Gotta Have Faith

At ten thirty-seven, the Jeep started up her old driveway. Her house is dark and quiet, but she knows that Mimi’s small Prius is parked up at the guesthouse. The ex-angel knows to follow her instructions to the letter, so neither of them will be at the house for another twenty-three minutes. That gives her plenty of time to get everything ready.

At ten thirty-nine, Betty opened her front door and walked inside. As the seconds ticked over into the next minute, a hand wrapped around her loose hair and forced her head back. She pushed onto her tiptoes to ease some of the pressure off of her throat and felt the fingers dig in deeper. It’s the same hand that she’s spent the past six and a half hours cradling in her lap; warm skin, rough calluses, and possessed by the devil. When she touches him, the visions are stronger. They hurt more, but she’s willing to take the pain if she can just understand. What does He want with her? Is this some big test for all of them? Is she failing? Is Lucifer?

“You tricked me.” His voice was quiet in her ear, like a lover whispering sweet nothings, and she pressed her shoulders against his chest.

“Burns, doesn’t it? To be on the other side?” Fingers danced across her arm, a soft touch through the fabric of the sweater she’s still wearing, until he could slide his palm against her throat. The bruises are still sore, and the ache felt cold as he pressed down. “I didn’t know what would happen. Not until you made your choice. That’s how it works, Lu. We’re both in the dark.”

“You expect me to trust you?” Betty’s laugh was startled out of her, and it surprised Lucifer just enough for her to turn the tables. She grabbed the wrist of the hand on her throat as she spun, and she used her other arm to brace against Lucifer’s sternum and push him back. The windows rattled as his back was slammed up against the wall, and Betty pressed close since he still had one hand tangled in her hair.

“Trust me or don’t, I really don’t care, but I am all that you have. I am your damnation and your salvation, and you are mine. You think I wanted this? I want the devil in my house and visions showing me hundreds of different possible futures, and knowing that if I mess up my part it will all come crumbling down? I hate this just as much as you do.” Her chest heaved with the weight of her confession, and his cold blue eyes never left hers once. A moment passed and their breathing slowed to match, so that they were flush against one another with every inhale.

“You don’t know the future. You don’t know how it will end.” He sounds awed, as if just realizing that she’s flawed. During the last Apocalypse, she knew the outcome. There was no doubt in her mind that Sam Winchester would overtake Lucifer and send him back to his Cage, but this time? She’s not certain of anything, except her own fate. Betty Fay is going to die, whether the world keeps spinning or not.

“No, I don’t. God doesn’t give me all the answers.” Lucifer raised a brow, because he probably already knew that part. “Now, can we get back to what we’re supposed to be doing? We don’t have a lot of time.”

“Would you lie to me?” The fingers in her hair are loosening, starting to comb through the tangles instead of trying to rip the strands from her scalp.

“No. Not to you.” There’s no point in lying to him; he needs to know the truth. She may withhold things at times, but she’ll never lie to him.

“Then let’s get started.” His other hand came up to brush her hair back, and she kept her face tipped up to look at him. The devil really does run hot and cold.

“Pick up that box of heart attack and follow me.” She moved into the kitchen, flipped on a light, and took a look around. Lucifer was moving around her behind her, thinking his usual thoughts, but he’s not planning on acting on them right now. Good, because she has other things to do. She filled up the teapot and moved it to the stove, slid her sweater off and laid it over a kitchen chair, and looked around for her messenger bag. She must have left it in the Jeep.

“Why are you looking at me like that?” Lucifer asked. She let a slow smile curve her lips as she braced her palms against the kitchen table and leaned forward a little.

“Do me a favor?”

“Do I get to kill you again?” Lucifer leaned forward in his seat, and Betty shook her head.

“Not tonight. I left my bag in the Jeep. Go get it for me?” The chair quietly scraped across the floor as he stood up, and Betty moved just her eyes as he got to his feet. He didn’t say anything, just smiled at her as he slowly left the room. Once he was gone, she moved over to cabinets and hooked four big coffee cups around her fingers. The water will be ready soon, so she needs to get this done.

There was still a small bottle sitting on the counter, next to a blue tin container, and she tapped her fingers against the top of it. There’s another bottle still inside her hidden dress pocket, nearly identical, but with very different mixtures. There’s no time to debate if she’s doing the right thing or not; the line between right and wrong was erased for her a long time ago. She twisted off the top and squeezed a few drops into two of the cups, and she was pulling tea bags out of the tin container when she heard Lucifer’s footsteps. She dropped the tea bags into each of the cups and spun slowly on her heel to smile at Lucifer.

“Do you enjoy using me as a slave?” he asked as he passed the bag over. Betty slipped the strap over her head and adjusted it so that it wouldn’t rub over her bruises. It’ll be a couple of weeks before they fade completely, but the dull ache should be gone in a day or two. Assuming she makes it that long.

“You’re not a slave, Lu. It’s more like indentured servitude.” She gave his shoulder a pat just as the teapot began to whistle, and she carefully poured the boiling hot water into the giant cups.

“Are we having a tea party?” The devil’s got jokes. She finished pouring the water and grabbed a small spoon out of a drawer to stir it up some.

“It’s rowan leaves, to open our psychic links.” Heat seeped through the back of her dress as Lucifer leaned over her shoulder to watch her stir, and she elbowed him in the gut so that she could walk over to another cabinet. When she turned around with a tray in her hands, Lucifer was leaning against the counter with one hand braced against his stomach. She didn’t hit him that hard, but he might still be getting used to pain.

“Is that safe?” Is it safe to open up psychic links between four people who are not on the same psychic level? Definitely not. She’s going to be linked up to an ex-angel, a powerful angel’s true vessel, and the devil in human form. It’ll be a miracle if she lives to see daylight.

“I guess we’ll find out, hmm? Grab the burger and get the doors for me,” she said as she loaded the cups onto the tray. She could feel the chill of Lucifer’s murderous thoughts as he walked in front of her to open the back door, and she pulled in a deep breath once she was standing on the back deck.

At eleven o’clock, she had four blankets sitting around a fire pit in the backyard and a tray of Russian roulette rowan tea. (Is it Russian roulette if you know which chambers have the bullets?) Mimi and Tyler were making their way from the guesthouse, and Betty lowered herself down onto her own blanket. She looked up at Lucifer before glancing at the blanket to her right, so that’s where he sat. He scowled the entire way down, but he still sat. When Mimi and Tyler reached them, Betty told Tyler to sit next to her and for Mimi to sit next to Lucifer.

“What’s going on?” Tyler asked. His eyes kept flicking over to Lucifer, who was idly shredding blades of grass.

“I need a little help with a spell. Don’t worry, you don’t have to actually do anything. We just have to unite ourselves with a little bit of blue string. Three rotations on each ankle.” She pulled out a roll of plain blue string and wrapped it three times around her left ankle, three times around her right ankle, and passed it over to Lucifer. He did the same thing without saying a word and then passed it over to Mimi.

“Chill, Ty. Betty does this kind of stuff all the time. She’s a pro,” Mimi said as she wrapped the string around her ankles. She passed it over to Tyler, who looked around at all of them before reluctantly doing the same thing. He handed it back to Betty, who tied it to the string already around her left ankle and linked them all together.

“Now drink some tea. It’ll keep you calm for the spell.” Tyler got the green cup, Mimi got the orange one, Lucifer got the red one, and Betty kept the yellow one. She raised her cup into the air with a small smile before quickly downing her drink, and she watched over the rim of her cup as all the others downed theirs too.

“Oh, yuck! That tasted disgusting!” Mimi yelled and stuck out her tongue.

“What was that?” Tyler groaned and looked down into his empty cup. Betty watched as they both started to sway a little, then blink rapidly, and both of them fell backwards not even a full minute after draining their cups.

“What did you do to them?” Lucifer asked. The two of them set their cups back down on the tray, and Betty looked over at the two unconscious members of their group spell.

“They’ll mess it up if they’re awake. It’s better this way,” she shrugged. She put the roll of blue string back in her bag and pulled out some red string, a thin wooden stick, and the two portraits.

“You didn’t roofie me?” She cut her eyes over at him as she clamped the stick between her knees and lined up the portraits so that they were face to face.

“It was tempting, and I should have, but I want you awake. Just in case.” She started carefully winding the two portraits around the middle of the stick, and she had to make sure that everything stayed lined up just right.

“In case of what?” Once the portraits were completely wrapped around the stick, she used some of the red string and wrapped it around the middle of the portraits. She made seven loops and tied it off before looking over at Lucifer.

“In case of anything. That’s the point, isn’t it?” She laid the stick on the blanket between her spread legs, because she doesn’t need the string to get all tangled up. Lucifer was looking at her, running his cold eyes over her, and she waited for him to ask.

“You’re not raising the dead hunter.” Looks like he doesn’t have to ask.

“Even I don’t have the power to raise the dead and bind two human souls in one night.” A small bottle of cypress oil was pulled out of her bag, and she poured a little into her palm.

“You’re going to need more than that if you want to summon Death.” Betty dipped her fingertips into the oil and sprinkled it into the fire, and the flames flickered into a bright white with a few pops before returning to normal. Her eyes closed as she sent out a silent request, and Lucifer was still looking at her when she opened her eyes.

“Not if you ask nicely,” she smiled.

“She’s right you know.” The voice was smooth and quiet, and they both looked up at the man now standing between them. Black suit, gold tipped cane, and a thin-lipped smile.

“I got you some dinner.” Betty picked up the Styrofoam container with the giant burger inside, and Death carefully plucked it from her fingers. A giant black chair appeared behind him as he sat down, and he laid the container in his lap to open it up.

“Why have you asked me here, Elizabeth?” Betty lightly bit the inside of her lip at the sound of her real name and tried to think of how to phrase what she wanted.

“You summoned Death to raise the dead hunter? He doesn’t do anything for free,” Lucifer said without even looking up at the Reaper.

“I know that,” she said in a low voice to the devil. Then she turned to look up at Death. “I have two favors to ask of you, and I’m willing to pay whatever you want.”

“You should never offer that, Elizabeth. You should know better,” Death chastised as he took his first bite. Just looking at the grease dripping from the burger was enough to make Betty feel almost sick, but Death seemed to enjoy it.

“I need the soul of Joanna Beth Harvelle to be returned to her body,” she said first. Death nodded and motioned with a single hand for her to continue. “Celeste Middleton is going to complete the trials to seal Hell, and I want you to bring her back when she’s done.”

“The final test of the trials is sacrifice. If she’s brought back, it’s not a sacrifice.” Lucifer was looking at her with eyes that were slightly widened, because she hasn’t mentioned any of this to him.

“She won’t know that she’s going to be brought back. As far as she knows, she’s going to give her life to finish the trials. She’s going to give it all up to do the right thing, and I want her to be brought back.” She can see that future, of the young woman smiling while the light leaves her eyes. It’s all going to happen because Betty drove her right into the Winchesters’ path, and she wants to fix at least one wrong before the end.

“This is a personal favor?” Death asked her. She looked at Lucifer, who’s eyes screamed for her to say no, and looked back at Death.

“It is.”

“Then I’ll ask you for a personal favor.” He held out his hand, and Betty licked her dry lips before clapping their palms together. Her jaw locked as her head fell back, and images flashed along the backs of her eyes. Words echoed in her mind like thunder, and she was panting when Death released her hand. She knows what she has to do, and she can feel the extra weight in her dress pocket. The small empty bottle isn’t empty anymore, and she has another job to do.

“Deal. What do you want for Jo’s resurrection?” She still sounds out of breath, and her chest feels tight. She’s never received a vision from Death, but his visions still aren’t as painful as the ones that He sends.

“Her body was completely destroyed when she died. It’ll have to be remade from scratch. It’s not something that’s easy to do,” Death ticked off before taking another bite of his burger. A few more bites and it’ll be gone.

“What do you want?” She’ll pay whatever price he demands. What choice does she have?

“If the Winchesters and their angels win, will Joanna continue to live?” Betty thought it over as she watched him chew, and her mind spun through all of the possible futures. If everything goes off without a hitch, Jo will return to heaven with gray in her hair.

“Yes, she will.”

“For how long?” Another bite. Lucifer is looking between the two of them like he can’t believe they’re having a casual conversation, but she can’t expect him to understand. When he needed Death, he bound him. It’s so much easier to just ask.

“I don’t know the exact year, but she’ll live to old age. A few decades, at the least.” Death popped the last bite of his burger into his mouth, and Betty waited patiently for him to stop chewing and swallow.

“You’ve cheated death time and time again, Elizabeth. If you want me to resurrect Joanna, you’ll have to work for me. For a time.” Her teeth ground down against one another, and she rubbed her hands against her thighs.

“What’s the arrangement?”

“After your death, you will serve me as a reaper for every year that Joanna is alive. If she lives for fifty years after her resurrection, you will be one of my reapers for fifty years. After your time is up, you will be delivered to Heaven. Do you agree to the terms?” She can handle being a reaper for a few years, or decades. It’s what she’s been doing for most of her life anyway, and she can wait a little longer to have her peace. She needs to do this to ensure that the world doesn’t end. She needs to do this for the Prophet, who is out there on his own. She needs to do this for Jo.

“I agree.”

“Do you know what you’re doing, Betty Fay?” Death looked over at Lucifer, but Betty couldn’t read the look in his dark eyes. Lucifer apparently didn’t care, because he was looking straight at her.

“I’m doing what I have to. I agree.” Death leaned down in his chair and lowered his hand, and Betty immediately squared her shoulders and lifted her chin. His cool palm pressed over her sternum, and she kept her eyes open as a white light scorched against her skin. The light slowly disappeared, but the chill remained. As she took slow breaths to center herself, Death looked at the stick at her feet.

“You’ll need their blood.”

“I guess that means I’m up to three favors,” she husked out.

“This one is on me. Wait for my return.” The chair, and Death, disappeared. Betty let out a harsh breath and bent at the middle to rest her elbows on her knees, and she felt a hand making sweeping circles across her back. Two of her three companions are unconscious, so it has to be Lucifer.

“You’re an idiot.” His movements might be comforting, but his glacial tone isn’t.

“I did what had to be done,” she forced out. She knows that the cold will eventually fade away, but she’s fighting back shivers right now. She didn’t see this part coming. All she knew was that she needed Death and needed to do whatever was necessary, but she never imagined this.

“Your soul has been marked by Death.” His voice was a quiet hiss, and Betty raised her head up enough to look at him. There’s a look in his cold eyes that she hasn’t seen before, not on him, but it’s a look that’s easy to recognize.

“You’re jealous.” Her smile completely contradicted the small flashes of pain on her face, but she couldn’t help it. Lucifer is jealous, because he wants her soul. He wants to watch the life slowly seep from her body and then carve deep into her soul, but he’s lost his chance now. Her soul belongs to Death, for a little while at least.

“Maybe he’ll make a deal with me later so that I can have you after,” Lucifer said as his hand slid away from her back. She slowly sat completely back up and lightly rubbed over the cold spot on her chest. It’s starting to lessen even more now; she can breathe normally again.

“I doubt it. He hates you.” Lucifer rolled his eyes at her sympathetic voice, and he was still looking away from her when Death returned a few minutes later. Betty stopped rubbing at her chest, which was nearly back to regular body temperature now, and looked up at Death.

“I’ll hold up my end if you do,” Death said as he handed her two vials. Betty nodded her head and went to reassure him, but he was already gone. So instead she looked at the blood in her hands and sighed. Here comes the hard part.

“I need you to hold this for me, but don’t touch the paper.”

“Why should I?”

“It’ll make the spell go faster and then we can get this over with.” Lucifer tilted his head to the side as he thought it over, deciding between his desire to be unbound from this spell and the need to see her unsatisfied, but his own wants outweighed her displeasure. He gripped the ends of the stick, and Betty poured the two vials of blood into her drained coffee cup.

“Is that sanitary?”

“Coffee cups are multipurpose,” she shot back as she swirled the blood around to get it properly mixed. Once she was satisfied, she dipped her fingers into the blood and started smearing it across the paper. Once it was completely coated, she took one of the ends from Lucifer and closed her eyes.

She could feel her own energy humming just under her skin, but she needs a boost. She used the blue string wrapped around her ankles to pull energy from the others around her, and her nerve endings began to vibrate as she concentrated. She repeated the names of the two that she wanted to bind, envisioned them in her mind, and pictured a red string completely binding them together. Once she had enough power built up, she tossed the stick into the fire. She felt the heat from the raging flames on her exposed skin, but she kept focusing on her bound image until there was nearly nothing left inside of her.

It felt like thin fingers were plucking at her insides and trying to pull everything out; the spell was greedy and called for more. The power that she’s carefully built up over the years is steadily being drawn out as the two souls are entwined closer together, and she’s using the others’ energies to help supplement her own. Mimi’s energy tastes like apples and rain; Tyler’s carries the strong scent of ashes; Lucifer’s energy is the strongest of all, despite being only human for the moment. Some of her energy is devoted to holding him still so he won’t disrupt her, and she can feel his hatred beating against her ribcage as the spell scrapes against her reserves of psychic energy. Lucifer tastes like lightning and smells like dead leaves and feels like ice and sounds like howling wind and looks like…

A deep blackness cut off her sight as something inside of her was tugged free, and the cold spot on her chest flared as the fire began to dim. The spell is over now. The two souls have been completely bound, in life and in death, and she let her unseeing eyes fall closed. She let go of the small tendrils of power she was drawing on, because she was careful to not take too much from the others. Just enough to keep her going. Once everything was gone except for what remained of her own power, she slowly let her tense body relax. The spell is over. She did it.

Hands caught her as she tipped back, and her eyes slowly blinked open to see Lucifer’s disapproving face. She doesn’t care if he disapproves, because it worked. She barely has the energy to lift her head, but it worked. She bound two souls together. Lucifer gently laid her back against the blanket, and she looked up at the night sky as she listened to him moving around. He’s untying them and putting all the cups back onto the tray. Putting out the fire. He carried Mimi inside first and laid her down on one couch, and he put Tyler on the other couch. He picked her up last, and Betty felt boneless as he carried her inside and up the stairs to her bedroom.

“You could have died,” he said as he laid her down on the bed. Normally that sentence in a slightly angry tone would indicate concern, and he is concerned in some way. About himself. If she dies, he loses his grace. She knew that making sure he was immobile during the spell was a good idea, even if it did take energy that she really needed. She still completed her spell.

“But I didn’t.” The bed rocked as he stood up, and she heard running water downstairs a moment later. He’s washing out the coffee cups.

Betty closed her eyes with a smile. The devil is doing her dishes, and she completed a spell that’s supposed to be impossible. It’s been a good day.