Alec went over the plan again, for the third time, making Jace roll his eyes.

"We'll be fine without you for one hunt, Alec. We know what we're doing."

Jace may have been his usual over confident self but Alec wasn't so sure, although he didn't have much choice but to send them out. A demon hoard had been spotted and needed addressing.

He shook his head, grabbing his bow and arrow.

"No, I can't do it. I'm going with you."

Jace laughed and grabbed Alec's wrist before he could reach his weapon.

"Don't be stupid, Magnus would kill you if you cancel dinner on him again. We'll be fine. Now, go make out with your warlock and let us handle the demons."

The elder lightwood didn't look happy about it but crossed his arms.

"Promise me you'll be careful and watch Izzy and Clary."

Izzy made a noise of protest and received a smile from Alec.

"I know you have yourself handled; I was just about to ask you to watch out for Jace and Clary too. You guys don't realise how many times I've had to save your asses."

Jace started herding the girls towards the door as Alec continued to call out instructions behind them.

"Bye Alec!- I know!- I always watch my back!- GOOD BYE ALEC!"

The mission wasn't too hard, find the demon hoard and eradicate them. And they were only shax demons, stupid and easy to kill. The only problem was how many there were. Their intel had been wrong about their numbers, there were far more than they'd thought and the fight quickly got messy.

Clary, being the least experienced fighter, had never took on so many at once and found herself in over her head. Jace realised this and went to help her before deciding he should get her out of there completely, so there would be less to worry about.

"Izzy, I'm gonna get Clary out of here, you hold them off till I get back!"

"What?! Are you crazy? There's too many!"

But he left her there to fend for herself. Izzy was a brilliant fighter, had been trained her whole life to be, but taking on a hoard of shax demons by herself was too much.

They overran her, cutting at her skin, and almost biting her several times. By the time Jace came back, she was limping and bleeding. He helped her take the rest of them down before they headed back to the institute.

Alec was waiting for them when they got back and raced over to Izzy as soon as he saw her.

"Are you okay? What happened?" She was limping heavily and holding her left arm to her chest, blood staining her gear in several places.

Izzy sort of wanted to cry. She was so tired and everything hurt. Jace didn't seem to notice and shrugged, cleaning his sword idly as he spoke.

"There were more than we thought so I got Clary out. Izzy, had it handled."

Alec was furious. His hands clenched into fists at his sides as he glared at his Parabatai.

"Handled?! Look at her! She could have died Jace, and you left her alone? I told you to keep an eye on her and you left her there by herself. We're lucky she wasn't bitten!"

Jace looked up, confused.

"Clary couldn't handle them all, she hasn't been trained for that and…Izzy?"

Isabelle stayed quiet, eyes filling with tears as Alec took her face in his hands.

"By the angel, Izzy, I'm so sorry. I'm gonna take care of you, come on."

Jace suddenly realized just how bad Izzy's injuries were and tried to reach for her. Alec slapped his hand away and glared at him with every ounce of anger he had.

Izzy was crying quietly now, her ankle refusing to take any weight and her cuts burning.

Alec turned back to her and scooped her into his arms, carrying her away to the infirmary as he talked softly to her.

Jace felt awful. He hadn't realized, hadn't thought. Izzy was always fine on her own, and he had been more worried about Clary, who had no idea what to do in a fight against a whole hoard. Dammit, he should have listened to Alec, he shouldn't have left her alone.

Jace crept over to the infirmary, watching at the doorway as Alec cleaned and wrapped all of Izzy's cuts and splinted her ankle. Izzy was almost asleep, thanks to pain killers, but whimpered softly as Alec placed ice under her ankle and drew runes.

Jace came in, wearing his most sullen expression, and made his way to the bed. Alec didn't look up at him but his tense shoulders told Jace he noticed him there.

"Izzy, I'm really sorry. I didn't think-"

Alec stood, whole body tense as if he were about to start swinging at Jace. Jace almost wanted him to.

"No, you didn't think. Because otherwise you would have stayed with her like I told you to. You almost got our sister killed. You're benched from all further missions till further notice. I can't trust you."

Jace took a breath. He realized he deserved Alec's anger but it didn't make it any easier to bare.

"Clary's my sister too, I was trying to protect her, she-"

Alec clenched his teeth and threw his stele down in anger, sending it bouncing on a spare bed. Jace flinched as Alec came towards him.

"Izzy is your sister! You only just met Clary. Izzy's been your sister since you were ten, she's the one you trained with, she's the one who made us braid her hair for her when she broke her hand. She's always been there for you and we've always been there for her. And you chose Clary? I can't believe you."

"I'm sorry."

Jace left. Alec was too angry to listen to explanation's and might actually start swinging if pushed any further.

He was quiet the next day. Resolutely ignoring Jace as he got breakfast for Izzy. Jace stood at the doorway and sent an apologetic look to Izzy where she watched him over her plate.

"Hey Jace." She looked much better, cuts healing and bandaged. Jace came in and stood beside her bed, Alec still pretending he wasn't there.

"I'm so, sorry Izzy. I didn't think about leaving you there by yourself and that was awful of me. But it's only because I know you can handle yourself, and you always manage to get out of every mission still looking perfect."

She smiled a little at that and Jace took it as a good sign. He knelt beside her and took her hand in both of his.

"You're always so strong, and I know that with you I'm only needed as back up. But I don't know how to act with Clary because I've only just found out she was my sister. I promise I don't love her any more than I love you and I would never choose her over you. I just…didn't think you needed me as much. I'm really sorry."

Izzy smiled and shrugged.

"I forgive you Jace. Cary needed you, I get that. But I'm always going to need you too. You're still my big brother."

Jace pulled her into a hug and pressed a kiss to her temple. He'd been so stupid to let her out of his sight. He hadn't been able to sleep; images of Izzy hurt and crying because of him, burning through his head.

When he finally let her go he saw Alec looking at him. He was still mad, that same anger burning through his eyes, but Izzy put a hand on his arm.

"Alec, it's okay."

"No, it's not. You got hurt."

Izzy leant on his shoulder, tucking her head under his chin. Alec, predictably, melted and gave in.

"Fine. I forgive you, Jace."

Izzy smiled and sat up, smug in her win.

"But your still banned from active duty until further notice because you're an idiot and I'm still amd at you."

"Alec!"