Chapter 30: Intents and Purposes

To say that she was riding high would have been the understatement of the era. As practice came to a close, Natalie flagged down Patrick to give him a few updates to the routine to pass on to his squad. She always took pleasure in watching people bloom. In the future re-telling of this day, she would blame this good mood for why she was caught off guard. With her bag tossed over her shoulder, she smiled to herself as she made her way to the back exit.

Maze's curved blade lodged into the door frame with an echoing thud. At the other end of the alley, mean mugging Natalie in broad daylight, was the woman herself. Her second blade swirled casually around her finger.

"I was pretty damn clear on staying away from him."

Being cautious to not take her eyes off her former friend, Natalie took hold of the curved knife and ripped it from the door frame. A strange, warming sensation flood her hand from the blade. Tucking the oddity aside for a moment, she dropped her practice bag on the ground.

"Maybe I wasn't clear enough last time. You can't give me orders."

Maze's features contorted with rage. Her grip secured around her second blade as she stared down Natalie.

Unbothered, Natalie stepped closer and continued her tirade. "In fact, considering I have never violated the grounds of our contract, there is nothing you can do to even be rid of me at Lux. Unless you want to try to force the matter, check the attitude and stand the fuck aside."

The gleam of sunlight across the blade came as a flash when Maze's fist closed in on Natalie. Stepping back, she brought Maze's own knife up to block the attack. The swiftness of the attack gave her prospective to how much Maze had been holding back in their sparring sessions. That prospective was followed by a surge of desire to best Maze so strong that it caused her to hesitate for just a moment.

The hesitation gave Maze an opening to bring her fist up to meet Natalie's rib cage. The air rushed out of her body. Trying to not choke on air, Natalie rolled Maze across her torso and flung the taller woman against the wall of the alley. When Maze stood up and brushed the rubble of the wall off her shoulder, any doubts as to her lack of humanity died. Natalie always knew there were others, but she never thought she'd actually run into them.

'Seriously, there's like 8 billion people in the world. What even were the odds?'

Rather than continue to lament her poor luck, Natalie took a deep breath to recover. Raising the borrowed blade, she attempted to ready a defense. Maze moved with a speed that surprised her opponent yet again. Natalie bent back to duck under the blade. A brief tumble bought her space as she tried to work out a plan. A chance to think was not an option as Maze pushed her advantage and pushed Natalie toward the wall.

Opting for a direct approach of her own, Natalie used the curved blade to catch the circle of the second blade and trap it in place against a nearby window frame. Removing both knives from play, she brought her fist in tight to return the favor from earlier. Watching Maze stagger back to the other side of the alley was gratifying. Watching her shrug the hit off was less so.

The next flurry of blows rained on Natalie. While most of her defensive stance held up, more than a couple slipped through. After a particularly brutal hit, Maze stood over Natalie, anger apparent in each heaving breath.

"About time someone shut you up." She muttered. She had stepped over Natalie and was about to walk away when a surprisingly firm hand closed around her ankle.

An undeniable growl came from Natalie. When she picked up her head, the look on her face was feral. Using her grip on Maze's ankle, Natalie pulled back hard and drug them both to the ground. Rolling to the side as hard as she could, Natalie flung Maze against the wall for a second time. Although this time with significantly more force.

Before she could pick her self out of the imprint left behind, Natalie came face to face with Maze. Her fist reared back, nearly ending the fight. However, Maze had learned many a trick from chasing bounties. In a fresh blur of motion, she spun the two of them about. Natalie was soon pressed against the wall with Maze's hand planted firmly on her throat.

When the muscles in her neck gave away her next attempt to retaliate, Maze slammed Natalie against the wall until she was limp in Maze's grip. Beaten, but unbroken, Natalie still glared through a bloodied gaze.

"You will stay away from him." Maze reiterated, her tone cruelly controlled.

In an act of rebellion, Natalie cleared the blood in her mouth by spitting into Maze's face. As the pinned woman took a rattled breath to tell off the apparent victor, a third voice echoed in the alley.

"MAZIKEEN!" raged Morningstar.

Maze was ripped away from Natalie. Natalie's glare melted away as her view was filled with a face that inspired a surge of familiar, and terrifying, warmth. He was gentle as he lifted her from the indention in the wall. With a huff, Maze left with Morningstar's glare firmly on her back. Natalie was much more focused on snuggling against the warmth of his chest as he hoisted arms behind her back and under her knees.

Once she was deposited on his bed, scrapes cleaned and bandaged, and tucked under the comforter, he inquired about her preference for pizza. As they ate quietly, Natalie watched Morningstar practically vibrate with curiosity. However, the pull of sleep in the comfortable bed was too alluring.

Justification came to her easily, 'Just a quick nap to heal up...'

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It was rather odd, Lucifer decided. He sat nearby, and watched as the smallest scrapes on her now sleeping face healed themselves. Although odd, it was also reassuring. The sounds of the scuffle had drawn his attention, and his blood had ran cold when he entered the alley. Fighting strange monstrosities was very different to fighting Maze. (He would swear that part of his shoulder still ached from their rumble. It always may.)

With a clenched fist, he stood off the bed and cleared the boxes. A quick call secured a team to repair the walls without any awkward questions. The very last thing he needed was his meddling brother finding out about this. As he set the phone down, his mind went over the alley again. The damage was extensive. His gaze turned back to the form resting in his bed. One question plagued him: What provoked such a change between the two women?

Curiosity aside, a stop had to be put to the fighting. Lucifer didn't know if they could kill each other and he had no intention of finding out. Returning to the bedroom, he leaned over to place the back of his hand against the forehead of his sleeping guest. Satisfied with what he found, he lifted her hand and softly kissed her still-lightly bruised knuckles.

"Rest well, Natalie." He whisper before silently leaving to find answers from Maze.

He didn't have to wander far. She had take up residence in the office and was going over the contract of the woman she had just beat senseless.

"Care to explain what this is about?" He asked in low, but calm tone.

Her eyes flicked up at him and then back down to the contract. "She's dangerous. I'm protecting you, since you seem to lack a survival instinct."

"She is not dan-"

"She did something to me, Lucifer!"

Her interruption gave him pause. There was a strange, emotional undertone that he stopped to wonder at. Maze was rarely an emotional demon.

"She... she told me to never go back to her apartment, and I can't. As in, I physically can't, and I've tried."

He watched in mild horror as Maze went on.

"There was this strange sensation, … like being raked over by fire, when she said it. Now, when I try to go into that building, I can't. I just stop. I can move away. I can talk. But I can't take another step. Whatever she is: it's dangerous."

'Binding a demon.' His mind tried to sort through anything he know of (besides himself) that could bind a demon. Of the ones that came to mind, none were good options. Both in reassuring him and in description of the woman in question.