Supernatural in Real Life 5

Chapter 43

Third Person POV
Balthazar's New York home is huge. It's quite possibly an actual mansion. Balthazar doesn't make a big deal out of it; he just leads them through the halls and into what looks to be the equivalent of a living room to Bill Gates. He leans against the wall nonchalantly, and Michael and Alexis stand nearby. Alexis watches him with distrust, and as much as Michael would like to assure her they're safe with him, he isn't sure. Balthazar is a thief; far from the most trustworthy angel out there. Right now, he's all they've got.
"So," Balthazar says when no one else speaks, "what happened? Why'd you leave Heaven? Finally decide that free will is better than mindless orders?"
"I wouldn't exactly call it 'free will,'" Michael replies. "More like soulmates."
"Soulmates?" Balthazar repeats. "Those are real? I thought they were just a myth."
"They're real, they've just been romanticized through the years." Michael explains the situation briefly, not because he really wants the other angel to know but because that was part of the deal when Balthazar let them come. Balthazar listens with silent interest until he's done.
"Obviously, Alexis here isn't human," he observes. "What is she?"
"An archangel's granddaughter," Michael replies, not specifying whose in case it makes Balthazar lose any trust he had in her and kick them out.
"Lucifer's?" he guesses anyway.
"How'd you know that?"
(A/N Holy shit I just reread the third book to see if he met Macie or if he only showed up in the beginning of the second book and never again and it's literally season 12 right there with the whole Lucifer's kid thing where some people want to kill the baby but Bailey/Kelly Cline doesn't let them because it's her baby and the fact that it's the devil's child is irrelevant. I'm psychic.)
"I met his daughter," he replies. "You should know that. You were there. And Gabriel already has a boyfriend, so it probably wouldn't be him, and if she's your soulmate, I'd sure as hell hope it wasn't you. I swear, it's like your life is just one big mess. The whole lot of you, really. Anyway, back to the important part of this. When the angels stop getting along in Heaven, are you going to go fix it? Or let them work it out on their own?"
"If things fall apart, I'll go back," Michael replies.
"You mean when. You know it's not going to last long without you. The angels aren't selfless. They'll try to serve their own best interest and they won't be able to agree on anything."
"Some of the angels are selfless," Michael tells him, thinking of Samandriel. "But I agree; there aren't enough of them. I'm ready to go back if or when they decide they need me to."
"And until then, feel free to hang out here," Balthazar invites them. "It's not the most entertaining place to live, but it works. You can't be tracked here. Plus, it's warded against angels and demons, so it should be safe, too."
Michael gives him a small, grateful smile. "Thank you, Balthazar. We really appreciate it."

~~

Bailey's POV again
Gabriel and I return to the bunker practically in tears from laughing so hard. Gabriel spent the last five minutes messing with someone by steering their bike in a circle, and though it seems boring, it was hilarious to watch them try to steer the bike away. It might sound mean, but in our defense, he's a complete perv.
"Woah, you two look happy," Jensen observes, watching us curiously.
"We are," I reply.
"Why?"
"You'll never know," Gabriel says mysteriously. "Has Lucifer left his room yet?"
"Technically," Jensen replies. "He left the building, then came to this room, salted his doorway, and went back to his room in less than a second so Mark couldn't bother him."
"It was mean," Mark adds, appearing next to Jensen.
"Where'd everyone else go?" I ask, looking around. The only ones in the room right now are Gabriel, Jensen, Mark, Osric, and me.
"Lucifer's hibernating, Michael and Alexis disappeared, Macie and Jesse are having a date night or something, and I think Mark and Ruth are filming a scene together, and Misha's going to film something too at some point tonight," Mark tells him.
"You forgot someone," Gabriel says.
"I did?" Mark says, feigning cluelessness, though I think he knows.
"Where's Jared?"
"Oh, yeah, I did forget someone!" Mark says as if just realizing this. "Look at that. Huh. Yeah, I don't — I don't know where he is."
"He's out with Gen, isn't he?"
Mark nods sympathetically. "Yeah, sorry."
"It's fine. So, what were you guys doing while we were out?"
"Mostly just chatting," Osric replies. "Wondering where Alexis disappeared to, since we can't do that while Macie's here because she'll flip out if she thinks we think she's in trouble."
"Makes sense," I agree. "Are we still looking for her? Or are we letting Michael take care of her?"
"Right now, we just want to make sure she's okay," Jensen tells me. "But we didn't have an angel to find Michael, so that didn't work, but since you're here, Gabe, you wanna ask if they're okay?"
"How come we waited until now to do it?" Gabriel asks.
"Because if he doesn't answer and Macie was here, that would not go well," Jensen replies. "Now go find Michael."
(Insert time skip of about three minutes)
"Nope, nothing," Gabriel says. "I think he's ignoring me."
"Or they're in trouble," I add.
"Would Michael ignore Lucifer?" Mark asks. "I mean, they've been on-again-off-again best friends since the beginning of time. Worth a shot?"
"Lucifer's ignoring us, remember?" Osric reminds him.
"And any plan we make to get him out, he'll probably hear it and not fall for it," Gabriel adds.
"Maybe..." Mark says slowly. "Paper?"
Gabriel creates a notebook and pencil and hands it to the ghost, who writes something down and shows it to us.
"What if we tell him we're gonna go find Rob since he wants to do it so much and he'll come out and then we put holy fire in front of his room and he can't go back?"
Gabriel takes the paper and pencil and writes, "Or I could trap him out here in holy fire for us."
We all nod in agreement. Gabriel yells out, "Luce, we're gonna go find Rob! You coming?" and we all wait in silence for a few moments as we wait for him to appear. He doesn't.
"Well, that was anticlimactic," Osric observes.
"Maybe he can't hear me," Gabriel guesses, then tells him through Angel Radio instead.
Almost instantly, Lucifer appears in front of us. Gabriel snaps his fingers, and suddenly, Lucifer is surrounded by holy fire. He looks down at the flames, then raises his gaze to meet his brother's.
"What are you doing?" he demands.
"We need your help," Gabriel replies.
"If it's not about Rob, I'm not interested."
"You don't really have a choice in the matter," Mark tells him. "I mean, you're stuck in holy fire, so you're kinda our bitch until we put it out."
Lucifer shoots him a glare before turning to Gabriel. "What?" he snaps.
"A little salty today, aren't we?" Gabriel observes with an amused grin.
"Do you think this is funny?" Lucifer demands. "I'd smite you right here if it wasn't for the holy fire."
Gabriel doesn't let the remark get to him. "Okay... I think we need, like, calming lighting or something. Let me think..." Gabriel snaps his fingers, and suddenly, all the lights that were previously on are off, and there are dimmer fake candle lights on the walls instead. Above the circle of holy fire is a chandelier with more fake candles, which are really just strangely shaped light bulbs. The whole room does seem shockingly calmer thanks to the new lights.
"There," Gabriel says with a self satisfied smile. "Now, are you ready to play nice, Lucifer?"
"No."
Gabriel cocks his head in confusion at the response. "What do you mean, no? You always help. I mean, you make a big deal about it, but you always help."
"Not anymore."
Suddenly, the lights on the chandelier above his head shatter, glass raining all over the circle of holy fire. The table flies across the room, landing upside down on top of the holy fire. Lucifer walks over it, free from the ring. There's a new look to him, a new air of confidence in his actions.
Gabriel takes a step away from him. "What are you doing?" he asks slowly.
"I'm done," Lucifer replies.
"Done what?"
"This. The whole 'saving people' thing."
"I think you're overreacting a little bit," Gabriel says cautiously.
"Am I? I have been hunting with you guys for seven years. This is the first time I have asked you for anything, and you ignored me. If you're not going to help me, I'll do it myself."
"Or, you know, you could calm down," Gabriel suggests. "Deep breaths, yeah?"
Lucifer raises a hand in his direction and flicks his fingers, sending Gabriel flying backwards into the wall. He crumples to the floor, then slowly stands him, watching his brother almost nervously as he does.
"What are you going to do?" he asks. "Kill Rob? You know you can't do that on your own."
"Maybe not," he agrees. "But I might know someone who can, and, unlike you, will help me."
"We'll help you get back at Rob," Gabriel assures him. "Just... Not yet. Just hang out for a little bit longer." Seeing that he's clearly not convinced, he adds, "And if you can't kill him, even with whatever help you get? Then what will you do?"
"What I was made to do."
"I don't know what you think you were 'made to do,' but how about you don't do that?" Gabriel says hopefully. "Come on. You're better than that. I mean, I don't know exactly what 'that' us, but I'm pretty sure it involves killing people, and you're better than that."
"No, I'm not. I have spent the last seven years pretending to be something I'm not, and I'm done." Suddenly, the few remaining lights flicker, and it's almost as if there's a spotlight on him as he begins the spread his wings, his eyes glowing red. "I'm the devil. I'm a rebel, I'm a killer. I always have been, and I always will be."
"You don't have to be," Gabriel says quickly. "You could be a hero."
"I'm no hero. I've played at it for years, but it's not me. I'm a killer by nature. You want to stop me, you'll have to kill me, and we both know you won't do that."
"Of course not," Gabriel agrees. "You're my brother. I love you."
"And that's your biggest mistake."
With that, Lucifer disappears, leaving us alone in the mess of a bunker. Gabriel groans and kicks the wall, breaking a hole in it.
"Dammit," he mutters under his breath.
"It's okay," I assure him softly, walking over to him.
"I could have kept him here. If I just said the right thing, I could have convinced him to stay."
"Lucifer was gone the moment we brought him out here," Mark tells him. "You couldn't have done anything about it."
"I could have," Gabriel insists. "If I didn't push him, maybe he would have stayed. Or I could have given him more time to cool off before getting him out here."
"Then he wouldn't have helped anyway," I remind him.
"I know, but he would still be here. Now he's either going to get himself killed going after Rob or kill other people just because they're in his way. I could have stopped it, too. I know it. If —"
"I think we could all blame ourselves for this," I interrupt.
"Yeah, so don't beat yourself up over it," Mark adds.
Gabriel looks at Mark as if just now realizing he's here. "Wait, how are you...? Shouldn't you be wherever Lucifer went? I mean, you're attached to his body."
"I'm pretty sure he salted the bunker," Mark replies. "So don't unsalt it, because I don't really want to deal with him like this, and he definitely doesn't want to deal with me."
Gabriel nods. "Yeah, good idea." He sighs and leans against the wall, sliding down until he's sitting with his legs by his chest. "Well, we really fucked up this time."
We all nod in agreement. The question is, how do we fix this one?

A/N I was gonna throw in "There are worse things than a shattered chandelier" but I couldn't work it into the story so no Phantom of the Opera reference here. Don't worry, though. This isn't the last we'll see of Lucifer. Far from it. *mischievous laughter*