Chapter Text
Ty couldn’t sleep.
He turned in bed, passed in his room and listed all the animals he could think of. None of it helped his agitation. He wanted to call Livvy. No. He wanted her to be there, with him, to talk to him and hug him and to rub his hair and to tell him everything would be fine.
Every time he closed his eyes, he saw Kit and rage boiled up inside him again. How stupid he’d been for thinking the night could’ve gone any other way. Of course Kit was hanging out with girls and had loving parents and a little sister. Of course he had an entire new life. Of course he had forgotten Ty.
Kit got to run from what he did, whereas Ty had to live with it forever.
You’re a selfish coward, Tiberius Blackthorn.
Around four am, he gave up sleeping. He was too restless, and his mind wasn’t helping. He’d better make some use of the time. He could go through his photos and start an outline for the yearbook. Yes, that way he could send Anush a list in the morning with the clubs short in pictures.
Relieved he had something to do, he opened his bedroom door and found Dru hovering in the hallway.
“What are you doing up?”
She jumped and turned to him.
Her hair was braided, she was wearing jeans and had her boots on, nothing like her usual pajamas. She looked ready to go out.
“Holy shit, you scared me.”
“Where are you going?”
She put her hands on her hips.
“That’s none of your business. What are you doing up, eh?”
“I couldn’t sleep, and don’t change the topic. Where are you going, Drusilla?”
Dru rolled her eyes.
“To Clary’s, fine? I got a weird text from K— about Ash. I want to check on him, I have a bad feeling.”
It hit Ty like a bucket of cold water, as any mention of Kit did. But this time, that angered him. How could this guy affect him so much? Who’d given him the right?
Ty certainly hadn’t.
“Okay, let’s go.”
“What?”
“I said let’s go. I’m going with you,” he told her as he headed down the stairs.
Dru rushed behind him.“Are you sure? After what happened earlier, I thought…”
Ty opened the door for her without answering.
They made their way to Clary’s in silence.
What was he doing? Leaving his house in the middle of the night to do what? Fight Kit? Yell at him?
Maybe Kit wouldn't even care. He was a perfect stranger now, after all.
Dru rang the bell.
"Do you really want to do this?" She whispered as they waited.
Ty didn't get to reply before a handsome man he had never seen met them at the entrance.
"Hello, how can I help you?"
"Hi. I'm Dru Blackthorn, and this is my brother, Ty. We live next door. Is Ash here?"
"Oh, Dru. I'm Jem Carstairs, Kit's dad, he talks a lot about you. Yes, Ash is here. Come on in, please."
He let them in. Ty hadn't been at Clary's in weeks, but it felt like a completely different place, now that Kit lived there too.
Clary and Jace had moved to town around the same time the Blackthorns had, so they developed a close relationship immediately, Emma and Clary in particular. They organized game nights at least twice a month and helped out each other as often as they could.
Ty wasn't sure what to make out of all the toddler toys and novellas that were spread around the house. Jem Carstairs walked them to the kitchen, where they found all the residents of the house, as well as Magnus, Alec and Ash, who was sitting at the head of the table, Clary lurking close.
"—there must be something we can do!" Magnus was saying. "We can't stay with our arms crossed and let her do whatever she wants—"
"Dru!" Ash jumped, looking so much better than a few hours ago. He ran to hug her in a way that made it uncomfortable to keep watching.
Ty's eyes met Kit's, and suddenly he was aware of the amount of people in the room. He couldn't just start yelling at him.
But, why were there so many people? Magnus and Alec, for instance, didn't even live there.
"What are you doing here?" He asked. Magnus and Alec exchanged looks. Clary lowered her eyes. Jace frowned deeper. Kit's parents were staring at Ty. "What happened?"
"It's my mother," Ash said behind him. "She's going to pass a law to shut down the Lightwood-Bane initiative. She used tonight's party to convince the council."
"What?" Dru broke their hug. "She can't do that!"
"Well, she obviously didn't get the memo then," Jace said. "Because it's exactly what she did. I called a couple of friends to check, they confirmed it."
"B-but why?"
"There's always been a misplaced concern around the program," Magnus rubbed his temples. "People in town are worried about the specific children we take in. Trouble kids, teenagers they think should be in jail instead of highschool. She's using those insecurities to transform them in fear. Fear gets votes. It means power. She's trying to take us out of the game before Alec can take her out of the office."
"It's a vile move," Clary said through her teeth. "Those kids have done nothing, and after all they've gone through... She's a monster."
"Unfortunately, monsters are known to haunt the most vulnerable between us." Magnus said, dropping his hands. "She's tried to set us up before, but never did she dare to do something so upfront and organized. She's been planning this for a while."
"Which takes us back to the start," Alec intervened, "how do we stop her?"
Ty liked silence, it gave him space to think, breath and recover. This silence, though, was excruciating.
Clary was the one to break it.
"We need to show Alicante the real magnitude of what she's doing," she said. "If we bring them to our side, there's nothing she can do."
"And how do you plan to do that?" Jace asked.
"We make noise. Drag her plan to the daylight for all to see. Expose her."
Magnus nodded along her words. "We can start on social media." He put out his phone. "A few posts about it and the entire world will be against her. Then we take action."
"What if we talk to Izzy?" Alec said, "she might write an article about it. This is the sort of story she's after."
"Right, you do that as I talk to—"
"What about the kids?" Kit asked suddenly. He blushed when all the eyes turned to him, but didn't step back. "Isn't it unfair to exclude them?”
The adults were speechless for a moment, then Magnus answered.
"This isn't a fight for them. The unfair thing would be to put them under the world's morbid scrutiny."
“That's bullshit! They have gone through a lot worse than the Queen. They know what it’s a stake, probably better than any of us does. They deserve the chance to defend their home.”
Kit’s mom reached for his hand and squeezed it. Ty was startled. Rosemary had sacrificed so much for Kit, but he'd never seen her do anything similar. So... Simple and pure.
"That isn't an option," Alec said, "we won't put our kids through that. We took them in to give them the chance to have a normal life, one that didn't beat them up at every chance. Throwing them to the wolves is completely off the table."
Kit wanted to keep arguing, Ty could see that. He was doing that face he did before spilling out a defense, grinding teeth and furrowed eyebrows. However, he kept his words to himself.
A cry broke from upstairs, making all their heads turn in it's direction.
Tessa started to get up from her chair but Kit stopped her.
"I'll get her, don't worry." Then he was gone.
"Great," Jace exclaimed. "We got what we'll do , now we need to figure out how we'll make it work."
Ty slipped out of the kitchen with nobody noticing. His head was pounding. He needed room to breathe. As he rested his forehead on the wall of the entrance hallway, Ty counted his heartbeats.
He couldn't help thinking about what Kit had said. The adults had been so fast at ruling out the idea of involving the kids, who'd be directly affected by the Queen's scheme. Kit was right. They deserved to fight her.
For once, he didn't hide from his memories. He let himself be that kid again, the one that spent sleepless nights figuring out how to help his friend, that froze every time Kit winced and that tried to memorize how his face worked, what every shade meant, so he could know when Kit was upset or sad or just wronged.
Noises from upstairs broke through his thoughts, disbelief fading into incredulity. The sound was odd and alien, how something so joyful could take place when everything else was so dark?
Ty found himself taking the first few steps up the stairs, holding his breath. He should turn around, go back with the others and think of a better plan. Instead, he took another step, and another, and another, until he reached the second store. He followed the voices through the dark hall, taking care his shoes made no sound as he moved forward. He stopped in front of a half opened door and peeked inside.
Kit was giving his back to him, a smiling toddler in his arms.
"Kittha!" She took a lock of blond hair in her tiny hands and pulled it.
Kit laughed. "Ouch, Mina, not the hair."
The toddler, Mina, giggled with her entire body. Her amusement left Ty rigid, not a single trace of the disconsolate sobs from earlier, now that she was in the arms of her brother. She was a small, adorable thing, so full of joy it was hard to witness.
Mina extended her hand in his direction.
"Blahdah!"
Kit turned around to find Ty staring at him.
"You shouldn't be here."
Ty started to say something, maybe an apology, maybe an explanation. Dru's voice cut him off.
"Ty! Where are you? Jules called, we're leaving!"
He took a few steps backwards, words stuck in his throat. Kit gave a hesitant step toward him. Ty spun over his heels and left from where he came from.
He thought he heard a muffled Ty behind him, but chose to ignore it. He reached his pocket for his toys, just to find it empty, a promptly reminder of their place in his nightstand. Ty hit his fingers against his legs and then against each other, trying to reach calmness by giving them something to do, but that didn't do much. He needed a list or a plan or anything—
Dru met him at the foot of the stairs, Ash waiting with her.
"What were you doing upstairs?"
"I was looking for the toilet," he lied, "what did Julian said?"
Dru made a face.
"He just wanted to know where we went and if we were safe. It freaked him out that he couldn't find us."
"Oh."
Julian had always been quick to worry about them. Ty should've known he'd think the worst in their absence, but he'd been too busy thinking about Kit. He could only imagine Julian's distress.
They hurried to say goodbye to the others. Ash lead them to the front door, giving a forehead kiss to Dru before heading back into the house. Ty had to look away.
Jules was waiting for them on the porch, his leg jumping up and down as he sat on the stairs. He stood up when they got close.
"How did it go?"
Dru shrugged. "They were still discussing strategies when we left." She shook her head. "They're really worried, I don't think they even believe it will work."
Julian shrugged, turning his face away from them.
"Could you blame them if they didn't, though? It's hard to believe things will work out when you've barely survived fighting for every inch of what you have."
Ty stayed behind as his sister walked up the stairs.
"Jules?" His brother looked up. "Can I ask you something?"
"Yeah, of course."
"If you had an idea, but it contradicted what others planned to do, would you go ahead with it?"
"Well... That depends. What makes you think your idea is the one you should follow?"
Ty thought about it.
"I'm not sure," he admitted, "it's a lot messier, and riskier in a way. However, it might be more effective. I'd need a lot of help, though. It's not the kind of thing I can do on my own."
Julian stayed silent for a minute.
"You've always had good instincts. If your guts tell you it's the right call, you should try it. I trust you know what you're doing."
The sun had begun to rise when Ty finally went to bed. He had spent what was left of the night writing down cons and pros, thinking in every possible factor, until he was certain his plan was ready to be set in motion. There was just one thing he needed to sort out first.
******
Kit woke up to find an unsettling notification waiting for him.
@detytive_blackthorn has sent a message request
He opened the chat to find an even more confusing message.
Pandemonium. 1:30pm. We need to talk.
Kit didn't know if he was supposed to reply, so he just reacted with a thumbs up.
He took a quick shower and went downstairs to have breakfast. Ash sat at the edge of the table, looking at his phone.
"Did Ty text you too?" He asked when he saw Kit.
Kit felt relieved, and refused to acknowledge the edge of disappointment.
"Yeah, Pandemonium at 1:30."
Ash looked confused.
"1:30? Are you sure?"
Kit showed him his phone.
"Well, that's weird. He summoned the rest of us at 2:00."
Shit . So Ty did want to talk with Kit alone.
"Who else got a text?"
"Everyone, apparently. Dru doesn't want to tell me what's going on. She told me I had to 'wait and see' ." Though he was rolling his eyes, Kit heard the adoration in his voice when he talked about Drusilla.
A couple of hours later, Ash drove him in Jace's car to the café to be in time to meet Ty. Kit was surprised his friend even got out of bed, let alone drive, given the state he had been in the previous night.
They entered to the Pandemonium together, but as soon as they crossed the door, Dru got out of nowhere, took her boyfriend's hand and dragged him outside.
Kit was alone.
He found Ty in a booth at the back of the establishment, with a cup of what Kit assumed was coffee in his hands. He had two dark bags under his eyes, only proof of his presence at 2308, Brocelind Street the night before.
There was another half empty cup on the table, presumedly Drusilla's, that Kit moved aside once he took the seat in front of Ty.
They didn't say anything for a couple of minutes. Ty was looking at the window, so he looked at Ty. His dark hair shined with the sunlight, softly disheveled, as when they were children. It reminded Kit of a time he stayed to sleep over at Ty's, when he was fourteen; he'd woken up early that day, just to find his best friend still sleeping next to him. Kit couldn't stop staring at him. Ty would've been handsome in every decade, there had always been something ethereal in the contrast of his black hair and pale skin. When Kit was younger, he somehow had mastered how to stop staring at Tiberius the whole time. He'd lost practice since.
His heart was pounding.
"I'm sorry," he blurted out. The silence was choking him. "I shouldn't have said what I said. It was mean and unfair."
Ty finally looked at him. Kit felt he was about to combust.
"Okay. But I don't want to talk about that. That's not why I asked you to come here."
"Then why?"
Ty took a sip from his coffee before answering.
"Last night, at your house, they all insisted the program kids shouldn't fight. You were the only one who opposed that. I think I agree with you, that's why I asked everyone to come today. But there's one thing that's been bothering me."
Kit blinked, not sure he understood.
"And you want to ask me about it?" Ty nodded. "What?"
"Why does it matter so much to you?"
There was no way Ty had just said that.
"Excuse me?"
"You're new in town. You barely know anyone. Dru says your family plans to move to the city as soon as possible. This doesn't affect you. It'd be easier for you to walk out and let things follow its course. So, why do you care so much about the Lightwood-Bane program?"
Kit clenched his fists.
"You know why," he said between his teeth.
"No, I don't. I know the Kit I met in LA would care, but I don't know why you would."
"You say it as if I were a completely different person."
"As far as I know, you are."
"As far as I know, so are you," he said as he stood up. Anger was rising up inside Kit, and he couldn't take it. It was too much. Just too much.
"Kit, wait," Ty called behind him.
He stopped. He hated so much he couldn't help to stop.
"Just answer the question. It's important."
"Why? What does it have to do with anything?"
He turned to face Ty, who had followed him to the aisle.
Ty swallowed.
"I have a plan." His chest made it seem as if he had run miles to catch up with Kit, even if he had barely taken any steps. "It goes against everything everyone has told me we should do. And it might actually work. But I— I need to know if it's worth it to do it this way."
At that moment, Kit didn't see two Tys. The person in front of him was exactly the same boy he had met under a market table all those years ago. A boy eager to do the right thing, curious of the world and the way it worked, brave enough to follow a strange hand to the dark and with the kindness to befriend the kid he found in it.
I will always care.
He didn't realize he was going to reply until he was doing it.
"When I see them, Lily, Raphael, Thais... I see myself. We are the same. Kids neglected by their own blood, until someone who cared came along and helped them find a better way to be alive. They've lost everything once, they deserve to fight to not lose it twice."
Ty listened to every word carefully.
"Okay," he said at last, "thank you."
They stood there without saying a single word until the rest of the group arrived.
*******
The Pandemonium was at full capacity. Ty had messaged all the Lightwood-Bane kids, asking them to not tell neither Alec nor Magnus where they were going. Then he had asked Anush to message all the classmates he could think of who would be interested to help. He thought just a few of them would attend, but he'd been wrong.
Ty cleared his throat.
"May I have your attention?" He tried. "Please, could you listen to me? I—"
Dru rolled her eyes and got up to the table.
"Listen up, morons, you better shut the fuck up right now or I'll make professor Fell play the goats film again."
The place went quiet.
She smiled.
"Great." She got down. "Ty, your turn."
All the eyes in the room were on him now. He took a deep breath.
"At this point, I assume most of you know about the Queen's plan to close down the Lightwood-Bane program." Murmurs aroused around him. "Magnus and Alec are doing what they can to stop her, without involving the people who'd be affected the most if the Queen succeeded. I know I'm not the only one who disagrees with that." Aware of the sky-blue eyes fixed on him, his heart ran faster and faster. Ty passed saliva. "As… someone I know pointed out, you've gone through a lot worse than the Queen. This town is yours too, you deserve the chance to defend it."
"What do you have in mind, Tiberius?" Lily Chen asked.
"The core of Magnus and Alec's plan is to make the town see you. We have to upgrade it, make it bigger. Show them who you really are."
Ty explained to them the first part of his plan. He wasn't sure how the members of the soccer team would react, let's not say the Lightwood-Bane kids themselves. Unsurprisingly, Lily was the first one to agree.
"I'll do it."
"Lily," said Raphael Santiago, "you might want to sit this one out. Or at least think about it for more than a second."
"I said I'll do it."
Ty thought Raphael was going to say something else, but he just scowled deeper and looked away.
Lily turned to Ty.
"Look at you, Blackthorn," she smirked, "I knew there was something more behind that camera than just a pretty face." Then she shouted euphorically as she passed an arm across Ty's shoulders, hugging him tightly.
As Ty tried to set himself free, his eyes tripped across the room. People were talking and laughing now, things Ty didn't think could be possible given the circumstances. He found Kit looking at him, and he forgot any attempt to get rid of Lily's grip.
He had to figure out what he was going to do about Christopher. His blood boiled and he couldn't think whenever Kit was around, but they needed to find a middle ground if this was going to work.
Everything would be for nothing otherwise.
******
On the way back, Kit noticed Ash was nervous.
He was used to the Mayor's son's moderate anxiety, even if Ash managed to keep it hidden. However, this was different. It was in the way his eyes went back to the rearview mirror multiple times per block, in the arithmetic tipping of his fingers over the steering wheel and in the unusual silence he was driving in, no attempt at conversation or music in the stereo.
Ash parked in Brocelind street and went to unbuckle his seat belt, the small trembling in his hands forcing him to try a couple times.
"What are you so afraid of?" Kit asked.
"I don't know what you're talking about," Ash muttered as he put his hand over the handle.
"Cut the bullshit, Morgenstern, just tell me what's wrong."
Ash rolled his eyes.
"It's Clary."
Kit raised his eyebrows.
Ash increased his rolled eyes.
"She freaks me out, okay? I feel I have to walk on my toes wherever I go because she's always watching me. She's just there, all the time. And I don't know why."
"You honestly have no idea?"
"Not at all. She might be reconsidering if she let me stay," Ash frowned, "or trying to figure out if I'm to be trusted or not. If I were her I'd suspect me too. So I wouldn't blame her if she—"
"Ash," Kit interrupted him. "Clary doesn't think you're your mom's spy. She's just worried about you."
That seemed to flabbergast Ash.
"What?"
"You're her nephew. She wants to know if you're okay. That's why she's looking out for you."
Ash let those words sink in.
"Do you really think so?"
It was Kit's turn to roll his eyes.
"Yes. Jace and Clary are like that. They care. It can be unsettling at first, but it's genuine. You can trust them, it's safe."
Ash didn't seem to believe it. Or maybe he wanted to believe it too much.
"How was it for you? When Jem and Tessa took you in?"
The question surprised Kit. More by the fact Ash had dared to ask than the question itself. None of his friends had had the guts to straight ask him about his previous life or family. They knew Kit had a complicated past he didn't like to talk about, and had accepted any small detail he told them as if it were enough.
That was something Kit would always appreciate.
So he took Ash's question for what it was: a desperate last resource.
"It wasn't easy, to be honest. I was used to a volatile father and silent conversations with my mom. Being asked how my day went felt like being thrown into a minefield."
"I just— I don't know what to do. She seems nice. I hoped she would be. But I never thought I'd actually get away from my mother. I don't know what's next."
"Well, it's obvious, isn't it?" Kit said, opening his door, "You have to live every day as if it's your first. It's all about learning to be alive again."