Chapter Seven
Family Reunion
Michael looks among his siblings but last of all towards Ella. His hand is gripping hers as tight as he can without risking hurting her. But Gabriel has just said so very much before even laying out whatever rules Father has set out from on high. And every fiber of his being wants to believe that he heard Gabriel wrong, that he has to have been told a lie to spread to all of them.
Because if Ella was chosen, when did Father make that decision and how hard did He push it.
Her hand shakes in his own, and Michael is worried she's doing the same, running those same traps. She's brilliant. If she weren't, her savant mind wouldn't have solved so many cases or, at least, done the forensics work so well that clenched them. Because…
"I don't understand," Scrappy says.
Samael has come to stand behind her by the couch. His wings held high. Still not sharpened, but the message is clear between him and Sam together. If Gabriel even thinks about hurting or threatening Ella, then he will have the Devil fully armed and whatever Michael qualifies as now on him. Rae Rae doesn't shrug her shoulders or release her wings, but she does sit on the chaise side of the sofa and glares up at Gabriel. Even Amenadiel stiffens in his posture. Michael is just glad that Linda and Chloe are probably downstairs, and as a betting, man he's very sure they're both blotto.
He gets that feeling. This has been an impossible night, and it's not yet over.
"Father realized when Michael was in Los Angeles last year, throwing her fit-"
He glowers at his brother, already feeling his eyes go gold with his fury. "Is that how it's going to be now, Gabby? Are all the Host so fucking stupid they see what Father made of me, just the outside package, and for them, they just scrub off their hands, nod to each other, and go 'yup, female now?'"
Gabriel chuckles, and Michael gets why. Gets that his idiot brother has waited billions of years to finally be Father's favorite. Although favorite is a misnomer. For now, Gabriel is clearly Dad's most useful tool. That always changes. Once you're out of favor with Dad, you're shit out of luck. Just look at him and Sam. And Gabriel is many things but as smart as Michael or as powerful as Samael are not among them. He'll fuck it all up sooner rather than later, but not before he can take his gloating victory lap.
"Aren't you?" Gabriel says, and he looks among their siblings for confirmation.
"He's been hurt. Dad did really, super crappy things to him, Gabriel," Azrael objects.
Gabriel sighs heavily. "Yes, of course the angel who never shuts up and likes all the stupid, human entertainment would take your side. Samael? Amenadiel? Don't you think I'm right? Frankly, that Father's right. She's been repurposed."
Amenadiel coughs and doesn't answer directly, just runs his palm over his scalp and flares his nostrils. "It's getting toward four. My son's alone with hell's best torturer."
"And Eve. She's a marvelous mother," Sam defends.
Michael decides it's best not to mention Eve raised the first murderer who killed her other child. Not that it's really Eve's fault Cain turned out to be a complete ass wipe as he's heard it. But Amenadiel would just spiral being reminded. The twit.
"Yes, but the question's moot," Amenadiel says.
"It's not," Lopez snaps, hopping up and she barely comes to Gabriel's shoulder. It's like a chihuahua barking up at a Great Dane. "You're where he's living. He's the one who got shoved into all of this, and he's the one not feeling great with the morning sickness. So, way I see it, you do what Michael asks. Isn't it better for him and the babies and all of this if you don't make him feel crappy?"
Gabriel regards her. "You have no idea who you're yelling at, do you?"
"I was a novitiate," she explains, and it doesn't escape Michael's attention the way she blushes at that. He knows Scraps well now. She definitely did not make it through the celibate part, which mostly, is good for him. "I know who all the archangels are. What no one told me, but I've figured out since is that angels are really assholes. So, yeah, you're here and that's my boyfriend and my kids, and you're not gonna treat him like crap while you're here."
Gabriel laughs. "You have literally no power here, Human."
"Yeah, but you can't touch me. I'm sure if the Big Guy picked me for this whole thing, then He doesn't want me thrashed either. So, you or whoever else flutters down here and wants to mock him or not call him by his name or treat him like a joke? You are answering to me, and okay, I just have some brass knuckles and not even of demon steel and stuff but I bet Maze can help me change that."
Amenadiel gapes at her, as if he'd never met her. In a way, Michael thinks his older brother hasn't, that it's been easy to pigeon hole Lopez in L.A. as the peppy nerd. His brother doesn't know the fierce side of her. She'd get pancaked in five seconds flat even with Celestial or demonic weapons against Gabriel, but she'd try.
It's good for Amenadiel to see this.
To understand who Lopez actually is.
His twin whistles behind them. "Mis…Ella, you can relax. I think Gabriel very much is aware of the rules for visiting. This is my domain and under my protection. In Lux, you'll deliver what you need to but respect Michael as he's asked. The Devil requires it."
Michael looks back at Sam, honestly shocked. He assumes his twin is doing it more to keep Ella from flat out trying to punch the Angel of Messages or to just annoy Gabriel. He has little illusion it's demanded at his own comfort. But it's something, and Michael takes half measures these days where he can.
Gabriel's expression sours, and he straightens his robes. "Fine then, Michael. Fine, Brother," he adds.
Lopez nods but doesn't sit down. "So, first, rewind there. What do you mean the Big Guy chose me?"
"Yeah, I'd really like an explanation on what the fuck Dad thinks He's doing and why I got nominated," Michael grouses.
Though he knows why. Because there is only one receptacle for Creation in the entire universe currently, and he's it. Though, he is unclear why being female makes it easier for the twins to be brought into existence. It's not as if he and Samael were born anyway.
"Mother's not available. Father cannot create a Demiurge on His own. You weren't doing anything useful otherwise, were you?" Gabriel asks pointedly.
Scrappy swears in Spanish, and this time Sam beats him to grabbing her and helping settle Ella back down.
"Ella, the mouth on you. Now, fortunately, Gabriel lacks a silver tongue for language. But, hermana, perhaps it's best if you leave the fisticuffs to us. I promise if he so merits it to punch him twice just for you."
"Lucifer, I got this."
Rae Rae wraps an arm around her. "My brothers are all kind of dicks. It's exhausting. Lu's right. If Gabe gets real annoying, well, he knows who has the scariest blade."
Michael can't help but laugh at Azrael threatening even vaguely their brother. He knows her. She's a good one, and she'd never actually strike one of the Host, not even a real turd like Gabe, but it makes him feel better. Feel like at least he has two defenders. Both are barely five feet four or so if an inch, and one is terrifying in her power set but too good to actually go whole hog, but he has two people who care about him. And it is more than he has felt he's had in eons.
"Fine, but that's the truth. Father was willing to watch and be a passive observer to Michael's stunt. Of course, He knew. But he was curious to see how Michael and Samael would interact when the last time they'd met had included Michael and Amenadiel busting up an orgy. I believe French Revolution?"
"No, actually, it was a few years before and had I known my time with that lovely Marie Antoinette was so limited, then I'd have refused to be shoved down like rubbish down a chute," Sam finishes, straightening his cufflinks. Because it might be four a.m. and he might have gotten dressed after being interrupted in bed, but far be it from Sam by now not to be dressed head to toe in Prada or some other designer shit.
"Right," Gabriel says, rolling his eyes.
It takes a lot for Michael not to do the same. Sam's libido and hedonism are constants in his immortal life.
"So, Michael running wild and threatening my kid was all because Dad was opening to experimenting and letting things run their course?" Amenadiel asks, and he sounds even more constipated than normal.
Michael can't help but snark back at his brother. "Charlie is mortal. He caught a cold. I pointed it out to you, but I didn't make it happen. I just noticed the obvious. If you have problems with your more human than angel son, take that up on the next golf outing."
"He got sick!"
"Yeah, because I just grabbed a ton of snotted up tissues from a dumpster and shoved them in Chucky's face one day. He has playgroup, genius. He caught it there."
"Yes, well, I'm sure none of us appreciate the games you played, Michael. Even if it didn't hurt to be shot, well, I lost a good Burberry over it," Sam grouses.
Lopez drops his hand, and he sighs. It's earned, that shock. He hasn't had time in the clusterfuck of the last couple of months to explain to her everything he did, every manipulation he leaned on. Since Samael didn't die and since he'd known full well at the time the stages of self actualization when one enough was dumb enough to fall head over heels for a human, it just hadn't rated on his mind lately. Michael knew Espinoza would fail. It had been about seeding doubts in the Miracle's mind about how special she was to Samael, not killing his brother. It never had been.
But soon enough, he would have to explain the laundry list of his plots to her. Full daylight to disinfect it because it took a long time to rebuild trust.
And Michael is painfully aware that whatever time he has left alive might not be enough.
"So, Father was curious. Good for Him. How does that make me a chick and one with a bun in the oven at that?" Michael demands of his brother.
"He wanted to see if the current Demiurge was still functional…had a hope to be."
"We didn't kill each other," Sam says, as if they hadn't still made a mess of things.
Both of them, and Michael can admit that.
"Yes, but that's a low bar," Gabriel continues, "Michael, to be quite honest, you did this."
"Oh, it's my fault I'm like this?" he demands, and Michael's on his feet then.
He has no wings to offer as weapons, but he is still strong as any technically female is. He wouldn't necessarily want to get into a knock down, drag out fight with Remiel. Saraqael either but more because she was wily and smart enough to surprise. Still, exhausted and nauseated or not, he is not lesser than he was, just reformed, and he is tired. He is tired of surprises and edicts and games.
And this is more of the same because Father cannot even deliver his own edicts in person. God is just fucking with all of them, and Michael is over it.
"Because I really deserved it?"
"Because you had a chance to walk away," Gabriel says calmly. "Because Samael had a chance to be the bigger angel and you did too. You both had a chance to end the squabbles and at least agree to stay out of one another's way. You failed to do that. Failed in every way. Father was on the edge of making a new Demiurge after Samael scarred you and with a demon's blade no less."
He glares at Sam, who has the decency or at least the self awareness to look at the floor.
"I should not have scarred him…either time," Sam admits.
"Thanks," Michael huffs. He doesn't sit again, and his shoulders twitch. He desperately wants the wings he no longer has, wants his weapons, but he has none to offer against Gabe for now. "You're such a mensch, Sammy."
"But, Father wasn't completely sold on the idea. He wanted to see what you did after. And all you had to do, Michael, was go home to the Silver City and lick your wounds, but you didn't. You went to the demon and manipulated her, used the secrets you knew from your time warming the Mother of Demons' bed how to do it."
Amenadiel quirks his head toward Michael. "You and Lilith?"
Scrappy frowns. "Wait, you all didn't know?"
Rae Rae moves her arm and rubs her glasses on her robes. "Uh…"
Michael is not surprised in the least that Azrael knew but a bit shocked she kept it on the sly. She ran with the Endless, at least with The Death, so she had access to different gossip pipelines. However, he usually figured Azrael was the type to blurt secrets. Then again, for so long she had hidden from everyone what she'd done to save Ella's life that night with the car accident, so maybe…well Sis has her own depths even Michael is still learning.
"Lilith? Oh you are jealous of me, aren't you, Michael? You do know it was strictly platonic between us. Wonderful wing woman, a bit much for me to handle even myself. If you were with her to one up me and whenever so?" Samael asks.
He sets his head in his hands. It is dawning on him that the next better be seven months will just be him with all eyes and attention on him, him explaining his life and his body and everything that has led him hear. He feels every bit of all the scrutiny not just now but from the second he demanded the ultrasound, and Michael loathes it already.
There is a small hand on his shoulder, and he assumes at first it is Azrael, but it's Lopez again. She's offering him a small smile of reassurance. The olive branch that even if she is still relearning to trust him, to understand all he did in his tantrum, that she's not going anywhere. It's a balm to his soul. One that does not last long because that rat-that Pepe-pokes his nose out of one of the pockets in Lopez's sweatshirt.
He crawls out and races to Michael's lap. The chinchilla sits up on his haunches and unfurls his long, prehensile tail. There is something angry in his gaze, something that seems like recognition and clarity, but he's just a rat.
Then, the rat speaks.
"You made Mamí cry a lot."
He blinks and looks between his siblings, and all but Azrael look as confused as he does. Guess Dad didn't really focus on the rodent or brace Gabe on this bizarre hiccup. Ella just shakes her head and holds out her arms.
"Pepe, come here. It's not the time. You promised you'd stay quiet. I thought you were asleep."
"I was, but it got loud." He looks up to Gabriel and bears his little teeth. "I don't like you. You should scram."
Gabriel groans and rubs his temples. "I am just the messenger, and I didn't sign up to be interrupted by a rodent."
"I'm a chinchilla, and I was made by a Goddess so I'm special," Pepe argues, and slightly lumpy or not. Three ears or not…Michael has to admit his little mistake has a point because damned if he knows any other "chinchillas" who either talk or glow slightly lavender.
No, correction, start glowing in response to telling off an archangel.
"Lopez?"
"Pepe's really smart," Ella chirps as he resettles on her shoulder. She scratches behind his ears-all three-and then looks back to Samael. "Look, it's a lot and I kind of thought all you guys knew but the Lilith stuff was in the fifties."
"Ah, makes more sense now," Sam adds.
"But it's not the point," Michael says. "I…you're saying Dad was going to just leave me and Sam…Lucifer I mean as the Demiurge, the current reigning champions, until he made me his Jack O'Lantern and I told Mazikeen he'd spent…oh eternity…lying to her?"
"I made a vow to Lilith not to reveal her location to her offspring. I am a Devil of my word."
"You still tell yourself a lot of lies, don't you?" Michael says.
He can't resist that much. Because of the few things last year he regrets, telling Maze about her mother isn't one of them. She deserved to know and, at the time, he had thought Lily was still alive. She was, actually, but the timing and Lily's own stubbornness…
There had been a chance for Mazikeen to get some closure, but Lily always had to have her way, didn't she?
"I never lie," Sam huffs.
"He bluffs," Lopez corrects. "And it's not cool. But God decided he needed a new Demiurge after that."
Gabriel nods. "He knew then with Michael using Samael's greatest ally against him that the two could never reconcile. So He decided how to rectify the problem. Father realized that Mother was many things, but inherently unstable was one of them. He needed a better base for the improved draft."
"I'll draft him," Michael grumbles.
"How dare He! I'm nothing but perfection," Sam says.
"Lucifer…Michael…maybe if you focused more," Amenadiel says.
"I'm trying!" Michael objects. "You be told you're the shitty draft of something and not feel terrible about it."
"I'm the First Born, clearly one made very closely in His image. It's not my fault if Mother and Father didn't make you both as perfectly," Amenadiel says, and you can take an angel out of heaven but not the incredible stick out of his self-important ass.
Rae Rae shakes her head. "Menny, not helping. I…so Dad decided he needed a new…" she trails off and tears up.
Michael gets it. Rae Rae loves them both. And it must be tearing her up already that neither of them is long for this universe if they can't stop Dad. He wants to hug his little sister, but he doesn't feel he can give ground to Gabriel more. He's taller than Michael is now, but Michael is still glaring at him, crowding Gabriel's space.
The games grow tiresome. Even Amenadiel, dumb as he is, can see that.
"That there will be a new Demiurge, a superior one," Gabriel answers, gesturing to Michael's stomach.
It's a good thing his brother stopped short of actually touching his abdomen or Gabe would have pulled back a stump.
"They're children," Lopez says, her voice wavering in anger. "They're not anything like that. How can you even talk about them like a product."
"Like a weapon," Samael supplies. "Father feeling twitchy for some multiversal expansion is He?"
"It's not your concern," Gabriel asks.
Michael laughs but doesn't give ground. "You mean you don't know the why. That's not what a messenger is told. But yeah new Demiurge, definitely got the memo."
"But why make them half human?" Amenadiel asks. "If they're half-mortal, how can they have powers anymore than Charlie does?"
Michael looks back over his shoulder to Sam. His brother gives a tight nod. Ah, so Samael heard it too. The jealousy. Well, Menny is more than welcome to be a brood mare too. Father could probably Will that so.
"Father has made their Creation a priority. They will be able when fully grown to do all that Samael and Michael could, and they will be raised properly, so that they will be functional. So that they will work in tandem as He sees fit."
"People keep saying that, Mamí," Pepe says, wriggling his nose at Lopez. "I don't…if I'm gonna be a big brother, then they are gonna be here, right?"
Michael groans. "You're not a big anything."
"Michael!" Ella snaps before hugging the thing to her chest. "No, good question, mijo. I…why the Hell does everyone keep saying that. If they're our kids, then where does the Big Guy just get off swooping in and taking them to heaven or whatever?"
Gabriel curls his lip, and Michael knows the gesture well. He used to find humans nothing but filth too, lesser. And it is that same lack of understanding and condescension both in his brother's gaze as he appraises Lopez. "Because you were needed to get them here. They are biologically yours, Ella Lopez, but they are not your children. They are His, so be honored for your service. Father needed someone gentle and intelligent, someone with patience and a shrewd mind. Someone very much nothing like Mother was. So you were Chosen. He merely needed you in proximity to Michael at the right time. He needed you out of the city and alone."
Michael grabs his brother by the wrist and squeezes hard. "Enough! We get it."
Ella looks between them both, holding that rat tightly to her chest. "I don't…out of L.A.?"
"Lopez, no…don't ask more," Rae Rae says.
Amenadiel looks confused-it's one of his default expressions-and Michael glances over his shoulder again to see the abject horror on Samael's face.
Ella breaks the silence in the room. "Pete. He sent Pete. He did all of it because the Big Guy…He wanted to be sure I'd find Michael, that I'd be in a position where I'd take chances and where Michael would want to save me."
"So humans are smarter than they look," Gabriel sneers. "Didn't quite believe the hype on you, Ella Lopez, but then again, Father didn't think you'd truly be at risk. Azrael saved you once, and He knew she'd step in and bend rules for you again." He shrugs to Michael, and he feels his skin crawl at how thoroughly he and Sam and poor Ella…even Azrael have been played. "You have been on borrowed time for over thirty years; this was the debt you owed."
"Dad didn't-"
"You think much happens in the universe He can't see. Dad let you take her off the roles, let you not cull her because she intrigued Him. He kept her around for when she could be useful, Azrael."
"She's my friend. She's not a chess piece, Gabby," Azrael objected, her arm back around Lopez's shoulders.
"I…what?" Ella asks, looking around to all of them.
Sam and Amenadiel shake their heads.
"Ella, I promise you, that I have no idea what is going on. I had no inkling at all that my sister had kept herself from retrieving you ever. She has never done such a thing in all of recorded history, unless I'm mistaken," Sam replies.
Amenadiel hangs his head. "Azrael, you know the rules?"
"Like how divinity and humanity shouldn't mix?" Azrael shoots back. "Because, Menny, you definitely are a hypocrite."
"I…I don't understand," Ella says, and she's shaking.
Michael can feel it. Pete's hand around his throat, and the stench of those fucking hot house lilies is so strong he gags. He manages not to vomit, but in his condition and with Lopez as scared as she is, it's a near thing.
"Dad did this to her. He hurt her for this?" Michael demands, and it is like in the hotel months ago after he'd hunted and broken that little homunculus's arm, when he'd been spiraling so bad with his guilt. When pawing hands seemed the best way to atone for hurting Chloe. But he feels that way again, not just lost but too small, like his skin isn't enough to contain the full thrust of the divinity in him. His eyes glow and he can feel the rest of him light up, the energy sizzling through him, even before the penthouse glows gold with his rage. "How dare any of you set her up. Ever."
And Gabe may be the messenger, but Michael doesn't care anymore.
He is on his brother in a minute, and while he has no wings…Gabriel has shunted his away for formalities. That was a mistake.
He makes short, brutal work of his blows, snapping Gabriel's right wrist and punching his brother hard enough to send him sailing through the glass toward Sam's balcony. Amenadiel is calling after him to stop. The girls are shrieking something similar. There is a gust of wind next to him and Sam is there.
His wing now sharp and its tip brought to Gabe's throat.
"You're not gonna pull me off?" Michael asks, gasping for air.
"He deserves it," Sam replies simply.
"You piece of shit. Did you know?"
"Father's plans?" Gabriel gulps in a ragged bit of breath. "No, only after the fact and when He wanted me to. When I was to annunciate all of it and relay His wishes. But she's been useful. I suppose He thinks you both will be useful to help get them here, but after that Michael…do you think angels that valuable will be left here? Do you really think a human mother could raise them or a monster like you?"
Sam's wing gets close enough to draw blood, and Michael approves when it's not his own. Far less explosions that way.
"Tell Father, the twins are not His business, and they are under my protection."
"You think Father's scared of you?" Gabriel laughs. "He'll have what He wants when He wants it, and if the Host have to come with him en masse to take it-and they won't because you both know better than most what a Presence truly is-but He will have them."
Michael has had enough. He wishes he could tell Sam to just slit Gabe's throat. His twin won't do it, not after Uriel, and it would be the single dumbest mistake of a life full of them if Michael so much as breathed the request, but he wishes it were possible all the same.
Instead, lit up with the fury of his own divinity, Michael asks something worse.
"Oh Brother, you and Father do not know what you're dealing with. You don't."
"You're a Vessel, Michael, nothing more. Don't think you matter. You're smart enough to know you don't," Gabriel chokes out.
"Maybe," Michael replies, "but tell me, Gabby, what do you fear?"
It was easy with Amenadiel, but his brother never had a complex mind, and it was more than easy to see his fears for little Chucky in action even before Menny's own confession a couple months back. Michael has not tried since so much has changed in him to do the same to Samael. They were always so evenly matched, Demiurge in all ways. It had happened a few times over billions of years, but it was rare for Desire to get the truth from Fear or vice versa. Gabriel lay somewhere in between. He was not an easy feed like Menny nor a fortress of deeply held secrets like Sam.
It took an extra beat, and Michael pulling on his strength and, frankly, after a week of sickness and almost two weeks from his last hunt also his need to get it done. But the sky lit up around them on the balcony like daylight and finally Gabriel spoke:
"That Father will find me as disposable as both of you. That I will be his third Fallen, and I won't have that."
"You can stop, Still Michael," Sam says.
His epithet annoying but his tone concerned. He sets his hand on Michael's shoulder and the vertigo that comes from how the hand shouldn't have been so very large on his frame makes his head swim.
He makes Michael push harder.
"But you know you're just as useless as we are. That in the end, every angel is just like toiler paper to Father. Use it and flush it away. So, is that all you fear?"
Gabriel tries to keep his mouth shut. His eyes bulge with the effort as he clamps his lips together, but Michael is so tired and this feels good, the strongest he's felt in weeks.
"Tell me!" he demands, and the light from him is so bright that even Samael has to look away.
"I…" Gabriel starts to talk but tries in vain to put his hands over his mouth too.
"No, what are you scared of so deep down in your soul that you don't even tell yourself, Gabriel. That corner of your mind and fears you lie to yourself about every day since there was light?"
"Michael, let it go," Sam says.
"Tell me!" he demands and he lets so much out, so much of his power.
So much fear and pain and frustration and hurt, and most of it is for her because the lily scent is in his nose and her heart is still hammering and Michael can feel it for her. Can be furious for her. Gabriel didn't do this, but he laughs at it. And Michael can't get his hands on Father.
Yet.
The balcony seems to shake and finally Gabriel cannot keep it in.
"That you're better than me. That you and Samael are still better than me."
Michael finally stops. The energy pushing against him seeps out, and he sinks soon to a chair on the balcony. He sits tall and regards his brother. "You're right. We are better, and you know that if Father weren't mad at us, that we would be His favorites. That you were never in the running. And if you weren't such a fucking kiss ass, you'd see there's no pleasing Him anyway. That it's pointless, but you're an also ran, Gabby, and you know it."
Sam looks between them both, and Michael sees the fear in his gaze. It is not for Gabriel. Sam doesn't give a Dad damn about their brother either. But it is of him, and Michael gets that. He's not sure what he is or isn't anymore, but it is not containable, and while he will work to try and understand and negotiate with his…his cravings. His hunts. Michael won't be sorry that he's left Gabriel shaking and unsteady.
"It had to be done," he tells his twin.
"Did it?" Sam asks.
Michael doesn't get to answer because there is light again. Some bright enough for Sam and Gabe both to close their eyes, but this time it is not his. It is divinity but not from him. Michael turns and watches as Father appears with Amenadiel flapping into view beside Him.
"It seems an audience was needed after all," Father says.
Michael wants to slug him too, but he needs to live. To be in one piece and in relative freedom of movement to help Lopez's children escape. He bites his tongue and is grateful that Sam mostly does the same.
Mostly.
"Well if it isn't Father of the Year," the Devil drawls, brushing non existent lint from his lapels. "How nice of you to bloody join us."
Father, and He does look as if he's trying too hard in the fluffy grey sweater and pork pie hate, shakes his head and sighs. As if this is a sitcom when it is anything but. "You continually disappoint me, Michael."
"Feeling's mutual. You dragged her into it!" He objects, gesturing back into the penthouse where Rae Rae is sitting patiently near Ella.
Her wings are out and she looks pensive behind her thick glasses. Lopez doesn't move because of course Father or Amenadiel, whoever, has frozen time. His very mortal partner is frozen along with it.
"Ella was Chosen. I have my reasons," Father says.
"Because Azrael made a mistake, but she didn't deserve your machinations. She didn't deserve that ne'er-do-well hurting her," Samael objects.
Amenadiel says nothing, but Michael wonders if it matters more to please Father, to suck up to Him than it does to defend his friend. It definitely doesn't escape his notice that Amenadiel is silent.
"She is important to all of this. And she should be honored. Only one other human woman has come close to such an honor," Father says.
And Michael's stomach sinks again. They are all pawns; that's true.
"Father, she attacked me!" Gabriel says, gesturing toward Michael.
He feels no compunction about kicking his younger brother hard in the ribs. It is gratifying when something cracks.
"Enough," God orders. "Gabriel, I did not intend for it to go that way. I wasn't aware…I am glad Amenadiel came for me so that I could break it up," Dad continues.
Michael files away exactly what He said though, and the fact Amenadiel had to get Dad for Dad to know how severely things were going, that He was needed to bust anything up at all. He looks to Sam who is now very much Devil-faced and bat winged though not more than that. Michael gets it. He's furious too.
Dad set Lopez up.
And none of them, including Azrael, are anything but pissed about it.
But if Sam noticed in his own anger and rage what Dad almost admitted, well, Michael will have to catch him up later.
"You hurt her. You let that monster attack her," Michael continues. "You made her suffer. How dare you."
"Suffering is what humans endure. It's what we do as well. It's normal," Father replies.
"She was really upset," Amenadiel says, finally finding his tongue apparently. "Father, there had to be another way."
"This was the way. It was My Will," He says, and Menny is silent again.
Samael's eyes blaze like an inferno. "There is always another way. Perhaps not replace us at all."
Father laughs and it is a belly laugh, goes with the sitcom shtick, but it is cold and haunting underneath. "Look at you
"I wasn't wingless and technically female until you started fucking with me," Michael bites back.
"But you were scarred. You were already warped by Sam yanking on you during his Fall. You were bent and broken and weakened. This is just more of the same," Father says.
Sam surprises him by taking a step forward and setting a hand on his shoulder once more. It is jarring, but it is comfort, and Michael did not expect that. "We can do the job. If you let me have access to my Will. We can serve in the twins' place. They're not even born yet. They are children, half-human children, and they do not deserve this."
"And you're the Devil and a failure, respectively. I need better. I have Created better. And when they are born, they will be raised in the Silver City. Ella Lopez will be free to go on with her life, no harm will come to her. Truly none has. I was never going to let Pete Daily kill her."
"She's…you broke her. You gutted her," Michael snaps back. His left hand is a fist at his side, and he is gold again. Not so bright that Sam can't look at him or Gabriel or Amenadiel for that matter, but he is glowing.
"She had a Calling to fulfill. She still has it until the twins arrive. My perfect Demiurge, one not tainted by your Mother's instability or you own petty imperfections."
"Father, if maybe until they are grown at least—" Amenadiel starts.
Father shakes his head. "You know that I do what is best as a Father and a Grandfather. You know yourself raising a child on Earth is fraught with danger. For one with no powers, it is a gamble. For two with such a destiny ahead, it is unthinkable."
Amenadiel steps back like he's been slapped. Gabriel gets to his feet now that Sam's wings have been removed from his throat, and since he clearly knows Michael is in no position to strike yet again. Not if he wants to live-wants Lopez's children live-to see sunrise.
Gabriel glares at him. His voice still shakes when he talks, but the anger almost covers his fear. "You'll pay for that, Sister."
Michael laughs. "You're small, Gabby. Small and pathetic and wanting. I'm not scared of you, but.." he taps his temple, "I know very well that the reverse isn't true."
Sam nods, his eyes bright and red and so angry. "You're not welcome here, Gabriel. Not again." He turns to Dad. "You want to speak to Michael or lay out rules, do your own dirty work."
"I will. In two months, Charlie's got a big party coming up, right, Son?"
Amenadiel nods. "It's not his birthday but his is over the summer and it was going to be after he starts preschool by a few weeks. More like a getting to know his classmates party. I already invited Father anyway."
Sam, being Sam, can't resist snarking. "Yes, well, glad to see you have no common sense and want Daddy Dearest in our dear nephew's life. How wise a choice that must be."
"You invited God to a preschool party?" Michael asks because the idea is absurd, moreso that his father accepted for a child with no discernable Gifts at all.
"It's a daycare party but yes," Amenadiel defends.
"What is daycare?" Gabriel asks.
"Go home," Father says, turning to Gabe. "You have rendered the service required. I can finish this for the night."
Gabriel hesitates for a beat but then releases his wings and takes off.
Yup, hardly Father's favorite.
But the joke is there is no favorite. There never was and never will be. Once, Samael was supposed to be and look at what befell him. Gabriel, like most of the Host, is chasing a prize that cannot come.
And Michael's heart aches by now, not just for Lopez and the horrors she's endured for Father's plans to work but for her children, for the two nascent lives growing inside of him. How can he be good for them. How could any angel be a good parent, be a loving one, when this is their example.
When it has all been a Game of Thrones of mind games and jockeying for position and backstabbing. When Mother flooded the world and Father…when He would knock up his own child, roundabout way or not.
"Michael, are you with us?" Father intones.
He nods and is glad he's sitting. He's beyond dizzy now, and while he is not tired-actually feels amazing for now from his Fearing his brother-Michael cannot separate himself from the stench of lilies and the tsunami of fear for the woman he loves dearly and her children.
"What new rules was Gabriel going to bring to me?" he asks. His voice is small and he doesn't recognize it. He never recognizes anything of himself these days. What's one more thing? "Or was that bullshit?"
"No, we'll discuss more about my reason and your progress in two months' time. Until then, you can be at Lux, at Ella Lopez's apartment or place of work, Linda Martin's home, and if needs be the office of that interesting physician you've apparently found."
"Might be better if Raphael were on the case," Amenadiel offers.
Sam is still Devilish, but he nods. "I assume this is something that would require angelic attention." He even gestures towards Michael's stomach as if the meaning would be unclear.
"For now, it's early enough. I don't worry about that. But I'm not an ogre, Michael. You can have more free rein for where you can go. Ooh, also that park Charlie likes so much. I am sure fresh air is good for the little ones too."
Michael blinks at his father. At the megalomaniacal asshole who really thinks six whole places is generous for him to be allowed to go. It's better than Mom's cell in Hell. It's better than just Lux, but it's under lock and key, and he's supposed to say thank you?
"I believe, child, you are to say 'thank you' to generosity. Unless, you'd rather tempt burning to a cinder the second you leave Lux's property line?" Father asks. And there is no humor in His tone. Michael knows it is no joke.
"I…thank you," he says even as Sam's hand tightens on his shoulder. Even as Menny looks away as Amenadiel was always so good at doing.
But he has to buy time.
He does.
And if subservience now lulls Father some, then so be it.
"Truly, that's generous," he adds. "I think Ella and I…we need to be here for the kids for now."
"Exactly. A good pregnancy is a good start for them."
"Do you hear yourself-" Sam starts, eyes blazing.
Michael shakes his head. "Sam, He's right. Of course, Father is always right. I've fought things too hard, and Gabriel's words make sense. I brought this on myself. We did…on ourselves."
Father smiles and laughs again. Michael half expects to be offered a Jell-O pudding pop. "Wonderful, I am so glad that when you have the better Demiurge and Ella Lopez to think of, that you're so reasonable." He narrows His eyes at Samael. "You'd do well to think the same way about Chloe Decker and her daughter. They come first, don't they? Wasn't that what you begged me for years ago?"
"Don't be ridiculous. This is cruel and unjust," Samael says, and something weird shifts down his back and under the fabric of his suits, tenting it and stretching it over points until Michael's sure it'll tear.
"Luci-" Amenadiel warns, looking up.
"Samael, Dad's got a point. We are trying to do better, you know? For Ella and my kids, for Decker and her br…Trixie. I mean, we all worry about Chucky, right?"
He looks between his brothers. Amenadiel looks almost ashen and Sam has finally calmed enough to be angelic in his appearance though there are at least two holes down the back of his jacket.
They all know. There is no arguing with Father. Not when they have families of their own that can be hurt. Father is the Presence. He merely needs to think it and suddenly Chloe Decker, Miracle or not, and her kid and Charlie and Linda and Scrappy…all of them will be erased from existence so thoroughly that they never even were.
"Yes, I…sorry, Father. We'll make note of where Michael can go," Sam offers through gritted teeth.
"And of course feeding is still important in all ways and the pre-natal appointments. Oh, and I want one of you with him at all times."
"You?" Amenadiel asks.
"Oh yes, you or Samael or Azrael. She can be relieved from chief psychopomp duties for now. A growing Demiurge is still vulnerable, and other pantheons and beings may want to eliminate complications. So, you make the schedule, and Mazikeen as spirited as she is, does not count as angelic escort. So, that should be good for a couple months."
"It's hardly good. You just appear here after hurting Miss Lopez, changing Michael, and now trying to replace us both and are about to fart right off again. What is that?" Samael demands.
Father's expression sours and it thunders overhead. "Samael, Mikael," And now even Dad is saying his name like three syllables. Fucking Sam. "you both are smart enough to know you don't have much longer for this plane…or any other. I'd advise you both to make the most of the time you have." He chuckles again and it tries so hard to be good natured, but it is not. "So let it be written and all that."
"Father, please, maybe we can-" Amenadiel says before Father holds up a hand.
"No, no. The twins understand. They're not stupid. Foolish and stubborn, but they already knew. Besides, I'd really rather not factor in other mistakes to the coming purge," He adds.
Amenadiel swallows hard. "I don't understand."
"Don't threaten anyone else," Michael says. "Sam and I get it. We all get it. We obey. We were Created to do that, and he and I both see how badly it's gone since we stopped. I can follow fucking orders." He looks to Samael desperately. They're both hotheads, but Sam can't be so stupid he doesn't get that even his Miracle is on the line.
His brother sighs heavily. "Father, you have my word. Until we see you again, I swear to you I will follow your rules as outlined."
"Good, now isn't it better when you listen. Maybe even after Charlie's party, we can have another family dinner. I have this beef dish I've been wanting to try-"
Amenadiel nods. "Sounds great. Do you want accompaniment back to the Silver City?"
His father smiles, and it makes Michael's skin crawl and his stomach flip flop. "Delightful. I'd love to hear how Linda and my grandson are doing."
They are gone soon after, and Michael lets out a long, shuddering breath. The world restarts and he can hear in hushed voices, Scrappy and Rae Rae and Pepe-and it's a low murmuring but Michael's pretty sure now that he thinks on it that the chinchilla sounds like he's from an Edward G. Robinson gangster flick.
Seriously, what the fuck?
"We tucked our tails between our legs, Twin. I've rarely felt so filthy," Sam says, starting to pace.
"You still have a tail," Michael huffs. "Dad can take that. He can take everything, but we have to think, Sa…Lucifer, sorry."
He waves his hand. "Yes, well, misnomers happen. However, He said one thing against the Detective and the offspring and I folded."
"Me too. You think I like this? I hate it, but we play nice till we get a plan because I can't…Lopez has suffered enough. I won't have her hurt by Celestial bullshit again. And if we just piss Dad off, He'll end them all before it's our turn."
"How dare He appear here, act like father of the year for giving you a bigger fish bowl, and threaten the Detective and Beatrice. How dare he!"
"Yeah, I know. I just…Sam," and he is both bone weary from endless revelations and also thrumming with energy. He took more deeply from Gabriel than he did from Amenadiel, and he will feel more like himself-maybe more than himself-for a few days yet to come. "You're missing the point."
"I'm not bloody well doing it. I know the point, and Father is going to raze us all to the ground save for maybe Amenadiel and Charlie." He stops pacing and frowns back to Michael. "What on Earth? Are you deliberately honing a night light impression, Still Michael?"
He rolls his eyes even as he pulls on his divinity, pulls on all he has available to him so that once more the balcony is alight. "No, think, Sam. Amenadiel had to get Dad. Dad didn't know I'd hurt Gabriel."
"No, you must be confused. That's the point of the omnis. He sees all, knows all, and has power over all. Why He's a thorn in all our sides."
"He must have some blind spots. He wasn't sure if we could reconcile or behave better. Maybe a functional Demiurge to a small extent is a blind spot, at least He couldn't predict that we were fucking broken all to Hell till we proved it for him. I…I'm a Goddess."
"Yes, you keep saying that. I get your point, Brother."
"No, Sam…He didn't know Mom was planning a flood till She did it. He didn't know where She was on Earth, so you had to track her yourself. He can't see divinity that matches His. I'm…" he sighs and gestures to himself, and already the glow is dimming. "…I'm not like this all the time, but it's a start. I…if He has one blind spot, then we'll find others."
"The Presence-"
"He thinks He knows who He's dealing with, but He doesn't. We're not the angels He made, and that's maybe the one advantage we have. We've warped ourselves, Sam, or He's done it to us." Michael sighs and rakes a hand through his hair. "Maybe I've been through both, not sure yet, but He thinks He knows us, but He doesn't. So we're gonna be smart, and we're gonna fix this."
"If anything happens to the Detective or Beatrice. Oh dearie me, even Daniel, I suppose-"
He stands and sets his hand on Sam's shoulder. "It won't. But we're gonna play an even longer game than He is. And when we're done, I'm going to wipe that smile off his face and do so much more."
He lets the glow die, forces his divinity away. It is so much, that it leaves the Devil squinting. Lopez has been exposed to so much in her life, but he doesn't want to risk rotting her still very much mortal mind.
He lets go of Sam, leaving his twin to stew, and walks to the living room of the penthouse. Michael is eternally grateful for Azrael who hugs him tightly and then scurries off to the balcony at his request to get up to speed with Samael.
Left alone with Ella and gutted to still feel her anxiety over Pete-over all of it-he sits down beside her on the sofa and sweeps her into his arms. "I know you're not okay. I know you're scared and confused and hurt."
"Hard to date the Angel of Fear, can't pretend you're a-ok, when you're not," she mumbles against his neck.
"I'm not okay either, Scraps, not by a long shot. But Sam and I…we have promised each other that we will keep you safe and the twins. It doesn't matter what Dad wants."
"He's the Big Guy, pretty sure it does."
"I don't care. If him and me and Azrael have to tear it all down; we will. You're going to be safe, Lopez, no more bullshit. And you will grow old somewhere, some comfy place in the suburbs with a picket fence and a fluffy dog and all that crap and the twins will be there."
"But your dad said-"
His eyes flash gold just a moment. "I am promising you this. Sam will too and he keeps his word, you know it. You won't lose your kids, Scrappy, and you're going to make it through this in one piece."
"Will you?" she asks.
Michael sighs. "You three matter the most."
Pepe pokes his nose at from her sweatshirt pocket. "Pops, I think I'm pretty important too. And you just left!"
He blinks at the rodent, and it definitely sounds like it's from the Bronx or something. Seriously, what the fuck?
Michael sighs because Ella is looking at him with wide, hopeful eyes, and the little rat thing is swishing his tail too. Unbidden, his hand strays over his stomach and soon Ella's joins it. This is the strangest family he has ever seen: human and Goddess and Demiurge and magical talking fucking chinchilla. But it is theirs, and they were never very normal to begin with.
"I'll try my best," he says. "I'll do all I can, but you three."
Pepe coughs loudly. "Wanna lay that out again?"
"You, uh, four matter the most, and I swear to you as a the Goddess I apparently am becoming that I will save you."
She sniffles and hugs him tightly, even as Pepe hops to his shoulder to avoid being squished. "I'm so tired. I…you have a room here, right?"
"Dad says I can go a few more places now," he says, stroking her hair. "You wanna show me your place?"
She laughs against his neck and while the faintest hint of lilies is still in his nose, Michael relaxes. He loves this side of her. He loves every side of her. "Well, Michael, I thought you'd never ask."
They stand, and he nods to Rae Rae and Sam. They can figure out where her and Scraps are off to. Well, Azrael's smart enough. She'll make flashcards for Sam later if he needs them. Michael wraps an arm around her shoulder and presses a button on Sam's elevator to the special garage. Surely sam has a car he can borrow somewhere, maybe something posh and Bentley-ish. Pepe is still on his shoulder even as Ella curls against his side in her exhaustion.
"So, you're excited to have me to, ahem, sleep over?" he asks, kissing the crown of her head.
"Maybe not all the sleep over things, but…I've missed you so much, corazón."
Pepe wraps his tail around Michael's wrist. "A sleepover! This is so great. We can have a séance and then we can do Twister and we can watch movies!"
Michael groans. A slumber party with a purple rat isn't what he wants. Far from, but it is what it is.
As the doors slide closed, Ella stands up fully and shakes her head at Pepe. "We are not watching The Maltese Falcon again, mijo."
"Hey, Lopez, let's negotiate on this-"
"Mamí, it's the best movie-"