Emma trudged through the dim hallway, purposefully lost in her own thoughts. She tried to not look at Julian, who was similarly studying the marble tiles on the ground as they walked.

However, they were still parabatai, and being such, she could tell that they were both thinking the same thing:

What next?

And it was an excellent question, too. Now that Annabel was safely constrained, probably in the lowest dungeons of the Gard, and Livvy was...

She swallowed, loudly and painfully, and Julian noticed. He looked over at her finally with a concerned expression on his face, surfacing above all that pain.

All of a sudden, acting off of a wild urge, Emma turned to face Julian and caught him in a tight hug.

She knew that she shouldn't even be doing this, but... come on. Jules was hurting, and there was no one else who would comfort him when he was busy comforting his siblings.

So she held him now as his pain ebbed into a steady stream as opposed to the crashing ocean it had been before.

"Em. Em. Emma, I don't know what to do. Livvy's gone. How am I supposed to... what am I going to do?"

"Shh. It's okay, Jules. We'll figure this out. We can do it. You're strong. You're strong."

She heard Julian take in several deep breaths, and after a couple minutes, he had put back on his calm, collected facade.

"Let's go. They need us."

Emma nodded, and silently led the way to the room where their grieving family stood.

***

Helen passed them on her way out, stepping through the doorway and shutting it carefully behind her. She looked startled as she took them both in, Emma sweaty and still panting slightly, and Julian standing stoically behind her.

"L-Livvy? Where was Livvy taken?"

Emma felt so terrible for Helen. Being allowed to see her family only a few short times over the last five years, and at their long-awaited next reunion she got back her lost brother and lost one of her sisters. That had to be tough, but as far as Emma had seen she was... handling things. Stepping into Julian's place, if only for a few minutes. And that was good.

Because even Julian just needed to step back and breathe sometimes.

Emma answered Helen's question. "I told one of the Clave officials we passed in the hallway the room she's in. Don't worry, he can be trusted. He will handle her with the utmost care."

Helen nodded, relieved of one of her soon-to-be many duties. "Good. Thank you. I'm going with Aline and Alec to pick up Tavvy and the Lightwood-Banes. Mark has everytthing in control there."

Julian inclined his head, expressing his gratitude towards Helen, then he pulled her in for a quick embrace as he rushed past to the door.

"Thank you," Emma said to Helen, and followed Julian through the door. He was probably remembering the last time Mark had been left in charge.

They had come home to Tavvy literally covered in sugar and Dru drinking some sort of vile chocolate milk/sour cream/pepsi concoction. Remembering this, Emma picked up her pace, and surveyed the room quickly.

Thankfully, everything was normal— for a family in grieving. Everyone stood huddled together in a small group, talking quietly. Emma was pleased to see that no one stood alone.

Julian rushed past her into the room, years of Shadowhunter training heightening his speed.

Before she could ask what was wrong, she saw him brush past Kit and engulf Ty in an enormous hug.

"Ty, Ty, it's alright. I'm here. I'm sorry. It's going to be fine. I will take care of you." The words came out of Julian's mouth in a rushed whisper.

Ty was startled from the sudden disturbance and froze for a second, then put his arms around Julian and squeezed him so tightly, as if he were his lifeline.

Emma walked over to Kit, who was standing off to the side awkwardly with his arms wrapped around his stomach. She carefully removed his arms and put them around her shoulders, her giving Kit a hug of his own.

After he pulled away uncomfortably, she took higher note of her surroundings. Along with everyone being together, everyone also seemed to have hugs to share.

It was ironic, she thought. For all their scorn of mundanes, here they were, looking for all the world as if, if they ditched the gear and heavy weaponry, that they could easily pass as a mundane family.

Was this what living like a mundane was like? Constant hugs and nurturing? She remembered that Clary had told her of their strangely protective ways— parents in helicopters, locks on doors.

There was none of that here. Every Shadowhunter received their first rune at typically ten years old, and killed their first demon around thirteen.

Most mundanes never killed anything, save for the occasional fly or spider.

Emma scoffed at the thought as she made her way over to Dru, who was sobbing in Mark's arms. Mark appeared quite lost and unsure of what to do, as he was looking at Cristina with a 'how do I handle this?!' face.

She, of course, responded with a silent (but wholly effective) 'I don't know! I don't do children!'

She took Dru from Mark's arms and turned to face Julian, who had gone to stand in the center of the room and seemed to be vying for everyone's attention.

"Hello? Yes, I'd like to talk please, if everyone could be silent for a moment."

He waited until it seemed that there had been a soundless rune put on the entire area.

"Okay. So, I was going to wait until Helen came back with Tavvy, but I want to talk to him separately. I wanted to tell you that what you have heard. We have lost a Blackthorn today, and it was not Annabel Lee."

Julian paused, and Emma could tell that it was taking him a lot to stay together.

"Livvy, our beloved Olivia... is dead."

Ty was white in Kit's arms.

"I loved her. I still do. And I wanted you all to know the truth: it was Annabel that killed her. She died a warrior, and that is of course the greatest honour for a Shadowhunter. I am proud of her."

And with that, Ty sank to the floor, Dru threw herself back into Mark's chest, and Emma was ready to catch Julian as he fell.

A/N: ok, so there's another normal-length chapter for you guys. I still feel bad about the short chapter from Ty's point of view.
Yes, vying is a word. You have no idea how fancy I felt writing that in.
Oh! And also, you should go follow @zoejetski . They've ALSO read TMI so you just know they're great.