Panic rose in the Devil, his eyes scanning around the room to see strangers, their necks streaked with dry blood from when the humans were killed. It was evident that these bodies were possessed by his own demons. The unnerving stillness of them all just staring up at him, baring all of himself on the bed as if he and the detective were on display in a zoo. Without a second thought, he unfurled his wings to shield Chloe and to protect her dignity. The bed jostled with her movement; he glanced behind quickly to see her scramble for the nearest clothing item before he returned his gaze towards the young man standing before him. She had nabbed his white dress shirt that was hanging haphazardly off a rather large statue on the nightstand.
"What do I do?" Chloe's voice was hardly audible in his ear; she rushed the top over her shoulders, her eyes peering over. Her heart pounded hard against her rib cage. Her fingers fumbled with the buttons; the shirt fit more like a dress on her petite frame, the length of the tails reaching just above her knees. Lucifer was too focused on the man in front of him to give the woman a reply.
"Welcome!" The seemingly long uncomfortable silence finally broke with Lucifer's unfaltering charm. "To what do I owe the pleasure?" If he was nervous, Chloe would never have known it.
"We are here to bring you back home." The demon spoke; his voice was filled with sinister distortion. "To pay for what you have done." There was a consolidated sneer throughout the penthouse; the fiends gave each other blood-thirsty glances.
"What exactly have I done, Eligos?" Lucifer asked, recognizing the voice of one of his high-ranking demons. The Devil had a good idea that this was all about their rebellion; however, he attempted to find a way to stall for time until he could figure a way to get the detective out of harm's way.
"Where to start?" Eligos' arms folded behind him as he took a few steps forward. "The fact that you abandoned us for millions of years, leaving us to fend for ourselves in utter chaos. Tearing each other apart, seeking supremacy overall in the absence of our King."
While the demon spoke, Lucifer eyed his trousers about five feet away from him; he reached behind under his wings and held out his hand for the detective. He was thankful when her hand found his. He gave it a little reassuring squeeze before he casually walked over to the pants, his eyes still on Eligos, who was deep in his monologue. Chloe, in her silent understanding, moved across the room with him. Lucifer had never been shy about his manhood, but he was unwilling to fight in the nude. Swiftly, he slipped his legs through the pants, hiking them up.
"Then you returned, the tyrant filled with petty vengeance. Destroying Dromos and his followers." The demon leader had followed the King's movement across the bedroom but didn't seem to mind. "You do realize that it is in their nature to mindlessly seek power. Someone they could look up to or someone to destroy. You dared to incinerate them for what? Being what they were made for?" Eligos spoke as if he was better than the others, as if he was above all the pettiness.
"They were made to torture the damned, not to murder innocent humans who were still alive," Lucifer snapped at the accusation, all too aware that Chloe was overhearing about his less attractive qualities. "For that alone, their punishment was just. Not that you ever cared about justice."
"What next then?" Eligos' arms stretched out to the side, forming a cross. "His Highness going to collar us like prisoners in our own home? Hmm." A smile formed on the demon's face when he noticed that the King's body tightened. "You should have known better than to give the key to your little spy. She fought admirably but to no avail."
"Maze? What did you do to her?" Lucifer stepped forward; his eyes flashed red for a moment, revealing the underlying rage. His relationship with Maze had been shaky recently, but hearing about her demise confirmed that he still cared for her.
"The traitor is not dead, if that is what you are worried about." Eligos had a wicked grin of satisfaction on his face. "Just maybe a little uncomfortable." He turned towards the hoard behind him, and the room filled with an uproar of cackling. "The priest, on the other hand, folded like the coward he is and told us everything. All your scheming." The demon in the young man licked his lips. "I wonder when I kill you, if your soul would still be King or if you would be trapped in your own cell. Personally, I'm hoping for the latter."
"That would never happen," Lucifer spoke, his voice wavering slightly.
Chloe had been standing behind Lucifer during the encounter; her mind was running a million miles an hour, brainstorming ways to help Lucifer. She noticed her phone just out of reach on the floor. She reached out for it and quickly made sure that it was on silent. They must have knocked it off the nightstand while they were having the best sex of her life.
She sent out two texts. One to Dan: "Trouble in the penthouse, bring backup." And one to Amenadiel: "Demons are here. Need help." She hugged the phone as her eyes scanned the room for a nearby makeshift weapon.
Eligos licked his lips again. "Like I said, the priest was very informative. We know that little human hiding behind you makes you bleed. Can't believe you left your Kingdom and risked your life for the worthless slut."
"How dare you?" Lucifer growled, eyes instantly red. Without a second thought, the demon's throat was in one hand and lifted as far as his arms would let him. "You don't ever speak about her like that." Lucifer threw him across the room. The other demons moved out of the way before they made their advance toward their King.
Lucifer glided down the platform into the living space of the penthouse. Two of the minions charged at him head-on. Lucifer easily dodged their attack and retorted with a backhand, knocking the man off his feet, before he quickly grabbed the woman with both hands and threw her into the bar wall, smashing the top shelf and the bottles of alcohol to the ground.
Chloe scrambled towards the nightstand and searched its contents for anything that would help her in this fight. Not to her surprise, all that was in the drawer were sex toys. She heard footfalls approaching behind her. She reached in the drawer and pulled out a set of leopard-print fuzzy handcuffs. The detective waited until she felt a hand on her shoulder. Quickly, she snatched the wrist, locking the cuff in place. She yanked the demon to the floor and snapped the other cuff around the leg of the bed. She knew this wouldn't hold her attacker for long, but it would give her time.
Chloe picked up the heavy statue on the nightstand as the free hand of the monster grappled for her leg. With all her might, she smashed the man's head in with the base. The woman stumbled back onto the bed to catch her breath. The lull didn't last long when she saw someone else charging towards her. Chloe rolled across the bed and quickly ran into the living room, where she watched in awe of Lucifer's combat skill. The admiration was interrupted by her assailant, who chased into the room.
Lucifer smashed his victim's head several times on the brick wall when he noticed the detective run across the room. He dropped the limp body and grabbed a sheathed dagger from its stand on his bookshelf.
"Chloe!" He shouted to get her attention; she turned to him just out of arms' reach. "Catch." Lucifer tossed the weapon towards her. He hated that she was in the middle of this, but he was not about to leave her unarmed. "Aim for the heads," he instructed. The detective nodded her head, pulling the dagger out its sheath.
Lucifer turned on his heels when he noticed in the corner of his eye a flickering light. One of the demons had a broken whiskey bottle in his hands; in the bottle was a cloth on fire. The arsonist threw the bottle towards the shelf behind Lucifer's head. The priceless books instantly started to burn. The Devil rushed the demon, who already had a second bottle in his hands; he was about to throw it towards the curtains. Lucifer wrapped his hand around the wrist that was holding the flaming bottle. The King picked up a whiskey bottle that was unharmed. He ripped the top off with his teeth and poured its contents on the struggling demon's head. Then he took the flame out of his hands and ignited his clothing. The arsonist ran wildly around the room, slapping himself as he tried to put out the fire.
Lucifer stood still to catch his breath. Time seemed to slow down while his literal world started burning down around him. His beloved home on Earth was up in flames. He scanned the room, noting all the bodies that were either dead or writhing in pain. His heart stopped when he didn't see Chloe or Eligos.
"Chloe!" Lucifer's gut-wrenching scream ripped through his vocal cords as he ran towards the bedroom. He stopped in his tracks when his eyes met hers. The steel of the blade he'd given her was against her throat, in the hands of Eligos. Bloodlust filled his eyes.
"Please," Lucifer lifted his hands up in surrender. "Let her go! I'll do anything you want. I go back to Hell. Please, just let her go," the Devil pleaded as his eyes glazed over, always on her.
"Pathetic. The once ruthless King of torment is now begging for the life of a simple human. I'm disappointed." Eligos pulled the knife closer to her neck. Chloe took in a sharp inhale.
"Don't!" Lucifer roared, his entire body shaking with adrenaline. "You dare hurt her, and I'll drag you back to Hell and rip you into pieces, then throw your dismembered limbs into the Lake of Fire."
"There he is. The wrath." Eligos smiled, his hand still steady.
There was sudden ruckus coming from the living room; both Lucifer and Eligos glanced over to see what all the commotion was about.
"Chloe! Lucifer!" A familiar voice called out. "Shit, what happened? Check the bodies, see if anyone is alive." The man wasn't alone. Several voices could be heard. As well as the faint sound of sirens coming from the street below.
"NOOOOOO!" Chloe cried out.
Lucifer was distracted by the rescue party in the other room when he felt a sharp pain rip through his chest. The Devil noticed the blade just off the center of his chest. Slowly he looked up and saw Chloe struggling to break free from the demon's grip, before he dropped to his knees and onto his back. The jolt from his fall shot an agonizing throb throughout his body. His body shivered despite the heat being thrown from the flames in the other room. The sounds around him were muffled. "Chloe!" he muttered through his laboured breath when he realized that she'd escaped Eligos grasp and was by his side.
"No. No, no, no. This can't be happening! Lucifer, stay with me," she begged, one hand on his face while the other examined the wound. Her body flinched when she heard a gunshot over her head, followed by the thud of a dropping body. The detective looked up to see her ex-husband standing with the 9mm in hand. Chloe's eyes followed the barrel of the gun pointing in the direction of Eligos, who was now dead on the floor.
"Dan, help me, please." She looked back at the other detective. He was frozen in the spot, shocked by what he was seeing. Ignoring the currently useless man, Chloe looked down at her dying love. "Lucifer, stay with me, okay? You're going to be okay."
"I... it's ov'r... f ' me." Lucifer struggled to form words. Blood was seeping steadily from his chest despite the dagger still lodged in him.
"No. I don't believe it. Everything is going to be okay," she cried, sobs wracking her body. She didn't want to believe that this was the end. Their time together had been too short. She needed more time. "Please, I need you."
"Chlo'... you... th' best... the best... thing... that's... ever... happened... to me." He took his time to make his words clear; she needed to know how he felt about her. "I love... I love you."
"I love you! I love you so much; that why you have to stay with me." Chloe kissed the top of his head. Tears rolled down her face; his hand found the strength to wipe them away before he started coughing up blood.
"Chloe, we have to go." Dan finally spoke up after watching the heartbreaking scene before him for a few moments. "The place is going up in flames; we need to get you out of here."
"No!" she yelled. "I'm not going to leave him. I can't." She brushed back his disheveled curls. Dan's arms wrapped around her waist, pulling her up to her feet.
"Go." Lucifer's heavy eyes started to close. "It's..." His life was fading away from his body. "It's okay."
"NOOOO. Let me go; I'm not going." She attempted to push her ex away, but he was able to lift her up and start to drag her out towards the back stairs.
Suddenly, there was a whoosh of air from the balcony. With her tear-stained face, Chloe and then Dan both paused and saw Amenadiel taking in what was happening. He rushed towards his brother when he saw the state that he was in. "Go!" the angel shouted to the two. "I've got him."
Relieved, Chloe willingly followed Dan down the stairs, away from the raging fire that was consuming the entirety of the room.
After making their way down five flights of stairs, Chloe stopped in her tracks and pulled Dan into her arms. Her body shook with uncontrollable sobs. Dan gently rubbed her back, attempting to soothe her, but he knew that nothing would at this moment.
"Tell me he is going to be okay," Chloe mumbled in his ear. "Tell me he is going to live."
"Sorry, Chloe. I don't know." Dan told her the truth. He didn't know. All he knew was that there was a dagger in the Devil's chest, most likely causing blood to leak into his lungs.
Chloe squeezed him closer to her before she let go to continue down the stairs. Dan followed close behind until they reached the club.
The fire department was well on their way, evacuating the employees from the building, who'd been setting up for the evening festivities. Other discussions on saving the building were also being had.
Chloe didn't care about the building, she just needed to find Lucifer. She ran outside; her legs were already tired, but the adrenaline kept her going. She searched around the emergency vehicles, hoping to catch a glance of the two angels, but they were nowhere to be found.
The detective stood in shock in the middle of the commotion, barefoot in Lucifer's now blood-soaked dress shirt. She was lost without him.
Note: Chapter was Beta read by SailorChronos1! Thank You