Chapter Text
Simon’s probation loosened to the point where he was allowed to go out during the day (mainly so he could take care of Clan business that would usually be outsourced to another Downworlder) under the condition that he went back to school. He accepted Raphael’s terms without protest. He figured it was about time to go back, and this meant he could better help the Clan with its financial problems. He saw how everyone helped each other. It made him want to carry his own weight, so he volunteered to help Raphael with a top secret joint Downworlder venture. Simon didn’t know the details, only that the Vampires were in charge of securing property.
Simon split his time trying to make sense of the Clan’s fucked up finances and going to school. Although he had a full schedule, work wasn’t the only thing occupying his time. The days he had classes, he made a point to stop by his loft to see Jace afterwards. Being Jace's friend meant Simon had to put a lot of preconceived notions he had about the shadowhunter to rest. For example, he thought that because he was a shadowhunter, Jace would be adverse to television. It turns out Simon was completely wrong.
“I can’t believe you’ve never watched the Prue seasons. That should be a crime.” Jace said in disbelief as he and Simon lounged on the couch in his loft. They were currently on season 3 of Charmed.
Laying on his back with his legs draped over Jace, Simon lightly kicked him in his side. “I can’t believe you’ve seen the show, period. I thought you’d be too busy being a badass demon slayer.”
Jace swatted away his foot and laughed. “Yeah, well as a Shadowhunter on sabbatical, I have a lot of free time to catch up on the things I've missed.”
“About that… you go back to doing your Shadowhunter thing next week, right?”
Simon could see his light dim a bit.
“Yeah.”
“How ya feeling?”
Jace sighed and let his head fall back on the couch. “I should be excited, but every time I think about it my stomach gets twisted into knots.” He wiped his hands over his face and tried to perk up. “But once I slay my first demon, I know everything will fall back into place.”
Simon wasn’t buying his smile, but he knew better than anyone when not to push.
“Besides, if you can go back to school then I have no excuse.”
Simon rolled his eyes. “Please don’t use me as inspiration porn.”
Jace gave him a genuine smile this time. “Why not? You’re the epitome of inspiration! Your story should be told to every little nerd in the city! So they’ll have hope that they too could become friends with an amazing, talented, handsome, angelic individual like me.”
“Nerd? Me? Says the guy who has the To call a witches powers spell memorized.”
“Whatever, at least I’m not a total weeb!”
“Charmed, Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Vampire Diaries are cool, but you draw the line at anime? I’m so making you watch one after we’re done with season 3.” They continued to watch Charmed until it was time for Simon to head back to the Hotel.
Jace was about two weeks into being back on missions when he got called into Alec’s office. He thought he finally found his rhythm, not just with missions but with everything. He was still going on therapy dates with Magnus every two weeks and when he wasn’t on missions, he was hanging out with Simon at the loft. He might have returned to his duties as a Shadowhunter, but that didn’t mean he was ready to move back into the Institute. At first he felt guilty about not returning, but Magnus had helped him realize that he shouldn’t feel guilty about doing what was best for him. And staying at Simon's loft felt right. He thought he was striking a pretty good work-life balance, but apparently not.
Jace walked into Alec’s office. His brother was typing something on his laptop when he saw Jace come in.
“Hey Jace, have a seat.” He motioned to one of the chairs in front of his desk.
“Yes sir, Mr. Head of the Institute, sir.” Jace gave a mock salute and sat down, “Why so serious? Shit, am I actually in trouble?”
Alec closed his laptop, rubbed his eyes, and groaned. “No, unless you want to confess to anything?”
“Nope.”
Alec laughed. “Good. I don’t need any more stress right now. I'm so swamped with paperwork and trying to bid for the.. you know what, nevermind. No you're not in trouble. I just wanted to talk to you.”
Squinting, Jace asked “As my brother or Institute Head?”
“As your parabati.”
Internally Jace grimaced. Even worse, he thought.
“You’ve seemed to be doing better. I don’t feel the same worrisome feelings through the bond anymore.”
“Okay, that’s good right?”
Alec crossed his arms on the table and leaned in. “Yes, except now I don’t feel much of anything. The bond is muted all the time. Jace, what's going on? I thought you were doing better. You seem fine whenever we hangout. Is there something you're not telling me?”
There was a good reason why Jace kept the bond muted these days. It was because ever since his therapy dates with Magnus, he’s found the bond a lot more irritating than usual. Before, he could just kind of ignore it and forget about it. But now it was like a thorn in his foot that wouldn’t go away. Muting the bond relieves some of the pressure, but he can't tell his parabati that. Shit, he had to come up with something quick. Not only because Alec was close to deploying those puppy dog eyes of his, but also because Simon was supposed to come over to show him how to play Mortal Kombat. Simon kept his word and made Jace watch anime, starting with his favorite, Rosario Vampire. Now they were currently getting through Naruto. He told him if he loved the action in anime, he should try playing a fighting game. Wait, that's it! Jace thought. “Well you see, I have been keeping something from you.”
Alec's face gave a concerned expression. “What is it? Whatever it is, you can tell me, Jace.”
He really was a jackass. Shadowhunters would kill to have such a caring parabati, but he didn’t want a parabati. He never wanted one. He just wanted a brother. Rubbing his hands on his pants, he lied through his teeth. “The thing is, I've been teaching Simon how to fight.”
Alec’s expression of concern morphed to confusion. “Is that it? Why couldn’t you tell me that?”
“Because Simon felt embarrassed. He didn’t want you to know about it. He thought you’d think it was stupid, plus he sort of thinks you hate him.”
Shocked, Alec said “What? I don’t hate him. Yeah I find him irritating but I find most people irritating.”
“Anyway, I had to turn the bond down in case Simon actually hit me, so you wouldn't be alerted that something was up. I must have just forgotten to unmute it.”
“Okay, but then why haven't I seen you two in the training rooms?”
Jace tried really hard not to give anything away. “Because we’ve been training at the Hotel of course. We couldn’t have you accidentally catching us.”
Alec nodded. “That makes sense I guess.”
Jace resisted the urge to blow out a breath of relief. “Cool, so I’ll turn the bond back on and you can quit worrying.”
He got up to leave and was halfway to the door when Alec said “Wait, I wanna see what he's learned.”
Jace turned around. “What?”
“Yeah, I mean I feel like everyone else has helped him in some way. The least I can do is help with his training. And maybe we can clear the air and I can convince him I don't hate him. That shouldn’t be a problem, right?”
“Right.”
Alec smiled. “Good. I’ll free up some time next month. Thanks for telling me Jace.”
Jace gave him a less genuine smile. “Of course, you're my parabati. Why wouldn’t I?” As he headed to the loft, he knew he had to think of a way to convince Simon to go along with his lie. Which meant he would have to teach him how to fight within a month.
Jace and Simon sat on the couch playing Mortal Kombat. As Simon was destroying him with Sonya Blade, Jace worked up the courage to ask Simon about the lie. “Wow, you're really good at this.”
Simon smirked. “Thanks, and you're trying at least.”
“That’s the last time I give you a compliment, nerd. But hey, have you ever thought how cool it’d be if you could fight like this for real?”
“Sure I guess.”
“Well I may know of a way for you to be the Sonya Blade you always wanted to be. You know, if you're interested.”
Simon paused the game and turned dramatically slow to look at Jace “Okay, cut the bullshit Jace.”
“What? I don’t know what you're talking about.” Jace felt like he was sweating bullets which was weird because he kept the loft pretty cold.
“Really? Then why is your heart beating a mile a minute, and why do you sound like a shitty infomercial trying to sell me something?”
Jace couldn't take the pressure and cracked. He told Simon almost everything about the lie he told Alec, except the part about why.
“You’d make a terrible spy.”
Jace chuckled awkwardly. “Probably. Sorry to ask this of you, but would you let me train you? We only have a month but I swear I can get you in fighting shape by then, and I know you have a ton of stuff on your plate already and I really dont mean to add to it but-”
Simon listened to Jace ramble on, trying to convince him to go along with his lie and smiled. “I’ll do it.”
Jace stopped mid sentence in shock. That was surprisingly easy. “You will?”
“I’ll have to talk to Raphael about it and my schedule is packed but I can make time. Besides, learning to fight could come in handy when the next supervillain inevitably strikes.”
“You don’t wanna know why I lied?”
“Do you wanna tell me?”
Jace looked away in shame.
“That’s what I thought.” Simon leaned over and touched his shoulder, making Jace look back at him. “But that’s okay. I trust you, Jace.” Although he was sure Jace thought he hid it well, Simon was an expert at hiding from your emotions. He could tell something was weighing on him ever since he started to go back on missions. If going along with this lie could help ease some of the tension he was carrying, then that was the only “why” he needed.
Unexpectedly, Jace pulled Simon into a tight hug. “Thank you.”
Stunned, Simon hesitated but eventually wrapped his arms around his friend. “Of course, what are friends for?”