God was seated at the kitchen table reading a book as he waited for his son to wake up. Samael was doing well now. Things had been hard for him for the first year or so as he adjusted to being much younger than all of his siblings and to his mother's absence. It had almost been a century and he was thriving well.
God soon heard the door to his quarters open and close. He wasn't surprised. Many of his children dropped by on a daily basis. They knew they didn't need to knock unless they were entering his private office.
Soon, God heard footsteps in the kitchen. He looked up to see a young, African American man who looked to be in his early twenties. "Hello, Charlie."
"Hi, Grandpa," Charlie said.
"How's your mother doing?" God asked. Charlie spent much of his time with his mother, as did Amenadiel. Neither had left the Silver City since Linda died. Charlie and Amenadiel had actually spent a lot of time in the Silver City even before that. He'd stopped aging when he was around twenty one. It made it harder to spend as much time on Earth. And, of course, Amenadiel didn't age either. They'd both visited Earth whenever they could until Linda died.
"She's good. She is in Heaven after all," Charlie said before stealing a piece of bacon from the plate on the table.
"Hey! That's your uncle's breakfast. If you want something, I'll get you your own," God lectured.
Charlie chuckled at his munched on the slice of bacon. "Where is Sammy?"
God smiled at the nickname. Samael only allowed Charlie to call him that, and only because when Charlie was learning to talk, it was easier to say than Samael. Samael and Charlie were close. Samael had been upset when he realized that Charlie, his nephew, was aging much faster than him, but he adjusted to it. It helped that no matter how much older he got, Charlie always spent time with him. "He's still asleep. You can go wake him if you want. I was about to do so. I don't need him up half the night because he slept have the morning."
"Okay. By the way, Grandpa, no one reads actual books anymore. That's ancient. Oh, yeah, I forgot, you're even more ancient," Charlie said with a mischievous smirk.
"Boy, you watch your lip. You're not too old for me to smack you," God said with a fake glare.
Charlie laughed and headed for Samael's room. He knocked and then opened the door. "Time to get up, Sammy. You don't wanna spend the day sleeping when your awesome nephew is…"
Charlie didn't see what he expected when he walked into the room. He didn't see the young boy he'd played with since he was a child. Instead, there was a grown man in his place, though one that looked an awful lot like Samael. Charlie knew very little of what happened, but he did know that his uncle was once a grown man and had unconsciously turned himself into a child. "Grandpa!"
Hearing the concern in his grandson's voice, God rushed to his side. "Charlie, what…?" He trailed off when he got a good look at what had his grandson so concerned. His child was no longer a child anymore. He was once again the man they all felt like they'd lost, and he looked to be in pain. "Sam… Lucifer?"
Lucifer groaned in agony. His head felt like someone had tried to bash him it in and flashes of images kept going through his head. It was like they were memories, but they none of them stuck around long enough for him to place them.
"Lucifer, can you hear me?" God asked as he approached his son.
Lucifer did hear the words, but he was barely able to register them. The voice sounded like his father's, but he knew it couldn't be him.
"Grandpa, what's going on? Should I get Dad?" Charlie asked.
"You can. Michael and Raphael as well please," God said. Michael and Raphael, as well as Amenadiel, had spent the most time with Samael. They needed to know. He didn't want to tell too many others yet though.
Charlie nodded and headed out of the room.
God placed a hand on his son's forehead, causing the man to flinch. "Easy, son. I'm just trying to find out why you appear to be in so much pain." He took a look into his mind to see that he was having flashes. A century worth of memories were trying to work their into his son's mind. It wasn't all that surprising to find that his head was hurting. "I'm afraid I can't take your pain away, son, but I'm going to help you sleep for a bit, alright?"
Lucifer was now pretty certain the man speaking was his father, but he was in too much pain to care. It didn't matter when his head felt like it was going to explode.
God used his power to help his son go back to sleep. He also changed the bed and made it bigger, so his son would be more comfortable. He changed his clothes with a single thought as well. He could only that his son would sleep through most of the more intense pain.
Xxxxxxxxxxx
God sat in the kitchen with Amenadiel, Michael, Raphael, Charlie, and also Linda Martin. He didn't usually allow human souls into his personal quarters, but Linda Martin was a part of his family, as she was the mother of his grandson. Besides, his son was likely to be overwhelmed and upset when his memories finally settled. He might need her counsel.
"I don't understand why this is happening now. He hasn't showed any signs of coming back in almost a century. I figured he wasn't going to come back," Michael said. His father had just explained to all of them what happened.
"Yeah, I thought the same. I figured Lucifer was just gone, or that if he did come back, it wouldn't be until Samael aged back to an adult naturally," Amenadiel said.
"It was always a possibility that he could come back at any moment, but I wasn't expecting it either. It isn't an unwelcome surprise though," God said. Right now, what bothered him was that his son was in so much pain, but he wasn't sorry his son finally felt it was safe to come back.
"What does this mean for Samael though, the little boy that has been in his place?" Raphael asked.
"Nothing. Samael is a part of him. Right now, Samael's memories are trying to make their way into his brain. That's why he's in pain," God told him.
"I still don't get it. Nothing out of the normal has happened lately. Why did this happen now?" Michael asked.
"Maybe that's why?" Linda said, getting everyone's attention. "Subconsciously, Lucifer was always somewhere inside Samael, even if Samael didn't notice and even if Lucifer doesn't yet remember what happened. Samael has had a happy life here for the last century. He didn't really know fear or misery, like Lucifer did. Sorry, I don't mean to upset anyone but…"
"Don't be sorry, my dear. We all have to live with the pain we caused," God said.
"I don't get it. Why was he so unhappy? Is it about the stories that I used to hear in school about Lucifer?" Charlie asked. He was never told much about what happened, but he did hear stories about his uncle from other kids. His parents told him those stories weren't true. They told him not to listen to them, and his dad had instructed him to never mention them to Samael.
"Yes. Those stories weren't true, but they were based off a fight that happened between him and me," God said. Those stories were much less spoken of now. He'd begun putting a stop to them years earlier. He put information in the heads of some priests, and that was slowly becoming the new history. In a century or two, everyone would know the truth about his son. No one would think of him as a monster again.
"It's very complicated, sweetie, but your uncle was put through a lot, both by people here and a woman he trusted that betrayed him. Trixie's mother," Linda said. Charlie knew Trixie because Amenadiel had remained friends with her father. They saw each other from time to time.
"I remember her a little. You and Dad never seemed to like her. Trixie even stopped talking to her at one point," Charlie said.
"She caused a lot of pain. Anyway, I think one reason that Lucifer might have returned now is because he realized, unconsciously of course, that after so long, Chloe would be definitely be dead. Plus, he's felt the safety of his family for so long. He may have finally felt safe," Linda explained.
"But how will he feel now? You said it yourself, Linda, he realized this unconsciously. Will the conscious part of him feel safe and happy?" Amenadiel asked.
"Not at first. He's probably going to have a hard time understanding everything, and he may not even want to believe it, but we can all help him come to terms with it," she said.
Just then, they all heard movement in the other room.
God immediately got up and headed out of the room, followed closely by the others. They got their in time to see Lucifer stumbling out of his room.
Lucifer had woken up minutes earlier, and he finally had a break from the flashes, though not the searing pain. It was, however, enough for him to remember that his father was there earlier, and even where he was. There was no way he was staying.
"Son, stop," God said as he went up to him grabbed ahold of his arms.
"Get off of me!" Lucifer yelled before trying to pull away.
"Samael, calm down," Michael said.
"Don't call me that!" he continued to yell, which caused his head to pound me. "Let me go!"
"Lucifer, I said stop."
"No! I'm not staying here!" Lucifer exclaimed.
"Yes, you are. You are not leaving right now. You are not well. You need to rest. If you want to leave once you're well again, I won't stop you, but you don't have to," God said. He emphasized the last part. He wanted his son to know that he would not be forced to leave. This was his home. He would always be welcome.
Lucifer intended to keep fighting, but the flashes returned and the pain in his head became more intense. He almost collapsed from the pain.
God held onto his son as he started to fall. Michael helped as well, and the two them got him back into his room and into bed.
"What did you do to me?" Lucifer asked as he held his head in agony.
God sighed as he draped the blanket over him. Unfortunately, it didn't surprise him that his son thought that it was his doing, nor could he blame Lucifer for thinking it. "It's going to be okay, son. You'll feel better. Rest, alright. I'll bring you something to eat soon."
Lucifer closed his eyes, and unconsciousness soon overtook him.