Lucifer woke up the next morning in a very comfortable bed. As he opened his eyes, he found himself in a bedroom in his father's quarters, the very same one he used when he was young. The only thing different about it was that it had more modern furniture. He vaguely remembered being led to it the night before, but he was so exhausted and overwhelmed to pay attention to his surroundings.
Last night had not gone even remotely how he anticipated, even after his father appeared to stop his and his siblings fighting. He never would have guessed that his father would not only lift his ban from Heaven, but also go around the room and lecture and punish those that hurt him. He also didn't anticipate the depth of Michael's betrayal.
Lucifer and Michael never liked each other. Lucifer couldn't recall a single instance where the two of them got along. Michael seemed to always hate him. But he never imagined his twin going to such extremes to ruin him, and he had ruined him. He orchestrated his rebellion by exaggerating his fears, however that wasn't enough. His twin was apparently not willing to chance anyone forgiving him for that, so he injured himself and blamed Lucifer for. It was almost funny, in an ironic way anyway. Lucifer had always hated his father for taking away his free will, but it was actually Michael who had done that. Or he'd at least influenced his will anyway.
Lucifer lied in bed for a while, but he eventually realized that he had to get up. He should be getting back to Earth. Unfortunately, before he did that, he was fairly certain he'd have to face his father. He wasn't sure what he was going to say at this point.
As Lucifer made it out of the room and down towards the kitchen, he heard some movement. He could only assume it was his father. However, when he got to the kitchen, he found his brother, Raphael there instead.
"Hey," Raphael said. He had slightly tan skin and straight black hair.
"Brother. Did Father send you to babysit me in his absence?" Lucifer asked a bit bitterly. Of course, he didn't know that his father had actually left, but he could think of no other reason for his brother to be there. Raphael rarely left his hospital.
"No. I was looking for him actually. I wanted to know if he wanted me to heal Michael or just let him suffer as another consequence of his actions. I'm hoping for the latter," Raphael said with a smirk.
"Heal him? He was perfectly fine when Father sent him away. What did the idiot do?" Lucifer wondered.
Raphael chuckled. "He ran into Azrael. That was all that was necessary. Everyone's pissed, Sam."
"Lucifer," Lucifer said through gritted teeth.
"Right. I'd heard from Amenadiel that you changed your name after being sent to Hell. I'll try to remember. Anyway, like I said, everyone's angry, but Azrael is livid! When she saw Michael walking through the city, she saw red. I didn't witness it, but I did see what he looked like afterwards. She beat the hell out of him, and no one who witnessed lifted a finger to help him. In fact, Zadkiel offered to let her borrow his staff, but she declined. Gabriel said she wanted to use her bare hands," Raphael explained.
"Zadkiel?" Lucifer asked in surprise. Zadkiel never liked him, even before the rebellion. Lucifer felt the same way. He was always very self-righteous. Of course, that was his thing, so it was to be expected.
"Like I said, everyone's angry. And we're sorry, Sa… Lucifer," Raphael said.
Lucifer shrugged and looked away. "It's not as if you could've guessed what Michael did."
"We could've at least spoken to you before we condemned you. We could've listened to your side. Maybe if we had, we could've figured out that something wasn't right," he said.
"I doubt it. I couldn't even figure out. I never thought he'd go this far," Lucifer said.
Just then, God appeared in front of them. "Hello, boys. Lucifer, did you sleep well?"
Lucifer looked down at his feet as he nodded.
"Father, Michael is in the infirmary," Raphael said.
"Yes, I'm aware. I've just spoken with Azrael," God said. That had not been a particularly enjoyable conversation. He'd found it hard to lecture her, given everything Michael had done, but he couldn't exactly condone it either. Michael was still his son. Azrael had been completely unapologetic, of course, but he had managed to get her to promise not to do it again.
"Do I have to heal him? With all due respect, I think we should just let him heal the hard way," Raphael said.
"Heal most of him. You can leave him with minimal aches and pains, which will hopefully teach him something, but I won't leave him in agony," God said.
"Yes, Father. Lucifer, I hope to see you soon," Raphael said before flying away.
God turned to his remaining son. "How are you, son? Are you hungry? Would you like some breakfast?"
Lucifer shook his head. No, food was not an option with the way his stomach was twisting at the moment.
"How about we go make ourselves comfortable in the living room. We have a lot to talk about," God said.
"Fine," Lucifer said. He didn't see the point of arguing, even though all he wanted to do was bolt. It wasn't like he really had a choice. His father always got his way.
God led the way to the living room, which was a spacious room with a couple of couches and several comfortable chairs. God took a seat one of the couches while his son took a chair directly across from him. "I know last night was very difficult for you. I apologize for that, but everything I said, you needed to hear. You needed to hear what everyone there did to you, and you needed to hear me take them to task for it. You needed to know that none of that was okay with me."
"You didn't stop them," Lucifer said bitterly.
"Lucifer, I don't watch you nearly as much as you think I do. I don't invade my children's privacy every second of the day. I wasn't aware of it all when it was happening. I did intervene during the poisoning attempt though. It was no accident that that wine glass broke," God said. He'd been tempted to smite Chloe Decker on the spot when he realized what she was going to do, and if she'd kept up with that plan, he would have done so, but he decided to start small and see what happened first.
Lucifer flinched at yet another mention of the detective nearly killing him. He didn't want to think about that anymore. It was bad enough that his father brought it up last night.
"Most of the rest I wasn't aware of until later. I certainly didn't know about the things Michael had done until very recently," he said.
Lucifer scowled at the mention of his twin. "I don't know why he did it. I never did anything to him."
"No, you didn't. You did not deserve the way he treated you, and I'm sorry I never questioned his involvement in the past. You were punished for something that wasn't your fault," God said sadly.
"I have to know something. Did you send me to Hell because Michael told you I injured him? Would you have done so if he hadn't told you that?" Lucifer asked. The answer could very possibly change the way he saw his father. It wouldn't fix everything, but if he was sent to Hell because his father thought he was a danger to others, it would be more understandable.
"I don't know," God answered honestly. It would be easy to say that he wouldn't have done it if not for Michael's accusations. It might just fix things between him and his son, but he didn't know if it was true. He knew how much Lucifer coveted honestly, and he would not make things worse by lying to him. "The truth is, I was very angry with you when you rebelled. I had not yet decided what I was going to do when Michael came to me with a slashed wing. I would like to think I would've made a different decision, but I don't know."
Lucifer nodded. It wasn't what he wanted to hear, but it was at least honest. His father didn't try to lie to make himself look better. Lucifer appreciated that. "I guess I'll just have to choose to believe that you wouldn't have."
"I choose to believe that as well. I was very angry with you even before Michael lied to me about you hurting him, but I have to believe that I would've found an alternative. I will tell you that I had not contemplated Hell before Michael's lies," God told him.
"I never would've hurt anyone. I just wanted to live the way humans could. I never would've hurt Michael. Not then at least," Lucifer said. Now, he very much wanted to hurt his twin. The little bastard had literally taken everything from him. As much as he'd wanted Free Will, he didn't believe he would've gone so far if not for the extreme fear Michael instilled in him. He never would've fallen. He wouldn't be hated by the entire world.
"I'm sorry, son. I should've spoken with you before accepting Michael's story. I also wish to apologize for the way I reacted to your request. The truth is that Free Will frightened me. When I realized that humans could exercise it, the implications of it were very worrisome, especially when I realized that it complicated my omniscience. I didn't like humans having it, so I was extremely put off on the idea of you having it," God explained.
"You could've told me that," Lucifer said in a tight voice.
God nodded. "And I should have, but I didn't think you were capable of understanding where I was coming from. I'm sorry. I made many mistakes during your rebellion. The worst was believing Michael without checking to see if he was being truthful. I just didn't think he'd injure himself in order to hurt you."
"He'd do anything to hurt me," he said bitterly.
"Unfortunately, I've come to the same conclusion, but I promise you that he will never be allowed to harm you again. I'm hoping his punishment will teach him some contrition, as well as give him a taste of what you've been through. I can promise that he will never be believed blindly again," God assured him.
"I guess that will have to be enough," Lucifer said. At first, he didn't consider it punishment enough, and a part of him still didn't. He was still allowed to remain in the Silver City and do pretty much as he pleased. Aside from his wings and fear gift, he kept all his powers. All he really lost was the ability to leave the Silver City, which wasn't really a loss. Until recently, Michael rarely left the Silver City anyway. However, after thinking about it, he realized that Michael was trapped in a place he was hated. That had been proven today when Raphael told him of the beating he took from Azrael, and how no one came to his defense. As much as Lucifer hated Hell, he probably would've hated being in Heaven after his rebellion more, as everyone hated him. That would be a new form of Hell. And should he ever be allowed to return to Earth, or want to, he would find soon that humans hated him there too. Humans were gradually being told the truth about him, per his father's orders. He would feel exactly what Lucifer did. It would never be enough in Lucifer's eyes, but it wasn't lenient either.
"As I told you last night, your ban is lifted. You are welcome to return home," he said.
Lucifer shook his head. "I don't want to return, not permanently, at least not now. Earth is my home."
God nodded. "I know, and I've glad you've found a place where you are happy. I would never take that away from you. I just want you to know that you are welcome to come back here whenever you want, even if it's just to visit.
That actually made Lucifer happy to hear. He never thought he'd care if he was allowed back in the Silver City, but apparently having the option mattered quite a bit. "Thanks, Dad."
"I hope you will come, and as much as I may not deserve it, I hope you'll allow me to make amends for how I've mistreated you. I would like to try to repair our relationship. However, I understand if you're not willing," God said. He had done a lot of damage to his child because of his belief in Michael. It would be understandable if his son couldn't forgive him.
Lucifer sighed. "If you'd asked just a few days ago, I would've said that I wasn't willing, but things are different now. Now I know that Michael wronged you as well. He manipulated you. That's irony that I'm sure I'll laugh about later, given that it's you, but it does make a difference. I can try."
"Thank you, son," God said with a smile before taking a deep breath. "There's one other thing I'd like to discuss with you, and I know you won't like hearing about it, but it needs to happen."
Lucifer narrowed his eyes and huffed a little, realizing exactly what his father wanted to discuss. "The detective."
"Yes. It disturbs me that you've looked passed what she's done to you so easily," God said.
"You want me to forgive you, but I can't forgive her?" Lucifer asked angrily.
"No, that's not what I said. If you choose to forgive her is up to you. I never will because as your father, I believe I will always hold a deeper grudge for those that intentionally try to harm my child. You do not have to feel the same way. What I take issue with is the fact that you've chosen to try to bury it. You wish to pretend that it never happened. That, I can't allow to happen, because you will only be able to do it for so long. Eventually, it will hurt you even more," God explained.
"It…it's not her fault. Kinley and Michael are responsible," Lucifer said. In the back of his mind, he knew that wasn't true, but he didn't want to blame the detective. Kinley manipulated the detective, and Michael made it possible by being the reason humans thought of him as the Devil.
"No, Lucifer. They unarguably played roles, but they are no more responsible for Detective Decker's actions than you are responsible for the millions of things humans do that they blame you for," God said
Lucifer bit his lip. He hated it, but he saw his father's point. But he didn't want to blame the detective. He wanted to forget that dark point in their relationship. "I want to be with her. I'm not going to leave her."
God sighed. "I won't deny that I wish you'd leave her. I think you deserve much better, but that is your decision. However, you need to understand that what she did was on her alone, but the priest or Michael, and not you. I know you've blamed yourself as well, but you are not responsible. In fact, no one is less responsible than you.
Lucifer looked down at his hands, no longer sure what to say. In fact, he didn't want to say anything. He wanted this conversation to end. He wanted to forget about it. Unfortunately, he knew he couldn't. He started to see that last night when he father brought it up and insinuated that that was why he couldn't tell the detective he loved her. He'd begun to believe that his father was right about that. He was afraid to say it because he was afraid of her hurting him again.
God could see how upset his son was. He hated that fact, but he knew things would only be worse if Lucifer continued to ignore what the Decker woman did to him. "I know that you're in love with her, but love doesn't mean you need to be okay with someone hurting you. It doesn't mean you're not allowed to be angry."
"Can I go now?" Lucifer asked. He didn't want to talk anymore, however, he also knew he wouldn't be able to forget what his father said. He needed to be alone, so he could think about it."
"Of course, but please think about what I've said. I love you, son," God said.
Lucifer nodded before standing up and walking out of the room.