Chapter 2

Many Siblings

Lucifer returned to Lux with a solemn face. The trip up the elevator was long and deafeningly silent. He still had cuts and bruises from the fight with Uriel. And while he was relieved he'd been stopped from having to kill his brother, other matters pressed down hard on his mind.

His ascent slowed to a stop, and he flicked his eyes up from the elevator floor as the doors opened with a soft ding. Stepping into the entrance area of his penthouse apartment, he kept his face a blank mask. Mum stood near the couches, having gotten up when she heard the elevator's arrival. Of course his mother had been waiting.

Lucifer stared at her, swallowing any lingering emotions about what happened before walking past her to his bedroom. He looked down at her fallen expression, but he just didn't feel up for a mother-son talk. For now, he just wanted to be alone.

—o~O~o—

Camael sighed, pursing her lips. Her crystal pink eyes were tracking the back and forth pacing Kemuel was doing, the angel of authenticity's steps wearing a path into the grass of the garden (not the Garden but a garden in the Silver City nonetheless). Meanwhile, Uriel stood sheepishly off to the side – out of the way of their older sister.

"That was beyond reckless, Uriel," Kemuel fumed, turning on her heel to begin striding the other way. "I understand your want to deal with Mom, but endangering the lives of the humans—" she stopped, pointing an accusing finger at him "—that was stupid, little brother."

"I wasn't going to actually kill—"

"Don't you dare interrupt me," she told him – voice dangerously low as she cut him off, stalking up to poke him in the chest and making him take a step back. "You almost got yourself obliterated. Not dead— destroyed, gone forever."

Uriel was graceful enough to look down, ashamed. "I'm sorry."

Kemuel let out a long sigh, closing her eyes while running a hand through her hair. "Come 'ere," she said, pulling him into a hug.

"Glad that's over," Camael piped up cheerfully.

At Kemuel's gesturing hand, calling her over, Camael joined the hug. The female angels both let out their own laughs as Uriel made a rather un-angelic oof at being squished between the two, though he made no other noise of protest. Still, he did mutter, "I knew that was coming."

Camael saw the smile on Kemuel's face turn solemn, and it made Camael frown. The question in her eyes was answered when Kemuel suddenly spoke in a soft voice.

"As much as I know you want to, don't go after Her again, Uri."

"And Lucifer?" he asked in a similar tone.

"We'll see, little brother… We will see."

—o~O~o—

Lucifer was wasted – trying to be anyway. Drink after drink he downed. Pulling them from his guests, ordering them from the bar, it didn't matter as long as he kept the buzz over his mind. As long as he was kept from thinking about… those things…

"Lucifer!"

He spun to his right, catching the sight of one Dr. Linda Martin. "Doctor!" he exclaimed, pointing at her and letting out a loud whoop of excitement, which caused her to lean back at his ruckus. "Come to join the party?"

"No, I'm here to check on you," she corrected. "You didn't show for our session."

"Yeah, I know. I canceled that," Lucifer pointed out, drinking a martini while she'd talked.

"Yeah, which is odd because you never cancel. Is every thing okay?" she asked.

"It's fine," he brushed off, noting the concern in her voice. "Just a little family drama, that's all— nothing to worry about."

She stared at him. "Family drama?"

"Mmm," he answered through a mouthful of liquor. Setting down the glass, he swallowed and answered. "Another of my brothers came to town— nasty fight. She had to intervene before we killed one another."

Careful, part of himself warned him. That was a little too close to home…

"She? And you have another brother?" Linda asked, trying to keep up.

"Yes, both younger siblings," he said, leaning forward. "I have many."

"Lucifer, if you've been caught up in something—" she started, stepping forward and warily eyeing the shot glasses he quickly downed. "Lucifer," she tried again, "patients often avoid sessions precisely when they need it the most. When the feelings are too painful. Are you sure you don't need to talk?"

"Well, I think there's a few other things I'd rather do, you know," Lucifer murmured, leaning in once more before she pushed him back – telling him 'no' several times before getting back to the matter at hand.

"No, we're not doing that anymore, and you know that," she told him, ignoring his scoff and breathing a little easier as he stood back up. "Now, I'm here if you want to talk about your family's problems, but in a… in an appropriate manner—'"

"Oh, what's the point," he exclaimed. "You wouldn't understand me anyway. You think everything I say is a metaphor. Now if you don't mind, you're killing my buzz… Ladies," he called their attention, passing them several shots of liquor.

Linda backed off a little. "Well, if you change your mind, my door is always open."

Lucifer turned back to his therapist, suddenly very serious. "Well, feel free to shut it."

—o~O~o—

"Hmm… I know that face. Lemme guess— Lucifer's done something, hasn't he?"

Kemuel held back a sigh, turning to face her new company. "Zadkiel, shouldn't you be watching over the young ones?"

Her brother hummed a note, the resonance of it making the sound ring within the courtyard. He met her gaze, stepping close enough to be considered within her personal space. "You know," he said, leaning to whisper in her ear. "They may all be our younger siblings, but you're the elder we look up to."

"Don't let them hear you say that," she murmured back, gently pushing him away.

"And what would they hear? Nothing but the truth— Besides, Lucifer and Amenadiel are off playing house; Michael and Raphael wouldn't care, and Gabriel's never around to hear anything," he pointed out, crossing his arms and resting his back on the wall. "Which leaves you as the oldest…"

She rolled her eyes and gave him a look. "Don't count yourself out, Zad. You're next in line for that title if something were to happen to me."

"Well, if something did happen, we'd all be royally screwed because then we wouldn't have anyone here to keep Dad from forgiving that manipulative, lying bitch—"

"Zadkiel, language!"

"—that calls herself our mother," he continued over Kemuel's scolding. His forest green eyes looked down at her, and her own eyes softened at his concerned gaze. "You might believe that He'd never forgive Her, but the rest of us don't share that feeling."

Kemuel let out the breath she'd been holding. She placed her hands on the bends of Zadkiel's elbows. "For angels, we certainly don't have that much faith, do we?"

"It's not that we don't believe in Him. It's that we don't trust Him with Her," he reiterated.

"Then trust me," she said gently, giving him a small smile. "Just like last time."

"You know we do, Kemuel," he replied, moving to take her hands in his and mirroring her smile with one of his own.

"Lucifer's had a kind of mental shutdown," Kemuel said suddenly.

Zadkiel blinked, frowning in his mild confusion. "What?"

"You asked what he'd done earlier," she spelled out. "He hasn't been taking Father's message that well, which doesn't make much sense to me."

He pulled away, moving further out into the courtyard, and Kemuel followed him as he walked over to and then through one of the courtyard's exits. "You have to admit, Dad's messages are usually pretty cryptic and almost never get the best of reactions."

"If you knew what the message had been, you'd have thought Lucifer would have been ecstatic about it," Kemuel muttered.

"Now, I know that I shouldn't pry – privacy matters an' all – but I have to ask: what did you say to him?"

Kemuel raised an eyebrow at his not-so-subtle rhetorical question. "It might have actually been my fault, but it shouldn't have pushed him at lash out like this."

"And 'this' is?" Zadkiel asked, glancing over to her.

She let out a frustrated huff. "Lucifer's a complete mess," she complained. "For some reason, he's acting as if he wants to have Father take back what He had me tell him. He punched Daniel Espinoza in the face, for Heaven's sake!"

"Now, now, Kem— let's not bring home into this," he said heartily with a short laugh. "I take it that's what you've been doing by the Gates this whole time— watching him, brooding over whether or not to go back down to Earth and beat some sense into our big brother."

"I don't brood."

Zadkiel smirked at her. "Of course you do," he exclaimed, running and jumping off the balcony that they'd come to, only to shoot up from the dive and soar high into Heaven's skies on his honey brown, orange licked wings.

Kemuel rolled her eyes. "Show off," she muttered before spreading her own wings and taking off – not after him but once again headed to her Father.

—o~O~o—

She found Him in a different heaven than last time. He was sitting in a quaint, little café that had originally been built in Paris, France. The heaven's occupant – the owner of the café – was behind the counter, chatting with her soulmate, who leaned against the granite top.

"Twice in less than a week… Something tells me there's a specific reason you want to visit Earth again, Kemuel," He greeted without looking at her.

Kemuel made sure her bow was low enough before glancing up at Him. "I fear Lucifer may do something… drastic."

He hummed a note to Himself, tilting His head to the side. "There has been a disturbance," He mused softly.

"Do You wish for me to correct it?"

"It is not something that can be corrected by another," He said, still gazing at the couple. "Amenadiel has lost his faith in me. He has sided with Her."

Kemuel let out a small gasp. Yes, she had seen Amenadiel with Charlotte Richards more often than she'd liked, but to be with Her now? Like the archangels, Amenadiel hadn't ever truly been told what She'd done, but surely he wouldn't have lost sight of their Father.

"Go to Earth, Kemuel. I do believe a test is in order, and see that Lucifer doesn't get himself hurt."

With a swift nod, Kemuel stood. "Of course, Father."

Before she left, she heard Him add, "Take care of yourself as well."

-o~O~o-

Trixie stared up at Maze's face – one half looking normal, the other half rotten and decomposed. "Cool!"

Maze exhaled a nervous, relieved breath as Trixie smiled, exclaiming about the loads of candy that they would get. And then the girl turned to look out across the street. Maze stopped in her tracks.

"Kemuel," Trixie called out to the angel, waving with the hand that held her bag of candy.

Maze continued to have a stare down with the angel – Kemuel – until she looked down and gave a small smile to Trixie. Within a blink of an eye, Kemuel was by their sides.

"Love the outfit," she commented, going on as if she wasn't standing next to a demon like Maze.

"Don't you have a costume, too?" the eight-year-old asked, pulling out her puppy eyes.

Kemuel smiled. "Do a little spin to show off that suit of yours, and I'll show you mine."

Trixie gleefully spun in a small circle, still holding Maze's hand. When she came back around, her eyes widened. "Is that a halo?" she asked excitedly. "Awesome!"

"What are you doing here, angel?" Maze questioned, crossing her arms and rounding on Kemuel as soon as Trixie ran up to the next house.

Kemuel met her demanding gaze calmly. "I could ask the same of you, demon," she responded, matching Maze's tone. "It's not every day that I find a creature such as yourself taking a human child trick-or-treating… or at all for that matter."

"That has nothing to do with you," Maze shot back, bristling. "I'm doing a favor for her mother."

"It seems that Lucifer isn't the only one that's become attached to this family," Kemuel mused.

"What's that supposed to mean?" the demon growled.

The angel gave her a smile, which only irritated the demon even more. "Nothing— at the moment." She turned her attention to Trixie, who was now coming back to join them. "Is your basket meant to be only half-filled?"

Trixie shook her head, hiding a shy smile and stifling a laugh at the silly question. Kemuel took the basket in one hand, holding Trixie's hand with the other. Maze took post on the girl's other side.

"Fortunately for the both of you, I happen to know where several child-friendly neighborhoods are…" Kemuel glanced over to Maze, who was still watching her suspiciously. "I think we can still get to them before nightfall."

—o~O~o—

Kemuel looked over to the pair that had fallen asleep on the couch while watching a horror movie and then to the clock on the wall. The angel still wasn't sure what it was that had Lucifer attached to Chloe Decker, but she hoped to find out through the child. Kemuel understood why the demon liked the girl now, though.

Trixie had accepted Mazikeen, who had shown the child her true face. They were… friends. Kemuel wasn't on the demon's good side, but she wasn't on Maze's kill list either. That might have been different if Kemuel hadn't been a friend to Trixie as well.

Kemuel smiled. The girl had seen Kemuel's 'halo' and smiled. Sure, the halo had merely been a manipulation of light, but she had seen it (unlike some of the other human participants in the trick-or-treating ordeal). It was a sign on the girl's purity. Not necessarily purity of mind or body – innocence – but more purity of heart – goodness.

It made Kemuel wonder if that was due to influence on the part of the girl's mother. It would have made sense.

The angel finished touching up the icing on the double-layer chocolate cake she'd made – a surprise for Trixie when she woke up. Kemuel made sure she'd cleaned everything up (except for the evidence left behind by Trixie's sugar high), and then with one last look at the clock, she left the Deckers' home.

"There you are!" a voice greeted from behind her as she landed. "I was wondering when you'd show up. I'll tell you now, it was a pain to dig that stupid hole. Why did you even have me dig a fake grave in the middle of nowhere?" Azrael complained, leaning on the long handle of the shovel.

"Because our dear mother thinks that Uriel is dead," Kemuel replied, nodding her head to return the greeting. "And Father thinks it's time for a test."

Azrael paused, dark eyes looking over to Kemuel through a curtain of equally dark hair. "Which involves?"

"This grave, your blade, a fake body that looks like Uriel's, a map to this place, and Lucifer's partial cooperation."

"Like that's going to happen with the way he's been on a rampage since you talked to him," the angel of death scoffed.

"Thank you so much for the reminder," Kemuel deadpanned.

Azrael shot Kemuel a look. "It's not my fault that brother dearest is – and excuse the pun – stubborn as hell. Besides, if he's part of this test, then he'll get involved one way or another."

"That's what worries me," the angel of authenticity admitted, stopping in her work. "He's hurting right now, Rae, and I don't know if this is the best thing for him."

"Well, it's not really up to us, is it?" When that semi-assurance didn't do anything, the younger angel tried a different approach. "Hey, Dad knows that you care. Because you do— a lot. It's in your nature as our big sister, even if Lucifer's technically older than you." Azrael let out a sigh. "Just don't get too caught up in this, Kem. I get that you're protecting all of us from Mom, but… be careful."

Kemuel smiled softly at her sister. "First Zadkiel, now you… It's almost as if you're all trying to look out for me now."

"Maybe we are," Azrael said with a mischievous smirk, white teeth flashing in the moonlight in a stark contrast against her dark brown skin. She jumped down into the fake grave and pulled out her blade. "Man, I'm gonna miss you."

"There, there, Rae— it's only until the test is over, and then you can see your precious blade again. Don't forget to give it a kiss goodnight," Kemuel teased.

"Oh, shut it. I just hope you and Dad know what you're doing, letting this bad boy loose on Earth," she replied, gingerly setting the blade down on top of the fake body that had been created just for this occasion.

Kemuel helped the angel of death step up out of the grave. "Well, if Uriel's predictions go as planned, then you'll have it back before it gets ten people killed."

"Well, if Uriel's predictions go as planned, we should be home in time to watch the dominoes fall," Azrael mimicked.

"Don't be mean," Kemuel chided her. "You can go home now anyways— I just have one or two more things to do, and I'll see you in a bit."

"Right, because you're not going to stay down here to watch it all play out. Okay, I got it. I'll tell Zad that you'll be late for dinner," Azrael bit out.

"It's not like that, Az—" But the angel of death was already gone. "Great…"

And now Kemuel had to refill the fake grave by herself. Next, she'd have to make sure there was a trail leading here to make it easy enough to find. Then, the angel would have to secretly drop off a map to the site somewhere in Lucifer's penthouse where he'd find it and hopefully lead their dear mother there. Plus, Trixie and Maze weren't going to eat that chocolate cake all by themselves— (In reality, Kemuel would probably have to make another one…) Not to mention that she still had to go find Lucifer.

And this was all by herself. Just great.

At least after several more brief interactions with Maze, Kemuel had asked where she might find Lucifer. A short – not completely accurate – explanation later and Kemuel had been given the location of one Dr. Martin. Now that she was done with the grave, Kemuel would have to wait for Lucifer to show up at the therapist's office, but at least then she wouldn't be late…

Or maybe she already was.

Kemuel cursed in Latin, Hebrew and English. Taking a deep breath and collecting herself, Kemuel revealed her presence to the therapist. "Dr. Martin," she called softly to the woman sitting in the chair, staring blankly at the wall.

"Dr. Martin," she repeated, placing her hands on the sides of the woman's face when she was close enough. "Linda, look at me… please."

"It's real— it's all real," she finally responded weakly.

"That would be correct, doctor," Kemuel told her. "I'm afraid you were on the receiving end of seeing Lucifer's devil face."

Linda's face began to fall into a frown. "I— I asked him to show me… I— You know him?"

Kemuel smiled at the doctor's sudden change in train of thought. The distraction was good. It would help her get through the shock. Afterwards was another matter.

"It's okay, Linda. I'm going to make sure of that," she assured the struggling woman.

"Wh-What are you going to do?"

Kemuel let healing energies wash over the human. "I'm going to help you."

A/N: I'll have you all know that I had to psych myself into even posting this story, but the reception has been great. It's nice to know there's another great fandom out there. And the ending to latest episode (2x10) changes nothing – okay, it gives me another element to work with… but still… Whatever, see ya'll next time.

Last edited: [1/12/2020]