Disclaimer: I do not own The Mortal Instruments nor any of its characters. They belong to the wonderful Cassandra Clare.

Alec Lightwood awoke with a start, his back aching and cold sweat dripping down his face. He placed his hand over his heart which was still beating much faster than one's heart should upon waking. He took a deep breath, trying to calm himself and stretched out all of the kinks in his back though he couldn't stretch much in the backseat of the recently stolen Toyota Corolla.

As he finished stretching he caught golden eyes staring at him through the rearview mirror if he had stopped stretching a second later he would have missed it, for those golden eyes, though cold and hard looking, were already back on the road. If it had been anyone else, they wouldn't have thought much of it, but Alec knew that concern was in those eyes. They all used to have nightmares all the time, one's screams waking up the other like a pattern for months but over the years that had faded, the siblings had gotten stronger, only the occasional nightmare now but they never woke up screaming unless it was truly horrific.

Long black hair hung across the passenger seat some even maneuvering its way onto Jace's shoulder, Alec noted with a smile, even though they had been travelling for days with hardly any stopping except for meals and bathroom breaks, his younger sister's hair was somehow perfectly intact.

"She was asleep on my shoulder," Jace explained, eyes again on Alec. "But my arm was getting numb so I pushed her back into her seat. She punched me."

Alec chuckled and saw that Jace only had his left hand on the wheel, his right arm stiff by his side. Isabelle was a fighter even when barely conscious. It was something they had all had to get used to, the three had been living this way for a good chunk of their lives.

"Almost there?" Alec asked noticing the way Jace's eyes drooped and his speech slurred. Jace just nodded stiffly and Alec could tell he was troubled, even if he would never admit it.

"Want me to drive?" Alec offered knowing it was the only thing he could to do help his adopted brother.

Jace shrugged nonchalantly, but turned on his blinker and pulled to the side of the road as a yes. Jace accidentally tugged a piece of Isabelle's hair resulting in slurred questions and another punch to his shoulder.

Alec paused at the driver's door. Jace was already getting comfortable in the back seat, and Izzy was back asleep. It was still dark out and the dirt on the side of the road was damp from the dew. It was early morning he guessed. He inhaled the vaguely familiar scent of light pollution, pizza, and other things. Instantly Alec was brought back to thousands of memories: a young boy's laugh, stern blue eyes, and a towering sort of figure.

He shook himself from his thoughts and prepared for the journey, planning on driving slow as possible. For one to avoid the cops, and two to avoid their dreaded destination- the only place the three had ever called home, and they were going there for the first time in nearly a decade.

Jace was the first to enter the apartment; an envelope was waiting on a coffee table in the middle of the small living room.

"Oh look, a letter from the boss! You know this ought to be good." Jace announced his voice still slightly groggy from sleep.

Isabelle was right behind him, almost his height in her heels, and peered over his shoulder as he opened the letter to read.

His voice, like most of the time, had a slightly mocking tone to it as he read the letter allowed

"Meet at bar on 42ndstreet, be there at 8 p.m. sharp, IDs are in vehicle we have provided, a black Honda Civic. Burn after reading. P.S. Next time you steal a car, make sure there are no witnesses Jonathan."

Jace grimaced with the mention of his birth name, before taking out a stele and drawing the proper rune, making the letter burst into flames, not burning him in the least bit.

Alec glared at Jace who was wiping the ashes from the paper on the front of his jeans.

"You stole a car with witnesses around?"

Jace, who was now concentrating on the stain in his jeans didn't even both to look up at Alec and shrugged. "You were bleeding all over the place, I was in a hurry to get you to a healer, next time I'll let you bleed out."

Alec rolled his eyes. "That's not the point."

Jace snickered and looked up at his parabatai, "What's wrong big brother? Afraid of a little rumble with the mundane police again?"

Alec flushed at the memory and Isabelle chuckled; in their minds, the incident two years ago in which Alec had left two policemen unconscious in order to get help from the local institute was hilarious. Ugh, Alec had never gotten into so much trouble with the Clave before. He had even been the one to call an ambulance for the men!

Isabelle continued to chuckle. "Yeah, you'd think after that they wouldn't be worried about us at all. Who cares if we get discovered? We have Hulk-Alec here to save us."

Alec glared at his siblings.

"I did it because youwere unconscious."

Isabelle shrugged and tossed her still flawless hair.

"Remember how that ended?"

This was part of the memory he also found funny, however. As soon as they got to the institute they found out Izzy had simply passed out from exhaustion due to a few too many drinks the night before. While this only added to Alec's shame (it meant he had beaten the living hell out of two men just doing their job because his sister's partying habits) the scene that followed was all too hilarious to hate. The head of the institute, who just happened to have a daughter around Jace and Isabelle's age, had found Jace in bed with her.

Not surprisingly, he was quite angry with this. He then proceed to "strongly encourage" the three siblings to leave and never come back. Jace did so happily, as he hated the awkwardness after a one night stand, Isabelle begrudgingly as she had just met an attractive fey and Alec left even more red faced whilst muttering apologies.

"I maintain the thought that you two should be thanking me for that. Those Shadowhunters were prudes and Isabelle was cooking that night, which surely would have resulted in one of their deaths. Therefore, we would have ended up locked up in the Silent City for the murder of one of our own."

"You two eat my cooking all the time and are still alive." Isabelle retorted her whip coiled dangerously around her wrist.

"We eat your food for endurance training and due to that we have immunity to any of its lethal side effects."

Isabelle's dark eyes were shooting daggers at Jace who either didn't notice or didn't care, it was hard to tell with him.

"Whatever, I've got to start getting ready for our meeting." Isabelle declared, tossing her hair.

Alec scrunched his nose and checked his phone. "It's two 'o clock Iz."

Isabelle looked at him at him with a look that seemed to be specifically reserved for him at times, or so Alec thought. She usually used it on him when he lagged behind on a joke, sarcasm, or a pop culture reference.

"Thanks for that Alexander. Without you I'd have no idea what time it was. But I need to unpack, pick my outfit, wash and dry it, and then do my hair and makeup."

She grabbed her long hair and held it out as much as she could, so that it stretched out parallel to her arm, "And when you have hair this long it can take a while."

Jace rolled his eyes, "I thought that was going to be your outfit. Remember we had to wait on you to change in the car. We were waiting on you, a trained assassin I might add, to pick out a perfect outfit, just for you to where on the walk up here?"

Jace was looking at her with a mix of disdain and amusement, a look coincidentally, both Jace and Alec seemed to reserve for Isabelle. Actually, Alec tended to look at both of his younger siblings that way from time to time.

Isabelle simply shrugged. "What if we met any cute boys on the way up?"

Jace smirked. "They'd probably be more interested in Alec."

He gave his parabatai a smile and nudge to the shoulder to ensure he was joking, he may be harsh but he knew that Alec was still incredibly insecure about his sexuality(Jace would never understand why, it didn't matter to him or Isabelle, why should it matter to anyone really).

Alec just blushed and yawned, still exhausted from the trip. "Well I'm going to sleep, wake me up around 7:30."

"You're taking a nap?" Isabelle asked, perfectly sculpted brows scrunched together.

"Yes Isabelle, some of us had to stay awake and drive."

"Well, if you two let me drive…" Izzy murmured.

"Then we'd be dead." Jace interrupted.

"That's not true! You two never let me do anything! It's so sexist."

"You're gender has nothing to do with it Iz. If we were being sexist we would force you to cook. You're just a terrible driver and a terrible cook I might add."

"As if you can talk Jace Lightwood, I don't think you've ever gone under sixty miles per hour even while turning."

"True, but I still manage to stay within the lines and stop at red lights and stop signs."

"That was one time, and whose bright idea was it to invent stop lights anyway? If I want to go somewhere stopping is the opposite of what I should be doing."

Alec couldn't help but chuckle, but he was dead tired and began to head off towards one of the bedrooms, trying to ignore how much Isabelle looked like his mom when she argued.

A shift in the bed caused Alec to once again awake with a start, not because of nightmare this time. Once awake, however he realized it was just Isabelle, who was now all ready with hair and makeup and sitting on the edge of his bed.

Her dark black eyes met his blue ones and she smiled teasingly, "Did I scare you?"

Alec rolled his eyes, adjusted himself to a sitting position and threw a pillow at her which she easily dodged. He then glanced at his phone and saw it was only 5:30 and he glared at his sister.

"You do realize you woke me up two hours early right? This is why I have to let you know the time, you seem to think it's a concept I made up, and it's not actually." Alec explained with his superior big brother tone in full use.

Isabelle smirked unbothered by it. "Yes, I am aware of the time big brother. But I figured we were going to a bar, in New York, where gay marriage was recently legalized in both the mundane and Shadowhunter societies."

"Yes, I am aware of this. Do you want me to get married or something? Because gay or straight, meeting someone in a bar and marrying in less than twenty four hours in not my idea of good time."

This, Isabelle did glare at.

"Remind me not to wake you up from your nap again; you get as cranky and sarcastic as Jace."

Alec sighed and laid back into the pillows.

"Well then you should go and wake him up Iz."

He glanced up after a while, and knowing he felt no shift in the bed she was likely still there. He met her eyes and she was doing that stupid pouty thing that no matter how annoying would always win him over. She was his little sister, and even though he knew it was just an act on her part, he just couldn't have her upset.

So he sat back up again.

"What is it?" He groaned, giving up on those extra two hours of sleep.

Isabelle beamed.

"Of course it was all just an act." Alec thought bitterly.

"I was thinking, I could get you dressed up…" Isabelle explained and the look on Alec's face was obviously a no, but she continued anyway.

"Just think about it Alec! We're in New York," she said emphasizing the last two words as if he was unaware where they were, "and we're usually stuck in some rinky dink of a small town where most of the available men look like products of incest or we're stuck at an institute with fellow Shadowhunters which is just incredibly boring."

Alec sighed. "Thanks for the offer, but no thanks I like how I dress just fine."

"I'm not saying anything is particularly wrong with the way you dress Alec, I mean it's fine if you get demon ichor or vampire guts all over those disgusting sweaters. They're hideous in the first place, but we're going to a bar for a short meeting, and afterwards, who knows? We'll already be in a bar, might as well stay there …"

Alec was about to protest when Isabelle held up her finger to silence him and she continued on with a smirk.

"And if Jace and I stay then you undoubtedly will stay, because regardless of how much you hate human interaction. You worry about us ten times more."

Alec scowled. "With good reason! You do remember that a drunk you and a horny Jace got us banned from the majority of institutes across the country, forcing us to stay in these run down apartments."

"You say rundown, I say cozy. Besides, the majority of Shadowhunters are stuck up snobs who have no idea what the world outside their pretentious little institute enforced boxes is like. Well, besides Idris that is. We're lucky, we're the few chosen who get to travel this world, and now thanks to fun Jace and fun me we get to avoid those closed minded bastards as much as possible."

Alec shook his head and laughed, his hair falling in his face as he did. Isabelle moved it out of the way to look him in the eyes, those startling blue ones she had always envied. They went together so well with his dark hair and pale skin, two of the many physical attributes they had in common.

"Andit would be good for you. Get you to loosen up for just one night, you deserve it Alec, you really do." Isabelle said and he could tell she was being genuine.

He glanced up at her after careful consideration, and she had that damn pleading look on her face again, and there was just something about his siblings he desperately wanted to please.

As if it was his fault that this terrible, lonely life was theirs and he had to do whatever was in his power to make it up to them.

He could remember a time when Jace was insistent upon the idea Alec and Isabelle just looked after him because the parabatai relationship between Alec and himself forced him to, and Izzy just needed something to do.

Typical Jace, unwilling to believe he was worthy of being loved. Alec had tried to convince him otherwise, but it wasn't until Isabelle had yelled at the blonde, tears pouring down her face "We love you, you stupid bastard! Stop doing stupid shit to get yourself hurt! You're making me breakout!" that Alec thought Jace truly believed them.

"Fine," he finally agreed like Izzy hoped he would. "But what am I going to wear? I haven't gone shopping in a while."

Of course he hadn't.

"Alexander Gideon Lightwood," Izzy said with joking exasperation. "What do you think I was doing these past three and a half hours? While I admit it does take a while for me to get ready, do you really think it takes thatlong."

Alec was about to answer when she once again stopped him.

"Never mind, don't answer that. I went shopping and already bought you the most amazing outfit! It's not too much, but it's much better than what your normally wear."

"Wait, you already bought my outfit? What if I had said no?"

Isabelle laughed as if the idea was absolutely ridiculous.

"Alec, you're too easily guilt tripped for that, andI'm right and you know it, in that you deserve a night of fun. Hell, I might, and that is a really big might, limit my drinking to about just two drinks if it means you'll loosen up."

Alec just scowled, and rolled his eyes.

"So where is this wonderful outfit you are tricking me into wearing."

Isabelle smiled, clapping her hands together and jumping up and down. Fashion was to Isabelle what reading was to him, it was her escape and she loved it.

"I'll go get it, don't move."

As if he could really go anywhere, Alec simply nodded and Izzy left the room. When she shut the door he leaned back against the headboard and stared up at the ceiling.

"What have I gotten myself into?"

**There will be more info on the Lightwoods backstory later in the story, and there is still a Clave, Shadowhunters, and so on, just in a slightly different setting. I got the idea from watching Supernatural (great show!) unfortunately there are no Winchesters in this.

I wrote this a little while ago but I looked back and realized there were multiple errors but part of me still likes the idea. Hopefully with it fixed up a bit it will be much better.

Please read and review if you so please.