Lucifer banged his fist on the table in sheer rage, causing a dent on the tiled surface as its legs shook. Tony could see anger burning inside Lucifer through his eyes, and he was a bit shaken.
"What's going on?" Tony demanded.
"Oh, I'm going to kill that bastard." Lucifer muttered, charging towards the door.
"You're going to kill who?" Tony yelled this time, stopping a raging Lucifer in his tracks.
"Imagine the audacity, using Lila as a means to threaten me." Lucifer blurted, "Peter has her down at some site and wants me there."
The tone of Lucifer's voice terrified Tony a little. Even Dr. Cortez had never made him this furious the way he was now and Tony feared what would happen to Peter when Lucifer got to him.
"What are you going to do?"
"Oh, by the time I'm done with him, hell would be a kinder place of torture for him."
"The last thing you want is Lila discovering your supernatural abilities, remember?"
Lucifer sighed. Tony had a point.
"So what do you suggest?"
"You might want to be more rational here, talk to him and make him know you understand his pain."
Lucifer groaned out loud in frustration.
"Peter could still be reasoned with, appeal to his conscience at least. I fear if you take the violent approach this will only end bad." Tony added. "And if it doesn't work we will involve the cops."
"Those useless pigs," Lucifer snorted. "Lila's soul would have long departed from this world by the time they arrive."
"Okay if talking doesn't work then you can use your abilities as a last resort but we have try talking first."
"Who's we?" Lucifer raised a brow, causing Tony to turn sour.
"I thought we were going together.""
"Well, you thought wrong. I'm doing this alone." Lucifer retorted then turned his back to leave.
"I don't think that's a good idea. Someone has to be there to keep you in check, for Lila."
"Fine," Lucifer heaved a sigh. "But don't do or say anything stupid.""
The ride down to the construction site was as wild and as daredevil as ever but tony didn't seem to mind as there was a life at stake. Moreover, he was a bit high from all the alcohol drinking and enjoyed the feeling of the evening breeze whizzing past his face.
The construction site had a pretty scenic view under the New York City sunset with huge pillars erected all over and decks made with concrete. Work on the site had being suspended by the government about three months ago due to a change of plan to reshape the building's structure. Leaving it abandoned for the moment and the perfect place for Peter to enact his revenge.
"You stay in the car." Lucifer ordered as he stepped out of the car.
"But we—"
"Stay!" He said more firmly this time. Tony frowned but didn't see the need to object any further. He folded his arms and took his eyes away as Lucifer advanced into the site.
"Peter," Lucifer roared with each step he took. "Show yourself this instant!""
"Over here, Henry," A voice called, drawing his attention to the right section. He sighted Peter the moment he came into the center, standing erect with his hands in his pocket and an expressionless stare on his face. Tied onto a chair directly under the smaller roof Peter stood was Lila. Her mouth was gagged with a napkin and Lucifer could see the terror in her eyes.
"Not so fast Henry," Peter barked, pulling out a remote-like object from his pocket with his bandaged hand as Lucifer tried to make a run towards Lila. "You see these four pillars holding the roof Lila and I are both under? I have packed every one of them with C4 enough to blow them all at once at the touch of this button. I don't have to spell out what would happen next to you so you better start acting right."
Peter was an ex-army ranger, an explosives expert, and Lucifer shouldn't have expected any less of him.
"Okay, fine." Lucifer raised both hands, a sign of cooperation. "You have me here now, how about we sort this out man to man." He felt a bit disgusted at the way he sounded but he had already made a promise to Tony and was willing to try it out for Lila.
"Peter, I can't say I understand what you're feeling right now." He began, taken a step closer towards Peter. "Losing a loved one is something I haven't felt before."
Peter scowl revealed he wasn't pleased with Lucifer's choice of words.
"Okay, that's probably a poor way to start a speech, my bad." Lucifer apologized. "But listen, I do know what it's like to feel alone. I do know what it's like to feel lost like everything else is so cold and you have been made to wander the heavens and the earth on your own. I do know the pain of having something precious taken away from you."
"Shut up! You don't know my pain." Vein lines pooped all over Peter's neck as he screamed.
"Oh, I do. It was a long time ago my dad pretty much disowned me."
"You're talking about your father?" Peter barked harshly. "Karen died, people died. Don't you feel any remorse about the lives you've ruined?"
Lucifer scoffed.
"Believe me, on a normal day, I would love to take credit for all the chaos but sadly, I am not responsible."
"I don't understand what she saw in you," Peter sobbed, his square jaw chinning out with teeth grinding. "You haven't even mentioned her name once since you got here. Was she just a tool to you? Just like the rest of them?"
"No, Karen was..."
But who was Karen to him? Lucifer wondered. He never met her in his life. There was nothing he could say.
"Your silence has given me my answer. Karen was a kind soul and she devoted her time and work to you. She adored you and yet you used her!" He paused as he fought back tears. "You truly don't know how I feel. Maybe by the time I take Lila from you, maybe then you would understand what I mean. It's only befitting she dies similarly to how Karen died, don't you think? That's why I chose this place."
"You don't want to do this Peter," Lucifer's tone was more serious this time. "Death won't be an escape for you, I promise."
"Losing Karen has made me numb, I don't feel anything. So you can do whatever you want with me, but not until after you pay for what you did."
It was at that moment Tony came into the scene.
"Boss," He said catching his breath.
Lucifer could sense Peter's shoulders tense up in alarm.
"Ash, I told you to wait in the car." Lucifer frowned.
"I heard yelling and I feared something had happened--"
His explanation was drowned by the wailing of police sirens approaching.
"You called the police?" Lucifer raged.
"I'm sorry Henry," Were Peter's final words before he pushed the button on the detonator.
It all happened in a flash before their eyes. One moment Lucifer was standing directly opposite Peter and the next moment his body was bent over Lila, shielding her from the heavy cement blocks as they plummeted to the floor alongside the pillars which once held them high.
Lila's eyes were locked on Lucifer's, purely stupefied by how the rubble ricocheted off his frame like they were feather-light, despite the fact he grunted now and then.
Tony wasn't left out too as he gasped in utter disbelief of what his eyes beheld and at the horror of the rubble crashing on Peter.
The whole section soon fell completely, leaving Lucifer and Lila both standing.
He glanced behind him and there laid Peter, crushed mercilessly by the rubble. He had not hoped to walk out alive from his dreadful scheme and one thing that raveled Lucifer was the expression on Peter's. It wasn't that of agony or fear but of unspoken relief. His smirk said it all; an uncommon mask from one who got a hundred different bones broken in a split second, Lucifer reasoned.
The notion of ending Lila and making Dr. Bates hurt as he did truly made Peter at peace. Perhaps he was now reunited with his lost love on the other side, a thought Lucifer strongly doubted.
Slowly, he turned to Lila. Her countenance was a mix bewilderment and somberness.
"You're alright, dear one. I'll be damned before I let anything happen to you." He smiled. His suit now reduced to dusty rags, covered in debris, as were Lila's clothes.
All she could do was stare at him. She was too weak and frightened to say a word.
Next, he tore loose the rope tying her to the chair before carrying her on both his arms out of the rubble towards Tony, now in the company of a swarm of police officers, including Detective Donnie and his partner.
"What did I tell you, Ash? These so-called protectors are useless." Lucifer snickered with Lila still in his arms. "Now where's the ambulance? Lila needs urgent treatment."
Donnie shot an expressionless stare at him.
"You're under arrest, Dr. Bates."
"That's ridiculous, what for?" Lila spoke this time.
"While searching your office this morning, we found a note detached from one of your journals depicting your awareness of the dangers of your experiment at the time and how you were still willing to go ahead with it anyways." Donnie explained.
"You can't be serious." Tony scoffed
"You knew this could happen yet you still chose to go along with it and that makes you a murderer. Now people like Delgado won't have to go out seeking for their pound of flesh because the law would give it to them."
A devilish smile grew on Lucifer's face as he put Lila down beside Tony and freely gave his hands to be cuffed by Detective Pamela while his eyes were still on Donnie.
"I told you I would get you, didn't I?" Donnie replied with a smile.
Lucifer shrugged. "I hear prison is quite fun this time of the year, many hooligans and drug dealers trooping in and out. It would be a nice excursion." He turned to Tony. "Ash, look after Lila while I'm gone, okay?"
Tony nodded in response.
"I'll be out soon my sweet." Lucifer said to Lila.
"I love you."
"I love you too." A part of him wondered if he meant what he was saying or just playing along but he brushed off the thought immediately.
"Alright detective, shall we?"