The next day was a rush of events. Natalie and Lucifer had decided to act as quickly as possible to find the missing archangel and had purchased plane tickets for the next flight to Alaska and booked a reservation for a hotel closest to the airport.

Natalie sat at the kitchen bar, a steaming mug of coffee next to her, while she reviewed all their information on her laptop. She was still wearing her pajamas, as it was only seven in the morning, but she had already packed a suitcase full of clothes and necessities. Their flight would leave at two PM that day.

She hummed in thought and reached up to scratch at her head, hair piled atop her head in a messy bun, and stretched. The bar stool was not the most comfortable of places to sit for extended periods of time but she did not want to sit on the couch for fear of falling asleep. As she recalled the exhaustion she felt, she reached for the full cup of coffee. It was filled with enough cream and sugar to hide the bitterness to her preference and soothed her tired body as soon as the first sip slid down her throat and hit her stomach.

Lucifer stood by the sink, leaning against the counter with crossed arms, staring off in the backyard through the window. He wore his new favorite pair of sweatpants and a simple white v-neck shirt. Natalie had requested he not walk around shirtless as she often had guests and did not want anyone to walk in and find his hulking demonic form bare before their eyes.

She smiled at him as he zoned out the rest of the world, lost in his own thoughts, and only pulled her eyes away when her phone rang.

She reached for it, noting that it was Laila calling, and lifted it to her ear, "Hello?"

"Hey," Laila greeted from the other end. She sounded tired but cheery enough. "I heard you were flying out today."

"Yeah, Luce wants to find Michael as soon as he can," Natalie explained as her printer whirred to life in her office across from the living room. It was spitting out all their flight and hotel information.

"I don't blame him," Laila mumbled quietly. "Anyways, I'm calling because Felix really wants to go . . ."

Natalie grinned and pulled the airport website back up on her laptop, "It looks like there are still plenty of seats available at the moment."

"Oh, that's good," Laila let out a relieved sigh.

Lucifer had pushed himself away from the counter and stood on the other side of the bar. He had yet to uncross his arms as he stared down at Natalie with a raised brow. She waived him away for a moment as Laila continued.

"I don't like the idea of him going without me," she added quietly. Natalie heard a door close from the other line and assumed she had stepped out onto the patio of her apartment for privacy.

"What about the bar?" Natalie questioned, kicking her feet below the stool, and took another sip of coffee.

"Chelle offered to step up and manage for a few days, and Nathan agreed to cover all the shifts this week, and Gabriel actually said he would be happy to help . . ."

"Hmm," Natalie hummed in thought. "I think that should be enough. It's still early in the week so there shouldn't be too much trouble."

"Awesome," Laila said quietly and let out a relieved sigh.

"Buy tickets now, I'll send you the hotel information, and you can meet is at the airport at noon," Natalie rattled off the information before she hung up the phone and set it down by her laptop. "Laila and Felix are coming with us," she stated with a grin.

Lucifer rolled his eyes, "Of course they are."

"Hey, don't forget this is a search party," she admonished lightly, "More eyes equals more ground covered."

Lucifer ran a hand through his hair, taking the opportunity to stretch at the same time, and sighed. "You're right," he answered begrudgingly. "But they're getting their own room, I don't want to deal with Festus' spiky moods all day every day," he stated with a shrug as he pushed himself away from the bar and went to browse through the fridge for something sweet.

"Are you sure you just don't want a hotel room with me to yourself?" Natalie shot back with a laugh. She was just happy to have more friends along for the trip. She had turned back to her laptop and missed Lucifer pause, still digging in the fridge, and scowl.

"Honey, if I wanted 'to be alone with you', I've already had all the opportunities I would have needed," he grouched and moved up to the freezer in search of ice cream.

Natalie quirked a brow but did not look away from the laptop as she typed up an email with links to the necessary websites for Laila. "Bluster all you like, Luce, but I know you're just a shy boy deep down," she said absently. "You know you want this," she added after hitting send and shutting her laptop.

A tub of ice cream was dropped onto the bar in front of her as Lucifer stared down at her with a sardonic grin. She met it with her own cheeky smile.

"Would you prefer the counter or the bed?" he asked as he braced himself against the bar and rested his chin on a fist.

"Hmm," Natalie lifted a finger to her lips in thought.

The doorbell rang.

"Neither," she answered and jumped out of the stool to answer the door.

Lucifer scowled again and let out a tortured sigh.

"Raphael!" Natalie greeted excitedly.

The angel stood in the door with a bag full to bursting with snacks. He wore jeans and a purple plaid shirt that complimented his eyes nicely. He offered her a kind smile as she stood back to allow him entrance into the household.

"Good morning, Natalie, I got your message. I'm sorry I wasn't here sooner," he explained as he stepped in and slipped out of the brown leather shoes he had decided on that day. He walked back into the kitchen and set the bag on the bar next to the melting tub of ice cream.

"What message?" Lucifer grouched with a raised brow as he pulled the bag towards him to dig through it. They were all sweets. Raphael had brought him a peace offering, of sorts, it would seem.

"She asked me to check on you," he explained and spun his finger about, instructing Lucifer to turn around. "She sent me a text explaining what happened," he finished and waited. Lucifer stared at him irritably and shot Natalie a look of annoyed betrayal before turning around with a huff.

"She patched me up just fine," Lucifer muttered as his brother moved around the bar to poke at the surrounding flesh of his scars.

"While Natalie is excellent at improvising in the moment, I would like to make sure there are no underlying issues," Raphael explained. He peeled the bandages away to look at the twin wounds and sighed. He placed a hand over one and paused. It was still bleeding a bit and beginning to scab, but it was still raw and pink, and he was certain it caused the fallen great pain. He could not help but notice the absence of his wings. He could not feel them beneath the flesh, nestled closely to his soul, as he could all others. His chest tightened and a slight frown marred his otherwise calm expression.

"Don't," Lucifer said darkly, a fist resting atop the bar, knuckles white.

"My apologies, you're right," Raphael murmured, "It doesn't matter anymore."

"What doesn't matter?" Natalie spoke up curiously. Her eyes bounced between the two as she tried to piece together what they were speaking of.

"Nothing," they answered in unison.

The brothers shared a look, Raphael's apologetic and Lucifer surprised. Gratitude washed across the devil's face before he turned away and opened the tub of ice cream as a form of distraction. With the spoon he had grabbed beforehand, he scooped out a bit and dropped it in Natalie's still steaming coffee. She took an appreciative sip, reveling in the added flavor of the vanilla ice cream with a content sigh.

The room was awash with colorful light. Daylight seemed to dim in its wake as Raphael held his hands over each wound stoically. Lucifer let out a relieved sigh as the pain ebbed away and warmth spread from his back to reach the end of his toes and tips of his fingers. His shoulders slumped forward and he leaned heavily on the bar.

Yellow eyes lifted to Natalie's green and she gave him a small smile before lifting a finger to tap his nose playfully. He gave her a tired smirk in return.

Raphael dropped his gaze to Lucifer's back with a knowing smile.

The airport was hectic when they arrived. It was the middle of the day and several flights were coming in just as others were leaving. Natalie was certain she had never seen so many people in one building before in her entire life. Lucifer hated the crowds and stuck close to her side, positive she would slip away if his eyes left her for even a second.

They found Felix and Laila within minutes of their arrival. Both women had brought a single suitcase with them while Felix had chosen to bring just a backpack with a few necessary belongings – cigarettes and the like – while Lucifer brought nothing.

Natalie waived cheerily upon their approach but everyone else seemed to be stuck in a tired haze. They were bordered onto the plane within the next hour and were in the air before anyone could work up the energy to really start a conversation.

Felix was just happy to be in Lucifer's presence and Laila was happy to see him happy. He could survive on his own, but after Anthea, Felix had always felt the need to have another with him. Laila had been the best replacement he could find. She was just as quite, kind, and composed as Anthea had been. Though he was often assaulted with pangs of guilt for this thought process, Laila had assured him it was fine, as she often missed her wily brother too. They would share a secret smile then and move on to another topic.

Felix had slipped a pair of earbuds in to listen to music as the plane took off while Laila looked out the window. They had argued over who would get the seat, but the woman had guilted him in to giving it up for her.

Natalie and Lucifer sat in the row ahead of them. Laila could just see Lucifer's head over the seat, leaning back against the head rest, while Natalie's popped up now and then as she turned around to speak to them. Laila could not help but feel as if the two complimented each other well. Natalie was energetic while Lucifer was stoic. Natalie was the peace to his anger. Lucifer the wary to her blinding faith in people. She was certain now, that without the other, neither would survive.

Lucifer glanced down at Natalie, about half way into the flight, to find that she had fallen asleep. Her soft snores were proof enough. She had held his hand as the flight took off and never let go but now his grip was the only thing keeping their finger intertwined. He rubbed a thumb across the back of her hand and slid down in the seat a bit more to provide better positioning for her head that was currently resting on his shoulder.

He ran and hand through his hair, thoughts racing through his mind, and tried to stave off memories of the last time they had traveled together. Natalie had been close to death, sick beyond any help, and he had lost her. He swallowed the distress that roiled within his stomach and dropped his arm onto the armrest heavily. He'd never thought he would fall, again, but for a human. Yet here he was, the world changed beyond recognition but still functioning thanks to her.

His grip on her hand tightened briefly.