Lucifer found himself being led into Amenadiel's rooms. The furniture was more modern, but he recognized them as belonging to his brother. He also had a couple of memories of them from the new memories he was developing. The false ones.
"Lucifer, do you wanna sit down," Linda asked as she pointed to the living room.
"These are Amenadiel's quarters," Lucifer said numbly as he walked over to the couch and sat down. He couldn't believe this was actually happening. He was in Heaven with his human friends, which was only possible because they were dead, and Linda had suggested that she'd been dead for a long time. Just how long ago had his father done whatever he did.
Linda sat down next to Lucifer while Ella and Trixie sat in a couple of chairs. "Lucifer, we know that you're really confused, and probably overwhelmed, but we're here to help you," Linda told him.
"How? How did you…?"
Linda could tell what he was trying to ask. "Cancer. By the time it happened, I was ready. I didn't even fight it. I was ready to be with my family full time. I'm very happy now."
"Miss Lopez?" Lucifer asked as he turned to her.
"It was a car accident. Apparently, I was always gonna die in a car accident," Ella joked. "It was pretty painless. I only remember this car bashing into to me and then Rae-Rae standing over me. That's how I learned she was actually an angel instead of a ghost. We had words over that."
"You knew my sister before she ushered you here?" Lucifer asked.
"Yeah, she came to me after another car accident that I did survive. She told me she was a ghost. It was a shock to learn that wasn't true. It was also a shock to learn that you were actually who you said you were," Ella said. It was also a shock to learn what actually happened to Lucifer. When Lucifer disappeared, she'd been told he'd left town after a big fight with Chloe. She learned after her death that what really happened was that he'd forced himself to turn into a child because he couldn't deal with the pain it caused when Chloe betrayed him. She'd been really pissed when she found out about that.
Lucifer turned to the last occupant of the room. "Who are you? You look familiar, but I can't place you."
Trixie looked at Linda as if to ask if she should answer. She didn't want to say something that could make it worse.
Linda nodded for her to tell him.
"When you knew me, I looked different. You were always nervous around me, but I loved being around you. I thought you were the best thing in the world. I still think you're pretty high up there. Trixie," she said.
Lucifer stood up and gasped. He was staring at a young woman who was a mere child the last time he'd seen her, and that seemed like days ago. In reality, it was years. He knew before that it had to have been just with what he'd heard from Linda and Ella, but it was somehow different as he looked into the eyes a child that was no longer a child. It made it real.
"Lucifer, it's okay. Sit down," Linda urged.
"No, it's not! It's been years! What did that bastard do to me!" Lucifer exclaimed as he began breathing heavily. If it was at all possible, he'd swear he was having a panic attack. This couldn't be happening. It had to be a nightmare, didn't it. He couldn't be in Heaven with everyone he knew being dead.
Linda gently took his wrist and tugged until he sat back down. "Take a deep breath. You'll be okay."
Lucifer did as she instructed. It helped him calm down a bit, but he didn't feel any better. What in the world had happened to him? "How long? How long have I been here?"
"For you, it's been a century. On Earth, it was longer," Linda told him.
"A century? I…I've been gone a century? Everyone is…"
"Everyone who cares about you is here. Yes, we died, an you've lost a lot of time, but time is something that we all have an unlimited amount of now. You didn't lose us, Lucifer," Linda said. He hadn't lost any of them anyway, the ones that truly cared about him. Chloe was another matter. He'd lost her the moment she agreed to help Father Kinley. Soon, he would feel that loss.
"What did he do to me?" Lucifer asked, his voice broken.
"Your father didn't do anything to you, Lucifer. I think you know that somewhere inside you," Linda said.
"He had to. He's the only one with the power to do this. He kidnapped me and installed false memories into my head!" Lucifer exclaimed.
"Lucifer, I'm sorry, but they're not false. What you're remembering is real," Linda said as gently as possible. Unfortunately, there was really know way to ease the information onto him.
Lucifer shook his head. "No, that's impossible. It would mean I was a child again, and even if that wasn't almost impossible, the memories don't make any sense. My siblings turned their backs on me centuries ago, but the memories I'm getting have them playing with me or talking to me, like they actually care. Hell, my brother, Michael, has barely ever tolerated my presence, even before I rebelled." None of it made any sense. The only sibling that was actually true to form in the memories he was receiving was Gabriel. He'd turned his back on him years before he rebelled and that he saw in those memories.
"Like you said, that was centuries ago. People change. Siblings fight, sometimes for years, and then they get over it," Ella said.
"No, they would never get over it," Lucifer said.
"We wouldn't lie to you, Lucifer, you know that," Linda said.
Lucifer did know that, but he also knew this wasn't possible. Perhaps his father was tricking them or making them say it. "No, it can't be true. Forget my siblings for a moment. There are memories I know can't be real. I recall being told that you and Amenadiel were having a child. I remember holding the child. That's not possible. Angels can't have children."
"My century-old-son would disagree with you. You guys didn't think you could have children because it had never happened before," Linda said.
"Lucifer," Trixie called. She'd decided to try her hand at convincing him. "I don't know if you remember this yet. I don't know what you remember and what you don't. But right after you changed, you and I got into a little bit of mischief."
The memory came to Lucifer as he listened to her. He remembered sneaking out to go flying. "Flying. You can't remember that. It didn't happen."
"It did. Believe me, being grounded for two weeks makes it hard to forget. It was a dumb move on our parts. We should've known we'd get caught, and we did. Your dad yanked us both back with a thought to face the music. I didn't say this out loud, but a part of me almost wished I had your punishment. You got your ass tanned and then it was over. It happened, Lucifer, all of it," Trixie said.
Lucifer wanted to keep denying it, but it was becoming harder every second, especially considering that Trixie remembered one of the same things he did. "I…I was a child?"
"Yeah, you were," Linda said. She didn't say anything else. She just waited for him to come to terms with it.
"Then he must have done it! He's the only one with the power to do that to me! You took everything from me, again!" Lucifer raged. Whether the memories were fake or whether he really was a child, it was his father's doing. He took him away from everything he loved.
"No. Your father was livid when it happened. I wasn't there until later, but Amenadiel told me about it, and I did see some of his stress when he was faced with your pain. You couldn't understand what was happening to you. It was hurting you, and that hurt him," Linda explained.
Lucifer shook his head. "No, he manipulated you. He's the only one who could've done it."
"You thought that when you got your wings back, but you gave them back to yourself," Linda said.
It took a minute, but Lucifer soon realized what Linda was trying to tell him. "You're saying I turned myself into a child? That's bloody insane. Even if I could do that, I wouldn't want to."
"Not consciously, just like you didn't consciously want your wings back," she said.
"Why would any part of me want that?" Lucifer asked.
"You wanted to feel safe. You didn't. You'd been hurt and betrayed, and you wanted someone to protect you. You regressed to a time when there was someone to do that for you," Linda said.
"No. First of all, I wasn't hurt. I was fine. I was happy. The detective and I…" Lucifer trailed off as realization hit him. His head was so crowded and confused that it didn't register to him before, but the detective wasn't there. She was dead by now too. She should be there with them. "Where's the detective?"
All three women eyed each other nervously.
"Where's Chloe? She's here, right? She has to be in the Silver City," Lucifer said almost desperately. There was only one reason he could think of for the detective not being there. That reason was her being in Hell. That couldn't be it. He couldn't stand that.
"Yes, she's here, but you can't see her. You shouldn't either," Trixie said. Her mother had done enough to Lucifer. He was still dealing with the consequences of it. She didn't want to see him hurt anymore.
"Why? Where is she?" Lucifer asked.
"We don't know exactly. We know she's Heaven, but she's been isolated," Linda told him.
"What?" Lucifer asked confused.
"Like Linda said earlier, your father was angry when he found out what happened to you and why it happened. He wasn't willing to let it go without some punishment," Trixie said.
Lucifer stood up and exploded. "He punished her for something I did?! The bloody bastard! She didn't do anything wrong! But of course, he doesn't care as long as I suffer!"
Linda stood up as well. "Lucifer, no. Your father didn't do it to punish you. He did it to punish her. He did it to punish her for hurting you."
"What? She didn't. She would never hurt me," Lucifer said. Had Linda lost her mind? Chloe had never done anything to him. She wouldn't hurt anyone. Even when punishing the guilty, she refused to do it outside the law.
"The fact that you believe that makes what she did to you even worse," Trixie said. She loved her mother, even after finding out what she did, but she could never get past what she did to Lucifer. Trixie remembered Lucifer from when she was a kid. He was always kind. He did whatever her mother needed him to do. He saved her life. Her mother had responded by destroying his.
Lucifer stared at her in disbelief. "How can believe your mother would hurt anybody."
"Because she admitted it to me. I asked her what happened to you and if it was her fault. She told me what she did," Trixie said.
"Lucifer, the night you turned yourself into a child, you were attacked by a priest," Linda said.
"I don't remember that. I was having dinner with Chloe. That's all I remember," Lucifer said. They were wrong about this. It didn't make any sense. He and the detective were happy. They were having a date.
"That's all you want to remember. You sat down with Chloe and had a glass of wine, but there was something in your drink," Linda said.
Lucifer shook his head wildly. It wasn't true. They were wrong.
"Mom put it in there. It was a sedative," Trixie said.
"No, stop! You're wrong," he said.
"Lucifer, I heard these words directly from her lips. She was working with a priest to exorcise you back to Hell."
"No! I won't listen to this anymore!" Lucifer said before bolting from the room.
"We should stop him," Ella said.
"No. He has to come to terms with this on his own. We can't do anything else right now," Linda said sadly.
Xxxxxxxxxxx
Michael stood with his father in his quarters. He'd just told him what happened with his brother and how his human friends had taken him to tell him everything. "I know you wanted to wait, Dad, but I thought they might be right. It might be best for them to tell him now."
"I agree. In truth, I think I was stalling. I knew it would break him. I didn't want to have to do that, but he needs to know, and I think it will be best coming from people he trusts," God said.
"Will he be okay?" Michael asked.
"Yes, I think so. It will undoubtedly be painful, but I don't think he would've even come back if he couldn't handle it," God said.
Just then, the door opened and Lucifer barged through.
"Son, are you alright?" God asked.
"I want to see her. Now!" Lucifer demanded.
God shook his head, knowing instantly who his son was referring to. "No."
Lucifer charged up to his father and grabbed him by his suit coat. "I said I want to see her!"
"Samael, stop," Michael said before going to get between his father and brother. A look from his father told him not to interfere though, so he backed off.
God turned back to his younger son and spoke calmly. "Not right now, Lucifer. You are in no condition for that. You need to sit with what you've learned today and recover the rest of your memories. Once all that has happened, I will arrange for you to see Chloe Decker if you still wish to."
"What I've learned? I've learned you tricked everyone into believing she hurt me! What have you done to her!" Lucifer demanded to know.
"I believe I was lenient given the circumstances. Her punishment was isolation. She deserved it after what she did to you," God said.
"She did nothing to me! You made her your scapegoat! Admit it!" Lucifer yelled.
God said nothing. He knew nothing he said would help. His son knew he didn't do what he was accusing him off. He just didn't want to face the truth.
"Please, Dad. Tell me she didn't hurt me. Please," Lucifer said in a desperate, broken voice.
God gently tugged his son's hands from his jacket and pulled him into his arms. "I'm sorry, child, but I can't. I'm very sorry."
Lucifer couldn't take it anymore. Everything hit him all at once and he broke down in his father's arms.