“Woah, dude, where are you going looking like that?” Sebastian looked at the man who stopped him in the midwalk. It was hard to see out of his left eye, but he could make out a mop of brown curly hair. The voice sounded male and he was certainly shorter than him, and he could see the hint of a fang peering out from under his top lip. He took in a ragged breathe.

“I need...to get...to the Institute.” He forced out, his voice raspy from disuse. He made a move to push past the vampire, but the man held him in place by putting an arm in front of him. The man gave him a incredulous look, seemingly trying to comprehend the situation.

“Um...yeah, sure...but um, you look like you’re about to pass out. Oh, I know! I can take you to the Institute, I know people there.” At this, Sebastian perked up. This vampire seemed harmless in comparison to the ones he’d been told about in his academy days. The fact that he knew where the Institute was added to his benefits. The faster he got to Aline, the faster he could stop that monster from doing whatever he’d planned on doing.

“If...you could please. I’m in a bit a hurry.” The vampire nodded rapidly, to the point Sebastian worried about the strain that must cause his neck. He didn’t dwell on it much because suddenly the man was standing with his back to him asking him to jump on.

“What are you doing?” He yelled, or at least tried to, as it came out as more of a squeak than a yell, his voice still needing to recuperate. The vampire laughed.

“Dude, you’re legit dead on your feet. It’d take forever to walk with you there, but with my speed, we will have you there in a jiffy.” He replied, cheerily too, he might add. Which was bizarre, given everything he knew about vampires. Sebastian hesitated, before deciding that he’d been through worse things with that monster, than piggy-back riding off a New York vampire. After securing himself on the vampire’s back he sighed.

“Go on, then.” With that the vampire sped off, the streets blurring around them. 

The moment he gets to the Institute a chain reaction occurs at such a speed he can’t quite keep track of it. First, he feels sick, the speed the vampire took him at being too much for his already weak and unstable body. Then there is yelling, some tall and broody looking shadowhunter stalks towards them. The vampire is yelling back, but Sebastian hears everything miles away. He slowly slips off the vampire’s back, but when he tries to stand straight his body lurches forward. He feels an arm snake around his middle and it's the most solid thing he can focus on.

He sees the brooding figure turn and bark out commands while the vampire and some blonde man usher him to what he assumes is the infirmary. He is then taken by a nurse before he finally loses consciousness.

When he awakes its to a empty hospital room, quiet save for whatever machines they have him hooked on to keep him alive. He vaguely wonders how long he’s been asleep, until he hears a door open and sees the vampire come in, a tray of food in his hand. He looks up at him and smiles, his fangs visible and Sebastian can’t help but think that they don’t seem as frightening as he once thought.

“Glad to see you’re up! You’ve been out for like two days, the doctors were super worried, but I knew you’d make it. You got that survivor-esc vibe about you. Like a, a superhero vibe.” The vampire rambled on, all while placing a tray of food in front of him. Food, by the Angel, how he missed food that wasn’t scraps from whatever the monster created.

“Thank you for saving my life.” He whispered, because honestly, he had no idea if he would have been able to make it to the Institute without him. Still, he watched as the vampire stammered out a response, blushing, which he had originally thought was impossible but then again, so many ideas of his had been proven wrong tonight, why had he done it?

“Why did you save me?” He cut him off and the vampire simply blinked at him for a few moments, before averting his gaze to the ground.

“I suppose saying I was in the area isn’t going to fly, right?” Sebastian shook his head, causing the vampire to sigh.

“Alright. So when I was little, my mom used to tell me that when people did mean things to me or hurt my feelings, that a good way for me to feel better was to help someone else. And, well, these um, these last few days have been, well, really horrible, like, hero reaching his lowest, almost could be my villain origin story horrible. And well, when I saw you, I honestly thought you were some homeless dude and I was just gonna give you my coat and buy you some dinner, but then you asked about the Institute and you had runes, and dude, you looked so messed up, that I completely forgot about my issues. Which I guess really did work out anyway, cause like that’s the whole point of my mom’s lesson, was to like help those and you will be helped or something like that and …. ” Sebastian stopped listening after a certain point, oddly fascinated with this creature. Every vampire he knew, or heard of was meant to be this brooding, dark creature of the night, who cared for no one else. Cruel and manipulative is what they were always described as, but this man, this…

“What’s your name?” He interrupted. The vampire in questioned stopped his ramble before out stretching his hand, and soft smile on his face.

“Lewis. Simon Lewis. G-d, Jace was right that sounds horrible.” He shook his head. “And you must be the real Sebastian Verlac?” Sebastian slowly shook his hand, as if unsure and nodded.

“That would be me, yes. I don’t suppose you’ve caught the imposter?” Simon grimaced.

“Not exactly, they definitely tried to, especially when he showed up here, hoping you hadn’t. I know there was a fight and he got away. Which reminds me, you are gonna have a lot a security around you until he gets caught, since you know, you foiled his nefarious plot or whatever.” Sebastian snorted.

“Nefarious plot? That’s a new one. Tell me, Simon, was Aline in here by any chance?” Simon grinned and nodded.

“Yeah, she was! She was super worried about you, but she agreed that you were a fighter. I can go get her right now, if you want? She was talking with Isabelle, so she shouldn’t be too hard to find.” Sebastian nodded and the vampire walked swiftly to the door. Once he reached it the blonde called his name.