Clary woke early, feeling the warmth of the early morning sun on her face. She propped herself up on one elbow, and peered across at the alarm clock. Pleased to see that they didn't need to be up for at least an hour, she let her mind wander, enjoying the peace and quiet. She stretched, careful not to wake Jace, who was still sleeping deeply.

Back from Alicante, she had just restarted full time training as a Shadowhunter. After some discussions with her mom, they'd agreed that it would be easiest if she lived in the Institute during the week, and she had been allocated her own bedroom. So far, though, when it came to night-time, she had always ended up squeezed together with Jace in his narrow bed.

She assumed that the adults knew, but it seemed that they had decided to turn a blind eye, and no-one had mentioned the matter. In the circumstances, they were probably almost as grateful as she was that Jace was there with her. She still woke screaming several times a week out of nightmares in which she failed to kill Sebastian, and was forced to drink from the Infernal Cup. When she was with Jace he would hold her, shake her gently, remind her that she was safely back in New York, though even then it often took several minutes before she could believe that she was really safe, and not tied to her brother for an eternity in Hell.

Her mother, though, sat Clary down when she got home after her first week at the Institute, saying that they needed a Serious Talk. Clary didn't say anything – she thought at this point, staying very quiet was probably the best option.

Jocelyn went on "Look, I don't want to know what you and Jace are up to, and I'm not going to ask"

So far, so good, thought Clary, but there had to be a catch. There was;

"I know that the pair of you are utterly devoted to each other, but I'm not convinced Jace was always such a model of good behaviour in the past. You need to tell him to get himself to the STD clinic, and get tested."

This was worse than Clary had thought "Mom . . ." she started, not sure whether she was more outraged or embarrassed.

"Don't Mom me" Jocelyn continued dryly "Either you need to give him my message, or I'll speak to him myself. And there's another thing. Unless you are going to assure me that none of this is necessary. . ." Clary stayed silent

"I want you to go along to the family planning clinic, and get yourself some reliable long acting contraception. Condoms are all very well, but they split, you can run out." Her voice changed, suddenly less 'determined mom', and softer. "I can imagine what you're thinking, and I know that I wasn't much older than you when Valentine and I . . . when Jonathan " She tailed off.

Clary went to her mom and hugged her; she knew that Jocelyn was thinking of how she had been in love, got married, and given birth to her first baby in her teens, only to find out that both her child and her husband were each, in their own way, a monster.

"Mom, I promise, you don't have to tell me. I love Jace, but I wasn't thinking husband-and-babies, you know. More finish training then 'travel-round-the-world-and-kill-demons'. Well - I guess. There must be some Shadowhunter equivalent of Eurail passes, maybe?"

Her mom hugged her back, hard. "I'm a bit out of touch, but there's always Wrangel Island . . . "

To Clary's intense gratitude, Jocelyn changed the subject at that point, asking if she fancied getting in pizza that evening. She didn't mention their conversation again, but on Sunday night, as Clary was getting her things together to go back to the Institute, she found a 'NYC Teen' leaflet on her bed, with addresses of sexual health clinics across the city.

Back in the Institute the next day, after dinner, Clary & Jace went back to her room. She had an essay to write for Maryse, demonstrating her understanding of the laws governing Shadowhunter – warlock interactions, and Jace brought along the book he was reading to keep her company.

"Jace" She wasn't quite sure where to start. Then she decided she might as well just go for it, and get it over with. She passed Jace the leaflet. "My mom made me sit down for a 'mother-daughter chat' over the weekend, and she says I have to make you go to the STD clinic and get checked out"

Jace had guessed from her tone that she had something serious to say. This was not, however, what he had expected.

"She what. . . . What does she think I've got, demon pox?" He started to sing a rather archaic sounding, but very rude song.

"I imagine she was probably thinking more of AIDS, chlamydia, that sort of thing" responded Clary, dryly. "Look, this wasn't my idea, she made me promise. You should be grateful that you weren't the one having to have the Serious Talk, at least."

"Well" said Jace "I guess in my case, traditionally, it should be the father figure having a manly chat. If I remember correctly, last time I saw Valentine, he was a bit too caught up in the whole world domination thing to get round to discussing the facts of life. That, and the small matter of killing me."

Clary shrugged "There's always Robert"

Jace looked at her, quizzically "Robert's pretty traditional. I'm straight, and you're Nephilim born. I think for him that gives us a ten out of ten score."

"If it helps" Clary said, slightly despondently, "I'm under instructions too – I have to go along and get what mom calls 'proper contraception', I guess she's thinking the pill or implant. She's not too keen on signing up for babysitting duties just yet"

Jace brightened up "Hey, does that mean no more condoms?"

Clary punched him in the arm "Well that depends whether you've got demon pox or not, doesn't it . . ."