A/N: Enormous thanks to my amazing beta reader, TempestJuvano!

Chapter 16 – It's time for us to return

Lucifer knocked impatiently on the apartment's door. It had taken him his whole morning and half of his afternoon to track down Maze. After she had moved out of the apartment she shared with the Detective, she had apparently wanted to choose a place that wasn't very conspicuous. This was a logical decision – for a bounty hunter, it was best to blend in.

Maze opened the door hastily. The contempt and disgust on her face, which she had reserved for any arbitrary visitor, was replaced by surprise for a moment. It was obvious that Lucifer was the last person she had been expecting to visit her.

Not waiting for an invitation, Lucifer stormed inside.

"By all means, please, come in, oh majestic Lord of Hell," Maze taunted.

"I'm not in the mood for your impudence, Maze," Lucifer glared at her. "Let's cut to the chase, shall we? I am here to fulfil your desire." When she just frowned and stared at him blankly, he clarified, "I will bring you back to Hell."

Maze eyed him silently for a while, then scoffed, "So, you're telling me that you changed your mind? Just like that?"

"Things have changed recently. And although I am loath to admit it, you were right. Emotions – suck. We had never been the ones to get tortured, and yet here we are." He spread his arms and eased himself down onto her couch. "So, maybe it's time for us to return." Lucifer took out his flask from one of his inner pockets and swigged its content greedily. His dark grey three-piece suit and light blue shirt were impeccable as always, but he seemed ruffled. He was paler than usual, and there were dark circles under his eyes.

"For us?" Maze echoed incredulously. "You want to leave Earth?"

"Yes, I do. I realized recently that I don't belong here. I'm not needed here. So, there's no point in me staying." He put the flask back in his pocket and his eyes narrowed. "I must say, Mazikeen, I thought you would be more thrilled by the prospect of going back."

Maze was gaping a bit before she found her voice, "I…I'm just surprised, that's all." She cleared her throat and straightened her back. "When do you want to go?"

"I still have some errands to run. I have to ensure that LUX will be in good hands and I must close a case, you know, that sort of thing. But we can go tonight or tomorrow at the latest."

Maze folded her arms and nodded briskly.

"Good. I'll be ready."

"Marvellous," Lucifer sighed and got up. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go and deal with unfinished businesses."

He didn't wait for an answer. He left as suddenly as he had arrived.

Maze stood in the middle of her living room for a few minutes, staring at the closed door. Lucifer wasn't joking. He was going to take her back. She went to the kitchen on autopilot and grabbed a coconut water. After she took a sip, she looked at the bottle and her mouth curved into a sad smile. It was the last bottle from the package she had brought from her previous apartment. The package Decker bought for her just because she knew Maze liked it.

Poor Decker. Maze wasn't sure what would happen to her now that the plan changed, but she was probably screwed anyway. Although there was no need to frame Lucifer anymore, if Cain's plan worked, Chloe would fall in love with him, and he would lose his mark. And he didn't really need Maze's assistance to die, so it's quite likely that the selfish bastard would kill himself and break her heart. Until now, Maze successfully suppressed the guilt she felt over their wicked plan, but she couldn't pretend anymore that she didn't care about what would happen to Chloe. Her former roommate deserved better than that.

She walked into her bedroom and sat on the edge of her bed. Her thoughts trailed off, and she wondered if Chloe, Cain, and Lucifer had already had that threesome that Cain had planned to arrange. If they had done the deed, and if Maze had been right about the change in Chloe's interest afterwards, then it would explain why Lucifer was so upset. Good. That bastard deserved some heartache. She thought she would enjoy his suffering, but it wasn't as satisfying as she had hoped. If she was honest to herself, she wasn't originally angry at Lucifer. It had all started with Linda and Amenadiel.

For a while, neither their apologies nor Linda's conciliatory gift impressed her. But something had changed yesterday. She had got a call from the hospital. Apparently, she was one of Amenadiel's emergency contacts, which she was genuinely surprised by. Is it possible that she was somehow still important for him? She had gone to the hospital immediately after the call, but when she had seen Lucifer, Chloe, and Cain go in, she had decided to wait outside. She had picked up the courage to sneak inside only when she had seen Lucifer leave.

Amenadiel had already fallen asleep when she had slipped into his room. She just stood at the doorway, watching him for several long minutes, and she tried to suppress a myriad of upsetting emotions. Despite the anger, the disappointment and the feeling of betrayal, the thought that Amenadiel had almost died—that she'd almost lost him—had been terrifying. She wasn't sure if she wanted to wait until he woke up, but her buzzing phone had helped her make the decision. Linda had texted her. She'd informed her about Amenadiel and that she had been heading to the hospital to see him. It was another olive branch, and Maze wanted to accept it more than ever. But she couldn't. It was too much at once. So, she'd simply fled before Amenadiel had woke up or before Linda had arrived.

And now she had the opportunity to get rid of these pesky emotions. Lucifer was right, she should be thrilled that she could go home. Home. But was it? Was Hell still her home?

She got up and walked to the window. The sun was already approaching the horizon, and the city was swimming in a slight golden light. People finished work and headed home or went to find some fun. They walked their dog in the park, had a date with their love, or went partying with their friends. Did she really want to leave all of this behind?

Maybe she should speak with Linda after all. Maybe a conversation with her would help her decide what to do. She grabbed her phone from the nightstand with an exasperated sigh and started to tap a message. She held out her hand to that olive branch.

oOo

The precinct was busy at the beginning of the night shift. Lucifer strode purposefully to the Detective's desk. He had been so busy all day, that only as he headed for the precinct he noticed that the Detective had called him earlier. But she hadn't left a message, so it probably wasn't that important. Maybe it was just a new clue in the case.

He really hoped that they would be able to close the case soon. It was easier to decide to go back to Hell than to take that action. He had to tell the Detective that he would leave Los Angeles before his will wavered. But he would help her close this case first. He wouldn't let her down like that.

Lucifer was quite surprised when he didn't find the Detective at her desk. He looked around helplessly and noticed that Miss Lopez had just left the lab with a huge pile of paper in her hands and headed to the evidence room. She spotted him as well, spun around and marched towards the Detective's desk.

"Lucifer, where have you been all day? We were sooo busy with the case and really could have used your help!"

"Good afternoon to you too, Miss Lopez," he greeted her with a tight smile. "I had some errands to run, but I'm here now, and I'm all about the case from now on. Do you know, by any chance, where is the Detective?"

"She left half an hour ago to interrogate the new suspect. She had a really good theory, and if she's right... Well, let's say she will catch a wickedly clever and calculated killer this time."

Lucifer's eyes widened and he couldn't help but raise his voice.

"So, you're telling me that she went to interrogate the murderer all alone? Where are they meeting exactly? And who's the suspect?"

"Dude, she tried to reach you, but you didn't answer your phone, so don't blame her." When Lucifer's expression changed from angry to guilty, she added, "The new suspect is Brian Morris, the other owner of SkyFly-Tech Solutions. He couldn't come to the precinct and we don't have enough evidence to simply bring him in, so Chloe will meet him at the company's lab. But she won't be alone. Pierce went with her."

Her last words felt like a knife in his guts. Maybe he shouldn't wait until they closed this case. The Detective had already found his replacement, although he really couldn't blame her – Lucifer just proved that she can't rely on him. But he had a bad feeling about her current interrogation and Miss Lopez just confirmed this ominous intuition when she grabbed his arm and leaned forward.

"Although I would be less worried if you went after them. If Chloe was right about this guy, they would probably need the backup."

"Don't worry, Miss Lopez, I've got this covered." He patted her shoulder and left the bullpen hurriedly.