A Ranger's Lullaby

A mission

I walk out of my bedroom in my second outfit and bump into Alex. He came down the stairs, so I'm guessing he has talked to Jace. When he notices me he gives me a soft smile. 'Is he okay?' He sighs as he scratches his neck. 'Yeah he's fine. Just needed a smoke.' He doesn't sound very convincing to me and I look down. 'If you say so...' When I look back up, I find Alex staring at me with a serious face. 'Why do you care?' I'm startled by his sudden question. He notices my shocked face and adds, 'I mean, you just met him right? And he has been nothing but mean to you.' So that's what he meant with his question. I look away somewhat uncomfortably. 'I- uh, I guess I just feel bad?' I look Alex in the eye as I grip my shoulder. 'Like I said before, I don't wanna bother him, not in his own home. I feel like I'm still the cause of his constant bad mood. I mean, he didn't ask or approve of me being here. I'm the intruder after all.' He narrows his eyes and then smiles at me. 'You're not an intruder. You didn't ask to be here either, Damon did, so don't blame yourself for that.' He pats me on the head and I return his smile. 'And to be honest, he hasn't been mean to me all the time.' He chuckles as he ruffles my hair. 'Oh right, the drink and the book.' I playfully pull away my head and nod at him proudly. He then looks me up and down and smirks. 'You look great by the way. For the record, I picked out the sweater.' I look down at my off-shoulder red cropped sweater and smile. 'Yeah I really love it too! It's also very comfortable!' He then pushes me to the living room. 'Wait, wait, wait! Say it again in front of Ben! To prove I do have taste!' I chuckle as I'm being escorted to the others. Leaving behind the hallway and the unnoticed Jace sitting on the stairs. He came down not long after Alex and heard our conversation. He decided not to interfere since it was about him. He stayed there for a while until his phone started ringing.

Meanwhile I had shown my outfit to the other boys and I'd repeated my comment from before, with a beaming Alex beside me. Ben had just rolled his eyes, which triggered Alex. Right now, me and Damon are watching them bicker. It's rather amusing and it does seem to happen often. For so far I've seen them, it's never serious, luckily, just playful banter. 'I have one more outfit to show you guys! I'll be right back.' I say after a while and walk out of the room again. When I make my way through the hallway I bump into Jace. My timing is on point today... 'Oh sorry Jace, I didn't see you there.' He just stares down at me and scoffs lightly as he walks past me to the living room. I sigh annoyed. 'No problem Clary, I shouldn't have stood in the middle of the hallway.' I say mockingly as I change into my last outfit. It's a black sweater with red roses on the side of the hood, just like the shirt I borrowed from Damon. I smile as I put it on. I now have something for myself that reminds me of my mother. When I walk back into the living room, the guys all sit around the coffee table while discussing something. I hear Jace's low voice. 'They told me it was a three person job, no less, not even if it's us.' Damon sighs with his hand on his mouth. 'Well I can't come. I'm still stuck working for The Vipers. I can't raise any suspicion with Clary staying here.' They're quiet for a while so I walk up to them. 'Is something wrong?' They all stare at me, seemingly forgotten I was there. Then suddenly Damon's face lights up. 'Clary could come! I saw her in action and she can handle it for sure!' Now we all look at Damon in confusion. 'Are you stupid?' Jace says with a sharp tone. I chuckle nervously. Damon rolls his eyes. 'I know she's a fugitive, but she can wear a disguise. She already has new clothes. We just need to cover her hair and face. It's most likely at night right? Making it even harder to recognise her. I know it's risky, but this way you could do the mission and I can imagine Clary wouldn't mind going outside for a change.' I don't know how to react and neither do the others. 'Do you really think it'll be okay for me to go outside...?' He smirks at me. 'What's life without a little risk. Besides, you will be with Jace and Alex, you'll be fine.' I frown. 'Wait, you said three people right? Why can't Ben go?' Ben looks at me smiling. 'I help from behind the scenes. I don't do field work.' My frown deepens. 'I'm the tech guy in the chair to say otherwise.' 'Ahhh, like that, right. Uhm, well, I guess it's fine then?' I look in Jace's direction, who hasn't responded yet. He's deep in thought, fiddling with his hands. Then he sighs deeply and speaks. 'I don't like it, just to be clear, but we need the job and this seems to be the best option we have.' I'm surprised he actually agreed with it. Jace turns to Damon. 'You better not lie about her ability to keep up.' I shoot him an offended look, which he straight up ignores. 'I'm not going to be her babysitter.' I stand right in his face as I look down on him. 'I don't need a babysitter and I can promise you I can keep up.' When I don't get a real reaction from him I turn around and walk over to the couch, sitting down in between Alex and Ben. Jace just stares at me and I stare right back. Damon clears his throat. 'Well, I guess it's decided then. Clary will join you three on the mission.' I smirk at Jace, who rolls his eyes in response. 'Wait-' I start awkwardly, 'What exactly is this mission?' Ben starts laughing. 'You don't know, yet you still made that bold statement of keeping up. Respect.' Alex now chuckles as well. 'You got guts Red. I'll give you that.' I chuckle nervously in response. Jace scoffs as he starts talking. 'So, the mission. We have to retrieve a package. Ben will be our eyes and ears, as usual. He will make sure we're not caught on camera and warn us if he sees something on the hacked camera's.' I glance impressed at Ben besides me. He winks smoothly as Jace continues with the instructions. 'The package is in Crimson Bull territory, so we might run into some trouble. Our orders are to be as lowkey as possible, yet not letting anyone get in our way.' As I listen to Jace I notice how calm and collected he is right now. It's all very professional, it suits him. He has now drawn a map of the facility where we need to retrieve the package. 'Alex and Clary will go through the front, while I'll sneak up to the back.' He looks up to me. 'Clary, you are good with bow and arrow right?' I nod. 'Then you'll cover Alex while he distracts possible guards. Meanwhile I will retrieve the package from behind and get out of there, hopefully without casualties. I'll collect the necessary equipment by then. The mission will be in three days so be ready.' His attention is mostly fixated on me. I'm getting nervous, I've never done anything like this. I mean, sure I've hunted and stuff, but not with people... Alex gives me a small nudge. 'Are you sure you wanna do this?' I look up and see they're all waiting for my reaction.