Since they're pretty short I decided to go ahead and upload two chapters tonight, chapters 34 and 35.
As this story (which takes place during season 11) draws to a close, and I start the next part of Jody's House for Wayward Girls (which will take place during season 12), would you guys be interested in me letting you know when the new story is up? I can private message you on here, or if you'd prefer me to email it to you, feel free to private message me your email/preferred contact info! That way you can stay up to date with the story? Let me know!
Update on uploading: I plan on having this finished by Christmas (hopefully) and the beginning of the second one up by New Year!
Sara couldn't express the relief she felt when she had seen Claire and Alex alive and well that morning. She had taken a hot shower, trying to force the images of the grisly nightmare into the back of her mind as she let the steaming water pour over her, but even that wasn't enough to make her forget Lucifer himself was sharing a building with them.
But seeing Claire and Alex always made her feel better, especially in this particular instance. Though it was odd seeing them pressed up against the kitchen door, ears pressed against the wood.
"What's this?" Sara asked, slightly amused.
"Lucifer sulked in my room for like an hour and blared my music," Claire grumbled.
"Now him and Chuck are having an intervention," Alex whispered.
"Let me in, let me in!" Sara's eyes widened, wiggling between the girls and pressing her ear against the door. Half demon? Sure. But in addition to that, she was a teenage girl, and the juiciest gossip in the literal universe was happening right on the other side of that door.
The words were mostly unclear, but the annoyed, angry tones of Lucifer and the much mellower, guilty ones of Chuck were easily identified. Occasionally Sam would offer up some advice or Dean would make a sarcastic comment, and the absurdity of the situation wasn't lost on Sara.
"Crap, here they come," Claire exclaimed quietly as they heard chairs scraping and heavy footsteps. The girls scrambled to look busy – Claire dove towards the fridge, yanking it open and sticking her head in it as though she were looking for something. Alex turned the sink on and immediately began doing dishes. Panicked, Sara looked around for something to do; finding nothing, she grabbed a bag of marshmallows, shoving some into her mouth.
The kitchen door opened, and the girls looked up. Sam and Dean rolled their eyes, shaking their heads.
"Seriously?" Dean demanded, grabbing the bag of marshmallows and tossing a few into his mouth.
"'Ow did f'ngs 'o wif U'cifer an' c'uck?" Sara mumbled.
Dean gave her a look and Sam gave a small chuckle. Sara chewed and swallowed, clearing her throat.
"How did things go with Lucifer and Chuck?" she tried again.
"Tense. But I think everything should work out." Sam took a deep breath. "We're going to take the fight to Amara."
"What?!" the girls all exclaimed shrilly, startling Dean and causing Sam to wince.
"That's stupid," Claire said, slamming the fridge door.
"It's not the best plan," Alex admitted in a gentler manner.
"Give me back my marshmallows," Sara demanded, suddenly getting to urge to stress eat and hide under her covers.
"We're going to have help," Sam reassured them. "It's not just going to be us. We're going to make sure everyone makes it through this."
"Yeah," Claire said, standing up straighter. "Speaking of which."
She slammed the fridge door and shouldered past the boys.
"Claire, hold on!" Sam called. Sara and Alex looked at each other for a moment and followed.
Claire sauntered into the war room, immediately annoyed at Chuck for picking at his guitar nonchalantly, but when she saw Lucifer she almost saw red. Sitting there at the table, casual, feet kicked up and flipping through a book.
"Hey," Claire demanded. "You."
Lucifer looked up, looking her over. "Oh. It's you," he huffed, sitting up straight. "Great."
"Cas better be okay in there, you son of a bitch, or –"
"Or what?" Lucifer asked curiously. "Please, do go on. Tell me exactly 'or what'."
"Lucifer," Chuck chastised. "Castiel is fine, Claire. Really."
"He better be," Claire grumbled, taking another moment to glare before removing herself from the room before she could say anything else.
Sara shifted uncomfortably, and Lucifer's eyes lit up. "Sara," he grinned, looking her up and down. "Did you miss me?"
Sara felt her fingernails digging into her hands as she balled them into fists, and Alex reached out and gently laid a hand on her arm.
Lucifer glanced at her hands. "Still rocking the bandages?" He jerked his head. "C'mere."
"I'd rather not, thanks," Sara said stiffly.
Lucifer rolled his eyes. "C'mon, I'm not gonna hurt you. Seriously, I couldn't even if I wanted to. Old man turned my smiting-switch off."
Sara glanced at Chuck, who gave her a reassuring smile, and she stepped forward towards Lucifer. She could notice little differences between him and Castiel, despite the way they shared a body. Lucifer's eyes were colder, and his smirk was intimidating. Sara hated it.
"Hold your hands out," Lucifer ordered her, and reluctantly she did so. With a click of his fingers, the bandages fell away, leaving only the shiny, puckered scars behind. Lucifer waved a hand over the wounds, and Sara sucked in some breath from the odd sensation as a light emitted from Lucifer's hand. As it died down, she was shocked to see her hands back to normal, not a scar in sight. She flexed her fingers, finding them to feel better than they had in weeks. She rubbed her hands together, the feel of it unusual.
"Is that supposed to make us even?" she asked, a bit coolly.
"Nah," Lucifer said, standing. He ruffled her hair as he passed, and Sara shuddered. "If we end up sparring again, I want you in prime condition, is all."
Sara glared at him as he walked towards the bookshelf. With just a thought, she could topple the whole thing over onto him. It wouldn't kill him, or even hurt him probably, but damned if it wouldn't be satisfying . . .
"Sara," Chuck warned with a small, knowing smile.
She huffed, rolling her eyes. "Fine," she retorted, crossing her arms. Having God in the bunker was putting a real damper on things.
Sam and Dean reentered the room, sitting down and passing out beers. Alex went to get Claire, and even Gavin came out of the garage, wiping his hand on a grease stained rag.
He frowned, looking at Lucifer. "What's he doing here?"
"Well, we didn't exactly have a lotta options," Dean grumbled, and Gavin picked up a beer off the table.
"Not my business, then." He took a drink of beer. He approached Sara, leaning on the back of her chair. "Have you seen Claire?"
"Alex went to get her," Sara replied.
"As long as she's staying out of trouble. I'm going to wash up," her brother continued. He leaned down, kissing her forehead. "You come get me if you need me, yeah?" he added quietly, eyeing Lucifer suspiciously.
Sara smiled, squeezing his hand gently. Even Lucifer couldn't take away the feeling of warmth she felt whenever she was reminded that she actually had a family, a real blood family, now. At first she hadn't understood her half-brothers fierce protectiveness over her, but she was starting to understand that that's just who Gavin was – when it came to family, he would do anything for them. Including forgiving a once abusive father from centuries ago.
As Claire and Alex joined them, Sam, Dean, and Chuck had begun to discuss strategy. They were currently going down the roster of who they could recruit to help them. Lucifer suggested angels, and though Dean was skeptical, it was the best shot they had. Dean suggested Crowley, which instantly made Sara feel extremely nervous, and finally, Sam took a turn, suggesting witches of all things.
"You want to spend your time bickering with Rowena, you go right on ahead," Dean told his brother, and Sam looked pained.
"I keep hearing that name," Sara piped up. "Who is this Rowena exactly?"
Lucifer immediately began laughing. "Boy, is she in for a surprise. Does Rowena know?"
"It's something we can talk about later," Sam said firmly.
"Sure, sure. Go ahead, keep lying to the kid." Lucifer looked at Sara. He pointed at himself. "I, however, have more respect for you than that. Rowena is a witch, a damn good witch, and she's also your granny."
"What?" Sara frowned.
"Rowena is Crowley's mother," Sam admitted reluctantly.
"She's alive?" Sara raised her eyebrows.
"You know her?" Dean frowned.
"No, I met her once, when I was very little," Sara frowned as well. "Too young to remember. She wanted my mother to give me up so I could go live with her."
"I have a hard time believing Rowena wouldn't have been looking for you all these years," Sam said, thoroughly confused.
"Because I made sure she thought Sara was dead," came the annoyed voice of Crowley from the doorway. He glared at Sam as he entered the room, stopping and laying his hands on Sara's shoulders. "For good reason. You boys really can't keep a secret."
Den pointed at Lucifer, and Lucifer rolled his eyes.
"She thought I was dead?" Sara frowned up at her father.
"Your grandmother isn't the knitting and cookie baking sort, dear," Crowley replied. "She's dangerous. At the time I didn't even know she was still around; everyone assumed you were dead with your mother. Angels, demons. Apparently witches. It was the only way to keep them away from you. I suppose it worked well enough to trick that bitch as well."
"Probably for the best," Sam agreed reluctantly. "I'm not sure I'd trust Rowena with a kid."
"And now you want to recruit her," Crowley raised an eyebrow. "A terrible idea, by the way."
"And the only one we got," Dean retorted.
"What exactly is this plan, Moose?"
"Hold on, I got this one, Napoleon," Claire said, and Crowley rolled her eyes. Claire set her beer down and Dean frowned.
"Where'd you get that?" he demanded, taking it from her.
"Shush. So here's the plan – they're going to throw everything they've got at Amara, hope it weakens her, and then trap her back into the Mark of Cain instead of killing her."
"That's a terrible plan," Crowley frowned.
"Thank you," Claire said, crossing her arms and leaning back.
"If we kill her, the balance of the entire universe will be thrown off," Chuck intervened. "Nothing good will come of it."
"Well, in case you haven't noticed, I'm nothing good," Crowley replied.
"Hell'd be wiped out to," Dean replied with a smug smirk. "All of it – kaput."
Crowley sighed heavily. "Bugger. Fine. I guess I'm on Team Winchester again. Claire can be the official mascot."
"Eat me, tiny," Claire replied, taking another drink of beer. Dean confiscated it again, muttering about damn kids.