So… this was an idea I had. This is AU/AH/OOC. I don't own anything but the storyline.

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Clary was sitting at the table in the quaint kitchen of her small apartment staring at a small stack of papers with a dismal look on her face.

Bills, bills, bills.

What was she going to do? As a waitress at Taki's Diner, she was mostly dependent on the tips that she earned from the regular customers; her seven-fifty an hour didn't go very far when she only work twenty to thirty hours a week. Thankfully, Taki's was always busy, so the tips rolled in. But still… money was tight.

Add a growing five year old boy to that equation, and the end result didn't look so hot. Clary sat back in her chair with a small, resigned smile ghosting on her lips.

Matthew.

Her five year old son was the one bright spot in her life. The whole reason for her existence was Mattie. No matter what, the tiny energy ball always brought joy with him wherever he went. She never imagined that she would get pregnant at fifteen, but after the… incident… and she took the pregnancy test, her life changed for the better. She had a reason to stay alive: to love and protect this small life that was growing inside of her. From the moment she first felt his tiny body stirring within her, she was attached to the idea that through her royally screwed up life, she would be able to bring a life forward and affect the world in a better way.

But here she was, twenty years old sharing a crappy apartment with a five year old boy, struggling to pay each bill as it came. Somehow, she always made it, but barely. She was scrappy and resourceful and resilient. Every time something tried to knock her down, she always made it work. But Clary feared that this was the last time. When Matthew broke his arm last month, Clary had to take him to the emergency room to have it cared for. And, since she could only afford the cheapest insurance plan, most of the money had to come out of pocket.

Eight hundred dollars. Eight hundred dollars for an hour and half period in the hospital. Clary looked up at the ceiling in an effort to refuse the tears.

Well, I can pawn that necklace that my mother gave me when I was thirteen, which should bring in about two hundred, and I can put that toward the electric bill. That's not due until next month though. I have eleven hundred in the bank right now, but after paying for water, groceries, and this hospital bill, I'll only have about three hundred. And that scares me.

Clary buried her head in her hands once more. She would have to ask Kaelie for a few extra shifts, and that made her groan. For whatever reason, she and Kaelie did not get along. A small patter of little footsteps made her raise her head.

Mattie was looking at his mother with small, serious blue eyes that were full of concern.

"What's wrong, Mommy?" He asked, and Clary's voice almost broke when she answered.

"Nothing, baby. Go back to the living room and finish watching cartoons." She would never, never, never tell Mattie that they were struggling financially. She would never force those issues on her precious son. With another heavy sigh, she turned back to the stack of paper that set on the table.

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Jace was toasted. He was straight-up hammered, but there was no getting out of this. He inwardly groaned. He should not have had that last beer.

But he had. And now he was paying the consequences.

He stood bare-chested behind the Sword and Shadow bar as a man circled him with his fists raised and chin tucked. Somehow, Jace had gotten roped into an illegal street fight, and the gallon of beer and six shots of tequila that were currently sloshing around in his stomach were doing nothing to aid his mental acuteness.

Ordinarily, Jace could win almost any fight he picked. He was attending Cornell University on a full ride basketball scholarship and as such, as in peak physical condition. His lean, muscled body was chiseled to perfection. He ran a four minute mile, bench pressed three hundred sixty pounds (nearly double his body weight). He prided himself on the fact that he could do more pushups, sit ups, and pull ups than any other member of his team.

Right now, during the off season, he swam, ran, lifted, kickboxed and played baseball to stay in shape. Ah, baseball. His first love. He'd had to choose between a baseball or basketball scholarship, and originally, he was going to choose baseball. But his family convinced him to go with the basketball scholarship, saying that basketball would get him more attention.

Eventually, he complied, but he was not happy about it.

He was ripped from his reverie when a fist clipped his jaw and sent him sprawling backwards, leaving rough abrasions on his back where he scratched the cold, unfeeling brick wall. He tried to defend himself, but he was far too drunk. The unevenly matched fight was over within three minutes, leaving Jace bruised and cut and bleeding on the ground. His best friend Alec was there, but even he left Jace in disgust. So, for hours, Jace simply laid on the ground, trying to work up the strength to stand. When he finally managed to erect himself to a sitting position, his stomach revolted and sprayed the ground in front of him with foul smelling bile and the remnants of his small dinner. Jace used the discarded The Doors t-shirt to wipe his messy mouth, stood shakily and stumbled to the curb in front of the bar, neverminding the fact that his coat and wallet where still inside.

Luke knew that it was Jace's stuff and would hold it until Jace got around to picking it up. He dropped the shirt into a dumpster and hailed a cab, stating his address in short, curt words. When he arrived, he pulled a twenty from his pocket, thankful that he always kept some back up money in his pockets in case his wallet was stolen, and paid the cabbie. He crashed through the dorm door and collapsed on his bed still fully (sort of) dressed. Within in seconds, Jace was asleep.

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This is the prologue, more is to come in the actual story part. Hopefully, you will enjoy it, but I'm not promising updates until I get City of Resentful Angels finished. There will be the odd update occasionally because I got struck with inspiration or I hit a road block with one of my other stories. I was hit with this idea and I wanted to write the first chapter of it before the idea fled. So, here it is.

Leave me your thoughts, comments, and questions in the review box. Any reviews will get a spoiler.

Peace and Love,

SpeakNow1118