Note: this is a sequel to High School Hogwash, which was my take on the episode High School Poppycock (wasn't the official version brilliant?). If you haven't read HSH, then I recommend you read at least the final chapter of it, as it leads directly into this story. It's also summarized on the Previously On just below.

Previously on Lucifer (High School Hogwash Chapter 6):

Pierce tried to throw himself and Chloe off Lucifer's balcony. Lucifer flew and caught Chloe, leaving Pierce to fall to his death - and resurrection. Chloe was stunned by Lucifer's wings and the revelation of the truth, and said she needed time to think. She went to see Dr Linda, and walked into her office to find Maze threatening Linda and Amenadiel with a knife. She realised that not only was Lucifer really the devil, but Maze was really a demon, and fled, with Maze running after her.

Next morning, Dan stormed into Lucifer's apartment demanding to know where Chloe was - according to Maze, she had packed for herself and Trixie and disappeared, and it was all Lucifer's fault.

—

'I just don't know what she was thinking.' Lucifer sat on the couch fuming, as Linda tried to gather her thoughts. After Maze had run after Chloe the night before, she and Amenadiel had parted company still without coming to any kind of satisfactory solution to the Maze problem, and she had spent half the night lying awake worrying about all the different aspects of the situation she found herself in. And now she was expected to help the devil talk through his problems. Life had certainly grown more complicated since Lucifer had walked into her life.

'Maybe she just needs time to think things through,' she offered.

Lucifer scowled. 'What's to think about? I've told her the truth all along.'

'Yes, you have.' With a deep sigh, Linda sought the words to get through to him. 'But you have to admit, it's not an easy truth to believe. And it must have been a dramatic way to find out. After all, she could have died.'

Lucifer jumped to his feet and started to pace the room. 'Yes, Pierce nearly killed her. I can't believe his attitude, either. I'm doing my best to help him, and I've promised him I'll find a way, and he pulls a stunt like this?'

'He does sound rather desperate. But as to Chloe - Lucifer, you've done the same yourself.'

He swung round. 'How can you say that?'

'You remember after she was poisoned? You ran away and turned up two weeks later with a wife.' Had he gone pale? Linda suppressed a smile at the expression on his face. 'I'm sure Chloe won't do anything…' She hesitated. '…anything that extreme, but you have to understand that need for space to think things through.'

'That was completely different!' he protested.

'How so?'

He fought for the words. 'That was my Father's doing. He put her in my path. He gave her no choice but to fall for me. I couldn't just let Him do that.'

'Why not?'

The simple question seemed to throw him completely, and it was a couple of minutes before he spoke again. She waited patiently for him to work out his answer.

'Because I want her to love me because she loves me, not because my Father made her love me,' he said eventually, his voice so low that she had to strain to hear it.

'How do you know she doesn't?'

'Er - because she stormed off as soon she found out the truth?'

'She asked for time to process her thoughts. That sounds fair to me. There's a lot more to think about than your true identity.' Linda hesitated, not sure whether the truth would ease his pain or worsen it. Should she drop her friend in it with him? Again, she felt the agony of having to decide between two of her friends, which one to support and which to hurt. 'Because maybe you don't know the whole story. Maybe it wasn't just you she was reacting to when she disappeared.'

He stared at her in confusion. 'Well, what else would it be?'

'Lucifer, Chloe came here last night. I think maybe she wanted to talk to me about it all. But she walked in to see Maze waving a knife at me and Amenadiel, and that - didn't help.'

'But Maze is always waving knives around!'

'Maybe so, but she was angry. And I think maybe Chloe realised that if you are really the devil, then Maze is really a demon. She was pretty scary.'

'So she ran away because she was scared of Maze?'

Linda winced at the fury in his voice. 'I'm not sure it was that either. I think it's just as she said - she just needs time to come to terms with it all. I'm sure that she'll be back, sooner rather than later. Just give her time, Lucifer, please. Don't do anything silly.'

He opened his mouth to answer, closed it again, shrugged and turned, tugging the door open and striding out.

'I'll see you tomorrow,' she called as the door slammed behind him.

#

Dan waited impatiently for the elevator to reach the penthouse. His pride prickled, but at this moment he was willing to try anything.

Lucifer was sitting at his desk when Dan walked into the apartment, and Dan felt a rush of surprise. While Lucifer's desk had always looked impressive, he couldn't ever remember the man showing any signs of using it. He'd always been more of a man of action. But now he sat, head propped on one hand, doodling on a piece of paper. He looked up when he saw Dan.

'Ah, Detective Douche. What can I do for you?'

Dan ignored the insult. 'Have you heard anything from them?' he asked.

'From whom? Oh, you mean the detective and her offspring.' His voice was casual, but there was an odd note in it.

'So have you?'

'What? Oh. No. Nothing. What makes you think I would?' Lucifer's expression did not invite further conversation, but Dan was desperate.

'It's been three days, with nothing. She told Maze she'd just be gone overnight. She should have called, left a message - something! She took Trixie out of school with no word, and that's just not like her.'

Lucifer watched him silently.

'C'mon, man, give me something here! You must know why she went off. Maze said it was something you said to her.' He couldn't think what it could have been. Chloe was level-headed, normally; it took a lot to get her riled. And he had never known her just storm off like this, even through the turbulent times of their marriage break-up.

Lucifer pushed his chair back and got to his feet, and as he approached Dan, the detective shrank back slightly; Lucifer could be pretty intimidating at the best of times, and the scowl on his face was enough to send a shiver down his spine. An image jumped into Dan's mind: how many suspects had suddenly recoiled from Lucifer, screaming in terror?

'I don't know where she is, Daniel, and I don't know why she went. She learned the truth about who I am, and she said she needed time to think. That's all I know.'

Dan swallowed hard. 'The truth about who you are?'

'Yes, Daniel. She learned that I really am the devil.' A smile spread across his face, but failed to reach his eyes.

With an exasperated sigh, Dan broke eye contact. 'I've had about enough of you, man. My wife and child are missing.'

'Ex-wife.'

'Ex-wife.' He accepted the correction with a wince. 'That doesn't mean I don't still care about her. About both of them. I'm worried, Lucifer, and you don't seem to care.'

Lucifer let out a laugh that seemed totally devoid of humour. 'I don't care. You really believe that? I do care, Daniel, and that's just the problem. I care too much, and it seems she couldn't cope with that. Well, too bad.'

He sat back at his desk and picked up a book, starting to flick through it and totally ignoring Dan, who wondered for a moment about forcing the conversation further. But it seemed clear that Lucifer was not in any mood to cooperate.

Dan turned to leave, and then turned back to him, as a thought struck. 'I don't suppose you've seen anything of Pierce?'

That got Lucifer's attention. 'The Lieutenant is missing?'

'Yes. It's chaos in the precinct. He was supposed to attend some important meeting yesterday, but no one has seen him for the past few days.'

Lucifer shrugged. 'He's obviously had enough of us and cleared off. Good riddance.'

'I thought you were friends?'

'Apparently not.' Lucifer let out a heavy sigh. 'For while, maybe. But he wanted something from me, and I couldn't give it to him, and so he tried to take something from me instead. Believe me, Daniel, we're all better off without him.'

Frustrated, Dan gave up and headed back to the office. Maze had been out of town for the last couple of days, but was due in soon, and he was eager to talk to her again, to see if she had any more idea of what had happened with Chloe. Maybe she would even use her bounty hunter skills to track Chloe down.

Dan winced at the thought of what Chloe would say to him if she knew he was contemplating sending a bounty hunter after her, but right now he didn't care. He would gladly take whatever ear-bashing came his way, as long as he knew for certain that she and Trixie were safe and happy.

#

'Mommy, I'm scared.'

'Oh, Trixie, honey, we'll be all right.' In the semi-darkness, Chloe pulled back the covers and climbed into bed next to her daughter, who was trembling.

'But Mommy, I want to go home.'

'I know. So do I. But for now we have to stay here.' Cuddling her daughter to her, Chloe kissed the top of her head softly. She felt a sickness in the depths of her stomach, but right now her only thought was to hide that worry from Trixie.

'But why won't he let us go home?'

Chloe tried to find a way to explain things so that Trixie would understand without being scared. 'He's just a very unhappy man, and he thinks that having us here will help him feel better. So we'll go along with him for now and things will work out just fine. We'll be back home in no time.'

'Maze will find us and save us,' Trixie declared confidently.

Maze. The demon bounty hunter. So much made sense now. 'I'm sure she will.' The thought brought comfort. She had felt a flash of fear when she first understood that Maze was really a demon, but she had proven herself a good friend, and she adored Trixie.

'And Lucifer. Lucifer won't let that man hurt us.'

Lucifer. The devil with angel's wings. Chloe felt a sudden flush in her body. She had been so caught up in their current situation that she had not had time to think much about the previous events. 'Yes, you're right, Lucifer will find us,' she said, figuring out a way to console Trixie. 'Do you know, he's like our own guardian angel?'

'Guardian devil,' Trixie corrected sleepily. She snuggled into her mother's arms and fell asleep, leaving Chloe staring out into the darkness through the corner of the barred window she could see from the bed. Yes, they had their own guardian devil. That was assuming he didn't believe she'd run away from him in fear. After all, he had run away last year when their relationship had become too intense for him.

And yet he'd fought his way back into her favour. She just didn't understand him.

But in a way she felt she knew him completely. He wasn't evil. He was just a confused man - devil - who struggled to relate to people properly because of the way he'd been treated. And he always had her back.

She held onto that thought as she drifted into sleep herself.

This story is my apology for leaving the last one on a cliffhanger. I hope you enjoy it - reviews and comments always welcome. So who believed Chloe had just run away from Lucifer in fear then?