Author's Note: 350 words of canon divergence from the beginning of season 3, to the prompt of "I can tell you're lying."
***
"Do you think I'm stupid?" Alec had just about enough of Jace avoiding him, so this time he simply blocked the door. Jace glared at him, but Alec was not to be put off, not again. "Jace, our bond broke, and we both know what that means. So the only question remains, why the hell do you keep lying to me?"
Jace's expression turned to stone. "Alec, you're being unreasonable. If I really died at Lake Lyn, how come I'm here?"
"Well, I don't know, which is why I'm asking you, my parabatai, to tell me the truth." Alec crossed his arms decisively in front of his chest, and something in his posture seemed to get through to Jace, anguish flickering in his expressive eyes. It made Alec want to reach out, but instead he forced himself not to give in, determined to get answers. He couldn't help the softening in his voice, however: "Whatever it is, you must know that I'm with you."
He could see the moment Jace's determination broke, and he would have felt guilty, if he hadn't been so very desperate. His parabatai seemed to shrink, to fall in on himself, and when he finally spoke, it was in a small voice that Alec hadn't heard since the last time a much younger Jace Wayland had woken from a horrible nightmare of his supposed father dying. "Valentine killed me, to summon the Angel. And Clary... Clary brought me back."
"Brought you back," Alec repeated dumbly, before realization struck. His next words came out in a strangled whisper: "She asked the Angel. She used the Wish. Oh, Jace..."
He only noticed that he'd moved when he was right in front of Jace, arms opening just in time for his parabatai to collapse into them. Jace was sobbing, his entire body shaking against Alec's. "I'm so afraid, Alec. Something... something went wrong, I can feel it."
"Shhh..." Tightening his embrace, Alec pressed a kiss to Jace's temple. "Whatever it is, parabatai, we'll get to the bottom of it. You and me together, the way it's supposed to be."
