Disclaimer: I do not own anything more than the plot of this story. All the rest belongs to Vertigo comics, Neil Gaiman and all the creative and intellectual minds behind the show 'Lucifer'.
So, season four left me broken. As I'm sure it's the case with many of you... So I decided to put together a small series of fluff to make ourselves heal while we wait for season 5.
Beware the fluff!
262800.288 minutes and an eternity without you.
Six months is a long time to be gone.
Those first few days were especially difficult to navigate, if anything because of the amount of tears in her eyes that made it nearly impossible to see where she was going.
Ella had asked questions. Concerned over a repeat of the last big fight between Chloe and Lucifer where they almost stopped working together (Thank God that didn't last), and Dan seemed convinced for a few days that Lucifer had run off to Las Vegas again.
Chloe reassured them it wasn't anything like that. She couldn't tell them the truth without them starting fearing for her state of mind so, taking a page out of Lucifer's book, she told them a summarised version of what had actually happened: that Lucifer had to go out of town to take care of some business only he could manage.
It wasn't a lie. Chloe just… wasn't telling the whole truth. She told herself that Lucifer would have done the same.
Work was hard. She worked cases alone, occasionally teaming up with Dan, until her ex-husband's unhelpful commentaries about her partner ended up thinning her patience and requiring the Lieutenant reassign Dan to another Detective.
Chloe already had to see him every Friday when he picked up Trixie for their weekend together-and again every Monday when he dropped her off-, she didn't need to see him again on every single one of her cases.
On a happier note-or, well happy-ish, the Tribe nights out with the girls were once again a thing between them. Although they were now held at Lucifer's penthouse, rather than at a bar, and though there was alcohol involved, they were certainly... tamer than their previous ones.
Chloe welcomed these nights. They were a necessary distraction after a long week of solving murders, being a mom and grieving the love of her life. And yes, it probably wasn't healthy for her grief to party in the same place where Lucifer's presence and absence were more noticeable; it wouldn't help her move forward, but Chloe didn't want to do that.
During the day she put on her impenetrable mask and went on with her life. She did her job as professionally and efficiently as she always did. She took care of her daughter and paid the bills. At night she crumbled.
It was the same ritual she had followed after her father's death. From the moment she woke up to the minute she lay in bed, right after having tucked her daughter in for the night.
It may be not a very healthy way of moving on, but she was surviving. To the best of her ability.
Killers seemed to have taken the week off. They hadn't had a case since Monday and although it was a relief that people weren't dying on the streets, it was just so… boring.
All day, from seven to five, Chloe arrived at the precinct with a fresh to-go cup of coffee she had gotten on the way over and sat at her desk to do administrative stuff until two (with a lunch break in the middle), when the Lieutenant had ordered a few of his detectives to spare some time to train the rookies.
At the end of her shift, Chloe vacated her desk and went home to relieve the babysitter. Today was a Friday though, and it was Dan's weekend with Trixie, so Chloe wasn't in a rush to go home. She stopped by the Thai restaurant first and bought something for dinner.
She was just leaving her car keys and phone on the kitchen counter before storing her dinner on the fridge when she heard the water running on her bathroom upstairs.
Paused in the act of closing the fridge's door, Chloe brought one hand to the holster at her hip, fingers closing around the grip of her gun and very carefully extracting it from its holder.
She advanced up the stairs and into the first floor, where the bedrooms were located. Chloe spared a thankful thought to God (or, well, to someone a little south from Earth) that Trixie was with Dan tonight. At least now she would only have to worry about her own safety.
She approached the bathroom door. And the sounds of water overlapped with the rustle of clothing falling to the floor, and footsteps going about her bathroom.
Chloe paused, gun raised mid-air. Someone was in her house, without her knowing… and they were taking a shower?!
Oh no, that wasn't happening. Chloe shook her head and forced herself to react. An intruder was in her house- in her home, and she wasn't going to let anyone invade neither her property nor violate her privacy in such a way. Whoever this guy was, Chloe would put a bullet in his chest if necessary.
Of a swift kick, the bathroom door opened with such a force it impacted against the side wall.
Various things happened at that moment. The intruder usurping her bathroom jumped, clearly spooked at her sudden entrance, and in the process knocked over Chloe's travel bag that was on the sink, sending makeup and lady-only products to the floor. Chloe jumped at the sound of lipstick and compact mirror clattering against the tiles of the floor but her plate-sized eyes were fixed in the guy in front of her.
Scruffy, winded and just a tad more dirty than what was his habit. His ruggedly handsome scruff was a full grown beard now, and his hair was splashed with sand, giving him a distinguished English Lord look.
He was naked. Or, well, in the process of shedding his clothes to apparently take a bath.
Chloe's jaw dropped, making it a little difficult to get out the words. "Lu-Lucifer! Wha-!?"
Lucifer composed from his start quickly enough and smiled an appreciative smile when he noticed her loose white blouse that was starting to slide down one shoulder.
"Hello, Detective," he purred. "I have to say you look positively gorgeous this evening. It's that a new shampoo you're trying?"
Chloe could feel the blood rushing to her face. Trust Lucifer to find beauty in a pair of old jeans and a blouse so worn that it could pass for a very short nightgown.
"H-how… what…" she stammered. "Are you really here?"
Lucifer's expression softened.
"It's me, Chloe. I'm really here," he said.
"But you said… the demons…"
Chloe wanted to smack herself. Why was she questioning it? He was back. She should have been grabbing him with both arms so that he could never leave, but looking for answers was who she was. It was literally her job.
"I've left a delegate to manage the most rogue demons in my absence. I just had to see you."
"So, you're not leaving again? You're staying?" She asked, hopeful.
"I mean, I'll probably have to pop down once in a while to check on things, but I had planned to live permanently on Earth." Lucifer elaborated.
Chloe didn't let him keep talking; she rushed forward and encircled her arms around his waist, successfully entrapping him. They swayed a little and Chloe became aware of the toll years in Hell had left on Lucifer.
"How long have you been back?" Chloe broke away from the embrace and looked up at him.
"Just a few hours. I would have gone to the penthouse and get presentable but I just couldn't wait to see you… Should I have called first?" He looked unsure.
Chloe shook her head. "No, no. I'm glad you're here. It's just unexpected, you know? I dreamt of this so many times that I'm having trouble believing it's real."
A needle of uncertainty attacked her.
"This is real, right?"
"As real as it is a fact that your offspring enjoy chocolate cake in a ridiculous amount," Lucifer reassured with a tease.
Chloe laughed openly and joyfully like she hadn't done in a long time. She watched him with attention; the full-grown beard and his uncharacteristically neglectful appearance. It seemed obvious, then that he had really gone straight to her home after leaving Hell…
She felt touched that this man-this Devil cared so much for her, a regular human. Because what could offer to him, that he hadn't already done and experienced a thousand times over and then some?
"Detective, why are you crying?"
Sometime during her introspection, Lucifer had walked in closer. He had a concerned frown between his eyebrows and that adorable little tilt of the head that made him look like a lost confused puppy.
Chloe cleaned the tears under her eyes with two fingers, smiling all the while, and shook her head to dispel any worry that he could still have.
Revisiting one of the only advice from Maze that she had tried to follow once, Chloe threw caution to the wind and sneaked her arms pass his shoulders and around his neck, her mouth crashing against his almost bruisingly.
They could have been like that for twenty minutes or just a few seconds, but neither was in a hurry to break contact. And when their bodies demanded their need for oxygen, they allowed just a few inches apart. Their foreheads were connected as they breathed new air to their lungs.
Chloe raised one hand slowly up to Lucifer's face, resting it on his beard. She even scratched it a little, playfully.
"Fancy a shower with me, Detective?" He winked.