Chapter 1
As the breeze from his departure settled, Chloe felt her heart shatter into a million pieces. For entirely unselfish reasons-proving to her and to everyone, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that he had truly changed-Lucifer was gone. Gone. Somewhere I can't follow. I begged him, begged him not to leave me, and he's...gone. Unable to cope, she reached for the wall behind her for support. A wracking sob escaped her as she leaned heavily against the glass. It's unbelievable, unbearable. How could he leave me...what am I going to do... She sank slowly to the ground, completely lost, immune to the discomfort of the gritty cement beneath her.
Inside the penthouse, the elevator doors opened. Above the sound of her own tears, Chloe could hear heels clicking on the floor, then pausing at the bar and pouring a drink. The confident footsteps grew louder, but she didn't have it in her to look up to meet the demon's eyes.
"Decker, I - whoa. Uhh..." Maze retreated back into the apartment, then returned a minute later with a second glass. Despite their rocky start, Maze had truly come to enjoy the human's company, and considered her a good friend. "Here." The demon pushed the glass at Chloe, who accepted it with trembling fingers before setting it down. "Is it Lucifer again? What stupid thing did he say this time?" Her eyes narrowed, and her free hand reached for one of the demon blades stuck in the waistband of her trademark black leather pants. "Do you want me to go after him? Maybe stab him a few times?" Maze frowned as Chloe just shook her head and cried harder, facing one corner of the balcony. "OK, OK. Maybe just..one little stab?" Chloe set the glass down and wrapped her arms around her knees, curling up as tightly as her sobs would allow. "Chloe, tell me, what did he do?!"
"He's..." she struggled to form the words. "He's...gone." Gone, and I'm alone.
"Lucifer? Meh. He'll be back." She relaxed, no longer as concerned. "He leaves all the time. My advice? Don't take it so hard." Maze threw back the remainder of her scotch, stuffed the blade back into her waistband, and sauntered to the bar for a refill. As she poured, she glanced back over her shoulder. Although she was calming down a bit, Chloe had yet to move from the awkward position she'd collapsed in, and she was still staring out into space. With a sigh and an eye roll, Maze grabbed the bottle and made her way again to the balcony, coming to rest at the railing and looking out at Los Angeles. The sounds of the city below them, and the dance of its lights among the skyscrapers, always reminded her a bit of home. Even the constant layer of smog, which blocked any view of the stars, was eerily similar to the ash clouds that blanketed Hell. Reminiscing gave Maze a moment to gather herself for another attempt at dealing with Chloe's emotions; though they made a little more sense to her now than they did at first, feelings (at least, those other than anger and fear) were a difficult concept for a demon. This sucks. Damn you, Lucifer. I'm cleaning up after you again. Now what? Maybe I should tell her about the last time he left Hell, came home forever later with a disco ball and tried to rename his rooms Studio 69. Never caught on, though. Maze turned around and opened her mouth to begin, but Chloe beat her to it.
"For Charlie. He...he said he had to go back, to protect him."
"Go back where, exactly? You mean Hell?"
Chloe nodded her head, still trying valiantly to gain control of her tears. She picked up the whiskey, set it down again. Why not? Can't make me feel any worse. The warm flavors of charcoal and honey, coupled with the slow burn as she swallowed, reminded her so much of Lucifer that Chloe wasn't sure at all whether it was comforting or painful. Confusion being preferable to abject heartbreak, she sipped again.
Maze flopped down beside her. "No, he didn't. He hates that place! He said he would never go back. And he knows better than to just leave without saying goodbye." She slanted a look at her friend. "Unless-that was goodbye?"
Chloe nodded again. She downed the rest of the whiskey. "What... when will he come back, Maze? I-I want him to come back. I begged him not to leave. I told him-" She cut herself off. Really, though,what was the point in denying it any longer? Does it even matter anyway? It isn't enough to change anything. "I told him that I love him."
"Damn girl, finally! You admit it. Takes guts. Believe me, I know." Maze bumped Chloe with her shoulder. "Yeah, I thought there was a connection between me and Eve. But she took off after we killed Dromos-she wouldn't even talk to me about it." The two sat in miserable silence for a few moments as Chloe finally cried herself out. "What else did he say?"
Chloe sniffled, toying with the empty glass. "He said it wouldn't be over unless the demons had their king again. That as long as he was here, Charlie was in danger." She paused, taking a breath.
"Well, much as I hate to admit it, he may be right. Someone needs to straighten those losers out, and they did come for Amenadiel's kid."
Chloe forged ahead. "And then he told me that we had gotten the prophecy wrong."
"Really. Did he figure it out then?" Maze straightened, took out a dagger and began to spin it, slowly, back and forth.
She laughed once. "Yeah. Yeah, he did." Chloe finally looked up, met Maze's eyes. "He told me that Eve was never his first love, that it was always me. He said goodbye, and then he just...he flew away. He flew back to Hell."
"Aw, crap." Maze leaned against her, crossing her arms. "Trust Lucifer to go all noble and shit just as things were getting good between you." She snorted. "Just, uh, how good were things between you, anyway? Like, did you do it? Was it good?"
"Maze." Chloe rolled her eyes, although it hurt a bit from crying. "Wait, why aren't you more upset about this? Didn't you want to go back home?"
"Becaaauuuuuse," Maze drew out the word as she stood, replaced the dagger, and offered Chloe a hand up. "We are going to go see Amenadiel, and let's just say he has some...connections to help us get Lucifer back." She grabbed Chloe's other hand, pulled her upright, and paused for a minute before giving the detective a stilted hug. "And no, not really," Maze murmured. "It seems I actually like you humans-or at least, some of you. Who knew?" She grinned and pulled away, striding towards the elevator. "This is my home for now. Deal with it." Seems like I have to deal with it now, too.
"Damn, that's a lotta dead guys." Ella was both horrified and fascinated as she glanced around the inside of the Mayan's theater. "What happened here?"
"Good question. If you find out, let me know." Dan had come up beside her. "There must be at least 40 of them."
She crouched beside the nearest body, a middle-aged blonde woman with arms stretched out toward the stage. Snapping on a pair of gloves, Ella pulled a thermometer out of her kit, and performed a brief exam of the victim while she waited for results. "I have no idea how this woman got here, because her lower legs are completely crushed." The temperature readout beeped twice, and she blinked at the display. "Liver is at about 84 degrees, and the room is 76...She's been dead almost ten hours." She looked up at Dan, baffled.
"That's impossible. This just got called in a couple hours ago. Some guy was pissed off about the concert getting canceled, thought he'd sneak in, see what was up. First few minutes of the 911 call are mostly him screaming about the end of the world."
"Ohhh-kay then." Ella bent back to the body, searching for an explanation. "Seriously, man. This chick looks like she was in a car accident. I'll have to talk to the ME, but these bruises," she pointed to some discoloration on the victim's right shoulder, "are consistent with a collision while wearing a seat belt, and the crushing of both tibias is what would happen if she was sitting in the front passenger seat when the driver hit something head-on at a pretty high speed." She frowned as she patted the woman's pockets. "No ID, but I've got something here." Ella pulled out a receipt. "Hmm, dinner at Bellisimo's, and it's dated today." She passed the folded paper to Dan.
"I'll give them a call, see if we can get the name on the credit card they used." He strode off, already dialing the restaurant. At a loss, Ella caught the eye of a uniform who'd been scribbling notes in his standard-issue college-ruled book.
"Hey, uh, Ella Lopez, in Forensics."
"Sam Janson." He nodded. "What do you need?"
"Ugh, Sam...what happened here?" she asked again. "Looks like a cult decided to chug the extra-strength Kool-Aid, but-" Ella stopped, trying to put her finger on exactly what her gut was telling her. "Something just seems off."
"Detective Brody caught this one, and he's thinking cult, too. They're all surrounding the stage like that-Brody thinks the leader got the hell outta Dodge after they took the drugs or whatever."
She nodded along, still thinking. "Weird, cuz this one's missing a Solo cup."
Janson shrugged. "Maybe they inhaled it?"
"And she's been dead for way longer than she should be. Look at her legs! How'd she even walk in here?" She shook her head. "There's definitely something funny going on here."
Another uniform came up and gently batted Janson's shoulder with his hat. "Sam, boss says you're done here. You can hit the streets." He wandered back to the small knot of cops trying to organize the scene. A few broke off, carrying rolls of yellow tape and heading for the front walk. "Good luck," Janson wished her as he followed them out. From her spot on the floor, Ella watched him exchange a few friendly words with the guys outside as he hopped on a departmental motorcycle. He seems nice. Don't remember him...wonder if he's new. She placed a numbered placard by the car-crash woman and moved on to a teenage boy who appeared to have died from a drug overdose. The telltale red pinpricks stood out against his skinny arm, thrown into stark relief by death's pallor. A thin trail of vomit had dried on his shirt and face. Intrigued, Ella searched his pockets while she waited for a temp. "I got a phone!" she called out. Dan materialized behind her and bagged it with gloved hands. "And this one's been dead eight hours," she did the math quickly when the readout beeped again.
"Huh." There's gotta be something else going on. Maybe it was staged, and someone dragged all these bodies here? If I can find the "Chosen One," or whatever this guy called himself before his whole cult offed themselves, I'd be a hero and they'd have to give me my job back. Something was niggling at his senses, and he stood still for a moment as he tried to pinpoint what it was. Isn't that Lucifer's cologne I smell? Shaking it off, he looked back at Ella. "Keep going. I'm gonna go look for the leader." He snapped off the gloves and went to find Detective Brody. He's going to need all the help he can get anyway.
Even though she wouldn't admit it, Maze did feel some sense of urgency in returning Lucifer to Earth-hence the harrowing race on the back of Maze's motorcycle towards Linda's house, which was interrupted by the squawk of a siren. Irritated, Maze had pulled over and heaved a dramatic sigh as she removed her helmet.
"Hello, Officer...Janson," she read his name tag with a purr, licking her lips and shaking out her hair. "I'm sure you must meet a lot of fast girls in this city, so how about," she leaned in seductively, smiling, "you just hop back in your car and I'll catch you next time?"
"Uh...um..." the uniform stuttered, clearly out of his league. "You-you were, speeding? Like a lot?"
"Yeessss, isn't it fun?" Maze had begun unbuttoning Janson's shirt.
"Maze!" Chloe pulled out her badge and stuck it between the demon and the unsuspecting cop. "She's with me, Janson. On business. I'm in a hurry."
"Oh, ah, uh, OK, uh, sorry...um...sorry Detective...and, uh, friend..." he stammered.
"Bye-bye, Officer," Maze winked, put her helmet back on, and burned rubber away from the curb. Last Chloe saw, the poor man was still standing there, holding a flashlight and staring down at his disheveled uniform.
A few short minutes later, the two women were walking in the front door. Linda was momentarily nonplussed at their arrival, but quickly offered them the couch when she saw Chloe's face. Amenadiel followed closely behind, having just returned from a grocery run.
"Chloe! What is it? What's wrong?" Amenadiel stood behind Linda's chair, rubbing her shoulders, as she held a fussy Charlie. She absently rocked the baby as she listened to Chloe and Maze explain Lucifer's departure. Crestfallen, she turned to look up at Amenadiel. "Well, you can make him come back, right?"
"It's not that simple. My brother is right," Amenadiel crossed his arms and walked around to the center of the room, where he began to slowly pace. Charlie cooed, and Linda stood to pass him to Amenadiel. "Who knows if there are still demons on Earth, or how many? And without Lucifer in Hell to enforce the no-possession rule, there's no way to stop them from returning as soon as another human dies. And we know that they will come for our son," he stopped to look at Linda, "if there isn't a celestial on the throne."
"Well, isn't there someone else who can do it? Surely there's another angel who made God mad, at some point?" Linda asked, heading to the kitchen to put away the groceries. "Where's the milk?"
"None like Luci did. We're not talking about a teenager staying out past curfew. My brother led a rebellion in Heaven. It was almost like a...like a mutiny. Except he failed, and Father threw Lucifer off the ship and into the ocean. Or in this case, Hell. And it's in the other bag."
Linda poked her head through the kitchen doorway. "Did any of the other angels ever think that was maybe, I don't know, a bit harsh?" Maze smirked and tipped her head back, closing her eyes.
"Well yes, of course, but none of them were willing to defy Father any further."
"So can we...call in reinforcements?"
"An angelic cavalry. Now that is something I would pay to see." Maze opened her eyes. "Good luck with that plan. Why don't we just go drag his ass back here, and I'll deal with any demon stupid enough to get in the way?"
"Well," everyone paused as Chloe chimed in. "Maybe not a whole cavalry, per se. But one of your siblings has to be able to help. Maybe-maybe you guys could talk to your dad. Have Him send someone else to run Hell, or just...create someone else? So Lucifer can..." she trailed off as she fought to maintain control. "So he can come back here, to his real home."
"Huh." Amenadiel looked thoughtful. "Yes, I think there are a few of my brothers and sisters I can talk to. They might have, erm," he glanced at Linda, "a bit more favor with my Father right now. Although..." Amenadiel looked down at his son. "There hasn't been a new celestial in millennia. Father might like to meet his only grandson face-to-face. And if he is pleased, maybe He will hear us out." Linda, who had returned with coffee and snacks, paled a bit at the word "grandson," as though her new relationship to God had just hit her. "Linda, I know that this won't be easy for you. But may I take our son to the Silver City? It won't be for a few days yet. I must talk to some of the other angels, and make a plan first." Linda tilted her head but remained silent. " I know, I know, I was going to take him before, but I told you, I'm past that. This is our home. This is where we will raise Charlie-together. I promise. If you let me go, I will return."
Maze chuckled. "You come to Earth to make Lucifer go back to Hell, but you end up staying here instead of returning to Heaven. What's that dumb break-up song humans are always singing? Something about it being ironic?" Amenadiel smiled a bit, Linda rolled her eyes, and Chloe slouched down a bit, looking defeated. There was silence for a moment. Maze poured a mug of coffee, downed it like a shot, and then reached for a cookie.
"Well, then. I guess it is settled." Amenadiel handed the now-sleeping baby back to Linda, who waved at the women and went to put him down. "Chloe, I am truly sorry. I will do what I can to make this right. My brother's choice to return was truly selfless-he has changed, and Father should be able to see that. Go home, get some rest. We will find an answer." Chloe nodded.
Maze stood up, shoved another cookie in her mouth, and headed for the door. "G'night, lovebirds," she called over her shoulder. Chloe followed her back to the bike. "Alright, Decker, let's get you home. Maybe we can find a cop for you to play with," she teased as she started the bike. Chloe was silent during the short, uneventful ride home.