Cordelia screamed when a huge spout of dark blue flame shot out of the empty fireplace, Gunn and the others came running from various parts of the hotel as soon as they heard the horrified screech. Spike was the first to recognize the flame for what it was. "Looks like Lucifer is coming to visit again."

They waited somewhat impatiently for the flames to die down, and when they did Lucifer was standing in the center of the room. Cordelia immediately knew something was wrong with Xander.

"What is it? What happened to Xander?"

"Calm down, Ms. Chase. Xander is all right, at least for the moment, but I'm not sure how long that state will last if he keeps going like this."

Spike snorted, "The whelp's done gone spun himself into a tizzy, has he? He's always been good at that. Let me guess...not eating, not sleeping, having nightmares?"

Lucifer nodded, a little surprised at the self-centered vampire's insight. "Yes, exactly. He won't slow down and he won't stop. We've tried to get him to take a day of rest, but he refuses. I could make it an order, but I don't think that would be the right tack to take in this situation. So I've come to you, his friends, for some guidance. Can any of you tell me what is eating at the boy?"

Cordelia and Spike exchanged long glances, agreeing without speaking. "He's afraid of making a mistake." Cordelia said quietly.

"The chit's right. The whelp has always been afraid that he'll screw up and end up hurting someone else."

Lucifer shook his head, "I don't understand...what does he think could happen? Those children are already dead, what else could go...Now I see. I told him about the loop hole."

"What loop hole?" Wesley asked.

"Christ gained absolution for the infants, baptized or not, but God decreed that the older children had to abide by his laws. Christ snuck in a loop hole. If a child can spend an amount of time in Hell, equal to their life on Earth, without being corrupted, they can ascend to Heaven and be reborn. Xander must be afraid that he might ruin that for them."

Lucifer sank into a chair that hadn't been there earlier. "Now that we know what's wrong, how do we get him to slow down? Frankly, he looks horrid at the moment and most days I have to carry him to his bed because he's fallen asleep at the table."

"Maybe he forgot." Gunn said out of the blue.

"Forgot what?" Lucifer asked intently.

"That he's still human, still alive. He needs a distraction. Are there any babes there?"

"Babes? Gunn, even if there were babes in Hell, they're in Hell. They're dead. Do you want Xander to get attached to someone who's dead? Trust me, he would. When Xander falls, he falls fast." Cordelia said tartly. "Can we visit him? Or better yet, can he visit us? That might help." She offered brightly.

Lucifer shook his head, "No, I'm sorry, that's not possible. If I bring him back he'll die. And you can't come see him because you aren't one of mine, you wouldn't survive the trip. The vampires could go, but I'm not sure seeing them would make him feel better. No, I'm sure it wouldn't. I'll have to see what I can come up with, I'm sure I'll think of something."

Lucifer turned to go, but stopped at the last moment. "I almost forgot, I'm sorry, I have a lot on my mind at the moment." He tossed something towards Angel and the vampire snatched it out of mid air. "That's one of my tokens. It can only be given by me personally. Take it to those lawyers that have been annoying you. It won't stop them, but it will prevent them from interfering with you directly. And please, give them my regards and tell them I look forward to seeing them, soon."

Lucifer stepped towards the fire, but Spike stopped him before he could leave. "Can you make it so the others can't hear us?"

"Spike? What are you up to?" Angel asked.

Lucifer ignored the vampire and nodded, "Go ahead, Spike, they can't hear us now. What do you have to say to me?"

"Do you love the boy?"

Lucifer frowned darkly at the vampire, "I'm the King of Hell, I don't love."

Spike smirked at him, "Pull the other one, mate. You care about the whelp, don't try to deny it, why else would you come here for answers? Listen, if you love him, prove it to him. That will make him take care of himself just because it would make you happy. The boy's all about making other people happy. And if in the process he's happy? Well, that's all good, isn't it?"

"You're not as insensitive as you appear, Spike. Why is that?"

Spike shrugged, "My business."

Lucifer looked inside the vampire and saw the driving force behind him. Smiling he said, "He loves you just as much. You should do something about it."

"You sure?" Spike asked nervously.

Looking over at the other vampire who was snarling with jealousy Lucifer said, "Very sure. I think you're about to find out just how much. Thank you, Spike. I will think about what you said. You'll be seeing me again, no doubt."

As soon as he had vanished, Angel grabbed Spike by the collar and drug him up the stairs. Angel wanted to know what they'd been talking about and he wanted to know now.

Spike grinned and did his best to shove his tongue down Angel's throat. Angel never did get his answers, but by the time he realized that, he no longer cared.

***

Xander staggered out of his room and barely managed to stay on his feet coming down the stairs. He walked right past the dining room and went to the room affectionately known as Xanderland. Just as he was opening the door warm hands settled on his shoulders and pulled him away. He fought back, but couldn't get loose.

Xander was picked up and carried back up the stairs and into a room. Xander looked around blurrily, it wasn't his room. "Hey," he grumbled. "This isn't my room. Where am I?"

Lucifer looked up from where he was pulling off Xander's shoes. "This is my room, Xander. And you are going to be staying here until I'm sure that you're all right. Do you understand me?"

Xander struggled to sit up, "I'm okay now. I'm not sick. I have to get to work."

Lucifer pushed him back down on the bed. "Xander, lay down. You're exhausted. You haven't had enough sleep or enough food in days. You must rest or you'll become ill. And if you're ill, who will take care of the children then? I can't trust you to stay in your room, you keep sneaking out, so you're going to stay with me until you're better."

"I can go back to my room, I promise to get some sleep. I don't want to get in your way." Xander mumbled.

Lucifer just shook his head, "You are never a bother, Xander. Now get comfortable and get some sleep."

Xander flopped down on the bed, losing his battle to stay awake rapidly. "Okay. Sleep is of the good. I'll sleep now. Food later. Night."

Lucifer pulled a thick comforter over the sprawled body and chuckled when Xander started snoring softly. "Sleep well, Xander, and sweet dreams."

***

Lucifer was going over some population reports with Urta a couple of hours later when he happened to glance up and see Xander stumbling down the hall. Lucifer cursed and strode out into the hall behind Xander. He grabbed him and threw him over his shoulder and carried him back up the stairs. They met Brody on the way down and the former policeman laughed, "You may as well tie him to the bed, Luc. He's not going to stay put...you should know that by now."

Lucifer glared at his Lieutenant and snarled, "He's going to stay put this time. If you need me, I'll be in my room, but if I'm disturbed there had best be a lot of ice involved."

Brody looked confused for a moment and then burst out laughing. "Take a nap with the boy, Luc. I don't think we're in any danger of freezing over today."

Lucifer just grumbled and slammed his bedroom door behind him. He stripped Xander down and tucked him into bed before quickly removing his own clothes. He was just starting to crawl into bed when Xander tried to get up again. Lucifer grabbed him, pulled him back down and wrapped both arms and legs around the too skinny body. "Go to sleep, Xander." he grumbled into the boy's ear.

Xander wiggled around for a second, dropped his head on Lucifer's chest and instantly dropped into a deep sleep. Lucifer stared down at him for a second and then started to laugh. "If I had known this was all it took I'd have tried it long ago."

Xander's hand came up and patted his cheek, "Sssshhh, sleep now."

Lucifer just chuckled and closed his eyes. Sleep was of the good.

***

Xander yawned and stretched, he was warm, comfortable and feeling better than he had in years. He felt the bed move and turned his head to see Lucifer sleeping beside him. Xander was startled at first, but then he smiled, it was hard to believe that Lucifer, the Devil himself, was such a nice guy. He always had time to talk, and always made sure that he told Xander what a good job he was doing. Heck, Lucifer even made sure that Xander always had plenty of his favorite snacks around.

But this, this beat all. Xander had never had anyone put him to bed and stay with him to make sure that he got enough sleep. And that explained why he slept so good, he never did like sleeping alone. Xander wasn't used to someone taking such good care of him, but thought he could get used to it. Lucifer started to move so Xander acted like he'd been sleeping instead of staring.

Lucifer came awake instantly and checked the time, they'd been sleeping for almost twelve hours, it was definitely time for food. He nudged Xander carefully and the boy opened his eyes. "Hi. You hungry?"

Xander nodded and rubbed his eyes, "Starving, but I don't want to get up."

"Not a problem. What do you want?"

Xander smiled sleepily, making Lucifer's pulse speed up, and said "I'm thinking steak with all the fixings, a coke and some ice cream."

Lucifer grinned at him, "You are hungry. That's good. If you want steak and ice cream, then that's what you shall have." Lucifer pulled their dinner out of thin air, making Xander grin. He loved it when Lucifer did stuff like that, it always looked so cool.

Xander grabbed for his plate, "Gimme. Hungry. Now."

Lucifer jokingly handed him the food and quickly checked his fingers to make sure they were still intact.

Xander just smirked, "Oooohhh, funny. Don't give up your day job."

***

Lucifer set aside the rest of his ice cream, if he ate one more bite he was going to explode. He preferred to stay in his corporeal form, but occasionally, like now, it was nothing but a pain in the ass. He watched Xander finish off the rest of his ice cream and silently handed him his own bowl. Xander grinned and just dug in. Lucifer groaned, "I don't believe you can eat that much. Where do you put it?"

Xander shrugged and just kept eating. He finished the last of the ice cream and handed Lucifer the bowl with a groan. "Man, I ate too much, but it was really good. Thanks."

Lucifer sent the dirty dishes back into the nether realms, "You're welcome. Do you feel like going back to sleep now?"

Xander yawned and nodded. Lucifer was a little surprised when Xander grabbed him and pulled him flat. The young man squirmed and wiggled to get comfortable and flopped his head back down on Lucifer's chest. "Night."

Lucifer glanced down at the strong young body wrapped so tightly around his and smiled. Life just kept getting more interesting all the time.

***

Xander bounced down the stairs and darted into the dining room to grab something to go before he got to work. Urta handed him an over sized cup of coffee on his way through and Xander nodded his thanks. The other Lieutenants just laughed fondly, Xander's antics were well known to them all, but it was wonderful to see the boy so full of life today.

Xander stuck his head back in the door, "Hey guys, if you get a chance stop by today, we're going to Sea World."

"What is Sea World?" Leonardo asked.

Xander gaped at him and then started laughing. He hauled the inventor out of his chair and pulled him along behind him. "You are absolutely going to love this. Trust me."

***

Leonardo came back into the dining room that night dripping wet, sunburned and grinning from ear to ear. "You must go to Sea World, you absolutely must. It was wondrous. Absolutely marvelous!"

Xander came into the room shaking his head, "Leo, you wild man, you." Xander took his seat at Lucifer's left hand and looked at the other Lieutenants. "Leo here saw everything and did everything at least twice. He even rode the Krakken, he screamed the entire time, but he rode it. I, being incredibly intelligent, suave, charming..." Various rolls and other items came flying at Xander's head. "Hey, hey. Calm down. As I was going to say, charming and scared shitless of heights, stayed on the ground. I have to say, Sea World was a complete success."

Leonardo leaned over the table and gave Xander a high-five. Lucifer grinned and shook his head. Hell was never going to be the same. He liked it.

***

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