to Leon.
"You gotta hear this."
She took his phone from her ear and pressed a couple buttons. "Niamh, I don't want — "
"Put a sock in it and listen!"
"By the Angel, Leon!" the new voice was Magnus and Leon realized it was coming from his phone. "Will you stop being an ass and just answer your phone?" This must've been the voicemail that Magnus left. "Jace is going to Paris with Alec and Luke. Clary's alive and they tracked her there." Leon's eyes widened, his chest squeezing. "They're bringing her home. So get your ass back to the Institute if you want to see your cousin."
Leon snatched his phone from Niamh and played the messages from Jace and Alec.
Jace's phone flooded his ears first, as he kept the voicemails on speaker.
"Leon, man, answer the damn phone. Clary's still alive and I need a team to go get her."
Jace's second message played next. "Damn it, man, answer somebody. She's with Jonathan and we gotta save her."
Leon's hands tightened their grasp on his phone, anger flooding him as the third message played. "Okay, well, I can't wait anymore. I'm taking Alec and Luke. We'll see you when we get back. I'm gonna bring her home, I swear it."
Alec's voice left the speaker next and Leon felt his heart break. "I get that you want to be alone right now, but Jace says Clary's alive. We located her in Paris. Jace needs a team to get her. Call me back. Please. Or call Jace."
Alec's second message: "Leon, where are you? Are you even listening to these messages? If you are, and don't believe us... Have I ever lied to you before? I swear, Clary's alive. The apartment never exploded. It just moved. Clary was still inside and so was Jonathan. Call us back."
The third: "Okay, Jace says he's not waiting. I'm going with him and Luke. I hope you'll come back to the Institute. I'm sure she's dying to see you again. Just like I know you're dying to see her. I love you."
Leon choked back a sob, hanging up his voicemails.
He barely sparred a glance at his two sisters before he sprinted out of the training room. He wouldn't have even known they were following him as he ran through the Institute if they hadn't been shouting at everyone ahead of them to move out of the way.
Leon didn't stop running, didn't take a breath and didn't think about anything else until he pushed open the doors to Evelyn Highsmith's office. He barreled inside with Niamh and Tilly behind him, the three of them huffing and puffing to catch their breath.
"By the Angel, what is going on?" she asked, pushing herself to her feet from behind her desk.
Leon gasped for air, his sisters crumbling to the floor behind him. Breathing so heavily made it hard for him to speak to her so he just replayed one of the messages from Jace, one of the first messages he had telling him that Clary was alive.
Evelyn's little eyes widened in surprise and she picked up her phone. No one said anything until she spoke to whoever she was calling.
"I need you to come to the Institute right away. Leon Cleartree needs a Portal back home to New York. He has a cousin to go greet."
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another three months...
man this writer's block crap really beat a girl up, huh? *sigh*