Hello! Long time no post! It would have been better to have finished this story BEFORE the premiere of Season 5a... but it just didn't happen that way. :) Sorry! I'm still writing to finish it and hope to have it done soon. It's completely AU now, sadly (as it was always going to be anyway ;)

Speaking of Season 5 - oh my god, I loved it :D And I'll not mention one moment, because spoilers. Well, okay, I'm caving to mention one moment in a round about way because it's in the trailer for the season. The scene with the car. My god, that was just so incredible and would have been perfect if it had only been... someone else.

To catch everyone up (SPOILERS if you haven't read anything else of this story, turn back now!) - Chloe and Lucifer go camping, end up having a ton of sex and spawning the anti-Trixie, who steals Lucifer's immortality. A bullet steals his sense - leading to a strange encounter with two idiots and Bigfoot (who hates that name) - and later, his life, thanks to Remiel. Chloe ends up in hospital as does Lucifer's ghost, after a brief visit to Heaven. Hi-jinks of a messy kind ensue. Lucifer is undone, Samael is remade, the Anti-Trixie is born and starts taking out his frustrations on an innocent cafe, Amenadiel, Charlie and Linda, a bus load of peeps, and finally reality, as attempts to stop him fail and he kidnaps God, forcing Him to forget who He is. Samael attempts to stop him, and has a new Fall. Chloe somehow stops him from dying, and within a mindscape of his own making, he reconciles who he is and the sins of his predecessor's past to become an incredibly powerful being of light and love who stops the Third (Anti-Trixie). The Goddess (the First), Trixie (God, the Second) and the diminished Third (any musicians out there?) have a meeting of minds, and cosmic fists, and the Third is almost destroyed, saved at the last minute by the Goddess who shows Trixie how to rewrite the scrolls she'd tied to every soul damaged by the Third, before leaving with him. Lucifer's scroll was destroyed, Chloe can't accept he won't be coming back, and Trixie gives her the choice to forget. She finally decides to, before handing Lucifer's ring to Samael, and triggering the connection of the soul fragment trapped in the ring, and the fragment enmeshed with Samael's being, which brings Lucifer back. Lucifer immediately decides they must have sex, on a school stage, behind a curtain, and God returns, heartbroken, only to find them enjoying the lively 'conversation' and realizing with shock that Lucifer is back - that he and Samael are one. God decides to embrace chaos, admits he has to make some adjustments to Chloe's memories, and shoots Lucifer and Chloe back home - she to a warm bed, he to a Arctically cold shower. An agreement had been struck, and Chloe learns about it, but not what it entails, and she leaves angrily then looks for her daughter, only to yell at Dan over the phone, and at her plant, which is promptly turned to ash by Lucifer. It's soon resurrected, Trixie appears, multiple hugs ensue, and Lucifer realizes he'd left Maze in Hell. He flies there to rectify the mistake only to be shown who the ruler really is as Maze almost kills him. He leaves in sorrow and regret and no small amount of shock. Michael awakens from a much cherished slumber, and offers the clumsiest of comforts to a grieving Mazikeen after the battle, who simply looks down at him in pity and walks away.

And here we are.

Chloe woke with a start.

The room was very dark, the night very deep.

Instinctively, her hand sought for Lucifer's warm body beside her, but she caressed only cool, empty sheets.

Not back yet.

She stared at the faint outline of her hand, imagining him in the space. Remembering all the moments he'd been there, laughing at her mock attempts to be sexy. Watching her with a soft smile when she woke.

I almost lost him.

A stabbing grief chased the thought. Grief that wasn't necessary, wasn't warranted. It was irrational. But it hurt immensely for a moment, as she stared at the empty space.

She released a slow breath, trying to let it go.

It was okay now. Lucifer had come back. He was whole again.

Mostly.

There was still something odd there, though she couldn't quite place it. Something that spoke more of Samael than Lucifer.

But he was alive again. That's all that mattered.

Chloe had stayed up for hours, determined to be there for him when he returned. And determined not to panic or worry about where he'd gone.

She'd managed to fail at both - she worried constantly, drinking a little too much wine, and the insane stress of the last few days had finally caught up to her, forcing her to bed.

She'd passed out as soon as her head hit the pillow.

Now her mouth tasted like a t-shirt because she hadn't bothered to clean her teeth, and a dull ache had settled in her left temple.

She sat up and took a sip of water, and her eyes settled on Trixie's door halfway down the hall.

Trixie had grown a little quiet after Lucifer left, but kept looking for every excuse to give Chloe another hug.

It had been lovely, but also a little worrying.

Her daughter seemed to be the focus of that child... man... Antichrist, god, whatever thing's anger. And while Trixie said she couldn't remember everything he'd said or done, he'd killed people in front of her.

He'd killed Mark in front of her.

That was horrible.

Her eyes swam with tears. She wiped at them as they spilled free.

It was all horrible.

She was really worried about the scars this had left on her little girl.

Who wasn't so little anymore.

Chloe released a soft sigh, and finally pulled herself out of bed, way too thoughtful to slip back to sleep now.

At least her entire precinct didn't think she was crazy anymore. She'd tried to ask Dan about what'd happened back at the hospital, but he didn't remember anything about her being locked to a bed.

Which was good, but also... strange.

Memories were being changed everywhere it seemed. Everyone knew that a natural disaster had hit, and a ton of people had died, but when they took stock, there wasn't much damage at all, and the neighbor they'd seen being sucked up into a tornado had come out to greet them with a smile a few hours later.

Her memories had been played with. She knew that. But she still remembered the awful stuff in the hospital. Ella's reaction was still raw in her mind. Chloe wasn't sure how she'd face her friend when she next went into work.

And on top of all of that... there was the agreement.

Lucifer's agreement with God.

About her.

How was she supposed to feel about that?

Honored? Special?

She didn't.

She felt like a toy a child plays with.

Chloe frowned, tilting her head slightly as she peeked in on Trixie. Her daughter was sleeping soundly - her breaths slow and deep.

She'd had a conversation about that with God, hadn't she? About people being toys?

She remembered talking about it, but... the memory was a little hazy.

Chloe closed the door and stared down at the handle, realizing something important.

Hazy.

Hazy meant edited.

"Hmm," she murmured, still staring down at her hand.

She could work with that. Analyze what was there, where it jumped, and work out, perhaps, what had been taken.

And why?

Because, sure, she was just a human, and pretty low on the whole celestial chain.

But she was also a cop. A detective who solved things.

She could solve this.

And she didn't give a crap about anybody's agreement.

Chloe smiled.

It felt good to claim back a little control. In the morning she'd grab a notepad and scribble down everything she remembered. Start there and see what that led to.

Decision made, she felt a little weight ease off her shoulders, and rolled them as she stepped from the hallway into the kitchen, pondering a snack.

The clock on the oven gave a bright blue announcement of the time.

4:52 AM

With the sight came a bloom of worry.

Why wasn't he back yet?

Was he okay?

Clutching the cup she'd filled at the sink, she turned to rest against the counter and stare out over a bright LA skyline.

And there, sitting at the very edge of the deck, silhouetted by the sparkling lights, was Lucifer.

His wings were in.

That was odd. He hadn't pulled them in since coming back to life.

Chloe grabbed a tumbler, dribbled in a finger of scotch, and walked to the sliding door.

She watched him for a moment through the glass.

He was very still, staring out over the city.

Perhaps she shouldn't bother him?

I know you are there, Chloe.

Jerking back, she almost tipped the scotch over the floor, then stared out the door in disbelief.

It wasn't like she'd never heard his voice in her head before. He'd spoken to her in their playful and sometimes mundane prayers to each other, and when he'd been dead.

Awful.

But, never quite like that? Just out of the blue? As if he could read her mind?

Tentatively, she pulled the door open. The faint sounds of the city washed over her with a warm breeze.

"I apologize," he said, still facing the view. "I did not mean to startle you."

Smiling softly, she walked up beside him.

"I didn't know you could do that."

His eyes were searching the city. His expression didn't change.

"I am only now able to," he said quietly. "Since..."

Nodding, she nudged his shoulder with the glass. "Here."

Lucifer smiled up at her before taking it.

"Thank you."

He put it off to the side and returned to his view of the city.

Frowning, Chloe sat down, threading her fingers through his own.

"How long have you been out here?" she asked, hugging his side.

He smiled at the view. "A little while."

She tugged on his arm. "Why didn't you wake me?"

Lucifer turned to look at her, his eyes darker than the night itself.

He looked a little sad.

"I did not wish to disturb you. You were sleeping peacefully. And I wanted to think."

She smiled, squeezing in closer. "And how is the thinking going?"

Smirking, he looked back at the city. "Pitifully. I believe I am currently wallowing."

Lucifer plucked the glass up from his side and brought it to his mouth, in a gesture Chloe was very used to.

But he sniffed the liquid before tipping it back, and frowned.

Grimacing, he put the glass back down.

Chloe watched it all with concern.

Tilting his head to her, Lucifer's mouth twisted in a way that was utterly familiar.

"New body, Chloe. Not quite used to the old libations yet."

"Oh."

Feeling bad for forcing scotch on him, she tried to remember what was in the fridge.

"Do you want... uh... chocolate milk? I can get you orange juice? Water? Iced tea?"

When she tried to stand up, his hand closed over hers. He guided her back down with a small laugh.

Chloe smiled. It was so good to hear him laugh.

"You are here," he said softly, drawing her in again. "That is enough."

She grinned up at him, seeing the faintest embers burning in his eyes where there'd been darkness before.

His lips were curled in the smallest smile.

But he was still sad.

"What happened?" she asked, lifting her fingers to his cheek, feeling for the old stubble where she knew there wasn't any, as she gently stroked his skin.

His eyes closed, and opened slowly.

The embers within burned brighter.

Chloe smiled. She loved that she could see his desire like that.

"I had hoped to undo a mistake I had made," he said, his gaze falling away. "But it did not go well."

Her smile fell.

"Lucifer," she whispered. "I'm so sorry."

He nodded, drawing her hand to his mouth for a kiss, before threading his fingers through hers and dropping it to his lap. "As am I."

"Did you want to talk about it?" she asked, resting her chin against his shoulder as she pressed in close.

He shook his head slightly at the city, with the faintest smile.

"No. I have no desire to trouble you with it."

"Mmm," she hummed softly, studying his profile. "It's no trouble. I'm here to listen. That's part of the deal."

He tilted his head to stare at her. "The deal?"

She nodded, grinning. "When you love someone, you share in the good moments and the bad. That's the deal."

The smile came again, nearer his eyes.

"That is a good deal."

"Mmm-hmm," she murmured, and waited.

But he only watched her fondly, his gaze travelling to her lips, her eyes, her brow.

Chloe smirked. "You're not going to tell me about it, are you."

His smile grew softer as he slowly shook his head. "I am not. It would only scare you."

Frowning, pulling from his shoulder, she stared back and forth between his dark eyes. "Scare me? Why? What happened?"

Lucifer's warm hand clasped the side of her face, and he kissed her.

Closing her eyes, she relaxed against him, threading her fingers through his hair as his soft lips pressed deliciously against her own. She returned the kiss just as eagerly, shifting to press closer, as his hands lowered to wrap around her completely.

Then she jerked back to stare at him with narrowed eyes.

"Wait a minute... you're trying to distract me."

Grinning, he angled forward to catch her mouth in another kiss.

"Yes," he breathed against her lips, "and myself."

With a soft sound, Chloe surrendered, straddling Lucifer as he pulled her over himself, their breaths mingling, the kiss growing deep and urgent. Cradling his head, she sighed against his ear as his lips traveled the line of her jaw and down to the hollow of her throat.

His kisses drifted lower, pressing insistently against her skin through the jersey nightie she wore, as his hands slid under the fabric, roaming and kneading the warm skin of her back.

"I think... I like distractions..." she murmured, as he rolled her top up over her shoulders and played against her naked skin with his tongue.

Chuckling, he stripped the top from her completely as she tugged at his pants, her breaths turning to needful gasps.

He fell back against the deck, drawing her over him, and swiftly freed himself as their lips meshed once more, the kisses fast and hungry, their breaths hot against the other's skin.

She engulfed him completely - groaning, he turned, rolling above her, before his wings unfurled with a snap, luminescent against the night sky.

And with great sweeping strokes, he pulled them up into the darkness, where the stars sparkled around them like diamonds and the milky way shimmered - a grand, never-ending river of light.

Joined, separated and joined again, they made love in the stars until the sun burst over the horizon, bathing them in rays of brilliant gold.