"... How... the frick... did he sneak out?" Jophiel asked, looking at her brothers and the empty bed that Lucifer was in, "And more importantly... WHERE IS HE!?"
The others had no idea... Lucifer can be really sneaky when he wants, as he snuck out when they were rotating watching shifts.
"Well, let's think about this logically." Michael said, "If there's one thing I know about my twin, he won't make a portal, as he doesn't want people to notice that he's missing, and since he's injured he is most likely going somewhere to get help."
"We're in a hospital!" Jophiel yelled.
"Yes... designed for beings less powerful than archangels." Michael said, "He fell, he still feels prolonged pain, and who has he gone to for eons because of that?"
Jophiels eyes widened, as did Raphael's.
"He's going to see Belphegor." Jophiel realized.
"Make sense." Raphael said, "She was my apprentice before she fell, it's only natural that she brought those techniques to hell."
"Not to mention probably developed her own. Ones that work really well with demons." Uriel said with a shrug. "Could be that a mix of both is what Lucifer wants."
"I will go down and get him." Raphael said, "Better someone she knows than anyone else."
(Line Break)
Lucifer limped up towards the door of Belphegor's home. He knocked on the door.
'Please don't be sleeping.' He thought.
Thankfully, the door has opened, with the narcoleptic sin behind it.
"Lucifer?" Belphegor asked, surprised, "What are you doing here? You should be up in heaven resting."
"Well, Raph is good, but angel's don't like drugs, and I am in desperate need of them." Lucifer said, "Think you can help me out?"
"Hmmm." Belphegor hummed, looking over Lucifer. "How much does it hurt and where?"
"It hurts just to laugh, so I crack my jokes. And it hurts mostly in the stomach and ribs." Lucifer said, pointing to the afflicted places.
"Mmm, okay. Come in." Belphegor said, allowing her brother to come into her home. "Take a seat on the couch, I'll get my kit."
Lucifer gladly sat down on Bel's couch, holding his stomach in slight pain.
She came back with a few items. A sewing kit, drugs, and other various tools to help heal him.
"Alright, I'm going to put you under for a few hours." Bel said.
"Okay." Lucifer said with nod.
Despite being a narcoleptic, she was always wide awake when doing surgery. Lying back, Lucifer watched as Belphegor set up her items on the coffee table.
"Been a while since I've done this myself." Bel said, preparing a cloth rag with heavy chloroform.
"I'm sure it's like riding a bike, you never forget how." Lucifer said with a smile. "I trust you, Bel. I know your surgical hand is the best in the seven rings, no matter what."
"I appreciate it." Bel said, before putting the cloth over his mouth.
He was out in seconds and Bel began to get to work.
'I don't know what the full extent is, Luci, but I promise I'll fix you up.' Bel thought.
She reached for a tool, which was then handed to her.
"Need a hand?" Raphael asked.
"Raphael?" Bel asked in shock.
"Hello my former student." He said.
"W-What are you doing here?" Bel asked as she took the tool.
"Looking for my patient after he snuck out of the hospital." Raphael said as he looked at Lucifer.
"Guess Heaven's hospitals aren't that secured." Bel said with a scoff.
"Well, nobody really needs to break out of a hospital in Heaven." Raphael said.
"Lucifer isn't your usual type of nobody." Bel said as she refocused on Lucifer. "If you're going to be here you could at least make yourself useful and help hold his wound so I can stitch it."
Raphael chuckled at this as he did what she said.
"I remember a time when I told you the exact same thing." He said, remembering Belphegor before her fall.
"Well, I picked up a few things from you." Bel said, sewing up the large hole in his side, "I don't understand why you haven't closed the wound yet, it clearly is important, have you gone mad in your old age?"
"No but I suppose I have relied more on magic to finish the healing process after surgeries more than I like." Raphael said as Bel handed him a tool.
"That sounds easier but I learned that treating every injury is crucial." She said, looking closer at the damage Roo did to Lucifer. "Damn, she did a real number on him, didn't she?"
"Yeah, she did." Raphael said, taking the tool and handing her another, "This will be better given his broken ribs, less likely to damage them more."
"Thanks but I think I know what I'm doing." Bel said, taking the new tool and continuing to work.
"We could help him faster if we bury our issues with each other and work together." Raphael said.
"Really? I thought we buried those long ago after you banished Lucifer and the rest of us." Belphegor said, working a bit more aggressively. "I mean, it's not like you actually cared about me. You probably just replaced me the second I was gone."
"Bel, nobody could replace you." Raphael said, gently grabbing her shoulder. "I have worked alone ever since your fall."
"Why is that? Didn't want to waste time on another student?" Bel asked.
"Because I didn't want to replace you. It just never felt right to try and take on another student." Raphael said as Belphegor stopped working. "You were more than a student, you were a dead friend."
"…Then why weren't you there when I needed you?" She asked sadly.
"I wanted to... we didn't want you to fall, any of you... Lucifer deserved punishment, yes, but none of us thought being cast out was necessary, but father said that is was the only solution. I'm beginning to see why Lucifer called him a cryptic old b word." Raphael said, gently hugging his old sutdent with one arm. "Bel, you were there for my brother more than I ever could be, I see why you and the others are seen as siblings by Lucifer, you have done more for him than we have. You were willing to defend him during his punishment, you were by his side for eons, listening to him, ensuring he wasn't alone. I can never thank you for that."
Bel looked down, feeling shame and not just from the hug.
"Except we weren't always there." Bel said, "We became so consumed with the power and order in our own rings, that we had stopped being there for him in his time of need."
"And yet, you let him in when he came seeking help." Raphael said, "Now, this is your domain, it is time for the student to teach her master... let's heal our brother."
Bel looked at him and gave a smile.
"Yes, let's heal him... and maybe heal ourselves." Bel said, turning back to the wound, "Once this wound is sealed, we need to reset his ribs and that will be painful. He is an archangel, which means he needs a special drug to help numb the pain... trust me on this, I've learned the hard way, I have the scar to prove it."
Without knowing it, Belphegor moved one hand towards her old scar, hidden beneath her wool and still stinging with phantom pain.
"Okay, doctor, you know more of what we're doing than I. Hell is your hospital, not mine." Raphael said, gesturing to Lucifer.
"Then follow my lead." Bel said, smiling happily.
(AN: Have a Merry Chrismas/Sinsmas and a Happy/Bloody New Year!)