Chapter Text
The radio demon was sniffing around the angels, and Lucifer didn’t like it one bit. The moocher was especially interested in Adam’s crony—what was her name, Newt? Lucifer was pretty sure it was Newt or Zoot, but he was too afraid to ask at this point. In any case, the radio demon was interested in her, and nothing good could come of that.
He caught them speaking in hushed tones in one of the corner nooks outside the room Charlie had given Adam. Adam had been asleep for several days, Lucifer was led to believe, and he couldn’t judge him for that. Not after hearing what his time in hell had been like over the last six months. It made his chest ache to think about it.
Why didn’t you come to me? I could have protected you.
To make matters worse, while he was sleeping, his crony was out here, cavorting with that fucking freeloader. His services to Charlie were already dubious. What could he possibly have to offer her and Adam?
As Lucifer approached, a grinning shadow detached from the wall. It flew to its master’s side and tapped him on the shoulder. The radio demon turned from his discussion with the angel, grinning as wide and vacuously as his shadow as his eyes landed on Lucifer.
“Ah, your highness.”
Newt spun around as well, her expression turning guarded.
“Am I interrupting anything?” Lucifer asked, not bothering to disguise his disgust.
“Not at all. In fact, our business has just adjourned.” The radio demon stood, snatching up his staff. His shadow snapped back into place and became, once again, just another shadow. He bowed his head to Newt. “Consider my proposal, my dear. If you ever need to speak, you’ll find me in the radio tower.”
And with that, he jaunted down the hall, sliding past Lucifer with a knowing grin that just begged to be sanded off.
Lucifer took a deep breath. No, none of that, Lucifer. No fighting with the sinners.
No matter how infuriating they may be.
He turned his attention to Newt, who was also standing from her seat. She faced him full, wings spread wide, shoulders tensed. She reminded him of an angry pigeon trying to scare a predator away from its nest. And with that image in mind, his eyes flickered to the room where Adam was sleeping.
“What are you doing here?” she demanded. “We haven’t done anything.”
“I was just…coming to check on you.”
She huffed and sidled towards the door, never turning her back to him. “Your presence is not needed, your highness.”
He decided to let her snotty attitude slide. Just this once.
“What were you talking about just now? With the radio demon?”
“It’s none of your business.”
“It is because you and Adam are under my protection now,” he said. “You shouldn’t be getting tangled up with him.”
“I’ll take that under advisement,” she muttered.
“He doesn’t have your interests in mind. He doesn’t have anyone’s interests in mind but his own.” It irked him that he wasn’t even sure what those interests were. What did he even want with Charlie and her hotel?
She eyed him contemptuously. “Do you think I’m stupid?”
He had to admit, that wasn’t the response he’d been expecting.
“Of course he doesn’t have our interests in mind,” she continued. “He’s a sinner.”
“Then why are you even talking to him?”
“Because he’s offering me something,” she said, puffing up her feathers. Angry pigeon. “Something real. Which is more than you’ve done.”
Well, ouch.
“He’s offering you a chance to kill this Valentine guy,” Lucifer surmised.
She didn’t deny it.
“You realize he’s just using you for his petty overlord bullshit, right?”
She sniffed. “Does it matter? Our interests align.”
“It matters because he’ll end up getting you killed.” Lucifer took a step towards her. She stood her ground, not backing away. Protecting her nest. “Do you really intend to take on three overlords?”
“They’re still just sinners,” she said. “I can handle three sinners. There’s a reason Adam made me his lieutenant.”
“Lieutenant or not—”
Wait, was that her name? Lute? Like lieutenant? Oh, God damn it, Adam.
“—they have thousands of souls between them. They’ll be armed with angelic weapons.” He gestured with his cane towards her prosthetic arm. “You’re not immune to innjury.”
She looked away, which told him she had considered this. “I will bring that pimp’s head to Adam. I’ve sworn it.” She shuffled her feet. “Do you plan to stop me, your highness?”
She was as big a brat as Adam was.
“No,” he said coolly.
She cocked her head. Her entire posture became wary, like she was waiting for him to reveal some sinister joke.
“I’m not going to stop you,” he reiterated. He set the butt of his cane on the floor and folded his hands over its head. “By all means, take the radio demon up on his offer. As long as you don’t bring any trouble to this hotel, I won’t intervene. Just know this.” He held her gaze for a long moment. “If you get yourself killed, I promise you I will keep protecting Adam.”
She took a step back, as if he’d just slapped her across the face. He wasn’t sure which part of his declaration had rocked her so badly: the insinuation that she would get herself killed or the idea that he truly did care about Adam.
Silence filled the hall. Lucifer felt eyes watching them from one of the dark corners. He could easily have vanished the shadowy presence but chose to ignore it. Let the radio demon know that there would be no “fun” while the King of Hell was around.
After a long second, Lute’s only response was a short, sharp nod. Her hand grasped blindly for the doorknob behind her, rattling it clumsily as she tried to turn it.
“Go on,” Lucifer said, dismissing her with a nod of his own. “Go take care of him. He needs you.”
She didn’t say anything. Just fiddled with the handle for another second or two before finally getting the door to open. She quickly disappeared inside and closed it behind her. The “Do Not Disturb” tag swung back and forth.
Lucifer let out a sigh. “You’re watching me?” he grumbled to the shadow crouched at the end of the hall. “Well, I’m watching you too, fucker.”
***
The next time he saw her, she was the one who sought him out.
It had been a week since their talk in the hallway. Lucifer figured weekly check-ins at the hotel were appropriate: enough to be involved, but not so often as to come off as desperate. He was talking to Charlie and her girlfriend in the study—or rather, listening to Charlie lay out her plans for her new Heaven Outreach program, whatever that was—when Lute walked in, made a beeline for them, and came to attention.
Charlie stopped her spiel midsentence. “Oh, Lute.” By the tone of her voice, the woman didn’t make many public appearances. “Can I…help you with something?”
Lute’s gaze went right over her and landed squarely on Lucifer. “You and Adam were lovers.”
A beat of silence.
“I don’t—uh, er, wha?” Lucifer sputtered.
“You were, though,” she said, as sure as anything. “Lovers.”
“What the fuck?” Charlie’s girlfriend breathed, her eye wide in horror.
“Heh heh,” Lucifer chuckled nervously. “Can we just…talk in private a moment?” He looped his arm in hers, ignoring her disdainful look, and steered her towards an emptier corner of the study.
“Dad?” Charlie called after him.
“One second, honey.” He whirled on Lute. “What? What do you want?”
Lute appeared utterly unfazed. She could be the veritable icicle in hell. “Are you going to deny it?”
“What? That Adam and I—I mean, yes, maybe we fooled around a little in Eden. Love was free back then. That was a long time ago, though.”
A very long time ago.
“You did care for him.”
“I mean, I still care for him. About him,” Lucifer amended. “I care about him.” He shot a glance over his shoulder at Charlie and her girlfriend, who were shuffling uncomfortably on their feet. Charlie was doing her best to pretend to not be listening, while Maggie was doing her damnedest to actually not. “What do you want?” he hissed at Lute.
Defiance blazed in her eyes. She was a scary one, for sure.
“If you care about Adam, as you claim, then help him.”
He knew immediately what this was about. “I’m trying to. I’ve put you both under my protection—and your liaison too. But outside of this hotel and my palace, I don’t have jurisdiction.”
“Jurisdiction? You’re the King of Hell.”
He let out an exasperated breath. “Can we talk about this later? I’m trying to have a discussion with my daughter without you airing my sexual history in front of everyone.”
Lute’s gaze flicked to Charlie and Maggie, then back to Lucifer. “Alright,” she said. “We’ll talk when you’re done here.”
***
She was already waiting for him when he flew to the hotel’s spire. The roof was perhaps an unconventional meeting place, but it was certainly private. Away from traumatized daughters’ ears. She stood as he alit. She was alone.
“No Adam?” he asked.
“He doesn’t need to be dragged into this.”
“Keeping secrets from him?”
She pressed her lips into a tight line but didn’t answer.
“How’s he doing?” Lucifer asked. He hadn’t actually seen Adam since he’d first arrived at the hotel. Charlie said he was awake and had been spotted around the hotel, like some sort of cryptid. Usually he didn’t come out of his room. And neither did Lute.
“He’s…fine,” she answered evasively.
Lucifer couldn’t imagine that he was actually fine, but he didn’t press.
“I know you want me to help you kill Valentine…Val,” he said, stumbling over the name. “But I don’t meddle with the overlords.”
“Don’t?” she repeated. “Does that mean you can’t or you won’t?”
“Won’t,” he clarified. He looked out across the roof, to the hazy glow of Pentagram City down the hill. “I did try, once. When hell was new. I tried to keep the sinners from hurting each other, but every time I tried to enforce some order, it only made things worse.”
It was a truth that had taken a long time to set in.
A long time.
For every sadistic, violent asshole he put down, another three would emerge to take their place. Clawing over the next one, competing for the honor of fucking each other over. The strong trampling the weak. He had given them their free will, had been cast down into hell for it, and this was how they used it. Every time.
In his darker moments—the very darkest—he wondered if Adam wasn’t right after all.
Only in his darkest moments, though. The exorcists were no solution at all. Just the strong trampling the weak all over again.
Behind him, Lute made a noise of disgust, and he realized he’d let his mind wander. It did that a lot. Hard to focus sometimes.
“You say you care for Adam in one breath,” she said, “and with the other you say you can’t be bothered to strike down the sinner who hurt him. It’s within your power, but you refuse. Are you a coward?”
He whipped his head around, and his eyes must have been blazing, because she took a step back before recovering herself.
“Should I make special concessions for you? For him? Adam is a sinner now, whether you accept that or not. He’s subject to the laws of hell the same as any other sinner. He entered into a deal with an overlord. I understand there was no soul contract involved, but that hardly matters. Hell runs on deals. It’s a power that surpasses my own.”
Lute stood there, working her jaw. She was angry. That was fine. She had the right to be angry. Adam had the right to be angry. Lucifer wasn’t saying they didn’t. But it wasn’t something he could do anything about. And revenge wasn’t what Adam needed.
“There’s nothing I can do about it,” he said, willing her to understand. Understand and accept.
She wouldn’t accept, though. He could tell that about her right away. She didn’t accept hell’s rules. Possibly she didn’t even accept heaven’s rules if she was down here against their orders. The question was, did she have the force of will to bend reality to her whim? The way Lilith did? The way Charlie was starting to?
He wasn’t sure. Maybe she did.
She eyed him for a long time with utter loathing, then unfurled her wings. “You’re useless,” she declared.
“Yes,” Lucifer agreed. “I am.”
She huffed in disgust and took to the air, leaving him perched on the hotel’s spire.