When Chloe, Azrael, and a dazed Ella stepped on the elevator to head up to the penthouse, Chloe wasn't sure what she was expecting. Her first hint that something was amiss should have been that there was glass everywhere in the elevator, as well as two crystal bottles of alcohol (one of which was definitely leaking onto the floor, causing it to be slick). Her second should have been the smeared bloody footprints that lead the way back off the elevator. When they reached the top, she really wasn't sure what she was going to find. Her best guess, however, definitely wasn't a crying baby, blood everywhere, and Maze swearing loudly while trying to scrub the sofa. Lucifer was nowhere to be seen.

"What the hell?" she asked as she stepped out with a crunch, her eyes following the bloody trail that led right to where Maze was cleaning and cursing. The pungent smell of lemon cleaner mixed with the rusty stench of blood turned her stomach. It was like being at one of her crime scenes. "What happened?"

"Turns out Lucifer is vulnerable all the time now," Maze announced with a grumble. "And of course he takes off and leaves me to clean up his mess. What a saint." She grunted angrily and kept scrubbing at the lost cause of a blood stain on the orange furniture.

"Wait, this is all Lucifer's blood?" Azrael asked uncertainly. "He bleeds?"

"It's my fault," Chloe admitted as she stepped to the side of the blood on the floor, just as Maze changed tactic and dumped the entire bucket onto it with a shriek. "I make him vulnerable."

"I don't think it's you anymore, sweetie," Linda called from across the room. Charlie was finally settling down, and she carefully set him back in the crib before approaching. "That's why I called. You were way too far away for him to be vulnerable by you. My best guess is it's a subconscious effect caused by his being in close proximity to Michael after all this time. He's being reminded of his greatest failure all over again." She sighed and grabbed another rag, joining Maze on the floor.

"Ella, are you okay?" Azrael asked softly. Chloe looked back at her two companions. Ella did indeed look odd, face impassive as her eyes stared at the blood pool on the floor.

"So…" she said slowly, as if coming out of a reverie, "Lucifer is the devil. That method actor shtick was just me trying to make sense of it. You're his sister, Rae-Rae." Ella pointed at Azrael, who nodded nervously. She didn't seem to notice though, and kept going. "Michael is another brother who wants Lucifer to stay guarding Hell. Lucifer doesn't want to be in Hell. Demons are forcing him to stay in Hell. Oh my God, Maze, you're a demon!" Her eyes went wide.

"Present," Maze advertised with a wave of the bloody, soaked rag.

"Ella, are you okay?" Chloe asked gently, putting a hand on her arm. "It was a lot for me to take in, too. But it made sense in the end. And Lucifer is still Lucifer. It was true, he never lied to us."

Ella looked down at Chloe's hand on her arm, and took a deep breath.

"I mean, it would probably explain the body-less grave he had me examine that one time," she muttered. Chloe blinked, tilting her head.

"The what now?"

"You know, from the stab-happy crime. That weird prop knife hot potato murder weapon? Yeah, I was helping him with some super-secret shindig that turned out to be part of the actual case. It was really weird. But…not as weird as him coming to church with me after that, holy shit-balls!" she cursed, eyes wide again. "The devil went to church with me!"

Chloe snorted. That must have been hilarious. She remembered the case her friend was referring to, the one that was all crazy and did not make sense. They hadn't even ever found the murder weapon.

"I remember that…" Linda said slowly. "That was after Uriel died."

"Wait, Uriel's dead?" Azrael asked, now her eyes wide. "How? Does that have something to do with my missing blade?"

Maze chuckled, dropping her rag on the floor and standing up, stretching.

"You'll have to ask your dear brother about that one," she chortled. "It was a whole mess. Uriel was stupid and gave Lucifer an ultimatum. Lucifer chose the third option: kill Uriel."

"He was so upset for so long," Linda added. "He really took a downward spiral after that."

Azrael was silent for a moment.

"Uriel was kinda annoying, but…well, I mean, I really don't think Lu would kill him just for fun, no matter what everybody says," she shrugged. "It just sucks that he's gone. I didn't even know…"

The angel walked past them and out onto the open balcony, mumbling something about needing to be alone for a moment. Ella and Chloe watched her while Linda pried the bucket from Maze's hands and announced she was going to get fresh cleaner. This was for the best, as the liquid that was left in the bucket was pretty bloody. With Lucifer's blood.

"I need to talk to him," Chloe muttered herself, pulling her phone out of her back pocket. Unlocking it, she pulled up her partner's – friend's – whatever he was's – number, and began to type.

I know you're back, and I know you're avoiding me. I also know you're hurt. Please come back to the penthouse.

She hit send before she could convince the butterflies suddenly dancing in her stomach that it was a bad idea, and put the phone away again.

"Ella, let's get you a drink," she offered, steering her friend away from the bloody mess and over to the untouched bar. Ella settled against the counter, still deep in thought, while Chloe pulled a glass down and filled it almost to the top with whiskey. She took a long drink herself before passing it onto Ella, feeling the bitter liquid burn her throat and warm her chest. Shortly after, she began to feel clarity. Ella stared at the whiskey, contemplating for a moment, before downing the whole thing in one large gulp. She coughed a bit and then stood up.

"All right," she said. "Now that I know what's up, what do we do about Lucifer?"

"What do you mean?" Linda asked from behind the fresh bucket of cleaner. The lemon smell got strong again, taking dominance over the tangy smell of blood still hanging in the air.

"As in, how do we help him? How do we get him out of Hell for good?" Ella crossed her arms and looked up at the ceiling, nodding in appreciation at the chandelier before seeming to contemplate what was next.

"Well you already figured that out, Ella," Chloe pointed out. "Hell needs to forgive itself. Just like Lucifer had to forgive himself, the only way to solve this is to save everybody down there."

"Ohhhhhh!" Linda exclaimed, eyes widening. "That makes perfect sense, Chloe!"

Maze didn't look as impressed.

"What about the demons?" she asked, ignoring the cleaner in front of her now. She sauntered over to the two of them at the bar, grabbing the bottle from between them and drinking some straight. "Their whole point is to torture. Who will they torture if there's nobody down there?"

"Well it's just a theory, but I'm thinking that maybe it's time to teach the demons how to be good. You know, like you." Chloe pointed and smiled at Maze, who rolled her eyes.

"Me? Yeah, not good. Just…adapted," she snorted. Then she straightened up, handing the bottle of whiskey to Linda who set it down on the end table behind her. "But you may be onto something, Decker. Maybe we can do something like that…"

"You got all of this from my forgiveness schpeel?" Ella asked incredulously. "I mean I thought we were talking in hypotheticals, so it was a hypothetical answer. But would it really work? How does Hell even work down there? Something to do with guilt, right? What about those who aren't guilty?"

"That's what demons are for," Maze pointed out. "We enjoy working with the worst of the worst, usually. You know, Hitler, Atilla, Aristotle."

"Aristotle's in Hell?" Linda sounded shocked. Maze just shrugged.

"That's beside the point," Chloe interjected. "I think we really need to start working with people who maybe don't need to be in Hell anymore. Give them the ability to forgive themselves and send them to Heaven."

"Aww, Chloe, that's so sweet!" Ella said cheerfully. "It's so nice to hear you sound positive after the last month. With Lucifer gone, you were so-ooo very great!" she finished lamely as they all looked at her.

"Perhaps I could help," Azrael offered then as she walked back, eyes red-rimmed but determined. "When I meet those who just died, maybe I can help ease guilt and give them the fast pass to the Silver City."

"That's a great idea!" Linda said enthusiastically. "These are all great ideas. There's only one problem."

Chloe sighed.

"What are we going to do about Michael?" she asked for all of them, taking her phone out of her pocket again. It hadn't gone off, to her displeasure. He was avoiding her even here on earth.

We've got a plan. Please come back. Ella gave me an idea to help you be not needed in Hell anymore.

"Are you texting Lucifer?" Linda asked from next to the crib. Chloe nodded.

"He's not replying," she said shortly. "He's still avoiding me."

The psychologist walked over to her, gesturing her to sit next to the pool of blood. She sighed.

"Lucifer is…complicated. This you know."

Chloe nodded her agreement. Complicated didn't even begin to cover the relationship they'd had, or not had, in the past year or two.

"He's been in love with you for probably a lot longer than he even knows," she continued on. "He just didn't understand what those feelings were."

"He did call me his first love," she whispered softly, eyes watching as Maze joined Ella at the bar. Being back in Lucifer's penthouse just reminded her of the last time she was here. "Back before he left. I told him how I felt and he told me too. And it was just so damn sad!" she wiped away a stray tear angrily, taking in a deep breath. "And now he's avoiding me, and I just feel like it's all my fault. If I'd just trusted him in the first place when I found out, then I wouldn't have fallen for Father Kinley's scheme. I wouldn't have done those things to hurt him and we wouldn't be in this mess."

"That may be so, but it did happen and you need to acknowledge it – both of you," Linda said curtly. "I think right now you two will be better together than separated. And I know Lucifer is scared and he ran, because that's what he does – especially if Maze is right and this vulnerability spell is going to stick around with him this time. But we need him back now, and we need his help to convince Michael to listen."

"Aren't they supposed to fight or something?" Ella asked from over at the bar. "Isn't there a big battle between Satan and Michael in Revelations?"

"That's ridiculous," Maze scoffed. "There already was a battle. In Heaven. You know, Lucifer lost?"

"No, Ella may be onto something," Linda said thoughtfully. "Does anybody have a bible?"

They all shrugged. "I have one on my phone," Ella offered. She grabbed her phone, played around with it for a few moments, and then handed it to Linda. Linda took it quickly and scrolled furiously. It took a few moments.

"Azrael, what do you think?' Chloe asked as they waited. Azrael shrugged. She seemed stuck in a perpetual state of nervousness.

"I don't like my brothers fighting," she sighed. "Lu did start a rebellion in Heaven, big no-no up there, but Michael can be an insufferable know-it-all. Out of all my brothers, Lu was the only one who ever listened to me. I can see them butting heads, but a full-on battle? That seems a bit much."

"Here it is!" Linda exclaimed. "At least I think. And there was war in heaven, Michael and his angels waging war with the dragon. The dragon and his angels waged war, and they were not strong enough, and there was no longer a place found for them in heaven. And the great dragon was thrown down, the serpent of old who is called the devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him."

Maze loudly set down the bottle of whiskey she'd been holding.

"Lucifer's a dragon?" she asked, eyes alight with frenzy. "Like, an actual dragon? That is so cool."

"That sounds like the battle that already happened when he was thrown out of Heaven," Azrael pointed out, just as the elevator dinged. "I really don't want my brothers fighting."

"That may be what you'll get no matter what you do," Amenadiel said gravely as he walked in. He didn't seem to notice the pool of dried blood, cleaning efforts, or Ella. His eyes were on Chloe.

"Are you okay?" Chloe asked uncertainly. "What happened?"

"I tried convincing him that Lucifer's changed, but he simply won't listen to reason," Amenadiel said, frustration seeping from his voice as he walked over to Charlie's crib and looked down at his son. "He has agreed to stay away from you for the time being, which is good, but I don't think he's leaving earth anytime soon. He seems determined to find fault with Lucifer, despite Lucifer not even being on earth."

Ella let out air in a loud whoosh. Chloe sighed and pulled her phone out again. Linda laughed in that awkward way she tended to do when she didn't want to be part of a conversation.

"Yeah, about that, Amenadiel…" Azrael said, twisting her fingers around each other. "He's…kinda here."

Amenadiel's eyes widened.

"What?!" he practically bellowed, causing Charlie to stir and begin to cry again. Linda rushed over and picked him up, moving out to the balcony to calm him back down.

"He was worried about Chloe and wanted to make sure she was okay," the younger angel explained sheepishly. "I caught him earlier. He was here, and now he's mortal or something, and then he left so he wouldn't see Chloe."

"Which is still absolutely idiotic," Chloe muttered.

"Precisely!" Amenadiel replied, gesturing his agreement through a wide arm wave. "He didn't trust us to take care of her? I just spent an hour arguing with Michael and saying Lucifer's back in Hell, and now it turns out that I've been lying the entire time? What if Michael finds out? Oh, this is bad, Azrael."

"I know," Azrael whined. "We're trying to get him back now."

"Wow," Ella whispered, so quiet Chloe thought she was the only one who could hear. But Amenadiel did hear, and his eyes trained on her now.

"What are you doing here?" he asked suspiciously. Ella chuckled and waved.

"Yeah, she knows," Azrael said quickly. "She and I have been friends for years."

Amenadiel looked like he was about to have a stroke. He threw his arms up over his head, sighed exasperatedly, and turned away.

"I'll go find Lucifer," Maze announced to the room. "I can think of a few hiding places he might go."

"Me too…" Ella added slowly. "Specifically whom he may go to. Now it's a long shot, but do you remember his Vegas wife?"