The two continued their trek through the woods, shuffling through the foliage, but Pax remained silent. His commentary had ended when Lucifer had threatened physical harm and he had decided to take it seriously. It was a wise choice. But the silence had slowly grown more and more tense the further they got. The night only seemed to get darker.

Tree trunks were painted with tar and the leaves were withering and dying the deeper they traveled. Strands of the black slime hung from branches and soon, the trees themselves were rotting away, and the surrounding area was devoid of any life.

Lucifer's face had been bored, but now, he wore a frown. His shoulders were once more taut and straight as he padded through the mud and tar. It was cool to the touch, but thick, and tried to trip him up as he walked. The stream that had been running alongside them was choked with the stuff and dead fish and frogs littered its surface and banks.

Pax had kicked his shoes off long ago, having lost them to a thick puddle, and trotted just behind him barefoot.

"It stinks," Pax muttered at some point, lifting a hand to his nose as he did.

Lucifer made no comment, but he thought that Pax would have said the same about Hell had it not been eliminated. The demon would have ended up there had he died. He pulled a rotting branch from a tree as he walked and idly spun it about in his fingers as his eyes scanned the trees ahead.

He stepped into a clearing and paused. Pax nearly ran into him but pulled the breaks just in time and looked over his shoulder curiously.

It was all tar and mud, seeping down into a pit, where something sat still as a stone. It was a hunched figure, shoulders bony in the moonlight, while long tendrils of hair that fell passed its back and deep into the muck below where it fanned out like roots of a tree. They wriggled through the mud and slithered out over the edge of the pit and split off into the surrounding woods. The spiderweb of evil that had taken up roost within Natalie's hometown was very concerning.

"Looks like we found the snakes head," Lucifer drawled as he tossed the stick to the side where it fell into the mud and was seen no more.

The figure flinched and its head turned up to look at them, violet eyes glowing in the darkness, and grinned.

"Apt words, Lucifer," it hissed. Its voice echoed around them and the dead trees ominously.

"You don't seem to be getting any prettier, so I don't quite see what the point is of collecting all those kids souls," he observed dryly in response. Now that he had a mind to pay attention, he could tell the creature had once been a woman, based off the bony hips and sagging breasts under the dripping tar.

A wet gurgling chuckle was his answer in the too still night.

The hairs on the back of Pax's neck stood on end as the thing turned in its spot, cracking and squelching and reached to pull itself out of the pit.

"My vanity far exceeds physical appearances," it rattled as it perched on the edge of the pit, crouching in the mud.

"You could say that again," Lucifer muttered with a snort. "What's your end game?"

"Control of all living things, the world within my grasp, God . . .the usual conquest," it responded with another wet laugh before it choked and spat up a glob of the tar.

"Boring," Lucifer bemoaned and reached for his back, pulling out a line of fire before him, and let it drop to the mud below. A glowing whip was held loosely between his hands, though it radiated intense heat, and boiled the mud below.

"You can try, Lucifer, but this is only one part of me. I've made myself very comfortable in the pits of this Earth," she hissed darkly.

"Can't say I wasn't asking for a fight," Lucifer growled as he lifted his arm and snapped the whip. It lunged out at the figure, lashing around her wrist, and dragged her into the ground. The cord ate into her muck covered flesh, sending out a horrid stench, and causing her to scream. "I thought this was just an extension?" he mocked with a sardonic grin and pulled on the whip, dragging her closer.

The figure laughed through the pain as sections of her hair shot out of the mud and wrapped around his ankles. They pulled him off his feet and he was dragged through the mud while he dug a hand into the earth in an effort to fight against the surprising strength she exhibited. When he has close enough, she lunged forward, landing on top of him as she chuckled. Hands, cold and bony, gripped his shoulders as her rotting breath filled his nose.

"Well, you have me now," he commented dryly as a long fork tongue fell from her mouth to dance across his chest.

"You taste so sweet and dark," she giggled.

"Ugh," he grunted in disgust and reached up with a hand to grab her face and pushed her off of him. He held her down in the mud, drowning her within her own muck, while her body flailed around him. Fingers scrabbled at his arm and her hair lashed out to ensnare him. It wrapped around his arms, legs, and torso all the while his stance never moved.

With a flick of his wrist the whip danced about him, burning the hair away as it did, but it was quickly replaced by more strands.

"Master," Pax called nervously from where he stood at the edge of the clearing, hands in his pockets, certain that Lucifer would be able to defeat the small figure easily. It was taking longer than he thought it would, however, and called forth in a questioning manner. He was unsure if he should step in and offer assistance. He knew that Lucifer had needed to blow off some steam and did not want to overstep. But it was starting to look as if he were struggling.

"Not now," Lucifer grunted as the body beneath him twisted and the neck snapped. She was still very much alive, however, as her legs came up beneath him and shoved for all she was worth. The force of the kick sent him flying into the pit, the tar and mud sloshing about beneath him as he landed, and he grunted. Though he didn't need to breathe, the breath was still knocked from his lungs, and the world spun for a moment. He pushed himself upright in the pit and ripped a jagged branch from where it had embedded itself within his shoulder irritably.

In the same movement, the creature used the momentum to flip herself back onto her feet and set her sights on Pax.

"Bring it, bimbo," Pax muttered and spat on the ground before he pushed the sleeves of his jacket up and launched himself at her. In mid air he dropped his foot onto her shoulder and sent her crashing to the ground as he rolled forward through the mud to ease impact. He wasted no time and spun about in a crouch with claws extended, ready to slice her throat, but as he lurched forward something sharp pierced his flesh and he gasped.

She was crouched catlike before him and a strand of her hair had shot out as he spun around and punctured his chest as easily as a hot knife through butter.

Pax spat out a glob of blood and wiped his mouth with a grin. "It'll take more than that to kill me," he growled and pushed himself to his feet, grabbing at the thick wad of hair.

"I'm well aware," she assured him mockingly as several other strands of hair shot out to pierce his shoulders, thighs, and arms. She pushed him back until he was pinned to the ground itself, unable to move with his limbs trapped, he felt like a frog in a high school science lab.

"What do you think you're doing?" he cried as she crawled over him, pushing him into the mud, and slammed her palm across his forehead. Combined with the loss of blood and the rock she had just bashed his head into, his world was spinning.

"Come to me, little one," she crooned and crooked a finger before his eyes, "I'll take you to a nice place where you can finally rest, little one, and you can sleep and dream of better times."

Pax blinked against the darkness that threatened to overtake him. He was losing too much blood, he knew. He wouldn't die from it, but passing out was definitely a possibility, and he couldn't afford that in that moment. He grunted, but as his mind slipped away, her voice sounded sweeter and sweeter to his ears. He blinked again and it wasn't a slopping hag that crouched over him but a beautiful woman with blonde hair and blue eyes.

She smiled down at him, eyes twinkling in the sunlight, and it was a wondrous garden that surrounded them. She cocked her head with a giggle and rubbed his cheek endearingly.

"Won't you stay?" she asked him sweetly.

Everything felt so nice and warm, and his body was so tired, he shut his eyes against the sunlight and breathed in the scent of pine and fresh dirt. The sun kissed his face, and for a moment, he was back in Heaven.

Lucifer roared in frustration as he finally pulled himself out of the hole, covered head to toe in tar, and looking like a beast pulling itself from the pits of Hell. The irony was not lost on him as he stumbled to his feet and ran a hand through his muddied hair, slicking it back, before he scanned his surroundings and froze.

The thing was hunched over Pax and clasped within her hands was a glowing orb, blue in color, and flickering between her fingers frantically. His eyes widened and the rage that burned within him was ferocious. The fact that she dared to go after his underling when his back was turned infuriated him. There would be no mercy for her when he got his hands on her.

"Get the fuck away from him!" He exploded with rage and shot off towards her like the devil he was. The whip was left behind and his claws were free to rend her flesh as she lifted her hands to her mouth and swallowed the soul with a cackle. He watched as the pale light flickered through her flesh, sliding down her throat, as his hands came down towards her neck.

"He's mine now!" she crowed and did not even scream as Lucifer beheaded her and shoved an arm down her exposed esophagus in desperation. Her head fell to the mud with a muffled thud and splash as he sifted through the innards of the corps in search of the glowing ball of light that had been Pax's soul. His grip on the body slipped and he struggled to keep it upright as his fingers shoved through what could barely be considered organic matter. He was up to his bicep in rotting tar and flesh when he sat back on the ground and pulled his arm free of the body, allowing it to fall back in the mud, dazed. His chest heaved for breath as mounting anger and frustration searched for an escape.

His stared down at his hand, dirty and covered in disgusting bodily fluids, while his mind worked to piece together what had just happened.

He turned his head to Pax, lying prone in the mud, covered in tar just as Lucifer himself was. But he was also painted in blood and staring sightlessly into the night sky. The hair that had pinned him to the ground was now limp as it had been when they first arrived.

Lucifer pushed himself to his feet and shuffled over to him before he dropped to his knees and pulled the hair from his wounds. It must have gone down into the earth by several feet, as he had pulled for quite some time before all wounds were cleared of the stuff. Lucifer stared down at the demon, lost in his own emotions, before he lifted hand and shut his too blue eyes.

Silently, he slid his arms under the body and lifted him as he stood. With unsteady footing, he worked his way back through the woods, one step at a time. But Pax never opened his eyes again. And Lucifer wandered for the first time what he should do. Heaven was no more but he couldn't simply bury him anywhere. He wanted to bring him to Natalie's home, but he did not want to see her face when he showed up towing the body of her friend, it would shatter whatever composure he had. And her heart.

At some point he had reached a road and staggered to the back of a building, it looked like a gas station, and leaned his back against the wall before he slumped to the ground with Pax in his arms. Sightless yellow eyes stared up into the night sky. He was cold and dirty and probably stank, but he couldn't bring himself to care. Vaguely, in the far back of his mind, he realized that the tar was sapping his strength. It was concentrated evil that had been growing at the bottom of hell for thousands of years, and he had just bathed in it, but he was far too gone to connect the thought to others and so took no action on it.

How was it fair to any of them that they were still struggling, fighting, and dying?

He couldn't help but feel as if he was the cause of it all. If he had just suffered in silence, no one would have had to die, no one would have had to fight, and all the world would be at peace.

Instead, he was sitting behind a gas station in an ally that smelled of piss and rotting food, clutching the corpse of a good friend and follower, and struggling to decide on what to do. He banged his head on the brick wall behind him, yearning for the pain to kick start his brain, but to no avail.

The sound of a phone ringing brought his attention to Pax. His jean pocket lit up as the standard T-mobile jingle played, breaking the silence that had fallen over Lucifer, and he reached into his pocket to retrieve it.

"Hello?" he answered quietly, not even bothering to check the caller ID.

"Where did you two go?" Raphael asked from the other side. He sounded tired and a bit exasperated.

A small but sad smile grew as Lucifer shut his eyes, "You know, being stupid. I need your help, Raph."

"Where's Pax?" Raphael asked darkly.

Lucifer did not respond.

"I see," Raphael mumbled before he disconnected and appeared before Lucifer in a flash of light minutes later. Eyes wide and fists clenched at the sight before him. Lucifer sat huddled on the ground, skin black and caked in tar, eyes glowing dimly in the dark, and his horns grey in the first rays of the morning sun as it struggled to beat back the shadows of the ally. Pax could have been sleeping in his arms, head resting on his shoulder and eyes closed, if it weren't for the bloody wounds and stillness of his chest.

"I…" Lucifer began but cut himself off, he had nothing to say. The boy was dead because of him and while he had once prided himself on being stoic, there were tears threatening to fall.

"It's not your fault," Raphael mumbled and crouched down before him.

"Shut up," Lucifer spat and clutched the body to his chest. "It is and you fucking know it," he growled against the emotions welling up in his throat. "That bitch," he bit out through clenched teeth, "She took his soul."

"She?" Raphael questioned.

"Some bitch from Hell, I don't fucking know!" he shouted as anger burned within him again, "But I'm going to get it back." He dropped his eyes to his knees, refusing to look at the body in his lap, as the tears finally fell. Why couldn't he do anything right? He screwed up Heaven, screwed up Earth, screwed up the apocalypse, screwed up with Natalie, and now Pax lay dead in his arms because he fucking screwed up in a fight. The tar was getting to him. It was sapping his strength and mind. He was never one to cry over self pity, get angry, yes, but never mope.

Raphael rested a hand on his shoulder and gripped it, silently offering support, as his own tears spilled forth for their fallen brother. "We have to tell Natalie," Raphael whispered in the wake of Lucifer's explosion and met glistening golden eyes.

Lucifer shook his head, "It will break her heart, I can't . . ." he bit his lip.

"We must," Raphael murmured and stood to help pull Lucifer to his feet. "We can't hide it from her and her house is the only place we can lay him to rest peacefully," he pleaded as Lucifer stared up at him like a lost child, "It would be silly and incredibly insensitive to try and hide it from her."

Lucifer dropped his head in Pax's shoulder before he used the wall as a support to stumble back to his feet. He stared at the ground for a few moments, gathering his thoughts, and attempting to compose himself. After a few moments, Lucifer summoned another portal of shadows and stepped through while Raphael disappeared in a flash of light.

Natalie woke to quiet murmuring that quickly escalated into shouts of alarm. She gasped, sitting up in bed, and threw the blankets off as she stumbled to her feet and rushed for the door. She paused, pulling it open quietly, and listened for the voices downstairs.

"What the fuck happened?"

It was Felix she heard first and he sounded distraught as she slipped out the door and descended the stairs into the dining room. The sliding glass door was open and she could see Felix standing over a dark figure seated on the patio steps. The light on the patio threw everyone into contrasting shadows as she approached. Raphael stood before the dark figure with his arms crossed and eyes cast to the ground below.

"Master!" Felix cried after a few moments of no response.

"Lucifer?" Natalie questioned quietly. She stepped out onto the patio in a pair of pajama shorts and a tank top, feet bare in the cool morning, and her hair falling about her shoulders. The sky was orange as the sun rose and it painted the scene warmly but as Lucifer turned to look over his shoulder at her, her heart shattered.

He was dirtied and covered in black tar and mud, his flesh still dark and cracked beneath, but tear trails cut through the dirt upon his face. She could see Pax held within his arms, he clutched at the demon as if his life depended on it, but the boy's arm hung limply at his side. Natalie's breath caught within her chest and she lifted a hand as if to help but based off Lucifer's tears, Felix's anger, and Raphael's refusal to look her in the eye, she knew he was gone.

That image would forever be etched within her mind.

Golden eyes lifted to hers, saddened and desperate for her, and she could not resist their pull and need for help.

Natalie stepped forward and dropped down to her knees before him, wrapping her arms around him, and pulled his head to her shoulder.

Felix lifted his hands to his face at the sound of her knees hitting the wooden deck. He had been in denial but her actions solidified his worst fears within his mind like ice. Tears fell and he wondered why it was that he kept losing his closest friends. He cried harder than he ever had before in his entire existence. Even when Anthea had passed, he had refused to mourn for too long, because he knew she would not have wanted him to. But now, another friend had been taken from him, and he couldn't take the pain. Not again.

But this time, this time, he took the hand that reached for him. Arms wrapped around him as he cried into strawberry blond hair for all that he was worth. And he didn't mind the sweet nothings she murmured into his ear or the way she rubbed his back like a child, because he was desperate to feel as if he still had someone there for him.

"Natalie," Raphael called quietly as Lucifer stood on the steps, Pax still held within his arms, having stood when Natalie left him to comfort Felix.

She lifted tear filled eyes to the two of them over Felix's head. She did not have the heart to speak in that moment but her questioning look had confirmed that she heard him.

"We need to get these two cleaned up," Raphael mumbled quietly in the hushed morning.

Natalie nodded understandingly and glanced down at Felix. As if summoned, Michael arrived at the sliding glass door wearing a grim expression. She smiled sadly upon sighting him and gestured towards Felix with her eyes.

"Michael, will you call Laila for me?" she asked through her own tears, struggling against sobs, so that she could support the little hellion in her arms.

Michael nodded and lifted his arms, gesturing for him to come back inside, and he wrapped an arm around Felix as he passed. Michael helped to get him settled on the couch, took his boots off and wrapped him in a blanket, before he made the call to Laila.

Natalie had remained on the patio but turned back just as Lucifer reluctantly allowed Raphael to take Pax from his arms. The archangel cradled him as gently as he could and lead the way back into the house while Lucifer trailed behind. He set one dirty foot onto the hardwood floor and reality seemed to shift. There were so many memories of Pax in that house but he refused to acknowledge them as he followed Raphael upstairs to the guest bathroom where they would clean his wounds and dress him in better clothes before laying him to rest.

"Raphael," Natalie called as she followed them into the bathroom. She slid passed Lucifer and crouched down to whisper in the archangels ear.

His eyes widened a second before he nodded once and turned the water on in the tub, watching as it turned black with tar and mud, before he let out a sigh.

Lucifer looked at her curiously, but he was tired, and did not have the energy to try and get an answer out of her. Instead, he allowed her to lead him out of the guest bathroom and over to her own. She turned the shower on for him.

"You need to get cleaned up," she commented with a sniffle and gestured for him to step in while she pulled a clean towel from the wrack by the door and set it on the back of the toilet by the shower.

Lucifer ran a hand through his hair and felt the resistance of dried mud. He pulled his sandals off, one after the other, before he untied the remainder of his robes and dropped them to the floor. He would grab them later after he had washed all that he could from his flesh and felt more himself again.

Natalie set the shoes and clothing aside before she returned to the kitchen, she could hear Felix crying in the living room and Michael speaking into a phone from her office, and the water running in both bathrooms, and it all felt so wrong. She sniffled again and decided on making coffee for the morning, finding comfort in the routine, and hoping the hot beverage would help. Somehow.

She made as much coffee as the pot would allow before she poured herself a cup, mixed in cream and sugar, and set it on the counter before her as she stared into the beige concoction in a daze. After a moment, she picked the cup up and took it outside onto the patio with her. She slid the glass door shut behind her and stepped forward to sit on the steps of the deck, where Lucifer had sat earlier, and set her coffee down next to her.

It was then that she allowed herself to cry.

Heaving sobs wracked her body as storm clouds rolled in to overtake the sunny morning. The coffee cup puffed hot steam into the cool morning air as Jekyll padded towards her from the depths of the backyard to offer her comfort.