WARNING! Do not read if you haven't watched all of Lucifer 5B! You will be extremely spoiled. If you haven't, proceed at your own peril.
Lucifer Morningstar, Devil and former ruler of Hell, sat staring at the darkening sky, watching as the horizon bled into shades of pale red and deepest purple, fingers tapping a distant rythm on the wheel of his beloved Corvette. There was still blood on his sleeve, a single speck, the only remnant of his recent activities with Maze. What they'd done to the man who'd killed Daniel and his cronies. He turned his head, gaze intent on Chloe's front door. Things between them hadn't resolved since the previous night, but she'd called him, and he would never refuse her when she needed him, when she was in pain. Not that he thought his presence would do much good.
Lucifer got out of the car, long legs eating up the distance. Within a heartbeat, his fist was upraised, knocking lightly, ring gleaming dully in the light.
The Detective opened the door, and the sight of her made his heart lurch painfully. Her hair was in complete disarray, still in the blouse and trousers she'd worn at the funeral. Lucifer himself had removed his tie, since he never wore one and did not want Chloe to be reminded of the day she'd had.
"Lucifer," she breathed, throat raw from likely crying and a lack of anything to drink, if he knew her, "I wasn't sure you'd come."
"Of course I did, Detective," he replied. "How could I not? No matter what state our relationship is in, whether we're together or partners or friends who steal each other's egg sandwiches, I'll always come when you ask me to."
Chloe smiled, but it didn't reach her eyes, she opened the door for him and he stepped inside, suddenly feeling cold. The lights weren't on, the Tv wasn't blaring Trixie's favorite garish cartoons. The mood was sombre and oppressive, like someone had replaced Chloe's home with a replica, devoid of love and life. And it was all his fault.
Lucifer turned, expecting the Detective to be behind him, but she wasn't. She was rooted to the spot, hands gripping her upper-arms in a vice-like grip, staring at her daughter's closed door.
"She won't come out," she murmured. "Not since we came back from the funeral. It's been hours and she won't open the door. I suppose I deserve this, don't I? To see my daughter go through the same fate as me, lose her dad, because I'm the reason he's not here. If it wasn't for me, Trixie would be with Dan, would be happy, wouldn't be alone thinking about all the things her dad will never see, the hole that losing someone leaves in your heart." Chloe finally met his eyes, and the rage and the guilt and the unending grief that met him was like nothing he'd ever known. In that moment, he would have done anything, paid any price, so that she'd didn't look like that.
"How do I fix this, Lucifer? How do I help my little girl?" as if she'd list the will to fight, Chloe slid down the door, face pressed into her knees. Trying to hide her crying, her vulnerability, trying to be perfect for everyone, as always.
Lucifer knelt before her, as he would for no one else, and gently brushed away her tears with the pad of his thumb. "Oh, Chloe, this is not your fault. None of it is. You were right the other night, as always. This happened because of me, because of my brother, the world I've dragged you into."
Chloe laid her hand against his cheek, smiling faintly. "No, Lucifer," she said, shaking her head, "I chose to be a part of this, part of your crazy life with your crazy family. I chose to love you, and I do not regret that. I never will. I just regret what it's cost Trixie. The life she will never have, now that her dad's gone."
"I know, I know you do, Detective. But she has you, and she has all our friends who will be there for her and support her."
"And she has you," Chloe said.
Lucifer frowned. "I'm not sure the little one wants me around at the minute," he told her mildly.
"That's not true. She was just hurt that you left without saying goodbye, but I know why you didn't."
The devil quirked a brow. "Oh, well, by all means, enlighten me, Detective."
"Because you care. Because you have friends, a family, who love you and you didn't want to hurt them, didn't want to go through the hurt of saying goodbye. So you didn't."
"Insightful as always, Detective."
Chloe laughed. "What can I say? It's my job."
"Well, right now it's my job to take care of you," Lucifer said, standing up and offering his hands out to Chloe. "Come on, up you get. You'll get a dastardly chill if you just sit on the floor like a mopstick."
Chloe took his hands, getting up and swaying into his chest as blood returned to her deadened limbs. "'Mopstick?' Really?"
"The imagery was far too appealing to pass up." Chloe made to move to the couch put wobbled once again. Lucifer was already there, suddenly picking her up with the utmost care and depositing her tenderly on the couch.
"While I do like it when you swoon over me, you may be taking this a little far, Detective," Lucifer joked, tucking a blanket around her shoulders and over her lap.
Chloe didn't say anything, just huddled down farther into the fuzzy warmth of her new fabric cocoon.
"I'm going to go make you some tea. When was the last time you are?" he inquired. At her frown, Lucifer sighed. His Detective needed to take better care of herself.
"Well, I'll make you a sandwich. I can't say it will be as good as yours, but I can endeavour to try, at the very least."
As he got up to move from his spot on the couch, Chloe gripped is wrist, her strength as unfaltering as newly-forged steel, clinging to him as if he was the only solid ground in a world at sea. "Thank you," she told him.
"There's nothing to thank. There's nowhere else in the world I'd rather be than with you."
Chloe sat on the couch, drinking her tea as Lucifer bussled about in the kitchen, pulling out ingredients as if he were making a three-course meal rather than just a sandwich. Typical Lucifer. Indeed, she laughed quietly as she took another sip of her tea; Lucifer had put so much sugar in the cup that it had barely dissolved. In reality, she probably needed the energy.
After a moment, Lucifer returned with plate in hand, presenting it to her with a flourish and a proud smile, as if he was a knight who had just slain a mighty dragon and was presenting it's head to some princess. Just without the blood, obviously.
"Thanks, this looks great," she said, noticing that he'd made a little heart out of sauce on top of the bread. "Cute," Chloe smirked.
"I aim to please," he said with a grin, coming to sit beside her.
The sandwich looked as good as it tasted, and Chloe felt a little better, more grounded and less likely to burst into a sudden onslaught of tears. Lucifer took her plate, and washed it up, despite her numerous protests. Returning to his spot on the couch, Lucifer propped his head up on an arm, watching as she swirled the last of her tea.
"Are you feeling any better?" he inquired.
"I am. But I don't think a sandwich and an overly sugary cup of tea are going to fix things for Trixie," she replied.
"No, I suppose not." Lucifer angled his head, eyes staring at the girl's firmly closed door. "Although..."
"Although what?" pressed Chloe.
"I have an idea, but I don't know if it will work."
"I'll try anything," said Chloe.
"Very well, Detective. Stay here." Lucifer got up from the couch in a graceful sweep, crossing the room until he stood in front of Trixie's door. Chloe turned around, arm hanging over the side of the couch.
Lucifer knocked twice.
"Hello, Trixie. It's me. Look, I don't want anything from you, I'm not going to ask you to come out, since you clearly don't. But I want you to know, that I understand how you're feeling. And I'm going to tell you why."
Lucifer sat on the floor, one knee up and staring at the floorboards. Chloe tensed. Whatever he was about to tell her daughter, it was going to cost the man she loved something to say it aloud.
"A few years ago, my brother Uriel died, and I felt like it was my fault." Lucifer looked up, and somehow she knew that he was telling this story to her as much as he was to Trixie.
"We didn't get on well when we were younger, hadn't spoken in what felt like millennia, but then he popped by for a visit, although he didn't have the best intentions at the time."
"Our mother was here, and things got ugly. People got hurt who shouldn't have because of my earlier actions, the promises that I'd kept. And my brother wanted something, or rather someone, that I didn't want him to have. Then he threatened someone I care about, more than anything else in this life."
Chloe put a hand to her mouth, finding her face wet with tears. Oh, oh what had her partner done, done for her?
"Then he died, in my arms. I won't tell you the details, because they're unpleasant, but I blamed myself. I'd never lost someone like that before. I've had friends who have died in the past from old age and such, but never family. And my mother was so sad. And I was sad too, but I didn't tell anyone why. I lashed out at your mother, was half-drunk most of the time and partying the nights away."
There was a thump from Trixie's room, and Chloe knew that her daughter was sitting by the door, hanging on to Lucifer's every word, as she was.
"What did you do?" her daughter asked.
"Well, I had to go through a very traumatizing experience involving someone I care about being hurt, again, to forgive myself for the guilt, that my brother had been wrong and I'd only been trying to do my best for everybody. But it still hurts. I still think about him. As you know, my dad came back to town recently and we buried the hatchet and now he's off with my mum and I likely won't see him for forever, but that's okay. What's important is that I know now how he feels, that he loved me. He could have not waited since practically the day I was born to actually tell me, but adults do work in mysterious ways. But you're so lucky, my child. Your dad, Daniel, he loved you so much. At the beginning, I teased him and belittled him incessantly, but when it came to you and your Mum, there wasn't anything he wouldn't do. He loved you and was so very proud of you, and just because he's not here doesn't mean that any of that has changed."
Trixie opened the door, tears streaming down her face. At the sight of them, Chloe couldn't breathe, couldn't think beyond the pain in her little girls face.
"But it's not fair," she whispered, and catapulted herself into Lucifer's arms, who caught her effortlessly, wrapping his arms around her and holding tight.
"I know, sweet child. I know it's not fair. But you mustn't be angry at your dad, at yourself. Grief can drive people to do terrible things, can change you into someone you don't want to be, someone you no longer recognize. I don't want that to happen to you. Not ever. Your dad wouldn't want that either."
"I promise," Trixie murmured.
"Good."
"I'm sorry I ignored mom," she confided in him.
"I know you are," Lucifer told her, "and your mother knows too."
Indeed, Chloe got up from the couch, taking one of the blankets and wrapping it around her daughter's shoulders. "I know, baby, I know. I did the same, after my dad died. I didn't know how to talk about it, who to talk about it with. I guess I thought if I didn't talk about it, I wouldn't have to face the fact that he wasn't there anymore, that he was gone. But you know what? It gets easier, Trixie. I promise you, it does. Doesn't it, Lucifer?" she asked her partner.
"It does. And you know I don't lie, so know you're doubly assured," he said with a grin.
"Do you want to come sit with me?" Chloe asked her.
Trixie nodded, head still on Lucifer's chest, although he didn't appear to mind.
"Okay. And if you want to talk to us, we're here, and if you don't, we will be here when you're ready to. Deal?"
"Deal."
Lucifer awoke from his vigil on the couch, Trixie well and truly asleep on his chest, the Detective on her other side. With great skill, he manuvered his phone from his pocket. 2:56 am. Lucifer put the phone back, unsure what to do. He didn't want to just up and leave, but he didn't want to encroach on the time Chloe and Trixie had together, since she was taking some time off from school, as she should. Gently, he pried Trixie's arms from around his waist, her head flopping instantly onto her mother's shoulder. Emitting a quiet laugh, the devil got up and stretched, yawning as he did. Couches did not do wonders for the back, even if you were a fallen angel.
Lucifer just stood there, decisions warring about in his head, when Chloe opened an eye, as if sensing his gaze, even in sleep.
"Right, that's definitely not creepy," she said sarcastically, blinking up at him wearily. "What time is it?"
"Almost three," he whispered. "You should go back to sleep, Detective."
She stared at him quizzically, as if he was a puzzle she was desperately trying to solve. Chloe blinked, and her face cleared, some realization coming to her. "You're leaving," she stated.
"You need to be here for your daughter, and I don't want to make anything worse," Lucifer told her.
Chloe got up from the couch, eyes blazing. "What about what I need, Lucifer? What if I want you here, for me, for her? Are you just going to leave me here to deal with this alone?"
"Chloe, I'm not what you need right now, believe me."
"Bull!" she whisper-shouted. "I need you. Because I love you, no matter what you've done. You're my partner, through every danger and hardship. You're my best friend, and I don't care what you tell me, I know you, as probably no one else in the world does. I know that I won't get through this without you. Please, Lucifer, please don't leave me alone again," she cried.
Lucifer was there in a blink, holding her as she sobbed into his shirt. "It's okay, it's okay," he murmured. "I'm not going anywhere, I promise. I just want to do what's best for you, for Trixie. And Chloe, I always need you, too."
"Lucifer?" she mumbled into his chest.
"Yes, Detective?"
"I'm sorry about your brother. About what you had to do."
"Thank you, Detective. But I'd do whatever it took to keep you safe, no matter what it does to me. Always."
So Lucifer stayed the night. And most of the day. Until he practically lived at Chloe's house, holding each other up as they always had done, and always would. Until Trixie could get through the night without nightmares, until Chloe could look at old photos and drawings and not burst into regretful tears. Until the wound started to heal over, slightly, as wounds did, but the pain would always linger. But grief is not a solitary thing, and both the Detective and the Devil knew that they could get through anything, so long as they had each other.
Author's Note: Hello, fellow Lucifans! Welcome to my first Lucifer fic. I very much hope that you enjoyed it, it was such a pleasure to write it for you. Please leave me a review and tell me your thoughts if you have the time or inclination. Enjoy the rest of your day!
With love and gratitude, Temperance Cain