Calling In a Favor

Lucifer Morningstar walked through the empty Los Angeles nightclub, twirling his pentecostal coin in the air. It hovered over his fingers with a supernatural essence that Lucifer loved to conjure at any moment he wished. That was the beauty of being the Devil. He had no rules to oblige to when he was topside on Earth.

That's why he had left Hell. He didn't want to have to follow his father's orders anymore. After an eternity of being pressed under the thumb of his father & accepting the burden of punishing the dead, Lucifer felt he deserved so much more in life. He wanted to be truly free, like the Devil should be. And he was free, here in L.A.

The only moments where he was not free, however, was when he was vulnerable. That was when Chloe was by his side.

Lucifer tossed his pentecostal coin up in the air once more & watched it hover in the air. He watched the coin spin slowly with such elegance. One side of the coin had an image of Jesus Christ being crucified in a triangle. The other had an image of an upside-down stair with the head of a minotaur within it. Lucifer scoffed softly. It reminded him of how humans had began to associate the Devil with the head of a goat. He abhorred goats. Lucifer grasped the spinning coin floating in the air with his hand.

And just as easily as he had grasped that coin, his father had placed his grasp around Lucifer again, robbing him of his freedom once more. He gave Lucifer the task of traversing across the Earth to, once again, capture one more soul. The worst soul there could be. The soul was that of a demon. It was the soul of Lucifer's mother.

Chills suddenly ran up Lucifer's spine. He was truly horrified of what awaited him in his new God-given mission.

But he couldn't do it without help.

Detective Decker was away on a vacation with sick days that she had saved up while working at the L.A.P.D. She had taken that miniature human of hers away. It was for their own protection, however. With all that happened with them & that dirtbag Malcolm, it was definitely in their best interest to spend some time away from the hellish city. Even if it meant spending time away from Lucifer.

Lucifer leaned up against the counter of the bar & sighed. He could protect them. He could protect Chloe & the little one. It was in his very nature. He had the power & the capability to do so. He would never let anybody harm them.

Lucifer scoffed softly to himself. He was fine. He would be okay on without the detective for a while.

However, he still needed assistance with the matter of his new escapee from hell. Amenadiel was following a lead out in Texas. Lucifer had no idea what his brother was going to find in the hot & dry South, but he sure as hell did not want to follow him down there. Lucifer was perfectly fine staying in the West coast. As for Maze...Maze was gone. She decided to find herself elsewhere, away from Lucifer.

Lucifer was alone.

"Oi!" called a familiar voice up from the entrance of Lux. "What's a handsome lad such as myself to do in order to get himself a drink, eh?"

Lucifer turned to the stairwell up above & watched the leading expert in the occult descend into Lux.

"John Constantine," Lucifer announced, as though he were greeting an old friend.

Constantine continued to make his way down the stairs, wearing his signature tan trenchcoat over his white button up with a loosely worn red tie around his collar. He had his hands stuffed in his coat pockets. Constantine approached Lucifer, never taking his eyes off of him. "Tell me why I shouldn't be slicing your throat right now & carrying you in a body bag straight into Hell?"

Lucifer laughed softly. "Because you know damn well that I would take you down too."

Constantine stopped inches from Lucifer. Constantine was a good few inches shorter than the Devil. Constantine was close enough for Lucifer to smell the cigarettes & alcohol on his breath. It wasn't even good alcohol.

The occult detective slowly brought his lips to a smirk & hugged Lucifer. "It's been a bloody long time, mate," Constantine said softly.

Lucifer patted Constantine on his back & led him closer to the bar. "Let's fix you up with a proper drink, shall we?"

Lucifer made his way around the bar & began to set out two glasses. He reached underneath the bar & pulled out a large bottle of rum. It was from the 18th century, back when Lucifer first encountered Freemasons & their devil worshipping rituals. It was a strange era for Satan.

"So," Constantine said as Lucifer poured him a drink. "What is Lucifer Morningstar doing back above ground? Here for another visit? Reaping a few more poor souls back to eternal damnation?"

Lucifer let out a laugh & finished pouring his own drink, then set the bottle down. He handed Constantine his drink & lifted his own drink up. "I, uh...I'm on vacation."

"Oh?" Constantine said, sipping his rum.

"Well, I was," Lucifer explained. "Matters got complicated. I met a human who made me mortal, I was robbed of my wings & destroyed them, & a smug little ass of a cop really gave me a hard time these past few months."

"Heh, cops," Constantine remarked.

"Yeah...cops," Lucifer said, his mind trailing off to Chloe. He took a sip of his rum & sighed.

"So who's running Hell?"

Lucifer glared up at Constantine. "Don't know, & don't care."

Constantine raised an eyebrow. "Wait...that means-"

"Yes, John, that is EXACTLY what it means."

Constantine eyed Lucifer for a moment. "Bloody hell," he gasped softly.

Lucifer shrugged. "It wasn't truly an issue for a while." Lucifer glanced down into his glass & finished the drink. He set the glass down & took a deep breath. "But now it is."

Constantine swirled the drink in his glass. "A soul has escaped, huh?"

Lucifer laughed sarcastically. "Oh, no, not just any soul. The soul of a bloody monster, John."

Constantine sighed. "So this is you, calling in that favor from all those years ago?" Lucifer nodded. Constantine sat forward & leaned up against the bar counter & crossed his arms. "I've recently come across an old friend of mine out on the East coast. She's an expert in mysticism & spiritual practices. Aside from her, I ran into a demon out in Chinatown of Gotham City. I had sex with one & tried to burn the other alive, but I suppose if I talk to them-"

"It's my mother," Lucifer sighed. "My mother has escaped Hell."

Constantine's mouth was slightly ajar. "Oh," he spoke softly. "That's...that's a hell of an issue, you're right, mate."

Lucifer let out a deep breath. "You can bring in whoever else you feel may be helpful to our...situation...but this isn't some lowlife little demon that snuck out by chance. No, John. This is truly a dangerous beast that we must capture."

Constantine bit his lip. "I suppose it's too late to say that I'm busy fighting the Rising Darkness, right?"

Lucifer rolled his eyes. "Rising Darkness. John, you & I both know that that's already been forgotten about."

Constantine nodded. "Okay. I'll give Zatanna Zatara & Rachel Roth a call. I came across an old friend of mine in Star City recently who's taken on the masked vigilante role. Perhaps he can be of assistance."

Lucifer shook his head. "We cannot bring mortals in on this. This matter must be left only to those capable of assisting us."

Constantine nodded. "I used to know a few angels. Perhaps we can-"

"No," Lucifer growled. "I don't want to get anywhere near one of your nephilim breed angelic dogs."

Constantine let out a laugh. He finished his glass of rum & set his glass down. "Lucifer, mate, I am saying this as a friend, you MUST let me get all of the help I can get."

Lucifer thought to himself for a moment. He was truly alone. Chloe, Amenadiel, Maze...they each had left him. For a short time, yes, but...Lucifer had no idea how much time he had left before his mother would strike.

Lucifer turned to Constantine. "Call in your favors, Constantine. You're right. We're going to need all of the help we can get."