Daughter Dearest

twenty

Lucifer hadn't been expecting the words that came out of Venus's mouth, that much was evident by the stuck look of shock as he put the letter back in the discarded envelope. 

He didn't even know Leviathan had a child — a daughter. He had always been more reserved than the other sins, but then a secret of that magnitude suddenly came to light. . . It was intense. 

Lucifer wasn't sure how he hadn't clocked the similarities between Venus and the envious sin, but of course, he hadn't been paying attention to her features as much as the Hellishly divine energy that followed her into every room, commanding attention and respect. 

He did realize after a long moment that she bore a striking resemblance to the woman who had sat in on maybe a dozen of the meetings with the sins. Selma, her name had been. . .

Venus watched for his reaction. She felt small and far too exposed for her liking. Between her status in Asgard and her job in the living world, it wasn't a feeling she was used to. She was exposing weakness — feelings — that would get her killed on the battlefield. 

A nagging voice in the back of her mind reminded her that there was no battlefield just yet, although extermination day was already two days closer and there was no forward progress.

Without much trying, she could hear his heartbeat quicken the moment their eyes met. She could've sworn the two red dots on his cheeks darkened a few shades. 

Almost as if he was seeing her in a new light.

They both immediately looked away and Venus cleared her throat before breaking the silence. “I will meet him. . . And if it's not too much of an ask, I'd like for you to join me so that I know what to expect.”

The glass of Asgardian ale was long forgotten as Lucifer nodded and seemingly put most of his weight on his cane. 

“I, uh. . . I — okay! Yeah, I'll be there.” He smiled lightly with a nervous laugh as Venus stood from the couch. 

She didn't make eye contact again but she smiled slightly. “Wonderful. . . Now I have to deal with my other situation, so I do hope you will forgive me for ending this so quickly. They become irate if they don't get their morning exercise.” 

“That's fine — oh! Where's Charlie?” Lucifer looked around the room, attempting to scope out his daughter rounding a corner or gathering everyone for morning trust exercises. 

Of course, Venus knew exactly where she was and why. After all, she had been the only one to see the Princess of Hell in the last twenty-four hours. 

“She's resting from working herself half to death.” The lie tumbled from her mouth before she could think of anything else to say. Feeling the pang in her heart, she could only hope that Charlie was resting. 

The smile dropped from Lucifer's face, but Venus was quick to assure him that she was fine, just tired. 

He soon vanished from the lobby after a quick goodbye and she snatched up the small bag containing the other egg roll before entering the kitchen. 

The sight she laid her eyes on was something she would've seen in the Avengers Tower on any given morning if she just happened to wake up early enough. 

Wanda was leaning against the counter, nursing a mug of steaming hot tea, while Bucky waved a spoon in Steve's face, going on about how he was a hazard to himself and society because he ‘lacked self preservation skills’. 

Sam tiredly ate his leftovers from the night before, watching the chaos unfold in its typical fashion. 

When had Sam and Wanda gotten downstairs?