A/N: Story Changes:

Episodes 13-21 didn't happen.

Chloe and Pierce start dating in 3-5 after Pierce is shot, but mostly keep it secret. Lucifer isn't threatened yet, because he doesn't think it's serious or lasting.

Starts during 3-12 at the end of the talk with Pierce and Lucifer.

Spelling Kane was a hassle, as it's spelled differently everywhere I look, but I decided to go with the spelling in the closed captions to make it simple. Also, while I have made minor changes in my head prior to this moment, things will change a lot after this chapter. This one, though, does have a few scenes taken from the show, just condensed and not in the same order as the show. If there are similar scenes later (especially as I LOVE the final episode and will be borrowing elements from it) I'll try not to make them too boring and repetitive. Let me know if you'd rather I type them out for continuity sake or make a reference and skip to the next part.

If you want to skip the first part, as it's a rehash of Lucifer and Pierce's first conversations after Lucifer finds out he's Kane, than go down to the page break, but this first part is a re-imagining of Lucifer and Kane's conversation after Lucifer finds out about Pierce's true identity. It's mostly to show a condensed conversation, instead of splitting it up between locations. Plus, if Pierce and Chloe had gotten together earlier in the series, Lucifer would have had this talk as soon as he found out, instead of waiting until he thinks Pierce is leaving (the city, not the bar).

There are a few scenes and conversations before this point that I think would have gone differently too, but I think they'd be too boring to put into the beginning of this story, so if there's any interest, I'll publish them as a series of one-shots in a different story.

And finally, it's been a reallllly long time since I've written anything, so constructive criticism is welcome, but please be nice.

"I don't believe you."

"I don't care. Now, after getting stabbed and killing the closest thing I have to a friend, I've had a long day."

Pierce walked past Lucifer, slamming into his shoulder. Lucifer grabbed his arm, turning Pierce back to face him. "I have just one more question before you leave. What game are you playing with the Detective? What could you possibly want with her?"

"What makes you think that I'm playing with her? Why couldn't I just be interested in her?"

"Because, as we've established, you're Kane. I don't believe that you have no ulterior motive," Lucifer casually reached his free hand towards the bar, grabbing his glass and downing the contents. "So spill. What do you possibly want with her?"

"Why is that so hard to believe? That I'm actually interested in her? Chloe's special." Pierce said, pulling his arm from Lucifer's grasp. His one arm still clutched his chest where his wound was, but his free hand clenched a bit as he rose to his full height, matching Lucifer's stare.

Lucifer smiled sarcastically, and leaned in, "well, I'm not arguing that, but tell me, Pierce, what is it you really want with her? What is it you desire?"

Pierce stared at Lucifer. His eyes glazed over a bit, as he tried to fight it. "I want…" he stopped himself, but couldn't break away from Lucifer's gaze.

"Come on, what is it that you want with the Detective, hmm?"

"I want to die."

Lucifer straightened back up, confusion filling his face. "What? I don't understand. What does the Detective have to do with wanting to die?"

Pierce let out a shaky breath and walked back over to the stool that he had vacated. He grabbed the drink that he had left on the bar and slowly sipped it, sitting down and leaning on the bar. "I have walked this earth for thousands of years, I have done everything, I have seen everything, I have watched everything I have ever known turn to ashes, over and over again." He drained the last of his scotch, setting the glass down on the bar. Lucifer walked around the bar, grabbing the bottle and refilling both of their glasses.

"Well, it's almost like you're in-"

"Hell?" Interrupted Pierce, "yeah. And I've been searching for a way out. For ever! Keeping an eye out on every celestial on earth and what they're doing. How and why they seem to come and go." He paused, taking more sips of the scotch. "So imagine my surprise when I find out there's a detective who somehow made the Devil bleed. For the first time, I had hope. Maybe she could do for me what she did for you."

"Then finally you'd be free." Lucifer said scornfully, draining his glass and pouring another, draining the rest of the bottle.

"Yeah." Pierce breathed, taking another swig.

"Then why kidnap me?"

"Because in order to test my theory, I needed you out of the way. So I hired someone to knock you out when Chloe was close. Then you sprouted wings and came back early, and screwed up the entire plan. So I had to think on the fly."

Lucifer paused, glass halfway to his lips, "hold on. The shooter at the ranch?"

"Yeah."

"You let him know you were coming? Hoping he'd react the way that he did?" He slammed the glass down on the bar angrily. "You put the detective in danger!"

"And even then, with Chloe right beside me, it didn't work. So that little bit of hope I had? It's gone."

"Oh, boo-hoo," Lucifer picked up the glass again, and scoffed, "what about everything else that happened to me?

"Honestly, I don't know."

There was a pause as Lucifer examined Pierce's face for any sign of lying or deceit, "you're telling the truth."

They sat there in silence for a minute before Pierce got up again. "Well, as much fun as this has been, like I said, I've had a long day." He grabbed a clean napkin from the bar, replacing the one that he had been using, then walked out, Lucifer too busy processing the information to really notice.

Lucifer leaned against the bar, looking over the crowd writhing and dancing in his club, not really feeling like joining in. It had been a week since the events of the Sinnerman case and Chloe had yet to return any of his calls or texts. He had thought about just showing up at one of her crime scenes and making her listen to reason, but had uncharacteristically thought better of it, deciding to give her a bit of space before reminding her of how valuable his assistance could be.

He saw some girls eyeing him, and drained the rest of his drink before moving away from the bar, but not towards the ladies. He was craving a cigarette, and had, for some reason, let the good doctor convince him that he should start smoking away from others. She had some reasons of 'personal space' and 'respecting others', but he had taken them as breaks from his life. He wasn't sure why he enjoyed getting away from everything for a few minutes, but sometimes it was nice.

The side door to Lux opened up into the alleyway beside the club, and a few steps down and an alcove successfully hid his breaks from the masses who were trying to gain access to the club. Occasionally he saw stragglers pass through, but for the most part he was alone in the alley.

Tonight he was alone. The air smelled slightly of garbage from the dumpster on his other side and rain to come. The rain was far off to the east though, and probably wouldn't hit soon, although the clouds looked angry. Lucifer leaned down a bit to cover his cigarette to light it, when he noticed a shoe poking out from in front of the dumpster. He smirked a bit, thinking of everyone who came to the club who got completely smashed, and walked towards the fallen person.

When he got within sight, he froze. He could have sworn he felt his heart stop, even if that was physically impossible. He ran over to the body and rolled her onto her back. The girl lying on the ground was the splitting image of Chloe Decker, and even though he was pretty sure that it wasn't her, the slight doubt was causing him worry.

Pulling out his phone, he dialed her number, almost praying that she would finally answer. When it went to voicemail, he swallowed his pride and called Dan.

"Hello?"

"Daniel? This is very important. Have you seen the Detective today?" Lucifer held his breath unconsciously, hoping that the answer would be affirmative.

"Yeah, she just picked up Trixie from my house ten minutes ago, why? She still not talking to you?"

His sigh of relief was one that he couldn't hold in, but he did make it quiet enough so Dan couldn't hear. "I think you need to send her over to Lux. I found a body outside of my club, and I think she'll want to see this."

Twenty minutes later the alley behind Lux was roped off with police tape, and Chloe was surveying the scene. Her anger had cooled a bit towards Lucifer, but she still hadn't forgiven him, so she had avoided talking to him for the moment while she tried to ascertain the scene first.

Ella was leaning over the body doing preliminary work while Chloe watched. It was uncanny how closely the victim resembled her, and it was freaking her out just a bit. Even the clothes looked like something that she would wear, instead of the shiny and skimpy outfits that were seen frequenting the nightclub.

"Time of death was about four hours ago," said Ella, still leaning over the body. "COD was a gunshot to the chest, I think, and she was dressed in these clothes post-mortem."

"You think?" Chloe asked. "It's not like you to be unsure."

"Well, I know she was dressed post-mortem, because the wound is under the clothes, and there is no hole in the shirt. But it's hard to say if this was a gunshot, because we need to look under the clothes back at the lab." Ella rolled over the victim, showing Chloe the back of the jacket. "This is weird though, the bottom of the jacket is singed. Also, there's smudges on the shirt and pants which could be from the same fire."

Chloe paused, looking closely at the clothing. "Wait…"

Ella watched her for a minute while Chloe ran her hands up and down the hem of the jacket. "Waiting?"

"I think this is my jacket…" Chloe breathed, finding what she was looking for, a small hole by the front left pocket. "This is what I was wearing on the Sinnerman case, when the car blew up. I had to throw it away because it was singed when the car blew up. These are my clothes…"

They both looked at the face of the victim again, stunned.

"Are you sure?" Ella asked, "they aren't just really good replicas?"

"Yeah, I'm sure. Do you see this stain here? This is where Trixie spilled ketchup on my jacket just before the case. I never washed it after, because there was no point. And this hole is where a piece from the car door got lodged in after the explosion. I'm positive that this was mine." Her face paled slightly from the implication, but she otherwise showed no sign of letting it affect her. She had to be strong if she was going to solve this case. Any weakness and they'd take her off of it and give it to another detective.

Ella on the other hand, was horrified. "Does that mean that this body is a message? For who? You? Lucifer? Who would do such a thing? Will you be alright?"

"I'm fine, Ella. Don't worry about me?" Chloe stood up, and steeled herself. "Speaking of Lucifer, I need to get security footage from him. Excuse me."

Chloe walked back inside, knowing exactly where Lucifer would be. Predictably, he was at the bar, swallowing what had to be his third or fourth pour of scotch. When he saw her, he made a beeline for her, his eyes sweeping up and down her body, as if checking for wounds or marks. She felt a tiny bit of anger swell up in her, which she quickly stamped down. She needed this information from him, and yelling wouldn't be any help.

"Detective, I-"

She put her hand up to stop him. "I just want to know about your security system. Do you have any cameras on that entrance?"

He sighed, running his fingers through his hair in an uncharacteristic expression of frustration. "Not on the outside, but we do have one pointed at the door from the inside. Tyler can get it for you." He pointed at a bartender who was talking to a uniformed officer.

She nodded briskly and turned.

"Detective!"

She turned around, giving him a flat look.

"I… I'm glad you are alright." He took another drag of scotch and she paused briefly before turning back to the bartender.

The bartender was just finishing up his statement for the uniform, when Chloe got there and asked to see the security room. He lead her to a room in the same back hall as the exit and opened it up.

"Here. Mr. Morningstar said to give you whatever you want, so you'll have full access."

"Thanks. Tyler, was it?" Chloe asked. "How long have you been at Lux?"

"Oh, a year or so? I was part time while I finished school, but bumped up to full time while I'm looking for other work."

She nodded absently, looking around the room. There was a desk with three monitors on it, each showing different angles of the club.

"How long has this system been in place?"

"Only a couple of months. Since that poor girl passed away here. Boss thought that it'd be good to have some records of the guests here. Most of the club still isn't monitored, but he thought it was a good idea to have an idea of who was here."

She was surprised. Maybe he had learned something in the two years they had been working together. "Thanks Tyler. I'll let you know when we're done here."

He nodded and left the room. Chloe sat down at the computer and located the side door camera. The feed was still on the activity that was going down currently, and the coroner's van had arrived and was picking up the body. The angle of the camera pointed at the door from inside, so her view covered the bottom of the stairs and the edge of the victim's shoe, but wasn't a wide enough angle to get the dumpster or body. Sighing, Chloe rewound the image to just before Lucifer said he went out for a smoke break.

If she was being honest with herself, she had noticed that Lucifer had stopped smoking as much over the past year, but she hadn't realized that he was removing himself entirely while he did so. Just more proof that he had changed over the time she had known him.

Chastising herself over her train of thought going off the rails, she focused back on the security footage. On screen, Lucifer walked out the door holding his cigarettes, and luckily left the door open wide enough for her to see everything that she could. He walked outside, took a deep breath and went to light his cigarette, when his eyes caught something. He gave that smirk, the one she knew as him catching someone doing something naughty and he took a few steps forward. That's when he froze. She saw all the color drain from his face and he ran out of frame. The image stayed still for five minutes, the only change coming from the end of the alley where the light danced just a bit.

When Lucifer came back into frame, he looked like someone had beat him with a stick. His face was still pale, although a shadow of relief danced on his face, he sagged against the door frame and tried to light up his cigarette, fingers slipping on the lighter. After failing a fifth time, he put down his lighter and gave up, his free hand going up to his face to cover his eyes.

Maybe she had been a little harsh to him. She was wigged out by the body, she couldn't imagine what he had gone through when he found it. Especially since she hadn't been speaking to him at the time.

Chloe once again shook herself out of her thoughts, she'd go over the footage before Lucifer came out and make sure, but she didn't think there was anything useful on these tapes.

Sure enough, nothing exciting happened in the four hours before Lucifer's smoke break, the door stayed closed the entire time. She left the footage back on the live feed before packing up and heading out. She stopped to say a few words to the officers, but then she got into the elevator to go up to the penthouse. Lucifer was owed an apology.

A/N: Well, chapter one is written and done! I had a different story, but then I was thinking of what I liked in season 3, and what I didn't (mainly I like the Sinnerman storyline, but not the fact that it goes nowhere for an entire season before the finale which I LOVED and have seen over 5 times). I then changed my first story, which took place mid-finale and changed it to be mid-season so I could stretch out the Sinnerman storyline. I wish Pierce could have been an actual bad guy, instead of a footnote and a love triangle. But here's my way of fixing it. Hopefully this will make for a longer story and a more satisfying (for me) explanation of what happens.