Carl Gould had an amazing life. He was a respected anesthesiologist throughout LA, and surgeons would always request working with him when they had the opportunity. Working his way up the food chain at the hospital was easier than he thought as long as he gave a good ear to the ones that needed to vent and a joke to the ones that needed a better day. Everyone loved him.

He met his wife Camila at a small restaurant in Brentwood, and he could honestly say it was love at first sight. He returned to that restaurant twice a week, always sitting in her section. She was not responsive to his teasing and flirting at first. Camila typically fell for the men that looked like they implanted kegs into their biceps and tanned until they matched the color of the grand canyon. Carl was short, fair, and bald. He was always easy to spot in her section as his head reflected the lights from above. But the way he knew how to work a room, the confidence he brought with him, and his bright blue eyes grew on her.

Within a year, they were married, and within another year, Camila gave birth to Carl's one true love, Mariana. She grew up to have the strong-willed mind of her mother and the humor of her father. He gave her whatever she wanted, even though she never asked for anything, and he supported her in whatever she wanted to venture. Every year was a new sport or new club until she finally found her two passions- equestrianism and singing. Carl never missed a single competition and attended a least one of her horse jumping practices a week. Mariana sang around the house, and Carl would tell her over and over again that she was going to be famous one day with such an angelic voice, but she refused to try out for musicals or choir as she enjoyed the hobby for herself. He never knew where she got her humbleness from.

His life was perfect until the day Camila wanted to surprise Carl with a custom basketball court in their backyard for their anniversary. As the team broke ground that morning, the excavator lifted fresh mounds of dirt, broken chunks of rock, and two sets of human remains.

The bones belonged to a Sienna Bowman, a 26-year-old mathematician whose true passion was helping students break the stigma of math and statistics through different creative teachings. Sienna was found mingled with the bones of an unknown male infant. It wasn't long until LAPD was on the scene, investigating every lead. It took the team four weeks to arrest the main suspect in the case, Carl Gould. Through his 16-hour interrogation, Carl finally broke to the detectives that he had an affair with the tutor. Sienna was helping his daughter and became a frequent guest in their household. She became a new challenge for him.

When Mariana's grades increased, Sienna's services were no longer needed, and just like that, she was locked out from the home and from Carl. He had his fun and moved on living his best life until she returned one night with a baby in her arms. Camila had taken Mariana to a girl's spa weekend in Malibu, giving Carl enough time to piece together how he was going to get himself out of this situation. He refused to acknowledge, touch, or even look at the baby. Sienna refused any amount of money thrown to her. All she wanted was Carl to love and provide for the baby as much as he did for Mariana, but he couldn't. The Sunday morning the women of the house were expected to return, Carl found Sienna still in the guest house, refusing to leave. Carl reports not remembering what happened that morning, that he blacked out. But when he came to, he just remembers Sienna unconscious on the floor with deep bruising around her neck and an infant crying incessantly.

Once Carl's lawyer joined him, his story changed, and he refuted anything said before. He blamed LAPD for putting words in his mouth and taking advantage of his mental state as he was arrested after a 24-hour shift at the hospital. Carl Gould went to trial. Carl Gould was found guilty. Carl Gould hanged himself that night in his temporary cell.

When the jury read his guilty verdict, he immediately turned to look at his Mariana, and he saw it. Her eyes were filled with doubt, disgust, and hatred. There was no hiding his guilt anymore. He did this for her and his family and their future, but she didn't know that, and she didn't know the man that stood in front of her. He had lost his most prized possession. Those eyes were the last thoughts he had as he stepped off from his cot, and it was now his hell.

Three months ago, this door appeared at the base of the black, rigged slate wall that ran for an eternity. New paths were created every day, and there was always someone new in the gates of hell waiting for a warm welcome. As Lucifer strolled the different paths to look busy, there was something about this door that made him stop, take a few steps back, and stare. It was similar to the feeling of walking under a cooling air vent on a hot summer's day. He placed his hands in his pockets and tilted his head to the side, studying the door. Typically, he would sense the culprit behind it, have a little background in their history, and know their deepest fears- nothing.

He walked into a familiar, filled courtroom and took a seat at one of the empty chairs in the last back row. Lucifer unbuttoned his blazer and folded one leg over the other to get comfortable. This is what he did now. Since he decided to come back as Hell's Ruler, he didn't participate as much as he had before with some of the residents. His followers continued with their torture and enjoyed the feeling that everything was back in its rightful place. Lucifer took out his anger and frustration on them instead of the newcomers, but his demons would just laugh and accept it, knowing it was just like old times. Now, when the demons would see Lucifer enter a door, they didn't realize Lucifer would only take a seat and watch the hell scene play out- no adding extra touches or harming the newcomer himself.

He started to piece together the case and began to assume that this was Carl Gould's hell. It was apparent he was guilty, anyone could see that with some of the evidence pinned on the corkboard next to the judge. Everyone in the courtroom was dressed in dull grays and blacks, but one girl was dressed in a vibrant red sundress with a white flower clipped into her thick black braid. Carl would continue to glance at her over his shoulder to give reassuring smiles. She was practically a younger clone of the woman next to her, who kept nervously spinning her wedding ring with her thumb. His daughter meant a lot to him.

The plaintiff attorney rose from her chair and called the final witness of the trial before their closing statements. "I'd like to call the lead Detective on this case to the stand, Detective Chloe Decker." Lucifer practically fell out of his seat as his head whipped around the courtroom to see what direction she would be coming from. She was just two rows in front of him. How did he not recognize her slicked-back tight bun? His mouth went dry, and he could feel himself starting to sweat. He just had to get a look at her face as she walked away from the crowd and through the gate, but he honestly didn't mind the back view either.

She approached the bailiff, recited her witness oath to the court, and took her seat at the witness stand. Lucifer stood immediately, snapping his fingers, freezing the room in place. He slowly approached the front of the courtroom, focusing on her pursed lips. The edge of his mouth curved up into a faint smile as he knew she did this when she was nervous. He froze at a time when her eyes looked down and away, but he still enjoyed his view. He had missed her face.

Lucifer ignored the stinging in his eyes as he moved to the side of the booth. The light gleaming in from the courtroom high windows created a glow effect around her profile. All he wanted was to reach out and touch her, but he knew he couldn't. The only person that could feel his touch in the courtroom was Carl; everyone else was just a memory, a fear, a ghost.

Since that day, Lucifer visited Carl's hell every day, sometimes twice. He slowly worked his way up to sitting in the empty chair on the aisle next to Chloe. On his ninth visit, Lucifer took the time to listen to the entire case without distractions. Now, three months later, he could mouth verbatim his detective's testimonial.

But his last couple of visits were starting to change. Chloe's walk to the stand, and her witness statement started to grow shorter and shorter. Lucifer started to think maybe it was his ill-timed entrance on the loop, but it wasn't. Carl began to change his own hell to now be the jury reading out the guilty verdict over and over again. Each time his Mariana reacted the same way with the same eyes.

Today, Lucifer walked in and got comfortable in the chair next to his detective. He looked to his right at her worried eyes, watching the attorneys in the front shuffle their papers and share information with their first chairs. He smiled in this comfortable silence as this is what his "good old times" felt like. A judge requested the jury to read their verdict to the court, and this did not sit well with Lucifer.

"Oh, no-no-no. Detective, it seems dear old Carl is pulling you from the spotlight. I can't have that." Before Lucifer could stand to introduce himself to hell's resident formally, he noticed a new movement to his right. Chloe had tilted her head and moved it closer towards his as if she were leaning in to hear a secret. A very small smile was present on her lips, and her left hand slowly made its way closer to his, but they never touched. His mouth was left agape as he watched her. He doesn't remember her ever doing this before. How was this even possible?

He released a low voice for only her to hear, "can you hear me?" Her eyes wandered in his direction, but she never completely matched his eyes. She took a deep silent sigh and sank back in her chair, watching the jury make their verdict. He looked around the room to see if any extra cast member in this courtroom could see him, too, and then he remembered. For every time he's been in this hell, he's never been in this exact position for the jury read. He typically found a better seat to watch Carl scream out for his daughter as he's pulled away and to see Chloe's full face of satisfaction.

Had she done this every time to the empty chair next to her, and he never noticed? He whispered out her name to her, and she closed her eyes, feeling for something on her chest. Chloe fiddled nervously with her gold necklace as the judge completed the verdict. Carl was asked to make any last statements, but he was speechless. Triumphantly, Chloe looked down at the empty chair next to her before pulling her items together and exiting the courtroom.

Lucifer spun around in his chair, watching her exit as Carl's screams continued out for Mariana in the distance. Did she somehow know this was going to be Carl's hell? Was she saving that empty chair for him? Lucifer shook his head of any hope that crept in and tried to tell himself that he was just seeing things. When he turned back in his seat, the courtroom was reset. The jury walked in from a side door to read their verdict, but when he looked to his right, Chloe was not sitting there. A tall man replaced her and continued to stare curiously at the jury. Lucifer walked up and down the aisle, trying to find his detective, but she wasn't anywhere to be found.

"No." He felt a strong force take hold of his insides as he paced the aisle. He ran to the front of the courtroom chairs and scanned harder, but she was not there. His face steamed with rage, and he felt his eyes turn a burning red. Kicking his way through the front gate, Lucifer threw the defendant's table to the side and grabbed Carl by his collar. The courtroom wood paneling cracked as Lucifer drove Carl's body into the wall with force. "Where is she!" Carl's feet kicked around as Lucifer raised him higher off the ground. The more Carl changed his hell to his greatest fear; the small acting players began to disappear. His detective disappeared.

"I don't know who you're talking about. Who are you?" Carl's head whipped back and forth, looking for someone to help him, but no one gave a second glance. Lucifer rolled his head, transforming his face to its truest self.

"Bring her back," Carl screamed as his eyes opened on the man covered in burnt flesh, muscle, and bone.

Chains started to clang against the walls from outside the door as a gust of wind howled through the confined halls. Lucifer dropped Carl to the floor at the faint smell of sulfur creeping into the courtroom. He didn't have a lot of visitors, that was for sure, but he knew when a celestial being broke the realm, the smell of sulfur was present. He had recently summoned Azrael to visit him for a favor that was not returned. That small feeling of hope crept back in, hoping she may have changed her mind.

Lucifer joined the black slated hallway following the wind. As he walked closer to the epicenter of hell, the smell of sulfur grew stronger. At the base of his throne, gray smoke funneled up to grow alongside the wall and scattered as it hit the top of his chair. The smoke on the ground cleared, leaving behind a classical grand piano, and Lucifer stood in the silence confused. He looked around him, waiting for one of his brothers or sisters to appear, but he was left alone.

The same rage he felt a few minutes ago in the courtroom came back as he looked up to the break of sunlight in the gray sky. "This was your doing, wasn't it?" The gray clouds forced closed, leaving Lucifer feeling even more trapped. He circled the piano, wishing he had a glass of scotch in his hand. "You took her out of that hell on purpose. And what? Trade it with this?"

He lowered his voice as he started to murmur to himself, watching his reflection in the lifted top of the piano. "He's punishing me. I come back here as he wanted, and he still finds a way." Deep down, he knew his father couldn't change a person's hell, but it was easier to blame him. Lucifer's fingers had a mind of their own as they traced the edge of the piano leading to the black and white keys. "It's probably out of tune anyway."

The fingers on his right hand spread wide as he pressed down on the keys. The piano released a D minor chord that echoed down the halls. He looked up surprised at the sound as it continued to bounce from black slated wall to black slated wall. Lucifer stepped back reluctantly waving his fingers back and forth. "No. Nope. Not going to happen." His father didn't just give gifts. There was always more to it- a debt to pay. Why was the big god almighty now allowing music in hell?

Lucifer turned on his heels to storm away from the piano and Carl's hell, but something stopped him. He clenched his jaw down as he tried to find the upper hand in this. His father wouldn't give a gift to him specifically unless he felt guilty about something- unless he knew he was in the wrong. A devilish grin slowly grew across his lips as he thought about his father admitting to being in the wrong. He walked back toward the piano and pulled out the bench beginning to play random chords until a song came to form.

The somber ballad melody began to resonate off the walls drowning out the door slams, screams, and cries around him. The more he played, the more emotional he felt as the chords hummed through his body. He had been trying so hard to get out of this place. He thought he found a loophole, but no one could help him. He called out to his sisters first, but Azrael was the only one to appear.

She wanted to help her brother, truly, but for what she did as an angel, taking over as the leader of hell wouldn't make sense. She had to be on earth, walking with the humans to help them on their journey to the afterlife. Lucifer knew she wanted to help, and but it wasn't the right fit. It didn't stop him from contacting his brothers, even the ones he did not want to see. Someone had to be willing to help. His gut told him to give up, but he couldn't. He continued to call for them and wait patiently.

He was willing to do whatever he could to get back to his rightful home. To see her. He pressed harder into the keys as his fingers ran up and down the keyboard. He had to have hope that he would see her again, even if it meant it was in someone's hell. He didn't forgive himself for leaving her hurt and in tears, not able to comfort her.

Even though he didn't want to, he knew he would continue to go back to Carl's hell and wait for the day that it would fully reset. That she would be there again. But how long could he wait? How long could he fight to remove himself off the throne? The keys below him began to blur in the pool of his tears as he began to hum along to the ballad. His voice cracked out in anger and hurt as he sang out,

"You're the only one who really knew me at all

So take a look at me now
Well there's just an empty space
And there's nothing left here to remind me
Just the memory of your face

Now Take a look at me now
'Cause that's just an empty space
But to wait for you is all I can do
And that's what I've got to face

Take a good look at me now
'Cause I'll still be standing here
And you coming back to me is against all odds
It's the chance I've got to take
Take a look at me now"

His fingers stopped at the sound of footsteps approaching him from behind. "Don't stop on my account." He furrowed his brow, trying to place the familiar voice and quickly brushed away any tears with his sleeve. Before he could turn around, she put the final puzzle piece in for him. "It's been a while, Lu." Only one person called him that from his past, and he felt a wave of resentment smooth over his insides.

"Lily, what do I owe this warm, unwelcomed visit?" He put on a stone-cold face, trying to suppress any vulnerable state he may have just been in. She was not someone to be around when the vulnerability took over. His fingers continued to dance on the keyboard playing a light melody to keep him focused. She walked closer to him, tracing a single finger along his back and onto the black reflective piano. He could see her golden blonde hair filled with loose curls bounce off her shoulders as she stepped alongside the piano. Her black silk dress clung to her body in all of the right places, making any man give her a second look, but not Lucifer. He knew the type of woman she was- what she was really capable of.

"I heard this place is on the market."

Lucifer refused to acknowledge her presence as he knew this would annoy her even more. He was willing to do anything to go back home, but he wasn't this stupid. "Sorry, you must have heard wrong. This property is off the market."

She pushed her body hard into the side of the keyboard, leaning over to drape Lucifer's hands with her hair. Lily playfully pouted her lips, forming big doe eyes. "Aw, why not. Maybe I'm looking for somewhere a little warmer." She hitched up her dress above her knees to take a seat next to the current ruler of hell.

This annoyed him even more. "Last time I checked, you're still a demon."

She placed her hand on his inner right thigh, drawing small circles with her pointer finger. "And last time I checked, you were the devil. Why would you want to give this place up?"

Lucifer stood up from his bench to create as much distance as he could between them. Lily released a deep laugh as she took over his place at the piano, lightly touching the keys, destroying any attempt at a tune.

"So the rumors are true, you've changed. I always said it was a bad idea going up there for that long. I mean, look what happened to me. I try to make friends and-"

Lucifer turned around, looking at her disgusted as she did a dishonor to the piano in front of her. "You start the Salem witch trials."

Lily rolled her eyes as Lucifer blamed the historic event on her. "Humans are just so sensitive. They could never take a joke. I was just surprised my Mazikeen even wanted to go up there with you." Lily stopped her playing and looked around at the emptiness around her. "Where is my daughter, by the way?"

Lucifer took the opportunity to close the top of the piano and wrap up this conversation. "Like I'd tell you."

Lily closed her eyes as she absorbed the sounds of screams in the distance. "Don't tell me she chose to stay up there." She popped her eyes open to stare harder at Lucifer for answers. "She did… she was always the biggest disappointment."

"Yes, yes, yes. A disappointment. I heard this all before. Let's wrap this up, shall we? Hell is not for sale. Sorry to see you go. But not really. Bye now."

Lily's eyes traced up and down Lucifer's black suit curiously. "You still dress like them. Why?" It was safe to say that this was the most offensive thing she has said since her arrival.

Lucifer straightened his sleeves and he fixed a cufflink. "It's a Tom Ford. It would be a crime not to wear it." This confused her, and she continued to play the same high C note on repeat. She started to lose her confidence as she slowly looked over her shoulder. Lucifer followed her eyes, waiting for someone to come from around the corner. "Lily, what are you doing here?"

Her snake-like smile reappeared as she focused on his deep purple pocket square. "I'm here to help an old friend." He knew her. She was always looking out for herself and what benefited her. She somehow had gotten away with living in the Silver City for so long, even with all of her poor deeds continuing to stack up against her. Adam advocated for her after all of these years.

"No… No. You're not telling me everything. Lily. Lilith, what are you doing here."

She slammed the keyboard cover down hard. "Fine! Your father sent us. You're no fun. Really." Lucifer leaned in, feeling his anger take hold of him once more. Not only did he have to return to this place, leave everything behind, but now his father sent him the worst of the worst to babysit.

A dirty blonde haired man walked from around the corner, scoping out the tall walls around him. Half of his long hair was tied back into a top knot, and his thick dirty blonde beard couldn't hide the jagged jawline underneath. He was cloaked in beige cloth with embellishments of gold and bronze metals across his chest. "Hey Lily, this actually isn't as bad as I thought."

Lucifer's eyes widened in shock as his head leaned forward, studying the familiar face in front of him. "Cas?"

The man's bright blue eyes shrunk as his muscular cheeks formed into a broad smile shining his bright white teeth. "Hi, big brother."

Lucifer laughed in disbelief pulling his little brother close to him. They both patted each other's back hard, enjoying their embrace. Cassiel was one of the brothers Lucifer missed most from his days in the Silver City. They shared the same humor, viewed their city the same, and had the same thoughts toward their own father. After Lucifer was cast out from above, he had heard rumors that Cassiel acted out in anger and was cast out as well, but they never saw each other. Lucifer was forbidden from returning to the Silver City, and Cassiel was banned from visiting the underworld. Cassiel cupped his older brother's face to get a better look at the man he hadn't seen in eons. "Hi, Sam."

Lucifer found himself stumbling over his words from shock and excitement. "I don't understand. How are you here?"

Cassiel wrapped an arm around his older brother's neck and brought him back to the piano, where Lily waited patiently. "What do you mean, how am I here?"

Lily placed her hand on Cassiel's free hand and gave him a warning look. "Cas…"

Cassiel corrected himself immediately and cleared his throat, changing the tone of his visit. Lucifer looked down at their interaction curiously. From all of his experiences with Lily, he had never seen her stare at someone with that amount of care and sincerity before. She definitely had a bite to her, but seeing how much he, himself, had grown personally, it was easier to accept that maybe Lilly had changed too. How Cassiel awkwardly moved his weight from one leg to another, he knew there was bad news coming. "Sam, it's Michael. He broke father's command."

Lily adjusted herself uncomfortably on the piano booth muttering under her breath. "Wouldn't be the first time." Cassiel looked down at her with a warning in his eyes that immediately made her stop talking.

"Cas, what's going on."

Cassiel leaned forward onto the piano, entwining his fingers in one another. "It's our nephew. It's not sitting right with Michael that he still is able to roam the land when he should be in the rightful home of the Silver City. But- But I think there's more. He's so worked up about this. I can just feel that's he's going to do something worse. Father told him to leave it be, that it was supposed to happen, but he's now gone. We don't know where he is, but we have an idea where." He cautiously watched Lucifer piece together the drama from the Silver City. Cassiel had heard the rumors of what his brother was experiencing on earth, who he's met, and the sacrifices he took for their happiness. Lucifer was turning into the angel, everyone saw him as, even when Lucifer couldn't see it himself growing up.

"So, why aren't you there? Why didn't he send Gabriel?" Cassiel and Lily shared an all-knowing look that irritated Lucifer.

"Father believes this is a job for the Lightbringer." Lucifer felt a great weight on his chest at the thought of confronting his brother. The brother who physically threw him out of his home and away from his family.

"But- But, I can't leave here. Not again, with everything that's happened without someone-"

Cassiel opened up his arms to show himself off as a present to Lucifer. "Father sent us down here for a reason, Sam. Now, I'm not saying it's a done deal. I don't know how long, but at least for right now."

Lucifer couldn't accept the thought that his father was giving him a way out. "After all this time. Why now?"

Cassiel shrugged an innocent shrug. "He said he owed someone a favor."