ustulation » lightwood+bane [1]

TWENTY-SIX

USTULATION; RISE UP (III)

AFTER LEAVING ALEC, AVA went straight to Pandemonium, where Nico was meant to meet up with Magnus, but clearly wasn't able to. The blonde was ready to unleash her frustrations on someone but that someone wasn't going to be Magnus, she couldn't do that to him. Normally, Ava could unleash her frustrations through the act of sex, mainly with her blond ex-turned-best friend slash friends with benefit.

Glancing around the street outside of Pandemonium, she noticed that it wasn't too busy yet – a fact she was glad for. This, of course, meant Ava was able to enter after a short ten minutes. By the time she entered the club, she spotted a puppy-eyed warlock nursing a cocktail, who she immediately approached and was in turn immediately questioned by the warlock.

"Where's Nicholas? Is he okay?" Magnus asked, as he chewed his lip waiting for an answer. Ava crossed her arms as she glanced around the club, taking note of the abundance of downworlders, who weren't happy with her presence, but she also noticed Eliza coming towards her and Magnus.

"What's going on?" She asked the shadowhunter, having heard the warlock question her, so the blonde may have the answers they were looking for.

Ava looked between the two of them, debating whether to tell them or not, but did so anyway, since they would find out eventually anyway so she might as well. "A Clave representative arrested Nico on the grounds that he had been leaking information to the Circle and Valentine."

The two downworlders shared an exasperated look – both were tired of the trouble Nico dragged with him, but couldn't blame the man himself. "Do they have any proof?" Magnus asked, sipping his cocktail, as he tried to get to the bottom of the situation.

"Not that I know of. But regardless of that, Nico hasn't seen his father since he was younger so why would Lydia Branwell accuse him of such?" Ava asked, mainly to herself, but gained an answer from the werewolf standing beside her.

"Maybe there's an alterior motive." The brunette werewolf stated, only speculating. Although it seemed that she was onto something or at least that's what it seemed like to Ava, who with her newfound knowledge gained from her talk with a certain Lightwood.

"Lydia's marrying Alec, and Alec had kissed Nico anyway. She's jealous!" Ava exclaimed with a smirk, as she slammed her hands down on the table, which Magnus glared at her for.

"So, she has no proof then," Eliza stated in response to Ava's claims, as the werewolf linked her fingers together. "Nico is just a means to an end?" The blonde shadowhunter nodded, flipping her hair to the side. "Can we prove his innocence then?" The werewolf asked, not particularly liking the fact that her best friend was set up again.

"We can always threaten the Clave representative into letting Nico walk, but that might put us in the Clave's bad books, then again who cares about what the Clave thinks of us?" Magnus planned recklessly, his hooded eyes looking between the two of them.

Eliza raised an eyebrow, "don't you occasionally work for them?" Magnus shrugged, not really caring at this point – he just wanted the demon-blooded blond to be in his arms, out of danger, but that had always seemed impossible, with the way Nico runs on it.

"What are we waiting for then? Let's go rescue an idiot." Ava began walking out of Pandemonium, with the two downworlders following closely behind her. She turned her head towards the warlock, "and maybe he'll give you a kiss for rescuing him." Magnus blushed in response, making the two women laugh as a result.

+ + +

NICO SAT, LEANING AGAINST the cell wall as he pulled on his fingers. As he thought back over the events that lead up to this, his lips tingled in response and his ears became flustered at the thought.

Of course as usual, whenever he decided to think, someone interrupted him, and this time that someone was the bitch who arrested him, accompanied by none other than Ava Cartwright. Nico grinned inwardly but sent them a bored look, waiting for one of them to talk.

"Look, I don't know why you think I'm jealous-" Lydia was interrupted by Ava, who grinned. "Well, I have my reasons and proof, what proof do you have for his arrest? I think you have none, and I know that I'm right, so I suggest you let him walk a free man."

Lydia sighed, protesting anything the blonde had to say, "you can't tell me what to do."

Ava just looked at her, "it doesn't matter. Let him go now." She drew her seraph blade for good measure, making the representative open the cell, allowing Nico to walk right out, which he did with a smirk directed at the two women. The two fair-haired friends linked arms and left the institute, where Eliza and Magnus were waiting for them.

Magnus and Nico shared a look before the blond stepped closer and the warlock wrapped his arms around him. First, it was an embrace then it was more. Magnus captured the blond's lips in his own, in an embrace of their own. As their lips embraced, they were in a world of their own – both just happy that they finally got to kiss.

Eliza and Ava exchanged a proud look, glad that they had a part in getting the two together. If only Bellamy was there to see such a beautiful moment but he was off with the former mundane-now fledgling vampire.

The two men continued to kiss until they were about to run out of breath. When they pulled away from one another, they pressed their foreheads together as they regained their breath. "Will you finally go out with me?" Magnus asked the blond, who blushed but nodded with a grin. "Of course, we still need to bring Alec into the fold but this will do for now." The two grinned at one another before embracing in another kiss again.

+ + +

So yes, Ava took more of the front stage again but it paid off in the end – Magnus and Nico kissed, and have become boyfriends. Now, Alec will need to be bought in of course but that will happen in due time.

Next chapter will be the inverted episode, which means all of the characters will be acting differently. Nico and the rest will have quite a big personality shift and that of course affects their relationships in the inverted world. How will they act? What will be different?

Thanks for all the support so far. Comments are appreciated. Any queries or questions let me know, I'll reply as soon as I am able to.