A/N: I'm back with another chapter that's ready to be devoured by you! If this won't make you cry, I don't know what will! Have your tissues ready! I told you to prepare yourselves for the last chapters of this story, because I'm telling you, I'm going all in on the touchy feels! Now I hope you enjoy the atmospheric music and the read!

Recommended Songs:

Mustafa Avşaroğlu - When The Last Hope Runs Out

Araphel - Vessel Of The Cosmic Eye

Cities Last Broadcast - Wherever the Heart Goes

Holly Abraham - Not The End

Chapter 24 – Guilt

[Mustafa Avşaroğlu - When The Last Hope Runs Out]

The processing of the crime scene was finished. Maze had returned to watch over Trixie and rest, and Ella had made her way straight back to her lab to analyse what samples she had taken from the victim, as well as those she had gathered from the crime scene after Amenadiel had brought Lea away: fibres of the rope, prints from the doors as well as some small droplets of blood she had found on the altar.

The sun was setting, casting its golden rays onto the church. Naturally it was a beautiful event, but today it could not lift the mood of anyone. The people who had been influenced by the radiating divinity of the wings were still shaken. Medics had arrived, checking everyone, talking with them and calming them. Occasionally, when someone was still too much in shock, they'd be given a mild sedative just to take off the edge.

The interrogation had therefore been going understandably slow and had been unnervingly unproductive. Nobody had seen Glover. When the team and the supporting officers were done taking statements, Chloe stood with Dan, discussing possible next steps, while Lucifer excused himself to do a call.

Hearing his brother pick up the phone, Lucifer spoke in raspy tone, a thick lump of worry in his throat. "How is she?"

"I was told her condition is still critical…" Amenadiel let out a heavy, defeated sigh. "It's not looking good…"

He fought the urge to crush something with his hands. She had to make it. He needed this success. Just one. "When will they know more?" he pressed on tightly, watching as the last two medics who had been supporting the passerby were packing their bags into the ambulance car.

"They didn't tell me any more, Luci… I'm sorry."

"Of course they didn't. They never do, do they?" He huffed through gritted teeth, feeling the inability to do something wrapping around his limbs like barbed wire. "What about her parents? I know miss Lopez has immediately provided her picture to the press to help the parents find her."

"Yeah, I've seen that they showed her picture over the news. I'm sure the parents will notice and be here soon. Have faith."

Faith. He was having trouble on that front, admittedly. After everything that had happened, his trust in the good in this world, felt just as shaken as his belief that his Father would lift a bloody finger for his oh-so-precious human creation. "What about the wing stumps? Do you notice any effect on the surroundings?"

"Luckily no. So far nothing and I hope it stays that way."

"Yes… Let's hope," he agreed, nodding to himself in silent reassurance. "Thank you, Amenadiel. Thank you so much for bringing her..." He broke off when his voice began to crack.

"Always, Luci. Let me know if I can help any more. Anytime, alright?"

"Alright," he breathed, collecting himself again, willing his voice to sound confident again. "I… I will." Ending the call, he saw Chloe approaching him, her eyes shining bright with hope and he couldn't feel else but be affected by it. Something had changed while he'd been on the phone. "You seem not as gloomy as before."

A small smile creeping up her lips, she nodded. "We just got a call from the station. We found Michelle Glover."

His eyes widened as if she had just made him the best present in all his eons of existence. "You did?"

"Well 'found' isn't the appropriate word to use, I suppose," she corrected herself with a small shrug and looked at him with relief. "She actually called the station after she was encouraged by someone else. She's on her way to the precinct as we speak."

"Bloody hell, that was about time! Let's meet here there and see what she can tell us about her Dad-damn husband," he murmured as he walked with her to his Corvette.

It was time to interview the Butcher's wife.

[Araphel - Vessel Of The Cosmic Eye]

Michelle Glover was sitting in the interrogation room, waiting to be interviewed. Hands fumbling with one another, eyes, marked with tired bags, glancing around, legs bouncing under the table. She was absolutely on edge.

"She's nervous," Chloe muttered, observing the woman through the two way mirror of the room.

"No," Lucifer simply said, his head slightly shaking. "She's not just nervous. She's afraid. She keeps swallowing, her breath is trembling and she's got goosebumps on her arms."

Eyes narrowing, Chloe took a closer look and realised he was right. He had spotted what she had not picked up on so quickly. "Right… Let's see what this is about then." Taking the lead heading into the interrogation room, she put her case file onto the table and sat down opposite to the woman. "I'm Detective Decker, this is my partner Lucifer Morningstar. Mrs. Glover, why—"

"Please," she interrupted with a timid voice, "I know the divorce isn't through yet, but it would be great if you could just call me by Michelle. I get nightmares whenever I hear that surname."

Sitting down next to Chloe, Lucifer arched a brow in surprise. "Getting nightmares from the name you're being called? You obviously have no clue about my life, do you?" he muttered drily.

Brushing her partner's antics off with a light eye roll, she took charge of the interrogation again. "Michelle. You saw that we were searching for you, is that correct?"

Biting her lip, Michelle swayed her head in indecisiveness. "Well, I mean… I… I wasn't given much of a choice…" She blew out a heavy sigh. "That guy was really persuasive on the matter…"

"That guy?" Chloe asked, exchanging a look with Lucifer. "What guy?"

"That guy who knocked on my door last night. Dark look, thick eyebrows... He was built like a rock and had this Israeli accent," Michelle explained tensely. "He told me that the police was looking for me. He knew my name, my real name and he… he was… he was scary as hell. I mean he looked like he's come to freaking kill me, but then… then he was suddenly all kind. He told me that it was important to stay strong and not run away. That I need to offer my help in catching Warren…"

Chloe's mind was racing. Who the heck was knocking on this woman's door, looking like a killer and then talking her into going to the police to support them? It wasn't long before she got the answer to that question, when she turned back to wards Lucifer, hearing him chuckle.

"Ah yes… This must've been Aryeh. I'm pretty sure of that. Good old Aryeh, so talented at finding people…" Lucifer chimed with a wide smile, sounding a little nostalgic even.

Eyes widening, Chloe leaned over to him, lowering her voice to a whisper. "You mean… this was one of your… contacts?"

Joining in on the secretive exchange, although he was quite sure Michelle would still be able to hear them, he purred. "Well, yes, Detective. He's a former Mossad agent with that cool bodyguard/assassin look in his eyes. He's regularly mistaken for Liev Schreiber. Quite amusing really."

"Okay,… I see," she murmured, "I hope your favour for him won't involve anything illegal."

"Oh, surely not. He'll probably just want money." He gave it a light shrug. "Perhaps an island with a house on it to just be by himself. Nothing wild, really. He's quite simple with his desires."

Nothing wild. Just an island with a house on it for a former Mossad agent to chill on. Of course. Because why not? And of course it wasn't hurting Lucifer's endless amounts of cash either. Taking a deep breath, she cleared her throat and returned her attention to Michelle. "So, he convinced you to contact the police to help find your husband. But do you actually know what this is all about? Do you know why we're looking for him?"

Michelle's pressed her lips together, swallowing thickly. "I have a dark suspicion…" Her chin trembling, her fingers shaking as she fumbled with them, she went on, "I've seen the news… I heard about that angel… and there was something about another incident this morning." She emphasised the word with a hint of disbelief. "Women depicted like angels in the churches—" Her hands suddenly flew up to her face, a wave of tears and snivels escaping her. "Oh god, this… this about Samantha, isn't it?!"

The emotional reaction struck a nerve in Chloe. The maternal instincts, the sympathy of another mother. Reaching behind herself, she took a tissue box from the window ledge and put it in front of Michelle. "How do you know?" she asked quietly, looking back at her with a pained understanding of her grief.

Pulling out a tissue from the box, Michelle wiped her tears, sobs still shaking through her every now and then. "He… He always called her his little angel." She let out a tearful laugh. "I know, I know. Every parent calls their child that, right? I'm not sure you know it… She was very ill, suffering from a condition the doctors explained she had only a very small chance of healing from. Samantha overheard the doctors tell us about it and she was terrified of course. So, Warren, being a deep believer in God, told her that she needn't be afraid, because the angels would always be on her side, watching over her as if she was their sister."

Chloe and Lucifer were both left speechless. Michelle's information did both, shed more light on Glover's actions, but at the same time, given their celestial intel, it was also cutting deep. Glover killed angels, real angels, in order to create new ones he deems worthy, to rise to heaven. But his reasons were manifold. They knew Glover had at least two insane reasons to do what he was doing.

Firstly that absolutely mental idea of buying himself a letter of indulgence to redeem his soul, so he could be with his deceased daughter, and secondly, because Alastor was likely messing around in his head just feeding into the craze that's been already there. But what they hadn't expected was there to be a third reason. One that could, in a disturbing way, be almost seen as altruistic.

Samantha.

If the idea he had planted in his daughter's mind of angels watching over her had stuck with him as well, then perhaps he had seen to himself to make sure to send angels her way to keep his promise.

"It's not my siblings watching over her right now, though, I'm afraid," Lucifer croaked barely above a whisper, a thick lump in his throat.

No they weren't. There were no angels in Hell.

There were demons and endless amounts of pain.

Catching the confused look from Michelle to Lucifer's words, Chloe quickly continued, "Tell us what's been going on with Warren. Everything."

"God, w-where should I even start?" Michelle murmured, helplessly.

"Start with you and him fighting in front of your daughter, perhaps," Lucifer snipped back, angrily, thinking of the horrible fate of the girl, suffering in hell because of her guilt.

"I didn't mean for her to…" Michelle began, but trailed off with a sob. "Samantha struggled with her health since her birth. We knew that when she would be old enough, she would need to have surgeries, but those would not be guaranteeing her healing. At first Warren was just driven to find the best doctors. I mean, we both were, of course. We wanted for it to work. We wanted for her to get better. The first surgery came when she was six and Samantha got through it, but her condition didn't get much better. In fact it seemed to have gotten even worse. She was so weak after the surgery that she needed a lot of time to regenerate from that to get back back to her usual strength." Looking down at the tissue in her hands, she crumpled and turned it, lost in her memories.

"After that, Warren became more and more angry. Being a surgeon himself, he was livid that the doctors hadn't been able to heal her. The second surgery came with another doctor he had found, but the outcome was just the same ordeal. They couldn't help Samantha's condition. She was horribly weak after the surgery and I had to nurse her back to strength for months. And Warren… He said that the doctors were all incompetent. That they had messed things up. That's when he began to insist in doing the surgery himself, despite this not even being his field of expertise. The chief surgeon wasn't allowing that to happen though, pointing out his lack of expertise and his feelings clouding his professional judgement."

Lucifer's eyes narrowed with suspicion. "I doubt he didn't take that personally."

Michelle swallowed. "His anger just knew no limits. We were fighting on a daily basis about him and his obsession with this whole topic. He was… he was getting delusional about it. Saying that the doctors were doing this on purpose, that they wouldn't let him help Samantha because they wanted to force him out of his position. Absolutely insane!"

"We found her diary. She thought that you argued because of her, you know?" Lucifer said, his chin tilting up in contempt. "She thought she was the reason you left. That her illness caused your family to be torn apart."

Her eyes blew up with another wave of pain and guilt. "What?! B-But… But she was not responsible! My god, of course she wasn't!"

"But you fought with each other and she knew. She heard you. She could see you leave after an argument you had with him about Samantha's illness," Lucifer pressed on. "Not only did you leave her behind, thinking you abandoned her because of her illness, but you also left her with a highly aggressive man. How on earth could you do that to her?"

"I- I didn't mean t-to… I needed to get away first and then when she had that next surgery, she… she… she didn't…" Michelle stammered, breaking out in tears and sobs. "Oh god, my dear baby girl! My sweet Samantha!"

"Lucifer…" Chloe whispered in a gentle warning. He was angry. She could understand. He knew this hurt, this guilt. He had carried this pain for so long, had taken the responsibility for other people's bad decisions on his own shoulders until it had crushed him.

"No," he cut back shortly at her, eyes filled with tears. "She doesn't deserve this, Detective. Samantha doesn't deserve to be in this pain for all eternity."

"Lucifer, I know," she said, looking at him with understanding and sympathy, and reaching to his thigh beneath the table to give him a light squeeze.

But Michelle spoke up, confused and upset. "I- I don't understand. W-What do you mean, she's in pain for all eternity? H-How can you say something like that?!"

"The question is not how I can say this," he grumbled, his teeth clenching in anger. "You and your husband hurt her innocent soul. That's irrefutable because I know of her fate."

"Michelle, we know that there are multiple reasons for why Warren is doing these gruesome things and we also know that he isn't done yet," Chloe took back the lead, seeing Michelle's shoulders slump down in self-torment. She knew Lucifer wanted to push the real topic, the one of the celestial reality of Samantha actually being in Hell, but she knew this would unlikely get them any further. "We need to find him. But we have no pointers as to where he could be and this is where we need your help. Can you think of a place he could be in? We know that he's using a room, maybe a whole place for his… actions. It's likely got white tiling on the walls and floor, with metallic trolleys, sinks and tables… Does that ring a bell?"

Michelle blinked, eyes going left and right in thought. "I… I don't know… Are you talking about an operating room?"

"Well, he certainly did some operating in the room, but it doesn't necessarily have to be the room's original purpose," Chloe explained, remembering how Dan had pointed out possibilities of other usages for the room. "Does your husband have any access to such a room that could still fit the description though? We were thinking maybe something that's usually rather sterile. Perhaps a laboratory or a room in a place of food production. Something like that?"

"Food production?" Michelle repeated, her tone rising in surprise. There was something that stirred in her, a memory. "I'm not really sure this could be what you're looking for, but I remember Warren said his father owned a butcher shop."

Lucifer' let out a hard hiss. "Oh, you've got to be kidding me! He has access to a bloody butcher shop?!" Standing up from the table, he leaned over it, his tall frame towering threateningly over Michelle. "Where is it?! Tell us where it is!"

Shocked, Michelle leaned backwards in the chair, overwhelmed with the sudden pressure put on her. "I- I- I don't know! I- I swear… I don't know any better."

A butcher shop. It shouldn't take too long to trace Warren's father's company. While Chloe took down the note on the butcher shop for Dan to check up on, Lucifer kept his close proximity to Michelle, his tone low, a mixture of hurt and anger. "Trust me, I am sorry for your loss, but I am even more sorry for your daughter, because she did not deserve this. She deserved to be shielded from you and your husband's issues. She deserved to be told that it's not her fault. That you are not angry at her for having this illness. That she's loved." Taking a deep, shaky breath, he stood straight again, eyes wet. "She deserved better."

To his surprise, instead of cowering in guilt and self-blame, Michelle reached out for him, taking a firm, but shaky hold onto his wrist. "She did… I wish I had told her… Had taken her with me right away… I… I didn't want for her to feel like this. I'd do everything to turn back time and change things… Let her know how much I love her. That this had nothing to do with her. I wouldn't want for her to feel any responsibility for what transpired between Warren and I. I wish…. I wish she wouldn't have been taken from us, feeling guilty for any of this… Oh god, I wish she hadn't felt like this…" Sobbing, her hand slipped from his wrist to cover her face, wiping her tears with trembling fingers.

Lucifer's eyes softened at her words and an idea formed in his mind. She said she cared for her daughter's feelings, but he needed to know if she cared more for her than about her own guilt. Leaning down again, eyes gentle, he held her gaze with his mojo. "Tell me, Michelle. What is it you truly desire?"

"Lucifer…" Chloe's voice rang quietly from the side again, but he just lifted a calming finger at her, pleading her to let him get this answer.

Michelle's pupils dilated, her head lightly tilting to the side, as she looked into Lucifer's eyes, mesmerised. "I… I… I want for my baby girl to be happy. To be free from any guilt, wherever she is now, I… I want her to be okay. To have her know that she's a wonderful girl."

"You want her to be happy, above having her back?" he asked, touched.

"Of course I would want her back, alive, healthy or not, but above all I want her to be happy. I hope that wherever she is now, she's alright and that one day I'll be able to see her again."

Straightening himself, he offered her a small, but genuine smile. "Well, I, too, want her to be happy. I hope that one day, with the two of you having a pure conscience, you'll meet each other again," he said honestly, before turning towards Chloe. He had the answer he needed, a satisfying one at that, and the idea that had sparked in his head began to form further. "Do you think we are done here, Detective?"

Surprised by Lucifer's sudden formal attitude, she took a long breath. One thing still needed to be addressed. "Well… there's still the fake ID topic…"

"Are you serious?" Lucifer asked, surprised and somewhat taken aback.

"Calm down, Lucifer," she continued softly before looked back again at Michelle who stared in frightened pause as if waiting for her sentencing. "Why the fake ID, Michelle?"

"Because I was terrified," Michelle blurted out with a sob. "I told him that I would file for divorce and that I would fight to get custody for Samantha, but with Warren being in such a renowned position at the hospital, the claim needed a lot of preparation first. Not to mention Warren was paranoid, thinking I would ruin his reputation and use it to help get Samantha away from him. But then… then she died and I… I just couldn't leave the city with her being buried here, but I also couldn't really stay. I couldn't be sure whether or not Warren would leave me be. He had been so delusional… I was afraid he might even think I was responsible for Samantha's death and that he'd come after me for that."

"Alright, listen. I can guarantee on there not being pressed any charges against you. Leave the fake ID, use your normal one. We'll send an officer home with you for the time being until we sorted things out with your husband." Getting up, Chloe gathered the case file and offered Michelle a thankful smile. "Thank you for coming by. No matter if pushed or not. You did the right thing."

A wave of relief washed over Michelle's features and a small smile spread on her lips in return. "Thank you, Detective Decker."

Leaving the interrogation room, Chloe quickly took care of the arrangements for Michelle and giving Dan the information on the butcher shop before regrouping with Lucifer. He waited at her desk, sitting on its edge, eyes shrouded with a daze of thoughts.

"Dan's looking into the old butcher shop. I'm sure we'll have something soon…" Noticing his distant look and the mere small nod of his chin without a comment, immediately made her suspicious. "You're thinking about something aren't you? Come on, spit it out."

He blinked, pulled back to focus by the little snap of her fingers in front of him. "I have an idea about how we could stop Glover and maybe help Samantha at the same time. It's risky and can be seen as slightly unorthodox which is why I think you won't like it," he muttered, his heart aching. He couldn't think of another way. Not one that would be better, that was for sure. Not one that would be less dangerous. Not one that would be able to put an end to all of this madness. Worried over her reaction, he waited.

Lucifer pointing out she would not like his idea already made her more than wary. It was one thing to hear such words from another fellow human being, but to hear these words coming from him, a celestial being, an angel and the Devil, was able to bring her pulse up in an instant. Despite her gut feeling of him probably being right, she motioned for him to come along and follow her into the conference room.

She had no doubt they needed to discuss this in a quiet room where the door was locked and no prying ears were able to pick up any celestial descriptions that had become her daily norm. "Alright… Fill me in," she said tensely, crossing her arms.

Bracing himself, he walked to the big whiteboard at the end of the room and grabbed a black marker. "Very well… It starts off by us finding a human that's at the threshold of dying and then I need a celestial Uber ride. Let me give you a quick visual to all the steps."

[Cities Last Broadcast - Wherever the Heart Goes]

A cloud of ash whirled up when they landed in the narrow pathways of Hell's tomb system. Dark thunder rumbled threateningly above them, giving them a cold, spine-chilling welcome.

"I honestly can't believe that this Uber thing has become the norm," Amenadiel grumbled as he sat Lucifer down.

Straightening his sleeves and adjusting his cufflinks, Lucifer looked at him with a crooked smile. "You said I should let you know if I needed your help, so stop complaining. Now… let's see where this little creature is, shall we?" Taking the lead through the basalt pathway, he paced his right hand's fingers against the wall. Immediately he could feel the energy of Hell's inhabitants tingle through his fingertips. The energy was sharp, cold and painful, but since he wasn't yet aware where the soul he was looking for resided in, he had no other choice but to connect with Hell on this level.

In a matter of seconds the information of billions upon billions of souls rushed through him, and the energy of his goal, his target of interest, pulled him onward, guiding him. Widening his steps, he took confident turns left and right in a sea of corridors that could easily be mistaken for the previous ones they had walked. Hell was big to say the least. In a more depressing sense though, Hell was endless as it was organically growing with its amount of inhabitants. Thus, getting to a certain place could take a while.

And a while,numbingly turned ages in Hell.

He didn't count how many hundreds of corners he took, the dark sky above him shaking with everlasting thunder and flashing lightning. He wasn't complaining about it and neither was Amenadiel, both of them well aware how this was simply normal in Hell. Nothing was going fast. Nothing was easy. Hell didn't work with you. It worked against you. Even against him.

It could've easily been days, weeks even, until Lucifer let out a relieved sigh. "It's right around… here." Stopping in front of a door, Lucifer reached for the handle, but paused just before opening it.

"What is it?" Amenadiel asked, coming to a stop next to him. "Is it the wrong one?"

"No. The door…" he murmured in thought, taking a closer look. "I know it. I mean… I've seen it before. This is the same door that's on Glover's house." Taking a last, preparing breath, he reached for the handle once more. "I suppose I know what we'll be walking into then… So here we go."

Opening the door, he was validated.

It was an exact replica of Glover's house. The same entrance hall, the same open kitchen and living room. The same tables and couches. The same dull wall decor. The same sterile feeling. The only thing different from the real place was the yelling.

"She's your daughter, too!"

"What are you accusing me of?! I'm doing everything for her!"

"Are you really though?! You haven't been by her side, helping her with the wheelchair! I have! Every single day!"

"Oh I'm sorry! I've only been busy finding the best surgeons to help fix her!"

"Fix her?! She's not a broken object, Warren!"

"So what?! Do you want for her to just die like this? Because that's what she will, if we don't do something!"

"Well, look what your oh-so-perfect surgeon did! She was hardly able to eat for weeks! She was in constant pain! He made it worse! That's how much you helped her!"

Lucifer's stomach curled with both anger and hurt. He knew Samantha was close by. She was hearing this. She was hearing the arguments of her parents over her.

Her guilt. Her Hell-loop.

"This is horrible," Amenadiel muttered behind him, looking around intently.

Teeth grinding, Lucifer's eyes flashed up with hellfire. "It is," he agreed, walking further into the house, following the sound of the voices. He stepped through the living room and into the adjacent hallway, finding two people —demons— in front of a closed door. Glamoured with Michelle and Warren Glover's appearance, the demons kept going with their torture, fully consumed in their roles.

"I told you we should've started earlier with the treatments! If we would've started with them when she'd been younger—"

"So it's my fault?! She was just a baby! She didn't have enough strength for a surgery! I couldn't let her go through all this—"

"You made her still go through all the more pain later!"

Lucifer boiled with rage. "ENOUGH!" he roared and immediately the two demons stopped their heated argument. They turned to look at him, eyes widening in realisation of who was talking to them. Seeing through their glamours, he identified the demons. "Misran. Stercorax. You've had your fun. Take the rest of the day off. No more punishment for this inhabitant, you understand?"

"Yes, my Lord," the two of them said simultaneously and rushed out of the loop.

With the demons and their yelling gone, the quiet made room for another sound to be heard: The distinct, timid sobbing of a girl behind the door.

Slowly turning the knob, he opened the door, seeing the familiar girl's room with the loft bed, the tiny couch, small desk… and the shelves with a seemingly endless army of dolls and plush toys. He shuddered at the sight of them, but made a step inside nonetheless, scanning the room.

The soft stutter of sobs and snivels rang from close by but no one could be seen standing in the room. At least not on first sight. Slowly stepping further into the room, Lucifer leisurely walked up to the small, white desk, fingers running over the surface. When Amenadiel looked back at him curiously, but keeping a considerate distance, he tipped his fingers onto the surface of the desk with a quirked brow. A glance to the far back of room had him spot a wheelchair next to the closet.

"Samantha?" he asked softly, knowing the little girl was hiding right at his side, under the desk. "It's alright… They're not fighting anymore," he explained and stepped at last around the desk where he could see the girl cowering, curled up into a ball.

She had her hands pressed against her ears and rocked heartbreakingly back and forth, making her brown, shoulder-long, curly hair bounce along. "Oh, my dear, poor child," he went on sympathetically, crouching down in front of her and extending in a hand towards her. "No need to be afraid. No need to hide. There's no yelling anymore. I promise. I told them to leave you be."

Timidly, the girl shivered and slowly looked up at him, hands lowering from her ears. She hesitated, eyes travelling from his outstretched hand up to his eyes and back to his hand. For a while she didn't move at all. Then she turned her head, perking her ears, listening. When she realised there truly seemed to be no more yelling outside of her room, she looked back up at Lucifer with big eyes. "You told them to leave?"

"Yes. I did," he confirmed. "My words have quite a lot of power down here. Will you come out now? It's just me and my brother." Encouraging her with a wave of his hand, Amenadiel joined his side, leaning down to look under the table as well.

"Hey there, Samantha. I'm Amenadiel. This is Lucifer. We came here to talk with you about something very important." Offering her a soft smile, he also encouraged her to come out of her hiding spot.

It took another couple of worried glances, before the girl finally reached out and took Lucifer's hand. When Lucifer noticed Samantha pulling herself towards him, he easily helped to pull her close by himself, her legs dangling limply. Gently, he lifted her up and sat her on her desk, not forcing her to be close to him in case she was still too scared.

"Thank you," Samantha said, wiping her face free from her tears. "They fought because of me, you know. Because of my illness." Her head dipped low and her shoulders were weighing down with a ton of guilt. "It's all my fault…"

"It's not your fault. None of this is, child," Lucifer soothed her. "This… is always very difficult, but… do you know where you are, Samantha?"

She looked at him, brows drawn together in confusion. "In my room. At home."

Releasing a sigh, Lucifer pressed his lips into a thin line. "It seems that way, doesn't it? But… it truly isn't. You're not in your room, in your home. You're not in LA. You're not on Earth."

The girl's eyes watered. "W-Why are you saying this to me?!"

"I'm sorry, child, but it is the truth and I must show it to you," he went on. With a slight wave of his hand to his right side, their surrounding changed. In an explosion of ash, the walls around them, the bed, the shelves, the plushies, the wheelchair, everything faded into a dark void— a nothingness, leaving behind only the desk Samantha was sitting on.

As soon as there was only nothingness surrounding them, the young girl began crying hysterically. "No! You took it all away! Bring it back! I want to go home again!"

It hurt and it hurt particularly because she was a child and didn't deserve any of this. "I… I'm sorry, child, I truly am, but listen to me—"

"No! I want to go home!" she cried and angrily flailed her small hands onto the desk. "You said your words have power! Bring my home back! And make mommy and daddy come back! And have them be okay!"

Her desperate cries cut deeper than any infernal weapon could and he felt at a loss of words. "I'm sorry, but… this… this isn't… It isn't real… It's not what you think it is. Samantha… Do you remember writing in your diary? You were scheduled for another surgery the next day..."

"Y-Yes…?" Samantha's body continued to tremble from her sobs. "I… I… was nervous… I remember going to the hospital. The doctor was nice and said hello to me…"

This was tough. He wasn't sure how to brace her or himself for the pain he was sure would come, but he needed for her to know. She needed to see the truth. It was guilt that brought people's souls to hell. Perhaps, if he could manage it, if his plan would work, then Samantha's soul could finally find peace. But in order for that to happen, he needed for her to understand.

"You were having that surgery. But… unfortunately there had been complications," he said quietly, his heart clenching in pain. "You… You died in the hospital." His throat impossibly tight, his words came out strangled. "I'm so sorry, child..."

"W-what? But… but that can't be!" she exclaimed, panicking. Eyes wide, she reached out to Lucifer's chest and grabbed onto his jacket. "I… I didn't…" Breathing heavily, she looked from Lucifer to Amenadiel and back. "Mom and dad are here! They are still arguing all the time. Every day! Because of me!"

Soothingly placing his hand to her cheek, cupping it, he slowly shook his head. "I'm sorry… You didn't deserve this… You didn't deserve to suffer so much… I'm sorry you ended up here… This fighting you experience here, the yelling, and the suffering… this is literally Hell."

"H-Hell?" she asked, soft blue eyes shimmering.

Swallowing the lump in his throat he blinked, tears escaping against his will. A light squeeze on his shoulder from his brother, made him turn around.

Amenadiel gave him a soft understanding nod and then spoke to Samantha. "Yes, Samantha. You see… You really shouldn't be here. You should be in Heaven. You should be at peace," he explained quietly, taking one of her hands from Lucifer's jacket. "You feel guilty for what happened with your mom and dad. That's why you here. But it's not your fault."

"It is! They're fighting because of me. I'm the reason dad is angry all the time and why mom left us..." she sobbed, eyes puffy and red.

[Holly Abraham - Not The End]

And suddenly it was too much. All the pain, the self-blame and self-assertiveness of her was too much to handle for Lucifer and he couldn't take a second more of it. Not wanting to force his tears to stay at bay, he leaned towards Samantha, strong arms slipping around her, lifting her small, fragile body from the desk and pressing her protectively against his own, wrapping around her, shielding her, and letting her feel what she deserved to feel. Sympathy and love.

"It's not, child… It's not your fault," he wept, "None of this is your fault. Nothing has been. You're innocent. A child. They were the adults. They shouldn't have argued about you. They should've figured things out. They should've known how much they were hurting you with their fighting. I'm so sorry you had to hear them and that you felt responsible." He felt her body tremble in his hold, desperate, miserable sobs mumbling from where her face was seeking comfort against his chest. "I'm so sorry," he breathed again and again, lips pressing a kiss into her hair affectionately.

He didn't know how long they stayed like this, both of them crying. Amenadiel even joined in, touched by the emotional weight of it all, hugging both Samantha and Lucifer in a group-hug and whispering supporting words to the little girl. At some point, the three of them just sat quietly with Lucifer lightly rocking Samantha in his hold.

"I don't want them to fight all the time," Samantha murmured, fingers fumbling on one of his lapels.

"I don't want for you having to stay here and enduring this, child, but it's all up to you, you know?" Lucifer said quietly, rubbing soothing circles over her back. "You still feel guilty, even though you shouldn't. That's what's keeping you here and binding you to this place. I want to try and help you. I can bring you back to Earth. You won't be back alive for real, mind you, but you will be able to talk."

Samantha looked up at him with a hopeful expression. "I… I don't understand. Why?"

"You need to find peace, child. I want you to be able to talk to your father, because I believe that… hopefully… when you do, you will see that nothing of what happened has been your fault," he explained with a gentle smile, pushing himself up on his feet and keeping her legs hooked around his waist.

"I'll be able to talk to dad again?" she asked, hesitantly.

He nodded, the idea still worrying him a bit. "Yes… You will. He might not realise who you are at first… but I'm sure he'll quickly understand. Now, I will take you away from here. Is that alright with you?"

Snivelling, the girl gave him a small, shy nod. "Yeah… Okay."

"Lovely," he said, giving her a light, reassuring squeeze. "Just hold on to me. Amenadiel will give us a lift. Won't you, brother?"

"Sure. That's my job these days and I was told not to complain," Amenadiel sighed with an eye roll and released his wings, before grabbing onto Lucifer's shoulders. "You ready?"

"Ready as we can be. Beam us up, Scotty," he quipped and leaned in to speak against Samantha's ear. "You'll be getting a real angel lift now. Enjoy the ride, child."

This was better. So much better. He could feel her soul vibrating with hope in his arms, could feel her heart pounding with excitement and longing. She didn't belong here, he knew it, and he was determined to make sure she would realise and believe that as well.

Closing his eyes and keeping Samantha securely pressed against him, he felt Amenadiel pull them along, thrusting into the void between the realms. Samantha's shape in his arms changed, became of a different weight and consistency. Her soul laid bare in its essences in his hold, warm and young and innocent. He made sure she didn't slip from his hold, kept he close with his own soul's light like a magnet.

He thought of their destination, thought of the Detective and the plan. He hoped it would work and didn't dare thinking about what it would mean if they'd fail.

A/N: *whelp* This got me crying, I'm not gonna lie. I was deeply emotionally invested in this chapter and feeling so much sympathy for Lucifer and Samantha. I hope I managed to have you immerse yourselves into the emotional outbreak, too! So close now to the finale! Can you feel it?! Let me know what you think! I hope you're still hyped! Stay tuned and see you soon!

- Luni