Disclaimer: SOME of the dialogue in this chapter, all characters (but Grace and Philip), the main story line and settings belong to the magnificent Cassie Clare. Grace, Philip and my own story plot belong to me. The Infernal Devices do not belong to me.

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'We can stand so tall together.
We can make it through the stormy weather.
We can go through it all together, do it all together, do it all.

I'll be your strength.
I will, I will, I will.
I'll be your strength.
Yes I will, yes I will.

I won't sleep till the sky is calmer,
Keep on searching till I find you.
And my love will be your armor,
In this battlefield around you.'

- I'll Be Your Strength, The Wanted

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-*-*-*-*- Jem -*-*-*-*-

Almost six years ago, twelve year old James Carstairs stepped out of a carriage and looked up at the huge building that loomed above him. The London Institute was very different to the Shanghai Institute; it seemed more crude and block-like, not like the smooth, curved buildings in China. But this would have to be something he got used to.

Jem turned back to the carriage and held up his hand.

"It's all right, Grace," he said quietly. "They won't harm us here."

His sister slipped her hand into his as he helped her down the steps of the carriage, her knuckles turning white as she gripped his hand tightly.

"I don't want to be here, Jem," Grace whispered as she looked up at the gothic building. "I want to go home." Jem smiled sadly and pulled her into a hug.

"We can't go home, Gracey," he said, whispering into her hair. "This may not be our homeland, but we can make it a home of sorts. Just until Yanluo is gone."

"It'll never be gone," Grace said, her voice turning bitter.

"It will be one day," Jem said. "And then we'll find a cure for me, and everything will be fine. I promise you."

"Don't make promises you can't keep, Jem," Grace said as she started towards the door. "It will only make things worse."

-*-*-*-*- Will -*-*-*-*-

The room was quiet but aflutter with movement. Like a shadow, it was silent but constantly moving. Will knelt on one side of Jem's bed his arms folded across the covers and his face buried into them. He wasn't sure if he was crying or praying or just simply trying to block everything out. Either way, he could feel his parabatai rune burning slightly as Jem drew on his strength, trying to cling on.

He needed to be here.

Grace knelt on the other side of the bed, her hand on Jem's wrist only to reassure herself that her brother was still with her. Jem himself lay so still, his face pale and his silver hair sticking to his forehead with sweat. Grace had her eyes trained on his face, as if she was afraid to look away.

Silent Brothers worked around them and, as of yet, nobody had asked them to move. And even if they did, Will knew that neither of them would have moved even if the world was burning down outside.

"Have you stopped the internal bleeding?" Charlotte quietly asked Brother Enoch from the foot of the bed.

"No," he replied. "We haven't been able to. We fear that it won't stop even with runes."

"What about Blood Replacement Runes?" Charlotte said, her voice tight as she held back the tears.

"They perhaps can give us more time," Brother Enoch said. "But they are dangerous. We won't be able to use them for long."

"Will." Will lifted his head and saw Gabriel on one knee next to him, his hand on Will's shoulder. He spoke in a low voice. "Will, Cecily needs you. She says that there is something important that you must know."

Will nodded numbly and Gabriel looked surprised. He was probably expecting Will to yell at him for coming in here, but Will wouldn't do that. Not now.

He stood but swayed on his feet, and his knees buckled. He wasn't sure if it was because he was giving all his strength to Jem or if he just couldn't take it anymore. Gabriel caught him before he fell to his knees again, keeping him steady on his feet.

"Come on, Will," he said sternly. "Stay strong for them." Will could only nod.

He followed Gabriel from the room, laying a hand on Grace's shoulder before he left. She didn't even move an inch; all her attention was focussed on Jem. Will sighed and went after Gabriel.

Cecily was leaning up against the wall outside, looking at her hands which were encrusted with oil. She stood up straight when Will stepped outside. He leant on the wall next to her, his arms loose at his sides. Right now, he felt numb and powerless, and he hated it.

"Will?" Cecily asked. It was only then that Will realised that he was shaking, his hands were trembling. Strain and tension was getting to him.

"Gwilym Owain," Cecily said more softly.

"I first came here when I was twelve," Will said quietly. He wasn't exactly sure what he was saying, but he couldn't stop the words tumbling out of his mouth. "It was the tenth of November that year, to be precise. Every year after that, I would fall into a black mood of despair that no one could get me out of. I knew that you were alive, and that you wanted me back, but I couldn't go home. You had to blame me for Ella's death."

"We never blamed you-" Cecily started but Will wasn't listening.

"After the first year, I began to find that there was something that Jem and Grace simply had to do every November tenth," he continued. "Some training exercise, or some search that would take us to the far ends of the city in the cold, winter weather. And I would abuse them both bitterly for it, of course.

"Sometimes the damp chill would make Jem ill, or he'd forget his drugs and become ill on the day, coughing up blood while Grace and I would drag him back to the Institute. Or sometimes Grace would have an attack and we would have to stop Yanluo from taking over. That was a welcome distraction too." Will took a deep breath.

 "It was only after a couple of years that I realised they were doing it for me. They had noticed the date and were doing whatever they could to draw me from my melancholy."

Will took that moment to glance at Cecily, who was staring at him in shock. It was as she was really seeing him for the first time, and if she hated him for that, then so be it. Will drew his arms about himself, hugging his elbows.

"I do not know who to be without him," he whispered. "Tessa is gone, and every moment she is gone is a knife ripping my apart from the inside. She is gone, and they cannot track her, and I have no idea where to go or what to do next, and the only person I can imagine of speaking my agony to is the one person who cannot know. Even if he weren't dying. And his sister may not survive a week without him with that God awful demon that lives to torment her. God, I've never felt so lost."

Cecily grabbed his arm. "Will. Will," she said. "I know where Mortmain is." Will snapped his head up.

"How could you know that?"

"I heard what Jessamine said to you before she died," Cecily said. "She said you were a terrible Welshman. She kept saying that Mortmain was in Idris, but the Clave know he is not. Think, Will. We grew up in the shadow of a mountain."

"Cadair Idris?" Will asked. "Surely not." He was stunned.

"He knows those mountains, Will," Cecily said. "And he would find it funny, a great joke on you and all the Nephilm. He was taken her to exactly where you fled from. He's taken her home."

-*-*-*-*- Grace -*-*-*-*-

Grace was still kneeling by the side of Jem' s bed, her hands, which were still covered in blood and oil, encasing Jem's cold hand.

He hadn't woken up yet. She was afraid that he might never wake up again. It was only now, when she was truly faced with her brother's death, that she thought of all the things that she would never see again.

They wouldn't ever laugh together again. They wouldn't ever visit their uncle together again. They wouldn't ever play music together again.

She had promised she'd play the piano at Jem and Tessa's wedding.

Don't make promises you can't keep.

He had promised he'd stay with her as long as he could.

Don't make promises you can't keep.

She had promised that she'd let him go.

Don't make promises you can't keep.

The words echoed in her head and she wasn't even sure why. It was years ago when she had told Jem that. Why was it coming back to haunt her now?

"Wake up, Jem," she whispered. "Wake up. Tell me you're fine. Find Tessa with Will and I. Wake up. Please." She knew he couldn't hear her, or do any of those things, but she had to ask.

"Grace?" It was Charlotte, poking her head around the door of Jem's room. When Grace didn't answer, she walked in, crouching by her side.

"Grace, the Consul is here," Charlotte said. "He wants to speak with us."

"Tell him to get lost," Grace muttered. "I am not leaving Jem, not for him, not for anyone."

"I know you don't want to," Charlotte whispered. "But Cecily and Will think they know where Mortmain has taken Tessa. Jem would want you to help them find her." Grace closed her eyes but got to her feet.

"Notify me if anything happens," she told Brother Enoch then left the room, Charlotte at her heels. They walked down the corridor in silence, only the sound of their footsteps could be heard. By the time they got to the drawing room, Will and Cecily were already there. Will's head snapped up when she entered. Like her, he was still in his blood stained gear.

"Is there any change?" he asked, his voice strained. Grace shook her head.

"No change," she said quietly, wondering how she was keeping it together. She didn't sit down, just leant against the table, her arms crossed. Cecily was sat in the same armchair that Grace had left Will in last night and Will, who had the same nervous energy as she did just then, had his hands braced against the table Grace was leaning on.

"Charlotte," the Consul said, sweeping into the room, going straight to the point. "What is happening?"

"Consul Wayland," Charlotte said, standing from behind her desk. "Thank you for coming so quickly. As you know, we were attacked by a dozen or so automatons this morning. Two lives were lost, and Tessa was kidnapped. We fear that she is being taken to Mortmain."

"But I believe I know where he is," Cecily finished. "Mortmain knew my family in Wales, and he also knew Wales itself very well indeed. One mountain in particular he always disappeared to."

"Cadair Idris," Will said. "When Jessamine was being questioned, she kept saying that Mortmain was in Idris, but we know he is not. Think of the joke he is playing, not just on us but the whole of the Clave." It all started to click together for Grace. It made sense that Mortmain would hide out there.

"Look, Josiah," Charlotte said, drawing out a map from her desk. "There is a lake Tal-y-llyn at the Cadair Idris, the same as Lake Lyn in Idris. This has to be his location. We need to launch a force-"

"This is nonsense, Charlotte," the Consul finally erupted. "I will not send dozens of Shadowhunters to Wales based of the fantasy of a child."

"I am not a child," Cecily said. "I know I'm right."

"Ridiculous," the Consul said. "The Clave have been studying Benedict's journals and he has said that Mortmain's stronghold is just outside London."

"Benedict Lightwood was going rapidly insane when he wrote that," Grace spoke up. "And we cannot trust that Mortmain gave him the correct location. He is too clever for that."

"Either way," Consul Wayland continued, giving Grace a look of thunder. "I will not condone sending a force to that mountain. You can bring up Wales at the next council meeting in two weeks if you must-"

"Tessa was taken today," Grace said, pushing herself off the table. "She does not have two weeks. She could be married to the Magister tomorrow-"

"To the Devil is she is!" the Consul exclaimed. "One girl, who is not even Nephilm, can not be our priority-"

"She is my priority!" Will shouted, slamming his hand on the table. For a moment, the room was deadly silent as the Consul and Will stared at each other. Grace could feel heat in her palms as the anger built up.

Not now, she thought. Please, not now.

"I thought she was your parabatai's fiancé, not yours," the Consul finally said. Will stood, raising his chin.

"If she is Jem's fiancé, then I am duty bound to guard her as if she were my own," he said. "That is what it means to be parabatai." Cecily glanced at Will with a proud smile but it faded quickly when she looked at Grace. Her look was of worry, not fear as Grace had expected.

Red eyes, Cecily mouthed at her. Grace clenched her fists. She had to push it down.

"You Herondales are all as stubborn as each other," the Consul said. "I remember your father wanting to marry that mundane girl. Nothing could dissuade him, though she was no candidate for Ascension. He should have stayed a Shadowhunter."

"Forgive us, if my sister and I do not share the same opinion," Will said, his voice cold. "If he had stayed a Shadowhunter, we would not exist." The Consul drew up his hood and moved to leave.

"I will put it on record that you ignored us today," Charlotte said. She looked terrifying. "If we end up in a war we can't win, it will be you who is called to responsibility." The Consul turned one last time.

"That is what it means to be Consul, Charlotte," he said. He gaze went over to Grace who glared back at him.

"At least there is one good outcome today," he said, still speaking to Charlotte. "Mortmain didn't get the monster you keep in this Institute." Grace hands filled with fire but she managed to control it enough that the Consul left without noticing.

"Grace-" Will said but she turned and threw the fire ball at the wall.

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Right, sorry for the late update! This chapter took a little longer to put together than I had hoped so sorry for that.

Anyways, what did you think? There will be many more tears to come so when you see the next updates, grab some tissues.

(Or your guitar TheRealSilvershadow)

So vote and comment as always please!

Love y'all!

CricketCat