Written before Chloe Does Lucifer.
A Door to Walk Through
Lucifer was worried about Linda. Well, he had been worrying about her continuously since she had been stabbed by his mother, but this worry was different. For one, it had nothing to do with him, not really.
This time the blow to his dear doctor and friend was all emotional. And he understood that well enough.
So, as soon as the day was done, he made his way to Linda's place and knocked on the door, hoping she would answer.
She did. She was already dressed in her pyjamas. A tumbler in her hand was filled with what he hoped was whiskey. It definitely smelled like whiskey at any rate.
"Hello, Doctor Linda. I just wanted to...what happened to you?!"
There was a cut on her forehead, above her left eye. She sighed softly, before widening her door and waving him through. He had expected to come up against some type of resistance, since she generally tried dismissing him from her home if it isn't about sex.
"Reese came by my office. I called the police on him. He was working for the killer. Did you and Chloe get him?"
Nodding, he grabbed the glass and put it down on the table. She looked close to dropping it. He spotted the half empty bottle on the kitchen counter. "How much have you drunk tonight?"
She grinned but it didn't seem right for her face. "Oh, you know, enough to try and forget..."
He wanted to hug her, but he felt that would definitely be out of bounds. So, instead he sat down next to her on the couch. "He was your husband. You loved him, or at least, did love him at one point, I'd hope."
She nodded. "Yes, yes I did. And we divorced. That doesn't stop it from hurting though."
He nodded at that. He could understand love hurting very well. "If it helps, I was with him when he died."
She looked at him sharply, before slightly nodding her head. "At least he wasn't alone. That's good."
He smiled at her, and hoped that it didn't come off as the wrong emotion. He was trying to be understanding, not smug or happy. "His last words were that he hopes this was enough to gain your forgiveness. I didn't know what he wanted you to forgive him for. I...I knew he went to your office and that you called the police when he confessed to you, but we had no idea he had actually hurt you physically. He did love you. That's probably why..."
"Why he drank a poisoned drink he knew was poisoned?"
Lucifer sighed. "Yes. Which was a stupid move on his part. Catching the killer would have done a lot to repair the damage he had done in the celestial scale of things. But, I think he was thinking a life for a life. That girl who died in my club died because he hired the killer to poison my drink. A drink I put down when said killer handed me a shot to have instead. Poor girl had nothing to do with anything. As it was, it would classify as suicide, and suicide is a mortal sin. Direct line straight to Hell. Sorry."
Linda covered her face with her hands and gasped. "He was a good man, Lucifer. I...I don't want him to be in Hell."
He frowned. "No one wants their loved ones in Hell. But I do agree with you that he was a good man. Seeing me as actually the Devil changed him. Made him utterly obsessed with me and proving me to you. It's all he cared about. Nothing else mattered. There was a reason I was worried I had driven you insane and why I refuse to show anyone my devil face outside criminals. It tends to muck with people's heads. Well, used to. That was taken away from me in exchange for a pair of shiny, useless wings..."
"I'll never see him again, will I?"
He shook his head, before stopping and shaking his hand in a maybe. "It's possible you can see him again, and he'd be like you knew him before his little swan dive into obsession, but...the soul wouldn't be there with you. It would be the same in either Heaven or Hell. Each soul is different. So have a different room in either place. Except in Heaven you don't want to leave, and in Hell you're trapped by your own guilt and sin."
That made her interested. She zeroed in on that and she saw hope shining in her eyes. "You didn't say there wasn't a way to leave Hell."
He grinned at her. "No, I didn't. I'll tell you a secret that I only ever told him." He reached across and grabbed her hands in his own, laying them on her lap. "The doors in Hell, with few exceptions, are all unlocked. You can escape hell by simply opening the right door. It's getting there no one has achieved. Well, no human at least. Work through the guilt, right your wrongs in your own mind, and you're free to leave. I told him that, Linda. Somewhere down there, he knows how to get out. If he manages it, he will be free to leave Hell and his soul will either go to Heaven or be reborn on Earth. And he will be the first human to ever succeed."
And that was what made a smile begin to form on Linda's face, before she dove into him in a huge hug of what he hoped was relief. And then she started crying.
"Thank you, Lucifer. For both telling him and telling me."
He grinned. "I know you think you're going to Hell. I thought the info might help. But know it will be very difficult. You will get stuck if you do go, which by the way, I doubt."
"But I know there's a way out. I know that souls can save themselves now. Wow, that's huge! I suddenly feel a whole lot better about dying now. It helped take away some of the fear."
He shook his head. "Not to take that away from you, but Hell is a very scary place for the souls stuck there. It is endless torture after all."
She smiled wetly up at him, and he handed her his handkerchief because that was not something he wanted anywhere near his nice, clean suit any longer than necessary. Thankfully, she took it without any fuss.
"Seriously though, I am glad he wasn't alone and you told him all he needs to get out. I hope he's strong enough to find the door and get free."
He grinned at her. "For all his faults, I knew him very little but I liked him. And he was strong in his will, that's for sure. He didn't go crazy, after all. If anyone can find his way out with the right info, it's going to be him."
She nodded and laid her head back down onto his shoulder. "I think...I think I'm going to go to sleep now."
He chuckled at that as he felt her pas out on him. One thing he had learnt about his doctor friend was that she was a generally happy drunk who tended to pass out instead of getting physically sick.
He picked her up and put her to bed. He left her there for the night, leaving her a note telling her he hoped she felt better soon.
He was glad he could help ease her mind.