Chapter Text
He wasn't entirely sure why the cuffs holding his arms and legs in place let go so abruptly, but he certainly wasn't in any position to complain. He tried to take a deeper breath, even though he could go without. It was a matter of comfort, if nothing else. But it suddenly seemed like he'd been cut off from whatever air there was before, trapped in a glass box (box?) with air that grew thinner and thinner with every breath. He fell to his knees under the weight of his own body like a puppet with its strings cut, pressing his palms to the ground in front of him like it would change anything. A tremor ran through his body, followed by another, and another that threatened to send him sprawling. He caught himself on the angelic glass with shivering arms, taking in the first full gasping breaths in hours. He was an immortal being. Had never been human. He didn't need to breathe. So why was it so hard to fill his lungs?
He wanted to go back to the palace. He'd been relatively undisturbed there, and now that he was at the hotel, everything in his life was going wrong. Of course, he was glad for the opportunity to reconnect and repair the damage to the relationship between him and Charlie, but even that wasn't exactly going well, either. Every time he messed something up, she exploded at him. Just like Lilith had always done. And being himself tended to mess everything up, no matter how hard he tried.
There were others at the hotel who tried to welcome him, at least. The spider, for one, who was always flirting but tried not to cross the line. Both cyclopes - the little cleaner and the explosives expert - didn't go out of their way to welcome him, but they weren't unwelcoming either. And yet it was Vaggie who had come to reassure him. It was Vaggie who had promised to get him out.
And then she disappeared, and she hadn't ever come back.
He swallowed, tasting blood. His throat contracted painfully, tender from his desperate screams during the most recent drain on his power.
Since no one was coming back, he'd have to do it himself. He summoned what little strength he had to rip the cables from his chest and sides, then gathered the dregs of his power and shot his wings out at the glass. In an explosion of pain and shifting colors, his enclosure shattered, and he toppled over its side to the floor of the chamber. He took a minute to settle himself a bit more, then climbed up through a grate to escape the weapon. He staggered, barely keeping his feet.
“Don't go down there,” he warned to announce his presence. Despite his best efforts, his voice broke as he spoke again. “It's a place of pain.”
Charlie and an angel he distantly recognized hurried toward him as every muscle seemed to give out at once and he collapsed. As he fell, he could see the bellhop's eyes widen, and the blood that pooled against the red-clad chest as Alastor stumbled upright and started toward him. Charlie asked something in a disbelieving tone, then got sidetracked when her redeemed snake friend appeared on the screen.
Hooves came to a stop next to his head, which was too heavy for Lucifer to lift. But then a gloved hand closed around his arm and lifted it around a broad set of shoulders, and suddenly he was being held upright by the very deer who had been trying to replace him for almost a year.
“Husk, Vaggie. One of you needs to tell Charlie we went back to the hotel. The other one, come with me. I'll need help patching him up and making sure he's safe, and she's obviously not paying attention.”
The cat-bird trudged toward them, the lanky spider plodding along beside him, and the former exorcist turned back to her girlfriend. The little Seraphim with the injured wing ran to greet Lucifer, seemingly oblivious to Alastor's glare.
“I'll go with you! You might need an angel to help, since he isn't a demon like you!” she offered enthusiastically, although her face was lined with exhaustion. Alastor thought for a long minute, then nodded.
“Husk, show her the way back. We'll go ahead and I'll get him settled. Something tells me we have a lot of work to do.”