Distractions

Forty-Four: Brother Dearest

We  just have one more chapter after this before we reach season three!

Trigger Warnings: Hallucinations, injuries/coma, fighting, character death

Trigger warnings: Hallucinations

Everest and Izzy walked into the Ops Center hand in hand, clinging to each other like the lifelines they were to the other. The corpses followed. The others were already there.

"Sorry we're late," Izzy said. "We were looking for Max. Has anyone seen him?"

"Have you tried the armory? He's probably sharpening his blades for his first assignment," Jace suggested.

Izzy sighed. "We checked."

"We have more pressing matters," Alec interjected.

Everest bristled. Maybe it was lingering upset from their conversation the night before, but his comment didn't sit right with her. Max was nowhere to be found. What if he was hurt?

"Agreed." Everest blinked. What were they agreeing to? "Report back with any possible scenarios by which Johnathan and Valentine could attempt a breach."

Everest took a deep breath. She would be great at this. It would be terrible for her mental state, but she would be great at this.

Izzy squeezed her hand. Everest nodded. She would wait for Izzy in her room so they could talk more and do their assignment. Hopefully it wouldn't make the corpses even more prevalent.

...

Trigger warnings: Injuries/coma

Dusk:

Found Max. Infirmary now.

Please.

Everest swore under her breath and broke into a sprint towards the infirmary. This couldn't be good.

It was telling that no one so much as batted an eye at her sprinting through the Institute, swearing up a storm.

"Oh shit."

Max was lying in a bed, bandage around his head and blood staining his face.

"I tried using an Irate rune to wake him, but nothing's working," Izzy was saying.

Everest held Izzy's hand in a death grip, both watching nervously as medics examined Max.

"What happened?" Alec demanded as he and Clary ran in.

"I don't know. I found him like this in my room," Izzy explained.

Clary gasped. "Oh, my God, Max."

"We should send him to Idris. See what they can do," Alec suggested.

"The medic said that in his condition, he won't be able to survive the transfer," Izzy said, stress tainting her tone.

"And those medics don't Portal out of Idris," Everest said bitterly, having had this conversation before when Clary was poisoned.

"Max," Jace breathed out as he and Sebastian rushed in. "We checked the Institute's security camera footage. Whoever attacked him is somehow covering their tracks."

"Has he been able to talk?" Sebastian asked. Everest didn't like his tone.

"Not yet. He's unconscious."