"... He called me a dick."
Lucifer paused, his gaze freezing on his hands, both fists clenched around a handful of white feathers. Michael watched his brother tentatively, eyebrows pinching together slowly as he watched a myriad of emotions cross his face - Confusion, disbelief, amusement and then more confusion, and for a second, Michael was wondering if the delayed reaction of their Father's presence in the penthouse had finally hit him, too. Then Lucifer was moving again, casual as ever.
"Well, I'd say it was rather accurate…" Lucifer finally drawled, and his head twitched toward Chloe when the Detective snorted and started snickering. His younger brother grinned faintly to himself at the sound, and Michael couldn't help the way his lips tugged up at the corners, tilting his head faintly to the side as he watched him.
"So now you start agreeing with Dad," Michael finally teased, watching Lucifer's grin fade into a small smirk as his brother's brown eyes flickered back to him. "Several millennia later." It still amused him, actually, how easily Lucifer had forgiven God after everything. He had been so angry at him - Michael would know. He knew what anger felt like firsthand, and he felt it even more intensely from Lucifer.
The strange thing, however, was that at the moment Michael didn't feel anything from his brother. He didn't feel anything from anyone else at all. The emotions were his own - And it was a… strange feeling indeed, because the archangel - former archangel - had really only ever been focused on the emotions of everyone else. Because it was kind of a hard thing to tune out.
This, though. This felt nice. It felt like he'd been underwater his entire life, suffocating, and had only now experienced what breathing in fresh air felt like.
"I'm simply saying that the man wasn't wrong." Lucifer's voice dragged Michael from his thoughts, the former archangel jerking his head toward his brother for a second before relaxing again. "You are a dick. Were. Probably were - we'll see."
Michael blinked once, then again, then he had to remember exactly what it is they had been talking about. "Oh," he snorted, shaking his head. "Definitely worse. My, uh-" He narrowed his eyes, staring at his brother silently for a moment, before speaking much more slowly, "... dickishness… is behind me."
"Dickishness." Lucifer lifted his head and turned toward Amenadiel, who was currently assisting them in scooping the angel feathers into trash bags. "Amenadiel-"
"No, Luci, it's not a word."
"I think Michael's intelligence disappeared along with his wings." And then Lucifer turned and fixed Michael with a stupid, smug smirk and winked before turning back to what he'd been doing.
The former archangel narrowed his amber eyes at his brother, then looked toward Amenadiel, who hadn't even looked up. He then turned his gaze to the bag of feathers he was currently holding, and his expression changed considerably as a simple, fleeting thought crossed his mind. A stupid thought, but boy was he tempted. Very tempted.
Surprisingly, though, he wasn't angry. Lucifer usually pissed him off - everything about him. The snarky comments, the snide looks… and the thing that startled him right then was that he wasn't angry in the slightest.
Michael frowned and spared another glance toward his brother…
… Who looked very tense. His movements had gone stiff, and the knuckles on the hand clutching the bag that he was using had gone white. He had a pinched, grim look of apprehension on his face, jaw set and brown eyes flickering as he stared down, completely avoiding anyone else's gaze. Especially Michael's.
Which wasn't a stupid reaction, considering that about a week ago, Michael would have… Probably beat the shit out of him for that comment. He'd done a lot worse for a lot less, hadn't he?
It made sense that Lucifer would be scared of him. Wary, at least.
Michael faltered, staring at his younger brother. Lucifer still wasn't looking up, he was still tense. He was talking now, though, saying something to Chloe that Michael didn't bother trying to catch. His thoughts were far away, now, grasping at something almost out of his reach. For the first time in his entire life, Michael wished he could feel the anger. The combined anger of anyone and everyone around him, suffocating, pulling him back under…
Because as horrible as it was, terrifying as it was, feeling angry was ten times better than feeling whatever this was. It felt like something cold was twisting in his stomach, slowly rising up to his chest, stabbing at every part of him inside. The cold feeling went up and down, not quite sticking to one place, and moving just slow enough to bring a worse, painful, sick feeling to his chest. That, combined with the cold, made him want to throw up.
Of course it wouldn't be fixed just like that. Michael had done some pretty irreversible things. But his own brother was scared to be himself around him - And Michael had done that. Michael had done that to his brother - His baby brother.
And why the fuck had he just now started caring? Not that he was complaining, really - Thinking about it for a second, Michael stopped longing for the anger. No, he deserved the guilt. Every ripping, tearing, shredding second of it. It had to be nothing compared to whatever feelings Lucifer was holding for him - The most dominant one, Michael was sure, was fear.
The former archangel screwed his eyes shut and lifted his free hand to his head, rubbing his eyes silently and biting his tongue to hold back a groan. Wonderful, now how the hell was he supposed to fix this? Lucifer was clearly willing to at least try and forgive him - Granted, they hadn't really spoken about any of what had happened. Lucifer seemed content not to, and Michael was genuinely dreading the conversation, himself.
Lucifer seemed content now, but Michael had to wonder if it was because he was still in shock. He had, after all, just reconciled with God. He'd probably had enough for one day after that, and Michael owed it to him not to make him more uncomfortable than he already seemed.
Michael owed that to him at the least. The very least.
He was relieved to see that Lucifer was beginning to relax, a smile back on his face as he spoke to Chloe. The former archangel sighed and bit his lip, nodding faintly in approval and glancing at Chloe curiously before turning back to the task at hand. Lucifer's gaze flickered toward him for a quick second when he started moving, but he didn't seem on edge anymore, so Michael kept his gaze down.
When he looked up again, Lucifer had relaxed completely and was now snickering at something Chloe had said to him, brown eyes wide and sparkling with amusement. Michael bit back a sigh of relief and looked down again. Maybe this wouldn't be as difficult as he'd originally thought. If anyone could help his brother through all of this, it was Chloe. Of course it was Chloe.
… But it wasn't just her, either. Michael definitely had a part to play. For now, however, keeping his distance - for the most part - seemed like a good option. He wanted Lucifer to feel comfortable again, but he doubted that his brother would be able to if Michael was always there. Sticking around, in his business like he had been the first few days.
But he had to be there sometimes, too, to show Lucifer that he wasn't gonna snap if his brother made some stupid, snarky comment or flashed him that mocking little smile. He felt comfortable enough to do those things at all, didn't he? That meant something - That had to mean something. His brother wasn't broken yet. If he was, he wouldn't risk pissing Michael off at all - Lucifer obviously dared to, he just braced himself for the consequences a little too late.
Not consequences, Michael thought bitterly, still staring down. He grabbed another handful of feathers, rubbing his thumb over one of them before stuffing the handful into the bag. Wrath. All of that anger, I took it all out on him, didn't I?
"This is absolutely ridiculous. Amenadiel's wasn't this messy."
"... It was, the first time. I believe Father was trying to make a point with this, anyway."
Michael shook his head, pulling himself out of his thoughts to listen to his siblings. He did look up for a second and turn his head to look at Ella, just to check and make sure she was alright. She was - She was smiling now, side by side with Chloe once more, and Chloe had apparently abandoned her conversation with Lucifer and was listening to whatever she was saying - Something about the former archangels.
Michael bit back a chuckle and looked back toward Lucifer and Amenadiel - The former of which had stopped working and set his bag down, and was now over at the bar seemingly seeing what he could recover from the broken glass. Amenadiel was still working, somewhat distractedly now as he spoke to Lucifer.
"That point being…" Lucifer paused, and grinned, managing to pull a somehow untouched bottle of some kind of liquid - Michael would assume was alcohol - out of the wreckage. "Wonderful. Anyway, that point being He wants His sons to get out of the house and get love lives."
Amenadiel spared him a slightly mockingly exasperated look. "There was more to it than that, but I believe that was the basic idea, yes."
Lucifer shrugged, and was now turning to look for something else - Probably something to pour the alcohol into. "It's still odd to me that He's attempting to play matchmaker, I won't lie. But I suppose I can't hate the man for it." He paused, looking up, and spun to face Amenadiel. "How much did you know about this plan of His?"
Michael raised an eyebrow, eyes flickering to Amenadiel, and he almost snorted at the expression on his face. "I didn't know anything, Luci."
Lucifer squinted at him, clearly disbelieving, and Michael watched Amenadiel throw his hands up in exasperation. He then watched a grin flash across Lucifer's face - Childish and taunting - And for a moment it was just like they were younger. Amenadiel had always been the one Lucifer was closest to. Well, Amenadiel, Gabriel, and Azrael. The four were practically inseparable.
Michael expected it to hurt, the realization that Lucifer was so much more comfortable with Amenadiel than he was with him, but it didn't. Instead, he felt relieved - At least Lucifer could feel comfortable enough to be himself around Amenadiel. At least one of his siblings hadn't failed him completely.
"Fine," Lucifer finally spoke up, waving Amenadiel away. "I suppose that was for the better anyway. You were always horrible at keeping secrets."
"That's not true," Amenadiel protested, narrowing his eyes. "I have secrets. I have several secrets."
"Oh?" Lucifer's grin only widened. Michael watched him silently, genuinely curious. He couldn't remember ever seeing that look on his face, so devilishly mocking, so taunting but playful at the same time. He was clearly teasing Amenadiel, and judging by the look on Amenadiel's face, his oldest brother was completely aware of it. "What secrets, then, hm?"
Amenadiel thought the question over for a second, and then - Michael thought he'd been surprised before - he smirked right back at Lucifer, offering a one-shouldered shrug, and replied smoothly, "if I told you, they wouldn't be secrets."
Okay, wow. Lucifer teasing Amenadiel - This, Michael understood. Amenadiel teasing back? The former archangel was actually pretty shocked. He couldn't even remember ever seeing Amenadiel smile the way he was now, not ever. It was amazing how much he was noticing, now. Not blinded by the emotions anymore, raging off of everyone else. Not overwhelmed. It was calm. It felt so calm.
He really had missed a lot. The second his powers had faded, everything became so much more clear.
Michael looked down for a second, and smiled to himself. Honestly, he'd been absolutely horrified by the idea of being mortal. Powerless. He'd been angry, hurt and terrified all in one - Not that he ever would have admitted any of this, not that he would have gone against his Father's wishes. Not that he could have done anything about it. But the emotions had been there, so clear and painful, but they had evaporated one by one. He couldn't be more glad to have had his powers stripped. No longer distracted by the emotions of everyone else, no longer feeling their emotions himself, he could focus on his own.
It was amazing, actually, how little anger was left. Anger had been the emotion he'd focused on for so long - The more predominant emotion in Heaven, actually. Among his siblings, there had been so much terror, so much rage. And all of it - Every last bit of it - Had gone straight to Michael. He'd been so focused on it before that he hadn't stopped to realize how little of it had actually been his own.
It felt… Refreshing. Not being angry all the time. Michael bit down on his tongue to keep himself from laughing out loud, amber eyes widening with relief as he stared down. No, he wasn't going to miss his powers. Not one bit.
"What's got you so smiley, angel boy?"
Michael blinked and looked up, distracted, then allowed a grin to flash across his face. Well, not that he could have fought it, anyway. But he didn't try. Instead, he dropped the bag of feathers to pull Ella into a hug, and she reacted easily enough by wrapping her arms around him and burying her face into his chest.
Michael closed his eyes, pressing his face into her hair and taking a deep breath. The past few hours had been absolutely terrifying. Michael hadn't realized how important Ella was to him until he was faced with the thought, the possibility of actually losing her. It was a horrifying thing - And it still scared the crap out of him, even now. And she was right there, in his arms, safe as ever.
Michael sighed and pulled his head back a little, but he kept his arms around her. Ella didn't move to pull back, either, simply turned her head so that her chin was against his chest, looking up at him, and the former archangel gave a weary smile. "I'm glad you're okay."
"Me too," Ella replied gleefully, a grin tugging at her lips, and Michael let out a slightly breathless chuckle. "For the record, though, I, like, totally could have fought him. If there had actually been danger. All he did was lock me in a hotel room and to be fair I could have gotten out."
Michael studied her curiously for a moment before speaking, honestly a little confused. "So then why didn't you?"
Ella's lips pressed into a firm line and she stayed absolutely silent for at least a minute or so, probably debating on whether or not to answer that. Then, clearing her throat, she casually turned her head to the side to look around the room. "Spongebob was on…?"
Michael frowned. He stayed silent, arms still wrapped around her, then pulled away and lifted one hand to rub the back of his neck. "Am I going to regret asking what Spongebob is?"
The stare Ella gave him was enough of a confirmation. Michael immediately changed the subject. "I, uh- Anyway-" He cleared his throat. "I still don't understand why I wasn't able to track you. I could sense Pierce easily enough, but you… you were off the radar…" He trailed off, frowning.
"Archangel warding," Lucifer piped up, sounding almost bored - Like he'd figured this out already. Michael blinked, turning his head to glance over at him. "Pierce told me he'd learned some new magic tricks. I wasn't aware he could screw with angels," he commented, then shook his head. "Anyways, that's most likely the case, so-"
And then he blinked, and abruptly stopped talking. Then his jaws snapped open, eyes screwing shut as he yawned and fell back against the bar, using one hand to balance himself against the counter. And, unfortunately, he ended up dropping the bottle.
Amenadiel caught it - Michael was impressed.
"Bollocks," Lucifer mumbled when he recovered, pressing the heel of his free hand into one of his eyes and keeping the other shut tightly.
"When's the last time you slept, Luci?" Amenadiel scolded, setting the bottle down on the counter and staring at his brother. Michael frowned, eyebrows knitting together as he watched Lucifer, who stayed silent for a while before eventually shaking his head and blinking his eyes open.
"About a three days ago, I'd say," Lucifer commented idly, stifling another yawn. "I've gone longer. I suppose it's finally catching up to me now, because I'm…"
"Mortal." Amenadiel facepalmed. "Lucifer-"
"Amenadiel," Lucifer interrupted, holding a hand up, palm facing toward his brother. "Spare me the lecture, I beg you. I don't plan on pulling anymore all-nighters."
"Why have you been?" Amenadiel demanded, grabbing Lucifer's wrist firmly but gently and pulling his hand down. Lucifer frowned, trying to twist away, but eventually gave up.
"That… Is a matter of unimportance." Lucifer looked extremely uncomfortable.
Amenadiel stared at him.
And Lucifer gave in after a few seconds, looking like a scolded child. "... I've been having some very unpleasant dreams," he said carefully, then rushed to speak when Amenadiel opened his mouth. "No reason not to sleep, I know! And I will. I have to, now that I've been…" A look of pure annoyance crossed his face. "Mortalized."
"You should have been sleeping anyway," Amenadiel grumbled, then let go of Lucifer's wrist and grabbed his shoulder instead, turning and steering him to where his room was.
"Why," Lucifer groaned, but he allowed Amenadiel to push him along - more or less. He didn't really move along with him, and Amenadiel was practically dragging him at that point. "Why are you like this?"
"Why are you?" Amenadiel retorted, plucking him on the back of his head, to which Lucifer responded by elbowing him in the shoulder. Michael watched the two go curiously, amber eyes flickering wordlessly as he gazed after them. Then, sighing, he turned back to the feathers still scattered along the floor, as well as the piles of glass shards - Which ranged considerably in size. Michael gazed at a few particularly large shards, an odd expression on his face.
He tried to remember what it felt like with them stuck in his back, slicing evenly through the skin, a few long shards in particular sticking out all the way through him, from his back to his stomach. He tried to remember what if felt like and he came up completely blank.
Which was probably a good thing, so, thanks, Dad.
Michael narrowed his eyes faintly, staring for a moment before moving past Ella, clasping a hand over her shoulder as he passed. He crouched down, scooping up a few more handfuls of the feathers and stuffing them into the bag. He stopped, however, when he felt someone staring at him, and albeit reluctantly, he turned his head and looked up to meet Chloe's stare.
Well. Glare, was more accurate. Michael blinked, lowering the bag slightly before letting it go altogether and standing up. "Is there a problem, Ms. Decker?" He asked steadily, shoulders twitching slightly as he fought to keep his posture relaxed, trying not to seem intimidated under the cold stare.
"Yeah. You." Chloe walked forward, crossing her arms over her chest and lifting her chin slightly, fixing him with a sharp glare. Michael blinked, easing back a little without really moving back. His expression turned slightly weary when she didn't stop, not until she was directly in front of him. "You may be an archangel, and I guess a pretty important one, at that, but let me make one thing clear." She dropped one arm and raised the other one, jabbing a finger against Michael's chest. "You. Ever. Hurt Lucifer again. And I will make you regret it."
Michael was genuinely starting to see what Lucifer saw in her. She was fierce. He also realized why he was scared of her, to an extent. "... Noted," he replied carefully, his gaze flickering away for a second, after Lucifer, then back down at where Chloe still had a finger pressed against his chest.
She pushed harder, and Michael winced. She wasn't done.
"And I don't think I have to warn you about hurting Ella, but I will anyway," she added slowly and deliberately. "Don't. Capiche?"
"Capiche," Michael sighed warily, a relieved look crossing his face when Chloe nodded, satisfied, and jerked her hand back before promptly spinning around and walking away from him, grabbing a half-empty trash bag along the way to continue cleaning up the feathers.
"She's overprotective," Ella said casually from beside Michael, who hummed faintly in agreement, shaking his head in bewilderment. Well, his brother had a good one. "But, I, uh, agree. With the Lucifer thing."
Michael blinked, looking back down at her. "I don't want to hurt Sammy, El," he told her quietly. "I've actually been trying to think of how I can…" He hesitated. "Reverse… the damage done."
Ella smiled slightly, wrapping her arm around one of his and giving a soft squeeze. "You'll figure it out, Mikey," she told him warmly. "And Chloe'll warm up to you. Eventually. In a few years. Probably," she added slowly, then grinned, eyes twinkling with amusement. Michael cracked a small smile and shook his head.
"Yeah, I-" Michael cut off when the sharp ding from the elevator caught his attention, whirling his head around to look. He stiffened when he saw Mazikeen step through, twirling one of her twisted blades in her hands idly and staring down with a look of complete boredom on her face. Then, he watched her stop, watched her eyes slowly flicker up, landing on the white and gold feathers.
"What the hell happened?" Mazikeen demanded, her grip on the blade seeming to tighten, and Michael suppressed a shiver, completely tense as he watched the demon. Then her eyes flickered up, landing on Michael, and she literally bared her teeth and started toward him. "What did you do-"
"Whoa, whoa, whoa, I didn't do anything!" Michael exclaimed, his voice raising considerably as he leaned back, pulling Ella along with him and trying to pull her behind him. Instead, she tugged him back and stepped forward, intercepting Mazikeen and raising her hands defensively, halting the demon in her tracks.
"Ellen!" Mazikeen protested, letting out a low, inhuman growl as her glare focused on Michael, lips curled back. "Move."
"Ella," Michael started tentatively, reaching to put a hand on Ella's shoulder, but he jerked back when Mazikeen lashed out at him abruptly.
"Don't touch her!"
"Can somebody call her off?!" Michael exclaimed desperately, holding one hand up in defense and glancing at Ella, who looked surprisingly calm despite the situation. Amused, actually. Chloe looked amused, too - And she certainly wasn't going to stop Mazikeen from ripping Michael apart, go figure… Oh, god, he was about to get killed by a demon.
Mazikeen pointed the blade at Michael and, in one quick movement, jerked Ella out of the way and shoved her toward Chloe. The former archangel whipped his head around, wide-eyed, but besides now looking irritated, Ella seemed fine.
Michael's attention was immediately directed to the demon in front of him, however, when Mazikeen stepped toward him and snarled. "Eyes on the enemy, Mikey," she sneered. "I won't ask you again. What. Did. You. Do."
"I didn't do anything!" Michael exclaimed, holding both of his hands up now. Mazikeen glared at him, spinning the blade wordlessly in one hand, and the former archangel sucked in a breath to explain. "Look, I didn't-"
"Where's Lucifer?" Mazikeen cut him off, her voice dangerously low, and then it clicked. Oh, Lucifer. Of course, she was angry with him - She was defending Lucifer! His little brother must have told her about him - Which would most certainly explain Mazikeen's initial reaction to learning who he was. Yes, this was all making sense. She was protecting her boss.
Michael opened his mouth, then snapped it shut when Amenadiel suddenly stepped in, walking into the room with his hands shoved into his pockets and his gaze fixed firmly on Mazikeen.
"Sleeping," he told the demon simply. "Down, Maze."
Mazikeen growled and grumbled, but she turned and threw the blade; It flew through the air and lodged into a wall, sticking there firmly along several other deep knife marks. Michael tried not to wince. "Fine," she spat, sending another glare toward Michael before turning to face Amenadiel completely. "What happened, then?"
While Amenadiel started to explain, Michael simply rubbed a hand down his face and turned his head to look over at Ella, who flashed him a slightly relieved and amused looking smile. Chloe actually looked somewhat disappointed, but she kept her expression neutral for the most part.
"Mortal…" Mazikeen mumbled when Amenadiel finished explaining, turning and looking Michael up and down. Then she grinned, quick and shark-like, and Michael took a few steps back. "Well, that should be-"
"Maze," Amenadiel sighed, narrowing his eyes.
"Come on!" Mazikeen objected, turning to face him again. "At least let me cut him up a bit. After what he's done, he deserves it!"
"I don't normally condone violence, but I agree with this," Chloe stated, raising one hand, and grinning when Ella firmly but gently slapped it down again.
"I disagree with this," Michael objected, and Ella hummed faintly in agreement, causing the former archangel to send her a slightly relieved look. Mazikeen narrowed her eyes and looked at Chloe, then Ella, then Michael, and then Amenadiel again before looking over his shoulder toward Lucifer's room.
"Fine. I'll wait until Lucifer wakes up. He'll decide." With that, Mazikeen whirled around and winked at Michael before turning back to Chloe. "I dropped the bounty off at the precinct." She turned and headed back to the elevator, flipping all of them off over her shoulder. "Text me when Lucifer wakes up!"
Michael had a feeling that this wasn't going to end well for him.
He also had a feeling that he was going to start hating being mortal again.
