The sun had scoured the land, bleaching and drying until nothing remained of the original but a desiccated husk. Far in the distance, dark mountains stuck up from the landscape like a mouthful of broken teeth. The wind did nothing for the heat, but whipped the sand into tiny projectiles.

Lucifer stood in the middle - the exact middle - of the ring of mountains. The dry heat stung his lungs and skin, and the world seemed to sway from side to side. He leaned down to steady himself, but froze.

The skin on his arms was mottled with bright red blisters, and ragged pieces were pulled back to reveal the flesh beneath. He glared at the offending skin, willing it to heal. The worst of the blisters faded to a less angry red, but his skin refused to heal further.

"What?" he muttered to himself.

He tried again with no more luck.

After a moment, he tried, "Detective?"

No answer.

Somehow his relationship with immortality only seemed to get more complicated as time wore on.

"Thanks, dad, you bloody bastard," he screamed at the sky. "I was this close - this close - to telling Chloe-" He broke off suddenly. There was something on his back, he was sure of it. "No…" He stretched long unused muscles on his back and, sure enough, something - no, two somethings - rustled.

Of course.

Why else would he be back here?

Why else would he be returned to where he had Fallen?

The wings, long restrained, unfurled to their full length and cast a shadow over him. He screamed wordlessly, an animal sound of pure anguish, until his voice failed him.

"What have you done to me?" he whispered hoarsely.

Maze's daggers hung loosely, forgotten, from her fingers as she gaped at the wings protruding from her friend's back. They were equal parts beauty and strength, brilliant feathers hiding supple muscle beneath. The feathers shone with a faint otherworldly light. They looked exactly as they had the day she'd cut them off. "What the hell," she repeated.

"Heaven, actually," Lucifer quipped with false ease, wearing his smile like a mask. "Maze-"

"What happened?" she asked, her voice flat and hard.

Lucifer's smile flickered out like a dying candle. "Dear old dad gave me one of his little gifts. You'd think he'd know me better than this after so many years."

"I never thought I would see them again… What does this mean?"

She moved closer and Lucifer instinctively stepped back.

Maze stopped suddenly. "No…"

Chloe, who had been hidden behind the wings, was now visible. Her eyes were locked on Lucifer's back, and she didn't make any indication that she'd noticed Maze. Maze had seen that empty stare too many times.

"You broke her? You broke another one of my friends." The daggers slid back into her palms as she advanced on Lucifer, the cold metal reassuring against her suddenly too-warm skin.

Lucifer held up his hands and he forced a little laugh. "Now, Maze, is this really necessary?"

She didn't slow down. "Linda thought I was a monster. My friend thought I was a monster. It took days to get her to speak with me." She closed the space between them and had a dagger at Lucifer's throat before he could react. "Stop fucking with my life."

"I had to tell her," he hissed. "I've kept it from her long enough."

She pushed the blade deeper into his skin. "You should have told me what you were going to do."

"You do have to admit she's taking it quite well." He frowned and, without moving his neck, stared at the detective. "Very well."

"This is 'well' to you?"

"Well, she hasn't run screaming yet, has she?"

Maze dropped the blade from Lucifer's throat.

"Thank you-"

She punched him in the gut - hard - and Lucifer collapsed with a wheeze, curling in on himself. She was alarmed to see that his wings had instinctively folded around him. They really were back. They really were a part of him again.

He groaned in answer. "Bloody hell. Have you always hit so hard?"

Maze turned to the detective, and called, "Chloe?"

Her head jerked at her name, but her eyes stayed glued to Lucifer's wings.

Maze waved at him. "Put those away."

He levered himself to his feet, grunting. The wings winked out of existence, but returned after only a moment. "I can't."

She frowned at him.

"Dad… borrowed my Grace to bring my wings back. I barely have enough for this bloody shabby glamour."

Maze noticed the patches of shiny red flesh on his skin for the first time and winced despite herself. Hell had left its mark on him. "Fine."

"Maze?" came a quiet voice.

"Decker." Maze rushed to her side.

"I'm sorry, Maze, I couldn't think. Everything was happening too fast and his wings…" She rubbed her forehead and blinked. Her eyes were clear when she turned back to Maze. "You're a demon."

Maze shrugged. "And you're a human."

"Mostly," Lucifer chimed in.

"What?"

"Very helpful," Maze drawled, and one of her daggers embedded itself in the wall inches from Lucifer's head.

"Let's leave that for another time then, shall we?"

"What do you mean "mostly"?" Her eyes darted between them.

"Detective- Chloe, I'm sure you already have enough to process."

"Lucifer, you've told me all of these crazy things that no one in their right mind should believe, but for some reason, I do. And I'm fine to fill in the gaps of your story with time, but you can't just say that I'm not human and leave it there."

He and Maze traded looks.

"It's complicated," he settled for eventually. "Amenadiel blessed your mother and father so that they could have a child - you."

"What does that make me?"

Lucifer furrowed his brow. "Part-human, part-" His voice cut out suddenly, all expression vanishing from his face. He strode towards her and put a hand on her shoulder, not in comfort but to hold her there. His voice was flat empty when he next spoke. "This may hurt." And his other hand sank into her skull.

The little blood that had remained in Chloe's face up to this point drained away and her body went rigid, her only movement the tremor in her fingers.

Lucifer stepped back a moment later, holding his hands as far from his body as he could. The skin, moments ago patched with red from his true form, was now smooth and pale.

Chloe lurched forwards. He reached out to steady her, but she recoiled at the touch.

"What the hell was that?" Maze asked, taking a spot at Chloe's side..

"Something new." He frowned and turned to Chloe. "Apologies, Chloe, I believe I've stolen a bit of your Grace."

"M-my what?"

"Her what?"

"You seem to be - there's no good way to say it, is there? You seem to be at least partly an angel."

"But I-I don't have wings, and I have a kid - a human kid. God, what does this mean for Trixie?" And she started laughing, a wild inhuman sound.

"Great. Now you've really broken her," Maze said to Lucifer.

"Give her a moment, Maze."

She moved closer to him and whispered, "Since when have you been able to see another angel's Grace?"

He stared straight ahead, eyes unfocused, and Maze worried he hadn't heard her. "Not since I became Lucifer."

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?"

"That I need to have a long chat with dad."

Chloe's laughter stopped abruptly. "Why do I believe you?" Chloe asked, her voice very small.

"Because you know I would never lie to you, Chloe." He sat down on the couch, taking care to fold his wings against his back where they wouldn't catch on anything. He'd long been tempted to cut the damn things off, not only for their attachment to his father but also for their impracticality. The cleaning alone... "I don't know what's happening to you or me or what any of this means."

She joined him on the couch and took one of his hands in hers. "We're going to figure it out."

"I should have told you all of this sooner, but I was scared of what you might think. What if you didn't believe me? What if you did?"

"It's not like you tried to hide it, Lucifer Morningstar." Chloe gave him a half-smile.

"I could have tried harder.."

"You mean showing me your true face?"

He nodded uneasily.

"Lucifer, you said the last person you showed almost cut you out of their life. I can't imagine how much that must hurt." Her smile disappeared. "I know I promised you that I wouldn't be afraid of you, but I am. I can't help it. Devil, angel, that I think I can handle. But something in the desert changed you."

He wouldn't meet her eyes.

"You're not telling me everything." Before he could protest, she continued, "And that's okay. I get it. But when you're ready, I'm here. And if you don't, I'm a cop, I'll figure it out one way or another." She grinned.

"I wouldn't doubt it." He smiled back.

"Listen, Lucifer, drop the, er, glamour when it's just us, okay?"

"This face isn't pretty enough for you? This from the person who married Detective Douche?"

"Oh, shut up," She swatted him. "I want to see the real you."

"More and more, I think this is the real me," he muttered too softly for her to catch. Louder, he said, "Fine."

"Just don't let Trixie see- Oh, God." Chloe leapt to her feet and stormed towards Maze. "You left Trixie alone?"

Maze, who had been leaning against the bar, drink in hand, staring off into the L.A. skyline, turned towards her. "Amenadiel's with her."

"Oh." Her stress drained away in an instant. "I, uh, need to get going." She took one last look at Lucifer. "Thank you."

With that, she disappeared into the elevator.

Lucifer reclaimed his forgotten whiskey, and collapsed onto one of the stools, a faint smile playing on his lips. He hadn't lost her. "That went better than I thought it would."

She topped up her drink and joined him at the bar. "You should have told me what you were going to do."

"She saw me - the real me. What was I supposed to do?"

Maze shrugged, the furthest sign of agreement Lucifer could have expected from her. She sighed and leaned back on her stool. "What happened to you, Lucifer?"

"I was kidnapped and dropped in the middle of a desert with dad's idea of a joke on my back. What else is there to tell?"

"Decker wasn't wrong. Something changed." Maze took a long drink. "I can feel when you're around. That feeling is still the there but it's different. I wasn't sure what I was feeling was even you until I saw you."

"I wondered how you knew I was back." He sighed. "Any chance it could be the wings?"

She shook her head.

He slammed his glass down on the bar, sending hairline cracks through the glass. "Well, enough of that. Now, if you wouldn't mind." He pulled off his shirt and bared his back to her.

"No."

"Come on, get it over with."

"No," she said again, louder this time.

"No?"

"You heard me," she said. "Amenadiel lost his wings. What would he think if I helped cut yours off - again?"

Lucifer nodded reluctantly and lowered his shirt back over his wings.

"You're not going to tell me what happened to you, are you?"

"I've already told you everything I know!"

"You do know who kidnapped you though, right?"

"The list of people who can knock me unconscious is rather short. Without Chloe nearby, that is."

"You think it was angels?" Maze asked.

"Who else could it be?"

Maze stared at him long and hard, but he kept his face carefully neutral.

She eventually gave up and said, "You look like hell, Lucifer. I'll be back tomorrow."

As the elevator doors closed, she said, "Linda's doing a lot better. Just thought you should know."

Chloe woke up in a cold sweat, her sheets lying tangled at her feet. Despite the warm summer air, she shivered, and her heart pounded against her chest like she'd drunk six cups of coffee.

Something was wrong.

She turned on the bedside lamp, trying three times before her shaking fingers caught the knob. The room was empty, but the knowledge did nothing to settle her. The last thing she needed right now was time alone with her thoughts - not after what she'd learned - but she couldn't sleep.

Chloe reached for a book from her nightstand, cutting her index finger on the pages.

As she watched, the skin knit itself back together. In the space of three seconds, there was nothing to show for her cut but a drop of blood.

"What's happening to me?" she whispered.

Lucifer stood in front of his bathroom mirror wearing nothing but his boxers.

The man in front of him was skinny, almost to the point of being gaunt, and his skin seemed ghostly in the light of L.A.'s nightlife. Had he really only been gone three days? The burns were gone. Every single one. Even the patches of red from his true form were gone.

Then he dropped his glamour, shedding it like a second skin. He gave a little sigh. Though he'd long grown used to the glamour, it was so much more comfortable without it.

He opened his eyes and saw the same unmarred skin, but his eyes burned with a fierce light like twin stars, something ancient and powerful and not hellfire.

Samael stared back at him.

His knees hit the tiled floor hard. He focused on the pain, the cold of marble under his touch, the air still humid from his shower hours earlier, the pounding in his veins.

But his thoughts could only be ignored for so long.

"I don't know who I am anymore."