Chapter 112: Chapter 114
When everyone is teleported to the war room, they assume Chuck is going to make an appearance. Everyone's conversations carry on as if nothing happened. They've gotten so used to this, it's almost to be expected.
Except, of course, for Jack, who's only been here for a week.
"Did you do that?" Jack asks, looking up at Gabriel.
He shakes his head. "Chuck has this weird affinity for controlling people's every move. I'm sure he'll tell us why in a second. He does this whenever he wants to tell us something." Like that Lucifer killed Kali and Jess, but that doesn't bear repeating.
"How long does it usually take for him to get here?" Jack asks.
"Usually just a couple seconds," Gabriel says. "This is a bit on the longer side."
"Oh, okay."
And awkward silence.
And then astonished silence.
Suddenly, Lucifer is standing in the middle of the room. His archangel blade is in his hand, dripping in blood — the same blood that's seeping out of every gash on him and covering every bit of his clothes. Almost as soon as he appears, he collapses to the ground, exhausted.
"What —" Jack looks to Gabriel for an explanation, having long since come to the conclusion that he knows everything, but Gabriel is just staring at Lucifer in awe.
Not too far away are Michael and Jo, the only two who could have seen this coming, but neither of them did. When they saw him last, he was quick, defensive. He was eager to hide what he'd been doing. Now, it doesn't look like he could if he tried.
Sam has to look away. He hates Lucifer, more than he can put into words. After what he did to Jess... But he never wanted . Part of him wants to know what sick son of a bitch did this to him, but a bigger part just wants to leave. Unfortunately, he tries to do the latter, but Chuck has them completely locked in here.
After a few tense moments, Chuck appears, exasperated. "Seriously, guys? Nothing?" He looks around, but no one moves. "I thought at least one of you would do ."
Again, silence.
Chuck sighs and crouches next to Lucifer, looking down at him sympathetically. "Sorry. I figured at least would try to help you."
Lucifer doesn't look at him, shifting on the floor so he can rest his head in his hands.
"Lucifer, look at me."
Lucifer doesn't.
"Lucifer..." Chuck sighs. "I'm sorry."
Lucifer doesn't respond.
"What do you want me to do?" Chuck asks, sounding somehow both annoyed and pleading.
"Drop the warding," Lucifer says quietly.
"What? No!" Chuck says immediately. "I'm not just going to let you kill yourself."
Everyone begins talking at once, their voices hushed. On one side of the room, Jack looks up at Gabriel nervously. "Do you think that's what happened to him? He tried to, you know..."
Gabriel shrugs. "Maybe." And he's sure as hell pissed that Chuck won't let him. Lucifer isn't good for anything. Why keep him around?
On the other side of the room, Sam can't help but gasp. He did this. He an archangel. Sam has thought on many occasions these last few days that he wished Lucifer were dead, but he never considered that Lucifer himself would feel the same way. It has him thinking he wasn't quite as serious about wishing death on him as he thought.
Dean, of course, knows his brother, and knows that Sam is immediately going to start feeling guilty, so he says a quiet, "Lucifer brought this on himself. It's not your fault."
Lucifer looks up at Chuck, glaring. His eyes glow red, but the color flickers in and out until Lucifer gives up. He doesn't look threatening anymore. He just looks desperate. "Please?"
Chuck sighs. "I can't."
"Why not?"
"I just can't," Chuck says.
"How can you ask me to kill other people, but not let me kill myself?" Lucifer asks.
"Because they meant nothing to me."
"So I do?"
Chuck doesn't answer that. He's not big on this touchy-feely crap, even if Lucifer's right.
Lucifer can tell that he's right, so he says, "Then show me. Let me die. Or let me out. I don't care. Just don't make me stay here."
"How could I let you out?" Chuck asks. "Without the Winchesters to keep an eye on you —"
"I won't hurt anybody."
"Of course you will, Lucifer! That's what you do! That's the whole damn problem!"
Lucifer bites his lip, so hard and for so long that it starts bleeding. After a few moments of silence, Chuck starts to think he went too far. He hasn't quite thought through how that would sound before he said it. He doesn't quite have the patience to think these things through.
But, finally, Lucifer says, "Then put me in the cage."
Chuck gapes at him. "But you hate the cage."
"Then you know I'm serious."
Chuck sighs. "I'm sorry, Lucifer. I'm not going to do that."
"Of course you're not," Lucifer mutters. "Can't throw out one of your little toys, right?"
"Lucifer —"
"If you're not going to help me, then leave me alone," Lucifer says quietly. "I'm not having this argument. I'm not having argument."
Chuck shakes his head to himself and stands up. "Alright. Let me just —"
"Leave," he snaps.
"Fine. I hope you heal quickly on your own."
With that, Chuck disappears, leaving everyone in shocked silence behind him. Whatever semblance of composure Lucifer had disappears, and he lies down on the floor, defenseless. No one knows what to do, so they don't do anything. No one moves for a while, until finally, Sam leaves, wanting to be anywhere but here. As subtle as his exit is, it serves as the cue that everyone else was waiting for to go back to their business.
"Gabriel?" Jack looks over at him. "What's wrong with Lucifer?"
Gabriel sighs. "There's not enough time in the day for that list."
"Well, can you help him?"
"I wouldn't help him even if I could."
Jack cocks his head to the side. "Why not?"
"After what he did, he doesn't deserve help."
Jack squints at him. "Is... is this about Kali?"
Gabriel tenses, his hands balling into fists at his side, but he doesn't say anything.
"I'm assuming that's a yes, so I won't ask about it," Jack says.
Gabriel relaxes at that. "Thanks."
"Of course," Jack replies.
They lapse into silence, both looking over at Lucifer. He hasn't moved at all since Chuck disappeared. No one's tried to help him. He's doubtlessly the topic of many conversations, but none of them actually involve him.
"Hang on," Jack mutters. Before Gabriel can ask what he means, Jack walks over to Lucifer, kneeling by his side. "Are you okay?"
Lucifer looks up at the kid, his brows drawing together in confusion. "What are you doing?"
"What?"
"What are you doing?" Lucifer asks again. "You're supposed to hate me."
"I don't hate you," Jack says, confused.
"The first thing you said when you showed up was that I mean nothing to you."
"No, the Lucifer from universe meant nothing to me," Jack says. "You're not him. I don't really know who you are, but I figured out very quickly that you're not the same person." Jack sits down,crossing his legs like a toddler. "I don't want you to be hurt. I don't know what's happening, but I want to help."
"You can't," Lucifer says. "Game's over. Chuck wins, yet again."
"Well, that's not fair," Jack says. "I don't think I like Chuck."
"Join the club, kid."
"Why are you covered in blood?" Jack asks. "Can't you heal yourself? Or is that Chuck's fault, too?"
"You go back far enough, and everything is Chuck's fault," Lucifer says. "But I can't heal an archangel blade's wounds. They'll have to heal like a human."
"Seriously?"
"Mm," Lucifer hums. "Which, once again, is Chuck's fault. He decided he's the only one who can take care of it, and since he just poofed out of here, I am utterly fucked."
"That's stupid," Jack says. " stupid. He came here looking like he was going to apologise, but all he did was try to start drama by leaving you in here, when he easily could have had that conversation wherever you were. And then he had the audacity to just leave without helping you? I wish I could heal you myself."
Jack's eyes glow yellow, and suddenly, Lucifer's back to normal. Jack's eyes widen, staring at the angel. Lucifer sits up, looking down at his arms in awe. He slowly looks to Jack, amazed.
"How did you do that?" Lucifer breathes, gaping.
"I don't know," Jack admits. "Sometimes I want things to happen and then they just happen."
Lucifer scoffs. "Oh my Dad." With a grin, he says, "Jack, you're more powerful than I thought you were. You're the most powerful thing in the room right now. You might be more powerful than Chuck."
"I don't think so," Jack says. "I mean, I don't that powerful. And I can't really control what I do."
"But you can learn to," Lucifer says. "And you can tear this whole thing apart. You can break us all out of here. You just gotta figure out how."
Not sure what else to do, Jack glances back at Gabriel for guidance. Gabriel always has an answer for him. But Gabriel doesn't give him one this time. He's not even looking at him, instead looking at Lucifer thoughtfully.
"Do you really think he could do it?" Gabriel asks.
"I think it's worth a shot," Lucifer says.
Gabriel eyes him for a moment, then looks at Jack. "Alright, kid. We got some learning to do."
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