"Luci. Wake up."

Wake up, Luci, rise and shine! Open your eyes, or I'll open them for you. Your choice, Luci. It's always your choice.

"Come on, you need to try harder than that. Maybe we should slap him."

"I don't think this is how you're supposed to wake people up. Let's just stick to words for now."

"He's been sleeping for almost fourteen hours already!"

"I am aware. Luci, wake up. We're worried."

Five more minutes and you'll wake up to the smell of your blood, Luci. Why are you doing this to yourself? You can't possibly be that tired, but I'm that bored without you.

"Um, guys, let him sleep, okay? He needs rest."

"Ugh, fine."

XXX

When Lucifer woke up, after two full days of sleep, he was alone. Alone and in a soft bed – which was definitely a nice improvement if one would consider sleeping on a cold, hard floor as a possible alternative. But, what a surprise, he didn't want to think about it now. Or ever. Yes, never thinking about the Cage, or his brother, or his Dad seemed like the best option if he wanted to keep his sanity. Or what was left of it, anyway.

Lucifer had more pressing concerns right now, of course, and he decided to focus on them to avoid dealing with his feelings until he saw his dear doctor again. The more pressing concerns were, obviously, food and shower.

Then – getting the hell out of here.

Because, if he let himself think about Michael, even for a second, he would be forced to admit how royally he had screwed up. Not only because he had killed yet another one of his siblings (brother-slayer, he thought, you've become a brother-slayer), but because he had put everyone here in danger because of it. It was easy to blame Michael or Kidnapper Douche for it, but the truth was, it was Lucifer's own fault. He had been the one to bring Michael here into this world, hadn't he?

Maybe it was time he had another epiphany – yes, he wasn't evil, but somehow he still always managed to hurt every person close to him. He was poison to everyone.

Even his original name reflected that. Samael. Poison of God.

"…and that's why I can't let myself think!" Lucifer got up swiftly, forcing himself to smile widely. He had read somewhere that smiling could trick the brain into happiness. He should probably test that theory.

It was also the high time to eat something, because, poor him, he hadn't had anything solid in his mouth for the past seven years. Seriously, he missed food.

After Lucifer swung the door open, ready to face the world, head held high and everything, he also slammed it shut almost instantly.

Amenadiel was on the other side of the door, just standing there and waiting.

"Oh Dad," Lucifer breathed out, eyes wide as he stared at the now closed door. The voices he had heard earlier… they had to be a part of his dream, right? He was dreaming about home and those simpler times when his main concern was winning against Maze in some mobile game, or maybe dealing with Amenadiel's whining. "Oh Dad!"

Because now the realization hit him.

Amenadiel was here to kill him. Or to forcibly drag him to Hell for what he'd done to dear old Dad.

"Luci, I can hear you panicking in there. Let me in."

"Right. Panicking. Don't flatter yourself." Alright now, no windows he could climb out, lovely. Maybe he could hide under the bed, then? Seemed to work in movies, didn't it?

"I know what I know." The handle moved and Lucifer almost tripped over his feet in his haste to get away from the door. "I'm going in, Luci."

"Just… don't bother! I assure you, there's no Lu—"

The door opened and the words just died in Lucifer's impossibly dry throat. He wasn't even going to question how even Amenadiel was here, in this world. Probably his fault, as always.

"Luci…" Amenadiel looked at his brother, sadness creeping into his voice as he realized the extent of damage done to Lucifer. He might be healed on the outside, but the panic and quiet resignation in his brown eyes meant that he still had a long way to go. "It's okay. I'm here now."

"Yes, see, that's the problem," Lucifer admitted in that easy, charming way of his. He needed some practice, though, because there was nothing easy about his strained voice. "I'm assuming you already know what happened to our loving and caring Dad?" It was more of a hopeful question (please, brother, say no) than a statement.

"I do, Luci," Amenadiel nodded, „Chloe and those two hunters told me already."

"Are you finally going to get your hands dirty?" Lucifer kept smiling, because damn it, but he was going to kick the bucket and look happy at the same time. "I know I said you never were much of a closer, but this is your chance to prove me wrong. Come on, brother. Do your worst. Just promise me you'll take the Detective home to her Spawn."

Amenadiel frowned since he couldn't understand the meaning of words spilling out of Lucifer's mouth. What on earth was he talking about? Do his worst?

To clear up any confusion, Amenadiel decided then to ask the most eloquent question he could think of.

"What?"

"I mean, you're surely here to kill me!"

"What."

Lucifer threw his hands up in frustration.

"You love Dad! You loved being His favorite son! How could you just stand by and do nothing to the one person that imprisoned Him for all eternity?"

Amenadiel at least had the decency to look embarrassed. Of course, he loved Father, but after hearing what He had done to Lucifer, it was impossible for Amenadiel not to feel sympathy for the Devil.

No, not for the Devil. For his little brother.

"Luci, I'm not going to hurt you," Amenadiel promised, trying not to feel insulted by his brother's surprised face. Well, he had attempted to kill Lucifer in the past just to ensure his return to Hell. And he had beaten him up on that beach for burning the wings. But he prided himself in improving their brotherly relationship since those events. Or at least he thought it was improved. "I promise."

Lucifer raised an eyebrow, still keeping his distance. Sure. Call him suspicious. For him it was being farsighted. Alright, wary. Cautious.

"Why are you here then?"

"Well, Luci, I was in your apartment when an odd looking crack in space appeared in front of me. I decided to investigate it, of course."

"Of course." First he had dreamed about Chloe, now about Amenadiel, and his powers responded accordingly. Bloody hell, what if he had a nightmare one of these days? He didn't want to wake up next to the boogieman. "Wait, why were you in my apartment? Finally got bored of girly drinks and were looking for the good stuff?"

"No, Luci, we were looking for you," Amenadiel said calmly. Everybody had been worried. With Lucifer and then Chloe gone, it was clear that something bad had happened.

"You're right, I am the good stuff." Lucifer couldn't stop himself from teasing his brother. He was ready to ask how Charlie was doing, when the implication of Amenadiel's words finally sank in.

"We," he repeated. "We were looking."

"That's what I said, yes."

"…and I just saved this world from ending."

XXX

When Lucifer entered the kitchen with Amenadiel right behind him, almost everyone was already in there. Chloe was talking with Sam and Castiel while Maze was leaning against the wall, playing with one of her trusty knives. When she saw Lucifer and his wide, quite happy grin, her eyes narrowed dangerously.

"You," she hissed, stalking towards him. Lucifer stopped dead in his tracks, smile disappearing, then took a step back slowly. "What the hell, Lucifer? You go on an adventure without me?"

"I… would hardly call this an adventure," Lucifer said weakly. "It was more like a nightmarish rollercoaster?"

"Yeah, I heard you got your ass kicked."

"That's not what happened," Lucifer scoffed with an affronted look on his face. Maze just folded her arms. "Who told you that?"

"Dean," she said smoothly.

"Your new drinking buddy?"

"Why, jealous much? You're still my favorite drinking buddy, don't worry." Maze leaned close to Lucifer just to pat his cheek mockingly. "But no, Dean and I are no drinking buddies. I mean, maybe once he can walk again."

"Wait, what?" Sam turned to them, his eyes wide. That's why Dean hadn't showed up for breakfast earlier?!

"Maze…" Lucifer started, trying hard to sound disapproving, but there was a smile dancing on his lips. Oh, how he had missed the Hell's most famous torturer. "What did you do?"

"Taught him a lesson about consequences of breaking deals with the Devil," Maze smirked. She pointed her knife at Sam. "And you, hair commercial, shut it. No one hurts Lucifer on my watch, get it? No one. Whatever the danger, I'll be there to stop it. I only wish I got here sooner," Maze added with a sigh as she punched Lucifer's arm lightly. "Because seriously, you can't be trusted with saving your own ass."

"I think my backside feels pretty saved," Lucifer muttered under his breath. He felt… well, better than the last time he'd been standing in this kitchen, not that the bar was set too high. Having his trusted Maze here, even Amenadiel who apparently felt the need to keep his hand on Lucifer's shoulder at all times now, helped.

"Well, now. Duh." Maze rolled her eyes at him and Lucifer was tempted to just… hug her. Dearie him, what would his therapist say to that revelation? Also, being hugged would probably give Maze a heart attack; then she would punch him to make sure he was back to normal, and honestly, he'd like to avoid being hit for the time being.

"Wait, can we go back to that thing about Dean, uh, not being able to walk?" Sam interrupted them again. Seeing that Lucifer was pretty much finished talking with Maze thanks to that, Chloe walked up to him to say her own hello.

"Ah, Detective. Hello to you." Lucifer brightened when he saw her coming closer. Clever Detective, she had everything under control here. One additional angel, one brand new demon against two hunters? No worries, no worries at all. His Detective could handle everything, and that's why he was always so, so proud of her.

"Hi, Lucifer. Did you sleep well?" Chloe smiled at him when he nodded.

"I'll go check on Dean. Heal, if needed," Castiel offered. The angel didn't look at Lucifer as he spoke. Chloe and Sam exchanged looks – they really needed to make those two talk, didn't they?

"Oh, believe me, it's needed," Maze snickered.

"Hey! I've got an idea." Chloe tugged at Lucifer's sleeve, smiling excitedly. "Lucifer, why don't you go with Castiel?"

"What? No. Why are you acting so weird?"

"No, I think that's, that's a good idea, actually." Sam cleared his throat. Lucifer turned to stare at him, bewildered. Seriously, what's gotten into them all of sudden? "I'm sure Cas could use your level of… healing expertise."

"I can't heal people. Who do you think I am, one of your angels?" Lucifer said slowly. Honestly, he felt pretty good about himself five minutes ago as he was getting so much better at avoiding dealing with negative emotions. He just had to focus on everything else so he wouldn't think about Michael or Dad. Or himself. Talking with Castiel would force him to face his issues head-on. It was counterproductive, really!

Ah, he really needed to finally find that liquor cabinet... He missed alcohol. Who needed family and healthy relationships when there was a bottle waiting?

"Well, you can do pretty much everything these days." Sam shrugged, making Lucifer preen proudly.

"Why yes, it does seem that way, doesn't it?" he practically purred.

"Luci, calm down." Amenadiel squeezed his brother's shoulder as a warning. "I'm sure your ego is as impressive as your other parts, but please, keep it in check."

"Oh, bloody hell, come on. Fine. I'll go with our angelic doctor, just to escape your pleasant company before you annoy me to death. But," Lucifer grabbed Sam's shirt, already pulling him towards the door, "the only nice hunter here comes as well."

Because, if he didn't, Lucifer probably would add to Dean's injuries instead of simply holding his hand.

And, of course, he wouldn't say a word to Castiel, so there'd be a really awkward silence. Lucifer hated awkward silence.

"See, Decker?" Maze moved closer to Chloe just to throw her arm around the detective's shoulders. "You can't trust guys. See, this one already ditches you for a threesome."

"Yeah, well, I don't think he's going to have sex with them," Chloe replied, amused. Poor Lucifer, he had always seemed so offended by a mere suggestion of him having sex with Charlotte. He'd probably be even more traumatized if he heard Maze's comment now.

Maze's grin just widened.

"If he's not going to do it, then I will."

It was enough to make at least Amenadiel look horrified.

"Maze!"