A/N: So I updated Monster and that put it right alongside what I already had for Devil in Me so I guess I'll post this one! LOL

xoxo
Kuraki-chan

02: What Awful Things Happened in the Dark?

"So get this," Sam started, staring at his laptop; Dean came looking over his shoulder while eating a donut. "Zarya and Nick have been friends since basically birth. Apparently the Deightons are some old family friends or something. They'd always been good kids in school - model students, Nick's dad passed, Zarya started getting bullied in high school and guess who was her knight in shining armor?"

Dean rolled his eyes and replied with a mouthful of donut. "Nick."

"Yup. But they were never an item. He even ended up marrying a woman named Sarah and Zarya was the Maid of Honor at the wedding."

"Bitter?"

"Nope, so okay with everything she was made God mother of their daughter. She'd been working at the same diner the last five years and almost a year ago Nick was walking her home from a shift when Sarah and their baby were murdered in a home invasion. They were both equally heartbroken and depressed; Nick started to drink and Zarya started seeing a therapist. We pop Lucifer from the cage, Nick goes missing, and Zarya spirals."

Dean finished off the donut and wiped some frosting from his lip. "I couldn't find anything on her bruising and whatnot, not as bad as she had it. Some of it starts off as depression, dips into possessions and hauntings gone bad, but nothing so bad it looks like it's literally sucking the life out of her." There was a flutter of wings and he turned around with a smile. "About time, Cas."

The angel's eyes had already landed on Zarya's image on the laptop. Something in her greener than blue eyes felt familiar. "What is her name?"

"Uh, Zarya Deighton. Pike Creek, Delaware." Sam answered.

"That's not entirely correct but that is her, yes. She was meant to be Lucifer's mate."

The brothers exchanged wide eyed looks. "And just what the fuck does that mean, Cas?" The elder questioned.

"That girl was born to a very powerful bloodline just as you two were," Cas began. "But not the Deightons. That doesn't make any sense. She was made strong enough to likely survive even the childbirth of the second born archangel. Everyone had assumed since he was locked in the Cage that she would never be born."

Dean was still reeling from the information; Sam pulled it together to press on. "If Zarya really is Lucifer's mate," he nearly cringed, "what does that mean for her? Could it hurt her physically?"

"It can cause pain to both of them, actually. The further she is from him once he's taken a vessel the more it'll weaken each of them. It'll just show more on her human body. Her body should have known the second Lucifer was released from the Cage."

"But Sammy's supposed to be the bastard's meatsuit," Dean interjected.

"That likely doesn't matter anymore. Once Lucifer was released he would have felt that he had a mate - especially with his vessel being someone close to his mate - and sought her out. She'll give him strength. She's the part of his Grace that was stripped in the Fall. He could essentially take whatever vessel he pleases so long as he has her."

Sam spun around, looking up at his brother. "You remember Zarya saying she threw up at work and thought it was sloppy joe?"

"Then the bruises and weakness?" Dean snatched up his keys and jacket. "Let's see if we can get her before he does."

The Impala raced down the road, hastily trying to get back to Zarya's quiet street. They parked outside her house and walked quickly to the door, rapping a few times. When she took too long to answer they drew their guns and circled around the house, looking into whatever windows were open. Dean caught sight of an upstairs window and called to his brother. "It hasn't been frost weather," Sam commented, looking up at the window.

"And why would it only be on one window?"

The two raced back around front and tried to turn the knob, finding it locked. With one kick Dean had it open and they cleared the bottom floor before moving up. The heat kicked on and passed through the vents but a chill still came from the room at the end of the hall. Quietly they crept down and went into the room, finding it empty. The light was still on and a towel discarded on the floor. Sam commented that he had seen the clothes Zarya was wearing on the bathroom floor and another towel still damp but hung on the door. They both stared at the frost ridden window.

"We just missed them," the elder brother concluded bitterly.

Zarya's eyes fluttered open and slowly focused. She realized she was in a bed somewhere unfamiliar. She recalled putting on the pajamas she wore in her bedroom after Nick surprising her but nothing after. Her hair was mostly dry aside from having been slept on. She curiously got out of bed and her bare feet wandered until she found her blonde best friend sitting up over a desk full of papers and books. Her eyes found a clock on the wall behind him and noticed it was almost 7:30am.

She stood in the doorway and smiled softly. "And yet I was the one diagnosed with insomnia," she teased lightly. He looked up at her and smirked before looking back down. "What's so important?" She stepped cautiously into the little office. "Is it...is it about Sarah's murder…?"

For a moment he paused, still staring down but no longer reading. He started shuffling his things about on the desk until a spot in front of him was cleared. He waved the ravenette over and swiftly placed her on the desk in front of him. Leaning back in his chair he noticed the way her eyes shined more green than blue. "The best way I can break this to you is bluntly." She gripped the edge of the desk a little tighter. "Your best friend, Nick here, is just a vessel for an angel."

Her eyebrows raised. "Y-you're an angel?"

He shrugged, a playful smirk tugging at his lips. "An archangel, really. My name is Lucifer."

For a solid minute she just stared at him. Then she rubbed her eyes before dragging her hands along her face. "I don't remember drinking before going to bed. That was usually Nick's thing."

He chuckled which made her look at him again. "I assure you you're still as sane as normal and completely sober."

"You called me 'Rya'," she shook her head. "Only Nick does that. Ever."

"I'm aware of that. When he said yes to being my vessel I got to poke around in his noggin. Figured you'd prefer to have this discussion not in a towel." He smirked.

Zarya's cheeks turned bright pink but she did her best to ignore the comment. "If you're really who you say are, then what of Nick…?"

"I'm never going to lie to you, Zarya. Dean Winchester shot a gun called the Colt in an attempt to kill me. All it did was kill the human soul inside." He could see her breaking slowly.

"So angels and demons are real?" She asked in a small voice, changing the subject as best as she could. He nodded, not taking his eyes off of her once. She debated what she wanted to say, tossing it around in her mind a few times. The chain of events was too convenient; maybe he knew what happened to her. "When Nick went missing, that was because of you?" Another simple nod. "Do you know why that would have caused me to get so sick no doctor could find anything wrong…?"

That made him sit forward. "What do you mean by 'sick'? When?"

She explained what happened the night Nick was supposed to pick her up from work and how it nearly drained the life out of her until she took a shower and found him in her bedroom. Something in his eyes let her know he had a good idea what it was and it wasn't something silly. Something in his eyes screamed 'oh fuck' but 'fuck yes'. She wasn't sure if she should feel better or run.

Lucifer knew immediately what it was; it was the final piece of the puzzle he needed. He wasn't quite sure why he found Nick so quickly or why he had been so drawn back to the man's hometown. Most of his thoughts had been concerns about the ravenette, begging to make sure she was okay. He couldn't deny that Nick had a point in saying he was drawn back for a reason so he might as well check on Zarya. That's all he intended on doing was seeing the girl and letting her down easy, but the moment he laid eyes on her and felt something out of the ordinary he knew he needed to know more. He certainly wasn't let down.

"You haven't slept well at all, Rya." He smirked when she didn't say anything but her eyes got wide. "Why don't you lay down for a little while longer before we get into those kinds of things?"

"You know!" She jumped down, just barely taller than him sitting. "I've been living each day in agony with everyone around me telling me I've lost it. They've slandered Nick's name! You think you can just-"

With two fingers tapped to her forehead Zarya fell forward into his arms. He pulled her up and carried her down the hall back to the bedroom. Carefully he slipped her back into bed with the blankets pulled up around her. He was about to turn and leave but the way her dark hair fanned around her on the pillows caught his eye. The sun started to poke through the curtains and hit her hair just right for the locks to give off an indigo tint to the dark hair. Walking up closer to her he could see some remnants of purple beneath her eyes, literally watching as it vanished and her pale skin returned to normal. Without thinking his hand reached out, fingers ghosting gently against her pale cheek.

When Zarya awoke again she was much less calm. In fact, she stomped her bare feet down the hall that time, throwing open the door to the office. She was severely let down to find it empty. She stormed three more rooms in the apartment before realizing she was alone. Curiously she checked the door and found it kept shut with strange engravings in the wood. She made a face and looked out the window, finding herself on at least the fifth floor. With a groan she flopped on the couch and stared at the ceiling. After a few tosses and turns she heaved herself back up and started going through the entire apartment. In the kitchen she smiled when she found ice cream sandwiches in the freezer.

"Yeah, if you're going to use my best friend's nickname for me you better also have my favorite snack," she grinned.

Grabbing a couple she made her way back to the office and looked through all the books on the shelves. Somewhere in a language of symbols she'd never seen before. She found what she could in English about angels and demons; two more ice cream sandwiches and three hours later she was spinning around in the desk chair on a break. Blowing some hair out of her face once the dizziness had settled she forced herself up and grabbed another small stack of books and scrolls. It had been another three hours before the door creaked open.

Lucifer eyed her curiously with his arms folded over his chest. "What are you doing at my desk?"

Zarya rubbed her tired eyes. "Murdering my eyes slowly. I was that bored." She shrugged. She looked up at him and they just stared for a moment before he vanished. She had to rub her eyes again. By time she was done there was a flutter of feathers and he was in front of the desk with a pair of glasses extended to her. She blinked a few times and hesitantly reached out to take them. The last place she recalled them being was in the drawer of her nightstand. "Thank you," she told him with a soft smile.

His eyes caught the books surrounding her and his lips twitched towards a smirk. "I see you've been doing some light reading."

She grinned sheepishly, looking up at him. One of the books was the oldest looking bible she'd ever seen, greatly detailing Heaven and the angels and Lucifer's Fall. "I wasn't exactly religious before all of this so I figured I'd brush up. Is there actually any truth to any of this?" She tapped on the bible.

He seemed to relax, glancing down at the old book and back at her. "That one, yes. I stole it from Metatron's personal library some time muddled between the Fall and being locked in the Cage. It's just a matter of perspective."

"I ah, I actually get that." She shifted in the chair under his gaze. "I mean, what deity in their right mind would bow to humanity - creatures that have to be painfully taught to do so much as shower and use deodorant? Over and over in each scripture humans make sacrifices to deities because they're so unworthy and trying to appease someone of a higher power. Why is it such a different concept for angels? Why would any of you want to bow to beings who can't do a pinky's worth of what you can do when there's the almighty creator of literally everything who's got even more power than his angels? Shouldn't it be that way, looking up to the creature that has more power than you? It's why humans have pets like cats and dogs." She made a face. "Okay more so dogs because cats are assholes but I'm rambling like a fool." She grinned sheepishly again and rubbed the back of her neck, constantly flipping her legs around or playing with her bare feet.

He stared at her with disbelief for a solid minute. He certainly hadn't expected that to be her rant but he was caught from start to finish. While she talked he noticed all the little things that brought so much more truth to her words. The way she kept shifting in the desk chair, curling her toes around the others, twirling some of her hair or tapping her nails on the arm rest; the more she spoke the more pink her cheeks became like she was doing a presentation for a crowd. She was genuine, speaking directly from what she felt after just reading his old books. No wonder his vessel liked her so much. How strange that he never went for the girl; it might have made things a little easier for the archangel.

Nevertheless, Nick had held her in high regard. As soon as Lucifer stepped into the vessel he was bombarded with thoughts and memories of that particular ravenette. They had even gone to their senior prom together as friends. Did he truly think there was no chance he stood with Zarya? Even with Nick dead from the gunshot he was still overwhelmed on the daily with the strangest of feelings towards that one girl. And there she was, sitting in his chair, in fuzzy pants and a decently low cut grey long sleeve, agreeing with why he rebelled against all of Heaven. He wasn't sure if he should be irritated or pleased but the more he stared at those oddly green blue eyes twinkling back up at him the more he understood why he found Nick for his vessel first.

After what felt like forever to Zarya, Lucifer sighed. "Go get dressed."

She quirked a brow, head tilted to the side similar to when angels do it. "With what? My imagination? I still don't even know where this place is but it doesn't have my closet."

He had to resist an involuntary smirk at her sharp tongue. Calmly he walked around and leaned against the desk next to her, staring down at her playfully. "Go to the bedroom and get dressed, Rya."

She made a face that nearly made him chuckle before dramatically standing up. She thought she was saucy until she realized just how much shorter she still was. Rolling her eyes she made her way past him and grumbled out the door. He didn't miss the scent of cherry blossom in her hair and vanilla off her skin. Begrudgingly Zarya made her way back to the bedroom and her eye twitched when she saw her black suitcase on the bed. "You're an asshole!" She shouted down the hall before sifting through the clothes.

She had decided on a clean bra and pair of pair of panties beneath some black jeans when she heard Lucifer in the doorway. She pulled out a shirt and made a face, shoving it back into the bag. He chuckled watching her go through the clothes as he leaned against the doorframe. She paid him no mind just as she normally would with Nick. He watched her hips go up and down each time she shifted weight, her dark waves cascade over the bare skin of her back, and each time she got frustrated and tapped her fingers on her hips.

"Why not the red one?" He questioned boredly.

"Because my eyes are too disgustingly green and it makes me look like Christmas." He actually started to laugh at that and she whipped around, still only just in a black bra. "It's not funny! I've been barred from wearing the color red except in December. It's unfair. I always wished my eyes were more blue than this stupid green. I don't even know where it comes from - both my parents have fucking brown eyes." She spun back around to go through the rest of the clothes, hair going entirely over one shoulder.

Lucifer let out one last snicker when something on her shoulder caught his eye. Quietly and carefully he stepped forward to try and get a better look without disturbing her. "From what I understand," he spoke to keep her busy, "women aren't usually this calm around people when exposed."

She shrugged. "Nick and I have been friends for a long time and I've never been ashamed of my body, just how green my eyes are. I started to really hate myself in high school and was always the last to use the locker room so nobody would see me. Nick told me straight out I was being a little bitch because I was beautiful. After gym a couple days later I started to get ready with the rest of the girls and one of the mean girls ripped my towel right off of me in front of everyone. Stark naked in front of about twenty other girls."

"Yeah?" He snickered. "What'd you do - grab the towel and run?" Ah, there it was; it looked like a birthmark. Just a little closer…

Zarya smirked and held up an indigo blouse. "I marched up to her butt naked and broke her nose. Then I paraded myself around the locker room without a towel until I was ready."

An arrow… There it was, forever imprinted into the pale skin of her shoulder like a birthmark. Her birthright. It had been so long since he'd seen that arrow; were there more on the Earth like it still? He had clearly missed something and needed to know why the arrow appeared on Zarya. He had a good idea to test if it were true or not. The indigo fabric concealed the mark on her skin but he didn't move away from her. When she turned and he was so close she jumped.

All she could see every time she looked at him was Nick. It was strange, staring into the eyes of the devil and still seeing someone so genuine and caring staring back. She knew Nick had to have made the decision under the pretense that she would be safe. Nick wouldn't have left her unprotected, and who better than to protect her if it was Lucifer using his body? Maybe this was all some stress induced dream and she'd wake up to Nick trying to wake her for work or she'd be late for her shift…

"Dean Winchester shot a gun called the Colt in an attempt to kill me. All it did was kill the human soul inside."

Something in her tweaked but she refused to allow it to show. Regardless, Lucifer still knew. He heard the sentence echo vividly from her mind. He was getting to her already. He needed to know more; he had to be positive she was who he thought. What better way than combat? A smirk crept its way onto the archangel's face. "I recommend closing your eyes."

"What for?" Zarya questioned cautiously.

"People don't generally care for this part."

Her eyes widened as he moved to jab her forehead again and clamped shut just before they touched her. She felt an icy wind whip around her and vertigo hit her violently. He caught her when she fell forward, holding her protectively. When everything stopped moving he made sure she was steady on her feet. She blinked a few times, gathering herself and finding them in a woodsy clearing somewhere she didn't recognize. "What are we doing here?"

"Well sweetheart I can't exactly have you being a damsel in distress," he smirked and a silver blade slipped from his sleeve into his hand. "You've got to train." He flipped the blade in his hand, handing her the hilt with an engravement on it. She recognized the engravement from the scriptures she had read; it was Lucifer's sigil.

Zarya's hand reached out for the blade hesitantly. There was an unnatural chill in the air. All she could think about was Nick.

"All it did was kill the human soul inside."

Before her skin touched the cold blade she stopped. "What exactly am I supposed to do with this if I take it?"

Lucifer chuckled and moved his hand upwards, pressing the blade into the palm of her hand and wrapping his fingers around hers. She swore she felt electricity shock her. "Kill anything that comes at you without letting go of my angel blade." In the blink of an eye he was gone.

She stood in the middle of the field gaping, hand clutched tightly around the icy blade.

"Dean Winchester shot a gun called the Colt."

The wind picked up, almost chilling her to the bone. She spun around in various directions, finding a handful of men in dark suits surrounding her. Each one she looked at she watched their eyes turn entirely black.

"It killed the human soul inside."

Frost started to spread across the grass and trees. One of Zarya's irises turned bright green, the other bleeding to black. She lunged at the first demon ballsy enough to go at her. The ravenette danced and slashed with the blade, demon blood splattering across her pale skin and clean clothes. Across the field Lucifer stood, just watching. He was impressed with her agility and strength when she'd never really fought before. Not demons at least. He must have really gotten under her skin telling her about Dean and the Colt.

She was doing so well until one of the last demons who hadn't been killed or fled got angry enough that he got the upper hand. Zarya defended herself well until he sent her flying to the ground. Still, she never let go of the blade. The demon got on top of her, trying to smack the blade from her hand. She fought back, pushing against him. The silver tip touched his cheek, scolding it, and he realized her eyes. He realized who she was, giving her the upper hand back. She got a cut across his face before he vaporized into dust, Lucifer standing above her with pride.

Zarya stared up at him, blood still dripping all over her. Her indigo tinted hair was sprawled out on the grass similarly to how it was across her pillows. Lucifer watched her dual colored eyes fade back into her normal green blue. He watched her bottom lip tremble as she realized what she had done. He slowly bent down, slipping his arms beneath her shoulders and knees, and picking her up. The blade never slipped from her hand. He could hear the thoughts and memories of Nick plaguing her innermost sanctum. They were almost on a loop.

He pulled her close to his chest as he walked, a smirk creeping its way onto his lips as Zarya's mind screamed. Her eyelids grew heavy and closed slowly, Lucifer's voice echoing above each of her precious memories, reminding her ever so painfully.

"Dean Winchester shot a gun called the Colt in an attempt to kill me. All it did was kill the human soul inside."