Author's note: Hello dear readers! I have a long chapter for you with lots of interactions between characters and some funny moments. There are even parts that were inspired by some of your reviews, so a special thanks to Ghost Rider for suggesting a reunion with Azrael, that part is for you! I'll talk about my other inspirations at the end of the chapter. I don't want to give you too many scoops after all! Without waiting any longer, here it is! Enjoy!
They stayed in bed a little bit longer, still basking in the afterglow of their wonderful love making and not ready yet to break the magical moment. But after a few more tender kissing and caressing they agreed they should get up and take a bath before going down for lunch. The bath turned out to be a bit longer than expected. They had not count on the fact of having so much difficulties to keep their hands from each other. Chloe felt like she had not seen Lucifer in months. All she wanted was to touch and kiss him nonstop, as did he. It took Chloe all of her self-control not to make love to him again right there into the bath. He was still recovering after all. It could wait for tonight or maybe tomorrow at worse. She certainly could not wait any longer than that.
When they finally made it downstairs, everyone was there waiting for them at the kitchen table, Amenadiel, Maze, the Spawn, and the Douche. "Good morning everyone! Dou…" Lucifer caught himself at the last second. Right, he had promised Chloe he would accept him and be nice. So he tried again. "Daniel!" He nodded at the man and tried to smile. But it looked more like a grimace than anything. Daniel nodded in answer but didn't speak, his smile tight and seemingly forced. He looked as trilled to see him as Lucifer was.
"Luciferrrrr!" Beatrice jumped down her chair and ran to embrace him in a bear hug.
"Child!" While Lucifer patted her on the head like you would pat a good dog, he noticed Daniel furrowing his brows in displeasure. What the Hell did I do? He thought. Daniel's presence here was promising to be very challenging, if not downright unnerving. Not ready to play Daniel's game, whatever the game was, Lucifer sent him one of his most charming smile. Daniel darkened even more at the sight. Just the way I want it, thought the Devil.
Chloe had not missed a second of that glare contest. She rolled her eyes in her head and tried to distract them and diffuse the tension. "Sweetie! Be careful with Lucifer, he is still badly hurt." Reluctantly, her daughter released him slowly and returned to her place to resume her meal.
Maze seemed not as warm towards him though. What a surprise! Lucifer thought sarcastically. The demon glared at him. "About time you came down! I thought you'd never finish taking care of Chloe."
Chloe turned a deep red but was at a loss of word to defend herself. And of course, Lucifer didn't see anything wrong with Maze's observation. He just grabbed Chloe by the waist and snuggled up against her. "Why? As it turns out, my lovely girl friend is a greedy little thing who needs a lot of attention and I was more than happy to give it to her."
"LUCIFER!" Chloe half screamed, half chocked in outrage before hiding her eyes behind her hand shamefully. She couldn't believe he just said that in front of everyone.
He turned to her all confused, genuinely not understanding what he'd done wrong. "What?"
Where should she start? She turned him around and walked him a few feet away from the others angrily. She tried to keep her voice low. "Lucifer! No sexual references whatsoever in front of Trixie and the same applies in front of Dan. It's already hard enough for him to see us together without rubbing it in his face at the first opportunity. And besides, maybe you don't mind about it yourself but talking about stuff like that in public isn't acceptable and it makes me very ill at ease." Damn! He was infuriating! Yet another reminder of how clueless he was about human emotions and acceptable social behaviours. She tried to stay calm nonetheless. She didn't want to ruin their most then perfect morning. Well, dating the Devil had to have some bad sides to it she reminded herself.
Lucifer's eyes widened. "Really? I wasn't aware of that Love. You have to believe me. I would never try to shame you on purpose." He sounded very sincere and apologetic.
Chloe's smile returned slowly. "I know Lucifer. Just, be careful next time alright?"
Lucifer grabbed her hand and kissed her knuckles lovingly. "I am deeply sorry Love. It won't happen again."
She answered him with a light kiss on his lips and a loving smile. Lucifer sighed in relief. He would have to keep himself in check. Dealing with a gild friend really had nothing to do with dealing with any futile conquest like he was used to. Old habits were really hard to lose.
They returned to the table hand in hand to find out what was on the menu for lunch. Trixie seemed completely oblivious to the little crisis that just took place whereas Maze looked like she was finding the situation quite funny. Amenadiel and Dan just avoided their gazes altogether. It turned out that Dan had made pancakes with eggs, sausages and toasts. Chloe couldn't find any fruit or vegetable on the table. She sighed and reminded herself that at least she didn't have to cook it herself. A quick look at Lucifer's grimacing face told her that his stomach must not be ready yet for that kind of meal.
She squeezed his hand reassuringly. "I'll find you something easy to eat." He returned her a thankful smile. So she walked towards the kitchen and foraged through the freezer to find something suitable for him. To her complete surprise, the freezer was as good as empty whereas Maze had just filled it up with all kinds of frozen desserts only a few days ago. "What the Hell happened in here?" She exclaimed in shock.
When she turned to the people around the table, they surprisingly all looked guilty, even Daniel and Amenadiel. "Daniel I can understand, with his sore throat from the fire but the rest of you! What are your excuses?" She asked to all of them.
Trixie looked around and noticed that no one would dare to confront her mother, and with good reasons. So she took a deep breath and her courage in both hands. "Mommy, don't be too harsh on us, we went through a lot this week and I guess we must have eaten our emotions a little bit too much!" The seriousness with which she said it made Chloe want to laugh. But she succeeded at maintaining her composure nonetheless. Trixie did have a hard time lately after all. Chloe had absolutely no doubt about who had put those words into her daughter's mouth though. As if suspecting what she was thinking, Maze turned her gaze away like nothing out of the ordinary was happening. "Alright! I guess we'll just have to by some more in that case." Trixie beamed in victory and Chloe thought she saw a look of relief on the adults faces. Maze turned to Trixie and high-fived her proudly. That demon really had a bad influence on her daughter.
Chloe finally found some apple sauce and yogurt for Lucifer who ate it very slowly as if afraid he would throw it up anytime. But it never happened. After lunch, she changed Lucifer' bandage over his torso. The biggest wound was still deep even if it was clearly healing, while the other smaller ones were now almost closed. His ribs were still very sensitives though and moving slightly under Chloe's fingertips. She thought he must have at least four broken ribs. On the bright side, his breathing had eased considerably. Lucifer winced under her touch when she felt his ribs. "Oh! Sorry Baby!" She apologised, without thinking twice about her choice of word of endearment. From the corner of her eye, she saw Daniel, who had been watching her patch Lucifer up, grimace at the word she used. When realising what she had said, her first reflex was to silently reprimand herself for her carelessness. But she quickly changed her mind, thinking that she was certainly not going to change her behaviour towards Lucifer simply because of her ex. It had taken Lucifer and herself long enough to get to this point in their relationship and she had no desire to go backward now. Dan would have to get used to it. That's all.
Dan looked ill at ease for a moment, but then he seemed to recover and surprisingly walked closer to them. "Damn! That must hurt! Do you at least take Morphine or something?" He asked Lucifer. Dan knew he was the Devil but still, it looked damn painful. Dan had tried to find a way to break the ice and talk to Lucifer about anything really. He just wanted to show him that he wasn't scared or impressed of who he was. Because he wasn't. Was he? After all Lucifer was still the same pain in the ass he had always been. And besides, they would have to find a way to work together to find that «Piece» and Lucifer was with Chloe now… That last thought sent shivers through him. Their deep bound was obvious and it broke his heart to see them together, but above everything he was afraid for her. Chloe was involved with the Devil himself. How could that ever end well?
Lucifer eyed him warily. "I had worst injuries really. You should have seen the one I got yesterday that went all the way through my bowels. THAT, was painful. This…" Lucifer pointed to his torso. "…is nothing a good whisky can't sooth. What about your throat and burns? Fire and smoke can do nasty damages to human flesh, so I've heard." Lucifer had noticed how Daniel's voice was hoarse and that he still had countless second degree burns over his arms and face.
"Ah! It's okay, just a little sore I guess. And the cream they gave me sooth the burns over my skin enough for it to be bearable." Dan tried to sound dismissing about it as Lucifer had been about his evidently worse injuries.
The Devil didn't buy it though. "Maybe you should try whisky too."
Daniel hesitated. "Ahh! Not sure it would be so good for my throat. But thanks for the offer! Maybe another time."
Chloe smiled faintly at the semblance of civility between them. They were both trying very hard.
She put the elastic bandage back around Lucifer's chest after having cleaned up every wounds there and covered them with cleaned gauzes. After that, it was Chloe's turn to have her bandage changed on her right arm by Lucifer. He was getting very good at it. Her injury was on good way to close and the pain was just a dull ach now. She was supposed to go back to work in two days and would not be able to postpone it longer considering that her arm was doing so well. Too bad! Her neck though was still faintly colored with a range of yellows and light blacks all around that would be hopefully almost gone by the time she started working again. A little make up would be enough to hide the rest by then. Her voice was fully back to normal now at least, some small consolation. Looking at the three of them, Chloe thought it was a miracle they were all still alive, considering everything that happened lately.
Dan surprised her with his question. "What are those marks on your neck Chloe?" He looked as if he had just noticed them for the first time.
Chloe hesitated. "Humm! Probably the same thing that happened to you." She wriggled her brows at him, taking into view his neck where some marks could be made out. His chocking by Vasariah had clearly been less extensive then hers but still, his neck wore blue and black marks that she knew to be fingerprints.
Dan seemed shocked by the news. "Not you too…" He whispered. Pain evident on his face.
Chloe grimaced lightly and shrugged. "I'm okay! I don't think he wanted to kill me."
Dan pondered that for a moment. Vasariah might not be inclined to kill humans, according to what he'd been told by Lucifer, but who was to say he could not ask one of his demons to do it? Dan felt his resolve strengthen to do whatever was necessary to keep Chloe, Trixie and himself safe. Images of what Vasariah showed him the night of the attack assailed him once more. His pulse sped up and he felt fear start to overtake him. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath to get back control over himself. He could not break down in front of them. They could not discover what he knew and saw and what deal he had to make with the angel to insure his family's safety. He would do what he had to. Dan reminded himself once more that it would be for the good of everyone. He forced a smile on his lips. "I'm glad you're okay!"
"What did you tell the police about what happened to you and Beatrice by the way?" It was best for Chloe to know the official version.
"Humm! I said it was a robbery gone wrong and that the guy was masked. I gave them a vague description. It was no use sending them after Vasariah anyway."
Apparently, Maze and Amenadiel had put Dan to date about the events of the last days and the identity of his attacker. Chloe nodded. "You're right. It was the best thing to say."
Without anything else to talk about, an awkward silence settled between them so Dan took his leave and went into the living room to wait silently while Lucifer was finishing Chloe's bandage.
Once they were both patched up, everyone came back around the table while Trixie went to play in her room to let the grown-ups talk. Lucifer fixed himself a glass of whisky before sitting down.
Maze started immediately with what was bothering her. "So you got your wings back!" She sounded pissed.
Lucifer made a sour face. "It's not like I asked for it!" He defended himself. "It would seem Father is in need of my help for something. I'm just not sure what for exactly."
Amenadiel interceded. "What makes you think He wants something from you?" His disagreement was evident.
Lucifer tried not to explode. "Oh! Come on Brother! When did Father ever do anything selflessly?"
The black angel shook his head disgustingly. "I can't believe you! Don't you see? You proved yourself to Him and He rewarded you. Why is that so difficult to believe?"
Maze snorted noisily at Amenadiel and gave him a killer gaze. "Don't start that again! Your Father is a manipulative bastard and you know it."
Lucifer had the impression it was not the first time those two had that argument. "Well said Maze!"
She grinned back darkly at him and took out her daggers from their hidden place underneath her clothes. The demon swirled them around menacingly. "Want me to cut them off again?"
Lucifer pulled back instinctively in self-preservation even though the demon was on the other side of the table. The look on Maze's face told him she was dead serious. "NO! Don't touch me!" It came out a tad more defensive than he actually intended.
Maze spat viciously. "Don't tell me you too are planning on becoming one of His good little soldiers again!" Amenadiel fidgeted nervously on his seat at her words.
Lucifer looked stunned. "What is it with you today? Of course not! I don't give a shit what my Father wants from me. Whatever it is, I won't do it. I'll never do anything against my will. But I'm not cutting off my wings again! I… I think I deserve them back." He almost looked shy at saying those last words. Somehow, he felt the need to defend his decision. "To have seen how poorly some of my feathered brothers are behaving, it would seem I deserve those wings even more than them."
Maze thought it over for a moment and grimaced. "You sure are worth more than the lot of them." She finally put her hellish daggers back to their hidden place.
Lucifer let out a long breath of relief. He felt Chloe put a hand on his thigh and squeeze lightly as a sign of support.
He smiled back at her tightly before taking a mouthful of whisky to lift his spirit. He savoured the wonderful liquid slowly before breaking the silence that had settled in the room. "What are our plans now? We could split up in two groups for the day search but someone needs to stay here for the spawn."
Chloe startled. "You are not going anywhere today Lucifer! You need to rest. You almost died!" Her emotions could be felt in each of her words even if she did her best to keep them at bay.
Lucifer looked outraged. "I'm perfectly capable…"
But Chloe cut him short decisively. "Get that out of your mind right now! You are staying here! As do I. I'm not leaving you out of my sight. Anyway, you said it yourself, someone needs to stay here to protect Trixie and we can continue to be of help from here with our search on the net and with your books."
"But! That would leave only Amenadiel, Maze and Daniel. We can't split them and have someone search alone, it's too dangerous with the demons out there." It might not be a strong argument, but Lucifer wasn't used to give up without a little fight. The weakness in his body was telling him it wouldn't be such a bad idea to listen to her though.
"I might have another idea." Amenadiel seemed hesitant to suggest it. "Mom is supposed to come here after lunch to see you Lucifer. She could search with Daniel."
"You told Mom about my fight with Michael?" The Devil looked almost scared of the implications.
"Well… It's not like we could have hidden it from her eternally. It seemed best to tell her before she found out by herself. So I went to her place last night…" The dark angel fidgeted nervously on his seat at the memory. "She was pissed off! And for many reasons. Among them the fact that we didn't tell her before that you were wounded. I barely prevented her from barging in here to see you then. It was hard work to make her agree to leave you rest first and come only today."
Lucifer closed his eyes and rested his head in his hand. He didn't feel strong enough to face a pissed off Mom right now.
Taking the opportunity at the first break in the conversation, a very bemused Dan spoke up. "You two have a Mom?" Every eyes turned to him as one. Why did they all looked as if he was asking a stupid question? For a long moment, no one dared to answer him. He even had the impression that Chloe seemed uneasy to look him in the eyes.
Lucifer took another sip of whisky to give himself the time to find the right way to explain it. "Right! That part's gonna be fun! See Daniel, we effectively have a mother, as everyone else does…" Then his tone turned accusing and he looked daggers at the detective. "… and it happens that you SLEPT with her!"
Dan's mouth dropped open in disbelief. It took him a moment to find his voice back. "Are you crazy man?"
Seeing that Lucifer was about to let his long supressed feelings on the subject get lose, Amenadiel decided to continue the talking. "We know you were not aware of that fact at the time, but Charlotte Richards is our Mother."
Dan looked at them all in turn with an amused but tensed smile on his face. "This is a joke right? You're all kidding me?" But they all looked dead serious. He turned to his ex imploringly. "Chloe, say something. Seriously!"
She knew Dan was fond of the woman even if their relationship didn't seem to be stable in the least. But knowing him as she did, she was conscious that the news was going to hurt him deeply and she was far from glad to be the messenger. "This is very serious Dan. I don't understand everything about it but the fact remains that their Mom has been borrowing Charlotte's body for about the last seven months. So the Charlotte you know really is their mother."
Daniel looked like a trapped animal, gazing around wildly. He started laughing in a very deranged way. The more he laughed, the stronger it got. He really had lost it, thought Chloe. It took a long moment before he regained a semblance of sanity and was able to speak in between a few more bursts of laughter. "Seriously! I slept with an angel? No! A Goddess?" Amenadiel nodded in confirmation. Dan laughed some more hysterically. "No wonder it was so good!" He said in awe. Seeing Lucifer's gaze darken he added quickly. "I mean no disrespect man!" He continued laughing sporadically, still unable to grasp the reality of it all.
Lucifer took a long breath to calm himself before he continued. "That said, I don't like the idea of those two working together to find «The Piece»." The way Daniel's eyes grew wide at the mention of Charlotte and himself passing a day alone together seemed to say that he was not looking forward to it either. "Besides, even if she can feel demonic or celestial energy, she is not strong enough anymore to face alone the demons and protect Daniel if they come to stumble upon them."
"Humm! About that…" Amenadiel said mysteriously. "She might not be as defenseless as we thought she was." Lucifer raised an eyebrow questioningly to urge him on. "While she was pissed off last night, she lost her temper for a moment when I told her that Vasariah armed Daniel and she threw me across the room and into the wall with so much force you would think she has regained almost all of her strength."
Dan's jaw dropped in disbelief. Things were getting so weird!
Lucifer narrowed his eyes in thought. "How is that even possible? She is in a human body."
"I have no idea brother. But the fact remains that she is regaining her powers. So she could be of help and she has been looking for that «Piece» for months with me before all of this. She can help."
The Devil thought about it for a moment. "I have no doubt that she can, but I don't trust her. You know how much she wants to return to the Silver City and that she would be ready to do anything to get there. What if that «Piece» can help her achieve that goal? What if she decides to keep it for herself? Vasariah is bad enough but Mom could be even worse if she has a mind to."
Amenadiel sighed. "I know. But I could keep an eye on her. It's just for the day anyway since tomorrow is Monday and she'll have to go back to work. She asked me herself to be a part of the search. Mom is not happy to see her children fight and while it's not clear yet if she disapproves or not about everything Vasariah is doing, I believe she really does want to find a way to settle things down between us."
Considering that she could really be of value, Lucifer conceded. "Fine! She can help for the day, but you'll stay with her while Maze will pair up with Daniel. And no mention of The Flaming Sword to her. That, she could be tempted to use in her stupid plans to make it back to the Silver City."
Amenadiel agreed to his demands. Lucifer noted that Maze seemed suspiciously happy to be matched up with Daniel instead of Amenadiel. What the Hell was going on between the angel and the demon? He hoped their difficulties would settle and soon. It was a bad time to have dissentions between their ranks and it started to feel awkward around those two.
"Excuse me!" Dan rose his hand as if he were at school. He looked like he had somehow recovered part of his sanity. At least he was not laughing stupidly anymore. When he got all of their attentions he continued. "I do wanna help, but I can't feel any kind of energy, be it celestial or demonic or whatever. So how can I be of use here?"
It's Chloe who answered him. "You might not have the abilities of the others, but you are a trained detective Dan. So once a patch of energy is found, you just get into detective mode and try to look for things that are out of place, like tracks or any indication that points to a place where something could have been hidden. The way I see it, your skills could be invaluable."
Dan seemed to take confidence in her words. "You're right, I can be very good at it." But then another thought crossed his mind. "And what about the demons? How can I defend myself? I don't wanna be a liability and I certainly don't wanna die."
Chloe found the question very pertinent and was more than curious to hear the answer to that.
"I believe Maze would be the best to enlighten you." Lucifer looked pointedly at Maze who didn't seem very happy to have to talk about it.
The demon sighed and hoped that revealing those things would not turn on her someday and bite her on the ass. "Let's see, there's beheading that works just fine with any demons, and fire of course."
Dan sneered. "Anything more… practical?"
Maze hesitated before adding. "There's also a well-placed bullet in the head of course but it's not as much fun."
Dan looked irritated. "Couldn't you have started with that?"
Maze shrugged. "It's not as easy as it sounds. Demons are very fast and you would have to make a lot of damage to the brain to make sure it does not raise up again. But still, it can be done."
Dan seemed reassured by the demon's answer. At least he had a mean to defend himself if it came to blows. Their plan done, everyone rose up to prepare for the search.
Lucifer noticed that Maze sent a killer glare in Amenadiel's direction before going back to her room to ready herself to leave for the day. The dark angel sighed in exasperation and went to sit in the living room to wait for Charlotte, brooding. That was enough! The Devil was sick of it! He would not support that one more moment. So he walked resolutely to the sofa and sat beside his brother. "What's going on with Maze? Talk!" He left no place for argument.
His brother grumbled deeply. "It's complicated." Seeing that Lucifer was waiting, not so patiently apparently, and visibly not going anywhere until he talked, the angel continued. "I… I refused to have sex with her last night."
Lucifer lifted his brows incredulously. "Do you have a death wish or something? Why did you do that? And what does it have to do with anything anyway?"
Amenadiel shook his head slowly, disheartened. "I don't know. It's all mixed up in my mind. To see you regain your wings after having proven yourself worthy, it made me believe again that I could get them back too if only I proved myself worthy again."
"Brother, don't torture yourself like that for Him. It had nothing to do with Him thinking I was worthy and everything to do with using me for his benefit. He doesn't give a shit what we do as long as we do what he tells us to."
"That's where you're wrong Lucifer." Amenadiel's voice got soft. "You spared Michael's life when you could have killed him. You looked beyond your hatred for him when you could have let yourself be consumed by it. You did the right thing in an impossible situation. Father saw that and He rewarded you. You might not see it but you went a long way since you first landed on Earth. And you're right, you proved yourself worthier than most angels since then, and that's what I need to do too. I need to start believing in myself and in Him, because now I know that Father never lost faith in us." Lucifer was speechless for once. So the angel continued. "I've lost myself lately brother. I don't know who I am anymore and what I did exactly to get to that point. At first, I thought I lost my wings and power because people got killed by Malcolm because of me. But it might also have to do with my sleeping with a demon. I don't know anymore. I don't know what to do to redeem myself but I have to try something."
The Devil laughed. "By pushing Maze away? You make no sense brother!" Amenadiel was taken aback by his brother's rebuff. "You just said that you should start believing in yourself again. And what do you do now? You doubt yourself and everything you believe in. What do your guts tell you? Does it feel wrong when you are with her?"
Amenadiel hesitated. "No it doesn't. There's the problem! My guts and my mind don't tell me the same thing."
"Well! You need to figure it out and quickly brother or you'll have to sleep on the floor tonight if you stay here, unless you steal the couch from Daniel that is."
Amenadiel gripped his head in both hands. "I know. I may have to go back to my place after all. At least it has been cleaned up. It should be habitable again. But the sleeping arrangement is the least of my concerns. I'm in trouble brother." He could not stop thinking of the deep hurt he'd seen in Maze's eyes last night when he tried to explain to her why he wasn't sure if their relationship could go on. So much for saying that he belonged to her! And what of his grand speech about freewill and becoming whoever they wanted to be? He was disgusted with himself but was at a loss about what to do with it. Lucifer patted him supportively on the shoulder before leaving him to brood alone.
Not long after, Charlotte entered the house like a storm and threw herself at the fallen angel. "My sweet boy! Are you okay?" She stroked his face and hair lovingly and searched his eyes to make sure he were fine before giving him a once over. What she saw seemed to reassure her.
Visibly annoyed, Lucifer tried to disentangle himself from her. "Mom! Please! I'm not a kid anymore."
She looked at him indulgingly. "You'll always be my little boy! You can't ask a mother to stop caring." But then her loving smile disappeared to be replaced by a hard and reproachful gaze. "But as much as I'm relieved to see you well, I can't refrain from telling you how stupid you have been! Confronting Michael? What did you hope to accomplish? You could have get killed! Will the two of you stop fighting someday? You want me to stop treating you like a kid but you keep acting like one."
Lucifer rolled his eyes. He wanted to tell her how he had been the one to win that fight in fact, before Michael had cheated, but reminded himself it would be next to impossible to do so without talking about The Flaming sword, so he kept that to himself. But he couldn't just say nothing. "It wasn't that childish!" He pouted. As an answer, his Mom snorted at him dismissingly.
Lucifer became aware that Daniel was looking at them with a very amused smile on his face, probably gloating at the sight of the Devil being treated like a kid. Lucifer narrowed his eyes dangerously at him and was tempted for a second to make them glow with the fires of Hell. Maybe he should.
To Lucifer's great delight, Daniel's smile turned sour when Charlotte laid her eyes on him. She beamed at the detective and started walking seductively towards him. Dan's complexion turned pale in a second and he backed off slowly as if a wild animal was prowling him.
Charlotte cornered her prey against a wall. Now with her face only inches away from his, she held his chin with her fingers and looked hungrily at him. "Daniel! Look at you! All bruised and burned. I'm so sorry for what one of my boys did to you. But I can make it up to you!" She offered suggestively.
Dan tried to get away from her awkwardly but she held him into place. Oh! God! She was strong! He tried to smile and control the panic that crept up inside him. "I… I'm okay really! You shouldn't worry about me."
Charlotte's smile dropped. "Are you afraid of me?"
Dan stammered. "I… no… of course not… it's just…you're Lucifer's Mom and all…"
Her smile returned. "Oh! I'm sure my Son doesn't care about my sexual life."
He flinched at the mention of sex with her. "I'm not so sure about that!" At last Charlotte released his chin and he started to breathe again. He tried to change the conversation to a more neutral subject. "Humm! How should I call you now? Do you have another name?
Charlotte looked amused. "Not really, unless you want to call me Goddess? After all, I do be the Goddess of all creation!"
Daniel turned even paler and his breath caught in his throat. He had not thought it all through. Of course she was the one who had created everything, along with God certainly. "Charlotte it will be then!" Luckily for him, they got interrupted.
Maze was back from her room and ready to go. "Come on celestial pet, we have work to do!"
As much as Dan was insulted and disturbed by the nickname, he was also glad for the save. So he followed Maze in silence to the table where everyone joined them soon after.
Chloe dispatched between the two groups the areas of town that were still to be checked out and promised to call them later to add a few more if she found other events on the net that could have created enough negative energy to cover up a celestial artefact. She was not exactly sure how it turned up so, but Chloe seemed to have become the leader of the search. They were almost done checking the perimeter where Uriel had wandered in the weeks before his death. Only a few more days and they would have search it all. After that, it they had still found nothing, they would have to start searching outside the perimeter, and that, was not a perspective Chloe was looking forward to. If it was not in the perimeter, it could be anywhere. It could take months for them to find it, even longer. Optimism! She reminded herself. But their quest suddenly seemed unattainable.
After everyone left, Chloe turned to Lucifer and buried her face in his shirt, looking for comfort. Lucifer embraced her back tenderly. "Do you really think we can find it first?" She felt a little disheartened.
"Of course we will Love! We are way cleverer then those demons. It makes no doubt that we'll get it first." He really sounded confident. "A little pessimist this morning are we?"
She shrugged. "I guess so! And I don't think I'll be able to continue living with so many people in my house for much longer. It won't be long before we tear each other apart if you ask me. Look at Amenadiel and Maze, they're almost at each other's throats already."
"Well, I believe Amenadiel is already working on that problem. It could be solved easily if only he could get his wits back."
She looked at him questioningly. "You know what's going on between them?"
He grimaced. "Amenadiel gave me a few hints. But I believe it's not my place to discuss it. Maybe you should talk with Maze, see her side of the story."
"You're right! I'll talk with her. But I'm not sure she'll say much. You know how bad she is at talking about her feelings. She is even worse than you at it." She teased.
He grinned widely. "I chose to take it as a compliment My Dear! As for the people in your house, I'm sorry but I don't see any other way around it. No one should stay alone right now. I'm only confident about Charlotte being safe from Vasariah's wrath. On the other hand… I might have an idea for us to get away from it for a moment at least." He looked at her roguishly. Chloe was agreeably intrigued. "Maybe I could take you on a date! Say, dinner in a nice restaurant, then a drink at Lux before a night of dirty pleasures where I'll be allowed to make you scream at the top of your lungs in ecstasy."
The lusty way he said it made warmth pool between her legs and her head spin with desire. She gripped his front shirt at the collar and brought his face closer to hers. "That sounds wonderful!" She parted her lips invitingly and Lucifer dived in hungrily. They kissed eagerly for a full minute before Chloe pulled away reluctantly. "As much as I would like to have such a nice time alone with you, do you really think it's a good timing, with everything that's happening?"
Lucifer took her concerns very seriously. "All the more reasons to do it Love! If there is one thing that the last few days have thought me, it's that anything can happen at any moment. We should make the most of the time we have together while we still can."
She nodded faintly with an almost shy smile. "Okay Love! Let's do it! Say, Friday night?" She thought it would be a perfect time since they should both have perfectly recovered by then and they would have a day off afterwards to recover from their night of romance.
"Just what I had in mind!" Lucifer was about to kiss her again when they heard Beatrice coming down the stairs so they parted reluctantly.
After that they got to work. Lucifer brought his religious books in the living room where he started reading, comfortably installed on the sofa with some pillows behind his back to support his injured torso while Chloe worked on her computer in the kitchen. They found it safer to keep Trixie close to them on the first floor in case something happened.
A few hours later, Lucifer was sound asleep on the sofa and Chloe was beginning to think that she had exhausted every possibilities of finding new areas of negative energy inside the search perimeter. She looked over her computer to see what her daughter, seated in front of her, was doing. The little girl had brought down her coloured pencils and was drawing something on a blank sheet of paper. "What are you drawing Monkey?"
Trixie hid the drawing from her mother's view quickly with her hands. "No! Don't look yet! It's a gift for you. I still have to finish the sky."
"Oh! That's so sweet! But are you sure I can't get a peek now?"
Trixie frowned in thoughts. "I guess you could look at it. The most important part is done anyway." Then she smiled mysteriously before she turned the sheet around to reveal her work of art.
Intrigued, Chloe closed her computer's lid and pushed it away to pull the drawing in front of her. A smile formed on her lips and she looked at the drawing in awe. "Is that really how I look? That's pretty!"
"I told you! Yours is the prettiest!" Trixie seemed very proud of her mother's aura.
Chloe had to admit that it was very impressive. The dominant colors around the character that was obviously representing herself standing beside a police car and with a gun in hand, were white and gold. It was everywhere around her. But throughout it were visible a number of other colors that seemed to be floating around her more than emanating from her. Some bright and pale yellows, oranges and reds, and even a royal blue and a lot of pink scattered over it all. "What does it mean?" She whispered in awe. She had difficulty to believe that her daughter could interpret it.
Trixie bounced out of her seat and came at her mother's side to give her some explanations. She looked very thrilled to talk about it. "See the oranges and reds? Mainly, they say that you are full of life and vibrancy, that you are very powerful and confident and that you have a scientific mind and might tend to be a bit perfectionist." She said that last quality as if it was a bad thing. Chloe grimaced playfully. "The reds also show that you are a much grounded person and a very passionate one." Chloe had to admit that it described her very well. "That blue means that you are a very generous and giving spirit. The yellows are new though, you never had them before they started to appear only a few weeks ago. I think it means you are experiencing a spiritual awakening." Trixie winked at her knowingly and Chloe could not stop a chuckle from bursting from her lips. Trixie continued. "Whereas the pink have always been there, it's taking more and more place every day though." She lowered her voice in a conspiratorial way. "I think it's because you're in love!"
Chloe blushed. There was no need denying it really. But the drawing of Lucifer's aura suddenly came back to her mind and she couldn't remember seeing any pink around him. "Do you… see some pink around Lucifer too?" She was nervous to hear the answer.
Trixie leaned closer to her and whispered. "Oh! Yes! Full of it! But don't tell him, you know how he is about sharing his feelings. And besides, men don't like pink."
Chloe laughed happily but put a hand on her mouth to refrain the sound and not wake Lucifer up. "I won't tell him, I promise!" Her eyes turned back on the drawing. Trixie had kept the dominant colors for the end apparently. "And what about the white and gold." To her, they looked the most intriguing.
Trixie smiled as if proud of what she was about to say. "Of what Lucifer told me and what I could find out on the internet in the last days, gold means that you have angels and divine entities protecting you. White on the other hand, indicates purity! We both always had those two colors, which are very rare among humans, if somewhat apparently common among angels."
Chloe was thunderstruck. Protected by divine entities? Sure Lucifer protected her, but apparently the gold had been there even before he came into her life. And purity? Had those to do with the fact that God had blessed her parents for her to be created? And her daughter had it too! What did it implied? Chloe felt overwhelmed. She embraced her daughter tightly and kissed her head. "Thank you Monkey for showing me this. Your drawing is beautiful!" How such a young little girl could know so much about that kind of things? It was amazing! She felt pride swell inside of her mother's heart. "I'm very proud of you sweetie!"
It turned out that Lucifer slept almost all afternoon on the sofa. The girls kept the noise at a minimum to make sure he would get all the rest he needed. Chloe started to prepare dinner early since it looked like there would still be a lot of people around the table that night. She defrosted two frozen chickens and baked them slowly in the oven with vegetables and potatoes.
Lucifer woke up slowly to a wonderful smell and a grumbling stomach. His appetite seemed to be back to normal. He just hoped he would be able to keep the food down. Chloe must have heard him wake up because she suddenly appeared beside him. She leaned down and kissed his forehead. "Look who wanted to go chase around the city all day long!"
Lucifer smiled sheepishly. "Okay! I admit I might have needed a little more rest."
Chloe raised an eyebrow. "A little? It's almost 5 pm!"
"Really!" He tried to raise suddenly but lied back down as quickly, clutching his chest and wincing in pain. "Agrr! Those ribs!"
He tried again to sit up but more slowly and Chloe gave him a hand too. "Go easy Lucifer! It's not a little wound you got there!"
He stood up completely at last. "Yeah! Yeah! I know! I just forgot it was there. But there is something I must absolutely do before my Mom comes back. I need to call Azrael. Can I do it here?"
She had not expected that. "You mean here in the living room?" He nodded. "Of course! Do you want Trixie and me to go upstairs?"
"Not at all. It's not like you don't know her anyway. It won't be long. I just have a few things to tell her." With that he just closed his eyes and joined his hands in prayer.
Almost immediately, a gust of wind swirled around them and the angel appeared in all her glory, with her wings half folded on her back. Azrael glared at Lucifer intensely in silence for a long moment before speaking. "You know you're an ass!" But then a smiled crept up slowly on her lips even though she looked like she was trying very hard to prevent it from spreading.
"Thank you very much!" Lucifer smiled unashamedly.
The angel of death walked to the Devil and hugged him forcefully. "You really scared me this time big brother. I admit that I doubted you for a moment."
He chuckled. "It makes two of us then!" He pushed her away lightly to look at her with seriousness. "I really am sorry Rae! I put you in a very difficult situation. I almost lost it but I found my wits back at last. While I must admit that I used the sword to give Michael a good beating, rest assured that he is still alive. And I promise I'll never use that sword for a wrong reason ever again. You won't regret the trust you put in me."
His sister smiled fondly at him. "When did you learn to make apologies?" That made him chuckle. "But I know you'll do good Lucifer. And I already saw Michael." Her smile turned mischievous. "Father forbid anyone to heal him unless he was about to die, just to give him a good lesson. I can assure you he is in quite a lot of pain right now."
The Devil laughed happily. "You make my day Sister!"
Then it was her turn to be serious. "I'm just coming back from Hell and Vasariah is nowhere to be found. They say he hasn't been there for over a week. Apparently no one knows where he is but I had the impression they knew more than they wanted to share. He has to be here on Earth and I don't like the vibe of it. Be careful okay!"
"I will! We will! Don't worry!" He assured her.
Azrael looked around her for the first time to see Chloe and Beatrice nearby in the kitchen watching them. "Hello there!"
Beatrice beamed at the angel. "Hello Rae! Wanna stay for dinner?"
Azrael's brows raised in surprise. "I'm not sure…"
But Chloe interrupted her. "Actually, that's a great idea! I cooked enough food for an entire army. And Amenadiel is going to be there, Maze too and your Mom."
"Yeah! Please! Stay with us!" Trixie was literally bouncing up and down on her seat.
Rae's jaw dropped. "Mom is coming here?"
Lucifer grimaced. "Yeah! Well! You know she has been on Earth for a while now. I think she has changed a lot since you last saw her, and not just physically. She is not as bad as you remember her.
"I… I'm not sure I'm ready to see her… And I have work to do." She sounded just like a little girl at that moment.
"Come on Rae, it's been thousands of years since you last saw each other. I know she misses you. And about your work, what's the worst that can happen? A few wandering souls here and there for a little while won't do any arm. And it would give us the opportunity to drink to Michael's suffering!" He smiled devilishly.
"I'm not sure I should drink with you again. Last time didn't go that well." In spite of her words she seemed to be considering the offer.
He smiled knowingly. "That's not the way I remember it little sister." She shrugged at the memory. Lucifer passed an arm around her shoulders and steered her towards the kitchen. "Let's fix you a drink while we wait for the others." Azrael followed him docilely.
Chloe looked at the two celestial beings in wonder. The evening was promising to be quite eventful!
Author's note: Thanks again Ghost Rider, you inspired me enough to keep surfing on that wave in the next chapter. Also, the mention of Michael's punishment by God for his stupid behaviour is for Dampeo4ever81 and a Guest who asked for him to be punished some more. ;) Thank you so much for reading and reviewing. Each review you write gives me the drive to write more and often times inspires me. Thank you all. You're awesome! Please! Please! Write me a review if you liked it or if you have suggestions to offer!
