Lauren woke up one morning to find a newspaper and note under her bedroom door, courtesy of Ellie. It didn't take long for her to find out why she'd been given this particular section: on the second page, there was an article about her kidnapping and how a police search was underway for her. That made her feel a bit better about everything, along with the fact that Ellie hadn't lied when she'd said she'd make sure no harm would come to Lauren herself. Thus assured that she would soon be getting out of this place, a sense of calm overwhelmed her. She opened the door to leave and go down to breakfast, gasping and stepping back when she saw Vincent standing in her doorway with a smirk on his face and his arms crossed.

Lauren gave him a push to try and make him move, but Vincent was more solid than he seemed and every attempt to move him just made him smirk at her, which in turn pissed her off more and more. She then backed up as he made his way into the room, circling her without blinking. She had no idea what he was trying to do. Or maybe she did. He wanted to freak her out. Intimidate her. Try and scare her. But that wouldn't work. She watched him for a few seconds, then tried to evade him and run out the door. But he was too clever. He sped to the door ahead of her and blocked it, laughing at her for real now. A glint in his eye. He really looked like he was enjoying himself.

She went and got the pad of paper and pen that Ellie had left by her bed, furiously writing out, What are you doing? Let me out! I want to go eat!

I'll let you out, Vincent returned. But you won't be walking out of here, that's for sure.

How else would I get out? Lauren returned.

He grinned widely and finally stepped away from the door, showing her another note that said, I'm so glad you asked, before he picked her up, put her over his shoulder, and carried her down to the dining room as she kicked her feet and pounded on his back with her fists. He didn't put her down however til his mother, staring at him with disapproval, told him he had to.

What did you do that for? Ellie questioned.

I felt like it, Vincent shrugged and held the paper up for his mother to see. Messing with the stupid human is fun!

You should be nice to her, Ellie wrote back after heaving a huge sigh. She's not here to be your plaything. She's here to help you learn how to communicate better. She's here to help you and because of that, she deserves respect.

Vincent's face screwed up. But why, Mom? He scribbled angrily. She's just a dumb human!

That was when Ellie lost her temper and used her magic to make him rise up off the floor and sit down in a chair while Lauren looked at her in both fear and admiration...but made sure to grin widely when she caught Vincent's eye. He was pouting because he clearly was not so high and mighty now, was he?

Lucifer and Valerie both watched this display silently and when Lucifer opened his mouth to protest on his son's behalf, Ellie shook her head. "Don't even think about saying what I think you're gonna say. Just keep eating. That would be a better idea."

Father and daughter gave one another a look and then went back to their breakfasts, with the rest of the meal going reasonably peacefully, something Ellie, at least, was grateful for.

But there was no doubt that being scolded in front of Lauren had left Vincent feeling deeply humiliated and hurt, and he was not going to let her forget that. He wouldn't let her have a moment's peace.


Later in the day, he came after her when she was reading peacefully in the garden. She couldn't hear the birds, of course, but the flowers were nice and it wasn't a cold day. Then, out of nowhere, her book was snatched out of her hands and she looked up to see Vincent yelling at her, saying all sorts of horrible words about how he had humiliated her and how stupid she was and how she was gonna pay for making him look like a fool.

But she remained calm in the face of the onslaught, even when he pushed her off her bench and onto the ground and then laughed at her so hard that he nearly fell over himself. Then she got to her feet and waited for his glee to die down before taking a deep breath and actually speaking, even if it was something she didn't usually do because it made her somewhat self conscious. But now she just didn't care. She was mad at this jackass and it would take more than hand motions for her to properly express just how much.

She started with giving him a slap on one cheek then on the other. That shocked him. It shocked him even more when she began yelling. Not that what she had to say was something that needed to be yelled, but still, it felt damn good!

"I'm not sorry your mother humiliated you!" She said. "You deserved it, you jackass! She's right, you should show me some consideration and if you can't, just don't say anything at all! I don't even know why I'm at this house with you people! You clearly don't think I'm worth anything, although from the looks of things, I'm smarter than you are. Now how about instead of throwing a tantrum about getting in trouble for something you actually did wrong, you stop acting like a jerk and let me help you learn something? I don't really want to, but as long as I'm stuck here, it'll pass the time."

Vincent shook his head. All he'd seen was her mouth going up and down. She'd been talking so fast and yelling so much that he hadn't made out a word, but it was obvious she was angry.

What? He wrote.

When she saw it, she rolled her eyes and wrote back.

I'm not sorry about making you look bad in front of your mom. You acted like a jerk and you deserved what she did. But since I'm stuck here, if you're nice to me, I might be willing to help you so it doesn't happen again. All you have to do is tell me you're sorry.

Vincent scowled at this. How come she knew what he was saying, but he couldn't figure out what she was saying? It was annoying, but he wouldn't expose this weakness he had. He wouldn't let her know that she knew something he didn't.

"Never," he told her, pulling her tight against his body. "That's just not my style." Then he handed her the book he'd dropped on the ground and walked away, and as he did so, Lauren was glad that he couldn't see her taking in the sight of his bottom. That was her own little secret.


"I hope you read the paper today," Ellie told Lucifer. "Law enforcement is looking for Lauren. They'll probably be on our doorstep any day now. What do you plan to do when that happens?"

She sat on his desk and stared at him. "Tell me. I'm eager to know."

"My dear Eleanor, do you honestly think that I'll let police into our house?" He asked her. "Do you even think they'll be able to find it? How foolish do you think I am?"

"Well, you're not exactly smart," Ellie replied. "What kind of an idiot kidnaps a woman in broad daylight?"

"I do," Lucifer replied. "Cause I don't have to worry about getting caught."

"Couldn't you have waited, though? Or better yet, not done it at all?" Ellie asked. "I told you that I didn't approve of you just kidnapping someone off the street! Why don't you listen to me?"

"Because sometimes you're wrong," Lucifer replied. "And I'm right."

"Uh-huh," Ellie nodded. "Oh, sure you are! Cause kidnapping people always turns out so well!"

"Sometimes it does," Lucifer told her. "You came back and you're still here."

"Oh, don't even go there!" Ellie scoffed. "That doesn't count!"

"Why not?" Lucifer questioned. "It's true!"

"I don't care!" Ellie replied. "I can't take the stress of this! From now on, any time we need to do something like find the kids a tutor, we do it my way, not yours. Cause yours is wrong and evil and I hate it, and I hate you for thinking it's okay!"

Lucifer's jaw dropped. She could see the hurt in his eyes. She sensed that she'd gone too far, but she didn't care. She wouldn't let herself. Instead, she said, "I believe I have some errands to do in Hell, so I'm gonna do them now. Goodbye." Then she turned on her heel and left without another word.


But of course, after her sense of righteous indignation died down, she was full of guilt. Not about what she was angry about, of course. But how she'd handled it could have used some work. She should have held onto her temper. She should have.

In an effort to stave off going home a little while longer, she went into a store to get toothpaste and deodorant and as she was standing in the checkout line, she saw a tiny stuffed bear on one of the shelves. It was white and held a red heart that said "I love you" on it. It was two dollars and she grabbed it, buying it with her other stuff and finally getting it home. She ran to her and Lucifer's bedroom, all ready to apologize for her harsh words, but her heart sank when she found the note on their bed, saying that since she was angry, he was going to sleep somewhere else in the house for a few days so he didn't bother her.

That night, she was the one, in bed, alone, who was sleeping with the bear.


Over the next few days, every time she saw Lucifer, he treated her very formally. Just a simple "Good morning, Eleanor" at breakfast, a list of tasks for her to do at work, and then a "good night, Eleanor" in the evening.

She knew she could show him the bear and end the fight at any time, but the longer she waited, the more she began to worry that maybe just a stupid two dollar bear from a store where they sold toothpaste wouldn't be enough.

Finally, the guilt ate her alive so much, and she had so many sleepless nights that she stomped into his office and slammed the bag with the bear in it down on his desk. "I'm sorry for saying I hated you," she told him, her arms crossed. "I was frustrated and you didn't seem to care so I just wanted to make you feel hurt. In the bag is a bear that says how I really feel. You can throw it in the trash if you want. It only cost me two dollars and I bought it the day after our fight when I went out to buy some more toothpaste, but I've been too proud or too embarrassed, or too guilty to give it to you before now. I can't decide which."

"Thank you for apologizing," Lucifer told her, then removed the stuffed bear from the bag, grinning at it. "Well, I like this much better," he told her and put it on his desk next to Ellie's picture. "I like it a lot. Thank you."

"So...so you forgive me?" Ellie asked.

"Yes," Lucifer nodded. "I do forgive you. I'll be moving back into our room tonight if it's all right with you."

"Well, yeah," Ellie nodded. "But I don't get it. I saw your face! I utterly crushed you when I said what I said! And now I just give you a two dollar stuffed bear and everything is okay? Are you sick or something?"

"No, I'm very well, thank you," Lucifer assured her. "And if you meant it when you said that the guilt about how you behaved toward me has eaten you alive since our original fight, it's not like you're just getting away scot-free, is it now?"

"No," Ellie shook her head. "I shouldn't think so."

"There you go," Lucifer told her. "You don't need me to punish you; you did it well enough on your own and I think we can both move on now." He grinned. "I really do like this bear."

"But it's so cheap!" Ellie told him. "How can you possibly like it?"

"When you got it for me, it was a gesture of love, wasn't it?" Lucifer asked.

"Well, yeah, but...think of all the stuff you have," Ellie told him. "All that expensive stuff! How can a cheap little stuffed bear compare to that?"

"A cheap thing bought with love is worth more than an expensive thing that inspires no feeling in me whatsoever other than pride that I was able to acquire it," Lucifer told her, then looked at the bear fondly. "You know, this is the first time someone's ever gotten me a little present like this. Or apologized for wronging me. People never do that. They think that just because I'm the devil, they can be nasty and not feel bad about it. But you did. Thank you, Eleanor."

"No...no problem," Ellie said. "You're welcome."

Lucifer then put the bear down and gave her a tight hug. This wasn't an Eleanor he was used to seeing and she looked like she needed it. It wasn't surprising, though. Guilt really did numbers on people. If all those years in Hell had taught him one thing, it had taught him that.