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“MC, please come back out when you’ve changed. I need to talk to you.”
MC nodded at Lucifer and hurried into her room. She hadn’t known him very long, but she could tell that he was one of those people who made vague statements, making small issues seem big. It was probably nothing. But she was still nervous.
As soon as she changed out of the RAD uniform and into something more comfortable, she left her room and went back to the entry hall, where she had last seen Lucifer.
“Come with me to my study please.” He began to walk.
“Am I in trouble?” She asked in a joking tone as she followed him.
When he didn’t answer, her nerves evolved into anxiety.
They finally made it to his office and Lucifer shut the door behind him. He quietly sat behind his desk, and MC stood awkwardly in front of it.
“...Am I in trouble?” She asked again, seriously this time.
Lucifer took a breath. “I received your report card today. Apparently you’re not doing very well.”
Disappointment and frustration filled her. “...Oh.”
“Well, why not?”
“...What?”
“Why aren’t you doing well?”
She sputtered. “I mean… I’ve been doing my best?”
“And yet your grades are terrible.”
She started to get a little angry.
“What do you want from me? I graduated. I thought I was done with school. Now, here I am, not only going to school again, but taking classes I know nothing about!”
“Honestly, MC, I expect these grades from Mammon, but you’re just barely above him.”
“So I’m doing better than someone who’s had more exposure to these things? Why are you upset with me?”
“Allowing you to live here, I put my reputation on the line. Your grades are a direct reflection of my tutorage.”
She fought the urge to roll her eyes. “You don’t tutor me though.”
“I didn’t think I needed to. I expected better from you.”
“Pulling the disappointment card won’t work on me.” She crossed her arms.
“What if I pulled the punishment card?” He asked flatly.
She stilled.
“What? That’s not a thing…” She sounded slightly unsure.
“I give you food. I give you a warm, safe place to stay. I allow you to do as you wish, I even tolerate your blatant disrespect. And yet, you’re failing in your one task. I don’t think it’s my fault... I think you ignore your work in favor of wasting time with my brothers.”
“I don’t-”
“Therefore,” He interrupted. “You need to be punished for choosing to engage in frivolous activities rather than study.”
“What!? Lucifer, that’s not fair!”
“You’re right. It’s not fair that you’ve taken advantage of my generosity.”
Lucifer grabbed MC by the wrist and dragged her out of his study, down the stairs, and through the hallway to the living room. She yelled at him the whole time, but couldn’t get herself out of his hold no matter how much she pulled and hit.
When they got to the middle of the room, he threw her to the ground. She landed on her shoulder and slid a couple of inches across the tile. It hurt, but nothing felt broken. She angrily pushed herself to her feet.
“Will you just listen to me!?”
“I listen to those who are deserving of respect.” He retorted as he walked over to a nearby cabinet and opened a drawer.
MC glared at his back.
“If everyone felt that way, no one would talk to you!” She snapped.
Lucifer turned back around and in a blink was in her face. She stumbled backward in surprise.
“I was going to be more forgiving in your punishment since this is your first transgression.” He caught her by the front of her shirt. “But it seems to me you need to be taught the full lesson.”
MC stared up at him in fear as she tried to pry his hand away. She didn’t see what was in his other hand until she felt a coarse material wrapping around her wrists. She looked down at the rope, then back up to Lucifer in shock.
“In this house, this is the standard punishment.” He stated as he threw the rope over a hook in the ceiling that MC hadn’t noticed before.
Her arms were pulled up above her head and panic began to overwhelm her.
“Wait, please, Lucifer! I’m sorry! I’ll do better! I promise I’ll do better!”
Her begging fell on deaf ears. He pulled on the rope until she was standing on the balls of her feet. Her begging turned to pleading until he started to walk away. Then she started screaming desperately after him.
“NO! Please! Don’t leave me! Please! I’m sorry! I’m sorry, Lucifer!”
He continued walking away from her, intending to go back to his office, when the two doors behind her slammed open and Satan, Beelzebub, and Leviathan all ran into the room, summoned by MC’s screams. They stopped short when they took in the scene.
“...Lucifer, what the hell?” Satan looked at his brother accusingly.
Lucifer turned around and addressed the group with a cold glare.
“She is being punished. No one touches her. Do you understand?”
She couldn’t see, but Beel and Levi nodded reluctantly. There was a tense staredown between Lucifer and Satan but eventually, Satan must have looked away since Lucifer left the living room, satisfied.
MC was still crying, but she was glad she wasn’t alone. She turned her attention onto the boys.
“Please help me!”
They all looked away remorsefully.
“I’m sorry, MC…” Beelzebub said. “Lucifer said we can’t.”
“What? No, please! You have to! Please!”
Beel apologized again and turned to leave, the others following and giving her pitying looks.
“Wait! Please! Please! Don’t leave me alone like this!”
She heard the doors behind her close. She let out a wail of despair that echoed throughout the room.
She hung there, sobbing inconsolably, for a long time. Eventually, the tears petered out, and exhaustion began to overtake her.
A dull ache had settled throughout her body. She could feel her heart beating in her ankles, shoulders, and wrists, and her neck was sore from the odd position she had to hold it in. It certainly didn’t help that she was probably dehydrated from crying for so long.
She began screaming for Lucifer, begging him to let her down, promising better grades and better behavior.
A door behind her opened and footsteps quieted her yells. Satan appeared in her vision.
She looked at him with hope, and he averted his gaze.
“I’m sorry.”
He reached out and grabbed her chin, forcing her mouth open before suddenly shoving some sort of cloth in.
She gagged as it hit the back of her throat and recoiled in surprise, causing her to lose her footing, forcing the entirety of her weight to be held by her wrists and shoulders.
There was an audible pop and she screamed out in pain, but the noise was significantly dampered by whatever it was Satan had put in her mouth.
He reached out to steady her, eyes wide, clearly surprised.
Her legs refused to support her after being in the position they were in for so long.
She cried in pain and betrayal, and Satan hesitantly let go of her, looking away guiltily.
“I’m really sorry.” He mumbled. He still refused to meet her eyes.
She had never felt this badly before. She was so wrapped up in the stabbing sensation in her arms that she didn’t hear him leave.
She screamed in pain and frustration and then screamed again because she felt like it.
The thing gagging her kept her from being loud enough to alert anyone, but even if they could hear her, she knew no one would help her.
The gag was bulky, and sat lodged on the very back of her tongue so she couldn’t use the muscle to push it out. She kept having to calm herself down because she felt like she was choking on it.
Taking deep breaths, she reminded herself that it was too big to slip down her throat.
She had lost the feeling in her hands a while ago. She wasn’t sure if she was grateful for that or not. She was glad not to have another source of pain, but she hoped she didn’t lose mobility.
However, maybe having to explain to Simeon why her hands stopped working would keep Lucifer from doing this again.
It wasn’t fair. She was practically kidnapped and forced to go to school where the classes were on things she didn’t even know existed. She tried her best to keep up, and she knows she didn’t have any Fs. Cs and Ds were pretty good for someone who had never even heard of the Devildom in her opinion.
It was like one of those dreams where she had to give a presentation but forgot what the topic was about, and she wasn't able to read the paper with her notes.
The amount of anxiety was the same, except this time, instead of being laughed at for not knowing, she got tortured in the living room.
Staying perfectly still seemed to be the only respite she got from the stabbing pain. The dull, pulsing ache was easier to ignore.
She focused on controlling her breathing, since it was the only thing she could control.
She hung in unmoving silence until she faintly heard a commotion. The noise was coming from the dining room.
She didn’t think much of it until Asmodeus and Belphegor appeared in the hallway in front of her.
“Oh, my! He really did!” Asmo declared.
“...Holy shit.”
Looking up sent small spikes of pain through her, but she was able to see the boys, as well as Lucifer placing a hand on each of their shoulders.
“I thought I said you were not allowed to go see her.”
Asmo shrieked in surprise. When he calmed down, he began whining.
“It is so not fair that the others got to and I didn’t!”
“Now you’ve seen her too. Go back to the table.”
“Hey, are you sure it’s okay for her to be like that?” Belphie interrupted as Asmo started whining again. He had been staring at MC and ignoring her tears and pleading expression.
“Are you questioning my methods?”
“I mean… Yeah? Humans are kinda fragile. I don’t know how good this will be long-term.”
“...Is this an opposition?”
“Not really. Just an observation.”
Lucifer nodded his acknowledgment and Belphegor went back down the hall and into the dining room.
Asmodeus’ voice overwhelmed his footsteps.
“Alright, back to me now!”
“I said no. End of discussion.”
“Why can’t I spend some time with her!?”
“You can if you want to be up there next to her.”
“MC, darling! Let’s go shopping tomorrow!”
She didn’t even see him leave in his rush to get back to the table and away from the threat.
“I’ll come get you tomorrow.” Lucifer addressed her. “Take tonight to think about how you’re going to improve your grades. I suggest you start by turning down his offer.”
He left too, and MC was alone again.
She let herself go back to that numb place where the pulsing pain and the dull ache were muted, and her feelings of betrayal and anxiety were diminished.
She blinked lazily, staring at the tile beneath her. She was tired. She didn’t know if sleep would help her feel better, or make it worse when she woke up, but the idea of being unaware for any part of this nightmare was appealing, so she closed her eyes.
She didn’t dream, but she knew she had slept because she woke up to someone calling her name and caressing her face. She blearily opened her eyes and blinked her vision into focus.
Mammon’s anxious blue eyes stared back at her.
“M’mm’n…”
“Hey, what happened here?” He held her face up, letting her look at him without strain.
“...I need to get ya down.”
He ran a hand through his hair as he looked up at the hook in the ceiling. He looked like he was torn between crying and tearing the room apart. He did neither and instead, reached into her mouth to pull out the gag.
The thing was soaked in saliva, but he didn’t seem to care as he tossed it aside and gently massaged her jaw until she was able to close her mouth. She wet her chapped lips and swallowed, but her mouth was still dry.
“Hurts.” She croaked out.
“I know. I’ll get ya down.”
Mammon walked over the sconce that the rope was tied to and slowly lowered her until she was on her knees. Her arms were still up, but her weight was no longer pulling on them.
She hadn’t realized how hard it had been to breathe until she was able to again. It was like the air was fresh and smooth in a way it hadn’t been moments ago.
Mammon tied the rope back to the light fixture, and went to kneel beside her.
“Your arms are dislocated. This is gonna hurt, but do ya trust me?”
She made an affirmative noise, but was too tired to move her head.
Mammon grabbed her bound wrists in one hand, but in his other, he held a pocket-knife. He sawed at the rope until he had cut all the way through it, and slowly, painstakingly, lowered MC’s arms until they had looped over his neck, resting on his shoulders.
She was shaking and tears silently fell down her face. She let out the breath she had been holding when he finally let go. She closed her eyes and relaxed into his hold as he gathered her into his arms, picking her up in a bridal carry, and took her to his room.
He laid her gently down on his bed, propped against the headboard, and began working on unwrapping the rope still around her wrists. When it was removed, he hissed at the sight of raw skin and dried blood. Carefully setting her hands down, he ran to his bathroom to gather first-aid supplies.
He held a glass up to her lips and helped her to drink, soothing her throat. A wet rag and some cream took care of her wrists, but the swelling in her hands would have to go away on its own.
“Okay, shit, this is the hard part…” He sighed. “I have’ta fix your arms.”
She squeezed her eyes shut and shook her head.
“ ‘t hurts…” She mumbled.
“I know, treasure, but I can make it feel better.” He wiped away her tears, but they were quickly replaced. “It feels better right away. Promise.”
Mammon carefully moved her to lie flat on the floor.
“It’s gonna… It’s gonna be better, alright?” He gingerly took hold of her left arm and sat on the ground next to her.
“I was doin’ a gig tonight. Thought I’d use the money on somethin’ fun. Any ideas?”
A bit confused at the change of subject, and still slightly out of it, MC gave him a look that a mixture of judgment and confusion.
“Come on! There anythin’ ya wanna to do? Anythin’ ya wanna eat?”
MC considered. “I… Heard there’s a new exhibit at the museum; we could check it out, I guess?”
“Museum? Lame. Unless ya really wanna, then I guess I’ll go. But we’re gettin’ ramen after.”
“But it’s your money, so you spend it how you want.”
“Well, maybe I wanna spend it on you.”
Before MC could respond, Mammon pushed his foot against her to brace himself, and pulled her arm.
Pain, white hot, and electrifying shot through MC. A scream tore out of her, and she instinctively tried to get away. The few seconds it took felt like much longer. However, as soon as it started, it stopped.
She opened her eyes, and looked over at Mammon who was now much closer to her. She experimentally moved her shoulder, and though it was a little sore, the stabbing pain was gone.
“I’m sorry. I’m so sorry…” Mammon was mumbling as he wiped away her tears, his own falling freely.
“Mams…” Her throat was raw and achy. “Please don’t cry. I’m not upset with you.” She assured him. “You were right… Feels better.”
“I… I gotta do the other one.”
Her eyes went wide, and she moved to stop him from getting up. “Wait. Can we… Wait a bit before…?”
He took a steadying breath. “Yeah…Ya need to be relaxed, and I don’t think distractin’ ya will work again. …I need a minute too.”
She breathed a sigh of relief and patted the floor next to her. He practically collapsed onto his side, propping his head up to look at her.
“Can I ask ya why ya were hangin’ in the living room?”
It was a good thing he wasn’t trying to set her other arm, because she tensed up.
“...Lucifer wasn’t happy with my grades.” She mumbled.
“Oh.” His tone was flat and unreadable, but Mammon wasn’t someone who could mask his feelings. She watched as several emotions played across his face. Some, she didn’t recognize, but others, she did. Like the anger he finally settled on.
Then he looked at her and it melted away to concern again. He reached over and caressed her face, seemingly unconscious of the action.
MC closed her eyes and leaned into his touch, however she had a question of her own.
“Why do you know how to relocate arms?”
Now it was his turn to tense up.
“I’m… Just’a genius. Ya already knew that.”
MC was not amused. She grabbed his hand and stilled it, pressing it into her cheek. She looked into his eyes.
Mammon sighed and flopped down, pulling away from her, so he was staring at the ceiling instead.
“...If he thought your grades were bad…” He chuckled.
“You don’t have to answer if you don’t want to.”
He threw an arm over his eyes.
“Fuck… Bad grades, bad habits, bad reputation, bad attitude… He finds a reason. Even if there ain’t one, I think he finds it fun to hang me up an’ humiliate me… Relaxing, maybe. Demons are stronger than humans, so a broken bone, or a dislocated arm doesn’t happen often, but even our bodies got limits, ya know?”
She took his hand and entwined her fingers with his.
“And you have to take care of it yourself?”
She couldn’t imagine how she would have handled it if Mammon had abandoned her too, and she had to figure out how to patch herself up.
“If Lucifer’s bein’ real unfair, sometimes one’a the others’ll give me a hand..
That’s only if there’s a problem though, and there ain't usually.”
MC was silent. She absentmindedly stroked the back of his hand with her thumb. The two of them stared up at his ceiling for a while, not saying anything.
She was tired. As she started to drift off, Mammon got up. Through lidded eyes, she watched him go to his closet, but she closed them again when she saw him come out with a couple blankets.
She thought nothing of it when she felt him on her right side until he took her arm, braced himself, and pulled.
The same excruciating pain from before tore through her, this time mixed with an irrational sense of betrayal. She could hear herself scream, and feel herself try to pull away, but it felt simultaneously distant, and all-encompassing.
Like before, it was over quickly, and Mammon hurried to comfort her, whispering quiet apologies as he pulled her into his arms. Her tears didn’t stop this time. She continued to cry as he gently rocked her like she was a child.
“Does it still hurt?” His voice was strained.
“Why?” She choked out. “Why did you do that?”
“I had to. I had to.” His shoulders were shaking nearly as hard as his voice, but MC didn’t notice over her own shaking form.
“Ya were relaxed, and I knew if I said something it’d ruin it, so I had to. ‘M sorry, treasure.”
As she continued to cry, he tentatively stroked her head.
“Do ya want me to leave?”
Her whole body jolted as she moved to desperately cling to him. The sudden shift of weight knocked him backwards. He threw his arms back to catch himself.
“Don’t leave me, please don’t leave me. Mammon, please.”
“Calm down, MC, it’s okay.”
“Please stay! Please!”
“I’m not leavin’ ya. Takes a lot to get rid’a me.”
“Promise! Promise you won’t leave!” She said hysterically, concerning him a little.
“Promise. I won’t leave.” He wrapped his arms back around her. “What’s got ya so upset?”
“They all left me. They left!”
Mammon was worried about her. A little panic is understandable. He had startled her awake by causing her pain, and that was after the stressful evening she had had. But she was getting more and more agitated, and was clearly not thinking straight.
“Who left?”
“Everyone! They all saw me! They heard me screaming for help! They all looked me in the eye and walked away… I can’t watch you do that to me too Mams.”
Her sobs dissolved into low cries of distress that made Mammon tear up himself.
“I already said I ain’t gonna leave ya. And ya trust me, right?” He rubbed her back while he tried to get rid of the lump in his throat.
When his brothers ignored his yelling or outright taunted and mocked him, he understood that he wasn’t just older, he was stronger and more powerful. They knew he’d be okay, because he would be. Even if he cried later on because of their words, he still loved them. They’re his little brothers. There was nothing that would stop him from loving them, and very little that would make him genuinely angry at them.
However, MC wasn’t stronger, or more powerful. She wasn’t even older. She was fragile, and scared, and beautiful, and genuine, and kind, even to someone like him. She had asked his brothers for help, and they let her down. He was disappointed. He was angry. He wanted to remind them all that he was the second oldest. That he was stronger and more powerful. That they could only mock him because he allowed it.
He pushed all that aside, because MC needed him right now. If he gave in to the desire to get revenge, for MC, for himself, he would break his promise and leave her alone again. He couldn’t do that to her. Especially not when she was like this.
She suddenly jerked away from him, wide eyed.
“Mammon! He’s gonna do worse! When he sees I’m not there tomorrow, he’s gonna come down here and get me himself! And you’re going to get hurt too! He’s going to- I can’t-
She couldn’t breathe. There was something in her chest. Her own weight, pulling her apart and collapsing her lungs. She was trapped, and alone. She couldn’t see anything except for blurred shapes. Mammon was calling her name and trying to tell her something, but she wasn’t processing what it was. She had been left alone again, and she couldn’t breathe.
Mammon grabbed her hand and placed it on his chest, exaggerating the rise and fall. He was breathing loudly, and she tried to match his movements.
Several minutes passed as she slowed her breathing down, and a couple of times, the air would get stuck, but Mammon talked her through it and finally, her breathing pattern was normal, and her eyes had focused again. Once she could breathe, sobs wracked her body, but eventually, those petered out too.
“I won’t let him hurt ya again. I’ll threaten to tell Diavolo. Even if he doesn’t agree that it’s an issue, if he thinks Dia might think it is, he ain’t gonna risk it just to prove a point, no matter how much of a jackass he is. ”
“But-”
“Nope. Trust me, it’s okay.”
He slid an arm underneath her legs and stood up, holding her close to his chest. He laid her on the bed and quickly climbed in next to her, before she could panic at the loss of contact.
Mammon turned off the light at some point, and they cuddled in the dark for a while. MC eventually calmed down enough that the tears stopped, and she let herself sink further into his hold.
“I’m sorry for freaking out like that.” She whispered.
He rolled to face her, replacing the protective arms around her with comforting eye contact.
“Nothin’ to apologize for. You’re allowed to feel things. Fact, ya probably were feelin’ all the things you’re tryin’ not to feel.” He said back softly and quietly, not wanting to ruin the atmosphere.
She made a non-committal noise and began playing with his fingers.
“You're doin’ it now, MC…”
“Doing what?”
“Ignorin’ your emotions. Like ya shoved them in a box and threw them under the bed.”
“Under the bed?” She looked up at him with a raised brow.
“Ya don’t keep important things under your bed. Ya gotta display them. Under the bed is where ya hide shit.”
“...These aren’t feelings I want to display.”
“I know. But you’re gonna feel them at some point. And it's important ya do.”
She was quiet for a few minutes.
“Ain’t ya the one who tells me to talk about my feelings? That holdin’ an emotion for too long is bad for ya or whatever?” He broke the silence.
“I guess.”
“Anythin’ ya feel is normal. You’re allowed to be scared still. You’re allowed to be angry.”
“It’s over now. I’ll do better on my grades, and it’ll all be okay.”
“MC-”
“It’s over now, Mammon.”
“MC, I’m scared and angry.”
“You… What? Why?”
“Walking in the front door only to see ya like that? My heart about stopped. I hate bein’ up there myself, but to see…” He swallowed thickly.
“Anyway, you’re my human an’ no one’s allowed to punish ya but me.” He said with finality.
MC blushed at the choice of words, and Mammon blushed when he realized why she was blushing.
“Not that… Well, ya… Nevermind.”
“Why would…” She cleared her throat. And tried to focus on his main point. “Why would that make you angry?”
“Like I said. I don’t like people messin’ with what’s mine. …Not that I own ya, but… Shit, that’s not what I…” He sighed.
“You’re important to me. Ya know that.” He murmured.
She looked away, but the blush was coming back.
“And ya said my brothers ignored ya when ya asked for help… I’m pissed. I’ve taken a lotta crap from them and FOR them over the years, but I didn’t think that’d make ‘em bitches. Now they’re afraid’a Lucifer, and think it’s okay not to help people if it inconveniences them.
He ran a hand down his face. “I don’t wish I treated ‘em different. I just wish they didn’t forget what we used to be…”
MC looked at his blue-gold eyes that looked so much like Luke’s. She reached up and gently cradled his face in her hand.
“You never really stopped being an angel, did you, Mammon?” She asked softly.
He leaned into her touch.
“No, I’m a demon. Don’t ya forget that. I’ve done some terrible things, and I’ll do more. I got instincts an’ needs that I never had as an angel…”
“But you have love and warmth in you that I haven’t seen in any other demon.”
Mammon finally locked eyes with her. He stared at her for a long time.
“Maybe…” He eventually said. “You bring out the best in me. The love and warmth.”
“Maybe. But I think it’s who you are. I’ve seen how much you love your brothers, even though they’re so mean to you. And that’s been true for longer than I’ve been alive. And tonight, you didn’t have to help me. You could have left me. I was sleeping, and as far as you knew, I deserved-”
“No, never. Not you. There’s nothing ya could possibly do to make ya deserve that shit.”
“Well… I guess my point is, you of all people can tell how much something’s worth, so don’t sell yourself short.
Tomorrow is going to be… rough. But I know you’re still going to be by my side, even if it makes everyone mad at you. Even if it means Lucifer threatens you too. And it’s not because of me, because I know you’d do the same for any one of them.
I’m… Really grateful for that. For you staying with me. For helping me down and fixing me up. For putting up with my meltdown.”
Mammon mentally frowned at the description of her panic attack, but tucked her hair behind her ear and smiled softly at her..
“ ‘Course. I love ya, MC.”
He turned bright red, and was about to try to talk his way out of it, but decided against it when he saw her gentle expression.
“I love you too, Mams.”
“...Ya still shouldn’t think’a me as anythin’ other than a demon.”
“I trust you, remember?”
He blushed once again, and MC laughed softly.
They lay like that for a while, facing each other on Mammon’s bed, only enough room between them to comfortably look at the other’s face.
Eventually, she fell asleep and Mammon once again thought about how beautiful she was. He took her hand and softly kissed her knuckles. He was still holding it as he drifted off himself.