Dean grunted as the little foot slammed as hard as it could into his shin, immediate reaction being to reach for the abused area, hands clamping around it, jumping on his one foot as he tried to steady himself. He hated this kid. Hated him.
"Dammit!"
He grinned at his pain, giggling to himself silently, scooting back a few steps. If he'd thought having him this small would change anything, would make him easier to deal with, he though wrong.
"You little-"
"Lucifer."
It was the hunters turn to smirk, and the he was grimacing as he rubbed at his throbbing ankle, he couldn't do anything to the little shit. Couldn't lay a hand on him.
But He could.
The little blonde stiffened at the tone, going ramrod straight, face taking on something inornately innocent as he turned to look over his shoulder at the only one who could reign him in.
"Hi Daddy!"
Chuck raised a naturally perfectly trimmed eyebrow, "Yes, hi,", and crossed His arms over His chest, "Did you just kick him?"
He turned to look over at the hunter and shook his head, "Nope."
"Don't lie to me mister."
"I'm not!"
Chuck took one look at the hunter, giving the man a pointed look, His eyes turning back to the archangel, "If I asked him the same question do you think he'd give me the same answer?"
Lucifer shrugged, clearly not caring in the slightest, he'd gotten his kick in. He was satisfied. Dean rubbed his ankle one last time and straightened up again, smiling smuggly at the little angel, turning his attentions back to the Father.
"No. I would not."
"I know Dean," Chuck uncrossed His arms stepping into the room, "I know. It was a retorical question."
He picked the small angel up, resting him on His hip for a moment, and turned to deposit him in the corner.
"Corner time for you. Don't lie to Me."
Dean coughed.
"And don't kick people."
Lucifer whined, stomping a little foot on the floor, throwing himself around again. He didn't want to go stand in the corner. The corner wasn't fun. There wasn't any snacks or cartoons or coloring to do. So what if he'd kicked the mudmonkey, he didn't really do anything bad!
"But Daddy! No! Don't wanna!"
He made to step forward, away from his corner, a finger pointed down at him sternly.
"Don't you dare step out of that corner. You stay there until said otherwise, turn."
"But-!"
Chuck shook His head, "Nose. In corner. Now. Or we can add more time."
Lucifer whined and turned, a mini tantrum in his wake, but turned into his corner.
Now, you're probably wondering what they're doing here, Chuck in the bunker and with miniturized Lucifer of all people. Well, long story short, Amara and Chuck had made up. She decided She wanted to explore the universes Her Brother had made. He had been excited to be with His Sister again, feeling Her without the Mark muffeling it. But He'd put His children on the back burner far too long and decided He'd finally do right by them.
Starting with him.
Lucifer had been hurt during the fight, badly injured, his grace was way out of wack. Expanded beyond what it should ever have been allowed to. Mending the physical injuries had been nothing, a piece of cake, but mending the grace was another matter. It took a bit more time, a bit more focus, more attention to detail.
So Chuck had done what He'd thought was best for everyone.
Turned Lucifer back into a fledgling.
...
"Lucifer it would be easier, on you, and on Me."
The blonde angel struggled to stand tall, but curled in on himself in pain, arm coming up to cradle his midsection.
"No. It was a demeaning time! I'm not reliving that."
Chuck heaved another sigh, rubbing a hand down His face, through His hair, "Son be reasonable."
"No."
But one can't really tell Him what to do and what not to do, not when He had already made His decision, Lucifer could protest all he wanted but at the end of the day what He said was how it was going to go.
It was fact.
"Well then it's good I don't need your permission."
Lucifer had no time to react as his Father raised His hand to snap His fingers. His eyes widened as the world began to spin, he gave a sharp cry of pain when his bones shifted, they molded and shrunk, bending and reshaping. His hair thickened, lengthening, curling into blonde ringlets.
Raising a hand to his face he watched as the fingers bent and creaked, growing smaller in size, his hand shrunk before his very eyes. He looked up, only a moment ago he'd been able to stare into his Father's eyes easily, now he looked upwards. Tilting his head back to meet His eyes.
Looking down, he stared at his tiny toes, wiggling them into the soft grass of the meadow he'd run to after Amara had ejected him from Castiel's vessel.
He looked very visually similar to the human personification of the cherub. As if he'd come right off the canvas itself. Pale pasty skin, bright blue eyes, blonde bobbing ringlets.
Looking himself over, Lucifer made a soft noise, he was truly a fledgling again all the way down to the fledgling tunic.
"Luci? Son?"
He looked up, bright cherubic eyes watering, "How do you feel son?"
Lucifer whined softly, everything ached, and in the childish solving to such a problem of wanting comfort to be rid of the aching he raised his hands to be picked up, "Huurrrrttttssss!"
Chuck smiled softly to Himself, having almost forgotten how much the archangel had craved physcial contact as a fledgling, and bent to scoop him up. Lucifer curled around Him his little fingers clutching at His jacket tightly.
"It hurt?"
The little one nodded, sniffling into His neck, "Hurt Daddy!"
Father smiled again, rubbing a hand down the back of his soft head, fingers threading into the curls.
"I'm sorry little one but it'll pass in a moment."
He rubbed his back softly, taking a moment to enjoy this feeling for what it was, He'd been so fine with leaving them all but this feeling here, holding a little angel in His arms again. He loved it. The warm weight in His arms. The teeny fingers kneading into His shoulder. He missed it more then He thought He did.
...
And they'd shown up a day later in the kitchen.
Chuck was behind the range top again, flipping a golden pancake in the air, smiling at the excited sounds from the little one sitting on the other side. Sam rubbed a hand over his face, doing a double take, almost not believing his eyes.
"Chuck...Who is-"
"Hi Sammy!"
Lucifer. Now he most certainly did a double take. There was no way that little boy there was Lucifer. The one who haunted his worst nightmares. Who had done such terrible things to him in the cage. Not the runt of a boy sitting at the island chewing on pancake pieces.
Chuck smiled at him, passing him a plate of scrambled eggs and toast, "Lucifer don't talk with your mouth full."
"Sorry Daddy!"
He reached over the range to tap the little nose in rebuff, Lucifer giggled and shied away, chewing on another piece of syrup covered pancake. Sam set the plate down, a good three seats away (not more as it only had four) and gave Him a look.
"What is he doing here? And why is he so...So happy?"
Never had he ever thought he'd use Lucifer and 'happy' in the same sentence, without the words 'never' and 'is' between them.
Chuck set a glass of orange juice in front of him, looking over at Lucifer for a moment, "He is healing.", He turned his gaze back around to the hunter, "He was a happy child."
"Does he...?"
"Remember? Some things. There was a lot to fix. So I figured we should just start over."
Sam opened his mouth, then closed it, open again, and closed once more. Of course Lucifer had been a happy child. Of course. Because every genocidal maniac who lived the embodiment of evil started out life as a happy child.
"What? Chuck. You can't just start over!", he got a look for his opinion, "You can't do that!"
"Why not? I can do anything."
The little one finished his last pancake piece, set his fork down, and hopped down from the stoll.
"Done Daddy! Can I go play now?"
Chuck nodded, patting his little soft head, "Yes you can go play."
Lucifer giggled, hugged His legs, and scurried away. Chuck smiled as He watched him go and Sam cursed. He still wasn't a fan of Lucifers.
But damn was he cute.
...
"CHUCK!"
Dean's shout reverberated across the walls of the bunker, pulling everyone away from what they were doing, and in the direction of the garage. Sam was pulled away from his books in the library, what with Chuck back in the picture doing whatever is was God did, he had more time to simply read and he was taking full advantage.
Chuck met them both in the garage, coat on, hands gloved. Whatever He'd been doing was clearly not inside the warm bunker.
"Yes Dean."
The elder hunter made a wild hand gesture towards his car, and Sam pressed a hand to his mouth to hide his smile, someone (though they all had their ideas as to who it had been) had turned the Impala hot pink.
"My baby! Look at what your little angel did to it!"
Chuck raised an eyebrow, looking up towards the ceiling, "Lucifer."
He caught the little giggly fledgling up, settling him on his hip, fixing him with a stern look.
"Lucifer, son, did you have something to do with this?"
Little Lucifer looked over at the pink car and giggled again, nodding, "Yes Daddy!"
They all blinked in surprise.
"You did?"
He nodded, giggling to himself, picking at His beard with little fingers.
"Uh-huh! He said I was a girl 'cause he said I was wearin' a dress! Soo I turn'd his car pink!"
Chuck smiled, "You little stinker," tickling his side playfully. Lucifer giggled and twisted around trying to block His practiced fingers.
"Chuck!"
He looked up, rolled His eyes, fine fine, snapping His fingers He changed the Impala back to it's appropriate color.
"Luci aplogize for messing with his car."
"No! Mudmonkey deserve'd it!"
Chuck wiggled His fingers slightly and the fledgling giggled again, squirming, "I sorry! I sorry!"
"Good boy."
"Chuck!"
He looked up, rolling His eyes again, bouncing the little guy on His arm, "What Dean? What more do you want me to do?"
"Oh, I don't know! Why don't you...Hmm...Punish him?"
"And why would I do that?", He looked down at His happy little fledgling Lucifer giggled up at Him and reached up to tug at His beard, "He said sorry. You're sorry? Aren't you?"
The little one giggled, nodding happily, "Yes Daddy! I sorry!"
Dean didn't look convinced though. That was not parenting. Kid did wrong. It didn't matter that he'd said he was sorry for his wrong deed, he did it, he had to be punished for it.
"See this is why all your kids don't listen to you."
"What?", Sam looked between them both. Dean was not known for his subtlety but saying such a thing to someone like God was not the best idea he'd ever had. He wasn't sure he liked how He was looking at his brother. It was assumed that it was best not to piss God off.
"You don't punish them enough!"
"I don't punish them enough?", He hyked the fledgling up on His hip and turned completely, "I locked him in a cage for most of his adult life. And you're saying I don't punish him enough?"
Lucifer didn't like that Daddy was mad now, he didn't like that He wasn't playing with him anymore, and he didn't like this mean man for making his Daddy mad "Hey! You stop! You bein' bad! Daddy gonna 'pank you!"
Sam smiled at the high pitched scolding from the little guy, "He's going to what?"
Chuck smiled down at the fledgling, bouncing him again, mood completely flipped.
"Spoil the child. Spare the rod."
The elder hunter grumbled to himself but let it go. He wasn't getting anywhere there.
"Daddy can we go back outside now?"
"Yes we can little one."
Lucifer cheered, squirming to be put back down, and scurried up the stairs once he was set on his feet. Chuck shook His head fondly.
"So what are you guys doing outside?"
...
Little fingers curled into His shirt sleeve as He tried to set the little one down for a nap. Lucifer whined and curled closer, for one so small, his grip was unbreakable.
"Luci it's nap time."
"No Daddy! Dark! Alone! No!"
He shook His head, sitting on the side of the bed settling the little one on His lap, "Luci how about this? If I stay in here with you until you fall asleep will you take a nap?"
Lucifer seemed to contemplate it for a long moment, and eventually nodded his agreement, that sounded like a good deal if he ever heard one.
"Daddy will you tell me a story too?"
Chuck chuckled to Himself, laying back in the pillows and settling the little one in His side, Lucifer pulled the blanket up over himself and cuddled close.
"And what story would you like to hear?"
"Can you tell me about's the one when it was just you and Auntie! And you made the moons and stars and you weren't lookin where you was going and ran into them!"
Of course he'd remember the time before, when Him and Amara still got along, well, before all of this. And of course he'd remember that story. Chuck smiled, poking at his belly playfully, "You like hearing about Daddy being a silly don't you?"
Lucifer nodded and giggled. He snuggled down as the story began and laid his head on his Parent's chest.
He was sound asleep by the fifth word.
