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Chapter Text

White was not Lucifer’s color. He usually wore white as a joke, an act of rebellion. He rarely wore it, feeling much more comfortable in black. Unfortunately, black was not the kind of color to wear to a Western wedding. After all, it was considered as the color of mourning in these parts.

This wedding was not a joke, though, and he would not treat it as such. He was being silly about it, of course. Holding the wedding on Walpurgisnacht was just a bit of fun, as well as various other details they had agreed upon. However, that did not in any way lessen the challenge he was facing.

“Not even you can punish tea,” said Ryan genially. “What did that cup do to you anyway?”

“The same problem you had until two weeks ago when Simon’s letter relieved you off that pressure.”

“You mean the permit to wear my service uniform for the wedding without actually declaring it as a military wedding? I still have no idea how he did that.”

“Precisely, and I don’t know what to wear.”

“Because you can’t wear a uniform.”

“There is no way in Hell I am wearing my uniform!”

“You have a uniform.”

Lucifer knew he was pouting and did not care, “I am not wearing it. I look ridiculous. It’s not my style.”

Ryan pulled him down to the counter, and said, “I love you. Candy loves you. If you came to the altar in yellow crocks with green socks,” Lucifer shuddered, “I’d still marry you.”

“That’s because your tastes leave much to be desired, and your couch is proof.”

“Wrong. My tastes are so fastidious that I had to reach for the literal stars to be satisfied.”

That had been the end to that argument. Thankfully, it was Candy who had given him actual advice on his choice of wardrobe.

“Ryan wears the uniform because he earned it with hard work. He’s such a humble soul, but pride shines through his every pore when he adjusts that beret on his head. I love it and so do you. My wedding dress is a classic white ballgown with embroidered pink flowers because I look gorgeous in it and because the gown was my mom’s and because she loved me in pink. What do you want to wear? My dress needs some additional color around the arms and shoulders. I simply haven’t decided yet.”

Here he was, only a few weeks later, and he should not be nervous. Yet, he was. He knew he was among friends. Every person inside of that room was fully aware of who he was. And it was frightening just how many of them he had accumulated in not so many years. They had all taken it well, some more so than others, and it terrified him.

It meant that, if they decided to leave him behind, it had nothing to do with what he happened to be and rather with who he was. Standing in front of a closed door, he realized just how much power he had given the people inside of it, how he had given himself over to their judgment.

Yet, he trusted them, with his heart and soul, just as he trusted the two people he was marrying today. Still, he was terrified.

“Ready?”

Thank Hell for Mazikeen. She knew him, every unpleasant side, every stupid decision, every idiosyncrasy. She had seen him at his worst, at his lowest, yet she was still here, by his side, smiling. She had gone for traditional, looking like the bodyguard she was, in full demonic armor, looking beautiful. He put his hand on the side of the face she kept hidden from the human world and skin melted beneath it, just for a moment, so that he could kiss her true cheek.

“Ready.”

Derek was as excited as everyone else in the room. Lucifer, Candy and Ryan had decided to have their wedding in DC, as most of their family and friends lived at least nearby. Candy’s uncle – who had been the biggest concern, being the oldest human attending and no longer the most mobile of beings – was living on the East Coast, making the decision for them. The venue itself was quite astonishing and Derek had no idea how Lucifer managed to book the John F Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts for a rather small wedding party, but sometimes, being the devil had its advantages.

Raphael was standing by the makeshift altar, wearing long robes that really matched the archangel’s style perfectly, although Derek had mostly seen him in modern Western clothing. Muriel and Jophiel wore their garments like a second skin, sitting in the front, together with General Hall and soon Candy’s uncle. On the same family bench was Delilah.

Her boyfriend would be at the reception, but the wedding ceremony was for close family and friends only; specifically, only the people who knew about the existence of celestial beings were invited to the ceremony because Candy and Ryan had decided that Lucifer should not have to hide who he was; not on his wedding day. Derek thought that was fair. Only, it was heartbreaking to see that the family of three people fit on one row of chairs; General Hall was standing in for Ryan’s folks, none of whom had even bothered to RSVP.

Few things managed to upset Candy, but you could not mention Ryan’s family without her eyes narrowing, promising pain and destruction. Lucifer – who hated shunning with a burning passion – had visited them apparently, and shunned them right back, with the cool, deliberate fury of an ancient archangel. Ryan, as much as it had to hurt him, had chosen to be the better man, decided against vengeance and embraced his chosen family instead.

There were two empty spots at the far end of the family row, right next to the general, who looked proud enough for three fathers. The empty seats were decorated with white cards:

In Nomine Patris

In Nomine Spiritus Sancti

One card for Candy’s father, one card for Lucifer’s. Derek had thought it was just a bit of fun, but then the angels had arrived, and their reaction had been eerily similar. Muriel had been the first to arrive, and kneeled before the card before taking her seat; Jophiel had lowered her head briefly before blowing a kiss with a smile.

Raphael had been the last to enter, apart from the bridesmaids, groomsmen, the grooms and the bride. He had bestowed everyone with a welcoming smile so genuine, no preacher could ever hope to imitate. He too had stopped in front of the card and lowered his head. Lucifer had said it. Dad was here in spirit.

The BAU, together with Ryan’s team and Candy’s closest friends were occupying the front rows. The only ones missing were Frank who was at the grand piano, Ben serving as best man to Ryan, as well as Sara, Michelle, Garcia and two more ladies who were Candy’s bridesmaids, Sara being the Maid of Honor. To cater to Lucifer phobia of children, the only kids allowed at the ceremony were Jack and Henry, who were both sitting with their parents. Further back were the families of Ryan’s team as well as various employees from Astra, Lux and Fletcher’s. Other colleagues and friends of Candy’s and Ryan’s were uninitiated to Lucifer’s identity and were invited to the reception.

The doors opened by themselves, and music started to play.

I am flesh and I am bone
Rise up, ting ting, like glitter and gold
I've got fire in my soul
Rise up, ting ting, like glitter

Derek grinned widely. Lucifer strolled inside with the confidence of the Lord of Hell himself. Mazikeen walked by his side, proud and serious, but her eyes sparkled with mirth.

They all rose from their seats, everyone mirroring the devil’s grin. He looked absolutely magnificent; his suit was white-gold with a faint glitter, like the sun touching the surface of a quiet lake. His dress shirt was black with a touch of red, like glowing embers. If he moved just right, you could see scales rippling across the moving body.

Lightbringer.

Devil.

Creator of dragons.

Garcia had told him everything about it, yet seeing him now, there was no doubt about any of it. This was a young god and it was an honor to be his friend.

Do you walk in the valley of kings?
Do you walk in the shadow of men
Who sold their lives to a dream?
Do you ponder the manner of things
In the dark?
The dark, the dark, the dark

Lucifer now stood in front of the card. He did not bow, gave just the slightest of nods, a sign of respect. Then he turned to his two sisters who both bowed with a wide smile. That too had been explained. In the absence of God, Lucifer was the highest authority and while in daily life, it had no impact on their behavior, an official ceremony required some rituals. He kissed the top of their heads and said something so quietly, the rest of the wedding party could not hear, but it caused the sisters to roll their eyes in response.

I am flesh and I am bone
Arise, ting ting, like glitter and gold
I've got fire in my soul
Rise up, ting ting, like glitter

Standing before Raphael, the younger angel bowed low, came up, grasped Lucifer’s open palms from below and Lucifer turned them, making Raphael the authority of today’s celebration. Maze did not bow, stood next to the devil, observing the proceedings with a very critical eye. Then Lucifer turned to the guests and the whole room seemed to light up, so bright was his smile.

Frank played the Ballad of the Green Berets next. The doors opened yet again and Ryan walked through with Ben by his side. He froze at the entrance when he caught his first glimpse of his future husband. In all the time he had known him, Derek had never seen this man look so happy. He walked through the ranks with purpose, saluting the general, then his men before he came up to Lucifer, standing right next to him, but unable to keep his eyes off of him.

Not that Lucifer was any better.

Maze and Ben moved slightly to the side, and the grooms were finally able to divert their attention from each other.

Mendelsson’s Wedding March was the obvious choice for the gorgeous bride. And she looked stunning. There was a thread of gold in her white sleeves, and the pink tinge made her look strangely mature, as if you needed to have a certain level of strength and confidence to wear such a girlish color like a lady. Her smile was bright and soft as her uncle slowly walked her down the aisle. Behind her were the five bridesmaids whose smiles were just as bright as that of the bride and eagerly awaiting grooms.

The ceremony itself was officiated by Raphael who took it very seriously, but for the most part, it was a wedding ceremony like any other, except that Raphael had to step between Lucifer and Ryan because the devil was unable to keep his fingers to himself, and Ryan was very disinclined to stop him.

The wedding vows were Derek’s favorite part.

Candy went first.

“I promised to my daddy that my ideal husband would be someone who accepted the fact I could never leave Fletcher’sbehind, who accepted that I would never sexually desire them, and someone who understood that despite my lack of need to insert myself into their lives, I would still be their greatest advocate for the rest of our lives.

I told him I’d snatch them up immediately and not let go. I’m lucky, and caught two. Thank you for keeping my promise to my daddy, and for being a part of my life.

With this vow, I promise to honor you, love you and slap you both upside the head when you’re being silly. For as long as I live.”

Ryan came next.

“I have made a couple of vows during the course of my life, and don’t regret a single one of them. Still, this one right here is the most important because for you, I’d break all oaths I’ve made before and that is okay because I know you’ll never ask me to. My oaths, my soul and my heart are safe with you.

With this vow, I promise to honor you, love you and be right with you whenever you need me. Be that on Earth, in Heaven or Hell, and beyond. If it is within my power and abilities, I will be yours, however you need me.”

Lucifer swallowed hard before he came to his vows.

“There isn’t a proper word in any language capable of expressing just how long I have been around. Even those among you who know – and have asked – some of the details cannot possibly conceive just how much time has passed between my first moments of consciousness and today. I have loved so many beings, yet I cherish and miss them still.

I’ve experienced and observed some of the most crucial tragedies and triumphs not only in the history of mankind but of the entire universe we live in. Yet, today is utterly unique. Today, I have the luxury of not only free will but also time. I get to spend the rest of your lives with you and I will treasure every moment, even if we fight, even if we disagree. And when you’re gone, I have the luxury of never forgetting you. Mankind has had more impactful moments, surely, but to me, today we are creating one of my most treasured memories.

With this vow, I promise to honor you, love you and to remember you far beyond what any mortal soul can conceive.”

Derek was not the type of guy to bawl at a wedding, but no eyes were left dry after that. It was Raphael who finished the ceremony.

The ring exchange was rather traditional, except for the design of the rings. Lucifer’s were particularly unique, but Ryan and Candy received a white-gold band wrapped in fiery amber. It was engraved with the devil’s pentacle and some inscription Derek was not told about. According to Maze, anyone with ill thought against either of the devil’s spouses would end up with a nasty headache and you better not plan their demise, or you would end up being visited by a legion of demons.

“In the presence of your family and friends, blessed by Heaven and approved by Hell, you have joined in marriage. By the rights given to me by the Lightbringer, I declare this trinity to be binding. The grooms may kiss each other and cuddle the bride.” That last part was said with a broad smile to indicate that he was joking. Still, the three newlyweds absolutely did just that.

It was a rememberable wedding.

Lucifer did not really want to let go of Candy and Ryan, but they had guests at the reception and he wished to be a good host.

“Sergeant White?” said he quietly. Ryan was currently talking to Simon and Ben and had not seen the veteran slip in. The other soldiers had not noticed their former teammate either, too busy talking to the rest of the guests.

Gregory White shuddered; he had slipped in and immediately hid in the farthest corner of the room right next the exit; not even his dear agents had noticed the man’s arrival. Mazikeen had, though. It was her job.

“Yes. You his man?”

“I am his.”

“Good.”

“Are you well?”

He was not unwell in spirit. He was anxious, however, and Lucifer was a bit unsure what he could do. His siblings had left, all needed elsewhere, but he wished Raphael or Muriel were here to help.

“Nah, but I’m here. It counts,” muttered Sergeant White. Lucifer did not know what caused his pain, Ryan had never elaborated, but this man was important to Ryan. He had apparently helped him in his early days as a commanding officer and Lucifer’s husband was eternally grateful for the man’s experience and just how grounded he used to be. Seeing him this untethered had to be painful for Ryan. It certainly explained why he visited the VA so regularly and why he wished to somehow combine his nymph center plans with a program to support veterans.

“I am sure it does. Nothing will harm you in here, Sergeant. I swear you’re safe.”

“Greg. Please, call me Greg.”

“Of course.”

“Greg!” Ryan’s exclamation was genuine yet soft enough that Gregory White did not jump out of his skin. “Thank you for coming.”

He did not ask how the anxious man was, and instead guided him to an open space that gave him just enough breathing space to flee if necessary, yet brought him closer to the party. It was a good thing the ceremony consisted of so many servicemembers and FBI behavioral agents. Nobody asked questions as they welcomed Gregory into their midst.

“Well done,” said Ryan quietly, kissing him on the lips. “He wouldn’t have stayed if you hadn’t caught him in time.”

He did not stay long, though. One hour later, Gregory White had already left, but according to Ben, this was the longest he had been able to bear any crowd in many years.

Just like the wedding ceremony, the reception went very smoothly. It was exceedingly human in how it was held, large wedding cake included; some visitors did notice a peculiar, heated conversation Lucifer had with nobody in particular.

“No, only siblings who were not willing to sell me out to older brothers are invited. Leave.”

They assumed he was on the phone or something.

Apart from that, there was the music of course, Candy making good on her promise to make Ryan cry while Lucifer and Candy performed duets to each other (“The Time of My Life”) and at him (“You Don’t Have to Be a Star”). He completely lost composure when Lucifer looked straight at him, the lights dimmed and Lucifer sang a solo with Candy as backup in the chorus.

You're just too good to be true
Can't take my eyes off of you
You'd be like Heaven to touch
I wanna hold you so much
At long last, love has arrived
And I thank God I'm alive
You're just too good to be true
Can't take my eyes off of you

Before Lucifer could finish the whole thing, Ryan pulled him to him and whispered, “You’re insane. If I could sing, that’d be my song for you.”

Unaware that the whole room heard them due to a very good microphone, Lucifer chuckled, “So you thank God you’re alive?”

“I’d kiss his feet if that’s the reason I could be with you.”

The dance between the three was a hilarious disaster and later, Ryan opted out, so that Candy and Lucifer could have their dance. Later, many couples and friends joined in, with Garcia and Morgan having the most fun.

Definitely one of the best weddings Derek had ever attended.

Dromos was excited; well, he had been excited all Earth day. They had an official queen now. Not a queen born from the human equivalent of marriage, but one ordained by the celestial powers. Not only that, they also had a… there was only one Lord of Hell, only one King. However, companion and consort was no longer fitting to describe what Ryan Turner was after the union. He hoped Lucifer would clear that all up. Dromos wished he had paid more attention to Ryan Turner; Lucifer had had many lovers across the millennia, but this was the first time he married two of them, and while the female part of the trinity was easy to name – Hell’s First Queen – the male part left Dromos puzzled.

And the other demons, too.

Still, he would not let that trivial matter ruin his happiness. He knew how excited Lucifer had been for this day. Walpurgisnacht of all days. If only he would have waited until Halloween, then more demons could have attended the wedding, but then there were a great number of humans unused to and wary of Hell, so even if Lucifer had waited, he probably would not have allowed any of them to visit Earth.

A scream echoed through Hell and Dromos was running before he knew what he was doing. He heard the frightened hisses of Anubis’ jackals.

Hades was the first to arrive.

“Anubis?” asked the Greek god gently and cautiously.

The Egyptian God of the Dead, at the height of his power during the Old Kingdom, whimpered. As he turned, Dromos gasped.

“Why am I sha? Why do I look like the monster who abused Horus?”

Anubis hardly ever spoke. The last time he had…

“Loki Hveðrungr!”

Cackles of foxes and racoons filled the air and Dromos, miserable and defeated, prepared himself for an exceedingly upset and disappointed Lucifer.

Chapter Text

"When Nog, the basking cobra hears the careless foot of man,

He will sometimes wriggle sideways and avoid it if he can,

but his mate makes no such motion where she camps beside the trail,

For the female of the species is more deadly than the male."

― Rudyard Kipling

Sheila was giddy and Nora was not entirely sure why.

“Are you high?” she asked with a smile.

“Just high on life, baby!” exclaimed her friend loudly enough for the other patrons in the bar to overhear.

“Really? That’s surprising considering-“

“Let’s not talk about the Fosters. This is officially a Foster-free zone.” Her hands pointed to the table they were sitting at.

Nora felt a pang of hesitation. They should be talking about this. Their real-estate business was not doing well and the Fosters, Jimmy and Paul Foster, had been their one chance to get ahead of the curve. Portland’s housing market was cooling down and that was not good for them. There was less demand and already, they had trouble delivering. Their company’s numbers were not looking good this year, but then the Fosters had approached them with real money and honest, keen interest in spending a lot of it to settle down in Southwest Hills, moving from San Francisco to Portland by the end of this year.

However, just when they were about to close the deal, Brandon Miller of Blackstone Real Estate, a small but old and established real estate company in Portland, snatched their golden goose and they were left high and dry. They had to deal with this, but tonight was not the night for that, apparently.

“So, spill. What has you in such a good mood?”

Sheila’s grin was wide.

“Last night, because of you-know-what, I went to a bar by myself, got myself this hunk of a man and had mad, intense monkey sex with him.”

Nora grinned and sing-songed, “Tell me more, tell me more, was it love at first sight? Tell me more, tell me more, did he put up a fight, girlfriend?”

“Not him,” replied Sheila with a laugh. “But there was this other guy. Creepy guy, pretending to be friendly. Short and ugly. Tried to make himself look good, but wow, did he fail! Still creepy and so beta, it was ridiculous. Looked a bit like that fucker Brandon. After my little tryst with the hunk, Creepy Guy approached me, hoping to score. Told him fuck off. Wasn’t too happy about it.”

Worried, Nora asked, “Are you okay? Did he try anything?”

“A weakling like that? He wished. It was exciting, too. Getting laid, and I do mean laid, that guy – James or Jonas, whatever his name was – he knew just how to hit the spot.” She moaned appreciatively. “Glorious. Would bone again. 5/5 recommendation. And then telling Brandon to go fuck himself, that was a power move.”

“Sounds like quite the night,” laughed Nora, remembering Brandon Miller’s soft-spoken sliminess, the beta male to end all betas, and suggested, “Let’s go wreck another Brandon. Bar’s full with them anyway. Or even better, wouldn’t say ‘no’ to another James.”

“Yes, sister! Let’s go hunt,” cackled Sheila.

“Are you on a case?”

Getting a call from Lucifer at 9 AM in morning when he should be sitting in a plane on his way to celebrating his honeymoon was not how Aaron expected his morning to go.

“Is everything alright? Did something happen?”

“One could say so,” was the cryptic reply before he repeated his question. “Are you on a case?”

“No, we had a seminar on de-escalation tactics and are now on our way back. Just as a reminder, you need to participate in the seminar in two weeks. There has been an official request to have all members of the BAU, including consultants, present for this. Do you want me to reschedule? I completely understand if you want to take more time off.” Perhaps this would coax Lucifer into being a bit more revealing about what happened.

“Yes, yes, the sexual harassment prevention seminar. Agent Larson seemed very serious.”

Aaron nodded, both realizing that he would have to be more direct in his questioning and because Larson was very much a by the books personality and did not handle any sort of unorthodox behavior well. Unfortunately, Lucifer was the poster-boy for that.

“Still, what’s going on, Lucifer? Why aren’t you on your honeymoon?”

“Something very interesting happened, you see. I was looking forward to my wedding night. Very much so, and today, I was supposed to be on a plane to Hawaii because Ryan and Candy have both never been and I haven’t visited the islands since long before Kaua’i first formed, about 40-50 million years ago, so it seemed as good of a place to visit as any. However, duty called and I had to cancel both of these plans, of which the first was already in perfect fruition.”

“Are Ryan and Candy okay?” asked Hotch, frowning. Lucifer sounded genuinely furious.

“Perfectly understanding, I assure you. Both understand the importance of duty, though Ryan did mutter something about poetic justice, and having cancelled on lovers due to his own duties and now paying the price,” was Lucifer’s reply.

“Have you contacted them since your return from Hell?”

“No. I have a problem and would very much like to discuss it with you first.”

That could not be good.

“Where are you?”

“In your conference room.”

Hotch nodded, “We’ll be right there. Let me gather the team.”

“Certainly.” Lucifer ended the call after that.

“Aaron?” asked David, worried. The rest of the team was just behind him.

“Lucifer is back and he doesn’t sound happy.”

Not five minutes later they entered the conference room, Aaron leading the way.

“Ah, there you are!” exclaimed the devil, his voice light and genuinely happy to see them. Next to him was a person… man? Aaron could not tell for sure. They were slim and on the tall side, though Lucifer definitely beat him in terms of height, and Aaron could swear they were slightly shorter than Reid but not by much.

Their hair came down to his shoulders, clean but slightly unruly that gave the thick hair with soft curls a chaotic and borderline unkempt look. The hair was striking, and represented the most undefinable coloring Aaron had ever seen. If he had to use a single word, he would have said: fire. There was a lot of red but also orange, yellow and streaks of black. The unruliness of the hair almost made it look like it was alive. Or on fire.

The face was thin and it was impossible to properly distinguish whether it was male or female, leading Aaron to suspect that they were, in fact, gender neutral. They had no facial hair to speak of and Aaron observed the faintest of scars around the person’s lips.

“Loki,” said Rossi, confirming Aaron’s suspicions.

“I told you they were good,” said Lucifer, grinning with pride, looking at his friend.

Loki’s head lifted slightly with pure derision.

“This deduction is hardly a feat

Know they for sure the friends you keep

They read hearts and silly minds

Ordered secrets unwind

Chaos refuses

Rendered useless

Game of minds

Is Theirs

Not.”

Silence followed but only for a second because Reid exclaimed, utterly fascinated and delighted, “That’s flyting. Loki was a master in the art of verbal evisceration. Is a master. Sorry,” he said, chagrined, but Loki’s face showed no sign of being mollified in the face of such excitement.

“So high and mighty, Loki the Great

Your silver tongue lashes with hate

Yet we are but mortal fools

So why unleash your tools

On those not worthy

Pleading mercy

From fire

Fool Am

I.”

Loki’s face formed a terrifying grin, his full attention on Rossi who had pulled that out of Aaron-had-no-idea-where.

“Chaos caught up at the end there.”

“As happened to you.”

“Yes, but we wouldn’t wish for chaos to become a rule. That would defeat its entire purpose,” said Loki.

Rossi acknowledged the verbal blow with a nod, “Until next time.”

“Fool that you are.”

“Fool that I am.”

“What is your name?”

“Not that much of a fool, I assure you.”

“David Rossi, Aaron Hotchner, Derek Morgan, Emily Prentiss, Jennifer Jareau, Dr. Spencer Reid, Penelope Garcia,” said Lucifer quickly. “They are mine.”

The tone in his voice was menacing, a growl low in the throat, instantly commanding obedience.

Loki scoffed, meeting the devil’s eyes unafraid. Lucifer’s expression did not waver and he met the trickster’s gaze resolutely. The battle of wills took about a minute, and Aaron was sure something more was going on that they could not see. Goosebumps formed on his arms and he felt chilly; looking at his team, he was not alone.

A nod from Loki caused Lucifer to beam with happiness.

“Great, you’re safe. Make sure not to name names Loki will undoubtedly try to weasel out of you, and make sure not to mention members of your family with their full name until I am able to make official introductions and stake my claim as Lord of Hell.”

“So, Loki’s here to stay?” said Morgan very, very carefully.

The trickster’s grin widened and they moved – glided more like – very close to Aaron’s second in command, his fingers just barely hovering over his chest, “Perhaps. Or, you could free me at any time.”

“Lucifer?” Morgan asked, his voice half an octave higher than his usual timbre. One could argue that he squeaked and given Reid’s barely suppressed mirth, the team would not let him forget it any time soon.

“Don’t act like I have spellbound you, you menace; you are deservedly here on probation and if you make their lives harder because you’re feeling sore about it, I will send you to my kids’ dimension and let Leviathan know that it’s perfectly okay to chase you.”

“He’s a baby,” countered Loki, “and he likes me.”

“He’s several hundred million years old and he likes Jör, which is why he won’t kill her parent, but that won’t stop him from hunting you down. He’s a master of the chase after all.”

“They grow up so fast, don’t they?” sighed the Norse God of Fire wistfully.

“Yes,” confirmed Lucifer, his voice filled with nostalgia and sadness, but then he looked to the team. “Loki made his move, played his prank, ruined my wedding night, and pissed off Anubis to the point he lost his temper. So, I had to take Loki with me or the world would be short of a trickster. He’s here on probation because I’m not leaving him here on Earth unsupervised.”

“I see,” said Aaron. “Mr.-Loki,” he corrected himself, “Welcome to Quantico. I am not sure how much Lucifer has told you-“

“Knights of justice, going after those who will hurt others, hunters of evil, etc. etc. I stopped listening, sounded dreadfully boring, to be honest.”

“In that case,” said Lucifer, unperturbed, “Let me give you something to do. There is always a lot of paperwork to do back at Astra, and Ryan is currently trapped in some sort of paperwork hell that I find absolutely inspiring-“

“Lucifer,” said Morgan, alarmed. “Please talk to your spouses first before roping faerie queens into their affairs.” Loki smiled at Morgan again, eyes dark and full of mischief. The experienced profiler did not look comfortable under the trickster’s scrutiny.

“Dr. Linda also has tons of paperwork to file now that she splits her time between working for the FBI and building up her own clinic in DC.”

“Lucifer,” sighed JJ.

“Find me a case,” said the devil. “Please.”

“Talk to Candy and Ryan. They’ll understand,” said JJ instead.

The devil’s shoulders slumped; he grabbed Loki’s arms and they were gone.

“Okay. Do we have a case?”

“Nothing that cannot be done with remote consulting,” said Aaron. “Reid, take this afternoon to find everything you can about Loki. If Lucifer is unwilling to leave them out of sight, I need to know who exactly we’re dealing with. Garcia, build up a truth-based background that would allow us to hire him, or at least, let us take him along on our cases. Dave, you built a rapport with Loki, so I will be leaving them with you if Lucifer is not available. Take this afternoon to practice some flyting.” Reid made a sound that resembled that of a kicked puppy. “Take Reid with you once he’s done with his task. Morgan, tell me if Loki’s presence makes you uncomfortable.”

“I can handle it,” said the man. “He just… his eyes are predatory.”

Aaron nodded in understanding, but it was clear that Morgan wanted to handle his issues with the old god on his own. Being the one who usually handled non-human visitors with the least amount of uneasiness, Loki’s appearance had to vex him more than the rest, who had all already gone through their personal struggles since knowing Lucifer.

“Prentiss, you and Morgan do the consulting work that piled up, but also make sure you’re up to date on what Lucifer so affectionally calls ‘the menace.’”

“What about you and JJ?” asked Dave.

“We’ll be looking for a case.”

Nora was not too surprised to get a text from Sheila in the WhatsApp group inviting them all to an early TGIF celebration at yet another bar, but still, they really should be dealing with their company. Sure, the other night had been fantastic, but still, they could not continue to drown their sorrows in alcohol and hookups, they needed to-

“Pity that Vanessa had to cancel,” said Julia.

“Oh, Cox,” said Sheila, “it’s fine. I mean, she hasn’t been contributing much to our circle lately, hasn’t she? She has been very tame since she got married and now that she spends all of her time with her darling boy, she doesn’t really make time for us.”

That was true, Nora had to admit. Things had changed quite a bit what with Shannon and Vanessa getting married and no longer spending all of their weekends with them. Sheila and her also had to spend a lot of time at their company, trying to make it work in the real-estate business. Life used to be easier when they were in their early twenties. She missed the good times.

Sheila proceeded to talk about yet another hookup she had last night when Nora was not with her.

“-then I gave the beta what he deserved. He didn’t catch more than a glimpse of me before I got it on with that hunk of a man.”

“That’s dangerous, don’t you think?” said Shannon; their friend had ever been the worrywart of the group, trumped only by Vanessa. “I mean, when you told him off, the guy could have hurt you.”

Sheila dismissed the concerns with a wave of her hand, causing them to change topics.

Later that evening, the rest of the clique bid their goodbyes, but Nora – having noticed how Sheila had drunk more alcohol than she should – stuck around to make sure her friend got home safe.

“Want to have some more fun?” asked Sheila giddily. “I can show you how it’s done. We did the alpha man the other night, but today you should totally have the full experience. Come on! See that guy over there?” There was a thin, shy guy at the bar, looking around but not really talking to anyone. “Go flirt with him, and dismiss him. Refusing some weak little man is a rush, I’m telling you, and then you go for one of these beefcakes over there.” There were a group of men their age, obviously having a good time, all good-looking, all in good shape, and Nora wetted her lips.

“Sheila-“

“Trust me,” said her best friend, so naturally, Nora went along with her suggestion and approached the bar. She noticed that the guy was a bit taller and stronger than she had anticipated, but she put her hesitation aside and did exactly as Sheila had told her. She let him talk to her, flirt and – once he was hooked – she led him somewhere quiet at the back of the bar. Sheila was not far behind, Nora could see that, so she moved the plan up to Phase 2.

Rejection.

“Hey, slow down, cowboy,” said Nora, chuckling lowly as the guy was trying to feel her up. “I didn’t say ‘yes’ to anything.” She pushed him away from her.

“Don’t be a tease,” said the guy, his good-natured expression shifting to something ugly and dangerous.

“You’re not my type,” said Nora, hoping that the fear would soon give way to that adrenaline rush Sheila had mentioned.

“Then why the fuck did you-fuck off, bitch, and take your games with you,” he hissed and pushed her against the wall.

“Don’t touch her, asshole,” hissed Sheila and pushed the man aside who lunged at her, so Nora grabbed his shirt to pull him off of her friend, her body one exposed nerve as blood pumped to every single one of her limbs, ready to flee or fight. She felt warm, her head strangely empty, and she ducked before the guy could hit her.

Where the hell was the security of this place?

Suddenly, her attacker gasped hoarsely, as if the air had left his lungs, and that was when she saw the knife in Sheila’s hand. In a second move, her friend just-the knife-there was blood… Nora did not understand.

“Wha-Wha-Shei-“

There was a roaring sound echoing in her ears and Nora felt numb. Had the guy stabbed her, too? What was happening?

“Come on, Nora, come with me, it’s okay. It’s okay.”

She heard her friend’s soothing voice; numbly, she followed her best friend.

Sheila’s hands had no blood on them, Nora noticed, and that was when Nora remembered her friends putting on gloves when they left their table.

“Did you plan this?”

“What? No!” exclaimed Sheila, once they were away from the club, and back in-when had Sheila guided her back to her apartment? “No, of course not. That guy wanted to kill you. He might have raped you! He got what he deserved.”

“The-he-We’ve got to call the police.”

“And get arrested? They won’t believe us. Why would they? We were asking for it. Remember? We’d get in trouble for what that asshole tried to do to us. We can’t tell anyone. Not even the girls, okay?”

Feeling numb still, Nora wondered if the dude’s blood was on her.

“I saved your life.”

She just nodded, but was unable to express her gratitude. This was a nightmare of epic proportions.

She really should do something about the blood scent still lingering in her nose.

“Come on, let’s get you cleaned up.”

“Okay.”

Chapter Text

“Mazikeen, my darling,” exclaimed Loki, at her side instantly.

“Oh no.”

Her panicked expression would have been amusing if Lucifer had not been too busy looking apologetic. It was not that Mazikeen hated Loki, but they weirded her out.

“You look wonderful. The Earth atmosphere becomes you, though I do wish you did not have to wear a mask across your perfect face,” cooed the trickster.

:Keep an eye on them: Lucifer communicated non-verbally, which was rejected rather emphatically by his head-demon, but Lucifer left before she could make her displeasure known. He would talk to her later, but first, he had meet with his spouses or this had the potential to end really badly. He knew they were at Ryan’s place, so he lost no time and used Shadow Stride reach the place. Approaching the apartment door, he paused and – though he should probably feel bad – listened in on the conversation.

From the sounds of it, Ryan was unpacking and Candy was making coffee or tea. They were talking about previous vacations, Ryan specifically talking about what he called his ‘wild days’ in Amsterdam; yes, that deserved air quotes because, while his husband may be rather talented in bed, he was not exactly what Lucifer would call exceedingly promiscuous. Candy had traveled little outside of the US, so Ryan was regaling her with stories from his own travels. He was careful not to relay the regions he had visited while on deployment, but he had visited every major European city and knew quite a bit about their history. Candy’s questions were less about history – she was a well-educated lady after all – but more about the people he met and the places he could recommend.

“I hope he’s not feeling too bad about it,” said Ryan causing Lucifer to lower the hand he had raised to knock on the door.

“He sounded very angry,” said Candy.

“Yes, but that’s mostly because he hates disappointing us. And because we-well, anyway, chances are this’ll happen again. We all have our lives. If I learned anything about marriage from my friends, it’s that duty comes first and when it’s not calling you, you savor every moment. For the three of us, this is just a triple-dose. You have a business that needs your attention, I’m a soldier and on top of it all, the two of us decided to marry the ruler of an entire realm. We’ll deal.”

Lucifer knocked on the door.

“It’s open!” said Ryan, but the unasked question hung in the room. He clearly was not expecting Lucifer, even thought he had told them that he would be back as soon as possible.

“Hey!” Happily, Candy wrapped her arms around him. “Are you okay? What happened?”

“Loki cashed in on Dromos’ promise.”

“Yikes!” Ryan exclaimed. “Bad?”

“He’s on probation.”

“What does that mean?” asked Candy, frowning. “And who’s his probation officer?”

“It means that I brought him here. To Earth. Under my supervision. He’s currently at Astra being minded by Mazikeen. Loki has not seen her in ages, so that should keep them occupied until I’m back. She likes mothering Mazikeen.”

Candy was remarkably unbothered about it, nodding along, but Ryan was frowning.

Frowning was not good in a relationship, Lucifer was sure, and should definitely be absent in newlyweds.

“Are we taking Loki on our honeymoon?”

“I’d rather postpone, actually. For a year or so. We’ll go to Hawaii this year for sure, but they’ll come with us. We’ll think of something else. Any other place you’ve wanted to see?”

Lucifer could barely stand to look at them. He knew this was not what they desired and he had made a promise with these vows. He was not really sure why he was feeling like his heart wanted to jump out of his chest, but this sure as Hell was not the way he wished to start their marriage.

A strong hand encased his chin causing Lucifer to meet Ryan’s eyes, “No need to overcompensate. Loki’s your friend.”

“He’s a menace!” hissed Lucifer.

“Who obviously felt like he needed to manipulate a situation into spending some time with you,” said Candy.

Ryan was silent, clearly struggling more with the idea than Candy. Lucifer wondered if telling Ryan about Loki being the one to teach him the ropes concerning sex had been the right move, but then he had not expected these two to ever meet, and Loki as a lover deserved recognition. In his defense, they had been curious about Lucifer’s firsts and asked when he had first discovered sex to be a pleasurable pastime. Well, Candy had asked, and Ryan had listened. Lucifer probably should have gone less into detail. Candy viewed sex as something very clinical, so she dealt with this differently; to Ryan, sex was not only an intensely private affair, it was also extremely personal and connected to his complicated relationship with his family.

“He’s in the doghouse. I’ll have Maze take care of him,” Lucifer heard himself say. He did not enjoy this situation; he wanted Loki around; Hell, he was one of the few who could calm the storm that was the trickster’s roaring mind – as per his former lover’s own admission – and one of the few whose presence Loki could stand. However, he had so little time with his spouses, he was not sure how to…

Ryan took his hand, and enclosed it with his, “When Greg called the other day, you gave me a ride. They’re your friend. Don’t feel bad for wanting to be there for them.”

“I don’t want him here,” whined Lucifer.

“Then why haven’t you saddled him on a sibling, calling in a favor? Amenadiel so badly wants to make amends, he would do it, too,” said Ryan, all too reasonable. As if reason and Loki even fit into the same universe.

“Amenadiel would kill him about a week in,” he responded. “Loki would just mess with the babies. No, I-“ he paused, looking at Candy; she was smiling and her eyes were calling on the bluff. Ryan was looking at him, no less aware that he was not saying everything. “Okay, I have missed them. They haven’t done any true mischief in… it’s been a long time; the prank war doesn’t count.”

“Prank w-never mind... Spill. What’s up?”

“He’s a menace… and a mess. She called for help and I didn’t come. Couldn’t come,” whispered Lucifer, burning with anger over the injustice of their shared pain; Loki’s punishment at the hands of the Æsir; his punishment at the hands of Dad; their Fall from so-called grace happening at the same time.

“Did your father forbid interference with justice of the old gods?” asked Ryan, clearly having followed his line of thought.

“No,” and damn, his voice broke even though Lucifer was trying so hard to keep it steady. “I couldn’t because I was in a smoking pit, unable to move. He prayed and prayed and I didn’t come. Couldn’t. They haven’t been the same since.”

Candy hugged him, and he felt the Light return.

“So, you don’t want to ignore his call for help,” concluded Ryan.

“Yes.”

“Okay.”

“What?” Confused, Lucifer looked at his husband.

“Okay. Good enough for me. If Ben asked for help, I’d be there. Every time. Loki means a lot to you. Good enough. Let’s meet.” Lucifer pulled Ryan into their hug.

They took Ryan’s car, but Candy was at the wheel. She did not have a car of her own, but she loved to drive, was good at it, too. Candy still hoped Ryan’s old team would take her to some stunt-driving park one day despite Ryan’s assurances that they were not that kind of special operators… Naturally, he was currently contacting people who had access to that kind of facilities, but Candy did not know about that.

“So, anything we should know about handling Loki?” asked Ryan.

“Yes. You can’t. If he feels like you wish to control them, she’ll make sure you’re forever aware of its impossibility,” said Lucifer.

Candy giggled, “Oh, don’t tell our husband that this is something he can’t prepare for.”

“I’m good at improvising,” said Ryan, his tone wavering between amusement and defensiveness.

“Sure, but only when things go awry. You don’t like things going awry.”

Lucifer could see the humor in Candy’s teasing, he could, but he did not feel like laughing. He felt like this might put a strain on their marriage, which had barely even started, a simple bud just starting to blossom, and Loki had a talent to render young flowers dry and dead; after all, he was Hela’s father. Candy would deal, Lucifer knew, because she was independent and not always around, but Lucifer could not quite fathom how his favorite soldier would respond.

“You okay?” Ryan’s concerned gaze met his. “I could swear I was just witnessing the sun set.”

“Sun’s not out today,” sighed Lucifer, looking out into the rain. He wondered if there was a storm coming; it would certainly fit his luck.

“Not the sun I’m talking about. Perhaps, I’m talking about its creator,” said Ryan.

“I don’t wish to cause you any pain,” said Lucifer after a moment’s hesitation.

“And you think Loki’s presence will?”

“They will certainly test your patience… drive you up a wall for certain, I-“

“Lucifer, remember what I told you about other lovers?”

“That I should let you know if I fell in love?” said Lucifer hesitatingly, definitely remembering the conversation.

“Yes, and that I will find a way to let them into my life, because they are part of yours. Granted, chaos is not what I had in mind, but when I agreed to marrying the devil, I kind of expected that.” Ryan’s smile was soft.

Lucifer kissed his husband’s hand, “It’s not what you think. I have no intention of rekindling that relationship beyond the platonic bond we have now.”

“Even better,” said Ryan lightly. “Then let’s meet them.”

Maze was the only person capable of babysitting Loki; that was mostly because she brought the trickster’s mother hen personality to the fore.

On the other side of the equation, Mazikeen was keeping a firm ten-foot distance between herself and the frost giant.

“And that Linda is treating you like the princess you are?”

“Yes, she does,” said Mazikeen quickly.

“Yet, she’s not with you now, serving you hand-and-foot?”

“I would break her fingers if she tried that,” hissed the demon.

“So ferocious. Like fire… and ice. Jör would adore you. Lucifer, darling…”

“No.”

He did not need to hear the suggestion to know it was an idiotic one. Then Loki’s gaze fell on the two humans by Lucifer’s side.

“Hello, my fellow worshipper of chaos,” grinned the trickster, their eyes on Candy.

“Giving me way too much credit,” grinned Candy. “I mean, I can troll people; I’m good at bullshitting and making people think they know me when they have no idea, but chaos? A bit much, wouldn’t you say?”

“Yet, nothing could puzzle our mutual beloved more than what you are at your core; your lack of need for reciprocated fulfillment of passion will forever puzzle him.”

Lucifer chuckled; coming from one of the most sensual creatures he had ever met, this statement was hilarious. He could not express how happy it made him to see his friend so comfortable, however, or at least as comfortable as Loki was capable of being; he had not seen him like this since before they both Fell.

Faster than mortal eyes could follow, Loki was by Ryan’s side, putting long fingers on his chest. As always, their respect for boundaries was inexistent.

“Hello, gorgeous,” he – yes, definitely presenting as a ‘he’ in this moment – purred. “A regular lover! He hasn’t had one of those in years. What shall we do?” he asked, eyes gleaming with mirth. “Fight for Lucifer’s affections? Form a love triangle? What do you humans do these days? Duel? Or we could just all sleep together.”

“Lucifer?” asked Ryan, mildly terrified, but it was Candy who stepped in first.

“For one who just claimed to be Ace, you’ve given away the game quickly, buddy,” said she, stepping between Ryan and Loki, snaking her arms around her husband’s hip. “Hands off. They’re mine.”

Delighted, Loki looked at Lucifer. “I like her.”

“Of course, you do,” sighed Lucifer.

“The male is a bit passive for my taste. You could have chosen someone with a bit more fire,” Loki’s eyes were on Ryan, clearly wishing to provoke a response from his lover.

“Says the frost giant,” said Candy sardonically, her arm still around Ryan’s waist. Lucifer was wondering if he should step in; Candy and Loki clearly got along far too well, and Ryan was difficult to read.

“Welcome to Earth in the year 2017,” said Ryan calmly. “Ever been to the US before?”

“I dropped by for a minor discussion with an insignificant artist who happened to have picked up on Remiel’s vision about the devil coming to Earth. That was a couple of years ago. It was an act of retaliation.”

“You made me a blonde,” growled Lucifer, only half-serious. The comic depiction of him was insulting.

“You made me a brother of the Thunderer and Odin’s adoptive son,” spat Loki, no longer smiling.

“That was not my doing,” said Lucifer defensively. “I am only responsible for the horns… and that’s only because you-“

“Not again!” snarled Maze. “If one of you pranks the other, I will castrate both of you.”

“I object to mutilation of my husband’s appendages. Especially the ones I am especially fond of,” said Ryan, his tone light, with a dead-panned expression. The remark came so unexpected that even Loki said no more on the topic. They were frowning, though, seizing Ryan up, but Lucifer’s favorite soldier did not take the bait and said instead, “The Sandman series came out 1989, which is the Remiel-inspired take on the devil, so you’re missing more than twenty-five years. Anything you were curious about? How do you guys even keep up?”

The general question included Lucifer, compelling him to answer.

“You humans don’t change as quickly as you might think. Some things never change, and the rest, your inventions, your governments, your ever-shifting zeitgeist, your cultures… That we can easily keep up with, though it is mostly projected through the eyes of sinners,” said Lucifer.

He smiled when Ryan looked slightly taken aback, “Don’t look so surprised, my dear soldier. War isn’t the only constant across the millennia.”

“And your progress is very cute when one has the power to bend the laws of nature at will,” said Loki with a condescending smile. “Your mortal mind is strongly limited in its capacity for any kind of deeper understanding.”

“I don’t agree,” contradicted Lucifer and was instantly backed up by Maze, although she said nothing. “Their minds are different, sure, and yes, a mortal mind cannot fully the greater whole without going insane. However, that doesn’t make their minds shallow or limited. Their understanding of social structure and interaction supersedes ours, for one, especially if ones considered the timespan at their disposal. And if you were to talk with them instead of barbing insults at them, you’d see that.”

Loki dismissed the notion with a huff, and poured himself a generous glass of top-shelf whisky at the empty bar.

And Lucifer understood all too well. Loki did not want to interact with the humans because they might come to like them and then he would inevitably have to wait for their deaths. Loki once had the ‘gift’ – as much of a ‘gift’ as Hell has been for Lucifer – of foresight. She had known just how many of his children they would need to bury.

The only good thing, Loki had said, about his punishment, was that the torture had destroyed this painful ability; one could only see one’s fate so many times before the mind decided that it had enough. It was freeing, to not know what could happen… and terrifying; and befriending humans was not something one took upon lightly.

Lucifer was not quite sure what his facial expression showed, but both Ryan and Candy hugged him. Maze looked miserable, too, fully aware of the implications. He did not pull her into a hug – while their relationship had changed, they still did not hug on a regular basis – but their eyes met; their shared pain eased the burden of having included mortals in their lives. Observant as he was, Ryan let go of Lucifer and walked over to Maze, sitting down next to her.

“A little bird told me that Linda decided to put her professional focus on law enforcement and vets, instead of civilians. The VA will be thrilled to have her,” said Ryan.

“Johnson’s got a big mouth on him,” said Maze moodily.

“Loretta was the one who told me. To be a fly on the wall when you four went out together,” grinned Ryan.

Maze scoffed, “Johnson is tolerable with ‘Retta around.”

“What a ringing endorsement,” laughed Ryan. “I’ll be sure to let him know.”

Not one to be ignored, Loki inserted himself between Maze and Ryan, “Who is annoying my darling Mazikeen?”

Mazikeen scoffed and looked away, “He’s not that bad.”

It was Lucifer’s turn feel a wave of fondness for his dear friend. Her relationship with Ryan’s best friend was a turbulent one, mostly because it galled her that Benjamin was intelligent, eloquent and unafraid of going toe to toe with her in defense of Ryan, who had been Maze’ main concern.

“If you tell him I said that,” said Maze, glowering at Ryan, “I will make you regret the day you stepped into Lux.”

Ryan’s smile was wide and earnest, and Lucifer’s heart swelled when he heard his husband’s reply.

“Not a chance.”

“Excuse me while I go hurl out my insides. That was too saftfyldt for my stomach.” The trickster looked genuinely disgusted with the situation, but Lucifer could not bring himself to counter that statement. Ryan meant what he said and Lucifer complied all too happily with the invitation for a kiss.

“Oh please,” said Candy, beaming at them with equal fondness. “That did not come close to how sappy these two can be… Hey!” she squealed when Ryan’s skillfully bumped her hips causing her to stagger.

They could do this. It would not be easy and Loki clearly had his issues with Ryan, but with Maze by their side, Lucifer was confident that integration of Loki into his currently very mortal life was possible.

Thankfully, his spouses were fast asleep after enjoying their makeshift wedding night – Maze accepted another night of babysitting, claiming that to be her wedding gift to them – when Lucifer felt time coming to a stop.

Putting on his favorite bathrobe, he joined his brother on the balcony; he liked wearing silk because of how it made him feel, but as far as his bathrobe choices were concerned, nothing could beat the cozy fluffiness that was the purple robe Ryan had given him.

“Is it wise to introduce chaos into your life?” asked his older brother, claiming to be genuinely concerned.

“Why are you here?” he retorted with a sigh.

“The souls of the deceased are whispering, Lucifer. Even those destined for Heaven have come to fear Death,” said Amenadiel, unaware how the mere mention of Azrael caused Lucifer to stiffen angrily. “Loki isn’t the only one calling for you to heed them.”

“Funny that,” chuckled Lucifer darkly. “You see, Loki has done a lot of things, but they never betrayed me.” Ignoring his older brother’s visceral reaction to the reminder, Lucifer wordlessly bid him farewell. “Do turn on time when you leave, please. Thank you.”

Chapter Text

Sheila never knocked before she entered Nora’s office. It did not matter whether Nora was in a meeting, on the phone or otherwise occupied; if Sheila needed her, she would stand in Nora’s office.

Today she knocked.

Nora wondered what that meant. They had not really talked about what had happened two nights ago. Nora had anxiously watched the news all day yesterday at home and today at work, ignoring her ever-growing to do list. While it was briefly reported in the local online newspaper (‘Violent crime at Chester’s. One man stabbed last night. The police are asking for leads.’), there really was not much to go on. Nora hoped it would stay that way. After calling in sick yesterday, she knew she would have to come in today.

Not that anyone could fire her, and they had only few employees, but she felt like her absence would be noted and somehow connected to the homicide.

Homicide.

God, her best friend had murdered a man in front of her.

Sure, the action had been in defense of her, and who knew what the creep would have done, but she had trouble forgetting the blood.

So much blood.

She wondered if they left fingerprints somewhere, and if the police found traces of them at the crime scene.

Crime scene.

Oh God!

“Nora, sweetie, you in there?”

“Yeah, come in,” said Nora.

Even her own voice sounded different. Had she said a word since the other night? She sounded hoarse to her own ears.

“How are you feeling?” asked Sheila softly. Her ice-blue eyes were warm and concerned, inadvertently reminding Nora that this was her best friend. Nora trusted her with her life; faith, which had paid out the other night. After all, Sheila had been ready to kill for her. That meant something; even if thinking about it hurt.

“Confused. Kinda nauseous. Scared. Sheila, what if the police find out about this?”

“It was self-defense,” said Sheila. “The creep attacked you. For saying ‘no.’”

“We should’ve stayed,” protested Nora quietly. “We should’ve…”

“And then what? We were out there to party. To have fun. But you know how the justice system will see it. They’ll drag our history through the mud. Indirectly calling us sluts, packed up in fancy lawyer terms. Saying we asked for it because of the way we were dressed. They might punish us for defending ourselves. For not going along.”

Nora wanted to protest, she really did, but she could see it all too clearly. It was true.

“So, what do we do?”

“Remember this,” said Sheila. “We were never there. We weren’t.”

“But… We bought drinks. We-somebody may have seen us.”

“Who? Chester’s is located nowhere close to our usually spot and I paid cash.”

A knot formed in Nora’s gut at that admission, “Sheila, did same thing happen before? Did you plan this?”

Her best friend stiffened. Her voice clipped, she asked, “Are you seriously asking me whether I planned on you being cornered and nearly raped? Do you think I would do that? Are you kidding me?”

“No,” said Nora immediately, unable to look at her friend. “Of course not. Never. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean it like that.”

“No, you just asked me if I planned on putting you in danger so that I could kill some loser beta with an attitude,” fumed Sheila.

“I didn’t-no, I’m-God, this is a nightmare. I’m sorry. You’re my best friend.”

“So, you’re not going to rat me out to the police.”

“Never,” said Nora quickly. “I just-I never wanted this. I-What do we do?”

“Live life. Forget about it. We were never there.”

“We were never there,” repeated Nora quietly, feeling like she could breathe again for the first time. They would overcome this somehow. Sheila was a rock. Her rock.

And she was right. She would not throw away that friendship over some faceless guy who would have done who-knew-what to her.

Best friends helped each other burying bodies in the desert. They did not rat each other out.

“Laufey was my mother,” said Loki, his voice taught and cold, watching a nervous Garcia fiddle with her laptop. “Laufeyson makes no sense for it is father to son or mother to daughter. Thus, I would be Laufeydóttir or Fárbautison, neither name would seem even remotely acceptable in today’s world. I could be Morningstar, too.” His smile wide, he looked at the devil who was fiddling with his phone.

“Nope,” said Lucifer without looking up and without further elaboration, which was odd. As vague as Lucifer usually was in his explanations, he usually gave them something.

“But-“

“You can’t have Venus, dear,” said Lucifer. “Sorry.”

Fuck it.

Vague was perfect. Vague sounded exactly the way Lucifer should continue to be when it came to Loki. Derek did not even want to attempt to make this statement out, what it would mean for Loki to own a planet. That they could own a planet after being named after it by humans. Had some hapless angel accidentally promised them Earth at some point? Could that happen?

Derek felt a headache coming up.

“What about Skywalker?” suggested Reid, apparently headache-free, mostly excited about getting to know the trickster, a known god when it came to debates and anything word-related. “In some parts of the Edda, you are referred to as Sky Treader, which is a bit archaic and while you would get a lot of Star Wars remarks with Skywalker, you might even enjoy messing with people who make that connection. Unfortunately, the name Loki was not particularly popular until the 2000s, so you look a bit old for this name to be common for the age bracket you appear to be in. But I think Loki is fine. Interestingly enough, this popularity started even before the first Marvel movies came out, and I’m not really sure why that happened.”

Loki did not look at all bothered by the rapid-fire speech of Derek’s young colleague. On the contrary, they looked intrigued.

“Marvel movies?”

“You know… Marvel? It’s a publishing company that uses old lore as well as original characters and package it all up into graphic novels. I was never much into them, but they do use Norse lore. A couple of years back, they started a successful movie franchise.”

“Oh really?” asked Loki, and something about their tone had the hair on the back of Derek’s neck stand up. “Were we in it?”

“You know the answer to that question and no, they are not going to tell you who portrayed you unless they want said actor to be subjected to an enormous amount of pain,” said Lucifer quickly, looking at Reid and Derek with an unusually unsettled expression. “Remember, names have power for fairy queens, and so do wishes, and while Loki won’t hurt you, I cannot guarantee the safety of the one who portrayed him.”

“I’ll let everyone know. But you know this information is readily available, right?” Derek added quietly after pulling Lucifer away for a moment (even though he did not trust Loki alone with Reid; not even a little bit), not doubting for a second that Loki heard him just fine. He doubted Loki would be kind enough to not listen the way all the angels and demons in his acquaintance usually were.

“Yes, but I have power, too, Agent Morgan, and Loki is forced to outwit me or one of mine if they want the name. Apologies,” he added ruefully, aware that he put quite a bit of responsibility on his mortal friends’ shoulders.

“It’s okay,” said Derek, putting a hand on the contrite devil’s arm. “Why not entirely prohibiting it, though? Wouldn’t that be easier for everyone involved?”

A complicated range of emotions passed over Lucifer’s expression, and Derek was once again reminded that there was a reason for practically everything their favorite devil did. These reasons could range from the petty to the universe-threateningly serious, and Lucifer rarely gave them all his reasons. Here, though, Derek just knew that the answer was the love for a friend and former lover. He let Loki play this game because it made them happy, and if it tangentially endangered – but not seriously threatened – a human, Lucifer was willing to go with it.

“I’ll tell the rest,” said Derek gently and he then turned to Loki. “So, Skywalker is out because it’s too much of an opening. Skytreader sounds too old. You are the wordsmith, the Kid’s the most well-read human I know and Rossi’s a writer. Garcia and I won’t help you guys find an innocuous alternative. Come on, Garcia, while they quibble about the best last name, we’ll finish the rest of Loki’s background.”

Rossi looked distinctly put out over being roped into this exercise, but Derek did not trust Loki alone with Reid and Lucifer was Lucifer. The devil was by far a worse babysitter than Maze because he got distracted so very easily, leaving the team alone with Loki because he was flirting with an agent he had not met before. The trickster remorselessly used every bit of Lucifer’s inattention with the intent of driving people up a wall.

“Thanks,” said Garcia once they were in his office. “I don’t understand why he hates me.”

He would kill that damned fairy queen for making his friend so sad.

“Loki doesn’t hate you,” contradicted Derek. “They just… they’re hurting and they don’t understand why Lucifer wishes to spend his time with us.”

That statement made her sad, Derek could just see it, so he changed the subject.

“What do you got so far, Baby Girl?”

“Not much. I mean, we can’t go with the same strategy as with Lucifer, and while he made sense as a consultant, I don’t even know how to start e a good pitch for Loki.”

“How about expert in gender studies?” suggested Emily, joining them with a smile. “They’ll definitely bring a new perspective on that, and it’s not within Lucifer’s expertise. Not explicitly anyway and with no personal connection.”

“Good one,” said Garcia, already typing. “Gimme more.”

“Pagan lore?” suggested Derek. “I mean, Lucifer is our consultant on religion, sure, but everybody here knows that his focus is on Abrahamic religion and Satanism; he’s an expert for the occult, but paganism – while he has a deep understanding of it, he’s not exactly part of it.”

“Good one,” said Emily.

“Still too close to Lucifer’s areas of interest, though,” said Derek. “We need something better. Emily, you and Lucifer already cover any language we could possibly encounter, we’ve got a military consultant, and I shudder to think about the level of havoc Loki would invoke on our troops anyway.”

Or troop.

Ryan was completely loyal to Lucifer, and in extension, quiet about Loki’s presence and how it made him feel, but Derek just knew that Ryan had to struggle with this new person in their lives.

Talk about strain in an early marriage.

“I doubt magic or flyting are capabilities our team is looking for.”

“I am far better torturer than Lucifer could ever hope to be.”

“Jesus motherfucking Christ!” exclaimed Derek, realizing that Emily was not Emily at all.

“That is Lucifer’s little brother, and I am forever baffled why humans decided to worship a human with no extraordinary powers. What the Creator of All thought when he bestowed his favor on a human, I will never understand,” said Loki, now looking like themself. Worried, Derek observed the room to make sure nobody had seen Loki change form in broad daylight.

“Is that how you call Dad?” asked Derek instead of reacting more than he already had.

“I call his Highest Highness many things,” there was a thoughtful pause. “I must admit that I would never have dreamed of punching him in the face.” Derek felt ice-cold eyes observing his every movement and he wanted to hide in a very deep, dark hole. He could only breathe when the pressure let off, with Loki scoffing dismissively. “But then, humans are gifted with a unique level of tolerance when it comes to that particular family. Well, at least for the members that matter, though you really should think about replacing rebellious siblings with better and more competent candidates.”

“First,” said Lucifer, who had obviously been the target of this last barb, “she’s not being rebellious, just sulking. Second, Hela wouldn’t thank me for saddling her with an even more difficult task. Third, I don’t exactly have authority over another archangel’s domain.”

“Really, then who is taking care of Patterns? That domain has been claimed by others.”

“That’s different. I punished him, so I get to choose,” said Lucifer.

“And she does not deserve punishment?”

“She has yet to violate her domain in a manner that would deserve punishment. And I’d leave that one up to Dad, thank you very much.”

“What are you two talking about?” asked Derek, “Is everything okay?”

“Azrael is simply scaring the living daylights out of the dead,” said Lucifer before frowning, “What I mean is that dying is a little less fun than usual.”

“Because…” said Garcia.

“Because we’re not talking to each other. Ironic, given that she has not talked to me in literal eons, but a few months of silence on my end, and she’s taking it out on some innocent soul. Funny,” said the devil, his eyes blazing angrily, “I never did that. Not even to the not-so-innocent ones. Anyway, Azrael has not yet broken Celestial Law, thus no need for your girl to pick up the slack.”

“Yet,” said Loki, grinning. It was obvious that they did not care much for Azrael.

Lucifer’s frown deepened, “She’s the Angel of Death, love, but Narf-“

“Don’t.”

“Hating my sister alongside the Æsir won’t bring you any peace.”

“Think not that peace is the purpose I bring, Lord of Hell,” hissed the Norse god angrily, lashing out as swiftly as a snake.

“I’m not talking about what you bring to the world, dear, I’m talking about your own mind.”

“And you still believe peace is an option in that context. Spending so much time with mortals, especially tame little soldier boys and naïve children that claim wisdom at too young an age have affected you.”

“Ryan’s not a boy and you cannot disparage Dr. Reid’s ingenuity.”

“Soldiers as him have no right to be this idealistic,” countered Loki; he wanted to look dismissive, but he was obviously invested in this particular topic.

“From what he told me, one either believed in the cause or you didn’t do his job. One must be genuine or you fail. So, idealism is at his very core and I happen to adore him for it; it’s sweet, how one who faced his hardships can still genuinely care.”

Loki scoffed and rolled their eyes, “Says you. Of course. Why I am not surprised? As for the child… wisdom comes with age.”

“Sure, but ingenuity doesn’t. You were far more aware than I was when we met and you were so much younger. While neither of us have a claim to wisdom, not even today, you always had a claim on cleverness, even before you were fully you.”

Visibly mollified at the compliment, he grumbled, “Still a child.”

“Well then,” said Lucifer with a smile, “that just means he needs some level of guidance.”

“No.”

Lucifer sighed, “Just talk to him.”

“I have. And no, I’m not befriending the mortals, and when they inevitably pass away, I’ll remind you why.” Loki’s words were clearly meant to lash out. Lucifer’s expression, though, did not change, clearly expecting the jab.

“Fine,” he sighed, “but you heard them. They need a reason to have you on the team.”

“But I don’t want to be on the team.”

“You will be on this team for I am on that team, and I’m not leaving you out of sight.”

“I can always stay with our little Mazie,” suggested Loki.

“Loki. Specialty. Now. Don’t even pretend you haven’t already thought of a perfect way to trick the FBI into hiring you.” Lucifer did not sound annoyed. Instead, he sounded fondly exasperated.

“Isn’t it obvious?”

“No.”

“I am in favor of what the humans have come up with so far.”

“And?”

“Profiling insanity is not possible. The humans know that. They may recognize it, but they do not understand it. Order cannot be found in chaos.”

“It’s a bit more complicated than that, man,” said Derek. “We have a pretty good understanding of the human mind.”

“Of course, you do,” sneered Loki, “but your mind is not suited for it. Not truly. On an intellectual level you may understand, but you feel empathy for those without it. That simply isn’t done.” The trickster’s eyes were icicles, their expression one of indifference.

“You want us to hire you as a high-functioning psychopath?” asked Derek slowly and a bit disbelievingly.

“If that is what you call it, sure.”

“You are not a black hole,” protested Lucifer indignantly.

“Of course not, my lecherous liege, but I am better suited to be one than any of your humans.”

The devil said nothing to that.

“Good idea,” said Hotch who had apparently overheard at least parts of the conversation. “At this point, it’s the only way for us to hire you. We will still need a psych eval and for the life of me, I have no idea how we’ll do this.”

“Oh, that’s easy, Agent Hotchner. I have already asked Raphael. You will be provided with a very fitting evaluation. He won’t lie, but he won’t be traumatized by whatever Loki will say to him, while still providing a report that won't disqualify Loki.”

“I am not sitting down with the Healer.” Loki sounded genuinely furious at the notion.

The genuinely frustrating exchange of ‘you will-I will not’s’ which followed that declaration was interrupted by Jamie Callahan from CIRG, who sat only a few feet away.

“Oh, for the love of God, somebody shoot me!” he muttered under his breath, rolling his eyes. Derek only heard him because he stood right next to him. Loki turned and smiled at Jamie.

It was nightmare-inducing.

“If that is what you wish.”

With terrifying speed (just on the edge of what nature would allow for humans), he stood next to Derek, his hand right where his holster was.

“Loki!”

This was the first time Hotch actually sounded rattled, which in turn, made the trickster very happy.

“What? He was asking for it.”

“No.”

Loki sighed, “Fine, but my point stands.”

“Yes, it does. And I think we can make this work. Lucifer, I’ll need you to talk to Strauss.”

“Oh, naturally, Agent Hotchner.”

It took another week for Loki Bluebird to be officially instated. It had taken all of Lucifer’s and Hotch’s considerable persuasion skills to convince Strauss that Loki would be an excellent addition to the team.

Whatever Raphael had written in that psych eval, it had to be a lesson in careful phrasing, or this would not have happened.

They had no cases that would need their presence, limiting their work to consultation only. While this was great for Derek and the rest of the team in terms of upcoming evaluations, seminars and paperwork, it was trying Lucifer’s patience.

“Do we have one yet?” he asked instead of a greeting. Today, he was not only accompanied by Loki but also by Ryan who had also been invited to the sexual harassment prevention seminar. Agent Larson had insisted that all members of the BAU, consultants included, needed to participate.

“Come,” said Hotch instead of an answer. “Agent Larson is waiting for us.”

The whole BAU unit included two teams – the Red Cell team under Sam Cooper based in California and their team stationed at Quantico – as well as a number of agents associated with them without doing any field work. Everyone was present including their colleagues from HRT. Jamie Callahan made a beeline for Ryan.

“Major Turner! Good to have you with us,” said Jamie, who had a bit of a man-crush on Ryan and was really bad at hiding it. It was almost amusing. Belonging to CIRG, Jamie was basically a member of the FBI version of a direct assault team, and being almost a decade younger than Ryan, he appreciated the combat-trained man’s calm presence.

“Oh, cute, your human has a fan club,” sneered Loki.

“Agent Callahan,” said Ryan genially. “You know me. Always one for seminars.”

“God, you’re here for that? Larson’s been busting our asses to join you guys.”

“Then, we shall not disappoint her, Agent Callahan,” said Lucifer, just as charmingly as his husband, and it would have worked, too, if his right hand were not holding Loki by the collar, pulling them along.

Loki – who still quite adamantly insisted that the agent had offered his life to him by the off-hand comment – bared their teeth, “Yes. Let’s go, Jamie.” It should not be possible for someone who was being dragged along to sound this menacing, but they did.

While a distinctly uncomfortable Jamie led the way, Loki and Lucifer not far behind, Derek pulled Ryan aside.

“You okay?” he asked without preamble, not having seen the man since the trickster showed up. Ryan smiled, but his expression was not as relaxed as usual.

“Yeah,” said Ryan, and added, after a pause, “I still owe you that contact, don’t I? We still got a minute.” He approached Reid’s desk, asked their friend and colleague for a piece of paper and started to write.

Derek had spent too much time as an emergency contact it seemed, because he immediately caught on the deception. It was a brilliant one, for Ryan did owe him a contact, thus his friend was not even lying.

“Here,” said Ryan, handing over the note, “let’s go. In my experience, it’s not a good idea to be arrive last at these things, and my partner is a in a flirtatious mood, so I might have to run interference.”

For all that he had written quickly, the Major’s handwriting was remarkably neat:

Don’t worry. Lucifer is not listening in on my private conversations, but Loki does and they gleefully tell him everything I say. So far, Lucifer has refrained from threatening Loki with sewing his mouth shut; he’s currently weighing out our comfort levels and since I am less likely to be traumatized by a bit of verbal acrobatics than Loki is with being silenced, he’s letting it happen.

As to your question: I’m… coping.

Thankfully, Lucifer hasn’t left me alone with Loki because I’m not sure how that’ll go. Ben’s already up in arms and they haven’t even met yet. Taking one day at a time. Please burn this note; I don’t want Lucifer to feel worse than he already does.

Derek folded the paper and put it in his pocket for later destruction when nobody was watching. It turned out they were a bit late.

“Agent Morgan, good, I was wondering where you were,” said Agent Larson, her eyes sharp and cool.

Shit.

“And Major Turner, I presume. Of course.”

Shit.

“Agent Larson,” said Ryan very politely with an innocent smile, but it was quite obvious that she did not buy it for a second. Derek’s attention fell on Loki whose demeanor was unusually meek. Lucifer looked slightly irritated.

Larson turned back to Loki, “Excuse me, you were saying that you feel judged by Mr. Morningstar?”

Oh, this was going to be fun…

“Yes,” said Loki, looking deceptively sad and vulnerable. “He’s forever the judge of all actions and mercy isn’t his domain.”

“Now, wait a minute…” began Lucifer, but Ryan was already by his side and said something very quietly in either Dari or Arabic, two languages he spoke fluently albeit with an accent.

“I apologize, Loki. I never meant to hurt you,” said Lucifer, somehow managing to sound sincere (because he was) despite his very obvious annoyance. “How can I not make you feel jud- love, that isn’t how Dari works as a language; this isn’t a sentence.” His eyes were now on Ryan who looked like he was two steps away from a headache.

Agent Larson’s eyes were immediately on Ryan, and then back on Loki who was doing a great impression of being intimidated by Ryan’s presence.

“I see,” said Agent Larson, obviously not seeing but judging the situation based on the information she had. “Please, if you feel uncomfortable, feel free to step outside. I can talk to you about proper behavior at the workplace in a more private setting.”

“Loki Bluebird is not to be left alone in this building; either Mr. Morningstar or Mazikeen Smith must be present,” said Derek before Loki latched onto that precarious offer.

“You may think it is appropriate to jail someone in a difficult mental state, Agent Morgan, but…”

“These are the terms to which Loki Bluebird agreed, Agent Larson.” Hotch’s tone brooked no room for argument and Derek wanted to kiss the man for being their knight in shining armor. Larson would not have listened to him.

“Very well, then, Agent Hotchner, but this is my seminar. Mx. Bluebird, please take a seat in the back and let me know if you feel uncomfortable. Is Mr. Morningstar accepting of your gender identity?”

For a moment, Derek thought that Loki would lie, but then he said, “Of all creatures great and small, Lucifer has ever taken my fancies with stride, and did not question my versality. For all that he is judgmental of everyone, he does not judge you for things outside the bounds of free will.”

That mollified Lucifer and he beamed at his friend, who wordlessly handed him a note before strolling to the back.

Frowning slightly, Lucifer unfolded the paper, and only then did Derek realize whose note it had to be, and that the note in the back of his jeans was missing.

Lucifer’s head shot up and he stared at Ryan, his expression heartbroken.

Ryan sighed, but his voice was soft, and his eyes were warm, “Don’t worry. I’m-“

“Coping?”

With a sigh, Ryan put a hand on his husband’s arm, “Later, okay? Don’t worry too much.”

“Coping is not what I had in mind when I made that vow,” said Lucifer, distressed, before his mood shifted and he said more coolly, “Also, my dear soldier, I am fully aware that coping from your lips has a different meaning than if it had come from a civilian. Don’t think you can fool me.”

“I’d truly be a fool to think so, but we’ll talk later, okay? Let’s get on with the seminar.”

“You want to get it over with then,” asked Larson and shit, she really had her issues with Ryan even though she they had only just met.

Their military consultant’s surprised laugh sounded very genuine, but his posture was just a bit on the stiff side, as if trying not to stand attention.

Which was weird because, while Ryan was simply incompetent in the art of being a civilian, he was weirdly non-conformist in the more formal areas of the military, which made profiling him very difficult. Emily and Derek had spent one more or less drunk evening trying to piece him together in the early days of his relationship with Lucifer and they had come up frustratingly empty.

“Not at all,” answered Ryan. “I don’t want to cut back on your time.” With this, he practically pulled Lucifer with him who was trying – and failing – to thaw some of Larson’s ice.

“Sexual harassment isn't always a quid pro quo arrangement,” she began, her eyes on Derek for some reason. “Maybe it's a conversation between two co-workers that makes you feel uncomfortable. Maybe these co-workers use phrases like... ‘Baby girl’ or ‘Chocolate thunder’ or ‘Where's my big black twelve-pack?’”

Oh.

“And that creates a what? A hostile work environment. So, messages like, ‘more cushion for the pushin’-”

Oh no.

“Not appropriate. ‘I'll be cocoa to your Ice-T.’ Not appropriate. ‘Flarpy blunderguff.’ I don’t even know what that means, but not appropriate.”

The entire room started to laugh and looking around, Derek was instantly confirmed in his belief that his coworkers did not really mind his flirting with Garcia; Garcia looked like she wanted the ground to swallow her, and Lucifer’s grin was broad and proud. Hotch and Rossi both looked quietly amused, while Loki’s expression was unreadable; they probably were not impressed with how tame their platonic flirtations were.

Ryan was trying to contain his laughter, and was promptly singled out by Agent Larson.

“Major Turner.”

“Yes?”

“Since it seems that harassment amuses you, let me ask you how much you know about MST. Do you even know what this means?”

“MST stands for Military Sexual Trauma,” answered Ryan, as serious as Derek had ever seen him. “One in fifty men in the Army suffer from MST, which is bad enough, but one in three women become a victim of unwanted sexual contact. In 2014, almost 19’000 service members experienced MST, but only about 6000 reports came in, mostly because COs incriminate themselves whenever they report assault within their troops.”

“What did you do to protect the women in your unit?”

“I didn’t have women in my team, Agent Larson. I served with an all-men team.”

“And you don’t see a problem with that?” asked Larson, visibly angry at the notion.

“I didn’t say that. I believe that every A-team should have at least one female service member with them wherever possible. If you want to win the hearts and minds of the people you live with, it would be highly beneficial to not only communicate with half of the population. That being said, there are restrictions to who can join Special Forces and who can’t. To date, no woman has met the physical requirements necessary to become eligible for the program.”

“Which you fully approve of, I presume,” said Agent Larson, and that was when Lucifer stiffened, and only Ryan’s hand on his arm caused him to stay silent and seated.

“I personally believe that mental fortitude should receive more attention than physical. The physical requirements have prevented many able men and women from becoming Long Tabbers. While restrictions are necessary, and they must fulfill all the requirements to be able to fulfil their duties, some of these requirements are unreasonable and unnecessarily reduce the pool of potential recruits.”

It sounded like he argued this point before and Larson acknowledged his statement with a nod.

“But you also said that you were glad about some of the restrictions because not all missions are suitable for women. For their own protection,” chimed in Lucifer, not realizing that he was throwing his own husband to the dogs. Loki laughed in the background.

Larson shot Ryan a venomous look in response; the man did not notice because he gave his husband a look of sheer despair.

“So, you believe women to be less capable.”

Ryan exhaled, “I believe women to be every way as capable as I am as a member of the US Armed Forces. Skillsets may differ, but this doesn’t take away our contributions. That being said, I have been to places where I would not have wanted a female service member present any more than I would have thought of coming out as gay to the locals. Be it ally or enemy.”

That took Agent Larson by surprise, “Oh, I see. I’m sorry, I didn’t know…”

Her gaze darted to the hand that was still on Lucifer’s arm, and Derek could practically pinpoint the moment she realized her mistake.

“It’s fine,” said Ryan, “Your comments are well-founded. While numbers of MST reports are about fifty-fifty, the ratio of men-women in the Army isn’t, so challenging Army officers about the protection and treatment of women in their ranks makes sense, regardless of our sexuality.”

“Were you one of the one in fifty?” asked Loki, leaning forward, their expression unreadable.

“I have not been a victim of MST,” said Ryan resolutely, a very specific statement that made Derek wonder if he had suffered from sexual trauma in the past. Worried, he looked to his friend, only to feel eyes on him.

Meeting Loki’s gaze, he suddenly knew that they knew about his own trauma. Loki’s eyes narrowed as they leaned back. It was not a secret that Loki had been the victim of sexual abuse, and it was now obvious that the trickster easily recognized it in others.

Boy, he did not want to have that conversation.

Instead, he focused on Lucifer who looked as if he was ready to hunt down whoever had hurt Ryan in the past.

“Please, Agent Larson,” said Ryan smoothly, “you were talking about appropriate behavior at the workplace.”

She did continue, but after Ryan had made it abundantly clear that she went off on the wrong person, her shaming significantly lessened. She practically ended with ‘At least try to be considerate of people within earshot when you must resort to your usual antics’ while ineffectually glaring at Derek, Garcia and Lucifer for good measure.

On their way out, Lucifer wrapped his arm around Ryan’s waist, ignoring Hotch’s warning glance, and asked very casually, “So… do you have a name?”

“Not when you look like you might go on a manhunt the second I tell you his name,” said Ryan.

“I’ll be a tame little devil, I swear,” said Lucifer, “I won’t maim him…. For as long as he’s alive.”

Ryan pulled his husband away with the clear intent of having a private conversation only to realize that Loki was still sitting there, a challenge flashing in their eyes.

He stopped, sighed and then said very quietly, “Promise me you won’t harm him simply because it was me he hurt. Better yet, promise me to avoid punishing him if you can. Leave it up to others. I don’t want you to injure your integrity for my sake.”

“If that is what you desire, love,” answered Lucifer, his face taut, but the hand holding Ryan’s was stroking it gently. “I won’t touch him.”

“His name is Kyle Hollinger. Not the only man I regret sleeping with, but the only one who overstepped his boundaries and did not listen when I asked him to stop.”

Derek nodded, turned and looked straight at Garcia who exchanged glances with Hotch.

“Did you report it? Evidence?” asked Hotch. He looked as ready to break down doors first and ask questions later as Derek was.

Ryan actually smiled, “Guys, it was over a decade ago, and no, there’s no evidence. My career was on the line and I decided to keep my mouth shut. Look, if what he did was damnable-“

“Yes, it was,” chimed in Lucifer helpfully.

“-Then he’ll get his due. No need for the BAU to get involved. Let’s all just cool down.”

“And you are all about the ice, aren’t you?” said Loki provocatively. “If I were in your position, I’d hunt him down, cut open his belly and use his insides to hang him before taking his heart and eat it.”

A chill went down Derek’s spine.

“Oh,” said Reid before adding gently, “Was that Svadilfari’s fate?”

“No.”

With that, the trickster walked away, and Lucifer very quickly following him.

“Reid,” sighed Derek.

“What, I…”

“Look, just don’t. I know, I know you want to get to know him, but from what we read, Loki was pretty young when he gave birth to Sleipnir, and I doubt he ever overcame that trauma. Time doesn’t heal this kind of wounds. Therapy does. Speaking of-“

“I know,” sighed Ryan, “I know. I never talked to the shrink about it. I probably should.”

“You really should. Gotta take care of yourself, man. Both Loki and Lucifer are worse off than you from a mental health perspective, and they need you. What about Candy? She here?”

“Crisis back home. Nothing she can’t handle, but she had to leave quite abruptly.”

“And now?”

“Just… find him a case, please. Tensions are running so high I don’t know how much longer it can go on like this.” Poor guy looked beat.

It was their first regular Friday since that night. The whole clique was present. Sheila convinced them to hit another club this time around to change the old routine. Even Vanessa was able to join.

“Good to see that you found time out of your busy schedule to join,” said Sheila as she hugged their friend who was late because she had to drop off her kid at her mother’s.

“I was sorry to miss it last time, hun, how are you?” said Vanessa, hugging her back.

“All good, all good, oh, will you look at that? Fresh meat just entered the chat.”

Nora followed her gaze and saw two men enter the club.

Damn, the one in the front looked good!

Sheila hummed, “How about adding some spice to a boring night, ladies?”

“Sheila, no,” said Vanessa. “We so rarely see each other, I don’t think-“

“And whose fault is that?” said Sheila sharply. “It’s not like Nora and I don’t invite you guys every time we go out. But family first, right?”

“That’s a bit unfair, wouldn’t you say?” said Julia carefully.

“Oh, Cox, I’m just messing with you, but seriously, don’t you want to see their your-last-name? Look at that guy. Like Thor in human flesh.” While she spoke, the hunk looked over.

Sheila grinned and threw her head back in a challenging manner, daring the man to come over. It worked, of course. It always worked.

The man – so obviously alpha in all that counted – pulled along another man who reluctantly followed suit. He was thinner, slightly shorter and awkward.

Typical beta kind a guy.

For the first time since that night, Nora was feeling horny. And when Sheila’s lips formed a smirk, her eyes on the beta, Nora felt a jolt of adrenaline spike through her; at first, she thought it was fear and the horror that had followed the immediate aftermath of that night. It was not, though; it was something else.

It scared her, yes, but the fear felt strangely good in her veins. This weakling would not be able to touch her.

“I’m very sorry for your loss, Mr. Grant,” said Detective Jiah Park very gently. Thomas Grant was almost two feet taller than her, but the loss of his best friend had shrunken him down. Utterly confused, he looked up from his seat.

“I don’t understand. He was the gentlest, sweetest guy on the planet. He was so shy. I don’t- How could this happen?”

Detective Park did not know what to say. She had no answers. She could not tell him that this was the third case in a short time period. Once she calmed him down and got a statement, she called her superior.

“John, I think we’re way over our head here.”

Colonel Jason Montgomery stared at Major Simmons and PM Edelstein.

“We can’t risk it. Edelstein, who are the very best at figuring this out? I want them here. I don’t care who they are. Just make sure they know how to keep things confidential.”

Chapter Text

Lucifer’s current demeanor was reminding her more and more of how things used to be before they left Hell.

It should please Mazikeen; she had missed his ruthlessness, his confidence and the natural grace with which he commanded his surroundings. Not that this had entirely disappeared after coming to Los Angeles, but it notably toned down in favor of being saccharine sweet with his humans, especially once Delilah became a part of his life.

It did not please her, though.

Despite what the humans thought, though, this change of behavior was not due to Loki’s arrival. As much as the trickster relished in inciting chaos and disturbing comfortable routine – his most preferred victim being Turner –Loki’s presence tended to amuse and entertain Lucifer more than anything else. Lucifer relished in chaos and observed it with unholy glee.

The humans blamed it on Loki, though, because their senses were dull. But then, Lucifer had not expressed a tenth of the tension he felt around his humans. They probably thought he was just frustrating in his inability to lay with Turner because of Loki’s constant presence.

That was true in part, but still…

“So, Loki, it’s a pleasure to finally meet you,” said Linda formally, unaware of Maze’ musings. “How do you adjust to the modern world?”

“Humans are as boring as ever,” said Loki provocatively. When Mazikeen growled in response, he amended, “Although some of the variety increased, I must admit. Music in particular. I like Jazz the most, if only for its inherent chaos. And the food has changed. If I have to make any concession to human creativity, it is that you have found lots of different ways to keep yourself fed.”

She reminded herself that the only reason she was doing this was because Lucifer desired to be alone with his husband in order to release at least some of the tension surrounding him.

“Do you have a phone I could use?” asked Loki, deceptively polite, “Lucifer refuses to give me one of my own.”

Automatically, Linda reached for hers, but Maze stopped her, “Why?”

“Oh, I just want to let Lucifer know what a fabulous time I’m having,” answered the trickster innocently. “My darling Mazikeen.”

“Let them be, Loki.”

“They’re getting to the good part.”

“Loki!”

“Why so prudish?” asked Loki. “Honestly, that block of ice is rubbing off on both you and Lucifer.”

“You’re a frost giant.”

“And a god of fire,” retorted Loki without blinking. “You refer to him as Turner, darling, don’t even pretend you like the soldier.”

She did not. It did not matter how happy Turner made Lucifer, and that he was an honorable kind of guy who was as loyal to Lucifer as Dromos or her; he would devastate Lucifer for centuries to come. At least with da Vinci, Lucifer never had him, and hardly spent time with him; Ryan’s death would be a hundred times worse.

And Candy’s death.

And the others.

And Lin-

“Just, leave them be. They don’t have enough time as it is,” she growled.

Loki pouted, but refrained from calling Lucifer.

“How did you meet Lucifer and Mazikeen?”

“A few hundred million years apart,” Maze answered for him before Loki could give some cryptic answer. “Loki’s been around for a long time.”

“Yes, our darling Mazikeen is very young indeed. Younger than my Hela even. Hela’s my baby. Barely old enough to be all alone. I adopted Mazikeen right after Lucifer released me from my cage; a very young and fierce demon, and I’m so very proud of you.”

Maze squirmed; She wanted to strangle Loki, but when they talked with such genuine affection, she never quite knew what to say, and it frustrated her.

“That is wonderful,” said Linda, her voice deep and genuine (though the therapist was ringing in that voice a little, too, as if she could not help herself despite Maze telling her that Loki was not the kind of case for her to take on; that even Raphael was careful about being a therapist to this particular god). “You must care for Maze very much, and worry about her.”

Loki smiled, “Aren’t all parents worried about their children?” Their smile dropped instantly, “Right! Most don’t. Her mother didn’t, so she has me instead.”

“For which Maze is very grateful,” said Linda, now fully in therapist-mode.

“Linda,” Maze muttered warningly.

“Aren’t you?”

“Loki’s a fairy queen. Unless you are the Lightbringer, you don’t say ‘thank you’ directly to them.”

“Mazikeen, you wound me. Why would I cause you harm?” was the dramatic reply.

“You wouldn’t hurt me directly, but you don’t understand the ways you could cause harm as you wreak havoc among the humans in my life.”

She said too much because Loki’s near-cheerful expression fell.

“Oh, my love,” said Loki. “Why would you do this to yourself? Why attaching your happiness to these fleeting creatures?”

She handed him her phone instead of answering. With a triumphant laugh, Loki grabbed it and was out of reach seconds later.

“Maze.”

Linda did not look disappointed – thank Jahannam – but she was frowning.

“Do you want to talk about it?”

“Nope,” answered Maze, listening Loki chatter with a rather peeved Lucifer.

Shit.

“Can we take some time off?” she sighed. “Not for long, just… a decade or two? Until Loki’s bored and leaves us alone.”

Linda’s arms wrapped around her and Maze let her forehead fall on her partner’s shoulder. As soon as the menace was out of their house, she would show her gratitude.

Without words.

But still using her tongue.

Linda always wanted to talk and Maze… Well, she was getting better at it, but she liked to loosen her partner up a little bit, and Linda loved to loosen up, even though she was remarkably bad at outright asking for it.

Just like Maze was bad at asking for this. She put her nose next to Linda’s neck and breathed. She was a fucking fool, but she finally understood Lucifer’s foolishness.

It was worth it.

It had to be.

“Of course, love, here she is,” said Loki, handing her back the phone, which she put to her ear, not letting go off Linda just yet.

“Mazikeen.”

Shit. Reluctantly, she let go off Linda and left the room, phone still by hear ear.

“I’m sorry.”

“It’s not like you could stop them if they truly wished to cause havoc.”

Damn the devil’s understanding.

“I gave him my phone because I wanted them to stop talking about us fraternizing with mortals.”

“You handed him your phone?” Lucifer sounded scandalized. “Could you have waited for- you know what? It’s fine. It’s all fine. Just occupy him for another fift-love, no, don’t pick that up.” Maze chuckled when she heard Turner’s ringtone. “No, it can’t be that imp-“

“Turner.” Lucifer’s spouse had apparently decided to answer the phone. “Agent Hotchner. No, it’s okay. Yes.”

Maze and Lucifer both listened quietly to the conversation taking place.

“I’ll bring the menace in an hour,” promised Maze.

“Thank you.”

Before she hung up, she decided to address the true reason why she was so concerned about her lord.

“Have you thought about-”

“No, I’m not talking to her.”

“Good,” said Maze through gritted teeth.

“Good?” The disbelief in his voice made her angry.

“She can rot for all I care,” she growled. “Preferably not in Hell, though. Her frustration is not your problem.”

“I am its source, though.”

“If she decides to throw a tantrum, that’s not on you. I hope she hurts one of the souls she’s supposed to ferry to Heaven.”

“Maze…”

“What? You’ve done less for a punishment I wouldn’t wish on anyone; well, your mother, sure, but I wouldn’t trust her with Hell.”

There was a long pause on the other end of the call.

“It wasn’t all bad.”

That made her chest feel all tight and uncomfortable. Instead of responding, she said, “See you in an hour.”

She hung up the phone before he could confess to something else. Climaxes always made Lucifer more mellow… That had to have been one fun conversation because Lucifer was hellbent – pun intended – on putting his lovers’ gratification before his own. The fact that Lucifer was being mellow despite Loki obviously interrupting something big meant that Turner had taken care of Lucifer first.

But then, Turner was his spouse, his consort-whatever the Hell he was now. Maze suddenly understood Dromos’ apprehension. They needed a title for Turner, too. He was not the King. Candy was the Queen. What was Turner? It was frustrating to think about.

Loki and Linda were standing by the doorframe, awaiting her return; the menace was smiling.

“You want to see that block of ice melt down, too, don’t you, my dear Mazie?”

Damn them.

“Loki, I can only imagine how hard it is for you to accept new people in Lucifer’s and Maze’s life, especially given how much you care for them and us being mortal. However, by making dismissive comments about us, you will only alienate them, rather than making them see things from your perspective.”

Thoughtfully, Loki regarded Linda.

“How then would you go about this?”

“She wouldn’t,” said Maze quickly. Linda was an excellent therapist, but Loki’s state of mind was a few levels above what any human could handle. “We are expected in Quantico.”

“Bloodthirsty little creatures, these humans, aren’t they, my dear?”

Mazikeen laughed before she could school her expression. Loki beamed at her.

It could not hurt to be a little less hostile.

“Did Loki know?”

Ryan had taken a freezing cold, three-minute shower and his erection had – unfortunately – not survived that assault following the call from Loki and Agent Hotchner.

Pity.

“That we were having fun? Probably.”

Ryan remained quiet and Lucifer sighed in defeat, “Almost definitely.” This was so not the kind of conversation he wanted to have. A hand on his shoulder had him look at his partner who – for whatever reason – was smiling. His hand slide down to his upper arm as soon as Lucifer chose to meet Ryan’s gaze.

“Stop, whatever you’re thinking. Stop,” said Ryan. “I’m not you, Lucifer, I don’t have the slightest issue with not having sex for a while. My job has needed me to have a rather firm grip on my libido.”

Grinning broadly, Lucifer looked down, “How firm?”

Squirming deliciously, Ryan tightened his grip on his arm, “My point is that I’m good. Stop worrying. We’ll find whatever balance is currently missing, and bring at least some level of order into the chaos. Just enough to satisfy me while you’re happy with whatever’s left.”

“And why are you so sure that chaos can be obtained in a manner most desired by you?”

“Because I married the devil and he’s yet to disappoint me.”

Lucifer did not return the smile. He was genuinely worried that he was being too chaotic – Loki brought that out in him – and that Ryan was too ordered. Too…cool to bear the heat of Hellfire.

Ryan’s hand captured his cheek, “I don’t need nearly as much order as you think.”

“I don’t want you to cope,” responded Lucifer, spitting the word out.

“I’m not, but I am adapting. Thankfully, my center of gravity is not only a force of nature but one of its architects.”

It was said softly and full of faith. Not blind faith, however. The kind of faith that Dad had refused put in him all these years ago, the kind of faith that Ryan would never bestow on any god or member of the celestial family. It was certainty and trust and it warmed Lucifer from within.

He kissed the man, long and deep and with a hunger that bordered on ravenous as he chased after that scourging flame of faith that would feed him better than prayer ever could. He stopped only when he realized that if he continued this way, Ryan would not make it to Quantico on his own two feet.

“Wow,” swallowed Ryan, after they stepped back from each other. “That was-hm.” He took a deep breath. “Let’s-that-you know-FBI. Job. Duty.”

He was tantalizing when he was drunk on kisses.

“Right,” said Lucifer, “Duty.”

The whole team was present when they arrived; even Loki and Mazikeen were there.

Upon seeing him, Maze nodded and turned to leave.

“Mazikeen, would you mind staying here? I believe we will have to hire you for this.”

Curious, all eyes were on Agent Hotchner.

“We have two cases. Garcia, please?”

“In Portland, at least three men were found murdered outside or near separate nightclubs. They were all killed with knives, and killed in what seems like a Blitz attack. No sign of struggle and no sign of drugs. We’ve been called in to see if we can recognize a pattern.”

Everybody nodded at that. Then, Garcia switched off the screen and looked at Agent Hotchner who continued without opening up any crime scene photos, which was highly unusual.

“Then we have a case in Fayetteville, North Carolina.”

Ryan stiffened very slightly, too subtle for regular humans to notice, but Lucifer noticed that very quick glimpse Agent Morgan bestowed on his friend, obviously having caught the motion.

“They found the body of Master Sergeant Tim Carlyle in a club.”

As if on cue, Ryan’s phone rang. Excusing himself, he left.

“No,” said Lucifer to Loki.

“But-“ whined the Norse god.

“No.”

He had promised Ryan not to listen in on his calls with Simon because it was important to the man, because – while he knew that Lucifer would never spill secrets without his consent – he took his oaths seriously, and Lucifer knew all about those.

“Who is Tim Carlyle?”

“He’s a decorated member of 1^st Special Operational Detachment Delta,” said Agent Hotchner. “Better known as Delta Force. From the information given to us, his missions include some of the more delicate operations conducted by JSOC over the years. He’s been in the Army for over thirty years. While he hasn’t been involved in a recent mission and only stayed at Fort Bragg for training, Colonel Montgomery – current head of the base – as well as the Joint Chiefs want to get to the bottom of this case and quickly. They want an entire unit there but Cooper’s team is not available and the Portland case is more urgent because the cooling period of the UnSub is very close to transitioning into a spree. So, supported by our superiors, this team will split up.”

Ryan opened the door quietly and motioned Agent Hotchner to continue.

“Lucifer, JJ, Emily, you’ll come with me to Portland. Rossi, Morgan, Reid, Turner, you will go to the base. Morgan, you’ll be unit chief. And I think that Loki and Mazikeen will be able to help.”

“How?” asked Lucifer, flabbergasted.

“Because Carlyle’s heart was cut out.”

“Neat,” grinned Loki. “Do you have pictures?”

Maze was not happy with the plan. She had no intention whatsoever of keeping Loki in line around stickler-to-rules military types. She only did it because Lucifer asked her to.

And because it sounded like an interesting case.

The victim was not your run-of-the-mill foot soldier; not according to the BAU or Turner.

“I know him by reputation only. Was he drugged? He’s not the type of guy to be overpowered easily.”

“There were copious amounts of Rohypnol in his blood.”

“He was roofied,” translated Agent Morgan.

“Yes.”

“Sounds to me like a woman scorned,” Lucifer said. “What’s his reputation with the ladies?”

Turner’s expression barely shifted, but he looked uncomfortable.

“I’ve heard some-you know what? Let’s stick to the facts first. I’ll fill you in on the rumint later.”

Loki had naturally jumped on Turner’s discomfort, but the man refused to say another word on the topic. Maze had then agreed with the plan. She liked gossip and was out of the loop with the demonic one; Dromos was always the best source of information. She wondered how it worked in the Army.

Now here she was, packing for a trip to North Carolina. Linda was sleeping and Maze regarded her fondly; she looked peaceful. And ridiculous, and Maze wouldn’t want to share her bed with anyone else.

Well, she would. Linda loved the occasional man or woman along with them.

She was perfect.

A sudden draft made her shiver and she looked up, alarmed. The windows were closed. Not taking any chances, she grabbed her dagger.

“Going to kill Death?”

Maze would forever deny it, but the tone of Lucifer’s bratty sister was bone-chilling. While Amenadiel occasionally humored her in the past, Michael had handed her ass to her enough times to know that her chances to survive a serious clash with an archangel was nil, and while Death held no sway over the Lightbringer, Maze was as vulnerable as a mortal around her; even more so for she had no soul. Putting the brat in her place was one thing, but Azrael was not being bratty now.

Not wanting her in the same room as Linda, she left for the kitchen, hoping that Azrael got the hint and did not feel slighted. In her experience, angels easily felt snubbed.

“What do you want?”

“I just want to talk to Luci.”

“Wrong building. I can give you his address-“

Death’s eyes were milky white, and the shadows around her seemed to darken.

“Don’t you sass me, demon. I’m out of patience. Luci’s got to listen to me and I need him to listen now. I didn’t mean to-“

“I don’t care. You betrayed him. You didn’t do anything when Uriel threatened the humans, you didn’t warn us, you didn’t help and now you bear the consequences. Do me a favor, and get out of my sight.”

Azrael moved, quicker than a demon could, quicker than most angels could, and invaded her space.

“You listen to me-“

“Did you know that the old gods match the power of the angels that came after?” Loki’s voice was silk wrapped around steel. “I was one of the first to come into being; I wonder… could I match the power of Death?”

“This isn’t about you, Loki,” hissed Azrael. “Get out of here.”

“You’re threatening my daughter.”

Darkness drew closer and Maze had enough; She was Mazikeen of the Lilim, not some cowering damsel in distress.

“Back off, you two,” she hissed and brandished her Hell-forged blades, capable of cutting Lucifer. It made her wonder if he had them made to give her a means of protection against his family; he had only ever said that sparring was boring if there was not the thrill of potentially getting skewered by his one of his own; he had to stay in practice after all.

Azrael chuckled darkly and revealed her own blade.

Loki laughed out loud, “Desperation has made you stupid, Death. This blade only holds a threat to angels and souled beings. You are surrounded by an old god and a demon; your blade is no more threatening than a letter opener for we match you in skill a thousand-fold.”

Azrael snarled but did not use the blade.

“Not going to actually cause us harm, are you? Desperate and a coward then, for you know exactly what Lucifer would do to you if you lashed out now.”

“I don’t need you,” said Azrael, apparently changing tactics, lifting her nose in a defiant motion. “Lucifer will forgive me. He always does.”

“Bitch!” spat Maze. She hated how right the angel was. Mercy was not the devil’s domain but it was his bane.

“Right back at you!”

Could that brat get any more childish?

“You should go to your knees and thank her for existing, Death, for without her, we wouldn’t be having this conversation.”

“What are you talking about?”

“When he released me from my prison like the good boy that he is, he was not too forgiving with you… or existence as a whole. I could see his desire to burn everything to the ground and dance around the ashes of the universe. So, I urged, pleaded, cajoled, tempted, dared, begged, provoked, demanded, implored, beseeched, goaded, threatened, pressed, prodded and poked him into doing just so. Our children were either dead or out of our reach. We could set fire to the universe and not feel a thing. He refused. Not because of rules, not because he gave a hoot about any of you. He refused because the only way for him to ignite the Eternal Fire was Hell. And he was already so fond of those born in it.”

Lucifer had never told her that. Unsurprisingly, he never told Azrael either. She looked ashen.

“Hear me, little angel, touch a hair on Mazikeen’s head, and Death will bear a new name. Whether I kill you or Lucifer, well, pray that Justice will strike true for there isn’t a hole in this universe or the next in which you could hide from my wrath.”

Azrael disappeared without another word.

“Now, do you have ale in this place?”

Chapter Text

David wondered why on Earth he had let Hotch convince him go with the Fort Bragg team.

“Loki has taken a liking to you. Between Mazikeen, Morgan and you, I am confident you will manage.”

Also, taking Loki with them made sense as far as the case was concerned. That being said, David did not feel comfortable dealing with Loki in the absence of the only creature capable of keeping the Norse god under some level of control.

Thankfully, Loki respected and adored Maze, and Mazikeen seemed to be taking the case seriously. However, she basically let Loki have free reign over Ryan.

“I really don’t understand what he sees in you, little soldier,” said Loki, carefully inspecting Ryan who was relaxing into the jet’s chair. “I mean, he has a thing for uniforms, granted, but really, there are much more rugged examples out there, including some specimens that are listed in this very file.”

Loki pointed at the FBI-issued file on Master Sergeant Carlyle and his team in Ryan’s hands. It was heavily redacted, but there were pictures.

“I mean, just the kind of action these men have seen. That Operation Thunderstorm sounds positively riveting.”

Ryan’s face paled and he looked down at the file that now held considerably less ink than a moment ago. The veteran snapped the file shut.

“Okay, don’t do that,” said Ryan.

“I wonder, does a file like this exist about you as well? Such clandestine actions of casual murder must be rather appalling to Lucifer. Does he know?”

“He knows that there is no such file on me,” answered the veteran.

“So boring,” huffed Loki. “Mazie, don’t you think that these men would be a much better fit for our beloved Lucifer? I mean, not the cold-hearted ones, obviously, but the protectors. That Austin Rowan for example? Now he sounds much more exciting.”

“Too bad Rowan’s as straight as an arrow,” retorted Ryan with a tense smile.

Loki grinned broadly, “Oh, have you tried and failed?”

“No, but I know him by reputation. Him and Carlyle go for the ladies, and only the ladies.”

“Bigoted?” asked Morgan curiously.

“Nah, just very… alpha, I guess you’d say. They’re both macho types from what I know, but I really don’t know them personally. SFOD-Delta doesn’t really operate within the grounds my men used to cover. Something would have had to go really wrong to force our hands that way. Anyway, Spencer, give everyone else the rundown on the premises. Heaven knows you’ll have more background on the place than I do. I’ll give additional notes where applicable.” As he said that, he glimpsed at the file; reassured that the redaction had been reapplied, and handed it over to Morgan, only to snatch it out of the man’s hands to double-check; when it all appeared to be in order, he set the file down instead of handing it over.

Reid happily launched into a rundown of Fort Bragg.

“Out of three camps established in 1918 with the intent to train soldiers during World War I, Camp Bragg was the only one that continued operations after the war, becoming Fort Bragg in 1922. It is named after the Confederate General Braxton Bragg. The base holds nearly 40,000 people and is the largest military installation in the country regardless of the branch. It is the home of the XVIII Airborne Corps, and is the headquarters of the United States Army Special Operations Command, which oversees the U.S. Army 1st Special Forces Command (Airborne) and 75th Ranger Regiment. It is also home to the U.S. Army Forces Command, U.S. Army Reserve Command, and Womack Army Medical Center. Fort Bragg has two airfields: Pope Field, and Simmons Army Airfield.”

“So,” said Derek, “your home base?”

“Technically, yes,” answered Ryan. “I trained here. The 5^th SFG is stationed at Fort Campbell, though. I haven’t been to Fort Bragg in a while, except for visiting friends.”

“No wonder you like to fly,” grinned David, fully aware that Fort Campbell was the home of the 101^st Airborne.

Ryan only grinned in return.

“It’s a big place, though. I mean, Fayettesville is basically an extension of the base, right?”

“Let’s say that, without the base, economy in the city would be in serious jeopardy.”

“So, what do we know about Master Sergeant Officer Carlyle?” asked David after a moment.

“He was recruited out from the Rangers in ’08, hasn’t left the service since. Top-level operative, Infantryman through and through. Quick thinker, apparently, one of the best improvisors on his team. He’s a well-respected team leader. Rowan is his assistant team leader, similar credentials, but he’s a combat engineer. I don’t know them personally; their troop leader is Major Kowalski who himself is one of the best long tabbers to ever come out of Fort Bragg. Fact is, Carlyle’s death is a huge loss for Delta and SOCOM in general; guys like him are a rare breed.”

“What do you know about his private life?”

“Divorced, no kids.”

“You mentioned something about rumors,” began Derek.

“By all accounts, he’s not abusive. However, he has a reputation of decompressing in clubs. It’s not forbidden and there has never been a complaint, but,” Ryan sighed, “rumor mill has called him forward in his approach of talking to women, so much so that his men have run interference in the past. Also, he’s known to have traditional views when it comes to the question of sexuality and gender identity. He’s not the guy to have an LGBTQ+ rights discussion with. Some of his comments have been rumored to be… insensitive in the past, and let to some shift of personnel. The Army doesn’t like that. It’s a readiness issue, but so far, Carlyle has always been more of an asset than a hindrance, so they let bygones be bygones.”

The Army major looked positively miserable about this, hearing rumors like this probably kept him from coming out, in fear of it negatively impacting his career.

“Rowan runs cold where Carlyle ran hot,” continued Ryan, “with Rowan having a similar mindset but with more of a ‘live and let live’ attitude.”

“Anything else? Do you know any of the people we’ll be dealing with?”

“I know Colonel Montgomery, the base commander, and Kowalski I met before he joined Delta. That’s about it.”

“What’s your relationship with them?”

“Superficial. Montgomery served under General Hall when he took me under his wing, but it’s been years and while I respect his skillset, we’re not friends. Kowalski is an outstanding colleague, but we never worked with each other outside of training. Always wanted to work with him, though.”

His smile was filled with sadness; he had probably imagined better circumstances with which to work with the man.

“Thank you for coming here, agents. Turner, good to have you with us.”

Colonel Montgomery was an almost stereotypical Army officer. While a lack of humor was utterly understandable given that one of his best men had just violently lost his life, something told David that even if he had met him on a better day, the man would be rather stiff in his manner. “These are Special Agent Abbot and Warrant Officer Marigold, CID. I believe you’ve been in contact.”

“Yes,” said Morgan, who had taken over the liaison work for the group since JJ was with Hotch. “I’m Special Agent Morgan, we talked on the phone; I am the acting unit chief. These are Special Agent David Rossi, Dr. Spencer Reid, Major Ryan Turner as well as Mazikeen Smith and Loki Bluebird, our experts.”

“Pleasure,” said Abbot distractedly. “I would have preferred a full BAU team, however. This isn’t an easy case.”

Knowing better than to justify himself for things way out of their control at the moment, David decided to take over. “We would like to talk to Austin Rowan as soon as possible as well as Major Kowalski, and the rest of the team.”

“That won’t be possible,” said the base commander resolutely, his demeanor never changing.

“Why not?”

“That’s classified.”

“Sir-“ began Ryan.

“Turner, you heard me. I’m not repeating myself.”

“One of your men is dead. You want us to find out who did it and why. To be as efficient as possible, we’ve got to talk to the people who knew the victim best,” said Morgan.

“That may be, but the men are unavailable at the moment. CID has excluded them as possible suspects and your job now is to find out who did it.”

“Alright,” said David before the situation escalated. “Agent Abbot, Chief Marigold, would you mind telling us what the current state of your investigation is?”

“Master Sergeant Carlyle was found dead in Club Starlight; as you could tell from the report, he was drugged with Rohypnol. It isn’t clear yet how he was dosed, but we assume it was his drink. Nobody saw anything; his body was found in one of the unlocked staff rooms in the back of the club. The club employees were all accounted for at the presumed time of the murder. It was a very busy night.”

“What about his team?” asked Ryan.

“They all verifiably stayed on base. Rowan was not feeling well and decided against going out with the sergeant.”

“Was Carlyle seen with anyone that night?” asked David.

“It was a very busy night; Carlyle did not stand out and nobody saw him until his body was found.”

“We would like to talk to the staff of Starlight.”

“Be our guests, we already announced that you might have some questions.”

“This discussion isn’t over, colonel,” said Morgan sternly. “Consider my request to speak to your men still standing.”

“Duly noted, Agent Morgan,” was the cool reply.

Loki stepped forward, but Maze grabbed their arm and they left, a wise move on the demon’s part.

“Thank you,” said Morgan to Maze as soon as the door closed behind them.

“Why don’t you simply demand answers?” asked Loki irritably. “You are here at their request.”

“All in good time,” said David. “First, we’ll get more answers.”

“Only those around him will know the lover scorned,” said Loki.

“We don’t know yet if that’s what it is.”

“The heart was taken; no rage but the rage of one cast aside could possibly explain this level of fury,” said the old god with the confidence of one that lived millennia.

“One thing at a time,” reaffirmed David.

“Agent Hotchner? Agent Jareau? Thank you for coming. We talked on the phone, I’m Jiah Park, the lead detective on the case.”

“Hello.”

“This is our civilian consultant. Lucifer Morningstar. This is Agent Prentiss.”

“Pleasure,” said Detective Park, eyeing Lucifer with appreciation. Professionalism took over within seconds, and she started to present the case. There was not too much to go on yet, but they could definitely see the parallels. The victims were all young men between age 25 and 35, of average to below average height, not known to be particularly outgoing.

Working their way back from the last victim, Hotch had the opportunity to meet Thomas Grant, best friend of James Markoff, the UnSub’s latest victim.

“He didn’t even want to go,” said Grant, looking utterly miserable. “I brought him here because he’s lonely and I hoped we’d get to meet some nice ladies.”

“Have you often done this?”

“Well, since he broke up with Janice a year ago. He took it pretty hard, never had an easy time with people, particularly women, so I just… If I hadn’t-“

“Mr. Grant, this isn’t your fault.”

“Why the hell did I just leave him? What kind of friend am I?”

“Why did you leave him?” asked Lucifer before anyone else could calm the man down.

“There..er…” Mr. Grant’s whole face turned a deep shade of red.

Lucifer, naturally, grinned, “Ah. Was it good?”

“I-yeah-but then I wasn’t coming here for that so I said-and then I went out looking for Jamie, but I didn’t and-“ The man visibly struggling to compose himself.

“You didn’t murder your friend,” said Lucifer, “you brought him here to cheer him up. You couldn’t know that someone with ill intent was near you. How did your companion react to being scorned?”

Grant looked even more uncomfortable but also a bit angry, “She was pissed, I mean, furious, called me a little pr-sorry, ma’am,” he apologized immediately, looking from JJ to Detective Park to her, and Emily, who had grown up around well-bred gentlemen and proper manners, had to admit that she really liked the man’s genuine approach. Regardless, it said a lot about her experiences on the job that, if the victims were women, he would have been her prime suspect.

“Could you describe that woman to us? Did you get a name?”

Hotch did not really think the girl was involved? Nothing indicated that this was a female UnSub unlike the case back at Fort Bragg… And there they only thought the UnSub was female because Loki insisted on it; the chance that the trickster was, well, tricking them, was pretty high.

“No name, and nothing stood out. I mean, she was good-looking, but…”

“Please, try to remember. We hope to find and talk to her. It is possible that she saw something.”

“She was pretty, long brown hair, wore a very tight skirt, nice form, sorry this isn’t helpful.”

“Did you get a name?”

“Shannon or Sharon… No, that’s not right. She knew what she wanted and was more than willing to get it. She was here with her friend. They called us over.”

“Us?”

“Yes, Jamie came over with me. He took a liking to her friend-oh, you think she was the one…”

“At this point, we cannot rule anything out. Do you remember her friend’s name?”

“No, I’m sorry. Sherry-no, shit, I really should be able to help you more.” Again, the man looked stressed and very unhappy with himself.

“You are helping,” said Hotch. “Thank you.”

Once Grant left, JJ said the exact same thing that was one Emily’s mind.

“Come on, Hotch. Are we really going to make these women suspects because they were coming on to the victim and his friend-“

“The same night as the murder happened. Yes. There are three possibilities: One, they killed him and went on the run. Two, they witnessed the murder and didn’t say anything. Three, this happened after this encounter, so the likelihood of them having seen something out of the order is very high.”

Emily hated it when Hotch was right. Still, she had to make a biting comment, “What are we going to do? Looking for women in Portland ready to have sex with guys in a club?”

“It’s possible the ladies are regulars,” suggested Lucifer, unaware of the tension in the air. “In my experience, both men and women have their favorite places to go to as a group. Men usually have their favorite bar; women tend to have their favorite clubs. Lux had several women groups frequenting. Men tend to go to clubs to meet women. When they’re out with the boys, they often go to bars. A bit cliché, but as a general rule it isn’t inaccurate. This could be the ladies’ usual spot. If it is, they may have noticed things out of order. If it isn’t, and they were just out to have some fun, well, as Agent Hotchner said, they may have seen something.”

There was no counteracting that and Emily knew they were right, but something in her resisted the notion that these women could be involved with as little to go on as ‘they were flirting with the victim and his friend.’ On the other hand, Grant did mention something about his would-be lover being on the more aggressive side.

‘That’s because you, Emily Prentiss, have never been one of the antelope.”

It had stuck with her, that comment from Morgan, mostly because, back then she had wondered how a man like Morgan could ever feel like prey. It was only very recently that Emily learned just how much Morgan had been both hunter and prey throughout the course of his life, and how it had probably made him one of the best profilers on the team. She would like to have him with her on the case; he was her favorite partner on the team because they played off each other very well.

Emily had quickly learned that, when it came to nightclubs, Lucifer had a reputation.

Mostly due to Lux since Astra was more of a piano bar, much more about relaxing and less about partying. Still, whenever Lucifer’s name was mentioned at the door of any club, he was let in and treated like royalty.

Lucifer, being closer to real royalty than any prince or princess walking about on the planet could ever hope to be, reacted to it with the natural elegance and grounded playfulness of one used to be treated with respect.

“Nah, we were pretty damn crowded, Mr. Morningstar,” said the barkeeper. “TGIF. Wasn’t quite ladies’ night, but there were a lot of non-regulars in.”

“Anything that stuck out?” said Emily. If this was premeditated, counter-forensic measures may have been taken. “Anybody paying unusual amounts of cash? Fights?”

“Again, nah. There was lots of alcohol. People were a bit pushy, but it was remarkably peaceful. Could be because there were lots of women in the club. Usually calms things down. Some of the ladies were handsy, though. Didn’t take ‘no’ for an answer. Some of them at least.”

Lucifer’s expression was pained, “Yes, it happens.”

Emily and JJ both looked at their devil, alarmed. Hotch did not even blink, obviously having expected that.

“You should invest in some women on your security staff,” said Lucifer to Marco Stevens, the club’s owner. “In my experience, they are much less likely to take ill manners from the ladies. Less lawsuits, too.”

“Got any agency you could recommend?”

“My husband will certainly know somebody in the area. I will let you know,” said Lucifer. “Unless military background is not something you wish to have in your security force.”

“You kidding me? Bring them on.”

“I’ll give you a name or two.”

“Mr. Stevens, is there any chance you could help us identify the regulars at your club and perhaps some of the visitors?” asked Hotch. “I know the night was busy, but this would be very helpful. Our technical analyst, Penelope Garcia, will help with the identification.”

Garcia’s initial search came up frustratingly empty; their favorite tech wiz had a lot to say on the matter. JJ and Emily managed to talk to some of the ladies from that night, but nothing stood out. In one case, they were dealing with a group of colleagues who were celebrating the closing of a really complicated case. The other case was a small group of friends, but they had not met Grant or their victim. Hotch and Lucifer too came up empty.

This excluded the regulars from the suspect list.

Nora was terrified.

The FBI was now involved; she was just glad it happened in a club they had no connection to. She fervently hoped the beta’s friend did not remember them.

Sheila took it all with a sang-froid that was a bit disconcerting, yet strangely comforting. Everything was under control. Nobody knew it was them, and really, the creeps deserved it. Nobody touched them without their permission.

“I’m all partied out,” said Sheila when Nora asked her about going out now that the cops were on high alert. “These guys aren’t worth it, you know. Was a good thing to get rid of some of the filth, but that was the last one, I swear.”

Nora nodded, relieved. It had been an adrenaline rush, this last one, but the arrival of the FBI had been a worse wake-up call than a hang-over combined with a walk of shame. This was the last time.

Good.

Nora was happy to put it all behind her.

“We should call the Fosters again,” said Sheila.

Nora frowned; this announcement came out of the blue after they had decided to call the Fosters a lost cause in their real-estate efforts.

“Why?”

Sheila remained silent for a moment, before saying, “Bobby’s been asking for the numbers.”

Bob Shelton was the Chairman of the Board of their company, the only one capable of pulling the plug of their company.

“What’s the plan?”

Chapter Text

“The victim was drugged with Rohypnol on the day of his death at doses that would have left him quite vulnerable to any kind of outside interference. In fact, it is very unlikely that he was drugged in the club as he would not have walked out of the room without being severely incapacitated,” said the M.E., dispassionately.

Boy Genius turned to Marigold and asked, “Did you find a glass in the room where Carlyle was found?”

“No,” answered Marigold, “but the suspect might have taken it with them. You think Carlyle was drugged in the room he was found in?”

“Yes,” said both the M.E. and Boy Genius before the M.E. continued. “It is most likely. Master Sergeant Carlyle weighed 200 pounds. I am no detective, but once this man was down, he was down.”

“We’re missing something,” said Turner.

“What?” asked Rossi, but it was Chief Marigold who answered. “Carlyle is a SERE specialist, among other things. As soon as the Rohypnol kicked in, he should have reacted. It’s been bugging me.”

“What else did you find? Some sign of restraints, perhaps?” suggested Morgan. “Men in high-stress jobs that require a lot of control sometimes prefer giving up control in the bedroom. It would explain why he got drugged and then was found on a couch with no sign of a real struggle. Perhaps, by the time the drug kicked in, it was too late.”

“No sign of restrains, no sign of having had sexual intercourse in fact. What made you think so?”

“Given the fact he had no other drugs in his system except for alcohol and Rohypnol, that he was found in a quiet, private room of a club and considering he was incapacitated by drugs rather than a violent Blitz attack, we figured that we are dealing with a female UnSub rather than a man,” said Rossi. “Did you find any traces of DNA belonging to a woman?”

“Analysis is ongoing, but the crime scene was tainted. I doubt we will acquire very helpful evidence from it.”

“You are missing an ingredient,” said Loki, sounding bored. “You have alcohol and benzodiazepines,” of course the trickster knew his drugs. Why was Mazikeen even surprised? “But one more thing has interfered with his body.”

Turner sighed, “Any drugs he was on that I didn’t read in the file, Agent Abbot?”

He sounded genuinely done with the situation.

“He’s clean, okay?” was the defensive reply. “He had trouble sleeping for a while, but not for months. He’s on no medication. His diet’s about as healthy as it can get.”

Turner did not look entirely convinced, but said nothing.

Boy Genius frowned, “Does he happen to eat grapefruit?”

“Yes, he does,” frowned Marigold. “Why?”

“I’ll be damned!” exclaimed the M.E. whose name Maze had missed and did not even bother to learn. “Grapefruit is a potent CYP3A4 inhibitor,” explained Boy Genius. “It increases the bioavailability of drugs and, together with alcohol and the Rohypnol, this will have knocked him out cold.”

“So, that’s one mystery solved,“ said Abbott, “but we’ve yet to find out who drugged and killed him.”

“What I can tell you is that the heart was cut out after he died and, given there was no sign of a struggle, he was likely killed after being incapacitated.”

“Cause of death? The drugs?” asked Morgan.

“The combination is not lethal, especially not to a man in peak physical condition,” said Boy Genius.

“That is correct. I-“ the M.E. looked discomforted. “I hope you all have a strong stomach.”

“Oh please,” said Loki, quite annoyed, “I dare you show me something to discomfort me.”

That seemed to provoke the M.E. into action, and he removed the white cloth that covered the victim.

“Delightful,” grinned Loki. “Slaughter.”

Maze looked at the body and agreed. The blood vessels in his neck had been cut; he had been bled out.

“There was not nearly enough blood at the crime scene,” frowned Reid.

“Relax, young-“ For the briefest of moments, Loki faltered, looking utterly frustrated at themselves and Maze was confused. “Our little harbinger of chaos is no vampire; she probably brought a vessel with her to capture the blood. I believe that she was making a point.”

“What point?” asked Marigold.

“What animal do you send for slaughter?”

“Are you saying the UnSub drugged Carlyle, made a cut to his neck to bleed him out, like a pig, then cut open his stomach to access the heart to insult him?”

“Naturally,” said Loki.

Maze agreed, “The heart’s definitely about making a point. ‘He broke mine, I break his.’ Why should the kill method be any different?”

“Woah, wait, we’re jumping to conclusions here,” said Marigold. “Why on Earth do you think the heart’s just about making a point? Are you sure we’re not dealing with some…cannibal or something?” That last bit was hushed. Maze scoffed.

“Liver’s tastier,” said Loki.

“What the fuck?” exclaimed Abbot, shocked. “This man’s a goddamned hero, have some respect.”

“I’m a god,” replied Loki, clearly put out. “Why would I show respect to a corpse?”

“Alright,” said Rossi, thinking that this was going a bit too far. Smart man. “Agent Abbot, Chief Marigold, the reason why we are not likely to deal with a cannibal is that we found the heart. Discarded. In a trashcan outside of the club. Any other body part remained untouched. However, we cannot discard the obvious symbolism here. As Mx. Bluebird clearly noted: the victim was drugged and bled out, the latter of which in a manner akin to animal slaughter. The victim accessed the heart through the abdomen as it requires less physical strength and time than if they had tried to cut the heart out through the ribs.”

He briefly looked to Boy Genius whose long fingers pointed to the body, and was forming a round motion.

“The cut was quite proficient but not surgical in nature, with a ventral cut of the diaphragm,” he looked at the M.E. who nodded, clearly impressed with the profilers’ insight, “which leads us to believe the UnSub has at least dealt with carcasses in the past, either professionally or because they’re a psychopath. Nothing we have seen so far excludes the possibility of a woman being the UnSub, and the lover scorned theory is the best one I’ve heard today.”

“So,” said Morgan to Marigold. “Has Carlyle been with anyone that could have induced that level of rage?”

“No,” was the resolute reply.

Before they could ask further, Abbot received a phone call. Maze didn’t bother pretending not to overhear.

“There’s been another one.”

“Why was Rowan off base?” asked Marigold back at Fort Bragg, looking at Colonel Montgomery positively baffled.

“He said there was a family emergency,” was the reply. “Kowalski believed him; Rowan’s sister is in Fayetteville and pregnant. It wasn’t an unusual request.”

“He was found in an alley not even remotely close to where his sister lives, so that was a lie.”

Kowalski was a tall man who looked like he was used to leading a group of elite soldiers into battle, unlike some recently wed examples that Mazikeen could mention; even here, on his home turf, Turner was passive and let everyone else take the lead.

Kowalski sighed, “I had no reason to not believe him, or that he was in any danger.”

“What I want to know is how did that bastard overpower one of our most skilled soldiers?”

“What we need is access to your team,” said Morgan resolutely. “Obviously, this wasn’t a one-off and the UnSub’s got a lot of rage against your men. We have to find out why.”

“Are you saying that it’s their fault some psycho is after them?” asked Montgomgery, fuming.

“Nobody said that, sir,” said Turner. He had done nothing since leaving the M.E. office except for shaking Kowalski’s hand spouting something about how it was an honor to finally meet him but wished it was under different circumstances. The genuine admiration in his tone had pissed Maze off; Loki too. How could that guy still admire any human after winning the devil’s heart?

‘Mazikeen, you are being entirely unfair. Ryan’s been nothing but loyal to me despite my greatest efforts to have him open up his side of the relationship. He bears no jealousy. Why should I? Or you for that matter?’

That was not the same. Lucifer was Lucifer. There was no well big enough to capture his Light, and no single human could hope to bear it alone; Lucifer needed people, not a single person. Turner on the other hand should be more than satisfied with what he had.

Major Simmons, Montgomery’s second in command, entered the office.

“Dr. Reid’s on the phone, sir. He’s calling from the M.E.’s office.”

“Patch him through.”

“Rowan was blitzed. Again with drugs; this time, he was drugged with what we assume is ketamine, but we need to wait for the drug report. However, he was more aware of what was happening to him and tried to fight. When his carotid artery was cut, he was still more or less conscious. There was major blood loss, which most likely killed him. We believe the UnSub was quite surprised just how much Rowan was still able to fight despite the drugs. They ran away. No post-mortem actions were taken. Abdomen and thorax are intact.”

“It seems like our UnSub is still learning, but the cooling period is much shorter than we anticipated. Unless-“ began Morgan, frowning.

“Yes?”

“Did Rowan suspect anyone?”

“Don’t you think we would have told you that?” asked Kowalski, clearly peeved.

“Given that you refuse to cooperate with us,” said Rossi, “absolutely.”

“You’re here, aren’t you?” said Montgomery.

“Enough.”

Maze felt herself freeze, as did everyone in the room. She had never heard Ryan speak like that.

“At his heart of hearts, Ryan is a leader, Maze. Not a foot-soldier. Not a general. Not one to obey without thought and not one to send off a bunch of children into war. Not one to give commands he himself wouldn’t wish to follow through.”

“So what? So would I.”

“But would you trust others to do the job?”

“Of course, I would! I have had others do punishments all the time.”

“But would you trust them with your vows to be by my side?”

“Of course not. They’re mine.”

“Yes, I agree, for I am as you. I can lead, mind you, but with my most sacred duties, I would not even entrust you. Or Raphael. Or Raguel. For they are my duties and mine alone. Ryan, if you are under his command, will trust you with his honor and heart, and that is a frightening thing to have.”

That tone in Ryan’s voice made Lucifer’s words ring true.

“Sir, we’re not here judge. We’re here to help because you asked us to, but we cannot help you if we cannot talk to your men. I promise you, we will do all in our power to get to the bottom of this. Rowan and Carlyle will receive the justice they deserve. Right now, there are ten more men in danger including you, Major Kowalski. Please, let us help you.”

Loki left the room abruptly, the door slamming shut, and Mazikeen quickly followed, vaguely listening as Montgomery caved and said that the men were about to be prepped for a classified mission but that they could become available tomorrow night.

“He has no right to place trú in my actions. None. It is not to be borne. Insolent human.” Loki was positively seething; if Ryan were anyone’s but Lucifer’s he would have been skewered with a blade. Mazikeen understood the impulse. She may not be a fairy queen, but she was a demon, and rebellion against all that concerned faith was ingrained into her.

“Is it faith though?” asked Maze. “Lucifer says Turner is not a man of faith.”

“Said I faith, dearest? I said trú. Turner’s voice is drenched in it. Blind faith I can laugh at; Lucifer scoffs at it, but the toy soldier knows nothing of these matters. He placed trú in Lucifer who was denied it from the One who was supposed to place trú in him; Lucifer could not but fall. For Falling is what the Lightbringer does. The wretched human places trú in me for he trusts me not to hurt the one creature in this forsaken universe who has forever refused to abandon me.”

Loki looked murderous.

“He has no right.”

His fury caused Maze to think things through, “I don’t think his promise was meant to include us.” No human could command a demon or an old god.

“Yet we will follow for he made his vow to find one consumed with rage, and do we truly want to admit defeat to a human? I am not so petty as to abandon pride, love.”

“But then it is our choice,” said Maze. “Not his. He didn’t ask us to follow him.”

“No, but one that places trú in others need not ask. For it isn’t their tool. It is who they are at their core. The icicle has fire I did not see. I thought he was a dull wasteland, a still glacier, immovable and stoic, but jökulhlaup is his siren song.”

“Turner has a chaotic streak,” said Mazikeen, more than a little skeptical.

“He isn’t jökulhlaup, but he’s one to be drawn to it and ride upon its waves, aware and accepting that he cannot rule it and may well drown.”

“The only way to rule chaos, my dear Maze, is to accept that it cannot be ruled.”

Lucifer had told her this once after Loki had been particularly annoying.

This had to irritate Loki beyond belief.

“He will learn to drown in my waves.”

Oh boy. Why on Earth had Lucifer thought it was a good idea to send them along with his faithful husband. It was not as if she had never had that impulse; how was she to temper it in Loki?

“Why worry so much?”

Maze whirled around only to face Death once more.

“He’s as good as gone. I mean you can spend time making him miserable, I’ll help, if you want, but it’s stupid. He’s human. He’s gone within the blink of an eye. Seems pointless, really, to get aggravated with the presence of one who’ll bite the dust in a few years.”

“Get lost,” said Maze. She may not like Turner, but she did not want him dead.

Much.

A bit of maiming was a particular desire of hers, but you could maim someone without killing them.

“Want to know who did it? I can save you all oh-so-many hours of boring detective work.”

“We’re listening,” said Loki. “Give us the name.”

Death remained silent.

“Come on,” provoked Maze. “You offered.”

Justice was not her domain.

Justice was Lucifer’s.

Healing was Raphael’s.

Time was Amenadiel’s.

Death was Azrael’s.

“Death is her domain, but she is not death. She is silence.”

“That girl never shuts up.”

“Have you ever heard her speak of the dead?”

“Yes! All the time! She speaks of them, with them and at them. She doesn’t know the meaning of the word quiet.”

“But the moment of death is hers, and hers alone to carry. As I am custodian to injustice, she is custodian to death and the moments leaving up to it. Once the thread of life is cut, Death will seize them regardless of how long dying will take.”

“You said there is no such thing as fate.”

“There isn’t.”

“Then how can there be a thread of life?”

“For all leads down a path. Seeing that path is Uriel’s domain. Seeing its end is Azrael’s. Judging it, well…”

Unsurprisingly, all they heard was blissful silence. Death did not move.

“Why are you here?” asked Maze with a sigh.

“Talked to your girlfriend recently?”

The bitch disappeared and Maze’ blades were stuck in concrete. Her phone was out.

“Maze, is everything alright?”

Her heart still threatened to jump out of her chest.

“Yes, yes, I’m good. Did you… hurt yourself?” She felt stupid for asking, but this was Linda. She did not want to think about life without her.

Not any sooner than she had to.

“Funny thing, I slipped in the shower earlier, but caught myself just in time. Gave me a bit of fright, but it’s all good now. That was really stupid of me.”

“We should buy a shower rug,” breathed Mazikeen.

“That’s a bit-“

“In fact, don’t use the shower before you got a rug.”

“Maze, are you sure you’re alright?”

“Please.”

“Okay, honey, I will go buy one after I’m done with my files, but you will tell me why later, right? Promise.”

“I promise.”

Hanging up was difficult, but she managed. She was shaking. Loki was hugging her gently and Maze wasn’t quite sure whether to stab or hug them in response.

Furiously, she called the only other person who was on her phone’s speed-dial.

“Mazikeen, how lovely-“

“You’ve got to talk to Azrael.”

“Maze, what-?”

“She’s threatening humans. Our humans.”

“She wouldn’t risk the punishment,” replied Lucifer after a moment’s silence.

“I don’t care. I don’t care what punishment your father will bestow on her after she lets a human die to make a point.”

“Mazikeen-“

“She threatened Linda.”

“What?”

That growl soothed her agitated heart.

“She asked me about Linda, implying-“

“She’s stooped to really low tactics, hasn’t she?” Her lord sighed. “I’ll take care of it. She won’t do it again. Apologies, dearest.”

She did not thank him and instead hung up the phone, still upset.

“Is everything alright?”

Morgan stood only a few feet away from them. She had not heard him approach.

“Yes, what’s up?”

“Ryan thinks that, despite them letting us talk to the team, we should get a better feel for them through different means.”

“How?”

“He said something about going to a place to let loose.”

That sounded like her place to be right now. Loki grinned.

“A bowling alley?” asked Loki incredulously. “How boring.”

“When you have the kind of job we have, boring sounds absolutely perfect,” said Turner with a smile.

The bowling alley was not big, and Mazikeen quickly surmised that there were mostly locals at the lane. At the far end, though, there were a group of men who she instantly recognized as battle-hardened soldiers. It was all over them, even though the civilians may not recognize it immediately. However, they could not hide who they were; they had instantly marked their presence and now pretended not to know that they were being watched.

They also looked to what had to be their commander.

Their commander was tall and lean; and he simply picked up his bowling ball and threw it expertly.

Turner made his way over to the men.

“Good evening, gentlemen,” said he.

“Sir.”

Turner chuckled, “Not tonight. I was actually wondering if you mind us taking one of your lanes. Place’s more packed than I remember.”

“Not stationed here?”

“Fort Campbell.”

“5^th?”

“Yes. 3^rd?”

“If you guess the battalion, we’re in for a game.” The man grinned, relaxed in Turner’s companiable presence. Mazikeen was confused. Why did Turner not simply use his rank to demand answers?

Turner looked from the man over to the rest of the team. They were a mixed bag, all fit, but Mazikeen could see that they were not a monolith. Some were differently trained than others, but they moved as individual parts of a bigger whole.

Not unlike Maze had seen Turner and his men.

“Bravo Company, 1^st Battalion.”

“Neat,” grinned the team leader. “How’d you guess?”

“Asked a friend about those deployed and those on leave.”

“That still leaves four battalions, Major Turner. And if my intel’s correct, you’re not satisfied with a one-out-of-four chance.”

“True enough.”

“So?”

“Jamie swore he’d never take his guys out bowling because he hated it. That’s one down, and if any member of the 3^rdBattalion’s Charlie Company is anywhere but in a bed, I’ll eat my hat.”

“Still fifty-fifty.”

“See, that’s where it gets interesting. That leaves Alpha Company of the 2^nd, and Bravo Company of the 1^st. Both of you are regulars in working with SFOD-D, but only one stayed behind to offer support and share the grief. The other company worked only once with Carlyle before saying off the record something along the lines of ‘This ain’t Rambo Town. Deploy me to a dry-ass desert, deepest rainforest, I don’t give a fuck as long as there’s a continent between me and that asshole.’ Paraphrasing, of course.”

Maze had no idea where Turner got that information from, but that was the whole point.

The man’s color did not change, but he looked surprised, “I had nothing to do with his death.”

“I’m an awful profiler. That’s their job.” With an open gesture, Turner introduced them. “SSA Morgan, SSA Rossi, and Dr. Spencer Reid. Along with Mazikeen Smith and Loki Bluebird, both consultants on the case. They’ll decide. Honestly, I believe you. I doubt you’d leave the kind of mess the murderer left behind. That being said, I think you have answers that I won’t get upon talking to the team.”

“What do you propose?”

“We play a game. One shot each for you, two shots each for us. You set the rules. If we win, you answer some of our questions within the bounds of your orders, naturally.”

“And if we win?”

“You got yourselves a favor.”

No wonder Lucifer was gaga on the guy. He used himself as a bargaining chip in the same reckless manner as he did. Mazikeen had spent enough time with Turner’s men to know that bartering of favors was a big thing.

And that he had called in a number, if not all, of them for Lucifer’s sake.

The team leader looked at them appraisingly.

“This ain’t your team.”

“No, it’s not. Agent Morgan was kind enough to let me borrow them for tonight, though.”

“Whoever gets the highest score, wins,” suggested the leader.

“Agreed.”

As they all settled down, Maze overheard Reid approaching Turner.

“Ryan, I shouldn’t be part of this.”

“Nonsense, you’ll do fine.” There was trust and amusement in his tone.

“I fail at everything that has to do with sports. I needed special permission to be out in the field. I’m not like these guys. Or your men.”

“You’re only about three times as smart as we are. This is physics.”

“I know the theory behind it, but I cannot translate it into action.”

“Spencer. You’ll do fine. Don’t worry.”

He did not do fine. While Loki and Maze effortlessly hit all the pins (Loki spoke true by saying their pride did not allow for losing to a human; no matter how much he wanted Turner to bleed), Rossi was decent and Morgan’s shots were really good for a human, Boy Genius failed his first shot entirely.

In fact, they were now behind. Boy Genius and Turner had one shot left each. They needed thirteen pins to win. Morgan was talking to the kid who looked incredibly nervous.

“Stop thinking, Kid.”

“The length of the lane is 18.288 meters. If I-“

“Reid, you can do it.”

“No, this is-“

“Spencer.” Turner’s voice was warm and unhurried. “Relax. If you manage, that’s good. If you don’t, we’ll still get our answers. This is just a bit of fun.”

“This isn’t fun. In fact, it’s highly stressful,” countered Boy Genius.

“Breathe.”

Boy Genius followed suit.

“You’ll do fine. Remember, it’s nothing but applied physics. You know how to do this.”

Again placing trù in yet another mortal. Turner was fucking good at this.

After a moment he made his shot and hit three pins.

“Yes!” the Kid exclaimed as he was enthusiastically hugged by Morgan, who almost squeezed the young man.

“Well, sir, the boy followed through,” said Captain Mallard, as he had introduced himself.

“Dr. Reid has read more than you could hope for in a lifetime and is smarter than the two of us combined.”

“Oh, I noticed,” said the captain. “Pete’s been itching to talk to him.” He pointed at the youngest-looking member of the team. “Crowder too.”

“Let’s give them the opportunity, shall we?” asked Turner as he stepped to the edge of the lane. Loki went over to pester him about all the responsibility weighing down on his shoulder, now that the ‘young one’ made their miraculous shot.

Oh, tricky, tricky trickster. Mazikeen had not even noticed that Loki had come out to play in the kid’s last shot, too focused on the game itself.

“I’m not sure if Bluebird wants to win or simply Turner to lose,” said Mallard thoughtfully standing next to her.

“Can’t it be both?” she asked. Something about her tone betrayed her because the captain whistled.

“Wow, must be hard for the man to switch out the total loyalty of his men for people who’d like to stab him in the back.”

That was not quite fair. Morgan, Rossi and Boy Genius were on Turner’s side and she did not want to stab him in the back.

Much.

Perhaps poke a little.

Turner ignored Loki’s whispers about ‘all the pressure in the world’, ‘an aging solider, whatever will you do when your physique fails you’, ‘do you really think Lucifer will continue to love a decrepit old human’ (as if Lucifer was not the kind of immortal to completely miss out on his lovers aging and being hurt by them suddenly dying of old age). He stepped forward and made his shot. Maze reached for Loki’s wrist. Not that it would keep them from meddling, but it might just distract them enough.

Turner’s ball hit them all.

With a grin, Turner looked to Mallard, “Now. How about that talk?”

Chapter Text

Crisis manager.

That was Ryan’s specialty. Derek had known that. They had long wanted to compare notes with the man. Hell, Hotch was planning to organize a seminar on it. Today had been an excellent example as to why his friend’s men looked to him. Derek had expected Ryan to take over the case from the get-go; this was his home turf; he had the inside information necessary to prevail, but at first it had seemed like Ryan had no intention of letting that factor in.

That was the case until the team ran into an obstacle and he stepped in, exposing himself so that the rest of the team could settle down. It had worked beautifully.

It clearly irked Maze and Loki, which was not exactly surprising. Both felt no small amount of resentment toward Ryan, and the man bore it with a remarkable amount of stoicism, though Derek could see the cracks in the façade, and he wondered if the others were seeing it. Ryan’s total lack of a reaction was provoking the demon and her godmother – pun absolutely intended – into more chiding remarks.

Not bothering to think about what could be, Derek settled down with Ryan, Captain Mallard and his second in command, James Thornton, while Rossi and Reid took the opportunity to mingle with the rest of the men. Maze and Loki interacted with the humans as well; or rather, Loki was pestering Rossi and Maze was watching in amusement.

“So, what can you tell us about Carlyle?”

“Do I first need an alibi?” was Mallard’s response with a companiable smile. He obviously did not feel like he was under real interrogation, but it was clear that he worried about actually being a suspect.

“Where were you between one and two this afternoon?”

“On base in a meeting. It’s on record. Why? Carlyle was killed the other day.”

“Austin Rowan was found this afternoon. Suspected time of death is 1-2 pm.”

The blood drained from Mallard’s face, and Thornton looked rather pale, too. “Rowan? Fuck.”

“What can you tell us about them?”

“Off the record, sir?” The question was more aimed at Ryan than anything else.

“Off the record,” confirmed Morgan and Ryan nodded. “We’re trying to get a feel for Carlyle and since your team worked with him, we figured you might be able to tell us something not in the file.”

“In one word? Toxic.”

“Toxic how?”

“The brass accepted him because he got the job done and quicker than most. Kowalski may be the officer in charge, but the team looked to and copied Carlyle when out in the field. The team’s pretty close-knit, and Kowalski’s new to the team.”

Ryan winced, “That can be rough. Who did he replace?”

“Major Jonas Hudson.”

That got an unexpected reaction from Ryan who cursed under his breath.

“What happened to Major Hudson?”

“The official story is that the major and his team were deployed for a hostage rescue mission in 2013,” said Mallard. “Operation Thunderstorm. Everything went according to plan, until it didn’t. Hudson was KIA and things went FUBAR really quickly. That was when Carlyle took over command, got everyone out safely, including the hostages.”

 “Operation Thunderstorm,” Ryan repeated, and sighed. “People have got to tell us this. How the hell are the agents supposed to do their job if we aren’t fully informed? This coult put not only Carlyle’s team in danger, but the entire team.”

Derek decided to speak up here, “It’s highly unlikely we’re dealing with more than a single UnSub, and they won’t have the means to single-handedly take on a team. Moreover, the death of Rowan was not planned and there is no indication that this mission is in any way connected to the case. Still, it’s weird. Taking over command of a team, saving all but that first death… This is undoubtedly one of Carlyle’s most heroic moments. Why would this be kept from us?” It had to be part of the redacted text in the file Ryan had brought with him to the plane, but there was no way to tell for sure. It did not appear to be classified information. This was very strange.

Coincidentally, however, he was glancing over to Reid when he was asking his question, and that was when he noticed Loki looking over, grinning.

“Loki.”

“What?” Ryan asked, confused.

“It was not kept back by your superiors. Loki kept it from us.”

“What? Why? How?” he exhaled, took a breath and then said, “Doesn’t matter. Derek, I told you that Kowalski’s one of the best long-tabbers to come out of Fort Bragg. Hudson was a legend. In SF circles, his death caused a lot of waves. No wonder they chose Kowalski to replace the man; he was probably one of the few who could hope to live up to the pressure. The fact Carlyle managed to pull everyone together without loss of life is incredible. His men will stand by him no matter what.”

“Yeah. And that went to his head,” muttered Thornton.

“How?”

“Permission to speak freely, sir?” asked Thornton, looking at Ryan.

“Granted. I can also leave; as long as you talk to Agent Morgan, I don’t care.”

Thornton looked hesitant and Ryan rose from his seat, stepping away with an encouraging nod, “You can trust that nothing you say will have an impact on your career.”

As soon as Ryan was out of ear-shot, Thornton spoke, “Carlyle was a dick. He’s always been an ass, mind you, but after that mission something snapped and he turned into a full-time dick. Never knew his wife, but by God, I don’t blame her for getting a divorce. He was domineering and insulting. We’re Army, insults are a par for the course, but man, he never shut up. Anybody remotely questioning his ideas was put down; drew the whole team down that path. Never respected the captain, although he was leading the mission.”

“Why didn’t you write him up?” Morgan asked Mallard.

“I wanted to,” admitted the captain, “but was advised against it by the brass.”

“Why?”

“Several reasons: Carlyle is efficient and sacking him would cause problems with a very good team. Politics is involved, too. While Carlyle’s heroic actions never found the attention of the media due to the delicacy of the place of operation, this story became well-known in circles responsible for the military budget. I’m honestly surprised the major hasn’t heard of it.”

“As far as I know Ryan was very busy during that time.” From what Ryan had told him, the years from 2011 to that fateful day he brought Bob to Woodland, and thus reconnecting with Lucifer, had been the busiest of his career. He had spent little to no time in the USA, spending most of his free time in various cities and places recommended to him by Lucifer; and far too much time trying to secure an instable and highly dangerous region (though not in so many words). ”Anyway, Carlyle’s experience in 2013 appeared to have caused a shift in his personality. He always looked for dominance, possibly possessing a narcissistic streak, but the events of Operation Thunderstorm confirmed every view he ever held about his own importance. That caused him to be more ego-driven and aggressive, questioning authority.”

“That sums it up pretty neatly,” said Mallard, impressed. “Rowan was the only one to temper his impulses, but… yeah. To be frank, Agent Morgan, Carlyle was a disgrace. I don’t care what everyone else said, but while he may have been good on the job, his character contradicts everything we stand for. Even before Operation Thunderstorm. Joked about book deals way earlier than that. Loud mouth. Should have gone for the SEALs.”

Morgan had to swallow a grin; Ryan always spoke respectfully, the mediator and crisis manager too ingrained in him to stir undue resentment, but Morgan had heard Ryan’s men grumbling about loudmouths and SEALs on more than one occasion, usually when Ryan was out of earshot.

“How was his treatment of women?”

“Everything Carlyle said and did was based on physical capability. He’d be the type to argue that women were less valuable to the Army because of their average physical strength. Hell, that their contribution to society outside of their ability to birth and raise children was lower than that of men. He was never outwardly rude or abusive, but he was condescending. He was a flirt while he was married, but after he was free, he-“

“Saw a lot of women?” suggested Morgan. Fantastic, their suspect pool would be considerable.

“If you want to call it that. We both know what society would call a woman doing the same.”

“Thank you, Captain.”

“Look, it’s not right he got killed. I hope you’ll find whoever did this, but you won’t see me shed a tear. He gave us a bad name,” said Mallard. “Shame about Rowan, though.”

“Do you do all of your math in your head?” asked one of the younger team members. There were at least four sitting around Reid, listening to him. It was very clear that they had half-way adopted him into the group already.

“Yes and no,” said Reid. “I do enjoy writing it down, but I do most of it in my head. It’s just the translation math into action part where I have problems.”

“Forget about that,” waved away one of them. “It’s muscle memory. Only needs constant practice. It’s basically the same as me asking you how you could memorize every single Sherlock Holmes book in existence. You read them and have a predisposition of memorizing stuff easily.” Damn, these guys acquired information quickly; getting Reid to open up this quickly was a feat. “We’re all physically adept, but we didn’t get where we are without constant practice.”

“Is that why you’re here? Practicing your fine motor skills?”

“Nah. This is us decompressing,” was the reply. “Sir? Everything alright?”

These men kept an eye on each other, it seemed.

“Austin Rowan was killed this afternoon,” was the solemn reply. The shock in the faces of the men removed every doubt Morgan may have still harbored concerning their possible involvement.

“God,” exclaimed one of them. “This is awful.”

“Is there anything else we can do to help?” asked the same man.

“No, Crowder, thank you,” said Mallard. “Where’s the major? I wanted to talk to him.”

Morgan looked around; where the hell was Ryan?

It was Maze who said, “Talking to one of the guys tending the bar.”

Confused, Morgan followed her gaze, and saw that it was true. The bowling alley, moderate-sized as it was, had a rather impressive snack bar at the back, with two women and two men tending on a work night. Ryan was talking to one of them; they seemed to be having a great time. As if sensing he was being watched, the major looked over and lifted his hand. Morgan nodded, hoping that Ryan would recognize the hint to return. To Morgan’s mild surprise, the two men hugged before the major came back. Ryan was affectionate with the people he knew well, but he was otherwise not a demonstrative person.

“How’d you know Charlie, sir?” asked Mallard, satisfying Morgan’s curiosity before he had to pester his friend himself.

“Charles is Nicholas Rivera’s younger brother. Nick’s one of my medical officers; have known Charlie since he was a teen and started talking about stepping into his big brother’s footsteps.”

“Never told us he joined.”

“That’s because he didn’t,” said Ryan.

“How come?”

“Probably for the same reason that you want to talk to me.”

“Anybody ever told you that you’re scary as fuck, sir?” asked Mallard.

“I’ve been told that I suck as a civilian by all but one,” was the rather flippant reply.

“Okay, who’s that someone?” asked Thornton.

“My husband.”

Ryan’s smile was brilliant, boyish and frankly nauseatingly cute, and Derek did not blame Loki and Mazikeen for rolling their eyes.

“That’s not the compliment you think it is,” said Rossi, with stifled laughter. “Your husband is even worse at being a civilian than you are.”

Ryan’s grin did not disappear, “I know.” He then sobered up, “Anyway, Mallard, what do you know?”

“When my brother became captain, he really relied on Greg White’s experience. Called him his rock.”

Ryan exhaled shakily, “I know the feeling.”

Mallard’s expression was sympathetic. “I know you saved his life, but… Guess I just want to know what happened to him.”

“Greg White served as one of my communication sergeants, and was one of the most experienced men when I took over the team. Most of the details are still under lock and key, but there was this town we stayed at; it wasn’t fully secure, but safe enough to try and assisting the locals. To make a year-long story very short, at some point, hostiles kidnapped three daughters of a farmer who lived right outside town. Greg saw it happen; he reported it and against my advice, tried to stop it. Stupid.” The expression on Ryan’s face was unlike anything Derek had ever seen; it was somehow worse than that moment when they needed to approach him about the D.C. case. Ryan was heartbroken, frustrated, and protective of a man he felt responsible for. “We got him out. Not the girls, though.”

“You’re not a DA team, sir. How-“

“No, we’re not,” Ryan chuckled ruefully. “Didn’t have permission either. We are sneaky, though.”

“Impressive, sir.”

“Not really. We lost three good souls, and one we could get out physically, but-” He closed his eyes and warily rubbed his face. “I’d hoped my husband could help clear his mind, but there’s nothing wrong with Greg’s Light, and… I hope my brother-in-law might be able to help. He’s pretty much the best psychiatrist on the planet, so... There’s that.”

Confused, Mallard frowned, “Your husband’s a psychiatrist?”

Loki snorted, Mazikeen scoffed, and Ryan chuckled lowly.

“No. He’s the best creature in the universe, but he’s definitely not a shrink. His brother, though, he is. Best one out there, actually.”

“Quite some family you married into.”

“Yeah, but apart from two other sisters, I mentioned the best members of the family already.” After saying that out loud, he cleared his throat. “I meant three. Forgot about his older sister. Haven’t met her personally, but she’s… great, just, great.”

“Gotcha loud and clear, sir.”

“So, Jophiel and Muriel. Terrified of Raguel but not, you know, Death?” said Rossi on their way back to base.

“More than Amenadiel, Azrael hurt Lucifer. I mean, really hurt him. He can barely think about her without- look, this is personal.”

“What, you think you know something, we don’t?” Loki sneered. “Conceited human.”

Ryan stiffened, but did not say anything.

“What have we learned?” asked Rossi before things could escalate.

“We’re not even close to having a motive, but we have a better grip on victimology. I’d wait, though, for confirmation, when we talk to Carlyle’s team tomorrow. We’ll give a preliminary profile tomorrow night.”

They retired into their respective rooms a couple of minutes later. Loki and Maze shared a room, and so did Rossi and Reid, which gave Derek the opportunity to talk to Ryan.

“I understand why you’re doing it, but I don’t think your non-reaction is going to appease either of them. All diplomacy in the world is not going to win them over.”

With these words, he left the bathroom, freshly showered and ready for bed.

“I know,” said Ryan, sharper than Derek expected it. “Sorry. I know, you’re right. I-I’m not entirely sure what Mazikeen wants from me, and I’m pretty sure she doesn’t know either. Loki on the other hand, they want me at the end of my rope so that they can peel the fingers off one by one, and they’ll be smiling while doing so.”

That was a better metaphor than Derek could have come up with.

“Or, they just want you to lose your temper.”

“That, too. Definitely.” Ryan chuckled ruefully and made his way to the bathroom, but did not yet close the door, obviously wishing to have this conversation.

“You know it’s inevitable. Loki doesn’t strike me as the kind of god to let things go.”

“Yeah, I know,” was sighed reply. “Just… When I inevitably lose my temper, I want Lucifer to be there.”

“He’s hardly going to blame you for- Lucifer knows Loki and he knows you.”

“Lucifer wants this to work so much and I just feel like his presence would help whatever Loki has planned with me. That’s all.”

“I see… Take care of yourself, okay? He wouldn’t want you to be miserable.”

“See, I don’t want him to be miserable either,” said Ryan, “and he would be; hell, just that note I gave you about coping made him sad; I don’t- I want this to work. Hell, I want to get to know Loki; Lucifer loves them that much, they must be worth knowing. They’re prickly as fuck, but I’m not about to give up.” Then he smiled ruefully, “Enough about that mess. You guys are a step ahead of me. What’s your preliminary profile?”

“We’re still working on the victimology, but it very much looks like someone’s out for revenge; it could have been an isolated, if gruesome, murder case, but with Rowan going after the UnSub, that might have triggered a response for this UnSub to strike again.”

“Do you think it’s a woman?”

“I would not discount the possibility that Loki’s messing with us, but Lucifer and Mazikeen both seem inclined to believe them. That said, it could also be a guy.”

“Carlyle hasn’t been messing with guys; his death is very symbolic. The kind of men with reasons to hate his guts wouldn’t be that elaborate in the way they kill.”

“Thinking of Mallard?”

“Carlyle pissed off several people with the ability to kill quickly and efficiently, and who know better than to kill so elaborately as to attract the attention of the best profilers in the country,” said Ryan. “That’s just stupid, and the men who could kill Carlyle are many things, but stupid isn’t one of them.”

“Who gave you that intel on Mallard and his team?”

“Who do you think?”

“Ben.”

“Yep. Ben’s SFOD B. B-Team. He’s supported many A-Teams over the years. He was never sent into the field because his brain’s just a few IQ points short of Spencer’s. Ben’s a better asset far away from the front lines than being in the thick of it all.”

“He was in the B-Team supporting yours?”

“No. The brass wants us to be close-knit, but they wouldn’t let brothers or lovers be in each other’s closest support system; they figured pretty quickly that we shared a comparable bond. So, we operated in the same area, but our teams never crossed paths professionally. I could call upon him as an intelligence officer, though. General Hall made sure of that.”

“What’s the deal with Hall; he seems-I don’t know, not like the type of general I’d expect,” asked Derek.

“Simon’s not a legend. Not like Major Hudson, or Kowalski. But Simon’s good with people, especially his own; NCO to his very core, regardless of the career path he took. Took me under his wing right during my first assignment. Joining Special Forces never even crossed my mind before I met him. He didn’t set out for the political side of things, but he was good at it, and he figured he could do the most good by making our lives easier, becoming part of the brass to speak for us, rather than having others make decisions over our heads.”

“Good man.”

“Yeah, doesn’t make for the same kind of stories, though,” smiled Ryan. “Politics are a dirty game, and you make no friends playing it.”

With that, Ryan disappeared into the bathroom.

“How fucking dare they?”

Sheila was fuming and Nora felt her disappointment to her core. The Fosters had listened to their request and agreed to meet again, but they insisted on staying with Brandon Miller.

“Fucking sissies,” said Sheila derisively. “Of course, they’ll stick with Brandon. Who knows how he convinced them to make the deal?”

Nora nodded. Yeah, that sounded like Brandon; it would not surprise her at all if the soft-spoken businessman used his charms to convince the Fosters.

“You’re a bit unfair there,” said Cox unexpectedly. Both Sheila and Nora stared at her. It was unusual for Cox to speak up, especially when emotions ran high. “Blackstone Real Estate is very successful; his referrals were excellent and when they initially contacted us, they were quite vocal about looking for companies that are explicitly friendly toward the gay community, and Miller’s company was chaired by a gay man in the 50s, long before it was profitable. But you just said they were kind enough to agree with another lunch tomorrow, right? Pity your latest client wasn’t a lesbian or something,” she chuckled. “I mean Ashley’s an all-man type.”

She then laughed her horrible, grating cackle that hurt Nora’s ears. Of all of her friends, Nora really did not like Cox all that much. She looked over to Sheila to share an eyeroll with her, and was surprised to see her best friend smiling at Cox.

“That’s it!”

“… It’s bloodier than what we usually see with women, true, but everything else points to female UnSubs,” argued Emily.

She and JJ had been going over the case ever since they went to their rooms.

“What about a weaker man, someone who feels impotent or outcompeted and tries to get rid of the men who might be more successful but too weak to go after the more dominant men in the club?”

“Wait, are you suggesting some Incel type of guy? Pickup artist? They wouldn’t feel threatened by the men killed; their main enemy are the Chad’s like, classic alpha males.”

“Not quite,” said JJ, “In Incel culture, everything is predetermined. So, what we tend to call alpha males – confident men in their prime, though our terminology has to be updated as well, like Reid said the other day – are Chads. According to Incels, you are born a Chad, you cannot become one; same for an Incel and what’s in between, the Normies or Betas. The only thing you can hope for as an Incel is to become a pickup artist. The UnSub could see our victims as some sort of direct competition for the kind of women they might hope to attract.”

“Yeah, maybe,” said Emily doubtfully, “but the entire movement is profoundly misogynistic; their aggression would also be aimed at the women, not just the men. In their culture, most men would be considered Normies; they can’t possibly believe that they could thin out the competition this way.”

“But we agree that this UnSub has a type that fits into Incel culture.”

“You’re right, but we’re missing something. Good catch, though. This UnSub targets not a specific phenotype but rather a specific group of men. Beta males. Normies.”

“Thanks for your willingness to meet with us again, Jimmy. Paul. Nora and I have spent quite a bit of time working your case, and we think we have found the perfect house for you,” said Sheila.

Jimmy was the more masculine of the two, and definitely the one with the control in the relationship. Paul was almost a parody of a pansy: limp-wristed, high voice, stupid-ass girly attitude; it grated on Nora’s nerves, and she knew Sheila could not stand it either, but the men were loaded and thus, absolutely worth their time.

“Sheila,” sighed Jimmy, “that’s very kind of you, but Brandon has been working as well, and he found a charming and nice house a bit outside of the city, yet close enough to not make our commute a nightmare. Our dreamhouse,” said he, while dreamily sharing a smile with his husband. “Really, while we appreciate your services and all the time you’ve invested in us, we stand behind our-“

“Ashley!” Sheila exclaimed. Ashley had absolutely outdone herself. Together with Julia, she could not have looked more like a member of that exclusive community for which their company needed an in right now. “What a coincidence, how are you?”

“Oh, I’m doing well, girl, how are you?”

“We’re here on business, and, so sorry, Jimmy and Paul Foster, our clients. Jimmy, Paul, these are Ashely and Julia C-Murphy. We found a house for them a year ago,” said Sheila.

“Very nice to meet you,” Ashley said. “Sheila and Nora were a godsend. The house they got for us was just gorgeous.”

“I see,” said Jimmy. He looked confused and shared another look with Paul who did not look too pleased; Nora had a bad feeling about this.

“I’m sorry,” said Paul then to Julia. “I didn’t quite catch your name.”

Nora twitched. Julia had never met the Fosters in person, but they had talked on the phone; because of this, they had decided for her to only be present but not to speak.

“Julia,” said Ashely quickly, “Her name’s Julia.”

“What a coincidence,” said Paul, sounding a bit vicious. “Maiden name’s Cox, I presume.”

All the girls in the room flinched.

“Look, how stupid do you think we are?”

“Paul, I don’t know-“ began Sheila.

“We’ve been told that you were persistent, but I would never have presumed that you would stoop as low as to recruit friends and staff to trick us.”

“How did you-?”

“There is a picture of you four and two other women on Ms. Cox’ desk. We didn’t see her, but I did see her desk, and I don’t forget faces. Honey, let’s get out of here.”

“Now, wait, please,” said Sheila, “we need this job.”

“Well, then, you better not lie to your next clients. Do not contact us again.”

Furious and indignant, the Fosters left the building.

“Fuck!” exclaimed Sheila. “Now what?”

This had been Sheila’s idea, but Nora knew better than to point that out.

“Now, I’m out and back to work,” said Ashely casually. “Sorry this was a bust, but I have a job to get back to. See you all on Saturday. Let me know the aftermath of this.”

With this she walked out, unperturbed by Sheila’s outburst.

“Fuck, fuck, fuck! Nora, what are we gonna do?”

“Back to the drawing board, I guess,” said Nora helplessly. “We should forget about the Fosters, though. They’re never coming back.”

Angrily, Sheila snapped at Julia, “Couldn’t you just keep your mouth shut?”

“I didn’t-“ began Julia, but Sheila scoffed and walked out of the restaurant without looking back.

“I know it’s a workday,” said Sheila at five, all soft and no longer upset, “but I really need a drink after this.”

“Me too,” said Nora, “we should invite Julia.”

“Good idea,” said Sheila. “Hey, Cox? Wanna go out?” She shouted loud enough for Cox to hear.

“Sheila,” admonished Nora half-heartedly. Cox could grate on her nerves, but it was not her fault that things went off the rails today.

“What?” asked Sheila, but then conceded. “Alright. Alright. Julia, hun, sorry for snapping at you earlier.” With this, they walked over to Julia’s desk. “This was a stupid idea anyway. I don’t have patience with these sissies. We’re better off without them. Want to go out tonight? My treat.” She smiled at Julia who smiled shyly back.

“Okay, sounds like fun.”

Nora was euphoric. Sheila always has the best ideas. There was a pleasant buzz going through her veins; it was a fun night out with Sheila all relaxed after this awful day and Julia was really enjoying herself.

“How long’s it been, Juli-kins, come on? Like a year? You gotta get laid.”

“I’m fine, Sheila, really. Guys don’t see me the way they see you,” said Cox all hesitantly.

“Bull, you look gorgeous. Look at that shy guy in the corner. I’m sure he’d like some ass. Come on, let’s go talk to him,” said Sheila, pulling Cox up who was protesting all the way over.

Nora chuckled and followed them. She could just see it. The guy was average in every way that mattered; on the short, lean side, and not too forceful; he was a safe bet for their delicate Julia.

“Hello, wanna have some fun with some gorgeous ladies tonight?” asked Sheila, pushing Julia to the front. That confused Nora a bit; they had not talked to Cox about the thrill of rejection, and what came after.

She was suddenly starting to feel dizzy.

“Sheila, I gotta-bathroom. Be right back.”

She stumbled into the lady’s room to freshen up, hoping for the dizziness to disappear. When she was sure she wouldn’t throw up, and after reapplying her makeup, she left in search of her friends.

Not again.

That was her first thought when she could not find them in the club. Panic and adrenaline pumping through her, she walked out into the nearby alley.

“Sheila? Julia?”

“Fuck, fuck, fuck!” a voice sounded from behind the dumpster.

“Sheila!”

“Quiet!” hissed her friend.

“Sheila, where’s-oh my God!”

Chapter Text

Lucifer watched as his humans gathered around the body. It had been found under a tree in a remote part of a park near the district where most of the murders had taken place. The dog that found it was still reeling from her owner’s panicked screams. She had been a good girl and suddenly pack-leader was shouting all over the place like she was being a bad girl. The owner was talking to a police officer of Detective Park’s team, and Lucifer was stroking the dog’s fur. She had been a very good girl, and he made sure she knew that.

Her nose was buried in Lucifer’s jacket.

::Smells-like-sun::

Lucifer smiled a bit; it was always nice to be appreciated. He had never thought about having dogs here on Earth but perhaps some of Kerb’s pups were already bored to tears in slow-moving Heaven.

::Pups?::

Lucifer grinned a little and showed Good Girl Coco’s what Kerb and her litter looked like.

::Big pups::

Agent Hotchner had regularly reminded him that laughing near corpses was in bad taste, so he did not despite Coco’s deadpan reply. Dogs were joyful but they did not tend to be funny; unlike cats, which were quite known to be cynical wisecracks.

Not all of them, but as a species, dogs loved potty humor and cats loved sarcasm with a dash of very dark humor. They had nothing on racoons, though.

Or crows for that matter.

Parrots, too.

Seagulls were just rude.

Finally accepting that he should be following the discussion around the corpse rather than musing about the humoristic capabilities of men’s fellow creatures, he listened in from a distance.

“-wait for your colleague?” asked Detective Park.

“No, he’s fine. Please, continue, detective,” said Agent Hotchner.

“Second victim’s name is Julia Cox. Are we sure this is connected?” asked Detective Park after a moment’s hesitation. “I mean, the man fits the profile, but the only thing that speaks for a connection between the death of Julia and Charles Preston is that they occurred in a low-crime area in the same night. We found Charles in a very similar manner as the previous victims, Julia was found out here.”

“With obvious signs of remorse,” said Agent Prentiss. “She was not killed here; she was cleaned up and brought here. It is possible that the UnSub knew the victim.”

“Does remorse always indicate that the UnSub knew his victim?” inquired Detective Park.

“Not necessarily,” said Agent Hotchner. “However, the way the body was carefully placed and brought to one of the quietest and most peaceful locations in the entire district is indicative for some sort of care and empathy. It is also very likely that the deaths are connected because this was not the UnSub’s first kill. Have you already contacted the families?”

“We have called in her sister for identification. She’s from out of town, but should arrive in a couple of hours.”

“Did your sister have any enemies?” asked Agent Prentiss gently. Lucifer was the one sitting to her left, as per Agent Hotchner’s gentle prodding.

“No, no, Julia hated confrontation,” replied Sarah Hunter-Cox. “She tended to be rather quiet and didn’t like to be in the spotlight.”

“Do you know anyone who might wish to cause her harm?”

“No.”

Lucifer had heard something, though he was not sure what.

“Did Julia prefer being on her own?”

“No, she hated being alone. I’m much older than her, so I wasn’t really there for most of her childhood, and my parents couldn’t provide her with the attention she needed, so she was mostly around friends. They were the reason she came here, too.”

Definitely a tone. Agent Prentiss caught it, too.

“Do you know her friends?”

“As I said, I’m ten years older, so I didn’t really hang out with them, but Julia loved them. Mom wasn’t too thrilled about it. Said they got Julia into trouble.”

Julia Cox was a grown woman; the way her sister talked reminded her of how some parents would speak of their unruly teenagers.

He knew and hated that tone. His own mother often sounded like that, especially when he had been meeting with friends she did not approve of. It made him twitchy.

“Could you tell us their names?” asked Agent Prentiss.

“Sheila Peterson, Nora Kelly, Ashley Murphy, Shannon Howard and Vanessa Price,” replied Sarah, unable to keep the venom out of her voice. “In that order.”

“What do you mean?”

“Sheila’s always been the leader of their little clique, Nora always did whatever Sheila said she should do. Ashley too usually followed along. Shannon and Vanessa were long part of it, but once they got married, the connection started to break off a bit. Julia was always sad about Vanessa retreating from the group after her baby was born. They were pretty close.”

“You do not approve?” asked Lucifer.

“Vanessa’s fine. Sheila and Nora weren’t good for Julia.”

“He’s not good for you.”

“Mother, what are you saying? Loki is Light, too. As such, they are just as much as me.”

“Loki was born of War and Darkness.”

“A war we won, Darkness we defeated; Loki is of my own and Father’s Light.”

“They’ll hurt you.”

He had been hurt, unmade and reborn.

All Loki had done was being hurt right alongside him.

That was more than he could say about his mother.

“Thank you for your time and we are very sorry for your loss,” said Agent Prentiss.

“She seems rather judgmental of her sister’s friends,” said Lucifer, once the lady left the room.

“Yeah,” answered Agent Prentiss, “which means that either that Julia Cox had terrible friends or a controlling family.”

“Family,” said Lucifer decidedly. “In my experience it is family that wants you a certain way.”

“Agreed,” said Agent Prentiss ruefully and Lucifer playfully bumped his hip against hers, hoping to lift the tension. She giggled.

“Alright,” said Agent Hotchner. “JJ, Prentiss, you meet with Sheila Peterson, Nora Kelly and Ashley Murphy. Lucifer, you and I go visit Shannon Howard and Vanessa Price.”

Not long after, he was in the car with Agent Hotchner. The man was not the most talkative of people, but Lucifer had the feeling that something was wrong.

“Agent Hotchner,” said Lucifer carefully. “Usually, you have gathered a lot more information after a case has started. These dead men and now this woman, you only know that excessive force was used, you have not said much about what connects the men, you have not talked much about the UnSub. Are we at a dead-end?”

“We’re not,” was the reply.

The only reply.

“Agent Hotchner, did I do something wrong?”

To Lucifer’s surprise, Agent Hotchner immediately stopped by the side of the road to look at him.

“No, you didn’t, but I did. I’m sorry. Nothing going on at the moment was caused by you.”

“But things tend to happen around me,” replied Lucifer ruefully. “I brought the supernatural into your life and you’re finally feeling the effects of it. It’s Loki, isn’t it? Ryan has their attention, but you are second on the list for you are a quiet pool, and Loki will forever throw rocks into those, I’ll…”

“Haley called yesterday, said that Jack was having nightmares. On the phone, he said he was scared-“

“That makes little sense. Loki would never hurt the young ones,” protested Lucifer.

“-because he heard a voice in the wind telling him that life was finite. He thought of his father’s dangerous job and all the people he loved so much. He doesn’t want any of us to die and it worries him.”

“A voice in the wind?” asked Lucifer, unwilling to think of everything else that was said.

“Haley thinks he just happened to watch something scary on TV, but he’s not a rebellious child, and he never watches television outside of what is recommended for his age. Therefore, I asked him about the voice, and he said that the only thing the voice said apart from that was ‘Luci cannot ignore me forever.’”

The tightness Lucifer felt in his abdomen and chest was very uncomfortable.

“I’m sorry.”

“Her actions are not your responsibility. You shouldn’t be forced into contacting her when you’re not ready. I underst-“

Lucifer simply had to interrupt even though it was a practice he abhorred, “I contacted her. Right after Maze called yesterday.”

“But?”

“She didn’t answer.”

“Yet she demands your attention.”

“Agent Hotchner, when I connect to my siblings through prayer, feelings transfer unfiltered,” said Lucifer, closing his eyes.

“You were angry.”

With a scoff, he let the fire burn in his eyes as he looked at the unit chief who, as usual, took the devil’s wrath with remarkable stoicism.

“I was furious.”

“She demands not only your attention but also your immediate forgiveness?”

“I’m not sure, Agent Hotchner, but she’ll visit soon. I wish I knew when. The worst thing about the conflict with my siblings is that they refuse to give it time. That’s all I ask. The young ones are so impatient. When have I not forgiven them? Azrael should know better.”

“She’s probably not used to you being angry. They are accustomed to you being the one guilty.”

“I have never done anything!” hissed Lucifer, fury boiling. “I questioned Dad, and he punished me for it. An action he has since regretted and is apologizing for.”

Agent Hotchner, as ever, remained calm, “Yet they are accustomed to the lie that you are the one at fault.”

“Raphael adjusted. Hell, Amendiel is adjusting. The babies keep on wanting to get to know me. She has no right to make demands.”

“She doesn’t. Her sense of entitlement when it comes to you is toxic.”

“Just like Julia Cox’ sister,” Lucifer decided to sway the conversation back to the case because he was not quite ready to discuss these things with Agent Hotchner, though the word ‘toxic’ was ringing in his ears.

Toxic?

Maze had called Mum toxic in the past.

It hurt to hear that same word in the context of his baby sister.

“Prentiss also noted some tension in the sibling relationship,” said Agent Hotcher, while he started the car and continued their journey.

“Could the two deaths be unrelated?”

“Yes, but given the area where, and timeframe during which, this took place, I doubt it very much. Let’s hope Mrs. Howard and Mrs. Price will know more.”

“Are you sure it’s Julia?” asked Mrs. Howard, her hand pressed against her lips, tears forming in her eyes.

“She’s been identified by her sister,” answered Agent Hotchner causing Mrs. Price to scoff. “I’m sorry?”

“Her sister didn’t know her. Not the way we did. They barely had contact with each other.”

“Was there tension between the two?”

“All the time. Her sister always treated her like a baby. No matter how old she was, Julia was always the ‘little one’.”

Lucifer looked away. Did thinking of his younger siblings as ‘little ones’ make him a bad brother? Ms. Cox had obviously found her people with her friends, just like he had with his. Perhaps, Azrael was simply missing out on having friends? Loki was not an option, but there were enough immortals about outside of family that she could befriend with. Any mortal connection would be too cruel for the Angel of Death.

“How often do you see Ms. Cox?”

“Not often. We-since getting married, we don’t go out with her much. I missed it though, I planned on-“ a sob escaped her, “we usually went out as a group.”

“Were your friends supportive of your marriages?” asked Agent Hotchner, confusing Lucifer in the process.

“You know how it is, Agent Hotchner,” said Mrs. Howard. “Group dynamics change when priorities change. It’s the way of things. Some friendships don’t last the test of time. Julia and us, we were solid, though.”

“What about Ms. Peterson?”

A low whistle was the response, “Sheila’s a free bird who adamantly refuses to have a man influencing her life outside of very short-lived connections, if you get my drift. She liked to say that we were being domesticated or tamed. But that’s Sheila’s way of looking out for us.”

“Sheila Peterson is a strong personality,” said Agent Prentiss once they were back at the precinct and Agent Hotchner finished his brief report on what they found out. “She’s very driven and focused. She knows what she wants and she gets it. Nora Kelly mostly follows her lead, a typical lieutenant, while Ashely Murphy is third in the pecking order. Nothing they told us was suspicious. Kelly and Murphy were extremely distraught over the death of Julia Cox. So was Sheila Peterson, but she had a much better grip on her emotions.” She paused before adding, “You know, it was a good call to send us, Hotch, and not you or Lucifer.”

“Why?” asked Lucifer, curious.

It was Agent Jareau who answered, “They would not have taken you seriously. To them, men are meat.”

“Neat,” grinned Lucifer; he loved ladies who knew what they wanted, and he very much enjoyed being a piece of meat.

“No,” said Agent Prentiss, her expression worried, “no, not neat. I wouldn’t want you near them, Lucifer.”

“Are they potential suspects?” asked Agent Hotchner.

“We’re not sure. They’re forceful and like having a good time, but it seems like they’re pretty inseparable and while Sheila Peterson has a ruthless streak, her friend does not. Their tactic with men is pretty rough, I must say. They were comfortable telling us because they saw us as kindred spirits, I think.”

“Ladies who stand up to men and will not tolerate misogyny, even subtle signs of it. Ladies who know what they want and are willing to get it?” suggested Lucifer with a smile.

“Precisely,” laughed Agent Prentiss. “But their approach is less subtle than ours. Girl’s night out is girl’s night out, though. As a group, they rarely hit up men. When it’s only Nora and Sheila, they occasionally pick up men. They gave us a list of places they visit, none of them included the places where a victim was found. We double-checked, but there was no recollection of them, and from what these two told us, they get rowdy, so people would notice them. Sheila’s credit card also placed her at a bar two blocks away from where the murder took place.”

“Didn’t Thomas Grant remember a ‘Sharon’?”

“Yes, we called him in for identification, but we didn’t exactly have grounds to hold them.”

“Where were they at the time of the murder?”

“The bar where the credit card was used,” said Agent Jareau, “the barkeeper doesn’t remember them being there, though.”

“Call them in. Tell them we have a suspect and would like to ask some more questions. I want Lucifer in the room.”

“Nora Kelly isn’t a murderer, Hotch, and while the men who were killed may not have been the strongest, they still could have overpowered Sheila if she had been alone,” said Agent Jareau.

“Not if she lured the men with sex,” countered Agent Prentiss, her eyes wide. “They would have been distracted. It was a blitz attack. Like Sarah Danlin in New Orleans. Do you think it was Sheila?”

“We don’t have any evidence, not even close, and no profile, so I hesitate to proclaim them as suspects. Right now, they’re simply potential witnesses. I want Lucifer to meet them. Call them in. Make an appointment for tomorrow morning at 9 am; tell them we have some more questions about Julia. We should try not to spook them. I’ll tell the detective. I’ll have her invite Mrs. Howard and Mrs. Price as well.”

“Alright, thanks, Hotch.” Agent Prentiss took out her phone and dialed a number. “Ms. Murphy? Hi, this is Agent Prentiss. I hate to call you this late, but are Ms. Kelly and Ms. Peterson still at your company? We would like to have you all at the precinct tomorrow morning at 9.” She listened to the response. “Just some more questions that came up; we would like to get to know Julia better and we realized that the people who knew her best were her friends, and that includes you three, Mrs. Howard and Mrs. Price.” Another pause. “I’ll hold.” After about a minute, she had confirmation and hung up the phone.

“We should have seen this,” said she a moment later, clearly angry at herself.

“Why?” asked Lucifer. “They appeared like kindred spirits.”

“Sheila Peterson’s a misandrist and Nora Kelly follows her lead. They could be our UnSub. Or Sheila at least. I would have let them go.”

“And you would have found your way back to them because you’re good at what you do, Agent Prentiss. Are they a flight risk?”

“No,” said Agent Jareau. “It’s rather galling, though, to know we wouldn’t have truly suspected them without Hotch.”

“In my experience, a lone profiler may be capable but flawed. It is all of you together where your sense of justice is rather close to infallible.”

They both looked at him and smiled.

It was Agent Prentiss who spoke, “Coming from you that means a lot. So, any plans for tonight?”

“Yes, do you remember our case in Portland where I made friends with Louis Sills?”

“You mean the tailor from Portland during the case with James Heathridge? The one you flirted with?”

“Yes! He and his husband wanted to meet. They’ll be at the hotel bar tonight. Feel free to join.”

“Congratulations,” said Louis with a big smile, inspecting the ring on Lucifer’s finger. “Unusual design. Is that a dragon?” For the moment, it was only Louis, his husband Clyde, and Lucifer; the others would join later.

“Yes,” said Lucifer, “Antaboga and Bedawang; well, Antaboga was a dragon, Bedawang was more of a giant turtle.”

“Mean something to you?” asked Louis, his voice gentle.

“Everything,” said Lucifer, and he meant it. This ring was a piece made from love and specifically for him, and he would make sure it stayed. “So, how long have you two been together and what are your thoughts on threesomes?” He could not help it, they were just gorgeous, and even more beautiful together; no wonder Louis had resisted his flirtations.

Clyde laughed, “Your husband’s okay with that?”

“He’s not the jealous type, I assure you, and he knows he has little to fear. I could give you the night of your life, though.” Lucifer smiled and both Louis and Clyde squirmed in their seats, clearly tempted. This was fun.

“What about him, though? Wouldn’t he want to join?”

“I wish,” moaned Lucifer ruefully. “He’s not up for that. Yet. I have hope, though.”

Louis said something in a teasing tone, but Lucifer was distracted by the unmistakable presence of Death. She was sitting by the bar.

“Excuse me, gentlemen,” said he and rose from his seat.

He sat down next to his sister.

“Threatening children now, sister? You’re toeing the line here. Continue to harass them and I will make you regret it.”

She did not look particularly scared. Why would she? So far, she had not broken any Laws, but she was angering him.

“After hours or here for work?” he decided to ask.

Azrael shrugged her shoulders and pointed at a stranger by the pool-table.

“That one’s gonna croak in three-two-“

Lucifer jumped up and shouted for Hotch to get an ambulance while he barely caught the man before the stranger’s failing heart made him fall as if someone had cut his strings.

Having been drilled on first-aid by all of his humans, he immediately started with resuscitation, but Clyde made him move, telling him he was a trained medic.

The silence that hung over them was dreadful.

Azrael – only visible to Lucifer – stood next to him and said, “He’s mine, Luci. You’re simply delaying the inevitable.”

With a growl he turned away and helped his friends trying to save that one life.

As his sister had warned him, they failed.

He left the hospital for a quick smoke before his humans followed; he barely smoked anymore after Raphael had given him a lecture on what it did to humans, even secondhand smoke. As expected, Azrael was waiting for him outside of the hospital.

“Just because you’re angry with me, doesn’t mean I’m wrong about death,” said she. “I know you like Raphael more than me-“

“This has nothing to do with whom I prefer, Azrael,” hissed Lucifer. “There was nothing wrong with trying.”

“You used to get it. Now you’re all ‘Oh, these precious humans must live.’ Like Raphael.”

“That’s because I only dealt with damned souls. I have never enjoyed watching the death of an innocent.”

“Well, I don’t really have a choice, do I?” she replied. Whined, rather. “Somebody has to bring the souls either to Heaven or Hell, and that’s me. This is my duty and you’re treating me like a leper.”

“No, that was because you conspired against me and didn’t tell me what Amenadiel is planning,” he retorted.

“So, what should I have done?”

“Tell me!” He took a breath before continuing more calmly, “You are the Angel of Death. Stop behaving like a child, fearing that Dad, Amenadiel or Michael might get mad at you and just tell me. You knew I didn’t want to go back to Hell, but you would have helped them.”

Azrael’s eyes turn white, “I can be Death.”

“That trick may work on the others, little sister, but I’ve seen you pouting for millennia and you do not frighten me.”

“But you’re the only one with mortal friends. Did you know that there is a family history of heart disease in David Rossi’s family? Did you know that Jennifer Jareau’s family has had a history of depression? Cancer is a real possibility in Aaron Hotchner’s case. Or his little boy Jack Hotchner.”

“Stop it,” whispered Lucifer, his face white as a sheet.

“Oh, and Candy-“

“Stop!”

“I am Death. It is in my nature.”

“And I’m the devil,” hissed Lucifer. “If any of them meet their end prematurely just because you’re angry with me, it is an act of vengeance and I will not hesitate to put you into a cell right next to Mum’s.”

Her face turned as white as her eyes, “You wouldn’t.”

“If you violate celestial laws, I will not hesitate. Don’t test me, sister. Nestling or not, I will punish you.”

“Good to know,” hissed Death.

“I’m Justice, little one. Not even Death can escape the Light. I came long before you.”

“But I grew stronger, while you grew weaker,” said Azrael defiantly, her eyes still milky. “You’ve burned out. You couldn’t touch me.”

“I turned Uriel into a dog.”

“And that nearly knocked you out cold. Uriel did not grow into power. I did.”

“Is that a threat, little sister? Give me attention or I will cause you harm? I am the devil, my dear. There’s very little I fear.”

“Yet, I am the consequence of all which you fear,” said Azrael, her voice cold, before she switched, sounding very young. “Please, Lu, I’m sorry!”

“So, if I don’t comply with your plea, you will harm my loved ones? Cause a premature death, one after another until I forgive you? You are aware that Dad is back and he punished me for far less. Even if I didn’t have the power to stop you,” he let the Lightbringer shine through his eyes to let his sister know that he was no longer a Fallen Angel, “Dad would never let you get away with it.”

“I don’t want to harm any of them!” exclaimed Azrael. “I just want you to look at me.”

“By forcing me into compliance? That isn’t how forgiveness works, Azrael. Remorse precedes it. You’re not sorry for betraying me, you’re sorry because I don’t feel the need to mend things between us.”

“Right, you have your new family now,” scoffed Azrael. “They’ll be dead within half a century. Then what?”

“Go away, Azrael.”

“Not my fault they’re mortal, you know.”

“Leave!”

“Lucifer!” Azrael was gone the second Emily’s worried call interrupted them.

“Are you okay?”

“Yes, thank you,” said he, accepting her comforting hand on his arm.

“I’m guessing his soul held on for a while there,” she asks gently.

“Yes,” he replied, distracted. “I think I’ll be resting for tonight, Agent Prentiss.”

Once in his room, he dialed the number of his husband.

“Hey! Everything okay? I thought you were out with Louis and his husband.”

“I was.”

“I’m here if you want to talk.”

“I want you here, in my bed, with me. Preferably naked,” whined Lucifer, causing his husband to chuckle. Ryan did not press things, though. Instead, he waited for Lucifer to speak, and naturally, he did. He told him everything that happened today.

“I’m sorry you’re having such a hard time with Azrael.”

The “I wouldn’t mind having a hard time with you” was out before he could help it. Ryan’s choked laughter was music in his ears.

“You know I could make a sibling joke now-“

“Don’t you dare,” hissed Lucifer, but he was also grinning. It disappeared quite quickly, though. “The victim, Julia Cox, she seems to have a very controlling sister, but her friends did not leave a better impression on the others, I- angels were not created with free will. Are we destined to be controlled?”

“What makes you think so?”

“All you have to do is ask and there is very little I wouldn’t do for you. There is very little I would not have done for Dad before he punished me, or Mum before she let him, or Michael before he put a sword through me… or the little ones. Other people’s desires are my siren call. Am I to be directed by the wishes of others forever?”

He was expecting to be reassured, but instead, thoughtful silence followed.

“Can I tell you a secret?”

“Of course,” said Lucifer.

“Loki and Maze can threaten me all they want, but they don’t scare me. They keep telling me that I’ll hurt you, inevitably, but that’s something I can’t control.”

“Love-“ he had heard too much from Death today. Thankfully, that was not the point his lover was trying to make.

“-and considering that’s the one thing I cannot control, I am terrified about other things. Like you disappearing into me. I know I alone cannot handle you, but I also know you’d try. I know you’d do everything to make me happy and that scares me because I don’t want you to change to please me. I always want to know what you want first because if I say something, I know your own desires will shift and that gives me a level of power over you that I’m not ready to hold.”

That explained why Ryan had insisted on pleasuring him first that one night off. Ever since Lucifer had made it clear he too desired to have Ryan in his life and not just vice versa, his lover was less willing to articulate his own needs.

“You are not reassuring me, you know.”

“I have never met anyone surer of who they are and the code they live by than you, which makes sense given how long you’ve been around and the punishment you faced being you.”

“But?” smiled Lucifer.

“But you transform into what those close to you love most about you. Doesn’t mean it isn’t you, but you amplify the things we love and mute the things we may find undesirable.”

“Touché, dear, but I’m afraid being all I am would quite literally kill you or drive you insane.”

“I know; I’m aware I cannot handle you fully-“

“There’s plenty of me you can handle,” he retorted.

“My point is that you’re afraid of being controlled; I don’t have that fear because you have Maze, Raphael and Loki who will remind you of parts you cannot show around us, and you have plenty of humans around whom you can show other parts of yourself. I don’t think there is a danger of you being controlled; I don’t think there is an entity in this universe powerful enough to control or hold you.”

Some of the tightness in his chest lessened at the reassurance, “Dad-“

“-couldn’t either or you wouldn’t be here talking to me. You’d be up there somewhere away from humans.” A shuddering breath was heard from the other side of the call.

“Are you okay?”

“No, just- I know the Fa-what happened hurt you beyond what I could ever fathom, and I wish you never had to go through that…”

“But?”

“The world would be so much worse off without you in it.”

“I would have still been Justice, love,” said Lucifer gently.

“And aloof. So far removed from humans that compassion would be a distant concept rather than something you live and breathe.”

Lucifer wished he was with Ryan in this moment, but it seemed foolish to appear in his room, simply because he wanted to touch him.

“How are things with Loki?” he said, changing the subject.

“I think I pissed them off.”

“How did you manage that?”

Ryan gave him a rundown of his day and when his husband gave the context of why Loki stormed out, he could not help but wince, “Oh, darling…”

“What did I do?”

“You placed your trust in one who most – all but me, in fact, even Dad – would find untrustworthy.”

“There you go, you trust them. Why on Earth wouldn’t I?” was the reply as if placing his trust in the hands of a trickster was not the most insane thing to do. All things considered, it was the best choice of action, for one who loved order had just performed an act of chaos, and that would keep Loki on their toes.

“Azrael called you my new family,” he confessed, shifting the conversation back to his original reason for calling.

“I-“

“I don’t want you to be my family,” Lucifer breathed. “You can’t have sex with family.”

“Pretty fond of the benefits part myself,” was the reply, warm and just little bit flirtatious.

“Friends it is.”

Chapter Text

“What do we do?” asked Nora desperately. It was getting late and they were to meet with the FBI tomorrow at 10 AM, and that only after they claimed that 9 AM was not possible for them. It was just her and Sheila at the office, and Sheila seemed to be going through paperwork of all things.

She could not believe this was their life now; how did things fall apart so quickly?

She trusted Sheila, she did, but she was not sure if she believed her… It made her a terrible friend, she knew, but it was Sheila whom she had seen kill and while guys could be extremely violent, that guy had not seemed to possess one aggressive bone his body. Could he have really killed Julia? But then, could Sheila have murdered their friend? God, this was fucked up beyond all imagination. This was fucking hell.

She understood why Sheila did not want the cops involved, and the fact the FBI had just asked them to come in again after talking to Agents Jareau and Prentiss, made her suspicious.

“We leave town.”

“What?!”

“If it had been some half-witted, donuts-munching cop, I’d have said it’s safe, but these two ladies? I’m not sure if we fooled them the first time around. We’ve got to leave.”

“You mean you’ve got to leave. I haven’t killed anybody.”

“Hun, don’t you see? We’re in this together. With how everything went down, you’re an accomplice. If they catch you, they will make an example out of you.”

“Oh my God,” sobbed Nora. “I’m really, really scared. Where are we gonna go?”

“I got this, okay? We-“

A knock on the door had them both flinch.

“Yes?” asked Sheila after a moment’s hesitation. It could be Ashley, seemed like the most logical explanation.

It was Brandon fucking Miller.

“What the fuck do you want?”

“I saw that the lights were still on and thought I’d come by,” said the reason they were in this mess in the first place; without Brandon, Sheila would not have been frustrated and none of this would have happened.

“Why? Wanna rub it in? Or rubbing one out? Is that how you got the job?” hissed Sheila, disgusted.

Brandon’s demeanor changed from careful to frigid in two seconds flat. “I came here to ask if I could help. It seemed to me like you were under a lot of stress and I figured that we might come to some sort of agreement, but under these circumstances…” He had the audacity to sneer at them, “Screw this. I’ll let Ashley know that we have a position open and her experience makes her an excellent candidate for it. You two? I hope you crash and burn.”

With that he turned and was about to leave, but Sheila went right after him.

“Sheila!” shouted Nora.

Miller whirled around, and caught Sheila’s wrists before twisting her around.

“Get off of her, asshole!” screamed Nora.

“Don’t touch me!” screeched Sheila.

Miller shoved her away.

“I’ll sue!” shouted Sheila.

“Good luck with that! You attacked me.”

“Ow, my wrist. You hurt me! I’m calling the police,” said Sheila and Nora felt a moment’s panic rush through her on top of the adrenaline already pumping through her veins.

“Do it, you crazy-“ he cut himself off.

“Let’s take a step back,” said Nora shakily. “Perhaps, Mr. Miller, it would be best if you left. Now. Sheila, hun, let’s chill for a second there, okay?”

“Fine,” snapped her friend. “Get out, Brandon.”

Miller, furious yet miraculously composed nodded, turned and left.

“We’ve got to leave,” Nora acknowledged. She did not know where to or how, but they could not stay here.

“Our UnSubs are likely female, between ages 25 and 40,” summarized Prentiss. Their profile was preliminary, but all the pieces fit so far. “At this point, it looks like we have a single killer but this killer does not work alone. We are not sure if the accomplice is aware of what is happening. The preferred MO is that they target groups of men on busy nights, with two objects in mind. They lure two men for sex: the leader of the group and, if there are more than two men, the least threatening individual. They have sex with the leader, then lure their actual target elsewhere. They do not have sex, but there is a level of foreplay indicative for seduction of the victim. The victim is then killed in a blitz attack. It is very likely that the combination of sexual arousal followed by the adrenaline rush of the kill gives this UnSub a high that they are now chasing after.”

“What about Julia Cox?” asked Detective Park. “How does she fit into all this?”

“Julia Cox was killed with the same type of blade as all the other victims, but there were hesitation marks. Our UnSub knew the victim and careful questioning of her family and friends has shown that Julia Cox had a careful, rather subservient personality with few enemies. Our first suspicion was that she came upon the murder coincidentally, however, it is highly unlikely that she went out on her own on a worknight. The combination of the profile together with the obvious remorse and Julia Cox unlikely to be out on her own the other night makes it very likely that Sheila Peterson and Nora Kelly are involved. Our current prime suspect is Sheila Peterson. Apologies, Detective Park,” continued Aaron, “usually we have a profile before having a suspect, but both things built up together. We have called them back in. However, we should consider them flight risks and be ready to apprehend them quickly.”

“Why didn’t you have them arrested last night?”

“Because at this point, we cannot place them at the crime scene and we do not have any evidence,” explained Aaron. “We are looking for a confession.”

“And why on Earth would they do that?” asked the detective disbelievingly and Aaron looked to Lucifer sitting at a desk and flirting with the female officer next to him.

“Because Nora Kelly will break upon pressure, even if Sheila does not.”

Which was highly unlikely once they let the devil loose on them.

“If they do not show up at 10 AM, we have probable cause,” Aaron elaborated further. “My guess is that Ashley Murphy, Shannon Howard and Vanessa Price will be here on time, while Nora and Sheila will refuse, giving us an excuse to apprehend them. Our technical analyst Penelope Garcia will find them.”

“I hope to God you know what you’re doing, Agent Hotchner.”

He knew what he was doing. It was a move he would not have done three years ago, but even without Lucifer, he had faith in his team. He trusted Garcia to find them and she trusted Prentiss, Jareau and himself to be able to pin them down. Moreso, they had the devil on their side; if Sheila Peterson and Nora Kelly were responsible for the murders, they would find out.

“Gentlemen, we are sorry for your loss,” said Morgan. “We would like to talk to you about Tim Carlyle and Austin Rowan. You knew these men best and getting an understanding of them as people will help us find the killer.”

The atmosphere was somber; Reid – not particularly comfortable in a setting like this – had decided to stay in the back before introductions were made. Maze was wearing a suit that made her look a lot like an actual FBI agent; Turner was in fatigues. Loki’s decision to wear a bright pink lace-up mini-dress held together mostly by glitter was certainly exotic. They looked exquisite in the dress, but perhaps not particularly appropriate for the occasion. Even Reid had looked away; Maze had grinned. Ryan and Morgan had sighed.

And David? Well, David was quite enjoying the view if he was honest. It would also put the men slightly off-balance, which was something David liked. David did not enjoy dealing with direct action special operators, as the profession attracted highly controlled individuals whose personality traits often toed the line between narcissism and psychopathy though rarely crossing it. Keeping these men off-balance was exactly what they needed for this interaction to succeed.

The men looked composed and unbothered, but David knew they were still coping from the loss. Kowalski was with his men, but it was quite obvious that it truly had been Carlyle who called the shots. They said nothing.

“Alright, men. You’ve been debriefed. This room is not being recorded; you are free to speak. I’ll be in my office if you need me. Dr. Thompson-“ the base shrink, David remembered, “-is also on call if you need him.”

With that, he left.

Eyes were on Ryan in an instant.

“You, sir?”

“I’m here in my capacity as a military consultant, not as an officer.”

“Fire got too hot for you?” One man asked, whom David identified as the team’s sniper, standing on the far right, looking less than open for a conversation. “Couldn’t take the heat?”

Loki chortled and turned to Maze, “I like him.”

“Sergeant Malcolm,” said Ryan, who was suddenly smiling very dangerously, “in my book, special operators are among the best the U.S. Armed Forces has to offer, crucial in many ways, however your comment makes me think that you need to establish better connections with MI.”

He went up to the man and with a piercing gaze, he continued, “Heat was never part of my job description. You, gentlemen, train for months for a single mission and then you go in hard and fast; in and out. That’s not what I did. Bringing heat to a region already on fire will do more harm than good; so, we go in slowly, carefully, with empathy and a wish to learn from them, to understand their ways and needs. It was always appreciated. Packing heat may be efficient and sometimes inevitable, but in my experience, ashes always leave a stale taste behind and it’s not a good way to make friends.”

Yikes.

Aaron would have loved this. Taking the indirect attack on his masculinity and twisting it into a brutal metaphor on military tactics was probably the most efficient way of getting these men to listen. It was wholly different from Ryan’s approach in the bowling alley, or the office earlier that day.

“Now, we can do this pissing contest all day, but two members of your team are dead, and it is their job,” he made an open gesture to indicate David, Morgan and Dr. Reid, while managing to exclude Maze and Loki, “to find out just enough about Sergeants Carlyle and Rowan to find the killer. We’re on the same side. Work with them, please. They know what they’re doing.”

After a moment’s hesitation, they nodded, and the profilers went to work, while Ryan retreated.

The interviews were uneventful for the most part. They were a close bunch, but they already knew that; they were distrustful of any outsiders including feds and shrinks. As FBI profilers, they pretty much hit the sweet spot on how to best keep a team of highly trained, suspicious-bordering-on-paranoid individuals firmly on the paranoid side of things. Therefore, they kept their mouths shut around them and only answered the bare minimum.

“Has Carlyle been seeing anyone?” asked Morgan. He was talking to Paulson, the team’s weapon’s specialist.

“Sarge was always popular with the ladies, sir, but since the divorce, he hasn’t mentioned anyone serious,” replied Paulson.

“What about the not-so-serious? Has he talked about the women he dated?”

“Yeah,” grinned the man. He was in his late twenties, and damn, it made David feel old. “Nothing that stood out to me.”

“No crazy ex-girlfriend, no mention of someone having more interest in him than vice versa?” asked David.

The man hesitated before denying it.

“What about you, gorgeous?” asked Loki who – naturally – had gravitated towards Sergeant Nolan, specialist for explosives. He was the youngest in the team at age 25 and he looked extremely uncomfortable with Loki’s attention. “Any ladies to speak of?”

“Na, sorry, I ain’t into that,” stammered Nolan, taking a few steps back.

“Into the ladies? Well, I can help with that,” said Loki, grinning broadly; the smile was only borderline of what one would call human and even David, who had stared down some of the most deranged monsters in modern times, felt a shiver run down his spine.

“What? Hell no, I’m into ladies. I’m all for the ladies. What are you implying?”

That was the thing Paulson focused on and not the dangerous expression in the trickster’s face? He had strange priorities.

“I’m implying that you like what you see,” replied Loki, their smile back to harmless and flirtatious, “I’m suggestingthat this,” they indicated their very attractive body, “gets your blood boiling in the best of ways, and I’m submitting the hypothesis that you would go for it if you were not surrounded by your peers.”

“Get the fuck away from me, you f-“

“Finish that sentence, Sergeant, and I’ll file an EO complaint quicker than you can vaguely justify your bigotry,” snapped Ryan and the entire room stood immediate attention.

“Not a surprise that you would jump on that,” muttered Malcolm into the silence, standing barely within Dave’s ear-shot.

Ryan chuckled darkly, “I’m gay, I just got married and would infinitely prefer spending time with my husband over being here in this room… Disregarding your opinion of me, I’m assisting the BAU to the best of my ability because Carlyle and Rowan served this country for years and served it well with extraordinary bravery. They deserve my respect and my full attention. They saved your lives and I think that’s worth more than you trying to win some imaginary contest with rules that only you are privy to.”

He paused and shook his head, his disappointment obvious. “However, since a bunch of highly trained, well-funded and excellently supported soldiers have decided to act like a bunch of high school jocks in my presence, I guess it is better for me to give my associates full reign and leave the room.”

He shared a look with Morgan and made his way to the door once Morgan gave his non-verbal support of his actions.

“Just one more thing,” said he, “if any of them make a complaint about a lack of cooperation on your part, I’ll make sure that you’ll never work together again, and if you think I’m bluffing, you’ll soon learn that the tier system only holds for potential book deals.”

With this, he was gone and David smiled at the men, “Now, how about you tell us about Carlyle’s conquests in more detail?”

Interviewing went a lot more smoothly afterwards, with all the men avoiding but not insulting Loki. Interestingly enough, now that Ryan was out, and after the initial tension was lost, they were a lot friendlier, and some even adopted Reid into the group, not dissimilar to Captain Mallard’s men, curiously questioning him, basically testing his eidetic memory and math skills with the most obscure literature references and some very specific terrain questions in and around Fort Bragg, respectively.

“Dang, can we borrow you when we’re doing field drills? Would be nice having a brain like yours with us.”

Loki and Maze had left at some point; or rather, Loki complained about being bored and Maze followed to make sure the menace did not set the base on fire. David trusted Maze to make sure the mayhem would be kept at a minimum.

Meanwhile, David and Morgan were writing down first names and descriptions with women that Carlyle had hung out with for these last couple of months that they had spent on Fort Bragg for training.

“That’s all. Rowan, he would-would have known more. He was closest to Sarge. Fuck, I can’t believe he’s dead,” said Sergeant Martinez, obviously shaken by the death of two men he had looked up to.

“How was Carlyle with the ladies?” asked Morgan next. “I mean, he was successful, but how did he treat them?”

Martinez looked uncomfortable, “It was Sarge. He was charming in the beginning and then he took a more direct approach. He did not see the point in sugar-coating anything and said straight out what he thought. He wasn’t an abuser!” he added defensively. “But he was not Prince Charming either.”

“Anybody stood out where he was particularly straightforward?” asked David.

“Sure, occasionally, when he was decompressing. Starlight was his favorite joint.”

“Was there a situation that stood out to you in particular?”

“There was that girl-Tara, I think-she slapped him that one time. He laughed it off and said a few things. She cried, but he didn’t hit her or anything. Wasn’t nice either. That was just Sarge. He had no patience for criers.”

“I see,” said Morgan. “Could you give me a description of Tara?”

He could.

As expected, what they had to say about the master sergeant and Rowan was all around positive; they genuinely loved these men and even the ones disagreeing with how Carlyle treated women, they usually dismissed it as That’s just Sarge; he needs to decompress. The men were not outwardly shaken, but their dynamic was definitely not quite as flawless as is had been before Carlyle’s murder.

What surprised David was that he saw very little of the toxic dynamics mentioned by Mallard, the only exception being the tension between Malcolm and Ryan. Malcolm’s spotter John Arlon and likely the man closest to him, based on what they had read in preparation and seen during the interviews, should be able to give an answer.

It was Reid who decided to breach the question since he was the one who was filed as utterly harmless by the team.

“How’s your experience in working with Special Forces?”

“Working with?” repeated Arlon incredulously. He was about one year away from retirement and the most experienced man on the team now that Rowan was gone, “Hell, kid, most of us are recruited out of SF or the Rangers. We haven’t just worked with them, we are part of them.”

“So, why was Sergeant Malcolm’s provoking Major Turner?”

Arlon scoffed, “That wasn’t provocation, bit of goading, sure, to see if the man’s still got it or if he got soft.”

“He was right, then? This was just a dispute aimed at getting a rise out of him?”

Only Reid would translate pissing contest so politely.

“Yeah, I mean Turner served for a long time and his reputation’s excellent. But him leaving active service, getting this sweet job with you, getting hitched with some rich club owner who rubs shoulder with the elites in the big cities. Just wanted to make sure he’s still one of us.”

“And him calling you immature proved that?”

“Turner doesn’t take shit from nobody, never has. Always going for the diplomatic approach first, and if that fails, well, he’ll cut you down to pieces; from Mallard, he knew diplomacy meant shit and he didn’t even bother much. Was good seeing that in action,” was the reply.

Morgan chuckled on his way out, “Come on, Rossi. Don’t shake your head at this. Poking the bear is your go-to approach.”

David could not exactly counter that and not sound like a hypocrite.

“I was never this petty,” was his weak defense.

Morgan laughed, bumping into Dave sideways, “Father Marks? That bar in Montana? Come on, Rossi, this would have been precisely the way you’d poke Ryan if you didn’t know and respect him already.”

Touché.

Good thing that Morgan did not hold a grudge and was – above all else – a team-player, which was not something Rossi would have guessed when they first met. He took the mild tease and they left the room, Morgan already giving them men’s descriptions of Carlyle’s conquest.

The two majors were in Kowalski’s office, Loki and Mazikeen nowhere to be seen. It made David nervous, but there was little they could do about it.

“Hey,” smiled Ryan when they entered. “How’d it go?”

“Smooth sailing. We have several leads, and Garcia is checking up on them now. Are you going to file a complaint?”

“Nah,” laughed Ryan. “All good. It went exactly as I wanted it to.”

“Turner?” asked Kowalski. “I don’t have to remind you that disrespecting a senior officer is unacceptable.”

“Tell that to Captain Mallard, Kowalski. He’s not particularly impressed with this team.”

The major winced, “Yeah, that could have gone better.”

“Using me to make an example out of the men is, of course, an option, but defeats the purpose. Besides, with Carlyle out, it gives you the opportunity to restructure.”

“Got anyone in mind?”

“Surprised you’re asking me that,” was the reply. “I’m hardly the one with connection to specialists with the desired skillset. What about Captain Larson and his men from Alpha Company of the 2^nd Battalion? They were here yesterday.”

Kowalski nodded ruefully, “My thoughts, too, just wanted to have it confirmed by a neutral party.” He hesitated before continuing, “Even if you close this one quickly, at this point, I just don’t see how this team can prevail.” He did not look happy about the admission.

“You’ve got good men in there, Kowalski,” Morgan chimed in. “This was a tragedy, but it’s also an opportunity for you to be there for them when they need guidance.”

“You disapprove of my absence earlier,” said Kowalski, addressing all four of them.

“We get it, sir, we do,” said Ryan. “You got thrown to the wolves, but wolves are social above all else; they just need to ease into accepting new members; especially if the new guy becomes the head of the pack. My partner says that wolves were the easiest to befriend because they are like humans in many ways. Just better.”

“Heard you loud and clear, Turner. Forget about rank, please. A seasoned commander calling me sir makes me feel too old. Thanks, though.”

Ryan rose to his feet and nodded with a laugh, “Anytime, Kowalski.”

“Hey, Turner,” exclaimed Kowalski before they left. “How’s life after?”

“Wouldn’t change it for the world, but then, wouldn’t have changed my time with my men for anything either. Not even for a decade more with my husband.”

“Really? He doesn’t resent that?”

“No, because he’s the opposite.”

“What do you mean?” was the curious inquiry.

“If he had the choice, he wouldn’t go down the same path that would ultimately lead him to me,” was the soft reply. “He’d miss me, though, so it’s okay.”

“What happened to him?” asked Kowalski.

“Not my story to tell,” answered Ryan, voice apologetic but firm.

When they returned to the meeting room specifically assigned to them, they found Maze and Loki inside. Loki was lazily looking through a file in his lap, his head lower than his center mass, a position that would force any human to stop in ten seconds flat, with their face as red as a tomato. Loki looked as pale as ever. Maze was typing on her phone.

“What are you doing?” asked Reid curiously.

“Just something that wouldn’t leave me alone,” said Loki. “Soldier boy, you mentioned your rescue of the unfortunate Greg White, and that made me curious. You seemed a bit shaken, and I remember from the wedding’s invitation list that he was there whereas I was not invited.”

Their smile had a distinct thirteenth-Brothers-Grimm-fairy feel to it.

“And?”

“Colonel Montgomery is a very orderly man, who likes to be informed. He’s not very good at hiding things, especially things with secrets written on it.”

With that, he lifted the cover of the file he had been sifting through. It was a personnel file, and the name on the file was…

“You did not mention that the evil men holding your friend tortured him – and, when he wouldn’t break – violated the abducted girls before they turned their attentions to him.”

Ryan’s face was ashen.

“You did not tell us that you caught the evil men in the act-”

“Stop,” was the hoarse reply.

“You did not say you shot the assailants right between the eyes, no mercy. Was it an act of wrath, Major, did you-“

Ryan moved fast, but Loki was much, much faster and had the major pinned to the ground before David could blink.

“My, my, temper, temper,” chuckled Loki.

“Loki, hands off!” ordered Morgan with the authority of one made unit chief.

“Are you serious?” giggled Loki, unimpressed. “I’m not one of yours.”

“Loki, enough,” hissed Maze. “You had your fun. You said his file was all boring guardian/teacher stuff. It’s enough.”

“Except for that one moment of rage, my dear. Was it vengeance or justified, soldier body? Lucifer has always been bad at picking up living souls that engaged in the jolly good eye-for-an-eye approach.” They were the same height, but it was very clear that Ryan was completely trapped beneath the old god. “What is it you humans like to say? Confess and be forgiven… Well, I’m not in the business of mercy, neither are Maze or Lucifer, so no forgiveness, perhaps, but a confession would still be appreciated.”

Ryan breathed heavily underneath the powerful being who hated him; his eyes were filled with old pain.

“By the time we arrived, the girls were dead,” said Ryan, eyes closed. “Inside, there were five guys, they were taking t-, or I assume so, Greg never said, but one of them claimed it was his tur-but the leader, he insisted. He appeared unarmed; the others were neglecting their weapons. We took them all down. I shot the leader.”

“Why? He was unarmed when you entered.”

“We told him we’d kill him if he shouted for help. He produced a knife and threatened to kill Greg if we moved and we threatened to kill him if he did. Situation was tense. He told us to leave or he’d kill Greg. Greg begged me to kill them both.”

“Yet, you only killed the man holding him.” Loki’s face fell. “Great, here I was, hoping for it to be wrath, but no; at least not entirely.” He stood up, but Ryan did not move at first.

“He forgave me. At some point,” said Ryan quietly, eyes closed. “He gets why I couldn’t do it.”

“I should complain to your colonel for keeping such wretched files.”

“The colonel wanted to know who I was, not read after-action reports. Even if you got a hold of that, I never mentioned what Greg said either. Just a handful of my men know. And you,” answered Ryan. He was slowly getting up from the ground, looking like he aged ten years in the process. “Is that all, Mx. Bluebird?”

“That’s all, Major Turner,” grinned Loki. “For now.”

Chapter Text

Maze seriously considered leaving the country.

If there were a place on Earth or beyond that could conceal her from Lucifer when the devil was truly looking for her.

Turner was avoiding her gaze, and her dread intensified.

They were so fucking dead.

Morgan, Boy Genius and Old Fox Rossi had been summoned by Colonel Montgomery who apparently needed the FBI agents to fill out some additional forms to be able to search Rowan’s and Carlyle’s rooms. This gave Maze the reprieve she needed to talk to Turner.

Unfortunately, he did not agree with that assessment and was about to leave the room, when Loki called him back.

“Stay with us, soldier. Wouldn’t want to leave us unattended on base, would you?”

“Loki,” sighed Turner, “there’s absolutely nothing I can do to prevent you from doing something you want. Whether I’m here or not, has no influence on your actions.”

“No need for self-pity, human. More powerful beings have tried and failed to control my actions.”

“Just-forget it, I’ll see you later.” The resignation and haunted look on that face, much more on display since the other humans left, caused Maze to stiffen.

“Turner, wait,” said she, “what do you plan on doing?”

“Take a moment to recharge before jumping back into the battlefield you two insist on laying out before me,” was the blunt reply. Turner’s voice as raw. “That is what I planned on doing.”

“Will you tell Lucifer?” Maze asked, terrified at the thought.

“You’re not serious,” laughed the human; the rawness seamlessly transformed into a level of fury she had never heard from him before.

Maze swallowed, suddenly afraid, and she hated being afraid, which made her angry, “That’s not an answer.”

If Turner told Lucifer, the consequences would be dire.

“Will I tell my husband that some of the most painful memories of my life have been pulled to the surface for no other reason than curiosity and the itch to spread chaos? Of course, I will. Not that I could keep it from him. This is Lucifer we’re talking about,” was Turner’s reply. “He can hear lies.”

“Not with people he cares about,” countered Maze, “he’s got a blind spot for that.”

Turner stared at her for a long moment.

His voice was very quiet when he replied, “For the sake of our mutual co-existence around Lucifer-“ Turner was capable of wrath after all “-and our shared love for the devil, I will pretend you didn’t say that. However, I swear in his name that if you ever use his trust in the manner you implied, I will do everything in my power to make you miserable.”

“Are you threatening my Mazie?” Loki growled.

“Merely stating facts, Mx. Bluebird,” was the cool reply.

“Where is your need to make friends wherever you go?” was Loki’s retort. “That seems to be your most priced ability according to your file.”

“I make friends easily, but I know better than to look for friendship in places where it is unobtainable. I may be idealistic, Mx. Bluebird, but it’s been a long time since I was naïve.”

He pressed the door handle, but it was locked. With a sigh, he looked at Loki, “Would you mind?”

“Oh, I mind very much. You’re being insolent.”

“Do you want me to bow?” retorted Turner. His tone was as close to derisive as the sincere man was capable of. “I refused to bow to Lucifer’s father; I’m not gonna bow to you either.”

“What about the Lord of Hell himself?” grinned Loki suggestively.

“Lucifer is very aware of the power dynamics between us. He’d never abuse it without cause,” said Turner confidently; his facial expression was answer enough, though. He absolutely would if asked. His obvious devotion to the devil even managed to shut up Loki.

Momentarily.

“You weren’t the one hurt during Sergeant White’s ordeal; why would his suffering injure you?” They sounded genuinely curious, and the sincerity took some of the tension out of Turner’s shoulders.

“Because he was my responsibility. He’s a gentle, compassionate yet fierce and brave man and was broken by a bunch of cowards who were going after little girls,” answered Turner. “He was one of mine.”

“I never cared much for those who followed me.”

Turner looked genuinely amused at that, and his response was remarkably kind, possibly because Maze had heard Lucifer say similar things, and Turner sympathized with Lucifer in a lot of ways, even if he had no personal connection to the matter at hand. “I imagine it would be very hard to feel for or relate to beings-“

“Inferior creatures,” suggested Loki.

“-to beings with whom you share no personal connection and who worship an idol vaguely based on you. My men aren’t that.”

“They aren’t yours. They follow your command on orders given by your superiors,” countered Loki. “They now follow the command of others based on orders given by your superiors. No loyalty owed; they would kill you if your superiors demanded it. And they might if they heard whom you married.”

Turner’s mood shifted yet again, clearly appreciating the warning; his response was sincere, “My superiors are far from perfect, but they’re not insane. They learned the hard way not to mess with him or the ones he loves.”

For a moment that was all he said before he added, “My men would refuse such an order regardless.”

“Can they?”

“Yes! We were trained to,” replied Turner fiercely. “It is our duty to refuse unethical or unlawful orders; any good soldier must and mine are the best.”

That damned faith again, but because it was not aimed at them, Loki’s ire was kept at bay. Maze wished to go for another round of “Please do not tell Lucifer about what happened earlier or I will be cleaning out fire pits for the next two millennia,” but refrained from trying when she heard the profilers approach.

“How’d it go?” asked Turner once they entered.

“Pretty sure we’ll either be able to search the room, or just sold our souls to the Department of Defense,” was Rossi’s blunt answer. “Other than that, thanks to Carlyle’s team and their ability to accurately give facial descriptions, we were able to lock down Tara. Her full name’s Tara Holland; she lives and works in Fayetteville; she’s an accountant and has no priors whatsoever. We’ll be meeting her at her office at 10.”

Loki and Maze were encouraged to stay out of sight, which irked her, though she had to admit that the lack of trust in them was well-deserved. Turner had not joined at all, being retained by his superiors.

For lack of something to do, she listened to the conversation inside while holding Loki back by their hair. They were very fastidious about their hair.

“That jerk?” Maze heard Tara say to the profilers. “Of course, I remember him; all charming and sweet until you give him what he wants and then he ghosts you. Didn’t even remember my name.”

“He was murdered.”

The response was not one of shock or grief or satisfaction; instead, the woman laughed, “Wow. That is not what I expected to hear; I thought I’d be some character witness for the prosecution, to show that he absolutely could and would kill people. With or without orders.”

“You believe him to be capable of murder?” asked Rossi.

“Sir, he’s basically a government-trained assassin,” was the cool reply. “Well, was. Must have taken skill to off him.”

“Why dating somebody who has a job you morally oppose to?” asked Reid.

“Sugar, this is Fayetteville. If I excluded Army men, my dating pool would shrink to a drizzle. But I prefer not to date the Special Forces types. They tend to be narcissistic assholes, basically the surgeons among MDs, or the politicians among... people. Didn’t know he was Delta until after our brief time together. Good riddance. Not that I wanted him dead; he was an asshole, doesn’t mean he deserved death. I’ll be honest with you: he was ruthless and cold as ice after we… I wouldn’t have been surprised if you had come here about a murder trial, but he was not sadistic. Just efficientand arrogant. All that said, I will say that it doesn’t surprise me he stepped on the wrong toes and got offed.”

That was yet another dead-end, it seemed.

“Has he mentioned anyone to you? Do you remember eyes on you when you were with him?” asked Morgan.

“Apart from his posse – apologies, I meant ‘team’ – who followed him around whenever they were off base, no. He was an imposing guy, surrounded by imposing men, really nothing stood out to me. Men tended to give him a wide berth; apart from a ‘thanks for your service’ every other day, he was not approached.”

“What about women?” asked Rossi.

“He was a good-looking, companiable guy; when we were out, it wasn’t a rare occurrence for him to be hit on or receive propositions by other women; nothing stalkerish, though.”

The profilers asked a few more questions, but she could give no additional information.

Maze was disappointed to hear that the woman could not help them.

When the humans returned, she mentioned as much.

“Garcia found no online indication that he was being threatened or stalked, but we hope that the rooms will give us the information we need,” said Morgan. “You are welcome to join; Lucifer has a great eye for this kind of work; I’m confident your eyes are better than ours.”

“They certainly are, human,” confirmed Loki, “but why would we aid you?”

“Because you mistreated Ryan to the point he actively left the scene and Lucifer is not known to be merciful with those who abuse the ones he loves; you being loved ones as well will not deter him from putting the fear of the devil in you,” said Rossi coolly. “Helping us is probably the only option that will keep him from unleashing his wrath on you.”

“You presume much,” said Loki.

“Not really; I know Lucifer.”

Loki met Rossi’s eyes, but said nothing for a long moment.

Maze, fully aware that the old fox was right, damn him, grabbed Loki, so that they could help the humans.

The room was meticulous. Nothing that spoke of a scorned lover as far as the eye could see. Maze was not entirely sure what they were looking for in the first place. Loki on the other hand did not bother with any kind of search. They were lounging on the bed and Maze could not blame them; the team had been at it for an hour to no avail.

“I got nothing, Rossi,” said Morgan. Rossi just nodded.

“Yes, yes,” said Loki, “very clean. Very dispassionate. Narcissus would not have invited a fling here. This is his core; his domicile within the realm that demanded his respect and from which he expected reverence. He would not have brought memorabilia of ladies he thought nothing of here.”

Both Rossi and Morgan looked speechless.

“That makes a lot of sense,” muttered Morgan. “So, he erased her. There’s nothing on his phone either-“ he trailed off, and picked up his phone, predictably calling Garcia. “Hey, Babygirl, can you retrieve deleted messages from a phone?”

A disgusted fake-groan was the answer, “Please, Sugarcakes, I thought you were going to challenge me.”

“Hold that thought, Babygirl,” said he and called for Kowalski who had led them to the rooms and was now standing attention in front of it. “We need his phones.”

“Agent Morgan…”

“I would bet that whoever killed him, messaged him at some point. But his paranoid, perfectionist persona would not have kept the messages, so he deleted them, possibly on a burner phone. I know you guys have them all. We need them to find your killer.”

“Agent Mor-“ Kowalski began, but was interrupted by quick footsteps that Maze already knew well enough to identify as Turner’s. “Major, is everything okay?”

Turner looked pale and drawn out. “We just got a phone call. There’re two more bodies.”

“Who was murdered?” asked Rossi.

“Sergeant Christensen; not connected to Carlyle. Hell, not even connected to SFOD. He’s USAR. Army Reserves. The victim is a civilian. Local police states that the crime scene is quite gruesome.”

“Let’s go,” said Morgan.

“Now that’s a change in MO,” Rossi breathed. Christensen was killed by a blow to the back of the head with a sharp object; likely the same sharp object which had been used on the civilian: Sandra Colson - a petite, redhaired woman. Unlike the previous two murders, it appeared that she was the object of the killer’s attention. Contrary to the previous victims, she had not been slaughtered. Instead, the hilt of a hunter knife was left in her chest.

She needed no profiler or God of Chaos to explain the symbolism to her.

“Looks like your murderer is a redhead,” smiled Loki. “And she’s only now started to taste the sweetness that is vengeance.”

“Agreed, Loki,” said Morgan, his expression was grim, but the tone toward the menace was strangely warm, almost appreciative, as if impressed or respectful of Loki’s skill as profiler. “She’s on a spree. She’ll hunt again soon.”

The little girls were on the run.

Lucifer was hardly surprised. The most aggressive specimens of a species were rarely the bravest. They had a good reason to run, too. After all, the devil was at their heels. His humans were currently trying to find out where they were.

“There is a distinct lack of preparation to their escape,” said Agent Prentiss. “They probably just panicked, but without a destination in mind. They had no plan, no supplies, so it is unlikely they leave the city unless pressured. They’re probably trying to hide right here in Portland.”

“The arrest warrant is out. Should we notify the public?” asked Detective Park.

“That would be exactly the kind of thing to cause enough stress for them to leave the city, and we will have a more difficult time finding them,” said Agent Jareau. “Has Garcia made any progress in tracking their phones?”

“They haven’t been using them.”

“Why would they?” asked Lucifer bitterly. “They killed their own friend, and they have to assume everybody knows about that. They don’t have anyone to call.”

He had seen it often enough that family killed family, long before he met the BAU. He had no high expectations when it came to his own blood, and the few times he had, disappointment often followed. He expected much more from his friends, and instances of violence between friends always disturbed him, though they were no less common than crimes within family, at least not as far as he could tell.

A brief comforting touch from Hotchner brought him out of his reveries, and he listened to the agents as they discussed the most likely places where their sinners could be. He did not really contribute to the discussion, simply listened to the agent bouncing ideas.

A cold breeze crawling down his spine made him sigh. He did not say anything. Not wishing to interrupt their discussion, he stepped away from his humans into an empty office.

“I’m at work.”

“No,” countered Azrael. Like before, she looked like Death personified, milky eyes staring up at him with little to no emotion. “Your job is in Hell. This is a hobby. The humans can do without you. Sure, they do things faster. Most of the time, at least. You’ve been useless on this particular case.” Lucifer felt a moment’s anger, but he could hardly contradict her when she spoke the truth. He had been no more than moral support this time around. “Let’s face it, you’re just having fun and they’re indulging you because they like you, or because they’re afraid of what you’ll do if you deny them.”

Stricken, Lucifer looked at his little sister.

“You’re lying.”

“Nope, that’s what I think, and you know it’s the truth.”

“Now that is a typical example of making an erroneous conclusion from the dataset provided, sis.” Jophiel’s voice cut through the air with cold precision. She appeared beside Lucifer, but her attention was on her older sister. “Yes, taking care of the little injustices in this world is probably beneath him, but it is his right and he likes doing it, so who are we to tell him not to? As for his humans, I just got prayed at by three members of his team independently asking for me to support Lucifer. Yes, sounds like they are afraid, but for him. Not of him. Time to change your ways, dearest sister.”

“You all talk about Lucifer like he’s had the worst job, but he’s had his own agency for ages,” hissed Azrael and the vitriol in her voice took Lucifer by surprise. “He could take vacations whenever he wanted. I can’t! I can’t, and I’m tired of dealing with soul after soul after soul. I like Earth, I wanna be on Earth! I don’t want to keep doing this.”

Lucifer felt his stomach clench uncomfortably. He understood the loneliness, he understood being sick of doing a job you did not truly enjoy. Just when he was about to say something, Jophiel scoffed.

“You can’t be serious. Baba told us to let him know if we want some of the younger ones to help us out. I have ten who are helping me right now. It’s glorious. Talk to him.”

“No!”

“Azrael.” Jophiel sounded very impatient.

“No, I won’t,” hissed Azrael. “He hasn’t bothered in so long and I don’t want to talk to him now.”

“But then your circumstances won’t change,” countered Jophiel mercilessly. “I’m angry with Baba, too, but I won’t be cutting myself to make him bleed. That’s stupid.”

“What do you know? You got the fun task! Playing a little bit with science and-“

“Watching the attempt to spread knowledge go down in flames? Seeing what I helped them build and watching them make weapons out of it? Watching them use other humans in their quest for knowledge? Watching them lie, cheat and steal for their own gain?” hissed Jophiel. “I’ve wanted the justice job more than once because, trust me, the world of science is rampant with injustices and downright sociopaths. Horrific atrocities have been committed in the name of science and all I can do is watch and lead by example because justice isn’t my domain.” Her voice was flat and cold. “I want it to be sometimes, but it’s not. All I carry is the small bright flame of knowledge and the drive to seek it. I will always trust the Lightbringer to bring justice where it’s due, though, and will enjoy myself with my humans, with those who live what I embody. The ones whose hard work pays out in the end because they never gave up. Stop using Lucifer as the scapegoat for your unhappiness and talk to Baba.”

“Talk to Amenadiel, too,” Lucifer chimed in. “I think he’s very unhappy, feeling adrift and underappreciated. Time should have a purpose. Perhaps, you could share the burden.”

Silence followed Lucifer’s suggestion. Azrael’s whole demeanor was one of misery and the devil was at a loss.

“Little One, it can’t just be me who made you this unhappy-“

“I thought she’d like me,” interrupted Azrael.

“Who?”

“Raguel, she-you made her out to be this wonderful creature, but she was cold… so cold.” Azrael shuddered, and Lucifer was genuinely surprised, not having expected Death to be afraid of Chaos.

“Jophiel said she recognized you as one of mine,” said Lucifer haltingly.

“At first, she did.” Azrael trembled again. “Then she dug deeper and got so mad. Called me unruly, and disloyal.”

“Raguel has a temper,” said Lucifer, fully aware that this was insufficient to alleviate Azrael’s misery. He took a deep, calming breath and continued, “Look, talk to Dad. Make sure to ease some of your troubles and when my humans are dead and buried, I’ll need to get away from everything regardless. We’ll visit Raguel. Together. Amenadiel will help out, I’m sure. He owes me. You’ll get to meet her, and we’ll have some time to bond, and I’ll… I won’t have to feel like I need to call vengeance upon the circumstances that took away my loved ones. That wouldn’t be just.”

Azrael looked crushed. Curling into herself, she whispered, “I don’t want to take them away from you.”

“Oh, sweetie,” said Jophiel, sad and sympathetic.

Lucifer felt overwhelmed with his sister’s emotions. He had not known that preemptive guilt was building on top of the guilt she felt over her betrayal. He did not quite know what to say at first. Things were not fine between them. Ryan and the team had told him that it was not only acceptable but reasonable to not let her back in immediately. However, he had no wish to be cruel to his baby sister.

“I think that’s a task I’ll ask Dad to do anyway. I’ll… I doubt I’ll be fair about it and none of you little ones should bear the brunt of my grief. It wouldn’t be right either.”

They did not hug, or say much else, but Azrael did not look quite as distressed when she bid her goodbye.

“Thanks, my dear,” said Lucifer quietly as he pulled Jophiel into a hug. “You need not fight my wars.”

“I know I don’t, but wars are usually fought by more than one person, and while your humans are a treasure, they cannot help you much when it comes to family disputes. It’s high time you get some angelic backup, brother.” He held her a bit tighter before returning to the other.

“Everything alright?” asked Agent Jareau as soon as he was back with them.

“Better,” he answered. “I think. These family affairs are truly daunting. Have you found them?”

“In order to disappear they needed money. Peterson tried to access company money, which has been monitored by Garcia. She called Hotch who called the local police. They picked them up at the bank. They haven’t given a confession yet, Lucifer.”

That made him smile.

“Perfect.”

Something in his voice had to give him away because Agent Jareau looked to him suspiciously, “Hold it right there, tiger. We don’t know yet for sure whether they are the ones who did it.”

“I’ll know it when I see them,” said Lucifer.

Lucifer agreed to enter the interrogation room after the agents made their usual inquiries, and to only do so at their signal. He was watching Agents Hotchner and Prentiss behind the glass window, while Agent Jareau was standing by his side.

“Is it them?” asked Agent Jareau.

“Sheila Peterson is drenched in blood, of that I have no doubt,” said Lucifer coolly. “I am not sure about Nora Kelly. Her Light is… conflicted. I would have to enter the room to know for sure. Ms. Peterson on the other hand… It was definitely her.”

The women in question were not very forthcoming to Agent Hotchner, though he managed to corner them into admitting that they had no good alibi for any of the nights in question.

“This is harassment,” said Ms. Peterson. “I’ll sue the crap out of you and your unit.”

Agent Hotchner did not look particularly worried, causing Ms. Peterson to stand up and approach him. Agent Prentiss looked distinctly uncomfortable and seemed to ready herself for interference.

“Ms. Peterson, assaulting a federal officer is a severe crime and I will use it to put you away for a very long time if you don’t sit down now.” It did not deter her, which caused Lucifer to tense up.

“That’s my signal,” said Agent Jareau, putting a comforting hand on his shoulder before she slipped into the room.

“Agent Hotchner, there’s a call for you on Line 2,” said she, sweetly but firmly, ignoring Ms. Peterson who had stopped but still looked ready to attack Agent Hotchner.

“I’m in the middle of an interrogation.” His tone was icy.

Ah.

Lucifer relaxed. This was all a game. Agent Hotchner had provoked the ladies on purpose and Agent Jareau now pretended to come in for the rescue.

“Well, Chief Strauss believes that the call has priority. You wouldn’t wish to make her wait, would you? I’ll take over for you,” said Agent Jareau.

“Fine,” said Agent Hotchner, rose from his seat and left. Agents Prentiss and Jareau visibly relaxed once the door closed behind them.

“What a prick,” hissed Ms. Peterson.

Agent Jareau grinned, “Yeah. Big time. Thanks for riling him up. This was fun to watch.”

“He did not look very rattled,” said Ms. Kelly, uncomfortable with the whole situation.

“Oh, he’s a block of ice,” said Agent Jareau, just as Agent Hotchner joined Lucifer at the window. “This is about as riled up as he gets.”

“Dead fish, ey?” asked Ms. Peterson with a sly grin.

Agent Prentiss looked positively horrified at the implication, stuttering “I beg your pardon?”

Lucifer was appalled, “That is unacceptable, I will-“ he began, but Agent Hotchner just looked at him fondly, his eyes shining with amusement. He did not seem to take the shot at his sexual prowess very seriously.

“Wouldn’t know,” said Agent Jareau, whose acting skills were truly a sight to be seen. There was a gleam in her eyes that was cold and calculating. Ms. Peterson was drawn to that ice like the moth to a flame. “Not that I’d mind. You’ve seen the body, right?”

“JJ,” hissed Agent Prentiss under her breath. “If he hears you-“

“What? Not like he can risk kicking me off the team. We’re the only female agents in his unit. I don’t think he’s ready to deal with the bad press. Besides,” she grinned, “you can’t tell me you never thought about pinning him to that table of his and just let loose a bit.”

Agent Prentiss stuttered, and her face turned red, “I-no, of course not.”

Lucifer – normally all for assertiveness in his lovers – felt distinctly uncomfortable. The air was predatory and he found very little enjoyment in that; especially when it came from his friends.

“This has all been discussed and agreed to,” said Agent Hotchner quietly. “This is scripted; nothing is being said that was not consented by all parties beforehand.”

“When did you do that?” asked Lucifer.

“While you were talking to your sisters. Apologies, Lucifer, we should have let you know. It did not occur to us that you would also be affected by this.”

“Because I’m always good for it?” asked Lucifer, not quite understanding why this unsettled him this much.

“We excluded you from this part of the interrogation precisely because we knew you would not be good for this. Your relationship to us is platonic. We did not take into consideration that sexual language amongst ourselves could unsettle you.”

“It’s not the sex,” said Lucifer, “it’s the lack of consent. I don’t like Agent Jareau talking about you like you are a piece of meat – scripted or not.”

“This will never happen again,” was the firm reply. “I apologize.”

“I did not know until two minutes ago that I would feel thus, Agent Hotchner. I do not hold this against you,” said Lucifer firmly. He knew this was a game played to get the confessions. He did not want his team to pretend something they were not, especially if there was a much easier way of doing this. “I believe we have waited long enough.”

Agent Hotchner did not try to hold him back as he walked into the interrogation room.

“Just how many hunks do you have in your unit Agent Jareau?” grinned Ms. Peterson who had just semi-confessed to her actions by talking rather about her bait-and-switch strategy in clubs. She licked her lips. “This one looks fine.”

Her smile froze when she looked at him.

Really looked at him.

“Why did you kill her?” he asked.

“Who?” she replied hoarsely, her voice trembling in the face of the devil standing at the door.

“Nobody cries over a piece of meat, correct? Therefore, I’m not going to ask you about the men you murdered. All I am interested in is how you could kill your friend.”

Ms. Kelly started to bawl about how it was all an accident and how she did not do anything. Her spinelessness aggravated him, but she was not the focus of his ire.

“It was all Sheila’s idea,” babbled Ms. Kelly. “I just-“

“Shut up!” hissed Ms. Peterson. “Shut up!”

“She was your friend,” said Lucifer.

“I never liked that bitch,” was the emotionless reply and that was when Ms. Kelly turned on Ms. Peterson abruptly, calling her a vindictive monster and that she hated her.

They had their confession. Agent Jareau demonstrated Ms. Peterson’s lack of respect for the lives of the men she had encountered, put her predatory ways on blast, and she confessed to the murder of her own friend. Ms. Peterson would not step a foot on the streets of Portland ever again. Ms. Kelly might, but she was comparatively harmless, especially without her toxic friend. With a disgusted scoff, he stepped away and called for an officer to take the two sinners back into their cells. He looked to Agents Jareau and Prentiss, who no longer looked all wrong and scripted. Agent Jareau gave him a brief hug.

“Are you alright?” she asked.

Lucifer, fully aware that Agent Hotchner would tell them of his discomfort, could genuinely say that he was.

“I hate acting like that,” she confessed to him, reading him like a book. “I hate how naturally I can slip into that persona.”

“Just because you can does not mean you are, Agent Jareau,” said Lucifer gently.

“No punishment for them?” asked Agent Prentiss once Agent Hotchner joined them.

“What makes you say so?” asked Lucifer.

“You didn’t do anything.”

“Ms. Kelly was a blind follower of someone who could not be trusted,” said Lucifer. “She’ll have to live with the consequences. She’s not worth the extra-effort. She’s one of those souls that will excel in self-punishment. And Ms. Peterson, well, she’ll soon notice that fulfillment is no longer an option for her. She chased after a high that she could not reach again. I just… enhanced that. Haven’t done a Tantalus-style punishment in a while, but it seems befitting to her. Food will taste like ash in her mouth, water cannot quench the thirst she feels, no amount of sleep will chase away her wariness, and sexual gratification will soon be a distant dream. While she is alive, this lack of gratification will be mild, a constant itch that cannot scratched but not so bad as to destroy her psych. Once she is mine, well… She better live for a long, long time before Azrael brings her to my doorstep.”

Chapter Text

“Portland case is closed,” said Derek the moment he hung up the phone.

“Are they coming here?” asked Reid.

“They’re on the way, but with a spree killer on the loose, we can’t wait for them to show up,” he answered.

Rossi confirmed Derek’s assessment and further noted that they needed to draw the UnSub’s attention.

“What’s your plan, Rossi?”

“Bait.”

Derek looked at the older profiler, knew exactly what he was proposing and looked over to Ryan who froze over the M.E. report he had been reading.

“No,” said he, eyes wide. “No, no, no, no, no. Nope. Hold it right there.”

“Your look fits,” said Rossi, undeterred. “You have the same training; you know how these guys think; you can emulate them. All we need is-“

“I’m not one of them,” was the sharp reply. “Forget it. I’ve spent my career not being one of them. I’m not going to do this to some redhaired officer who only consents to it because she happens to share similar features as the UnSub.”

“Oh, the Fires of Hell spare me the honorable ones,” Mazikeen groaned. “Look, Turner, you don’t have to do anything to anyone. You’ll be bait, Loki will cast an illusion so that I look the part, and we can apprehend our murderer together.”

Turner looked slightly less agitated but still unconvinced, “I’m not a good actor.”

“You know that actually stings,” said Mazikeen “I’m hot.”

“I’m not saying you aren’t!” was the defensive reply. “I meant that I cannot mimic the kind of assertive behavior Carlyle was known for.”

“Right,” scoffed the demon.

It was Loki who chimed in, completely taking Derek aback, “Well, love, how about me then?” The pose they struck was fairly enticing, even to Derek’s straight ways.

“No offense, Loki, but-“ began Ryan, visibly uncomfortable.

“He’s devil-sexual, you two,” said Rossi, obviously having a blast with the whole situation. He reveled in putting people on the spot as Derek knew from personal experience. He was clearly trying to get a rise out of the man. “He won’t find you attractive, but I am sure he can be convinced to work with one of you.”

“Hey! I’ll have you know that I have slept with other men,” countered Ryan, and this time it was Derek who had to laugh.

“Let me guess: tall, dark, handsome, with a playful smile,” he joked. “Come on, man, your type is very specific.”

“I’m pretty sure there’s a rule about profiling your teammates,” protested Ryan weakly.

“You don’t have to do this,” said Derek gently, “and I know you well enough to know that you will hate every moment you pretend to be someone you’re not, but if we wait-“

“-chances of this happening to someone not aided by a god or a demon, are too high,” the Major sighed.

“Which one of us shall it be then?” asked Loki, while doing something that made both Mazikeen and them look like last night’s victim.

Loki preened in delight and Mazikeen just rolled her eyes when Ryan chose Loki.

What followed was a crash course in undercover ops. Ryan knew the basics of things, but it was clear that this type of operation did not come naturally to him. He was not one for ‘spy games’ as he called them. He was a remarkably quick study regardless, and it filled Morgan with confidence that he could pull it off.

During a break, Derek went to check on Reid and Rossi who had been tasked to coach Loki.

He found them at a table, with Rossi reading the newspaper and Reid reading a book.

“Finished already?” he asked.

“You really think we can teach Loki anything about deception?” was Rossi’s nonchalant reply. “Even though I know better, they made me believe they were an ambivert lady with an underlying confidence that belies her initial reluctance to interact, open to flirtation yet careful about her heart. Hell, I almost asked her out by the end of it.”

“As if you wouldn’t ask them out regardless,” muttered Reid under his breath, causing Derek to laugh. Loki’s preferred feminine frame absolutely were Rossi’s type.

“No profiling of team members,” said Rossi primly.

“Have you at least bothered to tell them about police procedure?” asked Derek.

“Oh yes,” said Reid, grinning. The Kid looked like he was having an absolute blast, and it warmed Derek to Loki. Anybody who brought out Reid’s mischievous side deserved the benefit of the doubt… He just hoped that no new prank war was on the horizon. Derek had the horrible suspicion that Loki would take Reid’s side. “They did not believe it to be a particular riveting read, but they could quote it back to us after ten minutes. On the plus side, they know the rules, but I wouldn’t trust them not to break them if they are considered annoying or – as Lucifer calls some of them – quaint.”

“Same or worse than Lucifer?” asked Derek.

“Same. I think. But Lucifer likes us,” said Rossi. “Loki on the other hand doesn’t. Yet. Still, they owe Ryan not to mess this up, so in this particular instance, I think we can give it a go.”

The bar they chose was the one closest to the last crime scene and was often frequented by Carlyle and his men. Ryan and Loki were already dressed and disguised for the occasion; Rossi had been chosen as observer and thus cameraman of the evening, making sure the rest of them could stay in a makeshift surveillance room. Both Ryan and Loki were wired. Ryan was doing a good job portraying a dominant asshole looking for a good time, using charm and wit to find a partner. Moreover, Derek had to double-check twice that the woman who was the center of Ryan’s attentions was Loki.

“Now that is what I call an unusual sight,” said Emily who – just like the rest of the team – had arrived a few minutes ago and been briefed by Reid. Lucifer, coming up to Derek’s right looked unhappy.

“You okay, man?” asked Derek.

“A beautiful thing like you shouldn’t spend the night alone,” they heard Ryan say. “How about we spend it together somewhere quiet?”

Lucifer scoffed, and for the briefest of moments, Derek thought that the devil was jealous. Not desiring to risk any misunderstanding between the two newlyweds, Derek said, “You know he’s just acting, right?”

“What?” asked Lucifer curtly. “Of course he is. He’s a hopeless case as a serious flirt. I do mean hopeless. He’s only slightly less adept as a singer. It requires a certain form of guile that eludes him in a most charming manner.”

An unhappy sound escaped him when Ryan bent over Loki’s transformed body, effectively cornering her into a position that would require verbal refusal. Even though Derek had never seen Carlyle in action, he would not be surprised if this was exactly the way he acted around the women that interested him: not outright predatory but toeing the line with years of experience.

Derek tried to puzzle out the source of Lucifer’s discontent, but it was Emily who asked, “Is it because it’s Loki?”

“No!” said Lucifer vehemently. “Loki has not had too many gentle lovers beyond Sigyn and myself; I would be thrilled if Ryan had any interest in him.”

“Then why-“

“He spent his entire career not being the type of man to abuse his status. Playing this role will make him miserable. And a miserable Ryan is a very hard-to-please creature. The man can and absolutely will sulk for days.”

Derek barked a laugh at that, “Birds of a feather, my dearest devil. Birds of a feather.”

Predictably, Lucifer’s face turned to him, utterly appalled, “I beg your pardon?”

“Take a look at the woman by the bar,” Rossi’s voice sounded through the speakers. “Her eyes have been on our lovely couple for the past three minutes.”

Professionalism wrapped around Derek like a well-worn coat.

He took the microphone and spoke, “Ryan. We’ve got eyes on a potential suspect. Why don’t you and Loki move to the back of the club?”

“Roger that, Agent Morgan,” was the clear response which had Derek shake his head a bit. Lucifer was right. Ryan and deception did not go hand in hand. He executed the plan, however, and maneuvered Loki to the back of the club.

Lucifer reached past Derek’s hand and he activated the microphone, “You look absolutely ravishing, love. Do remember that Loki is a master of transformation and illusion. You would hardly be able to tell the difference between us. He was also the one to teach me quite a few of the things you enjoy.”

Ryan’s ‘copy that’ was rough, and in the background, a delighted chuckle was heard.

Loki decided to chime in, “Do not give your mortal a heart attack, Lightbringer. I’d never hear the end of it.”

Lucifer’s smile was dangerous, “You’ve tormented him, Sky Treader. Your pettiness has become predictable. Surprise me.”

With eerie precision, Loki’s gaze went to the camera on the other side of the room. Derek could not even hope to read them but Lucifer’s anger tempered almost immediately, his smile losing its edge.

Whatever Loki then whispered into Ryan’s ears, it eased their military consultant’s mind, and they easily fell back into their game, deftly moving toward the back.

The grin now adorning the devil’s face was less threatening and more interested.

“This isn’t an adult movie,” reminded Emily, grinning at Lucifer’s delight.

“I know,” said the devil, his focus not wavering from the footage in front of him.

“This is your husband and your former lover,” Reid pointed out.

“Aren’t I lucky?”

“Come on, you hopeless creature,” muttered Derek.

At Rossi’s instructions, they were led to the backroom of the club, but in order not to spook their Unsub, they stayed back.

“She’s waiting,” said Rossi on the phone. “Do we have a name?”

“Garcia?” asked Derek, and naturally, his Babygirl had managed to get an ID from the footage.

“Her name’s Catherine Harrows,” said she on the phone. “She deleted all her social media accounts a month ago. I checked out her deleted profiles and posts, which showed that her relationship status shifted from ‘single’ to ‘in a relationship’ a couple of days before she deleted everything. She also posted images of Master Sergeant Carlyle and herself with the caption ‘going to rock this place tonight’ in front of the club where they later found the body.”

“Any priors?”

“Her last ex filed a restraining order against her, and there is a police report that stated her threatening another ex-boyfriend’s current girlfriend.”

“Okay, so she’s obsessive. Thanks, Babygirl.”

“She’s on the move,” said Rossi.

“Alright, time to go in. Lucifer, you come with me but stay behind me. Rossi, wait for Reid and then stay by the club entrance. I don’t want her back in the crowd. JJ, Hotch, guard the back. Prentiss, you’re with us.” Once all confirmed their readiness, he warned their bait. “Ryan, be ready. She’ll be with you soon.”

As he spoke, they quickly made their way to where Ryan and Loki were.

“Copy that.” After a moment’s silence, the radio activated again, and Ryan said, “Morgan, you better hurry.”

A screech of absolute terror caused them to run as fast as humanly possible. Morgan kicked the door in. “FBI, hold it!”

The sight was not exactly as expected but also not entirely surprising. Harrows was pressed against a wall, looking utterly terrified. Ryan stood between her and Loki, his back not entirely turned to her but mostly facing Loki. The God of Chaos looked every bit the faerie queen Lucifer had confirmed they were. She looked stunning, her hair looking like fire and her face distorted by a smile that was unnaturally wide and more resembling a snarl than true amusement. Her hand was around a scary looking blade.

“She wanted to take your heart,” said Loki, her focus on both Ryan and Harrows. “I’m taking hers.”

“I’m pretty sure that goes against regulations,” Ryan deadpanned, causing Lucifer to chuckle and Loki to scoff.  

"You wanted his heart, dear crazy one?” whispered the Norse God of Chaos, looking at Harrows without mercy. “That already belongs to someone else, as fully and completely as I did not believe humans to be capable of, with a fiery passion that is only curbed by a thin sheet of ice.” Huh. That was a different tune to what Derek had come to expect. “We are very much alike, you and I. I too have taken my fair share of hearts. Not for symbolism, though. I tend to eat them.” Loki looked hungry.

“Alright, alright,” sighed Lucifer. “I’m taking you out hunting with my boys and somehow, I’ll bring Jör along. Now, please, stop thinking about all the ways you wish to maim her and step back. It’s my husband she wished to kill.”

Loki laughed at that, “Oh, please, punisher. Do your worst.”

Lucifer looked from the woman to Loki to Ryan, “Any ideas, love?”

Ryan smiled at his husband, looking as utterly gone on the devil as Loki has said, “That’s your domain, Lucifer. I wouldn’t dare encroach on it.”

“Well then,” said Lucifer. “I could hand her over to Loki. What do you think? It’s up to you.”

And just like that, the devil put all the cards into his lover’s hands, effectively tipping the scale of the power balance that had favored Loki and Mazikeen for the past couple of days.

Loki, utterly stunned, bowed to the Lord of Hell, “Well played, old friend.”

“I’ve barely gotten started. Thank you for protecting him,” he added. Honesty ringing through every syllable.

Ryan was the one who spoke next, “Oh, he can have her as long as he doesn’t overstep the boundaries you guys set.”

It took quite a lot to surprise a team of profilers, the devil and the Norse God of Chaos in one swoop. The silence was only interrupted by the terrified woman who was backing herself into the farest corner of the room in which she had inadvertently planned on murdering the devil’s spouse.

Derek almost felt sorry for her.

Almost.

This was a bad time to be an UnSub.

“What would you have me do then?” asked Lucifer into the near-silence. “They hurt you.”

“The memory hurts me,” said Ryan. “Loki just happened to dig deep enough to uncover it. They uncovered it with the intent to understand me. That they tormented me in the process was a side effect. Not the goal.”

“Thus, they should go unpunished?” frowned Lucifer.

“No,” was the firm reply.

“Then what is the punishment you would bestow?”

“They’ll stay, right here on Earth, helping out the BAU and whatever else you wish them to do until they genuinely regret putting me through this,” was the reply.

“Oh, thank the Norns,” said Loki. “I am regretting it right now. I am free to go.” There was a false cheerfulness in their voice. It was clear that they had not expected Ryan’s sentence.

“No,” said Ryan. “Regret as in remorse. As in ‘I had no right to do this; it was unnecessarily cruel and humans – flawed beings as they are – may be deserving of my criticism but not my loathing. I may detest the actions of individuals but punishing a single human whose only crime is being mortal and in love with the devil was out of line. I should never have done it.’”

“Done,” said Lucifer, obviously impressed with his husband’s words. “It is fitting, love. It is a far crueler punishment than either of you can imagine. For now at least. But it isn’t undeserved.”

Lucifer was rarely gentle when he punished people or observed punishment. But the hug he first bestowed on Loki and then Ryan was tender and loving. The man and the Norse god looked as confused as Derekt felt.

“She’s yours to punish, dear.”

Loki’s confusion quickly turned to delight as he looked at Harrows.

“Dreams only for now, but she’ll be yours after death.”

“Yes, my lord Devil,” grinned Loki.

“Where’s Maze?” asked Derek, after the UnSub – utterly unnerved and scared but otherwise unscathed – was driven away in a police car.

“Hm?” Lucifer hummed before answering. “Since she decided not to do as asked, I decided it was high time for her to realize that my patience isn’t endless. She always hated paperwork and Loki was the one in charge before Dromos released him from serving as Hell’s accountant. I believe that an Earth week in Hell will sufficiently motivate her to follow my requests in the future.”

“Loki’s not exactly easily controlled,” protested Ryan, standing up for a demon who had never given him any benefit of the doubt.

“Oh, it’s not Loki’s actions, I am punishing. It is her own lack of curbing her own impulses when it comes to you.”

Chapter Text

In the jet on their way back, Lucifer pulled Ryan close. They had chosen a seat away from everyone else, and Lucifer had made sure not even Loki could overhear their conversation. The devil was worried. Loki had made it clear that Ryan had weathered their cruelty with remarkable stoicism, so much so, it had provoked, thrilled and impressed them. Lucifer never should have let Maze and Loki alone with Ryan, not so soon after getting married… if ever. He had known Maze still had her reservations, he had known Loki’s protectiveness would come out in all the worst ways, yet he had foolishly trusted them not to go overboard. And while they had not caused any physical harm, they had bulliedhis husband for days, starting the second Lucifer had turned his back.

He was furious and disappointed, but mostly, he was worried, because Ryan was unusually quiet.

“What’s on your mind?” asked Ryan, turning his head to look at him.

“How about a trip to Hawaii? Not our honeymoon, just for a couple of days. With Candy, and whoever is able from the team,” suggested Lucifer desperately. “Loki, Maze and Dr. Linda can also join, but only if you agree to that; Maze’ punishment doesn’t have a time limit, and Dr. Linda can be brutal if properly provoked; even if Maze didn’t listen to me, she will listen to her.” He had no intention whatsoever to let Maze off lightly. Her disregard for his husband was unacceptable. “Delilah also voiced interest in getting away for a while; she might bring her medic.”

“No terrorizing Delilah’s boyfriend,” was the immediate reply, ignoring everything else.

“But, love…” Lucifer protested, but inwardly looking forward to the repartee about to follow. He loved Ryan’s protective streak when it came to Delilah’s boyfriend, and it gave him no small amount of joy to banter with Ryan about it.

His husband, however, seemed to view things differently, “I’m okay with Loki and Maze joining; I don’t think Loki should be by themself, and Maze certainly regretted her decisions the minute things escalated. So, they can come. I’m not expecting them to become my friends anytime soon, but they are yours, and I respect that. But, please… let Nick be. Trust me, as someone who has experienced a remarkable amount of supernatural, celestial and other threats since going steady with you, and which markedly increased since I married you, it is rather stressful and not healthy for maintaining and fortifying relationships.”

Lucifer knew Ryan had a point, and he was not being fair, but still…

“I just want to make sure he’s sincere.”

“He’s sincere enough be in a room with you when you have less than kind intentions, to confess to every sin he committed down to when he was a child, Lucifer,” was the stern reply. “Honestly, if Raguel interrogated me, I’d come off so much worse.”

“Loki would beg to differ-”

“You will not sic Loki on Nick.” Ryan interrupted, sharper than Lucifer had expected. He reeled back a bit. Loki was protective of the very few people they loved, and Lucifer knew he was privileged enough to be counted among them. Loki had done wrong, and Ryan’s brutal punishment had been more than just, albeit unintended. Despite Loki having handled the situation with Ryan poorly, they were a good systir, and Delilah would naturally become bróðurbarn to them the moment they met. If a potential suitor could not stomach that…

“Seriously, Lucifer, enough,” said Ryan, seemingly reading his thoughts. He sounded tired. “I-angels, demons and old gods, creatures older than the fucking sun and I was ready for all that, I was, but the sheer pettiness I’ve born witness to committed by beings eons older than myself actually took me by surprise.”

Lucifer leaned further back and gently removed his arm with which he had held Ryan, so that he could sit opposite of him. Ryan continued quietly, tiredness giving way to pure exhaustion, “I’ve spent my professional life trying to broker ceasefires between parties that hated each other due to reasons that ranged from ‘they murdered our children’ to ‘We don’t like the way they look at us.’ I’m good at it, Lucifer, I am, but it’s my profession. I am a crisis manager but only when it’s not one of my bridges on fire. I don’t thrive on personal conflict. I can’t- I just can’t.”

Lucifer’s chest hurt at witnessing Ryan’s capitulation, and fear rose within him.

“What are you saying?” he asked quietly.

“You guys may have time to nurture and settle your disagreements over centuries, but we don’t have that luxury. It doesn’t mean that life and relationships should always be idle sunshine, but please, please, don’t go about and stoke unnecessary fires.”

“I’m sorry,” said Lucifer quietly. He felt awful. He completely understood if Ryan wanted a break from all that. He knew from personal experience how exhausting constant hostility was, and he did not want this for his husband. What if it was too much? What if Ryan decided that he was not worth the absolute trainwreck that was his family? What if Ryan thought that he was too much?

Ryan leaned forward, gently grasped his cheeks and kissed his forehead before Lucifer’s panicked thoughts could spiral further, “Hey, hey. No need for the sun to set. The last days were a lot, but I’d still willingly go through this all over again, if it meant that at the end of the day, we’d here.”

These words soothed a lot of Lucifer’s fears.

“I cannot guarantee that I will succeed in keeping you away from the pettiness, but I promise that I’ll try.”

“I don’t want to be kept away,” said Ryan, “I’m with you all the way. You know this. And it’s not just pettiness, Lucifer. You’ve been the victim of abuse, forced isolation and the most extreme form of shunning I have ever seen, and from what you told me, Loki’s been through equally bad experiences. You both have a right to your anger, to not always go the route of the least resistance, to choose not to forgive. All I’m asking is to avoid unnecessary conflict.”

“I promise,” said Lucifer.

Ryan needed to brief his superiors in Washington about the case, and Benjamin quickly volunteered to pick up his friend. Lucifer had no doubt that this was just an excuse to get Ryan away from everything, at least for a few hours, and to show support. The team returned to the BAU, leaving Loki and Lucifer at the airport.

“Oh dear,” muttered Loki the moment they were alone, and Lucifer made no effort to hide what he was feeling. His wrath visible to the world, leaving ashes in its wake. “Shall I run to the humans pleading for asylum? I am convinced they will grant it to me.”

Avoid unnecessary conflict.

“I laughed when Dromos told me what you did,” Lucifer said, instead of manhandling the God of Mischief. “It was my wedding night, I was supposed to be with my spouses. I was furious that once again my duties clashed with something I was looking forward to, but when Dromos told me, I laughed. Just like I did when I heard of your hellish guiding tour for Amenadiel. Above all, it was just beautiful to see true mischief after so long; simple mischief that may have angered and infuriated some but would ultimately simply be remembered as a prank. I missed that about you, considering that a lot of your mischief has carried pain and bitterness sinc-since we both Fell in our own way.”

Loki had not expected that, Lucifer could tell.

“You chose well,” said Loki, instead of responding. “No wonder you fell for him. He’s trù personified. Were he a god, he’d be its patron.”

“But he’s not,” said Lucifer, his throat feeling uncomfortably tight thinking of the mortals he had chosen at his own volition.

“But he’s not,” confirmed Loki. “His loyalty reminds me of- she’d adore him.”

“You know, I am sure Sigyn would be happy to see you,” said Lucifer, giving a name to whom his friend was referring but was unable to say out loud.

“Perhaps, but she deserves more than a broken shell of the one she once loved. She deserves a break.” Eyes directed at the sky, Loki breathed, “She deserves all the Light.”

“I’m taken, my dear,” countered Lucifer provoking a laugh from his maudlin friend. “And she’s got plenty of Light of her own. She’s rather close to being an angel, in fact, being born from Dad’s Light.”

Loki looked disgusted, “What is it with me and loving angels of all things?”

“We’re just that irresistible.”

That earned him a not-so-gentle shove causing him to laugh.

“Thank you.”

Lucifer did not say anything to that. He knew Loki did not voice their gratitude lightly, and words would cheapen the moment.

“I won’t harm him again,” promised Loki, “but it was necessary to make sure he was genuine.”

“I disagree, but I appreciate that you decided to stop.”

“I will prank him.”

“I did not expect anything else.”

“I will drive him up a wall.”

“He’ll take to it like a duck to water.”

“I won’t leave you when the inevitable comes.”

Just like that, the lightness of the conversation turned very dark, Lucifer could not breathe.

“Don’t remind me,” he whispered.

“I won’t.”

It was a promise. This was the last time Loki would talk about the mortality of his humans. Lucifer knew Loki well, however. That decision would cost his friend just as greatly. Loki would not forget, but by not voicing it, they might ignore it enough to get close to the humans as well; a certain fondness for Dr. Reid and Agent Rossi was already on the horizon. Ryan’s punishment was about to come true and it would be more painful than venom dripping in one’s eyes. It might be more painful than Falling.

They were a complete disaster.

“Thank you.”

He was the Lightbringer; he was able to thank the faerie queen without consequence, and he knew Loki needed to hear it.

Standing on his balcony a few hours later, away from everyone, Lucifer was not surprised that his siblings refused to give him the space he needed.

“Loki helped you,” said Amenadiel, sounding surprised.

“Of course, they did. They owe me,” was Lucifer’s tired reply.

“They’ll break your heart,” hissed Amenadiel. “Every time. All these humans, they’ll-“

“Good,” was Lucifer’s merciless reply. “I’ll have little to cry about in the next couple of years. Wouldn’t wish for Yggdrasil’s well to dry out.”

Did he sound as bitter as he felt?

He had to because his older brother looked sympathetic, “You don’t have to be miserable for the universe to keep on turning, brother.”

“I hope not,” Lucifer replied, choking on bitter laughter. “But a happy Lightbringer is bright, and we both know how dangerous that can be. But don’t worry, brother, nobody will notice. The brightness will dim long before the Light escapes the nest.”

“The nest-Father told you.”

Amenadiel was clearly taken aback as was Lucifer to realize that Amenadiel knew as well. Did Michael also know? Raguel knew for sure, even though she had not said anything. She had said many other things, as glorious as that had been.

“When did he tell you?” asked Lucifer but not specifying, thus keeping his promise not to say anything about Dad creating the sphere in which the universe could form. They had long assumed that the universe was there to protect them. Calling it a nest did not break a promise.

“He didn’t,” whispered Amenadiel, suddenly fearful. “I heard him and Mother speak. Before you were. Any of you. When it was just the three of us. Mother wanted that to be all. Father did not. She said it would be dangerous, Father agreed, but he said that the danger was worth for the young ones to thrive. That I would help protect.”

What a burden to place on the baby Amenadiel had been then. The next time he spoke to Dad, Lucifer would rake him over coals crafted from hellfire. He was now the eldest and he felt protective of his younger siblings, even the one he had always looked up to (no matter how furious he was with him).

“I’m glad he prevailed,” confessed Amenadiel quietly. “Despite everything.”

“Yes, me too.”

“I failed you.” Amenadiel’s voice was now near-silent and the slightest whisp of wind would have drowned out his words. “I hope that one day you’ll forgive me, and even if not, I give you my word that I will be there for you when you need me. I won’t betray you again.”

“I know,” said Lucifer, really starting to despise the tightness that spread through his chest like the shadows he had fought so long ago. He paused for a moment.

“Take care of the babies for me, will you? Especially Azrael.” If his voice sounded hoarse, Amenadiel thankfully decided to ignore it. “You should spend some time among mortals, too. Or start with the gods. I’ll even show you the branches of Yggdrasil, so you don't get lost again.”

“I-I’ll gladly take your offer.” Amenadiel looked tempted to touch him, but Lucifer was grateful he decided against it.

“I’ll see you around,” Lucifer breathed, the farewell tasting sour on his tongue.

Amenadiel left and Lucifer took a few moments to breathe. If tears – for his siblings, his friends, mortality, his spouses, those under his care – fell, it was just between him, the wind and the World Tree.

“When those blades cut, they cause tears that feed the well of Urdr that lies beside the world tree, and the well gives the water that keeps Yggdrasil alive, and if Yggdrasil dies then the world dies, and so the well must be kept filled and for that there must be tears.”

― Bernard Cornwell, The Pagan Lord

Chapter Text

They were on their way to Hawaii.

Just Candy, Ryan, Maze, Dr. Linda, Delilah and her boyfriend.

And Loki, of course.

Dr. Linda may be very willing to punish Maze for her mistreatment of Ryan after Lucifer had told her what had happened, but that did not mean she would refuse a trip to Hawaii.

Nick was a tiny bit tense, but as Lucifer had promised, he was being very nice to him.

“Lucifer, if you continue smile at Nick like this, he might leave this plane in-flight.”

Ryan had told him, eyes mischievous.

“He wouldn’t. That would endanger Delilah.”

“True enough. Thus, it is unnecessary to intimidate him.”

“I am being nice.”

“No, you’re being devilish.”

“I am the-“

“And he’s done nothing worth punishing for except for having the audacity to love your daughter.”

He conceded.

He protested the phrasing, however. Delilah was not his daughter. His children’s teeth were sharper. Not their tongue, though. Delilah had made it very clear that she did not appreciate the meddling, and he started to accept that, what he was doing to Nick, was only marginally less torturous than what Maze and Loki had done to Ryan.

He would be less protective and more supportive in the future.

“Dr. Donovan,” said Lucifer, for once addressing him formally to indicate his genuine respect for the man. “What are your plans now that you have become a doctor?”

Nicholas dropped the orange juice he had prepared for Delilah.

Ryan later told him that asking for plans might be a bit of a stressful question for the man, at least when it came to Lucifer being the one to ask it. It irked him a bit that Candy could ask the exact same question and receive an intelligible answer (he was working towards becoming a pain management specialist).

It seemed that the polite approach did not work that well. He would have to be more playful.

“Dr. Donovan,” he tried on the same flight. “What are your hobbies?”

After picking up the pretzels that had fallen from nerveless hands, it was Candy who told him that his tone of voice had been too much on the seductive side.

Apparently, the man liked to draw in his free time, and he enjoyed going to the shooting range from time to time, which immediately led to an open invitation by Ryan to join his men the next time they went.

Loki then decided to state that they too would love to learn how to handle firearms. Ryan agreed instantly, which then led to Lucifer inviting himself to the next appointment and causing Nicholas to say that he would think about it.

Loki smirked and Lucifer glared at them.

“I am making my amends, and your love is accepting of my attempts. Can you say the same, Lightbringer?” Loki had teased in old Norse.

“Nicolas!”

The noise that escaped the other man was not encouraging.

“Nick,” Ryan said later, on the island, in a house which – as Ryan had pointed out – possessed plenty of escape routes and gave the man ample time to evade potential threats, after he had rather skillfully removed Candy, Delilah, Maze and Loki from the premises. “Lucifer’s got something he wishes to tell you.”

“Sure. Yeah,” said the doctor before muttering under his breath something that suspiciously sounded like ‘traitor.’

“I wish to apologize,” said Lucifer. “I am aware that I have caused you no small amount of stress in my quest to protect Delilah, but I realize that I have no right to interfere. Not only that; you have done nothing to deserve my suspicion, or my torment. Apologies are often given with the implied expectation of instant forgiveness, but that is not my intention. I apologize because I erred in my actions and it is up to you to decide what you will do with it.”

“I-“ Nicholas hesitated. “Thank you. I’ll think about it.”

“Thank you for listening,” answered Lucifer. “I shall give you space to do so.”

“No need,” said the man. “Delilah loves having you near, and I like seeing her happy and being near her, so… no need for distance.”

It was a rare feat to effectively charm the devil.

“You are a good man, Dr. Donovan.”

“Thank you,” said the doctor. “That means a lot coming from you.”

“Does it?” Lucifer questioned. “Of all people, I would think my judgment would hold little value for you considering my actions in your presence.”

“Maybe, but I trust Major Turner. I love Delilah. They both think you’re the best thing since sliced bread, so it seems to me that I don’t know you the way they do.”

“Or that you had only insights into a dark, ugly side of me,” countered Lucifer.

“We all have those,” was the gentle reply. “Show me the rest and I’ll make a final judgment later on.”

“Deal,” he agreed.

Lucifer then hesitated before he continued, “My brother Raphael is in your field of expertise. If you ever wish to learn, I am happy to connect the two of you.”

“He’s a pain management expert?”

“He has developed a very special interest in the area, yes,” answered Lucifer.

“Why?”

“Someone dear to him deals with chronic pain.”

Had his voice cracked? Had his face betrayed him?

Something had to have been obvious because a healer’s eye was suddenly on him.

“For how long? What type?”

“Eons. Everything,” answered Lucifer.

“What do you mean?”

“By that I mean that whatever terms you use to describe any type of chronic pain, chances are that I deal with some of it.”

That had been a fun day, when Raphael had asked his older brother very specific questions to elucidate the type of pain he dealt with. Lucifer hated making his brother cry.

“I don’t know what to say,” said Dr. Donovan.

“It is not your burden to bear,” replied Lucifer with a smile. “Learn your craft, no need to use me as a project. It is being taken care of by the two utmost experts in the field. There have been quite a few breakthroughs very recently which have bettered my condition significantly.”

“I’d love to have these contacts for my own specialization if that is possible.”

“Consider it done, Dr. Donovan.”

“Nick.”

“If that is what you desire.”

Making amends with humans was disturbingly easy, Lucifer found.

Loki agreed readily after spending an afternoon at the range with Ryan, Warrant Officer Charles Kapule who had been thrilled to host his former commanding officer, and Nick.

They shared quite a few drinks over this peculiarity of the human condition; their ability to hold grudges over generations yet being far less petty than immortals tended to be.

As if their limited time on Earth kept them from feeling true resentment.

Kalamainu’u just called them silly when they contemplated on humanity’s strange capability for forgiveness during a visit at her favorite cave. Her suggestions of how to catch the attention of humans did not seem wise, however.

Naturally, Loki encouraged her.

Lucifer decided against introducing his humans to the lizard goddess.

Just to be on the safe side of things.

After having dinner with his spouses, they were cuddling on the couch, talking about silly things.

Alone for once.

Relaxed and happy, Lucifer shared something that had been on his mind since the wedding. “Dromos has been fretting.”

Ryan’s smile was full of compassion. “He tends to do that. NCOs that worry about everything are worth their weight in gold. Still, do try to reassure him.”

“Agreed,” Candy chimed in. “That anxiety of his can’t be good for him.”

“Well, I need your help for that.”

“How do we fit into this?”

“You’re his queen. The Queen of Hell. Pretty straightforward, no issues there. I am the lord and the king of Hell, Maze is my right hand. The problem is how to fit you into this, Ryan. Consort for Dromos and the other demons is a word for an attached but not promised lover of mine. Now that we are married, you can no longer be considered consort. You are now both on the same level.”

Ryan laughed, taking Candy’s hand before kissing it, “Nobody’s on Candy’s level. She’s a star. I’m just a soldier.”

“Not good enough,” protested Lucifer. “Not anymore. You married me, You’ve been standing guard between me and Dad. Twice. Without faltering. That elevates your position. However, calling you guardian or bodyguard is not accurate and might take away from Maze’s position. That is not acceptable. Besides, you are an officer. Not simply a foot soldier. My demons need to have a rank for you. Dromos wants your status to be recognized.”

“It’s not like I’ll be gathering at Hell’s Round Table,” said Ryan. “I doubt this will be an issue. But if Dromos needs to call me something, ‘Major Turner’ is fine.”

Lucifer halted at that.

Knighthood.

He could work with that.

“Do you trust me, love?”

“Of course.”

“Kneel.”

It was riveting to watch the smooth body slide down and dropping to his knees without hesitation. It halted Lucifer’s breath a bit.

“Major Ryan Turner,” said Lucifer as he himself rose to his feet, Candy standing beside him, both amused and curious. “Husband.”

He could not help the grin that followed that statement.

He was a lucky devil.

He put his thumb on Ryan’s forehead who started at the slight static charge that came from the blessing he bestowed. “I name you First Knight of Hell, Sovereign and Guardian of Hell’s King and Queen, Equal to both.”

Ryan swallowed at that, “I thought knights were noblemen.”

“Good,” said Lucifer decidedly as he pulled his spouse back to his feet. “You are among the most noble men I’ve known throughout my life.”

Besides, Lucifer had a thing for upstarts. For he himself had hit rock bottom, yet he had managed to rise again. He had needed a couple of helping branches (to of which now securely holding him in a tight embrace), but he had succeeded in his ascent to the top of World Tree. He would not fall again.