Hello everyone. This is a short crazy and funny chapter I wanted to do for a long time. Some of you may know Aimee Garcia had a small part in Supernatural? Details in author's note at the bottom.
As I wrote too long, you'll have two chapters, the next one shortly after this.

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Chapter 14: SDC what?

Tonight the streets are full of angels, I don't know why (The Pet Shop Boys)

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ELLA

Ella was spying behind a pillar in the small church. The unfamiliar place, actually nice, was completely empty; nobody was sat in prayer on the rows of wooden benches – which wasn't surprising at this very early hour of the day. Most surprising were the countless little candles lit everywhere to fight the darkness, and their comforting golden glow and scent, as if they were made of beeswax.

She had no difficulties finding where the Murderer had taken Trixie. As she said, they really were at the corner of the street. From what the young forensic could tell, the kidnapped girl was calm and far too much relaxed, almost as if she knew the woman. Trixie was smiling, patiently explaining her how to "speak emoji" on her phone... Was it possible they had already met?

Ms Lopez tried to make a short list: mother of a classmate? Unlikely. New babysitter? Perhaps. But to tell the truth, she woman over there in her thin black dress, staring at the small screen with awe, was more looking like one of those hot babes always clinging to Lucifer at LUX – a typical Brittany, wearing too much make-up and too short outfit...

But of course, Ella could understand the appeal of being dressed to the nines at his arm…* She sighed.

The suspect seemed to carry no weapon, or at least nothing visible. Ella had given quite some thoughts to the type of blade used to slice the throat of the baby. She didn't like the bottom line of it. She couldn't fathom what sort of knife did this. However an image was constantly popping in her mind, again and again: Maze's freaky knives. This wasn't the thrilling revelation she hoped. Miss Naaji had tried to draw what she had seen, but that was just a glimpse of something metallic, shiny and… large. Certain it could be important, Ella wanted to tell Chloe but without any further evidence she wouldn't risk to jeopardize their friendship by launching empty accusations against the bounty hunter. Besides, she simply couldn't imagine her "tribe-sister" betraying them or involved in such nonsense.

She would agree Maze was odd; even brutal. But she was also cutely lost in numbers of literal translations. She was the most ungirly girl Ella had ever met; and one of her kind for sure. She had quite obviously a taste for brawls and beating she shit out of bad guys, as she brilliantly demonstrated few dozens of minutes ago.

But harming little ones? Not fitting well with the care she demonstrated for Trix. The bounty hunter once told her with a dreamy smile she loved the kid's name because she thought it was coming from "tricks".

Yet, Ella loathed being left in the dark. She was taking some little pride of being the Details Mistress and felt ashamed of her own failure to bring anything useful.

Despite what she had said to Chloe in the car, sooner this evening, about Lucifer's suicidal tendencies, Ms Lopez didn't consider her own presence here to be such. She was quite a lightweight and unskilled in the fighting department but she was an adult, worked for the Police, and thought she could pass useful notes to her colleagues about the culprit. She had no intention to be heroic, just keep Trixie out of harm's way. Plus, she was confident her friend the Ghost would be here for her if anything went wrong. Since her childhood, she wasn't afraid of death anymore.

Her decision made, she was about walk straight to Trixie with her arms lifted, when she felt a strong hand gripping her shoulder to stop her. Snapping her head in fear, she was startled when she saw a single finger pressed upon two familiar but unexpected lips, and big blue eyes imploring for silence. She opened her mouth in surprise, hesitating between joy and incredulity. The man stepped back in the shadows, still intimating her to remain quiet as he opened a small discreet lateral door in the nearest wall of stone.

"Don't do this" he whispered when they were in the small room – possibly the entrance of the presbyter.

She followed eagerly and slightly frenzied; he closed the door behind them.

"Misha?! Oh my God, what the Hell are you doing here?!"

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.°.

CASTIEL

Few minutes ago, Castiel had just landed in front of a House of God graced with big adorned door. He knew for a fact Lilith was here.

Time was running very low. The pressing pull to regain his own world was getting stronger, unnerving his vessel's skin and the angel was more and more worried to be sent back within one hour… or less. So he entered swiftly without a sound.

Not very far, he saw first a skinny woman with a long high ponytail, watching people. In the twinkling faint light of dozens of candles, he caught the reflection of a badge around her neck above her baffling tee-shirt proclaiming hallelujah. Somehow, he guessed she was up to something concerning the two other presences near the altar surrounded by flowers.

Because he needed to speak alone with Lilith, this young lady had to be elsewhere or… unconscious.

However, before he had time to press two fingers on her forefront to make her sleep, the happy brunette called him by a strange name.

Castiel didn't answer right away, struggling not to raise a quizzical eyebrow. She was still staring at him with an unusual cheerful face and he couldn't avoid feeling quite overwhelmed by the power of it. The deciphering took him few precious seconds. This one was a true believer! Not as pure as his own vessel but quite…

He knew everything about despair and bravery among humans; but this kind of glowing optimistic wasn't crossing path with the hunters. Besides, she had this sweet 'little sister' vibe that made him think about Charlie Bradbury… God knows why.

He opted for buying time. "What I'm doing here? Well… the usual.''

She blinked her big round eyes three times and then she smiled more. "Oh sure! What was I thinking? It's the SDCC!"

Castiel's confusion heightened when the young brown lady jumped at his neck to hug and kiss him on the cheek with a disturbing noise of unrestrained most unexpected pleasure; and a "Come here, little softie".

SDC what? His mind was racing fiercely. When the answer came, Castiel felt really – really – grateful Metatron had given him all pop culture references few years ago. That's how he understood she was mistaking him for a fan of some television program, heading to the allegedly famous "San Diego Comic Con" or something like that.**

He couldn't really tell because Sunbelt cities were not demons and creatures' favorites. They only loved ugly and dull places, with heavy clouds, rain, at night, so no suntan for the braves in his job! He was pretty sure he never set a wing this side of Earth.

Clearing his hesitant throat, he tried not to appear too flustered by her very friendly manners, and incredulous hands splayed over the lapels of his worn duster. "Well, that's me, always so... predictable!"

He was disbelieving this poor apparel could endure more. First having Lilith naked in it, then all of this touchy-feely treatment… The fabric wouldn't last much longer. And to be honest, neither did he.

She laughed a bit. "No, seriously, dude! I'm impressed! You have balls to wander off here in full Castiel cosplay! Fangirls would rip it off… and you would end up like a naked unfortunate Orpheus. You're straight out of a photoshoot or something?"

In full Castiel cosplay?

How could she know his name and call him by another? Unless "misha" was a replacement for "dude"?

Yet soon his memories brought back Dean's voice saying that name, as if it was the most ridiculous thing ever…

And suddenly, he knew where he was: in the weird fake world Gabriel had trapped them once. A world where the Winchesters and he were all professional pretenders going by different names and their lives were not real but stories to entertain people… Could it be the same place? Probably not if the Misha guy was dead, the girl would have freaked out… The thought several of these worlds could be coexisting out there was unsettling. It was nothing in comparison of the idea Gabriel could have plotted this again, to be the first to find Lucifer and his grace.

"Is there something wrong?"

He did consider seriously telling her the truth. But how could she take well: "I'm an angel of the Lord and this woman over there is an upset Nephilim. Let me talk to her because I have experience of them."?

She stared at him for a minute and, unexpectedly, sent him a fond smile. "Oh Misha, please stop giving me this melting sorry face of yours; or I swear I couldn't help kissing you on the spot – married man or not! You method actors, you're killing me!"

Married man? Ok. This was getting weirder and weirder.

He couldn't avoid feeling a rush of sympathy for their Devil, just right then. He knew this would happen in the end: both being outcast angels, both telling the truth and gaining incredulous reactions…

At least, she didn't seem to be afraid, going on with her nervous rant: "... and the best of it, years after I played a cop in the Supernatural show, I now work every day with a hottie who brags around to be the Devil himself!… The guy is sweet; but I guess he'd never seen Mark on the role! That one truly gives me the chills…"

He let out a quick embarrassed smile. "I... can relate. That's what I feel most of the time when I see him..."

The smile lasted because of this entire stupid situation. Those people here were welcoming him as if he was lost and had just returned, making him feel like a familiar stranger. This was both alluring and intoxicating.

Still smiling, the young woman shook her head. "Isn't that total loco?"

He couldn't agree more.

He failed to make her stay hidden, even promising to send her the kid. She wouldn't. He insisted. She refused. He said "please" with a melting sorry face again, bravely facing the chance to be kissed "on the spot" and eventually, he had to use his own personal vulcan pinch on her, praying fervently she could forgive him.

He had lost precious minutes.

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Sat where they had room to stretch their legs, Lilith and the little Latino girl were hushing in soft tones. As he was getting closer from their position, he could hear the little one saying:

"... and this one is a house, but if you put a cross behind, then that means 'church'… and if I add a 'bored' emoji, Lucifer will know I'm waiting… because waiting is boring. See?"

"Quite smart, indeed… answered Lilith. But why aren't you telling this to your mother instead? I'm not sure Lucifer would like to come and fetch you. He doesn't like small ones very much."

"So he says... But when I met him, he helped me with a mean girl at school. And he congratulated me for having kicked her in the no-no touch zone."

"What's this?"

"Oh, right, you might have a grown-up fancy word for this. I think it's... crotch. I once heard Mom using it."***

Castiel coughed lightly in his fist to signal his presence and his rough voice resound below the arched ceiling as he stopped in front of them:

"I'm sorry to interrupt. Lilith, may I have a moment to discuss something important with you in private, before I go back home?"

Both females gaped at him because his arrival was quite inaudible. Lilith had red rimmed eyes, saying enough she was upset and maybe had cried again.

"Go away! I just want to talk to Chloe Decker. I want to give her a piece of my mind about her stealing Lucifer from me!"

Hearing this, the little girl frowned and scooted back on the bench, looking disappointed. "Hey! My mom is not a thief! She works for Police! Lucifer and her are partners."

"You are too young to know the real meaning of being 'partners'!"

Trixie rolled her eyes, crossed her arms and said: "Not at all. That means they work together."

"See? You know nothing. But don't worry, you will know about those love mysteries when you'll reach a finished shape."

Trixie shrugged, pouting more. "You adults, do you train for being this silly? I know about love: I've got several lovers at school! Boys act all the same and so does Lucifer. I think he's too shy to ask Mommy out, because he believes she would say no!"

"Shy? Ridiculous, she laughed haughtily. And no one says no to him."

"What I know is my mom likes cops. Lucifer knows he's not a real one, like grandpa or daddy. So he thinks he's not worthy of her."

"Nonsense. I've seen them together in that room. She was in his arms and they were touching… Worthiness didn't seem so important then..."

"Err, I'm not sure you should tell this to a kid." chimed in Castiel with the distinct feeling he had again gotten himself very far from his comfort zone.

The little girl shrieked and stamped her feet excitedly at the news. "Yes? Did you see them actually kiss? Because so far, Lucifer is terrible at holding hands. They're not making silly giggles, they don't dance. He didn't have a single sleepover at home, not even on the couch... They part and he just says "Well, goodnight, detective, see you tomorrow at work." And then they gulp, stare at each other and pretend it's not awkward at all…"

With a dismissive gesture of her hand, Lilith stood up and started to walk back and forth in front of the altar, showing signs of growing nervousness.

"Why is it so long? Will your mother ever come?"

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LUCIFER

Unwillingly, Lucifer had to step back from Chloe's bed and wait. He slumped slightly against a stupid wall, of this stupid place. Linda was trying for the third time to help her to calm down, but the gauntlet was still staying on full display. So far, nothing had worked. The Devil wanted to get involved in the process. Had he been alone with the Detective, he would have used his full set of skills to make her melt under his fingers and the bloody artifact would have slipped from her wrist.

But the overprotective Douche was here and the strength of his worry was becoming edgy… Lucifer was almost ready to give his consent for Linda to get her into an artificial slumber with hypnosis, simply to have Dan somewhere else. The Douche had taken Chloe's other hand and his thumb was grazing her skin lightly. The gesture was nothing big, yet unnerving. Lucifer was well aware of Dan's lasting feelings for Chloe, but he also took for certain the man harbored so much guilt inside of him, he had no further hopes to win her ex back. The Devil had also noticed with a sharp pang Chloe had jumped in front of a bullet to save her ex' life... He tried to tell himself she was just preventing Trixie to lose a father, like Linda reminded him thoughtfully. But jealousy was still making his stomach churn and twist.

That's when the Devil felt the distinct shiver of time being slowed and his elder brother approaching. Dan and Linda froze in the middle of their talk. Entering the room, the tall black first angel was smiling and Lucifer immediately didn't like it. Amenadiel was too close to his old self. Something was off.

"Luci! I'm here to help. Cass brought me and I discovered I could freeze the time for few minutes, so I will unlock Caliel's blade with my necklace… But there's more. Lilith has also taken Trixie outside. You should go and try to reason her before the Police's arrival. Castiel is already with her and is trying to buy you time… Hurry!"

The Devil shook his head. "I can't let the Detective alone now… It's not safe here. One of the snipers has just admitted he was acting under the Sinnerman's orders… It is my new priority to let him know my thoughts about it…"

"Not now, please brother, go. I will protect Chloe as long as my powers will allow me to, like I did when she was poisoned... At this moment, I'm stronger than you are around her… You can be killed anytime…"

"Still bringing out good news, brother! Amenadiel, listen, you don't understand… Caliel's blade will let her in a state of shock when she will be released… She could feel very lost if I'm not here. She will need someone to rely on... I don't want her to think I had let her down again..."

"Don't worry. Linda and I will stay and tell her you are leading the team to get Trixie out of trouble. I'm sure that will be a great relief for her. Nothing is more important than her daughter. Not even you."

Still looking at her with haunted eyes, Lucifer didn't make a move. He certainly wouldn't admit in front of his brother but it was painful for him to actually leave the side of the Detective now. The bloody blade made him equally addicted to Chloe's presence, and the little tender scene just before had just turned higher his eagerness. It would be hard for both of them to severe harshly this kind of bludgeoning bond. Very hard, but still possible. The Carrier of the Witchblade needed a devoted champion to balance her power. He knew he couldn't let anyone else becoming her faithful guardian but if he did, he never could be the Devil anymore… Not that he still cared about his old kingdom, but overpowering the Detective's free will was another story. As enthralling was this wild feeling between them, he knew it was induced by the blade. He may be the Devil, but free will and consent were his most cherish rules...

Yet, he didn't know how he could cope with the loss of this deepened connection. How could he return to normal plain normal dreams? When would be the times they could speak frankly to each other about their truly desires?

"Brother, why are you still here? Is there a problem?"

"I was wondering… What do you intend to do with Caliel's toy? Considering how fast it could enslave any angel, maybe we should bury it the deepest hole…"

"And have a dwarf to throw it in the pit of a volcano after a long perilous journey?" joked Amenadiel**** taking cautiously Chloe's wrist in his hands. "I have a simpler plan: pray to our sister for her to take it back to Silver City, far away from the Detective. Is that alright?"

Lucifer had a silent uneasy nod and stayed glued while he was watching his brother introducing the piece of the necklace above the big red stone. A mechanism clicked. Amenadiel paused before reciting the Enochian spell and gazed upon him.

"You're still here…"

Lucifer was feeling as if a third wing was ripped from him. Tomorrow, she would probably want to forget anything about this…

That was, if Trixie was returned safe, of course.

"Luci?" repeated Amenadiel.

"I'm gone…"

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(tbc)

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Author's notes

* See "Vegas with some radish"

** Aimee Garcia played a small part in Supernatural season 3 (ep12 : Jus in Bello). Guess what? She was working in a precinct and Lilith killed them all. I wanted to tell this story in her chitchat but finally voted against the idea. This is a Lucifer fanfiction and crossover aspects have to be kept low.

But to me it was the reason Castiel wanted Ella to be out of the game. The irrational fear something wrong could happen to Ella Lopez, allegedly former actress in her youth before joining the Police (yes like Chloe, why do you think she likes her so much? :-D). That's why I make her say "you method actors are killing me". The perspective is different if she had tried briefly. The whole idea of Ella recognizing Castiel as Misha Collins is born from the picture Misha posted on his twitter account (a selfie with Aimee) and a Rolling Stones cover where Aimee is surrounded by a bunch of Supernatural cast...).

Regarding the "pop culture references" and the fact Castiel could know about the SDCC; in a season 9 episode, entitled "Meta-fiction", Metatron fills Castiel's brain with all the pop culture references he had never understood so far.
In a former episode (season 6, entitled The French Mistake) the Winchesters are sent in an alternate reality, that pretty looks like ours :-D).

*** For example at the beginning of season 2: "Lucifer, don't touch the charred crotch" :-D

**** Sorry, no Frodo available for this mission.