#& thinking about how magnus did not take that advice and how protocol is in my opinion mediocre | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

bytheangell · 5 years

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This Is the Coda That Never Ends... Part 21

(Read on AO3) (Start from the beginning)

Andrew was right in assuming the brief reprise he gets when he returns from leaving Clary with Lorenzo, Magnus, and Alec is the last he’s going to get for quite some time. He can feel the tension in the Institute the moment Lydia’s presence is made public knowledge. It starts off with a few rumors, people who aren’t aware of what’s going on with Clary only knowing that Lydia Branwell is at the New York Institute, and that Lydia Branwell is still an envoy to the Clave. It’s certainly a bad look without perspective.

However, it’s a worse look with the full story. Isabelle makes the announcement sometime after lunch, calling everyone together to update them on the fact that Clary Fray turned up outside of the Institute the night before but was swiftly removed thanks to Andrew’s diligent attention to the security cameras.

Unwanted eyes turn to him and he wishes she left him out of it, but knows that wouldn’t be a good look for transparency while Lydia’s around. It isn’t like it’s a secret, his name is on the report, too, but he just hates the attention.

Doing his best not to pay them any mind, Andrew keeps his eyes planted firmly on Isabelle as she continues her debriefing- that Clary doesn’t remember anything, but that clearly some things are starting to come back to her, so any sightings of her near the Institute, or the Dumort, or anywhere significant to the Shadow World are to be reported immediately.

“And who are we supposed to report them to ?” Says a voice from the back, the words far from an innocent inquiry and clearly meant to stir trouble. Andrew tenses, but Isabelle never loses her cool as she glances to her left at Lydia with a polite, charming smile.

“Anything relevant to Clary Fray can be reported to either myself, or to Miss Branwell. You are all to cooperate fully during her stay here, and assist in anything she may ask if you should you find it within your means. Miss Branwell has unrestricted access to whatever she needs here. Understood?”

A chorus of ‘understood’ echoes in the room from each and every Shadowhunter present, knowing the question isn’t rhetorical.

The look of slight surprise on Lydia’s face as she stands next to Isabelle says it all: she didn’t come here and demand those allowances, but Isabelle offers them up before it can be ordered of her. That’s a bold gamble to take, leaving Lydia entirely unchecked during her investigation, but it’s one hell of a power play.

Oh shit , Andrew realizes with a small smirk, Lightwood means business .

Lydia bristles for just a moment before that confident smile is plastered back across her face.

“Thank you, Isabelle. I appreciate the warm welcome, and I promise not to get in the way of any daily operations. Just go about your jobs as if I’m not even here.”

Once they’re dismissed from the announcement everyone scatters as quickly as possible. There’s a challenge behind Isabelle and Lydia’s eyes, a sharpness to their words no matter how professional, that lets the Institute know that this is far from a friendly social call.

Andrew wishes he could follow Lydia’s advice and go back to work as if she isn’t even there, but unfortunately he hears his name called just as he’s reaching the elevators.

“Mr. Underhill?”

He freezes, glad he’s facing away from her so that she can’t see the instinctive grimace that crosses his features before he controls it into a neutral smile. Andrew turns to face her while dropping his hand from where it was about to press down on the call button.

“Miss Branwell, how nice to see you again,” he says. “Did Isabelle send you over to grab the spare keys to the guest room?” He asks hopefully, knowing full well that he isn’t going to be that lucky.

“Ah, no, though I suppose I will want those at some point too,” Lydia says. “I was actually going to ask if you could go over some of the security tapes with me when you have a moment. I know you’re in high demand around here, so if you’re not free now we can meet at your earliest convenience.”

Andrew considers this for a moment before shrugging. He doesn’t have anything pressing to attend to, nothing he can’t push off until later. And the sooner he gets this over with the sooner he hopefully won’t have to worry about his role in all of this. He’s, more or less, the eyes of the Institute these days. So obviously he’s expected to see, and know, everything. He certainly knows more than he wants to most of the time.

“Sure, now works. Follow me,” he says, turning back towards the elevator and pressing the button.

The ride to the surveillance room isn’t a long one but it’s silent between the two of them. They worked together a little bit in the short period of time Lydia took over the Institute last year, and during her time presiding over Isabelle’s trial. Obviously neither of those two things put her in his good graces back then, though he did feel bad for her after the whole dramatically failed wedding thing… not that anyone brings that up anymore, least of all to Lydia herself.

Instead he says, “Do you think you’ll be staying with us long?”

“Why,” Lydia counters. “Eager to get rid of me already?”

He thinks he can sense something that almost sounds like resignation in her tone despite the smile she tries to keep present.

“Not at all,” Andrew replies. “It isn’t often we get visitors for more than a few hours anymore,” he admits. “Your visit is definitely bringing some excitement, which is always a nice change of pace.”

“The constant danger of demon hunting not exciting enough for you?” Lydia challenges, laughing. This time her tone matches her smile a little more; it’s lighter, a little more relaxed as the elevator doors open and they walk down an otherwise empty hallway. Since it isn’t a room used by many within the Institute the surveillance room is kept mostly away from the busier areas.

“And you were the one who found Clary when she turned up here, aren’t you? Seems like you’re already getting most of the recent excitement.”

Andrew hums in confirmation but doesn’t comment.

They enter the room and he switches on a few monitors, just so she can get a look at the cameras he has set up around the Institute, inside and out, while he pulls up what she wants to see.

“Here,” he says, finding the footage easily since he’d already pulled it for Isabelle earlier. Lydia comes up behind him and they both watch as Clary approaches the Institute. He can hear movement behind him as Lydia shifts, bringing a hand up to grip the back of his chair at the reaction Clary has the closer she gets to the building. And then the portal, Lorenzo’s arrival, and Andrew’s own cameo, ending with a quick phone call before he and Lorenzo take Clary through a portal and off camera.

“Can you rewind that?” Lydia asks, and Andrew does - not just once, but three times for her.

“Who did you call?” She asks the second time through when he pulls out his phone.

“Isabelle,” he says. “There aren’t exactly standard protocols to follow for this sort of thing.”

“And where did she tell you to take Clary?”

“Magnus’ loft,” he says, and Lydia nods again. He’s keeping his answers as short and to the point as possible, getting the feeling that this is more of an interrogation than a casual conversation over what happened.

“And then what?”

This is the part he expects the most questions about, but thankfully he has an easy out of his own to avoid accidentally saying too much, or the wrong thing.

“I don’t know. Once we got her somewhere safe to lay down I had to come back here - I was still on duty, I had to finish my shift out, so Lorenzo portalled me back while Clary was still unconscious.”

“And Lorenzo showed up to help because you called him,” it isn’t a question, and he thinks he can pick apart the slightest hint of amusement in her tone when she adds, “That was a pretty immediate response. Does he often react so quickly to assist the Shadowhunters here at the Institute, or…” Lydia trails off but the implication behind her words is clear whether she finishes the thought out loud or not.

“He would’ve done the same for anyone,” Andrew insists, knowing full well that’s a lie. “He’s the High Warlock, after all. It’s kind of his job.” Of course Lorenzo would help if asked but he highly doubts Lorenzo would’ve dropped everything with no explanation the way he had for Andrew in that moment.

“I see. Well, I hope he’s that eager when I arrange a meeting with him,” Lydia says, and Andrew curses mentally. Of course she’d go to him to fill in the blanks from after Andrew left to return to work. Fuck.

Lydia continues without waiting for a response, which is good, because Andrew doesn’t have one to give her. “She looks like she’s in considerable pain here,” Lydia says, pausing the tape at the moment Clary doubles over clutching at her head.

“She was, according to Lorenzo. I only saw it on the camera, though.” And that much is true enough. It’s safe for him to not say anything more on the subject - he shouldn’t know anything else, after all, and what he does know is pure speculation. All of this is pure speculation - not a single one of them really have any clue what’s going on with Clary, not Alec or Isabelle or the Clave or even Clary herself, from what he’s been told. So the last thing he wants to do is spread guesses and hearsay.

Lydia seems to accept that answer at face value because she doesn’t ask him any more questions about it. In fact, there’s a long silence and Andrew starts to think for a hopeful second that he’s in the clear, when--

“Do you have other surveillance of Clary?” Lydia asks, catching him off guard.

“What?”

“Other tapes, from around the city? I know the cameras here can tap into half the city. Do we know where else she’s been, who else she’s spoken to? If she remembered The Institute then maybe she remembers more.”

“I don’t have any I know about to pull up, but I can see what I can find and save them for you. I checked in on her this morning but she was just going to an art class, nothing worth noting.” He hopes that his voice is steadier than he feels.

“I’d appreciate that.”

When it looks like Lydia is just going to stand there, waiting, Andrew clarifies, “...it’ll take some time, though. Might take a few days to get anything worth noting, even if I pull a few people in to help. That’s a lot of city to cover, after all.”

“Oh, of course. I suppose I’ve taken enough of your time today anyway, Underhill. Thank you, and let me know if there are any new developments.”

Andrew goes back to work and it isn’t until a few hours later that Isabelle comes down to the surveillance room.

“What did you show her besides the day Clary showed up here?”

“Nothing,” Lorenzo says.

“Why not?” Isabelle questions. “I said full cooperation.”

“...I thought you were just, you know, saying that!” Andrews says, a little thrown off by the declaration. “I wiped most of those tapes from when we saw Clary going to the old Jade Wolf spot, and from the art show. I didn’t think you’d want Jace or Maia implemented in any of this…”

“ Underhill ,” Isabelle practically hisses.

“I did it before this was, you know, an official investigation. I didn't want some nosy new recruit stumbling over it when you told me to keep it quiet. I didn't even tell Lorenzo!" Andrew points out. "Can’t we just say we were making space on the servers?”

“And the only thing missing were the days Clary Fray decided to make her way back into the Shadow World?!” Isabelle points out, and Andrew frowns.

“Listen, this isn’t my first rodeo. I was covering all of us. Myself included. If she found out I saw Clary on those tapes even just a day ago without reporting it, that’s on me, too.”

Isabelle sighs. He knows she can’t argue that much. As a Shadowhunter self-preservation is just too high of a natural reaction.

“I can get the footage back, say I only just found it looking back after Lydia’s request. If that’s what you really want. But make sure it is, because once they see Clary leaving Maia’s restaurant and Jace showing up immediately after, and once they realize who bought all of Clary’s paintings, Jace, Maia, and Magnus will be the next people under Lydia’s microscope.”

He thought he was proactively protecting people he’s grown to care for and respect over the past year. And what a difference a year can make. At first Underhill wasn’t sure there was a world he’d ever get along with Jace Herondale, but now here he is, looking out for Herondale and doing what needed to be done to protect Clary.

Or at least, what he thought needed to be done. He’s a little surprised with how easily he came to the decision to hide the footage initially only to have it brought up as a matter of simple protocol.

If he's learned anything in the last year of growing closer to the Lightwoods it's that sometimes what should be done isn't always the most obvious matter of protocol. So he made a judgement call. Was it wrong?

The look on Isabelle's face tells him she's as conflicted as he is.

"Just tell me what you decide ," she says, worrying her lower lip.

"Oh no you don't, " Andrew says. "This isn't my call."

"It was your call when you deleted that footage in the first place," Isabelle points out without missing a beat.

"Ouch." Andrew sighs. "If you want my opinion , I don't like that they sent an envoy instead of just asking for updates, or letting us run this ourselves. If all you told them is that she showed up her here and Lorenzo took her away then let her go, it might be best if they think that’s where this started so they don’t go digging too far back. Maia and Jace won't say anything, will they?"

Isabelle considers this for a moment before shaking her head. " I don't think so, especially not if I ask them not to, but…" she looks suddenly uncomfortable. "Do you think Lorenzo will?”

“You already put everything he was there for in the report, I don’t think he’d go out of his way to…” Andrew starts, but his words trail off at the peculiar look which crosses Isabelle’s features as he speaks. “You didn’t put everything he did in the report, did you?” Isabelle’s silence is all the answer he needs. “What happened after I left?”

“Do you actually want to know? Or do you want to keep your plausible deniability for when you talk to Lydia again?”

It’s a decision that’s more difficult to make than Andrew’s proud of, so he stalls. “Will knowing affect my ability to protect the Institute?”

Isabelle doesn’t answer right away. “No,” she decides. “It shouldn’t matter to anything regarding the Institute.”

“Then don’t tell me.” Andrew isn’t certain that’s the right decision, but it’s the safest one he has for now. He can always find out later, but once he knows he can’t take that back. “Maybe I’ll ask later, or maybe Lorenzo will tell me, but for now… if I don’t have to know, perhaps it’s best I don’t.”

He’s more than a little afraid that Isabelle isn’t going to like that answer even though she’s the one who gave him the option. Her face is unreadable but then she nods with the slightest flicker of a smile.

“I don’t blame you,” she admits. “Thank you for everything you’ve done so far. And as far as the other footage of Clary from around the city… you said you got rid of it. It isn’t traceable?”

Andrew shakes his head ‘no’.

“Then no one needs to know we were ever watching it before. Start ‘looking’ around the Dumort, or the Seelie entrances, and hopefully Lydia will get tired and leave before you reach anything worth reporting.”

Andrew nods. “Understood.”

Isabelle hesitates as if she might say something else, but changes her mind and turns to leave instead.

Andrew’s almost at the end of his day when he gets a call from Lorenzo inviting him over for dinner, saying something about an abundance of stew, and agrees.

It isn’t until he’s texting Lorenzo that he’s done for the day and waiting for the portal to open that he realizes he’s actually a little nervous. This is the first time he’s seeing Lorenzo since he took care of Clary for him, at his request. What else did Andrew inadvertently get him wrapped up in, he has to wonder after everything Isabelle said, and does he even want to know?

“I was starting to think they might not let you leave. Is the Institute on high alert with the Clave hanging about?” Lorenzo asks conversationally, stirring a pot on the stove. Normally he’d use magic for something as simple as reheating food, which strikes Andrew as peculiar, but Lorenzo is speaking again before he can dwell too long on it. “I hope you don’t mind leftovers.”

“It’s just an envoy,” Andrew clarifies, not that it makes things that much better. “And of course not. That smells amazing.”

“Isabelle said it was good, but then Simon told me I couldn’t trust her tastebuds so… the verdict is still out I suppose.”

“...Isabelle and Simon were here?” Andrew asks, thrown off by the casual way that information is mentioned.

“Yes, for the-” Lorenzo starts, but stops himself as he finally looks up and puts all of his attention on Andrew. “-they didn’t tell you what happened after you left?”

Andrew shakes his head. “No. She was going to, but Lydia was asking me all sorts of questions and I figured it was best for everyone if I just didn’t know.”

Lorenzo’s grip tightens slightly on the wooden spoon he’s holding, his shoulders tensing. “I see,” He says.

"But if you want to talk about it-"

"No, no I wouldn't want to put you in a compromising position." Lorenzo turns his gaze back to the stove.

"I really don't mind. It's my fault you got involved at all-"

"It's fine," Lorenzo says, but the tone Lorenzo says it in leaves Andrew with the distinct impression that isn't fine at all. “I’ve had more than enough Shadowhunter business for one day, anyway.”

Andrew knows better than to press a third time, so he reluctantly drops the topic for now. He decides not to point out that, as a Shadowhunter, that’s pretty much all he has to talk about, but he’ll manage for a night.

"Okay," Andrew agrees instead. They so pointedly avoid any talk of work or Clary that Andrew almost forgets to warn his boyfriend about Lydia's desire to meet with him until after dinner.

"Oh! I know we said no Shadowhunter talk tonight, but I did want to give you a heads up that Lydia might be reaching out to you about… well, she only knows what Izzy put in the report. But she mentioned wanting to talk to you soon.” Andrew says as he gathers the dishes to put them in the sink. He knows he doesn’t have to, that Lorenzo can clean all of this up with a wave of his hand, but instead the warlock simply watches him do this little bit the ‘old fashioned’ way he’s so used to out of habit. Normally Lorenzo argues with him over it but today Lorenzo hands his plate over without comment.

“And I suppose there’s a script I’m meant to follow in what I tell her?” Lorenzo sighs, sounding suddenly tired, but Andrew only shakes his head.

“No. At least, none that I know of. I haven’t told her about Maia or Jace or anything other than the night she showed up at the Institute, but I have no idea what else she knows from other sources. Whatever you tell her is up to you.”

Andrew knows there’s a lot of loose ends in all of this. Too many people know things that the Clave doesn’t, and it’s too late to go back and make them public knowledge now without getting a lot of people in trouble.

The look Lorenzo levels him with is a clear sign that whatever it is Lorenzo did that ended up with Isabelle and Simon and who knows who else here in his home, it’s big. Big enough that Lorenzo actually looks worried for a moment over the idea of speaking freely on it.

“I appreciate the warning,” Lorenzo says finally. Andrew waits for any elaboration but receives none - there’s nothing but silence stretching out as Lorenzo gets lost in his thoughts for a few moments.

“Lorenzo, I don’t know what you did, but I don’t want you getting yourself into any trouble because of me,” Andrew says, despite promising himself he wouldn’t bring it back up tonight.

Lorenzo looks over at him in surprise which slowly shifts to a fond smile. “I know you don’t, dear.” He glances at the clock on the wall. “It’s getting late. I should turn in, it’s been a long day.” Lorenzo walks towards the wall and flips the light switch in the dining area off.

It’s only then that Andrew processes the little things throughout their dinner that all click together with one final moment of revelation: Lorenzo isn’t just tired, he’s drained . He hasn’t used magic once since the portal to bring Andrew over from the Institute.

“Hey,” Andrew starts softly, reaching a hand out to rest on Lorenzo’s shoulder as he turns away from him. “Are you okay?”

“Of course I am. I just need a decent rest and I’ll be good as new,” Lorenzo says. “No need to worry.” But Andrew is worried, because Lorenzo guards his magic closely and never allows his reserves to get low enough to be a danger. Whatever he’d done to weaken himself this much… whatever Lorenzo isn’t telling Andrew about… the previous concern Andrew felt only compounds with the idea that this is even indirectly his fault.

“And I have just enough to portal you back to the Institute, so-”

Andrew cuts Lorenzo off with a shake of his head. “Absolutely not. I’ll take a cab.”

“Andrew, don’t be ridiculous.”

Andrew stubbornly stands his ground. “What’s ridiculous is that it took me so long to realize. I should’ve seen it sooner…”

“...at least spend the night, then. And I can portal you back in the morning?” Lorenzo amends his offer.

“Only if you let me draw us both a nice, relaxing bath before bed. I think we could both use it right now.” Andrew watches as the ultimatum draws a fond exasperation coupled with an overly dramatic eye-roll from Lorenzo.

“Alright,” Lorenzo finally agrees, and Andrew smiles, determined to take care of his boyfriend as best he can with what little he has to work with.

Andrew isn’t sure which of them Lorenzo is trying to protect more by remaining so stubbornly tight-lipped over what happened, but what he does know is that he isn’t about to let it drive a wedge between them if he can help it.

And whatever Lorenzo did that left him so out of sorts today, well, it better had been worth it.

#andrew underhill #lydia branwell #isabelle lightwood #lorenzo rey #shadowhunters #reyhill #listen i promise the tensions will fade okay #i need them to be happy eventually #just... not yet because i'm the worst #elle writes a few deadbeat lines #long post

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