Chapter Text
“And now, my dear audience,” the Alastor on the projection said after regaining the spotlight. “We begin the feature. The first act will show just how dedicated the King’s confidants are to his protection–” the Radio Demon lifted the shining, white claws of one hand as though casually inspecting his nails “–and to bringing swift retribution to any and all who conspire against him. Enjoy, if your stomach is strong enough to process the agony ahead.”
The clip show that Alastor and Lucifer had edited together from Vox’s raw footage finally began, and the sins clapped. The angel and the deer leaned into each other in anticipation. Everything was going well, but as Alastor knew from Lu’s shuddering during the video editing process that the angel didn’t really like being reminded of the situations that were playing out on the screen.
Each clip shown was similar: A sinner would corner, threaten, grab, push, hit, kick, or stab the fallen angel. Sometimes they would try to start a monologue about how they deserved the crown instead, or about how funny it is to watch The King of Hell, a mighty angel himself fall to a lowly sinner.
And in each of the clips, they regretted it.
In one instance, Leviathan rose from the ground with dark magic to face a lioness sinner, the king on his side on the ground behind the taller demon’s cape. The two-headed sin didn’t wait for the feline to explain her reasoning for attacking the king: they simply shot out a claw, grabbed her by the throat and squeezed their talons deeper and deeper, even after the blood flowed down her front and splashed on the ground, even after she stopped breathing or moving. Leviathan squeezed so hard that they destroyed the sinner’s neck and her head fell sideways, attached to her body only by some strings of wet gore.
Bzzt
The footage showed the mantis shrimp reaching out to attack the king, but quickly switched to the scene from the week before, with Alastor in his terrifying form, hissing and tearing the sinner’s arms off, warning the audience not to make the same dire mistake as he donned the blood of his worthy victim.
Bzzt
In another, Beelzebub and Asmodeus found Lucifer pinned to a wall like a butterfly in an alley outside the Met Dance House. Lu’s eyes were glazed over and he coughed up blood to fall down his chin and chest, re-wetting the blood that was already there, soaking the bottom of his face and the entire front of his clothes. Asmodeus pulled out the spear–but the part where Lucifer fell into the larger sin’s arms, barely conscious, had been edited out.
Instead, it went quickly to focus on Beelzebub, who picked up the spear from the ground and sniffed the handle. She crouched in a feral position, snarling with her eyes aglow, mane and tail blazing in anger as she tore off into the night.
The next clip showed her viciously tearing into the stomachs of the bloodied, dead bodies of her targets, pulling out their intestines with her teeth and throwing them aside to continue dismembering them up beyond recognition.
The message in each sequence was clear.
No one fucks with the king and gets away with it.
✦ . ⁺ . ✦ . ⁺ . ✦
As the feature went to commercial, Lucifer magically raised the lights and turned down the sound. Everyone stood for the break, a-twitter with satisfaction. The sins congratulated each other on how cool they looked, righteously kicking the asses of would-be assassins. They shuffled around, pumping fists and hugging.
When Asmodeus encountered Alastor, he clapped the sinner on the shoulder. “Hey, man, I can’t thank you enough for being there when we can’t,” he praised. Lu smiled up at the both of them and confirmed: “He’s better than anything I could even ask for in a partner.”
✦ . ⁺ . ✦ . ⁺ . ✦
People shuffled through the room to chatter, and as soon as Lucifer wasn’t flanked by anyone else, Charlie moved in. The Morningstars were somewhat in the corner of the room, with others occupied talking to each other.
“You feeling OK, Ducky?” Lucifer asked and put his hand to the outside of Charlie’s arm. “You don’t have to stay. I know this stuff is a bit intense,” the king offered with a soft faux-chuckle.
“Yeah, no, it’s fine,” she said, though her wringing hands and averted eyes suggested otherwise. “I was wondering something, though.”
“Hit me.”
“Those are all the clips of others defending you that are going to play, right?
“Y-yeah, there’s other stuff coming up.”
“And I thought you said you were going to include any clips of Mom helping you?”
Something grew in Lucifer’s stomach and rose in his chest. It wasn’t familiar. Normally he’d be embarrassed at anyone knowing the neglect of his ex-wife. In the past, he had tried to pre-empt criticism: “I know it’s not her job to help me. It’s fine! She only hurt me because she was stressed!”
But it felt different now.
The room was full of warm people who would defend him without even being asked. Who would tell the whole of hell as much. Who would sacrifice for him, rather than sacrifice him.
When he had asked Lilith to help him, she had made it perfectly clear that she never would. He would never ask her to risk her own safety for his, but…would it have killed her to bring him a medical kit when he was too bloody and broken to get it himself? To get Bel on the phone?
To put him on a bed, place a blanket over him, and tell him she was there for him?
Alastor would do that. Alastor had done that. He had done it as though he was simply following an instinct.
This time, it was bitterness that rose through Lucifer’s body. The angel let it escape like steam easing through his mouth.
“I included every clip of your mother defending me from attackers or helping me after the fact,” he said with an air of sarcasm.
“You didn’t include any?”
Lucifer looked at his daughter’s face. It was open and focused on him. “There wasn’t any,” he said flatly.
“Why? Did Vox have a reason not to include that kind of footage?”
“He could have filmed everything in the world and he would not have found her doing that. It never happened, Charlotte. She never–” his breath hitched. “People can care, Ducky. People can help. Your mother just never did any of that for me.”
Lucifer brought his arms around himself, and his tail emerged to squeeze around his legs. He bared his teeth and cast his eyes down and to the side.
“Dad,” Charlie said softly. “Please, I have to know. Did she…not know you were hurt? Alastor said you tend to keep that stuff a secret?”
Lucifer took a deep breath. “Most of the time she didn’t know, but she is the reason I keep it a secret, Charlie. I asked her for help twice. The first time she said she was busy and the second she yelled and pushed me to the ground, so I didn’t ask again. She still found out sometimes that I had been hurt, and that never worked out for me.”
Charlie half-turned away. “I saw the clip where she grabbed your broken wing,” said the Princess as Lucifer winced and crossed his arms. “She hurt you when she should have been helping you.”
“It’s ok,” he assured. “That was nothing in comparison to what I got from others, haha!” That didn’t sound reassuring, he quickly realized.
Charlie kept her voice low. “Was that the only time?”
“What?”
“That Mom hurt you? Was it the only time she specifically targeted your injuries or weaknesses to make you feel worse instead of better?”
The king chuckled nervously and let go of himself so he could rub his palms together, eyes darting around in thought as to how to respond. He settled on the truth. “Not at all.”
Charlie pressed her hands to her chest as Lucifer’s wings came out and wrapped around him. He heard the sound of heeled boots approaching, but he didn’t panic–the red in his peripheral vision confirmed who it was.
Alastor. He was so helpful when Lucifer was struggling. Even when there was little anyone could do to help, Alastor at least tried to.
“Your mother didn’t have to hurt me so much,” he muttered in revelation. “Maybe I could have trusted people sooner if I had known people could be worthy of it.”
Alastor strolled into the area cautiously, with his hands behind his back.
Lucifer put a hand over his face and Charlie moved in to wrap her arms around his wing-covered torso. “I’m so sorry, Dad,” she whispered. “I didn’t realize how much this happened. Or how no one was there for you, or how it affected you.”
“It would have affected anyone,” Alastor interjected softly as he reached them.
Charlie nodded, and, figuring her dad couldn’t see, vocalized confirmation. “Yes, it would. Of course you feel unsafe. You’re just doing what you have to to survive. I should have taken that more seriously. I promise I will from now on, OK? I’ll try to make it more safe for you.”
Lucifer nodded silently in her arms.