"Jace?-" I noticed my boyfriend being one of the only people in the Ops Center, looking completely shaken up, "Are you alright?"

"Yeah-" Jace breathes out, before slowly sitting back down and facing the computer screens again, "I'm- I'm good."

"I just got back from patrol- and it's four in the morning." I walked down the steps, coming by his side, crossing my arms, "Why are you up? I expected to see you knocked out in bed by the time I went to your room-"

Jace used his stele, activating his Stamina rune, "I have to go through the rest of this surveillance footage-"

"By using your Stamina Rune?" I gaped at him, putting my hand on his arm and the other on his back, "Come on, you look exhausted-"

Jace doesn't move, "I can sleep when I find him."

"Well, when you don't take care of yourself, it's completely my responsibility, and I want you to go to bed-" I lightly hit his arm to urge him to listen, "Come on, I'll handle the rest of this footage-"

"Seven mundanes have been murdered in the last 48 hours." Jace ignored my pleas and sat up, "I think I know who's responsible."

"Wait-" I stopped, "You ID'd the Owl?"

"The Clave has no record of an owl-faced demon- or a demon that possesses people that way." Jace's voice was raspy for exhaustion, "That face has to be a glamour."

I thought out loud, "Who'd want to hide themselves?"

Jace's words shock me, "I think the Owl is Jonathan."

-

"You sure this is what it looks like?" I asked Simon and Maia, seated in the library, flipping through the pages of the Gray Book, "Positive?"

Maia trails, "I mean, I know I'm no Picasso, but-"

"Actually, Picasso was an abstract-" Simon began, but clears his throat, "Never mind."

"This is what I saw on his forehead." Maia pointed at the drawing she had given me, as I flipped through.

"Well, I can't find anything in the Gray Book, so, it's not a Shadowhunter rune-" I shut the Gray Book, "And Magnus has never seen anything like it-"

Simon sighs and sat down, "And the Seelie Queen said only a Daylighter can withstand it."

Maia looks around, "Does this library have a Daylighter section?-"

"I'll see what I can find, but- it's highly unlikely." I crossed my arms and sat back in my seat, looking at Simon, "This may be more of a vampire question."

"There was this one time back in fourth grade when Tommy Weismann kept picking on me- until I knocked him out." Simon suddenly said.

I look at him, "Oh?"

"What?" Maia's attention was just as caught.

"True story- I was king of the nerds for a day." Simon softly laughs, "What I never told anyone was that that knock out was actually an accident- I ducked to shield my new glasses, and my elbow caught him in the face."

Maia related, "I had a similar showdown with Cindy McCallahan- but, my knock out was intentional."

"I never really had a bully." I looked between the two, pursing my lips, "Jace always scared em off."

"Yeah, you and your knight in shining armor." Simon playfully nudged me, "I guess I miss the days when my biggest problems were 90 pound bullies and the threat of being suspended."

Before any of us could reply, Jace walked in right on cue, "Hey, I need to talk to Zee-"

I looked at Simon, as he gestured his head for me to go over to Jace, "I'm a grown vampire, Young. I can handle this-"

"Just, stick Clary on this too, alright? Maybe she can be of help-" I purse my lips, then pat his back, following Jace out the room and into his bedroom, shutting the door behind me, "Did you get any sleep?"

When he doesn't reply, I huffed and covered my face, "Why did I have to fall in love with someone as stubborn as me? God, why-"

Jace gave me just a soft smile, then hands me his tablet, "This is Morgan Young, the Owl's latest victim, except she escaped before he possessed her."

"How'd she manage that?" I took the tablet from him, looking between the screen and him.

Jace exhales, crossing his arms, "She got him in the face with pepper spray."

"That wouldn't affect a demon." I looked at him.

"No, it wouldn't." Jace shot me a look, "It means the Owl is part human, the same as Jonathan."

"Jace- you've got to quit with this." I stared at him, "There's been no activity on the Connection Rune-"

"They never found his body." Jace points out.

"Because he's probably in the middle of the ocean somewhere!" I set down the tablet, "Jace, you killed him- you saw him in that river- Jonathan was dead."

Jace stares, "So was I- until you brought me back."

"That was different, I used the wish on you." I cross my arms, "Do you think this is because of the wish?"

Jace mentioned, "Ever since Lake Lyn, I've been having dreams about Jonathan-"

"Which are probably just that-" I put my hands on his arms, "Just dreams."

"Like your dreams about the Mortal Mirror?" Jace looked at me, "They all ended up being true."

I sigh quietly and turned my back to him, covering my face, not saying anything else.

"Maryse wants to have dinner with Alec, Izzy and I later on tonight, but- I think this is more important." Jace showed me a flyer, "Morgan is throwing a fundraiser for disaster relief- if I know anything about Jonathan, he will be there to finish what he started."

"Fine, I'll go along with this little theory of yours-" I gave up, "But, we should tell the others- if it's really him, then we need everyone-"

"No, he had spies in the Institute before." Jace shook his head, "I don't want anything to tip him off- when he attacks again, we'll be there to stop him."

-

"Wow." Isabelle smiles at me when she spotted me in a dress when I knocked on her door frame lightly to get her attention, "Look at you."

"I'm not here for fashion advice." I gave her a soft smile, "Uhm- have you noticed anything different about Jace?"

"No-" Isabelle set down her makeup brush, "Well, you do see him a lot more than I do."

I don't reply.

Isabelle senses something wrong, "What's wrong?"

I exhale slow, walking towards her and leaning against her desk, my voice quiet, "Jace- thinks the Owl is Jonathan."

"What?" Isabelle asks, "Why?"

"He said he keeps having dreams about him- and he thinks they're prophetic." I crossed my arms.

Isabelle asks, "What do you think?"

"I mean- I don't know, what do you expect?" I sigh, "He hasn't been sleeping- and he's been using his Stamina Rune to stay on mission."

"When you don't sleep, your mind can play tricks on you." Isabelle exhales slow, "Has he told Alec?"

I shook my head, "He's afraid that once word gets out, it'll tip off Jonathan."

"I'm coming with you." Isabelle suddenly said.

I stood up, "What about your family dinner?"

"If the Owl is Jonathan, we've way got bigger problems than missing dinner with Mom." She got up, "There's no way I'm letting you guys go out there alone."

-

"The Owl could be anyone-" I huffed lightly when Jace, Isabelle and I entered the party, blue lights flickering and music blasting, people dancing in crowds.

"Remember, he might not look like Sebastian Verlac." Jace reminds us, "Keep an eye out for anything suspicious."

"All right." Isabelle nods once, "Let's split up."

Jace adds, "Don't let Morgan out of your sight."

And from then, we split up, taking different points of the club and keeping an eye out for Morgan.

Except, it wasn't long until I lost eye on her for just a moment after doing a skim around the club, my eyes widening.

I pushed through people, heading over to Isabelle who looked just as panicked, "Did you see where Morgan went?-"

Isabelle shook her head, "No-"

"Oh, God-" I sigh, "I hope Jace has her-"

"Isn't that Morgan's phone?" Isabelle noticed, as we headed over to the step it laid on, as she picked it up, the screen cracked, "Oh, no-"

Then, her scream echoed from outside, making Isabelle and I immediately pull out our weapons, rushing out to the back, where we heard her scream, "Get away from me!"

"Morgan!-" I called out immediately when we came to a stop in the alley, seeing the Owl on Morgan, trying to possess her, as Isabelle catches him by her whip and pulls him to the ground.

"Izzy, behind you!-" I warned her when a possessed Morgan tried to grab her, as Isabelle flipped her onto the ground, only for her to get up and rush off.

Isabelle and I traded looks, as I simply nodded toward her, as she rushes after Morgan, leaving me with the Owl.

I clenched my jaw and launched myself toward him, fighting him off best I could, but it wasn't long until I was defenseless, his grip on both my wrists, his other hand around my neck, pushing me against the wall.

"Is it you?" I stared at him right in the face, choking out, "You coward!"

"Show me your face, Jonathan!" I pressed, only for him to snarl in confusion, then drop me, making his escape, as I coughed, holding my neck.

-

"Poor Morgan." Isabelle sighed as we stood outside of her cell after she had captured her, looking at her possessed state, "She's the last person who deserves to be locked up."

"It's for her own safety." I said to her, checking my phone for the hundredth time, "God, where the hell is Jace?-"

She looks at me, "Still no word?"

"I'm starting to get really worried about him." I admitted, "He should've been back by now."

Isabelle guessed, "Maybe he went to look for the Owl."

"Without checking in?" I looked at her.

"Well, one thing is for sure, The Owl is definitely not Jonathan." Isabelle looked back at Morgan.

I ask, "How do you know?"

"I got him with my whip." Isabelle told me, "The electrum didn't react."

"Well, if the Owl's not Jonathan, then-" I thought out loud, "Who could it be?"

authors note:

zee being a caring girlfriend- we love her

also, zee and izzy moments >

not many zace moments tho sksksks, but whatevs

but, thank you for 28k !!

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