Ketch Me as I Fall

"Get out of my fucking chair." The look of that smug smirk on his face made my blood boil. The fucking bastard looked like he owned the place again. Like it was all just for him. And the fucking nerve to show up here of all places, I would rip his balls off for that.

"I think you mean 'my' seat, doll." The correcting tone of Lucifer's voice made my eyes go black.

"You gave up that throne long before you left this world, asshat." I marched up to him, daring to get within feet of him. "Get. Out. Of. My. Seat." I growled.

"My seat." Those blue eyes danced with long-forgotten mischief and chaos. "And if you haven't noticed, I am here now. So this is rightfully mine."

"I don't see a crown." I barked a laugh. "Plus, if you didn't see the news, most of Hell wants me now anyway. You're old news grandpa."

Lucifer cocked a blonde eyebrow at me and chuckled. "Wanna bet? You haven't checked in physically for weeks now, doll. You should have seen the wreck this place was in when I found it. They were practically begging for me back."

"You don't have the balls to rule down here anymore." I put a hand on my hip, "Or did you forget that your little wife owns them now? Or how soft your daughter made you?"

Lucifer reached for me too quickly for me to slide from his reach. And before I knew it I was straddling those hips again, his hands rough and hard on mine. "Good thing I don't have to be soft with you, doll."

"I won't do that again, Lucifer." I was firm with my tone as I pushed away from him. I had already ruined his relationship with Elly once. I wasn't going to ruin it more, along with destroying my own.

Lucifer's fingers dug into my skin. "Who's being soft now?" He growled, leaning forward to kiss along my neck. "You fucked up my life. Now it's my turn to fuck up yours, doll."

How could he act like this? I know revenge had always been his thing but ai never expected him to take it quite so far. I didn't hesitate to slap him, hard.

"Snap out of it, ass. You have a family who loves you." I said, finally able to push myself from his grasp and out of the chair. "I'm not going to fuck you just because you want to have a midlife crisis."

"Who said I wanted to fuck you?" Lucifer sneered, his hand lashing out and taking mine. "You would faint if you had the slightest idea of what I had in mind."

"Let go of me." The growl was deep, something that pulled from the primal darkness under my skin. The shadowy thing that wanted so badly to come out and play now. The fire in my veins.

"You're not scary, doll." He stood from the throne, his eyes turning that dark, cruel, garnet. His hand crushed mine. "Let's not forget that I made all of this." His free hand gestured to the room around us. "And I made you. Without me, you wouldn't be alive. Chuck would've never deemed you worthy enough of life if I hadn't fallen. Crowley would've never given you cat lives and you'd be in your deep in a grave somewhere." His words became a venomous hiss. "I am above you. You are my vessel."

He twisted my arm hard, turning me in place and yanking me to my knees. I cried out with the sharp pain.

"It's about time a Winchester learned their place in life. Don't you think, doll?" Lucifer continued to taunt me, his grip strong on my wrist. So tight I swear I could hear it crack.

It was too quick that the shadows took over for me and I threw his weight over my shoulder, barely feeling the pain as my shoulder popped out and then back into place with the move. I cracked my neck as my wrist healed.

"I know my place." The words were barely my own. "Maybe I need to teach you yours."

Lucifer laughed deeply, a new primal emotion in those stormy eyes. This new anger of his would have terrified me, but it did not terrify the thing that protected me now. It angered it.

Lucifer was in my face again before I could blink, his lips crushing mine. The shock of it shot through me as my hands came up and shoved him away. His back crashed into a bookshelf, crumbling it as he hit the stone wall behind it.

"What the fuck is wrong with you?!" I demanded.

Faster than light itself, Lucifer was crashing against me, hard enough to crash through the stone throne and partially into the wall behind it. He took my face in his hands and cracked it against the wall again, making my vision haze for several seconds. Then he held my hands above my head at the wrist, his free hand coming ot my cheek, fingertips glowing as he gently caressed it.

The pain that came next was anything but gentle. It was deep pain as it sliced through my skin, following the trail he designed. The warm stickiness of blood followed as he continued to mark me. A touch across my chest. One against my ear. A finger over my lips. Each slice over a place he had touched me with his lips.

"You're such a turn-on covered in blood, did you know that?" Those rhodolite eyes looked over me as if he was bored, betraying his words. "You used to enjoy this, doll."

I struggled against him as he traced another long slice over my collarbone. I fell deeper into the shadow's embrace and let it move me. My head came forward and cracked into his, breaking his nose. My right fist followed after and connected cleanly with his jaw as he tried to snap forward again, sending him across the room once again. I was in front of him before he could get back to his feet. I kicked his ribs.

"Don't you ever touch me like that again." I spit at him, blood coloring it red. The cuts he made were healing slowly. Too slow. "I may be your vessel, but I can still kick your ass. Stay down."

Lucifer rubbed at his jaw and sat up. He grinned, his teeth blood red. "Reminds me of Jamaica." He stood up, his wounds healing instantly as he brushed rubble from his clothing. "Don't you think?"

In a blink, my head arched back as I smalled into the remainder of the throne, crumbling another arm into pieces. I spat another ball of blood on the floor and smiled. "Lucky shot." I laughed and got to my feet.

"It wasn't luck, doll. You should know better than to fuck with me at full grace." Lucifer dashed forward for me again, and this time I saw the archangel blade in his hand. He wanted to kill me.

I stepped to the side and caught the fallen angel by the throat. I tightened the grip and threw him to the ground, knocking the wind from his lungs as the stone cracked around him. I took a knee next to him, keeping my fist around his neck.

"I'll say it again." He was getting irritating. "Don't get up."

"Fuck you," Lucifer growled through hoarse lungs.

"Oh, morning star. We're way past that now." I picked him up by the neck and slammed him back into the rock again, the cracks getting bigger as a crater formed. "Don't." I let go of his neck, and sent a fist into his nose, breaking it again. "Get." I stood and planted a foot into his sternum, "Up."

Lucifer coughed, blood coming from his nose and mouth. His ruby eyes rolled like the blood down his chin. He lifted onto an elbow and clutched at his side. He attempted to sit up more, but my boot connected with his ribs and he fell to the floor again. He laughed through another cough and I could only watch as he healed himself, my wounds still fighting to close.

I bit my lip, he was right. He had all his grace back, and here I was before him, weaker than when he had arrived. But he was an archangel. My archangel. As Dean was to Michael and Sam to Gabriel. They were meant to be stronger than us, but we were meant to complete them. But even with that knowledge, I wasn't sure I could compete with him without losing myself fully to whatever roared at the back of my mind. But I had to try for a little longer.

"Just bow to me already, old man." I hid my fear behind a smirk I hoped looked real. "You have a good family, you don't need to rule Hell on top of that."

Lucifer lurched for my boot and effortlessly lifted my food from the ground. My eyes went wide at the pure strength he had in just one hand. He had been going easy on me. I lost my balance and stumbled back, making it all too easy for him to get a better grip and send me flying across the floor. I crashed into another bookcase, the wood splintering around me.

He got to his feet, a chill flooding over me as great white and black-tipped wings stretched out from his back. I hadn't expected Ally to be right if he had still had them at all. I had expected them to be black like Cas', or maybe burned to ashes.

"I thought you lost those." I got out.

"I did." Lucifer stretched each out like a bird of prey preparing for flight. They dragged along the ground as he stalked towards me. "The night I fell, they decayed. I clutched to star systems to try and slow the fall, but that only set fire to the feathers. But grace can heal a lot more than just superficial wounds."

With a single flap of his wings, Lucifer raced for me. I was ready for him, jumping to my feet and connecting a fist with his open hand in midair. He didn't make it any further than that. Those eyes glowed like brilliant red jasper as his wings flapped, he was showing off. I pushed my fist against my hand with all I had left and sent him flying backward. I stayed on my feet as he skidded across the floor on his knees.

"Please, don't get up," I ordered now. I could feel the limited control of this darkness waning as exhaustion threatened my body. I fought it as he glared at me and got ot his feet again. "I asked nicely." I huffed before rushing at him, a fist aimed at his gut.

Maybe he had given up, or maybe I had already lost a bit of control, but Lucifer leaned over as I connected, gasping for air. I could see the shadows at the edges of my vision now, something hungrily swimming in my chest. This needed to be over, now.

"Elly needs you." I tried, grabbing a handful of his hair, and forcing him to look up at me. "You are going to go see her."

"If…" He coughed. "If you forgot…we aren't on speaking terms. But it's nice to see that you two are friends again. Very sweet."

Lucifer's hand thrust out and I tumbled back onto the floor. It wasn't a hard push. Just enough to get me away and off my feet. He stood upright and cracked his neck.

"Fuck. I want to hurt you. I want to tie you down and break every single bone in your body until they're all dust and not even Crowley can put you back together again." The threat was more of a disgusting promise.

"Will you listen to me, before I hurt you more?" I got back to my feet. "Elizabeth needs you. Do you remember her? The beautiful blonde with the shining soul and bright smile?" Lucifer stared at me darkly. "Well her soul doesn't shine anymore and that smile has completely decomposed."

"I wonder why, bitch." He hissed.

His wings spread threateningly. He was ready to continue our scuffle. Ready to keep fighting until one of us was dead. But if I was going to keep this kingdom and attempt to fix everything I had broken, I couldn't let that happen. I needed to get him back to the bunker.

"It wasn't me." I put my hands up in defense, and he scoffed. Wrong choice of words. "Not only me. She went on a hunt alone and got hurt. I can't help her. She won't let me."

"Why not, doll?" Lucifer chuckled darkly. "You're all buddy-buddy now."

"No," I muttered. "We're not."

Those blood-red eyes narrowed at me, studying me from head to toe, searching for the lie that wasn't there.

I would fix them even if it killed me. They had been made for one another. In separate worlds, sure. But that hasn't stopped the gravitational love that had pulled them together once and I was certain would do so again. He needed her kind soul to keep him grounded and human. And she needed his strength to help hold her up when times got tough. And god, I had fucked that up for such a greedy reason.

"She won't let me help her, Lucifer." I took a step towards him, "She can't sleep, won't eat either. She's been self-medicating on whatever she can find. She was on suicide watch in a hospital a few weeks ago."

"You're lying. She's never been that far gone." He growled the words, but his stance softened. "That's not her."

"She needs you, Lu. She won't admit it out loud, but she cries for you when she thinks no one else can hear. She prays for you more than I have ever heard anyone else." I took another step towards him. "She still loves you and you need to go to her."

"Why would she let me help her but not you?" His eyes looked over me wildly.

"Because that's just who she is. She won't let me because she feels like she deserves it and needs to live it out by herself." I relaxed my posture as I got closer to him still. "They drugged her up, did horrible things that only she knows. She was covered in bruises, Lu."

He appeared in front of me, closing the distance in a blink. His hand was around my neck, squeezing tightly. "You let her get hurt?"

"I didn't know she'd left." I choked out, trying to work my fingers between his so I could breathe. "Your kid had to come find me because she'd been left alone at the bunker for two weeks."

"Elizabeth wouldn't just leave!" His roar shook the room. Lose stones from our battle clattering to the floor.

"Well, she did!" I kicked one of my feet up and caught his groin.

Lucifer's grip fell from my neck and I took a deep breath as my feet met the floor again. He stumbled back and I sighed.

"There was a three-day difference between the last time your kid heard from her and when Ally came to get me. By the time we got to Elly, she was already their little drug slave. I did what I could." I took a deep breath of air, letting it cool my lungs. "The kid gave up her soul to save Elly's life, Lucifer."

He looked uncomfortable but still managed to glare at me through the pain. "What the fuck are you talking about?" He hissed out. "You took my daughter's soul?"

"She wouldn't let me tell her no." I shrugged. "And believe me, I tried. But she's as bullheaded as you are." I walked away from him and to the rubble that was once the throne. I took a seat among the bits that were still vaguely chair-shaped.

"How much more are you going to fuck up my life?" Lucifer dropped to his knees and lowered his head into his hands, all fight gone from him now. The wings slowly faded out once more, leaving a beautiful trail of white feathers to flutter to the floor.

I rolled my eyes at the man. "It wasn't like I was given much of a choice. She was dying, Lu. And I couldn't save her." I slouched in the seat, exhaustion finally hitting me full force. "Now all she needs is you and everything will be fine. So stop being so pathetic already and go to her."

"Why didn't she call for me?" Lucifer got to his feet. 

"She did, you asshole." I sat up again, glaring at him now. "She's been praying for you nonstop since they captured her. You're the one not answering."

"I…I didn't hear her." I could hear the hurt in his voice now. Like the devil himself was about to shed a tear. So he wasn't too far gone after all. "Alex, why couldn't I hear her?"

"Your guess is as good as mine." That wasn't fully the truth, but the only truth I did have was just a theory. I couldn't heal her when the drugs were pumping through her system. Maybe that's why he hadn't been able to hear her. "But you need to go to her now if you want any hope of fixing this mess."

He looked up at me and gave a hopeless laugh. "She's never going to forgive me. You didn't have to hear the things she said to me after you left."

"She still loves you," I said calmly. "That much, I know."

"You're coming with me then. I can't face her alone. I might not be Hades, but she is Persephone." Lucifer straightened up, a new strength in his stance. "These boring shitshows were still slacking by the way. I took care of it for now. Your soul count should be up by the end of the day. No more of this 'four souls behind' bullshit."

I blinked at the man. He had managed to get the soul count up? I had been trying to do that for the last three years. We had just always been behind.

"And if anyone hurts another one of my dogs…" He stared me down with new storms in his eyes. "I will come after them. Tell 'Alexander' that for me."

"Fair enough. Thought I think they like me better now." I smirked at the devil. "We have one stop before getting back to the bunker."

"Good morning," Ketch said brightly as I stepped back into the hotel room. He was putting the rest of his things in his bag but straightened up quickly and pulled his gun as he saw the man who stepped in after me. "You better have a good reason for being here, you bastard."

I rolled my eyes and looked back to Lucifer, who looked less amused with the welcome he was shown. "Can it, Britannia." He grumbled, his arms folding over his chest.

"He is not coming with us," Ketch said sharply, gun still trained on the archangel.

"Stop. We are all going back and we," I motioned to Lucifer and I, "Are going to fix everything with Elly." The tension in the room waned enough for me to stop worrying whether or not Ketch was going to shoot Lucifer. However, his expression did become curious as he lowered the weapon.

"Are you sure she's ready for this?" He asked.

"She doesn't have a choice," I said with a huff. "It's going to hurt her either way. And we really should take care of this sooner rather than later."

"Alex, I don't think we should bring him around her. She's just starting to talk again. Maybe it would be best to…"

"Oh shut up!" Lucifer interrupted with Ketch, his hands at his sides in fists. The lights flickered in the room as he tried to express his dominance. "You have no idea what would be best for her."

"Excuse me for having been the only one to make her smile in the last several days." Ketch shot back. "Maybe if you hadn't been so focused on your ego trip she wouldn't be needing someone to watch her all hours of the night to make sure she wouldn't kill herself, you self-centered asshole!"

I reached out a hand and caught Lucifer as he tried to barrel forward, my arm straining as it pushed against his chest to stop him. "Knock it off. Both of you! Or I will chain both of you together and drag you behind the damn motorcycle all the way fucking home."

The room quieted after that. Lucifer backed away from me and Ketch finally set the gun to the side cautiously. Though the stiffness of the room wasn't gone, at least it was quiet.

"Hey, Alex!" Ally greeted me as I pushed into the bunker. She looked back down at the cards in her hand and pulled another one from a deck that sat between her and Jack. She bit her lip and glanced up from her hand at Jack. "I'll stay."

"As will I," Jack said with a nod, laying his hand down on the table. "Seventeen."

Ally laughed and rested her cards down. "Nineteen. I win!"

"Black Jack?" I questioned once I'd gotten down the stairs and dropped my bag in the chair beside the young blonde. I ruffled her hair as she laughed.

"Ya, thought I would teach him something for a change." She seemed proud of herself. "Cael wouldn't play with me."

Jack's smile fell as he looked over my shoulder and I sighed. I knew what was coming now. The rest was inevitable. 

Jack stood from his chair slowly, his baby blue eyes curious. "Lucifer?" 

Ally immediately turned in her chair to see her father as he stepped off the stairs behind me, Ketch behind him. The young girl launched from her chair, sending it crashing to the floor as she raced forward.

"Dad!" Lucifer caught her against him in a hug, holding her tightly. "I missed you."

"I missed you too, Sapphire," Lucifer whispered, running a hand over her hair gently. "I'm sorry I left. I shouldn't have. Can you forgive me?"

"Of course, Dad," Ally muttered back, the sound muffled as she spoke into his chest.

"Is everything ok?" I almost shattered as her voice came into the room. "I heard a loud…" Elly stopped as she stepped carefully into the room. She looked like she was suddenly standing on very thin ice.

"Let's give the adults some time to talk," Ketch instructed the Nephilims, waving them towards the hallway.

Lucifer released Ally and she nodded at him before following Jack and Ketch out of the room. It fell into an eerie silence as I waited for whatever was to come next. I watched as she glared at him. All the happiness that we had worked so hard towards the last few weeks, was gone in an instant. It almost looked like she wanted ot kill him. I knew I could do nothing but stand back and watch.

"Hey, Sunbeam. Miss me?" That cocky attitude of his was going to get him killed. Regardless if he was just saying it out of habit or not.

I watched as Elly tensed at the nickname. Then she marched forward to him, stiff and angry. I stood to the side as her hand came up and slapped him. He wasted no time in grabbing her wrist and pulling her into a desperate kiss. A kiss that said he had missed her just as much as she had him. One that said he was so deeply sorry. One that promised he still loved her. She relaxed into him for a single moment before pushing away and delivering another well-deserved slap to his cheek.

"You fucking bitch! I hate you!" She screamed in his face. "God, I hate you!"

Lucifer looked confused, his hand on his cheek now, though I doubted it hurt. "Sunbeam…"

"Don't you call me that! Don't you dare fucking call me that ever again!" Angry tears flowed down her cheeks. "You have no idea what hell I've been through!"

I fell back against the wall and crossed my arms over my chest, a small smirk on my face. It was only right for someone to finally put him in his place, I was just sorry it wasn't me.

And they had to do this. They had to have this fight. I knew I would be part of it sooner rather than later, but for now, this was about them. This was the only way we could all start to heal. And I had made a promise to be here through it all.

"What are you talking about?" Lucifer asked softly, looking between the both of us.

"You didn't answer." Elly cried through clenched teeth. I pushed off the wall then and took a step towards her. It wasn't fair that she remembered again. She had made so much progress recently. "You didn't answer."

"Elizabeth I…" Lucifer started, confusion thick on his features. He took a small step towards her and she stumbled back from him. I raced to her and took her shoulders, holding her up. "Elizabeth?"

"It's ok," I whispered to her. "You can do this."

"I turned my phone off and then lost it at some point. What… what happened?" Lucifer was concerned. It made my heart hurt more.

"It was never about your phone dipshit!" Elly snapped at him, tears rolling freely down her cheeks now. She trembled in my grasp. "I prayed to you, you winged freak!"

"I...I didn't know." He took another step towards us, but she shrank further into me. "You have to believe me. I would have come the moment I heard you."

"Fuck you." Her voice had become so small and broken again. "Fuck you. God….fuck you!" I tried to hold her up as her knees gave way, but we both ended up on the floor.

Hurt and more confusion covered his face as he knelt in front of her. "What happened?" He looked at me now, but I shook my head. This was not my story to tell. "Is Ally ok?"

"She's fine," I answered as Elly wept.

"Elizabeth, what happened?" Lucifer's hands shook as he reached for her. He pulled her gently from me. She didn't fight him as he pulled her into his lap. He held onto her so tightly. "Whatever it is, I'm sorry I wasn't there. But we can fix this. I promise."

I bit my lip as I watched them. He was going to be crushed when she showed him. If he truly loved her, he might even be shattered.

"Elizabeth?" He sounded so desperate.

"I…I can't." She cried, hiding in his chest. "You didn't help me."

He looked up at me again, his blue eyes searching mine as he silently begged for help. I looked over the broken form he held in his arms. I had worked so hard to build her back up. And she had crumbled again in seconds.

"Elly, if you can't tell him, let him see it." I pushed gently. We would get nowhere like this. Elly shook her head. "You can't just stay mad at him without giving him a reason."

"What should I see?" He carefully pushed her away from him. His hands took her cheeks so he could look over her face. His thumbs wiped tears away. "Elizabeth." It was a desperate plea. Something that hurt for her. "Please."

She nodded slowly. That was a start. She still trusted him, even if it was nothing more than a pomegranate seed worth. But after everything she had been through, that was enough. He would be able to see what she could never show me. He was going to know it all where as I had to guess. And I wasn't sure what would be worse. The knowing, or the guessing.

But now he rested his head against hers and I watched as her tears came faster. I reached out and took her hand, squeezing it gently to give what little comfort I could. I could only hope that she could feel me there through it all and know that she was no longer alone.

I knew it was over when Lucifer snatched her to him again and hugged her tightly. He hid his face in her hair, and I could hear him crying for the only human he had come to truly love.

"I'm sorry." He sobbed. "I'm so sorry!"

Elly's hand grew tight around mine, and I could only continue to watch as the devil, the snake in the tree, the Morningstar, the one and only true ruler of Hell, wept over her. Hurt for her. Clutch to her as if she were the final wonder of the world.

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry." Lucifer repeated those words over and over again. Unable to say anything else.

He finally pushed her back after several moments. His tear-filled eyes looked over her face. "What do I do, Elizabeth? How do I fix this?" He kissed her forehead so tenderly. "How do I help you?"

Elly shook her head. Only time could fix this now. Only time would ever do anything to help if she wasn't willing to take shortcuts or cheats. 

"No one will ever touch you again." He whispered to her, pulling her close once again. "From now on, I will always be there. I won't ever be far from you again. I will listen every time you call." He sobbed again, the noise threatening to break me more. "I'm so sorry."

His fingers tangled into her hair and he hesitantly kissed her. I could see the fear in his movements like he was afraid she would reject him again. Or worried that he would hurt her in some way. But Elly slowly returned the kiss, and somehow that shocked me. Had this finally started to come to an end? Was the fighting done?

There was no way it was done for good, but it could be done for now. We would all have to have a better discussion later. There was no getting away from that. I had to explain what I had done to him, even if I didn't fully know myself. 

Lucifer broke the kiss and Elly tucked into his chest again. He held her protectively now. And through the remaining tears in his eyes, I could see a building rage. The blue seas threatened to give way to beautiful crimson ones.

"You took care of them, right?" He asked tightly, his eyes meeting mine. I nodded. "All of them."

"Every last one," I replied.

"They fucking better be, or I will personally torture every last one of them for the rest of eternity."