Summary:

Father, daughter, and girlfriend have lunch together. Lucifer brings up his new attempt to navigate his way back into Hell's political circles at a meeting with all the Sins. With the Queen gone who knows where the King needs the support of the only family he has left. The optics of unity would be crucial, and Charlie is gently reminded that she is the Princess of all of Hell, not just the Sinners she's trying to save.

Look To Our Worst Angels
Chapter 2

"I'll be back with the food, it's still waiting in the kitchen." Vaggie said, reaching up to peck Charlie on the lips before disappearing through the doors to the dining area and kitchen.

The princess grinned happily as she watched the fallen angel walk away. Then she saw her dad smile knowingly in her direction. "Sooo, I - we thought lunch would be nice outside today." Charlie bashfully fiddled with the cuffs of her jacket as she twisted on her heel and began to lead Lucifer out the back of the hotel. She had never been uncomfortable with PDA.

If it were up to her, she'd pepper Vaggie with kisses all through the day, and according to Angel they were more than lovey-dovey enough already. It was another matter when her dad was watching though.

"You don't need to be embarrassed, Duckie," Lucifer chuckled, with the use of her childhood name he'd given her, as he followed his daughter through the lobby. "I remember this one party, down in Gluttony, where your mother and I got quite carried away with ourselves. Beelzebub was positively vibrating with the "vibe" we gave off that night."

Charlie groaned, her face even redder. "Ugh, Dad... I don't need to hear about you and Mom... doing that."

Lucifer couldn't help it as his mouth twitched up. "Doing what, dear? How do you think you came to be?"

"Daaad!"

"Okay. Okay. No more talk about how parents can still have sex lives."

"Annnd, here's the patio."

The area was still being constructed but there were some tables and chairs set up in the meantime. Charlie stepped to the edge of the stonework and pretended to be super interested in the rocky terrain beyond the hotel. It would overlook the gardens, if they had any at the moment. There were still nitpickings of design and lots of work to do here. She heard a hesitant step to her right and felt her dad's presence there.

'I suppose I went a little too far. Damn it, Lucifer.' The king chided himself as he came up to stand next to his daughter. "I'm sorr-"

Charlie shook her head quickly. She had an exasperatedly fond look on her face. "You don't need to be sorry, Dad. I'm 213 years old, I know how all that works, maybe it's not something I wanna hear about my parents though. Believe me, I get enough teasing from Angel Dust whenever he catches me and Vaggie- ahh... uhh... Nothing. Nevermind."

Her red eyes widened as she snapped her mouth closed and the blush on her cheeks deepened. She glanced away from him but Lucifer only smiled back warmly. As an olive branch, he didn't mention it, and instead changed topics completely.

It didn't take much encouragement for Charlie to grasp the change in direction like a lifeline and father and daughter stood at the edge of the patio for a few minutes happily discussing what they wanted to do with the space. Charlie had her ideas, of course, and he was willing to work them into his blueprints.

Her enthusiasm, Lucifer had to admit, was kinda contagious. At least he was excited to see her so excited.

There was a time not long before this that he'd thought he'd never see her real smile again. As Charlie rambled on about an idea she'd had Lucifer let his mind wander a bit.

Even now, weeks later, and with the "miraculous" return of that asshole deer. There were times that the light dimmed in her eyes and her smile, usually the bright ray of light in the room, would fall when she stood too long in front of Dazzle's statue. Or called his name, expecting him to always be partnered up with his brother. Sometimes when that little egg creature would make someone trip over him, she would laugh in good nature, but would go quiet afterwards. Just long enough to be noticed by those paying attention.

Needless to say, Lucifer had just gotten his daughter back, and there was no way he was going to allow that smile to disappear now. Lucifer was brought back to the present when Vaggie walked outside with a platter of snack sized sandwiches and three drinks. 'Just in time.' He breathed out as Charlie seemed to be winding down her pitch to include an orchard in a corner of the garden. Apple trees, of course. The younger angel placed everything on one of the tables and they both walked over to join her. He smiled warmly, pulled into his own memories, when Charlie bent down to give her girlfriend a kiss. Like they hadn't just parted five minutes ago.

The king pulled chairs out for both girls, being ever the gentleman, but before he sat down himself there was something he had planned on doing for a while. Out of one pocket he took a decorative box and placed it in front of Charlie.

It gave him a great sense of joy and pride when a smile that outshone Heaven's light spread across his daughter's face as she opened the box and saw what was inside. It was the duck he had made for her long ago. The palm size trinket was still soft and squeakable but the material was made of his own magic and could withstand any force. Much like the inspiration for its creation.

"Oh, Dad, this is amazing." She gasped, holding her hand up and examining the toy. "It's for me?"

"Of course, sweetie, I made your mother one so long ago now and it just seems like the right time for me to give you this one."

It was white, instead of the usual yellow, and looked just like her. He'd crafted it to have her long blonde hair, made with fine silk strands, it reminded him very much of her mother. Sometimes, it nearly brought him to tears, seeing how much of Lilith was in Charlie. The matching red eyes were two tiny ruby gems that sparkled in the light.

He wasn't done yet either.

Lucifer then placed a similar box in front of Vaggie and his own red eyes sparked with excitement when her jaw dropped. He only nodded when she shot him a questioning look.

The younger angel tentatively pulled apart the ribbon and opened it almost like the box itself was a precious object. Inside was a similarly designed, lavender colored duck, with a familiar satin bow tied to the back of its head. He'd chosen a yellow diamond for its one visible eye. The other was covered by black satin in the replica of her eye patch.

He really had to pat himself on the back for this one as Vaggie discreetly tried to wipe away a tear from her eye. "What's the matter," he asked with a teasing glint in his eyes, "not to your liking?"

Vaggie jumped to attention so fast that her chair threatened to topple over from the force of it.

"No! No, sir, nothing like that. It's... I... thank you... so much." Her voice choked up and she fervently tried not to cry more. Charlie placed a hand over hers as comfort.

Lucifer chuckled and couldn't keep the soft smile from his face anymore. He reached over to place a fatherly hand on her shoulder. "Vaggie, dear, you don't have to thank me. You're family. You've been with Charlie for so long and through more than I have in recent years. You've been her family when I wasn't. I wouldn't have it any other way." He then pulled away, before more tears were shed on either side, and a much lighter expression took over his features.

"Now, let's eat, shall we? I heard my princess's stomach rumbling through the portal."

Charlie blushed at the call out for skipping breakfast that day.

The two little ducks sat next to each other on the table.

+X+

At the end of the small luncheon father, daughter, and girlfriend were relaxing at the table and idly chatting while Niffty had come and taken away the plates and glasses. Lucifer tapped his claws against the table as something came to the front of his mind now that things had gone so well for lunch. Just as it seemed things were winding down and their time was at its end the king cleared his throat before either girl could excuse themselves. His face wore a more serious expression and off to the side he noticed Vaggie immediately tense, already expecting bad news, and he had to give her something for the ability to jump to the worst conclusions.

Charlie, on the other hand, was clearly open and curious.

"I just wanted to tell you that I'll be gone for a few days. If you remember, the Sins are having their usual meeting this year, but it shouldn't be anything that'll take too long." He looked to Charlie with a wry grin. "You know your uncles, though."

"Oh, yeah, I can't remember the last meeting that didn't last more than a few days."

Charlie lit up with a chuckle and was instantly relieved it wasn't anything serious. 'At least I'll know where he is this time and know for certain he's coming back.' Charlie tried hard not to let that train of thought take over. It hadn't been unusual these last few weeks for the king to bounce back and forth between his rooms here and those back at the mansion, however he needed, since the construction of the new hotel. But every time she'd gone to search for her father and come up empty there was a small slice of fear that he'd gone and disappeared again.

The usual heat of the afternoon couldn't be blamed on the burning feeling of shame in Charlie's chest. She and her dad were past all the blame. He was here and trying to be better. She shouldn't always fall back to the worst ideas first.

Vaggie looked concerned between her girlfriend and the king. "The Sins? As in The Seven Deadly Sins?"

This sounded important but she'd never heard Charlie mention any kind of Hell meetings before. 'Honestly, Charlie never talks about any of the other Rings. If it wasn't for that big clown contest in Greed I don't think she'd even mention Asmodeus to me.'

Catching her unsure expression Lucifer continued on to explain a bit more. "The Sins all meet every other decade or so to catch up on things and settle any problems Hell might be getting into. The last one was actually a few years before the separation. Uh, heheh... I haven't been so good at keeping up since then."

His eyes clouded over at the mention of Lilith leaving him and Charlie frowned too. 'Right. Back to the present now.' He shook himself free of bad thoughts.

"You know, Lilith was always at these types of things with me. I think she'd only ever missed one and that was when you were a baby. So cute. You would've derailed the whole thing, spent the whole time on you." Charlie blushed, Vaggie giggled, and Lucifer felt a little more encouraged. "Would you like to come with me? To the meeting, I mean."

Charlie's eyes opened wide, her jaw dropping in shock, at what her dad had suggested. "You want me to..." She looked over at Vaggie to make sure she had heard the same thing. Her girlfriend was grinning back encouragingly.

"It's just that you haven't officially been to a meeting since you came of age," Lucifer stated with a shrug, like it didn't matter to him at all. However, at Charlie's continued silence, he began to ramble faster and faster.

"I know you're busy here, so I wouldn't bother you with it, except that this is kinda the reintroduction of our family back into the whole ruling thing that comes with being King and doing ruler things again, ya know, getting the Morningstar name back into the ol' hierarchy of Hell, and all that."

The king waved a hand noncommittedly, indicating the 'all that' he meant. "It's not just about me. This affects you too, after all."

The blonde finally shook herself out of her shock and waved a hand to get her dad to stop and take a breath. Charlie took a deep breath of the heated Pride Ring air. She never expected to have this opportunity thrown at her feet right now of all times. It was terrifying.

Being invited to go to one of the meetings her parents went to occasionally had been a dream of hers as a kid. She'd gather her dolls, Razzle and Dazzle, and pretend at it for hours. Lilith had also always encouraged her to take that step in her royal duties when she got older, fully accepting her role, but by then it wasn't as appealing. The closest she ever got was traveling with her parents once, so her dad could "show her the ropes", but really she was going to meet her former boyfriend, Seviathan. Then they both disappeared for the duration and got lectured later.

It's just always been taken for granted that her parents ran the politics of Hell and while she'd always enjoyed the perks of being the princess and heir. She'd never had many duties in line with that. For the last 100 years or so she'd been out of the palace and doing her own things.

Which, admittedly, did NOT include fancy royal parties or tagging along after her parents to listen in on their depressing political talk. Charlie winced, biting her nail. 'It's true that I've never been to anything in the capacity of a leadership role. I know I can... I probably should've, but I've been so focused on setting up the Hotel, and ending the exterminations. All the stuff with Adam happened so quickly too. I never even thought of picking up the role Mom had. How could I?'

There was one thing that was true though. Her uncles weren't the nicest, sometimes. If her dad was going to try and get back into ruling and showing up in the Rings he would need support.

...Her support.

She was the only family he had left. Wherever her mother was, it wasn't here, where she was needed.

Charlie fought off the feeling of abandonment, again. She was sure it was the right thing to do. Lilith was sure to agree when she got back. The queen had never ignored the other Rings, even though Pride had been her focus. Guilt welled up in Charlie's gut over that.

After her bold claim in the fight against Adam of being the "Princess of Hell" she had avoided stepping into the full responsibilities of that role for a long time.

Vaggie, who had remained sitting next to her, gripped the hand that had unconsciously fisted on her knee. She stroked Charlie's white knuckles until they relaxed against her palm. "I think it's a great idea, hun." She didn't waver as Charlie met her gaze with a worried one of her own. "It sounds really important, and you won't have to worry about the things here. It's been really quiet lately and I'll be here to keep things in check. Just in case."

Charlie couldn't say that's not exactly what she was worried about. Although, now that it's mentioned... The hotel did just reopen. It was the perfect excuse.

The princess looked at her dad, who was earnestly watching her, and just waiting for her answer. Whatever it was.

She was 80% positive he would accept her refusal and not be disappointed in her choice. But, there was always that chance... "Okay then, I'll go. It's been such a long time since I've seen everyone and it'll be nice."

She let a tentative smile cross her features, hoping it looked confident enough. "When do we leave?"

The king leaned back and clapped his hands together excitedly. "That's great, Charlie," then he scratched the back of his head nervously. Tipping his hat sideways in the process. "Oh, and, well... well, that's the thing. It's been so long that I kind of forgot it was happening until today. Uh, the start of the meeting is actually tomorrow. You don't have to prepare anything for it. Just a change of clothes because it'll likely be a day or two event. Always is with those guys. We'll be back before anyone can miss you though. Promise."

Above them, in the red skies, the pentagram seal circled and just barely flickered with the power held within.

+X+

Asmodeus "The King of Lust" watched the streets fly by through his tinted limo windows. He could feel that something was happening. The vibe in his territory had shifted in the last few days but he couldn't figure out what would cause such a massive change and not catch his attention. The club's afternoon rehearsals were subdued, to say the least, and the dancers were nervous as they whispered to each other during the breaks. A few had to be replaced last minute because there seemed to be something spreading around the stagehands and club workers.

Even now, in the late afternoon, when the streets would normally be noisy and crowded, everything seemed lifeless. Only about half the traffic was out on the roads and some storefronts they passed seemed to be closed. Was it more than normal or was he just making it up for the benefit of his own thoughts?

It was a strange feeling to not know what the Hell was going on in his own Ring. Between himself and Fizz they usually had their fingers on the pulse of what was the latest gossip and news around the place.

Speaking of his Fizzy, the Sin looked down to his side where the little imp was leaning against him with a paper in his face. Other thoughts were pushed away as he looked down at his cute little joker. 'He's been unnaturally quiet today too. Does he know what's going on and just not telling me? Like that time he tried to hide the article about us? I told him I didn't care; he should know he can tell me anything.' On the front page of the paper there was a familiar picture of Ozzie's and an article about its upcoming closure for the next few days because of the meeting taking place.

"Talk to me, Fizzy, you've seemed worried today. Anything on your mind?" Ozzie began in a low tone. He knew Fizz would try to cover and not outright tell him if he pushed too hard. Bless the little jester that had stolen his heart.

The imp tore the paper from his face with a forcefully wide grin and instantly Ozzie knew it was fake. "Oh, yeah, no, everything's great. I was just reading up on the stuff that happened in the last meeting you big-shots had. I heard it was at Ozzie's, but I never heard that it caught fire. Like, wow, the place was partially burned and everything."

Fizzarolli tried to laugh it off, but it was too forced, even he didn't buy it. His usually raspy tilting voice was even more rough now. His throat closing up on him a bit.

Nothing to worry about though, he'd still be able to emcee tonight for the final pre-closure show.

Ozzie grimaced once he pulled the memory of the last meeting up again. "Oh, yeah, that. I'd almost forgotten that happened. Queen Lilith had left early that time and left Lucifer on his own for the last day." An unpleasant expression crossed all three of his faces as he remembered what a precursor that was to how things would turn out in the end. "He and Leviathan got into it. Something about the kids breaking up." The large Sin shrugged it off.

What he didn't say, even back then, was that he was kinda glad his niece had gotten away from Levi's protégé. He'd had a longtime feeling that was a bad match from the start. Charlie was too good-hearted for him.

"Yeah, anyway, the damage was fixed right as rain by Lucifer in a few hours." Asmodeus curled a comforting arm around Fizz's shoulders and squeezed.

"Level with me, Fizz. A decades old fire isn't what's on your mind."

The jester looked away after a moment but there was a flash of fear and possibly shame that Ozzie caught in his expression. "It's just, I noticed the staff getting the extra bedroom cleaned up. Like someone's going to be staying. Or, you know, since all the Sins are going to be around... maybe you don't..." His voice faded out near the end but it was enough.

It took a full half minute for Ozzie to grasp the meaning of his words, and when he did, he pulled Fizz into his lap and crushed him in a hug immediately. "Fizzy-frog, no! I don't care who knows about you. I knew what I was doing when I told Mammon up on that stage. I love you and I'll never push you away or try and hide you again." He pulled back to look Fizzarolli in the face. "In fact, the room is being set up for a guest during the meeting. Someone that's going to love you. He's been keeping to himself for the last few years, that's why I haven't already introduced you, but I have a good feeling someone's forcing him back into living life again. Just wanted to have things ready for him."

Ozzie leaned his head against Fizz's and nuzzled him lovingly. He was going to have to keep reminding his freaky little frog that there was no reason to keep hiding anymore. Their love was out there, and he didn't regret a moment of it.

Notes:

Next time:

Lucifer chuckled good-naturedly and raised his hand for the portal again. "Now, are you ready for this, little lady?"

"No," she nervously squeaked, but then her eyes found Vaggie's again. She took a deep, bracing, breath.

A flare of determination lit in her eyes and she grabbed Lucifer's arm that he had offered her. "Yeah, ready as I'll ever be."