Chapter 25: Angels aren't real

A woman's scream echoed through the church, sending a chill down Beckett's spine. She ran in the direction of the cry, Castle fast on her heels. Beckett used one hand to call the scream in, summoning the rest of her team to take down Thompson. They could only hope they weren't too late.

The scream had come from the area of the church that Chloe and Lucifer was supposed to be covering, for a moment Beckett thought that neither of them were there, until they came upon a heavy wooden door which had been smashed to pieces. A sobbing cry came from the down the corridor behind the pieces of the door.

"What the hell?" Castle said, glancing at the splinters of wood as they ran past. Beckett had more important things on her mind.

At the end of the corridor was a small room, in the small room was Jason Thompson, holding a nearly unconscious woman at knife point. Chloe had him in her sights, gun level and steady, standing to Beckett's left. Lucifer was to Beckett's right, unarmed, but somehow giving off a distinctly ominous aura.

"Hands where I can see them Thompson, and drop the knife." Beckett levelled her gun as Thompson twisted, keeping his victim between himself and the two cops with guns. Beckett gritted her teeth, no clean shot and given the look of frustration on Chloe's face, she didn't have one either.

"You may as well let her go, you're outnumbered. There's no chance of escape. Not now." Lucifer said, his voice cool.

Beckett frowned as out of the corner of her eye she saw Lucifer take a step forward.

Lucifer stood without any signs of fear, he had one hand reaching into the breast pocket of his jacket, the other hand was slightly outstretched to show how empty it was. Beckett could see Chloe continue to edge her way around, trying to get a clear shot.

Thompson pressed the knife to the woman's throat, obviously noticing Chloe's movements, the woman whimpered. "Come any closer and I'll kill her. She has to die tonight; you have to let me finish my work."

"It's not your work." Lucifer said his voice crackling with irritation, pulling Thompson's attention back towards him. Beckett planted her feet firmer; she had to stay in the doorway to block off the route of escape. With obvious effort Lucifer replaced the irate look on his face with a smooth charming smile. "I tell you what, you show me yours and I'll show you mine."

Beckett had no idea what Lucifer was talking about, but Thompson frowned, forehead creasing with confusion. "What do you mean?"

Lucifer removed his hand from his jacket, producing a feather. For a moment Beckett was transfixed, her gun dipped down slightly. The feather in Lucifer's hand was pristinely white, it almost seemed to give off a warm glow. "See, I have one too." Lucifer's voice was soft and low, hypnotic. His dark eyes fixed on Thompson.

Beckett forced herself to tear her eyes away from the feather in Lucifer's hand and focus on their killer. She remembered the hypnosis trick Lucifer had pulled on Thompson's roommate; she just hoped it would work now, weird as it was.

Thompson seemed to be completely focused on the feather in Lucifer's hand. "Where…?" His grip on his victim was loosening.

Lucifer tilted his head slightly, the feather held out in front of him. "Don't you want it?" His voice was so persuasive Beckett could almost see Thompson melt.

"Yes." Thompson admitted as he dropped the woman and lunged for Lucifer. Two gunshots rang out in tandem. Beckett's bullet buried in Thompson's left arm, Chloe's in his right leg.

Thompson went down with a groan. Lucifer moved in to grab him, lifting him off his feet as though he were a ragdoll. Lucifer had a look of barely controlled rage on his face, something seemed to flicker in his eyes, something bright and terrifying. Beckett and Chloe ran over, "Lucifer!" Chloe yelled.

Lucifer set the stunned and pain ridden kid back on his feet obviously repressing a desire to give the prisoner a good thumping, and stepped back. Beckett snapped on the handcuffs while Chloe applied pressure to the gunshot wounds. She glanced at Lucifer out of the corner of her eye, that terrifying look was gone, though he still seemed particularly irate.

"No give it back…" Thompson groaned twisting in an attempt to free himself from the handcuffs. "It's mine."

"I don't think so." Lucifer told him, examining a black feather he must have taken from Thompson's pocket while he was manhandling him.

"That's his token?" Ryan's voice came from behind them. He was holstering his gun and over his shoulder Beckett could see Esposito calling in the arrest.

"Yes indeed." Lucifer said cheerfully, all traces of the dangerous fury gone again. "Rather dull isn't it?"

"What about that other feather you had?" Beckett asked him, still a little cautious. Beckett had thought Chloe kept Lucifer around because he was intelligent, but that boiling fury and the strength of the man was something else. Maybe there was more to the relationship between Chloe and Lucifer than met the eye.

Lucifer waved his hand absently and dropped the black feather into the plastic evidence bag Chloe held out to him. "Just something I had in my pocket."

Chloe was staring at the feather in the bag and then blinked, gave Lucifer a slightly suspicious look and handed the feather over to Beckett who checked it out, Castle hanging eagerly over her shoulder. "Looks like an ordinary crows feather to me." Castle said, sounding very disappointed.

Beckett rolled her eyes. "What were you expecting Castle? An actual angel feather?"

Castle pouted slightly. "Maybe…"

"Angels aren't real Castle." Beckett said, turning to help Ryan heft their suspect to his feet and lead him out to the ambulance that was arriving.

Behind their backs Chloe and Lucifer exchanged a glance and Lucifer sent Chloe a conspirator's wink.