A team of three, lead by Jocelyn, had been tracking Jace for most of the night.

He was hard to find for some reason.

But once their tracking runes finally got a lead on him, they discovered him hiding in plain sight.

Jocelyn stopped the Shadowhunters behind her.

She couldn't imagine what it was like losing a parabatai. But she had lost a husband and a son and almost lost Clary so many times so she could imagine Jace's grief. And to see Alec gone so young...

Alec had shown promise. He could have been the next Inquisitor or Consul. 

Jocelyn herself knew Magnus Bane. He was a family friend not to mention a great High Warlock who took his job seriously and kept Brooklyn under control.

Jocelyn crossed the street to where Jace was sitting in front of a souvenir shop which had probably been closed for hours. It was still raining and his thin shirt was soaked through. His head was hanging, streams of water dripping down. She could see stains of blood on his clothes.

She approached him slowly, unsure of what he might do. 

Should she speak?

Should she hug him?

She sat beside him on the sidewalk. The rain had already soaked through her gear. 

She glanced across the street at the other Shadowhunters waiting for her command. She waved them away and they went on their way back to the Institute.

Jocelyn didn't say anything. She didn't have to. He knew she was there.

After a minute, his head fell against her arm. She wrapped an arm around him, pulling him closer to him.

She was the mother he had never had.

..........

Clary was curled on a ball in her bed in the old house of Amatis Herondale, Luke's sister. 

Luke had draped a blanket over her and left a cup of coffee on her bedside table. 

Clary watch the clock on the wall tick by. 

Alec was gone.

Magnus was gone.

She felt alone even though she had never been close to either of them.

There was a knock at her door at 5:34:27. 

She could hear Luke's heavy footsteps enter.

"Your mom's with Jace," Luke said. 

But Clary couldn't bear to face Jace and put on a smile and promise him everything would be okay. Would he ever recover from Alec's death?

All of their plans for the future had crashed and burned in Clary's mind.

This was going to be one no one could get over.

"I don't want to see him," Clary said.

"Do you want me to stay in here?"

Clary shook her head and she heard the door shut at 5:35:05.

........

Isabelle was back in the Labyrinth, her own personal heaven.

She glanced around, hesitantly. This should have been a dream. But it was much too real. She could feel the dirt and tall grass beneath her toes and the wind rushing through the thin dress she hadn't had on in Idris.

Charlie appeared from out of the forest.

Isabelle stumbled backwards.

"I've just got seconds," Charlie said.

"You killed Alec!"

"The Labyrinth killed them!" Charlie yelled. "I'm not in my right mind. Isabelle, you have to believe me--"

"Why'd you do it?"

"The Labyrinth has control over me! It did the same thing to you!" 

"James got the Labyrinth," Isabelle said.

"And Ragnor Fell killed him from within the Labyrinth and I got the power," Charlie said. "I'm not strong enough to fight back against it."

"Why would the Labyrinth want my brother dead?"

"Your brother was collateral--"

"Collateral?"

"Magnus-- Magnus Bane was always the original target. He knew too much. He had too much power. He could have destroyed Ragnor. The Labyrinth works for Ragnor. Isabelle--"

Everything was growing grey and fuzzy like a static TV.

"I don't believe you."

........

Jocelyn had been sitting beside Jace all morning. They watched the rush hour traffic go by, people bumping into one another, arguments, compliments, some just walking in silence. Mundanes were fascinating if you got to watch them in their natural environments.

Neither of them had said a thing. Jocelyn kept her arm around Jace and he leaned against her.

She reminded him of Clary except for Clary would never have had the patience to just sit there and watch the world go by. She had to be in the action, making a difference.

Finally around noon, she spoke.

"I'm not going to tell you that I understand," Jocelyn said. "I'm not going to tell you it gets better or you'll get over it. But I want you to think about something: what would Alec be doing right now if it was you and Clary?"

That got Jace's attention. He leaned away from Jocelyn and looked up at her. His lips felt super glued shut.

Jocelyn didn't look back at him. She was watching the sidewalk across the street.

"Would he be sitting here? Or would he be out looking for who did this to you?"

Alec would be finding Charlie. Alec would be helping the Clave-- he would be the one leading the Clave into battle, even though fighting was never his thing.

"That anger inside you," Jocelyn said, "put it to good use. Brooding is not a good use. And if the Clave doesn't want you, fine. Go be there for Isabelle and Marsye and Robert. But if you'd like to sit here, I'll stay with you, Jace."

"Why are you here, Jocelyn?" Jace asked her. Her face suddenly looked a thousand years old.

"I'm here for you."

"You barely know me," Jace said. "You don't like me."

"I like you just fine, Jace. And you needed someone."

"Where's Clary?"

"She's hardly a priority," Jocelyn said. "You need to go be with your family."

"I was with her-- when Alec was killed."

"Don't take that out on her," Jocelyn said. She sounded like she was pleading.

"I wouldn't," Jace said. The rain had stopped a few hours ago and they had both dried mostly in the hot California summer sun.

There was a few moments of silence. 

Jace had concluded that Jocelyn must have been maintaining a glamour since people paid very little attention to them. A few even tossed coins and dollar bills at them. They sat untouched. What did the mundanes make of that?

"Do you know when his burial will be?" Jace asked.

"Probably tomorrow evening," Jocelyn said.

"Is it bad that I take comfort in knowing Magnus went with him?"

"Not at all."

"Is it bad that I feel bad I'm not dead too?"

"Slightly, yes," she said. "But what marks the strong from the weak is the ability to persevere through those thoughts. Because there's always someone else worth living for."

"You mean Clary."

"In your case, I am implying Clary."

"You're very technical," Jace sighed.

"I'd hate to be misunderstood."

There was another silence.

"I feel like I should have been there," Jace said.

"Why? So Charlie could kill you too?"

"Jocelyn, I want to die." His voice was choked. "There's a hole in me and I don't think anything can fill it. I'm empty. It's like I was ripped in half."

"Shadowhunters can survive losing parabatai, but only the strong ones."

"And what if I'm not one of the strong ones?"

"Then, I'll be very surprised, Jace Wayland. Very surprised indeed."