Chapter 3

Lucifer was in a pretty bad mood as he drove towards his brother's apartment. So much so that he unconsciously miracle everyone and everything move out of his way as he flew by. Rock music blared from the speakers, not his favorite type of music to be sure, though it was needed right now.

As much as he was angry, he was also pretty scared. There wasn't a lot that could stop him, except maybe when Chloe was around. But when the Detective wasn't, he was damn near indestructible. Although, that only was in regards to Earthly Weapons. Weapons of Demonic and Heavenly origins, though…

Those were a completely different matter. And unfortunately, Heavenly weapons were the only things that could actually hurt him, obliterate him and destroy his very essence.

The Devil cursed in a tongue that hadn't been heard on earth for many centuries as he swerved to avoid hitting a pedestrian that had wandered too far off the sidewalk. There was a lot of honking behind him as other cars swerved to avoid hitting each other and creating a pileup.

"Shove it up yours!" he shouted behind him as he made a sharp left. Normally, he would've reveled in the joy of creating so much anger and annoyance that would eventually fester into sin.

Today, though, was not normal for the Devil.

He parked crookedly in front of the semi-fancy apartment complex and got out once the engine switched off. There were a bunch of people crowding the lobby, but Lucifer didn't have any trouble getting the people to part.

Maybe it was the energy that was radiating off him, maybe it was the expression on his face, or it might've been his demonic influence.

Whatever it was, the people got out of his way really quick. Lucifer marched all the way to the elevator, and when the doors closed and he selected his floor, it took all of his energy to not to unleash Unholy Hell until the apartment complex was nothing but rubble. The elevator music that normally played was replaced by his deep breaths in and deep breaths out. With each breath drawn, it felt like his anger dissipated just a fraction of an inch.

Unfortunately, when it appeared that his anger had calmed a bit, it returned the moment the doors slid open with a dainty 'ding'. He marched through the hallway until he reached Amenadiel's door. It was a minor miracle that the door didn't crack from the force of the knock.

"AMENADIEL!" There was the sound of rustling around on the other side of the door, but no one answered it. Lucifer took a deep breath before pounding on the door again. "AMENADIEL, I KNOW YOU'RE IN THERE! OPEN UP!"

There was another round of rustling going on inside the apartment. Lucifer's short temper was already almost gone when the door opened up with a yank. A slightly disheveled Amenadiel appeared at the door, his eyebrows quirked up in a questioning remark.

Lucifer sighed heavily and very dramatically. "About time. What happened to being timely, brother?"

"What do you want, Luci?"

"Is that anyway to treat your beloved younger brother?"

Form the look on the Throne's face told him everything that he needed to know. One of them being that he was, in fact, the 'beloved brother' as he jokingly stated.

"Okay." Lucifer decided to cut the bs right then and there, considering the situation. "I think that I'm being targeted by an assassin."

"You're joking."

Lucifer kept his face neutral, hoping that he got across how serious the situation was. Amenadiel straightened, his eyes narrowing.

"No. You're not joking." The Throne gestured for the Devil to enter his apartment, which the dark-suited man gratefully obliged. Once they were situated on the couch, Amenadiel sitting straight and proper while Lucifer lounged seductively, the discussion started. "Are you okay?"

"Oh, I'm fine." There was a thick layer of sarcasm in his voice, that he was sure that Amenadiel caught if his eyebrow cocking upward was anything to go on. Lucifer sighed and spoke sincerely, "The assassin was an angel. Though the assassin was not trained."

"What are you talking about?"

"The assassin was a probably a Messenger."

Amenadiel's shock was almost hilarious if the conversation wasn't so serious. "That's…...are you sure?"

"Definitely didn't give off that 'I'm a confident warrior' vibe but she definitely screamed 'I have no experience wielding a sword against an actual opponent'."

There was a pause as Amenadiel listened and processed the words that Lucifer was saying. "And…...what happened then?"

Lucifer took a deep breath as he prepared himself to speak the next few words. "If the Detective hadn't shown up….."

He muttered the last bit of the sentence. Amenadiel leaned forward, his lips quirked upward.

"I'm sorry, what?"

Lucifer repeated the sentence, not any louder than how he said it before. Unfortunately, his brother wouldn't let it go.

"One more time. Couldn't quite hear you."

"If Detective Decker hadn't shown up I…would've been in trouble."

Amenadiel laughed, but it didn't last too long. His brow furrowed as he chewed on his younger brother's statement. "Messengers aren't equipped with even the most basic knowledge of sword-fighting. It is bizarre that a Messenger would know how to fight like you described."

Lucifer studied his brother's features.

"The fact that there was an assassination attempt on you, sent directly from Heaven, then it might mean that Father is getting impatient with you staying on Earth." Amenadiel hummed softly. "Maybe this Messenger will get bored and move on."

"So, what are we supposed to do? Just wait this assassin out?"

"That's what I'm suggesting, yes."

Lucifer couldn't help a frustrated laugh. "And what if this assassin decides to go after Detective Decker? Or Ms. Lopez, or Dr. Martin?"

"Aren't you forgetting about Dan?"

"I think that Detective Douche can take care of himself. My point is, dear brother, what if this Messenger decides to go after my human f-uh, acquaintances?"

Amenadiel looked like he noticed the almost slip, but didn't push it. "Don't worry, Luci. I'll put protection on them. Just…...let Dr. Martin know. And tell Mazikeen that she needs to patrol the area in and around the Lux."

"Already ahead of you, Amenadiel." He made it a point to send a text message to the titular torturer, asking her to keep an eye out for anything Holy that might pop up. Before he could say anything else, his phone went off. Lucifer shook his head at seeing Detective Decker's name. It was…. heartwarming to say the least to see the Detective ask if he was okay, but the fact that it was followed with 'get your ass to this location so we can question a witness' seemed to cancel out the heartwarming feelts.

He sighed heavily, sending a confirmation text that he was on his way.

The task completed, he stood and made his way towards the door. Amenadiel watched him go silently. As Lucifer made his way back to his vehicle, the anger that had dissipated just a few moments ago returned with full force. His stomach twisted as he realized that Detective Decker might be in real, actual trouble. All because God decided that he needed to return to Hell.

Well then. Wasn't the first time he didn't want to play his Father's silly little games, and he was never one to cow-tow to anyone before.

Lucifer smirked as he envisioned him strangling the little pigeon that dared come after him and his. Though there was some sympathy, seeing how the young thing wasn't acting on her own accord but possibly on the orders of one or more of the Archangels. Either way, he needed to do something about her, lest Detective Decker gets caught in the crossfire like she always does.

Damn her tenacity, He thought as he pulled out his vibrating cellphone. Decker was asking him to meet her at a suspect's place.

"Very well." He muttered, sighing heavily as he sat in his vehicle. "At least I'll be able to get some of this anger out. "

A moment later, he was zooming out of the parking lot and towards the address, but couldn't stop thinking about the future.