Jules' head hurt. He had woke up with a pounding in his skull, and throughout the day it hadn't subsided. As the Inquisitor Shadowhawk droned on, he tried his best to stay at attention, but he figured, worst came to worst Emma was paying attention, so there wasn't a huge problem.

However, that wasn't really the way he operated. So he sucked it up and listened to what the Inquisitor had to say.

"And the Consul has deemed the two of you the most fit for this mission."

Wait, what? Maybe he should have been paying just a bit more attention. He was about to ask for clarification when Emma spoke up.

"Um, Inquisitor Shadowhawk, are you really sure that we should be away from the Institute right now? With all due respect, Clary and Jace mean so much to us, but... our family needs us."

Her voice had softened as she said the word 'family'.

"That is possible... however." And the Inquisitor's words were gentle. "We have some highly trusted members of the Clave that have readily agreed to take head of Institute from Mark's shoulders, should you decide to leave. We are also confident that your family already trusts them, and might even find their presence comforting."

Julian was close to asking who it was they were so sure they'd like, but instead, having zoned out for the mission debriefing, seeked more thorough understanding.

"We are willing to be persuaded to accept this mission, depending on the people coming over to help. Just to make this clear, Clary and Jace are in the land of Faerie, correct?"

"Correct." She affirmed. "They were sent there on a highly confidential mission much like your own. They were to try and find out the cause of the darkness that ruined the Shadowhunters powers, and try to negotiate with whoever was casting the spell."

Both Emma and Julian nodded in understanding.

"They were sent a couple weeks ago. They went in without means of communication to the Clave, and knowingly so, because we had recently discovered that fire messages are dysfunctional in the land of Fey. However, their lack of reappearance on the scheduled date along with Julian's unsettling report of your time there has caused us to come to the conclusion that a retrieval mission was in order."

Julian blinked. This was serious.

"And so, with your knowledge of Jace and Clary on a personalized level, we believe that you will be able to retrace their footsteps, find them, rescue them, and possibly escape with all your limbs."

The Inquisitor said this with a small smile on her lips, a relieving indication that she was kidding— but only about the whole leaving-with-your-limbs-attached thing.

Emma looked over at Jules, a question in her eyes. Julian hesitated, thinking quickly. Finally, he gave her his answer.

"Inquisitor Shadowhawk." Emma spoke formally, her voice even. "After careful consideration, we have chosen to accept this mission."

The Inquisitor looked pleased. "Very well. I—"

"One more thing," Julian interrupted. "Who are the two people coming to take Head of the Institute?"

The Inquisitor's smile stretched wider. "Oh, who said anything about two people?"

Emma's eyebrows furrowed in confusion as the Inquisitor continued.

"The Lightwood-Bane's will be coming to take care of your family."

***
Julian blinked.

"But... what with Inquisitor Lightwood's death... are they sure?"

"Yes. They seemed fairly eager, actually. I think the High Warlock is hoping that this will take Mr. Lightwood's mind off of that."

Emma shook her head as if she was trying to think of Alec and Magnus as Mr. Lightwood and High Warlock.

Perhaps thinking that they needed more reassurance, the Inquisitor continued. "Furthermore, Max and Rafael have been doing without much attention, due to Magnus having to take care of Alec. And I imagine young Octavian would love the company."

And there— she had them nailed. As soon as she mentioned Julian's kids, they were in no position to deny the offer. For Julian put his kids before everything— himself, the Clave, even Shadowhunting.

"Okay. We are happy with the choice of protectors that you've made, and we're sure that the kids will be fine. Thank you very much."

In unison, the parabatai stood up to leave.

Emma hesitated at the doorway, then said, "I'll show you to the door."

As the Inquisitor followed Emma to the entryway, Julian hurried along the opposite hallway where he knew Dru would have assembled everyone in an innate attempt to fill Livvy's shoes.

He wandered into the kitchen, where, as he had suspected, the children of the Institute had gathered. Unfortunately for Dru, it was a meeting of three because Mark and Cristina were out grocery shopping.

He groaned internally as he saw Kit methodically picking cookies out of the jar. He would bet money that Kit had bribed Cristina to go get more.

What he set his eyes on next jolted him so much that he had to grab the counter.

Ty was there, not speaking but listening attentively. He had left the room, and not just for a meal. And he actually seemed to be interacting. He was engaged in Dru's speech, and had his fingers around one of Kit's wrists.

The other hand was either flitting around nervously or picking the occasional cookie out of Kit's opposite hand.

"Um, guys?"

Everyone's eyes snapped to Julian.

"Yeah?" They answered in complete unison.

"Woah... that was impressive, guys. Anyways, so as you may know, the new Inquisitor Shadowhawk came to the Institute."

"Mmhm." Kit tried to be engaged and attentive, but a couple cookie crumbs escaped his mouth, and Julian had to stifle a laugh when Ty reached over and brushed some crumbs from his mouth and chin.

"And she was talking to us about a new mission."

"A new mission?!?" Dru's eyes were wide.

"...Yes. The thing is..." he decided not to sugar-coat it. "Clary and Jace are in trouble. They went on a mission themselves awhile ago, into Faerie. And they haven't come back yet."

There were many gasps around the table, and even Kit was visibly stricken.

"And so Emma and I are going to go and try to find them."

A/N:
So, I decided to leave it here, cause it was getting to a bit more words than I like, and yeah. I'm sorry, I was a couple days behind when I usually update!
This chapter is dedicated to abby_of_the_gail because I didn't know what to name the new Inquisitor, and I decided hey, Abby's cool.
If you don't want the Inquisitor to have your Shadowhunter name, that's fine and I'm sorry, and just let me know and I'll change it.
Um, there's quite a bit of Kit and Ty in this chapter, and I know it's Jules' POV, but they're finally together so I had to.
Until next update!