Hey guys!

I'm so so sorry it took me so long to update. I'm trying to do it regularly now, promise! So, here we are. I hope, you remembered Lucifer's and Chloe's talk from the last chapter. It was about pretending she was his queen and Trixie his child, to protect them from the dark side of hell. Now we're starting from there. Chloe's not very keen on the idea and expressed it in not very nice words. They're talking about family and that included of course his half-brother. I hope you don't take my words about him the wrong way.

So… as a late birthday present from me to you, chapter nine with it's 1239 words. Thanks to you lot for your support and thank to the best beta ever.

Lots of love!

Your colasun!


IX

"You're kidding!" Why would he do something like that? "Oh, my dear, it's quite the opposite." Lucifer took a good swig from his whisky, trying to look totally in control of the conversation. "That's just… just… No way are we doing this!" The look she gave him suggested to stick it where the sun didn't shine. There was a reason he had liked her that much from their first meeting after all, he remembered. "Well, as opposed as you may or may not be to the very idea to be married to me, it's just pretending." His tone was annoyed, but in truth he was hurt by her reaction. Of course he hadn't thought she would be doing loupes through the air or something, but her body language was telling him more than enough. Not that he wanted to marry her… or anyone else for that matter. The very thought… Ridiculous, right?

"Pretending? Why would we pretend to be your family? Just because you don't like your own?" Lucifer couldn't believe she would hold his family against him. First Maze, now the detective. When she realized what she had just said, she tried to paddle back. "I didn't… Lucifer… I'm sorry. It's just… You and Amenadiel are not on very good terms and what you and that demon said about Josh…" Oh, right, it's about Josh now. This dilemma was his fault anyway, but of course, she would take his side. One moment the humans flocked him on a cross, with nails through his veins and the next they were weeping for him.

"Because we called him a bastard? You may not be aware of it, but he is in fact a bastard. I'm not insulting him by stating the obvious, detective. My father had a nice quickie or two with Maria, who was, just like him, married to someone else. You didn't believe in this tale about immaculate conception, did you?" He never understood how humans could believe in something so irrational. No human has ever been conceived that way, so why would 'Jesus' be an exception? He was conceived and born like every other child and as an adult, he had had a nice young lady by his side. Why deny it?

"And I'm not holding this against that boy. He's just a child compared to me. A toddler even." After his rant he downed the rest of his liquor. Lucifer had begged his half-brother to not let their father reign his life. To free himself from this burden. Not to die such a slow and painful death. But to no avail. What had he gotten for his oh so highly appreciated sacrifice? Joseph had never been a fan of the son who didn't look an yota like him. Nobody believed his mother about what had happened to her. The people called her horrible names, but Joseph had stood by her side in good and in bad times as they say.

And all of this … for what? Angels looking down their noses on god's youngest? A goddess that despised his very existence? And last but not least the silence of the man in which name he had done it all? He walked between the worlds to occupy himself and sometimes father threw him a bone. A dream come true, Lucifer thought sarcastically.

"What about Amenadiel? Isn't he your big brother? Surly you had your fights, but he missed you after your sudden departure." Lucifer felt the urge to punch something, just so he could get it out of his system. From their first meeting at the auction, she had quite the fascination with his so called big brother. "It's not me as a person, he felt he had lost. After my fall he ordered everyone to stay put. No contact to the persona non grata. No answering my pleading cries to end me and make the pain go away. To help me. There was silence for a very very long time, detective. When I left for L. A., he had to cover for me and he absolutely hated every second of it. So he tried to get me to go back, which I refused. The oldest of all angels thought it a good idea to steal what was mine, to mess with the life I created for myself. It was him who woke coma-boy up to do his dirty work. Does this sound like some kind of a healthy relationship to you? For him I'm not more than a tool to fulfill his own desire for redemption. But do go on, detective, obviously you know him better than me." Again Lucifer wanted to sip his alcohol, but the glass was empty already. Angry he threw it against the nearest wall. Immediately a demon appeared out of nowhere, cleaned the mess as quietly as possible and vanished right away. "Should have had that in the penthouse.", he muttered to himself, while Chloe just stared after the creature.

"One good reason, Lucifer. Tell me this is a reasonable proposal." He arched an eyebrow at her. Would he have suggested it out of the blue without good reason? Did this sound like him at all? "Guests or no guests.", he answered her slowly. "They can feel your breath on the other end of hell. Hear your heartbeat and the rush of your blood. The innocence of your child is calling to them. Sooner or later, they won´t be able to control themselves any longer." A shocked expression clouded her beautiful features. "But… you said you're protecting us. You promised Trixie, Lucifer!" Didn't he know that? "You don't have to shout at me, detective. I'm perfectly able to hear you." He tried to sound annoyed, but knew he didn't sound very convincing.

"Well?" She tapped her foot impatiently after a while. "Well what? They're creatures of the dark. I made most of them, but not with kindness or empathy. You can't torture souls with these traits of character. Surely your buddy Maze told you as much. The only way all of them can accept you, is to announce you as their Queen and Beatrice as my heir. Otherwise I can't let you out of my sight." She contemplated his words. His heart was beating manically. Sure, he had imagined his insignia engraved on a golden band on Chloe's finger. And Morningstar did have a better ring to it than Decker, or father forbid, Espinoza. At least she did have the good sense not to take on the douche's name. Bad enough the child was cursed with it.

"Hopefully we will not have much time to settle down here. It might be even just a few hours. Who knows?" However, her eyes were looking unsure into his own. She was a detective after all, so she saw the flaw in her argument. "I can't say for sure how long you will stay here, detective, but what I can say for sure is, that he wouldn't have brought you here just to say hello. There's more than a mere corridor between the waiting room you were in and hell. Didn't the journey with my brother felt like days to you?" Lucifer was not interested in scaring her. He highly admired how she's taking everything in strike like it's an almost normal day at work.

"But we wouldn't really marry, would we? It's just pretending?" She bit her lip adorably.

"For now, yes."


For now they're just pretending… but the demons aren't that dumb… are they? And Lucifer can't always protect them, can he?