seaoftroubles

Evi just stared at him for a really long time.

"Oh fuck off," she said, storming over to the frozen Duke and snapping her fingers in his face. "Hey! Duke, wake up!"

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Lucifer rolled his eyes.

"He's a demon," he said flatly, "given shape by what torments you. Which is, apparently, wronging him."

The depressing quality of liquor in Hell was almost compensated by his ability to summon it at will sometimes, as a glass of scotch appeared in his hand. "What did you do, miss Evidence?"

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"Oh great, you can summon booze," Evi scoffed. "What a great trick. Do you have any idea the other shit I've seen in this town? It's going to take more than that to impress me."

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Lucifer took a sip of his drink.

"This isn't for you," he clarified. "It is for me. See, when I left Earth and returned here, I did so in part to keep these two people safe."

He set his glass down.

"And now I find that some upstart with a big ego has been running about making their lives miserable," he said.

His face flashed red. "Please let me inform you of all the ways I can return the favor..."

Lucifer.

Edited Date: 2020-10-10 07:26 pm (UTC)

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Evi jerked backward in shock, terror shooting through her as the animal part of her human mind couldn't help but react to the uncanny being in front of it. She hit one of the wooden support pillars that dotted the bar and leaned heavily against it, her hand pressing to her chest.

"Duke -- Duke's friends -- with the actual Devil?"

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"Yes," Lucifer said pleasantly, as his face faded back to a nice, British light-pink. "Had a nice Devil's threesome once upon a time, actually."

His fingers knotted together and settled over his knee as he crossed his legs.

"So we can try this again, and you can tell me what happened here," he said, "Or I just keep coming back for the next few dozen years and see how I can spruce up your Hell loop a bit."

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Evi was starting to shake. She'd been raised a good Christian girl, even if she'd thrown it off the moment she could, preferring to run wild and reckless around the world. There'd been a time, not as long ago as she liked to pretend, when she'd believed wholeheartedly in the Devil. When she'd feared him almost as much as she had his father.

"No," she said softly, looking at Duke. The demon shaped like Duke. Had he been a demon all along? Was that what the Rev had meant, when he called Duke 'special'? "No no no. . . ." She trailed off and whirled back on Lucifer. "And if I cooperate? If I tell you everything I know? What do I get then?"

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"Well, that's up to you, my dear," Lucifer said, taking another sip of his drink. "Do you think that buys you deliverance from your guilt?"

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"Not good enough. I want guarantees. A -- a token." Something she'd heard once came to mind, an old story about dealing with the Devil. "A favor!"

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Lucifer sat forward. "You're dead," he pointed out again. "It's a bit late for favors."

He considered her, and her defiance. "This is not a negotiation," he said. "This is your one chance to beg for your afterlife."

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"I don't beg," Evi said, stubborn to -- and past -- the end. Then she looked around the Gull.

Around her Hell.

And swallowed.

". . . What do you want to know?"

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"How about we start with what happened here?" Lucifer said.

He was happy to hear out the whole thing. Even if it took a while.

To Evi's credit, it took him months to get all the information he needed to send someone. Murus, the implacable one. Felt like a worthy fit for this one's irritatingly defensive body.

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Back up on Earth, Duke leaned against the wall of a jail cell, one hand pressed to the back of his head, trying to keep his breathing under control. Evi was dead. Nathan had knocked him unconscious and thrown him into a cell. And by the look of Nathan's lip, it was a minor miracle that he hadn't set Duke off on a trouble rampage when Duke had let loose and punched him in the face.

This was not his day.

"Nathan, come on." He paced to the front of the cell, where Nathan stood, and grabbed onto the bars. "You can't just lock me in here. I'm not —" He swallowed against his rising panic. "I'm not going to do anything."

"You're not thinking right," Nathan said. Before Duke could respond, Nathan's radio went off. Dwight telling him he was coming in with back up.

Stupid thing didn't even have the decency to be busted after busting Duke's head.

"Great," Nathan said, still staring at Duke even as he spoke into the radio.

"Not great," Dwight said. "Our buddies out here must have a scanner, heard the call go out. They're gearing up, looks like they're coming in."

"They want to wipe us out before help gets here."

And Duke was locked in a cell. Helpless.

"They're coming in the back. I've got you covered."

Nathan turned to go. Duke lunged, thrusting his hand through the bars to grab Nathan by the arm. "You gotta let me go with you."

Nathan brushed him off. "I'm not letting you get yourself killed."

"Nathan," Duke said, hating the desperate tone in his voice but unable to stop it. "Wait! Nathan, don't do this to me!"

Nathan was gone.

And Duke was alone again.

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Not for long.

Evi Ryan's body had laid dead for too long, in at least one sense: the life had drained from her eyes. No demon could return a semblance of that spark to those distant orbs, as they turned slowly blue.

Still, it probably meant something that her body was shambling its way back into the cells, didn't it?

"Duke. Crocker. Pirate."

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Duke jerked back from the bars. "Jesus fuck. Evi?!"

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"He did say you were dumb," said Murus, tilting his head as he looked curiously between the bars. "Lord Morningstar sends his regards and serious doubts about your previous taste in women."

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Duke pinched the bridge of his nose. This was not helping his likely concussion.

"Ted?" he guessed.

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"Murus," Murus said flatly. "Ted is the sentimental one."

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"Oh this is so creepy," Duke said. "Um. Tell Luce I said 'hi'?"

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"He's busy," Murus intoned through Evi's mouth. "He seems very unfond of your deceased mate."

He considered Duke for a moment longer.

"I'm under orders to prevent you from getting yourself murdered," he added.

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"Yeah, well. You -- she -- nope, can't say it in front of her dead eyes." Duke swallowed. Well, at least being in a jail cell wasn't even on his radar anymore? "Glad he's looking out for me. I guess. But Nathan already cold-cocked me and locked me in here to prevent that, so your job is . . . done."

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"This building is under siege," Murus said, his voice a perfect monotone. "You're not technically in a state of safety, for human mortal standards, until you have cleared it."

He folded Evi's hands over themselves.

"He also has words about a Miss Octavia he insists are secondary to your 'current state of typical disaster'," he added, "But I will get back to those when you are out of potential danger."

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Duke rolled his eyes to the sky. His head throbbed.

"Alright. I'll bite. How are you going to solve the building being under siege?"

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"This body is dead," Murus said, implacably. "It can capture many bullets."

Surely all you'd ever wanted from life was your wife's dead body shielding you from potential snipers, Duke.

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