Chapter Text
The first time it happened, Isabelle had been nine. She was sparring with the newly arrived Jace when she got distracted by Church, the Institute's cat, running headlong into the mirror that ran around the edge of the room. Jace had quickly taken advantage of her distraction and kicked her square in the chest. Isabelle had felt the air rush out of her lungs, and she stumbled backwards and fallen into the display of sharp throwing knives. She could still remember the sting as the daggers had fallen with her, slicing across the back of her arms and her hands. Their mother had refused to heal her, 'They will be your reminder to pay more attention when fighting', she had said.
The second time Isabelle was ten, she had fallen from the rafters in the training room while practising climbing and broken her arm. Her father had watched, impassively, 'Shadowhunters don't fall. Mundanes fall. If you fall like a mundane, you can heal like one.' He had taken her to the infirmary and watched as Hodge set Isabelle's arm in a plastic cast, then took her back to the training room to finish their session.
It didn't take Isabelle long to work out that being a Shadowhunter meant getting injured when you weren't good enough. It also didn't take her long to work out that being injured was not an excuse for not being perfect and that injuries were something to be hidden. The pain was the punishment for mistakes. When you fucked up, you got hurt. Being hurt meant that you fucked up. So you hid that shit as best you could so no one knew. Hide your weaknesses, do better next time. It was the mantra Isabelle came to live by.
She knew what everyone thought of her. They saw her as a bimbo. Stupid, shallow and a bit of a slut. Isabelle hated that people saw her like that, just because she liked her body and liked boys. But she also knew that it meant a lot of people underestimated her. She could get a man twice her size on his back; guys never saw her as a threat until she had her whip wrapped around their throats. It was for this reason; Isabelle was the first one to enter the bar. She wore tight short shorts in a dark denim and a black vest with shiny highlights. Her leather boots came up over her knee and disguised the throwing daggers hidden there. Her hair was in two braids, and makeup playfully lined her eyes. Isabelle's arm was adorned by her electrum whip.
As she strutted into the bar, a lot of them men turned to look at her. Isabelle smiled shyly at them, looking around the room through her long lashes. She walked to the bar and ordered a drink. The man who was their target stood next to her. He looked her up and down with a more than appreciative grin on his face, 'Hey little lady, what's a pretty girl like you doing in a place like this?' As the bartender served her a drink, she resisted the urge to roll her eyes, instead looking up at the target with a ditzy smile.
'My car broke down, and my cell is dead,' she pouted and looked confused for good measure, 'I just don't know what is wrong with it! You don't know anyone who could help me, do you?'
Isabelle fluttered her eyelashes and did her best not to throw up at the level of cliche she was throwing at this guy. To absolutely no one's surprise, the target straightened himself up and said, 'Well maybe I could help you out darlin'.'
'Oh COULD up? That would be amazing! I don't have much money,' she looked down and bit her lip before looking up at the target through her lashes, 'maybe we could, work something out?'
The target smiled and put his hand on Isabelle's ass; she fought the urge to punch him in the balls. 'Well now, I think we just might be able to...'
The smile that spread across his face was creepy as all hell, but Isabelle forced herself to bat her eyelids and coyly smile as he gestured to take him out the the offending vehicle. As the crossed the floor, he high-fived more than one of the guys.
Isabelle walked him over to the van the Institute had borrowed from Simon for this evening. She pulled the target over the driver's side door and pushed him against it. His mouth was hard on hers, and his hands were rough and insistent. The target's hands were on her thighs, pulling Isabelle into him, she spun him around so her back was against the door and his was painfully exposed. His eyes were closed, every part of him was focused on his 'prize'. He was so focussed that he didn't notice the two men slowly and quietly approach from the other side of the van. Once her brothers were in position, Isabelle brought a knee up and slammed it into the target's crotch. Reflexively, the target dropped his hands from Isabelle's thighs and slammed a fist into her face. Her head snapped back and hit the metal of the van door. Her vision blurred at the edges and Isabelle tasted blood. She was vaguely aware that a fight was happening in front of her, and she slid down the side of the van and watched it with disinterest.
Jace had the target on his knees, and Alec was quickly tying the man's hands and feet together with rope. Isabelle helpfully rolled to the side to let the boys open the side of the van. As they threw the target in, she vomited onto the asphalt. Cool hands brushed her hair back and tipped her face up to look into his. Alec, with his big brown eyes, looked down at her and bit his lip, 'Iz, you smacked your head pretty hard, I think you have a concussion.'
She nodded in reply, which turned out to be a horrible mistake. She turned and vomited again, this time managing to have it all land on Jace's shoes. Jace groaned, 'Thanks, Iz...' He sighed and walked to her other side to help Alec lift her up. Gently they two boys helped her over to the passenger's side door and strapped her into the seat. Jace jumped into the back with the target while Alec called Magnus to open the portal back to the Institute. Alec was learning how to drive, but he wasn't quite up to crossing Manhattan at five in the afternoon yet. Alec started the van and edged it slowly through the newly opened portal, and suddenly they were on the street outside the Institute. Jace jumped out, 'Alright, I'll drag this piece of shit off to the holding cell, and you take Iz up to the infirmary?'
Alec hopped out of the van and walked around to the other side to grab his sister, 'Sounds good to me.'
Alec smiled as he heard a familiar and welcome voice, 'Why do I smell blood and vomit? You better not have lied to me on the phone Alexander.'
Alex turned to look at his gorgeous boyfriend, 'It's not me, it's Iz. She got punched in the face, slammed her head into the van and then threw up all over the carpark. I think she's got a concussion.'
Magnus frowned, 'Does sound like it, doesn't it?' He walked over to the open door and looked at the now unconscious Isabelle Lightwood. 'Want me to take care of it?' Magnus waved his fingers, blue magic sparking at their tips.
Alec chuckled, 'Nah it's all good, we have medics for this. It's not a life-threatening injury.'
Magnus frowned, 'You know, I do like helping my friends even when they aren't dying.'
Alec raised his hands, 'Hey, if you really want to, I'm not going to stop you. If I can get away without carrying her up three flights of stairs, I'm happy.'
'Ok then!'
'Ok!'
'Glad we had this discussion!'
Laughing Alec placed a kiss on Magnus's shoulder as Magnus turned to Isabelle and placed his hands either side of her head. Blue light shone and shimmered around her, and slowly she opened her eyes, blinking.
Looking up into the smiling faces of her friends, she squinted, 'Ouch...'
Alec raised his eyebrows, 'Yeah no shit. You got slugged pretty hard. That'll teach you to knee an asshole in the balls without an escape plan.'
Isabelle filed that away in her 'list of things to remember' file and undid her seat belt. Swinging her legs out the door of the van, she hopped out and stumbled a bit on the dismount. Magnus caught her by the shoulders, 'How about we help you up to your room hey?'
'Mm, sounds good,' what Isabelle needed was a nap and a shower. She stank like vomit and her head, though much clearer, was still pounding.
With one man at each elbow, she walked slowly into the Institute.
°ºOº°
Sitting Isabelle down on her bed, Magnus and Alec helped her peel off the thigh high boots. They were practically painted on, and there was no way she would have been able to manage them herself. Thanking them, Isabelle stood and walked over to the dresser and began pulling out some more comfortable clothes and a towel.
'So, did we get the guy?'
Jace, who had just appeared in the doorway, replied, 'Yep. After you had decided to sit down and take a rest Alec and I swooped in and saved the day.' He had his trademark smirk spread across his face and Magnus strongly considered using magic to give him some animal part instead of a nose.
Resisting the urge, he opted instead to help Isabelle undo the buckles on the back of the vest. It had a built in waist cincher, and while it looked amazing, he knew they were a bitch to get off.
Ignoring Jace, Alec turned to Isabelle, 'He is in custody and will be transported to the Clave as soon as they decided to answer the phone. You did well. If it weren't for you, Jace and I would have had to go into the bar ourselves and then there would have been a fight.'
Isabelle nodded, 'As much as I love the lot of you, I want to shower, and I am not too keen on having my brothers and my brother's boyfriend see me in all my naked glory. So unless you want the full show, rack off.'
Jace laughed and pushed off the doorframe, 'I have to go and check on Clary anyway, she's had training all day today, and I'm sure she'll want to bitch about it.' He sauntered off in the direction of the training room.
She turned to Alec and Magnus, 'You too, get lost.'
Alec hesitated, 'You sure your head is fine?'
Isabelle rolled her eyes, 'Yes, are you saying your all-powerful High Warlock isn't capable of taking care of a simple head wound?'
Magnus chuckled softly, 'She's got you there love.'
Alec huffed, 'Fine. Go shower, but I'll check on you before I leave tonight.'
Magnus grabbed Alec's hand and turned to look at Isabelle, 'You guys haven't had dinner yet have you?'
Isabelle shook her head, and it was Alec's turn to roll his eyes. His boyfriend smiled and began to pull him from the room, 'Right, we'll go to Taki's for dinner and then you can come back here, play mother hen for a few minutes and then we'll go home for dessert. Sound like a plan?'
Alec sighed, 'Yeah, sounds like a plan...' he conceded.
And just like that, Isabelle was finally alone.