Author's notes :
Hey !
Thank you for the reviews, follows and fav you left on the first part of this short story.
Well... not that short with this second chapter. ^^
Sorry it took so long, the translation was long to do too (so many words... )
Sorry for the possible mistakes. ^^'
I hope you'll like this end !
Read it, enjoy it... and comment it !
GOSPEL TRUTH
The first thought crossing Chloe's mind was certainly not glorious but that was all she could do.
" So, no red horns? "
This thought was quickly followed by another whose relevance was equally questionable but hardly open to criticism given her situation.
" The devil should have horns, shouldn't he? Why doesn't he have horns? "
Oh God…
The Devil.
Chloe's gun trembled violently in her hands. She wondered what was happening before she realized that her weapon wasn't responsible here: her whole body was. She was shaking from top to bottom. She was unable to control this physical reaction, a reaction that only showed her deepest feeling that was also overwhelming her mind. A torrent of images, fragmented memories got mixed up in her mind, mixing to the powerful torrent of emotions already there. These images were both vague and as sharp as a knife in her memory put to a severe test by the anxiety that controlled more strenuously her body as time passed.
All those times, those events that had seemed insignificant if not inexplicable to her, all those coincidences, those strange phenomena she had never fully understood…
She felt her breathing quicken, soon taking the same disordered pace of the tremors running through her limbs.
He was looking at her. The devil was looking at her.
No. It was Lucifer…
Lucifer was staring at her, unmoving. As frozen as a marble statue when she simply couldn't control the shivers of her body and the pathetic sounds that began to come out of her tensed mouth.
It sounded like sobs or piercing cries like those that could come from a creature at bay.
At bay.
It was exactly how the detective felt with increased power as time passed with neither of them reacting. She should have been relieved, though. Lucifer, the devil or whatever it was didn't attack her.
Not yet.
A stroke of luck for her, right?
She could take the lead, she could save her life. And she couldn't ignore this feeling of danger. She couldn't stay there, at the mercy of-… of-…
Chloe tried to take a deep breath, a hoarse cry once again coming out of her mouth as she removed somehow the trigger guard and pointed her gun in front of her. It was a miracle she could still firmly held it with these tremors and the sweat covering her hands. Lucifer froze even more, if that was possible, his hand tensing around the towel soaked in blood that he hadn't dropped since. Something came to life inside his dark irises, something that didn't calm the detective. She didn't stop for a second to threaten him with her gun, ready to open fire and yet… unable to go for it.
Her finger was right there, on the trigger, ready to kill this threat.
But nothing happened.
Only the disturbing continuity of this distress that overwhelmed every part of her body and mind.
She had to shoot. There was no other choice, was there?
The Devil… He was right here, in front of her.
She couldn't help but protect her life. Her soul.
Slowly and still staring at the young woman, Lucifer began to raise his arms. Another plaintive cry escaped from Chloe's mouth, fear clutching her heart as soon as he moved, even if he wasn't aggressive towards her. Lucifer stopped moving for a moment when he heard her, hesitant, before keeping moving more slowly. Hands in the air and still holding the towel covered with blood, he gave her a forced smile.
" Come on, Detective. It's me… Lucifer, your partner. You're not really going to shoot me, are you? "
Her partner.
No. Of course not. She would never think to threaten her partner like this but it wasn't-…
Lucifer was her partner. Lucifer. The devil. The Lord of Hell who stupidly hid his wings in his closet was her partner for almost two years now. He helped her to solve homicides and saved her life many times.
She had to shoot. But she couldn't do it. Not because the fear petrified her limbs but because she just couldn't think. She couldn't shoot at Lucifer. Not her friend, her partner. Her friend who had been telling her the truth all this time while she hadn't believed a single word from him until today.
Her friend who was the devil.
She couldn't act or think coherently. Not with all these new upsetting facts that assailed her from all sides. Even less with Lucifer who was staring at her without saying another word, waiting almost too calmly for his death sentence.
It was too much.
Too much.
She was teaming up with the devil. The devil wasn't a myth, even less God and all the rest. She-…
The detective started sharply, hearing a muffled noise in front of her, her eyes widening in misunderstanding as she saw her gun on the ground between Lucifer and her.
When had she dropped it? She didn't remember dropping her gun.
Chloe was surprised to not being able to move, except for the violent tremors along her body. She felt a kind of vise hold her chest tightly as she tried to breathe in. Her chest rose quickly in search of air but nothing came. Just that sharp, panicked whistling that filled the bedroom; whistling coming from her. Chloe placed a hand on her chest, almost tearing the fabric off as the air was still missing inside her lungs.
What was going on?
She couldn't breathe. She tried to move again, shaking her head as vague images overwhelmed her mind. It was as if her whole life passed with a dizzying speed before her eyes.
No. Not her life.
Her partnership, her first meeting with Lucifer, all these times, all these talks…
" I mean… Despise your proclaimed revulsion, you can't deny that there's a connection between us. "
" There was blood all over you. You should be dead! "
" I've tried to be honest with you but-… "
She no longer felt her body, just sharp tingling on her skin, along her nerves, a stuffy heat adding to all these sensations. She had to breathe. Just one inhalation to relief her body and mind. One single inhalation. Her chest kept rising without any convincing results, Chloe's panicked cries covering her partner's voice.
Was he talking to her?
She couldn't tell. She could only hear her distraught heartbeats intimately linked to the more verbal expression of her current distress.
" You can't understand, Detective. And you never will! "
Why was the room moving like this?
Without knowing how or why, Lucifer was at her side, supporting her with one arm around her shoulders. Why was he helping her? She had threatened him with her gun. And why wasn't she scared to see him so close to her right now?
Lucifer was the devil.
She should have screamed, she should have struggled.
He was the devil. The devil who was supporting her and carrying her with an unexpected gentleness into the living room. At least she thought it was the living room. Her sight was beginning to failing her like everything else. She thought hearing Lucifer's stifled voice as he helped her sit on the big couch she had skirted before. Chloe couldn't understand what he was trying to tell her. She couldn't focus.
She needed air.
" Your father kidnapped you? "
" Oh no, not Him personally. God never gets His own hands dirty, does He? "
Air.
The tingling and the sensation of heat increased in her limbs and along her sweaty temples, her eyes looking at the devil before her without really seeing him. The Lord of Hell knelt before her, trying to talk to her, almost screaming to be heard by the prostrate woman on the couch.
He was wasting his breath.
She couldn't hear him. Where was the point of hearing him?
She just wanted to breathe.
Lucifer's features became fuzzier and darker as the detective tirelessly tried to fill her lungs with air. It appeared to her that the confused intonation swallowed by darkness seemed almost frightened. This information didn't stick with her certainties.
The devil couldn't be scared of the dark, could he?
What was he so afraid of, then?
-xXx-
Chloe slowly woke up to the world around her as her breathing was brushing her hand. She didn't open her eyes immediately, just feeling at first.
Feeling her breathing along her palm that was instinctively moving with its regular touch. Her loose hair surrounding her face, spread on the cushion. The blanket that covered her lying body.
It felt good.
Safe.
The detective opened her eyes, frowning when she recognized the couch in which she was lying so comfortably. She moved her hand, hitherto on the cushion, stroking briefly the texture of the backrest, wondering why she had been sleeping on her partner's expensive couch.
What had happened to her? Why was she here?
Her questions came in her tired mind as quickly as their answers meddling in this overwhelming wake. Her hand tensed on the fabric as she remembered the latest events, her breathing now looking more like a gust than a breeze.
Lucifer had wings.
Angel's wings.
They were real. Very very real and unquestionable. As unquestionable as the identity she had stubbornly denied him for the duration of their partnership.
Lucifer was the devil.
The one and only devil.
The devil…
Her body tensed significantly under the blanket, not because of the cold but because of apprehension waiting for her again in the shadows. It seemed much more manageable than before, though. good as bad news. Good because she could deal with this news more serenely. Bad because she could now deal with this news. Being in shock seemed preferable to the rest in this situation. Chloe had many questions, many fears, so many things to clarify; but clarifying them could be more difficult to bear than anything else. She had mixed feelings about this. She felt torn between fear and curiosity. Drawn in two opposed directions : run away or rush into the white rabbit hole – or into the devil's cave, in that case – without going backwards.
She heard a vague noise and looked discreetly towards the balcony plunged into darkness, the penthouse not lightning very much this part of the place. Her breathing quickened and her heart missed a beat without any reason as she saw her partner's profile partially swallowed by the dark night. She didn't make a move or say a word to him, worried and not at all ready for this. She wasn't ready yet to face his gaze, to face all the rest. Fortunately for her, Lucifer didn't seem to notice she was awake. Chloe kept gazing at him discreetly, finding in this unknow observation a certain comfort as for the new turn in their relationship. Knowing that she had before her an immortal being and the Lord of Hell, she only saw a tensed man talking to someone on the phone.
Something ordinary in the extraordinary.
" No ", he said. " She hadn't woken up yet. You told me she would be fine, Doctor! "
Doctor?
Was it Linda?
" It's all for the best, anyway… ", he kept talking more gently, leaning against the barrier and turning his back to her. " I bloody don't know what I could tell her when she'll wake up, if she takes the time to listen to me before running off. "
He stopped talking, listening absent-mindedly to his therapist's advice. An advice that didn't convince him, whatever she told him, Lucifer letting out a bitter laugh a short time after.
" Doctor, your faith in mankind is truly praiseworthy and adorably naïve but I'm more realistic! She was going to shoot me! She wanted to kill me, Linda! I know, I know : I shouldn't be so surprised by her reaction – I'm the devil, after all – but… I thought she-… she would-… "
Chloe couldn't see his face but she could easily imagine his features tensed by emotion that he rarely allowed himself to show. She felt bad to have disappointed him by reacting so violently, although this reaction was quite logical. There was a lingering sense of déjà vu. A similar situation with reverse reactions, similar to their talk in the lab at the precinct. He, confused and she, hurt far beyond that what she would have liked by what she thought being another joke from him.
She had hurt him, too.
" I know, Doctor. ", he continued as Chloe sat up slowly on the couch. " It's normal, I must give her some time to calmly deal with the situation, yada yada yada… ", he repeated with a hardly contained irritation.
Giving her some time.
Yes, she would have needed some time. She looked briefly at the elevator doors a few feet away. She could actually tell him she needed some time to think about this and leave. Postpone a new confrontation with Lucifer and all the supernatural background of his life in this old world. Postpone her own decisions about him. About them.
Asking more time.
It was the simplest solution. The easiest.
But nothing was. It had never been easy between them, whether she knew his real identity or not. She would have liked to leave but that decision didn't sound…right.
It wasn't right.
The detective gently squeezed the blanket with one hand and sat cross-legged on the couch, struggling fiercely against her instinct of self-preservation. Struggling against that fear turning her blood to ice, that fear that screamed her to run to the elevator without turning back. Leave this place and never come back again. If she chose this option… she would never come back. She knew it. Let the fear win meant to ruin all her chances to come back in this penthouse one day.
She couldn't do this.
She didn't want to.
" I'm afraid I must shorten our talk. Some things require my attention before she wakes up… Good night, Linda. "
Chloe tensed when she heard this, listening to her only chance of escape fading into the night.
No more going backwards.
She gulped and stared silently Lucifer's profile leaning against the barrier, also silent in the surrounding darkness. He finally loosened his hold around the glass structure, turning to her. He walked slowly, unaware of the young woman's gaze on him, rubbing the back of his neck. The dim light inside the penthouse allowed her to better distinguish his tired features, his gaze stubbornly looking at the ground. Refusing also to face what awaited them both in the moment that would follow.
Then came that moment when their eyes met.
A quiet moment.
A moment during which they both wondered what would be the next reaction, the first word from the other.
One again, Lucifer seemed frozen on the spot, his chest barely lifting under his crumpled white shirt. Chloe noticed in a corner of her mind - a tiny corner not being caught in an impetuous storm of thoughts and fears – that she hadn't seen him as disheveled in his outfit since the investigation about this zombie wedding. His shirttails out of his pants, the creasing of the expensive fabric, the top of the shirt open on his abnormally pale skin and the sleeves rolled up to the elbows: all these banal elements increased together her partner's confused expression.
A feeling she shared, of course.
He remained silent near the balcony he had just left, not daring to come further. He hesitated for long seconds before deciding to speak to her in a falsely happy tone:
" Detective. I-… I'm glad to finally see you awake. You've slept long enough to start worrying me about your mental and physical health after this feathery discovery, but it seems that everything is for the best. "
He forced himself to give her a smile, continuing this endless stream of words and trying not to look directly her in the eye.
" I took the liberty of letting you rest on my couch. This isn't the most comfortable option, but my bedroom seemed… a really bad idea given the circumstances. "
" Lucifer… ", she murmured finally.
He kept talking again, pretending not to hear her or simply not hearing her at all over his endless speech, which was really useless, that he was trying to say to avoid the expression of other more realistic words certainly much more painful to hear.
" In case you need your service weapon,… ", he said quickly, waving his hand to the bar. "…what I can understand, of course – who wouldn't want to protect his life while I'm here, right? -, it's on the bar near the elevator. So, you can take it quickly before leaving. I ca-… "
" Lucifer! ", shouted the detective with a strong and more confident voice.
He stopped talking at last, having no other choice than looking her in the eye. The intrinsic purpose of this uninterrupted speech was, ironically, much more eloquent by the simple connection of their gaze. Lucifer dreaded greatly his partner's reaction now that she was fully recovered. It was therefore easier to push her gently towards the exit than that she did this to him.
She could understand that.
A common reflex of defense that helped her, up to a certain point, to see beyond the big abnormality of their situation.
Chloe inhaled deeply before speaking in turn, trying not to break that fragile connection between them:
" I'm scared, too. And yes, it'd be so much easier for me to run away and pretend that none of this had ever happened, but-… I can't do this. I don't want to. "
" Y-You don't ? ", he repeated, confused.
" No. This-… This whole situation scares the crap out of me and-… "
She was quiet again for a moment, holding back the tears that threatened to run along her cheeks and surround her trembling lips.
" And I need to understand to make a decision. Okay? "
Lucifer stared at her for a long time, then frowning with disbelief.
" You still haven't made your decision about me? ", he asked, stunned.
Chloe nodded, still looking at him and clutching the blanket tightly with her hand to keep from shaking and sending the wrong message to Lucifer. She didn't want him to think that her fear was stronger than her reason. The detective really wanted to learn as much as possible about this part of him hitherto hidden in the shadows. She needed tangible facts, real information about all these new elements that she had so long denied on her own and also with Lucifer's help, through his admissions devoid of physical evidence.
Physical and tangible evidence was there now.
In the bedroom. In the closet.
And in front of her.
Chloe was scared. So scared. Her partner was the devil, her life wasn't as simple and decidable as she thought… Her life and that of her loved ones. She had to know if all this, if Lucifer was a real danger for Trixie. Strangely, Lucifer no longer appeared to her as an immediate source of danger for her, whether he was a divine supernatural being damned by God or not. But the world in which he was living, the beings who shared his life could be dangerous for her and her family.
It could had been already dangerous for her without her knowing anything about it.
She would have liked to be able to choose easily and make the simplest decision by running away and intimating him to stay away from her.
But, once again, it was too easy.
Lucifer seemed all the more lost with her reaction. He opened his mouth without being able to express anything else than incoherent stammering that would have been really funny in another situation than theirs. He tried to regain his composure, taking a deep breath and no more looking at her.
" Very well, Detective. I guess I can at least satisfy all your desires after this unfortunate experience… Even if they seem truly nonsensical to me. "
He was silent again, embarrassed as he had never been before in her presence. It was really odd to see him so uncomfortable in his movements, so reluctant to draw attention to him by some inappropriate comments. It must be said that she was also very far from feeling comfortable with this.
She wanted to understand but-… Where should she start? What should she say at first? What should she do?
They both seemed totally lost and at the mercy of this moment. A moment plunged into a more and more heavy silence. Lucifer finally looked at her almost shyly before showing with one hand his counter at the other end of the living room and thus, far from the detective.
" I know that a drink didn't tempt you during our last talk but I think it's essential tonight, don't you agree? ", he suggested.
" Yes… ", said the detective with a shy voice, too. " It could help a bit. "
Relieved by her answer, Lucifer hastened to join the counter while avoiding coming too close from the young woman. He skirted the little table and leaned over the bar to grab two glasses and a bottle, offering his back to her sight. Chloe then discovered what the darkness had so well hidden on the balcony. She let out a surprised exclamation as she scrutinized the white fabric covered with blood where the wounds were. The detective had almost forgotten that Lucifer was hurt, too busy to think about his diabolical nature. It was deep injuries, looked like it anyway. The blood didn't seem new and wet, the tight fabric sticking to the wounds. Lucifer straightened up with her surprised cry and looked at her with some confusion over his shoulder before following her gaze.
" Ow, right! ", he exclaimed. " It's nothing you have to worry about, Detective. It's not as bad as it looks. And this is for you…"
He gave her a glass filled of whiskey, trying to stay at a reasonable distance so as not to scare her. Chloe would have been lied if she said not to feel apprehension in his presence. She took the glass and watched as Lucifer moved quickly back to the counter, taking his own glass and drinking it down in one go before filling it again. He stood there, near the bar, absent-mindedly stroking the glass in his hands, looking from time to time at the detective still sitting cross-legged on his couch. Staying stubbornly at a good distance from her. A distance that will certainly make the situation more difficult than she wanted.
" Lucifer, come here and sit down. "
" Are you sure about this? I mean-… I wouldn't want you to feel too uncomfortable near me. ", he told her while keeping to stroke his glass nervously between his hands.
" See you as tensed as a crossbow in front of me makes me feel uncomfortable. ", replied the detective. " Come. "
He remained hesitant, looking alternatively the free space on the couch and the young woman, before taking his drink and the bottle and skirted the table again to avoid any direct touch with her. By doing so, anyone would have thought she was the dangerous person in the room and not him. Chloe knew deep in her heart that he was trying to make things a lot easier for her and she thanked him for that. Any closeness between them would certainly not help her right now. It could even engulf her meager abilities of reflection and self-control that were giving her the strength to stay in the penthouse with him.
Lucifer finally sat on the couch, keeping a reasonable distance between them. He put the bottle on the table in front of him, then taking a sip before looking at her from the corner of his eye, hesitant. Once again, Chloe didn't know if she should start or give him the floor. Many questions came to her mind but in an incomprehensible muddle.
" So, you're-…uhm… You're the-… ", she began very awkwardly.
" The devil ? ", he helped her. I am, indeed. Nothing new so far, Detective! "
" I believe you now : that's something new. ", she said, shaking her head with disbelief and then taking a long sip of alcohol to find the strength she didn't have.
" Well, what do we say in that case ? Better late than never, huh? "
She nodded, the alcohol burning her throat and momentarily preventing her from speaking, except to let out a pitiful strangled sound that, at least, had the merit of making her partner smile. He stared at her again, an obvious confusion on his face.
" Why are you still here, Detective ? ", he asked her.
She looked him in the eye, seeing only sincere interrogation. He didn't seem to be used to this kind of behavior. It wasn't surprising that all other mortal beings who had discovered his true nature hadn't reacted so well. She remembered Jimmy Barnes, among many other suspects.
" Because I know that things aren't always what they look like. ", she said, still looking him in the eye. " I need to know the truth from the lies to find out if I can still trust you, if you can still watch my back and protect my family. I can't just make my decision with our common past. You have to tell me more… And that's the least you can do for me, right? "
He looked at her without saying a word, an inscrutable look, before nodding to accept her request.
" Yes, that's the least I can do for you… The whole truth, and nothing but the truth ! ", he joked, giving her a slightly tensed smile.
She let out a nervous laugh and took another sip, more reasonable than the last one, from her glass. He emptied his in turn, filling their glass again and encouraging her to begin her detailed investigation about his supernatural and pretty much eternal life:
" So… First question? "
The detective thought for a long time, her thumb stroking her crystal glass at the same steady pace of her thoughts. She finally turned to him, a smile much less tensed beginning to appear on her lips.
" First question : do the angels really wear white dresses and a hoop on their heads? "
Lucifer gave her a surprised look and sat up on the couch, exclaiming with an outraged tone:
" Seriously, Detective? From all the things I could tell you about Heaven and Hell, it's our divine outfits that matter to you above all? Even if I'll tell you, - which I certainly won't! – how on earth could it affect your decision about me? "
" It can't but you just promised to tell me the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. "
" I did n-…", he began to protest before Chloe looked at him with her special mother's look.
He seemed to struggle inside against his word and his pride to admit the shameful wearing of dress in his former angelic profession. Chloe had of course first thought asking him about more sensitive topics like his rebellion, the apple, his fall in Hell, …
She wanted answers to those questions as well but choosing a lighter topic that intrigued her as much seemed like the best decision to make and the best starting point for this long night.
Her partner caught off guard only reinforced this certainty.
" All right, then. ", he finally gave in, annoyed. " Deal is a deal, Detective. "
-xXx-
" So, if I'm getting this right, your mother… the-… "
" The Goddess of All Creation. ", Lucifer helped her.
" Right…The whatshername Goddess had taken residence inside Charlotte Richards's body? ", recapped the detective as Lucifer nodded.
Chloe shook her head slightly, stunned, even bewildered by everything her partner had revealed to her so far.
His role as fair but cruel in Hell ordered by God, Mazikeen and Amenadiel's real identities – although the young woman suspected they both were hardly human since -, his arrival in Los Angeles, Malcolm's involvement in his brother's plan to bring him back to Hell and his death in the warehouse, …
She was surprised not yet to suffer from a stiff neck by frequently shaking her head with each new and surprising clarifications. She lifted her glass to her lips, drinking its contents for the umpteenth time before frowning.
" But if Charlotte – I mean here the true Charlotte – was dead when your…uhm… mother took her body, how could she be alive again ? Your mum is gone, isn't she? In this other dimension-… God, I can't believe I'm saying this out loud! ", she exclaimed right afterwards.
" I doubt that He'll help you, Detective. My Father has always been a pontificator and not a light in darkness, as humans have believed for eons. "
He filled her glass again, emptying their second common bottle. He straightened up, this time passing near her and not on the other side. The last hours and the alcohol helping pretty much, both had managed to relax a little and shorten more and more the careful distance that had seemed essential at the beginning. Although the content of their long talk was very original, Chloe could almost forget she had been chatting for hours with the actual devil. And that was not only due to the regular and large provision of alcohol in her glass. She was just chatting quietly with a person, after all. With a friend.
" Charlotte had indeed left this world. ", he told her, taking another bottle from his expensive collection. " But the divine abilities of my dear mother are so powerful that they have given back to our deceased lawyer her former strength in a flash. It's really convenient, don't you think? "
" Yeah, maybe. ", she agreed as Lucifer came back sitting by her side, putting the bottle on the table after filling her own glass one more time. " There's no chance your mum ever come back here, then? "
Lucifer drank in turn before vaguely shrugging.
" Well, we can't be hundred percent affirmative but the possibility that she'll come back is really negligible. I made sure to split up the elements of the Flaming Sword for good and she has no reason to do so… That's how fresh starts work; no more going backwards. "
" Do you miss her ? ", Chloe asked, leaning more comfortably against the back of the couch, Lucifer's pensive profile facing her.
He shrugged again, his forearms leaning against his thighs as he rubbed his palms against the glass. He gave a faint smile, without joy.
" We have taken very different paths a long time ago, Detective. ", he replied, feigning detachment. " And I certainly not miss her mortal plans about the Silver City and my other siblings! "
Chloe watched his profile, finding under his features everything he didn't want to say. Like the fact the he missed her. Terribly. That the idea of never seeing her again was unbearable but a necessary evil to preserve the mankind and the rest of his family.
In a way, the devil didn't look much different from the human race. The young woman was more sure about this at each new minute that passed, at each new talk between them since the beginning of the night. He wasn't that different from the man she had worked with for months. It was logical, in that Lucifer had always stayed true to himself. He had never claimed to be anyone else than the devil himself. And the devil wasn't that extraordinary. Except for his longevity, his supernatural strength, his odd mojo voodoo thing on others and his former job, of course.
Not much, then.
Aside from all this, Lucifer was just… Lucifer.
Annoying, infuriating all the time and not following rules. A man rejected by his family for questionable reasons who had got to know his mother again after eons of wrath to lose her immediately and forever.
Chloe placed her hand on his shoulder, Lucifer staring at her with stupefaction.
" I'm sorry. ", she told him, sincerely compassionate and not at all disturbed by their proximity as he seemed to be.
" Don't be, Detective. ", he reassured her, looking everywhere else but her. " As I told you ; everything is for the best. Don't you have any more existential questions in mind for me? "
" I do, but-… "
She stopped talking, her attention appealed by an odd sensation against her hand still placed against her partner's back who was awkwardly trying to change the subject. Chloe stopped looking at him to find the origin of this sensation. Something wet and thick was covering her palm. She removed her hand and looked anxiously at the red coloring that had taken her skin right there.
" What? ", Lucifer asked her, curious.
Chloe took him by the shoulders without further ado, Lucifer protesting strongly against her rude reaction while she was checking his back.
" My God, Lucifer… your back! "
" What is it? "
" You're bleeding! Look! "
He looked over his shoulder, Chloe moving aside to let him see more easily. In addition to the two deep marks already there and – according to him – not at all alarming, fresh grooves had soaked the fabric, swallowing the few white coloring that still remained on this part of his shirt. The blood running out from the wounds hadn't stopped there, also soaking the couch on which he was sitting.
" Bloody Hell ! ", Lucifer cursed. " My couch! "
" Really ? ", exclaimed the detective. " Forgot the damned couch, Lucifer! You're bleeding ! A lot! "
" I don't understand… ", he mumbled. " It has never happened since they're back. "
" They ? ", repeated the young woman, looking around her for a sheet or any other cloth to stop the bleeding that didn't seem to want to.
" Yes, my wings, Detective. Those feathery appendages you found in me bedroom, remember? ", he said by pulling on the fabric of his shirt to see the extent of the damage.
" Yes. 'Sounds familiar. ", replied Chloe. " Didn't you cut them off with Maze's help? "
" I did, but an unfortunate change occurred right after my kidnapping. It's a long story. "
" Fine. You'll have plenty of time to tell it to me while I'll take care of your wounds, then. ", said the detective as she straightened up from the couch, wiping her hands covered with blood on her black pants. " Do you have a first-aid-kit somewhere? "
" Behind the bar. ", Lucifer told her.
While Chloe was hurrying to reach the bar for the kit, her partner expressed his doubts about this basic medical care.
" There's no need to panic for this, Detective. I'm pretty sure that everything will come back to normal as soon as you won't be around to make me mortal. "
" What are you talking about? "
He hesitated, the detective's heavy look on him finally making him flinch as she placed the first-aid-kit on the counter.
" For some unknown reason, it turns out that you're not just able to resist to my compelling charms. As long as I'm staying near you, I become mortal. "
" Mortal ? ", she repeated. " But-… but how? Why? "
Lucifer tensed on the couch. She was certain that his change of behavior wasn't caused by his physical condition but caused by something else. He drank the rest of his glass and put it sharply on the table, a sudden brusqueness that worried the young woman.
" This explanation will be for another time, if you don't mind. ", he said with a cold tone she didn't know he could have. " If there is another time, of course. "
" Lucifer-… "
" Not tonight. ", he interrupted her immediately, almost imploring her with his eyes. " Please, Detective… Not tonight. "
They looked at each other without saying a word, Chloe finally nodding.
" Not tonight. ", she agreed.
Her consent immediately relaxed her partner who winced by touching one of his wounds, which also prevented the detective to think about his sudden change of behavior. She would have liked to learn more about his mortality. It was true that her ability to resist him was also intriguing, but this was all the more surprising.
How could a simple human physically weaken the Devil? How was she so special for having such power on an immortal being?
Chloe gulped and patted the seat at the corner of the bar.
" Come here and sit down. And don't arguing! "
Lucifer, who was about to protest as usual, quickly closed his mouth to replace his long verbal complaints with a quite eloquent sigh. He straightened up, once again cursing at the blood that stained his precious couch, and obediently joined his partner. He sat on the seat while Chloe was searching through the kit what she needed.
" Take off your shirt. "
" Detective! ", Lucifer exclaimed, looking over his shoulder. " Are you sure it's the time for taking advantage of my perfect body? "
" Lucifer… Take. Off. Your. Shirt. "
" Fine, fine, fine ! ", he gave in grumpily, which put a smile on her face.
She waited until he unbuttoned the front of his shirt and then helped him to slide the fabric as gently as possible along his shoulders. He tensed a little when she had to draw the fabric more frankly at the level of the two ample wounds between his shoulder blades but didn't protest. With the shirt removed and left on the floor next to them, Chloe could now better realize the extent of his wounds. It was the first time since she had come here to talk to him that she could watch closely what she only seen quickly in the mirror. The deeply cur flesh and blood running along Lucifer's pale skin in regular furrows made her feel sick. The detective could barely imagine the pain he felt.
She took the pack and began to make some pressure on the both marks. Lucifer flinched sharply at her touch and she hastened to apologize.
" Sorry… I need to stop the bleeding. Tell me your long story. ", she asked to distract him from the pain.
" Where do I begin? Do you remember my call the night my mother left this world? "
" Yes. You said you wanted to tell me the truth about you. "
" I did, yes. You were right. I couldn't continue like this, keeping you away by hiding a part of the truth. I didn't want to lie to you, which I hate and usually don't, as you know. "
" I know. ", she reassured him, both looking at each other.
" I remember walking in the parking lot and then… I woke up somewhere else. ", he continued.
" In the desert? ", Chloe asked, checking the wounds under the packs before wiping the blood along his back.
" Such an horrible place to let someone die, Detective! And I'll never understand why the Sinnerman needed so much to take my shirt and shoes with him… This is bloody insane! "
" You still think that the Sinnerman is behind your kidnapping? "
" Well, for now. I haven't found any other clue that would tell otherwise and my Dad has always used some subordinates to fulfill His divine orders. "
" Wait… ", Chloe interrupted him, confused. " Your Dad? Why would God do this to you? "
Lucifer answered to her by a resigned sigh, this question had probably crossed his mind many times since his kidnapping without getting a clear and passable answer to it. She could feel his frustration tingle under his skin as she was cleaning the rest of the blood in his lower back. Of course, Lucifer had always accused his father as soon as an unfortunate event happened to him, even before she knew the truth about him. God had always been responsible for his misfortunes, according to him. And Chloe could hardly discredit his opinion, not totally, at least. God had cast him out from Heaven and had let many other horrid things happen without moving an inch.
Lucifer had immediately accused his dad after his kidnapping, she remembered this, also remembering her own reaction that she regretted tonight.
" There's only Him to do this. ", her partner said vehemently. " He knew I would categorically refuse to follow His orders! He knew I wouldn't want my wings again, so He imposed me His will, as always! "
" He gave you your wings back? "
" He did. And I might well cut them off again and again, I can't get rid of them… it's like whack-a-mole ! 'Not in a fun way. "
The detective stopped bandaging his wounded back and faced him, her eyes wide with fear.
" How many? ", she asked directly.
" How many what ? ", repeated Lucifer, puzzled.
" How many times have you cut them off since their return? "
He pondered for a long time, which didn't reassure the young woman.
" Well, with tonight… ", he thought aloud. " I don't know, maybe ten or twelve times? Why does it matter, Detective? "
" Why?! Lucifer, what's you're doing is self-mutilation ! "
He rolled his eyes, sighing again annoyingly.
" I know, I know. Linda thinks the same about this but-… "
" But what, Lucifer?! ", exclaimed Chloe, also annoyed by his indifference and frivolity. " This is serious! I know you're immortal but you feel pain like we do, don't you? You are willingly harming yourself and-…! "
She stopped talking, taking a deep breath to calm herself down.
She knew Lucifer well enough and was therefore not so surprised by his reaction, but his stubbornness to mutilate himself tirelessly was horrible for her to only imagine. Devil or not, she couldn't bear the idea that he regularly harms himself not to have keep his wings.
They were just wings.
These wings belonged to him. They had always belonged to him.
" I don't understand… Why are you keeping doing this to yourself? "
Lucifer stood up abruptly from his seat, which tipped over the ground behind him and surprised the detective who jumped slightly. He seemed enraged, his fists clenched and his features tensed with the rage inside him. She felt no fear, however, about her own safety. Why would she have been afraid of him?
" Because this is not what I want ! ", he shouted as an answer.
Breathing noisily with his anger, he moved away from her and stopped not far from the couch. He turned to Chloe, who was stayed near the bar, quiet.
" Does it bloody matter to someone?! No, of course it doesn't! Why care about this, right? I'm just the devil! What I want doesn't count in His mysterious plans! I'm just a pawn for Him! I will not be manipulated again, Detective! "
" Are you sure that's what He's trying to do here? "
He let out a mocking exclamation and gently shook his head.
" I know my Dad since the Beginning of Time, Detective… ", he smiled wearily. " That's what He's doing. "
" And I do know parents. ", Chloe replied calmly. " I'm a mother, Lucifer. Even if your father is God with capital G… It doesn't change the fact that He's still a parent. "
She approached him, Lucifer being silent and looking stubbornly towards the balcony. She placed her hand on his forearm, her partner turning to her reluctantly. Chloe shivered slightly with the fresh air of the evening, Lucifer seeming not disturbed by the cool breeze from the balcony even if he was shirtless.
" You know I love Trixie but I can't say yes to all her desires. That's not how things work. "
" What do you mean? "
" Being a parent means making sure that your child has all the help he need to move forward. And satisfy her slightest desires isn't part of it. Doing what's best for your child, it doesn't always make them happy, okay? You don't want your wings, but your Dad may have thought they would be useful to you… "
" How could they be useful to me, Detective? ", replied Lucifer.
" You said this Sinnerman is involved somehow to what happens to you… It would be surprising by the way that your Father uses a murderer to get what He wants. He's Omniscient, isn't He? So, He knew you'd have to fight stronger than you – which is very likely, I mean, this man managed to kidnap you easily – and that you'd need your wings to overcome him. ", she thought out loud. " I don't think God is trying to manipulate you again. He just gave you what you needed, not what you wanted, like every parent. "
" Even if you're right about this, He could at least ask me first! "
" You would agree He helps you? ", asked the young woman, both already knowing the answer to this question.
Lucifer was tempted to reply something but didn't, well aware that the detective was making a point and a good one at that. His body relaxed under her palm and he looked towards the balcony to avoid his partner's perceptive gaze.
" No. ", he muttered. " Probably not. But-… "
" I know. We can't prove it. All I'm asking you until we'll sure of it is that you stop this. Stop hurting yourself. Please… "
He hesitated, scrutinizing the detective's face without a word as she could easily see his reason fight against his equally strong desire through his eyes. Chloe felt his surrender just as he sighed deeply.
" All right, then. You have my word, Detective. It became bloody messy and particularly exhausting, anyway. "
Relieved, Chloe released his arm and smiled more frankly.
" Good. It'd be a shame if you couldn't come with me on our next case with your condition. "
" Our next case? ", he was surprised.
" Well, yes. Why? You're busy? "
" I'm not, but I thought-… I thought that you-… ", Lucifer stammered, frowning. " You still want me by your side? "
This possibility seemed impossible for him, but not for Chloe.
" Of course, I do. I need my partner. I want you by my side, Lucifer. ", she said, taking his hand in hers.
She hoped to make him understand by this touch, if not with her words, her desire to continue their partnership and their friendship with much stronger basis than before. She still feared some parts of his life, of course. Those she had learned tonight, like those that were still unknown to her. She still had many gray areas to clarify like why Lucifer had rejected her or why she was making him mortal.
An endless source of fear that wouldn't dry up as quickly as she wished.
But she could handle it.
She was strong enough for that. And having Lucifer with her to protect her strengthened her resolution to head on that fear.
Together.
" I trust you. ", said the detective.
Lucifer had then a reaction she didn't expect at all. He neither, apparently. Right after saying out loud her will to continue their partnership, two huge, bright wings suddenly arose from Lucifer's back, one of the ends hitting the bottle on the table that smashed to pieces on the floor near them. Chloe jumped and let go of Lucifer's hand as he looked over his shoulder.
" Bloody Hell ! ", he cursed, strongly annoyed. " How many times will they pop like this again?! My apologies for this terrible timing, Detective. "
His apologies were, however, covered by the detective's hysterical laugh who was unable to control herself. She knew she should have been frozen with bliss by seeing the undisputable beauty of his wings, that she should have tirelessly gasped in admiration for their perfection, for the light they were given; warming up the whole room. She should have done all this, but Lucifer's furious expression and the possible cause of their sudden appearance didn't help her at all.
" Are you all right? ", Lucifer asked, his wings rising behind him as he moved.
Chloe managed to catch her breath after a few seconds, telling him somehow:
" I…-'m fine! It's j-…just…I didn't know that you were a… premature one! "
Lucifer took offense of her words, rising up his chest and his wings to physically express discontent, like a white and glowing peacock. Which didn't help Chloe to stop laughing, keeping doing so as her partner tried to reply:
" These feathery nuisances have absolutely nothing to do with my amazing abilities, Detective! "
Chloe was only half-listening what he was saying.
The words didn't matter.
All that mattered was that she and Lucifer stayed together.
That was what they both needed.
More important than that; it was what they wanted.
THE END
Author's notes:
The end... for now.
Actually, I want to write other one-shots following this one. Some talks, good or bad situation between them. I don't know when I'll publish the next story yet, but the idea is already here. It won't take long ! I hope!
Let a little review (or a big one) if you liked it ! ;)
Bye bye !