Stronger than before

Mom's Dead

We all went back to the institute and Magnus went to talk to Aldertree. I was in the infirmary getting checked out, apparently, that's necessary once a month. She did an ultrasound and said, "Your baby is very healthy." Magnus and Alec came in Magnus said "How are you doing?" I said "Good." Alec said, "And the baby?" I said "Healthy." Alec looked at the lady who said "Yeah the baby is good." then left I smacked his thigh for not believing me. I said, "How'd it go with Aldertree?" Magnus said "Well, the man didn't disappoint. In his own charming, inimitable way, he informed me that I will indeed be punished, but the form of punishment is yet to be decided." Alec said "All for trying to save my life. Jace may have been the one who pulled me out, and after all the pain I've caused you, Tessa, I still felt you both there. And it did make a difference. So... thank you." 

Magnus said "Thank you for not dying on her. How is Jace?" Alec said "He won't be gone long. Once his hand touches the Soul-Sword, the truth will come out and prove that he's never been on Valentine's side. I'll leave you two alone." and he left. Magnus grabbed my hand and I said "Thank you for saving him, I realize you don't like him, but I do want the baby to know him." Magnus said "I know, and your right I don't like him. But only because of what he did to you. However, I'd do anything for you, even save him. Do you want to go on that first date we never had?" I smiled "What do you have in mind?" he said "I know a place in SoHo that has the best lamb kebab this side of Marrakesh. Or we can Portal to Marrakesh. You hungry?" I said "This baby makes me hungry all the time." we walked out of the room and Raj said "Hey, Tessa. Demon briefing in the ops center. All hands on deck." I groaned as Magnus said "My dear Raj, you look well." then turned to me "Rain check?" 

I said, "Yes, I'm sorry." Magnus said "You go battle your demons. I'll go battle mine." he kissed me before I went to ops. I stood next to Alec, Clary, and Izzy who said "Demon attack downtown. One mundane dead." I said, "Sounds fun." Alec looked at Clary "And we don't have Jace, so, you're with us." Clary said "Wait. You want me on your team?" Alec said "It's not my first choice, but we're a man down, and everyone else is on patrol. Gear up." I chuckled but we all geared up and headed out. We saw the dead mundane and I said "Well, this is one nasty demon. Punched the hole right through his chest." Luke said, "With that kind of strength, I doubt it's done yet." Alec said "Nothing in the immediate area." Izzy said "We're taking the body back to the Institute. I'll run some tests to see what kind of demon we're dealing with." Alec said "Clary, Tessa, and I will widen the perimeter. Hey, Fray! We got a demon to hunt. Come on." Clary rushed over.

We started to walk and Alec said "Most important thing: don't slow us down. You slow us down, you get us all killed including your niece or nephew." Clary said, "Sounds reasonable." I handed Alec my hand so he could draw the rune, then he took Clary's and drew the same rune. She said, "What's this for?" I said "It Lets you see the demon's heat signature." she said "Whoa." he said "First time can be sensory overload. The trick is to focus. Try to filter out everything unimportant, hone in on the heat signature." she said "Yeah, I'm honing. I'm just not seeing anything." Alec said "Patience." she said "Easy for you to say. For someone who hasn't been training her whole life, this stuff is impossible." he said "Tessa doesn't have the same problem, but impossible just means try again. Not that you have to worry about all that. You'll be out of the field soon enough. You're going to Idris." I said, "Hold up, what are you talking about?" Clary said, "Mom is being transferred and asked if I'd go with her, didn't she ask you?" I said, "Mom hasn't spoken to me since I told her."

Clary said "Oh... But I haven't decided yet, so don't get too excited about throwing me a going-away party." he said "Honestly, I think you'll like Idris. It's amazing." she said "Yeah? I bet that it'd be pretty amazing to get me out of your hair, huh?" he said "I didn't say that. You did." I said, "Mom says she's ok with the baby but..." Alec said, "You don't think she is?" I walked away from them before turning around "Her silence says everything." I turned back around and walked inside. Clary and Alec followed me, we heard an alarm blaring so we ran to the training room with Izzy. Welkie was dead, Clary said "Oh, my God, Welkie!" Lydia also walked in the other guy said "What happened?" Clary said "Classic possession hangover." Lydia said, "Hole punched right through his chest." Izzy said, "Just like our mundane in the morgue." 

Alec kneeled by Welkie and said "The demon's in the Institute." we went back to the ops center and Lydia said "Activate emergency surveillance. Victor's unreachable. I've ordered the Institute be put on quarantine until we kill this thing." We all grabbed weapons as Clary said "But I don't get it. How did the demon get past the wards?" Izzy said "Same way it got in without setting off this. It must have some advanced cloaking ability. It hid in that dead body and let us do the rest." Clary said "I didn't know demons could do that." he said "Until now, they couldn't. This new form of possession, cloaking ability, targeting the Institute, it's..." Clary said "Valentine. His experiments. My mom told me how he was determined to create a super-being that could defeat the Clave. It's what he tried to do with Jace." Izzy said "Both victims had damage to the prefrontal cortex. The demon must be feeding on negative emotions. Anger, hate, rage. Causing the host to violently act on those urges."

Alec said "So we continue to scan for venom and heat signatures. Try and narrow down the host before it strikes again." Lydia pulled up a hologram of the Institute. then said "Alec, Fray you two check the living quarters." then pointed to me and Izzy "You two want to be parabatai so you take the utility tunnels." Raj said, "I'll stay with you." Lydia said "Day just keeps getting better." we headed to the tunnels and liquid was dripping from a grate above, I said "Demon ichor." she said "It must've come through here after the kill upstairs. So Idris, huh? I thought you were a New York City girl, tried-and-true." I said, "Im not going, I wasn't asked." Izzy said, "But I heard that Clary was thinking about it." I said "Yeah, I just heard about that when Alec asked Clary about it. Is there a rune for letting you be in two places at once? I was supposed to be on a date with Magnus." she sighed "I wish." 

I said "My mom wants Clary to go with her. And we went through so much to get her back, Im afraid she is going to take the opportunity. I've never been without her." Izzy said "At least you have a mom who wants to be with you. Who thinks you're smart and wonderful..." I said "Who erased my memories and lied to me about having a brother." she said "I'm not saying she hasn't done some pretty screwed up things. But all moms do. So maybe you should be glad you have one who wants to try and make things right." I sighed and stood in front of her as I said "Just stop, Isabelle. She wants to make it right with my sister, I haven't been able to speak to her since I told her I was pregnant. And I have tried, she is either nowhere to be found or says she is too busy. Do you think she'll go?" Izzy said "Of course not, she wouldn't leave you. Come on. We've got a demon to hunt." 

After we searched and found nothing Clary said "Tessa, can you come with me while I tell mom I'm staying?" I nodded and grabbed her waiting hand. As we walked she practiced "Yeah. Mom. About Idris... There is a part of me that wants to come with you, but... I have to learn to stand on my own. And there are people here that I can't leave like Tessa for example." I said "Shh." and pointed out the blood and we followed the trail. We entered the room and saw mom with her heart ripped out. I gasped out a strangled cry, Clary fell to the floor, and I ran. I ran from my dead mother, I ran from the institute, I just ran, eventually, I ended up at Magnus' front door and crying. I heard Camille's voice from inside "You don't do well losing those you love, do you? I'm the only one you can count on to be here for you forever. You know that. That's why you love me... and you always will. Choose... me." Magnus said "Enjoy Idris. I hear the weather's a delight." 

I walked in as Camille said "How could you? I thought you loved me. Don't do this!" her cage disappeared through a portal as he said, "Loved as, in past tense, my heart belongs to another." I whispered "Magnus." he turned to smile at me before immediately looking worried, he wrapped me in his arms "Whats wrong Princess?" I said, "A demon ripped my mom's heart out." I was crying still so I was surprised he understood me. He moved one hand to behind my knees lifting me into his arms. He took me to the bedroom and laid on the bed with me, just holding me, he said "Im so sorry Tessalyn. I've got you." I ended up crying myself to sleep.