Sorry for the wait on this one. It's a whopper of a chapter, but some neat things happen between Lucifer and...
Linda's foot tapped relentlessly against her office rug as her smile pulled into a fascinating rictus.
"I'm sorry," she said sharply, hoping desperately that she had misheard, "Trixie is what?"
"God."
A small, strangled laugh left her.
She stared at Lucifer, sitting forward on the couch in his beautifully tailored black suit, his hands laced gracefully atop his knees.
"You're kidding," she said, very much needing him to grin and admit he was.
"I am not," he said, very much refusing to do so.
He was utterly serious.
But it was utterly ridiculous!
"No," she said definitively.
She hadn't actually meant to say anything, but she seemed to be speaking without the benefit of thought right now, and perhaps, right now, that was appropriate.
"No-no," she repeated, shaking her head, because why stop now?
Lucifer smiled. "You appear to be having a problem with the concept."
"I'm having a BIG problem with the concept, Lucifer! How can Trixie be God?! She's a twelve-year-old girl!"
"Yes," he nodded agreeably. "And also God."
With a small sound of concern, she stared at her closed office door.
Beyond it lay her waiting room.
Where God apparently sat, dressed as a tween.
"I can't do this," she whispered, as her foot started picking up speed, and her finger joined in, tapping against her knee.
"I mean," she said with a nervous laugh, "I don't even work with kids! They don't like me! I'm not hip!"
"You are the only one I trust to do this," Lucifer said softly, still smiling.
Her foot slowed briefly as she stared at him, marveling at how untroubled he seemed. How open he'd become. His gaze was bright and warm, the smile utterly sincere.
And she found herself smiling back as a soft glow filled the room.
"Nope!" she snapped, shaking her head as she held up a hand. "Don't think you can sucker me into doing this with your angel mojo!"
Grinning as the glow faded around him, Lucifer sat back against the couch, draping his leg over his knee with a flash of red from his shoe.
"It was worth a try."
Her wide gaze fixed on the door again as her voice became a whisper. "But... why does God need my help?"
Lucifer laughed.
"I could answer that in so many ways. None that he would appreciate."
She managed a weak echo of his laugh, as the rictus slowly returned to her face.
"But, truthfully," he continued, "it is not my Father who needs your help, Linda. It is Beatrice."
Linda stared at him.
"But... you said Trixie was God."
"Yes," he said, stretching his arm back along the couch. "But she is not aware of that right now."
She quickly held up a finger. "I'm going to need a little more on that."
Lucifer released a long, slow breath.
"My Father chose to incarnate as Beatrice to be closer to me, and to make up for our," he glanced away briefly, "past difficulties. As Chloe's child, he is normally unaware of being anything but a young girl. The recent circumstances and my prior return to Hell reversed that, but Beatrice is now, once again, herself, and greatly troubled, as I shared earlier."
Linda's jaw fell. Lucifer had casually dropped something stunningly important in the middle of that and she wasn't about to let it slide by.
"Lucifer..." she whispered, "that's incredible! This... this is incredible for you! Isn't this incredible? You've spent so much time and energy raging against your father, and you've just told me that he's been making an attempt to reconcile your relationship?! This.. this is amazing! Do you know how often this doesn't happen? Do you know how many people seek for that kind of recognition their entire lives and never get it?!"
His expression remained flat.
"My father revealed all of this to me upon my return from Hell, and after our reconciliation, promptly erased the information from my mind."
"Ah."
"He later wiped me from existence and remade me with no knowledge of my past or my connection to Chloe."
"Riiight."
"And forgot to mention that the ring he'd gifted me at my making was a prison for a jealous god who eventually stole my immortality, caused my physical death, and attempted to annihilate the entire universe in the guise of my son."
Linda grasped the glass of water before her desperately and drank it without stopping, before slapping it back down a little harder than she'd meant to.
"But," she hiccuped, "you... ah... seem more peaceful now? So that's... that's good."
He laughed, and the sound was beautiful.
"Despite my father's efforts, yes. I have reconciled something within myself, and that has been worth all of it."
And he smiled, his eyes bright and unguarded.
The pain she'd seen so often in him, the hurt that had crept to the corners of his eyes, was gone.
He was beautific. And Linda simply stared, with a big, dumb smile on her face, until the reality of his visit slammed home again.
"Oh God. We've kept the creator of the entire universe waiting with a bunch of crappy magazines on home decorating and the benefits of drinking wheatgrass..." She made a small sound of pain and dropped her head to her hand. "Lucifer, I don't think I can do this."
"Perhaps a different perspective would help," he said reassuringly.
"Oh?"
"Simply think of her as Jesus."
Linda's stomach, which had dropped through her gut at the mention of God, continued to drop through her seat, and the floor, landing somewhere in the underground parking garage.
"No!" she yelled, sweeping her hand to the door. "You are not helping! Out!"
He frowned, but slowly stood, straightening his impeccable suit before striding in graceful steps to the door.
"Then you will not see her?" he asked, turning back, his peace somewhat dimmed.
Linda sighed.
"Alright Lucifer, I can't make any promises, but I'll do the best I can."
The devil beamed at her, and slipped through the door.
And after hushed conversation, Trixie's small head poked through.
And everything was fine, because it was just Trixie. They'd celebrated her birthday at the Cliff House a couple of months ago, and she'd come over a few times to hang out with Charlie, making him giggle like nobody else could.
She was just a twelve-year-old girl who needed help.
Linda released the breath she'd been holding, and smiled, settling into the familiar landscape of her craft.
"Come on in, sweetheart, and take a seat."
Trixie entered slowly with her arms clamped across her chest, looking around the room anxiously.
She stood by the couch for a moment and waved quickly.
"Hi."
"You can relax, Trixie, honest."
The girl's eyes grew very swiftly wet, but she slowly sat down, her body narrow and tense on the couch.
The sight was alarming. Trixie was a bright, bubbly kid. That wasn't showing here at all.
"Have you ever been to a therapist before?" Linda asked, broadcasting as best she could her own calm.
Trixie shook her head stiffly.
Linda smiled. "It's just like talking to a friend."
"Okay."
The smallest frown flitted across Linda's brow.
"Sweetheart, Lucifer told me that you're having bad nightmares."
Trixie nodded, and her gaze dropped to her hands, clenching tightly together.
"I see really bad things," she said quietly.
"I'm sure you do. Your mom said some awful things happened to you."
Trixie's mouth rippled, and she nodded again.
"There was a very bad man. He... hurt me. He hurt... my..."
Her breath hitched, and her gaze rose, sharp and wide.
Her breaths came in quick and shallow gasps.
A panic attack, with the look of being a very bad one.
"Trixie," Linda said quickly, "there are five pink things in the room around me. I bet you can't find all five."
Trixie blinked as her hands grasped the edge of the couch with small white knuckles.
"W-what?"
Linda smiled, breathing slowly and easily and softening her voice. "Bet you can't find the five pink things I have hidden around my office."
Trixie blinked again, and frowned as she quickly glanced around the space.
"Bet I can."
Linda grinned. "Say them out loud when you see them."
"How much did you want to bet?" Trixie asked slyly, with a growing smirk.
Perfect. This was the Trixie she knew.
"How about... an ice cream later?"
"How about five bucks now?" Trixie countered, with a toothy grin.
"Ha! How about three?"
"Deal!"
"Five pink things," Linda repeated.
She was about to lose three bucks, but the distraction had worked as intended.
Trixie's legs swung against the couch as she stared around the room and pointed to various places.
"That book."
"Yup."
"Those tissues."
"Yep."
"That weird thing over there..."
"That's a kachina doll."
"The little pig on your shelf."
Linda grinned. "Good eye."
"And... and... um..."
Trixie seemed stumped then, and Linda glanced quickly at the small table on the far side of the room where she had a pink flower.
But the flower was gone.
"Oops, I'm sorry, I-"
"Your lungs! Five things! I'll take that three dollars now."
And she held out her little hand.
Linda raised an eyebrow. "My what?"
"Your lungs," Trixie repeated, pointing at Linda's chest. Then she smirked and pointed at Linda's head. "And your brain too I guess. Do I get extra for more than five?"
Linda laughed. "Trixie, you can't see my lungs or my brain - that doesn't count. And I'm sorry, usually I-"
"Yes, I can! They're right there - and there's a little weird part on the bottom of your left one."
With a deep frown, Linda stared down at herself. "My left what?"
"Lung. You should get that checked out."
Linda froze, her eyes widening as she stared down at her shirt.
"Oh," came Trixie's quiet voice.
"Ohhhh," Linda whispered, slowly looking up again.
Trixie was grinning.
"This was unexpected," she said, swinging her legs again. "How fascinating. It's not often I'm surprised, but I recently decided to embrace chaos and all of these strange things keep happening. I'm glad it did today. It is truly an honor to meet you, Linda."
Linda made a noise not unlike a squeeze toy that's been accidentally sat on.
Trixie giggled.
"Oh, God..."
"Yes?"
"I... I... I'm..."
"Speechless, apparently."
Linda snorted, and nodded, suddenly feeling a little more relaxed.
Then she started crying. Ugly, loud, embarrassing sobs - worse than when she'd broken down at the sight and sound of Samael. Because she was sitting in front of God, and she didn't know what to say, and she wanted to say everything, but she was afraid to.
Because she felt so terribly small.
The door burst open, and Lucifer stopped short, his gaze swinging from Linda's anguished face, and Trixie's knowing smile, and back.
"Father, why is my therapist crying?! What did you do to her?"
Trixie rolled her eyes.
"Why is everything my fault?!"
"Because, father, as you are so fond of telling me, you ARE everything!" He crossed to Linda's side with two broad steps and crouched next to her, before scowling back at Trixie. "What did you say to her?!"
"I'm fine," Linda murmured, struggling to mop up the volume of her blubbering.
Then she started laughing over the wad of tissues as she stared between them both.
Here she was, with God and the Devil in her office, arguing.
Where was this scenario in her education?!
"Oh, wonderful," Lucifer snapped, throwing his hand up. "Now she is emotionally unbalanced. Well done, Father!"
"Lucifer," Linda sighed.
"You have no idea what the situation really is," Trixie snapped back, "and you blame me, yet again! Have you not learned that I am not directly responsible for everything that goes wrong in your life?!"
"Excuse me," Linda said, raising her hand as Lucifer shot to his feet by her side, his body taut.
"You are responsible for MOST of it!" Lucifer growled back. "Perhaps not the terrible olive in my martini three months ago, or the bird that shat on my Vuittons, but the path of my life... Father, why are you smirking?!"
Trixie leaned back, grinning. "I may have had something to do with the bird."
"Unbelievable!"
"You were being rather obnoxious at the time, and I was upset, and then I saw the bird and... things happened..."
"The human rules dictate," Lucifer shouted back, stabbing his finger into his palm to punctuate each word, "that twelve-year-olds cannot drive!"
"It was early and the traffic on 405 wasn't that bad!"
"EXCUSE ME," Linda muttered, glaring at them both.
"Oh, believe me," Lucifer continued with a little aggravated laugh, "I would like nothing more than for you to be my own personal chauffeur, Father, but Chloe-"
"AS IF!" Trixie shouted back, standing to her feet. "I want my OWN CAR to drive! I'm not your-"
"BOYS!" Linda yelled, grabbing the arms of her chair.
The two celestial beings in her office stopped and slowly looked at her.
Her heart fell through the floor to land beside her stomach.
"I'm a girl," Trixie said, sitting back down abruptly with her arms crossed.
"And I am over 14 billion years old, Doctor," Lucifer answered indignantly, "I hardly qualif-"
"Sit down," Linda snapped.
Trixie grinned as Lucifer stepped stiffly towards the couch, and sat as far away from her as possible.
"In my true form I'm neither boy or girl," Trixie offered helpfully. "I'm a nontemporal, multi-dimensional, quant-"
"We're listening now," Linda said firmly, holding up her hand.
Another part of her was covering her eyes in the back of her head while yelling WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!
Lucifer grinned, crossing his legs as he relaxed back against the couch.
"Don't look so smug, Lucifer," Linda said shortly. "You do have a tendency to blame your father for everything that goes wrong in your life."
It was Trixie's turn to grin.
"And..." Linda started, focusing on her, "ahh..."
And her brain froze.
"You can call me Trixie," God said helpfully.
"Trixie, as... the... uhhh... creator of all things..." she stared wide-eyed at her table for a moment before continuing, "you do have a tendency to exert a level of control on your children that many would perceive as unhealthy."
The part of her inside that had previously protested fainted.
"She's very good," Lucifer said, beaming as he grasped his knees, drawing his legs up briefly with another flash of red.
"She is, actually," Trixie whispered back. "I'm very glad I created her."
"Oh my Lord," Linda gurgled.
"Trixie is fine," the little girl corrected.
Linda shook her head as she desperately searched for her glass of water. But of course, she'd finished the whole thing after finding out that she was about to have a session with God.
Liquids! She needed liquids! Whiskey, preferably!
"Here," Trixie said, nodding at the glass.
And it was filled.
Linda stared at it the clear liquid for a very long time.
Highly likely that wasn't vodka or gin.
She looked up.
"Do you still do the wine thing?" she whispered hopefully, her throat a desert.
Trixie's mouth twisted thoughtfully. "Not really, wine is yucky. But, how about..."
The water turned opaque and grayish brown.
Linda raised an eyebrow.
"Chocolate milk," Trixie said, smiling.
"I'm lactose intolerant," Linda whispered, realizing that was probably not the best followup to a miracle performed by God.
"I'll drink it then!"
The glass appeared in the girl's small hands and she started slurping from it happily.
Lucifer, his gaze fixed on Linda, gestured at Trixie as she drank. "This is the kind of behavior I have had to endure my entire life."
Linda snorted and started laughing.
And it took a very long time to stop.
Something struck her then, that pulled her from the insanity of the moment to the very real panic of a young girl.
"I don't understand," she said thoughtfully, staring at Trixie.
Trixie finished her milk, nodding, and put the glass back on the table. It slid to Linda filled with water.
"I'm not surprised," she said sympathetically, "celestial matters are difficult for humans to-"
Lucifer bumped her roughly with an elbow, interrupting her.
When she glared at him, he shook his head pointedly.
"A bad idea."
"No." Linda shook her head. "I don't understand why you," she gestured with both hands at Trixie, "the creator of everything, with the ability to manipulate reality and memory, would choose to let your incarnation suffer in this way, when there is little remaining threat or reason to do so."
Trixie's mouth fell open.
And Lucifer turned to stare at her small, shocked face with devilish glee.
"Oh, fantastic, doctor," he said happily, glancing briefly back at Linda. "Do answer that, Father."
Linda blinked.
She looked about herself frowning, before staring at Lucifer and Trixie, sitting on the couch before her.
"Um..." she murmured, "I'm sorry. I must have spaced out. Were we...?" she gestured between them and nodded. "We must have been. I apologize. Now, Lucifer, you said over the phone that Trixie was having nightmares?"
Lucifer stared at her for a moment, before his brows furrowed deeply.
And his eyes burst aflame.
Linda put her hands up. "You're the one who called me, Lucifer, I don't even work with..." she gestured towards Chloe's daughter, "you know."
"How dare you, father," Lucifer growled, twisting his molten gaze to Trixie, "Restore what you have taken from the doctor immediately, or our agreement is rescinded. I shall tell Chloe everything."
Trixie glared at him.
"Wait.. father?!" Linda asked, her throat suddenly three times as parched as it had been.
"I am not interested in this anymore," Trixie said flatly, crossing her arms.
"THE Father?!" Linda spluttered, grasping her chair as she stared open mouthed at Trixie. "As in... YOUR Father?!"
"That is very clear," Lucifer snapped back. "But it was your choice to leave these memories in place, to put Chloe through the anguish of watching Trixie suffer. I will not abide her pain - do you understand? Restore the doctor and answer her, or our deal is voided."
"God?" Linda squeaked, bringing her hands to her mouth.
Then she very slowly lowered them.
As the many moments before the last few were returned.
"Oh," she said quietly, staring intently at Trixie. "Oh, wow."
"I apologize," Lucifer said formally, "on behalf of-"
Linda raised a hand and shook her head. "It's okay, Lucifer."
"You," she gestured at Trixie, "no matter how all-knowing or omnipotent, are in a great deal of pain."
Trixie stared across the room at the little pig on the shelf.
"I could end this entire reality in an instant," she whispered, her gaze unmoving.
"Wiping my mind was the wrong thing to do, and completely terrifying," Linda said, undeterred, "but it's an action I understand."
Trixie's eyes snapped to her.
"Avoidance. Defensiveness. Hiding from what you don't wish to face."
"I am a part of every therapist on earth, doctor, including yourself."
"Deflection."
Trixie scowled and looked away again.
Linda drew in a long breath and released it slowly.
When she next spoke, the little girl in front of her mouthed every word as it came out of her mouth.
"You allow the suffering because you feel you deserve it."
Trixie flopped back into the couch.
Lucifer looked slowly between them both.
"I do not often use this vernacular, doctor, but it applies here. You have substantial balls."
Linda looked at him cockeyed.
"I'm sorry?"
He gestured, helpfully, at his own genitals.
"A man is sometimes referred to, when engaged in courageous acts, as having large ba-"
"Yup, stop, we're good." Linda mumbled, rubbing her temples vigorously.
"The Third caused a disruption," Trixie said abruptly, "and I needed a certain continuum of memory to fit within the remnants of Chloe's and my friend's realities. Mark-"
Trixie's voice broke.
Lucifer stared at his father.
Linda nodded softly.
"Mark is very special to you."
God nodded. "I have allowed myself to become quite entwined as Trixie to those I spend my time with."
"That's very matter of fact."
"It is true."
"He's okay now though, isn't he?"
Trixie's gaze grew flat.
"I almost lost him irrevocably. I almost lost everyone. And... I destroyed my beautiful son."
A tear fell down her small cheek. She did not bother to wipe it away.
"Father, I am recovered."
Trixie shook her head. "Despite me, son. And you are changed-"
"For the better."
"You suffered incredibly. The moment in the storm, it was-"
"Temporary."
Linda watched them both in this exchange, smiling softly.
Lucifer is not the same as he was, came Trixie's voice in her mind like a thought, but he does not see that.
Linda's eyes widened. "Uh..."
My Father thinks I am not fully as I was. He does not understand.
"Holy sh... Use your words, both of you!" she yelped, holding her head.
"Sorry," they both said in unison.
Trixie's little hands formed tight fists.
"I let myself be controlled," she growled, "by an enemy of my own making. I let my creation come to the brink of ruin while I flailed as a helpless human child. I have never felt so powerless! I have never felt a wounding such as that before! I AM ENRAGED THAT MY ENEMY HAD THAT POWER OVER ME!"
The building around them began to quake.
"Oh, crap," Linda mumbled, grasping her chair and staring at the swaying walls as her books, ornaments, and pictures fell to the ground around her.
Lucifer's eyes widened as he grasped Trixie's shoulder. "Father, please calm down."
But Trixie's eyes were closed, her fists white and pressed against her legs, as she roared words that didn't fit her small frame at all.
"I WAS POWERLESS! I COULD NOT STOP IT! IT WAS ALL MY FAULT!"
Linda shrieked as the words began to pulse in the space, rippling the fabric of the room as Trixie continued to shout, shifting from the words of a young child to a cacophony of sound that shredded Linda's eardrums and threatened to pulverize the pounding muscle in her chest.
Lucifer's face turned to her in shock and fear, then burst into light as his wings snapped out behind him.
The light claimed everything, sending Linda's mind spinning in a space with no beginning or end, as the voice of the most powerful celestial of all warped everything else around her, opening deep wounds in reality, closing them and opening them again, to a chorus of tones beyond the comprehension of her being.
Then a new voice rose - one she knew - speaking in shimmering notes punctuated by deep metallic clangs that melded and rose and fell, while the light embracing her pulsed in time.
And through the insane experience of the moment, Linda new that she was being protected from forces that would have otherwise torn her apart.
The cacophony responded, each utterance a fresh wound upon the space, answered by the voice of an angel growing ever more concordant and melodic.
The wild buffeting of God's rage and grief abated, as the light grew in strength and the voice rose above everything, then slowly softened and undulated in calming gentle waves.
The sounds left the spectrum of the impossible, fading down to the sobbing of a child.
The shaking of the world subsided.
And slowly the light retracted, drawing back into the form of Lucifer, his wings arched protectively around Trixie, curled against his chest.
Cradling her, he murmured words that chimed through the space.
Slowly she relaxed, her tears easing to gulping breaths and sighs.
Linda's mind and body vibrated, drawing slowly back from terror, confusion, and the incredible love that had saturated everything in the reach of Lucifer's light.
She sagged back into her chair.
"Wow," she whispered.
Trixie shifted with a small groan, hiding her face in Lucifer's jacket.
"Father," he murmured, pulling back in confusion. "What are you doing?"
"I'm mortified," she mumbled from behind a shield of Armani. "I completely lost it. I'm so terribly sorry."
Lucifer smirked.
"You did almost atomize my therapist."
With another groan, she shifted further in.
"Father, this suit is not tailored for two. Please extract yourself."
Trixie pulled free with a few sniffs and sank back against the couch, her gaze fixed on her hands, curled in her lap.
Lucifer released a long, slow breath. Then he drew his wings in with a shrug, straightened his suit and sat back.
Smiling.
"Wow," Linda breathed again.
The smile slipped. "Are you alright, doctor?"
She nodded, a little too rapidly. The room swam, but righted itself soon enough.
Linda shook her head in wonder.
"That was incredible," she said softly.
"Celestial yelling matches often are," Lucifer said with a smirk.
Linda shook her head more firmly.
"No. Not that."
He raised an eyebrow.
"I've just witnessed an act of immense love and care," she said softly. "What you just did was wonderful, Lucifer. You brought your father back from the brink of overwhelming pain, while saving me from the brunt of all of it."
Lucifer just smiled.
"That's what I meant," Trixie said in a small voice. "When I said he'd changed."
Linda sighed. "Trixie - God - your son has always been protective of the ones he loves. That hasn't changed."
Trixie gave a conciliatory half-shrug.
"And he very clearly loves you."
Trixie's eyes grew soft, and a small smile spread on her face.
"When you are not shitting on my shoes," Lucifer clarified.
"I'm sorry about the bird."
"I am too," Lucifer breathed. "Those were expensive shoes."
Linda smirked.
"How do you feel?" she asked God.
Trixie squished back into the couch, frowning thoughtfully.
Then she smiled again.
"I feel better."
"Very good."
"Shouting is very therapeutic I have found," Lucifer murmured. He looked intently at Trixie. "Will you head my words then, father?"
She nodded.
Linda looked to Lucifer. "What words?"
"I told my Father that all was in the past now, and-"
"Nontemporal being, hello," Trixie said, waving, "I am always in the past, the present, and the future. Totally doesn't apply."
"Shh. Metaphorically," Lucifer said to Trixie, before looking back at Linda. "And I said that the fault was not all his to bear."
Linda sank back.
"That's an incredible statement from you, Lucifer. Do you believe it?"
Lucifer released a loud breath, and nodded.
"I do."
Linda felt a great swell of pride.
This was huge.
"I'm proud of you, Lucifer."
Trixie smiled and reached out to place her hand on Lucifer's.
"I am too, son."
Lucifer looked at her, gave a small smile, then blinked and shook his head with a little tsk.
"No, you cannot drive home!"
"Plleeease?" Trixie cried, squeezing her little hands together in supplication. "I'm 'metaphorically' older than the universe right now, so the twelve year old thing doesn't even count!"
"It never stops," Lucifer said, staring at Linda with a pained expression.
And she laughed, simply delighted by what she'd seen of the relationship the two shared.
The ruler of heaven and the ruler of hell, reconciled.
"Those terms are completely inaccurate," Lucifer said. "I have no dominion over hell any more."
"Yeah," Trixie said nodding. "And I wasn't the king of heaven. I am heaven. And everything else."
"Which he never tires of telling me," Lucifer grumbled.
Linda sighed.
"New rule. No mind reading during therapy."
"Whatever," Trixie said with a smirk, before giving Linda the most beautiful smile.
"Before I remember I'm Trixie... I want to say thank you."
"Oh," Linda said with a smile, "you're wel-"
Light bloomed around the girl and from her, rippling and shimmering through the space, in every color imaginable, and in colors beyond imagination, until all Linda could see and feel and understand was the warmth and pure pulsing light of absolute and unconditional love.
"Oh," was all she managed to say, until she was lost to it utterly - enveloped and embraced outside of time, in a space where she was one with every human, every animal, every tree and stone and blade of grass. Every planet and every star. She breathed in the vibrance of love and exhaled all of the hurts and pains of her life, and every part of her was healed, even that weird little bit on the bottom of her left lung.
Finally, after what seemed a lifetime, she returned. The room resolved slowly, and she could see again.
And she laughed, feeling delighted and cherished and blessed. Everything was vivid and sparkling, every sound was like the chorus of a song. Her body buzzed, feeling younger, stronger and lighter than it had in a very long time.
She spent a long time just gaping as her gaze wandered the room, floating over the two incredible beings before her, shimmering in a soft light, as they both watched her in different ways.
Trixie smiling.
Lucifer rolling his eyes.
"It is all well and good you doing that, Father, but I am the one that must deal with the inevitable crash that follows."
"Wwwwwoww," Linda breathed, before raising her arms in the air with a loud whoop. "I LOVE EVERYBODY! EVERYTHING IS AMAZING!"
Trixie giggled.
Releasing a soft, contended sigh, she leaned against Lucifer's arm, watching as Linda got up from her chair and started dancing around the room, singing enthusiastically off-key.
"Thank you, son."
Lucifer's dark eyes flicked to her.
He smiled.
"You are welcome, Father."
She shifted then, pulling back slightly to look at him.
Linda was bouncing and flowing and skipping through the room like a deranged ballerina.
Trixie scrunched up her face. "Therapy is weird."
Lucifer was silence for one moment, then patted her hand.
"Indeed. Shall we go, Beatrice?"
She nodded, smiling, and stood as he pulled her up by the hand.
"Doctor," Lucifer called to the bouncing woman, "call Amenadiel to take you home."
Linda shrieked happily. "I LOVE MY ANGEL MAN! I LOVE MY ANGEL BABY!"
"Wonderful to hear. I shall call him for you. I am grateful, Linda."
"WOOHOO!"
He pulled the door open and led Trixie through.
She smiled up at him hopefully.
"Can I drive home?"
"No."
"Are you sure?"
"Yes."
"But I'd be safe! My feet can reach the pedals now!"
"No."
She scowled.
"You're so mean."
Lucifer simply held her hand and smiled.