As Cassie had predicted, Azazeal had asked her the next morning about the artist at Mendham and they had gone together to give the boy a little push. The next day Cassie had spendt a good deal of her time with Azazeal and she innocently "suggested" different ideas for helping people that she had been thinking about recently. He listened more attentively than he let on and toyed with the ideas. She could tell that, if she wanted, they would eventually do them all in some form or another. Towards the end of the day she realized how much time they had actually been spending apart doing various things on their own and it seemed to her that this interaction was also important to him. Not that she didn't spend what most people would consider a normal amount of time with him but it seemed that he wanted to be with her more than she realized.

As they spent more time together and he had an opportunity to do things for her, the pretense of Azazeal humoring her began to evaporate but it would take a more unequivocal assurance from her for his uncertainty to completely leave him. He had no way of knowing that this wasn't a fluke and she wouldn't just eventually get bored of this.

Cassie did notice that he was a bit guarded in his enjoyment of their partnership and their extra time together. She thought back to what Lucifer had told her and his crest fallen look when she hadn't understood what he wanted from her when he was showing her his angelic form and realized what he must be thinking. Knowing that while he liked the sound of his own voice, he was not a speech maker she decided to make her intensions clear.

One afternoon after keeping an unhappy, but good couple from getting a divorce, for now at least, she said to him, "You know this isn't a coincidence."

"What's not?" he said evenly. He could tell she wasn't talking about the couple but he was still hesitant.

"I'm sorry it took me so long but…I love you, Azazeal. I have every intention of staying with you forever, and more than that…I want to make you happy."

"You do make me happy," he said with bright smile and a kiss on her forehead.

She turned squarely towards him and looked right in to his eyes seriously, "You know what I mean. I've been…well, I wasn't really paying attention to you, but you're an angel too and I haven't been sensitive to what you might need from me."

His face was more serious now but he still had an appreciative smile so she knew she was reaching him.

"So, this isn't a whim and if I loose my ingenuity for a while it's not a reflection on you. Understand?"

He chuckled a bit at this but nodded and they turned and continued to walk hand in hand towards home.

Cassie and Azazeal started out slow, with her having individuals as pet projects but soon she was expanding her endeavors, eventually to the point where other angels, usually Araqiel, Bariqel and/or Lucifer were involved. It became quite fun and especially when Elizabeth tagged along with Lucifer, and Cassie began to secretly feel like she was in the A-Team or on Mission Impossible.

Luke finally went to Elizabeth for advise on how to approach Sara and she had given him a knowing smile that he responded to with an annoyed smirk.

"Sorry, it's just that your father has been greatly amused by your little flirtation and he's been telling me that you both would get together at some point."

"Yeah, well, I really like her," he said defensively, "if was just sex I wouldn't need any advise."

"Point taken. Why haven't you talked to her?"

"It's not that easy. We're competitive, she feels like she's my older sister, and she's just so…wild." Elizabeth smiled at this because she had expected Luke to be a handful but while he did what he wanted and often got in trouble with Malachi, he was usually in control.

"Let me tell you some things about Sara. She's looking for something too and she's always liked you. You just have to find away to get her attention and get her thinking that you might be what she's looking for."

Luke went off to consider this and eventually figured that the best approach might be to treat her like a regular girl. And what did he do when he was in the mood to romance a girl? Well, he usually presented them with a gift of some kind and with Sara being who she was he could be far more creative then he could normally be.

Elizabeth had, of course, devised a suitably kinky punishment for Lucifer for the offense of toying with her so thoroughly and he had enjoyed every minute of it. She made sure it actually encouraged the continuation of such behavior in addition to satisfying his desire for a reaction from her. She had always playfully retaliated for this type of assault, which he had always sprung on her unexpectedly with varying intensity from time to time (Maui had been…interesting), but this time he had out done himself. Also, she was fully aware that it had been some time since he had done anything more evil than what an average human might do but he didn't really seem to notice. She had some theories on why, not that she was complaining, but she suspected that he didn't bother to wonder about such things.

She hadn't changed her strategy with him but there had, however, been two key changes in his life over the last few weeks since he had asked her to never leave him and she had assured him that she would not. She felt that these changes, along with her commitment to stay with him and the news that he was not irrevocably damned, had had a positive effect on him in addition to making him comfortable that he would not accidentally hurt her or lose her, which allowed him to be more…aggressive. Of course, he still wanted her in charge and, because it was in his nature to give himself completely, he would still occasionally push her for a show of dominance in order to feel the overpowering connection to her that it created. Elizabeth understood his need for these little reminders and obliged him as necessary, although now they had become less frequently necessary.

Firstly, she had become very skillful at transitioning him between his good and bad sides, as she needed, and she had started to notice that the two were beginning to blend together a little. When she was with the sweet, calm, and focused Lucifer, she found that he was not always as over the top with his devotion to her as he initially had and he began to sometimes show a fun, yet controlled, playfulness. When she was with the bold and rebellious Lucifer, he was now more bark than bite when it came to really serious mischief and he was capable of channeling his energy more into their exploits with Cassie and Azazeal and, when it amused him, toying with Elizabeth. She had not expected this blending of the two but it was quite helpful.

Secondly, his position of leader of all of the fallen angels was now more honorary, which was fine by him as long as he still got the respect he deserved from the them…OR ELSE. Besides, he was too busy and important to have to deal with their problems and question, well at least that was his thinking. His group of angels were now to come to Elizabeth with any issues they had, either directly or thorough a few angels she had helping her. They could also approach Cassie or Azazeal, but all four of them were together so much, they generally just went through Elizabeth's helpers and she would take the matter to Lucifer as necessary. He had no aversion to helping when the questions came from her, although he did like to make it a game sometimes, and it was interesting to see how the release from the pressure of their direct expectations and their constant needs relaxed him. So it seemed that if all he had to worry about was listening to her, he was a much more pleasant being.

Cassie enjoyed the benefits of all this too, because Lucifer had always taken a particular delight in pushing her buttons but now that he had fewer demands on his attention he was less prone to take out his frustration on her any more, or Azazeal for that matter. Of course, they both had to suppress their urge to tease him about his good behavior or to chide him when he would get so affectionately (and sometimes naughtily) preoccupied with Elizabeth that he would ignore their presence for several minutes at a time or just steal her away abruptly.

On a particularly interesting mission in the Middle East, the Cassie, Azazeal, Elizabeth, and Lucifer stayed in a palatial two-bedroom suite in one of the ritziest hotels in Dubai. Neither Azazeal nor Lucifer understood the girl's compulsion to stay at a location near where they would be working, since they could just as easily commute from home, but it did afford them with the opportunity of getting away from everyone and visiting some interesting cities.

On the morning of their fifth day there, Cassie was making her way back to bed after getting up in the early morning hours to look at the city from the balcony and she found Azazeal watching with careful amusement. When she got back in to bed next to him, he kissed her and fit his body against the back of hers.

"I guess I'm going to have to keep a closer eye on you."

"I'm I under surveillance?" she asked with a laugh.

"Today you are, my dear," he said as he gently increased his grip of his arm around her body, "Today, there will be no leaving this room."

"Hey, we've got…"

"Not today we don't."

"But Elizabeth and Lucifer will be waiting for us."

"As a mater of fact, they will be doing no such thing," he said with a smug smile and released her to let his hand wander over her body.

She twisted to turn her head to playfully narrow her eyes at him, "You both conspired against us!?"

"Yes, in fact, we developed a very complex plan in order to get you both right were we want you," he admitted in jokingly serious tone with a touch of wickedness.

"How do you know that we didn't actually manipulate you both in an even more complex plot to get you both were we want you?"

He smiled, shook his head and said, "I don't care." And that was the end of any meaningful conversation between them for quite some time.

Azazeal had always been a sensual lover, very giving and always with a trick up his sleeve, and he continued to anticipate her mood, but now Cassie also enjoyed an increased affection outside the bedroom, which wasn't rare before, just not this…charming. If she thought he'd been cute when she was pregnant with Sara, he was downright adorable now. It seemed as if he was always either holding her or had an arm curled around her or she would find herself pressed against him in some fashion or another and she loved the closeness of it. And the best part was that, like all of the angels; he had the ability to do this without getting in her way or being annoying.

Lucifer had been a bit more direct in his announcement of Elizabeth's captivity. He'd been waiting for her to try to get up from bed in order to pounce on her.

"Oh, no you don't," he said, grabbing her and pulling her back. She playfully tried to wrestle with him but only ended up getting more entangled with him.

"This is a coup of sorts. Today Azazeal and I set the ground rules," he rumbled.

"I saw you two plotting last night," she laughed and continued with a smile, "but I didn't expect outright rebellion."

"You're going to have to pay more attention next time. Now, we have a lovely bed, we have a wonderful bathtub, and we have room service. I think that about covers all the information that you need to know."