Hope needs to be there for Luke, needs to be there for Clary and Simon. She needs to be a million places at once but right now she is sitting in front of Magnus' condo with Luke's blood in her hair, on her cheeks and on her hands.
Whenever she closes her eyes, whenever she even blinked it wasn't Luke's blood anymore but instead she was shoving her hands against her mother's bloody wound, praying she would make it out alive.
Prayers didn't save her then but Magnus will save Luke, she knows it. Swears it.
She feels someone slip a paper towel into her hands, she uses it, cleans her hands and face but the blood was still stuck in her hair, she barely remembered how it got there.
"He's stable, he'll survive this." She turned to face him. She nodded.
"If you ever wanna talk about this, I can always pretend to listen." She uses her shoulder to shove Jace away from her.
"I don't wanna talk about anything, I think I'm gonna go to my apartment. I actually miss that hellscape." She got up, tossed the dirty tissue into the bin. Jace followed her up.
"Wow, if your apartment is that bad you must hate your room in the Institute." He laughed and she didn't even think to mention that her room in the Institute is bigger than her entire apartment.
"I just need to be at home for a while. Tell dumb and dumber in there to be safe and tell the Lightwoods I'm stopping at the Institute to pick up a few things." Hope coughed slightly into the crook of her elbow.
"You can text them on your way." Jace spoke and she shook her head.
"Izzy lost her phone three days ago and Alec and I don't text." He nodded, that explained why Izzy had been ignoring all his memes he sent her. For a moment he thought he lost his taste.
"We'll call if we need anything." Hope nods, tells him to take care of her friends and starts walking.
She walks for what feels like hours, she could've used her powers but those still felt so new. She was still so unused to them but they'd grow on her.
She walked until her feet felt bloody and when she got to the Institute she was surprised to realise that she hadn't broken a sweat because she wasn't feeling tired.
She hadn't felt much of anything since it happened.
She walked through the doors and headed straight for Izzy, unfortunately she didn't see Maryse behind Izzy otherwise she would've ran for the hills.
"The Seelies are thinking of siding with Valentine for self preservation." Izzy spoke to her mother but Hope still listened as she stood next to her.
"Seelies always wanna be on the winning side." Hope understood that better than anyone yet she ended up with two natural born losers.
"Never trust someone who can't lie. They find much more inventive ways to stab you in the back." Maryse practically forced the words out.
"But I suppose you find that attractive." She gave one last look at Izzy before turning her attention to Hope.
The shorter of the two wanted to leave and fast. She wanted to take her things, take Izzy and just leave this place behind.
"Mikaelson, I need to talk to you." She walked away and Hope stared dumbfoundly behind her.
"It's best if you just go." Izzy turned to her and for the first time Hope hated the fact that she was made to always do the right thing.
That no matter how much she wanted to stay with Izzy, there was a larger part of her that needed to follow the rules, to follow the lead of her elders even if she didn't have the most respect for Maryse Lightwood.
"When I come back, you and I are going to get dinner. After the time you've had, it's the least you deserve." Hope rested her hand on Izzy's and kept the rest of her words in her mouth. Because you are the best of us.
Izzy gave her a tight smile and Hope walked away. She tried her best to keep up with Maryse although the woman was a foot taller than her with heels on. She cursed whatever genes made her short.
"What do you need?" God, she sounded just like Alec, a perfect little soldier.
"The Clave wants to see you. Take a sample of your blood and run some tests." In her head she made a list of reasons Maryse would want to see her, that was nowhere on the list.
"They wanna use my blood for what exactly?" One thing her dad taught her was to be stingy with her blood, it was more powerful than she could wrap her mind around.
"Some people over there are a little frightened of the threat you'll oppose." Maryse looked down at her and Hope wished she could sink into the ground.
"Good." Was all she could manage.
"I don't want the Clave in my business and I'm sorry if this sounds rude at all but I like that they're afraid." Hope's nose twitched as she spoke, she didn't know where she was going with this.
"Because that means me and my team. Clary, Alec, Izzy, Jace and Simon, we have the upper hand on your little government so tell them that's what I said, better yet take out your phone and press the play button cause I will be happy to say it again."
"You really care about your team that much? About my children that much?" Maryse furrowed her brows, she was a woman who wasn't used to having people say no to her.
"I will protect them no matter what, they're the only family I have."
When Hope gets out of the shower, she wraps a towel around her body as she scrunches up her hair in her fist. She had promised herself she would only get her things but she needed to clean up first, she couldn't spend another minute with blood in her hair.
She was getting dressed when a message dinged on her phone. A voice message from Tiny Taco aka Simon. While she plays it she gets dressed.
"Hey can you come meet up with Jace and I in this weird ass alley. I'll send you my location, I don't think Jace has my best interest in heat and he might sell me."
"By the Angel, do you always need Hope to fight your battles for you?"
The voice message ends and her phone dings again, Simon sends her his location. She uses a towel to dry the rest of her hair as she pulls on her boots. She texts him that she'll be there soon and tells him not to go anywhere.
When she heads out of her room, she bumps into either a very small person or a child. "Sorry, kid."
"I'm not a kid, I just hit double digits." The little boy in the suit says and she nods, she really needs to go. "Are you the Tribid?" He asks when she reaches the elevator. She pauses.
"Who's asking?" Why is this ten year old in a suit, she asks herself internally.
"Max Lightwood, you're friends with my brother and sister." He held out his hand and she shook it firmly.
"Wow, Izzy was right, you are adorable. I feel like I should give you something." She pulled away and reached her hand into her pocket. She pulls out a pack of gum.
"I get that a lot." Max said when Hope put the full pack in his hand. "Tell your sister I'll see her at eight." She pressed the button to the elevator and jumped in.
"Did someone order a hot best friend?" Hope asked as she approached Simon and Jace for their little scavenger hunt.
"Come on, we don't have time to waste." Jace walked ahead and the two followed.
"He and Alec just got into it over the phone." Simon linked his arm in with Hope's.
"Watch your mouth." Jace turned to Simon, staring dangers at him.
"You don't know a thing about me and Alec."
"Twenty bucks says he leaves you hanging tonight." Simon walked ahead and Jace gave Hope a look that told her to shut her friend up. She doesn't react to it.
"Not a chance." Jace followed Simon as he accepted he wouldn't get any help from Hope and she followed them.
"Really? 'Come, fetch, roll over'." Simon mocked as Hope continued. "Lie down, play dead." Jace glared at both of them.
"You treat him like a lap dog." Hope couldn't argue with that. "I guess it takes one to know one." Jace walked past them.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Simon paused, Hope didn't even notice he wasn't at her side until he spoke.
"It means you're like a dog, nipping at Clary's heels." Jace took a step closer to Simon and Hope stepped between.
"And there you go fighting his battles for him again."
"Because we have each other's backs, that's more that what I can say about you and Alec." Rage boiled in Jace.
"You don't get to talk about Alec, mundane." Jace's voice was stern, it rang in Hope ears, echoed in her head as she pressed her hand against his chest, creating space between them.
"Take a walk." He scoffed.
"I'm not messing around, both of you are gonna get what you need for Luke and I'm waiting here." She stares at him dead in the eyes.
"Do whatever you need to on the way just don't come back dead."