"Maze?" Chloe let out a sarcastic laugh. "Yeah, right?" The detective turned back and leaned against the bar. She waved down the bartender who was serving a perky woman in a sleek red dress at the opposite end.
"I get it. You don't believe me." The man stepped in right beside Chloe's turned back and spoke into her ear. "Trix is your daughter. Her birthday is March first and she is eleven years old. She has an alien toy missing an eye. I used the other to sew it on Ben Rivers' bullet wound in Canada. We were roommates for a time. You snore when you sleep." She was about to give up when Chloe's head slowly turned towards her. "We kissed once, well I did, you were so tense when we went to the annoying private school. And for some reason, you are in love with the Devil. Which is why I am here." Maze took a step back when he saw the bartender approached and gave her a suspicious glare.
"Detective Decker, is everything all right here?" the man asked. Maze knew the man behind the bar; they'd had heated discussions in the past, among other heated things. It took all her willpower to not snap back at him. She knew it wouldn't go over very well.
"It's fine." Chloe waved her hand and turned toward the man claiming to be Maze. Chloe's brow furrowed as she examined the man's stance: arms folded across the body and the left hip dropped. "You are really Maze, aren't you?" The man in front of her nodded his head in confirmation.
"Look Chloe, I know–" Maze continued, but she was interrupted.
"Is this dude buggin' ya?" Ella approached, placing herself between the detective and Maze in the body of a fifty-something man.
"Chill, Ellen." Maze stood still, looking down at the little Latina closing in on her, ready to throw some punches despite her trying to find her balance.
"No, Ella, it's fine." Chloe pulled Ella back. The detective took a deep breath to stop her head from spinning.
"Whatshappeningnow?" Linda's words ran together when they came out of her mouth, her eyes trying to focus on what was happening. She had wandered over after she found herself alone on the dance floor.
"Linda!" Maze, in the man's body, pulled the woman into a hug. "I've missed you so much. How's Charlie?"
"Who's this?" The doctor side-glanced at Chloe and Ella, her eyes begging for help to free her from the strange man hugging her.
"Right." Maze let out a disappointed sigh and stepped back.
"Yeah, okay. I'm convinced. Let's… umm… let's go upstairs. To talk," Chloe stated.
"I'm sorry, who's this?" Linda pointed at the man, utterly confused with what was going on.
"It's Maze." Chloe jumped in before giving the demon a chance, but the detective could see the grateful look on the man's, who was really Maze, face.
"What?" Ella and Linda simultaneously asked, both looking very confused.
"I'll explain upstairs." Chloe gave them a weak smile.
Chloe assisted the intoxicated Ella off the elevator, her petite body hanging around the detective's neck as she dragged her across the penthouse and over to Lucifer's bed. Ella sat on the bed and immediately fell over onto her side. Chloe lifted her legs onto the bed and removed her friend's shoes. "You are such a good friend," Ella spoke slowly, her eyelids heavy. Instantly the little woman was fast asleep.
Chloe inhaled deeply and took a beat to ready herself for why Maze was here suddenly in a recently dead man's body trying to find Lucifer. A few months ago, she would've thought that this man was a raving lunatic and had him committed. But after the things she seen at the Mayan, and after knowing the truth about the Divine, demon possession didn't seem too crazy to her, which was in itself crazy. How normal was it now that she knew that Heaven and Hell were real? That the Devil was real. Her old roommate was a demon from Hell.
Chloe took another breath and turned toward the main area. Frozen on the landing, she watched the strange man with a glass of water in hand making his way to Linda who was lying on the Italian leather couch. He helped the drunk woman take a sip of water and placed the glass on the table close to the fading doctor. Maze looked up at Chloe's silent stare.
"So, how've you been?" A smile crept onto the man's face.
"That's it? How've I been?" Chloe let out a scoff of disbelief. "Really? That's what you have to say?"
"I thought that's how humans start conversations?" Maze moved around the coffee table, took a few steps toward the detective.
"Maze, what are you doing here?" She balanced herself on the wall as she stepped down, dealing with her own inebriation. "What happened to Lucifer?"
"Okay! No small talk, it is." Maze sighed; she looked over at the wall of top-shelf liquid gold and decided she needed a drink. She could feel Chloe's eyes on her as she poured herself a generous glass. "He left, and I don't know where he is. I thought he would be here, but…" She paused as she slowly turned around to face the detective. "…I can't sense him in LA. I don't know where else he would go, and it's not like I can't travel very far in this human meat suit."
"He left Hell?" Chloe's heart sank, wondering why he hadn't come to see her. Maze nodded her head. "Is he okay? Did something happen?" she asked, unsure if she really wanted to know.
"No," the demon offered freely, not even considering sugar-coating the truth.
"Oh, he's not?" Chloe attempted to blink away the tears forming in her eyes. She hated that her gut instincts were right, that he was hiding something from her. She'd known he wasn't okay.
"Chloe, I've known Lucifer longer than anyone, and I've never seen him like this. The only time he has been even remotely close to this was when…" Maze paused, her eye falling on the woman who was capable of driving the Devil mad. "He's desperate, Chloe. Broken. Doing whatever it takes to find answers, answers that might not even be there. Seeking help from Father Kinley. Visiting Cain when I told him not to. Dismissing the fact that the demons are wanting his head on a spike. Instead of putting them in…" Maze continued, but Chloe had stopped listening after the last comment. Bile rose in her stomach. She gingerly found her feet and stumbled her way to the bedroom.
"Chloe?" Maze stood up and watch the detective disappear around the corner. The demon bolted after her and found her in the bathroom, hugging the black marble toilet. Maze sighed before she pulled back her friends' hair and patiently waited until Chloe finished emptying her stomach.
Chloe slumped to the floor, her back against the glass shower wall, and wiped her mouth. She watched the bald man retrieve a glass from the cabinet – even the bathroom had a minibar – and filled it up with water. "Typical Granny Decker, unable to handle a few drinks," Maze, in the man's body, joked and handed her the glass. She slid down the shower and sat down beside her on the tile floor.
"You look fat in that body," Chloe attempted to joke back, and downed the glass of water, hoping to rinse out the bad taste the vomit left her mouth. It would take a lot more than just water to wash it away.
"Not my first choice," Maze scoffed as she scanned the body, "but I was in a hurry. I couldn't be picky."
"You don't seem to be in a hurry now." Chloe looked over to her and noticed the tightened jawline. Maze might have been in some else's body, but the body language was all Maze. "Maze, what is going on in Hell?" The man remained silent and looked away. "Is it really that bad?" Chloe's voice broke.
"I'm afraid…" Maze started but couldn't finish her sentence. She hated sounding weak.
"But you're Maze, you're not afraid of anything," Chloe stated, as her heart sank. She had never known the demon to back down from any fight, but yet here she was, scared of her home.
"In helping Lucifer, I painted a target on my back. I go back now, who knows what they would do." Maze let out a frustrated chuckle. "All I wanted for the last eight years was to go back home, and now…"
"When did everything become so messed up?" Chloe pulled her knees toward her chest and hugged them. She glanced over to the demon, who didn't have an answer. "This is not how I thought things would go. I didn't think it was supposed to be this hard, being in love. But not knowing what is going on with him is…" She snorted when she remembered who she was talking to. "Torture. And he has been so cryptic about Hell; that's what worries me. I can't seem to focus on anything else except that Lucifer is down there, and the longer he is, the more time passes by, and before you know it he will have been down there for a thousand years. And I know he remembers everything, but what if…" fresh tears started falling from her eyes. "What if he forgets about me?"
"I don't think he is capable of forgetting you." Maze gave her friend a soft smile. "He is crazy about you. All he thinks about is how he can be with you. That's the only thing that matters to him," Maze offered, though she knew the words could only comfort her friend so much.
"Really?" Chloe smiled through the tears. Maze nodded her head. The smile faded from the detective's face. "So, are the demons really trying to kill him?"
"I don't know about killing him, but they definitely want to hurt him. We had a few close calls," Maze revealed. She could see the mortified look on Chloe's face. "But he's fine. I'm always around the corner, ready to…"
"But you're not there now, though." Chloe's legs dropped to the side as she quickly found her way to her knees. "If he goes back and you're not there, can they kill him? Would they?" Chloe stood up, pulled Maze up with her, but the fast motion was too much for her queasy stomach and she steadied herself on the shower wall. "We have to find him."
"Hey, careful." Maze jumped to her feet. "You okay, lightweight?"
"We need to find Lucifer." Chloe ignored the gurgling in her gut. "We can't just sit here; we need to do something."
"I know, but I don't know…" the demon started.
"No. I won't accept that. There has to be a way." Chloe pushed herself off the wall, her hand digging into her pocket for her phone. "Amenadiel! He can find Lucifer. He has to be able to. Right?" Chloe found the angel's number. "He can fly around and find him."
"Chloe, Lucifer didn't want to get Amenadiel involved." Maze reached for the phone, but the detective pulled away and quickly walked out of the bathroom. "Chloe!"
"I don't care. I can't just sit around doing nothing while there are real, potential threats against the man I love." Chloe walked out into the main area of the penthouse, the line ringing already. She glanced over her shoulder and saw the man with his arms folded in front of his chest and hip dropped. A very Maze-like stance.
"Hey, Chloe," Amenadiel answered, his voice sounding tired. "What's up? Do you need me to pick up Linda already?"
"No. She's fine." The detective looked over at the snoring doctor. "Actually, I need your help finding Lucifer."
Note: Chapter was Beta read by SailorChronos1! Thank You!