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Lucifer was tired. He was
So
So
Tired…
Blearily Lucifer looked up at the space he was contained in. The wires stabbed into him had stopped sparking… Lucifer blinked slowly, trying to get his brain to work through the fog.
He couldn’t hear anything above him anymore, it was really loud for a while. Was… was everything over? If he strained himself he could just barely hear his daughter up above him. Charlie was safe. Good! That was good…
Fuck he was so tired….
He should… he should probably get out right? Yes. Yes… Lucifer looked up at the top of the oval, trying to see if there was a way out. There didn’t seem to be a hatch of any sort… but… how was he supposed to get out?
…Charlie?
…Did anyone even known he was here? Charlie’s girlfriend did!! And Alastor!! So… surely… surely Vanastasia would let someone know where he was.
…Right?
***
The gang had begun to head back to the hotel, happy in their triumph. But Alastor hung back, he noticed a distinct lack of a certain monarch in the mix. Where was Lucifer? Alastor hadn’t seen him since earlier, when he was trapped by Vox.
…Was Lucifer still trapped by Vox?
Well not Vox exactly, but the machine that everyone had so valiantly destroyed. Alastor watched the Princess get farther away, noting her lack of concern for her father. (Or for him, Alastor, for that matter.)
Turning sharply, Alastor headed back to the place there the weapon had been and noted the metal plates on the ground. Slinking into the shadows Alastor reappeared in the underground chamber.
Lucifer was in fact, still in the angel glass, and he did not look well. Was it possible for someone with his complexion to get more pale?
Alastor reached out and tapped on the glass. He wouldn’t admit the strange kick of relief when he saw Lucifer struggling to open his eyes.
“O-oh… h-hey… A-Alastor….”
Alastor had to nearly press his ears against the glass to hear Lucifer’s words. This was not good. Lucifer was clearly not doing well, then again would anyone be doing well after being used as a power source for hours.
Lucifer was near passing out again, and Alastor watched the quick rise and fall of his chest for a moment.
Well, clearly Charlie didn’t much care about the wellbeing of her father. But this ridiculous angel needed someone to care about him, so Alastor supposed that task would fall to him. He really was an altruist.
Calling out his little shadow minions, Alastor sent them crawling around the glass cage, trying to find a way to open it. It wasn’t long before one of the minions was chittering and pointing at a spot near the top of the dome. Alastor rose up to look at it and found a hairline crack from when the actual weapon had been destroyed. Nodding to the minions, Alastor let them get out of the way before he shot a concentrated beam of energy at the crack.
Within a moment the whole cage had shattered, with Alastor pulling the king to safety before the top of the dome could land on his head. Gathering Lucifer into his arms, he looked down at the king. Lucifer had finally passed out and was lying limply in Alastor’s arms. The Radio Demon sighed again, and vanished into the shadows. When Alastor exited his shadows it was not into the Kings room. It was, in fact, into his own quarters in the hotel. Alastor set Lucifer on his bed and got to work dressing the kings wounds. They didn’t seem deep, but the places where Vox’s cables had stabbed into Lucifer’s skin were burnt and blackened. Once Lucifer was clean and bandaged Alastor carefully covered the king with one of his softer blankets before making his way to the armchair by the fireplace. It was there that Alastor resolved to wait until the King woke up once more.
***
Now Alastor didn’t sit there waiting for the king to wake up the whole time. He had other things to do, and a reputation to uphold!! Plus he wanted to see how long it took Charlie to notice that her father was absent.
Four days.
It was four days before Charlie remembered her father existed. Everyone was sitting around the couches in the lounge when Charlie absently mention her father.
“I haven’t heard from dad in a few days… I still really want to apologize to him. Vox said he was at the party but I guess that was just another lie.” Charlie said as she gazed into the fireplace.
Next to her Vaggi shot up from the couch with a look of panic on her face. “Shit!! I told him I would come back for him!! He was what Vox used to power the weapon. Shit shit shit!!”
“What?!” Charlie jumped up as well and followed Vaggi, who was now heading for the door. “Vaggi what do you mean!!!”
Alastor watched Charlie, Vaggi, Husk and Cherri all run for the front doors, and decided to follow them. They all made it to the V tower quite quickly and Alastor found himself looking down at the underground chamber once again. Vaggi jumped inside, followed by Charlie. Alastor simply waited, humming quietly.
A moment later he heard it.
“Where is he??” Mm that was Charlie, she did sound awfully worried.
“I don’t know!!” Vaggi sounded equally worried.
A moment later the two women climbed out of the chamber and looked around frantically.
“Where did he go?? How did he get out?? I don’t even understand what he was doing in there!!” Charlie was looking around frantically, as if her father had been hiding in a bush for four days.
“Allow me to… shed some light on the subject Charlie dear.” Immediately Charlie and Vaggi turned to face Alastor.
“Alastor… do you know something?” Charlie asked carefully.
“Oh yes! He and I were trapped together for a time.” Alastor twirled his cane and smiled maliciously. “Vox impersonated your voice to lure him to the factory and trap him. Lucifer was so worried he’d messed things up with you he didn’t even consider how suspicious it all was! Isn’t that lovely? Your father loves you enough to walk into a completely obvious trap, still hoping that you would forgive him.”
Alastor’s smile widened at Charlie’s sickened expression. He continued, “Anyway, Vox used him to power the machine! And when Vox and I were fighting that idiot tv box stabbed your father with little tiny cables covered in angelic steel so he could draw even more power. And of course, since Lucifer can’t hurt sinners there was nothing he could do.”
Charlie looked horrified, “he- he can’t hurt sinners? Wait, wait, he can get hurt?”
“Oh yes!! He got hurt quite badly. Anyway, I got him out and took him somewhere safe. But forget about that, I’m so glad your mother called you back.” Alastor idly examined his claws as the words fell.
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Charlie snapped.
“Oh nothing, just the fact that you are throwing away a father who is trying to reconnect with you for a mother who has ignored you for years. He is not perfect, but he is trying. And what do you do? You blow up at him for something that wasn’t his fault, tell him to leave, not follow up on what Vox meant when he said your father was with him, and forget he exists for days. How would you have felt if he really was still in there? I never expected to have more of a heart than the Princess of Hell, but here we are. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have a King to care for, and you princess, well perhaps you should start taking some your own redemption lessons to heart, hmm? Ta-ta dear.” Alastor vanished into the shadows before the princess could reply.
Alastor reappeared in his room at the hotel wearing a very satisfied smirk. He glanced at the bed, Lucifer was still unconscious. The king was twitching slightly and there was a small frown on his face. Sighing to himself Alastor went over and sat next to the bed. After a moment of just watching the king, Alastor reached out and took one of Lucifer’s hands. He wasn’t necessarily sure why he was doing this, but it seemed right.
Lucifer’s twitching stopped and Alastor resolved himself to wait.
He would be here when Lucifer woke up, and he would help the king gain some self confidence again.
The king needed to show a little pride after all.
End.