Desolation Comes Upon the Sky

Southern Comfort

"So how long are you planning on staying?" Sam looked over at the young angel in the passenger seat, forehead resting against the glass window. They were on their way back into town a few miles away, with Dean already far ahead in the Impala. Ashiel was asleep in Alex's lap, tightly curled in the worn grey blanket that perfectly matched his wings.

Alex shrugged, turning her head to look at Sam. "I don't know," she admitted, fingers brushing through the fledgling's feathers. "It doesn't feel right to keep Ash on the road, hunting all the time, but at the same time ... it's not safe for us to stay in one place, you know? God knows what would happen if a demon — if Crowley — got his hands on an angel fledgling."

"It would be safer to stay with us," Sam quietly agreed. "Dean and I can help, too, you know." He turned the car off of the highway, and Alex rested her head against the back of the seat as Ashiel shifted. "We won't let him get hurt. And we won't let him get involved."

"I know." Alex's phone dinged, and she looked down at where it lay on her thigh. "It's Dean," she announced, unlocking her device and scrolling down to see the whole message. "He says we should keep driving up to Charleston, Arkansas. He wants to put as much distance as possible between us and the vamp nest." She looked up at Sam, waiting for a response. When one didn't immediately come, she added, "If you're not up to driving all night I can tell him that's not happening."

Sam firmly shook his head. "No, no, it's fine. I'm not tired." He glanced over at the angel, reaching up to brush hair out of his face. "Why don't you try and grab a few hours?" he suggested after a second or two. "If I need a break, I'll wake you."

Alex frowned. "I don't need to sleep," she reminded. "I'm an angel. You're not."

"Sorry. You just look tired." Sam shrugged and turned back to the road, leaving the both of them to fall back into their own thoughts.

Alex watched the streetlights pass by, and her fingers stilled in Ashiel's wings. "Fine," she finally decided, quietly breaking the growing silence. "I'll take a nap. But if you even start to get tired, wake me up and I'll take over. Got it?" When Sam grunted out his agreement she settled further down into the seat, head falling back and wings curling in tightly around her. She focused on her grace, twisting it around Lucifer's, and it wasn't long before she fell asleep.

...

"How's your day been?" Lucifer was perched at the top of the stairs when Alex opened her eyes. Crimson wings fluttered in a soft greeting, stirring the warm air, before the archangel pulled them tightly against his back. "It felt like you enjoyed it," he added as he leaned forward, elbows on his knees. "It must have been exciting."

Alex grinned, but she shrugged in short-lived indifference. "If you call a mass slaughter of a huge vampire nest exciting, then hell yeah. Great day." The angel bounded up the stairs to sit in front of him, words spilling from her mouth as her excitement grew. "It was so much fun, Luce. I really missed hunting."

Lucifer chuckled, and his wings curled forward, inviting her to tell more. "Yes. I can tell ," he agreed, his voice calm and tempered.

Alex quickly brushed her wings against his before they retreated back to curl at her side. "Is that bad?" she queried. "That I found killing all of those vampires fun?"

"Not at all." Lucifer reached out and took her hand, pulling her up the stairs until she sat beside him on the steps. His large crimson wings fluttered back to make room for her, and she settled her own wings against his as he continued. "They're monsters, le mohaoth. Dangerous, pitiful creatures. You're making your world safer by killing them."

"Yeah, for humans, who you hate," Alex teased.

"And for your sake, I find them tolerable," came the grumbled response.