"You know, it's kind of cute seeing him all passed out like that."

"Sam, if you ever say anything relating to the Devil as 'cute' ever again, I'll kill myself."

"Drama queen."

"Bitch."

"Jerk."

"Always keep your finger off the trigger until you're ready to fire."

"Yes, Sam, I know how to use a gun," Lucifer sighed, clearly bored with this lesson in gun safety, which Dean demanded Sam give Lucifer before he let him anywhere near the Impala.

Sam rolled his eyes, letting out a huff of annoyance. "Look, if you cooperate, this will go by a lot faster."

"But, Sam, I already know these things. Right after Nick's family died, he learned how to use a gun. He kept one hidden in his room. I know everything he does."

It didn't matter how many times Lucifer protested; Lucifer was re-taught everything to do with guns and gun safety. Cleaning and loading and unloading, etc., etc. By the end of the two hours it took, he was an expert. His aim wasn't spot on, but it was pretty good. He hit most of the targets he was supposed to, except maybe three or four. That wasn't bad at all. All in all, the Devil was pretty reliable. Didn't change Dean's opinion on him, though. That was to be expected.

The Winchesters decided it would be best to hit the road 'a.s.a.f.p.' ('as soon as friggin' possible', according to Dean, since Lucifer had to ask.) Within the hour, they were all ready to go.

"You know, it's kind of cute seeing him all passed out like that." Sam commented as he glanced in the back seat, where Lucifer was softly snoring, his arm covering his face.

"Sam, if you ever say anything relating to the Devil as 'cute' ever again, I'll kill myself." Dean faked a gag.

Sam only rolled his eyes, slightly smiling. "Drama queen."

"Bitch."

"Jerk."

Much Timeskip, Very fast forward, Many wow

"FBI. I'm agent Cornell, and this is agent Jackson. We'd like to ask you a few questions about your husband." Dean explained to the woman who opened the door.

Lucifer was stuck in the car, much to his annoyance. He just watched the pair from a distance.

"Agents, I'm sorry, this really isn't a good time. I… I can't do anymore questions today, I'm sorry…" Her voice cracked as she held back a sob, closing the door.

Sam glanced at Dean, raising an eyebrow as he let out a small breath. "Well, now what?"

Seeing as the boys weren't making any progress, their friendly neighborhood Devil decided to assert himself, getting out of the Impala and coming over to them.

"You're supposed to stay in the car-" Dean protested, not wanting to deal with Lucifer's shenanigans and snappy comments at the moment.

"Have you ever heard of empathy, Dean? The woman's grieving. Now, go. Watch a master at work." Lucifer shooed the pair off. Dean was inclined to argue, but Sam sort of tugged him away, whispering something about giving him a chance.

Lucifer knocked on the door, his arms folded loosely, as he was trying to convey a certain aura of shyness.

The door was opened once again, and the woman quietly asked, "yes? Can I help you?"

Lucifer suddenly sounded… not like Lucifer. He sounded human… he sounded like… like… Nick. "Hey… Um… my name is Nick… I moved in down the street a few weeks ago. I don't know if we've met, yet." He ran a hand through his hair as if he was nervous, his eyes darting away as he let out a small breath, really selling the whole act. "I heard about what happened… and I saw those agents bothering you. I kind of know what you're going through… my wife, Sarah, and my baby… baby boy were… They… they passed…" He took in a breath and let it out shakily. "I know how to cope and such… and I was hoping maybe I could help you…"

Dean's jaw practically dropped, and Sam was a little more than impressed as the woman nodded and invited him inside.

Lucifer returned to them two hours later. Dean had passed out in the driver's seat of the Impala while Sam had his laptop on his lap, looking up information and such.

Sam had a general idea of where this vampire might be hiding. But he wanted to confirm his suspicions with Lucifer's information, assuming he successfully got anything.

Lucifer knocked on Dean's window, which scared the shit out of him, jolting him awake. He gave Lucifer a nice long glare before he decided to unlock the doors, letting the former angel in.

"So, did you get anything?" Sam asked him as Lucifer got settled in the back seat.

"Oh, nothing much. Just the name and address of the last person who saw her husband alive," he stated with a touch of arrogance in his tone. He was trying to get on Dean's nerves, it seemed. And it was working.

"Yeah, yeah, just give me the damn address."

It only took a few minutes to get to the house in question. Once the Impala was parked, Dean opened his mouth to speak, but Lucifer spoke first.

"Yeah, yeah, I know, stay in the car while you guys go roleplay. I got it. You're welcome, by the way." Lucifer huffed, rolling his eyes.

Seeing as Dean clearly didn't need to say anything, he got out of the car with Sam, going up to the front door.

Dean knocked and waited for the door to open. He pulled out his badge, flashing it as he spoke once the door was opened. "FBI. We're looking for Ronnie Stevenson."

"That would be me." The man who answered the door replied, opening it a little wider. "It's a little late for you guys to be pounding on doors, you know…" The time was almost nine o' clock, so the man was already dressed in his pajamas. "Is this going to take long?"

"That depends on you," Sam answered, gesturing inside. "Is it alright if we come in? We just have some questions for you."

Ronnie nodded and let the boys in, closing the door behind them. He then led them to his living room. "Did you want anything to drink, or…?"

Sam shook his head, not wanting to get off topic. "We're fine, thanks."

Ronnie sat down with a slight nod, and the boys followed in suit.

"So, you worked with Darryl, correct? From what I understand, you two were good friends." Sam began, clasping his hands together and relaying the information that Lucifer had told them on the way over.

"Yes, that's right."

"And you saw him the night before he disappeared? Tell me about that night."

Ronnie looked uneasy as he began stating the events that occurred. "Well, Darryl and I went out to get a drink after work, like we usually do on Thursday nights. That all went normally. I made sure not to go past my limit so I could drive, and I wouldn't let Darryl drive plastered."

Sam nodded as Ronnie continued, a little more nervously, now.

"After we decided to call it a night, I was driving Darryl home, and I guess I took a wrong turn somewhere, and we ended up on Durch Boulevard, which is kind of far from his house. I might have had a little more than usual…" He didn't like admitting this, but he continued when he got no response from the two 'agents'. "I didn't recognize where we were, and I'm not caught up with the latest technology, so I don't have those maps that are on the phones… so I decided to get out of the car and ask someone for directions. I knocked on a few doors, but nobody answered. At that point, Darryl decided he was going to get out of the car to help, since it had been a bit, and he'd sobered up a tad. I thought I saw someone go into the abandoned warehouse, which was a little sketchy to me, but Darryl took off after them…"

"Did you follow Darryl?" Dean asked, having been quiet since they entered the house.

"I didn't want to, but I figured he'd get himself into trouble if I didn't. So, I went into the alleyway and walked up to the door I'd seen him go in, and I about ran into him. He came out lookin' like he'd seen a ghost or something, and he told me that we should leave."

"Did he say why?" Sam 's interest was piqued at this, as the warehouse had been one of the places he'd been suspicious of.

"No, and I didn't ask. But, anyways, we headed back over to the car and turned around. Eventually, I got him home, and then I went home. That's it. I mean, it's nothing really. No one else has come asking about it. And he wasn't sober when he was acting all weird, so I didn't think anything of it…"

"Is that everything you can remember? Even the littlest details could help." Sam urged the man for more information, which he got.

"Well, yeah… I went back to the warehouse yesterday morning, because I was thinking it might have a clue, but when I got there, the door was locked. I would have sworn that it was left unlocked at all times, especially since the previous owner lost the key a few months back."

"How do you know about the key?"

"Well, see, I know Jim. That warehouse used to be really useful for the company I work for, but, after everything became online and less people were buying from us, the company shrank down, and we didn't need the space anymore. Jim started using that place for recreation, but, since it's so far out of the way, that didn't work out either. Eventually, he just gave up on it and decided to sell it to the bank. But a few days before they came to collect the keys, he claimed somebody stole them off of him."

Sam and Dean were both thinking the same thing. Chances were, it was the vampire. Probably looking for a new place to drag victims and hide.

Dean asked, "did he ever describe who he thought stole the key?"

Ronnie thought about it for a moment, then nodded. "Yeah, now that you mention it, he did. He said that he couldn't get a real good look at him, but it was some teenager. He was dressed in all black. Real goth-y type, you know?"

Sam, who had started to take notes sometime back, nodded and got up. "Thank you for your time, Mister Stevenson. I think you've given us all of the information we need."

"You're welcome, agent." Ronnie and Dean stood up as well, and Ronnie led the boys out of the house.

Once they were out of earshot, Sam spoke. "Dean, I was looking into that warehouse while Lucifer was talking to Darryl's wife. It's in a pretty industrial area. Not a lot of people go around there. I mean, it would be perfect for a vampire to hide in."

Dean nodded as he got into the Impala, Sam doing the same.

Of course, Lucifer had been waiting. Impatiently. "Took you guys long enough. So, did you learn anything with my information? Or was this just a waste of gas?"

Dean sighed as he fired up the Impala, rolling his eyes, tempted to kick Lucifer out of the car. He didn't want to deal with the Devil anymore. "If you don't shut up and wipe that smug-ass look off your face, which I know you have, I'm gonna put a bullet through your head."

Surprise, surprise, another timeskip

"You can't just leave me in here! I can actually do shit, you know!" Lucifer protested as Dean left Lucifer in the Impala, not giving Sam much say in the matter.

"Stay. We'll be back in five minutes. It's just one vampire. No big deal." Dean tried to convince Lucifer into cooperating, but it didn't really work.

"One vampire. Exactly. I can handle one vampire." Lucifer was more than ready to fight something. He'd been aching to do something about his wings ever since he'd woken up. With the pain of his healing wounds dulled, he felt nothing but exhilaration for this almost-closed case.

But the only response he got was a glare from Dean and the sound of the Impala's driver's side door being shut.

The former archangel let out a scoff, only returning the glare towards Dean's retreating form, which turned into an alleyway, disappearing. Sam only glanced back at Lucifer before disappearing as well.

Five minutes. Five fucking minutes that he genuinely thought he was wasting. He'd managed to get the intel on this place, and he can't even get in on the action? Stupid…

But Lucifer didn't move, just like he was told, only lounging in the back seat and examining his fingernails, which were actually rather clean. So, he gave up on that only a few moments later, letting out a bored sigh.

Five minutes felt like hours, but, that five minutes was up, and he sat up, glancing over towards the alleyway that the pair had disappeared into.

Okay… maybe they were just finishing up? Maybe there was nothing here and they were looking for clues? Either way, they weren't back yet.

Ten minutes.

Fifteen.

This was taking too damn long, Lucifer decided as he grabbed the keys out of the ignition, shutting the car off. He got out of the car, going around to the back of the car, and fumbling through the keys to find the right one to open the trunk. It only took a few seconds before Lucifer had successfully opened the trunk, opening the compartment at the bottom and propping it up.

Lucifer rolled his eyes as he looked at the mess of weapons, letting out a sigh. "This is organization? I think not," he mumbled as he scanned for a weapon that would suit him best. There was a small pistol – smaller than any normal pistol – that caught his eye. It would be easy to hide if he got into trouble and needed it. He grabbed that, finding a suitable hiding place on his person, then he continued to look. Vampires, right? Decapitation. Did they have another machete? Oh, yes, they did. He grabbed the machete, along with its sheath, strapping the sheath to his side and putting the machete in it.

Lucifer glanced over the arsenal one last time, debating on whether or not to bring anything else. He decided against it. If he came in packed and loaded, it would make it more difficult to move around. So, he closed the trunk, stuffing the keys into his pocket after grabbing a flashlight, unsure if it would be dark, and stuffing it in his pocket.

Luckily, the street they'd parked on was all but abandoned. In the total of twenty minutes that Lucifer had been there, not a single person passed by. It made it easier to rummage through the trunk without worrying about onlookers. But, at the same time, if filled him with an odd sense of dread. It was eerie. It was on purpose. These vampires had chosen this place because of its desertion.

Lucifer sighed as he tried to come up with a plan (and what to tell Sam if they weren't in trouble) for when he got in there. After a few moments of thought, he found himself walking towards the alleyway. He stopped just before the corner, glancing into what seemed to be an engulfing darkness, which hid the entrance to the abandoned warehouse. But a little bit of fear was healthy, Lucifer decided. It would keep him on his toes.

He turned the corner and began searching for a door – or even a window – so that he could enter and see what he was up against, assuming he was up against anything. Eventually, he found a door, discovering any windows that could be safely reached were boarded up. Probably on purpose.

The former-devil (or still-devil?) found that the door was cracked open, not closed all the way. That was probably Sam and Dean's doing, since closing the door might alert the vampires that they were there.

After stepping inside, Lucifer assessed the state of the building. It was certainly falling apart. Some of the walls had crumbled away, revealing water pipes and wires, as well as structural beams. Hell, the entire building felt like it might crumble at any moment. The interior walls (if there ever were any) were long gone. The ceiling was several stories high, and long, suspended lights (lightbulbs, really) dimly lit the inside.

Near the far wall, a single interior wall remained standing, a door leading to another room. Seeing that three vampires were lingering near that wall, he assumed that Sam and Dean were in that room either dead or captured.

Great. Since when did one mean three? This wasn't going to be as easy as he'd hoped.

The only male vampire among the three turned. He was pale with black hair and green eyes. He was young. Maybe nineteen. And arrogant.

"Well, well, well. Speak of the Devil and he shall appear." The male's voice was soft but assertive. The smirk that drew itself onto his features changed the tone of his voice into that of a more playful one.

The two female vampires stayed back, letting what Lucifer assumed to be their leader deal with him.

One of the females was dark skinned with black hair and brown eyes. Dressed rather fashionably. Her lips were cherry red. Cosmetics, no doubt.

The other seemed a bit shyer. She seemed smarter, too. She wouldn't look Lucifer in the eyes. Her skin was pale, and her eyes were blue. She had short platinum blonde hair that was styled with a red bandana. Her clothes were simple: just a grey t-shirt and jeans, as well as a pair of sneakers. She was also quite young. Maybe seventeen or eighteen. There was something off about her… something familiar… could it be?

Lucifer answered shortly after the male spoke, after evaluating how he was going to manage three of them, taking a few steps forward, away from his only escape. He didn't want to seem intimidated or afraid. "Oh, you were talking about little ol' me? I'm flattered." His tone was flat as he put on a fake smile, just to drive the point home that he wasn't really here to talk.

But it didn't matter since the male decided he was going to have a little fun with the fallen angel. He had some questions, though. "Pardon my ignorance, oh, Prince of Darkness, but isn't your corpse supposed to be rotting at the bottom of some river bank?" At this, the blonde girl seemed to tense. She knew something. "We'd been informed you'd been… disposed of."

"Sorry to disappoint. But it's not that easy to kill the Devil, yeah? Where's Sam?" Lucifer didn't give a damn about Dean, but Sam? Yeah, he cared a little.

"I'm afraid he's a little tied up, at the moment. And it's not like you can rescue him. We've heard your wings have been clipped." The male seemed obviously proud of this information. Maybe he was excited to see if he could try and take down the Devil, now that the odds had been evened.

Lucifer hated that this information had got out, but, he decided not to react to it, doing what he did best. Manipulation. "Really? Because, thus far, your sources have been pretty unreliable, haven't they? Who says you're not bait? Or a test of my strength?"

Lucifer's suggestions seemed to get to the three of them, but the blonde one seemed the most on edge. Actually, it seemed as if Lucifer was right, in some aspects. Maybe he wasn't spot-on, but, with each question, the blonde looked as if she was going to run. Something was going on.

Despite his uneasiness, the male vampire, forced himself to relax. Sure, their information hadn't been correct… but… but they wouldn't just throw them at Lucifer for fun, would they? "Wouldn't you have killed us by now if you could?" He asked uneasily, worried that Lucifer might take it as a suggestion.

"Haven't you heard? I like to play with my prey." He was going to keep this going for as long as he could until he formulated a solid plan that would get him and Sam (and maybe Dean) out of there alive.

But he wouldn't get the time he needed, as the leader's eyes fell upon the sheath of his machete. With a smirk, his uneasiness disappearing, the male spoke once again, "You're bluffing. You wouldn't need that if you had your wings. Man, I knew I could get Sam and Dean, but Lucifer, himself? I'm just that good. I'm definitely getting a bonus for this." The vampire began to walk forward, leaving the two women behind.

Damn. Of course. Lucifer held his ground at that point, reaching, not for the machete, but for the pistol, which he pulled out of its hiding spot, aiming it at the vampire.

But the male only laughed continuing to come forward. "Really? I mean, I know you've never had to resort to these methods to protect yourself, but I would have thought you knew better. That isn't going to stop me."

"No, but it'll slow you down," Lucifer stated, his eyes, flicking upwards, the vampire's eyes following.

The male stopped in his tracks, glancing at one of the fire-hazard-lights that were dangling from the ceiling, which was only another step in front of him. Oh, if only Lucifer hadn't looked up.

The vampire chuckled, applauding just slightly. "Creative. You're on the right track. That would have slowed me down quite a bit."

Lucifer lets out a fake nervous chuckle, nodding just slightly before suddenly turning, letting a few rounds go through the barrel of his pistol. He managed to hit his target: a water main, which burst with intense pressure, even from across the room, managing to soak the vampire and the area around him in rusty, old water, barely missing Lucifer, who had quickly taken a step or two away.

The vampire, unimpressed and more annoyed than anything, flicked some of the disgusting liquid off him, spitting some of it out with a disgruntled groan of disgust. Out of his annoyance, he let out a sarcastic comment: "Oh. I'm wet. I think I might melt." He scoffed, glaring at the former angel. "Is that really the best you've got? Water isn't going to kill me, dumbass! Enough with the parlor tricks-"

The vampire barely got the last word out before Lucifer let another two bullets fly, aimed at the worn rope holding the light fixture. Again, he managed to hit his target, and the rope gave way. Before another sarcastic comment could be made, the bulb broke as it hit the wet floor, the live wires coming into contact with the conductive liquid and sending sparks of electricity through it. The entire room suddenly flickered, many of the lights bursting. Old wiring and a sudden surge of energy were overwhelming. And the vampires body shook and shivered and steamed uncontrollably, as yells and screams of pain ripped through him, before he seemed to fall unconscious (assumingly, since it was a vampire. Lucifer was unsure of whether or not that would actually kill it, so he remained on the safe side, deciding it would be best to behead him, anyways.)

"Fresh-fried vamp, anyone?" He chuckled, returning the pistol to its spot, deciding to wield the machete, instead. He looked towards the two remaining vampires, both of which looked horrified. But the darker skinned female suddenly became enraged, and she rushed towards Lucifer in the flickering light, which made her very difficult to keep track of.

But Lucifer held his ground, letting her come to him, machete ready. He could only hope that Nick didn't have epilepsy. It would be a very bad time to have a seizure.

The woman acted more out of rage than thought, making it ultimately easy for Lucifer to overpower her. He dodged her swipes and attacked, his machete eventually coming into contact with her neck as he relieved her from her head. It hit the ground with a satisfying squish.
The blonde made a run for it, but, surprisingly, Lucifer didn't seem to care about her. He let her go.

Not wanting to leave the job half-finished, Lucifer found the breaker panel, shutting off the electricity to the room and getting out his flashlight, turning it on. He walked over to the still body of the male and pushed his machete into his neck, separating his head from his shoulders, managing to get blood squirting up at his face, which resulted in a disgusted, "ugh." He severed the wires while he was at it, so he didn't have to worry about getting electrocuted if he turned the electricity back on – which he did.

He returned to the breaker panel, turning the lights back on. Lucifer wandered over to the far door, which was no longer protected.

Locked. Of. Fucking. Course.

He let out an annoyed huff and backed up, easily kicking down the rotting wooden door, revealing Sam and Dean in chairs, tied up, and gagged. Sam was facing Lucifer, while Dean was facing the wall. Sam looked relieved.

Lucifer immediately went to ungag Sam, glancing over him to look for any major wounds. He seemed okay, which was a relief.

"Sorry it took so long. Mister 'I-know-everything' wouldn't shut his trap. So, I beheaded him." Lucifer said in a joking tone, but he was serious. He simply left out the gorier details. Not that Sam and Dean wouldn't see his handiwork on the way out.

Sam was out of his restraints within a few seconds, as Lucifer severed the ropes that bound him. "Well, I'm impressed. You got through all three of them?"

Lucifer avoided the question, going over to Dean and ungagging him. But he didn't let him go just yet, as he stood there expectantly.

"What?" Dean scoffed, knowing full well what Lucifer was after. But Dean still had his pride.

"I think someone owes me an apology. And a 'thank you for saving my ass from getting eaten by vampires', maybe."

Dean looked exasperated as he rolled his eyes. "Really? Now?"

Lucifer wasn't going to just give like that. He needed some kind of appreciation. "Depends. How long do you want to keep wasting time and sitting there?" Oh, Lucifer wasn't going to let him out. Doubtful that he would let Sam let him out, either.

Sam tried to hide an amused smile as Dean struggled in his bindings, before searching for the words he was going to use to apologize to the Devil.

"I'm sorry for thinking logically about this case and not wanting you as a liability, and thank you for being somewhat competent," Dean snapped, his tone harsh.

Sam expected Lucifer to keep Dean there, but he cut the ropes with an innocent yet smug smile. "You're welcome."

Dean got up with a grumble, rubbing his sore wrists and going over to the table at the far side of the room and grabbing their equipment.

"So, how'd you do it? Three vamps?" Sam urged Lucifer to answer his earlier question.

Lucifer just shrugged, leaving his answer broad. "Creatively."

Dean exited the room, before yelling for Sam, who immediately went over to him, Lucifer slowly following.

"Sam, there were three of them, weren't there? Why are there only two bodies?" Dean asked, glaring at Lucifer, who only shrugged slightly as Sam nodded his head slightly in agreement.

"Well, see, here's the thing… I let one of 'em go." Lucifer didn't seem very troubled by this fact.

Oh, but Dean was. "You what?"

"I let her go. She clearly knew something that the others didn't, and I thought that information might best be kept alive."

Dean sighed, now annoyed. "And how are we supposed to find her? Why didn't you grab her or something?"

"No need. I can track her." Lucifer said proudly, slightly smiling. "I found a lead on my grace."

"Really? Well, tell us." Sam urged Lucifer for more detail.

"Well, she has some of it. Just enough to notice, but not enough to significantly change her abilities. Just enough. And, I bet you, whoever she's running to has more of it, if not the rest." Lucifer was a little excited to have already found a lead on his grace. It had only been a few days because of the drive. They were making good time.

If only it were so easy.

The young blonde vampire stood in a cold, dimly lit room. She couldn't tell how big it was, as the interrogation light above her seemed to cloud her other senses, making it difficult to see without a massive headache coursing through her skull.

"Were you followed?" The voice was low and distorted, as to throw off whom it might be speaking. It came from everywhere at once.

"N-no, sir… I don't think so…" The girl quietly answered, her eyes closed and her head bowed as she nervously fiddled with the fabric of her shirt in her hand. "I l-left before Lucifer freed the Winchesters. I surely managed to get away from him, unless he left them there… but you said he cares for Sam, right? So, he wouldn't do that…" She explained her thought process, still unable to open her eyes, not seeing a figure slowly coming towards.

"Oh, but you were followed. We know you were… but that's okay… this is Lucifer we're dealing with."

The girl quickly apologized, still unsuspecting as the figure came closer.

"It's not your fault, dear… what did you think was in that blood we gave you, hm? You knew there was something… more to it."

"Oh, god, no-" She clasped her hand over her mouth, fighing back a sob. She could feel it inside of her. She knew what it was.

"It's all going to fine…" The voice was comforting as a few tears welled in her closed eyes.

And then her head hit the floor, her body following.

"It's all a part of the plan."

To be continued...