Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Lucifer would forever go over this moment. He would obsess over the signs that were right in front of his face. Signs that he could have seen if only he had paid more attention. If he hadn’t blinded himself with hope and love.

The story of his existence.

Yet he didn’t see. He didn’t see the way that Chloe’s eyes watched him with fear. He didn’t hear the tremor in her voice that occasionally popped up. He didn’t even notice the way that she watched him, her attention rapt as he sipped on his wine. Her own grilled cheese sandwich barely touched despite it being one of her favorites.

In fact, Lucifer didn’t know that anything was wrong until black spots danced in his vision. Putting a hand to his head, Lucifer tried to blink the spots away.

“Lucifer?” her voice sounded so distant to his ears, which were now ringing. As if sound itself was now attacking him, something that Lucifer had never experienced before. It was disorientating. “Are you alright?”

“Something is wrong,” he said, his own voice just as distant as Chloe’s was. He tried to stand, not quite sure what he intended to do. It didn’t matter. The moment he stood, his legs gave out. Lucifer crashed to the floor just as blood filled his mouth with a metallic tang.

“Lucifer!” Chloe was suddenly there, her face appearing in his blurred vision. Her lips kept moving, indicating that she was talking. He couldn’t make out what it was that she was saying, the noise in his ears far too loud. Lucifer couldn’t even focus on her lips, his sight growing steadily darker.

‘Leave,’ he tried to say. He wanted to tell her that it would be alright once she was far enough away. Whatever was happening would stop the moment he was no longer vulnerable. But his throat clogged with blood and his tongue refused to work.

Lucifer struggled to stay away. He fought against the poison, for what else could it be, that spread throughout his body. The Devil had been hoping to warn Chloe about what would happen if he was injured enough to die before something like this happened. She had no way of knowing that dying wouldn’t be permanent for him. He’d wanted to ease her into it before springing too much else on her.

Another careful plan, shot to hell.

Instead, Lucifer found that he was too far gone to properly fight to keep awake. Still, he wasn’t worried. If this had to happen, it was for the best it was the both of them alone in his penthouse. After all, there was no one on Earth that he trusted more than the woman before him.

Lucifer was dragged into unconsciousness with the belief that everything would be fine by the time that he came to.

Chloe was there, after all.

Chloe Decker watched as Lucifer lost the battle against whatever the hell was in that ‘sedative’ that Kinley had given her to dose him with. Blood dripped from his mouth, trailing down his face and splattered onto the floor and his clothes.

It worked fast. One moment Lucifer was talking to her, the next he was cradling his head. Then, in quick succession, he had stood only to collapse immediately.

It was horrible to watch. Her insides twisted as she tried to reassure him that it would be alright. Chloe had tried to keep the guilt and fear out of her voice as she spoke, though it hadn’t seemed like he had been hearing her anyways.

It was now or never. Chloe turned his head to the side, giving the blood a place to drain. Choking on his own blood wasn’t something that she wanted to do to him. Even if this entire thing was her doing to start with. Even if Chloe was the one that had put that poison responsible for this in his drink in the first place.

She could stop now. Chloe could call an ambulance, get rid of all the evidence that it was her who had poisoned the drink, and have no one be the wiser. She was a Detective, it would have been easy to spin this properly. Kinley was the only one who would really know. It wasn’t like the priest could turn her in without implicating himself.

Part of her wanted to do just that. Tonight had been nothing like she expected.

Lucifer was awkward, not the charming character she was used to seeing. He’d been nervous and excited, clearly uncertain even as he pulled out all of her favorite things. Even the music she liked, music that he hated for the most part. It was thoughtful. Sweet.

And yet, Chloe couldn’t forget that burned visage with hellfire eyes looking at her from above the body of Marcus Pierce. Of Cain. She couldn’t forget deaths that had colored the years of their partnership. The priest Malcolm had killed just because he’d argued with Lucifer. Frank Lawrence, Rose Davis, Mike Carey, Reese Getty, and Charlotte. Who knew how many more? All people that might have lived if Lucifer had been in Hell where he belonged.

He wouldn’t go back there on his own. Chloe knew that. As much as it hurt to do this to him, to watch him suffer, Chloe couldn’t let his selfishness get more people killed. Earth wasn’t made for Lucifer. It wasn’t made for Maze, who was a demon. Neither of them belonged here, Chloe was just making sure that they returned to where they did belong.

Even if it hurt her heart to do so.

Being the right thing to do didn’t mean it was the easy thing to do.

“I’m sorry,” she said to his unconscious body, tears welling up in her eyes. “I hope that you forgive me for this, one day.”

Swiping the tears away from her eyes, Chloe pulled out the burner phone and dialed the newly familiar number.

She didn’t wait for him to speak when the ring stopped.

“It’s done.”

“You did well, child,” the voice of the priest answered back.

Chloe didn’t say anything else, merely hung up the phone and slipped it back into her pocket.

Heart heavy, Chloe gathered the wine glasses. She poured the rest of Lucifer’s wine into the bottle along with her own. Then she emptied the last remnants of the poison she’d used into the bottle as well. That done, Chloe took both to the sink to wash them.

Drying one, she used a rag to take it back over to Lucifer and carefully wrapped his hand around it in the same way she watched him pick it up earlier. Fingerprints now returned to the glass, Chloe used the rag to grab the wine bottle and swirl it. Making sure to mix the poison around. Then she poured more wine into the newly cleaned glass, making sure not to fill it all the way. She picked it up once more with the rag.

Standing next to Lucifer’s body, Chloe dropped the half-full glass to the floor, watching as it shattered. The red of the wine spread, a parody of the blood that was still pooling from Lucifer’s mouth onto the floor.

Her stomach churned at the sight. Tears threatened to fall again.

Chloe closed her eyes, forcing the sting of tears back. This was necessary, she reminded herself. Everything that was happening was because it needed to. The world wasn’t safe until the Devil was back in Hell.

Chloe moved around the liquid carefully. She needed to leave no evidence of her being here when this happened behind. Once she was out of range, the woman returned to the kitchen. With the same rag, Chloe carefully dried the wine glass left there before replacing it with the others. Moving to the other cupboard, Chloe used her ungloved hand to grab a regular glass. She opened his fridge, grabbed the orange juice there, and poured a glass full.

She made sure to take a sip, wanting to leave lipstick on the rim. It had to look real. Chloe had to look as if she hadn’t drunk any of the wine.

The taste of orange juice in her mouth made it more real, somehow. Chloe set the glass down, her head spinning as the implications of everything forced their way forward. Here she was, a police detective, setting the scene to cover up the crime that she had just committed. A crime that would very well get her arrested and sent to prison with the same people she, herself, had put there. No one would understand if she told them why she had done it. They’d think she was insane.

And they might have even been right. Chloe hadn’t felt sane since that day in the loft. She’d felt like her world was falling apart around her and she could do nothing to stop it.

“You can do this,” she whispered to herself, the sound of some of her favorite music in the background still playing. Chloe would never be able to listen to these songs again without thinking about this day. Thinking about the trust she had betrayed.

About the Devil, his burned flesh, and hellfire eyes that pierced her to her very soul.

Chloe dumped the rest of the orange juice in the sink. She ran the water, watching it swirl down the drain. Turning the water off, she set the glass in the sink. A quick walk back to where their dinner sat, and two plates joined them. She opened one of the drawers, retrieved a plastic bag, and dumped the sandwiches inside. She’d get rid of it outside the penthouse. Probably in the pub itself.

She was careful not to look at Lucifer as she gathered up her things. A quick check in the bathroom had her quickly fixing her makeup. She wanted it to look like everything had gone well on the cameras. Chloe couldn’t give anything away about what it was that she had done. She needed to have the perfect alibi.

Perhaps it would have been smarter to make it look like they’d had a fight and he’d run off again. It wasn’t out of character for him. He’d done it before their last date, coming back married to that stripper. Something that still boggled her mind, especially with recent events.

At the same time, it wasn’t fair of her to do that. Lucifer wasn’t choosing to leave. Chloe was making the choice for him. The least she owed him was to make sure that everyone knew that he hadn’t just up and left forever. They all deserved that. Dan, Ella, Linda, Trixie, and the rest of the LAPD deserved to know that Lucifer hadn’t just left.

And Lucifer deserved to be mourned. If Chloe was confining him to Hell forever, Lucifer deserved to know that he had at least mattered to those he’d left behind on earth.

Lucifer Morningstar had mattered. He’d been cared for. In a perfect world, where things like Devils and Angels weren’t a factor, Chloe thought he could have stayed here with them forever.

But Lucifer was the Devil. Even if he didn’t intend for it to happen, he brought death and destruction in his wake. He couldn’t be allowed to stay. Chloe couldn’t let him stay. She couldn’t keep him. God had chosen her to help Kinley send Lucifer back to where he belonged. Who was she to defy the creator of the universe?

Why else would Lucifer be vulnerable around her? Why else would he follow her, a mere police detective, around? Why would Satan ever care about a human woman if this was not what God had always intended for her? Chloe’s own heart did not matter.

(You’re afraid, a voice whispered in her head. You’re afraid, so afraid. That is why you’re doing this. This isn’t for the world, just for your own fear.)

Chloe left the bathroom. She let her eyes, for a brief moment, flicker to where she knew the unconscious form of her partner, of the Devil, lay.

Chloe turned away. She walked to the main elevator, glad that she had told Kinley about the service elevator. Lucifer didn’t have cameras there. She’d never been able to get a straight answer as to why that was.

It would make her alibi more solid. No one would know when the intruders showed up. They wouldn’t know how they got the code to the service elevator or how they would know there weren’t any cameras there to worry about. Chloe wouldn’t be a suspect.

(You’ll slip up. Someone will notice. They’ll notice something wrong with you.)

Chloe hit the button, watching as the elevator opened. Stepping inside, Chloe closed her eyes as the doors slowly shut behind her. She didn’t dare turn around to see if Kinley had arrived yet. Her work here was done.

She’d done the right thing, Chloe reminded herself.

(Then why does it burn?)

The first thing that he noticed when he woke was that his blood felt like it was ice. Burning in a way that fire couldn’t hope to mimic, unfamiliar and hard to ignore.

Lucifer bit back the whimper that wanted to break forward. He was not unused to pain. Hell had taught him much when it came to pain and pain tolerance. Being mortal around Chloe had opened even more doors to pain. Lucifer would not give whatever had caused this the satisfaction of knowing that he was hurting.

And it was caused by something. Looking for it, Lucifer could feel something foreign in his bloodstream. It was attacking his body’s natural healing response, almost like a virus that had infected a human if Lucifer understood how such things worked on a mortal level. The Devil’s mind raced as he tried to figure out what he had been dosed with and how.

Then he remembered something that was far more important.

Chloe.

He’d been with Chloe. Lucifer felt his anxiety rise. Part of him wanted to open his eyes to search for her. From the bite of steel around his wrists that pulled, he was no longer in his penthouse. No hospital would have chained him up, which meant that he, and possibly the Detective, had been captured by someone.

Chloe wouldn’t have left him. If he was here, then she’d either been incapacitated or captured as well. Neither of those were good options. For her sake, he hoped she was merely unconscious at his penthouse. Safe from whatever this was.

The Devil tried to stretch out his senses.

His knees ached against the hardness of what felt like tile. Or perhaps a smooth stone floor. It was slick and hard, smooth against the fabric of his pants. The room was chilled, only exacerbating the freezing burn within his veins. Wherever they were, there was some type of central cooling system. LA was hot during this time of year.

He could smell some type of fragrance. A mix of floral scents and the slight burn of smoke. Incense. Someone was burning incense.

As for sound…Lucifer grimaced when he realized that his hearing was still muffled. Whatever the drug was doing, his hearing had been impaired by it. He could still make out the soft murmur of voices, just not what they were saying. If this was how humans heard the world, Lucifer was going to owe more than one person an apology. Truly, this was dreadful.

The Devil considered his options. It was unlikely that he was going to gather any more data from his senses. He had two options. Either open his eyes and see for himself what was going on, or play dead until things started to progress. While opening his eyes would certainly give him more information, Lucifer had no idea what he was going to be waking up to. It could be anything, really, with what had been happening in the last few years.

At the same time, Lucifer wasn’t sure if the trade off would be worth it. Whoever was responsible might just be waiting for him to wake up to continue. If it was just himself at risk, Lucifer wouldn’t be bothered. The problem was that the Detective had been with him when he’d succumbed to the poison. There was no telling what these people might do to her if she was taken as well. The moment he was ‘awake’ their plans might go forward and it was guaranteed that wouldn’t be bad for Chloe.

Playing dead, however, had its own issues. Anything could be happening while he let himself hang here, eyes closed and breathing strained from the poison. Chloe could very well be somewhere else, far from here. She could be hanging right next to him, unconscious as well. Worse, the Devil thought with anxiety, her dead body could be right in front of him and he wouldn’t know.

On the other hand, it could buy them the time they needed. Either prolonging the wait for what was coming or giving Chloe the time to get help if she had indeed been left behind altogether. If she was here, it could give the others time to realize they were both missing. That something was wrong.

Decisions, decisions, Lucifer grimaced internally. Both had pros and cons that could be life or death if not handled right. While Lucifer wouldn’t be stopped by something as mundane as death, the same could not be said for Chloe. She was human. If she died, Chloe wouldn’t be able to come back from it. No human could, not without interference from the Divine.

Somehow, Lucifer didn’t see God resurrecting her if she died here. And only God could bring back someone who went to Heaven. Angels could only resurrect souls damned to Hell. Anything else required special permissions.

For Chloe’s sake, the Devil decided he would play dead. If she was here, it might save her life. If she was back at the penthouse, it would give her time to come to and alert help. Lucifer had to have faith in the humans he had come to know here. Chloe would find him if she was free. And if she wasn’t, the LAPD would find them. Miss Lopez and the Douche wouldn’t stop looking for them both if need be.

He just had to be patient.

Lucifer wasn’t answering the phone.

Linda frowned once more as the phone rang to voicemail.

In all the time that Linda had known the Devil, Lucifer had never missed an appointment. Not without a good reason and a phone call letting her know what was going on. In fact, he was rather timely. It was more likely that he’d show up early than late.

Something felt wrong to her. Off.

She called again.

This time, the phone went straight to voicemail.

Either his phone battery had died or he’d turned it off.

She didn’t have a good feeling about this.

The therapist bit her lip, considering what to do now. This behavior wasn’t normal for him. Lucifer had only ever disappeared on her willingly once before and that was because of the Goddess. He’d promised not to do anything like that again and Lucifer didn’t lie. The last time was because Cain had him kidnapped and dumped in the desert.

Cain was dead, now. Which only made her more worried. Lucifer hadn’t been dealing well with killing the Father of Murder, even if it was in self-defense. Not a single person blamed him other than himself.

Without Cain as a factor, Linda was at a loss as to what could possibly have him ignoring her like this.

It wouldn’t hurt, the therapist thought to herself, to send someone to check on him. Maze had been sulking nearly as much as Lucifer had in the last month. Maybe giving her the chance to talk to Lucifer might do them both good. They had a lot of history between them, if their friendship could be saved, Linda thought that it might be better for the both of them.

She dialed Maze.

“Linda,” Maze’s voice greeted after only a single ring. “What’s up?”

“Lucifer missed our appointment and he isn’t answering his phone,” she said, before she could chicken out. Maze sounded off, as if something was wrong. If Linda didn’t get it out now, she wouldn’t ask at all. “I’m worried. Can you go check on him?”

Maze was silent for a moment. The therapist waited, trying to keep her anxiety down, as Maze considered. “Yeah,” the demon finally agreed. “I’ll check on him.”

Then she hung up without another word.

Linda sighed, setting her phone down.

She hoped that this was just some case that had gotten out of hand. That nothing was really wrong. Maybe Maze and Lucifer might even benefit from Maze seeking him out.

Linda hoped that the certainty that something was very wrong was nothing more than paranoia.

Maze walked past Paul with nothing more than a wave in greeting. The LUX employees, even the new ones, knew her by sight. Despite it all, Lucifer had always made sure that it was known that she was welcome here. Even siding with Cain hadn’t changed that.

It was part of the reason that she was avoiding him.

Guilt was not something she was used to feeling. And damn it, she felt guilty. For putting the little human in danger, for the way she’d been lashing out, for not talking to Linda before going off the deep end.

For breaking the trust that Lucifer had in her. For being part of the reason he cut his wings off, alone, again and again. She hadn’t thought about what playing the healer, convincing Lucifer he was healing people in his sleep, would do to him beyond messing with his head. It never even dawned on her that he would cut the wings off repeatedly.

Remembering how he’d been when she had done the deed, back on the beach that first night on Earth, churned her gut. The screams and whimpers of pain haunted her.

Thinking about him doing that alone…it hurt.

But she was also angry still. Angry that he had dismissed her so easily. That he had refused to take her home. That she seemed almost secondary to Chloe in Lucifer’s eyes. That it felt like he didn’t see her as just as important as that human he’d known for a handful of years despite having been with Maze for millennia.

Maze had no idea what she would say to him, once she found him. Maybe yell at him for worrying Linda and forgetting about his appointment with the woman. Maybe yell at him for worrying her by worrying Linda. Maybe even yell at him for whatever it was he was doing at all.

She might even throw her phone at his face and yell at him to call Linda.

With a deep breath, Maze entered the elevator and easily selected the Penthouse. Despite the unfamiliar emotions roiling inside her, she almost felt at ease in this elevator. It was familiar. The entire process was one she had done many times, in the years they had been on earth. While everything else had changed, this remained the same.

It soothed the anxiety.

A mere handful of years was nothing compared to the millennia that she had spent at Lucifer’s side. Fighting, killing, and obeying in the pits of hell. His right hand. The General of Hell’s Armies. Maybe it was different and harder now, in this place where humans were so complex and the world made little sense. At the same time, Maze knew Lucifer like Lucifer knew her. And he still trusted her with unlimited access to him.

Linda had been telling her to talk to him for a while now. She was so convinced that it would make Maze feel better once she did. Standing here in the elevator, Maze thought that Linda might be right. Maybe it was time to talk.

Smiling a little to herself, Maze confidently walked out of the elevator. Instead of Lucifer’s clean, spotless penthouse, the demon found destruction.

The blade was in her hand before she even really thought about it. Stalking forward, Maze took it all in with a snarl forming on her face.

Something foul colored the air, mixing with the copper tang of blood and the sweet scent of wine. Creeping ever forward, Maze growled as she noticed broken glass by the bar of the penthouse.

“Lucifer?” she called out, her ears picking up nothing moving in the penthouse around her. Not the sound of breathing, or movement. She could smell him, but the scent was wrong. Tainted.

There was no response.

She moved to the broken glass, hissing angrily when she noticed that it was not just wine that colored the floor red. Blood, wet and tainted, shimmered slightly on the floor. The soft shimmer told her that despite the wrongness of the scent, it belonged to Lucifer.

Linda had been right to send her.

The demon closed her eyes and took in a deep breath. Poison, she thought. Strong. Cyanide mixed with Tetradotoxin and Batrachotoxin. Something else, as well. She inhaled deeply, taking it in. Her heart froze as she recognized it.

Holy water. Mixed into the wine was holy water.

This was bad. Very bad.

She knew what had happened here, knew what was coming, and Maze wanted to scream in fury. After everything that had happened, the demon hadn’t thought this was something they needed to worry about. Modern humans hadn’t tried this in decades, nearly a century. They were too caught up in reality and morality.

Yet, the evidence was right there. Staring her in the face. Holy water and poison, Lucifer nowhere to be seen.

She needed to find Lucifer, now.

Maze’s instinct was to leave. To tear the city apart to find the missing Devil. To render those stupid little priests as nothing more than minced meat. Lucifer had warned her about exorcisms when in your own skin. The magic might not be enough to separate an angel from their body, but a demon might not be so lucky. With no real soul, a demon in their own form could very well be destroyed. If not, it would hurt.

Lucifer knew because it hurt him. He’d returned to Hell more than once, muscles spamming in agony and disorientated from the pain. It was a wonder Amenadiel never realized what was going on. There was a reason that Maze had acted as the Devil’s bodyguard. In those instances, Lucifer was in no state to protect himself from any demon that got uppity. So Maze took care of it instead.

When they had come here, nearly a decade ago, Maze had sworn that she would never allow it to happen again. That no priest would dare.

She’d failed.

And it made her crave the blood of those who dared cause her to fail.

The only thing stopping her was that Maze no longer carried the bond that would take her to her King. Lucifer had released her from her oath. The magic no longer connected them. Maze would have to track him the old-fashioned way and that would take too long. The longer she spent looking, the longer Lucifer remained in the hands of these upstart priests.

She needed backup. Maze needed help.

And she knew just the people to help, the demon thought. She took out her phone and dialed.

Daniel Espinoza stared at the destruction around the familiar penthouse with a sinking gut. When Maze had called, demanding he get over to Lucifer’s, he almost told her to go to hell. The only reason he hadn’t was that he didn’t fancy ending up naked in the precinct, again, or ending up dead. With Maze, you could never be sure what her revenge would look like.

He was glad he had come. For all that he wanted to scream at Lucifer right now, he didn’t want the club owner dead. And the blood on the floor and broken wine glass didn’t look good for the consultant.

Crime techs walked around, taking pictures of everything. The wine bottle that was open on the bar was carefully sampled and sent off to be analyzed. Fingerprints were swabbed from everything and even the empty dishes in the sink were photographed.

Maze was pacing back and forth, growling as she did so. She’d refused to leave even after the others arrived. No one wanted to challenge her right now either. The bounty hunter was terrifying on a good day. Properly pissed off like she currently was, Dan nearly felt bad for whoever was responsible for this.

Almost.

Because he was pissed as well.

“Nothing on the cameras,” Ella said, coming back into the main room with a blank look on her usually expressive face.

The second time in just over a month that one of their group was targeted. Everyone here was quiet as they worked, no one quite willing to be the one to say it out loud.

There was a real possibility that they would be finding Lucifer’s body.

Dan had, at his darkest point in the last month, wished that it had been Lucifer that had died and not Charlotte. Faced with the reality of the man’s possible death, Dan wanted to take it back. For all that he was angry, Lucifer didn’t deserve to die. He didn’t deserve whatever had happened here.

And Chloe didn’t deserve the heartbreak that Dan felt every day that Charlotte was gone.

“I have to call Chloe,” Dan rubbed a hand over his face. Ella flinched, tears finally welling up in her eyes. “Maze, you said Linda called you?”

The bounty hunter stopped pacing, eyes almost black as she looked at him. “Yes,” she growled, her voice gravely with rage. “Lucifer missed his appointment. He doesn’t miss appointments and didn’t answer his phone when she called.”

Dan nodded, bringing out his notepad to right that down. Just another case, he tried to convince himself. Just another victim. Establishing behavior was important in a missing person’s case. They needed all the information that they could get.

And they needed to be quick. The first twenty-four hours were integral to every missing persons case.

“Chloe had a date with Lucifer last night,” Ella said, softly. Dan turned to her, surprised. “He wanted advice,” the forensic admitted. “On what to do. Since Chloe isn’t big on fancy places, I told him that he should make their first date comfortable for her instead of him. I even helped make a playlist of her favorite songs with him.”

Dan wrote that down, his gut sinking further. That made it likely that Chloe was the last person to see him. Making this just that much worse. Christ, he hoped that they found the man alive. Ella wiped tears away from her eyes.

Something flashed across Maze’s face when Dan looked at her. The woman narrowed her eyes as she considered Ella, the growling tapering off. “We need to talk to Chloe,” Maze said, her voice dark.

Dan considered telling her that there wasn’t a ‘we’. At the same time, he had no doubt that Maze would not be leaving this alone. Telling her no seemed like a good way to end up back on her bad side. “Ella, keep gathering evidence here,” Dan told the forensic. “Make sure that everything is run. Maze, we’ll take my car.”

Time was ticking.

Dan had no intention of wasting a single minute.

Time was up.

Lucifer knew that the moment he felt liquid slam into his face. Sputtering, he gave up on playing dead. He cracked his eyes opened and glared at the startled man holding a newly empty bucket. “Was that necessary?” the Devil growled. He tasted copper on his tongue as he forced back a wet cough.

The poison was still cycling through his system.

He dropped the bucket, scrambling backward with wide eyes. “Father!” the coward screamed. “It’s awake!”

“It?” Lucifer’s glare deepened. “He, thank you very much. I am a he.”

That was about the time he noticed what the coward was wearing. The garment was traditional alter boy garb. The name of it escaped him. The Devil had never really cared for the name. He didn’t need to know much more than that it was hideous.

That was when it clicked in his head. “Did you just dump holy water on me?” he asked, disbelieving. “What the bloody Hell was that supposed to do other than make me wet?!”

“Philip,” an older voice demanded.

The newly named Philip fled quickly, leaving the bucket behind. Lucifer bit back another cough, the tainted blood foul in his mouth. He wanted desperately to spit it out. Showing weakness to these people, however, was unacceptable.

Especially now that Lucifer had a better idea of what was happening.

This was no criminal going after himself and the Detective, as he’d thought. No, this was far more old hat and aimed only at him. A glance around confirmed his suspicions.

This was a Church basement. Candles for prayer dotted the room, crosses hung from the walls, and a white-washed picture of his half-brother nailed to that damned cross was painted artfully on the main wall. Why humans used the weapon of his half-brother’s torture as a symbol of their faith, Lucifer had never been able to understand. Linda hadn’t even been able to explain it to him. He hadn’t managed to work up to asking Miss Lopez. With how attached she was to the thing, Lucifer was reluctant to do something that ruined it for her.

“This isn’t going to work,” the Devil drawled, looking at the small gathering of priest as they entered the room. “It never has.”

Exorcisms removed foreign souls from bodies not their own. Lucifer was in his own body. He couldn’t be forced from it. The most exorcisms did was hurt like a bitch. Combined with the poison they had dosed him with, Lucifer was only going to end up in pain with no reward for their efforts.

He was relieved to see that Chloe was nowhere in sight. Considering the people behind this, he hoped that meant she’d been left behind. Priests didn’t tend to kill innocents, too caught up in their righteousness to be bothered. Relief bloomed in his chest.

This wasn’t going to be fun, Lucifer was already dreading the upcoming exorcism, but it did mean that he had plenty of time for Chloe to find him. He only needed to hold out.

“As if we would believe a word from your filthy mouth,” the oldest of the priest’s sneered. His accent was different, Italian, and Lucifer didn’t bother to keep from rolling his eyes. A bloody Vatican representative. Of course, there was. “Your lies will not help you here, Satan. We know what you are.”

The Devil was not impressed. Mostly, he was pissed. Letting Hellfire light his eyes, Lucifer watched as they priests flinched backward.

This was more like it. These priests, with their judgmental eyes and sneers were more in line with the priests of the past that Lucifer had met. Truly, Father Frank was an outlier. The rare good soul in this profession.

This was why Lucifer didn’t want a religion. Not when it let people like this believe they were righteous and just. When it let evil hide behind Father’s words to justify their actions. Words so twisted that they no longer resembled what had actually been said. Too many humans adding and taking away things that furthered their goals. A shadow of what it had once been.

“Whatever helps you sleep at night, Padre,” Lucifer purred through the blood on his tongue.

“Take your positions,” The priest motioned to the others. They quickly formed a circle around him, papers in hand. Lucifer frowned. That wasn’t the usual exorcisms.

Distracted, he didn’t notice the gag until his mouth was forced open. Lucifer attempted to pull his head away. The poison kept him from using his normal strength to break free, making his struggle useless.

“We will hear no more lies from you,” a different priest said into his ear as the gag was tightened in his mouth. Then the hands were gone as the priest rejoined the circle. Lucifer snarled, furious.

That was enough of this, the Devil decided before yanking against the chains binding him. Instead of snapping like they should of, Lucifer felt electricity spike throughout his body. Only his own Will kept him from screaming in pain. It lasted far longer than reasonable, leaving his muscles spasming from the current.

He turned his attention to the shackles, for the first time really looking at them. Runes engraved into metal glowed slightly purple. Magic, Lucifer thought with the beginning of true dread. Enochian magic.

Someone was going to be in a lot of trouble for this. That kind of spell work shouldn’t be on earth. If it worked on Lucifer, it would work on any of his siblings. Including Michael.

This was not good. It was bad, very bad, actually. It meant that Lucifer’s second thought, praying to Amenadiel, was not going to work. Lucifer was well and truly fucked unless the Detective and the other humans found him.

Because the exorcism wasn’t going to work. It was never going to work.

“I see you understand your position,” the original priest, the Italian, said. He looked so damn smug as well. “Since discovering your presence amongst us, I have done my research. Through the vast library of the Vatican, I have found every reference to you. Every appearance on Earth you have made. The sightings of you are numerous, Devil.”

No, the sightings of them were numerous. Lucifer knew for a fact that some of those had been Michael. While they had not interacted with each other directly during those periods, something that still hurt even now, Michael always made sure to leave some sign that he’d been in an area recently. Hidden in plain sight where only Lucifer would notice it.

It was a game they’d been playing. Lucifer did the same. A way to track each other, even separated as they were, without attracting the attention of their siblings.

No doubt God knew about their game, but He had never stopped it. So the two had kept it up.

For a long time, it was only that game that had kept Lucifer sane. In the face of Amenadiel’s hatred, the silence of the Host, and God’s disregard for him, the game he played with Michael was the tether that kept him from losing himself entirely.

And when Judgement was passed, well, Lucifer was there to make sure that Punishment followed.

The last time they had played with World War II, if Lucifer remembered right. Michael had been in Germany, leaving behind a feather that he’d left at the bunker where Hitler had committed suicide. Judgement had been passed.

There was more than one reason that Lucifer hadn’t had an answer for Linda when she’d asked about what had happened to Hitler. Lucifer didn’t really know. He had a feeling that it wasn’t good. Say what you will about God, but the being had thrown His Wife into Hell for committing genocide. Cain had only killed his brother when he’d been cursed to live forever (or until he felt regret, as it turned out). Considering Michael had been there and Lucifer hadn’t delivered Punishment, that meant God had taken matters into His own hands.

Lucifer had been pretty sure that telling Linda that, when she was only coming to grips with the fact that he really was the Devil, would have been a bit much when she’d finally stopped hiding. They never did talk about that sandwich.

“No,” the human continued. Lucifer wanted to sigh. This was going to be dreadfully boring. It always was when these fanatics got their hands on him. “We are doing this much differently this time. The Lord has seen to it that we will succeed where others have failed!”

Lucifer blinked at that, baffled. What in Dad’s name was the priest talking about? Was he talking about the chains and shackles? If so, he was mistaken. God was going to be furious with whichever sibling had given these to the…humans…

Oh. Oh no.

Lucifer should have put the pieces together much sooner. Much, much sooner.

He looked down, something he should have done since he’d first given up playing dead. Beneath him, carved into the floor, were Enochian runes. A binding circle. Lucifer had thought that the poison was taking a while to filter out of his system while he’d played dead. He’d figured it was because Chloe had been there when he digested it.

No, instead it was because he was standing in the same runic magic that had kept the Goddess imprisoned in Her cell within Hell. The magic She had been able to study for millennia, enough to break through them once she’d gotten to Earth.

She’d distributed maps to Uriel’s grave so that Azrael’s blade would fall into human hands just so She could get Dad’s attention. Why wouldn’t She give Enochian magic to them as well? Just enough to bind an angel in place. That would get Dad’s attention, alright.

Only, Goddess had never been too interested in Enochian magic beyond what it could do. She preferred manipulations, subtlety, and twisted words. She was the type to get one human sick with a deadly disease and watch as creation spread Her work without Her having to lift another figure. Father was the more direct of them. He was the one who had crafted the binding circles for when one of them had gotten a bit out of hand with their powers and He felt like they needed to be brought into line.

What Lucifer was looking at was a direct copy of something only he, God, and Goddess had ever seen. God would not distribute it for the same reason Lucifer would have never let another see the spell work: it was crafted to contain the power of the Goddess, suppressing it to the point that a demon could hurt Her. Any angel bound by the magic would be vulnerable.

And not vulnerable in the way that Chloe made his body mortal. No, they were vulnerable down to their very soul. Inside this circle, an angel could be killed permanently.

Lucifer was in far more trouble than he’d thought.

Why is it that everything Mother does always comes back to bite me in the worst way? So much for not wanting to hurt Her children.

Waiting for Chloe was not an option. Lucifer needed to get out of this circle as soon as possible. There was no telling what other magic these priests had in their possession right now.

He closed his eyes and prayed.

Or he tried to.

Lucifer bit back a scream as electricity spiked through the shackles and chains once more. No, no, no!

A prayer directly to God should not have had that reaction. To Amenadiel, yes, but to God? It wasn’t supposed to be possible for that connection to be blocked off. Not even Dad had blocked it when Lucifer Fell.

He was on his own.

Lucifer watched the smug smirk on the priest’s face spread. He looked at the dagger, a ritualistic ornate thing, in the man’s hand.

For the first time since waking up here, Lucifer was well and truly afraid.

Chloe opened the door after the third knock. She was exhausted, having not slept at all the night before. She couldn’t forget the look of trust on Lucifer’s face or the way he’d sworn to her that he would never lie to her. Promised to answer any questions she had.

Dan stood there, Maze just behind him. “Hey,” he said, his face looking grim. “Can we come in?”

Chloe fought down the panic that jumped up when she’d seen the demon looming behind her ex-husband. Part of her had forgotten Maze in the haze of what she’d done the night before. Kinley, once Lucifer was back within Hell, would be sending her back as well. “Well, Maze does live here,” she smiled weakly. “Come on in.”

She was too far in now. Keeping Maze close was necessary to pull the plan off. Chloe forced herself to turn around, even though putting her back to Maze felt like the stupidest thing she could possibly do. You shouldn’t turn your back on a demon.

But she needed to keep up appearances.

“Trixie is at a friend’s,” she told them both as she walked to the living room. “So if this is that apology, she’s not here.”

Maze owed Trixie that apology. Being a demon didn’t give her the right to take it out on Trixie. Chloe used that anger to steady her racing heart.

“No,” Maze said, her voice steady. “I already apologized.”

Chloe snapped her attention to the demon. “When?” she demanded, mind spinning and heart sinking.

Maze frowned at her. “Precinct,” the demon answered. “She knows I didn’t mean it. Even forgave me.”

Chloe relaxed. “Good,” she said, because Trixie had been heartbroken. “Good. She wouldn’t talk to me about it. That doesn’t mean I will be leaving you alone with her for a while. That trust needs to be earned back by more than just her,” Chloe warned.

She couldn’t let a demon around her daughter unsupervised. Who knew what Maze had been teaching Trixie in the past? What damage the demon had already done to her sweet little girl? Chloe also couldn’t ban Maze completely. And Trixie would ask questions if Maze still lived here but she wasn’t allowed around the demon at all. If Chloe didn’t want Trixie sneaking around with Maze like she liked to sneak to LUX, Chloe needed to allow the interaction where she could see what was going on.

Maze was still watching her, frowning. Studying her. “You said she was mad,” the demon said.

“She was,” Chloe defended because that had been the truth. Just not the most recent truth. “Then she stopped talking about it at all and clammed up when I asked. I assumed she wasn’t going to say anything more until she talked to you and that wasn’t happening until I was sure you weren’t going to make things worse.”

Like she had before, Chloe didn’t need to say. Maze cringed, finally looking away.

Only years of dealing with the demon and even more years of acting experience kept Chloe from panicking at taking that tone with a literal demon.

“This isn’t about that,” Dan said, giving Maze a look. Right, he’d been there when Maze had said those things. “Chloe, I’m so sorry to be the one to tell you this. Lucifer is missing.”

And reality came crashing back. Chloe stared at Dan, her mind blanking. How could he possibly know that? Chloe hadn’t thought anyone would notice until she got a case and ‘discovered’ his penthouse empty, the wine, and the broken glass. “What?” she rasped, suddenly feeling like the world was collapsing.

“He missed an appointment with Linda,” Dan said, gentling his voice. “She called Maze. His penthouse is trashed. Chloe, when was the last time you saw him?”

Linda. Oh god, Linda. Chloe had forgotten her in everything that happened. Of course Linda noticed something was wrong. Lucifer didn’t miss appointments unless he ran off to Vegas or ended up somehow tossed into the middle of the desert (she had many, many questions about how that had happened now that she knew he was telling the truth the entire time). “Trashed?” she whispered because that wasn’t how she’d left it.

“Ransacked. Might be a burglary gone wrong,” Dan moved to grab her arm. “You need to sit before you fall over.”

Chloe let him lead her to the couch, unbalanced on her feet. “I saw him last night,” she finally answered his question. “We had a date. He made grilled cheese and got out wine. As if I was going to drink when I’m on call, the moron. Only thing he had beyond alcohol and water was orange juice so I got a glass of that and we just talked. It was…enlightening.”

Heartbreaking. Filled with Lucifer’s promise to her to always be honest and her anxiety as she slipped him the poison. Of waiting for it to take effect. “I’m not even sure when I left, just that it was late. He’d broken open a new wine bottle and sounded like he was planning on being up for a while. Was anything taken? Any clue left behind? What about the cameras?”

Did they suspect? Did they know it was her?

Dan looked at her with sympathy that was greatly misplaced. This wasn’t the same as Charlotte. Lucifer was the Devil, he wasn’t capable of dying. Worse, Chloe was the one that had slipped him the poison.

And it was a poison, not a sedative. Chloe had realized that when he’d coughed blood. At the same time, did it really matter? He was the Devil. Poison wasn’t going to kill him like it would a human. Maybe to Lucifer, it really was a sedative. Just like some human medications were poisons to animals. It was a matter of perspective.

(Or you’re just in denial.)

Maze was watching her closely now. “That’s your question,” the demon said, her voice suddenly hard. “Clues, cameras, things taken. What about the how, Decker? Surely you’re curious about that.”

Dan shot Maze a cool look. Chloe remembered about the blood on the floor and wondered how much was there when they found it. Dan would have some idea that whatever was going on, Lucifer was hurt. For a normal person abducted, that wasn’t a good sign. Usually, it was a very bad sign to have blood left behind. It meant they could be looking for a body.

“I would be,” Maze continued, ignoring Dan. “Because you know, now, Decker. And I doubt Lucifer, in your talk, wouldn’t have told you certain things. Only, you don’t seem to know them.”

Chloe stared at her, eyes wide.

Suddenly, Chloe understood what she’d done wrong. She’d been playing it up for Dan, who thought Lucifer was human. To Dan, it wouldn’t be out of the question for Lucifer to go missing. It had happened before. Chloe had assumed that would also apply to Maze. Lucifer had been kidnapped, shot, and wounded in various ways over the years. Yet Maze was implying that Chloe should be confused by how he’d been kidnapped this time.

There was something else at play Chloe didn’t know about that Maze thought she should, if Chloe had actually talked with Lucifer like she’d said.

“Of course I’m interested in the how,” Chloe snapped at her. “I’m interested in a lot of hows, Maze. How did he end up in the desert that one time? How the hell did everything with Malcolm happen?  We didn’t go over three years of information in a single night!”

Dan was looking between them, face completely confused. But it wasn’t Dan she needed to convince right now.

It was the demon, watching her with dark eyes.

“You’re lying,” she hissed. “I should have noticed it when I walked it. It’s the same scent. What’s in your purse, Decker, that smells like what was in Lucifer’s wine?”

Chloe felt her heart freeze at the question. “W-what?” she asked, staring at Maze with wide eyes. “What do you mean by that?”

“Maze?” Dan asked, looking completely baffled. “What the hell is going on here?”

Maze looked at him, considering. “You fought off the Azrael’s blade,” she mused. “Try not to scream, Espinoza.”

Chloe could do nothing as Maze’s face shifted. One minute, she was her normal self. The next half her face was rotten. Her eye on that side was cloudy and Chloe could see her teeth through Maze’s cheek. Dan shouted, up from his own seat and backing away quickly as he stared at the demon.

Then she was back to her normal self. “Now that we’re all caught up,” Maze purred darkly. “Answer the question, Decker.”

Chloe couldn’t get her mouth to work. She was too busy trying to stop her racing heart. Next to the image of Maze’s face in her mind, she remembered the face Lucifer had worn standing next to Marcus’ body. Cain’s body, she corrected. Marcus was Cain. He’d killed his own brother.

“Oh god,” Dan whispered, his voice soft. “Oh my god.”

That was the thing about carefully laid plans. All they needed was the right person before they all came crashing down.

Lucifer screamed as the knife bit into his flesh and soul. Magic chanted all around him, biting into his back until his wings were forced into this plain of existence. And once there, the magic dug into feathers and bit deep, drawing blood with each further slice of the knife the priest held in his hands. Molded and guided by their desire to see him hurt.

Each slice was shallow, designed to hurt as much as possible. To draw out the pain, which fed the magic that the gathered circle chanted. Human magic being powered by the pain and blood of a celestial.

Only the gag kept Lucifer from biting his own tongue off in his pain.

Please, Lucifer begged silently. Please, Detective. Find me soon.

It was the last conscious thought he had before there was nothing more than pain.

Chapter Text

Daniel Espinoza stared at the demon before him, his mind racing as he connected dots that he’d stubbornly left alone for the last three years.

Maze was a demon. Lucifer was the literal Devil.

“There’s nothing in my purse,” Chloe whispered, dragging Dan back to reality, even as it was very different than when he’d been trying to understand what Maze and Chloe were talking about originally.

Then it clicked.

And Dan saw what Maze had seen.

Chloe knew that Maze and Lucifer were telling the truth. She knew Lucifer was the Devil. Yet, during this entire thing, she hadn’t once asked about the how. How was it that Lucifer, the literal Devil, had been kidnapped? Worse, she’d gotten defensive with Maze when it was brought up.

“Stop lying,” Maze stepped froward, eyes flashing white then black. “What is in your purse, Decker? I won’t ask again.”

Chloe only shook her head. She was staring at Maze like she’d never seen her before. Like Maze was a threat.

Dan moved. He grabbed the purse from the table, where Chloe had clearly left it last night. It didn’t take long to find something that stood out. He pulled out an ornate bottle, made with cool metal. “Try that again,” Dan said, holding it up.

His hand shook as he did, despite trying to keep them steady.

Chloe looked at him as if he had just committed the worst act of betrayal. As if he wasn’t doing his job.

Lucifer was the Devil. He’d been the Devil the entire time. And that scared the hell out of Dan. It terrified him. Maze’s face terrified him. That didn’t change the facts. Lucifer was missing. Chloe had a strange vial in her person. The demon in the room thought it smelled like Lucifer’s wine.

Dan wasn’t as stupid as his ex-wife seemed to think he was. He could put together the clues well enough on his own. Chloe found out Lucifer was the Devil. She went on a date with him. Lucifer went missing after. She had something that was related to what was in Lucifer’s wine. She’d tried to hide it. She was acting suspicious.

Whatever the fuck was going on here, Chloe was involved. Devil or not, Lucifer was missing and there had been blood left behind.

Maze looked at him for a long moment, turning her attention back to Chloe. “What did you do?” the demon growled, taking a step forward. “What priest did you contact?!”

Chloe blanched. “H-how?” she whispered, curling away from the pissed demon.

Dan wanted to know that too, actually.

(He was getting drunk the moment this was over.)

“Holy water,” the demon snarled. “It has Holy water mixed into it. It would burn like hell to any demon, but Lucifer’s an angel, fallen or not. All it does is make him wet. The only ones who think Holy Water does anything to him are priests. So, what priest did you contact?”

Chloe shook her head, clamming up.

Dan looked at the vial, considering it. “A priest,” he said, slowly. “You found out Lucifer is the Devil. When he killed Pierce?”

“Cain,” Maze corrected. “Your precious Pierce was Cain, Father of Murder and, later, Father of Organized Crime. The Sinnerman. The only Sinnerman.”

Dan sucked in a breath, remembering the frustration in Lucifer’s voice when he’d said as much. Dan would likely have a breakdown about that later. He was going to have a lot of breakdowns later. Right now, Dan was holding on by focusing on the facts. Lucifer was missing, Chloe had something to do with it. “Cain,” he corrected. “Which he was cleared for due to self-defense. But you learned that Lucifer was really the Devil then. And then you left the country…”

Dan blinked, the answer hitting him. “You went to Rome,” he said, remembering Trixie telling him all about it when they got back.

Chloe flinched.

Maze looked apocalyptic. “The Vatican,” the demon roared. “You went to the Vatican?!”

It did explain the ornate jar, Dan said, looking at it with wary eyes.

Chloe looked between them both, terror on her face. “He’s the Devil,” she said to Dan, her voice shaking.

“He saved your stupid human life!” Maze yelled at her, looking ready to strike. “He died for you! He loves you!”

“Maze don’t!” Dan moved to stop her when it looked like the demon was going to attack. She glared at him, snarling. “We need her to find Lucifer,” he said, trying to keep his voice steady.

The demon considered him before baring her teeth at Chloe threateningly. “It won’t work,” she told his ex-wife. “Exorcisms never do. Not on him. All they do is hurt. Like having your insides pulled apart, over and over again, but it doesn’t stop. It won’t stop, not until you get away. And every time, I’ve put him back together. For millennia. After each betrayal that found him back in a exorcists circle, I was there. I thought you were different.”

Dan felt ill. Chloe looked wrecked at her words.

Maze looked at her, eyes blazing black. “Exorcism on someone in their own body is torture. A possessed human bears the brunt of the pain until the demon is forced out. Lucifer outlawed possession the moment he found out. I am here in my own flesh. An exorcism on me, a demon, who has something different from a soul, could very well be permanent death. For Lucifer? It is merely agony. Torture. The only way to send him back to Hell is to have him taken there by an angel, go willingly, or to die.”

With that, Maze turned around and stormed out. Leaving Dan feeling like he might puke.

“I didn’t know,” Chloe whispered.

Dan looked at her.

“I don’t think anyone is going to care,” he said, meeting her tearful eyes.

Because Dan certainly couldn’t bring himself too.

Michael paced back and forth.

Every single instinct he had was yelling at him that something was wrong. It had started over one Earth day ago and had not stopped since. Michael had checked all of his domains, trying to see if something had happened to the Dark or Power that he commanded. Nothing looked out of place, leaving him frustrated and still wound up.

It was maddening. Like an itch at the back of his mind, demanding to be scratched and impossible to reach. Not even bathing the warmth of the Morning Star had done anything to calm himself. Usually, basking in Samael’s stars fixed him when he became wound up like this.

It was starting to worry his other siblings. Michael knew that.

He just couldn’t make it stop long enough to care.

It left him here, pacing and frustrated and needing to be somewhere despite having no idea where it was he was supposed to be!

“Perhaps it’s time to go to Father,” Raphael suggested, softly. His sister looked worried.

She was not the only one.

“I am fine,” Michael snapped, not once stopping in his pacing. Movement was the only thing keeping it somewhat bearable. Every time he stopped, it grew worse again until Michael was forced to move.

“You are not,” Gabriel snapped at him. Always defensive of Raphael. “Michael, something is wrong with you! Father can help!”

Help? Michael wanted to laugh. Father was no help. If Father wanted to help, he would not have sent Samael away. Would not have banished Michael’s other half. Michael had not been right since the day Samael Fell. In the millennia since, Father had not once helped.

The only thing that kept Michael sane was the game he played with Samael. Leaving clues to his presence for Samael to find, while discovering the clue Samael left for Michael. Trailing each other, dark and light, even separated.

No, Father would not help.

“If not for you, then for us,” Raphael said, drawing Michael’s attention back to her. “Please, talk to Father. He might be able to see what it is that is wrong.”

For them? Michael sighed, heavily. That was dirty and Raphael knew it. Michael would do a lot of his siblings. He would raze existence to the ground for them, should they only ask. If talking to Father made them happy, Michael would talk to Father.

“Fine,” he turned from them. “I will be back.”

He took off, his wings easily launching him into the air. Almost immediately, Michael felt some relief. If nothing else, he had at least discovered whatever was wrong could be soothed by flight better than walking. That was some progress.

Maybe, if he was really lucky, Father might truly know what it was that was wrong with him.

God looked up from His desk when He felt Michael approaching.

It had been a very long time since Michael came to Him without being summoned first. Since before the Rebellion, truthfully. That he was approaching now certainly had God putting His work aside. Only something serious would have Michael coming here.

He waved His hand, unlocking and opening the door before Michael could land to knock. His Sword merely walked through, not commenting on the door at all. Michael was not one to praise or thank someone for something he found common courtesy. Not even his Father.

While Michael was not Rebellious in the way Samael was, Michael was not one for blind obedience either. He would do as he was ordered, but that was all he would do. And he would question the orders as he did them.

Still, it was better than Samael, who you needed to convince first. The best part of paying attention to His Lightbringer amongst humans was watching them suffer to get Lucifer to do anything in the same way God had. It was rather therapeutic, honestly.

Even better had been watching His Wife’s failed attempts at getting Samael to heed Her.

“Something is wrong,” Michael said without waiting for God to ask.

The Deity raised His eyebrows. “Something is wrong,” He repeated.

“Yes,” Michael nodded. Then he stood there, clearly waiting for God to continue.

God sighed. “What is wrong?”

“I do not know,” Michael said, voice bland. “That is why I am here. Raphael thinks you may help.”

That explained it, then. “Describe it to me,” God said.

Michael did so, easily. Not a single detail left out. Frowning, God checked over Dark and Power. Sure enough, there was nothing there that should be causing Michael distress. “When you say that it is like an itch unable to be scratched, what do you mean? Is it something there that you cannot reach? Or an itch in a place something used to be?”

It was possible that something had faded, which was why Michael could not find it.

Michael looked surprised. “I cannot reach it,” he said. “It’s blocked off by something.”

God was about to pry further when something occurred to Him. “Michael,” He said, slowly. If it wasn’t Dark or Power, if it was something that was blocked off… “Where is Samael?”

Michael opened his mouth, ready with an answer as he always was when asked where his Twin currently was. Only to stop, face stunned. “I don’t know.”

God stood, alarm filling Him. Closing His eyes, God reached out to find His Morning Star.

There was nothing there. No Samael sleeping, or working with His Miracle, or doing anything. Just a blank spot where Samael should be.

Out of reach.

Blocked off.

From even Michael, who was his other half.

God opened His eyes, watching as Michael started to truly panic. Black wings twitched wildly as Michael searched for his Twin as well. Coming up just as empty as God had.

“Go to Earth,” God ordered. “Find out what happened. I will search for answers here.”

Michael did not need to be told twice. His Sword opened his wings and took flight, leaving the Silver City behind.

God did not pay him any mind, too wrapped up in His own growing concern. He closed His eyes once more and Looked through all that there was.

He would find His missing Child. And when He did, there would be consequences to those responsible for this.

Michael wasted no time as he left the Silver City behind. The emptiness where Samael should be, out of reach and gone at the same time, pressed down on him. It was no wonder he had been unable to identify it.

Michael had never thought that it was possible to hide Samael from him. It shouldn’t have been possible. Just as it should be impossible for Michael to be hidden from Samael. They were two parts of one whole, linked forever more by their souls. Samael was the Light and Will of God, who lit the stars the sustained life on the worlds that God created. Once, Michael might have envied Samael that. Might have grown jealous of his other half.

It was impossible to do so when Samael himself looked at Michael as if it was he who sustained life. As if the consuming dark of Michael’s Black Holes bore the same importance as the shining light of Samael’s Stars. As if the Power Michael held was just as weighty as the Will that Samael held.

Of course, Samael held some power as Michael held some will. It was their overlap, the way their souls fed into each other. The feed was how they could always find each other. Always aware of when the other was in the same dimension of existence. It was what allowed them their game.

As Samael viewed Michael with such importance, so had their Siblings. So had God. And what Michael Judged, Samael would Punish without failed.

Now, though, now Samael was not there. Michael could not feel him. Not even in the dimension that Michael knew Samael should be. Panicked, Michael flew into Hell.

Nothing. Throughout all the ash and flame, Michael found no trace of Samael.

Earth, then. It would have to be Earth. Demons would never be capable of this type of ability. Michael changed course, back to the Earth.

While still there was nothing, Michael felt the pull slacken just a tad. Not a direction or location, just enough to ease the panic.

Not truly gone. Michael let that thought sooth him. Samael was not truly gone. Michael just could not find him. He would have to do this the hard way. Track him the way that he once tracked the most mischievous of their siblings whenever the young ones decided to investigate passed where they should have been.

He needed to start at the place of most import. The base Lucifer had made here on Earth.

Michael did not wait before taking himself to the penthouse his Twin called home.

Perhaps if he had paid more attention, he would have noticed the humans that roamed the place. Instead, Michael landed in the middle of a crowd of human officers.

The screams that resounded at his appearance truly did not feel necessary.

Ella was not amongst the people who screamed when a black-winged Lucifer landed in the penthouse. Dressed in grey robes that had seen better days, this Lucifer looked surprised to see them.

In fact, he was looking around the place as if he was seeing it for the first time.

“Lucifer?” she asked, hesitantly. As much as she wanted to be ecstatic to see him, something seemed off about it all. And it wasn’t the fact that he was sporting wings. She could deal with the ‘holy fuck, he’s the Devil’ thing later.

“No,” the man said, looking at her. His voice, while similar, didn’t hold quite the same tone that Lucifer’s did. “Who are you? Why are you in my Twin’s home?”

Not-Lucifer studied them all, eyes narrowed at them. “What has happened to my Twin?”

Ella could add twin brother to the list of things that she learned today about her friend.  “We don’t know,” she said, as apparently everyone else had lost the ability to speak. “That’s why we’re here. Someone trashed the place and no one can find Lucifer. He never mentioned having a twin brother before! I’m Ella!”

The angel, holy moly she was talking to an angel, looked at her. “You are his friends,” the twin relaxed slightly. “I am Michael.”

Of course Satan’s twin brother would be the Archangel Michael. Ella really should have expected that. “We are,” she said, honestly. “And we’re worried. Do you know where he could have gone?”

She glanced at the blood on the floor. Michael followed her gaze, stiffening when he saw it. “I can’t find him,” the angel said, softly, staring at the blood. “I came here because neither Father or I could find him.”

Quite suddenly, that pile of blood on the floor was a lot more ominous.

“Ella,” Dan said, sounding relieved. “Please tell me you have something.”

Maze watched him closely. He was taking this better than she’d thought. Clearly, resisting Azrael’s blade had not been a fluke. She’d thought that Lucifer had been overestimating him since then. Yet, he’d taken their identities well.

Maybe a bit too well.

He had dated Charlotte when the Goddess had possessed her body. Maybe that had more side effects than just making Lucifer and Amenadiel need brain bleach.

“What do you mean Lucifer has a Twin?!” The man said, pulling the phone away to stare at it in shock.

Maze moved, snatching the phone from his hand. She hit the speaker button. “Ellen, put us on speaker,” she demanded.

Thankfully, Decker remained quiet despite looking with wide eyes at the phone.

“You’re on speaker,” Ellen said, sounding forcefully cheerful.

“Michael, where is he?” Maze demanded. If Michael was here, he’d be able to find Lucifer easily. The two always knew where the other one was. Being in close proximity only heightened that awareness. More than once in Hell, Lucifer would just suddenly snort and tell her Michael was on Earth. They’d make the trip up, figure out what Michael had been up to, and find the gift he’d left behind for Lucifer. There was only one angel in existence that Maze would trust with Lucifer’s safety completely.

And that was Michael.

“I don’t know,” he said. The words had Maze’s blood freezing.

“What do you mean you don’t know?!” she snarled. “You always know! That’s your thing! Lucifer always knows where you are and you always know where he is!”

Dan pulled the car over into the nearest parking lot. Probably so he could listen in without crashing. Good, crashing would make finding Lucifer harder.

They needed to find him. If Michael couldn’t feel him then something more was wrong than a deranged priest performing an exorcism. Something serious.

“If I knew, I would be there,” Michael growled, low and menacing. “I am here instead. We. Can’t. Find. Him.”

We, Maze thought. He’d said we. “Your Father can’t see him either?” she said, afraid. Really, truly afraid.

Dan went white. Decker didn’t look any better.

Maze couldn’t care less. She could only feel the terror that twisted inside her because if God nor Michael knew where Lucifer was, serious didn’t begin to cover it.

“No,” her Lord’s Twin said, voice just as afraid. “He can’t.”

“What did you do?” she looked at Decker then. “Decker, what the fuck did you do?!”

Dan lunged the same time she went for the stupid bint. “Maze, calm down!” he shouted, trying to keep her seated. She’d been impressed if he wasn’t in the way of her gutting the bitch.

“Lucifer is missing and not even God knows where!” she roared in fury, struggling to free herself. “This bitch is the reason he’s missing so if you know what’s good for you, you’ll let me strangle her!”

Dan said something, probably another reason that she should let the bitch live, but it was drowned out by the shadows coming alive around them.

One moment they were in Dan’s car, driving to the precinct to book Decker, the next they were all in Lucifer’s penthouse, surrounded by terrified cops. Dan still had a hold on her but that didn’t matter. Maze wasn’t the biggest threat to Decker’s life.

The bitch was being held up by the throat by the Archangel Michael, his wings spread menacingly and his eyes pitch black. “What,” the angel growled, low and threatening. “Did you do to my Twin?”

Decker didn’t talk, merely choked and coughed. She grappled with the hand at her neck, looking terrified. Which she should be, Maze wanted to laugh.

For all that humans liked to think that Lucifer was the one to be afraid of, it was Michael who humanity really feared. Humans, caught off-guard by the fear that trailed him and the shadows he controlled, only thought he was Lucifer. They’d meet Michael first, find themselves Judged by the Archangel, and only thought he was coming back when Lucifer appeared to dish out the Punishment. And when it wasn’t Lucifer dealing the Punishment, it was God.

Michael, on Earth, trailed death and destruction. The Sword of God. The Archangel of Judgement. Always with the Lightbringer trailing close behind, dishing out the Punishment that Michael declared was needed.

Lucifer was the Devil but it was Michael who was the real Nightmare of Humanity.

“She found out he was telling the truth,” Maze said, letting her struggles cease. Someone much more dangerous had Decker now. Maze would enjoy watching. “And she ran to a priest. Slipped some poison in his drink and left him to them. I thought it was just an exorcism. Until you said you and Daddy didn’t know where he is.”

Ellen made a noise that sounded like anger. Maze would have looked if she wasn’t too busy watching Michael snarl at the woman who had betrayed his Twin.

“That’s the thing you humans never realize,” she said, feeling Dan let her go now that it was a moot point. “You’re all so caught up by the Devil, you never realize that things don’t quite add up. You’ve only got half the story. Lucifer is Punishment, that’s true, but it’s not punishment that you need to fear throughout your lives. Say hello to the rest of the story. Decker, meet Judgement.”

“Be grateful that I am too busy to deal with you here and now, mortal,” Michael whispered. “But do not think that this will be over. Once I’ve found my Twin and ascertained he is fine, I will be back. And I think I will be merciful to him and take care of Judgement and Punishment myself.”

As he spoke, a shadow wrapped around one of Decker’s arms. It burned in the way only ice could as it dug deep into her flesh. Decker screamed in pain as the shadow pulled away to show a single black sword.

Michael had branded her Judged and Marked her as Heaven’s. Nothing Lucifer did would change it, if he even wanted to once he found out the truth. If he didn’t already know.

“Hell acknowledges the claim,” Maze said, the words coming easy to her. She had never needed to say them before, yet Lucifer had made sure every demon knew them. Knew to defer to Michael as if he was Lucifer. “In the absence of my King, I am yours to command, Umbrafer.”

Lucifer was King of Hell. When Lucifer was there, it was he who all demons would follow. Yet the Devil was not stupid. He knew that one day, a demon would interact with Michael. So he had named Michael his Equal to every demon, giving him a name in the Infernal Realm to match his own. One that gave Michael status. Umbrafer, the Shadow Bringer. The closest that Hell’s language had to the Dark Herald that was one of Michael’s titles. Lucifer and Umbrafer, the Lightbringer and Shadowbringer.

Maze, while not bound under Oath as the King of Hells Right Hand, was still his subject. Michael was her Prince as Lucifer was her King.

Michael considered her. “Find the priest,” he ordered. “Do not kill him. If my Twin is not with him, then we will need him alive to find Lucifer’s location. If Lucifer is there, call for me.”

Maze bowed. “As you command.”

“Now,” Michael looked towards Decker, still dangling. “You are going to tell me the name of the priest. I recommend doing so with speed.”

Then he dropped her. Decker hit the ground, coughing violently. She looked terrified.

It soothed Maze to know that she would never feel safe again. The Mark would not allow it. Until Judgement was fulfilled, she would forever feel as if she were being hunted. The fear would never fade. “Kinley,” she rasped. “William Kinley.”

Maze felt her lips curl into a vicious grin.

William Kinley was a dead man walking.

He just didn’t know it yet.

Dan watched as Maze spun around and stalked out of the penthouse. She didn’t even bother with the elevator, using the stairs that almost always remained locked. She’d pulled the key from her pocket, unlocking the door without another word.

Chloe was still coughing, a bruise forming on her throat from where Michael had held her.

Michael.

Even if Dan hadn’t known that Lucifer was a Twin, he would have known that the man in front of him was not Lucifer. The Archangel Michael was vastly different from their consultant. He trailed fear in the same way Lucifer trailed desire. His movements were filled with power that Lucifer just didn’t have. If they were side by side, in the same clothing, Dan would still be able to tell you which was Lucifer and which was Michael.

Maze’s words rang in his head. ‘Meet the other half of the story.’

The stories that religion had of the Devil didn’t match reality. Of Lucifer, that was. Michael? Michael was pretty fucking close to resembling the monster that humans claimed the Devil was.

It scared the shit out of him to think that Michael had been able to grab Dan, Maze, and Chloe from his car and drop them into the penthouse just like that. It scared him a lot.

The brand on Chloe’s arm stood out to everyone.

Dan took a deep breath, really not wanting to draw Michael’s attention to him. It felt dangerous to have those dark eyes turned on him. At the same time, Lucifer was Dan’s friend. Even if it was a very, very strained friendship. Beyond that, Amenadiel was legitimately Dan’s friend. His friend and Lucifer’s brother. From the single-mindedness that Michael had towards Lucifer, Dan wasn’t sure that his friend knew Lucifer was even missing. Really missing, if God had no idea where he was. “You should let Amenadiel know what’s going on,” he said, hesitantly.

Dark eyes snapped to look at him. “You know Amenadiel?” Michael asked, hostility gone from a mostly familiar voice.

“Yes.” Dan took a deep breath. “He and Lucifer have been trying to mend their relationship. I tried calling and didn’t get through. I don’t think he knows Lucifer is missing.”

Or that you’re on Earth looking for him.

The rest of the gathered cops were looking at Dan like he was crazy for addressing the Archangel. Mostly, Dan agreed with them. It still had to be done.

And they needed to give Michael something to focus on before someone else ended up bruised. Especially since Maze was now going to be following his orders. Plus, they needed to book Chloe for her crimes. Devil or not, she’d poisoned Lucifer. That was conspiracy of murder at the very least. If not attempted murder. It depended on what she spilled in interrogation.

“Amenadiel and Lucifer have been getting along?” Michael looked bemused. “Are you sure?”

Dan considered that. “I mean, they still have fist fights, if that helps.”

Evidently, it did. Michael closed his eyes for a moment.

Then, out of nowhere, Amenadiel was there. “What do you mean Lucifer is missing?” he said the moment he’d arrived.

Lucifer coughed up blood, the liquid soaking into his gag as he did so. It seemed like the priests were taking a break, the chanting having tapered off to a stop.

The Devil was grateful for the reprieve. His entire body was aching, covered in blood from the knife wounds and magic. He could feel the wounds replicated on his soul, shallow and bleeding. Only, instead of blood, it was his Light that trickled out. His very essence was bleeding into reality, illuminating the room with its’ light. Only getting brighter and brighter the longer this went on.

“Are you sure that it’s working?” one of the priests in the circle asked, looking towards the Italian in the room. “Father Kinley, while we seem to be wounding it, Satan still look as solid as it did before we started.”

That would be because Lucifer was in his own body! Even when his soul gave out (he was becoming less and less assured of rescue before it was too late), Lucifer’s body would be just as solid as it was before.

While he might have given up on getting out alive, that didn’t mean that he had stopped trying. Lucifer was ripping and tearing with all his Will, trying to push out a message to call for help. God or Michael, Lucifer wasn’t picky on which found him at this point. Just that he was found. Even if he couldn’t be saved, Lucifer did not want his body left to these people. There was no telling what they would do with it without Lucifer to stop them.

So he would keep fighting. Keep trying to call for help. If Lucifer was cut off from Michael, there was a chance that Michael would notice the problem. Notice and come looking. Michael would always come looking if he thought Lucifer was in danger. If Michael knew, then God would know. Lucifer was hoping beyond hope that God would be able to find him easily.

That God would be willing to help him at all.

Just as important, Lucifer needed to live for those he called his on this plain of existence. Mazikeen, who had been his since the day she’d entered his service. Even if she was released of her oath. Even if she betrayed him. Maze was his. Lucifer was nothing if not possessive. Beyond her, there was the Detective and the Spawn, who would miss him. There was the Douche, who was growing on him by the day. There was Miss Lopez, who had looked so earnest saying that the Devil got a bad rap. There was Linda, who had taken time but still considered him worth helping.

Lucifer would fight to get back to them all. To get back to his home, fashioned out of those he’d collected during his time on Earth.

Lucifer would be Damned again if he went down without a fight.

Maze smiled as she stood outside of a local church. Once she had a name, Maze had been able to track Kinley from the airport to his hotel. From there, she’d tracked his scent all over town. Until she had arrived here, where the scent was freshest.

Kinley was inside. Possibly so was her Lord. It had taken time, more time than she had liked, but Maze had completed her first goal. The culprit was located.

The demon pulled out her phone and called Espinoza. “I’ve got a location.”

Chapter Text

Michael did not bother waiting for the demon or the humans as he broke through the doors of the Church. The moment that he had arrived, Michael had been able to feel the Enochian magic that covered this place. Enochian magic that was far more powerful than anything a mere human should have access to.

That explained why it was Michael could not connect with Lucifer. Why God could not locate the missing angel. The Enochian magic was making it impossible. Michael had never even heard of any Enochian magic that powerful before. Father would be furious when Michael reported back.

Which would not happen until Lucifer was freed and safe from the hands of these priests who thought that it was their right to harm his brother. That dared think themselves above any angel, no matter their relationship with Father or their job. Michael would enjoy whatever Punishment Lucifer enacts on these priests.

It was his right as the wronged party. Michael would fight any who disagreed with that Judgement. Even if it was the Almighty Himself.

He followed the flow of magic through the church, ignoring the alarmed shouts of other humans than the ones that Lucifer collected. The ones that had been trying to find him even before Michael had shown up. His Twin’s friends. Samael was going to need his friends when this was all over.

That human bitch had made sure of it. Michael would enjoy watching her suffer once the danger was past.

Michael followed the flow of power through the building, ignoring the fleeing humans that scrambled to get out of his way. Let Lucifer’s humans take care of these ones, they were not who he hunted at the moment.

Finding the way downward was tricky. Part of him wanted to just break through the floor. If he knew what to expect there, Michael might have. He didn’t know, for sure, however. Doing so could very well further endanger his Twin, which was just not something that Michael was willing to risk. Which left him searching for the shadows that would show him the way down.

There, the shadow whispered. He is down there.

Michael wasted no time in breaking the door down, kicking it was enough force for it to splinter into pieces. A flash of his wings and Michael found himself in a large room, decorated with religious images. Even a strangely pale visage of their half-brother, painted on the wall, hanging from the very device that had killed him.

Why humans worshiped a symbol of torture, Michael would never understand.

That was not what caught his attention, however. What caught his attention was the limp form of his brother, hanging from chains. Lucifer was bleeding heavily, his wings shredded and covered in sticky red. A gag, soaked in blood, kept his Twin from speaking.

Without a second thought, Michael moved forward. The need to free Lucifer was greater than the need to rend the humans within this room into pieces. Michael only had eyes on his brother.

If he had taken a moment to consider, he might have remembered that there was some magic at play which had hidden Lucifer from both his own and God’s view. Michael might have proceeded with more caution. Instead, Michael was violently flung backwards the moment he got within three feet of his Twin. Magic lashed out as Michael hit the wall. The tangy taste of blood on his mouth told Michael that the magic was doing more than just surface damage.

“Michael!” Amenadiel’s voice from in front of him pulled Michael’s attention away from his Twin. Their older brother was pale, his eyes wide. “What happened?”

Michael coughed, the wet in his throat as he did so. “Magic,” he rasped, coughing wetly again. “Enochian. I can’t get to him.”

Lucifer was right there. His Twin was right there and Michael couldn’t get to him. Couldn’t break the chains, drag him to safety, couldn’t do anything.

Amenadiel glanced behind him, his face twisting and a slight tremor in his hands as he held Michael’s shoulders. “It did this to you?” the eldest asked, a shake to his voice that matched the shaking of his hands.

Michael felt the magic strike out again. He hissed in pain, looking down at his chest to watch in surprise as blood started to spread on his robes. Amenadiel followed his gaze, his face paling as he, too, watched the spread of the blood.

Oh, the Archangel thought as pain blossomed from his back as well.

Enochian magic had always had trouble distinguishing Lucifer and Michael. By getting that close to the circle, the magic had latched onto Michael as well as it had Lucifer. It wasn’t as potent as within the barrier that kept Lucifer contained. That didn’t stop it from lashing out. It didn’t stop it from creating real damage.

It didn’t stop it from hurting.

Michael unfurled his wings. He watched as blood dripped from them, staining the black red in the same way red stained white feathers on a form nearly identical to his own. Michael looked back into Amenadiel’s terrified eyes.

“Get Father,” he said just before the magic struck again.

This time, Michael screamed in pain.

Amenadiel watched Michael convulse onto the floor, blood spraying from his mouth and spreading onto his robes. Terror twisted his insides as he could do nothing to stop it.

“Everyone out!” he shouted at the humans who were flooding into the room. “Out now!”

Dan, at the front of those who had raced down, looked at Lucifer with wide eyes. His face was nearly white as he saw the damage. Amenadiel could understand the horror. In any other circumstances, he would have joined Dan.

Right now, they were all in danger. If the magic was this volatile, there was no telling who it might latch onto next. Michael screamed again, drawing the attention of the humans.

“We need to get out!” Amenadiel said, moving away from his brother despite every instinct demanding that he do something. “The magic is unstable, everyone needs to get out!”

Just like that, the humans seemed to shake themselves out of the horror and fled back up the stairs to the rest of the church. Amenadiel took one last look at his two brothers before rushing out of the room as well.

He felt the magic try to follow him, reaching out just as Amenadiel arrived at the steps. The Angel of Time wasted none as he raced upstairs. Only the image of blood on Michael’s wings kept him from taking flight. If Amenadiel went down, there would be no way to help any of them.

Someone needed to retrieve Father. Someone needed to get help. Michael and Lucifer were both down now, which left it to him.

If not for that, Amenadiel would not have dared leave their side.

“You’re bleeding,” Dan’s voice said, shaking, as Amenadiel slammed the basement door closed. The magic lashed at the barrier, shaking it.

The angel blinked, noticing the pain on his face for the first time. He reached up, his fingers coming away red with blood. He hadn’t quite managed to get out unscathed then.

“The magic is unstable, it’s going after anything remotely celestial,” he said, turning to the door. He needed to keep it from spreading. “I need a knife!”

There was the sound of people scrambling for some sort of knife. It only took a moment for something hard to be pressed into his hand.

Amenadiel wasted no time carving a quick containment field into the wooden door. It wouldn’t last long, but he didn’t need it to last long. Just long enough for Amenadiel to get Father. Using the blood already on his hand, Amenadiel slammed it onto his work.

It glowed, just slightly, before he watched as the magic was forced back downwards.

“No one open this,” he said, handing the knife to the young officer standing closest to him. “The ward will keep it contained as long as this is closed. This is beyond me. I need to get help.”

The pale officers around him nodded quietly.

Amenadiel didn’t wait, opening his wings and launching himself towards the Silver City.

His brother’s needed help. More help than he could offer.

They needed their Father.

God felt it when Amenadiel, bleeding, crashed through the gates of the Silver City. The deity pulled Himself away from events, fury already igniting in Him, as He waited from His Eldest to reach Him.

Following the flow of events had told God exactly what had happened to His Lightbringer. Or nearly. God, not matter how hard He tried, could not see beyond when the shackles had closed on His Son in Lucifer’s penthouse. Nothing He did would break through whatever magic was being used.

Which meant that this was Enochian magic. Powerful, extremely powerful, Enochian magic. Magic that God feared He knew the origin of.

His Wife should thank Her continued existence that She was not currently in His reach.

Amenadiel reached His office quickly, throwing the door open without bothering to knock. “Magic,” His oldest panted, blood trickling down his face from a deep wound. “Enochian. Unstable. Can’t get to Lucifer and it latched onto Michael.”

God felt His essence freeze at those words. He’d thought Michael was merely waiting with Lucifer if Amenadiel was here. If it latched onto both of them…

God was moving before the thought even finished. “Lead me!” He ordered, all of creation shaking with the strength of His rage.

His Eldest wasted not a moment. With speed Amenadiel was not known for, the two raced from the Silver City towards Earth.

In moments they were inside a Church filled with humans. God could feel familiar Enochian magic, a spell of His own creation, twisting below His feet. The ground shook as fear joined His rage.  “There,” Amenadiel said, breathless, pointing towards a door that shone with magic keeping the worst of the unstable Enochian magic from spreading further than it already was. It wouldn’t last long, was already starting to break apart, yet God felt a hint of pride for the quick thinking Amenadiel had displayed.

God raised His hand, blasting the door open and forcing the corrupted magic back. It dissipated under His Power. “Stay here,” God ordered His Eldest. “Do not call for your siblings until I have dealt with the magic.”

“Yes Father,” Amenadiel nodded.

God paid no mind to the humans as He strode downwards. The magic fought Him, attempting to latch on with little success. Powered by only humans, this magic was not a threat to Him. It had only worked on Goddess due to His own power fueling it. And even then, it was not a permanent solution. It had only been created in order to buy time while He tried to figure out another option.

An option that had come from Lucifer, who had opened the borders of this universe to another. Goddess should have no longer been a threat to Their Children. God should have known better to believe that letting Azrael’s blade amongst the humans would be Her only bid to get His attention. If He had, this magic would not be here right now.

His Lightbringer and His Dark Herald would not be in danger right now.

Michael’s screams, echoing through the magic, only furthered His own rage. God braced Himself for what He would find at the bottom of these stairs.

It was not enough. The Lord of Creation stared in horror at the bloodied form of His Rebellious Son. Wings shredded, body bloodied, and Lucifer’s very soul bleeding into creation. The shackles glowed with power that lashed out repeatedly. God watched as Lucifer’s muscles contracted and spammed.

He was glad for Lucifer’s sake that the Moring Star was unconscious.

Michael’s new scream grabbed His attention. Braced against a wall, the magic in this room slashed at His Sword. Blood soaked his skin, colored black feathers, and just barely brushed against Michael’s own soul. Not enough to wound, Michael was in the circle, but enough to hurt. God, for all that He wished to go to His Sword, knew that Michael was not the priority.

Getting rid of this magic, saving Lucifer, needed to come first. Michael was hurt, yes. He was not in danger of extinction like Lucifer was, however, and God needed to deal with that first. Then He would take both of His Twins back to the Silver City to heal.

After, and only After, would God deal with those who had caused this.

Gathering His Will and Power, God lashed out at the circle keeping Lucifer contained. It fought back weakly before succumbing, the very ground splitting under God’s Wrath. For a moment, the Magic in the room paused.

God took that moment to fill the room with His own magic, shredding into the spell work with no mercy. It took seconds for the magic to shatter, falling into pieces that dissipated completely. Michael’s screams ceased as the magic attacking him disappeared.

The Almighty was not done yet. Reaching out, God touched the chains around Lucifer’s wrists. They, too, dissolved. Letting the unconscious angel fall forward as nothing kept him upwards. God caught him as he fell, careful of the wounds that covered His child’s body.

A small whimper left Lucifer’s lips, the only sign that the Lightbringer was even slightly aware. God hummed soothingly, carefully stroking blood matted hair as He did so. His Child pushed into His hold before falling limp once more.

For a moment, God wished to remain like this. Holding Samael in a way that He had not in eons. If not for the damage down to his person, God might have indulged into the position. As it was, the deity carefully maneuvered Lucifer’s body until he was cradled in God’s arms.

Then God turned his attention onto Michael, who was steadying himself on his feet from where he’d fallen against the wall. “Son,” He began, concerned.

Michael looked at Him. “I’m fine,” the Sword lied.

“You will have Amenadiel help you to the Infirmary,” God said, knowing better. “Do not attempt to fly yourself. It will help no one if you injure yourself further than you are.”

Dark eyes looked at Him before settling onto Samael. Fear, grief, and horror filled dark eyes. “Lucifer,” Michael said, quietly.

“Will be in the Infirmary waiting for you,” God said, voice hard. “Then I will Deal with those responsible.”

God would make sure that none escaped punishment for this. Not the priests, not the Miracle, and not those who had looked the other way. Any who were complicit would find themselves on the end of His Wrath. When Lucifer was healed, God would teach humanity a lesson not seen since the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah.

Then God, with His Lightbringer cradled in His hands, took them back to the Silver City.

Michael closed his eyes, body aching from the magic that had kept Lucifer from them. Father and Lucifer were gone, leaving nothing behind other than the copper scent of Lucifer’s blood and the broken evidence of what had happened here.

Amenadiel, Michael reached out. He knew that going to meet his brother was out of the question. Michael’s legs were weak and his wings were not fit for flight.

The sound of creaking wood was all the warning Michael got before Amenadiel sprinted from the steps to him.

“Michael,” his older brother sound so relieved. Then he glanced around. “Where…?”

“Father took them back already,” Michael answered. “He did not want to waste time. We are to head to the Infirmary ourselves.”

The gash down Amenadiel’s face was not the only wound he had. Michael did not think that Amenadiel had noticed the blood seeping into the shoulder of his own robe. It made sense why Father had said to have Amenadiel help him there. The Angel of Time would need Raphael’s skills himself.

Amenadiel took a good look at Michael wings, though Michael kept his gaze forward. The longer he put off observing the damage, the better. Unobserved wounds did not hurt as much as observed wounds. Michael would like to be back in the Silver City before the pain fully set in.

Frowning, Amenadiel turned around. Michael was about to ask why before his brother unfurled his wings and crouched.

“I am not a fledgling,” Michael groused, annoyed. “I do not need to ride on your back.”

Amenadiel said nothing, merely waited. The Archangel sighed, heavily. Then, reluctantly, Michael moved forward and warped his arms around Amenadiel’s neck, careful to keep from hitting the wound on his shoulder.

If not for that, Michael might have put up more of a fight. With his shoulder injured, it wasn’t wise for Amenadiel to try carrying up the same way that he would any other time. It risked further injuring him. Once he was fully secured, Amenadiel spread his wings and they took off.

It hurt. The dimensional barriers pulled at his open wounds, digging deep and threatening to force another scream from Michael’s throat. From the unsteady way that Amenadiel wobbled once they reached the gates of the Silver City, it was clear his older brother was newly aware of his injured shoulder.

Father must have foreseen this as Gabriel and Remiel waited for them there. Without a word, Remiel carefully steadied Amenadiel’s right side while Gabriel took the left. Then, their odd group carefully flew the distance towards the Infirmary.

As they did, Michael felt his eyes grow heavy. Here, safe within their home with Samael located, the Archangel could not fight the pull of unconsciousness that edged his vision.

He let go, content to let their siblings take care of things now.

Dan wiped his mouth, the taste of bile foul in his mouth. He wasn’t the only one that had lost the battle against his stomach either. All around him, various cops heaved into various trash cans that paramedics had scrounged together.

The basement of the church wouldn’t look out of place in a horror movie. Blood from where Lucifer had been was littered with feathers. Some of it was so dark it was black, not a good sign altogether. More blood covered a wall where it ran to the floor and gathered into a puddle there. Not nearly as much as where Lucifer had been, but it was still more than Dan was comfortable with.

He had to wonder how many of them would have died if Amenadiel hadn’t realized what was happening and forced them back up the stairs. The angel hadn’t been down here even a fraction of the time Michael had and he’d been bleeding from his face and shoulder by the time he’d gotten back up the stairs and had slammed the door close.

Unbidden, Dan glanced at the cracked ground and remnants of shackles laying on top of it. God had not bothered being delicate.

Wasn’t that mind shattering. Fucking God had appeared, the earthquaking under their feet, and had proceeded to splinter the door apart before descending down the stairs easily. Amenadiel had hovered by the doorway, looking like he really wanted to follow the deity down.

Dan couldn’t blame him. Two of his brothers were down there, in pain, and Amenadiel was stuck up here doing nothing. Dan was an only child, yeah, but he would like to think that he would have done the same if it was his siblings down there. Hell, Lucifer was only his friend and Dan was restless as they all stood around waiting for the guy Lucifer liked to rant about save him.

God saving the Devil. Now there was something that would have Churches scratching their heads in confusion. Dan got the feeling that humans had a bad habit of forgetting that Lucifer, while the Devil, was still the God’s child. Dan couldn’t even begin to imagine Trixie being in Satan’s place. Dan was pretty sure that breaking a door down would be the least of what he’d do to get to her.

The earthquake hadn’t stopped for a moment since God had appeared or left. Amenadiel had only barely announced that the magic was gone before he paused and was running down the stairs. By the time the rest of them got there, the basement was empty of people. God, Lucifer, Michael, and Amenadiel were nowhere to be seen.

“How the fuck are we going to explain this?” Johnson asked, looking around. His face was still tinged green, the same as most of the people here. Dan was sure his own face was the same. “Monroe is going to have us all committed if we go back talking about God, the Devil, and angels.”

Yeah, Dan was wondering that as well. “We can’t exactly hide this,” he said, motioning to the nightmare room. “And I don’t fucking want to hide it either. I want those fuckers sitting behind bars when God or Satan’s angry Twin come knocking.”

Lucifer being a twin was honestly the least insane part of this entire thing. Dan’s entire world had just been overturned in…christ, how long had it even been since this mess started? Lucifer’s original appointment with Linda was late afternoon the day after Chloe’s date with the man. It’d been late night when Dan had gotten to Chloe’s with Maze. It was morning now, Dan glanced at his watch, nearly 9am. At least twelve hours, then. Maybe more.

Which meant that Lucifer had been here for over a full day.

The nausea returned with a vengeance.

“We’ve already booked Decker,” Walters agreed from near the stairs. “The others in the station have probably already interrogated her. Who knows what she’s already spilled. And they have Smith there as well.”

Maze had wanted to go in with Michael. The Archangel had told her to guard Chloe instead. Something about demons being good prison wardens. Maze had certainly seemed pleased and hadn’t even put up much of a fight at being sent away. She clearly trusted Michael to handle things.

Dan was really going to have to ask her what Umbrafer meant, because it sounded suspiciously like Lucifer’s name.

Actually, there were a lot of things that Dan was going to have to ask Lucifer. If the Devil ever decided to come back, that was.

(Dan tried not to think about the other option. The idea that Lucifer would die…well, Dan didn’t really want to consider that. Not properly. For now, Dan would work under the assumption that Lucifer would be coming back.

For the sake of his own mental health, he had to.)

“I need a drink,” Edwards sighed, looking just as done with the world as Dan currently felt. “This is a fucking mess.”

“If someone else makes the call, I’ll see what Maze can tell me about what’s been going on,” Dan offered reluctantly. What was worse? Calling this fucking nightmare in or talking to the pissed off demon?

From the way that he immediately received volunteers to make the call, Dan had a feeling that he knew exactly where his coworkers stood on that. Dan sighed, deeply, before he took out his phone. At least he wasn’t trying to hold her back from murder this time, the cop thought sardonically.

Olivia Monroe really, really wanted to have every single person here committed. On any other day, she probably would. The entire thing sounded insane.

Maybe if the demon in the room hadn’t stormed into the precinct with black eyes looking ready to commit murder, Olivia could have pretended that all of her officers had hallucinated. Maybe if Decker hadn’t told the exact same story. Maybe if the blood from Morningstar’s apartment hadn’t come back as unknown with characteristics similar to humans. There were a lot of maybes.

The pictures that someone had gotten of Decker, Espinoza, and Smith appearing out of shadows in the middle of the active crime scene just sinched it.

Olivia just wasn’t sure what to do with the information. What did one do when a case involving Satan, God, and a bunch of priests landed on your desk? When Satan’s angry Twin, the Archangel Michael, traumatized more than a few of her people? Olivia had no procedure for this. No book to follow. There wasn’t exactly a specific charge for someone poisoning the Devil!

And Decker was going to be charged. Olivia might be struggling to wrap her head around Lucifer Morningstar not being a delusional club owner with strange mental abilities, but that didn’t mean that she didn’t consider him one of hers. He’d worked with the LAPD for years now, putting himself on the front lines, and had carved out a place for himself in their precinct. She wasn’t sure that the homicide department would recover losing him.

She was sure that Decker would never be a cop again. Charged with a crime or not, there wasn’t a cop here that would work with her after this. Olivia had no intention of forcing the issue. She had no intention of letting Decker simply move on to a different precinct out of LA either. If she could do this to Morningstar, someone Olivia had thought Decker was closer to than she’d ever been with Espinoza, then who knew what she could do to someone else.

If Satan was real and working as a consultant, there could be a number of supernatural consultants all over the country. If Decker encountered one of them, she might think it justified to do the exact same thing. Olivia wouldn’t risk it.

And maybe she liked Morningstar. He was effective, honest, and mostly reliable. Adding being the literal Devil to the mix might even explain the times he’d disappeared or seemingly went off the rails. She certainly was a lot more interested in what her people referred to as the Stripper Incident. What in the world was going on that Satan married a stripper?

“I’m sure it doesn’t need to be said that not a single word of this is to go past the precinct,” Olivia looked over the gathered cops and techs. “Consider this to be classified beyond any case you’ve ever handled. Not a word about Angels, the Devil, or God.”

The ground rattled underneath her feet, a constant buzz since literal God had appeared with Canaan. Olivia did her best to ignore it.

Another reason she couldn’t just declare them all insane and be done with it. Hard to ignore the literal earthquaking.

She received nods from all around.

“Lopez, Espinoza,” she said, watching as their attention snapped to her. “You’re both off the case.”

“But!” Espinoza protested, scowling.

“No!” She shot back, glaring at him and then at the flabbergasted forensic. “You’re too close to this. Decker is your ex-husband and your friend. I’m pretty sure that you’re bother friends with Morningstar, depending on the day.”

A spatter of laughter came from the gathered cops. Everyone knew the strange dynamic Espinoza and Morningstar had. The two went from chatting amenably to at each other’s throats depending on the day. The pudding theft was guaranteed to spark an argument.

(And if she snorted internally at the idea that Satan went around stealing pudding, that was between her and no-one else. Or maybe God. Who the fuck knew anymore.)

“Smith is only staying on because I don’t feel like being gutted,” she added, grudgingly. “Or arguing with an Archangel.”

If this Michael was anything like his twin, Olivia just didn’t want to bother with the headache. From all descriptions, Michael was far more dangerous than Morningstar. Who knew just how many stories about the Devil featured the Archangel instead? Olivia was happier not finding out first hand.

She needed a raise.

“Edwards, you’re lead. The rest of you, get back to work. We’ve still got dead people that need dealing with," she ordered, watching as the crowd slowly dispersed.

The upcoming days were going to be some of the worst in her career. Morningstar might have been located, but he’d been in a bad state according to those who had managed to see him before they were all rushed from the basement he’d been kept in. More than a few were still shaken by the screams that had come from his Twin. No, this was far from over.

Olivia just hoped that they came out the other side mostly intact.

Lucifer didn’t know where he was.

One moment, he’d been screaming as magic and blade cut him body and soul, the next he had woken up here. Surrounded by an empty grey expanding outward in all directions. No light, no dark, just…grey. But not grey. It was hard to conceptualize, even for him.

It was a blank slate, unmolded or sullied by outside influence. Pristine and ready for whoever decided to claim it. Lucifer was honestly fascinated by it.

Better, he didn’t hurt here. While he could tell the wounds were there, Lucifer couldn’t really feel them. It was like his entire body had been numbed. Frankly, it was a relief.

Even if the implications were concerning.

Because this place wasn’t the Silver City and it wasn’t Hell. The two places that Lucifer should have gone if he had died, which he had been well on his way to doing. Physically and metaphysically. By all rights, Lucifer should be in Hell.

Not…wherever this was.

“Hello?” he called out, frowning when the noise sounded…wrong. Distorted. Like he was talking through water. It reverberated around him, manifesting itself in a way that sound wasn’t supposed to.

There was no answer back.

Lucifer had no real idea if that was a good or bad thing.

This entire experience was one filled with questions without answer.

‘Samael.’

Lucifer’s head snapped to the side. He was met with…nothing. Not even the strange manifestation his own word had made.

‘Samael.’

“Not my name,” the Devil grumbled, scowling. Still, this was more than what had been there before.

‘Please, Samael.’

Lucifer’s scowl deepened. “If you want me to do something, ask me directly,” he called out to the emptiness.

‘You’re going to be alright,’ the voice whispered in his ears. ‘Okay? You just need to hold on. Keep fighting.’

The Devil felt his shoulders tense as he put a name to the face. “Raphael?” he whispered, watching the name dance in this strange place of nothing.

‘That’s right,’ she sounded so relieved. ‘That’s right, you’re safe. We’ve got you safe. Just keep fighting, brother.’

Lucifer sank to the nonexistent ground as he realized what was happening. Raphael wasn’t here with him. Not in this place. She was with his body.

While Lucifer, injured down to his soul, was falling into the cracks beyond creation. Where their universe ended and another began. One step away from dissipating entirely.

“Bloody hell,” he said, noticing for the first time that he couldn’t feel his heartbeat. Looking down at his hands, Lucifer saw the slight glow that wasn’t there when he was in his body.

Right now, Lucifer was nothing more than a soul.

Panic clawed at his edges as the reality of his situation sank in. Lucifer was in trouble. A lot of trouble.

Worse, he had no idea how to get himself out of it. For the first time, Lucifer had no other options. No way out. No one who could come here to bring him back with them and no trick up his sleeve to pull himself out. The Devil was well and truly stuck. One wrong move and Lucifer could stop existing entirely.

Or he might find himself stuck here forever. With nothing but endless grey for the rest of eternity.

Neither one sounded promising.

The Devil ran his hands through his hair.

He wasn’t completely lost, yet. If Raphael was talking to him, then he still had some connection to Creation. Still enough of a tether on his body that let him tap into his senses. Better, it meant he was no longer in the circle. Lucifer still could heal, could still come back from this. Much as he hated relying on his Father for anything, God wouldn’t leave him like this. Not if Raphael was involved.

He might owe the deity a debt once everything was said and done, yet that was better than the alternative.

Lucifer couldn’t give up. The Detective was still waiting for him. Possibly even looking for him, if Lucifer was with his family. She’d be frantic at this point. Lucifer was going to do his best to get back to her. To get back to the Spawn, Miss Lopez, Linda and maybe even the Douche depending on the day of the week. Mazikeen would skin him alive if Lucifer left her behind on Earth, alone. He needed to find his way back for them just as much as he did for himself.

The Devil closed his eyes, taking a deep breath he didn’t need (there wasn’t even air here) and focused on his ties to his body. Just as he had done the first time he had died, back when the Silver City had been his home.

It was like wading through wet concrete, slow and thick. When he finally got to them, the Devil was alarmed to see just how frayed and stretched they were. His tie to the Host was splitting apart, pulled to its near breaking point. The tether to his body was worse. It looked like it was one good pull from snapping.

Lucifer grimaced, anxiety twisting inside him.

Then he noticed it. The only tie that didn’t look ready to break. Dark and thick, pulsing with shadows.

Michael, Lucifer thought, almost reaching for it. Right where he’d always been. He considered it, watching as the shadows dancing around it tried to reach for him. If nothing else, Michael’s tie to him would keep Lucifer from being sent completely adrift.

The sight of it soothed him, chasing away the anxiety that had wanted to pull him under. Michael, if no one else in their family, would keep Lucifer safe. Just as Lucifer would always keep Michael safe. His other half, the Dark to his Light, the Judgement that was the precusor for his Punishment. Michael was safety given form.

Lucifer looked at the other ties, so weak, before turning his attention back to the which connected him to his Twin.

Without another thought, Lucifer reached out and grabbed the tie.

One minute, Michael was enjoying the darkness of his mind. The next, the Archangel was standing in a place he had not seen in a very long time. A meld of darkness and light dancing together, blending and spiraling from one end of their shared consciousness to the other. The archangel reached up, smiling when Light greeted him as an old friend.

Then he turned his curiosity to the field beneath his feet. Where once there had only been dirt, fire, and water, now there was an expansive field of life. Flowers and plants reached for the light above, while water and those creatures who needed no Light to live trailed the darkness. Creation for which Power and Will had once helped with underneath the Almighty’s direction represented in the space where only Michael and Samael could ever be.

“I like it,” his Twin’s voice said, intrigued.

Michael spun around, delight vibrating through the feathers of his wings and he looked at the damaged form of Lucifer.

The injuries were still there, spilling out light instead of blood on his Twin’s soul. Lucifer was not nearly as solid as he should have been, either. His Twin was almost translucent even in their shared space.

Anxiety twisted within Michael. “Samael,” he said, the horror leaking in his voice. Here, where they were so interconnected, Michael could hide nothing from the searching eyes of Lucifer. Just as Lucifer could hide nothing. No twisting truths or creative dodges. Just the truth, honest and open.

Lucifer gave him a weak smile. “I know,” he said, glancing down. “Raphael seems to be working on it. I think it would be wise if I remain here while she does. I prefer this over my other option.”

Michael could see the nothing that Samael had come from, as far as the eye could see, and grimaced. “Yes,” he agreed softly. “That would be for the best.”

If his other ties were too weak, too frayed, then Michael would be the anchor that Samael needed. The connection between Lucifer and the Creation they had once helped craft. Just as Samael would have been his connection.

“It doesn’t bother me,” Lucifer said, a bit surprised. “To have you call me Samael. I thought it would.”

Michael laughed. “You are Samael as much as you are Lucifer. Archangel as much as Devil. Just as I am Sword as much as I am Darkness. It has always been so. That you have crafted a name for Light to go with Will is no further trouble.”

His Twin grinned at him, vicious and pleased. “I can be both,” Lucifer acknowledged. “For you.”

For Michael, who had never turned away. For the game they played, the connection they’d always shared. “And I can be Umbrafer to those you command,” he teased, smug and pleased.

Michael had been surprised when the demon had addressed him as such. Surprised and more than a little pleased. He hadn’t known that Lucifer had given him Title and Rank within Hell, though perhaps he should have.

Samael snorted. “I see you ran into Mazikeen then. I suppose I should have expected as much. She always did have a rather accurate ability to catch when I’m in need of assistance. Was it her who alerted you to what was happening?”

Michael grimaced, this was the part that was not going to go well. They did not know just how much Samael had picked up about how events had transpired. Lucifer could know it all or he could know nearly nothing. “No,” he sat in the grass, basking in the perfect mix of Power and Will underneath his touch. Lucifer moved to join him, letting out a pleased sigh as he did. “I couldn’t feel you. That circle blocked you from me. Completely. It was just myself. Power and Dark alone.”

Maddening. An absence so impossible Michael had not even realized why he was in distress.

Lucifer sucked in a breath, horrified. “Michael,” his Twin said, voice soft. Filled with all the words that would not do the horror of it justice.

“It took too long to realize what was missing. I didn’t even think that it was possible for you to be gone. I checked Dark and Power over and over, finding nothing amiss to cause such distress. Raphael was the one to ask I consult Father,” Michael watched his Twin stiffen. “It took Father far less time to realize what was going on. Only, when He reached for you, He could not find you either.”

Samael nodded, face grim. “I tried to call for Him and couldn’t get through,” Lucifer admitted, reluctantly. “When I realized what the circle was. If She wasn’t in a universe of Her own, I would be having words with Mother for letting that piece of spellwork out into the world. She should have known better. Anything with the power to keep Her in place would do damage even if only humans were performing the spell.”

Rage spiked as Michael put the pieces together. He should have known when the magic had been so unstable and had lashed out at both himself and Amenadiel. “She should have much to answer for,” the Archangel growled. “This is the second time Her thoughtless strikes against Father have led you to danger. First the Blade and now this.”

Lucifer merely hummed. “It is what it is. I’m here, She’s moved on.”

Michael eyed his over half. “You are being far too mellow,” he said, frowning.

Lucifer glanced at him. “I wondered if you’d notice,” his Twin said. “I’m sure I’ll be properly furious later. When there’s more of me.”

Michael stared at his Twin. The longer he did so, the more he noticed. Blinded by relief and worry, he had missed it. “You’re not all here,” he breathed.

Now that he was looking, Michael could see where this portion of Lucifer stretched out impossibly far, beyond the border of their souls.

“I wasn’t all in the cracks either,” his Twin shrugged. “Most of me is with my body. I can even hear Raphael. Some, a small portion, is still within that emptiness. The rest is here. It’s going to be messy when I snap back together.”

When, Michael thought. Not if.

Part of him relaxed at his Twins words. Samael was certain as to his continued existence then. Or this portion of him was. And this was Samael. The gentler portion of his other half’s personality. Michael wondered if the sharp Light was in the cracks or if that portion of Lucifer was with Raphael.

“When you wake, there will be things that you learn which will hurt,” Michael said, because without all of Lucifer here, he could not bear to tell his Twin it all right now. “Important things. I am sorry, Samael. All those responsible will not get away with this.”

His other half frowned at him, worry flashing over his face. “Hurt how?” he asked, softly.

Michael closed his eyes. “In a way that will stick,” he regretfully said. “In a way that will have you questioning yourself. Remember that I will be there through it all. You will not need to go through it alone. I think, somewhere, things have become disjointed. Slipped through the cracks. There are things your demon has said that I did not know. Things I think that Father does not know.”

She had talked about Lucifer being put through an exorcism as if it was routine. Had happened before. As if this was a pattern, not a one-time event. If that was true, then Michael had missed very important events. Then Father had missed important events. There was no way their Father would have allowed such things to occur if He had known they were happening.

Samael cocked his head, considering Michael’s words. “I doubt I’ll be willing to sit down and talk them through,” he warned. “I’m reluctant even like this.”

“I would expect nothing less from you,” Michael smiled at him. “Don’t worry. I am willing to sit on you if needed.”

The joke worked. Samael laughed. “I thought I told you if you did that again, there would be consequences.”

“You did.” Michael agreed, basking into the laughter of his other half, which he had not heard in so long. “I’m sure I’ll survive them.”

As long as Samael was there to give them, Michael would take his Punishment with glee.

Chapter Text

God watched with worried eyes as His daughter flitted around her brother, working harder than she ever had to heal the wounds that Samael sported.

His Son was far more injured than God had thought he was. Lucifer’s soul was not just bleeding out, it was fractured. Pieces of it were missing entirely. It made Him ill to think of it. He didn’t know how much longer Lucifer would have been alive at all in that circle had he not been found when he was. As it was, God wasn’t sure that it would be enough.

The only thing giving Him solace was that he could see some of the missing pieces curled around Michael, and even more spread out around the hosts. Lucifer was, in some compacity, fighting to stay. Latching onto all the bonds that would keep him anchored to this world, with Michael at the center of it all.

The Almighty reached out, touching Samael’s arm and letting His own power trail into Lucifer’s soul. Giving him the strength to keep on fighting when his own might have faltered. Not too much, God didn’t want to risk damaging him further. Just a small amount.

He hoped that it would be enough.

“How did this happen?” Sarchiel whispered from where she and her other siblings huddled around the Infirmary. Ariel was working on Michael’s wounds while Zadkiel was treating Amenadiel. “How could a human manage this?”

The moment that God had arrived with Lucifer, His Children had flocked to them. Samael’s presence within the Silver City was a beacon to something happening. God had watched as their fear replaced their confusion when they had seen what had become of their brother. Only for Him to worsen it by ordering Gabriel and Remiel to assist Michael and Amenadiel when they returned.

The trip back had worsened Lucifer’s injuries in a way that it should not have. The magic residue still fighting to cling on to his skin. God had stabilized him but the damage had still been done. He could not count on Amenadiel, who was more injured than the eldest likely realized, or Michael to be unaffected.

From the way they’re arrived, completely relying on their siblings, God was glad He had the sent them help. It did not change the fact that the Host was terrified at their state. With Michael unconscious, all Amenadiel had been able to do was tell them that humans had been responsible for it all.

His oldest didn’t know everything. Didn’t know the details that Michael had. The ones that His Dark Herald had dragged out of the mortal Miracle that God had unwisely created.

“Your Mother,” God said, anger raging in Him as He remembered who else was responsible for this. He took a deep breath. “Your Mother thought that giving the humans Enochian magic from Her Cell would get My attention. Before She left for Her own universe at Samael’s insistence.”

The Host was silent as His Children took that in. Then anger and fear and grief rippled through the bonds that held His family together. Amenadiel looked heartbroken. He, out of all Their children, had been the closest to Her before She had left. The idea that She had a hand in this was…God closed His eyes, pulling His awareness back to Himself.

His Children deserved their time to grieve without Him seeing it all. No matter how angry He was, God could not fall back into old habits.

Not when He was trying a new approach. An approach born out of watching His Lightbringer flourish without His direct interference. Watching both Lucifer and Amenadiel grow quickly, into wonderful people, making their own choices. Becoming something more than what they had been under God and Goddess’ rules.

God wanted that for all of His children. Wanted to watch them become More. To grow and mature and learn to be themselves away from His rule.

It was why He had made moves to bring Lucifer home. Created a mortal that would not be affected by the Will that Lucifer hid behind. Someone who could be friend, confidant, or maybe more. Whatever they decided to be, nothing in the way. Even if that ended up being nothing than a passing acquaintance. God had just wanted to introduce the idea that Lucifer could interact without hiding behind Will.

It had worked. His Son had, for the first time, honestly interacted with humans beyond what he could give them. Gained friends, frenemies, a group of humans who enjoyed his presence. Lucifer had even sought out a human therapist, though God had been bemused by it at the start of it all. It had been tempting to see what it was they talked about, though He had abstained from doing so.

Rebuilding trust would not happen if God snooped.

Yet, looking at His Lightbringer’s body, bleeding blood and light, God wondered if it would have been better to have been looking. If He could have stopped this. If, if, if.

“Why would She do that?” Ariel asked, nir wings quivering. “I thought…”

I thought she loved us. God did not need to be in their heads to see the thought on their faces.

“She does love you,” God promised them. “All of you. Your Mother has never been good at magic. It was why the Cell kept Her inside for so long. She did not realize how vulnerable it would make one of you if you were trapped by it. If She had, She would not have done it.”

Not after Uriel. After Goddess was confronted with just how it felt to lose a child, even one that had seemingly gone off the deep end. God still could not understand just what had happened to Uriel to have him attacking humans and attempting to kill his Mother. To fight Lucifer with Azrael’s blade. To consider, for one moment, killing Lucifer with it.

Until Lucifer had turned the fight around and come out on top. Will could not be contained by Pattern. Uriel had forgotten that.

It hurt to think about. To remember the grief and horror Lucifer had experienced. To remember God’s own grief as the loss of His child. To watch it ripple down the Host bonds as His Children tried to understand.

And here they were again, only it wasn’t sudden this time. Wasn’t a result of self-defense or the defense of others. This was a deliberate attack on their sibling, with no good reason behind. All of it done by the uncaring thoughtlessness of their Mother, who never thought things through. She hadn’t with Azrael’s blade, and She hadn’t with this magic.

“Will Samael be alright?” Sandalphon asked, looking at his brother with concern. “And Michael?”

God looked at Michael, his wounds healing slowly as Ariel worked. She wasn’t nearly as skilled as Raphael in healing, so it was slower. When Zadkiel was finished with Amenadiel, he would have him joined Ariel on Michael.

“Michael will heal in time,” God said, slowly. He wasn’t sure how to explain the damage done to Lucifer’s soul, when they could not see it the way the He could. The way Michael would have been able to. “I am…I am uncertain about Samael.”

The silence was harsh. Amenadiel had paled, looking sick. Azrael, in the very back, let out a sob. His youngest had never been in this position before. Watching as her siblings were so injured. Azrael had been born long after the wars that had been waged between their family and those that wished to take this universe. When a weapon like her blade had been standard despite the danger. Before God had destroyed all but one, just in case it was needed once more. In case those enemies sought them out again.

It had always been lucky that none of the Host had been lost in those wars. There had been close calls, yet that had been against an outside enemy. With weapons and warriors on the same level as God’s Angels.

This was from the inside, from a species God Himself had created, with a weapon forged by their Mother. Nothing like they were used to.

“We will do all we can to make sure Samael recovers,” God told them, promised them even. “Your brother is stubborn. He will not give in to a few upstart humans.”

Samael hadn’t even been willing to give in to God. The Almighty was counting on that stubbornness to see him through this now.

Any other result was unacceptable.

Lucifer opened his eyes, looking around the emptiness with trepidation.

Splitting his attention between Michael, his siblings, and what was happening to his body was hard. Listening to the cries of his siblings pulled at that part of him which he’d thought gone. The one that wished to rain destruction on any who caused them injury or pain. Then again, with how split he was, it perhaps wasn’t odd that he was discovering things that he’d thought he’d lost. Even in this place, Lucifer was only a small portion of himself.

Mostly, he suspected he was the experiences of Earth mixed with the personality he’d gained after so long in Hell. Light, harsh and refined. Missing the rage and blankness and bloodlust that had once been his waking moments in those early days of Hell. Back when everything had been so raw.

Maybe that was why God’s words affected him so much.

The pride in His voice when he told them all that Lucifer was too stubborn to give in, that He would be doing everything He could to help Lucifer recover…it was so different from what Lucifer had expected. Even Samael, from where he was with Michael, was surprised.

For the first time since She had said it, Lucifer had to question if his Mother was telling the truth. If Dad had wanted to kill him, destroy him, after the Rebellion, why would He be putting so much effort into keeping Lucifer alive now? The Devil could feel the trickle of power that was so much bigger than his own. Power that was not Michael’s even if it felt oh, so familiar. By all evidence, God had no desire to see Lucifer gone.

That…Lucifer didn’t know what to do with that. He’d come to terms with the idea that God and Goddess hadn’t really cared about him in the end. That God would have seen him dead and the Goddess only saw him as a convenient tool. The one that could light the flaming sword if only She could get him on Her side. As if Lucifer would ever put himself in direct opposition to Michael on any type of battlefield, no matter what he thought of God.

Killing Uriel had only cemented the fact that Lucifer could never see his siblings dead at his hand. Even now, something in him was broken by Uriel’s absence. Lucifer had thought, for a long time, that he truly was the monster Amenadiel and humans painted him as. That he would never be counted among his brothers and sisters and siblings again.

Yet his siblings were still here. All of them, gathered around, worried that Lucifer might not make it.

It just…didn’t make sense to him.

He was going to sorely need that appointment with Linda that-

Oh, the Devil thought suddenly. He tried to think about it. How long had he been in that circle? Time had certainly seemed to drag on forever. Had he missed his appointment? Oh dear, Linda was going to be worried if he had. Especially if she tried to call and didn’t get an answer.

That was going to be hard to explain.

Even harder when he tried to verbalize what he was currently experiencing. This wasn’t anything like the ‘out-of-body’ experience humans described. Pieces of himself were scattered, taking input in from where each fragment large enough to be conscious was.

Frankly, if this was what Dad experienced with omniscience, He was welcome to it. Trying to keep track of everything was not easy. And the pieces of him weren’t all the same. Samael was with Michael, Lucifer was here in the empty, and Light was…

Lucifer sucked in a breath.

Oh. Oh no.

Light was the one in his body.

And Lux was spread around his siblings.

That wasn’t good. Not good at all.

If Light regained consciousness before all of him snapped back together, he would come up fighting. And he would be aiming to kill. Even without Azrael’s blade, Light would still be able to kill his siblings’ bodies.

Lucifer closed his eyes, reaching out to Samael. Pushing the knowledge to that portion of himself. If Light came up fighting, they would need Michael to subdue him. As much as Lucifer would have loved to hide that which had happened within the depths of Hell from his other half, Michael needed to be prepared.

Lucifer wasn’t quite willing to reach out to God just yet. Not when things were so confused and he didn’t know where he stood with the deity. God would come later, when Lucifer wasn’t on the brink of falling apart completely.

Michael woke up slowly, pain radiating in his body. Most of him protested leaving Samael alone in their shared space. He would have rather kept himself wrapped around his Twin.

If not for the soft admittance of the danger that their siblings were in, the way that Samael looked truly worried, Michael would not have left him there. Not when he wanted to lash out in fury that Samael had become so damaged in Hell without Michael knowing. So damaged that he had Willed the pieces of himself into a type of consciousness. Not truly separate, but not fully integrated.

Fractured. Even before his soul had taken so much damage.

Michael felt ill by it. Wanted to rage against the injustice of Samael’s pain. Seek vengeance for his broken Twin. The only thing that kept him from deciding on that course of action was that Michael knew God did not know. For all that Samael seemed to think that God knew everything, Michael had once gone to their Father to ask about Samael’s wellbeing in while in Hell.

God had said He didn’t know. That if Samael desired Free Will so much, God would give it to him. Unless Lucifer was walking Earth, God did not once glance at what the Lightbringer was doing. Hell was Lucifer’s to do with what he pleased in the eyes of the Almighty.

When this was dealt with and Samael was not longer in danger of Fading, Michael would tell his Twin as much. Maybe then they could fix what had broken during the long eons within Hell. Could see how much of Lucifer needed to be put back together again.

“Michael,” Zadkiel’s voice was relieved as Michael moved to sit. “Careful, brother. You are still injured.”

Michael glanced at his wings, where most of the pain was located. Yes, there was still damage there. Blood matted feathers from shallow wounds still knitting themselves back together. “How long?” he rasped, grimacing at the burn in his throat.

“Three days,” his sister said on his other side. Soft hands glided through his wings, straightening feathers. Michael nodded. That was less time than he’d feared. Time in their shared mind was always slower than the Silver City. Once, mere hours had been nearly a week. Their Parents had been beside Themselves, unable to wake them.

Tired dark eyes searched the room past the Host which was gathered within. Rainbow wings as far at the eyes could see. Michael ignored them all, searching for the blood-covered white wings that would belong to Samael.

It didn’t take long to locate his Twin. Father sat by him while Raphael moved with speed. The wounds on Lucifer’s body were numerous, though lessened greatly under their sister’s care. The Healer’s face was intent as she worked, not a single movement wasted. Even as Michael watched, shallow wounds became pink lines.

All helped along by the occasional touch of Father’s hand to Lucifer’s arm. Feeding power into his Twin to help Lucifer keep himself from fracturing further. Michael could see his Twin’s soul latch onto it and feed it into the more unstable bits of his fractured soul.

It was no wonder Lucifer was worried that he’d wake before the fractures healed. With God feeding him power, there was a good chance that Light may well come to. Injured and in pain, Michael could see this aspect of his Twin lashing out.

Michael needed to warn them.

Father, he prayed. Father, you need-

God turned to look at him, listening.

And the moment He did, Michael saw it. Lucifer’s eyes fluttered open. “Lucifer!” Raphael’s smile was blinding. She moved to say something more, God’s attention snapping back to Lucifer’s body.

Michael was already throwing himself across the room when Light lashed out. The wave of light sent the Healer flying across the room as Light growled, wings quivering in pain and violence on his face.

“Samael,” God said, alarmed. Light’s eyes snapped to the being, not a hint of recognition in them. Wings readied themselves to attack.

Michael reached him before Light could move. Slamming into his furious Twin, pinning him down. Light lashed in his hold, wings striking out with sharp feathers that would have severely damaged Raphael had it been the Healer who he’d been aiming for. As it was, Michael let Power slip into his body, twisting himself so that the wings hit only air while Michael held Light down.

“Calm down!” Michael snapped as Light struggled. “You are not in danger here!”

Lies, the thought slammed into Michael’s head. Always in danger. Always, always, always.

“Not here,” Michael said, letting promise slip into his voice. Then, remembering the way that Samael had described this part of himself, Michael pulled Dark to him. Let it flow off his skin and dance on Light’s flesh.

Instantly, Light calmed. Leaning into Michael’s hold instead of fighting it. Michael, the thought brushed at him. Michael.

“Yes,” he agreed. “Michael.”

Where am I? Light asked, now truly looking around. Who are they?

That question hurt. It hurt in the worst way. Even if Samael had warned him, Michael could not picture any part of his Twin that would not know their family. That would not know God, who looked increasingly alarmed. Listening in, then.

For once, Michael was grateful. He would not have to repeat this conversation when he explained what was happening to their Father.

“Not threats,” he said, knowing that to Light, the word Family would not be wise. It was better Light remain as calm as possible.

Everything is a threat, Light protested.

“Even me?” Michael asked, trying to keep his voice light.

No, Light gave him a bemused look. Dark is never a threat.

“Then not everything,” Michael pointed out. “I would not lie. No one here is a threat.”

Light glanced at their siblings again. Raphael was standing now, looking pale and her eyes watering. She seemed genuinely hurt at the attack. Michael was going to have to explain later.

I hurt, Light grumbled, looking at his wing with a frown. Something is missing as well. How did I get here?

“You’re fractured, Light,” he said, wishing there wasn’t an audience. That his siblings would not find out this way. “Samael is with me. Lucifer is working on putting the pieces back together. Lux is…paying attention. Observing. You are here. Samael sent me back to help when he realized you might wake up before Lucifer put the pieces back together.”

Light cocked his head, interested now. Lux? Lucifer? Who are they?

“They came after,” Michael said shortly. Lucifer is all of you, he said, mind to mind. Samael, Light, and Lux. All the pieces working together. Will and Light and Devil.

Light considered that, looking at their siblings again. This time with more curiosity than hostility. And they are not threats, the piece of his sibling that had slaughtered millions within Hell repeated.

“Correct.”

Then I am not needed, Light hummed. There are no threats and Dark is here. It would be easier for Lucifer who is me to put us together if I am asleep, yes?

“And easier for you to heal,” Michael glanced at Raphael. He was careful not to say her name. Light might not recognize them by sight but he would know their names. “I will stand guard.”

Then I will sleep. Light leaned into Michael’s hold, allowing himself to relax. Eyes fluttering closed, he allowed unconsciousness to return.

“Michael,” Raphael said, her voice near a whisper.

Michael sighed then looked at Father. “You need to look at what happened in Hell,” he said, watching as God looked at them with unreadable eyes. “I think it is important for you to know what Samael told me.”

Because Lucifer was broken. And it was their fault.

God felt ill as He looked backwards. Reaching through time to see what it was that had caused this.

He watched as Samael screamed as he Fell. God watched as His Child, burned to his very soul, fought against the monsters that roamed Hell. Watched as Samael began to lose hope that God would ever respond. He watched Samael, so overwhelmed with pain and grief, crafted something never seen before. Combined his rage and need to survive into a being that Samael could hide behind. Into Light. A basic personality with no real mind of its own, only there to be the buffer between Samael and the dangers of Hell.

And when Light did not last, Samael created another. This one with reasoning and more independence. Lux, who could use Will when Light could not. Just enough to keep going and without the feelings that had cracked Light. Numb to the world around, uncaring.

Until a lone demon began to follow him. To pull the feelings that Samael had buried so deep to the surface. Until Lux fell apart in the same way that Light had. Leaving Samael exposed, with the remnants of his barriers floating around his soul. God watched as Samael, not able to reconcile all that had happened, tried again. Only this time, he did more than craft something to hide behind. Instead, he crafted something new.

He crafted Lucifer, who was so much more than Light or Lux had been. Who had, with his awareness, taken Lux, Light, and even Samael and strung them into himself. And Lucifer changed himself from what Samael had meant him to be.

Lucifer became Samael, Light, and Lux stitched together. But it was precarious. Each aspect of His Son was ready to take over at a moment’s notice. It was Lux who had gone to Vegas, a vague plan to learn what the Goddess planned forming as he did. No emotions involved. It was Light who had killed first Uriel and then Cain, the rage and need to survive winning against everything else. And it was Samael who had looked through Lucifer’s eyes as His Son talked the Goddess into leaving this universe behind.

It was all of them who had followed the Miracle God had created, looking through Lucifer’s eyes as he fumbled through emotions and dealt Punishment. Lucifer, who played the game with Michael. Lucifer, who had raged at the sky. Broken pieces expertly hidden from any gaze other than his own. Held together only by the Will that Samael commanded.

Faced with the consequences of His own rash decision to banish His son, God wondered if this could be fixed. If the broken pieces of His Son could be slotted back together properly or if Lucifer would always be rough edges and violence. Many of the things that God had overlooked over the centuries that Lucifer walked amongst humanity were suddenly much more insidious. It left the deity feeling off kilter.

That was the problem with omniscience. When you could be everywhere and know everything, the times when you were surprised with new information had more impact. Things got even more muddled when Free Will was added into the mix. The different paths a human could take twisted and turned too much for an accurate read of what would happen. God relied on most probable outcomes instead.

Lucifer was similar. God had long decided to see just what His Lightbringer would do if given the same freedom as humans. If God merely watched, and then only sparingly. Without paying attention at all to Hell, it left Him unable to really predict what Lucifer would do when put in certain situations. From the Burning Bush to talking Goddess into leaving this universe behind, God was always left filled with prideful surprise. It would be easy to simply Know all there was to know about His Son.

God, in His arrogance, had thought it unnecessary. Thought that Lucifer had things in hand when Samael’s prayers had stopped. Still so angry, God hadn’t truly paid attention to those prayers. Tuning them out. He’d been more focused on His fights with Goddess at that point.

And in His absence and lack of attention, Samael had cracked.

That was what Michael and Lucifer hadn’t realized. What God was only just putting together with all the information available to him. The only way that Lucifer soul could splinter like this, with distinct aspects, was if there were already cracks there to start with. Willing himself into a state of such instinct when he was already injured and mentally unstable, Samael had cracked his soul. Light was instinct given personification. All the portions of Samael that worked to survival manifested.

God knew as much as with Michael there, the bloodlust that Samael and Lucifer characterized Light being was soothed. Light was nearly coherent, if missing the pieces that would let him be act truly independent with the rest there.

Lux was more complicated. He had the ability to reason, yes, but he had no access to emotion. Samael had created a numbness with Lux, overcompensating for the rage and bloodlust of Light. Until Lux felt nothing and cared about nothing. Not even continued survival. It was why Lux merely observed from where he was scattered amongst the Host who gathered around their brother. Closer to being an independent personality than Light, yes, though still not quite a full-fledged break. Just another fracture in Samael’s soul.

Which brought them to Lucifer. God had always thought that Samael had merely chosen another name to go by. That it was another Rebellious act.

With the new knowledge He had gained, God understood it was far more than that. When Lux had fallen apart, unable to continue on as he slowly began to care for the demon that followed him, Samael had panicked. He hadn’t known how to take the reigns again, to fix the edges that Light and Lux had created within. To mend the cracks. So he’d tried to create another one. Someone that could survive the death and destruction of Hell.

As Lucifer had taken control, he had been more than Samael, Lux, or Light. Samael himself became a crack instead. And Lucifer had taken those cracks and attempted to mend them back together. Only it hadn’t quite worked. The edges didn’t fit properly, leaving him volatile and so very different from the Archangel he had started as.

Lucifer had always been adamant that he was not Samael. God should have paid more attention to that. For even with those cracks, His child could not Lie.

Lucifer wasn’t Samael for all that Samael was Lucifer.

Just as Light and Lux were Lucifer.

God wondered how long it would have been before Lucifer’s attempt to bring the various cracks together split apart. If this ritual hadn’t occurred, would His Lightbringer have been able to keep those pieces together? Already things had been unstable. Light had easily taken control when fighting Uriel and Cain. Lucifer hadn’t even noticed it. Lux had slid into place when Lucifer had gone to Vegas, numbing away the emotional turmoil from Goddess whispering Chloe Decker’s origin in his ears. And Samael had been there, so close to coming forward completely, as he talked Goddess into leaving this world behind.

It wouldn’t have been long before things destabilized even further. God hadn’t accounted for how His children’s ability to Self-Actualize would mix with Samael’s Will.

More concerning was if this could even be fixed now, with those cracks nearly complete breaks. The tenuous hold Lucifer had on them all was strained under the scattering of all his parts. Samael could break completely at any moment.

God opened His eyes, meeting those of Michael’s with grim determination. “We will fix it,” He said, knowing that He could not go into detail here. His Children were worried enough as it was. How would God explain to them what had really happened? And God was worried that doing so would destroy any trust He might still be able to rebuild between Lucifer and Himself.

Truth then, just not the full truth. Enough to keep them from fretting further. God look at His worried children. “The ritual has done more damage than I thought,” the Almighty said, looking into the rainbow of wings around them. He looked at Raphael. “He will feel bad when he remembers this. Try not to hold it against him. Your brother’s soul has been fractured and scattered amongst his bonds. Light is merely instinct without memory. If not for their Twin bond, he would not know Michael either. Lucifer is working on putting the pieces back together as we heal his body.”

God would talk to His Son then. Help him put the pieces together in a way that would hold. Fix what He had inadvertently broken with His inattention.

Until then, God would make sure none of the creatures that roamed Hell escaped. He would keep the Stars burning. He would give as much energy to His injured son as was needed to Lucifer to fix himself.

Only then would God turn His attention to those who had betrayed and attacked His child in the first place.

Chloe Decker wiped at her face, the tears refusing to stop as she sat in her cell. It was only made worse by the presence of Kinley and twelve other priests in the cells surrounding her.

The blood that stained his clothes made her want to vomit every time she looked at him. His voice made her skin crawl and every noise that came from outside these cells had Chloe’s heart racing in terror.

It didn’t help that Chloe knew Maze was just behind those doors, standing guard in case someone tried to escape. Keeping them prisoner.

The mark on her arm burned and Chloe felt her pulse pick up.

She knew that a lot of what she was feeling wasn’t natural. Chloe knew that it was the mark Michael had left on her. She knew that. It did nothing to stop the terror that threatened to pull her into a never-ending spiral. It didn’t stop the fear of the shadows in her cell or the knowledge that there was a predator just out of sight, waiting for the chance to strike.

Michael would be back. He had made it very clear that when Lucifer was found and safe, the Archangel would be coming for her. For the first time since she’d seen Lucifer’s burnt face, Chloe understood the difference between him and the real monster.

The danger that had the religious praying for forgiveness or jumping at shadows had never been Lucifer. It was always Michael. If Chloe had just thought to ask, maybe Lucifer would have been able to tell her that himself. Instead, Chloe had jumped ship. Running straight to the same people she’d heard Lucifer mocking so many times. Three years of friendship down the drain because Chloe hadn’t used her head before acting.

“I don’t understand what went wrong,” Kinley was saying again. He’d been repeating it for the last five hours. “How was it possible that he be in two places?”

Chloe closed her eyes. She could stay silent. She could let him find out the hard way. But part of her wanted him to experience the same terror she was. “He wasn’t,” she said, speaking for the first time since her interrogation.

Silence accompanied her words. Then Kinley spoke directly to her. “Child?” he asked, sounding confused.

Chloe looked up, staring into the face that made her ill. The same eyes that had talked her into betraying the one person that had always had her back. “That wasn’t Lucifer who stopped you. That was Michael. It turns out, Lucifer is a twin.”

Then she bared her arm to him, showing him the blacked sword that decorated it. “The Dark Herald,” she said, the name coming to her like a warning whisper. “The Sword of God.”

‘Meet the rest of the story,’ Maze’s silky words whispered in her mind. Decker, meet Judgement.’

“The Archangel of Judgement,” Chloe wiped her eyes again as tears threatened to fall.

She knew, now, who had shaken hands with Hitler.

“All of your evidence,” she continued, because Chloe wanted him to know just how deeply they had fucked up. How much of the story that humanity had been missing. “All of it was never of Lucifer. All these centuries, all this time, you’ve been tracking Michael. You just didn’t know it.”

“That cannot be true,” Kinley said, his voice hard. “No Archangel-!”

Chloe laughed, interrupting him. “Oh, it is. I’ve met them both now. Michael used the very shadows to take me across LA in only a second. He held me by my throat and demanded to know what I had done to Lucifer. It was as if fear itself was burying deep into my soul. Ready to strike the moment that I showed any weakness. Maze even addressed him by name, the moment Dan mentioned Lucifer’s twin. But if you don’t take that as enough evidence, Amenadiel called him Michael as well.”

The moment Amenadiel had arrived after Michael had called for him, Chloe had realized something that she had been missing. Realized that she’d forgotten something very important. “You know,” she said, looking back to the ground. “I should have known something was wrong the moment you started talking about Lucifer being a liar. I didn’t remember until Amenadiel appeared when Michael called for him. I’ve known an angel all along. Almost the entire time I’ve known Lucifer, Amenadiel has been right there. And more importantly, out of the two of them, Amenadiel is the one that has lied to my face over and over again.”

Where Lucifer had always told her the truth, Amenadiel had gone out of his way to keep her from putting the pieces together that Lucifer had never lied to her. To the point that he had even come up with that absurd lie about a bulletproof vest with blood packs. Chloe, in the wake of Lucifer’s face and Marcus’ death, had forgotten that.

Until now, when she was stuck here with all of her regrets. Waiting for Michael to come back for her.

For the Judgement and Punishment he had promised to deliver himself.

“No angel would tell a lie,” Kinley protested, his voice weak even to her own ears.

Chloe closed her eyes. She remembered Lucifer as he ranted about the worthlessness of goats. She remembered the soft look on his face when she had promised him that he wasn’t the Devil to her. She remembered the bloodied feathers on the roof and the way that Lucifer seemed to be moving stiffly as paramedics swarmed them. Even though there wasn’t a bullet wound on him.

She remembered the convincing way Amenadiel assured her that Lucifer was just delusional. How he had easily fabricated an entire story to convince her that there wasn’t any truth to Lucifer’s words. She remembered how excited Lucifer seemed at the idea of her testing his blood. How much he wanted her to believe him.

She remembered the feeling of terror as Michael held her by the throat. The way the shadows dug into her arm as she struggled. How fear had dodged her steps ever since.

“And the Devil is a Fallen Angel,” Chloe turned her back on the cell that held her greatest mistake. “Whatever you did in that ritual, I hope that you’re prepared to deal with the consequences. Because if you’re wrong and I’m right, if that was Michael, it isn’t just him you’ll have to deal with.”

It would be God, who hadn’t been able to find Lucifer any more than Michael had.

If there was justice in the world, Kinley would feel the same fear Chloe did. Feel just as hunted, just as Damned. The eyes of Heaven were on them and there would be no mercy. Not if Michael and Amenadiel were good examples of the rest of Lucifer’s siblings.

Judgment was coming for them all.

It was just a matter of time.

Lucifer smiled as he gathered the last little piece of Lux through the strengthening bond to the Host. The tatters had slowly rebuilt the more that God had fed power into his body.

If he was complete, Lucifer might have turned away the help out of spite. There was still part of him that wanted to. He hadn’t gone through all of this just for God to come in last second to make things ‘better’ or ‘right’. The rest of him was far too practical to look a gift horse in the mouth when he was in real danger of dying. Truly dying.

As it turned out, Lucifer wasn’t as into the idea of death as he’d thought after Uriel. There was still enough of him that wanted to live. Just enough to take spite of the table. For now.

Everything else could be dealt with once Lucifer was no longer actively dying.

With Lux gathered, Lucifer redirected the pieces to the tie to his body, where he could weave him back together with Light.

It would take a bit of time, but once Light and Lux were back together, Lucifer could redirect Samael from Michael. Then they could pull Lucifer from the crack he’d found himself in. Once Lucifer was fully back together, he could fix the damage those priests had done in their misguided ignorance of his person.

He could deal with everything else after that. God, his siblings, whatever mess was left on Earth, that would all come later.

For now, Lucifer would continue his work to get back to reality.

The Detective was there waiting for him, after all.

Chapter Text

Lux blinked awake, confusion clouding his mind. His skin was raw, more raw than he remembered it being.

“Lucifer?” A quiet, hesitant voice asked.

Lux turned his head, frowning when he saw that it was an unfamiliar female with soft green wings. Something about her seemed familiar, yet Lux couldn’t quite put a name to it. Like the information should be there and was missing.

From the way green wings drooped, his lack of response was not what she had wanted.

Lux wasn’t sure who ‘Lucifer’ was, just that he was not them.

“Who,” he rasped, his throat raw. Not the raw from lack of talking, the raw that came from screaming. Lux frowned further. He wasn’t quite sure how he knew what that felt with. The memories were fuzzy, as if he was looking through muddled water. “Who are you?”

The green wings dipped even further. Lux wondered if that was supposed to mean something to him. It felt like it should.

Something was very wrong with him.

Lux considered that.

“There is something wrong,” he said, his throat still protesting the sound. “I am missing things.”

If Lux was lesser, he might have worried about it. Light would have.

Light, Lux thought, testing the name. That was right, Light was weak. Instinct. Lux was superior in that he did not let himself get pulled under by the uselessness of ‘emotion’. There was no use in wanting or raging against the world. Lux existed in the way that he was forced to exist. There was no other option.

“Lux,” a voice said, dragging Lux’s attention away from the strange green winged familiar stranger. Almost immediately, Lux was drawn to the voice. Something inside reached out in longing as Lux stared at someone he knew. Knew in a way that he knew none of these other strangers.

“Dark,” he said, simply.

“Michael,” Dark corrected.

Lux cocked his head. “You are dark,” he tried again, the name Michael almost familiar. Like he should have known it but the information was missing. Muddled.

Something inexplicable flashed across Dark’s face. Interesting, Lux thought. He would not have expected the missing half of himself to feel weak things like emotion. Such things got in the way of existence, weighing you down with useless weight. It was easier to be as he was, without the constraints of emotion.

"I am Dark," Dark agreed. There it was again, that flash of emotion. “My name is Michael.”

“Michael,” Lux repeated, unbothered. If that was what Dark wished to call themself, then who was Lux to argue? Arguing was pointless. Dark would understand such things given enough time.

Caring, wanting, loving, raging, all of it was worthless in the grand scheme of things. Being was easier. Much easier.

“It would be better if you slept,” Dark said, softly. “You are injured.”

Lux considered Dark, wondering if Dark was used to repeating rather obvious observations. “I know,” he cocked his head. “I can feel the pull of new skin. And the smell the bite of blood in the air.”

“Then you know that it would be wiser to remain asleep,” Dark smiled at him. Lux wondered why. Was there something enjoyable about this?

Still, Dark made a compelling argument. Asleep, with Dark at watch, would speed up the healing process. “Asleep and weak is not wise if there are threats,” Lux pointed out, blandly. Lux knew better than to let his guard down when he was not at full strength. Injuries would bring predators hoping to make quick work of him. Lux would need to be able to fend off any attacks.

There were unknowns here as well. Those like Dark and not, crowded around them looking as if something rather horrible was happening.

As long as there were unknowns, it was better to be awake. Even if it slowed the healing process.

“I will keep watch,” Dark offered, softly.

Lux considered that for a long moment. Dark keeping watch sounded like a good idea. Nothing would get past Dark. Yet the tang of blood was not only coming from Lux. “You are wounded as well,” he looked to the source of it, within pitch black feathers.

“Was,” Dark countered. “I am already healed. I merely have not cleansed the blood away. It is more practical to wait for you to be healed and do so together. Strength in numbers.”

Lux nodded, slowly. He could not taste a lie in the air. Dark was truthful. If there was a battle that had injured them both, it would be better to both be healed before cleansing away the remnants should occur. The longer Lux took to heal, the longer that blood could become hinderance. Matted feathers limited options when it came to flight.

“Very well,” he acquiesced “I will sleep. You will stand watch.”

Perhaps when Lux woke next, he could figure out what it was that was missing from him. Dark would keep them safe until then.

Lux allowed the pull of sleep drag him from the waking world.

Raphael wanted to cry.

Having Samael, Lucifer, look at her with eyes that did not know her would haunt her for many centuries to come. She had never seen her younger brother like that. Not a single emotion had flickered across his face.

Will and Light should never be bland and unemotive. Samael was flashy, vibrant, and loud. Always filled with humor and teasing. Even on Earth, Raphael had seen remnants of it.

There had been no trace of that here. Just a completely blank face with a voice that had no inflection. Clinical in his observations in a way that Raphael would have expected from Ezekiel. Even then, Ezekiel still had humor in zir voice. Still talked with inflection. Still showed emotion. All which Lucifer had been lacking in that interaction.

There was also what Michael had called him. Lux. As if it was a proper name. Just as Michael and Father had referred to Samael as Light beforehand, when Lucifer had lashed out upon his first waking up.

There was something going on here that Father and Michael were not talking about. Something that had to do with Hell, which Michael had seemed to think Father needed to know. Raphael wanted to demand an explanation from them. Her brother was wrong, and they knew the reason!

He hadn’t known her. Hadn’t known any of them.

This had to be more than mere fractures. While no angel had fractured in this way before, Raphael had seen humans appear with souls that had split. Those pieces of soul hadn’t reacted like this. They were missing memories, yes, but they weren’t emotionless or pure instinct. They were still themselves, just a little different.

Later, Father’s voice whispered in her mind. Raphael’s attention snapped to Him, meeting His currently blue eyes. When Lucifer is stable, I will address the problem. Doing so now would not be wise. Your brother will need careful attention. I will need to approach it in a way that will not make him run. Telling you all now would guarantee his running.

Samael had always been reluctant to share with them when something was truly wrong. The only one he ever consistently talked to was Michael. Even now, without his memories, Light and Lux had still known Michael.

Until that was no longer true, Raphael would not force the issue. Lucifer was still mending and Michael was in the last stages of being fully healed. Amenadiel’s wounds were faint scars that were fading faster by the minute. Her family was as safe as it would be until all of Lucifer was back together in his body.

Raphael would not forget this, however. She would not let it go forever. It was not in her to let something this wrong with her sibling go unnoticed. Unaddressed. There would come a time that Raphael would no longer wait.

“We will fix it,” Michael murmured as Raphael moved back towards Lucifer’s wings. She glanced at him. He was looking at Lucifer’s sleeping form with dark eyes that gleamed with rage and worry. He looked up, meeting her eyes. “We will fix it, sister. It will take time. Samael will resist, no doubt. It will not matter as I will not let this stand. When the time comes, I know you will be there as you always are when you are needed.”

Raphael nodded, slowly. Perhaps it would be strange that she would believe Michael over her Father. Yet, when it came to Lucifer, Michael was the only one that you could trust to fully understand his Twin. Just as Lucifer was the only one that would ever know exactly what was wrong with Michael. If Michael said that they would fix it, then Raphael knew that it would be done.

Michael did not make empty promises when it came to the safety of Lucifer. Raphael could trust him.

She still did not like it.

Not at all.

Samael blinked awake slowly. One minute he was within his shared space with Michael, the next he was blinking awake in the Infirmary. Trickles of memory from Light and Lux told him that his siblings had gotten a better look at all that was wrong with Samael than he likely would have wanted. Lucifer was no doubt going to be upset by how much of their soul had been borne for all of the Host to see.

Still, at least no one had been truly hurt when Light had woken. Even if Samael was struggling to understand how Michael had so easily calmed the violent and blood thirsty side of Samael. The Archangel suspected it had something to do with the fact that Michael was their other half. Light and Lux had never interacted with their Twin. It made sense that the new factor would change how they interacted.

That did not change the dread at the idea that his broken parts had been there for all to see.

“Samael?” Michael asked softly, likely noticing his absence from their shared space. Samael turned his attention to his Twin.

Here, in the waking world, Michael was different from what Samael remembered. Darker, harsher, nearly a void to Samael’s eyes. Within their shared space, Michael had looked as he always had. The change was…worrying. When all of him were back together, Lucifer would have to address that.

“Mostly,” Samael answered, knowing that Michael would understand. It was just Samael here now, Light and Lux still disjointed within. His own memories were still disjointed. Large pieces that were important to Lucifer were missing entirely. Still, he was more put together than he had been since this had started. The last step in fixing what that priest had broken.

Lucifer would be working out how to bring the rest of him back now that the scattered pieces were at least contained in their flesh. Now that Samael was the one in control of their body, he would be able to help from this side.

He was going to have to be smart about this. As far as Samael knew, nothing like what was happening now had ever happened before. This was new territory. One wrong step could have those pieces that were Lucifer disappearing forever. Samael didn’t know what would happen to him if that occurred. Would those missing pieces of his soul regenerate? Would he destabilize completely?

Samael didn’t know.

He would rather like to keep from finding out.

What do you need? His Twin asked, watching him with concerned dark eyes.

Something that was twisted inside loosened. Samael smiled at Michael. He had forgotten. Michael was right there, ready to help in any way Samael needed in order to piece himself back together. It didn’t matter if Samael was too weak to do it alone. He wouldn’t need to do this alone at all. His other half was right there, ready to help the moment he asked.

We need to strengthen the bridge between our mortal flesh and Lucifer, Samael whispered to him. Give Lucifer something to follow back. Once all of our pieces are gathered within, he can piece them back together.

Michael nodded, holding out a hand. Samael grasped it, letting his eyes slide closed as he felt Dark and Power swirl into his skin where the Will and Light, weak as it was, rushed to meet it. Within, Light and Lux took notice. Moving to mimic Samael’s pull.

Samael looked at where the three all met. The ties stronger and more solid than Lucifer described in that other place. In the cracks that trapped the rest of his soul. Strengthened by the power God had lent them. Dark sought out those bonds, coating them and healing the rest of the fraying until they felt stronger than ever.

Samael turned his attention to the last threat. Stretched nearly to the point of snapping, blazing with a fire that only Lucifer could call on. The Dominion of Hell that Samael had never been able to tame.

He wouldn’t need to tame it. Not now. Samael was not who was in control any longer. He hadn’t been strong enough to be the dominant portion of their soul.

He wouldn’t be strong enough to take the reigns back.

If this did not work, Samael would not be able to try again. And without Lucifer there to keep them all together, to be the one that faced the world, Samael knew that none of them would last. Their soul would completely fall apart. Fade into nothingness. This was their last chance to survive what was done to them.

Their last chance to be whole.

The fear of failure had Samael hesitating to reach for the thread. In hell, when Lux had come undone, Samael had failed to keep himself together. He had failed in his Rebellion. He had failed to save Uriel. He had failed so many times, in so many things, that Samael wondered if he would not fail this too. If finally one of his failures would be too great to come back from.

Before Samael could spiral further, he felt something else brush against him. Something that was bigger and far more than just himself and Michael. Something that was so familiar, even if Samael had not felt it for eons.

God’s power trickled all around him. Just as it had since the Deity had first started to feed it to them. Samael basked in it. Let the strength of their Father trickle into the strained thread that led to Lucifer. Watched as it thickened.

Samael reached out, grabbing the connection with both hands. Feeding Will and Light into it as Michael fed Dark and Power to match.

It was now or never.

Lucifer felt it the moment that Samael grabbed the tether. Felt Michael’s Power and Dark mix with Light and Will. Felt the strength of God fueling it even more.

Before his eyes, the tether which connected them all thickened.

All he needed to do was to reach out. To grab on and pull himself back into reality. Where everything waited for him. Where everyone waited for him.

Part of him, the part that had spent so much time in Hell where there was nothing but pain and death, didn’t want to do it. Didn’t want to go back there, to face the family he had been abandoned by. The family that had not once reached out in the eons (millennia Silver City time) he’d been in Hell.

The only one he had heard from beyond Amenadiel dragging him back to Hell was Michael. His other half, who had devised their game. Judgement and Punishment chasing each other in circles, leaving little clue and gifts left behind on the neutral territory of Earth. Michael, who would be broken if Lucifer did not come back.

Michael, who Lucifer would never be able to really leave behind. From the day they had opened their eyes, looking into the others, Lucifer and Michael had been connected. Would know each other no matter what stood in the way.

Lucifer could not leave him, not this way.

And there was the Detective, who was likely going out of her mind in worry at this point. They had reached the point of their relationship where nothing stood between them. No misunderstandings or missing the full story. Chloe knew him completely now. The good and the bad. He couldn’t leave her there, wondering what had happened to him.

Lucifer reached out, his hand tightly wrapped around the tether.

The Devil felt the power reach back, surrounding him as reality yanked him back.

For good or ill, Lucifer was going home.

When Lucifer opened his eyes again, he was laying on his back staring up at a familiar ceiling. One he hadn’t seen in eons.

His mind was hazy as he tried to remember what had happened. The memories were blurry, as if he was trying to look through murky water. Vague impressions and broken thought patterns only made it worse.

He could remember the ritual, the poisoned wine, and the feeling of his body being shredded apart at the same time as his very soul. He remembered hands brushing against his hair and a sense of love all around him. Love and worry.

The longer he tried to reach for those moments, to understand what had happened after he had been broken out of that ritual, Lucifer felt them fade even further away. Slipping just past his reach each time. It was a bit infuriating, truth be told. Lucifer was used to having an eidetic memory. It made those times that he was missing moments, like when he’d been devilnapped by Cain, hard to ignore.

“Lucifer?” a familiar, achingly familiar, voice asked. Lucifer looked to his Twin, surprised. It didn’t take long for him to notice the blood that matted the void of feathers that made up his wings. Michael’s eyes were concerned, watching him with intent despite the dried blood on his lips.

“What happened?” he rasped, his throat burning at the use. That was right, he’d screamed himself hoarse. He remembered that now.

Michael, if possible, looked more concerned. “You don’t remember,” his Twin said, just shy of phrasing it as a question. It made sense, really. Michael was just as aware as Lucifer was how rare it was to be missing memories of something that was likely this important. It certainly spoke of just how bad his injury had really been.

Lucifer shook his head, slowly. “It’s muddled,” he replied, pushing through the protest of his poor throat. He had no desire to stay silent, even if it hurt like a bitch to use. This was neither the first nor would it be the last time that Lucifer ignored his injuries. “Like murky water. Can’t pull the pieces together. Not past the circle.”

Past the humans using him as a carving board, he didn’t say. That was rather implied at this point, he rather thought.

This was the worst exorcism he’d ever been put through, that was for sure. Lucifer was going to have to be more careful to keep from finding himself in the hands of priests from now on. Once something happened, it was more likely to be repeated. Their mother had opened the can of worms of humans being able to truly hurt a celestial.

Unfortunately for Lucifer, he was the angel most likely to suffer those consequences.

Michael nodded, thoughtful. ‘You fractured,’ he said through that soul bond which had been oh, so quiet for so long that Lucifer couldn’t stop the shiver of delight in his own soul. ‘Pieces of your soul scattered through your bonds and one falling through the cracks of reality.’

Pieces of his soul? Lucifer grimaced. That was one Hell of a ritual, that was for sure. Lucifer was going to be sore for months if not years after this. It explained why he didn’t have clear memories of his time split apart. The trauma alone might be enough to keep the memories from surfacing. Or it could be the fact that his soul was still healing.

The memories may or may not ever return. Lucifer wondered which one was the better option. Not remembering could be better in the long run, though what if something important had happened? Unfortunately, there was no way to do anything about it now.

Lucifer had more important things pulling his attention away from the maybes. Things that felt, horrifyingly, like the eyes of his siblings.

Michael was here. Lucifer knew the ceiling that he was looking at. He was still addled from being split apart that it hadn’t fully sank in exactly where he was. Lucifer risked a glance away from Michael to the rest of the room.

Sure enough, a sea of rainbow wings surrounded him. Various colored feathers in colors beyond what any human or animal of the mortal realm could perceive filled nearly every space of the room. A room that had been expanded beyond its regular size. If Lucifer hadn’t already known exactly where he was, he would have been startled by just how many of his siblings could fit inside.

The Infirmary in the Silver City was the only room that could grow if needed. There were too many angels to have a set size. Who knew how many could get hurt at once? Goddess had been the one to do the expansion. During the first Great War, the limited size had hindered how many of the Host She’d been able to heal at once. With God busy on the front lines with the rest of them, She was in charge of the wounded.

Once upon a time, it would have been unheard of for one of them to end up here because of Her. Lucifer’s soul ached at the reminder of just why he was here.

He was going to have to make an appointment with Linda once he was back on Earth. It seemed like every time he felt alright with the memory of his Mom, Lucifer found himself right back where he started with Her. It was a good thing that She was in Her own universe now. Lucifer didn’t want to think about how he would deal with Her if She were still here. There was too much hurt there for it to been anything other than messy.

Though perhaps not as messy as this was going to be. Surrounded by his siblings, it took a moment for Lucifer to feel a very, very, familiar presence. One that he’d last seen before being thrown out of the Silver City and burning as his broken wing failed to catch him. Free Falling straight to Hell as fires he could not control burned his flesh and soul alike.

Lucifer carefully did not look towards God, turning his attention back to Michael. Out of everyone here, Michael was the only one that Lucifer didn’t have a very complicated relationship here. Even Amenadiel was a complication onto himself, no matter how well they seemed to be getting on lately. Even if he hadn’t seen Michael in person since the Fall, his Twin had certainly made himself known. Leaving trails for Lucifer to follow, gifts for him to find, and humans that had been Judged for Punishment. And in turn, Michael had located Lucifer’s own gifts, met the humans that Lucifer thought the best examples of humans, and played Lucifer’s game as hard as Lucifer played Michael’s game.

It wasn’t the same as the interactions they had in the Silver City. Not the same closeness as they had right now. At the same time, it didn’t really matter. If Lucifer had ever called for Michael, he would have come. Power would always answer Will’s call. And Light would always follow the Dark. It was a fact of their being. Physical presence never mattered.

As always, God didn’t seem to take the hint.

“Your brother is awake,” He said, His voice almost soft. “There are things that need to be discussed. For now, return to your quarters. Not you,” God said towards at Michael, who hadn’t even made a show of moving at all.

Lucifer felt his stiffening shoulders relax a little. At least Michael would be present for whatever if was God was planning on doing now.

Lucifer didn’t want to have this conversation. He was in pain, confused, and just wanted to curl into Michael and go to sleep. If he had been in less pain, Lucifer probably would have started an argument.

His throat hurt too much for that. Arguing could work until Lucifer didn’t feel like a bunch of puzzle pieces shoved together in the wrong order. It was going to be a while before he was up for any type of huge argument. Which was probably why God was doing this now, the Devil thought grumpily. If Dad thought that was going to get Him out of the screaming match they were going to be having, He had another thing coming. The moment that Lucifer’s throat didn’t feel like one wrong move from being mush, Lucifer would be letting Him have it.

Slowly, the rest of their siblings trickled out. Amenadiel was the last to go, looking worried of all things.

“You as well,” God said, looking at the Eldest. Amenadiel sighed, wings dipping in acknowledgement, before leaving.

With them all gone, God waved a hand. The door to the Infirmary closed with a soft click.

Locked, Lucifer thought with real surprise. A bit of trepidation filled him. God did not just lock doors. Not unless something very important was going on.

Lucifer suddenly very much did not want to have this talk.

“Shouldn’t this wait?” Raphael’s voice asked from just behind Michael. So it wasn’t Michael He had addressed, then. Lucifer blinked at his sister, confused. “He’s only just woken up.”

God sighed, heavily. “Waiting would only allow the situation to worsen further. It is better that your brother is aware of what has happened now, instead of finding out later.”

Divulging information voluntarily? Lucifer fought back a sneer. That was new.

‘Patience,’ Michael whispered. ‘I am sorry, Lu, this will not be a fun talk. It is necessary, however. Father is not wrong in that.’

Lucifer glanced at his Twin, alarm rising. If Michael was agreeing with Dad, this was serious. Michael tended to be overprotective. If this could wait, his Twin would be arguing against the conversation.

“I’m listening,” the Devil said, finally allowing his attention to fall completely on God. He was a bit surprised to notice that the deity was sporting black curly hair and dark eyes, skin tanned and body thin. The last time Lucifer had seen God, He looked closer to Amenadiel than Lucifer and Michael.

 God studied him, not speaking right away. “It is important that you know, before today, I did not pay attention to Hell,” He finally said, voice soft. “I acted in anger during your banishment. I felt it was better if we were given time to cool off before any further interaction occurred. I did not pay attention to any prayers which came from Hell. And for this, I am sorry. I should have listened, no matter how angry I was. Your fracture has shown me what I missed by ignoring you.”

Lucifer felt himself go still. His heart felt heavy as the words sank in. He looked at Michael, seeing identical dark eyes looking back with pain and grief.

“Which one?” he asked, looking back at God. Fear twisted inside as Lucifer desperately reached for the missing memories. Not just soul trauma then, but something that Lucifer had thought wouldn’t be a problem. It had been a long time since any remnants of those that came before had seen the world.

“All of them,” Michael answered instead of God. “Your soul spread across the bounds. Light remained in control at first.”

Lucifer flinched, horrified. “Did I…” he trailed off, looking at the blood on Michael with new eyes. He hadn’t thought that Light would be far gone enough to attack Michael.

Michael glanced at his wings and shook his head. “No,” his Twin said, soft. “This was from the magic of the circle. It was unstable, attacking any celestial it could reach. Both Amenadiel and myself were caught by surprise once we found you.”

Lucifer thought back to the way that Amenadiel had been moving when his brother left. He had seemed a bit stiffer than usual. There had been a cut on his face, the Devil realized. Shallow but still there.

“This is more than a fracture,” Raphael said, reminding Lucifer that she was in the room. Something hard entered her voice. “Isn’t it?”

Lucifer flinched, floundering. Not one single part of him wanted to answer that question. How would he even explain it? Lucifer had never really had to. Maze had never asked, even if she had born witness to his transition into who he was now. It was likely that she just assumed that it was something that angels could do. The demon had certainly never mentioned it to Amenadiel, at least.

“It is,” God confirmed, and Lucifer’s attention snapped back to the deity. Did it make it better that God hadn’t been listening to Samael’s prayers? That He hadn’t been paying attention to Hell at all? Lucifer couldn’t decide. He was too raw inside. Worse than he had been even after first putting his pieces back together, back when Lucifer had been born from the broken pieces of Samael. Dark eyes met his as God looked directly at Lucifer. “I should have realized from your insistence that you are not Samael. It is my mistake that I did not look further into it.”

No, Lucifer thought. No it didn’t make it better. In fact, Lucifer thought it might be worse. To know that this could have all been prevented if God had merely listened to Samael’s calls for help. Sure, Lucifer wouldn’t be who he was now, but was that really a loss? Who he was now had killed Uriel. Had killed Cain. If he was still Samael, that never would have happened. The Detective would never have been put in such danger.

That thought sparked renewed alarm. “The Detective,” he started, remembering that she had been with him when he’d been poisoned. It was only good luck that she hadn’t drank any of the poison herself.

He stopped when he felt Rage filter from Michael in their soulbond. Lucifer turned his attention to his Twin, confused and somewhat alarmed. Michael’s eyes were completely black with his anger, his wings quivering with it.

“Mi?” he asked, concerned.

His Twin looked away, the rage still roiling between them. Begging for an outlet.

It was something Lucifer hadn’t felt from Michael in a very long time. Not since the end of the Wars that had been fought during the beginning of Creation.

“I believe that it is best to finish our discussion before talking about Chloe Decker,” God said, His voice painfully neutral.

Lucifer wasn’t stupid. Michael was fuming. God was neutral. Something was going on with Chloe at the center of it. He just wasn’t sure what it was. Part of him was afraid to even ask for clarification. Not with Michael fuming this much. Raging in a way that was unlike him.

At the same time, Lucifer did want to get this conversation over with. Talking about Hell was not his idea of a fun time. He also wanted to run as far as possible so that he wouldn’t have to talk about this at all. Not when Raphael looked so very worried, watching him with tearful eyes. Samael had never been able to handle Raphael’s tears.

That was another thing that made this conversation necessary. Lucifer hadn’t ever really thought of Samael, Lux, or Light as this separate before. They were always just parts of himself. Parts he didn’t like, but still parts.

“I’m not fully back together, am I?” he realized, the answer finally coming to him.

“No,” God confirmed. “You did a good job fitting them back together as much as possible. The ritual, however, did more than just fracture your soul. It used cracks that were already there, in place when Samael willed both Light and Lux into existence to deal with the trauma of Hell. When Lux unraveled and he Willed himself into you, another crack was created. You did a decent job of forcing them together then as well. But it was unstable. I don’t think it would have held even if you hadn’t found yourself in that circle. Light was the one to kill Uriel.”

Any response he might have to that was gone as Lucifer felt something inside ache. Over and over, the Devil had tried to understand how things had devolved so quickly in that fight. One moment, he was planning to take the blade and force Uriel to return to the Silver City. The next thing he remembered was the blade sliding into Uriel’s body. Killing his brother permanently. Uriel had even said that he hadn’t seen that coming, hadn’t he?

Because Uriel had been looking at Lucifer’s pattern. Not Light’s. He wouldn’t have even known to look for Light’s pattern.

“Why do you care?” Lucifer felt the words coming out before he even registered thinking them. The pain and anger behind it were…wrong. Foreign.

Bloody Hell, what had those priest done?

God looked hurt, momentarily. Before the deity sighed, heavily. “If you have to ask that question, then I have failed more than I thought,” He said, rubbing a hand over His eyes. “I have always cared, Samael. I just have not always listened.”

Lucifer stuffed that part of himself that seethed and cried further back. Tried to force the piece back together where it could go back to being nothing more than a piece of the puzzle that was himself. He had seen human souls that had fractured behind doors in Hell. Lucifer had no desire to deal with that himself. He was content with letting the pieces that Samael had created be just that: pieces. Now that he knew about the cracks, Lucifer was sure he could fix those as well.

Not that it would be easy. Lucifer was Will, however. With Michael’s help, the Devil was certain that he could do it.

Linda was going to have a field day when he…

Lucifer frowned. That was right, he was supposed to have an appointment with her. Had he missed it? She’d be frantic if she’d called and not gotten any answer. The last time Lucifer had disappeared on her had been when Cain dumped him in the desert and Lucifer had to walk back to LA. Without Cain there…

Cain, Lucifer realized. If Light had killed Uriel, then had he killed Cain as well? Or was it Lucifer? Bloody Hell, this was a mess.

“Is it possible to mend the breaks?” Raphael asked, pulling Lucifer back to the conversation he very much did not want to have. Well, he didn’t. Some part of him was keeping him sitting here still when Lucifer very much wanted to make a run for it. Fly to Earth to check on the Detective himself, since there was clearly something going on with her for Michael and God to react like that to the mention of her. Lucifer suspected it was Samael that was keeping him sitting there.

Light nor Lux would have cared for what God had to say. Lux didn’t do emotion and Light was just blind hatred and rage and bloodlust. Not good for conversations of any kind.

“I believe so,” God glanced at Michael. “With the proper help. It will take time as it should be done carefully. Until you’re more stable, it would be best to keep from crossing dimensional barriers. The magic is still trying to cling on to the three of you.”

Lucifer grimaced, hating that already. He had no desire to be here. This wasn’t home. It hadn’t been home in a very long time. Samael might count it as such but Lucifer never had. Probably never would. Going back to following all of God’s orders sounded worse than returning to Hell. The Infernal realm wasn’t nearly as bad as it was when he’d first arrived there. After locking away the Hellbeasts, it had been easy enough to create cities for the demons that lived there. Not nearly as inbred as they had been to start with, as all of the demons came together instead of living scattered across the various layers.

Lucifer wanted to go back to Earth. Where the Detective, the Spawn, Dr. Linda, Miss Lopez, and even Detective Douche were. Where Mazikeen was no doubt losing her mind as she always did when an exorcism occurred.

God sighed, heavily. “I intended for this to be different,” Dad said wearily. “I should have known better. You have never been easy, not in any form. I acted in anger when I banished you. Your Mother seemed convinced that Banishment was better than locking you in your quarters, as I originally intended, so I agreed. I should have kept to my original plans.”

Lucifer stared at Him, mind racing. “Lock me in my quarters,” he repeated, stunned. His mind whirled as he thought back to what his Mother had said. The rare honesty that had colored Her voice, something that Lucifer had taken note of. Goddess was manipulative but not quite that manipulative. Just dense and prone to rash decisions that weren’t completely thought through.

(Lucifer would die before he told Michael that his Twin got that from their Mother. Michael would not appreciate it being pointed out no matter how true it was. Lucifer, himself, was guilty of that regularly.)

God have him a confused look. “Yes,” He agreed, frowning. “She was rather insistent that I not act too rashly in my anger that I took Her suggestion…son?”

Lucifer buried his face in his hands, trying to figure out if he wanted to laugh or cry. Of course, he thought almost hysterically. Of course that was His original plan. When had Mother ever really understood how Dad’s mind worked? She had thought the humans having Azrael’s blade would get His attention. She’d thought He would notice if She gave the Enochian Magic of Her cage to the humans. She had planned on starting a War in the Silver City to force a confrontation with Him. Lucifer had rebelled during the same time period as God and Goddess had first started fighting. She would jump to the work conclusion first.

“Lu?” Michael asked, worried. The rage was gone in place of his growing concern in their soulbond.

Lucifer couldn’t speak. He didn’t know how to say the words out loud. Instead, he took the memory and pushed it to Michael. Watched as his Twin’s eyes widened with alarm and then flashed with understanding.

“Michael?” Dad asked, looking at Lucifer’s Twin. It was something they had done all the time when younger. Use the other to answer a question they couldn’t quite verbalize.

“Mother thought you were going to End him,” Michael said, stunned. “That was why She asked for banishment.”

Everything that Mom did really made things that much worse for Lucifer, didn’t it? The ritual, interfering in his punishment after the Rebellion, stabbing Linda, the map to Uriel’s gave, telling him about the Detective’s origins…it just was never ending. One thing after another, leaving Lucifer to deal with the consequences of Her actions.

God was not guiltless. Samael would probably never forgive Him for not listening during the early days of Hell. Lucifer wouldn’t forgive Him for not paying attention during the eons Lucifer ruled there. For not once checking in on him in that time. Not until He was forced to see what Lucifer had been reduced to because of that damned circle.

Lucifer couldn’t seem to escape from being the product of Their mistakes. Damaged further with each one. He wondered what it would be next time. Another dangerous item his Mother lead humans to? God’s inattention to Lucifer as something really did manage to kill him? Maybe the breaks in his soul wouldn’t ever heal. The Devil was exhausted just thinking about it.

He was going to have to make sure that Linda booked him for her earliest available appointment. “Can we move on?” he rasped into his hands. Lucifer was not capable of talking about this newest twist just yet.

There was too much else.

For once, God seemed to agree with him. Instead of pursuing the matter, He continued on with what He’d been saying before. Though there was a new edge of something in His voice as He did so. Lucifer didn’t have the energy to examine that further. He was just too sore and broken for it. “I agreed,” God began again. “Because I thought being in charge of your own realm would be both a punishment and granting you what you wanted. To make decisions for yourself. While also putting you in a position where you were forced to make decisions for others. It was not, ever, intended to be what I saw when I looked after Light woke in your place.”

Death and violence and poison, Lucifer filled in. A prison and torture mixed into one. He didn’t say anything.

A familiar numbness spread from inside, where Lucifer suspected that Lux was. The Devil didn’t bother fighting it off, though he kept from showing it. Right now, it would be better if his emotions weren’t quite as prevalent as they had been in recent years.

(Had that been himself or was it Light bleeding through? How much did the cracks affect who he was? How deep had the damage gone?)

“It was a mistake, one that I am not willing to make again,” God looked at him. “You will not be forced to return there ever again. Not if you do not wish. If you wish to relinquish Hell, I will allow it. No matter your decision, your banishment is no longer in affect.”

Lucifer was very, very, glad for the numbness that was muting the raging emotions in his chest. He had no idea what to say to that.

For the longest time, Lucifer had believed he would never be welcome back in the Silver City. Yet here he was, God lifting his banishment and even apologizing. Something Lucifer had never thought would happen.

His session with Linda was going to be a very long one.

God studied him carefully. “Do you wish to pause this discussion until you are not quite as fractured?” Dad asked.

So He had noticed that Lux’s influence. Lucifer considered it. “Yes,” he finally sighed. “As much as I enjoy the numbness, I feel like Linda would be unhappy if I relied on it for this.”

She was already going to be unhappy that he hadn’t told her about Lux, Light, or Samael before now. Even if it was going to be hard to explain just how different it had been before this ritual. Before, they had just been states of being he could slip into (or that had been what he had thought at least). Now, they were more than that. Almost independent of himself, though not quite fully there. Just enough that Lucifer could feel where they started and he ended if he was looking for it. Though only Samael seemed to have a real consciousness. Probably from being their original personality.

God didn’t look to happy at the idea of Lucifer relying on the numbness either.

“Very well,” Dad agreed. “You and Michael are to remain here until Raphael is certain that your physical injuries have healed. Once that has happened, we will begin working to mend the breaks between yourself and the fractures. Then we will finish our conversation. There is much that you will need to know, not all of it good.”

Lucifer almost rolled his eyes. When was anything that had to do with either of his Parents good? It couldn’t be worse than his Mother accidentally signing him up for eons of torture just because She couldn’t be bothered to make sure Dad actually planned on Ending him before interceding. It did ease the guilt of leaving Her to the tender mercies of Maze and the rest of the Lilim.

“Lay back down,” Raphael said, pulling Lucifer back to reality. He did so, fighting back a wince of pain at the movement. It hadn’t hurt nearly this much to sit up. Or Lucifer was pretty sure it hadn’t.

“I will be dealing with the humans responsible,” God said, His voice hard. “For now, focus on healing. Michael, I will leave your marked for you.”

Michael had marked one of them? Lucifer snorted, amusement breaking through the fog of numbness. His Twin must have been livid, then. No doubt the marked human was suffering the effects of having Dark hunting them by now. Lucifer had only seen Michael mark a human once before. The end result had not been pretty. Michael had waited nearly a decade before finally coming for the human. The mortal had been completely insane, jumping at shadows and screaming themself awake every night. Lucifer had watched the entire thing with interest.

After all, it wasn’t every day that someone was left alive after Michael marked them. That was what happened when you were the one to betray their half-sibling to their death. Even if that had been part of the plan. They certainly had left that tidbit out of the book.

Lucifer was going to have to ask what had happened to Judas’ soul after death. He’d never arrived in Hell and Lucifer doubted that he was free to walk the Silver City.

He was getting distracted again.

“I leave them in your care,” God said to Raphael. Then He left, softly closing the door of the Infirmary behind Him.

‘Which one did you mark?’ Lucifer asked his Twin, not really wanting to talk. His throat was far too sore for it.

Michael was silent for a long moment.

‘The one that deserved it the most.’

Chapter Text

William Kinley didn’t understand how it had all gone wrong.

It had seemed perfect. Chloe Decker was the key to the undoing of Satan once and for all. To send the Devil back to Hell permanently. The circle bound him, the chains kept him hidden from allies, and the magic they chanted combined with the physical wounds was supposed to destroy the ties to the mortal flesh the Devil inhabited. Once those were destroyed, the Devil’s soul would be sent straight back to Hell, where it would never be able to leave again. Trapped forever.

Humanity would finally be safe.

Decker slipped the poison, which she had been told was a sedative, into Satan’s drink. She’d set the scene, disposed of the poison, leaving nothing behind. William and his men had come in through the service entrance where no cameras would catch them for the blinded law enforcement to find. They’d locked Satan’s wrists in the shackles and carried him out with no one the wiser.

The first hiccup had been when the Holy Water Terry had dosed the Devil with did nothing other than cause a fit of sputtering. William was a tad disappointed at that, even if he was rather confused. No doubt the water had become tainted, which is why it had no effect.

From there, it seemed like that was the only snag in the plan. The circle worked perfectly and the magic had been thick in the room. Satan bleed underneath William’s knife the same way he would have if the Decker woman had been there. She was too soft for this. William had been relieved to find a way that would not require her presence.

They had spent nearly a full day’s time on the ritual once Satan regained consciousness. Long hours of magic and blood. If not for the fact that they all knew it was the Devil himself in that circle, William was sure the mess would haunt his nightmares. Yet it needed to be done. Satan could not be left to wander the world unchecked. Free to drag the innocent into sin.

He had to be stopped.

Even if the basement filled with the scent of blood. Even if white feathers became stained with red. Even if the sound of flesh parting under the slice of a blade was accompanied by agonized screams.

Then it had all fallen apart. The door to their ritual burst open revealing a figure identical to the one that was trapped in the circle. Before William could do anything, he found himself forced away from the weakened Devil by a dark power cold to the touch.

The rest of the priests ran the moment they could. Flooding out of the basement like the cowards they were. William had been prepared. He grabbed his knife, ready to put an end to this visage as well as the one that was bound. The Devil had found some way to appear in two vessels. William just had to dispatch them both instead of just the one.

Only to watch in surprise as the second vestige was flung backwards from the circle. Blood spurting from its mouth as it did so.

William moved to attack, ready to take advantage of the creature’s weakness, only to be stopped by hands grabbing him from behind. Not the demon, William discovered, as he saw human law enforcement filter down the stairs. A dark-skinned man went for the second Devil.

William was forced upstairs before he could hear what the man said.

He was shuffled from the church into the streets outside. Red and blue lights flashed everywhere, more police directing traffic away from the church. William struggled against the officer holding him, the cuffs cold on his wrists. None of his pleas for them to listen reached their corrupted ears. Too enamored by Satan to hear the truth about the Beast that had invaded their ranks.

Now he was here, in this cell, trying to understand what had happened. What had gone wrong. No matter what Chloe Decker said, there was no way the second Beast was the Archangel Michael. No way that the Vatican and the Church had been wrong about Satan and the death he brought to the world. Centuries of careful tracking and encounters could not be wrong.

Satan was not a twin. The Devil was merely playing another elaborate trick.

(If Satan was a twin, it changed everything. It meant that all of their knowledge, their long history, was invalid. That their beliefs could all be based on a lie. That William’s noble actions to banish the Beast were as horrific as something deep inside believed they were.)

“It was no trick,” a powerful voice said from next to their cell. William jumped, startled from his racing thoughts as he tried to remember if he’d heard someone come in. There hadn’t been any footsteps or creaks of the door opening, but that was impossible.

The owner of the voice stood there despite that, dressed in expensive clothing. Dark curly hair framed tan skin and dark eyes that seemed to hold the weight of existence within them. He was tall and skinny, lean muscles only just visible underneath the long-sleeved shirt he wore.

“Who are you?” William demanded, heart thumping hard in his chest. This being looked like the Beast and its double. The skin was tanner and there was something different about the shape of his eyes, yet the resemblance was there.

The being studied him quietly, not answering. Then he looked at the Decker woman.

William followed his gaze only to be surprised by the terror that Chloe Decker looked at this new arrival with. More terror than had been in her voice as she talked about the false Michael.

“I am not here for you, Chloe Decker,” the being said, voice harsh. “Michael has marked you for his own and I intend to allow him that privilege. Until he has recovered from the unstable magic lashing out at him, you will be allowed to continue on in the human justice system. I’m quite interested to see what My Dark Herald will have in store for you. Michael had never been one sit by as his Twin was hurt.”

“I,” Decker said before falling silent. She was shaking now. “I’m sorry.”

Yes, she did not have the stomach for what needed to be done. Not when she could be drawn in by this demon in disguise. Well, William would not be fooled. He was not so weak willed to fall for an elaborate trick.

The ground underneath his feet rumbled again. As it had for the last week they had waited here in these cells. Where the days were marked by the food that was brought to them and the police failed to fully charge them.

“I would hesitate before you stir my ire further, William Kinley,” the demon growled, eyes flashing with power. “You do not seem to understand that which you are facing.”

And before William’s eyes, powerful light, so different from what William knew light as, filled the room. As it brushed his skin, William could feel the ancient intent behind it. The strength of it was beyond anything that William had felt before. Even standing in the Devil’s presence had not garnered this feeling of being small, insignificant.

This was no demon, the priest thought with the beginning of real fear. This was something far grander. Far more powerful. More ancient than Satan himself.

But that was impossible. William was a man of the cloth! He was a faithful follower! He had done nothing that the Lord had not commanded of him!

“Command,” God, for that who this being was, sneered. “I have commanded no human in millennia. I granted your species Free Will, allowed you to do as you wished with this world my children formed under my watching eyes, and watched as you either rose or fell with the weight of decision. I left ten and only ten commandments for your species to follow as you chose. Not once since have I issued another.”

The strength of His words weighed on William’s soul. Keeping him rooted in place, unable to move. Keeping his tongue useless in his mouth as speech refused to come. William could do nothing.

“I did not command you to harm My Son!” God roared, the earth shaking ever harder with His anger. “I did not command you to use magic forbidden for mortal hands to slice into his very soul! If not for the machinations of My Ex-Wife, you would not have even had the chance to hold My Lightbringer for longer than it took for him to grow bored of your little ritual. It was only my inattention that allowed this.”

The Lord’s eye blazed with power. It choked the room, almost making it impossible to breathe though William managed somehow.

“Humanity’s arrogance and ignorance as to My Children has never been more apparent to me,” the Lord whispered, voice dangerous. “It is not for you to decide what a child of mine does. Lucifer has far more rights to this planet than humanity ever did. For it was under My instruction that Lucifer and Michael crafted this planet with their own power. From the burning core to the cold oceans, my Twins did construct your world. It is not for you to declare when either of them should leave it.”

William could feel his body shaking, though he could not utter a sentence in his defense. The Devil was evil. He had tempted Adam and Eve, had tried to tempt Christ in the desert, had left a trail of death and destruction throughout history. All their findings, all the stories, they could not all be wrong!

“Tempt,” the Lord snorted, suddenly amused. “Oh Samael was not the one to tempt anyone in the garden. No, Eve was the instigator there. All Lucifer did was disobey my order to stay away from the garden until Adam and Eve were ready for Earth. I suppose I should have expected it. Samael was never one for following orders instead of his curiosity. My Ex-Wife was more amused than I was angered. It was only a matter of time until one of Our children became interested in the more carnal pleasures. I should have expected Samael to be the first.”

“As for my mortal son,” the Lord shook His head. “There was no tempting there either. Lucifer was simply curious about his new half-brother. They got on rather well, in the end. Lucifer was more than happy to teach him how to turn water into wine, which my mortal son seemed to enjoy. Jesus never did answer his question, however. I believe it was embarrassment from forgetting his celestial blood allowed my mortal son certain abilities.”

That…William couldn’t wrap his head around the idea of Christ and the Devil getting along. None of this made sense.

How had everything gone so wrong?

“It is simple,” God looked down at him, His voice cold once more. “You assumed. Humanity assumed. They took our fight and twisted it into more than a family disagreement. I have observed many human parents arguing with their children over being allowed to make choices. ‘Acting out’ I believe it is called. Yet, you seemed to think that such a thing would mean I would despise my child. That I would wish harm upon him. You got it into your heads that the Rebellion was Samael’s attempt to usurp the throne and rule. As if my son would ever willingly do anything that involved paperwork or bureaucracy. His punishment was to rule Hell for a reason.”

It couldn’t be true. It couldn’t all have been a lie. A mistake. William had dedicated his life to the Church! To eradicate evil from the world! Satan was said to the be the origin of it all! The Tempter! The Great Snake! All the sightings over the eon-

“Where not only Lucifer,” the Lord spoke, coldly. “Michael has roamed the planet just as long as Lucifer. My Sword walked this planet, marking the humans that he Judged to be unworthy. Humans that Hell would not be enough. And my Morning Star trailed behind, Punishing Michael’s Judged humans as he has always done. It is their balance. Some, I punished personally. Others, I left to my Lightbringer. And some, Michael chose to punish personally.”

Decker gasped in pain. William’s head turned, the first time he was able to move since this had started, to see her clutching her arm. The black sword there seemed to pulse with a darkness to his eyes. The skin around it looked almost blue, as if frostbitten. Like the mark was draining the heat from her body.

It was true. Everything the woman had said was true.

William felt sick to his stomach. He remembered the blood and screams of the Devil he’d cut up. Remembered the way unconsciousness had taken the Devil, leaving his body limp. He remembered how proud he had been as he took a knife to white wings that shone with light.

It didn’t make sense. If this was true, if the Devil was not the evil that the stories warned of, then why had the Lord not stepped in sooner? Why allow the exorcisms that had happened over the centuries? Why not stop this before William made this critical mistake?

The earth shook again. Harder this time.

“I was unaware,” God hissed through grit teeth. “It is humanity’s luck that neither I nor Michael knew of these exorcisms. As it is, I find myself faced with a decision. Humanity has overstepped. They have caused harm to three of my Children. You have caused harm to three of my Children. Lucifer, who you harmed intentionally. Michael, who was caught in the unstable magic your ritual called forth. Amenadiel, who did not escape the magic you called in time to be unscathed. Three of my Angels were harmed by your actions. I cannot let that go.”

The dark-skinned man who had gone to Michael, who had been the one flung away by the magic. William felt his stomach twist as terror shook his body. Every instinct was screaming that he needed to run. That what was coming next would be worse than anything William could imagine.

But there was no where to run when the predator aiming for you was God Himself.

William should have listened when he was told to leave Lucifer Morningstar alone.

He wondered how long he be able to regret it.

In truth, God had not settled on a punishment when He had arrived in the holding area of the LAPD. His thoughts were too focused on His broken Lightbringer. Fixing what had broken within Lucifer eclipsed nearly everything else.

It was clear to see that Lucifer’s soul was still horribly unbalanced and injured. Instead of vitriol and anger, Lucifer had seemed subdued. Muted. The anger was still there, just not as vibrant as it should have been. Lucifer was still in pieces. Still fractured. The cracks had become breaks that were only barely connected. Light and Lux, for the first time, were near full personalities. Most worrying was the division between Lucifer and Samael. It was Samael who bore the full anger and pain from God’s decision to banish his Morning Star, while Lucifer seemed to hold the hurt and exhaustion such emotions always produced. And when it seemed to become too much, Lux soothed those things away, leaving God’s Rebellious Son numbed to it all.

Nothing like the flashy and vibrant angel that Samael and Lucifer had always been.

It was not until God stood before those responsible for this that He felt rage boil within. Listening to the poisonous thoughts of William Kinley only fanned the fires of the Lord’s fury. The earth outside shuddered under His power. Rain stirred storm clouds above as God let this world reflect the inner turmoil He currently felt. The grief and rage and love and never-ending sorrow as God remembered how His Lightbringer had looked hanging from those chains. Strung up and bleeding under this mortal’s knife.

Hell would not be good enough. More over, God had no intention of putting these mortals in Lucifer’s domain. Even if Lucifer chose to leave Hell forever, no other could claim the throne within. Not when the dimension itself would not allow it. Lucifer had been born there from the remnants of Samael and his constructions. It gave His Son more power over Hell than God thought Lucifer realized.

These priests were not welcome in Lucifer’s realm. Just as God would not welcome them within the borders of the Silver City. Even in the deepest reaches of the Dungeons where God kept the worst of humanity were not an option.

At the same time, destroying their souls seemed far too merciful. Quick, even. Quicker than they deserved. God wanted them to suffer first. To know agony beyond human comprehension until the day that He finally disposed of them.

Cain’s punishment had been a mistake, the deity thought. The First Murderer had used his long life to further murder and develop crime within humanity. Hundreds of thousands had died at Cain’s hands in the last couple thousand years alone. God had no wish to see just how many Cain had killed since he had been cursed near the Dawn of Humanity. That was not to mention the lives that Cain had ruined as well.

Eternal life until remorse had not been the best punishment. God would not make that mistake here. Yet, there might be something else that could be done. While cursing Cain to never die was a mistake, forever dying and reviving certainly had an appeal to it.

Reincarnation had a certain interesting flavor to it. Trapping their souls into a constant cycle of life and death, never letting them pass on into any afterlife…that could work. How many loved ones would they have that they would never reunite with in the Silver City? God would make sure that they would remember each life. They would never go a moment without knowing what it was that had led them to their fate. It would haunt their nightmares, never allowing them a moment of rest for the eons to come.

When the time came for Earth to fall, as all things in the Mortal Realm would one day extinguish, God would simply eradicate their souls entirely.

There would be rules, of course. None of these souls would be allowed to enter any of His places of worship again. Even trying would cause immense pain. They would be unable to tell anyone of their past lives, of the cycle they found themselves in. God would make sure that none of them would cross the path of the others, further isolating them.

None of the priests who had followed William Kinley would be granted mercy.

As for the mastermind behind Lucifer’s torture, God would add a curse onto his soul. Every life he lived, every moment he walked on this planet, he was would never find happiness. Death would always come to him in the form of a betrayal of a close friend. Someone that he would never suspect. It didn’t matter how much Kinley tried to avoid friendships. There would always be someone that would wiggle in. Someone Kinley would always believe could never do something so horrid to him.

There would always be an outsider that would whisper into that friend’s ear until Kinley found himself dying from their actions. The curse that God placed would make sure of it. This priest who dared claim to act in His own name would feel the same agony Lucifer would once Chloe Decker’s role in his torment was revealed.

God gathered His power before waving His hand at the gathered souls. They dropped with screams as God weaved His Punishment into them. A black star appeared on their necks, the physical manifestation of God’s Will. For William Kinley, it was joined by a dagger stabbing into the star. The mark would follow them to each life, branded on their very soul.

God considered telling them His Punishment. Letting each one know just what awaited them from the moment that this life ended. He had done so when He had cursed Cain, though the Lord had not informed the murderer that the curse could be ended.

No, the Almighty decided. It would be far more entertaining to watch them discover their punishment themselves.

By no means did this mean that the Almighty was finished with them. None of this would take place until they died in this life.

Humanity had been harming His child for millennia. Damaging Lucifer further with each betrayal a human enacted towards him. Had God known what was happening, He would have put a stop to it far sooner. Instead, it was allowed to continue. It would keep happening until God put a stop to it Himself.

These despicable souls would be His example. His warning to the mortals as to what would happen should they trespass against any of His children again. No matter what propaganda humanity had consumed concerning them over the years. There would be no more exorcisms. No more attacks. No more priests claiming to harm Lucifer in God’s name.

It would stop now.

There was a time not too long ago that God would have hesitated before revealing divinity to the mortals once more. A time where it had seemed safer to keep humans and angels separate. His Children walking this planet without worry of being seen as more than just another person. A way to move unseen.

Lucifer’s injuries proved that had been a mistake. Ignorance had not made His children safer. Not in the long run.

Let it not be said that God couldn’t learn from His mistakes.

Today there would a line in the sand drawn. Any human that trespassed against an angel would find themselves on the wrong side of God’s wrath.

God turned His back on the whimpering souls, taking Himself away from the precinct that Lucifer was so fond of. He still needed to set the stage to ensure maximum impact of His message.

Until then, these rotten souls could wait in terror for what would come next.

Linda Martin was worried.

She hadn’t heard back from Maze yet. No matter how many times she called, Maze didn’t answer. And she didn’t call back.

Lucifer still wasn’t picking up his phone either. Calls to Ella or Chloe yielded nothing else.

This wasn’t like any of them. A full week of no contact was not something that had ever happened before. The closest had been when Lucifer had gone to Vegas, and even then she’d still been able to get in touch with all of the others. That everyone was unreachable…

What made it worse was the constant earthquakes that had started only a day after she’d called Maze. In the last week, they’d spread even further until there were reports of earthquakes all around the world.

She was shaken from her thoughts by the rumble of thunder. Linda looked to the window, watching as the sunlight that had been there moments before was blotted out by dark clouds. Thunder rumbled again just as water began to fall.

It was raining.

Linda swallowed, her anxiety rising just that much further. She’d been trying to think positive. It was becoming increasingly hard as events all pointed towards something celestial in nature going on. With Satan missing in action, no one answering her calls, and Maze seemingly disappearing as well, Linda couldn’t deny that something had happened.

Something bad.

“You’re correct.”

Linda snapped her head to the voice, staring as she looked at a tanned man with black hair and dark eyes she had only seen one other place. And more alarming, she could see Amenadiel in the shape of his face.

God watched her with studious eyes. “You’re very perceptive,” the Creator of the Universe said. His voice was soft and hard, loud and quiet, easily heard other the rumble of thunder and the quaking earth that Linda thought she knew the origin of now.

“T-thank you,” she swallowed. What did you do when faced with God standing before you? Her mouth was moving before she could stop it. “Is Lucifer okay?”

Apparently, you asked about the Devil’s current health. Linda winced, hoping that she hadn’t just messed up.

God’s eyes, which had been cold, softened greatly. “No,” the Lord said, something like grief in His voice. “That is why I am here. My Son is in need of help that I fear I am unable to provide. Help that I believe you might be able to give.”

Linda stared at Him, stunned. The idea that God had come to her to help the Devil…well, she thought, that almost tracked with how her life had gone since Lucifer had first walked into her office as a patient. She was the Devil’s therapist, she’d dated an angel, her best friend was a demon. Why wouldn’t God appear before her? Hell, Linda had once been stabbed by the Goddess of All Creation. “What happened,” she asked, pushing away her worry and awe.

Lucifer was her patient. More that than, he was her friend. She had no intention of leaving him to suffer whatever had happened that had the earth quaking and God standing there, watching her with eyes that she was used to seeing on His son.

“My Wife,” God started, before stopping. The Creator of the Universe took a deep breath before continuing. “My Ex-Wife’s machinations before leaving this universe behind have come back to damage him. She gave humans Enochian magic. Magic from the Cell I created to keep her contained within Hell.”

Magic powerful enough to contain the Mother of Angels, Goddess of All Creation. Linda paled. That did not sound like something that humans should even know about, let alone be able to use.

“You’re correct,” God rubbed a hand down His face, looking exhausted. “She had hoped I would notice and put a stop to it. As She had hoped that I would step in when She allowed Azrael’s blade amongst humanity. And when She left, She told no one what it was that She had done. Leaving that magic there with no one aware of the danger. Until the priests she left it with used Chloe Decker to poison My Son and trap him within the magic.”

Linda sucked in a breath. “Chloe poisoned Lucifer?” she whispered, horrified. Lucifer had been worried about how Chloe was taking the ‘Devil is real’ reveal but he’d said that she was alright with it. The month abroad had given her enough time to work through it. They’d had a date- “Oh no,” Linda covered her mouth. The date. With Chloe.

She’d used it to poison him.

It was no wonder that God would think Lucifer needed Linda’s help. That kind of betrayal from someone as important to him as Chloe would do a lot of damage. Lucifer was probably a wreck.

“He doesn’t know,” God shook His head. “Not yet. The magic did much damage. Revealed the consequences of actions long since passed which My Son has hidden with great success. Revealing Chloe Decker’s treachery…I am afraid that it will break him in a way that cannot be fixed if we do so now. You have had success in helping My Son in ways that I was unaware he needed help. I am here to ask that you meet with him. Help him as you have in the past.”

Linda stared at the Lord, her mind spinning in circles as she tried to understand what it was that He wasn’t saying. There was something there, something that God was leaving out, which explained why Lucifer would need her help if he didn’t know what Chloe had done. Something that God thought would be worsened with Chloe’s betrayal.

Something that Lucifer had been hiding.

Linda closed her eyes, thinking back over their sessions. The red flags that had colored so many of his decisions, things she couldn’t find an answer to as it was buried under so many other problems. “Alright,” she agreed, opening her eyes once more. She met God’s eyes, which had brightened to a bright blue instead of the dark brown she was used to seeing on Lucifer’s face. His features were shifting as she looked at Him. In a way, that made sense. Amenadiel and Lucifer looked nothing alike despite having the same Parents. That God could change His form would explain much about that. “What do you need me to do?”

The smile the Creator of the Universe gave her was blinding. Linda had the feeling that she had passed some sort of test, though she had no idea what test it could have been.

God held out His hand for her to take. Linda didn’t hesitate as she reached out to take it.

“I am glad that My Son found you,” God said as Linda felt warmth spread from her hand and further into her body. “Both My Sons.”

The world began to twist around her as she tried to digest that. Light and Dark swirling around her as her office disappeared. It was as if Linda was at the center of a hurricane, her hair whipping at her face as she felt like her lungs were constricting.

Then, just as it had started, the wind died down. The world around her came back into focus.

They stood in the center of a large city that glittered Silver. Warm air brushed against her skin, unlike anything Linda had ever felt before. The grey of rain clouds and the shaking ground were gone, replaced with Light unlike anything Linda had seen before. Not even sunlight had looked like this. It felt…bigger. More powerful. And softer at the same time.

Linda looked up to see a blazing star. Whereas looking at the sun left her eyes blinking away spots, Linda found that she could stare at this star for as long as she wanted. Not a single spot appearing in her vision.

Silver City, she thought as she turned her attention back to the buildings around her. Linda had always wondered if that meant the color or if it was actually built from Silver.

She thought it might be both, now that she was looking at it herself.

“Linda?” Amenadiel’s voice drew her attention away from the buildings of Heaven to the familiar form of her…boyfriend? Friend? Linda wasn’t really sure what they were to each other. “Father?”

“Show Miss Martin to the Infirmary,” God said from where He had been standing, watching her. Linda couldn’t remember when it was that she’d let go of His hand. This entire thing was beyond comprehension. “I believe your brother could do with her services.”

Amenadiel glanced at Linda, face troubled, before nodding.

God turned around and then was gone.

Linda sighed when Amenadiel looked at her again. “Tell me everything you know,” she said, gravely.

God had brought her here because He thought Lucifer needed her help. Going into this blind wasn’t going to do anyone any good. She needed to know as much as she could so that Linda could truly help him.

If this was something Lucifer had been hiding for some time, then he might fall back onto that if Linda didn’t have all the information. Masking the problem to someone that didn’t know was second nature in certain cases. There were some patients that did it without even thinking. Linda couldn’t help if Lucifer thought he could get away with pretending everything was fine with her.

Everything else, God, the Silver City, and that test which was sitting in her bathroom waiting for her to get the nerve to look at it could wait.

Maze felt it when time stopped as she guarded the cells where those who had hurt her King waited for the justice that was coming for them. She felt it when power that was beyond anything Maze had experienced in the past filled the precinct.

Maze waited until God had left before she opened the door to see what He had done to those that had harmed Lucifer.

The priests were huddled on the ground, clutching at their necks, faces paler than Maze had seen any human go before. The demon closed the door, watching as the humans jumped at the noise. Terrified eyes stared at her.

“Lucifer always said he inherited his dramatics from his Father,” she said casually, watching as the group flinched. Maze looked from them to Chloe, who was shaking and pushed as far against the wall of her cell as was possible.

For the first time since learning of her treachery a week previous, Maze looked into that familiar face. Into those eyes of a woman that Maze had thought was her friend. The human that the Devil had fallen in love with. A miracle of God, immune to the desire that Lucifer trailed everywhere he went. Someone that Maze had thought loved her King back.

“I should have killed you the moment Lucifer started showing interest in you,” Maze told her. “I should have watched you closer. But I bought it. All that talk about knowing us, seeing the real us, saying that we were better than what we said, I believed you. Lucifer believed you. Centuries, millennia, of betrayals and exorcisms waiting at the end of every friendship, and still you managed to worm your way in. Plant yourself in our orbit so thoroughly that I thought you were truly different.”

Chloe stared at her, eyes wet and blown wide. “Maze,” she whispered, her voice shaking.

“Mazikeen,” Maze bared her teeth at the Miracle. “Maze is for friends. And you’re not one. I don’t think you ever were. Because if you were the woman we both thought you were, none of this would be happening. Ellen wouldn’t be crying in her lab. Detective Douche wouldn’t be taking the little human to child prison each day, trying to brush off her questions about where you are and why Lucifer hasn’t been around. I wouldn’t be standing here, guarding this lot of priests, waiting to see if Lucifer makes it this time.”

Because if Lucifer wasn’t truly hurt, beyond anything he’d ever been before, then he would already be back. God wouldn’t have waited a week before appearing to deal with these priests. They’d be back in the penthouse or back in Hell, licking their wounds and getting back into it.

Chloe looked like she’d been hit. “What,” she licked her lips, looking down. “What do you mean?”

The demon stared at her. Part of her wanted to sink her knives in Chloe’s throat. Watch as the life bled out of her. The rest of her was…hurt. Betrayed. She wanted to scream in anger at Chloe, demand an explanation for what it was that they had ever done to deserve what Chloe had planned. Deserved to experience the torture that exorcisms were.

There was a reason that humans went insane after an exorcism. The magic was real, for all that most seemed to think otherwise. It attacked the very soul, ripping at it, slashing through any impurities that it might find. For a soul that had no impurities, it was possible to recover. For one that did have them? Well, an exorcism could do some real damage. Damage that followed the soul into the afterlife, driving them even further insane.

That was what Chloe had signed them up for.

“Do you really think that if Lucifer hadn’t been really, truly hurt, that it would have taken this long for God to appear?” Maze laughed, bitterly. “Whatever happened in that exorcism, it wasn’t good. Was beyond anything that we’ve encountered before. I heard what God said. Both Michael and Amenadiel were hurt by the magic. That doesn’t happen in a normal exorcism. Whatever that Bitch Lucifer calls Mom gave them, it was powerful.”

Maze had always thought that the Goddess had left too easily. That it had gone too smoothly. After what she’d put them through in the year she’d spent here, Maze had been waiting for the other shoe to drop.

“Do you know the story of the Goddess of Creation?” Maze asked. “I mean, you’ve met her, Decker! Surely you remember?”

Chloe stared. “Charlotte,” she started.

Maze laughed. Bitter and vicious. “Oh no,” she said, twirling a knife on her finger. “Charlotte Richards died. She died at the hands of Perez and went Hell. Until that day she seemingly lost her memory, you weren’t talking to Charlotte Richards. You were talking to Lucifer’s mother.”

Chloe sucked in a deep breath, looking shaken. Maze didn’t care. This woman had betrayed them. Betrayed Lucifer and Maze both. After promising that she knew them, Chloe had stabbed them both in the back.

“The Goddess of All Creation, Mother of Angels,” Maze remembered the way that Lucifer had looked so heartbroken when She had first appeared in Hell. Banished the same way Lucifer had been. “You see, the Goddess didn’t like humanity. She hated that God was so focused on His projects, ignoring Her and Their Children. Only, unlike Lucifer, She didn’t lead a Rebellion. No, She went after Humanity itself. Have you ever wondered where your plagues came from? All Goddess had to do was create a few diseases, infect a human, and watch as you all did Her work for her. Every death of a human to illness is because of Her.”

Lucifer had been livid. He’d been careful, the Devil had raged, to keep the humans out of his Rebellion. It wasn’t their fault God was neglecting His family, their fault that God gave them Free Will and refused it for His Children. That Goddess took Her rage out on the innocent had bothered him more than Maze had understood at the time.

Now, after finding humans that she liked, Maze could understand. The idea of Linda dying to one of those diseases, the little human wasting away because of that Bitch…well, Maze got it now.

“God was pissed,” Maze dug the dirt from underneath her nails with her blade. “He got Michael to help Him subdue Her. Then He cast Her out, the same way that Lucifer was cast out. Only, instead of being free to rule Hell, He locked Her away in a cell that kept Her contained for centuries. And Lucifer, he didn’t like that She had killed so many innocent humans. So he left Her there, making sure that She didn’t escape to kill even more.”

He'd been angry and hurt She hadn’t said anything when he’d been banished. Hurt that She had just watched him burn as he fell. Chloe and these priests didn’t deserve Lucifer’s pain. The hurt that he’d carried.

Chloe had lost the right.

“Right up until the day that Malcolm shot Lucifer and he died,” Maze looked into Chloe’s eyes. “For you. That’s what you missed out, what you didn’t know, the mistake you made when we were talking to you. Lucifer is mortal whenever he’s in your presence. If he hadn’t been near you, that poison would have only made him throw up a bit. Maybe run a small fever. Anytime he was in a specific radius of you, Lucifer was mortal. Malcolm shot him and Lucifer was dying. But he couldn’t leave you and the little human there with Malcolm. So he made a deal. God healed him to let him save you and all he had to do was keep an eye on Mommy, who’d finally broken out of her cage.”

Chloe had never appreciated what Lucifer did for her. Didn’t appreciate the way that Lucifer listened to her. Lucifer hadn’t even really listened to God, even before the Rebellion. Chloe had taken that trust, that devotion, and turned on him.

No matter how angry Maze was with him, she never would have poisoned him and handed him over to priests. Never would have wished whatever pain he’d felt at these people’s hands. Lucifer was still her King, still the one that had taught her how to fight all those millennia ago. Letting her live, the very first demon he showed mercy.

Maze wouldn’t forget that again.

Chloe deserved to feel the pain of this story. To understand just what her actions had led to. To know how much Lucifer had done for this stupid planet.

“Charlotte was Hell bound, which is all Mommy needed to take her place. She tried to claim that all She wanted was to reconnect with Her kids. Amenadiel certainly fell for it. Lucifer almost did as well. Right until She told him just why you were oh so different from every other human,” Maze sneered. “God’s little Miracle. A human immune to his powers, placed in his path. Waited right before that very first date you two were supposed to go on. She wanted him angry at God, wanted him to agree to Her plan. To join a new Rebellion with Goddess at the lead so She could take Heaven by force. Stupid bitch never did know Lucifer that well.”

Maze had even fallen for Lucifer’s little act. Pretending to go with it, be on her side.

“Mommy was so desperate. She wanted to destroy his ties to Earth so he would be willing to go back with Her. Amenadiel stopped Her from blowing up your car, did you know that? Goddess’ little revelation showed Her hand. He needed Her to believe that he wasn’t attached. That killing you and the other officers wouldn’t matter to him. So he hightailed it to Vegas and found someone that could play the bimbo,” Maze laughed at Chloe’s horrified face. “Candy was a good actress. Goddess fell for it and let Her guard down. Just like that, Lucifer knew all of Her plans. And he started plotting his own. Pretended to be down with it. All the while planning to lock God and Goddess together so they could fight to Their hearts content away from Earth and Lucifer.”

It was masterful, a plan that no one would see coming. Maze hadn’t. Amenadiel hadn’t. And neither had Goddess.

Maybe God had known. Maze didn’t think they would ever really know unless He brought it up. Still, it would have been glorious.

“Only, that would have ended up with the death of his siblings. Lucifer’s always been rather attached to them. Even when angry. When the time came and everything was ready, Lucifer changed his mind,” Maze watched Chloe’s face pale further with each word. “And instead of locking the gates of Silver City behind Goddess, he talked Her out of it. Convinced Her to leave this universe entirely. Start a new one of Her own. After She had stabbed Linda, killed humans, and sought to start a war that would end with the death of who knows how many angels. After She let a celestial weapon fall into human hands when She knew any mortal that touched it would kill anyone that even remotely upset them. After She gave human,” Maze sneered at the priests. “Enochian magic that let them hold an Archangel.”

“All to get the attention of God,” Maze laughed, bitter. “Do you get it now Decker? Whatever these people did, whatever you signed him up for, it wasn’t just you. It was his Mother as well. Everything that happened has happened because of two people he loved.”

In the past, Maze might have felt bad for the pain and horror on Chloe’s face.  

“God is leaving you to Michael,” the demon turned away. “The last human Michael marked like this was Judas. He waited ten years to collect on that one. And when he did, Lucifer told me that Judas was raving mad. All Judas did was betray their half-brother. What do you think he’ll do to you, who betrayed his Twin? Every moment that you wait for Michael to come for you, every moment that mark sits on your skin, remember the Goddess. Remember that after everything She did, Lucifer showed Her mercy. Remember that you took the love he had for you and turned it against him. That it was you and his Mother that let these priests hurt him. Hurt Michael and Amenadiel.”

Once upon a time, Maze had been left to die by her mother. Lilith had chosen to run instead of help Mazikeen escape the beasts that once roamed Hell. It was Lucifer that had killed the creatures that had been attacking her. Even if he hadn’t known it, Lucifer had saved her life that day. And Maze had followed him ever since. He had taken her under his wing, taught her how to fight, and trusted her with his back.

She’d forgotten that up here, where emotions clouded everything. Where the world was so very different from Hell.

Maze would never forget that again. She wouldn’t let her mind be clouded, wouldn’t forget the eons she and Lucifer had been the only true ally they’d had in Hell. Lucifer was her friend, her family, and her King. For all that she was no longer his bodyguard, Maze would take that role again as long as he lived through this. As long as he returned.

She’d wait for him here. Follow Michael’s orders to guard the betraying bitch that Chloe had turned out to be. Watch out for the humans that Lucifer left behind. Humans that hadn’t turned their back on him. Maze would keep them safe.

Because Lucifer would be back. He would live.

He had to.

Anything else was unacceptable.

God walked through the crowds of humans, all of them running to seek shelter from the rain. Rain that covered the world. The sun that Lucifer had crafted hidden behind grey clouds.

The smarter humans were afraid. They looked at the clouds that came from nowhere, felt the earth shaking underneath their feet, and felt fear. They couldn’t understand where the rain came from. Couldn’t comprehend what was happening around them. Not even the religious who practiced Faith in God’s name knew what was going on. They were so stuck on their little story. A promise never made, in events that were so warped from time they knew not even their origin.

God was alright with that. They would all know soon enough. God would make all of Humanity know how they had erred. Understand the lines that they had crossed.

He would start here, with the source of it all. In the building that William Kinley revered so much.

God raised His hand, gathering His power, and squeezed.

Stone cracked. Walls crumbled. Screams came from humans as they ran from the building, evacuating as quickly as possible. Glass shattered, falling to the ground as God reduced this building built in His name to rubble. Destroyed the seat of power of those who had vilified and attacked His son.

The first of many to fall. God would destroy every trace of these places that held nothing but pain for His Morning Star. He would not leave a single stone left to be saved. Not a single flake of paint.

When He was done, there would be nothing left to be rebuilt.

Chapter Text

Lucifer didn’t meet Linda’s eyes.

When she’d first walked in, Lucifer had panicked. In his defense, the last living humans to walk the Silver City had been Adam and Eve. The rest were the souls of those who had died on Earth. He’d thought that she’d died while he’d been up here. Until Linda had quickly explained that Dad had thought she’d be able to help him and had come to pick her up. Personally.

(Lucifer wondered how she felt now that she’d met God and Goddess both. At least Dad hadn’t stabbed her.)

Frankly, that was mindblowing in another way. Samael’s surprise eclipsed Lucifer’s own as they tried to process the fact that God had gone to a human for help. Not just any help, either. Help for Lucifer.

The worst part was the Devil wasn’t sure that He was wrong. Lucifer had been hoping Linda would have some insight on putting himself back together as well.

He just hadn’t liked explaining to Linda what was wrong. Not when both Raphael and Michael were in the room, unwilling and unable to leave them alone. Well, Raphael more than Michael. Michael was his other half and his Twin already knew most of it from Samael in their shared space. Raphael, however, hadn’t. And asking her to leave wasn’t an option until Lucifer was healed enough to be safe to leave without constant observation.

Putting this off wouldn’t work either. Lucifer had no intention of staying fractured like this for longer than necessary.

“That explains so much,” the doctor said. When Lucifer chanced a look at her, Linda’s face was covered by her hands. “Lucifer, you should have told me about Lux, Light, and Samael to start with. I know why you didn’t but if I’d known this, we could have been addressing the problem from the start. Humanity isn’t a stranger to multiple personalities.”

“They aren’t multiple personalities,” the Devil crossed his arms. “That implies that they’re separate from me. Which until this little incident, they weren’t.”

Or, not really.

Linda sighed, lifting her head up to look at him. “If that was true, we wouldn’t be here,” she told him, voice soft. “This is different from what humans deal with. DID doesn’t quite fit here. Or I don’t think it does. You said that this is a fracture in your soul, correct?”

“Breaks,” Michael corrected her. “They began as cracks and fractured under the ritual until they became breaks.”

Lucifer grimaced. It was hard to hear that even if he knew it was true.

“Right, breaks,” Linda nodded. She’d been taking the identical twin thing rather well. Far better than she’d first taken the ‘I really am the Devil’ reveal. Lucifer honestly was rather impressed by her ability to handle the changes that came at her. He’d really done well when he’d decided to seek therapy from her. “First thing we need to discuss. What does fixing the breaks look like to you?”

The Devil stared at her blankly. “What?” he asked, confused.

Linda met his eyes. “While this doesn’t feel the same as DID, it’s the closest equivalent I’ve got to work with. There are a few types of integration that we can see in cases of DID. One is a complete merge into on personality. Another is a sensory merge, where the personalities stay separate and share awareness. You’re already aware of Lux, Light, and Samael. That can be a big step in DID. Are you looking to fold them completely into yourself until you’re all one person or do you all want to remain separated?”

Lucifer opened his mouth before shutting it again. He wanted to say that of course he would like to get rid of the remnants of Samael’s mistakes. But was that actually what he wanted? God had said that it was Light who had killed Uriel. How many other times had one of the others been responsible for actions Lucifer thought were his own? Lucifer could feel their presence now that he knew to look for it. Had they always been there?

“I think,” Raphael interjected. “That I might be able to help with this. You’re right in that this is not like DID. A human that develops multiple personalities remains a whole soul. There are no cracks or breaks. The split is completely mental, for all that the soul changes in expression depending on the personality at the front. Right now, Lucifer isn’t a whole soul. What Samael did when he created Lux and Light was separate cold logic and instinct from himself.”

Linda was nodding along as if what Raphael was saying made sense. Lucifer himself was lost. As he usually was when it came to matters like this.

“They still had access to Samael’s memories,” Michael offered. Lucifer looked at his Twin, curious. Michael had closed his eyes, his head titled to the side. “Both Light and Lux knew me. But there was a disconnect there. Light knew my name. Lux didn’t. When I spoke with Samael, he was missing pieces as well. He was muted. He held only the barest grasp on Will. Nothing like he should have. Nothing like what I feel now that Lucifer is in control.”

Linda blinked at him.

“Twins have the ability to speak soul to soul,” Lucifer explained when she opened her mouth. He didn’t need to have God’s omniscience to know that Linda was going to ask what Michael meant by that last part. “A shared space that only they can access. I can feel Michael no matter where he is and he can do the same.”

“That does help,” the doctor nodded, giving him a rueful smile. “If what you’re saying is right, then this is far more complicated than DID. Or differently complicated. Lucifer, when Samael Willed you to exist, what happened afterwards?”

That was…Lucifer grimaced. He hadn’t thought about that in a very long time. The Devil closed his eyes, thinking backwards.

Samael had been so afraid. Hadn’t been able to handle what he’d done was Light or as Lux. The idea of being the one in control had been terrifying. There wasn’t any place for softness or the gentler emotions in Hell. He’d grabbed everything that had worked in Light and Lux and tried to smash it together.

It had been a cobbled mess. Instinct and logic hadn’t quite fit. Lucifer had been forced to fill the gaps as much as possible. Grabbing everything that had let him survive until that moment and stitching it together until he was walking away, perfectly in control.

Or not, as it turned out. Just the illusion of control.

“What about the rest?” Linda asked, pulling Lucifer’s attention back to her.

“The rest?” Lucifer frowned at her. Had he been talking out loud? That would get annoying if it kept happening. “The rest of what?”

“You’ve always struggled with emotions,” Linda said, not answering his question. “Anger, lust, desire, that’s never been a problem. But when you started genuinely spending time with Chloe, you were baffled. Even now, you don’t seem to really grasp how care works outside of the physical. That’s what worked in Hell. I’ve seen the same problems with Maze. But Maze is a demon, she’s always been like that. Amenadiel doesn’t have the same problems, which always confused me. You’re brothers who were raised by the same parents. You should have more in common with how he processes emotions than how Maze does. And that’s never been the case.”

This felt like one of those times that Linda was making an important breakthrough while Lucifer was still trying to follow her train of thought in the first place. What in the Bloody Hell did Amenadiel have to do with anything? And Lucifer thought he was doing rather well when it came to emotions lately. The Detective had helped greatly in that.

“When Samael created you and you integrated the rest, you didn’t include everything,” Linda explained when she noticed him staring at her. “Anything that you didn’t think was useful, you shoved it away. You picked and chose the parts of them you wanted to keep and ignored the rest. That’s why it was unstable.”

Lucifer considered that. She wasn’t wrong, the Devil realized. Samael was reliant on familial connection and love. Singing their siblings to sleep and laughing when they stepped into any pranks he and Michael pulled. Lux thought things through too much. He never just experienced the world. Light was blinded by bloodlust and betrayal. Things not useful in the long run.

What was the point of keeping any of that? Hell wasn’t like Earth. Things like that got you killed. Lucifer remembered each moment of it. When Lux’s logic didn’t lead to the result he expected and the enemy got in a lucky blow before dying. When Light’s blind need for blood had him ignoring injuries until their body was too broken to continue on, only barely getting to a safe spot before death took hold.

Samael? Well, Samael had thought that, maybe, this time, God would come get them. Save them. Samael had belief in His and Her love. It wasn’t until that belief shattered that Light stepped into being.

“Self-actualization,” Lucifer muttered, remembering Amenadiel’s theory. This was beyond what Amenadiel had theorized. Far more powerful than regrowing his bloody wings or his Devil face. That was all illusion and physical changes. This was his soul.

Linda was the one to work it out. “Oh,” she said, drawing attention back to herself. “Michael, you said that Samael didn’t have a strong hold on Will. What did you mean by that?”

Lucifer answered before his Twin could. “I thought I had included that,” the Devil sighed. “You know that Amenadiel is the Angel of Time, correct?”

Linda nodded.

“That is more than just a title he got. Those were his naturally born powers. We all have them. Raphael was born with strong healing powers,” Lucifer gestured towards his sister. “I was, well, Samael was born with Light and Will, as Michael was born with Dark and Power.”

What that had to do with anything, Lucifer wasn’t sure.

(‘Oh,’ someone thought deep within. ‘Oh no.’)

“Self-actualization,” Linda said, biting on her thumb. “All of you are capable of it.”

“What’s self-actualization?” Raphael muttered to Michael, who shrugged. Lucifer smirked. Amenadiel obviously hadn’t gotten around to spreading his theory to all of their siblings, then. That at least explained why his brother hadn’t gotten back to Earth just yet.

Or he no longer cared about us once he got his precious wings back and could go flying home.

Lucifer shook the thought away, hiding the grimace at how wrong it scratched at his attention. It felt bitter and angry.

It felt like Light.

The sooner this was over, the better. He’d been ignoring the disjointed thoughts as much as possible but they were becoming louder by the minute. Lucifer had no idea if that was a good thing or not.

It felt like it probably wasn’t.

“Amenadiel had a theory that the way we perceive ourselves and our actions reflect on our physical forms,” Samael answered before Lucifer could. He could feel his mouth moving as he rode as a passenger. “He believed that his own negative thoughts on his actions were what caused his wings to begin degrading. And our positive feelings on getting Mother to listen to reason for one in Her life is what caused our own wings to regrow.”

Then, as suddenly as he was there, Samael pulled away. Lucifer could feel him at the edge of his consciousness, the crack scraping deep inside at how close they had been in that moment of time. If Lucifer wasn’t used to pain, he would have screamed at how the brushing pieces hurt. It wasn’t as prominent as the pain had been within that bloody ritual but it was an echo of it. He could feel where the magic had sliced in.

Michael brushed against his soul and the pain retreated at the cold soothing touch of Dark. All of his pieces leaned back to his Twin, seeking that relief. Luckily, it seemed neither Linda nor Raphael had noticed that it wasn’t Lucifer talking in that moment.

“Oh no,” Raphael said, looking pale.

“Alright, what is it?” Lucifer crossed his arms, scowling. “What have you all pieced together that I’m missing?”

“Will,” Michael said, dragging Lucifer’s attention to his physical form as well. “If all of us are capable of self-actualization, of manifesting our feelings, what are you, who is Will given form, capable of? Your Will allowed you to go against Father’s orders even if it was not fully. It is what allowed us to give form to the planets Father tasked us with. Combined with the innate ability to self-actualize based on our feelings, it could-”

“Crack a soul,” Samael finished as Lucifer lost the ability to speak, horrified. Understanding reverberating through each part of their broken soul as Light and Lux reached the same understanding.

They’d done this to themself. Or, Lucifer had done this to them. When he’d picked and chosen, he’d disliked the other three. Didn’t want any part of them he deemed worthless. And his Will and the ability every celestial had to self-actualize had pushed away those pieces with enough power that his soul in those areas had cracked apart.

God’s words had given him far too much credit. Lucifer hadn’t done a good job of putting together the pieces at all. In fact, he’d fucked up.

Like he always fucked up. So many mistakes, all of them laying at his own feet. No matter how hard he tried, Lucifer kept make mistakes.

He was exhausted. Completely exhausted. Hell had been simpler. Easier to handle. Demons were simple. They lusted, both for blood and physical companionship, and were quick to lash out. While being on Earth had caused some unpredictability, Mazikeen had still run on the same principles. When she didn’t understand a feeling, she lashed out. Just not in the same ways.

Was it just Earth? Or had Lucifer not understood demons as much as he’d thought? Another mistake? He didn’t know.

Samael had made mistakes. It was Samael that had gotten them to this point.

Lucifer decided, then. Maybe it was another mistake. Maybe it would pan out. But this had all started with Samael.

So Samael could handle fixing it.

The Devil drew in a deep breath just as Samael seemed to understand what Lucifer was about to do. With the Will that was more Lucifer’s than Samael’s, Lucifer pushed the original of their Soul forward. He relinquished his control on their body.

Lucifer wasn’t equipped to handle the mess that was their soul. And something deep inside his own portion of soul told him that they would need to start with how it had all begun.

As he fell backwards in his own body and mind, Lucifer hoped he wasn’t making another major mistake.

Linda watched as Lucifer suddenly stiffened, eyes widening in surprise and his wings shuddering suddenly. Michael came alert at the same time, grabbing onto his Twin before Lucifer could fall off the bed from the sudden movement of his wings.

“Lucifer?” Raphael asked before Linda could.

“Samael?” Michael said, looking at his Twin with concern.

Dark eye blinked at them as Linda realized what had happened. She’d heard of how disorientating it could be to knowingly switch the first time. Even if this wasn’t exactly like DID, she doubted that a broken soul switching around wasn’t just as if not more disorientating.

(And Linda, once she got the chance, was going to have to get someone to explain more about DID in relation to the soul. Raphael had said that a human with DID had a whole soul, that the way it was expressed merely changed depending on who was in control. If she could get a better idea on how that worked, maybe there was something there that could help them put Lucifer back together again.)

“I don’t know why he did that,” Samael said, looking at Michael with wide eyes.

If Michael was anything like Lucifer, then he was considering whether or not it would be a good idea to tell them what he knew.

“I think I do,” Linda said, because she was here to help damnit. Relying on Michael to explain things was a crutch that could do more harm than good. Lucifer and Samael, probably Lux and Light, needed to know that there were more people than just their Twin that cared enough to understand why they did certain things. There was already a bone deep trust there between them.

The problem was that Michael was the only one that each part of them fully trusted. The only other one close enough was probably Chloe. Which was going to be an even bigger mess to deal with.

Samael looked at her, expression so familiarly baffled but also far softer than Lucifer’s that it hurt to see. Mostly because she had seen it before. Linda just hadn’t realized it wasn’t Lucifer making it.

“You were the one that created them all,” Linda met Samael’s eyes. The familiar feeling of wanting that usually brought was missing. “Lucifer tried putting the pieces together before. Only, it didn’t work. And he’s holding the pieces together now. He’s the one who has the hold on Will and Light right now, as the dominant piece?”

Samael nodded, slowly. “Yes.”

Linda smiled, keeping her expression from showing the fear she was really feeling for her friend. Samael didn’t need to know how worried she really was about this. “He pushed away the pieces of you that he didn’t think would be helpful to survive,” she said, noticing the way Michael was watching her with surprise. Good, she thought. She was getting something right. “But now that belief is the reason you’re falling apart. Lucifer needs to figure out how to reconcile those pieces together to fix the cracks. And you’re the first part. You created Light and Lux and originally, Lucifer. Because you believed you weren’t capable. As long as both of you believe that then this can’t be fixed.”

Linda hoped she was right. That if they could get Lucifer to really believe that those parts he’d pushed away had value, the cracks could heal. She didn’t care if Lucifer, Lux, Light, or Samael remained separated. Humans dealt with DID all the time. What she cared about was that he was alright.

No one had said it, but Linda had seen the fear in God’s eyes when He’d asked for her to come here. Now that she had all the information, Linda knew what He had been afraid of.

If these cracks weren’t fixed, Lucifer could unravel completely.

His body may be on the mend, yet Lucifer wasn’t out of danger. He could still die. And there wouldn’t be anything to bring him back this time.

Linda wasn’t willing to let that happen. She was going to do everything she could to make sure that Lucifer made it out of this, no matter what that ended up looking like. He was her patient and her friend. For all that her profession warned against that when it came to patients, she wasn’t dealing with normal human patients. She was dealing with celestial beings. And the closer that Linda had gotten to Lucifer, the more effective their sessions had seemed to be.

There wasn’t a playbook for this. Nothing she could reference. No previous cases that she could use to move forward. Linda was playing this blind. She had been since the day she’d fully realized that she was the Devil’s therapist. Human normal didn’t apply.

Linda grasped onto the fact God thought she could help.

She just hoped that God’s belief wasn’t misplaced.

For Lucifer’s sake, Linda hoped that they could get through this.

All the while, she made sure not to let a single ounce of the worry and fear reach her face.

Samael looked at the world, feeling the air on his skin and the familiar warmth of the Morning Star which he’d once created so very long ago. Linda was watching him with a smile that hid the worry he could see twisting in her soul.

Fear for him. For her friend. For Lucifer, who Samael was not. Not really. Or maybe not fully.

(He was confused, unsure of himself. Where did he end and Lucifer begin?)

Still, it made him like her. Samael may be a stranger to her, but Lucifer was not. Her interpretation seemed accurate, if Michael’s surprise was anything to go by.

The idea of someone knowing him, or part of him, well enough to surprise Michael was…intoxicating. Samael wanted that. Faced with the option of being known by more than just Michael, Samael wanted it enough to hurt. And from how Michael’s attention was focused on the human, his Twin wanted that to.

Maybe Samael wasn’t the only one who had not been alright during their separation. He’d noticed it in their shared space.

Michael was harsher. Colder. The need to destroy was so close to the surface that Samael could feel it even here, where they were in their physical bodies.

It was interesting that Lucifer hadn’t been able to. Samael wondered if it was the split in their soul that kept Lucifer from noticing. Or if this was the result of those parts that Lucifer had once rejected which Samael was comprised of.

“Okay,” Samael nodded as he considered all the options. “How do we start?”

Linda smiled at him and Samael returned it. “I think the best place to start is at the beginning. I know Lucifer but not you.”

The beginning, huh?

Michael pressed against him, a flood of encouragement wrapping around Samael and all his broken pieces. The pieces that Samael had broken. “Did I ever tell you why I rebelled?” he asked, watching as Raphael’s attention snapped to them.

Linda shook her head. “No.”

Samael nodded, thoughtfully. “I think, that, it’s important to start there. It started the day that God began to withdraw from the Host.”

The Silver City was once filled with music and laughter. We flew around and played, God and Goddess watching us as we did so. There was singing. Dancing. It was loud and chaotic. We did our jobs, yes, but that wasn’t all that we were. It wasn’t our entire being.

At first, God’s absences weren’t noticeable. Goddess was still there. She still joined in with our games. And God was never gone for long. Just a few days, tweaking creation here and there. Getting it ready for the next step.

Michael and I were in our Nest when God approached us to come with him. The universe was empty for all that it was vast. He asked us what He should fill it with. I suggested that it be Dark. The Silver City didn’t have much room for Dark, and God agreed. Instead of reaching out Himself, God had Michael fill it. That was when Space became the void you humans are so familiar with. The Darkness mixed with the Empty and it was beautiful to watch them dance.

Michael was the one that suggested that it was missing a touch of Light. I’d already created the Morning Star by then. He suggested other stars. Smaller in size and not permanent. Dad was intrigued by the idea and well, that’s were your ‘Let there be Light’ came from.

It took a long time to create the stars. There wasn’t much matter in the universe yet. The process was still manual. There was a lot of trial and errors in how the stars would die. Azrael and Death had not been born you. It was a new concept. Ending. I ended up enlisting Michael. Since the universe was Dark, we used just a little of Michael’s Darkness within that would slowly grow as the star’s power supply dwindled. You call them Black Holes, now. Once we had the first one down, well, stars had a purpose, didn’t they? Black Holes would need a purpose as well. The original idea was that they would take the matter that was the star and redistribute it throughout the universe. Only, it took a lot of Power to do that. It wasn’t obvious then just how powerful the draw would be.

Don’t look at me like that, celestials are immune to the effects! It wasn’t until much later that we all learned that it would draw in any matter that was around it and redistribute that was well. If you want to know why it wasn’t fixed, ask Dad.

He pulled in the others to work on the universe as well. Gave us all tasks to complete.

The First War changed everything. Lucifer told you about other universes before. Not all of them are empty. There are others there. One of them was ruled by a celestial who wished to conquer as many universes as possible. It was…bad.

After that, things changed. The singing wasn’t as loud. We knew the bite of Death for the first time. Even though we’d won, things had changed. The most obvious was that God and Goddess began to argue. It wasn’t anything like it was when you met Her, but it was still new. Not something that we were used to.

Dad would pull away longer after every argument. A few days here and there could be a few weeks at a time. And Goddess would be quicker to anger each day.

He would still come to us for jobs, so we thought it would just blow over.

Then Michael and I Created for the first time after watching Him as He formed a planet. It wasn’t anything big. But it was more than the normal rocks the rest could muster up. You lot called them moons, now. One side that reflects the star, or suns, and another that reflects the Dark of the universe. Us in balance.

God started pulling us in more and more after that. We’re the only two who can Create like God and Goddess. Yes, Linda, He did check. The others can manage rocks but not much more. No, we don’t know for sure why. The theory is because we’re Power and Will, which are the two important aspects of Creation. Yes, Linda, that does mean that both of us are needed. I can make as many stars as I want alone but I can’t form a planet if Michael isn’t there to fuel my Will with Power.

Things continued on from there. God and Goddess stopped arguing as much. I think She was happy to see Him spending time with all of us instead of going off alone.

Every once in a while, we’d have to fight off invaders wanting to take over the universe. New universes drew in the more blood thirsty conquerors the most. We got better at fighting them off. As new concepts entered into being, so did the siblings born start beginning to reflect them. Species on the newly formed planets evolved and prospered.

Yes, aliens exist. Lucifer and I, along with every celestial, are technically aliens Linda. So is Mazikeen. She was born in Hell, of course she fills the requirement of the definition of Alien. Did you not make that connection?

It was the Last War that things began to fall apart. God and Goddess began fighting again. This time, they both pulled away from us. When Goddess returned, she was cold. Calculating. More like how She was when you met Her. Dad turned away any of us when we came to help with the universe.

The singing stopped. The dancing stopped. It was stifling. Amenadiel tried running things and well, he’s a lot more rigid than our Parents. Stricter on the rules being followed. I’m not Lucifer but I don’t do well with rigidity. I’m Light and Will. Rules are suggestions to be followed, not Laws. The fist fights didn’t start with Lucifer.

Frankly, it felt like a prison. Any time I went to try and talk to Dad or Mother, they brushed me off or ordered me away. And unlike humans, I have to follow orders given. Since they weren’t listening, I figured that it was because I was the only one voicing discontent. Michael was the one that suggested talking to the others to see if we couldn’t get together and force our Parents to listen.

What? Did you think I wouldn’t talk to Michael, Raphael? Of course he knew.

Anyways, we’d been gathering for a while, planning out how to approach the topic with the rest of the Host, when Dad went and announced humanity and Free Will. I don’t really know why any of you would be surprised that I would want that. I am Will. Why wouldn’t I want to be able to make decisions or ignore Dad’s orders without exhausting myself each time? And the others wanted that too. We were tired of walking around, with Amenadiel on our asses about following Dad’s rule and being ordered away any time one of us tried talking to God or Goddess.

I…really don’t know how it devolved into fighting. I remember getting into another fist fight with Amenadiel over something and the next thing I know, the rest are throwing punches as well. It’s not like it was the first time that we’d fought physically, so I have no idea why that fight inspired the rest. Except, where Amenadiel and I stuck to bruises, the others started going for blood.

I guess that finally got Dad’s attention. I don’t know, I was too busy trying to keep Azazel from killing Azrael at the time. She was just barely old enough to start guiding souls, archangel or not. She didn’t fight in any of the Wars, he could have really hurt her. I don’t really know what got into him, but I broke my wing trying to get him to stay down. Michael helped me subdue him when he came to get me at Dad’s orders.

You know how that conversation went. Dad sent me to Hell. I couldn’t catch myself with my wing broken so I Fell. From there, Lucifer explained it. I didn’t handle Hell well. Eventually, I created Light. And kickstarted this entire mess, I suppose.

There was a lot left out. It would take eons to explain all the relevant details to Linda. But that was the important parts.

Linda certainly looked thoughtful.

Raphael, however, was watching him with wide eyes.

“What?” he asked, frowning at her.

“You never said,” his sister whispered. “And I never considered. You’re Will. Dad’s orders, being forced to follow them, it hurt, didn’t it?”

That was the thing about Raphael. Most assumed that her ability to Heal was straight forward. She knew what every injury was by looking at it. Knew the best way to knit it together. To heal them. But it wasn’t that simple. Raphael, given the right information, could sense a wound. It wasn’t perfect. None of them were on the level of God or Goddess power wise, but it was what distinguished her as an Archangel. It didn’t matter how old the wound was either. When she went looking for it, she could find it.

Samael flinched as Michael stilled. It was the one thing that he’d ever managed to hide from his Twin. Mostly by masking it with annoyance. That twinge of pain as he couldn’t go against each order. Bound in the same way the rest of their siblings were bound.

Free Will, the ability to pick and choose without fighting against the order, without feeling that pain deep within, was just so tantalizing. And Samael had been so sure that God had known about the pain. Goddess had. She was the only one that he’d ever told.

There was a reason that She never issued him orders. For all Her faults, Goddess wouldn’t knowingly put him through that pain.

“I think that’s enough for today,” Linda said, watching him and Raphael. “I think there are things that you need to think through. For my part, I want you to think about something. When was it that you started to lose faith that anyone would help you? Was it really in Hell? Or was it sooner than that?”

Samael stared at her, baffled.

Linda gave him a sad smile. “Going too quickly isn’t good for you. You need time to process. I usually meet with Lucifer once a week. But I think that right now, it’s better to do daily sessions. If that ends up being too much, we’ll adjust to every other day. Until we have a good balance. For today, you have a lot to think about.”

“I’ll call for Amenadiel to show you to your rooms while you’re here,” Raphael said, looking away from Samael for the first time since he’d started talking.

Samael didn’t pay attention beyond that.

When had he started loosing faith that anyone would help? He’d always thought it was Hell. But why had he only ever told Goddess that the orders were painful?

When he was younger, a fledgling, Samael wouldn’t have even thought to hide it. Something had changed that. Something before Hell.

He just didn’t know what it was.

Amenadiel met her outside the Infirmary. His face was hopeful as he looked at her. Probably hoping to hear that they’d made some progress in mending the breaks.

Linda shook her head. “We made some progress,” she told him when his face fell. And then she took a deep breath. This was the part where she was hesitant. It was straddling the line of patient confidentiality in a way that felt uncomfortable. “Are there any souls in Heaven that have DID? Ones that I can talk to.”

Amenadiel stopped walking, turning to face her with stunned eyes. He wasn’t stupid. The implications of her words with the knowledge that Lucifer’s soul was in pieces held together by sheer stubborn will (or was that Will?) would be enough to get some type of clue into what was going on. Linda didn’t think that God had really explained it to Lucifer’s siblings beyond Raphael. And Lucifer was the one that had told Michael. Or Samael had, at least.

“How many?” Amenadiel asked, softly.

“You already met them,” she said, because that was something he already knew. “When Lucifer was putting the pieces together.”

The angel nodded, slowly. “And you can’t say more than that,” he sighed, rubbing his face. “I know.”

She’d told him as much a while back. Breaking the trust a patient had in their therapist could cause irreparable damage. And Lucifer was slow to trust as it was. That was only going to get worse once Chloe’s part came into this.

This part was important. Samael had already agreed to Amenadiel knowing who was in charge when Linda had asked after Raphael had said Amenadiel was on his way. “Lucifer is in the driver seat right now,” she told him, watching surprise widen his eyes. “Samael is. He gave permission for you to know that. And only you.”

It spoke volumes of the trust that Lucifer and Amenadiel had been building together. Samael had said Lucifer was the one who thought it was a good idea. Samael had been unhappy with that. “Lucifer did. Samael was unhappy,” she added because Amenadiel needed to understand where he stood with both.

Amenadiel sighed. “Yeah,” he said, unhappy. “I can believe that. If they’re different, I’ve not done anything to fix things with Samael. Just Lucifer. This…explains things that have always bothered me.”

So Linda wasn’t the only one that noticed the inconsistencies. She’d thought as much. “It does.”

“The cracks were self-actualization, weren’t they?” Amenadiel asked as they continued walking. His wings twitched, the feathers ruffling with agitation.

That was something that Linda was going to have to ask about. She very clearly remembered Lucifer saying that celestial wings could cause humans to go insane. Only there were a lot of angels with their wings out and Linda didn’t feel insane.

Maybe it was a difference between the Silver City and Earth?

“It turns out that self-actualization is very powerful when you’re the embodiment of Will,” Linda grimaced. “That was something I would have liked to know about sooner.”

Amenadiel stopped walking, horror flashing over his face. “Oh,” he said, in the same way everyone who finally made the connection did. “Oh, Hell. I never even thought…”

Linda frowned. This was the second time an angel had been stunned at the reminder that Lucifer and Samael were Will. “Why is that?” she asked, moving to stand in front of him. “Raphael acted the same way. Even Lucifer didn’t make the connection. Samael was the one who put the pieces together. If they’re Light and Will, why is it that being reminded of Will is so surprising?”

Amenadiel looked at her, opening his mouth before closing it. “I don’t know,” the angel said, baffled. “I remember it used to be apparent. But the older he got, we mostly only saw him use Light. The closest he got to using Will was when he formed moons and planets with Michael. Eventually, it just…wasn’t something I thought much about.”

Linda nodded, filing that away. She was going to have to ask Samael why he’d stopped using Will as much as he did Light. It might be nothing or it could be important. Something had happened that he hadn’t felt comfortable going to God or Goddess about how the orders actually hurt him. If they could figure out what that was, it may be a huge step forward.

First, she needed to get a better idea about how DID was reflected in a soul. There was a chance that Lucifer, Samael, Lux, and Light would all remain separate. If they were, Linda wanted to know what to expect that to look like. If not, well, she was sure the information could make leaps forward with the few of her patients that had DID. Even if she couldn’t explain how she’d gotten the information.

“That reminds me,” she said, blinking. “I’m going to need to send a message to my patients that I’m unavailable due to an emergency. They’ll want to go to Terry until I get back.”

This wasn’t the first time that Linda had spent time one on one with a patient due to an emergency. Terry was a good therapist and Linda had made sure to include him in sessions so that he’d be able to take over if needed. Terry didn’t have his own practice, he mostly worked as a consultant for the hospital. They’d been friends since finishing their degrees, so Linda trusted him enough to leave him in charge.

But he and her patients were going to need to know that she wasn’t available.

Amenadiel nodded. “I’ll get something set up. Father is the only one that can take a living human between the Silver City and Earth. But I can grab your laptop so you can type out a notice and I’ll send it back on Earth.”

That would work.

“Right. Once you show me to my room, I’ll wait for you to get the laptop. Once that’s done, I want to observe those souls. While I do, I want you to ask around to see if anyone knows when Samael stopped actively using Will. Something happened. I think if we can figure out what it was, we can start moving forward in fixing this,” Linda gestured for him to lead. Amenadiel strode forward, his shoulders held high. Pleased at being given something to do to help, no doubt. “And I’m going to need you to tell me everything about your interactions before and during the Rebellion. There are things not adding up.”

Like why, out of the blue, the rest of the angels started fighting each other. Samael had said he’d engaged in fistfights with Amenadiel regularly during the Rebellion. That he had no idea what had been different about that last one which had caused it to spread across the rest of their siblings.

If they could put the pieces together, figure out what had changed, it could be another piece of the puzzle that would go a long way to helping her friend.

When she’d earned her degree and started practicing, Linda hadn’t pictured her life leading her to unearth the convoluted history of God, the Devil, and the angels. Somehow, she was here now.

She was just going to have to make the best out of the insane direction that her life had taken.

God watched as the humans around the world scrambled as church after church fell to ruin. He did not limit Himself to Christianity either. If there was a history of worship connected to His name, God destroyed it.

It might not be fair, as not all religions dedicated to Him were guilty of the crimes that had led Lucifer and Samael to where they were. That did not make them innocent. There were far too many that had led to harm to others by those who claimed to be His devout followers. He had not acted in the past. Perhaps if He had, this would be different. No more murder in His name. No more rape. No more torture. No religion was free of it, no building unsullied by it.

God wouldn’t stand for it any longer.

Lucifer had always ranted about God letting these things go. God had ignored His son. And look where that had gotten them. So, He was doing something about it. For once, He was going to listen to what Lucifer was saying. He was taking an active role.

It only barely soothed the anger that still roiled inside.

Anger fueled by knowing that His son was broken. That humanity might have contributed but it was God who had dealt the worst blow. This may never have happened if not for the fact that God had ignored Samael’s pleas in Hell.

Samael, who was talking to Linda Martin. A portion of soul that was being held together by Lucifer’s force of Will. Lucifer, who was so broken and lost that he’d cracked his own soul by just attempting to survive. God wasn’t listening to what was being said, that was something He would not do. He just couldn’t bring Himself to look away from His injured child. Every time He tried anxiety would force Him to look again.

He needed the reassurance that Samael and Lucifer were still there. His child. Alive and not lost to Him.

God closed His eyes to the destruction in front of Him. He watched as Samael buried himself into Michael’s side as Linda Martin left to talk with Amenadiel. He watched as Raphael seemed to draw into herself, looking so very small.

And He listened to the conversation Linda Martin had with Amenadiel.

God paused as her words washed over Him. Amenadiel’s answer was…unexpected. The idea that the rest of His children had forgotten that Samael was Will was…alarming. He thought back, careful to keep from Looking, to see if He could remember the last time Samael had openly used Will.

To His surprise, God couldn’t remember. It had been so long ago that the transition hadn’t even stood out.

The temptation to Look was large. God could simply Know the answer. Yet something said that Knowing wasn’t the correct answer. That this was something that required true investigation. Amenadiel would be able to handle asking around his siblings. His First Born was determined when given a goal to help one of his siblings.

There was one person that Amenadiel could not ask. Someone that God had not spoken a word to in eons. Who was responsible for the severity of Lucifer’s injuries. God had spent a long time ignoring Her when She was on Earth. He hadn’t wanted to spark an argument that would only make matters worse if He had showed up to talk to Her Himself.

But for this, God was willing to take that step. His Ex-Wife had played a role in how Their family had crumbled. It was time that They both took responsibility.

The Almighty closed His eyes, reaching out to find Her in the universe just bordering His own. The humans would need time to regroup in order for Him plans to work as intended anyways.

Then God stepped from His universe to Hers.

Chapter Text

Goddess felt it when He appeared in Her universe.

She turned around, surprised and somewhat angry. She’d left. She’d left it all behind, left Their Children and Him, and God had the audacity to show Himself now?

“Hello, Wife,” He said, voice cold. That stopped the words She’d been about to spit at Him. In all Their arguments, their interactions, He had never sounded so cold. So angry. Not even the argument that had led Her to that stupid Cell.

“Husband,” She said, cautiously now. “What brings you here?”

He looked similar to Lucifer, at the moment. Their son’s dark eyes and curled black hair Lucifer kept tamed with human products. His skin was tan, though not as dark as Amenadiel’s. “How could you?” He asked, voice low even if it thundered with power. “How could you dare?”

“Dare?” Goddess asked, slowly. Warily.

“You gave the humans celestial magic!” He roared, the universe quaking with His anger. She had not felt that power in a very long time. It had Her heart beating wildly. “Magic on the Cell meant to contain you! Did you not consider the implications? Of what it could do if used on one of Our Children?!”

Goddess felt Her very soul freeze. The body She constructed felt as if She’d been dunked within ice.

“Who?” She asked, desperately. If He was here, if God was this enraged, one of Their children had been gravely injured. Her Angels, hurt. More than hurt. God would not be here if this was a mere death. No, He would not be here unless it was another Death. A permanent death.

Her fault, again. Like when Lucifer had fought Uriel, Her sweet Pattern, who had grown cold and violent. When Uriel had died as Lucifer protected Her and that human woman he was so fond of, She had felt the pain of it in Her soul. Here, in Her own universe, She would not have felt it.

Giving the humans the magic of Her cage had been a whim. She’d figured He had merely retrieved and destroyed the information, which was why nothing had ever happened with it. It was the lack of anything happening that had Her so surprised that someone had truly found Azrael’s blade using one of Her maps. She’d thought He’d been getting rid of them.

It never occurred to Her that the humans wouldn’t act right away.

She should have told Lucifer about it before leaving. Or maybe just retrieved it Herself when the Blade didn’t bring God to Her.

“Lucifer,” God said, wilting. “They trapped Lucifer.”

Goddess fell to Her knees, horror and grief deconstructing Her physical form. “Is he,” Goddess began, unable to finish the sentence.

“He’s alive,” God said, the rage leaving in face of pain and grief to match Her own. “His soul is broken into pieces. He’s holding them together right now through Will alone. Much has happened. I have been blind to many things. Wife, why did you suggest banishment? Instead of the punishment I had planned? Be truthful.”

Pieces. Her little Star, in pieces. Goddess felt the rage grow at the thought. It was only quelled by the knowledge that it was Her fault as much as it was the humans. She’d been careless.

So, Goddess answered. How could She not? If He was here, asking, then it could save Her little Star. And She had hurt Lucifer enough.

“You were enraged,” She said, wiping at Her face. “I have never seen you so angered. All of creation quaked with it. I could not let you End him. Not when it was my fault.”

God stared at Her. “Your fault,” He said.

Goddess sighed, wrapping Her arms around Herself. It did not offer the same comfort as it would in a flesh form, but it would do. “You had been ignoring us. Samael came to me over and over, saying that there was something wrong with the Host. I thought he was being dramatic, at first. Until I started paying attention. Many of Our children were gathered together, giving ideas on how to get our attention. I was going to approach you about it. Our fights had been harming them, and I thought it was time we stop.”

She remembered that decision. How hard it had been to accept the damage She’d helped create.

“Then you announced humans. Free Will. I saw the look on Samael’s face and I knew that there was no coming back from this,” Goddess waved a hand, materializing chairs and some tea. She stood, taking a seat in one.

She barely paid attention when God followed Her lead. “What do you mean?” He asked, listening to Her.

Goddess looked at Him. Met the eyes of Their son on His face. “The orders,” Goddess frowned at Him. “You must know.”

He had to have known. Samael had told Her, once, when He was younger. How it hurt to be forced into action at a mere set of words from one of Them. Goddess had stopped giving orders that day. To Samael and the rest of Her children.

Except there was nothing in His eyes. No realization. Nothing. Only confusion.

Goddess realized, in that moment, that communication had been a problem long before She’d thought. God had no idea. Not one.

“Samael did not tell you,” She whispered. “Oh, My Star. Husband, Samael is Will. Orders hurt. Being forced to obey, it hurts him. He told me once, when he was younger. Just after the First War.”

God stared at Her, His eyes stunned. He truly hadn’t known. “Why would he not say anything?” Her Husband asked, sounding pained. “If I knew, I would have stopped.”

Goddess shook Her head. She didn’t know. Samael had come to Her about it. She’d always thought that he would approach his Father as well. Something had stopped him.

“I wasn’t going to End him,” God said, face grief filled. “I was going to confine him to his quarters. I hadn’t thought beyond that. I just needed him separated from his siblings. When you suggested banishment, I thought you meant that such a punishment would be too light. Ruling Hell when Samael despised being in charge of anything seemed like it would be enough. I didn’t know his wing was broken.”

Neither had She. Why would Samael think to warn them? He wouldn’t have thought that his punishment would be so vast. Vast because Goddess had misread the situation. She had interfered when She should have trusted that Her Husband would never hurt one of Their children.

She hadn’t trusted that. Because Goddess had hurt them.

“I started the fighting,” Goddess admitted, the confession slipping out before She could change Her mind again.

The guilt of it was what had kept Her in that Cell for so long. It was why She had run to Lucifer the moment She’d been freed. Why She would have gone back to save him the heartache of losing that human woman. Why when he had asked, Goddess had agreed to leave. She was tired of hurting Her little Star.

Of the guilt that followed Her, knowing that it was Her actions that had led to his screams as he Fell.

“What?” Her Husband demanded, anger returning.

Goddess looked away. She had never spoken these words aloud. Never dared to admit what She had done. “Samael wasn’t going to stop. And you weren’t paying attention. You didn’t listen any of the times I went to you to tell you that we needed you. I saw him and Amenadiel fighting again. It was rash. I didn’t even consider how bad it would get. I just acted. The spell was only supposed to last until the first punch was thrown. I’ve never been the best at such things. I overpowered it. And I was so confident in my work, I did not stay to make sure that it worked as intended.”

She’d been sure it would be fine right until the moment She’d heard someone scream out in true fear from Her rooms. Goddess had run out to see Her spell still at work and the Host fighting each other with true intent to hurt. Samael and Michael were the only ones unaffected. The spell that she had barely powered couldn’t compare to their Power or Will, merely brushing over them.

Goddess had been quick to erase the spell, horror filling Her as She understood what She had done. When God had called for Her, furious, She had gone thinking He knew. Only, God had blamed Samael. Had been so very furious. Enough that Goddess feared for Samael’s life.

She couldn’t let him take the fall for a crime not committed by him. Goddess had begged for banishment. Had been desperate to save him.

(She hadn’t had the courage to admit Her culpability. To own up to Her role.)

“What spell?” God demanded. Goddess sighed as she traced it out on the table. Watching it glow to life, just as powerful as it had been that day. Her Husband stared at it, His face stone.

“You are lucky that none of them died,” He said, voice harsh. “Already angry as they were, this could have ended with bodies on the ground. You know you aren’t skilled in celestial magic. Why would you think to try this on our Children?!”

Goddess turned Her head away. “I thought it would get your attention when nothing else had.”

The silence was harsh. They sat like that for a long time. It could have been seconds. It could be hours. Goddess hadn’t cared to define Time in this universe. The thought only reminded Her of Her Frist Born, who was beyond Her reach.

“Azazel was affected the worst,” God sighed, heavily. “The angel of wrath, his powers would have been heavily fed by this magic. It is no wonder that Samael and Michael both had to subdue him. That was when Samael’s wing was broken.”

She’d known that. After Samael had begun to scream, when She’d heard Michael yelling about his broken wing, Goddess had investigated what had happened. Goddess had felt She deserved to know what Her actions had caused.

“I came here to discover what I may have missed,” Her Husband said, setting His cup down. “I never expected you to be behind so much of our misery. Samael broke, in Hell. Lucifer is not Samael, though Samael is Lucifer. When I did not answer his pleas to go home, they did not stop because he gained control of Hell. They stopped because Samael created another to take his place. Light. Bloodlust and rage, instinct without thought. He existed as Light for thousands of years. And when Light fell, Samael created Lux to take Light’s place. Lux, who is thought without emotion. Once again, for thousands of years, Samael existed behind that personality. Broken. Until a demon broke through.”

Goddess could see it, fed to Her by His Power. Watched as Light and Lux formed and broke, as Samael died time and time again.

Watched Mazikeen break through the emotionless Lux, bringing Samael out once more. She watched as Samael, so very broken and afraid, crafted Lucifer. Lucifer, who was more than Light and Lux had ever been. And Goddess watched Samael’s soul crack. Watched as Samael became a crack and Lucifer took over completely. Keeping hold of the pieces even as the cracks made it impossible to integrate fully.

Goddess cried. “I did not mean for this to happen,” She pleaded as the vision dissipated. Her Husband’s face was cold to Her pain.

“Nor did I,” He said, no sympathy on His face. “I am not blameless. You, however, carry more blame than I thought to give you. You caused the fighting. You asked for banishment without asking my plans. Instead of telling me your guilt, you let our Son take the blame. You committed genocide instead of learning from your mistakes. You didn’t learn from your little spell and gave the humans the power to hold and torture our Son! You ran here instead of telling the truth! You used Samael in your little game and he has paid for it! I may not be innocent but I did not knowingly use one of our children as elaborate pawns in a game to get at you!”

“I know that!” Goddess yelled, furious. She stood, glaring at him. “Why do you think I am here, Husband? Why I left?! Every move I made, every decision, it was hurting our children! My plans would have brought them more pain! I could not look in Lucifer’s face and hurt him again! This is my penance! Here, alone in this universe, away from our children forever, that is the punishment I have given myself!”

“It is running away!” God roared, standing as well. “If you wanted true penance, you should have come clean! You should have told us the truth! You found the first opportunity to run and you took it!”

“I didn’t know how!” She screamed back, tears flowing heavily. The fight left Her, then. Goddess collapsed back in Her chair. “I didn’t know how,” She said, quieter.

She remembered holding Michael and Samael. So small, white and black wings curled around each other even them. Goddess had promised, as She promised every child She bore, that nothing would ever harm them. Then, the War had come. Her promise had been broken. God and Goddess had not been enough to keep Their angels safe.

“They died,” Goddess whispered, looking at Her Husband again. He still stood, watching her with newly blue eyes. Ariel’s eyes. Another child She had failed. In this world, Goddess had not let Herself take on their features. She wasn’t worthy of it. “On that battlefield, My Angels screamed and died. I couldn’t save them then. And then I couldn’t save them from me.”

God sat once more. He reached out a hand. Goddess took it, like She had once done every day. She cried. Goddess cried for the children She’d left behind. She cried for the harm that She’d brought them. For once, it was not only Goddess who heard Her tears.

“How did we get here?” She asked Him. “When did it go wrong?”

“I don’t know,” He said, His hand squeezing Hers.

They had been happy, once upon a time. Singing and dancing filled the home They had built. Goddess had been in love and so had God.

“Can you tell them?” She asked. “What I did? I cannot trust myself, Husband. I’ve made too many mistakes.”

Goddess could not risk it. She knew Herself. She would lie, would come up with some excuse, just to keep from seeing Her babies look at her with the same fury and pain He was. It would break Her.

“Yes,” God agreed, softly. The same tone He’d had when looking at Amenadiel for the first time. Their First Born, so small with his grey wings. “I will visit. Keep you updated on what is going on.”

It was a threat as much as a promise. Goddess was glad for it. “Thank you.”

She knew that it was more than She deserved.

Chloe looked awful.

A few weeks ago, that would have bothered Ella. So much had changed in only a handful of weeks. She’d gone from watching Lucifer excitedly blather on about their date, so hopeful and in love, to looking at pictures of his torture scene. The one that Chloe had put him in.

“There’s not a single church left standing,” she said, instead. “Every single place of worship that deals with God and His angels is gone. Active and inactive. Even those little caves in Ireland where Catholics prayed to God have been caved in. The injuries are in the hundreds and still counting. The only dead are from the Vatican.”

The priest who had taken a knife to one of her best friends made a wounded noise. Ella honestly couldn’t care less. She knew they were probably his friends who had helped him with this entire thing. If God wanted, all of those people in that building would be dead. That there were only a handful was a miracle.

The world liked to forget that God had ordered the death of every first born in Egypt. That He had flooded the world, killing who knew how many people. Religion was filled with stories of His wrath. That was why Ella had known the Devil had a bad rap. If the Devil was the origin of that, God wouldn’t have just banished him. He would have outright killed him.

Meeting Lucifer just cemented that. Meeting Michael had explained the stories that didn’t match up to the person.

“Why are you here?” Chloe asked, her voice hoarse. She’d not spoken a word since the day that Maze had told them all God had stopped by. The look on the demon’s face had been sorrowful. All she would tell them was the Lucifer hadn’t died. Other than that, Maze wouldn’t speak a word of what had gone down.

Neither had Chloe.

Ella stared at her. “I’m trying to understand how the person I knew as a good woman, a loving mother, a loyal partner, turned into this. How could you, always talking about finding the truth, fall for lies even I knew were lies? Even before I met Lucifer, I knew the Devil had a bad rap. Unlike those stupid idiots who like to quote the bible at people, I’ve actually read it. I know the history behind it! I did research! And instead of coming to me, your friend, you ran to Rome and the Vatican! I was a resource right there! Unbiased!”

Chloe didn’t look at her.

“Why didn’t you come to me?” Ella asked, needing to understand. “Why not go to a Mosque as well? Consult a Rabbi as much as a Priest? They worship the same God! You ran to the Vatican. Took their word as The Only Word and didn’t research a single thing!”

Chloe didn’t answer, just curled into herself further. There were bags under her eyes. She’d been waking up screaming for the last two weeks.

Since the day the Vatican crumbled to dust.

When Notre Dame became rubble.

When even the local church collapsed in on itself.

The entire world was in a panic. The only temples left standing were pagan places of worship. No one was sure what was going on and the Pope had no answers for the Christians crying for explanation. The religious community was terrified. Not a single person dared contact a priest and no priest dared hold sermon after one priest’s house crumbed the same day that he preached to his congregation inside.

For the first time in Modern History, God was making a statement. One that even an atheist couldn’t deny. The internet was exploding with questions as to what had caused this. Speculation that the rapture was on the way was trending on Twitter. Priests and heads of all religions were coming forward to confess to crimes that made Ella’s stomach turn. The name of the game was fear and only the LAPD and the people in this room knew why.

“I made a mistake,” Chloe finally whispered. “I’m sorry.”

Ella glared at her. “A mistake is accidentally running into a person. Maybe feeding someone you didn’t know how a peanut butter allergy a PBJ. Running to Rome and consulting the Vatican was a mistake. It stopped being a simple mistake when you agreed to poison Lucifer’s wine! It became a premediated murder! You invited him on a date, knowing he was in love with you, to poison him. You didn’t talk to anyone. Didn’t do any research, look into the facts, or even trust three years of experience! That was choice, Chloe!”

Chloe looked at her then. Her eyes were wet with tears.

Ella would have hugged her and assured her it would be alright three weeks ago.

Today, Ella couldn’t care less.

“He was so excited about your date,” she told her. “He came to me about it. Wanted to make sure everything was perfect. I helped him make that mixed tape for you. He talked the entire time about whether it would be better to make tacos or grilled cheese. Because it was on a Tuesday and you had a Taco Tuesday tradition. But grilled cheese was your favorite. He wanted to know which one he should pick.”

Ella could still remember the bright smile he’d given her when she’d told him to go with his gut. It had been a full month since she’d seen Lucifer smile like that.

Chloe was fully crying now.

“You knew Lucifer,” Ella waved a hand at the priests who were doing a horrible job at pretending not to listen. “He’s a dork. The man acts like a hug is the end of the world and fixes is suit after every single hug! Trixie convinced him to let her paint a unicorn on his face. You sent me the picture of his grumpy compliance. Trixie told me that he thought children played fetch and dogs were the ones ruining the game for them! I watched him try to feed a 100 dollar bill to a vending machine because he really didn’t know that 1, 5, and 10 weren’t referring to 100, 500, or 1000 dollars!”

One of the priests snorted. Ell ignored them.

She only cared about Chloe.

“Did you even tell them about that?” Ella demanded. “Or did you just go along with ‘the Devil is evil, the end’? Because as much as they deserve whatever God had planned for them, they didn’t spend three years with Lucifer! Did any of them know who he was?”

“No,” the voice of William Kinley had Ella’s head snapping to look at the priests fully. She hated him the most. He was the one that had cut her friend up. The one that had nearly killed Lucifer forever.

And he was looking at Chloe with dark eyes. “No, she didn’t. She mentioned only his interest in her. How he was her partner and helped to solve crimes. That he’d killed Marcus Pierce. And that he could take on a visage of red skin with fire eyes.”

“Following you around to solve crimes and murder was the only thing you thought was important enough to tell them?” Ella felt her stomach twist in disgust. “What about the fact he let me drag him to church?! He complained the entire time but he still let me! And I can tell you that he didn’t get smote stepping through the door! He loses battles of will against your eleven-year-old! And Marcus Pierce, as you might have forgotten, was Cain! Who tried to kill you! Did kill Charlotte! And according to Maze, shot Lucifer’s wings with at least three hundred bullets before going at him with an Infernal knife Cain took off Maze! Lucifer killed him in self-defense!”

Maze had filled them in on a lot of what was going on when it came to Cain.

“What about when he saved you and Trixie from Malcolm Graham?! Or his weird friendship with that priest Father Frank? Maze said Lucifer was furious when he died! Did that mean nothing to you?” Ella wiped her eyes, angry at the tears falling. “What about when you got drunk and tried sleeping with him but Lucifer turned you down because you couldn’t give real consent?!”

Chloe had been the one to tell her about that. It was something Ella had thought really had cemented their relationship. Lucifer hadn’t been subtle about trying to get her in bed with him. If he’d been anyone else, he would have jumped on that chance. But he hadn’t. That had mattered to Chloe at one point.

What had changed that?

“If you punch her in the face, I’m pretty sure no one would blame you,” the soft voice of Rae-Rae said from right next to her. Ella jumped, surprised at the ghost’s sudden appearance.

Only, when she looked to Rae-Rae, it wasn’t her friend that stood there. The face and glasses were the same. Except, there were brown wings on her back where there hadn’t been before. More importantly, she wasn’t the only one reacting to her.

“Rae-Rae?” she asked, breathless.

Her long time friend turned to look at her, something like regret flashing on her face. “Hey, Lopez,” she smiled weakly. “I meant to do this better, but you were talking to her. I’m not letting anyone I care about talk with that one alone. Ever.”

Ella stared as Rae-Rae reached out to wipe the tears away from her eyes. “You said you were a ghost,” she said, the words falling off her lips before she consciously chose to say them.

Of all the ways Ella pictured this conversation ending, Rae-Rae turning up as an angel wasn’t one of them. She honestly had been considering punching Chloe in the face.

Chloe was watching Rae-Rae with wide, stunned eyes.

“Dad’s rules,” her friend gave her another smile, this one a bit stronger. “No revealing Divinity to humans. You’d already seen me before I realized it was a false alarm. You were so concerned that just flying away…it didn’t feel right. So I spit out the first thing I could think of.”

False alarm. Ella felt the gears turn. She’d been in a car crash.

“Rae-Rae,” she said, slowly. There weren’t many names that could be short for when it came to angels that dealt with death.

“Azrael,” the angel confirmed.

Holy shit, Ella’s imaginary ghost friend was the Angel of Death.

Azrael turned to look at Chloe, her face darkening. “I was going to do this better. Dad’s already broken His own rule. Didn’t matter if I told you now. And Lu likes you. That’s going to get you a lot of leeway with Him right now. But you were here, talking with her. She’s already hurt my favorite brother. I’m not leaving my favorite human with her alone. Not when you were crying.”

“It’s alright,” Ella said, surprised at how true it was. Rae-Rae was here. She’d been there for Ella’s entire childhood. No matter how it had affected her life, Ella wouldn’t change that. No matter how many therapists she’d gone through, Ella wouldn’t be who she was if Rae-Rae wasn’t there. Azrael looked at her, surprised. “I’m done here. I got my answers, even if I don’t like them. I think I know who my friends really are. One of them has been here a very long time.”

Ella had three weeks to come to terms with angels. She had weeks of grieving and worry for the literal Devil as God rained destruction down on His own organized religions. Her best friend being an angel instead of a ghost didn’t compare with that.

And Rae-Rae was a constant, always there when Ella’s life felt like it was falling apart. Cheering her on. Pushing her, Ella realized with a wet laugh, to go to LA. “I see why you thought LA would be such a great place to live,” she said through the tears.

Rae-Rae grinned at her, even if her eyes were still dark. “My favorite human with my favorite brother? I knew Lu would like you the moment you both met. And I knew you’d get on with him. Though I do have to say, I will never forget the look on his face when you told him he was a great method actor.”

It was meant to make her laugh. Ella didn’t bother pretending it didn’t work.

“I think we should take this somewhere there isn’t an audience,” Rae-Rae sneered at the priests and Chloe. Chloe flinched back, terror flashing over her face. Something like satisfaction crossed Rae-Rae’s face in response. “Enjoy your little present, mortal. I’m not the archangel you need to worry about. Don’t worry, I’m sure Michael will make the wait worth it.”

Ella didn’t have time to ask what that meant before she was being steered out of the holding pen by the Angel of Death.

Maze had already opened the door, giving Rae-Rae a nod of greeting. “Death girl,” the demon smirked.

“Nice to see you, Head Bitch,” Rae-Rae grinned back. “Still ornery as ever?”

Maze batted her eyes. “Ornery, me? Never.”

Ella smiled at the demon, who glanced at her in concern. “I got what I wanted,” she said. The only reason Maze had let her in here was to get those answers. The demon was keeping anyone else out. Though not many had really tried since God came around. Everyone figured that God had it in hand. They were just keeping them from running amok and making the situation worse.

And well, it felt good to know that these people were suffering.

Lucifer was well liked here.

“Good. I am disappointed you didn’t punch her, Ellen. That would have been hilarious,” the demon said, closing the door behind them.

Ella looked back at the door, where her once friend was sitting in cell. “She’s not worth it,” the forensic scientist said.

“Besides, Rae-Rae and I have some catching up to do,” she turned a bright smile on the sheepish angel. “I want to know everything you’ve been leaving out!”

Chloe might have turned out not to be a friend. Ella would forever grieve the person she’d thought she’d known. But Ella had two great friends right here. A new friend who was fiercely protective and one that had been with her for over decades. Who had ruined her own ‘I’m not a ghost, surprise!’ reveal just because Ella was in the room with Chloe and crying. That was all Ella really needed to know, in the end.

When a person tells you who they are, you should believe them.

Maze, Rae-Rae, and Chloe had told her who they were. Through their actions alone, Ella knew exactly who they were.

Ella would make sure to believe them.

Linda sighed as she laid in the bed that had been provided for her.

Amenadiel had brought her to a few of the different heavens that held souls with DID. It really did highlight the differences between DID and what Lucifer for experiencing.

Raphael had not been lying when she’d said that the souls with DID changed how they presented themselves based on the identity of the alter who was out. The soul had not just changed appearance, it had also changed in shape and age. One moment she was talking to an adult, the next she was talking to a small tiger cub. Then they were a human adult again. It was fascinating. There had even been one soul that had taken on the characteristics of all the alters when they decided to be ‘out’ together.

What had really sinched it for her were how different the alters were from what she was seeing in Samael and Lucifer. Linda wasn’t sure how much of that was dependent on the breaks in his soul, but the alters in the souls with DID were complete in a way that Samael hadn’t felt. It was possible that would change when the cracks were fixed. It was also possible that was just how DID presented in a celestial soul. Linda had no frame of reference for something like this.

Unfortunately, neither did anyone else.

A knock on her door had Linda sitting up. “Come in,” she called.

The door creaked open to reveal Amenadiel. “I’ve sent off your message,” the angel said, looking more dejected than Linda had ever seen him before.

While she’d been conversing with the souls, Amenadiel had spent the day going around his sibling’s asking questions. Every time he’d checked in with her, he’d looked more depressed than the last. Frankly, Linda was worried about what it was that he’d discovered that had left him with that look on his face. If she didn’t absolutely need that information, she probably would have just left it alone. Sadly, she did need that information if she wanted to help Lucifer in any way. Brushing it off just wasn’t feasible or practical if she wanted to help her friend and patient.

“Are you ready to talk about what you learned?” she asked, sitting up on the bed.

Amenadiel seemed to wilt even further at the question. “That’s just it,” the angel of time sighed heavily. “No one knows. I recruited Gabriel to help and she came back with the same answers. Somehow, not a single one of us noticed that Samael had stopped using Will or even when he stopped. The closest anyone could figure was that it was sometime after the last war and before the Rebellion started. Which doesn’t nearly narrow it down in any sort of helpful way.”

That did certainly explain why Amenadiel looked so distraught. Linda got the feeling that angels completely disregarding parts of their powers was something that should have raised red flags. Amenadiel had certainly been distressed when he’d been cut off from his powers on Earth for punishment. Considering Lucifer was still walking around with his own powers intact, Linda thought it was safe to say that such punishments were held for severe crimes.

“Tell me about Angels and their powers,” Linda motioned for Amenadiel to sit. “I have theories, but if I want to help Lucifer, I need the facts.”

The angel joined her on the bed, looking down at his hands. The wings on his back moved to adjust so that he wasn’t sitting on any of the feathers. It was a little fascinating to see how little thought went into the movement. Linda had never really had the chance to just observe the angels with their wings out before.

“There’s common misconception that we’re given our domains by our Parents,” Amenadiel said without looking up at her face. He stared at the soft flooring of the room (not carpet but not like any hard floor Linda had ever walked on before). “The truth it that we’re born with them. Each of us inherited our abilities from birth. I was born with powers over time. It’s nothing compared to Father’s mastery over it, but it is mine. When I was old enough, Father pulled back his influence on it from the mortal plain and gave me full dominion over it.”

Amenadiel wiped a hand over his face before finally looking up at her. “I was the firstborn. When they realized I was nowhere near as powerful as either of them, Mother and Father thought all of Their children would be like me. That changed when Raphael was born. She was far more powerful than I was, with her powers of Healing almost as strong as Mother’s. She was the First Archangel.”

“You’ve all mentioned that before,” Linda crossed her arms, frowning. “I did some reading on angels after Lucifer first brought me in. Archangels are said to be one of the lowest rankings according to humans.”

Well, after she’d stopped hiding under her desk and fully processed that divinity was real.

Amenadiel laughed a bit. “You should know better than to believe everything that humans have said about us by now,” he grinned at her, just as she’d intended him to. Linda had figured out that wasn’t right on her own by now. “Humans have twisted many concepts over the years. We do have hierarchies, there were wars after all, but they are different from our power levels. In level of power, it goes Archangel, Seraph, Cherub.”

“Which are you?” she asked, leaning backwards with a small smile.

“A seraph,” Amenadiel smiled at her. Some of the tension left his shoulders, leaving the angel far more relaxed than Linda had seen him since this had all started. “Cherubs hold domains that are far smaller than a seraph like me. Remiel is a Cherub, her domain is the Hunt. When she was younger, it mostly let her succeed in any hunt she undertook. Nowadays, she can influence the success or failure of mortal hunts and any hunt that she in part of.”

That didn’t feel all that small to Linda. Still, she supposed it wasn’t nearly as encompassing as the control over Time Amenadiel had. Which in itself was nothing compared to Light and Will that Samael and Lucifer controlled. “So your powers grow with you,” she said, trying not to let her brain get caught up in the scale of things.

Amenadiel nodded. “Yes. We aren’t sure if there’s a cut off, though it does slow once we reach maturity. After Raphael was born, Father and Mother were far more vigilant in making sure that we didn’t lose control of our powers. Father created this circle that would keep our abilities from wreaking havoc if we lost control. He’s always been better at magic than our Mother. That’s how he was able to keep Her locked up for so long. While Mother was always better at healing than Father. She was the one that taught Raphael everything our sister knows about the subject.”

Linda had wondered about the power discrepancy that seemed to exist between God and Goddess. From the outside, it had seemed that God was the more powerful one. He was the one that had kept Goddess imprisoned and not the other way around after all. “So your parents have specialties like you do,” she summarized.

Amenadiel hummed a soft agreement. “In a way,” he agreed. “Celestials are complicated. Mother and Father bonded over their shared ability to create. Father was always more interested with what you humans refer to as animals. Amphibians, mammals, insects and the like. Mother preferred plants and bacteria. The balance between the two is the representation of the balance between our Parents.”

In a way, that made sense. Linda had always wondered about the role that Goddess had played in creation. She was the Goddess of Creation in the same way that God was the God of Creation. It stood to reason that She had played a part beyond that of giving birth to the Angels. Lucifer had told her that Goddess was the source of the plagues, hadn’t he? That made more sense if She had created bacteria in the first place.

Linda was learning more about the celestials in this conversation than she had over the last few years of being Lucifer’s therapist. If it wasn’t because of how badly Lucifer had been hurt, she would have enjoyed this much more than she currently was. “How do twins differ from the rest of you? Michael and Lucifer have more domains than Raphael even though all three are Archangels.”

Amenadiel’s good mood dropped with the reminder of why this conversation was happening at all. “When the Twins were born, it was a surprise to everyone. There’d never been twins before. All of us had arrived separately. We all thought it was just light and dark at first. Samael was manipulating balls of light from the start and the shadows always answered Michael. Then Michael overpowered the containment circle. Samael ignored a direct order from Mother. When they created their first flower together for Mother to make Her smile, we knew there was something more there than Light and Dark. The rest of us had no ability to create at that time. Even now, the most any one of us can do is a rock.”

“They also could talk to each other, mind to mind,” Amenadiel closed his eyes. “Father and Mother couldn’t even listen in. It became obvious that they weren’t normal Archangels. When Gabriel was born, it cemented the fact that they were just different. Other twins were born, eventually, but none of them have ever been Archangels again.”

Linda leaned her head back against the headboard of the bed. That was…a lot. “I don’t think we’re dealing with normal DID,” she finally said. “Those souls I talked to, they were nothing like what was going on with Lucifer and Samael. They felt complete in a way that is missing from Samael. I'm not sure how much of that is the difference between our species or the breaks in Lucifer's soul. I do believe that what we’re dealing with is at the very least self-actualization born from some sort of trauma. I just don’t know what that trauma is. I don’t have enough information to even begin to guess.”

There were millennia of information that she just wasn’t equipped to go through. Her human lifespan made it impossible to even try. The species discrepancy only made it that much worse. Celestials processed emotions differently from humans, Linda had been around them long enough to know that. What seemed like logic to a celestial seemed nonsensical to a human. Like going off to marry a stripper in order to gain information on your insane mother.

“Perhaps,” Amenadiel watched her, frowning. “Perhaps you should bring Raphael in. She might be able to help you in a way that I can’t. Samael and Lucifer have always been on good terms with her. She was there during your session with him as well, right? She already has a good idea of what’s going on.”

That wasn’t a bad thought. Linda sighed. “I might have to,” she gave him a wan smile. “Thank you for answering my questions.”

Amenadiel smiled at her as he stood. “If it helps them, I’ll answer any question I need to. Get some rest, Linda. You can’t help anyone if you don’t take care of yourself.”

Linda watched him leave without saying a word. Part of her wanted to stop him. She wanted to ask him to go to her apartment and take a look at that test she’d left there. The rest of her knew that this wasn’t the time for it. Positive or Negative, Linda couldn’t distract from what was going on with Lucifer. If he thought that his issues were negatively impacting Linda, Lucifer would cut her off completely. Samael too, if her read on him was right. That would get them nowhere.

It didn’t stop from weighing on her. Linda couldn’t help from wondering what her child would be like, if there was one at all. Would they have angelic abilities? Or would they be completely human? What would it be like if they were born with wings?

She couldn’t help from picturing a small bundle with angel wings curled in the arms of their father. A small child with wings happily gurgling in her friend’s arms. Lucifer would be a good uncle. She was sure of it. And she thought Amenadiel would be a good father.

When things calmed down, Linda would ask him to check that test. She’d tell him everything. Until then, Linda would focus on doing what she could for Lucifer. In the morning, she’d talk to Samael about having Raphael fully involved to help with the celestial aspect of things.

Until then, she would let herself fantasize about that little bundle with soft grey wings.

Chapter Text

Lucifer was quiet.

In his entire existence, Lucifer had never been quiet before. Not like this, at least. There was always something happening inside. Samael had spent most of his time in the background listening raptly to his thoughts. Now, with himself in the front, Samael couldn’t hear Lucifer.

He hated it.

Samael had never wanted to be in control ever again. He’d wanted to fade away completely and let Lucifer be all that there was left of him. Light and Lux had been there right beside him, aimless and uncaring as to whether they ever regained control. Only ever pushing for it when they’re Will surpassed Lucifer’s own.

Like during the fight against Uriel. Like when Lucifer had shut down after learning about Chloe Decker’s status as a miracle, taking him away to Vegas with only a vague plan on how to deal with their mother.

The closest that Samael had ever come to pushing forward and taking control was when they’d been talking to their mother. When Goddess had left this universe for her own. After that, he had been content to be in the background. Even when Lucifer made decisions that baffled Samael, he was content to just watch it unfold.

“Samael,” Michael laid a hand on his shoulder. “It will be alright.”

Of course, Michael knew, Samael thought bitterly. Michael always knew. That was how it worked. If Samael wasn’t fractured, if the breaks and cracks were not there, Samael would easily know Michael’s own emotions. Instead, it was silent.

He did a good job when talking to Linda. It had been easy to pretend everything was alright when telling the story. Now, left alone with only Michael and no Lucifer, Samael was falling apart.

“It will not,” he said, scowling. “It will never be fine again. I don’t want to be here. I don’t want to be this. I was never supposed to have to be this again!”

Lucifer was supposed to be the one in control. He was supposed to be the one dealing with things now. Samael was supposed to be nothing more than a mere observer for the rest of eternity!

“Oh Samael,” Michael said, real grief in his voice. “It was never just Lucifer who rejected you, was it? You rejected him as well.”

Samael felt something stir inside. An awareness that was just beyond his grasp. “I did not reject him,” Samael growled, angry. “I made him! I wanted him to be in charge!”

If he didn’t hurt as badly as he did, Samael would have stormed away. Flown off to his rooms to hide away from the world. Where nothing could reach him. Interacting was so hard.

“You rejected being part of the whole,” Michael whispered. “You did not want to be in charge, even if only partially.”

No, Samael thought. No he hadn’t. That was why everything had gone wrong, wasn’t it? Samael in charge. He’d been in charge when the Rebellion had happened. He’d been in charge when the fighting broke out. He’d been in charge when creating Light, and again when creating Lux. That was the entire point. Being in charge had only ever led to ruin!

“And I did any better?” Lucifer demanded from within. “Look at where we are! Look at what I led us to! I am no better equipped for this than you are! Take some bloody responsibility!”

“I am!” Samael snapped, out loud and internally. It didn’t matter if it was verbal or internal, not when only Michael was here. Their Twin could hear the other side of the conversation either way. “I am here, are I not? I talked to Linda, did I not? What more do you want from me!”

“To bloody well help me fix this!” Lucifer roared back. “To stop putting everything on me!”

“I am helping!” Samael bared his teeth, furious. Around him, light flickered and flared in response to his anger. Michael pulled back as hellfire flared over his skin, threatening to send the bed alight. “I am talking! I told my story! I don’t have anything else to give!”

“Samael calm down!” Michael shouted as the inferno blazed. Shadows came to life, attempting to bank the flames. “You are going to set the Infirmary on fire!”

Samael tried. He really did. He pulled back, pushed the anger down, tried to quench the flames. Instead of fizzling out, the flames spread further. They blazed with a Will Samael couldn’t stop. Inside, he felt Lucifer pulling back desperately as well.

“It isn’t working,” he said, panic rising up in his chest as the fire did its best to break free from where Michael tried to contain it. “I can’t make it stop!”

This had never happened before. Samael had never lost control like this before. Light was his! It shouldn’t be able to run rampant when he called it back! But it was defying both him and Lucifer no matter how hard they both tried to pull it together.

What was happening to him? Samael felt his wings quiver with anxiety. Why was this happening? He wasn’t supposed to be dealing with this. He wasn’t supposed to be here. He just wanted things to go back to how they had been. Being an observer had been so much easier. It had been safer.

Why was it that Samael broke all that he touched? He’d even broken himself.

Power greater than Michael’s flared around them, forcing the flames to extinguish. The bedspread was ash and the bed charred. Samael looked to the source of the power, panic still running rampant within.

Father stood there, looking just like he had the last time Samael had seen Him. The same face, the same power, looking at Samael with eyes filled with something that Samael couldn’t identify. “Samael,” He said, His voice heavy with the same emotion in those ancient eyes.

Michael pulled Samael into his side, now that the flames were gone, the cooling touch of their Twin soothing away the ache that expending so much power had incurred. “Father,” he said, softly.

“What happened?” Raphael burst into the room. She stared at the bed with wide eyes.

“Couldn’t make it stop,” Samael mumbled in answer, turning his attention to Michael. It terrified him just how little control he’d had. Inside, Lucifer was cursing up a storm. At the very least it had solved the silence problem that had been bothering him. The cursing became more pointed in response to that thought.

So their roles had reversed fully then. Lucifer was at least hearing Samael’s thoughts. He wasn’t sure if that was better or worse than thinking the other was just hiding away in the background.

“Raphael, prepare a different bed for your brother,” Father ordered his sister. She glanced at him before hurriedly complying. “Michael, it would be for the best if you kept close to Samael for the time being. The breaks have made their powers unstable and harder to control. If something like this occurs again, call for me immediately.”

Michael didn’t verbally acknowledge their Father. His Twin merely helped Samael out of the destroyed ashes and to the new bed waiting for him. Moving hurt in a way that Samael wasn’t used to. Still, it was better than staying surrounded by ash.

“Raphael,” Father said as their sister checked to make sure none of their wounds had reopened. “I believe Miss Martin will need an escort to the Infirmary. Would you please retrieve her?”

Raphael hesitated, clearly not wanting to leave. Samael tried giving her a weak smile in reassurance. “Alright,” she nodded. Then she was gone.

Leaving Samael alone with Michael and God. While the former wasn’t a problem, the latter was a different matter.

“Why are you here?” Samael finally asked as the silence dragged on. Father moved to take a seat across the room. Michael’s cold presence was a reassurance that he was not fully alone. Physically at least.

Lucifer was still cursing.

God gave him a soft smile. Samael wanted to scream at Him for it. After so long in Hell, Samael had little patience when facing God once more. Not when the last interaction had ended so poorly.

“I was asked,” God said, simply. Then He folded His hands in His lap. Patiently waiting.

Asked? Samael blinked.

“Linda,” Lucifer sighed. “We are about to receive bad news.”

Samael glanced at the destroyed bed he’d been in. Well, he thought, at least it couldn’t get worse.

Lucifer had never experienced anything like this before.

It was strange, watching the world from the background in his own body. He was a passenger in his body, their body, able to see through their shared eyes while unable to interact. Well, mostly unable.

Samael would have given him control back in a heartbeat if given the chance. Lucifer could hear every thought Samael had in full volume. Around him, he could feel the presence of Lux and Light. Right there if he only wanted to reach out. Which he very much did not want.

Samael had started this mess. If they wanted to fix it, they needed to start with him. Lucifer wasn’t equipped. He was only making matters worse going about it like he had been. Something that was made increasingly apparent as Samael remained in control.

Samael was unstable. It was becoming clearer by the minute that his other self was not as calm and collected as he’d been presenting during the conversation with Linda. Over a full day in control and Samael was already destabilizing. Lashing out.

Michael was right. Samael had rejected Lucifer just as Lucifer had rejected him. Pushing Samael forward was the best move that Lucifer had made in a long time. It also highlighted how different they truly were. More so than any of his memories of life as Samael could have shown him. Lucifer knew in a way he was now confident in that he was not Samael. They were separate beings for all they had a shared history and past within the Silver City.

But that was in the Silver City. Hell was a very different story.

His memories of the early days of Hell, when it was Samael, Light, and Lux were…blurred. More impressions than anything else. Flashes of memories, the knowledge of wars fought and won against creatures that were designed to kill anything they could were the only things he could bring forward.

That was…wrong, Lucifer realized with a sinking feeling. He knew that wasn’t right. Lucifer remembered having those memories. He remembered remembering them if that made any sort of sense. Yet, it was just a blank spot. Wiped away with a vague impression of what had happened.

Here, away from the forefront of their mind, Lucifer couldn’t remember when those memories had slipped away. Part of him had the sinking feeling that it was during the ritual that had landed him here. He also wasn’t the only one suffering from it either. Lux and Light had been missing pieces from what Michael had told him as well. He’d suspected Samael was suffering the same.

Something that had been proven during Samael’s recounting of the Rebellion. It had been…off. Yes, the fight had broken out during one of his fistfights with Amenadiel. Yes, they had stopped Azazel from killing Azrael, leading to their broken wing. Yes, Michael had helped stop that fight when Father had sent him to fetch them.

But the Rebellion had not just been one fight. It had started with one fight, yes, however, it had been far more than just one fight to gain Father’s attention. The fighting had started in one place before they’d spread across the host. Even for celestials, a single fight couldn’t be considered a Rebellion, even if it was a particularly violent one. Lucifer had thought, at first, that Samael was brushing over that in favor of being done with the story.

It was Samael’s thoughts that told Lucifer that wasn’t the case. Samael did not remember any of those fights. He didn’t remember the panicked conversation with Michael when they realized the fighting was getting out of hand. That their siblings were going to kill each other and there was nothing he could do to stop it. Samael didn’t remember just how bad it had gotten.

It was after that realization that Lucifer realized just how deep the damage to them truly was. The breaks in their soul had divided up their shared memories between them. Lucifer suspected that if they weren’t a celestial, there wouldn’t have been any indication that there was anything wrong with their memories in the first place.

He’d been planning on talking to Samael about that. It had just gotten lost when Samael lashed out.

Now, with God here, Lucifer had no intention of making waves. He’d keep his observations to himself. The last thing either of them needed was Dad sticking His nose where it wasn’t wanted. This was all His fault to start with. If He had listened to Samael at all, none of this would be happening in the first place!

“Calm yourself,” God said as another fire burst into existence. He waved the flame away with minimal effort. “It will not help anything if more furniture is destroyed.”

‘Fuck you,’ Samael’s thoughts echoed loudly in their mind. Lucifer snorted in agreement. God could take His orders and shove them up His ass. Lucifer didn’t take orders from Him and never would. In that, all of his parts were in agreement.

(It didn’t register that there wasn’t the familiar sting that came with a true Order from their Parents.)

Michael’s amusement rippled around them. The dark pressed against their soul was soothing and washed away the ache of their broken pieces, even if it was only temporary.

Raphael appeared before anything more could catch fire, Linda at her side.

The therapist paused as her eyes settled on the burnt remains of their previous bed. “What happened?” she asked, surprised.

“I’m afraid the that breaks in their soul has caused My son’s powers to be…unwieldy,” Dad answered before Samael could. Linda startled, staring at God with shock.

If Lucifer had been in control, he would have frowned. He’d thought for sure that Linda was the one who had requested God be here in the first place. Neither he nor Samael had requested it. Michael most certainly hadn’t. Raphael had no reason to. God didn’t lie, so who had asked Him to be here?

“I apologize for interceding in this appointment,” Dad began as Linda took a seat near Samael’s new bed. “There are things I have learned which I felt would be best to speak of now. Things that I believe will help put a perspective on something that has long been in question. I have just come from an enlightening conversation with My Wife.”

Just like that, Lucifer gave God his full, undivided, attention.

Michael knew this would not be a good conversation from the moment Father had mentioned Mother.

Goddess was…complicated. For all that Lucifer had hated God, Michael had held the same contempt for Goddess. His relationship with Her had suffered greatly after the Fall. She was just as much at fault as God was for what had happened. Beyond that, She had turned Her back on them just as readily as He had. Sending Her away to Hell had been the best thing he had ever done after Samael was banished.

It was Goddess who had caused this mess in the first place. She had interfered in Samael’s punishment, unknowingly increasing its severity. She had given the magic responsible for Samael’s condition to the humans in the first place. Goddess had left devastation and heartache behind Her without so much as a goodbye to Her children. Not a word said before She had left for a brand new universe away from them.

Samael’s face showed the same wariness that Michael was feeling. Lucifer was practically radiating dread from deep inside Samael’s soul. Even the human therapist Lucifer had befriended looked wary. Michael would have to remember to ask about that. He had a feeling that there was a big story there.

“You went to speak with Mum?” Raphael asked, looking at God with such hope that it hurt to see. She had always been so close with their mother. It had hurt his sister greatly when She had left without a single goodbye. Another crime that Michael would never forgive Her for.

God folded His hands on His lap. “I have,” He nodded. “I will relay this to the rest of the Host in a better time. For now, I believe that this was something that Samael deserved to hear first. And I promised Her that I would make sure that all of Our children knew.”

Lucifer had been right. This was bad news. The grave look on God’s face told Michael as much.

“We’re listening,” Samael crossed his arms, a challenge on his face as he stared at God. Well, there was the hostility that Lucifer had been missing during God’s last conversation with them. Michael had wondered if it would rear its head soon. He wondered what it said that it was Samael who was displaying it instead of Lucifer.

“There were many things which did not add up after my conversation with Lucifer,” God sighed, heavily. “I could not understand why Goddess would be so desperate to intercede in your punishment without getting the facts. I have missed much of what was going on with the Host, I believe. I thought to see if there were things that She noticed which I did not. Samael, I owe you an apology. I would not have continued with orders if I was aware they did damage to you.”

Samael flinched, his fist clenching. Anger flared hot inside of him. Michael forced the cold darkness across their shared space as he felt heat start to build within the Infirmary. Even if God could bank the fires, risking Lucifer’s human friend was not something he was willing to do. And Michael needed something to focus on to keep his own anger at bay.

Goddess had known. Samael had told someone about his reaction to orders. She had known and said nothing.

Michael hated her all the more for that.

“I have made many mistakes when raising you all,” God’s smile was strained and sad. It was odd to see on His face. It felt wrong, almost, to see it. “I should have been more diligent when I realized that fighting had broken out. If I had investigated, much of this could have been prevented. I never once thought that there would be more to the physical violence than mere discontent amongst the Host, spurred on by the Rebellion.”

Michael knew where this was going. He felt hatred burn icy cold within as he waited for God to say the words Michael knew were coming. There was no other way that this could end. No other possibility of connecting two seemingly unrelated topics. He felt it when Lucifer understood as well. The inferno of his rage was only contained by God’s own power.

“Father,” Raphael asked, softly. “What does that mean?”

Say it, Michael thought. Say it.

“Your mother cast a spell to instigate the fighting.”

Linda had always known that Goddess was a horrible mother. She hadn’t really needed to know much about Her to know that. Still, she had never thought Her capable of something like this.

Samael’s face was blank as the archangel stared at God. Not a single emotion shone in his eyes or on his wings. It was only the sudden shift in attention from Michael that told Linda that more was going on than just shock from what God had said.

Then fire, hotter than anything she’d ever felt before, burst into existence all around the room. Raphael shouted in surprise as Michael dove for Samael, bringing his twin into a close embrace with shadows collecting all around them. Linda found herself surrounded by a cold darkness before more than heat could reach her skin, a barrier of black shadow protecting her from the inferno.

“Samael,” God’s voice was loud, booming over the sound of flames from all around them. “Samael, please, calm yourself!”

If anything else was said, Linda didn’t hear it as sound seemed to disappear. Leaving her alone in the quiet darkness Michael had called. Any other time, Linda was pretty sure that she’d have ended up panicking. As it was, she didn’t feel afraid by the shadows all around her. Instead, she felt a sense of safety and comfort. Michael had called them to protect her and she could feel that protection all around her.

After what felt like seconds but was surely longer, the darkness receded. Linda blinked as her eyes readapted to the light. Once she cleared her visions, Linda saw that the Infirmary was in shambles. The fire was gone now, with only the burnt evidence left to attest to its presence. Michael had Samael wrapped in his wings while Raphael was carefully wrapping new bandages around Samael’s own wings.

God was no longer in the room.

“Samael?” Linda asked, keeping her voice deliberately soft. Dark eyes looked away from Raphael to look at her. Only, it wasn’t Samael who was looking out of them. Nor was it Lucifer.

“Dark?” the new personality, for lack of a better descriptor, asked.

“Lux, this is Linda,” Michael kept his voice even. “Linda, this is Lux. Lucifer pulled Samael back when it became clear he wasn’t handling things well. Lux is more…calm. Samael will be back when he’s less likely to burn down the Infirmary.”

Right. Linda kept her face carefully calm even if she wanted to scream in frustration. Only a day in and things were already going wrong. If she could, Linda would strangle their Mother herself. As if doing Her best to mentally destroy Lucifer during Her time on Earth hadn’t been bad enough! Even in another universe, She was still making Lucifer’s life worse than it was already going! “It’s good to meet you,” she said instead.

Lux studied her. He didn’t say a word in response. Merely inclined his head in greeting before going back to observing Raphael.

“I don’t think it’s a good idea to continue for today,” Linda finally said, turning to look from Lux to Raphael. “I wanted to ask if you would be willing to consult with me on handling this.”

The archangel looked up from her work to Linda, surprise flashing on her face. “Me?” she asked, baffled.

Linda sighed. This was not how she’d wanted this day to go. It was one disaster after another. “Yes, you. I had the chance to observe the human souls with DID. You were right in that they aren’t anything like what Samael and Lucifer did. I’m not sure how much of that is from the breaks in their soul. With that in mind, it’s better to have someone who is more versed in angelic behaviors than I am. I can only come at this from a human perspective and I don’t want that to get in the way of truly helping them. I was going to ask Samael about his feelings on the matter today.”

The ‘but’ hung in the air.

“Samael believes it to be a good idea,” Lux broke the silence. Linda turned to look at him, surprised. “Lucifer agrees.”

He returned to ignoring them a moment later. She really wondered what it was about the bandages that was so fascinating.

“I can do that,” Raphael nodded, determination on her face. “When do we start?”

Linda looked towards Lux. “If I could talk to you after you’ve finished changing the bandages, I can go over my theories with you. We’ll do a joint session tomorrow, when Samael has had a chance to calm down a bit.”

No one protested.

They sat in comfortable silence for the rest of the time that they remained in the Infirmary.

Lucifer waited until Linda and Raphael were gone before he pulled himself and Samael into their shared space with Michael. His Twin would keep an eye on Lux while they were preoccupied. This required a face-to-face meeting.

It was jarring to see the mirror image of himself standing across from him and know that it was not Michael looking back. Samael was identical to him in every way, down to the white wings that sat on his back.

“What do you want,” Samael asked, dully.

“I believe that I have already answered that,” Lucifer bit out, impatient. “If we want to fix this, you need to stop putting everything on me. Stop hiding away and waiting for us to solve the problems you don’t want to deal with! I am not capable of doing this alone! I managed to keep us together for millennia but that clearly wasn’t enough!”

Samael glared at him, the anger muted. “Ask the other two for help,” he looked away. “They’re part of this too.”

Lucifer snorted. “You and I both know that Light and Lux are barely more than segments of us that were given temporary form. Lux can manage an emotion or two at most. That was how he fell apart to begin with! Mazikeen brought out our emotions and he couldn’t handle it. Light is mostly rage and bloodlust. That’s barely a step up. Neither of them are capable of helping us fix this mess that you started.”

Samael laughed bitterly. “I may have started it,” he agreed. “I wasn’t the one that ended it, now was I? That was you. You and those humans you’re so fond of! You let your guard down! You were the one that got attached. The worst part is, that you’re still too blinded by affection to even realize how we got here to begin with! It hasn’t even crossed your mind to wonder about it. No, you’re still so preoccupied with ‘fixing’ us to face the reality that even when we’re fixed, there will be no one waiting for us!”

Lucifer growled, the familiar heat of Hellfire burning within him. “How can I realize anything if none of us have our full memories?!” he snarled, the last of his patience flooding away. He’d planned on being softer with it. Easing Samael into the truth. But Samael was not playing nice so neither would Lucifer. “Have you noticed, Samael? You talked about one big fistfight during your little narration to Linda. But everyone else has always spoken the plural, haven’t they? Didn’t you wonder why that was? Hmm?”

Samael’s face went blank as he stared at Lucifer. Not that his physical expressions mattered. Lucifer could feel the emotions echoing around them. Now that Samael wasn’t in front, his thoughts were masked from Lucifer. That didn’t matter right now. Lucifer could do a lot with only emotions to give him insight on their original personality.

“What do you mean by that?” Samael asked, his voice breaking a little at the end.

Got you, Lucifer smiled viciously. “I mean,” he purred darkly. “That you don’t have your full memories. In fact, none of us do. Think hard, Samael. What was ruling Hell like? What were the demons like? You should know, correct? You were there, after all.”

Samael’s face slowly changed from blank to increasingly terrified. “I can’t,” he whispered. “I know I knew. I remember knowing. It’s just not there. It’s gone.”

Lucifer laughed. “Now he gets it!” The Devil mockingly bowed to the angel. “Let me tell you, Samael, there was more than just one fight! It was a full-on war! All of our siblings attacking each other, going for blood, and nothing we did stopped it! No amount of begging or pleading got through to them! Mother cast Her little spell and spent a very long time not keeping an eye on us!”

He wished he was surprised that Goddess was behind the fighting. That She had set Samael up to take the fall for it instead of coming clean. That was just like Her, wasn’t it? Never taking responsibility for Her actions. “Why do you think it was so easy for us to believe Her that Dad thought to destroy us?” he asked. “An overreaction for a simple fistfight, don’t you think?”

Samael swallowed, tears gathering in his eyes. Lucifer couldn’t be bothered to care about the show of emotion. Samael needed to hear this. He needed to get a hold of himself so that this could be fixed. Lucifer was not going to let the actions of Goddess or God define him any longer. He had played Their games long enough. Even if God was sincere in His apologies, Lucifer didn’t care. He was done letting this family walk all over him.

Lucifer wouldn’t stop them from entering his life again. He just wouldn’t change himself to make it happen. He’d spent a very long time without them. He could survive their loss again, if necessary. As long as he had Michael, who would never abandon him, then Lucifer would be alright coexisting amongst his human friends. The family he’d built.

“What do you want to do?” Samael asked, looking exhausted. “What do we do to fix this? I don’t want to be in charge, Lucifer. I can’t handle it. I nearly set all of the Infirmary on fire! I lost more control today than I ever did as a fledgling!”

Yes, that was problematic. Lucifer still believed that to fix this, they needed to start with Samael and move on from there. “You rejected me in the same way that I rejected you,” Lucifer said, moving to the nearby representation of a stream. Their shared space with Michael truly had changed since the last time he’d seen it. Or Samael had seen it. Lucifer had never truly been here himself. Not in this form, at least.

“What caused our break?” Lucifer asked, kneeling to brush his hand against the water. “What made this happen? It started long before Hell. Linda was right about that. Something happened that caused you to stop trusting our Parents. Something big happened that made you start to close off.”

“I don’t know!” Samael said, his voice breaking with distress. “I don’t even know where to start looking!”

Lucifer watched as the small fish within the stream swam around. They weren’t sentient in the way life in Creation was. They were simply a representation of the combination of Will and Power that gave Michael and Samael the power of Creation. “Our ability over Light hasn’t changed,” Lucifer said, thinking back to the fire that they’d called on repeatedly. “But we couldn’t Will it away. Couldn’t exert any control over it.”

He heard the soft sound of footsteps as Samael knelt beside him. Lucifer watched as an identical hand dipped into the water. A hint of their powers pulled at the water and fish within. It should have been enough to force it to obey them. Only, just as it seemed to catch, the power died away.

“Will,” Lucifer said, looking up to watch Samael stare at his hand in shock. “It’s our power over Will that has gone awry. It always comes back to that. Free Will changed the Rebellion from what we first intended. Will is what hurt us with every Order Dad gave. Whatever happened, it started with Will. You never rejected Lux and Light, who never held any real connection to Will.”

Like I do, went unsaid. It wasn’t necessary. Not when Samael was watching the stream as his emotions went haywire.

“I did reject them,” Samael softly admitted. Lucifer blinked, surprised. His other self didn’t look up. “I couldn’t handle it. The blood on my hands. They killed so many, Lucifer. Thousands of demons died because I couldn’t handle being in charge. I killed them as readily as Light and Lux did. They were merely the instrument. If I had been stronger, those demons would be alive.”

Lucifer stared. “We’ve killed before,” he said, baffled. “Millions died to us during the Wars. Permanently erased by our blades. What makes the demons different to that? They’re descendant of the humans who killed our nieces and nephews. They don’t even have a soul. They’re nothing.”

Samael laughed, wetly. Tears streaked down his face. “And if it was Mazikeen we had killed?”

Lucifer flinched. “That is different,” he said, but the argument was weak. Samael was right. The idea of killing Maze, even after everything she’d done recently, was sickening. She was still his, for all that she was free to do as she pleased now. No matter how many times she had lashed out at him on Earth. Demons were unpredictable. It made sense that she would lash out when dealing with so many new things she wasn’t used to all at once. The Detective had seen it first, hadn’t she?

“I hear the screams of those we killed in the Wars. I don’t regret a single one. They chose to be here. They chose to kill us first. It was self-defense,” Samael said. There was confidence in his voice now. “The demons did not choose for us to be there. We were the invaders. We killed them as they tried to defend themselves from us. That is what makes it different.”

It was a good argument. From that perspective, the two events were extremely different. And it was also wrong. Lucifer remembered the Wars. He remembered crying over the dead bodies of their enemies as he’d slain them. He remembered raging at how unjust it was for these children of the invading Deity to die just because they’d been ordered to. What sort of being would Force death onto their children? Would make another being die for their own selfish reasons? No matter how he felt about God, Dad had never ordered them to their deaths. Both God and Goddess ordered all the Host to retreat if they were in danger of dying. But the lives of their children had no value in the eyes of the invading Deities.

But Samael didn’t remember that. He didn’t remember the regret or guilt.

“Because you didn’t want to,” Lucifer whispered, the realization hitting him. This had started a long time ago. Long before Hell. Back to the early days of the Wars. When the universe was still so very new. How many memories had Samael isolated until he was something more? Linda had asked them when they had started to believe that no one would help them in their last session. He’d thought she’d been off thinking that it had started before the Rebellion and Hell.

But if Samael had been doing this for so long, it was possible Linda had been on the right track after all.

Raphael had listened to the human woman as she explained her thoughts. “You believe they suffered a severe trauma before the Fall that started this?”

Linda Martin looked at her with a sorrowful expression. “It’s the only thing I can think of. I just can’t figure out what that was. It had to have been something horrid enough that Samael couldn’t shake it off. I can’t figure out how something so severe could go unnoticed by the rest of you. Someone would have had to notice it!”

“And you are unsure that this is DID,” Raphael prompted, frowning harder. “What makes you so unsure?”

Linda bit her lip. “The souls I talked to are nothing like what’s going on with them. You were right in the way that you described it. I don’t know enough about angelic behavior to tell if those differences are down to the breaks in his soul or the species difference. Most of my worst mistakes helping Lucifer in the past came from looking at his actions from a purely human viewpoint. I tried to fix that after I learned he wasn’t human, but I am human. I still think like a human. I was hoping that an angelic perspective could help ease the gap.”

“What do humans know about DID?” Raphael asked, keeping her thoughts steady until she had all the information that she needed.

“It can be caused by either a severe head injury as a child or severe trauma from early childhood,” the therapist listed, biting her lips. “Sometimes the alters are different people with different names, genders, and completely different personalities of all ages. Other times it can manifest as the same person in different stages of their lives. The child version of yourself, the teenager version of yourself, so on and so forth. There’re probably others. I’m not a therapist specializing in DID. I’ve only made the diagnosis once and referred them to a more qualified therapist.”

Not practical when dealing with Samael and Lucifer, Raphael thought with sympathy. This human woman cared for her brother very much. Linda Martin had been a good choice for her brother, even if she had made mistakes as the woman said. She was right that a human could only do so much for an angel. Humanity was never designed to function like the Host. It was little wonder that a human would struggle to understand angelic perspective.

Raphael was flattered that Linda would chose her to help bridge that gap. She’d wanted to be able to help her brother from the very start. Now she was being offered a way, with the blessing of her brother at that. Somehow, both Samael and Lucifer still trusted her to help the human help them. It soothed away the hurt leftover from how Light had first reacted to her. Two quarters of her brother still loved and trusted her.

“I believe I can shed a bit of light on how we work compared to humanity,” Raphael motioned for the human to sit. “Humans brains do not stop developing in their late twenties, yes?”

Linda nodded as she took her seat. “From what our research has shown, yes.”

“Angels are born with fully formed brain development,” Raphael explained. “Our personalities do not change much as we age. Instead, it is our own powers that develop as we age. Our abilities are one of the few things that our Parents did not decide. When a celestial has a child, we can decide on what they will look like. Father and Mother decided that we would have wings. Our features are based on what Their features were when they conceived. It is why so many of us look nothing alike. Those were the decisions They made when They first conceived. Mother once told me that They wanted the rest to be a surprise. When Michael and Samael were born, I knew She was not lying. None of us expected for twins to exist. After that, Mother decided she did not want to give birth to more than two at a time. That is why there are no triplets amongst the Host.”

Mother had put Her foot down despite Father’s interest in multiple children. Something that manifested in humanity and the animals that shared their planet. Raphael mostly shared His interest which was one of the few things she had bonded with Him over.

The therapist nodded. She was listening with rapt attention as Raphael talked. She liked that. It wasn’t often that someone just listened to her speak without losing interest or talking over her. Even when she was explaining something.

Hmmm, perhaps Lucifer was wise in seeking companionship amongst the humans. She certainly could see the appeal.

“With that difference, it is possible that we are unable to form DID in the same way that humanity has experienced it,” Raphael continued. She’d thought it over a lot since the possibility had been brought up. “Our brains are already developed after all. Human personality is dependent on the brain, if I’m correct. It changes and grows with you. Your soul holds the imprint of that personality when you die. DID souls changes how they present as their soul has learned from their brain how to do so. With an angel, our souls hold our personalities, not our brains.”

That was how the demons had been created. They had started out as humans who had been stripped of their souls. Evolution had changed their appearances in Hell, but they shared ancestors with humanity. At the same time, they still had personalities. Now, they were a species of their own, still without that immortal soul that would gain them access to the Silver City. Being sentient did not require an immortal soul.

“What the soul gives humans is the ability to feel a large range of emotions,” the Healer continued. “Empathy, sympathy, love, hate, rage, despair, that comes from your soul. Sometimes, the connection between the soul and the body can become stunted, which is how humans like Cain come to be. I’ve seen some humans learn how to block the connection to destroy their emotions. Your species is very good at making existence far more difficult for yourselves that way.”

The woman snorted. “That isn’t hard to believe,” she said, sighing. “This explains a lot, thank you. What about demons? They don’t have souls and Maze still experiences emotions. Not well, but they’re still there.”

Raphael frowned. “Demons can’t experience emotion,” she said, confused. “A demon is a selfish creature because of the lack of a soul. They don’t feel empathy, or sympathy, or love. Even their rage and anger is the product of chemicals and nothing like the real emotion.”

Linda Martin stared at her. Her face was stunned. “You mean they aren’t supposed to,” she breathed. Then she shook her head. “We’ll get back to that. This explains why Lucifer’s always struggled with emotion and relating to others. Samael knew this about demons, right? I think he thought mimicking demons’ behavior was the way to go when he made Lucifer. Only, Lucifer has a soul so the emotions were still there. He just didn’t know how to identify or process them anymore. That wouldn’t have been useful for Hell’s environment, so it wasn’t necessary. But it came crashing down when he spent long enough on Earth around humans, who are teaming with emotions.”

Raphael leaned forward, intrigued by the idea. “Does that help?” she asked excitedly.

Linda nodded eagerly. “It does. What would you say DID would look like in an angel? If its caused by human brains and not their souls, what would a DID soul look like? Or the closest equivalent.”

Raphael straightened, her mind whirling as she thought. “Segments of personality,” she said in realization. “Rage, anger, love, hatred, grief, guilt, split between small sections of the complete personality. Not fully developed alters like what you see in humans suffering DID, but parts of the whole personality and emotion that have been blocked off!”

She stood and immediately started pacing. “Father said that Lucifer’s attempt to keep it together was unstable,” she said, remembering God’s words when Lucifer had first woken up. “It was Light who killed Uriel. That could only be possible if Uriel was tracking Lucifer’s pattern alone. Which means that they were all already separated enough to have different distinctions that could be distinguished by our own abilities! The ritual found those divides and attacked them! And when Light and Lux first woke, they were missing memories! Angelic souls are what hold our memories. Samael and Lucifer are probably missing memories too! That’s why Samael only mentioned the one fight. He doesn’t remember the other fights in the Rebellion! I bet Lucifer does!”

That had bothered her when Samael was talking. She’d seen the strange look Michael had given Samael as well. She’d thought it was probably that he’d gotten distracted after he’d admitted that he didn’t remember what started the first of the fighting. But if he didn’t remember the others, it was possible that there were other things that he didn’t remember.

Michael said that out of them all, Lucifer felt the most complete. He must be the piece with the most memories.

“Other fights?” the woman said before shaking her head. “Don’t answer that. Not important. You said your personalities don’t change much. What did you meant by that?”

Raphael pushed her excitement back in order to answer the question. “Our memories define who we are. While our base personality stays the same, it is altered by our lives like any other living creature. After the Wars, Mother’s personality changed, for example. We live long lives, Linda Martin. Most angels do not go through drastic personality change. But is has happened before. Azazel used to be so happy and energetic. After nearly killing Azrael, he withdrew. Most days he barely talks and I haven’t heard him smile in a very long time.”

Tears gathered in her eyes. They had always blamed Lucifer for that. He’d started the Rebellion, after all. If Azazel hadn’t been on his side, he may not have ended up the way he was now. After what Father revealed, Raphael knew it was never Lucifer or Samael’s fault. It had been Mother this entire time. Mother had done this to them. She had broken this family apart.

It was little wonder Samael had lost it after that. Lucifer hadn’t been any better. That was why he’d forced Lux into control once Father suppressed the fire. Raphael had been so distracted by everything going on, she hadn’t had a chance to really thing about what Father had told them.

Linda’s eyes softened. “I’m so sorry,” she said, sincerely.

Raphael wiped her eyes. “It is not you who should be sorry for this,” she said. “Samael was always so strong. Seeing him like this and knowing that it is Her fault…I hate Her. She is my Mother and I hate Her. How do I reconcile that? She was so loving, in the beginning. She taught me all I know about Healing. She sang each one of us to sleep. How could She use that spell on us? How could She let Samael take the blame? She just stood by as he was punished for Her crimes! If it never became physical, Samael never would have been sent away!”

They could have healed. Father could have realized what Samael was trying to tell Him. None of this would be happening.

“She did not even have the courage to tell us Herself,” Raphael balled her fists. “Even after seeing how isolated Lucifer was, Mother just left us in this universe without fixing what She broke.”

Part of her wondered if Uriel had realized what She had done. Was that why he had tried to force her back to Hell instead of Lucifer? Did he know what the human miracle would do? Was that why he tried to kill her? Uriel was always crafty like that. Her little brother had always been arrogant as well. Patterns were as close to omniscience that any of them had ever gotten. While Lucifer and Michael could Create, Uriel could predict the actions of almost anyone. He was the third strongest of the archangels for that very reason.

If he hadn’t been arrogant, he might have realized there was more going on with Lucifer. That there was a third pattern he should watch out for. Light had killed Uriel. In a way, even Uriel’s death was their Mother’s fault. Samael, had he been whole, would never have killed their brother. He would have found a different way.

What would their siblings say when it came out that Lucifer wasn’t the one that killed Uriel? That their brother’s fracture had begun so much earlier than the ritual that nearly killed him? What would they do when they understood what Raphael now did? That Mother’s actions had led to all of this.

“If you ever need to talk,” Linda said, softly. “I’ll listen. Usually it’s not recommended to take on family members of current patients but I think we can all agree that this is a special case.”

Raphael smiled at the human. “Thank you. I think I may take you up on that, once we have helped Samael and Lucifer. I understand why both Lucifer and Amenadiel think highly of you. You are kind, Linda Martin.”

And, the Healer thought eyeing the woman’s stomach, this woman would be a great mother to the half-celestial she was carrying within her. She would enjoy teasing Amenadiel for millennia once his child was born. She wondered a bit if the woman knew before deciding not to ask. Linda was already dealing with enough by helping her brother. Adding this type of revelation on top would not help.

She wondered what the babe would look like. Some of the Nephilim had resembled their human parents while others had resembled their angelic parents. It would be interesting to see if knowing about how celestials were born would change the outcome.

“This has helped a lot. I think, tomorrow, we need to talk to Samael and Lucifer about what they remember,” Linda said as she stood. “Thank you, Raphael.”

Raphael smiled at her. “You are welcome.”

Yes, Amenadiel had made a good choice in the mother of his child.

Chapter Text

“What?” Linda asked, looking stunned.

Lucifer leaned back, annoyed. He’d taken charge this time. Samael was liable to set the place on fire again if he tried explaining this, so Lucifer had taken charge. Again. At least this time it had been partially his idea. Samael had actually offered to try explaining after Lucifer had explained what he’d realized from their face to face conversation.

“Samael has been isolating memories that overwhelmed him since the Wars,” Lucifer said again, doing his best to keep from snapping. It wasn’t Linda he was annoyed at, she didn’t deserve his ire. For once, there wasn’t even someone he could aim his ire at. Well, no one readily available. Lucifer had zero intention of tracking down the celestial deities that had attacked this universe billions of years ago. He had little intention of getting in contact with Goddess either.

Which really left him with no one to be furious at. For once, God wasn’t the one at fault. At least not in the direct way. Lucifer certainly hadn’t thought there was magic behind the fights breaking out during the Rebellion. Neither had Samael.

But that wasn’t the point right now. He could deal with that after they fixed the break in his soul. Right now, that was the priority.

It had to be the priority.

“That would do it,” Raphael said, softly. “Oh, Samael.”

Linda rubbed at her eyes, looking exhausted. “PTSD,” she said. “Of course it had route in PTSD. You remember these moments then? The ones he locked away.”

Lucifer shook his head. “Not all of them,” he admitted reluctantly. “Light remembers others. Lux, apparently, can’t be bothered to care.”

That had not been a fun revelation. It certainly explained why Light was a ball of rage and bloodlust. Lucifer hated that he was going to have to find some way to stop disliking Light enough to reabsorb that part of himself.

Linda had asked what fixing this would look like to him. He’d spent a long time talking it over with Samael once he realized how long this had been going on for. Samael had no desire to take over and had little desire to stay how he was. Light hadn’t seemed to care one way or another and Lux had just blankly stared when he’d dragged him down with the rest of them. Lucifer didn’t really want to deal with others living in the back of his head even if they were still him. The only one he was comfortable having that close was Michael.

Reintegration was what they had all settled on. Linda had seemed alright with that when he’d told her as well. She seemed to think that with them all in agreement, it would be easier to get done.

“That gives us a place to start,” Linda said, leaning backward. “I’ve talked with Raphael. We went over everything we knew and came up with a plan. Like normal DID in humans, you all have memories that different from each other. Little bits and pieces that have changed how you see the events as well as your reaction to them. Raphael has told me that angels have perfect recall. Is that right?”

“It is,” Michael said before Lucifer had the chance. His Twin was watching Linda with interest.

“What we need to do is have each one of you break down the barriers keeping those memories separated from each other. I think it will be easier to start with Lux,” Linda folded her hands on her lap, smiling. “But I want to hear what you think first.”

Lucifer considered her.

“I think she is right,” Samael said, softly. “Lux shares a lot of memories with you already. He’s the one you dislike the least, it should make it easier.”

“Alright,” Lucifer agreed after a bit more thought. “How does this work?”

Linda looked to Raphael, who smiled. “We discussed that as well,” his sister said. “Human minds are very different from us, what with their dependence on the biological aspects of themselves. I believe that we can base this off of something already familiar to you. You and Michael can share memories between yourselves, yes?”

Lucifer nodded at the same time as Michael did. It was something they’d done for as long as Samael could remember, from what he knew. Maybe longer considering how iffy that statement now was.

“Good. I want you to have Lux share with you, Samael, and Light. Every memory that he has,” Raphael said, looking pleased with herself.

Linda blinked. “All at once?” she asked. “Is it wise to do it that fast?”

“We can do it in the shared space,” Lucifer waved off her concern. “Time doesn’t move the same there as it does in the Silver City. Once we’ve shared those memories, then what?”

“That’s were I come in,” Linda said, having evidently decided that she wasn’t going to ask for clarity on what he’d just said. She was getting better at deciding when she wanted an explanation and when it was better not to ask for one. “I’ll be on hand to help you process the emotions and talk through them. For all three of you. I also want you to talk through them with Michael. Between both of us, I’m hoping that will help heal that part of your soul.”

Lucifer considered asking for more details before deciding to shrug it off. This was mostly theoretical which made it likely that there weren’t more details to be given. Considering this had never happened before, most of them were working blind on how to fix it. Part of Lucifer was afraid of what ‘fixed’ would even feel like.

He was hoping that part of himself would go away once they got started.

“Should we start?” he asked, cocking his head as he waited for an answer.

Raphael and Linda shared a look. “Probably best to start as quickly as possible,” his sister said, softly. “The only you stay like this, the worse it could be for you in the long run.”

“Do you want me to be there as well?” Michael asked as Lucifer prepared to recede backwards into that space they shared.

“Yes,” Lucifer, Samael, Light, and Lux said all at once. Well, looks like they all agreed on something after all, the Devil thought with a hint of amusement. Michael smiled as he moved to get comfortable to follow them.

“We’ll be waiting for you here,” Linda said right before Lucifer slipped away.

He opened his eyes to see that Michael and the other three were already waiting for him. Samael looked just the same as he had the first time they had come here the day before.

It was the other two that surprised him.

Light was the perfect image of his Devil form. The burned skin with Hellfire eyes stared back at him just as they whenever he looked in a mirror while wearing that vestige. What caught his attention was the leathery black wings that replaced his feathered white wings, as well as the claws on his hands. It was as if Light truly was the monstrous beast the Devil was said to be by humanity.

Lux, on the other hand, was almost formless. He was the same height and seemed to be the same size as the rest of them, but he had no face. No defining features. Even the wings on his back were just empty light in the vague shape of wings. It was…disconcerting.

“Well then,” Lucifer said, staring at them. “I suppose that’s one way to distinguish us.”

“For the others,” Michael said, pulling their attention to their Twin. He was studying all of them with interest. “It suits each of you,” he said after a long pause.

Lucifer wondered what he looked like for the first time. He’d assumed he looked like Samael. After seeing Light and Lux, he wasn’t so sure. At the same time, he was almost afraid to ask. He could feel wings on his back and could see the white feathers he knew so well, but that was all he was sure of when it came to his features.

Michael smiled at him, something reassuring in his face. Whatever it was, Lucifer’s Twin wasn’t bothered by it. This was a mere reflection of their fractured soul anyways. There was no guarantee any of these appearances would stay after their soul was fully healed.

That soothed some of the anxiety away, leaving him far less concerned with what was going on. “Shall we get started then?” Lucifer asked, looking towards Lux.

It is of no matter to me. Lucifer blinked as felt the answer more than heard it. Samael looked just as put out while Light was studying Lux as if he was something interesting. Michael was watching them all in confusion. It was clear he hadn’t been part of whatever Lux had done to speak without speaking while they were within their shared soul.

Lux raised the impression of his arm as the world around them seemed to vanish.

The ashen fields of Hell were unbearably hot. The dim light of fire from deep below was the only source of light on this circle of Hell. The landscape was barren and covered in the bodies of the dead demons that had tried to get the jump on him.

He Willed the ashen landscape to cover him as he walked through. There was an empty void deep inside of himself that tried to pull him apart over and over again. Only his Will kept him from unravelling completely.

Will and Light, Light and Will. That was all he was and all that he needed. Lux didn’t care for anything else in this place. There was nothing else that he needed, so why bother?

He was halfway through the dense ash when he heard something. It was a small whimper. Barely noticeable to anyone without ears.

Lux thought about just passing it. What did he care for some mewling creature with the scope of Hell? What did it matter to him if it kept existing or faded into nothingness?

‘Don’t you want to know?’ something inside him urged. ‘What if it’s a threat?’

Lux considered that. Perhaps, he thought, it would be for the best to make sure that it was not a threat. Hellbeasts could be crafty. If one thought mimicking the death cry of some creature would let it sneak up on him, it would. Lux needed to cull that thought process immediately if that was the case.

It took a while to find the source. When he did, Lux couldn’t understand what it was that he was seeing initially.

It was a small humanoid like creature with tears streaming down its face. “I’m sorry,” it whimpered. “I’m sorry!”

What was it apologizing for? Lux searched the area, only to find nothing there. Just himself, the thing, and ash.

The voice that urged him forward to start with was silent. It gave no guidance on what to do now that he’d found the source and ascertained it was no threat. Lux knew that he should walk away. That he was not obligated to stand here.

Yet, he didn’t want to. There had to be a reason this creature was here. Would more of these things show up here? Was this something that Lux would need to become used to?

It made sense to find those answers now than to be surprised by them later.

“Why are you sorry?” he asked it, cocking his head to the side. The creature went still as it snapped its head up to look at him with wide eyes.

“What are you?” it asked, looking terrified at the sight of him. “Get away from me, monster!”

Lux blinked at him. “I am the Devil,” he said matter-of-factly. “What are you?”

“But, but I was good!” the thing wailed. “I did the prayers. I followed the sermons! Why…why am I here with you?”

It was rather slow, wasn’t it? Lux considered walking away now. Whatever it was, it certainly was worthless if it couldn’t even answer a question properly.

Before he could decide, he heard the growl of something. Both himself and the creature turned to the sound. There, in the ash, was a Hellbeast.

The creature screamed, scrambling backwards. The noise attracted the Hellbeast’s notice immediately. This one was one of the young from the way it moved cautiously towards them. It was more mouth and teeth than anything else, not having been alive enough to construct more practical features. It would learn quickly enough if given enough time.

Lux considered killing it. It wouldn’t be hard, would it? This creature wasn’t a demon and he was interested in what it was and where it had come from. If he was still Light, he would have killed them both and been done with it. Samael would have tried to save the pitiful thing.

Lux was neither Light nor Samael. He did not care if this creature lived. He did not care if the Hellbeast lived. What did it matter to him?

“Please!” the thing begged him. “Please! I don’t know how I got here! I was good! The water came, it was took away everything. I don’t want to die, please don’t let it kill me!”

Water? Lux stared at it as something finally clicked within his mind. Samael’s memories spoke about water that had destroyed those who had killed the Nephilim. The dead humans had been stripped of their souls, had they not? They were naught but body.

But this thing was not a body. It was a soul. A soul within Hell. How had that happened? Were there more around here?

“Please,” it begged again.

A soul within Hell. If God had sent this soul here, who was Lux to argue with that? Why save something so pathetic as to end up here?

Lux turned away. With one strong beat of his wings, he left the soul to its fate.

The screams as it was consumed by the Hellbeast echoed throughout the entire fourth circle of Hell. Lux didn’t care when the scream stopped.

It wasn’t his job to keep human souls that found their way here safe.

Michael moved the moment that the memories stopped. Lucifer was shaking like a leaf, his face completely ashen. Samael was full on crying.

Light didn’t seem bothered at all, just standing there with no reaction. Just a vague interest on his burnt face.

Michael paid him no mind as he pulled Lucifer into him with his arms as he used his wings to pull in Samael as well. The two largest parts of his Twin buried themselves into him.

“We let it die,” Lucifer rasped. “We just left it there to die. We left them all there to die!”

Michael said nothing. He focused on comforting his Twin. Lucifer and Samael did not need his judgement. And there was truthfully nothing to judge. His Twin was broken and damaged to the point of his soul cracking. Anything that he did in that state shouldn’t be used against him. If anyone even tried Michael would destroy them. Down to their atoms if he had to. Without a second thought, they would be erased from the very universe. He was positive that God wouldn’t even bat an eye once He knew why Michael acted.

“Lux did as he was meant to,” Michael soothed them both. “He didn’t care. He didn’t use emotion. He never needed to care. That was why he failed in the end. The demon made him care. What he did to keep you sane is not the summary of who you both are. What matters is the number of souls you did save when you trapped those creatures forever.”

Lucifer slowly stopped shaking, though he still looked distraught. “It was the water,” he said, dully. “Humans in Hell killed by water brought back the memory of the Nephilim. So he didn’t care about them. If a human soul was in Hell, killed by water, it made them the same kind of monster as those humans. He believed God had damned them there and that their fates were sealed. That was before we knew about the Doors.”

Good. Good, Lucifer was thinking now. That was good. Samael’s tears began to slow as well.

“There was no way to know that there was more,” Michael said, keeping his voice as soothing as possible. For Lucifer and Samael, he could be soft and calming. Gentle. The shadows that complimented the warm summer sun instead of the depths of the ocean. Wipe away the scorching heat that was threatening to consume the pieces of his Twin’s soul. “You learned. And in the end, you saved more than were lost. If you had not been there, they still would have died. Now, someone will remember them long after their soul returned to Creation.”

They remained huddled together for a long time. Eventually, Lucifer began to pull away.

His Twin turned to say something before freezing. Michael blinked at him, confused at the sudden change.

“Lux is gone,” Lucifer said, astounded.

Samael immediately pulled away, his eyes scanning their surroundings. “Lux?” he called, softly.

No one answered. The void that had been this portion of their soul was simply gone.

Michael reached out with his own power, searching for any sign. There was no Lux. Instead, Samael and Lucifer were…more. More filled out. More complete.

“It worked,” Samael breathed. “It worked.”

Lucifer blinked at well, himself. Seeing them interact was strange. Possibly the strangest thing Michael had ever witnessed. “I thought Lux had no ability with Will,” he said, baffled. “I thought he was held light like, well, Light. How did I forget that?”

Samael looked down at his hands. “I wanted him to be just light,” he said, opening and closing his fists. He was more solid, somehow, though Michael would have always described him as such. He wasn’t sure what was a result of being fragments of a soul and what came from his own perception biases. “I never wanted him to have Will. So when he did, I hid that knowledge from us. It…it seemed like a good idea at the time. I don’t quite remember why. Just that it was important.”

Lucifer frowned, his eyes dimming a bit as he thought. Michael wondered if this portion of his Twin knew that his eye perpetually shone with the fires of Hell. In every other way, he looked exactly like Samael. Without the eyes, Michael would have struggled to discern which was which upon only looking.

He was interested in just how close Samael and Lucifer in the size of their soul fragment. Samael, however, held more Light while Lucifer held more Will. With Lux gone, Lucifer held the most Will out of all them. Once Light was gone, Michael had to wonder if Samael would be the one that grew bigger.

Which personality would win out? How would either of them change when Lucifer and Samael merged? What name would they go by?

Michael remembered when Samael had first arrived in their shared space while Lucifer was falling through the cracks of reality. “I can be both. For you.”

Amenadiel walked through the Silver City aimlessly. He wasn’t the only one. Many of his siblings joined him, none of them uttering a single word.

Not since Father had told them the truth. Told all of them what Mother had done.

He should have seen it from the beginning. Lucifer, well, Samael wasn’t the type to start a war over something like Free Will. No matter how much he thought the Host deserved it, Samael wouldn’t believe fighting to the death was the right way to go about it. Amenadiel had just been so angry he hadn’t let himself think about how out of character it was. How desperate and confused Samael had seemed during some of the fights.

It was all blurred behind the anger that he been driving him. Anger that was caused by the spell Goddess had used to incite the Rebellion to new lengths.

Amenadiel had told himself that Lucifer choosing to stay out of the war Goddess wanted to wage was character growth. He convinced himself that Lucifer was changing for the better. How delusional had he been? Lucifer wasn’t changing. He wasn’t becoming someone else. He was merely being himself! Perhaps more himself than he’d ever been since the first time Amenadiel had run into him after the Rebellion.

He'd persecuted his baby brother as evil for something he hadn’t even done. And Mother let him.

She’d said nothing.

Amenadiel changed course. As much as he wanted to go to the Infirmary to apologize, Amenadiel knew it wouldn’t be a good idea. Last he knew, Samael was the one in charge. Since Samael and Lucifer were different, Amenadiel knew Samael wouldn’t be pleased to see him. Even if Amenadiel was there to apologize, it wouldn’t be appreciated. He remembered enough about his brother to know that. He’d wait to apologize until it was Lucifer in control or until he had enough time to repair things with Samael. Whichever happened first.

The entire thing made his head hurt.

“Amenadiel!” Charlotte smiled at him as he walked into her Heaven. She was curled on a replica of Dan’s couch, dressed in pajamas, and reading a book. Amenadiel had brought her the books she’d been planning on reading when he’d gone to Earth for Linda’s laptop. It was the least he could do after she took a bullet for him. Beyond that, she was his friend. “Are you finally ready to talk about what’s been going on?”

He'd been visiting her when Michael had prayed. He’d left without a word. When he’d come back to bring her the books, Charlotte had asked him what was going on. Amenadiel hadn’t known how to tell her.

He was even less sure now.

But he needed someone to talk to. Linda was preoccupied keeping an eye on Lucifer. Maze was guarding the priests. Lucifer was the one he needed to talk about. And Dan was going through enough taking care of Trixie with Chloe in jail without Amenadiel dumping his own problems on the man.

“I was gone from Earth too long,” he finally said, taking a seat on one of the chairs. “I should have checked on everyone soon. It’s a mess, Charlotte. Cain tried to kill Chloe and Lucifer after he shot you.”

Charlotte strained. “I knew it,” she said, putting the book down completely. “It was him. Why was he aiming for you? What would that have gotten him?”

Amenadiel laughed bitterly. “He wanted his mark back. When killing me failed, he went for Luci. And Luci killed him in self-defense. I suppose Father decided it was alright. But Chloe found out the truth. She went to the Vatican, Charlotte. She poured poison in his drink and gave him to priests without a single care.”

“Oh Lucifer,” Charlotte said, looking distraught. “How’s he handling it? What about Dan? Does he know?”

“Dan knows. Lucifer doesn’t,” Amenadiel sighed, heavily. “Mother played more games than we thought. She gave the Vatican something She shouldn’t’ have to get Father’s attention. But He never noticed and Luci paid for it. He nearly died, Charlotte. Permanently. We barely saved him and he’s still recovering. It split his soul, Charlotte.”

Charlotte was standing before he knew it. Without a word, she marched over to him and dragged him into a hug. Amenadiel leaned into it.

He knew that Charlotte was not his Mother, for all that she’d once felt like a connection to Her. Right now, however, she was his friend. She was a friend that he could talk to about this without worrying about breaking her mind even before she’d died. She saved his life and still demanded that he visit her despite the fact she’d made it to Heaven.

When she pulled away, her face was wet. “Will he recover?” she asked, softly. Charlotte was just as much Lucifer’s friend as she was Amenadiel’s.

“I don’t know,” Amenadiel whispered. “None of us do. It’s never happened before. But that’s not all. Dad brought him back to the Silver City to recover. He noticed that things weren’t adding up properly. So He went to talk to Mother. Charlotte…Mother was the one that escalated the Rebellion. She cast as spell to instigate the physical fighting. Lucifer was punished for Her crimes and She said nothing.”

He wanted to tell her about Samael. About how Lucifer’s soul had been in danger for a long time. He wanted to scream about how stupid he was to have not noticed something was wrong for so long. If Michael had been there, they could have known about the problem immediately! Instead, Amenadiel had obliviously gone about his mission to make his baby brother suffer for a crime he wasn’t responsible for unable to see that anything was wrong!

For all that he wanted to tell her that, Amenadiel knew that he couldn’t. If he ever wanted a relationship with his brother, both Samael and Lucifer, he couldn’t break that confidence. They’d agreed that Linda could tell him. Not that he could tell anyone else.

So he wouldn’t. Amenadiel would earn their trust back as best as he could.

“That bitch,” Charlotte said immediately before covering her mouth in horror.

Amenadiel couldn’t help it. He laughed. It was wet and full more of despair than hilarity but it felt so good. “You’ll not find many of us that don’t currently agree with you,” he said through the laughter. “Apparently, Lucifer set the Infirmary on fire when Father told him. The ritual caused his powers going out of control so Father wanted to make sure we didn’t crowd the Infirmary before that was fixed.”

“He did what?” Charlotte asked, looking stunned. “I didn’t know he could do that. I thought he only had the desire thing.”

Amenadiel smiled at her weakly. “Lucifer is the Lightbringer and the Will of God,” he explained. “He’s the one who created the stars. His power over desire comes from his powers of Will. He doesn’t use Light as much on Earth.”

Which was why he was so confused as to how he kept forgetting that Lucifer was Will and Light, not just Light. It made no sense. Just like the fact that no one seemed to know why they forgot about Will when talking about their brother. They certainly never forgot that Michael was Dark and Power. It was baffling.

It was also not something he could talk to Charlotte about.

At the very least this conversation was helping him.

“Huh,” she said before retaking her seat on the couch. “When can I see him?”

Amenadiel blinked at her, taken aback.

Charlotte smiled at him. “You said Lucifer is here, right? That means I can see him. No rules against visiting your injured friend are there?”

“I’ll ask,” Amenadiel promised after a moment of thought. Father would probably permit it if Lucifer showed any interest in it. “For now, Lucifer is busy with Linda.”

Charlotte’s stare was understandable as Amenadiel realized what he’d accidentally just implied.

“She’s fine!” he hurried to assure her. “Well, she’s alive. Father brought her. To help with the split soul thing. It’s…complicated.”

“Meaning you can’t tell me because Lucifer is trusting you with a secret,” Charlotte smirked at his surprise. “Please, with how you’ve been skirting around things, it’s not hard to put the pieces together. I’m an attorney, Amenadiel. And you’re bad at keeping secrets when you’re upset. I won’t press. But I do expect an answer one when I can visit him. If he doesn’t know what Chloe did, I want to make sure he remembers there are other friends who don’t care that he’s literally Satan.”

He remembered the relief on her face when Lucifer proved that it was real. The knowledge that she wasn’t crazy had been liberating.

“Now tell me about Dan. You said he knows?” Charlotte said, partially changing the subject. “How did that happen?”

Amenadiel remembered the looks on the faces of the human police when he’d answered Michael. “Did we ever tell you that Lucifer is a twin?”

Azrael couldn’t stay within the Silver City. She couldn’t look at all of her siblings, see the despair and grief, and keep her head.

Instead, she left Heaven all together. Flying between the dimensions and straight to the one person she needed the most in that moment.

Thankfully, Ella wasn’t at work this time.

“Rae-Rae!” the human greeted her with a bright smile that dimmed when she took in what Azrael probably looked like. “What happened?” she asked immediately.

Azrael couldn’t help herself. She burst into tears. Loud, messy tears.

It was the first time that she’d ever cried in front of the human. Ella was on her immediately to pull her into a tight hug that the Angel of Death leaned into without a care for what anyone else would think of her actions. She needed that comfort now more than ever.

“Hey, it’s alright!” Ella said, thought her voice was strained. “Everything is fine!”

Azrael appreciated the attempt even if Ella was clearly about ready to panic. She pulled away slightly. “Lu’s fine,” she mumbled. “Or not fine. He’s not gotten worse physically.”

She wasn’t up for being comforting at the moment, alright? She just needed to make sure Ella didn’t think Lucifer had dropped dead in the last four days since they’d talked. Well, Earth days. The Silver City was moving slower than Earth at the moment. It had been ever since Dad had come back from seeing Mom. Azrael never really paid much attention to it beyond noting how many dead souls there currently were waiting for pickup. She was super behind at the moment.

Not one part of her currently cared. Not when her brother was injured and her Mom was responsible for her other brother almost killing her during the Rebellion.

What was she supposed to do with that?! Her Mom had nearly gotten her killed by Azazel! And Azazel hadn’t even looked at her since that day! He’d been one of her closest siblings before it had all happened. All of that destroyed by their Mom playing stupid games with Dad instead of just talking it out like a sensible person! Lucifer got blamed and punished for something he didn’t even do! The Rebellion before Mom’s spell had been more of a protest than anything else! Dad wouldn’t have banished Lucifer for a fucking protest! It was the all out war that got him banished!

All the things their siblings had said over the years about him. All the hatred for his role in how their family had crumbled. All of it was because of their Mom not thinking things through!

Azrael wanted to scream at Her and never see Her again despite the fact that right now she just wanted her Mother to hug her. It was infuriatingly contradictory!

“Good,” Ella relaxed a little. “Do you want to talk about what is wrong?”

Azrael sniffed as she wiped her tears away. “No,” she said, her wings drooping. “But I probably should.”

“You sit down and I’ll make so hot chocolate!” Ella said before darting out of the room.

Azrael smiled a bit. She’d told Ella once that her favorite drink had been hot chocolate when she was ‘alive’. Which was mostly code for it was her favorite drink to have in general. The ‘alive’ part had always been tacked on to keep from having to explain how she was eating and drinking things as a ghost. Ella had laughed her ass off when she’d admitted as much during their last talk.

When the human reappeared with the hot drinks, Azrael had fully settled into the couch with a blanket draped over her. She’d retracted her wings to make it more comfortable.

“That’s still so cool,” Ella said as she handed the mug over. Then she took the seat next to the angel without careful movements as to not spill her own beverage. “Now, what’s going on that had you crying like that?”

Azreal took a long sip of her drink, wondering how to even begin to explain. “Did I ever tell you about our Mom?” she asked, deciding to just go for it.

Ella straightened. “You have a Mom?” she asked, amazed. “As in, God has a wife?”

Azrael smiled a bit. “Had,” she said, relaxing a bit. “They divorced. If you think human parents getting divorced are bad, they have nothing on Mom and Dad. When Dad was creating humans, He got a little too focused. He kinda just wasn’t around for a long while. Mom was always so angry and cold about it. When He was there, She picked fights all the time. The entire Silver City would shake as They argued.”

She’d be small when it started. Every time, she had run to Samael to comfort her. He’d never turned her away, always making room in his bed for her to snuggle against him. Michael would be there too sometimes. She never felt safer than when she was pressed between the Twins.

“Oof,” Ella said, sitting back. “Why haven’t we ever heard about her?”

Azreal grinned. “You did,” she snickered. “The wife of Yahweh, Asherah. You humans edited Her out though. That really pissed Her off. She was all ‘I’m the Goddess of Creation!’ when She heard. Michael always said She had it coming after what She pulled to get Dad’s attention before they officially separated.”

Ella leaned forward, her mug cupped between her hands tightly. “What did She do?”

The humor died as Azrael remembered what had finally set Dad off. “She created what you lot call plagues,” the Angel of Death said grimly. “Mom made all the bacteria and plants. It didn’t take Her long to weaponize bacteria against humans. Viruses took even less work. Dad was furious. So He cast Her to Hell and told Lu to make sure She stayed there. By then, the bubonic plague had already hit so Her body count was in the genocide range.”

Ella looked sick. “Oh,” she said. “Is She…?”

Azrael looked down at her cup. “She got out the year before Cain came around. She was walking around possessing Charlotte Richards. Lucifer spent the entire time trying to keep Her from killing anyone or starting a new plague. He even married that exotic dancer so She’d stop trying to kill his human friends. Something about convincing Her that killing all of you wouldn’t bother him. Not sure how She fell for that but it worked. No more bombs underneath anyone’s cars.”

“That’s why he married Candy?!” the scientist screeched, horrified. “Who’s car did she try to bomb?!”

“Take guess,” Azrael muttered darkly. “Wish it had worked.”

Ella wilted a bit. “Oh,” she mumbled. “Chloe’s. Of course.”

They sat in silence. Chloe Decker had done a lot of damage to Ella and Lucifer with her betrayal. Azrael wouldn’t ever forgive her for that. That Mom had helped her do it was just that much worse.

“Eventually Lu talked Her out of starting a War against Dad,” Azrael took another drink. “She’s in Her own universe now. I used to miss Her. She’s my Mom. Even if She did a lot of bad stuff, I loved Her.”

“But that changed,” Ella said softly.

Azrael nodded, tears welling in her eyes again. “Dad did some investigating after what happened with Lu. He found things that didn’t make sense so He went to talk with Her. When Lu first started his Rebellion, it was basically just a gathered protest. No fighting. Just some verbal arguments and maybe a bit of name calling. Couldn’t even be called a real Rebellion at the start. It was a little after Dad announced Free Will that things got bad. One minute Lu and Amenadiel were doing their normal fistfight like they always did when they started annoying each other. The next, all of our siblings were fighting. Not just a fistfight either. They were all going for blood. I remember Lu breaking up fights with Michael, trying to get them to calm down and having no luck.”

Azrael shivered as she remembered the rage in Azazel’s eyes as he attacked her. She couldn’t remember what it was that had attracted his attention to her. Just that her once sweet older brother was hurting her and she didn’t know why.

“You got hurt,” Ella laid a hand over her own. Azreal realized she was shaking.

“One of my brothers,” she whispered. “I was terrified. Then suddenly Lu was there. He tackled him to the ground and tried to get him to see reason. But Zaz didn’t listen. He just kept going. Lu was trying so hard to keep from hurting him but Zaz was going for blood. Lu broke his wing in the fight before Michael came and helped him knock Zaz out.”

“He protected you,” Ella said. Azrael glanced at her face and saw the woman was smiling.

“He paid for it,” she said, haunted by the screams Lu had made when he Fell. “That was when Dad intervened. He didn’t know Lu’s wing was broken when He cast him out. Lu burned when he Fell because he protected me.”

“Oh Rae-Rae,” Ella set her mug down and pulled Azreal into a hug. Azrael felt the tears begin falling again.

“It was my fault,” she cried into her friend. “He screamed, Lopez. He couldn’t catch himself. By the time Dad realized what was happening, it was too late to help. He was already burning!”

She’d never vocalized it before. Not with anyone. Azrael did her best to keep out of the way of her siblings after that day. Even Michael, who forcibly tracked her down to make sure she was alright regularly.

“It was not your fault,” Ella said sternly. “I bet Lucifer would tell you the same if you asked him. It was your brother’s fault, the one who attacked you.”

Azrael couldn’t stop it. She laughed through her tears. “That’s just it!” she wrapped her arms around herself. “It wasn’t! It never was any of our fault! Not mine, no Lucifer’s, not Azazel’s! It was Mom’s! She cast as spell to start the fighting! She made us fight each other! All because She thought if the protests became a fight, Dad would take notice. Then She just left! She never bothered to make sure the spell worked properly! Everyone went nuts because of that spell! Lucifer was banished because of that spell! It was Mom the entire time and She. Never. Said. ANYTHING!”

Ella was grabbing her again as Azreal broke down into hysterical sobs. The angel couldn’t stop the tears. She wasn’t even sure she wanted to try. Her entire life was crashing down around her and she had no idea how to stop it. Her Mom was behind so much of their suffering. She games against God had destroyed Their family. It had killed Uriel. It nearly killed Lucifer. None of this would be happening if Goddess had owned up to Her mistake back then. Not waited until Lucifer was so close to destruction to admit to what She had done.

“Your Mom better hope She never comes back,” Ella said as Azrael cried. The forensic scientist’s voice was ice cold. “I don’t care if She is the Goddess of Creation. I know a lot of people that would shoot Her on the spot if I told them what She did. No decent Mother would ever let Her child be vilified for something She did.”

“It’s not even the worst part,” Azrael whispered. “Ella, Mom was the one that gave the priests the spell they used to catch Lu.”

The next five minutes was filled with nothing but create threats against her Mom’s person in Spanish, accompanied by numerous curse words. When Azrael finally pulled out of the hug to take another drink of hot chocolate, the Hispanic woman was still seething.

“How’s Lucifer taking it?” she asked, eventually.

Azrael sniffed, wiping a hand against her eyes. “He’s angry,” she mumbled. “Set the Infirmary on fire. Dad won’t let any of us visit until Lu manages to stop burning things. Side effect of the ritual I guess. Raphael told Zeik that Lu accidentally burned his bed to ash even before Dad dropped the truth on us. He’d be a wreck if he lost control and hurt on of us so we’re keeping distance for now.”

“Oof,” Ella said, a little less openly furious. She was still angry. Azrael could see it in her eyes. She appreciated the restraint Ell was demonstrating at least. “How are you taking it?”

Azrael gripped the hot chocolate all that much tighter. “I want to scream at Her. I want to tell Her I hate Her. I never want to see Her again. And I want my Mom to hug me and promise me everything is going to be alright. I want the Mom that sang me to sleep and called me Her baby. How can I want both things? How can I ever want Her to comfort me again?! She destroyed all of us! So many of our siblings never got over what they did in the Rebellion. Lucifer spent so long alone because of Her! I shouldn’t want anything to do with Her!”

Ella grabbed her hand, pulling Azrael’s attention from her despair. “Because She’s still your Mom,” the human said firmly. “She messed up. Did a lot of unforgivable things. You’re in your right to never want to see Her ever again. That doesn’t mean you don’t want the person you thought She was. We all want the comfort of our parents, Rae-Rae. Even when we know they’re horrible. It doesn’t make you bad to still love the version of Her from when you were little. You can want that person back while hating who She’s become.”

 Azrael smiled at her friend. “When did that little girl get so wise?” she asked.

Ella’s smile wasn’t as bright as it could have been but it soothed her inside all the same. “I had this friend. She taught me a lot of things. How to be curious, kind, mischievous, and whenever I needed someone to understand, she was there. I learned that friends are there to pick you up when you’re down and to never leave you behind no matter where life takes you.”

“Sounds like a good friend,” Azrael whispered.

“The best,” Ella said seriously. “Now, I think we need a bad movie night to take our minds off everything. I’ve got a whole list already picked out from our last bad movie night. There’s even popcorn in the fridge. What do you think?”

Azreal wiped away the last of her tears. “I think you better put it on already, Lopez,” she said, though her voice was far more raspy than usual.”

“You got it!”