Chapter 12

*Elly's POV*

It was dark here. Wherever here was. I still wasn't sure. It felt like I'd been sleeping for eternity. Alex… My mind was screaming it. The same word over and over again. Alex… No, not a word. A name. Someone's name. It echoed through my brain, somehow pulling me through the haze of darkness. My eyes wanted to open now. There wasn't much to look at when they did open.

There was a dark red haze that hung over everything, and through it, I could barely see the ceiling of a cell. It looked like old metal, with orange patches of rust spreading over its surface. I turned my head from left to right, looking at the rest of my surroundings as well as testing my neck, glad to find that it wasn't stiff or hurting. The rest of my holdings looked like a cage, the same old, warn metal of the ceiling. There was an even older-looking bed to my right, odd that I had been laid on the floor and not in the bed. Whoever had put me here hadn't seemed to care about me enough.

"Are you done?" a voice yelled from somewhere to my right, further in the haze. "Alex save me! Alex!" It was a mocking tone. "You're going to make the pitchfork-holding dicks come back."

I slowly sat up and looked in that direction, trying ot see anything through the red. But it was hard to see anything but another pair of bars. "Pitchfork holding dicks?" I called, slowly standing and walking closer to the bars, "You mean the demons?"

"Whoa. Got a captain obvious over here," the voice shot back, annoyed. "No one else could've brought you here."

"Where, exactly, is here?" Any information at all would be helpful right now. It was just whether or not this person would be willing to give it.

"If I knew that, do you think I'd still be down here?" The face that appeared next to the bars was one I hadn't expected. His shaggy blonde hair looked messy and unkempt, but not unclean. His vessel's face looked like he hadn't slept in a millennium. And those china blue eyes held a darkness no one else could've had.

"Lucifer?" I asked, taking a small step back from my bars. "You're not supposed to be here. You should be out."

Those blue eyes squinted at me, studying me carefully. "Out?" He asked, "What do you mean 'out'?"

"I don't…know how to explain." I stumbled over my words. I could feel my heart in my throat. It wasn't every day you found yourself face-to-face with the devil.

"We've got all the time in the world, cupcake." Lucifer rolled his eyes.

What the fuck was going on here? I closed my eyes to think, fingers going to my temples. How the hell had I ended up here? And with fucking Lucifer no less. What the fuck was this? It had to all be a dream. Some sort of nightmare made up by Asmodeus or something. I opened my eyes again slowly and looked back at the devil, he was resting against the bars of his cell lazily. Like he was bored with me already.

"I'm from another world." I tested, moving closer to my bars again. I watched him as he straightened up a little, seemingly interested again. "And in that world, there aren't monsters. Or magic. All we have are old stories."

"That sounds incredibly boring, doll." His index finger tapped lightly on one of the bars, sending a small pinging echo through the mist.

I shrugged, "It's safer that way. We don't have to worry about randomly being attacked by something we don't know exists." He stuck his tongue out in disgust, "In that world, you only exist in the bible and as a character in several TV shows." The tapping stopped, his full attention was on me now. His eyes were unblinking as he stared at me. I took a long enough pause that he waved a hand in the air, signaling me to continue. "And in one of them, a rather popular one based on this world," I waved my arms in a circle around myself, "You're already out of here."

"How do I get out?" Lucifer's voice was urgent, demanding even. "Tell me!"

"Castiel," I said, biting my lip. How much of this should I be telling him? "You worked together to get out."

"That fucking piece of shit excuse for an angel is the reason I am here! He ditched me!" He kicked at the bars angrily and started pacing.

"Not everything in the show happens here. Like…" I searched my brain for an example. There were so few I could think about from my short time here. "Some people who died in the show are alive here. Things like that. Maybe you got out because people like you?" I threw it out to see how he'd take it.

Lucifer stopped his pacing, his back to me. "They like me?" It felt like a sort of test rather than a real question.

I swallowed, "Ya. They do." I answered him, "You're one of my favorite characters."

He turned to me, a cocky smile on his face. "Really?"

"Uh-huh." I shrugged again. If I was smart I could use this to my advantage. It would be risky to do anything with Lucifer, but if I played my cards right I could get out of here alive. If I could get him to like me, and he did get out, maybe he wouldn't leave me behind. That felt like the safest option at the moment. "A lot of people there really like you. You've been in almost every season."

"And people know me?" I wondered why this seemed to interest him so much. Surely he still heard the prayers from his followers, fallen angel or not.

"Of course," I nodded, "You're Lucifer. You're pretty awesome."

"About damn time!" He said a large grin on his face. He stretched his arms over his head. "It's nice to be noticed for something other than that stupid book. Puts quite a damper on my spirits when that's the only thing I get praised for. You know half that shit didn't even happen!"

I laughed a little. He really was an egotistical asshole. They hadn't messed his character up at all it seemed. And I could work with that.

"If you've seen everything, then you know about my kid." He came up to the bars again, pressing against them, "Do you know what happened to him?"

I stared at him. Maybe I'd read this wrong. I hadn't expected him to bring Jack up, and I wasn't sure if it was a fire I wanted to mess with. "I know Jack." I said cautiously, "I haven't met him in person yet though."

"Where is he?" There was urgency in his voice.

I ran a hand through my hair, pulling its long strands over my shoulder. I wasn't sure how to answer him. Would he explode if I told him the truth? And what if that was even true? Jack could be anywhere. I just knew he wasn't with Alex and her family. I looked back at Lucifer, he was waiting. "The last that I saw, he was trying to find Mary Winchester. But I don't know how true that is here. He could be anywhere."

"He wanted to find Mary?" he repeated, "As in Winchester?"

I nodded. I was scared I'd lit a fuse in him, said something that would set him off, and erase any chance of a good escape I had. I swallowed and watched him think.

"I'm assuming he's not on this planet anymore then," He pondered, not directly talking to me anymore. "But how did he get there? The rift closed…"

"He opened another one." His blue eyes focused on me again, a new light in them. Something akin to pride.

"Of course he did!" Lucifer laughed, "I knew he was strong! Of course, he is. He's my kid!"

"Can I ask you something?" It was going to be a strange question for him, I was sure, but it was something that bugged me about his character.

His frozen gaze focused on me again, forgetting his pride for a few seconds. "Sure, doll."

"Did you even like Kelly?" It had always bothered me that the show portrayed him as only using the woman as a tool for Jack. I had always wondered if he'd felt anything for her. He claimed to want a relationship with Jack, but what about the woman who'd made it all possible? And if he answered truthfully, then just maybe I was going in the right direction.

He was silent for a moment, long enough to make me worry I'd crossed a line. "At times."

That was more than I'd expected him to say. I leaned into the bars. "When we get out of here," I stated, "You'll have to tell me your side of the story."

"My side?" Lucifer questioned.

"In my world, you told the boys that the shit that happened, in the beginning, didn't go that way." I smiled at him, "So I want you to tell me what really happened."

"You really wanna know," He said, his stare reaching my soul. He pushed off from his bars, "You said when we got out. How do you propose we do that, meat sack?"

"I was kinda hoping you knew how to, or at least had some sort of idea," I admitted.

He laughed, clutching his sides as if I'd told an amazing joke and he'd gotten a stitch in his side.

I pursed my lips, "I don't know how to get out. I don't know what they did to the bars, supposedly you have wardings on yours, but I don't know about mine."

He straightened up, still chuckling, "You wouldn't have any wardings. There's no reason to trap a human." He sighed, letting out a final laugh, "Humans are pretty much only good for a laugh." I rolled my eyes. He'd be no help until we got out of these cells. "Which does beg the question, doll. Why did they bring you here? Why are you so special?"

I blinked, taking a few seconds to answer his question. I hadn't put much thought into that yet. I didn't even remember what happened to me. One minute I was with Alex in the graveyard and the next I was waking up here. I didn't even know how long I'd been unconscious. Oh shit…how long had I been missing?! I bet she was in a fit looking for me. I was honestly surprised Hell's doors hadn't been broken down yet.

"I don't…I don't know." I whispered.

"You kept yelling 'Alex'," Lucifer continued, pulling my attention back to him, "And you mentioned Mary and 'the boys' earlier. Are you talking about the Winchester girl?" I nodded and watched his jaw clench. "Fuck! They just never die do they?! Winchester this, Winchester that! Do you know that she's worse than the two dumbasses? You kill her and she just keeps coming back like a damn cockroach!"

"That's Crowley's doing," I said before I could think to stop myself. He had been so easy to talk to. Even if he was insulting sometimes, the conversation seemed to just flow. He was just…open. It was no wonder so much of Heaven had sided with him.

He gave me a crooked smile, he looked amused. "Not even that dog would know how to pull this many regenerations off. Bargaining with a reaper is no easy task either, and even with a charm you only get so many redos. So how does she do it?" He hummed, seemingly in thought and I sunk back from the bars a little. I shouldn't have said anything. "How are you connected to them? It's more than just your little show, isn't it?"

"She's not in the show…" I might as well continue.

"Interesting." He hissed.

I sighed. I couldn't shut down now, if I did I could kiss escape goodbye. "Alex is a dream walker. Or at least that's how she explained it to me." I shrugged, "She would just come and share my body every few months. Sometimes she would stay for a few hours, others she would stick around for a few weeks."

"That's not right," Lucifer muttered, he started to pace again. "That doesn't make any sense. Dreamwalkers only travel when they're sleeping. When they wake up they return to their bodies. She wouldn't be there for weeks at a time, let alone be able to communicate. He was quiet for a minute, stalling in his pacing and looking at the floor. "Got it!" He suddenly exclaimed, "She's using you."

"What?" I scoffed, "What do you mean?"

"You've seen dream walkers in the show?" Lucifer smiled dangerously.

"Once." I thought back, nodding. It didn't take me long to connect what he was trying to say. Alex couldn't be a dreamwalker, she was too different from the ones we'd seen. "If she's not a dream walker, then what is she?"

Lucifer leaned against the bars again, almost sticking his face through the small gap in the bars. "A joint-eater."

I looked at him confused. "I've never heard of those."

"Back in the beginning, before the flood at least." He started to explain, "There was a type of fairy that was invisible to the human eyes, but it could stick itself to you and steal your life force."

"What does that…" He stuck up a hand, stopping me.

"I'm not done, princess." His smile dropped slightly. I should have known better than to interrupt the devil. "In some more recent years, the idea of soul-eating has become more popular. It lasts longer and doesn't kill the host as fast. You just need one human and as long as you can keep them safe and healthy you're golden."

"So how is Alex one of these?" I inquired. Nothing he said so far was making sense to me.

"Do you have a fire underneath you or somethin'? I'm getting to it." He rested his head against the bars, boredom covering his features. "Witches have been able to take these powers and make charms out of them. They have some that would even allow a sickly person to take over the body of another person to heal themselves. Most of the fairies have taken to this charm rather than using their magic. The charm itself has been changed and distorted so much that no one knows what the original intention was anymore." He yawned, "Blah blah blah, It would explain why she's in your head. And why she was sent to another universe. Smart of Crowley to pick a body that was in a world without monsters. He probably got the damn charm from that redhead bitch." He stuck his tongue out at mentioning Rowena, "Crowley probably used it on your girl, though I still don't understand why he'd do that for her. But that would've attached her to you, and she feeds off your soul to heal her own body. That's why she can die without dying. And that explains the weeks she's with you." He looked at me again, pointing, "But why would Crowley use it on a Winchester? I know he's buddy-buddy with them, but he's still not one to help those that don't stick to their side of their deals."

"Alex kept their deal." He tilted his head to the side at my answer.

"Ah," He nodded.

"So if she's taking my soul to heal herself," I questioned aloud, "What does that do to me?"

"It'll kill you eventually, kitten." Lucifer smiled, "But if you're here, in this universe, then the charm may not work as intended. I bet the demons think that if they keep you here and can kill her, then she won't come back again."

"How do you know she's been killed anyway?" I asked.

He laughed, "I've killed her, sweetheart. A couple of times."

"She did say that you…" He cut me off again.

"Did she tell you that I tricked her? Used her? Something along those lines of bullshit." He laughed again, "The bitch likes to think of herself as the ultimate hero. But really, she deserved what I threw at her. She always deserved it." His eyes were cold now, almost hurt. What had happened between them?

"What do you mean she deserves it?" It was weird to hear him say it. I knew the Winchesters and Lucifer never really got along, but it didn't feel right for him to think they should stay dead either.

"Her whole 'game' is to use people for her advantage." He scoffed, crossing his arms over his chest and walking back into the darkness of his cell. "When she was still a new hunter, she used me for information on the demon tablet."

"Used you?" I leaned further through my bars, trying to see him a little better. "What do you mean?"

"Well, to skip the graphic details, we were pretty close. Almost as close as she is with that sack of psycho she fucks around with now." He grumbled.

"Oh," I muttered, "I could've guessed. She is like that." I needed to reel him back in. This last conversation had pushed him away again. "It's kinda annoying."

"Why?" He came a bit closer again, "Aren't you all buddy-buddy with her? Since she's in your head all the time."

"I didn't get to pick that. She just showed up one day. Try explaining to your family that you have a living person in your brain that's not just the normal voice in your head." I rolled my eyes, "They made fun of me, and sent me to shrinks. Even put me in the hospital for a few days, wasn't exactly how I wanted my senior year of high school to go." I huffed, "And now I'm here, in literal Hell with the devil. So you tell me if she's really worth all that trouble. It's honestly only gone from bad to worse as far as I'm concerned." I kicked at the bars lightly, hoping what I was saying sounded convincing enough as a lie. I didn't want any of it to be true, but some of it was. And if draggin her though the mud would regain the small trust the devil had in me then so be it. God, and I realized that he was the devil for a reason. His cocky smile and smart-ass remarks were charming in a way, and he had a way with his words. "She didn't even try to save me when they grabbed me."

Lucifer nodded, "That does sound like her." He huffed, "So how are we getting out of here, jewel?"

I looked around the cell again, taking in the room through the haze. There was nothing. They had made the cells completely bare save for the essentials. I sighed and slid to the ground, my hand going to run through my hair. And there it was. A bobby pin under my fingers. But there was no way it was going ot be that easy. But I wanted ot attempt it anyway.

I pulled the bobby pin from my hair and walked over to the cell's door. I found the lock and wrapped my hands around the front before sticking the bobby pin in and jiggling it around. I could feel Lucifer's eyes on me as I twisted it around in the lock. "There's no way it'll be this easy but," I muttered, "I have used this method on a door before to sneak back into the house after sneaking out."

"You're kidding right?" Lucifer scoffed, "It's definitely not going to be that…"

His voice stopped as the lock clicked. I smiled and stepped away from it before pushing it open and stepping out of the cell. I walked over to Lucifer's cage and stood in front of its door. Did I dare to set him free again? If he was as bad as the show made him out to be, then it would be my fault so many angels started to die.

"When I was brought in by the demons, do you know what happened to me?" I questioned.

"How the hell would I know? Get me out of here." He said.

"There's something wrong. This feels too easy." I muttered.

I jumped as he reached for me between the bars, "Get. Me. Out." He said, "Get me out of here and I'll take you to the exit. Since I doubt you'll be able to find the way yourself."

"How do I know you know where it is?" I stepped closer to his cell again, my hand taking one of the bars that separated us. "I need something a little bit more than that."

"I'm Lucifer remember? I ruled Hell! I made Hell! I things Asmodeus and his minions can only dream about!" His eyes changed from their bright blue to the vivid red that proved again who he was.

I looked into his eyes and sighed, "Sometimes, I forget you're still an angel." I mumbled. "If I let you out, and I mean if, you can't just go out and steal grace. Ai know you're low, but I won't let you start killing for it. I know that if we get out of here, people will die regardless, but I'm not going to be the reason that more die than should."

"I can't promise that, doll, but I can promise that as long as I'm around you I won't hurt a single human." His eyes were a piercing red, "Now get me out of here!"

I bit my lip but went to work unlocking his cell door. I didn't want to trust him, not one bit, but it was my best way of getting out of here alive and in one piece. Even in his weakened state, we would be better off than if I left him here. There was a click and I pulled the door open, stepping out of the way for him.

"Don't make me regret doing this," I grumbled.

He walked out of the cell and stretched. Then his hand took mine and he was dragging me behind him and down the hallway, past more and more cells. Why had they put me next to him? That was stupid.

"I thought you said you didn't know what part of Hell we were in," I said.

"I lied." He didn't look at me as we kept running.

"I should've guessed as much." I shook my head.

He grinned back at me before coming to a stop at a T in the hall. He pushed me behind him before glancing around the corner. He turned back to me again and placed a finger to his lips. I nodded. In a quick movement, he pulled me around the corner and down another hall. I glanced over my shoulder and could just make out two people having a conversation. He was going to get us killed. I should've left him behind.

We came to another split and he stopped again, his hand still firmly in mine. "Do you have anything sharp?" he asked softly, glancing back behind us at the two people who were still mid-conversation. They had no idea we were here.

My free hand patted around until it found my pocket. I pulled out the switchblade that Alex had given me and passed it to him. Why had they let me keep that?

"Don't hate me." Before I could ask what he meant, he'd opened the blade and dragged it across my palm. I winced, biting my lip to avoid making a sound. As soon as he'd done it, he pulled us towards the wall directly in front of us and placed my hand against the cold stone wall. There was a blinding light. I hid my face in the sleeve of the jacket I was still wearing. I was pulled forward and could hear the shouts coming from behind us before they were cut off behind the wall again.

"I needed the blood of a virgin," Lucifer explained, taking the bottom of my shirt and using the knife to cut the hem of it.

"How did you…" I started.

"It's not that hard to spot." He said, snickering. "But if you're interested, I could always change that when we get out of here."

"Are you flirting with me?" I winced as he wrapped the piece of fabric around my hand. "You do realize the age gap between us alone is a little weird."

"Sweetheart, I'm over a thousand years old, and the 'age gap' is weird if you think too much about it." He said, smiling wide, "I was just offering a fun way to celebrate our escape."

"If you can get me out of here alive, and without any more injuries, I might take you up on that." I was trying to look at the best light of our situation, "I have to live once before I'm torn apart by demons or angels, right?"

"That's the spirit!" He said, pulling me forward again. There were a few more twists and turns that made the whole place turn into a blur and I was unsure if he did know where we were going anymore. We rounded another corner, but he backtracked quickly, making me stumble. "Stay here," He muttered, dropping my hand and causing unease to wash over me. He rounded the corner and I peeked around it to watch him. "Cael," Lucifer said, speaking to the rather large figure that stood down the hallway. "To what do I owe the pleasure?"

"The Winchester girl sent me for the girl," This new figure didn't seem to be phased by Lucifer at all, "Have you seen her?"

"Nope," Lucifer bluffed, "I don't have the faintest idea who you could be speaking of."

"You're lying," Cael said, "Where is she?"

"Alex sent you?" I said, stepping around the corner. Lucifer looked back, disappointment on his face.

"Yes, and she was quite firm about retrieving you unharmed." Cael said, "So, please come with me and we'll leave Hell behind."

"Hey! We made a deal first." Lucifer pouted.

I glanced between the two of them. I took a small step closer to Lucifer. "I don't know you. And Alex has never mentioned you." I reached out for Lucifer and took his hand again.

Cael sighed heavily as if he was annoyed with this whole situation. Was this her angel? "My agreement with the Winchester was to get you out of here. At least let me do that so she leaves me alone." He extended a hand toward us.

Lucifer quickly pulled me further behind him. "I'll make sure she gets to where she needs to go." He said, his voice holding a bit of authority. "We don't have the time to argue, we'll have company soon." I couldn't hear anything, but my hearing was nothing compared to theirs. I could feel the strong power radiating off of Cael, almost as if his anger and annoyance fueled him more than his grace did. I hid behind Lucifer's back, holding onto him a little tighter.

"Fine, but if the Winchester bitch tears my head off got thi then I will come find you so you can deal with her instead." And with that, he was gone.

"I don't like him," I whispered.

"I don't care for him either, sunbeam." He gave my hand a little squeeze. "Why did she have to send him of all people?" There was a loud crashing sound somewhere down the hallway and Lucifer quickly pulled me in the opposite direction. "We just need to reach that horrible tapestry hanging on the wall. There are some stairs behind it."

I laughed as we ran, "Didn't you build this place? Why pick something so horrible?"

"It's been a few millenniums since I've been able to remodel." He replies, sarcasm in his voice.

We finally came to where a large tapestry hung from the wall. It was red and black with four playing cards down the center, showing the symbol for each suit. Lucifer lifted the bottom of the fabric, revealing the stairs. I ducked under the carpet and he followed a moment after, dropping the fabric behind him to encase us in darkness.

He began to pull me with him up the stairs. The grip I had on him tightened the further we went. I felt like I was going to trip over my own feet at any moment with how fast we were ascending.

"Last step," He warned before we came to a landing.

He stopped to let me catch my breath. My ribs ached and I could feel a cramp forming in my side.

"Ready?" He seemed impatient, grabbing my hand and continuing again before I could answer. "You'll have enough time to catch your breath when we get out."

"Promise?" I said in a teasing tone. He made it easy. Made the situation seem like some big prank rather than the traumatic experience it should have been. It was odd but he made me feel safe. I could almost sense him smiling in the darkness.

"Pinky promise," Lucifer said.

I had lost all sense of direction now, but he still seemed to know where we were going, assuring me we were almost there every twenty steps or so. I almost called his bluff after another landing or two, when I felt a cool breeze on my face.

My legs were burning and my lungs were struggling to grasp the air around me. But the cold air shocked me enough to force me forward faster, a new wind running through me. And then we were there, standing on the surface in an alleyway. I could hear loud music and see brilliant lights coming from ahead. I took a second to suck in the cool air, healing my burning lungs.

"We won't be able to stay too long, we need to keep moving," Lucifer said, looking back at me with slight concern.

I leaned over, hand on my knees, and took another deep breath before standing straight and nodding. "Where are we?" I asked, following Lucifer down the alley and to the street.

"Sin City."