"Okay, when I asked if the apartment can move, I didn't mean show me-" I grunted, gripping onto the chairs at the shaking and rumbling apartment until we hit a thud, "What was that?"
"Just a little change of locale." Jonathan stood straight from the center of the room, having moved the apartment.
I walked over to the terrace and pushed the doors open, my heart leaping at the city I had always dreamed on coming to.
But, my face remained blank.
"What's wrong?" asked Jonathan when he came to my side, "You're in Paris- I thought you'd be happy."
"Oh, I am- you can't see it?" I cross my arms and stared at him with my blank expression, "Don't let my expression fool you, I'm absolutely thrilled being shackled to my demon-blooded brother."
Jonathan inhales, gripping the rails, looking at me, "I take it you're afraid of our little bond."
"Afraid? More like resentful." I shot back.
Jonathan picked back at me pretty quick, "I forgive you for trying to kill me, by the way."
I roll my eyes and walked back into the apartment, "So- how does this bond thing work? I get hurt- you get hurt, and vice versa?"
Jonathan follows me, "That appears to be the case."
"It must be a side effect of that rune Lilith used to resurrect you." I huffed and leaned against a chair, "Not only do our hearts beat as one, but our injuries reflects onto the other."
"Well, if we can't be enemies, perhaps we'll be allies." Jonathan shrugged, "We never got a chance to know each other."
I scoff, "You're kidding, right?"
"And what better place than Paris?" Jonathan continued to try and persuade me, "Home of Renoir, Matisse, Van Gogh and now Morgenstern."
"Don't." I snapped, "I'm a Young."
"Zee, please-" Jonathan stepped closer to me, "You're a great artist, and I admire that."
I stared at him with the same blank expression.
"I'm gonna go get us some food." Jonathan walks past me, "How about I pick up some art supplies, and you can show me how you work?"
Then a thought rang into my head.
"Jonathan, wait." I spun to face him, "If you really want to mend things with me, you'd take me with you. If you really wanna get to know me, you can't keep me locked up in here."
If I could get out of here, I could figure out a way to contact everyone back in New York.
Jonathan stepped closer to me, squinting his eyes, "I'm afraid it's not that simple."
"It seems simple enough." I placed my hands on my hips, "I hurt you, I hurt myself- it's not like I'm going to try and kill you again."
"And besides, we're both on the run from the Clave." I added in, "What am I gonna do- run away?"
Jonathan was now directly in front of me, "How can I be sure you're telling me the truth?"
"You can't." I stare up at him, "I guess you're just gonna have to trust me."
Jonathan took a leap of faith, "Does that mean that you trust me?"
"Let's not get too crazy." I held my palm up and stopped him from going any further, "But- what you said about how things could have been different if my mom or Jocelyn raised you and Valentine raised me-"
I kept giving him what he wanted to hear.
"I've been thinking a lot about it, and-" I exhale deeply, "Maybe- I do owe you a chance."
-
"See what you can find." Jonathan opened a closet, revealing many shoes and countless amount of clothes.
"These aren't really," I looked through the dresses, "My style."
"Yeah, well- they belonged to Lilith." Jonathan shrugged a little and grabbed his own clothes, leaving the closet, "Happily, she won't be needing them any longer."
I roll my eyes lightly and looked through, grabbing a white button up and black blazer, along with a pair of heels, walking over to the folded wall, changing behind it.
"Paris is home to the world's 4th largest Institute, and we're both on the run, so best to keep our runes covered-" Jonathan's voice filled my ears when I stepped out from behind the folded wall, buttoning the buttons on my wrist, staring at him, his voice varying, "You look gorgeous."
"Thanks-" I place my hands on my hips, "You know- anyone could spot a prisoner if they catch a glimpse of their face- and- hair- you should let me us your stele- I'll-"
"I don't think we're quite there yet." Jonathan stared at me, pulling out his stele himself, grabbing my arm gently to draw the tune for me, "Allow me."
"Fine." I pulled my arm from his grasp, walking back for the closet, grabbing the winter hat, holding it up by it's pom, "I'll just wear a hat."
"Shall we?" Jonathan held his arm out for me to link to his when I put on the hat.
"Oh, I'm sorry-" I shoved right past him, "I don't think we're quite there yet."
-
Jonathan walks with me, looking around, "Feels like another century, doesn't it?"
"It's so- peaceful." I had my hands in the pockets of my blazer, admiring everything about the city.
But, I felt off.
Because I didn't want to be here with Jonathan.
"Well, after everything we've been through, we deserve a little peace." Jonathan replies to me, "Today, we're just brother and sister in the most beautiful city in the world."
"You know, I'd love to visit the Rodin Museum." I tried to bait Jonathan, "I was obsessed with his sculptures in art class."
"Rodin's a favourite of mine too." Jonathan inhales but then shook his head, "But- the Museum is in spitting distance from the Paris Institute."
"Can't we just be careful?" I tried.
"Not until the heat's died down." Jonathan's words brought a huff out of my mouth, "How about we get something to eat? I know great café that serves the world's best hot chocolate."
I stare at him, "Hot chocolate?"
Jonathan gave me a small smile, "Trust me."
-
"You weren't kidding-" I sipped the hot chocolate that was brought to me, "This place is amazing."
When I bit into another bite of the croissant, I closed my eyes and groaned lightly at how delicious it was, and how much my stomach had been crying for some sort of food.
"You know, they'll bring you another if you want." Jonathan said, "You're attacking that like a wolverine-"
The look on my face fell blank, staring at my brother, picking up the hot chocolate once more, "Sorry, I didn't have time to eat after I pass out in the Arctic."
Jonathan sighed lightly then began speaking to the waiter in French, asking if he could bring me another croissant.
When the waiter left, I was sipping on the final sips of the hot chocolate.
Jonathan noticed, reaching over and pouring some in my cup, "This was the first place I came after I escaped Edom."
I don't reply.
"I was hideous burned raw from my mother's little love marks, so I huddled in a hoodie, hoping no one would notice me." Jonathan began, "Then, the most beautiful boy came and asked if he could share my table- he looked me right in the face. It's like my burns weren't even there."
My heart stopped, "Sebastian Verlac."
"He was so good." Jonathan recognized, sighing at the thought, "So full of light- he was everything I wanted to be."
I roll my eyes and leaned back in my seat, "So- you kidnap, pretend to be him and- then murder him?"
"Murder was never part of the plan." Jonathan defended himself, "But- seeing the hate in his eyes every time I would bring him his meals it made me feel like a monster."
Jonathan then added in, "And all the time I was at the Institute, I- I was terrified that you would all find out who I really was and hate me too."
"Jonathan, you remained undercover and were trying to destroy us." I stared at him, "Why would you care what we think?"
"No, I never wanted to hurt any of you." Jonathan shook his head at me, "Just Valentine."
I scoff, "Oh yeah?"
"The way that you, Clary and the Lightwoods took me in it made me want to be good." Jonathan's words made me feel slightly guilty, but I didn't care, "For the first time in my life, people cared- can you imagine what that feels like?"
"Yeah, I can." I looked at my hands, "I'll never forget how the Lightwoods were there for Clary and I when Jocelyn disappeared. I mean- I found my mother because of them."
"My life changed so much when I bumped into Jace outside the Pandemonium." My heart ached at the thought of the man that I loved, "And now, I might never see him- or any of them again."
"I know it's sad, Zee." Jonathan noticed the expression on my face, "But- I can be there for you now- if you'll let me."
I wanted to go home.
To Jace.
"Damn it." Jonathan looked at his phone, huffing, "Uh, we- we have to leave."
"We do?" I looked at him, sipping on my hot chocolate still, watching him get up.
"Yes, we do." Jonathan walks away and over to the waiter, grabbing the check and paying so we could leave as rushed as he seemed.
-
"Why did we have to leave so quickly?" I asked Jonathan, walking by the waterfront, "I wanted more hot chocolate."
"There's an antique dealer in Saint-Germain who keeps odd hours." Jonathan told me, "I was thinking we could pay a visit."
I looked at him, "An antiques dealer?"
He doesn't reply.
I huffed and stopped in front of him, "Look, Jonathan, if this sibling thing is gonna work, you've gotta be straight with me."
"It was supposed to be a surprise." Jonathan began, looking between my eyes, "The Morning Star Sword has surfaced in n Par- I was going to give it to you as a gift."
"You were gonna give me a sword?" I scoff lightly, "Our definition of gifts are drastically different."
"It's an ancient family relic, a symbol of Morgenstern dignity." Jonathan walks past me, excepting me to walk with him.
I followed, "That's rare to hear the words Morgenstern and dignity in the same sentence."
"Our family used to be great heroes until Valentine disgraced our name." I began to tune out Jonathan's words when I saw a Shadowhunter walking towards us to my left, "It is up to us to change that."
"I- uh, yeah-" I nodded, noticing his stele in his back pocket, purposefully shoved into the man, slipping it out and quickly shoving it into my sleeve, "Oh-"
"Hey-" Jonathan pulled me into his side quickly, yelling at the man, "Watch where you're going!"
I looked at him. "Jonathan- chill out,"
"I'm sorry, it's my bad-" I quickly told the man, swallowing hard, hoping he hadn't noticed I had stolen his stele, "Je suis une touriste stupid."
"Y a pas de soucis, mademoiselle." He replied, before turning and carrying on his day, making me sigh in relief.
-
[ jace's pov ]
"We can confirm that the apartment jumped again early this morning." I walked through the Institute with Luke, Clary, Alec and Magnus following closely behind us.
"And we have good reason to believe that Zee was in it." Luke followed up, inhaling deeply.
I exhale deeply, placing my hands on the table in the Ops Center, "The problem is she could be anywhere."
Magnus exhales, "Well, not "anywhere"."
Clary looks at him, "What do you mean?"
"Inter-dimensional domiciles run along ley line grids." Magnus began to explain, "Based on the apartment's size and power, there are only a handful of habitable regions with grid junctions large enough to support it."
"All right, well, let's get a list of all places that fit the prole and check any nearby Institututes for unusual activity." Alec nods then looks at him, "Magnus, you must have some international warlock friends who could keep an eye out for us?"
Magnus nods. "Well, I'm not one to name drop, but I'll make a few calls."
Luke then said, "Even if we check all these places, it's still like finding a needle in a hay stack."
"Then we better start now." I said right away.
I was going to find her.
-
[ zee's pov ]
"I've got to say, this is the least expected place to find a long lost Shadowhunter sword." I cross my arms, as Jonathan and I walked towards the store.
"You have much to learn." Jonathan walked in, greeting the man behind the counter, the man simply telling him that the store was closed, "I'm sure you can make an exception."
"Coins from dead men's eyes." Jonathan tosses him a small bag, "A particular favourite of the Vetis demon- don't ask me why."
I blink, "He's a demon?"
"Not to worry, our friend-" Jonathan looked at him.
The man replied, "Mirek."
"Our friend Mirek is relatively harmless." Jonathan continued and looked around the store, "Part of the Greater Demon middle class that rarely gets mentioned."
"They live quietly among us, working at our banks schools, brothels, gently stoking the lesser vices." Jonathan went on, "For the most part, they sail under the radar- you know, I'll bet Mirek here hasn't gotten so much as a jay-walking ticket."
Mirek cut in, "What do you want?"
"The Morning Star Sword." Jonathan faced him, "I hear you have it, and I'd like to make a deal."
"I'll speak with you, but- that one outside." Mirek pointed at me, waving me off, "I can smell your Nephilim blood from here."
"My sister and I are rather attached." Jonathan argues, "I'd prefer if she stayed."
"I've stayed out of the Institute's sight for years- I won't have any trouble now." Mirek argues right back, "Come back tomorrow without her."
"So- you can disappear overnight with your treasures?" Jonathan stepped closer, "I don't think so."
"Hey-" I stepped in quickly when I sensed the tension, "What if I wait outside?"
Jonathan looked at me, as I shot him a look, "Nowhere to run, right?"
-
[ jace's pov ]
"Hey-" Alec's voice brought Magnus, Clary, Luke and I to the table he stood at, "I think I've got something."
Luke had been on to something.
Clary was the first to speak, "What is it?"
"A Shadowhunter in Paris just rerted his stele missing." Alec's fingers glided against the screen.
"Do they have any suspects?" I asked, messing with Zee's hairstyle that rested on my wrist.
"They think it's a rogue Shadowhunter." Alec looked up at me with a look that soon I acquired, "A young woman."
I exhale, "Zee."
-
[ zee's pov ]
I looked around, making sure that no one was looking at me before I pulled the stele out of my sleeve and started writing a fire message to Jace, looking back to make sure Jonathan didn't see me.
But then, two hands gripped onto my arm quickly, stopping me from writing the fire message, the Shadowhunter from before next to me suddenly, "I believe you have something that belongs to me-"
My expression dropped as I tried to pull away from him, "I'm sorry- I'm trying to get word to my colleagues in New York-"
"You're a Shadowhunter." He noticed the tunes on my body that I had tried to cover up, "I knew it."
"I can explain-" I quickly said, looking back to make sure Jonathan was still occupied, "My name is Zee Young- I've been kidnapped by my brother, he won't let me go and he's extremely dangerous-"
"He's inside that shop." I pointed, trying my best to convince him, "Please, you have to help me- let me send this message- to let them know I'm still alive-"
"Save your story." He began pulling me along aggressively, "You're coming with me."
"Listen to me!" I argued, trying to pull back but grunted when he twisted my arm and kept pulling me along and farther away from the shop, "You need to call for backup- before he finds out and comes after us-"
He ignores me and kept walking.
"Jonathan Morgenstern is inside that shop!" My voice cracked at raising my voice at him, "He's trying to buy some kind of weapon- it's a sword-"
"Whatever you say, Miss "Young"." He repeated my name in a tone that showed me he thought I was lying.
I force him to stop, "You don't believe me?-"
"Zee Young is dead!" He argues back with me, inhaling deeply, "And so is Jonathan."
"Does the hat really hide it all that well?" I ripped off the hat and threw it to the side, "We survived-"
The man let go of me, "What?"
"Now do you believe me?" I pressed urgently, "The Queen of Hell used me to resurrect Jonathan-"
Then, two hands appear from behind him, the man's neck being snapped, as he fell to the ground dead, Jonathan behind him.
My heart dropped.
This was my only shot out of here.
"That was close." Jonathan took the stele from my hand, then grabbed my face at my expression, "Hey-"
I looked at him, as he gave me a small smile, one that was reassuring, before pulling me along with him, "You're safe now- with me."
-
Jonathan held me close to me as we walked down the path between the two roads, right by the Eiffel Tower, "That was incredible."
"You killed someone, Jonathan." I was traumatized, "A Shadowhunter."
"And I did it for you." Jonathan claimed it in my name, "Seeing you in his arms like that, so vulnerable- it wasn't like any kill I've ever done before."
"Zee, it felt so good!" Jonathan stopped in front of me and grabbed my hands when I didn't reply to him, "You make me good."
"You think that's good?" I pulled my hands away from him, "That's not what good is, Jonathan- killing like that should never feel good."
"Oh, yeah? I heard what you did to our father." Jonathan counteracted, "On the shores of Lake Lyn, watching his life slip from your hands, how did that feel?"
"He killed the love of my life." I stared at him, small tears filling my eyes, "So I put an end to him."
"Yeah." Jonathan scoffs lightly, "That's what I thought."
"What are we doing here, Jonathan?" I huffed deeply, "The Morning Star Sword- it's not a gift- what are you actually planning?"
"I would love to tell you, Zee." Jonathan stared at me, "But frankly, I am beginning to question your motives-"
I was staring right at him until I heard quick footsteps, my eyes shifting to where it was coming from, my heart racing when I saw Jace, Luke and Alec.
Then I saw the bow and arrow Alec held.
"Wait, don't shoot!" I shouted and got in front of Jonathan, "If you kill him, I die too."
"Everybody, stand down!" Luke called out to the two, Alec reluctantly putting his bow down, Jace letting his guard down.
"I knew I never should have trusted you!" Jonathan yelled into my ear, making me clench my jaw.
"Yeah, you shouldn't have-" I pulled out his seraph dagger and elbowed him in the face, then stabbed it into my thigh, letting out a small shriek.
Jonathan let out a sound of pain as well, falling to his knees, "You little bitch!"
I clenched my teeth in pain as he ran off quickly, Alec and Luke rushing past me and after him, stopping when he had disappeared.
I pulled the seraph dagger out and threw it to the side, falling to my knees in a grunt, Jace running over to me, "Zee!"
Jace set his seraph blade down and pulled out his stele, running it over my Iratze, my eyes wide as I stared at him, not being able to believe I was seeing him right now, tearing burning in my eyes.
Jace grabbed my arms, looking at me with the same look that I was looking at him with, pulling me into my feet as I grabbed his face, "I- love you- I love you-"
I wasted no time and pressed my lips into his, my heart filling with warmth, feeling at home in his arms.
Jace melted into the kiss, his arms around me tight, pulling me as close as possible, our breathing in sync.
"I love you too." Jace slightly pulls away, keeping his face close to mine, his hot breath hitting my chin, a small tear falling from his eye, "I can't believe I'm holding you."
"I thought I would never see you again." I wiped his tear when one of my own fell, "I lost all hope-"
"I'm here." Jace reminded me, pressing a small kiss to my lips as we were still trying to collect the fact that we were actually together, "I'm with you."
"I'm with you." I pulled him even closer as if he already wasn't close enough, "I'll always be with you, my love-"
Jace softly chuckled at the name, "Your love?"
"We're in the city of love." I rubbed our noses together lightly, softly laughing as well, "Let me call you cute names-"
"Okay," Jace suddenly pulled away from me, pulling something out of his pocket, "After this."
When I looked up, he was holding a necklace.
A sliver chain, and hanging from it was a small heart made of diamonds.
I looked between the necklace and him, "Jace-"
"Come on, hold your hair up-" Jace got behind me, as I obeyed, him clipping it around my neck, "There- you look beautiful."
"You got me a necklace?" My hand touched the small heart when he came back around and faced me, another tear falling my eye.
"I thought you'd look pretty in it." Jace grabbed my hands lightly, "The necklace gave me some sort of hope that I'd see you again- and it reconnected me with you, because you're right in front of me."
My voice was barely there, overwhelmed, "It gave you hope that you'd see me again?"
"Only because I couldn't stop picturing you wearing it." Jace moved his hands away from mine and wrapped his arms around me again, "I hoped that one day I could actually see you wear it."
My heart was rushing with feelings, "Jace."
"You know, I always had this dream that one day, I'd take you to Paris." Jace softly laughed and pulled me into him, leaning his forehead against mine, "I'm not sure this is exactly how I imagined it."
"It's so much better." I leaned up and pressed my lips into his, holding his face gently.
It was better.
authors note:
the zace reunion !!!! i'm literally crying
if you guys didn't catch that, jace bought zee a necklace when he realized he never got anything nice for her, and then gave it to her when he finally reconnected with her ! my heart warms at it
their reunion made my heart ache, oml
thank you for 26k !
go read redamancy !!!
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