I thought of this little What If one day when I was re-watching Lucifer (again). I had this under my collection of one-shots called Here, There, and Everywhere, but I did a second part by request for SPCLjmm, and it turns out this is going to become a story all of its own! So I'm moving it to its own story for those that are interested in following it. No promises on updates just yet, I have 3 stories running at the moment and that is a stretch, so it's just a matter of what my mind decides to focus on!
Comments/Reviews welcome! (and encouraged)
DISCLAIMER: Nothing is mine, I'm just borrowing the characters.
Chloe is more than just a little worried. She's recovered, released from the hospital and has probably left Lucifer a dozen messages but hasn't gotten any reply yet. And that's not like him, because he has to reply to everything, always wants to get the last word in. When she parks by Lux, she looks up at the building before she heads inside, smiling briefly at the bouncer by the door before she goes inside. "Lucifer?" She asks as she steps out from the elevator, looking at the pitch dark penthouse. Turning, she finds the light switch, and then catches her breath as she turns to look at the penthouse. Most of the furniture is covered in white sheets, but she also sees a suitcase sitting by the bar near the elevator, and when she looks further in, Lucifer is sitting in one of his chairs, the only piece of furniture not covered by a sheet. "Lucifer?" She asks in a worried tone, stepping further into the room.
"Detective." Lucifer replies as he stares at the glass he is holding balanced on the arm of the chair. He's a little disheveled, jacket laying over the chair next to him, leaving him in just his shirt and vest. His phone is sitting face down on the other arm of the chair. Finally, he looks up at Chloe for a moment with an almost sad expression. "I couldn't do it, in the end. Afterall, I've always been a selfish creature. I couldn't even do this one thing for you." He says cryptically with a little shake of his head.
More confused and worried than ever, and maybe a little hurt, Chloe moves closer to him. "Lucifer.. what are you talking about? What happened? Is.. is this.. because of what happened to me?" She asks as she glances around, knowing that his first response is often to run from emotionally difficult situations, but she needs him to talk to her so she can figure out what's going on. "I don't want you to leave, Lucifer. Whatever it is, we can talk about it, and work through it, ok? That's what a relationship is." She says gently as she reaches down to take his free hand in both of hers gently.
Shaking his head for a moment as he looks up at Chloe with an uncertain, confused expression on his own face, Lucifer sighs a little and closes his hand around one of hers gently. "Yes. Partially because of what happened to you.. What I did to get the formula to save you." He says softly, then adds, "Don't worry, nothing illegal. But nothing you would believe, either." He takes a deep breath for a few moments. "I thought.. this was real. Turns out it's just another one of my father's manipulations." He says in a bitter tone as he looks at her, but he still can't bring himself to pull his hand away from hers, some small part of him still hoping that maybe, just maybe, this could be real.
Since this is obviously going to be a much larger conversation, Chloe takes a deep breath and tilts her head toward the couch. "Come on, lets sit down over here and you can explain that to me." She says as she releases his hand slowly, walking over to pull the sheet off the couch and toss it aside before she sits down and pats the spot beside her as she looks at him.
Looking very lost for a moment, Lucifer finishes his drink and puts the glass aside before he gets up slowly and walks over to sit down beside Chloe, "I'm not sure there's a point in explaining. You wouldn't believe me." He says with a sad little laugh, glancing over at her uncertainly for a few moments before he stares at the chair opposite them.
Reaching out to take his larger hand in both hers again, Chloe turns toward Lucifer. "Tell me anyway, Lucifer. What's going on? How do you think that this.. you and me.. is somehow a manipulation?" She asks gently as she looks at him. The metaphors may be rather crazy and outrageous, but there's always some truth behind what Lucifer says, there's always something deeper. She's not surprised that he might be a little scared about their relationship turning romantic, it's pretty clear that he has no idea how to deal with that, and her being poisoned genuinely bothered him. She understands all that and it makes sense to her, but she needs to know what is going on in his head now.
Despite everything, Lucifer still closes his hand around hers, holding it firmly almost like a lifeline. "I mean.. my Father created you. He had Amenediel come down and Bless your mother so that she could get pregnant. You are the result. He created you to put you in my path. Don't you see? Your feelings aren't real, they're just another manipulation. I.. I was going to leave, to give you that choice back. I packed up everything, I settled everything here.." He motions around with his free hand as he looks around. "But I... I couldn't. Do you see, Detective? See what an awful, selfish creature I am? Your choices have been taken away from you and I... I'm still here." He shakes his head a little, disgust with himself pretty self-evident.
That is one of the crazier stories that Chloe has heard from him and she sighs a little for a moment. "Lucifer... you have to give me something here. I don't understand what you're trying to tell me. But I'm glad you didn't leave." She thinks for a few moments, before she adds, "Lets say that everything you just said was true. So I was created by a Blessing from God." She rolls her eyes to show what she thinks of that, before she adds, "Does that in any way take away my free will? I mean, God's all about humans having free will, right?" She asks as she looks at him, trying to work with his metaphors instead of confronting him about it since that never works well.
Sighing with some exasperation at the fact that Chloe still doesn't believe him, Lucifer shakes his head for a few moments. "It /is/ true, Detective. I have never lied to you." He insists firmly as he looks at her, before he thinks about what she said. "Well no, my Father can't take away your free will. But you were created just to manipulate me, just to be put in my path, knowing that I would.." He trails off, glancing over at her and away for a few moments nervously before he looks down at their joined hands.
Nodding a little, Chloe smiles softly, rubbing her thumb against his hand for a moment. This is progress. "So it's not me that doesn't have the choice." She says as she looks at him. "You think /you/ didn't have a choice?" She asks as she looks at him curiously. "So what?" She asks bluntly. "My feelings are real, Lucifer. And lets say that somehow, God knew that you would have feelings for me. Is that bad? Do you not like feeling this way?" She asks as she takes one of her hands away from his to reach out to lay it against his cheek and tilt his head back toward her so she can look at his eyes.
Lucifer looks into her eyes for a few moments, and he takes a shuddering breath as he considers her questions. "I... It's not you that's the problem, Detective. My... feelings from you aren't bad, per se, no.." He reassures as he looks at her, his hand tightening around hers for a moment. "I came to Earth to get away from my Father's manipulations. And He just can't stop. It means He knew what I would do, He knew I would end up here, and meet you, and..." He trails off and shakes his head a little as he looks at her.
"You are all about Rebelling against your father." Chloe notes, wondering if that's one of the reasons he took on the whole Devil persona. "But you know, I don't think your Father /knew/ that this would happen. Otherwise, why would he be trying to get you back to Hell, like you seem to think he is? Maybe He hoped. But then, I think all parents hope that their children will find someone special. But if I still have free will, then there's no guarantee that just because I was born that you would like me, or that I wouldn't just be another one-night stand." She reminds him gently, stroking her thumb against his cheek gently. "Your Father can't be all-knowing, /and/ give us free will. Because if He knows what' going to happen, then it's not free will, is it?" She points out as she looks at him. "And you know.. I think maybe you should be selfish this time. If you want to stay, then I think you should stay." She hesitates as she tries to go through arguments that he might understand, though she is going to have to get to the bottom of some of these metaphors if they're going to have a relationship. "/I/ want you to stay, Lucifer. Please don't leave." She adds in a whisper as she looks at him.
Watching Chloe and listening to her talk, Lucifer can't help but smile faintly as he watches her. "For someone who doesn't believe in Heaven, Hell, and God, you make some rather good arguments." He murmurs, smiling softly again as he reaches to tuck her hair back from her face, resting his hand against her cheek for a moment as he watches her eyes, finally dropping it away slowly. "Well, you know me, Detective. I only ever do things I want to do." He says in a lighter tone as he makes the decision, though he doesn't entirely look confident about it. "Are you alright now, fully recovered?" He asks in concern as he looks her over, not having listened to any of her messages since he was still trying to make himself get up and go.
Relieved, Chloe tilts her head slightly into his hand. "Yeah. I'm ok now." She reassures in a soft tone, squeezing his hand gently, before she scoots closer to his side and she rests her cheek against his shoulder gently. "How about we take all these sheets off everything, since you're staying, huh?" She asks, rubbing his arm a little with her free hand as she looks around at everything. "And put that suitcase away." She notes as she glances over at it.
"Mmm. I don't suppose I could interest you in a week in Vegas, hm?" Lucifer asks as he looks at her curiously for a moment, since he did already book a hotel room, and he could think of worse ways to spend the week. Still, he does stand up slowly, looking back at her when she doesn't immediately release his hand.
Chloe actually thinks about his offer for a minute. "I do have some vacation time built up..." She says as she looks at him. "It might be good, you know? We could spend some time figuring out... us.." She says as she motions between them, standing slowly. "Let me just see if Dan might be able to take Trixie, and then make sure it's ok with her..." She hesitates for a moment, "Promise me you won't run away?" She asks as she looks at him, knowing that he'd never break a promise.
Startled that his detective might actually take him up on what was a somewhat flippant offer, Lucifer nods a little as he looks down at her. "You have my word, Detective." He reassures, hesitating for a moment before he leans in and gives her a gentle, chaste kiss.
Smiling softly at her partner, Chloe returns the kiss softly, resting her hand along his jaw briefly, resting her forehead briefly against his after the kiss. "You get these sheets off, I'll make some calls, ok?" She asks as she watches him, waiting for a nod before she moves over toward the balcony and pulls out her phone to make the calls she needs to.
Watching her go for a moment, Lucifer takes a deep breath an smiles in baffled amazement as he looks at her, then he starts taking the sheets off and folding them up, feeling better about his decision to stay than he did about his decision to go. By the time he's finished, he can still hear Chloe talking, so he makes his way to the bar to pour himself a drink, looking down at the glass with a light chuckle. It still bothers him a little about her birth, but in a way, he has to be grateful that she does exist because he wouldn't trade the time he's had with Chloe for anything. Feeling a small hand on his back, he turns his head a little to look at Chloe with a small smile. "So what's the verdict, Detective? Back to the grind, or a week of debauchery?" He asks with a waggle of his eyebrows.
"I'm not so sure about the debauchery part, but.. Looks like we're going to Vegas." Chloe smiles as she looks at him. "Go get changed, you look like you just woke up. I'll go back to my place and pack a bag, and you can pick me up there." She offers, deciding to be spontaneous for once and do something maybe a little selfish.
"Looking forward to it, Detective." Lucifer says with a little grin and most of his normal self back. "I'll see you in, say.. an hour?" He offers as he looks at her, admiring her smile and watching her nod before she walks off toward the elevator. He can't help but laugh lightly when she's gone, looking around and finishing his drink before he goes to get cleaned up with more of a bounce to his step. He's going to have a week alone with Chloe, and even if he still doesn't manage to get her into bed, she's all his wfr a week, and that's more than he could have ever hoped for.