"Lena," Xander spoke softly, "Lena, wake up. We're here."
I opened my eyes slowly, feeling them water a bit. That hellfire could be pretty bright. Wait a second. We're here? We're in Hell? This looked a lot different than the last time I was here. Then again, who knows what Lucifer was doing to my head? All of Hell...And it's...All mine. It's not like Crowley was going to come back and take it from me. What harm would it do if I took his empire off his hands for a while?
"So, this is it, huh?" I got Xander to put me down. "This is Hell?"
"Don't you remember, princess?" Of course Lucifer's still riding shotgun in my head, "This is home to you. I brought you here a few years ago. Before you got your fake life together. This is where you were always meant to be."
"This is Hell," Xander presented me my new domain, "Beautiful, scenic Hell. Fire, brimstone, and around the clock torture as far as the eye can see. Yours to do with as you wish."
"Awesome," I lost my balance for a minute.
"Ooh..." Lucifer winced, "Is someone needing a little boost? Protein shake? Green juice? The grace of an archangel she should have taken when she had the chance?"
"Lena?" Xander steadied me, "Are you ok?"
"I'm still human," I pointed out, "I need a demon. I need one now."
"You've definitely come to the right place," he smiled, opening his vein for me, "But I know how particular you are when it comes to your preferred choice of vintage."
"If you ever get too tired," I latched on and got in a few decent gulps, "I can always get another demon. As long as it's a succubus. Any of the ones you personally hate will do."
"And let them get the honor they don't deserve?" Xander cradled me, flexing his fingers to pump his blood faster into my mouth, "I don't think so. Besides, I don't mind doing this for you, Lena. My blood makes our new queen stronger with every feeding. In a way, my blood is helping you rule Hell. I'd never want to have to pass this onto someone else. Unless you were feeling particularly wicked and wanted to make an example out of someone."
"Thank you, Xander," I could already feel myself getting stronger. Then, I remembered. Speaking of my blood supply, "Hey, I got you a present."
"For me?" he was caught a bit off guard, "You didn't have to do that."
"Actually, I did," I dug around in my bag and pulled out two little bottles, "I want you to start taking these. Start out with half the bottle and we'll see how it goes."
"Iron supplements?" Xander studied the bottles, "What would I need this for?"
"It helps your blood somehow," I explained, remembering back to Christina and Seth. I wonder if he's down here somewhere...No. If I remember correctly, monsters end up in Purgatory. Maybe we could arrange for prisoner transport. I did miss Seth. Killing him wasn't easy, but it had to be done, "Just start taking them. If you're going to be my one and only supplier, you'll need them."
"The tips of the trade you learn from a vampire," Lucifer jabbed, "Who'd have thought you'd become one just like them? Only the blood's a little more potent."
"What did I say about shutting up?!" I snapped.
"Lucifer again?" Xander assumed.
"Yeah," I groaned, "Worst. Roommate. Ever."
"I could be a whole lot worse if you want me to be," Lucifer promised.
"Want me to get you high again?" Xander offered.
"No," I shook my head, "I'm sure I can ignore him."
"Place your bets, ladies and gentlemen!" Lucifer called out, "How long until Lena Winchester cracks because of me? Four to one odds on twenty minutes!"
"You can do it," Xander hugged me tight, "I know you can."
"It's funny," I thought out loud, "A few years ago, you were torturing me in my nursery. Now, you're my number one supporter."
"It's better to be on the winning side than the losing one," he pointed out, "Come on. You need to wait for that blood to kick in."
"I'm already starting to buzz," I reported, "I think I might be ok for now."
"For now, she says..."
"Xander!" a girl with bright red hair came running toward us. Xander put me down in order to catch her in his arms, "You're back!"
"Morena!" he squeezed her tight, "I missed you, too."
"Are you ok?" she looked him over, "You were topside for quite a while. You look paler than you usually do. And you're covered in scars. Xander, what the hell happened to you up there?"
"It's alright," Xander settled her, "It's ok, Morena. I've been chosen for a bigger mission."
"Xander," I wondered, "Who is she?"
"Lena!" the girl recognized me, "It's been ages since I've seen you!"
"We've met?"
"Don't you remember anything about your time in Hell?" Xander asked.
"Sorry, kiddo," Lucifer chimed in, "That probably went out when Castiel took the angel grace out of her body. Just a vague idea of what Hell looked like was left behind. Imagine the ass she could kick if she still had that in her. You can't just get Daddy's grace anywhere. The fact you willingly had it sucked out of you is a bit of a bummer. But mmm, mmm, mmm…Morena. Still looking good as ever."
"Not much," I shook pain in the ass off, "Just a little of the layout."
"I'm Morena," she introduced herself, "I'm the one that prepared you for Lucifer when you first got here."
"That slinky red dress was her idea," Lucifer added, "You pulled it off well. A little tongue in cheek for my taste, but it worked for you."
"I remember you now." Things started to click in my head. When Lucifer wasn't using it as a trampoline.
"She's also my big sister," Xander gushed, "And my favorite."
"Alright," Morena peeled him off her waist, "There's such a thing as personal space. We've talked about this."
"Sorry," he let her go.
"Now, explain to me," she demanded, "How the hell are you all covered in scars? Get into a tangle with some hunters or something?"
"Kind of," Xander shot me a wink, "But she's alright. You know how Lucky's been up on Earth for a while?"
"Yeah," Morena nodded while I giggled a bit. Granted, MacLoud's Scottish, but it's still funny as hell, "What about it?"
"Lena here," Xander nudged me forward, "is shaking things up around here. She's been drinking his royal pain in the ass's blood for past…Lena, how long have you been juicing with Crowley's blood?"
"About three months," I counted on my fingers.
"And you've been on incubus blood for…?"
"A week."
"She's taking the throne," Xander beamed, oozing with pride, "But that's why I'm covered in scars. I've been giving her my blood."
"Xander!" Morena scolded, "No! You don't give your blood to anyone! That's why you look like crap. You should know better and take better care of yourself!"
"Relax," he settled her, "I've been giving it to her willingly. The stronger she is, the better things will be. Lena's exactly what Hell needs. She'll make Hell less hellish for the rest of us. She can not only deter Crowley, but the Winchesters, too. I know they're eighty percent of our revenue, but they'll never bother us again. I'm sure Heaven would leave us alone, too. Think about it, Morena. We can have calm for the first time since creation."
"I do have both Crowley and my brothers wrapped around my little finger," I smiled, "And Cas would do anything for me, too. And Chuck! I forgot about Chuck. I could probably get away with murder with him."
"GOD?!" Morena gasped, "You have GOD on a leash?"
"I wouldn't say on a leash," I thought, "But we're buddies."
"You're incredible," she sat back in awe, "Come on! Let's get you to the throne room. Where you belong."
"Ok," I lit up, ready to finally get a good seat in this place.
"She's right, you know," Lucifer gave me a nudge, "I'm not the only one that says you were meant to be here."
I'm trying my damnedest to ignore the guy, but Lucifer had a point. If he's not the only one telling me these things, maybe he's right. Maybe I was always meant to rule Hell. I mean, Sam and Dean were, in a way, meant to work for opposite sides in the apocalypse. They didn't take the opportunity and look where that landed them. Stuck on mundane Earth when Dean could've been an archangel. And Sam, too! Dean could've been high up on Heaven's food chain. Sam could've ruled Hell. But no. Because those two were that self-righteous and too blind to see what was in front of them, they're up on Earth doing God knows what.
Odds are, they're probably still looking for me or a way to save me. Something like that. Bless their hearts, though. I will say this. Things were looking up for me. Granted, I'm tired and could stand an hour nap, but I'm about to take the throne in Hell. Oh, if I could go back in time and tell ten-year-old Lena all about this. She'd have a heart attack and the nuns would be doing a preemptive exorcism. How does that old saying go, though? One man's screwing of the pooch (or two, in this case) is another man's golden opportunity? I might be paraphrasing.
Xander, Morena, and I stopped outside a dark pair of doors. That was it, wasn't it? But I was getting dizzy. I leaned up against the wall, doing my best to keep myself from collapsing. Losing my buzz already? I must not have had enough the first time around. Or I'm growing a tolerance. Or being in Hell was kicking my ass more than I thought it would.
"Are you ok, Lena?" Xander worried, holding me up.
"I think I'm running low on energy," I let out a heavy sigh, "I hate to do this to you already, Xander, but…"
"Oh, stop," he gave me his arm, "You need your strength. And if this is how you get it, so be it."
"Would you want mine, too?" Morena offered.
"No," I shook my head, getting a few swallows in first, "It's bad enough I'm taking hits off Xander."
"Besides," Xander added, "Incubus blood and succubus blood is different. It's bad enough she was mixing incubus blood and crossroad demon blood. We don't need to throw in another one."
"But thank you, Morena," I went back to sucking on her brother's vein. And thank you, Xander. My sudden surge of power through my body gave me the energy to throw the doors in front of me wide open.
There it was. Hell's throne room. Never been to this part before. Not bad. Rather cozy, really. And that big, black, intricately carved chair was all mine. However, we were hitting a bit of a snag. The two big guys on either side of it. Naturally, they're going to be a bit skeptical of a random newcomer (let alone a human with ties to the Winchesters) to the throne room. I'm sure they pledged their undying loyalty to Crowley, too.
"Who are you?"
"Relax, sweetheart," I shut him up, stepping up to the throne. He blocked me. Son of a bitch, "Uh…Do you mind?"
"Where's Mr. Crowley?"
"Busy sipping cocktails with the Winchesters and screwing everyone over," I filled him in, "Gentlemen, you work for me now."
The pair shared their skepticism, "Why should we be working for you?"
"I'm glad you asked," I threw them both aside, pinning them to against the wall on opposing sides, "Because Crowley never had anyone else's interests in mind, except his own. If I could, I'd be draining that son of a bitch from a meat hook right now. Crowley has no interest in coming back to Hell and we all know that if it were complete anarchy down here, it'd be a mess and throw off some sort of cosmic balance, so you poor saps are in desperate need of leadership. Because I need a place to hang my hat at the end of the day, I've decided to set my sites on Hell. Because I'll be better than Crowley. I'll be better than Lucifer."
"Uh…" Lucifer piped up, "That last one will be a little debatable, Lena. Careful with that bear you're poking at."
"Now," I kept them suspended, blowing off Lucifer entirely and standing by what I said, "Is that a good enough reason?"
"Yes, ma'am," they both struggled for breath.
"Fantastic," I threw them down, "So? Ready to accept Lena as your dark lord and savior?"
"Yes, ma'am."
"Now…" I looked them both over. The bigger one of the two looked pretty good, "You! What's your name?"
"Brennex," he said.
"Brennex, huh?" I motioned him closer. With a quick swipe of the knife in my pocket, I slashed an artery in his neck and went to town. I didn't need any more. Xander got me by just fine. However, he did say if I needed to make an example of someone. And the other guy seemed pretty nervous. Consider the example made and the tap dry as a bone. I threw his limp corpse at the foot of my throne, "And you. What's your name?"
"M…Me?" he shook.
"Relax," I assured, "I'm not draining you. I still need protection. Now, name?"
"Torith…Highness."
"Spread the word, Torith," I sent him running around Hell as my own little messenger.
I think I'm going to like it here.
A/N: So, Lena's going on a bit of a power trip. Fun! Nothing quite like a good bout of megalomania with a hint of sadism. It's a good time. If only her brothers could see her now. And it's only going to get worse from here. See you next chapter! xx