9

In the Closet

"Ror, I don't know if this is a good idea," Elaine said as her cousin dragged her into her parents room. "Mamí said I wasn't supposed to just poke around in her stuff."

Her cousin rolled her eyes, and sometimes Dad said that Rory would roll her eyes right out of her head someday as often as she did it. "Come on, Lainey. You're not scared, are you? I mean your mom is just human."

"Um, so is yours but Aunt Chloe gives scary punishments. Last time, I was scrubbing the precinct with a tooth brush so much that I got sore."

"Meh, Mom's not that scary. Besides, she's a Miracle. Aunt Ella is super nice and all but she's just a regular person. So she finds you snuck into her cosplay closet? So what?"

"But if she finds out, I could get grounded and the dance is next week!"

Rory nodded and stalked over to her mom's cosplay closet. It had a lock on it…which fell off with just a wave of Rory's hand because, like her Uncle Sam, her cousin could undo any lock or tumbler she wanted. It was a pretty cool trick. It helped them sneak into one of Uncle Sam's best liquor cabinets for the really expensive stuff to sneak to Alex Jenkins' party last month. That was how they'd cleaned the precinct after cause she loved Charlie but he was a narc.

That was why he wasn't here today with them.

"Yeah, exactly. The Halloween dance is coming up, and I have nothing to wear!"

Elaine sighed at her big cousin. "That's not true. You only have to like ask and stuff and your dad will get you like eight options made."

"Oh, he did, but it's the last one for middle school for me, and I want it to be special. Besides, I really thought I wanted to go as Maleficent last week, but I have this idea for some Sailor Moon stuff cause Brenna likes anime-"

Elaine groaned. Her cousin trying to impress girls was the worst. Just Rory was daring and taking a ton of chances under the best circumstances, and Elaine could admit that. But when Rory was trying to woo over a crush? There was no way to talk her out of anything.

"But you hate anime!" Elaine objected.

"Sure, but Brenna is super-hot, and I want to impress her. I know your mom is into so much nerd shit. No way she doesn't have a Sailor Moon outfit or five."

"True, but like…Mamí said never go in here."

"What? She got alligators locked in here? We're super powerful Nephilim. Not like anything in here could hurt us. I say, live a little."

And with that, Rory yanked open the closet and gaped at her mom's collection. At first, Elaine had to agree. Looking over everything was kind of fun. There were, in fact, a Sailor Moon as well as a Mercury and a Neptune outfit. There was even a furry-themed one for going as Luna if she wanted. As Rory pulled others out, Elaine watched as Princess Leia looks and superheroines like Wonder Woman all came out from the collection. It was pretty cool, and it was nice her mamí was so good at fabricating things.

In fact, she rummaged in for herself and pulled out a dress like Belle from Beauty and the Beast, and Elaine could honestly say that she was glad for once that she was short. It was annoying usually that both she and Rory had inherited even if both their dads were tall like trees (as her mamí liked to say). But for now, Elaine figured she could borrow it for the dance too. After all, seventh graders were invited too, and she was looking forward to going with her group of school friends.

But after she'd found her outfit and Rory hers, well, her cousin was never one to quit and stop while she was ahead. Her cousin kept rummaging through the closet, disappearing deep in it until all Elaine could make out were Rory's combat boots.

"So much stuff. I can't even identify most of this nerd crap and hey! Jackpot!" Rory called.

There was a huge clack and then a whooshing sound.

"Hey, Ror? What did you find?" Elaine called, filled with anxiety.

"There's a whole secret panel. You yank on this light saber thing in the back and the whole wall slides out. And oh shit."

"Wait what? Did you break something? Cause if you broke something, I'm so dead and-" Elaine said, pushing through the closet and to the good-sized antechamber behind her mami's main cosplay closet.

It wasn't huge, but the room did go back about eight feet by ten and had a light in its center and a small loveseat to sit in while, she guessed, her mamí picked her stuff out. There was even a corner where a sewing machine sat alongside measuring tape, scissors, and even a seamstress's dummy.

"Whoa," Elaine said. "I had like no idea this was here."

Rory was perusing the racks in the opposite corner from the sewing machine. "Um, I'm definitely sure you didn't know."

Elaine frowned. Her cousin sounded strange, like she was fighting between cackling and maybe crying a little. It seemed nervous giggles were wining out though. "Wait, what did you find?"

"Um, maybe you're too young for this, Lainey."

"You're only like fifteen months older than me. You're not that much older!"

"Yeah but I've got experience, and Dad talks about so much stuff all the time and…maybe we need to go back to the other room."

Elaine felt her eyes blaze, going yellow like a wolf, which was one of her preferred animals to change to, especially when she wanted to feel stronger. More bold. "I'm not some little kid!"

"No, but you're not gonna-"

She strode forward to her where her cousin stored, and her jaw dropped. Granted, cosplay costumes could be kind of skimpy because comic book heroines and stuff didn't wear a ton and a lot of it was lycra. She kind of expected maybe back here to see some fishnets like for a Black Canary or Zatanna costume, but this was…different.

By a lot.

There was a lot of leather. That was for sure, and corsets, and things she couldn't really think of as stuff her mamí would wear even to a convention. And she frowned even deeper, confused to see a couple of, to be honest, Catholic school girl outfits in varying plaid patterns. Some were royal blue and teal, some were red and black, even one was a forest green. That seemed super random since Mamí had talked a few times about how she'd kind of hated Catholic high school. Oh, liked the liturgy, but the years in high school with penguins with rulers…not so much. So it didn't seem like any costume closet of her mom's ever would have a plethora of school girl flashbacks.

Beyond confused, Elaine reached for the blue kilt nearest her and brought it out. "Uh…uh, Rory?"

"I tried to warn you, cuz," she said, pulling out another kilt in dark scarlet.

When both girls brought them to their waists, they fell down to their mid-shins, almost to the ankle. "Um, why are these like way way too long for my mom? She's a way better sewer than this!"

"Because I don't think these are your mom's."

Elaine's head hurt because that didn't make sense. "Yeah, but if these aren't Mamí's, then whose are they?"

"Elaine Lopez Demiurgos, what in the Hell are you doing in here!" her dad screamed, as he ducked in through the false back and walked over toward them.

"Dad, I can explain!" she yipped, clenching the kilt tighter. "It wasn't my idea."

"Uncle Mike, hey…you have so much explaining to do?" her cousin said, holding up the kilt with a huge grin. "Like, so what do you and Aunt Ella get up to?"

Her dad seemed to go red all over, especially splotchy on his neck. "I knew it. I knew it. Aurora, you talked her into this."

"Well, we were looking for a cool costumes and we found a Britney Spears video in here!" Rory was grinning so hard.

Elaine shook her head. "Hey, don't make this worse, and I don't get it. These can't be mami's and oh!"

She finally dropped the kilt and gaped up at her dad. "Wait, what?"

"Yeah, so inquiring minds, Uncle Mike. Do you shave a lot for the whole naughty schoolgirl look or?"

Her dad was faster than she realized. Before Elaine could blink, he was towering over her cousin, and his eyes were so bright gold that even Rory was looking down at the ground.

"If you breathe a word…a freaking syllable of this to your dad, I will ask you what you fear, Aurora. I've held off because that's not fair to a kid, but if you ever think of making a peep, and I will."

"Mom's resistant and you and dad scratch on that so what makes you think I'd cough up my secrets?" Rory asked.

Elaine gulped. It would be better if her cousin just quit now. But that wasn't Rory's style. She just pushed and pushed. "Rory…shhh."

"No, I'm serious," she said, putting her hands on her hips. "Come on. I bet you can't make me say shit."

Elaine reached out and grabbed her dad's sleeve. "Come on. You were right. I promised never to go in Mom's closet, and we messed up and-"

Her dad wasn't budging. Right big old general or used to be. Like pushing on stone. "You really wanna do this, Aurora? Because this is…there's one rule in this house and you both broke it."

"Um, actually there are a lot of rules, Dad, and most of them about boys and…never mind," Elaine said, trying hard to yank on him, but even if she were stronger than humans, she was nowhere near angel strong yet.

"Do it, Britney, see if you can make me say a peep." Rory was standing up on her tip toes, not that it got her close to her dad's point of view, but she was trying to look bigger than she was.

"That's it. I've had it. I've had it with you exploding the science lab and burning off teachers' hair and that time the football team got dysentery…"

"It was salmonella, uh, allegedly," Rory corrected.

"Right, allegedly. You want to do this, Aurora. You asked for it," her dad said and before Elaine could try and defuse the situation, her dad leaned lower, stared into Rory's eyes, and added, "Now, Aurora Morningstar, what do you fear?"

And for a beat, nothing happened, and Elaine truly, really hoped that her cousin really was as immune as her parents. But then even Rory's eyes got glassy and her jaw hung open, as that trance Elaine had seen a few times now on people dad had used his powers on always did.

Rory looked up at her dad and said, "That no one really likes me. That the kids at school are just scared to get on my bad side or like me cause my dad's super loaded."

There were a few moments more where Rory wasn't talking anymore but where she seemed completely out of it before she seemed to be focusing again. She stepped back and covered her mouth with both hands, but the damage was done.

Elaine was the first one to move, since she'd been observing it all. She rushed forward and tried to hug her cousin, who just shook her head. "Rory, it's okay. I like you! Charlie likes you a lot!"

Probably.

Rory's teared up and stalked out of the closet-both parts of it. Elaine trotted after her and her dad followed.

"You have to," her cousin said, and she was crying by now. Her tears made her voice waver. "You have to like me. We're related."

Her dad sighed heavily and reached out to touch Rory's shoulder. "Aurora, I'm sorry. I lost my temper, and I shouldn't have at all. Besides, I can promise you, that family really doesn't have to like me. I mean, none of the Host give a rat's ass about me besides your dad, Charlie's dad, Gabby, and sometimes Azrael. I mean, Charlie and Elaine really like you, kid."

"You don't like me."

"I love you," he said. "You drive me nuts, but I'd do anything to protect you because you're my niece and no one messes with you on my watch."

She spun around and glared back at him, her eyes shiny with tears. "Except you. Fuck, no wonder Dad and Uncle Amenadiel always talk shit about your power. How'd you piss Grandpa off to get it?"

Her dad stopped and his expression fell. "Wait, recently?"

Her cousin rolled her eyes again. Hard. "Um duh. Of course. Your power sucks. Fuck it. I'm out of here. I won't tell my dad about this bullshit because so not worth it. I mean if I tell him about you wigging me out then he's gonna ask why I broke into Aunt Ella's closet and then Mom will ground me anyway before the dance. So, you know, be happy Uncle Michael…mutually assured destruction."

Her dad took several, shuddering breaths of his own. "Aurora, I truly am sorry. My word has historically been shit, but I'll never…I was upset and I wasn't even sure my power would work on you; you're right. I just…I am sorry."

"Yeah, whatever. So tough using it on a little kid. Fuck you very much," she finished, spreading her wings and flapping them a few times before slipping planes and heading back to Lux.

"Dad, you didn't have to do that," Elaine said, not sure who she was more upset for: Rory who clearly had never thought her dad could unleash even her fears like that or her dad who didn't know that sometimes her uncles gossiped about him even now.

Heck, Elaine hadn't known that either.

"I'm sorry. I…I panicked."

She nodded as her dad shut the main closet doors behind him, and then they both headed to the living room. Elaine plopped down hard on the couch and her dad did the same at the exact opposite end of it. She sighed heavily and easily-well by now-slipped into something easier. In a few minutes and as many deep breaths to work through the discomfort, Elaine was a sleek cat with white, fluffy fur. One who had settled on her dad's knee.

Dad, I'm sorry we broke the rule. I know I promised I never would.

He sighed and finally started to pet her head. Elaine relaxed too once he found that spot behind her ears that drove her nuts. "I shouldn't have let Aurora bait me. She's a kid, a half human one, even if she's also the antichrist, and that wasn't fair. I'll go over to Sam's tomorrow and make it up to her."

With cash? Rory likes money!

"Yeah, no. And she and Sam don't like money as much as name dropping labels. She wouldn't appreciate a good thrift hunt anyway. Peanut, you probably have some questions."

Elaine was glad she'd switched forms and not just to put her dad at ease. It was just simpler to not have to face him exactly when discussing, uh, the sex closet stuff she'd clearly wandered into. She was thirteen and not an idiot. Like, okay, she didn't know all the stuff Rory did cause she hadn't heard all of Aunt Maze's fun stories that Dad made sure the demon never told her, but she wasn't five. Or Amish. She had a smart phone and could hack her way around parental settings.

She hadn't really ever thought about stuff like that, but she knew enough to know that sometimes adults did costumes and stuff for fun.

And her little kitty tummy kept flip flopping on her. Nope, never wanted to know that about her parents, at all.

That was probably why doors stayed locked.

"Do you want to talk about the stuff you saw, Peanut?" her dad asked in the same kind of tone he seemed to use around Uncle Sam and having to be nice to him at all.

Not too much. I shouldn't have gone in it. I did, and I am not going in it again. Ever.

"Thanks, I…uh…I appreciate it. Look, your mamí and me…"

I came from a stork. If you're happy with that story, then so am I for like fifty more years.

Her dad let out a big, huge sigh. "Yeah, I'm cool with that. So this never happened, right?"

Nope not at all. I'll even help you put everything back and get a new lock. I'll pay for it myself.

"Oh you bet you will."

Great, I…Dad?

"Yeah, Peanut?"

So, uh, kilts huh?

"Storks, Elaine. You came from a very large, holy stork. Now get changed. The hardware store closes in less than an hour."

Riding up Sam's elevator was like being summoned for judgment, and Michael would know on that score. He honestly hadn't meant to traumatize his niece. He'd just been so exhausted by her latest round of pranks at school-a few of the linebackers were still fighting off the salmonella poisoning-and even more mortified that they'd found something private of his and of Ella's. But she was annoying sure. The antichrist definitely. But she was still a fourteen year old, half-human kid, and she hadn't deserved to be stripped raw and vulnerable like that.

Especially by her uncle and someone who was supposed to protect her.

The doors opened, and Michael pulled out the slightly wrinkled package from behind his back. He'd tried his best to wrap it and had even bought brightly wrapped Christmas paper at the drug store, not even just scrounged around in dumpsters to find some mostly clean stuff to recycle. He'd tried hard to get it to look nice, but Ella usually did the wrapping around the house, and he wasn't great at it.

But he had tried.

His twin was at the piano, playing away at something that sounded like possibly an original composition, but Michael had never been huge on classical music. Sam stopped playing and looked up at him. "Well, Saint Michael, to what do I owe the displeasure?"

"I had a present to drop off for Aurora."

"Christmas is in two months."

"They moved onto that holiday already at the Rite Aid. Sam, stop busting my chops. It was what they had."

His brother sighed. "Yes, well as wonderful as the holiday spirit is a couple months in advance, what happened?"

"Why do you think something happened?"

"Because Miss Lopez…Demiurgos always runs the present getting at your home. This isn't like you, and also my spirited Hellion was rather subdued after her playdate with Elaine yesterday. Is she all right?" Sam asked but not before letting his eyes go bright red and angry. "Do tell, Brother."

"I yelled at her, and I shouldn't have. I felt bad about it. I…Elaine helped me pick stuff out for her as an I'm sorry. We went to the mall. I paid retail, Samael. They took me for a ride, but I did it because I really am sorry."

His brother's eyes went back to brown as he stood. Then, he walked over to meet him and took the package from his hands. "Well, that's quite unusual. I do trust my dear niece's taste."

As he should have. They've gone to a make up stand and bought a ton of something called palettes so that Rory could work on intricate eye shadow looks and pick her favorite for the dance next week. He hadn't even heard of a palette till his little peanut shoved three in them, each one about fifty bucks a pop. But he'd sucked it up and done it because he'd really been an ass.

"It was a team effort. I just…let her have these, since I figure I'm the last person she wants to see. I am sorry I yelled at her."

Sam nodded as he sat back down at his piano, making sure the package was on top of it before he did. "I trust that you are. I've never seen you either wrap a gift by hand-clearly Ella didn't do that-or spend a dime you didn't have to. She's more spirted this morning, went to pass the day at Linda's."

Michael winced internally at that. It would mean Charlie was about to have a long day, but that was kind of the same with all Nephilim. Never a dull moment for any of their kids.

"Good, well, she'll have a surprise when she gets back. I'm gonna get back home. I promised to make a pumpkin pie with Lopez and the peanut for Halloween, and we're also doing some Jack O'Lanterns."

"Yes, how lovely and domestic. See you later, Twin."

He nodded and turned, his tired leg dragging just a bit as he walked to the elevator. And then, well, Aurora's words from yesterday were still stuck on his mind, and even though he should have just left well enough alone…Michael couldn't resist.

Maybe he and his niece had that in common, that idiot determination to question even when they would be better served ignoring it all. Never pushing at all.

He turned around and coughed to get Sam's attention. "I…Sam…Aurora mentioned that you and Amenadiel talk about my powers sometimes. I thought we were past that as a family."

His brother stopped playing again and sighed deeply. "You lie still sometimes like you breathe."

"Sometimes," he admitted. Michael certainly wasn't going to tell the freaking Devil (and God) that he'd Feared his daughter. He wanted to live to see tomorrow. "Your point?"

"You know I never lie."

"You talk around things."

"But you know I don't tell direct untruths. Aurora must have heard Amenadiel and I talking about your burdens."

He stiffened at that. "Like you care."

"You'll find, Brother, that over the last decade or more of peace, that I have very much. Menny has been scared just once when he froze all the world with his powers gone awry. I've found Desire beyond useful overall…though seen it run rampant as well before. But to be Fear…it seems lonely; that is all we meant. If I recall correctly, we both agreed we couldn't have survived the burden as well as you have. That's all."

"I don't need pity," he sniffed.

"I offer empathy, Brother."

"I…I'm fine."

Sam nodded. "I hope that's true. Now, I'll happily ensure that this parcel is delivered. Have a good day."

He sighed and turned back to the elevator. Michael was glad his brothers no longer despised him, but he wasn't quite sure yet, even now, how to deal with them caring about him. Worrying about him. It seemed too good to be true, even after over a decade. It was hard to let them in, even this far, but it was a novel feeling.

This being cared for.

This sense he could really trust his twin.

And then before the elevator doors closed, his brother started playing the opening bars of "Hit Me Baby, One More Time," and Michael decided he was better off plotting his revenge.

On Sam.

It still seemed like he might owe his niece more than a few eye make-up palettes, and soon enough he intended to have a long talk with her about feeling alone. And he'd even buy her one of those dumbass nine dollar caramel latte things she liked when everyone knew black coffee was superior and you could get it at the gas station for like a buck fifty.