Denver was cool for a while. I could get a drink. Crowley's credit card got me a really nice hotel room and that pizza I wanted. I lived like the queen I am and the chance of Sam and Dean tracking Crowley's cards to find me were slim. I drank my last pouch of blood and laid out on my ridiculously comfortable bed, riding out my high. Lena, you need to get back to Hell. You're out of blood and you still need to get to Mexico. I'm so proud of you, princess. Daddy's little girl off to drain Uncle Gabriel of his grace. Lucifer...We've had this talk. Sorry.
"Lena?" Xander laid next to me, "You feeling ok?"
"I feel awesome..." I drawled, "I could use some more blood, though."
"Do you want me to open my arm for you, your highness?" he offered, "I brought a knife with me just in case."
"No," I curled into Xander's ribs, "If I start doing your blood, I'll just be strung out even more and I won't want to move and I have an empire to run. Then, I have an archangel to visit."
"You sound like you want to take a nap," Xander cradled me, "Do you want me to go back and grab Seth for a lullaby or two?"
"It's fine," I let out a little yawn, "I'll be ok. Let's just get to Wyoming and back to Hell. I'll get some more blood and I'll be ok again."
"You're still only human, Lena," he reminded me, "Albeit an extraordinary one. You need sleep, too."
"Do I?" my eyelids grew heavier. That's one of those weird perks that came with being around Sam and Dean as long as what I was. I could fight sleep like nobody's business and beat its ass into the ground. Although, a little nap wouldn't kill me. That sounded like an idea. You know, Lena, your bedroom in Hell is still there. If you want me to show you where it is, I'd be more than happy to. Really? I remembered my bedroom in Hell and damn, that place was comfortable. Come on, sweetheart. Let's get you home.
"Come here," Xander scooped me up in his arms, "You're starting to run a little fever. We need to get back."
"Ok," I laid my head in his shoulder, the rest of my body going limp, "Xander..."
"Yeah?"
"I don't feel so hot," I mumbled, ready to go to sleep.
"I know," he held me a little closer, "That's the effects of the blood leaving your system. You think you could show me those pretty eyes of yours? I heard they've changed colors."
"I can try..." I blinked a few times, "Did I do it?"
"Yeah," Xander nodded, carrying me through the hotel lobby, "They're looking a little more red than purple, though."
"Angel grace is wearing off," I figured. That explains why I'm feeling more sluggish high than energetic high. Demon blood buzzes like meth. Angel grace buzzes like heroin. Who would've thought? Wait a second. Isn't there some sort of sigil that works like catnip for angels? Other than having the last name of Winchester? I could get a little more grace like that. There is! It's, ironically, called the Horn of Gabriel. You're joking. Dad's honest truth. That's fantastic. Do you know what it looks like? You got Google, kid. Or, if you're feeling brave, you could always go back to the bunker. And let it go on lockdown on me? No, thanks. I'm good.
"You didn't need that angel grace anyway," Xander wrote me off, "You do better with demon blood in your body."
"But the angel grace felt so..." I nodded off, my dizziness getting the better of me. Lena? Lena, stay with me here, "I'm here!"
"Uh..." Xander gave me a look, "I know. Can you walk, Lena?"
"No," I shook my head, "Don't make me."
"Alright."
Holy hell, what was that all about? You are crashing hard, kiddo. You need to get back to Hell yesterday. How am I so tired? I haven't done much. I mean, I killed a man. Made a call to Hell real quick. It's like you said. Angel grace works like heroin in a human. Especially when it's mixed with demon blood. What I gave you while I was still around was more power transference than anything. But Cas said I was pumped full of angel grace. Not exactly angel grace. Synthetically made angel grace, you could say. All the fun, none of the side effects.
I must have fallen asleep in Xander's arms because when I woke up again, things were a little warmer. My bed was a little more comfortable. Xander's still there, though. I'm not complaining. He's nice to lay on. You like him, don't you, Lena? Yeah. For a pillow. I think there might be something more here. No, Lucifer. Shut up. Don't you have some grocery shopping to do? I do. I need to take a trip to my favorite wine cellar. That nap was totally needed.
"Hey," Xander felt me twitch, "How you feeling, Lena? You alright?"
"Yeah," I nodded, "Sleep makes everything better. Now, I need a quick fix."
"I thought you'd say that," he reached over to my nightstand, "While you were sleeping, I grabbed you a blood bag."
"Aren't you the boy scout?" I awed, kissing his cheek, "Thank you, Xander. I'd promote you if you could go any higher."
I'm telling you. There's something there. Shut. Up. Lucifer. There's nothing there. Would you stop? I can't help myself! What can I say? I love a good love story. Girl meets boy in class. Boy turns out to be a demon. Demon becomes girl's right-hand man. Can someone get Disney on the phone as soon as humanly possible? Because I think I have their next movie.
"You want to go get some fresh from the tap?" Xander suggested while I finished off my blood bag, "Now that you're feeling better."
"Absolutely," I jumped up from the bed, "Besides, smacking Crowley around is always fun."
"It is," he agreed. That's my girl. Is this what it's like to be proud of your kids? Because I am...Lucifer. Alright, I'm done. For now anyway.
After a little walk through the countryside of Hell, I came upon a door with a whiny, bitchy demon on the other side, thinking he'd find some way of escaping. Instead, he accepted his fate on the hooks. But my god, Crowley looked awful and sickly. In his defense, though, he was having a lot of blood loss, so he's not entering any pageants any time soon.
"Hiya, Crowley," I grabbed a few blood bags and started filling my backpack. If I'm going after Gabriel, I'll need all the strength I can get. All he could do was twitch a little. And it didn't even look like a voluntary twitch, "Oh, don't trouble yourself for little old me. You can stay right where you are. Not that you have much of a choice."
"B..." Crowley's breathing was labored, but it looks like he still had a little bit of energy left, "Bitch..."
"Aww..." I gushed, "Me? Well, I can see where you're coming from. If only someone had listened to me when I said I didn't want any demon blood, we wouldn't be in this pickle, would we? I guess that someone needs to learn that no means no. And to not spike my apple juice."
"You're..." he rattled his chains a little, "Cracking..."
"What do you mean?" I gave him a look, "I feel fantastic. If I could, I could probably rip off your big toe with no remorse."
"Whose...grace...were you...snacking on?"
"This is going to get awfully tedious if we carry on this way," I gave a quick whistle out the door, not even wanting to think about whose grace got me by. Azza and Orias came running. Like having attack dogs. I like it, "You two know what to do, right?"
"You can smile...all you want," Crowley regained a little more strength, "You're falling apart, Lena...And you know it."
"Play nice, kids," I let Azza and Orias have their fun and popped the gate. Now...Do I get a direct flight to Tijuana from here? Why are you wanting a flight to Tijuana? I take you more for a Cabo kind of girl. Well, the last time I tried recruiting Gabriel for anything, he let it slip that he likes to hang around Tijuana with all his pretty ladies. Put two and two together? And we get TJ. Ok. I see where you're coming from. I'm not surprised Gabriel would go to Tijuana. Me either.
After twiddling my thumbs on a pain in the ass flight where one six-year-old wouldn't stop bitching about his sister taking his juice and said sister, probably around three, wouldn't stop kicking my chair, we finally landed in LA. The chick behind the counter was trying to sell me a ticket to Guadalajara, but going there would be silly when I could fly into LAX and catch a bus. Now, if I were an archangel hiding out in Mexico, hoping to all things holy and unholy that I'm not found, where would I be? Or, if I were a sugar junkie archangel that has no problem pursuing sins of the flesh, where would I be?
Strip club? Strip club. No! No? No. It's Gabriel. He might be kind of a pig, but he's got high end tastes. And the son of a bitch knows how to hide in plain sight. Damn trickster. I couldn't be too mad, though. I liked Gabriel. And I'm going to feel bad about taking some of his grace from him. All of his grace from him. What? I thought you knew. Knew what, Lucifer? You can't just take a little bit of Gabriel's grace. You need all of it. You mean…I have to make Gabriel mortal? No. He can't do that. He has his moments where he's lucky he can tie his shoes. Don't I know it…But I hate to be the bearer of bad news here, but you're taking all of Gabriel's grace. There's no sense in taking a little bit. Then, he comes after you, probably recruits the Winchesters, and you're back to being royally boned.
We came up on a crappy, rundown hotel on the outskirts of town. If I wasn't careful, I'd probably catch something here. This was where Gabriel would be. Guaranteed. I walked inside, my hand sanitizer at the ready, and went up to the front desk. A small, older Mexican lady stood behind the counter. I loved her already.
"Hola!" she greeted me.
"Hola," I smiled politely. Damn…I wish my Spanish was less sketchy. I only took a couple classes, "Estoy buscando…a alguien."
"Quién es?" she asked.
Maybe she already knew. Worth a shot, "Dónde está el ángelito?"
"Que?" she gave me a look, "Ángelito?"
"Lo siento," I apologized, "Pero habla usted Inglés?"
"Un poco, si," she nodded, "Porque?"
"Has a man checked in here recently?" I asked, "His name is Gabriel."
"No," she shook her head, "No que yo sepa."
Hey, Lena? Yeah? Do you really think that, if Gabriel's in hiding, he's going to use his real name? Did you and your brothers ever put your real name to anything? You make a compelling argument, but given the current circumstances, could you leave Sam and Dean out of this? I'm sorry. I'll be quiet. I'm not saying you have to be quiet, but don't mention my brothers. Yes, ma'am. Gabriel is a trickster, is he not? Why, yes. Yes, he is.
"What about Loki?" I wondered.
"Si!" her face lit up, "Señor Loki! Muy guapo…Aqui! Aqui!"
Why am I not surprised? The woman led me to a room upstairs, tucked away from the rest of them. This had to be Gabriel. Who else would check into a rundown hotel this far out, let alone under the name Loki? I gave the woman a little smile, "Muchas gracias, señora."
"De nada," she smiled back and ran off.
Alright, Gabriel. I'm sorry. I knocked on the door, "Señor Loki! Acuerdo de la casa!"
"Un momento!" Yep. That's him.
"Señor, es emergencia," I lied through my teeth.
"Un momento!" he yelled again.
"Too bad," I pushed the door in. Oh, dear god.
"Hola, chica," Gabriel grinned, clearly caught a little off guard..
"You're nude," I covered my eyes, "Gabriel, you're very nude."
"You did kind of catch me with my pants down here, Lena," he giggled, "You couldn't have called first?"
"Should I come back?" I began to suppress the disturbing images burning in my brain. You and me both, sister.
"If you don't mind," Gabriel agreed, "That'd be great."
SLAM!
What has been seen cannot be unseen. Lucifer? You doing ok up there? Define ok. Because if I had a physical form, I may or may not be dry heaving in the corner. I did not need to see that much of my brother today. I feel your pain. You never saw either Sam or Dean naked? No. It'd be better than seeing Gabriel. That's for sure. So, should we hit the bar and regroup? Mas tequila, por favor. Wait a second…I think I hear someone.
"She didn't see, did she?" a thick, Scottish accent asked.
"I don't think so."
Wait a second…I pushed the door back open only to have my suspicions confirmed, "That's what I thought."
"Oh…" my favorite witch kept herself covered, "Hello, Lena, dear."
Unbelievable.
A/N: I'm sorry you kids had to see that. Yes. Gabriel's making up for lost time with Rowena. Do we ask? No. We just let things happen.
Now, onto more important matters. Can I just go on record now and say how much I love Lena and Lucifer's back and forths in her head? Because he really does care. Satan is sensitive. And loving. And his little girl might not be feeling too well…We're all worried. See you next chapter! xx