Archive of Our Own ^beta

No such luck it seemed as the wails continued.

"Lucifer," Chloe groaned, lifting her head out from underneath the pillow and kicked the blanket off her legs. "Can you get him? It's your turn, I got him last time." When she received no response she finally opened her eyes only to find the spot next to her empty. "Dammit." She got off the bed and slipped her feet into the waiting slippers on the floor. She wrapped the robe around her torso tighter as she walked into the room down the hall.

"Hi, baby." She smiled at the infant. Samael took a gasping breath at the sound of his mother and the cries died down the closer she got to the crib. She ran her fingers down his stomach to soothe him. He gave off a few whimpers as she shushed him before he stared up at her silently. "That's my boy." She lifted him off the mattress and held him to her chest.

Samael had changed significantly since they'd gotten him back a few weeks prior. His entire personally had seemingly done a complete one-eighty; before he was quiet, rarely making a sound unless provoked, but lately, all he seemed to do was cry. Chloe couldn't even tell the difference between his cries anymore, they all blended into one never-ending harmony. Besides being more vocal he was clingier, it was rare these days when he wasn't attached to the side of his father, mother, sister, or demon caretaker.

Chloe prayed to Samael's grandfather that this phase would soon. If she had any luck, within the next two hours before she was due at the station. It was her first day back and Chloe couldn't remember a time when she was more nervous. She had everything planned; her outfit, hairstyle, and even what she was going to eat. However, with Samael's early wake up she was just hoping at this point for a quick shower.

She kissed his forehead to qualm the budding whines as she stepped into the living room and stopped dead in her tracks. Maze was dozing on the couch with one of her knives resting unsheathed in her hand. Chloe carefully grabbed the knife from Maze's hand and placed it onto the coffee table. That's when she spotted him.

Lucifer was standing in front of a whiteboard completely still. His appearance disheveled and a small pile of Red Bull cans rested by his feet. He pulled back his head and he slammed down the contents of his drink before he tossed it onto the floor to join the others. Chloe frowned and shifted Samael to her other side before she stepped towards him.

"Lucifer?"

"I can't bloody figure it out!" he said anger dripping in his voice. He shot her a glance before his gaze turned the board in front of him. Chloe couldn't make out a single thing. The board was covered with random drawings, words written in languages she couldn't pinpoint and numbers she was sure meant something only to Lucifer.

"Jesus, Lucifer, how many energy drinks have you had?" Chloe didn't need to get an exact count of the cans littering their floor, though he stood in the same spot he was jittery. His arms and fingers twitching relentlessly told her it was more than he should have consumed. More than any human should have consumed. If he was human, the current amount of sugar and caffeine pumping through his system surely would have killed him or caused a heart attack at the very least.

"It makes no sense, Detective. It started with my brother," he pointed to a drawing of a cross. "and I've gone all the way up until now. I can't figure it out." He ran a hand through his hair. "He said the seals have already been opened, that it's all starting but I don't see how. It clearly states," he pointed to the open Bible on the table near him. "that when the first seal is broken the Antichrist will arrive on a white horse. Yet no one has reported a damn flying horse. Ever!"

Chloe kicked the cans aside with her foot and stood next to him facing the board. Samael reached a hand to his father but Lucifer was too entranced by his thoughts to notice.

"Lucifer… can you even read this anymore? It's all random nonsense."

"Exactly!" Lucifer shouted. "How can the world be ending if this is all nonsense? You've proven my point."

Chloe sighed, "You've been up for days, consumed way more caffeine than you've ever needed and you're driving yourself insane. Lucifer, do you hear yourself? You're looking for answers in the Bible. The Bible. You hate the Bible. You threw it out of the window when we stayed at the hotel and one appeared in the room. Remember?"

He nodded his head.

"And worst of all you reek," she wrinkled her nose, "when's the last time you took a shower?"

He lifted his arms and looked down at his body, "Perhaps I am a bit ripe."

"Ripe? No, you passed that days ago. Go take a shower." She pushed Lucifer's shoulder to move him in the direction of the bathroom. "Maze," Chloe kicked the demon's outstretched legs with her feet. Maze opened her eyes with a grunt and glared at Chloe. "clean this up, yeah? I'm sure some of these are yours."

"No, thank you." Maze stood and straightened out her leather jacket. "I will take the Prince though." Maze smiled and took Samael from Chloe.

"I think he likes me better," Maze ran her fingers through Samael's curly black hair.

"I'm his mother, so I doubt it," Chloe said as she began to clean up the mess Maze and Lucifer had made.

"Yeah, well, I have less rules for him. With me, he can actually be royalty."

Chloe sighed, "If you're so obsessed with celestial royalty, why aren't you looking after your king? Lucifer is running himself ragged with this stuff and you're just encouraging him. He's not sleeping or consuming anything that doesn't have caffeine or sugar. He needs to take care of himself."

"We both know that no one can tell Lucifer what to do," Maze said. "besides, he's just concerned. It'll all play itself out eventually, he'll see that nothing's wrong and that the human was just trying to have leverage over him."

"So, you're not concerned at all?" Chloe asked.

"If there was something to be concerned about it would've made itself known by now."

"Maybe you're right…" Chloe shook her head and pushed the hair from her face. "I'm just worried about him."

"Don't be," Maze stepped closer to Chloe. "he's been in worse spots. He was a mess after Uriel and eventually, he got over it."

"Didn't he try and get himself shot after that happened?"

"Eh," Maze shrugged. "we all handle grief in different ways."

"Uh-huh," Chloe nodded crossing into the kitchen and dropping the cans in her arms into the recycling bin. "I go back to work today, my first day, and you're good to watch the baby?"

"Of course," Maze followed Chloe into the kitchen. "I have it all taken care of. We've got a meeting with Amenadiel and Charlie, then the Prince gets to nap while I track down a bounty."

"You're not going to take him with you, are you?" Chloe narrowed her eyes.

"It was one time," Maze scoffed.

"I can't do this right now," Chloe rolled her eyes. "I love you, Sammy, be good for Maze, okay?" she kissed Samael before following the path Lucifer had taken earlier.

Chloe shed her pajamas and walked into the master bathroom, steam from the shower obscured her vision, but she could clearly make out his form. Lucifer was standing in the middle of the shower with his head tilted up so the water hit his face. Chloe grabbed one of his razors and the can of shaving cream from the sink countertop and stepped into the shower with him.

"Trying to get frisky, Detective? You know all you have to do is ask if you wanted a piece of me."

Chloe snorted, "You're kidding, right?" she applied a generous amount of shaving cream to her hand and spread it over his lower face. She forced his head down and carefully began shaving his face. "When I was little, my dad taught me how to shave his face. All I wanted to do was be with him, I would sit with him while he did his morning routine – brushing his teeth, combing his hair, shaving– and one day he just picked me up, put me on the counter, and showed me how to do it."

"That's an interesting factoid."

"Mhm," Chloe rinsed the razor off. "Dan wouldn't let me anywhere near him with a blade. He trusted me with a gun but not a razor," Chloe chuckled. "I always thought that was kind of funny."

"Funny?" Lucifer finally looked at her. "That means he didn't trust you."

"And I didn't trust him in some respects," Chloe shrugged.

"Are you nervous about your first day back?"

"Yeah, I am." Chloe nodded. "But I'm completely ready to get back out there and solve crimes, with my partner by my side." She cleaned the remaining shaving cream off his face and wrapped her hands around his neck.

"I'll always be by your side, Detective. Always."

"I know you will," she stood on the top of her toes to place a kiss on his lips. "promise me you're going to drop this. The world is fine, there's no danger

Chloe was bored.

She tapped her pen against her desk in a steady rhythm as she stared at the space in front of her. She was hoping to dive right into some grizzly murder, maybe even a robbery, only to be told there were no cases. That was a good thing, Chloe knew that deep down, it meant that the crime in LA had taken a brief vacation. Though why it chose her first day back she didn't know.

Her eyes roamed the room before they landed on Dan sitting at his desk underneath the stairs. Their relationship as coworkers and co-parents was slowly on the mend, they even carved out time to spend with Trixie together at least once every couple of weeks. Trixie adored her baby brother and step-Devil, but Chloe knew Trixie appreciated the alone time with her parents.

Dan was making his own steps in coming to terms with the celestial world. He still wasn't entirely comfortable with Lucifer being the Devil, but spending time with Amenadiel was slowly fixing that. The relationship between cop and fallen angel had been one Chloe wasn't entirely surprised to see, Dan had always been friendly with Amenadiel, so when the angel had invited him out to drinks, Dan accepted. It was a weekly thing between the two; they would meet up and "bro out" as Amenadiel described it.

She looked away from Dan as the phone on her desk buzzed with the arrival of a text from Linda.

Family photos! Meet us at 3rd ave and Kingston blvd after work. Amenadiel is picking up your boys now! Maze has Trixie.

Chloe smiled at the text.

Do I need to grab anything? Chloe responded.

Nope! Linda's reply was quick. Lucifer is grabbing you an outfit, don't worry Amenadiel will make sure it's nothing crazy.

Chloe couldn't stop the laugh that escaped her.

Surprisingly, Linda had been the only one to remain calm with the literal earth-shattering news. While the three celestial "experts" looked for any sign to signal the end of the world, and Chloe worried about the kids, Linda was the rock holding everyone down. She kept a close eye on the rest of the family as they scattered throughout their various tasks, she made sure they all met at least twice a week to keep tabs on each other. And yet again, Chloe was grateful for her wisdom.

They didn't have any photos together as a family that wasn't distorted with whatever filter Trixie found amusing at the time. Chloe had bought a disposable camera to get physical shots of Samael, but they all developed blurry. Apparently, Samael wasn't as photogenic as his sister. The only time he remained still was when he slept and it was only when he was awake that the father-son resemblance could be seen. Chloe couldn't wait to take these pictures and get them framed; she made a mental note to send a batch to her mother.

She spent the rest of the day cleaning her desk and completing the small pile of paperwork she'd taken to keep herself busy. The moment the clock turned five she had her purse over her shoulder and keys in hand. She said goodbye to Dan and told him to expect some pictures on his desk first thing in the morning, he gave her a nod and a quiet, "Thanks." Before turning back to his own empty desk.

She put her purse on the empty beside her and began the drive to the address Linda had given her. Chloe was parked and walking up to the front of the door within fifteen minutes. He wasn't hard to miss standing outside in the sun in a charcoal black suit. His body was tense but relaxed the moment she entered his eye line.

"Hello, Detective," he greeted her with a kiss.

"What are you doing out here?" she asked, running her hands down the lapels of his suit.

"Oh, you know," he shrugged. "Charlie and our darling son have been screaming their heads off since Amenadiel picked us up. It's not doing my headache any favors."

"Headaches?" Chloe frowned. "You're the king of Hell, since when do you get headaches?"

"Funny enough it didn't really start until moments ago, I'm assuming when you entered the radius, pesky vulnerability." Lucifer clicked his tongue and shook his head.

"You look better," Chloe gave him a once over. "See what the wonders of a shower can do?"

Lucifer chuckled, "You're absolutely right, Detective, I feel almost good as new. Lucifer 2.0." He opened his arms.

"That's not funny!" She shook her head.

"Tell that to the smile on your face." Lucifer placed a hand on the small of her back and lead Chloe into the tiny shop. Just as Lucifer had said, Charlie and Samael sat in their respective carriers crying despite the hard work Trixie was putting in to calm them down.

"Mom!" Trixie shouted seeing them walk into the room. "Please, help, they won't stop."

"Sammy, come here, baby." Chloe lifted Samael from his carrier and laid him against her chest. His cries diminished from an uproar to small whimpers, even Charlie seemed to calm down. "That's my boy." Chloe kissed the top of Samael's head and rubbed circles on his back.

"How'd you do that?" Trixie asked.

"Well, sometimes, babies just need their mommy. You did that too." Chloe grinned at Trixie.

"Ew! I'm gonna go be with Maze!" Trixie turned and walked over to the demon-huntress who was sharpening one of her knives and keeping a watchful eye on the employees milling around them.

"Chloe, here's your dress." Linda handed Chloe a black dress. "Lucifer picked it out, so it might be a bit short," Linda warned with a smile.

"Oh! Thank you."

"Lucifer, take Sammy," Linda said. Lucifer stepped forward and took Samael from Chloe. "Go get dressed, the dressing room is back there."

Chloe ran her fingers down Samael's back before turning and walking to the dressing room. Just as Linda had said, the dress was a little short for a family photo, but Chloe didn't mind. She was more than happy that Lucifer still saw her as his, "Sexy little minx." Considering these days he was preoccupied with nothing but Samael and the end of the world. Chloe pulled her hair out of the bun it was in and let her hair fall to rest behind her shoulders.

She walked out of the dressing room to find Linda already telling everyone where to stand. Lucifer, Maze, and Amenadiel all stood in the back with Trixie standing in front of Maze. "Chloe, in front of Lucifer with Sammy." Chloe took Samael from Lucifer and stood where Linda pointed.

"You look ravishing," Lucifer whispered into her ear.

"Huh, well, maybe when we get home you can't do something about it." She quipped.

"Oh, Detective, don't tease me. You know I don't like to be teased."

"On the contrary, I know for a fact you love that very much." She turned her head to smile at him. Lucifer wrapped his arms around her torso and buried his face into her neck.

"Okay, I think we're ready! Amenadiel stop messing with your suit, Maze, Trixie no faces!" Linda handed a piece of paper to the camera and turned back to the group. "Where's Charlie?" she asked.

"I thought you had him," Amenadiel said.

"No, you did!" Linda told him.

"He was in the stroller last time I saw him," Trixie said.

"Amenadiel, you have to keep an eye especially now since he's crawling."

"This isn't my fault!"

"Hey!" Maze stepped forward. "He's not far, let's just look and get this torture over."

Chloe glanced around the room as Lucifer's breathed heavily into her neck. She'd be losing it if it were Samael they looking for. She couldn't go through that again. She had to glance down to make sure he was still asleep in her arms to calm herself. When she looked up she froze.

"Uh, Lucifer,"

"Hmm?"

"Didn't you say that the first seal was the Antichrist or something?"

She could feel him frown against her skin, "Yes, why?

"And he's going to appear on a white horse, give or take a crown."

"What are…" Lucifer finally looked up. He took a sharp intake of breath when he saw his nephew before him. Charlie dressed in a white gown was sitting on a white rocking horse. "Bloody Hell."

"You have got to be kidding me…"