A/N I finally watched All Hands On Decker and finally Decker is coming back to her senses! And the end... whoa. Wouldn't leave me alone! So here we go... Should have been one-shot but I decided to split it so it wouldn't get too long to read.

Timeline, Spoilers – up to 3x22

Chloe felt something lift from her shoulders as she walked with Lucifer to the parking lot. She was even smiling! That hasn't happened in quite some time with him. There was something about him that just made her smile. He had no weird remarks, didn't try to shift the focus from the case to his issues. She couldn't put her finger on it but there was something different about him and she kind of liked it.

Lucifer couldn't keep from grinning. He knew he was. It felt absolutely great. Knowing she ditched Kain gave him hope. Seeing her smile at him was something he thought he would never see again. He opened the passenger door for her, she climbed in and they left the precinct in his car.

They talked about the case and when all was said they sat in silence. Lucifer looked at his partner and found her with elbow bent, head resting on her hand, eyes closed and with that smile on her face, her hair framing her delicate features, being caressed by the wind. He felt his heart beat rapidly and had to focus on the road really hard.

Chloe knew she should probably pay more attention but she felt free. If nothing then this feeling let her know that she had made the right decision telling Marcus she couldn't marry him. He wanted to continue seeing her but she said no. And now here with Lucifer in his car she was positive.

She was surprised Lucifer was not asking about it. She thought he would be the first to exploit it. But he was silent and something was radiating from him which made her feel calm. She didn't know what all this was but she was content for now.

During the investigation Lucifer joked around with Daniel and Ella in the way he would always. But with her he was way too cautious. She didn't know what to think about it. Then in the middle of one kind of heated argument he said something he would say couple of weeks before and immediately went silent searching for a way how to continue.

"Finally! I was getting worried somebody hit you over your head, Lucifer." Chloe said and smiled at him.

And when Dan chuckled and Ella grinned Lucifer realised that he was being way too cautious. He couldn't change altogether, he had to be himself.

The rest of the day was rather uneventful, they had some leads and possible suspects but the investigation was far from over. Chloe felt at ease and didn't fail to notice the tiny changes in her partner.

It wouldn't leave her alone even while she was coming back home to Trixie. She promised her she would explain everything over pizza so she did some grocery shopping as they enjoyed making their own pizza at home.

They had fun while making the pizza and loved to eat it even more than those they could order in.

"So, you're not marrying Marcus?"

"No, I am not."

"Are you sad about it?"

"See that's the thing. If he was the right one I would have been. But I am not. Only a little bit."

"I thought you liked him."

"I do like him, sweetie. A lot. But not enough."

"And you didn't know that before?"

"No, I didn't know that before. But I know it now so I did the right thing when I gave him the ring back because I wasn't being fair to him." Chloe tried to explain and it seemed Trixie was following quite all right.

"So you will wear your necklace again?"

"My necklace?"

"The one from Lucifer. It's funny. Daddy says it's a real bullet!"

Chloe didn't realize how much she missed that necklace actually. That was maybe another thing to consider. If she had been sure about herself with Marcus, she wouldn't have taken it down. It was a gift and she loved it.

"You think I should wear it again?"

"Yes!"

"Okay, if you think it's nice..." Chloe teased.

"I think it's cool." Trixie answered. Chloe got up and walked over to her jewellery box and took out the necklace. She put it back on and Trixie gave her thumbs-up.

"Mom, does it mean Lucifer is our friend again?" Trixie asked and Chloe sat down next to her.

"Why would you think he is not?"

"He doesn't come over anymore." And Chloe noticed her daughter sounded sad. She hugged her and played with her hair. Did she really miss him? How come she didn't notice?

"What if we invite him over, hm? We can make spaghetti and meat balls and maybe we can play Monopoly again, what do you say?"

"Can we really?!" And she was excited about it.

"I promise to ask him, okay?"

"Yaaaay!" And Trixie squealed in delight.

The rest of their evening was nice and quiet and Chloe had to admit that there was something about having the necklace around her neck that made her feel whole. She texted Lucifer and asked him if he would pick her up in the morning on his way to the precinct. She was nervous about his reply but he agreed and that feeling alone made her go to bed quite happy.

The morning came and Lucifer knocked on the door. Chloe was surprised that he didn't walk right in but appreciated the gesture. She opened the door.

"Good morning, Detective." His voice was full of joy.

"Come in," said and stepped aside. Before he could say anything else he had his arms full of Trixie.

"Easy there little human." He said but Chloe noticed that the annoyance that used to be there is gone. Why was that?

"Lucifer!"

"Good morning to you too, little miss Beatrice."

"Nobody calls me Beatrice." Trixie answered, grinning.

"Do you wish me to stop calling you Beatrice?" He asked only half serious.

"No. It makes me feel special." She answered and Chloe felt a bit of her heart melt at the sight. How did she miss this before?

"Trixie go get your bag, the bus will be here soon." Chloe said and Trixie went to her room to get her stuff. Chloe gave her bag with snack and bottle of juice and Trixie put it all in. They left and made it to the bus stop just in time. Before leaving she told her mother "Ask him!" and smiled at her.

Chloe and Lucifer got to his car and Lucifer just had to know.

"What is you should ask me?"

"Well... Trixie was wondering if you would want to come over for dinner and Monopoly. I promised her I would ask you."

Lucifer wasn't sure what to answer but when he couldn't sense anything odd about it, he just looked back at Chloe.

"I would love to, Detective." He replied in the end. "If that's okay with you."

"It is, Lucifer." She assured him and they continued their drive.

"You won't ask, will you?" Chloe asked him.

"About what?"

"Why I cancelled the wedding."

"I wasn't sure you wanted to talk about it."

"That hasn't stopped you before."

"Perhaps I'm trying to be a better partner to you, Detective." He offered and it caught her by surprise.

"Better partner? Where is this coming from, Lucifer?"

And it took him a minute to compose himself and gather his thoughts so all he was about to say would make perfect sense.

"While I was working with Daniel I realized something. I thought I was showing you how good I was and that you knew you couldn't have had a better partner." And he heard her chuckle. Of course. But he didn't give her a chance to interrupt him. "But I realized that I was wrong. And I am deeply sorry about that."

"What?" She couldn't believe it. What the hell happened?!

"I was not a good partner. I was helpful but I wasn't there for you when you needed me. I know I made my share of mistakes and bad assumptions. I am sorry about leaving you and putting myself first at times. I shouldn't have done that."

Chloe was so taken aback she couldn't even find her voice. She blinked few times. She would never ever expect him to say something like that.

"Detective. Chloe. I would like to get a second chance. If that's okay with you." And he looked at her and found her looking right back at him.

"Of course, Lucifer." She said softly not knowing what else to add.

"Splendid." Lucifer answered and focused on the road. Little she knew he was afraid to look at her because he desperately wanted to tell her everything but knew this was not the time or place. And he was grateful for being given this second chance as he knew that second chances were very rare.

Chloe kept on looking at him and her heart was beating fast in her chest, there was this loud thumping in her head and she felt her palms sweating. She kept on replaying the conversation again and again. It was for real. It really happened. Whoa. She would have to ask Dan what brought this on. Not that she wasn't grateful.

She kept on noticing these little changes in Lucifer's behaviour and she felt more at ease around him than before. It's like the little boy in him finally grew up. He was still the same funny and charming and absolutely annoying charismatic piece of work but there was something else in him that hasn't been there before. And she felt herself being pulled to it.

Oh boy. It seemed she was falling for him all over again.

The rest of the day was all about leads and suspects. And of course Chloe's instinct got them to a possible suspect. She knew the man was lying and this time she was even looking forward to seeing Lucifer do his thing in the interrogation room.

"Lucifer, you coming?"

"As you wish, Detective." And he smiled at her. And of course he didn't disappoint. In between two well played insults and two absolutely insane theories he managed to ask him favourite question about innermost desires and the man in front of him couldn't resist and had to answer. Like usually he fell apart and ended up sobbing quite un-manly.

And it helped them to get to another suspect, victim's brother. They found the murder weapon in his car and after putting all the pieces together Decker had him nailed. He tried to resist and even tried to escape after trying to throw a knife at her but before she could react Lucifer was there, holding the knife in one hand and frying pan in other – and with that he hit that bastard over his head.

Chloe didn't know whether to be worried or amused. She would have handled it but something in her told her that it was important for Lucifer to be there for her as her partner. She knew he still felt guilty about her getting hurt when he was not around – not that he could have prevented it. But he felt responsible. And now with his new partner attitude she was pretty sure he would always put himself in the harm's way if it meant keeping her safe. She should probably stop him right now from doing just that but her gut was telling her that it would be pointless. She would have to accept that. After all he had taken both knife and bullet for her before. And she had no doubts he would do it again.

Of course there was the other thing – Lucifer hitting that man with frying pan. She could hear one of Trixie's favourite movie quotes "Frying pan – who knew huh?" and saw the horse from the Tangled fairytale with the frying pan in his mouth. She couldn't keep from chuckling there.

"You're finding this funny, Detective?" Lucifer asked and she had to smile at him apologetically.

"I'm sorry, Lucifer. But it's just... frying pan, really?"

"It was the first thing I could reach."

"You know I could have handled it, right?"

"And you know I won't let you unless there is no other choice, right?" He asked back and she could only smile at him again. Here he was, her partner. For real.

She cuffed the murderer and when the back-up arrived she handed him over. The paramedics tended to Lucifer's hand. He needed few stitches but refused to be taken to the hospital. Unlike them he knew that he needed to put some distance between himself and the Detective and his wound would be healed soon.

Chloe drove them back to the precinct. Little she knew she was the first to drive his car, he would never let anyone drive it. Mazikeen was close to the opportunity once but in the end she didn't use it.

"Lucifer, I don't want you to get hurt either." Chloe said suddenly.

"I am supposed to have your back, right? Isn't that what partners do?"

"They also trust each other." She said and thought he would reply something funny to continue this banter but he was silent. She looked at him swiftly and found him deep in thought.

"Lucifer?"

"You think I didn't trust you back there?"

"No. No, no. I know you trust me. And I do trust you to have my back. But I can't be worried about you doing something reckless all the time. Sometimes you need to leave it up to me."

"You'd prefer me to step aside and let him attack you again after throwing that knife?" He asked disbelievingly. And Chloe had to admit that there was no point in continuing this. Yep, she was right – she would have to get used to this and learn how to live with it.

They spent the rest of the ride in silence. Back at the precinct Lucifer asked her what forms she would need him to fill in. She could literally feel her jaw dropping. She didn't expect that at all. Without a single word she handed him the paperwork to be done and with eyes wide she watched him take off his jacket and sit down, reaching for a pen and starting on the work at hand.

"Are you going to stand there whole afternoon or are you going to sit down and start filling your own share?" He asked.

"What? Oh. Right. Sure." She stammered and sat down to get to work herself.

When they were done she wished him nice evening and a good night. He smiled at her.

"Do you wish me to drive you home?"

"No, thank you."

"Very well then." And he was about to leave but she stopped him.

"Lucifer?"

"Yes, Detective?"

"What about that dinner? I have to tell Trixie something, she's gonna ask you know." Chloe said only little nervous.

"Well just tell me when and what to bring. And please don't say nothing. That would be utmost rude." He said with that honey voice of his and she nodded.

"Friday?" Chloe asked and felt nervous like she was asking him on their first date. What the hell was wrong with her?

"Friday it is then." He replied. "What shall I bring with me for you ladies?"

"Well what about some wine for me, I mean us – for us. We're having spaghetti, if that's okay." She asked and he smiled at her.

"Which means red wine and something with chocolate for dessert. Cake perhaps to please Beatrice?"

"She would love that, yes." Chloe agreed.

"It will be my pleasure." And with a nod he walked away not daring to look back. If he had looked back he would have found Chloe Decker playing with the bullet on her necklace, smiling broadly.