I own only my own characters!

I'm reaching the end of this fanfic, probably only three or four more chapters but thank you to everyone who has followed, faved or reviewed this. Even to those who just simply read it.

Lucifer led me through the streets and down to a small alleyway behind a cluster of law offices. Walking into the centre he stopped and just stood there, not saying anything and certainly not indicating as to what the hell he was doing. I stood behind him for about twenty minutes before getting bored and sitting on the edge of a dumpster. The minutes ticked past and I found myself getting increasingly fidgety and yet Lucifer never so much as blinked where he stood. Just as I was about to say something, about thirty people suddenly appeared around us. Thirty demons that is. Two appeared directly in front of Lucifer, between them stood another man, chained up and beaten quite badly. It wasn't difficult to tell who it was.

"Crowley!" I yelped from my spot on the dumpster causing several heads to turn in my direction. Crowley looked over too and shook his head slightly, warning me not to do anything.

"We brought him, just like you asked!" Said the overly eager demon on Crowley's right. I could almost see the "I Heart Lucifer" tattoo on him.

"Hello Crowley. How nice to see you again. Last I heard you were shacking up with Dean Winchester and trying to turn all the demons against me. Does that sound right?" Lucifer's tone was light but I could hear the threat behind it. Crowley seemed to be weighing his words carefully.

"Well I wouldn't exactly say that now would I. I'd say I was more…mingling with the other side, trying to find their tactics and all that." Crowley was desperately trying to save face and it wasn't working.

"You stole from me too, Crowley. And that's one thing that really pisses me off," Lucifer reached into his suit jacket and pulled out a knife. "It's a shame, I liked you. You had potential to be great,"

"NO!" I screamed and jumped from my spot. I tried to run over to Crowley but a pair of arms held me back.

"DON'T KILL HIM. PLEASE, HE DOESN"T DESERVE IT!" I pleaded with Lucifer, my mind flashing back to all the times Crowley would visit Dean, Cas and I at the hotel. He never had fully trusted me but took it upon himself to make sure the others were at least bothering to feed me every once and awhile. Lucifer lowered the knife but only slightly.

"Looks like you have a fan. Well, Crowley, it's your lucky day. I won't kill you… yet…. And besides, we need to send a message to the others." The knife was brought up once more and I shut my eyes but couldn't block my ears against the yells of pain that filled the alleyway. The heavy, metallic smell of blood filled the air and the demon holding my arms back had to point me away from the crowd as I started heaving. When it was over I was surprised that Crowley was still alive, there was hardly an inch of him left unmarked. Words carved deep into the flesh of his face that I could read due to the severity of the blood flow but I had some idea as to what they said. The demons holding on to Crowley, now supporting him as he sunk low to the ground, took him away, presumably back to Sam and Dean, leaving nothing more than a pool of blood in their place. Most of the demons erupted in cheers but Lucifer kept a calm face. How not a single drop of blood had fallen on his white suit was beyond me. And thinking back on it, I realized that I had never once seen a mark on it.

"Meg, take Carmen back to her room, would you? I think she's had enough for one day." Lucifer said to the demon holding on to me. The alleyway dissolved away and I found myself not in the beige hotel this time, but a rather dark room with a barred window and way too many deadbolts on the door. Meg looked carefully around the cramped quarters before settling herself down on the small, single bed.

"So, how's Clarence?"

"Pardon?" I stared at her in confusion. I didn't know anyone named Clarence.

"Sorry, I meant how's Castiel? You were with him for awhile right?"

"Yeah, and he was fine, I guess. Why do you ask?"

"No reason. Just someone I used to know and was curious about now." Meg shrugged her shoulders and shifted around on the bed. I had to give her credit, she was excellent at keeping her cool.

"Why am I here? Why are there bars on the window? What do the symbols on the wall mean?" My questions all came out in one rush and she stared at me blankly until I repeated myself, slower this time.

"The symbols, as with every other safety device in here, are for your protection. They keep angels out. When you were with Dean you probably came across a few to work against demons, you just didn't realize it. Father is taking extra precautions to make sure you don't get abducted again. Because, unfortunately for you, you're clearly incapable of handling those situations on your own, as was demonstrated. Also unfortunately, you're confined to this room until he gives word that it's safe to release you into the wild once more."

"He's locking me up? I'm not sleeping beauty and he sure doesn't own me. Tell him to take the goddamn locks off the door or I'll break them off using his fucking head!" I finished with a huff and Meg gave me a look of admiration.

"I like you, you've got sass. Although you really think he's is going to listen to you? I don't know what his attachment to you is but he's determined not to let you die." Meg shook her head in exasperation and stood up, promising to return shortly, and disappeared. Alone and quarantined my nerves were quickly strung tight and I found myself pacing endlessly. Sure there was a fully stocked bookshelf and TV at my disposal but none of it could hold my attention. I wanted out. I needed to find out just what the hell was going on with the angels and demons. What was the reason behind their fighting? Did they even know anymore? I found myself questioning Lucifer too, how could he go from saving my life to torturing the hell out of one of his own demons? Sure, he had betrayed him but nothing that warranted death. I had always considered myself one of the good guys and now here I was, a true Satanist. There was no other word for it, I was friends with Satan and that's just the way it was.

After a few hours alone with my thoughts, I was aware of a presence that entered the room. Expecting Meg, I was only slightly disappointed to see Lucifer.

"Oh. You. Come to let me out now?" My voice was too hopeful, perhaps.

"No, I came to make sure you weren't trying to saw through the bars with a bobby pin. Meg made it all too clear that you weren't exactly pleased with me."

Traitor.

"Well serves you right, you can't just lock me away while you go fight your battle somewhere and expect me to be content to wait. I'm no damsel in distress and you're hardly a knight in shining armour." I really needed to remember to stop insulting him. Thankfully, he seemed unfazed.

" Careful, unless you want to end up like Crowley. And I wouldn't call it my battle, rather, yours. You humans started this whole mess and now the big guys have to come and clean it up. Father should've gone over his recipe a bit more before deciding that the batch was right. He added a little too much spite and laziness to you." He looked at me contemplatively, as though expecting my face to reveal exactly what had gone wrong with the human chocolate chip cookies. Or banana bread. Whatever God had decided to make the day he created the universe.

"Right, so why are you fighting the angels then? Shouldn't you be kicking our asses instead of theirs? I mean, clearly some of them deserve it but if it's not your fight, then why bother at all? You could be sun tanning in Hell right now!" My sass had not worn off yet and it was a miracle the four horsemen weren't currently on their way to hand me my own ass to me on a silver platter. Lucifer had more patience than I thought.

"You haven't listened to a single word I just said. We tried to sit back but you guys just made things worse. Besides, the world will be a much better place once I have the run of it," His patience was apparently wearing thin, made obvious by the tightening of his jaw. "And just so you're aware, I was locked up in Hell before the apocalypse, there was no sun tanning. My freedom is up here and so here is where I intend to stay." He left just as the last word exited his mouth. I sat down on the bed and spent the next couple hours staring at the ceiling until Meg came back with food. We chatted for a while until I announced my need for the bathroom and Meg unlocked the door and pointed in a vague direction down the long hallway that appeared behind it. She was busy reading a Cosmo magazine article on cheating boyfriends and so I took the hint that she wasn't going to escort. I walked cautiously down the hallway; it was dimly lit and seemed to go on for miles, staring at each door as I passed. They were all unmarked but I was too scared to open them and check to see if it was the bathroom. I passed a partially open door and heard Lucifer's voice float through it.

"You can help me, you have the power to."

"I will not make an exception for you, Lucifer. You know I won't and I will not involve myself in your endeavours to destroy my career," A curt voice answered him. "You forget that if you destroy this planet, you get rid of all my clientele. Yes, there'll be a rush of them all at once, but after that there's nothing left for me to do."

I peeked in through the crack of the door and saw Lucifer glaring agitatedly at an older man in a suit.

"Don't make me bind you to me."

"I'd like to see you try. And it looks like we have company." The man nodded in my direction and Lucifer turned around to look. My cheeks flushed in embarrassment as I back away from the door quickly.

"No use trying to hide, Carmen. Come in." Lucifer's voice was still strained but he managed a small smile at me.

"I was just trying to find the bathroom and got lost…" I trailed off awkwardly and stared at the wall.

"It is rather confusing to find. I'm Death, by the way." I turned and looked at the man in shock.

"Death? Like the grim reaper? That's a grim job…." I didn't mean to say the last bit but it slipped out.

"It's actually quite enjoyable and just Death will do. The reapers are entirely different people." He looked at me sadly which seemed odd as he had been so neutral before. Was I that hideous that the sight of my face made Death wanna cry? Ouch.

"Where is Meg anyways? She was supposed to be watching you." Lucifer's scrutinizing look made me even more uncomfortable.

"Reading up on '5 Ways To Tell He's Sleeping With His Boss'. I didn't want to disturb her so I left on my own. And I should probably go find the bathroom and get back to my room before you kill me….Or Meg for that matter," I began to shuffle in the direction of the door. "Oh, I'm being rude. It was nice to meet you Death. I would say 'see you again soon' but I really don't want to. That would not mean good things for me." Death gave me a small smile and mumbled something under his breath that I couldn't hear but made Lucifer narrow his eyes. Exiting the room, I found the bathroom after another twenty minutes of searching. After what seemed like another hour on top of that, I was back in my room again, which was void of Meg. She had left and taken the magazine with her, go figure.

I decided that sleep was the next best thing for me but Lucifer appeared, again, in my room before I could doze off.

"Do you mind?" I asked in a pissed voice, I actually was very tired.

"Just thought I'd inform you that no one will be around much tomorrow. I'll send someone in to check on you if I can but there's a rather nasty confrontation with the angels taking place and so we'll all be a bit easy." He said this as easily as discussing the weather.

"And? Take me with you! Why do I have to stay locked up, I wanna see this." I saw a flash of fear cross through his eyes but he covered it up quickly.

"No. There will most likely be fighting and you'll most likely be decapitated. I'd rather you stay here where I know you won't get in between two angels."

"But…"

"End of discussion, go to bed." He left before I could protest anymore and I sank into the uncomfortable bed once more, all trace of exhaustion gone. I replayed the very short argument in my head over and over, adding in my own retorts that I should've said at the time. Halfway through one where my great comeback involved comparing the size of his penis to a fruit fly, Meg appeared and switched out the magazine she was holding with another one on the bookshelf.

"MEG!" I shouted suddenly and clambered to the end of the bed. She jumped, not realizing I was awake, and gave me a scared look as she took in my ecstatic expression.

"Ummmm, are you ok?"

"I need you to do me a big favour." It just occurred to me that Meg was truly my one ticket out.

"What?"

"Get me out of here tomorrow so I can join the fight! Lucifer won't let me go but what he doesn't know won't hurt him." Unfortunately, she shook her head vehemently at the suggestion.

"No way, this is gonna be bad enough as it is and father would be more than royally pissed if-when- he found out. Sorry, kid, you're stuck in here."

"Pleeeaaassseee. Don't make me beg! I promise I won't get into trouble and I'll lie and say it wasn't you. I just really need to see this." She looked thoughtful and I felt my hopes rise.

"I won't be babysitting you. You'll be on your own so if you get in trouble you can't come crying to me."

"That's fine! Jesus, why do all of you assume I'm so weak?" She flinched at the word "Jesus" and I felt bad for a second but it didn't seem to change her mind.

"Fine! I'll do it. You wait here like a good little girl and don't give any indication of what I'm doing. I mean it, one small word and we're both dead. I'll be back for you in the morning and watch your language next time, it physically hurts me when you swear like that…." She left the room and I collapsed on the bed again, this time giddy with happiness. A part of me was terrified about what would happen, and the all too real threat of death loomed not far behind but none of that mattered as I drifted off to sleep. My nightmare returned with full vengeance, replaying over and over, Alannah's face morphing every time I woke up and then tried to close my eyes again. She kept transforming into everyone I knew and my night was haunted by my family, Dean, Cas, Samandriel, Crowley and Lucifer. It only stopped when I felt someone shake my shoulder and Meg's voice hissed in my ear.

"Get up! It's time to go!"