Author's note: Hello everyone! I am so very glad to present you this sequel to Stuck in Hell. I tried to finish up my other story, Redemption, before continuing this journey, but I found myself unable to wait anymore. I was missing this story too much! For those among you who haven't read the first part, I strongly suggest that you first read it if you really want to appreciate all the angst of the situation and have the pleasure to discover by yourself the many surprises along the road. Yet, you could probably appreciate this sequel anyway without having read the first part since I will talk plenty of the most important elements needed to fully understand every angles of the situation.

I already have three entire chapters written. I wanted to write more before releasing the first one, but that's as far as my patience could get me... So I plan on releasing a chapter every week, around the beginning of the week. Hopefully, I will be able to write fast enough to stay afloat and keep posting at this rate. We'll see if I succeed...

I don't have an English Beta, but my French one, Bebec, helps me make sure that the structure and quality of the content reach expectations. Thank you Babe, for all your support! You are the best!

A huge thank you to all of you who followed me faithfully through this journey, and welcome to the new readers who are about to discover it. I will do my best to make sure that this second part is as good as the first one. I hope you'll enjoy it.

Chapter 1

Keep Praying

Chloe opened her eyes slowly to be welcomed by the dimming late afternoon light filtering through the curtains. She wasn't even sure if she got any real sleep during the last few hours or if she instead woke up countless times because of her restlessness. Anyhow, the resulting feelings dominating her body and mind at the moment were still ones of utter exhaustion, along with a complete sense of emptiness left by Lucifer's absence.

Thoughts of Lucifer hadn't left her mind for the tiniest moment since his departure for Hell, bringing her often to dissolve into tears and to direct prayers at him when she couldn't take it anymore. Unable to control her thoughts and feelings, she begged him in prayers to stay strong and to come back to her. She would have liked to show him a strong front by keeping a clear head so he would know that she would be okay while he was away. But the truth was, she wasn't ok, not by a long shot. She felt like she was only the shell of herself. Even though they had truly been together barely more than two weeks, she didn't remember who she was without him, or more precisely, she didn't want to go back to being that person again. Not after experiencing who she could be with him. He had made her life so much more beautiful, so complete, that the thought of going back to less than that was terrifying. She wasn't sure if she could do it, and certainly didn't want to have to try.

Chances for Lucifer to hear her prayers remained slim considering that the Hellmouth had been closed by God, something that never happened in celestial history. Still, nothing could ever stop her from trying to reach him. Just the fact of talking to him made her feel like she was keeping their connexion alive. Giving up on it would be as good as giving up on him, which she could never bring herself to do. Lucifer had promised to do everything in his power to find his way back to her if they got separated even if it took him a hundred years and she was well determined to wait for him as long as needed. So even if there was only the smallest chance that he heard her through her prayers, she would cling to it in the hope of sending him all the support he needed and to remind him of her eternal love.

The reminder of God's involvement in Lucifer's captivity in Hell made her anger spike up once more. The damn bastard really had no heart! After everything Lucifer risked to save humanity from Vasariah's hellish invasion, he deserved better than to be locked up in Hell as payment for his selflessness. Damn! He deserved a medal and humanity's eternal gratitude. How could it be that God didn't see it so? He had to be as bad as Lucifer always said he was, maybe even worse. She hated Him with passion!

The unfairness of the situation was making her dizzy. Lucifer had proposed her to move in with him and for them to live a lifetime together. They had sealed their unofficial union with an endless night of consummation and soul-bonding. How could her life have gone from utterly blissful to such a deep devastation in less than 48 hours? Her mind was still reeling to make sense of this catastrophic situation.

Chloe gripped tightly Lucifer's gift, the symbol of their uncommon alliance, resting around her neck and brought it to her lips. It was a beautiful pendant crafted in the form of a key inlayed with colorful gemstones. To her, it meant even more than a wedding ring, for she knew Lucifer didn't believe in marriage since it would have given his Dad a way to get even more involved into their relationship, which he could never bring himself to accept. That pendant thus meant everything Lucifer had been ready to give her; from sharing his penthouse with her and her daughter along with everything he had, to giving her the key to his heart... He had opened up to her like she'd never thought possible for him and had laid his soul bare for her to see. And she had given him everything she was in return. He was hers and she belonged to him, and not even God trying to keep them apart would ever change that fact.

Once again, her mind strayed to what her Devil could be facing in Hell. From what Amenadiel told her of the time difference between there and Earth, for Lucifer it had to make close to 10 days since he got stuck in Hell. So much could have happened during that time. The place had to be in turmoil when he landed down there with the hellish armies ready to storm Earth and bring devastation to humanity. It seemed almost impossible that Lucifer could have put out the fires of revolution easily. He could be hurt, still be fighting for his life, all alone and scared, or have ended up incarcerated and tortured, or even... dead!

She quickly discarded that last idea and fought back the tears that yet again threatened to overwhelm her. He couldn't be dead. He just couldn't. He was the Lightbringer! And now that he had his wings back, he was again the strongest of all Archangels. She had seen what his inner light could do to hellish creatures, seen the utter destruction it could inflict on them, and also had a glimpse of some of his hellish powers. He was far from defenseless, and on top of that, he had the Flaming Sword to increase his powers and protect himself. He could do it! He could survive Hell and find a way to come back to Earth, to her. She had faith in him. And besides, she felt so connected to Lucifer that she believed that if he was indeed dead, she would know it somehow, she would feel it.

Chloe suddenly realised how tight her hold around her sleeping daughter had become because of her dark thoughts. Not wanting to wake her baby too soon if she needed more sleep, she loosened her grip around the small bundle of love spooned up against her front. Trixie needed all the rest she could get. Her daughter had literally gone through Hell. First kidnapped by Vasariah and held hostage by his demons, she had fought and killed one of them to escape, only to end up with her throat slit by Lilith right in front of Chloe. Only Lucifer's in extremis intervention had saved her life. Chloe shivered at the memory; she almost lost her little girl! Nothing could have made her survive that loss. It would have destroyed her. Hopefully, her baby might not remember having almost died at the hands of a demon. That would be a small mercy.

The mother still had difficulty realising that her baby was well and truly safe in her arms. Kissing her daughter's hair tenderly, she repressed a sob of sorrow at the reminder of all the horrors her baby went through and the difficult times still ahead of her until she could come to terms with everything that happened to her.

Chloe felt Trixie steer faintly in her arms.

"Mommyyyy?" A small scared voice whispered.

"Hey Monkey! Mommy's right here." And Chloe tightened her embrace to comfort her daughter.

Trixie didn't give the impression of being comforted at all and continued whispering with fear in her voice. "Mommyyy! There's a big wolf in the bedroom looking right at me!"

Chloe realised quickly what the problem was. "Oooh! Don't be scared, Sweetie. It's not a wolf. It's only Doomy, Lucifer's dog. Don't you remember seeing him besides Lucifer last night?"

At the mention of his name, the Hellhound lifted his head from his laying position to fix them intently with way too intelligent orange-yellowish eyes.

Trixie thought about it for a second. "Maybeeee..." She didn't sound really reassured.

Chloe stroke her arm to soothe her a little. "Doomy is already very fond of you Monkey. He helped find and save you. Without him I'm not sure we would have succeeded. He is a very brave and loyal dog. He would die before letting you get hurt. He is here to protect us."

"I don't think he is a real dog though," she mused aloud. In spite of her words, Trixie didn't sound that scared anymore.

Doomy didn't seem to be missing a single word of the conversation.

Chloe chuckled and buried her nose in her daughter's hair. "I was forgetting how perceptive you are." Doomy's aura had to be very different from any dog's Trixie had encountered. "You're right, he is a very special dog, because he is Lucifer's." She didn't want to go into the details of Doom's real nature. The word «Hellhound» could be a bit hard on her daughter after what she just went through. She preferred letting her come to her own conclusions by herself.

"Oooh! I understand now!" She felt her daughter nod in agreement. "But are you sure it's safe to have a Hell dog with us?"

Count on her daughter to catch on the situation quickly. But before Chloe could answer anything, Doom stood up suddenly and walked away from them to the adjacent bathroom from where he came back a moment later with something in his jaws.

A smile appeared at the corner of Chloe's lips. Doom had certainly found the object in her discarded clothes from last night. Her daughter startled in her arms when she understood what the dog was carrying. Stunned into silence, Trixie watched the hound's careful advance. Doom was approaching the little girl cautiouslym like he would approach a frightened animal. He finally put down his gift besides Trixie then pushed it into her arms with his muzzle before sitting calmly in front of her, seeming to do his best not to look threatening.

Trixie took the gift and brought it to her heart. "Miss Alien!" She exclaimed in a mixture of relief, joy, and angst.

Chloe felt and heard her little girl dissolve into tears while she held the doll tightly against her.

"I thought I would never see her again!" She sobbed.

Chloe felt at a loss for words. Her baby sounded so vulnerable. It was heart-breaking. She stroke her hair and arms softly and whispered sweet soothing words to her ears. "It's all over now Baby! Miss Alien is ok and so are you. Nobody will hurt you anymore. I told you Doom loves you very much. All he wants is to be your friend and protect you. With him around, nothing bad can happen to you anymore."

Trixie turned around to look at her with round teared-up eyes. "Are you sure?" She managed to say in between sobs.

"Yes I am!" She tried to infuse as much certainty as she could into those words. She trusted Doom to protect Trixie to the death, even though there could never be absolute certainty as to his ability to indeed keep her from harm's way. Not that she had to tell that to her frighten daughter.

Trixie smiled faintly and brushed her tears with the back of her hand. She turned back to Doom and talked timidly. "Hello Doomy! I'm Trixie. Thank you for saving Miss Alien and bringing her back to me."

Doom displayed what could only be interpreted as a huge grin. Definitely not something dog-like.

"Did he just...?" But before Trixie could finish her question, Doom lost all restraints and licked her entire face in one go.

"Waaaaasch!" Exclaimed the girl, giggling and trying to push the beast's head away from her face. "I guess it makes us friends now. Hey Doomy?"

The Hellhound answered her with a happy yelp.

Then Trixie turned back towards her mom. "But, how did Doomy find Miss Alien? I had lost her!"

"Well, as I told you, Doom is the one who followed your tracks to that house and he found your doll in the bed where you were sleeping."

A shadow crossed Trixie's gaze as she grimaced in remembrance of what occurred into that basement.

Chloe blamed herself for not anticipating the effect that such a reminder of the ordeal she went through could have on her baby. "Hey Sweetie! Please, don't worry. It's all over now. It's okay!"

Trixie shook her head vehemently. "No it's not! It's not ok! You don't know what I did..." Whatever she was talking about seemed to be eating her alive.

Chloe understood that there was only one thing that could make her daughter look so guilty.

She framed her daughter's face affectionately with both hands. "Yes I know..." She said softly.

Trixie held her breath, as if afraid that her mother indeed knew of her greatest sin. Chloe continued with the most reassuring smile and voice.

"I know that you had to kill that demon to try and escape." Trixie's eyes bulged in panic. "And it's ok, Baby!"

Trixie shook her head in denial, on the verge of tears.

"Baby! Listen to me! You did what you had to, to survive. I would have done the same as you did if I had been in your place. I am so sorry you had to go through that, Sweetie! But you were very strong and brave, and I am so very proud of you."

Once again, Trixie broke apart into tears and buried her head into Chloe's neck. The mother held and rocked her little baby for a long moment, trying to calm her sobbing by infusing into her all her love and acceptance for what she had done.

"Shushh! It's okay! I'm right here, Monkey. You can be sad with me whenever you need to. I'll always be there for you. We'll go through this together. You don't have to do it alone anymore. I promise you'll be okay."

The little girl's crying quieted slowly until she could lift her wet gaze to her mother. "You really think so?"

Once again, Chloe's heart broke at seeing so much vulnerability in her daughter's face. "I know so, Monkey."

Trixie displayed her first genuine smile. Chloe sighed in relief and kissed her forehead with all the love she had. Her baby would be fine! She would make sure of it.

Doom half climbed into the bed and pushed his muzzle between them to get his fair share of affection. Trixie giggled and petted the hound around the ears.

"See! I told you he loves you, Baby. He doesn't like to see you sad."

"I'll be ok Doomy!" Trixie tried to convince him and herself. He licked her some more over her cheeks, making her giggle again.

Grateful for his well-placed affection, Chloe petted the tick hound's fur. "And you know the good thing with dogs? They are always there to make you feel better when you need it most."

Trixie lifted hopeful eyes to her mother. "Does it mean we can keep him?"

Chloe chuckled at the disbelieving ring in her daughter's voice. "Yes Monkey! Doomy is our dog now."

Trixie's face split into the brightest smile ever as she hugged the big beast's head. "This is so great! Maze's gonna get crazy when she sees him."

Then memories came crashing in like a ton of brick and her daughter's new happiness dissolved into the most shattered expression.

"Maze...," was the only word she could faintly utter.

Chloe quickly reassured her before she could give in to another outburst of heart shattering sobbing. "Maze is OKAY, Sweetie! She's alive and well. I swear she's fine."

"But..., but..." Trixie could hardly believe it. She had gone through hours of gut wrenching fear at the thought that Maze could have died defending her. Could the demon really be okay? It seemed impossible.

"Wanna see her?"

Trixie nodded wordlessly with the air of a small kid who believed that Santa Claus was about to make his entrance.

Followed by Doom, Chloe led her little girl outside the bedroom towards Maze's. The fact that it was empty had to be a good sign. She smiled reassuringly and made a motion towards the stairs to encourage Trixie to go down and look for herself.

Trixie went down the stairs slowly, still not completely sure if she should believe her mom or not. When she reached the first floor and saw her friend sitting leisurely on the couch, sipping at her glass of alcohol, her heart jumped inside her chest.

"Look who got her first Demon at only 9!" The demon was grinning proudly from ear to ear.

A faint choke escaped Trixie's throat. "Maaaze!

And she ran to the demon to fall into her arms. Her vulnerable state didn't allow her to keep her tears from running down once more. Maze was hugging her as forcefully as she was.

The kid sniffed a few times before being able to talk. "I'm so glad you're ok! That blond demon said you were dead."

"Me, dead?" She snorted in derision, still holding the kid tightly. "I got a few injuries taking down that bitch of Lilim, but nothing Lucifer couldn't handle to heal. I'm afraid I didn't dispose of that demon as elegantly as you did yours though." She gestured around sheepishly with an apologising look directed at Chloe.

Partially releasing Maze of her embrace, Trixie sat in her lap to give a first real look around the place. The furniture was almost all gone. There was no kitchen table anymore, nor coffee table in the living room, and the bookcase was missing many shelves. The walls were empty of any decorations, sporting instead numerous holes of different sizes. She also noticed that the stuffing was coming out from many cuts over the couch and that only two chairs were apparently still in one piece. She absently observed that both chairs were presently installed close to the couch with Amenadiel sitting on one and her father standing stiffly in front of the other. Trixie tried to imagine what it must have looked like before someone cleaned up the mess.

"Oups! You gonna get grounded! But at least the TV's still standing." Commented Trixie with a smile in her voice.

"There's no chance that I'll reprimand Maze for trying to save your life, Monkey," interjected Chloe. She joined the hug by enlacing both Maze and Trixie, whispering a heartfelt "thank you" to her best friend. Surprisingly, Maze hugged her back tightly for a long moment before releasing her.

"I just wish I could have saved the kid from being taken." Maze's voice sounded uncharacteristically shaky. She righted up her glass of vodka and swallowed the last drop, using the chance to turn her gaze away as if she was embarrassed.

Chloe could swear she saw moisture in the demon's eyes. Could this even be possible? Maze looked way more emotional than normal. It was strange to say the least, even after the events of last night. She found herself trying to comfort her friend.

"You have nothing to feel sorry about, Maze. You risked your life for my daughter and I will be eternally grateful to you for that."

Maze shrugged dismissively. But before anyone could add anything, Dan dropped on his knees in front of Trixie and took her in his arms, burying his head in her hair.

"Monkey! You really are ok! Thank God! I thought I'd lost you. I'm so sorry! I... I..." His whole body as well as his voice were shaking uncontrollably.

Trixie melted in her father's arms. "I'm fine Daddy! And it's not your fault," she assured him. "There's nothing you could have done against them anyway."

Chloe shot him a killer glare, daring him to say anything else. She made it clear that she wasn't going to allow him to say a single thing about his implication in their daughter's kidnapping. Dan shut his mouth and swallowed hard, apparently understanding that it wouldn't do any good to the little girl anyway.

Chloe wondered what Dan remembered of his betrayal to his family and friends, considering that Azrael had extracted all memory of his deal with Vasariah. But to say the truth, she didn't really care about anything concerning Dan at the moment. She was still way too angry at him for letting Vasariah play with his mind. Celestial power at play or not, it was unconceivable for her that he could have endangered their baby girl. She had no idea when her ex had woken up from his near coma, but Amenadiel had certainly brought him up to date about everything that happened since he passed out and might have even filled out the blanks left by Azrael's mind trick. One way or another, Dan seamed to understand very well why she was glaring at him as if she wanted to kill him.

Now looking rightfully ashamed, Dan put down Trixie who turned once more towards Maze with a bright grin illuminating the room. Her expression suddenly turned to surprise, than to amazement as she gaped at the demon, or more precisely at the unusually bright aura surrounding her friend.

Gasps of amazement filled the room at the little girl's surprising words. "You have a soul!"

Author's note: I hope it reached your expectations as a sequel. You will learn a lot more about Maze's new reality in the next few chapters and action will come soon. Don't be shy to let me a review or comment, I crave it! And at this stage, I can still consider including some of your ideas or special requests. Thank you so much for reading.