"Lindsay." I stop her in the hall, "Hey, have you seen Alec?"

"He should be in his office." Lindsay looked up at me, holding the her tablet in her hands, "I just saw him there."

I nod, turning for down the hall, "All right, thanks-"

Lindsay stops me, "Is everything okay?"

"Yeah, Jace and I just need to update him on something." I simply said, walking away from her, "Thank you."

I knocked on the door of Alec's office and entered, seeing Sebastian seated on one of the chairs.

"Sebastian?" Confusion fills me, "I was looking for Alec."

Sebastian clears his throat, "Yeah, as was I."

My eyebrows furrow, "What're you doing in here-"

Then, our phones buzz in unison, making me stop mid sentence.

"Looks like we've found him." I said after looking at my screen, "Urgent briefing at the Ops Center."

I put my phone away, "Perfect timing, huh?"

"Yeah." Sebastian got up and slowly followed me out the room, "Yeah, perfect timing."

-

Isabelle joins us a few minutes later, "Sorry I'm late, I've been looking everywhere for Max."

Isabelle looks between us all, "Has anyone seen him?"

"Have you tried the armory?" Jace questioned from next to me, "He's probably sharpening his blades for his first assignment."

Isabelle sighs, "I checked."

"We have more pressing matters." Alec interjects, "Thanks to Dot's help, we now have the Mortal Mirror."

Sebastian had a weird look on his face, making suspicion in me grow, "And you have it at the Institute, and it's well-guarded, I presume?"

"The Elite Guards are the only ones who know its location." Alec looks at him, "It's safest that way."

"Guys, Jonathan went after Elliot and Dot to get the mirror." Clary crosses her arms.

I nod, "Now that he knows we have it, he's undoubtedly going to come back for it."

"Agreed." Alec nods, "Report back with any possible scenarios by which Jonathan and Valentine could attempt a breach."

-

"What happened?" Alec immediately asked when him and I walked into the infirmary, where Max laid, hooked up to different machines, unconscious.

"I don't know." Isabelle admits, tears in her eyes, "I found him like this in my room."

"Oh, my God-" I stare at the boy that laid between us, "Max."

"We should send him to Idris." Alec looked up, "See what they can do."

Isabelle sniffled, "The medics said that in his condition, he won't be able to survive the transfer."

"Max-" Jace ran in with Sebastian and Clary, joining us around Max.

"Oh, God- Max." Clary softly gasped, staring at him with slight wide eyes.

"We checked the Institute's security camera footage." Jace told us, "Whoever attacked him is somehow covering their tracks."

Sebastian stares at Max and seemed not so affected by this, "Has he been able to talk?"

"Not yet." Isabelle shook her head, "He's unconscious."

"I don't understand." I sigh deeply, looking between them all, "Who would want to hurt him?"

"I don't know." Alec said from next to me and turned to leave the room, "But- I'm going to find out."

"Wow-" I grabbed his arms and stopped him, looking up at him, "Just take a second, okay?"

Alec stares down at me, and I could see the hurt and worry in his eyes, as he breathed heavily.

"Look, get Robert and Maryse here." Jace places a hand on my back, looking at Alec, "The rest of us we'll find who did this."

"Yeah, I'll stay with Max." Sebastian offered, my eyes squinting in confusion as I looked at him, "If he regains consciousness, perhaps he can ID his attacker."

Why was he offering if he barely even knew him?

-

Jace and I slowly followed the traces of the blood that lead into Isabelle's carpeted room, our eyes scanning the room.

Jace's eyes never left the blood, as he inches farther down the trail, as it ended with a big splotch on the ground.

This was probably where Isabelle found Max, due to the huge splat of blood on the ground.

"From the traces of blood outside the door, it seems Max was attacked somewhere else, and then he came here." Jace's voice was shaky, as he crouched by the puddle of blood, staring at it.

"He was probably looking for help." My voice came quiet, knowing how upset this made Jace.

Jace's hands folded together, as he pressed them to his lips, remaining quiet.

From the corner of his eyes, I could see the red tint they held, along with a glossy sheet over them.

"Jace." I whispered soothingly, crouching next to him and wrapping my arms around his neck, looking at the blood as well, "I'm sorry this happened."

Jace grabbed my hand, squeezing it for comfort, until his eyes landed on something, "Zee."

"What?" I asked, as he pulled out the box that belonged to Jocelyn from under the bed, "Oh my god."

-

"What did you find?" Sebastian asked Jace and I when we joined him, Alec and Clary in the Ops Center.

"The box my mom used to keep Jonathan's things in." Clary realized, staring at the box as Jace put it down.

I nodded, "It was right where Izzy found Max."

"I remember Max had his eyes on it." Alec recalled, as he sighed deeply, "He was so determined to prove himself."

Jace leans his palms against the table, "It's possible he found a way to use the box to track Jonathan."

"Wait, all of this would mean that Jonathan found a way to get inside the Institute," Sebastian crosses his arms, "-without us even knowing."

"Well, he's Valentine's son." Jace reasoned, "We were trained to do the impossible."

"Wait." I interject, "If Jonathan attacked Max and he came for the mirror-"

Jace realizes where I'm getting at and finishes my sentence, "He wouldn't have left here without it."

Jace's voice came out quiet to keep this conversation between us, "Alec, he could still be in the building."

Alec looks at him, "Listen, we have to confirm he's still inside-"

"We saw what the real Jonathan looks like." Jace already put together everything, "He will be glamoured as one of our own."

Clary sighed deeply in realization, "Hiding in plain sight."

I exclaim quickly, "Alec, we need to get on this right away."

"Okay- okay, Sebastian." Alec turned to him and took charge, "I want you and any other personnel on supplemental guard duty. Effective immediately, the Institute's on lockdown."

As we move, Sebastian's voice makes Alec and I stop, "Wait- wait."

I looked at him, "What?"

"We'll need to fortify security outside as well." Sebastian stammers out, "I can spearhead that team."

"No- I have it covered." Alec shook his head, "If Jonathan's still in the building, he's not getting out alive."

-

"If you need to leave the Institute, please step forward." I announced, stood in the hall that lead to the entrance, Clary stood across from me, as we were surrounded by our fellow Shadowhunters, standing along side us as we conducted this process.

"Thank you." I thanked as a fellow Shadowhunter proved themselves, "You're free to go."

Clary speaks, "Please step forward."

Sebastian walks over to me, "Has the lockdown been called off?"

I cross my arms and stare up at him, "If you can prove you're not Jonathan."

Sebastian clears his throat, caught off guard as if I had just exposed him, "Sorry, what?"

"We figured out a way to blow his cover." I said, a expression of relief crossing his face, making me suspicious, "Jace remembered reading in Valentine's journals, Jonathan can't tolerate Electrum."

Sebastian nods, "Right, because of the demon blood."

"Yeah-" I hummed in response to him, "Valentine wrote that he'd scream in pain the second it touched his skin, it burned straight through to the bone."

"So, I extracted some Electrum from Izzy's whip." I told him, "And we're having everyone hold it to see if they react- that way, we can find Jonathan."

"Well, I'm very impressed." Sebastian nervously chuckles, "It seems Jonathan's finally met his match."

I stare at him for a moment, before grabbing the piece of Electrum from Clary, holding it up, "Don't take it personally, okay?"

I held it out for him, "If you have to leave just hold this for a few seconds."

"I was just, um-wondering, actually, um-" Sebastian stammers and doesn't grab it, "If you caught Jonathan- you wouldn't kill him, would you?"

"I wouldn't." I honestly told him, "I'm not sure about Alec or Jace."

Clary joins the conversation, "I would."

Sebastian looked at her, "What?"

"I used to believe that Jonathan could be saved, just like Zee did." Clary stares at Sebastian, "But- after what he did to Elliot, and Dot, and now Max- I'll kill him with my bare hands if that's what it takes."

"Well then." Sebastian held his hand out, "Shall we?"

Sebastian held it for a few seconds, before placing it back down on my palm, not showing me his, "There you are. I guess I passed your test."

Sebastian walks away from me and turns away, "See you later."

Then, everything involving Sebastian crossed my mind, making me chase after him, "Sebastian!"

Sebastian stopped and looked back at me, right as he was about to make it to the door.

"Hey, you forgot something." I gave him a sweet smile, grabbing the wrist of the hand he held the Electrum in, turning it over, noticing the scorched skin and stained blood on his palm.

I looked up and stared at him with wide eyes, "You-"

Sebastian instantly jammed the button, the doors shutting, locking me in with him, as I pulled out my seraph dagger and pierced it into his side.

"Zee!" I heard Clary's shout, banging against the door filling our ears.

"Open up!" The guards banged on the door, "Are you okay?"

"Let's go around to the front! The door's jammed!" Their footsteps faded, the alarm blaring loudly.

Sebastian pulled out the dagger and grabbed me by my neck, "After ten years of torture in Edom, I learnt to endure pain."

Sebastian's hand was shaking, his face unbelievably close to mine, his breathing labored, "In fact, I rather enjoy it."

"Jonathan." My voice came out croaked due to not being able to breath, dropping the blood stained danger on the ground.

My eyes trailed down, noticing the Mortal Mirror in his pocket, along with the second dagger in the sheath wrapped around my waist, hung behind me.

His hot breath fanned against my face, making me gasp lightly and look at him, as he used his bloody hand to hold my face, "I wanted you and the mirror."

"Sebastian." My hands grasped his wrists, gasping for air, feeling guilty for him for some reason.

After everything he did, I still felt guilty. I wanted to find the good in him, but there was none.

"But- if I can't have both-" Sebastian began, grabbing his seraph blade, but I grabbed my dagger and sliced through his pocket, catching the mirror and impaling the dagger into his neck.

"I'm sorry." The apologize slipped my mouth unintentionally, as I stepped back, breathing heavily, grabbing out my stele and drawing a rune on the glass doors.

Sebastian pulled the dagger out and grabbed me against, until he noticed the glass doors about to shatter, throwing me against the glass as it blew.

I coughed, falling onto the ground where Jace, Alec and Clary ran over to me, Sebastian running out of the Institute.

Jace ran to me, "Zee!"

Clary crouched by me, "Are you okay?"

"Go after him!" Alec ordered to the guards, as I held my bruised throat, coughing harder, as he pulls me up, "Did he hurt you?"

"I'm fine- I'm fine." I cough a few more times and ran a hand through my messy hair, clearing my throat, "I'm okay-"

Clary stares at the blood on my face, "Zee-"

"It's his." I finally calmed down from my coughing fit.

Alec looks down at me, "Where's Jonathan?"

"I don't know." I inhale sharply, "He threw me into the glass and got away."

Jace stares at me, his voice lowering, "Are you okay?"

"Yeah- I'm okay." I nod once at him, giving him a weak smile, warmth filling me due to him caring.

Clary looks at me, "Did he get the mirror?"

"No." I shook my head and held it in my palm, showing it to them, "And no one is ever going to use it to destroy the Downworld."

"What are you doing?" Alec asked as I began drawing a familiar rune on the mirror.

"Nullifying its powers." I told him, "Like I did with the Soul Sword."

Then, the mirror turned into ash and dust.

I looked between everyone, as they shared the same expression I did, "What just happened?"

-

"Saving me from Azazel- it must have all been part of Jonathan's plan." Isabelle stared at the ground as we all sat in Alec's office, "I was the one to bring him to the Institute-"

"Don't." Alec puts a hand on his sister's shoulder, "We're all responsible for this."

Clary has her arms crossed, "At least now we know Valentine can never get the mirror and raise the Angel."

Jace inhales sharply, "I'm not so sure."

When we noticed the looks we were all shooting him, he speaks up, "Look, even with our pure angel blood, doesn't it seem strange that Zee's runes would be powerful enough to destroy a Mortal Instrument?"

Jace continued to think out loud, "And why didn't it destroy the sword?"

I stare at the painting of Lake Lyn that hung on the wall.

My dreams came to mind.

I got up, my eyes glued to it, "What if the mirror I destroyed isn't the Mortal Mirror?"

"Then why would my mom give it to the warlocks to protect?" Clary speaks up in question.

"Maybe she thought it was." I slowly walked over to the framed painting, "I mean- we all did- maybe whoever made it wanted it that way."

Isabelle exhales in realization, "To distract people from finding the real one."

"Uh, well, the legend says that the mirror's meant to not be easily found." Jace shrugs lightly, "That the angels hold the key-"

My voice came out in a whisper, "The water."

"Zee." Alec calls out for me, "What're you looking at?"

"It's a reflection." I spun to face them.

Jace's eyebrows furrow, "What water?"

Clary was just as confused, "What are you talking about?"

"I didn't destroy the mirror." All these thoughts were running through my head as I finally pieced it together, "Jace- these visions I've been having, they're a message from the Angel."

I stare between them all, "The Mirror is Lake Lyn."

authors note:

oh wowowow

MY NEW LAYOUT, ISNT IT PRETTY

kinda a short chapter unfortunately :(

random jace gif but it's a good gif so it's all good

but awh, zalec the brotp

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