Lucifer heaves a sigh of relief as he steps out of Jason Carlisle's personal Hell. He studies the formula on the piece of paper in his hand, crumples it then drops it to the ground. He looks up and shouts, "Where's a resurrection when you need one?" Receiving no response he moves forward, "Could really use my flask right about now." May as well see how things are faring in my absence.
He slowly ambles through Hell, waiting for his revival when he feels drawn to a door with an illuminated window. Curious, he reaches for the handle and pushes inward.
"Sloths move faster, Petey!" he hears a male voice call out cheerfully. "Snails. The humble tortoise."
"You can't rush perfection," comes the bantering reply, ostensibly from the unseen Petey.
Lucifer steps further into the space, What is this?
"This is true," replies the first voice. Lucifer turns to see a middle-aged, white police officer smiling over a counter at a slightly older, Asian man who is preparing food.
"Hawaiian bread, just the way you like it," Petey hands the sandwich to the officer.
"Thanks, Petey," the officer smiles his appreciation.
"No, thank you, Officer Decker," Petey replies.
Hold on just a minute, Lucifer's mouth pulls into a line as if to underscore his confusion, Officer Decker? Chloe's father, John Decker?
Officer Decker puts the sandwich on the counter and reaches into his jacket, "Before I forget," he pulls out two tickets and hands them to the man behind the counter. "For you and Grace."
Petey examines the tickets then looks at his friend with raised eyebrows "Hot Tub High School?"
Decker smiles wistfully, "Opens Friday. My little monkey's going to be a star."
Pete smiles again and hefts the tickets, "We wouldn't miss it."
"Do me a favor," the officer says. "I hear there's some funny business about 15 minutes in..."
Petey nods, "Oh, you mean that scene where..."
Decker raises his hand and nods, "Yeah, yeah, yeah...let's not finish that thought." He looks chagrined for a moment before he continues, "Just tell her it was a good movie."
The Asian man rolls his eyes, "Kids these days."
"Yeah, I know," Decker agrees. "But, hey, I'm proud of her."
Lucifer watches as a hooded gunman enters the shop behind the police officer.
Petey looks concerned and Decker realizes something is wrong. "You okay, Petey?" Decker asks his friend before turning around.
The hooded man points a gun at the police officer and Decker raises his hands in a gesture of peace, "Hey, listen..."
The gunman doesn't say a word and fires two shots into Decker's chest.
Bloody Hell, Lucifer thinks to himself as he looks around. He is suddenly held hostage by the sight of Chloe, leaning against the wall in a corner, sobbing silently as her face is frozen in a mask of horror.
"No…..no….no….I'm so sorry. Daddy…please…I'm sorry…no…." she whimpers as fat tears stream down her face.
Lucifer looks to where her father's body was on the floor and he sees the man is standing again, talking to the man behind the counter. The unending loop that is Chloe Decker's own, personal Hell.
Father, you bastard, he growls to himself. What is she even DOING here?
He steps toward Chloe to block her view of having to watch her father die again, "Darling, look at me."
She raises her red, swollen eyes to his face as a violent shiver courses through her, "Lucifer," she rasps, "what are you doing here? What's happening?"
He grimaces, "It would seem, Detective….that you have…died." He looks around the shop then to her again, "But I can't figure out why you are here."
Water-logged blue eyes widen as her jaw goes slack, "Dead? What? And what do you mean by "here," Lucifer? Where….am I?"
His heart skips for a moment as he closes his eyes and takes a deep breath, "Hell."
Chloe's knees give out and he lunges to catch her before she hits the floor, "I'm…..oh God."
Lucifer scowls up at the ceiling, "Indeed." He cradles her then shakes his head, "But I can't understand why. Doesn't matter. I need to get you out of here."
She shivers in his arms, "No….I deserve this. Just…leave me here."
He frowns and hugs her while he looks at the unending replay of her father's murder. "Why do you feel guilty about this, Chloe?"
"Because," she begins shakily, "if he weren't here, getting that damned sandwich for me, he would still be alive! This is MY FAULT!" She buries her head in his shirt and sobs uncontrollably.
Lucifer gives her a squeeze, "No, darling, it's not your fault at all. Remember that your father was murdered in cold blood. He was not the victim of a random robbery gone wrong."
She frowns through her tears, "I don't want to talk about this. Maybe next time I can reason with the gunman…maybe I can stop it from happening…maybe…" She struggles in his arms as she tries to step forward.
He shakes his head and holds her fast, "Darling, stop. You can't change the events of the past, but you can view them through a different lens after you've received proper information. This burden is not yours to bear. His killer would have found him elsewhere, if it wasn't here in this shop getting your sandwich. Listen instead to his final conversation."
She does as he asks and closes her eyes tightly as fresh tears stream down her face to mix with the mucus dripping like a faucet from her nose.
"He loved you a great deal, Detective," Lucifer coos as he strokes her hair. "He was doing exactly what he wanted to be doing in that moment – obtaining something he knew you'd enjoy. He LOVED you, Chloe. He was PROUD of you. The only guilt to be had from this should be in Warden Perry's chamber of Hell. You don't even belong here."
Chloe squeezes him closer, "Is that true?" she asks timidly.
Lucifer kisses the top of her head, "It is indeed, darling." He feels her relax and notices that the unending loop has stopped and the scene around him has changed. Bloody Hell, he curses again.
She looks around as she wipes her face on her sleeve, "How did we get in your apartment?" she asks confused.
Fighting the sinking feeling in his gut, Lucifer steps back from her, "I…..don't know, exactly. But I do know that we need to get you out of here and up to Heaven where you belong. Linda and Maze should be reviving me any moment now, so I don't have much time." He pauses and looks at her, "Do you trust me?"
Chloe's brows furrow as she takes in the naked fear on Lucifer's face, "What's wrong?"
He ignores her question and repeats his with more force, "Do. You. Trust. Me. Detective? Please."
She nods slowly and takes a step toward him, "Yes….but…"
"Good enough," he says shortly as he steps toward his elevator and pushes the call button. It doesn't light and he swears in frustration. "I need to get you out of Hell and there's only one way for me to do that, love." He looks pained, "I'm so, so sorry. When you think of me…if...after….please remember that I….I….." he hangs his head and looks at his feet, "…never lied to you."
Confusion tightens the muscles on her face, "What are you talking abo…OH MY GOD."
Lucifer is gone. In his place is a human figure that looks to have been skinned alive. He closes his eyes and takes a deep breath. When he opens them again, his eyes are replaced by angry flames and he pushes the button again. The elevator doors open and he steps back to clear her path even as she remains rooted to the spot.
"Lucifer," she whispers hoarsely. "Oh my God, you're…."
He nods as he takes another few steps back, "Yes, Detective. I'm The Devil." He gestures, "And you need to get in that elevator."
"But…" she steps toward him shaking her head. "You…"
His face twists and his eye grow brighter as he gestures more urgently again, "GET OUT!" His shout vibrates through her as the lights in the apartment flicker.
Terrified, she runs to the elevator and the doors close immediately, leaving her in utter darkness.
Lucifer paces impatiently in his apartment after the detective leaves. He turns to gaze out the window over the phantom view when hears music coming from his piano. Confused, he turns.
Uriel turns to face him, a sardonic smile twisting his face, "I never could play as well as you."
The first thing Chloe notices is the chill of her hospital room. She shivers and a blanket is laid over her. She blinks her eyes open slowly and sees the kindly face of a nurse injecting medication into her IV. "Welcome back to the land of the living," she says cheerfully as she rests a warm hand on Chloe's shoulder. "You gave us all quite a scare."
Chloe blinks again, "What…happened?" she croaks. She frowns at the raw feeling in her throat. As if reading her mind, the nurse brings over a large covered mug with a long straw and encourages her to take a sip. The cold water on her throat feels so good, the detective worries for a moment she might make a fool of herself and weep.
The nurse smiles softly again as she puts the cup down, "You had a seizure and coded. Took them a minute to get you back, but you're okay now." A flush creeps over the older woman's cheeks, "That handsome, British friend of yours brought the antidote, so you'll be right as rain in no time."
"What?" Chloe asks in confusion. Where did Lucifer find the antidote?
The nurse nods, "He didn't say where he got it, but if you don't mind me saying, he looked like Hell when he got here with it. He collapsed after he handed it over."
HELL.
The memory of Dr. Carlisle's boast, "The only place the formula resides is in my head."
Oh. My. God. That's why Lucifer was...
"Where is he?" Chloe asks, her voice shaking.
The nurse points to one of the walls, "He's in the other room. Refused treatment but we made him lie down. He fell right to sleep."
"Can I go see him?"
The nurse wags her finger at her patient, "You may not. Not yet, anyway. You are on bed-rest for the next 24 hours. Then we'll talk about you standing on your own. Almost dying is hard on the body."
No almost about it, Chloe thought.
The nurse smiles and winks, "But your friend did want us to let him know when you wake up. Want me to go tell him now?"
Chloe blinks again, Do I? Was that just a dream? Even as she thinks it, she knows the answer. Oh God. Wait…sorry. Shit. All that is….real. She realizes the nurse is waiting for an answer and she shakes her head, "No. He…um….he needs to get some rest, too. I'm sure he'll come in here after he wakes up himself." Goosebumps raise on her arm as she realizes the truth of it. The Devil will come looking for me.
Oblivious to Chloe's predicament, the nurse smiles, "You are so sweet, honey." She pats her patient's hand, "Try to get some more rest," then quietly leaves the room.
The detective stares up at the ceiling trying to make sense of what she saw. Was it a hallucination? Death dream? Some freakish 'life flashing before my eyes' thing? What the Hell?
There it was again.
Hell.
A wave of ice washes over her and she shivers, I went to Hell.
And Lucifer was there.
She starts to review her entire relationship with the club owner, from the day they met to some of his outlandish behavior and she realizes he was right. He never lied to her. Feeling more settled, she allows exhaustion to overtake her and she falls asleep.
When she slowly regains consciousness, before she opens her eyes, she smells…Him. He's always smelled wonderful but somehow, underneath the expensive cologne, cigarettes and whisky, there's an underlying whiff of sulfur that she never noticed before. She opens her eyes and is immediately captured by his black-brown gaze.
He smiles softly, "Well, look who's back." When she remains silently blinking at him, his smile grows concerned, "Are you…alright…Detective?"
She licks her lips nervously but never turns away, "I….died," she replies simply.
Lucifer closes his eyes for a moment and bows his head. After a long pause, he looks up again and gives a small nod, "You did."
"I was in Hell," she states quietly.
Small grimace, "You were," he agrees.
Her brow furrows, "You were there."
Another nod, "I was."
She takes a deep breath and it catches as she releases it, "You…."
An expression of infinite sadness takes over his beautiful face as he looks down to avoid her eyes, "Yes."
"Lucifer, look at me," she whispers.
Unable to refuse her anything, he obeys. His eyes widen as she reaches for his fingers where they hang from the railing on her bed, "You saved me."
He shifts in his seat, obviously uncomfortable, "As much as I'd like to take all the credit, this one was a team effort." Anxious for a distraction, he watches as she wraps her fingers around his.
She gives him a warm squeeze, "You know, this whole poisoning thing has really put a pause on everything that's been going on with you and I, and...what happened in...when I..."
He interrupts her carefully, "I think, right now, you just need to focus on feeling better, Detective." He stands up and continues to hold her hand.
She smiles softly as the warmth of his gaze touches her like a tangible thing, "Can you ask someone to bring Trixie in?"
"Yes, of course," he nods, still reluctant to let go of her hand.
She looks up at him hopefully, "And we'll talk...we'll talk later, yeah?" she nods, silently willing him to agree.
Lucifer is unable to answer. I won't lie to her, you cruel bastard, he curses silently as he bobs his head to take his leave. Damn you, I can't even tell her good-bye.
He leaves the hospital room with the intention of never seeing his beloved detective again.