"So where do you think the nearest hotel is?" Helene asked as they trekked away from the jail in the rain. "I'm tired and hungry and I think I need a shower!"

"I'm not going to argue with that last thing you said," Ludovic told her, which made her jaw drop. "But there's no hotel around here. But don't worry; we'll stop and rest eventually."

"On a bed, right?" Helene asked. "In a room with central heating and blankets and-"

"No!" Ludovic shook his head. "Did you not hear me say there's nothing like that around here? Luckily, I know how to camp. I'm sure there's a clearing in the woods to settle in. Now shut up and keep moving."

"I can't move!" Helene whined. "I'm cold! My body hurts! I think I broke a nail! And the worst thing of all, this orange outfit they made me wear clashes with everything!"

Ludovic did his best to ignore Helene's pitiful whimpering. "Just keep moving," he told himself. "Just keep moving. And maybe if you outrun her, you'll never have to see her again."

Then, he heard a shriek and a thud, and whipped around to see Helene lying in a crumpled heap on the ground, not moving.

"What are you doing?" He asked, standing over her. "Get up! We have to go find shelter."

"No, thank you," Helene told him as water continued to cover her. "I twisted my ankle! I don't think I'll be able to walk. I just want to stay here and die." She burst into tears and he groaned, looking around and hoping there was a large tree nearby.

"Lucky for you, I see a tree and I can make shelter here," he said. "You aren't inconveniencing me one bit." He made up the shelter and sat under it, then continued to listen to Helene's whimpering.

"Geez you really are a pathetic baby, aren't you?" He asked as he picked her up. "Well never let it be said I'm not kind to poor dumb animals..."

"Takes one to know one," she interrupted weakly and gave him a small smile.

He just shook his head. "You're unbelievable." He took her under the shelter and held her to try and warm her up, but when the shivering didn't end, he sighed. "We have to take your clothes off," he told her. "You're too wet to be warm this way."

"But how is making me naked gonna help?" Helene asked.

"I have body warmth," Ludovic told her and brushed some of her hair out of her eyes. "Just trust me."

"Fine," Helene narrowed her eyes. "I don't really have any other choice, but you better not try and feel me up or anything."

"Oh, please!" Ludovic scoffed. "Don't flatter yourself. I have more important things on my mind right now."

Helene sighed and got as close to him as she could, then her eyes slowly closed as he ran a hand repeatedly down her bare back

"Why didn't you let me die?" She mumbled.

"I don't know," Ludovic sighed. "I'm a glutton for punishment, I suppose."

Helene nodded and snuggled a little closer. "It's nice in your arms like this," she admitted.

Ludovic blushed a little. "Get some rest," he told her. "I'll make sure you're safe."

As she fell asleep (and snored just a little) he ran his fingers through her hair. "Why?" He asked her and himself. "Why do you have to be so beautiful and so annoying all at once? Why can't you just be irritating? It would be much easier that way. Instead, here we are...I'm stuck with you. And, in a small way...I don't think I mind." He then leaned back against the tree, shut his own eyes, and wondered just how long he'd be able to sleep before she woke him up again.

"Hey!" The next morning, Ludovic was awakened rather abruptly by Helene, who had crawled off him and was once again wearing the now dry but wrinkly orange outfit again.

"What?" He asked, blinking.

"What do you mean, 'what'?" She asked. "We better get going! Stop being lazy or we're gonna get caught!"

"You're welcome for keeping you warm last night," he muttered and got to his feet.

"Well, that was your choice!" Helene snapped. "No one asked you to. Especially not me!"

"I'm gonna broaden my definition of 'Thank you' and reply to that remark with 'You're welcome'!" Ludovic snapped. "You know you're all wrinkly, right?"

"Well, my clothes were wet so what did you expect?" Helene questioned.

"I didn't mean your clothes, I meant your face!" Ludovic shot back.

"I..." Helene quickly put a hand to her cheek. "My face is not wrinkly!" She yelled. "How dare you! Don't speak to me or touch me ever again! I don't care if I freeze!"

"Well, don't worry, Princess, I won't make that mistake again!" He assured her.

"Besides, you only wanted to do what you did so you could see me naked and feel me up!" Helene continued. "You don't care about me!"

"Oh, don't you be like that!" Ludovic snapped. "I know when I transformed and we broke out of jail that you were looking at me too! And I bet you liked what you saw!"

"Don't flatter yourself!" Helene said and tried not to blush. "I did not such thing! I felt no such thing!"

Then Ludovic shrugged. "Well, all right. You can tell yourself whatever you want, but that's not real vulnerability."

"I would say being naked and cold and alone makes a person plenty vulnerable," Helene spat. What else is there?"

"Trusting someone," Ludovic countered. "Even if you don't feel you should. Trusting that you can fall asleep in their arms and they'll keep you safe. Baring your soul. Being open, being honest. That's really what being truly naked is. You'll see it in time."

Helene burst out laughing. "There you go saying silly things again," she said. "Now, are we gonna keep moving or what?"

"Yeah, yeah," Ludovic muttered. "Let's go. But you're not gonna say another word, you got it?"

"No," Helene smirked. "I don't got it. And you can't make me!"

"Why did I save her?" He muttered as she strode ahead and he looked up at the sky. "Why?"

"Of course, Gwen," Malachai promised her. "I promise I'm on my way. I had to have my television fixed today and it took longer than I anticipated, but now I'm driving and will be there soon. I swear you'll still have time to get to the restaurant."

"Well, good," Gwen sighed. "I know you would never break a promise or anything like that, but this is something Steve and I have looked forward to for weeks now, and I would hate to have all that hope be for nothing!"

"I understand," Malachai assured her. "No worries." He then drove as fast as he could get away with, parked in Steve and Gwen's driveway, and then sprinted to the front door.

Gwen opened it before he could knock and actually embraced him, which was a bit of a surprise. "You're here! Oh, thank Steve! Finally!"

"Oh, I'm glad to see you too," Malachai replied.

Just then, he heard a tiny voice yell, "Uncle Malachai! Uncle Malachai!" And a toddler with bright dark eyes and her dark hair pulled back in a ponytail ran toward him and hugged his legs tightly. As she smiled up at him adoringly, he looked questioningly at her mother.

"Well, this is unexpected," he got out. "When did it happen?"

"Only a few hours ago," Steve supplied after appearing quite suddenly. "Just after four. Good thing I knew it was coming so we were prepared."

"It was twelve minutes past four to be precise," Gwen corrected. "I don't think you can ever be prepared for something like this. It's how I found out what Hell truly was. I know you were planning on watching a baby, Malachai, and I meant to call and warn you, but..."

"It's all right," Malachai sighed. "It's not your fault. What happened happened and we'll go from here."

"Right," Gwen nodded. "Thank you."

"Avery, please let Uncle Malachai go and stand up now," Steve urged. "He needs to be allowed to come inside and sit down."

"NO!" Avery shook her head forcefully. "He's mine! I stay here!"

"What a cute kid," Malachai got out.

Gwen shook her head. "You think that now, but you'll eat your words soon enough. It hasn't even been that long and I am more than eager to have some time away from her."

Steve was now looking doubtful. "You know, since she just grew up, maybe..."

"No maybe!" Gwen shook her head and grabbed his arm to pull him out the door. "We're going and we're going now!"

They left and then Malachai and Avery were alone with the half open door. Unable to move very well, Malachai looked down at the eager little face, gave her his best smile, and tried to speak in a calm voice. "Sweetie, I have to close the door. But I can't reach it unless you get off me for a minute. Do you mind?"

She just giggled and shook her head, gripping him tighter until finally, he lost his temper.

"This isn't a game!" He said, pulling on her ponytail in an attempt to make her let go while she screamed and cried. "When I say I want you to let go, I mean it!"

Finally, he got her off him, closed the door, then picked her up as she stumbled. Something had to be done about her, and clearly Gwen and Steve were too overwhelmed to do it themselves.

"Now young lady, you and I need to have a talk," Malachai told Avery as he carried her away from the door and set her down on the sofa.

"Okay!" Avery smiled, bouncing up and down before giving him a peck on the lips and kissing both his cheeks as he flushed bright red and gave an awkward chuckle.

"You're affectionate," he got out. "That's a very good quality, but..."

"I'm gonna marry you!" She said, grinning widely.

"Oh, that's very sweet, dear, but you don't want me," he told her, shaking his head. "I'm too old for you. You need a nice young man!"

"No, I want you!" Avery cried resolutely. "You're perfect!"

Malachai heard this and rolled his eyes. He thought he'd never tire of flattery, but this was getting ridiculous!

"Listen to me," he told Avery firmly. "One day long from now, when you've grown up and learned about life and magic, you'll meet a nice young man..."

Avery pouted and stomped her foot, not letting him finish. "I don't want a nice young man! He's stupid! I want you! Are you listening?"

Malachai scoffed. He'd always considered himself a kind and even-tempered man, but this child was really testing that. "Avery, you're being very rude right now and as your future magic mentor and the person who is in charge of you right now, I-"

She just shook her head, blew a raspberry, and strode out of the room before he could finish. Clearly the fact that she was enamored of him wouldn't count for as much as he thought.

"Now come back here!" He yelled. "Where do you think you're going, young lady? I'm not done talking to you yet! We need to talk about the other things you've done! Like all your tricks with the weather, and bringing Malcolm back from the dead! Those are terrible, naughty things!"

"You're mean!" Avery yelled. "I'm doing magic in my room!" Then she slammed the door right in his face.

"Wow," he whispered and ran his fingers through his hair. "She really blows hot and cold, doesn't she?" He thought about pushing her further, then decided that maybe he should be grateful for a few moments' peace, turning to leave and heading to Steve's library, all the while hoping he could read without being interrupted by Avery doing something foolish.

But an hour later, he hadn't heard a sound and found himself beginning to get concerned. He put his book down and went back to her room. "Avery?" He called. "Are you done having your tantrum? Are you ready to be a good, mature girl?"

But then, the door opened so fast that he didn't have time to get out of the way and it hit him in the nose. He barely had time to look up as a very naked Avery came through the door and frowned at him. "I would use the word 'woman' now if I were you."

When he finally got a good look at her, his very vivid dream of her dancing at the bar came back. He began babbling as his mouth opened and closed repeatedly. He quickly zapped them both to the living room while he searched desperately for something to cover her with. First, he grabbed a lace doily from under a flower pot, but quickly realized that was too small. So he threw a quilt from one of the sofas at her instead. "Have some decency and cover yourself up, would you?" He snapped.

Avery just let the blanket fall at her feet, then reached out a hand and cupped his chin, grinning wickedly as she brought his eyes up from his lap and made sure he got a good look at her new body.

"You really like me now, don't you, Malachai?" She said seductively. "You can admit it. You don't have to pretend. I know it'll be hard for you to resist me."

"Avery, why did you do this?" He questioned. "Your parents are going to kill me!"

Avery groaned, pushed him away, and rolled her eyes. "I don't think they'll care. They hate me anyway."

"Why would you say that?"

"Because it's true!" Avery blurted. "They don't really want me. I'm just an inconvenience!" She then grabbed the blanket and put it around herself. "You don't even like me. Admit it."

Malachai sighed. Now that she was covered up and actually talking somewhat like an adult, he found her much more approachable. "It's not that I don't like you," he told her. "I do! I just...we just need to teach you to control some of your impulses. That's all."

"I don't know," Avery shook her head. "What if I do it and my parents still hate me?"

"I don't think they hate you," Malachai told her. "It's just that they haven't had little kids in a long time and they're older, so it's wearing them out. It's not your fault. You were just being a kid."

"So I didn't do anything wrong?" Avery brightened.

"Well, not on purpose," Malachai said. "Not that we can just allow you to do whatever you want."

"I don't understand!" Avery said. "I'm doing nice stuff for people. Like bringing the people they like back from the dead!"

"I know your intentions are good, but..."

"But what?" Avery asked. "What's wrong with bringing people who love each other back together?"

Malachai opened his mouth and then realized that without taking time to think it over, he wouldn't have a very convincing answer. "You know what?" He said, "why don't I think about that and get back to you? Until then, let's just do something nice and quiet, okay?" He paused, and frowned. "What do you mean 'people who love each other'? Only Malcolm has come back. Are there others? Avery, what have you done?"

"Can we do something together?" Avery asked, quickly changing the subject. "Are you going to send me to my room?"

"No, you can stay out here with me," Malachai conceded. "At least until your parents get back."

"Okay," Avery smiled. "Thank you, Malachai!" She moved to hug him but he backed away. "I would rather not hug you until you're properly dressed," he said.

Avery rolled her eyes. "Well, all right, fine!"

They decided the most harmless thing to do would be to watch a movie until Steve and Gwen came back from the restaurant. Avery surprised him by sitting on a separate couch from him and keeping her blanket around her. It actually turned out to be kind of nice. At least until Steve and Gwen got back.

"All right," Gwen got out. "We're back early because someone said we had to skip dessert and rush home." She eyed Steve. "What is the big problem?"

"Gwen, dear, look at the love seat," Steve pointed.

Gwen quickly turned, saw Avery, and turned back. "So?"

"So...so you don't think it's the least bit strange that a woman who was not here when we left is here now?" Steve questioned.

Gwen shrugged. "I would have liked to be told Malachai was bringing a woman over, but...he's an adult. He can do what he wants."

"Oh, I'm not just any woman," Avery got out. "I'm your daughter. Surprise!"

"Wait, what?" Gwen's jaw dropped. She then whipped around. "You knew about this! Why did you have to be all secretive!"

"Well, you didn't want dinner ruined, so I thought I'd keep it to myself," Steve shrugged. "Sorry."

Gwen sighed. "Well, what's happened has happened. Nothing we can do about it. Avery, come upstairs and we'll see if my clothes will fit until we can go shopping."

"You see?" Avery cried. "Can't you just feel the love, Malachai?"

As Gwen herded Avery upstairs, Steve tried to give Malachai some money. "Thank you for watching her," he said. "You really did a good thing tonight."

"I don't need your money," Malachai said. "Just do me a favor: watch out for your daughter. Be patient with her. Please? Even if Gwen can't, will you?"

"I know what you mean," Steve nodded. "And I'll try. Goodnight, Malachai."

"Good night, Steve," Malachai told him. "And would you tell Avery goodnight from me too?"

"I will," Steve nodded. "I promise."

Klaus woke up to the sound of a madly ringing doorbell. Then he looked at the clock on the bedside table and groaned. What sort of an idiot would do this at two in the morning?

Careful not to wake Amy, who was, miraculously, still sound asleep, he made his way out of the room and ran down the stairs, pulling the door open, his mouth open to yell at the person, but stopping when he saw who it was. "Alistair?"

"Sorry," Alistair apologized, looking genuinely contrite. "You know I wouldn't bother you at this hour if it weren't an absolute emergency. May I come in?"

"S-sure," Klaus nodded. "I suppose." He let him in and they both went to sit on one of the living room sofas with a groggy Amy joining them a few seconds later.

"So I wasn't imagining the bells," she said, moving some of her wild red hair out of her face. Then she saw the suitcases Alistair had with him. "Did you come to tell us 'goodbye' before you left for a trip?" She asked as she hugged him warmly. "I hope you're going to a tropical island. A place like that would do you good."

Alistair sighed. "Actually, I'm not. I wish I was, with everything that's been going on: The demons escaping from Hell, Ellie and Lucifer running off to Steve knows where, everything with, with..."

"Helene?" Klaus finished as Amy none too gently elbowed him in the gut.

"We're so sorry about that," she told Alistair and took his hand. "If there's anything we can do to make it a bit easier for you..."

"Actually, yes, there is!" Alistair nodded. "Astrid's cheating on me and I..."

"What?" Klaus shook his head. "That's not possible!"

"Oh, it is!" Alistair insisted. "But I wanted to show her what I was missing out on so I had my way with her on her office desk! It was so exhilarating!"

"Great," Amy shook her head. "Didn't need to know that, but thanks for telling me anyway."

"I...I don't know what to say..." Klaus told Alistair while shaking his head. "That's usually the sort of thing I would do, not you. Are you all right?"

"Of course!" Alistair insisted, pacing back and forth.. "Can't a man do something a little different once in a while?"

"Yes, of course, but don't you think this is a bit much?" Amy wanted to know. "I'm sure if you and Astrid talked, you could sort it out."

Alistair whipped around when he heard this, startling both Klaus and Amy. "If you are referring to my...Astrid, there's no talking to that woman any more. She's made her choices, she is an utter fool, and I'm not going to put up with her anymore! If she doesn't want to be married to me, that's her business and far be it from me to stand in that harlot's way! She can go to Africa, she can go to Europe, she can go to Hell for all I care!"

Amy moved closer to Klaus. "You've known them longer than I have," she whispered. "Have they ever been like this? Has it ever been this bad between them?"

"No," Klaus whispered back. "Not that I know of."

"You don't have to whisper," Alistair snapped. "I can hear you!"

"Sorry," Amy shook her head. "I'm just...very concerned."

"You don't need to be," Alistair assured her. "I can manage."

"Well, whatever we can do to help..." Amy got out.

"You can!" Alistair cried with a smile and put his bags down. "I moved out of my and Astrid's house and need a place to stay. And I thought my old friends wouldn't hesitate to help me out." He gave his biggest smile. "Please? I'll help out around the house and everything!"

"It's nice to know that, but we really don't need you here long term," Amy said.

"Yes," Klaus nodded. "I don't need a minder again!"

"But...please?" Alistair insisted. "I told Astrid that I was going to be here. And you don't want me to be a liar, do you? Please? I know you don't need me anymore, but Astrid doesn't know that and I want to keep it that way. I promise I'll make it up to you. You won't even know I'm here! At least not in a bad way."

Klaus and Amy looked at one another and sighed. "All right," Amy said at last. "It's early and I can't think. Find an empty room and we'll deal with this in more detail when the sun is up."

"Perfect," Alistair nodded. "Thank you. Thank you very much."

He put his stuff in a room and then went to the kitchen for a drink before he went to bed, poking his head out. "You know, this kitchen is a mess," he observed. "How can you find anything? I'll just rearrange it and be off to bed after. Won't take me any time at all."

Klaus and Amy then groaned as the bangs and clunks of Alistair rearranging the pots and pans echoed throughout the house. "You and your good heart," Klaus hissed. "Now we're never gonna get back to sleep! You know how thorough he is when he's organizing!"

"Sorry!" Amy apologizing while blushing furiously. "It can't go on forever, though...can it? And it's not like we're gonna let him move in permanently!"

"I know I wouldn't," Klaus replied and began nudging Amy toward the stairs to go back to their bedroom. "But after all this, I'm not so sure about you."

"That jackass!" Lily-Eleanor yelled through He-or rather, Alec's open and empty bedroom door. "I've been there for him! Ever since he became human and had all that screwed up crap with his father and when it's a time where I need him to support me, what does he do? He runs away like a coward, and doesn't even tell me where he went or when he'll be back! That selfish, stupid, son of a-" Full of anger and not knowing what else to do, she just started kicking and punching the bedroom door repeatedly. "Damn him! Damn him! If he were to show his stupid face here right now, I would just-"

But what she didn't know was that Alec was on his way back to the house. He hadn't disappeared completely, but had gone to stay with Tyler for a few days and, having heard about the demons, decided to come back and make sure that Lily-Eleanor was okay. That was more important to him than the awkwardness of possibly having to confront his father again. It had been a few days. And that was enough.

As she yelled at the empty room, Alec barged into the house, rushing toward her room, not wanting to waste another minute. Even when he heard what she was yelling, he still had a lot of concern for her. But as he began to pepper her with questions, it was clear that she had no desire to answer any of them.

"Are you all right? Did they hurt you? Why didn't you call me? I could have come and gotten you away from all-"

That got to her. She'd been facing away from him, but at those words, she turned and grabbed him by his collar, pulling him so close that their faces were practically touching. "You want to know why I didn't call you?" She hissed. "In order to call you and tell you that something was wrong, I would have had to have known that you were missing and where you'd run off to, two things you neglected to mention before you ran off and abandoned me! You didn't care before, so I don't see why you suddenly give a crap now!" She then dropped him on the ground. "I hate you so much!"

He swallowed as he got up from the floor, conceding that he deserved at least a little of that. But not all of it. "Now just a minute!" He yelled. "I'm here to help now! That should count for something!"

"It doesn't!" She replied as they reached her bedroom. "Too little too late. Fuck off!"

As Lily-Eleanor slammed the door shut, Alec didn't stop in time and it hit him right in the face. He began to growl and swear and pound on the wood. "Open this door, woman, or I swear I'll break it down!"

"Oh, sure!" Lily-Eleanor shouted back. "Like you can do that by yourself! Go to Hell!"

She then stepped back, her eyes widening and her breath picking up as he literally pulled the door from its hinges and held it over his head as he strode into the room.

"You were saying?" He asked with a smirk.

Lily-Eleanor's eyes couldn't help but land on his bulging arm muscles before she shook her head and straightened her spine. Her eyes narrowed, but she said nothing.

"That's what I thought," he told her. "Say it. Tell me I won."

"Never," Lily-Eleanor hissed, moving away as the skin of their arms touched and walking to the other side of the room.

"This is interesting," he observed. "The first chance you have to prove yourself, you run away."

"I'm not running away," she snapped. "I just don't feel like talking to you! Put my door back and go away!"

He chuckled and pushed her against the wall. "You think I'll do something just because you demand it?" He asked. "Not now. Maybe not ever."

"Well, just what is your problem?" Lily-Eleanor snapped. "You abandoned me! You have no right to be angry right now! No right!"

"Yes, I do!" Alec cried. "You must know why I left! It's been so hard dealing with this new human life of mine! And to find out that the figure who's had my existance in his hands for as long as I can remember is actually my father and never said a word about it? You try and learn something like that and see how well you handle it! It was a lot to deal with and I didn't know how long it would take or how to end it, and I didn't want to burden you with my problems when there was no easy solution! I left to give myself time to find one. Sure I didn't tell you that I was going, or when I would come back, but that doesn't mean...that doesn't mean..." As he yelled, his face got closer and closer to hers until his top lip touched her bottom one. Then they were kissing soundly, their arms wrapped tight around one another. He kissed her neck and ran his fingers through her long red hair as her hands went up and down his back.

"I missed you," he whispered. "I truly did."

Lily-Eleanor sighed and stopped kissing him for a moment. "I...I know, but...you could have told me all this. It wouldn't have been a burden or a problem. This is the kind of thing I want to help you with! You're entitled to your secrets and you don't have to tell me everything, but if there's something you only don't want to tell me because you think it will be a burden, tell me anyway. Please."

"All right," Alec sighed.

"Thank you," Lily-Eleanor returned, as he picked her up, carried her to her bed, and continued to kiss her, their problems forgotten, at least for the moment.

"Here we are," Ellie whispered to herself as the cab driver helped her out of the car. She thanked him, paid him, and as he drove away, made her way toward the club where she believed her husband had settled himself. The weather in Los Angeles was warm and pleasant, and at any other time, she would have enjoyed it, but not now. Armed with steely resolve, she made her way into the club, and asked the first person she saw about her husband.

"Yeah, he's here," the man replied. "In the back...with quite a few nice people."

Ellie froze. "Excuse me?"

"He's here with a bunch of good looking people and several bottles of the good stuff," the man smiled. "What a way to live!"

"Right," Ellie nodded, her heart sinking as she turned away from him and wiped away a tear. She shouldn't have been surprised. She looked down at herself. She was heavily pregnant and it felt like none of her clothes fit right, which helped nothing. But she had to try anyway. She'd started this and it was up to her to finish it.

She strode off to one of the lounges where her husband had indeed set up court, surrounded by pretty women and a few very pretty men, not to mention several empty bottles of liquor.

When he saw her, he got to his feet and spoke in a slurred voice as she approached him. "Okay everybody, party's over. There's my wife."

"Or she could join us," suggested one of the blondes.

"No, she couldn't," Lucifer shook his head. "Just look at her!"

Ellie felt like she'd been slapped, but swallowed, got close to him, and pulled the wedding portrait out of her purse. "Do you remember this?"

Lucifer blinked and nodded. "Yes, nice day," he got out and threw it on the floor. "Shame it didn't mean anything!"

"It...it did!" Ellie got out, trying really hard not to cry now. "It did!"

Lucifer scoffed and swayed on his feet until two of the men he was with grabbed him to keep him from falling on his face.

"Oh, sure!" He spat. "If it was so great, then why do you have to keep bringing it up as one of the more horrible moments in your life? The defining reason why everything is ruined for you?"

Ellie sighed. "I know I do that. And I'm sorry. I...this time, I was just trying to help your sister. I didn't mean to hurt you."

"Yes, well, you did, no matter how much you didn't mean to," Lucifer spat. "Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go down to the basement and get more to drink."

"Now just a minute!" Ellie cried, growling in frustration because she couldn't sprint after him and it was hard enough to keep up with his much longer strides when she wasn't fat, since she was so much shorter than he was. "Slow down! I'm not done with you!"

"You think I'm not going to take advantage of how easy it is to get away from you now?" Lucifer yelled and then laughed somewhat maniacally. "You clearly don't know anything."

But Ellie persevered and reached the stairs just in time to see her drunk husband lose his balance and fall down the last few steps, hitting the floor hard.

"Oh, damn it!" She cried and went down slowly. By the time she reached him, he was struggling to get up, and had a giant gash on his head. "That looks like it hurts," she said and winced, setting a hand on his chest after getting as close to him and the floor as she could. "Sorry I can't be more help, but I'm sure it will heal in a minute."

"Go away," Lucifer panted and winced in pain, cursing when he realized she saw it. "I don't need you! I don't need you."

"Yeah, you do," she nodded. "You can't even get down a flight of stairs by yourself. And I can hardly get out of a chair on my own. We need each other, whether we like it or not. And I'm gonna stay here with you at least until you can stand up!"

"You stubborn witch," he muttered, and then passed out.

"Lucifer!" Ellie yelled and shook him. "Lucifer, are you...?" She then trailed off and slumped beside him, her hand in his on the floor.