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It was one of those days. A day when nothing went the way you wanted. A mountain of paperwork, a cranky boss, a pointless (in her opinion) stakeout. Having forgotten to charge it the previous night, her phone was now dead, and on top of it she'd somehow managed to take the only car with a busted radio (her own cruiser was out for maintenance).
So, it stands to reason that said stakeout would turn out to not be so pointless after all. Usually, it was not a bad thing but judging by her luck so far, it was definitely bound to become such. And...they'd spotted her car. Four men were walking her way. Of course they'd be paranoid, because of all the other dozen or so parked cars, they were looking at hers. Or someone had tipped them off?
"Shit." now, she wasn't one to curse, but she didn't often land in situations like this. They were drawing their guns. The way she saw it she had two choices. Try to run them over and almost definitely get shot in the process or make a run for the building behind and hopefully hide until they decide to leave or someone comes looking for her.
What if the door was locked? The building was old and long abandoned, there could even be something blocking the door. Decision made, still staying low, she turned the key. The car did not start. Of course. Her eyes darted between her soon to be murderers and the door. Her failed attempt at escape had alerted them and as one, they opened fire on her.
Scrambling out of the car and managing to fire a few shots back, she reached the door. Hot, searing pain in her left side made her stumble forward and she slammed against the heavy door. The impact and the pain winded her and she slid down to her knees. Unsurprisingly, what came to her mind at that moment was Trixie. Her little girl's smiling face that she would never see again.
Shouts, engine roar and skidding tires snapped her back to attention. Turning her head, she saw the corvette skid to a stop between the shooters and her car. Dan fired against them, making them run back and take cover, while Lucifer ran her way. She watched him with wide, barely focused eyes, as he crouched in front of her. Her flinch at his outstretched hand made him pull back.
"Daniel!" his shout startled her. She saw Dan turn and run her way, while Lucifer stood up and with an effortless push opened the door.
Half walking, half being dragged by Dan, they made their way inside. Her eyes never left Lucifer as he closed the doors and dragged an impossibly heavy looking piece of furniture to block the entrance.
"In here!" Dan yelled and pulled her inside a room. He sat her down against a wall and went to close the door when Lucifer followed them inside. A loud crashing sound made them jump. "No!" Dan ran to the door and pushed against it to no avail. It wouldn't budge. She could have laughed if she wasn't in so much pain.
"Well done, Douche!" Lucifer exclaimed, looking around in amazement. "You've locked us into a freezer!" he laughed then and with a hateful look for Dan, strode up to the door. He pushed against it. The metal groaned and bent but the door did not open.
"What the hell?" Dan's eyes were huge with surprise.
"Indeed." Lucifer snorted and stepped back. "It's reinforced steel. Even I can't smash it open, or go through the walls for that matter." then he finally looked at her. "Daniel, would you please?"
"Oh God, Chloe!" Dan was kneeling by her side in a second. "Let me see..." he made her remove her hand from her side and gingerly lifted her shirt to assess the damage. Her gaze hovered in the area around Lucifer's shoulders and neck, while she was sure he was staring right back. "The bullet went right through, but you're losing a lot of blood."
"Right." she saw Lucifer clap his hands. "We've got two choices. Either I heal her and wait for back up or I fly you both out of here and let your doctors fix you." she was sure he saw her shake her head and heard her chocked no but kept on talking. "But I'd still have to use my wings, so why don't we just do all of it? Hm?" a pause. "No doctors, though. What would be the point, right?"
"Lucifer, don't go crazy on me now." Dan admonished. He was pressing his hand against her wound and was half turned to look at Lucifer. "Come on, man, we gotta help Chloe."
"No, Lucifer..." she finally found her voice, as weak as it was though. "Help's coming, right?"
"I can't risk it." he was shaking his head and she finally found the courage to look him in the eyes. She saw there determination and barely concealed panic. For a moment she'd forgotten who she'd been looking at. He wasn't her partner, her friend, her...almost... He was the Devil. And she was Chloe Nobody Decker. And she was afraid... Because what could the actual Devil want with her?! A creature of such magnitude couldn't possibly not have a purpose with bothering with the likes of her.
"And Dan?" she croaked and had to clear her throat.
"It's not like I'll be showing him my Devil face." Lucifer said and his voice held a pleading tone. "But if he starts screaming, we'll just leave him here and you'll get him out later. Or I can knock him out?"
"Hey, nobody's knocking me out!" Dan protested. Her vision was dimming at the edges and she didn't think she'd be able to stay awake for much longer. Strangely enough, what was on her mind was the fact that Lucifer bothered to even listen to her. She knew now that there really was no one who could keep him from doing what he wanted and yet he still always listened to her. Looking at his agitated posture and wide eyes, she wondered. Could it really be that simple? Was he really just her friend and partner? Was it really genuine concern? Were there no hidden motives?
"Daniel, something's wrong." Lucifer pointed at her, making a single step forward. She must have been staring at him for too long. But she was also feeling so very lightheaded.
"Chloe..." Dan was slapping her cheek now. "Shit. She's going into shock."
"Step aside, Daniel." Lucifer's voice was firm and she couldn't even shake her head this time. Two enormous, impossibly white and luminous wings unfurled from behind his back. She heard Dan's startled gasp and saw him fall back on his ass from the corner of her eye. It took a few seconds for Lucifer to find a small feather and then hide away his wings. Ignoring the petrified Dan, he walked to her and crouched down. She wondered if his hands really were shaking or if she was imagining it.
"This will only take a moment." he muttered as he gently removed her hand from the wound and replaced it with the feather. It glowed faintly at first but as the light intensified, she found herself feeling better. Slowly, the feather faded and then disappeared altogether. And so did her wound. She blinked a few times and sat up straighter.
"I'm okay." she stared down at her ruined clothes and then up at him. "I'm okay."
"Of course you are." he was grinning. The Devil had just healed her gunshot wound with one of his feathers and was now grinning at her!
"Get away from her!" Dan's voice snapped them both back to reality. How had she not seen him move? When Lucifer turned and stood, she saw he had moved some distance away and was pointing his gun at them. Or more precisely at Lucifer, but with those shaking hands, there was no telling what or who he might hit.
"Calm down, Daniel." Lucifer held his hands up, trying to seem as non-threatening as possible. But how could you hope to do that when you were the Devil? "I swear, I mean you no harm. I just saved the Detective's life. See?" he moved slightly to the side. "She's fine. As good as new."
"You-you... You're the Devil!" Dan's hands shook even more, his eyes were wide and wild.
"Yes, Daniel, as I've been telling you all along." his tone was exasperated but his body had moved directly in front of her. Was he protecting her? Of course he was, like always. "But I hope you know me better than that. We've been working together for years and I've done nothing to hurt you or your family."
"You're the Devil!"
"This is getting ridiculous." Lucifer sighed. "Put the gun down, Daniel. You don't want to accidentally shoot the Detective, do you?"
In the small place, the shots were deafening. She winced, placing both hands to her ears. The gun clattered to the ground, followed by Dan collapsing to his knees. For a moment she thought that Lucifer would just laugh and wave it off. But she'd seen him get hurt plenty of times. For reasons unknown to her and despite his continuous claims of immortality, the Devil could get hurt. She heard him snort and stared with wide disbelieving eyes as he turned to her. His left hand was hovering over his left side and his right was over the right side of his chest. His shirt was quickly darkening with his blood.
"Well, isn't that interesting?" he made a stumbling step forward and she was barely in time to break his fall.
"Lucifer!" she gasped, quickly removing her jacket and covering his chest wound with it. She pressed hard, making him grimace in pain. "S-sorry... Why? How is this possible? You're the Devil!"
"I know, right?" he snorted and then turned to Daniel. "You might want to take that gun."
She quickly did just that, ignoring the way Dan stared blankly at the ground. His reaction was very disconcerting but she had no time to think about it. Kneeling back down beside Lucifer, she replaced her hands over the wound. His left hand was at his side, pressuring the other wound.
"Take another feather. He can't get any worse than that." she said, sparing Dan a brief look.
"I can't heal myself, Detective." Lucifer breathed and closed his eyes with a wince. "I just need a moment to..."
"Lucifer..." his eyes hadn't opened, and she shook his shoulder. "Lucifer, wake up!" pressing her fingers to his throat, she felt his pulse.
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"Dan!" someone was shaking him. It was like someone had found a reset button on him and he was just now slowly coming back on. It wasn't a pleasant feeling. His mind was a mess, he couldn't remember where he was or what he had been doing. "Snap out of it, Dan!" the slap that followed rattled his teeth. Only one woman could hit like that.
"Chloe!" he cried, grabbing her forearms. "Are you alright?"
"I'm fine, Dan." she was trying to pry his arms off of her but he held on. "Lucifer isn't. We need..."
Lucifer. The Devil.
"We have to get out of here!" he stood up on shaky legs, bringing her along with him. "Come on, Chloe... He's... He's..."
"I know." he froze at her words. He'd expected she hadn't been fully lucid before Lucifer healed her but she was proving him wrong. "I know." she repeated and he released her to stumble backwards. "I've known for a month now."
Now it all made sense. The mood swings, the fear, the paranoia, her sudden wish for desk duty. Lucifer hadn't shown once, not even to give his statement about the Pierce fiasco. He remembered being mad at him that apparently Mr. Important couldn't be bothered and for the extra paperwork of course. Chloe hadn't spoken about him since. Sure, she answered questions about him, rather vaguely in his opinion, but nothing more.
"Dan, Dan!" she was shaking him again. How long had he been spacing out? "I need your help. Lucifer is..."
"Oh God! I shot the Devil!" his voice hitched, only now registering his unmoving form not too far away from them. He was backing away, shaking his head. "How is that even possible?!"
"I don't know!" Chloe ran her fingers through her hair, messing up her already disheveled ponytail. "I don't know! Apparently sometimes he can be hurt and sometimes he can't..."
"Only when you're around, Detective." his voice startled them but none made a move to approach him. "For reasons I don't fully understand, you make me vulnerable." he sounded weak and dejected.
Chloe slowly made her way toward him and Dan's hand twitched in an aborted attempt to stop her. His mind had come to a stop at what he'd heard. Why would the Devil be vulnerable around a normal human being? Or was Chloe really normal? How had she attracted the Devil's attention?
"Could you help me up?" Lucifer's hand was up and by the slight tremors, he was barely holding it there. His words were directed at Chloe but save from standing beside him, she made no move to help him.
It struck him at how weak the Devil looked right now. He was actually at their mercy... Or was he? Had he really hurt him that much? What happened to one's soul if they shot the Devil? Was it automatically a ticket to Hell? But didn't helping the Devil condemn you to Hell as well? Well, he was actually sure that that's where he was going anyway. So, would helping the Devil now gain him any favors? Was this a test or something?
His head was pounding and his limbs felt heavy. He couldn't pass out now. He couldn't leave Chloe alone with... They'd known him for three years now. He'd babysat Trixie for God's sake! And the most he'd ever been to them was a massive pain in the ass. What would someone...something like him want to do with them? What did the Devil do with his free time?
For five years he'd ran his club, partied, exchanged favors. Until he'd met with Chloe and he'd decided that bringing criminals to justice was fun. Could it really be that simple? He watched the conflict written all over Chloe's face and saw Lucifer's hand slowly descend.
"Please, Detective..." he coughed and a small trickle of blood appeared on the side of his mouth. "Help me up and I'll be out of your hair. You won't have to see me again. I only came..." a horrible coughing fit wrecked his body, which seemed to spur Chloe into action. She sank down to her knees and tried to hold him still. "While I still can..."
Dan remembered how hard it had been to reach Lucifer. He'd had to go to Lux and make a scene so that he could see him. An informant had called to tell him that someone had tipped off the gang Chloe was watching. Nobody at the precinct had wanted to join him without an official order and their new boss had refused to give it. Everybody hated Chloe all over again and Dan couldn't help but blame himself. If he'd backed her up at Palmetto, what had happened after Pierce wouldn't have been such a disaster.
Lucifer had been keeping his distance and Dan had been mad at him but apparently for the wrong reasons. But he couldn't blame Chloe either, because who wanted to be in a room with the actual Devil? And how could she have explained it without sounding crazy?
"What are you going to do?" Chloe's voice was shaky. She was trying to help him sit but he wasn't of much use to her.
"Pop downstairs for a bit." Lucifer swallowed and tried to take a proper breath. The gurgling sound that came with it twisted Dan's gut. "Time runs differently there. I'll be back with help before you know it." their eyes met for a moment and then Lucifer was looking at Chloe again. "Tell Daniel I'm sorry. You could give Linda a call. She deals with me on a daily basis, so..."
Dan shook his head and took a deep breath. That sounded very much like he wouldn't be seeing him again. Did that bother him though? For some reason it actually did. What did that say about him? The way he saw it, there was nothing he could do to stop the Devil from doing whatever he wanted. He could shoot him again when Chloe was nearby, but who was to say he wouldn't somehow come back for revenge? What was that saying? Keep your friends close and your enemies closer?
"So, Devil or not, you're still a nutjob?" he was by their side before he knew it. Lucifer actually looked horrified and Chloe's mouth fell open in silent shock. "I won't apologize for shooting you."
"I've never had a hallucination in my life." Lucifer said in fascinated awe. "Is it the blood loss?"
"You're not hallucinating." Chloe was shaking her head.
"Come on, man." Dan mirrored Chloe on his other side and grabbed his forearm. "Get the Hell out of here and save our asses."
"Don't disappear on us. We need to talk." Chloe's tone broke no argument and Dan winced, feeling surprisingly sympathetic for Lucifer. They heaved him upright.
"Fair enough." Lucifer breathed out once the coughing fit at the movement subsided. His chin was now covered in blood. In a moment, the two enormous wings unfurled behind him with a strong gust of wind. When they opened their eyes, he was already gone.
Fifteen minutes later the door opened and very ashamed looking policemen let them out. Dan glared and ignored whatever some braver ones had to say to them and led Chloe away to Lucifer's car. The Devil hadn't returned but that didn't mean they couldn't go to him once they were done here. And Dan had never driven a car like that.
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