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(TW: Mentions of attempted rape, panic attacks, etc.)
-Lute took her time getting out of bed, as if reluctant to start the day. She gazed at her reflection while redoing the buttons on her shirt and straightening her name tag. After tying back her hair, she heaved a sigh, no longer recognizing the woman staring back.
Voices drifted up from below—the others had returned. Lute inhaled deeply to steel herself, then opened her door to go greet them.
"I just want to tell you guys that I'm back, since you were away when I returned," she said as she walked down the stairs.
Lucifer waved and smiled, "Welcome back! So....how did it go? Did you have fun...uh.. getting some air?"
Lute let out a shaky breath, still trying to collect herself after the stressful experience.
"Yes sir, I did," she replied, though her tone indicated she was not being entirely truthful.
"Sure sounds like it..." Lucifer said skeptically, clearly not believing her attempt to downplay whatever had happened during her time away.
"Anyway, I just wanted to let you know I'm home now. Excuse me, I'm going to head back to my room."
"Alright, dear," Alastor said, tilting his head with narrowed eyes, though his smile remained.
"I think we should-" Lucifer began, but the radio demon interrupted him.
"I think we should leave her be for a while," Alastor suggested.
"Whatever," Lucifer mumbled, still not too keen on leaving the girl alone.
As soon as Lute shut the door behind her, she leaned against it, struggling to breathe deeply as tears blurred her vision and her breath came faster.
Overcome with emotion, she curled into a ball and wept into her knees.
As Vaggie walked down the hall, she heard the sound of someone crying. Though she doubted her ability to comfort others emotionally, she still felt compelled to try. Gently turning the handle, she opened the door to find a distraught Lute sobbing uncontrollably.
Vaggie knelt next to the sobbing fallen angel and asked gently, "Hey, what's going on?"
Tears streaming down her face, Lute shouted angrily, "Go away!"
Vaggie sighed and sat down next to the girl. "Did something happen while you were out?"
"No! Just leave me alone!" she cried out, her body shaking as she sobbed.
"Just breathe," Vaggie said softly, trying to calm Lute down.
Vaggie took a deep breath in and out, encouraging Lute to do the same. The two breathed together in this way for a few minutes.
"Now....tell me what happened."
Lute took a deep breath to steady herself, feeling calmer than before. "I-I was walking down the street when I saw this...building," she explained.
Vaggie nodded.
She kept explaining, "I saw it had V's on it, so my curiosity got the better of me and I wanted to see what was inside."
"Okay..." Vaggie got an idea of what she was talking about. "Did one of the Vee's bother you?.."
Lute looked down at the floor, on the verge of tears, as she haltingly confessed, "The moth...he touched me."
Vaggie froze at the reveal, taken aback by this unexpected news. Her eyes glowed with rage as she demanded, "What exactly did he do?"
When Lute opened her mouth to speak, tears began to fall; Vaggie swiftly interjected, "It's okay - you don't have to talk about it!"
Lute nodded, head leaning on her knees. Vaggie grabbed Lute's hands, intertwining their fingers, which reminded Vaggie of old times. "Everything will be okay," she reassured. "You have me and the rest of the hotel."
After a while, but not before making sure Lute was okay with it, Vaggie left her alone.
After some time, Lute finally left her room again and joined everyone, except Angel who was still at work, downstairs.
Lucifer smiled upon seeing the girl and asked, "Hey! You feeling any better?"
With a gentle smile, she softly replied, "Yeah, I'm okay."
Lucifer pulled a duck out of his pocket and said, "That's awesome! I got you a gift!"
Lute took the duck from him, spun it around, and smiled slightly. "Thanks," she said.
The hotel fell silent.
Alastor asked, "Do you have any information on Charlie, dear?"
"No." She answered honestly. "All I know is that she might be in heaven."
"Heaven?" Vaggie and Lucifer asked at the same time.
Lute nodded.
"Well shit." Lucifer bluntly stated.
"And how do we know that you're telling the truth?" Vaggie asked. She wanted to believe her but Lute betrayed her lots of times before.
"Vaggie, seriously?" She asked, upset with the question the other female had asked. "I would have no reason to lie to you guys, I'm fallen. The angels don't like me anymore."
Yeah. She was right.
"Well, I can just plan a meeting with heaven!" Lucifer said confidently.
"And what would you tell them?" Lute shot at him.
"Uhhh..." Looks like he didn't think that through.
"We'll come up with something!" Alastor started out of nowhere. "I want to see my daughter again." He looked at Lucifer when he said that, purposefully trying to annoy him.
"Excuse me?!" Lucifer shot up to glare at the man, to which the radio demon grin got wider.
"Yeah, we'll get Charlie back." Vaggie smiled, her voice filled with confidence.
Finally recovered from Alastor's low blow, Lucifer pointed to Lute. "And I want you to go with me!"
Lute's eyes widen. "Me? Go back to heaven?"
The more and more she thought about it, she hated the idea.
"No way..." She mumbled, which made Luci frown.
"Well, if you don't want to then that's okay! I won't make you!" His smile returned.
This man was so nice, it made her question all the time her and other exorcists went after him.
"I guess...I could go."
"Wait really?!" His eyes lit up with excitement.
"Uhm....yeah." She nervously chuckled.
"Then we need a plan!" He stood up.
"Alright." She seemed much more slow than he was, but she got up. "Let's do this."
