Hana sat him down in the armchair, holding his hands from fidgeting. She couldn't tell if he was drawing sigils, or he was just nervous. Could have been both. It felt like a very Lucifer Kane thing. His rings dug into her palms, but she kept her grip firm until she had his full attention.
She sat down on the coffee table in front of him.
There was a flash of disapproval on his face, but he had bigger things to worry about than Hana misusing their furniture.
"You want to get him back," she said.
Kane scoffed. "I didn't think that was in question."
Hana nodded.
"It wasn't. But you know it's a trap."
The stubborn silence stretched.
"You can't go waltzing into Brutus's mind, where that thing is waiting to trap the both of you!"
"I know." He sounded defeated. His hands had gone slack and she gave them a good squeeze, to reassure him he wasn't alone in this.
"Do you trust me?" she asked him.
"I wouldn't have asked if I didn't," he said, affronted.
He wouldn't. He would have already put himself into a trance and walked into whatever trap the thing that was keeping Brutus hostage inside his own mind had set up for him. She knew this, but she needed to hear him say it, because they were about to do something very stupid together, so he wouldn't do something terribly stupid on his own.
"Do you have everything?"
"Of course."
"Even the…"
He chuckled.
"I was hoping to use that for more… recreational purposes, but it will do."
She threw a worried glance to the room Brutus Feels was trapped in sleep. When she turned back, she realized Kane had done the same.
"You'll get to do that, too, once we get him back," she assured him.
He shifted his hands in hers and she looked down to see him take her opposite hands in each of his, crisscrossed between them.
"I do trust you," he said firmly.
The ritual didn't take long to prepare. Kane really did have everything they needed squirreled away around the apartment and within minutes, everything was set up on the little coffee table. Candles were lit, incantations were said, and despite the lack of drama, it all felt appropriately mystical. Especially considering that the object sitting on the center of the table, the focus of their intent, was an unassuming leather collar.
"And now, to seal the binding," Kane said and Hana was already reaching for the collar. It felt soft to the touch and much heavier than it looked, though that might have been the situation.
She ran a thumb across the side with the buckle and swallowed the knot in her throat.
Kane was down on one knee when she turned around. He was looking up at her, not pleading, but struggling to keep the tightly wound tension inside him under control.
"Hana, I trust you," he said firmly, "Which is why I am pledging myself to you. But time is of the essence."
She nodded. Of all the possibilities she had seen stretched out before her, she had never imagined this would be the one she'd get to experience.
Holding his gaze, she looped the soft leather around his throat. Her fingers brushed against his skin and they both had to swallow. As she hooked the buckle, she remembered she actually had to say the words.
"I accept your pledge and bind you to myself. You are mine to command and mine to protect. While you are mine, no other being can claim you."
Her voice didn't shake, but her hands were trembling, so she held on to the collar a moment longer. And then, because it felt like the magic needed something more, she leaned down and pressed her lips to his forehead. Another seal. Just as heavy as the collar.
Kane closed his eyes and accepted it, tension thrumming right under his skin.
Hana pulled away and released her hold on the collar.
"Go get your Rock," she said. "I'll be here to anchor you."
He was off the moment she released him, straight to Brutus's room. Hana followed on his heels.
She had little to do but watch, for now. She sat in a chair she had to take a couple of shirts off and watched Kane effortlessly slip into a trance by his partner's side, diving into his nightmares.
Silence filled the room and she waited.
There was no way for her to see into the space her friends were in. Her powers stretched outside the narrative, but she couldn't see into people's subconscious. Occasionally, she felt a jolt of emotion that was clearly not hers, though. Bright anger burned through the bond. Fear encased it like ice.
Something… electric pricked at her attention and she knew she needed to keep better hold on Kane.
She pulled at the invisible thread, holding it firm and poring all her attention into it. She wasn't pulling him back, but she wanted to make her presence known. She wanted to make sure whatever it was he was facing, knew there was someone on this side of the connection.
It felt like hours before Feels began to stir.
There was a shift in the quality of the emotions she was feeling, too. The fire had died down to cozy ambers. Ice had melted into a refreshing mountain stream.
She let the soft feeling engulf her, as she sat there in silence, waiting for the two to wake up.
Eventually, Lucifer opened his eyes.
His first reaction was to roll over onto his elbow and check on Brutus. His worry flooded the bond and Hana was at his side in a moment.
She hesitantly placed a hand on his shoulder.
The tension eased a little.
It didn't calm down until Brutus began to stretch, stiff muscles and joints creaking after being still for so long. The movement tipped Lucifer's balance and he leaned forward with a palpable sense of relief.
"Are we back, Luce?" Feels asked, groggily.
"We're back," he mumbled into his partner's chest.
Feels ran a reassuring hand down Lucifer's back, trailing back up to the nape of his neck where his fingers tangled in the collar and Hana wasn't sure if the flush of embarrassment she was feeling was her own, or Kane's. It reminded her that they still had something to do.
Feels absently toyed with the leather under his fingers as he finally looked around the room and noticed her. He smiled like he was expecting her to be there and was happy to see her and she smiled back, happy to see him awake again. She couldn't know what they discussed in there, but he didn't seem surprised by the collar, or her presence, so that was a good start.
She cleared her throat. "We still need to…"
Lucifer immediately stood up, nearly knocking his head against Burtus's chin.
"Right. Ritual," he said. A little hesitation filtered behind the words. His eyes widened. "You can feel all this!"
"And it's exhausting," she said, realizing how much the last few hours had drained her.
Feels watched them throughout the exchange, before getting out of bed and announcing he was making tea for everyone.
Alone in the room, Hana and Lucifer stood in silence a while longer.
"We should…" he said.
"Yeah…"
He pulled his legs under him to sit kneeling on the bed.
Instead of looming over him, she sat awkwardly on the edge in front of him. She was at about chin level like this. It felt less mystical and more real, which she knew were not mutually exclusive.
Her fingers worked quickly to unhook the buckle. When they touched his skin, the tension was gone, too.
"I release you from your oath," she said, as she took off the collar. And because these things liked cyclicity, she pulled him in and gave him a second kiss on the forehead.
This time it lingered.
They both closed their eyes and Kane caught her hands in his, holding them there.
"Thank you," he said into the space between them.