Lucifer caught Ella's arm. "Is the detective here?"
"I haven't seen her," she said, and grinned. "I can't wait to hear how her date with Pierce went! Pierce has been so down lately and she's, well, there hasn't really been anyone since Dan if you know what I mean. Oh, and the way they looked at each other when he picked her up from the precinct! His eyes were sparkling and Chloe was smiling! It's enough to make you believe in fate. And to think Pierce almost left." She tsked. "Hey, you okay?"
He looked down at his hand, his fingers still curled around Ella's arm, each white and bloodless. He retracted his hand and stuffed it into his pocket.
"Just peachy."
Ella's hands flew to her mouth. "You're worried about her!"
The precinct suddenly grew quiet.
"She's my partner."
"You're totally worrying about her. Hold up. How did I not see this? You like her! Oh." She seemed to deflate, face crinkling in on itself. "And I just told you about Pierce a-and Chloe. I'm so sorry, Lucifer. Pierce was right, I should just shut up."
He was not ready to deal with this right now. "Ella-"
"I-I'm fine. I'm just gonna go for a little while. But, Lucifer, it'll be okay. The man upstairs always has a plan." She scurried off.
Lucifer sighed and glared skyward. "Great, a plan by an all-powerful, psychotic bastard. Thank you so very much, Dad!"
He hadn't seen Chloe since she'd left on her date with Pierce last Friday. It was Monday now. She hadn't returned his calls or messages, even when he'd (grudgingly) switched from emojis to actual characters. She couldn't just be ignoring him. No one ignored him. Something had to be wrong.
Well, Beelzebub to the rescue.
...
The detective's car was in the driveway, but despite the sinking sun, the lights were out.
He knocked on the door.
No answer.
A second time.
Still no answer.
He tried the door. Locked.
Shrugging, he pushed the door open, casually breaking the lock. It was good humans had so little that supernatural beings wanted. They would've been truly helpless.
"Detective?" He pulled the door shut behind him, wincing a little at the rattling of the broken lock. He was sure she would forgive him.
He could hear something now. Tapping.
Something was rising up in his stomach. It was like being drunk, but without the buzz. Worry, he realized. He was worried. What had the detective done to him?
Lucifer found her huddled into a corner on her bedroom floor, the light of her laptop lighting up her face in the dark. The blinds were pulled tightly shut. She didn't look up when he came in.
"Detective?" he tried again.
More typing. The screen changed.
He could now see that there was a gun next to her. This range, Chloe so close… He shook himself. Chloe would not shoot him. Bloody hell. Shaken or not, she was his Dad-damned partner.
He put a hand on her shoulder and she flinched, fingers reaching for her firearm. He didn't try to stop her.
"Chloe."
She frowned, squinting at him. "Lucifer? What- What are you doing here?" Something occurred to her and her eyes danced about the room. "Pierce, is he here?"
"What? No."
Her shoulders untensed beneath his fingers.
He'd never seen her like this before. "Let's go sit somewhere more comfortable, detective."
She shook her head. "I-I like it here. No windows."
This wasn't like her. Scared. Helpless. Out of her element.
He took a spot across from her on the floor, wrinkling his expensive trousers in the process. No matter. "Who did this to you?" If he'd still had his devil face, it would've made an appearance. He closed the laptop. "Detective? Chloe?"
She pulled her knees into her chest. "You won't believe me."
"I'm Lucifer Morningstar, detective. You can trust me."
A small smile.
"Come on, Chloe." He offered her a hand as he repeated the words she'd so often told the mortals they'd helped. "You're safe."
She allowed herself to be led to a couch in the living room. He tried to extract his hand from hers, but she had a death grip on his.
"I'll be right back. I promise."
He closed the blinds and returned with a small mountain of blankets. "Here."
She settled under them, pulling her limbs about her to take up as little space as possible. She looked… caged. While her hair had long fallen from its usual ponytail, the elastic was somehow hanging by her ear. Her pyjamas smelled of sweat and fear.
He took a seat next to her. "What happened to you?"
"Nothing."
Lucifer raised an eyebrow.
"Nothing happened to me. It was all Pierce."
It was then that Lucifer decided that Pierce was going to die, just so that he would end up in hell and Lucifer could get his hands on him.
"We were walking back from the concert- He came out of nowhere and he had a gun. A detective and a lieutenant and one armed thug got us. He shot Pierce and I didn't do anything. I'm a detective and I couldn't even move."
Damn it. Damn it. Damn it all.
"Peirce died. I-I tried CPR, but he- he was gone, Lucifer. There was blood everywhere and n-no pulse. Gone." She stared at Lucifer with wild eyes, and for the barest second, the devil was terrified. "Then he woke up."
His mind went blank. There was nothing but rage. Pierce had exposed Chloe to his father for his own selfish reasons. He had no doubt Pierce had arranged to be murdered with Chloe nearby.
"He was dead and then he wasn't. That's not supposed to happen. That can't happen." She was breathing hard. "I'm going crazy, Lucifer, and I don't know what to do. How do I trust myself after this?"
"Where is he?" Lucifer managed.
"I don't know-" She stopped suddenly. "You believe me?"
He didn't have time for the luxury of anger. There was a bigger problem: how much did she know?
"Of course you believe me. You think you're the devil. We're both crazy."
He took her hands. "I'm your partner, detective, always. You're not lying or crazy. It would be more fun if you were crazy."
"You don't understand! He died and came back to life. He wasn't even bleeding when he stood back up. Either I'm insane or the world doesn't work like how I thought it did, and I'm not okay with that."
He should lie to her. He couldn't lie to her.
"I think scotch would be appropriate, don't you?" With any luck, with Chloe so close, the alcohol might work on him too.
He found a bottle and poured them each a glass, using the only cups he could find: brightly coloured, plastic ones clearly meant for Trixie. Lucifer figured Trixie would've approved.
She took it gratefully, frowning only a little at the choice of cup.
Lucifer took a deep breath. He couldn't stall any longer, but what could he possibly tell her?
"I've seen him die too," he said eventually He'd decided that it probably wouldn't help him to add that he had been the one to kill Pierce that time.
"What? How are you so calm?" Her knuckles were white around the glass. "Tell me. Please. I need something solid right now."
No more going backwards.
"Chloe, I would never hurt you or Trixie or Da- well, quite possibly Dan. I don't know what you'll think of me after this-well, I do, and I'd rather not think on it-so-" His voice broke. "I love you, Chloe."
The three words hung between them, powerful and solid. He'd never spoken them before.
She didn't speak for a minute.
Her voice was soft, almost… scared. "Lucifer, I love-"
"No, you don't. You don't know me, detective, though that's no fault of your own."
She traced her hand along his jaw. "I love you, Lucifer. I don't need to know your real name or your family to know that I love you. You love Trixie and she loves you. It took some time, but I couldn't ask for a better partner. You're always there for me. You deny it, but you really do care about people."
He licked his lips. "I'm afraid the deception goes further than that."
"There's nothing you could tell me that would turn me away."
"We'll see." He brushed her hand off his face. "I promised I would tell you everything and Pierce has forced my hand. When we first met, you saw me get shot in the chest. That wasn't a hallucination and I wasn't wearing a bulletproof vest. I've thrown people across rooms with one hand. I get killers to admit their greatest desires to me. As much as I wish I could attribute that to my truly magnetic," he said, forcing a smile, "personality, I can't. I kidnapped the Sinnerman.
"I have never lied to you and I never will." Time to move forwards. "I am Lucifer Morningstar, the devil, the first Fallen angel."
His wings appeared behind him, and they glowed softly in the dim light. He'd always had a knack for showmanship. The feathery things seemed to have a mind of their own, and they curved in, almost protectively, towards Chloe.
She stared at him with those same blank eyes as Linda had all those months ago. He'd lost her.
...
Wings. Not what dainty, delicate things like the movies thought angel wings should look like, but huge, white limbs. They filled the largest room in her house. The smaller feathers looked soft and downy while the larger, two-foot ones seemed razor sharp. Combined with the muscle that shimmered under the layer of feathers, these wings weren't decorative.
And they were on her partner's back, not just on, but growing from.
God, she was in love with the devil. Shit, God was angels and demons. Hell and Heaven. Adam and Eve. It was all true. Worse, it all made sense. Lucifer's family drama, everything weird that had happened around him.
But she didn't say a word, didn't move her eyes from his wings.
The wings disappeared. "I'm sorry. This was too much," Lucifer said. "You won't see me again, detective. Las Vegas should be nice, I suppose." His eyes were wet. "Don't tell Trixie. Please."
He made for the door.
"Stay."
He stopped.
"Stay with me."
"But you know who I am."
She was shaking again. "I do. But you're still my Lucifer."
"As you wish." He settled next to her, back ramrod straight and hands clasped together in his lap.
"If you're the you-know-what, what does that make Pierce? Is he an angel?"
Lucifer laughed for a moment before he could catch himself. It cut off abruptly. "Pierce, my brother? Your lieutenant committed your species' first murder. The irony. Must be why it took me so long to spot him. He killed his brother in cold blood. Granted, Abel was and remains a douche."
"Cain?!"
"Yes."
"So that Mark of Cain thing wasn't a metaphor? He actually can't die?"
"Oh, he can. He just returns to life. The chainsaw was fun, left quite a mess though."
"Is there anyone else biblical I should know about? Are Adam and Eve just wandering around somewhere?"
"Oh, no, they died eons ago. Yes to there being others though. Maze is a demon forged in the bowels of hell, one of my best creations if I do say so myself. Amenadiel is my brother. Charlotte Richards was my mother. The rest of the family's in the Silver City."
"I live with a demon? And what do you mean Charlotte Richards was your mother?"
"Dear old mum escaped from hell and grabbed a fresh body, Charlotte Richards. When I created a new universe for her, she left that body behind. For some reason, Charlotte's soul was pulled up from Hell."
"I'm not even going to try to understand that." Chloe took a long swig from the bright orange cup. "Lucifer, I'm not ready to talk about this yet. I need time."
"I understand."
"But stay with me?" She settled her head onto his shoulder and snuggled close. He wrapped his arm around her.
"I thought I'd lost you, Chloe."
"I'm not going anywhere."
And, in the devil's arms, she felt safe.