-Clary's P.O.V.-

Simon never beats me at running. Well, there was that time when he was still a vampire... But whatever. I took a seraph blade off the shelf and named it: "Gabriel." It started glowing with angelic light, and I then drew my short sword Heosphoros.  The blade was obtained during the Dark War, freeing Jace from the heavenly fire. After I'd stabbed him with Raziel's sword to break the connection between him and Sebastian, the fire had started burning anything whenever my boyfriend got an adrenaline rush, so we transferred it to my Morgenstern sword- but it disappeared once I'd stabbed my brother.

"Nice job, Fairchild," Isabelle gave me the thumbs up as she uncoiled her electrum whip from around her arm. Simon winked and pulled out his own seraph blade, Raphael. He insisted on using an angel name from the Bible, or so I understood from Jace. Jace was carrying a seraph blade as well, Ithuriel, named for the angel we freed at the Wayland estate, but he also held a slim dagger with a pattern of herons flying.

"You ready, Simon?" I called.

He smiled and yelled: "As ready as I'll ever be!" I walked over, and we stood together back to back. Jace and Isabelle started whirling around us, Jace slashing with his blades and Izzy twirling her whip. Our strength combined and our minds merged, Simon and I fended them off easily.

-Jace's P.O.V.-

Wow, Clary has really gotten good at this lately. Like, I know that Clary has a lot of angel blood in her, like me, but hers is more runic than combat. And Simon, well, he only Ascended a few months ago. But they've managed to reach this level so easily, while it took me and Alec years.

"Hey! Herondale!" Clary yelled. "Come and get it!" She jabbed Heosphoros in my direction.

I quickly danced out of the way, laughing. "You fight like a mundane!"

Simon raised an eyebrow and called out to me. "Up until a few months ago, I was a mundane!"

"And I grew up as a mundane, so that doesn't count as an insult," Clary giggled, tossed her seraph blade up in my direction, and as I dodged she placed the tip of her sword on my sternum.

"Score one for the parabatai!" Isabelle teased me. "If Alec were here, then you wouldn't be so quick about that," I retorted.

"Quick about what?" I whirled around, and there, for the second time that day, was my best buddy, leaning against the doorway, Alec Lightwood. Izzy was shocked, and Clary burst out laughing at her best female friend's expression.

"Ohhhhhhh!! You should see your face!" I joined in, as did Simon.

Magnus popped his head around the door-frame and asked "Am I missing something?" That just made Isabelle laugh even harder when she spotted his outfit. Magnus moved out into the doorway, carrying Max. The little blue-skinned warlock baby is cute, and he really reminds me of my little brother who died at the hands of Sebastian Morgenstern, even though he is very different in other ways. 

"Please, can someone keep an eye on this kid? I found him crawling down the hall!"

Alec fake-scowled and turned to me. "What were you talking about?"

I sighed and told him: "Simon and Clary defeated us in combat training and when Izzy teased me about it I told her that she wouldn't be laughing like that had you been here."

Clary muffled her laughter with her hand and moved to cover Simon's mouth as well, but he shrugged her off and started cracking up.

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I know, I know... I have no idea why, but I like having Alec and Magnus popping up randomly. It seems that every single time that they appear someone is laughing: last chapter it was them, this time it's Clary and Isabelle, who knows who it will be next?

Thanks for suffering through my incompetent writing!

SpringStar186