Get Up

Chapter Title/Song by All Good Things

(The song is really powerful. Especially for the first part of the chapter. Enjoy the read and the listening!)

The transfer between the planes with Amenadiel back then was nothing compared to the one with Lucifer now. It felt like hell had the characteristics of a living swamp entity that would do everything to hinder them from escaping its claws, putting every possible obstacle in their way and pull them backwards.

The neverending impact of noise crushed against her ears like the continuous rattle of machine guns in a warzone. It was sickening loud, adding to a nausea that built inside her from the strange feel of weightlessness she was in. She needed a point to look at that would steady her senses somehow, but when Chloe opened her eyes, she wasn't surrounded by anything real. It wasn't a form of environment that she could take in or analyze. It was surreal. Abstract. And it was scaring the shit out of her. Even more than hell's creatures and landscape had.

They travelled through a void that felt as if it was not only tearing at her physical form, but also at her very soul. As if hell tried to make sure nothing of her could leave. Swirls of black and red burned all around them, tentacles of darkness coming forth, latching onto her legs, pulling at her while imprinting in her mind the thoughts of the inevitability of their fail in escaping, planting the seed of doubt. Turning her head to Lucifer's chest once more, she forcefully pressed her eyes shut again, praying to whoever was out there and no matter if it made any sense, to let them both survive this. They hadn't come this far, hadn't endured so much, to fail now.

Despite their embrace, she was starting to slip and Lucifer had to adjust his hold on her, tightly pressing both his arms around her waist. The force of his grip was as hard as he could allow it to be, without accidentally crushing Chloe's frame. His wings relentlessly flapped against the force that tried to pull them both back to hell. It was a general pull that had always been there. It had always been strong, but never this strong. He figured it all had to do with the Styx. The river was providing a balance between the realms that wasn't a given any longer and thus hell had gotten a much stronger hold onto them, in an unpleasantly literal way.

He grunted, his wing muscles burning to a maddening point, but they had no choice. With bared teeth and covered in blood and sweat, Lucifer forced them forward, always forward, because going back to hell was not an option. Each and every single one of his wounds was tearing open by the grip hell had on him. The slash on his back, the gruesome gashes from Puriel's whip on his flank and upper thigh, the puncture wounds in his membranes, shoulders and palms, and the countless smaller cuts all over him. Everything was painful and sucking out the last fragments of physical energy his body could come up with. The only true strengths he had left were his divinity and his endless willpower. And since his divinity couldn't help him in the transfer, all he could count on was his determination to never - give - up.

Chloe's level of anxiety was rising rapidly, as their travel through whatever this was, was going on for what felt like an eternity. She had lost any sense of time, and could just wildly guess that it had at least been a full minute of complete terror, while Amenadiel's ride had felt like it had been over in a second and could be considered a joyful ride in comparison to what she experienced now.

Yesss… We're close, I can feel it… Come on... Just a little bit further… Lucifer clenched his teeth in agony, again adjusting his hold on Chloe, making sure to press her head tightly under his chin and keeping her tucked as firm against his frame as possible. Panting and groaning, he kept thrusting his wings up and down. When he felt the border in reach, he let out a pain-filled but vehement scream, forcing his body to give a last extra amount of power into his wing beats, and then, their surrounding seemed to rip apart and blinding nothingness wrapped itself around them.

A thunder rolled through the penthouse when a shimmering vortex appeared in the middle of the living room. Then a big feathery blur of white and red was spat out through the otherworldly rift which closed and disappeared right after.

Glass shattered, wood splintered and an agonizing cry of pain tore at her eardrums. Chloe flinched and groaned as she blinked and tried to gather her bearings. She took in several breaths, forcing herself to calm down from her anxiety attack, while her vision began to slowly clear up. Something shifted and trembled beneath her and all of a sudden it stopped altogether, the only thing audible being a heavy, rasping breathing.

"Lucifer?" She murmured exhausted and waited. Her heart rate immediately skyrocketed again, when she realized she was laying on top of him and he didn't react. "Lucifer?!" They apparently had crashed into his table and slid all the way back against his bar counter where they eventually came to a halt. He had wrapped himself around her body so tightly during their transition, that he took all the outer impact, shielding her from everything they had hit and it was because of this, she realized, that she didn't feel like she had every single bone broken inside of her. He shielded her. Again. Pushing herself up, she cried out a sob, seeing that Lucifer had his right wing twisted in a horrifying angle. Moving her hands over his chest and up to his cheeks, she took a hold of his head, raising it to look at him. "Lucifer!? Hey, Lucifer! Please... Look at me! Come on Lucifer… Look at me!"

His eyes were on half mast, looking glassy and right through her, although a distant smile on his lips showed up. He was heavily rasping for air and his breathing had a frightening bubbling sound accompanying it. Her foreboding was confirmed when he started to cough blood and his whole body started to shiver once again with heavy tremors. He had severe internal injuries.

A firm hand touched her at her shoulder. "Chloe. My queen, please…" a voice rang urgently.

With shock she reluctantly tore her eyes away from Lucifer and stared back at Zuriel, who had stepped up behind her.

"You said you make him mortal, correct?" His light blue eyes stared at her intently.

"I… I… " she panted, gathering her thoughts. "Y-yes… yes I… I make him vuln-" She sucked in a breath in shock, turning back to Lucifer as the realization hit her. "Oh my god!" He was bleeding, his wing looked broken, he had taken apart half of his livingrooms' furniture with the impact of his wings and back, which meant his backside was probably riddled with splinters of glass and wood, not to mention that all his torture wounds seemed to have torn open again during their travel back. He hadn't been bleeding like this in hell. But now it looked as if he was at the brink of dying in the next few minutes, if she wouldn't do something. "Oh no…. No no no no no!"

She sobbed, leaning back down to Lucifer's face, cupping his cheeks with shaky hands as she placed her forehead against his. "Lucifer… I'm so sorry… please… hold on… I'm so sorry." She took in two heavy breaths, her tears dripping down onto his cheeks. "I have to go. I need you to hold on, Lucifer. You gonna be okay." She pulled her head up and brushed her lips onto his forehead, planting a desperate kiss before she reached out to her side, grabbed a hold onto one of Lucifer's bar stools and pulled herself up. With a swaying and stumbling walk, she rushed to his elevator. Please, you have to hold on… please Lucifer…

The elevator ride seemed just as endless as everything else before. Why the fuck is everything taking so goddamn long!? Biting on her lower lip she wrapped her arms around herself, noticing just now her own look. Her blouse and jeans were soaked with blood and sweat, and covered in dirt, ash and God knows what. Yeah, damn it, God DOES know what! Her mind gave out an angry rant towards Lucifer's dad, before she ran her fingers through her hair, thinking about what to do. When the doors finally slid open, she raced outside, through the empty club and the main entrance door onto the side street. Heavily panting she stepped to the road, raising a hand towards the next cab she saw approaching. With a huge sigh of relief, she realized that her badge was still tightly attached to her jeans. When the cab slowed down, she didn't wait for it to come to a halt and jumped in, flashing her badge.

"LAPD! Drive!" she panted, as she had almost thrown herself into the backseat.

"A-Alright, ma'am. Where to?" the young driver asked nervously, frowning as he glanced at her through the rear view mirror, seeing her bloodied outfit.

"Just fucking DRIVE already!" Chloe frantically shouted, gripping onto the padding of the passenger seat in front of her, all her thoughts directed at Lucifer, desperately wishing for him to hold on until she'd be so far away from him that her effect of mortality on him would break off. What a freaking mess and heartbreaking irony. At first she had done everything to get close to him and save him and now… now she had to get away from him as fast as possible.

She quietly shut the door behind her and rested against it. Her heart was still hammering madly. This was certainly far enough away, she thought, but how was he doing? Had she been fast enough to get away from him to not bleed to death? The sound of his pained groans and exhausted cries during their ascend still rang in her ears like a sickening echo, adding to the cracking and smashing of his body against his furniture, maltreating his back and wings yet again in a seemingly endless cascade of misery and torture. She could still hear the rasping breaths he took as his lungs sounded to give in to the excruciating pain from the wounds he carried, could still feel his heartbeat thundering, threatening to burst out of his chest. Her vision suddenly blurred and she realized she had been quietly crying.

Keep it together, Decker. He's gonna be fine. He's Lucifer Morningstar. Son and Wrath of God. He's an angel and the freaking Devil. He's gonna make it. "You better make it, Lucifer, or I'll go straight back to hell again and drag you out just to be able to shoot you."

With a shuddering breath, she combed with her fingers through her hair, wiped her tears away and focused on her surrounding. Her home. She needed some quiet. Some safety. Some comfort. Someone to sooth her nerves that felt on fire. Someone to tell her it's all gonna be okay and she could let herself fall and believe. Her eyes roamed over the sideboard and her lips began to tremble again from the overload of emotions, seeing a picture of her Dad, proudly lifting her little self up. Yes, she desperately felt like she could use some comfort from her Dad now. The knowledge of her father being most certainly in heaven, which existed for real, gave her a gentle soothing brush over her soul. I know you're with me somehow, dad… And if you were here, you'd tell me, things are going to be okay. That I just gotta take one step after another. Baby steps. Gaining back stability and ground. She took a deep breath. Then another. And another, continuing until the aching in her heart ceased and she could hold herself together again. One step after another.

Walking into the living room, Chloe took in the remains of what seemed to have been an amazing afternoon for Trixie. The floor was covered with ropes, black robe-like clothes and all kinds of ninja toy weapons: Throwing stars, gloves with claws, tiny daggers and a bow. She sighed, shaking her head with an eyeroll. Well, at least Maze figured to not give her any real weapons at hand. She glanced towards the clock. What the heck? It had been just about one and a half hours since Lucifer and I had been to Tate Langdon's place? Holy freaking banana pie! How long was it in hell? Lucifer had been there for about 20 hours, so… that would be about two days in hell in total? Her head spun for a moment and she poured herself a glass of water, downing it in one go, and then another one right after. Okay, so… basically I wasn't gone for a long time, meaning that it's not even been two hours since I called for Maze to go after this tattoo Langdon guy. So she is still away, probably following some weird traces nobody else could pick up...

She crouched, grabbed a bag Maze had left behind, and began to gather all the equipment. Cleaning up was after all also supposed to be good for your mind, wasn't it? At least it let her mind focus on something else than… hell. And Lucifer bleeding out in his penthouse. Fuck. Okay… cleaning up… She let out a quiet snort, when she picked up the toy weapons, imagining Trixie in full ninja display. She could easily see how Maze was a great role model when it came to her daughter becoming a fierce fighter. But Chloe was glad that she herself was there to give Trixie a better feeling of justice and gentleness. Maze was still rather new to the legal system and rules of humanity, and emotions were a completely different galaxy for her to understand.

"Ouch!" She flinched and dropped one of the toys as a stinging pain stung in her right hand's palm. Damn it, that was sharp - Wait, what?! Shocked her eyes fixed on the small dagger, a thin shiny edge on both sides shimmering inauspiciously. A sharp knife? For my daughter to play with!? Her eyes narrowed. Maze… I'm going to kill you… Angry and annoyed, but on top of all massively exhausted, she put the sharp knife away and used a clean kitchen towel as a quick bandage.

Shaking her head she decided to just call it a night. She desperately needed a shower and hit the pillow for at least six hours, she figured. Tiredly she pulled herself upstairs and took a short glimpse into Trixie's room. There's my little monkey, looking all happily exhausted, hugging her ninja barbie. Oh, how much she wanted to walk inside and hug her, hold her for dear life. But she was vast asleep. Peaceful. And she herself was still wearing her dirty, blood-covered clothes with one sleeve ripped off her shirt… Certainly not a nice view for a child. Sighing quietly, she retreated and leaned the door ajar before heading to the bathroom.

Breathing heavily, she rested her palms against the sink. Her skin felt hot and dry, dehydrated, really. Splashing her face with some cold water felt good, but didn't help her all too much. She got out of her clothes, put aside her service weapon and noticed she had something crackling in her pants pockets. Reaching inside she cursed. Her phone had basically been crushed. How was it possible for this day to get any worse? She briefly took a glimpse into the mirror and got the answer. Holy shit… She swallowed. Her body was still covered in bruises and bite marks, even thin cuts from Lucifer clawing at her skin when he took her, claimed her in every way. But all the marks he had left on her body were fading and healing. In addition to the reminders of that night however, she noticed fresh scratches on her knees and arms and wondered how she had gotten them. Probably some time during her visit to hell. And then of course there was the small fresh cut in her palm. Tossing aside the kitchen towel onto the pile of dirty and torn clothes, she stepped into the shower, turning on the water to a lukewarm temperature.

The water felt strange on her skin, different than how she had expected it to be. She figured, the water would feel heavenly to her exhausted body, but instead, it felt like a shower of needles. Irritated and by somewhat of an instinct, she moved the regulator to cold. Immediately her muscles relaxed, calming her inner heat that seemed to daze her mind. This was better. Much better. Even though she felt like it just helped temporarily. Having showered for a good twenty minutes she eventually snuggled into bed in an old long-sleeve and comfortable sweatpants.

Halfway covered by a set of light blankets, she rolled onto her side, staring out through the window, light tremors rushing through her. What the heck is going on? Please, please, please, I really cannot use a damn chill right now… She felt for her forehead. Yeah, certainly not good… Taking several deep breaths, she snuggled deeper into the bedsheets, curling into a ball. Her hand subconsciously reached to her neck, caressing the most valuable jewelry she had. Please be alright, Lucifer… She desperately wanted to know he was doing alright. As her phone was broken, she thought about praying to him. But it wasn't the same. She would need to direct her prayers to his angelic alter ego which he didn't like all too much and then the communication line would only work one way. She wouldn't get an answer from him. All she would be able to do, was let him know that she was fine. And thinking about that, she realized, if she were to tell him that, she would be lying. She wasn't fine. At all. She was hurt. Feverish. Exhausted. And if the dreamland would take her into its hold, she predicted sleep would give her yet another hell to go through. So she didn't pray. At least not to him.

Bloody hell, Dad! Why this never ending series of agonizing torture? Usually you're all for the heart-aching, subtle, sentimental, gut wrenching pain, and not the tormenting, gory, physical one! Can't I have my body in one piece for a change? He grunted, his vision blurry and his hearing muffled. His back and wings hurt like a bitch. When all of a sudden something warm touched his cheeks, it was a pleasant change to everything else. He swallowed thickly, wincing. Did it work? Are we back? Is… is she safe? His mind reeled back and forth, spinning and making him feel sick.

He took in a breath through his nose, but was immediately regretting the deep intake of oxygen as his insides felt on fire. He hissed and coughed, noticing that something wet was dripping from the corner of his mouth and ran down his jaw and throat. He blinked. Again. And again. It was hard to keep his eyes open. Damn it... I've never felt this tired in my whole existence…. His frame and head suddenly were being shaken by an external force, making him groan out, feeling the pain rush through all of his body. There was a ruffling and thudding sound and something higher. As his vision began to clear, he immediately smiled the moment he recognized Chloe was with him.

Continuing to blink again several times he tried his best to stay awake. Eventually his hearing cleared as well and he was able to listen to the words Chloe and Zuriel spoke towards each other, although his mind just wasn't really able to keep up. The sweet rush of vanilla closed in on his nose, when a second later Chloe leaned down to him and rested her forehead again his. He wanted to talk but instead just gasped for air, his vision threatening to collapse again to blackness.

"...so sorry…" he suddenly heard Chloe's voice, sobbing and sad, "...sorry… have to go… Lucifer..." His eyes opened in horror. What?! No! Chloe! But it was already too late. She was stumbling away from him and out of his sight. No… Chloe! Please come back! He could see Zuriel stepping to his side and crouching down next to him. The blue eyes of his brother thoughtfully scanned something to Lucifer's right. He looked hesitant. "Wha-" Lucifer tried to speak, but had to cough heavily. He swallowed several times until his throat felt okay to give it another try. "What's w-wrong?" he pressed through his teeth, panting flatly.

Zuriel's brow rose up in wonder. "The question should be 'what isn't wrong?', brother." It was strange for him to see Lucifer like this. Yes, he had seen him after his fall, but a long time had passed since then. A lot of fights had been fought, many of them had ended with the Devil barely getting out alive. But those fights had been different to what his brother and lord had gone through now. Lucifer had never before been physically, mentally and celestially weakened like this. At least not all of those things at once.

Lucifer let out a laugh that ended in a grunt. "Guess… that's… m-my luck…" Forcing a bigger amount of oxygen into his lungs, he squeezed his eyes shut, a new wave of pain shaking through him. He tensed his abdominal muscles and tried to push his palms to the ground at his sides to get into a sitting position, but a piercing agony transfixed his right backs' side. He gave in and rested back into his bar's counter again, his eyes falling shut back to half mast. Despite feeling the immense pain his body was in, he knew he was only feeling it to this intensity, because the Detective was close by. And that made his heart ache. She was close, but not with him. He couldn't see her, touch her, hear her...

Carefully Zuriel leaned in closer and reached out and behind Lucifer's shoulder.

Lucifer's eyes widened and his breathing quickened, snapping out of his thoughts. "Wh-what are y-you doing!?" His voice was anxious, but it already happened.

With a fast move, Zuriel gripped onto Lucifer's upper right wingbone and pulled, so that it's alignment was back to its natural positioning. The cracking and crunching sound from the bone and its splinters was dreadful and mixed with the guttural scream of Lucifer, as he was clutching at Zuriel's thigh, just to have something to hold onto.

"G… gaargh! You… bloody, rotten... bugger!" Lucifer grunted through gritted teeth, but strangely felt that his back, although still in pain, felt much better already.

"Sorry," the other angel murmured with a blatant shrug, to which the Devil narrowed his eyes.

He glowered at Zuriel. "Are you really though?"

For a moment both men looked at each other in wonder until Zuriel shook his head with a laugh. "You had this mad look in your eyes. I had to do something about it." Bending further in, he locked his arms beneath Lucifer's armpits and pulled him up until he was in a standing position.

Swaying, Lucifer rested against the counter with his arms, catching his breath. His wings hung semi-spread behind him, as he was too exhausted to lift or spread them and he didn't even want to think about the excruciating pain he'd be in, if he were to draw them back on the light plane. As he looked back through the room he took in the damage he had caused when he and Chloe transitioned back to earth. Bloody hell, another day of cleaning up this mess… He spotted the spawn's drawing and picked it up with a groan. It was crumbled, had small sprinkles of blood at the corner and had an overall dusty feel to it. Damn ash… He took a mental note to put it in a frame behind glass as soon as possible, so that it wouldn't end up completely destroyed, given his current losing streak. Placing it on the counter he turned to Zuriel who stepped to his side and, without a word, slung Lucifer's right arm over his shoulders, supporting him. The tension between his shoulder blades however tore at the gash on his back, making him groan out in pain.

After an agonizing walk to his bedroom, Zuriel carefully sat his lord on the edge, inspecting his back. "Your body is regenerating and repels the splinters already. And the cut will heal as well. You gonna be alright." he spoke with a deep calm voice. Both of them were aware however, that Zuriel did not address the condition of Lucifer's wings. They would need more time to heal than just a day or two. He would be able to fly, yes, certainly under quite a lot of pain. But he wasn't in a state where he could fight for all too long with them.

She's gone… he thought with a sad expression on his face, not addressing Zuriel's comment. She was far enough away so that he started healing again. He wondered if she had been running. Maybe she took a cab… to be faster. He hated it. Feeling her slip away from him, see her leave, because of his bloody mortality around her. He didn't even know if she was hurt or how she was feeling in general… if she had made it out of hell without having gone nuts.

"There it is again, brother." Zuriel muttered, looking at him with a wondering gaze.

"Hm? What is? What do you mean?" Lucifer blinked at him in confusion.

"That look in your eyes." he commented, his voice becoming softer as memories emerged in the back of his mind, from corners not only the Devil had kept his distance from. "I've seen it on you before, but that was a very long time ago. You stood at the outer edge of the Silver City. Michael held your battled body in a firm grip, his spear raised against you."

The Devil swallowed, remembering the scene in an instant, as being a celestial meant to never ever really forget anything. Even if you wanted to. You simply couldn't.

"He demanded of you to yield and apologize for your behavior… said that what you were doing would result in your ending. And then… you had this look in your eyes. You told him that your way might bring your own death or it would lead you into the light, but at least you did it your way and that you chose it for yourself." Zuriel took a long breath, analyzing Lucifer's expression. "You had a determination about what you wanted, that was leaving no room for doubts. For questions. For wonders. A determination of self-sacrifice. Admit it, brother. You rather would have wanted for Chloe to stay and you die because of it, instead of having to watch her leave so that you could survive."

"That's not… That's…" Clenching his teeth, Lucifer swallowed thickly, averting his eyes. As if the memory of his blasted, self-righteous, arrogant prick of a brother wasn't horrible enough to think back to, now Zuriel had to bring up the shattering pain of Chloe leaving him. Grinding his jaw, he took an annoyed breath. "Don't you dare think of yourself all too highly, just because you've noticed, Zuriel."

"I wouldn't dream of it." A sly smirk slipped up on the other angel's lips. Lucifer shortly joined with a brief smile of his own, not holding any grudges against him.

A moment of silence spread between them and Lucifer was glad to be able to sort his thoughts. "How long was I gone?" he suddenly mumbled to Zuriel, wondering with a frown. It had felt like an eternity. It had been especially hard for him to keep track of time, now that he had left hell for eight years. Even though he had made a couple of very brief visits, it hadn't been enough time to get accustomed to it again. And when tortured while being down there, the perception of hells time played its devious tricks on your mind, making you think, you experience something for years, while in fact it were mere hours and counting in earth time it would only have been a handful of minutes.

Zuriel sighed. "You were gone for a total of about one hour on earth." Both knew how calculations worked for hell and that this meant, that Lucifer had experienced hell for approximately two entire days. But it might as well have felt like months for him...

"Only one bloody hour!?" Lucifer exclaimed in anger and surprise. "Bloody hell, that's… that's…"

"...hell?" Zuriel suggested with yet another sigh. "Quite discouraging to hear, I imagine…"

"You have no Dad-damn idea!" he grunted back enraged. This was disastrous. He had only been gone for an hour, but his physical form had been harmed so much, that he would feel the effects of it for at least a few more days. Not only that. Chloe had literally gone through hell to find him and he wasn't sure how she was actually handling her trip. She had walked through hell's landscape for hours and hours. She must feel so exhausted… Given the fact that she was merely a human, he felt a choking anxiety in his chest. He remembered how seconds in hell had changed Malcolm, when he had been brought back to life. Of course, Chloe hadn't been dead and suffered a hell-loop, but still… how would wandering the endlessness of hell and the encounter with monstrous nightmares be any better? "Walk me through what happened, will you? What happened to her when Gadreel brought me away?" he went on, panting slightly as he checked his back with his right bandaged hand, brushing it over the skin he could reach, noticing that the splinters were one after another slowly being repelled.

Looking around shortly, Zuriel rolled his shoulders, drew back his wings to be more agile in the confines of Lucifer's bedroom and took a seat on the leather chair in the corner opposite of his lord. "She…" He licked his lips, hesitating briefly. "She prayed to me." He swallowed and looked back at Lucifer. "She said… she prayed to you, too."

Dipping his head forward, Lucifer nodded, exhausted. "Yeah…"

"How is that even possible?" Zuriel muttered, leaning forward and resting his arms on his thighs. "How does she do that? Pray to us… fallen ones?" He looked back at his lord questioningly, confused but also intrigued.

It was indeed a strange thing, Lucifer thought. Chloe didn't seem to be described with the usual adjectives that would fit for a human who got into contact with celestial affairs. First and foremost she wasn't the least bit scared of the Devil himself, but held Lucifer high on his virtues and the goodness she saw inside of him. She was immune to his charming ability to make people spill out their innermost desires, she made him mortal when in closer proximity to him and in addition to that could pray to him. And if all of the above wasn't odd enough already and wouldn't leave you utterly confused, there's the ultimate miracle that she actually loves me… She truly loves me.

He felt a rush of sadness washing through him when he thought back to their nights at his and lastly at her place. His eyes momentarily closed, remembering her lips against his ear. How she cried out his name in pure passion, her fingers digging into his flesh, pulling him closer, wanting him deeper…. Pinching his brows he slowly shook his head. It was heartbreaking to not have her close when he needed her. Not for his body to heal, but for his soul to rest. "I don't know." he eventually answered with a soft but desperate laugh. "I don't know how she does any of these things… praying to me, making me mortal… give me hope. How she loves me and how I cannot imagine to exist without her anymore…"

"Amenadiel said he has blessed her parents, thus making her being born a miracle. He said that Father wanted for her to exist."

"Yes, well… that's true. We just have no clue as to why Dear Old Dad wanted for her to exist in the first place." He ground his teeth, thinking a moment. The pressure in his chest felt suffocating and he hesitated before he continued to speak again. "I just… I just want for Dad to leave her alone and not pull his bloody puppeteer strings on her fate."

Zuriel kept quiet, but nodded. He could certainly understand Lucifer in his wish, but the truth was, how was anybody able to tell what their Father had planned? Nobody knew. Nobody ever knew a damn thing about what He wanted, what He intended and what He planned.

Lucifer knew very well, there was no point in talking about their Father. It had always just been an accelerator for an explosive argument. So he appreciated his brother's silence on God's influence and thought back to Chloe's condition. "What happened next, when you arrived?"

"Well, I freed her. She told me about Gadreel taking you with him. I wanted to transfer back to hell to find you, but she wouldn't let me go alone. She insisted on joining me."

His dark brown eyes gazed back at Zuriel in shock. "Why didn't you stop her? Talk her out of it?"

"I tried!" Zuriel insisted with a sigh of defeat. "She… she became very persisting… I told her that I couldn't take her with me, that my wings don't support the transfer of a human lifeform, so she called for Amenadiel and persuaded him to bring her to hell. We arrived in the outer realms of hell, meeting Cerberus as he was defending the gates…" The angel's voice became lower, sadder, but he pulled himself together quickly, focusing on the story. "We travelled together to the bank of the Styx and took passage with Charon to the center of hell."

"You did what!?" Lucifer growled outraged. "You paddled the Styx, knowing that it's bleeding through to earth!? Have you lost your bloody mind!?"

"There was no other way, Lucifer! And we managed our way without bigger difficulties. We were actually quite lucky not to have been the focus of the interest of hell's creatures. They were far more interested in the breaches than us" He paused, wettening his lips. "In the area of the crypts we found one of the priests that Gadreel's human criminal had marked. He was suffering in a hell loop, but the door wasn't closed. It was very strange… Chloe figured that the other victims of Gadreel were also somewhere in the crypt system. She wanted to help him and the others, but we simply had no time and I wouldn't even be able to bring them to heaven." sighing he looked back at Lucifer. "We had to get to you first. After that... It was just close to the palace when we encountered Kushiel, who I took care of and then you know the rest."

Again both angels fell silent, Lucifer being deep in thoughts with worries about Chloe. She could have been hurt so easily in hell. Literally everything in hell could have killed her. Everything was designed for death. For destruction.

"There is one more thing…" Zuriel quietly went on, pulling him out of his thoughts. "Your light inside of her. Before we went to hell, she…" He moisturized his lips, thinking on how to best explain.

Lucifer immediately picked up on Zuriel's hesitation, not able to take it a second longer. "She what?" he pressed on, his gaze piercing.

"She was… getting a sudden fever. The amount of light she carried increased significantly during merely a handful of minutes. And then... she spoke the first language… well… just two words, but still..."

His heart contracted mercilessly. She had a fever, my light inside her increased in amount and then she spoke our angelic language? What have I done to her? I thought… it would be safe, it felt… so right, to do it… it was… good… it was… perfect. How could this happen to her, if it had felt so right, though? He felt the urge arise to get up and fly over to her place, to take back the small amount of his light he had left inside her, to wrap his arms around her and hold her for dear life, never wanting to let her go again.

"-cifer? Brother?" Zuriel asked, again pulling the Devil's focus back and out of his thoughts.

"What did she say?" he pensively looked back at the other angel.

"Vah Shul."

His eyes narrowed in wonder. "Could she tell you anything else, any details?"

Zuriel shook his head. "No. She only spoke those two words, but she didn't really know how she knew or how she could even speak like us."

He recalled a blurry thought he had when he had taken back his light from her in hell. "You said it happened quickly, within a few minutes, that my amount of divinity increased inside of her. I wonder if my divinity was somehow… quickly self regenerating inside of her, while I was slowly losing mine in hell." It would make sense, he assumed. But how was it possible she spoke the angel's language in the first place? How was her body even able to produce the right tones? And why Morningstar, his name? Or did she mean the actual star he created at the beginning of the universe's existence?

"Lucifer," Zuriel quietly spoke up, "You know how much I dislike to talk about faith, but… if there is anyone you should believe in, it's her. She is a very strong human, unlike any others I've seen. You might be worried about your light in her, but have trust in her capabilities."

"I… I do believe in her… I trust her..." he sighed in defeat and glanced down along his body with a sigh. He felt horrible. Physically as much as mentally. Being back on earth, Lucifer knew he had to bow to the timeflow his body had gotten used to. He was tired and exhausted. Not to mention that his body was still suffering from various wounds that had just started healing. And while he desperately needed at least some hours to rest, he knew Gadreel was somewhere, continuing with his plan to unleash the Styx and flood earth with it, turning earth into a topside hell. "Zuriel I… I'm afraid I need to get at least a couple of hours of rest to regenerate-"

"If I can make a suggestion, brother." Zuriel carefully interrupted, standing and stepping up in front of him. "Rest. I will connect with our pious siblings that are currently roaming the city, taking care of monsters that break through. I let you know, in case I learn anything new." Leaning in he placed his right armored hand on top of Lucifer's shoulder, offering a small but supportive smile. He pulled back and walked to the passage towards the living room. "Call me if you need me…"

"Yes… I will. And thank you, Zuriel. For everything." His tone was low, humble. There were just no words to describe how grateful Lucifer really was, that Zuriel had accompanied Chloe on her way, protected her and helped to get through this nightmarish trip in one piece. There had hardly been any other fallen brother that Lucifer had felt connected with in the eons they were condemned to reside in hell. Zuriel, among only a handful of other siblings, had stood at Lucifer's side when demanding their free will, facing their Father with pride and determination. Lucifer had been able to see, whether a brother of his had been truly devoted to the thought of free will, or just blindly followed him, not really understanding the concept of standing their own ground. And Zuriel had been able to see clearly through the fog of their celestial imprisonment as they were not allowed to choose for themselves what they wanted.

Even though he had not seen his lord for a long time and had spent merely hours with Chloe, Zuriel could see the devotion his lord and queen had towards each other. The mightily armored angel inclined his head, before he turned around once more and left, the sound of rustling feathers shortly filling the penthouse and being the only indicator of his departure.

Alone with himself, Lucifer let out an exhausted breath. He checked on his back once more, finding that the superficial wounds had almost completely healed. At least all splinters and shards had been rejected from his body, leaving only the slash in between his shoulder blades to heal. Looking down at himself, he decided to take off the remaining pieces of his dress pants, and put on a fresh pair of silk boxers before laying on his bed. He laid on his back, thus on parts of his wingbones that were coming forth between his shoulder blades and also laying on the wound on his back, both of which was quite painful. But the alternatives were to either lay on his side or stomach, which either way would have been much more painful, given the deep wounds to his thigh and flank. As the last bits of bloody fabric on his body, he removed the blood soaked improvised bandages from his hands, tossing them aside, before being finally able to close his eyes. And as he slipped into dreamland, he was greeted with the captivating smile and sparkling blue eyes of his beloved Detective.

So they are finally back! Yay! But what a bummer, realizing how there were only gone for such a short amount of time while also having gone through such ordeals in hell. What are your thoughts!? Critique? Comments? Love? :D Lemme know what you think! Next Chapter, on Tuesday, and you'll get some insight into Gadreel and Lucifer's background.