Lucifer really wished he hadn't smashed up his bar. Where was he supposed to get a drink if the only alcohol left was dripping down the walls? He supposed he could go downstairs to the bar at Lux, but with Amenadiel looking at Chloe like that Lucifer wasn't going anywhere.

"What is she doing here?" was the first thing Amenadiel said upon noticing the Detective.

"Well brother, before you so rudely interrupted, the Detective and I were in the middle of catching a killer," Lucifer explained. "You know the one you created and subsequently freed."

"Since when are there stairs?" Chloe asked. Lucifer just looked at her.

"Since always, Detective," he said. "Are you alright?"

"Not sure," Chloe replied. "But that is a problem for later. We have to go after Malcolm. Who knows-."

And just like that the Detective was unnaturally motionless.

"Bloody hell," Lucifer groaned at his brother, throwing his arms up in frustration. "Stop with the time freezing already! Have you forgotten that the Detective already knows about celestials?"

"There's no need to give her more information," Amenadiel said. "Besides, Maze was right. We used her and Malcolm. People have died because of us."

"Because of you, you mean," Lucifer corrected him.

"Yes, because of me," Amenadiel admitted. "Brother, somehow I lost sight of the bigger picture, of the cost of my actions and just how truly selfish they were. But my eyes are wide open now and I need to make this right. I need to find Malcolm and send him back to hell. Will you help me, brother?"

"Weren't you listening?" Lucifer said. "That's what the Detective and I were trying to do when you froze her."

"I don't want her help," Amenadiel shot back. "I want yours."

"Well, tough," Lucifer said. "Because we need her."

"I don't understand your fixation with her," Amenadiel said, annoyed.

"Join the club," Lucifer said. "But if you want to catch Malcolm, that's the deal, so if you don't mind turning the clocks back on, hmm?"

Looking more annoyed than Lucifer thought the situation warranted, Amenadiel resumed time.

"-what he'll do next," the Detective resumed her unfinished sentence. Then she stopped. "Wait a moment, weren't you guys standing just a little more over there?"

"He froze time again," Lucifer said. "But nevermind that. We have a murderer to hunt down."

"Right," Chloe said. Then she turned to leave. She stopped as she noticed Amenadiel following them. "Wait. Why is he coming? Isn't he the one who is behind all this? A moment ago I thought you two were going to kill each other!"

"See brother, this is why character building conversations should be held within the flow of time," Lucifer told Amenadiel. "So we don't have to repeat ourselves."

Lucifer turned to Chloe and said. "Sorry you were once again so rudely cut out of the conversation, Detective, but my brother has had a change of heart. He wants to help us get Malcolm now."

"What?" Chloe said dubiously. "All of a sudden?"

"Yes," Lucifer said.

"And you believe him?" Chloe asked. "Even after he did that to your face?"

Lucifer could feel the extent of his injuries, but judging by the Detective's words they showed quite a lot more than he thought.

"Strangely enough, I do," Lucifer said. "Actually what was harder to believe was his falling so far from grace to begin with."

"Good enough for me," Chloe said. Then she turned to Amenadiel. "So what's your plan to find Malcolm?"

"Lucifer has a plan," Amenadiel answered.

"I do not," Lucifer huffed. "You're the only one here who has actually plotted a murder, even if I am still alive, which makes you the qualified party."

"You said it yourself. You're still alive, so clearly I'm not very good at it!" Amenadiel snapped back. "You should come up with a plan."

"Why should I do all the heavy lifting?" Lucifer shot back. "I have a better idea, why don't you go back in time and not mess it all up to begin with."

"You know I'm suddenly remembering why I wanted you dead in the first place," Amenadiel grumbled at him.

Lucifer was about to yell back when the Detective interrupted their fight.

"So, there is no plan," she stated firmly, her voice echoing more than usual due to its volume. Was she mad at him? "And all immortals are children. Theory confirmed."

"Detec-" Lucifer began but Chloe held up a hand to silence him.

"Let's see..." Chloe continued more thoughtfully. "Malcolm knows Lucifer means to hunt him down even if he doesn't know I heard his confession. I'd say with the way he ran out of here, Malcolm's more scared of Lucifer than he is of the law. Even so, he'll be on the run… which means he'll need papers. A new identity."

"Oh in that case, Detective," Lucifer said. "I know just who we need to start with." Then he turned to Amenadiel and added, "See, I told you we needed her."

Amenadiel just looked annoyed and didn't say anything.

"Right, so I think this means I finally get to drive," Lucifer said grinning.

"Only because my car isn't here," Chloe told him, clearly unhappy with the situation. Lucifer wasn't sure why getting to drive made him so giddy but it did.

"You know if someone hadn't burned his wings he could just fly," Amenadiel reminded Lucifer in his annoying superior big brother tone.

"And where would that leave the Detective, hmm?" Lucifer asked, pointedly. "Besides, my Corvette is a much smoother ride."

Lucifer was feeling quite confident about their chances for success as they all headed to the elevator and then to his underground garage. He really quite enjoyed the look on Chloe's face when she saw all his other cars. The Devil liked shiny things.

With Lucifer driving, it didn't take long to get to the funeral home. Chloe complained the whole way that he drove too fast. She even called him a speed demon which made Lucifer chuckle. Explaining to her that he had far superior reflexes to humans only seemed to calm her slightly.

As they were parking Chloe said again how this was the very reason why she always did the driving. Lucifer knew his being the one behind the wheel would be short lived and was determined to enjoy it for as long as it lasted. Now parked in front of the funeral home, they all got out. Chloe began walking up to the door, but Lucifer stopped her.

"You are going to have to wait here Detective," Lucifer told Chloe.

"Like hell I am," Chloe objected.

"This man sells illegal IDs," Lucifer reminded her. "He isn't going to tell a cop anything."

"I don't have to say I'm a cop," Chloe argued.

"That's cute," Lucifer said, putting a little awe in his voice.

"How do you know about this guy anyway?" Chloe asked, clearly annoyed that she couldn't come inside with them.

"Well I did drop out of the sky six years ago," Lucifer reminded her. "Where do you think I got my papers? If I know he's the best then so does Malcolm."

The Detective looked rather embarrassed about the obvious answer to her question and had a look on her face that Lucifer could only describe as 'oh.'

"Well at least I was right that people don't appear out of thin air," Chloe said defensively. "I just didn't know angels existed so… I mean without all the facts it's really impossible to figure out anyway."

Lucifer chuckled. She really was adorable sometimes. "We won't be long," he said, turning to walk towards the building.

The Detective didn't look happy but she played along, staying with the car.

Lucifer had quite a bit of fun crashing the funeral. Once he'd been enough of a disturbance Lucifer got his audience with the fake IDs guy and returned to the Detective's side with the information they needed.

"So Malcolm's been here," Chloe summed up after Lucifer told her everything in detail. "And he's looking for 100k from some old associate named Tommy."

"Yes," Lucifer said. "And I know exactly who to ask." When Chloe inquired as to who he meant Lucifer was actually surprised. "Oh come on Detective," he said. "Surely, you can figure this out. An old associate of Tommy. Who do we know, who would know that? Rhymes with Douche."

"What kind of name rhymes with douche?" Amenadiel asked.

"It's just what Lucifer calls Dan," Chloe said, dismissively. "Still, it's a good idea. I'll call him."

"Excellent," Lucifer said, cheerfully. "And if he doesn't tell you we'll just pop over and make him."

Chloe gave Lucifer that look of disapproval she'd gotten so good at before pulling out her phone.

"I didn't mean it like that," Lucifer told her as she held the phone up to her ear. "Just, you know, with my desire trick."

Detective Douche picked up the line then and Chloe turned away to speak. Lucifer only heard one side of the conversation, but he got the general idea. Dan had a couple ideas but Tommy wasn't much to go on. They needed another clue.

"I think we should go to Malcolm's house next," Chloe said. "Talk to his wife. Might help."

"Just so long as I'm driving," Lucifer said, gleefully as he got back into the car.

Chloe seemed to have given up criticising his driving by the time they reached Malcolm's street. Instead she was holding very tight to her seat. He didn't like seeing her so tense, but he loved being in charge of the driving. It was a very strange contradiction he'd probably have to talk to Doctor Linda about to understand.

Lucifer parked rather hastily in front of the house and got out. He walked right up to the house with the intention of kicking down the door, but Chloe had other ideas.

"LAPD," she said as she knocked. "Open up."

"This is why we don't bring humans," Amenadiel said before kicking in the door.

"We would never have gotten this far without her," Lucifer defended the Detective. "And you know it. You just don't like doing things the slow way, which is ironic what with the time slowing powers and all."

"The Lucifer I remember didn't like doing things the slow way either!" Amenadiel snapped back.

"Yes, well bleeding lately if you recall," Lucifer said. "Changes a few things."

"When you two are done with your sibling rivalry let me know," Chloe said calmly as she moved past them and into the house. "I'll probably have Malcolm behind bars long before that happens."

"This is your fault," Lucifer told Amenadiel, as he ran in to help the Detective.

The room was filled to the brim with boxes and boxes of clearly recently purchased stuff. It seemed someone had done quite a bit of online shopping. Chloe said something about how he couldn't afford all this stuff on a cops salary, but before they got any farther the sound of a gunshot had Lucifer and Chloe ducking behind boxes. Amenadiel, of course, just stood there looking annoyingly stoic.

Chloe called out to the shooter, trying to convince them to stop, but Lucifer knew it was pointless. Amenadiel was walking calmly in the direction of the gunfire, the bullets bouncing off his chest. Once Chloe caught sight of this she stopped calling out and just stared.

Lucifer was too busy hiding from the gunfire to really get a look at what was going on, but he could figure it out. Amenadiel was likely disarming the shooter with about as much effort as a human would use flicking an inscest off the wall.

When the gunfire stopped Lucifer and Chloe stood up. Being that they were at Malcolm's house and getting shot at, Lucifer had just assumed it was Malcolm shooting at them. He was, therefore, surprised to see a woman standing in front of Amenadiel. She had clearly been the one with the shotgun even if said gun was now in Amenadiel's hands.

"What are you?" the woman asked Amenadiel with something between fear and awe.

"Nevermind him," Chloe said, flashing her badge. "LAPD. Why were you shooting at us?"

"I thought you were my husband," the woman said in a small voice. That was when Lucifer realized the woman was Malcolm's wife. "Ever since he almost died he's been strange. I can't describe it."

"Oh, I think I know exactly what you mean," Lucifer said. "He has a new appetite doesn't he? That insatiable hunger he just can't seem to fill."

"How can you know that?" the woman asked.

"I've seen it before," Lucifer said. "It only gets worse."

"It can't!" the woman said. "He's insane. He spent all our money and when I saw him today he-"

"When did you see him today?" Chloe asked.

"You just missed him," she continued. "He was frantic, looking for money and so angry."

"Do you know where he went?" Chloe asked.

"He said he was going to get a beer," the woman replied, with a half laugh.

"Well as useful as that is," Lucifer sighed.

"Actually that might help," Chloe said. Then she thanked the woman and walked out the front door with her phone held up to her ear.

Lucifer followed behind her, and Amenadiel too. He knew from the look on the Detective's face she'd figured something out. It was that expression she got when everything was clicking together inside her head. Lucifer liked seeing that look in her eyes. It was her Detective look, and it earned her the name.

"Okay so Dan's tip about Tommy, put into the context of beer, actually gave us a lead," Chloe told them once she was off the phone and they were back at the car. "And he's also found evidence that I believe Malcolm planted."

"Oh, do tell?" Lucifer inquired.

"Cufflinks," Chloe said. "In the shape of an M. I think he's trying to frame Lucifer for the satanist's deaths now that he knows Lucifer won't praise him for them."

Lucifer thought about that for a moment. Though he disliked the idea of everyone thinking he was capable of such evil, somehow it was okay, because Chloe didn't think that way. The Devil's rap sheet hardly mattered so long as Chloe didn't believe it. Lucifer didn't know what he would do if she ever looked at him like a killer. If Chloe really believed he was a senseless murder, Lucifer was strangely certain that it would break him. He hadn't a clue why this was, and he could never say it out loud, but Lucifer could feel the truth of it.

"There's an old brewery on third," Chloe continued. "A drug dealer named Tommy works out of there. Dan thinks that's where Malcolm went to get his money." She stopped for a moment then said in a more overwhelmed voice. "Usually I'd call in backup about now, but not sure the angels will mix with the backup. I mean Lucifer is one thing, he bleeds, ducks when shots go off but Amenadiel just stands there! How am I supposed to explain that to a bunch of cops, hmm? How?"

"Breath, Detective," Lucifer said. He was once again struck with the desire to hold and comfort her, but he couldn't. He would never do that. Even if she'd touched him so casually at the precinct the other day, that didn't mean she wasn't still scared. She'd told him as much after Father Frank had died. He scared her, therefore it was Lucifer's job to try not to be scary. He might have forgotten this when confronting Malcolm earlier, but going forward Lucifer would do better.

"Right, sorry," Chloe said with a shake of her head. "We should go."

"I promise we shall be all the backup you need," Lucifer told her. "Relax, Detective." She smiled, though nervously. Lucifer wished she looked more confident but decided it was too much to ask, so he got into the car and started driving.

The moment the three of them entered the building they were greeted by about a dozen thugs with guns. Lucifer was instantly uneasy, though not only for himself. Maybe the Detective should have waited in the car. At least, Lucifer healed fast, but Chloe...

"We are looking for Malcolm Graham," Amenadiel said loudly. "Give him to us and we shall be on our way."

"Now is not the moment for negotiating, brother," Lucifer muttered. "We are more in time slowing territory here."

"But I thought you were sick of me doing that?" Amenadiel said.

"Bloody hell," Lucifer groaned as the guns pointed at him went off. On instinct, Lucifer moved slightly to his right, shielding the Detective from the gunfire.

As the bullet's approached his face, they began to slow. Eventually they stopped in mid air.

"About time! Right, first things first," Lucifer said, moving forward and plucking the now motionless bullets aimed for the Detective out of the air.

Once he was done, Lucifer turned to his brother. "What do you think? Groin kick or knock on the head?"

"That hardly matters," Amenadiel said with a sigh. "So long as they are incapacitated when I resume time."

"Best we get started then," Lucifer said cheerily. This was gonna be fun!

What do you think about the changes? They are getting more and more pronounced now that there is more celestial stuff going on that Chloe can be part of. Writing this story requried going over S1 with a fine tooth comb and I noticed that the majority of S1 really didn't have alot of celestial plot apart from the season 1 finale. There sure is alot of crime show filler in the early seasons. Which is probably why it took me SO long to discover that I loved this show. In general I find crime shows boring and predictable. I tend to avoid them. I actually tried watching Lucifer way back in 2016ish, got through a fair chunk of season 1 but never got invested enough to continue. Fast forward 5 years and I randomly see it recommended on Netflix one night when I really couldn't care less what I'm watching so try it again. This time I made it into season 2 without loosing interest and bam, a Deckerstar fan was born. Watched the whole thing in like three weeks then had to wait three days for season 5B. Then couldn't handle it being over so I started writing this lol. Even so I kinda wish there was less crime show focus in the show, because it's everything but the crime show part that makes the show so amazing! Like it could be her job without being the main focus of the show, you know. But maybe that's just me...

Sneak Peek Chapter 20

"Yes, right you are, Detective," Lucifer said. "We should split up. Cover more ground."

"Yes, good idea," Chloe said. She assumed this meant all three of them would go their own way, but just as Amenadiel was breaking off to go left, Lucifer followed her going right.

"I thought you said split up?" Chloe reminded him.

"Oh I did," Lucifer said. "But I think us bleeders should probably stick together."

Chloe didn't have anything to say to that. She'd already come to accept that there were things about Lucifer she would never understand, especially when it came to his motivations.