Sara couldn't remember the last time she'd slept in her own bed and she was thankful that both she and Luke had managed to obtain private rooms for their stay at this silly school.

"Do you think people know?" She asked Luke.

"That you can't resist me, yes, they all know, dear," he said playfully.

"It is that obvious?"

"We barely hang out with any of our old friends and we're always together, Sara, and they know we're involved."

"But we can't let this get back to our parents."

"We're going to have to tell them eventually."

"Of course, but let's just keep it that way…eventually."

"Sara!"

"I'm not looking forward to my father's reaction. I don't think you're quite what he had in mind for me."

"Well, we're just going to have to change his mind, now aren't we," he grabbed her and kissed her deeply.

"Hey," she said, extracting herself, "I've got to go to my room to change. I'll see you in class," and she ran out.

She hoped that she could get Luke to agree to keep this secret for a while longer. Luke and Azazeal had never really had much to do with one another and although he wasn't what you'd expect a child of Lucifer to be like, she didn't think her father would approve. Not that her father had really approved of anyone that she'd been with. He just tended to ignore the fact that she was a grown woman and had sex and might eventually want to have children of her own.

Luke was not about to let Sara drag this out. He'd waited long enough to be with her and he wasn't going to let Azazeal stop him. Or his own father either. He wasn't sure if his father would have an opinion about the fact that they were more than just sexual partners but if he did, it would be impossible to predict.

As Cassie had noticed, especially since they'd come back from their fun little trip, Azazeal was no longer the slightest bit shy about asking for exactly what he wanted. And if she took too long to come up with a new project or something to do, he'd have some entertaining ideas of his own to suggest. She was exceedingly happy that he was so comfortable with their relationship now that they didn't have to dance around the fact that he needed her to want things from him.

Cassie and Elizabeth were still busy, not only as part of the "A-Team," but as the acting mothers to all of the fallen angels. Sometimes those angels managed to get themselves into some pretty interesting conundrums but mostly they just had relationship problems (Go figure!), work problems, or questions about things in this world that they didn't understand. It was amazing how some of the lower choirs could be so talented at their specialty and yet so clueless when it came to anything else. But they loved them all and took great delight it seeing them happy.

One afternoon after Lucifer had left to do something for Azazeal, Elizabeth approached Azazeal with some questions. She could tell that things were getting more difficult for Lucifer and he would come back from doing relatively simple things more tired than he should be, as if he were expending a lot of energy trying not to screw it up. She allowed herself to be openly proud of him and she could tell it helped, besides there were no rules about cheating against yourself.

"How's he doing?" Elizabeth asked Azazeal.

"Better than I expected, considering."

"Is it just me or is it getting harder for him to keep this human form?"

"No, you're right. His non-physical form is not getting what it needs to keep his physical one in this world comfortable. I told him that he should just float about in the abyss for a while but he said that would be cheating."

Elizabeth and Azazeal both laughed at this.

"That wasn't part of the rules, in fact, there are no rules at all really. Maybe I should say something and put a stop to it. We never agreed upon a stopping point."

"Are you convinced?" Azazeal asked, not having to explain that he knew what their bet was about.

She made a face, "Not entirely, but I want to be."

"Then let him succeed or fail on his own. He's trying to show you something."

"But what if he does something horrible because I'm not there?"

"I wouldn't be too concerned about that. It's not the lack of your direct guidance that's the problem."

"What does that mean?"

Azazeal considered telling her what was bothering Lucifer the most but he thought it was best to keep that to himself, so he only graced her with a mysterious smile. Elizabeth thought about this for a while but couldn't come up with the answer.

Lucifer came back about an hour later and they went home. He was a bit snappy with everyone, even her on occasion, and so didn't like to stay away from home anymore that he had to. She admired his determination and was impressed by what he was capable of on his own, but she didn't like to see him struggling. However, each time she tried to hint or insinuate that he'd done enough, he would ignore it and want to hold her, as if that would provide plenty of help and it did, just not enough.

Lucifer was annoyed that she wasn't seeing what he was trying to communicate to her but he did manage to find it interesting that the hardest thing for him was actually not being able to express himself to her as an angel, her angel. His love, his desire, his adoration could not be articulated in human words and apparently this inability to feel and communicate these things had been a major player in his original descent into madness. He wasn't normally put in this position and she was completely unaware of how important it was and really didn't totally understand what actions on her part could trigger it…if she did she probably would have helped him out.

The activity that Cassie's projects gave him kept him from getting too bored, though not without a a struggle to concentrated, but without the tasks he would have been in real trouble. Even he hadn't thought that just Elizabeth's presence and the knowledge of what she would want from him could keep him going this long, but he felt that it proved his point that it had. She was his stronghold now and he knew she was proud of him, so he kept at it, wanting to test his limits so that he would know his own breaking point and hopfully finally get her to understand him completely. He'd never try this again, that was for sure, because it was all so much easier when she was with him all the time, directing him, and he didn't have to think so hard. Besides, he missed her, even though they went home every night together, and he felt that he was still as weak and selfish as ever in many ways, but that didn't bother him as long as he was able to make her believe that he would never leave her.

The next time Luke and Sara joined their parents for a nice Sunday dinner, they didn't always grace them with their presence, Luke was determined to make his announcement. Sara however was perfectly happy to pretend that they were still just friends and that annoyed him more than she realized.

After dinner, when their parents were relaxing just the four of them together, Luke grabbed Sara's hand and dragged her over to them. Sara tried to fight him, knowing what he was up to, but once their parents looked up at them, Sara was forced to stop.

"We have something to tell you," Luke began.

"No, we don't," Sara said with a laugh to suggest that he was playing.

"Yes, we do," he insisted, giving her a slight glare.

Turning back to their parents, Luke almost lost his nerve when he saw the stern looks on Azazeal's and Lucifer's faces. He could tell that Cassie and Elizabeth were waiting for his news before forming an opinion but the fathers looked like they didn't need or want to hear what he had to say.

"Sara and I…" he paused to firm up his resolve, "We are together."

"And by together you mean…?" Azazeal said smoothly after an uncomfortable pause.

"We're in love," Sara spoke up to Luke's surprise and all eyes were shifted to her.

"That's problematic. Don't you think so Lucifer?"

"Indeed, very problematic."

"I don't see why." Luke said.

Azazeal whirled on him, "Well, you wouldn't, would you?"

Elizabeth expected Lucifer to defend Luke here but he appeared to share Azazeal's thoughts on this matter.

"Let's hear them out, shall we?" Elizabeth said.

"Yeah," Cassie added, "Just how in love are we talking about?"

Sara and Luke looked at each other and that was all Cassie and Elizabeth needed to see, but Luke said, "Very much." Cassie gave Elizabeth a questioning look and Elizabeth shrugged in response. Neither of them knew what the problem was.

"Well, that's very nice for you both but we can't let this go on, can we?" Azazeal said.

"No, we can't," Lucifer confirmed as if this was the final word.

Luke and Sara both immediately flared with fury and began to talk over one another in protest, insisting that neither of them had any intention of letting the other go, damn the consequences, and their fathers could just go to hell.

Amidst the flurry of vows and curses coming from both Sara and Luke, Azazeal and Lucifer turned to look at one another and simultaneously cracked a smile, which lead to copious amounts laughter, leaving Sara and Luke confused and irritated.

Once Azazeal got his breath back he said, "This is exactly what we have wanted for quite some time."

"Yes, Az and I," Lucifer said gregariously, getting a dirty look from Azazeal at the shortening of his name, "have been discussing just this outcome for a long time. It is definitely preferable to you both trying to make a life with a human. They're very difficult."

"Without a doubt," Azazeal agreed, and both he and Lucifer received playfully annoyed looks from their women.

"So you're saying…?" Luke started.

"She's all yours," Azazeal said with a smile, but then changed to a harsh expression, "But if you ever…"

"Oh, leave the boy alone, Az," Lucifer said, cutting him off, "I'm more worried about what she'll do to him, that minx."

"Don't you dare talk about her that way," Azazeal said almost getting up but not really meaning it as seriously as it sounded, just excited from the fun they were having and enjoying the banter with Lucifer.

Lucifer however gave him a steely glare, reminding Azazeal that, in his current state of frustration, Lucifer barely needed an excuse to take out his wrath on anyone who gave him the slightest cause. Azazeal quickly ceased any further pursuit of this issue.

"Go on, you two, we were having a pleasant conversation before you interrupted so rudely," and the two young lovers left gratefully.

Sara and Luke were extremely relieved at their parent's, eventual, blessing of their relationship. Besides, they had meant every vow and curse they had uttered and it would have been very interesting to see who would have won that battle of wills if they'd had to go up against their own fathers. In their current state of happiness, they both quickly determined that their fathers should pay for their little joke and set about thinking up a suitable trick.

Just two days later, Ramiel walked into the church to report to Azazeal on what he had accomplished that day. He gave a quick nod to Cassie as he went by and proceeded directly to Azazeal's staging area. As he approached the entryway, Ramiel got in Lucifer's way as Lucifer was leaving Azazeal (Not really, but Lucifer's interpretation of what was in his way was very liberal at this point). Upon seeing Ramiel coming towards him, Lucifer grinned evilly and sent him flying across the room to slam hard against the wall at which point his grin increased and he turned to walk over to the unfortunate angel. Lucifer picked him up by the throat and lifted him up over his head.

Cassie and Elizabeth heard the commotion and turned in time to see Lucifer pick Ramiel up. Cassie was already furious before Elizabeth even had a chance to call his name but it didn't work. Elizabeth took a moment to gather herself to try harder and saw Lucifer effortlessly toss Ramiel sideways to hit another wall.

"LUCIFER STOP!" She shouted, thinking his real name in her head and using all of the emotion and force that she had behind it.

In a split second, he was smiling pleasantly and attentively down at her. Elizabeth was relieved but Cassie was about wring his neck, when he put his arms around Elizabeth and started to shake. Azazeal popped next to Cassie and took her arm to restrain her as Lucifer began to whisper to Elizabeth in angelic.

"He'll be okay now," Azazeal said pulling Cassie away.

"I don't care about that bastard," she flared but it was impossible not to be effected by devotion with which Lucifer was speaking to Elizabeth and Cassie's attitude softened a little.

He was completely entranced because of the force of her order had triggered the response that he'd been so urgently longing for and he would clearly be continuing like this for some time, expressing things to her that he hadn't been able to in several weeks. Elizabeth seemed to understand and did not try to stop him, closing her eyes and listening to him lovingly. Cassie was struck by this look at Lucifer's softer side, which she rarely got a glimpse of, and she caught a few phrases that shocked her with their ardent affection and tenderness.

"Ramiel is okay too. I'll explain later," Azazeal said and Cassie let him draw her away but she went immediately to check on poor Ramiel but she found him to also be aware that something had been wrong with Lucifer but that he would be fine now. This acceptance of Lucifer's behavior still managed to annoyed her but once Azazeal explained, she could only shake her head at Lucifer's absurd solution to Elizabeth's "jealousy" and the mayhem that had ensued.

Elizabeth held Lucifer tightly and actually had to hold him up a few times because he kept trying to sink to his knees. If they had been alone she would have let him, but here in front of everyone, she was not about to allow it. She could tell this was distressing him slightly but not enough to make him stop. She could sense his relief at being able to express himself to her, but she also had the strange feeling that this was all that he needed. She had assumed that he would eventually do something bad or come to her in an aggressive mood looking for her to take control again, but he was calm already. He was agitated not with the desire for her to exert dominance but with the hope that would understand something and accept it. But she just couldn't figure out what.

At home Lucifer was quiet, unhappy with himself. He hadn't meant to take it out on Ramiel and he was sorry for that, but he felt much better now that he'd been able to release all that energy.

"So," Elizabeth said with a laugh, "what happened there?"

Responding to her teasing attitude, he said with crossed arms, "You can't just command me like that and not expect it to trigger that kind of reaction. It's part of my charm."

"I see," she said, "But what did Ramiel do?"

"He approached me at…an ill-timed moment," he responded, smiling innocently.

"Obviously," she said with a smile, "So let's call this bet of ours a draw, shall we?"

"Oh, no, my sweet, that is not acceptable. I've done my job very well, ask Azazeal."

"But you threw Ramiel against a wall…twice!"

"A minor misunderstanding," he continued to smile as if he were blameless.

She put her arms around his neck and looked at him with an amused and happy smile. "I don't know why your little game worked but it did. You may be foolish but I believe that you are stubborn enough to decide for yourself."

"I told you," he said arrogantly.

"Now," she said and began to slip her cloths off, "I believe I have some begging to do."

Lucifer smiled wickedly, quite pleased with himself, and thankful that he now had the willpower to enjoy his reward properly.