Author's notes:

Here it is! Sorry but I rushed to finish this translation and still no beta-checking so... Mistakes here obviously. Sorry about that.

Happy reading, anyway !

SEVENTH BASEMENT

Chloe hated the rain.

She hated this steady dampness that was crashing on her skin, that was tirelessly following the curve of her cheek and, finally, that was sinking inside her ear.

She hated this.

She should have known that the weather forecast would be once more far from reality. This was not a "clear blue sky"; not to her.

If she had paid a bit more attention to this kind of detail, Chloe would never have thought to sleep outside with this endless rain that was tormenting her. Not that sleeping outside was really in her habits; that was rather occasional, if not an exception.

But then…

Why would she do this?

Another drop fell on her cheek and rolled higher than her tormented ear for once, teasing the back of her neck. Chloe shivered and slightly turned her head, her other cheek - the right one, spared until then by the rain - meeting a soft fabric beneath.

This was way beyond softness.

What was this?

It was undefinable, though. Softer than any fabric she knew and yet quite stiff beneath her skin. How could it even be both?

The detective slightly moved her cheek, and the strange fabric started a bit against her, the sensation being echoed inside the rest of her body. She guessed then that this fabric was taller than she had thought in the first place. As big as a human body, at least.

Really really odd.

Some moving blanket, perhaps?

A new drop fell on her temple and ran along the slight fold of her shut eyelid. That was just what Chloe needed to realize that it was not water at all.

Whatever it was, it was thicker than simple water.

Frowning, Chloe lifted her hand to her shut eyes to remove this liquid on her right eye. She tried not to think to the stinging pain that was burning inside her limbs, rubbing her face awkwardly for a few seconds before finally opening her eyes.

She first stared a long time at her fingers covered of a thin coat of oil; then she looked further up.

She wasn't outside, tormenting by rain.

She was far from it.

She looked at the electric wires hanging down the wall, the flickering light in the center of the smashed ceiling, its metal folded into a bumpy curve, supporting something heavy. Too heavy for it. She moved her neck in a way that let her see behind her, looking at the top of the elevator doors that were still closed.

The elevator.

Her breathing quickened as she started to remember the last events, her breath still trapped with the memory of a chilling fear.

God, they-

Coleman. The bombs and-

They fell.

Struggling to calm down, the detective blinked several times, her vision becoming blurry somehow, and she leaned on her forearm. She moaned when she felt a sharp pain growing inside her left temple and instantly moved her hand to her forehead. This oil was not the only liquid that had invaded her face, it seemed, given the large amount of blood on her palm.

She lowered her hand and was relieved to feel sensations in her whole body, numb and sore by the fall, of course; and yet still following her basic instructions - moving one of her toes, take a deep breath… She was doing well, given the situation.

How was that even possible?

This fall was-

It was…

Chloe jumped as she felt another jolt beneath her palm when she tried to straighten up a little. She looked down.

Feathers. A white wing as tall as she was.

"What the h-?"

Rudely whipping the blood that was still running along her chin with the back of her hand, the young woman followed with her gaze the end of it, stuck beneath her, to its source. She turned a little bit to her right and let out an horrified exclamation. The source was not far from her - not inside this narrow cabin - and was still on the ground. It was not its stillness that upset Chloe, but rather the state of this unknown source. The wing stuck beneath her butt was pretty getting off lightly - only enduring her weight against its sensitive feathers. The other one, on the other hand, didn't have that luck - raised like this in Lucifer's back, into an odd and unnatural angle. The end of it was driven in the metallic wall behind. Her heart beating furiously inside her chest, Chloe followed with her eyes the huge gap along the entire length of the wall and the bloodstains on the ripped open metal; some glowing feathers were still hanging up by metallic splinters.

It was like a cat that would have stuck its claws on some wallpaper, ripping it off until touching the floor.

This stupid parallel was the only thing that came to the young woman's mind who was still in shock.

She looked at the wounded wing again, a shiver running all along her spine. A lot of blood was still flowing from its gashed end, falling on the floor right behind Lucifer and along the few unarmed feathers.

She gagged, her throat still hurting from her previous screams of fear. Chloe put her hand to her mouth, closing her eyes to try to calm down. Shaking from head to toe - both from disgust and shock - she took a deep breath and opened her eyes, instantly seeing her partner's huddled body.

"Lucifer…"

He didn't react, just his left wing beneath her that was jolting from time to time, like an instinctive move not depending on its owner's consciousness.

Chloe began to lean against the metallic wall and brutally pulled her hand away from it with a cry of pain. That was boiling hot.

Ho-?

The bombs. The explosion.

The deadly heat it had released was now spread through the elevator structure. She rubbed her palm reddened with blood and this unexpected burn, getting to her feet a second time. She had to be more careful. God only knew - and that wasn't just an expression - how the cabin was still intact. She leaned on the coldest parts, startling with the slightest snap above their heads or the rain of dust stinging her eyes. However, she didn't have to walk a lot to reach Lucifer, his face resting from a few inches to the doors wrapped by the burning heat outside.

She put her fingers against his neck, looking for a pulse. He hadn't moved since she awoke in this terrible chaos around, still and nevertheless tense - unable to escape pain; whether he's unconscious or not. He flinched when she touched him, frowning but not opening his eyes. Nor even moving a little bit.

He was alive; that was great and enough for her.

"Lucifer? Can you hear me?" tried the detective, shifting her hand to his cheek.

As only answer, he uttered a slight grunt of discomfort.

"Lucifer! Wake up, come on!"

Finally, after seconds that seemed last an eternity for Chloe, Lucifer's eyelids rose slowly to let her see his dark and disoriented eyes. He quickly shut them again, though; frowning more and expressing his discontent with another grunt.

"Lucifer?"

He stared at the doors before him with growing confusion and finally noticed her presence, Chloe kneeled next to him; turning his head to give her a smile. Not big enough to reassure her, but enough to make her smile in turn.

"You do really like my name, Detective… That's flattering." he said, his voice barely audible beyond the snaps all around them.

"Are you alright?"

"I think so...I-"

Lucifer lifted his head to look around him. He instantly tensed and shut his eyes; the wing stuck in the wall had moved, too. Chloe wasn't a doctor specialized into celestial beings but she didn't have to be one to understand how much he was in pain right now.

"Rectification…" Lucifer told her then, his eyes still closed and his features tensed. "I do not think so."

"Your wing is… It's stuck. Driven in the wall" said the young woman with a shaking voice.

He moved his neck toward the wall, frowning as he tried to remember why this was happening to him - just like she did for herself before.

"Right; I forgot this tiny detail. What about you, Detective? Are you alright?" her partner asked her.

"I'm fine. Just a pounding headache."

She paused, shaking her head and frowning.

"That's a miracle we're still in one piece."

"Speak for yourself."

"Sorry." she apologized with a sheepish smile while thinking. "Wait… What-What do you mean by 'I forgot'?

He wanted to shrug, but then clenched his fists, struggling against pain once more. Each of his movements - were they light, even to breathe - was instantly followed by a tremor all around them and some instinctive spasms from his wounded wings.

That was clearly not a good sign.

"It's nothing. N-Nothing important, I assure you. I tried to use these so need-things in my back to slow down our fall and…-rotect you. At least have they been much more useful than the first time. And We are in one piece, as you said… Sort of."

Chloe looked in turn at her partner and the slashed celestial appendage; aghast by what she just heard. She could almost hear the flesh ripping and the metal yielding with a deafening crash; and this blood splashing-

"Oh God…"

"Oh, come on, Detective!" Lucifer getting annoyed and rolling his eyes. "Could you not bring Him up while I'm bloody stuck like this, please? He surely must exult on His spangled throne by seeing me using them anyway…"

Whether he was trying to distract her or not from the real problem, it worked.

"Spangled throne? Really?"

"If you only knew…" said her partner with an amused smile, then letting out another groan of pain and clenching his fists.

She stopped thinking about that throne and focused on him when she heard this barely contained pain. She looked at him; his face, his sweaty temple, white-faced and the regular pain along his lips… He, who was so much in pain, and she who-

They had fallen from so high and this explosion-

If Lucifer hadn't been here, her headache and sore muscles wouldn't be the only things she had to worry about.

"You really must stop doing that…" Chloe whispered, shaking her head, Lucifer asking her;

"Stop doing what?"

"Saving my life at the risk of yours."

"Ow. Well...My apologies, Detective. It's- quite instinctive, you know." he told her, trying to smile to her but he didn't succeed, pain getting the upper hand on him from second to second.

"Can't you make them disappear from that plan?" she asked him, showing his wings.

"Can't. I-pull it out first..."

Lucifer was noticeably growing pale and Chloe had no idea how she could help him. She noticed that the blood had been flowing from the wounds while since all the time they talked together, growing the red puddle on the ground. Chloe instinctively leaned back, afraid of just touching her partner's blood with one of her feet.

"What can I do?" she asked him, panicking. "I- I don't kno-"

Lucifer opened his eyes again and took her hand in his. She stared at him, his dark eyes gradually absorbing the panic fear she could no longer hold inside her. He gently squeezed her hand and smiled - ignoring the pain that was tormenting him.

"Everything is alright, Detective."

"Everything's alright.", she repeated without thinking, her eyes wide-opened. "Everything's alright…"

"Now…" Lucifer continued, pinching his lips with each syllable. "I need you to-... release my wing from the wall. Can you do this for me?"

Chloe took a deep breath and nodded, not breaking eye contact for a moment.

"Yes, I think I can."

"Lovely." he smiled and finally let go of her hand.

She nodded once again, almost immediately regretting that movement when she suddenly felt dizzy. She stumbled, half-kneeled near Lucifer, and held herself with one hand to the wall. She barely heard her partner calling her, keeping her eyes shut to contain this shooting pain from her left temple to the back of her neck.

Clenching her fist against the wall, the detective inhaled deeply, feeling nauseous like hell.

"Detective? Chloe?"

"I'm fine…" she murmured, opening her eyes slowly, fearing further discomfort by going faster than her injury would allow her. "I'm fine, Lucifer. Just- Feeling a bit dizzy…"

She waited; inhaling and exhaling slowly while a worried devil watched her doing so. She thought on the blood on her palm and the blood that was still running along her neck to her shoulder blades.

All things considered, she wasn't in one piece either.

She couldn't see the extent of her wound and feared to see it.

Another minute passed and Chloe straightened up slowly, using the wall in the process. She didn't feel nauseous this time and was relieved about it. She stepped over Lucifer's unwounded wing, who was quietly watching her.

She didn't like a quiet Lucifer, definitely not.

She leaned against the wall as much gashed as the wing was, the burning heat inside the metal had cooled enough so that it felt just strange against her skin.

Her yes lingered on the bloodstained end of the wing - that blood that looked as human as hers - and she stepped back, uncertain.

Chloe opened her mouth, her lips trembling, and stared at Lucifer.

He turned his head as best as he could to look her back; the shade of a smile on his waxy face.

"You can do this." he reassured her before she could say anything.

He began to blink and his breathing slowed; first signs of a state she wouldn't allow him to reach without trying something. She could do this.

She had to do this.

She wouldn't let her partner bleed to death like that.

Nodding, the young woman approached her both hands near the part of it stuck in the rock outside the elevator, avoiding to touch the dislocated joint a little below. She looked at Lucifer again, still uncertain. It was not just an arm or leg to release from that wall without any more damage; she would have preferred this.

It was a wing.

An angel wing; as much beautiful as dangerous.

She had always wondered if the wings were just a common way for angels to move somewhere else, just like the walk was for human beings. Or if they were much more than that. It seemed so, judging by the sharp cut along the strong metallic wall of the elevator. From where she was standing, Chloe could now catch a glimpse of the chaos outside; the stone easily slice like butter, reinforced concrete cracked apart as far as she was able to see, higher than the elevator.

Those things were weapons.

An unpredictable weapon whose stillness totally depended on Lucifer's will who was already struggling against the welcoming doors of oblivion.

"I-will… not move…"

Chloe looked down at her partner. As exhausted as he was, she nevertheless saw that unbending will in his eyes, not being sure it was enough.

But he would never lie to her, would he?

And certainly not at the cost of her own safety. He was in pain because she came before everything else, even his own life… His pain.

She could trust this, trust him.

Lucifer was the Devil; he could endure this.

Inhaling deeply, the detective approached her hands from the end of the wing again. She placed one near the hole and the other a little above the dislocated joint, one last look at Lucifer.

"One."

"Two…"

Chloe tightened her grip around the wing and pulled it towards her with all her strengths. it didn't seem to move at first, but Chloe didn't stop pulling. Lucifer kept his word; he did not move an inch, stillness on the ground, clenching his fists.

Not a single move.

But, instead, a heartbreaking scream to which the detective nearly let go her grip.

A shower of blood splashed the top of his suit and most of his face; as the detective's who was still pulling. Fresh blood began to soak the feathers under her palms, running down her fingers and along her wrist.

She started to get weaker, losing her grip on it…

"Come on..."

"Come on!"

"Come on!"

Then she heard a noise, followed with a slight shaking beneath her fingers.

Finally, a terrible snap - like a bone breaking under pressure - echoed to her pulling, the celestial appendage beginning to surrender. Taken by surprise, Chloe fell backwards with one last bloody shower. Lucifer arched his back, also taken by surprise with violent pain and screamed louder. The young woman hit the opposite wall of her right shoulder and cried when she saw the wing hit her in turn. Moving to her human throat, totally unable to survive to a divine assault.

That contact between this deadly divinity and her tender flesh never came, though.

Chloe stared blankly at the sharp feathers, suddenly stopped in its tracks, and almost tickling her glistening skin with sweat and blood.

Stopped by a nonstandard will.

Devilish, even.

She looked down and met Lucifer's unfocused eyes, shaking from head to toe - to the end of this vengeful wing - with this will contest.

His instinct against his will.

The wing shook a little bit and abruptly vanished with a breath of air sprinkled with blood beads.

And Lucifer dropped his head to the ground, panting and blank stare. Chloe jerkily filled her lungs with air, still in shock. Shaking from head to toe, she quickly kneeled beside her partner; calling him with deep concern in her voice.

"Lucifer? Hey…"

His eyes seemed looking through her, far beyond the borders of this reality, right in front of that oblivion she feared to see him reach.

"Lucifer?"

And he saw her. She knew it as soon as he began to smile at her; as soon as he tried to, at least. She could no longer see the slightest pain on his features, and it worried her even more than his brief absence. Chloe put her hand on his cheek, squeezing his hand with the other to bring him back to her.

His smile widened as his eyelids gradually fell on the glimmer of his eyes, his big relief.

"-old you so."

His voice was barely a whisper along her skin.

"What? Told me what?"

"A Devil… of my word."

His cheek weighted lightly against her palm and his eyes gave up for oblivion, Chloe started panicking and crying again the Devil's name. Cursing with equal ardor his Father's.

TBC with... "Forgive me Father."

Author's notes:

Let a little review if you liked this story so far.

See you soon !