This fic absolutely destroyed me. It's very long (no joke).
It also alternates between Lucifer and Chloes pov. Not broken into chapters as it'd would break the flow.

I suggest you grab yourself a cuppa, a couple of hours, and kick back for one hell of a slow burner.

Come Hell Or High Water

"Marry me."

Chloe immediately slammed her hands over her mouth, her eyes widening as an internal mantra of crap crap crappity crap, so stupid Decker started up in her head as she stared in shock at herself for being so careless. She had talked herself into this, hanging around outside his club probably longer than she should have been considering the suspicious looks the bouncer was sending her way as she'd hovered.

Eventually she had steeled herself, knowing this was all her stupid idea and she had to follow it through otherwise her co-workers were going to have more reasons to see her as a pushover. Setting her shoulders and gritting her teeth, she'd marched past the bouncer who had let her pass without challenge. Her eyes had sought him out without delay as she'd promptly strolled over to the grand piano without giving herself another second to think in fear she may talk herself out of it.

Now she was standing here, hands over mouth, wishing the floor would swallow her whole as it would certainly be a lot easier than facing this embarrassment.

Lucifer's fingers slipped over the keys and he dropped the melody he was playing for his patrons. It was still early evening in Lux and the crowd hadn't picked up too dramatically yet so he could get away with slower tunes. He arched his eyebrows as he swiveled on the piano bench to face her, eyes scanning up and down her body as he sent her a lascivious grin.

"Why, Detective, I didn't know you cared."

Steeling herself, Chloe swallowed hard and willed herself to look him in the eye. "I'm serious." She frowned, realizing she was probably starting to sound like a creepy stalker crazy person - another of Lucifer's infatuated fans.

He searched her face before meeting her eyes, the smile remaining. "At least ask me to dinner first."

"Lucifer-" Chloe sighed.

He waved a hand, pulling himself to his feet so he towered over her and placed his hands on her shoulders to keep her in place as he searched her face. "Detective, you just strolled into my club like a woman on a mission and asked me to marry you." He peered closer, and tilted his head, "Are you quite okay?" He placed the back of his hand against her forehead. "Are you sure you're not ill?"

Pushing his hand away she took a step back so his hands dropped from her shoulders. "I'm not asking you to marry me properly, no no of course not, it's just, um, a work thing-"

"-you're babbling," his eyes sparkled in amusement as he leant against his piano, "it's rather adorable."

Setting her shoulders, and shoving a piece of hair behind her ear, Chloe told herself to stop being so darn stupid and just get on with it. "Look, it's for work, there's been a string of high profile murders."

Raising an eyebrow, a slight amused curl of his lips as he questioned, "and you asked me to marry you because…?"

"All the couples murdered were prominent couples of LA." his eyebrows were still raised and Chloe sighed, shoulders dropping as she uttered. "Right after they got married."

"And you want to use me as bait?" Folding his arms across his chest as he scanned her body before meeting her eyes, before pointing at himself and her. "Well, us, you think it'll draw whoever it is out?"

Nodding enthusiastically, Chloe felt a tiny weave of relief as he cottoned on to what she was trying to say. "Yes, exactly. I wouldn't ask but as a few co-workers pointed out with me being an ex-actress and well you," she pulled a face and gestured in his general direction, "being you." His eyebrow arched at that but he remained silent. Chloe sagged, feeling ridiculous and this conversation already emotionally draining her. "Look, we figured it was the only option."

"I see." He pushed himself off his piano, reached round to grab his drink and slowly took a sip, eyes still pinned to her. "As much as I love any excuse to spend more time with a gorgeous woman who won't sleep with me…" he pointedly looked at her and she refrained from rolling her eyes. "I'm afraid I'm going to have to decline."

Chloe wasn't exactly surprised, there was no way she actually had expected him to agree to this ridiculous request and she wouldn't say she wasn't relieved that he had. Still, she had a duty; "Lucifer, there's been four murders and we're already into serial killer territory-"

"I'll help you with the case Detective, but I'm not," he pulled a face slightly in disdain, "marrying anyone. Pseudo marriage or not." He glided forwards a couple of steps, crowding into her space. "The Devil doesn't do marriage."

Nodding, she pulled herself away from him and decided to ignore that last remark. Right, yes, she'd briefly forgotten his whole Devil thing. Yet another reason this was a bad bad idea. He wasn't really completely mentally stable. Sending him a small smile, trying to not let it reveal her utter relief, she nodded again. "Okay, Lucifer."

"Okay?" He squinted at her. "Just like that? No 'oh but Lucifer it's for the good of the people' or anything?" He pitched his voice higher, putting on a dreadful American accent as he imitated her and she glared at him.

The stupid accent reminded her of the morning after the night she'd drunkenly tried to sleep with him, - thank god that hadn't happened – and she internally cringed at the memory; shaking away the images so she could focus. "Ha ha, funny-" she paused, glancing past him as her eyes landed on Maze sending death glares in their direction from behind the bar. "No, I wasn't expecting you to agree as it was."

He frowned, placing his drink back down and it clattered as it wobbled a little before coming to a stop. He scanned her face, a look of quizzical wonderment on his face. An expression she saw all too often these days and she never understood it. "Then why'd you bother to ask?"

She shrugged a shoulder. "No harm, if you agreed it would have given a better chance to catch whoever these people are but it's not the be all end all-"

"-there's more than one?" He had raised his eyebrows, pulling them together and she could practically see the cogs turning in his brain.

"Yes. We think-" she sighed, running a hand through her hair. She tugged a little at the ends as her frustration welled up. "We actually don't know much. There's always a woman with brown hair present and sometimes she has a blond guy with her, last time the guy had black hair." Either their witnesses were unreliable – she wouldn't be surprised – or there was another guy present… or the blond guy had dyed his hair. Any were possible. This whole case was physically exhausting her.

She waved a hand, sending him a tired smile. "We'll figure something out."

He hesitated, before slowly nodding as he stared at her. His eyes tightened for a millisecond and she swore she saw something akin to uneasiness flash over his face before his guards were back in place and he was grinning widely. "Well, if you find you need livening up, sex is always on the table."

Rolling her eyes upwards, she brushed his remark off and scoffed. "Will you ever stop-?" She paused. "Scratch that, I know you won't. Right-" She'd had enough of this awkward conversation for one night and was desperately craving a glass of wine and an episode of something trashy on television. "I'll see you tomorrow."

"Spoil sport." He muttered, before sighing and stuffing his hands in his pockets. She obviously stalled for a second to long, glancing at his piano and him, as Lucifer smoothly arched an eyebrow. "Is there something else Detective?"

Quickly shaking her head, "no, I'm good," she sent him a smile. Ignoring the wistful feeling of wanting to hear him play after she had interrupted him. He had this way of lulling the room into complacency when his fingers danced over the keys and she would never admit it to him, but she liked the way he quietened her thoughts. Especially when she was this stressed. Turning around on her heels, she shouted a "night Lucifer" over her shoulder as she quickly walked out of there as fast as possible without making it too obvious.

Before she did something stupid, like stay.

"Have a good night Detective," he called smoothly after her. His chuckle deep in throat as he watched her scurry away.

Lucifer was perched at the bar in Lux; slouched over a glass of bourbon as he slowly turned it in his hand watching the amber liquid swirl and ebb against the patterned glass. His eyes tight as he stared. He was starting to realize what Chloe meant by this case being one hard nut to crack. They'd been at it a week and there had been no solid leads. At all. No matter where they looked everything always came back with a big fat nothing, and it was beginning to frustrate him as much as the Detective. He didn't like mysteries he couldn't solve. He already had a tremendous one with Chloe; he didn't need another.

"Why are you caring about this so much?" Maze slipped up to him behind the bar, looking at him curiously. "Usually your little cases with the Detective are second to whatever it is about her that interests you." She wasn't bothering to hide the distain in her voice.

He glanced up at her before refocusing his gaze on his glass. "Yes, well, this one is different Maze."

"How?" She had tilted her head as she refilled his drink, and he leaned back to let her. "What makes it so different?"

Squinting his eyes, he regarded his demon slowly. "Why are you so interested?"

She shrugged, putting the bottle down next to him as she hopped herself up onto the bar top. "I may have overheard your little," she pulled a face, "conversation with the mortal woman last week."

He swirled the liquid in the glass, "ah yes, well-"

Her eyes had narrowed, "don't tell me your thinking about it."

Puffing out a breath of air, he shrugged a shoulder. "No, of course not, how stu-" his attention was grabbed by the television above the bar as it flashed an emergency broadcast. Noticing his change Maze turn to see what had distracted him. A woman was talking animatedly on screen, head bobbing as she spoke with her hands, but the volume was turned down so he could only read the subtitles as they flashed by: –another couple murdered. Brent and Allison Cooper. The old business entrepreneur and his young model bride were brutally gunned down after saying their vows last night at Mr. Cooper's private business club where they had been married.

Maze looked at him, hair swinging as her head turned abruptly and she pulled a leg up onto the bar top. Lucifer would have commented on the hygiene of that move but his eyes were still glued to the screen. "Isn't that-?"

Nodding, Lucifer slipped his phone from his jacket pocket, making a split decision as he hit speed dial; eyes still partially glued to the screen as they showed pictures of the two dead lovers, and flashed to the memorial service to be held today-

"-hello?" Her voice rang out clearly, and he hesitated as he heard her pause, practically feeling her frown through the phone. "Lucifer?"

He swallowed, "Detective, did you-?"

"Are you calling about the Cooper shooting? If you are, yes, I know. I'm heading down to the scene now-" her voice sounded tired, and now he focused he could hear the slight hum of her engine in the background as she drove. "if you want to-"

"I'm in."

There was a pause, and he could hear the car stop at what he probably guessed was a traffic light. "Um, what, I-"

"I'll marry you." He pressed his teeth hard into his lower lip and turned away from his scowling bartender as she reached for the phone, waving a hand to dismiss her.

"I'm sorry, what-?"

"I knew Brent. I bought Lux off him when I first," he paused, shooting a glance at the television still quietly flashing pictures of the dead couple, "arrived."

There was a hum on the other side of the line, her voice patient when she spoke. "Okay, Lucifer, I understand-"

He growled slightly under his breath, and knew by the halt in her speech that Chloe had heard. "Look, if you think it'll stop these bastards, then I'll do it."

Beat of silence as Chloe silently breathed down the phone, before he heard her sigh deeply. "Okay." She sounded resigned.

"Okay?" He was pacing by the side of his piano and had paused when she spoke; finding himself facing a disgruntled looking Maze as she glared at him. He sent a large bemused grin her way to distract her as he turned away, focusing on the phone.

"I'll drive by Lux tonight to talk about it." He heard her put the car in park, and the seatbelt clicking as moved to get out the car.

"See you tonight Detective." He smoothly hung up the call and stared at it for a second, before slipping it back into his pocket and leaning against his piano. "Well," he cleared his throat, "this is going to be an adventure."

Maze hopped over the bar, stalking his way as she stopped in front of him. "The king of Hell can't get married," she spat, looking at him like he'd gone crazy.

Brushing her off, he plopped himself down on the piano bench and pulled up the fallboard. "Apparently, he can-" he cut himself off, looking upwards, "wonder what dear 'ol dad has to say about that."

"Lucifer-"

Sighing, he turned to look at her, raising an eyebrow sharply. "Come on, it'll be fun." She opened her mouth to reply but he turned away, back to his piano and starting picking up the melody he'd been playing when his Detective had strolled in here to demand the question of him just over a week ago.

He waved his bartender off. "Plus it's not like it's a real wedding." He smirked. "Is it?"

Chloe had hung up the phone with Lucifer in a little bit of a daze, and had immediately called Dan to let him know Lucifer had agreed. He had sounded hesitant but they'd agreed a week prior that if it came to it then it was the best decision. Not that Chloe thought it was even a possibility. It had all been hypothetical.

Still Dan told her he'd inform Olivia, and they'd get the plan in motion.

Dropping her phone back into her jacket pocket, Chloe had tried to push the distracting thoughts from her brain for the rest of the day as she'd approached the crime scene. The bodies had been gunned down at their makeshift altar. Their wedding had been planned meticulously, and the business club had been transformed into a place fit for a wedding. The room hung heavy with the mixed scent of flowers from the arches that lined the aisle. Each chair and a name tag and a white ribbon tied around the front few rows to show where the close family members and friends were supposed to sit.

Brent, she guessed, was lying flat on his stomach with his empty eyes staring to the side as a trickle of blood dripped from his mouth. His new – for all of two seconds – wife, Allison, had her arm bent at an odd angle. Her body was half on top of Brent's and her eyes were closed. Both were completely still, silent.

Chloe winced at the pooled blood that was starting to coagulate around the bodies. This was the fourth of these crime scenes she'd been to now, and they all deeply disturbed her. Usually blood and murder didn't bother her so much, being pretty desensitized after so many years of it. But there was something about taking what supposed to be the happiest day of these people's lives, full of love and laugher and fun, then savagely ripping it away from them that utterly disgusted her.

She had to grit her teeth against the frustration that welled up. They were still, even with Lucifer's help, nowhere closer to catching the sick people who were doing this. Still, she tried to settle her nerves, maybe they finally had a thread of a chance now.

As usual there was little evidence. Everything had seemed perfectly normal until just after the couple turned to their audience and the shooters barged into the room. The couple had no time to react before they were gunned down and the shooters were gone again; leaving no evidence other than the two dead bodies. Just like the other murders.

They were using different weapons each time but no one in the local area had bought matches to the bullets or weapons recently. Either they had been planning this for a long time or they had a stash locked up wherever they were hiding. The masks they'd worn were the same white blank theatre masks they'd worn at every shooting, and they wore long clothing so no identifiable marks except for their conventional hair colors were visible.

Chloe ran her hands over her face in exasperation. She thanked the on duty cops and the coroner before heading back to her car; she needed away from the scene. Seated at her steering wheel, her knuckles were nearly white with strain as she gripped the wheel tightly and stared out the window while internally battling with herself not to scream in frustration.

Instead she set the car into drive, deciding she'd go back to the station for the rest of the day to file paperwork and settle her nerves for the upcoming conversation with Lucifer tonight. She'd already declined Dan's offer to go with her; figuring it was best she talked to Lucifer alone. Hopefully they'd come up with a plan before going over it with the rest of the station.

The whole thing was making her stomach eat itself.

The day passed quickly and it was no time at all before Chloe found herself standing outside the entrance to Lux. Once again she was hesitating as she debated with herself on the best way to approach this; deciding it was best to face this head on. Lucifer was probably more worried about this whole- arrangement, considering the stance he took on marriage. Especially considering he still thought he was the Devil.

Swallowing her nerves Chloe took the elevator up to Lucifer's penthouse. The doors pinging as they opened and she stepped into the apartment. Quiet classical music was playing from the speakers in the ceiling, bathing the whole room in the serene sound of fingers dancing on piano keys as the music ascended and descended over her in waves.

She found Lucifer sprawled on his couch; eyes closed and glass in hand as he listened to the rhythm. He was a mysterious enigma to her, the music he listened to at his club downstairs vastly different to the classical piano she often found him listening to up here. In fact, she figured, he didn't seem to have a specific music taste. As long as it wasn't rap or hip-hop of which she was rather glad about. Dan had liked rap and she had grown impatient of constantly telling him the awful racket down.

He obviously heard her approach as an eye popped open and he greeted her, "Detective." He pushed himself up, stretching and offering her a glass she noticed he'd already prepared.

For once she nodded, accepting the glass and taking a generous sip as she hovered in front of him. He arched an eyebrow at her in surprise before patting the seat next to him, shooting her an amused grin. "Come on, I won't bite." He paused; the grin quickly turning into a leer as he stared at her. "Unless, of course, you want me too."

Rolling her eyes, his usual brand of humor settling her jitters a little and she gingerly placed herself next to him. Ignoring the arm he had stretched out along the back of the couch as he turned his body to face her. "Are you going to say anything or keep staring at me like a lamb lost to slaughter?"

Pulling a face, she apologized, "sorry, this is just all," she paused, thinking, "incredibly weird."

His eyebrows shot upwards and he laughed. "Preaching to the choir." He gestured with his glass at her. "At least you've done this before."

"Last time," she frowned at him, "with Dan, it was different. Our marriage was real."

He hummed, regarding her slowly as his eyes searched her face as he sucked in air through his teeth. "Right, well." He placed his glass down on the table, and Chloe tracked his movements as he took hers and placed it with his. "How are we going to do this?"

"Uh." She hadn't really gotten that far, the idea had seemed too preposterous that she hadn't really thought it through properly. She explained this to him, and promptly avoided looking at him. Instead settling for staring at her hands as she fiddled with them in her lap before sending him a sheepish glance and shrugging a shoulder. "Sorry."

He silently regarded her for a second, before clearing his throat and sitting up straighter, pinning her to her spot with his gaze. "Well, don't marriages usually begin in proposals?"

A small laugh was shocked out of her system. "Yes." Silently keeping the 'sort of' to herself. Usually marriages, she thought with irritation, started with a relationship. But, she looked at him closely, there was no way she was doing that. Besides, Lucifer didn't do relationships. No good, very bad, idea. "They do."

"Well," he clapped his hands as he grinned, "we'll start with that. And then-?"

Frowning she looked at him in question. "Considering the case, we'd announce it – the press would need to know, but-" this all thing was insane, and perhaps a little too much. Maybe there would be another way because they weren't even partway into their first conversation about this and it was already feeling like too much-

"-ah ah Detective," he took her hands in his and she looked at them in surprise. His eyes were glittering with mirth as he stared at her. "This was your idea. There's no backing out now."

She blinked, "I know, but-"

"- no buts. In for a penny." He smirked. "Once you make a deal with the Devil I'm afraid it's pretty permanent."

Ignoring his last statement, she made a sound of frustration, pulling her hands back and dropping her head against the back of the couch. "This is ridiculous. I don't know what I'm doing-"

"Leave it to me." Lucifer leaned forwards and refilled their glasses, passing hers to her which she gladly accepted, curling her fingers around the cool glass. "I can make all the necessary arrangements-" he leered at her, and Chloe had to ignore the way heat shot through her stomach as he trailed his eyes up her body before meeting her eyes. "However, about the dress."

She waved him off. "I'll use my old wedding dress."

He looked taken aback. "No." She looked at him in shock and he blinked at her, shaking his head. "You're not walking down the aisle in a dressing you wore to yours and Sir Douche's wedding."

Disgruntled, she sat up straighter and glowered at him. "Why not? It'll save time, and money, plus-"

"Money isn't an issue, you know that-"

"The department should be budgeting this Lucifer, not you." She shook her head. They had limited funds, sure, but that was what the money was there for; undercover work.

"Detective-" he had pushed himself closer and had fixed his eyes on her face as he slithered a little too close for Chloe's comfort; he took the glass from her and placed it on the side. She pushed down the way her body wanted to press closer as he crowded into her personal bubble. "If this-" he waved between them, "is going to be believable then your dress has to be believable." He frowned at her, searching her face as he placed a hand on her upper arm. "A cheap dress from the budget store down the street will not cut it."

She looked at his hand warily, and back at him, "Lucifer-"

"I mean it," he breathed. His breath washing over face for a second before he thankfully pulled back and gave her room to breathe. "It has to look real, no?"

She nodded, "yes, but-"

"Well then," he brushed her off, "there will be no more disagreements from you about how I plan this wedding."

Narrowing her eyes, she glared at him. "You're planning the whole thing." She folded her arms. If he thought he could just-

His wide grin cut her off, eyes following her movements and she quickly uncrossed her arms as he stared at her cleavage and glared. He beamed at her, eyes glittering as he tipped his glass. "Don't worry, I'll pass everything by you first."

"That doesn't-"

"Now-" finishing off his glass, and placing it on the table he smoothly stretched out on the couch, the back of his hand playing with the ends of her hair as he regarded her rigid position. "If this is going to look convincing…" he trailed off, looking at her suggestively.

Pulling back, she glowered at him, "no."

"But-" he leaned forwards, pushing himself into her space. She moved backwards as far as her head would allow, turning her head away. "Detective-" he whined, obviously hoping with their arrangement he'd get what he had been after since he'd met her.

Squinting at him, she ignored the flittering in her stomach and pushed his chest as he got a tiny bit too close for comfort – again. "Lucifer-"

"But if we're going to be convincing," his voice was right by her ear, "then we have to look convincing."

She shoved him, but he refused to budge. Turning her head to glare at him, she balked at close they were as she brushed noses with him. "Will you-" she halted as his hand came up to her face and she immediately scrambled away before she did something stupid … like kiss him. She threw up a hand as a barrier. "Stop."

He regarded her for a second before thankfully pulling back and rolling his eyes. "Very well, you spoil sport." He sighed and pouted sullenly. "You'll have to kiss me sometime."

She knew that. They couldn't go this whole 'engagement' without kissing once in public, but for now it was safer that they just didn't. Not in his apartment where they were alone and with nothing to distract them from taking it further. She knew he wouldn't force her, but it wasn't him she was worried about, it was herself. Once she started she didn't know if she'd be able to stop… and mixing business with pleasure was never a good idea, no matter how much the man currently sat moping on the couch in front of her would say.

Sighing, she moved to leave. "Perhaps I better go."

"No, stay." He shook his head. "I won't mention it again… tonight-" at her unsure look he grinned, teeth glinting in the low light and his voice incandescent, "I promise."

So she stayed. And true to his word he didn't he mention it once the whole evening. When she left, closer to midnight than she'd wanted too, he'd walked her to the door and told her not to worry about the logistics and that scheming was something of which he was superior and everything would be sorted out.

She decided to let him have that one. She was already exhausted with the whole thing and if he wanted to shoulder some of the load then she would be ever grateful. She drove home with a smile, thoughts consumed by the man she was going to pretend to marry in a few weeks' time.

It wasn't until much later when she was brushing her teeth that she paused, reigning in her thoughts and kicking herself.

Oh lord. What was she getting herself into?

A week later Chloe was once again back in Lux. This place was becoming almost as familiar to her as her own four walls. Now wasn't that a worry?

Leaning by the bar, Chloe felt more than awkward as she searched the club for Lucifer. He'd told her at work to drop by after she'd finished, and proceeded to vanish for the rest of the afternoon. She couldn't blame him, and he would have only distracted her with his whinging and complaining. It was nearly midnight and she'd only just finished her backlog of paperwork; her eyes were sore from staring at words on paper for hours on end and her limbs were tired and muscles achy due to sitting cramped into a cheap chair all day. Their current case had meant her previous caseloads of paperwork had gone neglected. Olivia had demanded she catch up before she have the go ahead for this complex, time consuming, and probably outrageous plan the station was concocting.

Despite how much she wanted to go home, curl up on the couch with a riveting book and her good chocolate that she kept hidden in the bottom drawer of the liquor cabinet away from her nosey daughter's prying eyes, she hadn't. Instead she had packed up her stuff and driven to Lux. Driving on autopilot and wondering what on earth Lucifer wanted when he knew she'd be finishing this late.

Surely he was busy entertaining his patrons, and she definitely wasn't in the mood to party no matter how much he moaned about how she needed to 'let loose' sometime. They had things to plan if they wanted this wedding to look real, and she was exhausted with Dan who kept trying to drill into her that she 'had to be careful around Lucifer'.

She was surprised her eyes weren't permanently glued to the top of head considering the amount of times she'd rolled them heavenward at her ex's dramatic warnings.

But, despite all that, she'd given Trixie to Dan for the evening and grudgingly obliged her partner's request. Now here she stood standing out like a sore thumb, still in her now wrinkled work gear, as bodies writhed and danced to the slightly too loud music pounding behind her ears.

She sighed, tapping her hand on the bar impatiently and closing her eyes briefly only to open them again as the bright lights grated on back of her eyelids. Lucifer had asked her here, so surely he had to be keeping an eye out for her entrance. She liked the odd evening to unwind as much as anyone else – alas not in the way Lucifer would like, she couldn't remember how long that had been. She was so busy and she was not about to sleep with Lucifer and be tossed away like some floozy – but tonight she was just tired. The overload on her senses was gradually beginning to hurt behind her eyes and she was positive she was getting a headache.

Using the bar as leverage, she pushed herself to her toes and scanned the crowd, bringing more than a few curious eyes looking her way as she searched the room. Usually the man in question was easy to spot, wading his way around the crowd and bringing smiles and wandering eyes wherever he graced his presence. But for some reason it seemed like tonight he was playing hard to find. Sighing deeply she waved to the bartender for a drink, plopping herself down onto a bar stool and resting her head in her hand she had propped up on the bar top.

She smiled her thanks as the young male bar staff slid her usual drink across the bar to her. The fact he knew what she wanted and didn't have to pay drew a few more eyes – who knew she could be so interesting - and she shrugged them off as she toyed with the glass between her palms.

That was another sign she came here way too often.

But that would probably work in their favor if their little ploy was going to work.

She was halfway through her glass when she felt the atmosphere around her bristle and the chatter from people converged around the bar died down enough to be noticeable even above the loud music. She closed her eyes and sure enough a few seconds later she felt a presence behind her back.

She refused to turn around, concede to his presence as everyone else had, and instead felt him lean way to close as he purred into her ear. "Well well, Detective, you actually came." His rumbling voice sent a skitter of shivers down her back that she denied to acknowledge as she finally turned her head to glare at him, hiding her shock when he didn't pull back and their noses brushed.

"Finally decided to show up?" She grumbled, pulling her head backwards. "Where were you?"

His smile was purposely mysterious, she was sure of it, it curled the edges of his lips as she eyes shone unfathomably back at her. "Oh, around."

She nodded and rolled her eyes. "I'm sure."

"You'll see," he hummed. She narrowed her eyes in suspicion as his eyes darted to her and her drink, before meeting her gaze again. "You've been drinking, good, that'll help. Now come on."

He grabbed for her hand but she slid it away and to her lap, keeping her dubious expression fixed on him. He was up to something, she could feel it curling at the bottom of her spine as she eyed him. "I'm happy here, thanks. Why did you want to see me?"

If anyone was paying attention to their conversation, Lucifer paid it no mind as he leaned in close to her again and she fought to keep her gaze level and head where it was. She refused to pull back again, plus – she sternly reminded herself – if their ruse was going to be believable she couldn't look uncomfortable in his presence. She dredged up all of her limited acting experience and set her chin as she stared back.

His answering smile was amused, a quick flick of his eyes to her mouth and back again and she was suddenly unsure if he couldn't actually read her mind. Instead of commenting, he reached for her hand again and this time she reluctantly let him take it, burying the sudden inexplicable urge she had to link their fingers she stared at their hands and raised an eyebrow questioningly.

He smirked, tugging lightly. "I'm being a good Devil and following through on my promise." He emphasized his point with anther gentle pull on her hand.

"By embarrassing me in front of everyone?" The tilt of his head and widening smirk told her it was going to get a lot worse. She inwardly cringed as her mind skimmed through all the possibilities of whatever he may be scheming. "What am I doing here, Lucifer?"

"Why being a willing participant of course." He chuckled, this time when he pulled she took her hand back and tucked it between her thighs. He frowned at her action and smoothly folded his arms in retaliation. "Fine." He sighed sufferingly, as though her stubbornness was causing him a great deal of pain. "Very well, stay here. Do feel free to come up when you want to." His eyes held a promise that told her she would, glittering in the low light.

She frowned. "Come up-? Lucifer, what-?" But he was already waltzing away, disappearing amongst the throng of dancers and party-goers; heading in the direction of his piano. Oh, he meant up there, Chloe shook her head and watched his lean body curve its way around people as he climbed the few steps up to his piano.

He was almost hypnotic, graceful and yet powerful as he managed to prowl elegantly through the crowds like a big cat on the hunt. He was fascinating to watch. She turned back to her drink, but why he figured she would want to follow him up there she had no idea. He knew she couldn't play, she couldn't sing either, and just standing there would be rather awkward- wouldn't it? She downed her glass, signaling for another one and smiling at the bartender as he sent a nod in her direction.

She was watching the young bartender make her drink trying to remember his name, - James? John? It started with a 'J' she was sure - Lucifer had introduced most of his staff to her over the amount of times she'd been here with him but there were so many. But she was pretty sure this lads name was John, or James? She was so busy distracting herself from her encompassing thoughts of Lucifer that it took her a moment to notice that the blaring music was being turned down. The lights dimmed to a single spotlight that was probably lighting up Lucifer as his fingers began to play over keys and turn those notes into a slower melody than was usual for a Friday night at peak time in his club.

"Here you go." The voice of John - James? - sounded to her left and made her jump.

She took the drink, replying with an absent thanks as she realized she'd turned around to search out Lucifer without actually being conscious of the movement. She fiddled with the glass in her hands, sliding off the stool as she watched Lucifer concentrate on the keys and entranced by the slow melody he was playing. She watched as those in the club fell silent to listen as he began to sing.

His voice was sultry and captivating as it lulled over the room and Chloe's eyes widened as he lifted his head to stare at her as she began to wander over with drink in hand; somehow managing to capture her gaze even from halfway across the room, "-and I could give you my devotion until the end of time-"

She swallowed as the words resonated with her. What was he doing?

"And you will never be forgotten with me by your side." He was still boring holes into her, eyes tracking as she gradually made her way closer.

People in the club began to look at her and Chloe gritted her teeth against the urge she had to cover her face and hide. He was doing this for a reason, she was sure, and she had said they needed to make this public. She just wasn't prepared for how- how inelegant she would feel; stood here in her rumpled work clothes after an exhausting day at work.

She probably looked a mess, hair in a haphazard ponytail with day old makeup. If it was anyone else it wouldn't be, but this was Lucifer. The notorious rich womanizer club owner of L.A. And here he was singing a romantic song to her in front of everyone. Still, she weaved her way to the edge of the crowd gathered around the railings around the platform, ignoring the way they easily parted to let her through and moving her way to the bottom step to watch him sing. He shot her a quick wink before turning back to his piano.

She swallowed the lump in her throat. She'd play his game, whatever it was. He was right, she had asked for this – sort of – and he was following through on her request. She just hoped he clued her in soon on what he was doing as she felt a little like a rookie actress on a stage without a script. Improvisation was never her strong suit.

Why was she even doing this again? Right, to catch the bad guys.

Wrapping her free hand around the railing, she let a small smile slip over her lips as he crooned the lyrics into a hushed room. She wandered briefly how long it had taken him to pick a song. Had he just picked one randomly? Or had he fretted over what song to use? He looked up at her as if hearing her thoughts, his eyes glittering and smile clandestine as it played at the corner of his lips as he sang: "when I'm standing in the fire, I will look him in the eye, and I will let the Devil know that I was brave enough to die-"

Chloe withheld a laugh, pressing her lips into a thin line. He'd definitely chosen the song on purpose. Yet despite the lyrics, and the fact she knew this was all for show, she felt as though there was something else behind the words he was singing and something clenched around her heart.

His fingers danced over the keys as he sang and she felt herself leaning forwards to watch him. She felt a little like they were trapped within a bubble that was wrapped around the two of them, invisible to all the onlookers. He looked up at her, catching her eyes once more as dark eyes stared into her own. His fingers came to a slow stop and he pushed himself back from the piano, smoothly standing up.

She balked, had to stop herself from turning tail and running as he made his way towards her. She wasn't sure what it was that held her there, but at a guess if would have been the way he was looking at her. As though she was the center of his whole world. Despite how cheesy that sounded, and how ridiculous this all probably looked to the outside world, she felt a stillness wash over her as he approached. He took her hand that was wrapped around the railing and gently tugged, walking backwards as he led her up the steps.

She wasn't really thinking about it, absently passing her drink to a person next to her and followed as she rolled with it. Worrying if she began to overthink she'd screw this all up, and he was obviously doing this for a reason - for their plan – however, she blinked as he sung the closing words- it felt so real. Who knew the man who thought he was the Devil could be so romantic? Cheesy, but romantic, and this was completely his style she thought somewhere in the back of her mind as her eyes widened when he quickly squeezed her hand, once, and slowly lowered himself to his knees keeping eye contact.

Oh, oh, her hands immediately went to cover her mouth, he wasn't…

Jesus - she bit her lip behind her hands as he reached into his inside jacket pocket- he was.

To quote the man in front of her: bloody hell. She'd asked for public… but this? This- her thought process died, fizzling to incomprehensive thought as she stared at the little brown leather box he had produced. It looked old.

Lucifer smiled up at her, somehow managing to pull off looking both gorgeously sexy and downright nervous as he stared into her eyes. She knew that this was all an act, but she found the appropriate actions came almost as automatic as breathing. Her breath halted in her throat and she managed to whisper his name as she took one hand away from her mouth to reach towards him, before pulling it back.

His grin was optimistic as his fingers deftly opened the box. Nestled into the ivory silk lining was a silver ring; it had two side stones which glittered in the light and the center stone was what looked like a black diamond. It shone, shiny and reflective as it sat proudly in the box.

"Chloe." She pulled her eyes from the ring to look at the man holding it. He was still staring at her hopefully, a small smile on his lips. She had no idea he could act so well. "I know I've been infuriating and you've spent most of our time together frustrated when I run off and say and do things I shouldn't, but I want you to know that working with you, spending time with you, has awoken feelings that I never thought I'd feel again." How did he sound so genuine?

Chloe's breath was coming in short little pants as she stood, shocked into silence as he spoke. "I need you to know this, to understand, that us, together, means everything to me." He visibly swallowed and Chloe wondered exactly how much of what he was saying was partially the truth. "This may be the most impulsive things I've even done and I've done some dramatic impulsive things over the years." He laughed, a short stout sound that sounded slightly bitter as he shook his head at himself. "But," he reached and took one of her hands in his, folding it into his larger one as he bored into her, "you are the only woman who has ever made me vulnerable."

Chloe balked, she didn't know if she could do this, but she remained where she was, somehow, forcing herself to listen. "Chloe Decker, will you do me the honor of marrying me?"

The hush that fell over the room was palpable to Chloe's ears as she stared at Lucifer, the ring, and back at him. She knew this had to happen, but now it was she wasn't fully sure she was ready for everything it entailed. But- she looked at Lucifer's encouraging smile and buried her insecurities. They'd deal with the – undoubtedly – explosive break up to come later. For now this was their plan, this is what they had to do.

Lips parted, Chloe sucked in a breath between her teeth and nodded, hands still over her mouth.

Lucifer tilted his head. "Is that a yes?"

"Yes." Chloe mumbled, pulling her hands away from her mouth. "Yes, yes." She beamed at him, letting herself get carried away with the moment.

His responding grin was magnificent; dazzling and bright as his smile radiated in happiness. Somewhere in the back of her mind a voice whispered that he deserved an Oscar, but she shook the unwelcome voice away and held out her hand as he pulled the ring from the box and slid it onto her finger, all the while keeping eye contact. She felt a tug on her insides as she turned her hand into the light to watch it dance of the gems on her finger. It was beautiful. "That's where you vanished to this afternoon," she whispered.

He smirked at her, easily gliding to his feet and Chloe had about two seconds to process the move as he gently tilted her chin up with his fingers, and then he was kissing her. It took her a second to respond, still in absolute shock. Obviously this came with the territory, but she wasn't exactly sure what to think about their first kiss being in front of a crowd. Still, she slipped her arms around his neck and kissed him back, feeling goosebumps shiver all the way down her spine as he smoothed his hands over her hips and pulled her in close.

All too soon it was over, and he pulled back with a quick nip at her lips. She blinked a little in shock at how fast it was all over, and was only barely aware of the claps and cheers from around them.

"They're real."

She shook her head a little to clear it. "Huh?"

"The diamonds," he shrugged, raising her hand between them to play with her fingers, a tender move that was unusual for him and they both watched as the diamonds glittered, "they're real."

"Why?" She questioned. This was all fake, and she was still struggling with the fact they'd probably have to stage a very public break up in the future as well.

"I like to do things right." He was still staring at her, eyes dropping to her lips which she licked in response, unable to resist. His eyes darkened. "Stop that."

She smiled sheepishly. "Sorry."

He leaned closer to her, voice at her ear a low rumble as he spoke. "I'm already struggling not to ravish you right here in front of everyone."

That was the Lucifer she knew and despite the shudder of unwanted delight that he definitely noticed by the devilish chuckle that vibrated down her spine, she pulled back to raise her eyebrows. He was grinning lecherously at her she rolled her eyes, batting his shoulder with the back of her hand. The hand that now had the ring on it… they both stared at it, and she swore she saw him swallow.

Well, now she felt a little unsure of what to do. He looked at her questioningly as she stared at him. "I guess people are going to have questions," she muttered.

He nodded. "I better go quench their thirsts." Although he hesitated, searching her face for something. "You probably should come with me if this is going to be believable."

She nodded automatically, a part of her wishing she could go home to organize her muddled thoughts into some sense and order, but she found a larger part of her wanted to stay with him- just a little longer, and for once she let herself indulge. "Good idea."

If he was surprised by her response he didn't show it, instead held out an arm for her and raised an eyebrow challengingly. She shook her head a little, laughing in disbelief at the absurdity of all this, but took his arm and shoved him playfully as they headed towards the crowds. He grinned down at her as he led her in the direction of a slightly overweight brown haired man ambling towards them.

"Brace yourself," he muttered for her ears only, "this one's going to be difficult to convince."

Setting her shoulders and tightening her grip of his arm, she held her head up high and pursed her lips for a second as she looked up at him. He glanced down at her, eyes amused but resolute. It was going to be a long night but they could do it, she was sure-

-and with that thought Chloe let herself get swept up in the momentum. For the rest of the evening she slipped easily into the persona of a newly engaged woman who was elated to be marrying the man of her dreams.

Even if he did think he was the Prince of Darkness.

Her shrilling phone woke her up, drilling into her brain with its urgency. Chloe moaned, turning over and burying herself back into the pillow where it was warm. What time was it? It had to be too early for her phone to be ringing-

"You should probably get that, it's probably Olivia calling you to say what a fantastic job we did."

She shot up, the blanket pooling around her waist and she rubbed her eyes against the blur in her eyes and ever grateful she went to sleep in her t-shirt. Lucifer was smirking, looking far too damn good for whatever stupid time it was in the morning. Fully dressed, languorous and sultry looking as he pushed himself with folded arms off the doorjamb he was leaning on. She liked black on him, she decided, as she watched him shift further into the room trying to be inconspicuous.

"What time's it?" She mumbled, shoving her tangled hair away from her face. She was in his guest bedroom – of course, they may be 'fake' engaged but there was no way she was sharing his bed despite how much he asked and no matter how convincing he made it sound – as they agreed with would have been weird for a newly engaged couple to separate the evening of their engagement. That would draw unwanted attention. So she'd left the party with him when he called it a night around 3.30am. She was not used to staying awake so late and he obviously would have been fine staying up later but she figured he took pity on her, and they'd headed up to his penthouse together.

Maze was nowhere to be seen all evening. Chloe guessed she was in the know and was not happy. She wouldn't be surprised, the ninja bartender never liked her.

"Around seven, and good morning to you Detective, I trust you slept well if the snoring as anything to go by?" He laughed, ducking out the way as she threw a pillow at him.

"I do not snore," she grumbled.

"Hate to be the bearer of bad news, love, but-" he cut off as she threw another pillow at him, this time it hit him in the chest and she laughed as he looked at it in shock as it slumped to the floor. "You're lucky I like you." He glared at her.

"I feel so privileged," she grinned, remembering just in time that she was only in her underwear under the duvet and she should definitely not get out of bed like this. "Now clear off, I have to get ready." He opened his mouth and she cut him off with a finger. "No you may not stay and watch."

He pouted for a second, staring at the floor before pulling his head up and his smile turned teasing. "Even for your new fiancé?"

She glowered, folding her arms. "Not even for him."

He sighed dramatically, "fine," he looked at her for a second, "I'll be in the kitchen when you're ready."

"Wait-" But he was already walking away and she glared at the empty space in the doorway where he once stood. "I don't even know where the kitchen is."

Turns out finding the kitchen wasn't hard. Once she was ready and dressed in the same clothes she arrived in yesterday – she'd need to make a quick stop home to change before she headed into work - all she had to do was follow her nose. She wandered down a hallway, lit up with warm light and the same wooden flooring as the main room with dark wood panels for walls. There was a huge beige rug in the middle of the hall which she buried her feet in for a second to relish the feeling. It was warm and soft under her bare feet.

The end of the hall opened up into a large open space that was Lucifer's kitchen. Same flooring, it obviously ran through his penthouse, but the smooth granite worktops and dark wooden cabinets were very Lucifer, and he was very much at home as he managed to balance his way through three frying pans and the coffee machine with his back turned to her.

She watched as he hummed a song she didn't recognize under his breath, gracefully flipping an omelet and turning over bacon with his other hand, tea towel flung over his shoulder and sleeves rolled up to his elbows. He had nice arms. He was actually quite memorizing and she could definitely get used to watching him unguarded like this every morning…

…wait, what… where did that thought come from? She scolded herself and squashed that thought down immediately and cleared her throat to get his attention before her thoughts got any more out of hand.

He whipped around almost instantaneously, omelet frying pan still in hand and grinned as his eyes landed on her bare feet. What she found so funny she didn't know but she smiled a little back and shuffled further into the expansive room.

"Hello again Detective, are you feeling a little more awake and companionable now?"

She scoffed. "I was already companionable."

He hummed, eyeing her up and down before turning back to his frying pans, setting the omelet one down as he focused on the third. "Have you ever had black pudding?"

She frowned; that was an odd question, but since she couldn't see the third pan she guessed that's what was in there. "Isn't that blood sausage?" She inquired, she'd heard of it but it had never sounded very appetizing and it wasn't very popular in America.

"Yes, it's more common in Britain and Europe." He turned to look at her over his shoulder, shooting her a conspiratorial grin full of double meanings. "Don't knock it to you've tried it."

She laughed once and rolled her eyes, slipping onto a stool at the island in the middle of his kitchen. "I'm up for trying anything." The words were out before she could stop them, playing him at his own game without meaning to.

This time when he whipped around there was no pan in hand. He stared at her, eyes boring holes into hers and she blinked, trapped, before he leaned closer to her, a hairs breadth away as he whispered into the air between them. "Don't say that unless you truly mean it."

The silence between them was tangible, heavy, and lasted a few long moments as they breathed into each other's space. Then he pulled back and Chloe let out a long breath through her teeth and shook away the unfamiliar tightening in her chest. The air seemed charged between them now, she was always aware of his attractiveness and his over enthusiasm in getting her into his bed, but now there was something else. Something that felt almost corporeal and electrified between them; and it was stronger the closer she was to him.

She was imagining it. Of course.

But she couldn't dispute the way her heart leapt into her throat when he'd leaned that close. She'd wanted to close that gap – she wouldn't deny that truth from herself – and that worried her. It was new, and nearly overpowering, and she was struggling to repress it. What was wrong with her? She scolded herself for being so stupid, this was all fake and when they caught the bad guys it would be all over and they'd be back to normal. Now was not the time to be thinking about his lips on hers… again, nope, not now and never again until the wedding and she would stick to that.

She'd been so caught up in her thoughts that she'd jumped when Lucifer slid a plate in front of her, the food heaven for her nose, and she breathed in deeply. He rose an eyebrow inquisitively but didn't question as he slid his own plate onto the table and poured her a mug of coffee, passing it to her and she took it gratefully.

"You drink tea?" She questioned when she noticed the hot beverage he'd made himself.

He chuckled, "I do, why, does that surprise you darling?"

"Figured you drank nothing but whiskey," she muttered into her own steaming mug, "or other alcoholic drinks."

He laughed, his eyes amused. "You'll find I drink a lot of things." He took a deep gulp and she watched as he closed his eyes against the warm liquid. He fixed his gaze on her as he opened his eyes; "but there's nothing like a good cuppa."

She had no words for that, too distracted by the way his lips curled around his mug as he drank. She was so lost on her own thoughts, trying to quell the feelings she had that told her to take that mug away from him and replace it with herself… what a weird thought… that she blinked, confused, when Lucifer clicked his fingers in front of her face. "Huh, what?"

He grinned. "Distracted are we love?" She narrowed her eyes at that remark and his grin grew impossibly wider. "I said your foods getting cold."

"Oh," she looked down at her untouched food and smiled sheepishly, "sorry." She picked up her knife and fork, and following through on her word and trying the black pudding first, turning it over in her mouth as she discovered the new flavors.

"Good?" Lucifer was watching her, eyes unfathomable.

She nodded, smiling as she swallowed. "It's amazing." Lucifer's cooking was always marvelous and there was something in his eyes that looked rather proud of the fact she liked his food and she liked that look, unable to stop herself from complimenting him again. "Really good, you'll have to teach me sometime."

His smile turned darker, sexy tilt to his lips as he flicked his eyes over her. "There's plenty of things I can teach you."

She rolled her eyes good naturedly, "eating," she gestured at her food for emphasis against Lucifer's responding chuckle. He was back to his normal self, but she didn't feel as though her pulse would ever settle back to normal rhythm when she was around him. Something had changed and she felt a little powerless to stop it.

Lucifer was surprised at how quickly the next few days passed. They flew by without him really realizing as everything settled back to – mostly – normal. The first day after breakfast he'd let Chloe drive home to change before meeting her at the station a few hours later.

There was something between them, a change, he could feel it when he was around her and figured maybe it was because she was finally coming around. But so far she hadn't responded to him unless they were in public where she initiated little touches that were driving him crazy with need. He felt like he was a live wire, every touch sending him higher, and he didn't know how much longer he could last without breaking and falling to his knees and begging her.

It was all very pathetic of him.

She'd already proven resistant against his persuading charms, with and without powers, but for now he'd wait on the begging and see how long he could hold out. When this whole thing was over she wouldn't be torturing him with flighting touches that woke his desires but were never enough to satisfy. If he could just last until after their fake wedding then they'd be okay. He'd promptly screw away his urges with people who actually wanted him and purge himself of this consistent and grating need so they could go back to normal.

They were currently on a stakeout, trapped in her small car and the smell of her perfume was filling his head and making it hard to cope against his insistent hard on. It was all very bloody annoying. Why had he agreed to come out with her again? Ah yes, because they were supposed to be seen together as much as possible and her other cases were still running despite the huge scheme they were concocting on the side.

If someone had told him the Devil would be entering a fake marriage with a mortal woman to capture two killers who got their jollies off by shooting newlyweds when he'd first arrived five years ago, he would have laughed in their faces and promptly forced them to take it back.

But, he grimaced, here he was doing exactly that.

What had become of him?

He turned to watch the woman next to him who was murmuring the song he'd sung a few days ago, the words just low enough to be illegible for human ears. He smiled to himself, she was probably completely unaware she was mouthing the words as she looked out the car for their suspect. Her little pink tongue darting out to wet her lips now and again.

If she kept doing that then it made this whole stakeout torture worth it. "You know," he teased, unable to resist, "if you want me to sing it to you again, I'll happily oblige, you need only ask."

"What?" She blinked at him, his voice pulling her from her thoughts and she snapped her mouth closed as she realized what she'd been singing. He stared at her, amused as she tucked her hair behind her ear and purposely avoided looking at him. "Oh, sorry."

He hummed, "no need to apologize." He chuckled as she looked at him in suspicion and he switched tact. "You know you're not actually that bad of a singer."

She looked at him for a second before jovially rolling her eyes. "Gee, thanks."

"I mean it." He stared at her, tilting his head a little as he wondered why he thought she wasn't. Her voice was a soft murmur, almost a breathy whisper as she'd quietly sung the words. "You should sing more."

There was a brief pause as she regarded him, he kept his face perfectly smooth as she peered, her brows furrowed as she saw nothing but sincerity.

"Thanks," this time her voice was more genuine, a gentle smile faint on her lips.

He didn't know what to say to that so he nodded instead, and they lapsed into silence.

The silence lasted until the Detective spotted a figure moving in the dark and nudged him to double check it was their guy, pointing the shadow out in the darkness. Despite still stubbornly not believing he was the Devil; she did make use of his talents. Really, he thought as he confirmed it for her, he could just show her. But he didn't want to risk her going mad or taking her spawn and running away in fear. Those were two horrible possibilities and two of the reasons that stopped him from grabbing her by the shoulders and making her believe him.

For now he'd let her live in denial and use his talents for herself to solve cases, and perhaps one day she'd actually believe him without him needing to prove it to her.

They caught their guy pretty quickly. Chloe shot him in the leg as he went to shoot her, and Lucifer pushed her out the way just in time for the bullet to spear the air between them. She had given him a quick smile of thanks and he'd breathed out a sigh of relief when he saw she was unharmed. Their suspect went down and Chloe roughly handcuffed him and shoved him in the back of her car. She called it in once they'd searched the warehouse and found the smuggled drugs; Chloe once again taking advantage of his handy skills with locks while pretending to be annoyed.

It was like a game. One he thoroughly enjoyed. Both pretending they didn't know what the other was doing.

Soon enough the surrounding area was pierced with flashing lights and the bustling of cops as they cleared out the drugs for evidence and wrote reports. Chloe wandered around the scene, talking to random Detectives that she deemed important, before being called over by Dan and he watched from the sidelines as she handed over their guy to her ex.

He arched an eyebrow inquisitively as she approached him, shooting a quick look to their suspect to cement his silent question. She shrugged a shoulder as she came to a stop in front of him. "Dan says Olivia set up a press release for us tomorrow and we need to sort out our story."

His eyebrow remained raised, "and why, pray tell, are the cops setting up a press release?"

"Under the guise of an alias speaking on our behalf." Chloe seemed a little edgy and he understood why. She was never a huge fan of attention and here they were pretending they were a couple, an engaged couple, and now they apparently had people talking and arranging meetings for them. It may have been her scene when she was a teenager, but as a Detective it went against everything drilled into her to keep inconspicuous. "There's going to be a lot of questions for the club owner notoriously known for giving women a good time finally deciding to settle down."

"-and men," he kindly pointed out for her, "the Devil isn't gender specific."

"Not the point," she folded her arms and glowered at him, "have you even thought about it?"

He waved her off. "Yes, yes, don't worry, I've had many a sleepless night debating over what I'm going to say." He wasn't going to tell her those sleepless nights were due to him 'avoiding sleep' with other people while he distracted himself with thoughts of her.

She regarded him, eyes searching his face curiously before she made a small sound of agreement and raised a hand to his arm, somehow her touch was warm through his jacket and shirt. "Okay." She smiled at him. "Let's go back to mine."

"Ooh Detective," he laughed at her look of outrage as he teased her, "you know I'm always up for that."

"You're insufferable," she shook her head on a laugh, "you know what I mean."

He sighed deeply, noticing her hand was still on his upper arm and he took it in his hands. He found it easier when he was on top of their touches; this way he could control himself and not ravish her in front of everyone. He didn't think she'd appreciate that and so instead he squeezed her hands for emphasis and nodded. "I do."

She pulled her hands from his grasp and Lucifer had to quell the urge to grab them back. She smiled winningly at him and nodded. "Good, then let's go." With that she turned on her heel and marched back to her car and he followed obediently.

Chloe thought she was prepared for the onslaught of reporters and their invading microphones and flashing cameras, but she wasn't. Not really. She and Lucifer had spent the better part of the night planning what they were going to say and when dawn broke - sooner than she thought and she'd been surprised as the room began to lighten under the drawn blinds - she drove him back to Lux so he could catch a few hours and freshen up, and she returned home to do the same.

Lucifer slipped an arm around her waist and she leaned into it, knowing it was for support as much as it was for show as he spoke into a microphone; smiling charmingly at the blond female reporter who was smiling dazedly at him. "-it was sort of out of the blue, completely unexpected, she completely knocked me off my feet."

He grinned down at her and she automatically smiled back, trying to keep up her act despite the unsettling panic she was desperately trying to squelch away. "And you-" female reporter shoved the microphone into her face and she blinked at it, "- Chloe Decker, what made a seasoned LAPD Detective fall for the known playboy of L.A."

"Um," she blanked; wishing she could disappear for a few moments to recover herself.

She turned her face to Lucifer as he leaned down to whisper in her ear. The cameras flashed, capturing what they guessed was a tender moment between the newest famous couple of L.A. His voice was just above a whisper; "take a deep breath." She did as he asked and focused on him. "You know all the answers, so just take a second and stick to what we planned." He squeezed his arm around her waist.

If he was surprised that she grabbed him back when he went to pull away he didn't show it. She rested her forehead against his, more flashes, and looked into his eyes to see nothing but serenity and softness staring back at her. He was right, she could do this, she had too. Swallowing she closed her eyes briefly and opened them in shock when he quickly kissed her nose, too fast for the cameras, and pulled away.

The female reporter still had the microphone in her face but was now looking at her in something akin to jealously. Like she couldn't quite believe Chloe was the woman Lucifer would choose. "Miss Decker-" She was more formal now, and Chloe inwardly smiled as she stole confidence from Lucifer's solid presence beside her. "How can you be so sure Mr. Morningstar won't cheat on you? He was still sleeping around when you two were obviously together."

It was okay, they'd prepared for this question. Lucifer's hand moved to her lower back and his warmth soothed her jarring nerves as she fought not to claw this woman's eyes out. "He won't," she kept her voice firm and steadfast, she had to be believable. "We agreed that we're monogamous from the moment we got engaged."

"But he was sleeping around previously." How much closer could that microphone get before it was smashed into her face?

"Yes, because we'd agreed to keep us under-wraps and that was the only way we could think not to draw suspicion." Chloe stood tall, shoulders set as she glared the woman reporter into submission.

Not sensing Chloe's growing anger, or simply joyfully reveling in it, the woman pressed. "So you were patient with him before, could you be patient with him again if he did cheat?"

She opened her mouth to answer but snapped it closed when Lucifer smoothly reached out with his other hand and covered the microphone, bringing it down and towards him. "I will not cheat on her." His voice was low, strong and gaze unwavering as he stared at the woman. "Chloe deserves more respect than that. She deserves the world, and if I could give it to her I would."

His words nearly stole her breath away. Despite this all being one giant act, she couldn't deny Lucifer had an amazing way with words that could make anyone believe anything. If she wasn't so smart, she'd almost believe him herself. The way he looked at her as he finished his sentence… she swallowed the lump in her throat.

Rolling off his sentence, Chloe glared hard at the female reporter and brought the microphone back to her face. Speaking clearly, but her words more for the reporter herself than for the cameras, "and I don't share."

Lucifer grinned proudly at her and she refrained from rolling her eyes. The female reporter gritted her teeth but nodded, stepping back and letting another reporter step in and ask their questions.

"So," this time it was a male, older and more experienced by the looks of him, "what are the next steps for you two?" He held the microphone at a respectable distance between them and Chloe immediately admired him for it.

"We're going to arrange the wedding. We want it to be a perfect blend of what we both want."

"You're known for your grand escapades," the microphone moved a little closer to Lucifer, "will this one be the same?"

"Close family and friends are all we need." Lucifer smiled, deftly avoiding the question and voice leaving no other room for question. The man blinked, but dropped the topic and stepped aside.

Chloe took the proceeding squabble between reporters to get to them to slip a hand into Lucifer's back pocket. It was warm and her hand fit snugly. He froze for a second, his eyes flashing down to hers and she beamed back at him. She needed this distraction, and despite it feeling a little like she was playing with fire, she enjoyed the odd little game of control they seemed to be playing through this whole debacle.

"Tease," he muttered under his breath. She laughed, wiggling her fingers a little, and loved the way his breath hitched in his throat. Who knew she could affect him so much? He growled, she felt it more than heard it and he leaned down between her neck and shoulder, mouth pressed to the junction and she repressed a shudder. "If you want to play with me, darling, I'm game." His voice a low murmured sultry warning against her neck and she swallowed a little nervously.

Still, she'd started this.

"What's happening with the dress?" The question startled them both out of their little bubble and Chloe yanked her head up to look at the brunette reporter who was shifting eagerly between them. How she'd managed to win the reporter squabble Chloe had no idea but she had completely forgotten about them when distracted with Lucifer.

"Well, I was going to use my old wedding dress-" Chloe started, figuring going for the truth was the best option.

"- but I wasn't having that." Lucifer slipped his hand beneath her top, fingers sneaking up her back and splaying out. She repressed a surprised squeal as his bare hand met her flesh and resisted leaning back into the hot touch as he stroked a thumb over her side. "I'm paying for the dress."

"Isn't that a little misogynistic?" The female reporter had her eyes narrowed a little in suspicion, and despite the distraction of Lucifer's hands currently drawing circles on her skin, Chloe felt a little surge of pride for the woman for saying what she thought. It could be difficult for women in competitive careers, Chloe knew that all too well.

"It would be but I agreed. As a Detective I don't earn nearly half as much and we want to splash out on the outfits. I'm paying for the catering." She smiled reassuringly at the young woman while all the while squeezing the hand in Lucifer's pocket and enjoying the way he slightly narrowed his eyes at her, almost imperceptible and only noticeable to those looking.

The younger reporter looked a little more appeased and nodded at the two of them. "What about the shootings?" She inquired curiously.

"What about them?" Lucifer griped as Chloe mirrored his thumb movements on her back with her own thumb in his pocket.

"Are you not worried?"

Chloe shook her head. "No, we're keeping the wedding location secret so no one should know where we're holding it."

"We're taking all necessary precautions." Lucifer slipped his fingers down the waist band of her jeans, and she arched her back a little. "We should be perfectly safe."

"Should be?" The reporter questioned, oblivious to the way the couple in front of her were trying not to squirm obviously in front of the camera.

"Will be," she reaffirmed, "don't worry about that."

"Okay," Lucifer once again covered the microphone. "That's all for today I think." He looked at Chloe for agreement.

She was already nodding, pulling her hand from Lucifer's pocket and feeling Lucifer's hand skim once more up her back before he tucked them into his pockets. She smiled patiently at the reporters in front of her. "We're both pretty tired."

There was a burst of questions but two cops appeared from somewhere and barricaded to stop them from following Chloe and Lucifer as they quickly re-entered Lux and vanished from the prying eyes of the reporters.

He was staring at her, eyes dark, "you're an evil woman."

She laughed, "you gave as much as I did."

"Don't challenge me unless you're ready." His voice was low, full of promises as he stalked towards her. She remained stubbornly in her spot as he crowded into her space, his voice washing over her. "I'm not good at resisting temptation Chloe."

The use of her given name in private had her blanking a little but she quickly recovered and patted his chest. "I can handle myself Lucifer."

He grabbed her hand in both of his, the sudden move had her heart jumping in shock and heat curling at the bottom of her spine as his eyes pierced hers. "I mean it." His voice was a warning, telling her not to play unless she was prepared and willing for the consequences.

She swallowed tightly, feeling her gut clench and nodded, eyes wide as she breathed, "okay."

There was a beat of silence as he searched her face, before he dropped her hands. "Good." He nodded, turning away and busying himself by walking over to the bar to pour himself a drink.

She almost followed him, almost, but she didn't and instead remained where she was. They had today off for the press release but tomorrow work resumed as normal until their 'wedding' and Chloe would need to go dress shopping on a weekend when she was free… maybe she'd bring Trixie along with her… Oh God, she'd also have to explain to her daughter, now the engagement was on the news she was bound to notice, that it was a fake wedding to catch a bad guy.

She hoped her little monkey would understand. But it was going to be a difficult conversation as her daughter admired Lucifer.

"Chloe?"

She blinked away her thoughts and focused on the man in front of her, who had somehow gotten super close to her again without her realizing. She really needed to stop zoning out, it wasn't doing her heart any good when it kept repeatedly stuttering and leaping into her throat. "Lucifer?"

"I said let me know when you need my card." He raised an eyebrow at her slightly confused expression. "For the dress."

"Oh," she nodded, "yes, I will do."

"Perhaps I'll keep the dress, after-" he grinned at her, although it seemed a little forced, "you know, for roleplay."

"Ew," she shook her head, "gross." She did not want to think about other women wearing her dress… she shocked herself at the possessive thought and instead scrunched up her face. "I did not need to know that."

He hummed, tracing a finger down her cheek and she automatically caught his hand in hers and raised it to her mouth, placing a kiss on the back. His eyes widened, as did hers, and she quickly dropped it like it had burned her. What was she doing today? "Okay," she shuffled awkwardly on her feet as Lucifer stared at her, "I'll be going now. Thank you," she jabbed a thumb behind her, "for helping me out back there."

He nodded, eyes serious, "anytime."

Her returning smile was genuine, and before she could stop herself she quickly leant up and hugged him. It was so quick he didn't get time to return it and she was leaving before he had time to catch her. Quickly walking away before once again she decided to stay… when she definitely shouldn't.

The conversation with her daughter was harder, yet also easier, than expected. Trixie understood that the wedding between her mommy and Lucifer was fake they had to catch a bad guy so they were pretending. But her daughter had sent her an overly enthusiastic toothy smile and declared that maybe Lucifer and mommy could go on 'a real date' afterwards.

Chloe tried to patiently explain to her little monkey that she and Lucifer were just friends and friends don't ask each other out. Trixie had beamed and said then perhaps 'mommy should ask Lucifer out so you're not friends anymore' and Chloe had sighed, dropping the subject. She knew it was time to distract her daughter before she got too far ahead of herself and instead suggested they go dress shopping.

So here they were, standing in some dress shop that was completely out of her price range with Lucifer's card burning a decently sized hole in her back pocket, and unable to shake the incredibly guilty stomach flips her insides were doing. She felt a little like she was exploiting him for his money.

She'd decided she would return the dress after the wedding so she wasn't using his money – there was no way she was letting him spend all this on her. No matter how much he would probably protest, she was going to remain steadfast and do it anyway. It was too much and they weren't even really together. This whole thing was a huge ruse and an expensive wedding dress may play the part but it definitely had no place in their lives.

It would be returned.

And that decision settled Chloe's jittery nerves a little as she patted her pocket – again – to make sure the card was still there. This was Lucifer simply helping out a case, and he'd get his money back as soon as she was able to return the dress. She just had to make sure there was a return policy and she wouldn't buying if there wasn't. She just had to be sneaky about it or they probably wouldn't let her buy the dress.

Best not tell her mom that then, she thought, as she watched her mother run her fingers over the dresses with a huge grin on her face. Chloe had also tried to explain to her that this whole thing was fake, a ruse, a shambles… but her mother hadn't really been listening. That was startlingly obvious as she turned to her with an excited clap before placing her hand on Trixie's shoulder as she stopped next to her.

"I'm so glad you invited me with you, Pumpkin. Trixie and I are going to find the most gorgeous dress."

"You'll look like a princess!" Trixie beamed, little teeth gleaming in the light as she jumped up a little.

"I don't think I'd look good as a princess monkey," Chloe shook her head eyeing the puffy dresses in the window in disgust. Not her type at all, and definitely not Lucifer's… and they had to look suited, right? They had to match. Plus, she was not a princess, not by a long shot; princesses didn't go around shooting people, and they definitely weren't cops.

"Okay." Her daughter pouted, before cheering up as she bounded away into the dresses. "Still, we'll make you look beautiful mommy!"

Chloe laughed at her daughter's enthusiasm.

"You'll need a hairdo before your big day," her mom tucked her hair behind her ears, "and your nails will need doing too." She took Chloe's hand in hers and turned her shortened nails over in the light and frowned. "Frankly, honey, your nails are appalling."

"They need to be short for work." Chloe gently took her hand back. Really short nails were practical. If she didn't keep them short they'd be breaking all the time and catching in her gun or handcuffs or something else inappropriate and snapping. "My nails are fine."

Her mother eyed her warily. "If you say so." Thankfully she dropped the subject as she wandered over to the dresses. "Now where is that assistant, you need to try some of these dresses on if we're going to know which look good on you."

Chloe sighed, resigning herself to her mother's pushy shopping routine and inwardly regretting she'd listened to her daughter and invited her along in the first place.

Hours later and Chloe collapsed into a chair in the – seventh? – wedding dress shop they'd entered. Her mother was fussing around the racks, pulling bits of material out and rubbing it between her fingers before frowning and dropping it. Deep down she was grateful she'd allowed her mother to accompany her because at least she knew the 'correct and expensive' shops to go looking for dresses, but that was deep deep down.

Chloe liked shopping as much as the next person, but this was near ridiculous. Her feet were hurting from cramming her feet into multiple pairs of shoes all day long and her back was twinging from the continuous getting in and out of dresses that were either too large, too small, too tight, too loose, or downright disgusting.

She was bored, tired, and cranky.

Trixie sat down next to her, cross legged on the floor. "Are we nearly done mommy?"

Chloe automatically reached out to ruffle her daughter's hair. "Nearly, monkey." After this shop she was calling it a day. At least she knew where the shops were now and she'd come back alone after work and pick one easily enough without her mother fussing over every little thing.

"Ooh, what about this one?" Penelope held up a strapless dress with flower designs on the side, and a mermaid skirt. Chloe scrunched up her face while shaking her head and her mother put it back and went back to looking.

"Mommy!" Trixie bounded to her feet, grabbing energy from somewhere. Her daughter seemed to be an endless pit of vitality and Chloe wished she knew where she got it from. Youth, she supposed, but she swore she could never remember being that excitable when she was her daughter's age. "Look!"

Chloe tore her eyes from her daughter to follow where she'd skipped to; she was tugging on the lacey material of a dress tucked away at the back of the rail.

Her mother noticed Trixie exuberance and wandered over. "What have you found honey-pie?"

"I saw it from sitting down," she tugged on the material again, "it's so pretty and it's very mommy, and Lucifer, they'd match!"

That peaked Chloe's interest, and she pulled her eyes from the clock on the wall to find her mom pulling the dress from the rack and eying it with interest. "Well it's certainly different."

"What is it?" Chloe pushed herself to her feet.

Her mom turned the dress her way. "It's very pretty, but I'm not sure-"

"You have to try it on mommy!" Trixie beamed. "Please!"

Chloe sighed, taking the lacey material from her mother. "Okay, last dress though Trixie babe. I'm exhausted."

"You won't need to try anymore on mommy, this is the one," her little daughter looked deadly serious, "it's perfect."

Chloe looked at her mom to find her shrugging and so she went to try it on. She quickly slipped out of her clothes, unzipping the dress, and sliding it over her head. She zipped it up distractedly, wondering if Lucifer took this long to find his darn suits. They always looked so good on him, surely he didn't just wander in and buy the first thing that he liked? Then again, it was him; everything probably suited him she thought bitterly as she turned to the mirror... and her eyes widened when they landed on herself.

If that was possible then Trixie had found a dress that made her look like Lucifer's perfect match.

She stood, staring at the dress. She checked the price tag and cringed, instantly regretting her choice knowing she'd have to return it.

It was off shoulder, sweetheart neckline and dipped back to her waist, with three-quarter lace sleeves. Although she'd tried a lot of lace on today, this was something else. The lace covered the bodice, down to her waist where it began to trail off and finally blend into the white organza overlapping two-tier A-line skirt that trailed to the floor.

Chloe stared at herself, mouth slightly open as she turned this way and that, trying to find a downfall.

It wasn't just that the dress fitted perfectly, clung to the right places and emphasized her body wonderfully… it was that the lace that wove intricately into the fabric, wrapping around her upper body and down to her waist, was black.

The effect of black blending into white was absolutely incredible- and she loved it.

"Chloe? Honey? You're taking a long time in there, is everything okay?"

Her mom's voice startled her out of her thoughts and she blinked, clearing her throat and calling back, "yeah, give me a second and I'll-" she was interrupted by the curtain being whipped back and she spun around in shock to face her mother. They stared at each other for a few beats before Chloe began to feel a little exposed and shifted lightly from one foot to the other; beginning to feel a little unsure. "Mom, is it okay?"

"Oh, it's better than okay." Her mother's hands had covered her mouth and Chloe would bet her eyes were a little watery. Chloe didn't have the heart to remind her this whole thing was fake… and the little voice in the back of her head reminding her was barely legible anyway and easy enough to ignore. "Darling, you look absolutely stunning," her mother whispered; reaching for her daughter before pulling back.

Chloe did a little twist to spin the layers and smiled a little, "it's so gorgeous."

"No honey," Penelope Decker grabbed her daughter's upper arms, "you're gorgeous." She pulled her in for a hug and Chloe wrapped her arms around her, squeezing her and hearing her mother whisper into her ear; "Dan doesn't know what he's missing."

Chloe let out a loose laugh and shook her head.

"Mommy? What do you look like?" Trixie's voice sounded from behind her mother. "Do you look pretty?" She pushed herself past Penelope, peeking around the curtain, little eyes widening as she took in her mother. Chloe felt a little timorous, her daughter's approval was important to her and-

"Wow mommy! You're so beautiful and Lucifer's definitely going to ask you out when he sees you in that!" Trixie was grinning, big smile and sparkly eyes as she bopped her head. "He has to!"

Chloe reached out and ruffled her daughter's hair. "Don't be so sure monkey, let's not get your hopes up."

Trixie exuberantly nodded, smile still huge. "He has to mommy; you're so pretty."

Laughing, Chloe pulled her daughter in for a hug and looked at her own mom as she stared at them. "I think Lucifer has better things to be doing then asking me out on a date."

Her mom locked eyes with her. "I wouldn't be so sure darling, I think you're going to take his breath away."

Chloe bit her lip, shoving her family out the changing room and eyeing herself in the mirror once more as she reached for the zipper, an inept thought winding its way into her head before she could stop it. Sneaking into her thoughts unbidden and unchecked.

Let's hope so.

"Lucifer, this is a bad idea."

The man in question took a leaf from Chloe's book and rolled his eyes, moving to pour himself a drink and eyed his demon who was propped up on the bar top with apple in hand, demon blade carving pieces which she nimbly popped into her mouth.

"You think everything involving the Detective is a bad idea Maze," he reminded her as he took a much needed gulp of his drink. It had been a long day and there were way too many petty criminals in this city… perhaps he should do something about that. He smirked to himself, Chloe would be out of a job if he got involved properly and he couldn't have that. Plus working with her was so much more fun than his usual way of doing things.

"But this is different, you're changing." Maze abandoned the pretense of eating her apple, and it sat ignored in her lap as she stared at her master.

Lucifer sighed deeply, decided he may as well play along with her wishes for now. "I was already changing according to you." He moved so his back was leaning against the bar as he tipped the glass in his hand, watching the amber liquid swirl. "So what's different this time?"

"You can't see it, can you?" Maze's voice was full of guile as she shifted a little. "You're completely blind to the changes."

He grunted, his demon was beginning to sound suspiciously like his brother. Just how much time did they spend together? He downed his drink and dropped the glass onto the counter with the tips of his fingers while sparing a quick glance towards his bartender who was watching him, dark eyes imploring. "Well I'm sure you're going to enlighten me."

"The Detective is making you soft. You follow her around like a lost little puppy and you can't even see it."

Sudden rage welled up in him and he moved quickly, a blur as he slammed his hands down on the bar on both sides of his demon, pushing himself into her space and growled. "Don't you dare talk to me with so little respect."

She barely blinked, foxy smile dancing on her lips. "Why not, it's not like you're going to do anything."

His hands moved to her arms and he squeezed, hard enough for her to hiss, and he narrowed his eyes as her smile remained. He was battling between punishing his insolent little demon and letting her go as she was obviously worried about him and he wasn't proving himself by attacking her. Instead he settled for a warning, feeling the words slip and slide over his tongue as he gritted the words; "watch it, Maze, there's only so far you can push me-"

"-what if I want to push you?" She slipped a hand between them, tracing a finger nail down his cheek. "What if I want my master back?" She arched her back, pushing her breasts closer to his face before leaning up to whisper into his ear, one arm wrapping around his neck to hold him close. "What if I miss you?"

"Would you-" he was in the process of untangling himself when annoyingly familiar voice sounded from behind him, grating on his nerves, and he grimaced as Maze smirked delightfully up at him when he registered two sets of footsteps.

"Well, I'd say this was a surprise-"

He freed himself, turning around quickly as his eyes landed on his Detective as she walked down the steps into his club, her ex just behind her and eyeing them both in suspicion. It was Dan who'd spoken but he ignored him and instead opened his arms wide, grinning at the woman who was currently staring at him and Maze with her eyes narrowed. "Detective!"

"Do you want us to come back later?" Chloe was still looking between them, and he could see the slight hurt in her eyes no matter how desperately she was trying to bury it.

His heart, if he had one, sank a little. Chloe was an expert at putting on a brave face. Here she was looked betrayed despite the fact they'd never actually done anything. Maybe Maze was right, this whole 'fake wedding' thing was getting to them- yet he couldn't find anything in himself that regretted it.

"No, no," he dismissed Maze with a wave of his hand, she glared at it but slipped from the bar top and slunk into the shadows; where she disappeared to he didn't care, "we weren't doing anything untoward."

"Not what it looked like from here." Dan griped, stepping next to Chloe, just that little bit too close to be cordial as he moved himself slightly around the Detective.

Chloe shot him a side glance and she shifted a few steps away from her ex. "Dan, it's none of our business."

"It is if he's going to be sleeping around with his bar staff in a public space. Who knows who could be watching?"

Lucifer scowled. "I assure you, Daniel, that no one in here is at all interested in my, Maze's, or Chloe's business." The fact he'd included Chloe in there seemed to startle her a little, but she shook it off quickly. He kept his glare on the Douche, voice just low enough to be considered dangerous as he made it clear the other man was very much unwelcome in his club. "Why are you here?"

He'd give it to Detective Douche for managing to hide his discomfort pretty convincingly. If he wasn't, well himself, he'd never have guessed that Dan's pulse had quickened… just that tiny little fraction, but enough to be noticeable as it jumped in his throat as he cleared it. "I'm accompanying Chloe."

"Why does she need accompanying?" Lucifer looked at Chloe, eyebrow raised. "Are you in danger?"

"No." Chloe shook her head and shot a glare towards her ex. "He's here because we need to discuss logistics, and he's going to report back to Olivia after while we discuss wedding plans."

He moved to pour himself another drink, and grabbed a spare glass for Chloe. "Sounds… juicy."

"We have to discuss how to leak the wedding location, along with what we're going to do at the actual wedding."

He turned around, passing her the drink he'd made her and Dan eyed it curiously as he noticed he didn't get one. Lucifer pursed his lips, laughing inwardly as he eyed Dan before turning back to his Detective as he raised his eyebrows purposely. What did she think they did at a wedding exactly?

She rolled her eyes good naturedly, cottoning on to what he was silently saying. "Yes Lucifer, I know what happens at a wedding, you forget I've been married before-" she trailed off and they both looked at Dan who looked a little irritated and flustered.

"I remember," he took a long sip of his drink, "no need to remind me."

A brief pause before she nodded. "Right, anyway, I meant when the shooters appear." She took a big swallow from her own drink and looked at him over the rim.

He tilted his head in response; "what about them?"

"Well the station doesn't exactly want you or Chloe shot dead," Dan griped, "that wouldn't look good on its record, no matter you being you and Chloe a seasoned Detective."

"Ah." Lucifer nodded. "I get it. We need to figure out a way to get us out alive so the arrest can actually happen instead of us both bleeding out on the floor like the countless newlyweds before us."

"That's one way to put it, but yes." Dan sighed, obviously wishing he was somewhere else but figuring he needed to keep an eye on Chloe. Lucifer wondered why, did he seriously think Lucifer would ever lay a finger on the Detective without her permission? He'd sooner re-damn himself than damage her untainted soul.

Chloe nodded, wandering over to a table at the back of his club and Lucifer noticed for the first time the little backpack she'd brought with her as she dropped it on the table. It made a soft thump as it slumped to the side.

She looked over at the two of them watching her and rolled her eyes; "are you coming?"

Snapping himself out of his funk, he nodded and drawled, "yes, I'm all yours." He purposely ignored Dan's irritated side glance as they both joined Chloe at the table, and reluctantly abdicated the rest of his evening to planning the fake wedding.

But at least he got to spend it with his Detective.

Not even the annoying presence of Detective Douche could ruin that.

Chloe was exhausted. Completely mentally and physically drained and she was still sat listening to Dan and Lucifer bicker as they fought on, well everything. From the best way to pitch the wedding, to where it should be held, what music would be appropriate… even where Lucifer and Chloe should be standing.

Checking her watch – again - and coming to the conclusion she'd managed to put up with it for a good an hour and a half, she decided enough was enough. Picking her head up from where she'd dropped it back against the booth, Chloe cleared her throat.

Nothing.

They continued bickering and Chloe glared as she went ignored again. They weren't even arguing about anything productive, and it was just going in circles as they sniped at each other.

"You're telling me you're going to walk her down the aisle?"

"Well, this is a fake wedding Lucifer. Who else is going-"

"Having you walk her down the aisle is going to cause all sorts of scandalous-"

"Oh for god's sake, would you two shut up?" Chloe's raised voice finally broke through their squabbling and she sighed in relief when the room fell finally silent. "Thank you."

However, the gratifying silence lasted all of five seconds before Lucifer blew out a huge breath, setting his piercing gaze on her as he griped. "Do you really want him walking you down the aisle to our wedding?"

Chloe didn't miss the sidelong demurring glance he sent Dan before he resettled on her.

"No," before Dan could protest she folded her arms and scowled at her ex-husband, "I am perfectly able to walk myself down the aisle."

Dan's brown eyes looked rather concerned as they landed on her. "Chloe-"

Cutting him off, she grumbled, "I have legs Dan, I can use them," and before Lucifer could interrupt with something bound to be inappropriate she switched her glare to him, "don't you say anything."

Lucifer pulled a face, holding up his hands in submission and thankfully, Chloe noted, he didn't say anything.

"Good, now we still haven't decided on a location." She grimaced, shooting the two idiotic men in front of her a pointed look. "Thanks to your Tom and Jerry act we've gotten nowhere."

Lucifer opened his mouth to protest but she shot him a stern look and he immediately closed his mouth, but not before muttering, "I'm Tom," under his breath.

Chloe was glad Dan didn't raise to the bait, instead dropping his head back against the seat before turning his head to her, lips pressed in a firm line. "I'm guessing church isn't an option."

It wasn't a question but Chloe nodded anyway.

She was already forced into the whole 'white Christian wedding' thing once when she married Dan and she wasn't doing it again. Especially not to a man who thought he was the Devil. Besides she didn't even believe so it seemed even more wrong considering who she was – well fake – marrying. Mentally instable or not, it just seemed erroneous.

Lucifer thankfully didn't comment, for once, on the whole 'church' thing. Instead he pinned Chloe with another of his acute stares. His eyes pulling her in until she couldn't look away, lost in the depths to the emotions she could see swirling there.

"The beach."

She frowned as his voice pulled her back to the present. "I'm sorry, what?"

He was still staring at her with that unfathomable look. "It's where Maze and I washed up when I first arrived in L.A," he shrugged a shoulder, "seems appropriate."

"How?" Dan griped, folding his arms and shooting the other man a demeaning glare. "How is having the wedding on the beach where you and your insane bartender claim you emerged from Hell appropriate?" He waved a hand at Lucifer. "Explain to me how any of that makes sense?"

This was one of the many arguments that had been going in circles for the better part of two hours. Chloe wasn't letting them fall back into that, it wasn't getting them anywhere and it was pointless. Plus, it obviously meant something to Lucifer… so, she internally shrugged; "we'll have it on the beach."

At Dan's shocked look she set her mouth in a determined line and narrowed her eyes. "Where we decide to have it is not the point, Dan. It doesn't matter as long as it's accessible to the public so our shooters are able to intrude."

"Yes, it fits the bill Dan." Lucifer smirked at the smaller man, obviously pleased he'd gotten his way.

Chloe ignored him. She'd deal with him later.

Although she did still send him a quick reprehending glare before rolling her shoulders, feeling them complain at the movement. "Now that's decided I think we can call it a night." She was tired, her eyes were sore, and she really wanted a (rather generous) glass of wine.

Dan looked about to disagree but one look at Chloe's probably wrecked looking form and he was nodding. "Good idea. We can reconvene in the morning."

"Actually," Chloe hesitated when they both looked at her, but pushed ahead, "I think it's best if Lucifer and I plan the rest of the wedding alone."

Dan spluttered for a second before he got himself together, pulling himself up in his seat, "what-?"

"The two of you spent most of tonight bickering." Her ex opened his mouth to protest but she shook her head, holding up a hand. "Look, I just think we'll get more done if we just report back to you instead of you actually being here, it just seems-" she regarded the two men in her life, carefully mulling over her words, "wasted labor," she finished. Thinking that was the politest way to say that Dan being here was just pointless as it got them nowhere when they acted like… well, this-

"What have you done to her?"

Lucifer pointed at himself, an eyebrow raised. "Me? Nothing. If anything you've-"

"-and they're at it again," Chloe mumbled under her breath before huffing in frustration at the two children in front of her. "Stop it before I- I-," she glowered, running out of steam as she became stuck on what would be a suitable punishment for the two of them.

Lucifer looked amused. "Before you what darling?"

She waved her hands in the air, before letting them slap to her thighs in irritation. "I don't know, spontaneously combust."

"Well that doesn't sound too pleasurable." His drawl was as sultry as he could probably muster and Chloe refrained herself from rolling her eyes. What was with him ramping his 'Luciferness' up tenfold when Dan was present?

"No, it doesn't-"

"Okay," Dan stood up, cutting Chloe off and stretching out his arms above his head and groaning, "I suppose we'll be off."

Usually she'd be disgruntled that Dan sore it fit to interrupt her, but she was too tired to really find it in her to be annoyed. Besides Dan was only doing it to rile Lucifer up – probably, usually.

She watched him for a second, before shifting her gaze to Lucifer who was silently observing her, one eyebrow raised and still languorously sprawled back over the booth with arms stretched over the top, quite obviously blocking Dan's way. His ability to look so relaxed when his eyes remained so alert was an ability Chloe craved; it must come in so handy.

Instead of rising to Lucifer's silent challenge, she shifted herself out of the booth so Dan could follow, moving out of the way so he could pass her. "I'll meet you at the car." She wanted to speak to Lucifer, and with Dan there riling everyone up Lucifer would never talk to her.

Dan looked at her suspiciously. His eyes narrowed and searching as his brows furrowed, but he didn't say anything and instead quickly nodded once. He left without a fanfare, shoes squeaking as moved across the recently cleaned floor. Despite all his faults – and Lux's reputation - don't let it be said Lucifer didn't clean his club. Every time she was in hear during the day time there were some kind of cleaners milling around doing one thing or another that Lucifer deemed appropriate.

Chloe heard the door thud closed in the quiet of the room.

A few beats and…

"You know if you wanted to get me alone, all you had to do was ask."

This time she did roll her eyes, but folded her arms and wandered a little closer to where Lucifer still sat. As she came closer his smile fell from his lips as he stared at her, noting her slightly sullen mood.

Her voice was soft when she spoke. "Why does the beach mean so much to you?"

He shrugged trying for nonchalance. "It just does."

"Mm," Chloe bit her lip, hesitating, before shaking her head, "no, that's not it. There's something else."

Eyeing her carefully, he shifted a little uneasily in his seat, "Chloe-" he cut himself off, running a hand over his face before dropping it to his side, the other remaining stretched on top of the booth. He looked to be deep in thought, face slightly lowered as he frowned at the table.

Debating with herself, she moved and perched herself on the edge of the booth. He looked at her in surprise. "Don't Chloe me, Lucifer, you know you can talk to me." She placed a hand next to his on the seat, trying to send him a reassuring smile. There was something he wasn't tell her. Yes, she believed that he believed that's where he and Maze 'emerged' when they escaped Hell, but that didn't explain why-

His voice cut off her thought process.

"When I left Hell it was supposed to be a new start. Disobeying dear 'ol dad's rules was fun, something which I reveled in-" he paused, eyes dark and roaming her face looking for… well she didn't know, but she nodded at him to continue. "I was going for a new beginning." He laughed, a sudden harsh sound aimed at himself. "But this, this is a new beginning, not that."

He was obviously struggling and Chloe knew how hard this was for him. He didn't have to tell her, she understood how he had trouble with emotions. She opened her mouth but he held up a hand, not to cut her off but so she didn't break his flow. She nodded, knowing if she interrupted there was a good chance he'd close himself off again.

"I know this is a fake wedding, but," he shrugged a shoulder, weirdly looking rather sheepish, "it just seemed right. I- can't explain it." He was looking frustrated as he searched for words. "the beach just seems apt for what we're doing, fake or not."

Symbolic.

The word passed through her head without her being fully conscious of it, and she agreed with it. She may not believe his delusions, but she believed in him and that this was important to him, for some reason, and if it meant that much to him then she wasn't going to deny him. Especially not when he desperately struggled trying to explain to her what he was feeling.

A warm feeling spread over her heart and she instinctively reached out, her hand covering his as she squeezed. She'd obviously shocked him at her move, and it took him a few seconds to gather himself as he blinked at her, but he turned his hand and linked their fingers, a brief tightening of his hand in response and Chloe's heart stuttered a beat.

"Thank you," she whispered, "for telling me."

He nodded, "yes, well, couldn't have you thinking I was doing it all to rile up that dear ex of yours."

Nudging him with her shoulder, she laughed loosely, "no, of course not."

He smiled at her, small but genuine, and she beamed back at him in answer. She always loved his real smiles, rare as they were. Little crooked things that curled his lips and lit up his eyes. His whole face changed and she wondered how many people got to see how stunning – she could go so far as divine if it wasn't super cheesy – he looked when he smiled like that, with dark eyes glittering in low light.

They sat in companionable silence for a few minutes, the atmosphere was strangely peaceful despite this being Lucifer's den of inequity; who knew Lux could bring a serene ambience when it wasn't packed with overeager raunchy party-goers? She smiled to herself, amused, and Lucifer glanced at her in question but before he could ask there was a click of heels on the hard flooring of the club.

They turned in unison to find Maze studiously ignoring them as she lifted herself over the bar top, leather strangely gliding easily over glass as her feet landed almost inaudibly at the other side, and reached for something below Chloe's eye line. A beat and there was a clatter of bottles that ripped through the quiet of the room and low music began to play through the speakers above them.

Taking that as her cue she untangled their hands. "Time for me to go." Her palm was still tingling like a teenager on a first date, and she shot him a smile as she moved to stand.

He followed her, sliding out of the booth and raising to his full height. Chloe admired him for a second as he stretched, shirt bunching over muscles as his arms raised above his head. She immediately looked away as he looked down at her, praying she wasn't blushing at being caught ogling. If he saw her, he didn't mention anything and instead stared down at her with an unfathomable look.

She stared back. Meeting his look with one of her own as she remained where she was, despite desperately wanting to- to what? Not leave, that was for sure.

Once again her thought process stumbled to a halt when he smoothly leaned down, hands framing her face as he looked at her. Eyes searching. Before she could say anything he had placed his lips on her forehead, the move was so fleeting Chloe wasn't sure if she imagined the brief flash of warmth as he pulled away, hands dropping back to his sides.

"Goodnight Detective." He licked his lips and Chloe's traitorous eyes followed the movement.

She nodded, understanding their 'moment' was coming to an end. They both had jobs to do, lives to get back to, and just how long had Dan been waiting for her at her car now? She was surprised he hadn't come in looking for her. Sending him a small smile, she picked up her bag and purposely leaving her notepad on the table with the few notes she had jotted there still face up.

She'd pick it up tomorrow.

"Night, Lucifer," she finally replied, flinging the bag over her shoulder. She looked at him for a second longer before turning and leaving, wondering how many more times she'd be leaving his club, before this was all over, with a growing feeling of regret nagging her not to leave.

Maybe Lucifer was right. Emotions were annoyingly irritating and confounding things.

A week passed, then two, and he and Chloe had settled into an easy unspoken routine. At first she'd come over after work, and they'd talk and plan. Her pen had a habit of finding its way to her mouth as she chewed on the end; one long leg tucked up under her on his couch while the other swung back and forth in distraction as she sat lost in thought.

Her pen now had little teeth marks dotting the end and Lucifer found it quite entrancing, the way her lips would pucker around the end and she'd bite down lightly pulling it between her lips and teeth.

He'd be lying if he said it didn't turn him on. The amount of erections he'd forced away these past two weeks were bloody painful. It wasn't like he could just go shag away his desires – well as close as he could anyway as it seemed all he damn well thought of now was her – because they were 'engaged' and he couldn't exactly go of sleeping around, could he? What believable picture would that paint of them as a couple?

If anything was his personal Hell, it was this, the constant torture of having her in such close proximity. Her perfume and scent wafting in his personal space, lingering after she left. In the air, on his furniture, on his shirts as he changed. Her being here, but not permitted to touch. Not in the way he so desperately craved.

Still, she kept the conversation clear from sex and in return he'd stayed clear of answering her probing questions about his family. Until she believed him, answering those would be pretty pointless. The concern she felt was misguided, unneeded, and unless she one day truly accepted who he was then she'd never really see or understand the whole picture.

Not that he was judging her. He understood – sort of – if she wanted to continue to deny what she was quite obviously beginning to suspect. Matters of faith were life changing, all consuming, or so he'd figured from his time on Earth.

They had a few short cases over the two weeks, nothing too time managing and she had barely needed his help as she caught the perps in record time. Not a scratch on either of them for once.

At the beginning of the second week, when she was flicking through her notepad with pencil tucked behind her ear, frowning at her scribbled notes for the wedding - who knew a wedding, even a fake on, could be so complicated? – and as he was pouring her a rather large generous glass of wine, he'd nonchalantly as possible mentioned her moving in.

She'd frozen, looking up at him in shock. Her whole body still, foot stopping it's insistent scraping across his floor as she gaped. "What-" she'd stuttered, clearing thinking she'd misunderstood him, or perhaps his intentions.

He hadn't really thought it through properly, not wholly, it was just a thought that had crossed his mind a few times through this whole thing and it just seemed like the sensible thing to do. They were supposed to be engaged, planning a life, and they were still living separately. Surely with all the media interest, that wouldn't be a tidbit of news that would be missed. He'd explained all that to her, smoothing out the line between her eyebrows with a finger as she sat, still stumped, before she gathered herself and asked about Trixie.

He reminded her this was a large penthouse. There were ample guestrooms for her to choose from if Chloe – and the spawn of course – decided the little hellion would move in as well. Lucifer reassured himself with the thought that she'd be at school most of the time, and he had places to go if he couldn't, well, handle the over excited eight-year-old offspring.

Eventually Chloe nodded, agreeing, although sternly telling him it was just until the whole sham was over and they went back to their normal lives. Chloe and her brat would be leaving as soon as it all blew over. He found himself agreeing, shocked at the passing thought of 'for now' and pushing it away to analyze – ignore – later.

He gleefully looked forward to having her - and her pretty self - in his apartment.

At first it was rather strange, finding her mooching around his kitchen in the morning, pottering around with mug in hand and leaving notepads and paperwork all over the place in neat little piles. Trixie's stuff mainly stayed in her room – Lucifer made sure he mentioned that when she first picked out a room right next to her mother's, he wasn't having any ninja barbies lying around for his feet to stand on – but the odd little object still crept into the penthouse and honestly, Lucifer couldn't really bring himself to care.

What had become of him?

Still, he did a double take when he walked in on Chloe in his kitchen at 4am in the morning. She was usually sound asleep by early morning. He could hear her tossing and turning in the bedroom next to his, little murmurs as she babbled mostly incoherent nonsense in her sleep.

He didn't require much sleep, a few hours here and there if needed. So he often found himself finding new ways to distract himself, reading or looking over the books from Lux. He was on the way to the bar in the main room when he heard a noise, and upon exploring he walked in on his Detective fixing herself what suspiciously smelled like hot chocolate. She was wiggling to herself, little hips rocking as she danced to something in her head in cute little cotton pajamas.

Oh dear, he thought as his silk bottoms suddenly became rather tight with the sudden blood rush downwards, what was he going to do with her? Thankfully it was quite dark, she hadn't bothered to turn the light on, and he was pretty sure she wouldn't be able to see much below waist. Not like his eyesight could see everything, the way her nipples had hardened and peaked through her thin top in the slightly cooler air as she whipped around with mug in hand, obviously hearing a noise. He swallowed as he properly got to see how thin her top really was. He kept his apartment hot, for obvious reasons he liked it that way, and she was dressing appropriately. But it was still slightly cooler in the kitchen, and the little goosebumps on her arms were fascinating.

"Oh-" her eyes widened, mug halfway to her lips as she stared in his direction, "hello?"

He cleared his throat, realizing she couldn't see him properly at all as he was still stood slightly in the shadows and she could perhaps just make out his outline if her squinting was anything to go by. "Good morning Detective," he purred.

He watched as her expression went from suspicious to embarrassed in the span of a millisecond, tiny sheepish smile thrown in as her cheeks flushed, "Lucifer?"

"The one and only." He laughed loosely, shoving his hands in his pockets and enjoying his advantage as he could see her fully in the moonlight she was standing in from the large window. "May I ask what your gorgeous little self is doing awake at this time dancing around my kitchen?"

"Um," she looked into her drink, "couldn't sleep?"

"And why not?" He moved a little closer, stepping into the light as it fell over his bare chest and he watched her swallow as her gaze landed on him properly. He tilted his heat, that was interesting.

"Too hot and Trixie snores." She closed her eyes as she took a sip of her probably too hot chocolate.

Lucifer frowned, "Trixie?"

Chloe nodded, "she took up residence in my bed about two hours ago." Sighing deeply, Chloe hopped up on a stool, tucking her feet under and resting her elbows on the island. "She kicks, I forgot she kicks."

"Is everything okay with your spawn?" Lucifer moved a little closer, despite himself a little concerned for the little human. If she was needing comfort from her mother perhaps she wasn't as happy here as she made out to be? For some reason that disturbed him.

Chloe waved a hand, "she had a nightmare." Casting a sidelong glance at him she added, "she'll be okay," Chloe sighed, tightening her hand around her mug and her head sagging a little.

He regarded her for a second. "Very well." He moved to lean against the island, pulling his hands from his pockets so he could fold them over himself as he regarded his Detective. "You look tired."

Casting an irritated glance his way she rolled her eyes. "You say the nicest things Lucifer."

"I didn't mean it like that, you still look good enough to ravish my dear Chloe." He paused, reaching out to tuck a wayward hair behind her ear without really thinking about it. "How much sleep are you actually getting?" He questioned, wondering for the first time if she was actually getting a sufficient amount. How much sleep did a woman of her age, height and health require to be regarded as healthy? He'd have to look into it.

"Enough." Chloe mumbled, taking another drink of her hot beverage. A pause and she blinked at him. "Do you have anything to spice this up a little?" She gestured with her drink towards him.

Lucifer eyebrows shot up his forehead and he was half tempted to check her temperature. Instead he nodded, beckoning her to follow him as he moved through to the main room. He left her by the counter as he disappeared around his bar, rummaging around the bottles for a second before finding what he was looking for.

"Irish cream?" He held out the bottle for her and she took it gratefully. "You know it's much better if you put the booze in before the milk," he pointed out but shut up when she shot him one of her exasperated looks and sighed, waving a hand, "fair enough, away you go." She eyed him for a second before pouring a decent amount into her drink.

This time her gulp looked a lot more satisfactory and her lips turned up a little as she allowed herself a smile. He savored the moment before she reopened her eyes. "Thank you."

"No problem," he replied, pausing before shooting her the best salacious smile he could manage, "you know if you're looking to loosen up…" he trailed off with a suggestive waggle of his eyebrows and was rewarded with a roll of her eyes.

To his surprise though a bemused smile settled over her features as she looked at him. "If anything you're persistent I'll give you that." She laughed lightly, hands curling around her mug.

"Can't say I don't try," he grinned.

She hummed, looking back in her drink and Lucifer took the moment to regard her properly. There was something wrong. He may not be an expert on emotions but he could always tell when something was bothering Chloe. She projected. Well to him she projected, other than that she seemed pretty adapt at hiding her emotions from her daughter, Dan, and well everyone at the station. Why he found it so easy to read her he didn't know.

Right now, with her slightly slumped shoulders, craving for Irish hot chocolate, and the general air about her besides her little dance when he walked in on her was telling him, as much as she was trying to hide it – probably from herself as much as him – that something other than the overly active kicking of her spawn was keeping her awake.

Whether to confront her on it or not was another matter.

He waited a beat, watching her finish of her drink and immediately reaching for the bottle he kept on the counter. Instinctively he pulled it out of her way and she spluttered a protest, looking at him in shock.

"What are you doing?" She glowered at him, grabbing for the bottle and this time he picked it up and plopped it behind him. If possible her scowl deepened.

"Stopping you from drinking yourself into a coma by the looks of it." He raised an eyebrow at her. "Chloe, you know I'm not one for discussing-" he waved at her to gesture his point, "but you seem genuinely disturbed."

She shook her head, "It's nothing," and pushed herself off the stool to reach behind him. Smoothly pushing the bottle way out of their reaches, he took her hands in his and trapped them. She stated at the bottle a second longer before finally meeting his silent challenging look. "Seriously, Lucifer, just leave it," she uttered, eyes skittering away from his.

"Unfortunately as uncomfortable as this is for me as well as you my dear, I can't have a depressed Detective mulling around my penthouse and club, what does that say for my reputation?" He was purposely pushing her buttons, an annoyed Chloe tended to reveal more than a sullen one. "Come on, you can tell me."

She scoffed. "What are you, my Agony Uncle?"

"As much as that sentence confounds me, if that's what you need then I'm here to listen." He let go of her hands so he could walk around the bar to stand next to her. He wasn't really sure why he was doing this. Why did he care so much about what was so obviously bothering her? The clear answer would be because if it was about him then he deserved to know… but a nagging truth whispered at the back of his mind that it was because he cared about her, deeply- he shoved that thought away.

"It's not important." She looked at him carefully. "It won't affect this whole," she waved her hands at the two of them and then pointed at the ring still adorning her finger, "thing."

The first thing he noticed, surprised he hadn't earlier, was that she still had it on. He knew she did in public, at work and such, but usually when it was just the two of them or they were somewhere quiet she'd take it off. Slide it into her pockets. But, now, there it was glinting in the moonlight shining through the windows.

Without really thinking about it, he re-picked up her hand and raised it to his level. He turned her hand in the light, watching her finger glisten. Before resettling his gaze on her. "Why'd you keep it on?"

"I-" gingering taking her hand back, she tucked it between her thighs, "no reason."

Regarding her carefully, he shook his head. "No. You always take it off, you've never once left it on," he stared at where it was hidden, "why did you keep it on tonight?"

"I forgot to take it off," she muttered.

Her shifty eyes told him otherwise, "Chloe, whatever it is you're hiding you can tell me." He griped her shoulders, pulling her off the stool so she stood before him. she didn't resist and stared at the floor as he rubbed his arms over her arms. "Is someone bothering you?" If Dan was griping at her again-

Her soft almost whisper cut the early beginnings of his internal rant off.

"I can't stop thinking about it."

He frowned, completely confounded at her regretful smile mostly aimed at herself. "About what?"

"About when you gave me this." She raised her hand between them, mirroring his action from earlier and twisting her hand in the low light to watch it shine. "About when you-" she cut herself off, looking at him pointedly before looking away again. "I'm so pathetic." It was a low murmur, probably not meant for his ears but he heard anyway.

The unexpected rush of emotions was a sudden surprise and he had to refrain from taking a step backwards at her admission. It took him a second to get his bearings, shove all the mixed hopeful/concerned/exuberated emotions back into organized compartments before he answered. "You're not pathetic."

She looked up, head snapping and eyes meeting his, obviously surprised he'd heard her mumble. "Why?"

"I can't stop thinking about it either." He admitted, shrugging a shoulder and at her confused look elaborated. "I've kissed a lot of people, but, you Chloe, there's something about you." He didn't really understand it, except that she'd wormed her way under his skin and he couldn't shift It – not that he even wanted to.

She stared at him, searching his face for signs of a lie or that he was playing her probably, and he kept it as honest as he could, feeling a little like he was bearing everything he was to her. All that made him who he was. Of course he wasn't, if he truly showed her who he was then she'd be running for the hills, not standing here, looking at him like, well, like that-

He jumped inwardly a little as her warm hands rose to frame his face as she stood on her toes. He covered her hands with his own and looked back at her. He was so engrossed in the way her blue eyes seemed to shift between nearly gray to ice blue and back again, they were mesmerizing and she was absolutely fascinating, that he actually jolted when her soft lips met his.

He froze for a beat, holding still, wondering if she knew what she was doing. But when her lips stayed pressed to his, he realized she meant this. It wasn't by accident. She was kissing him. It wasn't a kiss meant to arouse, as he was used too and was really all he knew, it was a soothing sweet thing that insistently pressed against the corners of his mind and warmed his long forgotten heart.

It wasn't until she began to pull away, unsure, that he panicked realizing he hadn't yet kissed her back. Instead his hands moved from covering hers to her waist, pulling her closer and finally responding in kind, kissing her back with as much tenderness as he could muster.

He felt her little smile into the kiss as he poured every bloody irritating confusing emotion he had for her into it. Hoping she understood how much she tied him into knots, how much she baffled him and aroused him at the same time. How could he care for a human so much, yet find her equally annoying and brilliant at the same time?

He may not be sure about a lot of things regarding them, what was happening or where they were going. But he was sure about one thing.

Chloe – bloody – Decker would be the first and only human that brought the Devil to his knees.

Especially, he mentally added, if she kept making those little delicious sounds in the back of her throat.

Morning arrived unceremoniously, the sunlight bathing Lucifer's penthouse in gradual light as the colors in the sky faded from inky blackness to dark blue, and finally merging pinks and oranges that cast shadows over the room as the sun rose. Chloe was awake just in time to feel the suns warmth settle over her face, heating her cheeks and her uncovered leg where it had wrapped around the edge of the blanket in her sleep.

She smiled to herself, burying her head into the pillow as she remembered last night and her little impromptu trip to the kitchen.

Sprawling out an arm, she opened an eye to peer at the empty side of the bed and huffed upon finding it absent a daughter. No, Chloe hadn't immediately jumped into bed with the man who thought he was the Devil, and after they pulled away from each other last night she shot him a soft smile over her shoulder as she returned to her own – his technically as it was his penthouse - bed.

Trixie had been starfished in the middle and Chloe had gently pushed her little monkey over, mind preoccupied with thoughts of Lucifer so she didn't notice her daughter's sleepy knowing smile as she cracked her eyes open a slit, before quickly shutting them and quickly falling back asleep to her mother's steady breathing.

Wrapping herself in her bathrobe Chloe padded to the kitchen, using the high pitched giggling as a guide. She found Trixie stood on a stool with Lucifer hovering protectively behind her as her daughter, with pink tongue out in concentration, moved what looked like scrambled eggs around a pan on the stove.

The sight almost took her breath away. Trixie was still in her nightwear, hair in messy pigtails, and giggling as Lucifer whispered something to her before switching the pans around and Trixie very carefully turned the bacon over and smiling over her shoulder at Lucifer when it didn't fall out the pan.

Lucifer grinned, "very good."

"Mommy!" Trixie exclaimed, her little eyes falling on her mother standing in the doorway. "You're awake!"

"Good morning you little terror." Chloe smiled, moving a little closer to get a better look at the pans on the stove. "And just how long have you been bothering Lucifer?"

"Half an hour," Lucifer grumbled, faking indigence. Chloe knew better as she watched him wrap his hands around Trixie to help her down off the stool before she fell in her exuberance to hug her mother. "Good morning to you Detective." His eyes glittered with concealed amusement as he leaned against the kitchen island, watching Trixie hug Chloe around the middle. "I trust you slept well."

Stopping herself from blushing by placing a hand on her daughter's head and nodding. "Amazingly well, actually." She shot him a conspiratorial smile.

He chuckled, low in his throat, turning around to fuss with the pans on the stove. "I hope you're hungry?"

Ruffling her daughter's hair once, she dropped her hand and folded her arms. "You don't have to keep cooking us breakfast," she said gently. Although she would admit it did smell delicious, as usual.

"On the contrary, Detective," he opened a cupboard and grabbed three plates, handing them to Trixie who had appeared by his elbow, "your little human did most of the work this time."

Her daughter shot her a large toothy smile as she reached up on her toes to slide the plates onto the island. "Lucifer's teaching me how to cook!"

"Is he now?" Chloe eyed the man in front of her who was staring back with a genuine grin on his face. "Well, that's lovely of him."

"It is," Trixie bopped her head, pigtails flying everywhere, "he was going to show me how to do hash browns but we don't have any."

Chloe didn't miss the 'we' and bit her lip in apprehension, worrying it at the thought at having to tell her daughter when it was time to leave. They couldn't stay here forever, invading Lucifer's personal space. For now, though, they still had a while to go and she'd enjoy these moments while they lasted.

They ate pretty much in silence with Trixie wolfing her food down in almost record time, and Chloe watched on in amusement as she downed her orange juice and licked the food from around her mouth. "Can I go mommy? Lucifer?" She looked between them and Lucifer turned his head deliberately to raise an eyebrow at her.

Rolling her eyes at him Chloe nodded at her daughter, "go on you little monkey, and-"

"-do my homework before I go find Maze, yes mommy I know." Trixie beamed, hopping from her stool and scarpering off in the direction of their bedroom.

"Trixie!" Chloe called, standing up as she followed her daughter. "You still need to get changed." But as she caught up she found her already throwing out clothes from draws and smiled at her zeal as she dashed around. Chloe stood watch, making sure her daughter chose matching socks and her chosen clothes that didn't clash.

"Should I be worried about my daughter's enthusiasm to meet with your ninja bartender?" She cast a sidelong glance at Lucifer as he came to stand next to her, leaning against the wall just out of sight of the room.

"Depends," he made a sucking sound between his teeth, pretending to debate the question, "is your spawn easily impressionable?"

Narrowing her eyes, she flung out a hand to hit his shoulder. "You've seen how she idolizes you."

"Well, she's screwed then," he laughed at her glare, holding his hands up in surrender, "kidding! Maze is under strict instruction not to influence your daughter in any way."

She searched his face as she slowly nodded. "Good."

He was staring at her, and she studiously ignored him as his eyes roamed her face and instead watched her daughter finish getting ready. Trixie grabbed her backpack and rummaged through it for her school books and a pen, before curling up on her bed with little legs curled up under her as she opened the book. The pen had found its way to her mouth as she chewed the end, before looking up and shooting Chloe a winning smile and waving.

"Love you mommy!"

Chloe laughed. "Love you too honey." She closed the door behind her to leave her daughter to work in peace, knowing she'd call if she needed her.

They were barely alone in hall two seconds before Lucifer had wrapped his arms around her from behind, pulling her body back into his hard unyielding one, mouth low at her ear, "finally, we're alone."

Scoffing, she threw a light elbow back at his chest. "You mean finally it's about time I got ready."

"But that's boring!" He turned her around in his arms, looking down at her as his brown eyes danced, the little lines around his eyes crinkling as he grinned. "I can think of much more interesting things we can be doing."

She opened her mouth but he covered it with his hand, she refrained from the sudden urge she had to lick his palm, wondering where the naughty little thought had come from. Too much time around him probably.

"Things that do involve taking those delicious looking pajamas off," he grinned salaciously, "or perhaps that shower could be a little more-"

"Stop talking before I shoot you." She pointedly ignored the fact she didn't currently have her gun on her. "God, you're insufferable."

He pouted. Chloe laughed at his sulky expression, leaning up to press a quick kiss to his lips and ending it with a little nip before making her way to her bedroom to shower. She peeked back through the door to make sure he wasn't following her. He was still standing exactly where she'd left him with a hand over his mouth and a perplexed furrow of his brows marring his face.

Smiling to herself, Chloe softly closed the door and went to shower and change.

Despite her urge to spend forever in Lucifer's heavenly shower - jet streams were bliss, he definitely knew where to splash his cash – Chloe reluctantly dragged herself from the hot water and set about getting ready.

It was Sunday, and she wasn't really sure what to do with herself. Usually weekends were spent lazing around watching terrible movies with Trix, shopping for food, doing boring chores and cleaning. Yesterday she hadn't seen much of Lucifer as they'd both been catching up on work that they'd been neglecting. She guessed that he didn't really need to do his own paper work but had been doing it for something to do now he couldn't find a bed partner whenever he felt like it.

It must be terribly weird for him; she just wasn't sure if it was a good weird or a bad weird.

Still, she shook the thought away as she finished up her mascara and braided her hair over her shoulder. She'd take the day as it came, figuring she could always raid Lucifer's huge wall of books for something to read. In fact, a small smile curved it's way unwillingly, exploring Lucifer's extensive book collection sounded rather appealing.

Lucifer found her a few hours later curled up in a leather armchair in what she had deemed his 'reading room'. As far as she was aware it didn't have a name; it was just a moderately sized room hidden just behind his wall of books that held two extremely comfortable old leather armchairs and a fireplace that seemed to continuously burn.

She had deemed it her favorite room in his penthouse as it was the perfect place to read with no interruptions.

However, the book she'd been reading had fallen unnoticed to her lap and she'd been staring into the fire for god knows how long lost in thought.

"I see your having fun." He slid into the arm chair across from her. "Penny for your thoughts?"

Not really seeing a reason to put it off any longer, Chloe glanced sidelong at him before returning her attention to the flames dancing in front of her. They were a lot easier to look at instead of meeting Lucifer's intense stare. "What's going to happen when we 'break up'?"

He frowned, "is this the part where I'm supposed to ask whatever do you mean?"

He was being sarcastic but Chloe could sense the actual confusion underlying his statement. Sighing deeply, she turned to him. "I mean with Trix and I living here-" she paused, moving the book to the table between them. "We're obviously going to have to move out-"

His voice surprisingly cut her off, "-who says you have to go anywhere."

Chloe raised her eyebrows, shooting him a pointed look. "You can't exactly go about living your promiscuous lifestyle with an eight-year-old girl living here."

He grinned, picking up on her slip, "-and you my dear?"

She pulled a face. "No thank you."

He chuckled, "just think of all the wonderful thre-"

"Ew." Plugging her fingers in her ears, she blocked him until his lips stopped moving and he was looking at her amused. After a few seconds with her staring at him he gestured for her to take her fingers from her ears. "Are you done?"

He nodded, faking earache at her loud voice. She shook her head at him, slightly tickled at his melodramatic expression as he pouted at her. "You're no fun."

She hummed, "so I'm told."

They both fell silent for a few seconds as Lucifer thought. She recognized his absent look as he stared off into the distance with a little frown between his eyebrows. Briefly she thought about reaching up and-

His voice cut off her train of thought. The next move was his. She wasn't sure what this 'thing' between them was turning into, but she didn't do casual and Lucifer struggled with anything but monogamous. Her few hours alone thinking had cemented that in her mind; the next move was his.

"Well, I'm informed weddings are usually followed by a 'honeymoon period'." Hand gesture and waggle of eyebrows to accompany as he grinned cheekily. "You know sex, supposed constant agreement and lack of fighting and more touching… and lots of sex-"

She huffed, rolling her eyes. "Yes Lucifer, I can see you've been doing your research."

His eyes widened comically. "You wound me Detective; why would you think otherwise?"

Despite the teasing there was some underlying truth in there. She didn't think otherwise. Lucifer was anything but negligent when it came to something he was invested in. Instead of acknowledging this – and helping his ego, she was not an enabler – she shrugged a shoulder and fixed him with an incredulous look. "And your point being?"

He fixed her with his intense I'm being serious stare and she sat forwards in her seat curiously. "My point is no one, except maybe your persistent ex, is going to push us to do anything."

"You mean you're not going to throw us out?" Chloe had figured they'd announce it was all fake right after the wedding, and life would go back to normal.

Lucifer looked offended. "I would never throw you out Detective." There was some veiled meaning there she couldn't fathom but she nodded all the same. "Still!" His voice raised several octaves as he grinned at her. "Perhaps if you stay we can finally get round to loosening up that-"

She held up a hand and glared. "You never stop, do you?"

"But Chloe," he whined her name, looking at her through lowered lashes, "if we're really jumping the broom we may as well make the most out of it."

Jovially rolling her eyes she shook her head at the inanity of him. "No Lucifer, we are not jumping over any brooms-"

"-buying the cow?"

The death glare she sent him was one she used on suspects to threaten them into submission. Instead he blinked, tilting his head at her. "I am not a - cow Lucifer," the pause was to correct her language so she didn't curse. As soon as she fell into that pit she'd never climb out again. Not a good example for an eight-year-old girl.

But sometimes- her eyes narrowed further, did he seriously just call her-

A beat as he stared at her, seemingly putting the pieces together in his head as his eyes widened. The look would have been comical if she wasn't so disturbed. He held his hands up in submission and nodded. "Point taken," he pulled a face, "sorry."

She held the glare for a second longer before dropping it – sometimes he could be overwhelmingly exasperating with his lack of filter – and nodding.

"So we'll work it out afterwards?" Her question was more for her sanity than anything.

He looked at her a second, eyes burning into hers as he searched her hesitant face before nodding.

"It could blow up in our faces," Chloe replied. Feeling a little disconcerted at her own tremulous emotions. She found she really didn't want to leave. But the media, she was sure it'd all blow over eventually, but when they caught wind of this whole thing being a sham and instead of admitting it right away and the reasoning behind it… they continued to live together? But- Jet showers and late night kitchen visits notwithstanding, she enjoyed being here. Seeing a smile on Trixie's face swelled her heart and Lucifer's constant presence was comforting. She'd forgotten the solace you could get in living with another – especially if you cared about that someone.

This wasn't even taking into account their kiss last night, and whatever the hell was happening between them.

Lucifer could obviously see the concern and indecision written on her face. He pursed his lips and instead of needlessly trying to reassure her with empty promises – for that she was grateful – his eyes twinkled as he leaned forwards, pinning her to her seat with his little appealing smile. "Life is nothing without a little chaos to make it interesting."

Chloe blinked, looking down at the book she'd been reading sitting on the table between them. It was a young adult book; she'd picked it for easy reading.

At her confused look he smirked, "I've read every book in my collection Detective, and I have an impressive memory… and- why are you looking at me like that?"

She shrugged, "I just didn't peg you for a teen book reader."

"I have an eclectic range." He winked before picking up the book and turning it over in his hands, smoothing the cover. "I like talent Detective. You'll be surprised at the places you find it." He rested it on his knee and raised an eyebrow at her. "This was written when the author was sixteen."

She stared at the book then at him. "Seriously?"

He nodded. "The first book when she was thirteen."

Chloe was a little speechless. At thirteen she was busy trying on makeup and being forced into her mother's countless auditions. Her primary interests were friends, terrible television, and a growing love for tacos. "That's- pretty amazing actually; it's really well written."

He grinned slyly. "Almost as though she made a deal with the Devil himself."

"You're ridiculous." She laughed, rolling her eyes and taking the book from his outstretched hand. "Even if you were the Devil I can't imagine you'd do deals with thirteen year olds."

"Pray tell, why ever not my dear?" He was looking at her with a challenging eyebrow.

Smiling she tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and shrugged a shoulder. "You just don't seem the type to take advantage of young girls."

He pulled a disgusted face, "and you'd be right."

Laughing lightly, she placed the book back on the side and sunk back into her seat, her clothes sliding easily against the soft leather. "These seats are comfy." She hummed happily in the warmth of the room. "How'd you get them to look so old?"

He took her blatant change in topic in stride and she practically felt his deep chuckle rumble through her. "They are old. Reupholstered of course but these darlings have strong framework."

She popped open an eye. "Really?"

His eyes sparkled with naughty promises. "Indeed, do you want to know where they're from?"

The look in his eyes told her what she needed to know. "I'm thinking that's information a cop doesn't need to know."

"But you wouldn't tell on me, would you, Detective?" And God help herself, he looked absolutely adorable sitting there looking at her like that with big eyes, fake innocence and that damn sinful looking smile.

She huffed softly, "plausible deniability," she slid her eyes shut again with a small smile on her face.

Two beats of silence and, "are you falling asleep on me?"

She made a disgruntled sound and scrunched her nose up. "I'm comfortable."

"But I'll be bored if you sleep!" He complained, his voice a whine.

"Go find something to amuse yourself with, I'm sure there's someone that can entertain you."

"Ooh-" his voice was positively delightful, "I'm sure there's plenty of stragglers I can-"

She popped open her eyes, suddenly aware of where he'd taken her words and glared at him. "Ew, no," she made a disgusted sound, "I can't imagine your bedmates are very quiet."

He made this appealing clicking sound with his tongue, "well-"

She sighed, blowing out a puff of pair. "I'm not stopping you Lucifer, I know we're supposed to be engaged and monogamous but if you're sure you can keep it a secret then…" she trailed off feeling incredibly awkward. It didn't matter where they stood presently; Lucifer was this alluring and constantly moving entity. Tying him down to one woman somehow didn't seem right, but she really wasn't the sort of person who could share and-

Her thought process died as she spotted him staring at her. Eyes dark and searching. "I'd never put you through that Chloe." Just as she was about to answer his face turned playful and he waggled his eyebrows. "I'd much rather have you in my bed than some casual party-goer that I'd probably have to gag to if you so insist on us remaining quiet."

She wasn't completely sure what to make of that statement so she simply pulled an annoyed face; letting him know she didn't appreciate the comment. His eyes crinkled at her as he smirked, and she knew immediately he was doing it to wind her up.

She was now fully awake, and he knew it. She glared. "You ass."

He laughed, eyes crinkling at the corners. "Welcome back."

"Sometimes you can be really-" she made a frustrated sound and folded her arms.

He tracked the moment as it pushed her breasts up. She immediately dropped her arms and he grinned. "Sorry love, can't help it."

"I'm not even doing anything!" She exclaimed.

His voice was low, just legible above the crackling of the fire and it sent shivers up her spine. "You don't have to."

When he said things like that it made her stomach flip. Her heart making funny little flutters. It wasn't an uncomfortable feeling, but it wasn't welcome. She was falling in deep with him and if she let herself go any further she was in serious trouble-

"I need a drink," she grumbled. Perhaps that would take her mind off it.

He clapped his hands loudly making her jump. "Now you're talking!" He bounded out his seat like a jack-in-the-box and Chloe wondered who supplied him with such constant exuberance and energy. If anyone could compete with her daughter, it would be this strange man who made her feel things she hadn't in a long time.

"Are you coming?" He was holding out a hand to her and she was blankly staring at it.

"Um," she looked at it, him, and he waggled his fingers. She hesitated but slipped her hand into his as he pulled her to her feet.

"There, that wasn't so bad, was it?" He smirked at her, eyes dancing.

She shook her head, playfully jabbing him with her elbow. "You're insufferable."

He hummed as he led them through the door and to the bar, quoting her earlier statement as he grinned cheekily over his shoulder. "So I'm told."

It was less than a week away.

Lucifer was stood on the top walkway of Lux watching the crowd worm and wriggle against each other to the beat of the music. Usually he'd be down there; tempting sin and inspiring passion. Curling his way through their booze addled minds and making them think and do salaciously naughty things they'd never dream of while sober.

But, alas, today he stood apart; watching and slightly distant. Chloe had never told him he couldn't behave as he normally would, and the past few weeks he had been doing. As long as he didn't sleep with any of them – perfectly understandable given the nature of their mission - then all was permitted.

However, tonight, exactly this time a week from today he and Chloe will have hopefully caught their bad guys. Then after that everything was an empty void of directionless uncertainly. He smiled bitterly to himself at how morose he sounded. Perhaps it was contagious.

He'd told Chloe she had no reason to move out. Truthfully, he wanted to ask her to stay – even with the little one – she was a constant soothing yet fascinating presence. It was the little human things he found captivating. The way the pen would twirl in her fingers as she chewed the end. How her feet would tuck under her automatically when she curled up. Her soft puffs of air as she breathed-

He silently cursed his father. What was becoming of him?

The beat wrapped around him and he closed his eyes. He was usually all for letting the chips fall where they may, but in this- he was just unsure. An unfamiliar feeling that twisted its way through his gut whenever he thought about next week and the foreboding future.

It hit him like a sledgehammer in the gut. He'd much rather continue to play cat and mouse with Chloe – never sure when he was the cat or mouse, the lines was all so blurry – than fulfil his (now) almost painful carnal desires with any of the more-than-willing partakers grinding on the dance floor.

He grimaced. He was utterly screwed- and not in the fun way.

"You look like a truck rolled over you, then reversed and did it again." Maze slithered up next to him, invading his personal space as she raised one scarred eyebrow. "Why are you so miserable?"

Grimacing, he pushed her away and gripped the railing. "Not now Maze."

"Is it the Detective again?" A low growl and a tight grip on his arm. "Lucifer, she's no good for you. Can't you see what she's doing?"

He spared a glance at the hand on his arm and set her with a disapproving stare. She removed it and placed it on her hip. "Chloe has been nothing but patient with me since this whole bloody mess started." If he'd known this 'fake wedding' business was going to lead to- well, wherever he and his Detective were now, then would he have agreed?

The answer was simple. Yes.

Not only because this weird stalemate they'd found themselves in was better than the 'nothing' they had before; but also because the whole reason they'd agreed to do this in the first place was to stop brutal killings of innocents. These murders needed to be stopped, and if this was the only way they were going to get their deserved punishment, then he'd do it again in a heartbeat.

He just wished the universe would stop making him the cosmic joke and let him in on its secrets.

He had no idea what he was doing. He wasn't cut out for the complexity of human emotions, and Chloe was one of the most confounding people he'd ever met. They hadn't moved forwards at all since the little chaste kiss she'd given him before she'd left for that darn shower nearly a week ago.

Granted it was only a week, not that long given the grand span of time and things. But the way Chloe looked at him when she thought he wasn't looking; interest tinged with hidden lust, curiosity, and this softer almost tender way she watched him as he pretended he didn't know she was so obviously staring. It was doing his head in. Why couldn't she just say something? Was he supposed to say something?

Ugh.

Why did he have all these bloody irritating feelings? They were damn inconvenient and he had no idea what to do with half of them. Part of him wished he could go back to how it was before… a larger part rebelled against that immensely. Chloe was a shock to the system; a ray of sunshine when you felt like you were drowning in years of rain, the gasp of breath after being starved of oxygen-

Great now he was waxing lyrical.

He cut a glance to his demon who was watching him in concern. "I'm fine Maze, go," he paused gesturing at the pulsing crowd beneath them, "find someone else to entertain yourself with."

"Lucifer, I-"

"Don't," his eyes briefly flashed red as he growled, "go."

An aroused smile slipped over her mouth and she licked her lower lip as she nodded. "You know where to find me." She shot a pointed look down and he raised an eyebrow when she sauntered away.

Perhaps, if this was a month ago, he would have taken her up on that offer. Having a bed partner who knew who you were, all your dirty little secrets - there was something to be said about that. Throw in that Maze was almost as impervious to pain as he was then, well, the possibilities were almost endless.

However, now, instead of considering her obvious invitation his mind immediately went to Chloe. Whenever he thought of anyone else his mind always turned around and went back to that damn blond hair, blue eyes, wide smile and tanned skin.

There was no doubt about it, he was utterly and completely screwed.

Chloe was having (sort of) pre-wedding jitters; her stomach was a balled up tighter than a fist and she was trying to stop herself from convulsively swallowing as she eyed their 'wedding guests' dressed in formal suits and dresses milling around with far too serious expressions. Her mother should be arriving soon, along with Trixie, and Chloe desperately wanted to see them before this whole thing went ahead.

They were running late, and she was still here trapped in this pointless room as she awaited the go ahead. The 'quick' meeting was a block away as they couldn't meet on the beach. Although she was positive Lucifer's bodyguards – that he'd insisted on yesterday evening, promising they'd remain discreet - would keep most of the media away as if they got wind of what was really going on then-

If it all went wrong- no, Chloe shook her head and refused to even think about that. They'd planned this to exhaustion, every little detail possible thought of and meticulously prepared for. She was assured that.

Competing in her head was the worry for her family, anxiety about the plan, and a battling tension in which she couldn't stop herself from questioning herself if the dress was too much. Would Lucifer like it? What did it matter anyway? What would he be wearing? Again, it shouldn't matter what the hell he was wearing. He could be wearing a darn paper bag and as long as it didn't affect the plan then it was all fine.

Still, she thought bitterly, he'd probably look good in a paper bag. If anyone could pull it off it'd be him.

But some part of her hoped, prayed, that their outfits were at least a little similar. They wouldn't look much like a couple to be married if they conflicted with each other.

Dan cast her yet another sidelong glance as he watched her pace, hand over lips as she kept stealing looks at the door of the conference room they were in. She wanted to go, there was nothing left for her to do here other than pace around agitated feeling like a caged animal awaiting slaughter. Her dress was fanning out a little behind her as she purposely marched holes into the thin carpet, noting the other quick looks – and some obvious stares – as she impatiently moved.

From the corner of her eye she noted Dan shaking hands with a cop, nodding and clapping him on the shoulder. With that the cops dressed up left, the door opening and closing behind them with a soft thud. Chloe stared at the marred white door, with its foot scuff marks and unastonishing failing paint job. Most of their 'wedding guests' were undercover cops; ready to leap into action as soon as the vows were spoken. Alert, armed under their formal attire, they were tasked with making sure Chloe and Lucifer got out of this alive.

Chloe braced herself as Dan strolled over. "You do remember this is a fake wedding." He eyed her carefully, scanning her bristled form as he folded his arms. "As soon as it's all over everything will settle."

It wasn't a statement and Chloe's irritation bubbled over and finding a target to aim it at she glared at her ex-husband. "Yes, I'm well aware Dan-" she stopped herself. She took a calming deep breath before her agitation got the better of her and instead she cleared her throat. "Am I still needed here as mom and Trix will be arriving at the beach soon and I want to see them."

He looked over at Olivia who was speaking to some cops in the back. Tucking his lower lip between his teeth in thought as their boss jerked her head in a signal to call him over. Dan looked back at her, "give me a second and I'll drive you over."

Releasing a breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding, Chloe nodded. "Okay, thank you."

"No problem," he muttered, turning and heading to see what Olivia wanted.

Chloe watched them talk with their hands, wondering if Dan knew just how much he was giving away his frustration by the way his hands fisted and opened in the air. He ran his hands through his hair and Olivia held her palms up, face patient, as she tried to explain something that apparently Dan wasn't having.

"She's telling him we suggest you and lover boy keep pretending you're getting your jolly newlywed socks off until after the honeymoon."

Chloe jumped, turning to face some slightly familiar cop with five-a-clock shadow, slightly tired eyes, and tattered jeans with rolled up shirt sleeves. "I'm sorry?" She questioned, looking the man up and down. "You are?" She was sure she'd seen him before, at the station now and again over the past month but they'd never crossed paths.

He was looking at her, amused, as she stared at him.

"The unfortunate cop who's had to put up with your ex-husbands griping about your 'new man' for the past month." His grin was easy going. "David." He held out his hand for her to shake and she did automatically. "I'm undercover," he added as he parted their hands.

"Ah," she nodded. That made sense as she knew she recognized him. He was one of the cops Olivia and the crew-in-the-know on this sting had been conferring with for information.

"Pleasure to finally meet the woman of the hour." He laughed and his eyes crinkled around the edges. If she wasn't so distracted by another man – a man with darker hair and a ravishingly wicked smile – she would have found this man very attractive. He was obviously a lady's man with the way he looked at her; dazzling smile and appreciative gaze as it lingered over her body before re-meeting her eyes. Oh yes, this was a man who knew how to work the women.

Honestly, she'd forgotten there were even other men out there who could do that when she worked in such close proximity with the walking talking confidence exuding machine that was Lucifer. He oozed sex appeal. In fact she was pretty sure he would claim to have coined the term 'temptation' with a sinful smile and voluptuous voice. Lucifer was the master of making unsuspecting people swoon.

Head full of the man she was about to 'marry' Chloe utterly forgot about David's come on and she smiled apologetically when she refocused on him. He blinked, but seemed to take it good-naturedly as Chloe put them back on track.

"So, what's this about a honeymoon?" She went to run her hand through her hair but stopped at the last second remembering the up-do she had been painstakingly put though a few hours earlier. It had been braided and wrapped around her head to a bun at the back, a few tendrils framing her face. It was pretty, not practical, but strangely fitting with the dress she was wearing. "I wasn't aware we were having a honeymoon."

"Well it was mentioned that if the wedding between you two was revealed to be fake to the media you'd never live it down-"

"-and this way we have time to plan a dramatic break up." Chloe finished, nodding as it made sense. The media may have a field day with their break up, but if they got their hands on – no matter the reason – that the whole thing was staged; Chloe could kiss goodbye to her under the radar life. She'd be forever branded as a 'faker.'

She knew there was a reason she quit acting.

"Chloe?" Dan had reappeared by her elbow and was eyeing David suspiciously. "Are you ready to go?"

Chloe looked at him. "Yes." Of course she was. She was going stark crazy being trapped in here. As her and Dan walked to the door she cast a glance back over her shoulder to thank David for the information to find him already chatting to a blond cop who stood with an overly large coffee. She was beaming and tucking her hair behind her ear as she lapped up his attention.

Rolling her eyes, Chloe's amused smile dropped as she caught Dan's disapproving frown. "If there's something you want to say Dan-" she left it there, raising an eyebrow as she climbed into the passenger seat of Dan's police cruiser.

He gritted his teeth. "What was David doing?" They didn't need to drive long so he was biting the bullet and getting right to the point.

Chloe sighed. She swore if she knew Dan had this serious issues of the green eyed monster then she'd have seriously reconsidered her choice to have him be second lead on this case. He'd asked and she'd agreed because she thought it would be handy having someone who knew her and Lucifer – well enough – running point from the stations end. But all he kept doing was spewing obvious jealousy all over the place then she wouldn't have agreed.

The blessings of hindsight.

She looked out the window, watching the trees flash by in watercolor blurs. "Kindly telling me that Luce and I are going on a honeymoon before we break up."

"Luce?" Dan griped. "Great, you're nicknaming him now."

Chloe blinked as she looked over at her driver. She hadn't even realized she'd done it. "What is your issue with all this Dan? You know we're breaking up after this whole thing has blown over and we've caught the killers. Plus, even if we didn't, what does it matter to you? We're separated."

Her little rant must have shocked him before he glanced over at her, eyes wide, before refocusing on the road as he clearly mulled over his words. "I just don't want you hurt Chloe."

"I can look after myself." In truth she worrying about the same thing. What was happening between her and Lucifer didn't seem like something they could just vanquish with a wave of a hand. It felt- real. Lucifer wasn't being the normal total jackass he had been. The afternoons they spent watching terrible movies, or evenings sharing a drink. The hours spent chatting amicably (however amicably small talk with someone who thought they were the Devil could be). The mornings she woke to Trixie and Lucifer cooking. She found herself not wanting to lose those and she was terrified he'd revert to 'old' Lucifer as soon as they'd 'broken up'.

She couldn't blame him. They'd gone into this knowing it was sham. Just, somewhere along the way Chloe had felt herself feeling more than she ever thought she could for the womanizing arrogant slightly delusional man who still thought he was the Devil.

"I hope so." Dan muttered, tightening his hands on the steering wheel as they pulled up to the edge of the beach.

She could see the gazebo in the sand, standing tall and proud as the gateway to their wedding. Immediately she found herself looking for the man in question, not seeing him anywhere, but eyes landing on her mom with Trix by her side. Climbing out of the car, she waved at her family, before she headed to meet them she stuck her head back in the car. "Be ready, there's usually barely five seconds between the vows and the shootings."

She watched Dan swallowed. "I know." He pinned her with his concerned brown eyes. "Be careful Chloe."

Bobbing her head, she tried to send him a reassuring smile. "I will."

With that she closed the door and headed over to her family, greeting their exuberance with as much enthusiasm as she could manage. When Trixie was wrapped around her middle, and Chloe was squeezing back, she couldn't help but look once more over her shoulder at the gazebo in the distance. Betraying eyes jumping from suited figure to suited figure; wondering if he was here and if he was where was he? He had to be here somewhere.

Chloe caught herself lifting her head and laughed at herself. Refocusing her attention back on her family as they fussed over her. Her mom coming to fiddle with her hair, pat down her dress. Chloe tried to respond to the attention as positively as possible but all the while her eyes kept leaping up to crowd of people, looking for the one person she found herself actually wanting to see.

His dark hair, nearly black eyes, and wicked smile. He should be easy to spot with the way he waved himself around crowds with such timeless grace and confidence.

She balked as her mother called her attention. Swallowing hard against the realization, she knew what was happening and she was powerless to stop it.

Lucifer Morningstar had wiggled his way into her heart and planted himself there without her knowledge.

She cursed herself. She thought she'd been so careful but somewhere along the way she'd gone and fallen for the man who thought he was the King of Hell.

Wasn't that fantastic?

"Argh," she cried as her mother yanked a hair out that had come loose, "goddamnit."

The curse was more for herself than it was for the sharp stinging pain now fading along her scalp. The question she had to ask herself now was: what was she going to do about it?

Maze had actually made an appearance; trading her usual leather outfit for a dark blue high collared jumpsuit and heels that put her nearly eye to eye with Lucifer. He beckoned her over when he noticed her lurking around the edge of the crowd. She waltzed closer, feet tapping on the wooden slats they'd put down to make walking on the overly heated sand easier.

"Lucifer." Maze eyed him, gaze travelling over his form calculatingly. "You're looking-"

"Dazzling and dashingly handsome." Lucifer waggled his eyebrows as he adjusted his blazer cuff. "Absolutely positively ravishing?"

"Something like that," she chuckled smoothly in her throat, eyes glittering in mirth as she surveyed the guests.

He'd had an inexplicable urge after Chloe had handed him his card back – with a promise to return the dress and a refusal to show him what she bought claiming it was bad luck – to buy a new suit. It just felt- appropriate. Unsure on the whole wedding thing he'd roped Amenadiel in on the hunt. In hindsight not the best choice for styling advice given his tendency to dress in the traditional angel dress get up. Seriously had the Heavens never moved forwards since the biblical days of appalling fashion?

Still they'd eventually found something they both agreed upon and although not far off his normal suit styles, albeit a tad more expensive. He'd adorned a black silk tie instead of his usual bowtie for formal events, and buttoned up the white shirt and slipped into the black vest with more apprehension than usual.

Now he stood, trying to pretend he wasn't looking for his Detective as Maze pretended she wasn't looking for Trixie or Amenadiel. He scoffed, they really were a poor example for supposed Hell dwellers. Still- he glowered when a figure dressed in cream blazer and skirt shifted itself into his eye line as he'd just managed to catch a glimpse of Dan's car pulling in.

"Lucifer, has no one ever told you that looking at the bride before the wedding will cause bad misfortune."

He groaned as Linda moved into his path again and effectively cut off his attempts to peer past her. Sighing deeply, he refocused on her as he reluctantly gave up his search. "But this isn't even a real wedding so what does it matter?"

Linda's eyes were compassionate as they fixed on him through her glasses. "You seem rather upset at the thought that this whole thing is a farce."

"He's been so highly strung since this whole started. It's exhausting, can't you fix him?" Maze rolled her shoulders as she stared at the psychiatrist.

Pushing her glasses further up her nose, Linda smiled patiently. "You know it doesn't work like that Maze."

"Would you stop talking about me like I'm not here?" Lucifer grumbled, shoving his hands in his pockets. "It's bloody exhausting listening to the two of you."

"Are you sure you want to do this?" Maze had fixed him with another of her 'are you serious?' stares, hands on her waist and usual impudent smile in place.

Sighing dramatically, Lucifer suddenly wished for a cigarette and the soothing comfort of having it between his fingers. The repetitive movement of breathing in smoke as it calmed his ragged nerves. Instead he left the pack in his pocket, and tugged on his cuffs as he saw their 'wedding officiant' finishing up his conversation with whomever he was talking too.

A string of people filed in from the back – cops dressed in civvies taking their set places at advantage points.

It was almost time.

Chloe and the rest of the station had marked out the best places that their attackers could approach and the clearest line of sight to where they'd be standing. They'd spent hours earlier planning every single situation that could possibly happen but the whole thing made him rather uneasy. Disconcertingly though not for himself, but for Chloe who was standing so out in the open – probably weaponless – playing bait for deranged murderers.

He turned to his demon, shoving the unnerving feelings away as he realized she was still waiting for an answer. He fixed her with an unwavering stare. "Yes, Maze." He shifted his gaze, swallowing his insecurities, to Linda who was looking at him as though she knew every little betraying emotion filtering its way through his system.

He raised an eyebrow challengingly but she simply shook her head at him – possibly in exasperation - and otherwise remained silent.

Someone, unknown and most likely not important, hollered his name and he nodded in the general direction it came from. This was an unfamiliar situation for him, and he could feel the weight of it settling in his bones as he meandered his way past the two women in front of him and around others as he made his way to their makeshift altar. The whole thing felt rather dreamlike; like he was playing a part in some larger scheme.

A tiny bitter smile slipped over his lips as he found himself stopping where he was supposed to almost automatically. This was some larger scheme, just for once it was the Detectives and not his father's plan he was carrying out.

Still, he fought the catch in his breath when he – finally - spotted Chloe as she appeared in the archway of their not-so-hastily temporary aisle. The two of them had spent ages trying to figure out what song to use at the beginning; easily agreeing on nothing traditional. Her because this wasn't 'real' and she wasn't religious so it felt wrong. Him because their 'wedding' was hardly traditional and the typical puke-inducing 'Here Comes the Bride' rubbish was not fitting for his Detective. She may be many things but a 'graceful dove' was not one of them. If she was going to be compared to a damned bird, then it would be a snowy owl. Chloe was a beautiful force to be reckoned with; definitely not a weak-willed bird of peace.

Also he was very sure they did not have his father's blessing.

Plus, it was a bloody awful song with absolutely terrible lyrics.

At one point they decided they could just do it without any music but Detective Von Douche had put a stop to that line of thought before it had really gained any ground.

Eventually, hours and hours of research had them land on an instrumental version of A Thousand Years. Chloe had been a little unsure at first but the contrasting cello with piano won her over and he'd caught her smiling her way through the song.

It was even better when Dan had reluctantly agreed on them using it instead of the traditional ear-bleeding march.

Now he let himself close his eyes and listen to the music as it washed over him. It was an enthralling rendition and he vowed to himself play it for Chloe when they finally got some time alone. If she wanted him to, of course. The music calmed his nerves, providing a soothing balm for his threadbare anxiety and settled the tension in his limbs.

Letting out a deep breath he opened his eyes in time to watch Chloe practically float down the aisle. She was biting her lip as the crowd bristled around them. Camera flashes and quiet murmurings went unnoticed by Lucifer as his eyes remained enslaved to the captivating picture that was his Detective.

He had a dreaded feeling in the pit of his stomach that he didn't really know what he was getting himself into.

He pushed the pesky emotion away.

How had she found that dress? It was stunning- no she was stunning. He felt as though all the air had been vacuumed from his lungs and he gaped as she drifted to a stop beside him, large smile on her face as she met his eyes.

"Hi," she smiled.

He grunted, casting a side long glance at the Detective's spawn who was sitting in the front row, swinging her little legs back and forth in little ruby red flats. The grin on her face was positively devious. Sneaky little thing. She was definitely spending too much time around Maze as she was beginning to know which buttons to press to get a response. He'd have to keep an eye on that.

Yet somehow Trixie – and he had no doubt it was that little terror – had found the perfect dress and it was doing all sorts of funny things to his insides that he was trying to ignore.

"Lucifer?"

He blinked. Ah, yes, he still hadn't answered her. He turned slightly as he shoved all the unwanted emotions back down his gullet and focused on the one he much preferred: lust. Scanning his eyes over Chloe's form, he met her eyes and rumbled a 'hello' in return while flashing a kilowatt smile and reveling in the little blush she desperately tried to hide by bowing her head.

She was adorable when she blushed.

"May I say Detective, you look absolutely exquisite. Completely ravishing and I'm having a hard time," he lowered his voice as he leaned close to her ear, "if you know what I mean," her little slap on his shoulder had him pulling back in glee as he finished his little tease, "not tearing that tempting dress off right here."

Her grip on the flowers in her hand tightened as she looked at him with one perfectly raised eyebrow. "If there was any time or place, now would not be it-"

He brightened and his voice raised several octaves. "Ooh so later?"

A roll of her eyes was his only answer.

Their 'cop' wedding officiant cleared his throat and Chloe jumped. Lucifer smirked at her as they both turned their full attention to the man waiting patiently in front of them. "When you two are so kindly ready we can actually set this outrageous plan in motion."

"Right," Lucifer shrugged, "sorry," not really sorry at all.

As their officiant began whatever proceedings these little human weddings entailed – he wasn't really paying much attention – he leaned down to an unsuspecting Chloe who had all her attention on the person who was 'marrying'. "Did you have that dress made perfectly for me?" His voice was at her ear and he grinned when she yelped, turning to face him with a glare that clearly said behave or else.

"No, I didn't." She shook her head. "Now concentrate."

He pouted, but complied turning to- he was sure he'd been told his name. Whatever it was he wasn't completely bothered as he wouldn't be gracing his presence again. Probably. Did it really matter?

He was getting off track.

Chloe was jittery; shifting from one foot to the other and the poor flowers looked like they were about to wilt in her death grip. He placed a hand on her lower back, curling it around to her hip as he quickly scanned the surrounding area for any 'miscreants' that weren't supposed to be there. Nothing yet; he squeezed his hand to let them know they were safe- for now.

She nodded, leaning back into his touch as she resettled. He wasn't sure if the move was conscious or not, but he liked that he could offer her some of the support she obviously needed up here. Where they stood, completely exposed and at the mercy of their 'attackers' with only the police force to stop them.

The material of her dress was tactile under his fingers. Lace over silk and satin. He groaned low in his throat, too low for her too hear, it was going to be a struggle not resist her if she came back to Lux looking like that. His equal and partner in all ways. Father damn it, she was killing him and she had absolutely no idea what she was doing to him.

They'd changed the vows to something non-religious upon Chloe's request. Despite the different reasons, he agreed whole-heartedly as they were not pledging anything to his father, and Chloe was her own woman. She would never belong to him – she wasn't meant to belong to anyone. She wasn't a possession. There was no need for her to 'obey' him. What an archaic proposition. His demons obeyed because they were created to obey. As much as he originally detested the idea that his father gave humans free will; the point was free will. He couldn't see how Chloe having to obey anyone was free will.

And also – he'd read up on the vows before coming to a joint decision they would not be using them - 'according to God's holy ordinance,' what on earth was all that crap? Humans. As fascinating as they were, some of their ideals were absolutely absurd.

The officiant cleared his throat and Lucifer shook his head, grinning sheepishly at a suspicious looking Chloe. Right, despite changing them they still had vows to recite. Basically the same without all the religious malarkey, and the 'obeying' rubbish.

He'd wanted to change the 'to death do us part' bit but she hadn't let him. Sometimes her stubborn denial to believe in him was bloody irritating. Still, he'd listened and they'd kept it in. It held some truth, when she died she'd grace the pearly gates of all things wonderful and holy with her blinding presence and he was never allowed to go there.

He'd never see her again.

A squeeze on his hand and he looked down to find Chloe had placed her hand over his on her hip and was looking at him gently, reassuringly. He knew she had no idea what he was actually thinking, but the fact she cared enough to show him sent warm tingles down his spine. She probably thought he was having trouble with this whole 'marriage' thing, but it was overshadowed by the thought of losing her forever.

"It'll be okay."

No it wouldn't, he thought bitterly, but nodded all the same and tried to send her a convincing smile as he recited the vows meant for him. Quickly and without thought the words spilled from his lips in a low murmur as he gathered her closer to hid; slipping the wedding band onto her finger.

Chloe repeated similar words afterwards, repeating his actions, her voice quiet and subdued as well. This was weird for the both of them. But when she finished she shot him a winning smile and he felt all the tight curled worries in the pit of his stomach loosen a fraction.

"The newlywed couple may now kiss."

That was another thing they'd changed.

Chloe's lips tilted up in amusement and her eyes sparkled as she lifted herself up on her tiptoes; hands placed on his chest as she moved in slowly, so slowly… what was she waiting for? He growled, low but he knew she felt it by the way her breath halted a fraction in her throat. Enough with the teasing; he narrowed his eyes and closed the gap. His lips meeting hers with a gasp and her little fingers curled tighter into his jacket as his arms fully wrapped around her waist.

This was what he wanted. Not some other woman, or man, or demon, he wanted her. Just her, and him – no one else. The thought shocked him to his very core and he opened his eyes a fraction to stare at her.

Was this what she was waiting for? Is that why they'd been on stalemate? Was she waiting for him? He knew where she stood on relationships – she may not have been one to verbally shout it from the hilltops but it was pretty obvious she only did monogamy. Was she waiting until he was ready?

If her little smile against his lips was anything to go by the answer was yes.

He could tell she was trying to keep it chaste, always concerned about public image and what others could see of her, but he ran a tongue over her lips and rejoiced in her little stutter of breath. This woman was beautiful, stunning, and absolutely divine if there was ever a human definition. She wanted to be here, with him, together-

Something curled low in his spine, a trigger warning that suddenly shot upwards into his back and he staggered backwards, ripping himself away from her as his balance wavered with a sudden head rush and everything spun. He looked at her surprised; the knowledge of something not right filling him as he stared at her. Her eyes were wide in shock and her hands had flown to her mouth as she watched him pull away.

"Lucifer, what-?"

He shook his head, cutting her off. "Something's wrong." He swallowed against the dizziness and grabbed ahold of their wedding officiant's – really a cop - lapels. The man froze, looking at him in terror. "You, you're not a real priest."

"No, Lucifer, he's not. We agreed on that remember." Chloe approached him slowly. "Are you okay?"

He ignored her. Tried to ignore her. Her voice still rung in his ears after she stopped speaking. Instead he refocused his attention on the man who'd 'fake married' them. A question digging at the back of his mind that he voiced rather roughly, his voice a low growl as he shook him. "Do you believe?"

"Um." He moved his hands in the air looking to remove Lucifer's death grip, but they fluttered back to his sides without touching him. "Believe in what?"

"Don't." Lucifer grit his teeth as shapes blurred together and defined lines smudged into watercolor, before his vision cleared again. "Don't mess with me. You know exactly what I mean. My father. The Holy Grace. The Big Boss man himself-" His knees gave way and he dropped heavily to the wooden platform, dragging their officiant with them.

"Oh my god, what-" Chloe was knelt by his side in the time it took him to blink. "What's happening. Are you okay?" Her gentle hands went to his shoulder to brace him as he shifted his grip on the poor unsuspecting cop.

He snorted, "yes, well, this time I think you may be right," he sounded bitter even to his own ears.

"I don't-" Chloe frowned, looking to their officiant and back. "Lucifer, what's going on?"

"I think dear 'ol dad is evoking an old abandoned experiment." He chortled sarcastically, shooting a glare towards the heavens and muttered. "Typical."

"Yes."

Both Lucifer and Chloe had forgotten about the officiant and both looked at him simultaneously, still in – albeit laxer – Lucifer's grip.

He looked at Lucifer before frowning. "I do believe in God, but why-"

Lucifer's abrupt growl startled them and he wrenched himself away from the officiant and Chloe as he pulled himself upwards. "It isn't even real!" He hollered at the sky, completely ignoring their wedding crowd still seated and staring at him in horror. "You bastard, stop this-" he didn't get very far forwards before his vision wavered again and staggered, falling back to his knees. They hit hard and sharp pain vibrated through his knees as he hung his head. "Please."

His father was obviously laughing at him when Chloe's reassuring touch sparked off the first few images he really didn't want. Her grip was supposed to be supportive but he grabbed her upper arms tightly with unseeing eyes as her life flashed in front of him. Images and memories, many of them she'd blocked and probably didn't remember.

Tiny hand wrapped in her mother's as they pushed through the shopping crowds.

Long camping trips with her father while her mum was away. The stars and how her father taught her in soft voice about the constellations.

Days out with scolding coffee, heavy books in arms and hours spent studying.

Parties, first drinks, first kisses, the first time she slept with someone she wasn't really enthralled by the experience.

The excitement, the joy, the hopes for the future. The arguments, disappointments, and let so many downs.

He winced, unused to the emotions that were being thrown at him. He could hear Chloe's alarmed voice trying to cut through but it was illegible; too far away and diluted as though underwater.

The misery, the anguish and desolation were all so much more vivid and detailed.

Her father's sudden death. She was fixing him a coffee ready for his return home. The looks on the cops faces, friends of her fathers, and the immediate dread that something very very bad had happened.

Grief was something Lucifer thought he was well enough acquainted with. Losing Frank had been hard, but this- losing a loved one. She was alone, desperate, her mother unable to understand the rage she felt at the pathetic criminals who'd stabbed her father. The decision to honor his legacy and fight for what he'd believed.

Her life so far was short, a lot shorter than his. Yet she'd felt so much loss, so much heartbreak and betrayal. It was hard for him to keep himself upwards as he held onto her; knuckles turning white with the strain.

The loneliness of seeing everything differently and watching, hurting, as Dan pulled away from her.

Raising her daughter alone, the lack of money and struggling through the desolation at work. The looks and indifferent attitudes, sometimes bordering on hatred, as they ignored her when she passed. She pretended she didn't notice.

The love she held for Trixie was on a magnitude Lucifer had never felt. It encompassed everything and nearly everything. She'd die for her little one, not a second thought. Despite the hardship and difficult times; Chloe Decker wouldn't bat an eyelid in throwing herself in front of a bullet for those she cared deeply about.

He jolted backwards, falling, when his own face flashed before his eyes in the people she cared about.

Trixie, Penelope, Dan, himself.

She had a small list but it was startlingly obvious to him that his appearance on it shocked her to the core. Almost as much as it terrified him. Oh Chloe… he thought as he fought the images and memories of her life to focus on the actual woman staring at him, eyes wide and scared as she braced his wavering form.

He grabbed at her; voice croaky as he choked out, "Chloe-"

"I'm here, tell me what's going on and I'll help you. Please, Lucifer, tell me what I can do." Her voice was worried as she checked him for injuries; both knowing there were none. Their audience was silent, and their shooters hadn't arrived yet. Had he ruined everything? Was this whole thing for nothing now?

"I'm-" he swallowed, locking his eyes on hers with intensity as he tightened his grip, "Chloe, I'm so so sorry."

He watched her frown in confusion. "About what, Lucifer, I don't understand-" horror filled him as he watched her squeeze her eyes shut and shake her head.

Please, not her, leave her out of his.

He hated begging. He hated praying to his bastard of a father. But for this, he'd try anything.

Don't put her through this. She doesn't deserve this.

Although his father never answered, he knew the answer with his entire being as he watched Chloe pull herself away from him with a hand to her forehead and a scowl on her face. He tried to follow her, grab her back. If only he could stop this from happening.

Because, this bloody damning memory sharing crap, it went both ways.

She was going to see every single moment of his life. Live it as he had. See it as he had.

"Chloe." His vision finally cleared as the memories filtered away and he pushed himself to his feet. "Can you look at me?"

She did. Eyes locking onto his in confusion with one hand knotted in her hair and the other fisted by her side. Her mouth opened to speak but her lips moved without saying anything.

"Breathe." He approached her slowly, voice soothing as he placed his hands on her shoulders. "In through your nose and out through your mouth-" he slowed his breathing so she could copy. He could feel her trying to emulate but the panic was taking over as she blinked rapidly at him.

"Lucifer," she whispered, voice breaking as he balanced her, "what's-"

He rested his forehead against hers and closed his eyes. "I'm so sorry, Chloe. Please-" he hesitated, "please remember that. This is going to be painful, you have to hold onto that what you're seeing isn't happening now. It's the past, please-" He squeezed her closer to him. "Please don't get lost in it."

"I don't understand-" she was cut off and he watched as her eyes unfocused before refocusing on him and she stumbled backwards. "What-"

"Stay with me, Chloe." Her hands knotted in her hair as she squeezed her eyes closed against beginning of the thousands of years of memories assaulting her. "You can't let yourself go there."

"I'm-" she frowned, pushing against the images in her head, "I can't-"

"Please-" he stepped forwards but was abruptly cut off by Dan's screaming voice.

"-STOP!"

Lucifer whipped around just in time to see their woman shooter point, aim, and pull the trigger. Not really thinking, he launched himself at Chloe and knocked them both to the ground. He wrapped himself around her to brace her landing; the bullets barely skimming him. He heard the pull of the hammer and braced himself for impact.

A muffled thump, a shout, and he raised his head to find Penelope's leg had swept their woman shooter off her feet. 'No one shoots at my daughter; you prune'. The sudden movement sending her sprawling to the ground, her gun just out of reach. Dan stepped on the woman's hand as he approached, before kicking the gun further out of her reach. Lucifer grudgingly respected the squeal Dan was rewarded with as her fingers crunched beneath his boot. He motioned for two cops to pick her up and then proceeded to wrench the mask off. Woman-who-didn't-deserve-a-name was glaring at them, blond hair partly obscuring her face as she breathed heavily.

He could hear her, voice low and filled with hate as she spat at Dan. "My boys will get them. Just you watch."

"This wedding was staged." Dan took over from the cops and yanked the woman's arms harshly behind her back. "Call them off."

Her laugh was bitter, and Lucifer glared wishing he could march over there and slam her stupid twisted face into the ground and send her directly to Hell where she belonged. Perhaps he'd take a little weekend break down there to show her what real agony felt like.

"Too late." She shook her hair away and behind her shoulders, shooting a sneer in Lucifer and Chloe's direction. "Doesn't matter anyway, there's clearly something between them."

Dan grit his teeth and she noticed, responding with another cruel laugh. "Just look at the way he's protecting her."

He looked up and grimaced as his eyes landed on the couple by the altar; Lucifer could hear the wedding officiant scarpering backwards.

"Quite an adorable death pose, don't you think?" No-name-woman mocked. "How idyllic."

"Be quiet." Dan tightened his grip harshly and nodded at the cops to go search the area and Lucifer zoned out as he began to recite her rights. As if this woman deserved any bloody rights. He searched the area for the men who were supposedly attacking them, hearing no one he refocused his attention on the woman in his arms.

"Chloe?"

No answer.

"Are you still with me?"

Her lack of response pretty much answered the question. He swallowed, hard, before smoothing his hands up the arms of his Detective as she squeezed her eyes tighter under his administrations. Who knows what she was seeing. His life was vast, full of darkness and betrayal and hate. He may be the light bringer but he'd had very little light in his life. Very few memorable moments of happiness, most were superficial and the few true ones he did have were mostly with her.

And it was going to take her a while to get there.

He had to get them out of here. Somewhere she could ride it out and sleep it off. Hopefully she'd be back with him soon and he could- well, what? What was he planning to do? What would even happen after this blew over? Would it blow over? He had no idea what was going to happen. There was no manual for this shit and what little he did know told him it wasn't going to be pretty.

He cursed his father again, before gently pulling her up by her shoulders. He wasn't sure if she was responsive but he called her name all the same; no response. Her face was scrunched in concentration marred with pain and her hands were still knotted in her hair. He tried to carefully pry them away but she only tightened her grip further. He let his hands drop to his sides in defeat, he didn't want her pulling her hair out.

He sat nearly knee to knee with her; her dress draped on the wooden platform around her in a lake of white and black lace. She was shivering, not violently but enough to be noticeable, and the hairs on her arms had risen as though she was cold despite the humid temperature that had been plaguing LA for the past week.

He didn't know how to reach her. He wracked his memory for his father's old experiments. But he'd been long cast out when they'd happened and he'd only heard through the grapevine-

His thought process was interrupted by a loud commotion. Raised voices and quick scuffles had him looking over as two younger men clad in masks – so they'd finally decided to show, he thought bitterly, bit late to join the party – stormed in guns with raised.

They paused briefly when they saw their leader in handcuffs, feet halting in the hot sand and seemingly shocked for a second. Lucifer watched as the police officers moved in and almost shouted to stop them, almost, but he found he wasn't quick enough. Too distracted.

One of the men was tackled to the ground and the other didn't miss a beat. He raised his gun and ran… directly at them. Firing randomly into the crowd and missing. Those who weren't cops ducked, screamed, and hid.

Lucifer recognized the crazed look in the man's eyes as he darted towards them. The most dangerous people were the ones with nothing left to lose. Who knows what this fool had left to live for now- still, Lucifer shuffled himself in front of Chloe whilst knowing there wasn't much use considering he was wasn't so invulnerable anymore. Still at least going out first meant he would have to watch her be riddled with bullets. He'd seen that before; he really didn't want to see her bleeding out again when this time he couldn't do anything to stop it.

"Stop him!" Dan's voice was a loud yell, and Lucifer watched as Chloe's former husband threw the woman at the cops behind him. Sprinting at the darker haired lad who had finally trailed his gun on his targets – them. "Someone, grab him! I don't have a clean shot!"

He'd never seen Dan run so fast, and he felt a building respect for the man's desperation to reach their bad guy before he got a shot off. It was a failed attempt though, doomed and bound to fail because the time it'd take to run was a lot slower – no matter how fast you ran – than it was to fire a bullet. Let alone many bullets.

The screaming had risen a pitch, and Lucifer's searching gaze landed on a desperate and struggling Trixie trapped in her grandmother's arms. Penelope had her eyes squeezed shut and head buried into the younger girl's hair. Lucifer willed for the spawn to shut its eyes too, he didn't want her to see this.

Nobody deserved to watch their mother be shot down in cold blood.

Gun raised, aimed and pointed directly at him. Lucifer climbed to his feet and once again braced himself for impact, the sheer pain that would follow, and hoped it would be quick. He could still hear Dan yelling in the background, just out of his peripheral vision as he turned to face their shooter. If he was going out, he wanted to look the man in the eyes with the promise of eternal punishment when he finally joined him in Hell.

Three quick shots and Lucifer blinked, looking down at himself; no blood, no bullet holes. What-?

He looked up at the gurgling sound in time to see their shooter drop to his knees, hands grasping at his stomach and watching the red liquid pool between his fingers and drip down his hands. Staring at them, the man bowed his head and collapsed unceremoniously into a heap.

Lucifer whipped around, jacket billowing out with the force of his spin. Chloe was stood, gun raised and still pointed, panting so heavily her shoulders moved with the force of her breaths. Whispers of escaped hair lifting in the wind. "Chloe?" Where had she gotten that gun from? It must have been strapped to her leg.

Her eyes cut to his, and he could see the inner turmoil within those depths as she fought for control. "Lucifer?"

"It's okay," he moved a little closer, "you've got this."

She shook her head. "I don't, I- Trixie." she squeezed her eyes shut and for a brief moment Lucifer thought he'd lost her again, but her eyes reopened with a focus. "is she-?"

"She's fine," he reassured.

Her shoulders sagged with relief and the gun slipped from her fingers, dropping to the wood with a bounce and a skitter.

The sound obviously attracted Dan who was stood just off to the side dealing with their dead shooter. He looked up at the two still stood at the altar, voice confused and eyebrows furrowed as he moved a little closer. "Chloe, are you okay?"

Chloe gritted her teeth as she looked at Lucifer. "I can't hold it." He could practically see the images of his life flashing behind her retinas. Yet there was a searing acceptance to her words which Lucifer felt deep in his bones. Before he could respond she keeled over, a tiny sound suspiciously close to a whine forced from her lips. "I-" she dropped back to her knees heavily and Lucifer immediately moved to help but backed off when he recognized the pose she'd fallen into; unresponsive as she shuddered.

"What is going on? What did you do to her?" Dan had joined them on their altar and was quickly making his way towards Chloe.

Lucifer grabbed his upper arm with a tighter grip than he'd been meaning to if Dan's wince meant anything. "I wouldn't."

Yanking his arm free, Dan glared. "Yeah, well you don't tell me what to do so-" he turned his attention back to his ex-wife bowed on the floor. "Chloe?"

"No-" she whimpered, shaking her head.

"What have you done to her?" Dan griped.

"Nothing." He growled, although had he? Was this his fault? Partially. "I wouldn't touch her." He warned instead, pushing himself between Chloe and Dan to stop his advancing.

He visibly watched Dan snap, "and why not?"

"That position. It's an angel fighting stance." She was obviously concentrating so hard inwardly on his memories and not to get so lost in them that she lost herself, that the outside of her had been neglected. She'd dropped into a muscle memory that wasn't hers.

"That's it, I've had it with your angel and devil bullshit," Dan spat, "Chloe may put up with it but I won't."

Lucifer regarded the man for a second, searching his face and seeing nothing but hatred and determination. Debating with himself, he stepped aside with a flourish as he cleared the space for Dan to approach. "Very well, just don't touch her-"

Too late, Dan already had a hand on Chloe's upper arm. "Jesus, she's burning up." He placed the back of his hand against her forehead. "Why is she so hot?"

Lucifer grimaced, he didn't really know that much about this whole process. Just that humans tended not to survive the process. And that reminded him he needed to get Chloe out of here fast. She needed cooling down, and, and what?

"Fuck, Chloe, what's happening to you? Can you talk?" Dan dropped down in front of her, waving a hand in front of her face. "Can you let me know what's going on?"

To Lucifer's surprise Chloe managed a small grunt along with quickly mumbled; "get away, get away, get away."

"Okay buddy." The mockery term of endearment passed his lips without thought. "Time to leave Chloe alone."

Dan, as per usual and no surprise there, ignored him. He remained perched in front of her. "Are you able to tell me what's wrong?"

He reached forwards but stopped when Chloe's eyes flashed open. "Don't touch me." Her voice was barely above a whisper, but if Lucifer heard it there was no doubt Dan had as well.

Blinking, Dan hesitated before reaching for Chloe's face. "Chloe-"

As soon as he made contact he hissed in pain as her hand moved suddenly and wrapped around his wrist. "I said don't touch me." Lucifer winced at the pain on Dan's face as his skin burned. Chloe must be so hot now it was nearly electric. It was the heat that killed the other humans – as far as he'd been informed – but first it made it unbearable for anyone to touch them.

Angels generally burned brighter than humans as a general rule. More power and more energy meant more heat. He was, as his named said, the Lightbringer - also the Devil. The memories in her head must be sending her wild, and in her desperation to control them and stop Dan from making it worse had lashed out and hurt him instead.

He had to cool her down before she overheated. Her body was not made for his kind of heat and she'd burn out long before the others had. Quickly moving forwards, he yanked Dan away from Chloe. "Next time, listen to me." He growled in his face, voice low and authoritative Dan knew he wasn't messing around. "Now, I'm going to take Chloe and I want you to look after Trixie until she comes to collect her." He hoped, no he prayed his father would give him that blessing at least. Don't rip a mother away from her child. "Comprende?"

Dan, now in stunned silence, nodded.

Dropping the lapels of his suit, Lucifer smoothed down Dan's jacket and nodded in return. "Good."

"Will you let me know she's okay?" Dan asked, watching as Lucifer dropped to his haunches by Chloe's side.

He looked up. "She'll let you know." And with that he ignored Dan, focusing his attention on the shivering Detective at his side. "Chloe? Can you hear me?"

It took a beat but her head turned a fraction his way to let him know she'd heard him.

"I'm going to make sure you survive this."

A tiny nod.

Lucifer gingerly touched her arm, feeling the electric static shoot up his hand. He smiled, she was trying to control it. "Good job." He praised, using the gentle grip he had on her arm to pull her up. "Now since I don't have my wings, we're going to have to walk- or I'll carry you. Whichever you prefer."

She grunted, and he could feel her struggle to push herself to her feet.

She managed but she wobbled and he caught her, immediately sweeping her up bridal style. "Fitting, don't you think?" He chuckled. In answer she buried her head into his chest and looked up at him, eyes open and seeing but not focusing.

He sighed, jostling her in his arms as he made his way to his car as quickly as he could. He had no idea if she was going to remember any of this, and he wasn't sure if he wanted her too. But she wasn't dying, not now, not today.

"Hold on, we're nearly there." He reassured as he could see his car stationed on the curb just behind the trees where he'd parked it earlier. "We're nearly there," he repeated. Though the words were more for himself than for the woman who'd now gone limp in his arms. Fitful sleeping was probably the best thing he could hope for now. She'd finally lost consciousness and he hoped it would make it easier on her body now she wasn't fighting two things at once. She could concentrate on surviving this.

"You're coming out of this Chloe. You are." He tightened his grip on her, pulling her closer. "I believe if anyone can do this then it's you."

He kept talking to her, despite knowing she probably couldn't hear nor would she respond if she could, but for some reason the constant conversation helped him. It comforted him knowing she was still alive, and fighting.

As long as she was fighting there was a chance. And a chance was better than nothing.

It had been twenty-four hours and Lucifer was stood, well pressed if he was being honest, against the partially open door to the room Chloe had chosen for herself before everything had inevitably gone wrong. He had been able to hear her soft little whimpers from his place on the couch and had given up pretending to try ignore them.

He didn't feel much better standing here, helpless and desperate to comfort her, but knowing he could do little good. Still, at least stood here he felt like he was doing something. Even if it was only a little something. Keeping an eye on her made him feel just that tad little more reassured that she hadn't stopped breathing in the time he was away.

He'd gotten her back easily enough. Figuring Maze would realize he'd left and follow shortly. He didn't have time to call her and somewhere in his panic addled mind decided he'd call her later if she was a no show. Besides he couldn't balance both Chloe who desperately needed help and his demon who'd undoubtedly fret over him while lurking too close to an unconscious Chloe than he was comfortable with.

Plopping his shaking Detective down on the couch, he'd hurriedly ran a cold bath and raided his ice machine; dumping the quickly melting cubes in the tub and praying that the water was cold enough to bring her temperature down.

There'd been no reaction from her when he placed her in his bath - bigger than the one in her ensuite - clothes and all. He had to be careful in his frantic rush not to drop her in, and instead carefully lower her into the water. If this was any other situation he would have climbed in after her; the thought of her spry little body pressed up against him normally consumed his every thought.

But he ran hot and she needed cold.

He wanted Chloe, he never shied away from that and she was perfectly clear where he stood (wasn't she?). Yet when – if – she did finally accept him. He wanted her willing, eager, and- responsive. Definitely responsive. He never did understand the appeal in wanting someone while they were unresponsive. The clutching skin on skin, soft sighs and whines in the back of throats – that's how you knew you were doing it right.

Chloe's cry brought him back to the present, ear still pressed against the door and hand braced on the handle; ready to barge in if he was needed. Maze was perched on a stool at his bar – having shown up sometime when he was squatting by the side of the sub and stroking his fingers rhythmically through Chloe's hair - glass in hand, and pretending not to watch as Lucifer lurked by the Chloe's ajar door.

Lucifer grimly smiled. His demon may not admit it but she cared about Chloe's spawn, therefore she cared what happened to Chloe by proxy.

The bath had thankfully cooled her down enough that Lucifer felt safe-ish placing her in her own bed. He'd undressed her, feeling incredibly guilty – much to his own surprise – and kept his eyes mostly averted. Yet he knew Chloe would not appreciate being manhandled by his demon.

He wrapped her in a huge fluffy towel that almost drowned her small stature, leaving her in her underwear, and debated placing her in his own bed. Instead placed her in her own knowing when she awoke she'd want to be in – mostly – familiar surroundings.

He was yanked back out of his own head again when she shouted, a sharp loud foreign sound that wasn't English. Maze looked over at him, partially pulling herself off the stool as she frowned in confusion. He held up a hand to stop her approach, carefully listening as she shouted again.

"What is that?" Maze tugged her top down a little, finger her glass on the bar top before letting it drop as she stared at him. "That isn't a language I recognise."

Lucifer was still staring at the door, a little blankly probably at the familiar phonetic rhythm of words he hadn't heard in a long long time.

"Lucifer?" Maze slid completely off the stool.

He shook his head. When he'd created Maze he'd given her the ability to understand, translate, and speak all languages. All human languages. After all humans came to Hell from all walks of life; all languages, races, creeds, cultures. It was important his demons understood them. But there was one language he hadn't gifted his demons with; one language he'd kept for himself buried deep down and shoved into boxes he tried to long forget-

"Enochian."

"Eno- what?" Maze glided over to him, joining him at the door and peeking around to see Chloe frowning, mouthing words she shouldn't know and clutching the blankets around her with white knuckles.

"It's the language of the angels," he smiled a little bitterly.

"You have a language?" She frowned, lips puckering as she skimmed over the woman tossing in the bed.

"Of course we do. We were around long before father created the humans." He rolled his eyes, trying to settle his nerves now Chloe seemed to be settling down, grip loosening as her head turned deeper into the pillow. "How do you think we communicated?"

She shrugged, "I never gave it much thought."

"You wouldn't," Lucifer griped. "Angel 101 isn't exactly something I like to reminisce about." His tone conveyed that was the end of the conversation. He would much rather avoid that can of worms. "I need a drink."

Maze nodded, "I'll get you one," and with one final glance towards Chloe she slunked off to the bar.

Lucifer's hand griped the door handle tightly when Chloe moaned in the back of her throat, the sound cutting off abruptly as she scowled; the duvet trapping her legs as she turned over. She struggled, trying to pull away from the sheets with no success. She rolled over, tugging the cover with her as it wrapped around her, constricting her movement further.

Lucifer bit the inside of his cheek and pushed open the door further. Should he help her? Her whines were painful and she was struggling, but would he only make it worse? Surely he could just pull her free and then see where he stood. If she calmed down should he leave-?

A pained yell in his native tongue and he was beside her bed without realizing he'd moved. Knees hitting the ground as he knelt by her side, hand caressing her cheek and the other soothing the hair back from her face. Her body jerked as she fought against the sheet wrapped around her and Lucifer gently tugged her loose; untangling her legs and rolling her over to pull the sheet free.

Murmuring under her breath, her eyes squeezed tighter and she buried her head into the pillow. Her hand gripping the edge of the pillow, twisting it into her fist. Lucifer stroked her hair, listening to her ragged breathing and swallowed hard as she recognised the low whispers she was mouthing into the pillow.

She was right before the Fall. His Fall. He was going to have to watch her relive it. Every little second. Could he do that? Could he stay with her? He sent a glare heavenwards, hoping his father could feel the hatred his son was sending him. How could He do this to her? He may have deserved it, but she didn't. She didn't deserve the pain of his memories.

He slumped to his side, back against the wall and one leg raised as he stared at her. Of course he was staying. He could try convince himself otherwise, but he knew he wasn't budging from her room and no one on Heaven, Hell or Earth could persuade him differently.

The next few minutes dragged out interminably. Maze reappeared with his drink, the amber liquid swirling invitingly against the patterned glass, but he waved her away as he pushed himself up next to his Detective. His demon glanced at him for a second, face twisted into a confused mix of concern and pity; a look not familiar on her face. and if the speed in which she left was anything to go by then she'd gone to find something to distract herself from the unfamiliar emotions.

He knew how that felt.

Still, he didn't have much time to dwell on it before Chloe tensed up. Her whole body locking and her teeth gritting as her back arched in pain. He gently pressed a palm to her stomach and lowered her back down. Pulling himself upwards, he dropped his weight onto the side of the bed feeling exhausted and drained. He wondered if he looked as bad as he felt. He could feel Chloe's shivers begin to shake the bed and he debated with himself before lying down next to her and supporting her body by wrapping his arms tightly around her tremoring form.

He wasn't sure how painful this was going to be for her. Or the strain it was going to put on her body and her already too fast heartbeat. Her pulse was pounding heavily in his ears as he took her hands and wrapped them in her larger ones. He knew what he did to himself when he first Fell and he didn't want her hurting herself.

He closed his eyes and braced himself for the next inevitable few painful minutes. Hoping that she'd pull through it; come out the other side with her mind still intact.

"You can do this," he whispered into her hair, whispers tickling his face, "I know you can."

Her small whimper tore through his heart. Her body jerked and he threaded his legs through hers and held on for dear life trying to hold her together while it felt like he was falling apart.

He wasn't sure when she'd entwined herself so complexly within his own being. His whole life was swirled in the scents of her, the feel of her and the way she moved, talked, breathed. She'd become so deeply interlaced with his life that the fear of losing her was coiled so tight in his belly, pressing down and squeezing what little oxygen he had left as he pulled for air.

He'd gone and fallen again. This time instead of a deep seated agony it was a lighter, tingly, pleasant sensation as he thought of the woman in his eyes. This time the fall wasn't down, but rather a fall upwards. If that was even possible. He'd fallen in love with Chloe Decker; and he was helpless to do anything about it except hope, and pray, that his father wasn't as cruel and malicious in his game as he appeared to be. That Chloe would come out of this alive and with her mind intact. He silently begged his father. If he deserved anything, if there was an ounce of forgiveness there, then he let Chloe live.

Please. Dad. Let her live through this. His last coherent thoughts filtered through his brain as he curled himself tighter around the woman in his arms and prepared for the worst.

She wasn't fully aware of what was going on. Somewhere in the back of her mind, the quiet saner and logical part, she knew this wasn't real. These weren't her memories, and they weren't happening now. A voice, Lucifer's, fed through the flashing images. Interlacing through the sensations. She knew it was in her head, but she held on to the timber of his voice. The warmth and worry he projected as her mind used his words to hold onto herself.

"You have to hold onto that what you're seeing isn't happening now. It's the past, please… please don't get lost in it."

She gritted her teeth against the images flashing in her head. So many memories, feelings, emotions; there was so much for her mind that she was unable to fathom.

"You've got this."

"I'm going to make sure you survive this."

Her mind was grasping onto his support. His confidence in her and his promises. She was losing face, her mind slowly devouring itself as she lost herself to memories that weren't her own. Not hers. She held onto that thought as pain lashed through her system and she silently screamed as her body buckled and she felt like she was falling. Her stomach heaved and gave out and she nearly lost herself to the sensation; dropping and spinning and hurtling downwards.

Not mine not mine not mine. She repeated to herself over and over and over. She heaved as she hit something hard, rough, and- heat. There was so much heat, it was stifling and the air in her lungs burned as every breath she gasped raged in fire as she buckled over…

NOT REAL! Her mind screamed at her and somehow she wrenched herself away and upwards. Her mind clearing for a second as her eyes bolted open, gasping for air with heaving breaths as the air cooled around her overheated body. Everything was blurry, fuzzy, and her eyes were streaming.

"Chloe?!" A voice at her ear and she blinked heavily. "Chloe, you're okay." His face swam into her vision and hands supported her arms and lower back as Lucifer peered at her. "I've got you."

The images, memories, were flickering at the back of her mind threatening to encompass. But she could handle them, she could, she just needed to concentrate. Somehow. "Lucifer-" she whispered, voice croaky.

"Yes, I'm here." He placed his hands heavily on her shoulders.

She guessed the move was supposed to be reassuring, but she shuddered as the images grew in force. They were his memories. She was living his memories as thought they were hers. His presence, him being here, made it worse. It just made it all worse…

"Go," she murmured, "go, go away."

"Chloe, I-" she watched him grit his teeth through still blurry eyes.

"Making-" she winced as a wave of dizziness nearly pulled her under, "it worse."

His face fell and he immediately backed off. Pulling away entirely. He nodded, face disturbed as he stared at her. "I would be," he looked upwards, sounding defeated, "couldn't even let me comfort her?"

She wanted to reassure him. Tell him that she'd be okay. But her vision fizzed and blurred around the edges and before she could comprehend what was happening she was sucked back under the images as she fell victim to his past.

She could still feel him.

Chloe was staring at the ceiling, gaze slightly blank as he nudged in her mind. She glanced at the clock on the nightstand; it was four in the morning and she was more exhausted than she'd ever been in her life. Her whole body ached, throbbed and every tiny movement stung as pain shot up her limbs. It felt like she'd gone nine rounds with Godzilla.

Still, she knew he'd be awake. Sat somewhere with a drink and stretched out waiting for her to show herself. Should she? Should she just sneak out and leave him be? She'd hurt him deeply when she asked him to leave – she remembered that and the flash of pain when he removed his hands from her arms. One of the few moments that were starkly clear to her. Image crystal and sharp behind her retinas.

Should she face him?

She wasn't going to trick herself into the falsities of it's all real and he's really the Devil. She wasn't going to fool herself, or him, into any of that spiel that now seemed absolutely absurd.

She'd just lived through it. She knew. Everything. Every little detail – probably more than he'd ever want to tell her. Had he seen her memories? Surely nothing in comparison to his? Her life was miniscule next to his thousands.

Yet for some unfathomable reason the King of Hell cared enough about her to throw himself in front of bullets for her despite knowing they'd kill him in her presence. She really did make him vulnerable. Why? He didn't know so she didn't know.

Groaning in pain, Chloe pushed herself upwards and stumbled for the shower. It took her longer than normal with fumbling fingers and desperation; it took her a while to get the temperature just right. She couldn't deal with the heat, the memories rattling at their cages, and the cold froze her where she stood as her hands fisted by her side in shock. But finally she collapsed into the warm jet stream as it massaged away the aches in her shoulders and back. She hurt.

A little while later Chloe stood in loose trousers and t-shirt feeling a tad bit better. She was looking at herself in the mirror; deep purple bruises shadowed her under eyes and her wet hair was plastered to her face. Biting her lip gently, she wrapped her arms around herself before turning to face the closed door and smiling grimly.

Time to face the music.

She found him exactly where she thought he'd be. Although she wasn't sure if it was how well she knew him or the left over whisperings of him in her head telling her where to look. He was sprawled in the 'reading room' on the leather chair she'd last sat in, legs crossed and drink cradled in his lap as he stared at the fire. Much like she had done- how long ago now? She wasn't sure, but the flames certainly suited him more than they did her.

She'd know that now.

He looked up as she hovered in the doorway, not knowing whether she was welcome. His eyes widened a fraction and he immediately stood up, placing his drink on the side as his lithe body rose to its full height. "Chloe!" He took a few steps forward but abruptly halted in his step. "It is you isn't it? You're okay?"

He looked unsure; hair dishevelled as he stared at her and dark eyes scanning her battered form for- what? She wasn't sure. Still, she nodded and shrugged a shoulder. "Who else would I be?"

He grinned, a large happy smile she wasn't familiar with and he strode the last few steps. "Doesn't matter." He pulled her in for a hug, arms wrapping around her middle tightly and head resting on top of hers.

She winced, the pain vibrating through her despite how readily she went into his embrace. "Ow."

He immediately pulled back with a sheepish smile. "Sorry."

She couldn't help but return it, feeling a disorientated like she'd been plucked from her universe and dumped in a parallel one. "No worries, I'm just a little sore."

They stared at each other for a couple of seconds – or it could have been minutes – she wasn't sure. She was grasping for something to say, and was sure he was doing the same thing. He opened his mouth at the same time she did. She snapped hers closed and gestured for him to continue. He sent her an awkward smile. "How are you feeling?"

"Like I've been thrown from a building and trampled on." Moving forwards she noticed how he dropped backwards to give her room as she dropped on the armchair he'd vacated. "I could do with some seriously strong painkillers."

He regarded her for a second. Eyes scanning her worn out for before nodding. "I'll get you some." He reached and handed her the glass he'd been drinking from. She took it from him, curling her fingers around the cooler glass and smiling gratefully. She didn't miss that his return smile was tight around the edges and he carefully avoided brushing fingers with her. "Won't be a tic." And with that he was gone, practically sprinting from the room in his haste.

Chloe frowned at the door in confusion. One second he was hugging her and hanging on for dear life as though she was the only thing grounding him to this plane. Then the next second it was like her touch repulsed him. Taking a deep relieving gulp from his drink; finding a new love for the whiskey now she had all these memories banging away in her head. She closed her eyes and basked in the warmth and comfort the room brought her.

"Here you go."

His rumbling low voice startled her awake and she bolted upright. Shaking off the disorientation she thanked him and took the pills. Knowing drinking and alcohol should not mix but not really finding it in her to care. She needed this; the burn the whiskey provided and the relief the pills should hopefully bring.

They sat in silence for a few minutes.

"You're still here you know." She mumbled around her drink, glass pressed against her teeth as she stared at the flames, shooting him a sidelong glance.

He frowned, "what?"

Tapping the side of the glass against her head, she turned and raised an eyebrow. "In here."

"I'm- what?" If possible his frown deepened.

She laughed at his adorable puzzled expression. "Your memories, everything you were and are," she sounded insane, "you're still up here."

"How are you-?" He cut himself off, leaning forwards as he scrutinized her.

"How am I still me you mean?" She questioned. At his nod she shrugged. "I'm not sure. There's so much more of you than there is me," she shot him a reassuring smile as he winced, "but I locked you in little boxes, cages really, in my mind."

"You locked me up?" He had the audacity to look offended and Chloe laughed. "That's not funny!" He exclaimed, sounding a little like his normal self.

"If it's any consolation," she shrugged, "you're not very silent."

He grimaced. "Sorry."

She groaned. "Oh my god, stop apologising." She never thought she'd have to say those words. "It isn't your fault."

"It is-" he cut himself off, "I just made it worse."

"And I made it worse for you," she reminded him. Remembering the way he'd yanked himself away from her when she'd touched him as she'd keeled over. "Did you-?"

He nodded. "The memory sharing thing goes both ways."

"Great." She sighed, fiddling with a strand of wet hair. "Do you remember anything?" His life was so vast in comparison to hers. Surely her life would have just gotten lost somewhere in the vast years and memories of his own.

He scowled. "Bits and pieces." At her confused expression he elaborated. "Mostly, no, but then someone does something or I see something and it fires off a memory I know isn't mine."

Biting her lip, she nodded.

Silence. Again. Chloe closed her eyes in irritating. This was grinding on her nerves. It wasn't comfortable or companionable; it was awkward and tense and- "okay, look Lucifer, stop blaming yourself."

"I'm no-"

She interrupted, growling deep in her throat. A low sound she knew she'd probably stolen from him if his eye widening said anything. "You are." She pushed herself off her seat, burying the flinch of pain and planted her feet in front of his chair where he was sat. "Your father did this-" at his frown she tapped her head and raised an eyebrow, "and I know you didn't want it to happen. I know how it made you feel and I know that if you could have done anything to stop it you would ha-"

"This is creepy," he cocked an eyebrow as he looked up at her, "you knowing all this." She opened her mouth to comment but he pulled himself upwards, and she had to drop back out of his space as he stood up. "Okay," he looked at her, placing his hands on her shoulders.

She frowned, "okay?"

"Okay."

"You'll stop blaming yourself?" She questioned, staring at him as he avoided looking at her.

He smiled, a little sad at the edges and shrugged a shoulder. "I'll try."

She nodded, sighing internally. She supposed it was the best she could ask for given this was Lucifer. He was used to taking the rap for every mistake the universe seemed to make. Although, she frowned as he looked over her shoulder, he was still avoiding eye contact. "There's something else."

He hummed, glancing down at her. "No?"

Bobbing her head as she looked up at him, she wished she was just that little bit taller to look him in the eyes. Instead she took his hand in hers and waited until he properly looked at her. "Why are you avoiding looking at me?"

"I'm not." He shook his head, blinked once, and abruptly turned to pick up the empty glass. "Shall we go refill these? I think we need something stronger."

"Now you're changing the topic." Chloe grabbed his other hand and pulled him back towards her. She'd give him credit for not resisting her and instead using the glass between them as a shield when he turned to face her. She glanced at it, frowning. "Have I done something to upset you?"

"What? No." He feverously shook his head. "Of course not. Why would you think that?"

"Despite that nearly bone crushing hug, we just seem-" she paused, trying to think of a word that would describe the niggling feeling eating away at the back of her mind, "off." It wasn't really the right word; it didn't convey exactly what she was feeling.

Lucifer was still staring above her head, jaw set. "Nothing's wrong."

Dropping his hands, she sighed and lowered her head in a nod. "Okay."

She gave up, figuring when he was ready he'd tell her. And if he didn't perhaps she could figure it out. Or had he decided while she was recovering that she wasn't worth the effort? She did put a lot of strain in his life; she was a constant mystery that he didn't know how to solve. Now this? Maybe he just decided that she wasn't worth the effort.

Her heart sank despite the niggling voice in the cages telling her she was wrong; and she couldn't shake the unexpected pain the thought brought her.

"I'll leave soon." She smiled weakly at him. "Surely Trixie is worried and Dan probably is too." Turning around she moved away and around him towards the door. She'd need to pack Trixie's stuff as well as her own; where did she put those suitcases? She couldn't remember for the life of her where'd she'd stashed them after unpacking-

"Don't go." Lucifer's voice was quiet but she was tuned in enough to him that she turned around automatically. He was still standing, partially turned away from the door and head lowered, but his dark eyes were on her. "Don't leave."

She shook her head. "Lucifer, I can't stay. Not when-" she waved her hand at them, "this." Shrugging a shoulder, she half smiled. "It's okay, I understand and I'll be out of your way so-"

"Chloe," he nearly tripped over his usually graceful feet in his desperation to reach her, "please, just-"

"Just what, Lucifer?" Biting the inside of her cheek as she eyed him. "This, whatever is happening here, something's not right between us. Whenever you're ready to talk to me I'll be here." If he ever wanted to talk- she threw that thought away before it could blossom and instead moved to leave the room.

Before she could get a step further out the room two solid hands landed on her shoulders and spun her around. She blinked at the sudden movement, a wave of dizziness making the room spin and she glared in agitation. He was giving her whiplash. "What the hell?"

He ignored her, eyes dark and intent on hers as he stared. He searched his troubled expression. He was clearly battling with something so she stood, letting him work it out. "Chloe-" he choked her name, "I don't know, I-" He growled, irritated at himself as his fingers tightened their grip over her shoulder. She grit her teeth against the pain; she could handle a little if it mean he could get whatever it was off his chest. "Look, there's something I realized-" he grunted in irritation and yanked himself away from her. His hands fisted in his hair as he marched away from her. "Why is this so hard?"

She took a small step forwards. "Lucifer, look, I'm sorry-" she eyed his frustrated pacing carefully. "Whatever it is, I didn't mean to push, and you don't have to do anything you don-"

His nearly incoherent babbling cut her off, taking her by surprise. "I'm so bloody stupid, I mean it's so obvious now and you'd think despite my struggle with human emotions that I'd grasp the concept but I didn't and this is so annoying because it hurts but doesn't and I don't know wha-"

She frowned. Confused at his hurriedly paced words as they tumbled over each other. "Lucifer, take a breath and-"

One second his hands were in his hair and he was frowning at nothing; and the next he was two feet away and glaring at her accusingly. "I love you."

She blinked. Had she heard that right? "I'm sorry, what?" Did he just-? She knew he cared, but love? Loved her? She knew human emotions were a complex messy tangle of feelings and confusion for him and he struggled to understand which ones meant what but-

He looked a little more at ease now. "It took me a while to figure out because while angels do feel we don't really-"

She nodded. "I know." She sent him a reassuring and slightly knowing smile.

And the thing was; she did know. Angels were gifted the most basic emotions; but the more complex ones like love were harder to understand. Lucifer felt more than most because he rebelled, wanted free will, and was rewarded with the complexity that was the barrage of human emotions. Angels had the capability – they just often ignored and didn't want it.

Smiling a little sheepishly, he yanked a hand through his now product free hair. "Right. Yes." He nodded, fixing her with that unfathomable stare again. "Anyway, this-" he pointed at himself and then her, "it was so hard to understand. How can you make me so happy yet so desperately worried at the same time? It doesn't make sense." He frowned. "But without you, the thought of losing you, I just-" she shrugged, shoulders sagging "It nearly destroyed me."

She was, for lack of a better word, flabbergasted… and speechless. Definitely speechless.

"So," he looked up at her through his naturally thick lashes, "there you have it. I, Lucifer Morningstar, the Devil, have fallen head over heels for Detective Chloe Decker. The most irritatingly beautiful and confounding human I've ever met." He smirked slightly, his lips tilting up at the edge as he lifted his head. "And trust me, I've met a lot of humans."

She was still speechless.

"Chloe?" He moved forwards a few steps. "Are you okay? Do you still want to go, because if you do I won't stop you-"

She shook her head to cut him off. "No, it's too bloody early to be going anywhere anyway."

His sudden laugh had her looking at him in confusion. He grinned at her. "You said bloody."

Puckering her mouth, she licked her lips and silently cursed the slip. "So I did." She stared at him. His dark bottomless eyes and black hair. Strong jaw and five a clock stubble thrown in with a boyish grin and carefree attitude.

"You're very silent." He noted. "Did I do something wrong? Should I have not-"

"I love you too." She whispered. She knew that going into their 'wedding'; before everything had undoubtedly blown up in their faces – like normal – she loved him with every cell in her entire being. Despite trying to protect herself she'd actually, literally, gone and fallen in love with the Devil.

But a Devil who was now grinning at her. Huge and large and genuine. "Really?"

She nodded. "Yeah." She laughed at his smile. "Yes, you may be overbearing and irritating and annoy the absolute hell out of me but," she closed the gap between them, "so help your father, I love you." Framing her hands around his cheeks, she used him to push herself up. "I love you."

"Marvellous!" His hands were in her hair before she realised and his lips were on hers. Warm and soft, mmm delicious. Their kiss lasted a solid minute before she pulled back for air. He smiled against her mouth. "Absolutely marvellous."

She chuckled under her break, before wincing and pulling back as her body reminded her the pain killers hadn't removed all the pain and it was still unhappy with her. Reluctantly she dropped back to her heels and rolled her shoulders; rubbing at the pain.

He was frowned at her in concern. "It's that bad?"

She shrugged. "Nothing I can't handle." Yet her flinch as he pulled her towards him proved her point otherwise.

He turned her around, dusting her hands off her shoulders and replacing them with his own. He pulled her back against his chest as his fingers immediately finding the sore spots and she groaned in pain, arching her back and closing her eyes as the knots loosened and he smoothed the skin gently under his fingers.

She felt his chuckle vibrate all the way through her. "Don't let it be said I don't give a devilishly good massage."

She hummed as she relaxed back against his solid body. Dropping her head against his shoulder, she looked up at him. He dropped a kiss to the top of her head. "Are we okay?" She mumbled against his ministrations.

"Of course we are." He spun her around. "Never better."

She smiled. "Good, I'd hate for you to run now we're finally getting somewhere." Her smile turned wicked as she craned her head at him.

He narrowed his eyes at her. "That's mean, don't tease."

She shook her head; eyeing him seriously. "I'm not."

"You mean?" His eyes lit up and he pulled her back gently by the shoulders. "Really?"

"I don't think I've ever seen you this baffled." She laughed, unable to stop herself threading her fingers through the back of his hair, spearing the tufts between her fingers. "Yes, really."

"Not now though." He thought for a second, little line between his eyes that she smoothed away with a finger. "I want you fit and healthy and up for meeting me tit for tat."

She nodded; agreeing with him. She was too achy to do anything now despite her body yearning for him, for contact, to cement whatever unspoken contract – she grinned internally at that term – they'd just made. Still- later. There was time for everything later. For now- "Sleep?"

Nodding; he linked his fingers with hers. It was an unfamiliar move but one she welcomed. "Come on," he tugged her out the door and in the direction of his bedroom. "My beds much more comfortable than yours."

His cheeky smile had her grinning back. "My bed here or my bed at home?"

"Both." He picked her up and plopped her down on the bed. "Now be a good wife and wait here while I let Maze know you're alive."

His eyes sparkled in mirth and her eyes narrowed at his amused grin. She moved herself to the end of the bed as he walked away and was unable to stop herself from tackling him from behind. Her jump on his back had them both sprawling to the floor. He turned mid fall to cushion her landing and he let out a loud 'oof' as his back hit the wooden flooring.

"I'm sure Maze knows now." She grinned boldly as she sat on top of him. "You be a good husband and carry me to bed before I decide to torture you some more." She wriggled for emphasis and he growled, hands settling on her hips to stop her.

He groaned, eyeing her amused sultry smile for a second before thumping his head back against the floor. "Can't we get a divorce?"

Leaning down to pull him into a lingering kiss, licking his bottom lip as she pulled back and traced her hands down his chest. "Not a real wedding, remember?"

He opened an eye, pointing between them then at their heads. "I think if this is anything to go by my dad says it's real."

Frowning, she pulled herself off him and slipped to the side. "So we're stuck together?"

He nodded, tongue flicking out to lick his lips and she tracked the movement. "Afraid so, I think." He pushed himself up, folding his legs underneath him. "Is that a problem? I mean in the eyes of your little human laws we can get it annulled." His dark eyes were still on her, intent and piercing.

Shrugging, Chloe shuffled her way over to him. They'd obviously get a divorce for public record but- she beamed at him as her leg came into contact with his thigh. "Such a huuuuge problem." She drawled the word and flicked his nose. "Whatever are we going to do about it?"

He hummed, eyeing her with amusement as he pulled her in. "I don't know, what are we going to do about it?"

Chloe pushed him backwards, hands on his shoulders, re-finding her place on his lap and squirming. Pain forgotten about in the midst of arousal. "How about-?" She rolled her hips to punctuate in the way she knew he liked. Brain telling her everything she needed to know.

"Perfect." He growled, hands supporting her hips. "I mean it'd be a shame for all this to go to waste."

She licked her lips. "It is, isn't it?"

He laughed, pulling her upwards and she scurried over to the bed and jumped on it. Laughing as it bounced underneath her as Lucifer scrambled on afterwards.

Chloe wrapped her legs around Lucifer as he lowered himself to kiss her. She smiled into his mouth and pulled him down further. They could do this. Together. She knew they could; and now she'd finally gotten him she wasn't planning on letting him go anytime soon.

Everything would sort itself out.

After all- somehow she'd found herself married to the Devil. What else could possibly go wrong?

Lucifer smiled as he ran his hands through Chloe's hair as she slept.

He'd managed to overcome his pride and told her every irritating damning emotion that had been consuming him. All it had taken was a little push in the right direction; something to make him realize and someone, Chloe, to make him see that living with her – however long that may be – was better than living without her.

And perhaps, potentially, there was just a teeny weeny chance, that, possibly, someone up there was looking out for them.

Just- maybe.

A.N/ Tidbit of information: This reached over 40,000 words. And took me nearly two months.

The idea for the memory thing comes from my recent binge-read of Marie/Logan fanfics in xmen universe. I always found her power fascinating so I took liberties with it and worked something similar into this.

Unbeta'd so I apologise for any mistakes. You know editing 75 pages can be quite tough on the eyes.

Penny for your thoughts?