Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

It was 6:30 am, way too early to be already back at the precinct, if you asked him. At least, he’d taken the time to get fresh cups of coffee for everyone at the Starbuck so he wouldn’t have to suffer the dishwater from the coffee machine. Never mind that the main raison for his detour to buy it had been to put a smile on her face. It was as if his main goal in life lately was to make his detective smile. Those moments were way too rare since he came back from Vegas a few weeks ago. He had no one to blame but himself for that fact really, and he knew it perfectly. But he had done what he had to to give her back her freedom. She would undoubtedly get over him with time, even if he doubted that he would ever be able to do the same. Once she did, everything would hopefully get back to normal between them. In the meantime, he could only work his ass off to regain her trust and friendship.

Things had been painfully awkward between them since his return. They hadn’t quite known how to behave with each other. It was already a wonder that she had taken him back as her partner. He knew he shouldn’t ask for more than that right now, and maybe to be able to draw a smile on her face from time to time, such as the shy one she gave him just a minute ago when he handed her her favorite latté. His heart was still swelling with happiness at the memory.

The arrival of the Douche brought Lucifer back to the present. He had again forgotten about him. He was almost always around lately, working with them as a third wheel. Another sign that his detective still didn’t trust him completely to be there for her when it counted.

The Douche noticed their coffees and lightened up. "Is there one left for me?"

"Sorry pal, I forgot you were to be there." Lucifer could not hide a small smile of satisfaction for his oversight when he saw the way Daniel grimaced for having been left out.

He saw Daniel stretch his neck to peek into the adjacent opened room where Charlotte was talking in hushed tones with her client. Count on his Mother to be the one to represent their killer. As always when she was in the vicinity, Daniel fidgeted in place, trying his best to hide the fact that he was glad to see her. But it was plain as day for Lucifer, and for Chloe too apparently who was smiling knowingly behind her ex’s back.

Now that they were all there, Chloe briefed them for what was to come. Taking that opportunity to distract Daniel from his straying thoughts.

"As I already told you yesterday, the Anti-gang unit shouldn’t be here for another 30 minutes. But I wanted us to be here sooner because Charlotte insisted on talking to her client before we moved him, and I also wanted to make sure we were ready when they arrived. This is a very important case and I don’t want any craziness today."

Why did she have to look at him when she said that? As if Lucifer didn’t know it was an important case and that he was used to get them into trouble. Well, maybe he was, when you thought about it, but it was rude to point it out.

"And Lucifer, I want you to wear a bulletproof vest today. I’ll accept no discussion about it," she added, as he opened his mouth to complain. He closed it hastily, knowing too well that it was futile to try to argue with her.

That’s when he observed that she was already wearing her vest. Good! She would be safer. It was bad enough that she had to be there at all. He had tried to convince her that he could escort their killer-turned into a witness alone, but of course she would insist on being there for the whole thing. He sighed internally. He hated seeing her put herself in danger. Yet, he could do nothing about it but be there to protect her.

They knew very well that the Mafia would do everything in their power to eliminate their henchman. The detective and he had had the bad idea of catching one of their assassins, Damon Phillips, after he had killed a man under the order of the Mafia gang leader, Marco Saputo. Phillips had spilled out everything he knew the moment Lucifer flashed his hellish fiery eyes at him, while Chloe had her back turned away. Afterwards, Lucifer convinced him that making amends for his wrongdoings would help him avoid Hell and start winning his place in Heaven. He’d accepted willingly to act as a witness to try and take down the Mafia leader as proof of his determination to become a better man. In return, he made Lucifer swear to protect him from his former boss. The knowledge that Hell awaited him if he died now, before having the chance to redeem his soul, had almost rendered him witless.

So, that’s how they all ended up this early in the basement of the precinct, waiting for the witness to be transferred to a secured hideaway where he would stay until the trial. Afterwards, he would be taken into a witness protection program.

From the room where they were waiting, a corridor led to a flight of stairs leading outside by a back door, from which they would be able to get their witness out without attracting unwanted attention.

To their surprise, Detective Williams, the second in charge of the case with the Anti-gang unit arrived alone a few minutes later.

"Where is Detective Parker and the escort?" Asked Chloe.

"Don’t worry! They’re coming. I just had a hard time sleeping last night so I decided to come in early." He put down his suitcase and retrieved a file inside.

Chloe understood too well the nervousness that such a case could cause, even more so for a young man like Williams who couldn’t be older than 25. She herself had difficulty falling asleep last night at the prospect of all the things that could go wrong today.

Williams started going over the plan, detailing dutifully every step to insure they would bring their witness safe and sound to his destination. Once Chloe finished asking all her questions about the program, Williams excused himself to go to the bathroom. Chloe smiled at his retreating back. The poor boy was clearly nervous, and she couldn’t blame him. Even seasoned detectives would be nervous to be involved in that kind of operation.

Lucifer watched Chloe and Dan go join Charlotte and their witness in the other room. Their private conversation was apparently over and they were certainly waiting to be brought up to date about the events to come.

Lucifer hadn’t moved to follow them though. He looked back suspiciously towards the corridor Detective Williams had just taken. There was a strange vibe in the air. A kind of stillness he couldn’t explain. The boy was clearly nervous, too nervous one would say, when he was usually more composed, from what Lucifer had seen of him so far at least. His gaze came to rest on Williams’ closed suitcase left on the central table. In his mind, he replayed the moment the agent had opened it up. Come to think of it, he had acted as if he was hiding its content from their eyes. Suspicion turned rapidly into a terrifying certainty.

Lucifer screamed her name and made eye contact with her to infuse all the seriousness of the situation. "Chloeeee! Close the door and get everyone down! NOW"

Eyes widening with surprise and the sudden rush of adrenaline, Chloe understood that they were in real danger. She was more than reluctant to leave her partner alone to face whatever it was that was threatening them, but after as long as they had worked together, she could only trust him when it came to a life and death situation like this one. So with one last look at his pleading eyes, she closed the door in a rush before getting down and commanding the others to take cover. Taking her gun out of its holster, she prayed that she would not have to regret that decision for the rest of her life.

Once sure that Chloe was doing what he’d told her to do, Lucifer grabbed the big wooden table and toppled it on its side to protect himself and the door Chloe was just closing. The suitcase flew off in the opposite direction and landed in front of the corridor leading outside. At that moment, a strange beeping sound came from the suitcase. Two seconds later, it blew up in a deafening roar. Another explosion shook up the building mere seconds after on the upper floor.

Lucifer was propelled forcefully backwards against the door in a maelstrom of concrete blocks, wood splinters, and dust. The impact took his breath away. A searing pain to the head overwhelmed almost all his senses, blurring his vision and dimming out all noises around. He was barely aware of the deep pain coursing through his chest and pretty much his entire body.

When the floor stopped shaking, he noticed that it had become pitch black around him. After a moment, he saw a soft light move towards him. Soon, someone was leaning over his body and he started feeling hands stroking gently his face and neck. It was hard to tell who it was with that strange liquid running over his eyes and impairing his vision even more than it already was. After blinking a few times, he recognised her.

Chloe! She was alive! He had done it, he had protected her. He smiled with relief at the realisation.

His Mother, Dan, and their witness were probably alright too. Good. He didn’t want to fail his word to the witness, even if he was a damn killer, and he was also relieved that his Mom would be ok. The thought of her going back to Hell was strangely unbearable. As for the Douche, well, he wouldn’t mind for him to still be alive. He was an entertaining guy.

Chloe’s features were all tensed. She was apparently trying to talk to him but he couldn’t hear anything with the buzzing in his ears. And were those tears in her haunted eyes? But why would she cry? Had she been hurt after all? He tried to talk and tell her that everything would be ok, that he would get her out of here. However, to his greatest amazement, instead of words, only bubbling blood came out of his mouth with a coughing fit he couldn’t control. The coughing was incredibly painful and at the same time it increased the pain in his head tenfold. He moaned in utter agony. The last time he felt that much pain was at the time of his Fall. The world blurred around him with the intensity of the pain until it became unbearable even for him. He welcomed the darkness that took over his consciousness and stopped his suffering.

Chapter Text

Chloe was literally panicking!

She was holding Lucifer’s bloodied head with shaking hands. There was so much blood that she couldn’t tell exactly where his head had been hurt. From the blood coming out from his mouth and nose, she could say for sure that he had at least a severe concussion and internal injuries. He was also bleeding from various places all over his body due to the many fragments of concrete or other material that ripped his body during the explosion. But he still had his eyes wide opened. Her sanity clang onto that simple fact.

He was still alive! He could make it. Nothing could kill her Lucifer. Right? Wasn’t he supposed to be invincible? Immortal? As he fancied himself to be.

"You’re gonna be ok Lucifer! Hold on! Please, just hold on!" She was crying now, barely able to keep herself together.

In spite of everything, he was smiling sweetly at her. Didn’t he understand what was happening? When he tried to speak, her blood turned cold at the view of all the blood coming out of his mouth. A sob escaped her lips at seeing his pain and agony while he was coughing his life out.

She stopped breathing altogether when his eyes fluttered closed and he went completely limp.

"No, no, no, no, no! Lucifer, don’t do this to me!" It couldn’t be! He couldn’t be dead!

Her brain would just not acknowledge that possibility. She couldn’t lose him. Not now, after having just gotten him back. There was still too much she hadn’t told him, too much unresolved things between them for their story to end like this. She knew he still had feelings for her, she could see it in his eyes and in all his features when he gazed at her sometimes while thinking that she was unaware of it. She thought they had time to resolve their problems. She thought they still had a chance. But if he was dead…

She was suddenly yanked away from Lucifer by a strong hand. To her complete surprise, it was an overwhelmed and teared up Charlotte who moved her out of her way to get to Lucifer.

"Will you get the Hell away from him? Haven’t you hurt him enough already? If you’re not going to help at least leave him be."

Chloe landed on all fours a few feet away and just remained there motionless with her mouth agape, too stunned to answer anything. She had hurt him? What did Charlotte mean by that? Did she blame her for the explosion, or for the fact that Lucifer was there with her when it blew up? She couldn’t start to understand.

Charlotte tenderly cradled Lucifer’s body in her arms and started rocking him slowly.

She spoke softly in a shuddering voice. "Everything’s gonna be ok, Sparkle! I’m here. Just take deep breathes. That’s it! Another one. There’s a good boy!"

Chloe could now hear Lucifer take raspy breaths in. He was still alive! Her panic had rendered her completely blind and useless. She tried in vain to hold in her sobs of relief with both hands over her mouth. Daniel joined her and put a comforting hand on her shoulder. She really had to get herself back together if she wanted to help Lucifer. She took a few deep calming breaths to regain control over herself. She could feel her wit coming back slowly as the panic partially subsided.

Somewhere in the back of her mind, she wondered why Charlotte had called him Sparkle. Maybe it was a term of endearment that she kept for their intimate moments. Despite the fact that Lucifer vehemently assured her more than once that they had never slept together, she still had her doubts about it. She believed him not to lie straight to her face, but she knew he was a master at waving his way around the truth. Still, why would he hide it? It was not as if he was usually shy of talking about his conquests. Maybe it was Charlotte who wasn’t at ease with admitting to be sleeping with a playboy. She was a married woman after all. And the sweet way Charlotte was talking and holding him was way too intimate for them to be only friends. Chloe pushed aside her rising jealousy. Now was not the time for that. Lucifer might still be alive, but for how long?

She looked at her cell phone that she had been using as a flash light. Damn it! There was no signal. After checking, Dan confirmed that he hadn’t any either, nor was Charlotte. It was already difficult to get a signal down here at the best of days, it was just to be expected that it would be impossible with half the building fallen on their heads.

A quick survey of what used to be the doorway told her that it would take a while to dig their way through the pile of crumbled walls and ceiling. She marvelled at Lucifer’s chance to have landed right into their room after having brought the door down with him, instead of crashing against the wall. Otherwise he would certainly already be dead.

She had heard a second blast above on the main floor right after the first one. So she knew it had to be mayhem up there. They would certainly be the last ones to get rescued as a result. They had to find a way out, and fast, otherwise Lucifer was as good as dead. At least the rest of them looked fine with only minor bleedings. She knew that whatever Lucifer had done, they certainly owned him their lives.

She had a thought for their other colleagues, particularly for Ella who had already been in her lab at that hour. She prayed for her friend to still be alive. At least, Chloe hadn’t seen much people in the basement while coming here. Aside from Detective Williams, who might still be alive since he was probably far enough from the explosion when it occurred, they had only encountered one agent guarding the few occupied jails at the beginning of the main corridor. Surely he had been far enough to be okay.

"Will someone take off those handcuffs please?" Complained their witness who was currently lying on his side on the floor, still attached to the now toppled table.

Chloe’s anxiety turned into an incontrollable anger at the reminder of his presence with them.

"Can’t you just shut up? This is all your fault in the first place." At his look of consternation, she continued impatiently. "Or do you think it’s a coincidence that bombs exploded just when you were about to get transferred. If I were you I’d just make myself small and be happy to still be alive." Her tone left no place for argument. So Philips shut up and kept quiet.

Dan was already going through the few equipment he could find in their room, with the help of his cell phone’s light. The first thing he did was try the phone, but it was unsurprisingly dead. His search of the room wasn’t long. Aside from a table, there was only a desk and a locker. Fortunately, he found three flashlights with some batteries and a first-aid kit.

Chloe took the medical bag from his hands and rushed to Lucifer. Charlotte was soothing him by stroking his hair gently and talking sweet words to his ear even though he was giving no sign of regaining consciousness. Chloe averted her eyes and concentrated on his wounds. Dan handed Charlotte a flashlight to help Chloe see what she was doing, before he went working on the pile of rubbles obstructing their exit way.

The many little wounds over Lucifer’s body didn’t seem as urgent to be dealt with as the ones on his head. Chloe inspected his face and ran her hands through his hair to search for the sources of the bleedings. A cold shiver ran up her spine at the feel of his skull. Aside from a few shallow cuts over his forehead that were nonetheless bleeding profusely, there was a big gaping wound on the back of his head, where he probably crushed it against the door that was presently lying under him in pieces. Her hands shook more strongly at the meaning of such an injury; it could very well leave permanent damages… She felt her world start crumbling around her.

This had to be a nightmare!

Charlotte’s sharp and angry accusation shook her out of her spiralling despair.

"You are the one responsible for all of this! He should have stayed away from you. But nooo, he had to come back and continue working with you."

"You are taking me responsible for the bombing?" Chloe couldn’t believe this.

"Maybe not for the bombing, but you are the reason he is hurt. Without you around, he wouldn’t be vulnerable. If he dies, it will be on you!" Charlotte spat at her. She didn’t care anymore talking about the truth. The detective’s blindness about everything was infuriating her too much at the moment.

Vulnerable…

It was the word Lucifer had spoken at the beginning of their partnership. Did this mean more than she had thought at the time? No, it was impossible. Charlotte had to be delusional, and her speaking that word had to be only a coincidence. And yet, there had been so many strange things happening around Lucifer.

"What are you talking about?" Chloe asked in a whisper.

"For my Ex’s sake! You’re supposed to be a detective. Figure it out yourself!"

Ex’s sake… Who was she referring to? Chloe was so confused.

"This is just crazy…" She didn’t know how to address such nonsense.

"Crazy? You humans are so good at keeping your heads in the sand." Charlotte said with contempt, but didn’t add anything else to it.

And now the woman was speaking like Lucifer. Chloe shook her head in utter puzzlement. She pushed aside the lunatic talking and got back to the most pressing matter, which was to bandage Lucifer’s head before he bled to death.

She worked in silence, the only sound in the room coming from Lucifer’s difficult breathing and from Dan who was throwing aside the remnants of the walls and ceiling. Dan soon understood that he would need help if they were to get out of there quickly, so he took off their prisoner-witness’ handcuffs to have him give a hand. Once Chloe finished dressing Lucifer’s head wounds, she reluctantly left him in Charlotte’s care to go help dig them an exit way.

After a little while, they heard noises and saw a light appear through the hole they had started to make. Someone seemed to have reached the main room behind.

"Is there someone alive in there?" Asked a worried voice.

Chloe recognized it as being Williams’. "Thank God you’re alive!" She exclaimed.

"I thought you were all dead. I’m so relieved! This is a miracle! Are you all well?" asked Detective Williams with concern in his voice.

"We’re all alive. But my partner is badly injured. He needs medical attention as soon as possible," explained Chloe.

"I’m afraid the main stairs were blocked by the second explosion. The back door’s access is also blocked and all the phones are dead on this floor. I checked."

Another wave of despair washed over Chloe. But she was not about to give up. She would do anything to save Lucifer and for that she had to keep her head clear. First things first.

"All right… Can you give us a hand to widen a path so we can at least get out of here?"

Williams started helping them to make a big enough hole for a man to cross through. Chloe’s spirit lifted a little, they were almost there. She could still hear Charlotte speaking softly to Lucifer, encouraging him to wake up.

Bright hope arose in Chloe’s heart at hearing Lucifer’s voice answer the lawyer. But the weak words he spoke confused her at the highest level. She had to be mistaking. She couldn’t have heard what she thought she had. She immediately stopped working to stare at their barely lit forms a few meters away from her.

"Mom, is that you?"

"Yes, Sparkle! I’m right here. Don’t worry my boy, everything’s gonna be alright."

Chloe’s jaw dropped. It was impossible! Charlotte just couldn’t be his mother. It didn’t make any sense. Lucifer had to be confused because of his head injury and the damn woman was just taking advantage of his confusion, for sure. What a shame! Somehow, Chloe could not convince herself completely that it was all nonsense. The intimate way Charlotte was talking to him and the way she held and stroked him was not so much like a lover would act. It reminded her more of the way she herself would behave when Beatrice was sick. Could this be true? Charlotte didn’t seem that much older than Lucifer. A step mom then?

Lucifer was shaking his head with a tortured expression. "It’s not alright Mom! You let me Fall! And you did nothing to stop it. How could you let Him do this to me? I’m burning! I’m burning and I’m all alone."

He sounded so scared. Whatever waking dream Lucifer was in, it sounded much real to him, and terrifying. Chloe was at a loss about what to do to reassure him or bring him back to reality, if it could even be done. She never felt so helpless. The only thing she could really do at the moment was continue digging them a path towards the outside world to get him help as soon as possible. So she got back to helping Dan and the others, while trying to keep an ear on the conversation going on a distance away.

A strange feeling came over Chloe as she listened to Charlotte’s and Lucifer’s quiet talking. Against all common sense, what she heard made her believe that maybe, just maybe, there could be some truth to it and that it might not be all craziness after all.

Chapter Text

Charlotte’s heart broke at Lucifer’s accusation and at seeing him so terrified. "Lucifer! You’re not in Hell anymore. It all happened eons ago. Don’t you remember? You’re not burning, Lucifer, but you’re badly hurt."

He narrowed his eyes in confusion, looking around to assert his surroundings. Nothing made sense to him but the overwhelming pain he was in. He brought a hand to his head and winced in pain. He was still not convinced. It did feel like Hell, and his brain was all jumbled up. The only clear memory he had was that of his Mother looking down at him impassively as Michael threw him over the edge of Heaven to Fall irremediably towards Hell and its burning fires.

"How could you?" He asked again in a broken whisper.

The Goddess stayed silent for a few seconds, fighting the tears that threatened to spill out of her eyes. He apparently didn’t remember them having already had that conversation months ago. She had told him the truth back then, but not all of it. Maybe it was time to tell him the whole truth and share her greatest remorse and regrets. Hopefully he wouldn’t remember any of it afterwards anyway. It might even do her good to talk about it after keeping it to herself for so long.

"I thought I was doing the right thing at the time. Your Father was so furious. He would have killed you right on the spot if I hadn’t suggested that He sent you to Hell. That’s the only solution that came to me at the time. But maybe… maybe I could have thought of a smoother punishment, like banishing you to Earth for eternity. Anything really, but Hell. He might have accepted at that moment. You didn’t deserve what happened to you." She shook her head sadly at the memory of everything Lucifer went through down there. "Hell was never your place, Son. I’m so sorry!" She placed a soft kiss on his forehead and lingered there a moment.

His Mom’s apology sounded so genuine. Lucifer tried to clear the fog in his brain. If he wasn’t in Hell then where was he? He couldn’t tell. Everything was so confused. And was he dying? It sure felt like it. Breathing had become a challenge of every instant and the pain he was in was almost blinding. If he died, which was looking more and more probable, then he would go straight back to Hell…

The thought made his guts tighten in fear. "I don’t wanna go back there, Mom! I don’t want to be alone again!" He knew he sounded desperate, pathetic even, but didn’t care in the least. He didn’t remember much about Hell at the moment, aside from how he felt at the beginning, but he remembered enough to know that he didn’t want to go back.

"I won’t leave you Lucifer! I didn’t let you go down there alone the first time around, I certainly won’t let you face it alone this time." She said with determination.

Lucifer tried to understand the meaning of her words. Slowly, the memories came back of his days in Hell. The way he remembered it was very different than how his Mom painted it.

"What are you talking about Mom? Dad sent you down there as a punishment. You never even bothered visiting me before that."

His Mother sighed in defeat. She had never been able to admit that truth to him before. In part because she feared he would think that she was bearing him grudge for it, and also because deep down she was ashamed of what she had done back then. But chances for her to have another heart-to-heart with her son like right now were very slim. It was now or never.

She started hesitantly, unable to look at him in the eye. "I might not have told you everything that happened after you Fell." She stroked his hair absentmindedly, like she used to do back when he was a young boy. "Seeing you Fall was the worst moment of my existence. After that day, I relentlessly begged your Father to come back on his decision, but he wouldn’t listen. After a while, I couldn’t live with myself anymore knowing that I had been a party to your suffering. So I asked Him to send me to Hell, to be by your side." she finally looked at him with pain in her eyes. "But he refused."

Lucifer knew that his Mother could lie as easily as she breathed, but there was no way he could doubt her in that moment. She was baring her heart to him.

"There was only one solution left to me after His refusal. If He would not send me to Hell willingly, then I would just have to force His hand. So I started to lash out at what He loved most after His children; humanity. I proceeded to wreak havoc on Earth, with plagues, deluges, famines, and such." She smiled sheepishly at the recollection. "It did work in the end. For after a time, He brought me down to Hell himself and locked me up in a cell. At last, I had gotten what I desired most. But you never came to visit me…" Her voice shook at the recollection. "I never had the chance to stand by your side to help lessen your ordeal. In the end, all I had done had been for nothing." She laughed humorlessly. "At least that’s what I thought at the time. Until I escaped and came up here to find you. The short time I spent on Earth with you have made my entire suffering in Hell worth it, and it secured me in my knowledge that I had been right all along; you never deserved Hell, Lucifer!"

Lucifer stared at her, paralyzed by the whole revelation. It had always been a mystery to him why his Mother had turned out so badly, to the point of becoming unrecognizable to the people who had loved and cherished her. With time, he had come to terms, mostly, with what happened to him, since he could only blame himself for the punishment he had to face, aside from blaming his Father of course. But to know that his Mother’s fate had been darken because of him… How could he ever forgive himself for that?

"Mom…" He breathed, totally distraught.

"Stop that right now, Lucifer!" She admonished him. "I am not telling you this for you to feel guilty. I make my own choices and I’m always ready to face the consequences of my actions. If I’m telling you now, it’s only so you can at last really know how I feel about you, and about my involvement with your going to Hell. You, are my Son! Created from my light and very soul, and I cannot watch you suffer without doing everything I can to save you, even if that kills me…"

For as long as he could recall, he didn’t remember his Mother ever crying before. Even with his memory all blurred out, he was pretty sure it never happened in his presence. She was crying now, without any restraint. He could feel her body shaking with her quiet sobbing. Unable to find words to convey all the love and gratitude he felt for her in that instant, he just circled his arms around her and buried his head in the crook of her neck. He joined her with his silent sobbing. He cried for her, for what she had gone through because of his own choices. He cried for what could have been if he’d never rebelled. And he cried for the Mother he was now accepting like he had never accepted her before since the time of his Fall.

Chloe had stopped working on the rubbles half way through Lucifer’s and Charlotte’s conversation. Her mind was reeling. She had a hard time believing all she was hearing. It would have been easier to dismiss everything as being the talk of deranged minds, but how to explain that Charlotte Richards, a woman without any known history of mental illness, was sharing the same exact delusion as her partner? It was just plain impossible. And the complexity of their conjoint story was just too great for it to have been made up in the spur of the moment. But how to believe that Lucifer could be a Fallen angel, the Devil himself, and that Charlotte was apparently a Goddess, in the same way as Lucifer’s Father had to be God? And yet, it was getting harder and harder to simply discard the possibility that it could all be true.

Beside her, Daniel and Phillips were sending strange looks towards the duo on the ground while continuing to dig through the remnants. The noise they were doing with their work probably didn’t leave them the opportunity to hear everything properly though. Still, they clearly heard enough, if their distress was any indication. Phillips was looking like a man who didn’t quite understand what he had gotten himself into, while Daniel’s distraught eyes told her that he too, was considering the possibility of Lucifer having told them the truth all along.

She had absolutely no idea how she was supposed to feel about it herself. All that was certain in her mind, in her heart, was that she was not ready to lose Lucifer, whatever, or whoever he was.

Daniel’s hand on her shoulder took her out of her disturbing thoughts.

"We are there!" He said softly.

"What?" She focussed on him, trying to understand what he was talking about.

He waved a hand in front of them to direct her gaze. They had done it. The way was clear to pass into the other room. She could see Detective Williams on the other side, waiting for them. She answered Dan with a small smile of renewed hope. Now they could focus on getting out of the building.

She turned back to look at her partner who was still holding Charlotte in his arms. He would have to remain here while they worked at finding a way out of the basement. What if he died while she were away? What if it was the last time she saw him alive? She wasn’t even sure he could recognise her in his state, but she could not leave without at least telling him that she was doing everything she could to save his life.

She walked to the pair and crouched in front of them. They both were dimly lit by the flashlight that Charlotte had set down beside them.

"Lucifer…" She breathed softly to get his attention.

Charlotte lifted her head to stare at her, clearly frustrated by the interruption. Thankfully, she didn’t try to hold Chloe away from him and just kept quiet to let her say what she needed to. Lucifer’s gaze settled on her with a questioning look on his face. He narrowed his eyes and tilted his head as if trying to decipher a complicate riddle. He looked to have a hard time keeping his eyes open.

Her suspicions were painfully materialising. He didn’t seem to recognize her.

She took a shuddering breathe and tried to push aside her fear and deception to concentrate on his needs.

She spoke softly in a calming voice. "Lucifer, I know you must feel confused, and scared, but I’m here for you." She hesitantly cupped his bloodied cheek to make him keep his heavy eyes on her.

He didn’t answer anything at first, instead staring at her in wonder. Then he lifted a hand to grab a stray lock of her hair and place it behind her ear. The motion seemed to steer his memory, then his whole features suddenly lightened up.

"Chloeee!" He said in awe. The sight of her was like seeing the sun piercing through the fog in his mind.

The wonderful smile she gave him warmed his heart and calmed his inner turmoil. He remembered. Even if he didn’t know where he was or what happened to them, he remembered her, and knew that to him, she was the most important thing in the world.

"Yeah! It’s me Lucifer." She stroked his cheek tenderly with her thumb. "I won’t let you die down here. You just hold on in there until I can find a way out and come back to get you. Okay?"

"I don’t plan on going anywhere, Love!" He said kiddingly.

She chuckled in spite of the situation. The sweet way he was looking at her was so overwhelming that she had to restrain herself from kissing him senseless. She swallowed hard and started withdrawing her hand.

Lucifer caught her hand with his own to hold it against his cheek before he would lose her warmth. The look in her eyes was scaring him. At first tender, it had turned into something tormented, as if she was seeing him for the last time ever. He knew his injuries were serious, and now that he really focussed on them, he understood that he was indeed slowly slipping away towards the underworld. She was right, it could very well be the last time they saw each other.

He felt a sudden urgency to tell her everything he had always wanted to say, but had been too afraid to voice. She deserved to know the truth. Unfortunately, there was too much that should be said, and not enough time for it all. He could at least tell her some of the truth, to lighten her heart and his own.

"Chloeee…" He breathed in a tone close to desperation.

The use of her first name and his tone of voice effectively caught her attention. He could already see the wetness start building in her eyes, like he could feel it building in his own.

"I never meant to hurt you…" He whispered in a trembling voice. "Everything I did was only to insure your happiness. You have to believe me! You, are the most beautiful thing that ever came into my life. I just wish I could have accepted the wonderful gift that you are. But circumstances have made that impossible…"

He could see her lower lip trembling now. She obviously was doing her best not to burst into tears.

"I’m sorry Chloe! For not being able to stay away from you, and for bringing sadness into your life. I’m only a selfish bastard who can’t live without you." In spite of all his restraints, his voice finally cracked on the last words.

Chloe lost all her composure and embraced him forcefully, burying her face into his neck. She sobbed against him in a torrent of tears.

"Lucifer…," is the only thing she managed to say in a strangled voice.

He held her close to him, reaching into his last strengths to keep his arms around her.

After a moment, she finally drew slightly away only to kiss his temple before resting her forehead against his. She tried to smile through her tears. He knew he had to look as much a mess as she did, with his face bathed in tears of his own.

It took her a few tries to get the words out. "You, have brought way more light into my life than sorrow. Be sure of it! And this is not over Lucifer. You’ll get better, and when you do, we’ll have a long conversation about all of this. Okay?" She asked hopefully.

Lucifer forced a smile on his face. "Sure!"

She nodded wordlessly against his forehead and braced herself to leave him. "Ok, I’m gonna go now. But I’ll be back soon. You just have to hold on a little bit longer."

He just smiled in answer, not wanting to lie to her.

She kissed his forehead tenderly then rose up. With one last sweet smile directed at him, she turned away and walked towards the darkness that swallowed her. He had no real hope of ever seeing her again.

Chapter Text

Chloe emerged on the other side of the rubbles that once stood as walls and ceiling. The others were there waiting for her, but she barely payed them any attention. She felt shaken to the core.

Finally, Lucifer admitted that he needed her as much as she needed him. But something had been preventing him all that time from giving in. Something big! Something he never dared to speak of. Was it in connection with that vulnerability thing, or was it something else? She was well determined to make him spill out everything about it once he was out of the woods. The time when she was letting him come to terms with his problems at his own pace was over. She would not let him any choices this time, she would ask the whole truth. No! She would demand it of him! And they would deal with it together. At this point, whatever it was, be it the fact that he was the Devil himself, she didn’t think it could make any differences about what she felt for him.

But the silent way Lucifer had answered her plea to hold on just a little more, with a sad longing smile, resembled too much how he had acted just before vanishing for Vegas. She realized that he didn’t believe in his chances to get out of there alive. Everything he just told her suddenly awfully felt like an adieu.

Her already rapid heartbeat cranked up another notch. She closed her eyes and tried to cling to the fading hope that everything could turn out alright for him. For them.

She was pulled out of her reverie by a comforting hand on her shoulder. Still feeling rattled, she turned slowly towards a very distressed Dan.

"Do you think…? Tell me it was all only nonsense." He pleaded.

Chloe shook her head softly. "I don’t know, Dan. I don’t know anymore. But I think it could be time to acknowledge the possibility that Lucifer might not be as crazy as we would like to believe."

Dan only nodded silently.

She wasn’t sure what was disturbing her more between the facts that she actually voiced that thought, or that Dan was not rejecting it.

"Actually, it makes a whole amount of crazy sense when you think about it." Dan said musingly. "And Charlotte does have a few Goddess’ skills and attributes…" He added with a small smile.

Chloe chuckled in spite of the completely impossible situation they were in. "I’m sure she does."

They both burst out laughing uncontrollably. Were they losing their sanity? Probably. Chloe couldn’t care less.

Detective Williams brought them down to Earth. "I don’t like to interrupt, but shouldn’t we be looking for a way out?"

Chloe and Dan did their best to reign in their giggling.

"Haaa! Yeah! I guess you’re right." Managed to say Chloe between two persistent giggles.

She racked her throat and finally got a grip on herself, and on her sanity. Her life was getting so crazy!

"Right… Do you know if there are other survivors? She asked the detective.

"The good news is that the jail section seems to be untouched. Strangely, I didn’t find a guard over there. I’m afraid the dead body I found in the main corridor near the entrance of this room might be him. I really can’t explain what he was doing there at the time of the bombing though."

That was indeed very strange. What could have brought the guard to leave his post and come all the way here? Chloe had no idea. They went to inspect the body that was lying a few feet behind a bunch of rubbles partially obstructing the opening of the main corridor. Williams had apparently moved aside some of the debris to get to their room.

It was definitely the guard Chloe had seen earlier this morning, and he was very dead. From what she could see with the little light they had from the flashlights, the poor guy had been very unlucky. He didn’t show any evident injury aside from a gaping wound over the side of the head. A bloodied piece of concrete lying beside him confirmed that he had been hit during the explosion. She shook her head sadly.

Williams didn’t let her lose more time with her inspection and went straight back to the most pressing issues. "I’m not exactly sure which way out we should work on. Maybe Detective Decker and M. Phillips could stay here and start digging through the back way, as not to lose time. In the meantime, Detective Espinoza and I could go get a better look at the main stairs now that we have flashlights. Earlier, I just got a peek with my cell phone’s light. Maybe there’s still a possibility to get out that way. It’s worth a look."

It made sense. So Chloe and their witness went back inside the room to start working on the debris while Daniel followed Williams through the main corridor.

Chloe became disheartened as soon as she got a good look at the pile of rubbles facing them. The explosion had rendered the back way indiscernible. She prayed that the main stairs presented a better option, otherwise she feared they would never make it out in time to save Lucifer.

She thought back about Lucifer’s actions to save them. He had sacrificed himself without a second thought to protect them. What an amazing man! Or should she say, Devil? Or angel? Whatever! But how did he find out that a bomb was about to go off?

While starting to work on the rubbles alongside their witness, she took a better look around the devastated room to try and understand what exactly happened. The epicenter of the explosion looked to have been very close to the back access. She didn’t remember seeing anything suspicious around that area nor any hiding place for that matter. Near the entry that led to the interrogation room where Lucifer and Charlotte were still waiting, she could see pieces of the table that once stood in the center of the room. She thought Lucifer might have used it to protect himself and them in the process. It would explain how he survived.

Still, how did he know something was about to blow up? Maybe he found the bomb or heard it right before it went off and he only had the time to throw it that far. But where was it hidden? It wasn’t as if there was a lot of hiding possibilities in the room. Under the table? Or in the big locker that now rested under tons of debris? It had to have been planted here during the night, for sure. Then why not hide it in the interrogation room where they would keep Damon Phillips? With the bomb in here instead, it would only have successfully killed the Mafia assassin if the door was opened. What a wild guess the bomber had taken! Unless… Unless the bomber was down here to triggered the bomb himself. That way he could have known that the door was open. But she had seen no one down here with them. Except… for the guard, who had suspiciously left his post just before the bombing and who was now dead.

Chloe shook her head in incomprehension. If it was him who had done it, wouldn’t he have taken cover before triggering the explosion? It made no sense. Then who else could it be? There was no one else down here who would have known that the door was open and that it was the perfect time to act. No one, apart from…

Williams!

A chill went up her spine as the realisation hit her like a rock. All the pieces of the puzzle fell into place. Williams would have known when to trigger the bomb. He could have brought it in here with him this morning. Chloe thought back about his suitcase that had stayed behind when he went to the restroom at a very convenient time. Too convenient. What about the guard? It suddenly seemed evident. Williams had killed him afterwards with a blow to the head to make it pass as having happened during the explosion. But why? Certainly to eliminate any possible witnesses of what he was about to do. Which certainly was to finish the job; eliminate his target.

It would be much easier for Williams to kill all the witnesses with his gun, but it would also make it more difficult for him to explain how it happened if he planned on keeping his place as a detective. So the best option for him was probably to separate and kill them one by one in a way to put it on the explosion. A lot harder to do for sure, but a lot safer for his future. Which meant that Daniel, Lucifer, Charlotte, and she were also his targets now.

Daniel!

She grabbed the flashlight and started running towards the main corridor. Williams was about to kill Dan! There was no greater certainty. Behind her, Phillips complained about the sudden darkness around him, but Chloe didn’t give him a second thought.

She ran as fast as she could through the darken corridors with her flashlight and gun firmly in hand in front of her, weapon ready to be fired. The noise she was making with her advance prevented her from hearing clearly what was going on farther in the basement, but she wouldn’t allow herself to slow down. She couldn’t afford being too late. She just wasn’t ready to lose the two most important men of her life in one single day. Surely Williams hadn’t had time to kill him yet. Dan wasn’t that easy to fool, right? She grimaced at that utmost uncertainty.

At last, she reached the hall where the main stairs were supposed to be. Suddenly, her beam of light passed over something with human-shaped appearance lying on the floor. She quickly brought back her light on what was effectively a body, to also discover someone standing over it and in the process of throwing something in her direction.

Caught off guard by her appearance, Williams nonetheless reacted quickly. As soon as he saw the beam of light sweep across the hall and spotted Decker’s raised gun, he took a swing and threw at her the rock he had already used to knock out Espinoza. She saw him at the last second, which didn’t let her time enough to fire at him before the rock hit her square in the abdomen. She bended over under the shock just long enough for him to draw out his gun and aim at her.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

In the meantime, Lucifer was getting weaker by the minute in his mother’s arms, as his consciousness was slipping away.

If only she had her powers back! Lately she had sporadically felt surges of power coursing through her human body, such as boosts of strength when she was very angry or the feel of energy going through her fingers in the most improbable moments. Unfortunately, it had always lasted less than a second and she didn’t seem to have any control over it. With luck, she might be able to move a few of the biggest rocks obstructing the path leading outside, but she knew she could never get enough control over her powers to make a real difference. Moreover, she knew for a fact that her frail human shell was not strong enough to support the wielding of a great amount of celestial energy.

Too soon, it became difficult to keep Lucifer awake. Charlotte just knew that if he fell asleep, he would never wake up again.

"Lucifer! You have to fight to stay alive. You can’t just give up!" She begged.

Lucifer forced his eyes open. "Why should I Mom? It’s useless, there is nothing keeping me up here anymore. I have said my farewell to Chloe, it is now time for me to make my exit. It was a nice dream, but a dream nonetheless."

Charlotte understood that he wasn’t talking about his dream of living freely on Earth as much as about the one of having the chance to really be with his detective. She knew he would certainly feel differently if he believed to have a shot at being with her. All Charlotte’s machinations and manipulations to reach her own selfish goal didn’t seem so important anymore in the face of the very real possibility of losing her son.

"Lucifer, there is something you need to know. I don’t think your Father created Chloe to manipulate you." At that, his already closing eyes shot wide open. Now that she had his complete attention, she continued. "I never really believed that, even if I don’t know for sure why he did it. I only wanted you to believe it so you would help me get my revenge against Him. Truth is, with each century that went by after your Fall, before I joined you in Hell, I saw your Father getting sadder and sadder about your predilection. And yet, he kept telling me that someday, you would understand and come to see your wrongs, but that you needed to figure it all out by yourself, without us interfering or forcing your hand. He said that only when you were ready, then could he make a gesture to help you come back to the light. Not before. At the time, it became one of the things that spurred my anger towards Him; to know that it saddened Him to see you suffer in Hell and yet knowing that He would not lift a finger to get you out of there or even let me help you. Now I wonder, if that gesture he planned to make once you were ready might not be Chloe. She might not be a poisoned gift after all. She very well might be all that you ever wanted."

Lucifer was speechless. He even wondered if his dying could be making him imagine all of this. Was there truly a chance that Chloe was a peace offering gift from his Father? Could he ever dare to entertain the mere possibility?

In spite of his silence, Charlotte knew that she had gotten to him. "Lucifer! Please, you have to fight to stay alive. All might not be lost for you Son."

Lucifer couldn’t stop the new warming hope that blossomed inside his chest. Maybe Chloe’s love for him was real after all. Maybe his Father had made her so perfect that she could see and love the infinite part of him that was not irremediably darkened. If only he could survive this day, maybe he could come to accept that gift.

But life was slipping away from him as fast as water flew from a broken dam. He chuckled in derision at the cynicism of the situation. Only now, when it was too late, was he starting to believe that he had a real chance with Chloe. Only now, after having pushed her away time and again.

"If you die and go back to Hell, I will follow you my Son, but I’d prefer you wouldn’t. I hate that awful place and I sure don’t look forward to spending the rest of eternity down there."

Charlotte watched him fight with his last remaining strengths to stay in this world, but he was irremediably slipping away.

Her world fell apart when she saw his eyes flutter closed and felt his body go limp in her embrace as he lost consciousness for the last time.

She truly was ready to go down with him, but the thought that he would have to face Hell once more and suffer for eternity was just too much for her to accept. She feared it would crush and destroy him. He might even get trapped into a cell of his own, from which she probably only had a slim chance of helping him escape. She knew that if she could, she would gladly give up her life if it meant sparing him from facing that ordeal.

Suddenly, everything became clear. She knew what she had to do.

In a moment of complete clarity, she tenderly took her dying Son’s head between her hands and kissed his forehead one last time with all the love she felt for him.

In a blinding celestial light, the Goddess of Creation poured into her son every single last drop of the heavenly power that inhabited her human shell.

Chapter Text

He woke up with a start, disoriented and searching for air. He felt like a drowning man surfacing above water. Everything was dark around him. No, not entirely dark, for a soft light was piercing through the shadows. Looking for the source of the light, he saw a flashlight resting beside him. That picture brought him back to the present at lightning speed. All the events of the day came back to him in a rush of images and emotions. He sat upright in panic.

"MOM?" He almost screamed, heart beating madly.

No one answered him. It was painfully quiet in the gloomy room. A foreboding feeling settled upon him. Something was wrong. Very wrong! And he was afraid to discover what it was.

He looked more closely around him to search for his mother, but there was no sign of life. She had to be somewhere close. She would not have left him alone in his state. At the reminder of his injuries, he lifted a hand to his head. The lack of pain left him perplex. He quickly took off the bandage around his head to assess his condition. While he could still feel both dried and sticky blood through his hair, the skin was now smooth and whole again where had been a fatal injury just moments ago. At least he thought it was only moments ago, but couldn’t be sure.

He noticed something strange covering his hand once he brought it back into his field of vision. Actually, both his hands, and even his whole clothing, were covered by a thin layer of dark dust. A closer look at it told him that it was in fact… ashes!

The feeling of foreboding suddenly turned into one of absolute horror.

"Nooo! No please! Not that! Mom! What have you done?"

He started shaking, overwhelmed by the magnitude of the situation; his Mom had sacrificed her life to save his! Thus damning herself to Hell for eternity.

His mind was spinning with that horrifying realization settling in.

She was gone! Gone for good, in one last selfless act such as he never thought her capable of. And she’d done it for him! His heart and soul were crying for her.

But what had she done exactly? Burned herself up with a surge of celestial power to heal him? She would have needed to control her powers very carefully to form only healing waves as not to burn him too in the process, considering his actual mortal condition. He hadn’t known she’d regain that much control over it, nor even that she had gotten back any of her former powers for that matter. On the other hand, maybe he only survived the rush of energy because Chloe was far enough? Or was it instead because Chloe was simply… dead?

Sheer panic overwhelmed him.

"CHLOE?" He screamed.

He couldn’t lose her! Losing his Mother was already bad enough. He knew he could never survive losing Chloe too.

Only silence answered him. Then, a gun shot rang out farther in the basement, soon followed by others.

Chloe…

She might still be alive! He clang desperately to that slim hope. A hope that was decreasing with every second that passed by.

He all but jumped through the hole leading into the room on the other side and from there ran as fast as his celestial origin allowed him to. He barely spared a glance at their witness who was sitting through the debris of walls near the back exit, looking bemused.

Lucifer suspected to know perfectly well what was going on. He remembered Detective Williams and the devious plan he had unfolded. Chloe and Daniel hadn’t known about it however. He should have told them, he should have remembered in time to protect them, though chastising himself for that was probably not going to do them any good at the moment. All he could do now was make sure to get there in time to avoid the worse.

A desperate Devil in grief and fury dashed through the basement, well determined to punish the sinner who was threatening the woman he loved and who had brought torment into his life.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Chloe got propelled backwards by the impact of the bullet hitting her square in the right side of her chest. The pain was breathtaking. She knew she would certainly be dead by now if not for her bulletproof vest hidden underneath her shirt. But still, the pain, both from the gun shot as well as from the rock that just hit her in the stomach, was such that she doubted being able to move. She was thankful to still be conscious though, but her life was hanging only by a thread now. With a rush of adrenaline, she rolled over and crawled away on all fours to hide behind a pile of debris as a rain of bullets fell around her. She’d lost her flashlight, fallen a distance away, but by some miracle her gun was still in her hand.

Fortunately, Williams had also dropped his flashlight. The lack of light in the room was both a blessing for her and a hindrance. While Williams had a hard time seeing and shooting at her, so did she. With the pain in her chest, it became a challenge to even lift her arm to shoot. Without exposing herself too much, she nonetheless succeeded to fire a few times in the general direction where she thought Williams had taken cover. They shot blindly at each other for a few rounds, without success. Chloe didn’t have much hope of taking him down in such circumstances. But maybe she didn’t have to…

"Williams! It’s over. It’s best for you to just surrender. You’ll never be able to pull it off now. If you shoot us, you’ll get caught anyway."

"Maybe you’re right." Williams answered from his hiding place. "But at least I’d be able to finish the job. I don’t think you’re in a position to negotiate, Detective Decker. Actually," And she could hear a smile in his voice, "you are the one who should surrender. Otherwise I’ll just have to shoot Detective Espinoza who might still be alive. I’m aiming at him right as we speak. What is it going to be, Detective Decker?"

A chill ran through her. Whatever she choose, Dan was as good as dead, and if she surrendered, she’s be dead too. She never felt so helpless in her whole life than in that very instant.

All of a sudden, a growling shadow roamed through the room. She only had time to see two burning red eyes before Williams was grabbed by the throat and lifted up in the air. When she heard Lucifer’s voice, she down right wondered if she might not be imagining the whole thing.

"You won’t touch HER! You despicable piece of junk! You have no idea what you’ve already done!" The Devil thundered.

Then Lucifer threw the piece of garbage in question ten feet across the room, right into a wall. Mad with rage, he turned back on him with eyes burning with the fires of Hell. He swiftly advanced towards Williams to take a hold of him once more by the throat and bring him up against the wall at eye level.

Williams could only squirm and moan in pain and fright, as the hand around his throat was squeezing the life out of him. Lucifer did his best to restrain himself from killing him right on the spot. Only the fact that Chloe was still alive kept him from doing so. He was however uncertain of her state and wellbeing, which kept him on the brink of losing his mind.

Lucifer’s voice was shaking with unrestrained anger. "WHY? Why did you do it? What did you desire so much that you would kill to get it?" He released the pressure of his hand just enough for Williams to speak.

The detective tried in vain to fight the pull to answer. "I… I wanted to make my uncle proud."

"And who is that uncle of yours?" He growled

"Marco Saputo…" Williams breathed with difficulty

Of course. The Mafia leader had infiltrated the Anti-gang unit with one of his man. His own nephew moreover. He should have seen that one coming.

"Well, Mafia gang nephew, we’ll see how proud your uncle will be at seeing his own blood rot in a psychiatric yard," the Devil said menacingly.

Williams started screaming at the top of his lungs, terrified out of his mind by the vision of Hell materialising in front of him.

The low lighting in the room didn’t allow Chloe to see clearly what Lucifer was doing to Williams. Not that she really cared. At that point, he could be strangling him to death that she wouldn’t really mind. She was actually too busy reconciling what she had just seen to care about the faith of a criminal. Lucifer was up and about, looking stronger than ever when he had been close to death only minutes ago. And the way he had thrown the detective across the room… those red glowing eyes… It shouldn’t be coming as a surprise though, everything considered. It wasn’t even the first time she’d seen him that way. She’d just taken great care of dismissing it all, time and again. Well, no more. It was finally time to face the truth.

Her partner, the man she loved, was the Devil!

She thought she should be afraid, terrified even of that realization, but strangely, she was not. Sure, she was in a bit of a shock. Who wouldn’t really? But the relief and joy she was feeling at seeing Lucifer alive and apparently well was outstanding any other emotions in that instant. All she could think of, and see in her mind, was the way he had looked at her when saying that he couldn’t live without her. That being was only the Lucifer she knew and loved, whatever his origins.

However, Lucifer sounded quite distressed at the moment, maybe because he believed she was injured. She needed to help him calm down, tell him that she was fine. So she stood up and walked slowly to him through the debris, her path illuminated only by the low lighting given by the flashlights laying about in the room. That’s only when she reached him that she saw it. His head…

He didn’t have any hair left, and his skin… His skin looked red and burnt, with ridges in some places, just like images she had seen in books of what the Devil should look like, except for the horns. Of course, like he’d already told her, he didn’t have any. That made her smile in spite of everything. She remembered him believing that he was burning earlier, as if he were reliving a past event. Looked like he really did burn after all, eons ago. She mentally cringed at the thought of his past suffering.

She forced herself to stay calm and to keep her breathing steady. It was only Lucifer, and he was in distress, as his grimacing face and the tears on his ravaged cheeks proved.

She was proud of the steadiness of her hand when she laid it over his shoulder. She spoke calmly, but loud enough to be heard over Williams’ screaming.

"Lucifer…"

She saw and felt him freeze instantly. He didn’t turn towards her though.

"Lucifer, he got what he deserved. You can let him go now. Everything is okay! I’m fine. And you are too."

She lifted her other hand to caress the back of his head to confirm that there was no wound anymore. His burnt skin felt surprisingly soft, and definitely exempt of any injury. How that could even be possible, she had no idea, but didn’t really care, as long as he was ok.

"Please stop! You’re just hurting yourself Lucifer." She insisted pleadingly.

Lucifer could hardly grasp what was happening. In his rage, he’d made the error of summoning his Devil’s face instead of only flashing it at Williams. And now, Chloe was touching him, in his Devil’s form, and she wasn’t even flinching. Hadn’t she been touching him, he would have put on the lack of lighting the fact that she didn’t sound scared of him. There was, however, no denying the fact that she had to be aware of his appearance, thus of who he truly was, and that she was apparently unafraid of the Devil himself. Instead, he thought she sounded … worried? About him? It just made no sense.

In complete shock, Lucifer let Williams fall roughly on the floor where he rolled into a ball, crying and mumbling incoherently. In his state of dismay, it took Lucifer a moment to regain control over his glamour to hide his Devil’s face. Only then did he turned ever so slowly towards Chloe.

Chloe had moved one of her hand to the side of his neck to cup it in a caring way. He couldn’t see her face and eyes clearly in the shadows, which didn’t allow him to understand her state of mind.

"I don’t… I don’t understand." He whispered, part hopeful, part terrified.

Chloe placed two fingers on his lips to silence him.

"Hush! I told you Lucifer, everything is okay! WE, are okay!"

He couldn’t start imagining what this could mean. Before he could dwell on it any longer, Chloe fell into his arms in what felt like a desperate embrace. He hugged her back with equal desperation. All the caught up emotions that were eating him up started dissipating as a wonderful sensation of relief flooded through him. Relief at her acceptance, and relief at knowing she was still alive. Hugging her fiercely, he basked in the feel of her and in that magical moment, forgetting about everything that wasn’t her.

Chapter Text

Lucifer didn’t know how long they stayed locked in this sweat embrace, lost in each other, in what felt like a wonderful bubble of peace that nothing could break, not even Williams mumbling and crying.

He could hardly believe that he had a second chance with Chloe. He really thought he had lost her. First that he was going back to Hell, then that she had been killed. And that second chance was only possible because of his mother’s sacrifice. She had probably saved Chloe’s life too by saving him. But was she really unarmed? A doubt entered his numb mind and now he felt the uncontrolled need to verify that she was truly fine. He partly released her of his hold to try and look her over. She was standing straight at least, with no apparent blood loss. But it was hard to tell in the darkness.

"Are you really okay? Did he hurt you?" He asked her unsteadily.

Still holding him loosely, she caressed the back of his head to reassure him. "I’m fine, don’t worry. But Dan wasn’t so lucky. I think he got hit over the head. I don’t even know if he’s still alive."

With her statement, reality came crashing back in a rush, breaking their little moment of peace. They let go of each other almost in shame at having forgotten about Dan, even if it had been only for a moment. Chloe quickly went to crouch beside Daniel’s immobile body to check for a life sign. As she feared, there was blood over the side of his head. This couldn’t be good. Holding her breath, she searched for a pulse at his neck.

She sighed in relief. "He is alive! His pulse is strong and steady and I can feel his chest rising with his breathing."

She shook him a little to help him regain consciousness. "Dan! Do you hear me? Can you open your eyes?" He stayed stubbornly unresponsive. She prayed that his injury wasn’t too serious. "Don’t worry Dan, we’ll get you help in no time." She just hoped she wasn’t lying.

Lucifer lifted Daniel into his arms and brought him back to the main room by the exit door while Chloe steered forwards a now handcuffed and incoherent Williams. She couldn’t bring herself to be sorry for his babbling state.

Their witness looked relieved to see them back. While Chloe remembered leaving him alone in the dark, he was now working on the rubbles under the lighting of a flashlight resting by his side. She deduced it could only be Charlotte’s. Come to think of it, she couldn’t see the lawyer anywhere. Strange. Chloe questioned him before Phillips could ask what happened to them.

"Where is Charlotte?"

Phillips looked hesitant, gazing alternatively between Lucifer and her. "I’m not sure… I think… I think she’s gone."

"What do you mean, she’s gone?" Chloe asked impatiently. "We didn’t see her back there and it’s not like she would go wander around in the dark for fun."

Phillips suddenly looked trapped, almost in panic. Chloe had no idea what the Hell was going on.

"He is right, Charlotte is gone." Lucifer said softly.

At a complete loss, Chloe turned towards him for answers. Lucifer had laid Daniel down and was now standing with his hands in his pockets, looking as lost as a little kid. That reminded her that Charlotte really had to be his mother, everything considered. Obviously, something big had happened here, something that was disturbing Lucifer to the highest degree. At the way Lucifer was behaving, she was afraid to hear what that was.

"What happened?" She asked as softly as he had spoken.

He lowered his eyes and shrugged. "Healing me seems to have taken more divine powers than her borrowed human’s body could handle. She is…" Saying it aloud was harder than he had thought. "Her body just burnt into ashes, and by now she has to be back in Hell in a cell from which she will never escape again."

There was just too many incredible information in Lucifer’s few sentences. Chloe didn’t know what to make of it all. So she tried to focus on the most important thing and put aside the rest for future considerations; he’d just lost his mother in a most horrible way.

"I’m so sorry Lucifer!" She walked to him and reached for one of his hidden hands to squeeze it comfortingly.

Lucifer lifted his teared up gaze to hers and smiled faintly in gratitude. He probably held her hand a little longer than was appropriate in their circumstances, but he strangely found strength in the small gesture as well as in her warm gaze, and he was unhurried to break the moment.

Chloe thought of going into the other room to check on Charlotte’s remains, but what good would it do now? As crazy as it sounded, she undoubtedly believed in Lucifer’s explanation and beside, Dan needed medical attention as soon as possible.

Damon Phillips was starting to fidget restlessly beside them. "What happened to the detectives?" He finally chanced uncertainly, while eying Dan and Detective Williams in confusion.

Chloe smiled in apology to Lucifer before releasing his hand. Then she explained to their witness how Detective Williams was the one to blame for the bombing and his trying to kill Dan and herself.

Her gaze settled on the back exit, or what was left of it. She couldn’t hear anyone working on the other end to try and rescue them. Maybe it was still too early after the bombing. Everyone must be too focussed on the ravages on the main floor to think of looking down here. From what she saw from their end, it could take hours to dig a way out, short of a miracle…

But maybe they had their own miracle supplier at hand. She gazed back at Lucifer who was watching her with a raised eyebrow, as if knowing what she was thinking and daring her to speak her mind.

She searched for a way to ask it that wouldn’t make her sound crazy but didn’t find any. So she just asked. "Being who you are… You know! Do you think you could, kind of, use your incredible strength, which might be even more incredible than I ever suspected, and just… push those debris aside so we could get out?"

There she had said it! She had acknowledged the elephant in the room. Lucifer sent her a roguish smile. The bastard!

"You know that I don’t like to sweat unnecessarily, Detective." Chloe’s eyes bulged in consternation. But Lucifer continued before she could protest. "And there’s no real need for that kind of exertion anyway."

Chloe’s mouth opened in silent incomprehension. What the f…?

"Just watch me, Detective!" Then Lucifer winked at her. He actually winked at her!

With a crooked smile, he simply motioned for them to get back while he took position in front of the exit way, a few meters away from it.

Chloe braced herself for what was to come, even though she had absolutely no idea what Lucifer had in store. She saw him lift a hand, palm up, then a small light appeared just above it. In complete awe, she watched the light grow in size and power until the room was as bright as in daylight. Then, the real craziness began. Boulders of concreate and other debris started lifting in the air and flying around the room to settle into piles, thus clearing a path through the exit corridor. Soon, they saw appear a door at the top of a flight of stairs.

Once the way was cleared up, Lucifer closed his hand into a fist and the eerie light disappeared, leaving them in almost darkness once more. Beside Chloe, Damon Phillips was signing himself restlessly and whispering prayers under his breath. Chloe was panting by now, too dazzled by the show of divinity.

Lucifer turned back to her with a sheepish air. "You okay, Detective?"

Chloe slapped herself mentally. Now was not the time to freak out. "Sure! I’m totally good. Peachy even! That was… awesome!" She managed to answer, still a little bit in a haze. "You’ve got other tricks like that?"

"A few…" He said enigmatically.

"Of course you do!" She said teasingly.

That made him chuckle, which lifted the awkwardness that had settled between them for a second.

Without waiting any longer, they left the basement and got out into broad daylight. Nobody was close to their exit way when they resurfaced, which conveniently allowed Lucifer to leave the building unnoticed and head for LUX to go get changed. His bloodied appearance and ripped clothes would have been difficult to explain considering he had no remaining wounds whatsoever. Chloe made him promise to be back as soon as possible. She was not ready to take the chance of him disappearing like he had with the Vegas incident. She would not allow him to freak out and bail on her this time.

Phillips helped her bring Dan to the nearest Ambulance from where he was taken care of and rapidly brought to a hospital. Chloe made sure Detective Williams would be charged for the bombing and taken into custody, then she entrusted Phillips’ protection to proper instances.

She served the Lieutenant a story of spontaneous combustion having happened during the bombing to explain Charlotte’s remaining ashes. That had been Lucifer’s idea, and who could contradict her really? Certainly not Damon Phillips who was way too afraid of the Devil to tell anything out of their planned story, and even less Williams, who was not even able to speak two sensible words in a row. The phenomena would undoubtedly remain a mystery forever for the LAPD. Lucifer had talked about a borrowed body that his mother had inhabited. Did this mean that the real Charlotte was dead too? It was not like she was largely loved at the precinct, but she had to have a family, with people who would miss her. And of course there was Dan… Whatever had been the status of their strange relationship, she knew he cared deeply for the woman and that her death would crush him. She wondered if he ever even met the real Charlotte or if he had fallen in love with the Goddess right from the start. She added those questions to her ever growing list, hoping that Lucifer would someday answer them.

Only once all her responsibilities were fulfilled did Chloe accept of being checked over by paramedics. Not only was it protocol to be examined after being shot at, but she also felt an increasing pain in her chest that started to concern her, now that the adrenaline was wearing off her system.

To her greatest relief, Ella appeared by her side at the back of the ambulance where she was sitting. Her friend looked unarmed and quite overwhelmed at finding her alive. Ella crushed Chloe into a tight embrace that made her groan in pain.

"Damn Chloe! I really thought you guys were all dead. I heard it was all Detective Williams’ doing. The son of a bitch! I also heard about Dan. I’m so sorry, Chloe! But you know how thick-headed he is, I’m sure he’s gonna be ok. And poor Charlotte Richards! How horrible! I’m getting on her case right now, and as weird as the phenomena might seem, I’m gonna get at the bottom of it. I promise. Where is Lucifer? After what happened, I thought I would find him hovering beside you like a guardian angel. You know how protective of you he is… "

Chloe was afraid her friend would never stop talking or hugging her. Her ribs were hurting something fierce.

That’s only at that moment that Ella remarked Chloe’s grimace of pain. "Oh! Did I hurt you? Were you injured in the bombing? Oh! My God! I’m so sorry!" She released Chloe hurriedly, guilt painted all over her face.

Chloe winced at the use of God’s name. She was starting to understand a bit more Lucifer’s reactions to such speeches. It was indeed quite disturbing to hear His name being revered this way when she knew what a jerk he actually had to be considering everything He made Lucifer go through over the course of his existence. Could she end up in Hell for thinking ill of God? Good thing that she knew a guy… Which brought her back around to Ella’s question.

"Lucifer is ok. He’s probably not far, you know him, unable to stay put."

Fortunately, her answer seemed sufficient to sate Ella’s curiosity. Her friend was actually looking more concerned about Chloe’s condition than anything else.

"It’s not that bad, Ella." Chloe reassured her. "The paramedics are suspecting I might have a few broken ribs from the gunshot I got from Williams, but we’ll be sure only after proper x-rays have been taken at the hospital. That’s where they were about to take me."

It took Chloe a lot of persuasion to convince Ella that there was no need to accompany her to the hospital. Chloe adored her friend, but right now, she would be glad to have some time to herself to think about the insanity that her life had become.

She made sure to be sent to the same hospital as Dan. Fortunately, her mother would be able to take care of Trixie for the night.

Just as her ambulance was leaving the precinct, Chloe got a call from Lucifer.

"Hello Detective! I’m on my way to the station, all freshly showered and back to my devilishly handsome self. Missed me?"

Chloe suspected his joyful tone to be partly a façade. She could detect a certain level of insecurity in his speech. Wasn’t it her, who should be entitled to feel insecure about all of this? Maybe the panic was just waiting at the corner to hit her. But as of now, Lucifer looked to be the one in need of some reinsurance. So she made sure to give it to him. She thought they both needed some honesty at the moment anyway.

"Actually I did!" She said simply.

"Oh! Really?" He definitely didn’t expect that answer.

"Yeah!" She admitted softly. "I’m glad you’re coming back. But instead of heading for the precinct, can you join me directly at the Memorial Hospital?"

"Oh right, Daniel! The poor chap."

To Chloe’s surprise, he sounded genuinely concerned.

"Yes, he hasn’t regained consciousness yet. And I… I may have a few broken ribs after all." She added reluctantly.

Lucifer’s reaction was even worse than she expected. "WHAT?" he practically screamed. "But… you told me you were fine!" He sounded almost hysterical.

"Please, calm down Lucifer! I thought my bulletproof vest had taken all the blow when Williams shot me, but I may have underestimated the strength of the impact. Still, I AM fine Lucifer. Please don’t worry!"

He was clearly not listening to her pleading. "How did I miss that? You were shot at, and I didn’t even noticed!" He said, in utter disbelief and guilt. "I should have killed the bastard when I had the chance."

"Don’t blame yourself Lucifer. Please! You saved me! And a few broken ribs are nothing compared to what could have happened. Really, I can only be happy at the outcome. And with some more luck, I might even get a leave of absence for a few days as a bonus. That would be a fair bargain if you ask me." She added happily.

She heard him sigh deeply over the phone, probably still unsure whether she were telling him the whole truth or not. "Okay, I’ll join you directly at the hospital then. See you, Love." He finished softly before hanging up.

Chloe’s heart warmed at Lucifer’s outburst and obvious affection for her. She thought that they should have gotten into mortal danger a lot more often if that’s what it took for him to finally open up to her and allow himself to show or say how much she meant to him. As long as he didn’t freak out on her again… But he clearly said he would join her shortly. It had to be a good sign. Right?

Still, she tried not to get her hopes of a possible romantic relationship with him too high, since there was obviously something important keeping him from yielding to his attraction to her. And to be honest, she wasn’t even sure yet if this knew knowledge of his being the actual Devil would change the way she felt about him. She knew that an intense ordeal such as the one they just got through could blur out her real feelings and that she could come down from that high with a whole different point of view once she stopped and really thought it through.

What did it really mean to be in love with the Devil, a celestial being who had walked the Earth for eons? Or should she say underneath it? Whatever! Could it even work out between them? Was he able, or even willing to get into a relationship such as Chloe dreamed of? He was an immortal… God’s son… God was real… She suddenly felt very small, minuscule, in a world that now seemed totally alien to her. Looked like the panic she had been expecting was finally hitting her.

Chapter Text

Chloe couldn’t say when her breathing started speeding up, or when her heart began to flutter wildly into her chest, constricting into a painful knot. All she knew was that what seemed only a moment ago, she had been sitting on the stretcher at the back of the ambulance on her way to the hospital, and the next she was lying on it with an oxygen mask over her face and a cardiac monitor attached to her chest with alarms screaming.

Even now, she was barely aware of it all, the reality around her seeming all distorted and wrong. Her whole universe had just been turned upside down, with new elements added to it which she couldn’t quite reconcile yet with what had been her reality. What was real and what was not? There was no way for her to know anymore. It felt like a terrible mess that she didn’t feel equipped to sort out.

There were divine entities, angels and archangels, demons, and probably all kinds of creatures of legends she’d always thought were just that, legends, or myths. But they were probably all real, and a part of her world, a world she had believed she knew and understood. But nothing was what it seemed; Lucifer was not an eccentric and sexy club owner, but an Archangel, and the Devil who ruled in Hell, which was real too; Maze was a lot more than just an emotionally crippled, a bit deranged, and strange woman; and Amenadiel probably was another son of God...

Once again, the realisation that God existed hit her and she felt crushed under the weight of that knowledge. It felt like her small life was utterly insignificant in the face of divinity. The world was not what she had thought it to be and she was left utterly unable to find back her place in this new reality. She’d never felt so lost and terrified.

After she couldn’t say how long, Chloe opened her eyes to this frightening new world and became aware of a big commotion around her. She was now into a room, surrounded by doctors and nurses, with more medical equipment attached to her. There were still alarm bells ringing in her ears. It looked like they were trying to stabilise her condition but didn’t quite understand what she was suffering from. She saw a nurse inject medication via her perfusion and an instant later she felt herself relax sensibly.

Her mind was still spinning though, as if caught into a whirlwind, so she tried to find something to focus on, something that would anchor her and make her feel secure. Strangely, the first thought that came to her was Lucifer. She had always felt safe with him and she believed that she still did. She couldn’t say if seeing him again for real would not instead send her into a panic, now that she had fully realized who he really was and all that it meant, but the memory of him made her feel safe. So she pictured him in her mind, holding her in his arms and saying that everything would be alright. Her mind slowly settled down and she relaxed some more, noticing at the same time that the alarms had stopped their irritating noise. Still holding onto that feeling of safety in Lucifer’s arms, she let herself drift into a welcomed slumber.

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

The moment Lucifer asked the desk nurse at the ER where he could find Detective Chloe Decker, and saw the way her smile shifted into a small grimace, he knew something was wrong. His heart dropped into his chest and it suddenly became very hard for him to breathe.

The nurse’s reluctance to give him any answer increased his panic to a critic point. Seeing that he was about to lose it, the nurse only conceded to tell him that Chloe was being taken care of in the shock room and that the doctors were doing their best. His imagination got the better of him, creating the worse possible scenarios in which Chloe had hidden from him a more severe injury like a deadly gunshot wound, or that her fractured ribs had complicated into something else that was life threatening.

In a state of daze, he was directed to a waiting room where he passed the longest hour of his existence at walking back and forth restlessly and racking his fingers through his hair in despair. His heart literally stopped beating when he heard his name being called.

A doctor quickly brought him up to speed by first reassuring him that Chloe was out of danger. Lucifer almost busted into tears of relief at the news. Apparently, Chloe’s vitals had hit the roof all of a sudden without apparent explanation. They’d first thought her to suffer from a heart failure or a state of shock following the shooting she’d been involved in, but soon discarded those possibilities after a few tests. They were now convinced that it had been a severe panic attack, possibly induced by a life threatening situation.

Chloe Decker suffering from a panic attack because of a shooting? There was no way Lucifer would believe it. The Detective was much stronger than that. He feared that he knew too well what had provoked such an episode; he had seen it happened to too many people who had got a glimpse of his true face.

It was his fault! He had broken her! His strong and wonderful Detective. She would probably never want to see him again. He felt a deep devastation wash over him.

"We had to sedate her to control her vitals." Pursued the Doctor. "She just came back to herself and fortunately her condition stayed stable. She is ready for transfer now, where we’ll keep an eye on her for a few hours. She also has two broken ribs, but since they’re not displaced, there’s nothing to be done about them but prescribe her a few weeks of rest."

At least the news about her health were good. She would be okay, physically at the very least.

Lucifer thanked the Doctor and moved as if about to go away.

"Don’t you want to see her? Aren’t you her partner?" The doctor asked, perplexed. "We haven’t been able to reach her family yet and you are named as an emergency contact."

Lucifer froze, not knowing how to explain that the Detective would certainly not want to see him at the moment and that it was best for him to make his exit. But before he could find the right words, he caught sight of golden hair at the periphery of his vision. His gaze snapped in that direction where he saw a stretcher being rolled out of a room nearby down the corridor with Chloe on it. Her eyes were closed as if in a peaceful rest. He basked in her beauty and in the knowledge that she was out of danger.

He was about to turn around and leave when she opened her eyes and looked straight at him. He expected to see fear and maybe even panic in her gaze, but there was nothing of that. Instead, he could read an unsettling vulnerability. Not knowing what to make of it, he stayed immobile, making sure not to look threatening and risk worsening her condition.

Without talking, Chloe just reached in his direction with her stretched hand, inviting him to come to her.

Lucifer couldn’t begin to understand what was going on in her head, but didn’t think twice before walking to her and taking her hand in his. She squeezed his hand in a strong grasp and didn’t let go. Without uttering a word, she simply smiled at him then closed her eyes again. He couldn’t comprehend why she needed him now, when she should be asking him to stay as far away as possible, but he was ready to give her anything she wanted, for as long as she needed it. Even if she decided to discard him later and break his heart, he would be there for her while she needed him.

He followed the stretcher, still holding her hand in his, until they reached the observation unit where they transferred her into a bed. He sat beside the bed once she was settled there, still attached to a cardiac monitor, and kept holding and stroking gently her hand.

Lucifer kept a close eye on the monitor, to make sure she was okay. Her vitals were still fluttering wildly, sometimes spiking so high that the alarms rang for a moment. Strangely, in those moments, Chloe would simply open her eyes, look at him strangely while squeezing his hand, and her vitals would go back down again. Why that was he couldn’t start to comprehend, but he was grateful to be allowed to keep touching her.

She didn’t say much, mostly inquiring about Daniel’s condition. Lucifer had been able to learn that he was presently in the OR. As it turned out, the poor man needed a surgical intervention to drain a subdural hematoma, which was making too much pressure inside his brain. Daniel’s mother had been reached and had given her approbation for the operation.

Chloe received some medication during the next hours, to help with the pain in her chest and keep her calm. She looked to be resting most of the time, but Lucifer knew she was not sleeping. She was obviously thinking, and processing, and he felt utterly useless and afraid of the conclusions she would reach.

He taught back about the admissions he made to her while on the brink of death; of not being able to live without her, but not being able to accept the great gift that she was. It was one thing to learn that Lucifer Morningstar couldn’t live without you, but it was another thing entirely to learn that the Devil couldn’t. How could any human process that? Accept that, and reciprocate? His Mother had made him start to believe that Chloe’s love for him might be genuine. He had even started to envision that he could accept his Father’s gift, accept Chloe’s love and stop seeing only deception in it. But what now, that she knew the truth about him? Could her feelings for him ever be the same? That would truly be a miracle...

She’d said she wanted to have a conversation about all of it once he’d be feeling better, and yet she didn’t seem ready for it. Maybe she would never be, now that she knew. She’d told him they were ok though, after seeing his Devil’s face. Were they still? The wonderful hope that he had felt when thinking that they had a second chance, at last, was wearing off with each minute of silence that passed between them.

In the middle of the afternoon, after a few hours of not hearing any new alarms from Chloe’s monitor, the doctor released her with a prescription of painkiller and mild sedative for the nerves. They headed straight for the recovery room where Daniel had been brought after his intervention. They couldn’t see him yet though, since he hadn’t regain consciousness, but a doctor told them that the operation was a success. Hopefully, Daniel should regain his full capacities within a few weeks.

Chloe felt a part of her anxiety drop from her shoulders. Dan would be okay! And she wouldn’t have to give her daughter bad news. She shared a relieved smile with Lucifer. In spite of the strange relationship going on between the two men, Lucifer seemed genuinely glad to hear the good news.

After the doctor left them standing in the waiting room, an uncomfortable silence settled between Lucifer and Chloe. Lucifer was once again wearing that vulnerable and miserable air that she had seen creeping up on his face earlier. She remembered that he had just lost his mother today.

She reached out and squeezed his hand in hers to comfort him. She had gotten used to the gesture over the last hours and would miss it once he was gone. God knew it had comforted her today.

She smiled at him softly. "You ok?"

"Why would I not be?" He evaded, with a forced smile. Chloe wasn’t buying it.

"Maybe you should go to your place. There’s no need for you to stay with me while I wait for Dan to wake up. I’ll be okay. Go rest, you had a rough day." What an understatement that was!

A strange look passed through his eyes. "If that’s what you need, Detective."

Oh! No! She could see his walls coming back up full force. She corrected herself quickly to make sure there was no misunderstanding between them. "That’s not about what I need, Lucifer, but what you need. You just lost you mom..." Her heart cried for him. "You cared enough about me for one day, now it’s time you think about yourself for a change. I had a little freak out earlier, but I’m doing better now, thanks to you. You shouldn’t be the one to drop the news of Charlotte’s death to Dan anyway. I’ll do it. I’ll see you later, once Dan wakes up."

"All right, Detective." His smile seemed a little bit more true.

Chloe stroked his knuckles one last time with her thumb before he pulled away. She prayed that she didn’t make a mistake by making him feel rejected. He strangely looked more like a frightened animal that needed careful handling than like the Devil she now knew him to be.

"I’ll see you later, right? You’ll be at your place?" She hoped she didn’t sound as pitiful as she felt.

He seemed to catch on her insecurity though, and he smiled sheepishly. "Yes I will be there. I promise I won’t bail on you this time, Detective."

Had she been that obvious? Probably. Still, she smiled back brightly. He wouldn’t leave. And they would finally have that talk. There was so much to address, about... well, everything. She wouldn’t know where to begin. She felt a bit more like herself now that her freak out about divinity was mostly over, but she hadn’t been able to think much about her feelings for Lucifer in the last hours. All her energy had been directed at keeping herself together.

Strangely, it had been Lucifer’s presence that helped her most to ground herself back into reality. His firm hold on her hand had felt like an anchor, a beacon in the middle of the storm that had become her world. Reality seemed stronger with him beside her, and a lot less frightening. Things that had seemed too big to handle had slowly shrank down to an almost manageable level. With Lucifer by her side, she felt like she could overcome anything.

She hadn’t been able to tell him anything of significance though, because truthfully, she didn’t know exactly how she felt about him. All she knew was that she still needed him in her life, now more than ever. She hoped she had successfully passed on to him that feeling with her small gestures.

Now that she thought about it, that time alone, without Lucifer, would give her the opportunity to really sort out everything about him, and about them...

It took a few hours after Lucifer’s departure for Dan to wake up. By then, she was emotionally drained out by all the soul searching she had done while thinking of Lucifer and where she wished to go from there. She felt utterly vulnerable, her feelings raw to the bone.

She tried to collect herself and went to see Dan.

There was a clean bandage wrapped around his head and he looked groggy from all the anesthetics, but he seemed to be able to keep his eyes open.

She kissed his head and smiled sweetly at him. "You gave me quite a scare there," she admitted softly while taking a seat beside him.

He looked guilty. "Sorry! I guess I haven’t been very smart this time. I should have felt that Williams was a dirty cop, understood it somehow. I take it that my being still alive means that you must have stopped him in time?"

"Don’t be too hard on yourself, Dan. I understood it myself only because I had the last pieces of the puzzle laying before me in that basement. Even then, it was almost too late when I finally understood that Williams wanted to kill you." Her present vulnerable state unfortunately made the emotion of helplessness she had felt back then resurface with a vengeance, and her lower lip started trembling. "Anyway, had it not been for Lucifer, I fear we would both be dead by now..."

The reminder of Lucifer and of who Daniel now suspected him to be was enough to make him lose the little color he had.

He clearly hesitated before voicing his question. "Do you... do you really think he could be the... the Devil?"

She nodded slowly, almost apologetically. "I know so. I’ve seen it. I’ve seen a lot of things in that basement, Dan. There’s still a lot I don’t understand, or haven’t wrapped my head around yet, but the one thing we can both be sure is that Lucifer is a kind and amazing being who went to great lengths to save our lives. He as good as sacrificed his life without a second thought for us... as his Mother did for him..." She said the last part in a whisper, as if to make the horrible news more bearable for him. Chloe always thought the woman to be selfish to the bone. Looked like she had a lot more layers than what it appeared.

Dan started at her words, not understanding, or not wanting to. "What....? What do you mean?" He whispered back, with a foreboding air.

"I’m sorry, Dan! But... Charlotte, Lucifer’s Mom, she... Of what I understand, she used some celestial powers to heal him, powers that her temporary human body couldn’t withstand. She’s gone... "

"Gone...?" He was in shock. What did this mean? She was supposed to be some kind of Goddess, she couldn’t just be what, dead? Could she? "What do you mean, gone?" He sounded so small.

So Chloe tried to explain everything a bit more clearly with the little she understood about it all. She tried to make him understand that the Goddess wasn’t really dead, but would certainly be staying in Hell for eternity, locked up there once more after having escaped it, or been released, it wasn’t quite clear, not so long ago.

Daniel’s emotions were in turmoil. Charlotte had always been special, if somehow quite disconcerting at times. Some would even call her strange. His feelings for her had always been unclear; desire, lust, or sick attractiveness? He wasn’t sure, but he had liked her, a lot, and he thought she had liked him too. And she had been a damn Goddess!

Though he felt thunderstruck by the realization, he also felt blessed to have had the chance to know her and to experience that short time together. She might not be dead, but her fate sounded far worse than simple death; Hell! When he thought about it, her sacrifice for her son was also what had certainly saved Chloe’s and his life in the end. He owed her his life, and she was back in Hell, where she would undoubtedly be tortured for eternity...

Chapter Text

As the sun was going down and painting a beautiful array of yellows and oranges in the darkening sky of LA, Lucifer was sitting at his grand piano, brooding and immobile, incapable of finding a song to play that would be sad enough to match his feelings.

He’d tried to keep himself occupied those last hours, to block the depressing thoughts away, without much success, he had to admit. He’d been drinking, of course, but not enough to get drunk. He’d have to be very dedicated to the task for it to happen, and right now he was way too distracted to focus properly on anything.

He also kept contact with Miss Lopez to follow the evolution of the search for survivors in the rubbles of the precinct. The current deaths count was officially of four, Charlotte included, with still a few missing persons to account for. It was surprisingly low, considering the amount of damages inflicted to the building. Of what he also heard, Williams seems to be well on his way to stay crazy for the rest of his life, some small comfort, and after that he would finally have his real punishment down in Hell. Lucifer was just sad that he wouldn’t be there to insure himself that the culprit would receive proper penance.

In spite of all his efforts to distract himself, Lucifer’s thoughts always came back to Chloe... She was freaked out, half broken by the revelations he had imposed on her. She hadn’t said so, of course, but he knew, he’d seen it in her eyes. He’d already seen that kind of lost look countless times before, of a mortal not understanding her universe anymore. It had just taken his leaving her a short time this morning for her to fall into a panic attack. Despite his reluctance to do so, he’d been forced to leave her again, as she’d asked him, and now he feared she would start panicking once more. And this time, she might not let him hold her hand while she did. Why she had the first time around was still a mystery to him though. Maybe she hadn’t been able to think properly back then. As soon as she got herself back together enough to think it through, she might very well decide to cut him out of her life for good. It was just a matter of time before she understood that she was better off without him. She would undoubtedly come to that conclusion, sooner or later. After all, he wasn’t even human, but the Devil, a being feared and loathed for thousands of years by humans. That kind of ancestral fear could not be erased so easily.

Let’s just say that he didn’t have great hopes of her coming to him after Daniel’s return to consciousness, even if she’d assure him that she would. He knew she would find a reason not to come, once the dust settled down and she finally looked rationally at the situation. She was a smart woman after all, his Detective. And if she truly had freewill, as he now started to believe, thanks to his Mom, then she could choose for herself, and he would have to accept her choice, whatever it would be.

He went back to the memory of holding her in his arms in the basement of the precinct, after she had seen his Devil’s face. He remembered the smell of her hair, the sweetness of her body against his, and the amazing felling of completeness he had experienced. He’d probably held her so for the last time ever.

As he had held his Mother for the very last time too... For she was gone, gone because of him, and back in Hell to suffer for eternity. How would he manage to live with the knowledge that she had given up her freedom to save his? He had no idea. And to think that she had damned herself to Hell to be with him the first time around... He didn’t feel worthy of her sacrifices. Damn! He hadn’t even threated her decently since her arrival on Earth, keeping her at arm’s length all along and blaming her at the first opportunity for everything and nothing. He was also ashamed of not even having visited her in Hell during all those millennia. If he only had, maybe she would have told him the truth, maybe things would have turned out differently...

He sighed loudly. It was no good dwelling on the past. His Mother was gone, and unfortunately there was nothing he could do about it. He would never be able to tell her everything he should have said...

Lucifer…

And now his grief was making him imagine his mother’s voice. He shook his head in disbelief. He really was good at torturing himself.

"Lucifer... "

He froze all of a sudden. That voice wasn’t coming from inside his brain, but from all around him.

Eyes wide in anticipation, Lucifer looked around himself to make sure he wasn’t in the process of losing his mind. He saw nothing at first, but then, right before him, a growing light started to expend in his living room. The light slowly took the form of a human body that then materialised into a well-known person.

"Mom?" He breathed, unbelieving.

The visage of Charlotte smiled sweetly at him. "Yes Son, it really is me."

"But... how?" He still doubted what his eyes were telling him. It just made no sense.

His Mom laughed at his stunned air. "You should see your face right now, Lucifer. It’s priceless. But I guess I must have looked the same way when I ended up in front of your Father. Believe it or not, but He seems to have been impressed by my actions to save your life. Who knew it was all it took for Him to open Heaven’s Doors for me once more?"

She walked to Lucifer’s bar and retrieved a bottle of one of his finest wine.

"What? He took you back?" He blurted out in a high pitch voice. He stood up and joined her at the bar.

She took a moment to open the bottle and poor herself a good measure of the expensive liquid. "Well, sort of. I would call it more a probation. He doesn’t trust me that much, I can tell. I’ll still have to prove myself to Him apparently, before He allows me to wander around the Silver City unattended. There is always someone watching me as it is, and I’m pretty sure He is watching me as we speak." She raised her eyes and her glass to the ceiling silently for a few seconds, in a toast to her Ex. "But I don’t really care, as long as I’m with my children. Not a lot of them are trusting me yet, I have to admit, but I’m confident they’ll come around in time."

"You really are okay..." Lucifer whispered with incredulity. As if he was just starting to believe it. "You won’t be tortured in Hell because of me?"

His Mom’s face turned all tender and she cupped his face affectionately. "No I won’t, my Son. And even if I had ended up down there, it wouldn’t have been because of you, but because of all the choices I have made during my existence. And you can be sure that I would never have regretted it if it had been to save you."

"But Mom..., what you did..., what you sacrificed for me..." He couldn’t find the right words to express his gratitude. "I’ll never be able to repay you!"

His Mom gave him a scolding look and patted his cheek comfortingly. "Don’t be silly, Son! I didn’t do it to get payed back. I did it because I’m your Mother, and that I love you. Can’t you understand that?" She squinted her eyes in thoughts for a moment. "But now that you are suggesting it, there might be something you could do for me in return."

Of course there had to be, thought Lucifer. But he couldn’t refuse her anything at this point. "I’ll do my best to fulfill your wishes, Mother." He answered warily, a bit on his guards.

She smiled mischievously. "All I ask of you, Lucifer, is to make sure to be happy."

"What?" He started in surprise.

"Don’t think that I haven’t seen you mopping about for the last few hours, already trying to convince yourself that you are unworthy of Chloe. You deserve some happiness, my Son."

Lucifer sighed in exasperation. "But it’s not only my decision, Mom. Chloe has seen my Devil’s face today. She knows everything now. If as you say Chloe has freewill, than the logical choice for her would be to push me away. And who could blame her for doing so, really?"

Mom looked surprised to learn that Chloe knew the truth, but it didn’t deterred her. "We’re not talking about logic, Lucifer, but about love. And love is so alien to you that you would miss it even if it was handed to you on a silver platter. You’re so used to torturing yourself that even if Chloe threw herself at you, you would find a way to screw this up. For once, just this time, please, stop thinking too much and take what is offered to you. I want you to grab at happiness instead of throwing it away because you’re afraid you’re gonna get hurt."

She was now holding his face tenderly with both hands, having set down her glass of wine. She was trying to infuse to him all the truth in her words.

Lucifer was simply speechless. He wanted to tell her that she was wrong and that he wasn’t afraid, but it would have been a lie. The truth was, he was already preparing himself for Chloe’s rejection and even expected nothing else. And he was not just afraid, but terrified, of letting himself love Chloe or to let her love him. He knew that giving into such love would have the potential of destroying him or of being the most wonderful thing that ever happened to him in his entire existence.

Mom smiled at her son tenderly. His evident vulnerability in that instant confirmed her that she had read the situation correctly. "All I’m asking you, Lucifer, is to give Chloe and yourself a real chance if the opportunity presents itself."

Lucifer finally returned her a shy smile. "I’ll try Mom. Thanks!"

"Now I’m counting on you to make the best out of this situation, Son. I won’t be around to check on you though. It looks like your Father will not let me come and go freely for a while. You know what a control freak He is." She snorted at the huge understatement. "He probably thinks I’d go around creating plagues and provoking floods like in old times. As if it would be a crime to do so." She added in disbelief.

"Mom!" Blurted Lucifer in consternation.

"Just kidding, Son! Just kidding! I’m gonna behave myself, I promise." She patted his cheeks motherly, seemingly quite proud of her joke.

Lucifer just hoped it really had been only a joke.

Mom took a mouthful of wine, savoring it. There was no alcohol in Heaven and she would miss it.

She returned her attention to Lucifer. "But more seriously, I’ll be back for a visit as soon as your Dad gives me some slack. So don’t worry about me in the meantime, I’ll be okay, as long as I know that you are too."

"I’ll do my best Mom, I promise." He reassured her.

"I guess that’s the best I will get." And with that, she drained the remaining of her glass of wine in one gulp, clearly ready to go.

Something suddenly came to Lucifer’s mind that could be of interest to his Mother. "Before you quit the earthly plane, Mom, I think you should go make a visit."

Mom lifted her eyebrows in curiosity.

"I’m talking about Daniel. He got a serious head injury this morning and went into surgery."

She couldn’t hide her concern and distress at hearing his news. "Will he be alright?"

"It looks like he’s going to pull out of it alive and mostly whole after all, but I’m sure the news of your disappearance will crush him. The guy is quite infatuated with you, you know. Chloe should already have told him by now. Of what I gathered, Chloe and he figured out a lot about us from what they heard of our conversation back in that basement. Otherwise, Chloe would never have reacted so well when she came face to face with my Devil’s appearance this morning. I think Daniel could be able to handle you too. It might even do him good to know that you are finally going to Heaven instead of Hell."

She looked quite disturbed by the whole news. She started walking restlessly back and forth while tapping a finger on her lower lip pensively. "I might do just that. Thanks for telling me. It could also give me the opportunity to make sure that he would recover completely."
"Just don’t do too great a miracle of him, will you? It might attract unwanted attention on his case." Lucifer warned her.
"Don’t worry, I’ll do just enough..." She smiled, mischievously. Her decision seemed to have already been taken.
As an afterthought, Lucifer added another warning. "And make sure no one sees you at the hospital. It could be hard to explain your reappearance if someone saw Charlotte Richards walk around when she is reportedly dead."
"Don’t be afraid, Son, no one will see me if I don’t want them to. Now come here..." And she embraced him in a warm hug. "I’ll be missing you, Lucifer." She whispered at his ear, emotion tick in her voice.
At first he stood stiffly in her embrace, but then he relaxed and buried his head in the crook of her neck and hugged her back tenderly. "Bye Mom! Take care. I’ll... I’ll miss you too," he admitted softly. "And don’t forget that... I love you, Mom." He said the last bit with a shaking voice.
Mom hugged him more fiercely for a moment then framed his face with her hands to lift his teary eyes up to hers. "My sweet boy! I love you so much!" She kissed his forehead tenderly and lingered there a moment before releasing him.
They both took deep breaths to keep themselves from crying. It would have been embarrassing.
After having gathered herself back together, Mom made her last goodbye. "I have to go now. You know that your Father is not the most patient being in the universe," she joked lightly to lift the mood. "And also, I do have a visit to make before I get back up there."
________________________________________________________________________
The penthouse was only faintly lit with a warm orange glow when Chloe came in. Everything was quiet and for a second, the fear that he could have run away crossed her mind. But she knew he would never break a promise, and he had told her he would be there. So she walked hesitantly, going deeper into the Devil’s lair, in search of its occupant.

She found him on his balcony, his back to her, leaning on the railings with both hands. She stopped her advance before he could hear her, as to have the time to observe him discreetly for a moment. He was looking upwards, seemingly deep in contemplation of the night sky. She’d seen him do it many times over the course of their partnership, though she never suspected before today that such a behaviour could have hidden meanings for him, other than to simply admire the few stars and the beauty of the sky. She wondered what kind of memories could be stirred up by such a sight for a celestial being like him.

Because her partner was an Archangel! Raised in Heaven, then later sent to Hell as a punishment for rebelling against his Father, who was God... The idea of God being real was still making her mind jam. But she didn’t linger on it longer, well determinate to keep her head clear tonight. Handling her devilish partner would already be a handful.

She continued to watch Lucifer silently, in awe. That amazing being was her friend, the person she trusted most in the world. It was still hard reconciling her knew knowledge of him being the real Devil with who she had discovered him to be over the last few years. She had no doubt that the man she had come to know was the real Lucifer, the one he only let but a few get a glimpse at. She felt blessed to have gained that much of his trust.

There was so many things she wanted to ask him, such as how exactly and why she made him vulnerable, which seemed to be the reason for his getting hurt today, according to his Mom. Or why he had abandoned her to flee to Vegas not so long ago. He’d said he didn’t mean to hurt her, and she believed him. She’d gathered that he’d probably wanted to protect her in some way. Even knowing that, it still did hurt just thinking about it. Fortunately, he’d been unable to stay away from her, and she was so grateful for that.

She also would have liked him to explain and clarify all the strange occurrences that took place over the last years, but today was not the time for all of that. Lucifer had just lost his mom and what he needed was not an interrogation, but a friend. So that’s what she wanted to be for him tonight. She actually was ready to be a lot more to him than that, if he would only let her...

She now knew he had strong feelings for her. He’d admitted that much, if not in so many words. And after hours of soul searching, she could only acknowledge that her own feelings for him were exactly the same. After having almost lost him today, she wasn’t ready to miss that second chance to make things right between them. There was still the problem of her not knowing what he could or was willing to give her, which left her utterly unsure of how to approach him.

At last, she took a deep breath and walked slowly to him. She saw him turn slightly his head towards her, acknowledging her presence. But he kept still, and quiet. His eyes and beautiful face were displaying a maelstrom of emotions.

She stopped a few paces from him, hesitant. "Lucifer..." She breathed.

She wasn’t sure what she wanted to say. But she got the desired reaction from Lucifer who fully turned around and straightened up to his full height. His emotions were now guarded tightly behind a mask of insensitivity. He moved slowly towards her, looking quite magnanimous and powerful, as the Lord of Hell she now knew him to be. Was he trying to impress or scare her? She though he might be. It was just like him to try something like that. But she’d made her peace with that part of him already and was not about to let herself be impressed by the Devil tonight. So she held his gaze without flinching. He left only a mere foot between them, gazing down at her with an indecipherable look.

"You came?" He finally said guardedly.

Her right hand lifted of its own accord to go rest over his heart, which was beating as madly as her own certain was. She was still amazed at the realisation that he truly was alive and well after such an ordeal.

She smiled shyly at him, still not knowing exactly how far she could go in her declarations without scaring him. "Of course I came. I thought you might need a friend, and… and I needed you too."

A look of deep confusion crossed his face. His gaze went a few times from her eyes to her hand still resting over his heart. His mask of insensitivity was already crumbling down before her eyes.

"But... Don’t you understand…? Didn’t you see…?" His confusion was complete.

"See what?" She softly countered. "Your burnt appearance? Yes I did. So what if you look scary sometimes? You should see me when I wake up in the morning." She joked lightly.

That made him chuckle nervously in wonder.

Hesitantly, he inched even closer to her, at last lifting his left hand to rest it above hers over his torso. He squeezed her hand lightly and kept holding it.

"Shouldn’t you be freaking out?" He wondered aloud.

"About you? Definitely not. But I reserve the right to freak out again in the near future, about everything else that rocked my world into shambles. But for now I’d prefer not to, if you don’t mind. I had enough freaking out for one day."

"You really are a gift from heaven." He marvelled in a whisper.

Chloe preferred not to think about the possibility that he was still talking in double meanings. Let’s keep that for another day, she reasoned herself. In that moment, she just wanted to enjoy the overwhelming way he was looking at her.

He surprised her by encircling her waist loosely with his arms and bringing her a bit closer to him. She could feel the heat coming off his body, and his soft breath against her cheek. His otherworldly eyes were shining with such intensity that it took her breath away. He was stunningly beautiful.

She didn’t know what to read into his behaviour. Only a moment ago he had been all closed up and cold, and now that? Her heart was fluttering wildly at the rush of emotions that assailed her. Having him so close to her and looking at her this way were making her lose all her countenance. She reminded herself that she wanted to take things slow to make sure they both knew and accepted what they would be getting themselves into. There was still too many unresolved things lingering between them that had to be cleared up, and Lucifer was also grieving his mother. It wouldn’t be right to take advantage of that.

Feeling that things were going way too fast for her taste and that she needed time to gather her mind, she tried to gain some time by diverting his attention elsewhere with a question. Still, she kept her hand over his heart and enlaced him with her other arm to rest her palm over his back in a tight embrace.

"When you look at the sky, like when I came in, what do you see?"

He gave her an enigmatic smile. "Oftentimes, I imagine the Silver City, or Heaven if you prefer. Even though I don’t really miss the place, I find myself sometimes thinking of my brothers and sister, wondering what they have become. But tonight…," and his smile turned bittersweet, "it makes me think of my Mother."

Chloe’s sadness at knowing his mother was gone for good crept back into her heart. He’d said he would never see her again, and that she was back in Hell. However, she had a hard time reconciling that knowledge with the sweet smile on Lucifer’s lips.

Seeing her conflicting reaction, he continued. "I had a very surprising visit earlier tonight. My Mom came to say hello."

Chloe tried to speak, but no words came out. Her mouth just hanged open in a silent question.

He chuckled happily at her reaction. "Turns out my uncaring Dad must have been hit by lightning or something. Because he took her back in Heaven as a reward for sacrificing herself to save me. Who could have seen that one coming? I certainly didn’t."

She slowly regained the use of speech. "Wha… But… Does this mean she’s free? Will we be seeing her again?"

"I guess you can say that she is free, as much as one can be under my Father’s control freak obsession. As for seeing her again, I’m confident that I will, someday. But the Charlotte you have known is well and truly gone and you won’t see her again. Actually, the real Charlotte has been dead for months now, from the moment my Mother inhabited her mortal shell, right after she got murdered in that hotel room. It is only her body that was destroyed today."

Chloe had already guessed some of it from what little Lucifer had told her about his mom having borrowed a human body, but she was glad to be granted the details.

Then a strange thought crossed Chloe’s mind. "Does that mean that your Mother and Father are going to get back together then?"

He almost choked giggling at her supposition. "Noooo! Never in a thousand years!"

"Then maybe in two…," she teased him.

He chuckled merrily some more. "Who knows? Dad works in mysterious ways after all! But for that to even have a chance to happen, they would have to start by not killing each other, which is far from a won thing. At least I wouldn’t bet anything on it."

Chloe giggled in awe at the realisation that she was joking about things like that without even freaking out.

She was swept once more by Lucifer’s lovely gaze and she swallowed hard. If he kept staring at her like that she risked losing it entirely and start kissing the hell out of him before being able to tell him what she needed to say.

They were mercifully interrupted by her phone announcing that she had just received a text message. She disentangled herself from Lucifer with an apologetic smirk and looked at her cell’ screen. She expected it to be from her mother who was currently taking care of Trixie at her place, but it wasn’t, and her jaw dropped when she read the message.

"Seriously?" Was all that came out.

"What is it, Detective?" Lucifer looked like he didn’t know if he should be concerned.

"That was Dan!" She answered in shock. "He said he has checked himself out of the hospital against his Doctor’s advises and that he will explain everything later. What the hell?"

"Well, maybe not Hell, but the closest thing to it," Lucifer started enigmatically. "I believe it must have something to do with my Mother going to say her goodbyes. Subtlety has never been one of her strengths, and she had in mind of making sure Daniel would recover quickly. I fear she might have overdone it a bit. It might not be such a bad thing if Daniel checked himself out before someone discovered that he is a walking miracle."

Chloe started laughing in a clear voice. Knowing that Daniel had been miraculously healed was amazingly relieving and awe inspiring. "Oh my Go...oosh!" She was able to catch herself at the last second.

Lucifer was still beaming at her, but she saw him put his hands in his pant pockets as if trying to give her some space. Maybe he thought that she needed the space, or that she could still freak out on him at the mention of God?

She made sure to erase that possibility from his thoughts in the best way she knew. She slipped her arms back around him and held him even closer than earlier. Happily surprised, he took his hands from his pockets and held her back tenderly.

"You are taking all of this suspiciously well, Detective," he marvelled at her.

She took a deep breath. The time had probably come for her to tell him everything she came to say. "As I told you, Lucifer, I already had my freak out about divinity. As for your identity, I think it doesn’t really matter who or what you are in the end, because I know you Lucifer, the real you. And the person I fell in love with, with my heart and soul, is not the Devil, nor an Archangel, but you, Lucifer Morningstar."

Clearly thunderstruck by her declarations, Lucifer opened his mouth to talk but she cut him by putting a finger over his lips.

"I really need to say this Lucifer, please just let me." Now that she had started, she couldn’t stop herself, even if her voice was shaking with emotion. "I know you have your reasons for keeping me at bay, and for not giving into this, this wonderful connection that has always pulled us together, even though you admitted also having strong feelings for me. It might even seem to be a good reason to you, whatever it is, but I think we deserve a chance, Lucifer. I just... I can’t imagine my life without you either..."

There she’d said it! She’d never felt so vulnerable, as if emotionally stripped bare before him. She released his lips by taking away her finger. His mouth went slack from the shock of her declarations. He just stared at her and the sparkle of love she saw in his eyes told her that whatever was keeping him from giving in might be losing its hold over him after all.

As if to confirm her feelings, instead of answered her with words, Lucifer slowly leant forwards to capture her lips with his in a light and sweet kiss. Her heart swelling with an overdose of emotions, she answered his kiss slowly and languorously, savoring the feel of his lips and the taste of him.

She could hardly believe that it was finally happening. She felt him deepen the kiss even more and press his body more firmly against hers. She gasped at the feeling of him, of them. It was everything she had dreamed of and yet, she was still afraid to give in entirely, afraid to get hurt once more.

She broke the kiss and pulled back, breathing hard, her head spinning from the delightful rush of hormones. Lucifer looked as breathless as she felt and also quite confused at her reaction.

She didn’t let him wonder longer about why she was pulling away. "What about that reason that was keeping us from being together? You said you couldn’t." She shook her head softly. "I want to be with you so badly, Lucifer, I have never been so sure of anything in my life, but to think that you could back away from me once more, before we even had a chance to really try…"

"Chloe…" He almost moaned. "Whatever that reason was, I… I realise I may have given it way more hold over me than it had a right to, only because I was terrified it might be true. The only real truth is that however hard I tried to deny this thing between us, and fight it..., I already belong to you, heart and soul!"

He looked at her with such adoration and devotion that she lost herself in his gaze, totally speechless.

"And I am well determined this time to not let my fears decide for me anymore, about what I deserve, or what I truly desire." He cupped her face and caressed her cheek tenderly.

As if in a trance, her voice barely above a whisper, she asked the only question that really mattered. "And what is it you truly desire, Lucifer?"

He didn’t hesitate. "All of you!"

"Then I am yours!" She breathed.

And this time she didn’t stop him when he kissed her with all the passion that consumed him.