Wild Warriors: A Shadowhunters Fanfic

9. Moo Shu To Go

Apparently, Clary and Simon knew Brooklyn better than Alec and I, so Clary led the way to the shortcut she had promised to meet Simon at.
The lanky boy was standing in front of an abandoned building, looking extremely suspicious. He was pacing nervously back and forth and rubbing the back of his neck like he had just done something highly illegal.
Mundanes.....

When Clary spotted him, she darted across the street to wrap him in a hug. Alec and I followed her, careful not to get hit by any speeding cars. That would be hard to explain.

"Thanks for being here," Clary was whispering to Simon when Alec and I joined them.
"You don't have to do this alone," Simon pulled away and looked at Clary seriously. "It's not who we are."
Clary paused and gave Simon a little frown.
"Are you...sure you're feeling up to this?" She asked.
No, say no, Simon.
"Yeah, I'm fine. It's just a cold."
Damn it.
It looked like Alec and I were now babysitting for two and not just one. As if Clary wasn't a handful on her own.

"Can we hurry it along? We need to move." Alec's dry and insensitive voice broke apart Clary and Simon's little reunion.
"Well, my mom's loft is right across the street," Clary said and pointed. She was right, the tiny loft was visible only a block away.
"We still need to move. There are eyes all over this place and everyone in the Shadow world is looking for you," Alec told Clary. Besides them, Simon cracked a wide grin.
"I can guarantee you nobody will find this shortcut," he promised. "I used to take it all the time back in middle school to see Clary. You guys might know the Shadow world but trust me, I know Brooklyn."
And then Simon had turned and started jogging away, vaulting over a tall stone wall with a grace that I had only seen in vampires and Jace.

I raised in eyebrow in shock. Clary was wearing the same bewildered expression but she shook it off and followed Simon.
I had to give her a boost up the wall because she was too short to jump and grab the top, and then Alec and I swiftly pulled ourselves up.

Simon led us through a dark alleyway and out behind the apartment complexes. The stone walls were covered with bright green ivy and even some of the dumpsters had been there long enough to have the plant growing on them. Back here, the sounds of cars were muted and sounded very far-off, a rare thing for downtown Brooklyn. I had to admit, Simon knew his way around the place.
We finally popped out around the backside of Clary's loft. Our only way up was a black metal fire escape, much like the one Jace and Clary and I had to climb in order to get into the Hotel Dumort.
Simon wasted no time in hopping onto the fire escape, five rungs up. Again, Clary looked surprised at his actions.
"Have you been taking parkour or something?" She asked, only half-kidding. Simon didn't respond and so Clary just followed her friend up the fire escape.

Before I could follow, Alec muttered at me, "Are we really doing this?" He sounded miffed. "What choice do we have?" I asked back. Alec exhaled, rolled his eyes, and followed the two younger teenagers up the fire escape. I waited a few seconds and began my climb after Alec.
My feet hit the landing in just a few seconds, landing silently behind Clary and Simon.
Simon had started walking towards the back door of the loft, Clary following.
"You've gotten better at this," He said to Clary over his shoulder.
"I was going to say the same about you." Clary smiled and readjusted the strap of her messenger bag that hung over her shoulder.
Alec made his sigh sound like he was physically in pain from listening to Simon and Clary's conversation.
"Climbing a fire escape excites mundanes, I'll never understand these people." I couldn't tell if he was talking to me or just muttering angrily to himself, but I didn't respond either way.

Clary gently brushed past Simon when the fire escape reached the back of the loft. On the brick wall were tons of giant runes that had been drawn into the brick. I recognized them as runes of protection and guarding, most likely cast by a Warlock.
"Woah..." Clary breathed in astonishment. She clearly hadn't seen these runes before, or she had but because Magnus had taken her memories from her, she didn't remember them.
"Your friend Dot probably cast these for you and mother when you were younger," I explained as Clary walked forward to run her hand across one of the wards. "Some of these look like they've been here for ages."
"The only difference is that now I can see them," Clary said. I nodded slowly, my eyes sweeping over the wall. But I paused when I saw something that definitely wasn't a protection ward.
It was a lopsided heart that was carved into the brick wall with pink paint. There was an arrow through it and inside were two initials connected with a plus sign: CF + SL. I pointed to the heart and turned to Simon for an explanation.
"Really?" I asked dryly. Simon grinned without a shred of embarrassment.
"That was when Clary and I were engaged to be married," he explained to me. I dropped my hand to my side.
"I'm almost certain I don't want to hear this story-"
"We were eight years old," Simon muttered to himself. I motioned to him as if to say 'yes, that's why I don't want hear the story'.