His chest thrummed in time with the beat of the music. The air was heavy with the scent of alcohol, sweat and sex. The rapid flickering lights bordered on disorientating even to his keen eyes.
It was a pit of indulgences and wanton desires, brimming with sinners. It was an example of the more depraved side of humans.
It was precisely the place he would expect Lucifer to own.
He easily navigated his way through the dance floor, slipping between the gyrating mass of intoxicated people with all the ease of a fish through water.
His gaze was fixed on the leather-clad figure behind the bar.
Mazikeen might appear to be a beautiful woman, but he could see passed the guise. He could see the rot beneath her mask – the taste of sulfur grew in his mouth with each step, as well as a rush to eliminate the vermin.
It was almost amusing, he supposed, how clueless humans could be to a predator in their midst.
And she was a predator. It was in ever line of her body and the gleam of hunger in her eyes as she scanned the crowd.
She was undoubtedly a dangerous foe to cross.
Too bad he was the bigger threat.
He could see the exact moment she spotted him. The fear practically saturated the area, and the obviousness of it had him grinning like a shark that scented blood.
But Maze – loyal, brave, steely Maze – did not move from her post.
She watched him warily as he came to stop directly in front of her and leaned comfortably against the polished bar.
"Mazikeen."
"Gabriel."
There was something ironic about an archangel and a demon meeting in a club, he thought.
Gabriel stared resolutely at the demon, momentarily distracted as her face shifted back and forth from beauty to disfigured, as if his vision was trying to pick which one to stay on.
His weighty gaze clearly unsettled the demon, for she remained silent under his scrutiny. He smirked at her discomfort.
"Come now darling, where's that snarky attitude I've heard so much about?" His eyes flittered around them, flecks of pure gold showing when the light hit them at certain angles. No glamour could truly hold back the raw, ancient power that ran through his veins. "I'd been looking forward to experiencing your sharp tongue."
If anything she looked more uncomfortable now that he was talking. Gabriel had no doubt that the demon was internally panicking.
She enjoyed a certain amount of protection from his kind due to her close affiliation with Lucifer, an unspoken warning that she was off limits.
But Gabriel was hardly an ordinary angel.
He was the same power level as Lucifer, and if anyone could get away with hurting her and live through Lucifer's all-consuming revenge, it would be another archangel.
"Why are you here?" She finally asked, voice tight and eyes narrowed.
Gabriel smiled and leaned forward on his elbows. "I can't come down and enjoy the atmosphere?" He inquired innocently, watching as the skin around her mouth twisted in rising frustration.
He let her stew for a few moments in uncertainty before leaning away. "Relax little demon, I'm not interested in smiting anything tonight. I just popped in to have a word with Luci. Be a dear and tell me where I can find my wayward brother."
And there was the flare of protectiveness he knew he would encounter. Maze may be a demon, but her loyalty to Lucifer was commendable.
"He's not in tonight." She eventually revealed, displeasure written all over her.
Gabriel cocked his head in a distinctly predatory manner. He did not speak or react to her words, simply waiting for her to give him what he wanted.
Maze was clearly torn between her loyalty to Lucifer and her desire to avoid invoking his wrath. If she was not what she was, and he was not what he was, perhaps he would feel some sort of admiration that his brother had one so devoted to him.
She studied him for a moment, the debate warring in her eyes. Despite the need to know, Gabriel waited. He could be patient when he needed to be.
Finally, the demon continued. "He's out with his latest pet project." She spat nastily, the words exploding from her. Anger – jealously? He almost laughed – colouring her tone.
He hummed and tapped his fingers on the bar top. The noise was easily drowned out by the pulsing music.
"I'm not interested in whomever Luci's bedding. I want to know where he is."
Maze laughed, and Gabriel had trouble picking if the scornful sound was aimed at him or the situation. "He's not fucking this one," she said, "he works with her, and together they run around solving little crimes. He fancies himself a detective these days."
Gabriel cocked a golden eyebrow at that. Lucifer playing cop? That hardly sounded like his brother.
He told Maze as much. The demon shrugged, "He claims he's only helping her to 'punish' criminals, but –" and oh yes, that was certainly jealously marring her face. "he's fascinated by her." The demon turned around and pulled a drink off of the back shelf, along with two glasses.
She gestured at him with the bottle and Gabriel gave a shrug. Alcohol did not affect him anyway, but if it made Maze more open to talking to him he would not argue.
"Fascinated, huh?"
She pursed her lips and took a shot, downing the beverage with ease.
"Ever since he met her he's been following her around." Something shifty entered her eyes, and she stared at him like she was deciding whether she should tell him something.
Gabriel kept his expression neutral and knocked back his own shot. He was tempted to project understanding, but while the whole 'angel-aura' tended to put humans at ease, it would probably have the adverse effect on a demon. Different natures and all that.
Still, if anyone could sympathise with Maze, it was him. He undoubtedly knew Lucifer better than her.
Michael and Lucifer might have been the golden duo before their family went to shit, but Lucifer had taught Gabriel everything he knew. He had been the very first sibling he had met after their father had created him.
Lucifer had taught him how to fly, how to fight. He had taught him want it meant to be an archangel.
They were as close as two siblings could be.
And even during the uprising, that bond had been difficult to push aside.
Gabriel remembered when he had come face to face with Lucifer on the battlefield, the slain bodies of their brothers and sisters around them, blood saturating their forms and the air heavy with the fading grace of thousands.
Even as they clashed, Gabriel had stubbornly stayed on the defensive. Because despite his anger and betrayal – how could you do this Luci? All this suffering…All these deaths…And for what? Wounded pride? Please brother, don't make me do this – he could not bring himself to kill his older brother.
And Gabriel could have killed him that day. Lucifer was older, and might technically be stronger, but he had been worn from countless fights before he was confronted with Gabriel.
That was the only excuse he could come up with to explain the holes in Lucifer's guard throughout their fight – because there were too many openings Gabriel had purposefully left alone. Lucifer was not at his best, he was exhausted and not able to keep himself protected.
That had to be it. Because the only other option was that it was deliberate –
And yeah, Gabriel was not going to go there.
Even in the midst of all that pain, Gabriel had held back. He loved Lucifer too much to take advantage of those openings. Which was why Michael had to sweep in and end it all. Because Michael was always the most capable of following orders, of pushing his feelings aside and being the perfect little soldier.
He knew Gabriel would not have been able to do it.
In a way, Michael had saved him that day. Because if Gabriel had been the one to toss Lucifer out of Heaven – or, Father forbid, kill him – then he would never have come back from that.
It had been a million years ago, but the agony of watching his brother fall was like an ever-present wound.
Which was why he was not here to help Amenadiel's little crusade to cajole and force Lucifer back to Hell.
He just wanted to see his older brother once more. He missed being surrounded by Lucifer's magnificent presence, missed the warmth and safety that Lucifer always gave him.
"She's changing him, and I don't like it." Maze said, cutting through his reminiscing ruthlessly.
Gabriel shook off the sorrow that clung to him, focussing on the demon's words and feeling his interest piqued again. Lucifer changing?
Maze clearly spotted his renewed attention. She poured him another shot.
"Chloe Decker."
Gabriel filed the name away and finished his drink as he stood.
"Thank you, Maze." He gave her a nod and closed his eyes.
It was remarkably easy to find the woman, to discover where she lived and worked. Of course, Gabriel likely had the unfair advantage of being a celestial being that was capable of reading the minds of others and hearing the prays of millions.
Especially a little girl who prayed that her mummy stayed safe while stopping all the bad men and women.
After that, it was only a matter of moments before he teleported to this mysterious Chloe Decker's location. And as Maze told him, there was Lucifer right next to her.
Seeing him for the first time in forever actually froze him. It was so sudden and abrupt and he was right there.
Unbidden, his last memory of Lucifer – face twisted in burning hatred, voice screaming, promising revenge and ruin as Michael cast him out of Heaven – bludgeoned its way to the forefront of his mind again.
Gabriel took a shuddering breath and just…watched.
He looked on as his lost brother interacted with the striking woman.
They appeared to be arguing, but even from this distance Gabriel could see it.
He could see the way Lucifer stared at her with respect and awe and attraction, see the genuine grins his brother tossed her way, the way he leaned close to her and leered jokingly.
It was absolutely fascinating to behold.
He wanted to go to them, to speak to his brother and hug him and tell him how much he had missed him. How he stilled loved him so much it hurt. That had been the whole point of this little adventure, after all.
But he was terrified of Lucifer's reaction.
He had no idea how his brother even regarded him anymore. Was that love he held for Gabriel still there? Or had bitterness and betrayal shredded their bond?
Gabriel was one of the most powerful beings in existence – but in the presence of Lucifer he felt nothing like a revered archangel and everything like a fledgling unable to fly.
And that is why, when Lucifer's eyes – still so dark and bottomless and beautiful – shot from the detective's scowling features and landed on him, Gabriel wrapped himself in his grace and fled.
He was one of Heaven's greatest warriors, but he was also a coward.
OoO
Chloe knew something significant had happened in an instant, because Lucifer had just…stopped.
He had broken off mid-sentence, his insufferable grin became pinched and if she did not know any better she would have thought the blood in his veins had trickled to a stand-still as well.
It was entirely unnerving.
His eyes were fixated on something behind her, and curious as to what could cause such a drastic change in her unflappable, unwanted partner, she turned to follow his gaze.
Other than the bustling crowd of curious spectators – no doubt hoping to catch a glimpse of the dead body, the morbid nuts – she could see nothing that would, logically, cause such a reaction in the man.
"What is it?" she asked, partly exasperated and partly intrigued. Her eyes jumping randomly in a half-hearted attempt to spot the catalyst. She expected an answer, because Lucifer always had some smart-arse comment at the ready.
So when there was no forthcoming witty remark she faced him again.
The expression on his face was the strangest she had ever seen. He looked raw. Like someone had reached into his chest and clawed at his heart.
It was such a vulnerable moment that she almost felt like she was seeing a completely different side to the man for the first time. And it made her feel strangely compelled to comfort him.
"Hey, Lucifer?"
She reached out and put her hand on his arm. It was barely a brush but it seemed to break him out of whatever mood he was trapped in.
He blinked, and like magic his expression shifted into the one she was more familiar with; cocky and amused.
For some reason though, she thought it was fake. She had already noted that Lucifer tended to wear a mask a majority of the time, but this was the first time she had seen it and suspected that it was in play.
He was still being affected by whatever it was he saw. "Really detective, I stop paying attention to you for one minute and you're all over me? If I knew that was all it took, I would have done this a long time ago."
His grin was smarmy and arrogant and it made any concern she was feeling shrivel like a raisin in the sun.
She let out a scoff, disbelieving that for one second she actually wanted to help this guy, before she was stalking off to find the coroner to see if they had found out anything else about the victim while she had been busy with her childish partner.
Lucifer did not follow her. He remained precisely where he was.
His fathomless eyes stayed locked on the place he had seen his little brother, an ache growing in his chest.