A Solider of God and Now, Freedom

The sudden cacophony of gunfire, explosions, and shouted commands jarred Lucifer from his hazy awakening. He blinked, momentarily disoriented as he took in the combat gear and weaponry now adorning the unfamiliar body he seemed to be occupying. What new torture had Dad devised for him now?

"Grayson, we gotta move, now!" A uniformed soldier was tugging fiercely at his arm as bullets kicked up the sand around them. When had he arrived in the desert? Lucifer rose and followed on instinct, his new mortal form apparently well-versed in the combat dance of dodge and return fire.

It wasn't until the team had secured a bombed-out building that Lucifer overheard chatter confirming his vessel's identity - Grayson Keller, Delta Force operator thought KIA 3 months ago. A bullet to the head if their intel was correct. Yet here Lucifer now stood, inhabiting the man's impossibly living body.

Once back at base camp, Lucifer submitted to medical exams and a commander's questions. None could explain his resurrection or apparent amnesia. When whispers of CIA involvement arose, Lucifer knew his chance to uncover more of Dad's undoubtedly tedious lesson plan was at hand. He offered his services for their classified operations.

And so Lucifer found himself seconded to a black ops site, surrounded by those who only saw Grayson's skills, not the immortal entity wielding them. Lucifer almost laughed at their simplistic goals - dismantle terror cells, interrogate persons of interest, identify local double agents. Child's play when one knew the true secrets woven through mankind's history. But he'd play along for now. There must be more to this latest punishment than merely detonating IEDs in the desert. He would bide his time to discover what Dad surely already chuckled over beyond the Silver City's walls. The game was on.

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"Grayson, talk to me, man. That's three targets you've taken out with freakin' impossible shots this week. What's going on with you?" Lucifer's current partner, Agent Ryan, eyed him warily as they prepped for their next covert raid.

Lucifer chuckled as he checked the sightlines on his rifle. "Let's just say things have become much clearer since my little resurrection act. Almost like I can predict cause and effect before it happens."

"Seriously dude. That kind of shit isn't normal, even in our world. I gotta report anything...weird. Orders from Langley."

Lucifer shrugged, nonchalantly. "By all means, do enlighten the pencil-pushers. Though I doubt they'll do more than what they've already attempted." He tapped his temple meaningfully. The CIA's psychic evaluation and hallucinogenic questioning had proven quite ineffective and boring.

Ryan shook his head. "Why'd you even come back, man? You were a ghost story in the teams, no way you'd give that up to slum it as a contracted agent."

A slow smile spread across Lucifer's face. "I struck a bargain with...let's call it a higher power. And it seems there's more yet to collect on this little deal of ours."

The sound of rotor blades interrupted them. Ryan eyed him warily once more as they donned night vision goggles and readied weapons. "Just watch my back out there, right Grayson?"

"You can count on it." Lucifer's smile glinted dangerously in the darkness. What better chaos to unleash than that which his host's masters wished for? This could be fun while it lasted.

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Lucifer prowled silently through the narrow village streets, letting his enhanced instincts guide him toward their target location. Ryan and the others struggled to match his preternatural pace. He almost pitied the labored mortal forms Dad had cursed them all with. Almost.

Approaching a ramshackle compound on the town outskirts, Lucifer detected hushed Arabic and faint light leaking from beneath a metal door. Jackpot. He signaled Ryan who quickly got the team into formation, preparing to breach on Lucifer's go-ahead.

Lucifer listened closely, identifying at least 3 distinct insurgent voices planning some kind of bombing mission if his Arabic served. He made brief eye contact with Ryan, holding up 3 fingers, then pointed swiftly towards the door. At Lucifer's kick, the flimsy door splintered open and they swarmed inside, weapons drawn.

In seconds, 3 bodies lay bleeding out from Lucifer's expertly empty-magazined firearm. Ryan gaped at him.

"I had the shot, what the hell! We needed intel from them."

Lucifer stepped casually over the corpses to rifle through documents and plans littering the room. "Relax Agent, they were planning to detonate a school in retaliation for that UN sanction. I just prevented a mess your superiors would have certainly pinned on you."

He grabbed a file folder, scanning alarming formulas and locations.

"Here, I believe this is what your CDC will be desperately keen to see. Consider it a solid towards whatever bounty they've placed on these lunatics' chemical research."

Ryan frowned. "Grayson how could you already..." Lucifer tapped his head with a smirk.

"My little gift, remember? Now let's get out of here before insurgent friends come knocking shall we?"

Ryan eyed the bodies warily as they exited into the night. Who was this ruthless soldier that Grayson Keller had become? And what had he truly made a deal with out in that desert? Some questions were better left unanswered.

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Over the next months of working shadow operations, Lucifer earned a reputation as both an invaluable asset and a potential liability. His skills were unmatched - flawlessly executing high-risk captures and takedowns, intuiting mission-critical intel through uncanny intuition before CIA informants could relay it, and demonstrating almost devilish good fortune on operations other agents considered suicide missions.

But Lucifer also left a trail of bodies and troubling documents troves behind, answering only to himself. The rotating agents partnered with him could barely keep up, never mind keep tabs on his methods or motives. Standards, protocol, and ethics seemed not to touch whatever force inhabited Grayson Keller's resurrected form. The kill counts and completed objectives spoke for themselves though. Reigning him in was pointless - better to point him where he could serve operational goals and tally up damages later.

After a daring broad-daylight assassination of a terrorist network's shadow fund manager in the heart of Baghdad, Lucifer found himself re-assigned.

"Am I being promoted or punished?" he quipped to the stone-faced senior agent newly assigned as his handler.

"Neither. We need someone with your...abilities...on a domestic case. And given your evident boredom with current tasks..." The agent flicked through Lucifer's heavily redacted file. "We're sending you stateside to sniff out a traitor. Director's order. Wheels up in one hour."

Lucifer's eyes glinted with renewed interest. What fun - a turncoat within the hallowed American intelligence complex itself. Finally, a worthy game.

"Happy trails then. Do give my regards to Langley."

Perhaps this mysterious allegiance-shifter would provide a link to uncovering more of Dad's intentions for this mortal身 experiment. The game was evolving. Lucifer rolled his neck and headed off to gear up for new hunting grounds.