Forgetting the Past

Chapter Nine: Old Issues Ressurected

Clary snuck back into the Institute, opening the front door herself and slipping into the elevator. As it ticked off the floors to the residential level, she tapped her foot impatiently. Did Jace know she was gone? Had they gone looking for her? The note she had written wasn't the most convincing, she feared, and since it was already ten o'clock they would all be awake.
She trod down the hall and began to hear faint voices. "No telling what he'll do... Not safe anymore... Can't just leave like that..."
She swung open the kitchen door to see Jace, Alec, and Isabelle in a heated conversation. "Clary!" Jace exclaimed, and quickly strode to her to deliver a bone-crunching hug. He drew back. "How the hell could you just run off on us like that? Sebastian's out there! You could have been hurt, or..." His mouth continued to work without making noise, be she knew he was thinking, Or killed. You could have been killed.
"I'm fine," she assured him, "and you know he's not going to hurt me. Besides, I took care of our problem."
He stood there looking dumbfounded for a moment. "What do you mean?" He asked in unison with Isabelle and Alec.
Clary inhaled deeply. "I talked to Sebastian, and he agreed to leave us alone. All of us."
Jace took in a sharp breath. "Clary-"
"No, don't worry. I'm fine," she assured him, but he didn't look comforted.
"Clary, he's more dangerous than ever! You can't go talking to him alone, without any protection!"
"Jace is right," Izzy agreed. "He's a bigger threat than ever, and we all need to be on guard."
"Will you all just listen to me!" Clary shouted. That got their attention. "You know he didn't want to- doesn't want to- hurt me, he only wanted to have me. I talked to him, and convinced him to leave us alone."
"What do you mean? It couldn't have been that simple," Jace reasoned.
"You... You just have to trust me," she said, becoming nervous as she realized it wasn't convincing at all. Jace laid a hand on her shoulder.
"Are you alright?" He whispered, obviously worried.
She shook her head to clear her mind. "Yes. Of course. Everything' going to be fine now, Jace," she said, meeting his eyes. "Sebastian's gone now. Just trust me."
He drew his eyebrows together for a moment, and Clary could practically see him trying to puzzle it out. Finally his expression smoothed out a bit and he nodded. "Okay."
Alec and Isabelle still looked confused, but he ignored them and steered Clary out of the kitchen and toward his bedroom.

Shutting the door, Jace turned to Clary. Despite how certain she had been in the kitchen, she looked nervous.
"Clary, what is going on?" He asked.
"Jace, I can't-"
"I need to know, I have to be certain," he interrupted, voice rising. "You said you spoke to Sebastian. To be honest, I can't stand the thought of him being anywhere near you. Not after what he did."
Clary swallowed, a shadow coming over her face at the mention of their time in Edom. "I had to do it. Jace, can't you please just trust me on this?"
He shook his head with a tired sigh. "I just don't know. After you practically asked him to beat you and..." she flinched at what he implied. "... And everything else he did to hurt you, just to protect us, I don't know if I can."
Clary pressed her lips together. Her eyes shone with tears, but she tried to blink them away and looked right at him. "Jace," she said furiously, "it was the only thing I could do! You know that!"
"Ya, I do," he said coldly. "But I'm just not sure how much you value your own life right now and it... it scares me."
He turned before he could see her face. He heard the door open, and suddenly it struck him how harsh his words had been. It was true all those things he had said had been boiling under the surface, hot and angry, since they had come back. But, thinking about it now, he realized that for Clary, they would only tear open deep wounds. Ones that were difficult to heal without time and distance from the initial cause of the damage.
He spun around, calling her name and meaning to apologize, but the door was wide open and Clary was gone.