Cleo watched the interaction between the two and instinctively she took a couple of steps towards Lucifer. Internally she was screaming at herself to tell him that she did believe him. There was a slight feeling of relief when she saw the confusion on his face when Katelyn spoke up. When his hand landed on the counter, one would have thought she would jump but instead she took a few more steps towards him reaching out. "Lucifer..."

She stepped back when he grabbed Katelyn and forced her out of the door. Maybe the two of them had gotten in over their heads with the teasing and little flirtations. She bit her lip waiting until he was finished wanting to talk to him. Though she missed her chance when he went up the stairs, she followed after only to catch the door in her face when he slammed it. She placed a hand on the handle flinching when she heard the crash and shattering in his room.

But the flinch quickly changed as she threw the door open letting it slam against the fallen dresser. "Are you--Oh Lucifer..." She moved over to kneel in front of him. Her hands moved to cup his face trying to bring his gaze to hers. She rubbed her thumbs against his cheeks as her eyes searched his face. "Lucifer...." She lifted her face to rest her forehead against his closing her eyes. "Please don't shut down. Don't let her mess with your head." Her voice wavering as she spoke, fearing that if she opened her eyes the tears would begin to fall.

Maybe she should offer to step away from being his protector. Yes it would hurt but she could feel herself getting too attached with her own heart to the man in front of her. Her eyes slowly opened as she pulled her head back before speaking again. "Talk to me...Please." Tell me to stay and I will. Just please don't withdraw...Her heart pleaded to him. She didn't want to lose the Lucifer she had seen last night or even this morning when they were smiling and talking.

One of her thumbs brushed against his lips as her eyes never left his. She wanted to kiss him so bad, try to erase what had just happened even though it had killed her to see it. "Trust me Lucifer...You know me better than that. You know I wouldn't just walk away that easily." A smile tugged at the corners of her mouth as she spoke.

Her next words though hurt as she spoke. "If you want I can leave. I can call Lucious and have him take over as your protector...I don't want to leave but is it illogical to think our emotions will interfere with what I was originally supposed to be doing. My heart is screaming for me to stay here, though my brain is saying leave before we get in too deep."

A lump caught in her throat as she spoke, her eyes moving to look down at the floor trying to blink back tears. "You are the one who's safety is at risk. I...don't want to be the reason you get hurt."

"Only way to protect me? From what Lucifer? I knew taking this job would change my life no matter what happened. I didn't take it because it was easy. Everyone knows how hard it is to work with you." She leaned into his hand feeling the tears making their way down her cheeks. It hurt to hear his words even more after stating that she had stolen his heart. "You have stolen my heart as well..." She turned her face to kiss his palm and slowly pulled her hand away as she stood, feeling empty when his hand left hers. "I will go get packed then. The sooner I can set off, the better."

She was turning to leave when she stopped and knelt down pressing her lips to his one last time. "I am just one call or text away. No matter what, I will try to come if you call. You aren't going to get rid of me that easily." A sad smile danced on her lips as she pulled away finally stepping out of his room. She closed the door behind her once she was in her own room leaning against it for a few moments before beginning to look for the clothes she wanted to pack.

Deep down she knew that she shouldn’t be walking out the front door without telling him that she was going, but at that moment she didn’t think she could stomach seeing the coldness in his eyes again. Cleo ran a hand through her hair as she took a shaky breath and set the note down with the wedding ring on the little table that held the keys and a few little knick knacks. Goodbye Lucifer. She thought stepping out the front door with the duffle bag that she had packed. Cleo walked down the street pulling her coat tighter around her shoulders against the cold, fall wind that was signalling that winter was soon going to be in the small town.

The angel hailed a taxi a couple of streets over from the house and climbed in giving directions to the farthest hotel. That was where she was going to be meeting the demon that was going to be taking her position as Lucifer’s protector. As much as she wanted to finish her assignment, the fact that no matter what she had tried she couldn’t get the King of Demons to lower his guard enough for emotions. She also hated to admit that her heart had gotten too invested and as she looked down at her ringless finger, her heart shattering as she sat in the back of the cab. Thankfully the driver didn’t pay much attention to her as she covered her face trying to hide the tears that were beginning to run down her cheeks.

By the time she was in front of the hotel, Cleo had composed herself enough to pay the driver and climbed out walking into the expensive looking lobby. A raven haired male spun on his heels hearing someone’s footsteps and walked over to her pulling her into a hug. “My dearest Cleo...I am so sorry to see you leave. I promise to do my best and keep him safe.” The female only patted his back before pulling away from his embrace.

“You better get to the house then, it won’t take long for Lucifer to notice that I left.” There was a hesitation in her movements as she held out the keys to the other person. The small motion was easily caught by the demon and he quickly grabbed the keys as he lowered his voice. “You shouldn’t have let your heart become invested dear Cleo...You know that better than anyone else.” Cleo’s hand lifted to slap the male but he quickly caught her wrist and kissed her hand gently before heading to the door. “Do try to not have fun without me.”

Cleo stood in the lobby for a few moments as the realization began to sink in. Her next few movements she hardly registered as she got the key to her room and stepped into the elevator. It wasn’t until she was inside the room that she collapsed onto the floor burying her face in her hands as the tears flooded over the dam she had tried to make. Damn you Lucious. Her whole body shook with each breath as she sat on the floor. It took a few minutes before she composed herself enough to at least set her bag on one bed and change out of her clothes to take a warm shower. The warmth of the water brought with it another tidal wave of emotions as the few tender moments she had shared with Lucifer played through her mind.

She quickly finished and decided to just crawl into bed and try to sleep as a way to ignore the pain. Lucious’s words played in her mind keeping her awake until her body caved to the emotional exhaustion it was feeling. She was in a deep enough sleep that she didn’t hear the door open to her room. The other’s footsteps were quiet as they approached the bed and quickly put a hand over the sleeping angel’s mouth. Cleo’s eyes shot open and she went to resist but the sweet scent that began to fill her nose stilled her movements as her eyes began to close once more. “Sleep Cleo...It will all be over soon...as long as you answer our questions.” Cleo struggled to keep her eyes open one more time but failed falling into a deep sleep.

She woke up still in her pajamas that consisted of a pair of silky pajama shorts and a silky tank top. Her hands were tied back with chains that kept her just high enough off of the ground that her feet couldn’t touch. Her feet were also chained back to the wall as a way to keep her from kicking her attackers. As the fog cleared in her mind, she tried to get her bearings but a gloved hand forcefully grabbed her jaw and brought her attention to him. “Gary…” A sick smile was plastered on the male’s face as he seemed to inspect the angel.

“Why hello Cleo. I hope you had a nice nap. I want you to be fully aware of what we are going to be doing.” He held his hand out and a flaming bar was held close to Cleo’s face close enough to cause the female to jerk back in response. “Now you won’t have to feel this lovely pole as long as you tell us where Lucifer is.” Cleo’s eyes narrowed and she shook her head.

“Tsk. Tsk. Tsk. That is the wrong answer Cleo.” Gary pressed the hot iron into the female’s side watching as pain danced across her features that she tried to suppress only letting her wings show in a moment of weakness. That was the wrong thing to do as a knife was buried into her right wing gifting the male with the scream that he was wanting to hear. “Maybe if we make you call out, he will appear and try to find you. It is the perfect trap.” Cleo spat on the male’s shoes but earned a slap to the face and the knife removed from her wing to be placed against her throat.

“Try that again...See what happens. I am not afraid to remove an angel’s wings. I have mastered the skill.” Defiance was clear in the angel’s eyes as she met his cold gaze without wavering. The male just shrugged before putting the knife back into her wing but in a different area. He turned and looked over at the instruments that were laid out on the table beside him. “Hmmmm. As much as removing your wings sounds, I think I will save those for last...I don’t want to make you numb quite yet.”

Lucious soon stepped into the house whistling as he shut the door behind him. He was about to head upstairs but paused seeing Lucifer on the couch. "So you are going to mope about since she left? Maybe I do owe her some money with our little bet." He drummed his fingers against his chin while leaning against the wall. "Why did you tell her to leave anyway?" He knew he was prying but something was compelling him to do so.

--

Gary paused with the long thin needle in his hand when Katelyn touched his arm. "She won't talk otherwise..." he pierced the skin on her arm watching as she bit her lip trying to hold in the pain. Cleo's eyes locked on Katelyn and narrowed the evident lack of trust burning in them as Gary prepared another needle. He tossed Cleo's phone to Katelyn before turning back to the angel.

"Why don't you try calling him from her phone? He might answer just in time to hear her again." A sick smile formed on his lips as he placed the needle next to the first one watching the color drain from her face each time. Gary had been hired by someone that wanted Lucifer taken down. At first he wasn't going to harm Cleo but that night when he saw how possessive Lucifer had been, he figured he could use the angel against the devil.

He grabbed Cleo's jaw once more, digging his fingers into the soft flesh knowing it would leave marks as he roughly turned her face. "Such a shame to have to mark up this pretty face and you were always so nice to me."

With a shrug of his shoulders, he slapped her face and moved over to pick up a knife. Cleo's wings were beginning to droop behind her as Gary lifted the soft dark feathers. "She really has some beautiful wings. Too bad she won't have much use of them." The blade sunk into the feathery darkness earning a whine from the angel as she hung her head. It was taking most of her willpower to not let the pain overtake her senses and slip into the darkness that was slowly taking over her vision.

Gary looked over at Katelyn and offered a blade to her. "Go on. Take out your pain from Lucifer. The metal has been coated to make it harder for angels to heal from them. My boss's specialty." Cleo could feel each antagonizing drop of her blood as it hit the floor. Her eyes lifted from the ground looking between the pair before she once more spat but this time it was on Katelyn's shoes.

Cleo had a feeling she was behind things, especially when Lucifer first bumped into her. Anger flashed in her eyes as Gary moved to hold her needle free arm towards Katelyn. "Go on...she is waiting."

Gary growled in pain as the blade sunk into his shoulder. He turned towards her with a murderous gaze only pausing when he saw Lucifer standing with a gun pointed towards him. A sadistic smile formed on his lips as he pulled the blade out and popped his neck. He threw the blade trapping the keys to the wooden table before Katelyn could pick them up. "So sorry to pause the freeing but did I hear you correctly?"

He took a couple of steps towards Cleo stopping in front of her. His action was calculated as he had positioned himself to where if Lucifer shot, there was a chance of hitting Cleo. The female lifted her gaze hearing Lucifer's voice, a small smile touched the corners of her mouth before her eyes closed and her head fell forward.

Gary not-so-gently pulled one of the needles from Cleo's arm not taking his eyes off of the gun that was pointing at his chest. Cleo's eyes flew open and then closed as she bit her lip suppressing the scream. "I don't think she should sleep during this exchange." His hand then moved to her jaw, holding her head up as her eyes glared daggers at the man. She would have struggled against the chains but between the pain and loss of blood, she was running on adrenaline to keep herself awake.

"You do know how to find the beautiful ones Lucifer. I do have to give you that." His eyes drifted towards Katelyn looking her over before slowly going back to Lucifer. "I thought you had closed your heart off Lucifer...I mean even your old flame couldn't distract you long enough it seems. But this one...What made her different?" He looked at Cleo turning her head as if he was inspecting her.

"I know she was sent to protect you but even at work you seemed indifferent to her even though you were supposed to be 'married'." Cleo jerked her head away from his hand but the sudden movement jostled her body, making her acutely aware again of all the bits of metal. Her wings were shivering slightly as shock tried to work its way back in.

Her eyes looked towards Lucifer almost pleading with him to shoot the man even if it hit her, right now she just wanted to be free. She blinked a few times trying to clear the wavering in her sight. "I will be fine Lucifer." The almost snarky way she said it caused Gary to look at her with surprise turning his attention away from the other two long enough for a distraction.

The sound of the gunshot rang through Cleo's ears and she instinctively closed her eyes waiting for the impact. Though that feeling never came even as she waited a few more moments before slowly opening her eyes. Gary had not been expecting Kate to run at him and he had turned to face the oncoming woman, surprise written plainly in his features. Of course it had created enough of a distraction that he hadn't moved out of the way of the bullet as he had at first intended. His eyes widened for a few moments as the realization of his grave mistake hit him as the bullet entered his side.

He fell to his knees looking between the three others about to mutter a curse on Kate but it was quickly swallowed in his throat as his life left his body. He slumped over onto the cement floor still staring in disbelief as his blood pooled beneath him from his wound. Cleo's eyes watched as he fell, relief flooding her system as she looked back up to Lucifer and a soft smile filled her features before she shifted, quickly shutting her eyes.

"Can I please get down from here? I have lost all feeling in my hands and feet. Now how I know how some of our enemies feel when we chain them up like this...not the hanging is a nice reprieve from actually having to hold onto anything." A small laugh left her frame before she continued speaking. "It looks like I am all hung up on you."

Of course she had to say another pickup line. How could she not when it was blatantly obvious that the door was open. Even though she was weak, exhausted, and most like delirious, she couldn't help herself. Her eyes moved over to Kate and a silent thank you was in her eyes even if she didn't want to fully admit to it just yet. There were still reservations about the woman that had helped capture her and then seemingly change to help Lucifer and herself.

She shifted again, this time using more of her battered wings to help try and gain some feeling. Which was a stupid idea as pain flooded through her hand at the renewal of blood flow to her extremities. "Nope, just going to hang here. Not worth trying to relieve it. Everything just hurts." Even with her being battered, bruised, and pierced, she was still trying to joke mainly as a way to stay awake just a few moments longer.

(Sorry if it is short.)