Weeks passed with little news on the situation. They all had wracked their brains in search ofw hat could be stealing the souls of the children and many a Google search was done in hopes of finding some new form of information, but to no avail. They had no details to go off of. All they knew was that something was simply taking them and they were seen no more.

Natalie herself had walked through her office one night to find Michael in front of her laptop, running a hand through his hair, scowering over pages of information. His horns had come in fully, gold in color, and reminded her of a dragons. She felt they suited his righteous nature.

She had offered him a tired smile that he returned in kind before she dipped out to finish a load of laundry. If there had been any headway made, he would have said something to her, she was certain.

Natalie had never felt so helpless in her life. There was no action she could take to help in sorting out the issue, and even if there was, she felt like angels and demons alike would stop her. She was too important. They couldn't risk her being hurt.

The Bar remained in business and Natalie and the rest continued to show up every day as stress began to mount. Though they did their best to keep their spirits high. Oddly enough, it was easier to manage the stress at the bar. They could work and laugh with regular people and devote their minds to other topics while business was steady. And when it was late into the night and any sane person had returned home to sleep, they could sit around, smoking their own hookahs and drinking their own drinks, and watch a movie together. They would do their best to keep conversation flowing until they were too tired to remain and return to their homes.

Natalie spent many nights staring out her window, hoping to hear from Death, or for a child's soul to find its way back to her.

She was taking everything the hardest but it was expected. She smiled and laughed with them when she was engaged, but when she was not, she adopted a pensive and worried expression. She grew forgetful and took to walking through her backyard at night, Jekyll at her side, to clear her mind.

It was during one of her walks that Lucifer approached her. He wore jeans and his black pinstripe shirt as he padded through the grass and breathed in the cool night air. He had seen her, strolling along the path of old oaks in her pajamas, and had thought to bring her a sweater. He offered it to her now as he stood before her, slight frown marring his face.

"Thanks," she chirped and pulled it over her head while Lucifer looked up at the clear night sky. "It is a little cold out, isn't it?"

"Yes," he said with a sigh as he watched her, hands in his pockets.

"What's wrong?" she asked with a cocked head. He was oddly subdued that night, she noted, and worried that something had happened.

"You," he grouched in response, irritation flaring with her display of obliviousness. "You're so listless these days, you're not taking care of yourself," he explained upon seeing the hurt on her face.

"I understand," she mumbled and dropped her eyes to the ground, ashamed that she had caused him worry.

"I know . . ." he began but paused to organize his thoughts, "Look, kid, I know this is hard. But I need you to have faith that we'll fix things."

"I know, I'm sorry," she conceded.

"You nearly burnt the house down the other day when you left the stove on," he exclaimed, throwing a hand back to gesture at the house. It's lights were on and the warm glow spilled across the backyard cheerily. From within movement of several people could be seen as angels and demons puttered about. Many of them had taken up roost there out of convenience.

"I was never good at cooking," she admitted with a chuckle.

"Please, Natalie," Lucifer groaned and rubbed his face irritably. "I'm serious."

"I am too," she bit back. "This is all driving me crazy, I'm sorry if I seem so out of it. I'm really trying. But there's just so much going on . . ." she explained. Her eyes glistened in the moonlight and Lucifer's ears drooped for having made her cry.

"It's alright," he murmured and pulled her into an embrace. Her arms wrapped around his torso and she buried her face in his shirt.

"Every time they leave me I know they're going to go missing but I can't stop them from going," she cried into his shirt.

"We'll figure it out," Lucifer assured her and placed a kiss on the top of her head.

"I'm just so stressed out," Natalie admitted, "I feel sick all the time now, I just can't stop worrying about them, and what about Death?"

"I know, kid, I know," Lucifer rubbed her back and started to lead her back towards the house. Jekyll came bounding from around one of the trees and followed behind at a leisurely pace. "But you have to understand that you have every angel and demon out there right now working to fix things," he continued as they stepped up onto the patio, "Everything that can be done is being done. And I don't like seeing you like this."

Natalie nodded and gripped his arm between hers as he pulled her through the open glass door. "I'm sorry," she mumbled. "How about we watch a funny movie?" she proposed lightly while she sniffled and wiped at her eyes.

"Sure," he agreed.

That night Natalie dreamed for the first time in a long while. She had fallen into a rut of exhaustion and stress that had prevented her mind from ever truly relaxing enough to recall a dream or even have one, as far as she knew. But as she closed her eyes, wrapped in the arms of Lucifer, she allowed herself to truly feel that all would be well. They had succeeded so much together, survived the apocalypse even, that she knew they would be able to save everyone. They had to.

So her mind wandered through sleep, picking through memories, and dreaming of what the future would hold. She walked through the garden that was her soul, spied on all those sleeping within her like children in the womb, and smiled. Hearts were healing and blooming into their own beautiful souls, little by little, and she marveled at the healing cracks that decorated them like battle scars.

Among the dark and colorful flowers small orbs of light danced about like fireflies. They flickered to and fro, as if to provide light and entertainment to those within, and she followed them as they bobbed in the air. These were the souls of the children. They had yet to settle, as there was little damage to them and they needed little time to heal, and chose to dance about before heading off to their next lives.

They led her through the forest of a garden, seeming almost to whisper, "come see, come see, we made a friend". Natalie giggled as she pushed through leaves and foliage and a cool breeze brushed across her bare shoulders.

"I'm coming," she said through a chuckle.

Natalie pushed aside a large leaf, looking to belong to an elephant ear plant, and paused. Before her was darkness. A clearing within her own soul where the vegetation had been sucked of life, and in the middle of it hunched a black figure, dripping with what looked like tar. Rattling breaths wracked its lungs, wet and gurgling, while hands rubbed at its arms in an effort to remove the tar. But it seemed to be made of the stuff.

The souls danced about it, darting to and fro, before floating down to lay upon its flesh and be seen no more. One by one their voices in her mind disappeared and she watched with morbid fascination as the thing laughed and turned its face to her. It had ripping fangs and features hidden by tar, but eyes glowed violet from within, and they focused on her.

"They're mine," it rasped.

Natalie shook her head, eyes wide, as tears fell. "No," she warbled and reached a hand out, wanting to grab them all up before they could disappear.

"I will have them all for what they did to me," it hissed and reached out, setting a hand on the ground, pulling itself out of the hunched position. The earth was reluctant to let it go, but with a squelch, one foot was free. It crawled across the ground with agonizing slowness, working its way toward her, while the souls of the children continued to anoint its flesh and disappear.

"Give it to me!"

"No!" Natalie cried out and shot up in bed. Her heart was racing and she clutched at her chest as her heart threatend to leap out of her ribcage and nausea rolled within her stomach threateningly. She didn't have time. The feeling was overpowering and she threw back the covers, leaping from the bed, and stumbled into the bathroom just as the bile rose in the back of her throat. She vomited into the toilet, though she didn't have much in her, and struggled with shaking hands while recalling the dream.

It had been inside her. She didn't feel it now but, at some point, it had been within her very soul. And it had escaped. She didn't know when, but she assumed some time ago, most likely when her depression had been at its worst. When she was too far lost in her own despair to pay attention.

Bile rose again in her throat and she heaved into the toilet. A cold sweat broke out across her flesh and she struggled to fight the tears that so desperately wanted to fall. It was her fault, she had let it out into the world, and it was taking the souls of the living.

She didn't know what it was but, if it had been within her, it had once been a soul. And most likely, within Lucifer, waiting to escape from the depths of that black water. The tar it had been covered in nothing but clinging darkness amassed over centuries at the bottom of Hell.

She heaved one last time just as cool hands were placed at the back of her neck and her hair pulled from her face.

"I'm sorry, it's gross," she mumbled around the burning of her throat and shakily took the glass of water offered to her. She took a swig and spat it back out into the toilet to wash her mouth out before she flushed and took a real gulp to sooth her throat. The taste still lingered but she vowed to brush her teeth as soon as she had the energy.

"It's alright kid, I've seen worse," Lucifer muttered.

"True," Natalie said through a sigh and dropped to her butt to the floor, her legs aching from the crouch, and leaned back into him.

"What happened?" he asked quietly so as not to wake anyone else in the house. Michael was in the guest room next to theirs, though he rarely slept those days.

"I had a nightmare," Natalie explained quietly, dispensing the details to him as clearly as she could. "Whatever it is, it's been hanging out at the bottom of Hell for a really long time . . ." she finished.

"Hmm," Lucifer hummed in thought, gazing over the top of her head at the bathroom wall, but his mind very far from their physical location. "There were so many evil things locked away in me, I couldn't tell you who or what it was . . ." he finished lamely with his own sigh.

"It's okay, dude, I figured as much," she assured him and pushed herself to her feet, pulling her hair into a bun at the top of her head so she could brush her teeth.

Lucifer watched her as she brushed her teeth in thought before he spoke up and said, "We'll have Raphael take a look at you tomorrow just to be sure."

Natalie nodded a she rinsed her mouth out one last time and shut the water off. They returned to bed but neither of them really slept for the remainder of the night, lost in their own thoughts, and wondering what monster had escaped back into the world.

Raphael stared deep into Natalie eyes as she sat atop a bar stool in the kitchen. Both of his hands rested just under her jaw as he tilted her head this way or that, searching the depths of her soul as best he could. Tears streamed down his face as he did, eyes watering against the beauty of her soul and all that it contained, but he could not see any festering darkness as she had described.

He stepped back after a few minutes and shook his head, lifting his eyes to Lucifer who stood at his side, "I don't see anything. Whatever it was is long gone, not a trace of it remains."

"Good," Lucifer muttered with a shrug. He wanted nothing of the sort to be harbored within Natalie's soul. He knew the things he had sheltered within Hell were monstrous, even more so than he had ever been, and they did not deserve to rest within the beautiful garden that was her soul.

Raphael's mouth was a tight line as he gave a nod, "In a sense, yes, but now it is loose upon the world . . ."

Lucifer crossed his arms, shoulders taut, and lifted his eyes to the sliding glass door stoically. "Maybe we can lock it away again."

"You will do no such thing," Natalie exclaimed and frowned. Lucifer meant to lock it away within him once more. To act as a vessel for the evil that could not even be contained by Natalie herself. "Hell is no more, there is nowhere for it to go but me."

Lucifer slid his eyes over to her, a threatening air about him, but it was not directed at her. "I still have the seals, do I not? They must be meant for something," he argued.

"No soul is to be locked away to fester," Natalie stood to oppose him, her own arms crossed. "It will only make things worse. They must heal."

Lucifer turned to fully face her and his anger rose, "Not all things can be saved, woman, when are you going to get that through your head. This thing entered you evil and it left evil, does that not prove my point?" His voice had steadily rose until he was shouting, angry for her utter faith in her own abilities, and worried that she would do something stupid. No, knew that she would do something stupid.

"Is that a fact?" Natalie exclaimed. "That's awfully funny considering who I'm looking at!" Her eyes glowed green with her outrage. He refused to believe what he himself had proven.

"Who are you looking at?" Lucifer shot back. "You think me saved? Just because I've given up on my ways to be here does not mean I am any less of a monster than I was before." As if to emphasize his point, his eyes glowed and the light of the room dimmed in the darkness that seeped from him. He slammed his fist down on the bar, shattering the tile, and drawing the attention of Michael. The fallen stepped into the kitchen from the living room with wide eyes.

"You're wrong!" Natalie shouted and clenched her fists. "Things are different now. You're different now!"

"The only difference in me now is that I am empty. I have no purpose. There is no Heaven or Hell to end me and my only direction is to follow you. See just how far I have fallen!"

The rage was intense, so much so, that Raphael had moved in front of Natalie to block her of the sight of Lucifer. His skin had grown black and glowing red cracks had blossomed across his body, horns jutting from his head and curling about, while his eyes radiated his rage.

"You will not stand before her in that form," Raphael warned in a cold tone, eyes leveled upon his fallen brother and what he had become.

"I will stand before her however I please," Lucifer drawled with a manic grin, fangs glinting in the darkness he had created. He was begging for a fight. Begging to be rid of the monotony he had fallen into. Anything to rid himself of the doubt he felt over where he stood in this new world he had inadvertently created with his actions.

"He can look however he wants, just as long as he knows it doesn't intimidate me in the least," Natalie complained, placing a hand on Raphael's shoulder.

Raphael looked back at her over his shoulder before he stood to the side with a muttered apology.

"And you," Natalie said coldly, arms crossed as she stood before Lucifer in his most demonic of forms. "Change and growth is shown in how we handle situations, react to things, and how we treat others. You, my dear, have grown exponentially. Even if you do not want to admit it. Now tell me, how are you going to handle this situation right now?"

She stood with steady eyes, challenging him, daring him to react. How, he did not know, but his fist trembled upon the broken bar while his eyes stared into hers. She wanted him to react? She was trying to prove a point. It drove him mad. Two sides warred with each other, his pride and his conscious, fighting for control. He wanted to turn his back then and prove to her that he was Satan, he could walk away and leave her broken and shattered, and another part of him wanted to drop to his knees before her and beg forgiveness.

Yellow eyes dropped to the floor between them and his shoulders slumped as the tension left his body, though his physical appearance did not change.

Finally, he pushed himself away from the bar and turned just so to eye the sliding glass door once more. "I'm not," he stated simply, quietly, and with so much pain.

Natalie's eyes widened as he moved towards the door, sliding it open, and stepped out into the yard where a black hole of shadows opened up before him to swallow him whole. Jekyll had come bounding over but whined as it shut before he could so much as put a paw through.

Natalie sat back down in the bar stool, dazed, as her eyes refused to leave the spot where he had just vanished. He hadn't walked out on her since before their contract had even ended. She was well aware of his temper but it had never come to a point where she questioned their very relationship. He had left her when she needed him most.

"Natalie," Raphael called quietly from where he stood, also staring out the door where his brother had last been seen. "I would assume you didn't tell him," he continued, drumming his fingers on his thighs as rage welled up within him.

"I didn't," she whispered and dropped her eyes to the floor as sadness blossomed in her chest.

Raphael lifted a hand to cover his eyes and let out a breath through his nose. "Let him blow off some steam, then talk, I believe he will feel differently about everything," He advised and stepped forward to shut the glass door.

"We have more important things to deal with right now," Natalie muttered and ran a hand through her hair before pushing herself off the stool. "My shift starts in an hour, if you see him, please let me know," she called over her shoulder as she climbed the stairs to get ready for work.

"Tell him what?" Michael asked obliviously from where he stood in the kitchen.

Raphael dropped his hand to settle a belittling stare upon his brother with a sigh. "It's not my place," he muttered and disappeared with a flash of light.

Michael grunted and returned to the living room to finish the episode of Supernatural he had been watching when the argument had started.