The walk back to the hotel was a blur. Her mind seemed to race, and yet also to be bogged down by a fog. As she entered the hotel lobby she felt like she was in a dream. The kind that felt like being chased and, try as you might, no matter how fast you ran or how hard your feet pounded beneath you, the exit was always just out of reach. All of the colors and sounds of the world blended together making a sensory mush in her head, until suddenly she snapped out of her trance.

It was like someone pulled her out of hypnosis and she came back to consciousness finding herself standing in the hallway at her bedroom door. An envelope had been stuck in the door jam. She knew exactly who it was from. Taking it, she tore it open to reveal that it had more than just a time and day. This time Enki had written a message.

I am the only one who can help you. Come to the meeting.

Isobel crushed it in her hand. She heard a noise down the hall, as she turned to it, her eyes found Alastor walking toward her. She knew he must have been wondering where she had been so early in the morning. Alongside of him, Nifty scurried around his feet. They both saw her at once.

Alastor looked at her questioningly, he did not recognize the expression on her face. Nifty glared. Isobel's eyes darted back and forth between the two, feeling a sudden need to escape. Then she remembered the door to the roof. She turned and back tracked, then slipped through before either could stop her.

Alastor's eyebrows furrowed in confusion as he watched her seemingly run away. Come to think of it, she had been acting strange for days.

"I don't suppose you know anything about that, eh, Nifty?"

She just glowered at the shutting door. "She's bad."

"Yes," Alastor said. "I know. Well, come along." He turned on his heel and walked away, his long coat trailing and Nifty scampering close behind.

Isobel climbed the many stairs. She had not been to the roof in some time and forgot just how many floors there were. She at last pushed the rooftop door open and instantly a warm breeze pulled on her hair and clothes.

She walked to the edge as she retrieved headphones from her pocket and sat down. lifting her knees up and resting her elbows on them, she stared off into nothing for a long time allowing her eyes to wander unfocused over the horizon.

She tried to think out her situation. Tried to make sense of it. A choice needed to be made. However, her thoughts would not align, she could not bring order to anything rambling around in her head. It didn't help that every song played somehow reminded her of the hotel, or of Alastor, or Angel Dust, or one of the others. On and on her mind spiraled. She stayed like that for hours until she felt the presence of another step up next to her and sit down. The last thing she wanted was company. She turned to say as much and found Lucifer beside her.

He sat leaning back on his hands, his cane resting across his lap. The rim of his hat cast a shadow over his beautiful face. He sat silently staring out over the cityscape waiting for Isobel to acknowledge him.

"What are you doing here?" She asked, removing her headphones.

"I noticed you've been out here for a while."

"How did you know?"

He motioned to his right where a tower rose in the shape of an apple. "I saw you."

"I didn't realize you could see me from there," Isobel glanced the other direction at Alastor's radio tower. "That explains some things actually."

"Everything ok?"

"Just dealing with some startling information."

"You want to talk about it?"

"No." How could she talk about it? What could she say? She didn't even know the words. She leaned forward resting her chin on her arms and continued staring out at everything, seeing nothing.

"Ok," he nodded. He took off his hat and placed it in his lap and then stayed. Silent. Allowing Isobel to just think.

The two stayed that way for a long time as the sun sailed across the sky and the breeze whistled around them. Isobel's hair whipped around her face and stung her in the eyes. Fucking, Alastor, she thought to herself as she wrangled it and started to plait. When she was done, she made an exasperated noise and put her face in her hands.

"I just can't think here. My thoughts are just all in a jumble, you know. I need to move or something. I need to walk. Walking has always seemed to help, but I'm stuck up here. And if I try to go down through the hotel they'll all be there." She abruptly stood and started to pace.

"And then they'll all ask me, what's wrong. They'll want to know how they can help. And Charlie will probably want to talk about our feelings, but I don't want to talk about my feelings, I just… I," she slumped back down to her knees. "I just want to sit with my emotions for a while, you know, until maybe I can understand them." She sighed, looking down at the concrete and then wistfully said, "I can't even hide in my room because he'll be there."

She fell silent again.

"Right," Lucifer cleared his throat. He had heard about Isobel's bizarre relationship with Alastor. Personally he didn't get it. "If I could offer you a piece of advice?" She turned to him as he continued to look out. "From someone who has hid from the world to sit with their emotions for quite a while, don't stay there for too long. The longer you sit, the harder it is to get back up."

"All my plans and efforts, everything I've been trying to work toward, just seems to be falling apart, and now I don't know where to go or what to be, or what to want."

"Plans and efforts mean nothing most of the time. All we can do is take what is left to us and create a place where we belong and the things that matter." He smiled at her, sweetly with just a touch of sadness around the corners. "I don't know if that helps."

She softly smiled back, but he could tell she still needed time to work out whatever it was weighing on her mind.

"Alright," he said, standing and brushing the dirt from his trousers and coat. Placing his hat at a jaunty angle atop his head, he offered Isobel a hand. "I'll get you down."

"What?" She climbed to her feet.

"You said you needed to get down without talking to anyone, right? I'll get you to the street."

"How?"

He stared at her incredulously. "I can fly, remember."

"Oh, shit, that's right."

With a great flourish, Lucifer unleashed his wings. Each of the six stretched and thrashed revealing their brilliance. Isobel looked on in dreamy awe. Oh, to be a feather on one of those majestic wings.

He reached out a hand to her again and with some trepidation she stepped up circling her arms around his shoulders. He grabbed her around the waist and kicked off from the ground. Almost instantly, Isobel freaked out. Her whole body tensed up. She yelped and grasped on to him with both arms and legs.

"Whoa," he said, chuckling. He lowered them both down to the ground and placed her back on her feet. "You afraid of heights?"

"Not usually," Isobel laughed at her own ridiculousness. "This is just a new one for me, you know."

"I promise I won't drop you." Isobel wrapped her arms around him again a little tighter this time. Lucifer used both arms and wrapped them around her waist. Of course, her weight was nothing to him. She could feel the inhuman strength in his arms and hands.

"Ok, let's try this again," he said with a reassuring smile.

When her feet left the ground, Isobel was able to keep her shit together. Her grip stiffened, but she remained calm. They didn't so much fly as slowly descend from the roof to the street below. He gently placed her on the ground before touching down himself and was surprised when she put a hand to his cheek.

"Thank you, Lucifer. Remember, you're a good guy, don't let anyone tell you different."

He watched her cross the road and disappear among the others on the street before walking through the hotel doors. As he entered, Alastor took note of him, confused as he thought Lucifer had already arrived earlier in the day.

"Your Majesty," he said, trying his best to push charming through his obvious distaste. "And where might you be coming from?"

The smile on Lucifer's face dropped instantly upon laying eyes on the tall, red annoyance. He hesitated just long enough to give Alastor a strange, somehow knowing look, and then continued without a word.

Isobel did not arrive back until very late in the evening. Her walking, while calming her nerves, did nothing to resolve the tempest of thoughts in her head. The letter from Enki felt like a lead weight in her pocket and the knowledge of the witch's spot still gave her a sinking feeling in her stomach. Maybe she should meet with Enki again. Maybe she had a better deal to offer. Even if she didn't, was it wise to stay here. The more time she spent in Hell the more corruption.

Isobel stopped in front of an ornate mirror hung in the lobby. She stared at herself in the silver glass. She looked small, and suddenly Zestiel's words echoed in her ears.

Think of the demon you would become and the power you could command. What a sight you would be to behold.

She put her hands to her ears as if that would stop the echos. Too many voices, too many thoughts, she needed to quiet them, just to think for one minute. Just when she thought she should pray to God for a sign, a dull glow in the mirror caught her eye.

Behind her she could see a pale green light in the parlor. She turned and crossed to it, where she found Alastor asleep in a wing back chair. The glow itself was coming from the wall just behind him, where his ghastly shadow loomed, eyes and crooked mouth glowing green. An entity seeming to have its own will, it reacted to her presence reaching out its horribly long fingers.

Isobel put a hand on the wall and realized that Alastor never needed someone else standing sentry over him while he slept. He already had a watchdog.

Squatting down in front of him, she wondered at the best way to wake him. He seemed almost serene, his chin resting in his palm, monocle hanging from between his fingers. She took his other hand and held it to her cheek. He instantly stirred, eyes blinking casting a red radiance into the dark.

"If I didn't know better," she said. "I would think you were waiting up for me."

"If I didn't know better," he replied, cupping her face between his thumb and forefinger. "I would think you have been avoiding me."

"You? No, never." She slumped to the side and sat on the floor next to him, her head resting on his knee. "I just needed some time to think. A lot of time, it turns out."

He raked his fingernails through her hair and across her scalp sending waves of tingles down the nape of her neck.

"And did you find all the time you required?"

"No, unfortunately, everything is still a bit of a mess, but." She stood. "I'm trying not to sit with my emotions for too long." Taking Alastor's hand, she pulled him to his feet. "Let's go to bed."