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Chloe heard the music just before the elevator opened onto the penthouse.
It was so soft, it would have been easy not to think anything of it, if not for the fact that every last cell in her body was hyperaware of where she was, filled with anticipation over talking to Lucifer again. She hadn’t been at all sure of what she would find, so the music caught her attention completely.
It felt…soulful. Wistful. It only took a moment for Chloe to tell that he wasn’t playing just for the fun of it—he was bleeding his feelings onto the keys. Letting them out in the way he knew best.
But it didn’t sound like music from someone who wanted to be alone. Or at least she hoped it wasn’t.
Lucifer didn’t seem to hear her as she stepped out and moved towards him. Lost in the music, in his own world.
Chloe was tempted to steal a few minutes to listen to him without him knowing he had an audience. He was so open like this when he wasn’t often otherwise, and she liked the music besides. Probably he would stop playing as soon as he became aware he wasn’t alone.
But she also didn’t want to wait anymore. It'd been two years of back and forth, of punishing hope and being hurt. Six months of regret, of knowing she could never have what she still deep down desperately wanted. Two months thinking she'd lost her chance of happiness the second it was within her grasp. A week of being afraid it was never a chance to begin with, that she kept coming back to him again and again because she had no choice. That nothing she'd felt about him this entire time was real.
She believed it was, now. And Lucifer had been waiting too. For far longer than she had, because apparently Michael hadn’t been lying about the time difference in hell either. So she was pretty sure Lucifer would be glad for this interruption.
“Hi,” she said.
Lucifer paused, twisting to see her, his eyes wide. “Detective,” he said, like he couldn’t quite believe she was there.
Chloe slid onto the bench next to him, and he shifted over a little to make room. “I liked it. The music.”
“Really?” He didn’t seem to know what to do with himself, and reached for the glass of whiskey on top of the piano.
She nodded. “I don’t think I’ve ever heard it before.”
Lucifer cleared his throat slightly as he set the glass down again. “No one has, until now.”
It took her a second to realize what he meant. “You wrote it?”
“Still working on it. The melody kept coming to me when I was in hell—well, almost. More like it tried to come to mind, but it was never clear. Hell is like that. Drove me crazy, but I can't play there either, so…” He shrugged. “I started messing around with it the past few days, but I’ve never been able to get it quite right.”
“Well, it sounds good to me. I'm sure you'll figure it out.”
Lucifer gazed at her for a moment, like he wanted to say more, but he didn’t. Chloe wasn’t sure if it was about the music or the miracle or just about her.
He shook his head the smallest fraction and looked away, reaching for the keys again. But instead of playing like usual, he merely fiddled with a few solitary notes.
“Thank you,” she said. “For being patient. Giving me the time I asked for.”
“Of course, Detective.” He glanced at her, and Chloe could see the longing burning in his eyes. He didn’t want to be patient, but he would.
“Do you really not have to go back to hell?”
“Seems that way. Amenadiel said my father himself spoke to him. No idea why, but this time I'm not about to question it. If the demons try anything I'll deal with it. Maybe just wipe them out entirely this time.”
His voice was so dark. Chloe had imagined a thousand times what it was like for him to return to hell and manage those demons, but she didn't ask now. That was one conversation that could wait. “Good,” she said. “I'm glad.”
“Yes. So take all the time you need. I was only in a rush before because I thought I had to return soon and wanted to fix things before I did.”
“Was that the only reason?”
“No,” he said quietly, “it wasn't the only reason.” He stopped playing again. “I wasn't expecting you to come by. I mean, don't get me wrong, I'm glad you did, but…”
There was a definite question in his voice, but before she could answer it, he shook his head again. “Never mind. I’m sure you’re here for the case—you must need my help after all. Understandable. Amenadiel turned out to be useless in finding the secret room, did he?”
“No, actually, we found it and then the killer found us. The case has been solved.”
“Ah. Well, I’m sure it was entirely thanks to you, and please don’t tell me otherwise even if it’s the truth.”
She laughed. Lucifer’s brows furrowed a little, like he was startled, but in a good way. Chloe was almost surprised herself. It’d been such a light, carefree laugh, one she hadn’t made in a long time now. “Don’t worry, Lucifer. I’m not replacing you as my partner.”
“No?” he said, seeming cautiously hopeful now. “It’s just…”
She knew exactly what he meant, but she didn’t answer that right away either. “Amenadiel and I might not be long term partners, but I did just have an interesting conversation with him.”
“I find that hard to believe. Are you sure interesting is the right word? Perhaps you're thinking of its antonym. Boring, dreadful, banal beyond belief…”
She laughed again. “I don’t think you’d be saying that if you knew the conversation was partly about you, and the rest was about me.”
“Hmm. It’s true that any conversation would be interesting if either one of us is the subject, but it’s still with Amenadiel. So I guess I’ll have to take your word for it.”
“You should,” she said lightly.
“Well, don’t keep me in suspense. Feel free to repeat all the wonderful things I'm sure were said about me.”
“I hate to disappoint you, but we weren’t standing around singing your praises. He, um…he had a theory. About me being a miracle.”
His easygoing expression slipped a little. “Oh?”
She nodded. “The nuns were drawn to Amenadiel today, because he was reflecting their love for God back at them. Just like how you reflect people’s desires…except when it comes to me.”
Understanding lit his face. “He thinks…”
“That that was all the miracle was. That it didn’t make me have feelings for you—that it was exactly the opposite. That it let me see you more clearly than anyone.”
It wasn’t an entirely satisfactory explanation to her; it still didn’t account for so many questions. Why her? Was she still only alive because God wanted her to be, or would she always have been born? Why do it at all? Was there some reason for it, some purpose she was supposed to fulfill?
She didn’t know, and it wasn’t like God was inclined to show up and give them any answers. But Chloe believed that her choices, her feelings, were her own. So it was good enough for now. They could sort through the rest later.
Lucifer’s eyes softened. “It’s true,” he said. “You’ve always seen me differently. You know me better than anyone.”
She smiled a little. “You have for me, too.”
“Don’t get me wrong, I don't want to ruin it, but…that still doesn’t explain why you make me vulnerable.”
“Amenadiel has a theory for that, too.”
“Has all the answers now, does he? I wish this insight had come a lot sooner.”
Chloe bit her lip, making up her mind. Screw it. She wanted to tell him this before…well, before. “I never did get to tell you about when Michael was here,” she said. “How I knew he wasn’t you.”
Lucifer raised his brows at the seemingly abrupt change of topic, but merely said, “No, you didn’t.”
“There were a lot of things that told me something was wrong, but I decided to prove it with this.” She reached for the chain at her neck, tugging the bullet necklace free from where it was tucked under her shirt. Lucifer tracked the movement, his throat bobbing.
Chloe held the necklace up, letting the copper pendant dangle from between her fingers. It took her a second to focus—she was so caught up in happiness from the fact that Lucifer had gotten her a gift at all, much less one that he wanted to give her in private—but nope, she still couldn’t figure out what it was.
“It’s the bullet,” he said, eagerly watching her reaction. “From when you shot me early on in our partnership, remember?”
Of course she remembered. But the thought that he would keep it had never crossed her mind. And now here he was, giving it to her as a birthday gift.
It was so uniquely Lucifer, and so much more thoughtful than she ever would have expected. It meant something, to both of them. She thought he would never let her in again, but maybe…maybe he would. Maybe this was the start.
She hugged him, the necklace clutched tight in her hand, so glad to have him in her life.
“Michael showed up at the end of the case you helped me with,” she said. “In the middle of a shootout.”
Lucifer clenched his jaw. “I heard about it while I was in hell,” he said. “I’m sorry, Detective. I knew you could handle it and I decided not to…but anyway, I should have helped. Then Michael would never have gotten very far.”
“He didn’t really anyway. As soon as we took care of it, he…” Yeah, she should have thought this one through. Too late now. “He kissed me.”
If looks could kill and Michael was in the room with them right now, he’d be toast.
“I’m truly sorry you had to endure that,” Lucifer said through gritted teeth. “If he wanted to ruin my life that’s certainly a good first step. As if he knows the first thing about kissing someone.”
Chloe grinned. “He really didn’t. That was the first clue he wasn’t you, actually. I knew right away that something was wrong. It wasn’t like kissing you at all.”
Lucifer let out a breath. “The first three made an impression, I see.”
They certainly had, but she wasn’t about to tell him that right this second. Later.
“Anyway, he left after that, which was my second clue something was off. I couldn’t understand why you’d drop in to say hi after being in hell for two months and then just leave. The whole thing felt weird to me, but I thought I had you back, and he made sure to tell me from the start that thousands of years had passed in hell, so he might be a little different. I didn’t want to question it too much. But then the next day we went to a crime scene and he outright lied to Ella.”
Chloe had thought things might change between them, but they didn’t. Lucifer went right back to keeping her at arm’s length, as if their moment in the penthouse had never happened. She waited, and waited, giving him chance after chance to indicate in some way that he was interested in her. But he never did.
Maybe she’d been wrong, maybe she’d read way too much into it. Maybe the bullet necklace really was just his idea of a joke. It’d meant a lot to her, but what was she supposed to do with that when it probably didn’t mean much to him at all?
The more time that passed, the more she was sure that she was waiting for nothing. She would never fully understand him, but it was becoming clear that he would probably never feel the same way about her.
Eventually, she decided to stop waiting. It would only end in heartbreak.
She took off the bullet necklace, put it away, and did her best to forget about it.
Lucifer scoffed. “Not even a million years in hell would change me that much. Trust me on that.”
Chloe very much did not want to think about how he had spent a million years in hell over the course of his life. Longer. “I didn’t want to think so either. I felt like…like that would mean you’d changed so much I didn’t know who you were anymore. But I didn’t know what hell was like, and it was the first time you’d been back after being on Earth for more than a short visit.”
“That’s not actually true, but—never mind,” he said quickly. “Go on.”
She eyed him for a moment. She had the feeling he was not all eager to share something with her, and that told her she definitely needed to ask about it. But that could wait until later too. Tomorrow, maybe. “Okay, well. You had people to miss this time, a whole life you made for yourself here…I figured maybe it was that much harder to deal with going back.”
“It was,” he said softly. “It…it hurt. I never liked returning to hell in the past, but this time was so much worse. I missed everything about living here, and especially you. I couldn’t just tuck it away and move on like I did before. I thought about you constantly, even when I tried not to, because it just…it just hurt.”
Chloe’s throat felt tight. She took his hand, squeezing it in hers. “You’re back now,” she said. “And I’m right here.”
He smiled a little, but it was tinged in sadness. “Yes. I didn’t mean to sidetrack things, so…”
“Right.” She let go of his hand, even though she didn’t want to, because otherwise she would never finish. “I talked to Linda about it, and she agreed that maybe you just needed time to adjust to being here again.”
Chloe had almost succeeded in forgetting about the necklace. A failed engagement, Charlotte’s death, and the biggest news of her life meant that it was the last thing on her mind when she packed for Europe.
She couldn’t stay here after everything. She needed space, she needed time—a lot of it. Time to sort out everything she’d thought she’d known and figure out what was real and what was a lie.
So she shoved a bunch of random clothes in a suitcase and then picked over her jewelry on autopilot, thinking she would just take a few pieces in case she went somewhere nice with Trixie.
The sight of the necklace made her freeze. She stared at it for a long, long minute.
She’d shot the devil. He could get hurt. But it couldn’t be always, could it? He’d survived things no one should have been able to survive. He was immortal. Being hurt probably meant nothing to him.
And the necklace? Did that mean nothing, too? But why keep it if it had been so insignificant? Why pretend to care about her like that?
Chloe didn’t know. She felt like she didn’t know anything anymore. And she didn’t know if she could trust Lucifer to give her the full, honest truth.
“So I decided to help you with that,” Chloe continued. “I tried to get you to have fun with interrogations, and Michael couldn’t have possibly been less like you. I tried to get him to mess with Dan, and he botched that too. He was actually nice to him.”
Lucifer snorted. “No wonder Daniel is insisting we’re friends.”
“Yeah. It was like I was doing all the work trying to remind you what it was like to be partners together. He was focused on the details of the case, he didn’t try to charm anyone, he missed countless openings to make a dirty joke—and don’t make one right now either.”
Lucifer closed his mouth in disappointment.
“See? It should’ve been like that. Michael was failing the test pretty badly, but he just kept saying that he needed more time. And after a while he did start acting a little bit more like you. So I tried to accept it, but…then he made the biggest mistake of all.”
“And what was that?”
“He kind-of sort-of suggested I come over to the penthouse that night. And when I got there I found him making out with Maze.”
By the look on his face, it was a good thing Maze wasn’t in the room either. “Oh, that petty little demon. I think we’re overdue a chat.”
“Yeah, I wasn’t thrilled with her either. I knew beyond a doubt right then that he wasn’t you. Because I know you would never do something like that to me.”
The irritation softened a little. “I wouldn’t,” he said.
“But I had no idea what was really going on. I mean, no one warned me that celestial doppelgangers were a thing. A little heads up that you have an evil twin might have been nice.”
Lucifer grimaced. “In my defense I really didn’t think he’d ever show his face on Earth.”
“Well, he did. And I had to figure out what the hell to do about it. I went home and spent the night thinking it over, wondering who he was, what he wanted by pretending to be you. Obviously I had no way of knowing, but what I did know was that there was no way I was going to let him get away with it. I needed a plan, a way to force him to admit he wasn’t you.”
Chloe picked the necklace up for the first time since she’d put it away months ago.
For so long she’d been questioning what the deal was with it. Why he’d kept the bullet, why he’d given it to her. And now she knew. She’d looked into his eyes only a few hours ago as she’d held an axe to a chest, and listened to him tell her that he could only be killed like that because of her, and that he didn’t care in the slightest.
He must have found out that she made him vulnerable when she’d shot him. And still he’d stuck around, wanting to be partners, taking all kinds of risks the devil never actually needed to take.
And she didn’t…she didn’t think it was just about being physically vulnerable either. He’d chosen to be partners with her, had desperately wanted her to accept him as the devil, to accept him as he was.
It was real. Everything she’d been afraid was a manipulation on his part was real. He cared about her. He trusted her not to hurt him.
And she’d gone and done exactly that.
Chloe didn’t know how to move forward from there. She didn’t know how to be partners with the devil.
But she knew how to be partners with Lucifer. And maybe, somehow, she could make up for what she’d done. Maybe they would be able to figure things out.
She could only hope so.
Her hand went to the bullet necklace again. “I was wearing this that night too. At one point I started fiddling with it, and then it all just sort of…clicked. He could make up excuses for all the rest of it, but the only angel who’s vulnerable around me is you. I knew he had to be an angel from another stunt he pulled, so there was no way I’d be able to hurt him. And suddenly I knew exactly what to do.”
“You said you shot him?” Lucifer prompted, sounding extremely pleased about it.
“Yep, but not right away. I couldn’t just shoot him in public, no matter how much I wanted to.”
“Not that I disapprove—because trust me, Detective, you have no idea how happy that makes me—but you could have just tried to give him a paper cut or something. Isn’t going straight to shooting someone a bit overboard?”
Chloe gave him an incredulous look. “Says you, who asked me to shoot you.”
“That was different. I had no reason to believe it would work.”
She shook her head. “I was already sure it wasn’t you and that it wouldn’t work. Someone was trying to take over your life, screwing with me in the process. It wasn’t about proving it—it was about sending a message.”
Lucifer nodded. “That I can understand.”
“Exactly. So I decided to spend the next day playing him just like he tried to play me.”
Months passed, and Chloe couldn’t bring herself to look at the necklace again.
Things hadn’t been fine. They’d made up, but there was always a layer of distance between them now. She missed how close they used to be, wished things could have been different. But they probably never would be now. He had Eve, and she had only her hurt feelings to contend with. Alone, because she had no right to tell Lucifer how she really felt. She could barely admit it to herself.
But she watched him become more and more self-destructive, and wished she could. She wished that ugly truth would stop coming between them so they could talk, really talk, but she didn’t know how to make it happen.
So she resolutely didn’t look at the necklace, even though it was like a magnet, drawing her in every time she passed the dresser. She’d ruined any chance for them to be together the way she still wanted them to be, and now she had to live with it.
“I almost pity him for it,” Lucifer said. “He had no idea who he was messing with.”
Chloe smirked a little. “He really didn’t. He bought it hook, line, and sinker. Ate up every word about how I wanted to get to know this new Lucifer, that I even liked him more than you.”
“I’m sure Michael just loved that,” he muttered.
She decided not to go into any more details than that. A memory of the break room flashed in her mind, exactly just how much she’d been able to toy with Michael like putty in her hands. Some things Lucifer didn’t need to know. “It was almost pathetic how easy it was. In fact at one point I wondered if it wasn’t another trick of his, but no. I heavily implied that I was ready to take things to the next level and invited myself here that evening.”
Lucifer glowered for a second before he visibly pulled it back. “And then?”
“I went over there.” She nodded towards the balcony doors. “Got him to drop his guard completely. I even showed him the necklace, and he looked at it like he’d never seen it before, like he didn’t have a clue why it was important. One last confirmation. And then I pulled out my gun and shot him—in exactly the same place I shot you.”
Lucifer grinned in delight. “Amazing. I wish I could have seen the look on his face.”
“You have no idea how satisfying it was. Actually, I shot him a few more times after he confessed too, just to make my point crystal clear.”
The grin only widened. Lucifer lifted his drink in a toast. “Cheers to you.”
Chloe reached out just as he started to bring the glass to his lips and took it from him. Holding his gaze, she took a sip, letting the whiskey work its way down, an extra bit of warmth.
She passed it back to him, but he set it down without taking a drink. The amusement had faded.
Chloe finally told him how she felt, far too late.
She told him she loved him, only to watch him leave. Returning to hell indefinitely to keep the people he cared about safe.
To keep her safe.
She knew—she knew that he felt the same way about her, too. After everything they’d been through, they finally got it out in the open, and still it was impossible for them to be together.
It was so unfair. So unbelievably cruel.
Chloe missed him, but there wasn’t a single thing she could do to do get him back. She had to go on with her life.
Some days were harder than others. She took to wearing the bullet necklace again, feeling in some small way that it connected them, even though they couldn’t have been further apart. She wore it, and thought of him, and missed him, and loved him. She hoped that somehow, he could tell, that he could feel it, that he knew he was always on her mind.
And she hoped that one day, he would come back, and she could tell him that herself. That he would come back here, and stay, and they would finally be happy together.
“It did make me feel a little better, but then he left, and I felt so…alone. I missed you, so much, every second that you were gone. I thought about you constantly, too, even though I tried my best not to.” Her voice dropped to nearly a whisper, her self-control reaching its end. “Because it hurt. I missed you so much, it hurt. And especially right at that moment, I would have given anything to have you appear on the balcony again. I just wanted you back.”
Lucifer swallowed. Hesitated. Lifted his hand and slowly tucked her bangs back behind her ear, his fingers lingering on her cheek. “I’m back now,” he murmured. “And you have me. In whatever way you want.”
They gazed at each other for a moment. Chloe was barely breathing, keenly aware of every single point his fingers were touching her. He seemed to realize he’d been doing it too long, and she didn’t think she was mistaking the reluctance in his eyes as he started to move his hand away.
Chloe caught it with hers instead. “Being vulnerable, it…it was something new for you. I know it wasn’t always easy. But you kept wanting to be partners even knowing I could get you hurt. You let me in even though it was hard, even though you knew you could get hurt from that, too.”
“You’re right,” he said. “It wasn’t always easy. But that risk of being hurt… It was always worth it. It still is.” There was so much longing in his voice again.
She nodded, filled with longing herself. “Amenadiel’s theory was that I don’t make you vulnerable because of any miracle, but because you make yourself vulnerable around me. He told me about how angels self-actualize. And just like you give yourself wings, or a devil face…he thinks you choose to be vulnerable with me, too.”
Lucifer looked a little incredulous, in a good way. “That…that actually makes a lot of sense. And I…” A small smile flitted across his face. “I have no desire to change that.”
She smiled, too. “You choose to be vulnerable with me. And I choose to be vulnerable with you. I don’t have all the answers about the miracle, and I may never get them, but that risk…it’s worth it to me. It always will be. You’re worth it and more.”
His brows furrowed together in something like wonder. “Chloe,” he breathed.
It was the breaking point for both of them. They reached for each other at the same time, their lips meeting at last. A slow, sweet warmth spread through her, of relief and joy and bliss.
This felt right. This was coming home, after a long journey full of ups and downs, where she hadn’t been sure what would be waiting for her at the end. This was Lucifer, the person she loved with all her heart, together with her, and with nothing left to get in their way.
Chloe woke the next morning to piano music.
It was the same melody he’d been playing yesterday. She smiled and opened her eyes, the penthouse full of morning sunlight and that lovely music, floating to her from the piano just out of sight. Instead of immediately getting up, she decided to finally take those few minutes to listen.
It rolled on, full of just as much feeling as before, but the longer it went on, the lighter it became. It sounded perfect to her, not at all unfinished. As bright as the sunlight, as welcoming as the man playing it.
When she couldn’t stay still any longer, she got up, wearing the shirt of his that she’d pulled on to sleep in last night, and headed down to the main room.
Lucifer glanced up but didn’t stop playing. A slow smile spread across his face as he watched her cross to the piano.
She leaned against it, resting her arms on top, and listened quietly until the song came to an end. “Beautiful,” she said, smiling at him. “Good morning, Lucifer.”
“Good morning,” he said, his own smile widening. “And thank you. I woke up and just…knew how to finish it. So I thought I’d try it out. Did I wake you? I meant to be quiet, but I kind of got a little too into it…”
Chloe shook her head. “I’m glad. It’s a good way to be woken up. It really is beautiful.”
“It’s for you, you know,” he said, obviously pleased to hear it. “I didn’t even realize until this morning, but you’re wound through every chord, wrapped up in every last note.”
She sat next to him at the piano and kissed him. “Play it again?” she asked. “Just once?”
“Just once,” he said, “and then I have some other activities in mind.”
She grinned. “Sounds good to me.”
He played it for her again.