Author's note: Hello dear readers. I know, it took me a hell of a long time to update this story and I am deeply sorry for the waiting. Summer time is quite distracting for me this year. This chapter wasn't supposed to end there but way farther, but if I had followed my first idea this would have averaged in the ten thousand words, so I had to cut it in half. Good news is, my plan for the next part is already done and is very detailed, so it shouldn't take that long to write it now. So as soon as I come back from my week of camping that is starting this weekend, I'll dive into it right away instead of switching to write on Redemption, my other story.

I want to thank again my incredible Beta, Apparition, who is selfless enough to help me during her summer time. You are a marvel!

A special thanks to a Guest who wrote me a review last weekend and to whom I can't answer directly. Your wonderful words gave me a warm fuzz that is still lasting to this day. Know that for me too, this story is the Luci-Land of my dreams. You gave me the needed fuel to finish this chapter, so a big thank you from the bottom of my heart :))))

Also, thank you so much to you all for the reviews, favorites and followers. Feeling that you like what I do is what makes me going on. And now, place to the story, enjoy!

Lucifer fell to his knees at the same time as Amenadiel, who was already cradling Maze's body in his arms. The glamour that usually hid the demon's real face was down. Definitely a bad sign. She had numerous cuts all over her body, but the biggest blood loss was coming from two gut wounds on the right side of her abdomen; a first on the far flank, probably not lethal, and a second right above the liver, this one deadly for sure considering it had been inflicted by a demonic blade that was still imbedded in the flesh.

Lucifer quickly reached out to search for a pulse on her neck. He was slightly shaking, which made it difficult to feel any sign of life. On top of it, Chloe's never-ending calls for Trixie were making him crazy with worry for the little one. She had come out from the bedroom to look around the first floor before rushing upstairs, evidently still searching for her daughter.

Doom had also walked around the floor to investigate. It even growled for a few seconds when going in Beatrice's bedroom. The Hellhound had finally come back to him and was now nuzzling up against Maze's side, trying to wake her up. It whined mournfully at seeing the familiar figure so still and lifeless.

Amenadiel was clearly in panic, his body quivering and tears cascading from his bulging eyes. He could barely form any words.

"Is she…? Please, no!" He pleaded to the Devil.

Still not feeling any pulse, Lucifer repositioned his fingers on Maze's jugular. He closed his eyes to focus more efficiently on his tactile perception. Then…

It was just the barest of sensation. He could have just imagined it, but it came back a few seconds later. It was so light, and the time in between each pulse was excruciatingly long, as if it was about to give up anytime. It was probably a matter of minutes, maybe less.

"She's still alive! I can feel it!" He blurted out in disbelief.

Amenadiel let escape a sob of relief, apparently having a hard time believing it himself.

"Lay her down and back away from her." Lucifer ordered.

He turned around towards the front door to make sure nobody outside would see what he was about to do, only to find Daniel still frozen into place but on his knees now.

"Amenadiel, get that fool away from the door and close it, now!" He roared.

He didn't even wait for his brother to reach the door before unfolding his wings for a few seconds to pluck off one of his biggest feathers.

Amenadiel dragged a dazed and unresponsive Daniel away from the door frame when a terrifying thought crossed his mind.

"Lucifer! Are you even sure that an angelic feather will heal her and not harm her? After all she is a demon."

Lucifer grimaced. "No, I'm not sure. I've never healed a demon before. It's not like there are a lot of them worth saving. But what other choice do we have? She is going to die anyway if I don't try it."

Amenadiel couldn't find any other solution either, so he kept silent as he closed the front door and came back by Maze's side.

Lucifer had already pulled out the dagger from the demon's belly and lifted her shirt to expose her abdomen. Then he placed his feather on her wounds.

Back on his knees, Amenadiel closed his eyes and did the only thing that was left to him to help his friend, his lover…

He prayed to his Father.

Through his eyelids, Amenadiel could see the celestial light coming from the feather and hoped, prayed, for it not to destroy Maze's demonic coil. When the blinding brightness died out after a long minute, he opened his teared up eyes slowly and held his breath.

Maze still looked lifeless and as pale as death, and there was blood everywhere over her belly, but through it, he could no longer see the gaping wounds that were there only moments ago.

"Maze?" He chanced, unbelieving. But she didn't steer. "Is she…?" He was afraid to raise his hopes already and even kept himself from touching her.

Lucifer felt her neck and smiled with a chuckle of relief. "Yes! She is ok! She is ok!"

His brother let go of the tears he was still trying to contain and embraced Maze's body tenderly to rest his head against hers.

Lucifer's relief was short lived, for he realized that Chloe's screaming had ceased upstairs and that he could now hear her sobbing instead.

Shit!

He got up in a rush and hurried up the stairs.

"Chloe! Chloe! Did you find her?"

When he reached the last step, Chloe was coming out of her room. By the utter devastation transpiring from her, she didn't have to answer for him to understand that either Beatrice wasn't here, either she was…

No! He wasn't ready to consider the worst case scenario. She couldn't be dead, she just couldn't…

Chloe was crying in loud, gasping sobs, shaking and apparently ready to collapse. Lucifer hugged her forcefully to give her some strength. She talked in between sobs before he could find how to ask her anything.

"She is gone! ...My baby girl! ...My sweet Baby!" She was clinging desperately to his shoulders, as if he were the only thing still keeping her together.

He cradled her head against his chest and caressed her hair and back in a soothing manner. "I'm sure she is fine. They didn't go to this length to harm her now."

She lifted her head to look at him. It wasn't clear if his words comforted her. She looked way too haunted to tell. "Lucifer, I can't lose her! I just can't! I could never recover from that."

He cupped her face tenderly. "I know Baby… And I promise I will stop at nothing to bring her back to you. To us." He felt tears well up in his eyes. The sadness he felt surprised him. Not just sadness for Cloe's loss but for his own too. Beatrice had become too great a part of his life. He knew that losing her for good would break him apart.

Chloe embraced him even tighter and buried her head in the crook of his neck. He felt and heard her fall into a million pieces right there in his arms. He didn't know if he could take it, knowing it was all his fault, that his being in their lives had brought it on them.

They stayed like that for a long moment; Chloe crying her life out and him trying to be strong for her while feeling like he too was on the verge of breaking apart.

Her crying dimmed enough for her to speak again. "I don't understand why Trixie didn't pray to you, Lucifer. She knew to call you as soon as she thought herself in danger. Maybe she couldn't… Maybe she was hurt… Maybe…" She couldn't say more. It was too hard to voice her darkest thoughts.

Lucifer reassured her with confidence. "Maybe she was just asleep. You know how deeply she sleeps. Don't read anything into this, it means nothing."

"Okay…" She agreed without conviction, she just wanted to believe him so badly. "But why wouldn't Maze call to you? It could have made a difference. You could have stopped them from taking her."

"Chloe… Maze doesn't have a soul, she can't pray to anyone." He whispered patiently.

Chloe was ashamed of trying to put blame on Maze for what happened to her daughter. Nobody was to blame but Vasariah, and certainly not Maze who had certainly fought to death to protect Trixie.

Then cold shiver ran over her spine as she remembered seeing a lifeless corpse downstairs…

She lifted her head to gaze in panic at Lucifer. "Maze… Is she dead?" She let escape a sob of fear at the thought of losing her friend.

"No she's not!" He reassured her quickly. "I healed her, but it was a close call."

Chloe closed her eyes in utter relief. "She almost died protecting Trixie…" She always knew Maze would protect her daughter with her life, but to know it really happened was overwhelming. At least she had survived the ordeal against all hopes. She would be devastated to know her sacrifice had been in vain. Chloe disentangled herself from Lucifer and dashed downstairs to get to her friend.

Maze was now lying on the couch that Amenadiel had righted, with him sitting down beside her, holding her hand and caressing her demonic visage. Lucifer's eyes were pulled to Doom's form lying down beside a corpse he hadn't noticed before now. The hound was emitting a sad quiet howling. He narrowed his eyes at the demon who was staring lifelessly at the ceiling. There was no mistake possible. He would recognise her among thousands. Lilim! The bitch was clearly dead and he was glad for it. He was just a bit resentful that he hadn't get the chance to kill her himself. At least Maze had brought her what she deserved.

Chloe barely spared a glance towards the dead demon resting in the middle of the living room. She hoped it was Lilim, and would be too glad if Maze had killed the bitch. Seeing Maze's livid face, Chloe tried to put aside her fear for her daughter and concentrate on her friend. She crouched beside Amenadiel and took the demon's available hand in hers.

"Maze! Do you hear me?" She said softly. But her roommate didn't give any sign of life.

Amenadiel cleared his throat and reassured her. "It will take a while before she regains consciousness. But she'll be okay.

Chloe fought the tears that were threatening to overwhelm her again at seeing her friend in such a state. Maze would be fine, she tried to convince herself. Everything would be okay.

She wondered how things had degenerated so much. "I don't understand," she said to no one in particular. "Why would they take Trixie, knowing that doing so would start a war between us? Didn't Lilim say they wouldn't go against us, at least not before «The Piece» was…" Her face fell as she turned to Lucifer. "They know we found it! How is that possible?"

Lucifer's eyes were dark and dangerous. "I have a good idea what the answer to that is…" And he turned his devil's gaze towards Daniel who had been forgotten, still on his knees in the same spot as before. He looked completely broken and as livid as Maze. Lucifer didn't feel any sympathy for the crying man.

Chloe snorted disbelievingly. "You can't be serious, Lucifer! Dan would never do something like that."

Dan didn't even try to defend himself, instead staring silently at Trixie's empty room as a man who was waiting for the axe to fall on his neck.

"No… it can't be! Dan, tell him you didn't do anything!" Her brain just couldn't accept the possibility.

Dan tried to say something but the words seemed to be stuck in his throat. He started to choke has he apparently battled to get a word out.

Lucifer dashed forwards to grip him by the throat and lift him up in the air. "YOU BETRAYED US! You gave your own daughter up to the wolves. And for what? Tell me! What was in for you that meant more than the safety of your own daughter?" He was already squeezing the life out of him, unable to restrain himself in this overpowering rage he felt for the source of all that mess.

A second later, Chloe was at his side, trying to pry his hand away from her ex's throat. "Lucifer, please!? Let him talk, there has to be an explanation. Pleaaase!"

Her pleading finally go to him. He realise that they indeed needed an explanation for what happened. It could mean discovering clues to save Beatrice. It would always be time to extinguish his miserable existence afterwards. So Lucifer let Daniel fall down on the floor in a heap.

"You better talk and fast! I don't feel very patient right now," he directed dangerously at the choking man.

Doom had joined him and was growling menacingly at Daniel with his teeth bared. The hound apparently understood a lot of what was going on.

To Lucifer's greatest fury, Daniel didn't say a word. He was instead clawing at his own throat as if unable to breathe. But Lucifer knew he had not strangled the man enough for that. What was Daniel playing at? Trying to buy time?

Anger flaring anew, Lucifer launched at the bastard and seized him by the collar of his shirt to shake him roughly. "Talk damn it! Why did you do this?" He thought the restraining hand he was feeling on his shoulder was Chloe's. Surprisingly, it was his brother trying to calm him down.

"Lucifer! Stop it! Don't you see he is not in his right mind? Look at him! Something is happening to him."

Lucifer let go reluctantly to observe the detective. He started slowly registering what his brother was referring to. Daniel's eyes were glazed over, his breathing was jerky and difficult and he was shaking from head to toe as if convulsing. Well, that had to be hard to fake!

"What's wrong with the bastard?" Still, he couldn't find it in himself to feel real concern for him.

He saw Chloe crouch beside Dan to assess his condition. "Dan! Can you talk to me?" But he didn't seem to be aware of her presence.

Amenadiel mused aloud. "I'm not sure… but it looks like he is battling against an inner foe. Almost as if… as if he was bewitched or something. Can that be possible? Can Vasariah do something like that? Or one of his demons?"

Lucifer considered the possibility while watching Chloe who was trying to soothe Daniel with quieting words. He had to admit that Daniel's reaction looked like nothing normal.

"I doubt one of the demons could do that. As for Vasariah, I never heard of an ability of his provoking such a reaction. What could that be anyway? What could force a human to act against his own blood if he doesn't want to?"

Amenadiel shook his head. "No! I don't think Daniel knew it would endanger Beatrice. Look at his reaction. He is fighting whatever it is with all his might. No, he had to have been tricked into it or otherwise he would have fought against it before."

Even without wanting to believe it was Dan's fault, Chloe could not deny anymore that something supernatural was going on with him. She was horrified at the possibility of his endangering their daughter, but knew it would have taken something unearthly to force him into it. At least she hoped so.

Seeing him wriggling on the floor and turning almost blue, she was getting more and more concerned for his life. "We have to do something to help him. He is choking to death!"

"I don't know of anyone who can help him, really. Maybe Raphaël could have done something with his healing powers, but he didn't even answer Amenadiel's call to help me when I was injured. He would not answer now for a human being."

Chloe was not giving up. "And what about your own healing powers? Can't you do something?"

He shook his head dismissingly. "I doubt it would do any good. He is not injured."

"Maybe not but he can't breathe. Won't you at least try?"

The desperation in her voice made him yield, even if he was sure it was no good to try it. Reluctantly, he unfolded his wings again, grabbed a feather and pressed it against Daniel's throat.

When the celestial glow started to appear, Daniel reacted immediately by convulsing even more strongly. It was as if he was using the heavenly force to battle against his inner demons. In spite of what Lucifer had first thought, once the light dimmed out and the tremors coursing through Daniel subsided to a lighter shuddering, it was clear that his breathing had improved significantly. Yet, the detective was clearly still fighting.

Chloe helped him to sit up and took his head in her hands to search his eyes. "Dan? You have to tell us what happened. What did you do?"

Chloe's gaze brought Dan back to reality. He swallowed hard and cleared his voice tentatively. Hearing some sounds coming out of his own mouth, he was encouraged to try to speak even though it was still hard for him to breathe. The grief of losing his daughter and his fear for her wellbeing gave him the strength to fight and talk faintly in between shuddering breathes.

"I thought I was protecting her, and you Chloe. I don't know how I fell for it." The more he talked, the more his breathing sounded difficult. He continued nonetheless. "The night of the fire, Vasariah brought me to Hell. He showed me what would become of me because of my sins, and what would also become of you, for loving the Devil, and possibly of Trixie too." His face contorted in pain at the idea of them ending up in Hell. "He said the only way to save your souls and redeem mine was to help bring the Devil back to his rightful place and to help justice be served. I made a deal with him! I don't understand how I could have listen to him when I knew he was the bad one and not Lucifer. I don't understand…"

Lucifer's consternation was total. "This is so preposterous! You and Beatrice could never end up in Hell for loving me. It is just total rubbish!"

"Of course it is." Chloe added. "And I think Dan finally understood that by himself." She saw Lucifer's shoulders sag with relief at hearing her confirm that she didn't believe a word of it.

It obviously took Dan everything he had to explain himself and now that he finally had, his last strengths seemed to be leaving him. Stronger spasms shook him violently and he stopped breathing completely, eyes rolling in their orbits as he still tried to fight.

Horrified by the revelation and by what was happening to her ex, Chloe laid him on the floor, not knowing what else to do. "Lucifer! Please? He's gonna die!"

"Using another feather won't work this time, Love. I don't know how it's possible, but the deal he made with Vasariah is apparently binding him to it. Only Daniel can fight to undo it, if it ever can be undone. His mind is forcing him to hold to his word."

"His mind! That's it Lucifer!" interrupted Amenadiel with clear excitement. "We need someone who can get into his mind."

Lucifer quickly got his brother's meaning. "Azraël!"

Without waiting a second more. Lucifer closed his eyes and joined his hands in prayer to call his sister.

The urgency in her brother's thoughts told Azraël that the call was not a mundane one. She appeared almost instantly with a grave face, looking around her to try and assess the situation. It was clearly a complicated one, and getting more so by the second as a Hellhound was about to jump at her throat. As she was ready to strike at it with the new celestial dagger her Father had given her, she heard Lucifer bark an order to the creature in hellish tongue. Surprisingly, the hound went down on its belly in front of her, ears flattened and tail tucked between its hind legs in apparent submission.

Lucifer didn't waste time with extensive explanations. "Azraël! Please, we need you to remove Daniel's memory of a deal he made and then broke with Vasariah. It's killing him!"

Without saying a word, the angel crouched beside a still shaking Daniel who was now completely out of it. She grabbed his head with both hands and closed her eyes to concentrate on her task. Everyone around held their breaths.

Nothing was apparently happening, no divine light nor proof of celestial power being used. But something had to be happening, for after an interminable minute, Daniel's shaking was starting to die slowly and they could now hear him take in some vital air. As if it was a signal, everyone started breathing again too. Azraël didn't open her eyes for a few more minutes. When she did, a light smile appeared at the corner of her lips.

"He should live! It is not over yet, but at least now that the memory of the deal is removed, he has a fighting chance to break the bond that is still holding him. He is strong. I believe he might be able to overcome it. It will take time though, how long I can't say."

"Great! As if we could spare another one of us right now." Lucifer passed his hand through his hair in frustration.

He didn't really empathise with the Douche for what happened to him. Celestial power at play or not, Lucifer thought he should have been able to fight it instead of endangering his own daughter. What was bothering him at the moment was that they were now down two members of their group. How could he hope to get Beatrice back with only his brother and Chloe?

The Angel of Death took another look around the place, noticing Maze's apparent lifeless body and a very dead demon. "What the hell happened here?"

Lucifer sighed loudly. He started explaining to his sister how they finally found «The Piece», and how Daniel had apparently warned Vasariah about it to fulfill his part of their bargain. Azraël flinched at the explanation of the true nature of «The Pieces» and even more so when hearing of Beatrice kidnaping.

The angel quickly reached the same conclusion as Lucifer. "Then Vasariah certainly wants «The Piece» in exchange for the child."

"Yes, I believe so. There is still hope for her!" Lucifer tried to infuse some hope in the smile he directed at Chloe while saying it. She approached him to rest her head against his shoulder and enlace him with one arm.

Azraël was still processing all the information she just heard. "I can't believe Vasariah truly plans to open the Gates of Hell and bring havoc on Earth. He really lost himself along the way. Lately he was raging to anyone who wanted to listen that humanity had lost faith in God and that it was the reason why wars and chaos were reigning here. Is he doing this to punish humanity? It certainly won't help humans behave themselves."

Lucifer's jaws came slack at hearing Azraël's words. He stared to her with realization in his eyes. "That's it! The reason he is doing all this. He wants to give humanity proof of divinity. If humans believed in Hell and feared it, they would be forced to believe in God too and thus change their behaviour. That would explain why Vasariah thinks that what he is trying to do is in Father's best interest. What if… what if Father really agrees with it?"

"Lucifer! Don't ever think something like that of Father. He might not be perfect, but He would never be a party to that kind of manipulation."

"Then why isn't He doing something about it? Anything?" Lucifer screamed. He was losing his temper now. The loss of Beatrice was too much to bear.

"But He is! Don't you see? He gave you your wings back. He believes in you! He trusts YOU to do something about it!"

That left him speechless. A rarity, for sure. Lucifer just stood there with his mouth half opened, mind whirling with his sister's words. It strangely echoed what Amenadiel told him about the meaning of his wings' return, which he had so easily dismissed. But it was now his sister saying it. The sister whose judgment he trusted above all else. Could it be true? Could his Father still believe in him, and have enough faith in him to intrust him with humanity's destiny. In spite of himself, Lucifer's eyes filled with tears. He instantly hated himself for feeling a warmth fill his heart at the mere possibility of his Father having such faith in him.

His words were shaky when he found his voice back. "We'll never know, won't we? It's not as if He would deign say what he wants me to do."

"It wouldn't be faith if He told you." His sister whispered softly.

Lucifer had to turn away because of the onslaught of emotions raising inside him. He walked away from them, unable to look at anyone for a long moment. When he turned back around, his face was fairly composed.

"I am not doing any of it to prove myself to Father." Whatever the reality behind their speculations, he felt he needed to make it clear to his sister.

"I know that, Brother. And that's why I put my trust in you."

Lips tight, he gave her the barest of nod in acknowledgement.

Azraël felt that Lucifer needed a change in topic so she gave voice to something that was nagging at her mind.

"I think it makes sense that Vasariah used his gifts to manipulate human's minds for his own benefit." She saw both her brothers lift their brows questioningly. "I mean, it could explain why Father punished him by sending him to Hell. I guess it was not the first time Vasariah did something like that. It's just not clear how he found a way to twist his gifts for questioning and soul probing in a way to force people into doing something against their will. Unless…" She was musing aloud, thinking back on what Lucifer told her of Daniel's explanations of what happened to him. "Maybe he uses a human's deepest fears and darkest thoughts against themselves. Manipulating existing thoughts and emotions, even buried deep down, would be easier than to try and implant false ones. The gap between questioning or searching a soul and control it would be less of a leap that way."

Lucifer nodded slowly. "You might be right. But there is one thing that you're certainly right about; Daniel is a strong soul, he will defeat that link and regain his freewill.

Azraël was about to ask him something when she saw a change in his demeanor. He suddenly looked far away.

"Lucifer…?" She probed him.

Beside him, Chloe also felt the change when Lucifer tightened his hold around her shoulders.

She looked up at him to see him very still, gaze unfocused. "What is it?" She asked tentatively.

It took him a moment to answer, but he did it with wonder in his voice and in all his features. "It's Beatrice! She is alive!

Chloe brought her hands to her mouth to refrain a sob of relief.

Lucifer closed his eyes to try and pin point her position. While he could hear her clearly, her location kept eluding him, it was like trying to catch a slippery fish with his hands.

Chloe misinterpreted his frowning and grimacing of frustration. "Is she hurt? As something bad happened to her?" She thought her heart would blow out with this agonizing anxiousness squeezing her chest.

Almost at the same time, Lucifer opened his eyes in surprise when he suddenly lost the link. He quickly reassured Chloe who was apparently ready to pass out with worry.

"She is fine! I could hear her clearly." He put his hands over her shoulders in a comforting manner and lowered his voice. "She is scared, but she is keeping a clear head." Chloe nodded silently at the news with tears building again in her eyes. "She said there was a demon guarding her and that others were coming down. She must be in a basement or something of the sort. That's when I lost the link."

He shook his head in frustration. "I can't see where she is. Somehow, her prayer could get through, probably because Vasariah doesn't suspect me of having gotten my wings back, otherwise he would have shielded the child both ways for sure."

Chloe started once more to sob quietly with her head resting on his shoulder. He enlaced her tenderly to try and calm her for a long moment with his body and soothing words he whispered in her ears.

Amenadiel and Azraël stayed silent to respect the hard time they were going through. After a moment, Doom joined them and pressed his nuzzle against Chloe's side to comfort her. She gazed down with watery eyes and reached its neck to caress the tick fur. Somehow, the presence of the hound felt comforting.

Suddenly, Chloe felt Lucifer stiffen anew in her arms. Full of hopes, she lifted her eyes to his. He stayed silent and serious for a full minute before smiling proudly.

"Give me a sheet of paper and a pen, quickly. What a clever little Hellion!"

Author's note: I knowwww! This is hardly a place to stop, but I had to cut somewhere like I told you at the beginning. So next chapter will start with Trixie and what is going on with her. Pleaaase, let me know how you found this chapter, your feedbacks are what make me keep writing this. Thanks for reading!