The ocean waves rolled up onto the beach, and then pulled back following the design of life that he and his brother put into play so very long ago. The sound and the motion were hypnotic to the dark haired man standing by himself on the sand. He breathed deep, taking in the scent, while the wind whipped his long black hair around his sunglasses and into the eyes hidden behind them. The feel of the sun on his skin and the color of the azure blue sky overwhelmed his senses as he raised an elegant hand to shield his face. He knelt to pick up a small shell, marveling at its perfection. A laugh of pure joy welled up from his chest as he spun his lithe form in a tight circle, moving easily in the black slacks and pullover he wore. Then with a small sigh, he stopped to stare out at the water again. He frowned and forced himself back to the task at hand. He looked around to make sure he was alone, and then raised his hands in prayer.

Time slowed to a crawl as Amenadiel appeared. He greeted his brother in the language of Heaven, "Hello, Michael."

"Hello, brother. I had hoped to fool you for at least a moment into thinking I was Lucifer."

"Then you shouldn't have prayed to me. You know there is no room for pretense in that communication no matter how similar you are to him."

"True. Ah well." Michael bowed his head slightly. "I merely wanted to let you know I'm here and will be in Los Angeles for the next several months."

Amenadiel frowned, "Why?"

"The Silver City is in chaos. Uriel is missing. Hell is not properly guarded. You personally delivered a mortal's soul to the gates; and then you told everyone in the Silver City about how much Lucifer has changed and about his growth toward redemption. It made me curious." He crossed his arms over his chest and studied Amenadiel for a moment.

"However, I'm more inclined to believe you're the one who has changed. I'm here to do your job." Michael gave his shoulders a slight twitch and brought forth his iridescent black wings. He took flight, as he boasted, "I'm going to send Lucifer back to hell."

Amenadiel blinked and time resumed its normal pace. He looked down at his feet and sighed as a wave of guilt washed over him. Perhaps telling his brothers and sisters of Lucifer's change had been a bad idea; it seemed to be bringing trouble. He decided to visit Lucifer as soon as possible.

On the other side of town, Chloe walked through the main entrance of Lux. A few people sat at the bar, but the room was very quiet as she made her way to the penthouse elevator. She needed her partner, but Lucifer was avoiding her. She was tired of the tension and strain between them. She wanted to move forward, giving the truth it's due, but ready to put the shattered pieces of her life back together. Lucifer didn't seem to understand. No matter how many times she apologized for how she acted after seeing his devil face, he still couldn't forgive her. He worked with her and had even regained his sense of fun, but he no longer let her in. He gave her no heated looks, he made sure he was never close enough to touch, and he no longer made any suggestive remarks in her presence. It should have been a relief, but it wasn't. Her habit of reaching out to place her hand on his arm, his shoulder, or his chest became very apparent to her because she was no longer allowed to touch him. It was slowly driving her insane. Apparently a scorned woman's fury was nothing compared to a scorned devil.

The more distant he became, the more she realized what he meant to her. Her love for him was finally crystal clear in her mind and heart, but he no longer trusted her.

She replayed the disastrous moments over and over in her mind. It had taken her days to pull herself together and accept that her partner really was the Devil. It had taken weeks of ignoring his texts and voice messages before she finally felt sane enough to face him. When she was ready, she sought him out at Lux. She made her way through the crowd and spotted him on the landing above the dance floor. He seemed to see her almost immediately, but waited silent and still as she climbed the stairs to stand before him. She met his eyes and nervously tried to explain, "Lucifer, I'm sorry I refused to believe you and I'm sorry I ran from you. Can you forgive me?" For a second Chloe thought his face softened and he reached out as if to caress her face. At that moment a man walked by on his way downstairs, and Chloe flinched as she felt the stranger's hand on her rear. She ignored the assault to focus on Lucifer only to see his face harden into a mask of pain. It was obvious to Chloe that he couldn't forgive her. From that moment on Lucifer could barely stand to be around her. She wondered if his desire to seek justice and punish bad guys was the only reason he continued their partnership.

If only she could have seen those critical moments through Lucifer's eyes. He couldn't believe Chloe had come to him, his heart thundered in relief and happiness. He realized she was asking for forgiveness. He reached out, needing so badly to feel her warmth. She flinched and his heart shattered. She couldn't bear for him to touch her. Heart-broken, he stiffly accepted her apology and excused himself.

All that Chloe knew was that she was back to working beside someone that she had feelings for and the torture of repressing those feelings. It was painful. Worse yet, Chloe was pretty sure that Lucifer would never trust his heart to her again. He had always told her the truth while she had lied. She promised that she knew him and that he wasn't the devil to her, but when faced with his reality, she had promptly run from him, proving how unworthy she was as a friend, much less a lover.

She pushed her thoughts away as the elevator door opened onto Lucifer's living room. She saw him immediately, sitting on his couch reading through a book, which he reluctantly set aside as she entered. "Hello, detective. What can I do for you?"

She gave him an angry look. "First, you can answer my calls and second, you can stop going into interrogation without permission."

"What's wrong? I got him to talk didn't I? You got your confession." He looked completely baffled by her anger.

"Yes, we did get his confession, but he wet himself and has been babbling incoherently ever since. Now his lawyer is going for an insanity plea."

"I'm sorry, detective. The worse the criminal, the more the threat of hell terrifies." He shrugged, "Was there anything else?"

Chloe wanted to scream at him. Yes, there's something else! She wanted to beg him to give her another chance. She pushed the thought aside and walked forward to sit next to him.

He sat up straighter, trying to inch away from her.

She studied his face, searching for a clue to his feelings. If only he could read her mind. There was so much she wanted to say, but the words wouldn't come. All she managed to get out was, "Lucifer…"

Her beautiful blue eyes seemed to stare into his soul. He looked into those eyes, lost. More than anything he wanted to kiss her, but the fear he carried from the moment of Pierce's death and her discovery of his monstrous side, gripped him with steel claws. Chloe's shocked face haunted his dreams and the way she had flinched when he almost touched her during her apology at Lux just reinforced the fact that she would never love him again. He imagined different ways he could mend their broken relationship, but each time he ran it through in his mind, it ended the same way. He would touch her softly, ready to beg for forgiveness, only to see her shudder, look at him in loathing and call him a monster. Chloe's rejection would end him. He convinced himself it was better to stay near enough to keep her safe, yet far enough to save his own heart.

He realized he was staring down into her eyes while lost in his thoughts. He focused on her face noticing that she was much too close. She didn't seem afraid or shocked right now. In fact, she almost looked as if she wanted him to kiss her. He frowned in confusion even as his body leaned toward her.

He tipped his head down and his eyes dropped to her lips, "Chloe…"

The elevator door pinged open again. Chloe jumped back and Lucifer turned to see who was interrupting. His face turned dark as a storm cloud as he stared at the perfect carbon copy of himself walking into his home.

Chloe slowly stood up, eyes going back and forth between the two men. Their features, bodies, they way they moved… exactly the same. The only difference seemed to be that this other man wore his hair un-styled, long strands sweeping down on his forehead.

The man stopped a few feet into the space. He spoke in a fluid musical language that Chloe couldn't recognize at all.

Lucifer growled beside her. "What are you doing Michael? Why are you here?"

Michael tilted his head listening carefully to Lucifer. Then he replied in English, "Now brother, don't be rude. Introduce me to this lovely woman."

Chloe's mouth fell open. The man was now speaking in an exact copy of Lucifer's British accent.

Michael moved forward to take Chloe's hand, bending over it with a slight flourish and kissing her knuckles lightly.

Chloe smiled, noticing that while Michael was very much Lucifer's twin, they weren't identical. Michael's eyes were an amazing shade of emerald green. She took her hand back as Lucifer stepped between them. "This is my partner, Detective Chloe Decker. She was just leaving." Lucifer put his hand against her back and practically shoved her toward the elevator.

She looked to Lucifer for some explanation, but he avoided her eyes. She took the hint. "Well okay then. I guess I'll being going. Nice to meet you, Michael."