Strings Attached

Chapter 57

"Um... Guys?" The sound of Michael's nervous voice gets everyone's attention that Thursday. Michael doesn't get nervous. Not like this.

Everyone rushes to find Michael, who is seated on his bed with his laptop on his lap and his cell phone lying next to him.

"What?" Lucifer asks immediately. "What's wrong?"

"Dad... He's been gone for almost a week, and he hasn't checked in at all. I tried calling him to see where he was, but he didn't pick up. I did a little research, possibly some that isn't exactly legal, and his workplace never sent him anywhere. He's on vacation, or at least according to their online records."

"What?" Lucifer says in shock. "Why would he lie to us?"

"I think the better question is where is he, and is he okay," Gabriel replies.
"He's not answering your calls, right?"
Michael nods. "Yeah."
Gabriel pulls out his phone. "Then I'll send him a text. He can't just not see that." He proceeds to read the text aloud as he types it. "'We know you aren't on a work trip. Where are you?' And send. Okay, now we wait."

"How long do we wait?" Samandriel asks.

"No idea," Gabriel replies.

"When do we decide waiting isn't working?" Anna asks.

"No clue."

"Dad might not have his phone on him," Michael tells him. "It's entirely possible that he won't even get your text."

"What if he's hurt?" Anna asks. "Or kidnapped? What if by the time we finally decide to look for him, he's dead?"

"Overactive imagination much?" Lucifer replies, completely dismissing the idea. It's a logical one, though, and Lucifer likely already knows this. He just wanted to make his sister feel better. She's in sixth grade. That's too young to have to worry about losing both your parents. "Dad's fine."

"Then why did he lie about where he was?" Samandriel challenges.

"Because he's Dad. He can disappear because he knows we can take care of you." Lucifer pauses, then corrects himself, "He knows Michael and Castiel can take care of you."

"And you're sure he's okay?" Anna asks.

Lucifer nods. "Definitely."

"Okay..." Anna agrees hesitantly.

"Since Michael and I are the legal adults, we're gonna take responsibility for you. Well, you know. As responsible as I can get. Anyway, do you guys have homework?"

"Yeah," Anna and Samandriel reply at once.

"Then go do it," Lucifer instructs them.

Anna groans. "Ugh, fine."

The two youngest Novaks leave the room, so Michael and Lucifer turn to the next two young ones.

"You should go hang out with the Winchesters," Michael suggests.

"Dean's at practice," Castiel tells him.

"Well, we can still get our Sabriel fix, at least," Lucifer replies. "Go, be free, my young angels."

"Don't call me an angel," Castiel says immediately.

"Okay, fine, whatever," Lucifer replies dismissively. "Don't you have something you can be doing? Like guitar. You never do that anymore."

"No, I'm good."

"Then you should go see if Anna or Samandriel need help with homework," Michael suggests.

"If they need help, they'll call," Castiel replies stubbornly.

"Then —"

"God, guys, stop it!" Castiel interrupts. "Gabriel and I are barely younger than you two. Whatever you guys have to talk about you can say in front of us. We're all wondering what's up with Dad. Maybe Gabriel and I can help you figure it out."

Michael and Lucifer share a look unreadable to everyone but the twins. Finally, Lucifer says, "You got any helpful suggestions, please, feel free to share."

"Could we contact the police?" Castiel asks.

Michael shakes his head. "No way. If they find out he just left, they might take you away from him. Luce and I would be fine, but not you four."

Castiel frowns. "Oh, true," he agrees. "But would it be worth it? I mean, if something did happen to him..."

"I'm sure he's fine," Lucifer replies.
"We aren't in sixth grade," Gabriel reminds him. "You don't have to lie to us. We know that Dad might not be okay."

"But he also might be," Lucifer adds. "We don't know, and we can't risk losing you guys."

"So you're going to risk losing Dad instead?" Gabriel surmises, clearly angry at the idea.

"Yes, we are," Lucifer replies. "Because Dad is an adult. He can take care of himself. You guys can't, and you're not going to end up in an orphanage. Not on my watch."

Gabriel opens his mouth the respond, but the sound of a phone vibrating stops him. He pulls his out of his pocket, his eye widening when he sees it. He quickly unlocks it and shows it to his brothers. Michael is the one to read it aloud.

"'Michael, stop hacking into things. And you're right. I'm not on a work trip. What I'm doing isn't your business. Not yet. But I'm okay, and I'm sure you guys will be, too. I'll probably be home soon, and I'll definitely be home eventually, and that's when I'll tell you where I went. Until then, I want you all to take care of each other, especially Samandriel and Anna. I love you guys.'"

"I'm gonna call him," Gabriel announces.

"Why?" Castiel asks. "He's alive. He just texted you."

"We don't know that it was him."
Gabriel taps his screen a few times, and puts his phone on speaker and holds it out in front of him while they wait for Chuck to pick up. It rings and rings and rings until finally, it stops. Voicemail.

"Dammit," Gabriel mutters under his breath.

Almost immediately, he gets a text, which he reads aloud. "'I'm sorry, Gabriel. I can't talk right now. Just trust me when I say that I'm okay, and I'll be back soon. Love you. Dad.'"

Gabriel looks up at his brothers. "Okay, so what do we do now?"

"Nothing," Michael replies. "Dad wants to be left alone, I say we leave him alone."

"You're joking," Gabriel replies. "You want us to just ignore him? Just hope he's okay and that he'll be home in a few days?"

Michael sighs. "Tell ya what. What's today, Wednesday? Thursday? Wait until next Saturday, and if he's not home by then, we can call him again."

"That's a week and a half! We're not waiting a week and a half!"

"We shouldn't have to," Lucifer replies. "I'm sure he'll be back before then. And I'm not saying that to make you feel better, either. I say we wait. Then we can try it again."

Gabriel hesitates, then nods once. "Fine, but I'm calling him next Saturday, even if you change your mind," Gabriel tells them.

"We won't," Michael assures him. "We're worried, too. But he gave us orders, and we have to follow them. It's what good children do."