Lucifer crashed through the wooden benches. He groaned, and didn't get up again.

"Freeze."

Chloe's voice echoed loudly through the empty church.

Uriel turned to her, baffled. "You can't be here. It's not in the pattern."

"Drop the knife. Hands where I can see them."

Chloe approached him slowly, gun drawn. Uriel ignored her instructions. He looked at her as if she were some curiousity in a circus freak show. "Tell me, little mortal, how can you defy the pattern?"

"Drop. The. Knife. Now."

Uriel smiled at her, and threw the blade. Several things happened at once. Chloe fired, and she was certain she hit him at least once, but the man barely reacted. The blade missed her by several feet, clanging loudly against something. It apparently caused something else to fall over, as there was a series of loud noises behind her. Chloe didn't turn to watch, instead she stared in disbelief at the man who had attacked her partner. She was certain she'd hit him, but he just continued standing there, unfazed, smiling.

Lucifer sat up and her eyes were drawn to him. His gaze focussed on something above her. She saw the panic in his eyes an instant before she heard a deafening cracking noise. She turned to look just in time to see a part of the ceiling caving in and crashing towards her. The last thing she heard was Lucifer screaming her name, terror in his voice, then everything went black.

Chloe came to slowly. A fuzzy shape encompassed almost her entire field of vision. She blinked, and coughed. She heard a high-pitched noise and nothing else. What was going on? Had there been some explosion? Then she suddenly remembered the ceiling coming towards her and sat up in a blind panic. The noise diminished somewhat and she heard a terrified voice saying her name over and over again. Lucifer. He was sitting in front of her, his hands roaming over her, trying to access her injuries.

There was a searing pain in her temple. She moved her hand there and it came back bloody. Shit. She took in her surroundings. There was rubble all around her. She looked up and saw the sky through the massive hole in the ceiling. How the hell had that happened? How was she even still alive?

She put her hands on Lucifer's arms, stopping his frantic movements.

"'m fine. 's okay." She coughed again. Lucifer sat down, relief evident on his face.

"What happened?", she asked, but Lucifer only shook his head, clearly distraught. Chloe was alert in an instant. Where was the man who had tried to kill them? Where was her gun? She looked around, and saw a body on the floor a couple of feet away. She gave Lucifer a questioning look, but he wasn't paying any attention to her anymore, instead his gaze was focussed on his own hands. Which were covered in blood. Shit. Chloe scrambled to her feet and made her way through the rubble to the body, checking for a pulse. He was dead. She didn't need Ella to assess the likely cause. The strange blade that he had thrown at her was now sticking out of his chest. Chloe stared at it, feeling a strange impulse to pick it up and feel the weight of it. Her hand started reaching for it of its own accord. She almost touched it, but at the last moment she pulled back and shook her head, breaking the strange spell. What the hell was she doing? This was a crime scene now. She couldn't just touch things without gloves.

She turned back to her partner. Lucifer was still sitting where she had left him, gaze unfocussed, hands shaking. Shit, shit, shit. She stumbled back towards him. She touched her head again, trying to figure out how badly she was injured. She probably had a concussion. She should call this in. Before she managed to fumble her phone from her jacket pocket, she already heard the wail of approaching sirens. Somebody had apparently noticed the goddamn roof of the church collapsing. How long had that roof withstood the elements only to collapse in the exact moment they were in here? What were the chances of that?

She knelt down in front of Lucifer. She suspected that the blood on his hands wasn't his, but she had to make sure he wasn't seriously injured. It was obvious that he had been in a fight, but he seemed to have sustained no major injuries. At least, none that she could spot. Lucifer was staring past her, gaze unfocussed, breath hitching.

"What happened?"

Lucifer didn't react.

She carefully placed her hands on his face, softly turning his head to face her. "Lucifer. Look at me. Lucifer?"

He finally met her eyes, his expression a turmoil of emotions. He looked at her in horror.

"What have I done?"

He leaned forward, and she moved her hands to his back, embracing him. He went willingly, dropping his head to her shoulder. He repeated the words quietly against her. What have I done. What have I done.

After a moment, she pulled back a little, leaning her forehead against his, moving her hands back to his face.

"Listen to me, Lucifer. He tried to kill you. He tried to kill me. What you did was self-defence. What you have done is save my life, both our lives, okay?"

Lucifer shook his head violently. "No, no, no. I destroyed him. I had no right. He's gone. Forever. Irrevocably."

"It was him or us."

He pulled back, meeting her eyes again and Chloe's breathing stopped for a moment at the anguish and self-loathing she saw in his eyes.

"You don't understand. He was my brother."

What?. Chloe's eyes snapped to the body on the floor, then back to Lucifer. Shit. His own brother had tried to kill him?

Chloe was about to ask Lucifer what the hell had happened here, but somebody approached her from the side, startling her. The newcomer helped her to stand up, asking her something. His words didn't really penetrate her consciousness. Her attention was still entirely on her partner.

Another EMT sat down on the floor next to Lucifer, trying to talk to him, but Lucifer was staring into nothingness again.

The first man firmly took a hold of her arm and tried to lead her away. Chloe resisted at first, wanting to stay by Lucifer's side, but he was insistent, and eventually she allowed him to take her to the ambulance outside.

It took some time until he was done with her. He strongly advised her to go to the hospital where they could make sure that she didn't have a concussion or another serious head injury. She declined. She needed to check on Lucifer before she could do anything else.

There was already quite a crowd assembling outside of the church, curious passerbys as well as several police cars and two ambulances. She spotted Lucifer next to the second ambulance, being questioned by somebody she didn't recognize. It didn't look like he was having much luck though, Lucifer just stared past his shoulder, not responsing to his questions.

Chloe quickly walked over to him, navigating the chaos. She put her hand on the man's shoulder to get his attention, then showed him her badge.

"He's in shock. I think you'll have more luck if he gives his statement tomorrow. I can tell you what happened."

He looked from Lucifer to her, and back, apparently deciding that he had a much better chance of getting something sensible out of her. He nodded, leading her away to the side to talk.

She gave him the rundown of what had happened, starting with her tracing the GPS on Lucifer's phone because she was worried about him, ending with the arrival of the ambulances.

He asked her if she had any idea what had caused the ceiling to collapse, but she just shrugged helplessy. Damned if she knew. There was a ton of paperwork, and probably an internal investigation, coming their way. Sure, Lucifer had acted in self-defence, but they would need to prove that, especially since he had stabbed the man.

The detective walked away, conferring with one of his colleagues. Probably on whether or not Lucifer would be taken into custody. She really hoped that could be avoided. He was in no state to spend a night in a holding cell.

He came back to her after a couple of minutes. "As you probably realize, there will be a full investigation into what exactly happened here tonight." She nodded dazedly, expecting the worst. "But for the time being, your partner will not be taken into custody. I'm sure I don't need to tell you that neither of you should leave town for the time being."

She breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank you."

He nodded, gave one last look at Lucifer as if he needed to convince himself that they'd made the right decision, then he walked into the church.

Chloe looked at Lucifer, wondering what her next move should be. She should probably take him to Lux, but somehow that didn't seem right. It was a place of partying, impersonal, cold, and definitely not what he needed. Her gut feeling told her that she shouldn't leave him alone right now. She decided that she would take him to her place and figure out the rest from there.

She took a hold of his hand, leading him to her car. He went without resistance or comment, still in this apathetic state. She opened the door for him, and he sat down, clearly still in shock. Somebody had wrapped a blanket around him at some point, but it didn't seem like he was aware of it. It didn't look like he was aware of much. She had a lot of burning questions she needed to ask him, like why had he been in the church in the first place, and why had his own brother tried to kill him, but she held her tongue, well aware that there was no point in asking him anything at the moment.

They spend the car ride in silence. Chloe kept sneaking glances over at her partner. He just sat there, staring out the windshield. This was probably the longest he'd ever gone without speaking in her presence. When they arrived, she stepped out of the car and waited for him to follow, but he didn't move. She opened the door on his side, and gently tugged on his arm until he got up, following her inside dazedly.

Once inside, they just stood there. Chloe tried to order her thoughts and plan her next steps. They probably should have gone to the hospital. But she felt fine for now, and Lucifer seemed to be more in need of emotional support rather than medical at the moment.

She looked at him, wondering what to do. She remembered attending a two hour session a long time ago about how to deal with traumatized victims and people in a state of shock, but she couldn't for the life of her remember a single piece of advice from that right now. Keep them warm? Get them something to drink? Just be there and listen? Something along those lines, probably.

She took his hand, and gently led him towards the bathroom, leaving him in front of the sink. He finally met her eyes, but there was not much going on there. His expression was devoid of emotion. Then he looked down at his hands, staring at them for a couple of seconds. All of a sudden, he began to furiously scrub away the blood, turning the water to what seemed to her to be a scorching temperature, but she let him be.

He did this for several minutes, trying to remove every last tiny trace of the blood, then he, out of nowhere, started sobbing, gliding to the floor in front of the sink. Chloe turned off the water, then sat down next to him and held him. It seemed to her like they sat there for a long, long time, but it was probably only minutes until he calmed down and pulled back.

He looked at her sheepishly. "Sorry." He looked around as if realizing for the first time where he was.

"Lucifer, look at me." His eyes immediately snapped back to her face. "You have nothing to apologize for."

His face took on a pained expression once more, and he shook his head again. "If only that were true."

Both of them stood up akwardly in the small space.

"I'd better go", he said. His tone of voice suggested that this wasn't even close to what he wanted to do.

"How about we sit down for a bit first and talk?" She saw immediately that it had been the entirely wrong thing to say, as his entire demeanor changed. He took a small step back from her, crossing his arms in front of his chest. He looked ready to put up a fight, or flee.

"Or we can just watch something on TV?", she suggested.

He nodded, his stance becoming a little less defensive. She looked at his blood-stained dress shirt. "I think I've got an old shirt of Dan's lying around somewhere, I'll get it for you."

The fact that he didn't even put up a fight, didn't so much as comment on being offered a discarded piece of clothing from detective douche, brought home again to her just how affected he was by what had happened. He might seem calm now, but he was still very much in shock, and she had to be very careful with how she handled him in his current state.

She got the shirt for him, and returned to the bathroom, finding him standing in the same spot where she had left him, looking lost. She gave him the shirt, and he just stared at it for a moment. Chloe went back to the living area, waiting for him to come out in his own time.

She sat down on the couch, running her hands through her hair, and sighed. She put her hands back down, noticing that they were shaking slightly. Apparently, the events of the evening hadn't left her completely unmarked either. Well, she'd almost died. Everything was still a bit hazy in her memory. She had so many questions. But they would have to wait.

Lucifer came out of the bathroom, looking so very lost and in pain that it made her heart ache. She nodded for him to sit down on the couch and he complied, keeping a small distance between them. She turned on the TV, but it was just background noise, neither of them really paying attention. They sat in uncomfortable silence for a while, until Chloe couldn't take it any longer. She closed the distance between them, resting her head on his shoulder and putting her hand over his in his lap. Lucifer drew in a sharp breath beside her but didn't react in any other way.

They remained like this for some time. Even though he didn't move, Chloe felt the tension in her partner, his anxiety, his pain. He didn't make a noise, apparently having decided after his earlier breakdown that he wouldn't let her in for the time being, which was fine. He would decide the pace for what would happen next. He probably should talk to Linda as well, once he felt up for it.

It was hours later when she felt his head slowly drift down next to her, the physical and emotional exhaustion finally claiming him. She tried to lay him down on the couch as gently as possible. He didn't wake up in the process. She got up to get one of her spare blankets from her bedroom. Both Maze and Trixie would probably be confused to find Lucifer sleeping on the couch in the morning, but that couldn't be helped. She just hoped he would be able to sleep and wouldn't be plagued by nightmares.

Chloe awoke to the sound of hushed voices. She caught the tail end of a sentence. "-in the morgue?!" The owner of the voice sounded very upset. She didn't catch Lucifer's more quiet reply.

"Azrael's blade is in mortal hands?" Now that had definitely been accusatory. She finally managed to identify the voice. Amenadiel. Lucifer's reply was again to hushed to make out. "As always, you've made a complete mess of things", Amenadiel said, voice filled with disappointment, and suddenly Chloe had enough. She jumped out of bed and marched over to the door. She opened it with a snap, making both Amenadiel and Lucifer flinch.

She walked over to them, coming to stand in between Lucifer, who was still sitting on the couch, and Amenadiel, who was standing in front of the couch, towering above him. She raised her index finger in his face, then pointed towards the door. "Get the fuck out of my house." There wasn't so much anger in her voice as cold fury, and Amenadiel unconsciously took a step backwards.

""Chloe?"

"You heard me." She slowly advanced on him, emphasizing every statement with a poke to his chest. He retreated backwards while she spoke. "I will not have you show up in the middle of the night in my apartment. I'll not have you yell around, waking up my daughter. I'll not have you talk to guests in my apartment in that manner. Can't you see he's in pain?"

Amenadiel looked from her to Lucifer and back. He suddenly seemed very unsure of himself. "But I need his help to clean up this mess he made. He-"

"I don't care." Chloe said, eyes ablaze. "Fix it on your own."

"But-"

"Out. Now. Or I will remove you by force."

He looked for a moment like he wanted to argue, or possibly make a comment about their respective body strengths, but then he seemed to see something in her face, or her eyes, that made him reconsider.

"Fine", he ground out, now getting angry himself, "I'll fix his mess as I always do." With that, he was gone.

Chloe sat down on the couch, feeling a little shaky now that the adrenaline had left her.

"Thank you", Lucifer said. There was the faintest hint of amusement in his voice, but it made Chloe incredibly glad to hear it.

"Do you want to talk?" She didn't specify if she meant about Amenadiel, or about what had happened earlier. Lucifer considered her offer for a moment, then he shook his head.

"I- I can't. Not yet. Another day. I promise."

She had an inkling that he was referring to much more than just recent events. She nodded. She could wait for him.