Chapter Title/Song: Deep End - Ruelle
A/N: A brand new chapter and not only the tension is rising in this chapter but also the heat level! I'm far too excited myself to write anything else, so please, go ahead and enjoy the read!

Chapter 25

Deep End

What the heck… Chloe turned and squeezed her eyes. Everything was far too bright. She felt her pulse and it was skyrocketing. Holy shit, this isn't healthy… Wait a second… I'd be lying on the ground by now if I'd truly have such a high pulse… Soo… wait, am I having illusions or something?

Blinking several times she tried to let her retinas adjust. She remembered Gadreel's voice in her ear and she shivered. Where the hell am I? Did he drug me or poison me again? Squeezing her eyes she looked around, only to realize that there was nothing around her. And nothing meant, that she stood in complete whiteness, which was the reason why her eyes still hurt like a bitch. "H-hello?" she called into the nothingness, not even sure if she was loud enough, and given that all that she could see was pure white, she felt stupid talking at all. There was no one there except her. "Hello?" she tried again, her voice stronger, though still uncertain. "Is anyone here?"

As she listened closely she noticed a distant humming. Well there must be something or someone making that sound… right? She began moving. Her mind couldn't comprehend what direction she was taking, as there were no visual markers to use for orientation, so she could only rely on her hearing to guide her. The humming became louder and soon she saw that there truly was something that seemed to create the sound. But her brain had trouble to find words to describe it to herself. A translucent, waving shimmering of white and gold that sparkled midair. It seemed like an elliptical shape, but when she finally stood right in front of it, she noticed it had roughly the shape of a person. Just that it wasn't a person of flesh, but of… light.

She swallowed. Is this… holy crap… is this… God? Did… did I die?! Her pulse felt as if her chest was about to burst, now however, rather from shock than from anything else. She stared, frozen on the spot and felt fear and sorrow crawl up her spine.

"Vah Shul."

The words hit her like a wave made out of fluffy clouds. Her muscles started to tickle on their own and a moment later she felt them all relaxing, her shoulder's lowering from their tensed position. She hadn't even realized she had been so cramped up all this time. It was as if by just hearing the words, she had gotten a full day of head to toe massages in a spa with that soothing atmospheric background music from forest sounds. She felt at ease. Peaceful. She tilted her head, curiously observing the shiny light shape as it rang from it again.

"Vah Shul."

Chloe's forehead wrinkled softly, even though a smile slipped up her lips. "I… I'm sorry, I don't underst-"

"You are… Vah Shul now." The voice rang again, sounding neither male nor female. It wasn't robotic though, just soft like an ocean breeze. "We are both Vah Shul…"

She recalled something in the back of her mind. Zuriel had told her this was the angel's language… and those words meant Morningstar. "We… I… am… Morningstar? What… what does that mean?" Jesus Christ, I don't even know who the heck I am talking to… and where I am… Yeah… this… this must be some kind of trip I'm on… "What are you?"

"I'm his star. The Morningstar… We are both Morningstar… Vah Shul. He created us. I did not have the right shape when he created me... But you have. You need to let the warmth go inside you..."

"What? What do you mean? He created me? Do you mean God? I thought… I thought you are…" Confused she trailed off. So this isn't God? "What? Do you mean the light Lucifer gave me?" Her tone was becoming more urgent and desperately confused. "Tell me! I wanna know! What's happening with me?" She felt like there was something she needed to understand, but this freaking light shape wasn't particularly helpful with its speaking in riddles. It wasn't making sense. Again… am I maybe having a stroke? Let the warmth in? Wait… do I have a fever rush again? Maybe I am really close to a stroke… I… I really should try and force myself to wake up...

"Let the warmth go inside you… Let it consume you… become one… And then you are ready..."

The white around her began to fade and from the corner of her eyes she could see that everything became darker. "Wait! Consume me? Become one? Become one with what? And ready for what?" she frantically shouted, but the light was gone and didn't answer. Blackness began to crawl towards her from everywhere. Darkness spread and swallowed the whiteness like a beast until everything had changed upside down and it was only her floating in the darkness that was left behind.

A stinging on her cheek made her groan and flutter her eyes open.

"Rise and shine, little human." Gadreel's voice rang as he gave her cheek another sharp slap.

She groaned at the painful impact on her face. Even though her vision was still blurry, Chloe could hear that he was grinning. Fucking asshole... She was breathing heavily and her head was spinning.

"I thought that perhaps you haven't survived the transportation. You see… I'm not used to travel with... baggage." he spoke disdainfully.

Yeah… fucking asshole. She rolled her head to the side, feeling that it rested against a wall. Apparently she was sitting on a cold floor and leaning against an even colder wall with her back. Glancing up and around herself, she saw all kinds of plastic covered tables, aligned in row after row after row. Above the tables she could see dusty UV lamps and at the backside of the room there were stacks of gunny sacks and bags with fertilizer.

"I admit I didn't notice it the last time we met. I was in a bit of a hurry, to be honest. But now…" He leaned down towards her, sniffing. "Now I smell it. His divinity. You're filled with his light up to the brim which is..." He growled, quietly at first but then he let out a dark laugh and clapped his hands in amusement. "Hahaha! It's brilliant! It's even better than using one of those pathetic priests! You're as pure as a human soul can be. Ha! That makes it all the more interesting to watch you die. The Styx is going to take over earth in no time."

Her throat tightened and her chest hurt. Wait… what?...die? Panic began to quickly rise inside of her, but she forced herself to focus. Where the hell am I? Damn it, I feel like I'm melting... from… inside… It's... so hot...

Gadreel walked in a half circle around her, watching her. "It's rather interesting… that this is possible. A human carrying the divinity of an angel. An archangel even. He marked you. And you know the bitter irony of this? Now... I will give you my mark. A mark of God." he mockingly hissed his Father's name and reached at her. He was surprised to find that Chloe was attempting her best to fight him off her as she began to push herself away to the side. She kicked and threw punches at him, but she merely felt as if she hit a brick wall, even though he let her land her hits. He laughed at her pitiful attempts to hurt him and swiftly snatched her right arm, pulling her into a standing position. "What a feisty little thing you are…"

She was at his mercy. Her body was overheating and it was hard to control any of her movements or to form a clear thought. She was sweating and heavily panting, rasping for fresh air. It was just too warm to focus her mind to… Let the... warmth... inside…? ...consume me? What do's that ev'n mean I have t' let it co'sum' me? I feel like... I'm secon's from pass'n'…

Gadreel's eyes narrowed, his free hand shortly brushing over her forehead. "You're rather feverish little pet." he muttered and shrugged. "Don't worry though. You really don't have to suffer the fever for that much longer." Gadreel purred deeply. "In hell you will certainly be tortured in different ways… Hmm… I reckon he will be here any moment now… so let's get this started with, shall we?"

A sudden flapping sound alerted him of a new arrival. Not losing any second, he roughly turned Chloe around in his hold. His left arm slung around her torso with his hand wrapped around her throat. Then he gripped her upper right arm with his right hand. Grinning, Gadreel turned, glaring into the shadows of the hall. "Ahh… So I was right. I knew you made it out of hell. And that means, you must have killed our fallen brothers, right? Well, anyhow. You're just in time for the grand finale, Samael."

With a deep growl, Lucifer stepped out of the shadows, cautiously, his wings stretched out and his muscles tensed. His glowing eyes shifted from Gadreel to Chloe. She was shivering and covered in a film of sweat. Apparently she was feverish again. He bared his teeth. "You have to stop this, Gadreel. Let her go." Seeing Gadreel tighten his hold on her throat, he took a hesitant step forward. "Brother, please… "

Amused Gadreel frowned and gave him an incredulous look. "You? Pleading? That is a first, Samael. Oh wait! No! No, it isn't. You pleaded to me before. When was that again? Let me think... Ah yes! When you wanted to enter the GARDEN OF EDEN, you foul scumbag!" he roared angrily and his expression turned sinister. "Oh, Samael, you cannot save her. I told you… I will make you watch her die." With a hiss the area between Gadreel's palm and Chloe's upper arm began to glow. It lasted merely a second, but he had already achieved his goal. "Now the claws of hell have dug into your soul as well, little human. And hell always takes what it struck its claws into."

Chloe's vision was impacted with a blinding light and a stinging, excruciating pain pierced into her flesh, making her cry out in agony. White and black dots gathered in her sight and then a tormenting heat spread from her arm into her body. Her eyes fluttered exhaustedly and the only thing that kept her standing was Gadreel's rough grip on her. The pain was running at high speed through her body, invading every muscle, every nerve, every cell, and numbing her mind...

Lucifer couldn't believe what he was seeing. Gadreel was actually branding Chloe right in front of his eyes. It seemed so impossible and surreal that it made no sense. In an instant, his heart felt bursting from pain. "NOOO!" he screamed in rage and despair, frantically charging towards his brother.

Instead of having an immediate and direct confrontation, however, Gadreel made use of Chloe's weak body and forcefully pushed her towards the Devil, watching joyfully how his brother's precious human was being ripped away from him.

Changing his momentum, Lucifer caught her just in time before she could impact on the ground. He sank to his knees and let her carefully rest in his lap. "Chloe? Chloe?!" His voice was shaking as he panted in utter shock and fear. No… no this can't be… "Chloe! Please… Wake up, love..." He caressed her face, feeling that she was still burning hot to the touch and covered in cold sweat. Overall though, she was looking so pale... He anxiously felt for her pulse, pressing his fingers firmer against her slender throat, but he couldn't feel anything. He started to tremble. There was no heartbeat. No breathing. Nothing. She lay motionless in his arms. "No. No no no no! No, that can't be… This can't be-"

He felt sick to the stomach and his throat was closing, making it impossible to breathe. Her motionless body lay slack against him and the inevitable conclusion to the evidence was something he just couldn't admit to himself. She simply couldn't be gone. It was not possible to be real, because... how could she be? How could he be here, while she wasn't? Absentmindedly, he reached up to feel his lips, remembering the taste of the kiss they had shared barely two hours ago. And he remembered also that they hadn't said it. Goodbye. They both didn't want to.

He heard himself make a strange sound, a pained whimpering. Then everything around him began to turn into a distant blur and fully faded away when reality finally sunk in. He was too late. He had been at the other side of the town fighting at one of the breaches of the Styx, while she had been unprotected and got kidnapped and… No… no this just couldn't be. He had promised to protect her. The little urchin was not supposed to be without her mother and he didn't know, how he was supposed to live without having her at his side. His Detective. His love. His... everything.

Blinking away the tears that had gathered at the corner of his eyes, he looked at her arm and the branding of Gadreel's mark, the extent of what Gadreel had done to her sinking in. "No… Bloody hell, no!" he rasped in despair, his heart feeling as if it was scratched out of his chest. He had ripped her away from him. She was dead. And the mark was making sure she was denied to go to heaven but was instead forced to go and stay in hell for all eternity. "What have you done…?" he spoke in a whisper, his eyes burning from emotions, tearing him apart. Sucking in a trembling breath, he turned towards Gadreel, roaring. "You blasted bastard! WHAT HAVE YOU DONE!?"

"A masterpiece." Gadreel quipped with a grin when a thunder rolled through the hall again, much louder this time. The boxes and tables in the hall began to shake and the lights started to swing, indicating an earthquake. Gadreel's eyes lit up with green flames in joyful anticipation. "Finally… The beginning of the end..."

A massive rumble shook the ground beneath them. Hell was literally knocking on earth's surface. No… no… bloody hell and for fucks-sake! NO! Lucifer ground his teeth, desperately and frantically thinking about what to do, but it was near impossible as the shock was still overpowering him so immensely that he was barely able to think. There was just one thought on his mind right now that was strong enough to reach his consciousness: He wanted to bring Chloe away from here, to shield her from what was happening, but there was simply not enough time.

Quickly he looked around and saw the short, mid height wall behind him. He gently lifted her body and carried her over to it. Then, he carefully rested her against the backside of a metal shelf, having her at least covered from Gadreel's direct view. Fresh tears welled up and fled his eyes when a new wave of shock, guilt and grief hit him so hard that all air was pushed out of his lungs. He wanted nothing more than to fly down to hell and literally tear everything down until he would find her soul and somehow bring her back to life. His lungs started burning and he finally took a sharp breath, providing the much needed oxygen to his brain, and a sudden thought crossed his mind. Maybe...

He quickly wiped his eyes to see clearly, sniffling back the remaining tears, and he reached to his side. With a grunt, he tore out one of his big prime feathers, pressing it onto her branded arm in a desperate attempt to heal her. "Come on, my dear Detective... Come on! Please, love… Please..." he breathed, pleading while salty drops continued to drip down on Chloe's face. But the branding remained on her skin. She didn't move, and the spark of hope went out again, giving back its space to desperation and sorrow. It hadn't worked. Of course it can't work, when she's- He stopped his thought immediately, biting on his tongue to feel a more prominent, physical pain than the emotional apocalyptic destruction inside his heart. He swallowed down the mix of blood and saliva, and rested the feather against her chest. Then his anger rose. Quicker than the speed of light. And with a scream that raised the roof he sprang up and darted towards Gadreel. "Why did you do that? Why did you kill her?!" he yelled at his brother as his fists flew forward in frantic moves.

Gadreel blocked the blows with ease, pushing him back while laughing heartily at what his brother had become. "This is your own fault, Samael! Someone had to put you in your place!" he snarled and counterattacked.

His heart was so heavy, he was barely able to move. He dodged the others wing at the last second that darted out at him, jumping to the side. "How could you take her away from me?!" Lucifer shouted, his voice shaky as the ache tried get the better of him. He gathered all his strength and lunged forward again, aiming with his left at his brothers ribs while shouting, "You had no right to do that!"

Gadreel sprang to the side to not get hit, and his cheerful mood turned sour. "I had no right?" he repeated in furious disbelief. "You had no right to abandon me!" he hollered, his eyes flaring up again.

"I didn't abandon you!" Lucifer barked in hurt defense. He really hadn't! He just couldn't bear to see the consequences of his own actions. And his brother had been a direct reminder of the result his rebellious behaviour had caused.

"You left me there in the crypt!" Gadreel's dark voice echoed through the hall. "You left me to rot in there! For millennia! And not even once did you bother to visit." He huffed out some air and with a voice that was filled with resentment over the injustice done to him he continued his reproach, "I was all alone while you still had everything you wanted. You weren't even punished for what you've done!"

"Not punished!? I was cast out of heaven and put in hell!" Lucifer shouted in justification.

Gadreel scoffed at the poor excuse. "To rule it!" He shot back. "To rule over us all! While we suffered, you were free to walk the earth. Father still granted you all your wishes," he hissed darkly. His glance swiftly wandered to the leg that was visible from behind the wall and he added scornfully, "He even rewarded you!" Glaring at his brother, who was still on the ground, recovering from the blows he'd landed, Gadreel grunted and shook his head. "You never knew how it was to have everything taken away from you. You never knew what it felt like!" He took another deep breath, exhaling the rest of his anger, and letting joy back in his heart as he declared darkly, "But now you do!"

Hell's fire flared up in Lucifer's eyes at the reminder about Chloe's death, providing him with a new surge of strength. "You don't know what you've done!" he warned him gravelly. "You don't know how special she was." He pushed himself off the floor and walked towards Gadreel.

Suddenly a soft crack echoed through the hall, making him stop instantly, and Lucifer looked into the direction of the sound. Narrowing his eyes, he saw a split in the ground, starting to spread. And then, he could hear it: The screaming and growling from hell's creatures. They were already so close even though the crack was not even widening yet. For a moment, Lucifer considered to simply let it happen. To simply surrender to his pain and let his brother pay for what he'd done. But then, his consciousness kicked in. If he didn't do anything about the crack, hell would swallow the earth, and anyone who meant something, not to him, but to Chloe. He couldn't let that happen. Because if he did, then nothing they'd sacrificed mattered. What had happened to her wouldn't have mattered. And that he just couldn't allow to be. He had to prevent it. For Chloe!

The crack was getting larger. Within seconds it spread and became over three meters wide with the ground still shuddering. Fuck… this is happening way too fast… He took several deep breaths, his eyes locking in on Gadreel, who was retreating slowly from the middle of the hall. He composed himself with all the willpower he could muster. The situation was clear. He had to somehow stop hell's creatures from spilling onto earth. So either, Gadreel could be persuaded to stop his attacks and help end this chaos, or Lucifer would be forced to take care of Gadreel first, so he could then focus on the crack. Those were the only two options he had. Taking a deep breath, he showed his palms in a soothing manner at his brother, and urged him in a calm tone, "We have to stop this, brother.".

"Oh, no," Gadreel retorted and shook his head with a chuckle. "I won't stop! The fun just got started!"

So no persuasion then, Lucifer thought, curling his fingers into fists and in an instant, both Gadreel's as well as his own massive wings spread out to their full span almost simultaneously, competing with each other in a display of celestial powerplay."I won't let you, brother! I can't!" Lucifer growled, his jaw clenched tightly. His whole body was tensed up and every fibre of him felt on fire, ready to burst out with the energy that he had left.

Gadreel let out a laugh, drawing his mace from his back. "And I really wanna see you back in those hooks again, snake!"

"I don't want to do this, Gadreel…" he pressed on, looking at Gadreel in a daring way. He had no choices anymore. There was no happy outcome possible unless his brother would put an end to this himself, which was unlikely going to happen, yet still, Lucifer could not drop the possibility without addressing it a last time. "Please… brother, don't make me kill you…"

Gadreel let out a vicious growl. Lips curling back, he revealed a set of sharp elongated teeth. His hatred was transforming him further than just his gruesome looking wings. "You don't get to plea anymore, Samael! You forfeited that permission centuries ago!" He tightened the grip on his mace and its metallic spikes began to emit an electrical storm from within. "You left hell, thinking you could simply get out and leave everything behind. Leave me behind. Well guess what!? I'm bringing hell back to you!" With a snarl he pushed himself off the ground and dashed towards the Devil.

Gadreel's voice had become a distant echo as Chloe's mind was flooded by memories, pictures and voices. They were impacting so quickly on her that she felt helpless and unable to hold herself together. She could feel something wet on her cheeks. I must be crying… Yes… I must be… Tears ran over her cheeks and she thought she could hear herself sniffle and sob, but wasn't entirely sure it was really her.

It was just like they said. You saw things from your life passing by in front of your mind's eye, when you were dying. But what she saw then was not like a gathering of happy lifetime memories. It seemed random and not all of the things were nice.

She saw Lucifer and Trixie, standing in her living room in front of the TV, as they were both singing a duet of Disney songs. Lucifer had even knelt down, exaggeratingly impersonating prince charming, while Trixie giggled along happily. During one moment Lucifer had looked back at her with a soft warm smile and there was a strange sparkle in his eyes. The moment was so full of joy and utter happiness, filling her with love, that she had been completely awestruck.

The memories continued to roll over her, but it became harder for her to notice what had truly happened and which things her mind seemed to fill in on its own. She saw Cerberus fighting viciously and being brutally slashed and beaten by the punishers until he was heavily grunting and wincing in pain. The punishers however, did not cease their malicious attacks and even when the massive hound was whining on the ground, bleeding from severe wounds, they continued to hurt him, on and on and on.

She heard screaming and shouting all of a sudden. The sounds didn't mix right with what she was seeing. The voice she heard was dark and dangerous, but it held a strange beauty in the language. It's the angel language, she realized. Vah Shul. This she vaguely understood. Morningstar. Her heart raced and flashes of crimson eyes appeared before her. The Devil. Lucifer emerged from the shadows, with his wings outstretched. He was fighting, growling and then there was that voice again. Yol! This time she noticed a second voice that rang along with it and she could almost feel a click in her head, when suddenly the word made sense. Firestorm! Her mind was working on its own as she felt herself being pulled into the warmth of the darkness. Yul! Lucifer's angelic ringing voice thundered again and once more the second layer of a voice translated in her mind. Fireball!

The scenery changed and she felt strong arms holding her, caressing her. She could feel warm, silken skin touching her own. There was a hot breath against her ear and a longing and almost desperately affectionate voice spoke to her. With an aching heart she realized it was Lucifer's. Mine... You're mine… My love… My queen… I claimed you… My light is part of you now… You are perfection… I've made you Vah Shul… My bright shining star… My angel… His voice paused a moment as she felt him melt against her, becoming one. Yes… my angel.

And suddenly she understood. Everything made sense. She felt secure, even though her body was pulled into nothingness. And so she let herself fall and be consumed by the dark warmth that was welcoming her dying body.

Yes, I am a monster... I am aware of my cruelty towards Chloe and Lucifer (and obviously towards you as my readers, too), but they have come out alive from everything so far, haven't they? Have a little faith! Anyhow. Lucifer has come too late to save his beloved Detective and now the confrontation between him and Gadreel is full on. The Styx shows a final crack within the building and hell is knocking against the surface. How is it all gonna continue?

Also, I am aware this chapter is a bit shorter, but for good reasons. The next one will be of similar length and after that you will be spoiled again with nice long chapters ;)

A huge thanks to Cengiz, for helping me big time with structuring this chapter's and the next chapter's content and improving my grammar ;) Gummy bears for you!

Let me know your thoughts, fears, hopes, remarks and ideas! As always I am happy to hear what you think about the chapter. The next is already prepared, ready to be posted next Tuesday.