Let's Make a Deal

by InuVampireChan

To protect Charlie, Lucifer knew he needed to stop acting like the King of Hell and actually be it. Though several thousand years out of the social network tends to make someone rather inept at even the most casual of conversations. If there is one thing the Radio Demon is good at, it's manipulating and reading people. Lucifer figured he could probably use that.

27. There Are Lines

The clock was paused while they searched for the exterminator, something Lucifer was incredibly relieved over. The evidence that had been returned to them was laid out and inspected, both himself and Alastor making sure everything was correct but also not missing. The little chip that Asmodeus had fixed now worked with Lucifer's magic too, rather than just Vox's ridiculous technology. The instructions he had sent along with it had said to just feed his magic into it and he'd be able to play it on their little display system. A simple enough task and if he couldn't figure it out, one of the many Archangels in the room surely could.

Since searching for Lute was apparently taking time, Michael had called for an intermission in their meeting, allowing them to quietly talk amongst themselves or use the bathroom. With nothing left to do Lucifer's hands nervously fiddled with the papers in front of him, shifting them around on the desk and straightening them up. He felt like he was finally falling apart at the worst time possible and he was really trying hard not to. Everything that just happened felt like a heavy weight and he couldn't believe that Uriel had reacted like that to Michael.

"Are you alright?"

His gaze darted to the side over at Alastor and he swallowed down the lump that felt stuck in his throat, nodding rather jerkily to the other. "I'm sorry, I just–god I froze and I panicked." He hadn't wanted to, the last thing Lucifer needed right now was to snap and be unable to push through this. After everything that they had done to secure their moment up here in Heaven. He needed to be able to stand there and do what he said he was going to.

"Why are you apologizing?" His hands were removed from the papers he was fussing with and he found himself turned to face the Radio Demon. "We knew this wasn't going to be easy on you, and isn't that the entire reason I'm here? To make sure if you fall, that I'll be able to catch you." And catch them he did. If Alastor hadn't gone out there to speak for them, Lucifer was fairly certain he would have cracked right there and ruined everything. Alastor had seized the moment certainly and without a shadow of a doubt made an impact on the room. For a moment he had actually wondered if Uriel was going to snap entirely at Michael and throw something at him.

Lucifer manages a breath and nods his head slightly, tugging his right hand from the demon's grip to rub his forehead. "I still screwed up. But you were incredible out there." Taking a small step closer he reached his hands out and started fussing with the demon's coat. Adjusting it in front of him and straightening out the seams of it. "You pushed them and at the same time let them pick each other apart. It was amazing to watch you do."

"Hm. I was surprised at how easy it was. The Angel of Justice seems particularly upset over the fact that Michael knew that the child had been slaughtered." He'd noticed that too then, the looks that Raphael was throwing at Michael after he had been caught in the lie. "And then Uriel actually calling him out on what he was doing? I had not anticipated the Angel of Truth arguing with him over that."

"It doesn't appear that Uriel is going to just let them walk all over us and lie." Lucifer agreed, darting his gaze a bit to the side and at his brothers. The Archangel in question was currently talking to Azrael, the Angel of Death actually seeming to be listening to every word that he was saying. They were closer than he remembers them being when he was last up here. That wasn't a bad thing, it was just curious. Raphael was usually the one that Azrael flocked toward when he was younger, especially with the two of them working so closely together. "He seemed particularly upset toward Michael."

"Uriel is the Virtue of Chastity, so he's Asmodeus' opposite?"

"That's right, they used to butt heads a lot since Ozzie takes lust quite seriously. Though he has grown since his younger… more um… hyper sexual days? He takes love into more consideration than he used to, I suppose is what I mean." Something Lucifer was quite happy for him with. Especially since he had Fizzarolli to take into consideration now. The two of them were rather cute too, and he wanted this to work for Asmodeus.

"Do you know, if like with Raphael, Uriel spends any time down in Lust?"

Lucifer frowned at the odd questioning and turned his gaze back over toward Alastor. "I don't but it would be quite weird. Uriel takes his role rather seriously, he is very much an ace in the hole as your friends enjoy saying." Something that Uriel has no problem in proclaiming.

"As you pointed out though, the Ring of Lust does not just pertain to sexual relations. Asmodeus takes an interest in including a more romantic aspect to it. An abstinence from sexual encounters does not carry over toward romantic ones." Alastor's gaze darted a bit to the side, flicking in the direction of the Archangel himself. "I noticed something on him when he came down to take your phone."

Humming intrigued he took another step closer toward Alastor, nearly pressing himself against the demon. Alastor turned back to him and leaned down to his height, whispering near his ear. "At your meeting with the Sins I crashed, the Sin of Sloth had a particular adornment pinned to her coat."

"Belphegor?" She was always dressed in that white coat of hers, several layers of purple on underneath it. He hadn't noticed anything particular on her coat.

Alastor, however, apparently had. He gives a small sound of confirmation and continues explaining. "On the lapels of her coat, I noticed a pin. It displayed a set of angel wings with a stethoscope entwined around them."

"Uh-huh…?" Where was he going with this?

Alastor gives him a look like Lucifer is being particularly slow. Instead of complaining, Lucifer reached his own hand up and poked him on the chest with the tip of one of his clawed fingers. Silently demanding he elaborate. "And I saw an identical one on Uriel's shirt when he swooped down here."

So they had matching pins? What did that have to do with anything? Lucifer pressed his lips together and shifted in place a bit, glancing in the direction of Uriel without looking directly at them. "I don't–" Alastor tugged on him and Lucifer turned his head back around, watching the demon motion between the two of them.

Lucifer shook his head, Alastor tilted his own and slowly the pieces started toclick.

"No way!" He raised his voice a bit too much at that, the bit of humor at the other's declaration causing him to practically vibrate in excitement.

"Belphegor is one of the few Sins we have not had much to do with. She wouldn't know much, but what she would know in general is more than enough to sway the Angel of Truth's perspective. The same way that Gabriel's relationship with you I believe has started to sway his own. People are more emotional and supportive for a cause that they are connected to." Alastor nodded his head in the direction of the Archangel. "I believe Uriel and Belphegor have something going on. Whatever the nature of it is, it appears that it's currently benefiting us."

He still can't believe it. Belphegor and Uriel? The Sin of Sloth and one of his brothers? Should there be a feeling of betrayal in that? All he felt was completely giddy about it, like there was some sort of joke in there that he absolutely should be losing his shit over. Belphegor never struck him as the type to be interested in any of that, but especially with an angel of all people. Not that she hated them by any means, in fact Belphegor usually kept her opinion to herself over the entire thing with Heaven. Never voiced an opinion on the exterminations, never voiced an opinion in his brothers in general, she just stuck to her ring in sloth and dealt with her hospital things. Medical care was always her first concern and something she did take interest in. The rest–well, it never appeared to matter to her.

If she was involved with one of his brothers? Especially Uriel of all people? That was fascinating. Lucifer crossed his arms over his chest and hummed curiously. "What does that have to do with the Ring of Lust?"

Alastor tapped Lucifer's pocket. "I think they've been sneaking down there. You should text Asmodeus and see if he's seen Uriel down in Lust."

"Why, though? What do you intend on doing with this information, Alastor?"

"Depends on if it's valuable, and even more so, if the Angel of Truthcan be."

He's moved another piece on the chess board, found a pawn he can target to get pave the way toward the queen. That was what this was. Lucifer wasn't sure about manipulating his friend and brother's relationship, but if it can help them somehow–if Uriel feels strongly enough about whatever is going on in Hell because of Belphegor, maybe they need that. Does he care enough about their situation to keep speaking up?

"Sire." Taking a deep breath he raised his gaze to Alastor once more and the Radio Demon stared down at him determinedly. "You need to use any opportunity you can to win this. I do not intend on manipulating Uriel's emotions for Belphegor directly, that would not help us anyway."

Directly. So he intends on manipulating them in some form. Still, he did have a point. If they were going to win this, they needed more advantages and more people on their side. If Lucifer could continue to count on Uriel revealing the holes in the lies they're fed, especially Michael and Lute, he might have more of a chance. He needs that. Sighing quietly he reached down for his phone and pulled it from his pocket, unlocking the screen and pulling up his text messages. He sends one off to Asmodeus, asking what Alastor wanted to know about and then sends another to Charlie to see if everything was alright with the Hotel.

It's only a few minutes before Asmodeus answers, sending back a series of question marks and then a proper response. "Ozzie says he personally hasn't seen Uriel down in lust, but he's heard rumors of an Archangel seen around. It's not Raphael, because they're familiar with him and he would be caught. Ozzie and Raphael used to be friends, that's a much longer and very different story." He switched chats to the one with Charlie, who confirmed everything was fine and asked if he was okay. Lucifer texted back quickly that he was and then flipped back to Asmodeus. "Oh, he said that he asked Fizzarolli and that the Imp said he saw an angel in pink at Cupid's Point."

"What's Cupid's Point?"

Lucifer flipped to Sinstagram and pulled up Asmodeus' account. He scrolled through the pictures quickly until he found one he wanted and clicked it. Flipping his phone around he held it out to Alastor and let the Radio Demon take it. The picture was of Asmodeus and Fizzarolli in a gazebo near an unusual colored river, the water a shade of pink that seemed to glow. "It's a place in lust that sits on the edge of a pink crystal river, but the water only turns pink at night. There's a few gazebos set up along certain points of it and Asmodeus uses it to promote date nights in lust."

Alastor hummed and passed the phone back, holding it like it was a live bomb that was about to go off in his hand. Ridiculous demon. "So if Uriel really was spotted there, with Belphegor of all people, that certainly confirms what I was speculating." He looks like he's calculating something, as if he's adding up the pieces on the chess board to how many plays are left until he strikes the Queen. How curious, watching his mind move in real time. He really was taking in every single piece of this to see how they could come out on top.

What an incredible, manipulative and terrifying person he was.

"What's the plan now, Alastor?" Lucifer asked quietly, watching to try and see if he could pick his mind apart. Figure out what it was that he was working together in his mind.

"Now, Lucifer, we finish the game." The grin on his face widened to predatory levels, the malicious look in his eyes sharpening as he clearly settled on whatever his next playmove was. Sighing softly, Lucifer reached his hand up and flicked one of the cute deer ears, making it twitch sharply on top of his head.

"Try to look less like you're going to eat them alive when you go out there." Moving his hand a bit to the side he gently stroked his fingers along that ear he tortured, the smile on his face softening as Alastor's own lost the bit of the deranged edge it had taken.

"Hm. But they surely would expect that from someone like me." Probably, doesn't mean he has to prove them right though. Alastor hummed and gently removed Lucifer's hand from his ears. "Perhaps, when we leave here, we should go see this strange pink water in lust."

What?

Lucifer blinked, his hand twitching at his side as his eyes widened slightly. Did Alastor just ask him on a date? Not directly, definitely not with those exact words but it–it felt like he did. Like he asked him on a date. It was the first time that he's ever really brought up an interest in doing something with Lucifer. Something outside work for the Hotel or his job as the King of Hell. That date at Mimzy's club that Alastor had suggested was to show him the good creativity had, to widen his view of Hell and the Pride Ring. This was something different. Something together with the intention of spending time with him as just him. Something almost romantic in nature. Lucifer blinked dazedly and let out a heavy breath. "Yeah, sure, I would love that."

Really would. Nothing would make him happier than doing something that Alastor suggested for them to do together. He never felt uncertain of his place at the Radio Demon's side, or that he was more invested in this than the other was. But actually hearing Alastor suggest something he wants to do together? As a date?

He thinks he might combust.

The sound of a portal opening ripped his astonished gaze away from Alastor over toward the center of the room. Out of the portal stepped the soldier that Michael had sent away and along with him, Lute. The exterminator looked incredibly displeased to be here, her face void of the mask and that heated, hateful gaze on her expression darting around. When it focused on him particularly, she sneered like he was a pest that she needed to step on.

"What are you doing here?" She demanded and Lucifer titled his head to the side, denying her an answer. Leviathan had said to let her bury herself. To do that, all they needed was to let her anger fuel itself, much like Satan's did. When she got to the breaking point, where she couldn't stand being watched like a bug beneath a microscope, where the things that drove her insane pushed her right over the edge. That was the plan they had more or less agreed on.

At her arrival his brothers had returned to their seats and Michael stood from the head of the room, tucking his hands behind his back as he gazed down at the angel beneath him. "Lute, you've been accused of crimes that break the binds of a previous agreement between Heaven and Hell. As well as other accusations that have not been brought up yet." The color of the woman's face was the most he's ever seen it change. Red. Pure anger filled red. Michael didn't give her a chance to speak though, waving his right hand to silence her when she opened her mouth to start a rant more than likely. "Lucifer and his legal counsel will finish their accusations, with whatever evidence they have for their argument, and then you will get a chance to respond. Do you understand?"

Even from all the way over here, Lucifer could hear her grind her teeth in anger. Still, knowing the position she was in, Lute simply nodded. "Yes, Saint Michael."

"Good. Then take the empty booth across from Lucifer and we'll continue this." Michael returned to his seat and shifted his gaze over toward the two of them. "Whichever one of you is feeling like speaking this time, continue."

It should be him. He should actually go out there and speak. He should use his words, his status, to make the effect that he wants to. Yet, the thought of going out there, of standing beneath all of his brothers, of being watched and fighting for what he needs to–it terrifies him. He can feel his hand shake, can feel the tremble that fills him, and he can't. He just can't even though he knows he has to.

"I've got it." Alastor stepped away from his side, his arm brushing against Lucifer's own and stilling the tremors running through him. "I'll drag her across the ground, Sire." As he takes a deep breath, the demon stepped out from their booth and made his way across the room again to stand in the center. He twisted his cane around and waved toward Lute with it.

"Since you missed the first part of this, allow me to refresh what you were accused of before." Swinging his cane down he pressed the end of it against the ground and leaned onto it. "When you were absent, I brought up a case in Cannibal Town, perhaps you're familiar with it." Her gaze narrows at him and despite Lucifer not being able to see Alastor's face, he can hear the grin that was on it. "Three years ago, when Vagatha was still an exterminator on your team, the two of you were down there together."

They're not allowed to ask her questions directly, it wasn't their job. They were laying the accusations, she didn't need to validate them yet. However, Lucifer can hear the unspoken question, the implication of "do you remember?" he left open. Alastor continued. "In Cannibal Town there was a small child, a boy no older than ten. Vagatha had spotted him and given chase, not aware of who he was."

The Radio Demon turned away and waved his hand toward their booth. "For the purpose of context, I'm going to submit the first form of evidence. The profile from Hell on the child."

Turning to their stuff, Lucifer flipped through the papers he had and retrieved the small folder from his own realm. Picking it up he flicked his hand and sent the file up to Michael, letting the Archangel catch it. Setting it down in front of him, Michael sorted through the papers inside and then tapped one of the pages. Above Michael the image of the file was projected, displaying the picture of Weiss as well as his name, status, date of birth, his parents and his death. The date of the extermination as well as him being a Hellborn.

He lowered his gaze from the file to Lute across from him and watched her angrily slap her hands against the banister in front of her. "You can't prove I killed him!"

Alastor blinked and cracked his neck sharply to the side as he looked at her. "Oh, but I can." Picking his head back up he shrugged his shoulders slightly. "But I'll get there, after I bring to light the rest of what you did that day." Picking his cane up he swung it behind his back, tapping the microphone between his shoulder blades. "This child was who Vagatha started chasing in Cannibal Town and eventually cornered into an alley. The poor dear, frightened out of his mind, started sobbing in the face of death. Since that was all that was left for him. After all, this is the reality of what you were doing, was it not? Striking fear into people, ripping them apart, killing souls who have already suffered. Even children are not spared, Sinner or otherwise apparently."

Michael narrowed his eyes at Alastor, a threat on his face, but the Radio Demon powered on before he could talk. "Now, when Vagatha realized the horrors of what she was about to do, because it is horrible, she let Weiss go." Turning his head back to the side he set his gaze on Lute. "And that's when you found her. Angry, thinking her pathetic and weak for being unable to kill a child, you lashed out. Rammed your sword in her eye, ripped it out, cut her wings from her back and left her without even her halo. Damning her crippled and unable to return to Heaven, you left her bleeding out in that alley and chased after the child yourself who you then beheaded in the streets."

"You can't prove shit, Sinner!" And there she went, like a steady tick of a clock, each one of her strings plucked at just as Alastor said he could. "You're actually humoring this?!" Lute snapped her head up to Michael, to the other six Archangels around her, and pointed at Alastor. "He's a murderer! A cannibal! He tortures and kills his own kind for game! He enjoys hurting people! And you're going to let him make such baseless accusations against me!?"

"Did you forget?" Alastor cut in before any of the angels could. "I said I can prove it." Turning his head to the side he looked up toward Michael. "Shall I produce the next piece of evidence or does the court have questions?"

Their gazes shifted between each other, Michael still keeping that neutral and bored expression on himself. Gabriel though looked like he was about to break right out of his skin and crumble to pieces. A few seats down, Azrael stood. "Before we continue, I would like to check something on Heaven's side of this." Alastor's gaze flickered to him but the Radio Demon didn't seem particularly concerned. In fact, he looked like Azrael played right into his hands with this.

Another chess piece taken.

"Go ahead." Michael replied, motioning toward the Angel of Death.

Azrael waved his hand and popped a tablet into his grip. He twisted the thing around in his arms and started tapping on the screen, moving through things that no one else could see. It took him only a minute or so to find what he wanted, and when he did the tablet vanished as a projection appeared on the bottom floor near Alastor. The Radio Demon took a few steps back and turned in place, setting his gaze on the projection himself. Displayed there for the entire room to see was a similar file to what they had produced from Hell, but this was taken from the Angel of Death.

And the information it had was so much more than what they themselves did.

"What did you find, Azrael?" Michael asked and Azrael waved his hand at the projection.

"The child was indeed a Hellborn and the cause of death is logged as decapitation, by an angelic weapon wielded by an angel." Lucifer could hear his heart pounding in his own ears, threatening to beat right out of his chest, and he watched his brother nod his head toward the projection. "There's more. His soul was not destroyed, so it was harvested by one of the Angels of Death. Collected to be sent to its afterlife."

Michael turned his head quickly to Azrael. "Where?"

"Purgatory. He was deemed young enough, with his only sin being cannibalism, that there was a chance for him to turn it around."

"Very well. Let's see where else this goes." Turning his gaze back down, Michael nodded at Alastor. "Submit your evidence."

For this part, Alastor actually needed him. Lucifer fetched the little chip from the folder and moved around the booth, making his way over toward the Radio Demon who watched him intently. He stopped beside him and adjusted the chip in his hand, remembering the instructions that Asmodeus had sent. The Sin of Lust said he had combined all three videos to play as one so there wasn't a need for a computer. Just his magic, the projection and for them to watch it. Adjusting the small chip in his hand he fed his magic into it and then swung his arm out, throwing the chip at the projection where it was swallowed up by the angel technology.

The projection shifted with the new addition to it, taking on a red glow as the videos were loaded up onto the display. Then, in front of all of them, the actual horror of the exterminations captured by Vox's video cameras started to play and they watched. They saw Vaggie just as before, and then as Alastor had described the video played itself out. The alley, the attack from Lute and then the eventual death of the Hellborn as it had been described. Every detail down to the very last image.

There was of course one very large problem with the video and it was one that Lute herself caught on quickly to. Her hands again slapped against the banister and she waved her hand out at the projection. "You can't prove that was me! We all wear the same uniforms and the exterminator that attacked Vaggie still had their helmet on!"

"Can't we?" Alastor turned and blinked at her. "You're standing in a room full of Archangels. One who is the Angel of Death and just confirmed through Heaven's own records that an angel killed Weiss, and the Angel of Truth." Picking his head up he set his gaze on Michael. "A proposal for the court if you will!" Untucking his arm around from his back, Alastor walked toward the projection and then spun in place, turning back around to face the Archangel again. "I suggest here and now we have Lute declare if she did or did not kill the Hellborn and then," swinging his cane up he pointed the microphone at Uriel, "we ask Saint Uriel to declare if she spoke the truth or a lie."

What a brilliant move. Absolutely clever. Alastor had latched onto this plan the moment that he knew Uriel could do that, when he had outright snapped at Michael for daring to lie in front of him. He had taken that single moment, worked it into his plan and placed the pieces on the board around that without a single extra thought needed. Lucifer was more than impressed, he was absolutely blown away.

Michael pressed his lips together and then lifted his gaze to Uriel. "That choice is yours. I will not force you to do anything."

"I don't mind." Uriel's wings carried them up from their booth and the angel floated down, landing in front of Lute. Brushing his clothes out and straightening his pink dress shirt, Uriel folded his hands in front of himself finally and set his determined gaze on the woman. "I am going to ask you two questions," two? "The answer can only be yes or no. Nothing else. Do you understand?"

The woman looked like she was on the verge of having a panic attack at this idea, but she at least nodded her head. It seemed enough of a satisfactory answer for Uriel who nodded back. "Very good. Then I'll start. Did you intentionally attack and abandon the angel Vagatha in Hell?"

He should have expected this. Lucifer had wanted to use Lute's violent inclinations toward her own kind against her. Those records of her harassing, abusing, and being verbally cruel to her own classmates at the Academy was one of the things he intended on using as evidence against her. But he hadn't actually thought they'd take a personal interest in the situation with Vaggie. After all, she was on their side now. She had defended the Hotel, she was dating his daughter, she was a part of that mess in the meeting with Heaven. She wasn't someone who considered herself an angel anymore, so he had figured to some level, they didn't consider her one either.

Uriel seems to have taken a particular interest in this though.

"What does it matter if I–"

"Yes or no."

He watched Lute bite the inside of her cheek, her lips thinning tightly and the red on her face darkening even more. He thought she was just going to refuse to answer, stand there that entire time with her face lighting up like the red sun. It would just prove the answer regardless, the lack of one given was as damaging as the one actually offered.

Then, she cracked.

"Fine! Fucking fine! I did it, alright? I chased that fucking piece of shit waste of space into the alley and I taught her a lesson! I ripped her damn eye out since she clearly couldn't see the way things were and then since she didn't need it anymore, I ripped her wings and halo off. What's the point of an angel who won't fight for Heaven? We don't need her!" At this point she's breathing heavily, gasping for air and clutching the banister in front of her. Her nails dragged across the golden lining, staring fiercely at Uriel across from her. "She deserves to rot down there with those pathetic, disgusting Sinners that abandoned God's Path that she's now defending! She's a traitor!"

"You made her that!" Uriel waved his arm angrily toward her and then dropped it down to his side, clenching his hand tightly into a first. "You made her into that. You abandoned her after torturing her. Do you know the pain it causes an angel to have their wings and halo ripped off? Do you know the suffering we endure when that's forced upon us? Do you know the terror that runs through you at having such an important part of yourself torn from your body? Without knowing if you can ever get it back?"

Lute swallowed roughly and dropped her gaze from the Archangel in front of her. He doesn't see regret though, he sees shame but–perhaps at just being scolded. Because that was what Uriel was doing and lecturing her wasn't going to help anything. Lucifer knows her kind, he sees it every single day in Hell. She doesn't regret what she did, she regrets that she got caught. She still believes what she did was just and right, because she sees it as a benefit to Heaven. Brainwashed that way, perhaps, but still believes she's right. She can change, anyone can change, but she has to be presented with the opportunity to do so. To learn some anger management, which Vaggie needs too, and to learn that her actions have consequences. That if she wants to be an angel, then she needs to treat people better.

There are lines that can't be crossed to stay in Heaven. The line that divides the angels from the sinners.

"I'm sorry, Saint Uriel." She mumbled out pathetically and the Archangel shook his head.

"No, you're not, and perhaps that is the most disappointing thing about this. That, or the fact you think you can lie to me." Lucifer doesn't remember Uriel having such a hatred of being lied to, he used to get upset but brush it off when he realized sometimes–people lie because they want to protect themselves or the person they're lying to. He wonders when this hatred of it started. "The next question then." He watches his brother take a deep breath and then nod toward Lute. "Did you kill the Hellborn and did you know what they were?"

It's clear to see from where they were that she was getting beat down, that she realized a losing fight when it was staring her right in the face. The slump of her shoulders, the hanging of her head, the way she seemed to coil in on herself. Her arms wrapped tightly around her own waist and the grip she now had on herself seemed like an attempt to hold herself together. If she was a better person, Lucifer might have felt bad for ripping her down like this. But she wasn't. Lute brought this on herself, and nothing Uriel said was unfair or untrue. It was a fact the things she did to Vaggie and then to that child cannibal who deserved better. She doesn't get to have sympathy and pity when those were the things that she thought were okay to do.

And he can't regret any choices they have made up here to reach this point. So he won't. He will continue through this and he will pull her right down from these holy clouds.

Lute shook her head and was clearly avoiding Uriel's eyes, her own directed down toward the ground. She took a deep breath, the sound shaky, and then she shrugged. "I did. I did my job and I killed them like everyone else." That really was all there was to this, wasn't there? Like he had thought before, she was doing what she was trained to do. What she thought was the right thing. Because that's the way that all of this goes, the way it all has gone, directed by the people above him. Michael made it normal, made it okay to kill the Sinners and they lose their view as being people.

They're no longer living, breathing souls that have families and people who care about them. They're just animals who don't deserve to continue to exist.

"But I didn't know," she continues, "that he wasn't a Sinner. He looked like everyone else."

Uriel nodded and took a few steps back, turning away from Lute and giving Lucifer a good look at his face. His brother looked like this conversation emotionally wrecked him to have, his lips thinned tightly and his hands clenched at his side. There was pain in his eyes and Lucifer could see that this had genuinely upset him, all of it, but what part specifically upset him he couldn't quite tell. They had allowed this to happen, this was their fault and if it hurt to be faced with the reality of it? Then good.

They should hurt and regret the choices they made.

"But why does it matter?"

Lute's voice brought their attention back over to her, Lucifer's gaze flickering around Uriel to blink at the angel. Uriel himself had frozen and stiffened, not turning to look at her but clearly picking up what she had dared to ask. Though she had seemingly asked the question to everyone, or perhaps even directly to Uriel, her gaze actually lifted to look up at Michael. The Archangel himself gazed impassively down at her and Lute apparently took that as a reason to continue speaking. "Why does it matter if he died or not? They're all the same. Monsters, criminals, souls tainted by the things they've done. They're disgusting, Hellborn or Sinner, it doesn't change. Why should they be spared just because they were born down there? Because of an agreement where he," her arm waved out at Lucifer, "bought some safety for them? Why should that earn them anything? They should all just die permanently."

He might be retracting that thought that she could change.

The hatred that runs in her is impossibly deep, it was almost impressive. Even Lucifer, as much as his heart was pained by Heaven, he didn't hate angels in the way she clearly despised anyone who lived in Hell. Even Azrael, who Lucifer told Alastor more than hated Sinners who didn't regret their actions, doesn't label them as all the same. Doesn't look at a child who was condemned to Hell and thought they deserved as much suffering as possible.

Though his daughter wouldn't agree, Lucifer knew there was a scale in Hell. Those like Alastor who committed terrible crimes and were fine with them, to those whose worst Sin might be as simple as indulging too much in something, like drugs, that lead to their death. It's just not all the same, and she seems to think that no matter what a persons sin is, they deserve the worst possible outcome. To have everything ripped from them, including their own lives, just because they live in Hell.

How can they think that's right?

Alastor–for all that he is and all that he has done, he's someone more than important to Lucifer at this point. He had cemented himself deeply in Lucifer's heart, claiming all corners of it for himself like he always belonged there. Michael came so close to ripping that from him and the thought he could have lost him was horrifying. It was heartbreaking and if he actually had lost him, there would have been nothing that would have stopped him from ripping his twin apart. He would have rained the entire rage of Hell across their clouds a second time and not regretted it.

But the Sinners of the Pride Ring don't have the power that he does and when their family is taken from them, they just have to accept it or die with them. Rosie had Franklin torn from her and she was still struggling with that, because it hurt. When you lose someone that important to you, it doesn't matter if you're from Heaven or Hell, it's painful.

They made wrong choices, that's why they're down there with him, but isn't that the reason Hell exists? It is their punishment, and being down there alone should be enough, why do they have to continue to suffer? Why does Lute get to sit there and think she's holier-than-thou because she went up instead of down? Murder is murder and it should be wrong regardless of if there's a halo or horns above someone's head.

Lucifer took a breath and raised his head proudly as he stared the angel down. "There are lines that can't be crossed." Waving his hand out he pulled on the magic of the projection and rewound the video on it, forcing the image to pause on the wide view of Cannibal Town. Of the Sinners running and panicking. The exterminators driving their weapons down into their chests and shattering their souls. "You get enjoyment out of this and don't you dare lie to me and say you don't." Turning his head from the image he set his gaze on her once again. "It's sport for you."

The King of Hell moved across the room, stopping near the projection and turning around. His gaze darted up to the stands above him and met Michael's gaze. "You said it yourself. They're just numbers to you. How many did you kill this time? How much of Hell's population did you decrease? Who got the highest head count this year? Did you give them a good chase before ripping their soul to shreds? That is what this is." Turning to the side he waved his hand at the frozen image. "Weiss being a Hellborn makes it a crime, sure, but he's not the only child in Hell. There are actual children who are Sinners that are treated the same as him."

"What does this matter, Lucifer? The exterminations are on a hold, aren't they? That," Michael pointed down at the image, "fell within legal terms of the agreement."

He can't be serious. "Oh holdMichael. Don't you hear yourself? You look at this and you still want to bring it back. You still look at this and you think it's okay!" Waving his arm to the side he motioned at Lute. "Look at what this does. Look at what she believes because you all taught her this. You teach them that this is normal." Dropping his arm down to his side he shook his head at his brother. "When a life is taken, someone else is always impacted. Every life has value and meaning, there is always someone who cares about that person. Do you even consider the scars on others you leave behind when you do things like this?"

"And what about them?" The angel demanded, standing from his chair. "Let's take your Radio Demon here for an example. Serial Killer, right? I looked him up after that disgusting meeting at the Heaven's Embassy. He took over two dozen lives when he was alive, some of the souls he killed are up here. Should they not be upset about their lives being prematurely ended by him? Should they take comfort in the knowledge he's living his best life down in Hell enjoying every minute of it? Or the fact he's standing here right now in Heaven with them?"

"It's not that simple!" Lucifer snapped back. "And isn't that what Hell is for? To keep people, like Alastor, who don't regret their choices separate from your Winners as you pathetically call them."

"So if they do regret them, we should just let them up here, is that what you're saying? They should go hang out with your daughter at her ridiculous Hotel and be absolved of their Sin enough to climb the ladder? And then some Sinner, who wronged an angel up here, suddenly gets to breathe the same air as them again? What about the victims, Lucifer? They should get to feel safe, that is what Heaven is for. A place after death where pain and suffering is gone, where they shouldn't have to feel afraid or face the person that wronged them in life."

"And what about the Sinners in Hell, Michael?" Lucifer asked in turn, stepping to the side of the projection and reaching his hand out. He fed his magic into it again, removed the chip from it entirely and brought up a different picture. This time he brought up an image he experienced personally, of Charlie at her Hotel, the building in shambles and the banner she'd made for Sir Pentious clenched in her grasp. His daughter sobbing, heartbroken, destroyed over the loss of her friend. He might be up here now, but at that moment she had thought he was gone. Obliterated and wrecked.

"The people that you are hurting, they matter to someone. They can still feel, they can hurt, they can be scared and not want to die. They can feel love, they can be loved and they can be mourned when they're ripped from those who are important to them." He shakes his head. "Alastor's mother is up here, remember? How would she feel if she heard you talking about her sonthis way? You didn't see the way she sobbed and clutched at him when she realized he wasn't permanently dead, just out of her reach." He nods his head in the direction of the image of Charlie. "My daughter thought Sir Pentious was gone forever and this is the result of that."

Lucifer's gaze darts around between his other brothers, meeting each of their eyes as he continues. "Your actions have consequences. The choices you make hurt people. You can't keep pretending that they don't, that what you're doing isn't wrong. You're supposed to be better than us but I'm starting to struggle to see how that's possible when looking at this."

When seeing his daughter torn to shreds, when seeing Rosie lost when thinking about someone who had mattered to her. When hearing that it was wrong for Camilla to defend her daughters and herself. With Michael thinking it's okay to try and kill Alastor because he didn't get the answer he wanted.

He'll make them see the truth, one way or another.

Michael sighed and sat back down in his chair, waving his hand down at him. "What does this have to do with Lute, Lucifer?"

Shaking his head he waved his arm up at all of his brothers. "All of it. One of you up here came for my familyand I refuse to let you think that's okay to do." His ex-wife, his daughter, Alastor. Michael might think that he's above fault, that what he did wasn't wrong, but it is. Charlie shouldn't have her own mother used against her in this petty fight. "Lute? She's just an example. That anger you feel at hearing what she did?" His gaze dropped and turned to Uriel, the one he knew most had been pissed at what Lute did. "Feel it, and understand it's not just her."

Turning his gaze back to Michael he met his twin's eyes head on. "Murder is murder. If it's wrong for Sinners to kill people, then it's wrong for angels as well. You don't get to justify the means to fit your end!" Turning his head back down he set his gaze on Lute. "You have harmed people, you have killed, you have felt anger deeply enough to torture one of your own. You have bullied your fellow angels because you view yourself better than them. You have taken pleasure in chasing souls down and ripping them to shreds. You have intentionally sought out and attacked someone who you already harmed once because she stood up for something she believes in. You have manipulated and taken advantage of a system and still continue to do so because you think you're valid in doing it." Her lips part but a sound doesn't leave her. Like him before, she had frozen. "I told you before, and these words haven't changed. You are prideful and wrathful, and those Sins have now etched themselves deeply enough on your soul that you no longer deserve to be in Heaven."

"You don't get to make that choice, King of Hell."

"Okay." Lucifer agreed, shrugging his shoulders as he turned his gaze back to Michael. "Then I challenge you to let Azrael do it." Stepping away from the projection he started making his way back over to the booth Alastor and himself were using. "Azrael is the Angel of Death, it's his job to judge souls in where they fall. If you still believe her worthy of your pure and holy realm, if you still believe you can justify her actions, then let him prove it. Should Heaven still view her as an angel, her soul will shine brightly with the virtues etched onto it." Turning in the booth he rested his hands on the banister and raised his gaze up to the Angel of Death himself.

Azrael didn't look impressed with this idea, but he already knew that was going to be the result. Reading someone's soul wasn't as easy as Lucifer was making it sound, but the challenge had already been presented and there was no other way for a soul to be judged. Either they did it this way, or they let Gabriel make the choice in Father's opinion on if she was still worthy of being up here or not. Regardless of how they did it, they had to know what the answer was going to be.

Lucifer wasn't wrong and if Lute was no longer worthy of the wings she had, that meant everything else he said was right as well. Murder, no matter how it was done or why it was done, couldn't be justified. Either it was wrong across the board, or it was no longer a sin and that was never going to be the outcome this came to.

"If I pull her soul from her body to read it, that will kill her. It will give her a new afterlife." Azrael stated. "Are you really suggesting we kill her to decide if she's still an angel or not?"

"Well unfortunately for her, Heaven didn't listen to Charlie and help find a different way for redeemed souls to be judged. It is currently the only method we are aware of that gets someone from the Hotel up here. Or, in this case," Lucifer's gaze darted down to Lute, "down in Hell." Lute looked like she might faint, and to be honest he wouldn't blame her. They were debating on if they were going to kill her or not. "Don't worry, Lute, I'm sure Charlie will take you in and help you get redeemed again."

"You can't!" Snapping her gaze from Lucifer she looked up pleadingly at the Archangels above her. "You can't seriously be thinking about killing me!"

Beside Michael, Gabriel finally stood up and raised his hands placatingly at the room before it could break into more chaos. "I think we should take another small recess. I'm going to get Lute a glass of water. Everyone just–take a minute to breathe." He thinks Gabriel needed the moment more than the rest of them, but maybe it would benefit him to have them all sit in their own thoughts for a bit. Let what they saw, what they heard, really cement itself in their minds and understand the weight of it.

Let them see the clear line that does exist between right and wrong.

Sighing softly he reached behind him for the chair, catching the back of it in his hand and allowing himself to sink down into it. Leaning forward he pushed his hands through his hair, trying to ease his stress. He did have a little bit of a headache at this point, and he probably should get a glass of water himself. It's so hard to tell if he's making progress or not, what any of his brothers are actually thinking. If they see his point or still just the reasons they have for doing what they have been.

He feels Alastor beside him and then the feeling of his hand settling on top of Lucifer's head. The Radio Demon's clawed fingers move through his hair gently a few times before dropping away. When he picked his head up the demon offered him a bottle of water.

"Oh, thank you." Taking it he twisted the cap off and drank a few mouthfuls of it before setting it down in front of him. "What's your reading on this? You're better at seeing the things people are feeling than me."

"Hm." Alastor tugged the other chair up close to his own and sat down, placing his cane across his lap. The microphone fell against Lucifer's thighs and he rested his own fingers over it, tracing the red teardrop design of it curiously. "I think you have shaken them, your words were quite damaging, especially of Lute herself." Well, if anything today, he might succeed in dragging her into Hell. "However, Sire, you did not see Gabriel's face when you accused one of them for coming after your family. I think he was ready to drag Michael up to the third Heaven and throw him at God's feet."

"Did I really miss that?" He had been focused on Michael the most during that argument, he should have taken in their expressions a bit more. To think he pissed his brother off that much with a single sentence, maybe this was going better than he thought. "How–does he know I meant Michael?"

"That would be my fault." Alastor shifted and the cane rolled a bit, twisting in Lucifer's hands. His gaze fell to the golden gem he'd gifted Alastor still embedded in the back of it and he started tracing that with his fingers. "When he showed up in my room when you were half-dead, I told him I had been expecting Michael to show up. You know," he waved his hand in the air, "to finish the job he had started. He realized what had attacked your soul was because of Michael himself. I suppose even angels can do basic math."

Lucifer nodded his head and sighed quietly. "I see. What are our chances of that actually working in our favor though? As I've said before, Gabriel's opinion doesn't always match God's own. If Azrael refuses to do this, if he won't kill Lute and let her turn into a Sinner, I don't know where else to take this, Alastor."

"I will give the Angel of Death this, he is remarkably difficult to read. His expression has hardly changed at all this entire time." The demon's gaze darted upward but Azrael's seat was empty. He had left the room the moment Gabriel called for the intermission with Raphael not far behind him. "However, his Lieutenant is very easy to read. If he could, I think the Angel of Justice would have ripped her soul out himself. The moment that it was proven that Lute attacked and abandoned Vaggie down there, Raphael looked as if someone had rammed an angelic spear in his own chest. She has not won any favor with them right now, especially when she attempted to lie to Uriel about it first."

"You think Raphael is going to sway Azrael's opinion in this?" Lucifer's gaze dragged across the upper level of the room, taking in the empty seats that had been full moments ago. Even Michael had left the room, though he wondered if that was to try and chase after Azrael too. It does not benefit Michael to let Azrael do this, but ultimately the choice is Azrael's and Raphael would have the biggest sway on his brother for this. If they had won the Angel of Justice's opinion, then it was already set in stone.

"I think we've more than won it. I think Michael has dug himself into a hole that is going to be difficult for him to dig himself out of." Turning his head to the side he looked up at the Radio Demon. "He has made things difficult for himself, and it's not going to get any easier the longer this goes on. Even more so if Lute is proven a Sinner now."

"Murder is murder. Wong is wrong across the board. The line between Heaven and Hell has been blurring and they've been walking the edge of it too long." Lucifer shook his head and leaned to the side against Alastor. "I won't let him continue to abuse my family."

"I know." Alastor nodded his head and smiled easily down at him. "And I will continue to help you. We still have two hours left to argue this. We've already reached beyond the halfway point of it as well. We have more than enough time."

He always had the most reassuring thing to say. "I hope you know how grateful I am that you are here with me." Turning on the chair a bit he reached his hands out and took hold of Alastor's own, gripping them in a tight hold. "You've come this far with me and if you hadn't… I wouldn't have made it to this point without you. When I told them that they came for my family, you were included in that."

Alastor's gaze darts to the side, seeming to take in the still absent seats and then turns back around toward Lucifer. Tugging his right hand free from Lucifer, he raised it up and pushed back the King's hair from his face. "My mother asked what you were to me and the only answer I could think to give her was everything. You are mine in every meaning of that word, and no matter where you are I will continue to go with you."

Everything, family, mine. What they were to each other, it certainly had grown and though Lucifer could define that word, now wasn't the time to say it. He doesn't think Alastor needs to hear it either to see it on Lucifer's face. It wasn't as if he ever tried to hide anything from the Radio Demon anyway. So he lets the wide smile pull on his face, lets the warmth fill his heart and shine itself in his eyes, the emotions that swelled in him display itself clearly for the other.

"We make one hell of a team, Alastor."

"So we do, Sire. Let's show them what it means to try and walk the path of damnation."