Chapter Text
Lucifer stands, the flaming sword raised above his head, the soft thrum of newfound power unlike any he’s felt before pulsing within his very being.
The golden rays of the sun’s light shine down on him, illuminating him as if that is their sole purpose. As if he commands them to.
Maybe he does. Or maybe he is the sun. Maybe he and the universe are one in the same now. It feels as though that could be true.
His siblings kneel before him, pledging themselves to him, accepting them as their new God.
They won.
Against all odds they achieved the impossible.
Chloe doesn’t kneel. She doesn’t need to. He followed her through death’s door itself to save her. He told her he loves her. He chose her.
He knows without a doubt that she chooses him in turn.
He doesn’t need to be omniscient to know that.
After millennia of loss and failure, he’s finally won.
Victory has never felt so sweet.
He drops the sword to his side, a slight tremor running through his hand causing him to tighten his grip on the handle. There is no need for nerves now though. He is God. There is nothing more to fight against. There’s no way he can lose again. Not when he is in charge.
Now that it’s up to him, no one will ever lose again. He will make sure of it. Pain will cease to exist.
He will make the world a better place.
With that thought, all traces of anxiety vanish, leaving him with nothing but confidence. “Brothers, sisters.” His voice carries as he speaks, commanding and all-powerful. “It’s over. I hav一”
A noise from behind cuts him off, drawing all attention away from him.
Whirling around, he’s just quick enough to catch the beam of strange orange light that forms in thin air. It starts as nothing more than a small, translucent square, and then it grows, getting wider and longer until it touches the floor.
At first glance, it looks like a door, though there is nothing on the other side of it. It’s not quite the portal to another dimension that the flaming sword is capable of producing. The edges are neat, almost too neat. It looks too… artificial. The light is dull, resembling a computer screen more than the divine power he’s used to.
No one seems to be able to speak a coherent word, all of them waiting with bated breath, eyes trained on the rectangle of mystical light that has suddenly appeared from nowhere.
Chloe’s eyes are wide, her mouth hanging slightly open.
He hears movement from behind, followed by, “Brother?” Amenadiel rises, edging closer, a question in his tone that he doesn’t voice.
If they think this is his doing, then they are sorely wrong.
At least, he doesn’t think he did this.
And then, a figure appears, merely a poorly formed shadow in the orange rectangle before it comes together, emerging fully.
A middle-aged man with short silver hair and a crooked nose steps out. He’s unshaven but wears a smart, if slightly unfashionable brown suit with a light blue and oddly designed shirt beneath. His tie bears a diamond logo that Lucifer doesn’t recognise.
Another man quickly follows behind him, tall and wiry thin with shoulder length jet-black hair and a chiselled face. He wears the same shirt and tie but instead of the suit, he dons a sports jacket of the same colour, emblazoned with a gaudy orange logo. His lapel covers half of it, and all Lucifer can make out is the word ‘Authority’ running around the edge of the circle in brown lettering.
The first man looks down at a small rectangular device in his hand before looking back up and scanning his surroundings. “This isn’t right,” he says, shaking his head with a sigh and planting a hand firmly on his hip.
“Well of course it’s not right,” the second man replies, his voice a surprisingly crisp British accent which contrasts oddly with the other man’s lazy American drawl. He strides towards Lucifer, raising a hand to gesture to him. “He’s clearly not a Loki.”
Not a what?
Lucifer stands there baffled by these two imposters. “Excuse me, I don’t一”
“You’re not, are you?” The second man speaks again, addressing him directly this time rather than just talking about him like he isn’t there. “A Loki, I mean.” He narrows his eyes, leaning closer and quietly scrutinising him. His posture relaxing once more, he buries his hands in his pockets, arching an eyebrow as he regards Lucifer. “He has the fashion sense to be a Loki, but I don’t think he is one.”
Lucifer frowns, annoyance and confusion bubbling within. “I don’t know who you are or what you’re doing here, but一”
“See?” The second man who doesn’t appear to be able to keep his mouth shut for more than thirty seconds cuts him off again. He spins around on his heel, throwing his hands out to his sides. The back of his jacket is oddly emblazoned with the word ‘VARIANT’ in bright orange. If it’s a fashion statement, Lucifer doesn’t understand it, and quite honestly he doesn’t feel like dwelling on it at the moment. “Not a Loki. So, what are we doing here, Mobius?”
The first man, Mobius, looks back down at the device in his hand, scratching his head idly with the other. “Are you sure?” His gaze snaps back to Lucifer, eyeing him in a way that makes him feel completely naked. Not that he’d complain even if that were the case. “I’m getting a massive reading from him. And…” he trails off, turning his attention from Lucifer back to the pad. Whatever he sees on that screen makes him look even more confused. He turns slowly, gaze flickering between the screen and his surroundings as though he’s following something on there. Then he stops and points at Chloe. “Her too. A huge nexus event just took place here. I’ve never seen two variants in one place before.”
Chloe blinks blankly. “Lucifer, what’s going on?”
He wishes that was a question he could answer, but even his Godly powers don’t seem to be any help on this one. “I have no bloody clue,” he huffs, turning to address the pair. “Who are you people?”
“Ah. Where are my manners?” The second man flashes a smile that’s all teeth, something mischievous shining in his eyes. He extends a hand in greeting, slender fingers hovering before him. “I’m Loki, God of Asgard.”
That leaves Lucifer with one pressing question. Just what exactly is a ‘Loki’ and how many of them are there?
Lucifer eyes his outstretched hand warily but doesn’t take it.
Surely this has to be some sick prank. And there can only be one culprit.
Michael.
Of course this is him. Attempting some last-ditch attempt to seize control. He knows his brother, and he knows that giving up isn’t in his nature. It might actually be the one thing they do have in common.
Disregarding Loki’s greeting, he breezes past him, teeth gritted and embers burning in his eyes, ready to rage into an inferno.
“Michael,” he grinds out, feeling fury simmering beneath his skin.
“Oh look,” Loki says, a little too cheerfully for Lucifer’s liking, following in step behind him, “there are two of them.” He stands halfway between Lucifer and Michael, throws his hands out to either side and directs a very obviously feigned look of interest towards Mobius. “Is this one a variant too?” He points to Michael, who emits a low growl under his breath. “Do we take both of them?”
Mobius opens his mouth to answer but doesn’t have a chance to get a word in before Lucifer retaliates.
“Take us?” he snaps, feeling his eyes flame with their full ferocity as he stands tall, squaring himself off with the other man. Loki stands uncomfortably close to him, and he can’t help the snarl that rises in his throat. “Take us where?” The last word comes out in a roar that succeeds in making Loki back off.
For a moment, at least. His smile fades and something akin to shock flashes across his sharp features before he quickly recovers and tilts his head to one side, a sly smile creeping back across those thin lips. “Well that is interesting,” he says, his tone low and his interest seemingly piqued. His eyebrows shoot upwards suddenly. “Maybe he is a Loki after all.”
Lucifer huffs his annoyance, rolling his eyes and trying his best to ignore the ‘Loki’. “Michael, whatever you’re doing, stop it,” he snarls. “You’ve lost. Deal with it.”
Much to his horror though, Michael simply smirks as he arduously pulls himself to his feet, hand holding his injured side. He shakes his head, his tousled hair falling across his forehead. “This isn’t me.” He holds his hands up in a show of innocence, throwing a crooked sideways glance between Loki and Mobius. “Though I kinda wish it was.”
Loki exchanges a short, tense look with Michael before returning his attention to Lucifer. “Tell me, what other powers do you have?” He wets his thin lips with the tip of his tongue, his eyes alight with curiosity. Lucifer gets the funny feeling that he’s asking these questions for something more than idle interest though. He’s been around long enough to recognise when someone is cooking up a scheme. “Any ability for illusions or projections? You know” 一 he smiles a little smugly, vaguely waving his hand in the air between them一 “any of the higher forms of magic. I myself am quiet the一”
Lucifer raises his palm flat towards him. “Do you ever stop talking?”
Chloe, who, much like the other onlookers, has been mostly silent until now, suddenly bursts out laughing at that. The noise echoes off the smooth stone and reverberates through the mostly empty coliseum. All eyes snap to her, and after a brief moment of hysteria, she slaps her hand over her mouth, suppressing the knee jerk reaction. “Sorry,” she finally manages to say, cutting through the awkward lingering silence, “I just…” She doesn’t seem to be fully able to subdue her smile and settles for biting her lip to try and stop it. She weaves her fingers together, fidgeting a little before throwing her hands out, gesturing to them all. “What is going on?”
That is a very good question.
Mobius sighs, directing a scathing glare towards Loki as he tucks the device away in his pocket. “What’s going on is you’re both under arrest for crimes against the sacred timeline.”
The sacred what? Lucifer barely has time to process the word before Mobius is advancing towards Chloe, his arm outstretched to take her by the arm. “Loki, you grab him, alright?”
“Why do I have to do it?” He shoots the question back in a way that isn’t unlike a child moaning about being asked to do chores. “Isn’t that B15’s job? Surely we should leave it to someone who actually likes doing the grunt work.”
Mobius huffs, momentarily stalling, something Lucifer is thankful for as he runs through various scenarios in his mind’s eye. They could cooperate and go with them, but who’s to say what sort of chaos awaits them wherever these two clowns are from?
“This isn’t an official field op, remember?” He sighs heftily, taking a moment to massage his forehead with his fingers. Lucifer would have a headache too if he had to work with Loki all day. “Look, we can’t just leave them here, so just grab him and let’s go, okay?”
Loki presses his lips together, obviously not happy with what he’s being asked to do. “Fine,” he huffs. “Though for the record, I’m not here to be your lackey.”
Mobuis directs a flat look back at him. “You’re here to do whatever I tell you to.”
The pair exchange a tense look before seemingly coming to some sort of silent agreement.
Loki doesn’t look happy about what he’s being asked to do, but it seems to be more out of laziness than any sort of moral objections. Kidnapping must be a regular gig for them. “What about the timeline, aren’t you supposed to... “He makes a strange face, “reset it or what have you?”
Mobius nods, a stiff smile crossing his creased features. “Well, would you look at that!” He pulls another object from his pocket, a small round cylinder made of metal with a glass chamber in the middle. “You did watch the videos! I had one on me just in case your apocalypse theory was wrong.” He shakes the new device that looks suspiciously like a grenade, with a smile on his face that provides an alarm contrast. “Never can be too safe,” he says, sounding the most cheerful that he has since he appeared.
Lucifer doesn’t have time to unpack any of that. Apocalypse. Reset the timeline. Those are thoughts for later when they aren’t imminently being arrested. He eyes the grenade-thing. Or worse.
Using their distraction to his advantage, he slips out of reach of Loki, quickly moving across the white stone towards Chloe. “Sorry, chaps,” he says with a forced smile, positioning himself behind Chloe and firmly planting his hand on her shoulder, “whatever this is, will just have to wait. You know, places to be and all that.”
He squeezes Chloe’s shoulder and immediately she picks up on his message, quickly turning to face him and slipping her arms around his waist to hold on to him tight.
“Bye now!” he says cheerfully as he unfurls his wings and propels them from the floor with a mighty flap.
Mobius lunges for them at the very last moment and just misses. “Hey now! Just wait一” is the last thing Lucifer hears before he flies them away from the area, taking them towards the penthouse.
Hopefully it’ll be the last he hears of either of them.
Unfortunately Lucifer is quickly disabused of that notion.
They’re on the penthouse patio barely a minute, his feathers still settling, when the orange door appears once more in the middle of his apartment.
“Oh, bloody hell,” he huffs as he sets Chloe down, shrugging his shoulders to tuck his wings away.
She takes half a step backwards but doesn’t release her hold on his arm, her fingers sinking into the fine material of his jacket. “Lucifer, who are these people?”
There’s uncertainty in her voice, a lingering fear that he can’t deal with whatever this is. She needn’t worry though. He’s God now. What’s the worst two pricks with a magical glow-y teleportation device can do?
“Neat trick you got there,” Mobius says as he casually appears in the doorway, annoyingly unphased by their escape attempt. “Unfortunately this isn’t a problem you can solve by running away.”
Lucifer scoffs. “I don’t ‘run away’.” He’s the Devil. God. These people don’t scare him, they’re just wildly irritating, that’s all.
Mobius sighs, placing a hand on his hip once more as Lucifer steps through the plate glass doors and breezes past him, heading for the bar. “Fine.” Mobius shakes his head. “You can’t fly away then.”
Loki follows closely behind, appearing in the orange doorway. His stride is cut short as he stops in his tracks, taking in the room around him. His sharp eyes scan over his fine Italian leather settee, drifting across the bookshelves and various display cases before settling on the bar. The face he makes looks almost impressed. “Well, he certainly has taste, I’ll give him that.” He takes two long steps into the centre of the room, stopping by the coffee table and throwing his hands out to the sides, spinning on his heel to look back at Mobius. “It’s classier than anything Stark owns and definitely not as gaudy Asgard.” He tips his head to one side, grinning widely. “Odin overdid it with the gold, if you ask me.”
Mobius merely sighs, shaking his head in a way that says nobody did.
Lucifer carefully selects a decanter of one of his favourite single malts from the second shelf of his bar and grabs the nearest tumbler. “I’d offer you both a drink, but I’m afraid the liquor is reserved for people who aren’t trying to arrest me.”
“We aren’t trying to arrest you,” Mobius replies, stressing the word to an unnecessary degree, “we are arresting you.”
He chuckles dryly in response before taking a swig of his drink. The alcohol teases his taste buds and burns on the way down, just the way he likes it. “And how’s that going for you?”
Mobius squeezes his eyes closed briefly, a conflicted look flickering over his features before he takes a deep breath and opens them again. “Look,” 一 he holds his hands out in front of him in a placating gestures as he slowly walks across the black floor of the penthouse towards him一 “I’m being reasonable here. You can either come with us willingly, or,” he pauses, eyeing Lucifer with a surprising intensity, “I can make you come.”
Lucifer laughs even harder at that. “Oh?” He smirks, quirking an eyebrow. “And how, pray tell, are you going to make us?”
There’s no way that these two… whatever they are, have the capability to detain him. He’s literally God. Given the grey-haired one’s attitude so far he expects he might have to put up somewhat of a fight, but he’s sure he can take them both easily.
He quickly drains the rest of his drink and sets his glass down on top of his piano. His muscles tense as he eyes the odd pair, preparing to have to put up some kind of resistance to whatever’s going to happen next.
Except… Mobius just looks disappointed. His gaze falls to the floor as he tucks his hand in his pocket and pulls out yet another device. How big are his pockets, anyway?
Loki’s eyes go wide at the sight of whatever the thing is, and he takes half a step back from the other man. It looks like a collar of some kind, though it’s definitely not the type of collar Lucifer has enjoyed wearing in the past. This one looks like a black elasticated material, and it has a small metal box at one side. Yet another ridiculous and probably completely fabricated doodad from Inspector Gadget then.
“You should trust me when I tell you that that,” Loki points to the object in Mobius’ hand, “is not something you would wish to experience.”
Mobius hums in agreement. “He’s right. I’ve heard it can be unpleasant.”
“What is that?” Chloe finally chips in, eyeing Mobius as her fingers twitch at her side where her gun is. Obviously her brain is starting to catch up with everything that’s happened and is now sensing the potential danger here. Unknown people with fancy gadgets and an unclear agenda making demands of them is clearly setting her on edge. Though Lucifer doesn’t believe they truly are in any real danger, otherwise he’d be shielding her with his own body.
“It’s a time collar,” Mobius answers, the absolute picture of seriousness.
Lucifer laughs again. He can’t help himself really. This is getting beyond ridiculous. “The sacred timeline? Time collar?” He scoffs sceptically. “What are you, the time police?”
He says it as a joke, but to his surprise, Mobius just shrugs half-heartedly. “Something like that, yeah.”
“Lucifer, maybe we should just hear him out?” Chloe says, ever the peacemaker. “Maybe we can talk this over and no one has to get…” She eyes Mobius dubiously, “arrested or whatever?”
“I’m afraid that’s not possible.” Mobius pulls the little rectangular device out again, briefly reading something on the flashing screen. “We don’t have time to chitchat.” He taps the screen with his index finger, angling it towards Loki to show him the display. The image is of three lines. Two are parallel, one red, one white, and the third breaks off from the white one, arching upwards and rapidly growing towards the red line.
A number in red at the top of the screen flashes, the numbers quickly decreasing. He doesn’t know what it is, but he guesses that when it reaches zero something bad is going to happen.
Lucifer sighs wearily, torn between wanting to keep the peace for Chloe’s sake and flexing his new Godly powers to just finish this once and for all. After a moment of careful consideration, and a pleading look from Chloe, he chooses the former.
With a snap of his fingers一 for dramatic purposes only, of course一 he fixes both their problems.
Mobius merely frowns at him, confused, before looking down at his screen. His face drops. He gapes at the screen where the third line has stopped moving and the numbers have stopped counting, then looks back to Lucifer. “What did you do?”
“Isn’t it obvious?” He holds his hand out palm up, gesturing past them all to the sky where a bird is frozen in mid-air. “I froze time!”
A part of him is surprised that it even worked. He wasn’t so sure it would. Being God is still very new to him. So much so that even he doesn’t know the extent of his powers. It hadn’t taken long to realise he isn’t omniscient, which means he probably isn’t completely all-powerful either.
Everything has a limit, it seems.
Stopping time apparently isn’t one of them though.
It happened so easily as well. All it took was a single conscious thought of what he wanted, and it became a reality.
This time Chloe is untouched by the divine intervention, demonstrated quite quickly by the way she gapes at him. He’d hoped she would be, but whether it was his choice to have it that way, or she’s simply immune to his God powers just as she is to his mojo, he can’t say.
Either way, problem bloody solved.
Well, almost.
Gosh, being God might be even easier than he thought it would be.
“Now we have time to sort this whole mess out without you getting in a tizzy over your little,” 一 he waves his hand vaguely towards Mobius一 “device thingy.”
Mobius presses the palm of his hand to his face, covering his eyes for a brief moment before dragging his fingers down to rub his chin. He rolls his jaw, eyes still set on Lucifer, and shakes his head in a somewhat disapproving manner. It seems as though he has something to say but can’t quite get it out between all the head shaking and the tired sighs.
After a few more moments of lingering silence, even one that it seems Sir-Loki-Talks-a-Lot isn’t willing to break, Mobius finally drops his hands to his sides, resonating exasperation. “You can’t just stop time.”
Lucifer scoffs. “I think you’ll find that I absolutely can,” he replies with a proud grin, before raising his hands in a show of peace. “And there’s no need to thank me.”
“Don’t worry, wasn’t going to,” Mobius says shortly, his patience seemingly wearing thinner for some unfathomable reason. His pale cheeks are tinged slightly redder than they were before. Lucifer idly wonders if the man is going to have a heart attack or something. “I mean, you really can’t stop time.” He throws his hands out in a frantic, frazzled gesture. “It’s impossible.”
Lucifer can only frown at that. Perhaps he’s visually impaired? How else could one not see what is right before their very eyes? “Clearly not.”
“Who is he?” Loki chips in, stepping towards Lucifer and leaning towards him, inspecting him carefully from head to toe like a feral dog hungrily eyeing a piece of meat. He stops suddenly in his tracks, eyes going wide as he straightens to his full height to bring him eye to eye with Lucifer.
For a beat, Lucifer’s not quite sure whether the man intends to tell him something or kiss him. A certain intensity burns deep in those piercing blue eyes. It’s a look Lucifer recognises all too well. The look of a man who sees the very thing he desires most right in front of him, just out of reach.
Lucifer doesn’t blame him, even though he’s now spoken for, he’s still irresistible to most. It’s good to see some things haven’t changed.
A sultry smirk creeps across his face, the tension between them a spark that threatens to flicker into an inferno at any second. He presses his tongue to the inside of his cheek, expecting something deliciously flirty to come out of Loki’s mouth, and instead all he gets is, “Are you a timekeeper?” in a tone so deadly serious that he almost finds it hard to believe.
“Excuse me?” He’s not sure whether to feel pleased or insulted by the question. ‘Timekeeper’ does sound rather ridiculous, so perhaps the latter.
Loki quickly redirects his attention from Lucifer towards Mobius, his brows furrowing and his thin lips set into a serious line. He points one sinfully long index finger towards Lucifer, and repeats his question, this time with a sort of manic edge to his voice. “Is he a timekeeper?”
“No!” Mobius holds his hands up, gesturing innocence, gaze flickering to Lucifer for the briefest of moments before focusing back on Loki. The tension seems to drain from Mobius then, his shoulders slumping slightly, his jaw going slack. “I mean…” He shrugs a jerky little movement, his mouth hanging wide open but no words working their way out. “I don’t think so.”
These words hit Loki like a ton of bricks by the looks of it. His face falls slack leaving him looking scandalised. “You mean you don’t know?”
Mobius’ jaw sets then. He doesn’t give a reply, but his eyes give away the answer, that much is clear even to Lucifer, who hasn’t known the man for more than five minutes.
Something that looks oddly like sadness flickers over Loki’s face before it disappears, drowned out by a brewing fury. A vein on his forehead bulges as he clenches his teeth a little too hard, the strong muscles dancing beneath the skin. “But you said一” he spits out, consumed by his rage so much so that he can’t finish his thought.
“I know what I said,” Mobius replies quietly, “and I’m sorry, okay?”
Loki scoffs, a nasty little sound with a twisted expression that conveys just how little he believes those words. Spinning on his heel, he waves his hand in the air dismissively and strides across the penthouse towards the library, putting as much space as is possible between them. He crosses his arms over his chest, eyes very intently fixed on the section of his bookshelves that houses his favourite Shakespeares.
Mobius makes a frustrated face. “Loki, come on,” he tries. “It was the only way I thought you’d cooperate and I needed your help.”
That garners a violent reaction from him. He turns back around in a flash, teeth gritted as he looks Mobius directly in the eyes. “Who’s betraying who now?” He snaps the words with such intensity and emphasis that Lucifer can only assume that it’s a call back to something that he doesn’t know and doesn’t care to know. “You let me believe that you knew the timekeepers were real and all this time you’ve just been… what? Leading me on?” He throws his hands up in the air, looking slightly unhinged as he paces back towards Lucifer. “You’re the TVA! All knowing and all powerful! You’re supposed to know everything! So, tell me, is this man,” he gestures wildly to Lucifer, very almost hitting his shoulder in the process, “a timekeeper or not?”
Silence stretches for a moment that feels like it’ll never end. Chloe awkwardly tries to shuffle closer to Lucifer without drawing anyone’s attention, and quietly slips her hand into his, squeezing it tight.
Loki awaits his answer, muscles coiled beneath that god awful sport jacket, staring at Mobius with an intensity that could very well set him alight.
Finally, Mobius releases a long, suffering sigh. His lips part, and he replies, “I don’t know what he is.”