God, I do so hate Daniel.

I mean, he's a cool character. Whatever. But I don't find him sexy, and I don't love his attitude. Cam is hotter, nicer, funnier, more of an actual person than an ideal. So yeah, Lucam is definitely my thing. I know for a fact that I'm not alone in this.

Thanks a million to Blackwater Crazzzii for beta-ing this for me :D

This is indeed a three-shot, but I'm not posting it all at one time. I want five reviews before I post the next paaart XD

May the Lucam be with you!

Luce decided that light flirting was in order to keep Daniel from leaving her again.

The angel had just come back, and now he was talking about going on some mission to a reported Outcast sanctuary in Veracruz. And no, he wasn't going to allow Luce to come along.

Maybe heavy flirting, she revised. Might as well lay it on thick.

Both sides of the conflict were bonding together in order to fight the war—not the most usual of practices, but of course nothing was usual this cycle. Luce was still alive, and that definitely wasn't usual. At this point, she would usually be a pile of ashes swept off a doorstep. She cringed at the thought. Plus, Daniel and Cam were working together, and that was probably the most unusual point of all.

Daniel met her at a small fast-food place in the middle of nowhere—the angels were paranoid about being around too many people. Luce, of course, was happy to go on a date, but annoyed that Daniel seemed edgy. He insisted on taking a seat where he could see the door, and as Luce dug into her salad he barely looked at her.

"So, I leave in three days," he said. "You'll be all right with Callie?"

All of Luce's plans suddenly vanished in a flash of annoyance. "No, Daniel. No, I will not."

"What do you mean? I thought—"

"Oh, no, I'm sorry." Luce felt her voice go into the uppity, sarcastic tone she adopted when wishing to wound. "I forgot that I'm supposed to be totally fine, every time you leave me and don't tell me a thing about why!"

"You know why, Luce."

"Well, what is it, then? Can't I be trusted?" Her dark eyes turned dangerous as she bit into a French fry angrily. "Think I'll mess you up?"

"Ah, you've certainly messed him up, haven't you?"

Both Daniel and Luce froze at the voice, and Luce looked over her shoulder to see none other than Cam strolling lazily toward their table. He was wearing his hair shaggy again, his deep-set, violently green eyes derisive. He was wearing his trademark black, and had added a thin silver chain with nothing hanging from it. Luce scanned his profile and he nodded at her slowly, letting a half-smile quirk his lips.

"Any-waaay," the dark angel said, sitting down next to Luce and stealing a handful of Daniel's fries. He left Luce's plate alone.

"What are you doing here?" Daniel said, leveling his eyes on the demon, who tipped his chair back and regarded the ceiling.

"Saving you from yourself, Grigori," said Daniel. "She's gonna kill you."

"I am n—" Luce started indignantly.

"Just keep telling yourself that, but he's not gonna let you go," Cam said. He munched on a limp fry absentmindedly and made a face. "I'm sure you'll snap eventually. Can I watch?"

"God, you are so obnoxious." Luce rolled her eyes and pushed Cam's chair so that he nearly fell over, but he righted himself and managed to do it without flailing.

"Didn't work, princess," he snorted, and she gritted her teeth, but didn't return the exasperated look that Daniel shot her way, obviously wanting her to replicate it. No "secret moment" was shared.

"Anyway," Cam said again, drawing out the word. "I was in the neighborhood. Figured I'd come see you guys. And figure out what we're doing."

"You know exactly what we're doing, Cam," Daniel said, his voice tight. "That's not the reason you came here."

"Isn't it?" Cam raised his thin, dark eyebrows.

"Okay, break it up, boys," Luce said, giving them both looks. "Watching you is like viewing a testosterone-fueled tennis match." Both sets of eyes turned toward her, and she met first the violet, and then the emerald, holding the latter a little longer. Cam broke the gaze first. "But really, Daniel," Luce continued.

"No."

"I don't see a reason why I can't..."

"No!"

"You—"

"No."

"I'll stay," Cam said quickly.

"What?" both Daniel and Luce said at the same time. Cam put his Converse on the braces on the underside of the table and tipped back again.

"I'll stay here," he explained. "That way, Luce—that is to say, you—will be close to someone who knows what's going on. Daniel can go do his thing and I'll take the job of babysitting." Luce spluttered at that last word, but Daniel held up a hand.

"You know my answer already," he told the angel, who rolled his eyes.

"I'm not going to eat her, Grigori," Cam said in an exaggerated tone. "Just keep her from going postal."

"I will not go postal!"

"You will," said Daniel. Luce opened her mouth in rage, but then shut it and shoved an angry forkful of salad down her throat, drumming her fingers on the table in the way she did when she was restraining a tirade.

"She won't," said Cam, and Luce looked at him with something akin to perverse thankfulness. "But just let me stay here. Hey, you don't have to deal with me, huh?"

Daniel ground his teeth and mulled for a matter of ten seconds, before pushing out his answer in a choked voice. "Fine." Cam smiled, and Luce stayed impassionate.

XXX

"Bye," Luce said in an annoyed voice as Daniel slung a backpack over his broad shoulders, keeping her distance.

He looked at her with despairing eyes and held out his arms, which she stepped into stiffly. "I love you," he whispered to her.

"I know," she said. Her voice was muffled by Daniel's large hand pressing her head to his shoulder. Cam stood off to the side, watching, which effectively killed the mood, or Daniel's mood, anyway. She didn't say anything else as he let her go and regarded her one more time before turning on his heel and walking out the door, meeting Gabbe, Roland, Arianne, and Molly. It closed behind him with a sort of finality.

"Sooo," Cam said, seeing as the situation was suddenly awkward and he hated silence. A fault, to be sure.

"Don't think I'm happy about this," Luce said to Cam, who rolled his eyes.

"Sucks for you, then, because you're stuck with me. I'm under strict orders not to let you out of my sight."

"By Daniel?"

"No, by Roland." He turned sarcastic, half-lidded eyes on her. "Of course by Grigori. He told me he'll cut off my—"

Luce held up a hand. "I don't want to know. Am I allowed to leave? Go to 'my' room?" She made air quotes around the word, seeing as they weren't allowed to go back to her actual house. They were at a house found and commandeered by Gabbe and Arianne, with enough room for all of them, if they shared rooms. Luce and Arianne were usually roommates, but now it would be just Luce in the room.

Cam waved a vague hand, because he sure as hell wasn't going to get her to talk any more, and she left with her angry airs still around her. She wanted to be left alone, and her desire was granted.

Until, of course, Cam got hungry.

He made pasta, hating the mundane tasks that he had to go through, but doing them anyway, seeing as the alternative was to starve. Or get more fast-food. And Cam's lips curled at the very thought of the revolting, soggy French fries.

"Luce!" he called up the stairs, letting his voice ring through the house.

No answer.

"LUCE! Food!" he called again, throwing the dishtowel back onto the counter and heading for the foot of the steps.

Still silence.

Cam sighed and headed up the steps.

"Luce, seriously, you are not honestly so immature that you're ignoring—" Cam stopped outside her bedroom door, and fell quiet when he heard the sounds coming from inside.

"L...Luce?"

He pushed open the door.

"Kyahh!" Luce made a strangled noise and jumped to her feet as she heard someone come in, and then turned away hurriedly. "Go away."

"Aren't you starving? You didn't eat the lunch that Grigori tried to shove down your throat." Luce tried to hide her face, but her hair wasn't anywhere near long enough to conceal the obvious fact that seconds before, tears had been streaming down her cheeks. "Hey..."

"Don't say a word," she warned, but since when had Cam been one to listen to orders? He sat down and lounged on her bed, and after a moment of stiff awkwardness, Luce slowly sank back to the bedspread, avoiding Cam like the plague.

"You okay, princess?" Cam asked, his green eyes mocking but somehow sincere at the same time. He expected her to turn and snap at him.

Instead, Luce seemed to sag, her thin shoulders encased in her green sweater. "No," she said, but this time it was with a sigh and with none of the ice she had used previously. "I'm sick of it."

"Sick? Doctor Briel is in," Cam said, and she actually quirked her lips in a smile.

"It just feels like...something's broken."

"Not you. You're still very much alive."

"Obviously," she said sarcastically, but it was good-natured.

"I've never liked riddles," Cam mused, staring at the textured ceiling. "So what's up? Give it to me straight, I think I can take it."

Luce actually rolled her eyes and dropped her back against the wall, so that she was essentially leaning against the angel's legs. Her eyes were closed, so she didn't see the shock that flitted across Cam's face before he composed his mask.

"Daniel," she breathed out, and the angel nodded slowly.

"What, you're so in love you can't think?" he teased, and her eyes popped open to give him a heavy-lidded glare. Ah, that was more in-character.

"The opposite, actually," she said, biting her lip. "I just...feel like this time something isn't right."

"Well, you've never actually lived past seventeen, so..."

"No, it's not even that. Something between me and Daniel...doesn't feel like it should. We fight too much. He says he loves me, but he's yet to show it, in any concrete way, anyway. I just don't...feel anything anymore."

Cam sighed, his chest heaving. The silver chain still slung around his neck fell to the side, and Luce tracked it with her eyes. He sat up, and she jumped.

A wicked grin, and Cam said in the best shrink imitation he could possibly conjure up, "So how does that make you feel?"

Luce burst out laughing. "That's exactly what my crazy-ass-doctors said to me before I came to Sword and Cross."

"Not a new question, then," Cam said, fixing her with his gaze.

"I'm not sure what I feel," Luce admitted, staring at her hands. "Not anymore. I'm confused."

"About?"

"Nothing of importance."

"Mmhmm. Anyway, there's pasta getting cold in the kitchen, so are you going to eat or starve?" In answer, Luce's stomach rumbled. He laughed at the sound. "Come on."

"You cook?" Luce said as she breathed in the smell of sauce. "Mm."

"I eat," Cam responded, dumping noodles into two bowls. "But when you've had hundreds of years, you pick up the skill, at least part-ways. Here you go."

Luce dug in, and Cam sat across from her. They made small talk as they ate, but completely avoided the topic of Daniel again.

XXX

A week passed, and the angels still hadn't come back. Luce was worried, but Cam told her they were probably just doing clean-up on any stray Outcasts that had managed to escape.

The days went like the first. Luce entertained herself for most of the day, Cam did the same, and they alternated making meals. Cam soon discovered that Luce made heavenly waffles, though he had never been one for breakfast food before, and she discovered that he had been lying when he said that he didn't cook very much. Something different was on the table every time it was his turn, and it was always vegetarian. She was kind of surprised that he had remembered.

"I'm kind of sick of cooking," Luce remarked one night, and Cam shared her sentiment, though he would never have admitted it previously.

"Want to go out somewhere?" he suggested, and she nodded. "I know a place. I refuse to go anywhere where the fries look like they've been dipped in water."

Half an hour later, they were venturing out in Cam's car.

"This is nice," Luce remarked, taking in the high ceilings and marble floors of the restaurant. "Looks kinda fancy, though."

"It's not, really. The food's not good enough to be called 'fancy.'" Luce laughed and they sat at a two-top table, Luce in the booth side, Cam in a chair.

"You're right, the food's not nearly excellent enough to qualify as gourmet," Luce said after the waiter brought her a salad that was half-wilted, but still okay to eat. Cam held up a limp fry in disgust, and she snorted at his expression. "Your search must continue."

"Too right it will," Cam muttered, pushing away his plate and ordering another soda.

"Do you know when they'll be back?" Luce asked quietly, not looking at Cam. "All of them?"

"No idea," Cam said nonchalantly. "Why?"

"Just wondering."

Silence reigned then, though Cam tried to fill it. The drive home was spent in deep thought on the part of both angel and mortal.

XXX

Cam woke up to the smell of waffles...and voices.

His black heart actually sank as he recognized the speakers: Arianne laughing, Gabbe snorting, Roland's deep voice, then Daniel's. Then Luce's well-known voice.

The two had become...friends. Well, friends again. In the week that the rest of the angels had been gone, with no one else for company...anyway. Cam couldn't have been more happy, plus the fact that he would piss off Daniel. And that in itself would be hilarious.

The angel rolled out of the small bed, mussing up his black hair and getting clothes out of a bag on the floor. He changed and went down the stairs.

"Hi," Molly said, her eyelined eyes tired. Roland flipped Cam a wave, and Arianne nodded good-naturedly. Gabbe and Daniel looked at him, but didn't acknowledge him.

"Hey, Cam," Luce said, flipping another couple of waffles onto a plate and handing it to him. Cam almost laughed at the expression on Daniel's face as he saw his love being civil to a former minion of Satan.

"Thanks," he said, probably a little over-the-top, but it was worth it to see the disbelief in Daniel's eyes.

"We were just telling Missy here," Arianne bubbled, "that our mission was a success. There are now approximately twenty less Outcasts to be had on this earth. Thanks for the bow, by the way." She pulled it out from under the table and handed it back to Cam, its rightful owner. "I lost two starshots."

"Those are kind of valuable, you know."

"Ah well," the girl said, scraping her boots on the floor. "They went to a good cause." Cam nodded and sat down next to Roland at the table. Luce, finishing the cooking and putting waffles on a plate for herself, sat down on his other side. Daniel, who had been leaning against the counter, boxed her in.

"Anything else interesting go down in Veracruz?" Cam asked, filling the hateful silence.

"They had good music," Gabbe said, and Arianne snorted.

"Bands that compile maracas, guitar, and accordion does not qualify as good music, G," she said. Cam laughed softly, and some of the ice was broken. The angels were slowly but surely learning to work together, get over the difference of sides. Except for Cam and Daniel's mutual hatred, of course. Arianne and Roland even had sort of a thing going, which Cam noticed and Roland denied.

"So, Luce," Cam said, and she flashed eyes at him that said Don't you dare bring this up now, but of course Cam didn't heed. "You still want to venture out today?"

Daniel's mouth actually fell open.

Luce looked like she wanted to put her head into her hands, right after smacking Cam upside the head. Sure, she and Cam got along when it was just the two of them, but throw Daniel in the mix and all of a sudden everything was weird. Not to mention four angels staring, which made the whole thing nine kinds of awkward.

"Cam?" Daniel said in a choked voice, looking from Luce to Cam and back. Cam winced inwardly. He had been hoping to shock, but it might not have been the best idea...

Luce had turned red, flushing her cheeks, refusing to look at Daniel.

"Luce?"

"Oh, seriously, Daniel," Arianne said, and Luce looked at her in thankfulness. "She's allowed to hang out with other people, you know. You're acting like the guys on that new reality show that's all big with the mortals. Seriously." She dipped a chunk of waffle into strawberries and cream and swished it all around her mouth, rolling her eyes in pleasure. "Just shut up and eat some more of these damn things. They're amazing. I'm starting to wonder if Luce didn't come from heaven too, because that's where these originated, I swear to God."

Her rambling successfully broke the tension around the table, and Cam was grateful to her.