For thirtyspells on tumblr. She asked for abused!Lucifer. So, obviously trigger warning for implied and glazed over abuse.
Otherwise, this fits into my girlfriend's Supernatural school!AU.
Details after drabble
The foster system isn't much kinder than their house had been.
Everyone seems to be afraid of Michael and… he thinks they'd probably be more scared of Lucifer if he'd stop running to hide behind his big brother.
It's not that Lucifer can't fight back, necessarily; it's the constant threat of being separated. Because when Lucifer does fight back, that's when the attendants show up; that's when the other kid will put on the water works and Lucifer will be dragged into the front office, kicking and screaming. Michael will wait just outside the door for his brother and glare at the door when he hears the adults threaten to separate Lucifer from Michael if he doesn't stop picking fights. They don't seem to care Lucifer's more bruised than the "poor kids" he "attacks".
Michael tries to tell them; really, he does. He's gotten dragged into the office with his brother a few times because he'd yell at the adults and tell them that Lucifer didn't start it; that the other kids were hitting him (sometimes both of them) first.
And he's always told to stop encouraging his brother's violence. They won't take either of them seriously; not when they're both still black and blue from their house.
Michael isn't as battered as his twin; he'd learned early on to fall into line and keep the noise to a minimum until left alone. Lucifer had never been so complacent; he would try to get away, he'd raise Hell well through the night, and… Michael couldn't do anything. A few times, he could take his brother's place; only a few, though. Because the second he did, Lucifer would just start back up and they'd both end up worse for wear.
He'd hoped that being taken away would make it better.
That Lucifer would calm down and they'd be just a little bit happier.
But they aren't. The older kids pick on both of them. The older kids from houses like theirs single them out. Fresh meat, still bruised and broken; nothing that will go noticed.
The older kids thought they would be easy targets. The couldn't have been more wrong.
Michael remembers getting in trouble on their first day. Because someone had dared to shove his brother off the swing set (the tiny pebbles that made up the playground had skinned Lucifer's knees and elbows horribly—tearing at finally scabbed scratches and digging newer scratches into fresh, tender bruises; it had been enough to make his little brother cry) and Michael hadn't hesitated for a second to beat the older boy into the ground.
He'd been put in a solitary room to "think about his behaviour" for a few hours and told he could play with the other kids again when he apologised for his behaviour.
He still hasn't apologised; but, he doesn't care. They don't mess with him and they only mess with Lucifer if he's not around.
Lucifer, on the other hand, did try to behave. He really did; he wanted a nice home for him and his big brother and he knew that the kids who were bad didn't get to go to nice homes. He knew the kids who acted out stayed longer and longer until no one even wanted to consider adopting them anymore.
But it never failed.
There was always a few minutes every day where he and Michael weren't glued at the hip.
Always a few minutes they got separated.
And when they did, he always got singled out.
He didn't mind the insults or even the shoving and hitting—that he'd been living with for as long as he could remember.
It's when they started insulting Michael. No one insulted his big brother.
And then Michael would show up. And the adults wouldn't be far behind.
He tries to tell them—he even admits to the occasions he throws the first punch—but they just tell him, repeatedly, that if he doesn't start behaving, he's going to be separated from Michael.
Someone's going to adopt his big brother and not him; because Michael is the good brother that does as he's told and doesn't start trouble.
And Lucifer will go quiet until they let him leave. Michael's always waiting for him outside the door and, instead of going back outside or to the dinner table, they'll go up to their room. No one comes to check on them, no one bothers them; one of the adults will pass by to tell them it's time for lights out and come to wake them up in the morning. Otherwise, they're left alone.
[o]
It's been a long day.
One of those days that Michael hadn't wanted to be around any of the other kids and Lucifer had been more anxious than usual. (Michael thinks it's because "adoption day" is coming up; that day where they take all the kids to meet potential foster parents and something always goes wrong. Always.)
And, right now, he just wants to sleep… and he almost does drift off; but, a tiny hand is pushing at his shoulder, insistently, until he finally rolls onto his side and gives his brother a half awake glare.
"You'll get in trouble if they find you out of bed."
Lucifer's clutching the pillow from his bed with one hand and the one that had been pushing Michael is clinging to Michael's bed. He's giving the puppy eyes and Michael's pretty sure he knows what's coming.
"I wanna sleep with you."
"We're eight, Luce. You need to get used to sleeping in your own bed." Even with the words, he's already starting to move over. Lucifer just keeps him fixed with a terrified expression; and, now that Michael's a little more awake, he can tell his brother's been crying, "…Luce?"
"Had a bad dream. Don't wanna sleep alone." His brother tries to give a pitiful whine; he ends up hiccoughing and clinging tighter to his pillow, "Mikey."
Michael finally scoots over and raises his blankets enough that Lucifer can crawl into his bed. It takes a few minutes for Lucifer to stop squirming; but, as soon as Michael settles back down on his back, his brother immediately scoots closer and curls into a ball in his side, with his face pressed into Michael's shoulder and one hand clinging desperately to his shirt. Michael just sighs and tries to shift enough that he can get his arm out from under his brother and turns so their foreheads bump. He grips his brother's hand, tightly, in reassurance, "M'not leaving you, Luce."
"They said y'were. Yer gonna get'dopted an' m'not." Lucifer mumbles back, clinging tighter when another, vague, hiccoughed sob bubbles by his lips.
"Love to see 'em try'n send me off without you."
Lucifer gives a weak laugh and Michael gives his forehead a quick kiss, "Go to sleep, Luce."
"M'kay…."
[o]
The other kids are all running around, playing with each other, and playing with the adults that show interest in adopting them. Michael hangs back, one hand in his pocket and the other one being subjected to his brother's death grip. Lucifer hasn't calmed down at all; he's crawled into Michael's bed every night for the past week and he probably hasn't slept for more than four hours a night.
To say he's anxious would be an understatement.
Surprisingly, nothing's gone horribly wrong yet (none of the kids throw anything at them, no one shoves them; he considers this a relatively good day)… but, the second a man approaches them, Michael's immediately suspicious. Lucifer's grip on his hand, if possible, gets even tighter and Michael has to grind his teeth to keep from yelping or prying his hand free.
The man's a little bit older than the other parents, with dark skin. A woman joins him soon after and—to both their surprise—she's smiling at them. Lucifer loses his grip a little and Michael knows his brother's just as confused as he is.
The man kneels, "You two aren't going to join the others?"
Lucifer locks up again and Michael scowls, "No."
"Why not, love?" The woman leans over a bit, kind smile still on her face, "You two deserve a home just as well as the rest of them."
"They don't want us over there and we don't want to be over there, anyways. They'll just pick on my brother." Michael's not sure if he's angry they're trying to drag them into socialising or still suspicious of their motives. Probably a little bit of both; the suspicion is starting to win a bit, especially so when the man nods.
"And your names are?"
"M'Lucifer." Lucifer doesn't normally speak up. His voice is quiet and Michael can't tell if he's answering in fear of reprimand or in hopes the couple will leave if they cooperate, "S'Mikey.."
"Michael." He corrects automatically; Lucifer's the only one that gets to call him Mikey.
The man nods, politely, and offers a smile that Michael assumes is supposed to calm them, "I'm Joshua. I've been speaking to your case worker—"
"I'm not leaving without my brother." They sound at the same time; Michael's voice is more forceful, whereas Lucifer just sounds terrified (he knows Michael's more likely to get adopted). Surprisingly, the man gives a chuckle and they both fall back to confusion.
"I wouldn't dream of it, boys. My wife and I want to give you a good home. Both of you."
"… Why?" Lucifer looks as confused as Michael feels; no one's ever shown interest in them before (either because of the black eyes or bruised arms or bruised knuckles; it's always something).
"Everyone deserves a chance to have a good home." Joshua's still smiling, still patient, "As I said. I spoke with your caseworker." He lets his gaze drift to Lucifer, "She says you claimed to have started some of the fights."
"I only started it because they were making fun of Michael." Lucifer's tense again and Michael just gives his hand a vague return squeeze to calm him down, "M'the only one allowed to make fun of m'brother."
"I believe that." And they're back to confusion. They look at each other, then back at Joshua; he just continues to smile, "I asked the other boys, too. No one gets so loud and defensive when they're innocent. Much like yourself; you don't raise your voice and you don't carry yourself the way they do."
Michael has to physically bite down a growl when Joshua tilts both of their head (he sees his brother flinch and it takes a good deal for him not to copy).
"I see a pair of very scared young boys that have the potential to be strong. I see determination and pride waiting to be released. If, of course, you wish to come home with us. Adoption doesn't work very well if you don't want to be adopted, wouldn't you agree?"
Michael just blinks and throws his brother a bewildered look. Lucifer looks just as lost for words as he is; but, he still gives a slow nod like he can't believe this is actually happening. Michael can't really believe it either; but, he nods, too.
"Wonderful." Joshua gives them both a fond, surprisingly gentle, pat on the head when he stands, "Let us go deal with the paperwork and we'll be home free, aye?"
When the man and his wife walk away, it takes a few seconds for Michael to register what just happened. He still hasn't released his brother's hand and, ultimately, it's Lucifer's voice that finally breaks the daze.
"We're goin' home, Mikey." He sounds uncertain; like he isn't sure he's allowed to say the word, "…Sounds strange don't it?"
Michael puts on a practiced smile and hugs his brother as tight as he can without hurting him, "We'll get used to it, I think."
And, for the first time in a long time, Lucifer gives him a bright, hopeful smile.
And then my brainpan aborted mission.
But uh. In the mentioned AU, most of the angels (Michael, Lucifer, Anna, Gabriel, Balthazar, Jimmy (I think?) and Cas) are adopted and living with Joshua. (His wife dies early on in the 'verse. Not really a spoiler, just… she's not really important, but she was alive when Michael and Luce were adopted so she kind of needed a minor mention.)
I've only got backstory headcanon for the two sets of twins and kind of Gabs. I'm working on the others;;;
…And, honestly, I can't remember if Jimmy's in this 'verse with Cas or not, so uh… yeeeeeah.
…This is still surprisingly tame compared to what I usually write.
I need to correct this.
I should also do more backstory for this 'verse. Eventually. I might post it if interest is shown but... we'll see.
Also, please check my profile; I am taking fic requests right now and I'd be very happy to see what people want to see more of.