Chapter Text
Once they were outside the gates of hell, Lucifer went over and embraced Kerberos. “Farewell, old friend. I may not return… my cousin, Ereshkigal, is now Queen of this land. Serve her as well as you served me, and we will both be well served.” The dog-headed demon hugged Lucifer back and then saluted the others, stepping back inside the gates as the assembled angels shrugged out their wings. “We’re going to land on the balcony of my penthouse in Los Angeles,” Lucifer said, “but we’ve got bloody big wings all of us, so let’s do it one at a time, all right? I don’t want us piling up like a bloody game of Twister. One at a time, fold away your wings, and then step inside. My living room is vast, but I don’t want things knocked about by wings, okay? Okay.”
With that, Lucifer said, “follow me,” and took flight.
At the other end of their journey, Lucifer arrived first, landing on the balcony, and shrugging away his snow-white wings to step into the doorway of the balcony, still clad in his blood-spattered black leathers. Michael was next, his sable wings also folding away. His tweedy patterned tunic was tattered where demon blades had managed to flicker past his own blade and dagger. Zadkiel’s gun-metal blue-grey wings were the next to be folded away, leaving him clad in his open-faced sleeveless tunic, bloused breeches, dark boots and bracers, blade once again hanging by his side. His own five o’clock shadow was spattered here and there with spots of drying blood, as were his arms, to tell the truth. Jophiel’s olive-colored wings were only briefly visible before he shrugged his away, too, leaving him bare-chested (and bare-bellied), with his shell necklaces hanging down between his open olive-colored robe’s lapels; his loose white linen trousers spattered with blood and ash. As he stepped into the penthouse, following Lucifer and his brothers, his eyes lit up. “Sweet! That's a fantastic bar, Lucifer! I’ve got a helluva thirst! Mind if I have a drink?”
Lucifer rolled his eyes at Jophiel’s enthusiastic outburst, but he basically agreed with him and led the way to the bar, plunking four tumblers down on the bar and poured a steady stream of whisky into the four glasses. “Help yourself,” he said, picking up one glass and taking a quick slug, grimacing at the sting of the whisky and lifting a hand to trace a split in the corner of his lower lip. He looked at Michael’s own face, now bisected by a diagonal slash between his eyebrows and across his nose. “Maybe we can ask Raphael to try to fix that,” he said to Michael, making a little circular gesture with his free hand.
Michael raised an eyebrow and winced at the tug and the sting, realizing what Lucifer was referring to. “We’ll see. I’m glad that this is as bad as it was among the four of us.”
“Hear, hear,” said Zadkiel, taking a drink from his own glass. He looked down at the busted knuckles of one bruised hand.
Jophiel grinned and they noticed the slash across his left ear and the lines that almost formed a tic-tac-toe diagram on his chest. “I wouldn’t say it’s not bad, but it’s not the only slash among us. I think when we clean up, we’ll find a few nicks here and there!” He still sounded cheerful for all that he was still sluggishly bleeding from the ones they could see.
Lucifer looked them all over. Brothers. Huh. Pretty scruffy and rough looking for all they were celestials. “Maybe we should clean up…” he began to say, when a voice came from the hallway that led to the kitchen and the stairs that led to the suite on the floor below.
“Lucifer!” He turned, and there she was. His partner. Her eyes were wide, surprised, mouth open, her hair down loose around her head and shoulders. In her arms, leaning her dark head against her left breast, was their daughter, eyes drifting shut. Chloe was wearing a loose, rust-colored skirt that fell well below her knees, and an olive-green blouse.
With just a few quick strides, Lucifer was by her side, wrapping one arm around her and first kissing Chloe on the lips and then brushing the top of Rory’s head with his own lips. Then he looked across the room to the bar where his brothers stood. He cleared his throat. “Chloe, I’d like to introduce you to my brothers Michael… he’s my twin… Zadkiel… he’s the one with the pompadour… and Jophiel… the one with the necklaces. Gentlemen, I’d like to introduce you to my partner, Detective Chloe Decker, and our daughter, Aurora.”
Chloe was blinking at the presence of three more of Lucifer’s brothers in the apartment… and the generally ruffled look that all four of the brothers had. Her eyes narrowed at the sight of the scrapes and slashes and the blood stains that spattered their clothes and skin. For all Lucifer’s celestial abilities… Chloe was more observant, and she was a homicide detective. “Well… I gather you’re here fresh from a fight. Hope it wasn’t with each other.”
“Ah,” Lucifer said, “no… we had to do more than cancel the search for Charlotte… we had to take on Dromos and his fellow rebels.”
Chloe drew a sharp breath, looking anxiously up into Lucifer’s eyes. He squeezed the arm that was around her waist, quickly saying. “He’s been defeated… captured… and is being permanently neutralized… and I’m not even having him killed! So, it’s all right my sweet.”
Chloe let out a breath with a whoosh and shook her head. Then she frowned. “Where’s Remiel? She went with you…”
“She’s with our brother Raphael, in the Silver City,” Zadkiel put in. “She, uh, got hurt, but’s getting better!” he hastened to add.
Lucifer cocked his head and looked down at Chloe’s blouse. “You were wearing a shirt and pants when we left… it can’t have been that long…”
Chloe laughed a little. “It wasn’t but Rory had a little accident, so I had to change. You’re right… it’s only been a couple hours.”
Michael was still staring at Chloe and Rory with wide eyes, while Zadkiel and Jophiel were also blinking at the picture of the domestic devil and his… family. Lucifer and Chloe looked down as Rory stirred in Chloe’s arms, blinking up at her parents.
Lucifer looked at his brothers, still standing a few steps away, his lips curving with a gentle humor. “Come here you cowards, come closer…” They half-reluctantly drew nearer as Chloe looked warily at them… almost as warily as they were looking at Rory. Lucifer tickled Rory’s cheek with one finger, cooing to her, “Aurora, look at who’s here, I’ve brought your uncle Mika, uncle Jophi, and uncle Zadi to see you.”
Chloe was hard-pressed not to laugh at the expressions on Lucifer’s brothers’ faces. “You should introduce them to the others,” she said, a burble of mischievous laughter hovering behind her smile. “Charlie and Naamah are downstairs.”
“Others?” Michael said warily. “You… you have more children?”
Lucifer had looked at Chloe when she named his niece and nephew and pursed his lips. “Downstairs, hmm?”
She blinked demurely at him. “Want me to lead the way?” she said.
A slow sly smile crept across his face. “After you,” he said. “Come along uncles, meet the rest of the family,” he added, gesturing for his brothers to follow him and Chloe and Rory as they headed down the side hallway to the stairs that led down one flight. Looking uneasily at each other, the other three celestials reluctantly followed. Even if they dreaded whatever unsettling situation they might find awaited them downstairs, Zadkiel and Jophiel did look around as they passed through the hallway, noting the dark paneling and a couple open doorways to the right that led to bedrooms and a broad entry on the left that led into a kitchen and dining area. But before them, at the end of the hallway, was another turn and stairs that led down to the floor below. As they walked down them, they heard the muffled sound of other voices, and a sharp, higher laugh… and then they were on the floor below, where a similar hallway led back parallel to the one above, with similar doorways leading to bedrooms and a kitchen… and then they popped out into another large living room, albeit one furnished in a slightly different style. No bar gleamed at one end of the room, and the chairs and couches were arranged differently, and on the rug that lay between the couches sat… Amenadiel… with a disconcerted look on his face, holding a young child in his arms… who had apparently just thrown up on him.
Holding her hands out to take the child from him was a short blonde woman wearing dark rimmed glasses and wearing a flowered dress and flats.
Sitting on the couch a few steps away was another woman, with tightly wound hair, dressed in black leather, cackling with laughter… as she cradled another child against her breast.
Lucifer and Chloe walked into the midst of this, Chloe cradling Rory against herself, making little soothing sounds, Lucifer grimacing at the sight (or possibly smell) of the milky discharge that was spattered on Amenadiel’s shirtfront.
“I told you not to bounce him so hard,” the blonde woman said, scolding Amenadiel. “Charlie just ate, you need to give him time to settle down.”
“Linda!” Lucifer said. “Delighted to see you! Maze, you look marvelous!”
Michael’s eyes could hardly get wider as he recognized the dark woman on the couch as being one of Lilith’s children, a demon from the bowels of hell! The other woman, the human, he couldn’t place, but… all of these women… were holding celestial children!
“Linda! Maze!” Lucifer was saying, “let me introduce you to my brothers, Michael, my twin, Zadkiel… he’s the one in blue… and Jophiel, obviously the one in sleep pants and a bathrobe. Really, brother, have you no sense of style? Still, at least it’s not tweed.” Lucifer threw Michael an arch grin.
“And, brothers, let me introduce you… no introduction necessary to Amenadiel, of course. But you haven’t met his baby mama, Doctor Linda Martin, therapist to the stars… and the Morningstar… and her son Charlie… by Amenadiel! And, on the couch, Mazikeen of the Lilim, daughter of Lilith, and mother of Naamah, daughter of, um, well, yes, Amenadiel, too. Busy little bee our elder brother’s been.” He brought his hands together in a sharp little clap, then looked guilty as the various children began to restlessly and loudly express their displeasure at the sound. “Sorry about that, I was just so excited to introduce everyone to each other… brothers-in-law and uncles all! Well, and fathers, too! Never thought I’d say that,” he muttered, though his face softened as he looked at Rory in Chloe’s arms. “Never been happier, though.”
“Lucifer!” Amenadiel said. “You’re back! Is everything all right?” He had surrendered Charlie to the arms of his mother, who was rummaging in an open bag that sat on the floor, pulling out some wipes and a change of clothes.
“Yes,” Lucifer said. “Dromos is being punished… the rebellion crushed… and the new vicereine of hell is busily taking everything in charge!” He looked positively cheery… “no more jaunts back to hell for this devil, I’m an LA homeboy now!”
Amenadiel looked confused, which Lucifer was convinced was his natural state in any event.
“Vicereine?” Maze said sharply from the couch giving Lucifer an intent glare. “Don’t tell me you’ve let my mother…”
Lucifer waved his hand, “never think it, Maze! Lilith’s still only in charge of the pits… unless, of course, Ereshkigal decides to reassign her to some other position.”
“Ereshkigal?” Maze said in a dumbfounded voice. “Ereshkigal?”
“Yes, yes, my cousin Ereshkigal… another fallen angel… well, not so much fallen as she slipped away when no one was looking and took refuge in hell, far away from dad and his mysterious ways. She was his first wife’s daughter… the one before mum,” he explained, with a glance back at his brothers.
“You called her your cousin, though?” Chloe said, with a frown.
“Celestial family trees are complicated,” Lucifer said airily. “I didn’t say she was his daughter… just his first wife’s daughter… by his brother… his twin brother, I understand.” He threw another look of amusement at Michael. “Turns out we’re not the first celestial twins after all.”
Michael was slowly shaking his head at the series of revelations, while Zadkiel had begun to smile wryly at the scene, and Jophiel, who had had the presence of mind to hold onto his glass, drank some more whisky as he blinked around at the… family reunion of sorts.
“You need to explain, Lucifer,” Linda said. “Everyone, we should all probably have a seat.” Once they had all taken seats on one piece of furniture or another, with the exception of Lucifer, who remained standing in the middle of the room, she gave him a long look and said, “Start at the beginning.”