Chapter Text
Lucifer knew that after his long life, there were very few things that could surprise him. He had seen everything and heard much more, but from time to time, there was always someone who would manage to surprise him.
He remembered the first person, Lilith. Oh, he could spend hours talking all about the things he learned from her. Her loyalty to him, falling with him, loving him. She was a one-of-a-kind woman. Later on, came some of the overlords. They were a curious bunch, and he learned a few things from them. Then came his daughter, beautiful Charlie. Lucifer remembered the feeling when she was born. He wanted to feel all the happiness he knew was underneath all that layer of fear, but in that moment, looking at the tiny hand wrapped around his, he knew he would do anything for her. And in hell, as the king of hell, that was a kind of power over him that could very much destroy him.
And he was right.
Sometime later, after many years of radio silence from anyone from heaven, he found a letter in Charlie’s room. Whether it was a warning or just to ensure he saw it, he prepared for his trip to heaven.
And they surprised him. The sheer audacity of their request. An extermination of his people? Every year?
“I thought heaven was supposed to be good?”
“We are helping with overpopulation.”
But just when he was about to leave the meeting, refusing to let them do anything, something changed.
“We promise if we do it this way, only sinners will be harmed; hellborns have full protection.”
Maybe if this were years ago, he wouldn’t have caught the subtext, but after all this time in hell, where every loophole could and would be used, he was faster to see. Only with this deal would hellborns be safe. Charlie was a hellborn. Knowing the angels, they were going to do this anyway. At least this way, some of his people would be somewhere safe. Charlie as well.
So, the deal was signed.
And after that, many years followed. Lilith was gone, Charlie had moved out. He was alone in the castle. He and Charlie still talked, but barely. It’s difficult to get out of bed in the morning sometimes. Some days he can’t, so he just lays in bed all day, and when he can, he spends all day in the shop where he creates all types of ducks; those were fun. And it happened on one of those days. He was in the shop, trying to think of another project when the bell rang. It had been so long since he had someone over that it startled him. For a moment, he thought of Lilith. His heart couldn’t help it; he missed the woman. Trying to rationalize why it wasn’t her, asking his heart to beat just a little bit slower, he got up to answer. Maybe it was pride talking, but he never worried something could happen to him. Many had tried and failed.
So, being assaulted with a wave of smoke out of nowhere was a surprise. A fit of coughing later, he tried looking around, but if there was someone, they were long gone. Cleaning his eyes that were tearing up, he got back inside. Maybe it was just a prank, probably. He didn’t feel anything different, just a little nausea but overall fine. That night he just went to sleep.
...
Charlie woke up feeling refreshed. She had gone to bed early and woke up to her beautiful girlfriend still asleep, her bed hair going in all directions, making her giggle slip through. Giving her a kiss on her head, she changed and went downstairs.
Niffty was already up, running around chasing some bug she found. Husk was already at the bar, cleaning up drinks and drinking from the bottle on the side. Angel didn’t wake up until lunch, Alastor was in his room, and Vaggie liked to sleep more. Sitting on the stool, she gave Husk a smile. He gave her a nod and put a drink for her. Orange juice, her favorite.
"You know me so well," she said.
"I have been here for months now; I have to by now."
She laughed at his grumpiness, moving to drink her drink before all the ice melted. Looking for her phone, she checked to see if there were any messages for her, but there were none. Trying not to look nervous, she drank her juice, looking at her phone from time to time.
"Your dad?" Husk startled her by speaking. She tried to create another reason, but just groaned.
"It’s nothing… It’s just... you know, I asked him to come here. I wanted to show him some rooms we have here, and if he wanted, only if he wanted, of course, I wouldn’t want to trap him here if he didn’t want. I just thought that he looked lonely all by himself; he could like this way, but you know it-"
"Princess," Husk stopped her from babbling further, her nervousness showing. "I think he would like to live here."
"He has a shop at home, I don’t know if-"
"This place has many places where he could set up a new one," Husk smiled at her. "It’s fine, Charlie; he will love it."
She could feel her heart start to slow down a little. A now much softer feeling started to grow on her. All the people around here were so wonderful; she had no doubt they could all find redemption. Before she could find something to say, Vaggie came down the stairs, her face still sleepy and in pajamas.
"Good morning, baby," she went to kiss her girlfriend and turned to Husk. "Please give this gorgeous woman another cup of juice."
"Before you give it to her, give me one too," Vaggie winked at her, catching on to the flirting.
Charlie giggled, her heart melting. She really loved this angel.
"If you two could not make heart eyes at each other where I can see, I would appreciate it."
"All I see is a single and jealous cat," Vaggie gave him the tongue and a middle finger for good measure.
The two started bickering while Charlie watched them, giggling at her girlfriend's cute face yelling at the others. They were in the middle of giving each other the finger when they heard a soft knocking on the door. In silence, they looked at each other confused, but Charlie got up and went to see, Vaggie right behind and Husk looking at them from the bar, ready if something went wrong. Looking through the peephole, she only saw a head of blonde hair, and she could almost see a light coming from the person. Opening the door, she could hear the gasp Vaggie let out, only not doing the same because her body was frozen.
"Hi! I seem to be quite lost, and I saw your message to come so I think you can help me. Please."
They continued in silence.
"You’re Charlie, right? Or did I get the wrong person?" the person looked around and then to his phone, looking at it funny.
"No, no, I’m Charlie."
"Pleasure to meet you! I’m Lucifer, one of the archangels"
Charlie could feel a headache coming, a bad feeling evolving all her body, looking to eyes so much like hers, but now with a spark that she knew wasn’t there the last time they saw each other.
Fuck her, honestly.