Michael looks around, taking in his surroundings. He stands up immediately when he sees where he is. The mood of the room changes drastically, from the fun we were having to anger from everyone. Mark shows up again as soon as he sees Michael. The angel gives him a curious look before looking around the circle again.
"Where is Lucifer?" Michael asks.
"Not here," I reply. "Fortunately for you. Get lost, Michael. I mean it."
"But he is here," Michael protests. "His vessel-"
"Mark," the ghost corrects him, rolling his eyes.
"Mark is attached to his body, which is Lucifer's vessel. If Mark is here, Lucifer must be."
"Oh yeah!" I say, laughing. Why didn't I think of that?
Michael looks at me and raises an eyebrow. "Are you drunk?"
I nod. "Yeah, little bit," I admit.
"Aren't you too young to drink alcoholic beverages?"
I nod again. "Yeah, little bit."
Michael shakes his head at me. "But what is Matt doing here?"
"Oh, but you call your vessel by his name," Mark huffs.
Michael looks at him, but seems to decide that it's not worth responding. "Where is my brother?"
"Two of us are out here," Gabriel replies.
"Where is Lucifer?" Michael asks.
"Not sure, but I don't think he wants to talk to you,"
"I am his brother. He cannot ignore me forever."
"I wouldn't be so sure," I reply. "He's got plenty to be mad at you for. Like the thing with Macie, and the thing with the snake-" Suddenly, I'm unable to keep talking. Well, dang it. I've still got a really long list.
"What thing with the snake?" Rob asks slowly.
"Nothing," Michael replies dismissively. "She's drunk. That's what happens when someone's drunk."
"Bailey, what thing with the snake?" Rob asks.
"I can't-hey, I can talk again!" I say happily.
"Yeah, God power trumps archangel power," Rob replies. "What thing with the snake?"
I open my mouth to answer, but Lucifer appears in front of me. "She's drunk. Ignore her."
"Hey!" I whine.
"What thing with the snake?" Rob repeats.
Lucifer grabs my hand as he says, "Drunk ramblings aren't really 'in' right now, Bailey. Come on." I hear his wings flap, but we don't move. I look up at Lucifer, confused, but he's looking at Rob with an equally puzzled expression.
"No one leaves until you tell me," Rob says. "So I suggest you talk."
"It's noth-"
"And don't say it's nothing," Rob interrupts. "If it was nothing, you wouldn't have come out here when you heard her bring it up"
"What happened to 'Lucifer does stuff in his own schedule, and we should have let him go with it,' huh? Can we go back to that?"
"No, we can't," Rob replies. "Tell me, now."
"I-" Michael begins, but Lucifer cuts him off.
"Fine," he says. "You're an idiot and it's all over now. That's essentially all you've missed. Alright, bye now."
"Lucifer!" Rob roars.
"Luce, we have to tell him," Michael murmurs.
"No," Lucifer replies simply.
"But-"
"No," Lucifer repeats sternly.
"Michael...?" Rob prompts him.
"I-"
"Seriously, Michael, stop," Lucifer instructs him.
Michael looks at him for a long moment before reluctantly nodding.
"What happened with the snake?" Rob asks again. When Michael doesn't answer, he adds, "You know I have about a hundred different ways to make you talk, right?"
Michael looks to Lucifer for help, and Lucifer sighs.
"Fine," Lucifer says. "Just don't get mad at Michael for this. I lied back in Eden. Michael made the snake, not me."
"What?" Rob says in obvious surprise. "But... Why?"
"Why? Because I was protecting my brother, dumbass."
"Lucifer..." Rob says in a warning tone.
Lucifer rolls his eyes. "Well, now you know," he says with a shrug. "Can you lift the mojo so I can get out of here before you start going all god-power and kill someone?"
"First of all, I'm not killing anyone. Second, why didn't you say anything? Ever?"
"Okay, what do you think I should have done?" Lucifer challenges. "I could have let Michael take the fall, and you'd still get mad at me when I told you humanity is stupid. I could have told you after you went on your consequences rant, but then you would have thought I was making excuses. I could have told you from Hell except, oh wait, I couldn't have, because I was in Hell. I could have told you when I got out of Hell, but that's not really helping anything now, is it?"
"You never should have lied to me at all!"
"I had every reason to lie to you! Michael and I were close, closer than we were, and that's really saying something. He was scared of you. I wanted to prove to him that you loved us and that you'd never hurt us. Well, looks like I was wrong on both accounts. And don't pretend it was the fact that I accidentally corrupted your stupid creations that pissed you off. You couldn't care less about the snake. You were just mad that I called you out on them. You knew I was right, and you sent me away before anyone else could see that you made a mistake."
"No, I sent you away because otherwise, you would have destroyed the entire earth, and humanity along with it. You wanted to destroy my creations, and I wasn't going to let you."
"Oh, I'm so sorry, your highness," Lucifer says with so much sarcasm, it's hostile. "I'm so sorry that I wanted to get rid of those failures and get my dad back. I should have just left them alone and let them mess everything up, because they're your creations. Just like you did with my demons! Oh wait, no you didn't! You had the angels kill as many of them as they could, and I couldn't even question the humans? How is that fair at all?"
"You still hate them? Seriously, after all this time, you're still going to tell me that you hate them? After everything they've done-"
"Oh, yeah, let's have a recap of that. Where should I start? Slavery? Holocaust? Gladiator fights to the death? Wars? Torture? And after all that, you're going to tell me to love them?"
"Charities, hospitals, electronics, animal shelters-"
"Human sacrifice? Terrorists? 'Witch' hunts?Face it. They're flawed. They're flawed to the point where they aren't even worth trying to save. You messed up the humans. How can you not see that?"
"Because power corrupts! But not everyone! The common people-"
"Rape? Murder? Drugs? Alcohol? Abuse? Assault? Theft?"
"Not everyone is like that, Lucifer! Not everyone breaks the laws or-"
"It's not just what's against the law! Have you ever heard of anyone who hasn't talked back to their parents? You know what happened the first time I talked back to my parents? I got sent to Hell! You set the standards for your little hairless apes so low, it's disgusting. You just say you love them because you aren't willing to admit I'm right. You aren't willing to admit that you were wrong about them, and that they're-"
Lucifer's angry rant is cut off as he falls to the floor, letting out a cry of pain. His wings are on fire. They're literally on fire. Lucifer's breathing becomes rapid, his eyes squeezed shut and his entire body clenched as if it will make the pain stop.
"Stop!" Michael, Gabriel and I all yell at once.
Rob ignores us as he says, "I was willing to forgive you the first time, but not again. I told you to leave them alone. I specifically ordered you to stop hating them, and not to question me. You disobeyed me on both accounts, and you knew it as you did. You had this coming to you."
"Rob, stop it!" Gabriel yells at him.
"Stay out of this," Rob says in a warning tone.
Lucifer cries out again, though it's clear he's been fighting giving Rob the satisfaction of hearing his pain. I try to run to his side, but my feet are stuck. I find myself standing around helplessly as Lucifer cries out, begging for help but unable to form the words. Every time he tries to speak, he ends up coughing up blood.
After what feels like hours but what I'm sure was only a few minutes, Rob stops. He looks down at the angel lying on the floor with more anger in his eyes than I had thought possible.
"Don't question me again," he hisses before storming out of the building.
Gabriel and I rush to Lucifer's side immediately. Lucifer coughs again, spitting up blood on the floor.
"Mike," he chokes out before coughing again. Instantly, Michael is crouching next to him. Sensing that this is supposed to be some quality time, Gabriel and I step away from them.
Michael places his fingers on Lucifer's forehead, and his frown deepens as he says, "I can't heal you. What did he do to you?"
Lucifer opens his mouth to answer, but coughs up more blood instead. Michael can't see it as easily from his position next to Lucifer, but it's clear to me. His wings are destroyed. The few remaining feathers have been burnt to the point that they're barely still there. They rest on the floor lifelessly, as if Lucifer can't put any energy into them.
"Your wings..." Michael says quietly. "I can't believe he did that. Is there anything I can do for you? Do you want me to bring you someplace more comfortable than the floor?"
Lucifer shakes his head slightly before it falls back to the floor. Michael reaches out to his brother in a comforting manner, but Lucifer whimpers at his touch and Michael stops.
"Oh, Lucifer," Michael says quietly, more love and sympathy in his voice than I thought he was capable of using. "What can I do for you?"
"Nothing," Lucifer chokes out. "Just... Stay."
"Of course, brother," Michael replies. "I won't leave you. Not again."