We are finishing up "Our Mojo" in this chapter. The three of them share a discussion and Michael is faced with a startling truth that will turn the tides.

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They stepped out of the elevator just as a child on a little plastic tricycle cycled around the corner in front of them.

"Well, that bodes well." Lucifer said under his breath to Chloe who rolled her eyes.

Michael looked at them confused. "I'm missing something."

Chloe chuckled softly walking ahead of them while Lucifer narrowed his eyes as Michael.

"It's official. We are getting you caught up on the classics." Lucifer grumbled before following Chloe.

Michael sighed before following. Who said he wanted to get caught up? Geez.

"Okay, we got the warrant." Chloe gestured toward the apartment door. "Have at it."

The twins looked at each other. Chloe watched as a private conversation took place before they both kicked in the door. The detective pinched the bridge of her nose in fond annoyance. That was a bit overkill but at least they were working together. She wasn't going to complain.

Chloe nodded at them when they stood aside to let her go first. With her gun at the ready, just in case, she entered the apartment using a flashlight to light the way. Lucifer and Michael followed; Lucifer circled around to the other side of the room while Michael stayed behind her. She quickly checked all the rooms before meeting the boys at the small kitchen table.

"All clear." She said, "You two find anything?"

Michael held up a photo of a woman that had obviously been stalked.

Chloe took it; dread filled her. "His next victim."

Lucifer handed her a small slip of paper. "It's a receipt for flowers."

Chloe cursed, and quickly grabbed her phone. Thankfully, Ella picked up and assured her that they were on their way to help.

"Ella is on her way." She told the twins. "In the meantime, we need to start looking for clues. I'll send the picture through facial recognition but it will be a long shot."

Michael nodded, already looking through the many photos on the table for a hint to where she lived. Lucifer; however, was pacing, obviously agitated.

"People are losing their lives and there is nothing I can do." He complained fishing out his flask.

Michael slammed his hands on the table making Lucifer and Chloe jump in surprise. "Enough already with the moaning and complaining." He turned sharply toward Lucifer who had adopted an angry and defensive posture. "We understand you don't have your powers currently but how exactly could they even help us here? As far as I can tell there is no one that we can charm answers out of so they would be useless anyway. Stop thinking about what you can't do and focus on what you can."

Chloe watched the scene with baited breath. The air was tense between them. She would not dare to tell Lucifer that Michael had a point but it appeared that Lucifer was going to concede the point to his brother anyway. Lucifer nodded stiffly, adjusting his suit jacket.

"When did you say Miss Lopez was going to arrive?" He questioned Chloe acting as though he hadn't just been thoroughly chastised by his younger twin.

Michael turned determinedly back to the photos of the killers next victim.

Chloe decided to let Lucifer save face and acted as though nothing had happened. "The convention was close by. She said they should be here fairly quickly."

"They?" Lucifer asked confused.

Chloe shrugged. A few moments later Ella and Pete rushed into the apartment.

"We're here. Hope you don't mind." Ella rushed out motioning toward Pete.

"No, he's fine." Chloe rushed to assure Ella. "I'll take all the help I can get. Let's spread out and search for anything that can help us."

Michael watched Pete from the corner of his eyes while Ella and Chloe had spoken. Something about that human was not settling right with him. He rubbed at his arms as they fanned out to look for clues.

"What's up with you?" Lucifer asked, giving him a suspicious look.

Michael shrugged. "Not sure." He shook his head to cut Lucifer off from saying anything else and moved to help with the search.

It wasn't long before Ella called out to them. She and Pete had found more developing photos of the victim. It was quickly determined that she lived in the same apartment building.

"She's on the ninth floor. Lucifer, Michael, come on." Chloe led them out and to the elevator.

Chloe and Lucifer were quick to split up and each took one side of the ninth floor. Michael looked between them. This was going to take too long. Closing his eyes, he leaned back against the wall beside the elevator. He reached out searching each room for fear that could match what their victim would be feeling. It didn't take long for him to feel nauseated and light headed but he pushed on. He needed to make a point to practice more with this particular version of his powers. Michael was just about to give in when he found her.

"Michael."

He startled and swayed a bit on his feet, thankful that he had the wall to help hold him up.

"What are you doing? Are you okay?"

Michael looked at Chloe when he felt her hand rest on his arm. She was watching him with a concerned expression. Was Chloe really worried about him? Michael swallowed against the remaining nausea.

"I'm fine." Chloe sent him a look that told him she knew he was lying. Michael sighed. "I will be. I was looking for our victim via her fear. I found her but I don't use this particular version of my powers often. It doesn't really agree with me."

Chloe nodded, accepting his explanation without question. She really has come a long way in dealing with celestial issues.

"Which room?"

Michael stood and pointed down the hall Lucifer had disappeared down. Together they started toward the victims apartment but a few steps later Michael was grabbing Chloe in a dead stop.

"Michael, what is it?"

Chloe looked at Michael to find he had gone pale. She felt concerned for him. Had his use of his powers really taken that much from him?

"It's Lucifer. He's afraid."

Chloe gut churned and her heart raced. The hell? What could cause the actual Devil to be afraid? Seemed Michael was having similar thoughts.

They continued cautiously yet quickly and found apartment 903 with the door standing wide open.

Chloe took a deep breath getting her gun ready. A quick nod from Michael and they moved forward, her in the lead. The killer would most likely try to sneak up on her from the back and having Michael behind her gave Chloe an odd sense of safety she usually only felt with Lucifer.

It only took a moment for her to see Lucifer sitting on the floor with his back against the wall. Against her training, she went to him and kneeled in front of him.

"Lucifer, what happened? What's wrong?"

Lucifer didn't move nor did he speak. It unnerved her before she realized he must have been dosed with the drug their killer used to paralyze his victims. Shit. Even vulnerable, it must have been some powerful stuff, or a large dose, to take Lucifer down like this. Chloe noticed his eyes move to look over her shoulder with warning.

Before Chloe could get fully turned around, there was a yell and a loud thud of a body hitting the adjacent wall. Michael had who Chloe had to assume was their killer pinned against the wall with an arm across his throat slowly cutting off air supply. Chloe shivered at the look of anger on Michael's face.

"Michael! Easy!"

"I know. I won't kill him." Michael growled as a syringe was stabbed into his arm.

Chloe gasped, afraid she was going to have two paralyzed angels on her hands, but then noticed a small hint of something hit the ground at their feet. The needle had broken off the syringe instead of going through Michael's skin. Fear and confusion flashed across their killer's face before he lost consciousness from lack of oxygen. Only then did Michael let him drop to the floor.

Chloe looked back to Lucifer to find him watching them intently but also with relief. She took a few deep breaths before approaching their passed out killer to get cuffs on him should he wake before backup and paramedics arrived, which should be any minute considering she had Ella call when they left the killers apartment. She stood to check in on Michael only to find him gone when she turned around. She blinked, looking around, but then noticed him kneeling by Lucifer. He was checking Lucifer over quite intently. If Lucifer had been able to talk or move he would have no doubt been complaining with every breath. Chloe smiled and left the twins to it so she could check on their victim.

Michael stayed by Lucifer while paramedics checked his vitals watching their every move. He kept an eye on Chloe, watching as she handled the scene with her normal expert care. Chloe kept checking on them as well, he noticed. Her eyes would dart over to them every few minutes but she held no worry in her gaze.

Lucifer kept darting his eyes around taking in everything happening around him. He couldn't move still and it irritated him. He couldn't even speak to fuss at Michael who was hovering over him. What was his deal? His twin had been so adamant about hurting him just a few days ago. Could it be that maybe the Detective was right? Did Michael still, at least, somewhat care? Lucifer didn't dare get his hopes up. The events that happened so long ago before his fall still left a bitter taste in his mouth.

He attempted again to move and was able to move his fingers slightly. Ah, improvement. The slight movement caught Michael's attention where his fingers must have grazed against the hand that Michael was using to brace himself against the floor.

"It's wearing off. That's good." Michael said softly.

Lucifer blinked at him and attempted to speak to no avail. He rolled his eyes in annoyance when Michael chuckled.

"Shouldn't be much longer. Have patience, brother." Michael went back to watching the humans in the room.

That was easy for him to say. He wasn't the one forced to watch and unable to do anything. Lucifer had no idea what he would have done had the Detective gotten hurt. Guess he owed Michael for being there to have her back when he couldn't. That thought stung but not as bad as Lucifer would have expected.

Lucifer turned his eyes back onto his twin. Michael had not moved from his side since he had first come over. He had not relaxed either. Lucifer felt strangely comforted by his brother's presence, and strangely comforting scent, beside him in this vulnerable state. Never would Lucifer admit that out loud though. Michael was watching over him, clearly, and it reminded Lucifer of better times when they had each other's backs instead of the constant fighting.

In a moment of weakness, Lucifer wiggled his fingers enough that he was able to rest them over the back of Michael's hand. Michael looked down at them briefly before once again looking away. His brother's hand moved. Lucifer felt a heaviness enter his chest and he closed his eyes. He should have...his eyes flew back open to watch Michael's fingers entwine with his own, their palms touching. Warmth slowly replaced the chill that had tried to set in. Lucifer tried not to dwell on what everything meant and tried to just focus on the rare comfort while he could.

Across the room, when neither twin was paying attention, Ella nudged Chloe. She nodded her head in the boys direction when Chloe looked at her.

"Look who's guarding his twin." Ella said with a smile.

Chloe turned to look. For all intents and purposes, Michael was indeed guarding Lucifer. His posture was set in a way that he could be to his feet within seconds should the need arise and his eyes were constantly scoping the room for any dangers. Chloe couldn't help but smile. She wasn't naive enough to think they wouldn't go back to fussing and fighting as soon as the drugs wore off, and Michael fully realized what he was doing, but Chloe could hope that this was a sign that things could get better between them.

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Chloe was talking with Ella and Pete when the drugs finally wore off enough that Lucifer was able to get to his feet. Michael had to help steady him, much to Lucifer's chagrin and annoyance, but he accepted it begrudgingly or he would have face planted. The latter would have been much worse to endure. Once he felt steady enough, he shrugged Michael off. Michael rolled his eyes but did not comment.

Ella and Chloe gave them knowing soft smiles that neither brother deemed worthy of a reaction. Let the females think what they wanted.

"You doing okay, Lucifer?" Ella asked in concern for her friend.

Lucifer opened his mouth to speak but only a rough sound, like sandpaper, came forth. He coughed and cleared his throat. "Still wearing off it seems." His voice was hoarse signaling his vocal cords were still affected.

The humans wore sympathetic looks that Lucifer cared not for. A passing paramedic handed Michael a bottle of water that he passed to Lucifer who took it with a nod of thanks and drained almost halfway. The group watched the officers escort their now awake killer to the elevator. He wore a creepy smile as he passed them.

"I hate that I have to write about that creep." Pete complained upset with the piece he was going to have to write.

Ella worked on encouraging Pete but Michael toned them out. Now that the adrenaline had worn off he felt unsettled. He had known Lucifer was vulnerable when Chloe was around, but just how vulnerable was he?

His brother's fear had stopped him short. In all their years the only other time Michael had ever felt true fear from Lucifer was the Fall. It felt uncomfortable and wrong. Not to mention his brother should never look as vulnerable as he did a few minutes ago. Paralyzed and helpless, it didn't fit, it wasn't right, and Michael hated it.

"I get the feeling you two don't like me very much."

Pete's voice brought Michael's attention back to the conversation. Chloe and Ella had moved down the hall leaving the guys to themselves.

"I mean, it's okay, I'm not needy."

Michael resisted the urge to roll his eyes.

Pete continued. "It's just Ella likes you guys and I like her. Not the same way obviously."

The twins glanced at each other sharing the same thought. Was Pete going to ramble all night or get to the point?

"The point is" Finally. "It would be nice if we could get along. So if there is anything I did wrong…"

"Quite the contrary." Lucifer cut over him. "You seem to be doing everything right, by Miss Lopez anyway."

Pete nodded with a pleased smile at the compliment. "We did make a pretty good team tonight."

"Well, there's that but you also enjoy sharing, which quite honestly boggles the mind."

Michael did roll his eyes this time with an amused snort. Lucifer glared at him to which Michael returned it with a knowing smirk. Pete watched them both semi amused with their antics.

"You do seem to empower each other as well." Michael noted. Even though Pete still made him feel at odds he could admit that Pete and Ella did appear to complement each other well.

"Yeah, it's kind of scary." Pete admitted.

"Scary?" Lucifer questioned.

Pete looked at them earnestly. "You ever feel like you're not good enough for someone?"

Lucifer scoffed. Michael shrugged nonchalantly. Even though he knew very well what Pete was talking about, it would do him no good to let Lucifer know.

"Well, I guess not for you guys, but someone like me? Terrifying. I figure that it ultimately isn't up to me though. It's up to her. All I can do is open up and let her decide for herself if I'm worth it or not."

Pete had turned to watch Ella by the time he finished speaking. Lucifer was watching Chloe with a fond and curious expression. Michael studied the floor intently. What would it matter for him? He looked up at Lucifer then over to Chloe. The detective glanced up at them with a soft smile. Michael would like to think she was smiling at him as well, and not just Lucifer, but what were the odds?

"You are vulnerable with her." Michael whispered so only Lucifer could hear him.

Lucifer glanced back at him. "Obviously. Your point?" He whispered grumbled back.

Chloe and Ella started making their way back up the hall. Pete moved to meet Ella halfway.

"You can't protect her if you are vulnerable all the time."

Before Lucifer could respond Chloe had reached them. "You two ready to go?"

Lucifer looked at her confused. "Two?"

Chloe shrugged. "We had mentioned talking after the case. If you want to wait…"

"Right, of course, Detective." Lucifer turned to Michael with an eyebrow raised. "Michael?"

Michael took in their expressions as they waited for his response. Chloe looked hopeful while Lucifer, well, Lucifer was being hard to read since his comment. Michael sighed.

"Very well."

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Michael had opted to fly instead of being cramped in the car. Better to give himself and Lucifer time apart before delving into the mess he was sure Chloe would want to dive into. He took a few laps around the city, and even flew up above the smog for a clear glance at the stars, before landing gracefully on the balcony of Lucifer's penthouse.

Chloe was sitting at the desk and startled when he landed. She watched him with wide eyes clearly focused on his wings as he shook them out. The dark feathers fluffed momentarily before settling into place. With a smirk in her direction he furled them away.

Chloe noticed his smirk and humphed at him before turning back to the files she had spread out before her. "Show off." She grumbled.

Michael chuckled moving closer to see what she was doing. His expression melted into confusion as he recognized the photos from the case they just finished.

"Didn't we just solve this?"

"Yeah but something just isn't sitting right with me." Chloe replied, distracted.

Michael hummed looking around. "Where's Lucifer?" He would have figured his brother would have come out of hiding by now.

"He got pulled to Lux practically as we arrived." Chloe paused looking up at him. "Want to help me try to figure this out while we wait?"

Michael shrugged. He had already looked over these files to the point he had them memorized. "What exactly are you looking for?"

Chloe sighed. "Not sure. I know it will be frustrating, especially since I'm not sure what it is I'm even looking for, but I can't let it go."

Michael leaned against the back of the couch crossing his legs at the ankle. "Then use me as a sounding board."

Chloe stared at him a moment. "You won't mind?"

"It's not like I have much else to do, Chloe. Come on."

She narrowed her eyes at him. Michael knew she was putting pieces of previous conversations together in her mind. This talk was going to be fully dissecting him and he had no idea why he was still here or even agreed in the first place. Something was pulling him in. Was it Chloe and her weird ability to see through him? Was it Lucifer who was slowly chipping away at him again? Or had Azrael somehow instilled the tiniest bit of hope in him that maybe, just maybe, things could change?

"Michael?"

Michael blinked to find Chloe had moved to stand in front of him while he had delved into his thoughts. He needed to stop that. It was becoming a liability.

"Yes?" His voice came out in a whisper. Chloe was standing awfully close to him. Michael straightened feeling his heart pick up pace.

Chloe watched him. Her expression remained stoic which he thought was a feat for her. "Are you okay?"

Was he okay? Michael was unsure how to answer. If he flat out lied she would know.

"I will be."

Chloe looked disbelieving. "You avoided the question."

"Did I?" Michael suddenly felt like playing with her a bit.

She crossed her arms over her chest clearly unimpressed with him and not willing to play back. Well, that was no fun. Michael sighed.

"No, I'm not okay." There was no point in lying. Not with her. She'd only call him on it anyway.

Before Chloe could ask anymore the elevator dinged. They looked over as Lucifer stepped out watching them carefully. He obviously was not comfortable with the closeness between them, nor the fact that Michael had been here without him knowing. At least he wasn't being outright hostile.

"How long have you been here?" Lucifer questioned him moving to the bar but not fully taking his eyes off him.

"A few minutes."

Chloe sighed picking up on the tension that was between them. She had been right to assume the calmness wouldn't last. She was going to have to lead them through this.

Lucifer gathered up drinks for all of them. Michael quirked an eyebrow that Lucifer paid enough attention to know his preferred drink while Lucifer ignored him and planted himself on one of the couches. Legs crossed, leaned back, one arm resting over the back of the couch, the other bracing his drink on his knee, Lucifer looked the picture of collected calm.

"Why are you here, Michael?"

Straight to the point. Chloe had decided to play a neutral party and chose the chair between the two couches. She, too, looked at him curiously. Michael sighed and settled himself on the couch opposite Lucifer, staying tense and weary; ready for flight should the need arise.

"I'm here because you asked me to come." Michael sipped from his glass watching Lucifer grit his teeth. "You need to be specific, brother."

"Why are you staying on Earth?" Lucifer growled.

Chloe drank a bit uncomfortable in her seat. "Let's not antagonize each other. We are trying to work things out. A team, remember?"

The twins looked at her. Michael nodded shortly. Lucifer grumbled a bit but conceded.

"Just answer the question, and don't lie." He said pointedly. "The Detective will know."

Yes, yes. Michael knew that already. Unfortunately.

"Does it have anything to do with you being cut off?" Chloe questioned softly, watching Michael intently. Michael tensed even further under her gaze.

"Cut off?" Lucifer looked between them quickly before settling on Michael confused.

Michael shifted. "I am currently locked out of the Silver City." He admitted tightly.

Lucifer laughed. "You really expect…" he trailed off noticing Michael's glare and Chloe's chastising look. "Wait…" Lucifer looked at Chloe. "It's true?" At Chloe's small nod he sobered quickly, sitting straight and turning back to Michael. "But the gates are never locked. They aren't even locked to me and I was fully banished."

Why in the world would their Dad lock them on Michael? What had Michael done to deserve being kicked out? He had always been the better behaved between the two of them even if that wasn't saying much. Lucifer was starting to feel very uneasy about the whole situation. What was Dad playing at?

"Then what stops you from going back?" Chloe asked Lucifer, honestly confused.

Lucifer drank from his glass leaning back and avoiding eye contact. His eyes were pained and he clearly did not wish to answer. Michael did it for him.

"He can enter the Silver City if he wants but he'll literally burn if he does." Michael never lifted his eyes from his lap.

Chloe felt angry on Lucifer's behalf but Michael's expression made her pause. Did he look sad or was the light playing tricks on her?

"Yes, well." Lucifer mumbled. "Why would He lock the gates on you?"

Michael scoffed. "You think I know? Let's just add it to the list of things not making sense, shall we? Father knows it's not getting any shorter."

"Okay, so wait, the gates have never been locked before?" When both of them nodded Chloe continued. "Are they completely locked?"

"Our siblings and souls can still get in; you don't need to worry about that." Michael drank. "Just locked to me. Thought it was a trick at first, should have known better honestly, but being pushed into the blasted ocean cleared that up."

"Better than hellfire." Lucifer mumbled bitterly drinking from his own glass.

Michael actually winced clutching at his glass. The Fall had haunted him for many, many years. He hadn't seen Lucifer hit the lakes of fire but he could have sworn he heard his screams. His gut twisted. That nightmare would be back tonight with vengeance.

Chloe decided not to comment, drinking half of her glass, and continued with her questions. "But why?" Focus on Michael.

"And that is the million dollar question." Sarcasm dripped from Lucifer's words

"I wasn't told. Never are." Michael sighed but was glad for the change of subject. "I had thought it was punishment, but now I'm not so sure."

"How come?"

"The immunity thing for one."

Chloe squinted. "Did you know about that?"

Michael laughed harshly. "Do you really think I would have tried if I did?" He shook his head. "No way."

"And yet you knew she was a miracle." Lucifer pointed out.

"All of us but you knew she was a miracle. It took a while for us to figure out why though. Didn't expect that theory to turn out wrong."

"Wrong?" Chloe asked.

Michael sent her a pointed look. "If you were made for Lucifer, why in the three worlds do you think you would be immune to both of us?"

"I don't know." Chloe took a small sip from her drink looking at the table in front of her. Suddenly, something occurred to her. "But I'm not completely immune to you." She looked back to Michael. "You can still read my fears."

"Surely Lucifer can still read your surface desires?" Michael questioned, confused.

"Afraid not, brother. The Detective is the only human that is completely closed to me. I get her desires wrong on an almost daily basis." Lucifer replied clearly trying not to pout.

That couldn't be right, could it? Michael was even more confused on the dynamic between them. He knew his brother could sense surface desires; he had sensed his the other night hence the sudden aggression. Why could he sense Chloe's surface fears but Lucifer couldn't sense her surface desires?

Chloe chuckled softly. "I don't know, Lucifer, you are getting better."

Lucifer flashed her a knowing smirk with a playful wink. Michael groaned and rolled his eyes. Seriously? Right now? He was sitting right here for Father's sake.

"Seems we all have our little quirks to add to the 'no sense' stew." This was getting them nowhere.

Chloe sighed standing. "Guess this is just going to have to be treated as facts. I'm completely immune to Lucifer. I'm mildly immune to Michael. I can read Michael well enough to know when he lies. Anything else?"

"Michael is stranded on Earth." Lucifer still looked bothered by that particular truth.

"You stole Lucifer's mojo." Michael contributed.

Chloe glared at him. "I did not steal Lucifer's mojo."

Michael smiled softly to show her he was teasing. Chloe didn't relent.

"Then explain how I can be mojoed but I can't seem to mojo anyone?" The tone was more frustrated than accusatory. Lucifer tried to drink more but huffed to find his glass was now empty.

Michael swirled the remaining liquid in his glass with a thoughtful expression. "Could you be self-actualizing again?" Could Chloe's entire immunity be a self-actualization because Lucifer's mojo didn't work on her directly? Could Lucifer have made it where none of his powers worked on her because of his belief it didn't work?

Lucifer narrowed his eyes at him while Chloe took on her own thoughtful expression. "How does the self-actualization work anyway?" Chloe asked. She figured the topic of Lucifer's self-actualizing habits when it came to her needed to be a private conversation not had with Michael in the room.

"You don't ask easy questions do you?" Michael chuckled.

Chloe smiled half-heartedly. "Is the answer probably going to melt my mind if I tried to understand it?"

Lucifer and Michael looked at each other before both shrugged. "Probably." They answered in unison. Lucifer continued. "I believe it works a bit differently for each of us honestly."

Chloe nodded. Another one of those things she was going to have to accept as a fact in this new and crazy world she was now part of. "Okay then. I'm hungry. Totally should have grabbed food on the way. You two hungry?"

Lucifer gave her a weird look but shrugged. It was clear she was trying to lighten the heavy mood. "I supposed I could eat a little bit."

Chloe turned to look at the other twin. "Michael?"

Michael was going to decline but his stomach chose that moment to growl. His eyes grew wide but glared at Lucifer when he caught his brother smirking amused at him.

Chloe chuckled. "That's settled then. I'm going to freshen up and you two can decide what to order in. We can talk more over food."

Michael rubbed a hand over his face after Chloe left. He hated being on Earth.

"What will it be, Michael?" Came the amused question attached to an amused snigger at his expense.

"I don't care." He grumbled from behind his hand. "I haven't eaten that much to have an opinion."

Lucifer hummed collecting his phone from his pocket. "You'll need to start eating more the longer you are here." Did his voice actually sound concerned? Sympathetic? Surely not.

"I'm aware of that, Lucifer." Didn't mean he had to necessarily like it.

The elevator suddenly dinged, grabbing both of the twins' attention. Lucifer stood as a stranger stepped out of the double doors.

"Who the bloody hell are you?"

Michael twisted to look over the couch at the young man twitching nervously. The fear coming from the human had Michael standing to his feet as well.

"Lucifer Morningstar?"

"Yes." Lucifer snapped impatiently moving to the bar. "I'm at a disadvantage though."

Why was Lucifer so irate all of a sudden? He had been annoyed by surprise guests before sure, but not to the point of wanting to throw them over the balcony. Lucifer poured a drink to keep his hands busy.

The human suddenly pulled out a gun aiming it directly at Lucifer's chest. Lucifer froze momentarily before a scowl settled on his features. He moved from the bar to stand between the human and the other two behind him.

Michael noticed Chloe in his periphery and moved closer signally her to stop with his hand. She didn't have her gun to protect herself with, and Lucifer was preoccupied with the strange threat, so that left Michael to protect her. He gritted his teeth in annoyance feeling his wings itch to be unfurled.

"What's going on?" Chloe asked nervously from the stairs to the bedroom.

"Just trying to figure that out." Lucifer replied with a soft growl.

Michael felt very uneasy and alert. His eyes stayed trained on Lucifer watching for any signal his brother would give him, deferring control of the situation completely to him, while keeping Chloe's safety just behind that. Thankfully, Chloe stayed where she was, her experience allowing her to read the room perfectly.

"Why are you here?" Lucifer growled out the question not liking that this human dared to threaten what was his, even if indirectly.

"Sorry. It's nothing personal." The young man stated.

Michael felt Chloe's fear spike the same second an echoing bang resounded through the room. It was as though everything started to move in slow motion. Michael watched the bullet connect with Lucifer's chest. He watched Lucifer fly backwards with a look of shock on his face.

Michael had a moment to wonder why Chloe was so frightened but then he remembered with stunning clarity. Chloe was here. Lucifer was vulnerable when she was near.

Vulnerable: meaning Lucifer could bleed. Vulnerable: meaning Lucifer could be damaged and broken. Vulnerable: meaning Lucifer could be killed. His brother, his twin, could actually die.

Michael watched Lucifer hit the ground and not move. He watched as Chloe ran to Lucifer's side in fear and desperation.

Michael felt as though the floor had opened up beneath him.