Cassie woke up with a start and shot upright in the bed. She looked around the room for someone, anyone, but she was strangely alone. When she got up and went into the other room, she found Malachi waiting anxiously on the couch. She could never quite get used to how fast he had grown, however up until now she had always been able to think of him as a boy, as her son. In the past few weeks since Azazeal had told her about the plan to hold back Lucifer, Malachi had grown to look her age and now she frequently shook her head to herself when she saw him. This was too weird, she laughed to herself.

"What's going on?" she asked.

"Oh good, you're up. They said not to wake you."

Just then the sound of thunder shook church violently and Cassie froze.

"It's the angels fighting," Malachi told her, "it's been going on for a while now." He had taken to call them angels rather than fallen or Nephilim ever since the day they had gathered in their church.

"The whole town will hear," Cassie responded.

"They can't hear it," Malachi responded with a smile.

"Then why didn't it wake me up?"

"You don't hear it with your ears, it's…come sit with me. I have something to tell you."

Cassie walked over to the couch and gave Malachi an apprehensive look.

"Where to I begin?" he asked himself. "Mother I have a plan."

"A plan?"

"Yes, now hear me out."

Malachi went on to explain that he believed that he had something that he could offer to Lucifer that would at least put an end to this conflict for the time being. He started by explaining to Cassie what Lucifer had hinted at a few months ago, that these fallen angels sought a purpose to fulfill them and distract them from the fact that they were no longer in God's presence, but this purpose had to be congruent with their original purpose. If they could find it, they could exist relatively happily. To put it in terms he hoped she would understand, he used Azazeal as his example.

"Look, Father was Gregori, a watcher, and it was his duty to teach us and protect humans from Lucifer who had fallen before and was hell bent on corrupting humanity in revenge. I'm not exactly clear on how but he and his follow Gregori were corrupted and, of course, were also cast out of heaven. And it was Lucifer who turned their sadness to hate and gave Azazeal the purpose of having a son to free them all. When he fell in love with you and you actually accepted him, even for the short time that you did, his focus on that purpose wavered because loving and protecting you is more harmonious with his function."

"Function? That's not very romantic," Cassie interjected.

"Well, you have no idea how devoted to you he would become if you…but that's beside the point," he said, "Lucifer is the same way only he was the first and most glorious of all of the angels. What he needs is far more difficult to find that what the Watchers need."

"How do you know all of this?" she asked.

"No one told me if that's what you mean. It must be kind of like being bilingual, I guess. I just understand them."

Suddenly, Azazeal appeared in the air towards the entrance to the church and crashed down on the floor. He began to slowly to get to his hands and knees when Lucifer appeared and floated gracefully down beside him.

"You can have the damn girl, just give me Malachi," Lucifer said through gritted teeth.

Neither of them realized that both Cassie and Malachi were slightly hidden and watching from the back of the church.

"I will not."

"Hm," he said with playful thoughtfulness, "are you worried that she will not have you if you do? Well, I think that after all you've done already, she may as well forgive you for this too," he with a wicked smile.

Azazeal looked up at Lucifer and shook his head. He had gotten to a position with one foot on the floor and one knee down. With a quick spring he launched himself in the air and disappeared. Lucifer laughed and followed after him.

Cassie and Malachi were shocked by this exchange. Cassie more so because she didn't know they still flew, but Malachi soon drew her attention back to the discussion of his offer for Lucifer. The exchange that they saw did not bode well for their side.

It sounded like as good a plan as any, but Malachi wanted to go find Lucifer now.

"Why now in the middle of all this? What if we win?" Cassie asked.

"I don't know that we can actually win so much as hold him at bay. I want to put an end to this now"

Malachi was adamant so Cassie insisted that if Malachi was going to go find Lucifer, she was going with him.

Malachi took them to the edge of the abyss which was a featureless world with the ground covered in mist and an eerily bright cloudy-red sky. Here the thunder-like sounds were louder and you could see flashes of light illuminate the red sky above. They could also hear what sounded like clashes of metal, shouting voices, and the distant lash of a whip with the muffled cries of its victim. As they moved forward it appeared that the landscape did change quite unexpectedly as they passed through a veil of mist and came upon two angels fighting. They were tangled in what appeared to be a wrestling match, but when one of the angels got the better of the other and threw his adversary to the ground a sword appeared in his hand and he quickly stabbed the other in the chest. As the wounded angel dissipated in to the mist, both Cassie and Malachi realized they had no idea which side the winning angel was on. They tried to slowly back away through the mist, but the victorious angel spotted them and immediately appeared in front of them.

To their great relief, the smiling face that greeted them was non-other than Araqiel, who did not appear to be bothered at all by what he had just done, but was more concerned about their presence there.

"You shouldn't be here. How did you get here anyway?"

Cassie couldn't help being amused by how casually he asked these questions.
"Malachi brought us here."

"Oh, well Azazeal won't be happy if he finds you here. It's very dangerous," he said scolding them a little.

Just then another angel rushed into their little mist pocket and Araqiel turned lightning quick to engage him. He knocked them both out of Cassie's and Malachi's sight and they took the opportunity to move on to continue their search for Lucifer.

As they wandered in the mists, they came upon various groups of fighting angels without warning, as the sounds in this place were not particularly helpful in determining where the action was. They managed to stay unnoticed, well at least unacknowledged, and they were seeing more and more combatants so they figured that they were getting closer to the center where they hoped to find Lucifer. The noise of the fighting was also growing stronger and the slow, monotonous sound of the whip and the corresponding cries were getting more distinct and miserable.

Cassie was getting more and more fearful, but Malachi charged ahead as if nothing could harm him. She hoped that he could protect her and then scolded herself for letting him come here at all. She was his mother, she was supposed to protect him not the other way around, but she thought that perhaps the fact that he now looked old enough for her to date was throwing her off a bit. Of course he may not have listened to her anyway. He was getting a little old to let her tell him what to do.

They began to notice that the angels they were seeing now were taller and bigger than the first ones they came upon. Some of these took a moment to glance at them, but none seemed interesting in harming them or stopping them.

"Maybe we should just ask one of them where he is," Cassie suggested.

Malachi gave her a funny look and replied, "Uh, I don't want to be labeled as a guy who doesn't ask for directions but I really don't think that's a good idea."

"Right!" she said "Sorry."

As they passed through the next veil of mist and came upon the next view, they were initially only struck by the fact that it was not the usual pair fighting angels that they had become so used to seeing, but then the details of the scene began to sink in. Cassie stopped dead in her tracks and gasped as she saw that Azazeal was striped to the waist and bound tightly around some kind of post while another angel stood a few feet away with a long lash trailing behind him as he got ready to strike again. She also spotted Lucifer looking on proudly and then she jumped as the lash cracked against Azazeal's bare back and he cried out in pain. Lucifer said something to Azazeal that they were too far away to hear and Cassie turned to Malachi with a helpless look on her face.

Lucifer was really enjoying this, more than expected, he thought to himself. He took a few steps forward as his friend continued his work and said, "I know it's a bit old fashion, Azazeal, but please bear with me, I really think it may work. Don't you agree?"

And then in Azazeal's head, "You know this can go on forever. Just give me the boy. If I could control him myself I would but with him as stubborn as the two of you put together and that meddling witch always around, I have decided that you will keep your promise." But there was no reply. Lucifer smiled to himself and thought, "He's going to be tougher than I thought. How fun!"

Azazeal heard him but wasn't actually listening. He was way beyond being brave now and despite the fact that he could not move more than a few millimeters, he was trying to get away from every strike. He gripped tighter and tighter to the post and was so involved in the pain that he had very little other thought.

He could here the whistle of the next lash coming, but when it cracked he felt nothing.

Malachi's face was a picture of shock and seeing that look on her son's face spurred Cassie to action. Without much thought, she moved with flashing quickness and put her back in between the on coming lash and Azazeal's. The pain was excruciating even through the thick sweater that she wore and she took a sharp intake of breath, but instead of making a sound she cursed herself for not thinking this through. Couldn't she have just stopped it with her mind or something less painful? Well, it was too late now. After a moment to compose herself, she whirled around to face Lucifer with fury in her eyes. The angel with the whip paused waiting for Lucifer to deal with this intrusion.

He just smiled and said, "Well, well, I didn't expect to see you here." Then glancing at Malachi who had moved closer, "Aren't we just a loving family?"

Azazeal could not move to see who was behind him, but managed to whisper, "Malachi?"

"I am here, father," was the response that he received in his head. It was meant to be comforting to him, but was exactly what he did not want to hear. He then began to cry quietly with sobs that occasionally shook his body. He did not know that Cassie was also there and that she had been the one who had stopped the pain.

Malachi who had been the brave one earlier on was dumb-founded as seeing this father this way. He was uncertain now if he could follow through with his plan.

"You cannot stop this," Lucifer said to Cassie. "I will break him, but since I'm such a nice guy, I'll give him back to you when I'm finished. You may actually like him better after," he said as though this was a good deal.

Cassie still said nothing and glared at him with a calculating look. This quite amused Lucifer, but she was actually just trying to put up a good face while she decided what the hell she should do next.

"Come on, it'll be fun, let's continue and we'll see which of you he gives up first. Or…maybe we can get him to give up both," he suggested with an arched eyebrow. He had moved towards Cassie and had taken her hand to lead her out of the way.

"Besides he deserves it, right, after all he's done to you? So you can't tell me that part of you isn't enjoying this," he added in a tempting tone.

Finally Cassie found her voice to answer him, "Well, not as much as if it were you tied to that post," she said with what she had intended to be sarcasm, but ended up sounding very different.

"Hmmmmm," Lucifer rumbled, "I supposed it could be arranged. Would that excite you?"

Cassie face turned from smug to shocked and Lucifer laughed heartily at her.

"You are too easy, Cassie," he said through bursts of smug laughter as he continued to guide her out of the way of the whip.

At the sound of her name, Azazeal's body tensed. Even though he had just heard her voice it wasn't until he heard her name that he realized she was there too. Lucifer noticed and thought, "That one's been allowed too long of a break and now that he knows she's here, he may become very dangerous."

He had gotten her out of the way and signaled to the angel waiting with the whip, when Malachi called out to Lucifer in a strange language and the whip-welding angel froze. A small, unseen smile touched Azazeal's lips at this and he thought "Clever boy, I did not tell him Lucifer's real name." Cassie also recognized the word but did not know its meaning.

At this Lucifer whirled on Malachi and roared, "How dare you address me with such familiarity?"

"It's your name, isn't it," was Malachi's cool response.