Diversion

PART ONE 

„Is it at least gonna be fun?" asked Isabelle, crossing the doorstep of Institute's briefing room, in annoyed voice.

Alec didn't look at her, not very bothered, staying at his place at the top of the table. He had his back to her.

„What else do you have to do?" he asked.

„I was supposed to have a date." Spoke up Jace's voice from the left of the room, when he sat with his feet put up carelessly. „Clary's gonna be pissed."

Izzy could tell. He looked fresh from the shower, his hair already gelled. She would have surely laughed at him, for this ridiculous trying, if she wasn't feeling so sleep-deprived. Jace almost never gelled his hair.

„I was supposed to have a nap. What's more important than my nap?"

„We're gathering intel" answered Alec, turning around, so she could see something other than his back, covered with a dark sweather. He had papers in his hands, a files, Isabelle recognized, marked with the seal of the New York Intitute. He opened them, not wasting any time.

„His name's Derwid Tambiern." Alec said setting a single photo on a table. Seelie, quite young in the look, but eyes, green as a forest, with heavy gaze, revealed that he was much older than they would suspect. „We got information he's been making negotiations with general Mercredi. A job contract, for the lack of better word."

Oh. They were going to work together. Seelies never worked together, not like this. They didn't believe in mercenary or job contracts. They were consulting.

„And guess what" said Jace from his place. He was sitting on the table, not caring about the marks the soles on his shoes are going to leave behind on a chair he carelessly put his feet on. „Mercredi's hosting a strategic meeting."

Isabelle hummed, low and rich, as cats do, when they're ready to hunt their pray.

It was clear now, as a day, why she was called back. There was a job to do, a research to be made, and they didn't have much Shadowhunters to spare. There was not enough of them to even patrol the streets the way their Law required them to do. They had to organize everything anew, and during this shift there was created a new kind of team, variable one, with flexible sets of skills. She, Alec and Jace did everything what needed to be done, whenever it needed to be done.

And the case of Mercredi needed to be taken care of, yesterday. He was a mystery man, working with Seelie Queen on Angel knew what. What worried them, was his broad knowledge of leylines and military training. Faeries didn't like being soldiers, not the way Shadowhunters were, so a general, highly skilled in magic, coming to the aid of their Queen never meant anything pleasant. And lately he started gathering allies. Another thing Seelies weren't keen on doing, as they were masters at avoiding truths.

Alec handed her a tightly printed file, gathered with care. With the heels on she was almost as tall as him, so she could see scars between the shell of his ear and line of hair, left from when he was a child and a demon's claw reached him in a fleeting moment of absent-mindedness.

„We've just got an intel that Tambiern's going to be at one of the clubs in Brooklyn tonight." When Alec talked, she opened the file, looking at the adress written with her brother's steady hand above the name. „We need to know when and where, and it would be great if we knew what they're going to talk about. And it needs to be done discretly." He pressed, sounds harsh on the back on his teeth.

„Why is he our target?"

Alec's face stayed carefully blank, someone could easily mistake it for simple focus.