Lucifer popped the lock open to Pierce's house and walked in. Ever since they'd made the deal to end his misery, one could rarely be seen without the other.

Until today, when Lucifer found out that the Lieutenant had taken several days off for 'personal reasons' and went to Chicago.

The Devil intended to find out exactly what those personal reasons were.

He looked through all the rooms in the place, not finding anything out of order. He snorted at the rock collection, knowing just why Cain's interest would lie in that direction.

He finally made it to Pierce's bedroom, and noticed how messy it was. Lucifer thought that was odd, considering how neat and tidy the rest of the home was.

Lying on the bed, was a large, leather-bound book. Lucifer started to flip through it, and was disturbed by what he was seeing.

There were names. Alongside those names were birthdays and when they died, along with the location of burial. Some of the names hadn't made it past infancy, while others had passed well into old age.

The oldest entries were before cameras had been invented, but the later ones showed Cain in various eras, squeezing a child while standing outside or holding an infant in the hospital. It all led Lucifer to one conclusion:

This was a record of all of Cain's children.

He flipped to the last entry, which listed a name that had passed away a few days ago. There was an obituary attached that showed that the woman's funeral was that day.

Carefully, Lucifer shut the book and set it down. Then he spread his wings and dissapeared.

*

Marcus Pierce stood looking at a dark coffin with a grim look. The service had just ended, and he was the last attendee there. Most of the other funeral goers had assumed he'd been a distant relative of the woman, due to his resemblance to the man seen in the childhood photos displayed at the burial.

They didn't know that he was not, in fact, a distant relative. He was her father.

Lucifer landed at the site just as cemetery workers were lowering the coffin into the ground. He walked over to stand next to Pierce, who was staring at the headstone in front of the plot.

Layla Marie Avery

August 1st, 1918 - October 29th, 2018

Beloved Daughter and Friend

"She was my last baby, you know," Pierce suddenly said.

It had been so quiet that Lucifer was startled by the gruff voice.

"I was going by Charles Avery at the time she was born. Her mother died and I raised her myself. Layla was the only one of my children that knew what I was. She loved me anyway".

With that, Marcus Pierce fell to his knees and broke down.

Lucifer immediately got on his knees and drew the other man into his arms. He had never seen the stoic immortal shed a tear before, and now he couldn't stop bawling into the devil's dress shirt.

"I can't pretend to understand what you're going through," Lucifer said while he caressed Pierce's hair, "the closest thing I've ever had to children are stars. I've always been upset when one would die out. If that's even a tenth of the pain you're feeling, then I am sorry ".

Marcus sniffed and leaned back, " Thanks Lucifer. How did you know where I was anyways?".

"I...may have broken into your house out of worry".

That earned a small chuckle. "Careful, Lucifer, I might start to think you like me".

"I do like you, Cain, quite a bit in fact. But we'll talk about that later. In the meantime, why don't you tell me about Layla?".

So Pierce proceeded to tell Lucifer all about his youngest daughter. They sat there talking until both men had fallen asleep in front of the headstone. Neither of them noticed when a young woman, accompanied by a certain Angel of Death, kissed her father on the cheek before fading into the sunlight.