"Where the HELL is he!" Michelle's roar bounded off the walls of the office like bouncing balls.

Lucius, sitting with his legs crossed on the leather armchair, didn't so much as flinch. Michelle had been raging for days now. If she didn't shut up soon, he was going to have cut out her tongue.

"Calm down," he murmured quietly, not expecting her to listen.

"'Calm down'?" she quoted derisively. "How am I supposed to 'calm down'? It's been almost three weeks, Lucius! Three weeks since he was supposed to check in and inspect the factories. You know him – he never misses an inspection, he's never even late."

Lucius nodded passively. This was the fourth? – seventh? – time she'd said these exact words in the last two hours alone.

With a huff, Michelle flung herself into the armchair opposite Lucius's. When she spoke again her voice was calmer, sadder.

"What do we do, Lucius?"

"We continue as he ordered us to," he replied placidly. "We do as we were told. Ensure the factories are functioning effectively. Think up new methods. 'Get creative'," he said in a poor imitation of Dean's voice.

Michelle scowled at him. "That's not what I meant, Lucius."

"Then what?"

"Where is he?" she asked again, but this time concern, not anger, coloured her tone. "He's never not checked in with us for this long."

"So what you mean to say is, he's never not fucked you for this long?"

Michelle puffed up angrily, seeming to swell in the seat. "Watch your tongue, Lucy, before I cut it off," she spat, venom dripping from every word.

Lucius's thin eyebrows raised. "Funny. I was just thinking the same thing about you, whore."

Michelle's features cleared. Smugness replaced the anger and she smiled a thin, tight-lipped smile. "Insult me all you want. That's hardly going to get you a promotion."

He frowned. "A what?"

"Oh come on, Lucy," she said exasperatedly. "Stop with the act. You're still pissed he made me first. If you just worked harder, maybe he'd love you mo –"

"He does not love you!" Lucius spat with sudden venom, leaning forward in the armchair. "You are his whore and nothing else! I have worked for him since the beginning, I have been loyal to him, I have brought him hundreds of souls!"

Michelle raised her eyebrows, unfazed. "And I haven't? Lucius." She leant forward to mirror his position, though her voice was calm. "Don't deny the work I do. You know as well as Dean and I do that I bring more souls in. He respects that."

Lucius sat back in the chair with a scoff. "Respect. Ha! As if he respects you, you whore."

Michelle rolled her eyes. "Fine." Unwilling to argue further, she leant back in her chair and crossed her legs. She let the anger fade from Lucius's features before continuing.

"It doesn't change the fact that our commander in chief has been MIA for three weeks. I think it's time we looked for him."

Lucius met her gaze with a withering glare. "You miss your boyfriend so much, do you?"

Michelle shook her head minutely and stood up. "Have it your way," she said coolly to the demon. "I'm gonna look for him. Keep everything running smoothly until we get back."

She strode over to the grand oak double doors that served as the entrance to Hell's head office. Before pulling the door open, she said, without turning, "Consider it a chance to prove your worth to your precious god."

She heard Lucius growl furiously as she swung the heavy door open and left.

She'd had enough sitting around and waiting for Dean to check in. She knew him. This quest, this vision of his meant more to him than he would admit. He would not voluntarily fall off the map, not without telling at least her and Lucius. He must be in trouble.

Luckily for him, a Knight of Hell was coming to the rescue.