spncentral | Forced To The Other Side AU

Claudia's been missing for several months, and Gabriel has turned everywhere he could think of upside-down to find her. He searched all of Earth aside from those few places warded against angels, he searched all of Hell--eliminating a ton of demons in the process--and even searched Heaven. All to no avail. It was like she no longer existed.

Then came a video with no return address. A porn video. One that involved demons, which made it... rather less than entertaining than the one he's done, given his own didn't involve anyone dying. One of those demons being an apparently possessed Claudia made it clear where the inspiration came from. The demon must have dug around in her head.

A couple of days of working on figuring out the location of the video later, he's figured out where to go. After dropping off the ferret and dog at the bed and breakfast due to not knowing how long he would be gone, he heads over there, appearing with an almost silent whisper of wings. He explores the building cautiously, keeping his power on a leash to avoid betraying his presence any more than absolutely needed.

Current Mood: cranky

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"He survived the experience, didn't he?" Gabriel retorts before getting in the car and folding his arms across his chest like a sulky teenager.

...And he would so burn out the radio if his powers weren't leashed.

"So did you," Claudia said, mildly. She wonders if he realizes that he's more pouty toddler who got told it's bedtime than sulky teenager, but pointing that out would be even more petty than the music mix.

So instead she decides it's worth the extra power, not to mention the amusement of leaving Donkey's ride in Hell, to do the large portal, and she keeps driving in silence.

Twenty minutes or so would do it, she figured, even if she drove like a little old lady. That was also tempting. Gabriel would probably expect her to drive like a demon, but, honestly, flashy maneuvers like that were a little boring.

Know what's also boring? Old lady driving. He's quiet for a few minutes before talking again. "I didn't realize turning into a demon would make you drive like an old person. Need your reflexes checked, Grandma?"

Time to see if he could get under her skin.

"It's funny you're the one acting a like two-year-old who got told they were out of ice cream, considering your age."

Nope, not real rise out of her. She wondered for a moment exactly what it was that had once made him so thrilling to be around. Lucifer, at least, was never boring or predictable.

What, Gabriel being awesome in bed doesn't do it for her anymore? Along with being willing to take her to whatever part of the world she wanted to for little mini-vacations or day-trips.

Gabriel's lips press together as he looks out the window. Apparently, she feels like being a pain in the ass.

The silence didn't bother her, not with his annoyance so palpable. And no, the sex didn't compare to what Lucifer had done with the mark, molding her into a creation that exceeded any other demon left in Hell. She would have told him as much. The Mark melded pain and pleasure together in ways she'd never been able to imagine before.

As the neighborhood got even more disreputable, she turned off to what looked to mortal eyes to be a dead-end street, and, just to see Gabe's reaction, she gunned it at the same time she reached out with power to key the portal to open.

If she was hoping for something dramatic, she's destined to be disappointed. Gabriel doesn't even bat an eye since even if they did smash into the wall at the end of the street, it's not like it would kill him.

All she gets is a "Oh, so you've remembered how to stop driving like a little old lady."

"What was that old threat I used to tell you? Ah, yes. Plucked like a Christmas Goose. Maybe I'll get to act on it, hmm?"

There weren't any roads in Hell, of course, but she spun out not far from their destination and walked along the outside of the car to open the door and pull Gabriel out of it by the collar. It might have been easier to tell him to come, but more amusing to drag him like a misbehaving puppy.

"We're here," she said. "Any last words?"

"Go fuck yourself," he says, scowling at her for dragging him out of the car. She shouldn't expect anything different, really.

She backhands him, hard enough to break bones if he'd been mortal. Possibly even kill, although she held back a little. "You need to learn some new lines, darling. Assuming my master leaves you with that ability."

A simple call was even easier her within the confines of Hell, and she smiled wickedly at him. It would be interesting to make him squirm, assuming she was permitted. He seemed so disgusted by her new lease on life, so shortsighted and arrogant in his belief he knew her better than she knew herself.

Given what tends to happen when one hits an angel, much less an archangel, that might not have been the most intelligent idea.

"Talk, talk, talk," he taunts. "You keep talking about what you or my brother is going to do."

"If it is anything like what he favored me with, you should feel honored," she said, a rapturous expression on her face as she remembered. Nothing she'd shared with Gabriel could possibly have prepared her, or given her such an experience. Even when he was tearing her apart, killing her by inches to destroy every last bit of mortality, it had been glorious. Well, perhaps not at the time, but it was her shortcomings, not Lucifer's.

"He made me his, as you never did. Your loss, Gabriel, my gain."

"He's the only angel with any interest in making demons whatsoever," Gabriel points out. "None of the rest of us are anywhere close to inclined to do so. We smite them, not make them."

Even as he talks, Lucifer's summons can be felt by Claudia. He felt his brother's arrival and was ready to have his chat with him.

"Is that what you want to do to me, sweetheart?" Claudia said, smirking. "Destroy me?"

She took up the leash again, walking backwards over a path she knew, leading him towards the place Lucifer had chosen. Finding out Gabriel's intentions was all well and good, but there were things that were meant to be done immediately.

"In a manner of speaking," he growls as he follows her. Handing her over to the Winchesters to cure will destroy the demon part, sure. Leaving the rest of her intact, more or less.

"You saw how well your little trick with the holy water worked. I don't want to give up who and what I am," she pointed out, and then stopped outside the door, waiting for permission to enter and present her captive.

The doors open and when they walk in, Lucifer raises his eyebrows. "You look like drowned rats."

He knew it was going to be the case, given Claudia's update, but still.

"Your brother didn't feel all that inclined to rectify the matter for some reason," Claudia commented, as she brought Gabe over and offered the leash to her lord. She though about adding how he seemed to disapprove of Lucifer's improvements, but that was not exactly a fight she wanted to be in the middle of.

"I can see that," he says in a tone that's probably the driest thing in the room as he accepts the end of his brother's leash. Seeing his brother open his mouth, he interrupts before Gabriel can even start, "You'll speak only when I tell you to, Gabriel."

Ignoring his brother's mouth snapping shut with a scowl, he turns his attention back to Claudia. "You've done well. You should probably change to something drier and not soaked with holy water. I'll let you know when I want you again."

In other words, she's been dismissed. If she's fast, she may have enough time for a shower to wash away the holy water still touching her before Lucifer calls her back.

"Of course, sir," Claudia said, and did her best not to look like she was retreating with too much haste. While the holy water still burned from her clothing, she had long since relegated the pain to a separate corner of her mind. Being able to was it off was a...well, one might say a godsend, but not when one served the devil. It was just rude.

So she raced to the shower, and took care to remove all traces of damage. She'd just finished a final scrub when the water turned icy cold a heartbeat before she felt the summons. It didn't cross her mind to dress, instead letting the water dry off her skin as she ran to return. Someone else might find walking through Hell in the buff a worrisome thought, but nobody would dare touch her without permission, and if that was his plan, she would accept it as she had accepted hundreds of other humiliations and punishments.

Not even ten minutes had passed, and she had returned to the presence of the two archangels, awaiting further instructions.

Lucifer promises he wouldn't have objected to her wearing clothes on her reappearance, even if she would have been losing her shirt shortly after getting there.

"There you are. Come here. Let's give my brother a look at the back of your shoulder, hmm?" He wants to make sure Gabriel gets a good look at it, not just the little he could see through a wet shirt.

Gabriel turns his head from his new location on his knees although still a good distance away from his brother to watch her approach.

Edited Date: 2016-05-02 01:10 am (UTC)

Claudia does just that, walking over without a hint of hesitation or restraint, even going so far as to flip her hair over the other shoulder as much as possible when she turns her back on Gabriel, close enough for him to reach out and touch her if he felt any need to. "Is this close enough?"

"I would say so," he says in an even tone as he looks over at his brother to see his reaction. Time to get another from him. "I think it time to kneel at my feet, hmm?"

Not that that would be all she'd be doing. It wouldn't quite get the response from his brother he's looking for.

"Of course," she said, doing so with alacrity. Considering her previous relationship with Gabriel, she had an inkling of what service Lucifer might ask of her, and her pulse quickened just a little at the thought. But she didn't want to be obvious, and bowed her head without even being asked.

Even so, she kept sneaking quick glances at both archangels to see their reactions. It was possibly the only warning she might get before things went south on her.

Lucifer tangles his fingers in her hair as he smiles down at her, seemingly ignoring his brother. "I don't need to tell you what I require of you, I trust?"

In other words, time to get started.