When Justice wakes up, after not nearly enough sleep, the first thing she notices is that her body doesn't hurt as much anymore. The second is the fact that her head felt like it was in a vice made of concrete; and that the air tasted horrible.

But the only sign of her awakening is the sharp intake of breath that is not let out for an unusually long item. Her eyelids don't flutter, her fingers don't twitch, and her breathing quickly settles back down into an almost convincing rhythm not long after.

A merciful person would let her rest.

Shame Lucifer doesn't know the meaning of the word.

So Lucifer pokes and prods her until Justice rolls over, groans and tries to get a semblance of a healthy night's sleep into her.

"Justice!"

It was far too dark out and she'd gone to sleep far too long to wake up now. She floundered in the expensive sheets, burrowing into the covers, and tried to block out Lucifer's shouting. At least the linens were comfortable and fluffy, which made the bed that much more inviting, and made ignoring her that much more easier.

Waking now would mean to acknowledge it, acknowledging it meant thinking about it, and thinking about it meant accepting it as reality.

"Justice, if you don't wake up, I'll set the damn sheets on fire!"

A lot easier' didn't mean 'easy', unfortunately. Or even 'possible'.

-0-

When Justice finally pulls her hands away from her eyes, she finds she doesn't even have the ducts to let out a tear.

She hears the sheets rustle and feels a presence sink beside her. The CEO of hell says nothing, but Justice can feel her gaze upon her. "Would you like something to drink?"

"I would like a quick and painless death," she answered.

Lucifer gave her a glass of water instead.

"Do you regret it?"

"No."

The answer comes too quickly, the reply too harshly, with a voice too filled with emotion to be anything but the truth. Lucifer doesn't call it out. She just waits for her to gather the courage to speak again.

"….yes. I thought I was prepared for the consequences."

The pair sit in silence, letting the atmosphere settle. There's a tenseness to the air that suffocates them, slowly curling between their ribcage, threating to burst out of her lungs.

Lucifer breaks the silence by dragging a chair over, letting it scrape along the floor. She starts with, "You're an idiot."

"I am aware of that, yes."

"You're also a fool."

Justice nodded. "That too."

"Then you can bear through hearing it again," said Lucifer, "and again, and as many times as those who have the right to say it choose to."

"I'm not arguing."

"You're being dismissive."

"Lucy—"

"You're being dismissive," Lucifer repeated, cutting her off, "-because you think it will make things easier if you accept the pain. It doesn't." Justice doesn't answer, so Lucifer waits until she does.

"I'm afraid you've lost me," Justice says very carefully.

Lucifer looked at her and sighed. "Justice, you're reacting as if I would want to condemn you. I don't. That's what makes this so difficult. You're making it harder by treating me as though my judgement is foregone."

"Isn't it?" Justice asked.

"No," said Lucifer, "and you demean me by assuming so. You have made far too many assumptions. That is why we're in the situation we are."

Justice was silent for so long that Lucifer was almost surprised when she did.

In a small voice she answers, "I'd hoped...that my life would have been worth all the sins I've committed."

"Then you're a fool." is Lucifers' blunt response.

There's a fire in her chest that starts off small, but Lucifer strokes it with the love she's grown to have for this stupid girl of hers, letting it blaze into a fiery inferno. "Giving up is easy. But you know what's hard? To believe in your own self-worth, and to get up every day, and beat that fear into submission. The beautiful thing about redemption is working for it. But there is one thing. I want you to hold on to that guilt you feel forever. I want you to feel burdened by it. I want you to do things the right way. Fight for the right reasons, agonize over those you kill, and cry about what you've done. Giving in? Now that's just lazy."

A double chapter this time. Read in whichever order you like.