Chapter Text
Lucifer wasn’t sure what caused Little Duck to wake up crying, but the sniffles and whimpers in his ear worried him. He ruled out the easy problems, then the harder ones, but nothing he did seemed to help. Aside from holding her, that only made her cry less. She seemed miserable, rubbing her face and pulling on his collar. “What is it, Little Duck? You don’t want a bottle, you’re in your favorite nightie, and I even have Mrs. Feather.” Lucifer was exhausted, but not in the lack of sleep sense.
Little Duck whined, smooshing her face into his collar and gumming at the skin. He sighed and gently rubbed her back, letting his nails scratch in a soothing manner. “Let’s try a bath. Huh? We can have the purple bubbles!” He tried to cheer, faltering when Little Duck bit him. “Woah, no, no no no no. Little Duck, we can’t do that.” With a wince, he set her down. “I’ll call Auntie Bel,” He mumbled when she began to bawl.
… … …
When Bel first took over the Ring of Sloth and became its Patron -of a sort- she had been naive, young, and full of energy. She’d built her first house with a clinic and a bathhouse. She hated sickness. The feeling made her feel like she had diluted blood between her skin and made her feel slow and bloated. Her second house had been more of a house and had two rooms that had been commandeered by her siblings after moving out from Lucifer’s. When she had to move again, she had created a split area in the quietest part of her Ring. On one side was what she imagined Eden had looked like, minus the golden glow. The other was what Leviathan called quaint and homely. She didn’t care. She kept her place clean. With a lock on her lab and then more locks on the cabinets that housed medicine that was known to work and experiments she hoped to test.
Belphagor huffed in irritation. Normally, she was left in peace and didn’t interact with her family unless dire circumstances. Such as her brother gaining a new child, another brother begging for help with his amputee lover, or her sister breaking in and getting a surprise dose of something.
“Beeellllll, stop bein’ mad.” The very drunk and drugged voice of her younger sibling Beelzebub made her roll her eyes. “Ooh fuck.” Ingrained habit had her shoving the other onto her side away from Bel as she began to vomit.
“I told you to stay out of the cabinets.” She repeated while taking note of the muted colors of Bee as she continued to be ill. “Vortex,”
“On it,” the gentleman her sister somehow snagged was also used to helping. “Uh, do, your,”
“Bel!” A panicked voice had the Hellhound jumping a second before a swirl of energy manifested the King of Hell in Bel’s home. She wanted to groan and smash her head, but that would mean more work for her.
Bel took in his filthy appearance along with Princess Dowan clinging and crying on him. Where Lucifer usually kept his appearance absurdly neat and pressed, he was the complete opposite now. Sweatpants that hung on him, a single sock, and a faded red undershirt with questionable stains. Paired with the mess he called hair and the smears of drool, Bel was reminded forcibly of when Charlie had been a baby and none of them knew what to do.
“Your Majesty!” Vortex greeted, attempting to bow before Bee began to throw up again. Not that Lucifer noticed as he tried to soothe his baby and beg for Bel’s help with his eyes.
“She was fine yesterday!” He explained, darting around her when she carefully lifted Dowan out of his arms. Even she winced when Dowan screamed and latched onto his shirt. “It’s okay, shh Little Duck. It is okay, right? She’s been like this all morning. She keeps trying to bite me too but gets angry when I try to put her down. Is it something I’m doing? Charlie wasn’t like this. I did something, I know it.”
“Yes. Shut up.” Bel ordered using her tail to hold Dowan while sending a small Dust Devil to push Lucifer into a chair. “Tea. Drink.” Bel’s voice barely rose but it was enough for Lucifer to summon a set she kept in her kitchen. She trailed her sand over the infant, brow furrowed as she tried to find something that could be the problem.
“Lulu, baaabe! Lil Lollie sura ain’t feel,” Bee slurred before groaning.
“Bee?” Lucifer’s confused and concerned tone drew Bel’s attention for a moment. “Uh, hi?”
“Vortex, your Majesty.” Yes, Bel liked this one. Her sister wasn’t known for her skill in romance but this one had manners and had yet to make ugly comments under his breath.
“Oh, hi, I said that. I mean. Hi, I’m Lucifer, which you know. Shit, I,” Bel ignored the others as Lucifer tried to introduce himself. She needed to focus, there wasn’t anything physical wrong with Dowan, but Bee’s comment had sparked an idea.
Stripping Dowan down to her diaper, Bel carefully traced a claw from the baby’s chin to her navel. At first, nothing aside from a red line appeared, and then it darkened to a maroon color. Bel hummed, curious as the color quickly disappeared and Dowan whined.
“Lucifer,” the call of his name was barely out of her mouth before the blonde was at her side. Slowly she repeated the process, noting how this time the maroon appeared faster as it was drawn to the surface. “You have more Angelic than Demonic. You saw Charlotte?”
“Uh, yeah, we…I mean, she called and we went to see her.” Lucifer admitted with a confused lilt. “Oh shit, I didn’t even! Fuck!” Bel didn’t respond verbally, already exhausted from having to talk so much. Gently she grabbed one of his wrists and laid it with her own on Dowan’s stomach. Slowly, so she wouldn’t shock the baby’s system, she drew a portion of her Demonic Energy and eased it through Lucifer’s palm. It was difficult, his Angelic Energy fighting her own before settling when it deemed her not a threat.
“Wow,” the rough whisper almost distracted her as Dowan glowed softly and finally settled.
“Now that her body has been exposed to the heavier energy, she’ll need to be around it.” Bel told Lucifer with a sigh, using her tail to keep hold of the slowly settling baby while returning to where Bee had passed out. “Charlotte and whomever she is with will need to learn to hold their Energy but Dowan will be fine in a few days.”
“So Little Duck is okay?” Lucifer asked in a breathless whisper and sagged when Bel moved her tail to give him the baby. “Don’t scare me like that,” he tried to joke as the baby yawned.
“I wasn’t.” Bel said in the silence as she checked Bee’s eyes and slowly returning color. “Beelzebub will be fine; a headache and sore throat.” She told the large male, summoning a vial of green sludge. “She needs more calories and proteins. Mix this with her smoothies.” She ordered and tossed a blanket over her.
“Now sleep.”
… … …
Lucifer sorely debated going to see Charlie again before making the call to Sera. Just the thought of contact with her made his insides twist nauseatingly. He knew she’d say no and spout about the safety of Heaven. She’d spin it as her protecting them from the Angelic Council and in turn his siblings.
“It’s so stupid!” He grumbled in frustration. “They’ll say no, I know it! And then I’ll have to tell Char Char, and have you seen her sad eyes? Wait, no, you haven’t. Maybe if you stayed in her arms? I can put you in my favorite outfit! You’ll be adorable! Wait! No, Lucifer. Don’t get distracted.” He rambled, forcing himself to take a deep breath.
Dowan seemed content to watch him, a half finished bottle crammed into her side while she held her soft duck toy. Since coming back from Bel’s she’d returned to her easy self, which Lucifer was grateful for. Currently though he almost wished she’d be a distraction away from making the call.
“Want to help your old man?” He asked with a bit of desperation and groaned when Little Duck warbled and waved her plushie. “Right, yeah,” he mumbled and reached for his phone. “But first, ack!” Lucifer groaned, starting up at his ceiling while his back and tailbone smarted.
“Shades take me,” he mumbled. Slinging one arm over his eyes, he blindly tapped his phone and brought it to his ear.
He really didn’t want an answer. He could come up with something. Charlie would be disappointed and upset and possibly hate him but,
“Morningstar,” the vaguely disdainful tone made him flinch. “What is your reason for calling?” Sera demanded and Lucifer could picture her impatient stare.
“I need a meeting.” Good! Short and to the point. He could handle that. He could hear Sera moving, papers being shuffled, before he spoke more. “Technically for Charlie.”
“What would this meeting entail?” She wasn’t saying no yet. He could count that as progress. Lifting his arm, he checked on Little Duck, smiling a bit when he saw the edge of one foot and heard her coo.
“Well,” he rolled over and got to his feet. “Charlie wants to speak to you about a project she has. A, no no Little Duck we chew Mrs Feathers, not toes.” He admonished, gently pulling on Little Duck’s foot and chuckling when she warbled and pouted.
“What are you doing?” He blinked, he forgot for a second that he needed to focus on Sera. “If this meeting is not urgent,”
“It is!” He quickly shouted, wincing when Little Duck jumped at his tone. “It is.” He corrected more softly. “The Exterminators can no longer be a solution. Charlie has an alternative solution and you need to hear it.”
“A meeting involving the contract Heaven and Hell have agreed on will involve all parties or no parties at all. I have priorities that overrule a child’s whims and so do Michael and the others.” Sera’s stern tone made him sigh in frustration. “If that is all.”
“Sera!” He heard her pause. “Look. Charlie’s solution is a good one. One I think…one I think we could try. If you meet with her, just you, and talk. I know,”
“Lucifer,” he froze. “It is not fair,”
“It’s not fair to my daughter that Heaven ignores her!” He interrupted with a snap. “Look, I’m sorry. I know…I know I’m the problem. But my children are innocent. Give Charlie a chance. You don’t have to talk about the contract or even make a deal.”
He waited with his nails digging into the wood of his work table for Sera to respond. He could feel his tail swaying behind him, responding to the emotions he was trying to keep a leash on. “What is her project?”
“Redemption.” He breathed, feeling relief shake his knees as he spun around and smiled at Little Duck. “Charlie wants to try to redeem a Sinner and get them into Heaven.” He could feel Sera’s disbelief from Heaven. “And isn’t that what Father was all about after he talked with Joshua? He literally died so that humans could get redeemed.”
“Lord Father has not been awake since Joshua’s…ascension. But you are not wrong.” Sera sounded less disdainful and more intrigued as she spoke. “I will meet with the Daughter of the Morningstar and one companion in a week. Send details for her location within a day so that we can open a portal for her.”
“Thank you Sera,” he wasn’t sure she heard him but he didn’t care either. He got Charlie a meeting. Now he needed to pass out or drink. “That was exhausting.” He said to Little Duck, playfully tugging on her chewed plushie. “And we still have to tell Charlie.”