Chapter Text
Lucifer walks into the hotel, whistling cheerfully. The king of Hell knew that he almost perished during that incident with the TV head guy, but he also knew—or, at least hoped—that he couldn’t die so he never worried too much. Sure, he still sometimes feels the jolts and hates being in small spaces, but he isn’t too worried about that. He twirls his cane, humming a tune now—something about how he’s the greatest dad.
He bumps into Charlie, his hat almost falling off. “Oh hoh, Charlie! Didn’t, didn’t see you there! What’s, uh, what’s popping?”
Admittedly, he’s been avoidant of Charlie since the incident. He fears she still hates him, so he’s been hiding in his room. The shorter man fidgets with his jacket; Charlie talks, but he zones out again. Not on purpose, but admittedly his head still randomly spins whenever he gets phantom flickers of pain from being tortured.
“Dad? Are you even listening?” Charlie groans and rubs her head. “Why do I even try? You don’t listen to anything.”
Lucifer flinches. “Wait, wait, Charlie—”
“Just stop, Dad!” Charlie yells. “Come to me when you actually want to listen. Until then… maybe you should go.”
Lucifer freezes. He finally gets to be with his daughter… and he ruins everything again. He sighs and fidgets with his cane. He reaches for Charlie, but she shrugs him off and leaves. The king stands there, his heart broken again. First Lilith… now Charlie. His family is falling apart again. He sighs.
“Okay, kiddo,” he says with a broken heart and teleports away.
Vaggi looks at Charlie. “Babe… that was a little harsh.”
Charlie sighs with regret; truthfully, she knows that but she’s scared. She almost lost Lucifer to Vox, and she already lost her mom. She rubs her head and groans, sitting down.
“I know… but I don’t know what to do! He won’t listen to me, and I almost lost him, Vaggi! I can’t lose him too…” Charlie groans loudly and lays back on the couch, covering her face.
Vaggi sits down and cuddles Charlie. “I know, babe. We’ll figure it out, I promise.”
————
Lucifer sits down with his hands in his head. He takes his hat off and lays it on the table by his bed before getting one of his favorite duck plushies and curling up in bed. The man looks small, especially compared to the size of his bed. Charlie told him to leave but he doesn’t want to. No, he can’t. He can’t be alone again. He lost Charlie for so long—he thought she hated him, until she invited him over before the fight with Adam.
He fidgets with his duck plush when he feels a little sore. His body hurts again; the bad tingles, as he called them, still sometimes linger. But Lucifer just lays in bed and lets it pass. Yet he can’t forget that day no matter what he does. He figured he’d suppress the memories like always, yet these ones… he can’t. They won’t go away no matter what. He rubs his wrists, which are still sore from being stuck in that scary box for hours. Maybe even days, he can’t remember.
His whole body itches and he starts scratching it. His arms, his legs—he keeps feeling the bad tingles and he hates it. There’s a knock at the door but the king is too lost in scratching the itches away to notice. The door opens to reveal Charlie, hoping to apologize, but she sees Lucifer scratching his body all over. Thankfully, he isn’t bleeding… yet.
“Dad? Are… you okay?” Charlie asks uncertainly, worry in her eyes.
Lucifer’s eyes snap up. He straightens up—did she see that?
“Uh… hey, Char-Char,” Lucifer says and quickly composes himself.
Charlie slowly approaches the bed. “Dad… why were you scratching yourself?”
Lucifer freezes. “Oh, uh… just itchy, kiddo!”
Charlie worries though. For being “just itchy,” he keeps scratching himself and looking around as if he is expecting something.
“Dad… what’s wrong?” Charlie asks, worried. “You keep looking around the room, are you hearing something?”
He freezes—Charlie is gonna be so mad if he tells her, so he mutters something incomprehensible while avoiding eye contact again. Lucifer looks away, fidgeting again. Suddenly he feels a jolt of pain and hisses.
“Shit, the bad tingles are back!” he panics and scratches his arm again.
Charlie freezes. Bad tingles? She knew he got injured… but what did Vox do to him?
“Dad, what’s going on—”
“Nothing!” Lucifer blurts and looks around in almost a fit of panic.
“Dad! You’re not okay! Please… let me help,” Charlie says with worry.
Lucifer looks away. What he says next breaks her heart.
“Promise you won’t be mad…?” Lucifer asks quietly.
“What…? No, Dad, why would you think I'm mad at you?” Charlie worries. “I’m worried about you. I… I almost lost you, Dad.”
Lucifer almost freezes once again. She isn’t mad at him… she’s scared. “Hey, I’m okay—”
“No, you’re not!” Charlie says. “And… it’s okay. Please, let me help you.”
Help. Lucifer isn’t used to people helping him with these situations. Most just shrug him off, tell him that he’s fine. Even up in Heaven, they dismissed him. But here… they actually care. Lucifer smiles, although it doesn’t reach his eyes.
“I’m fine, sweetie,” he says dismissively.
Charlie sighs. “Fine… but please, let me know when you need help. I… I love you, Dad.”
Charlie leaves reluctantly, worry clouding her mind. The princess doesn’t understand that it’s hard for him to ask for help with how much rejection he’s been through. While her intentions are pure, Lucifer is scared of her seeing him as weak and… different like everyone else.
But before she stops… he says something.
“...I’m sorry, Charlie.”
She stops in the middle of the doorway. Sorry?
“Sorry? What for?” Charlie asks.
Lucifer sighs. “Everything. I made you mad…”
Charlie goes to him, shutting the door behind her.
“Dad… I’m not mad at you. I’m sorry too. I was just… so stressed with Vox trying to take over everything, and he kept twisting everything! Then you left and I thought you hated me when you ignored me when I tried calling you…” Charlie explains.
Lucifer’s eyes widened. “No, sweetie, no. That stupid TV-head-man tricked me.”
Charlie pauses. That explains his injuries… what exactly did Vox do to him?
“Dad… what did he do to you?” she asks.
“Oh, nothing! Just, you know, trapped me in a big scary box… and kept bringing the bad tingles,” Lucifer says while avoiding eye contact.
Her heart sinks. He tortured him… and she never knew. Tears well up in her eyes.
“Dad… he tortured you…” Charlie whispers with worry.
“What? Hah, no, he… he didn’t. It made my head feel kind of fuzzy, though,” he says with a silly face despite the harsh reality.
Charlie growls. She’s pissed. “Dad, he tortured you! You’re not okay!”
Lucifer tries to come up with another excuse, but he shivers some because of another jolt. Charlie leads him to sit down.
“Dad… are you really okay?” Charlie asks seriously.
Lucifer looks away. He doesn’t realize that he’s… crying. “...No, sweetie.”
Charlie hugs him close. “It’s okay, Dad… it’s okay. I promise. You'll be okay.”
————
Lucifer heads downstairs to make some pancakes. He finds comfort in them; the sweet, fluffiness of the pancakes with syrup and apples fills him with joy. Getting all of his ingredients, he whips up the usual batter and starts to cook. And as if on time, a static fills the air.
“Ah, hello!” a radio-like voice says.
The bellhop. Of course. Why the hell is he here?
“Haha… why are you here?” Lucifer asks with a forced smile, flipping a pancake.
Alastor struts over, twirling his cane. “Why, simply checking on you! After all, poor Charlie is worried about her papa.”
Lucifer grips the spatula tightly. How dare he mention Charlie.
“I see,” Lucifer says and tries to avoid him.
“You know, we were all so worried when Vox kidnapped you,” Alastor says condescendingly. “Poor Charlie had no idea that her dear old dad was being used as a power source. And yet, she didn’t seem to care! How cruel, isn’t it?”
Lucifer growls. “Don’t you talk about my little girl like that, you oversized radio.”
Alastor laughs. “Is someone jealous because she cared about me and not you?”
Lucifer snaps. He wants to hit Alastor, to beat him up, but his punishment won’t allow it. And Alastor knows that; he’s purposely pushing his buttons. But why?
Alastor hums and leaves, but not without saying something. “You know… she talks about you all the time.”
Lucifer stares as Alastor teleports away. She talks about him? Is it good, bad? He starts to panic and forgets his pancakes are still cooking. Through the fear of worrying that Charlie hates him, a fire starts from the pancakes from the man barely registers it. His body is frozen with fear and panic and he feels lightheaded.
Charlie comes in to get a drink and sees the fire. “Dad! Fire!”
But Lucifer still doesn’t notice. Charlie groans and puts it out with a fire extinguisher then goes to Lucifer. She touches his wrist and he flinches and panics more. Her heart sinks; what’s going on with him?
“Dad…?” Charlie asks slowly. “Are you okay…?”
Lucifer’s eyes dart around; the room feels small. Too small. He feels like he’s trapped again and he’s… scared. He hears the screeching of the machine again and his head feels fuzzy. Through it all, though, a voice breaks. Charlie’s. Starting to calm down some, he lets her touch him. She says words of comfort and does breathing exercises with him before she hugs him.
“You’re safe now, Dad. I promise.”