Lucifer looked up at the sky and cursed loudly.
"Bloody Hell."
He decided to walk through the city of angels.
He almost revealed himself to Chloe. His true self. His charred burnt scary face. Yes, scary. Atleast for humans. His face and wings have always been a conversation stopper for humans. But...Why did he feel like she was...she was scared of him all at once? Because he yelled at her? No way...She's stronger than that...Oh no...The eyes...His eyes...What if his eyes flickered red? What if Chloe is now spooked out because of his red flashy eyes? No...No...No, no, no, no...Can't be...She would probably have fainted...She would have run away...But she didn't...Her face screamed sympathy...Not fear...No...His eyes wouldn't just flicker red over an altercation...She wouldn't have seen them...She couldn't have...
He uttered a sigh of disgust at his miserable state. The Devil was sad and pathetic and miserable. Why was he sad again? Oh, because the one person he actually cared for fell for the world's first murderer instead of choosing the Devil. Simple as that. He was maybe even a little jealous; now that would explain the feeling of a fat man sitting on his chest, and not in the fun way. But most of all, he felt dejected. He'd had many chances. But he'd screwed up. Screwing things up was all he could seem to be able to do. Metaphorically and literally.
But he himself chose this. He had ended their blooming relationship or whatever it was by running off to Vegas. By "chickening out" as Linda would say.
Oh...What a brilliant idea! This is exactly the type of situation where he needs a therapist! Why didn't he think of her?
Or...Or would it be a bad idea? He would have to come clean with her...Let down his walls...He wasn't willing to do that...He was Never willing to do that...Bad idea then.
He was woken up from his thoughts by his phone.
Ugh, just when he needed some alone time.
He saw the label and smiled.
Hello...Speak of the me, he thought.
"Hello, Doctor..."
"Lucifer...you...you missed today's session. What happened? You were supposed to be here half an hour ago."
Oh. The Devil was also a bit forgetful.
"I...I'm sorry...Oh, it's 7 already...Ugh...I'm...I'm fine...uh.."
"Lucifer...Is everything okay? I don't think you're fine."
"I'm just not in a very good place, to be exact."
"Oh...Okay...Do you need me to come over and have a chat?"
"Thank you, Doctor...But there's no need for any of that... Everything's normal...The way it should be... I'm the Devil, remember?"
"Hmm...The Devil wouldn't be in a bad place in the first place. So I'm guessing that something's not the way it should be. I'll come over..."
"Not now...I'll meet you tomorrow...I just need some time to think...
"Okay...If you need something, call me...okay?"
"Thank you, Linda."
"Good night, Lucifer."
"Night."
This woman was a brilliant one indeed. Always had a point. Besides, she read his mind like Jedi.
Chloe had finally managed to gather her wits and get inside her house.
"Thank you, Olga...", she automatically said to the babysitter she expected to find on the couch, knitting something. But instead, she saw a particular woman in black leather.
"Maze! Uh...Hi...I thought you were out bounty hunting..." She smiled.
But Maze didn't fail to notice the weary and miserable look that was plastered on Chloe's face.
"The scumbag was easy to hunt. Not as notorious as he claimed to be."
Chloe smiled at Maze's remark. No criminal could ever escape the chains of Maze. It was almost as if she were a...a torturer...a demon...She shook off any unhealthy theories that would occupy her mind for the rest of the night...She'd had enough supernatural/unreal poppycock already. She needed to let loose for a bit.
"Thank you for looking after Trixie."
Maze's expression changed.
"Oh? Trixie's not here."
Chloe felt her heart stop.
"What?"
"Your ex came and picked her up saying he wanted to spend some time with her."
"What? Dan didn't even bother to call me...or atleast text me?"
"He said he didn't want to ruin your date."
Chloe let out a sigh and settled herself on the couch beside Maze.
"Right. Like everything isn't ruined already."
"Decker...I'm sensing something bad went down with you and your boss..." Maze leaned forward, facing her.
"No...It was fine...Until he got a message about a case. Which he didn't tell me until our date ended."
"Oh...But...That's it? You face says something else, Decker...Unless..." Maze squinted at her, "Wait...Did Lucifer happen to react to this "date" of yours?"
Wtf. How the hell did she know? She and Lucifer weren't even that close. They barely saw each other. But then again, it was Maze and Lucifer...They had a bond no one could even begin to fathom how strong was.
"Why did you ask that?" Chloe didn't have anything else to say.
"Ever since he's met you, and as I've been repeatedly telling him, he's changed. Softened, maybe. And not to mention his big-ass angelic/devilish crush on you...", She immediately cursed herself... Lucifer would literally kill her if he knew what she just said.
"And...every woman he's never slept with. It's not a very long list though."
"Yeah, I'm the only one in it, aren't I?"
"Yep. And Charlotte Richards. And Ellen. Although he would never even think about sleeping with Charlotte Richards...Or maybe even Ellen. She's like a sister to him."
"I'm sorry, who? Who's Ellen?"
"What? That crazy nerdy lab tech."
"Oh...Her name's Ella."
"Oh...Whatever...I couldn't care less...See, Decker...All I'm saying is that whatever Lucifer does... Wherever he disappears...He ALWAYS comes around sooner or later...ALWAYS. And coming from a demon who's been his protector for eons, I'd say you should believe me."
"Yeah, right...But I do get the gist of what you're saying..."
"You really need a drink. Thank Hell I bought wine."
"Oh... That's...That's very thoughtful of you, Maze...Thank you.."
She watched her pour the drink into two glasses.
"If you don't mind my asking, what is the deal with you two anyways?"
She had to find out Lucifer's deal. And inorder to do that she also had to understand his most reliable friend. Demon. Whatever.
"I'm his demon...Or atleast...I was...Until he retired and I did too...a long time ago..."
"Let me get this straight...You were his bodyguard."
"That's one way to put it."
"Why would he need a bodyguard?
Many would blindly admit he's stronger than a wrestling champion."
"And lazy too. Why would he have to spend his energy when there was a perfectly capable demon who could do that for him? So...He created me. So that he could just do his business...That is...rule hell...And I would save his ass everytime he screwed up."
Maze looked hurt. Maybe there was something even deeper to Maze and her relationship with Lucifer than she'd ever thought.
Chloe sipped her wine and savoured the taste. After a whole silent minute, she said, "Um...I'm sorry...But...Did he treat you like a slave?" Chloe felt disgusted and shocked at the thought.
"More like a willing servant."
"YOU? You let him take control of you? You seem like the one to favour being in control."
"Who said I didn't have any control? I was glad to be his protector at that time...It was a privilege only really lucky demons got. And besides...Lucifer is the most truthful and honorable boss one would ever get..."
Right...The Devil was the best boss there ever was. Sure, she could get past that.
Chloe knew Maze would never stop with all the metaphors. So she decided to play along for a bit. Maybe that would help her understand things better.
"Oh? So there were other demons?"
"Only millions. We were all trained to torture souls that sinned. And once I was practicing on Abel."
Right, Chloe thought, Abel was in hell. Good to know. But why would he be in hell? His brother was the killer...Wherever was Cain? She began to realize she'd had too much wine.
"And?" she probed.
"Are you sure you wanna hear this?"
"Yes, I'm sure...And?"
"And Lucifer saw me. He was delegating as usual. That was the first time I'd met him. It was really an honor to meet the Lord of Hell at that time, especially if you were a devoted demon. Which I was. He was impressed by my torturing skills. He instantly liked me and adopted me as his personal demon/bodyguard. He even gave me total freedom of how I could torture those evil souls."
Chloe saw an unusual glow on Maze's face that appeared whenever she talked about her previous job as a "torturer" in hell.
"No offense, but...Isn't the Devil and demons and everything related to Hell supposed to be evil incarnate? Is evil supposed to punish evil? How does that work? Although I could never fathom the thought of you or Lucifer being evil incarnate."
Maze patted her shoulder after laughing hard for a long minute.
"Evil isn't even remotely connected to Lucifer. Hell, he was forced to do this job. By that bastard dad of his. And for the record.." Maze's face toughened, "The Devil isn't evil. He punishes evil."
"Looks like you still adore him."
"I don't adore him."
"Maze...Come clean with me...There's nothing to be ashamed of...You still value him as a close friend, don't you?"
Maze looked down and let out a sigh.
"He's the closest I'll ever get to having a family."
Chloe felt deeply sad and happy for Maze at the same time. So what if Maze was a loner? Lucifer would always be there by her side. Like a true friend. A loyal protector. She almost smiled to herself.
"And now he just doesn't care about me. I'm just...I'm just a consolation prize for him."
Chloe looked into her eyes.
"Maze...I hope you know that you can count on me with anything... We're true friends, right?"
Then a very strange thing happened. Maze gave her a warm smile.
"I know, Decker. I'd never open up like this to just anyone... I'd never thought I'd say this...But you, Trixie and Linda are my best friends. And maybe even Ellen too. I like her."
Chloe squeezed her shoulder and nodded her head reassuringly.
Maze's face changed all of a sudden.
"What the Hell? Here I am telling you my life story and I forget to ask you what happened with you today that has made you so...so pathetic? Decker, what did Lucifer say?"
"Well...I...Long story short...He found out that I was dating Pierce before I could tell him. I hesitated to tell him the truth. I lied that I was with an old friend. Because I didn't wanna deal with telling Lucifer that...That I was dating the lieutenant behind his back. He was genuinely pissed off about me lying to him. And we had a fight."
Everything flashed through her mind all of a sudden. Lucifer's hurt look. His red eyes. His pale face. His sad and scared eyes.
Chloe turned pale for a brief second.
"Decker...What has spooked you out so much?"
"Ugh...Nothing...I just...I think I was too tired...I...I must've been hallucinating."
Maze's enthusiastic face changed into one more shocked.
"What did you see?"
"It was just..."
"WHAT DID YOU SEE?"
Chloe was surprised to see Maze react like this. Like, what did she expect to hear? That he sprouted wings? Yeah right.
She decided to play cop.
"What do you think I saw?"
"Oh, many things. Lucifer, more often than not, projects out his anger or...pain...when he's left with no other choice...It's...It's a way that he uses to defend himself when he is hurt by something...Decker, I need you to tell me...What did he...What did he show you?"
What else did he have other than the red eyes? Chloe thought.
No..no...no...it was all starting to prove that Lucifer might actually be the Devil.
Chloe gulped.
"His eyes."
Maze sighed and leaned back on the sofa.
"Okay...okay...And...Did he happen to know that you saw the red eyes?"
"How...How do you know they were red?"
"There's no time for this, Chloe...Tell me! Did you...Did you freak out and try to run away?"
"I did panic...But I stayed...And...It was only for a couple of seconds...He...He then checked himself on the mirror...and...He looked totally freaked out himself. Maze...I've...I've never seen him like that before...What...uh...What really happened?"
Maze got up from the couch and made her way to the door.
"What happened was you provoked or hurt him to the point where he almost showed you his Devil face. And the fact that YOU almost saw it freaked him out. If there's one thing he fears it's you running away from him because of his true form."
She slammed the door on her way out, leaving a speechless Chloe stare at the closed door in shock.
What the Hell just happened? It can't be true! Devils, Angels, Demons, God, Heaven, Hell...None of it was real! It could never be!
Her rational mind tried to focus on the metaphorical side of it all. Apparently he had a secret he didn't want her to know...Something that he feared would scare her...And to see that nightmare almost come true scared him for good.
But what secret? And the red eyes? What was up with THAT? Sure, the whole him being the Devil thing would actually explain everything...But she didn't want to believe that...She possibly couldn't...
She dialled Lucifer's number on her phone and waited for him to pick up.
"Pick up, pick up...Don't let me go crazy like this...Please...I need answers.."
"What answers?"
A female British voice echoed through the phone. She couldn't believe her ears... They'd just had a fight and...and he was already with a woman? But...Well...He is who he is, she reminded herself.
"Um...Lucifer? Uh...Is Lucifer nearby?" She tried to stay calm.
"No. I'm afraid he can't talk to you... Who are you, human? And why are you on his emergency call list?"
"Umm...uh... I'm his work colleague/friend from the LAPD, Chloe...uh... Please tell him to call me later...I really need to talk to him...you know... After... uh... After you guys are done...Not that this is any of my business."
"Don't be preposterous. I'm not having sex with him nor will I ever...Incest is a line we just don't like to cross. He's out. He just forgot his phone here."
"What the Hell are you saying?"
"Look, lady, I don't know what your deal is...But I haven't the faintest idea where in the His arse he is. He was just here. And then he just left. Said he wanted some...space...I don't know what he's talking about...I mean...Space? This penthouse thingy is large enough... Doesn't he have enough space already? What, is he going to, like, need more space all of a sudden? Gosh, he's tough to understand sometimes. Uh, strike that, not sometimes, always. He's always been."
Gosh, this woman was unbelievable.
"He's a human being. Human beings need some space sometimes...To clear everything out. To...To move on...Or to deal with something painful."
The rude British woman laughed loudly.
"Look, woman, he's not human, I can assure you of that. But what I don't know is whether he has acquired his wings back...maybe that would explain the whole, and I quote, "Shove-your-bloody-words-up-your-bloody-arse-or-I'll-do-it-myself-I-just-need-some-bloody-space" thing." Maybe he really needs space to let his wings out."
She imitated Lucifer's voice and it sounded EXACTLY like it.
"Lucifer?", Chloe couldn't believe her ears.
"Ugh, what? I'm not Samael. And yes, I can mimick almost any voice or sound. That's kinda one of my things. Well, other than shape-shifting and being in charge of Death...Uh...Anyway, I'm his twin sister, Azrael."
Chloe was left speechless.
A twin sister.
He has a fucking twin? And he didn't bother to tell her. Yep. She was fine. Completely fine.
Wait...Samael? Is Lucifer's real name Samael?
"Uh...Azrael...Do...uh...Is..uh...Is Samael Lucifer?"
"Why, yes...uh...Detective? Detective? Is that what he calls you? How very earthly of him!"
"How did you know?"
"I saw it on the caller ID. Duh."
"Umm...Can we meet? I just wanna know more about Lucifer. After what's happened with us...I don't know what made him react the way he did...And...I feel like I'm not trying to understand him much."
"I don't think so."
"May I ask why?"
"Because then Sam would literally shove something heavy up my arse. He specifically told me NOT to interact with humans, especially, a certain detective...At first I didn't know what he was crowing about, then I realized you must be the miracle Father warned me about. But then, why should I care? I'm the Angel of Death! Of Course we can meet...uh...Dovey?"
Lucifer's family never made any sense. Ever.
But this woman was interesting. She actually began to like her.
"It's Chloe. And... We'll talk tomorrow. I'll meet you at Lucifer's... tomorrow morning. I have to talk to him too, anyway."
"Very well. Bye, Chloe...oh...And do you know where he goes when he's upset?"
"Uh...Well, he usually goes to his penthouse and most probably drinks a lot of alcohol and has sex with a lot of people. But..."
The beach! The beach! Where they had their first kiss! He must be there...He must be!
"But what, Chloe?"
"Bye, Azrael."
"Lucifer!", Maze screamed into the penthouse.
"Lucifer, where are you?"
She was genuinely worried. What if he lost his mind over what happened?
"Lucifer! It's me, Maze...Talk to me! What...What happened?"
After checking his bedroom and his bathroom and the kitchen, she finally gave up.
"Lucifer, where are you?" She almost whispered.
"Hello, Demon from Hell."
A deep voice came from behind.
She quickly turned around with her knives ready.
"Who are you?"
"It's Azrael."
Maze stared at the dark figure in shock.
"Whoa... Azrael as in...Lucifer's sister?"
"Exactly."
Azrael came near her, and she could be seen clearly, the soft light from the moon lit sky accentuating her beautiful sculpted face.
"Well...Pleasure to meet the Angel of Death." Maze said, her voice dripping with sarcasm, "Mazikeen Smith."
Azrael smiled.
She looked very much like Lucifer.
Brown eyes, dark brown hair. She was even known to have white wings EXACTLY like Lucifer's. And almost as tall as him. And beautiful.
She was exactly Lucifer, except she was a woman.
"Why are you here?"
"I could ask you the same...Azrael."
"Oh...I'm just bored. I just wanted to see my brother. It's been eons since I saw him."
Maze's grin faded.
"Yeah right. What, Daddy told you to get your blade ready so that he can have you pop down to Earth and kill Lucifer because he won't go back to Hell? Fat chance of that happening."
"No...Mazikeen...Why...Why would you think I'd kill him? He's my brother... He's my favorite brother, Samael. What makes you think I'd want to kill him?"
Azrael looked genuinely hurt.
"Because you're a pathetic Daddy's girl who does exactly as He says."
"You think I'm here because of Father? He has no part in my coming here."
"Where is Lucifer?"
"I don't know."
"What? Azrael, now is NOT the time for your stupid ass angelic pranks. I need to find him and talk to him."
"He left a little while ago... and...Why does everyone want to talk to him and not me?"
"Because you suck."
Maze strode out of the building with the air of an angry demon.
"I HATE YOU, LUCIFER!"
She pulled out her phone and found a text. From Chloe. 10 minutes ago.
"I'm heading for the beach."
Oh no no no no no...
She cursed herself and ran back into the building.
"Azrael, get your wings ready, let's go save your brother."
Chloe pulled over her car near the beach. It felt like there was an instantaneous storm like thing going on.
She got out and looked around. The air was as calm as before. But before she could really search the area, she heard a familiar voice from behind.
"Chloe, wait!"
She turned around and found Maze and a very beautiful woman, as tall as Lucifer, with an equally gracefully sculpted face and brown eyes and hair. Chloe stared at her in amazement.
"You must be Azrael. Wow. I almost thought you were Lucifer in a dress."
"Decker, let's go home. It's late."
"What? I just came here...I think Lucifer might be here. And if he is, I really wanna apologize to him. I just want to forget all this and start over again."
"Whoa...What am I missing?" Azrael looked confused.
"None of your business. Chloe, you must go. I'll talk to him."
"But I'm the reason he's upset..."
"Just go!"
"No, Maze." Chloe's expression remained stern and she walked away from the Angel and the Demon, towards the shore.
Maze looked at a puzzled Azrael and said, "Now I get why he always says Bloody Hell."
"Why do you not want her to meet him?"
"Because she shouldn't know about his wings! Lucifer was specific of that. He doesn't want her to know him for who his Dad has turned him into_An Angel. And...What if he has his wings spread or something?"
"Oh. That. Um. Maybe I can stop it from happening."
"What? What are YOU gonna-"
Azrael let loose her white glowing wings and disappeared into thin air even before Maze could finish her sentence.
Lucifer was woken up from his thoughts by the swish of wings.
"Azrael...Why are you here?...Just leave me alone."
Azrael looked at him. The Devil was sitting on the soft sand with his wings stretched out wide.
"Brother, Chloe is here. She's...oh..I can see her already..."
Lucifer didn't move.
"Quick! Hide your wings!"
"I don't want to."
"What? Look, humanity can't have proof of divinity."
"Two humans already do. And maybe even more...I don't want to hide anything from her any longer. There's no point."
"She will lose her wits."
"I can't control that. But I can't also keep her in the dark."
Azrael sighed.
"Can I show her mine too?"
"Don't be so ridiculous!"
"What? You get to do a grand reveal and I don't? It's not everyday you get such a chance." Azrael smiled at him.
"Don't. One pair of Angel wings will do plenty to drive her nuts for a whole month, so..."
"Lucifer?"
Chloe walked up to him, shooting a glance at the magnificent wings, her eyes wide, but without another word, she sat down near him.
"Azrael? How did you get here before I did?"
"I flew here."
"Oh, okay. Can you leave us alone for a minute?" She looked at her.
"Fine. Chat away." With this, Azrael walked away.
"Lucifer, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have lied to you. I know what our partnership and trust means to you and to me...And I won't ever lie to you again. Even if it's best I do."
Lucifer gazed intently into her blue eyes and gave her that usual warm smile he gave her.
"Yes, I was angry about you lying to me, but I'm past that now. I...Uh...I know you saw them. I sensed fear in your eyes."
Chloe's heart began to beat faster with every word he uttered.
"What...I'm not afraid of you, Lucifer. Because I know you won't hurt me. Ever. But I do want to know what THAT was all about. How did you manage that? You have some sort of contact lens/mood sensor that-"
"No. Those were real. My real eyes. Just like these feathery-"
"Okay, now, don't tell me these are real." She pointed at his wings. "But they are pretty great for a costume."
Lucifer chuckled and got up from the earth and shook his wings slightly.
"If they were a costume, I couldn't move them. Atleast not like this."
Chloe stared at them, in confusion.
He moved them again, and this time with more vigor, to Chloe's astonishment, Lucifer flapped his wings.
Chloe waited for him to start laughing any moment. But he remained serious.
She immediately helped herself up from the sand.
"Are...Are...No...You gotta be kidding me! I..You're some bird-human hybrid?" She stuttered, half laughing.
Lucifer chuckled.
"I believe you've heard of Angels."
Chloe shook her head in puzzlement, muttering no after no.
But when he stood there, in the moonlight, his face as calm and serious as his posture, realization crept over her, and she knew he wasn't lying all along. He really was the Devil. The Devil! Everything finally came into place. Why Lucifer hated his Dad to his very core, why he behaved the way he did, why Lucifer was who he was.
"This is...This..." She swallowed thickly.
"Detective, I won't harm you or your spawn. So, just don't be afraid...I...You don't have to be partners with me anymore...if you're not comfortable...What am I saying? Of course you aren't comfortable working with the Devil...I don't expect anything else from any human who knows my true identity, although Doctor Linda has taken it quite well..."
Chloe's eyes screamed panic to him.
"Let me guess...you must be wishing we'd never met...Anyway, my point is..."
Before he could continue his speech, Chloe put a soft finger on his lips. Lucifer eased into her touch, his expression uncertain, and his eyes nervous.
"No, Lucifer. Your point is moot."
Lucifer seemed genuinely surprised at Chloe's voice that was as calm as the light breeze blowing steadily.
"You...You aren't afraid of me?"
"Mmhmm." She shook her head.
Even though he was the actual Devil, the fact that she now knew that the Devil was not evil incarnate, and way better than most humans, eliminated any reason to be afraid of him. And the fact that he assumed that she would be afraid of him was actually sad. She could only imagine the pain he felt...the things people condemned him for.
"But...I...I don't understand, Detective..."
Chloe gave him a warm smile that put his mind to ease causing him to smile back.
"Lucifer, whoever you are, I won't be afraid of you...No matter what...You...You always have my back...And... Even though I never tell you, Lucifer, the truth is that you are the ONLY person I really trust. And you are nothing like what everybody says. I've seen evil. Evil causes pain. But you...You are nothing like evil. You are a good man. And that's all that matters to me."
Lucifer tried to fight back the tears forming in his sparkly brown eyes.
"I don't know what to say, Chloe. If there's one thing I feared, that was rejection. My father rejected me and I never thought I could ever be taken seriously again...Rejection is what made me the man I am now. And...Now...YOU have accepted me..You, who means, well, everything to me...What more could I desire?"
Chloe closed her eyes for a moment to blink out the happy/painful tears from her eyes after which she again met his gaze. She slowly leaned in and their lips met for a brief moment.
"Come on, Lucifer, let's get you home. You must be tired." Chloe smiled at him.
He returned the smile and proceeded to back away from her, preparing to retract his wings.
"No!" She almost whispered.
"Detective, are you alright?"
"Um...Yeah...Can I...uh...Can I touch them?"
"Uh...Yeah...Sure..."
He turned his back towards her and waited patiently for her to feel his wings at her heart's content.
The shiny white divine feathers were softer than the softest silk ever made. The large feathers had razor sharp edges which could cut bone like butter, just like the small feathers, which were equally sharp and beautiful.
She let out a sigh of disbelief.
"They're beautiful...Wow...Wait a minute..I...Did you REALLY have Maze cut these off? Lucifer, that's self-mutilation!" She looked horrified.
He faced her and smiled.
"Yes, well...I did have them cut off but they returned. I did it again. This time, by myself. They came back everytime I cut them off. And now I'm fed up of them."
"But why would you do that?"
"Because my Father stuck them on me! If you've read the Bible, I'm not an angel...Or at least, I wasn't, for eons...Look, Detective, I think you've had enough celestial poppycock for the night. So, let's get going, shall we?"
Chloe couldn't contain the various doubts arising in her rational mind. She had to rethink the world in terms of what she knew now.
But that could wait till the next day.
She nodded unwillingly.
"Okay, but we have a lot to talk about. Especially your twin. You didn't tell me you had a twin!"
"I have lots of siblings. It's been eons since I met many of them..."
Lucifer retracted his wings in a second.
"Lucifer, do you miss them?"
"Preposterous." He said, with a sarcastic voice, and chuckled, but she could sense nostalgia behind that chuckle.
They walked over to her car, hand in hand, satisfaction evident on both their faces.