Hell

Tar'ath didn't even flinch at the absence of his guards. He was too busy playing with his knives to notice the lack of demons guarding the grounds.

Jax kept himself alert. With the absence of Caym, he wasn't sure what the demon would do. He kicked himself for not filling his friend in on his plan. He wasn't sure how much Caym had heard. The last thing he needed was the demon taking off and seeking an audience with Lucifer.

So he kept close to Tar'ath, he didn't want an ambush to happen. It was best to stick next to him just in case he had to get himself out of trouble.

"We have a few leagues until we reach the palace, mind catching me up on how you managed to track down Asteroth?"

Jax kept his eyes forward.

"Lucifer found out about Barbatos' death rather fast. When word got out he asked me and a group of trackers to find Asteroth…"

"You're no tracker," he stated. Tar'ath looked at his brother with squinted eyes. "How did you know he'd be heading into purgatory?"

"It's the only place left to hide. It wasn't hard to deduce that's where he'd go."

"But taking Asteroth instead of another…"

"Asteroth was the first on the list." He looked back at his brother and lifted his eyebrow. He knew Tar'ath was trying to get more out of him, he just wished he'd openly say what was on his mind instead of beating around the bush. "You think I'm leading you into a trap." He stopped dead in his tracks and faced his brother.

"You'd have the upper hand…" he opened his arms wide and looked around the area. There was no one in sight. He pointed to the axe in Jax's hand. "I'm alone, no guards, no way of properly protecting myself."

Jax chucked the weapon onto the floor in front of Tar'ath.

"If I wanted to kill you it'd do it with my bare hands, you know that."

The two stared at each other until Tar'ath smiled.

"I'm just playing with you Jax." He placed his foot under the wooden handle and lifted up for his brother to grab it. Jax caught it in the air and rolled his eyes. "But it's nice to know you'd kill me with your fists instead of using that axe there."

"Keep talking and I'll use the axe."

The two kept moving. Side by side they marched out of their father's territory. Jax kept it composure as he thought of a plan to get his brother to Lucifer without any hiccups.

. _

.

Caym stuck to the shadows, he didn't want to risk getting close to Tar'ath. He knew the demon's nature. One foot out of line and he was sure he'd get Jax to kill him on the spot. He valued his life too much to risk getting caught.

He kept his distance.

"You know, I didn't think you had the heart to double-cross Lucifer. Wasn't he like a father figure to you when dad kicked you out?"

Jax stayed silent.

"We never talked about it. You just came to us one day and pledged your allegiance to dad again. What changed?" Tar'ath asked.

Jax kept his focus ahead of him and blocked out his brother's questions.

"Come on, we haven't talked in years."

"Would you just shut up."

"Not until you answer my questions."

"Fine."

"So tell me, what finally broke you?"

Jax let out a sigh. He needed to come up with an excuse, one he knew his brother would understand.

When he took too long he felt his brother yank him back so he could look into his eyes.

"The death of Ezzu."

It was all Jax had to say. Tar'ath expression dropped. He backed away from his brother and looked over into the yard. With his brother having his own internal crisis, Jax took the moment to catch his breath. He was shocked that it actually worked.

"She didn't deserve to die the way she did…"

"No she didn't," Jax replied. He walked over to his brother and put a hand on his shoulder.

"This is all for her you know. Father is doing this for her. Lucifer had no right to kill everyone the way he did, they deserved a trial."

"The rules were clear, Ezzu knew that…'' Tar'ath turned around with anger in his eyes. "But it's on excuse, I know. All I am saying is that I am doing this for her. I got close to Lucifer to get back at him for our little sister's death. This ends with Asteroth."

"It ends when father kills Lucifer. You better be ready, there will be no room for error. Father will be looking at you, he doesn't think you are on our side fully."

"I'm leading you into the palace at my side, it's a deathwish in itself. Stop worrying about father and start worrying about having my back when Lucifer finds out I've betrayed him."

. _

.

"Where's Jax?" Lucifer asked. Lilith sat on the couch going over details of the information she collected from Asmodeus.

"He should be going over details with Gaudium, was he not there?"

"No" He said, annoyed. "I swear if your son took it upon himself to obtain Tar'ath…"

"We both know he did exactly that. So what do you want to do about that?"

"I…" he didn't know what to say.

"Exactly. So sit your ass back down and help me go over this information I gathered from Asmodeus."

Lucifer plopped himself onto the couch besides Lilith, yanking the paper from her hands.

"How exactly did you get all this information?" He began reading off all the information. "This is more damage than we expected… how did you get this?"

Lilith yanked the slip from his hands, setting it down on the table in front of them.

"I slept with him… and I may have let him believe I wanted to get back with him."

"What?"

"It's no big deal."

"No big deal, Lilith! If this all goes to shit, I can't protect you."

"Then we don't let this go to shit. We put our faith in my son and hope he gets Tar'ath in time. We hope Etrigan pulls through the night so he can rule in his parents sted. We are barely hanging on by a threat, but we can do this Lucifer."

"By the skin of our teeth, my dear… by the skin of our teeth."

"We've been in this situation before Luci… we can get through this."

"I want this to be over," he ran his hands over his face.

"We all do. That's why Jax is doing what he can to get us back on top of this all…"

. _

.

Entering Asmodeus' territory came with its complications. It came with stops at every checkpoint. It came with questions at every turn. The amount of demons that stopped Jax was substantial.

"You lost cabrón?" A demon called out. He jumped off from his perch and smiled at Jax. Jax bit his tongue as the stranger walked up to his face trying to intimidate him. "Your king's palace is on the other side of the quadrant. You're a long ways away from Lucifer's feet."

"Easy Hoss, Jax is with us. He's pulling double, he's our inside man." Tar'ath pulled the demon off his brother trying to prevent a fight. "He's the reason we got Bell and Mammon, he gave us their location."

"You gave us two of your best allies? What's in it for you?"

"Nothing," Jax replied. "I just want Hell back to how it was before. I'm done with the chaos."

"He's a rat Tar'ath. I can smell it off him from right now." The demon spat at Jax's feet.

"I said ease off!" Tar'ath growled. The demon lifted his hands in surrender and waited for further instruction. His eyes never left Jax. "Has my father passed through?"

"You just missed him, he took a few men to capture Belial over in Van's district. The oaf still thinks he's on our side."

"Well it looks like it's just the four of us. Do you think we'll need more men to take the palace," Tar'ath asked.

"No, four should be fine. The hounds are watching the gate. You said Falkor was taken care of and the only other person that should be inside the palace is me and I'm standing right here with you." Jax replied.

"You're telling me the palace doesn't have any guards watching the place?" Another demon asked.

"Why would the palace need guards? Only a fool would enter thinking they could take it from Lucifer."

"He has a point, which is why having my brother at our sides works to our advantage. We need to move fast, I want this done before my father comes back with Belial's head."

Tar'ath led the group out of the terrain with Jax at his side. The demon who questioned Jax took to the back to keep his eye on the turncoat. Something didn't sit right with Jax being a part of their group.

Off in the distance, Caym moved in the shadows trying his hardest to not get caught.

. _

.

Earth- Penthouse

Chloe found Michael over on the far corner of the club all alone and staring into his drink. The night was pretty much over so she left the dance floor and walked over in his direction.

The sound of footsteps forced the angel to look up. As he came in contact with his charge, Michael smiled up at her.

Chloe placed a hand on his shoulder as she stood on the side of him.

"You okay?"

"Yeah," he whispered.

"What's going on? I thought you'd want to hang out with everyone. You know, live life and all?"

"Not in the mood…"

Chloe took the hint and pushed Michael over so she could join him in the booth. He moved over to his disapproval.

"What's wrong?" she asked.

He looked over to her and thought about lying, but he couldn't get himself to do that. He knew she deserved the truth. So he let out a sigh and ripped the band-aid off.

"My brother seems to be having a greater challenge in Hell than I thought."

She fixed her seating so she could face Michael.

"What do you mean? Is he okay? Does he need help? What are you planning on doing?" The questions rolled off her tongue with speed. She was starting to worry.

Michael uncomfortably patted a hand on her leg to try and get her to calm down. It didn't work. She simply pushed it out of the way and looked at him with daggers in her eyes.

"It's a difficult situation I've found myself in, I just…"

"Difficult situation? What do you mean? You said you were going to get him out."

"I am, but I had thought it'd be a simple trade off. I didn't expect…" he stopped himself. He looked around and saw her friends looking at them. "Perhaps we should head up stairs."

"I can handle whatever you have to say, Michael."

"I understand that, but your friends are watching us…"

The two of them looked and saw the small crowd they had attracted. Ella and Dan looked concerned. Chloe went ahead and waved them off. She stood from her seat and started walking over to the stairs that led up to the elevator.

Michael stood up and notified Amenadiel that'd he be upstairs going over everything with Chloe. He made sure to say goodbye to everyone. He thanked Ella and Dan individually for making him feel accepted before he followed Chloe up to the penthouse.

As the elevator door opened he found Chloe already sitting on the couch with a glass of alcohol in her hands. He shook his head as he rounded the corner and stood before her.

"What?" she snapped softly.

"Nothing… just think drinking isn't going to help with how you feel right now."

She rolled her eyes and placed the glass down on the small table that was off to the side. She motioned for Michael to sit. He did as he was instructed and sat besides his companion.

"What was it that you were so afraid to share downstairs?"

"I wasn't afraid to share anything, but it'd do you some good to take into consideration that humans are not supposed to know about celestial beings. As I am aware Ella Lopez and Daniel do not know about my brothers and I."

"Lucifer tells them all the time about him being the Devil, it's not like they don't know we talk about this kind of stuff… If they don't want to believe him then why should we sugarcoat it?"

Michael shook his head. She was only being this stubborn because she'd been drinking all night. He pushed aside her argument and changed the subject.

"My brother has seemed to have found himself in the middle of a civil war down in Hell…" he waited to hear her response but she didn't comment. "Amenadiel addressed that our brother insisted he didn't need help on the matter, but it's looking like I might have to intervene."

"How bad is it?"

"I don't know... Amenadiel didn't exactly see anything for himself."

"Then how do you know Lucifer needs help?"

"I never said he did, I stated that I found myself in a difficult position…"

"I don't understand…"

"I haven't talked to my brother since he left home. Not so much as a visit. Do you realize how hard it is to go down there and ask for forgiveness? Let alone ask to take the reins for him? My brother is a prideful man. He will not hand Hell over knowing he's in the middle of his own problem."

"So why don't you help him? I mean you can help him, right?"

"I can… I just don't see my brother letting me. He had the chance to ask Amenadiel to help and he didn't. Either the problem isn't that big or he's just an idiot."

"He's an idiot," she blurted out. "He thinks he can do it all by himself. I'll bet you he's thinking he should have asked for help. I don't understand why he feels the need to prove he can do everything by himself…"

"It's pride. It was his downfall in the past and it'll be his downfall now…" Michael stood up from his seat and walked over to the bar.

"Then you need to go!"

"I can't just waltz into Hell and clean up my brother's problems."

"You wouldn't be cleaning up his problems, you'd be helping."

"Help from a brother who never stood up for him. A brother that let him rot there for eons?!"

The two looked at each other. The room was silent. The only noise coming into the room was the light muffled noises from the street down below.

"You'd be helping him, that's what matters Michael…"

"What if he doesn't want my help?"

"Then you keep asking until he accepts…"

Michael turned away from Chloe and looked over the bottles of alcohol on the wall. He crosses his arms over his chest.

"I had thought Amenadiel could talk things over with him before I'd actually see him…"

"Plans don't always go to plan."

"No they don't… but it would have helped my nerves." He dropped his arms and grabbed a bottle off the rack. He went ahead and helped himself to a glass of whatever liquid was in the bottle. He looked at his glass before taking a drink. "I've been told this helps… does it?"

Chloe got up from the couch and made her way over to Michael. She looked over the bottle he took from the shelf. She wasn't sure what was inside so she lifted his glass up and took a sip. Unfazed she finished the glass.

"I didn't ask you to finish that, you know?"

"I can pour you another calm down." She did as she said, and prepared another glass for Michael. "There, big baby."

"What is it?"

"You'll have to try." She scooted the glass over and smiled at him. "Go on."

He looked at her and then back at the glass. He didn't want to try it anymore. Chloe noticed the change of mind and felt she needed to change that. She lifted the glass and placed it in his hands.

"Come on. Just shoot it back into your mouth and swallow."

Michael took it into his hands and looked at the clear liquid inside.

"Cheers," he said before downing the glass in one go. As the alcohol settled into the back of his throat, he instantly gagged. Spurts of liquid spewed from his mouth in an attempt to keep it down. Chloe bursted out into laughter at Michael's expense.

The sound of the elevator door ringing pulled both their attentions to the other side of the room. Maze walked out of the elevator with Amenadiel. The look on their faces displaced concern as Chloe was still laughing and Michael was trying to get the last bit of alcohol down his throat.

"That's awful!" He cried out. He went ahead and whipped the excess liquid off his lips with his sleeve.

"That's called tequila," Chloe responded.

"What are the two of you doing up here?" Mazed asked.

"Apparently drinking," Amenadiel added.

"Talking actually, but I needed a drink." He set the glass down, "turns out I'm not a drinker."

"I could have told you that," Maze pushed a way through and plucked the glass on the counter. She went ahead and helped herself to her own glass.

"Have you decided what you're going to do?" His brother asked.

"Not yet…"

"You're running out of time. We don't know how bad…"

"I am aware that time is running out Amenadiel!" Michael yelled out. He wasn't in the mood for his brother's rushed judgement. He would go when he was ready, not sooner. The room fell silent. "You're right we don't know how bad the situation is, but I need to be prepared before I walk into something that I can't control."

"If you can't handle this, then maybe you should go back home where you belong."

Michael tried confronting Amenadiel but Maze stopped him. Her hand held him in place before he could move towards his brother.

"Enough, times running out. Amenadiel is right. We have to move fast, whether you're ready or not. This has to be done tonight. We're still going together right?"

"Yeah…" Michael stepped away from Maze.

"Wait, you're going with Michael?" Chloe asked.

"I need someone to help navigate me through Hell's layout. I've never been there before."

"But you're coming back right?"

The only person Chloe had left that was close to Lucifer was Maze, if she left she wasn't sure how she'd get through the days.

"Of course. I wouldn't dream of leaving Trixie behind."

"Okay…"

"I'm coming back, Chlo." Maze walked over to Chloe and held her at arm's length. "Michael and I are going to bring Lucifer back. I'll make sure of that."

"We should get going, Mazikeen…" Michael looked over to his brother and shot him a glare. He wasn't happy they had to start moving now. If he had it his way, he would have waited till morning. "You have your knives on you right?"

"I always have them on me." She winked at Chloe before pulling her into a hug. "Don't do anything I wouldn't do, yeah?"

Chloe chuckled into Maze's embrace, "I'll try to keep the boring at an all time low."

"That's what I like to hear." She pulled away from Chloe and turned to Michael. "Are you sure you want to do this?"

"Yes. Am I prepared? No, but we have to move right?" he looked over to his brother. It was a rhetorical question.

"Thank you." Amenadiel said.

"Since I'm leaving, I'd appreciate it if you ensure Chloe got home safely."

"I can take care of myself Michael," Chloe responded.

"I'll make sure she gets home safe," Amenadiel reassured Michael.

"Thank you."

"She's a wild card Amenadiel. Best let her, Linda, and Ella crash here. I'm not sure you'd be able to handle a tipsy Decker by yourself." Maze blew Chloe a kiss. She knew her tactics by now.

"I'll uh… I'll take that into consideration."

"Good," Maze turned to Michael, "so do I hope on your back or do we hug?"

Michael rolled his eyes, placed a hand on her shoulder, and took off in a blink of an eye.

Chloe stood rooted in her spot shocked at how fast they left.

"I didn't even see his wings," she said.